"The Color of My Madness"

"What the bloody fuck is that?"

Abigail Jones fought the urge to roll her eyes, knowing that her supervisor would catch the action. If that happened, he'd 'chew you a new hole, you stupid cow' -- or something to that effect. He'd made the threat a number of times lately and Abigail knew that, sooner or later, he'd fire her and give her grant money to someone else.

"I'm still working on the regenerative tissue experiment, Bailey. This is Prototype E-4, the first one to last beyond the embryo stage." She gestured towards the greenish-tinted mass of tissue and bone that quivered on the examing table before them. Small tufts of hair could be seen here and there, along with sensory organs that resembled eyestalks. "E-4 has shown the ability to regenerate tissue from a number of physical assaults, including fire, bullets, knives and more."

"You've been torturing the blighter, then?" Bailey made a face, giving him a piggy look. He was older than Abigail and a failed scientist in her eyes. He'd spent years at W.H.O. and S.T.R.I.K.E. before going into the public sector -- now he and Abigail were both employed by Sycorp.

"He doesn't understand pain in the way that we do, Bailey. It's not torture at all." Not all working with you. That's torture. If you 'accidentally' touch my bum one more time....

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, love." Bailey strode towards the creature, which was supposedly no more than a mass of tissue and nerves. "So you're trying to do what? Make one of these that walks and talks? How does that help the world? Another mouth to feed, looks like."

"If you'd read my report," she began, before realizing the uselessness of that statement. Bailey never read reports. He 'lived by the seat of his pants,' he claimed. "I'm trying to create a symbiotic entity that can attach itself to the neural network of a human being. It will give the host tremendous resistance to pain, regenerative abilities that have to be seen to be believed and an extended lifespan."

"Symbiotic... That means that this thing gets something in return. What is it?"

"Mobility is one thing... but the primary value it gets is from nutrition. It feeds off several common human hormones, all of which are in the body in abundance."

"Aren't you worried you're playing god? Creating a monster? Some kind of abomination? How do we know it's not conscious of what you're doing to it? Won't it be pissed if it gets a host and suddenly has the means to strike back?"

"It's not like that, Bailey. I thought I'd made that clear." Abigail began to put away her materials. She was starting to get creeped out by Bailey's questions and she was afraid he was going to make another move on her. She turned her back to him briefly, hearing him continue on without her.

"You'd be surprised at the kind of pain things feel. Even with people -- sometimes no one thinks about the rage someone can build up, from rejection after rejection. From his parents on up to the silly little cunts who turn him down for dates. You'd be amazed at what someone might do for the chance to strike back...."

"What are you talking about now?" she asked, turning back to see her sleezy boss... standing with Prototype E-4 in his hands. "Bailey... Put that down. It's designed to meld with--"

"An abomination. That's what it is." Bailey's eyes were glittering, locked on the shifting mass before him. "That's what I am, Abigail. That's what you think, isn't it? Maybe you're right...."

"Bailey... Please. We don't know if--"

Bailey, however, had lost all interest in her. The Prototype was melding itself to his hand, generating small, needle-like spikes that it then drove deep into his flesh. He cried out as the lifeform seeped into his body and changed him forever.

Abigail backed away from the monster that was birthing itself in front of her, screaming.

It was then that Bailey began to smile, as if remembering she were there. "Abby... Sweet thing. It's time we got to know one another so much better, don't you think?"

The Phoenix Effect had completely engulfed Molly Fitzgerald, leaving her shrouded in a fiery bird of creation. Months ago, she'd been nearly slain by the Leader... but at the moment of death, a great power had come to her, making her more (and less) than human. No longer Shamrock, she had become the Celtic Phoenix... and had allowed herself to become lovers with the man known to the world as the Incredible Hulk.

Now that choice brought a tremendous ache to her... for not even her vaunted powers seemed capable of tracing the Hulk's current whereabouts. She allowed the flames to die down around her, but her red tresses continued to blow in a steady breeze generated by her powers. 

"Nothing?" Joey Chapman asked, stepped up beside her. The two of them stood in the Cathedral of Owls, one of the focal points for magic on the island home of the Pendragons, Lyonesse. "How can a blighter that big hide himself away?"

"I don't know," she admitted, wrapping her arms about herself and shivering. "It's like he doesn't exist anymore."

"Betsy said that Bruce's mind was exorcised or something, right?"

"That's what Dane told her... that Bruce had asked him to remove the part of his personality that would eventually lead to the Maestro. He didn't realize it was his core Professor persona that was going to get the shaft." She sighed, closing her eyes for a moment. "Why didn't he ask me to help him? Or Betsy? We could have done it without screwing it up. Bollocks!"

