And in This Corner... the Avengers!

Still trapped beneath the Earth following his encounter with Tyrannus and the Mole Man, the Hulk wanders around aimlessly trying to find a way back to the surface, but to no avail. Fed up of the constant wanderings, the Hulk begins trying to smash his way out. His actions do not go unnoticed on the surface, where the military has been tracking the Hulk's progress and have found that he is smashing his way to the San Andreas Fault, which if damaged by the Hulk would risk causing the whole west coast to fall into the Pacific Ocean.

In order to deal with this threat General Ross has his men prepare the Gammatron Bombarder and calls upon the Avengers to aid the military in stopping the Hulk. Answering the call are the Avengers Goliath, Black Panther, Quicksilver, Vision, and the Scarlet Witch. After a briefing, the group leaves with the military aboard an aircraft with the Gammatron Bombarder device. They track the Hulk to his very location and find no means of getting into the underground caverns below. In the meantime, the Hulk has once more become enraged at being trapped and strikes the walls of the cavern he is in. The blows cause an earthquake on the surface destroying the Gammatron device. The Avengers send the immaterial Vision down to try and engage the Hulk.

The Vision confronts the Hulk, and naturally the confused monster attacks the Avenger, who defends himself with his powers. He goads the Hulk into plowing through the roof of the cave and breaking through to the surface. There the Hulk is attacked by the Avengers, whom he manages to keep at bay when they attack him one by one. However, when they put in a united front, their attacks disorientate the Hulk. When the Hulk tries to throw a helicopter at them, the Scarlet Witch fires a hex bolt at it causing the copter to explode, jarring the Hulk enough for Goliath to swat him.

As the battle is raging, Quicksilver and Black Panther have repaired the Gammatron Bombarder device, and Goliath manages to lure the Hulk in range. Activating the weapon, the Avengers bombard the Hulk with super-strong gamma rays. While this weakens the Hulk momentarily, the jade giant manages to withstand the beams and force them back into the device, causing it to explode. With the Avengers partially disorientated due to the explosion, the Hulk tries to escape but is weakened enough that his jump lacks power and he falls into the woods not far away.

Unaware of this, the Avengers and the military depart believing that the Hulk is probably miles away, unknowingly passing by the once more unconscious Hulk, who has reverted back to his Bruce Banner persona.

Recurring Characters

Hulk, Betty Ross, General Ross, Major Talbot, Avengers (Black Panther, Goliath, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Vision)

Continuity Notes

• Betty mentions how she almost married Bruce Banner, this happened in Incredible Hulk #124.

• General Ross is not familiar this version of the Avengers as he last saw the group in Avengers #5 which still consisted of the founding members.

• This story both Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch are identified as mutants. This actually untrue due to a huge deception. As revealed in Uncanny Avengers (vol. 2) #4-5 they were experimented upon by the High Evolutionary who altered them in such a way so that they registered as mutants in order to cover up his work. Scarlet Witch (vol 2) #11 gives Wanda's powers mystical roots confirming that she is actually the daughter of sorcerer Natalya Maximoff.

• The Avengers recap the founding of the Avengers, which included the Hulk among their numbers from Avengers #1.

• Wanda mentions how she had recently lost her "mutant powers" and had them restored. They had been stripped away after being struck by a bullet in Avengers #49, but later restored by magic in Avengers #76.