CHAPTER 209 — THE QUEEN'S GAMBIT
The chamber shook with the Queen's roar. A guttural, wet sound, like boulders grinding under slime. She shifted her monstrous bulk, wings spreading wide, spraying ichor across the floor. Her guards hissed in unison, their clawed limbs clattering against the hive walls.
Logan hit first. He launched himself like a cannonball, claws extended, the world slowing into that bullet-time clarity. Every beat of the Queen's wings, every twitch of her mandibles, was a map he could read.
He drove his claws deep into her thorax. Ichor exploded across his face, burning like acid. The Queen screamed, the sound making the walls quake.
But she didn't fall.
She swatted him like a ragdoll, her limb crashing into his ribs. Bone snapped. Logan hit the wall with a sickening crunch and slid down, coughing blood that hissed on the hive floor.
"LOGAN!" Kitty screamed, her voice cracking.
Scott stepped forward, teeth clenched. "X-Men—hit them!"
His visor flared. A ruby beam tore across the room, smashing into a guard and sending it sprawling.
Storm's voice carried, strong even in pain. "For freedom—strike true!" Lightning burst from her hands, jagged and wild, frying two guards at once. The smell of burnt chitin filled the chamber.
Kurt bamfed into the chaos, reappearing atop a guard's back. His tail whipped around its throat, his hands tearing at its eyes. "For the love of God, fall already!"
Kitty backed into the wall, shaking. "I—I can't fight like this—"
"You can," Logan rasped, dragging himself up, ribs knitting with a fiery sting. "You've got steel in you, kid. Just remember who you are."
Kitty's jaw tightened. She phased through a guard's claw strike, its limb embedding into the wall. She shoved her hand into its chest and phased out—solidifying halfway through. The Brood spasmed, screeching, before collapsing. She gagged at the gore, tears brimming, but she stood.
"Good girl," Logan muttered. Then he charged again.
---
The Queen's attention locked on him. Her mandibles spread, dripping acid that sizzled on the floor.
"You," her voice echoed inside his skull, a psychic tremor. "The flawed one. You kill my children. You kill your family."
Logan bared his teeth. "Yeah? And I'll keep killin'."
He ducked under her swipe, claws flashing. Sparks flew as adamantium met chitin. He shoved deep, twisting until her screech shook the room again.
---
Scott staggered, clutching his chest. "Something's… inside—burning—" His optic blast misfired, tearing a hole in the ceiling instead of the Queen.
Storm cried out, her voice ragged. "It is… changing us! Logan, what have you done?!"
Logan turned for a split second, their eyes on him—fear, betrayal, desperation.
"Saved you the only way I could," he snarled. Then he rammed both claws up under the Queen's jaw.
She shrieked, ichor spraying like a geyser. Guards swarmed, but Logan spun with savage precision, slicing through them in bullet-time. His world narrowed to instinct—cut, parry, slice, tear. The floor was painted black with Brood blood.
---
But then it happened.
Storm dropped to her knees, screaming, her skin crawling as plates of chitin rippled across her arms. Her eyes rolled back, teeth sharpening.
Kurt's tail spasmed, splitting into barbed tips. He clawed at his face, whispering prayers through sobs.
Scott fell, his chest convulsing, his voice hoarse. "No… no… I won't—" His visor cracked as his jaw elongated grotesquely.
Kitty clutched her heart, gasping. "Logan—it—it's inside me—it's EATING me—"
Logan froze. His claws dripped, his chest heaving. His family writhed before him, half-human, half-insect, screaming his name.
Storm forced her words through the change, her voice a broken plea. "Logan… kill me. Kill me now. I will not be a slave."
Scott's eyes burned through his cracked visor, red leaking around the edges. "Do it, Wolverine. Don't you dare let me turn into one of them."
Kurt's sobs rose, frantic. "End it—please, mein Bruder, end this—"
Kitty's hand reached for him, trembling, desperate. "Logan… please… don't let me—"
Their voices tore at him, shredding his soul.
'No. No, not this. Not again. Not them.'
His claws extended, trembling inches from his face. His eyes burned with grief, fury, helplessness.
"I… can't."
But the truth hit like a hammer.
He had to.
The chamber fell into a terrible silence, broken only by their screams and the Queen's laughter.
And Logan raised his claws.
SNIKT.