[User]
<image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image>
Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
Mayan Rule, part IV
Present:Gamma Base, at an undisclosed location, the Life Model Decoy known simply as “Annie” stands near a series of computers and monitors, and via communicator announces that Alpha Flight are in the nutrient baths with electrostimulus, like both She-Hulks. ‘For all the good it may or may not do’ she mutters. Indeed, as Aurora, Snowbird and Sasquatch are held in the stasis tanks, alongside both She-Hulks, the other members of Alpha Flight - Guardian, Shaman and Puck - stand near their teammates, watching over them. Annie reports that the satellite array is showing lots of interesting activity in the area where her companions are. ‘Can you tell me what’s happening?’ Annie calls out over the communicator, but gets no response.
Annie continues, reporting that from her view, all naval traffic is being cut off by abnormal currents and wave formations, and the same thing is happening in the air, with focused category five winds, like a hurricane wall has gone up around Central America. Annie adds that she doesn’t know if she can stall Captain America much longer. ‘He knows you’re deep inside and is waiting on your word’ she reminds her companion. ‘I hope you’re getting this. My signal from Machine Man is below weak. Has something gone wrong? Can you aty least reassure me you’re still alive?’ Annie asks.
But, lying on a slab inside a temple on Chichen Itza, Yucatan, Mexico, General Ross a.k.a. the Red Hulk’s half-withered body is motionless, he is unable to respond. The mangled remains of Aaron Stack the Machine Man are scattered on the ground.
Yesterday:Rick Jones a.k.a. A-Bomb finds himself snared by the snake-body of the Mayan God-King, Kukulcan the Mighty. ‘Who would challenge the Mayan court? Now that it is once again under the wing of Kukulcan the Mighty? With this sacrifice, I return!’ he boasts. The other Mayan gods look up at their leader, who rises higher and higher, eyes glowing, energy bursting around him. ‘Hail the feathered serpent!’ one of them gasps. ‘Kukulcan the Great!’ another exclaims. ‘Kukulcan the Infinite!’ the third, Ah Puch calls out. A-Bomb’s body is tossed to the ground, and Red Hulk rushes over to him. But before he can pull him to safety, the forest god, Yum Kaax rises from the ground, and pulls A-Bomb up high with him. ‘He will be entombed in a place of honor, and written into our new codex’ Yum Kaax announces, pointing out that it was he who freed them from their prison and brought back Kukulcan.
‘You think you didn’t like being trapped in a rock?’ Red Hulk asks. ‘Wait until I bury you with it!’ he warns the god, but Machine Man extends an arm to keep Red Hulk at bay. Machine Man tells Red Hulk that they are in a dept that may be insurmountable, given their resources and knowledge at the moment. He adds that upon the chief god’s arrival, the others began moving more orderly, as if they are a completed system. ‘This may be crucial -’ he begins, but Red Hulk pushes on forward, ignoring him. ‘So you’re saying “attack”’ Machine Man mutters.
Kukulcan hisses as Red Hulk leaps up and kicks him in the face. ‘I’m going to make you into boots and stomp your friends with them!’ Red Hulk boasts. Kukulcan tells the “northern god” that he speaks brave. ‘But when Kukulcan speaks…the world burns!’ the Mayan god king howls as flaming energy bursts from his mouth, scorching Red Hulk and knocking him backwards. Tohil, the fire god laughs as Red Hulk falls towards the nearby temple. Machine Man realizes that Kukulcan’s blast was no random one, and extends an arm to grab hold of Red Hulk. ‘Try to stop yourself!’ he calls out. ‘Do not cross the threshold!’ Machine Man exclaims as his arm approaches Red Hulk - only he isn’t able to reach him, and a glowing energy appears as Red Hulk falls into the top of the temple.
However, ‘Grapple - full extension!’ Machine Man shouts, as a grapple projectile is released from the palm of his hand, and latches on to Red Hulk, as half of his body is covered by the glowing green energy. ‘Retracting!’ Machine Man shouts as he pulls back, retracting his arms, and the Red Hulk is sucked from the glowing energy. Kukulcan sees this and is not happy. ‘Brothers of fire! His puppet interferes, come close!’ the god king shouts, as Tohil and Jacawitz, the volcano god, move towards Machine Man. ‘Melt the machine!’ Tohil calls out, but Jacawitz points out that Machine Man is resisting the heat. ‘But all metal melts. From magma it comes. From magma it returns’ Jacawitz adds, as he surrounds Machine Man in molten lava. ‘Uh-oh’ Machine Man utters, as his body begins to melt.
At the side of the temple, Ixchel the Jaguar Goddess appears alongside Kukulcan, who tells her to put Red Hulk back in, as they need all life. Ixchel replies that the Red Hulk is the most powerful yet, before motioning to the temple, where another Mayan god begins to materialize. ‘Even part of his life force was enough to ignite the next god!’ Ixchel exclaims. Kukulcan asks her who returns, and Ixchel announces that it is their brother, Ah-Muzencab, the God of Bees. A swarm of bees accompanies the strange god, and Red Hulk, his form still half-withered, looks up, and mutters ‘Bees…’, before Ah-Muzencab suddenly looks in pain, and falls to the ground. Yum Kaax calls out to him, asking him what is wrong, before surmising that something is wrong with the process. ‘Ah-Muzencab! Go back!’ Yum Kaax calls out, but the God of Bees is unable to move, and an instant later, explodes.
Present:‘Red? Aaron? Is anyone receiving me?’ Annie calls out again over the communicator. ‘Okay. Trying again. Red. Aaron. Can anyone hear me?’ Annie asks. With half his mouth withered closed, Red Hulk finally utters ‘Annie’, but so quietly. ‘Please respond. We’re weighing lots of options here now that the military is being turned back’ she states. Annie adds that she is having a hard time convincing Captain America to not bring everyone with powers in. ‘We want to help, if you’re there and can give any direction, I’ll check back in two hours’ Annie announces. Red Hulk manages to turn his head, ‘Aaron. Why…didn’t you…respond?’ he enquires. ‘Oh’ he utters when he sees Machine Man’s broken body.
As he has been hearing Annie’s voice, Red Hulk knows that Machine Man’s radio still works, so decides there must be something else that he can do. But he is unable to move his body. Suddenly, there is a scratching sound, and from Machine Man’s body a small object that looks like a disc with spider-legs crawls towards him. ‘What…the hell is…’ Red Hulk mutters, before the disc projects a holo-image of Machine Man’s face. ‘It is I’ Machine Man announces. ‘Are you sure?’ Red Hulk asks. Machine Man explains that everything that is essentially him is compressed into a memory stick, but he doesn’t have full processing power nor any of his armament, however, his remaining repair nanos were able to build this form so he can communicate.
‘You are severely compromised’ Machine Man announces. ‘Sharp as ever’ Red Hulk replies, before revealing that turning his head almost made him pass out. ‘How am I even alive?’ he enquires. Machine Man states that the last thing he remembers was stopping Red Hulk from entering the pyramid’s energy field. ‘I assume they threw me into this pit for later study, as if I were but accessory gear of yours’ he adds. ‘You’re not?’ Red Hulk jokes, before Machine Man remarks that the Mayan entities do not acknowledge him as a life form, adding that when he is out of sight, the entities have no awareness of his presence. Machine Man suggests that this could give them an edge. ‘Oh yeah. We’ve clearly got the edge here’ Red Hulk mutters, while the disc-Machine Man extends a tendril, that latches onto Red Hulk’s eye, on his healthy side of the body.
Machine Man remarks that he suspects that is how Annie, also an android, and also invisible to the Mayans, was able to infiltrate the pyramid. The tendril pulls back from Red Hulk’s eye, but a small device remains attached to his eye, and Machine Man explains that this will allow Red Hulk to see what he sees. ‘I will speak to you through the radio still working in my body. This way, we can observe what has transpired’ he points out. The spider-legs of the disc-Machine Man begin to climb up the side of the pit wall. ‘What’s taking so long?’ Red Hulk calls out. Machine Man calls back that the pit was fifty meters deep, before announcing that he is surfacing.
‘Holy hell! It looks like the end of the world out there!’ Red Hulk exclaims as the device enables him to see what the disc-Machine Man looks at. What they see are several large temples, with the Mayan gods atop them. Fireballs are thrown through the air, and civilians are climbing up the temples. Machine Man remarks that there are several more Mayan entities, most from lower hierarchy deities, from what his studies interpret. Machine Man states that he is going to make some more assumptions, to which Red Hulk tells him to go for it. Machine Man suggests that the entities have successfully struck fear into the populace of the region, and many are now falling into line. ‘This is direct tribal worship, some even wear the dress of their Mesoamerican ancestry’ he adds.
