Hulk (Vol. 2) #40
Omegex: Part 2
The Red Hulk is battling the Omegex robot in the middle of Boston, causing serious damage to the city. Suddenly, their fight is interrupted when Black Fog stabs his sword through the Omegex's chest. He then has electrified snakes wrapped around the robot's legs, which stun it. This gives the Red Hulk enough time to recover and hit the Omegex so hard, it is sent flying across the city again. The Red Hulk then asks the Black Fog what it's agenda is, the cybernetic serial killer tells Ross that he isn't there to kill him, yet. Watching this battle are Uravo the Watcher, and Annie, Thaddeus' LMD assistant. Uravo explains that even with the addition of Black Fog they are not powerful enough to stop the Omegex and it will keep on fighting until it has destroyed the Red Hulk. When Annie asks what is going on, Uravo explains that after the Red Hulk had struck Uatu, Earth's Watcher, sometime earlier he stood back and did nothing as the Omegex keyed into the Red Hulk's energy signatures and went on a mission to destroy him as revenge. She goes on to say that Omegex usually destroys an entire planet by imploding its core, however, it has determined the Red Hulk is a singular species and therefore won't go to those ends unless more people interfere with its mission.
Suddenly, missiles come flying down across the battle between Omegex, the Red Hulk, and Black Fog. They drop small probes that create rock drones. Ross recognizes this as a weapon utilized by General Fortean. The Red Hulk tells him to stay out of this, but Fortean arrives in his Redeemer Armor to get involved in the battle personally. When Annie tries to tell General Fortean of the threat the Omegex poses, Uravo tells her that Reggie can't hear her as they are out of synch from time. When Annie asks to be released, Uravo tells her that he will only be able to send her back to her departure point as the Watcher has interfered too much. Just then they are interrupted by Zero/One who is able to see them and bring herself out of synch with time. Zero/One explains that after her interaction with MODOK she has decided to shed her original motives of revenge as the Red Hulk played a part in her evolution. However, the Omegex poses a problem to her plans. Annie then convinces Zero/One that she might learn something of herself and how to defeat the Omegex if she pulls the Red Hulk out of time and probe his mind.
Just when the Omegex is about to land a killing blow upon the Red Hulk, he funds himself pulled out of synch with time. Annie tells the Red Hulk that if he uses his energy absorption powers he could defeat the Omegex. However, Red refuses to do so as it may burn out his ability to return to human form. Intrigued by why the Red Hulk would want to maintain his humanity, she pulls him through time to observe his life to better understand the matter. Observing the past by viewing lightwaves, they go through the course of human history to the moment the day her life changed, when the Red Hulk forcibly disconnected her from the main computer at Omnisapient, transforming her into the form of Zero/One. She states that those events made her immortal and questions how that is not a preferable state. She then compares that to when Thaddeus Ross agreed to let the Leader and MODOK transform him into the Red Hulk, pointing out how old and weak he was at the time. They view that moment, and Zero/One learns that Ross was a prime candidate for transformation because he was present during the prime Gamma event. This makes him realize he should have figured out that they would do the same to his daughter Betty. Zero/One reminds him that it saved Betty's life, and asks if that wasn't beneficial. Ross tells her it would take too long to explain while Omegex is laying waste to Boston.
Zero/One pulls up the image of the battle, by which point Omegex has destroyed Fortean's stone soldiers. Seeing Reggie in trouble, the Red Hulk demands to be sent back so he can save him, even though Fortean has been trying to kill him. Zero/One will only do so if the Red Hulk agrees to use his energy absorption powers to battle Omegex. Ross relents and is sent back, however, when he attempts to absorb the energy within Omegex it is too much for him to handle. From their vantage point outside of time, Uravo explains that Omegex draws his power from expended life forces and a similar process has no effect on him, leaving the Red Hulk without any other options.
Recurring Characters
Red Hulk, Uravo, Annie, Zero/One, Omegex, Black Fog, General Fortean, (in flashback) MODOK, Leader
Continuity Notes
Uravo mentions the Watcher's code of non-interference. This has been their credo for millions of years after their interference led to the extinction of the Prosilicans as originally depicted in Tales of Suspense #53.
She also recaps the origins of the Omegex as it was told in Hulk Vol 2 #29.
General Fortean wants to destroy the Red Hulk because he thinks that he murdered Thaddeus Ross, unaware of the fact that the Red Hulk is Ross. This is due to the fact that the Red Hulk destroyed an LMD duplicate of himself in Fall of the Hulks: Gamma #1.
Zero/One recounts her origins, as they were told in Hulk Vol 2 #25-26. She also recounts how Ross allied himself with the Leader and MODOK and allowed them to transform him into the Red Hulk, as it was told in Hulk Vol 2 #23.
In the flashback, the Leader states that Ross was present during the "Prime Gamma Event", he is referring to the original gamma bomb test circa Incredible Hulk #1. His daughter Betty was also present. She had died of radiation poisoning and her body kept in stasis in Incredible Hulk #466. Her body was later recovered by MODOK and brought back to life as seen in Fall of the Hulks: Alpha #1.
