[User]
<image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image>
Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
The Last Knights of Wundagore: Part One
“Gather ‘round, younglings, all you pups and you chicks, all you cubs and you foals. Let your tale-weaver spin you a saga you’ve heard a hundred times or more,” says Prosimia the storyteller.
Prosimia proceeds to tell the tale of the High Evolutionary, the brilliant geneticist revered as a god by the New Men. In this tale, the High Evolutionary retreats to his sanctuary, Mount Wundagore, where he evolves animals into civilized, conscious beings. He trains the best of these New Men to be his Knights of Wundagore, defenders of the New Men. However, the High Evolutionary also creates an unruly monster of great power known as Man-Beast. This creation rebels against its master, banishes him from Wundagore, and establishes his own army. His efforts are thwarted by the emergence of two courageous heroes: Lady Shadra and her squire Gulo. With the help of Thor, they defeat Man-Beast and exile him in space. After this war, the High Evolutionary and his knights leave Wundagore for the stars, feeling they have outgrown the Earth.
“And should you look up into the sky for their return, younglings,” Prosimia concludes, “…wish on the brightest twinkling point in the heavens, and one day the roar of the rockets shall fill your ears…”
Outside, a low-flying jet soars over a secluded mountain village, shaking its very foundations with its massive engines. The children of the New Men, who have gathered in the town hall to hear this story, look up at the storyteller with terrified expressions on their faces. “Is that them? Is that Shadra and Gulo?” one of the children asks. “Don’t fool us, Prosimia – did you make that happen? Is that part of your story?” another child asks the storyteller.
Prosimia the tale-weaver decides to incorporate the strange rumbling into his story, and tells the children that the noise was probably Shadra and Gulo coming to punish those who have disobeyed their matron, Lady Bova. Lady Bova, however, takes the noise seriously, and tells Prosimia to quit scaring the children. She orders him to hide the children in the bunkers.
Outside, the Blackbird makes a rough landing on rocky ledge. The doors open, and an angry Wolverine storms out. He tells his protégé, Kitty Pryde, that this will be the last time she gets to land the jet. Kitty fails to see the problem, as they did manage to exit the jet in one piece.
As soon as they step out onto the soil, Kitty sights a couple of men approaching in the distance. She comments that it usually takes much longer for the locals to confront them with their pitchforks and torches.
Wolverine addresses the men in German when they arrive. He tells them that he and Kitty are merely passing through and do not want to be bothered. They advise Wolverine and Kitty not go any further, as they will soon enter the forbidden territory of the Russoff estate! They add that no man has ever returned from the shadow of Mount Wundagore.
Wolverine thanks them for the tip, but he and Kitty head toward the mountain anyway. As they leave, the two locals conspire to strip any salvageable materials they can from the jet; they do not expect its owners to ever return.
Once they get out of an earshot, Kitty comments that Wolverine withheld the true reason behind their excursion to Transia. Wolverine responds that he did not want to take the time to explain their mission. After all, that would require him to explain about the X-Men, the disappearance of their greatest foe, Magneto, and how Professor X has been nervously awaiting his inevitable reemergence. By checking in on Magneto’s former hideouts, Professor X hopes to thwart Magneto’s schemes before they cause any more damage.
Suddenly, they spot a strange light emanating from the far side of Mount Wundagore. Kitty speculates that the light may be the odd electromagnetic signal that Cerebro detected. As they press onward, they approach a seemingly abandoned mountain town. Wolverine gives the air a good sniff and detects several scents: wood-burning ovens, freshly oiled machinery, and a plethora of animal smells.
Unbeknownst to either of the X-Men, a pair of flycycles quickly approach from behind. Wolverine turns just in time to see the machines bearing down on him and Kitty. He dives towards his teammate and pushes her out of the way just as the men on the flycycles strike. While Kitty recovers, Wolverine lunges at one of the flying machines and locks onto it with a claw. He swings himself on board and kicks off its driver, effectively commandeering the vehicle for his own use. He begins chasing the other rider, but his complete lack of experience makes itself evident. He swerves first into some coniferous branches, gets a face full of needles, and then steers headlong into a house and crashes through the window.
The rider turns around and faces Kitty. She readies herself, phases, and dives through the approaching machinery with finesse. On her way out, she solidifies her hand and removes the machine’s circuitry, shorting it out. The flycycle crashes to the ground.
A furious Wolverine emerges from the house and assaults the downed rider. He slashes off the rider’s helmet, revealing a scared, teenage human/rhinoceros hybrid. “We weren’t gonna hurt you,” the frightened boy says as tears well up in his eyes. “We just wanted – to scare you away…”
Kitty comes from behind, grabs Logan by his arm, and pulls him off the boy. She pleads with him to stop, but Wolverine knocks her hand away and lashes out at her. “Watch the hands, Suburbia,” he snarls. “And the mouth.” He instantly regrets his harsh words. Realizing he is merely mad at himself for losing control of his temper. I gotta watch my temper, or somebody – somebody I care about – is gonna get hurt one o’ these days.
Nearby, Lady Bova and Prosimia watch the X-Men from beneath a trap-door. Prosimia comments that these new warriors must be Lady Shadra and Squire Gulo, just as their prophecy predicted. Bova does not believe him at first, but after noting similarities between their costumes and the one worn by their savior Thor, she agrees that he may be correct. They hesitantly emerge from the cellar and approach the X-Men. Bova apologizes for having the New Men attack them, and then asks if they are “heroes.” Wolverine makes a snide remark, and Bova continues. She informs them that their fellow New Men have been rapidly disappearing from town, and these disappearances have coincided with the strange light emanating from Mount Wundagore.
“You try checking it out yourself first, Bessie?” Wolverine asks.
“Bova,” she corrects. “Indeed I did…last night I mustered up the courage as best I could and ventured into the mountain as far as our codes allow…as far as one not knighted may!” She explains that she saw a caped figure levitating large pieces of machinery inside the caverns using nothing but his mind.
Wolverine deduces that this must be Magneto. He orders Kitty to return to the Blackbird and radio the other X-Men while he follows Bova to Magneto’s lair. He even orders Kitty to wait in the Blackbird for the other X-Men to arrive. Kitty argues that she should be able to accompany him, but Wolverine gets in her face and barks that he is tired of her questioning his orders all the time. Kitty concedes the argument, but certainly isn’t happy about it.
Bova leads Wolverine into a set of tunnels that connect her village to Mount Wundagore. They come across some of the remnants of the High Evolutionary’s inventions, including the Round Table of the Knights of Wundagore. In the center of this table rests a broadsword sheathed in a stone. Bova shows Wolverine one of the carvings on the wooden table that depicts Squire Gulo. She tells him that Wolverine reminds Prosimia of Gulo, who, incidentally, evolved from a wolverine.
Logan does not quite know whether to take this as a compliment or an insult. Before he has a chance to decide, a reptilian man bursts into the room and attacks both Wolverine and Bova. While the creature reaches for Wolverine’s throat, Bova comments that she recognizes him; it is the missing villager Kingii. Kingii spits a wad of acid onto Wolverine’s face, enraging him even further. Logan lashes out in retaliation. As soon as Kingii recovers, he rushes toward the sword jutting from the round table. Wolverine wipes the spit out of his eyes and lunges at the sword, grabbing it a moment before Kingii has a chance to take it for his own.
Suddenly, an alarm sounds, capturing the attention of everyone on the room. They look around in a state of confusion until a bright light erupts from the table. The High Evolutionary appears above the table and his voice booms across the room. “Who summons the High Evolutionary?” he asks.
Meanwhile, Kitty approaches the Blackbird. Wolverine thinks he’s so wise and everything just ‘cause he’s, like, a million years old… she mutters to herself as she nears the jet. However, when she finally reaches it, she sees several injured men strewn on the ground, as well as boxes of equipment that were taken from the Blackbird. She recognizes them as the hunters from earlier, and deduces that the automatic defenses must have stopped most of them. However, she does notice that their communications radio is missing, meaning that she and Wolverine will not receive any backup. Unbeknownst to Kitty, the lemur-like Prosimia observes her from a nearby tree-branch.
Back in the tunnels, the High Evolutionary finishes de-evolving Kingii into a small, standard-sized lizard. He then reprimands Bova for drawing the Sword of Summoning. Wolverine interjects and informs him that he was the one who drew the blade. The High Evolutionary turns to him and sizes him up. “One of the weasel folk, eh?” he asks. Wolverine sneers at this, but the High Evolutionary ignores him and continues speaking. He acknowledges Bova’s dilemma, and agrees to let Wolverine serve the role normally filled by the Knights of Wundagore. “Though I did not make this weasel man, I sense within him the strength of spirit that mark all my knights, save for one minor flaw…a tendency toward berserker fits unbefitting to the code of chivalry!” The High Evolutionary decides to remove this supposed kink from Wolverine’s genetic code, and does so with a mere gesture of his hand. Wolverine comments that he feels no different, but when the High Evolutionary orders him to kneel and be knighted, he immediately agrees. Kingii, now a lizard of regular size, sneaks away in the background.
Outside this chamber, Kitty walks through the tunnels in search of her teammate. Prosimia calls to her from a dark laboratory and lures her inside. “Tell me something, little kitten…do you tire of the way the weasel man treats you?” he asks with a sly expression on his face.
Kitty is delighted to get a little sympathy from someone. “Even the manimals can see it!” she responds, while walking directly onto a large, glowing platform. “He never trusts me with anything!”
Prosimia replies that he can help her, just as she will help him bring his stories to life. With that, he flips a switch with his striped lemur tail and activates the machinery. It zaps Kitty where she stands.
Up ahead in the tunnels, Wolverine, Bova and the High Evolutionary finally approach the source of the electromagnetic anomaly. Logan peers into the vast, underground laboratory and sees several New Men trapped in containment chambers. They chambers are all filled with a green fluid, and the unconscious New Men breathe through oxygen masks. In the center of the room stands a man in a fuchsia cloak. Wolverine tells Bova that these must be the missing villagers, but notes that the man in the center of the room certainly does not look like Magneto.
The High Evolutionary concurs, but adds that this villain is someone far worse than Magneto; it is his own rebellious creation, Man-Beast!
