...And Here There Be -- Demons!

Having begin making progress unlocking the mind of the Hulk, the Puffball Collective begins trying to convince the Hulk help it get back to its world, offering to show the Hulk the way home after. Hearing mention of his home causes all the Hulk's memories come flooding back. Getting through to the Hulk, the Puffball Collective then tells him of its own origins. How it lived on a world as part of a more massive collective. One day, some of the Puffballs discovered a strange cairn and it unleashed some ancient evil. As it began slaying the Puffball Collective, some of its number managed to flee through a portal into the Crossroads dimension. A portal that has since been sealed by a mystical barrier. The Collective explains that it seeks to return to its world in order to liberate its world and be reunited with the greater Collective.

The Puffball Collective then takes the Hulk to the portal back to its home to show him that it is blocked off. The Hulk agrees to try and break through the barrier. Using all of his strength, the Hulk manages to shatter the mystical chains and wall that bars their path. Crossing over into the Puffball's world, the pair find it a ruined wasteland. Exhausted by his ordeal, the Hulk is convinced to sleep by his apparent friend. Once the Hulk slumbers, the Puffball Collective proclaims the Hulk a fool and suddenly disburses. As the Hulk slumbers, three beings who call themselves the Triad appear. They are the female Guardian, the demonic Goblin, and the starlike Glow. They have been watching the Hulk his entire life and particularly now while the mind of Bruce Banner is gone. Fearing that the Puffball Collective is now a threat, the Triad rouse the Hulk. As soon as the Hulk wakes up, the Triad disappear. The gamma-spawned monster wakes up in enough time to be attacked by a N'Garai demon.

The Hulk is overwhelmed by the savage attack of the demon, prompting the Triad to return and goad the Hulk into fighting back. When the Hulk downs the demon, he suddenly finds that he is surrounded by more just like it. The Hulk is then confronted by the Puffball Collective, and it reveals the truth of its exile to him. It was a rogue group of the Collective and it intentionally released the N'Garai in order to gain power. Although the demons were running wild on its own world, the rest of the Puffball Collective banished its betrayers to the Crossroads, barring it from ever leaving. Now free from its exile, the Puffball Collective intends to bring the N'Garai to the Crossroads so the demons can conquer more worlds.

Faced with a no-win situation, the Triad convinces the Hulk to flee the scene. As he flees, the Hulk willingly activates the failsafe spell to send himself to the Crossroads. From there he goes to the portal to the Puffball Collective's world. There the man-monster is able to reseal the portal, trapping the N'Garai on that world. In response, the N'Garai turn on the Puffball Collective. Safe again, the Hulk returns to the signpost at the Crossroads. There he is visited by the Triad again, who promise the Hulk that they will always be with him.

Recurring Characters

Hulk, Triad (Guardian, Glow, Goblin), Puffball Collective

Continuity Notes

• The mind of Bruce Banner commits "psychic suicide" in Incredible Hulk #299 leaving the savage Hulk in control of his body. This lasts until Incredible Hulk #312.

• When the Hulk's memories return he recalls the following moments:

  • His origins as depicted in Incredible Hulk #1.

  • Joining the Avengers in Avengers #1.

  • His first battles with the Abomination (Tales to Astonish #89-91), and the Rhino (Incredible Hulk #104).

  • A parade being thrown in the Hulk's honor as seen in Incredible Hulk #279.

  • The Hulk being banished by Doctor Strange to the Crossroads in Incredible Hulk #300.

• The narrative of this story reminds readers that the N'Garai are the same creatures that were seen in Uncanny X-Men #143.