Ult. ben Grimm / Lake Shore

[unbreakableben]

[OOM: Ben phones home after visiting DenmarkWhen Milliways found him again he took the opportunity to spend some time thinking. He wasn't in a mood for large crowds so he headed outback and found a rock to sit on by the lake. He's sulking, he totally knows this but damnit he deserves a sulk. He's also seeing if he can skip rocks the size of small

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[gammagammahey]

Ben is being watched from behind. In fact, he's being hunted, but hunted benevolently.

The hunter is, despite her unwieldy size, silent and skillful. She sneaks up behind Ben, reaches up and around him from behind, and puts her hands over his eyes.

"Guess who?"

[unbreakableben]

"Argh," Ben says as he was completely in his own head. He doesn't grab her hands (he doesn't trust himself for casual physical contact yet) but he does pull away. "What the hell?"

It would be worth noting he's speaking like he's from Queens and there's something about him that feels younger.

[gammagammahey]

"Ben? It's me Jen. With all the razzing Johnny gives you I know you're used to it by now...."

She trails off as she clambers over the rock so she can sit next to him and look at his face. There's something different about the cast to his features and the awkward way he seems to sit in his body.

"It's me. It's Jen."

[unbreakableben]

The uniform is different as well yet likely has the tell-tale signs of Reed's handy work. The differences are subtle but more noticeable once she's sitting near him. For instance, his skin is more rough but isn't the dinosaur like hide of Ben's early life. He's larger and more hulking, more like her cousin, but like the Ben she knows his eyes show all the humanity his body lacks but there is more pain there; pain with a hint of sorrow and hopelessness.

"I'm sorry m'me, I think you want the other Ben. I don't know you." If he were in a better mood he'd likely be much more friendly as there aren't any ladies like her who'd talk to him nowadays...or so he thinks.

[gammagammahey]

Jen's noticed those differences now that she's sitting next to him. A trained eye when it comes to her friends is Shulkie's second nature.

"The other Ben..." she starts. "Ooooh." Comprehension dawns.

"You're another Ben - not my Ben. Are you evil? If so, we'll have to have words."

[unbreakableben]

Ben..this Ben offers a weak laugh and replies, "No goatee. I'm good." He's tempted to leave it at that but something about her says he can trust her.

"About all I got left is the choice to be good." It's just a crack in his armor but it's enough that he's blinking and finding something very interesting out on the lake.

[gammagammahey]

His sadness is becoming evident to Jen - her Ben hides his away for the most part.

"Well, allow me to introduce myself. I'm She-Hulk, aka Jennifer Walters, cousin to the Hulk, and on my Earth you and I are close friends. Best friends, at times."

She smiles at him.

[unbreakableben]

He pulls himself out of his sulk by force and will and offers her a smile in return.

"Nice to meet you," he says and wonders if he should ask if her cousin is anything like the Hulk from his world. He decides against it as how do you ask if someone's cousin is a cannibal on steroids from hell?

"So are you and Hulk mutants?" News reports vary, typically dependent on the political views of the network or author.

[gammagammahey]

"Mutants? No. My cousin became the Hulk after being irradiated with a massive amount of gamma radiation. I got into the family business when he gave me a blood transfusion; I'd been shot and was losing too much blood, so he gave me a transfusion while waiting for the paramedics to arrive. He saved my life. So we're mutated, but not born mutants. Are we mutants on your Earth? Is there one of me running around yelling "SHE-HULK SMASH?"

There's an intense curiosity bracketing the last sentence. She wants to know if another her loses control like her cousin.

[unbreakableben]

"I can't think of any She-Hulk," he says carefully. "I don't know if Hulk's a mutant or not, mostly he's used as negative press for which ever side is talking. He's not very...nice in my reality."

[gammagammahey]

Her face falls upon hearing his last sentence.

"Oh, god, what has he done? What does he do?"

The thought of a truly malicious Hulk if a terrifying thought to behold. An out of control malicious Hulk is even scarier.

[unbreakableben]

He scratches the back of his head awkwardly before saying, "Are you sure you wanna know? Stupid question, especially once I've said that. Okay well keep in mind a lot of this comes from news stories and it's spun pretty bad. Mutants are pretty much seen as violent monsters and people really use him to make mutants look bad even if no one's been able to tell if he's one of not. He's destroyed a lot of New York and is pretty viscous when he fought the Ultimates last time. Broke a lot of Giant Man's bones and nearly tore the Iron Man's armor right off. There're rumors of worse but I don't like to repeat them.

"I'm sorry. I hope he's a much better person...at least in your world." He feels bad for the obvious discomfort he's causing but she asked.

[gammagammahey]

"He is a much better person on my Earth," she whispers, after a long minute of stunned silence. "He's never killed anyone. He's destroyed property, fought people - mostly evil people - and rampaged, but never killed. Anger brings out the Hulk in him. But he's been through so much, seen as a monster by so many, that it's not surprising. You have to be pretty stupid to anger Bruce. But people do it anyway."

Her voice is almost tearful when she relates this. Her cousin is a sore point for her - her guilt about not being there more for him is omnipresent. It's Jen's Achilles heel. But not anymore - with Rulk around, she's committed to helping Bruce untangle this mess and get his life back on track.

[unbreakableben]

In a few, all too short years Ben is going to know those feelings of guilt when Reed turns bad but today he just feels bad for ruining that beautiful smile Jen was wearing.

"That seems pretty stupid," he agrees. "Tell you what, if I ever run into him, I'll give him the benefit of doubt. I'll try talking with him first if I can.

"It's funny. Back home, I keep thinking my life is over before it even started but then I come here and see how much worse it can be...sorry that came off as being self centered or something. I'm not sure what I mean."

[gammagammahey]

"You don't seem self-centered at all," she rejoins. "Not at all. Ben - can I call you that? I'm guessing it's not too long since The Accident that made you you?"

[unbreakableben]

"Ben's fine and it's been...," Seven months, thirteen days, eight hours and twenty-five minutes, "a few months. One day I'm trying to decide if I'm going to stick with college or accept the draft offer to the New York Giants then I'm visiting my old buddy from Jr. High and get turned into a monster." He makes a poof gester with his hands and shrugs.

"Don't have to worry so much about my future now."