"What the heck is wrong with the world?" Colonel Fury sighed, "Only a few months ago, I was a major leader in the Army, and on my way to being one of the greats. Now, my department has downsized me to one regiment, I'm stuck with mostly white collar bureaucrats who have never fired a weapon in their life, and my best scientists are either fired or showboating as superheroes," he calmly looked down at his phone, "maybe I should-"
He was unable to finish his thought, as suddenly, the alarm rang loudly.
Intruder Alert! Intruder Alert!
Suddenly, his secretary and two other men in suits rushed in. They both pulled out pistols, and ran up to either side of the colonel.
"What the hell is going on?" Fury asked. Suddenly the secretary pulled him on his feet, as the two suits lead the way.
Intruder Alert! Intruder Alert!
"We need to get you out of here sir," the young woman said, as they finally reached an elevator, "The intruder is after you."
Both suits pointed their guns at the door of the elevator, glad to see no one on it, and the four boarded the machine.
Intruder Alert! Intruder Alert!
"Who the heck want's to attack me?" Fury said with shock.
"It's Doctor Banner sir," she said sadly, "Or at least what's left of him."
Intruder Alert! Intruder Alert!
Air Force Captain Hal Jordan was not happy about the situation he was in. No, not happy at all.
Currently, he and about three dozen other men, armed with barely more than a handgun each, were standing in a large landing bay. They were all behind cover, and pointing towards the huge doors leading to the entrance of the facility. That corridor was supposed to have lasers and robots.
They were not working against whatever creature was after Fury.
Suddenly, he saw a large dent appear in the door. Dammit, that thing was trying to punch its way through the door. The head soldier, a lieutenant, was calmly ordering them to point their weapons towards the door.
'Why am I here,' Hal groaned in his mind, 'I wanted to fly planes, not fight at close range with monsters like this thing.' His wish was not granted, as the great steel door crumbled, revealing a huge savage beast.
The…hulking mass in front of them stood at least at ten feet tall. Every inch of the beast was a deep green. His hair sat on the top of a square head like grass. But his eyes, his eyes, they were the most fearsome thing ever. Bright green, orbs that seemed to burn like fire. Finally, he opened his giant mouth and screamed.
"HULK SMASH!"
"Oh damn," Hal stammered.
"Oh damn," Fury swore in shock as he saw Banner through himself at the soldiers and suits, scattering them with fear and strength. The bullets from their weapons did not damage, and only severed to anger the creature further.
"Sir," his secretary said in fear, "We need to get you out of here. We have a helicopter on the top floor."
"I can't leave," Fury growled, "I'd be a failure as a leader if I left my men to die at the hands of that monster." He then pressed down on the elevator, and the machine changed course.
"Sir," one of the suits stammered, "Are you mad?"
"No," Fury smirked, as he calmly held up a communicator with a large A on it, "I have back up."
He then pressed the large red button on the top of the device, and shouted, "Ultimates Assemble!"
Hal's day had gone from bad to worse. Right now, he was currently lying down on his back, several ribs broken, and he could see several of his comrades being thrown over his head. Finally, there seemed to be a temporary stop to the violence.
Then Hal was greeted to the Hulk looking down on him, eye to eye. At first, he could only see anger, but at the same time he could tell there was pain in the beast. The pain was overwhelmed by the anger though, so Hulk lifted its foot in the air, preparing to crush the pilot.
That was until he was sent backwards by a large shell hitting him in the face. As Hulk wiped away the smoke, both he and Hal got a look at a sexy redhead in spandex with a large bazooka on her shoulder. Hal would have whistled were it not for his cracked ribs.
"Hulk smash rude lady," the monster said, though his normal speaking voice sounded like something through a megaphone.
Hulk was not afforded that chance because, the instant he leapt towards Black Widow, a green and red bolt zoomed through the smoke, and promptly slammed into Hulk, sending the mass of Green muscle flying back. The Vision rose up into the sky above the downed Hulk, and saluted the suddenly present Colonel Fury.
Just as Hulk attempted to stand on both feet, the floor underneath him began to corrode. Before long, he fell through to the lower floor, and Spider-Girl jumped through the hole to join her teammates.
Fury walked over to Hal. "How are you doing son?" the older man asked.
"The only permanent damage is that I will never wear green again," Hal nearly chuckled, as he was carted off to the infirmary.