‘In a brief time, they have recreated the zenith of their glory days. Built on the bodies of the heroes of today’ Machine Man announces, while Ixchel stands and raises her hands high, ‘Worshippers come forth! Show your reverence!’ she booms. Kukulcan is coiled alongside Ixchel, with bodies crushed around him, he hisses and tells the civilians to offer all they have, or else it shall be taken. Machine Man’s disc-form carries on through the chaos, and he reports that an archivist god is working on a codex, the written history of the Maya. ‘This may provide answers’ he tells Red Hulk. The small form of Machine Man climbs up behind the archivist, and Red Hulk mutters that it looks like a comic book, while asking Machine Man what it says.
Machine Man asks Red Hulk to be patient, as he can’t process as fast in this form. ‘Referencing all of the Mayan history and hieroglyphs I downloaded the other day…’ Machine Man begins as he reports that the history goes back over one thousand years, where a small tribe of Maya were chased by another tribe from their forest home, forced into a region with poor hunting, they found an isolated spring in the mountains. Soon, after drinking from it, the natives began to collapse, and some died, while most lay in a comatose state for several days. Machine Man observes the hieroglyphs and supposes that the spring was connected to a subterranean pocket of Terrigen Crystals, and states that upon recovering, the tribal members found they could speak to each other telepathically, which was assumed to be a gift from the gods.
Machine Man continues, informing the Hulk that the tribe returned to their former home, with an enormous stealth advantage over their enemies, in control of the forest, they began pilgrimages to their secret spring to renew their abilities. However, it soon became clear that the Super-Maya could not breed outside their own. The next generation, like Ixchel, had more focused ability, such as low level mind control. They could see another spectrum of energy, but it is described as one generated by the rending of life. Machine Man assumes that this happens in another dimension, as he is unfamiliar with it, but the third generation of the tribe found they could absorb it. The Super-Maya began to understand the rudimentary physics of the process, and wearing a precise pattern of jade crystal, they could help attract the energy.
Machine Man reveals that by slowing the process, bloodletting, the Super-Mayas allowed it to happen at a speed they could better take it in. The fourth generation began to live much longer, they had found the key to immortality. The fifth and final generation began to develop more abilities - they had their slaves build pyramids over physical power-spots, designed to focus enormous currents of the life-wave. They found that killing off their forebears yielded even more power, as draining that of Alpha Flight and the She-Hulks has. Machine Man declares that the Super-Mayas own myths began to shape them, as each specialised in an area of worship, the Mayans created their own gods. Machine Man reports that at this point, the archivist is still engraving, something about twins who revelled against their fellow deities.
Suddenly, someone - or something - picks up the disc-Machine Man. ‘Stack? You still there? I lost the signal. Come in’ Red Hulk calls out. There is a loud rumbling, and Red Hulk tells Machine Man that something is happening. ‘Can you hear anything from out there?’ Red Hulk asks. The rumbling continues, and Red Hulk decides that it sounds like big machinery, or an earthquake. Dust rushes in over Red Hulk, while, outside, Ah-Puch rises high into the air: ‘Gather our people, come to the lower temple. You will see the ceremony as your ancestors did’ he announces.
Smoke rises and Ah-Puch states that tonight they will deal with those who interfere, as the red god’s life brings them no strength, for it destroyed Ah-Muzencab, the first of the Super-Maya to die in centuries. ‘But our people will see his death and know who it is for’. Ah-Puch removes his cowl, revealing his maggot-covered face. ‘Their gods. Tohil, bring the fire! We demand sacrifice!’ Ah-Puch exclaims, and on cue, fire rushes through the temple, towards Red Hulk’s unmoving body….


[User]
<image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image>
Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
Mayan Rule, part V: Reunion
Chichen Itza, Mexico, the mangled body of Aaron Stack a.k.a. the Machine Man lies scattered on the floor of a temple. The half-withered body of General Ross, in his Red Hulk form, lies nearby. A voice can be heard calling out from the communicator-radio built into Machine man: ‘Checking in again. Do you read me? C’mon, big guy. Anything at all’ the voice exclaims. ‘I’m here, Annie. Probably not for long’ Red Hulk utters. ‘Finally! But I can barely hear you!’ Annie the Life Model Decoy responds. Nearby, several of the Mayan gods are being worshipped by frightened locals. Red Hulk tells Annie that the shouting she can hear is the Mayan big gun explaining to the crowd how he is going to kill him. Annie asks Red Hulk if he is trapped, and where Machine Man is. ‘Can’t you run?’ she asks.
At Gamma Base, somewhere in the United States, Annie is standing over a monitor, with three members of Alpha Flight at her side - Mac Hudson a.k.a. Guardian, Michael Twoyoungmen a.k.a. Shaman and Eugene Judd a.k.a. Puck, who listen intently. ‘Can’t move. But you can’ comes Red Hulk’s reply. ‘I’ll make it happen. But you didn’t say - where’s Machine Man?’ Annie ask.
Back in Chichen Itza, ‘The temple rises! The ceremony begins! The calendar ends!” the Mayan deity known as Camazotz booms, while scampering along nearby, carrying a disc-like object, is a monkey - not just any monkey, but X’balanque. ‘You are part of the toy man, no?’ X’balanque asks, looking at the disc, which indeed is part of Machine Man, and responds ‘Yes, and you are no mere howler monkey, it is clear’. X’balanque explains that she is one of the Mayan godlings, and that her brother Hunapu, they are twins and they resist their brethren. As X’balanque leaps from the top of the temple, Machine Man asks Red Hulk if he is hearing this. Red Hulk replies that he is, and adds ‘Make sure Annie does too’
Machine Man points out that they may have allies with intel among the Mayapan, and reports that X’balanque is morphing. Indeed, the monkey vanishes, replaced by a very human looking X’balanque. She smiles and holds the disc-Machine Man in her hand, explaining that it is hard to speak in the other form, but that it is one her people have never paid much attention to. ‘Now I can use the god-talk all understand’ she points out. Machine Man projects an image of the other monkey and asks if it is Hunapu. ‘Yes. We are twins’ X’balanque confirms. X’balanque starts to climb up stairs on the side of a temple, revealing that they were part of the tribe of Kukulcan who became immortal, the only ones who found wisdom during their long lives, or, perhaps, empathy.
X’balanque continues, stating that she and Hunapu also stole life, but that the Mayapan did not stop with their persecutors - they made themselves false gods and ruled their own people, so she and Hunapu plotted. X’balanque explains that while the others built pyramids to travel and control the life-force, she and Hunapu built one that was only to entrap the others, and they led the others in, and sealed the temple, locking them in crystal for centuries. Machine Man points out that that is where Ixchel led Rick Jones, long covered by earth. X’balanque reveals that she and her brother fled immediately before the other gods knew the twins were still among them. Suddenly, X’balanque’s eyes flash green, and she announces that Ixchel is near Machine Man’s friend. ‘Hunapu must reach him first!’ she exclaims.
‘Annie, hope you got that coded message through’ Red Hulk calls out. He continues: ‘Look, if I don’t make it out. Got to tell you, I…’ his voice trails off, as Ixchel the Jaguar Goddess appears over him. ‘Are you delirious, red one? Stay awake for your sacrifice’ Ixchel calls out, adding that they have allowed cameras to show the whole world that they are back. ‘Then you’re even more primitive than I thought, Ixchel’ Red Hulk tells her. ‘Finally. At Ah-Puch’s door. You remember my name. True, we don’t see your technology as you do. A pale imitation of our powers. Yet I know your death will be seen by billions’ Ixchel comments. Clinging to a ledge nearby, Hunapu the monkey holds a necklace in his hands. Ixchel states that she knows others like Red Hulk will come, but with power they can use, not like his, that destroyed Ah-Muzencab.
In Gamma Base, Alpha Flight and Annie are still listening, as Ixchel can be heard over the monitor saying that the heroes that will come will bring power that would normally take them centuries to gather, but the modern gods jump them past all that. ‘It doesn’t even kill you’ she points out. ‘That life-force will bring back the remaining Mayapan who rest in the Uxmal pyramid’ she adds. ‘The one…in Egypt?’ Red Hulk asks. Annie suddenly smiles and holds up a necklace and tells Mac, Shaman and Puck that they have the key right here in the necklace she found in the pyramid. Annie exclaims ‘Machine Man’s report about their history - and what Rick told us from seen their sacrifice! The pendants channel the life-force they want!’ Shaman takes the necklace and confirms that it is a symbol of life, but Mac points out that jade doesn’t have any special properties, to which Annie declares that this is not standard science. Shaman remarks that Snowbird’s nature spirits already fight to return her life. ‘You get her out! I’ll send the message about Shardzhad’ Annie orders.
