It hurt, opening up like that. The Hulk’s anger was raw, sharp edges and hooks, as destructive as the being it powered, but Summer had faced her own rages and she gritted her teeth and held on. One minute … two … the deluge of anger abruptly ended and she staggered back, the fire wavering, then vanishing.
Summer went to her knees, hard, then crumpled over to her side. With the last vestiges of energy, she jerked her shields back up. “Did I stop him?” she tried to say to anyone nearby.
By the time Tony got there, Bruce was shrinking down to his normal size and regaining his normal complexion, so he wasn’t worried about him. But Summer… Tony dropped to a knee beside her.
“He’s Bruce again,” Tony said gently, looking her over for any physical harm done. “You… You all right?”
“There’s a lot — aaaghh — a lot of pain,” she whispered. A muscle in her arm clenched, and her hands trembled. “But I’ll be oka—” A spasm in her back cut off that sentence and pulled her out of her fetal curl. “Take me away from here. Too much input. Please,” she whispered.