Hulk, momentarily dazed, glared back up at the hole, before jumping through it back into the air.
And face to face with a giant in red spandex. The realization just dawned on Hulk when Goliath backhanded the green beast, and sent him flying from the facility, smashing through the steel walls, and collapsing in a heap in the large empty lot adjacent to the S.H.E.I.L.D. Facility.
Finally, the giant green beast began to lift itself up, raising its body to its feet, only for a sudden barrage of missiles, bullets and beams erupted from the hole he had exited. Captain Atom, War Machine, and Pixie had all emerged from Facility, guns, arms, and weird blades blazing.
At last, a cannon rocket was released from War Machine's back, shooting up into the air, only to land on top of Hulk, causing a ten meter wide explosion. The other members of the Avengers slowly descended down to the yard, and joined together to look at the crater created by the explosion. Hulk was simply laying there, eyes closed. They all stood in shock.
"How has he not been obliterated?" Goliath asked to no one in particular.
"We need to get him in confinement," Fury said quickly, "Or else-"
But it was too late, as suddenly, Hulk exploded up from the crater, and slammed into Goliath's face. The giant began to totter on his heels as Hulk began to punch the snot out of him, before he finally collapsed back to the Earth.
"You!" Pixie screamed, flying straight for the giant creature. Needless to say, Hulk swatted her away very easily, sending her skidding across the ground. As Hulk turned his attention to the remaining Ultimates, it was War Machine who perhaps phrased it best.
"Oh damn!"
Bzzt
"Batman," J'onn said with astonishment when the black suited hero appeared on screen, "What is going on?"
"Listen," Batman said strongly, as J'onn could hear over the Javelin's screen the roar of the Bat-Plane, "I need you to turn back to S.H.E.I.L.D. headquarters; they are under a bit of a situation at the current moment."
The screen flashed to Hulk jumping around, chasing after Spider-Woman and War Machine. Captain Atom was seen in the background trying to provide some cover, but it was not accomplishing the goal that they intended for it. Hulk only got angrier, and soon landed on top of Captain Atom and aimed his fists towards the silver man.
"Ooh," Iron Man said in sympathy, "That has to hurt."
"Which is why I'm sending you to help," Batman stated, and before anyone of them could reply, he continued, "You are the closest ones to there, and we can't have something like that out loose on the streets of New York."
"Just us, huh," Hawkgirl guessed.
"Nope," Batman then switched the screen to show another Javelin leaving the Watch Tower, "Captain America, Flash and Spider-Man will be arriving as soon as possible. They should give you the fire power you need to take this thing down."
"What about you?" Iron Man asked.
"I got to go save Atlantis," Batman groaned, before signing off. The three heroes in the current Javelin looked at one another.
"Atlantis?" J'onn said in surprise.
"Keep firing," Fury orders Widow, as they hid behind cover, while War Machine attempted to hold them off. Spider-Woman was now handing from the side of the facility, still able to fight, but considerably weaker after taking a punch from Hulk. Vision was lying on the ground with one of his arms torn from his side.
"Sir," Widow's thick Russian accent sounded through the shouts and crashing, "I am afraid that our weapons seem to have no effect on him."
"Than what the hell are we supposed to do?" Fury growled.
His answer was War Machine Crashing into and destroying their cover, and sending both Widow and War Machine skidding into the nearest wall. Fury looked back up, and came face to face with the Hulk.
"You," Hulk growled, before suddenly his voice changed to that of Bruce Banner, "You ruined my life," suddenly, tears began to pour out from his eyes, and his voice switched back to the mad roar of Hulk, "Now I will smash you!"
Hulk raised his fist, intending to end his target right there and then, when a rather large mace collided with the back of his head. Hulk turned around to see both Hawkgirl and Iron Man floating in the air. Iron Man, cocky little jerk he is, calmly motioned the monster forward.
"Hulk Smash Tin Man and Bird girl!" and thus Fury would forever be grateful for Hulk's somewhat short attention span. Suddenly, he felt unearthly as he disappeared beneath the ground. Five seconds later he appeared back in the hanger, with the Martian standing behind him.
"What is that thing?" J'onn asked.
"It's Doctor Banner," Fury answered in frustration, seeing no other alternative, "He must have had some delayed reaction to the nuclear accident. Now he's nothing more than a mindless beast who wants nothing more than destruction."
