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The Man Within
A news channel rolls video footage of Cyclops, flanked by his fellow X-Men, blasting the Hulk with his optic powers. Narrating the images, a news anchor explains that a different kind of spectacle tore up the Las Vegas strip last night… when the “jade juggernaut” known as the Hulk clashed with a group of costumed mutants believed to be the X-Men. As the video switches to images of the tanks and soldiers on foot, the anchor continues that the latest metahuman outrage was cut mercifully short… by the prompt intervention of the Hulkbusters, a military unit tasked to capture the rampaging monster. But the combatants escaped, free to fight again.
Continuing, the anchor explains that the officials who claim that this incident was merely a skirmish between factions in some sort of super-war have been challenged by another tourist video… which seems to show the X-Men in conversation with the Hulk’s alter ego, Bruce Banner. “Mute!” the Leader orders his console of monitors, immediately silencing the anchor as he appears next to the images of Bruce Banner and the X-Men. Declaring him a prattling moron, the Leader sneers that idle speculation is for mental midgets. True intelligence can acquire and process all available data. Nearby, a robot server, binging tray carrying a bottle of beverage with some of its contents already in a flute glass, dutifully agrees. Yes, my Leader.
Though the video is muted, the Leader continues to watch the scene play out and orders his system to zoom enhance. He repeats the order again and the system centers on the mouth of Banner, whose lips the Leader reads. “Xavier,” the Leader repeats. Turning to his robot, the Leader notes that it’s a single word to complete a puzzle… that began with a NASA report of an alien planetoid on a collision course with Earth. Yes, great Leader, the robot promptly agrees.
The planetoid turned back, the Leader continues. At the same moment, a massive psychic pulse united all human consciousness in common purpose. A feat he sensed was achieved by a single mind… sensed by could not prove until the events in Las Vegas. And twenty-two minutes later, at one of Banner’s secret laboratories he had the foresight to keep under surveillance. Then, just three hours later, a burst of gamma energy in Westchester County, New York… at the school of one Charles Xavier. Et voila!
(the Nevada desert, night)In mid-leap, the incredible Hulk finds himself the target of the latest of the Hulbusters’ Hulk busting strategy: a volley of supersonic stinger missiles with high explosive warheads. Though the explosive fury of the blast does him no harm, the Hulk is thrown off course and falls back to the Earth, still pursued by more rockets, which close in fast. As he has done in the past, the Hulk attempts to catch one to toss back at his attackers, as he’s done in the past. Unfortunately, their new gamma proximity trigger causes the missile to explode in his hand.
Nevertheless, the Hulk is not hampered by strategy. Lifting a multi-ton boulder, he demonstrates his contentment for low tech solutions and tosses the rock the vast distance between him and the missile-firing vehicle. One vehicle explodes on impact, causing soldiers to scatter in all directions. As no more missiles are fired, the Hulk opts not to escalate. The simple truth is that the Hulk just wants peace. To be left alone. With that, he leaps away, into the night.
Back at his mansion in Westchester, Professor Xavier examines electronic components beneath a magnifying glass. Standing behind him, Jean Grey tells the professor that he should be resting, to which Hank McCoy agrees. He was in a coma until a few hours ago. Arms crossed, Cyclops adds that he understands that the professor feels indebted to Doctor Banner but sure this could wait until…
Interrupting without taking his attention away from his work, Xavier replies that he appreciates Scott’s concern, but he witnessed the man’s torment first-hand. It’s a miracle he has managed to control the Hulk until now. Banner controls the Hulk? Angel asks. On some level, yes, Xavier confirm. A logical deduction, the Beast muses. In Las Vegas, they asked Banner for the device, yet it was the Hulk who led them to it. That’s part of it, Xavier replies, still engrossed in his work. When he corresponded with Banner about building a device to treat mental exhaustion… he assumed Banner intended it for general practice.
Hearing this, Jean asks if he means it’s a cure for himself? Without a doubt, Xavier says. Asked by Cyclops why didn’t Banner use it, Xavier explains that he tried… and failed. He also believes the device requires a telepathic component. When the Beast then notes that his choice of words implies a degree of uncertainty, Xavier explains that the device doesn’t contain a power source. Ingeniously, it is designed to be powered by the gamma energy in Banner’s own cells. A residual charge in the machine was sufficient for them to treat him. But that is now spent. There’s only one way to test his theory.
Seeing the professor suddenly show signs of exhaustion, Cyclops again voices that he doesn’t see why this can’t wait. Rubbing his forehead, Xavier replies that the residual charge that cured him carried a psychic imprint. An echo of the spiritual torment Banner endures… He’ll never be able to rest until he’s done all he can to help Banner be free.
(the Nevada desert)After multiple leaps, the Hulk finally leaps no more. Finally, he is alone. Sitting down on a boulder, the Hulk takes in the silent night sky. And the view… mesmerizing. High above, the sky is full of stars, which the Hulk views through gamma-powered eyes, which gaze into infinity. His mind uncomprehending and lost in wonder, the Hulk reaches out with his massive hand. However, as a sense of calm falls over him, the massive, green hand of the Hulk begins to shrink in size and change to a more human color. Words also come into his head and the heavens are more comprehensible. Orion. Nebula. Beteleuse.
Hours away, though within the desert, Professor X and his X-Men depart their aircraft. Having revisited the site of their previous encounter, Angel notes that there must have been another rockslide after their battle with the Hulk. Climbing up the rock face, Beast announces good news… only the doorway is obstructed. The laboratory is virtually unscathed. Down below, Cyclops orders the rest of the team to take cover behind the ship. However, Havok steps forwards and passes Cyclops. As he summons the energy from within, he informs his brother that this is going to require the big gun. It’s been awhile since he’s had a chance to cut loose… so this won’t take but a minute. With that, Havok lets loose his full fury on the obstructed entrance.
Miles away, Bruce Banner has found a nearly empty RV park and begins sifting through the dumpsters for clothes. He is attempting to put on discarded sneakers when a voice calls out to him, asking if he is okay. Sheepishly, Banner replies that he’s fine and thanks the man for his concern. He’s just passing through. As he tosses a bag into the dumpster, the elderly gentleman retorts that they’re all passing through. But sometimes it’s good to be able to sit for a while. He’s Jeb. Bruce, Bruce replies.
Asked if he would care to join him and the wife for supper, Banner begins to decline. However, Jeb presses, warning him not to be too quick to say no. The nearest diner is more’n ten miles away and he won’t be hitchin’ anywhere t’night. The soldiers’ carpet bombin’ has scared everyone off. Anyways, Jeb continues, rubbing his hand over his expanding mid-section, he’s just gotta look at him to know his lady is one great cook. Seeing the fight gone from his soon-to-be guest, Jeb places his hand on Banner’s shoulder and calls out to his wife, Dorothy, asking her to put an extra plate out. They’ve got company.
In the hidden laboratory, Xavier sits face to face with Marvel Girl, taking in the memories of the X-Men’s fight with the Hulk she is sharing. Incredible, he voices. It defies logic that a being so massive can move with such speed and precision… it’s almost graceful. When she replies that she doubts Hank would agree, the Beast turns to the duo and remarks that his ears are burning. Has Jean’s memories presented him as a bigger fool than he felt? His technique was flawless, Xavier replies, having finished the shared memory. And he would have devastated any other foe… but totally ineffective against the Hulk. Indeed, the Beast smiles. Proof, if such was needed, that brain is superior to brawn.
Expanding on that thought, Xavier announces to the team that he has sharpened Jean’s telepathic focus, so she should be able to physically sedate the Hulk more easily. Hearing this, Cyclops opines that he doesn’t think they can rely on the same strategy working twice… so he’ll take Alex and Bobby – they can avoid combat but they can all strike from a distance if need be – and Warren as scout. To Hank and Lorna, Cyclops orders them to stay there to finalize preparations. With that, the five X-Men depart. However, as their VTOL air craft launches into the night, it is watched by a lizard, whose cybernetically eyes take in the whole sight.
At their table set up outside their RV, Jeb explains to Bruce that they sold up and sunk their savings into their camper van. Taking up the plates, Dorothy adds that they figured they’d spend their twilight years in peace and quiet out there. More pie? Politely declining, Bruce adds that he’s full and that it was a wonderful meal.
Jeb begins to agree, but is interrupted by a series of powerful explosions off in the distance. Dorothy notes that the explosions are closer this time, but Jeb replies that he doesn’t think that’s any trainin’ exercise. The soldiers are chasin’ someone.  Behind them, Banner begins to hold his head, the pounding from afar echoing in his head. He tells them that they should go… Now! It’s not safe… They’re coming after him. They’ve got to get out of there… quickly! Concerned over his guest, Jeb tells him to take it easy. He’s safe. No, Banner disagrees, he’s dangerous. They’ve got to get away. He can’t stop it. His hands placed against the side of his head, Banner finally looks up at them through luminescent, gamma-irradiated eyes. Please… he’s begging them. They’ve got to go. Go now
A short distance away in their craft, Cyclops informs the rest of the team that there’s a strong gamma reading dead ahead… but they’ll need to get their bird down before one of those missiles locks on to them. A few moments later, the craft has landed and the team quickly exists. The gamma reading is moving towards them, Havok reports. Fast. Yeah, Iceman agrees. Here comes the big green ugly… only it isn’t the Hulk…
Quickly approaching their position, hotly pursued by over a dozen Hulkbuster missiles, is the gamma-powered monster known as the Abomination.


