Always on My Mind

Somewhere in the mountains, Bruce Banner mourns the loss of his wife in the rain. His mind reeling overseeing his wife's lifeless body being kept in stasis and images of her killer, the Abomination. Inside his mind, Bruce struggles for control his Professor and Joe Fixit personas try to talk sense into him. However, Banner is too distraught by the situation and eventually, his emotions get the better of him until the savage Hulk takes over, both inside Banner's mind and in the physical world. Once the transformation is complete, the Hulk screams Betty's name before leaping off into the evening sky.

Meanwhile, in New Hampshire, the Abomination is teaching one more writing class with his students at a local library. He tells them that he has taught them everything he knows about storytelling. He informs them that he is leaving and for their safety, will not tell them where they are going. He ends the class by reading a piece of poetry. While he is doing so, Larry, the agent that General Ross planted in the class sneaks out into the hallway to inform Ross of this latest development. Thaddeus tells his man to follow the Abomination so they know his exact location and informs them that the Hulk is coming.

That evening, the Abomination awakens at the bottom of the lake he sleeps in after thinking about the letter he wrote to his class saying goodbye. Looking up at the full moon above him, he is surprised when he sees the Hulk coming in for a landing. The Hulk lands right into his foe who is surprised that it took Banner this long to find the rage to come after him. The two then begin a titanic battle that shakes the very earth they stand on. Watching the situation from a helicopter is General Ross. He witnesses as the Abomination knocks him into a nearby reservoir, and orders the nearby town of Ducan evacuated. The two behemoths continue trading blows on even footing until the Abomination manages to draw blood. This angers the Hulk even more and he finds new strength to battle against his foe. Soon the brawl is picked up by the local news media. When Angela Lipscombe sees the story, she quickly shows Doc Samson what is going on.

Back at the scene of the battle, the Abomination drags the Hulk back into the waters of the reservoir, but the gamma-spawned brute manages to crack open the dam, flooding the immediate area and breaking free from the Abomination's grip. The Hulk then resumes his attack on the Abomination, laying into the foe like never before. The Hulk's rage continues to increase thanks to the fact that the whole time the Abomination is mocking the death of his wife Betty. The Hulk's fury reaches the point where he is willing to beat the Abomination to death. Bludgeoned within an inch of his life, the creature formally known as Emil Blonsky tells the Hulk to do it, to finish him off once and for all. The Hulk is about to do it, but hesitates, and his anger subsiding reverts back into Bruce Banner, who is horrified by what he has done. No sooner is the battle overdoes the military come in and detain the Abomination. Banner is furious that General Ross used him like this, but Thaddeus points out that Bruce allowed himself to be used.

Banner chastises his former father-in-law for being so callous in his pursuits, pointing out that even he lives with the curse of the Hulk on a daily basis, Bruce Banner always has a conscience. Later, the Abomination is contained at Area 51 in the same device that once held the Hulk in stasis. There, Bruce Banner visits his old foe for hopefully the last time. When the Abomination continues to mock him, Banner tells him to turn his attention to the screen above. What he sees is intelligence footage of Emil Blonsky's last meal with his wife Nadia before his mission to the United States that ultimately led to his transformation into the Abomination. In this footage, he and Nadia embrace and the woman tells her husband "No matter what happens, I'll always love you!" The Abomination begs Bruce to turn off the video feed, but Banner explains that he won't and it will play on a continuous loop so that Emil can finally understand the hell that Banner has lived every day since his wife was murdered. Bruce tells Blonsky to choke on it and leaves, his enemy begging for mercy until all that is left are his screams. As Banner walks out of the facility he turns into the Hulk and leaps away.

Recurring Characters

Hulk, General Ross, Abomination, Doc Samson, Angela Lipscombe, Nadia Dornova

Continuity Notes

• There are numerous mentions to the fact that Bruce's wife, Betty Ross, had just recently died. She died of radiation poisoning in Incredible Hulk #466. The Abomination revealed his involvement in Incredible Hulk #473-474. She will be eventually resurrected, as seen in Incredible Hulk Vol 2 #62.

• The Abomination accuses the Hulk from keeping his wife Nadia away from him. This is a somewhat skewed perspective of the events of Incredible Hulk #382-383 where a mentally unhinged Abomination kidnapped his ex-wife and the Hulk rescued her.

• Nadia’s characterization here and in later issues are vastly different than her prior appearances listed above. The limited series Hulk: Destruction #1-4 has the Abomination state that he actually had two wives named Nadia. While that series made many references to events that happened on Earth-616, Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #2 points out that that series took place in Reality-5901. The following volume of the handbook also features a profile about Nadia that makes mention of this as a footnote, but states that it has not been confirmed or denied that there are two Nadia’s on Earth-616. Special thanks to an eagle eyed reader of the Index who reminded me of this point.