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Soultaker: Chapter 1: The Mark Of Mana
Wolverine is back in Tokyo, Japan. He spends some quiet time walking alone down the streets, until deciding to enter a restaurant. There, he meets up with Irashaimase, a waitress he knows from his usual visits there. Suddenly, Logan is surprised by a happy salute from Yukio. They joke about Yukio wearing leather clothes again, though she isn’t exactly “working” at the moment. The waitress asks Logan if he wants his usual beer, but Logan was actually more up for a sake called “Hitori Musume,” which translated means “Only Daughter.” Yukio suspects that Logan has deeper thoughts in ordering that menu.
Logan admits that he was hoping to catch up with his adopted daughter, Amiko, because he wanted to spend some time with her, seeing that Girl’s Day is coming up. But Logan’s a little sad, because Amiko seems to lead her own life now and doesn’t seem to want to spend some time with him. Yukio smiles, explaining to Logan that Amiko is a teenager now and that at least she has outgrown her rebellious phase from a while back. Now, Yukio mentions, Amiko is in a moody, mysterious stage and just wants some attention. Logan feels even sadder hearing that, and thinks that maybe Amiko might have been better off with a real loving Japanese family and not with a thief like Yukio and a mutant like him who comes to visit occasionally.
Yukio corrects Logan, saying that family values in Japan are changing faster in this town than anywhere on Earth, and kids have to struggle to keep up with the rest of the world. But that isn’t a bad thing, Yukio says, since thanks to her and Logan himself, Amiko is better adjusted to life in the now fast-paced modern world. That’s what scares Logan, he jokingly smiles, but he’s okay with it as long as Amiko doesn’t cut her hair and cuts the letter “k” from her name to sound more masculine. Logan draws a letter “k” on a napkin, and smilingly asks “Yukiko” if she agrees with that.
Yukio gets angry hearing that joke, as she thought that she and Logan had agreed long ago to never bring that phase of her life up again. They change the subject and eat some dinner. After it, Logan asks Yukio if she is in some kind of danger, since he came to Japan to spend some time with Amiko, and the first thing Yukio did was arrange a dinner away from her so that they could talk in private. Yukio, ashamed, admits it. She explains that she has been hearing a voice. Yes, singular. And that same, female voice has been around in Yukio’s head for a few days now, repeating the exact same words about some evil twin sisters, an ancient evil and the end of the world. And it also mentioned something about the protector of Japan itself.
And it all began when Yukio came into the possession of a strange necklace. Wolverine recognizes it as a handicraft, intricate carving object from the Muromachi period around 600 years ago. Yukio mentions that she came into the possession of the jewelry when she heard some rumors. She heard about the necklace, which is called the Mark of Mana, which had been floating around for years. Yukio never believed the rumors until word reached her last week that she should check out an old temple just outside of Tokyo. Though Yukio isn’t a big fan of venturing outside of Yukio, the information came from a reliable source from her so she decided to check it out. She grabbed the necklace from the temple and fought her way out beating up some weird Buddhist warrior monks who were protecting it. And that’s when the voice first started.
Wolverine wants to know why Yukio didn’t turn to Japan’s heroes, referring to Sunfire and the Silver Samurai. Yukio says that Logan was the only one she knows who knows something about mystical stuff. And besides, Yukio says, neither Shiro nor Kenuichio would rush to come to the aid of a thief like herself. Yukio begs Logan to help her out. Logan knows that he’s going to regret it, but decides to go for it anyhow.
Some time later, Wolverine has decided to take Yukio to his old friend, Kenichiro, whom he nicknames the Cat. Wolverine has known the guy for years and trusts him completely, and there is no case which involves magic that Ken doesn’t know about. Once inside his temple, they get a warm welcome from the man. They catch up and Ken is glad to see that Logan’s still doing well with the woman. Yukio doesn’t know what to say but Logan calls her just a friend and informs Ken that she’s the reason he’s there. Ken already thought that, and takes his friends to his study, which has lots of books and other rare items installed. Yukio is in paradise!
Ken offers Logan and Yukio to sit down and tell him what the problem’s about. Yukio shows Ken the necklace. Just by seeing it, Ken panics. He recognizes it as the Mark of Mana. Ken gets upset and can’t believe that Logan would actually bring such evil to his sacred place. Logan apologizes, since he didn’t know it was so evil. Ken explains that legend has it that an evil spirit is inside the necklace. It’s a vengeful goddess, who haunts all those who it comes into contact with. Kenichiro doesn’t like this situation at all. But he knows that there exist spells to further contain the spirit, though they might already be to late to do that.
Ken is literally spooked and drops everything he holds. Logan tries to calm him down and is surprised to see his friend in this state, something Logan has never seen before. That’s because Logan never brought an impending doom into his life, Kenichiro explains. Ken takes some charms out of a drawer, and gives Logan the mission to take them and get out of his house. Ken informs Logan that the charms should protect him for now. Logan doesn’t understand what’s going on, but suddenly he hears a noise from outside. He goes to check it out. Suddenly, lots of arrows fly around through the room, and one hits Logan. He quickly takes it out, and isn’t hurt or poisoned -so his attackers aren’t the Hand.
Ken fears that they came for the Mark. And since there’s only one way out of the temple, meaning the front door, they’ll have to defend themselves and fight. So each of them takes out a sword or their claws and stand ready. Weird-looking ninja’s enter the place and are apparently a bit surprised to see someone with claws. The fight goes on for a while, and both Wolverine and Yukio manage to defeat their foes. But Kenichiro gets hit too much, but begs them to protect the necklace. He tries to say something else, but dies.
Logan gets angry and doesn’t understand. He picks up the necklace, and inside his head sees an image of a place filled with fire and two look-a-like girls fighting each other in front of a temple and both wearing the Mark.
Logan drops the necklace and tries to recover. Yukio asks if he’s all right. Wolverine isn’t, but the vision he had told him where to start looking for answers. He tells Yukio to grab the Mark and come with him. Logan’s angry. His friend died because of this, and now there’s going to be hell to pay!


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Soultaker: Chapter 2: Awakenings
Tokyo, Japan: Wolverine walks up some stairs, and makes it to a temple. There, he looks around a bit, and notices some spikes on a roof. As Logan looks at the spikes, they shine. Wolverine doesn’t care much and walks through the temple’s entrance, which is guarded. He continues his walk, where he notices a separate part from the temple, where two people are standing.
He hears a bell ring, and the two people clap in their hands. Then, they pray. Logan walks over to them, and the two people walk away. Logan notices a well, and throws some money in it. He rings the bells above the well. They ring, and Logan puts his hands together, like he prays. He looks through the window in front of him and, in the shrine, blue smoke appears. Logan claps his hands and walks away.
Later that night, he uses a pay phone to contact Yukio. Logan explains to her that he has found the shrine, the one he saw in his vision. But, Logan believes that something suspicious was going on. Yukio asks an explanation. He tells her about the spikes from the roof, which he knows are meant to prevent anyone from going inside the temple itself. He also tells her about the guards, and that he plans to break in. Yukio wishes him good luck. Logan thanks her, but first asks how Amiko is doing. Yukio tells him that she’s doing just fine. Logan warns them to be careful, and not get into any further mess, and hangs up. Yukio thanks Logan, and puts her “working” clothes on.
Again later, Wolverine manages to jump safely over the spikes, unnoticed by any of the guards. He opens a door, and more blue smoke comes from it. Logan goes inside and the smoke begins to stink. He arrives on a balcony and looks down. He stops and becomes angry. Below him, people dressed like monks sit on their knees in front of an unconscious girl, who lies on a table. Wolverine recognizes the girl from his vision.
He snikts his claws out, and jumps down, ordering the monks to get away from the girl. The monks aren’t impressed, and take out their lances and quickly surround Wolverine. The monks’ leader tells Logan that he doesn’t know who he is, but promises him that he won’t get near the girl. The leader also isn’t impressed by the claws, as he and the others will gladly sacrifice their lives in order to protect Mana. Logan remembers the name, as in “the Mark of Mana.” The girl is what the necklace was named after! Wolverine informs the monks that he has the necklace.
They decide to talk. The monks introduce themselves as the Servants of Shosei, and Wolverine refers to himself as Logan. The Servants explain that Mana has no soul left, and sacrificed herself to defeat an ancient evil. Logan asks if this “evil” just happened to look at Mana. The monks confirm that, and reveal that the evil was Mana’s twin sister, Hana. Logan tells the monks about his vision, which scares them. They mention a name, “Ryuki,” and panic when they hear that Logan touched the necklace. They beg that they let them know where it is.
Suddenly, a guard called Masashi gets thrown into the room; dead. The ninja’s from before are responsible, and enter the room as well. The leader introduces them as the Followers of Ashurado, and mentions that they are supporters of Hana. He begs Logan to help them get away from Mana, at all costs. Logan promises to do that, but the battle doesn’t go well for the heroes. The ninjas kill them all, including the leader. With his final breath, he begs Logan to take Mana out of there, and to take her blade with him as well. Wolverine does, and fights his way through the ninjas.
Some time later, Logan is at Yukio’s house. There, he takes care of Mana, and tries to figure out what the necklace is all about. He puts it on Mana’s neck, and suddenly begins to glow! Mana wakes up, and freaks out. She reveals that by freeing her soul from the necklace, Logan has also allowed the evil that was imprisoned in it to escape!


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Soultaker: Chapter 3: Shosei Secrets
Mana is still freaked out since she believes that Wolverine has sentenced everyone on this planet to death! She gets angry, and uses a magic spell and attacks Logan, who gets thrown to the back of the room. This makes Logan angry. He snikts his claws open and attacks Mana. She again tries a magic spell, but he doges and tackles her, causing her to fall down to the ground. Wolverine grabs her throat, and threatens her with his claws. After taking a closer look at the claws, Mana notices that Wolverine has spilled Ashurado blood, and therefore isn’t her enemy.
