Brooklyn, NY
Earlier…

“I’ll have a large decaf, please. Half and Half with extra sugar.”

“Certainly, sir. Anything else to go with that?”

“No. Just please be sure that it’s a decaf.”

The young man behind the counter lost his friendly, jovial manner and his bony face swiftly acquired a slightly pissed-off cast. Being a teenager, any slight on his competency was grounds enough for a fight to the death and job be damned.

“I’ve been doing this job for almost a year now, SIR. I think I know the difference between regular coffee and decaf.”

“And I’m not saying you don’t. All I’m stressing is that I can’t have regular. It’s a medical thing.”

The young man’s belligerence faded away as swiftly as a politician’s promise. “Oh. Hey, I’m sorry I—”

“Forget it. Could you—?”

“Oh, YEAH! Your coffee! Coming right up!” The youth busied himself getting the coffee for the slim, brown-haired man who looked as if he could have done with a couple of healthy meals rather than the coffee. Bruce Banner had a healthy appetite and when he ate, he ate a lot. But he just had one of those metabolisms that burned up everything he consumed and kept him thin. He accepted his coffee and left the Starbucks, emerging from the cool air-conditioning of the coffee shop into the balmy mid-day sun that washed Brooklyn’s Montague Street in warm golden sunlight.

It had been a long time since he’d been in any part of New York, mainly because he always tried his best to stay out of major cities unless he had a good reason. There were notebooks in safety deposit boxes in a number of banks vaults in Brooklyn and Manhattan and he needed them. The quest for the cure was on again. Not that it had ever really been off. The quest for the cure had consumed his days and nights for years now and while he had been sidetracked here and there it had never really stopped.

Bruce Banner had recently come into some new information and made a new contact that he hoped would be able to help him at last throw off the curse of The Hulk once and for good. But there was danger involved with this contact. Contact that Bruce wasn’t entirely sure was worth the risk. But then again, what else could he do? What else was there in a life that effectively was at the mercy of his monstrous alter ego?

Bruce walked down the wide street, sipping the decaf coffee and just enjoying the walk. Mothers power walking with their strollers and their chubby, bright-eyed babies were as plentiful as sunflowers in an open field. Everybody seemed to have wireless earpiece headsets like Borg implants growing out their heads. Bruce grinned wryly. He had never owned a cell phone. Mainly because he had no one to call.

He was walking toward The Promenade, that ridiculously small scenic stretch above The Brooklyn-Queens Expressway that afforded a breathtaking view of lower Manhattan, The South Street Seaport and the magnificent Brooklyn Bridge. Bruce had gotten into the habit of walking down here at least once a day. It was a wonderful place to sit and think in peace, quiet and blissful calm.

Yes, calm was the important thing.

He hunted around, looking for a bench, knowing that he probably wouldn’t find one since The Promenade was always crowded. Indeed, most everybody seemed to be looking toward Manhattan. There was an excited, worried mumbling going through the crowd and many were on their cell phones or touching their earpieces, frantically thumb typing on their Blackberries and PDA’s trying to get information.

Bruce turned his eyes toward Manhattan, squinting against the sunlight that reflected from the thousands upon thousands of office building windows that even at this distance threw off a fierce dazzle. He could just make out plumes of dense black smoke coming from Midtown. Probably just another superhuman fight. Bruce turned to a tall black man with glasses standing nearby wearing an oversized T-shirt with a beautiful illustration of the late great Ray Charles on the front. He was talking with someone on his cell phone.

“Excuse me, sir, but could you tell me what’s going on?”

The tall black man held up a hand. “Hold on a sec, Tom…” he turned back to Bruce. “It’s Ben Grimm, The Thing. News reports says he’s gone berserk and he’s kickin’ ass all up and down 42nd Street. The cops and S.H.I.E.L.D. can’t stop him and The Mayor’s sayin’ that everybody needs to get off the streets, go home, hide under their beds and pray.”

Bruce frowned. “Ben Grimm? But…but that just can’t be! Where’s the rest of The Fantastic Four? Where’s The Avengers…where…”

“Hay, hay, HAY! What do I look like, CNN?” The tall black man turned away, annoyed and resumed his conversation while walking away rapidly.

“INCOMING!” somebody yelled and Bruce turned to see a human form arcing over The East River. Encased in a sparkling golden aura, the form came rocketing over the water like a well-kicked soccer ball. Frantic yells, screams and various profanities filled the air as it was rapidly apparent that whoever it was, was going to come down right on The Promenade.

The frivolously festive atmosphere of The Promenade was turned into one of desperation as mothers snatched up their children, husbands and boyfriends helping them to find shelter as the human form came down with the force of a small meteor.

KRAKA-WHOOOOOM!

The impact was as impressive as it was loud. Massive chunks of concrete flew through the air and it seemed impossible that whoever it was could have survived. Bruce estimated that he or she had to have been going at least three hundred miles an hour when they hit. Doing deep breathing exercises to keep himself calm, he inched forward to the smoking crater, along with a number of other curious bystanders. Children twisted and fought in the grips of their mothers, trying to get loose so that they could run and see as well.

Bruce looked into the crater. Lying on his back in a pile of pulverized concrete was a wiry young man in a blue and gold costume, wearing outlandish goggles that covered almost half of his face.

The young man looked up at the mass of faces looking down at him. He tried to come up with a witty quip but his lips quirked in pain and all he could manage to croak out was “Ouch.”

“Are you all right?” Bruce shouted down. He vaguely recognized the young superhero from past news reports and documentaries. What the hell was his name? Zapball? Zoomball? Superball?

“No. The Thing just kicked me across The East River. What makes you think I’m anything remotely approaching all right?”

“But what’s going on?”

“Damn if I know. One minute I’m hangin’ out with my buds…the next I’m being punted like a football. OUCH.” The blue and gold-garbed youth was struggling to sit up. “Alla sudden The Thing’s gone crazy and beatin’ up on everybody and anybody in sight. Nobody’s been able to even slow him down. It’s gonna take somebody like Thor or The Hulk to put him down—”

YES!