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The Man Within – part two
(the Nevada desert)In the final arc of his leap, the Abomination is about the leap in the midst of the X-Men, with a host of gamma-seeking missiles behind him. Even before he lands, though, Cyclops has already formed a plan. Already firing his optic blasts at the trailing rockets, he orders Iceman to take the Abomination, while he Havok stop the missiles. In an instant, as missiles explode above them, Iceman conjures an ice-slide, which uses the Abomination’s downward momentum against him. Repeating the gamma-powered creature’s nom de guerre, Iceman quips that he’s waaay uglier than the Hulk. And way more dangerous, Cyclops adds.
Still blasting missiles, Cyclops orders Jean to take down the Abomination before he recovers. In a moment, she stands over him, gesturing with her left hand at him as her mind reaches out. He’s… different! she voices. Not yet back on his feet, the Abomination reels at the mental probing. In his mind, Marvel Girl sees his recent history. He’s not like the Hulk, she tells the others. He… hates the Hulk .Wants to kill him. They fought earlier. But then the military launched an attack. The ones they saw in Las Vegas. When the missiles started to fall… the Abomination ran.
To this, the Abomination retorts that he is no dumb brute who would allow himself to be the target of a cowardly, long-range attack. All smiles as he continues to erect a solid-ice prison for him, Iceman quips to the Abomination that it seems that’s exactly what he was until they saved his lizard hide! As Cyclops and Havok continue to demolish the incoming ordinance above, Angel studies readouts from them on a handheld device, concluding aloud that they must be targeting with gamma detectors. Somehow the Hulk escaped so they locked onto the nearest gamma signature, same as they did. He’ll need to reconfigure this to ignore the Abomination if they’re going to locate Banner.
Hearing this, despite being fully encased in ice, the Abomination asks that they have a device to find the Hulk? A moment later, the ice in which he was encased shatters and the Abomination reaches for the device, announcing that he wants it. Too startled to flee, Angel finds the goliath’s hand wrapped around his neck, being ordered to show him how to use it. Nearby, Havok and Cyclops continue their missile defense. Havok calls to his brother, but Cyclops orders him to stay focused on the missiles.
At a nearby RV park, retirees Jeb & Dorothy ignore the far-off explosions and instead focus with concern on the pain and anguish of their guest, Bruce. Staggering before them, Banner rebuffs their attempts to get him to sit down, explaining that he’s got to get away. He can’t stop the transformation… When he changes… they’ll be able to target him…
Seeing his luminescent green eyes, Jeb believes he suddenly understands. Stepping away and pulling his wife, Jeb asks Bruce that he’s one… of them! Still writhing in pain, Banner’s lithe arms begin to fill out with muscle, his skin turning from pink to green. They’ve got to… get away from him, he warns. As the transformation continues, with Banner apologizing along the way, Jeb orders Dorothy to run for the van. A few moments later, their RV is on its way, leaving behind the lone figure and growling of the incredible Hulk, who once again walks the Earth.
Further in the desert, the Abomination reiterates his order to Angel, whom he still holds in his grip, to find the Hulk… now. Still firing at the missiles, Cyclops calls out to Marvel Girl via her telepathy and asks her for a target. Brachial plexus, she replies telepathically. It’s deep… hit it hard. In what is only a glance, Cyclops turns his head and fires at the spot in question, hitting the muscle and forcing the Abomination via involuntary reflexes to release Angel. The process having taken but a moment, Cyclops returns this attention to the incoming missiles.
Immediately, Marvel Girl orders Angel behind her. She manages to raise a telekinetic shield just in time to deflect a mighty blow from the Abomination’s fist. Calling her a scrawny witch, he threatens to rip her head off… but is interrupted when the Hulk lands just behind him, grabbing the Abomination by his brow ridge as he lands. Big talk, Hulk announces. Abomination is all big talk. Recovering quickly, Abomination smiles, asking if words are still proving a challenge for his pea-sized brain, eh? Grabbing a giant rock, Abomination uses it as a club against his old foe, announcing that he’ll keep this simple. He’s going down! With that, he brings what part of the rock still remains intact down on the Hulk’s head, ramming it into the ground.
Though he is down, the Hulk is not out. Still on his back, he delivers a powerful left hook. However, it is not enough to stagger the Abomination, who delivers a kick to the Hulk’s jaw, just as he is getting up. Watching all of this through his binoculars from a distance, Major Talbot is informed that the missile batteries are depleted. Are they going in? The major takes a moment to consider and then answers yes. They can’t go back empty-handed again.
Closer to the battle, Cyclops and Havok try to put distance between the two combatants. Havok complains that they shoulda let the missiles get them, but Cyclops is more pragmatic. They have their objective. Stay sharp, he orders the whole team. They need to be ready to get Banner. If there’s anything left of him, Iceman quips.
He is finished, Hulk, the Abomination announces, wumping his foe with a left hook and following it with a back-handed fist. Acknowledge him as the strongest and he will give him a swift death, he offers. Say it. Say he is the strongest. Say it! Again and again, the Abomination swings and connects, but the Hulk does not fall. Rather, the Hulk replies that the Abomination always says who is strongest. Who is the strongest? With that, the Hulk sidesteps a right-cross and slugs the Abomination in the stomach, doubling him over. To this, the Hulk follows up with a devastating left hook, slamming the Abomination head-first into the rocky ground, which explodes on the impact. Answering his own question, the Hulk announces that Hulk is the strongest. Hulk is the strongest one of all! With that, he picks up the Abomination’s unconscious form with one hand.
However, before he can do anything else, he spies the oncoming caravan of military vehicles. A massive flex of muscles later, the Abomination is flung toward the lead tank and crushes its front from the impact. The caravan comes to an immediate halt and by the time Major Talbot emerges from his truck, the soldiers soon have the giant covered from their Hulkbuster weapons. Secure the brute! he orders. Their priority is to place this “Abomination” monster in the maximum security facility. The Hulk will have to wait for another day.
Some distance away, the Hulk no longer feels threatened by the military, and turns his back to them. In doing so, he spies off in another direction a fleeing RV camper. A sense of regret and sadness, overwhelming sadness suddenly comes over the jade giant, immediately detected by the nearby Marvel Girl, who with the rest of the X-Men approaches the Hulk slowly from behind. Cyclops telepathically warns her to be careful, but Marvel Girl replies that she didn’t need to do anything. The Hulk persona is retreating.
(later)Back at Bruce Banner’s secret laboratory, Lorna Dane reports that the medical monitors are all synchronized. But they can’t test the most crucial component, he reminds Lorna, Doctor Banner’s device. It has to work, Xavier interjects. He understands, Beast replies. Doctor Banner’s plight is beyond nightmarish. He can’t imagine any fate worse than being trapped in an inhuman form… but he can’t shake the feeling that this will not end well.
As the three continue their discussion, high above, crawling among the rafters, the cybernetic lizard watches with its giant, electronic eye. Viewing the scene from his own secret location far away, the Leader smiles. At last, Banner, he muses. His mood quickly turns from gloating to intrigue when the lizard’s camera-eye shows the returning X-Men, accompanied by Bruce Banner. Now things will get interesting, the Leader muses aloud.
Shaking the doctor’s hands from his wheelchair, Professor Xavier informs Banner that his treatment for mental exhaustion saved his life. He’s glad it worked, Banner replies. It was unsuccessful in his case. He assumed as much, Xavier informs him. And he believes he understands why. Voicing his appreciation at the professor’s intentions, Banner adds that he has no idea how dangerous the forces involved can be. How dangerous he can be. They have some first-hand knowledge, Beast replies, rubbing his jaw. And they want to help, Marvel Girl adds. It’s what they do, Iceman agrees.
Turning to the reclined chair, Banner assumes aloud that Xavier wants him to sit there. Then what? He hasn’t altered his creation, Xavier informs him. It will operate exactly as before… but he will telepathically direct the matrix. Asked when he wants to start, Xavier replies immediately. There’s no reason to wait. Sheepishly, Banner notes that there’s one big green reason to act promptly. Okay, he says, sitting up on the chair. Let’s do it. Does he need to concentrate or anything? Told just to try to relax, Banner smiles that if he was the type of guy who could relax, none of them would be there.
A moment later, Beast triggers a control on a device at the end of the telescoping arm and announces the machine is activated. As Banner nervously watches with the luminescent energy produced by the device, Xavier sits close to Banner’s side. He can already sense a pattern of resistance, he informs him. When Banner replies that he feels something, Xavier instructs him to let his mind find the shape. It’s growing stronger, Banner announce, wide-eyed. Let it flow, Xavier tells him. Growing… stronger… Banner voices. Xavier instructs Banner not to fight it, but Banner replies that it’s not him… it’s the Hulk. He must remain calm, the professor tells him.
Nearby, as the light from the energy increases, Marvel Girl warns the professor that it’s escalating. Let her help. Xavier begins to tell her no, but Banner’s body suddenly convulses in a flash of green light. Blinded by the light, Xavier calls out to Doctor Banner. Now on the floor, Banner replies that he’s there… but he is no longer the problem.
Much to the shock of the rest of the team, Marvel Girl stands transformed, her gamma-irradiated body stretching her clothes and her mindless, monstrous roar filling them with fear.


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The Man Within part 3
In Bruce Banner’s secret lab in the Nevada Desert, Marvel Girl writhes in pain as gamma energy transforms her body. Her skin having already turned green, she grows larger in size, her lithe form becoming more muscular and ripping free of her costume. Watching all of this in disbelief with the rest of the X-Men, Dr. Bruce Banner informs Charles Xavier that his procedure has channeled the gamma energy of the Hulk into Marvel Girl. Dumbfounded, Xavier asks how this is possible. He warned him this would be dangerous, Banner tells Xavier.
Watching as the immense Jean Grey creates a cyclone of objects around her, Xavier notes that the metamorphosis has massively increased her telekinesis… and it’s still intensifying. To this, Banner notes that gamma mutations are unpredictable. The Abomination is little more than a lizard version of the Hulk, whereas the Leader developed a massive intellect.
