Disclaimer: I do not own anything you may recognize
Thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed or reviewed this fic so far.
Thank you to Brainstorm Sorcerer for his help once more here.
Also, got a very nice guest review a few days ago on 'The path to redemption' that I really wanna acknowledge- "Based Aragorn II Elessar, finishing his stories satisfyingly, even when they get deleted for B.S. reasons like song lyrics. Most people would give up after that, but not you. You keep soldiering on. That makes you automatically better than 99% of writers on this site, who give up about halfway through their stories (if they even make it that far, LOL). You know these shows and characters like the back of your hand and know how to craft stories with them that are gripping and awesome. Maybe you should consider becoming an author, LOL! I hope you have great success in your future endeavors, whatever you do. I'm looking forward to your future stories. Guest, signing out."
Thank you so very much for your kind words to me here, I definitely appreciate what you said from the bottom of my heart, thanks a lot Guest, and thanks for the good luck too. Hope I continue to not disappoint you or anyone else.
*SPOILERS FOR THE BOYS SEASON 3* HOLY SHIT! That was epic! We are the real Heroes because we got the Herogasm from watching this epicness unfold. Soldier Boy, Butcher and Hughie finally lay a beatdown on Homelander, HELL YES! Sure he escaped, but seeing him get beaten up and try to fight for once was so amazing.
If this was in theaters, the cheers would be on the level of Thor's Wakanda entry.
Plus, comics Soldier Boy is a coward and a joke created by Garth Ennis to spite Cap, but MAN! I love the show version so much already, probably my 3rd favorite character in the show already behind Butcher and Homelander.
This Season is the best!
*END SPOILERS*
Have fun.
Guest 1: Thanks for the review. Oh yeah, very much angry and grief-stricken. For Creed's mutation, you're not wrong, some tie-in comics confirm it too.
Guest 2: Thanks for the review and concern. This chapter just took too long.
Guest 3: Thanks for the review and I did. It was PERFECT! I think just having blasted those two before might have affected his performance, but seeing Homelander getting trashed was so pleasing. Yep, Vought shall win I think, that's why we've a Season 4 too.
Chapter 14- Trials Part 5
The scene changed to a village on their knees at the mercy of Team X, their leader's words translated by Wade who communicated for Stryker. Despite claims that the metal came from the sky, James knowing it was the truth, and the grounds are sacred, Stryker didn't care, even telling Bradley to shut down communication from the base, he wanted the meteors, or else he'd kill the village, but the leader refused.
Stryker sighed, he spoke one word to Victor, and he knew the orders. The Mutant broke the neck of the village leader, followed by Zero shooting them down until James tackled him down, next seeing Victor and Wade slicing into any that passed their way, until James caught his brother by the wrist.
"Don't even think about it."
"Gruff as he may be, he was always a good man." Bucky said to all watching, who were impressed by what he'd just done.
"He was among the best of us." Steve told them, and from a man like Captain America, that's a high compliment.
"Says a lot when the Wolverine tells you you're too violent." Ollie commented.
"How can they be related?" Merlin wondered.
"Are we really sure they are?" Bart asked.
Again, Logan's true parentage was put to question, he resembled John Howlett, but Thomas Logan claimed he was his son.
It was a question they don't think will ever be answered but didn't matter. Logan was his own man
"Don't think we'll ever find out, and I don't think we care", Angel finally put an end to it.
"Couldn't have said it better myself", Superman agreed.
Earth-199999
"Even when those around you were monsters, you didn't become one", Sarah noted, impressed by Logan again.
"Guess he was always self-aware", John told his mother.
James made Victor put the man down, and he did so reluctantly. Victor told him they had a good thing going, but James had enough, he was done. After more than a hundred and fifty years of blood and war, he was done with fighting.
He asked if Victor was coming, but his eyes showed he couldn't even register what he first said, but it didn't matter, his brother walked away, despite what the elder said, and in response, James tore off his dog tags and threw them down.
Victor called out to him, but he never turned around as the rest of the team only watched.
"Jimmy!"
No matter how cruel he was, there was emotion to Victor's eyes as he watched his only family walk away from him, after over a hundred years of being together.
"Logan always recognised the animal he was but knew when to stop. Victor lost that ability long ago." Steve explained to everyone else present.
"Before we ever met." Bucky told them. He was the Winter Soldier for years, he recognised violence, and he knew that Logan's brother was obsessed with it. He lost his humanity somewhere along his long life.
"Victor was a product of his time." Charles said to them, remembering what he saw in Logan's mind oh so long ago. "In the nineteenth century, you were strong, or you were dead, it was the mindset of Logan's brother, thanks to his or their father, Thomas Logan."
"Had a feeling he was abusive." Angel commented.
"He was, yet in a strange way, he cared."
"How do you know so much, Professor?" Rogue then asked the younger version of Charles Xavier.
"The Logan of our Earth, that helped stop the Sentinels, let's just say he knew what it would take for me to wake up. In our future, Logan regained his memories, and had me look through his mind, where I had a conversation with myself."
"Wait, you literally talked to your future self telepathically?" Willow asked, surprised, asking for all of them.
"How did that even work?" Jones asked, as he'd never heard of that.
"I basically connected to my future self through Logan, whose conscience had inhabited his past body", Charles explained to them. "That's how it got possible."
"And I believe he inspired you to use your powers once more too", Aragorn realized.
"Yeah, he did", Charles nodded. "Along the way, I witnessed all the pain he went through in his long life."
Six years later, in the Canadian Rockies, James, going by the surname of his biological father, Logan. left his cabin to look out at the sun rising, before being joined by his girlfriend, Kayla.
"The Wolverine settled down? I find that even harder to believe than Magneto." Tony confessed to the rest of them.
"He fought for too long, he deserved it." Faith told Tony.
Yet, despite those words, and if Erik's life was anything to go by, Mutants of their calibre settling down, it had a uneasy feeling to those watching.
"I said it before and I say it again- I've a bad feeling about this", Stephen said to them all.
"Considering Erik, me too", Clea nodded in agreement.
"Let's just watch", Strange sighed. "We don't know his past, and he does not either."
"I…barely remember her." Logan whispered as he stared at Kayla.
"Nothing?" Erik inquired.
"She was just some dead woman…" Logan said in horror, that he may have loved this woman, and he never even cared when he saw her dead body in front of his eyes.
It was among his earliest memories before he started remembering.
Kayla drove him to work but wouldn't let him leave without giving her a kiss, earning the teasing of his fellow lumberjacks. Before departing on his co-worker's truck, the two lovers looked back and smiled at each other.
"What a lot of us wanted for a long time, he had it already", Oliver said, happy for Logan, even if he knew it wouldn't last.
Earth-199999
Sarah felt slightly jealous on seeing Kayla. Why, she didn't want to admit to herself, even if she knew it was really irrational.
That night, Logan woke up roaring, his claws extended before he noticed and retracted them, then saw Kayla's frightened form watching. "Was it the wars?"
"She knew?" Stefan inquired.
"It seems that she did", Legolas said.
"Just like my wife." Erik muttered. It was hard to hide who you are, and they were Mutants.
She asked which one. Logan replied with his eyes looking forward, lost in the memory. "All of 'em."
"And there were at least four", Boromir said sadly, knowing what would have happened to him. "He has been through a lot."
"Most endure too much in one war", Steve said with sadness in his voice. "He fought in four."
"His whole life was in conflict", Diana realized, as it hit them all.
"So he deserves this", Prince agreed.