Bruce Banner clamped both his hands over his mouth as something hot and juicy welled up from his stomach and bubbled like Coca-Cola mixed with a bag of Pop Rocks on his tongue and against the back of his teeth. He backed away from the youth in the crater, trying not to hear his words.

“I mean, from everything I’ve read and heard, the only guy who could go toe-to-toe with The Thing for any length of time is The Hulk. If he was here, maybe he could tire him out long enough for S.H.I.E.L.D. or The Fantastic Four to put him down or break him out of whatever spell he’s under.”

Fresh screams filled the air as men and women ran away from the trembling form of Bruce Banner who was shaking all over as adrenaline ran riot through his body, flooding his gamma ray irradiated cells. Deep inside Bruce’s soul a wild and dangerous part of him was battering at his psychic walls, howling to be free.

And Bruce Banner threw back his head and howled as well.

Speedball climbed painfully out of the still smoking crater. “Say, what’s all the ruckus up here—” he paused and behind the polarized lenses of his goggles his eyes opened as wide as they possibly could as a massive green figure slowly turned to face him, eyes blazing with inhuman rage. Impossibly huge hands opened and closed, the thick tendons creaking. The ghastly grin on the face of the man-monster was one of pure malevolence.

“One question, skinny. An’ you better answer right. Where’s Grimm?”

Speedball silently pointed across The East River.

With a single thrust of the most powerful leg muscles on Earth, The Hulk was gone, leaping toward the scene of battle, a snarl of anticipation on his face.

Speedball watched him go quietly. “Gee…” He looked up into the sky. “I don’t suppose I could have a million bucks, could I?” Nothing happened. “Pretty please?” Still nothing. “With a cherry on top?” And still plenty of nothing. He frowned in exasperation. “Oh, sure! I ask for THE HULK to show up and you decide to answer THAT prayer! I ask for a lousy million bucks…”

THING AMOK!

Part III: The More Things Stay The Same

By Curtis Fernlund and Derrick Ferguson

Manhattan
5th Avenue and 42nd Street

THOOOM!

Benjamin J. Grimm staggered back barely rolling with the punch that might have torn his head off once upon a time. He saw an explosion of stars though; little birds fluttering and going phoenix in his sight as he back peddled away, trying to get some space between him and the big green brute. He shook his head, trying to clear it, to stop the ringing, and he heard the Hulk laugh.

“That all you got, Grimm?” the gamma-spawned monster chuckled, swaggering forward with a vicious smirk twisting his face. “Hell, I thought you were some bad-ass now. You gonna drop after one little love tap?”

“Not hardly, green genes.” He had been hit harder. Hell, just a few minutes before the kid Rage had been pummeling with the best of ‘em, not to mention that big black dragon. Why had the Hulk’s punch sent the world spinning? Maybe that was it though. He’d been getting beat on for the better part of a couple hours now; Rage an’ the dragon, that kid Karma from the X-Men and a few of those ‘new’ New Warrior kids to boot. Maybe that was it. He was tired was all.

He shook his head a final time as the Hulk loomed closer. He was bigger than Grimm was; more massive and stronger in the long haul, but in whatever form he took, he was still just a hitter. Ben Grimm was a fighter, and that had always been his edge. The Thing smiled as he saw the Hulk rear back, probably for what he figured would be the ‘killing’ blow. Sucker…

Grimm heaved upwards with all his might. “Take my Sunday best, Doc!” he shouted as he drove his rocky fist up and under the jade giant’s jaw.

Bam!

He was rewarded to hear the Hulk grunt with the impact. Even more so to see the big lug actually knocked up and sprawling backwards to land with a heavy crunch onto the black top. He had caught the brute flat-footed and overconfident, and he knew from experience, countless battles that they had had in the past that the Hulk led with his jaw and was a sucker for a good old-fashioned upper cut.

It was Grimm’s turn to laugh now.

The Baxter Building
Madison Avenue at 42nd Street

“Fury confirms. It’s the Hulk.”

Susan Richards stood seemingly in open air, staring down at the scene of the battle many stories below. She had no fear of heights, luckily, as some forty-odd floors separated her from the street far beneath her as she scanned the war-zone for her friend, Ben Grimm.

She could see the huge dragon up the street towards the Library, lying apparently still unconscious after its bout with the Thing. She could see SHIELD agents running about frantically, doing their jobs apparently, and mainly trying to contain the crowd and the area. There were police and firemen on the sidelines, and paramedics running throughout, tending to the wounded. Beyond that there was little she could make out from so high above. She did not see her brother.

She had extended an invisible force field as a platform from the hole that Ben had made during the fight with the Frightful Force. At Reed’s suggestion of course. She wanted to help Ben, but more importantly she wanted to set out to find Franklin, her missing son. He had vanished with the Inhuman’s dog, Lockjaw in the midst of the assault by the Wizard and his latest crew of losers, and they had all expected the dog to bring her son back when he ‘sensed’ that it was safe. That had yet to happen.

Worse, Triton of the Royal Family of Attilan had come to take Crystal and Medusa back to the Moon at Black Bolt’s command, leaving them with no way to find Lockjaw, as Crystal was the closest thing to a master that the beast recognized. And of course, there was Ben.

Whatever Geiger had done to her friend- in collaboration with the Collector and the Puppet Master- it had turned the usually lovable Benjamin J. Grimm into a hate-filled thug that wanted nothing more than to get revenge on his alleged persecutors. They being the Fantastic Four.

It sucked, and of course she wanted to help Ben, but Franklin and Valeria came first. In his right mind, Ben would know that, and she hoped that Reed would as well, but her husband felt that they were needed to contain the Thing; despite SHIELD and the Warriors.

Susan sighed. Reed was right of course. Ben was their responsibility, but still…

Susan touched the Comm-Plug in her ear and listened as Nick Fury relayed the situation below. The Hulk had arrived for whatever reason, and as always he and Ben were going at it. SHIELD was trying to contain the situation and drive the battle from Midtown with little success. It was like trying to hold back the tide.

“Reed?” Susan Richards turned, looking back through the ragged gash in the side of their new Baxter Building and saw only Debbie Bernard holding Valeria and flanked by two SHIELD agents. The SHIELD teams had apparently transferred the last of the Frightful Force downstairs, as well as Alicia Masters who had also been a victim of Geiger’s mind control. The Invisible Woman did not see her husband and so stepped back inside the building.