Ignoring Banner, Xavier reaches out with his telepathy to what was once Jean Grey. Calling her name, he instructs her to remember the discipline of her training. Concentrate, he tells her. However, before he can press, Xavier finds himself surrounded by the X-Men, who order him to back off. Xavier begins to ask Cyclops a question, but the youth simply states that they don’t need his interference.
Stand down, boys, orders the creature that was once Marvel Girl. It’s not unreasonable for their mentor to have interpreted her appearance and actions as evidence she had evolved into a mindless monster. Her destructive flailing was merely the exploratory flexing of a newborn. With that, the objects which formed the cyclone about her stop spinning and drop to the lab floor. Now pulling at the rags which were once her costume, Jean Grey continues. The obvious physical enhancements are inconsequential to her psychic evolution… She now possesses the ability to manipulate matter on a molecular scale. A rather useful ability  for a girl with a major wardrobe malfunction. Yes, she continues, she thinks she’s outgrown the “cute” look in more ways than one. She needs something appropriate to her new status… something regal.
With that, the molecules of Jean’s Marvel Girl costume are rearranged into something new. Though now barefoot, red leggings rising up to her thigh. The rest of her costume is a sort of two-piece bikini, with her face framed by Lorna’s headdress, which she telekinetically claimed as her own. Her body, though, is completely transformed. Now green in color, it is strong and powerful. Her hair, though not green, is a lighter color of red and now extends to the small of her back.
Clapping at the new outfit, Lorna immediately compliments that her headdress looks so much better on Jean. Yes, Lorna, Jean replies. She thought so. Nearby, Iceman, Beast, Cyclops and Angel smile and profess their own compliments. Hhhot… with a capital sizzle, Iceman proclaims. Love the color, Beast opines. A logical choice, Jean tells her teammate, now that green is her flesh tone. To this, Angel interjects that he’s always had a thing for tall women.
While his X-Men gush, Xavier remains worried and telepathically reaches out to Scott and Hank. However, before he can fully ask them if they are under Jean’s control, Jean finishes his thought, and telekinetically lifts Xavier from his wheelchair as she voices it. Resolute, Xavier voices that Jean is behaving out of character. Again finishing his sentence, Jean states that he thinks they should conduct exhaustive tests? To determine the extent of her metamorphosis? Now he thinks she’s broken, she continues, and he wants to fix her. As usual, she tells the professor, he has no doubt that he knows best.
Jean speaks for them all, Cyclops interjects. They’re tired of being used as pawns in his private crusades. To this, Xavier admits that he’s made mistakes, but Jean must realize this degree of transformation needs to be investigated. Now angry, Jean demonstrates a massive, clenched fist and snarls that Xavier couldn’t comprehend what she’s become…
Suddenly, Banner notices something. However, before he can comment, a thunderous KROOM heralds the eruption of the lab’s wall, though which a host of robotic creatures pour. As the X-Men immediately move into position, Beast notes that they don’t look like Sentinels, but they are robotic and out for blood! Attack! Jean orders her X-Men.
As the battle begins, Banner calls out to Xavier, ordering him to stay down. He’ll get him out of there. In short order, Dr. Banner makes his way to Xavier, but the professor tells him he’s okay. He just needs to be helped up. Banner disagrees and begins to pick up the professor, but Xavier protests, ordering Banner to put him down. Resolute, Banner places Xavier in his wheelchair, adding that he’s got to get him to a safe place. Again, Xavier protests, watching his students do battle, led by the transformed Jean, who is already using her newfound powers. He can help. He must…
The argument becomes moot, as Banner begins to roll the professor away from the battle, explaining that he’s still recuperating and far from full strength. Still, even as they depart Xavier attempts to provide telepathic tactical advice, but Banner tells him he’s wasting his time. They won’t listen. They must! Xavier counters. They are outnumbered, in an indefensible position… and he cannot get any sense of a directing intelligen…
Xavier stops in mid-sentence, suddenly realizing something. His telepathic message was exclusively directed to the X-Men… Banner couldn’t possible have heard it unless they are sharing thoughts… With that, Xavier moves one of his legs off of the wheelchair’s footrests. He’s in his mind, he tells Banner as he rises to his feet. A moment later, the wheelchair is gone. Banner? Xavier calls out, now alone on a desert landscape at night. Is this how he contains the Hulk? Xavier asks into the darkness. Distract him with a mental contruct…
An alarm sounds. Aroogaroogaaroohaa… Looking up, Xavier sees a tower, stretching up from a platform in the desert. Four searchlights beam through the night, illuminating the giant gamma warhead atop the tower.
Suddenly, Dr. Bruce Banner races toward Xavier from his nearby parked jeep. He shouldn’t be there, he yells in a panic. It’s too dangerous! Quickly, Banner grabs Xavier and pulls him toward the trench. He has to let him help him, Xavier informs Banner. This mindscape is a waste of time. It’s won’t work on him. Suddenly, Bruce Banner is no longer a doctor, but a child, pulling him into the trench. He thinks he’s strong, the young Banner tells Xavier, but the Hulk is stronger. The Hulk is the strongest one there is.
A moment later, the gamma bomb explodes, catching Xavier from behind and bathing him in gamma energy. Down in the trench, the young Bruce is safe, while Xavier is now transformed. His body now massive and ripped with muscles, Xavier is a mirror to the Hulk, save with Xavier’s facial features and lack of hair. Though his body is transformed, his mind remains. Banner, this is futile, Xavier proclaims. He won’t be deceived into playing a role in this façade. He has navigated many mindscapes. Psychic illusion lacks the substance of reality.
The reply to Xavier’s words is a right-handed uppercut, delivered from behind by the Rhino. That got enough substance for ya? Rhino asks. A moment later, the Rhino is joined by the Abomination, Absorbing Man, Sandman, the Silver Surfer and sword-wielding monsters. Make it easy on himself, Sandman tells him. Just quit, why don’t he, Rhino asks. He’s old and sick, Absorbing Man adds. Joining the fight is the Sub-Mariner, who tells Xavier that they wanted to protect him, but his disruption endangers them all. He must leave. In agreement as they pile on, the other attackers order him to go! GO! GO!
Brought to his knees, Xavier enjoys a brief moment of respite. He needs to understand, he says aloud. He’s a man of intellect. So was he, the Hulk replies, delivered a powerful left hook to Xavier’s jaw, knocking him back with a thunderous WHAM. Knocked onto his back and away in a skid, Xavier eventually comes to a stop, at which point the young Bruce is waiting. Please leave, young Bruce tells him. He isn’t safe there. Calling the youth “Doctor Banner,” Xavier asks why is he doing this. He doesn’t know that he is, Bruce replies. Asked if he means it’s the Hulk, Bruce offers a “perhaps.” Or maybe he has a few demons of his own. Either way, he has bigger problems… much bigger problems!
High above them, like mythical titans as tall as mountains, the lithe body of the adult Dr. Bruce Banner does battle with multiple Hulks of varying hues. When a giant foot slams a short distance from them, shattering the ground beneath it, Xavier explains to the young Bruce that he must know that this is an illusion. Not the struggle, young Bruce replies. The struggle is real.
The landscape around Xavier transforms into a sphere of white, in which he now floats. As the battle of the titans continues outside of the sphere of light, a short distance away within it, the adult Dr. Banner sits, his head in his hands and his elbows resting on his knees. He apologizes to Xavier that this has been so… difficult. By his design, Xavier counters. A defensive reflex, he thinks, Banner replies. It’s not usually this way. His brain is being… supercharged. Considering this, Xavier asks if he means the device. How? It’s powered by the gamma energy that is already in Banner’s cells.
To this, Banner notes that the Hulk’s strength has always increased when it is challenged… so as he resists the Hulk’s attempts to be free, he increases his efforts… which in turn generates more power to support his resistance. So, in a wildly escalating spiral, the stronger the Hulk struggles… the more powerful his mind becomes. He can’t imagine what the limit is… Maybe it’s better he doesn’t find out. There has to be away, Xavier voices. Told there’s no time, Xavier replies that he’s not ready to concede defeat. It’s not his decision, Banner informs him.
As the battle of the titans continues outside of their protective sphere, Banner tells Xavier that he appreciates his efforts to help him… but they’re dealing with a force far beyond their understanding or ability to control. And his students need him. Asked what he means, Banner tells Xavier that he’s not sure. He thinks he may have incorporated external stimuli into his mindscape… Growing worried, Xavier inquires as to what that means. The robot attack was real, Banner answers.
A moment later, Professor Xavier is once again conscious. Looking down, he finds a device resembling an explosive strapped to his chest. Glancing around the room, he spies his students (including the very human Jean Grey), all shackled with devices clearly designed to inhibit their powers. They are all surrounded by dozens of androids standing guard.
Instinctively, Xavier calls out to Scott, but it is not Cyclops who answers. Ah, good, he’s back, the voice proclaims. Turning to his left, Xavier sees the a thin man, skin green in color with a vertically-elongated head on which rests a crown-like mechanism. Behind the man is Dr. Bruce Banner, still strapped to the chair with the gamma device emitting its gamma beam at his head. He is the Leader, the man explains. Pointing to the mechanism on his head, he tells Xavier to be warned. His headband monitors his brain functions. Any deviation from the norm, such as a telepathic probe, will detonate the bomb he is wearing.
Anticipating the Leader’s next statement, Xavier explains that no matter what the Leader threatens, he won’t help him. Ah, the Leader smiles, but he already has. He turned Banner into a gamma battery… and he plans to drain him.


