The Incredible Hulk #4

[fan4]

The Incredible Hulk #4
Monsters, Part 4
Conclusion

Written by Timothy Eklund (rodan)
Edited by Aaron Martel

Previously in The Incredible Hulk:

Bruce Banner and Rick Jones found a cave, where they fought a strange creature. Bruce was captured by the handsome man and the Abomination. They got him to transform into the Hulk, then the handsome man revealed his true, ugly form, and mind-controlled the Hulk into capturing citizens of the Desert Base, who were then irradiated with gamma radiation, and all died except for Leonard Samson, who gained super-strength. Leonard got Hulk to transform back into Bruce, and they defeated the Abomination before going after the Leader, who had captured Betty Ross. Rick was shot, but managed to crawl into another part of the cave that was filled with strange technology and writing. He was then captured by a strange, red-skinned man with wings, who tortured him into telling him what the human race’s weakness was. Rick lied and told him it was salt.

[fan4]

Bruce Banner and Leonard Samson raced down the corridors of the complex.

“Which way is it?” yelled Bruce.

“I don’t know!” Leonard yelled back.

Then they both heard a faint scream. “Betty!” yelled Bruce. “I’m coming!”

He sprinted down the chrome hallways towards the sound, so fast that Leonard could hardly keep up. As they neared the source of the noise, there was a dull “thwacking” sound, and the screams ceased. “Betty!” Bruce yelled again.

The pair rounded the corner and found themselves in a large room filled with various boxes. On top of a higher walkway stood the Leader, who was clutching an unconscious Betty and a pistol.

“If you’ve hurt her…” Bruce glared at the Leader, who cackled.

“I haven’t hurt her at all! It’s you I’ll kill! Besides, someone like this can provide certain… pleasures.” The Leader grinned, and Bruce had a hard time keeping his anger under control. He couldn’t transform now; then all would be lost.

The Leader fired, and the pair leapt out of the way and behind some boxes just in time. The Leader laughed, and fired again, but the boxes were made of strong metal and the bullet ricocheted.

Bruce and Leonard’s eyes met for a second, and then they leapt into action. Leonard dived at the Leader and took him by surprise as Bruce circled around and grabbed Betty. Bruce ran for the door as Leonard knocked the Leader down before following Bruce.

They arrived back at the doorway to the hall, and Bruce held out Betty to Leonard. “Take her and go,” he said grimly.

“What?”

“Take her and go,” he said again.

“No, I have to help you,” said Leonard.

“Take Betty and run. This is something I want to do for myself.”

“Bruce, you could die! You can’t transform because of his powers, and that leaves you powerless! I’m not going to-”

He was cut off as the large metal door slammed shut and locked. Leonard was left with Betty.

[fan4]

A cave in the New Mexico desert

Rick sat and stewed in his cell. His wounds hurt like hell, but he wasn’t about to give up. Then, Raven opened the cell door and stepped in, carrying a small brown satchel. He said nothing as he began to sprinkle a white powder onto Rick.

Nothing happened.

Nothing continued to happen.

Something dawned on Raven. “You lying bast-“

He was cut by a kick to the head from Rick. Raven fell to the ground and Rick hurried off of the cot, grabbed the keys, and ran out of the cell. He locked it before Raven could chase after him. Rick could barely think through the pain as he hobbled towards the area with the barbaric torture device.

When he finally made it he searched frantically for a certain machine, the machine he had seen Raven use to heal his wounds. Then he found it, and held it to his back. The pistol-like machine emitted a strange ray, and he immediately felt better, and could feel the deep gashes in his back close and heal. When the process was complete, he put the machine back and started to run to the exit.

He managed to make it to the room full of strange pods before he heard a “whooshing” noise, and Raven appeared…

[fan4]

Bruce walked back into the main room, and found that the Leader had recovered. The green, bloated man fired his pistol at Bruce, and Bruce dove for cover. They sat silently for a little while.

“So,” began the Leader. “You got away with that bitch.” He laughed. “Ah well. She would hardly have provided much. She’s useless. Completely worthless. I should have ended her life right there.”

“Is this all you’re going to do?” cut in Bruce. “Goad me into turning? Keep me stuck here or you’ll shoot me?”

“What can I say? I don’t like to abandon a plan. I can still make use of you.”

“I’m not going to turn.”

“We’ll see about that.”

“So who are you? I got a little out of your lackey.”

The Leader ignored the question. “So your friends abandoned you? Left you to die here? Not very nice of them. You don’t have friends. Not real friends. The psychiatrist’s just from circumstance, and your little pal Betty? She’s just pissing off her father.”

This made Bruce falter a little, but he pushed it to the back of his mind. “That’s a lie.”

“Ooh, hit a nerve.” The Leader laughed. “You know, I can read a little of your mind from here. It’s great stuff. You’re completely unaware that all your friends are just using you. The Hulk has a better life, and that’s saying something.”

