An armored car idled in the traffic of New York. The driver was chatting with his partner. "You know I met Iron Man once." He said proudly.

"No kidding?"

"Yeah. There was this huge electric thing, I think his name was Zzax? Anyway, this thing tries to hit the ATM on my beat, Iron Man comes in and stops him. He gave me a signed photograph. My son's never been so happy."

The light turned red and the van moved forward. Suddenly, a red sports car slammed into them. The two cars slowly slid to a halt in the middle of the crossing. "What just happened?" the driver asked.

"Somebody ran into us." His partner said. He opened the window. He saw the young girl bleeding behind the wheel of the sports car. "We have to go… help… her…" he suddenly began twitching.

The driver kicked open the door. "Somebody call an ambulance!" He yelled. "My friend's having a heart attack!"

"Now."

From the shadow confines of his secret lair, a small man in a green suit watched from multiple computer screens. Each one showed a different angle of the street, from the cameras in the surrounding areas. One of them showed an ambulance drawing near.

Three men jumped out. "What happened?" One of the nurses asked.

"The girl in the car ran into me." The driver of the armored van told him. Everybody watched as the scene unfolded. Only one person, in a secret location, saw the fourth nurse come out of the ambulance with a blowtorch and start cutting into the side of the truck.

"You have exactly one minute." He said. "I hope you're as good as you told me Montana."

"Better." The man in the nurses outfit said, slicing open the truck. He went and began hauling large metal boxes out of the van and into a secret compartment installed on the side of the ambulance.

"You have ten seconds left."

Montana fixed the wall of the van back into place, then rushed over to help the other 'nurses' put the writhing cop into the ambulance. They closed the doors and drove away. Only then did the driver of the armored truck see the outline of a hole in his van. "What?"

The driver of the ambulance took off his fake mustache. "That was brilliant." He said. "But how did you know the girl would crash into the truck? And how did you know that one of them would have a heart attack?"

The Thinker stood, and moved away from the screens. The remainder of the room was filled hundreds of bottles of water and six chalkboards. Each one was filled with a mathematical equation, and each one had a title. Iron Man. Hulk. Thor. Captain America. Ant-man. Wasp.

"It's my business to know the future." He said with a smile. "You know the way back to H.Q. Enforcers. Although, you'd do well to avoid route seven. That will be all." The Mad Thinker unhooked his earpiece and smiled at the chalkboards.

Avengers Unlimited: Assembled prt.1

A boat moved in to Manhattan bay. A well dressed man in a suit smiled as he looked out over the city. "First time in New York?" A balding old man with a bright smile asked.

"Yes." The well dressed man said. "My father decided I should go out and see the world. I heard that Iron Man and Thor can be seen here."

"Yeah. They're real Marvels those two." The old man's smile broadened and a twinkle glinted in his eye. He held out his hand. "I'm Stan."

The taller man shook it. "T'Challa."

"Pleased to meet you T'Challa." Stan said. "You want a friendly tour of the city?"

"I've always been better on my own." T'Challa said. "Thank you for the offer though."

Later as T'Challa walked through New York, he stopped as he saw a crowd gathering at the window of a television store. He moved to the back of the crowd and watched with them. "Today, a robbery in the chinese district was foiled by Thor." Reporter Sam McGee said. "The so called Wrecking Crew are currently being transported to an experimental prison for supervillains. But one person's reaction was not like the others."

The camera changed from McGee, to an old man at a press conference. The caption underneath read 'General Thaddeus Ross'. "These so called superheroes are not making the world a better place." He said. "Far from it. Sure, when they stumble across these supervillains they do what any decent citizen would do if they had the power. But do they actively try to prevent these crimes from happening? So far as I can see, the tally is two superheroes, and more supervillains showing up every week. They still haven't even caught America's most wanted, the Hulk."

Cue a blurry photo from a shaky camera of some sort of green giant roaring and throwing cars, then back to McGee.

