Four mutants.

A legion of Brood warriors allied with four other infected mutants.

A brawl like you've never seen!

"Forearm! Watch your back!" Shatterstar called out, his swords swiping through the air at the Brood creatures that threatened to overwhelm him. He watched as the M.L.F. member known as Forearm whirled around and nearly broke one of the creatures in half.

Dragoness flew through the air, raining energy blasts down on the Brood. She watched them pour out of every hole and entrance to the cavern; where were they all coming from?

Suddenly Phantazia, one of the Brood-infected M.L.F. members, appeared in front of Dragoness, stopping her in mid-swoop; the white-haired woman blasted Dragoness with pure white energy. She fell to the ground and was almost instantly swarmed by creatures.

"Dragoness!" Forearm shouted, pushing his way through the mass of Brood, trying to get to her. Tempo appeared from behind a creature, her arms outstretched; he could see her grinning from underneath the golden helmet she wore.

"Hello, Michael," Tempo said, slowing a small area of time down around Forearm. The Brood, unaffected by Tempo's time distortion, sliced at him with their talons, paying extra attention to his arms; the time effect wore off in a moment, sending Forearm surging through the swarming monsters.

They came out of every corner, crevice, nook, and cranny; Feral dug her claws into creature after creature, and they just kept coming. How many of them were there? Claws raked down Feral's back, making her cry out in pain. She whirled around, kicking a Brood in the head in the process, and saw Wildside standing behind her. He smiled at her, madly.

Growling, Wildside said, "You should really join us, babe. I feel so... so..." Feral sliced through two more Brood as Wildside groped for the right word. "Naughty..." he said, baring his teeth.

He jumped at Feral, his claws going right for her head. Feral ducked out of the way; if she hadn't, she would have been minus one head. She tackled Wildside to the ground and started hacking him, but failed to notice the Brood creature skittering up behind her. Hissing, it punched one of it's talons through Feral's shoulder and raised her up off of the M.L.F.'s leader.

A snarl came off to Shatterstar's left, growing louder until it was a deafening roar. He whipped himself around and caught sight of Ursa Major charging at him in full bear form, his teeth bared. Shatterstar charged up one of his blades, compliments of his mutant power, and sent a blast straight into Ursa's chest. It knocked the Russian mutant off of his feet, but he was immediately replaced by a half dozen Brood.

"Za's vid!" he muttered, nearing exhaustion.

A figure rushed into the cave, snaking it's way through the horde of Brood; whoever it was raced up to the Brood that was holding Feral and hacked off the talon. The orange-furred Morlock looked up to see her sister, Thornn, fending off creature after creature.

"Get it together, Maria!" Thornn shouted, gouging the eyes of another creature. Feral tore the talon out of her shoulder, screaming, and jumped back into the battle; she fell moments later, Brood swarming over her.

His swords knocked out of his hands, Shatterstar tried to fight with his bare fists, but was overwhelmed.

Forearm crushed many Brood trying to get to Dragoness, only to find her infected. A solid blast to the chest was his thanks.

Thornn fought on, alone, but was eventually swarmed as well...

Suddenly, all of the Brood creatures, and their infected allies, stopped the fight and retreated to the center of the cave. The four mutants, broken, battered, and bleeding, looked on in astonishment.

Then... she came.

"Holy mother of God..." Forearm said, wiping blood out of his eyes with his two good arms.

The Brood Queen slowly made her way into the chamber, followed by an entourage of creatures. She looked at the mutants with great red eyes, her razor-sharp teeth dripping with slime.

Wildside stepped up to her and listened as she apparently talked to him.

"Congratulations!" said Wildside, grinning. He walked over to Feral and cupped his hand underneath her chin, then said, "She wants all of you as well. We'll try not to make it too painful for you..." Wildside burst into wild peals of laughter, digging his claws into Feral's face.

Shatterstar looked around the room, sensing that the Brood warriors were just itching to leap upon them. He noticed his swords at the feet of the Queen, lying in a crowd of creatures. Concentrating with everything he had, Shatterstar began to channel his mutant power through the swords.

"With all of us as hosts, we can attack and infect person after person, mutant after mutant," Wildside continued. He let Feral drop to the floor; a loud humming sound began to fill the cave. "What the...?"