Bruce knew it was wrong, but he couldn’t stop listening. Traces of anger began to swell inside him.

“Looking over your life I find a complete lack of anyone actually caring about you. Betty? No. Rick? No. Hell, even your father hated you.”

Anger began to swell inside of Bruce.

The Leader laughed. “I can feel it rise. Sweet, sweet anger. Soon I’ll have my soldier. I’ll make do with one. It’s not the army I was anticipating, but it’s still a Hulk.” He laughed again. “You do know I caused that, right? I made you what you are. A half-man, a beast, a mutant. Not only me, but you. You did it to yourself. You helped me. Anything the Hulk ever does, anything I do, and anything that Blonsky does will be your fault. You’ve already killed a boatload of your friends and acquaintances. Who’s next? Sampson? Betty? They’ll all die eventually. All by your hand. It’s inevitable. You’re an atom bomb, waiting to go off, obliterating everyone close to you. Rick’s already been shot, and he’s probably dead. That was my doing, by the way, but it can rest on your conscience for now.”

The anger in Bruce was beginning to overflow. It wouldn’t be long before he transformed. He was already turning a bit green. The Leader cackled some more…

[fan4]

A cave in the New Mexico desert

Rick whirled around as Raven swooped into him from behind and carried him straight into the ground. Raven had the drop on him and was punching him mercilessly across the face. Rick gathered his strength and threw him off, but the winged man swooped into him again, and the pair careened into one of the pods. Rick’s head broke through the pod’s shell and rested on a decayed corpse. He yelled in surprise and punched Raven across the face, knocking him loose. Rick rounded on the orange-skinned man and kicked him in the gut. Raven groaned and fell, but got up quickly and backhanded the teen across the face. Rick staggered, and tried to flee.

He hadn’t made it far when Raven circled in the air above him, and then swooped quickly into Rick with his foot, sending Rick flying to the ground. Raven circled and dropped again. He landed on Rick with a thud and a groan. Raven began circling again as Rick began to recover.

Rick got up, and dodged just in time as Raven swooped. The bird-man circled again, and Rick scrabbled to find a weapon. He grabbed a sharp fragment of the broken pod, and as Raven swooped he caught onto him and began stabbing him with the sharp piece. Raven roared in pain, and flew into the air with Rick on his back. Raven began shaking his body, trying to flip Rick off. Rick tried to hold on, but his grip ran out and he fell with a crash to the ground. Raven wrenched the pod fragment out of his back with a yell, and brandished it menacingly as he swooped towards the fallen Rick.

Rick felt it as the sharp fragment slashed across his arm, leaving a deep gash. He stumbled away, as Raven prepared to attack again. Rick studied his surroundings. The pods seemed to be… cryogenic chambers. The one he’d broken must have malfunctioned at some point or another. He stumbled towards an open, empty pod, an idea forming in his head

Rick stood in front of the pod, looking weak. Raven smiled and swooped in for the kill. At the last second, Rick dove away, and Raven slammed into the inside of the pod. Rick quickly closed the seal and pressed some buttons on the controls. Whatever he pressed seemed to work, and after a little struggle, Raven was frozen.

Rick started to hobble back to the healing machine…

[fan4]

The Leader cackled as Bruce struggled to remain in control. Bruce could already feel himself changing. His skin was beginning to turn green. He could already start to feel the Leader’s influence on his mind. There was no way to stop it. There was no way to remain in control. It was hopeless.

Then, he got an idea.

Just as he fully transformed, the Hulk leaped over the cover between him and the Leader, and sailed straight towards him. The Leader looked perplexed, then screamed when he realized that even his powers couldn’t stop momentum or gravity.

[fan4]

Leonard was still hitting the doors Bruce had entered with all his might, while Betty still lay unconscious next to him. Suddenly there was a scream, a thud, a squelching sound, and a pounding noise. Leonard backed away as the Hulk tore the door off its hinges and ran down the chrome corridor towards the exit. Leonard stood dumbfounded for a little while, and then hurried into the room. He found the Leader, thoroughly crushed, the boils and warts and disgusting pustules that covered his head were… popped. The Leader lay in a pool of his own pus and blood. He wasn’t dead, but he was pretty close. Leonard smiled slightly and left.

[fan4]

The days to come were hectic. Bruce, Leonard, Betty, and Rick eventually made it back to Desert Base. They didn’t even have to walk that far before being picked up by General Ross’ search parties. There were some reunions, but there were many more not returning. Those lost in the Leader’s mad experiment were given a memorial service and a statue was put into construction. Bruce and Rick decided to keep the cave they had stumbled upon a secret. The Leader’s base was searched, but no trace of the Leader or Emil Blonsky was ever found. They did find much valuable equipment, including a large amount of stolen Stark Industries inventions.

Life settled back to normal, or as normal as it could get for Bruce and company.

The end