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The Man Within part 4
In his secret lab in the Nevada Desert, Dr. Bruce Banner sits unconscious in a reclined chair, luminescent green energy projected from a device sitting atop a telescoping arm pointed at his head. Standing a short distance away, the Leader announces to the captive Xavier and his X-Men that he finds it difficult to believe Banner’s pedestrian intellect could conceive of a device capable of… THIS! Banner hovers on the verge of transformation… his cells held in stasis at the instant their gamma energy is released.
As the Leader continues analyzing the device which Banner constructed and which Xavier improved upon, Xavier reaches out telepathically to Jean. However, it is Cyclops who telepathically responds, explaining that she can’t hear him. When Xavier seems startled by his reply, Cyclops explains that Jean transferred her telepathic link to him in case he regained consciousness. Asked what happened, Cyclops explains that the Leader’s robots attacked shortly after Xavier linked minds with Banner and collapsed. They were caught totally off-guard.
Oblivious to all of this, the Leader continues his analysis… Ignoring the Leader’s musings, Cyclops continues that the Leader has had them under observation since they arrived there, so he was prepared to neutralize their powers. The helmet on Jean generates strobe lights and high-frequency sound… to overload her senses and distract her from using her telekinesis. Jean shut off he senses and forged a telepathic link with Angel… so that she has a visual to direct her telekinesis and unlock his restraints. When Xavier compliments the tactic with the adjective “genius,” Cyclops replies that they’re not kids anymore.
Still unaware of the silent conversation going on behind him, the Leader declares the device incredible, noting that the matrix is evolving. Banner… or the Hulk is becoming something… other. Turning to Xavier, the Leader notes that he told Banner that he telepathically manipulated the procedure. How? If he removes this bomb, Xavier sugggests, perhaps he could demonstrate. Snarling his reply, the Leader orders Xavier not to dare toy with him. Did he initiate this? Told that he doesn’t believe so, the Leader then asks if it is a transformation. He has no idea, Xavier replies. Becoming angrier at Xavier’s apparent defiance, the Leader signals to his Humanoids, one of which grabs the Angel by his wings and begins to squeeze. Perhaps he can stimulate his recollection, the Leader suggests. The winged one may be aloof and disinterested once he’s been plucked.
So engrossed with his interrogation of Xavier, the Leader does not notice that the unwatched Dr. Banner has indeed begun to transform becoming once again green in color and more massive in size. NOOOO! what was Banner cries, transformed again into a gamma-spawned creature. No! he won’t be responsible… for the suffering of others! As the Leader once again draws his attention to Banner, each of the individual shackles holding the X-Men suddenly comes apart simultaneously. Immediately, Cyclops notes to Jean that that felt like telekinesis… from the Hulk! Not the Hulk, Xavier corrects, Banner! The struggle to contain the Hulk has massively increased his mental capacity.
Announcing that he has indulged this “farce” long enough, the Leader declares the experiment is over and orders his Humanoids to attack. Kill them all! As the army of Humanoids do as ordered, the Leader clarifies that the device is all that matters. With the X-Men distracted by his androids, the Leader diverts his attention to the gamma device and informs Banner that he won’t win this time. Still in the experiment’s chair, Banner is no longer human, though clearly not the Hulk. His entire head, both skull and mandible, are enormous. This isn’t winning, Banner replies. With that, the not-Hulk reaches out and grasps the Leader by the neck, adding that he surely anticipated failure… or he’d have been there in person instead of sending a drone… while he skulks in his lair.
With that, the not-Hulk uses his massive thumb to shear off the top of the Leader’s skull, revealing the innards of the robot’s cranium. Far away, via his monitor, the Leader watches the snarling not-Hulk inform him that, if he wants his gamma powers, he should take it. A moment later, to his horror, the Leader’s control console begins to spark and then explodes with a gigantic KOOM. The moment that follows is full of darkness and silence, as the Leader lies inert on the floor.
Back in the secret lab, the not-Hulk Banner tosses aside the Leader drone and goes to the gamma device. Gingerly, the not-Hulk disconnects the mechanism, much to the horror of the watching Xavier. No, Banner, don’t do it, he tells him. Don’t lose hope… they can try again! The not-Hulk Banner takes a moment to regard Xavier with eyes of pained resignation. Then, a moment later, he smashes the device.
As the not-Hulk continues to pulverize the device’s remains with more blows, Cyclops orders everyone out. Xavier begins to protest, but Cyclops overrules him, ordering Beast and Iceman specifically to get the professor out. Now! As the X-Men depart, the not-Hulk tears through what remains of the Leader’s robot and Humanoid army, demolishing it with both physical strength and mental powers.
Aghast at the power at hand, Havok notes how lucky they are that the big guy is on their side. Asked by Cyclops if he really is, Havok replies that he’s still got a big head and firing off telekinetic blasts. That’s precisely why they should run, Cyclops rejoins. If Banner’s dominance ended when he destroyed the device… then the Hulk now has a telekinetic capacity… equivalent to his strength.
Mere moments after the team has exited the lab, the small mountain in which the lab was hidden collapses. Acting quickly, Iceman and Marvel Girl put up shields of ice and telekinesis respectively. From a distance, Colonel Talbot and his soldiers spy the resulting explosion. From an even further distance, retirees Jeb and Dorothy comfort each other.
Back at once was once Banner’s secret lab, the small mountain has finished collapsing. However, before all of the rubble is finished settling, a massive green fist punches through the rubble and the incredible Hulk is once again free, roaring into the night sky.
When Iceman notes that it looks like the Hulk’s rampage burned off the excess gamma power, Cyclops agrees. Now he’s back to being a regular scary green giant. Suddenly, the Hulk spies the X-Men and offers a growl, leading Marvel Girl to opine that it’s not over, as he looks like he’s still out for blood. Yeah, Cyclops agrees. Theirs!
A moment later, the Hulk spans the distance between him and the X-Men in a single leap. Cyclops orders Jean to put him down, but Xavier interjects, instructing her to leave this to him. Jean begins to object, but Xavier pleads with her to do as he asks. All of them, no matter what… everyone remain calm.
The X-Men hold their positions, as the Hulk stands before their mentor, literally hulking over him, his right arm raised, ready to smash Xavier to a bloody pulp. Time seems to stand still, as the Hulk and Xavier each remain motionless. The only thing that changes is the Hulk’s demeanor, which seems to grow even angrier… until finally he roars in Xavier’s face. When he received no reaction, the Hulk pauses for a moment… and then leaps off into the sky toward the rising sun.
Immediately, the X-Men are at the professor’s side. Is he okay, Marvel Girl asks. He looks exhausted. Just tied and disappointed, he replies. He failed. No way, the smiling Iceman replies. He Hulk would’ve hammered them all if he hadn’t “telepathed” him into backing down. No, Bobby, he didn’t, Xavier explains. He didn’t do anything. It was Banner… it was the man inside the monster.


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[Assistant]
Savage, part one
(Savage Land, western territory: a S.H.I.E.L.D. geological cartography mission)
A S.H.I.E.L.D. hovercar flies over the canopy of trees that covers this part of the Savage Land. Shanna points out the western coastline and Terror Bay in the distance. Agent McSwiggen asks what is beyond the bay, due west. There’s a small island with a weird carving on the mountain. Shanna informs him that it’s called the Forbidden Island. Elders have told that it’s a sacred place and must not be disturbed. They mentioned something about black magic. He asks if it’s been mapped out by the first surveyor team. Agent Nolan says it hasn’t. McSwiggen asks Shanna if she’s superstitious. “Nope,” she replies. “Good girl,” he says.
He asks the pilot to swing around and ready the buoy markers for further study. He notes that whoever posed for the carving must have been one ugly guy. He asks Agent Nolan if he can get closer, to which Nolan replies that he can, and then moves in to hold steady at three hundred meters from the island. He then mentions that sensors are tracking a weird energy build-up. He localizes the source and informs the agent that it’s coming from the mountain. McSwiggen then notes that they’ve lost aft thrusters but the stabilizers are compensating.
Nervous, Shanna asks what’s going on. McSwiggen replies that he’s not sure but she’d better buckle in. Nolan explains that there’s a magnetic shift. The compass isn’t responding. They’re losing stabilizers. “Full reverse,” orders McSwiggen. “Get us out of here, lieutenant.” Nolan replies that he’s lost forward sensors and they’re now flying blind. The primary computer is offline and secondary systems are not responding. He’s locked out!
Shanna snaps her seatbelt on and prepares for the worst. The mag-gravs fail and the pilot finds himself unable to engage the air-brakes. McSwiggen asks Nolan to override the damn things but they’re unresponsive. He attempts to deploy the chutes but finds that those are offline too. Powerless, the car begins to drop from the sky. A mayday signal is sent out and locations are provided for any rescue party who may answer the call. “All hands brace for impact!!!” cries McSwiggen as the hovercar hits the ground and bursts into flames.
(eight months later)
It’s evening and a full moon lights up the Savage Land. Natives from the Hannanaki tribe notice a bright light in the distance as something appears to fall to Earth. One of them states that the Dark Walker stirs in his sleep again. They must see who he has brought this time. “Send out the reapers,” he commands. A horn is sounded and several Pterosaurs take to the air.
In the distance, lying flat on his back in a clearing is Wolverine. He is in full costume. He looks up at the sky and thinks ‘Cripes. Where am I?’ He uses his senses to check out the environment. It’s humid, tropical, there’s pollen, volcanic ash and a polar breeze. It smells like the Savage Land. He sits up and looks around, smelling something else coming in on the wind. He snikts his claws as a raptor leaps on top of him. Wolverine struggles for a moment under its weight but manages to find an opportunity to thrust his claws into the creature’s jaw. They go right through its brain, killing it instantly. ‘Yup,’ he thinks. ‘The Savage Land.’