"Faced with the General's rebuke, Thor and Iron Man have committed to capturing the Hulk, and putting the minds of thousands of Americans to rest."

T'Challa thought about this news, and shot a hand out. It caught the wrist of a man, and twisted it. A crack rang out and the man yelled, dropping a pair of diamonds in T'Challa's waiting hands. T'Challa reached into the man's pocket and pulled out several wallets, before tossing the man away. He looked through the photographs and began stalking through the crowds to return them to their owners.

"It is simple math." The Thinker said. "The future is just a set of constants, (gravity, physics, etc…) and a set of variables, basically any and all people in the equation. Humans are the same thing, constants ruled by the variables of their life. Then all you have to do is factor in chaos theory, lightning strikes, rolls of the dice, and if you can predict that, well, the future just writes itself."

He opened a box and pulled a container of paste out of it. He opened the other and pulled out a robotic exoskeleton. "What are you gonna use those for boss?" Ox asked.

"I have seen the future Ox." The Thinker said. "And unless we seize it while we have the chance, I fear it will be lost to us." He looked at them all. "You are my enforcers. You have seen what I have done. What I can do. Ox, Montana, Fancy Dan, Big man, will you do exactly as I tell you?"

"What's the score?" Big Man asked.

The Thinker smiled. "The country itself. If you do what I tell you, we will be living in the white house in exactly three days, and nobody will be able to stop us."

The Enforcers exchanged grins. He had them convinced. Of course he did; he could see the future after all. And it was bright. He pointed. "Fancy Dan, Montana, Big Man, you are scheduled to leave on a flight to Greenland in forty five minutes. Your passports will be delivered to you by the driver of the taxi you will take. He will pick you up in one minute and twenty seconds outside. You will receive further instructions when you reach your hotel. Go."

They all turned and left. Big Man turned for one last question. "Which hotel are we going to?"

The Thinker smiled. "I don't have to decide for you. I already know, right down to the room number, where you'll choose to stay. Now go."

The Big Man left. The Thinker turned to Ox. "Help me with this exoskeleton Ox." He said. Ox nodded and hefted the heavy droid.

Tony Stark stepped up to the podium. This was where he felt the most comfortable; in front of a national audience in his designer clothes. "Today, Stark Industries is happy to announce a new frontier in underwater exploration. I give you; the Stark Submersable 2000!" A large red and gold submarine emerged from the deep behind him. The glass walls he'd put up beforehand protected both him and the news agents from the spray of water.

"We're sending probes into space, but we don't even know the full extent of what's under our own water. With the help of renowned oceanographer Professor Walter Newell…" Professor Newell stood and the audience clapped. "The S.S. Millennial will bring to light new scientific discoveries that will make our future a better place."

The audience clapped their appreciation. "Any questions?" Stark asked. He pointed to one reporter.

"Where's your bodyguard, Iron Man?" She asked. "If this is as important as you say, shouldn't he be here?"

Stark sighed. "No comment. Any questions about the S.S. Millennial?"

"You speculate that this will bring about important scientific discoveries." A reporter said. "How?"

"Well, that's a good question." Stark said. "Professor Wendell speculates that learning how fish do the things they do can be adjusted to our technology for the betterment of mankind. For example, one of the principles used in my arc reactor design was inspired by a shark's ability to sense bioelectricity." The S.S. Millennial began sinking back into the water. "The equipment on board the S.S. Millennial is geared towards scientific advance based off of underwater principles. In addition to that, it is also suited for really deep water exploration. Deeper than we've ever gone before. We could discover new plants or minerals or... Yes?" He pointed at another reporter.

"Um… where is it going?"

Stark raised an eyebrow and turned around. The S.S. Millennial was rapidly growing smaller, leaving the harbor and sinking into the waves. "It's not supposed to do that." He turned to his secretary Pepper Potts. "Pepper, why is my submarine doing that?"

"I don't know sir." She said, a phone to her ear. "I'm trying to raise the Captain, but he's not responding."

