Hearing that her threat had no effect on Maguire, Betty snorted and walked out. Her father, General Ross, had always been dead set against her relationship with Bruce; she wasn't about to sic Maguire on him over this.
Bruce looked at Maguire, puzzled. "How do you know I'm the Hulk? Who are you?"
Maguire only smiled, said nothing, stood up, and left.
— — —
At General Ross's secret base, a bearded man strode in, anger in his voice. He was the former ace of an elite commando unit, a participant in a super-soldier program whose physique had been greatly enhanced—Emil Blonsky.
Ross's face hardened as he laid it out. Bruce Banner had once worked on the super-soldier program. An accident during an experiment mutated him; when his emotions hit a threshold, he transformed into a giant monster.
Blonsky was proud and stubborn, convinced no one could be stronger than he was. Meeting the Hulk had changed that. There had to be a way to become even stronger.
A soldier burst in, excited. "General, we've found Banner's trail!"
Ross brightened. "Where? Move—bring him in!"
Blonsky headed out at once. As Ross's daughter, Betty was always under discreet watch; Bruce's appearance near her wouldn't go unnoticed.
— — —
After Maguire left the pizzeria, Bruce Banner went to see a friend—one of the few who knew his secret and had been trying to restore him to normal. Over the past year Banner had mailed him many blood samples. The research had made major progress; there might finally be a cure.
Bruce arrived at a nondescript apartment and rang. A man in a lab coat opened the door: Dr. Samuel Sterns—the man Bruce had been contacting. He wasn't the "big-brained" menace he'd later become, not yet. Seeing Bruce, Sterns looked thrilled and ushered him inside.
On a workbench, rows of vials—blood, a lot of it. Bruce frowned. "All of these… my samples?"
Sterns nodded. "Right. Everything you've sent."
"That's too dangerous to keep around. We need to destroy them," Bruce said.
Sterns's expression flickered, then he smiled. "Of course. After I fix you, we'll dispose of them."
Bruce didn't catch the off note and agreed.
Ten-odd minutes later, after Sterns's procedure, the green "gamma" signatures in Bruce's blood had vanished. Bruce felt… normal.
A dart clacked through the window and buried itself in his neck. The anesthetic hit hard. Bruce collapsed. Sterns startled—and the door exploded inward. A fully armed special-operations team poured in, led by Blonsky.
Blonsky smiled thinly at the unconscious Banner. "Take him. Deliver to General Ross."
The squad hauled Banner away, leaving Blonsky alone with Sterns. Blonsky raised his rifle and walked toward the scientist.
"What do you want?" Sterns blurted.
"What do I want?" Blonsky grinned. "I want you to make me a monster as strong as him. Don't tell me you can't. My gun doesn't care who it hits."
For his own safety, Sterns nodded. Blonsky lay back on the table—keeping the pistol trained on Sterns the whole time. "You know what happens if you lie to me."
Sterns turned to the racks of vials—Banner's blood. Yes, he was going to inject Banner's sample into Blonsky.
A minute later, Blonsky's face twisted; he roared, muscles swelling, skin flushing green. His spine arched up like bony ridges along a dragon's back. The sheer mass crushed the table beneath him. A flying shard nicked Sterns's forehead.
When he straightened, Blonsky was nearly three meters tall—a hulking green monstrosity, corded with jagged bone. He had become the Abomination. Power flooded his body, enough to tear the world apart.
He threw back his head and screamed at the ceiling.
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