That evening, Tony was fine-tuning the Mark III's arm armor in his laboratory when JARVIS's voice suddenly cut in.
"Sir, I have found a match regarding Dr. Bruce Banner's whereabouts."
A satellite map of South America appeared on the holographic screen. The view zoomed in level by level, locking onto a remote town in Brazil. Rows of low, tightly packed buildings, winding dirt roads, and the dark green edge of a vast tropical rainforest in the distance. Coordinates and a place name were marked above the map.
"Porto Verde. Dr. Banner is currently there, under an unknown alias. In addition-"
JARVIS switched the satellite image to thermal imaging. "Several military armored vehicles are converging on the area. Their search radius has steadily narrowed over the past six hours. Judging by their deployment pattern, they have already pinpointed his general location."
Tony set the wrench in his hand on the workbench and stared at the points of light on the thermal image. The vehicles formed a line in the darkness, like a string of ants crawling slowly along the highway, heading straight for Porto Verde.
"Lynn was right. He's already been exposed." Tony took off his goggles. "Can you pinpoint Banner's exact location?"
"No, sir. The local housing density is too high. Although the satellite resolution has reached its theoretical limit, roof structures and vegetation prevent us from obtaining usable optical images. Thermal imaging also cannot distinguish a specific individual's body heat signature within a dense crowd."
"Then let's try another angle. Look up the local guarana soda factory."
"Search complete. There is only one guarana soda factory in Porto Verde, approximately four hundred meters east of the town center."
Tony picked up the Sling Ring beside the workbench and spun it around his finger. Over the past two months, he had become proficient at opening portals. Although he still refused to acknowledge magic, his arrival points were far more accurate than before. Orange sparks blossomed in the middle of the laboratory. Beyond the spinning ring lay a dim dirt road with scattered streetlights, the air thick with the cloying sweetness of tropical plants mixed with fermenting sugarcane.
He stepped through.
The guarana soda factory was a two-story concrete building, its exterior painted a faded green. Several rows of empty glass bottles were stacked by the entrance, reflecting faintly beneath the streetlights. Tony was about to head toward the front door when he caught sight of a group of people standing in the alley beside the factory.
A local girl had been cornered against the wall, with three thuggish-looking men surrounding her. Their leader wore a tank top, and his forearms were thicker than her thighs. He was saying something in Portuguese, his tone flippant. The girl took a step back, her shoulders already pressing against the wall.
Then a thin figure stepped out from the side.
Bruce Banner wore the soda factory's gray-blue work uniform, with a pen tucked into his breast pocket. He looked like an entirely different person from the man in those academic conference photos on television.
"You won't like me when I'm... hungry."
The thug-looking man laughed at him, then turned to exchange a look with his companions as if they were looking at an idiot.
Tony leaned against the corner of the factory, arms folded, watching the scene. He did not immediately approach, merely raising an eyebrow.
A second before the thug reached out to shove Banner's shoulder, the soda factory's owner suddenly appeared at a second-floor window and shouted for Banner to leave at once, getting him out of the predicament.
After seeing the beautiful woman off, Banner returned to the foot of the building where he rented a room.
"So even our great scientist can fly into a rage for a beauty." The words were in English, delivered with the trademark Stark teasing tone.
Banner turned to see Tony Stark leaning against a utility pole beneath his shabby apartment building. The streetlight stretched his shadow long, while the shadow of his hat brim hid most of his expression.
"Stark."
"So you know me. Saves me an introduction." Tony straightened away from the utility pole, his hands in his pockets. "Our brilliant Professor Banner looked downright dashing rescuing that beauty."
Banner did not respond to the joke. He glanced toward both ends of the alley and took half a step back.
"The great Iron Man, Mr. Tony Stark, showing up in a Brazilian town you can't even find on a map can't be a coincidence. Who told you I was here?"
"A friend," Tony said. "He knows about your situation, and he knows the military is almost here. I'm not here to capture you, Banner. I'm here to get you out."
"I don't need getting out."
"Then why are you bottling soda at a factory? Experiencing life? Gathering material for your next academic monograph?"
Tony took a step forward. "Listen, I know you want to solve the Hulk problem yourself. Someone called Mr. Blue is helping you. Am I right?"
Banner's expression changed. His eyes narrowed slightly, and the curve of his mouth flattened. He became prey that had been hunted so long that the slightest disturbance made it prick up its ears.
"Who told you?"
"The same friend," Tony said. "He also asked me to tell you that Mr. Blue's method won't work. At least under the current conditions, it won't cure you, and it'll create something even more troublesome. But if you leave with me now, he has a way to help stabilize your transformation into Hulk. Not a cure, of course. Just control."
Banner remained silent for a long while.
Tony did not rush him. He simply stood there, the streetlight casting a layer of warm yellow light over him. Dogs barked in the distance, mingling with samba music playing on a radio. The fruit stall on the street corner had already closed, leaving only empty wooden crates stacked at the foot of the wall.
"How can you help me?" Banner asked.
"Not me. Him again," Tony said. "My job is to get you out of Brazil. His is to give you a plan that lets you coexist with Hulk."
Banner lowered his head and looked at his hands, covered in soda syrup. Over the past few years, those hands had crushed military vehicles, smashed through concrete walls, and swept countless fully armed soldiers aside like toys. Every time his heartbeat quickened, it was like disarming a bomb's fuse.
"Why should I trust you?" Banner raised his eyes. "Your ties to the military..."
"You should know I've already shut down Stark Industries' weapons division. In front of the whole world! Do you think I'd hand you over to those people?" Tony's tone suddenly turned serious. He spoke a little more slowly, with less mockery.
Banner fell silent for another few seconds. He looked up at the beams of headlights faintly flashing along the distant mountain road. Those points of light swept through the night, heading toward the center of Porto Verde.
"My things are still upstairs."
"Then you'd better hurry. There were quite a few American troops nearby looking for you before I got here!"