Ixchel announces that the Uxmal pyramid keeps the remaining gods far and safe until they find sacrifices to power them. ‘When they are all free again, there will be no one able to challenge us’ she boasts. ‘Ixchel! An enemy - right under your nose!’ booms Kukulcan, the god king. Ixchel spins around, transformed into a water-form, she picks up Hunapu who was sneaking up behind her. ‘Ha! Who would attack us in our own temple? A traitor!’ Ixchel exclaims. ‘Come on…just need to catch one break’ Red Hulk mutters. Ixchel moves over to where Kukulcan is, atop the temple. ‘I found a spy, god king, stealing our amulets!’ Ixchel exclaims. ‘What matters what a monkey does?’ Kukulcan asks. Holding Hunapu in watery hands, Ixchel reveals that this is one of the conspirators of their imprisonment, the twin trickster. ‘Which are you…’ she begins as she uses a power on the monkey, that transforms him into the human form of Hunapu. ‘The brother! Hunapu!’ Ixchel exclaims.
‘See, my people! Even a god is not above sacrifice!’ Kukulcan boasts, as Ixchel slams Hunapu onto an altar, and Ah-Puch moves over him. Nearby, X’balanque remarks that there is none more clever than her brother. Now projecting a holo-image of his face, the disc-Machine Man tells X’balanque that she must try to create a diversion. ‘No, little smart toy. This is the plan. To end this for all time, it must happen’ X’balanque replies. ‘No one’s life is his own. All hold it for Ah-Puch the maggot-covered god calls out as he raises a spike over his head and prepares to bring it down.
‘Life is infinite, infinity returns…for look where my brother cast the necklace. Death. Is. LIFE!’ Ah-Puch booms. As the decayed deity says those words, energies swirl around the necklace that rests on the Red-Hulk, and at the same time, energies swirl around the necklace on the limp body of Snowbird, while Shaman casts a spell over her. ‘All life returns, returns…return…return…’ he hums. Suddenly, Ah-Puch brings the blade down towards Hunapu, whose eyes go wide, and blood spurts around him. ‘Life to the body it knows. Return. Return. Return!’ Shaman calls out as he concentrates on helping Snowbird. Energies continue to glow from both the necklaces on Snowbird and Red Hulk.
At that time, in Egypt, a lone figure flies towards a pyramid. A message can be heard: ‘Pyramid…it is aimed at Sharzhad Palace. Do not interfere - this retaliation is only meant for Dagan Shah - the Sultan Magus of Sharzhad. ‘Was that code supposed to be difficult? One not for my ears?’ the Sultan Magus enquires. His eyes narrow as he asks ‘Did you think the palace at Sharzhad would not intercept your message to the Egyptian government, Red Hulk?’ The sultan Magus lands on the pyramid and declares that he knew the Red Hulk would eventually send a weapon aimed at his country. ‘Unable to even make the right kind of pyramid. Infidel’ he mutters, while a voice calls out ‘Scanning reveals bio-weaponry, o Magus’. The voice adds that the pyramid structure focuses temporal energy for teleportation, capable of moving armies into position.
Energies swirl around the Sultan Magus. ‘I told you I would be extending my range. Already at this distance, I have the power you saw in my cavern of wonders. More than enough. To end any threat!’ he boasts, as he releases the energies at the pyramid, which explodes in spectacular display.
Even on the other side of the planet, Kukulcan and Ixchel recoil from the force of the power. ‘The Mayapan! They burn!’ Kukulcan exclaims. ‘How could anything penetrate the Uxmal portal?’ Ixchel wonders. At the same time, inside Gamma Base, ‘Return! RETURN!’ Shaman chants, as energy appears to glow inside Snowbird, whose body is almost as youthful and beautiful as she usually appears. Back in Mexico, Ah-Puch starts to keep over. Kukulcan calls out to him, while the motionless body of Hunapu suddenly asks ‘Could it be…Ah-Puch fears death?’, and Ah-Puch’s leans against the slab, his appearance basically normal, the maggots covering his face are gone. ‘Where is it - my -’ he utters, while at Gamma Base, Shaman’s spell concludes as he utters ‘…life’, and Snowbird has fully recovered.
‘Triumph, my brother. But they have lost the Uxmal pyramid too - how?’ one of the Mayapan calls out. Machine Man reports to X’balanque that Gamma Base sent a false message, knowing a powerful enemy would intercept it. ‘The pyramids form a network - and can be based around the world?’ he asks. X’balanque explains that Uxmal was as far as they could send one. At that moment, Annie contacts Red Hulk and Machine Man, informing them that Shaman has restored Snowbird with the necklace. Snowbird is helped up by her teammate, Marrina, who is sporting a broken arm, while Shaman stands beside the tanks holding Aurora, Sasquatch and the She-Hulks. Annie reports that Shaman thinks he could do the same thing with the others, if they weren’t so far away.
Machine Man replies that they were thinking the same, and announces that he is opening ceiling bay door three. Annie looks up, and the ceiling over Gamma Base opens. ‘We now have a direct doorway to Chicen Itza’ Machine Man states, as the temple appears over Gamma Base. ‘The red one! He did this!’ Kukulcan hisses, furiously. Kukulcan takes a human form, and walks over to Red Hulk, asking him how he destroyed Uxmal. ‘For this, your head will sit atop my spear for centuries!’ Kukulcan threatens. Red Hulk looks up at Kukulcan and replies that he has made a lot of enemies in his day. ‘;And you know what? Sometimes that’s better than friends’. He suddenly leaps up and grabs the god king by his arm. ‘But boy, make no mistake. I am the enemy’ Red Hulk snarls, the necklace around his neck glowing.
Kukulcan remarks that Red Hulk is not as strong as he was, and boasts that he will break his spine. ‘I’m getting there though. My gamma is a hybrid - didn’t convert the way you needed it to’ Red Hulk explains, before asking if these pyramids catch the life energy that they rip out. ‘It’s all still around, coming back to me’ Red Hulk remarks, before Kukulcan knocks him backwards and declares ‘You’ll die before that’, and orders him to take the sacred neckpiece off. ‘Sorry. It’s a good look for me’ Red Hulk replies as he kicks Kukulcan backwards, away from him. Kukulcan responds by transforming back into his snake form, ‘Yeah, keep up the show’ Red Hulk mutters, while Ixchel exclaims ‘Kukulcan battles!’, while Kukulcan tells Red Hulk that it is not long the life that makes them gods, and states that he feels his power grow yet again.
‘The people worship us once more. It gives us power. That is all that makes a god!’ Kukulcan exclaims as he slithers around the Red Hulk, wrapping his body around him, then pulling the blade out of Hunapu, he draws it towards Red Hulk, who suddenly discovers the withered body of A-Bomb a.k.a. Rick Jones lying nearby. ‘Your death will not feed us, but it will inspire their beliefs. You and your friend who was sacrificed to me’ Kukulcan adds, referring to A-Bomb. ‘Rick’ Red Hulk exclaims as Kukulcan pulls the blade towards his face. Red Hulk struggles to keep Kukulcan away from him, ‘I’ve had…a full life. But that man deserves more’ Red Hulk decides. ‘While you’ve fed off the world, he’s helped it. Saved it. And you’re going to give him back what you took!’ Red Hulk warns Kukulcan.
Suddenly, Red Hulk forces Kukulcan backwards and shouts ‘I’m going to beat it out of you!’. Red Hulk manages to place the magical necklace on A-Bomb, ‘Come on, Rick, take it’ Red Hulk calls out, while Kukulcan’s body writhes around, and knocks Red Hulk backwards, as Tohil, Jacawitz and Camazotz move in. ‘The red god challenges Kuku can - kill him!’ one of them exclaims. ‘Burn him! He cannot stop us all!’ another calls out. ‘Don’t think I’ll have to. You don’t know what the cavalry is, do you?’ Red Hulk remarks, as a green glow appears behind him. ‘They’re going to!’ Aurora smiles as she flies up behind Red Hulk. ‘Welcome back, Aurora’ Red Hulk calls out, as the rest of Alpha Flight, fully recovered, follows her into the temple. ‘Alpha Flight, ATTACK!’ Guardian exclaims as he fires an electromagnetic blast at Yum Kaax, knocking the tree-like god backwards.
