Excalibur Vol 1 #082

Description

While Douglock, Cannonball and Wolfsbane have been captured and are about to be built into the Phalanx beacon, Forge is under the mind control of the Phalanx! Can the team break free of their physical and mental constraints?

Continued from X-Force #38. Forge is compromised when Shinar tricks him into using his mutant ability to see the importance of securing the rise of the Phalanx. Douglock seems to be compromised but ends up working with Cannonball and Wolfsbane to stop the beacon from calling down the originators of the Phalanx. Douglock “sacrifices” himself to take the beacon out for good. Nightcrawler shows up with his task force and helps Forge see why humanity should win out and Forge is able to override his mutant power and destroy the incubators for the Phalanx.
Synopsis

Shinar confronts Cannonball, Forge, Wolfsbane, and Douglock with the information that Douglock was unwittingly sent as a guide to get Forge to the Babel Spire. Douglock tries to show loyalty by subduing Cannonball and Wolfsbane, but Shinar sees through him and has the three thrown into the Babel Spire. Forge is shown and put in charge of a field of eggs/pods. He fights the urge to help the Phalanx grow, but he also cannot help succumbing to the urge to help out this fascinating race.

In the Babel Spire, Douglock has absorbed Cannonball and Wolfsbane as best as he can and attempts to climb to the top and destroy the spire. The mutants act as a static shield, but neither wants to be forced up in this way. Wolfsbane talks Douglock into letting them help without being absorbed and working as a team. Douglock releases them and the three continue the ascent to the top of the spire.

Nightcrawler’s team arrives in the Alps and spot the Phalanx. They decide to combat the rational and calculated Phalanx with illogical attacks. They do so by attacking on a whim. They fight their way to the Babel Spire and are confronted by Shinar, who is easily dispatched.

On the spire, Douglock notes that the signal has been activated. He begins working on a way to redirect the signal, hopefully pushing the power back into the villagers’s bodies. Cannonball volunteers to sacrifice himself to redirect the signal, since he has taken the blame for Doug Ramsey’s death. Douglock refutes this idea by jumping into the signal himself. The Babel Spire is immediately destroyed; Cannonball carries Wolfsbane safely to the ground as Shinar shrieks in dismay at the Phalanx’s undoing on Earth. Douglock returns from the ooze left by the Phalanx and states that while the Phalanx collective no longer serves a purpose and has given up the fight, he has accepted more of an individual role and can continue.

Nightcrawler finds Forge and begs him to fight his mutant instincts with his human nature. Forge tries, but can’t find the ability to quit helping the Phalanx. In the end, however, he overpowers himself and bleeds power from the pods, destroying the failsafe Phalanx offspring.