Once Bruce Banner
signed the Pactum Aeternus, giving Hulk to Eldest, Charlie Tidwell was transferred
from a decaying forest to a nice hotel room where a trio of lycanthropes inform
her she is in Las Vegas, alive and well, even losing the scar she bore. But
they warn her not to leave the room or she will die….
Hulk is now
chained up in a cave far below Vegas, with Eldest, in her human form, telling
him that the Mother of Horrors is on the cusp of victory. She taps his chest
and a blast of energy hurls her across the room to crash into a wall,
dismembering a monster as she cuts through him. She threatens Hulk with a snarl….
Charlie tries
to find a way out of the room, unaware she is being guarded by a monster called
Teelget….
Hulk sees
Banner’s reflection in a steam, mocking him in his helplessness. Hulk reacts,
bringing down part of the ceiling. He is approached by Katie, one of the two
girls trapped by the Lycanthropes last issue. She asks him for help, peeling
off her upper layer of skin to reveal her mutated form. Her bargain: if she
helps Hulk escape, will he kill them all for her? Katie flees when she hears Eldest
coming. Eldest reveals to Hulk that once she has gotten what she wanted from
him, Charlie will be given to Teelget to use as he wishes. She then causes
Banner to extend from Hulk’s body who offer to tell her what she wants to know
if Charlie goes free. Hulk rips this Banner out of himself; Eldest blasts him….
Katie returns
to the hotel room and frees Charlie and takes her through the ornate caves
beneath Vegas. Kaie point Charlie in the direction of the exit but she refuses
to go without Hulk. As they argue, they are spotted by two lycanthropes so
Katie assumes her werewolf form to delay them while Charlie escapes. The wolves
pursue her to the Lycan temple where she hides beneath the throne, the monsters
close behind her. She prays, “God help me. Help me finally be strong….”