"Most of the rest of the League are on another mission in the ocean," J'onn admitted, "So we will have to do our best until reinforcements can arrive. Hopefully we can keep any damage in the city to a minimum."
"Um," J'onn heard over the intercom, Iron Man sounding awfully nervous, "A little too late for that."
Unfortunately for our heroes, Hulk had decided to throw Hawkgirl several hundred yards over two buildings, so that she landed in the middle of a street. Luckily, nearly no one was on Yancy Street at two o'clock in the afternoon, so no casualties occurred.
Hulk, walking down the street, simply stood there as a missile from Iron Man slammed into him. The smoke quickly cleared, showing a completely undamaged Hulk in the explosion's wake.
"Damn it!" Iron Man shouted over his intercom, quickly hiding behind an exposed wall, "What will it take to bring this thing down?"
"Maybe I can help."
Iron Man looked up and saw War Machine hovering above him. War Machine then plummeted to the ground, in order to avoid a postal box that was thrown by Hulk. On the inside of his armor, Tony fumed.
"Why in God's name are you using my armor design?"
"No time for that," WM said curtly, sending a few bullets towards Hulk, "We need to work together if we stand a chance against this thing."
"Wait a minute," Iron Man said in shock, "Don't you work for S.H.I.E.L.D.? Why would you work with a vigilante like me?"
"Tony," Iron Man jumped as the War Machine facemask opened up, revealing a very familiar face, "It's me."
"Rhodey," Tony said, as his own facemask fell, "What are you doing?"
"When you closed down Stark Military production, I had to find a job somewhere," the African-American said curtly.
"But…how did you know it was me?"
"Even in a suit of armor," the mask on War Machine fell back into place, "You still are a show-boater."
With that, War Machine led Iron Man on an assault.
"It's a good thing I arrived when I did," Batman said confidently, as Aquaman was having his arm worked on.
"Why," Thor asked, "It was the queen who saved us," he stated while pointing towards Arthur's wife.
"Because," Batman said, holding up a holographic globe, "I managed to use some of Atlantis's communication system to make a tracker. With this, I can already tell that Orm is already making his way to the North Pole."
"And if he gets there," Superman reasoned, "Then he will melt the Northern ice cap and flood the world, wiping out all the Earth besides Atlantis."
"We'll just have to stop him before he can do anything," they saw Arthur get off the chair he had been sitting on to reveal a new hook hand, to replace the one he had cut off so he would be able to save his son from a volcano.
"Well that went well," Iron Man commented from his nearly ruined suit of armor.
"Oh," War Machine said as he laid in a similar condition. Their weapons had been useless against Hulk, bouncing of his green muscle toned exterior. Thus, they attempted to fight had to hand with the beast. That may just have been the single stupidest idea ever to have come across the face of the Earth, but what the hell, Iron Man is a genius ditz, so plans like these are bound to show up every so often.
Hulk, once again about do deal a death blow to an enemy, suddenly felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to see thin air. He then felt a tap on the other shoulder, only for no one to be in that location either. This was all very confusing to the Hulk. Finally, he felt a third tap, and looked there. He saw a skinny man in a full-body red leotard standing in front of him.
"Hello, ugly," Flash chuckled, as he threw a punch at the Hulk's face.
Crack!
"Yow!" Flash looked down at his hand to see at least two fingers broken. Hulk, just as he was preparing to give Flash a taste of his fist, heard several small taps from above, looked up, and saw a large metal sign with web attached to it. He then followed the web, and saw Spider-Man and Captain America attempting to pull the sign down on top of him. Finally, the sign gave way.
And Hulk caught it before it could even reach him. Hulk then, almost laughably, hurled the sign at the two heroes. Spidey managed to web-sling away from the building they were standing on, avoiding the certain pain that the sign promised. Cap, not able to move as quickly, held his shield in place and prepared to be hit by the sign.
As the sign crashed into Cap, Hulk turned back to see Flash gone, as well as Hawkgirl, Iron Man and War Machine.
"Why do I always have to be the distraction?" Flash lamented as he tried to shake the pain from his hand.
"Because you're so good at it," Hawkgirl answered snidely, calmly rubbing her head after the beating she took. Those on the ground had been joined by Spidey and Cap, who had luckily only been lightly wounded by the thrown sign.
