WOOL OVER YOUR EYES

By Chris Partin

Life’s got a strange way of reminding you who you are and where you came from. While I can’t remember a whole lot of my childhood and my family, I do remember this place – Weapon X…

My whole life has seemingly focused itself on this place, its’ people, and its’ effect on the lives of those involved. I can remember that I was a soldier in the past. I know I lived in Canada while I grew up… I think. And I know I was kidnapped and taken to this place because I’m a mutant, a mutant with a very interesting ability…

I heal.

Unlike most folks, I heal at a very fast rate. It used to be instantaneously, but these days it takes a bit longer. I must be getting old. The Weapon X Project thought it would be a good idea to bond this metal called adamantium to someone’s skeleton; make their bones unbreakable. Neat trick, if it doesn’t kill the person you’re bonding. These folks here knew what to watch out for, and they decided I was the best candidate thanks to my healing factor.

That was then… this is now…

There have been a dozen or so folks who have had some sort of alteration to themselves here at the Project. I’ve run into most of them in my days since I escaped here, but who really knows how many people didn’t escape…

A few days ago I managed to escape from here, again, with the help of two good friends, Jessica Drew and Doc Samson. But I’m back now to make sure this place is shut down for good. Too many folks have suffered due to the horrors in these halls, so I’m stopping it once and for all.

The guards at the main gate were amateurs. Kinda surprised me after some of the guys I went up against a few days ago. They almost seemed like they were trained differently. I guess they just got sloppy. No hair off my back…

I make it inside the main doors when I pick up a scent that’s familiar coming toward the gate. Too many things seem familiar in this place to not be cautious. I manage to wedge myself between the wall and some of the air-conditioning units hanging from the ceiling. Let’s see who this guy is…

What the…?! Cain Marko?! Here at Weapon X?! Probably with his partner, Black Tom… I knew I shoulda taken these two out back in Madripoor. Cain caught me off-guard when he told me Weapon X was back online, and I see he’s managed to make it here, but from his demeanor it looks like ol’ buckethead has switched sides!

Well, if he works with them now I gotta take him down before he alerts the others…

I pop my claws and drop to the floor… ~SCHLUKT~

“Marko…” I say, growling.

A flash of recognition seems to cross Marko’s mind for a second, but then goes as quickly as it came.

“I don’t know who you are, or how you know my name, but as head of complex security I must advise you that you are trespassing on government property. Cease and desist immediately, or suffer the consequences.”

What?! Head of security at the Project? Damn! I don’t think he realizes who I am. Damn again!

“Marko… it’s me, Wolverine!”

“Wolverine?! You’re the major enemy of the Weapon X Facility! I order you to drop to the floor and surrender, now! This is your last warning!”

“Bub, I don’t do last warnings. If you want to side with the devils that run this place, fine. But I’m takin’ this place down, and if I have to go through you to do it – I will!”

I jump for him, but he manages to swat me away.

~UNF~

Damn! He’s still got the power and the reflexes! I was hoping whatever they have done to him would have effected the gem’s power, but no such luck. I’ve got to get him to remember who I am, and figure out what they did to him.

“Wolverine, you have been warned, and now you attack a member of the Project. You will be subdued with force if you press this any further.”

What the hell is he taking about? It seems like he’s not even human! It’s almost like he’s a robot, trained to act and speak for the Project. Is this another one of the Project’s experiments? Will this ever end?

I jump forward and bounce off the wall to get at him, but it’s no good. He’s still quick and he’s taking up a good part of the hallway thanks to his size. I can’t get around him without being in his reach. Looks like I’m gonna have to hurt him to stop him…

I step at him and slash with my claws, trying to get his attention. He dodges and throws his other fist at me. I manage to duck under it and slash at his knees, trying to ground him, but it doesn’t work. It just bounces off his forcefield before he moves out of the way and lands a big fist in my upper back…

~AARGH!~

I slam into the floor, face first. I try and pick myself up and come face-to-face with another power punch. I slam against the far wall and slide to the floor. I get up on my feet and dodge one, now two punches from Cain. I swing high and then low with my claws. One swipe manages to hit him in the arm.

