Role Reversal Bruce Banner is being held by SHEILD on murder charges for his apparent involvement in the downing of a commercial airliner that claimed the lives of over 300 people. He has been found guilty and is no awaiting the death penalty. Watching him from his cell are his allies Doc Samson and his cousin the She-Hulk who is acting as his legal council. The pair discuss how the President of the United States was looking for a guilty verdict after Banner slipped out of the hands of Colonel St. Lawrence. The testimony against Bruce is varied, with General Ross being the largest critic of Banner. However, others including Sheriff Toliver, Mister Fantastic, Captain America and Archer Leopold plead some kind of mercy. The prosecution, however, have shot holes in Leopold's testimony. But, She-Hulk is inclined to believe him because she noticed that in footage of the attack on the airliner, the "Hulk" has no ears and intends to appeal his conviction.
Doc Samson convinces Nick Fury to allow him an audience with Bruce Banner along with Archer Leopold. Since Banner hasn't turned into the Hulk since his capture, Fury agrees to allow the visit as a personal favor. When they talk to Banner, they find his pattern of speech to be strange and he talks about how he must sacrifice his life for the greater good of the many. Leopold knows exactly what's going on, but before he can explain it to Doc Samson, the floor suddenly gives way under them. They land in an underground tunnel where a mass of Hulk-like creatures grab Archer and Banner and flee. SHIELD agents are quickly deployed down the shaft, but before Doc Samson can order them to stay back these Hulks cause a cave in by stomping their feet. Samson tells the SHIELD agents to keep back and digs through the rubble in order to follow after the strange kidnappers. Samson digs through the rubble, but soon finds that he is running out of air. Just as he breaks through to the other side he passes out due to lack of oxygen. There he is snatched up by one of the Hulks and taken down the tunnel.
Back in Banner's cell, Nick Fury assesses the situation when he suddenly gets a call from Colonel St. Lawrence. She is not impressed that SHIELD managed to lose the Hulk so soon after capturing him. Fury tells her that he intends to get Banner back and terminates the call. Deep in the tunnel, Doc Samson wakes up. He learns that these "Hulks" are actually a product of Tyrannus' swapping machines that he used to control, and later steal the powers of, the Hulk. In order to escape prosecution for crimes he did not commit under his own free well, Banner had swapped his mind with the Tyrannoid who was used to attack the commercial airliner. However, Bruce has had a change of heart and cannot condemn the Tyrannoid to death. He then uses the machine to reverse the mind swap. When Samson asks what happened to Tyrannus, he learns that the Tyrannoids used one of the machines to transform him into one of them.
Banner then decides that the curse of the Hulk should belong to nobody but him and reverses the process that has turned the Tyrannoids into Hulks. Doc Samson tries to stop him but he is too late. As Banner turns into the Hulk, he swats Samson away. As the Tyrannoids scramble from the scene, Doc Samson helps Archer to his feet and discovers that he had been tagged with a SHIELD recording device. On the surface, the entire explanation was recorded by SHIELD and it is handed to Nick Fury, who hopes to use it to have the murder charges against the Hulk overturned. While back down below the Hulk has completely lost control of his temper and smashes Samson with one of his machines. He then turns his attention to Archer Leopold, who begs the Hulk not to hurt him because they are friends. Instead of hurting Archer, the Hulk punches the wall behind him and disappears while Archer is busy cowering.
Trapped In A World They Never Made The Hulk has gathered his fellow Defenders, Doctor Strange, the Silver Surfer, and Sub-Mariner from different points in the past in order to participate in a contest between the Grandmaster and the Collector. The Collector has gathered champions of his own called the Offenders which consist of the modern day Red Hulk, Tiger Shark, Terrax, and Baron Mordo. Each combatant is sent to a different location in time and space to fight an evenly-matched opponent with the Grandmaster and Collector watching from their vantage point in Death Valley.
The two Hulks are transported to Atlantis where the Red Hulk tries to beat the Hulk senseless. With the mind of Bruce Banner in control, the Hulk tries to convince his opponent to not fight for something as petty as revenge, explaining that he and his allies were at least getting involved in the contest to win back the loved ones they lost. However, despite Banner's attempts to talk sense into the Red Hulk, the villain refuses to listen thinking Banner is just as much of a threat as the Hulk. Meanwhile, the Silver Surfer and Terrax are forced to fight it out in the Microverse. Realizing that he is fighting a Silver Surfer from the past, Terrax intends to kill his opponent in the hopes that he will be made a Herald of Galactus years earlier than he had. While in the Dark Dimension, the Sub-Mariner battles Tiger Shark. His opponent is from a future that is years ahead of the times Namor has fought him in the past. He is unprepared for the additional genetic enhancements and Adamantium teeth Tiger Shark has been equipped with in the years since. Easily evading the Sub-Mariner's attacks, Tiger Shark gets in close enough to sink his teeth into Namor's neck. Finally, in Zenn-La, Doctor Strange engages in mystical battle against Baron Mordo.
Back in Atlantis, the battle between the Hulks takes them into the royal throne room of Atlantis. There, the Hulk demands to know who his red counterpart is, but the Red Hulk refuses to reveal it. This is all a distraction so Hulk can grab hold of Namor's trident and strike the Red Hulk between the legs. With his foe stunned, the Hulk pinns the Red Hulk to the ground and tells him that the Defenders and Offenders need to work together to stop the Grandmaster and the Collector. From their vantage point the Grandmaster complains about how their combatants are equally matched. When the Collector suggests adding a new element to the battles, the Grandmaster refuses to change the rules of the game. However, a new element does end up presenting itself. On Zenn-La, Galactus grows impatient and stuns the two mystics. He warns them to bring back the Silver Surfer immediately or he will consume Zenn-La and then find their world and consume it as well. While in the Dark Dimension, the Sub-Mariner and Tiger Shark's battle is interrupted by Dormammu who demands that the two take them back to Earth through the way they came. While in the Microverse, Terrax and the Silver Surfer are bombarded with fear projected by the Psycho-Man who demands that they lead him to Earth as well.
While in Atlantis, the Red Hulk manages to wrest the Trident of Neptune from the Hulk and uses it to impale his foe, seemingly killing him.
