Breaking Point!

The She-Hulk is holding the suspension cables of a bridge that is tearing apart in the aftermath of a serious earthquake. Her strength is the only thing keeping the bridge from collapsing, and she tells the other motorists to "beat it." As the terrified commuters flee, one little kid says he hopes the She-Hulk can save them. He's rebuked by the adults who think she's a monster out to destroy them. This is reinforced by Buck Bukowski who tells the others that the She-Hulk is tearing the bridge apart just as he saw her kill an innocent woman with his own eyes.

Buck is, of course, wrong about Jill's death as he is wrong about what the She-Hulk is trying to do. She reflects on how appearances can be deceiving as she remembers a press conference she appeared in several hours ago as legal counsel to Roxxon Oil Company. Their oil is disappearing from their refineries on the West Coast, and they are facing tremendous pressure from the federal government as well as the petroleum market. Unfortunately, with the gas shortages exacerbated by the crisis in Iran, nobody is willing to believe Roxxon's claims of disappearing oil. After the conference is over, Jen runs into Buck who calls her the "gullible girl" for believing Roxxon's claims. Jen says she needs to call a cab since her car was destroyed in the accident that killed Jill. Buck offers her a ride, and Jen agrees against her better judgement. Buck is showing off his own new Porsche which replaced the Corvette that was damaged when he knocked the She-Hulk out of the way in the chase that killed Jill.. Jennifer starts to think she made a big mistake when he brags about how fast his car can accelerate. She's right.

Inside the car, Buck continues to poke fun at Jennifer, asking how she could possibly believe Roxxon's ridiculous claims. Jennifer begins to snap back at Buck, but her temper which has been slowly building up since he began needling her after the press conference boils over and she can feel herself changing. She struggles in vain to fight the metamorphosis, but Jennifer can't control it. Fortunately for her, Buck's car slows in a traffic jam on the bridge and she's able to run out safely. Buck thinks she's merely being thin-skinned and isn't a match for her in court or out. Meanwhile, Jen just makes it around a pillar of the bridge out of sight of the motorists as she transforms into the She-Hulk. As she changes, the earthquake hits, which snaps the cable.

Back to the present, the She-Hulk is the only thing keeping the bridge from collapsing, but she is beginning to lose her grip. Fortunately, the last person manages to reach safety just as the She-Hulk lets go. The emerald amazon and dozens of cars (including Buck's) fall into the Pacific.

Much later, a cold and wet Jennifer Walters in tattered clothing pulls herself onto the docks and sets forth on the long journey back home.

At one of Roxxon's refineries, the LAPD is closely guarding their holding tanks under the personal supervision of Sheriff Morris Walters himself. But nothing out of the ordinary happens except for a tremor similar to the one that collapsed the bridge Jennifer was on. At dawn the vice-president of Roxxon arrives and Morris is proud to tell him that their vigil has been a success. However, it turns out that the tanks were drained of oil anyway... despite the fact that Morris' men watched all the tanks and saw absolutely nothing.

Jennifer is taking an early morning shower after an exhausting day. She slept for a good 12 hours after reaching home the other day. Jennifer is very worried now that her transformations are becoming more uncontrollable. It's one thing to change into the She-Hulk when her life is in danger, but another when she's only arguing with an annoying colleague. Zapper stops by to check on Jennifer before she heads off to work. Jen tells him that she is losing control of her transformations. He takes a blood sample and promises to get it analyzed at UCLA's med school. As Zapper leaves, the phone rings. A familiar voice warns Jennifer that something important will happen later this night. Before Jen can ask more, the line goes dead.