"What should we do now," War Machine asked, "We can't take on that thing alone, he's already beaten all of us."
"Our main goal is to keep this thing in the same area," Cap said to the group, "That way, when the rest of the league arrives, we will be able to take it down with their power."
"That won't be necessary," they turned to see Goliath, Spider-Woman and Vision. All three had several injuries, though all could walk.
"Come on War Machine," Goliath said, "We can handle this thing on our own."
"Are you crazy?" Flash shouted, "That thing took you all out before, back when you all were fresh, how can you beat that monster now?"
"That is none of your business," Goliath stated matter of factly looked down on the younger man.
"Sir," Vision spoke up in a robotic voice, "My sensors indicate that our chances without the Justice League are twenty-five million to one against the Hulk. However, with the League, our chances improve two nearly ten thousand to one."
"Those still aren't good odds," Spidey pointed out, though no one seemed to pay attention.
"Believe me," Iron Man said, "Both me and War Machine went at that thing with full strength, yet we were barely able to put a dent into it.
"Even if we all fight together," Goliath admitted, "There is no way we can beat that thing."
"Um, guys," the all turned to see Flash pointing at Hulk tapping his foot while towering above them, "I think planning time is over."
"What was going on?"
Ben Grimm was still isolated several levels beneath the main S.H.E.I.L.D. Facility, and thus was not readily aware of what was going on up above him. Thus, he was rather shocked when he saw the medical wing covered with doctors rushing wounded men left and right. Before long, even his own room, which he had been held separately in for several weeks, was now being shared with a fighter pilot from the Air Defense system.
"A monster attacked us," Hal Jordan said solemnly, apparently having gotten over whatever qualms he might have had about Ben's appearance after the Hulk's attack, "We never stood a chance."
"No kidding," Grimm noted as he saw IV tubes being attached to soldier from his old platoon across the hall.
"That's not the strange part," Jordan admitted, "The strange part is that that thing was Dr. Banner."
"What?"
"I know," the pilot mused, "Apparently the accident affected him worse than we imagined, and he turned into that thing after a delayed reaction. And since he just got fired by Fury, he decided to take out his frustration on the Colonel."
"Poor guy," Ben then looked down at his hands, "I would never wish this fate on anyone. Sure he was an idiot about that test, but he tried to help me and make me better, and it's awful living like this."
"Can you move?" Hal asked.
"These eggheads put me through a few tests," Grimm admitted, "Nothing serious, I only really started working with them two hours ago, and then you guys started getting carted in here about an hour and a half after that."
"What can you do?"
"Can still walk fairly well, though I'm nowhere near my normal speed," Ben then tapped his chin, making a rather loud tapping from the stone colliding, "I can lift about twice my normal squat, but that was pretty easy."
Suddenly, they saw a large commotion of suits walking down the hallway past their room, proceeding both Fury and the Martian Man-hunter. They were both looking around, shocked by the damage to the men. Finally, Fury walked up to the head of the Medical Department, who just so happened to be working on Hal.
"How do the men look?" The commander asked.
"Luckily there appears to be no worry of death," the doctor assured him, "But most are not going to be available for use for several months."
"Dammit," Fury seethed, before turning to J'onn, "Any news from the Ultimates or League?"
"Yes, but none of it is good," J'onn said, "They are currently engaging Dr. Banner near the base, though they are sustaining heavy injuries."
"What about Superman and the rest of the League?"
"They are currently going to the North Pole to keep someone from melting it and causing a flooding of the world."
"…okay, that might just be mildly more important than this, but we need muscle out there now. Where exactly are they fighting that thing?"
"A small street only a few blocks away," J'onn said matter-of-factly, "Yancy Street."
"Wait a minute," all those present turned to Grimm, "Yancy, that's where I grew up," he began to grow frantic, "What's going on there?"
J'onn appeared to space off for a moment, before returning his gaze to the rock covered man. "There have been a few casualties so far, most people have already been evacuated, but several buildings have been destroyed."
"How many injured?" Fury asked, trying to plan what kind of evacuation force he could send.
"Maybe two dozen," J'onn stated, before turning towards the entrance, "I must go and assist the others. Dr. Banner has become too strong for them to handle."
"Just wait a second!"
