Exiles: New World (Marvel NEW)/Issue 13

The thirteenth issue of the Marvel NEW ongoing series, Exiles: New World. It is preceded by Exiles New World Issue 12 and succeeded by Exiles: New World Issue 14.

Synopsis
''Just as things were starting to look down on Rojhaz and his team, Kang and Uatu assembled both teams to put their problems into a two-birds-one-stone situation. Problem is, nobody knows if old Hulks beating each other to death in a titanic showdown would be the best-case scenario for them. With a bloody aftermath following the decision, what would the Exiles do next?''

Continuity
This issue is the fifth and last part of The Hulk of Two Worlds story arc and set after last issue's aftermath. The issue's aftermath will also tease its continuation arc, [TO BE REVEALED].

The Panopthicron
In the control room, Uatu is seen stunned at what he saw. The carnages of both Earth-9200 and Earth-2081, he thinks to himself that he should've had prepared himself for this madness when he took the job. Kang notices Uatu's expression and asks him if she should take observing duties now. Uatu turns to her and unexpectedly threw up, annoying Kang. Uatu quickly apologizes to her and says he never expected this kind of violence. Sue is silent for this matter and telekinetically cleans herself up before angrily ordering him to get off.

Uatu storms off to somewhere in the Panopthicron while Kang sits down, calling him an amateur. Uatu overhears this at a distance and yells that he's said sorry. Kang goes on to monitor the now-united Exiles' progress and opens communication with the current functioning team leader, Rojhaz. She asks Rojhaz if his team's made a safe landing. Rojhaz mentions that they're doing decently so far and their team requires medical attention. Before Kang can respond, Rojhaz tells her he'll be examining them first so she should stay put.

Earth-9200
After disconnecting from Kang, Rojhaz sees to his teammates. He first approaches Punisher who is kneeling near Strange's body. He asks if he's alright and Punisher answers that his pulse hasn't gone up ever since he got here. Rojhaz orders him to keep doing what he does best in helping people to him. When Rojhaz takes off from him, the Punisher looks at him and asks if he really meant that.

Rojhaz, walking towards the struggling Justicer Bull, helps her get up and she thanks him. He asks her if she can fight and Cassandra jokes, saying that she's been worse. Rojhaz is not sure of this and tells her while he doesn't know much about her, he knows getting beat by a mutated She-Hulk armed with a duplicate of the Mjolnir should be very painful. A brief silence ensues while they look at each other before Bull admits that it was indeed the worst pain in her life. But that won't matter because they just lost someone.

Immediately, Rojhaz looks beyond her shoulder and Nova's body resting on the ground, behind Greenskyn's motionless body. Rojhaz notices Ghost Rider's headless body and Greenskyn being virtually unresponsive. Rojhaz's eyes widen as he expresses his concern. He approaches the young man's body and turns him over, disbelieving what the situation.

Bull apologizes to him, saying that she should've fought harder and more persistently. After a brief moment of silence, Rojhaz tells her not to worry about it and reminds her how dangerous their job is. Surprisingly, when Rojhaz comes to check on Greenskyn and Nova, a voice calls out to him and Bull asking what has happened. Recognizing the voice, they turn in shock and call out the young man's codename.

In the next panel, the view goes to Ghost Rider's severed head apparently still lit in flames. Ghost Rider states he's not feeling well and can't feel his body They rush to him and Rojhaz informs him that's because he is without a body as of now. Rider is surprised by this and mentions/reminds them that this isn't the first time he "died". Bull says she remembers that and she should've known better since his flames did not extinguish this time (Bull didn't notice the flames).

Rider tells her he did feel a little "blacked-out" though but he's fine. He then asks one of them to put his head back and they hesitate. Rojhaz asks him about the flames and Ghost Rider assures the Captain that no one but bad people can be harmed by hellfire. He jokingly asks him if he's a bad person. Rojhaz simply smiles and says it's good to see he's fine. Rider once again "jokes", saying as long as his connection with Zarathos is severed, nothing can kill him.

After Rojhaz picks him up, he and Bull look at each other before looking at the giggling Rider. Bul asks if that's true and can be taken into real consideration and Rider's smile is wiped off his skull. The moment he realizes what he said may be correct, Rider admits he's not sure about that. Rojhaz minds not and proceeds to put his head back. When his skull reconnects to his skeletal body, Ghost Rider is briefly overwhelmed by the strange sensation and uncontrollably shakes his own body.