Mana apologizes to Logan, and explains that she knows everything the necklace knows. Wolverine still doesn’t understand what’s going on. Mana offers to explain. She introduces herself as Mana Yanowa, head priestess of the Shosei Order, which are the mystic guardians of Japan. She mentions that her family has protected Japanese shores for over 800 years.
Mana reveals that she is the latest in a long lineage of Miko priestess who have safeguarded Japan from demons, curses and magical threats over the centuries. While the shogun and samurai of old fought over land and power, it was Mana’s family who kept Japan safe. She explains that, when one priestess fell, another would take her place and serve their order as its champion. Until the day Mana and her sister Hana were born.
Two girls destined to clash over leadership. Mana remembers that, when they were children, it meant nothing to them, but they quickly grew as bitter rivals when getting older, each trying their best to prove themselves the more capable warrior. And when it came down to vote for the new leader, Mana was chosen. Mana explains that she became the head priestess, and Hana chose to turn her back on the order and even leave it.
However, none could suspect that Hana would return one day and seek to assume control of the order, using powers she’d gained through studying dark and forbidden mystic arts. It was on that fateful day when sister fought sister, and when Hana did the unthinkable: Hana loosed an ancient demon that even she couldn’t contain: the demon called Ryuki!
Ryuki is a demon from Ashurado, the fourth level of hell. It has the power to control the death. Ryuki possessed Hana and sought to use her to use her to raise corpses from their graves. Mana reveals that, by using these undead minions to kill innocent people, Ryuki would in turn grow more powerful himself by absorbing the souls of the slaughtered. Once he had grown strong enough on the feast of harvested souls, Ryuki would be able to open a gateway at the bridge of six realms and cross over from hell onto Earth in his own body.
With no time to come up with a more permanent solution, Mana had to gamble with her sister’s life. She had only one hope. Mana sought to trap Ryuki’s soul inside the jewel of her necklace for eternity. And though it was successful, sacrifices had to be made. Hana’s soul was imprisoned within the jewel as well as Mana’s.
Wolverine asks when this all happened. Mana, while drinking some tea, explains that, by the current calendar, it happened in 1864. Mana tells Logan that he shouldn’t be surprised by her long life, as he has lived for quite some time too. She explains that she knows that because of the necklace, since she knows what it knows.
Wolverine asks about the cults and warrior monks. Mana explains that, since the day of their fall, the Order of Shosei protected her body, Hana’s body and the necklace – in hopes of finding a way to save the imprisoned souls. However, one night, an Ashurado cult that had long worshipped Ryuki, stormed the Shosei shrine and stole Hana’s body and the necklace from the Order. But they could not perform the spell to release Ryuki and Hana from the jewel, because Mana’s body was the key to the spell. So for years, the followers of Ashurado have searched for the secret location where Mana’s body was hidden.
Logan realizes that he led Mana’s enemies to her, and that also Ryuki and Hana are the released evils. He gets angry at the mistake he made, but Mana calms him down. She explains that nobody could have guessed what was going to happen, since the events were all too random. However, Mana knows that Logan’s past with Japan dates a long time ago, so maybe the spirits that watch over the land may have contacted with him somehow. Logan tells the girl not to mess with his memories. He just wants to stop the evil he released, and asks Mana if she knows a way to do that, or where to find the bodies.
Mana assumes, as the spiritual epicenter of Japan, the Ashurado cult must have kept Hana’s body here. So she thinks that their next move will be to create a little army from hell. That’s what troubles Wolverine. He knows that it’s the tradition to cremate the bodies of dead people in Japan, so he thinks they can’t have zombies. Mana mentions that was not always the case, as often criminals and murderers were just executed and buried by authorities, as they believed that they didn’t deserve the ritual.
That’s swell by Logan, and he wants to know where Ryuki is going to begin his battle. Mana suspects at Mibu-Zaka where Ryuki last started. There, the Shisengumi are buried. They are eleven warriors of the most wild and deadly samurai to have ever live. They are brutal killing machines, who swore revenge when they were executed as traitors when the Shogunate fell. Wolverine wants to go to the battle, but Mana warns him not to be over confident. However, she knows someone who might help them. Wolverine snikts his claws open, ready for action!
Later, Wolverine and Mana tress-pass a locked up temple. They walk until they are in a Forest. Mana explains to Logan that weapons used in mystic battles are most effective when blessed and purified, and since purity has never been one of Wolverine’s strong points, he allows her to bless his claws. Mana, with a serious look on her face, asks Logan not to make jokes. She says that since the claws are the tools that are going to be used in the battle, Wolverine himself will be the weapon. She wants to bless the entire vessel that will enter the coming conflict. Logan smirks, but goes for it.
Logan takes his shirt off, and takes a meditating sit in front of a waterfall in a nearby lake. He watches Mana using her magic, and concentrates. A few minutes later, Logan walks over to the girl, who silently hands him over a kimono and gloves. Logan puts them on, and snikts his claws open. He’s ready to kill some zombies!
Mibu-Zuka Temple. Night.
While controlling Hana’s body, Ryuki starts to glow with energy. They are ready to begin. Using the power they have, Ryuki and Hana awaken those who will do their bidding: an army of Shisengumi zombies!


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Soultaker: Chapter 5: Bloodlines
Holding in one hand the Blade, and having snikt out the claws on the other, Wolverine, accompanied by Mana, watches at the many demons Ryuki has gathered around him, and is ready for battle. Wolverine jokes that this is going to be fun. Ryuki smirks that he is glad to see that Logan can follow orders, so now he orders him to hand him over the Blade of Blood to him, so a lot of blood spilling will be spared. Wolverine wants to joke some more, but Mana cuts in, with full confidence telling Ryuki that they’ll never allow the Blade to fall into his hands.
Ryuki goes back inside Hana’s body, and flies over to Mana. Hana sarcastically greets her sister, finding it lovely to see her again, and asks her to be a nice sister and just hand over the Blade to her. Mana slaps Ryuki in the face, shouting that he isn’t part of her blood, and will make him pay for taking over her sister’s body. She explains to Ryuki that she and Wolverine haven’t brought the Blade of Blood so that they could hand it over to him, but to use it to destroy him!
Wolverine jumps at a snake demon, ready to cut it. But the demon acts faster than Logan does, and slaps him away with its tail. Ryuki laughs, wanting to see how long it will take for him to take down Mana’s slave. Mana gets angry, and jumps at the snake demon, shouting that Wolverine is nobody’s slave and only serves himself, and that he won’t have to battle these demons alone.
Mana makes it to the snake demon’s long neck, and activates her necklace. Powerful energy suddenly comes out of it, which destroys part of the ground below them and one other demon. The Blade’s top changes into real blood, and Wolverine uses it to cut through the snake demon! After the demon has fallen down, Logan uses both the Blade and his claws to finish the job.
Unfortunately, a huge demon steps forward, and slams his fists towards both Logan and Mana! They can just in time jump into safety, but Logan has to ask Mana for any ideas. Mana concentrates, and fires some of her magic powers against Logan’s body, explaining that the magic will get him close, but Logan will have to do the rest. Logan thinks about it, but shortly understands the idea. The magic charges the Blade, which Logan uses to fly towards the demon’s head, and slice it into pieces!
Another demon steps forth and, this time, it’s a fire type. Mana warns Wolverine to get away: she’ll use her magic powers to freeze the demon, and Logan will have to strike it when it’s fully frozen. After some spectacular sights, the demon becomes frozen. Wolverine jumps to it, and kills it by slicing through the middle of it with the Blade.
Wolverine isn’t intimidated, and asks Ryuki if this is all he can do. Ryuki flies down, noticing that after all her years of sleeping haven’t slowed Mana down one bit. But Ryuki has one ace up his sleeve left. He teleports his army of gigantic falcons forth, and they have kidnapped both Amiko and Yukio!
Ryuki makes the birds drop them, and suggests a simple exchange: the Blade for Wolverine’s loved ones. Wolverine wants to do it, but Mana warns him not to, as the demons will only kill them anyway once they’ve got the Blade. Wolverine snikts his claws back in, apologizing to Mana, but that’s just a chance he’ll have to take. Ryuki threatens to send Wolverine back into the hell that spawned him for certain if he doesn’t hand him over the Blade now.
Logan does as told, and gives Ryuki the Blade. Upon touching it, the necessary souls from the Blade flow right into Ryuki’s body, who gets stronger from it. Ryuki uses the Blade’s power to throw Wolverine away from him. And, upon seeing the unconscious bodies of both Yukio and Amiko lying in front of him, he wonders about the possibility about adding two more souls into the Blade.
Ryuki goes for it, but Mana cuts in, stopping the blade with a smaller sword of her own. She won’t let any more blood spilled today, except his! They fight using both magic and sword skills, but Mana has the hardest time defending herself against her sister, especially now that she has Ryuki’s power for backup.
Yukio wakes up, and apologizes to Logan, but they were attacked in Shinjuku and simply weren’t strong enough. Wolverine doesn’t want to worry about that now, realizing they have bigger problems. Amiko wakes up as well, and Wolverine orders Yukio to get herself and Amiko away from here, as he’s got one more trick left. Mana apologizes to her sister, as it has to end this way. Ryuki is perplexed. SNIKT!
Wolverine has popped his claws out, and one set is now completely golden! Ryuki panics, as gold is the one thing that can beat him. Wolverine slices the demon with his golden set of claws, until he falls down. Logan wants to finish the job, but Mana wants the honor of ending her sister’s live. Logan understands, and lets her do it.
Hana begs for her life, understanding that her soul has to go back into the Blade, but Mana won’t risk another threat from her, and simply kills her. A vortex opens, and all the demons start to scream, and get sucked into it, including Ryuki!
Yukio and Amiko run towards Logan, and congratulate him for his triumph. They hug him, and watch at Mana. She watches her sister’s body, which dies. Mana thanks Logan for his help. Wolverine is just sad that it had to end this way, but Mana isn’t. Amiko picks up the Blade, and hears voices whispering from it! Mana freaks out, as only direct descendants from the Shosei Order can hear those voices! Mana wants Logan to tell her about Amiko’s mother.