Stark frowned then turned back to the crowd. "Excuse me for a moment. If you have any more questions I'm sure professor Wendell will be able to answer them." The professor looked shocked as Tony Stark rushed off the stage. He nervously walked up to the podium.

"Um… uh… so… any questions?"

The Big Man like the hat he stole from the captain. "How you doing Fancy Dan?"

"Looks like the coast is clear." He said, piloting the submarine. "Unless Iron Man comes after us for stealing Stark stuff, we should be good to go."

"Alright." He pressed a button on his headset. "Montoya? You good?"

Montana sat in a side pod to the submarine, which housed a set of robotic arms and a laser. "I think I can work this thing just fine." He said. "It's kind of like that drill in the Mexico job." Fancy Dan laughed at the memory.

"Alright." Big Man opened up the communications portion of the submarine. "I should be able to raise the Mr. Thinker in about…"

"Four seconds exactly." The voice said from the intercom. "Well done Big Man. You're heading towards the coordinates I sent you?"

"Full speed ahead Mr. Thinker." Big Man said.

"Excellent. You will have ten minutes to reach those coordinates and procure the package before Iron Man reaches you."

"Alright." He turned to Fancy Dan. "Fancy, can we go a bit faster than full speed ahead?"

Thor walked through the gardens of Asgard. The Warriors Three followed him. "I just do not understand." Volstagg said. "There are frost giants aplenty here in Asgard. Why do you go to Midgard so often?"

"Believe me friends." Thor said. "There is combat and chances for glory aplenty in midgard too. And a refreshing change it is from Loki, or giants, or the world serpent."

"Oh let Thor play with his mortals." Vandral said, plucking an apple from a tree. "It's not your fault, Volstagg, if he has grown too old to swing his hammer at a real foe."

Thor paused. "I think you're just afrightened that while I'm gone, you'll have to defend thine self with that toothpick Fandral." Volstagg toppled over in laughter as Fandral's mouth opened and shut looking for a response.

Hogun the grim even let out a snort. "Thor." He said. "Tell us truly, what is thine purpose to midgard?"

"Truthfully?" Thor asked. "It is not as weak a realm as it was when last we visited. There is a hero there that might give even Loki pause, and villains who will stop at nothing to destroy the world around them. They are like children, and I take pleasure in defending them until they grow enough to defend themselves."

Volstagg leaned over him. "You truly believe one day mere mortals could equal Asgardians?"

"Perhaps." Thor said. "But I must go now friends." He swung his hammer and flew to the Bifrost bridge.

Hogun shook his head as he watched him go. "Well, at least we have all the giants to ourselves." Fandral said. "Come Hogun, Volstagg. We might just beat his record!"

"You should be on it now."

Big Man checked the charts. "Yeah, we're here. But all I see is an Iceburg."

"Move to the other side. There is an object frozen into the ice. Once Montana sees it, have him start drilling."

"Alright." He nodded to Fancy Dan, who steered the sub into position.

"Is that… it can't be…"

"What is it?" Big Man looked out the view screen and gasped. There, frozen into the ice, was a man in a red white and blue costume.

"Pull it in Montana."

Montana started up the laser drill. The ice began to melt, and a large hole was carved out of the iceburg. The two robotic hands reached out and grabbed the block of ice, pulling it out of the iceburg and shifting it into the cargo bay.

"You have two minutes left." The Thinker said. "Go."

The Enforcers move to the cargo bay. Montana and Big Man hauled the block of ice onto the the smaller exploration sub and went in themselves. The bay began to fill up with water, and the three of them launched away.

In the sub's bridge, the lights on the control board lit up. Calculations began running on the screen and it surfaced.

"There you are!" Iron Man flew at the sub. "Alright, whoever's inside there, come on out with your hands where I can see them. I understand that, having decided to steal something from Stark Industries you're probably brain-dead, but if you could try to see reason before I open a can of hurt on you, it would save us all a lot of time and effort."

The laser drill on the side of the submarine pointed up and fired. "Didn't think so." Iron Man said, dodging the drill.

