There Will Be Doom

Weeks Ago

The Hulk arrives in Latveria for an agreed upon meeting with Doctor Doom. The Hulk explains that Doom was not his first choice. The Doctor is hardly surprised and has heard of the various villains that he had approached in the past, then asks what the Hulk wants. The Hulk tells Doctor Doom that he wants to be separated from Bruce Banner for good. Doom scoffs at this as it has been tried before in the past with minimal results. The Hulk points out that this is a challenge worthy of Doom, as it gives him the opportunity to humiliate Banner by doing something Bruce had always thought impossible. Doom tells the Hulk that there will be a price to pay. The Hulk is more than willing so long as it doesn't involve killing anyone or helping Doom take over the world. Doom is satisfied and tells the Hulk that he has already devised a means of separating him from Banner. However, he warns the Hulk if he tries to renege on their deal, he will ensure that they will never be separated ever again.

Now

The Hulk is assisting the Mad Squad in trying to take down Bruce Banner. Having come to Banner's private island they find themselves battling an army of animals that have been mutated by gamma radiation. Lost in thought, the Hulk is swallowed by a massive snake but manages to snap out of it and fight free. Hulk then confronts the creatures and tells them to stand down. However, they refuse to stop fighting as they wish to win the love of their father. The Hulk ensures them that it is a good way to die and lashes into them. During the battle, Commander Doom, and Mister Gor take this as an opportunity to use BRAIN to go after Banner. When the Hulk protests this, Amanda points out that the Hulk had his chance but flubbed it.

With his would-be allies gone, the Hulk convinces the mutated animals that they are not Banner's children, but his prisoners. They realize their foe is right when they consider the fact that their "father" always yells and hurts them. They then ask if the Hulk can restore them to normal. The Hulk tells them that if he can, he will, and goes into the jungle. There he finds a small monkey who writes on a chalk board. The message orders the Hulk to love their "father" or the little ape will kill him. The gamma-spawned monster scoffs at this, but the monkey surprises him when it transforms into a powerful Hulk form.

Meanwhile, Amanda and her allies find Bruce Banner in the jungle. He has been waiting for them and is armed with high-tech weapons. He refuses to surrender or be stopped by them, prompting Amanda to order Banner killed.

Then

In Doctor Doom's lab, the Hulk has been strapped onto an operating table for the coming operation. With the mind of Bruce Banner as submerged as deeply as possible, the Hulk tells Doom to begin but refuses sedation as he wants to be aware of everything in the event the Doctor tries anything funny. Doom then begins by sawing off the top of the Hulk's skull with an Adamantium chainsaw....

Now

The Hulk attempts to fight the gamma-mutated monkey, but the creature can quickly switch between forms. Realizing that it is no match for the Hulk, it reverts to normal form and throws radioactive feces into the brute's face before darting into the jungle to escape the Hulk's wrath. Meanwhile, Amanda and Mister Gor send BRAIN to attack Banner, but he manages to incapacitate the creature and reprogram it to attack Amanda. Furious, Mister Gor opens fire on Banner, but the mad scientist is protected by his personal force field. He mocks Gor's past, recounting how the hunchback was almost killed by his own mother before being rescued by a scientist who Gor ultimately betrayed.

Then

Doctor Doom has succeeded in cutting open the Hulk's skull and explains that in order to separate him from Banner he must remove every portion of the brain that they share that holds the Banner identity. Regardless of the risks involved, the Hulk agrees and soon passes out from the pain of the surgery. When he wakes up, he finds himself suspended in a tank of healing fluid across from another tank where a cloned body of Bruce Banner is being created.

Now

Having mocked Gor to the point of tears, Banner decides to leave them to their fate while he continues the next phase of his plans. While not far away, the Hulk continues to try and catch the monkey, but it is too agile for him. The ape is suddenly grabbed by one of the mutated tigers who tells the Hulk to continue on his mission while they deal with it.

At that moment, Amanda has no other choice but to fire her gun into BRAIN, seemingly destroying the creature. With the immediate danger over, Amanda tells Gor to pull himself together and not allow Banner to get into his head. Once Gor gets himself composed again, Amanda then leads the way to Bruce Banner's lab.

Elsewhere, the Hulk continues on his search for Banner, thinking about when the surgery was complete. How Doctor Doom succeeded in separating them and implanting the mind of Banner in a clone body. When he finally confronts his other half, the Hulk thinks about how Doctor Doom questioned what the Hulk was going to do now that he no longer had Banner to hold him back and then begins discussing his fee. As the Hulk and Banner begin to fight it out, Amanda and Gor find a completed Gamma Bomb waiting for them inside Banner's lab...

Recurring Characters

Hulk, Mad Squad (Amanda Von Doom, Mister Gor, BRAIN), Doctor Doom, Bruce Banner (clone), Hulked-Out Monkey

Continuity Notes

• Doctor Doom mentions that the last time the Hulk and Banner were separated it reduced the Hulk to a mindless brute and leaving Banner's body to break down. He is referring to the events of Incredible Hulk #315-323.

• Doctor Doom mentions the separation of Banner and the Hulk from Incredible Hulk #315-323. However, this is not the most recent attempt at that time, as he had been separated more recently in Onslaught Marvel Universe #1 and merged with Bruce again in Heroes Reborn: The Return #4. Doctor Doom should be aware of this considering he was present during those events. One could presume he didn’t mention that time because it was not done through scientific means.