‘Steal this, jaguar bikini!’ Marrina calls out as she rides on a wave of water that Ixchel created, and kicks the jaguar goddess in her face. ‘We’re taking back out life, you throwbacks!’ Sasquatch booms as he attacks Jacawitz, while Red Hulk throws rocks at Tohil. Aurora flits about, while Snowbird morphs into an ookpik and attacks Camazotz mid-air. ‘The northern gods! They take me -’ the monkey-like god utters. Puck leaps onto Ah-Puch’s shoulders and straddles wraps his legs around Ah-Puch’s face, ‘I learnt this leg chock from watching Luchadores. Howdya like it, eh?’ Puck smiles. ‘This is more like it! Everybody come and get some! It feels good to be back in battle!’ Red Hulk exclaims.
Ixchel and Camazotz manage to make a run for it, ‘Where will we go?’ Camazotz enquires as he follows the jaguar goddess, who replies ‘Anywhere’, and tells him that they will lay low until the northern gods die of old age, then they will return again. However, two figures drop down from atop the temple - the She-Hulks, Jennifer Walters and Lyra - and land on Ixchel and Camazotz. ‘Ancient lady, this is the last return you’re going to see!’ Jennifer exclaims as she punches Ixchel in the face. ‘The return of the She-Hulks’ feet up your #$%&$!’ Lyra exclaims as she drives her knees into Camazotz’s back.
Suddenly, ‘No skulking off for the king. I don’t care if your feathers are falling out’ A-Bomb exclaims, revived, as he grabs Kukulcan around the neck. ‘C’mon, Kooky, don’t hold out. Every last drop, back to me!’ A-Bomb exclaims as he re-absorbs the energy that was taken from him to revive the god kind.
Shortly, Red Hulk, A-Bomb and Annie are gathered outside the pyramid, as Red Hulk announces that X’balanque and Shaman have nearly finished restoring all the heroes. Silverclaw emerges from the temple, fully recovered, while Annie reports that X’balanque is going to show them how to move the pyramids back and deactivate them. ‘They’ll be even bigger tourist attractions after this’ she jokes. A-Bomb supposes that Egyptian tourists can go check out the rubble of Uxmal, while Red Hulk asks about the other gods. ‘Stick them back in the crystal prison?’ he suggests. Machine Man, sporting a sleek newly-designed body, drops down from above, and explains that keeping their bodies inert would eventually allow their minds to free-roam again.
Machine Man continues, revealing that the Mexican government has a facility that can handle the remaining gods, as they manageable without the working pyramids. ‘You look better, Stack’ Red Hulk tells his companion, who replies ‘As do you, Ross’, and explains that he had been building this body for three months. ‘You’ll like some of the new armament I’ve developed’ he adds. Inside the pyramid, Shaman is helping one of the local heroes, when he notices X’balanque is looking outside. He asks her if there is a problem, to which she replies ‘The toy man…I can truly see him now. How did that happen?’
A-Bomb, Red Hulk and Annie being the long climb down the side of the pyramid, while A-Bomb thanks them for their help. He remarks that going up against the whole pantheon of gods was not a walk in the park. ‘You really came through for me - and all of Central America, of course’ he adds. ‘Rick, if there’s something weird…you’ll end up in the middle of it’ Red Hulk smiles. As they get to the bottom of the pyramid, Annie asks ‘You think this was out there? Can you look around for a moment’ and tells him that if any of the ancient Mayans were here to see all of the people they work with, turning into animals, flying, shotting energy, artificial men and woman. ‘What else could they call us?’
Red Hulk and A-Bomb look around at their allies - Snowbird is following Toro around, while Guardian smiles as he talks with Silverclaw. Sasquatch has picked up young Velocidad one hand, while Aurora tries to talk Sasquatch down. ‘Face it giant read leader, in any age, we’re what passes for gods. And our adventures are tomorrow’s myths’ Annie tells Red Hulk. Puck gives a thumbs-up and winks, while Red Hulk replies ‘Damn, Annie. I just now got used to being a Hulk’.


[User]
<image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image>
Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
Untitled (Prologue)
Incredible Hulk (2nd series) #393 (Interlude)
The Winter Guard(Main Story)
My name is Darkstar. Once I was a Champion. But according to this man, I’m nothing more than an -
‘IMPOSTER!’ booms Sergei Krylov, better known as the diabolical Presence. Clutching the new Darkstar by her hair as she kneels before him, the Presence declares that from deep within his cell he had heard of his daughter’s demise. ‘Then, whispers of resurrection. Could my precious Laynia be alive?’ the Presence remarks. ‘Sadly, you are nothing more than a feeble imitation’. The new Darkstar tells the Presence that it is true, that she is not his daughter, and introduces herself as Sasha Roerich, claiming that she took his daughter’s codename to honor her memory in the Winter Guard.
While the Presence is fixated on the new Darkstar, the rest of the Winter Guard’s new line-up - the twelfth Crimson Dynamo, Ursa Major, and the sixth Red Guardian, sporting a new red, black and white costume - are dealing to a large one-eyed green multi-tentacled creature. They are heroes sword to uphold the principles of freedom and justice for Russia. They aren’t the first to serve these roles and they won’t be the last. Crimson Dynamo blasts away at one of the tentacles, while a tentacle with a large sharp-toothed mouth reaches for the trapped Ursa Major, and Red Guardian tries to him free himself from another tentacle.
‘Be gone from my sight, you inferior wretch!’ the Presence booms as he casually throws Sasha backwards. She lands near the Red Guardian, who quietly tells her to keep the Presence talking, as he has a plan. The new Darkstar does as requested, and turns back to the Presence, asking him to stop his rampage and insane experiments. ‘We can help you through this’ she tells him. The Presence blasts Sasha with energy, telling her that there is nothing to help him “through”. He adds that if Sasha really wants to honor his daughter’s memory, then why not just become her? ‘With my divine abilities, I can reshape you on the sub-atonic level’ he announces coldly.
Suddenly, ‘Hey, Presence…how about I reshape your face?’ the Red Guardian a.k.a. Anton asks as he manages to break free from the tentacle holding him captive, and smash his shield into the Presence, knocking the villain to the ground. ‘Punching? That was your plan? Sasha asks. ‘Never underestimate the science of punching’ Red Guardian replies, before telling Sasha to free the others. Sasha does so, blasting the tentacle holding the Crimson Dynamo a.k.a. Boris Vadim, who complains ‘Red Guardian was able to break this creature’s grasp, and yet I struggle?’
‘Thank you, my sweet little ponchiki’ Ursa Major a.k.a. Major Mikhail Urlokovitch Ursus exclaims as he, in his bear form, is freed from the creature. ‘The pleasure is mine’ Sasha replies. The Red Guardian holds his shield close to the Presence’s neck as he orders the Crimson Dynamo to get a full scan of the creature and figure out its weakness. The Crimson Dynamo directs a beam of energy towards the singular eye of the bizarre creature and announces that the biological data and gamma energy signature confirm what he suspected. ‘It is an unstable protoplasmic life form’ Vadim announces, before another scan reveals that monster is - or more precisely was - Igor Drenkov. ‘The man responsible for creating the Hulk!’
Ursa Major bites into one of the tentacles as he remarks ‘Leave it to the Presence to make a monster out of a madman’, while Sasha casts a Darkforce beam at the transformed Drenkov asking ‘Okay. How do we stop it?’. The Crimson Dynamo remarks ‘Apart from blasting it into orbit?’ before suggesting that he may be able to piece together a gamma transponder - but he doesn’t get to finish his sentence, as the jagged-tooth mouth tentacle moves up behind him - and swallows him whole! Only the Crimson Dynamo’s helmet drops to the ground, as one of the Winter Guard shouts ‘NO!’, while Red Guardian calls out ‘Vadim!’, before announcing that there is a man down, and tells the new Darkstar that it is time for her to devour this thing.
Sasha blasts the Darkforce around while remarking that her abilities come at a price. ‘Swallowing this thing whole…it could ruin me!’ she exclaims. Ursa Major holds a tentacle back as he exclaims ‘Please, Sasha - it is a risk we’ll have to take!’ The Darkforce pours from Sasha as she exclaims ‘No, Ursa, it’s a risk I have to take…alone!’. With that, Sasha Roerich releases the Darkforce over the transformed Drenkov, and bit by bit, the Darkforce swallows the monster - until, soon, it is nothing but a memory, and when the Darkforce closes, the Drenkov monster is gone. Sasha collapses mid-air, ‘Looks like I caught myself a falling star’ Ursa Major remarks as he catches Sasha. The three remaining members of the Winter Guard stand in the wasteland, and Red Guardian contacts their base, announcing that they lost Vadim. Mikhail remarks that Vadim was a good man, and Sasha agrees. Standing over the motionless Presence, Red Guardian asks the person he is speaking to at base to make the appropriate arrangements with Vadim’s family, and to see that they are taken care of. ‘Re-deploy Crimson Dynamo Mark XII. And send in the press’ Anton adds.