(A few days later…)
Everyone, including Mana, sits at dinner table at Yukio’s place. Amiko complains about having to dressed up, but Logan explains it’s still Girl’s Day, so she better starts to like it. Or else, he jokes, they’ll make her sing, too. Yukio tells Amiko to best adapt to it, as soon she’ll be wearing kimono’s all the time. Logan asks Mana if she’s sure about this.
Mana explains that it appears that Amiko’s mother was of Shosei blood, and that she may have left the Order to pursue a more normal life, but that she wasn’t one of them. Logan wants to know if Mana can handle this. Mana can, for as long as both Logan and Amiko can. Mana mentions that she is the last of her line, and the chance to train a successor would be a great honor and pleasure to her. Yukio jokes that Mana says that now, as Amiko can be quite a handful.
Wolverine won’t force Amiko into doing this, and asks her opinion, telling her that she can always go back to Yukio if she’d rather want that. Amiko smiles that taking chances runs into the family and, besides, she hates Tokyo anyway. Besides, she adds, maybe she’ll be the best there is at what she does someday! She and Logan share a hug, with Logan saying that’s his girl talking.


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First story: Switchback
Second story: Punch Bag
First story:
Nasty things happen to people in wrecks. Hard to believe a body can survive these meat-grinders, but they can. And they do. Crawlin’ away like animals. Cryin’ for their mamas. Already dead but don’t even know it.
(night-time)
Sherrif MacReedy sits in his patrol car, leafing through some report files. Photographs show the twisted remains of several motor vehicles and the people who died driving them.
(six hours earlier, daytime)
Logan is driving through some particularly scenic mountain country in his white convertible. The road winds its way through passes and around sweeping bends with deep overhangs. It’s a beautiful day. He needs to breathe and clear his senses. Taste the simple things. Rounding one corner, he screeches the car to a halt and climbs out of the car. He walks back a few yards and breathes in. He looks around and notices several tree stumps at the edge of the forest. He smells torn metal, coolant, broken wood, transmission fluid and burned rubber. He also smells death… lots of it.
He wanders across the road and to the broken trees. He can sense twelve bodies and five cars. He clambers down a banking, to the rocks below. There has been wreck after wreck, all in the exact same spot. Yesterday. Three days ago. A week. A month. The smell of blood is everywhere; teenagers mostly. They died slowly, but not alone. Someone else was there - for every wreck. From taking stock of the scents and the surroundings, Logan determines that it was one person, about five-ten, two-twenty with a sweet tooth. A lazily discarded Bazooka Joe wrapper provides that snippet of information. It’s hardly enough for a clean-up crew. It’s someone local.
Logan wanders back onto the road and comes across a sign for Pottsville. He gets back in his car and drives into town. It’s a typical small town with a gas station and a few houses littering the main road. He pulls into the station and speaks to the attendant, saying that it looks like a bad accident happened down the road. The attendant replies that it ain’t the first time. Stupid kids and spoiled ski-bunnies come speeding through the mountains without a lick of sense. Logan asks where a guy can get a drink. The attendant directs him to a bar across the street.
Inside, a hulking guy leans on the bar while the barmaid serves Logan. He mentions the crash again, and the barmaid reiterates that it happens all the time. Folks just go right over the edge. She leans towards him, highlighting her natural assets. She doesn’t think it’s much of a surprise. People get to enjoying the view and anything might happen. Logan understands exactly. A guy sitting next to him informs him that Sheriff MacReedy says he’s asked the state for more warning signs, but it ain’t happened yet. Logan thinks he’d like to meet the guy.
The barmaid asks if he’d like another, on the house, but Logan tells her that he’d best settle up. The big guy approaches and asks Logan (or midget, as he calls him) if he sees something he likes. Logan realizes that he’s found his ticket to meeting the sheriff. He passes the barmaid a few dollars. She asks what she did to deserve such a big tip. Logan tells her that half of it’s for her. The rest just about oughta cover the damages. He squares up to the big guy, and the stranger doesn’t back down an inch.
(later)
Logan is behind bars. His plan worked a treat, and he sits in MacReedy’s cell. MacReedy, a guy about five-ten and two-twenty pounds, sits watching him. He asks Logan what brings him to town, besides disturbing the peace. Logan says the other guy started it. MacReedy admits that he usually does. He’s regretting it now. He did some work on old Brett. He’s gonna be eating through a straw for a month. Logan replies that he was just out for a drive. A change of scenery does a man good. MacReedy is sceptical about that. He tells Logan that sometimes it’s best a man keeps his eyes on the road and keeps on driving. “That so, sheriff?” replies Logan. MacReedy says that if you take your eyes off the road, anything can happen. He looks at a group of photographs on the wall; all victims of the same bend in the road. “Could find himself in a whole mess’a trouble.”
Logan tells him that he was just passing through. He has bigger problems than him. The sheriff asks like what. Logan mentions the switchback curve a half mile back. It’s a nasty patch of road. It stinks of death; maybe even foul play. MacReedy asks, sarcastically, if that’s his expert opinion. He tells Logan that he knows his type. They drive by his town all the time like it ain’t even there. If they do stop, it’s to crack wise at the locals. As he doesn’t see a badge in his wallet, he’s going to have to respectfully disagree with his theory and asks that he moves on. “Damn,” exclaims Logan. MacReedy asks what it is. “I was just starting to like it here,” replies Logan. Macreedy isn’t impressed.
The sheriff unlocks his cell and lets Logan out. He tells Logan to gather his things and get the hell out of town. Logan says he will, but comments on the skulls on his counter. One is of particular interest. He points to it and says it’s a Wolverine, right? MacReedy says he’s right. They’re rare in those parts. Logan reckons he might be right.
It’s night-time by the time they leave the station. MacReedy points to the town limit and wants Logan to drive on out of there and keep going. If he sees him again, he’s gonna lock him up for a long while. Logan says he understands. The sheriff drives off. Logan knew as soon as he set foot in the cell that MacReedy was the man he was looking for. Blood and Bazooka Joe. He also knew how it was going to end. But, there’s only one way to be sure, so he wants to get it over with. He climbs into his car and hits the road.
Soon after, Sheriff MacReedy opens the trunk of his car and pulls out a stinger. He stretches it across the road at the switchback and waits behind a tree. Sure enough, Logan comes along, tearing down the road at pace. He sees the stinger in his headlights and knows that this is gonna hurt. The tires deflate quickly upon impact and Logan’s vehicle tumbles into the forest and down the banking. Windows smash and metal crunches as the car hits several trees before coming to a halt.
(present)
Logan awakens to find himself strung upside down from the beam in a barn. Several dead bodies wrapped up like mummies are seated around the walls. The rear half of a yellow Lamborghini Diablo is hung from the ceiling like a trophy. MacReedy sits nearby, drinking some beer from a can. He clanks Logan on the head when he notices that he’s conscious and says that he must be asking himself why? Well, he continues, it’s simple. His road. His rules. All the latte sippers like him driving through at night… they come because nothing down there is real. They craves reality, and he gives it to them.
Logan coughs as blood clogs his throat. MacReedy asks if he has something to say. Logan struggles to speak, but whispers, “ur problem ‘cough’ you know what it is?” MacReedy stands and can’t believe the nonsense people say when they’re dying. He should get himself a tape recorder. It’s all blah, blah, blah to him. As he speaks, Logan puts his hands behind his back so they cannot be seen. MacReedy takes a swig from the can and Logan asks for a beer. He says that he was just about to put him out of his misery. They asks for their mommas. They wanna confess. They curse him and their fate, but Logan… he asks for a beer. He pops open a can and pours some into Logan’s mouth.
Once again, Logan speaks, more coherently this time. “You know what your problem is?” he asks. MacReedy tells him that he hates to break it to Logan, but it’s him that’s got the problem. As he speaks. Logan brings his hands down with his claws unsheathes and plunges them into the sheriff’s chest. He barely has time to cream before he falls to the floor, dead. “You… need a vacation,” says Logan. “I’m thinking some place really hot.”
Second story:
(present)
Logan is hanging from the roof of a cave by his claws whilst three brutish thugs lay into him with baseball bats and large fists. Skulls of their previous victims litter the cave’s floor. Logan finds all this rather humiliating. A half-dressed woman runs away from the cave, terrified. He knows what the reader is thinking. How did a first rate mutant hero get himself into a jam like this?
(flashback)
Logan has found himself at a diner in the middle of nowhere. He walks inside as missing persons float away in the breeze. A truck sits with its engine idling; its occupants waiting. Everywhere Logan turns, there’s a new jackass waiting to be taught a lesson. Three muggers, two burglaries and when he went into an ATM he found a bank robbery in progress.
He walks to the bar and sits himself down, asking for a drink… finally. It seems like he’s been on the road a while. As he sits there, he looks out the window and sees a woman get snatched by a strong arm reaching out the truck window. The truck takes of into the hills. Logan knows that his drink will have to wait a while. He takes off in pursuit and arrives sometime later at a cave in the hills.
He quickly finds their cave and scrambles inside, saying, “Let’s get this over with then.” He doesn’t want to waste too much time on these people. The three guys and their petrified victim look at him as he approaches. Logan takes the first swing, punching one of the guys hard. He tells him that ‘no-please-no’ actually means, No! As the guy falls, he takes a look around and notices all the skulls on the cave floor. With his attention diverted, the woman runs across him which surprises Logan. One of the thugs takes his opportunity and smashes Logan hard in the face. Unfortunately, Logan has his claws extended, and they stick fast into the cave’s low ceiling. He pulls at them. Nothing. He tries to retract them into his arms. Nothing. The thugs don’t waste any time in laying into him, thumping his torso and battering his legs with baseball bats.
