Exit Strategy

The Red Hulk has been sent to Monster Island to assist A-Bomb in stopping another Scorched Earth doomsday weapon. While trying to prevent a horde of monsters from escaping the island, the Red Hulk was forced to return to human form. When A-Bomb is later incapacitated, Ross finds himself along against a lone monster and unable to change back into the Red Hulk. Ross tries to fend off the monster with a stick, but it is of little effect. Just before the creature can eat him, Thaddeus is rescued by the Hulk who has come to save him. When the Hulk grabs Ross and carries him away, it angers Ross enough to trigger a transformation back into the Red Hulk and he strikes at his green counterpart in order to be let go. However, before they can come to blows, the two Hulks are forced to work together when more monsters arrive. The pair fight the creatures into retreat and go and check on Rick. A-Bomb is still incapacitated from the strange tree sap that knocked him out earlier. The Hulk is sure that A-Bomb will survive and will have Banner look at him, what is more important is the fact that the entire Scorched Earth operation is being run from inside a nearby volcano. Picking up A-Bomb, the two Hulks leaps to their destination.

Along the way, they fight their way through monsters, including a swarm of flying beasts that can fire energy from their tails. The two Hulks get past them and onto the edge of the volcano. It is here that the green Hulk informs Ross that Banner had lied about no longer having the ability to absorb forms of energy. This angers the Red Hulk, but he keeps his mind on the mission, focusing his rage on one of the flying creatures and absorbing the energy it fires at him. With the Red Hulk powered up, they leave Rick behind to stop the Scorched Earth program. Smashing their way into the facility they discover that it is a massively complex computer-controlled by a number of cloned MODOK brains run by faceless Life Model Decoys. While the Red Hulk deals with the LMDs, the green Hulk tries to smash the brain-computer. However, these brains are able to force a reversion back to Bruce Banner. Banner warns the Red Hulk to escape before he is forced to power down and cave in the volcano. However, the Red Hulk doesn't want to give up, absorbing all the energy around him, the Red Hulk manages to resist the influence of the brain clones to smash them, ending the threat of Scorched Earth. However, the fluids keeping the brains alive begins flooding the room, threatening to drown Bruce, but he is saved by A-Bomb.

In the aftermath of the battle, Banner explains that he lied to Ross about his energy absorption powers because he discovered a startling fact about his transformation: The energy absorption abilities will eventually burn out Thaddeus' ability to transform either robbing him of his power or his humanity. Still, Banner congratulates the Red Hulk for stopping Scorched Earth. Meanwhile, in a hidden location, a group of faceless LMDs is alerted that the Scorched Earth computer has been shut down and initiate the backup plan. MODOK has programmed them to restore him without the fragility of his humanity. Through a cloned body they recreate their master as MODOK Superior.

Recurring Characters

Red Hulk, Hulk, A-Bomb, MODOK Superior

Continuity Notes

• It was revealed that MODOK needed to clone his body in order to replace organs that would burn out on a regular basis. He also used his cloned brains for other functions. This was revealed in Fall of the Hulks: Red Hulk #1.

Things Best Left Unseen (Part II)

Uravo the Watcher has been tasked with searching for Uatu after he abandoned his post watching over the planet Earth. She finds him in the Red Hole of Dargalla, where he stands over the bodies of various alien explorers who have come here and died. He explains that these aliens have come seeking the power of a creature that lives inside the Red Hole. Uravo recalls how the creation inside the Red Hole was the result of a conflict between the Dargallans and Kryihd. With the Dargallans winning the conflict, the Kryihds detonated one of their own planets to power their doomsday machine, a construct called the Omegex, which adapted itself to eradicate the Dargallans. When the Omegex completed its mission, the Kryihd brought it to this Red Hole to deconstruct it. Instead, it rebooted its annihilation protocols and the Omegex then slew its creators. With the cycle repeating itself, the Omegex detects the bio-signs of a formidable race and adapts itself to wipe it out. The Red Hole was then moved farther out into the universe so the process of adaptation and genocide could be slowed.

Uatu explains that the time for the Omegex to return is moments away. Suddenly, the machine reveals itself. Having adapted a humanoid form, Uravo doesn't understand what it could have picked up as Watchers are undetectable by the machine. Suddenly, she realizes that the Omegex detected the residual energies of the Red Hulk off Uatu's body and is now heading to Earth to destroy him. Uatu facetiously comments about how much of a pity that will be.

Recurring Characters

Uravo and Uatu the Watcher, Omegex

Continuity Notes

• The motivation for Uatu to have the Omegex hunt down the Red Hulk is because he managed to strike the Watcher back in Hulk Vol 2 #4.