Crash Landing- Betty's Debut

[hulk_whisperer]

The floor shook beneath Betty's feet and everyone stumbled from side to side uneasily as they tried to claw their way around the inside of the helicopter. Her light blue eyes were wide as she watched the two massive men hanging from the aircraft's base struggling against each other. Another shake brought her to her knees with a small shriek and she

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[waltsnothereman]

Another day, another walk along the beach, trying to learn if Wanda really was just immune to tanning, seeing as she'd been there over a month and was barely a shade darker than when she'd arrived. She saw a lot of people this way, although not too many of them looked as confused as the woman currently laying in the sand a few paces in front of her. The woman who she was fairly sure hadn't been there the last time she had paid attention to where she was walking.

"Let me wager a guess, were you just somewhere else?" Or did she just not know what sand was?

[hulk_whisperer]

A voice. Talking to her. Betty shook her head to either side, trying to clear it, but the buzzing wouldn't go away. The woman was blurry in her vision until she managed to focus, but she didn't look familliar at all. At least she wasn't alone here.

"New York," was all she could manage to say, and then she realized that there was sand in her mouth. She cringed.

[waltsnothereman]

The apparent newcomer looked to be in fairly rough shape, so Wanda set aside her curiosity at seeing firsthand the phenomenon of arrival and bent down to help her up.

"Come on, you're fine. Can you stand up, kid?"

[hulk_whisperer]

Looks up at the woman confused, "Kid? I wish I was that young. How old are you?"

Slowly stands and glances around herself; there is water, and sand. Trees are inland, but she was fairly certain that the islands in New York were not this green.

[waltsnothereman]

Regarding the woman for a second, Wanda just smiled and shrugged. "Probably not much older than you. Just being friendly." She waits for her to get her bearings before continuing. "You're on an island, Tabula Rasa, about as far from New York as it gets."

[hulk_whisperer]

Betty leans over, brushing herself off causing sand to scatter in every which direction. "Tabula Rasa?" she asked, obviously unaware that such a place even existed.

[waltsnothereman]

"Yeah, I hadn't heard of it before, either," Wanda tried to explain. "Probably has a lot to do with it seeming to exist outside of any known universe."

[hulk_whisperer]

Betty's brain is now officially fried. "Sorry?"

Outside of any known universe? But they were on Earth, right? Was this one of those weird time/space alterations that she used to see on those old sci-fi shows when she got home from work? Before Bruce...

"Oh, God." As if remembering, she whispers worriedly to herself, "Bruce."

[waltsnothereman]

Ah, so she wasn't from a world where stuff like this was the norm. Fair enough. "Near as I can tell, we're not on any maps. Middle of nowhere and nowhen. People here come from all over the multiverse, and no one knows why."

"Who's Bruce?" Wanda asked, raising an eyebrow at the sudden change in demeanor. Knowing New York, she could have been in the middle of anything when she showed up.

[hulk_whisperer]

"Bruce Banner. He's my..." she falters off, because she's not really sure what they are, technically. At least since he became the Hulk. "Well, we're very close. It's just been difficult for him recently, and now I'm here, and he might need me."

"I feel sick."

[waltsnothereman]

For a second, it was Wanda's turn turn to be at a loss for words. "Bruce Banner? Dr. Robert Bruce, 'the freaking Hulk' Banner? That one?" Small world, she thought with a small laugh.

"Um, if it's any consolation, just because you're here, it doesn't mean you're not also back there. I'm not sure about the actual mechanics of it, but Bruce shouldn't be missing you too much." Stepping to her side, Wanda asked "Are you all right? Do you need to find somewhere to sit down or something?"

[hulk_whisperer]

"Yeah, that's him," Betty squinted at the girl, trying to figure her out.

The idea that she wouldn't be missed made her feel a little odd. She was glad that Bruce would still have someone to turn to, but upset that it wasn't exactly her.

"I think I'll be alright." She held out her hand to the girl, "My name is Betty Ross."

[waltsnothereman]

"No kidding," Wanda said with a small nod. Shaking Betty's hand firmly, she introduced herself. "Wanda Langkowski, Ph.D. I went to university with Bruce for, like, a semester way back in the day," she added, by way of explanation. "He was the reason behind my getting into gamma research."

[hulk_whisperer]

Betty shook Wanda's hand and then stared, "Wait, you and Bruce went to school together? Really?"

He'd never mentioned Wanda, that was for sure. She started to wonder if she was supposed to lie say something like 'Oh! He did mention you!' or 'So you're Wanda!?'

"I have a doctorate in cellular biology. Bruce and I worked on the ill-fated Gamma-protection project together."

[waltsnothereman]

"Gamma-protection project?" Wanda had studied the ins and outs of Banner's work for years, but this wasn't ringing any bells. "That one must have been pretty damn classified, if I haven't heard of it," she said, somewhat impressed. She had thought finding the original data from the gamma bomb that had created the Hulk had been a feat, to learn that there were whole projects she had missed out on was huge.

[hulk_whisperer]

"That's what my father told us it was," Betty said hesitantly. "But after Bruce's accident, all he wanted was to use his blood to make giant super-soldiers."

"When I left, Bruce --the Hulk-- was helping the General to defeat his latest and most deadly creation. The Abomination. Our helicopter crashed because he pulled it down."