And the Walls Come Tumbling Down!

The savage Hulk is trashing the town of Jericho, New Mexico, using Doc Samson's body as a battering ram as he lays waste to the town. Not far away are the newly formed Hulkbusters who are still pulling themselves free from their ruined battle buggy. At the same time, reporter Dianne Bellamy is reporting the attack on live television. The locals of Jericho try to gather to defend their town, but when the Hulk and Doc Samson come crashing through their meeting place, they decide that the Hulk is too much for them to handle. The Hulkbusters wonder where Bruce Banner, the man who dropped them into the middle of this war, is in the middle of all this chaos. They are unaware that Banner recently collapsed while on a cruise with his wife Betty. Airlifted to shore and taken to an ambulance, Bruce tells his wife that no matter what happens, the Hulk must die. Suspecting that this is no ordinary illness, he also tells her to get him to Doctor Fisher as soon as possible.

Back in Jericho, Doc Samson is still taking a pounding, Armand Martel gathers up armor and weapons from the wrecked Hulkbuster buggy to try and stop the Hulk himself. However, Hideko Takata stops him, telling him that to do so would be suicide. Hideko then walks toward the Hulk, and when the brute tries to attack her, she is easily able to turn his momentum against him with her Akido skills. However, these skills are limited, but before the Hulk can harm her Captain Marvel of the Avengers arrives and begins bombarding the Hulk with various energy types while she waits for the rest of her team to arrive. While at Avengers Mansion, the She-Hulk meets with her teammates in the Fantastic Four and learn that the Avengers have gone after the Hulk. With the rest of the team busy with other work, She-Hulk decides to join her former teammates in the Avengers. She rides out to Hydrobase where she picks up a Quinjet to fly to New Mexico.

At that moment, the rest of the West Coast Avengers arrive in Jericho. While Iron Man and Wonder Man plow into the Hulk. The rest of the Avengers land and tend to the wounded Doc Samson and the Hulkbusters. They explain that the Hulk is mindless and he must be killed. Soon the East Coast Avengers arrive on the scene, both Hercules and the Sub-Mariner pile onto the Hulk. Captain America then takes charge and directs the two teams on how to stagger the Hulk. This is met with irritation from the Wasp who is chairman of the Avengers. As they recover Iron Man, Wonder Man, Namor and Hercules, Captain America insists that they will not kill the Hulk unless it is absolutely necessary. While at the hospital, Thaddius Ross goes to Rick Jones' hotel room to apologize to the young man for shooting him. Rick is less than thrilled to see Ross, and reminds him how his obsessions over the Hulk have made everybody miserable. When Rick tells Thaddeus to get lost, the disgraced general returns to his own hospital room. There he is visited by a man who wants to know if Ross would be interested in getting revenge against the Hulk.

Meanwhile, in Jericho, the Avengers pile into the Hulk once more. Captain America reminds his teammates that they will not kill the Hulk unless it is the last resort. While back at the hospital, Bruce Banner arrives with his wife. Doctor Fisher explains that his recent examination of Bruce's blood determined that the process that Doc Samson used to separate the Hulk was imperfect and that both Banner and thE Hulk are losing molecular cohesion and if they are not re-merged they will both die. As the battle rages on in Jericho, the She-Hulk finally arrives. She gets in between the Hulk and the Avengers and tells her former teammates to stand down. She tries to calm the Hulk, but the gamma-spawned monster knocks her down with a single blow. With this last attempt a failure, Captain America tells the Avengers that the Hulk must be stopped no matter the cost.

Recurring Characters

Hulk, Doc Samson, Betty Ross, Rick Jones, Dianne Bellamy, Hulkbusters (Samuel La Rocquette, Craig Saunders, Armand Martel, Hideko Takata), Avengers (Captain America, Sub-Mariner, Captain Marvel, Hercules, Black Knight, Wasp), Avengers West Coast (Iron Man, Hawkeye, Wonder Man, Tigra, Mockingbird), She-Hulk, General Ross, Clay Quatermain, Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch), Edwin Jarvis

Continuity Notes

• Bruce Banner is separated from the Hulk in Incredible Hulk #315. However, this separation proves hazardous to their continued existence and Banner is forced to merge with the Hulk again in Incredible Hulk #323.

• The reason the Fantastic Four are at Avengers Mansion is because, at the time of this story, the Baxter Building had recently been blown up in Fantastic Four #278.

• Also at this time the east coast Avengers were forced to park their Quinjets on Hydrobase. At the time of this story the FAA forbade the Avengers from storing their Quinjets and taking off from Avengers Mansion. This happened in Avengers #261-262.

• Thaddeus Ross shot Rick Jones in Incredible Hulk #319.

• The man in shadow is revealed as Clay Quartermain next issue.

• She-Hulk recounts how the Hulk had recently trashed the town of Stoneridge. That was in Incredible Hulk #316.