Logan realizes that there’s only one way out. He’s gonna have to goad these guys. One of the thugs wants to use Logan like a piñata, like they do in South America. Logan educates him that Mexico’s in Central America, so why doesn’t he take that baseball bat from him and shove it up his…
He is broken off, mid-insult by the baseball bat, loaded with nails, being slammed into his throat. Logan looks over at the shortest of the trio and tells him he has nice boots. “They make ‘em for men?” he asks. The guy punches him hard in the face, and the big guy wants a turn. Before he strikes, Logan tells the others that this guy’s so dumb that he sold his car got gas money. He can’t remember the number for 911. When he was a kid, he bet his dad had to tie a steak around his neck just to get the dog to play with him. He begins a ‘Your mama’s so ugly…’ insult when the guy punches him.
He carries on regardless. “They pay her at strip clubs to put her clothes on.” Another punch comes flying in, but Logan continues unabated, despite the painful beating he’s taking. He addresses the other guy. “Yours is so fat, the horse on her polo shirt is life-size.” With this blow comes release, as Logan’s claws finally cause the rock around them to crumble. He drops to the ground and stands, arms and claws outstretched before them. They realize immediately that they are in trouble. Logan lays into the three of them, berating them for interrupting his drink. The fight lasts seconds.
With the three thugs defeated, Logan leaves the cave and makes his way back to the bar. Unfortunately, as he reaches the place, a gunman pulls his pistol out and threatens a young female driver who has pulled up. Logan isn’t going to let this one go, either.


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

[Assistant]
The Amazing Immortal Man! (first story)
The Animal Man (second story)
Coney Island Baby (third story)
First Story:
(Greenland, Kansas, the 1930’s)
Logan was in a circus ring, shackled with chains stretching from hand to hand and up to his neck. Maximillian Ernesto Seville was the ringmaster, and he introduced Logan to the crowd as the Amazing Immortal Man. “You’ve seen him face fire,” he cried. “You’ve seen him fall fifty feet onto a bed of nails,” he continued. The crowd lapped it up. Several spikes stuck out of Logan’s skin as he received the applause.
Maximillian had heard about this ‘wild man’ in Tennessee who’d been trapped for stealing chickens. It took five men just to chain him. Max paid forty dollars for him and thought he’d be just fine for the sideshow geek. They’d been lacking one since Armand had to shoot the last one. Olga, the lion tamer’s assistant, found out Logan’s real name. Logan took a shine to her, but on account of the lion tamer being a jealous man, he shot Logan one evening. Max discovered then that Logan was something special when, a few hours later, he was completely healed.
By the third night, practically everyone in town would come to see the Amazing Immortal Man – the circus’ star attraction. Most of the cops came too, if only for crowd control. Of course, with everyone at the circus, the town was darn near empty, which left it wide open for Max to beef up his box office. He used a team of hoods to rob the place, with Teddy Fingers his top safecracker.
Teddy was also a first class snooper, and one day he overheard trouble brewing between Logan and Max. As Logan recuperated from his day’s injuries, Max visited him. Olga was taking care of Logan who was upset that Max had been robbing the town. He reminded Max that the deal was that he would let this town be as Olga needed a place to have her baby. Max told Logan that the wheat harvest had come in and there was two million dollars just sitting in the bank vault. They were going to take the whole lot that night, and after that they could stop anywhere Logan wanted.
Logan sat up in bed, and told Max that Olga was already having contractions. Max replied that, in that case, she’d have the kid on the road. Logan replied that in that case, he was done. Max threw up his arms and said fine. He’d have Armand take Olga to the hospital. Logan told Max that he wanted to see Teddy Fingers in the audience that night, so he would know he wasn’t out doing something they’d both regret. Max left the room, informing Logan that they’d stay there another week. He should get ready, as that night he would be performing with the lions.
Olga, who was heavily pregnant before Logan showed up, didn’t like the lions, but Logan assured her that it was fine. He told her that the circus was no place to raise a kid and she should stay in town. It was a good place and he could send money back for her. He looked after her as if the kid was his own.
(later)
It was Logan’s turn to perform, and as he entered the ring to face the beasts, Teddy Fingers paid Max a visit in his quarters. He understood the job had been called off, but Max replied that two million dollar jobs didn’t get called off. He should get his butt in the bleachers where Logan could see him and be ready for his signal. Teddy did as he was told and watched the show, in full view of the star attraction.
(meanwhile)
Armand showed Olga to a caravan where a midwife named Lydia was waiting. Olga complained that Logan said she was to go to a hospital. Back in the big top, whilst he was busy, someone locked Logan inside the cage with the lions. There was no escape. When Logan saw Teddy was gone, he roared and snapped his chains with ease.
Outside, the gang got together and Teddy Fingers hooked up with them. He saw someone lock the gate on Logan and knew how mad he would be. Max reckoned he wouldn’t be that mad when he got the extra cash in his pocket. Armand came running over and informed him that the baby had come out feet-first. Lydia had said that Olga needed to go to the hospital. One of the gang figured that would blow the job. Maybe they could pull the job and just leave her behind?
Max replied that Olga knew too much. He asked Armand to tell Lydia to do what she could. Everyone else should get on the truck. Teddy was a little upset and said that Olga would die! He wouldn’t help Max. Max then pointed a pistol in his face and warned him that if he didn’t get his money, then he’d have no use for Teddy. He ordered Armand to tell the handler that it would be Plan B. No matter what - Logan wouldn’t come out of that cage alive.
Back inside the big top, Logan smashed one of the lions against the cage. He then ran to the opposite side and tore the cage apart with his bare hands before getting out. Armand had warned Raul, the fire-eater, to be prepared, and he tried to burn Logan as he fled the cage. Despite the flames licking from his body, Logan was in no mood to be stopped, even by the Arabian Knights who could cut the heart out of a man before he knew it was missing. The whole place went up in flames as he departed the circus. Armand, of course, blamed Logan when the cops arrived. Elephants stampeded and the crowd panicked. The place was in chaos, and in that chaos, Logan disappeared.
The police searched everywhere and the governor was called. There was a three-state manhunt, but Teddy knew that the first thing Logan would do was to head straight for Olga. When he reached her room, Logan found Olga dead, and Lydia holding a healthy baby boy.
Three miles away, Teddy drove the truck with Max and a pile of cash at his side. Even from that distance, he heard Logan’s cries and felt it in his bones. Teddy almost ran off the road. It was a wail; a terrible scream of agony. He would have nightmares even years later. Max heard it too. They were all relived when Max jumped from the truck with the cash, that he was as far away from them as possible. That was the last anyone saw of Max. Logan got blamed for everything, including the robbery, but no one saw him again, either.
(years later)
Teddy was panhandling in Chicago when a woman and her son stopped by to drop a ten in his hat. It wasn’t the ten that made his jaw drop. He could have sworn that the lady was Lydia, the old gypsy midwife. She gave him a wink as gypsies do, before she and the boy disappeared before he could get his trap shut. The boy would have been about the right age.
A day didn’t go by without Teddy thinking about the wild man. Did he go back to wandering the hills, stealing chickens? He never heard of him again, but somehow he doubts that was the end of him. After all, wasn’t he supposed to be immortal?
Second Story:
(flashback)
A bus driver is making his rounds, driving his bus on the way to the Bronx. He stops to pick up a couple of hoods, one of whom is wearing a Punisher jacket. He knows they’re trouble. After twenty-three years on the job, you learn to ignore some stuff. Hoods on his bus terrify the passengers, including one young woman who takes their fancy. He figures that she complains, but she dresses kinda… y’know. His daughter is grown up now and he’d still never let her dress like that.
He finally has enough of the trouble and pulls over, shouting back for them to stop what they’re doing. There are working people on board. He wishes he hadn’t opened his mouth. One of the hoods approaches him plunges a knife into his chest, causing him to drop to the floor. Once he is down, the hood prepares to finish him off, but a savior comes in the form of Wolverine, out of costume but still menacing. He breaks the guy’s arm like it’s a toothpick. The driver figures he’s going to die, but he takes comfort in the thought that at least the hoods will get what’s theirs. He looks up at Wolverine. He’s an animal - the Animal Man. He swears he hears Wolverine growl at them.
The other punks don’t get it and each pops their switchblade. There are five of them, but Wolverine has six blades of his own. He pops them from his wrists and ploughs through the bus. The punks don’t stand a chance. The driver sees him take a dozen cuts at least, but he barely feels them. His body appears to heal as fast as it gets damaged. At some point, the driver blacks out. He ain’t no miraculously healing man… or so he thought.
(thirty-two hours and three minutes later)
The driver awakens in his hospital bed, with his daughter waiting by his side. He asks what he was supposed to do. He’s a bus driver. He could sell Tupperware, maybe? His daughter, Claire, is crying. She replies that they could have killed him. They told her that at one point he died. It’s a miracle he revived. Her father replies that it’s because he heals faster now. The Animal Man gave him a piece of his essence. Claire tells him that he’s scaring her. Her dad smiles and says he’s just teasing her. He realizes that he cannot confide in her. An hour after she leaves, he pulls out all of his tubes and walks out of the hospital.
As his daughter still lives with him, he cannot go home, so he rents a cheap place in the Bronx; cashing out his retirement. He begins to work out, grows some sideburns and takes muscle enhancements. In his mind, he thinks he’s the same kind of man as Animal Man. He reckons humanity has descended into barbarianism and that the animals are now more civilized than the people. Warriors are needed to clean up the mess. Animal Warriors.
He attaches knifes to straps on his forearms so he looks like Animal Man, and writes everything down so Claire will know what he’s doing. He tests himself every day, cutting his forearms with a razor blade before watching it heal up quickly. He knows that he is ready. He stands up, and in his mind he is Animal Man. The animal spirit has transformed him. He feels better than he’s felt in his whole life. Bigger, faster and stronger. Nothing can do him harm. He can smell evil in all its forms. He is equipped to handle evil in all its forms. He is the Animal Man.