I draw blood… good!

I hear footsteps getting closer to us. The security cameras must have picked up our fight. I don’t have time to take on all of these goons and Cain, too. I better make a run for it and re-group. I can always find Cain. I mean he is as big as a house. It’s kinda hard to miss him.

“Marko! We’re not done yet! I’ll be back for you sooner or later. Charlie would kill me if I left you behind to these goons!”

The Juggernaut looks at me as I get ready to take off down one of the halls. I hit a nerve, I can see it in his eyes.

“Marko, do you remember your step-brother… Charles? Do you remember Charles? Come on, bub, I ain’t got all day for this!”

A well-armed group of guards arrive before I can slip away, their weapons aimed on me. Damn Project took my life from me once before, and damn if their gonna try it again!

“Sir, is everything under control here?”

Cain looks at me for a second and then turns to the guard, “Yeah… everything is just fine. Now why don’t you and the others in your little goon patrol run off and leave the little runt and me alone. I’ll take him down to the brig myself.”

“Sir, Doctor Huxley told us to assist you in apprehending Wolverine, and transferring him to a maximum security area until he was to be dealt with.”

Well, why don’t you go tell the little pudgy Doctor that I got it all under wraps. What’s the matter, you don’t believe I can handle this little spiked punk?”

And on saying that, Cain swings a backhand toward me and catches me on the top of my head. He put enough force behind it to knock me down, but not enough to knock me out.

It hits me, no pun intended, that I think our boy is coming around. He’s even sounding like his old pain in the butt self. I’ll play along and see where this takes us, but I’m not gonna give Cain any credit until I know he’s back to his old self.

“Yes, sir. But shouldn’t we leave behind a few men to escort you and the prisoner…?”

“What are you, brain-dead?! I said I’ve got it under control! Geez!”

Yes, sir.”

And they leave, just like that. Whatever Huxley did to Marko, he sure made a mistake letting everyone trust him so much. Even on my side, I wouldn’t trust that two-ton walking disaster area.

“Are you okay there, runt?”

I slowly open my eyes and see Cain’s ugly face above me, “Yeah… it’ll take more than the likes of you to take me out, bub.”

“Yeah, sure, runt. Whatever you say. We know who was in charge of this little tussle…”

I nod, “Sure… now what are we gonna do now? When they don’t see me in a holding cell in a few minutes, they’re gonna come looking for us. Got any bright ideas on how we can take the place out?”

“NO! We’re not taking this place out! Not yet! I’ve still gotta find a way to get Tom back to normal.”

I groan, “And normal for Tom is what? He’s still a criminal, and he’s gonna take you down with him if you don’t get away from him. He ain’t worth it, Marko…”

“Maybe not for you, but he’s all I got right now! Charlie ain’t too impressed with me, and I ain’t too worried about that. Tom and me have been together for a while now. He’s the one who’s stuck by me… Chuck ain’t done that…”

“He’s done all he could, but what do you care? Let’s find Tom, then we’ll take this place out. I ain’t about to have this place running any longer than I have to…”

“Okay… let’s go…”

We manage to gain access all over the Project’s facilities. I’m amazed at either how much Huxley trusted his brainwashing of Marko, or how utterly stupid Huxley was to trust it. Not a single person wondered why I was walking the halls of the facility. Everyone just assumed I was the Juggernaut’s prisoner.

Well, almost everyone.

“Excuse me, sir. You were supposed to report the prisoner to Maximum Security Sector A ten minutes ago. Doctor Huxley wanted me to check up and see if there was any trouble…”

“Does it look like I’m having any trouble? I’ve got the prisoner, don’t I?”

“Well, yes, sir. But why haven’t you reported him to Sector A’s guards? Why are you taking him through Level Beta clearance sectors? Doctor Huxley must be notified of this immediately…”

I shake my head and wonder if every guard here is just stupid, or really want to get their butts handed to them by the Juggernaut?

