Hulk (Vol. 2) #31 — Nick Peron

Mar 16

Mar 16 Hulk (Vol. 2) #31

The Next Life

At the Bookman Burn Center in Sunnyvale, California, Jacob Fineman has been undergoing treatment since he was horribly burned during the destruction at Omnisapient. The doctors manage to get ahold of Jacob's brother and bring him into the facility. However, when he learns that he is expected to pay for Jacob's treatment, his brother cuts out, as they had never been close. Stuck in a tank that keeps his horribly burned skin moist, Fineman thinks about the accident that put him in this current situation.

Meanwhile, in Llano, Texas, the Red Hulk appears at a barbecue cook-off and calmly asks for food. The people there flee in panic at the site of the Red Hulk. He is quickly joined by Annie, a LMD from Gamma Base, who has come to check on him since General Fortean tagged him with nanites that allow them to track him but prevent him from returning to human form. Annie tells him that she has been given permission to leave the base in order to be his connection out on the field. She also explains that word has been sent to Steve Rogers in the hopes they can get him to get General Fortean off the Red Hulk's back. She then scans his body to determine if there is a way to destroy the nanites. When she asks him if he has any discomfort while sleeping, the Red Hulk startles her by explaining that he hasn't slept since he was infected as he sometimes reverts back to human form while sleeping. Annie warns him that this could be dangerous, even though Ross' body doesn't need rest, his mind does. Suddenly, he hears the approach of the Thunderbolt. On board, Fortean orders a missile to be fired. In order to protect Annie from the blast, the Red Hulk leaps up and lets the missile strike him. However, this was merely a decoy that allows a second missile to pass by undetected.

Back in California, the doctors at the Bookman Burn Center the doctors are called away from Fineman to answer another emergency. While they are gone, Jacob is visited by his former boss, Parul Kurinji, who has been transformed into a creature of pure technomorphic being. She explains that this happened when she tried to stop the virus running rampant during by connecting with the central computer. However, something happened when the Red Hulk forcibly unplugged her from the computer, transforming her into this new being. Now a being that is a combination of human and machine, Kurinji explains that she has been reborn and now calls herself Zero/One. Zero/One then injects Jacob with a drug that will deaden his pain receptors and covers him in a gel that will function as his skin. She explains that she needs him as her assistant to help her work toward the future: One of creativity, innovation, and eradication.

In Texas, the second missile strikes the ground and ejects a series of mechanical spheres to the ground. When the Red Hulk returns to Annie, they figure the second missile is a dud. However, they realize their mistake when suddenly rocks begin to form together into humanoid forms that begin attacking the Red Hulk. Even though the Red Hulk smashes these rock creatures, they reform in greater numbers. At that moment, Zero/One takes Jacob Fineman to an oil drilling platform that was repurposed by Omnisapient before the accident. There he Jacob discovers that the crew of the platform has been murdered by Zero/One. She explains her plans to make the platform buoyant and the dead crew reanimated into drones to carry out their work. However, before they can begin Zero/One wants to destroy the Red Hulk, the only threat that can stand in their way. But, as an engine of creation, Zero/One cannot do it herself and will create a being who can carry out this task. While back in Texas, the Red Hulk exhausts himself destroying the rock creatures until they run out of power. They are then visited by a holographic projection of General Fortean who thanks to the Red Hulk for giving them data on this new invention and promises the Red Hulk that he will kill him before terminating the projection. That evening, the Red Hulk starts a bonfire and discusses the irony of what would happen if Reggie Fortean succeeded in killing the Red Hulk: That he'd also kill his mentor, Thaddeus Ross.

Meanwhile, in the depths of space, the Watchers known as Uatu and Uravo watch as the Omegex emerges from the Red Hole and heads toward Earth to destroy the Red Hulk. Uatu reminds Uravo that this engine of destruction cannot be stopped.

Recurring Characters

Red Hulk, Annie, General Fortean, Zero/One, Omegex, Jacob Feinman, Uravo and Uatu the Watcher

Continuity Notes

General Fortean believes that Thaddeus Ross was murdered by the Red Hulk as he seemingly killed Ross in Fall of the Hulks: Gamma #1. In reality, this was an LMD as revealed in Hulk Vol 2 #23.

Save the Date (Part Two)

A-Bomb was tricked into venturing into a mysterious cave by a woman named Chibi. However, before he can unleash whatever threat that is inside, he is stopped by the She-Hulk and Lyra. This caused a battle between the trio thanks to an image inducer planted on A-Bomb to trick him into thinking his allies were monsters.

When A-Bomb asks how they could know about the danger, Lyra shows him her personal wrist computer, Boudicca. Boudicca goes through her historical records and reveals the end of the world is started off by a series of catastrophic events that lead to the collapse of humanity.

However, Chibi appears and when Lyra tries to attack her, they discover that she is merely an illusion. The real Chibi, actually the Mayapan Goddess Ixchtel appears on the other side of the crystal that they discovered in the cavern. She explains that the fight between A-Bomb and the She-Hulks created enough energy to free them so that she and her exiled people can reclaim the world. With energy building up within the cavern, the trio flee the cave just in time to see a powerful blast of energy erupt from the top of the volcano. She-Hulk then begins contacting Bruce Banner and their allies so they can prepare for whatever threat Ixchtel and her people plan to take.