"PTSD." Castle recognised it, as do the other men and women who served and fought in wars among them.
Eath-1999999
"You've been through so much", Sarah whispered, her sympathies going out to Logan. She too had been traumatized by her experiences with the first Terminator and the Judgment Day talk.
But Logan had it even worse.
Kayla returned to his side, but that was when he noticed her wounds, but she shrugged it off as a scratch, quipping that they'd need new sheets as they settled back into bed.
The next day, Logan was back at work when a jeep showed up, and he smelled government. Stryker and Zero got out, the former quipping he hasn't aged, Logan held up a cigar and shot back, "Clean living."
"Always had to get the last word." Bucky said, the rest snickering.
"Well, it was a good one", Cordelia commented.
Logan mocked him, making the other Mutant quickdraw and shoot his cigar, the older Mutant spitting out the remains in annoyance. Stryker offered a job, and despite Zero's mockery, Logan didn't have to kill anyone, only missing it when asked, not taking his eyes off Zero.
The Major ordered his agent back to the car, but no matter what he said, even telling him about his teammates' deaths, Victor being safe, he couldn't get Logan to join him again.
Stryker said his country needed him, he knew what he was, but Logan merely got back in his truck, telling him as he left, "I'm Canadian."
"Fuck yeah, we are!" Wade shouted, but Cable allowed him to stay alive, for the time being at least.
"Always was to the point. Never mincing his words." Steve noted.
Driving to Kayla's school, the long-lived Mutant watched her play with the children, until their eyes connected. When they looked away, Logan saw one kid run towards his father, it was a sight that made him start wondering things.
"Huh?" Spike noted. "Does it mean what I think it means?"
"It does", Tara agreed, as she could see it in his eyes.
"Never thought he'd want that", Natasha admitted, though it was based on the Logan that she knew to be fair.
"Did he ever want kids?" Kal asked Steve and Bucky.
"Not that we knew, but the man we met in the war was different from the man we know now." Steve informed.
Logan drove them away, telling Kayla of Stryker's visit, her wondering why he came. "Because I'm the best there is at what I do, and what I do best isn't very nice." He said casually.
Kayla said he wasn't an animal, and what he had was a gift, but he scoffed, saying you could return a gift. They drove until they came across a bridge where two cars were parked, the drivers talking.
Logan honked at them to move, but one flipped him off. Kayla asked him to stay, but Logan promised he'd ask nicely.
Despite his demeanour, one of the drivers pushed Logan, and when he tried to punch, Logan caught it, his anger and claws nearly coming out, until Kayla laid her hands on both of them, managing to convince the driver to move.
Logan questioned her on it, but she shrugged it off as her female powers of persuasion, yet they didn't work on him, she admitted.
"Why do I feel like there's more to what she said?" Buffy asked no one in particular, and she wasn't wrong, all of them knew that something was up.
"The track record of all our lives usually means there is." Parker pointed out, and he was right too.
When they were back at home, Kayla recounted a story about the moon, how she used to have a lover, Kuekuatsu. He left the spirit world after being convinced by the Trickster spirit to deliver her flowers, until learning he was trapped outside the spirit world, all he could do is howl at the moon, but never touch her.
"Wow. Koo-koo-ka-choo got screwed."
Kayla corrected him, before telling the meaning of the name. "Means "the Wolverine"."
"So he got his name from this story", Spider-Man said as the realization hit them all. "That I didn't expect."
"Stuff really surprises, doesn't it?" Peter quipped.
"Yup, I thought it'd have been something else", Yelena had to admit before shrugging. "Still, interesting."
Back at work the next day, Logan was with his fellow lumberjacks chopping down trees when he smelled something he hasn't smelt in six years.
The scent drove him through the bushes, until he found the head of a wolverine.
Hearts dropped at the discovery, as it's clearly a message, and only one person would leave such a grizzly sign.
"I think I know what it is", Stefan commented.
"Yeah, me too", Damon raised his hand, having been in Victor's shoes before, while Stefan had been in Logan's, at least in a way.
"The animalistic sibling is here to start a fight, it seems", Illyria tilted her head.
To the confusion of his co-workers, Logan found claw marks on a tree, and he knew, so without hesitation he sprinted from the worksite further unto the woods, trying to catch Kayla before it was too late.
But it was no use, Logan found their truck, claw marks in the hood, and followed the scent until he found her.
Left out in the woods, blood covering her clothes, and her heartbeat quiet. Holding her, Logan found her cold, every sign, even to his senses, pointing to her death, and he knew Victor would never leave someone alive.
With this heart-breaking realization, Logan roared up to the sky.
Erik sympathized with Logan.
"Oh no", Steve said, everyone feeling for him.
"He had peace, and it was ripped away", Caroline looked away with tears.
"His own brother took it away", Enzo sighed, Damon looking away in shame, as he too had tried to mess up his brother's life so many times.
This was the one time where he sought peace, that they know of, and it was taken away, by his own brother.
Earth-199999
"Oh Logan", Sarah had tears in her eyes for him.
Following the scene, Logan roared out Victor's name until barging into a bar. The bartender asked they take it outside, but he stopped dead at the sight of bone claws emerging from the man's knuckles, driving everyone inside to start running until both Mutant brothers were all that was left.
Logan simply asked one word. "Why?"
Victor laughed mockingly. "Why? You don't call. You don't write. How else am I supposed to get your attention?" His own claws extended as he finished.
"Oh really? Or you could, you know, call or write yourself you cunt!" Butcher roared in rage, clutching his fists.
"Now he has lost it completely, doesn't even care about his own brother", Klaus snarled in disgust as they watched it too. It also made him feel guilty, as he too had treated his siblings like trash for a long time, daggering them so much.
"And they say I'm a bad brother", Loki muttered, all tense as they witness the fight between brothers.
"Logan's been out of the fight for six years. He'll be rusty." Spike pointed out to the rest of them.
"And Sabretooth doesn't seem the type to stop hunting, or killing." Fate added.
Both men snarled, until they roared, charging at each other, but with Victor travelling on all fours, and tackling his younger brother through the door of the bar.
He picked up Logan, his claws stabbing into him, and threw him into a stack. Slow to get up, the long-lived Mutant was slashed by his brother, and any attack was blocked, dodged, or countered, Victor ending it with grabbing his arm and stabbing down with his claws into Logan's back, until throwing him into a bulldozer.
Almost all winced at that, Barry-Red saying. "Never thought I'd see the day."
"Yeah, even Wolverine is not invincible it seems", Maximoff muttered.
Logan himself winced too, all of them watching the Wolverine getting his ass kicked.
Earth-199999
Sarah's eyes were wide. Logan being beaten? An image like that had never entered her mind, until now.
Groaning, Logan was even slower to get up than before, as Victor expressed his disappointment, even asking him to stay down, but Logan wouldn't stop, swinging his bone claws trying to land a hit.
Victor grabbed his wrist and pulled, turning him to stab his shoulder, but got three claws in his own in return. Logan's face showed his pain from not fighting for years, while his more feral brother was merely grimacing, pushing his younger brother back, until he pulled out his claws, surprising Sabretooth by stabbing his abdomen and throwing him overhead, only to land on a stack of logs.
He made to follow, but the savage animal that was his Mutant brother knocked the logs down onto his brother, crushing him underneath. Victor lifted the log off Logan and pulled him up. "Tell me something Jimmy: was she worth it?"
Logan never answered, but upon hearing an incoming truck, Victor tossed him into the vehicle's path, sent upwards and rolling along the stack of logs that was its cargo, and landing painfully back on the road.