Valeria gurgled and smiled as she stepped closer, glancing at the two agents as she took the baby from the Nanny. Debra Bernard had been a godsend through all of this despite her misgivings. A trained SHIELD agent, she was well versed in the ability to protect her children from most threats. Who could have known that the Frightful Force would attack, however. Still, Debbie had helped save the day in the end, and kept her children safe- at least until Lockjaw spirited Franklin away.

“Where’s Reed?” Susan asked, though she already knew.

“He’s gone Sue,” Debbie replied with a sorrowful frown. She glanced in the direction of the open door leading deeper into the building. “He left a couple minutes ago, as soon as you said you thought that you saw the Hulk.” Sue sagged, just a bit. She should have known.

He was in his lab already, working on some way to help poor Ben no doubt. In the mayhem he had seen a solution, hopefully, and gone off to make his dreams a reality. Still, he should have said something.

“Take Val, Debbie,” Susan said as she handed her baby girl back to the Nanny after a quick kiss. “Get to one of the Safe Rooms and seal up.” She turned to the two SHIELD agents: “You two go with her.”

“Ma’am,” the younger of the two said even as the older escorted Debbie towards the door. “We should rejoin the field, ma’am,” he said, licking his lips as he realized that he was standing alone. “They’ll need us – ” he continued, but Sue cut him off with a wave of her hand as she strode for the doorway as well.

“Haven’t you been listening, agent?” she said as she stepped into the hallway, pausing. “It’s the Hulk VS. the Thing down there. There’s already a full SHIELD task force, and a compliment of heroes that had no effect whatsoever. Believe me, and no offense, but you’re more help up here protecting my daughter and staying out of the way.”

The agent blushed, staring at the Invisible Woman as she turned and headed down the hallway towards the closest lab. Finally he swallowed and nodded, hurrying to catch up with his senior partner and the Nanny.

5th Avenue at 41st Street

Ben landed on The Hulk and his huge craggy fists rose and fell like the world’s mightiest sledgehammers, ruthlessly battering the prone emerald form beneath him, using his knees to pin his arms down.

“Guess you noticed by now I’m tougher than th’ last time we throwed down, huh?” The crunching of bones was getting louder, drowned out by Ben’s laughter.

“Guess that ‘the madder Hulk gets, the stronger he gets’ shit don’t mean much now, huh?” Green blood spurted as Ben’s fists came down in a double sledgehammer blow. “C’mon, man! Y’can do better than THIS!”

The roar of The Hulk rattled whatever glass was left intact in the buildings on either side of the street as with one immense surge of strength simply threw The Thing off of him, sending the rocky orange body sprawling to the side. The Hulk ponderously got to his feet, the lower half of his face smeared with green blood. He spat a tooth at The Thing, which hit him on the forehead.

Ben grinned. “Oh, don’t tell me you’re MAD, now?”

The Hulk sprang at Ben, displaying that surprising agility that always startled his enemies, none of who expected something so massive to able to move that quickly. And truth to tell, Ben hadn’t expected it either. It had been a while since he’d fought The Hulk, had forgotten how fast he could move when he had to.

Ben swung a fist that The Hulk swatted aside. The Hulk piledrived in a punch that sent half-dollar sized pieces of Ben’s stony hide flying. Ben threw a shoulder, backed up The Hulk two steps and drove in a sizzling right hook that snapped The Hulk’s head around, green blood spraying from his mouth.

The Hulk stumbled backwards, shaking his head, trying to clear it. Ben waded into the green behemoth, working The Hulk’s midsection with short, punishing jabs that would have instantly killed a normal man. The jubilation in Ben’s soul was damn near orgasmic. He was beating The Hulk! Once and for all he’d prove to the world who was the top ass-kicker on THIS planet! He’d—

The Hulk’s right hand shot out, grabbed The Thing by the face and he lifted The Thing up off his feet, then slammed him back down to the blacktop of the street. Cracks zigzagged wildly away from the back of The Thing’s head, which was firmly crammed a full foot into the street.

The Hulk dropped a knee into The Thing’s chest and there was a hideously loud CRACK! that was heard for nearly a dozen blocks in each direction. The Thing battered at The Hulk’s head but the man-monster merely grinned and squeezed The Thing’s head. Ben Grimm howled in anguish as the brutal face of his enemy seemed to disappear in a red haze.

The street, already severely weakened by the day’s previous fighting crumbled, unable to bear the combined weight of the two. The zigzagging cracks in the street opened wider, great gushing plumes of steam billowing upwards as pipes cracked under the strain. The Hulk released his grip on Ben as he threw himself backwards, trying to avoid falling into the huge pit that 5th Avenue was rapidly becoming. The Thing was not so lucky and disappeared into the pit with a howl of obscenities.

A police car and two ambulances tipped over and fell into the gaping hole, flipping over and over, their flashing lights still going, throwing red and blue splashes of color over the streets, the snarling face of The Hulk as he stomped over to where a NYC Fire department ladder truck was parked on the sidewalk. The firemen crewing the truck were brave men but even the bravest of men can be forgiven for running at the sight of an enraged Hulk.

Muscles creaking and writhing under the thick emerald skin like massive pythons, The Hulk lifted the ladder truck and pitched it into the pit right on top of Ben. The bursting of the windshields and side windows was drowned out by the crumpling and rending of metal and the impact of the ladder truck caused even more damage as the pit deepened, the rumble of the street breaking up and falling into the immense hole a counterpoint to the anguished screams that seemed to have filled Manhattan all this terrible day.

KA-WHOOMPH!

The ladder truck exploded, a massive orange-red fireball mushrooming into the sky as the maniacal laughter of The Hulk echoed in the concrete canyon. “Still think yer so tough, Grimm? HA! Looka you now!”

A four-fingered orange hand seemingly made of rocks reached over the lip of the pit and firmly seized The Hulk’s right ankle. “Go barbecue, ya puke-colored son of a bitch!” Ben yanked and threw The Hulk right on top of the blazing ladder truck where he was immediately engulfed in the raging conflagration that was rapidly expanding to fill the entire pit.