Suddenly, someone calls out Logan’s name from behind. He turns and sees Kitty Pryde, but she is barely recognizable, having been transformed into a feline/human hybrid. With tears in her eyes and a terrified expression on her face, she begs Logan for help.


[User]
<image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image>
Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
The Last Knights of Wundagore: Part Two
Man-Beast has just released his hyper-evolved New Men on The High Evolutionary, Wolverine, Lady Bova, and Kitty Pryde. As these feral New Men charge across the lab toward their prey, Wolverine asks the High Evolutionary if he can de-evolve the snarling monsters. The High Evolutionary refuses. “I have not yet decided which side is worthy of my support.”
Wolverine is shocked; he is in no position to fight himself, because moments earlier, the High Evolutionary removed the berserker tendencies from his genetic code. Kitty, meanwhile, was recently transformed by Prosimia into a feline/human hybrid, and now lies unconscious in Wolverine’s arms. If the High Evolutionary will not defend them, they are doomed.
The High Evolutionary does not budge. While he created the New Men to be chivalrous defenders of Wundagore, he now questions whether that was the right thing to do from an evolutionary standpoint. Now, his creations have the chance to fight for their lives and determine which is truly worthy of existing.
Wolverine asks if they are all just a bunch of lab rats, then. “You think you’re so high-falutin’ evolved – but I’d be ashamed to be a member of the same species as you,” Wolverine tells him. Lady Bova interrupts and reminds Wolverine they must do something to defend the New Men village. “Don’t worry, Bessie. I’ll take care of ya,” he responds. “I’m the best at what I do. And what I do is…is…
“…RUN!” Dropping the unconscious Kitty on the ground, Wolverine takes off running toward the exit like a frightened child. Shocked, Bova scoops up the abandoned teenager in her arms. Promisia appears at this moment and instructs Bova to follow him to safety. It is fortunate he showed up when he did, Bova tells him as they flee. Despite Wolverine’s apparent courage, he abandoned them at the first sign of trouble. Bova comments on young Kitty’s sudden feline appearance and ponders whether she was altered by the High Evolutionary’s machinery.
“Perhaps – but who could have possibly done such a thing? Tee-hee,” Prosimia snickers. Bova recognizes his tone and understands immediately that it was actually Prosimia who augmented the young girl. Prosimia defends himself; this girl will be the warrior of legend who saves them from the menace of Man-Beast. He leads Bova to the Knightly Armory and, as soon as Kitty wakes up, outfits her with the legendary armor of Lady Shadra!
“My…word,” Bova says upon witnessing Kitty dressed up in the feline body armor. “The resemblance is…uncanny!” Kitty, however, has her doubts. Just because she is dressed like a warrior does not actually make her a warrior. Prosimia casts her doubts aside; he has seen the true warrior inside of her; this weaponry only enhances that essence.
Kitty is dumbfounded. He… has faith in me, she thinks, …i>in exactly the same way Wolverine doesn’t. Suddenly, the Man-Beast’s army pours into the chamber. Kitty refuses to budge. She lifts her shield, extends her lance, and tells Prosimia and Bova to hide behind her.
 The first wave of attackers falls swiftly to Kitty’s battle prowess. In addition to her invaluable phasing ability, the cat-like Kitty now commands heightened animal senses. Time seems to slow down for her, allowing her to calculate and execute each move with finesse. However, after taking out the first few foes, she realizes there are too many of them to defeat all at once. She orders Prosimia to take her and Bova to the village; from there, they can fight the attackers and protect the helpless New Men.
The High Evolutionary, meanwhile, approaches Man-Beast at his control station. He asks his rebellious creation why he so persistently creates death and destruction. Is there no peace for him outside of the deaths of inferior specimens? Man-Beast does not respond, and instead stares intently at his computer monitor. The High Evolutionary approaches him from behind and reaches out to touch him on the shoulder; however, as soon as he makes physical contact, he realizes this Man-Beast is merely an illusion!
The true Man-Beast appears behind the High Evolutionary and levels his creator with a psionic attack. The High Evolutionary manages to turn in time to stop the next attack, and the two mighty scientists reach a psychic stalemate. The High Evolutionary asks if this was Man-Beast’s plan all along: to lure his master back to Wundagore with a manufactured crisis so he could finally slay him? Man-Beast laughs at this theory. “Your titanic narcissism disgusts me as always, father,” Man-Beast says. “Destroying you is merely a side benefit of removing that armor you wear, which will amplify my own power to that of a god!”
Elsewhere, Wolverine finally emerges from the tunnels of Mount Wundagore. He briefly rejoices at his escape, but this sensation feels unnatural to him. I>Wait…what did I just do? he asks himself. For the first time in my life I was faced with fight-or-flight, and chose door number two! He recalls how the High Evolutionary removed the berserker rages from his genetic code, but did not realize his predatory instincts went with it. No longer under the control of his rage, but still a mutant, Wolverine realizes he can control his life path for the first time ever. He can stop fighting and stop serving as a pawn in the manipulations of others…including Professor X. I could just walk down that hill…and disappear…and find some peace, he says, looking toward the serene woods in the distance.
Elsewhere, Prosimia and Bova finally reach the village and make an announcement to the New Men. They ask for a call to arms, as the armies of Man-Beast will arrive at any moment. The reluctant villagers, however, opt not to do battle. They all evolved from herbivores and scavengers, and would not even know how to fight. One individual, who resembles a turtle/human hybrid, even suggests they flee and throw themselves to the mercies of the human villagers down the mountain.
“You don’t need fangs and claws to defend your homes,” a voice calls from overhead. The villagers look up and see Lady Shadra of the Cat People soaring overhead in a flycycle. Fleeing is the old way, she says, and they are New Men! “All you need are courage and strength – guile and steel! I will show you the way!”
The sudden appearance of the New Men’s most legendary hero proves more than enough to inspire the villagers. Lady Shadra beat Man-Beast once before, after all. With her on the side of the villagers, they feel unstoppable. The once-cowardly turtle boy now shouts for his friends to join Lady Shadra in battle, and they head to the armory to prepare. Observing this from a distance, Prosimia cannot help but make a comment to Lady Bova. “My tales don’t seem so useless now, do they Bova?” he asks.
“Did I ever say they were?” she replies.
Soon enough, the ferocious armies of the Man-Beast arrive. They are met head-on in battle by Kitty Pryde, now accompanied by her own army of armored, medieval-weapon bearing New Men. Panda-men, pig-men, horse-men, and others charge at the invaders in a truly heroic defense of their homes.
Back in the laboratory, the psychic battle between Man-Beast and the High Evolutionary continues. Bright yellow light emanates from the High Evolutionary’s eyes. Man-Beast holds this psionic energy at bay with his own power, and the collision of energy produces a blinding ball of light. Man-Beast demands his master yield, but the High Evolutionary refuses. “Very well, then,” Man-Beast says. “You leave me no choice but to stain my claws with the life of he who made me!” A surge of power fires into the High Evolutionary. He hits the ground with a loud thud.
Having finally overpowered his creator, Man-Beast rejoices and declares himself “the fittest of the fittest.” He strips the High Evolutionary of his suit of armor while commenting that it is the right of the younger generation to rip the present from the hands of their elders. As he psionically removes the armor, however, he sees something unexpected: instead of a human body underneath, Man-Beast sees only beams of light. At first, the lack of a corporeal form disappoints him, as he hoped to spit into the dead face of his father. However, he theorizes that the High Evolutionary must have transcended the confines of the human body at some point and evolved into a being of pure light and thought. The prospect of undergoing a similar transformation delights Man-Beast. “In this form shall Man-Beast prey on all that lives!” he cackles.
Meanwhile, Kitty Pryde and the New Men successfully defeat Man-Beast’s entire army. Promisia, ever the enthusiast, leads his fellow villagers in a cheer praising Lady Pryde and the Last Knights of Wundagore. Their celebration is cut short by the sudden arrival of Man-Beast, now bearing the magenta armor of the High Evolutionary.
He incapacitates Kitty with a powerful shock. As he descends onto the helpless villagers, he announces that evolution has come to its end. He is the final step in the millennia-long process that served no other purpose than his eventual existence. Now that it is complete, Man-Beast says, he sees no reason to allow it to continue. “As I begin the laborious task of annihilating creation, why not start with this loathsome hybrid of mutant and New Man?” he says in reference to Kitty.
Man-Beast prepares to administer the coup de grace, in the form of another bolt from his hand. Lady Kitty’s death, however, would be incongruous with Prosimia’s tales of the New Men’s salvation by the Lady Shadra. He decides he cannot let it come to pass. Diving in front of Kitty at the last moment, he absorbs the brunt of Man-Beast’s attacks and falls to the ground. Kitty gasps and takes the dying tale-weaver in her arms. “For…as long as…your tale goes on…Lady Pryde,” Prosimia says, “…the dream can…never die.” Having uttered his last words, he shuts his eyes and finds the peace only death can bring.
A guttural, growling noise sounds from behind Kitty. Wolverine has finally arrived to do battle, and the death of the tale-weaver angers him. He extends his claws with a SNIKT! and pounces at the vile Man-Beast. Man-Beast, however, shows no fear. He believes he can stop the berserk mutant with a single, lobotomizing mind-blast. To his surprise, his psionic abilities do not affect Wolverine. As Wolverine is currently driven purely by rage and animal instincts, he has no tangible mind to influence! Man-Beast realizes he has met a predator more perfect than himself, this one born of nature, not science. With his armor destroyed by Wolverine’s ferocity and his worldview challenged, Man-Beast flees.
An attempt to chase after him is thwarted by the reappearance of the High Evolutionary himself. Now in a fiery form of pure energy, he descends onto the village and tells Wolverine he has done enough for the day. He hopes Man-Beast one day learns the value of wisdom in addition to his other qualities he possesses. Wolverine assumed the High Evolutionary was dead, based on Man-Beast’s possession of his armor. This misconception was his intent, the High Evolutionary says while psionically reassembling his armor from the fragments lying on the ground. “As I wanted to see nobility succeed without my aid, I was curious to see what savagery would do thinking it had wrested aid from me,” he says. With his suit of armor complete, he once again bears his familiar form.