Soon, the Winter Guard - with the Crimson Dynamo amongst them prepare to board their jet. ‘We are okay, everyone!’ the Crimson Dynamo declares as the unconscious Presence is also carried onboard. ’Once again, Russia is safe thanks to the valiant efforts of the Winter Guard’ one reporter announces as media surround the Winter Guard. ’Ursa? Any truth to the She-Hulk dating rumors?’ another reporter asks.
Soon, inside the aircraft, Mikhail gets changed after transforming back to his human form, while Sasha holds herself sitting behind Red Guardian, who pilots the jet as he welcomes the Crimson Dynamo on behalf of his teammates. The Crimson Dynamo’s helmet is removed - revealing a dark-haired young woman as the operator. She thanks the Red Guardian, before introducing herself as Galina Nemirovsky. Ursus leans over to her and remarks ‘In my less grizzly form, I’m known as Mikhail’. The young woman tells him that it would be an honor to serve with him. Mikhail turns to Sasha and tells her that was quite a display, before asking how she is feeling. ‘I’m fine…’ Sasha replies, clearly not fine. ‘Everything is just fine’ she repeats, while an image of Igor Drenkov in his human form flashes before her eyes….
Flashback to Incredible Hulk (1st series) #393 - takes place as Darkstar II’s dreamChapter 1: The Closing CircleThe man known as Igor Drenkov lies on the dirty floor of a laboratory. ‘I have a recurring nightmare’ he thinks to himself, knowing that it used to happen more frequently - with nightly screams, morning nausea, daily torment - and it drove him from his wife, children, and quite nearly, his sanity. ‘But I’d gotten better…or thought I had’ he tells himself. Suddenly, a voice calls out ‘Igor! What are you doing lying around like that? Don’t you have any sense of priorities? Stop napping and let’s get on with things!’
Igor spins around, and wide-eyed, gazes Dr Bruce Banner, only his form has been transformed somewhat, and he realizes that he has had a relapse, for not only has the nightmare returned, but it is not more real - and more insane then ever before. ‘I…I am not -’ he begins to tell himself, ‘Well?’ Dr Banner asks, smoking a pipe. ‘Are you going to sit there slack-jawed? There’s work to be done. The countdown for the g-bomb has started’ Dr Banner announces, motioning to the counter, which is at sixty seconds.
Drenkov realizes that the room stinks of decay and dust - there are cobwebs and madness - and a rat just crawled across his foot. He gets off the floor, and asks ‘What…is going on? I was…I was somewhere else, I think’ he tells Banner, who shouts at him, asking him what his problem is. ‘Is there something you want to tell me?’ he asks. ‘Dr Banner, you…you look -’ Igor begins, before Banner interrupts him, ‘Oh, is that all? You’ve noticed I looked overworked. Well…I am’ Banner replies, before remarking that Drenkov has not been working nearly as diligently as he had hoped. ‘Please strive to do better’ he tells him, before peering out a gap in the wall through a pair of binoculars as he declares that in a few seconds they will finally learn what happens when the powerful gamma rays are released, before suddenly, he sees something:
‘Wait! What’s that! Good Lord! It’s…a boy…!’ Banner exclaims. ‘A teenager! He’s driving into the test area!’ Banner gives Drenkov the binoculars and tells him to delay the countdown until he can get to the boy. ‘Hurry, man! Every second counts!’ Banner exclaims as he rushes out of the lab. Igor watches Banner leave the lab, just like before, and like so many times since then. He turns to the control computer, which indicates there are twenty seconds until detonation. He tells himself that Gamma Base was shining and new in his nightmares, not this decrepit, lifeless shell he sees before him.
But the events were the same - that day, a spy named Igor Drenkov held the fates of millions in his hand…and didn’t know it. All he saw was the chance to get rid of a noted American scientist. He could have stopped it then. He knows he could stop it now - stop the countdown - stop the Hulk. But as his hand rests over the ABORT button on the console, he reminds himself that his mission was to eliminate Banner. There are ten seconds on the countdown clock remaining as he wonders how he can betray his mission, his country. ‘But my country is gone. And the Hulk is still here’. Nervously, Igor looks at his hand over the ABORT button, and wonders ‘But where is he? Where am I?’. He tells himself that he cannot abort and that he must fulfil the mission.
‘No matter what the co -’ he begins, as the timer reaches zero seconds. Drenkov sees the light, and the sound follows moments later - the sound of the explosion. Drenkov hears a scream mingled with it - but he doesn’t know whose it is, before he is knocked back by the force of the explosion and the blinding light.
Chapter 2: The Hulk Challenged!‘What’s going on back there?’ Dimitri Bukharin a.k.a. the Crimson Dynamo calls out as he pilots the People’s Protectorate jet. Fantasma screams, and he asks why she is screaming. ‘Is that not the accepted method in which human females scream?’ the android Vostok asks, while Fantasma clutches her head. Dimitri tells Vostok to be quiet, while Perun, God of Lightning, tells Fantasma to steady herself, and asks her if she saw Drenkov. Fantasma stops screaming and replies that she did, but that the visual link she shares with him was overwhelming for a moment. ’There was a light, and - he’s still being subjected to images from his past. I don’t know why’ Fantasma announces.
Suddenly, Josef Petkus a.k.a. Red Guardian stands up and tells his team that it doesn’t matter why, all that does matter is that an officer of the bodyguard service was kidnapped from the heart of Washington DC while part of a diplomatic mission, and they must get him back. Red Guardian declares that they cannot let the world think that the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the dismantling of the KGB has made them easy targets. ‘Oh! The Red Guardian has made another speech! And me without my notebook!’ Perun exclaims, staring out the window.
Josef tells Perun that his humor is ill-timed, before informing Fantasma that they have entered New Mexico airspace, so they will need more guidance from her if they are to locate Drenkov. ‘Isn’t enough that my shaking his hand created a psychic link when I met him? Must I do everything around here?’ Fantasma complains, telling her male teammates that they are such helpless children sometimes. ‘What bothers you this morning, Fantasma? Get up on the wrong side of the broom?’ Perun asks her, adding that they are supposed to be a team, when he suddenly notices someone on the wing of their jet.
He calls out to Red Guardian, ‘There’s someone on our wing!’ he shouts as a man wearing a black costume with silver armor and red goggles swings a mace around - bringing it down on the wing of the jet. ‘You guys must be the People’s Protectorate! We thought you might get in on this!’ he exclaims, before introducing himself as Hector of the Pantheon. ‘Welcome to the United States’ he jokes, before leaping off the jet, ‘Happy landings’ he calls out as the People’s Protectorate plummet to the rocky landscape below.
Inside, Red Guardian tells Crimson Dynamo to get out of his way, boasting that he is the only one experienced enough to land the jet under these conditions. ‘Be my guest. I’m the one in the armor, remember. I have less of a personal stake in this than you do’ Dynamo replies as Josef takes the controls. ‘Keep the nose up!’ someone tells him as the back of the jet lands with a B-KAAAM on the ground, before coming to a sudden halt. ‘Nice landing’ someone remarks. ‘Thank you’ Josef tells them. ‘I was being sarcastic’ they reply.
The People’s Protectorate emerge unscathed, and standing before them are four others - three humans carrying weapons, and one large mechanoid with a human face. Perun motions to Hector and exclaims that it was he who dared interfere with this mission. ‘I’m the Red Guardian…the People’s leader’ Josef begins, while Fantasma exclaims ‘Who the Devil are you?’. The man carrying the sword and shield, known as Ulysses, introduces his group, the Pantheon, and tells the People’s Protectorate that they are a long way from home. He explains that they have delivered comrade Drenkov to one of their valued associates, but that he does not remember the People’s Protectorate being invited.
‘You, American, are outnumbered!’ Red Guardian points out. ‘You, Russian, are outclassed’ Ulysses replies. Fantasma takes flight as the four males run behind her. ‘Positions! Here they - come?’ one of the Pantheon calls out, when suddenly, the People’s Protectorate vanish. Hector asks Ulysses what the deal is here, but Ulysses replies that he is not sure.