At midnight, Jennifer sneaks onto another Roxxon refinery. The tip she recieved told her that this place would get hit tonight. Jen knows this is dangerous and that her father would never approve of her going alone, but Morris doesn't know her daughter's the She-Hulk and can take care of herself in a pinch. Unlike the sheriff's guards who only watched the outside of the storage tanks, Jennifer goes inside and overlooks the oil from an observation platform at the top. After several minutes of waiting, the tank is hit by another tremor similar to the quake that collapsed the bridge the other day. Looking down, Jen sees that the oil is being sucked down into a whirlpool. But Jen's plan backfires when the tremors tear the platform loose from its supports and Jen falls into the pool of disappearing oil.

Trapped in the swirling depths, Jennifer's heartbeat races in panic as she hulks out underneath the oil. But even a She-Hulk needs to breathe and the emerald amazon is in danger of drowning when she if finally able to able to reach the surface. A few moments later she is jettisoned into a subterranean cavern where the rest of the stolen oil has formed an underground lake. After swimming ashore, the She-Hulk sees The Silver Serpent, a mining and burrrowing machine made from stolen Stark technology shaped like a giant snake. She-Hulk knows only one person who uses a snake as his personal emblem and even before she sees him behind the cockpit realizes that the man responsible for this can only be Nick Trask.

Inside the Serpent, Trask is gloating to a captive Lou Monkton whom he caught calling Jennifer Walters earlier that evening. Trask plans to drive Roxxon into bankruptcy and then corner the oil market when he "discovers" all the oil he has stolen. His gloating is interrupted by the She-Hulk pounding away at the Serpent. He really shouldn't be surprised, considering he killed her mother, best friend, and last issue tried to force her and her father to kill each other in a battle to the death.

Trask responds to She-Hulk's attack by swatting her like a fly and pelting her with large stones. She fights off the stones and grabs the tail end of the Serpent where she proceeds to "crack the whip" and cause serious damage. Lou Monkton is knocked unconscious in the attack, and Trask decides to use him as his ace in the hole. He opens the hatch and tells the She-Hulk he knows that she's Jen Walters and that she will have to choose between capturing him or saving her client Lou Monkton. He then throws Monkton into the lake of oil. She-Hulk jumps in after Monkton while Trask makes uses the Silver Serpent to destroy the columns supporting the roof of the cavern to create a cave-in. The She-Hulk shields Monkton from the falling debris with her body but is helpless as Trask escapes in the Silver Serpent. But Trask's luck has finally run out. She-Hulk's attack has damaged his control panel, and it shorts out after he leaves the cavern. He is unable to stop the Serpent from burrowing deeper and deeper to the center of the Earth...

Back in what is left of the cavern, the She-Hulk is trapped under tons of rock and debris. She is determined not to die underground since that would give Trask the final victory. With incredible effort, she manages to push the boulder that is pinning her down off her back. Then slowly she begins to climb upward and dig her way back to the surface. The lack of oxygen and the strain of her efforts this evening have taken her toll and she can feel herself changing back to Jennifer Walters. By the time she reaches the surface, Jen's strength and green skin are almost gone. Still, she choose to hurl Monkton to safety rather than save herself. Jennifer falls back in the tunnel in a rockside. Hours later, Monkton awakens to hear Jennifer's cries for help. Since he was unconscious, he never saw the She-Hulk that evening and thinks nothing of the tattered white clothing that Jennifer is wearing. All he knows is that she's trapped underneath a boulder and needs his help. Jen tells Monkton she's seen enough to exonerate Roxxon and pin the blame on Trask. Monkton tells Jennifer that she owes him big time.

Buck Bukowski is upset that Jen managed to clear Roxxon and that the She-Hulk destroyed another one of his cars. He vows that one day he'll manage to get even with both Jennifer and the She-Hulk. Jen's client is extremely grateful for her efforts, although it might not look so good on her resumé. Jen answers that although that was meant as a joke, there's some truth in it since most people are willing to believe the worst of things if it's very big and powerful like the Roxxon Corporation. Silently, Jen knows it's also true about the Savage She-Hulk.

Recurring Characters

She-Hulk, Morris Walters, Buck Bukowski, Zapper Ridge, Nick Trask, Lou Monkton, Roxxon Oil