He turns to face Kitty Pryde. “Misguided Prosimia’s gambit proved correct. His tale bested the Man-Beast’s terror.” He tells Kitty she fought valiantly and made an excellent knight. However, she deserves to be returned to her true form, as the initial augmentation was involuntary. With a mere gesture of his hand, the High Evolutionary restores Kitty to her human figure.
Wolverine asks when he will get his turn to be cured. The High Evolutionary responds this will not be necessary, as he never altered Wolverine’s genetic structure in the first place! “The flaw I saw in your character, Sir Wolverine, was the misery you put yourself through for being what you are,” he says. “The only instincts I see in you, ‘Logan’…are knightly ones. Remember that.”
As Wolverine and Kitty depart, she makes sure to mention her stellar performance in battle. Logan finally concedes she may be a decent fighter after all. He promises to give her more responsibility on future missions. As the duo walks down the trail toward the Blackbird, the villagers wave goodbye to their newest heroes.
Later…
“And so the Last Knights of Wundagore flew away on their Black Bird, but the model of their heroism shall stay behind forever,” a young New Man says to his classmates, reading from a story he wrote. “The end.” The other children sit outdoors and listen attentively to this story. Lady Bova congratulates the young man, Dicero, on his excellent story. She also tells Dicero that Prosimia surely appreciated his story as well, and reminds him to give the former tale-weaver his copy. “Okay!” Dicero responds.
The young lad walks over to a tree in the town square with a copy of his story in his arms. Underneath the tree rests a monument to Prosimia the tale-weaver. While Dicero lays his story at Prosimia’s grave, Lady Bova asks her students who wants to share their story next, and is met with nothing but enthusiastic responses. Prosimia’s legacy lives on.


[User]
<image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image>
Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
Citadel
‘To me, my X-Men!’ comes the telepathic call of Professor Charles Xavier at the home of the Uncanny X-Men in Westchester, New York. As Storm, Angel, Colossus and Nightcrawler rush to where Xavier is waiting for them, Xavier informs them that a day he has long dreaded has arrived at last. As the four mutants enter the meeting room, Xavier reminds them that, as they know, Wolverine came to them from the Canadian government, which was grooming him to be the leader of their national champions - Vindicator! Snowbird! Sasquatch! Northstar! Aurora! Shaman! Who are known as…Alpha Flight!
Xavier tells the X-Men that, according to Cerebro’s internal monitoring of the mansion, at approximately 0530, Logan received a call from the military base in Quebec where he recruited him from, then, without permission, Wolverine promptly commandeered the Blackbird to fly North, on a course Cerebro has calculated will lead him directly back to that base. Xavier announces that he fears Wolverine has elected to return to Alpha Flight. He points out that although Logan, like any of the X-Men, are free to come and go as they please, he has not only stolen their jet, but he has taken Kitty Pryde with him. ‘That is unacceptable!’ Xavier declares, before telling the four X-Men that he needs them to pursue and intercept Wolverine - if they are not too late already.
‘Meanwhile, heading to Canada, the X-Men’s jet streaks across the sky. And, inside it… ‘Hey, when we join Alpha Flight…will I get a better costume?’ Kitty Pryde a.k.a. Sprite asks. ‘Cause I got to tell you. This generic x-hoodie is really stifling my individuality!’. Wolverine ignores Kitty’s comment and remarks that it wasn’t so long ago the only thing he could expect from Alpha Flight was a punch in the mouth. ‘Oh. Wow. So you managed to totally tick off the other hero team you were a member of too? What a shock!’ Kitty replies sarcastically.
Wolverine explains that it is a little different in this case, and points out that Charley will be miffed for a while over this, but one day he will get over it, ‘I’m just one of a dozen X-Men’ Logan points out. ‘With Alpha Flight, though, I wasn’t just the top dog…I was first of the litter!’
(Shown with Flashback Illustrations)
Wolverine informs Kitty that Jimmy Hudson, the head of Canada’s superhuman program, Department H, found him while he and his wife, Heather, were on their honeymoon. ‘Nothing like finding a stark raving wild man with no memory at all - not even of how his bones got laced with adamantinum - to ruin a romantic evening, huh?’ Logan jokes.
Logan explains that Department H took him in, tamed him, trained him and gave him a purpose. ‘Defending the country from monsters like Wendigo - and the Hulk!’. Logan remarks that it takes one to beat one, and reveals that because of his experience, it was decided he should lead a whole team of super-Canucks that they were trying to put together. ‘And, dumb as I was back then, I thought that might actually be a good idea…’.
(Flashback, takes place between Alpha Flight Special: First Flight & Giant-Sized X-Men #1)
The Barn, near Thunder Bay, headquarters of Department H, and home to a select handful of super powered beings. ‘We got a bonafide red ball on our hands, Logan!’ James MacDonald Hudson tells his friend as they walk through the command center of Department H. Mac explains that there is a hostage situation at La Citadelle in Quebec City, and that early reports suggest that at least some of the perpetrators are superhumans. ‘Sounds like my kinda scrap!’ Logan replies. They approach a large monitor with nine headshots of super beings on it, one marked Resigned and the other K.I.A.
Mac remarks that he knows Logan likes to work solo, but the Ministry of Defense is insisting that he bring a strike team on this assignment. ‘For once I agree with them!’ Logan replies, pointing out that a hostile extraction with multiple targets needs plenty of warm bodies. He looks at the monitor and decides to take Snowbird, pointing out that, aside from him, Narya has the most operational experience. Logan decides on Aurora, and admits that she is a little flighty for his tastes, but she is a speedster and they will need to hit these jokers fast. ‘And…um…gimme the Doc. What’d they end up calling him? “Shaman”?’. Mac asks Wolverine if he is sure, pointing out that Michael Twoyoungmen has never been in the field before, he has always been the mystical advisor.
‘That so? Well, when innocent lives are at stake Jimmy…never hurts to have a little magic on your side!’. Logan jokes, before he and Mac approach Snowbird, Aurora and Shaman, who are already assembled, and Logan tells them to saddle up, and that he will give them the situation report en route. Logan is taken aback as Aurora places a hand on his face and tells him that she is so grateful he selected her for his team. ‘If you have some free time afterward, I’d like to show you how much…’ she tells him, ‘Er…thanks, Jeanne-Marie’ Wolverine replies, addressing her by her true name, Jeanne-Marie Beaubier. The sultry Snowbird tells Aurora that it would be best for everyone if she simply kept her mind on the mission, to which Aurora frowns, ‘Oh, pardonnez-moi, Ice Queen’ she replies with a mocking tone. ‘Snowbird’ the Goddess corrects her. ‘Mais naturellement…’ Aurora replies.
Soon, the four heroes are en route to La Citadelle De Quebec, which was built in the mid-19th Century to protect the St. Lawrence from a possible American invasion. Inside the Department H helicopter, Twoyoungmen tells his teammates that the only thing he doesn’t get is the costume. ‘It’s so…garish. Is it really necessary?’ he asks. Logan tells him that he would look even dumber in hospital scrubs, before turning to the beautiful women, and exclaiming ‘Showtime, ladies!’ with that their cue, Snowbird and Aurora leap from the chopper and fly towards La Citadelle De Quebec, with Wolverine telling them to be careful, that as the recon team they have to see what can be seen.
Aurora tells Snowbird to be very careful. ‘Or you might actually start enjoying yourself!’ she exclaims. ‘Don’t talk to me!’ Snowbird snaps back as she shifts her form into that of an ookpik, a giant arctic owl, one of the many abilities possessed by the Arctic Goddess. In her owl form, Snowbird lands on a telescope down in the facility, near where some destruction has been caused, and uses her post-cognitive powers to replay any event that is up to six hours old - in this particular case, Narya witnesses a large armored figure smash the wall down, with several masked soldiers at his side.
Wolverine and Shaman have met up with some Police officers who are keeping check of the situation, and one of them remarks that whoever the hostiles are, they are definitely not amateurs, revealing that the minute they secure La Citadelle, they hunkered down behind its fortifications, and now his men have no idea where they are inside the fortress, or even how many there are. Suddenly, almost out of nowhere, Aurora appears, speeding onto the scene, startling the Police officer, and announcing that she counted fourteen. Aurora remarks that it took her about two and a half minutes to case the entire fortress. ‘And you know, in that entire time, I didn’t see Snowbird anywhere. Tsk, tsk, dereliction of duty pas bon!’, Aurora exclaims.
Aurora informs everyone that the terrorists have herded the garrison, all the tourists and staff into the museum - along with a goat, for some reason. Suddenly, a voice exclaims ‘That’d be Baptiste, the regimental mascot’, and addresses Wolverine as “Weapon X”. Wolverine turns to the man in the suit and points out that he knows his cipher-code, which means he must be from the Intelligence Branch of the Canadian Military Intelligence. Logan asks the man what he is doing here, as he thought this was strictly a law-enforcement deal.
The man in the suit introduces himself as Kinney of the Intelligence Platoon from Ottawa, and announces that this is a matter of national security now, ‘Straight from the Ministry!’ he exclaims, announcing that the Governor General is inside as a prisoner. ‘She is? When were you planing on telling my Department H crew that?’ Wolverine asks, to which Kinney angrily shouts back ‘Whenever I bloody well felt like it! We’re just luck the media’s kept their noses out of it!’. Kinney adds that Wolverine may be the leader of this travelling freak show, but now it is the Intelligence Branch’s circus. Kinney tells Wolverine that he and his weirdos’ number one priority I to find where the terrorists are keeping the Governor General.
Suddenly, a small voice, low to the ground exclaims ‘They took her to the cellar in her residence on the grounds!’. Aurora screams as a white mouse rushes by her feet, of course the mouse is actually Snowbird, who advises Wolverine that they should proceed with caution, explaining that she managed to get inside the facility undetected in her mouse form, and used her post-cognition to witness the terrorists with the Governor General.