Mama Logan didn’t raise a fool, so he doesn’t wait around to see what else is going to show up. He heads off and melts into the jungle, taking the high road in order to survey the lay of the land and to find a river which he can follow to civilization. He soon finds an old footpath and upon discovering some footprints, realizes that he isn’t alone. From the shape of the prints and spread of the toes he determines that they belong to Neanderthals; nasty customers who are very territorial. He peers from the bushes at a hunting party which is wandering past. Using a carrying pole to transport their injured victim, Wolverine decides to move in for a closer look. He is shocked to see that the victim is wearing a S.H.I.E.L.D. outfit.
Silently, Wolverine launches himself at the tribesmen; his training and instinct taking over. He manages to kill three of them before they can respond. He’d figured them for dumb savages and thought they would scatter at the first sign of danger, but he was wrong. They fight back. Seasoned warriors standing their ground with some just as fast and vicious as he. One of them manages to hit him on the side of the head with a lucky blow, but this only serves to bring out the berserker in Wolverine. He disarms an opponent by slicing his arm off at the elbow and then decapitates him. Then, he gets real nasty. In less than ten moves, the fight is over.
Logan goes to the ailing S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and finds him in a bad way. He cuts his bonds but knows in an instant that he’s a dead man. Unfortunately, the guy knows it too. He has a lacerated liver and a punctured lung. He’s drowning in his own blood. It’s a helluva way to die, Logan thinks. With his dying breath, the agent tells Logan that his name is Mike McSwiggen, navigator from the geological department, second team. By pointing the way, he informs Logan where his ship is and then, like a whisper, he passes away. Logan makes time to bury him before he heads off for his ship.
When he arrives he finds the ship exactly where McSwiggen said it would be. The compromised structure and the growing vegetation around it tells Logan that it’s been a good while since it crashed there. It’s also been fortified against attacks, evidenced by a fence erected around it. It makes sense, he figures. The Savage Land isn’t a nice place. It’s another ten minutes before he decides that the coast is clear and he can enter. What he finds is a mess. There are multiple boot prints and footprints, old blood splatters and signs of struggle everywhere. However, there are no signs of survivors.
It looks to him like the S.H.I.E.L.D. boys were caught off-guard by the natives. He looks around further and finds notes everywhere. He wonders what they were researching. He finds stone tablets, diagrams and some hieroglyphics. It looks like they were trying to decipher something. He wonders what was so important that these S.H.I.E.L.D. agents would let down their defenses.
As he sifts through their things, he realizes that there is an intruder behind him. He’s good, Logan figures. As silent as a ninja. He nearly got the drop on him and would have if it wasn’t for his heightened senses. He smelled him as soon as he got in the room. Logan pauses a moment and smells the air. He then realizes it’s not a man. He recognizes the scent as belonging to Shanna, but as he turns she plunges a spear into his torso. It manages to penetrate all the way through his left-hand side.
As soon as she’s done it she realizes who it is and her blue eyes widen. “Wolverine?” she gasps. She smiles and gives him a hug, almost forgetting that she just stabbed him. She tells him she’s glad to see him and asks what he’s doing there. She hopes it’s to rescue them. Wolverine asks her to take it easy and get the pig sticker out of him. Shanna apologizes, but she thought he was one of the natives. She asks if they can find McSwiggen and they can get out of there.
Logan gives her low-down on the bright light, waking up in the middle of a field and his encounter with the natives. He also gives her the bad news about Agent McSwiggen. She is furious. “We were so close,” she sighs. “So close.” Logan asks her what happened. Shanna says he might as well know the story from the top. It all started eight months ago, she explains. She was guiding a team of S.H.I.E.L.D. geological surveyors and scientists. Their mission was to map out the remote western parts of the Savage Land for future exploration. They were surveying the island when their equipment suddenly failed and they crash-landed. Fortunately, they were able to recover some data from the ship’s black box about whatever it was that brought them down.
She tells him that there is a dampening field around the entire island. She heard legends about some sort of ancient machine that powered the place but she thought it was just a children’s story. They decided to investigate, but before they could mount an expedition they were attacked by the tribesmen who inhabit the island. Agent Nolan was the first to die from a spear through the heart. They fortified their position and tried to find some way through the dampening field to call home but it was to no avail. The first few weeks were the hardest, she adds. It seemed that everywhere they turned, something tried to kill them. The natives… the dinos… the weather. The elders were right, she feel. The island is cursed.
After a week of non-stop attacks they decided to build a raft and tried to sail off the island. That proved just as impossible. The island’s coastline is fiercely protected by tribes of Mer-People. Their only purpose seems to be to keep anyone from leaving the place. They managed to fight their way off, losing some men in the process and reached open water. There, they lost most of the rest to a large sea creature and they were forced to just admit it… they were prisoners on the island.
She continues to explain that Agent McSwiggen never gave up. Swiggy was the stubborn one. He hypothesized that the machine was real and if they could just find and destroy it, the dampening field would come down and they could call for a rescue. The hard part was finding its exact location. While she studied and researched everything about the island - from the last data recordings of the island’s power source on the ship’s computers to ancient artifacts collected from the natives, McSwiggen built a bomb. It was nothing hi-tech, but it was capable of getting get the job done. Yesterday, they found a map carved into a tablet of the ancient machine buried deep in the base of the mountain. Their misery was nearly at an end and they were going to get off the island.
She frowns as she adds that she could have got back home to Kevin and Zabu. He knows that she misses that smelly cat more than Kevin. She was gathering fresh supplies for their journey but now knows that she should never have left McSwiggen alone, unguarded. “Stupid, stupid, stupid,” she says, chastising herself.
Wolverine asks her not to blame herself. He would have done the same thing. “Rules of the jungle, huh?” asks Shanna, rhetorically. Logan says it’s something like that. He asks her to tell him more about the bomb and asks if that’s it in her hand. She informs him that it is, but it’s inert. It can only be set off with a detonator. Logan asks for it and wonders how it works. Shanna explains that the explosive is encased in the body. You just stick it to a wall and push the two buttons on the top and side to detonate it. It has a twenty-second fuse.
Logan asks her to hand him the radio. He reaches into one of his pouches and Shanna jokes about the fact that they actually use the pouches. She thought they were just for show. “Where do you think I keep my house keys?” he quips. Shanna asks him what the plan is. Logan replies that it’s the same as hers. Find the machine, blow it up, call home and get off this lousy island.
As he speaks, one of the reapers crashes through the ship’s window. Shanna asks Wolverine to get behind her. She has this. She says she has a nice surprise for him. She pulls out a knife but Wolverine doesn’t want to take the chance. He leaps at her and sends them both flying out the window. When they land she asks what he did that for. “I was saving your life, young lady,” he replies. Shanna tells him that she had the situation under control but Wolverine says she was about to be blindsided by the second one. Shanna snaps back that now they’ve lost their tactical advantage by fighting them out in the open instead of in an enclosed space.
One of the reapers then swoops in and grabs Wolverine by the shoulders, using its large talons. It then takes to the air. As he is carried upwards, Wolverine realizes that, like these ugly mothers, Shanna is jungle-bred. She’s tough as nails, but she can’t handle these three beasts by herself. He needs to get down there and help her out, fast. He stabs the reaper through the head and it lets go of him. As he descends at an increasing speed, he just knows this is gonna hurt!


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Come Conquer the Beasts
South Africa, 1931:Logan watches a herd of elephants and befriends a far too curious young elephant. Her mother shows up and eyes him suspiciously but accepts him, as do the others.
Kruger National Park, South Africa, today:Logan recalls a time early in his career with the X-Men when Storm mistook his desire to hunt for a wish to kill and scolded him because of that. When he explained that it is merely about skill, and that he doesn’t kill the animals, she admitted she misjudged him. He told her they all did. Pegged him for an overgrown animal.
Maybe they were right. He is more at home on stretches of land like this than most places of Earth. His feral instincts connect him to the earth, to its beasts.
He notices vultures and hyenas, hunters of death. They must smell what he does. He feels like throwing up, praying what his senses tell him is not right. The hyenas overtake him during his bout of sickness. He runs to find a group of rhinos lying butchered.
One of them has its face missing. Horn, skin, bones… all gone. He’s horrified to find the rhinos still barely alive. Who did this? he demands.
He hears guns being cocked and an armed troop order him away from the rhino. He growls savagely and unsheathes his claws. Moments later, he attacks, drawing blood but not as much as he wants.
A woman trains a gun at him and tells him to sheathe his claws. They didn’t do this. Unable to speak, he shoves her to the ground. The woman pleads she knows who he is. She’s seen him here before. If he cares at all about these animals, then get off her and help them. Thanks to him, they lost the poachers and the only means they had to put the injured animals out of their misery. She points at the rhino. She’s suffering. So it’s up to him. Do something!
Logan zeroes in on what’s left of the rhino’s heartbeat. He apologizes for not protecting her and promises to avenge her and her kin. He senses she wants to die and does it. Sometimes he hates being the best at what he does.
Later, Wolverine is in the rangers’ camp. The woman, Josephine, tells him how many injuries the man he attacked has now. He’ll send him a fruit basket and a teddy bear when he gets back to the States, Logan retorts. A few more multicam vests and a rifle or three would suffice, she suggests.
Ignoring her offer of a drink, he examines the snares which were designed to inflict pain. It’s impossible to escape without being torn to pieces. And an animal that does that leaves a wide trail of blood, she agrees. Some dogs or cows get trapped in them too. The poachers just take the meat themselves or sell it to markets.
He’s been coming out here a long time. He’s seen his fair share of atrocities. Bu he’s never seen anything like this. The rangers tell him it’s been like this for years. Poachers are organized with military precision. Fast. Mindboggingly brutal. Some don’t even euthanize the animals anymore. They just sedate them and hack away their faces with chainsaws. Cut their babies from their wombs. All for this obscene demand for horns and ivory.