Union Jack placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, drawing her close. She accepted the embrace, letting loose the torrent of emotions inside of her. "It's going to be okay. You have to keep believing that. One way or another... it's going to work itself out."

"Let me out, pal... You're tired, and we both know it."

The voice of Joe Fixit buzzed in the Hulk's head but he ignored it. He was used to the voices now, urging him to do what they wanted. Joe. Dane. Others, some of whom sounded like puny Banner's father or his dead wife. 

None of them mattered. None of them cared what the Hulk wanted, after all... which was to be left alone.

The green behemoth pushed back against the hard rock he was sitting against, staring out into the night sky. He was at Stonehenge, having pushed past the barricades erected to keep visitors from harming the precious stones. Ever since the Barrier had gone up, there had been massive pilgrimages made to the sites of old power -- both Stonehenge and Glastonbury had been almost overrun, leading to increased security. 

The Hulk, however, had easily pushed his way into the ring of standing stones, drawn to them like a moth to a flame. They soothed him, making him feel warm and secure.

"Savage, you listenin' to me?" Joe asked, continued to needle away at the ends of the Hulk's consciousness. 

The Hulk visualized the would-be gangster Hulk standing before a door... which slammed shut in his face, muting his voice.

"Heh. Thought Hulk was too dumb to do that, didn't you?" the Hulk whispered maliciously. "Hulk not dumb. Hulk in control now."

"Certainly looks that way to me," someone said, moving from behind one of the stones and into the Hulk's line of sight. He wore a skintight bodysuit of soft red in color, with an ominous set of crossbones over his chest. Where his face should have been was a fleshless skull, surrounded by flickering flame. "Given your size, though, I can't imagine there being many occasions when people don't let you have your druthers."

The Hulk growled deep in his throat, feeling the familiar increase in strength that accompanied the onset of rage. "Leave Hulk alone."

"Can't do that, my friend. Nor would you want me to. You've been spotted, you see. And the only reason your old mates in the Pendragons aren't here turning this place into World War III is because W.H.O. wants to bag you themselves. They're calling in their own group of super powered heroes -- the New Crusaders*."

(*Introduced, via photos and conversation, in Pendragons # 60)

"Then Hulk will smash them."

The stranger smiled. "I'm sure. But wouldn't it be better to avoid conflict altogether? Let me help you and I'll take you someplace far away from danger."

"You might be trying to trick Hulk. Everyone tries to trick Hulk!"

"You die for a little while and the whole world goes crazy," Betty Banner whispered, staring at the television. She was seated in her father's office at the base where it all began, so many years ago. It was here that she'd fallen for the shy, introverted scientist named Bruce Banner... and it was here that he'd unleashed the monster lurking within his soul. 

"The Barrier's been in place for quite some time now," her father said. He hovered near her, like a nervous mother hen. Betty appreciated the efforts he was making and knew how hard it was for him to express emotion -- emotions other than anger and disappointment, at least. "All our best efforts to pierce it have failed -- but a few men and women from inside the Barrier made it out recently and delivered a powerful blow to the Martian invaders*... since then we've had them on the run, but it's cost the lives of a lot of good people, superpowered and otherwise.

(*See the "Unity" storyline that ran in Pendragons 55-59)

"What about Leonard? And Rick... and Marlo?"

"Rick and his wife are fine. They've been housed in the Avengers Bunker for some time now." He sniffed and looked away, watching the footage on the screen. It was showing the liberated survivors of a Martian gladiatorial arena, looking abused and half-starved. 

"What about Leonard?"

"Samson... is missing. He was captured by a Martian patrol and put into the arenas. We have no idea if he's still alive."

"Damn it. I miss my old life, daddy. My marriage, my friends... it still doesn't seem real. All of this. That I'm alive at all, that my husband is gone, maybe forever...."

"You have to be strong. There's a war going on... and everyone's suffered." He patted her shoulder reassuringly. "But I've taken some steps to try and remedy your particular pain. Ms. Haldane has put me in touch with someone who might be able to get you inside the Barrier."

Betty looked up, shock evident in her features. "I thought travel was impossible."

"Normally it is... but I told you that some of the Pendragons made it through. Haldane thinks that you might be able to journey inside the Barrier through someplace called Otherworld."

"You wouldn't be coming with me, would you?"

"Can't be done. I have responsibilities."

"You're a better father than I ever gave you credit for being...."

Thunderbolt Ross smiled softly. "You have your mother's eyes, Betty... and her heart. I want you to be happy, even if it means losing you again....."

Eight-year old Bruce Banner sat on the floor of his room, playing with his toys. He held a green-skinned monster in one hand, slamming it repeatedly against a gray-skinned version of the same. There were angry voices out in the hallway, but he ignored them for the most part. It was all a dream -- those weren't really his parents fighting again. His mother wouldn't be murdered by his father, while Bruce had to keep quiet about all he'd seen....

