The Wolverine crouched, holding up both clenched fists, razor-sharp adamantium claws extended. There was an emptiness in his eyes—no compassion, no understanding, no humanity.

Only the animal. Only rage.

He snarled as he sized up his opponent, out here in the forests somewhere along the Canadian border. A beast who towered over him by a good amount. The brute facing the Wolverine had green skin covering bulging muscles, and emerald eyes that held recognition of the Wolverine. His teeth were gritted and he cracked his knuckles.

“Heard you were dead, short-stuff,” said the Hulk, his voice a low rumble as he chuckled. “You come to give me shit, too?”

The Wolverine cried out and pounced. It was a fast attack and one the Hulk didn’t anticipate. Claws tore through the Hulk’s skin as the Wolverine made his pass, leaping across and slicing into the beast’s chest.

The Hulk was stunned, looking down at the six cuts that stretched across his chest, with bright green blood leaking from the wounds. But almost as quickly as the Wolverine had inflicted them, the wounds had already clotted. Within another moment, they were just scratches, quickly fading.

“There’s somethin’ different about you,” said the Hulk, fixing his gaze on the Wolverine. “Somethin’…unnatural.”

The Wolverine jumped again. But this time, the Hulk was ready. He grabbed the Wolverine’s arms and slammed him against a tree. The Wolverine dropped to the ground and rolled, quickly getting back to his feet.

“You ain’t the only one who’s been through some changes,” said the Hulk. “Banner’s gone, so now you just got me to deal with!”

With interlocking hands, the Hulk raised both arms and slammed his fists on the ground. The result was a shockwave and the Wolverine couldn’t maintain balance. In the struggle to remain on sure footing, the Hulk charged into him.

The Wolverine slashed, but it was futile as the Hulk grabbed him and the two of them went tumbling off the edge of a cliff. They plummeted, falling to the water below, a massive splash disrupting the serene silence of nature.

The Hulk’s head burst through the surface of the water and he wiped his eyes. He looked from side to side, but saw no trace of his opponent. He knew, though. Logan wasn’t one to run from a fight. He was still here, somewhere.

“C’mon out, Logan! You started this shit, an’ now yer gonna finish it!”

The Hulk trudged through the water, scanning. Still nothing. He walked towards the shore and stepped out.

“Once I find you, yer gonna wish you stayed dead, you little bastard.”

SNIKT

The Hulk looked up to the treetops. And then he saw the Wolverine there. And the jade giant grinned. He beckoned with a large finger. “How ’bout we see which of us is more savage now?”

The Wolverine jumped.

AFTER DEATH

Part V

By Dino Pollard

“You’re sure he would come this way?” asked Kitty Pryde as they hiked through the forest.

“Positive.” John Wraith paused in front of her, just long enough to remove his hat and fan himself with it. “Let’s take a rest for a minute.”

Kitty came up behind him and removed her backpack, sitting on a rock and taking a sip from her canteen. “What makes you so sure?”

“Right now, you gotta think of Logan like you would an animal.” Wraith sat on another rock across from Kitty and set his hat down on the ground in front of his feet. He removed his sunglasses and wiped the sweat from his bald head with a handkerchief. “For the most part, animals tend to stay away from populated areas. They’ll wander in every now and then, but they’d rather keep to nature.”

“Which explains why we’re hiking.” Kitty took out her smartphone. “According to this map, it looks like we’re heading north.”

Wraith nodded. “He went to your school first, that’s home to him. Didn’t go well, so he’ll retreat to familiar ground.”

“Meaning back to Canada?”

“Seems likely.”

“I still don’t understand how this could happen,” said Kitty. “The way he was back at the Institute, Logan was so far beyond human. I’ve seen him in feral states before. When his body rejected Genesis’ attempt to re-bond his skeleton with adamantium, he was barely human. But even then, there was something of the old Logan inside. This time, he’s like…”

Kitty stopped, trying to find the words. Wraith took a sip from his canteen, then put his hat back on.

“Like what?” he asked.

She looked up at him. “Like an empty vessel. And Cerebra unable to find him? That’s really bizarre.”

“It’s all connected…somehow…” said Wraith. He did a quick ammunition check on his weapons and then stood. “Let’s get back to it.”

Madripoor
Lowtown

After disembarking from the ship, Amiko led Daken through the streets of Lowtown. Daken’s nose was assaulted by a variety of smells—some of them of the local delicacies of the area, sold from food stalls lining the streets. But those pleasant scents were sharply contrasted by the unwashed masses that lined the street and the stench of factories off in the distance.

“Welcome to Madripoor,” said Amiko. “Stay on alert.”

“And why’s that?”

“Because this place is like A Tale of Two Cities and right now, we’re in Lowtown. Here, you could get mugged and then when you go tell a cop afterwards, he’ll beat the shit out of you for not having the cash to bribe him for help.”