After promising his boss that he will call Claire, he starts his first night back on the job. He figures she’ll understand everything when she reads his notebook. He wishes he’d remembered to bring it. So many thoughts are getting lost. Observations.
He looks around the bus and sees a kid. Forty-two percent evil. A liar. The worst kind who spreads disease. He glances at a young couple. She is being comforted by her partner. The driver reckons they’re vampires, junkies, users. He is seventy-six percent evil. Her, eighty-one point five. He sees a middle-aged woman and thinks she steals from the elderly. Disgusting. Eighty-three point two. A young woman gets on the bus wearing a slightly revealing dress. Jezebel, he thinks. Ninety-eight percent evil. He looks back at all the passengers and in his mind, he sees demons, witches, monsters, whores and mutants.
He reckons that if he drove into the East River, the world would be better off. It’s too easy, though. This is the beginning, not the end. He must be surgical and pick his shots. The unredeemable must be weeded out first and made an example of. Two guys who are talking about the young lady, exit the bus at her stop and begin to follow her. It’s the last stop. ‘Use your animal powers,’ the driver thinks to himself. ‘Follow the scent.’ He trails them to her apartment where they confront the young woman at the stairs. “Hey, mama! Lookin’ for a party?” they ask.
One asks if she remembers him from 48th Street. She is scared and replies no. He tells her that she wouldn’t give him the time of day cuz he had no scratch. He still ain’t got no money, and hopes that won’t be a problem. He removes a knife from his pocket.
The bus driver approaches. He is shirtless, but in his mind he resembles the Animal Man who saved his life. “Back off, bub…” he warns. “A hundred-and-three percent evil reeks off you like a dead fish. Your only value will be in textbooks” The guys wonder who the hell this clown is. The bus driver roars, “I am Animal!” but as he flings his arms wide, the knife become loose and fly off into the road, leaving him defenseless. The guy stabs him in the chest and then runs off at the sound of an approaching cop car.
The woman drops to her knees and tells him that she called the police. She thanks him for saving her. As he lies bleeding, he replies that her goodness has grown fifty-four percent. She should hold it. Grow it. She sniffs as she promises that she will. “And put on some clothes, for God’s sake,” he whispers as he weakens. He’s accomplished so much this night. There is good out there. Good can grow. He must remember to write this down.
Third Story:
Wolverine is at Coney Island. He enters a room where several worthless gangsters have been massacred. Normally, this wouldn’t concern him too much. Gangsters killing their own. This time, however, this nut didn’t stop there. He’s taken it out into the streets, and now a mother of four and a delivery boy is dead. Four others are in critical, so now he cares a whole lot.
It’s July and Coney Island is packed with tourists. Wolverine makes his way through the crowd, out of costume, following the gunman’s trail of blood. A blind man could follow just by listening to his shoes slosh. He makes his way to the Boardwalk, but there, with all the sweat, perfume, hot dogs, kielbasa, suntan oil and a half million flavors of body odor, his heightened senses are useless. He has to wait for the blood trail to resurface.
He hears a scream from outside the Sideshow of the Seashore and enters to find a dead male body on the wooden floor. The smell is like nothing he’s ever encountered. Onlookers gasp at the stench. Wolverine wonders what the hell makes a smell like that. The gaping hole in the guy’s torso looks like it was bored out from the inside. He hears more gunshots and people start panicking. It needs to end right now.
Logan snikts his claws and makes his way to where people are running from. He sees a tall man with close cropped hair sporting just a pair of red swim shorts, holding another man at arms length, a couple of feet above the ground. He’s clearly very strong. He holds a pistol to the man’s face, but strangely apologizes for his actions. “I’m sorry! I’m Sorry, okay?” he shouts. “I said I was sorry! He fires the gun and kills his hapless victim.
In shooting the man, the gunman inadvertently shoots right through his wrist which he holds up in front of him. It’s split at the joint. “Oh, pooh…” he moans. Wolverine doesn’t hesitate as he leaps towards the gunman. He plunges his claws into his muscular chest, but it doesn’t appear to faze him at all. Instead, he socks Wolverine with his broken wrist and his hand flies off. He then fires three bullets into Wolverine which only serves to make Logan mad.
He takes up the chase as the guy heads towards the boardwalk, shooting another bystander on the way. Logan picks up the scent again. It’s not even human. As it doesn’t appear to have a heart, he’ll take its legs off and immobilize it. He sees the guy running along the foot of the rollercoaster, screaming to anyone who will listen that he needs help. Climbing on one of the cars, Logan follows and hangs on tight as the car is pulled along the rollercoaster. The gunman shoots at him but narrowly misses. He continues to apologize for his actions as he shoots, and he only stops when Wolverine leaps at him and severs his other hand at the wrist.
He grabs hold of Logan. “I hate you!” he cries. Grabbing Logan around the waist, he tries to squeeze. Logan finally figures out what’s going on. He’s strong, like an addict, but when he realizes what’s really happening, it’s too late. The man lets go of him and falls backwards from the rollercoaster. His stomach is opened up just like the guy earlier.
Wolverine follows his new target, along the boardwalk and into the Sideshow of the Seashore. The stench alone is now easy to follow, and Logan realizes that it’s just trying to get home. He opens the doors wide and sees a motley crew standing there. “So…” he gasps. “Where is it?” A bald-headed man replies that he can’t have her. A woman approaches Wolverine from behind with a baseball bat and says ‘she’ belongs to them. Logan tells her that it’s a parasite. It crossed the line. He snikts his claws as another woman warns him that he won’t get past them. Logan assures them that he doesn’t want to hurt any of them, and easily avoids the swinging bat. “Ask yourselves if it’s worth it.”
The assembled crew clearly believes that she is. They attack Wolverine, with the largest of his attackers informing him that Roz is family. The bald man tries to stop the fighting and, fortunately for him, his friends listen. He shows Logan into a room where a woman cradles the infant parasite. He tells Logan that her name is Rosalyn. She’s barely two years old. The gangsters took her for ransom when they couldn’t pay them protection money. Logan reminds them that it killed a lot of people trying to get home today - innocent people. “Did she?” the bald man replies. “Or was she just trying to get home?”
Logan watches Rosalyn feed from her mother’s blood like a nursing baby. He ran into something like this once before. He knows that, if it did this once, it would one day do it again. Maybe two years along the line. Maybe twenty. Right now she’s just a baby, so he leaves it with a silent prayer. However, he knows that one day, he will someday return to kill it.


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

[Assistant]
The Anniversary (First Story)<br> Ghosts (Second Story)
First Story:
Outside of Tokyo, Japan, in a temple that sits on the side of a small mountain. ‘You have a difficult task, Sin. But you must remain strong. Your actions today will change the course of the world’ a man in a suit speaks to Shin via mobile phone. Inside the room, swords and other artefacts are displayed. The man tells Shin that he will be remembered as a martyr, a patriot, a hero, as someone who unleashed a righteous fury upon the world. ‘The mere mention of your name will strike terror into the hearts of our enemies’ he adds, while looking down at newspaper articles featuring acts of terrorism. ‘Of course, of course. Your family will be cared for. They will want for nothing. I give you my word’ the man assures Shin, before bidding him goodbye.
The man opens a door and steps outside, ‘Finally, she has arrived!’ the man declares as he sees a bird in a cage being handed over to one of his associates. The bird is removed from the cage and it struggles to fly away. ‘Careful, careful. Give her to me’ the man calls out, extending his arms to take the bird, he states that she is so beautiful. The bird sits on his wrist and he tells the bird that she has nothing to fear. ‘I still can’t believe how much you paid for a damn bird’ one of his associates remarks. The man tells him that this is no ordinary bird, that it is a crested ibis, such a wonderful creature, and that once it roamed freely across all of Japan, proud and strong.
The man strokes the bird and reveals that now there are only two in Japan and less than 15o in the rest of the world, with most of those depending on the Chinese for their survival. ‘Such a sickening thought’ he adds. He lets the ibis fly onto a nearby tree branch and tells his companions that for nearly twenty years, the crested ibis was thought to be extinct, but that it was still out in the wild, hidden away, content to let the world forget. He addresses his associate as Isamu and tells him that the world has forgotten about then, but that it is time to remind them that they have been here all along, watching and waiting. ‘As soon as the plan takes off, kill Shin’s family’ he orders. ‘Even the kids? Isamu asks. ‘Especially the kids’ the man orders.
The next day, Pac-Air Flight 319, bound for Japan, two hours east of Hawaii, Logan a.k.a. Wolverine is slumped against the window as he sleeps in his seat.
Wolverine’s Dream:
‘Oh my God, Mariko… Mariko, can you hear me!?’ Logan calls out. He is standing in a Japanese garden, and sees Mariko Yashida sitting down. Mariko’s smiling face stares back, as Logan kneels in front of her, ‘For the love of… say something! Anything!’ he asks her, but realizes that she is dead. ‘We… we can start over, pretend nothing happened, live our lives’ Logan tells her, when suddenly, Mariko moves, ‘No! You’re alive! You’re alive!’ Logan cries.But he knows this isn’t real - as a blackness emerges from Mariko, and she floats over him, decaying. ‘Please say something. Anything. I need to remember, remember your voice… I’ve forgotten…’ Logan pleads. But the dead never speak.
Reality:
‘Ugh’ Logan utters as he sits up. ‘Bad dream?’ the man sitting next to him asks. ‘You have no idea’ Wolverine responds. ‘I have bad dreams sometimes before I fly. I’m not really much of a flyer. Once I’m in -’ the passenger begins, but Wolverine interrupts him, telling him that he is not in the mood for chitchat. ‘Sure. No problem. Just being friendly’ the passenger replies.
Logan turns to look out the window and tells the passenger to go be friendly somewhere else. One of the crew, with the name Shin on his badge walks past, with two other men following him. ‘Make this quick, before someone sees’ another man tells them as they stand near one of the crew-only areas. Shin enters and pulls out a case marked “emergency insulin”, and tells the others to keep an eye out. He also has several guns and blades. ‘Let’s go’ Shin tells the others as he hands them the weapons and carries the container, making his way up the inner staircase of the airplane. Some of the other men remain on the lower level.