Logan was barely conscious when Victor towered above him, the entirety of the fight, he's been left unharmed besides what a healing factor could fix, while Logan was spent.
"When are you going to figure it out? We're not like them."
"I…am nothing like you."
"Sure you are. You just don't know it yet."
Victor stomped on Logan's bone claws, snapping them off to make Logan wail in pain before losing consciousness.
That made them all cringe, due to how painful it looked.
Earth-199999
Sarah covered her mouth in shock at this point.
"Victor was always an animal, but to see him like this while Logan…" Steve trailed off in horror.
"Six years of peace, only to be ripped away." Bucky sighed.
Erik looked to Logan with sympathy. "We are more alike than I thought."
But Logan could not stop thinking about the woman, Kayla. "No, no there had to be more, but what? What?!" Logan growled to himself, trying to remember Kayla beyond seeing her body all those years ago, yet with no results.
If she'd died here, how was her body there? Something was missing, and he was desperate to know what.
The last thing Logan heard before losing consciousness was the sound of sirens, and when he woke up, the doctors cut open his shirt to check for knife wounds, only to find an uninjured chest. That's when Logan woke up, grabbing the doctor and demanding know where Victor was, then Stryker appeared.
Logan grabbed him by the throat, holding the colonel against the shutters, six years no one knew him, but after Stryker's visit, Kayla was dead the next day. "Why didn't you tell me it was Victor?!"
"And it has begun", Kal said.
"He does have a point", Lois pointed out. "Victor showed up just one day after him, and-"
"She was killed", Arwen sighed sadly.
"Now he's getting angry", Banner noted.
"Let's see what kind of crap the government guy comes up with this time", Sara scoffed.
Stryker said he didn't know, but Logan didn't believe him, instead, throwing him against another wall, but he swore on his son's life, and Logan was too emotional to know if he was telling the truth or not.
Storm scoffed, as did the other X-Men of Earth-199999. "Considering what you did to your son, doesn't mean much."
"What did he do?" Angel inquired, already knowing the answer would disgust him.
"I'm pretty sure we'll be seeing it in a bit", Piotr said, and they wondered what it was.
Stryker explained that Victor's "appetites" were becoming too much, so he was locked up, and feeling betrayed, he disappeared, swearing to come after them.
"He just said he didn't know it was Victor, then proceeds to give the whole backstory of the guy", Cordelia noted. "Make up your mind, buddy."
He came to save himself, Logan spat at him as he turned to leave, his plan to find him and kill him, despite Stryker telling him he can't beat Victor, but "I can give you the tools to defeat him."
Everyone's eyes widened at the implication.
Logan stopped walking as Stryker told him. "I promise you two things: You will suffer more pain than any other man can endure, but you will have your revenge."
For a moment, Logan only looked Stryker, before making his choice. "I come with you, I'm coming for blood. No law. No code of conduct. You point me in the right direction, you get the hell out of my way."
"He chose this?" Peacemaker was shocked.
"Why? He did everything to get away." Kara noted.
"Revenge, and love." T'Challa pointed out.
"So, what's gonna happen to him?" Caroline asked.
"Yeah, that's got us curious", Phoebe agreed.
"I think Logan himself will be getting answers to his questions", Steve simply told them.
Earth-199999
"Is this how you became this?" Sarah wondered.
Holding his hand, Logan stroked a finger along his knuckles. "I really did choose this."
"As I recall, it was you who volunteered for the procedure."
Cable however, compared it to his own procedure in his mind. He never had the choice. It was forced on him. To be used like a weapon.
A helicopter flew the Mutant and the colonel to Alkali Lake, where Stryker's base was located. Inside, Logan was prepped, fully reclined, and strapped to a surgical table above a pool of water. The doctor, Carol Frost, told him to keep thinking of the reason he was doing it, he shrugged off her warning, saying he's been through worse, but the doctor ominously warned. "No, you haven't."
"Think she's underestimating him", Rose shrugged.
"Yep, considering what we saw him heal, should be nothing", Miles had to agree.
"But, wouldn't she know what he could do?" Miguel pointed out.
"And she is an expert on this procedure", Crusader added from his end.
"Meaning…." Kent trailed off, the implications getting clearer.
Earth-199999
"Be careful", Sarah whispered, though she knew it was in vain.
"Why did you agree to this?" Isaiah wondered, remembering how bad he had it during experiments.
"He is angry and in pain", Clint pointed out.
Everyone was then watching as they are about to see the birth of a legend, through pain and betrayal.
Stryker promised to make him indestructible but needed to destroy him first. Mentioning the meteor they were looking for in Africa, with it, they were able to create a metal that could withstand anything. Adamantium.
"Right", Tony realized.
Stryker told Logan that to put Victor down, he'd need to embrace his other side, like Victor, become an animal. Then producing his old dog tags, Logan wanted new ones, with his new name, "Wolverine."
With a respirator in his mouth, Stryker talked to the generals present of bonding the Adamantium to Weapon X's skeleton. Logan was submerged under water, drills hovering over his body until they started spinning and heating up, getting closer to his skin.
"Oh my God." Chloe whispered.
"Are they gonna…" Piper trailed off in horror.
"So those are gonna go…" Bonnie made a motion with her hands, all in shock.
"Poor guy….." Pavitr trailed off.
Earth-199999
Sarah couldn't speak now, watching with wide eyes as she gulped.
Ten red hot drills were inches from Logan's body, head, and legs, the Mutant himself looking between them nervously. Until finally, they bore into his skin, into his very bones, even his skull, hot, liquid metal pouring into the long-lived Mutant.
Logan's eyes were wide as he saw what had happened before his very eyes now, Erik looking at him in shock and respect at what he'd suffered.
People who watched were screaming, wincing, looking away, or just pale in sheer shock.
Earth-199999
Sarah looked away too, horrified.
"So much pain…." The Doctor trailed off. "Not many go through it."
"And he still lives", Song said, respect in her voice.
"Oh Logan", Thor whispered sadly for his ally.
'The physical pain Logan must have felt during the procedure' was the thought in all of their minds. His whole body was drilled by thick syringes, and then liquid Adamantium is injected, burning every single cell in his body, it sent chills throughout their bodies.
Erik himself recoiled at the sight in front of him.
Earth-199999
Fred and Dawn almost wanted to shut the TV off, unable to see this, as Xander turned the other way, shivering, and Giles looked down, taking off his glasses.
Leo, Henry and Coop made sure Wyatt, Chris and Hope didn't see it, unable to watch themselves, while Jeremy, Alaric and Elena were in shock.
Maggie shut off the TV at that point, as she, Jim and Cassie couldn't bear to see anymore of this procedure.
Earth-72
"My God." Even Lex was disturbed as Hell by this.
Memories of Victor and himself as boys, then their fight pooled Logan's mind, then the image of Kayla smiling, as he felt every part of himself burn.
"Couldn't they give him something for the pain?!" Buffy asked.
"His body would have burned through it." Banner pointed out.
"They needed him to volunteer." Deathstroke said to them.
His heartbeat like a drum, getting louder and louder as the memories kept flashing, of killing Thomas and Kayla's dead body. Logan's whole body thrashed, shook, and quivered every second those needles drilled into him with metal, and as his heart reached over three hundred beats a minute, the last thing he heard, besides his pounding heart, was Kayla's voice.
"I love you."
"You're not an animal."
Victor and Team X flashed in his eyes, until Kayla returned.
"Means "the Wolverine."
Finally, Logan stopped moving. His heartbeat, silent. His memories, gone.
