[X] No
"...No."
"Wut?" asked Longhook, cocking his head in confusion, "Dunt youz wanna foight da bugg-"
"NO!" roared Hulk, stomping his foot. The shockwave knocked squigs back, and Longhook staggered, cowering away. "No fighting! No orks! No bugs! Hulk want to be left alone! Hulk want peace! Hulk wants, to be, ALONE!!!"
Crouching down, Hulk used his whole body to jump into the air. The power of the leap made a crater where he was standing, sending sand flying, forcing Longhook to look away as it got into his eyes. When he turned back, thick tears streaming down his face, the Hulk was long gone.
Time always passed differently in the desert, but especially on this world. The length of the day and night might be different; puny Banner would know, but he hadn't tried to talk to Hulk since before they'd arrived. Snarling at the thought of his puny other-self, Hulk punched a free-standing pillar of rock, pulverizing what he hit and sending the rest tumbling. He'd spent many of this world's days searching for shade, finally finding a large outcropping of rock, brown stone weathered away to form a landscape of narrow canyons and high buffs. Currently Hulk was looking for a cave; somewhere to hide from the bright, bright sun and rest.
Slowly, Hulk became aware of new sounds, coming closer. Fearful cries, yells of anger and pain. The flapping of large wings, and a strange rippling hiss. Curious, Hulk moved towards the sound, loping across the hard ground. Soon he found himself standing above a short canyon. Running from one end came a group of… orks? These one's weren't like Longhook though. Where he'd been wearing full clothes, these orks were mostly naked, with leather loincloths around their waists and leather wrapped around their heads. And while Longhook had been covered in pointy weapons, these ones had next to nothing. Some were carrying sharp-looking, curved swords, while others had nothing more than rocks. As Hulk watched, one ork turned around, drawing a primitive looking bow back. Before he could release, a projectile hit his face, causing him to claw at his face as he collapsed.
The projectile had come from a flock of flying insect-like creatures that were chasing the orks. Their rapid movement made it hard to get a proper look, but Hulk saw wide membranous wings, and thin bodies with armored plates. Clutched in their frontmost arms were disturbingly organic looking guns, that launched projectiles with a wet pop. The projectiles themselves were giving off the rippling sound.
Watching, Hulk saw that the flying insects would only fire on the orks that stopped to try and launch something back, or those that lagged behind. He tried to understand why this was; but his thoughts were disturbed by more hisses, coming from a different direction. Turning, he saw more insect creatures coming from the opposite direction of the canyon. These ones lacked wings or guns however. instead having large sharp claws that they held out towards the oncoming orks. Hulk realized what was happening; the flying insects had harried the orks into the canyon, so that the grounded ones could intercept and slaughter them with ease. Apparently they weren't just wild animals.
Suddenly there were shrill cries from the flock of flying insects, and Hulk turned back to see some break away and fly directly towards him. They'd seen him. Projectiles flew towards him, and Hulk quickly raised his arm to shield his face. A dozen impacted on him, and Hulk felt a stabbing pain, but he rapidly felt an odd gnawing pain as well. Turning his arm around, Hulk saw the projectiles were actually small beetles that were now trying to burrow into his thick skin. Disgusted, Hulk wiped them from his arm and chest, but the swarm had flown around him and was now pelting his back and legs. Staggering from the pain, Hulk slipped on the canyon edge and fell forwards.
He slammed into the canyon floor, but quickly climbed to his feet. On one side, the horde of orks stopped at the sight of him, despite the rain of beetles from above. On the other, the swarm of insects only got closer. Above, the flying insects spread out, still firing their weapons. Hulk snarled; then he went to work.
With both hands he wrenched rocks from the ground, crushing them into smaller chunks, then launching them up towards the flyers. Some were struck, some dodged, but Hulk ignored them in favor of charging the grounded insects. They spread their clawed arms wide, as if to embrace him; then Hulk slammed into them. The first ranks were pulverized beneath his fists and feet, while others were sent flying. More came, jumping over their fallen to attack Hulk. He pushed onwards, slapping aside those that tried to leap at him. Some managed to get through, cutting at his legs to try and bring him down. Hulk felt acid from the blades eat away at his flesh, but he ignored it. Pain was temporary. It only fed his anger.
More insects piled on, but Hulk simply began lashing out faster. He grabbed one of them by the tail, and began swinging it around like a flail. Beetles impacted his back, and he caught a glimpse of the flyers above. He threw his improvised weapon, now looking very crushed, and it collided with two flyers, breaking their wings and causing them to rapidly fall.
Suddenly a fleshy tendril lashed Hulk's arm, carving two furrows in his flesh. Approaching from the back of the swarm were three larger insects. These ones walked on two hoofed legs, allowing for four arms to carry a bristling array of organic weapons. The one in the center, holding the whip-like weapon, had large crests on its bulbous head and shoulders. Clearly this was some kind of leader, and the Hulk immediately charged it.
