FROM REVELATIONS TO GENESIS

By David Wheatley

There aren’t many people who can manipulate people on this scale without some kind of mind control, so I figured I’d need a telepath, and there’s only one in Madripoor I can go to. Problem is I don’t know him from Adam, but he comes highly recommended.

Except at the moment I’ve got my remaining claws out, and he’s almost sparking with the psionic energy he’s giving off. I need his help and I can’t take no for an answer. Things have got a little impassioned, ’cause I can see in his eyes he doesn’t want to do this, that being here is not what he chose and that the life in front of him is one he’s tried to avoid.

Thing is, for the kind of life he wants, he shouldn’t have moved to Madripoor, but that ain’t gonna convince him. I gotta play this straight down the middle. There’s too much at stake for me not to, and the claws slip back in to my forearm, and I look him right in the eye.

“I know you don’t want this life, bub. I know all about what happened with you and Xavier. I know that you want to keep a low profile, but life isn’t like that. To save this place I need your help, and as much as you don’t want to do it, you don’t get a choice. I’ve people here who are real special to me, and without you they won’t live and I don’t know if I’ll ever see them again. The question is, can you put everything aside, all yer fears, all yer doubts and all the bad feelings this and help me stop this before anyone else dies.”

“I don’t like you,” he says. “And if it weren’t for what was going on out here, I’d take you out. ‘Cept as near as I can tell you’re the only person who can fix things in town, and you’re on of Xavier’s people so I guess that has to count for something.”

I can feel him probing me, for signs of deception, for something to make him doubt what I’m saying that’ll let him refuse with a clear conscience. I can see the hope in his eyes fadin’ as he sees that I wouldn’t ask if the situation weren’t critical. He knows I can’t do this without his help.

“By the tone of your voice, the sincerity in your mind and the fear in his eyes, I guess I’m in. The fear’s the thing – it’s not for yourself but for others, for your friends. There’s a sense of honour about you, and like it or not you’ve no choice. Neither have I. But this is the first, last and only time. I’m not an X-Man, I don’t want to be an X-Man and I’m not interested. That said, this has gotta stop. I’m in, Captain Logan.”

“Ain’t been a Captain in a long time, Marcus. Either Logan, or Wolverine.”

“Okay, Logan,” answers Marcus, and I can see his determination not to play the game any more than he has to. I nod and we make our way to where they’re holding Viper.

It’s time for the final showdown.

Yukio had completed the task Logan had set her – the criminal underworld of Madripoor was now united and they were onside to stop the fighting when Hydra did the same, and she made her way back to the rendezvous point.

AS she entered she found Elektra in there, sitting down with a drink of water in her hand and Yukio was aware that she was alone – no Logan, and no David.

“Elektra?” she said, and the other woman looked up and Yukio noticed she had been crying. “What happened?” Elektra, wiped a tear from her cheek, flushing at the embarrassment of being caught in such a way and explained what had happened when they had confronted Experiment X, how David had been and agent for Landau, Luckman and Lake, how they had defeated X, but at the cost of David’s life, and how Logan was going after the people who had started this without her.

“He left you?” asked Yukio. “What else happened?”

“Matsu’o came after us, my timing was off, I wasn’t good enough, not at my best.”

“He wouldn’t leave you,” said Yukio, knowing how much Elektra meant to Logan. “Not because of that.”

“Then he knows,” said Elektra, quietly and Yukio felt a pang within her as well as a sense of dread. She loved Logan with all her heart, and if Elektra said what she thought she was going to say, then Yukio could never and would never have him.

“Knows what?”

“I’m carrying his child.” Yukio’s heart broke all over again as she heard the words and she had to stop herself from falling over.

“How long have you known?” she asked, something deep within her resonating at Elektra’s plight, forcing her to remember Morrow once more.

“Not long,” admitted Elektra. “Just before Christmas. It was why I was so nervous about meeting Viper.”

“It explains a lot,” said Yukio, knowing that under normal circumstances Elektra was more than capable of taking Viper out and realising it explained her lashing out at her when Tyger was killed. Her hormones were raging within her and for a moment her temper had got the better of her.

“I’m trying to stay calm,” said Elektra. “The Chaste would be so proud of my control.”