Ben climbed out of the hole, chuckling as he did so. Stupid Hulk. Did Banner really think that dropping a lousy fire truck on him would do so much as warm his hide? He’d taken worse shots from Blastaar, fer cryin’ out loud-

The Hulk, covered in orange flames came leaping out of the inferno in the pit and slammed into The Thing, wrapping his thick arms around Ben and carrying them backwards into the marble and glass lobby of an office building. The front of the building seemed to disintegrate as the two massive forms plowed right through the thick smoked glass front. Glass shattered all around them as they rolled over and over, crashing into the circular security station, tuning a million bucks worth of state of the art security systems into garbage in three seconds.

The Hulk got to his feet first, the flames extinguished. They hadn’t even warmed his hide. The man-monster could have walked through an industrial blast furnace without breaking a sweat. The Thing was up on his feet just as fast. Or more accurately, one foot and one knee. Ben crouched in a modified quarterback position, set himself and charged.

He hit The Hulk so hard that he actually knocked the wind out of him. He continued his charge right into the elevator bank of the office building. The marble walls gave way as if made of construction paper and huge chunks crumbled away and crashed to the floor.

The Hulk brought both fists down on Ben’s back, once, twice, three times, each time the impact echoing with a BOOM! that sounded like the dirge of a funeral bell. Ben grunted and let go, dancing backwards as the office building crumbled around them.

The Hulk took the opportunity to uncork a looping overhand hook that caught The Thing flush in his craggy face. The Thing yowled as he actually felt his stony exterior crack painfully. And then he was flying backwards as if he weighed no more than a Nerf ball. He sped across the street to smash into the steps leading upwards into The Main Entrance of The New York Public Library.

Ben lay there for a second, trying to catch his breath. The right side of his face hurt terribly and his breathing was ragged and harsh. What the hell was happening to him? He shouldn’t be this winded. In the past he and The Hulk had gone toe to toe for hours without him tiring. And The Hulk was actually knocking pieces out of his rocky hide. That had only happened once or twice before. Could it be The Hulk was stronger now?

Ben struggled to get to his feet as The Hulk came leaping out of the ruined office building lobby into the street. He snarled wordlessly and jumped straight up in the air.

“Oh, shit,” Ben muttered. He knew what was coming next. He rolled over on his hands and knees screaming to himself, getcher ass UP, Benjy! Ya know what’s gonna happen when that green goofball comes back down and if yer still here when he does—

Too late.

The Hulk came back down, grotesquely cackling like some giant emerald demon and landed on The Thing with the force of a thunderbolt from Olympus.

THA-BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The Hulk and The Thing disappeared as the power of that incredible impact drove the both of them through the steps with such power that it was as if something underneath the earth sucked them down. Great geysers of water, steam and gas exploded upwards into the air as the library steps simply fell apart. Seismic waves rippled through Manhattan for miles around. Subway trains were derailed, hapless passengers screaming in panic as lights went out and they were thrown to and fro.

Cars in the street were flung into the air like Tonka toys, flipping over and landing on their sides or even on their roofs. Stone statues, gargoyles and ornate masonwork was broken loose from buildings to crash on the sidewalks where they were dodged by the screaming populace who were convinced that the end of the world had come at last. The pavement for thirty square blocks lay in shattered ruins, cracked and heaving in great chunks. Steam poured from the cracks along with smoke and flames all along the avenues. The Subways were in shambles underground, and the roar of rushing water could be heard from the mangled remains of the city’s sewer system, collapsed for blocks in aftermath of the battle of Titans. People stared at their feet as they ran, and skyward, running for cover as above and below the very city of Manhattan seemed to moan in protest and agony.

SHIELD came creeping forward, tentatively, the lead agents eyeing the hole with weapons drawn and ready, for all the good they would do. Nothing short of the Hulk-Busters would take out the Hulk and the Thing they knew, but still they had to try. It was their job.

And silence…

The hiss of steam. The rush of water and crackle of flame. There were sirens still blaring in the background, and the rise of voices, but all that they heard was the deathly silence seeping up out of the crater.

“They’re dead you think?” an agent asked, peering into the hole but ready to bolt away to safety at a moment’s notice.

“Are you nuts?” another answered, licking her lips. She stared into the flickering light in the hole at her feet, ready to fire at anything that came out. “Knocked each other out maybe, but—”

There was a flash of light and the street exploded again…

Madison Avenue at 42nd Street

“We gotta get back in there,” Rage said, his split lip burning with pain as his sudden exclamation started the blood running again. He felt a swelling in his face as well, and his foot and leg still ached if he put too much weight on it. The Thing had really done a number on him, but he did not care. He could not worry about his own injuries when there were so many innocents that could get caught up in the raging battle of titans.

“You are kidding, right?”

Rage looked back at Gravity, still kneeling beside Spider-Woman who was laid out on an EMS stretcher. A SHIELD Medic was wrapping Spider-Woman’s head with a wide, gauze bandage over the pink smeared packing that covered the gash on her forehead. Her eyes were open but bleary and unfocused, and Elvin knew that she was out of the fight, at least for the duration. Her powers were mental based somehow, and she needed to concentrate to use her venom blasts and webbing, both of which had at least made a dent on the Thing and slowed him down.

Beyond Spider-Woman and actually sitting up on the back gate of one of the NYC EMS ambulances he saw the young woman that until a few moments ago had been the huge, black dragon. She looked pale and weak, her skin almost pallid in contrast to her Goth black clothing and hair. Too, her skin was dotted with ugly purple and yellow bruises and scrapes that looked to be slowly healing. Too slowly, unfortunately, and Rage could tell that her head was probably spinning and ringing as raucously as his own, if not more so. He had no idea who she was—kinda cute, but way too thin for him—but she was with the young woman and apparently X-Man named Karma. Her he DID know.

Not personally of course, but Rage’s time with the Avengers had taught him a lot. Not only how to fight from the likes of the Black Panther and Captain America himself, but the value of teamwork and the true ideals of being a hero. Along with that, he had also had to learn the ins and outs of the community of heroes and villains, allies and foes that he could potentially encounter. Of the former were the X-Men, and among their ever-growing ranks was Xian Coy Manh—the Mutant named Karma. Karma had the power of mind-control, one that she had used in the fight to take over a Guardsman and organize the Warriors for a coordinated attack that had almost taken down Grimm.