"Ho!" Suddenly, a hammer flew down and smashed the drilling pod.

"Thor?" Iron Man asked. "what are you doing here?"

"I just came from Asgard by way of the Bifrost bridge, and saw a fellow warrior in need of assistance." Thor said. His hammer flew back to his hand. "Now, have at thee villains!" He flew at the sub.

"No Thor! Wait!" Tony flew down trying to stop him. Thor landed on the sub and ran his hammer into it.

"Thor!" Tony landed next to him. "Stop that! The bad guys are inside the sub."

"Aye." Thor said. "And so I shall crack it open like an egg."

"No Thor! The sub is state of the art! The bad guys are stealing it. We don't want to return it damaged."

"Then how do you propose we reach the villains without harming this machine?" Thor asked.

"We use, the hatch." Iron Man said, opening the hatch in the hull. In the bridge, the 'electrify hull' button suddenly pressed itself. Iron Man yelled and flew backwards, his armor smoking.

"Friend Iron Man!" Thor yelled. He turned to the hatch. "Alright you villains, try your mettle against a warrior of Asgard!" Thor tore open the hull and jumped into the sub.

Iron Man stood up in a daze. "Uh… what happened?" He heard Thor crashing around beneath him. "Thor? No! No no no no no stop!" He flew down into the sub after him. Lights were flashing red and the claxon was sounding. Tony knew what that meant. He caught up to Thor. "Thor you've damaged the power grid!"

"What?" Thor asked.

"The whole submarine is going to explode! Get out of here!" He flew down the corridors, and found the captain knocked unconscious in the control room. He grabbed him and rocketed out just as the S.S. Millennial exploded.

"Thor!" Iron Man yelled.

"Thor emerged from the smoking wreckage. "I found no sign of any villains among the wreckage."

"Yeah, that's what tends to happen when you blow up a submarine with them inside it." Iron Man said. "Come on. Let's get the Captain to a hospital, maybe he can tell us something about the thieves."

Nick Fury Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. walked into the hospital. His long coat billowed around behind him, as he pushed open a couple of doors. "You two are hard to get a hold of." He told Iron Man and Thor.

"Well yeah, the whole secret identity thing and all." Iron Man shrugged.

"Aye, sorry friend. Asgard has poor phone reception." Thor leaned in to Iron Man and whispered. "Who is he?"

"Dunno." Iron Man said. "Must be one of our fans. The price of being a hero."

"Actually, my name is Nick Fury." Nick took out his badge. "I'm the director of a new branch of world defense called S.H.I.E.L.D. My job is to look after all of the supervillains the two of you don't catch."

"Oh, yeah." Iron Man turned to Thor. "He's the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. He catches the supervillains we don't."

"You two said you wanted to do your part to catch the Hulk." Nick Fury said. "General Ross got an anonymous tip that the Hulk was in Stamford. He's there engaging him now. If you want to help, now's your chance."

"What, now?" Thor asked.

"Oh I'm sorry, were you busy with some other dangerous force of nature?" Fury asked sarcastically. "The Hulk is currently America's most wanted. I could have left you uninformed; this is a job for trained professionals. But you two heroes wanted in, and I'm giving you the courtesy of a heads up."

"Alright, we're on it." Iron Man said.

Fury watched them leave. "I also wanted to ask you two whether you wanted to join S.H.I.E.L.D. You could be a real asset to the world with some organization. In time, I plan on putting together a team of superheroes. You'd do more good than you're doing now."

"Thor follows no mortal." Thor began walking. "Come friend Iron Man. Let us meet this troll in battle."

"Yeah, sorry Fury, but I'm going to go with Thor on this one." Iron Man said. "Besides, I already have a job, and it probably pays better."

They left to meet the Hulk.

Big Man, Montana, and Fancy Dan surfaced in the middle of the ocean. "I can't raise the Thinker on the radio." Big Man said.

