This issue’s star guest cover inker is the man himself, Jazzy John Romita. He didn’t really take any liberties. It’s most obvious in Punisher’s face, of all things. As we enter the back half of this story, this really doesn’t feel like a caper that requires so many heroes. Moon Knight, Spidey and Punisher apparently beat The Secret Empire by themselves in 3 issues last time, why is it taking so many people so long to wrap this up? The variou heroes spend the first 2 pages furiously recapping at each other, everyone unsure how they can find the baddies and Nova without Spidey’s tracer, until Night Thrasher says he can always try to call Nova on their helmet communicators. Uh… why’d that take so long to come up? Meanwhile, Dr. Franklin’s still operating on/torturing Midnight. As he finishes up, he says there’s so little of Midnight’s body left that most of the pain he’s experiencing is just in his mind, which doesn’t really add up with how he looks, but ok. The mysterious Nurse Church convinces everyone to do more stuff after Franklin leaves by showing her face, but we still don’t see it. Is she the thought-dead Number One? Whoever she is, she says she’s arranged a distraction. Then we cut to Franklin dropping in to see Secret Empire guys testing Nova.
Dr. Franklin informs all the hooded doofuses of the security breach as the heroes approach. They all start arguing about who should be leader again, but with Midnight fresh out of surgery and the Empire’s goons no match for a plane full of superheroes, Franklin suggests they pack up their things and abandon this location.
The boys prepare to go in, and Punisher tries to go, but he’s all messed up and Night Thrasher has to talk him out of it. So he, Spider-Man and Moon Knight crash into the building and are met with armed goons. And ya know…
… about right. Very Stan Lee-esque business with the captions. The fellas continue charging ahead, and the Empire guys demand Midnight be sent into action, and also want to know where Church is.
The heroes are almost to Nova, and the Empire guys order Midnight in, but instead, he comes into their control room, saying he’ll fight the heroes if they make him their leader. They’re not into that, obviously, but when the controls to torture him don’t work, they seem to see the spot they’re in.
Well, then. Midnight’s hair sure seems to grow and shrink a lot. At any rate, he is soon tearing into the heroes, Moon Knight first. He tries to reason with his former protege, but it goes as well as you’d expect.
Midnight runs for it, and a big metal door slamming into place ensures the heroes won’t follow. They hear a rumble that suggests the Empire is fleeing in a rocket again, and run back out to Moon Knight’s ship. The rocket does, indeed, take off. These guys have a lot of money for such losers. Onboard, the Empire guys are still being jerks to Midnight, who reminds them he’s decided he’s in charge now. He tells Nurse Church they’ll proceed with the plan to make a cyborg army, which he will control, and they’ll take over the world. Hey, why not? Outside, Frenchie tells the fellas he saw their ship take off.
The last 3 issues have just been the same thing over and over. Heroes fight Midnight, Midnight escapes. Maybe something will actually happen next issue. Over bagels?