- —Hulk
Appearing in "Tempest Fugit, Part 4"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- ⏴ General Ross/Doc Samson ⏵ (Secretly Nightmare)
- Wolverine (Secretly a Mindless One)
- Kang the Conquerer (Secretly a Mindless One)
- Professor Yarish (Secretly a Mindless One)
Other Characters:
- X-Men (Mentioned)
- Wolverine (Logan) (Mentioned)
- Kang the Conqueror (Nathaniel Richards) (Mentioned)
- Fin Fang Foom (Mentioned)
- Betty Ross (Mentioned)
Races and Species:
Locations:
- Earth (Main story and flashback)
- Nightmare Island
- North America (Only in flashback)
- United States of America (Only in flashback)
- California (Only in flashback)
- Modesto (Only in flashback)
- California (Only in flashback)
- United States of America (Only in flashback)
Items:
Synopsis for "Tempest Fugit, Part 4"
Trapped on Nightmare Island, Bruce Banner has been fighting for his life against creature after creature while also reliving moments of his adolescence. After a battle with what appeared to be Fin Fang Foom, Banner stopped to get his bearings and his mind drifts back...
Bruce's imaginary friend, the Hulk, has convinced young Bruce to get revenge against all those who have been laughing at him at school. However, when the Hulk suggests that they smash them all, Banner refuses. The Hulk points out that he knows about of Bruce's experiments in an abandoned cabin in the woods. Bruce tells the Hulk to leave it alone, but the Hulk has elected to deal with Banner's problems. Fed up with his imaginary friend, Bruce tells the Hulk to leave him alone and walks away. The Hulk screams at "puny" Banner, telling him that he is the strongest there is.
Gwen and Ripley have found themselves in a bunker with Professor Yarish. Yarish claims that the island is the testing grounds for a weapon that will turn the thoughts and dreams of others into reality and that the project is out of control. With Gwen having run off into the jungle to find a man who appears to be General Thaddeus Ross, Yarish explains the project to her friend Ripley. Ripley is unaware that Yarish is not a human but one of the Mindless Ones in disguise. While in the forest, Gwen finds General Ross and turns over his gun. He warns her against getting attached to the people here, that she is destined for more important things. When Gwen demands to know what he is talking about, he grabs her hair and starts to drown her in a nearby pond.
Elsewhere in the jungle, Bruce Banner is trying to get his thoughts together when he is approached by what appears to be Wolverine. When Banner asks him for help, Wolverine attacks him. The attack triggers a transformation into the Hulk, who defends himself. While not far away, Ross has finished drowning Gwen, telling her that she needs to get back into the game. As he walks away, a snake slithers up to her body and coils around her. Meanwhile, the Hulk lets Wolverine cut loose on him but withstands the barrage.
During a heavy rainstorm, Bruce Banner tells his aunt Susan that he isn't feeling well and that he will stay home from school. She asks him if he went out the night before, but Bruce says he didn't because of the bad weather. She asks if he is sure because his shoes are covered in mud and leaves, but Bruce convinces her that he didn't. Bruce realizes that something isn't right. When his aunt leaves, the Hulk reappears and explains that he took control of Bruce's sleeping body, went to the abandoned cabin where Bruce had been experimenting with explosives, and planted one in his high school. Horrified, Bruce gets dress and runs out of the house, hoping that he isn't too late.
Professor Yarish has drugged Ripley, who is passed out on the floor. Out in the jungle, Gwen wakes after being drowned. Seeing her reflection in the water, she is surprised that her hair has turned green. She hears the battle between the Hulk and Wolverine, who are still fighting not far away. The Hulk trounces Wolverine and demands to know what is going on. He is confronted by someone who appears to be Kang the Conqueror, who claims that he must destroy the Hulk and has been pulling opponents from out of the timestream to try and accomplish this. Hulk reverts to Bruce Banner, who doesn't believe any of this. He recounts how first he had to fight the Gray Hulk, then Fin Fang Foom, and now someone claims time travel is involved. He has deduced that someone is trying to bombard Banner with ideas of what is really going on, hoping that something will stick. The impostors insist their story is true. Banner points out that he knows that this is all some kind of game because he was able to dodge one of Wolverine's blows while in his human form. When he points out that they still want him alive, Wolverine tells him that he is wrong and stabs Banner with his claws.
Banner begins to scream but realizes that he is in a straight jacket in a padded room. He is approached by Doc Samson, who tells him that he just snapped out of a period where the Hulk was in control. Bruce remembers this time from just after the Pantheon fell and recounts Betty's death. Samson tells Bruce that Betty is still alive and everything he has experienced after that was all a dream.
Solicit Synopsis
Notes
Continuity Notes[]
- "General Ross" in this story is actually Nightmare in disguise, as revealed in the next issue. He makes a comment about how he hopes Gwen will do better than her "predecessor". He is referring to his daughter the Dreamqueen, a recurring foe of the original Alpha Flight since Alpha Flight #56.
- Bruce recognizes the padded room from when he was institutionalized following the fall of the Pantheon. Those events happened in Incredible Hulk #425–426.
- Bruce mentions that his wife Betty Ross is dead. Betty died of radiation poisoning in Incredible Hulk #466. Betty was resurrected by the Intelligencia as seen in Fall of the Hulks: Alpha #1.
- Wolverine's costume here is reminiscent of the first costume he wore in Incredible Hulk #181.
Chronology Notes[]
A flashback in this story affects the chronology of the following characters:
Legacy Numbering[]
- Based on the Marvel Legacy renumbering infographic, this issue corresponds to Incredible Hulk #554.