Incredible Hulk #426

Mar 4

Mar 4 Incredible Hulk #426

One Fell Off

IMG 2020 20 03 04 12 36 20 lcnb8.png — Credits

As a side effect of his merged personalities, when the Hulk has gotten angry he has reverted into his human form of Bruce Banner, but with the mind of the savage Hulk. Following the fall of the Pantheon, Banner has been locked up in a padded room while his injured wife is rushed into emergency surgery. Doc Samson comes to see Bruce and talk him out of his current rage. However, Bruce pushes past Samson and tries to make a run for it, but Leonard is easily able to catch and subdue Banner. After Samson locks Banner back in his cell, he hopes that nothing else weird happens today. Unfortunately for the good doctor, things will get weirder, as no sooner as he starts to walk away from Banner's cell does the being known as Mercy appear. When Doc Samson and his assistant, Doctor Kathy Diamond, discuss Banner's current condition he impresses upon her that they need to find a way to fix Banner's condition. When she points out that the situation is that the madder the Hulk gets the weaker he gets, Samson begins to laugh when he thinks about it. Suddenly, Betty is pushed through on a gurney to undergo surgery. When Samson tries to follow after her, Dr. Diamond tells Samson to worry about Bruce, while she tries to save Betty's life.

Meanwhile, Mercy has appeared before Bruce Banner, she remarks that she was happy to see that he had his life in order and is sad to see him in such a state. When she asks Banner what's wrong, he tells her that he wants Betty. Misunderstanding what Bruce means, Mercy tells Bruce that she will handle Betty and teleports away. No sooner is Mercy gone, do some SHIELD agents enter Banner's cell. Up in the operating theater, Doc Samson watches as Betty undergoes surgery. Unseen by Samson the spirit of Betty appears as a young girl playing jump rope and skips out of the room. Nick Fury then enters the room to tell Leonard that SHIELD will be taking Bruce into custody. When Samson protests for Banner's rights, Fury tells him it is too late to do anything and that SHIELD has the authority to take Banner now while he's helpless.

Elsewhere the spirit of Betty Banner runs into Mercy and in her infantile state, Betty talks about missing her mother. Mercy asks Betty if she would like to visit her mom and find out what to do next, the spirit of Betty agrees. As the two teleport away, Betty's body flatlines, prompting the surgeons to scramble to revive her. As Mercy and Betty fly into the sky, they spot the SHIELD transport removing Bruce Banner. Betty wants to go in for a closer look and appears before Bruce as he threatens to kill the SHIELD agents, agents who are less than intimidated by such a threat. Seeing Bruce in such agony, the spirit of Betty swears to him that she will return to him if he will return to her. When he promises, Betty gives into the surgeons trying to revive her and allows her spirit to return to her body. Banner then breaks free from his bonds and pushes past the SHIELD agents. Much to their surprise, he manages to slam through the door out of the aircraft sending him plummeting to the ground below.

While Betty's body is being revived, Banner calms down sufficiently enough to transform back into the Hulk and save himself from a fatal fall. Mercy appears before the Hulk and is not happy that he convinced her to stay, pointing out that she must love him more than she loves herself. The Hulk says he feels the same way about Betty, but Mercy puts doubt into that before disappearing once again. As Betty begins recovery, the Hulk goes to the ruins of the Mount. There he finds a pre-recorded hologram of Paris. He tells the Hulk that he is fired after his disastrous run with the Pantheon. With Atalanta and Ajax off with the refugees from the Mount, Hector, Cassiopeia, and Prometheus have abandoned the group. With Ulysses off looking for Delphi, Paris has elected himself the new leader of the Pantheon. They have abandoned the Mount and are regrouping and warns the Hulk that he has made some powerful enemies and to watch his back in the future.