"Sure you can't." Fancy Dan scoffed. "He didn't see us trying to get in touch with him in the future, so he can't get in touch with us. He didn't see us running out of gas in the middle of the ocean either."

"Relax Fancy Dan." Montana said. "When has he not pulled through for us?"

"All I'm saying is, he should know we'd run out of gas." Fancy Dan sneered. "I think he just gets by on luck. It was lucky that Thor came along and wrecked the sub. I think all of his plans just rely on luck falling out of the sky."

Suddenly, an enormous flying saucer appeared above them. A pair of doors opened, and Ox stepped out onto the platform. "Mr. Thinker told me to say, 'like this?'"

Big Man laughed. "Help us get the package out of the hold Ox!"

"Nice digs." Iron Man admired the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier the S.S. Adamant. "I almost regret turning down your offer to work here."

"It's always on the table." Fury said. "And it's not like your boss Stark is the only genius in the world."

"Only the smartest." Iron Man sat in a chair on the main deck where an agent was bringing them briefing files.

"So, this Hulk." Thor said. "He does not sound very smart. How has he been able to evade you?"

Nick Fury laid down the papers. "General 'Thunderbolt' Ross. He's been pursuing the Hulk for three years now."

"Guy needs a hobby." Iron Man noted.

"According to the information he presented, the Hulk started out as Bruce Banner, a noted radiologist. He was on the fast track to a Nobel prize for his efforts to cure osteoporosis. But five years ago, driving to his lab, he got into a car accident with one of the lab's chemical trucks. His wife grew sick, and as he searched for a cure there was another lab accident."

"Truly, this man has the worst luck in midgard." Thor said.

"Yeah, well that's before the really bad stuff happened." Fury continued. "If he wasn't as effected as his wife was in the car accident, this one pushed him over the edge. I don't know what happened. Nobody does, except maybe him. But the main thing is, whenever Banner gets angry he turns into the Hulk. And the angrier he gets, the stronger he gets. His wife died soon after, and the Hulk started handing out property damage like candy on Halloween."

"So what have they been doing to catch him?" Iron Man asked.

"General Ross has been hunting him for three years." Fury said. "Initially, the only hope they had seemed to be hitting him while he was Bruce. The problem with that is, Bruce is smart and inventive. The longer Ross has hunted him, the more he's gotten better at avoiding being hunted. And once Banner goes Hulk, there's just no stopping him. A year ago though, a military scientist named Bolivar Trask got caught in one of the Hulk's rampage. He's been helping Ross build new weapons for the Hulk, even coming up with a 'Hulkbuster' just recently. But nothing works. If Bruce goes Hulk, then you two are the only things on earth we haven't tried."

"A dire strait indeed." Thor said. "And we shall not fail, friend Fury."

"Director Fury." All heads turned to a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent with a nice hat and mustach walking up to them. "We're approaching Stamford now sir."

"Thank you agent Hogan." Fury said. He stood, Thor and Iron Man following him. "Remember, nothing that's been tried so far has been able to take down the Hulk. If we don't take Banner and the Hulk is too much for you, we switch to plan B. We keep attacking until we can lure it out of a populated area."

The two of them walked down to the drop hatch with agent Dugan. "General Ross has the area surrounded." He said. "We're letting you take the first shot at Hulk, but Ross is eager to get in there. After all, when all is said and done you're just untrained civilians and he's been doing this for years. So if you think you can't handle it, fall back immediately and he'll take over."

"Understood." Iron Man said. "Don't worry, we can handle this." Agent Dugan nodded and cleared the bay.

"Are you ready for this Iron Man?" Thor asked.

"Just try and keep up." Iron Man said. The hatch opened and the pair of them flew out, down to the suburban area of Stamford. The two of them flew down, watching the giant machines forming a circle around the area the Hulk was supposed to be living in.

The two of them landed at the front of the house. "You want first dibs?" Iron Man asked.

"We shall go in together." Thor said.