Daken smirked. “I think I might like it here.”

“Like father, like son,” said Amiko. “The locator spell pinned Madripoor as Izo’s location. Problem is, Madripoor may be a small country, but it’s still a big place if you’re only looking for one man. We gotta ask some questions.”

They continued through the streets in silence until finally, Amiko stopped in front of one of the bars. She stared up at the sign, her eyes fixed on it, and as Daken caught up to her, he was studying her face.

Or more accurately, studying the sadness in her face. He followed her gaze up to the sign and saw it read THE PRINCESS BAR.

“What is it?” he asked.

“This was Logan’s bar,” she said.

“You think we’ll find some answers there?”

Amiko took a deep breath. She was evidently ambivalent about going further. But then she nodded. “As good a place to start as any…”

She pushed through the doors and Daken followed behind. On the outside, Amiko looked like an innocent, Japanese teenage girl, someone who would be insane to go into a place like this. But she walked past the fighting patrons and stepped over people who were passed-out drunk on the ground as if none of this was unusual for her.

Amiko took a seat at the bar and Daken beside her. The bartender approached, eyeing the two of them.

“You’re a little young to be in here, sweetheart,” he said.

Amiko drew a dagger and twirled it between her fingers, then slammed the tip right into the counter. The bartender watched with a sly smile on his face.

“Ahh right…you.” He chuckled. “What’ll you have?”

“Two beers,” said Amiko.

“Comin’ right up.” The bartender picked up a fresh mug and started to fill it from the tap.

“And whatever you know about a man named Izo,” said Daken.

The bartender released the tap and looked up at Daken, narrowing his eyes. “What’s that name to you?”

“He’s the only reason I’m sitting in this rathole,” said Daken. “Tell me where to find him.”

The bartender scoffed and finished filling the mug. He placed it in front of Amiko. Then he stepped over to Daken, staring the man in the face. Daken returned the stare just as hard.

“You think I’m scared of some punk who don’t know his place?” The bartender’s hand moved behind the bar.

Daken gave no indication that he was following the movements carefully, but he monitored them as well as he could without breaking the bartender’s stare.

“Izo’s not a man you come in here askin’ about,” said the bartender.

“How about everyone just take a breather?” asked Amiko.

“Sorry, this bastard’s got it coming!” The bartender pulled a shotgun from underneath the bar and raised it, pointing both barrels at Daken.

The movement silenced everyone in the bar—all the fights going on around them, all the drinking, and now all eyes were on Daken. He didn’t seem the least bit bothered, just began to laugh.

“What’s so funny, asshole?” asked the bartender.

“That you think you can stand up to me.”

Daken grabbed the barrel and pushed the gun to the side just as the bartender pulled the trigger. Buckshot harmlessly struck the door to the kitchen. In a second, Daken had leapt on the bar and yanked the gun away, slamming the butt against the bartender’s head.

He jumped behind the counter and bashed the bartender’s head on the bar. Before the bartender could try and raise his head off, there was a sickening sound.

SCHLUCKT

Three bone claws were embedded in the counter just mere inches from the bartender’s face. Claws that had emerged from Daken’s own hand.

“Now you wanna answer my question?” asked Daken.

Silence and then the sound of clapping. Daken looked up and saw two figures rise from one of the tables in a dimly lit section of the bar. They stepped closer, moving into the light. One of them was tall and broad-shouldered, with dark hair, a full beard, and a trench coat. His partner was tall and lanky, almost emaciated. He had long, white hair tied in a ponytail and skin the color of chalk, with sunglasses and dressed all in leather.

“Oh shit…” muttered Amiko.

“Been a long time since I’ve seen claws like that,” said the bearded man. “Ain’t it been awhile since we’ve seen claws like that, Bloodscream?”

“Oh yes, Roughouse,” said the pale man with a grin revealing fangs. “Quite long indeed.”

The Hulk’s fist connected with the Wolverine as he pounced, knocking him through several trees. The Hulk charged through the forest, knocking down anything that got in his path. And when he reached where Logan should have landed, he found nothing.

Then, he was stabbed in the back—literally.

The Hulk flailed and roared as he felt the Wolverine’s claws dig into his shoulder blades. The Wolverine clung to his back, the claws giving him the perfect way to maintain a firm grip despite the flailing.

Powerful, green legs coiled and the two of them shot straight up in the air. With the Hulk’s strength, they went up a good few miles. And after they reached the apex, the Hulk turned so his back was facing the ground.

They plummeted.

THOOM

The ground shook and the center of the forest now sported a massive crater. Silence lingered, the Hulk lying at the center of that crater. Finally, his eyes opened and he pulled himself to his feet. The Hulk looked down at his opponent.

