HOLD UP!

By Philip Amoroso

Wolverine wasn’t in attendance at the gathering being held at the X-Men mansion. Wanting some time to be alone to think about things right after he recently found out that his old friend, Tyger Tiger, has taken ill, Wolverine has decided to walk to the airport to catch his flight to Madripoor. He doesn’t make it far as something catches his attention…

Logan made a sudden stop as he heard a news report coming from a television in a store window. He turned to see the very familiar face of Trish Tilby on the television.

“…while no one has been able to positively identify the suspect, everyone who has witnessed the bank robberies have told the authorities that they witnessed that the robber’s skin changed right before their eyes, making him stronger. The robber has struck five banks so far, leaving them totally demolished…”

Logan allowed a bit of a surprised look cross his face as he saw the footage of one of the banks after it had been hit. “That damage looks familiar. There’s only one person who could cause that kind of damage robbing a bank,” Wolverine quietly said to himself.

“…there is no way of telling which bank is going to be the next target, but it can be expected that security will be fortified at all of the other banks in the city. For CNBC, I’m Trish Tilby.”

“I’d better get to that last bank he hit, so I can start tracking him,” Wolverine quietly said to himself as he started to make his way back to the mansion so he could get his hog.

Wolverine’s motorcycle spun in a circle as Wolverine brought it to a sudden stop. He jumped off the bike and walked over to what little was left of the bank.

Quietly, he started to talk to himself again. “What a mess. It shouldn’t be too hard to get the find a scent in all this…”

“I had a feeling I would find you here Logan…” said a female voice.

Logan stopped trying to pick up the scent, and stood up facing the newcomer to the area. He saw the thin, blonde form of his old friend Carol Danvers, wearing civilian clothes instead of her usual Warbird costume.

“Carol darlin’, I caught your scent as soon as I got here. I was beginning to wonder if you were going to say hi, or if you were just going to keep hiding an’ watching me?”

“I’m just a little surprised that you came here alone. Don’t you think you are just a little out matched here?”

“You saw the news report and thought it was the Juggernaut too right?”

“Well Logan, it is his style…”

“Well darlin’, I ain’t going to argue with you about that. The Juggernaut has never been known for doing things neatly. I’ve checked this whole place for his scent, but I haven’t found a single trace of it. I don’t know who did this, but it wasn’t him…”

“Really? So now what do we do?”

“Now, we do a little banking…”

Wolverine and Warbird quietly entered the Sterling National Bank.

“Okay Logan, we’re here… now what do we do?” asked Carol.

“Now darlin’, we wait.” Wolverine sat down on one of the benches, and gestured to Warbird to sit next to him. “You might as well sit down, this might take a while darlin'”.

“Okay, but I think there might be a better way to find this guy,” Warbird said sarcastically.

“I’m always open to suggestions.” Warbird just gave him a blank stare. “Just as I thought,” Wolverine said adjusting his body trying to get more comfortable.

Then, suddenly he stood up as if something got his attention.

“What is Logan?” Warbird asked, showing that she was surprised by Wolverine’s sudden movement. She could see that his body was starting to tense up like as if he was going to jump up and attack something.

“I just picked up a scent that I noticed while we were searching the wreck of the other bank.”

“Do you think it’s the bank robber?”

“There is no way to be sure. Just in case it is, go wait outside…”

Warbird then gave Wolverine a really angry look. “You expect me to just wait outside while you do the whole hero thing? Didn’t you see what this guy did to those other banks? If it is him, you don’t stand much of a chance,” Warbird said to Wolverine in an angry whisper.

“I know that darlin’. I want you to wait outside as backup, and to make sure that if it really is the bank robber, he won’t get away. I’m counting on you to take care of that.”

“Oka- Wow, look at that!” Warbird pointed at a large muscular man who had just entered the bank around a minute or two earlier. His body actually started to get bigger as his skin turned into solid rock.

“Ya sure ya wanna tangle with that,” Wolverine quietly asked Warbird with a little smile on his face.

“Listen up everybody,” the robber said in a deep, loud voice that easily carried across the whole bank. “This is a robbery. If everyone stays calm and does what I say, then hopefully no one will get hurt…”

Warbird shifted her body getting her self ready to strike. “Come on Logan, we’ve gotta stop him!”

Wolverine quickly grabbed her before she could move. “Hold up darlin’, let’s see what this guy can do before we rush into a fight with him.”

Just as Wolverine had finished talking, five of the Bank security guards decided to take action since they saw that this mysterious rock robber was unarmed. All of them whipped out their guns and opened fire on him. While a number of the bullets hit vital areas, but none of the bullets really seemed cause any damage. The robber then reached down and pushed his hand into the ground. Suddenly five large spikes made out of solid rock burst out of the ground, one piercing each of the five guards through the stomach, killing them instantly.

“That’s it Logan, I can’t just sit back and watch this any more!” Warbird pushed Wolverine to the side and took flight. She flew strait at the robber, now also a killer, firing her energy blasts at him.

It seemed to hurt him a little, but she was stopped when he pulled a large rock around 4 feet in diameter out of his own body, and threw it at her, hitting her head on and taking her out of the air.

The robber turned and faced Wolverine, “Perhaps you would like to try and see if you can stop me Logan?”

Wolverine tensed his body and got into a position where he was ready to leap. “Don’t mind if I do.” Wolverine popped his claws. “Just one thing. My friends call me Logan, so you can call me Wolverine…”

“I never thought that names really mattered that much, but you can call me Boulder. Now that we have all the introductions taken care of, can we get started already?”

“Sounds good t’ me bub. Boulder huh? You stay up all night thinkin’ of that one?”

“You talk to much old man.” Boulder pushed his right arm into the ground. Wolverine tried to jump at him, but never got a chance, as Boulder’s arm resurfaced right under Wolverine squeezing him so tight he couldn’t move.

As hard as he tried not to, Wolverine showed how much pain he was in with the look on his face. “That’s what you think, bub. A lot of people like it when I talk to them while I kick their butt.”

“Funny, that doesn’t seem to be happening,” Boulder said as he tightened his grip on Wolverine.

“Well, ya obviously forgot about my back-up…”

“Huh?!” Boulder looked to his left to see that Warbird had recovered from the blow she took earlier. She shot her energy blasts strait into Boulder’s face. Being caught by surprise, Boulder stumbled backward, dropping Wolverine and pulling his arm back in.

“Thanks for the set-up darlin’.” With that Wolverine leapt at the still stunned Boulder. As soon as he was close enough Wolverine reached his right arm back, and then threw his fist forward pushing his claws right through Boulder’s head. Boulder’s body seemed to melt away into the ground until there was no trace of him.

“You did it Logan!” Warbird said excitedly. “Did you really need to kill him though?”

“Relax darlin’, I seriously doubt I killed him. He’s just new to this, and he’s not used to losing.” Wolverine led Warbird outside of the bank. “He’ll be back.”

“So, what do we do now?” Warbird asked.

“We’re going to do nothin’,” Wolverine replied. “I’ve got a plane to catch. It’s been nice seein’ ya again though, darlin’.” Wolverine then jumped onto his motorcycle and drove off, leaving Warbird behind with a puzzled look on her face.

NEXT ISSUE: Wolverine travels to Madripoor to visit Tyger Tiger. Is there more to this sudden sickness than meets the eye? What does Wolverine’s wife Viper have to do with all of this? Also, Wolverine’s visit may be cut short when he finds out who else has decided to pay a visit to Madripoor!