Okay, let's see what kind of train wreck they pull out next
Chasm and Janine/Hallow's Eve are having a good Christmas, what with them destroying New York and ruling over Limbo. To celebrate, they plan to march a parade of demons onto the city.
Maddie and Spider-Man argue about who gets to take Ben down. Maddie thinks Pete can't do it now that Chasm is powered up, but Peter points out that Ben hates him so much, it makes Ben stupid. Also, Ben's whole plan about making Peter eat evil fruit was stupid, to which Maddie agrees. The X-Men and Maddie agree to fight off the demon horde while Spider-Man and Rek-Rap go after Ben and Eve.
The demons march, but the X-Men show up to fight them! Also the art is suddenly worse.
They do battle with the Insidious Six, Ben's demon minions. Synch isn't even synching with anyone, he's just punching one of them. Maddie shows up, but a monster-fied Eddie Brock sides with her. (She mind-wiped him and he liked it, you see. In retrospect, I probably should have covered the other issues at some point.) Eddie Brock, now called Bedlam, happily murders demons.
Peter takes on Ben while Rek-Rap faces Eve. The X-Men can tell that they're just wasting time with the Six, so they have Magik transport them away.
Havoc meets with Maddie and Bedlam, who are now staring down every demon in Limbo, who now follow Ben. Luckily, the X-Men show up to help them. Jean calls Maddie family, which makes the latter give her a weird look.
Meanwhile, Spider-Man and Rek-Rap are getting their asses kicked. Ben says, "You wouldn't share your life with me, Peter. But I have your city!" He'll have everything and Peter will have nothing ... Except his friends! Because Gold Goblin and my former girl, Ms. Marvel, show up to help him.
Maddie is overcome by demons, but she flies into the air and is now wearing her original Goblin Queen outfit. Impressed by her cleavage, the demons now bow to her and accept her as their queen. She says if that anyone still denies her, she'll eat their face.
Ben and Janine fight Norman and Kamala, but are soon outnumbered by the forces of Limbo. Ben gets his ass kicked. Eve and Chasm know they won't win, but Janine refuses to leave Ben behind. Not wanting her to get hurt, Ben uses Maddie's scythe to transport her away from the battle.
Ben's losing the fight, but he talks about how he all he knows is pain. Maddie says that she sees his pain, and knows that he needs to be stopped. Magik swoops in and smacks him, allowing Maddie to reclaim her scythe. She's back in her new outfit.
Unfortunately, Ben is still too strong to defeat. That is, until Hellion flies in. See, the Academy X kids were planning pitching a Limbo-based mini where they work alongside Magik, as a throwback to that Limbo arc in New X-Men vol 2. But since these jerks stole Limbo from them, they need to come up with something new. Furious, Hellion slaps Ben so hard with his prosthetic hands, Ben loses consciousness.
So Ben is defeated, and Scott wants to take him into custody to pay for his crimes. But Maddie says that she sees his pain and recognizes him as a citizen of Limbo. She will see him answer for what he has done, but on her own terms.
Flash forward to Spring, and Peter is visiting Ben in what looks like a jungle by some waterfalls. He's been cleaning up Ben's mess, but hasn't been able to find Janine or Rek-Rap. But he wanted to see if Ben is alright. Ben still hates him.
Peter is asked to leave Ben's cell. (It was created by demons, who had a confused idea of torture.) Maddie explains that Ben confessed his crimes, and she's awarding his repentance. She's through holding grudges. She opens up her arms to anyone rejected, starved, or in need of healing. To give them a home.
Maddy has up an embassy for Limbo in New York, and Alex seems to be working with her now. Though this is just a temporary set-up, as they're planning on giving the embassy over to the Academy X kids for their mini.
And Peter never shared his memories with Ben. Mads came out of this smelling like roses, while Ben is in a worse position than when he started. But he's not an X-character, so I consider this a happy ending.
Notes:
- I coulda sworn Maddie's alias was Goblyn Queen, with a Y. I remembered that because I thought it looked stupid. But I couldn't find anything about this on the Wiki, so maybe I just imagined it.
- Rejoice, Spider-Fans! Pete got his butt kicked yet again, and wasn't even the one to stop his enemy. Other people did it for him.