Incredible Hulk: Nightmerica #2

Mar 14

Mar 14 Incredible Hulk: Nightmerica #2

Nightmerica Part Two

Agreeing to help Chrissie Cutler to help find her friends being hunted by the Wright-Armstrong Corporation, their first stop is the home of Manny Joslin who is dead by an apparent suicide. Bruce tells her not to touch anything, in case this is a frame-up somehow and wonders if they might have been able to fake Manny's suicide. Chrissie believes that it is possible and she seeks comfort from Bruce. She explains that Manny volunteered to be experimented on by Wright-Armstrong who were working on a creating super-soldiers. They had ratcheted up his perceptions as though he was on speed all the time. She explains that her parents worked on the project and that after a time she came to see that the W-A experiments didn't always work properly. With Bruce's help, Chrissie has Manny's body put in a trunk and they dig a grave for him. She goes on to explain that as time went on Manny's mind began to deteriorate around the time that Wright-Armstrong started to get caught in scandal and her parents died. She was then shipped off to private school in an attempt to cover up what was going on. After years of secret communication with her friends, she learned everything that was going on and decided to find everyone and bring them back together and take them to a new sanctuary that has been set up for them. When Bruce asks about a word written on Manny's wall, she tells him "Nightmerica" was the name that Manny gave the facility she grew up in.

The two drive to the town of Paducha, Kentucky, where they go shopping for extra clothes for Bruce since he goes through them so quickly due to his transformations into the Hulk. She then suggests they act normal and go for lunch, and then hit up a photo booth. They then get a motel room together, which Bruce is not entirely comfortable with, especially with the xenophobic attitudes in rural Kentucky. When Bruce notices that Chrissie is nursing her injured elbow, she insists that it's okay and they go to sleep. The following morning, Bruce wonders if Chrissie's car has been bugged when suddenly a massive shadow of a wing creature passes overhead. Chrissie quickly pulls Banner back inside and explains that what they saw is Stealth, a razor covered flying experiment created by Wright-Armstrong, and the maniac that killer her family. The pair then take a charter bus out of town. Along the way, Chrissie uses a special device given to her by an ally named Intergalactic, which allows her to set up Bruce with a fake identity so they can rent a car.

They pick up the car in Effingham, Illinois, and follow Chrissie's directions to a roadside attraction called the Eighth Wonder of the World. When they arrive, the place is locked up tight, forcing them to break in. Inside, they set off a booby trap, resulting Banner getting hit in the head with a pile of rocks. He begins to transform into the Hulk but manages to regain control and prevent the transformation. They begin looking for Chrissie's next ally, someone she calls Deadbird. They find him hiding behind a sarcophagus, Deadbird replies warning them that he has a gun. Chrissie convinces him to come out, and out emerges a humanoid with a crow's head and wings. It's clear that Deadbird is sick because he has been out of the facility for years. Chrissie convinces him that she and Bruce have come to help. When Deadbird recognizes Banner, he is amazed that Bruce is with her and agrees to come along.

Later, Bruce purchases an RV in Lerna, Illinois, so they have more room to pick everyone else up in their travels. As Chrissie takes the wheel, Bruce talks to Deadbird and he clears the air about his defensiveness. The avian bird-man explains that his body is suffering from energy dissipation that is affecting the integrity of his body and recharging requires a device that he no longer has access to since he left the facility. Later, Bruce and Chrissie stop for food and she talks about how her parents met and laments about how unromantic it was. It's then that Bruce suddenly realizes that her parents were Edgar and Rosetta Cutler, he read their papers in school and offers his sympathies. Chrissie changes the subject and admits she brought up her parent's romance because she is starting to develop feelings for Bruce. Banner tells her that he can't allow himself to have feelings for anyone anymore because it just gives the Hulk something new to smash. They are soon on the road again, and Deadbird tells Bruce about his theory that the morphogenic technology that recharges him could also be potentially used to cure him of turning into the Hulk. Bruce, having heard of so many possible cures, isn't quick to accept the possibility. Noticing that Chrissie has feelings for Bruce, Deadbird then warns Bruce against hurting her.

Soon they stop at a medical supply store in St. Louis where they purchase a wheelchair as it will be needed for their next rescue. Soon with they are given coordinates from Intergalactic that bring them into the neighborhood where their next ally is. They soon pull into a neighborhood that is a total slum. At first glance, Deadbird asks for his gun back.