Incredible Hulk (Vol. 2) #38

Mar 12

Mar 12 Incredible Hulk (Vol. 2) #38

Last Chance Cafe

Hired by Home Base to capture Bruce Banner, Sandra Verdugo and Jink Slater have just missed the Hulk at the site of an accident. With no car and low on supplies, Sandra suggests they wait and see what happens. They are soon discovered by two people who happen upon the accident site and ask if they are okay. The two assassins kill their would-be rescuers and steal their clothes and their car. Looking over a map found in the car they determine that there is a diner nearby and that is the most logical location for Bruce Banner to go. They speed off in order to get there before he does, hoping to slip him the tranquilizers that Sandra procured. Sure enough, no sooner have the pair settled into a table does Bruce Banner come in and sit at a table by himself. As Bruce orders an ice tea, Jink suggests that they pull their guns and shoot him, but Sandra insists that they follow the plan.

Meanwhile, some ETMs arrive at the scene of the accident and discover the two dead tourists that were killed by Sandra and Jink from bullets to the head. This left them to wonder what happened. Back at the diner, Sandra readjusts her skimpy outfit to be as revealing as possible and goes to try and distract Banner enough to slip her drugs into his drink. She approaches his table and explains that she forgot her purse at home and could use a cold drink. Banner falls for this ruse and as he orders a Coke for the woman, Sandra dumps the tranquilizer into his iced tea. Back at that accident site, the two murder victims suddenly get up off the ground and kill the two emergency responders who have arrived at the scene. At the diner, Bruce and Sandra cheers, but the mood quickly changes when Banner gets a message on his laptop from Mr. Blue warning him that his present location is "unhealthy" and tells him to leave immediately.

At that moment, Home Base received a call from the two accident victims, apparently double agents for the organization, they report the positions of Verdugo, Slater, and Banner. Home Base tells their two operatives to hang back and see what happens, paying particular attention to Jink Slater. While at the diner, Bruce is interrupted by his conversation with Sandra by Doc Samson, who is in disguise. He demands to have a dance with Sandra and when she tries to turn him down he asks her if she can't recognize an old flame. As Sandra goes to the junk box, Samson acts like a man spoiling for a fight, until he releases that he's talking to Doc Samson. While the double agents arrive on the scene, Samson explains that the woman he was sitting with is Sandra Vurdigo, formally with the Special Forces. Leonard also explains how she was apparently executed a few days earlier at Leavenworth Penitentiary. He also turns his attention to Jink Slater and then puts some drops into Bruce's drink to neutralize the tranquilizer. When Bruce asks Samson how he could know all of this, Leonard explains that the same people who hired them tried to hire him as well. Samson isn't sure who they are, but he also points out the ETMS who just arrived who have uniforms that barely fit and suspects they are operatives of this organization as well.

While Samson is explaining all of this, Sandra Verdugo has gone back to Jink's table to tell him their plan has been compromised as she recognized her old boyfriend Leonard Samson. Thinking he is being double-crossed, Jink pulls his gun and prepares to shoot Sandra from under the table. The entire scene is being watched by Home Base who are interested to see how the situation plays out. Meanwhile, Samson tells Bruce that he is going to need the Hulk to get out of here alive. Banner explains that he can't just turn the Hulk on and off at command, so Leonard decides to force him out by slapping Bruce around. With the situation falling out of control rapidly, Jink shoots Sandra right between the eyes. However, before he can shoot Banner, the two double agents draw their guns on him. At that very moment, Banner begins to lose his temper and transforms into the Hulk. Seeing Samson, the Hulk then punches him so hard, that the Doc goes flying out of the diner. While the Hulk attacks Jink and the other two Home Base operatives, he wrecks the cameras Home Base is using to spy on the scene are destroyed. The diner is trashed and the Hulk is long gone by the time Doc Samson has recovered. Searching the site, Doc Samson finds Banner's laptop. On it is a message from Mr. Blue trying to find Banner a new location to retreat to.

However, Before Leonard can examine it further he is hit over the head and knocked out with a log by Sandra Vertigo, who somehow managed to survive a shot to the head. She then recovers Banner's laptop as she needs to for her mission.