As the Martian Manhunter finally opened his eyes and saw the world again, the first thing in his sight was a blurry, feminine person in grey, with red at the top of their head.
The Martian's vision cleared, and he saw who it was. It was Pepper Potts, Tony Stark's assistant at Stark Enterprises. She had her red hair in a ponytail, and she sported green eyes and a grey suit with a dark grey skirt. She leaned on his medical bed with wide eyes.
"J'onn! You're awake!" she exclaimed.
The Martian Manhunter leaned up, groaned, and placed his hand on his forehead. "How…how long has it been?"
"It's been about a month."
"Where's Doctor Banner?"
Pepper looked down. "The Vanguard was able to put a stop to him. Hulk defeated his father, and Brian Banner is incarcerated….but so is Bruce, I'm afraid. The military and S.T.A.R. Labs took him."
The Manhunter sighed. "I suppose the Vanguard had no choice. Are any of them fair."
Pepper pursed her lips and intertwined her fingers. "About that…the rest of your teammates have gone missing."
Martian Manhunter jolted up. "What?! How?!"
Pepper threw her arms up. "I'm not sure. All I know is that the Vanguard got together for Thanksgiving….then Alfred detected strange activity here. Jarvis and I came to investigate with him, but there's no sign of them anywhere, and I can't get in touch with Tony!"
"I….I don't…" Martian Manhunter began, before he looked down at his body. He shot straight back up with a glare, and he flew away. "Thank you for informing me, Ms. Potts."
The Martian flew around the entire tower, trying to find any other sign of life…but he couldn't, aside from Alfred and Jarvis, who he saw by the Thanksgiving table as he levitated down from the ground. On the steel floors of the Tower, he could see a small pool of blood.
"Have either of you found anything?" the Martian asked.
Jarvis looked at the Martian Manhunter and frowned. "We're afraid not. We were just about to find out who this blood belongs to, though."
"And look up," Alfred instructed, pointing his finger up. The Martian Manhunter did just that, and saw a giant hole at the very top of the tower, the night light shining down on it. "Whatever happened, it must've been pretty serious if it was able to damage the walls of the Vanguard Tower."
Martian Manhunter tapped his own forehead, trying to read the minds of the Vanguard. Various voices, of all kinds, came into his mind, but he did not recognize most of them. As he searched through the sea of voices, he finally found one he recognized.
'Jesus Christ, can anything kill this damn thing?!' Wasp shouted on, in the Manhunter's mind.
Martian Manhunter took a moment to find Banner's mind, and once he could hear it, he looked at Jarvis and Alfred. "I've got a general idea of where the Vanguard is at. Hydra has them and is facing their final battle with them, if you will. I will be coming to their aid, after I make a stop."
Jarvis scoffed. "What kind of stop do you think is more important than aiding the Vanguard of Justice?"
Martian Manhunter turned his back. He was going to head to the teleporter.
"I'm going to get Doctor Banner back," the Martian said as he flew up in the air.
Doctor Banner had been held at the S.T.A.R. Labs headquarters in Central City. The Martian Manhunter teleported right above the center. He phased through the ceiling of the massive, circular, milk white building that trapezoid-shaped pillars coming out on its top. He remained invisible, and levitated around. The walls were concrete, and there were three floors that J'onn could see. He saw many scientists walking around, some carrying clipboards with them.
He searched for Doctor Banner's mind, and he began levitating closer to where the Hulk was being contained. There were many doors to various rooms – some open, some closed – but after about a minute, the Martian Manhunter found one that stood out. This was not so much a door as it was a massive green gate that had four army soldiers stationed there, carrying assault rifles as they guarded the gate.
He looked back and saw three people chatting about two hundred feet away from the gate. He flew down to them, still invisible, and as he got closer. Two were Caucasian women, each with brown hair and lean bodies, while the third was a Latino man with long black hair and an average body.
Through reading their psyches, he saw that they were Cisco Ramon, Caitlin Snow, and Jane Foster. He listened in on their conversation.
"Come on, have neither of you imagined what life would be like as a superhero?" he asked, raising his hands up.
Jane cupped her chin. "I have thought about what it would be like to be Thor, I'll admit…"
"We should pick this back up in a bit," Cailtin interjected. "Jane, you and I have to check on the Hulk in about an hour, and then we have some….strange new medical results to look at."
With that, the three walked away and turned right at the hallway. The Martian Manhunter landed onto the ground, and he looked around to make sure no one was watching, and he became visible again, shapeshifting into the form of Caitlin.
He walked up to the gate with the soldiers. He showed one of them an ID of Caitlin Snow, which she had been wearing around her neck. As the soldier grabbed the ID and placed it close to his face, he gave the ID back to the disguised Martian and clenched his fist towards the soldier closet to the panel. The soldier pressed some buttons on the panel, and access was gained.
