Continuing from last issue, a peaceful, popular diner
in downtown Denver is caught in the crossfire of the X-Men’s battle with the
Brood as Dazzler and the Brood called Spitfire come crashing through the front
window! Dazzler blasts the human-looking Brood away, making the patrons
initially think she’s the aggressor! Dazzler is then overwhelmed by the
arrival of two more Brood, Tension, who snares a whip around her neck, while
Blindside teleports in to attack her. Longshot arrives to try and help but
quickly gets ensnared too. The two are then saved by the arrival of Colossus,
who succinctly breaks Tension’s neck! Storm arrives shortly after, frying
Blindside with a lightning bolt, and tells Colossus to check on the wounded
while she heads after the fleeing Spitfire.
Meanwhile, back at the X-Men’s Australian base,
Madelyne Pryor continues to her strange not-quite dream, all while Gateway
looks after her. In her dream, the featureless Madelyne wanders through the
desert and comes to a fork in the road, deciding to head off further into the
desert rather than back to town. The sun bares down on her, practically melting
her back to herself and forging her into something entirely new, almost like a
weapon to be used. Madelyne tumbles down into a lake and ends up coming face to
face with the demon S’ym! S’ym offers her a chance to be more than the victim
she’s been lately, to forge her own destiny. Reasoning it’s only a dream,
Madelyne deigns to indulge in her worst fantasies of paying Scott back for
hurting her. S’ym then reveals that it’s not just a dream, rather a different
shade of reality. He binds Madelyne to him, changing her outfit and starting
her on the path to becoming who she was meant to be, the Goblin Queen!
Back near Denver, Reverend William Conover prepares
himself for his upcoming service, with his wife Hannah assuring him he’ll do
great. Hannah is then approached by a Brood-infected paramedic who claims to
have something to help her arthritis. Not far overhead, the still possessed
Rogue flies with Temptress and the captive Wolverine. Wolverine fights back and
kills Temptress, causing Rogue to hurl him hard to the ground below! In a
nearby car, the rest of the Brood are psychically alerted to Temptress’s death
by the possessed Psylocke. They are then stopped by Colossus when he steps in
front of their car, causing them to total their car when they crash into him!
Storm arrives as well just as Psylocke finally breaks free of the Broods’
control, before she’s tackled by Rogue. Dazzler and Longshot arrive just after,
and Dazzler steadies herself, firing a powerful, precise shot in order to stop
the mind-controlled Rogue!
The flash of light is seen by those attending the
sermon, prompting Reverend Conover to tell his congregation not to panic.
Wolverine then stumbles over to the stage, and Reverend Conover tries to help
him, even as Wolverine starts to slowly morph into a Brood! The transformation
starts to get worse, until a combination of Conover’s powerful, prayerful
words, and Wolverine’s healing factor, expel the Brood embryo from his system!
Havok then kills a Brood that grabs Conover, worried at how killing a second time
came easier to him. Longshot then rescues Havok from a couple more Brood,
resulting in a part of the stage falling on them. That just leaves the original
Brood possessing Harry Palmer, who grabs Hannah. As he threatens how the earth
will fall, Wolverine crawls under the stage and pulls the Harry-Brood down with
him. The Brood reverts to his confused, human persona, hoping that will give
Wolverine pause. However, Wolverine says that Harry Palmer died a long time
ago, and finishes off the last of the Brood for good! Afterwards, after the
X-Men have fled, Reverend Conover passionately defends them to the press,
publicly endorsing his support of mutants! Some time later, the X-Men return to
Australia, with Havok struggling with what he did during the mission, as down
in the subbasement, Madelyne still lies, her dream-like transfiguration slowing
becoming a reality!
For the special marvelite in you