In the second part of the Messiah War, not much really happens. Much of the time is spent as the Wolverine interrogates Deadpool to find out how he as survived another millenia, what he is doing there now and what Apocalypse’s temple is doing there. Deadpool drops the bomb on Cable and the team that Stryfe, Cable’s clone, has defeated Apocalypse and Deadpool has been working for him, rounding up survivors. Cable refuses to believe his clone is still alive after having seen Stryfe burn up years before.  At the same time, Bishop and Stryfe comb the area together searching for Cable. Since Bishop helped deliver Apocalypse to Stryfe, Stryfe must help Bishop kill his clone. Having already received his end of the bargain, Stryfe seems quickly bored with the search for Cable. At the end of the issue, the X-Force, Cable, Hope and Deadpool are ambushed by a foe that hasn’t been fully revealed to the reader. The interesting part of this is that the X-Force are all Mutant trackers, able to find anyone with even only the subtlest of clues and yet, all of them are caught off guard. Early in the issue however, Archangel hears something in the distance which may have played a part in the attack. Purely speculating, what Archangel heard may be a signal that Apocalypse isn’t out of the picture just yet and how he and his team were caught off guard.

The painted style art isn’t something that works in every story. Part of the reason it feels good on these pages is because something about the style feels unsure, almost unfinished and without clearly defined lines. In a story about a possible future that may never come to pass, this art emphasizes that uncertainty in a subtle manner… whether or not that was the artist’s intention at all. Even when a character is outlined with a black line, it is so thin that it barely exists, much like this world that the characters are playing out these events in.