As the Martian Manhunter looked around, he saw that there wasn't really anything in this room, sans monitors and medical equipment. That is, not counting the Hulk in the very center, inside a square room sealed by glass. The Hulk was not green, either. He was gray.
'Caitlin' walked up towards the Hulk, and the gate closed behind. It took a few moments, and J'onn looked down at his feet. 'How can women wear heeled boots?' he thought to himself.
But there he was, face-to-face with the Hulk, who looked at him and grunted.
"I see the Gray Hulk won for a change…" Martian Manhunter said.
Hulk tilted his head and moved right towards the glass, touching it with his hand. "…J'onn? Is-is that you?"
J'onn nodded.
Hulk looked down and sighed, a tear forming in his eye. "J'onn…I'm sorry! I'm so, so, sorry! I really can't apologize enough for what happened! I just…I just…"
"I understand," the Manhunter said, placing his disguised hand right in front of the Hulk's hand. "You saw your father, unexpectedly. And your father was a cruel, cruel man. I have no ill will towards you, Banner. I promise."
Hulk bit his lip. "You're far too nice, J'onn. I don't deserve forgiveness for what I've done. Studying gamma radiation was the worst mistake of my life. Look at where I am!" he yelled out, before banging the glass. "Look at the subhuman that I have become!"
"Banner, we've been over this. The Green Hulk can be an incredible force for good if utilized properly…"
Hulk growled. "But there is no way to use the Green Hulk properly! Green Hulk is nothing but a violent brute of an animal! And I tried, J'onn! I tried so goddamn hard! But Brian came along and, as horrible as he was, he showed me truth about the Green Hulk! The Green Hulk is a despicable, dim-witted monster!"
Hulk banged on the glass again, and tears flowed down from his eyes. "I can't…I just can't, J'onn. I appreciate you coming, but if you were coming to get me out, don't bother. I'm content with staying here until I starve to death."
Hulk squatted and buried his face in his hands. Martian Manhunter looked down at the ground, and he let out a deep sigh. "Banner…look at me…"
When Hulk made eye contact with the Martian Manhunter again, the latter began. "I understand your frustrations with the Green Hulk, especially after the incident in New York. I understand that it must feel awful to have that thing lurking within you, being unsure of what that thing is truly capable of. And being the Gray Hulk must at least be small comfort…but the Vanguard needs us. They need the Green Hulk now."
Hulk stood up and looked down at the Martian Manhunter. "What could they possibly need the Green Hulk for?"
"They were abducted by Hydra…it's complicated, but they were abducted. And they are currently facing off against the organization. I am not there because I only just woke up from my coma…but I was able to find their minds. I have an idea of what is going on," he said, began crossing his arms and continuing with "There are two new supervillains there. 'Shaggy Man' and 'Juggernaut', if I recall correctly. And from what I could see in our teammates' minds, they cannot defeat these things. They are so close, but they need just a little more manpower, Doctor Banner."
Hulk breathed heavily and his mouth went agape.
Martian Manhunter cleared his throat before finishing with, "The world will be in serious danger if the Vanguard fails. Give the Green Hulk another chance to make things right. Allow him to save his teammates from their doom."
The Gray Hulk cupped his chin and looked away for a moment, before saying, "If the Vanguard is in trouble, I certainly want to lend a hand, but there is one thing: How the hell do you intend on getting me out of here?"
Before his teammate could answer, the gate opened, and Thunderbolt Ross and Harrison Wells both stepped into the room. Harrison Wells had a plain look on his face, while Thunderbolt Ross had narrow eyes and a scowl.
"You won't be getting out of here, Banner!" Ross snapped, his arms behind his back. "We record every conversation in this room. You can lose the disguise, Martian."
'Caitlin' nodded and shapeshifted back into the Martian Manhunter.
Ross shook his head. "The Hulk is a freak, and after what happened in New York, he cannot be let out!"
Wells pursed his lips. "Well, you heard what I heard. The fate of the world is at stake. Hydra could take over. The Green Hulk might be needed."
Ross glared at Wells. "You cannot be serious."
"I am, General. We've made great progress on the Hulk's condition. We should give him a test run. The fate of the world depends on it. Think about your daughter, General."
"I have something that might help," J'onn said, walking up to Ross.
He tapped into the general's mind and showed him the thoughts of the Vanguardians as they engaged in their battle. He tried his best to block out some details, such as their identities, but he placed the anguished and pained thoughts of the heroes as they struggled against Hydra. This lasted for a few moments, before J'onn stopped.
Ross rubbed his nose and took a deep breath. "….One. Goddamn. Chance. But if anything happens again, you will be here for the rest of your days. Alright, Harrison. Let's send them out."
