One month ago, Carl “Absorbing Man”
Creel was captured by Iron Man and sent to The Vault; there he was
brutally interrogated by the Guardsmen, sold out by his ex-lover
Titania. He refused a job with Roxxon out of pride and declines a
chance to escape. Instead he accepts an offer from Shadow Base to
fight the Hulk, his pride demanding a rematch against a foe he has
never beaten. General Fortean and Dr Clive give him a drug known as
the “Hulk plug-in;” it (allegedly) temporarily turns him red but
allows him to absorb the gamma energy of a test mouse. When the Hulk
is located after killing Dr Clive (last issue), Creel is dropped into
the area to do battle....
At a trailer park, Bruce Banner is shot
by a resident for trying to steal clothing from a clothesline but the
sun goes down and the Hulk is reborn, destroying everything the man
owns. Shortly thereafter the trailer park resident is interviewed by
Bushwacker working for Shadow Base. After learning all he can, he
turns his hand into a gun and kills the man then reports to Base that
Hulk is heading back to New Mexico. Hulk is there to find out what
possessed him during his battle with Sasquatch (issue #5), a monster
wearing his father's face, and how he can defeat it. Instead, the
Absorbing Man drops on him from the sky....
The two battle with Hulk thinking it's
an easy fight but he quickly discovers it isn't: his blows hurt
himself, not his enemy. As they fight, Creel slowly draws off Hulk's
gamma energy, turning him into an emaciated husk—but whatever Hulk
acquired when he drained Sasquatch is now possessing Creel. It is a
demonic entity, the One Below All, mocking Creel for his sin of
pride—and tearing his body apart....