Upstairs: ‘Shin, what are you doing up here?’ one of the air hostesses asks, smiling. Shin doesn’t answer her, but his companion who followed him upstairs does by slicing the young woman’s neck. He then raises a weapon and tells the concerned passengers that if any one of them so much as twitches, he is going to start shooting and won’t stop until they are all dead. Shin knocks on the door to the cockpit, and informs the pilots that he has some coffee for them. ‘I thought Judy was bringing it?’ one of the pilots replies from behind the locked door. Shin tells the pilots that Judy is trying to help a passenger calm down a baby. ‘You know how it is. That kind of stuff needs a woman’s touch’ Shin replies. One of the pilots opens the door, and Shin immediately shoots him. ‘Ah, hell -’ the second begins, before Shin shoves a knife into his neck.
Shin radios his comrades and tells them that the pilots are dead. ‘Spread out and get ready’ he instructs them. Shin sits down and takes a bomb from the emergency insulin kit. He straps it to his chest, and activates it. Shin reports that the bomb is in place and he is making the call. ‘Take care of the Air Marshall’ he tells them. ‘You got it’ one of them replies. ‘Nobody moves!’ one of the other terrorists calls out, while the Air Marshall is shot in the head. ‘What is it? What’s happening?’ the passenger sitting next to Wolverine asks, standing up. Calmly, Logan tells him to sit down and keep his mouth shut.
Back in the cockpit, Shin is speaking on a large mobile phone and reports that the plane is secure and that he has adjusted their flight path. He announces that they will fly right over downtown Honolulu, and when the plane blows, the entire world will be watching - no one will be able to escape the sight of it. ‘Well done, Shin’ the man back in Tokyo replies, before asking Shin to patch him through the plane’s PA system. Shin does so, and the man’s voice can be heard: ‘Attention imperialists: This plane is now under the control of the Holy War Brigade. Your hands are stained red with the blood of innocents, and it is time for you to pay for your sins’ he announces. The man continues, stating that their demands to the repressive regime of the United States are simple: ‘All prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay are to be released within two hours. If your leaders refuse, I will blow this plane out of the sky’.
Wolverine stands up, but one of the terrorists shouts ‘YOU! Sit your ass down!’ and aims his gun at him, while the man in Tokyo’s voice continues to be heard over the intercom: ‘Anyone making a threatening move will be shot. Anyone not following orders will be shot’ he warns the passengers, while telling them that that are capitalist swine, that they are worth less than the filth smeared across the sole of his shoe. ‘Do not expect a single ounce of mercy from us, because there will be none’ he adds. Logan tells himself that he has to play this cool, to get out of the main cabin and find room to work. ‘I’m going to bust your right in the face, pal!’ Logan calls out to one of the terrorists - who then shoots him in the chest as he makes his way into the aisle. ‘I didn’t know him! I swear!’ the passenger who was sitting next to Logan calls out as one of the terrorists points his gun at him,. ‘Shut the hell up!’ the terrorist orders.
Face down on the aisle floor, Logan thinks to himself ‘Gather around, take a look. Let me catch your wretched stench’. One of the terrorists tells his comrades to get that body out of his sight. ‘You think we’re playing games? If you don’t want to end up like that idiot, sit down and keep your damn mouths shut’ he warns the passengers. In the cock-pit, the man in Tokyo asks Shin if he has patched him through to air traffic control. ‘Yes, Masaru-Sensei’ Shin replies, while in the back of the plane, two of the terrorists leave Wolverine’s body in a pool of blood. Logan tells himself that he doesn’t know squat about the 747’s layout, but he is sure the toilet dumps down into the hold - which is his ticket out of here.
As Shin pilots the plane, Masaru’s voice can be heard after Shin patches him through to air traffic control: ‘I speak for the Holy War Brigade. Pac-Air Flight 319 has been hijacked and is under our control. You will free the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. Fail in this, we blow up the plane. If we see any fighter jets, we blow up the plane’ he announces, adding that this is their first and last communication, while warning them that they have two hours.
At that moment, in the back of the plane, only a pool of blood remains, as Logan has entered the bathroom, and has sliced the floor open. He drops down into the cargo hold underneath, He tells himself that he just needs to get his hands on one of those chumps, and sniffing the air, picks up one of their scents. He climbs back up through a ventilation shaft into another part of the plane, where one of the terrorists is standing guard, armed with a gun. Wolverine sneaks up behind him, and drags him down into the cargo hold. ‘How many hijackers?’ Wolverine demands, shoving the terrorist against the wall and holding his claws towards his face. ‘Screw you’ the terrorist replies, so Wolverine slices off his fingers. Logan lets the man fall to the ground and warns him that that is a little taste of what to come. ‘Let’s call it an appetizer’ he suggests, adding that if he doesn’t want the full meal, to answer his question: ‘How many hijackers?’ he repeats.
‘Three others… and the pilot’ the man replies. Logan asks where the bomb is, and the man tells him that it is in the cockpit. Wolverine enquires as to what the trigger is, and the man reveals that it can be set off manually, or with a timer, but that it is also attached to the pilot. ‘If his heart stops beating, the bomb detonates’ the terrorist explains. ‘Then I’ll have to be extra careful’ Wolverine mutters as he runs his already bloodied claws along the man’s throat, causing blood to spill out. Logan hears the voice of the Shin speak into to the others as he puts the dead terrorist’s earpiece on. ‘Be strong, my comrades. Masaru-Sensei chose us for a reason. We are brave. We are invincible. History will remember us…’ he tells them.
‘Blah blah blah, different day, different nut job, same old crap’ Wolverine thinks to himself as he carries on through the plane, realizing that he is still staring down a hell of a mess though, for one stray bullet and the main cabin depressurizes - if any of those morons get a look at him, the bomb will go off and four hundred people will die. ‘Looks like there’s only one way to handle this’ he decides, and breaking some crates free of their rope holding them in place, he opens the cargo hold door, and throws them out of the plane. ‘We’ve got a situation’ Chin announces from the cockpit. Logan knows that the pilot is not going to have any choice but to drop altitude, for if the plane goes down like this, no one will pay them any attention. ‘And if there’s one thing they want, it’s attention’ Logan knows.
Shin contacts his comrades, telling them that the weight sensors show the cargo sliding all over the place, that cables must have come loose, so they have to slow down and drop to 12,000 feet. ‘Our plans to not change, though. Repeat, no change in plans’ he instructs them, as oxygen masks drop down in front of all the seated passengers. ‘Where’s Cosby? Have you seen him?’ one of the terrorists asks another. ‘I’ll find him. You just make sure no one tries anything’ the second terrorist replies. He makes his way back to the rear of the plane, but does not find Logan’s body - only the pool of blood. He reports to Shin, announcing that they have a problem. ‘No sign of Cosby, and one of the guys we shot is gone’. ‘What do you mean gone?’ Shin asks. ‘I mean he’s gone. Cosby must’ve shot the guy at least three or four times. Something’s not right’ the terrorist reports back. Shin tells his comrade to get up here and cover the cockpit door and to kill anyone who comes close. ‘We still have a chance to pull this off’ he declares, while he sets the bomb’s timer for two minutes.
At that moment, Wolverine is outside the plane, using his claws to pull himself along, making his way to the front of the plane. Inside, the terrorists are searching for him. Another claw, and another, closer and closer to the cockpit. Hanging onto the side of the plane just with his claws, Wolverine can see the bomb - fifty seconds are all that remain. As the other three terrorists make their way upstairs, Logan smashes through the window into the cockpit. ‘Holy #$@%!’ Shin shouts. Logan grabs Shin and throws him through the window - with the bomb strapped to him still. Only five seconds are left - and he explodes just outside the plane. Wolverine takes control of the plane, as the other three terrorists arrive. ‘Nobody move!’ one of them shouts.
Papers blow about due to the smashed window, and Wolverine tells the terrorists that they best say their prayers because this is going to get pretty damn ugly. Marasu’s voice can be heard over the mobile phone, asking Shin what is happening. Wolverine spins around and slices the terrorists’ at their necks, causing them to fall backwards. ‘Shin-Kum, answer me! IO heard something. Is everything all right?’ Marasu calls out. ‘That’s it. Keep him talking. Gimme something I can use’ Wolverine thinks to himself, before picking the phone up, ‘Shin-Kun is dead. And you’re going to be joining him soon enough’ he warns Marasu.
Three days later, at the temple just outside Tokyo, Marasu is in one of the rooms. There is a noise outside in the garden, and Marasu instructs one of his men to go and see what it was. He does so, stepping outside, there is then a THWUMP noise, followed by a KRUNK. Marasu picks up a sword and carefully steps outside. He sees the crested ibis sitting in a tree, making a noise, when suddenly, Wolverine steps forward from the darkness and cuts Marasu’s hands off. He screams, and falls to the ground. ‘I told you I’d come for you’ Wolverine tells him in Japanese. ‘How…how did you find me?’ Marasu enquires. Wolverine motions at the ibis and tells Marasu that he heard it squawking. ‘Only a couple of ‘em in the whole country. Pretty easy to figure out who’s got one’ Wolverine points out.
He looms over Marasu, bloodied claws close to the enemy’s face, Logan reveals that he was on his way here to pay his respects to a woman he loved, still loves, but he cannot remember her voice, what she smelled like or the taste of her lips. ‘Every day I lose a little more of her’ Wolverine adds, before remarking that she still visits him, though, lets him know that she hasn’t forgotten, even if he has. ‘It’s a living hell’. His claws move ever closer to Marasu’s face, ‘That’s why the though of you killing the people on that plane, casting their families down into that pit of despair, fills me with nine kinds of rage’ Logan snarls. His claws then slash across Marasu’s face, and Logan turns to walk away, ‘No one deserves to suffer through those kinds of nightmares’ he remarks, leaving Marasu in a pool of blood, while the crested ibis takes flight.