Thankfully, Rider is back on his feet and expresses his gratitude for their presence and the Timebroker's decision since things have spiralled out pretty quickly here. Rojhaz looks around and spots numerous Hulks arguing around and simply watching them without any reaction. Rojhaz expresses his confusion and asks if there are supposed to be many Hulks in this reality. Bull explains the whole thing including who they're supposed to depose (one that's not trying to get back on his feet after receiving a beat-up from his human counterpart) as brief as she can.

While they converse, Ghost Rider spots the Punisher tending to Doctor Strange. Jogging towards him, he asks what happened to the Doctor. Punisher turns his head and says he's still alive. Ghost Rider says he's fine and asks how his Hulk goes. Castle curses and informs him that his goddamn Hulk beat the everliving sh*t out of them and broke some of his bones. For Strange however, he's in a stupid coma he doesn't know how to knock him out of.

Rider says he may be able to help and orders him to stand aside. Punisher does so and looks Rider attempting to do something involving eye contact. While seeing him work, Punisher thinks to himself that after all the mess that happened here and there, the young guy's still on-spot. Looking his progress, Punisher adds to his mind that perhaps he's not as bad as he thought and he's definitely someone he (hesitantly) needs to be inspired of. Nevertheless, Punisher believes all of this is temporary and he'll be home soon.

Back to Ghost Rider's perspective, he snatches Stephen's collar up and stares at him in silence. Punisher is confused and asks if he's doing it. Rider hastily says he is and he pulls Stephen closer towards his eyes. Castle is visibly disturbed at him but after several seconds of Rider's flaming skull lighting up and down, Strange's wounds suddenly recover and he wakes up in shock.

Wondering what happened, Rider explains that he's in Earth-9200 now and he has just healed him. Strange expresses his surprising gratitude and asks how he could do that. Ghost Rider admits that he doesn't know and he just thought, "If the Penance Stare can burn sins, can it burn sinful wounds?"

Strange's face is awe-struck by this and says he's not sure of what to say. Perhaps, the Penance Stare can unknowingly be used to burn anything both good or bad. Rider says he's not sure but that's not the case right now. Strange agrees and he remembers of his teammates' condition. He immediately sees Castle and asks how was he back then. Castle says he looked like sh*t getting punched by the Hulk. Strange smiles and states that it's great to hear him say that.

After he gets up, Rider, Strange, and Punisher run towards the rest of the Exiles (including Greenskyn who's just stood up). Punisher starts up the interaction, telling them that it seems both of them f*cked up. Bull answers that their target just got bodied by their own Hulk. Strange asks if that Hulk is indeed their target, why is he standing right behind them. Knowing who he's referring to, Rojhaz clears it up for Strange and introduces the real Maestro. The real Maestro proceeds to briefly explain what's going on and why there's another Maestro.

Now knowing what's up, Strange now asks why there are a bunch of Hulks "cheering" for them and several angry Hulks roaring at them. In an instance, everyone turns to see a group of alternate Hulks led by Hulk 2099. Seeing Hulk 2099, Greenskyn asks him if he's had enough of the fun. Eisenhart says it's quite amusing to see him suffer, but it'll be more amusing if he dies at his hands with his friends. Greenskyn chuckles and turns to his teammates and Maestro. He tells them to not listen to the bastard, as he's a stupid "no brain, all brawn" b*tch. Hulk 2099 mocks him, saying that that came from a troll he just beat. Greenskyn rebuffs, saying that he'll know what beating someone means when he's not chained.

Hulk 2099 simply states they'll see about that, and he starts the fight by rallying Maestro's loyal servants from all around the Arena. Nova realizes what he's doing, but none of the Exiles expect the result of Maestro's "loyal servants" boo-ing Hulk 2099 and his lackeys. From a distance, a deranged Bruce Banner calls Hulk 2099 boring and coward, suggesting him to fight. Everyone in the Arena hears this and agrees with him, beginning to taunt Hulk 2099.

Greenskyn laughs out loud at this ordeal and pokes Maestro, asking him if he saw that. Maestro surprisingly smirks at this and calls out Hulk 2099, asking why did his weaker duplicate recruit him anyway. Hulk 2099 becomes angered and states that they all will pay. In an instance, Hulk 2099 charges at them with his "attack dogs" and the Exiles prepare to fight. Maestro however, tells them to stand down and let him do the "talking".

