World War Hulk: Aftersmash! Damage Control #3
Montana
Robin Chapel wakes up in the Damage Control offices at the Flatiron building and is brought up to speed by John Porter. He informs her that while the are 17% ahead of schedule and there are no known casualties found, he has reports the Chrystler Building somehow has become sentient and is not in the best of moods. This revelation has come as a shock to Lenny Ballinger and the heroes around him. The building has grown a face and arms and warns people to stay away or he will destroy them. Lenny decides to try to talk reason to the now sentient building. However, they discover that the building is insistent on being able to get up and move around as it pleases because it is the third tallest building in Manhattan. When Lenny fails to talk sense into the building, Goliath takes the megaphone and warns it of the danger of walking around, that it could accidentally step on people, relating to his own troubles with growing to massive size. Although they have convinced the building to wait while they figure out his needs, they are hard-pressed to figure out what the building wants.
Back at the Damage Control's headquarters, Gene Strausser and Ray Lippert are surprised to discover that the Warbound's robot, Arch-E, has once more become active. The robot vows that the Hulk will smash them for what they have done. However, when Gene tells Arch-E that the Warbound were betrayed by Miek and the Hulk is dead, the robot shorts out trying to process this information. While upstairs, Robin and John inform Albert Cleary about the issues they are facing with the Chrysler Building. Cleary can't do anything for them since he has to figure out the payroll situation for their employees since none of the banks are open yet. The pair then go down into the lab to inform Gene what is happening. Although Robin is put off by Arch-E and his constant insults, Gene insists that they will need the robot to resolve the problem. Since they have no time to rebuild the robot's body, Gene carries his head, much to Arch-E's aggravation.
Back outside, the Chrysler Building tells Lenny and the others that it just wants to be able to "stretch out its legs" for a bit since it has stood in the same spot since 1930. Not sure what kind of damage that will cause, Lenny tries to convince it that it can't, but the building just won't listen. Monstro gets fed up and decides that it is time to attack. Lenny decides to call it in and see what management wants to do. When he gets a hold of Robin and John, they are stuck in traffic with Gene and Arch-E and won't be able to make it there until they get through it. Unfortunately, Monstro and the other heroes are unwilling to wait, but they are easily trounced by the Chrysler Building. Soon, John and the others arrive and Porter tries to reason with the building. He learns that the building wishes to leave New York and do something new and different. However, Arch-E points out that the building isn't really alive, it has been repaired with the Shadow-Stone that comprised of the Hulk's Stone Ship and that it is merely experiencing the echos of people who inhabited the building. Still, the Chrysler Building doesn't care and insists on doing what it wants. This reminds John of how Robin was when she was fired from Damage Control and hired back on and decides to give the building exactly what it wants.
Some weeks later Damage Control's owner Anne-Marie Hoag meets with Tony Stark, who is impressed with the reconstruction job her organization has done so far. They both remiss on how they first founded Damage Control with Wilson Fisk many years ago and how Tony left to distance himself from the crime lord. Hoag then tells Tony how they managed to placate the Chrysler Building: They outfitted it with an anti-gravity device and it is allowed to take a vacation once a year. Although Stark thinks this is crazy, Anne-Marie convinces him that this was the best solution and he calls it a night.
Recurring Characters
Damage Control (Robin Chapel, John Porter, Visioneer, Monstro, Ray Lippert, Goliath, Eugene Strausser, Lenny Ballinger, Albert Cleary, Anne-Marie Hoag), Arch-E, New Avengers (Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Spider-Man), Initiative (Rage, Thor Girl, Triathalon, Komodo), Mighty Avengers (Tony Stark, Ms. Marvel, Sentry, Ares), Daredevil
Continuity Notes
Gene tells Arch-E how the Hulk was betrayed and killed. This was all seen in World War Hulk #5. However, the Hulk is still alive and was taken to a SHIELD facility for containment. The general public was led to believe he was killed in the final battle.
Robin Chapel was previously fired from Damage Control by Walter Delcun during his tenure as Damage Control's CEO in Wolverine Vol 3 #43-47. She was hired back in World War Hulk Aftersmash: Damage Control #1.
One of the heroes that battle the Chrysler Building is actually a Skrull spy posing as Thor Girl as revealed in Avengers: The Initiative #18.
Arch-E states that at the time of this story the Chrysler Building had been standing for around 80 years. The length of time the Chrysler Building has been standing from its construction to this story should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616.
Tony Stark states that he helped found Damage Control after the first time the Hulk trashed Avengers Mansion. He is referring to the events of Fantastic Four #25.