Snowbird shifts to her default form as Wolverine remarks that there is a reason they were called in and not the Mounties, before asking Kinney if he is all right for them to cut to the heroics now. Kinney replies that he supposes so, but wants constant reports. He begins to threaten Wolverine, but Logan just brushes him off as he tells his three teammates to synchronize their watches, explaining that he will rescue the Governor General, while the three of them stick together to secure the museum. Logan adds that they will strike simultaneously in thirty minutes and asks Shaman if he has any hocus-pocus that can get them inside all stealthy-like.
Twoyoungmen replies that he is not comfortable with Wolverine referring to his grandfather’s sacred Sarcee medicine pouch as “hocus-pocus”, before reaching inside the medicine pouch and pulling out a fog of invisibility, which he then envelops Narya, Aurora and himself in. ‘Yeah, like I said: hocus-pocus’, Wolverine mumbles, while making his own stealthy way into the facility - with a more conventional approach though, smashing through the wall, claws outstretched.
(Present)
‘Wait, wait, back up…what is a Governor General?’ asks Kitty. Wolverine explains that the Governor General is the representative of the Queen of Canada. ‘Whoa! There’s a Queen of Canada?’ Kitty replies excitedly. Wolverine replies ‘Sort of’ and explains that the Queen of Canada is whoever happens to be the Queen of England. ‘Huh? You guys are part of England?’ Sprite asks, confused. ‘No. Well, we used to be. But now we’re not -’ Logan replies, as Kitty interrupts, asking why the Queen can push them around. ‘She can’t!’ Logan exclaims, before remarking ‘I mean…she can, since the Governor General can veto, as her rep, any Government decision’. ‘And you’re trying to save this person?’ Kitty asks. ‘Just shut up and listen, yank!’ Logan tells his companion.
(Flashback continues)
Logan ambushes one of the terrorists, and breaks his next to get past him - then disposes of several more as he makes his way across the grounds to the Governor General’s residence.
Outside, the invisible heroes wait near a door, and checking his watch, Shaman announces that it is time, but warns the girls to be careful, explaining that if they make any sudden movements the enchantment will be broken. Too late, as Snowbird shifts into a polar bear, lunging into the room and frightening several of the terrorists inside. Shaman follows Snowbird inside and blows some dust from the realm of dreams over the terrorists and hostages to put them to sleep, hoping that will give he and the girls a clearer view of the situation, when, suddenly, he is shot in the back.
Aurora calls out to her teammate, and flies over to the terrorist that shot him, admitting that she is not terribly strong, but that when she can land fifty punches in one second, she doesn’t need to be strong. With the terrorist unconscious thanks to Aurora, the flighty heroine speeds over to Shaman, exclaiming that the Kevlar lining his outfit saved him. ‘I change my mind. I like the costume’ Shaman whispers. Snowbird stands over the man who Aurora knocked out, holding his mask and alerts Shaman and Aurora to what she has discovered. ‘This is a development…is there anyway to warn Wolverine?’ Shaman asks.
Wolverine meanwhile has managed to get to the wine cellar, where the Governor General is being watched by some more of the terrorists. Pumped with adrenaline, Logan doesn’t notice when someone sneaks up on him - and grabs him by the head, pulling him back and throwing him into a wine rack. Logan realizes there is an odor which his enhanced senses haven’t picked up yet - a scent almost undetectable to him - because it is so close to his own. Logan, sprawled on the floor, broken wine bottles all around him, looks up and sees an armored figure standing over him. His body full of adamantium, just like Logan’s - except this “armored” person has adamantium on the outside.
Logan lunges upwards at his opponent, the first time his claws have never been able to cut anything, and the vibration which ensues after his claws clang with his opponent feels like somebody has set him on fire. The adamantium-skinned foe trips Wolverine up then throws him into some wooden crates exclaiming ‘I knew it! We try to negotiate, like civilized people…but the scum send assassins to silence us!’. From where he lies on the floor, Wolverine asks his opponent where he got the exoskeleton from. ‘They didn’t tell you anything about “Citadel”, huh? No surprise. They like docile sheep!’ the opponent, identified as Citadel, exclaims. ‘Like me and my men - wounded serving our country overseas!’ Citadel adds as he kicks Wolverine hard.
Citadel turns to his fellow terrorists who are standing by the Governor General and exclaims ‘They told us they were shipping us back home - to a clinic where we would get the latest in cutting-edge medical treatment!’. Citadel’s fellow terrorists remove their masks, revealing their faces, scarred and laced with shards of adamantium. Citadel exclaims that the government Frankensteins grafted the synthetic metal onto their bodies, and now, it is slowly eating them from the inside.
Citadel goes over to the Governor General and declares that he was their biggest success, revealing that he was cipher-coded “Weapon Y” - and their biggest nightmare! He explains that he busted out of his prison where they kept him, and now he is not leaving his name-sake until they get compensation for their suffering. ‘Or maybe we’ll just demand a televised press conference so the public can hear where their tax dollars go, huh, Ms. Governor General?’ Citadel asks, intimidating the Governor General, who turns away from him, unable to look at him.
Wolverine tells Citadel that he is on his side, and informs him that he was cipher-coded “Weapon X”. Logan explains that he has an adamantium-laced internal skeleton, but that he doesn’t know how he got it. ‘I can help you, just tell me what you know!’ Logan exclaims, but Citadel picks Logan up by his neck and holds him high in the air, telling him to shut up and stop trying to confuse the others. ‘You work for them!’ Citadel exclaims, before shouting ‘Well, when we throw your body over the walls of La Citadelle, they’ll know we mean business -’ Citadel is suddenly interrupted by a baaaaa!, so he turns, and sees the goat looking up at him.
‘Alright. Who let the goat out!’ he demands to know, when, suddenly, Snowbird shifts to her default form and uses her enhanced strength to smack Citadel in the face, knocking him off his feet. ‘Wolverine - quickly! While I have him off balance!’ Narya urges her friend. Logan stands over Citadel, telling him that he must listen to him. ‘You’re right - the public needs to hear your story - and so do I!’ Logan asks where the clinic is that he was taken to, and who operated on him. ‘Could you recognize any of them if you saw them again?’ he asks.
‘I ain’t telling you jack except my name, rank and serial number!’ Citadel retorts. ‘Yeah, yeah, that’s a start’ Wolverine replies, before asking what his real name is, and what unit he was assigned to. Snowbird stands at Wolverine’s side, both unaware as someone else enters the wine cellar - and shoots Citadel with a neuro-taser. Citadel screams in agony, and falls to the ground, unconscious. ‘Good work, Weapon X. Distracting him long enough for me to get in close!’ Kinney announces as he steps out of the shadows. Kinney explains that the neuro-taser is about the only weapon that has any effect on him.
Wolverine tells Kinney that Citadel said the government made him like this, that the process is slowly destroying him. ‘Did he now? Well. The man is clearly delusional’ Kinney replies quickly. Wolverine asks if he is telling him that there is nothing to Citadel’s claims, to which Kinney snarls ‘I’m not telling you a thing, Weapon X. Because I was never here. And you don’t have the clearance to know otherwise!’. With that, Kinney leads the Police officers out, with the captured Citadel and other terrorists - and all Wolverine and Snowbird can do is watch, as a piece of Wolverine’s past falls from his grasp.
Much later, James Hudson discovered that Citadel was moved to the same secret base that Wolverine used to get deployed from, north of Quebec City, and Hudson even managed to twist enough arms in the Intelligence Branch to let Wolverine and Shaman visit Citadel. At the facility, Citadel is kept in isolation, in a bed behind a clear sheeting, hooked up to monitors. Shaman tells Wolverine that as near as he can ascertain, Citadel’s vital signs are deteriorating - slowly, but gradually, and that there is nothing they can do but watch, as no needle can pierce his impenetrable skin, and they cannot even pry his jaw open to administer medicine orally.
Shaman informs Wolverine that he has been told that scientists are trying to develop an aerosol to spay through Citadel’s eyelids that will bind and inactivate the toxic metal in his bloodstream. ‘But until then…it will continue to slowly destroy his nervous system…just like lead poisoning’. Wolverine supposes that his mutant healing factor is what keeps him spry with the adamantium in his bones, to which Shaman explains that Wolverine’s healing factor merely keeps him alive, and that his brain and spinal column are still under constant attack by metallic toxins. ‘In fact…your bestial rages, your memory loss - all could be explained as long-term adamantium poisoning’ Shaman reveals, shocking Wolverine.
(Illustrative Flashback, links to Giant-Sized X-Men #1, narrated by Wolverine)
Wolverine feels like he has just been pushed off a cliff - the same unbreakable claws and skeleton that had saved him more times than he cared to remember were actually trying to kill him. What’s more, the government he trusted and that gave him a reason to live could be behind it - or was refusing to tell him who was, which Wolverine decides is just as bad. Logan frowns as he decides that playing the good soldier was starting to look not so good anymore. ‘Citadel and his guys took orders and kept their yaps shut - and look how they turned out’.
Wolverine arrives at Kinney’s office, as Kinney had arranged a meeting with the two of them and some “braniac” from America who might be advising Department H on the recruitment of mutants - Charles Xavier. That is the moment Xavier made the pitch for Wolverine to join the X-Men. ‘Somehow, he knew I’d be in the mood to listen’. Of course, Kinney wasn’t too thrilled to hear Wolverine was joining the private sector - too bad though, and Wolverine sliced his tie as he severed his own ties with Department H - at least for now….
(Present)
Storm and Angel fly over the top secret facility, and Storm alerts Angel to where Kitty is, down below, waving at them. ‘She’s alright!’ Storm exclaims with relief. Storm and Angel fly down to Kitty, who informs them that Shaman called Wolverine this morning and told him that Citadel’s condition took a turn for the worse. Colossus and Nightcrawler land their plane and rush over as Kitty explains Wolverine realized that there was one thing that could pierce Citadel’s adamantium hide and get him medical treatment - ‘My phasing power!’. As Kitty leads the X-Men into the building, she explains to them that Wolverine grabbed her and they raced here as fast as they could, and there was no time for explanations.
