Thanos V The Hulk Play by Play
"How did I get here, in this cage, in this nuisance of a situation?"
A bell rings. The cage battle begins. Thanos sits in his corner, lost in thought, as the Hulk pounds on his personal force field. Thanos has improved his shields by 400 percent since his encounters with the Champion and Odin. The field begins to crack with the Hulk's thirtieth blow, a strike whose percussive force has decimated the surrounding countryside. "Impressive", thinks Thanos, "but not unexpected." The Hulk has broken through, and beats Thanos literally into purple jelly with just one massive punch to the skull. The Hulk turns and raises his arms in Victory, but wait-- Thanos is again sitting quietly just as he was a moment ago. He is, after all, the Avatar of Death. Not merely a being of flesh anymore, he cannot be killed by any means, his body merely re-incorporates. "My turn," smiles Thanos.
Thanos, still sitting, issues gamma-wavelength force beams from his eyes. They ignite the surrounding air as they slice right through the Hulk, who collapses in a pool of green blood on the floor. Thanos levitates the unconscious Hulk and inspects him, cutting him open in places to measure muscle mass and organ placement. To Thanos, the Hulk is a wonder of science, and here is an unprecedented opportunity to learn all there is about this amazing specimen.
The examination over, Thanos suddenly stands up, checking what looks like a personal data device on his forearm. He smiles. His advanced search has yielded results. The Hulk, released from his hovering stasis, falls to the ground, still passed out from the pain, his body healing rapidly. Thanos mutters something about poetic justice, and then...disappears. As he does, he plants three mental suggestions in the brain of the recovering Hulk. The first reverts him back to Bruce Banner, badly bruised and bleeding. The skinny Scientist wriggles through the cage bars to his freedom. The second suggestion is a street address, and Banner slowly limps forward with dogged determination, his rage slowly building again.
The third suggestion concerns a name--a name that keeps pounding over and over in Banner's head, triggering pain and hatred. "Starscream", the mental suggestion says, "Revenge".
Banner's eyes glow green again as he lurches forward.