“Listen,” said Yukio, deciding to tell Elektra the truth, about her and Morrow and about who the mother of his son Gabriel was. She needed to know that there was someone out there who could help her, who understood. “I know what you’re going through. I…” Then something dawned on her and she knew she couldn’t finish this without finding out this first. There’d be time later, this was more important. “Where’s Jessica?”

“Damn!,” shouted Elektra, standing and the glass falling form her hand and shattering on the cold floor below. “I forgot about her. Matsu’o said she’d told him what we were doing. She wouldn’t…”

“No,” said Yukio. “She wouldn’t without putting up a fierce fight. We have to rescue her.”

“If she’s still alive,” said Elektra, knowing the methods of the Hand. She knew Yukio knew them too and the two of them stood there as former assassins of the same cult. Not a word was spoken as they bolted out of the door and towards the warehouse where they knew the Hand would be found.

“Welcome, Wolverine!”

~SCHLUKT!~

“Ferro,” I answer as I unsheathe the three unbroken claws. “Where’s my wife?”

“You don’t have much luck with women, do you Logan?” replies Ferro with a smile that is promptly wiped from his face when Marcus steps out from behind me. “Who the hell are you?”

“He’s with me,” I say, and Ferro reaches out with his telepathy, something about his armour sparkles as it did the first time I met him, and he touches Marcus’ mind. Chuck told me about this guy, about how he was a real powerful skull scanner and also how he had a defence against psychic intrusion. Ferro’s mind touches it and it strikes back, leaving a faint red glow about Psi-Borg’s head.

He staggers back as if hit with a jackhammer, and I can’t help but smile.

“Who is he?” asks Ferro, suddenly worried and I can see in his eyes what’s happenin’ in his head. He’d thought he’d have sensed someone like Marcus on the island but he didn’t. He thought he could take any telepath on the planet, but he couldn’t even get a simple scan past him. If you ain’t the best but think you are then you gotta prove it.

“None o’ your business, bub,” I answer, playing this the way we discussed on the way up. “Now where is she?”

“Help!” It’s Viper’s voice, coming as if on cue. I look at Marcus, he looks at me and we both know it’s gotta be a trap.

“Okay, bub,” I say to Ferro. “If that’s the way you wanna play it.” I walk in the direction of the voice and Ferro looks at Marcus as he walks by.

“You don’t have what it takes,” answers Marcus to the unspoken question. Looks like livin’ in Madripoor’s done wonders for his self-confidence.

Ferro lashes out and Marcus is driven back, caught by surprise as his defences are almost breached. I can feel the power from here. Marcus and Ferro are going to square off against each other, I for the live of me I don’t know who’ll win, but I know who I I’d like to.

As I walk away, leaving them to fight on a level I can’t get to I begin to feel a familiar sensation. Static fills my head, my senses go almost blank and I can only just focus.

I thought I’d killed all of these guys. The old one said there was only one left and I killed it. Guess he was wrong. My mind resonated with the savagery, and the thrill of the killing when I faced the last one of these things, this time it’s more a sense of calm. The danger is still there, but there is an inner peace and that makes this a whole lot more dangerous.

It has the beast within under control and working for it. I just have mine under control and if it’s as powerful as the last one was, I’m in trouble. I don’t have the adamantium, my healin’ factor’s not as good as it could be and I’m a set of claws short. Still got the Yashida honour sword though.

“Logan, my love,” says Viper, sneakin’ up on me. With my head full of static, Banshee wearing an amplifier could sneak up on me. I know it’s the real her, by the scent. At this range, she’s close enough for my senses to work on a rudimentary level.

“Ain’t got time for this,” I say as I look at her face, scarred from where Elektra hit her with the sai and I punch her and knock her to the floor. She falls to the ground in a heap and I suddenly feel dizzy. I look at my side and notice she’s stuck me with something.

With her knowledge of poisons it could be anything, but my healin’ factor will work on it. Hopefully at the same time as it heals me from whatever the Neuri throws at me.

“I know who you are!” I call, and I can feel the static increase. It’s coming toward me.

“You saw through her deception,” it observes, and I wheel around behind me, my claws millimetres out of reach of its face. “How?”