"Alrighty then." Iron Man raised a fist and a small blast from it knocked the door off its hinges. "Bruce Banner!" Iron Man said walking in. "We know you're in there! You've been on the run from the law for too long! The Hulk goes down today!"

Silence.

"I shall search upstairs." Thor said. "You keep a wary eye on the door."

"Do you really think he'd try to go for the door?" Iron Man asked.

Thor turned around. "Apparently not." He pointed and Iron Man turned around just in time to see Bruce Banner driving off out of the driveway.

"Let's go!" The two heroes flew after him. Bruce saw them in his mirror. He knew this was it. This time the Hulk was going down for sure. Thor and Iron Man had the drop on him – the two heroes had only shown up to the public last month, and as far as he was aware he'd done absolutely nothing to give away his position. His mind raced to find some way he could get away. He pressed a button on the dash, and the trunk opened up and released chaff.

"What the –" Iron Man had to swerve out of the way as Thor plowed straight through. "He outfitted his car? With anti-missile defenses?"

Thor emerged only slightly singed from the chaff. Bruce but a brick on the gas and stood up in his seat, pulling the chord that opened his parachute. Thor fell back as the sheet covered him. "Why does he have a parachute?" Iron Man asked to himself.

As Bruce drove on, he saw the Hulkbusters. "Not again." He moaned. He took a remote out of his pocket and pressed a button.

All around the neighborhood, t.v. sets turned on or switched to Bruce's face. "This is a breaking news bulletin." The recording said. "The Hulk is currently in the suburban area of Stamford. We advise all families to stay calm, but to move into your storm cellars or your basements until the crisis is over."

"End of the line Banner." Iron Man said, flying in front of the car.

"Look out!" He yelled, swerving out of the way. Iron Man looked behind him and got hit by a blast from the Hulk busters.

"Hey Ross!" Iron Man yelled. "Watch where you aim those things!"

"Well next time don't stand between us and the target." Ross said over the radio.

Bruce's car swerved through the streets as shells blew up the pavement around him. One blast hit too close and his car flipped over. "Oh noooo!" The car crashed, hitting a street light.

"Oh my." Thor said. "Come Iron Man. He might be dead." The two of them approached the upside down car.

"Gamma readings?" Ross asked inside a military van a safe distance away.

"Scanners are going wild." Dr. Trask said. "He's going Hulk."

"Get out of there!" Ross yelled at Iron Man through the radio. "Get out of the line of fire!"

The upside down car rose off the ground, lifted by the two massive green fists. The Hulk grew taller, enough to overshadow Thor. "Leave… me… alone…" The Hulk grunted.

"Oh my…" Iron Man didn't finish the sentence as the Hulk threw the car at him.

"Open fire!" Ross yelled. "Open fire!"

The Hulkbusters opened up. Rockets zoomed in on the Hulk, and he ran towards them, letting them blow up around him. "Hulk smash!" He screamed, jumping into the air and into the nearest Hulkbuster and tore it apart. He jumped at another one, but Iron Man tackled him out of the air.

"Yeah, I can smash too you know!" Iron Man said, holding the Hulk in front of him and flying him into the pavement.

"Iron Man has engaged the Hulk." Trask informed Ross.

The Hulk swung a massive fist at Iron Man, sending him flying. Thor Flew in and brought his hammer down. He swung four times, each blow punctuated by lightning. "Have you tasted enough of Mjollnir yet beast?" He asked.

The Hulk glared at him. "Nope." He kicked Thor off of him, and tore a minivan in two halves to use as makeshift boxing gloves before running at him.

Iron Man woke up in a family's living room. "Ooooh, did somebody get the license plate on that Hulk?"

He looked up and saw a little girl staring at him, frightened. "Get out of here kid." He said, immediately serious. "Ross!" He said into his helmet. "Why isn't the area evacuated?"

"Because if we evacuated everybody he would have seen us coming." Ross said. "Listen, you're not here to think, you're here to stop the Hulk!"

