Warbound Part V

Across from Madison Square Garden, the Angel, Hercules, and Namora wait to see if Amadeus Cho can talk the Hulk out of forcing Earth's heroes to fight to the death. Angel wonders if they had chosen the wrong side in this battle, but Hercules and Namora are convinced that Amadeus is brave enough to accomplish his goals.

Meanwhile, Amadeus Cho has managed to sneak into the Gardens and find where the hulk has been keeping the captured heroes prisoner. However, the Hulk has found him and is not impressed with the fact that Cho has been speaking with his prisoners. Reed Richards warns Amadeus to run, however, the boy refuses to leave as he is sure the Hulk won't kill him. When the Hulk tosses his massive sword at the boy, it pins him to the wall, sliding harmlessly between his torso and his arm, proving Cho's point that the Hulk doesn't kill. But, when the Hulk tries to slam his fist into the wall, Amadeus is pulled to safety by Scorpion. However, the impact causes the ground beneath them to collapse, sending the pair falling into the sewers.

The Hulk follows after them but when the Scorpion tries to fight him, Cho knocks him out. A Death's Head unit then arrives and tries to blast the boy, but he takes it out with a well-timed flick of a pebble that bursts a pipe and washes the robot away. Having earned a reprieve, Amadeus then shows the Hulk what he plans to do to help him out. He explains how he has purchased a large amount of decommissioned military land in New Mexico that he intends to build into a sanctuary for the Hulk called Gammaworld where he can be left alone. This new home will be defended with a special dome that will prevent anyone who is not a gamma mutate can enter. The Hulk isn't impressed, telling the boy that he hasn't come here to hide from humans but to kill them all. Cho doesn't buy it, still insisting that the Hulk never kills. The Hulk then mentions numerous times where he has taken a life, but Cho counters by pointing out that the Hulk was either not in control of himself, or was acting in self-defense. When the Hulk points out that he also smashed the Red King of Sakaar, Cho doesn't believe it counts because that was war, likening him to Captain America killing Nazis during World War II. The Hulk then grabs Amadeus and leaps out onto the side of Gardens and points to the ruins of New York City and tells the boy that this is also war.

Amadeus Cho then points out that if he was planning on killing Earth's heroes he is stalling on it. The boy theorizes that the reason is that the Hulk knows that no matter how responsible the Illuminati were for the destruction of Crown City, they didn't do it intentionally. The Hulk explains that he isn't going to kill them, he is going to force them to kill themselves. Hearing this, Cho realizes that he can't get through to the Hulk and calls in his Renegades to help him. He then distracts the Hulk long enough for Angel to swoop in with the Scorpion. When the girl smacks the back of the Hulk's head, she infuses him with a venom that wreaks havoc on his gamma-irradiated physiology. Cho asks what happened, and the Renegades explain that they have been on the wrong side of this conflict the whole time and the Hulk must die. No wanting this, Cho goes up to the Hulk and tells him that he has convinced him that he is a killer and that everyone he loved who died is all his fault. This angers the Hulk that it pushes his healing into overdrive to fight off the poison. The Hulk gets up and tries to crush Amadeus under a rock, but the Renegades come to his aid.

The Hulk then screams in Cho's face and then slams his fists on either side of the boy, burying him in the rubble. When the Hulk leaps away, the Renegades dig Amadeus out and he tells him that he is certain the Hulk is not a killer, as he pushed him as hard as possible and the brute didn't kill him. Hercules hopes he's right and hopes the Hulk does the right thing in the end.

Recurring Characters

Hulk, Renegades (Amadeus Cho, Hercules, Angel, Namora), Scorpion, Miek, Elloe Kaifi, Tony Stark, Mister Fantastic, Doc Samson, Kirby

Continuity Notes

• In this story, Amadeus Cho and Hulk argue over the different times the Hulk killed people and the reasons behind them:

  • The Hulk first mentions the town of Stoneridge, which he destroyed while on a rampage in Incredible Hulk #316. However, as Amadeus points out, the Hulk was separated from Bruce Banner at the time (As seen in Incredible Hulk #315) making him a mindless brute until they were merged back together in Incredible Hulk #323.

  • Cho also mentions that the Hulk destroyed Avengers Tower and defeated many of Earth's heroes. These events happened in World War Hulk #1-2.

  • The Hulk mentions how he killed Trauma twice. The Hulk first killed Trauma in Incredible Hulk #416 and again when his father Armageddon tried to revive Trauma in Incredible Hulk #464. As Cho points out, the Hulk did this both times in self-defense.

  • Also mentioned is Failan the assassin from K'ai, whom the Hulk killed in Incredible Hulk #148. What isn't mentioned here is the fact the Failan somehow cheated death and was last seen in Incredible Hulk Annual 2001.

  • The Hulk mentions how he smashed the castle of Lord Visis. That happened in Incredible Hulk #156, then the empire of the Red King, which happened in Incredible Hulk Vol 2 #102.

  • Lastly, the Hulk mentions, yet again, how the Illuminati exiled him to space (Incredible Hulk Vol 2 #91) and the destruction of Crown City (Incredible Hulk Vol 2 #105).

• Amadeus mentions the three women that the Hulk has loved who were believed to be dead at the time of this story:

  • Jarella, the queen of K'ai, who was killed by falling debris in Incredible Hulk #205.

  • Betty Ross, Bruce Banner's long time lover and wife. She was killed by radiation poisoning in Incredible Hulk #466. However, unknown to everyone at the time of this story, she had been resurrected by the Intelligencia as revealed in Fall of the Hulks: Alpha #1.

  • Lastly, he mentions Caeira the Oldstrong who was seemingly killed when Crown City was destroyed in Incredible Hulk #105. However, while her physical body was destroyed, her spirit lived on within the Old Power on the planet Sakaar, as revealed in Skaar: Son of Hulk #1.