Once in a Lifetime

Living an idyllic life with his wife and children, Bruce Banner has been plagued by nightmares. After receiving a phone call from a stranger who claimed that this is all a dream, Bruce Banner went to a run-down motel for answers. He finds himself face-to-face with his Joe Fixit persona, who is worn down and emaciated. Fixit explains that he and the Professor have been trying to get through to him for what seemed like centuries. The nightmares, were the work of the Professor even though Fixit thought a direct approach was better. Now with the Professor gone, for what seems like centuries, Fixit decided to take matters into his own hands. Joe explains that Banner has constructed this fantasy world in his mind after seeing his dead wife held in stasis. These claims are impossible to believe and he insists that his wife is safe and sound at home with their two daughters. Banner refuses to listen anymore and as he leaves, Joe Fixit warns him that he cannot keep running from the truth, that this is all the doing of the Devil Hulk persona and that the big green monster Banner has been dreaming about is what they really are. Banner flees from the hotel, trying his best to ignore the words of the strange gray-skinned man, but he is still troubled by the encounter nonetheless.

As Banner walks home he is lost in thought, along the way he pauses outside a barbershop window and is horrified to see that the man sitting in the barber's chair is the lizard demon that he saw the night before. Suddenly, he hears a scream, but he looks around and cannot find its source. Banner tries to resume his normal life, but everywhere he goes, more and more people are being replaced by strange reptilian monsters. He finds them on the golf greens playing with him and Thaddeus, on the streets, and at work where things are growing tenser. Back home, it seems like the only place that is still normal, that is until he goes to sleep and the nightmares persist. One night he wakes up and thinks he sees the green behemoth from his dreams lurking around outside in the rain. Bruce then starts to go see a psychiatrist to talk about the dreams, but this too is one of the lizard demons. He tells the creature that it seems like things are slipping away from him, how he tried to go fishing with his father again but he never showed up. When he asks what he should do, the creature tells him that he should try and put these things out of his mind.

As he walks home that afternoon the city is suddenly attacked by the massive form of the Savage Hulk. As the creature rampages through the city, Bruce is picked up by one of the lizard demons who drives him back to his family home. Inside, Bruce and his family are safe from the Hulk's rampage outside. Seeing the Hulk in action suddenly makes Bruce remember everything, that this is all a dream, and that in the waking world his wife Betty is dead and he has no family. He is the Hulk and he lives a life of constant torment. As the reality sinks in, Bruce's family begins to fear for his health. Bruce beings to understand that this is not real. The Devil Hulk appears and tries to convince Bruce that this is as real as he wants it to be. The Devil Hulk offers to give Bruce all this and more in exchange for allowing it to take complete control of his body. Bruce thinks about this for a moment, he tells his wife that he loves her more than anything in the world, but he cannot stay here because it isn't real. He kisses his wife goodbye and tells his children that he is taking their dog Slimy out for a walk. He goes outside where the massive Hulk is still rampaging.

He confronts the Hulk who threatens to "Smash Puny Banner!", Bruce responds by telling the Hulk that he always does. The Hulk then hammers down on Banner and there is a massive explosion. In a sleazy hotel somewhere, Bruce Banner wakes up for real for the first time in ages. With tears in his eyes, the only word he can say is that of his departed wife, Betty Ross.

Recurring Characters

Hulk

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.