Sensational She-Hulk #27
Game, Set and Match
Long ago on an alien world, a bizarre creature that seems to be a combination of a lizard and a crab is being hunted by an armored man named Surge! He defeats the creature and chops off its head, complaining that the hunt was too easy. He vows that the time has come for the greatest hunt of all!
Present-day. She-Hulk is at an FBI safe house in upstate New York, with a man named Woziah. He is supposed to be testifying against his former employer, the Kingpin, but he isn't cooperating. She-Hulk tries to explain that she can't cut a deal for him until he provides some information for her to bargain with. However, Woziah is not confident in She-Hulk's ability to protect him if Kingpin's assassins come after him. He remembers how the last person Jennifer tried to help, McGill, wound up taking the fall for Bono. Jennifer is forced to admit that he's right, and is depressed to think about her recent failure. Woziah tells her that if she wants him to talk, then they have to work out a deal first. Suddenly, the wall explodes and the Killer Shrike walks in! He has been sent to execute Woziah!
Outside, the Grey Gargoyle watches Shrike's attack, and grumbles about their employer sending both of them for such a simple hit. He feels that he could have taken care of Woziah easily enough on his own. He suspects that Killer Shrike felt the same way, which is why he struck first. This leaves the Gargoyle to deal with the guards. Three men surround him and open fire, but the bullets bounce harmlessly off his stone skin. Grey Gargoyle decides to make things difficult for Shrike by calling in their back-up. He activates a signal device, and then starts turning the guards into stone!
Meanwhile, She-Hulk is shielding Woziah with her body, protecting him from Shrike's power blasts! Jen is worried about slipping up again and getting Woziah killed. Suddenly, a pair of giant hands smash through the wall! Shrike calls Grey Gargoyle an idiot... the signal device doesn't just activate Dragon Man; it sends him out of control! The giant artificial creature begins tearing the cabin apart! She-Hulk takes advantage of the distraction to throw Woziah over her shoulder and make a run for it. Killer Shrike is about to pursue, when he gets caught by a blast of Dragon Man's flame breath! His costume burning, Shrike dives out of the window and into the stream. He emerges from the water, vowing to kill both the Grey Gargoyle and the Sensational She-Hulk. Jennifer is waiting for him at the shore. "Sorry, Shrikey, the 'sensational' stepped out for a while...the 'SAVAGE' is back!" She-Hulk hits him so hard he is sent flying through several trees! When he finally comes to rest, he is unconscious. Jen smiles, and says she wishes that moments like this could last forever. Grey Gargoyle says they can, as he touches her and turns her to stone!
As She-Hulk is trapped in petrified form, Grey Gargoyle rants about how he plans to use Jennifer's death to get revenge against her cousin, who broke his hand a few months ago. "I wonder what would happen to one of my little exhibits if he or she got smashed while still frozen? Would they remain conscious, aware of what's happened to them...waiting, wondering if, in that terrible moment, when their hour elapses, and they return to normal, will there be pain?" The Grey Gargoyle rushes off, promising to be back shortly. She-Hulk tries to move, hoping that her metabolism can shake off Grey Gargoyle's power, like her cousin's can. Unfortunately, that doesn't appear to be the case! The Grey Gargoyle grabs Killer Shrike's wrist and fires his power blast at Dragon Man, redirecting his mindless rampage in She-Hulk's direction!
She-Hulk's fingers start to move slightly, but it isn't fast enough as Dragon Man is about to smash her! At the last moment, Dragon Man is struck with a spear on a line, which shocks him with electricity. The weapon was fired by Surge... who has come for Dragon Man's head! Grey Gargoyle swears he'll make Surge pay for spoiling his fun. He grabs up a spear from one of the shattered trees, turns it to stone, and hurls at Surge! However, Surge snatches the projectile out of midair. As She-Hulk starts to regain her mobility, Grey Gargoyle leaps at Surge. Before Jen can warn Surge, the Gargoyle uses his stone-touch on him! Surge immediately immobilizes, but his armor has not changed appearance. The Gargoyle wonders if it is some kind of alien armor, so his power works differently. Suddenly, Surge lashes out and punches the Gargoyle unconscious! He tricked him as he had a force field that shielded him from the stone-touch!
However, Dragon Man has recovered and attacks Surge! His armor is offline and he is unable to defend himself! She-Hulk has had enough of playing damsel-in-distress, and she tackles Dragon Man and smashes him in the face! Surge watches and thinks that She-Hulk is magnificent. However, he believes that she is too spirited and free-willed to be easily tamed. He decides that she must be broken and rebuilt to his specifications! She-Hulk grabs Dragon Man's tail and swings him into a tree! He tries to flame-blast her, but she ducks under the flames and punches his jaw shut! Surge then re-enters the fight, and kicks Dragon Man in the head! Then they strike together and knock the giant out!
Surge compliments the woman on her fighting skills, but She-Hulk says to call her "She-Hulk" or "Jennifer", since she doesn't like being addressed as "woman". As Surge apologizes, he takes his helmet off. Jen is extremely impressed by Surge's handsome features. Surge then says that all that remains is to claim his prize! He raises his blade to slice off Dragon Man's head, but She-Hulk grabs his wrist! She tells him that heroes don't kill; Surge responds that he is a hunter, not a hero. He tells her that he does not hunt intelligent life forms, only savage and uncontrollable ones. He points out that Dragon Man is a danger to human life, and needs to be eliminated. Jen wonders if he is right, but decides that she can't be a killer, no matter what the provocation. She stands between Surge and Dragon Man, telling him he'll have to go through her to get at him. Surge says he has no wish to fight her but warns her that any lives that Dragon Man takes from this point on will be on her conscience. He then teleports away before Jen can say anything.
After he is gone, Jen is torn between outrage at him telling her how to do her job, and her own attraction to him. Jen calls to Woziah to come out of hiding now that all the bad guys have been defeated but is horrified to find nothing but his shredded shirt. Jen is on the verge of breaking down at the thought she has failed again.
Elsewhere, Surge and Woziah have champagne. Woziah asks if Surge thinks Jen will figure out it was all a set-up. He says there is no way she could, just like there is no way Grey Gargoyle and Killer Shrike can realize it was he who hired them to kill Woziah. The most that they'll be able to figure out is that Woziah never actually worked for the Kingpin, and the Kingpin would have denied that anyway. "Stage one is complete. Contact has been made and the seeds of doubt sown! So begins the greatest hunt of my career... the hunt for a perfect match, a fitting mate!" Surge says that he'll draw this hunt out until the time is right!
Recurring Characters
She-Hulk, Killer Shrike, Grey Gargoyle, Dragon Man
Continuity Notes
Mention is made how She-Hulk had lost her last case, as seen in Sensational She-Hulk #24.
The Gray Gargoyle mentions how he pitted his powers against She-Hulk's cousin the Hulk. That happened in Incredible Hulk #363. This story incorrectly attributes it to Incredible Hulk #364.
