MILLENNIUM

By David Wheatley

“Hey, bub,” I say as we enter the bar. The Princess is packed tonight but it is New Year’s Eve. I didn’t fancy Chicago, and the Professor has been angsting since he screwed Worthington out of his company. Neither place is exactly full of cheer, so I figured I may as well go back to basics.

“Logan,” answers David, the manager. “Long time no see. What brings you back to Madripoor?” The refined English touch is something the Princess needed, ever since O’Donnell died.

“Ain’t nowhere finer to spend New Year,” I answer. “Dave, this is Elektra.”

“Charmed,” answers David, his English accent coming through. Elektra smiles at him as she grips my hand. She’s a little nervous. So am I. Everyone in the city knows about my marriage to Viper, and word gets around quickly in the city.

It’s been quite some months since I got together with Elektra. About four by my count, so Viper must have heard the news.

“So, what’s been goin’ on?” I ask my manager.

“Very little,” says David. “Viper rules the city, Tyger controls the crime, the Hand have been silent for a long while since that business with Black Tom, and Hydra are doing whatever it is terrorists do these days, now that they have the island as a base. There’s been no sign of LeBeau for almost as long as you.”

“Enjoyin’ the easy life, huh?” I ask, lighting up a cigar.

“No such thing in Madripoor,” chuckles David and goes to serve some customers.

“Who’s he?” asks Elektra as we find a quiet spot. The eye-patch I sport when I’m in town makes people get out of my way quick sharp.

“Dave?” I answer. “A friend and one of the few people who uses his real name in the town. Met him when I had this place rebuilt, just before I opened the Princess in Chicago. He’s a Brit, and we all know he’s hiding from something, but when he’s behind the bar it’s as if he were born to it.”

“There’s a quiet loneliness in him,” she says.

“Yup,” I answer. “I figure that if this is his way of dealing with whatever pain he’s carryin’, good luck ta him. Ain’t my place to pry, darlin’.”

“I know,” she says, as someone brings us a couple of drinks. We’re both lookin’ at the door. She has to arrive at some point, but we’re waiting on tenterhooks until she does. It’s out of character for both of us. I take a gulp of the beer in front of me to calm myself. If I’m together then I can help her get it together. Facing Viper isn’t something to do if you’re nervous.

“Darlin'” I say to Elektra, taking her hand. It seems so frail, so gentle, so soft in mine, but we both know her strike can be as deadly as my claws. She looks at me, and her eyes meet mine. “She’s comin’, we both know that. Worryin’ about it won’t help.”

“I know,” she says, “but I don’t want to lose you. These past few months have been helpful, restful.”

“We both needed time to recover,” I answer, brushing some strands of her long black hair away from her eyes and around her ears. “We both had questions answered about ourselves. We both confronted the past one way or another.”

Neither of us mentions the fact she died. As painful as it was for me to watch – twice – it would have been more so for her, knowing that she could not do anything about it, feeling the blade tear in to her skin. Elektra had already died once; dying a second time must be unbearable.

On the physical side, of the wound to the throat there is nothing left but a thin white line, that only someone looking for could see. The emotional scars though will take longer to heal, but we have each other for that. We’ve both seen each other’s pain, experienced it thanks to Gateway.

“I know,” she says, closing her eyes, and bowing her head slightly. “Yet, it still doesn’t alter the fact she could ruin what we have.” She looks up again. “I love you.”

“I know,” I answer. “I feel the same.”

“You realise you haven’t said it to me since England.”

“I know,” I answer. “Thing is I don’t want to lose you either and everyone I’ve said that to, I’ve lost.”

“So you’re as worried as I am?”

“Darlin’ you have no idea.” I glance at the clock. It’s almost 11.45 and in half an hour we hit the Year 2000. Weird, because if any of the possible futures I’ve seen as an X-Man kicks in, this will be the last time the world knows peace. It’s kind of humbling. Then I feel Elektra’s hand grip mine.

“Logan!” she says and I see her coming. Dressed in the green body suit that has become her trademark. Viper, my wife.

“Here we go,” says David from behind the bar as she enters. I stand, Elektra remains seated.

“Viper.”

“Logan. So you’ve come back.”

“Yeah,” I answer. “Figure we need to talk.”

“No kidding.” She looks at Elektra and greets her coldly. Elektra’s eyes narrow, these two know each other. “No, he’s mine and you can’t have him. End of discussion.”

“I ain’t yer property, Viper. I did what I did out of giri. You know I don’t love you.” The words strike Viper like a light rain watching over her.

