Hulk Out

In the Dark Dimension, just as the Hulk and Red She-Hulk are about to clash, Doctor Strange manages to freeze time temporarily and bring out Bruce Banner in astral form to ask if he and the Hulk will be "happy" where they are. Banner answers that if the Hulk and Fin Fang Foom are kept off Earth, not endangering innocents, then he's happy, even with Red She-Hulk letting out all that repressed anger. Just as Strange's spell wears off, he is flung back to Earth into the bunker where Monica Rappaccini is keeping her wishing machine. He attempts to attack her for not bringing the wishing machine into the Dark Dimension, only to be clocked by Rick Jones. Rappaccini defends her reasoning that they need the machine in case the Hulk comes back. Just then, holograms of Amadeus Cho and Dr. Sofia Di Cosimo appear. They explained that after they were incinerated and re-materialized in the Dark Dimension, they followed Fin Fang Foom through a portal he created back to Earth, right into a facility full of gamma bombs for him to gobble down, becoming empowered by the sheer energy. Tyrannus appears, gloating that Fin Fang Foom, he plans on dominating the US once the monster's finished rampaging.

Because Fin Fang Foom still radiates 17.34 Hercs of wish power left while Rappaccini has only a little, they are few options. The latter opts to bring back the Hulk. However, Rick Jones and Jennifer Walters volunteer to absorb all the gamma energy the dragon is letting out in the form of missiles. It works, and they are transformed back into A-Bomb and She-hulk respectively. The only problem is, they've absorbed too much energy that they have gone berserk. With no choice left, Rappaccini brings back the Hulk and Red She-Hulk, who were in fact teleported by Umar to Earth upon realizing the effects their unleashed rage was causing. The two Hulks absorb the energy from Fin Fang Foom, growing into giants and stomping on the dragon. They then come into conflict with A-Bomb and She-Hulk. Cho and Di Cosimo try and get through to the Hulk, explaining what just happened and urge him to use what little wish power he has left to fix this. The Hulk grasps the wish machine with his hand and makes his wish. In an instant, everyone is turned back to normal.

Rick and Jen can now switch between their human and powered forms; The Hulk simply gave them all that they wanted. Betty Ross turns back into Red She-Hulk and attempts to use the machine to give Bruce Banner what he desires but apparently, nothing happens. As he is arrested by the military, Tyrannus muses to Betty that the Hulk and Banner are none too different. The Hulk then stomps on the ground before turning back into Banner, with his eyes glowing green. He simply says, "Yeah. You got me." and walks off.

Two weeks later, at a diner in New Mexico, Banner is sitting down, observing everything that's going on. He is then found by Cho, who had spent an immense amount of resources to locate him. Banner warns his friend that he willfully disappear soon and he doesn't want to be followed. Cho tries reminding him that he saved his family. Banner can wonder at that claim, have wondered whether the Hulk or himself is the real monster. As he walks out of the diner to hitchhike, Cho runs out to tell him that he's no different from everyone else, to have his own demons to deal with. He reminds his friend that he's a hero and asks why can't he take what he earns. Banner answers that he would break it. A familiar voice then draws his attention; it is Betty, who tells him that he doesn't break so easily. Banner then gets in the car. As they drive away, they smile at each other, before transforming into Hulks and leaping off.

Recurring Characters

Hulk, A-Bomb, She-Hulk, Doctor Strange, Amadeus Cho, Sofia Di Cosimo, Monica Rappaccini, Red She-Hulk, Fin Fang Foom, Tyrannus, Umar

Continuity Notes

• The gamma bombs found in Yuma were supposedly destroyed after by the government said it would scrap them when their existence was discovered in Incredible Hulk #465.

• Rick Jones states that he has absorbed gamma radiation twice in the "last ten years". He is referring to when he was briefly a Hulk from Incredible Hulk #325 to 332 and when he was transformed into A-Bomb circa Hulk Vol 2 #1. However, per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616 the length of time between Rick's first exposure to gamma radiation and this story happened roughly seven years prior to this story.