‘But…we were still too late!’ Kitty announces as she steps into the room where Shaman is pulling a sheet over Citadel, and a forlorn Wolverine sits and watches him. Shaman informs Wolverine that Citadel never regained consciousness. ‘I’m sorry, Logan’ he tells his friend. The X-Men watch and Angel remarks that it looks like Wolverine lost his best friend. Kitty remarks that it is worse than that. ‘He lost a link to his past!’ she exclaims, adding that a guy like Wolverine doesn’t know how many of those that he has left….


[User]
<image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image>
Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
Little Girls
On the last night of Moira MacTaggert and Sean Cassidy’s stay in Westchester, the X-Men treat them to a fancy dinner downtown. Logan, however, stays behind so he can watch the seventh game of the Stanley Cup with his good friend, beer. Nothing in the world could keep him from watching the game. Since he is staying home, Piotr asks, would he mind keeping an eye on his six-year-old sister Illyana? Xavier tells them not to worry; Kitty Pryde, Banshee’s daughter Siryn, and Moira’s student Amp will all be staying home, and together they are perfectly capable of watching Illyana.
Piotr, ruffling Illyana’s hair, tells his baby sister to behave in their native Russian. Right before he leaves, he remembers he has a letter to give to Siryn, and innocently hands it to her. Kitty forms her own interpretation of the gesture. What? But…I like Colossus! she thinks. While the sultry image of Theresa in a red one-piece swimsuit taunts her mind, Kitty begins listing the things Piotr might prefer about Siryn: she’s a redhead, she has an Irish accent, she’s closer to Colossus in age, and she’s prettier! My course is clear, then, Kitty fumes. I must destroy her.
Wolverine lays out the rules as soon as the rest of the X-Men leave. The four girls can do whatever they want to do; he could care less. However, if they cause him to miss even one second of his hockey game, he will turn them into girl-kabobs. He extends one claw for emphasis while giving them all a piercing glare. SNIKT!
Siryn laughs and tells the other girls Mr. Logan is funny. “Oh, no. No, no,” Kitty says, grabbing Siryn by the arm and pulling her out of the room. “He’s serious.”
Kitty, Theresa, Illyana and Michele walk down the hall and discuss what they will do with the night. Siryn suggests they head to the basement and check out the mansion’s infamous Danger Room. A hesitant Kitty informs her she is not allowed to operate the Danger Room by herself, but Theresa continues to beg.
If I don’t, I know what’s gonna happen, Kitty thinks. She imagines a well-dressed Piotr Rasputin dancing with a beautiful Theresa Rourke amid a flurry of rose petals. This imaginary Siryn laughs as she recounts Kitty’s cowardice to Piotr. “The scared little girl wouldn’t even let me look inside the Danger Room,” Theresa says as Colossus embraces her. “She was probably afraid of having her toys taken away!” Imaginary Piotr laughs, and notes how glad he is to have a real, sophisticated woman instead a goody-two shoes like Kitty. Imaginary Kitty, her hair in pigtails, dressed in a schoolgirl’s outfit, and holding a teddy-bear, sucks on her thumb as she watches the man of her dreams romance her friend. She cannot let this happen! “The elevator to the lower levels is this way!” Kitty says enthusiastically.
The girls descend to the basement. The futuristic appearance of the mansion’s lower levels astonishes Amp, who likens it to a fortress. I bet no one can get in here, Michele says, but Kitty just laughs. “You’d think, Amp, but it actually gets invaded and trashed quite a lot. Like…once a month, it seems like…”
They reach the blast door to the Danger Room. Kitty has to phase through and unlock it from the inside, as Professor X changes the access codes each day. This application of Kitty’s powers particularly impresses Theresa, herself a reformed criminal.  “What my cousin Black Tom and I wouldn’t have given for someone like ye when we were commitin’ robberies together!” she says. “Ye’re like a natural born criminal!” Kitty takes this compliment rather well, even admitting it may be one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to her.
Michele looks around and vast, empty room and asks what is so dangerous about it. It’s not dangerous without running a training program, Kitty says. Theresa sidles up to Kitty and accuses her of holding out on them; she said she would let them see the Danger Room, but it really isn’t the Danger Room without a program running, now is it? After only the slightest peer pressure, Kitty acquiesces, walks over to the computer terminal, and uploads one of the earliest training programs in the database. Robotic replicas of Magneto, Toad, Mastermind, Quicksilver, and the Scarlet Witch hum to life. “These robots represent the X-Men’s first foes: the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants!” Kitty explains before listing off the individual opponents. “Lessee here, there’s Magnet Guy, Short, Ugly Dude, the Mustache, Running Dude, aaaaand the Scarlet…Woman…”
The robots waste no time before striking. The “Scarlet Woman” fires a hex bolt at Michele, who grabs Illyana and jumps out of the way. She asks Kitty what she can do to help, as her amplification powers only work on human beings with emotions. Kitty tells her to run and keep Illyana safe.
 Siryn, meanwhile, gleefully throws herself into the fight, using her powers for the first time since her last heist with Black Tom Cassidy. “So they actually called themselves the ‘Brotherhood of Evil Mutants?’ Ha, ha! A bit obvious, yeah?” she says as she takes the Scarlet Woman out of the fight. “I love ‘em – they’re so retro!”
Kitty phases through the “Mustache” and disrupts its circuitry. She uses the reprieve to ask Siryn a question about Piotr. “What, uh… what was that with you and Colossus back there?” Kitty asks. Just a bit of fun, Theresa says as she breezes by Kitty. Kitty stares at her with pure hatred pouring out of her eyes. Totally and utterly ruining my life at 13 is just ‘a bit of fun’ to you?!?!
Siryn hits “Running Dude” with a blast, but “Short, Ugly Dude” surprises her with a swift kick to the back. She screams and falls out of the air. The muffled screams of and battled sounds rise through the floor and into the living room, but Wolverine, currently knocking back a beer, fails to hear them over sounds of the Canadian National Anthem.
Back in the Danger Room, “Magnet Dude” catches up with Amp and blasts her from behind with an energy pulses. She drops Illyana and falls to the ground. The terrified Illyana puts her back to the wall and watches Amp struggle to regain her composure, not noticing the strange vortex of energy forming behind her. A portal opens in the wall, and little Illyana tumbles through, completely disappearing.
Amp looks around the room and calls out Illyana’s name. The girl is nowhere to be seen. However, at that same moment, another portal opens up in the Danger Room’s observation platform right above the control panels, and Illyana spills out and lands on the keyboard. The impact pauses the training program for sixty seconds. Below, the robots switch off and fall to the ground, inanimate.
“Thank god!” Theresa says. “That was boring. I’m bored.” She asks to do something else. While Kitty leads her out of the Danger Room, Michele worriedly searches for the missing Illyana, but while her back is turned, Illyana creates another portal and appears right behind her babysitter. “Don’t scare me like that again”, Amp says as she grabs Illyana’s hand. The four girls exit the Danger Room. However, they forget to shut the door.
After they leave, the program resumes and the robots stand back up and begin scanning for enemies. Their scan leads them toward the open door, and they begin marching down the hallway at the behest of their programming. Their search for targets leads them straight to the mansion’s elevator.
The girls shift gears a bit. Instead of fighting robots, they sit in Kitty’s room and try to think of a game to play. Michele suggests they play a game she knows from Girl Scout camp called ‘Spin the Secrets,’ and holds up a plastic bottle to demonstrate. “Um…we’re not gonna have to kiss each other, are we?” Kitty asks. No, Michele explains. In this game, they spin a bottle, and whomever the bottle points at has to go into the closet and reveal one of her deepest, darkest secrets to another girl! Each girl writes the secret she hears on a piece of paper, and at the end, they get to guess which secret is whose! Michele insists it is hilarious. “If you say so”, Siryn scoffs. After the first spin, the bottle points to Kitty.
Kitty wastes no time spilling her guts. She tells Amp all about Colossus and how Siryn is totally trying to steal him from her! Michele is not so sure about that; there is a guy Siryn already likes back on Muir Island. However, she promises to let Kitty know if she discovers anything.
The Brotherhood of Evil Robots, meanwhile, arrives on the ground floor of the mansion. They split up and begin searching the halls for targets to engage. Short, Ugly Dude wanders into the living room, where the gleeful Logan chomps on a donut while watching the hockey game. He fails to notice the squad of robots filing into the room.
Upstairs, the girls continue their game. On the next spin, the bottle lands on Illyana. Kitty takes Illyana into the closet so the six-year-old can reveal a secret, but soon realizes it is pointless, as Illyana barely speaks English.
In response, Illyana quickly scribbles a picture on her drawing pad. Kitty looks at the sketch, which nicely depicts Illyana falling through a hole in the wall and landing on a pile of robots in the Danger Room. The picture is cute, Kitty says, but Illyana needs to tell a real secret for the game to be fun. “You can’t walk through walls. I can. But I’m very flattered you want to be me,” Kitty says, ruffling Illyana’s hair. The little girl tries to explain that she actually performed this feat, but as she only speaks Russian, Kitty understands nary a word. “Flattered. Do you understand? Flattered.” Illyana scowls. “We’ll just say your secret is you wet the bed or something…”
Wolverine, meanwhile, continues to watch the hockey game. The robots stand in front of the television on order to get his attention, but he watches it around them for as long as he can. Eventually, they begin to attack.
Back in the closet, Amp now reveals her secret to Siryn. She has a huge crush on Dmitri, Dr. MacTaggert’s Russian exchange student, and is working up the courage to ask him out on a date! She might finally do it over the upcoming holiday weekend. Theresa, however, has some bad news to break: Dmitri actually has a crush on her. “I had Colossus help me write him back a note in Russian. I thought that would be cute, right?” Theresa asks. “I didn’t know ye fancied him, too! Not that I blame ye. No worries, though. It’s just a bit of fun, ye know?” Theresa, so enraptured by her own feelings, does not notice the tears welling up in her heartbroken friend’s eyes. Theresa continues to tell Michele that she loves her, but does not want her to waste her time. The fact is, Dmitri has admitted to her his revulsion at Michele’s amphibious appearance! “Isn’t he pathetic?” Theresa asks.
