Bruce Banner, hypnotized by Xemnu into thinking himself a science
terrorist named Robert Banner, exults in his power in madness, fantasizing over
what Hulk would be capable of if he let himself go (picturing a three-faced,
four-armed green giant killing Iron Man, Captain America, Spider-Man, and Doc
Samson). His team, Charlene McGowan, Doc Samson, and Rick Jones, is trying to
convince him his memories are phony to break Xemnu’s hold. Banner looks inside
his mind…
…where the trapped Hulk is being given a tour of Banner’s mindscape
by the Green Scar (Hulk from the PLANET HULK event), a desert land of towers
and gears where in the sky floats a conglomerate image of everyone Hulk hates,
the largest being Brian Banner, in place of a sun. There’s a giant image of an
angry Betty Ross and Hulk is introduced to the captive Devil Hulk who is abused
by Green Scar but Hulk tries to free him—as Banner goes into convulsions in the
real world—and finds he is not strong enough. Hulk passes a human-looking Joe
Fixit, trapped in amber while Green Scar shows him his work: freeing the child
Bruce from his attachment to a television showing Xemnu and the Magic Planet.
At Green Scar’s urging, Hulk smashes the TV and then crawls inside toward the
light…
…and comes out of Bruce Banner’s mouth, bursting his body
into bits. Hulk decides the time for talk is past and heads out to fight “white-thing”
at Roxxon, leading Samson, Rick, and Red Harpy. Hulk just crashes into the
building, smashing all the people who are actually human-machine hybrids,
created when Xemnu fed on them. Upstairs, Dario Agger, the Minotaur, is
panicking over this development and Xemnu calmly feeds on him. As Samson and
the others fight the machine people downstairs, Hulk goes up to the executive
suite and faces a disgustingly different Minotaur, helpless to do anything but
mutter. Xemnu seizes Hulk and tries to hypnotize/absorb him but Rick Jones warns
the alien to beware. And then an even bigger, spikier Hulk emerges and rips Xemnu
into little pieces. The alien’s destruction breaks the spell consuming the
planet and Hulk walks off. Rick Jones then monologues at the ruined Minotaur
before revealing himself to be the real brain behind the plot—the Leader….