They knew he wasn't dead, as he was right there with them, but he sure looked like it.
Spike muttered. "He looks so…"
"Its like he is dead", Matt said, as while he couldn't see it, his senses could feel the rest of the memories vividly, and this was the first time he'd spoken since this had begun.
"This was too much", Parker said in horror.
"Yeah….." Wanda trailed off, she and Pietro looking to be in utter shock themselves.
"He did die for a second or two I guess", Superman sighed.
Until…
"We taking him to the island?"
"The island? No. Bonding works. We'll use his DNA for the 11. Erase his memory."
Everyone heaves sighed of relief that Logan came back and were in awe of his survival.
Ollie said. "That would have killed anyone else."
"Logan's not just "anyone"." Clark pointed out.
Earth-199999
Sarah sighed in relief that at least Logan was going to survive this.
"Is this how he…?" Maximoff asked, gesturing to his head.
"Let's see", Bart shrugged.
"Erase his memory."
Logan's eyes snapped open, Kayla flooding his mind before arching his back, breaking off the drills still in his skin and spitting out the respirator, as six, eighteen-inch-long claws of pure Adamantium emerged from his knuckles.
Yelling under the water, Logan burst free from the restraints, emerging from the water with rage pouring out his very being, becoming the animal.
"RRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
The Wolverine is born.
"Wow!" Paige reacted, and that was the best she could do.
"This is how he came to be", Jean whispered, awed and horrified by what she was witnessing.
"Painful life, painful birth", Barry-Red sighed.
"They gave him the Adamantium, the rage he had already", Gandalf noted. "And now he knows they are trying to betray him."
"All he ever wanted was to use Logan, not help him", Storm said with a scoff.
"Well, don't think that'd go over well", Big Blue shrugged.
"No", Steve shook his head. "It won't."
Harley smacked her lips. "Can the camera pan down a little bit?" All groaned, realizing why. While a lot of ladies present would have loved to see Logan's rear and member, most of them were in relationships, not to mention how inappropriate it would be.
Which is why it wasn't a surprise Harley mentioned it.
"Took the words right out of my mouth", Yelena said.
WHACK!
"Owww", Yelena held her head, then glared at Natasha, who shrugged.
Earth-199999
"So this is it", Sarah whispered, also noting Logan's glorious body. This was something else.
Zero fired into his skull, but Logan's head jerked back from the shot, then he immediately moved it back into position with the same angry snarl on his face. Akin to a monster from a horror movie.
"At this point, I'd have run off if I was one of them", Caroline told the rest.
"Guess these people lack brain cells", Cordelia shrugged.
Logan escaped the pool, stabbing and slashing at anyone in his way, barely even registering the bullets bounding off his bones. Cutting his way out in the shape of an "X", Logan took a moment to gawk at his new metal claws, before leaping down a waterfall.
"That looked like something", Sam had to say it.
"He survived it", Hope said. "That is something on its own."
"I don't think I'd survive it", Wilson confessed.
"Me neither", Rose agreed there.
"Guess its just him", Stefan muttered. "Because yeah, we wouldn't."
Cable was informative here. "We nearly didn't. We did die from the injection but resuscitated ourselves. Adamantium slows down our healing factor, so in a way, it's harmful as it is beneficiary."
"But what happened to you?" Cyborg asked at seeing Cable's cyborg part.
"Long story with not enough alcohol for me to tell you."
"I don't remember it happening like this", Logan said, staring at the scene ahead. "I just had some flashes."
"Well, now the truth shall be revealed", Erik told him.
Logan ended up in the barn of an old couple, the guy going to check, and finding Logan, decided to give him shelter.
"He's nice", Kal said with a smile about the man.
"Yes, not many would do that", Bobbi agreed there.
"At least there's decency in the world", Vic shrugged.
Later, Logan examined his new arm before extending his claws in the mirror, accidently making contact causing sparks ignite, but when Travis called to him, Logan slipped, and the Adamantium easily cut through the radiator and sink. Supper was ready, and Logan said he'd be there in a minute as he looked at the damage.
"Who knew the Wolverine was so accident prone?" Tony quipped.
"His bone claws were sharp, but they were never like Adamantium." Charles pointed out to him.
Carrying the sliced sink to the kitchen, Logan swore he'd pay for it before joining them at the table, thanking them for everything. Travis said it wouldn't be decent to leave him freeze in the barn, Logan muttering at the word, not use to it, before changing the topic to Travis' chopper, to Heather's dismay.
Logan mentioned his favorite, a '48 Panhead, but Travis said he was too young for it, the Mutant smiling knowingly.
"He probably fought alongside your great grandpa in the war, dude." Damon said.
"This is nice", Steve told them about the little family scene. "As are the Hudsons."
"They remind me of my parents", Superman confessed.
"You're not the only one", Kal told him.
"Yeah, mine would do the same", Big Blue agreed.
"Guess it's the same for all of us", Clark realized.
"Yeah, it is", Kent nodded.
"My aunt has this expression, "When you help someone you help everyone."" Parker told the rest about his Aunt May.
"Hear, hear", Spider-Man agreed. "And now we're seeing it."
"Yeah, she was right", Peter nodded.
"Logan is probably not used to this decency", Merlin said. "He has been around a long time and knows more about humanity than most."
Heather said he must be exhausted, and to get some sleep, with Travis adding, "In the barn. Nothing you can break out there." Logan and Travis exchanged humored looks before going back to the meal.
That night, all Logan could think about, was the story Kayla told him, of the moon being so lonely, and her lover could never touch her again. Now, he can never see Kayla again. His thinking drove all the way into the morning, moving from the bed to the chopper. Travis asked if he slept well, but noticed he looked ready to do something bad.
"Wise man."
"You know what happens to men who go looking for blood?"
"What?"
"They find it." Logan contemplated the words. "We all got a choice, son."
"Yeah, mine got taken."
"Bullshit."
"A very wise man."
Travis then offered Logan his son's old jacket, and so Logan did, the leather fitting like a glove.
"That's my jacket." Logan muttered in realization. He remembered Gambit giving it back to him, but like so many things, he never knew where it came from. Now he did, from the most decent couple he's met in a long time.
Travis quelled the emotion rising inside of him before offering Logan a spin on the chopper. On sitting down, the bike buckled underneath him, Travis noting he's heavy. "Yeah, I put on a little weight recently."
People laughed at the joke, Faith quipping. "You got no idea, buddy."
Heather came in with a tray of orange juice, her too quelling emotion at seeing Logan in their son's jacket, thinking it suited him. But before she could continue, two bullets tore through her, making her drop the tray before she followed, Travis staring in shock as he got shot himself, Logan catching him and bringing him to cover.
"NO!" Superman screamed, Kal's jaw dropping as Clark looked away, Kent looked down with some tears, and Big Blue closed his eyes sadly.
Parker covered his mouth in horror, Spider-Man closing his eyes while a tear dropped down Peter's eye as he clutched his fists angrily.
"Bastard", Bucky sneered in rage.
Wanda and Pietro were reminded of their own tragedy, how they had been having a peaceful moment before it all became Hell.
Tara looked away, grasping her chest, remembering the pain, as Willow held her hand, this hitting them too close to home, as they too had been together in a peaceful moment before a cruel world had struck.
"Oh those gorram bastards", Mal sneered, holding his gun angrily.
"Like the Alliance", Zoe snarled.
Logan held onto Travis' body, and looked saddened at seeing Heater's state, dead. It was then he heard the rotors of a helicopter, firing two missiles at the barn he was in, making the structure explode, until riding out of the flames on the motorbike.
