The Last Waltz

The Hulk is dancing with his wife Betty Banner at the after party of Rick and Marlo's wedding. Betty tells Bruce how Rick and Marlo are going to leave town to go on their honeymoon. With Marlo moving out, Betty has decided to give Bruce another chance, so she can find the man she fell in love with to begin with. She then informs him that she wants to move in with him at the Mount. Meanwhile, on the rooftops, Talos the Tamed drinking his shame. He thinks of how he is a disgrace to his fellow Skrulls, partially due to his inability to change shape. Deciding that he has had enough, Talos jumps off the roof and hits the pavement some 50 stories below. Inside the hotel, Betty answers Rick's call to talk and goes to the room that he is sharing with Marlo. Rick wants to get something off his chest since Marlo is in the bath. He tells Betty that he hopes that him and Marlo getting married hasn't hurt her feelings. Betty isn't sure what he is talking about and Rick explains that he thinks Betty has a thing for him, that's why they kissed a while back when Marlo was still in her catatonic state. Hearing this causes Betty to burst out in hysterical laughter.

Meanwhile, in his own hotel room, the Hulk goes out onto the balcony because he thought someone flew past the window. Looking down he sees that someone attempted to commit suicide. The Hulk decides to jump down and see what he can do. The Hulk is surprised that the jumper is one of the Skrulls who attended Rick's wedding. Talso explains that he was testing Earth's gravity and will leave after the Hulk does something for him. When the Hulk asks what that is, Talos hits him and says he wants the Hulk to kill him. This starts a battle that is being observed by Skrulls in Earth's orbit who are all rooting for the Hulk to kill Talos. As the two fight it out, the Hulk is on the defensive and demands to know what this is all about. Talos does nothing more than continue his attacks in an attempt to make the Hulk angry. Knocking the Hulk onto a mock sailing ship, the Skrull explains that he intends to die with honor as he has been disgraced in the face of his fellow Skrulls.

Back upstairs in the hotel, Betty's laughter is finally subsiding. Just then Marlo comes out of the bathroom before Rick can find out what was so funny. When Marlo also asks what is so funny, Betty blurts out that Rick thinks she is in love with him because they kissed. This horrifies Rick, but Marlo bursts out laughing as Betty goes off into another peal of laughter. Down below, the Hulk and Talos continue to fight it out. The Skrull explains that he overcompensated for his lack of shapeshifting ability by becoming one of the most feared warriors in the empire. This all ended one day when he became a prisoner of the Kree, his capture ruined his honor and made him the laughing stock of the empire. Thanks to this, Talos insists that he must die a warrior's death. He has chosen the Hulk to be his killer because of his reputation as a fierce warrior who killed Trauma of the Troyjans. However, the Hulk refuses to kill anybody. While back upstairs, Rick learns that Betty told Marlo about the kiss sometime ago and neither has a problem with it. Surprised by this turn of events, he asks if they should tell Bruce, to which both women emphatically tell him no.

As the battle rages on, the Hulk is getting made enough to follow through with Talos' hopes of dying. However, the thoughts of Betty believing in him make him hold back with some restraint. Deciding to turn the situation around, the Hulk suddenly stops fighting and begins pleading to Talos to spare his life. Disgusted by the Hulk's sudden cowardice, Talos teleports back aboard the Skrull ship. There he is happy to see that he has had his honor restored in the eyes of his fellow Skrulls.

Recurring Characters

Hulk, Betty Ross, Rick Jones, Marlo Jones, Talos the Tamed

Continuity Notes

• Rick mentions the time he kissed Betty, which happened in Incredible Hulk #406. This was during a period where Marlo was in a catatonic state between Incredible Hulk #400-406.

• The Hulk mentions how he used to work as a mob enforcer in Vegas for a time. This happened between Incredible Hulk #347-359.