Almost did not count, however.

Now she was sitting next to the dragon girl, holding the other’s hand and wiping at her wounds. That probably meant that they were friends at least, teammates maybe and that the other was a Mutant as well. Not a problem of course, but it looked that they were both done for the time being too. That left Rage… and Gravity.

“We have nowhere near the kind of power to get in on that fight now,” Gravity continued, finally stepping away from Spider-Woman and up beside Rage. Elvin noticed his teammate rubbing his knuckles, bruised and bloodied where he had hammered away on the Thing’s rocky hide. The Medics had cleaned the wounds and disinfected, but Gravity had stripped off the bandages they had applied, now scratching the wounds on each hand alternately. “They’re ripping up Manhattan like nothing, and—”

Almost as if to accentuate the point they both jumped as a flash of light lit the street and a rumble of explosion rolled over them all. Even blocks away they felt the wash of heat that swept past and heard the cries and moans mostly of worry and shock from the civilians still within the makeshift triage that SHIELD had set up in the shadow of the Baxter Building. Smoke roiled, churning skyward in a black plume. Manhole covers shot skyward as great gouts of flame exploded from the openings. The ground shook and buckled with the force of the blast causing everyone to stagger, save Gravity. God only knew what had happened to cause that, and Elvin said so-

“That’s why we gotta try, man!” he said, pointing. “How long before those two rip through a gas main or knock down a building? Thank God it’s the weekend, and most of the offices are probably empty, but people live here too, and the streets are still packed. We been lucky so far, but what happens when people start dying?”

“I’ll tell you what happens, kids…”

Both Rage and Gravity turned to see Colonel Nicolas Fury standing with them, his one good eye staring past them and into the carnage of Midtown just a few blocks downtown. He was dressed in his skin-tight SHIELD uniform of black and navy, a weapon’s belt snugly fitting his waist and loaded with accessories untouched. He took a moment to strike a match and puff his stub of a gnarled cigar back to life before casually waving the match out and tossing it aside.

“Word came down already. One casualty—ONE—I got orders to escalate. We lock down the city an’ pull out the stops ta shut them down. Both of ‘em. That means screw the kid gloves and hope for the best—acceptable losses.”

Gravity seemed to stare for a moment, uncomprehending as to what Fury was saying, but Rage actually moaned, his eyes growing wide as he understood. He started to speak, but Fury’s simple nod cut him off.

“That’s right, kid, an’ that’s why ya gotta get back in there. The both a ya gotta do whatever ya can ta stop Grimm an’ Banner before I’m forced to take it up a notch.”

Rage licked his lips, tasting blood but nodded, and finally Gravity nodded as well.

“Of course, sir,” he said as he slowly rose into the air. He paused then. “And I’m sorry. I was… scared I guess. For a minute.”

Fury forced a grin and a chuckle as he blew smoke. “Hell, hero, I’d be more worried if ya weren’t.”

Rage saw a wide grin appear on his friend’s face as he arched up and over, then soared slowly towards the battle. Elvin Haliday smirked, then quickly charged after, trying to catch up…

The Baxter Building
Gamma Lab…

“Reed…”

“Please, Susan,” Reed almost snapped, a definite edge and tension in his voice that Sue very rarely heard from her husband. It was worry, she knew. Worry for his friend and probably the entire city if he could not find a solution to the current situation. “I just need a few more seconds, and I need to concentrate. The computations are delicate, and if I make the slightest miscalculation the very thing that might save both Ben and Bruce may very well kill them instead.”

That was bad. Not just what Reed had said, but the very fact that he had said it at all. If he was having trouble concentrating, that meant that he was stretching his abilities to their limits- no pun intended.

She bit her lip as she watched, keeping her force bubble centered on the small swirling glow of emerald energy spewing from the oddly altered Bunsen Burner that sat at the work station at Reed’s left elbow. It was not a Burner of course, but something that Reed had created years ago, not long after their first battle with the Hulk; a device that sparked hopefully inert Gamma Radiation from the very air to compound the energies and coalesce them into a workable ‘fire’ for better study. Ever since that first meeting Reed had been working on a way to cure Bruce Banner of his affliction almost as fervently as he worked on Ben’s. and he had come so close so many times…

And still after all these years she watched in awe as her husband worked. What generally bored Ben and Johnny still stimulated her, almost excited her and that was something that neither would ever understand. Johnny had used to ask her just what she saw in the ‘square’ when she and Reed had first started to date, and when she had explained—or tried to—he had always sighed and shook his head, walking away and mumbling about takes one to know one. It was never just that she found Reed physically attractive, but his mind and the way he thought excited her to no end. Even now as she watched him at work she was having a hard time concentrating on her own task.

Reed’s left hand had grown three extra fingers via his power of elasticity, each of which he had molded into a tool-like shape; pincers, screw-driver, wrench. He held in his left hand the small box-shaped device that he had taken from one of the many storage containers lining one wall, the other fingers of that hand deftly adjusting various wires and connections, wielding a soldering iron and miniature laser cutter with no difficulty at all. His right hand meanwhile had stretched out with his arm to the far side of the room, the fingers of that hand sliding across a control panel mounted in the far corner and casually flicking switches and turning dials apparently by rote and blindly. His eyes were bulging from the otherwise smooth contours of his face and she knew that he had adjusted his sight the better to interpret the radiations of the Gamma and Cosmic waves in the invisible spectrum. He was staring into the glare of the Gamma spawned flame, and she knew that his head was probably aswirl with more computations than she could even begin to imagine, let alone count. He was probably reviewing both the Periodic and Elemental Tables while running calculations through his head as he compared the parallels of the two energies based on whatever he had learned in the past. All of that and he still managed to answer her. Amazing…

She knew that he was probably reviewing notes from that time some years back when he and the government had combined forces to capture the then ‘dumb’ Hulk. They had, but then Ben had felt sorry for the caged brute and set him free, the two of them actually teaming up for a time. That time however, and the proximity had been enough to change Ben Grimm from the Thing, and back to a normal human. The change had not lasted of course, but it was enough to give Reed hope yet again that a potential cure did exist. And by the sheer focus of what he was now doing, she was certain that he was close to succeeding.

