The Man Within: Part 2 of 4

Cyclops, Havok, Iceman, Marvel Girl and Angel of the X-Men are out in the Nevada Desert searching for the Hulk in the hopes that their leader, Professor X, can cure him. Tracking a gamma signature and military activity, the five X-Men discover that they have actually tracked down the Hulk's foe the Abomination instead. When Havok, Iceman, and Cyclops knock the Abomination to the ground, Marvel Girl attempts to stun him telepathically. She learns that the Abomination is out searching for the Hulk as well and that the pair had fought earlier when they were attacked by the military, prompting the Abomination to flee. As the other X-Men blast the incoming missiles out of the sky, Iceman tries to restrain the Abomination in a block of ice. Angel then begins adjusting their gamma tracker to ignore the Abomination's signature. Hearing that they have a device to track the Hulk, the Abomination breaks free and tries to take it. While not far away, Bruce Banner has just finished a meal with Jeb and his wife, a couple of retirees living out of their RV. When he hears the bombs going off nearby he begins to panic and turn into the Hulk. Bruce tries to get as far away from the couple before he completely changes. Seeing Banner begin to transform, the couple flee the scene.

While back at the battleground, Cyclops manages to blast the Abomination in a sensitive nerve cluster so he drops the Angel. Marvel Girl then steps in and deflects their foe's blows with a telekinetic shield. Before the Abomination can fight his way through it, he is suddenly attacked by the Hulk who has been drawn to the area. The two gamma-spawned creatures begin trading blows as the X-Men watch in astonishment at the sheer force of their blows. The brawl is also seen by Major Glenn Talbot and his division who have been out hunting the Hulk since he appeared in Las Vegas. He orders his men to move out, as they cannot return to base empty handed. By this point, the Hulk has managed to overpower the Abomination and beat him senseless. Spotting the military convoy approaching him, the Hulk throws his foe at his pursuers. This causes the soldiers to stop and Talbot orders the Abomination be secured as it takes a higher priority than capturing the Hulk. With the battle over, the Hulk spots Jeb's RV speeding down the highway and becomes sad. This gives Marvel Girl the opening she needs to use her telepathic powers to calm him enough to revert back to Bruce Banner.

Back at Banner's secret lab, the Beast, Lorna Dane, and Professor X have finished preparing the lab for Bruce's return, unaware that they are being spied upon by the Leader. When Banner arrives with the rest of the X-Men, the Leader is most intrigued with how the situation is developing. Meeting with Charles Xavier, Banner is brought up to speed on what the X-Men hope to accomplish. Bruce tries to warn them of what he has become and the danger involved with him. However, the X-Men ignore the danger, telling Banner that helping people is what they exist for. Bruce sits in the chair where he will be put in a telepathic matrix between his mind healing device and the Professor's mutant powers. As the experiment begins, gamma energy begins to swirl around him. Banner tries to control it, but the Hulk's persona is fighting back. With the situation growing critical, Marvel Girl tries to come to the Professor's aid. Suddenly, there is a surge of gamma energy that jolts Jean. As Professor X and Bruce Banner recover, they notice -- much to their horror -- that Jean Grey has been transformed into a Hulk!

Continuity Notes

• This story takes place after and heavily references the events of X-Men #65-66 wherein Professor X repelled an invasion of Earth by the Z'nox by linking every mind on Earth. This took a heavy toll on Xavier's mind and he needed the gamma device in Banner's secret lab to cure himself.

• The appearance of the Abomination in this story is difficult when taking into account the chronology of the time. During the time this was placed, the Abomination was captured and brought to the Stranger's homeworld in Tales to Astonish #91. He later escaped in Silver Surfer #12 thanks to a group of evil sorcerers. He was later returned to the Stranger's planet by the Silver Surfer. He remained as the Stranger's prisoner as seen in Thor #178 until he finally freed himself in Incredible Hulk #137. By the end of Savage Hulk Vol 2 #2 the Abomination was captured by the military. Since this is all a scheme played out by the Leader, I would assume that he managed to find a way to teleport the Abomination back to Earth (since he has previously developed the means to teleport people too and from alien worlds as seen in Tales to Astonish #73) and then he was recaptured by the Stranger after his defeat as he had in the past.