The Martian Manhunter and the Hulk looked at each other, both smiling.
Krieger tried to swing a jab at Cap, but a clank was heard as the latter dodged the jab with his shield.
"The world will not belong to Hydra, Krieger!" Cap said, clenching his teeth before bashing Krieger with his shield, then decking him in the face.
"Why do you think we broke into Mercury Labs and S.T.A.R Labs?" Krieger responded with a grin, before swinging his foot at Cap's leg.
Cap tripped onto the ground. As he jumped onto his feet, Krieger kicked him in the shin.
"They've done a lot of research on metahumans and technologies related to mind control, and we simply stole their research and devices."
Krieger grabbed Cap by his shoulder and punched him in the stomach three times before throwing him against the wall.
Cap got up and snarled before charging towards Krieger. He extended a hook towards Krieger, and when Krieger was sent back, Cap grabbed him by his shoulders and kneed him in the stomach, before headbutting him in the face.
Just then, Cap was sent tumbling to the ground along with Krieger. After he landed, Cap looked over his shoulder to see Hal.
Hal got up. There were several tears in his outfits, and most of his exposed skin had cuts and bruises. Blood was dripping down from his nose, and his left eye was black. He let out some deep breaths, before looking at Cap and Krieger.
He helped Cap up, and as Krieger lunged up, Hal created a hammer and bashed Krieger in the face with it. Krieger looked at Hal and glared, to which Hal smirked and created a machine gun, blasting countless green bullets towards the Hydra leader.
Cap was taking a few deep breaths, but the ground beneath him shook. He looked behind to see the Juggernaut charging towards Hal.
Carol blasted energy towards the Juggernaut's chest while Wonder Woman kicked him in the shins and Iron Man blasted towards the helmet. Carol also had tears in her outfit, while Wonder Woman was missing her tiara and Iron Man had some dents in his armor, with sparks here and there. Carol and Wonder Woman also had cuts on them.
Cap ran towards the Juggernaut, but before he could do anything, the Juggernaut grabbed Iron Man and swung him towards Wonder Woman, before grabbing Carol and bashing her into the wall.
Black Panther jumped up in the air, but Juggernaut grabbed him by his leg and thrust him down onto the ground. Zatanna waved her hands around, with green energy, to create five copies of herself. All Juggernaut had to was extend his arms and clap his hands hard enough to send Zatanna flying, the copies of her disintegrating into green sparks.
Hal was still blasting at Krieger, who was slowly stepping forward towards the Green Lantern, grunting and snarling. The Juggernaut grabbed Hal by his head and punched him hard enough to send him towards Iron Man just as the latter was getting up.
Just a moment later, Krieger zoomed towards Cap, elbowing him in the chest and backhanding him in the face.
Cap tried to punch Krieger twice. Krieger blocked the first punch, intended for the face, but Cap struck him in the stomach. Krieger grunted. Cap swung his arm around and bashed Krieger with his shield
Then Krieger grabbed Cap's shield and yanked it away from him, having used enough force to tear the arm straps.
Cap grimaced and placed his hand on his arm, feeling a sting. Krieger, holding the shield with both of his hands, slammed it into Cap's face. A mere second later, he slammed it in Cap's stomach twice, and then towards his chest. As he did this, Krieger grinned.
Cap only took a moment to feel his head before he tried to kick Krieger. Krieger let go of the shield with his left hand, which he used to catch Cap's leg. He pulled the leg, and Cap slipped onto the ground. Then Krieger pressed his foot onto Cap's stomach, to which the super soldier wheezed.
"Look around you, Captain," he said.
The other Vanguardians were visible, and none were doing well. Aquaman tried to jump up in the air to uppercut Shaggy Man, but the bigfoot-like creature punched him in the chest before the king could do so. Batman tried to throw a batarang towards the beast. Shaggy Man caught it, and it must've been an explosive batarang, because it exploded in his hand. Batman narrowed his eyes and threw some kind of grenade down onto the ground while Superman blasted at the creature with heat vision.
With the creature grunting at the heat vision, the grenade landed by Shaggy Man's foot and exploded, causing ice to form around Shaggy Man's left leg. It only took a few moments for the creature to break free of the ice, and it used that same leg to kick Batman away. Superman continued the heat vision and Thor bashed the creature with Mjlonir and conjured up some lighting that he used against the creature, only for the creature to block it with his elbow before grabbing the god's cape and throwing him towards Superman. Wasp blasted towards Shaggy Man and Hank waved his hands up in the air, trying to summon as many ants as he could, but Shaggy-Man smashed his fist onto Hank and Wasp.
When Barry tried to zoom towards the creature, it only needed to swing its fist towards Barry to knock the speedster onto the ground.