“All right, Susan, you can lower your field.”

Susan Richards jumped to hear the sudden sound of her husband’s voice, she had been so lost in thought. Still she complied immediately, looking at her husband as he stretched in his chair, his arms dangling and shaking as he reeled in his elongated limbs and molded his body back to normal. He turned to her and she saw that his eyes were sunken back into place and that he was covered with perspiration, another sign of the intensity of what- whatever he had just done. The burner was off she noted, and the rest of the machines that he had employed were powering down as he held up the tiny box-like device. “You’re done?” she asked, knowing already that he was.

“Finished,” he corrected, “hopefully, at least the initial phase. If I accommodated duress and time into my calculations proficiently, this device should bring the situation to a satisfactory, if not somewhat dramatic conclusion. And do forgive my abruptness earlier please? I was having just a bit of trouble trying to recall the meteorological data of the past twenty-seven months. I foolishly forgot to include February 29th—Leap Year—and it was somewhat annoying that the decimal point was off by 3.16 points. Actually your last interruption reminded me, so thank you.”

“No problem,” Susan said as she strolled to beside her husband, her blue eyes fixed on the small device he was turning over in his hand. “So?”

“Hmm?”

“So what is it Reed? Will that help Ben revert to his old self? Stop his rampage?”

“Probably not in the way that you are suspecting, Sue,” he said as he eased a bit of pressure on a small juncture of exposed wires rolling up and back into the box. “I had to take into account all the various radiations that Ben has been exposed to, both in his rocky hide as well as in altered flesh and blood. I needed to review all that I learned of the Gray Gargoyle’s unique abilities of transmutation and how they had interacted with Ben’s Cosmically irradiated form both during the peak of his own brief statuesque transformation and some time before and after in approximate months. I had to incorporate the shielding effects of the deteriorating Ozone Layer with the amount of both Cosmic and Gamma radiation seeping into the atmosphere, along with the energies emitted by Master’s irradiated modeling clay, and the extra exposure that he received on our brief visit to the Moon. Even the more minor radiations of the Baxter Building’s latest defensive array had to be calculated into the equation. Couple all of that with the amount of Gamma Radiation that The Hulk is constantly emitting on an autonomous level as well as the definite spike that occurs when he’s enraged. The madder The Hulk gets, the more Gamma Radiation he exudes. It was more a matter of collating past data into a feasible event that could be coordinated into a Pulse mechanism that when properly employed will render, hopefully, both Ben and Bruce inert for a time that SHIELD might incarcerate them with some cooperation from the gathered heroes. Of course I did not have the time or information available to calculate the effects that the Pulse Device may have on the likes of Rage or Gravity. We’ll simply have to hope for the best.”

Susan Richards blinked, staring at her husband. Finally she sighed and with a smile she reached out and squeezed his shoulder. “Reed… Never tell Johnny that I’m actually quoting him, but ‘hunh’?”

Reed Richards smiled. “Sorry. This ‘Pulse’ device should in effect, when activated, emit an extensive wave of Gamma Radiation that, based on information that I’ve gathered over the years, will counteract Ben’s extrapolated surge of Cosmic Radiation to the point that he will revert to base human. For a time at least, until he can be contained. It will not, unfortunately, correct the mental instability that he is currently a victim of. I’m not a psychologist or a psychiatrist and I dare not delve into realms that I do not know. Hopefully SHIELD’s ESP-er Unit can help in that regard, or perhaps one of the X-Men or another mentalist in the community. On a more positive note however, while the ‘Pulse’ robs Ben of his ‘Marvel’ it should actually enhance The Hulk to the point of bloating him, at which point he should become docile with overload, if not unconscious, or at the least immobile.”

“So, starve a cold, feed a fever?” Sue mused, her fingers kneading into Reed’s soft and malleable shoulder. He looked up at her and smirked.

“Basically.” He seemed to sag then for just a moment, his brow wrinkling and she knew that his magnificent mind was racing once again. “The only drawback with the device is that it needs a remarkable and sudden influx of electrical energy to spark the ‘Pulse’. A surge of the size necessary is of course possible on the city’s power grids, but it could quite possibly cause a blackout along 97% of the Eastern Seaboard, and well into the Atlantic states. Granted, to save lives and property I can only imagine that the President would grant permission, however precautions would need to take hold first, and contingencies implemented. The loss of power would be detrimental to too many people in the overall view; the sick and dependant in hospitals, nuclear stations, weapon facilities. Theoretically the ‘Pulse’ might even affect aircraft, from simple planes to the SHIELD Helicarrier. If only Crystal were still here. I’m certain she might generate the electrical force necessary to activate the device with no repercussions to the Con Edison power grid. I’ll present the idea to Fury and see what he says. Surely the potential loss of life if left unchecked will sway him to make the proper decision?”

“Actually, Professor,” a strong and sure voice said, “there may be another way.”

5th Avenue and 41st Street
Forty feet down…

Ben Grimm moaned as he raised his head from the foul and murky waters of the sewer trough. There were flames dancing about the surface of the stagnant mire, and even the stone walls seemed ablaze in spots. He spat, trying to draw a breath in the over-heated air, squinting into the dark and rolling clouds of smoke that washed over him.

The Hulk had damn near broke his back when he had come crashing down, but luckily the street had given way before Ben’s spine. They had both crashed through the subway tunnel that ran under 5th Avenue and right down into the sewer line below that. Luckily again the Hulk had tumbled away, not expecting the street to give in to the impact like it had, ripping through the blacktop and concrete as well as steel piping and iron supports, gas lines and Con Edison’s feeder cables.

They had both been stunned from the fall and collision, but Banner had gathered his wits first and had been moving in for the kill even as Ben had struggled back to his feet. Grimm, not being an idiot decided that he needed a quick edge and dug his hand into the closest wall knowing full well what he would find. As soon as he ripped the power cable out of the wall however, the sparks met gas and all hell broke loose.

And now they were back to square one.