"They're in Canada", Danny noted. "This operation should be illegal."
Banner said. "He must have known Ross, taught that bastard the ropes."
Natasha, who'd done some research, put together some pieces. "Weapon X was part of the Weapon Plus program, which involved Project Rebirth, which was you", she looked at Steve, "Man-Thing was working on Weapon IV when he was turned into the plant being, Banner was brought on to recreate Project Rebirth and led to the Hulk, the serum used on Blonsky was from that same program."
"Huh?" Steve looked down in shock, then looked up, sharing looks with them all. "It all connects too much."
"Yeah", Rogue agreed. "Really does."
"The couple did not deserve this", Diana said sadly, and all agreed.
"Yes, they showed him decency, probably the first and last time for a long while", Angel sighed.
Earth-199999
"You poor, poor man", Sarah whispered to Logan sadly, seeing just how much he was suffering.
With the helicopter on his tail, Logan rode across the countryside into the woods as the helicopter continued to shoot. Getting back on the road, a Humvee joined in the chase of Logan, and then another, the gunner of the second vehicle turned his weapon onto the Mutant, but Logan rode up, slicing off the barrel and raced passed the vehicle.
Then the helicopter returned, forcing Logan to use his claws to dig into the road and help him turn, heading straight back toward the Humvees, claws extending as the metal cut through the tyres, and door of the vehicle, sending it crashing.
The helicopter was forced to ascend out of the way while Logan leapt onto the first Humvee and used the gun to open fire on the pilot, but another missile was shot at their own vehicle their men still inside, to try and kill Logan, but the Wolverine used the explosion to leap, and slice the rotors.
Logan held onto the helicopter before jumping off, both of rolling until the crash came to a stop. Turning his head, wounded with the Adamantium skull being exposed, Logan stood and walked toward the chatter of a radio as the wounds healed themselves, gone in seconds as if never there.
The Wolverine found Zero, hurt, immobile, as Stryker called to him over the radio, wanting to know if Logan was dead, before Logan took it for himself.
"You tried to kill me."
"Logan?"
"Where's Victor?"
"Come back to base. I'll explain everything. We'll take down Victor together." Stryker tried to appease, but Logan smelled the lies through the radio.
"Wrong answer. After I kill Victor, I'm coming for you."
Stryker took a second before he replied, warning in his tone. "Logan, listen to me. If you go down this road, you're not going like what you find."
"You wanted the animal, Colonel. You got it." Logan threw down the radio and focused on the dying Mutant in front of him. "Those were good people back there. Innocent people."
Yet, despite the pain, the likelihood of death, Zero laughed as Logan walked away.
"He's letting him go?!" Frank couldn't believe it, considering what he knew of Logan.
"It's funny how good, innocent people tend to die around you." Zero shouted mockingly, making Logan pause.
He held up his arm and extended his claws, then skidded the metal along the ground, creating spars that ignited fuel leading back to the helicopter.
Logan never stopped walking as the helicopter exploded, finally killing the ruthless Zero.
"And the bloody bastard's dead", Spike said with a cheer, everyone agreeing to that.
"Yeah, he got his", Dave agreed there.
"And the way he is walking away from the explosion", Caroline said with a slight smirk. "So badass."
"That's Wolverine for you", Parker shrugged.
"Yeah, best not to mess with him", Spider-Man nodded.
"I'll keep it in mind", Batman agreed.
"He got what he deserved for the Hudsons", Red Hood shrugged, and none disagreed.
Earth-199999
"I guess its gonna be more of a mess", Sarah muttered now.
"Yeah, I've the same feeling", John agreed.
"They didn't deserve it", Logan said about the Hudsons. "They were good….innocent." His voice was laced with sadness. "Showed me decency…and kindness. They didn't deserve it."
"No", Erik shook his head. "They didn't."
Taking the Travis Hudson's bike nonstop across the border, all the way to Las Vegas, Logan went to the only other one on the team he trusted. John Wraith, now the proud owner of a gym.
The teleporting Mutant tossed Logan a beer, still coming to terms Victor was behind the team's deaths, and Kayla's murder. Wraith apologized, but Logan wanted to know what happened when he left the team, Victor only got worse, feeling abandoned, they all did, the Mutant admitted.
He said that Victor had to prove he was better, killing anything he was told to, until Wraith left a few months after Logan, not able to take rounding them up. Logan wanted to know what he meant, but Wraith warned him, until he had no choice, and admitted they hunted other Mutants, what they did to them earned the team a place in Hell.
"They hunted their own kind?" Legolas asked in surprise.
"No, Stryker did."
"They went along with it." Catwoman realized.
"Did they?" Angel wondered. "He admitted to leaving because he couldn't stomach what they did. Few of the others had to be of the same mind. Victor and Zero, though…"
"One's an animal, the other a killer. Doubt they cared." Spike shrugged.
"Mutants killing Mutants on the orders of a human. I hoped it would never happen." Erik said to Logan.
Wanting to know why, Wraith said Stryker told them they'd be protecting people from the "bad ones".
"Guys like this always have a reason, and it's not for protection." Tony commented.
"Do you guys know anything about this?" Sam asked the X-Men of their world and Earth-10005.
"No, we don't know a thing", Storm confirmed to him.
"And we don't either", Scott Summers confessed.
"I do, but only due to seeing Logan's restored memories when he travelled through time, and the timeline changed from it", Charles told them all.
Wraith's shame could be heard in his tone and seen as he sat down, Logan with him, before wondering how he'll fight Victor. Logan reminded the teleporter of their mission in Africa before raising his fist, three Adamantium claws emerged from his knuckles, the tears healing before they bled, before retracting.
Remembering what he heard back in the lab, Logan mentioned an island, but Wraith didn't know it, but Dukes would know, surprising Logan that he was in the gym. He was ready to go up and ask, but Wraith warned he developed an eating disorder, and the Mutant was trying to get the man back in shape. "Whatever you do, don't mention his weight."
"Was this from the breakup with that woman or after he left the team?" Stefan inquired.
"Could be either, or both." Terry shrugged.
"It can't be that bad." Ollie hoped.
In the ring, Fred Dukes let another man wail on his enormous belly to no effect while Wraith telling him to move before both ducked under Fred's opponent being thrown at them.
Logan looked back, gobsmacked at what happened to the invulnerable Mutant. "That looks like the creature that ate Fred Dukes."
"What the…..?" Steve trailed off before he could use language.
"Oh my….." Elektra covered her mouth.
"Sweet Christmas!" Luke gasped.
"This is…." Arthur couldn't finish his sentence.
"How did this happen?" Kal wondered.
"I got no idea", Damon muttered. "Don't want to either."
"Really, he does look like the creature that ate 'em", Cordelia quipped.
"His size, it has increased to a disproportionate size", Illyria noted.
"How is this even possible?" Batman said, and when he couldn't hide his shock, it said a lot.
"Like, really", Parker shook his head.
"And I thought Lord Bombur was too big", Gimli had to say.
"I can't believe this", Detective agreed.
"I am suddenly reminded very much of our father." Yelena admitted, before she and Natasha shivered in revulsion.
Wraith told him to be nice before Logan approached. "Hey Fat-Fred, um…"
Everyone snorted at the slip of the tongue; they can't blame him. Especially if his build the last time they saw Dukes was anything to go by, he looked far from, well, what he is now/back then.
Logan then joked about the tattoo of the girl on his arm, now as fat as he is, Dukes saying sarcastically he's still so funny.