No. 

It was all a dream.

"I know you're scared, but we can't stay like this."

Little Bruce stopped playing, looking up to see that the skies outside his window had grown dark and ominous, with a heavy green cast to the clouds. "Go away," he whispered.

The Professor loomed over him, dressed in a white lab coat and glasses. A tie was hanging loose around his neck, giving him a harried look. "When Whitman exorcised us from the Hulk, he trapped us here -- maybe he doesn't even know it. He might think we're gone forever... but we're not. We need to be freed from here and then we can rejoin with the Hulk."

"I don't want to do that," Bruce said, petulantly. "Besides you're bad. You're gonna be the Maestro!"

"No... No, I won't." The Professor knelt beside him, touching him tenderly. "I swear it, Bruce. Together, you and I can make sure it won't happen. Don't you miss Molly?"

"I miss Betty."

"... Me too. But she's gone."

Bruce sighed. "What do you want me to do?"

The Professor frowned slightly. "Just be ready to work with me... As soon as I figure out where we are. We're not in the Hulk's mind at all any more -- when we were cut free, some psychic force grabbed hold. Now we're... somewhere. Until I can figure out where, I'm not sure what we can do."

Bruce smashed the green and grey figures together again, smiling. "Then I'll keep playing until you figure it out."

Samuel Sterns smiled smugly as he sat back in his cell. As the Leader, he was a feared would-be dictator capable of laying wastes to entire governments... but for now he rotted away in Darkmoor Prison, his powers partially contained by nullifying energy fields that surrounded his cell. But those cells were not infallible and from time to time they ebbed in power... and the Leader was able to glimpse the world at large. 

It was during one of those periods that he'd felt a familiar bit of mental essence, floating adrift....

"Lights out, Sterns."

The Leader didn't spare the guard a glance. He merely closed his eyes and closed the proverbial door on his two little captive guests. Shattered remnants of a greater whole, the Professor and Young Bruce might eventually provide the Leader with the tools he needed to destroy his oldest enemy...

And until then, they made for excellent entertainment. 

"Sleep well, my pets," he whispered, as the lights in his cell went dim.

Next Issue: "Abominations" Part One -- the all-new, all-deadly Abomination is on the loose and only the Hulk can stop him! Plus: Will Jim Hammond's Penance Council provide the home the Hulk needs or has he been led into yet another pit of deception?

Author's Notes

This issue was supposed to serve as a bridge between our first arc and the second, with a few hints as to where I'm headed. Don't worry about the Pantheon and Janis -- I haven't forgotten them! They'll be back next issue, in fact. The notion of a new Abomination was too good to pass up. I love the name, but wanted to create something a little more Venom-esque for the Hulk. Wait until you see him in action next issue to see what I mean.

The Blazing Skull is an old favorite of mine -- and one who appeared before in the Pendragons Universe. Check out Ghost Rider U.K.  # 9. I'm playing him more along the lines of his older Marvel appearances, before Chuck Austen made him a raving lunatic in Avengers and New Invaders. I plan some major crossing-over with Robert Rock's Penance Council material in the next few issues, so if you haven't read those stories, check them out elsewhere on the Pendragons site.

Robert Rock posted the following review on the Pendragons Mailing List:

First off, Barry's love for this character and PAD's era as a writer shines through with each of the issues he's written. 
Solid knowledge of the character and the cast used during PAD's era as well is easily recognized.

Now onto the review....

Thumbs up section

The revival of Betty was really well handled.  It was a believable concept and well executed.  Betty has always been the only chink in Ross's armour and even though he started off rough demanding Betty to wake, he softened immediately when she did, it was a touching moment.

Well dialogued confrontation between Betsy and Dane.  Did I detect a foreshadowing to Dave's series in which they have a child when their touch electrifies them?

Well structured and executed fight scene between Maestro and Hulk.

Thumbs Middle

I still lament the loss of the Professor persona.  It was always one of my favorite Hulk personas. The Savage Hulk tearing across the landscape is hard to keep interesting.

Sum up

I've really enjoyed the first arc and I'm looking forward to the future.  I'm interested to see where Barry's going to take the story and how the relationships with the Hulk will change all over the Pendragons Universe.

Glad you enjoyed the finale of the first story arc, Robert. It was indeed a bit of foreshadowing between Dane and Betsy -- good eye! I like to try and make the universe feel interrelated, so I figured I'd throw that in. As for the loss of the Professor... I feel your pain. But we'll have a totally new Hulk by the end of the first 12 issues -- and I suspect you'll dig what I have in mind.

Keep In Touch,

Barry