Unbound

Bruce Banner and A-Bomb are shocked to discover that Red She-Hulk is, in fact, the former's wife, Betty. Skaar tells Banner to get over it, as they need to help the other She-Hulks against Hulked-Out Heroes in Washington. Banner shouts at him that he was the one who stabbed her, even though Skaar reasons that it was to save him but Banner only sees that his son wants to kill him himself. Skaar, grabbing Banner, corrects that he came to kill Hulk, but his options can change. Banner then focuses on Betty, urging her to change back into Red She-Hulk. However, she refuses to.

She explains that when she was stricken by cancer, her father kept her in cryo-stasis so that the Leader could save her. The transformation into a Hulk was so intense that she actually liked smashing through anything in her way, up until she nearly killed her father, who was revealed as Red Hulk. She then seemingly dies, with her apparent last words telling her husband to save the world. Though everyone thinks she's dead, Samson then appears, correcting that they just have to make her mad. She then wakes up, changes into Red She-Hulk and begins pulverizing Samson for all that he had done to her. She is stopped by a Hulked-Out Amadeus, whose Cathexis Ray Generator mutation affected him differently, giving himself a big brain. The problem is, unlike what happened with Red Hulk, Red She-Hulk, A-Bomb, Harpy, and Samson's transformations who were perfect, Leader's overloaded combined use of the Cathexis Ray Generator and the cosmic energy have made the affected heroes unstable and will burn out in twenty-four hours. Luckily, Banner has unhooked the other four of the eight smartest men on the planet from Leader's virtual reality machine. As Skaar, A-Bomb, and Betty go out to fight Hulked-Out Heroes, the genius heroes go to confront Leader and M.O.D.O.K. Unfortunately, the Leader has no interest in fighting and dispatches his Humanoids to deal with them. Luckily, Cho's Hulked-Out brain enables him to reconfigure the laws of physics within ten feet of him, giving them an edge and enabling Cho to disable the Leader's power and tech. As Cho battles M.O.D.O.K., Leader attempts to stop the other heroes from reconfiguring his machinery. Banner intervenes before he can, giving him two punches and a kick for the people he mutated before snatching his gun, pointing it at Leader's head. Leader mocks that Hulk himself couldn't bring himself to kill his foe. Banner corrects that he's not Hulk. Then suddenly, Banner is distracted, as Cho is knocked off balance in his fight, allowing Leader's tech to restart, enabling him to escape and sabotage the Helicarrier's engines.

With time-wasting, the heroes work as fast as they can to finish the job. In the meantime, Cho reverts M.O.D.O.K. back to George Tarleton. Once their work is complete, they are able to reverse the Cathexis Ray Generator process, returning Cho to normal. However, the containers begin to overload, at which Banner grabs onto them, for he is the only one who can hold that much energy. Mr. Fantastic is more concerned about what would happen if he becomes Hulk once more, at which Cho points out that this is what Skaar was trained for. Mr. Fantastic tries insisting there must be another way, but Banner states that it's the only way to save their friends and family. Samson joins in too. However, he can't absorb that much energy and begins to become affected. With his last breath, Samson tells Banner that he and Betty have always believed in him before nothing more than a skeleton is left of him. As the gamma energy starts to fill Banner, he urges everyone to run.

The Helicarrier then crashes into the ground, sending a shockwave across the entire U.S. Out of the wreckage, Hulk emerges. Gladdened at this, Skaar primes his stone form and prepares to finally kill his father.

World War Hulks continues in Hulk (Vol. 2) #23

Recurring Characters

Hulk, Skarr, A-Bomb, Red She-Hulk, Black Panther, Amadeus Cho, Beast, Wasp, Mister Fantastic, Intelligencia (Leader, MODOK, Doc Samson), She-Hulk, Savage She-Hulk, Wolverine, Iceman, Thor, Sub-Mariner, Storm, Fantastic Four (Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing), Spider-Man

Continuity Notes

• This story happens concurrently with Fall of the Hulks: The Savage She-Hulks #3, World War Hulks: Wolverine & Captain America #2 and World War Hulks: Spider-Man & Thor #1.

• Betty Ross recounts the events that led up to her becoming the Red She-Hulk:

  • Her death by radiation poisoning in Incredible Hulk #466.

  • When her father put her body in stasis in Incredible Hulk #467.

  • The Intelligencia recovering Betty's body in Fall of the Hulks: Alpha #1

  • Red She-Hulk seemingly killing She-Hulk in Incredible Hulk #606. This we revealed as a LMD in World War Hulks #1.

  • Red She-Hulk battling Samson and Skaar in Incredible Hulk #607.

  • Discovering that her father was the Red Hulk in Hulk Vol 2 #22.

A Wake for War

Axeman Bone follows Hiro-Kala deep into the unknown hole they're falling through. Hiro-Kala falls through water, to which Axeman Bone stops his fall with his axe wedged in the wall. The former sees a strange object at the bottom.

As he tries reaching it, a voice comes from it, calling itself the Worldmind, the living embodiment of K'ai. It summons its guardians, called the War-Mind, to attack Hiro-Kala because the Worldmind fears him while doing psychoanalysis of him.

Ultimately, Hiro-Kala gains mastery of the War-Mind and orders them to attack Axeman Bone, before going to the surface to confront his followers...and enemies.

Recurring Characters

Hiro-Kala, Axeman Bone