Second Story:
Wolverine’s dream:
‘I see ghosts everywhere. Even in my sleep’ Logan tells himself. He is dreaming - kneeling before Mariko, who is sitting under a blossom tree. ‘Logan. Please. The poison. The pain’ Mariko utters as flowers fall around her, blowing in the breeze. ‘I can’t’ Logan exclaims. ‘I’m dying. Nothing can stop that. But you can save me. Take me past the pain’ Mariko begs. ‘Please, no’ Wolverine utters. This dream haunts him. ‘If you love me… save me’ Mariko tells him. And the dream always ends the same way. Logan rests his head on Mariko’s lap, and he does what he has to - he does the impossible. And his life becomes a nightmare. Mariko goes wide-eyed as Wolverine unsheathes his claws directly into her chest, and she falls forward. Dream blur into reality which blur into dreams. ‘Wake up’ Mariko orders.
Reality:
Sometimes, Wolverine cannot tell if he is awake or asleep. After all, Mariko couldn’t have just warned him - could she? But, he wakes to find himself surrounded by ninjas in the dead of night. ‘Is this real? Have I finally gone over the edge?’ Wolverine wonders, as he unsheathes his claws and starts defending himself against the attacking ninjas. He braces himself, and recalls that Japan is full of ghosts - Oni Kami - spirits of vengeance, spirits of the lost. These killers could be just what they seem - another bunch of assassins paid to nail his hide to somebody’s wall. Or they could be ghosts of men he has killed.
Wolverine supposes that it is all the same. If he is asleep or awake - if he is sane or crazy. He still fights, It is what he does. What he is. A ghost-maker. One of the ninjas raises their sword, but Wolverine’s powerful adamantium blades slice it to pieces. Logan has buried a lot of friends. And buried too many loved ones. He has created enough ghosts to fill seven hells. So maybe this is his hell - conflict. Hate. Blood. Death. Ghosts.
He barges his way through his attackers, disposing of them with ease. Logan wonders if perhaps Mariko’s ghost was telling him that this was his hour. That it was his job to join the world of shadows? If he thought that meant he could be with her, he might even stop fighting. But not tonight. ‘Mariko, God help me…not tonight’ Logan tells himself as he battles the remaining ninjas on the rooftop now, and disposes of the last one.
Logan stands on the edge of the roof, claws barred, and as blossom flowers float around him, thinks to himself ‘My life is filled with ghosts’.


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Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
Contagion chapter one: Impulsion and Whim
(earlier)
Wolverine is naked and locked in a cage. Two numskulls stand outside ordering him to get up. "Here doggy!" they say, treating Logan like an animal. One of them hits a button on a small contraption which activates a collar that Logan is wearing. It sends a powerful electric shock through his body, forcing him to his feet. The two guys are loving it. They hit the switch again and again until Logan drops to the ground in pain. They then open the cage and put a lead around his neck, forcing him to scuttle on his hands and knees. One of them warns his friend to watch his step. Looks like the animal's messed itself. He asks his friend if he can't wire the restraining collar for his ###. "Only if its ### was part of its mutation, bro," his friend replies. They shove Logan into a large room and leave him there before heading to a prominent position overlooking the large walled rectangular area.
The crowd calls out a name... Grizzzzz repeatedly. An emcee with shades on stands next to a girl in a bikini who holds up a sign which reads 'Main Event.' The emcee tells the crowd that they've seen what he can do with the little dogs. Now they can watch what he does with a big dog... a big mutant dog. In the opposite corner to where Wolverine is sitting, rats converge into a pile and form a muscular-looking chemical-bath mutate named Griz. He quickly attacks Wolverine, punching him hard into the brick wall.
The restraining collar is activated once again to get Logan to fight. Griz grabs him around the neck and squeezes, but he inadvertently snaps the restraining collar, switching it off. This done, there's nothing to prevent Wolverine from snitking his claws, and he makes short work of Griz. He then looks at the two numskulls and leaps towards them, decapitating them where they stand as the crowd begins to panic. Wolverine slashes his way through the petrified crowd, making his way towards the emcee. The cowardly emcee tries to use the girl as a human shield, but nothing is going to stop Wolverine's animalistic rage now. He kills the guy and makes his way to the door.
(present)
Logan is in the passenger seat of a car with an attractive brunette named Driver Reese at the wheel. He is telling her the story of what just happened; that he was in a biker bar, drunk on about a gallon of Everclear. Half-smart Northern Californian hillbillies with a tinker-toy restraining collar made from plans on an anti-mutant website caught him and he ended up in a mutant/mutate pit-fight with a sad mutate from NYC looking to make a buck. Griz would regrow himself from the rats, but that not important to Logan. The driver understands what he's told her, but doesn't get what his shirt is all about. He is dressed in a tight-fitting black shirt made to look like it has a shirt and bowtie underneath. He explains that it was either that or the bikini, and he ain't been waxed lately.
The girl reckons it's as convincing a story as any as to why he'd be thumbing a ride looking like he does, but she's still not certain she believes him. Logan asks what she wants. Credentials or something? He slices a little of her hair off with his claws and drops it onto her lap. "Left my passport at home. That cover it?" he asks. She is shocked, but not too much. She looks at her reflection in the rear-view mirror and tells him he could have a second career. He could call his salon Claws. Logan's not impressed with her sense of humor.
She asks if he wants to go to a party but Logan isn't sure it'll be his scene. She says she can't promise Everclear, but there'll be an ample selection of bourbon, Scotch and beer. "My favorite cocktail," quips Logan. He reckons it'd be a shame to waste the duds. They cross the Golden Gate Bridge heading towards Marin County. She asks what he didn't like most about his treatment at the pit-fight: that they were speciesists or their general cruelty. Logan replies that it's because they called him Dog! That was a bad choice of words on their part.
(Bayou County)
Some people are in the swamp. A muscular black guy named Mr. Daniels holds a rope that leads into quicksand. As Ms. Brink clicks away on a laptop, a guy in a white suit named Winsor asks what he's looking for. A tin can? A piece of the true cross? Al Pacino's talent? He radios to Mr. Slaughter who is on the other end of the rope and asks if he can be more specific about what he's after. Slaughter replies that he's after a guy. He's hooked up.
Daniels hauls him out of the sand and finds that Slaughter's holding another man in his arms. Slaughter complains that his stupid mask didn't help. He got sand in his teeth and doesn't need to breathe anyway. Winsor says of course not, but then imagine trying to transmit speech via exhaled sand rather than air! Once out, the other man, an older balding man named Mr. Sikes, vomits sand. Winsor explains that he's been down there over half a century.
Slaughter says the guy is a mess. How is he supposed to help them? He won't last in the arena for sure. He replies that after nearly sixty years of sensory deprivation, nothing but the constant sensation of his flesh being scoured away and regrown... it's safe to say that Mr. Sikes no longer has a conventional personality. Nonetheless, he will serve more than one valuable purpose. He spits on a handkerchief and wipes Sikes' cheek. He thanks Ms. Brink for her valuable research. Without her, this treasure would have remained buried forever.
He asks for the time. "Three seconds and counting," she replies. Sikes makes a break for the sand, but Daniels grabs him. He's not hauling his ass out of there again. A large red hole opens in Mr. Sikes' cheek. Ms. Brink informs them that it's six point seven seconds to regeneration - a record with a Strain XV infection. Mr. Slaughter finds the sight of Sikes makes him feel hungry. Winsor replies of course it does. That is one of Mr. Sikes' intended uses.
He asks Daniels if he can trust him to have Mr. Sikes at the facility by morning. Daniels says sure. Whatever's left of him. Ms. Brink tells Winsor that his event coordinator is concerned that the ninety-eight Dom Ruinart won't last the night. He replies that she may supplement it as she sees fit, as long as she doesn't resort to Cristal. Standards must be maintained. Slaughter looks down at Sikes and grins. It's like a dream come true, he thinks. An all-you-can-eat buffet!
(sometime later)
Logan joins the brunette at a party in a huge warehouse. There is a pool in the center with people swimming and dancers at the side. The DJ booth is in the centre of the room surrounded by water. Logan leans against the bar. "Classy bunch," he exclaims. She tells him a number of them can afford not to bother with class. "And the rest?" he asks. She says they're naturally classless. "Or they just don't give a ####," replies Logan. She reckons that's a rare trait. It's something Logan finds comes easy if you spend enough time alone. She asks if he doesn't have a team or something. He tells her he has too many teams, but they're busy people. They're time-travelling, visiting alternate Earths or negotiating with alien species. "Really?" she asks. He reckons they could be. He gets himself in a jam... he likes to get himself out.
She stares at him with her green eyes and reminds him that he flagged her down. Logan replies that it could be that he was looking for another jam to get into. She finds that promising and asks if he wants to dance. Logan explains that he tries to get his groove on, and he'll need every team he's on to rescue him from that jam. She waltzes off anyway towards the dance floor.
(elsewhere)
Winsor is seated at a desk. A blue-skinned man, the Corruptor, is tethered nearby with countless feeds and cables attached to his body. Winsor explains that self-control is overrated. He spent actual decades reigning in his natural impulses, an act of concealment denying himself indulgence in his true nature. He can't say that he grew or learned anything about himself or benefited from the usual clichés. No. It was strategically sound but personally unfulfilling. Letting oneself go and giving in to impulsion and whim, that's how one learns about one's true nature. He paints a chemical called Liquatex onto his palms and walks over to his captive. He places his palms on the side of the man's torso and the chemicals begin to burn him. He tells the man that it's time to make his entrance. Loosen a few ties. Let down some hair.
Inside the club, a gas created from the captive's body begins to permeate the atmosphere. Logan is being pestered by a woman who wants a similar haircut to the one he gave the brunette when he smells something strange. Slowly, he begins to go a little crazy, cutting people's hair and rambling on about Simon Cowell and getting into the dance music. He leaps to the dance floor to join his date.