Meanwhile, Drenkov has made it out into open space of Gamma Base, telling himself that the nightmare is going on for much longer this time. ‘Perhaps…perhaps I am not dreaming. Perhaps I am dead’ Drenkov tells himself. ‘Dead, and in purgatory…or worse. Reliving my greatest sins’ he tells himself as he remembers wanting the plans for the gamma bomb. He sees a door with “Banner” on it, and decides the videos might be in Banner’s cabin. But entering Banner’s cabin, Drenkov decides that it is not as he remember, and that it is filled with stale air that makes his lungs itch.
‘The papers…the bomb plans! They must be here!’ he exclaims. He begins searching through piles of papers, ‘I have to complete my mission!’ he exclaims, before throwing all the papers on a desk to the floor, remarking that it if he insane or dreaming, or dead, then nothing he does matters. Drenkov begins rifling through a filing cabinet, ‘But it does! It matters to me! Have to do as I was -’ he begins telling himself, when suddenly he hears someone growling behind him. ‘I was a proud man. I did whatever my country needed. I…’
Chapter 3: The Hulk Unleased!‘Yes. Yes, I must be dead!’ Drenkov decides, as he sees the Hulk, bigger than he remembers, dripping saliva and sweat and with a voice like a muffler dragging on asphalt. Rich Jones clings to the Hulk like a broken rudder, shouting “Hulk! Don’t hurt him!”. Drenkov decides that he can hurt the Hulk, ‘Maybe this time -’ he begins, before firing the pistol that is in his hand. ‘No, no!’ Drenkov exclaims. ‘You’re not human!’ he shouts as the Hulk picks him up. ‘Human? Why should I want to be human?’ the Hulk asks. ’Stop it! Don’t! You’ll kill him! Put him down!’ Rick Jones calls out. ’Down? I will put him down…so!’ the Hulk exclaims before throwing Drenkov across the room and into an array of scientific measuring devices, which shatter and crash as he slams into them.
‘Bruce, that’s enough!’ Rick exclaims, but the Hulk replies ‘No! Not nearly enough!’ as he grabs Drenkov, asking him if he has any idea what he has done, what he has unleased. ‘The destruction? The misery that your little act of sabotage put thousands, millions of people through?’ the Hulk asks, staring Drenkov in the eyes. The Hulk lifts Drenkov to the ceiling, exclaiming that Drenkov tried to kill him, but couldn’t even do that right. ‘You turned me into a rampaging monster! Destroyed any hope of a normal life for me!’ he exclaims, asking whether Drenkov stood trial. ‘No! Six months later, you went home as part of a spy trade! No one ever held you accountable! Until now!’ the Hulk declares as he slams Drenkov through the ceiling and out the other side of the roof.
‘Bruce, shut it down! This is going way too far!’ Rick tells the Hulk, adding that he agreed to this “mission impossible” head-trip payback, but that it is time to end it before - ‘Before what, Rick? Before someone gets killed?’ the Hulk asks, interrupting his friend, before shouting that it is Drenkov’s fault. ‘Don’t you get it? You always blamed yourself, Rick, but you were just a teenager! But he was malicious and cold-blooded! And I’m going to make him pay!’ the Hulk exclaims. Suddenly, the rest of the roof is ripped off - and standing overhead is the Crimson Dynamo! The Crimson Dynamo introduces himself and explains that he is of the People’s Protectorate, before asking the Hulk to release Drenkov and back away slowly with his hands over his head. ‘Friend of yours, Bruce?’ Rick asks. ‘Who can remember?’ the Hulk replies, holding Drenkov in one hand. ‘I repeat…release Drenkov now’ the Crimson Dynamo states calmly, before the Hulk throws Drenkov high into the air.
‘I am flying. When I was a boy, I dreamed of flying. What an exciting dream’ Drenkov thinks to himself, while the Hulk calls out ‘You want him? You got him?’. The Crimson Dynamo takes to the air, following Drenkov, while wanring the Hulk that he will settle him in a few moments. ‘Well, maybe I’ll just settle with you sooner than th-’ the Hulk exclaims as he leaps into the air, only to be interrupted as he cries out in agony, struck by an unknown force, he can no longer see or hear anything, and falls to the ground. ‘Like someone just threw a bag over all my senses’ he tells himself.
The rest of the People’s Protectorate appear, ‘I’ve got him, comrades! He’s all yours!’ Fantasma exclaims, while Vostok congratulates her on some excellent work. Red Guardian tells his teammates to wait, as their mission was to find Drenkov, which they have done. ‘Not battle the Hulk…not if it can be avoided!’ he tells them, adding that he wants to find out the reason for this, and simply attacking him won’t - Perun interrupts, smacking the blinded Hulk backwards with his mallet, Perun asks why they should waste time with reason when there is a foe worthy of his powers waiting to be defeated?
‘Perun! Get back here!’ Red Guardian orders, while Fantasma alerts her teammates to the “Pantheon” fools, who have now caught up to them. Fantasma readies another spell as she declares that she let the Pantheon off easily before by masking the People’s Protectorate’s own bio-electric fields so that they seemed to simply disappear. ‘This time, I wont be so generous. I’ll do for them what I did for the Hulk’ Fantasma announces as her power engulfs the Pantheon. ‘Oh, now what?’ the arrow-slinging woman called Atalanta mutters, while the mechanoid Ajax asks where everyone went. Atalanta calls Fantasma a witch and tells her she made the wrong move, before firing her arrow, remarking that she doesn’t need her eyes to hit her target.
Fantasma screams as the arrow strikes her, while Perun creeps up behind the Hulk once more, remarking that he is almost sorry Fantasma has blinded him, as this is too simple. But the Hulk realizes that his vision has returned, and spins around before Perun can hit him again, while shouting ‘So you’re the one who was using me for target practice while I couldn’t fight back! So what do you say now?’ Perun asks. ‘At last! A true fight!’ Perun exclaims as he loses grip of his mallet and sickle. The Hulk is surprised by Perun’s comment and remarks that he was hoping for groveling.
Nearby, ‘Who the blazes are you?’ Red Guardian asks Ulysses as the two of them battle. ‘To quote Spenser: “I’m the Tooth Fairy. I loosen teeth”!’ Ulysses replies as they battle. Vostok runs past Ajax, who calls him stupid and tells him to stay still. ‘Considering that I can manipulate the metal of your armor…so that it comes to life and assaults you…I’d be more polite if I were you’ Vostok suggests, before transforming Ajax’s armor so that several fists extend from the metal and begin punching his own form.
Up in the air, Crimson Dynamo tells Drenkov that it is all right, as it is over, before landing and putting him safely on the ground. Dynamo makes his way towards Perun and the Hulk, to assist his teammate in finishing the battle, while Perun calls the Hulk a fool and tells him that depriving him of his weapons will not stop him. ‘They don’t generate my electrical power…just focus it!’ he reveals, explaining that the power comes from within him. Perun begins to glow with an electric charge while the Hulk tells him to believe it or not, but he already figured that out, and throws Perun towards the approaching Crimson Dynamo, ‘So I wondered how your uncontrolled bio-electricity might interact with metal-mouth’s armor’ the Hulk declares.
The Crimson Dynamo falls to the ground, ‘Yup, systems shutdown. Though as much’ the Hulk declares, adding that you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure that out, before turning back to Perun, who has landed nearby, while adding that he happens to be a rocket scientist in his spare time. ‘Don’t you ever shut up?’ Perun booms, while the Hulk jokes that he had to go through years of wielding a ten-word vocabulary, and grabbing Perun he claims that he is just making up for lost time, before slamming Perun’s face into his knee - unaware that the Crimson Dynamo has snuck up behind him, before Dynamo smacks Hulk hard in the back.
Vostok tells the Hulk that he should not have turned his back on the Crimson Dynamo, and reveals that although Bukharin is unconscious, his ability to manipulate machinery means he can still function - but Vostok doesn’t get to finish his sentence, as Atalanta fires two arrows through his android form, muttering that, if there is one thing she cannot stand, it is guys who explain everything they are doing while doing it. Atalanta stands over Fantasma, who is beginning to stir, but Atalanta exclaims ‘Don’t twitch, witch, or I’ll do you again like I -’ but she suddenly goes silent as Fantasma spins around and looks at Atalanta, ‘Your face…what happened to -’ she manages to utter, before Fantasma knocks her bow from her hands, and casts a spell over her, adding that since she dislikes explanations so much she sees no need to provide one for her true appearance.