“What do I care about your love?” she says with scorn in her voice. “This marriage, our marriage, is for my convenience – not yours. Till death do us part.”

“Easily arranged,” said Elektra, standing.

“I own this island,” retorts my wife. “My people are watching from every window. This place is covered.”

“Wanna bet?” comes a voice. Tyger Tiger is standing in the doorway.

“How dare you?” demands Viper. “Your hold on the criminal underworld is not good enough to overcome my forces!” I taste the air and it all makes sense.

“She ain’t alone, Viper,” I say with a grin. “She has help.” Jessica Drew, the former Spider-Woman and Yukio, the scents are all over Tyger.

“There’s a mini-rebellion in progress, your Highness,” says Tyger. “Your people are running around after two women who have… upset the apple cart? Revenge is a very strong motivator.”

“Let’s do this,” says Elektra, walking forward.

“Darlin’, I…” I want to try to dissuade her but Tyger places a hand on my shoulder. “Be careful.” Elektra smiles.

“KEE-YA!” The fight begins, the Hand versus Hydra. There’s a little too much irony here, so I head back to the bar and Tyger follows.

“Usual, Tyger?” asks David as the bar’s occupants flee the battle, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire.

“Thank you, David,” she replies and he fixes her a drink. “So, Logan, when are you coming back to rid Madripoor of Hydra?”

“As soon as Nick Fury activates a SHIELD commission,” I answer. “Darlin’ they have the firepower and the resources of the Hand’s Madripoor outlets and their own. I’m maybe the best there is at what I do, but I’m not big on suicide.”

“Well,” she answers, “at least you’re keeping a presence in Madripoor. When the Princess burnt down and Hydra took over, I wasn’t sure you’d come back.”

“And miss dancing with ya, darlin’?” I say lighting a cigar as a window gets put out by the fight going on around us. “Not a chance.”

“What will she say?” David asks, nonchalantly, looking at the fight.

“Which one?” I reply.

“Elektra?” asks Tyger, and David backs off. An unresolved issue for me and Tyger to discuss.

“Tyger, I…” Viper was one thing, Tyger is another. “We were never exclusive, Tyger. We had some fun, we were great together, but… Elektra is…”

“Different?” I put my cigar down.

“I love her, Tyger. I hurt when she ain’t there, I miss the sound of her voice, the smell of her skin. It’s like everyday is the first time I see her.”

“How serious?” she asks. “Mariko, or Yukio?”

“Mariko,” I answer earnestly. “I love Elektra as much as I could ever love Mariko.” The words fail me as soon as I stop talkin’. I knew Elektra meant a lot to me but not that much.

“Then do not worry about me, Logan,” answers Tyger. “If you are happy, so am I.” The she kisses me. “For old times sake.”

“Darlin’, yer a pistol and a firecracker,” I laugh, then I taste the air again.

~SCHLUKT~

“What is it?” asks Tyger.

“There’s someone here who shouldn’t be here,” I answer. The fight is raging at the other side of the bar, the two women fighting are evenly matched to start with but without her posions and potions, Elektra will gain the upper hand over Viper.

I can see it so can Viper. Which is why she must have called in an equaliser.

“Damn!” I know where the scent is coming from and I head upstairs. The scent came from outside, the wind shifted and blew the scent through the window. On the roof of the bar, I can see him. I can see the rifle in his hand and I can see the laser sight pointing at the bar. At the women. “Bub, you just made a big mistake!”

He looks up as I leap down with a feral roar. He drops the rifle and grabs me by the throat, faster than I can react.

“You don’t know what you’re up against, little man,” he says in a voice that sounds like an English James Earl Jones. I pivot and kick him in the chest. He staggers a touch and releases his grip on my neck. I follow up with the claws, ready to gouge a hole in his jaw, but all I get is a screech like fingernails on a chalk board as the claws scrape against the mans face, the tips shattering as I do so.

“Mutant? Hydra genetics?” I ask, wondering what the hell he is.

“Hydra? Don’t be ridiculous, Wolverine.”

“I know you, bub?” I’m wondering what to do next, but as long as he doesn’t have the rifle then I’m not worried about the occupants of the bar.

“No, but I know of you. My orders are not to kill you yet, or to harm you before the coming eclipse.”

“What eclipse?” There ain’t an eclipse due, it’d have been on the news.

“You will see. However it is necessary to take away the pieces of your life on by one. So the Master commands, so I obey!” I don’t even see the fist coming as he knocks me off the roof. I manage to latch on to a fire escape and swing back, wrenching my shoulder as I go.

