Story continued from INCREDIBLE HULK (1999 series) #112.
Ares visits a Louisiana farm where a live Hydra
(multi-headed dragon out of Greek myth, not the terrorist organization) is
being kept for him….
Hercules and Amadeus Cho are hiding out at a Green Cross
refugee camp in New Jersey: Amadeus wants to take the fight to SHIELD and
destroy them; Herc thinks they should hide out. Herc calls his cousin Athena in
Vermont to tell her they are coming for a visit; Athena advises her cousin to
watch out for Ares but even more to beware of Amadeus: he is at a crossroads
and his genius can be used for good or evil and Hercules should guide him
toward the former….
Ares is hunting for Herc with an assist from Wonder Man; he
has bullets filled with Hydra blood which killed Hercules once before. Ares
relates the story of Herc killing the Hydra as one of his famous Twelve Labors;
afterward, he dipped arrows in its blood as the deadliest poison known to the
gods. Some time later, the centaur Nessus, overcome by lust, carried off Herc’s
bride Deianira and the mighty hero shot him with one of the poisoned arrows.
Dying, the villain told Deianira that the blood on his shirt would act as a
love potion should she feel Hercules is straying from her. When that happened,
she put the shirt on him and the Hydra blood on the shirt killed him….
Now Ares and Wondy have located Hercules and Simon drops down
for a slugging match but Ares uses the opportunity to ignore the counsel of the
Avengers and unleash his own deadly revenge on Herc. Problem is, the Hydra
blood doesn’t kill him but it does drive him mad with the pain. Amadeus seizes
the opportunity to hack into the Avengers computer via the Quinjet but Herc
uses the jet as a weapon to smash Wonder Man. Amadeus leads the berserk god out
to face SHIELD who have brought Hulk’s stone ship….