“You’re pathetic!” Michele snaps back, losing control of her emotional amplification powers. She lies and tells Theresa that Kitty coerced Colossus into playing a trick on Siryn. “That note in Russian Colossus wrote? It actually says you hate Dmitri, and that he should date me instead!” Her mutant powers send Theresa’s emotional state spiraling out of control. Aren’t you angry, Amp asks? Doesn’t that make you hate Kitty? Well why don’t you do something about it?! Enraged, Siryn screams and bursts out of the closet, charging full-speed at Kitty Pryde.
Meanwhile, the Brotherhood of Evil Robots finally pushes Wolverine past his own breaking point. “Gotta warn you flamin’ robots,” he says, unsheathing his claws, “…I’m the best at what I do.” He lunges at the nearest robot, slashing off its face. “And what I do is – WATCH HOCKEY!” Magnet Guy fires a blast at him, but Wolverine deflects it into Short, Ugly Dude’s face. Wolverine pivots and destroys the heads of the three remaining robots in one swift motion. With the obstacles out of his way, he returns to exercising his moral right as a Canadian: watching hockey.
During a pivotal moment in the game, with Logan’s attention rapt, Siryn and Kitty come bursting through the ceiling and crash right into the TV. It falls to the floor, a shattered mess. N-No, Wolverine says. The two girls stop fighting and look up from their position on the floor next to the smoking television. It is Logan’s temper which now flares out of control, only he needs to help from Amp. The girls scream and literally run for their lives. What do we do, Siryn asks as she charges up the stairs? Don’t stop running! Kitty replies. Logan has gone completely crazy!
Thankfully, a now-calm Amp stops Logan as he nears the top of the stairs and induces him to settle down. When he regains control of himself, he asks what happened. “Just a lot of petty whining,” Amp answers. She folds her arms and stares sternly at her friends. Kitty is worried about someone stealing her man, and Siryn is worried about anything interrupting her good time. Michele asks if they have ever stopped and thought about what she has to go through, looking like she does. “You two are mutants, too – but you can pass for human! To top it off, you’re both beautiful! It’s not fair! No boy is ever gonna want to be with me! Ever!” She breaks down and cries into her hands.
Logan walks over to Michele, places his hand on her back, and comforts her. He tells her that, based on his experience, anyone who doesn’t accept her for who she is isn’t someone worth knowing, and that is true of anybody, both mutant and human. “Look. Look at me,” he says. She lifts her head and looks into his smiling face. “You’re beautiful where it counts, babe.” And if even a dumb bruiser like Wolverine can recognize that, the law of averages says that Michele’s Mr. Right will recognize it too.
At around midnight, the rest of the X-Men return home from their night on the town. Piotr, Kurt and Warren talk excitedly about the hockey game, having seen the end of it at the restaurant. What did you think, they ask Logan? What they see when they enter the living room quiets them immediately: Logan, sitting on the couch, with the exhausted Michele sleeping in his lap. Professor Xavier, meanwhile, looks at the latest hole in the ceiling and sighs.
The next morning, Moira, Sean, Theresa and Michele return to Muir Island via airplane. Siryn once again apologizes to Amp, but the once-heartbroken girl insists it is now water under the bridge. They agree that no boy should ever come between their friendship, and share a high-five to sisterhood. Michele, her face beaming, reiterates that it is no big deal, as she has already forgotten about Dmitri. “Consider him yours,” she tells Theresa, “I’ve moved on to bigger and better prospects.” In her lap, Michele cradles a radiant sketch she drew of Wolverine.


[User]
<image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image>
Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
Zone of Alienation: Part 1 of 2
Wolverine has a problem. He needs to slip through a high-security perimeter heavily patrolled by guards wearing infrared goggles. His solution? Reindeer hide. Its thick fur and blubber prevent any of Wolverine’s heat signature from appearing on infrared. Covered in the hide, and surely smelling like a dead animal because of it, Wolverine crawls several miles and waits in the bushes for the guards to approach. Two guards finally arrive and reach out with their snares. Wolverine throws off the deerskin and beats them both senseless.
Once the guards are unconscious, Logan approaches their truck and cuts the locks of its bed. He opens the doors and releases the captives held inside. Don’t see why you critters got any less right than anybody else to find your own way outta this mess, he says as a pack of wild animals scatters out of the truck. After freeing the animals, Logan grabs a spare hazmat suit out of the cab, even though his healing factor can handle anything the suit would. However, he is curious about whether or not the lead taste in his mouth means what he thinks it means, and the suit’s infrared goggles will confirm his suspicions.
Wolverine gets his confirmation once his vision switches to infrared. Nearby, two pillars of smoke spill out of a power plant, glowing brightly in the infrared goggles. This explains why officials were rounding up wayward animals, why their truck’s windows are covered in lead paint, and why he can taste radioactive fallout in the air: this is a nuclear incident, and the Russian government is enacting standard protocol. They are evacuating everyone inside the thirty-klick radius commonly referred to as the “zone of alienation.” It is not without reason that Wolverine is traveling deeper into this zone. Kitty Pryde is in there somewhere, and if anything happens to her, Logan will never be able to forgive himself. After all, this whole mess is his fault.
Forty-eight hours earlier
Wolverine storms into Kitty Pryde’s room in a rage. Despite his repeated reminders, she continues to use his razor to shave her legs! However, he lowers his voice and lets the matter go once he sees Kitty crying into her pillow. “Maybe I’ll come back later,” he says, slinking toward the door. Kitty looks up and begs him to stay. She doesn’t know what to do; her crush Peter Rasputin has a girlfriend! “I’m…pretty sure he doesn’t, kid,” Wolverine says, “…and I’m not just saying that, because I really don’t care.”
Kitty insists that Peter does have a girlfriend. She knew it the moment she answered the phone and heard the voice of a woman with a cute Russian accent asking for Piotr Nikolievitch Rasputin. She gave him the phone, and overheard him telling the caller she shouldn’t be calling him at the mansion. He then switched to Russian and Kitty could no longer understand what they were saying. “They were making plans to meet!” she tells Wolverine. “Commie jerk! I’d like to meet her in a dark alley – she wouldn’t be so cute once I got through with her…”
Jump to conclusions much, Wolverine asks? He and Kitty can easily clarify the situation simply by following Colossus when he goes out tonight. “You’ll see there’s no hanky-panky going on,” he says. Kitty is elated that Logan is willing to spy on his friend for her. She tumbles into his arms and gives him a big hug. Whatever, Wolverine says; there is nothing good on T.V. tonight anyway.
Later that night, Wolverine and Kitty lurk in the shadows on Wolverine’s motorcycle. They watch as Peter leaves the mansion and climbs into a taxi. As they tail him, Wolverine reminds Kitty they just went through this when Siryn visited; is Kitty going to torture herself over every female that so much as acknowledges Peter? She needs to work up the courage to tell Peter how she feels, he says. Kitty promises to tell Peter that night. When the taxi pulls into a secretive military compound, however, the night takes a turn for the curious.
Inside the barbed-wire fence, Colossus exits the taxi and approaches two familiar people standing in front of a private airplane. He scolds the woman, Laynia Petrovna, for calling him directly at the X-Mansion; such actions might give his fellow X-Men the wrong impression. She tells Piotr that their situation has significantly worsened, and there was no time for discretion. Someone addresses Peter from inside the plane. “If you are so ashamed of honorably serving our motherland, Piotr Nikolievitch, perhaps you should have taken better precautions against being followed,” the voice says. Peter insists he wasn’t followed, but the speaker tells him to shut up and get in the plane; with his infrared vision he can easily see Wolverine and Kitty spying on them from a distance.
Uh-oh, Wolverine says, realizing they have been discovered. Kitty asks what he means by “uh-oh”; are Peter and the woman kissing?! Suddenly, a man outfitted in red armor launches out of the airplane and barrels toward Logan and Kitty. Like all enemies of the state, they too will fall before the might of the Crimson Dynamo! The two X-Men remove their civilian clothes, revealing their uniforms underneath. Wolverine tells Kitty to prepare for a fight, but she decides to check on Peter instead. Wolverine feels snubbed, but doesn’t dwell on it, as the Crimson Dynamo arrives and blasts him to the ground.
Peter realizes the Crimson Dynamo is fighting two of his friends, and shouts for him to leave them alone. Laynia shoots Peter in the back with a beam of Darkforce energy, a power she controls as the superhero Darkstar. “Forgive me, Piotr, but this is a matter of life and death for out country,” she says as she knocks him out. He has now been deputized into the Soviet Super-Soldiers, and they need his help immediately. As Kitty watches in shock as Darkstar and her accomplice take Peter aboard the plane. The engines whirr as it commences its flight back to Russia.
Meanwhile, in the woods, the Crimson Dynamo urges the fallen, smoldering Wolverine to surrender. As combatants, they are most mismatched, the Soviet Super-Soldier says. “I’d have ta agree, Red,” Wolverine says. He unleashes his claws and lunges at his opponent. The things that make him a formidable combatant are part of his body; the Crimson Dynamo, however, is just spam in a can.
Kitty phases through the floor of the airplane and sees the Soviet Super-Soldiers tying the unconscious Peter to a chair. “Hey! What are you guys doing with my, uh, boyfriend?” she shouts. Saving the motherland from destruction, the man called Vanguard answers as he hits Kitty with a high-powered beam of energy. She slumps to the floor. Darkstar approaches her unconscious body and comments on her remarkable phasing ability. Perhaps the girl is a mutant, just like them. Vanguard looks at his sister and asks his sister a question: what if in coming to America to retrieve one savior, they discovered a far better one?
Wolverine, meanwhile, successfully removes the helmet from the Crimson Dynamo’s armor. The battle proceeds in his favor until Vanguard’s voice speaks through the helmet’s intercom and orders the Crimson Dynamo to return to the plane. They are leaving, and taking Kitty with them. What, Wolverine asks? Over his dead body! “If you insist,” the Crimson Dynamo says. He takes advantage of his opponent’s inattentiveness and electrocutes him before flying back to the airplane.
Logan recovers from the shock and mounts his motorcycle. He accelerates down the runway as the plane begins its takeoff, quickly catching up with the landing gear. When he is but a moment from reaching it, the gear begins lifting off the ground. Wolverine lunges and grips it with his left hand. As it closes, however, he hits his head on the inside of the airplane and loses consciousness.
