Hulk (Vol. 3) #16
The Ω Hulk: Chapter Twelve
With his life coming to an end, Doc Green and Bruce Banner spend time communicating with one another via a whiteboard. The two vent their mutual frustrations for each other. However, the two agree that they must work together now and decide to go and find their cousin, Jennifer Walters. This has brought them to Brooklyn where they find She-Hulk waiting for Doc Green with an army of SHIELD soldiers, the Invisible Woman, as well as Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, and the Vision of the Avengers. They have come to stop Doc Green from depowering the She-Hulk as he has done with all the other gamma mutates on Earth. However, Doc Green tells them that he only wishes to talk to his cousin. She-Hulk agrees to talk, but Captain America and the others are not willing to leave the Hulk to his own devices. Doc Green responds by giving them to the count of ten before things get violent, however before a fight can start, She-Hulk steps in and reiterates that she will talk with her cousin. To smooth things over, Doc Green offers to leave the syringe of his gamma cure outside. It is snatched out of his hand by the Invisible Woman as soon as it is insight. With the threat to Jen's powers out of the way, the two Hulks go into a nearby building to talk. The first thing she asks him is where Lyra is. Doc Green tells her that it is complicated and when he tells her what happened she reacts angrily.
Thinking that She-Hulk is under attack, the other heroes come crashing into the building and attack Doc Green. The Doc doesn't fight back, telling the Avengers that he deserved that but insists that he has come to confess his sins. She-Hulk demands to know if Lyra is alive or dead. However, Doc Green cannot give her any definite answer but believes that she might still be alive. He explains that Lyra's banishment to another reality was caused by the machinations of his artificial intelligence. Doc Green explains that there is one thing the A.I. wants: his body, but refuses to give it up. Unfortunately, time is not something he has a lot of, he explains that the Extremis that has made him the smartest man on the planet is breaking down and eventually Doc Green will revert back to the savage Hulk. He then tells Jennifer that she is lucky, as she is the only person who had become a Hulk and not has their life ruined by it. When she asks if an Extremis supplement might help retain his intelligence. Doc Green tells her that he has thought of this, but he is afraid that in keeping his intelligence he will become an even greater monster something driven only by hate. He tells her of his fears of turning into the Maestro, and that part of his reasoning for depowering Hulks was to eliminate potential rivals to future plans of global conquest.
That's why he brought the antidote this day, not to use on Jennifer, but on himself when he finally does return to being a savage. Although the effects will be temporary, it will give the Avengers the time they need to deal with him as they may. With the task of finding Lyra and stopping Gammon still a priority, Doc Green says farewell to his cousin. He then tells her when she sees Bruce Banner again, to tell him that he had cried. As he walks off, Doc Green begins researching Gammon's recent activities when he is suddenly interrupted by Betty Ross. He apologizes for depowering her, saying that he had made mistakes in the past. Betty says that she also needs to apologize, but to Bruce Banner. Doc Green is exasperated but relents. Bruce returns and as Betty apologizes for having him shot Banner goes over the data he and Doc Green have collected on Gammon. When Betty realizes that he hasn't been paying attention to her apology she begins to laugh and the two finally kiss.
Recurring Characters
Doc Green, She-Hulk, Betty Ross, SHIELD (Maria Hill, Invisible Woman), Avengers (Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Vision)
Continuity Notes
Doc Green mentions that the gamma bomb explosion that created him. That happened in Incredible Hulk #1.
He mentions how She-Hulk is a member of the Avengers and was part of the Fantastic Four. Jennifer joined the Avengers in Avengers #221 and has been a long-standing member of that group. She was a member of the Fantastic Four on two occasions from Fantastic Four #265-301 and FF Vol 2 #1-16.
She-Hulk points out that the Hulk had also been an Avenger. He helped found the group in Avengers #1, but left shortly thereafter in the following issue. In recent times (relative to this story) the Hulk had returned to the Avengers in Avengers Vol 5 #1 until he was made intelligent with Extremis in Hulk Vol 3 #4.
Doc Green fears that he will turn into the Maestro, an evil version of himself in a possible future. As the Hulk, he met the Maestro in Incredible Hulk: Future Imperfect #1-2.
Betty apologizes for having Bruce Banner shot in the head. This happened in Indestructible Hulk #20. Betty's involvement in the matter was revealed in Hulk Vol 3 #8.
Welcome Home
Randall Jessup and Daman Veteri have been spending days trying to track down Lyra for Doc Green and finally narrowed down the dimension in which she had been banished. With their employer nowhere to be found, the two scientists device to take the matter in their own hands. Gearing up with combat suits and weapons they enter the interdimensional portal to search for the missing She-Hulk. With weapons powered by their fear, they find themselves among hideous monsters. Horrified by their sight, their fear is adequate to power the weapons and they open fire. However, as they begin to calm down, the weapons run out of power and they are knocked aside by a tentacled monster.
Daman then switches to plan B and injects Randall with a serum that will temporarily allow him to turn into his Inhuman form. Transforming into his monstrous Inhuman personality, Randall lashes into the monsters. Still, they are outnumbered and defeated when Randall's powers wear off. They are then taken prisoner by a creature which Randall dubs "Lady Gorath" and taken to the monsters queen. There they are surprised to see that Lyra has taken over this realm and made herself queen. There they learn that the dimension used to be run by the tyrannical males, but after Lyra defeated them she took over and liberated the citizens of this world. The former warlords of this dimension are now her harem.
Randall and Daman are greatly impressed and when Randall high fives Lyra, he activates the device that sends them all back to Earth. Lyra demands to be sent back but learns that it cannot be done, and she becomes mad. However, the two men beg her to spare them and that they will do anything she wants. This offer intrigues Lyra and soon she finishes the job that was interrupted by Doc Green: shutting down a Roxxon fracking operation. After finishing this mission, Lyra returns to her new home where Randall and Daman have become part of her new harem. When Randall asks if they will be partaking in any "harem duties", Lyra tells him to do 8000 push-ups and then they will talk.
Recurring Characters
Randall Jessup, Daman Veteri, Lyra
Continuity Notes
Randall briefly resumes his Inhuman form in this story. He was transformed into an Inhuman after being exposed to the Terrigin cloud. Ultimately, his Inhuman DNA had been restricted thanks to special genetic inhibitors. This was chronicled in Indestructible Hulk #16-20.