The Martian turned back to see Ben pushing himself out of bed. The doctor shocked at this, tried to grab Grimm and push him back down.
"Please Corporal Grimm," the doctor said, "You haven't been cleared to even leave the base, let alone engage in physical combat."
"Shut it doc," Grimm muttered as he calmly placed the doctor on his old bed, calmly throwing his old patient smock on the man, revealing that he was only wearing blue trousers. He began to walk next to the Green alien, before Fury walked in front of him. Before he could say anything, J'onn intervened.
"Mr. Grimm does appear to have added some bulk due to his condition," the Martian offered, "And we will need all the raw power we can acquire to deal with Dr. Banner."
"Fine," Fury admitted, before calmly allowing Ben to pass him.
"So how are we gonna get to Yancy Street quick enough to help those guys?"
"Simple," J'onn grabbed Grimm's shoulder, turned them both immaterial, and flew both of them out of the building, and towards the battle on Yancy street.
The remaining heroes were doing their best to hold the Hulk back, though it was not going well. As Hulk began to attempt to squeeze the life out of the wounded Captain America, Goliath appeared behind him and attempted to pick him up. Hulk responded to this by grabbing Goliath's index finger and snapping it, causing the sixty foot being to howl in pain.
Hulk tossed Cap aside as he jumped into the air and slammed his feet into Goliath's jaw, sending the giant tumbling into a nearby building. Hawkgirl flew close to the ground, and slammed the beast's face with her weapon, circling around her several times before Hulk grabbed a fire hydrant and with precise aim, knocked her out of the sky.
Without their weapons, Iron Man and War Machine were nothing more than flying chunks of metal. Thus, as flying chunks of metal, they hurled themselves toward Hulk kamikaze style, only to be shocked at the lack of affect it had on him. Hulk merely walked over their non-responsive suits, before engaging Flash, Vision and the Spiders.
"What can we do?" Spider-Woman asked as she and Spider-Man dove behind a small standing wall, "We've already thrown everything we have at it, and nothing seems to slow him down even. My acid doesn't even seem to work."
"Yeah," Spider-Man gave her a look, "I should still probably sue you for copyright infringement."
"Oh shut u-oh" They both noticed Vision hurtle through the wall they were hiding behind, and lying down in a heap.
Hulk, seeing no more remaining adversaries, roared in triumph, before turning back towards the facility. It was time to finish this. He calmly walked past the downed heroes around him; none of them had been strong enough to compete with his rage.
Until of course a green alien swooped down and slammed a boot in his face, knocking him slightly off balance. Hulk righted himself and swung at J'onn, who, being able to become untouchable, did not even try to evade.
As Hulk uselessly swung punch after punch at the Martian, he was too busy to notice the rather loud steps sounding off from behind him. Thus, it was too late when a fist sent his head colliding with the pavement. Hulk looked up to see a giant orange rock monster standing before him.
"How ya doin' doc?" Grimm chuckled.
Hulk answered by kicking his opponent across the street, sending him crashing into a building. Instead of lying down in pain though, Grimm charged back at Hulk and gave a mighty punch, causing the green mass to skid backward.
Hulk lifted himself again, and glared at his enemy.
"HULK SMASH PUNY ROCK MAN!" the former doctor shouted.
"Oh yeah," Grimm growled, "IT'S CLOBERIN' TIME!"
Thus the two met in a match of strength. Each time one threw a punch, the other answered in kind, knocking them off balance and causing considerable damage. It was a brutal clobber fest, and to the casual observer, it would seem that it was an even match.
J'onn Jones was not a casual observer. He could see pieces of Ben chipped away with each punch Hulk delivered, and how Hulk was more easily able to recover, even by a fraction of a second. If the fight continued in this way for much longer, even the Thing would not be able to keep Hulk under control.
Spider-Man and Spider-Woman both jumped down next to the Martian. The sight of them gave him an idea.
"Spider-Man," J'onn asked, "Do you have any web left?"
"A little."
"Use it and help Mr. Grimm restrain Hulk," J'onn said decisively, "You too Spider-Woman."
"Um, I don't actually use webs."
"Then just help Grimm hold him."
"What are you going to do?" Spider-Man asked.