The Rangers have tried cutting off the horns before the poachers get them. They still kill the animals.
Who’s paying for all this slaughter? he demands. Much of it ends up halfway around the world. The money people pay is staggering. The skin and horns just “disappear,” then end up in markets as medicine or cheap jewelry. Thousands of animals, mutilated and killed for this. And nobody cares.
She’s wrong, Logan tells her. He cares. And if she really knows who he is, she knows what he can do.
At the Jean Grey School, Kitty Pryde is giving a lesson on costume design, using her own checkered uniform past as examples. Quentin Quire laughs at her costumes, remarking one of them looks like something Blindfold would have made for Dazzler in 1974. It was a more innocent time, Kitty tries to explain.
Idie Okonkwo wonders if it is mandatory to change one’s codename with every new outfit as Kitty apparently did. Of course not, Kitty replies, she was just a precocious teenage ninja and— Her beeper goes off. Jia Jing, who has inherited Kitty’s Sprite codename, worries about not being a ninja or knowing how to rollerskate. They are losing sight of the big picture here, Kitty sighs and answers her beeper.
She takes Wolverine’s call outside class. He tells her he needs her help at once. Kitty gives the class homework and dismisses them. Broo tells her he always found her roller skate costume reminiscent of a festive event. It’s always been of his favorites.
Kitty enters the command center and has Cerebra locate Logan. He asks her to track the lines of delivery and supply route of some poached animals out of Kruger Park. Kitty finds out the data suggest a steady routine: half the horns are transported over a private airstrip to Mozambique, flown to Madripoor, sold and distributed to dealers throughout the Pacific. This usually takes less than 48 hours. Did she say Madripoor? he asks.
Flashback:Madripoor, the Princess Bar, a few years ago:Where is he? Jessica Drew demands of her partner Lindsay McCabe, who asks her not to yell. He stormed in here a few minutes ago and stomped right to his office. Said he’d just settled a few things with Baran.
Jessica enters the office of Wolverine, whom she knows as Patch, and asks if he is crazy, just waltzing into the palace like that. Getting dressed in his fine suit, he replies he ain’t crazy at all. He won’t let his island be a haven for poachers and he just had to make sure the good prince understood (by leaving him the dead bodies of some poachers).
Present:Wolverine doesn’t buy it. He made it pretty clear what would happen to anyone who traded in horns or skin. Kitty reminds him that was a long time ago. Madripoor went through a lot of hands since then. And he didn’t exactly have them write a law or anything. Probably his boy Daken poking at him from the grave, he sighs. He had to sour everything when he stole the place from Tyger Tiger. Kitty agrees, then tells him the weather is going to keep the charter grounded for a few hours. He still has a shot.
He asks for another favor. His elephant will be looking for him. He needs Kitty to make sure she is okay. What elephant? she asks but he has already broken contact. How on Earth does she find an elephant? Kitty mutters. She just has to look in the right place, Doug Ramsey aka Cypher tells her as he enters the room, and then she has to listen.
Madripoor, the South of Singapore, today:Consisting of poor Lowtown and rich Hightown, the island always had a lax relationship with international law. It is currently ruled by Tyger Tiger, a friend of his, sometimes with benefits.
Wolverine crashes two guards through a glass door into Tyger’s office. He demands a private talk. Soon he leads her to the dockyards. Near as he can figure, the people behind this use prostitutes like drug mules to smuggle horns and tusks out of the country. And in Madripoor, the cargo is redistributed to the private dealers and the black market.
She hesitates when she sees the downed guards but he promises her they are alive. He figures Daken undid the zero tolerance policy to spite him. Or maybe Viper before she was dethroned. Either way, he’s putting an end to it tonight.
He opens the door to a warehouse. Inside they find masses of tusks, horns, skins and furs. A hundred million dollars’ worth of trade on the black market. And this is just one warehouse. There are two more. They gotta burn this stuff, he announces, and then destroy the import export pipeline.
He won’t touch a thing in here, she orders, as her guards train their weapons on him. Tyger continues that there is a prize to pay for maintaining the sanctity of this island, for permitting the kind of moral concessions in which people like them choose to revel. She orders him to leave Madripoor now. Or she’ll see to it that his Admantium claws and teeth are auctioned alongside all this, and she’ll happily place the first bid…


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Come Conquer the Beasts – part 2
South Africa, Mozambique borders, years ago:Two Russian hunters, a powerfully built bearded man and a sharp-featured woman, stare at an elephant herd. How much longer, Sergej? the woman asks impatiently. He tells her to be patient. This is a young strong herd, well worth the wait. She reminds him she wants the matriarch’s head as a trophy. He retorts they want the infant alive.
He shoots one of the elephants. The woman fires as well. He congratulates her on her prowess. Moments later, Logan attacks the man who will one day be known as Kraven the Hunter.
Logan runs to his elephant friend Lull, who has lost her mother and sister, and the two hunters flee. Logan tells the elephant she needs to be strong and lead the them but she fears the hunters will find and kill them. There is no safe place anymore.
The Jean Grey School today:Kitty Pryde is still baffled that Wolverine has an 80 year long history of annual trips to Africa and friendship with a herd of elephants she didn’t know about. On second thought: He is Wolverine, it makes perfect sense. But she’s still not sure how they can find those elephant friends of his.
Doug Ramsey has a suggestion. He explains that elephants communicate subsonically. He’s asked an old SWORD weather satellite to register seismic readings in the region but to narrow the frequency to those used by elephant herds. Then he can simply listen to the readings and discern what is being talked about. He gets the readings but they don’t quite make sense to him.
Madripoor, the docks:Wolverine’s senses are still haywire and he is shocked that Tyger Tiger knows of this poaching operation and approves. Her guards’ weapons are aimed at him, Tyger Tiger warns him that she isn’t bluffing. She orders him to leave Madripoor or his hide will end up on the same black market like those tusks and horns.
He asks if she is responsible for this. No, but she is no fool either. There are untold millions of dollars to be made from an enterprise like this. She cannot let him interfere.
Why? he demands. Why what? she retorts and reminds him the crime he so despises ran rampant when Viper and then Wolverine’s son Daken controlled Madripoor. Drugs, gun running, slavery, child prostitution on an unbelievable scale. Crimes they couldn’t abide but shutting it down came with a price. Madripoor has always trafficked in horns and skins. Despite his rules. And when international laws loosened, the trade exploded and hundreds of millions dollars were suddenly made available to replace the revenue lost by closing down other businesses. With demand so high, all this became the perfect replacement.
She admits the scale of the trade is staggering. She didn’t realize how much of this contraband was being bought and sold until tonight. But she can’t just cut off a revenue stream this grand. There’s a price to be paid for maintaining Madripoor’s way of life.
It’s too high! he shouts and unsheathes his claws. She orders her men to stop him and they fire. She pleads with him to leave. She doesn’t want this. After all these years, that’s the best she got? he mocks and tears into the men.
Furious, Tyger grabs a machine gun and levels it at him. Do her worst, he challenges her. He ain’t backing down. Tyger fires and he falls back into the pile of horns. Tyger begs him to be rational. They are way beyond rational, he moans. She just doesn’t get it. Every two tusks represent a dead elephant, every horn a dead rhino, every skin a dead tiger or leopard, butchered by bastards who don’t have a clue or care! How can she not see how wrong this is? Because they are animals! she shouts. They are not like people. And they are certainly not worth as much. She can’t let them be!
Back at the Jean Grey School, Kitty asks Cypher what this means. The herd of elephants are fighting amongst themselves. One is even abandoning her infant. Why? He explains that elephants have a complex language. Those subsonic rumbles communicate shared memories. Like a network of communal emotions. It almost sounds like telepathy, Kitty muses, sort of the way the Acanti communicate in space. Somewhat, Doug agrees and starts a computer simulations to show her how those animals perceive the world. It’s not unlike how Storm perceives the world as patterns of energy. Their entire lives are built around that kind of tribal communication. In their way, they are the spiritual guardians of the land.
Has he found Wolverine’s elephant? Kitty asks. Doug listens. No one here seems to have a strong communal memory of a man fitting Wolverine’s description. Their memories of him date back decades. Their emotions are palpable. They are afraid.
As they speak, Doug and Kitty are unaware of Quentin Quire eavesdropping.
In Madripoor, Tyger Tiger walks toward the crouching Logan. He has no idea what she had to do to save this place and its people after Daken left. She did what had to be done. He grabs her and tells her she could have made a thousand different choices! These animals are going to be gone! Species wiped off the face of the Earth so greedy old men can get their peckers hard! How can that not scare the hell outta her?
Does he know what scares her? Tyger shoots back. Ten-year-old girls being traded for sex. Countries starving because of religious war and imperialism, because of a few powerful people making decisions that affect entire continents! She accuses him of hypocrisy. How many “honor killings” has he committed? How many has he murdered out of petty revenge? How many animals have died at his hand to satiate his feral appetites?
He killed because he had to, Logan snaps back, never for money or land or kicks. And he was never proud of it. But she’s sanctioning the massacre of entire species. They’re animals! Tyger shouts. They don’t have souls! Most people think he is no more than an animal! Logan shouts back. The X-Men, the Avengers, her? What about it? Does she think he’s got a soul? He grabs her arm.
Is he insane? she argues. Of course he has a soul. He’s a man! What’s he doing, she demands as the hand that holds her extends one claw. He holds it to his face, telling her if he is an animal, then he has no soul. Don’t be a hypocrite, he goads. Do it herself! Tyger screams in horror as he uses the claw to carve off the skin of his face, in an attempt to show her how savage all of this is. It’s the only way he knows how.