-

Skipping to the Arena's exterior, the imposter Maestro violently lands in the middle of the city's streets. He tries to get up, rubbing his head asking what kind of power this Hulk has. After clearing his head, Maestro sees the terrified human bystanders and surprised Hulks, confused at what has happened. Maestro angrily asks them what are they looking at before the End Hulk lands upon Maestro like a raging tsunami.

Creating a large crater beneath him, End Hulk proceeds to roar at him while repeatedly punching his face. Maestro thinks to himself that this is getting annoying and stops both of his fists from trying to crush him. Seeing this, End Hulk tries to push Maestro deeper into the ground but the Last Titan on Earth suddenly feels intense heat coming out of Maestro's palms.

Ordering him to get out of his way, Maestro quickly blasts End Hulk away to send him crashing on a building. Busting through the building's door, he terrified the humans inside but he cares not for them. End Hulk gets up and sees Maestro charging his unibeam. He roars again and proceeds to rush at Maestro. Maestro responds by blasting him with both his unibeam and repulsors. The blast takes End Hulk by surprise and begins pushing him back to the building.

When the Hulk struggles to escape the blast, Maestro boasts about his superiority and how he means nothing to him. He admits that he thought of adding him to his army the first time, but he ultimately is all but an old and weak Hulk. Upon hearing his speech's ending, End Hulk instantaneously becomes extremely angry and begins walking through the blast as if it's nothing. Maestro's eyes widen and he increases his blast power. Unluckily, he knows not of all the rage Banner kept within End Hulk for centuries and he expects not of his might.

End Hulk begins to run at blinding speeds right through the blast, prompting Maestro to ask what kind of Hulk is he. Eventually, End Hulk successfully wrecks both of Maestro's repulsor blasters and delivers a thunderclap so large it disorients Maestro's senses and stuns everyone in the surrounding area. Taking advantage of this, End Hulk punches his face and sends him flying through multiple buildings into the marketplace.

Rushing towards Maestro, End Hulk unexpectedly gets halted by a Hulk with a ponytail, marking his entrance by smashing his head. The Hulk of Earth-9722 says that the way to his master lies through him and his loyal servants. This prompts other Hulks nearby to try and support the Hulk who failed to realize his foolishness the moment End Hulk mindlessly rips off his left leg.

After ripping his leg off, End Hulk smashes him around like a toy until his head's apparently reduced to nothing more than a bloody puddle of matter. The other Hulks are intimidated by this and run away, avoiding the terror of this mysterious Hulk. Continuing his business, End Hulk finds Maestro who greets him by throwing his version of Captain America's Shield. Distracted, Maestro takes advantage and leaps toward him to bring him a beatdown. However, End Hulk is always focused on Maestro and cancels his attempt by punching his chest so hard his armor is cracked.

Knocked down, Maestro hastily gets up and cancels End Hulk's attempt to crush his head, holding back both his hands. He finally pushes End Hulk back after a brief struggle and goes to demonstrate his superior combat skills by attacking his pressure points. After seemingly weakening him by breaking his arm, Maestro asks if he's done yet, but he doesn't expect End Hulk outright ignoring his bent arm and charging at him with a shattering headbutt. After he gets the headbutt, Maestro is dazed for a period of time, leaving him open to the healed End Hulk's assault.

Their titanic fight drags along the city, all the way to Maestro's palace. After panels of brutal fighting between the two, Maestro gets slammed through his palace's gates to the courtyard. Now, Maestro is mad and begins to revert to his old ways of anger, holding back End Hulk's attempt to smash him. Maestro roars at him and End Hulk responds with a roar even more primal than him. In his mind, Maestro tries to question who he is, but he can't deny the fact that this Hulk is making him angrier and angrier by the moment. Maestro then breaks the lock by pushing him back and punching his kneecap in an attempt to break his knee.

He does that, but surprisingly nothing happens and Maestro feels as if he's punching adamantium. Literally, End Hulk's legs don't move and he himself isn't affected by anything. After a brief moment of silence, they look at each other and End Hulk doesn't want to stop fighting, beginning to beat him down right through the palace into the throne room.

-

As the battle rages on, the panel switches to the mind of the End Hulk again: a void of black space where End Hulk himself is doing all his moves against Maestro. Behind him is his human persona, Bruce Banner, imprisoned in an iron cage while sitting down in despair. The next few panels focus on his face, seeing the Hulk fight Maestro. Banner begins to monologue on how sh*t just got real and why he's stuck with this Green Giant. Banner begins to loath himself, asking himself why the hell did he mind saving Rick Jones at first. He asks himself why did he mind joining the Avengers. He asks why did he mind loving Betty. After he asks why was he meant to be with the Hulk, he sees the Hulk performing all his actions. Right now, he's seen holding Maestro with one hand while the other punches the hell out of him.