"I will go inside the beast's mind," J'onn said, causing a look of shock to cross both of the Spiders' faces, "Hopefully there is some vestige of Dr. Banner still in that mind of his, and we might still have a chance to end this."
Spider-Man slung his web around Hulk, constraining him for a moment. Then, Grimm gave Hulk a bear-hug, further constricting the beast's movements. As Spider-Woman grabbed onto the web with Spider-Man, in order to keep the web tight around Hulk, J'onn flew above Hulk, and hovered at just the height that allowed him to have direct eye contact. Hulk, who only seconds earlier, was trying to break free from his captors, fell silent and stopped moving.
(Inside the Hulk's Brain)
The astral projection of J'onn was gliding through the twists and turns of the mind he had just entered. After several moments, he came upon a small cage, where he saw a familiar little man with glasses and a lab coat.
"Go away," Bruce Banner moaned as he sat wallowing in his cage, "I don't want to see anyone else."
"Dr. Banner," J'onn began, "We need you to take control of your body again."
"Why?" Banner shouted in anger, "So I can be locked away like a freak? So Fury can get away with whatever he wants?"
"Listen to yourself," the alien fired back, "You are not acting rationally."
"To hell with reason!" the Doctor turned from the alien, "I gave everything up for S.H.I.E.L.D. My job at the University, my seat on the international science council, I even gave up the love of my life so I could try and help S.H.I.E.L.D. become the defense that this country needs."
"And what does Fury do? He tosses me to the side like a rag doll when he feels like it. I was only giving my honest opinion, yet the instant you came and found Grimm; he set me up as a sacrificial lamb. This isn't between me and you, or anyone else. This is between me and Fury, no one else has to get hurt."
"It is far too late for that," J'onn said sadly, as suddenly he sent mental images of the wounded S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and heroes. For several moments, Banner sat there slack jawed, before tears began to form on his eyes, and rivers began to flow.
"My god," he cried, "What have I done."
"You must turn yourself in Dr. Banner," J'onn stated, "Otherwise more horrors will happen."
"I'm sorry," Banner began, and repeated, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…"
The Avengers and Justice League members all watched in wonder as the Hulk began to shrink. The beast's green hue also began to fade, and before long, the being that was once Hulk was no longer standing in the middle of the road.
All that was left was Bruce Banner, pleading in pain.
"…I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…"
"So Dr. Banner was placed in isolation after that," Superman asked as he and the other members of the Justice League debriefed the wounded heroes in the Watchtower medical facility. All were laid up in bed, most, particularly Cap, and were nearly unable to move.
"No citizen was hurt, the bad guy was taken down, and I got a meatball sub waiting for me at home," Flash said as he slowly ignored his aching ribs and began to walk out, "All and all, that was a pretty good day."
"So what happened in the Artic?" Hawkgirl asked the currently uninjured superheroes.
"Ah," Thor began, "It was a glorious-"
"Shush," Iron Man said, as he turned the TV to the News Station, "They're talking about us."
"And the rampaging Hulk monster was stopped today from destroying New York," Snapper Carr said.
"Oh yeah," Iron Man chuckled, "Wait until you see my good side."
"This beast was defeated by S.H.I.E.L.D.'s new meta-human team, the Ultimates!," the Justice League looked shocked as the Avengers all stood on a stand and addressed the crowd of reporters.
"Those cheap skate liars!"
"Shut it Iron Man!"
"In particular," Snapper continued, "It was former US Army Corporal Ben Grimm who managed to go toe-to-toe with the beast, and bring him down to size. Mr. Grimm had this to say."
Suddenly, a camera got a close up on the rocky being that was Ben Grimm. The soldier got a big smile on his face. "I just have one thing to say to all those bad guys out there, don't mess with the Ultimates. Cause if you do, we will take you down. And I can guarantee you," he pointed one big thumb at himself, "The Thing will be the first one there to make sure you never think about something like that again.."
"That should be my conference!"
"Quiet Iron Man!"
"Well," Superman laughed as Batman stood beside him, "Looks like we got some competition."
Batman just silently looked at the monitor, and gave a small smirk as the Thing winked at the camera.
AN: Well that's it for this arc. It feels nice to be done with my first rather original part of the story. Don't worry, we will be getting back to Justice League storylines soon enough. Oh yeah, how many of you got the joke to comic fans. Anyone who finds it gets a virtual chocolate chip cookie.