Vostok’s form repairs itself as the Hulk tells him that he just keeps on going. ‘You’re a regular Energizer Bunny’ he jokes, referring to the battery and toy rabbit associated with it. ‘I am no bunny. I am Vostok’ the android replies, stopping the Hulk’s sudden punch. ‘Wrong. You are toast!’ the Hulk exclaims as he head-butts Vostok who falls to the ground, before holding up Perun’s sickle and telling Vostok that he is sure Perun wants him to keep this safe. ‘No! Do not -’ Vostok begins, but it is too late, as the Hulk slams the sickle into Vostok’s chest. ‘Too late’ the Hulk mutters as he leaps away. ‘Too late for all of us, isn’t it, Igor?’ the Hulk declares as he lands beside Drenkov. The Hulk asks Drenkov if the drugs have worn off yet and if he has figured out why this is happening, and where he is.
Chapter 4: The Hulk ConfrontedDrenkov looks up at the Hulk who stands before him and thinks to himself that he was not allowed to believe in God, for when he was a child it was not permitted. But he knows his father believed in God, and at night he would tell him stories in a hushed, whispered voice. ‘That you would die and God would be waiting for you, demanding accounting for your sins’ Drenkov reminds himself. Drenkov’s father is long dead, and he wants to be with him right now, so badly. ‘Let it end. Let it end’ he says.
‘Right here, Igor. Right where you’re sitting. The bomb that you could have stopped went off right here. Even now, in this recreation…you could’ve stopped it’ the Hulk tells Drenkov as he sits on the broken landscape. ‘But you didn’t, did you. With all your old agendas long gone…still you could only think of destroying me. Knowing all the results, and you’re so unrepentant you’d do it again!’ the Hulk exclaims. The People’s Protectorate and the Pantheon gather around the Hulk and Drenkov as the Hulk tells them to witness a living example of obsession that will not die. He informs them that Drenkov was assigned to infiltrate the original gamma bomb test, and did so quite well, signing on as his assistant.
The Hulk explains that the mission was simple - swipe the plans and make sure he was not around to make more. ‘And his only regret is that he wasn’t more efficient’ the Hulk adds, before Red Guardian announces that it is the anniversary of the test. ‘Right’ the Hulk confirms, explaining that when he learned Drenkov was going to be in the States, he could not pass up the opportunity, as it is poetic justice. ‘My first battle was with a Russian - the Gargoyle. Things change, but they don’t’. The Hulk admits that he wanted a bit of justice, his own informal reckoning, to make Drenkov suffer for all the grief and misery he caused him, and caused humanity. Rick Jones tells the Hulk that Drenkov does not seem all that upset about it, before Drenkov bursts into a fit of laughter.
‘Wh - wha…?’ the Hulk asks, while Drenkov stands up beside him, ‘Don’t you see? I am going to get into Heaven! I saved the world!’ Drenkov exclaims, to which the Hulk asks him what he is talking about. Wide-eyed, Drenkov exclaims ‘Yes! Yes! I created that…that monster of destruction! Caused misery and ruin for so many! And I’d do it again, because the creature has also been a force for right!’. He reveals that he has followed the Hulk’s career, and remarks that if he carries the guilt and responsibility for the Hulk’s evil, then he should also get credit for the good. ‘Don’t I? Don’t I?’ he shouts, tears streaming from his eyes.
Drenkov pounds at Rick’s chest, ‘Every night! Every night I dream of what I did. The screams in my head. His screams, and theirs! His victims! His enemies! My victims, my -’ he mumbles, before his jaw drops and he exclaims ‘I know! I’m dead! I know it! No one can suffer like this and be alive!’. He turns to the People’s Protectorate and asks them ‘Don’t you understand? My soul died the day that bomb went off! I just want to know…where will my soul go? Will I burn or be blessed? Someone tell me!’
Igor Drenkov looks around at everyone, his mouth open wide, his eyes wide and blood-shot with tears still forming. ‘Speak to me, someone!’ he calls out. ‘You! I see your eyes burning into me…tell me! I gave the world a great power! Did I do right or wrong! Please judge me! End mey suffering! Please! I beg you…please…end it…end it…end…’.
Present / Reality:‘And that is where the memories end, Dimitri. At least those memories’ Sasha remarks, running a hand through her hair as she stands in the office of Dimitri Bukharin. ‘The People’s Protectorate was folded into the Winter Guard many years ago, Sasha‘. Bukharin replies, adding that the event she just described, he was there. ‘And that’s why this intake is valuable’ he remarks, opening a file. He declares that the Russian Executive Security Committee appointed him as the Winter Guard’s strategic liaison for a reason. ‘I need to know things like this’ he remarks. Anxiously, Sasha replies that she knows. ‘It is just…I look at the paints of the Bogatyrs behind you. Mighty heroes, who despite their differences, worked towards a common goal’.
Sasha announces that as a young pupil she dreamed of one day serving her country as the Bogatyrs did. ‘I thought the Winter Guard would give me that opportunity. I was wrong’. Bukharin asks Sasha if she is having troubles with her teammates, but Sasha interrupts, telling Dimitri that he doesn’t understand the conflict. Dimitri tells Sasha that according to her doctors she is physiologically and physically healthy. Opening the file of his former teammate Laynia Petrovna, Dimitri tells Sasha that her body matched her predecessors power profile exceptionally well. ‘That’s not the point! I have the DNA of a dead woman inside of me!’ Sasha exclaims.
Clutching herself, Sasha reveals that, sometimes she feels Laynia crawling around inside of her. Dimitri tells Sasha that he understands, but simply feels that it is a side effect of over-exerting her Darkstar abilities. Dimitri tells Sasha that he does not want to decommission her just yet and will order some more tests if she thinks that will help. ‘But, in the meantime…I thought we could all use some rest and relaxation’.
In the rec-room of the Winter Guard’s headquarters, Mikhail, Anton and Galina are playing a game of pyramids. ‘You will not beat the Red Guardian so easily. I am one of the world’s foremost experts in engineering. I can master a game of pyramids’ he boasts as he lines the white ball up. ‘BAH’ he shouts after hitting the balls with the cue. Mikhail tells his teammate that he doesn’t know why he is complaining. ‘If we lose, I have to juggle all of these balls like a circus bear. Do you have any idea how embarrassing that will be?’ Mikhail asks.
‘Thank you for opening up the table for me’ Galina remarks as she chalks her cue. Anton asks Galina if she has given any thought to the armor she will be using, and as she hits the white ball with the cue, causing it to smack into all the other balls, enabling them to enter the pockets, Galina replies that she had considered the Ultra-Dynamo armor for its superior firepower, durability and targeting array. ‘Some engineer you are, Anton’ Mikhail mutters as the last ball enters the pocket. ‘We got fleeced’ Mikhail mutters as he transforms into his bear form. ‘Beginner’s luck, I assure you’ Galina smiles as she puts the cue back on the rack.
‘But getting back to your question about the armor…I think I finally decided on the Mark XIII. It’s far more manueverable than the previous versions’ Galina announces. She adds that she wishes they had the manpower to do their job more effectively. Aton replies that they are the iconic heroes of Russia. ‘This isn’t America. We don’t dilute our ranks with bit-players’ he exclaims, before pointing out that waiting in the wings are candidates, like Galina, who have been rebuilt or trained to step in at a moment’s notice. Anton tells Galina that Crimson Dynamo pilots are difficult to train, but are easily replaced. ‘Nobody understands that better than I do!’ he exclaims cryptically.
Galina looks rather nervous as she asks if they are disposable heroes, to which Ursa Major exclaims ‘Not disposable - eternal!’. He adds that there will always be a need for a Red Guardian, but that it might not always be Anton. ‘This is a debate for another time’ Dimitri exclaims as he enters the rec room. Anton asks Dimitri how Sasha is, to which Dimitri explains that she is in recovery, but that is not why he is here. He reveals that the Soviet Revolutionaries - The Remont Six - have raided an AIM facility. ‘You’ll need to stop them - without Darkstar’.
Soon, Ursa Major, Red Guardian and Crimson Dynamo are in their jet, streaking across the sky. ‘According to early reports, we are dealing with…’ Mikhail begins as images of Iron Maiden, the Titanium Man, Unicorn, the Snow Leopards and Volga appear on a monitor. Mikhail adds that, of these, the Titanium Man will be the most formidable. Galina replies that she has heard of the Titanium Man, but the others are new to her. ‘Red Guardian looks out the window and sees Remont Six down by the AIM facility, and tells his Galina to remember her training protocols and she will be fine. ‘So, let’s put them down’ Red Guardian exclaims as the trio leap from the jet down to the snow-covered wasteland below.