“She’d never have called for help.”

“Ferro?” answers the Neuri. “So he betrays me at last? I expect he even told Experiment X where to find us. I will deal with him after I deal with you.”

“What’s this all about?”

“Revenge. You killed my mate, you destroyed our clan and you took away everything I held dear. Now it’s my turn.”

“Not gonna happen, bub.”

“Really? I will take control of your mind and you will be powerless. It has been done before.”

“Things have changed. My head’s not what it used to be.”

“Yes, I know. Ferro was supposed to take care of you, but you’ve arranged for him to be dealt with. Marcus Raven is exactly the person I’d have used. In fact he was the man I was going to use to deal with him. You saved me a task.”

“Leaves yer plan high and dry,” I answer, struggling to keep the beast within me down. The creature’s cool, confident and deadly. Like the first time I faced Ogun or Shingen.

“Not really. Behold!” The Spirit plane unfolds before me, what was it the old Neuri called it before? Yeah, that’s it – the Alshra. I can see my healing factor at work, sparkling like diamonds, full of fire and beauty just like the Phoenix effect.

The world around us though is growing dark as the Dark Neuri starts to twist the Alshra, making something ugly yet still appealing to the darker side of my soul and I can feel the bloodlust rising as the creature stays deathly calm. It’s controlling my mind, and I can’t resist it, no matter how hard I try.

“We looked to see how your mind had changed when we kidnapped you in America, using virtual reality technology to map what had been altered during your regression. It was easy to lead you where we wanted with Ferro making you and your friends see what you wanted to see, based on memories you had locked away within your mind.”

I’m strugglin’, but against this kind of power I don’t think I can win. I gotta push its voice out of my head and concentrate on fightin’ it.

“It was almost too easy to get what we wanted and then when you were at the Weapon X complex, we performed a detailed scan of your brainwaves so Ferro could get in to your head with ease. He didn’t realise he was giving away what I needed to get to you as well. This was all arranged around you from the moment Tyger Tiger was poisoned by your old enemy Geist who only needed a telepathic nudge to push him in the right direction. The Juggernaut was an unexpected interference but we adapted things. My valiant enemy I have prepared for this moment for many years. You did not and you do not have a chance.”

The thing is speaking to me but all I can do is taste the souls it’s devoured, the corruption it’s seeded out there and the dying all around me. Then it holds me by the jaw and I feel myself smile as it does.

“Now watch as the city you desire for your own burns around you, and revel in the death.”

The words resonate in my soul and I know one thing and one thing only – that I’m gonna enjoy every moment of this.

The warehouse was deserted when they arrived. All except for the young woman lying battered and broken in the middle of the main storage area, a single spotlight shining down on her, highlighting the red pool beneath her.

“Jessica!” whispered Yukio and Elektra closed her eyes a moment, her emotional calm being threatened by the severity of what had been done to their friend, and they ran across to see what they could do, if she was still alive. There was a gag around her mouth, which held a hard rock in place, to prevent her screams

“I’m sorry,” mumbled Jessica as they removed the gag, as they gently moved her, turning her face to the light. She was badly scarred; her face cut and bruised and her eyes were empty and bleeding. The nails on her fingers and toes had been ripped out, dislocating the joints of the digits as the thin strips had been torn from their embedding.

However that was not the worst, of what had been done. Each hand was missing the middle finger, which had been severed and was lying in the blood and her kneecaps were soft, as if they’d been hit with something large and heavy. After the Hand had finished abusing her they’d left her blinded, deformed, crippled and stripped of her looks.

“Shush,” said Yukio, holding Jessica’s head to her bosom, comforting the woman, wishing she could take away the pain she was feeling.

“They smashed my legs but I didn’t tell,” said Jessica, softly as if in a trace. “But then they took out the saw and began to hack off my fingers. I can still hear the bones splintering, the blood spurting up. They were going to do the same to my toes, and I couldn’t hold out anymore. I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

“They took her eyes after they got what they wanted,” mouthed Elektra, and Yukio nodded. This was what the Hand did to all traitors, no matter whose side they were on, or who they’d betrayed. Yukio gave Jessica a nerve pinch and she dropped in to unconsciousness.