Grimm finally stood straight, knuckling his back as he arched, wincing as his joints popped. He was hurting, not that he would ever admit it outloud. It had been awhile since he had gone toe to toe with someone that could take whatever he could dish out, and truth to tell – aches and pains aside – he was loving it. All good things though…

He had to get back upstairs and take care of Richards before –

“There ya are…”

Grimm turned at the guttural sound of the voice he knew so well. He sighed, peering into the thick, cloying smoke to see the shadowy, lumbering silhouette of the Hulk coming closer, wading through the muck.

“I thought maybe you might’ve run off, Grimm,” the Hulk said as he stepped from the dark. His hair was burned away, his emerald skin a charred and darker hue of green, but Ben could tell that the brute was already healing. There was a half-formed tooth sprouting from his bleeding gums when he smiled. “Ran back to Poppa Reed or sweet Sue. Hell, she’s the only one’a your little sewing circle ever made me break a sweat.”

Grimm sneered in disgust. “Must ’a hit ya harder ‘n I thought, green genes. Yer memory’s a bit sketchy. Day I run from you I’ll be runnin’ fer the Social Security office.”

“That’s what I like about you, Grimm,” the Hulk said as he reached down into the murky waters and produced an abandoned and forgotten length of train railing. He reared back like a batter in the Ninth, bases loaded – score tied. “Always the optimist.”

Swing batta, batta.

And the Thing was out of the hole…

Madison at 42nd Street

“Flame on!”

Johnny Storm burst into flame and immediately rocketed into the sky to get the lay of the land. He needed to find Ben, but as soon as he got up amongst the buildings he quickly realized that that would not be a problem at all.

His mouth dropped open as he stared at the devastation that his best friend had caused. The area around Midtown Manhattan looked like a war zone with gaping holes in the street and fires raging everywhere. The sky was filled with smoke, and the noise of emergency vehicles, the screams of panicked and injured, the rage was deafening. He hovered, trying his best to will away the pain in his head as he scanned the scene.

He knew that his flame had been extinguished by the throbbing in his brain. Oxygen Deprivation always left him with a headache to beat the band and his body feeling weak and listless. Still, he had to press on. He had to stop Ben from his rampage before he crossed that final line and actually killed someone. At that point there would be no turning back.

Granted, he had killed Maximus but that was a special case. Maximus was mad, and he had threatened Luna—Crystal’s daughter. Johnny Storm doubted that he would have hesitated or done anything different had he been placed in Ben’s position. Now however was something else. Ben was obviously not in his right mind, mind-controlled or whatever. He had to be stopped before things escalated—

A flash of light caught the Torch’s eye and he spun slightly…

“Oh, hell…”

He stared in awe as he saw The Hulk flex and rip up a huge section of the street, only to flip casually and send the blacktop rolling at Ben, flipping the Thing into the air. He heard Ben’s curse even as The Hulk leapt and slammed shoulder first into Ben, sending his friend spiraling head over heels into the nearby buildings.

Johnny heard a cacophony of screams as people started running willy-nilly into the street to get away. He reacted, shooting forward to help, but paused to hear the soft hum of SHIELD Sky Sleds bearing down.

The Human Torch watched as a platoon of SHIELD’S Fem Force made a strafing pass and gathered the civilians, swooping up and away and getting them to safety. Fury was on the job, bless him. That made Johnny’s job all the easier. He angled up and swooped down even as Ben came scrambling out of the building. Johnny let loose a fiery blast that made both The Hulk and The Thing pause and look around in sudden confusion.

Johnny took advantage of their hesitation and lassoed both with an intense loop of trailing flame. He drew in his power, tightening the noose so to speak and increased the temperature until they took note. He saw cars and light poles sagging with his effort, and in truth he felt the strain in his controlled fire. He gritted his teeth—

“C’mon, fellas,” he said, trying to sound light, “Let’s call it a day, hunh? ” Both men looked up at him, and then oddly at each other. Johnny Storm did not like that look. He upped his flames…

Both The Hulk and The Thing ignored the fires looping about them and shrugged out of the fiery rings. As one both brought their arms back and then together, clapping…

The consequent blast of air not only doused the Torch’s flames but bowled him over, end over end. Johnny Storm tumbled back only to strike the stone wall of a nearby building, then to fall to the street, unconscious again. Grimm laughed.

“Whatta pussy.”

His laughter was short-lived however as The Hulk’s fist slammed into his jaw and sent him sprawling again.

“Mother…” Grimm snarled as he dug himself out of the trench that his impact had caused. Another gash in the street. The city would be on overtime for the next couple years fixing all this – not that Ben cared. Hell that’s what Damage Control was there for. Fix shit…

“Get up Grimm,” the Hulk said as he swaggered forward, grinning. “Knockin’ you down’s a hard habit to break.”

“Laugh it up, Banner. Soon as I get up I’ll…”

But he couldn’t. Try as he might, Ben Grimm could not force his body to rise beyond his hands and knees. He felt heavy, massive, like the weight of the world was suddenly resting on his shoulders. And maybe it was as he looked up and saw that kid, Gravity, hovering overhead.

“Just stay down, Mister Grimm. The two of you have done enough damage today. Stop!”

Grimm smirked. The kid had guts and savvy, floating just out of reach. He was sweating though, and Ben recalled that he really had to strain to use his powers on others the way he was. He was no Graviton. Not by a long shot. Ben grimaced and dug in, flexing as he slowly started to rise.

He made it to his knees just in time to see the other Warrior, Rage wade into the Hulk. Another gutsy kid, but Banner barely flinched as Rage slammed his fists into the Hulk’s thick hide. Banner let the kid get in a few shots before he finally gave the kid a quick backhand that sent him flying across the street just as Grimm rose to his feet.

“Knock it off, punk,” the Thing snarled, looking up. “Go on home before ya make me get drastic on yer ass.”

“I can’t… do that sir…” Gravity wavered, his face wet and dripping as he poured more power into Grimm’s mass. “You have to stop.”

Grimm shrugged. “Don’t say I didn’t warn ya then,” he said as he scooped up a handful of blacktop and reared back. He hurled the chunk of asphalt…

Shielding his eyes as it exploded into a cloud of dust and pebbles. He had heard a familiar sound and saw the air ripple a bit before his projectile blew. He knew what that meant even as a flash of dark blue dropped before him.

