Miles above the city, Nick Fury was holding an emergency meeting in the Helicarrier, in order to find a solution to the gamma problem taking place in New York City and its surrounding areas. He'd initially hoped to gather a larger group of heroes to help him, but only a handful of them answered his alarming message.
"Well, I'll be damned." Fury frowned, looking at the small group in front of him.
"It's better than nothing, colonel." Maria Hill chimed in, standing next to him.
"I guess. Well, we have to make it work, then."
"Enough yapping, Fury!" The Red Hulk, aka Thunderbolt Ross, raised his voice in impatience. "If i had my way with those degenerates down there, everything would be over by now! What are you waiting, then?"
"General Ross, we can't risk you and your daughter. There's no way of knowing if absorbing the gamma out of those Hulks wouldn't end up turning you into a bigger menace." Fury snapped back.
"Then just nuke the damn thing already!" Ross growled, always the headstrong military man. "Nuke it and send cape killers to deal with whatever the hell managed to survive."
"Dad," Betty Ross, the Red She-Hulk, smirked at his old man from her seat. "Bruce survived a nuclear explosion. What makes you think an army of them won't become more powerful if you just feed them more radiation? All we end up getting would be an army of pissed off giants trampling around the irradiated eastern seaboard."
"Thank you for being the voice of reason, Mrs. Ross." Fury said, then turned around at a large screen displaying a map chock full of green spots moving like ants through New York's metropolitan area and the neighboring counties. Green, giant ants. "The situation is no longer restricted to New York City. We received recent reports from places as far as Westchester and Jersey City of Hulks running amok. And worst, intel confirmed we've lost most of our superhuman assets in the area."
"The Avengers?" The Scarlet Witch asked, visibly disturbed.
"Not only them. The Fantastic Four have established tribal grounds around the Baxter Building. Most of Lower Manhattan is now Spider-Man's web. The Avengers have taken control over Columbus Circle and Central Park, and the X-Men are running amok through Westchester and its surrounding counties. I can safely say we're losing the war. Really bad."
"What are thou suggesting, Fury?" Thor stepped forward. He was gripping Mjolnir tight in his right hand, and the determination in his eyes filled most of the present people with concern.
"I don't know, Thor. The president is seriously considering nuclear bombardment, and most of the army and national guard forces initially deployed have been ordered to retreat to safety. We don't know if the Hulks can be stopped at all. Doctor Strange, have you discovered anything?"
"No, colonel. I'm afraid I haven't. There's no mystic forces at play, and magic tends to have... odd developments on gamma-powered creatures. I need to keep researching, find out if there's a way of reverting this change without risking adverse secondary effects."
"Wait!" Red She-Hulk said. "I remember Bruce was working on something, a device to depower Hulks!"
"That scrawny rat... I knew he was working on a way to screw my get up..." Red Hulk mumbled.
"What are you talking about, Mrs. Ross?" Fury asked.
"Yes, it was experimental technology to extract all gamma energy from a contaminated body with no ill effects. He's been progressing on... curing us, if you want to view it that way."
"And where could we find this device?"
"That's the ugly part of this." The crimson-skinned amazon smiled nervously.
"Just say where."
"Stark Tower. He was working in Stark's think-thank facilities last week." A grim sensation of dispair crossed through everyone's minds.
"Columbus Circle, then... Right in the middle of the Avengers' tribal lands."
"Enow!" Thor yelled. "Let us try to save this world, or die trying. We cannot stop hiding in here like cowardly vermin while our brothers in arms, friends and allies have been turned into mindless brutes. We are Avengers, we must recover this machine!"
"I agree with Goldilocks." Red Hulk said, grinning and cracking his knuckles. "Besides, I really want a shot at cracking Hulk skulls."