Chapter 4

With a space shuttle full of Brood heading for Times Squad in New York City, Storm of the X-Men and the Invisible Woman of the Fantastic Four prepare to stop it from crashing in the middle of a populated area. Sue feels bad because she allowed the infected crew members of the Simulacrum to live to allow them to complete their transformation into the Brood because she thought there was some way to cure them. Storm points out that it was a noble cause and that she herself and others have been cured of Brood infections in the past. With the help of the Human Torch, they manage to absorb the heat from the shuttle's re-entry, and with Storm's opposing winds and an invisible slide created by Sue, they manage to get the shuttle to land without causing any damage or loss of life.

While back at the Baxter Building the Beast and Mister Fantastic monitor the situation while they try to cure three of the four X-Men transformed by cosmic rays while in space. With a great deal of risk involved, Reed asks the Beast if he wants to do this, but McCoy insists. However it's a one-shot deal, and they are forced to wait for Cyclops and the Thing to return back with Wolverine, the only affected X-Man who has not been captured yet. At that very moment, somewhere in Canada, Cyclops and the Thing have tracked down Wolverine to a cabin in the woods. There Ben jumps out of the Fantasti-Car and engages Wolverine in battle. Although Wolverine has the upper hand with his stretching powers, the Thing manages to grab hold of him and keep him contained long enough for Cyclops to knock him out with his eyebeams.

On their way back to New York City, Cyclops is let off at the scene of the ship while Ben returns to the Baxter Building to turn over Wolverine's body. However, as they begin working on restoring the transformed X-Men, they notice the Torch has fired off a Fantasti-Flare alerting them of trouble in Time Square. At that moment a number of Acanti ships have appeared in the sky just as the Brood begins emerging from the space shuttle on the ground.

Continuity Notes

• Storm mentions that she and others have been infected by the Brood in the past and later cured of the infection. The X-Men were infected by the Brood in Uncanny X-Men #161. The were cured in a number of ways:

  • Wolverine was cured thanks to his natural healing factor, as seen in Uncanny X-Men #162.

  • Storm's body was restored to normal by the Acanti in Uncanny X-Men #166 while the rest of the X-Men were cured when the Brood Queen that infected them were killed in that same story.

  • Professor X was "cured" per-se, as his mind was transferred out of a Brood body into a new clone body in Uncanny X-Men #167.

• Mention is made to the Avengers not being able to help. This story happens following the events of Avengers Disassembled when the Avengers disbanded after the Scarlet Witch went crazy as depicted in Avengers #500-503 and Avengers: Finale #1.