The Wolverine lay there on the ground, his body bruised, eyes shut. Not breathing.

The Hulk smirked and dusted off his hands. “Don’t say I didn’t warn ya, little man.”

He climbed out of the crater. But before he could take a few more steps, he heard a low growl. The Hulk rolled his eyes and turned around. “You gotta be kidding me!”

The Wolverine sprung from the crater, snarling. He drove both sets of claws into the Hulk’s chest.

Madripoor

Daken sprung out from behind the bar and landed on the counter. He extended both sets of claws as he fixed his stare on Roughouse and Bloodscream. Amiko moved into a stance herself, drawing her katana and holding it at the ready.

“You know these assholes?” asked Daken.

“By reputation. Roughouse and Bloodscream, used to be enforcers for a corrupt general,” said Amiko. “Surprised to see the two of you back together.”

“Things change.” Roughouse pointed at Daken. “I knew a guy once had claws like those. Looked kinda similar to you, too. You know a man named Logan?”

“He was my father,” said Daken.

“Our father,” added Amiko.

Bloodscream slid his sunglasses down the bridge of his nose. He and Roughouse exchanged glances and then both smiled.

“My, my, my. Dear Roughouse, we have the children of Wolverine here,” said Bloodscream.

“We didn’t get t’ kill him, so guess we’ll have to make do with you!”

Roughouse charged at the bar and Daken pounced, flipping over his head just as Roughouse’s fist smashed through it. Tearing loose a chunk of wood, Roughouse swung it at Daken, who turned it to splinters with his claws.

Bloodscream’s fingers elongated into razor-sharp talons. He sprung at Amiko, who dodged and parried his strikes with her sword.

Daken rolled to avoid another of Roughouse’s hammer-like blows. He sprung back, his bone claws slicing into Roughouse’s back. The Asgardian troll growled and spun, grabbing Daken’s wrist when he tried to strike again.

“Away with you!” Roughouse hurled Daken across the bar and he slammed into Amiko, the two of them rolling on the ground.

Daken got off Amiko and back to his feet. He found Roughouse towering over him with Bloodscream’s elongated jaw in a massive grin. But as the two closed in, Daken saw a figure move through the shadows. Rapidly.

A flash of steel.

Bloodscream’s entire body froze and the smile instantly vanished from his face. A line of red appeared across his throat and his head teetered before falling off his neck and landing at Amiko’s feet.

“Oh, gross!” She kicked the head away, especially when it looked at her and snarled.

Roughouse watched his partner’s body collapse and spun to see who it was. He took a few steps closer, narrowing his eyes, surveying the bar. Everyone else had made themselves scarce, including the bartender. So now who was left?

Roughouse caught his breath and felt a sharp pain in both his back and chest. He looked down and saw he’d been run through with a katana. Spinning, Roughouse tried to strike whoever had done it, but all he hit was air.

A few feet away, there stood a short, elderly Japanese man, with one sword in his hand. His eyes were completely white and he narrowed them at Roughouse.

“Take your friend and get out of here,” said the old man. “Or I’ll show you suffering like you’ve never experienced.

Roughouse was tempted to call the old man’s bluff. But instead, he reached behind his back and pulled the sword out, tossing it on the ground. He limped over to Bloodscream, whose body had managed to crawl across to where his head was kicked and reattach it.

“Don’t think this is finished, children of Logan,” said Bloodscream. “We shall meet again.”

“Counting on it,” said Daken.

Roughouse and Bloodscream made their exit and Daken helped Amiko back to her feet. They both looked at the old man, who picked up the sword he’d stabbed Roughouse with and cleaned the blade.

“Thanks for the save,” said Daken.

“Was the least I could do,” said the old man. “After all, I understand I’m the reason you were even sitting here in the first place.”

Daken blinked. “Izo?!”

The Hulk gritted his teeth and wrapped his hands around the Wolverine’s arms. He pulled the claws from his chest and slammed the Wolverine on the ground, then countered with several blows designed to pound the feral mutant into the earth.

“WHY! WON’T! YOU! DIE?!”

The Wolverine rolled away and got back to his feet. He roared again and jumped, sliding between the Hulk’s legs. Now behind, the Wolverine sliced through the Hulk’s achilles tendon, and the brute fell to a knee.

“Oh, you are so gonna pay for that, you little shit!”

The Wolverine came around to the front of the Hulk and raised his claws, prepared to slice them right through the Hulk’s neck.

But he didn’t strike.

Instead, he looked around, his eyes scanning the treetops. The Wolverine sniffed and he turned away from the green brute. Much to the Hulk’s surprise.

“What? You goin’ soft on me now, midget?”

The Wolverine growled and then the Hulk saw what his opponent smelled. Ninja. Clad in crimson uniforms. Hundreds of them descending from the treets.

The Hand.

To be concluded…