He turns away and walks off, ignoring her question of where he is going. He opens the crates with dead animals and realizes it’s easy for him to waltz in here and make her the villain. He burns them. It’s less easy to tackle a history so broken by fools like them that life itself means so little and sometimes means nothing at all.
At the Jean Grey School, Kitty asks why the tag lights are disappearing. This is an extinction level, phenomenon, Cypher repeats. An elephant is slaughtered about every fifteen minutes. Kitty looks horrified.
In Madripoor, the entire warehouse burns.
Back at the Jean Grey School, Oya and a boy with wings catch Quentin eavesdropping. Apropos of nothing, he tells them that Cypher’s powers don’t work on a conscious level. The translation is automatic like a smartphone app. There’s no contest, emotion, history, just a word for word conversion. But what he saw in Logan’s subconscious… He can’t even begin to comprehend how much like humans the elephants are. How deeply they feel. How much they know. What they go through when they are killed like that. But Quentin can. And so can Wolverine.
Madripoor:Tyger and her men stare in horror at the burning warehouse.
The Jean Grey School:Quentin enters the lab, telling Kitty Logan and his friends need their help. And he thinks he knows something they can do.
Back in South Africa, Logan has started a fire and has gathered the remaining tusks. The elephant thanks him for bringing them home. He is relieved she is still alive. She is almost gone, she tells him. She is old, she is alone. She is the last. He is older than her, she points out, and they got some of the bastards. She is tired of hiding, she tells him. Tired of watching the young die. Their smell is gone from these bones. They bleach them, Logan explains. He tells her he isn’t giving up on her. And she can’t give up either. This world and these people need her kind. Even if they are too blind to see that at the moment. He has things to do but she better be back next year to greet him. She leaves with the ghosts of her people.
Kruger national park, two days later:The members of the Jean Grey School equip the rangers with multi-cam vests, rifles, ammunition and supplies. Kitty tells them a mutual friend told her he owed them a vest and a rifle or three and more. Quentin points out it was his idea. Josephine asks where their mutual friend is. Just a few klicks from here, Kitty replies. Doing a little hunting himself.
And some distance away, Wolverine attacks some poachers about to shoot an elephant.


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Wrath – part 1
Park Plaza Hospital, Houston medical center:
An incoming emergency. Mutiple gunshot wounds to the chest, Dr. Donald Meland is told. The paramedic tells him it’s getting worse out there. People are talking about a new gang war.
Meland finds some kind of obstruction in the wound. Oh, no, he mutters as he finds it isn’t a bullet but a small globe on which is inscripted the name Kaine.
A high-class restaurant in Houston:
Belladonna Boudreaux, leader of the New Orleans Assassins Guild, and one of her employees, Smithy, are having dinner. Smithy believes the Kaine aka the Scarlet Spider has already fled town. He carries a grudge for what Kaine did to his hands. Belladonna is certain he will come.
A moment later, something whacks Smithy in the back and Belladonna greets Kaine. What brings the Assassins Guild to Houston? he asks. Masochism?
Smithy snarls he’s dead. The other patrons flee. Kaine recalls he crushed Smithy’s hands. Looks like he’s all healed up. He liked him better maimed. He sticks something sharp through one of Smithy’s hands.
Belladonna has watched the display calmly, then orders Smithy to go. He got her message, Subtle, Kaine mocks as he tosses Belladonna the small globe Dr. Meland found. They do their best, Belladonna replies. Dr. Meland seems to be doing well. It’s so rare one of their contracts gets cancelled.
Kaine reminds her of their deal. Exactly, she agrees. Kaine promised her one murder. In return, the Assassins Guild will leave Kaine and his friends alone forever. The time has come to collect. Who does she want killed? Kaine asks. She shoves a file over to him and explains that they are facilitators. Their work isn’t personal. With one or two exceptions. Wolverine is one of them. Kaine looks at the pictures of Wolverine and the Jean Grey School. Hoo boy, he mutters.
Belladonna names his friends. Meland, Layton, the little Mexican girl. The Assassin Guild will send everyone Kaine cares about to an early grave. Unless he kills Wolverine. Will he do it? Sure, Kaine replies.
Later in his room at the Four Seasons, his protégée Aracely demands to come along. She insists he needs her and reminds him she has powers. She can make people scared. She could make a costume! When he remains unconvinced she warns him he cannot leave her unattended. She’s irresponsible, except in whatever way she can help him.
He tells her to shut up and shows her the ID he has had made for her. She’s going.
On the plane, Aracely looks out excited, babbling she wants to rent a movie. Did he know the drinks are free? Do they watch a show when they get there? Kaine reminds her he is sent to kill someone. The whole time? she points out.
Kaine broods his whole plan was getting out of New York City. And here he is again. Flying first class with a fake ID. Getting picked up by a limo. All paid for by the Assassins Guild. All to kill a man. No, an X-Man, Kaine corrects himself. Peter Parker would be so proud. In the taxi, Aracely points out Spider-Man swinging by.
Later, the two are outside the Jean Grey School. Kaine has created a psychic bond with a little spider which shows him images of the student body.
Kaine muses he is a clone with spider- powers. But this place is the weirdest place he has ever seen. And that is nothing compared to the teachers. And that is nothing compared to the headmaster, his target, Wolverine (who is currently in his office, drinking a beer).
Wearing a strange green costume, Aracely muses it’s weird he can talk to spiders. Why is she doing this to him? he sighs regarding the costume. She asks if he names the spiders. Are they pets? He doesn’t really talk to them. He can just sense what they sense. What does he sense now? Walking the spider through Storm’s bedroom, he announces that if they stay here longer they are dead. Aracely decides her name is Hummingbird. He reminds her of the plan. She forgot the plan. Just knock on the door. Can she ring the doorbell? Just go!
Arcely rings the doorbell. When a suspicious caretaker, Toad, answers the door, she informs him that she is the scariest mutant ever. And this is her scary mutant costume. She uses her power and Toad bursts out in a flash of fear; her costume is horrible. Overcome by fear, he runs away.
Kaine remarks her costume is horrible, as they both enter the building he clinging to the ceiling, she normally. It is great, she insists. They are observed by a sniper who is told to report when one of them is dead.
Kaine goes into stealth mode on the ceiling as students Indra and Dust walk by. He is surprised that Aracely is manifesting a psychic rapport with him. She wonders if she is a mutant. Suddenly, she is caught by Rachel Grey, who remarks she shouldn’t be here. Who is she? Scary mutant, Aracely ventures, trying to use her powers.
Rachel tries to scan her and gets that her name is Hummingbird. Aracely panics, shouting she is Huitzilopochtli. She brings fire to destroy the dark! And she needs blood! Rachel screams and all the psychics in the building – Marvel Girl, Quentin Quire, Blindfold – feel the backlash. Kaine and Wolverine also both notice. Several of the kids flee in panic and Kaine wonders what Aracely did.
Apparently, she doesn’t know either as she nervously babbles, asking if she hurt Rachel. Rachel mutters there is something in Aracely’s mind… it’s on fire! There’s someone else here, she realizes belatedly and calls Beast.
The classic flaw in cloaking technology: perspiration, Hank McCoy announces as he tackles Kaine. He figures that, despite looking and smelling like Spider-Man, he is not. Good guess, Kaine agrees and kicks him.
He barely breaks free when Iceman advises him to slow down. Did he really just break into the headquarters of the X-Men? There’s like a hundred mutants here who could make him explode just by thinking about it. Not too smart.
He wants to know what else is not too smart? Kaine asks. Getting that close to him. He shatters Iceman. He’ll keep that in mind with his other icemen, the real Iceman remarks from some distance. What does he say? he asks Hank. Original X-Men versus fake Spider-Man beat down? Quite, Beast agrees. Iceman attacks with ice blasts which Kaine dodges. He blinds the X-Men with his webbing but suddenly finds fingers poking out of his forehead. Kitty Pryde has phased her hand through his head. She suggests he surrender.
Jean Grey joins them whining there is someone in her head. Kitty points out this doesn’t narrow it down around here. Suddenly, she screams in fear when Aracely joins them. Aracely apologizes; she can’t seem to stop hurting her friend here (referring to Rachel). Kitty shouts at her to get away.
Kaine uses the moment to kick Kitty away. Beast attacks again but Kaine kicks him off and right into Iceman. Any more icemen for him to break? Kaine asks. Nope, just him, Wolverine snarls, as he unsheathes his claws.
Kaine announces he’s going to have to kill him now. Nothing personal. As Wolverine comes for him, Kaine reminds himself that he is stronger and faster than Wolverine. Nevertheless, Wolverine almost disembowels him in the first second of the fight. When Kaine hits his chin he almost breaks his hand. This guy’s an animal! Kaine’s stronger… faster but Wolverine keeps on getting up. Keeps coming at Kaine.
Prey, another voice in his head says. A claw-like stinger manifests from Kaine’s lower arm and he pierces Wolverine’s heart.
When Kaine’s mind clears again, he feels the stinger in his heart and, without thinking twice, he pulls, shredding Wolverine’s heart in two. He hits the ground dead.
Kaine looks at the shocked faces of Wolverine’s teammates and can only say: “Who’s next?”


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Wrath – part 2
The Jean Grey School:
Before they eyes of the shocked X-Men, Wolverine lies dead, slain by Kaine aka the Scarlet Spider.
Outside, the observer from the Assassins Guild informs a skeptical Belladonna about what happened. From the looks of things, Kaine is about to join Wolverine, he adds. Belladonna is happy about that and tells the man to report back to the Assassins Guild for his payment.
Murderer! Storm shouts and uses her winds to slam Kaine against the wall. He can’t speak as Iceman lowers his brain temperature.