Iron Man watched as Thor and the Hulk fought outside. The he heard something, and he turned to the t.v. "The Hulk is currently in the suburban area of Stamford." Bruce's recording said. "We advise all families to stay calm, but to move into your storm cellars or basements until the crisis is over."

Thor swung his hammer, gathering electricity with it before throwing it at the Hulk. He roared in pain as lightning coursed over him. He breathed heavily, touching the scorch mark on his chest, before roaring again and charging at Thor. Thor tried to fly away, but the Hulk leaped up into the air after him, sending him flying back to the ground in one mighty punch.

Thor stood and tore his cape off, flinging it at the Hulk. The Hulk roared as the cape blinded him, and Thor ran circles around him, dodging his wild swings and striking some mighty blows. Hulk eventually tore off the cape and grabbed one of Thor's fists. "You think you're stronger than me!" Hulk yelled.

"I'm definitely smarter, troll." Mjollnir flew at the back of Hulk's head with a resounding crack. Thor used the momentum to throw the Hulk towards the Hulkbusters, who fired at him in unison. Mjollnir flew back to Thor's hand and he walked to the edge of the crater the Hulkbusters had made in the middle of the street. The Hulk glared at him as radiation steamed off of his body from the Hulkbuster's special rounds.

"Hast thou had enough?"

The Hulk gritted his teeth. "Have you?" He punched into the ground and tore up a pipe. He aimed it at Thor, and a jet of steaming water knocked him off his feet. The Hulk leaped out of the crater, landing on the barrel of one Hulkbuster's main gun. He picked it up by the barrel and swung it at the other two.

Thor was back in the air and a bolt of lightning shot down from the sky. It struck the Hulk and for a second it illuminated his skeleton. The Hulk roared and charged Thor, pile driving him into the street.

"Wait Hulk!" Iron Man flew in front of him. "We don't want to fight you!"

"What?" Thor asked incredulously.

"Too late for that tin man." The Hulk said, swinging his fist down at him.

Iron Man flew out of the way. "Seriously!" He yelled. "We just want to talk!"

"Listen to him." Hulk turned and sniffed. The ghostly image of Bruce Banner was standing next to him. "I want to hear what he has to say."

The Hulk's face contorted with rage and he turned back to Iron Man. "If you want to talk so badly, why are you with them?" He pointed at the pair of Hulkbusters climbing over the wreckage.

"Because they said you were a monster." Iron Man said. "But after what I've seen, I don't really believe it."

The Hulk was surprised.

"What are they doing?" Ross asked. "Do you have a visual on them?"

"They're…" Trask shook his head. "They're just talking."

Ross growled. "Fire the Ion cannon."

The Hulkbuster took aim at the Hulk. The Hulk saw the gun as it fired a red beam head towards him. He pushed Iron Man and Thor out of the way, taking the full blast. "Aaaaah!" He screamed as the red energy coursed over his body. When it was over, the Hulk stumbled to the ground.

"What in Odin's name was that?" Thor asked.

"My armors shields are at half power and I didn't even get a direct blast." Iron Man turned on hi commlink. "Ross! What was that?"

"Trask calls it an Ion cannon." Ross said. "Experimental, until now. And from the looks of things it works like a charm. Get out of there, we'll take it from here."

"With all due respect General." Iron Man said. "I think we can talk to the Hulk about this. I think you shooting him is only making the situation worse."

"Listen up tin can." The General said. "You're just a glorified bodyguard to a rich boy that has a special suit. I've been chasing the Hulk for years. He's a monster, who only knows how do destroy everything he touches. And I've finally got a weapon that can hurt him. Now get out of the firing line!"

More Hulkbusters rolled down the streets. Their guns loomed over the three of them as they aimed.

The Thinker checked his watch. "Ross should be aiming his big guns at them by now." He said with a smile. "And if everything goes according to schedule, phase two will commence in one minute." He sat down on a park bench overlooking the White House. "Time to watch the fireworks." He said in a happy sing song voice.

TO BE CONTINUED…