An instant later, the Red Guardian slams his shield into Unicorn, breaking his fall, while Iron Maiden, sword ready, rushes over to him, ‘Comrade! Why do you fight us?’ she calls out. Anton replies that he fights for the people of Russia as he throws his shield at her. ‘Yet you wear the color of the Soviets?’ Iron Maiden responds, batting the shield out of her way. ‘These colors I wear, I wear for the Russian Federation!’ Red Guardian explains as he tackles Iron Maiden to the ground. ‘And I’m not your comrade’ he adds, standing over her, only to be knocked out by a blast of energy, courtesy of Unicorn. ‘Nor are you that bright’ Unicorn mutters, while Iron Maiden motions upwards to the sky, where the Crimson Dynamo and Titanium Man are battling. ‘Concentrate your fire on Dynamo!’ she orders.
Unicorn does so, and as the Crimson Dynamo is engulfed by energy, Galina looks down at Unicorn and exclaims ‘Unicorn? Isn’t that a girl’s name?’. ‘Insignificant worm! See how easily you are distracted?’ the Titanium Man points out as he blasts Crimson Dynamo with energy, telling her that she lacks the skill to battle he, before the Crimson Dynamo plummets to the snow below, where Ursa Major is dealing with the remaining members of Remont Six - the two Snow Leopards climb over him, while Volga rushes towards him, ‘Do you really think a bear can stop us?’ the creature asks.
‘Bear? I am no mere bear! I am Ursa Major! King of Bears!’ Mikhail roars as he throws the Snow Leopards from him with ease, and as Volga raises a fist - only Ursa Major slashes the creature across its front. ‘We’ll make sure it says that on your tomb!’ the Titanium Man declares as he, Iron Maiden and Unicorn lunge at Ursa Major.
Illustrative Flashback Images, shown as Darkstar II’s dream‘This medallion will help you control your powers’ Professor Phobos remarked, gifting a medallion to Laynia Petrovna, some years ago. ‘Welcome to the team, Laynia!’ one of the Champions said to her, upon Laynia joining the Los Angeles based team. ‘She’s one life-force split between two beings’ was a comment made as exploration into Darkstar’s powers was made. ‘We are proud to welcome you and your brother to the Winter Guard, Darkstar’ a government agent said to Laynia upon the formation of the original Winter Guard. ‘You killed Darkstar. She was a super hero!’ is what was said after Darkstar was shot and killed by Fantomex, in Paris.
Present:‘What the Hell is wrong with me?’ Sasha wonders as she wakes from the dream. ‘Was I always this haunted?’ she asks herself, before deciding that it must be the work of the Presence, and rushing out of her quarters, her costume materializing around her as she does so, she decides that it must be the work of the Presence. ‘I’ll be happy to put and end to this twisted, little game of his’ she boasts as she strides into the cells. ‘What have you done to me, madman?’ Sasha calls out. ‘Ah…the surrogate daughter returns’ the Presence remarks from his cell. ‘Tell me…does the darkness still linger inside of you?’ he asks.
‘Why am I haunted with memories of your daughter? Of Igor Drenkov?’ Sasha asks angrily. ‘Are you not the custodian of your own being?’ the Presence asks. ‘No more riddles, you monster!’ Sasha exclaims, the Darkforce exploding from her hands, she blasts it at him, exclaiming ‘Restraints or not…you’ve experimented on other people…tortured them…changed them. And if you’ve changed me…tainted me somehow…’. The Presence interrupts her, announcing that his answer is forthcoming. The Presence adds that the blame should not start with him, explaining that while remolding Sasha’s genetic structure, he discovered that his daughter’s life-force shares a symbiotic relationship with the medallion, bonded on the subatomic level.
‘You are simply a biological unit housing a power beyond your comprehension’ the Presence reveals, telling Sasha, who turns away from him, that she will never have Laynia’s strength. ‘Your fate is written. Your failure, inevitable’. Annoyed, Sasha exclaims ‘I’m not heroic enough - is that it? Not strong enough?’. And with that, she leaves, exclaiming ‘I’ll show you…I’m not afraid of your fairytales. I’m not afraid of the dark anymore!’.
Moments later, Sasha has found Dimitri and asks him where her teammates are. Dimitri reveals that they are fighting Remont Six outside of the Forbidden Zone. ‘Sasha, are you okay?’ Dimitri adds, to which Sasha exclaims ‘My name is Darkstar! And, for the first time in my life, I know what I am!’. With that, Sasha teleports away.
Back in the Forbidden Zone, Ursa Major shoves Iron Maiden and Unicorn away, ‘You call yourself fighters? I have battled the great and powerful Hulk!’ he booms, while the Titanium Man flies up behind him and exclaims ‘Enough of this’ as he lifts Ursa Major off the ground, remarking that he may think they are unworthy of his strength, before remarking that not even Ursa Major is strong enough to withstand the harsh impact of gravity. ‘Do svidanya, bear’ Titanium Man exclaims as he drops Ursa Major, just as Sasha teleports in. ‘Looks like I arrived on the scene just in - oh, my God…is that?’ she exclaims, before screaming ‘URSA’.
Sasha releases the Darkforce, thinking that the Presence said she wasn’t strong enough for this power, but she opens a portal to teleport Ursa to safety, but as she does, Titanium Man strikes her with an energy blast, ‘Are you fools not even capable of covering your own backsides?’ he asks. ‘Frankly, Titanium Man…you have no idea what I am capable of!’ Sasha declares as she unleashes the Darkfoce once more - a somewhat familiar looking tentacled-object emerges from it, and one of the tentacles grabs Titanium Man, before shoving him to the snow-covered ground. There is a massive explosion, and the sky goes green.
Nearby, Red Guardian rouses, ‘What the -?’ he wonders as he sees the green sky. ‘Oh, this is bothersome’ he remarks as he regroups with Ursa Major and Crimson Dynamo, who announces that, according to her sensors, it is about to get even more bothersome. ‘Whatever Darkstar is made out of…this is a gamma-charged version of It!’ Galina exclaims, motioning to the mass spreading around, which slashes through trees and earth. Red Guardian exclaims that if it keeps going it will consume all the light and radiation in the vicinity, to which Ursa Major remarks that something like this happened to Laynia, but never to this degree.
Red Guardian tells Mikhail and Galina to secure the prisoners, while he is going in. ‘Wait? Do you have a plan?’ Mikhail asks. ‘I’m an engineer, Ursa - I always have a plan!’ Anton exclaims as he rushes towards the sprawling mass of Darkforce energy. Making his way to the epicentre, Anton radios Dimitri, asking if Sasha’s powers come from her medallion. ‘Not exactly. But it does control her abilities to some extent’ Anton replies. Reaching the shinning star at the center of the Darkforce, Anton remarks ‘Close enough’ while Dimitri asks him why he wanted to know. ‘I’ll explain later - hopefully’ Anton replies as he reaches for the medallion in the middle of the shinning star, ‘Sasha, I’m sorry it has to be this -’ he begins, before screaming as he receives painful backlash, and being thrust out of the star, past the Darkforce, while the Crimson Dynamo flies up to catch him. ‘I’ve got you, Red’ Galina exclaims.
As Crimson Dynamo places Red Guardian on the ground, near Ursa Major, and Anton radios headquarters, announcing that they have lost Sasha. ‘Ensure her family is take care of. Deploy another Darkstar for the press conference’. And looking at his arm, injured after removing the medallion, announces that he will need repairs for LMD model RG7. Ursa Major finds the medallion in the snow, and picks up, before looking to sky, slowly clearing, and whispers ‘Rest easy, my sweet little ponchiki’.
Soon, Red Guardian, Crimson Dynamo, Ursa Major, and a new Darkstar stand before the captured Remont Six. ‘The danger has passed, my good citizens!’ Red Guardian announces to the media, one of whom asks if there is any chance the monster will return. ‘We are okay, everybody!’ the new Darkstar exclaims, while another of the media asks the Crimson Dynamo what they can say to the viewers at home.
Inside the jet, Dimitri tells the Winter Guard that he is sorry it had to be this way. ‘Sasha did the best she could with the circumstances she was given’ Dimitri announces that, in her absence, he is proud to welcome Reena Stancioff as the newest Darkstar. Dimitri hands Reena the medallion, and as she looks at it, Reena thanks him, announcing that it is really an honor to serve.
My name is Darkstar. Once, I was a Champion….