“Let’s get her back to the Princess,” said Yukio and both she and Elektra knew that Logan would never forgive himself for this when he saw what had happened to her, or rest until you did this to her was dead. They found some materials for a makeshift stretcher and hoped that they could get to safety but as they made their way outside, Morrow and some others confronted them.

“What are you doing here?” hissed Yukio.

“The Hand said there was a traitor here, and we needed to find out who,” said Morrow. “Don’t look at me like that, Yukio. We both know the methods the Hand employ.” Then he saw Jessica. “God, no.” He motioned and the people surrounded her and took her from Yukio and Elektra. “Come with me to my place,” he said. “This was uncalled for, even now in Madripoor, this was uncalled for.”

Grateful for the assistance and the knowledge that Jessica would get some of the help she desperately needed, they followed, wondering how Logan was getting on and hoping that he returned soon enough and put an end to this once and for all.

“No,” cried Ferro as Marcus gained the advantage, the perversion of the Alshra affecting them both and making Marcus give way to the anger he felt at himself for turning down Xavier coupled with the desire to prove the words Bishop has spoken false. Psi-Borg knew he was going to lose, and swallowed his pride knowing he only had one chance left. “Neuri, help me.”

“Not this time, Ferro” said the Neuri with an evil smile as he walked out, followed by Logan and Viper. “You made your own bed. Die in it.” Then the three of them walked down towards the town, transported through a portal created by the Neuri as he created a gash in the Alshra.

Ferro looked at Marcus who was coming towards him and marshalled himself for the assault. Then he felt a tug, as the astral plane shook.

“What are you doing?” asked Ferro, unable to move or utilise his powers in any way.

“I’m taking the knowledge of psychic surgery from your head. Gotta few things for you. I saw what you did to those people at the Weapon X project in your mind. I saw how much you enjoyed it. Enjoy this.”

Marcus reached in to his mind, and started to psionically restructure Ferro’s memories, much in the way Ferro had altered the memories of the Weapon X candidates. However as Marcus did it, he closed the door behind him, cutting off the access Ferro had to the knowledge of his mutant powers.

Ferro screamed as he felt his mind being shredded by the unskilled work of Marcus. Ferro’s surgery was akin to using a fine laser, while Marcus was akin to using a chainsaw. When Marcus had finished, Ferro was nothing more than a dribbling wreck, his mind ravaged and his memories in turmoil.

“Huh,” said Marcus as he looked at his vanquished enemy and wondered what Logan had been so worried about. Then he fell to the floor, exhausted and wondering why Logan had been walking with that creature he had been going in there to kill…

“Isn’t it glorious?” the Neuri says. “This is how it should be, primal, chaotic, perfection.”

“You said it, bub.” I said I was going to enjoy this and I am. The look on his face is a sight.

“What is this?” he demands of me.

“Yer info’s out of date. My head was altered further a few months back. Ever here of the Crimson Dawn?” From the look in his eye he does. “That fixed up a lot of things that were out of whack in my head. Explained a lot of things that were wrong.”

“Impossible!”

“You’d think.”

~SCHLUKT!~

“Except, there are people who’ve been planning stuff for me a lot longer than you have, bub.”

I pull the Honour Sword out, as it prepares to attack me via the Alshra again. It’s got the raw power from all the souls and stuff its been using, but I’m faster and its still surprised I’m not under its control and I run it through with the sword and it screams in pain and disbelief.

I took a leaf out of its book and used the beast within me to fool it. It saw the things I keep hidden away within me, the part of me that’s more animal than man. The part that my healin’ factor keeps down, that makes sure I don’t go through the feral regression again. Using the power of the Alshra to keep me normal, I loosed the beast and the healin’ factor did what it could.

Viper’s poison’s outta my system, and I could feel the claws in my arm startin’ to grow back. However I gotta go back to my normal levels now that the Alshra is being used against me and I can’t use it to keep the beast at bay. I don’t need it, because I’m a man and there’s no way am I lettin’ this thing ruin my memory of the Alshra and take my friends away from me. Besides Elektra and me have things to talk about.