Marko doesn’t even try and talk him out of it, he just flicks his index finger at the guard, and the guard hits the wall… and then the floor. Not much to it if you’re powered by a very mystical gem that gives you unimaginable strength. Not that that’s ever intimidating me or anything, but it does give Marko an advantage every once in a while.

“Well, runt, it looks like we’ve got two choices. We can either take on every guard this place throws at us…”

I stop him before he makes another mistake, “No… we need to split up. You’ve gotten us this far, but it’s time we split and went different ways. You’re looking for Black Tom, and I’m looking for someone entirely different. We’ll find more if we go our own ways…”

“Alright… Ya know, runt, we make a pretty good team. Maybe you’re not as…”

He never finishes. I punch him square in his right eye and then I slash him across the face and once across the chest.

“~ARRGH!~ What’re you…?”

I never let him get his guard up. I jump up and drop kick him in his face knocking him off-guard. He’s not expecting me to attack, and that’s my advantage. But I have to take him down quickly before he catches his breath and slams me back into the wall. I take several pop shots at him as I dart around him. A few to the back of the head and a slash on the back of his neck.

Just when I know he’s completely disoriented, I jump up and drop kick the back of his head. He runs face first into the metal cover wall and drop to his knees. Then he slumps over onto the ground.

“Sorry, Marko, but they’d never believe I got away from you on my own without help. So, I had ta rough ya up a little. You’ll have a headache when you get up, but at least they still think you’re one of them. We’ll catch up some other time…”

I run off down one of the halls. I’ve got to find the Professor and put an end to the Project on my own. Marko is too wrapped up in finding and curing Tom, but we all know there’s no chance of that. Once the Project’s got you, you’ll never be the same. I guess Marko and Black Tom will have ta find that out the hard way…

Interlude

“Professor, Doctor Huxley is going to ruin everything if we let him continue his bastardization of Experiment-X!”

“Doctor Huxley is none of our concern, Doctor. Huxley is just another pawn in this grand chess game. He will sooner or later learn that himself. He learns nothing without my letting him. He is an idiot, and he is only part of the ‘new’ Weapon X Project because I allowed it!”

The Professor paused to adjust his glasses, then continued, “His bumbling efforts to ‘create’ his own Weapon X will only take the eyes of others off of us. We will continue to run our projects without any interference from Department H or their lackeys!”

“Yes, sir. But is it wise to give him even a little knowledge concerning Experiment-X? Would there be the slightest of chance that he could discover what we are really doing to him?”

“Huxley thinks himself an intelligent and skilled scientist, Doctor. He is too wrapped up in himself, and isn’t looking for the ‘why’ but the results. Don’t concern yourself with him.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Have the results from our experiment with Mister Logan come in yet?”

“They have, sir.”

“And…?”

“Oh, sorry, sir. The results were more than I anticipated. We are very close to being able to map Mister Logan’s brainwaves into a new subject, sir. Very close…”

“Good. First it was Mister Logan’s healing factor we mapped and placed inside poor old Mister Wilson. Now, we take the next step and map the knowledgeable skills of Mister Logan into a new subject. Soon, Mister Logan will be obsolete, and our new weapon will be the greatest weapon to be created!”

“Yes, sir.”

End Interlude

Outside the Weapon X Facility stands a single man.

He’s been here in the past, and it didn’t take him long to know this was a place of sheer madness. Not for those who ran the place, but for those who became subjects to the Weapon X Project.

He has gone by many names in his lifetime. In his line of work, you have to in order to survive. For the last few years or more, he has gone by the name of Maverick.

He was a subject here.

No…

He was a prisoner here like all the others…

Logan, Creed, Wilson…

There were too many to remember, and too many to forget. Today, all those years of pain have built up to this point. The Project must be destroyed at all costs. Too many years have passed to allow this place to survive. No one will suffer anymore.