Cap groaned and tried to get up, but Krieger placed more pressure onto his chest, which kept the super soldier down. Krieger smirked as he did this, and Cap got a look at what was happening with the Juggernaut.
Wonder Woman wrapped his left arm with her lasso and began pulling him towards her while Carol, Hal, and Iron Man all blasted towards his face. The Juggernaut was trying to dodge their blasts with his elbow. Zatanna conjured up fire from her hands and shot it towards Juggernaut, and Black Panther clawed at his leg.
Cap could see sweat coming down from several of their faces, dripping down alongside blood. He heard Wonder Woman grunt loudly as she pulled the Juggernaut closer to her. However, the Juggernaut clenched his teeth and jerked his arm back, sending Wonder Woman flying towards him. He grabbed the Amazon by her hair and yanked it before kicking her into the wall.
He looked at the Black Panther, who was trying to kick him in the shin, and decked him in the stomach with his fist. There was purple electricity coming out of his suit, making it appear that his suit was damaged and could not store kinetic energy.
Zatanna, Carol, Hal, and Iron Man were still trying to blast at the Juggernaut, but the latter clasped his hands and pounded the ground with them, sending the four back. Iron Man was flying close to Juggernaut, so he grabbed the billionaire and threw him onto the ground. When the other three came flying towards Juggernaut, he backhanded all of them at once before punching Wonder Woman in the stomach when she came charging and yelling at him.
All of Cap's teammates were bruised and bleeding, and they were being kicked and slammed around, getting the occasional hit in. As Cap tried getting up, Krieger kept pressing his foot down harder onto the super soldier's chest. Cap tried to swat his foot away, but Krieger was quick to press it back down onto Cap. Then he grabbed Cap's shield.
Cap grunted, and Krieger smirked, holding the shield with both of his hands and raising it above his head, ready to decapitate Cap with it.
"Bucky and Peggy will be surprised to see you," he said.
Just as he was about to bring the shield down, however, Krieger was sent flying forward, away from Cap. Cap got up and turned his head to see that Krieger had been struck with a wrecked Ford Taurus. The super soldier looked around, but saw no one in sight.
Then Cap saw two Hydra tanks crashing onto Shaggy Man and Juggernaut, sending them both down to the ground. The Vanguardians all looked around, but no one was in sight at first.
Then a green beast jumped high in the air, into sight. He crashed onto the ground, and he roared, pounding his chest. He was joined by another green man, of above average height, in blue, red, and black armor.
Cap's eyes widened. He couldn't believe it.
Hulk and Martian Manhunter both looked at their teammates, Manhunter crossing his arms with a smile while the Hulk sported a massive grin.
"J'onn?! Banner?! Is it really you?!" Superman shouted out, extending his arms.
"In the flesh," Manhunter responded.
Zemo, standing alongside a dozen Hydra soldiers behind the Hulk and Martian Manhunter, gasped. "What the hell?! You two were supposed to be out of commission!"
Krieger, who was in-between the two new arrivals and the other Vanguardians, shouted "Now now! We have Shaggy Man and Juggernaut! This battle is ours!"
"You overestimate yourself, Krieger!" Superman responded.
The Juggernaut and Shaggy Man got back up, Juggernaut cracking his knuckles and Shaggy Man pounded his fists onto the ground. Zemo loaded his gun, and dozens of Hydra soldiers behind him all got their weapons ready, while Krieger cracked his neck.
Cap got his shield back and cracked his own knuckles. Zatanna waved some magic energy in the air. Sparks of regular lighting and yellow lightning, respectively, emanated from Thor and Barry, with the former swinging his hammer and the latter vibrating. Wonder Woman extended her sword out, Hal and Carol scowled with green and yellow energy glowing out of their hands, and Iron Man extended his armored hand out.
Superman's eyes glowed red with heat vision, Hulk pounded his chest again, Martian Manhunter shot out a glare, and Batman got out a grenade and a batarang. Black Panther and Aquaman clenched their fists, Wasp grew to regular size and scowled, and Hank grew to 25 feet tall, looking down at the Hydra forces with narrow eyes.
"Hydra will never live to see another day," Cap said.
Krieger snarled. "Cut off one head, two more shall take its place!"
"Then we'll cut off those heads, too."
Krieger lunged towards Cap, trying to deck him in the face, but Cap grabbed his hand and bent it. Krieger grunted before Cap kneed him in the stomach.
The Juggernaut, the Hydra soldiers, Zemo, and Shaggy Man all charged towards the Vanguardians, and they all charged back. Kicking, punching, and an array of super-powers were in use, with all kinds of colors everywhere. The brawl had begun.
The brawl that would determine Hydra's fate.