"If he's invulnerable or whatever, how was he able to get a tattoo in the first place?" Crusader suddenly brought up.
"Maybe the durability doesn't come from the dermis, but the subcutaneous tissue?" Spider-Man suggested.
"His epidermis would get damaged regardless though." Peter pointed out.
Parker started explaining. "Could be more than just tough skin. Could be an energy shell, or gravitational field around him-"
"Hey! We are struggling enough as it is with…this! Don't need the biology lesson." Caroline told him.
"It's not biology if it's the study of Mutant powers!" Parker said.
Dukes said he had no idea where Victor was, before Logan asked about the island, mockingly calling him "Slim". The invulnerable Mutant said not to let the door hit him on the way out as he walked away, but Logan climbed up to the ring, not leaving until he learns where Victor is. "So, come on, bub, for old times' sake, huh?"
Fred slowly turned around and stared at the Canadian. "Did you just call me…Blob?"
"Uh oh." Several people can comment.
Logan denied it, before Fred slammed his gut into Logan, throwing him across the gym, Wraith teleporting away, into the man Fred sent flying earlier. The man was unlucky enough, but then had a three hundred plus pound metal skeleton thrown at him.
Everyone winced for the poor guy.
"Maybe we get the Wolverine to call Alexei "Blob" when we see him next." Yelena smirked at the thought, before getting another whack on the back of the head. "OWWW!" Rubbing her head, the White Widow glared at the Black Widow. "I'll have brain damage because of you!"
Wraith asked why he called him Blob, but Logan defended with the fact he said "bub".
Earth-199999
"Yeah! He said 'bub'! Improve your hearing!" Sarah said to Blob.
"How can one mishear that?" Blood wondered too.
"I think he is just that stupid", Lucifer shrugged to snickers.
The teleporter then had an idea, getting Logan in the ring and handing him a pair of gloves. "This is your idea of an idea?" Wraith said he was trying to help, Dukes never liked him with Logan saying the feeling was mutual as he slipped the boxing gloves on, before staring at the large Mutant in slight disgust. "Big old ass coming out the front of his shirt. Jesus. He's going to have a coronary for Christ's sake. Is there even a stretcher big enough to take this guy out of here?"
The bell rang, Logan turned his head only for it to snap back from the strength of Dukes' sucker punch.
"It ain't him I'm worried about getting out of here on a stretcher." The teleporter quipped. Logan got his bearings back and punched Fred, to no affect. Trying again, for nearly a dozen times, all Logan's punches did was make Fred's gut jiggle, until the Blob punched him down to the floor.
"Guess his…girth, is tougher than Logan's strength." Oliver finally managed to say.
"So that means it'd be the same if most of you punched him." Pavitr pointed out.
"Depends on how far Blob's invulnerability goes." Superman said.
Wraith from Logan's corner said he has Dukes right where he wants him, making the Wolverine ask him incredulously. "Whose side are you on, anyway?" After getting up, Logan leaned back from Dukes' swing, getting behind his large body, taking shots at his back and liver, still no results other than Dukes' laughter, until the large Mutant uppercut the long-lived Wolverine, flipping him over to the ground.
"Think Logan was glad to forget this." Willow commented.
"I am glad I never remembered this", Logan confessed to Erik, proving Willow right. "Like, seriously."
"I know", Erik felt second-hand embarrassment for Logan here.
Earth-199999
Sarah and John were both wincing at the sight.
Dukes pulled Logan back to his feet for a headbutt, only, Fred hurt himself more than anything, a full-on unprotected collision with pure Adamantium made the large Mutant dizzy, stumbling back.
As for Logan, he took the chance, jumping off the post to bring a metal elbow drop on top of Dukes' skull with an animal-like roar and sent the big man tumbling down, the ropes falling with him.
Logan then hovered over Dukes with his claws pointed at his face, "Now, where's Victor?"
"Smart." Steve smirked.
"Resourceful." Tony agreed.
"Without those gloves, probably would have ended sooner." Piper noted.
"How painful would that headbutt be?" Connor wondered, and they all winced imagining that.
Logan sat up Dukes, slapping him awake from his Adamantium induced daze, asking about Victor. Fred took a second to reveal he was with Stryker on the island, running it together, to Logan's shock.
Standing up, Wolverine paced before gripping a post to steady himself, exhaling in frustration for the fact he fell for it. The lies, the betrayal, the schemes, it took everything not to explode with rage and cut apart everything in his sight.
"Stryker ordered Victor to kill Kayla, Logan went looking for a fight, lost, and he knew exactly how to motivate him." AC realized.
"Smart. Evil son of a bitch, but smart." Roy snarled.
Logan breathed in and out to try and quell the rage, asking about the island, where Fred revealed it was where Stryker took the Mutants after Victor caught them, experiments performed on them. He asked John if ever wondered what happened to them, but admitted he tried not to.
"Ignorance is bliss." Barry-Red sighed, all horrified at what Stryker does to the Mutants.
"Oh this is nothing", Wade started. "Wait until you see what he does to me-"
Cable knocked him down. "Urgghh!"
It was where he would have gone, Logan realized as he looked down at his arm where the metal was grafted to his arm, had they gotten their way. With a heart-breaking realization, Logan spoke aloud that Stryker ordered Kayla's death, so he would find a way to get revenge on Victor, all so he can put the Adamantium inside him
Stryker manipulated him, and it worked. It was like Wraith said, whatever Stryker pointed Victor at, he killed.
Earth-199999
"Oh those bastards", Sarah snarled, her heart going out to Logan.
"Well, he's pissed", John told his mom.
"He has been manipulated, but from what we know of him, he is going to kill them all", Terminator said.
"Yeah, don't feel bad either", Rogue shrugged.
"He was manipulated as well", Balthazar noted.
"But Stryker planned the death of an innocent like Kayla to have what he desired", Aragorn said sadly.
"Just like the village", Arwen finished.
"And the Hudsons", Kal sighed.
Going back and grabbing Fred by the shirt, Logan growled, wanting to know where the island was. The immovable object that was the Blob admitted to not knowing, but, after motivation from the claws pointed at his face, revealed there was a prisoner who escaped. Remy LeBeau, a hustler from New Orleans, known as Gambit, since he took the money of the guards playing cards.
"Like to see what this Mutant could have done if he were in our city." Kol commented, then saw the rest looking at him, and realized his timing was inappropriate. "Right."
Wraith wanted to know the endgame, and what he told them shocked both Mutants. He was taking their powers and combining them.
"Oh my God!" Steve gasped.
"This is just…." Merlin was disgusted. "Like…"
"Who does he think he is?" Jean sneered in outrage, her eyes glowing for a second.
"He wants to control what he fears", Tara shook her head. "And he thinks he is right."
"Bad guys are just that delusional", Paige said, sharing a look with Piper as they remembered Gideon.
"It'd be like if Ross got me", Banner sighed.
"And if he has a Mutant with Logan's healing and many others powers…" Diana trailed off, the implications clear.
Logan promised that if he had to come back, he would take Dukes' head off. Retracting his claws, the Wolverine walked back to his bike, Wraith teleporting beside him, knowing there's no redemption, but not asking for it.
He knew he didn't deserve it. Side by side, the two Mutants rode their choppers all the way to New Orleans, Bourbon Street.
"Oooh! Now I want to go there!" Yelena said excitedly. Bucky and Sam shared a look, after one glance at Natasha staring at them knowingly, and groaned.
Logan and Wraith found the man at a poker table, performing tricks with the playing cards, throwing them in the air before catching them and tossing into his other hand with a flourish.
