The following contains spoilers for X-Treme X-Men #3, on sale now from Marvel Comics.
The heroes of the Marvel Universe have plenty of experience with violent mobs of humans, the X-Men more so than any of them. However, a recent failed attempt to purge all mutants from Chicago results in their powers being stripped from them instead. Now, the X-Men, and the group responsible for the attack, Purity, both find themselves facing off against a slew of unintended consequences.
The team is on the trail of Ogun as he attempts to get his revenge on Kitty Pride for escaping his mental domination, they in turn find themselves being hunted by Purity, and their stable of anti-mutant superheroes, Galérer. As the team struggles to track down Ogun while he possesses his way through Chicago, they have to navigate the rising tensions in the city. Anti-mutant protests, instigated by Purity are breaking out. Now, trapped between Ogun and the violent heroes of Galérer, the mutants have to fight for their lives. But when Purity’s super allies hijack Rachel Summers’ power and channel it into a blast with the intention of destroying all the mutants in the city, something goes wrong. Instead of killing all mutants, it depowers them.
The X-Men Losing Their Powers Has Unintentional Benefits
Though Purity’s intention was to kill all the mutants in Chicago, its failure to successfully carry out its mission may benefit its enemies. Against the backdrop of seething anti-mutant resentment, suddenly depowering the city's mutants could potentially remove them from the crowd’s firing lines. While the process causes them extreme discomfort, their inability to access their powers, intentionally or otherwise, will not only allow them to better blend in with the public while the danger is so heightened, but it may spare them from Purity’s wrath entirely.
Of course, any such benefit is a double-edged sword at best. Violent mobs aren't known for their logic and while many mutants may find their ability to fly under the radar greatly increased, there will be those who are either too well-known or too conspicuous to avoid the lingering hostility of the anti-mutant protesters. Case in point, one of the cops helping manage the crowds reveals herself as a mutant by conjuring a force field to protect her lieutenant. When she is suddenly depowered, she is left at the mercy of the mob. Had she not been forced to use her powers, it is likely that the results of the attack would've spared her the crowd’s wrath. This proves that any positive outcomes for the mutants are contingent on the circumstances of each individual.
This is an issue for the members of the X-Treme team as well. Longer-term implications aside, Storm’s team is currently the target of Ogun who possesses one of Galérer’s non-mutant super people, Beasty Brute. Now engaged in a battle against a powered opponent without access to their own, the team has a severe disadvantage. Being trapped between Purity and Ogun, the X-Treme X-Men will have to lean on their human sides in order to prevail. Fortunately, there is more to the mutant squad than their powers. That fact is proven when Storm takes advantage of the sudden loss by reconnecting with her past. Unleashing the martial skills she picked up before her mutant powers manifested. Skills she may have continued to neglect had she not been forced to rely on them.
The Final Fate of the X-Men Remains Uncertain
While the outcome of the depowering has unintended positive effects for the local mutant population, it holds unintended negative effects for Purity. Their miscalculation requires them to engage the mutants “the old-fashioned way”. Meaning that Purity and Galérer will need to step out of the shadows and head for a direct confrontation with the weakened yet still dangerous X-Treme Team. Their hopes of staying out of sight are completely dashed as their intention of blaming whatever destruction and fatalities ensue on the mutants will be greatly complicated by the mutants being demonstrably unable to cause them. As a result, both sides have had their ability to act severely undermined. But instead of allowing either side to gain a definitive upper hand, it has essentially raised the stakes whilst maintaining an equilibrium.
The only one to truly have benefited from the unexpected turn of events is Ogun, who has been left with the opportunity to get his revenge without having to concern himself with the fallout of his actions. But, in this particular instance, the violent prejudice of Purity seems to have done its enemies at least as many favors as it has done damage. Without their powers, the mutants of Chicago may be less able to physically defend themselves from the violence being directed toward them, but being able to blend in makes them less likely to be targeted in the first place. Of course, with the likes of Ogun still on the loose, and the unmooring of Storm’s conjured weather, the threat is still present, and the X-Men will have to face it, powers or not.