“Stand down, Ben.”

Colonel Nick Fury stood tall and proud before him, dressed to the tits in a SHIELD Combat Suit, with not a lick of fear on his face. His steely gray eyes held Grimm’s, unblinking, expecting the Thing to comply with his command. Fat chance.

“Outta my way, Nicky. I got no beef with you.” Grimm saw the boy, Gravity fall from the sky even as the effects of his powers vanished. Ben was able to move again. The Warrior had overtaxed himself and taken his own ass out of the picture.

“Stand down, Grimm,” Fury said again, not moving an inch. “It’s over.”

“Shit, bitch,” Grimm snarled, “it ain’t even started yet.”

The Thing saw Fury sigh and shake his head even as he adjusted his stance. That damn SHIELD suit came up a bit as he raised his free hand into the air, the over-sized arm bludgeon raised in defense. He tensed and flipped back even as Ben strode forward.

Electricity crashed down in a wave, washing the street in a blinding, searing light that scorched everything in its path. Grimm staggered at the onslaught and heard the Hulk cry out somewhere behind him before the rage of static slammed down on him like a sledgehammer.

“Thor?” Grimm whispered, looking up into the suddenly dark sky, the air crackling with residual energy. He was wrong though. It wasn’t Thor. Instead he saw a Guardsman hovering overhead and out of reach, his armor almost shredded and leaking circuitry that fed into thick cables attached to the man surrounded by a SHIELD task force. He was encased almost head to toe in shackles and circuitry, his body shimmering as the last of his energies leached away. He stared at Ben Grimm, his eyes wide and pleading over the metallic piece lashed to his jaw that kept him gagged.

“Electro…”

“I’m sorry Ben…”

Grimm turned again and saw Richards—both Reed and Sue—seemingly standing in mid air and untouched by the sudden winds and static. Force Field probably, courtesy of Sue, and Reed had some gun-like gizmo hoisted onto his shoulder, a sad look on his face.

“Yer sorry all right, Richards. Son of a bitch!”

The Thing strode forward even as Reed Richards leveled his gun and fired…

He felt sick and weak as the world pulsed green. Grimm staggered, a swirling, buzzing in his brain that seemed to blot out anything and everything. He strode forward, gritting his teeth and trying to reach the man that had ruined his life, but it was like wading through a sea of molasses in January. Force field, or something else he did not know or care. Breathing hard, he dropped to one knee.

So weak…

“Susan…”

Ben Grimm felt the air deaden about him as the Invisible Woman encased him in one of her bubbles of force. The humidity rose about him as he shook his head, trying to concentrate. He could hear the Hulk yelling in the background, cursing…

The street went dark; the buildings and streetlights winking out. Rain pounded down beyond the bubble as he gasped for air, his heart hammering in his chest, head throbbing. He had to get away…

Richards…

Damn him…

Grimm screamed his rage and drove his fists downward through the already fragile blacktop. He let gravity suck him down, falling once again into the subway tunnels under the street. He hit hard, and it took a moment to get to his feet, but he did, staggering away into the darkness.

He would get his revenge, but later. No SHIELD. No Hulk. Just him and Richards.

And the Thing staggered off into the darkness, losing himself in the lattice of tunnels beneath Manhattan…

“AHHHhhhhhh!”

The Hulk screamed, his body bulging, his muscles expanding as he felt the influx of Gamma Radiation washing through his cells. He swayed on his feet, feeling light-headed as he tried to focus on Reed Richards, standing there at the hole that Grimm had created to escape.

“Richards,” he hissed. His skin was burning, breaking in places that seemed to hiss in the aftermath. “What have you done?”

Reed Richards glanced up and looked to the Hulk. His face was filled with sorrow. “I’m sorry, Bruce. I had to extract the excess radiations from Ben – weaken him. Your proximity though made you the closest, most accessible receptacle. There will be some pain…”

“Bastard!” Banner shouted, almost doubling over as the atomic fires raged through him. He was sweating, his body convulsing as Gamma waves roiled through his cells. He could feel the power building within, bloating him. He thought he might explode.

“Hope…” he gasped, his emerald eyes ablaze as he stared at the leader of the Fantastic Four. “Hope Grimm comes back and pinches off your head like silly putty…”

“Reed?” the Invisible Woman asked, stepping to her husband’s side. He saw too Speedball and Karma in the background, ready to help if need be. He had to get away, deal with this before –

“Contain him, Susan.”

Banner leapt…

Reed Richards seemed to sag as he watched the Hulk arch up and away, finally vanishing beyond the skyline of Manhattan. He sighed as he started to unstrap the Gamma Pulse Generator from his being, ignoring for the most part the soft touch of his wife’s hand on his shoulder.

“You did your best Reed.”

Richards chuckled sadly, lowering his weapon to the ground. “My best? My best always seems to fall short where Ben’s concerned. At least we stopped his rampage. Now we can concentrate on finding him. In his weakened state – ”

“I’m afraid that your search for the Thing will have to be put on hold, Reed.”

Both Reed and Susan Richards turned to see Nick Fury stepping forward, adjusting his armored battle suit, stripping the heavy accessories as he walked. He tried to smile, but it was forced.

“We have more pressing matters.”

“Ben needs me,” Reed said, looking at Fury and the assembled SHIELD strike force, “and our son, Franklin is missing. We can’t – ”

“It’s Doom, Reed,” Fury said with a frown…

“Doom!”

NEXT: Head on over first to Avengers #17 here at Marvel Omega for the first installment of “Pax Doom”! Then back here soon as the Fantastic Three rise to the new threat that Doom envisions and tries to save their son from… well…

Doom…

Author’s Note

BIG thanks to Derrick Ferguson for his contributions on this issue. When I first heard that Derrick was moving his HULK to OMEGA I thought ‘what a great opportunity for us to collaborate…’

Okay, I don’t really think that way in my head, but damn, teaming up with Derrick for a Hulk/Thing slug-fest was GREAT fun! Hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as we enjoyed writing it. Now get ready for the fall out…

-Curt