Incredible Hulk (Vol. 2) #40

Mar 12

Mar 12 Incredible Hulk (Vol. 2) #40

Boiling Point

In a trailer outside of the town of Miser, Colorado, Officer Sally Riker gets ready for work, however, she cannot stop looking at a newspaper clipping about how she resigned from her post as a negotiator for the Denver SWAT division. Meanwhile, in town, an advertising agent named Harry reads the news about how the Dow Jones has plunged. He pulls a bottle of liquor out of his desk and chugs it. He then wanders to the window and looks outside at the city below. At that very moment, Bruce Banner is let out of a logging truck just outside of town. As Banner walks into town, Sally dumps a hand full of pills out of a prescription bottle and contemplates swallowing them all. In town, Harry gets a letter from management telling him that due to recent downsizing his job is being terminated. Harry sits for a moment in reflection before opening the top drawer of his desk, revealing a gun.

Not long after, Bruce Banner walks into a convenience store to purchase some food. He is followed by Harry who holds the clerk at gunpoint and demands that he empty out the cash register. As he is herding all the other customers into one part of the store, an officer comes into the shop. Harry wheels around and shoots the officer in the chest. He then warns everyone else to not cross him or they will get the same. Banner contemplates turning into the Hulk and how easily it would be to disarm the man. However, the thought of one of the patrons getting shot by accident stops him from following through on this idea. As the officer radios for back-up, Harry grabs one of the kids in the store and orders everyone back. Banner tries to maintain his calm by thinking of his late wife Betty. At that moment, Sally Riker gets a phone call telling her she is needed at the scene of the shooting. Having dumped the pills instead of swallowing them, Sally quickly rushes out the door.

Back at the Ready Mart, Harry once more demands that the cashier empty out the register. Bruce tells him not to do this, and Harry turns the gun on him. Harry threatens to shoot Bruce if he thinks about trying to be a hero. Bruce assures him that he will keep things frosty and that he doesn't want anyone to get hurt. As he says, this the convenience store is surrounded by police, while a news helicopter circles overhead. When Sally Riker arrives on the scene, she learns that the hostage-taker doesn't want to talk to them. Despite the condescending tone from her fellow officers, Sally takes control of the situation. She then calls the phone in the store. Bruce is made to pick it up. She asks "Bruce Jones" to turn the phone over to the shooter. However, Harry isn't interested in talking, he demands that the officers vacate the area in five minutes or he will start shooting hostages. Shen then begins coaching Bruce on code phrases, particularly the phrase "everything's cool" to communicate that there is actually trouble. She tells Bruce to tell Harry to wait for a minute to make his demands while she speaks to her supervisors.

However, as Sally begins trying to figure out what to do next, she thinks back to the bank robbery that led to her quitting the Denver SWAT team. It was a bank heist and while she was negotiating to get the hostages released when the robbers opened fired and people died. When Bruce calls back to tell her that Harry is becoming impatient, she tells him that they will negotiate some of his demands if he lets the wounded officer go free. Suddenly, some black SUVs arrive at the scene. The head of this group identifies himself as Agent Pratt of the FBI and tells Sally that he is taking over the hostage negotiation.

When Pratt takes the phone and talks to the civilian on the inside, Pratt reveals that he knows he is speaking to Bruce Banner. This comes to a shock to Banner and Harry notices. He demands to know who he is talking to and Bruce tells him that they are with the FBI. Outside, Riker protests having negotiators switched, but Pratt points out her previous track record with hostage situations. This doesn't phase Sally who demands the opportunity to at least formally transfer authority to him with the hostage-taker inside. When she tries to explain this to Bruce, he has Harry's gun to his throat. He tells her that "everything is cool" before the line terminates. As Agent Pratt takes overtakes over the situation, one of Sally's colleagues asks what's going on. Sally isn't sure, but there is certainly more going on that meets the eye.