Kaine’s mysterious sidekick, Aracely, shouts at them. Marvel Girl tells them to stop. The assassin is gone. Storm doesn’t understand.
Beast tells everyone to wait and puts his ear to Wolverine’s chest. He can hear his heart muscles knotting back together. What he’s not hearing is his heart starting to beat again. He hits his chest hard.
Wolverine awakes, stumbling towards Kaine and vowing to kill him. He hits Kaine, pulling his claws at the last moment. Kaine lands on the ground.
Later, Wolverine dresses in his grey X-Force costume and tells a skeptical Storm he’ll be back in 24 hours. He doesn’t tell her any more or even why he trusts a man who stabbed him in the heart.
Flashback:
Marvel Girl informs Wolverine that Aracely told her there is an assassin outside watching and that they need to play along, as Kaine announced he would kill him.
Present:
It’s good to see some things never change, Storm sighs. What about Hummingbird, she asks, referring to Aracely. Wolverine announces she stays until they return. Storm remarks she does not like her. None of the telepaths will go near the girl. She is unnerving. And extremely annoying. Then she will fit right in, Logan decides and asks her to trust him.
Elsewhere: On a rooftop a man on his knees, addressed as Mr. Murray, is told he is going to die now. He begs God for his life and is told by Belladonna he prays to the wrong god. The Red Death holds power here. Why are they doing this? he asks. Belladonna clarifies he is doing this. The Assassins Guild is simply serving the needs of the client. Their client needs him to die.
One of her men shoots him. Afterwards, he asks how much longer these sacrifices must go on. Belladonna reminds him they are killers. The sacrifices are penance… a reminder of their sins. Everyone knows blood begets blood.
In the X-jet, Kaine explains that the Assassins Guild is going to kill people he cares about unless he kills Wolverine. He figured if Belladonna hated Wolverine so much he might hate her too. And this was the best way he could think of to ask him for help? Logan asks. Kaine points out everything worked out. He lives. And if he didn’t? Wolverine asks. Kaine’s problem is solved either way.
How did he get mixed up with the Guild anyway? Wolverine asks. He was a competitor, Kaine replies. What is he, Spider-Man’s evil clone? Yeah, Kaine admits. Unimpressed, Logan remarks he has a clone, too. Here’s the deal. They do this and then he never sees Kaine or his sidekick again. He sees him, he dies. Kaine agrees.
Back at the Jean Grey School, Beast examines a happily chatting Aracely. Is she a mutant? She asks. Are they all mutants? Is he made of rock? she asks about Rockslide. She asks Cecilia Reyes how long it takes her to comb her hair. Why is Anole green? Do they have any mutants from Mexico? Do people hate and fear them for real? Holy crap, she talks a lot, Rockslide announces. She fought werewolves Aracely replies, and Rockslide is impressed.
Looking at the results, Cecilia Reyes announces Aracely is human. Aracely replies she can scare people and hear their thoughts. Cecilia admits she has no idea why she can do that. Probably because of the voice she hears in her head, Aracely muses, before asking Rockslide if he is a doctor too. Anole bursts out laughing. Rockslide replies he can’t be scared or killed. If she goes crazy evil, he’s the one that takes her out.
She asks Beast if she is evil. He doesn’t think so but he doesn’t think she’s the only person inhabiting her body…
Nighttime in New Orleans, the fortress of the Assassins Guild:
Wolverine and Kaine take out several guards brutally. One of them has time to scream before Kaine skewers him. Grimly they get ready for more guards coming.
With a jump, Kaine dodges the bullets of a machine gun, musing if this goes on long enough he’s going to die. He doesn’t have a spider sense. Wolverine probably can’t die. But it doesn’t matter. He hasn’t even been touched yet. For a short guy weighing about a thousand pounds, he moves like a ninja. An angry, midget ninja.
Kaine is concerned what the violence is doing to him, how all his old ways are coming back. He is hit from behind by Guild member Harvest, a masked man with two large scythes who threatens to cut off his legs. He is one of the super-powered assassins that came after Kaine in Houston. Kaine cuts his leg off with a katana.
Wolverine is shot by Smithy, who doesn’t much like Kaine either. He can teleport guns into his hands, so Kaine broke his hands and stabbed him in one.
Kaine recalls another one, a girl. Hands touch his face from behind and he realizes she is there. Run! the deceptively cute little girl orders as she tosses him away with super strength. He lands hard, sensing a broken rib.
Stay still, Harvest orders and slashes Kaine across the chest. Wolverine slashes him. Who’s next? he asks. The little girl announces her name is Flower. She‘s going to kill him but he has to promise not to die too fast. Does he promise?
He kicks her in the stomach. Kids, he sighs. He is shot from behind. Belladonna and some more guards have arrived. He shouldn’t have betrayed her, she tells Kaine. He doesn’t realize what’s happening here. Belladonna orders her assassins to kill them.
Wolverine asks Kaine what his plan is. Wolverine can distract them by getting killed, he leaves, Kaine suggests. And here he thought he hated Spider-Man, Wolverine replies.
They have to die! Belladonna shouts. Wolverine offers to kill Kaine if she leaves the X-Men alone. Is this funny to him? Belladonna rants. The Red Death is coming!
Sneaking up on her, Kaine threatens her and asks if she thinks he is joking. They can’t win, she predicts. Wolverine is threatened by two guards and Smithy aims guns at both heroes.
She’s here, Belladonna announces. Smithy shouts to let her go. Suddenly, he is impaled from behind. Wolverine and Kaine find themselves dragged up by scarves that wind around their throats, courtesy of Candra. The Red Death has come for them all, Belladonna announces.


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Wrath – part 3
In New Orleans, the deadliest assassins in the world stay in their tracks, frozen in shock. Belladonna Boudreaux looks so scared it’s like she is about to wet herself, Kaine observes. The Red Death, she murmurs.
Kaine and Wolverine find themselves bound by wispy tendrils originating from the woman they are all frightened of – a not-completely restored Candra (or half-naked zombie lady, as Kaine calls her).
She addresses the Assassins Guild, announcing she has returned and will teach them how to kill. Thought she got put to the ground, Wolverine remarks. She laughs, calling him a silly man. An External lives forever! The X-Men destroyed her body. But not her psyche… not her powers. In time, thanks to her sisters, she learned to take strength from death, enough to slowly pull the pieces of her body back together. A process hastened by tributes from the Assassins Guild.
She senses both men have been touched by death but escaped it. Today they shall know its permanent embrace, she promises. Their essences will be enough to return her to full glory!
This sounds more like a ‘mutants only’ thing, Kaine interrupts. So if she wants to let them go, she can eat Wolverine. Them? she asks dumbfounded. Him and his little friend, he replies and a spider settles down and crawls on her face.
Using her distraction, Kaine blinds her with web-fluid and Wolverine attacks, planning to kill her again. She blasts him away.
Belladonna orders the assassins to kill the two men, meaning Wolverine has to fight them instead. Belladonna blasts Kaine and promises he will die for this. For daring to take care of her problem? he retorts and accuses her of having the Guild work for an addict. If they kill Candra now, Belladonna gets out from under her thumb and can go back to killing people on her own terms. Clearly not convinced, Belladonna fires at him again.
Candra finally tears off the webbing and furiously attacks Kaine, ignoring her own people. She promises him a slow death. Nope, Wolverine remarks behind her and slashes her.
Candra starts taking the lives of her own followers to regain strength. Kaine considers whether he should just leave Wolverine to handle this on his own.
Her people ask Belladonna whether they should fight or run but she is at a loss for words. Kaine tells them they can’t run. Candra knows them all. They have to do something about her now or she will track them down. Several other assassins follow the charge led by Wolverine and Kaine. On the bright side, he won’t be lonely in hell, Kaine figures.
They are all going to die! Candra rants. Keeping back a bit, Kaine notes it isn’t going well. He sees a small chance but is then blasted by Belladonna who accuses him of having ruined everything. She figures if she kills him the Red Death will—
The small girl, Flower, takes her out and orders Kaine to fix things.
Wolverine and Candra are battling each other. Kaine fires a stinger at the back of her head, killing her.
No, Belladonna cries and rants the Red Death cannot be destroyed. She will come back and her fury will be righteous and absolute! She orders her assassins to pray she will forgive them. Their only chance is to kill these defilers.
The assassins surround Kaine and Logan. He up for this? Wolverine asks. Not really, Kaine admits. Suddenly, a man shouts ‘stop.’ Belladonna identifies him as the Arranger. He announces the Assassins Guild is now under the control of Mr. Wilson Fisk and action against these two men is not sanctioned at this time.
He can’t do this, Belladonna protests. He assures her, as the Kingpin’s Arranger, he very much can. Their assets are already under Mr. Fisk’s control and she is in no position to oppose him.
She threatens his life. He tells her he finds that regrettable but it would change nothing. In this matter, Mr. Fisk has the upper hand. Several of Fisk’s people threaten the assassins with weapons.
Wolverine growls he hopes Kaine has a second wind. Kaine tells him not to worry. He called them. Fisk owed Kaine a favor and he called it in. He met with him while he was in New York and cut a deal. In exchange for cancelling all his debts with the Guild, Kaine would make it easier for Fisk to acquire it.
Wolverine hits him and calls him an idiot. Does he know what he has done? Kaine admits to having some idea.
On their way back, Wolverine talks to Beast, who is happy to get rid of Aracely as she is driving him nuts. Kid sounds like a real headache, Logan tells Kaine, but that’s nothing compared to the headache he’s gonna have when doing deals with the devil starts catching up to him.
Kaine doesn’t reply. He believes he did what he had to. He doesn’t care if he’s right. He’s dealt with the devil before. He’s been the devil before. And if anyone else wants a piece of him, they can get in line.