The swords burst forth with energy, vaporizing the creatures nearest to them. Shatterstar leaped into action, flipping over the crowd of Brood warriors and grabbing his gleaming swords. Before anyone could react, he shoved them in the gut of the Brood Queen and channeled more of his power into them; the Queen hissed and screamed as she literally exploded from the inside.

Wildside stared in disbelief at Shatterstar, then clutched his head and fell to the floor as the Brood's hold over him dissipated. The other infected mutants did the same; the Brood warriors surrounded their Queen, confused, in disarray.

"Now I'm pissed..." Wildside growled, looking at the twitching Queen and her Brood children. The alien creatures turned and leered at the gathered mutants, their needle-teeth bared in a sneer; they hissed and slowly crept toward Wildside, Shatterstar, and the others.

A huge explosion ripped into the advancing group of Brood, sending some of them flying into the air, onto each other, or into little bits. Forearm looked over and saw Dragoness hovering in the air, charging up for another blast of energy.

The Brood turned their attention toward her, only to be ripped into on the other side by Ursa and Thornn; confused, the aliens scattered in a feeble attempt to run away.

Bora whipped up a fierce wind and slammed many of the creatures into the porous walls of the cave.

The tide turned quickly against the Brood. Alone, their Queen dead, they had no structure and no leadership, quickly dissolving into mass chaos. Wildside and his group picked them off one by one, making short work of the skittering creatures.

Blood dripping from his claws, looking down at the last dying creature, Wildside said, "Guess that's that." He brought his hand up to his mouth and lapped up the blood, grinning.

Feral turned to her sister and then to Shatterstar, glaring at them both in turn. Thornn, not saying a word, turned away and walked out of the cave; Wildside called angrily after her, but she didn't heed his words as she exited.

Wildside looked at Shatterstar, who was picking up his swords.

"Well?" he questioned, his crimson lips parting once again into a grin.

Shatterstar wiped off his swords, slung them back into their holsters on his back, and walked away.

"Ahem," coughed Forearm. All eyes in the room fell on him as he prepared to speak. He smiled, then said, "I'm leaving. I don't know why I stuck with this group... I don't fit. Especially since you took over," the big man said, pointing at Wildside.

"If he's leaving, so am I," Tempo said. Wildside glared at her, his smile disappearing immediately. "I already quit this nut outfit once... and I truly have no idea why I came back."

Feral stood next to Wildside and watched as Forearm left, with Tempo following close behind. Dragoness looked at Forearm, then Wildside, and looked back at Forearm as he trudged out of the opening. One more glance toward Wildside marked her exit as she took off after the pair.

Ursa leaned over and whispered into Bora's ear; she leaned close to him and nodded, seeming to agree with what he was saying. They stood in conversation for a few minutes while Wildside looked on. Ursa looked up at Wildside and grinned.

"The motherland needs to be protected," the bear-mutant began, glancing toward Bora. She nodded gently. "My government sent me to join your group in order to gauge the threat you posed to the world. Now, you pose no threat whatsoever, and I need not stay with such a bloodthirsty lot."

"What?!?" Wildside roared, blood dripping from his fingers.

Ursa's grin widened. "Oh, you didn't know?" he said, then burst into laughter. "The Russian government sent me to infiltrate your little M.L.F., just in case you should prove a threat to our security in the future. When Bora showed up, another Russian, it made the deal a little... eh... sweeter."

"You... you..."

"Shades of Moonstar," Feral said casually.

Wildside threw her an angry glance; Phantazia floated idly by, watching the entire spectacle with little humor. "Shut up," he said to Feral. In response, the young mutant made a little kissing motioned and chuckled.

"Now we shall take our leave," Ursa said, heading toward the entrance of the cave. Bora followed close behind, but turned around as they were about to exit.

"If I ever see you again, I will kill you," Bora threatened, then turned and followed Ursa out of the cave.

Wildside scowled angrily, the blood boiling in his veins; he looked over at Phantazia, who was floating nearby. "Well?" Wildside demanded, "I suppose you're going to go now too?"

"Nah," Phantazia replied, "I've got nothing better to do..."

Next: Be on the lookout for more M.L.F. action in M.L.F.: Ursa Major #0! It's a tale of two Russians, as the spotlight falls on Ursa Major and Bora! Then, in two months, the first issue of the M.L.F. monthly series debuts! Don't miss out!