In the X-Men’s attempt to cure Bruce Banner of being the
Hulk, Professor X has inadvertently channeled the Gamma power into Marvel Girl
and she becomes a She-Hulk while the entire cavern goes chaotic. Xavier tries
to calm her down but he is forestalled by the combined might of the others (Cyclops,
Havok, Beast, Angel, Iceman, Polaris). She informs her mentor that she is no
out-of-control savage but a newborn experiencing increased powers for the first
time. And she gives herself a sexy new costume, complete with Polaris’
headdress. She also tells Xavier she resents being tested and treated like his
pawn, which the others also echo. Then the wall comes crashing down and an army
of the Leader’s robot servitors comes in and the X-Men are in a mad melee with
the mechanical monsters. Bruce tries to rush Xavier to safety while X gives the
X-Men a telepathic command to urge them to retreat. But Bruce hears this
too—leading Xavier to realize that this isn’t reality: he is in Bruce Banner’s
mind. Xavier stands up and walks—and finds himself at the site of the original
Gamma bomb that created the Hulk. Bruce comes rushing toward him, trying to
push him into the trench but the bomb detonates, bathing Xavier in radiation
and turning him into a Hulk. Then a multitude of Hulk enemies arrives, all
beating on him at once, last of all Hulk himself knocking him to the ground.
Then Bruce Banner appears to him as a child, suggesting that Xavier might be
doing all of this to himself. Meanwhile, adult Banner is a giant, fighting off
all of the Hulk incarnations. Then all goes white and Xavier finds Bruce who
realizes that, as Hulk gets stronger when challenged, Bruce’s intellect is
similarly increasing. He suggests Xavier get back to the X-Men as he suspects
he is incorporating “external stimuli” into his mindscape. Translation: the
invasion of Leader’s mechanical minions was real. Xavier awakens to find the
X-Men prisoners—and he himself has a bomb affixed to his chest. And Bruce
Banner is now a Gamma battery as the Leader prepares to drain him….