Several hours later, when the airplane finally arrives in Russia and lowers its landing gear, Wolverine wakes up. The first thing he sees is the ground thousands of feet below quickly rushing up at him. So now New Year’s Day 1975 is the second worst thing I’ve ever woken up to, he says as he plummets toward the earth. Having no choice other than bracing himself for impact, Wolverine sighs and flinches as he begins crashing through the forest canopy. After bouncing off a few boulders he comes to rest in the snow and lays there, motionless. Judging by the amount of unspeakable pain he is in, he estimates his body will need twenty-four hours to heal. Twenty-four hours until payback time.
Wolverine wakes up eighteen hours later and looks at his watch. Still got it, he says. He assesses his surroundings and quickly realizes he is in the midst of some sort of heavy evacuation. Shortly thereafter, he comes across an abandoned trapper’s cabin and swipes a fresh reindeer hide off its wall.
now…
Wolverine wishes he hadn’t encouraged Kitty to follow Colossus and gotten her into this predicament. Because there is nothing else around for miles except for the leaky nuclear building, he decides Kitty must be there somewhere. He drives into the building’s entrance with his stolen truck and hazmat suit. After getting a closer look at the building, he notes it looks nothing like any nuclear power plant he has ever seen. But what is it, then?
Two men in hazmat suits stop Logan and ask for his identification. He slugs them both in the gut. He overhears a group of people conversing behind one of the building’s crumbled, concrete walls, and sneaks up for a closer look. The room he discovers is completely destroyed, and consists mainly of large piles of concrete and twisted pipes. In the center, however, rests a deep pool of a mysterious substance. Darkstar, Vanguard, the Crimson Dynamo, and another man in a hazmat suit stand at its edge in anticipation. They have been down there for hours, the man named Mikhail says. The Crimson Dynamo asks what he expects them to do about that; they have no way of knowing what is happening down there.
Suddenly, Kitty breaches the surface of the mysterious substance, holding her breath. She reaches out toward the Crimson Dynamo so he can pull the rest of her body out of the ground. Because of her intangibility, however, his grip passes through her body. Wolverine takes off running toward Kitty; he knows she can only stay intangible while she holds her breath, and if she solidifies while still submerged in solid matter, she will likely die. He is only a few meters away when Kitty gives in and gasps for air. She lets out a blood-curdling scream as the lower half of her body solidifies in the ground.
Wolverine arrives in time to catch her lifeless torso as it slumps over. She was his responsibility; he was supposed to keep her safe. He has failed. Logan shuts her eyelids and lays her to rest. A single, convulsive noise escapes from his throat before he breaks into hysterical…laughter. The Soviet Super-Soldiers look down at him in confusion. He continues laughing uncontrollably. “Four,” he says. “There’s only four of you.” Wolverine unsheathes his claws and grits his teeth. “I almost feel sorry for you,” he says as he lunges at the four Russian heroes.


[User]
<image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image>
Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
Zone of Alienation: Part 2 of 2
Darkstar, Vanguard, and the Crimson Dynamo are ready to defend themselves against the rampaging Wolverine. However, their accomplice Mikhail, seemingly just a regular soldier in a hazmat suit, asks them to stand back. Wolverine may be ferocious, but Mikhail intends to match him claw for claw… as Ursa Major! He suddenly transforms into a great bear, ripping through his hazmat suit in the process.
They can’t let him do that, Darkstar says to her brother Vanguard. Mikhail, merely a cadet, has not even been inducted into the Soviet Super Soldiers yet! Plus, without his hazmat suit he may succumb to the ambient radiation. Vanguard reminds her there is nothing they can do except hope the radiation will be repelled by Ursa Major’s thick coat of fur.
The Crimson Dynamo, meanwhile, can hardly fault Wolverine for reacting this way. After all, he did witness his teammate Sprite perish right before his eyes. Vanguard tells him to shut up; they don’t know how long they have before Russia is destroyed, and right now, they need only worry about subduing Wolverine, who is currently trying to thrust his claws into Ursa Major. The great bear holds him away, but marginally. Vanguard unexpectedly creates a force shield, enveloping Ursa Major, Darkstar, and himself. “Bah! I had him right where I wanted him,” Mikhail says.
Taking advantage of Wolverine’s temporary confusion, Darkstar hits him with the most powerful Darkforce blast she can summon. It barely slows Logan at all. He immediately leaps to his feet and sprints up a pile of rubble, climbing all the way to the room’s vaulted ceiling. The Crimson Dynamo, having learned during their previous encounter not to let Wolverine get too close, attempts to knock him down with a few long-range attacks of his own. Wolverine swiftly dodges them. The Crimson Dynamo doesn’t manage to score a single hit; he does, however, sufficiently weaken the ceiling’s supports. It takes only a few swipes from Wolverine’s claws to liberate enormous chunks of steel and concrete. The Crimson Dynamo activates his rocket boosters in an attempt to stop him, but he is too late, and is crushed by the first falling slab of concrete.
Wolverine turns his attention toward Darkstar and Vanguard. He drops down toward the two super-powered siblings, but Vanguard’s spherical force shield holds him at bay. Wolverine slashes at it furiously and tirelessly. Vanguard has trouble maintaining it against this flurry of attacks. Fortunately for them, Darkstar has a bright idea. She asks her brother to create an opening in the field just large enough for her to project some of her Darkforce. After he creates this opening, Laynia summons a gargantuan hand, composed entirely of Darkforce, which she uses to lock Logan in a grip. Maybe now they can reason with him, she says.
After grabbing Logan’s attention, Darkstar explains that although they did initially kidnap his teammate Kitty against her will, she and Colossus both volunteered to help them once they learned of Russia’s predicament. Basically, after a nuclear reactor overloaded recently, its core melted away the ground and began sinking into the earth. If its magma hits the groundwater beneath the concrete foundation, it will trigger an explosion so powerful it will destroy many cities in Russia and render Europe uninhabitable with its fallout. They recruited Colossus, hoping his strength and impervious armor would prove useful in deflecting the nuclear core away from the aquifer. However, upon meeting Kitty and learning of her mutant ability to phase through matter, they decided she could help too. She phased both Colossus and herself beneath the concrete willingly. “And we are all saddened she has fallen in her attempt, but know, Logan, that she will be a hero to the Russian people forever,” Darkstar says. As she turns to look at Kitty’s body once more, however, she realizes she has vanished! Where did Kitty Pryde go?!
Wolverine takes advantage of her lapse in concentration and breaks free from the Darkforce. Still enraged, he slips through the force field and descends on Laynia. Vanguard shouts for her to get out of the way. Wielding his hammer and scythe, he declares he will send Logan back where he belongs! Wolverine, however, cuts him off mid-sentence and completely disarms him before smacking him across the vast expanse of the room.
Ursa Major sneaks up from behind and grabs Wolverine in a bear hug. He has no choice but to crush him, he says, before Logan slips out of the grip and hoists the hefty bear over his head. Ursa Major shouts as Wolverine, his strength fueled by his rage, hurls him across the room and into Vanguard.
An unknown being, observing these events from someplace else, acknowledges everything is proceeding according to plan. This being encircles both Piotr Rasputin and Kitty Pryde in a protective wall of flames. Kitty looks up at the floating, hairless, fire-filled entity, and asks for some clarification. What did it do to Logan? What did it do to them? Are they still under the nuclear reactor?
Quiet, the being says! It needs a moment to gather its thoughts. It came into existence only recently, and needs time to make sense of things. Having scanned the thoughts of the rescuers above, it explains to Kitty that it projected an image of her death in order to create diversion. The being doesn’t want to be rescued. Kitty asks why not. Piotr just wants to know who the being is; did it work at the power plant?
“Power plant?!” the fiery being shouts. “They told you this was a power plant?” Each of the being’s several, rotating faces seem alarmed by this news. Do Colossus and Sprite really believe a mere power plant could produce a freak like the one they see before them? It explains what led to its creation.
The Kremlin, fearing the surge of superhumans in the United States, decided to bolster its own super-soldier numbers beyond the mere four they had. They rounded up as many of their mutant civilians as they could find and brought to this facility, inside of which they bombarded them with radiation, hoping to enhance their existing powers. They even brought in pregnant mothers and flooded their wombs with radiation, hoping to turn their unborn children into superhumans.
Naturally, something went wrong. The radiation chamber malfunctioned, bombarding its occupants with beta particles. The eight mutants inside braced themselves as a flash of light blinded them. Somehow, perhaps due to the use of one of their latent powers, they survived, but emerged from the incident as a unified, collective being. The unified entity cannot help but find this funny. “Truly, we are the Supreme Soviet!” it laughs.
It will be worthy of that title, Colossus says, if it uses its enormous power to destroy the nuclear deathtrap below and save the Mother Russia. No, the Supreme Soviet says. Each of its faces grows infuriated at Piotr’s suggestion. The state nearly killed them with its cruelty and incompetence, and will surely attempt to finish the job once it learns of their collective survival. Why should it make any effort to help them? Colossus implores it to ignore the crimes of the state and think of the innocent people it could save! The Supreme Soviet refuses to see them as innocent. These same people looked the other way while the state took away the rights and families of its own citizens! The Supreme Soviet intends to repay their indifference in kind. But millions will die, Colossus says, lunging at the powerful being. Without even the slightest effort, the Supreme Soviet absorbs Colossus into itself, adding his strength to theirs.
Kitty looks on in horror as Piotr’s face is added to the amalgam of the collective entity. He is now with them, both in body and in soul, the being says. Kitty mourns not only his death, but also that she never told him how she really felt. Mercifully, the Supreme Soviet gives her very little time to ponder her loss before absorbing her as well. It seems to have found its purpose: absorbing all the mutants in the world and making one collective being. This way, no human tyrant shall exploit them ever again! Sensing four additional mutants in the ruins above, the Supreme Soviet begins salivating over their addition.
