Continuing from last issue, the entire area full of
Brood-people surround the X-Men. The X-Men then discover the hard way that
everyone the Brood infected were mutants allowing the Brood to access their
powers! One of them shoots fire at the X-Men, before Colossus gets batted away
by one with super strength called Brickbat. Storm tries to take to the air but
gets pulled down by another Brood called Tension, and another called Temptress
tries to ensnare her mind. Storm rejects this mind-probing and calls a huge
wind that sweeps her up far away into the air! A Brood called Dive-Bomber
sprouts wings in order to chase after Storm, and Havok wrestles with shooting
him down, not wanting to harm the human host. As the rest of the X-Men fight,
Rogue comes into contact with Temptress, absorbing her psyche which quickly
overwhelms and takes control of Rogue. Rogue, as Temptress, then takes control
of Psylocke in turn and the two gang up on Wolverine.
Colossus and Brickbat continue to duke it out as each
X-Man seems to struggle with whether or not any humanity still exists in their
foes. Eventually, Wolverine gets overwhelmed and paralyzed, and a Brood embryo
is implanted within him! Not far away, in the Rocky Mountains, several workers
prepare a huge natural amphitheater for a service being given the following
night by renowned Reverend William Conover. Reverend Conover himself basks in
the beauty of the stars, and his wife Hannah tells him about the reports of
mutants fighting nearby. Conover waxes about the nature of mutants, how they’re
not really too different from humans, in the same way children are not so
different from their parents, and yet wholly unique. He then expresses his
wishes that he could be a mutant, if only to heal Hannah’s arthritis, and feels
he could be doing more.
Back in Denver, the press has started to broadcast the
X-Men and Brood’s battle, though not without collateral damage. Up in the air,
Storm finally has her senses back as she’s followed by Dive-Bomber. The Brood
wrecks a nearby plane’s engines, causing Storm to have to divert her energy
toward keeping the plane from crash-landing. She’s eventually able to generate
a huge updraft that saves the plane but leaves her open to the Brood’s attack.
Back in Australia, an unconscious Madelyne suffers a strange dream-like vision
exemplifying all of her insecurities. What begins with her flying and reveling
in married bliss with Scott quickly turns sour when Gateway arrives, checking
on her in reality, but with more disastrous results in her dream. Dream Cyclops
blasts Gateway, leaving only a featureless mannequin that he then embraces. He
takes baby Nathan and one by one removes Madelyne’s features and places them
back on Jean where they belong. They take off after a halfhearted apology from
Scott, leaving the now featureless Madelyne abandoned and alone.
Back in Denver, the battle between the X-Men and the
Brood rages on, with Havok cursing his inability to pull his weight. He spots
Dive-Bomber slamming Storm through a billboard and blasts on instinct, killing
the Brood! A building behind them then crumbles, the result of Colossus’s fight
with Brickbat. Once the smoke clears, Colossus emerges the victor! The Brood,
with the still-entranced Rogue and Psylocke, and captive Wolverine in tow
decide to regroup. Meanwhile, as Dive-Bomber dies, he turns back to human,
making Havok feel worse than ever. Storm assures him that whatever was human in
him died as soon as the Brood infected him, and that if any of them survive,
the Earth is doomed! To be continued!
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