No one…

NEXT: Maverick vs the Juggernaut! Cain is not about to let Maverick destroy the project, and so as Wolverine looks for the Professor, Maverick is left to deal with a very mad Juggernaut on his own! To see what the Professor and the Doctor are up to and how they attained Wolverine’s brainwaves, check out Wolverine #5!

THE BEST THERE IS

By Eric J. Moreels

The man known only as Logan is an enigma even unto himself. In his lifetime, he has been many things, seen many things, and endured many things. He has powers and abilities that are far beyond the reach of your average person. This is because Logan is a mutant, possessing a gene called the X-Factor in his DNA which has granted him these gifts.

He possesses the razor-sharp senses of an animal – his sight, smell, taste, and hearing are all enhanced. His agility and reflexes are also above-average, allowing him to perform acrobatic feats that a typical five foot tall man could not do.

His place of birth is unknown to him, though it’s been hinted at that he may have been named for Mount Logan in Canada, a country he proudly calls his own. Noone knows exactly how long he has been alive, not even himself. It has been revealed that he has been a soldier in World War II; it’s even been rumoured that he was alive in the Wild West of the 1800’s. Logan is far more advanced in years than his appearance belies.

His extended lifespan is thanks to a healing factor which can mend any wound, cure any disease, and slows down his ageing process. It also grants him an immunity to the side effects of alcohol and nicotine, a trait that he has used in many a drinking competition over the years. Even still, his healing factor has limits, and those limits have been tested many times over the years.

Logan is not the only man who possesses such talents. The man called Victor Creed, code-named Sabretooth, possesses similar abilities, including his own healing factor. Sabretooth has been Logan’s nemesis for many years, and has even suggested that he may be Logan’s father, though there is no evidence to back up this claim. However, it can be said that they are two sides of the same coin – one desperately tries to suppress his berserker rages, the other welcomes them at every opportunity. The two have fought each other to death’s door time and again, and as such there is a deep-set enmity between them.

Logan has also taken on many roles, and had many roles forced upon him. From a man trying to cope with the harsh realities of life, to a feral beast concerned only with survival. From a bar-room brawler fighting only to win, to a samurai fighting for honour. From a faithful and devoted husband, to a suffering widower. From a government agent tasked with secretive missions, to a freedom fighter battling against mutant bigotry.

Pain and suffering have gone hand in hand during the course of Logan’s life. He had metal bonded to his skeleton for reasons unknown, a process which, whilst it gave him an indestructible skeleton, also drove him temporarily mad. He was rescued from his madness by the good graces of a couple who would become Logan’s best friends, only to have the metal stripped away years later by the megalomaniac mutant known as Magneto. This almost killed Logan, causing him to regress once more to the beast inside that he fears. Even his outward appearance began to change, becoming more feral. But slowly, thanks to the help of the ninja Elektra, Logan once more fought back the beast and regained his humanity.

Physical pain is not the only pain Logan has endured. Emotional pain, too, has been a constant companion for Logan. He has been near the threshold of marriage to a woman he loved deeply, only to have the vows of marriage forced upon him, thanks to a debt of honour, by a woman whom he could never love. He has witnessed the deaths of countless loved ones, and fate has even unfairly forced some of those deaths to be on his own head. This had made it hard for Logan to let anyone get close to him emotionally, and also made it hard for him to trust anyone.

Logan cannot even trust his own memories. Many of them have proven to be false; images that were forced into his mind by the same people who forced metal onto his skeleton. So many implants that, in fact, Logan struggles with the belief that quite possibly all of his memories are fake, as he tries to determine which ones are his true recollections.

He has been places and seen things that most people only ever dream of. He has travelled through time back to the past, and forward to many an alternate future. He has visited alien worlds, met many and varied alien races, and fought against cosmic beings of staggering power. He has been to the farthest reaches of the Earth, and fought against the darkest evils. But most poignant of all, he has faced his own inner demons, and emerged victorious.

Whatever the future holds for Logan, you can be certain that his indomitable will to live shall allow him to endure. In his own words…

“I’m the best there is at what I do!”