The static fades from my mind and I know I’ve hurt it, and it’s as if I’m replaying the battle I had with its mate all those years back. I’ve hurt it bad with the thrust. The Sword affected Experiment X so it makes sense this thing would be too. Once again Mariko’s gift has saved my life, and I know I can never repay her and probably never get chance either.

“Okay, sucker, you took yer best shot. Now it’s my turn.” I attack, no quarter asked none given. This one’s for Davey and his mission, for Tyger and her loyalty, love and friendship and what it cost her, for loss of time with Silver Fox, for the love I have for Mariko, for Ferro’s killin’ of Hines, for their abuse of the memory of Mastodon, for the the damn project, for everything that’s been thrown at me and I’ve come through alive, sometimes battered and broken, but still goin’.

I’m the best there is at what I do, and what I do is survive.

By the time I’ve given the Neuri a taste of what it is that keeps me going, its dyin’. The battle’s over, the war is won.

“Not… yet…” says the Neuri. “You may have won… but you’ll never… be the best… again.” The sky grows dark as it uses the last of its power to access the Alshra. “You are connected… to the Alshra, Logan… and thus it will destroy you…”

The sparklin’ of my healin’ factor intensifies so much that it hurts and I wince as the cells in my body start to heal and regenerate, glowing red as it does, then the glow fades as the Neuri dies.

The pain subsides, but I can feel something’s wrong.

It did something to me, and I gotta feelin’ that it’s bad. I gotta check with Xavier, see what’s been altered, but right now I gotta end this war before anyone else dies.

“Call ’em off, Viper.” We’re outside the Princess Bar. The fighting crowds parted as we came down the main street and now it seems as if everyone’s on tenterhooks, but it’s only here. The fightin’s still goin’ on everywhere else.

Yukio nods at me from the bar and I can sense Elektra inside as well. Marcus was about but he’s faded in to the background. It’s what he wanted and he has a lot to think about. We all do. I give my wife a nudge, promptin’ her to get on with it.

“Forces of HYDRA!” she calls out and across the city a calm falls as the forces of HYDRA await the command of their leader. Then I see it in her eyes. She’s been got at. There’s a look in her eye, the same as when Ferro did his work on Sabretooth when he had him kill Silver Fox. She looks at me and smiles knowin’ I know what she’s gonna say and that there’s nothin’ I can do.

“Forces of HYDRA. Wipe these fools out, and show them why HYDRA is a force to be feared!”

“You treacherous bitch!” cries Yukio, coming forward as if to strike her but before she could get close a single shot rings out and Viper looks down, to where a small patch of red is growing larger.

“VIPER!” I call in spite of myself. After all she is still my wife and I run to catch her as she falls.

“Kill them all,” she says, with her dying breath, then she’s gone and the figthin starts again.

“HALT!” commands a voice and the HYDRA forces suddenly stop as quickly as they started again There’s no doubt as to who this can be, the costume alone give it away.

“You must be the Supreme Hydra,” I say.

“And you are the X-Man Wolverine,” he responds. “This war is over. It should never have begun, but I have been busy elsewhere.”

“Why kill her?” I ask. “You could have just ended this. There was no need for her to die.”

“She had become corrupted, tainted by the mad Ferro. She was no longer working towards the cause, and therefore she had betrayed us. All I needed was verbal confirmation before execution.”

“Sonuva…”

~SHCLUKT~

The claws come out and pain surges through me, but he holds his hand up before I can recover and attack.

“WAIT!” he commands and I stop, feeling the power of his voice take hold. He’s gotta to have some kind of power to do that. Then he releases me. “I could take control of you easily, but I owe you a blood debt. I will remove all HYDRA forces from Madripoor. Is this acceptable?”

“I gotta choice?”

“It depends on how smart you are. There’s been enough killing on both sides.”

“Agreed,” I answer retracting my claws. “Now it’s over.” He nods and walks away, the forces of HYDRA leaving with him.

With HYDRA gone, all we have to do is fix things here. I see Elektra looking at me and I know that we have to have a long talk.

If we’ve won, why do my instincts scream at me that we’ve lost?

NEXT ISSUE: The aftermath of the war. Secrets are revealed, questions are answered and Logan and Elektra have the future to discuss. The dust is clearing but can things ever be the same again?