Man Hunt (Part 4)

While trying to capture the Mad Thinker and Klaw, the two She-Hulks are caught in an avalanche when Klaw released a massive sonic burst. The manage to dig themselves and the Mad Thinker out of the snow. They are about to put him aboard the Gamma Jet and look for Klaw when he suddenly bursts out of the snow astride of Byte, the sonic-powered Gammaroid created by the Thinker. He is furious that the two women ruined his chance of being returned to normal. Lyra leaps up onto Byte and shoves Klaw's sonic blaster into the android's maw, causing sufficient feedback to cause the android to blow up. After taking the Mad Thinker and Klaw to Gamma Base, the two She-Hulks return to their condo. There, Lyra takes a bubble bath and she talks about the troubles she is having balancing her life as a Hulk with the new civilian life she had adopted. Jennifer tells her that protecting those you care about is a sacrifice that is needed to be made when you are a Hulk. She then tells Lyra that they both need to get ready as She-Hulk has a date with Wyatt Wingfoot while Lyra has to go to her school formal dance.

Meanwhile, at Gamma Base, the Hulk goes down to the holding cells where the final members of the Intelligencia that has been captured. The Wizard scoffs at the Hulk, telling him that if he was Banner more often he'd have realized that he developed a method of escape. The Hulk reminds him that his cell is unbreakable, but the Wizard still insists that he can escape. Having been able to cobble together anti-gravity tech, the Wizard surprises the Hulk by making the entire cell lift up and rocket out of the holding area.

At that moment, Jennifer is having a drink with Wyatt Wingfoot on the balcony on her condo. As the two begin to get romantic, she receives a call from the Hulk. Instead of answering it, she drops her communicator into a glass of champaign. Meanwhile, Lyra arrives at Midtown High School with Amelia Hopkins for the dance. No sooner have they arrived does Jake Constantine snatches her up for a dance. As the two begin to dance, Jake explains that the lights are down low to encourage kissing. As the two work themselves up to that moment, Amelia watches from the sidelines in tears. When he friends ask if she is okay with this, Amelia says she won't get in the way of true love. However, just as the two start to kiss, Jake is blasted in the back by the Wizard who has arrived to get revenge against Lyra for his capture. Lyra transforms into her Hulk form to battle the Wizard. However, he easily overpowers her and is about to land a killing blow when She-Hulk arrives and ambushes the Wizard. She-Hulk easily trounces the Wizard, telling him that he had no right to attack Lyra as his beef was with her.

In the aftermath of the battle, Lyra's classmates blame her for what happened and call her a freak. When the girls ask Amelia if she knew that Lyra was a Hulk, she tearfully denies it. She-Hulk tells them that they have to go. Leaving out the back door, She-Hulk denies Lyra's request to say goodbye and see if Jake is okay. She tells her that part of being the Hulk is to protect the people they care about, and that includes walking away from them. After dumping her dress in a nearby garbage pail, She-Hulk and Lyra head home.

Recurring Characters

She-Hulk, Lyra, Hulk, Wyatt Wingfoot, Amelia Hopkins, Jake Constantine, Mad Thinker, Klaw, Byte, Red Ghost, Wizard

Continuity Notes

• Last page is an homage to the last page of Amazing Spider-Man #50.