Heart of the Monster (Part Two)

Beneath Las Vegas, the Hulk and his allies are trying to prevent Tyrannus and the Red She-Hulk from using the wishing well created out of the Fountain of Youth by Monica Rappaccini. Unfortunately, Amadeus Cho made an ill-advised wish for help while the Hulk, She-Hulk, and A-Bomb are busy fighting a creature. This, in turn, caused the well to summon Fin Fang Foom, the Bi-Beast, the Wendigo, Armageddon, and Umar. The creature they are fighting is crushed by Fin Fang Foom who challenges the Hulk to test his might and is sent sprawling by a single blow from the gamma-spawned monster. As the other villains demand to know what they are doing in this location, Umar points out that Cho was responsible. Not recognizing that these are foes of the Hulk, Amadeus asks them to help his friends. He quickly learns that they all have a grudge to bear against the Hulk, particularly the Bi-Beast and Armageddon. Bi-Beast, Wendigo, and Armageddon all try to attack Amadeus and Monica, but he shields them with his Banner Tech shield. Umar then uses her magical powers to incapacitate their attackers and offers to take the wishing well off their hands. Cho calls out to Hulk for help, but when the Hulk lands he ends up in the water, splashing it all over himself, his allies, and his foes.

Someone makes a wish, and suddenly the Hulk and Amadeus find themselves teleported above ground on the streets of Vegas. There, Amadeus spots the Red She-Hulk but she gets away. Cho explains that they need to get to her because she was the first person who made a wish, and all subsequent wishes are a parenthesis of her own. When he tries to explain this to the Hulk, he doesn't understand, so Cho asks to talk to Banner. Before he can, suddenly a large portion of the Las Vegas strip begins to rip out of the ground, becoming a brand new floating city for the Bi-Beast. Amadeus tries to convince the massive android to help get the innocent people off his new floating island. However, the Bi-Beast refuses, saying that Wendigo wished for a great source of food. The Hulk leaps in and strikes the Wendigo before it can eat any of the people. Then, before Amadeus can stop him, the Hulk wishes for a real fight. Suddenly, Wendigo and the Bi-Beast grow to massive size. As the Hulk battles his two titanic foes, they crash into the Avengers Casino. Fearing for the safety of the people inside, Amadeus Cho wishes that they are all someplace safe, and suddenly find themselves teleported to the front lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C.

With the floating island evacuated, the Hulk is able to cut loose on his foes. To this end, he grabs Wendigo's tail and loops it into the two mouths of the Bi-Beast and forces the android to bite down. This causes sufficient pain that Wendigo attacks the Bi-Beast. While the two are fighting, the Hulk jumps up as high as possible, hitting the floating island launching the two giants off into the desert. The island begins to fall, but the Hulk manages to make it land in the space it was lifted from without anyone getting injured. Amadeus Cho appears before the Hulk via hologram with the President. As the President thanks the Hulk for his help just as the Bi-Beast and Wendigo slam into the side of a massive ship wished into existence by Armageddon. The alien ruler announces that he intends to conquer and enslave everyone on Earth. The President is concerned for the safety of the millions of people below Armageddon's ship, but Amadeus assures him that the Hulk has everything under control. However, aboard the alien ship, Armageddon has just defeated She-Hulk and A-Bomb, is confident that the Hulk will not be in control for long.

Recurring Characters

Hulk, She-Hulk, A-Bomb, Amadeus Cho, Monica Rappacini, Red She-Hulk, Fin Fang Foom, Bi-Beast, Wendigo, Armageddon, Umar

Continuity Notes

• Two of the Hulk's foes are particularly angry with the Hulk.

  • The Bi-Beast states that the Hulk was responsible for destroying the city of his masters and creators, twice. The Hulk seemingly destroyed Sky-Island in Incredible Hulk #169 and Defenders Vol 2 #7.

  • Armageddon says that the Hulk killed his son twice. The Hulk originally killed Armageddon's son Trauma in Incredible Hulk #416 and foiled Armageddon's plans to resurrect his son in Incredible Hulk #464.

• The President of the United States is depicted as Barack Obama in this story. This should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616.

• The Hulk scoffs at the President's congratulation, saying that he will probably shoot him into space again. He is referring to the time he was exiled to planet Sakaar from Incredible Hulk Vol 2 #91-105.