The leading insect and one of its packmates fired their weapons at the Hulk as he ran at them. Hulk dodged a writhing maggot creature, and caught a bizarre crystal that immediately broke apart and covered his hand in acid. Another of the larger insects moved to intercept Hulk, swinging wicked swords that crackled with energy. Hulk didn't stop, barreling through the creature's guard and shoulder barging it out the way. The creature was thrown to the ground, still trying to cut at the Hulk, but he stepped on it, using its crushed body as a launch pad to throw himself towards the others.
The apparent leader was backing away, while its packmate swung its heavy weapon at the Hulk, but he grabbed the weapon and tore its end off. As maggoty creatures fell from the destroyed barrel, the insect let out a cry of pain, and some part of Hulk recognised it's weapons were actually part of it, in some disgusting way. The wounded insect recovered quickly, and came at Hulk with scything claws. Batting them aside, Hulk reached out and almost delicately grasped its head. He then tore it free, the creature still swiping at him for a few seconds before it collapsed.
Suddenly Hulk felt a blade cut across his stomach. He roared as the pain in his flesh echoed in his brain, the sword somehow hurting his mind. The leader had charged at Hulk while he was distracted, its sword cutting at his flesh while its whip slashed at his eyes. Hulk managed to turn his head in time, but the barbs still sliced his cheek and temple, causing green blood to pour out. Staggered, Hulk covered his head with his arms as the creature slashed at him continually, pushing him backwards.
"Stop… hurting… HULK!" With one hand, Hulk punched out. There was a crunch, a gasp, and the flurry of blows stopped. Hulk looked up to see his arm had punched right through the creature's chest; it had frozen as it looked down, as if disbelieving what it could see. Slowly it looked up, and Hulk stared into its eyes. In them he saw, not pain, but hunger. A hunger that was too vast to be contained in a single body. A hunger that looked back out at Hulk.
Hissing, the creature raised its sword, intent on severing Hulk's arm. But Hulk pulled back, tearing his arm from the creature's flesh, sending shards of carapace and flesh flying. As the creature staggered, Hulk plunged both hands into the hole, palms outwards, and began to strain, pushing them apart. Before the creature could react, Hulk's arms snapped out, tearing it in two. The separate pieces hit the canyon's wall with twin splats, and they slid down to rest on the ground, organs steaming as their own acids begin to dissolve them.
Turning around, Hulk saw that both the flying and grounded insects were in disarray. Those in the air were crashing into each other, letting loose random bursts from their weapons. Those on the ground had started attacking each other, or trying to climb the canyon walls to escape. On the other side of them Hulk could see the orks. He was surprised to see, far from the cowering and fleeing creatures he had first seen, they were now charging into the insects, some attacking with nothing but their fists. As he watched, two seized a creature, working together to pull it apart. Others were launching arrows up at the flyers; a few, Hulk saw, were picking up small rocks and throwing them instead.
Some of the fleeing insects ran towards Hulk. He snarled, grabbing the first to approach and crushing it, but the rest just ran straight past him, wild eyed. They were being chased by a group of orks, who slowed as they approached Hulk, looking at him with something like… awe?
"Big boy mash bugs?" One asked. Unsure how to respond, Hulk threw down the crushed corpse; the orks jumped back as it landed, but quickly came back, one poking at it with his odd sword. Hulk saw now it was actually one of the insects' scything claws; it looked old, damaged, with leather wrapped around it like a primitive hilt. "Mash bugs!," cried the ork, and the others began to cheer, doing a strange jig-like dance.
By now the last of the insects had run or flown away. The orks, some two dozen of them, had split up into groups. Some were also performing a jig, apparently a victory dance. Others were searching through the piles of dead. Ork corpses were delivered a swift kick; if they moved, they were helped to their feet, while those that didn't respond were summarily stripped of all items. The insect corpses, meanwhile, were being hacked at. Hulk watched as an ork removed the corpse's long talons, tucking them under his arm, ignoring the cuts he received from them. Another ork had stripped the flesh from an arm, and was roughly removing muscle fibers, placing them into a leather sack.
"Oi oi! Big boy!" One of the orks approached Hulk, carrying one of the larger insects' swords. He held it out to Hulk. "Youz kill. Youz loot." Hul regarded the sword warily. Part of the creature's hand was still attached, leaking blood. Previously it had seemed almost… alive, but now it was clearly dead.
Hulk looked back at the rest of the orks. They'd finished their grisly work, and were beginning to pick up the insects, throwing them over their shoulders. Seeing where Hulk was looking, the ork in front of him said, "Come with? 'ave food. 'ave sheltur. Safey in, in," he paused for a second, trying to remember, before smiling widely. "Lots. Safey in lots."
Hulk has encountered feral orks and basic tyranids, fighting off the latter. He's been invited to join then at some kind of "sheltur", as well as being offered a bonesword as a trophy weapon. What will he do?
(Need to vote on both options)
[] [Direction] Write in
[] [Sword] Write in
New update! First proper fight of the quest, hope you enjoyed it! Voting will start soon-ish.
Also, K von Carstein & Gabriel_TFA have agreed to be beta-readers for both of my quests, so hopefully there should be an uptick in quality going forwards. Big thanks to both of you!
