Tempest Fugit, Part 4

Trapped on Monster Island, Bruce Banner has been fighting for his life against creature after creature while also reliving moments of his adolescence. After a battle with what appeared to be Fin Fang Foom, Banner stopped to get his bearings and his mind drifts back...

... Bruce's imaginary friend, the Hulk, has convinced young Bruce Banner to get revenge against all those who have been laughing at him at school. However, when the Hulk suggests that they smash them all, Banner refuses. However, the Hulk points out that he knows all about of Bruce's experiments that he has been carrying out in an abandoned cabin in the woods. Bruce tells the Hulk to leave it alone, but the Hulk has elected himself to deal with Banner's problems. Fed up with his imaginary friend, Bruce tells the Hulk to leave him alone and walks away. The Hulk screams at "puny" Banner, telling him that he is the strongest there is...

... Meanwhile, in the here and now, Gwen and Ripley have found themselves in a bunker with Professor Yarish. Yarish claims that the island is the testing grounds for a weapon that will turn the thoughts and dreams of others into reality and that the project has run out of control. With Gwen having run off into the jungle to find a man who appears to be General Thaddeus Ross, Yarish explains the project to her friend Ripley. Ripley is completely unaware that Yarish is not a human, but really one of the Mindless Ones in disguise. While in the forest, Gwen finds the man who appears to be General Ross. Convincing her that he is all right, she turns over his gun. However, he warns her against getting attached to the people here, that she is destined for more important things. When Gwen demands to know what "Ross" is talking about, he grabs her by the hair and forces her head into the water of a nearby pond and starts to drown her.

Elsewhere in the jungle, Bruce Banner is still trying to get his thoughts together, when he is approached by what appears to be Wolverine. When Banner asks him for help, the man who appears to be Wolverine attacks him. The attack triggers a transformation into the Hulk, who defends himself against the berserker. While not far away, "Ross" has finished drowning Gwen, telling her that she needs to get back into the game. As he walks away, a snake slithers up to her seemingly lifeless body and coils around her. Meanwhile, the Hulk lets "Wolverine" cut loose on him, but ultimately the stamina of his attacker is nothing compared to the recuperative powers of the Hulk who easily withstands the barrage. As the Hulk prepares his next move his mind drifts back again...

... During a heavy rainstorm, Bruce Banner tells his Aunt Susan that he isn't feeling well and that he will be staying home from school. She asks him if he went out the night before, but Bruce says he didn't because of the bad weather. She asks if he is sure because his shoes are covered in mud and leaves, but Bruce convinces her that he didn't. Suddenly, Bruce realizes that something isn't right. When his Aunt leaves, his imaginary friend the Hulk reappears and explains that he took control of Bruce's body while he was sleeping. The Hulk explains that he went to the abandoned cabin where Bruce had been experimenting with explosives and planted one in his high school. Horrified, Bruce gets dressed and runs out of the house, hoping that he isn't too late...

Back in the real world, "Professor Yarish" has drugged Ripley, who has passed out on the floor. While out in the jungle, Gwen suddenly wakes up after being drowned. She is shocked to have survived this, and seeing her reflection in the water is surprised to discover that her hair has turned green. She suddenly hears the din of battle between the Hulk and "Wolverine" who are still fighting it out not far away. The Hulk trounces "Wolverine" and demands to know what is going on. Suddenly, he is confronted by someone who appears to be Kang the Conqueror, who claims that he must destroy the Hulk and has been pulling opponents from out of the timestream to try and accomplish this. Suddenly, the Hulk reverts back to Bruce Banner, who doesn't believe any of this. He recounts how first he had to fight the gray Hulk, then Fin Fang Foom, now someone claims time travel is involved. He has deduced that someone is trying to bombard Banner with ideas of what is really going on hoping that something will stick. When these impostors insist that their story is true. However, Banner points out that he knows that this is all some kind of game because he was able to dodge one of Wolverine's blows while still in his human form. When he points out that they still want him alive, "Wolverine" tells him that he is wrong and stabs Banner with his claws.

Banner begins to scream but suddenly realizes that he is in a straight jacket in a padded room. He is approached by Doc Samson who tells him that he just snapped out of a period where the Hulk was in control. Bruce remembers this time from just after the Pantheon fell and recounts Betty's death. Samson tells Bruce that Betty is still alive and everything he has experienced after the fact was all a dream.

Continuity Notes

• "General Ross" in this story is actually Nightmare in disguise, as revealed in next issue. He makes a comment about how he hopes Gwen will do better than her "predecessor". He is referring to his daughter the Dreamqueen, a recurring foe of the original Alpha Flight since Alpha Flight #56.

• Bruce recognizes the padded room from when he was institutionalized following the fall of the Pantheon. Those events happened in Incredible Hulk #425-426.

• Bruce mentions that his wife Betty Ross is dead. Betty died of radiation poisoning in Incredible Hulk #466. Unknown to all at the time, Betty was resurrected by the Intelligencia as seen in Fall of the Hulks: Alpha #1.

• Wolverine's costume here is patterned after his first costume he whore, back in Incredible Hulk #181.