Pestilence comes out of the same underground community the Marauders have just devastated. Before Apocalypse gives her a new title, she is Plague, one of the Morlocks.

Pestilence comes out of the same underground community the Marauders have just devastated. Before Apocalypse gives her a new title, she is Plague, one of the Morlocks. Her touch can bring sickness. That ability has already made her frightening to people around her, and Apocalypse turns it into a qualification. He sees someone who survived the slaughter and tells her there is a bigger use for what she can do. As Pestilence, she can make a battle go wrong without breaking through armor or overpowering an opponent. Beast discovers that during the Horsemen's early fight with X-Factor. The illness she inflicts has consequences beyond the immediate encounter, leaving Hank's strength and intellect moving in opposite directions. She is also the one Apocalypse uses to stop War and Famine fighting with each other. Even inside their own group, the way to settle an argument is to make the participants suffer until they listen. Her end in X-Factor #25 is different from a simple hero-beats-villain exchange. After she is knocked from her mount, Katie Power tries to save her. The rescue fails amid falling debris, and Pestilence dies. That effort matters. A child sees a person falling and tries to catch her, even though that person has been part of the attack. Apocalypse's grand promises don't produce the same concern for his follower. Plague survives one terrible event only to become useful to someone who is perfectly willing to create another. The new name and armor haven't given her the security they seemed to promise. When the battle turns against her, somebody on the other side is the one trying to keep her alive.