Given time the healing factor will kick in and fix it up, but I don’t have time. He’s going to kill Elektra, and I ain’t about to let that happen. I run towards him as he picks up the rifle and aims it through the broken window of the bar.

“Get your head down,” he whispers.

“I ain’t gonna let you kill her!” I say.

“As good as your reputation, X-Man. A shame I have been prepared for this confrontation and you are way too late.” I slice the gun in to bits with my other undamaged claws.

“Bub, you have no idea how much that stings.”

“Didn’t anticipate that,” he says. “However, needs must.” He emits a thin beam of light from his forehead in to the bar and there is a scream of pain. A woman’s voice, that suddenly cuts short.

“NO!” I look to see Elektra and Viper still standing, their battle momentarily halted. It is Tyger who is down. I turn back and the assassin is gone, all that is left is a single white feather floating in the night breeze, but that’s not important as I leap from the roof, sheathing my claws.

By the time I get there, David is trying CPR on her. The wound shows it struck her direct in the heart and David’s hand’s are covered in blood as he tries to get the heart going again

“Logan, I’m losing her,” he says as he tries compressions.

“Logan…” whispers Tyger, a trickle of blood coming from her lips and then her head goes limp. I pass my hand over her eyes, closing them. Tyger’s gone.

“That wasn’t called for,” says Elektra, thinking that Viper had arranged this, but I can see she looks as stunned as I am at this senseless killing. However Elektra is faster than I am, my grief getting in my way as a sai comes to her hand.

“Darlin’…” I say and deflect a killing blow, turning it from a fatal wound to a basic one. However the sai slashes Viper’s face, instead of tearing through her heart. Her face is gonna be scarred forever.

“This was… not my doing…” says Viper fighting past the pain, the pride.

“She’s right,” I answer. “With the people on Tyger’s side, on MY side, Madripoor would be torn apart by a civil war if she’d killed Tyger. It was a stalemate, but now the bets are off.”

“I never… wanted a war…” says Viper.

“I know,” I answer, “but someone else did. To get at me.” In the distance, the palace explodes in a flash of fire and noise. “It’s begun.”

Someone’s hit me hard, on my own turf. They’ve taken away a friend, a lover, an ally. They’ve destroyed the country I love. Just to get at me. If they’ll do this to me, what will they do to the rest of my life? The X-Men, Elektra, Jubilee, there are too many people I count as my own.

“I will never… divorce him…” hisses Viper to Elektra, blood streaming from her cheek. “He will… never be yours.”

“Viper…” I start after her.

“Save your pity, X-Man,” she says, looking at me, revealing the damage done to her face. “Save it for your beloved city.” She turns and leaves and I look at the inert form of Tyger Tiger.

“Whoever did this is dead,” I vow and the claws come out. “YOU HEAR ME? YOU’RE DEAD!”

“Logan,” says David, picking up Tyger’s body. “You can’t do this alone.”

“He won’t,” says Elektra.

“Not even the two of you can stop this,” says Jessica Drew, entering the bar with Yukio. “The country is tearing itself apart already.”

“Logan,” says Yukio. “To stop this, you’re going to need the X-Men.”

“No,” I answer. “The X-Men can’t be involved with this. I’m going to need… different help.”

“Who?” asks Elektra.

“There’s four of us here,” I answer. “It’s time I called in some markers. I…” A voice is calling me. “No, not now…”

“What is it?” asks Elektra, rushing towards me.

“I have to go…”

“What?!” they ask me, their eyes accusing me.

“I have to,” I answer, the words breaking my heart. Of all the people to ask, she’s the one I can’t refuse. “I’ll be back, I swear it.”

“Do you need my help?” asks Elektra. I shake my head. This is X-Men business. No need to involve anyone else.

“Look after the city,” I say. “Do what you can. I’ll be a day or so at best.”

“What if you don’t come back?” asks Jessica.

“That isn’t going to happen. Davey… Tyger…”

“I’ll take care of it. Go. Do what you have to.”

“Thanks.” I turn to Elektra. “I love you.”

“I know,” she answers and kisses me. “I’ll be here when you get back.”

“You’d better,” I reply and head out of the door. There’s a place I have to go, a place I’ve been to before. A place with bitter memories for me.

I’m going to Egypt, and as I leave the clock strikes twelve.

NEXT ISSUE: Genetic Eclipse Part 11! Read this month’s Uncanny X-Men #14 for the start of the crossover of the new millennium, follow the story joining us next month for a rematch that’s been demanded since the last time Wolverine was in Egypt!!