Winsor walks through the club, shaking people's hands and asking them to be themselves. He approaches Driver Reese and tells her that she’s glowing... luminous. She tells Winsor that it's the best party ever. She introduces her date as Wolverine. He's a ###### X-Man! Logan turns to Winsor and shakes his hand, telling him he's tall. He adds that he wanted to be tall. "Mr. Wolverine. A pleasure," replies Winsor. Logan jokes that Mr. Wolverine was his dad's name. He's Logan. Winsor tells him to be himself. Be entirely himself. They shake and he tells him that he always is.
Logan continues dancing with his date. She holds both his hands as they dance and tells him that they have to do something crazy. She rambles on about being the moon, glowing like the moon. "Howl at me. Howl at the moon!" she says. Logan starts to foam at the mouth as the chemicals take hold of his body and he sees a distorted vision of Driver Reese before him, tentacles and blood and craziness all around. The other people in the club begin to fight and soon a full-scale battle is taking place around them.
Wolverine temporarily gets a hint of what's going on around him and backs away from Driver Reese. He fights his way through the crowd towards the exit as Winsor watches from above, playing with some protective gloop on his fingers. 'Just imagine,' he thinks, 'A world where you could always be yourself, always. Where nature was the mirror, so that when you looked at it, you only saw yourself... only your true self.' Logan doesn't see the fighting dancers. He sees only corpses, piles of them glistening in the club's lights. He screams and snikts his claws before plunging them into his stomach. He crawls outside and leans against the wall, plunging them into his stomach once again. Winsor stands with his companions which include Tiger Shark and Madcap. "Well now, that's a start. Shocking though isn't it," he states. "I'd never have imagined it myself that he'd be so very short in person."


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This Little Curiosity
Wolverine has just recovered from self-inflicted injuries. Winsor, also known as Contagion, had gassed a nightclub with a drug that suppressed people's inhibitions. This resulted in mayhem. Logan speaks to Beast who has been working on detailing the effects the gas has. Hank has images of molecules on his computer screen and he informs Logan that this little curiosity is the product of Jackson Day, a.k.a. the Corruptor. No one else can make the stuff. His image also appears on screen. He was doused with a random cocktail of psycho-actives and mutated. Logan asks if he's one of them. Hank replies that his is a non-gene mutation; a garden-variety lab accident, to the extent that garden-variety can be applied to a man who sweats the world's most powerful chemical suggestant.
"Suggestawhasis?" replies Logan. Hank explains that Day sweats a compound that makes subjects completely vulnerable to his suggestions. In the absence of any directive, the net result is a lowering, if not elimination, of inhibitions. Latent tendencies and proclivities buried in the Id are set loose. The longer the contact, he adds, the longer the power and duration of the effect. Logan says that, unless he'd grown ten inches, lost a hundred and fifty pounds and bleached his skin, it wasn't him.
Hank reckons that anything is possible. Think Michael Jackson. He asks Logan to take a look at the screen and tells him that before his healing factor erased all sign of the compound, he was able to isolate two versions. The first pure molecule suggests personal contact. The second has been oxygenated. The oh-two molecule created a quite different compound entirely. It's milder, more specifically euphoric. He imagines it would leave one with some very naughty, perhaps slightly embarrassing memories but little more. Hank teases Logan by mentioning that he was a little woozy when he arrived. He may have mentioned something about having a bad case of boogie fever! "Must have been delirious," replies Logan. Hank hopes so.
Hank asks Logan if he remembers when Kitty made her dance with him at the New Year's Eve party and he asked Professor Xavier to erase their memories? he said, "I am tempted Logan, if only to heal the mental scars you inflicted." Charles actually laughed. Logan isn't in a laughing mood. He tells Hank that he went red. He could have killed them all. Hundreds of people. He doesn't mind that he has the animal in him. It's what he is and it's his animal on a damn chain. Twice in one day it got off. The first time he managed to slip it and let it do mostly what it wanted, but the second time if he hadn't cut it up, he would have been dancing in those people's blood.
Hank replies that to some extent he understands. He spends so much time denying his own bestial nature. He envies the accord Logan seems to have achieved with his. If it had been him, he admits, he's so at odds with himself he doubts he could have exerted the same self-control. They were lucky that it was him.
(later)
It's evening and Wolverine has returned to the club where he was infected with the compound. The place is empty, with litter strewn around the place from the party. He sniffs the air as he sneaks his way around the building. When he smells something he snikts his claws and prepares for battle. "Kkkiiilll," comes a whispered growl from the shadows. He tells whoever it is that he can smell it in his blood. He knows that he's got the Corruptor's stuff in him.
The man, Harry Sikes, approaches, gurgling the word ‘kill’ as he does so. Wolverine tells him that he knows someone told him to do this, but it's a bad idea. Sikes keeps up his momentum before finally leaping at Wolverine. The claws slash at Sikes' arms and legs but he keeps on coming in a familar fashion. Sikes puts his face right up to Logan's as he lies on top of him. "kkkiiilll," he whispers. Wolverine tells him that he did his best before slicing both legs away just below the groin. Sikes screams as Logan wonders whether he should be happy Sikes is alive or just freaked out. "It huuuuuuuurts," cries Sikes.
A voice from behind asks if he gets a vote because he's firmly in the freak-out camp on this one. He asks Logan that whatever he does, not to look into his eyes. Through a bubbling haze of chemicals, two eyes drop to the ground and land in a bloody mess besides Wolverine. He looks down. "Now what did I just say?" comes the voice. "It's like you're not even paying attention." He tells Logan that he'll come down and explain.
A moment later and Madcap falls from the balcony, face first. "First step is a doozy," he laughs. He stumbles about, unable to see, rambling as he walks to where Logan is standing. He feels Logan's head before bending down and picking his eyes back up and inserting them back into their sockets. "Never know when these might come in handy," he quips. He asks Logan if he can ask him something. Has he seen Katy? He's been looking for her everywhere. Has he seen her? He admits it's crazy - a guy looking for his dead sister, but it's a wacky world. Makes no sense at all.
He can tell Logan what happens when you get driven hopelessly insane. "You're really quiet about it." He stares into Logan's eyes and Logan's mind goes into overdrive. Memories and images quickly flood into his brain, but Logan is used to this kind of nonsense. His instincts are automatic. He slices Madcap without even thinking, dropping him to his knees. Madcap, though, doesn't feel pain. He tells Wolverine that if he wants him to say ouch he needs a little more warning. He has to hand it to Logan. For most people it usually lasts when he makes them loony. What does he think that means? Is he saner than most or almost crazy? Logan bends down. Madcap asks, "If you say Katy, tell her I said 'ouch'." Wolverine then decapitates him and leaves his headless corpse next to Harry Sikes' body, tossing both heads into the swimming pool.
Victor Slaughter then appears in the room just as Wolverine leaves it. Harry tries to grab him but he removes his fingers from his jacket. He laughs at the fact that Wolverine did a Ginzu on Sikes and gave Madcap a haircut. Now he's following the scent like a good dog.
Wolverine makes his way further into the building and discovers Mortigan Goth standing against a wall having a smoke. Wolverine asks if he's a limey. Mortigan replies that he is, for his sins. Wolverine snikts two of his claws, leaving the middle one locked away. They puncture the wall either side of Mortigan's head and he looks kinda nervous. He asks Mortigan to tell him about his sins. He takes a swig from a bottle and replies by asking if he has centuries to spare. Wolverine tells him he smells almost as funny as he looks, but he doesn't smell dangerous. Mortigan says they can't all produce pointy bits at will. Wolverine adds that he doesn't smell like Jackson Day's sweat either. "Perish the thought," replies Mortigan. Wolverine retracts his claws and lets him go. He tells him he can inform him where to find Winsor and in return he won't get hurt. Mortigan gestures down the corridor and says that's why he is there. "Voila!"
They head off walking. Wolverine says he's heard a lot of Limey accents in his time, but his? He's starting to think he's maybe from Detroit and the accent is fake. Mortigan replies that it's quite authentic. Merely dated. Fourteenth century in fact. Wolverine reckons that would be about right. They arrive at a doorway and he asks if this is it. Mortigan is a little reluctant to let him go through it. He pops some pills and takes a swig from the bottle. He then informs Logan that the strange smell, or lack thereof, is a consequence of his long, lost past. He then begins to convulse.
Wolverine asks what he just took. Mortigan tells him it was Demerol, Valium, Percocet and Oxycontin. He doubles over and grabs his stomach, adding that he'll take anything to kill the pain when it starts. "Cancer?" wonders Wolverine. Mortigan explains that it's nothing so banal. It's his soul being tortured by Mephisto. It's something he enjoys doing whenever he contemplates a good act.
Wolverine points to the door and asks if there's something in there he should know about. Mortigan says yes, but that's not the good act he was talking about. He groans as he warns Logan to leave while he can. Wolverine isn't interested and stands before the door. He then slices his way through it with ease, revealing a darkness within. In the shadows, he sees a pair of legs. Wolverine says he knows Winsor is in there. He can smell him. "Get away from me," replies the person in the shadows. He opens the door a little more and notices the legs are attached to someone in a smock with a bag on their head. However, he doesn't know if the person in the smock is actually Winsor himself or just a prisoner.
He tells the stranger that he ain't gonna hurt them and that he will get them and the limey out. He'll settle some scores later. The prisoner asks Wolverine to to touch them as they're contagious but Wolverine tells them that it doesn't matter to him. As he peers inside, he is grabbed by either arm. He snikts his claws instinctively and feels them all sink deep into flesh. He looks up to see Victor Slaughter to his left and Suicide to his right. "Now, that ain't gonna do it. You?" says Slaughter. Suicide replies that it tickled, but he'll live. "Our turn then," says Victor, and the two men open fire on the seemingly helpless Wolverine at point blank range.