"That is actually quite a trick", Elijah admitted, impressed.
"Must be related to his powers", Freya noted.
"Considering he is a Mutant, you'd be right", Thor agreed.
Wraith said he'll cover the back in case he runs, though Logan said he wasn't looking to fight, to which the teleporter sarcastically replied, "Don't dogs kill cats?"
Thor glanced at Miss Kitty on his shoulder, then Ace at his feet, then shrugged.
They split up, Logan approaching the table and asking for Remy LeBeau, and after making sure he didn't owe the large, gruff Mutant money, the hustler removed his hat and revealed he is.
Gambit told him about the buy in, with Logan only having seventeen dollars, to the table's amusement. Asking as he dealt out the card why he was there, Logan said simply. "Victor Creed."
Gambit halted his dealing for a moment until continuing, inquiring who he is.
"The man I'm gonna kill. Works with a man named Stryker on, uh, an island. Just need to know where it is."
"And why would you think I know that?"
"Well, 'cause I know who you are, Gambit. You're the guy who escaped and you're the guy who's gonna take me back there."
Remy leaned back in his chair and stared at Logan, his eyes lowering slightly. "Those are mighty nice tags you have there, sir." Logan looked down at his dog tags. "The men who took me had tags just like 'em." As he spoke, Gambit's fingers leaked with kinetic energy that channeled into the card as his own eyes flashed red. Logan tried to dissuade him, but the Mutant hurled the card into his chest, exploding on contact and making the animal-like Mutant crash back onto the stage. Gambit pulled out the entire deck, charging each one, then sending them into Logan, throwing him through a wall and into the back alley, groaning on the ground.
Logan groaned. "At least bub could have listened to all of it."
"Would you?" Erik asked Logan.
"Good point.
"Stuff exploding on your face, can't be nice", Faith cringed.
"Cool power though", Kitty noted.
"Yeah, Mutants always are unique like that", Charles smiled.
"Let's just hope we get nothing exploded on our faces", Ollie muttered.
Logan managed to get to his knees, pained from the assault of explosions, until he stopped dead at the sight at the other end of the alley. John dead, and Victor hovering above him.
"John….." Natasha trailed off sadly.
"He was just trying to make up", Angel looked down, feeling pained himself.
"And he was one of Logan's only friends left", Miguel said, sadness in his voice.
"Well, Victor is facing a much stronger Logan", Nightwing pointed out.
"So he's gonna get it", Donna shrugged.
Eyes never leaving Sabretooth, Logan got back to his feet as Gambit jumped through the hole in the wall. "Two years I rotted in that hellhole, and I ain't never going back." As soon as Gambit finished, Logan drove his elbow into Remy's face.
"That had to be embarrassing", Rebekah said, all of them cringing at that.
Earth-199999
"Now it begins", Sarah realized.
The Wolverine's anger grew by the second as he began to snarl before unveiling his claws.
Victor calmly stood up and smirked. "Oooh. Shiny." That smirk dropped as Logan's growling got louder. "Tell me something, Jimmy: do you even know how to kill me?"
"I'm gonna cut your goddamn head off. See if that works."
"Bet you're scared now", Miles quipped. "Yeah, you better be."
"I think it would work too", Enzo added.
"Gonna use it next time I face a regenerative foe", Tony commented.
"Yep, think he's about to get his here", Sara said.
Creed gave a toothy smile with a laugh, before both brothers charged each other, the eldest running on all fours, until Logan slid under and kicked him over against a dumpster, rolling against broken glass onto the ground.
"Getting slow, old man." Logan mocked as the Wolverine and Sabretooth squared up, Victor throwing his claws forward, but the younger brother stabbed through the Mutant's hand.
Roaring in pain, Victor could do nothing as Logan forced the claws impaling the hand into his chest, pushing him against a keg. The two brothers stared of as the animal inside Logan finally emerged, rearing his other hand back, claws poised to strike at Victor's neck. "You're gonna die for what you did to her."
"He has changed", Angel said. "Let the darker half out after six years of peace."
"For revenge", Bonnie muttered.
Gambit hovered in, jumping from a rooftop to acquire his bo-staff, and landed next to the Mutants with his cane hitting the ground, causing the whole alley to erupt, sending debris everywhere. Logan and Victor landed painfully in opposite ends, when they stood again, the clawed Mutant walked out the alley, the younger Mutant would have run after him had Gambit not gotten in his way and smacked him down with his staff.
"If he hates the people who caught him, then why is he fighting Logan when Victor was right there?" Bloodsport wondered.
"Tunnel vision perhaps? Can only focus his hate on one thing at a time, and he's settled on Logan. Though I have to question his eyesight if he didn't notice Creed was right there." Clark had to agree with him there.
"Getting in my way, must be an idiot", Logan commented to Erik.
Logan got back up to avoid a swipe and extended his claws. "That's a nice stick." He said, before retracting two claws, leaving the middle one.
Literally everyone snorted and chuckled at that.
Earth-199999
Sarah and John were the same as the former muttered. "That was a good one."
Gambit whirled his staff, only for Logan to cut it in half, followed by a kick that sent him backpedaling. Making do, the Cajun Mutant swung one half, that was blocked by claws, the other trapped between them as well, but Gambit then flipped them both over, landing in his feet while Logan hit the ground.
Remy then used his two staffs to climb up a wall, onto a balcony, before flipping across to the fire escape, if it wasn't for Wolverine cutting out the support, stopping him from escaping, followed by Logan cutting apart every piece of the fire escape that came near him at a rapid pace.
One last slash to the final support sent the structure down, with Remy crashing with it. Logan picked up the hustler and threw him up against a wall. "Okay, shithead, here's the deal. So you're gonna take me to the island where I can kill Creed, Stryker, and pretty much everyone you hate in this world. Do you understand?"
"You really gonna kill him?"
"As long as you stay out of my way, yeah." Logan shoved Gambit back and walked away, LeBeau following a moment later.
"All they needed was one moment of clarification", Steve said as all sighed.
"Sometimes fights start just because someone doesn't listen", Kal agreed with a groan, Tony looking away at that, remembering the airport fight.
"So, are they gonna kill everyone then?" Rogue wondered. "We know Stryker still survived."
"I've a feeling it doesn't go the way they want it to", Storm commented.
To Logan's dismay, Remy led them to an airfield, where he had a plane ready and waiting, and so, they were off, flying toward the island. Ever since they took off, Logan clutched the handle with a shaky hand, something Remy noticed and laughed about, but the Wolverine had to just concentrate, Gambit retorted, "On the clouds?"
The long-lived Mutant complained they were bouncing up and down like a yo-yo, then wondered where he got the plane, which Remy proudly claimed was his baby, after winning her in a card game.
"So, he always had a thing against flying." Storm said.
"At least he's gotten over it…more or less." Piotr shrugged.
The clouds parted slightly to reveal the infamous "island", Three Mile Island. Stryker's operation hiding in plain sight, no one wanting to snoop around a nuclear reactor for fear of ending up into "freaks".
"So, did Logan and Stryker cause that accident here?" Willow wondered.
"I guess on Mutant earths, they end up behind certain conspiracies", Tara pointed out a pattern she'd noticed.
"Yeah, JFK, Pyramid creation, and this", Caroline had to agree.
"Didn't see that coming", Tony agreed too.
"Guess there's something about Mutants", Cordelia shrugged.
Gambit said it was time, Logan happily getting out of his seat, shrugging off his jacket and opened the door, staring down at the water, telling the New Orleans gambler that if it made him feel better, it was going to hurt.