Something, however, goes wrong. The Supreme Soviet loses control over its body as one of its component souls begins acting in dissent. Using its vast telekinetic powers, it seizes the nuclear reactor core from the ground and hurls it into space. It objects then cease, as Kitty gains total control of the being, which now bears her face. She brings it to the surface and addresses both Logan and Ursa Major. K-Kitty, Logan asks? Yes, she tells him. They need not fight any longer. Instead, she asks them to get everyone away from the reactor; the radiation levels are still far too high.
The conscious heroes carry their fallen comrades far outside the zone of alienation. Once everyone is safe, Kitty performs her last act as the designated driver of the Supreme Soviet, and separates it into its component bodies and souls. Sprite, Colossus, and the eight Russian mutants come tumbling out of a bright flash of light. The Soviet Super-Soldiers knew not the true nature of this nuclear facility. As Vanguard and Darkstar comfort the distressed civilians, they vow to bring to justice those who were responsible for authorizing this abomination.
With the crisis resolved, Logan helps Kitty off the ground and tells her he has one question to ask. “Yes, I would have totally gone berserk-o nuts-o if I thought you were finished too,” she says. “I thought that was sooo sweeeet…”
“No, not that,” Logan says. Instead, he wants to know if she finally told Piotr how she felt. No, she says. Why not, Logan asks? Kitty reveals that because she was absorbed into the Supreme Soviet just as her passionate feelings for Colossus were on her mind, she was able to use that intensity to overwhelm the being and take over its personality. However, while in charge, she could not help but peer into Piotr’s heart. She learned he doesn’t feel the nearly the same way about her. Instead, he thinks of her as he would a little sister.
Wolverine seems relieved. He asks the boy-crazy Kitty if she plans to move on and find another guy. “Heck, no!” Kitty says, waving her finger. Instead, she now plans to spend every waking moment working to change Piotr’s mind!


[User]
<image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image>
Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
Koan
Wolverine arrives at a pagoda in Madripoor. He ascends to the temple’s top level to find its inhabitant, a martial artist named Shang-Chi, sitting quietly. Logan introduces himself to the great Wushu master and admits he could use his help.
It seems his greatest enemy, Sabretooth, has kidnapped the Kitty Pryde and taken her to Madripoor as his hostage. If Logan does not produce the ransom, Sabretooth will kill her. Logan refuses to allow this. His whole life, he has struggled to restrain the beast within, but Sabretooth is just the opposite: he revels in his own monstrousness. He knows how to push Logan’s buttons. He always makes Logan lose control, and then beats him senseless.
Logan sets down his duffel bag. He was told Shang-Chi could teach him some new techniques he could use to beat Sabretooth. He doesn’t expect Shang-Chi to help him for free. He unzips his duffel bag, revealing stacks of money.
“You have been misinformed,” Shang-Chi says. “I long ago put down the ways of kung fu.” He adds he now struggles toward enlightenment through teaching the riddles the Japanese call “Koan.” Sure, Logan says, citing the oft-referenced riddle of a tree falling in the woods with no one around to hear it. Shang-Chi says if Logan is willing to learn, he can teach him. “For example,” Shang-Chi says, picking up an apple out of his basket and presenting it to Logan, “what is this? If you say it is an apple, I will hit you thirty times. If you say it is not an apple, I will hit you thirty times.”
“You’ll try,” Wolverine grunts. Shang-Chi does not respond. After glaring at him for a moment, Wolverine sighs and asks what he’s supposed to say; it’s clearly an apple.
True to his word, Shang-Chi picks up his staff and strikes at Logan. The X-Man instinctually dodges the attack, and counters by slicing the staff in two. Shang-Chi smacks him across the cheek with the staff fragment in his right hand, and then knocks him to the ground with his left. See how superior his blade is, Shang-Chi asks? Logan reminds the Wushu master he isn’t carrying a blade. “Of course I am,” Shang-Chi says. “So are you, a blade more powerful than those claws of yours. But you choose not to use it.” He tells Wolverine he possesses a diamond sword, which cuts off all burdens, prejudices, and thinking, leaving things purely as they are. He twirls the dual remnants of his staff. To most people, he says, it would appear Wolverine cut his weapon in half. The clear mind, however, would see that Wolverine merely gave Shang-Chi two weapons, whereas before, he had only one. “Your claws are useless without your diamond sword. Use it to cut this weight off your soul,” he says.
Wolverine becomes ornery at this perceived condescension. Shang-Chi makes it sound so easy; does he think Logan hasn’t tried? He would give anything to stop acting like an animal and be normal again. “Of course you are not an animal”, Shang-Chi says. “You are much worse than an animal. An animal does not waste his time wondering whether he is an animal or not. He simply is.”
“Animal. Human. One. Zero. Good. Bad. These things,” Shang-Chi says, “are created by the mind.” He tells Wolverine to use his diamond sword to put these things down. He thinks he needs them, but truthfully, he does not. Once again, he presents Logan with the apple. “What is this?”
Again, Logan stares at it. This time, however, he answers with silence. A set of automatic crossbows suddenly spring from the bushes and fire at him, but he slices the bolts into pieces before they can hit him. Shang-Chi plunges his hands into the sand, extracts two swords, and attacks Logan once more. Logan parries the blow. Shang-Chi then swings the blades in a wide arc aimed at Wolverine’s mid-section. He back-flips into the air, barely avoiding being severed in half, and lands on the pagoda’s railing. Shang-Chi rushes him, and with his first blade, attacks Logan directly. With his second, he slices the banister form beneath Logan’s feet. Logan falls over the side of the building. Shang-Chi catches him by the foot, sparing him from the fall
Does he see now, Shang-Chi asks? In the heat of battle, Logan possesses a clear mind. In battle, he doesn’t think; he purely reacts. In battle, he does not waste time going into one of his rages. Enemies like Sabretooth don’t have to do anything to defeat him because they don’t need to; Logan comes to them already defeated.
After he pulls him back up to the roof, Wolverine asks what he did wrong by answering the apple question in silence. Shang-Chi explains that before, when he said it was an apple, he showed an attachment to form. When he gave no answer, however, he showed an attachment to nothingness. A clear mind is attached to neither. It sees things as they are. He holds up the apple once more. “What is this? What are you? Are these questions the same, or are they different?”
Wolverine throws his hands up in frustration. “It’s me! It’s you! It’s a doghouse!” He unsheathes his claws. Shang-Chi doesn’t flinch. Those answers are fine, he tells him, but now, Wolverine shows attachment to nonsense. That does it, Logan shouts! “You know what I ain’t attached to? I ain’t! Attached! To you!” He storms out of the pagoda, telling Shang-Chi he was clearly mistaken in thinking he could help. After a moment, however, he pokes his head back in the door, and sheepishly asks if that was the right answer. Shang-Chi looks at him, but says nothing. Logan, further frustrated, leaves again. As he walks through the dense jungle of Madripoor, he remarks the entire session with Shang-Chi was nothing but a waste of time.
Later that night, at his hotel in Madripoor, Logan is given a cryptic message by the clerk. It simply says “Luong Falls – Dawn.” Logan deciphers the name to mean Sabretooth, and scolds himself for wasting the day with Shang-Chi instead of searching for Kitty. Now, he has to play by Sabretooth’s rules. Again.
He arrives at the waterfall well before dawn. While awaiting Sabretooth’s arrival, Wolverine meditatively listens to the roar of the falls. A bird flies overhead and grabs his attention. What is this, he asks himself while looking at his reflection in a puddle. What is it? His eyes suddenly widen; his mind goes momentarily blank. This brief trance, however, is interrupted by the arrival of Sabretooth.
Wolverine turns around to see his nemesis carrying the unconscious Kitty Pryde in a net. Let’s do this, Sabretooth says, telling him not to worry about the girl. Sabretooth gave her enough drugs to knock her out without hurting her. Not that he has a problem with that, he adds. He will certainly hurt her if Logan does not give him the information he wants. He reminds Logan that Madripoor used to be a refuge for the South Vietnamese after the communists occupied Saigon. Back when he was a spy, Logan helped them hide their weapons and valuable somewhere in the jungle. Sabretooth demands to know where the goods are stashed. If Logan won’t tell, then he’ll drop the girl over the edge of the waterfall.
“I’m not gonna tell you a thing,” Wolverine answers. Surprised, Sabretooth asks if he remembers with whom he’s dealing. Yes, Wolverine says, but adds he knows Sabretooth has no interest in the guns and gold of Vietnam. “You can just torment me. Like you always want,” he says. After ordering him to put the girl down, he tells Sabretooth to come get what he came for. “You can just dump her after you’ve defeated me, anyway.”
Sabretooth can barely believe it. It seems he finally broke Wolverine. “But I’m glad you’ve finally recognized your superior when you see ‘im,” Sabretooth says. He sets the unconscious Kitty down and lunges at Logan. Wolverine, however, effortlessly blocks his attack. Sabretooth swipes at him again, but again, Wolverine knocks his arm aside. Try as he might, Sabretooth cannot score a hit. What does he think he is doing, he asks Wolverine? He only delays the inevitable! In time, Sabretooth will unleash his inner beast, and show him he’s nothing but a savage animal, just like he always does.
Wolverine head-butts him in the nose. “No,” he says to the staggering Sabretooth. “You’ve never faced me before. This is our first fight. Our only fight.” He kicks Sabretooth over the edge of the waterfall. As for the “leash” Sabretooth mentioned, well, Wolverine finally put it down. He cuts Kitty free of her bindings and carries her away from the waterfall without looking back.
Sometime later, Wolverine returns to Shang-Chi’s pagoda. Shang-Chi is not surprised to see him again. Skipping all formalities, the Wushu master reaches into his basket once more and presents Logan with an apple. “What is this?” he asks. Smiling, Wolverine grabs the apple and takes a bite. Shang-Chi approves. “Now you are the master,” he says, bowing his head.
As Logan descends the stairs, still chomping away at the apple, he ponders what he has learned. Things are what they are; words cannot hope to fully encompass them. He and the apple and the waterfall all have their respective places in the world. He is reminded of a quote by his favorite philosopher: I am what I am and that’s all that I am. And what is he? He is a guy who tries to do the right thing. He’s Wolverine, and that’s enough.