His eyes drowsy, he finally asks himself if all this is a bloody cosmic coincidence. A brief moment of silence ensues before Banner states his only wish of dying after all the hell he was put through. He doesn't care if he goes to Heaven, Hell, or Limbo; he just wants to be out of the mortal world. He reveals that he has seen all that has happened for the past couple of hours, from his transformation on his native Earth to this world of Earth-9200. He doesn't care if he's supposed to die in his home, it's time to stop this madness.

Still in his cage, he calls out the Hulk's name. The Hulk ignores him and continues to fight Maestro, now the latter trying to choke him and stab him with his Soulsword. When Maestro stabs him with the Soulsword, the End Hulk in his own mind simply gets knocked back a bit before continuing the fight by snapping and removing it before launching him up with a dual-uppercut. At the same time, he goes on to call the Hulk's name again.

After his attempts failed, Banner suddenly feels something the Hulk always feels: rage. He begins to increase his volume and calls him out again, but utterly fails. He does so, until something boils out of his heart. He proceeds to stand up in the cage, once again calling him out several times. The Hulk ignores him, and only stumbles a bit when he hears him.

Now knowing how the Hulk felt when he "imprisoned" him many years ago, Banner goes on to say that their time is over. This surprisingly attracts the Hulk, who asks him of what he said. In the material realm, this results in Maestro being able to get the upper-hand on the Hulk by smashing his face with his Universal Weapon (he conjured it back). Hulk however, continues fighting and diverts his attention to Maestro again. Unbeknownst to him, an angry Banner violently breaks out of the cage and walks slowly towards the Hulk.

The Hulk is still in-combat with Maestro and doesn't mind him. Banner tries to call him out again in differing tones, and he only succeeds in attracting him the moment he shouts out his name. Hulk angrily turns to him and asks what does he want. With his vocabulary, he guesses that Banner wants his dying wish. Thing is, he's been held out for so long to his will that he thinks that it's time for Banner to know how it feels now. Banner is silent by this and the Hulk continues to scold him, saying that despite all his caring for Betty, Jarella, and Jones, he doesn't know what true pain is; he doesn't know the feeling of being locked away like an animal who wants nothing but to be alone from all the "threats" the world offers.

Banner remains silent when the Hulk asks him what he's going to do now: ask him for that peace he turned down years ago? The two suddenly become silent when the material realm has Maestro repeatedly smashing End Hulk with such a force the palace's foundations crumble. However, the Hulk's true attention to his former self basically means there's no pain received from Maestro's assault.

Banner finally responds by rejecting all that he said. He says that the Hulk is wrong but admits that he doesn't care more or less about his wish to become the strongest one there is. However, their time is coming to an end, and not even the Hulk is immortal. Banner reveals that he's contained him for four centuries, holding out the pain and anguish the Hulk has both on him and himself. Four centuries, until "today", a team of people tasked by God Himself orders his death (Banner's). Banner knows that Hulk cares for no god, real or no, but if it means for him to get his hands dirty, he will wrestle his wish off him.

In an instance, Banner suddenly roars out in anger at him, surprising the Hulk. Banner leaps at him with superhuman speed and brings him down. After bringing him down, the Hulk tries to fight back but Banner suddenly cracks his wrists, prompting him to scream out in pain. In the real world, End Hulk screams out in great pain before Maestro can even deliver another smash. At the same time, the newly-arrived Exiles and real Maestro arrive at the palace, thinking he's killing the other Hulk. Upon seeing this wretched duplicate, the real Maestro shouts at him and says he's not done with him. They then charge at each other before the scene switches back to End Hulk's perspective.

In his mind, he struggles to compete against the raging Bruce who mocks him of his "speech". He reminds him that all their lives, he is the true host of the Hulk. All their lives, he's the one to save him from all the crap that came at him. The Hulk tells him to shut up, but Banner continues to brutalize him as he complains about his insubordination and his sickness of his childishness. He knows that he's a manifestation of all those abusive years David Banner gave him, but now their conflict must end.

After getting his body battered, the Hulk's eyes are flooded with tears as he says "no" to Banner. The view snaps to Banner, looking over the Hulk's body while saying the same thing to him before the view switches back to the material realm.

-

TBA