Remy revealed it would, before wishing each other luck as Logan dove forward, painfully bouncing off the surface of the water until falling under, and with his new heavy, metal skeleton, it was a lot harder.
Some winced at the landing, and grimaced at the side effect of the metal skeleton, harder to swim.
"Guess they buried the hatchet." Balthazar shrugged.
"Well, he revealed his hate for flying and promised to kill the people Gambit hated the most so, guess that was grounds for bonding." Ollie quipped.
Earth-199999
"That had to hurt", Sarah said with a wince too.
Logan swam ashore, following the trail of the building with the most scents, but most importantly, Stryker's, using his claws to get through locked doors, staying low to remain out of sight, before hiding behind factory equipment to see two orderlies carrying a teenager with his eyes covered in a kind of mask to a holding area with other teens.
"Scott?" Logan said in disbelief.
"Is that…me?" Scott Summers asked in disbelief as well.
"I think….it might be", Jean told him, because of the way he looked.
"You look different though", Raven noted.
"Not all counterparts are lookalikes", Spider-Man shrugged, looking between himself, Peter and Parker. "Speaking of, he forgot the oldest of us."
"I think the old age turned Grandmaster off", Peter quipped.
"I didn't need to hear that", Parker said to snickers.
"Besides, I think in spite of similarities, both of your worlds are quite different", Kal said to the two Earths, and they had to agree.
Logan moved passed them to get to the stairs, climbing up two at a time but quietly, finally getting to the top, where doctors wore fully protective suits or scrubs and operated on something on a bed.
Whatever it was, it didn't smell human, or Mutant.
Wade's lenses widened and he gasped, before turning to Cable.
"Do it!"
"What?"
Wade pulled out Cable's pistol, shoved it into his hand and forced the barrel against his forehead.
"Pull the goddamn trigger! Spare me from this tor-"
BANG!
Wade's head reared back from the gunshot, and his body collapsed
Logan looked down the observation to see rows of holding cells filled with young Mutants like the one he saw earlier, until turning back to the doctors, and Stryker, only for the man to reveal he knew he was there.
He welcomed him "back to the war", but Logan wanted to know why he did what he did before he guts him. Stryker was honest, he needed Logan's powers for the pool, to the nigh-immortal's confusion, the Mutant killer, Stryker explained. Deadpool.
"What?!" They all look at the recovering Wade who quickly grabbed Cable's gun and forces his hand to pull the trigger.
"I think I have an idea what happened to our Wade Wilson." Natasha said in realization.
Stryker spent years searching for the right powers to coexist in one body. His son was the first piece of the puzzle, and Logan was the last.
"His son?" Bucky asked in disgust.
"Stryker's son was a Mutant. It's what really started his crusade against our kind." Storm revealed.
That horrified them, Aragorn snarling. "He is one of the lowest ones ever."
"He makes Ross look like a nice guy in comparison", Banner said, as at least Ross didn't try to go after Betty for siding with him.
"What a piece of scum", Damon agreed, remembering his and Stefan's dad.
"He might be one of the worst humans I've seen", Klaus told the rest, him and his siblings reminded of Mikael.
"I think he makes our father look good in comparison", Rebekah muttered.
"Not gonna argue on that", Kol agreed.
"He is so….." The Doctor trailed off.
"I know", Song agreed.
"Rat bastard", Blood scoffed.
The Colonel told Logan he made Weapon XI possible.
"There was no Weapon XI on our Earth", Cable revealed. "I was the tenth test subject and became Weapon X of our Earth."
"So, one more difference between you and him", Yukio noted.
Due to his desire for peace, Stryker told Logan that nothing motivated his family better than revenge. Logan stayed focused on Stryker as he moved around, until the man looked beyond the Mutant, to which the Wolverine followed his sight.
And nearly lost his footing.
Kayla. Alive.
"She's alive?!" Stefan gasped.
"What?!" Spike said.
Logan didn't speak, wanting to know everything, and figure out what lead to his memory loss, but God did he want to know how Kayla was still there. Did explain how he'd seen her body there though.
Logan demanded to know who she is, only for Stryker to say she was real. He was too dangerous to be allowed to walk away, the colonel said, and they kept eyes on dangerous men.
Stryker told her to reveal the truth, and she did, she was given hydrochlorothiazide to reduce her heart so low it made it seem she flatlined, but Logan can only think back to the forest, where he found her, the woman he loved, covered in blood dead. But she wasn't. It was a lie. Everything was a lie. That realization sent him to his knees.
Earth-199999
"Oh my God!" Sarah covered her mouth, John's eyes wide.
"So his six years….were just a ploy", Arwen finally spoke.
"Sick scum", Arthur sneered at Stryker.
"He thought he was happy and moved on", Sam noted sadly. "But it was all….."
"Part of the plan", Storm swallowed a lump in her throat, Rogue having tears in her eyes for Logan.
"His world has shattered", Knight said, shaking his head sadly.
"Oh Logan…" Steve's heart went out to his friend.
"Everything he knew….was a lie", Superman muttered.
"He lost it all", a tear rolled down Tara's cheek.
Even the present-day Logan felt his fists shake with his burning claws threatening to emerge, though Erik put a hand on his shoulder.
Stryker said he shouldn't be angry at her, she was a credit to their species, and that made Logan turn to her in shock, as the man he hated revealed Kayla's sister had diamond skin, and Kayla had tactile hypnosis, influencing people with a touch.
"So, did she influence him to fall for her?" Phoebe wondered, all processing that. "Because that would be-"
"Quite disgusting, yeah", Harcourt agreed. "And that'd mean nothing was real."
"But her face…." Paige gestured. "She looks reluctant."
"Yeah, even sad", Willow added.
"Also, his healing factor gives him a natural resilience to telepathy", Charles revealed to their surprise.
"Meaning we should watch more to find out the truth", Kal noted.
"It was never real, my friend."
Logan felt his world crumble for every passing second. Kayla moved forward but suddenly stopped, with Logan turning to her. "It was real to me."
"Even when he was out of the fight, he never was", Frank whispered.
Earth-199999
"Oh you…" Sarah couldn't finish her sentence.
"He is reacting better than I would", Thor said, feeling nothing but sympathy and respect for Logan, like the rest were.
"The story you told me…about the man who gets the flowers for the moon. I had it backwards." With sadness, heartbreak in his eyes, Logan stared at the woman he thought he loved. "I thought you were the moon and I was your wolverine. But you're the trickster, aren't you? I'm just the fool who got played." Kayla's expression remained the same, but tears began to drop from her eyes. "The worst part of it is, I should have known…but I ignored my instincts…I ignored what I really am." Kayla's throat tightened as she tried to hold back her sobs. "Well, that won't ever happen again."
Getting up, Logan spared one more glare at Stryker before walking away, leaving the building, not even looking at Kayla as he left it all behind, throwing open the door, and kept on walking Never turning back.
All of their hearts broke for Logan, with Logan staring at his old, lost memory, with a numb face, unable to decide how to feel.
"I'm sorry", Erik told him.
"Ingenious trick", Tim had to say. "But poor Logan."
The couples who were happy and in love felt really pained, as they had what Logan wanted and thought he had.
He deserved better. But he'd not get it for a long time.
And that ends one more, thought I'd end this movie with this one, but next one shall end it, and then we move to the Trilogy.
Thanks a lot to Brainstorm Sorcerer for his help again. Hope all enjoyed and see you all next time with another chapter.