Hunt for Clues
Wolverine flew to the outskirts of Valencia Spain using one of the other planes at the mansion. He was of course qualified to fly them and so he figured that it would be put to good use for what he was doing. He felt that the X-Men owed it to Psylocke to do whatever was needed in order to bring justice to her killer.
Wolverine closed his eyes and let the grief consume him. At least in the grief he remembered everything about her. He didn't ever want to forget her because he knew that she would never forget him or any of the others if they fell as well. He knew that he was just doing that so that he didn't have to deal with his feelings in another area but that was just fine. He knew what the deal was. He knew that there was only one way to find out where this Vargas was and that was to start hunting. He had his scent after all. It had been all over the coffin and the note.
He landed the plane about two miles outside the city behind a hill and in a stand of trees. He put on the cloaking device and where the plane had been there was now nothing but more trees and a few small shrubs. He smiled a bit then as he thought about all the knowledge that they had and yet they couldn't predict that Psylocke was going to die. What good was all that knowledge if you couldn't help those that meant so much to you.
Psylocke had died for what she believed Logan knew but it didn't make it any easier on him. Especially when he knew that he was going to outlive all the X-Men. He knew that the wounds that she had sustained wouldn't have killed him and it made him feel guilty for not being there in order to do his job. And that was to protect his family. Logan didn't even care about those damn diaries of Destiny's. He didn't care what they contained because he felt that the knowledge would be useless. What would happen would happen and that was that. You couldn't change something if it was truly meant to happen. He hoped though that Psylocke had died for a good reason and those diaries did contain something that would be needed. He sincerely hoped so or 'Ro would have some answering to do.
Logan walked along a small road that was paved with stones until he reached the city. He had one agenda here in Spain and he wouldn't let anything interfere with that. He would get her back and he would kill Vargas. There was nothing that anyone could do to stop him.
He felt calm and at peace for the first time in a long time as he stepped into the city. He knew that it was because he had a purpose which most of the time he didn't have. His life had just been a long road and now there was a place to stop and it gave him a little peace. It was built with stones and many houses had slate roofs. It was a city out of old times and Logan felt that he knew the place but couldn't put his finger on it. He had that feeling a lot though when he looked at things that were old and considered out of date. "Just like me," he said softly as his breath puffed in the brisk morning air.
He laughed softly as he thought that maybe he should be dead. Perhaps then the X-Men wouldn't need to fight as often as they did. He knew that some of their battles were because of him. He also knew that some of the deaths that have been visited upon the X-Men were because of him. Psylocke almost died once long ago because of one of his enemies. Because of Sabretooth and because he hadn't been there that time either.
Wolverine punched a Stone wall as he thought of that. The wall cracked under the blow because his bones wouldn't break. The adamantium made sure of that. "Once more I wasn't there and someone almost lost their life. No more though, no more. I will kill Vargas and then I shall hunt down everyone else who has ever brought grief to my family and the grief shall strike their family then," Wolverine growled as his vision started to cloud over with a red haze.
He knew the feeling and he didn't need to go berserk at the moment. He struggled with the animal inside and after a time calmed down. He needed his wits about him so that he could find this Vargas. All he knew of the man was that he was someone that had killed Psylocke and then taken her body. He had also learned from Storm that Beast had been injured severely in the battle.
"Well Beast you seem to be my first lead so let's see if I can find you," Logan said to the air around him. He didn't expect an answer and didn't receive one. "Alone again just like old times eh Logan," he whispered to himself.
He started down the cobbled street and noticed that he was in a part of town that wasn't for the rich and genteel. The houses were old and the roofs were cracked and needing repair. There was trash littering the street on both sides and there were few cars and those were locked up like Fort Knox.
"Well every city has this neighborhood. For some reason though I always find it," Logan said as he walked on not worrying about thieves or gangs or any other such things. He was a mutant after all and at the moment he was hoping someone would pick a fight with him.
He sniffed the air and almost choked a the smell. There was too much garbage for someone with a nose like his. He figured that he was in a part of the city where the cops didn't care to visit too often. He also guessed that this was also just a very small part of the city perhaps just a few blocks. He had heard that this was a good city and that people loved it. Of course New York had it's sections like this as well and it too was considered a great city by certain standards.
He continued to walk and looked about himself. He saw that there were few people out on the streets and what few there were talked and huddled in groups. The houses had few lights on and he wondered if that was because they couldn't afford electricity or not.
As he walked by a group of young men he heard one of them make a comment and then he heard and shortly felt a bottle hit him in the back of the head. He reached up and felt the back of his head where the bottle had hit him. His hand came away bloody and he wiped his hand on his blue jeans.
He turned around to the laughter of the men but when his gaze fell on them they all stopped laughing. "Now I was hoping to walk through here without any trouble but it seems that trouble found me," Logan said to them as he pulled his cowboy hat down on his head.
"Get out of our neighborhood. We don't like the look of you and we don't like your kind," one of the boys yelled at him in halting English, which caused many a shutter to be opened. Everyone wanted to see what the commotion was about. They didn't get much excitement down where they lived.
Logan knew that he should let it lie but it just wasn't in him. Especially not after the last day or so that he had been having. One thing you didn't do is make a Wolverine mad after it had lost a friend.
"What do you mean by my kind bub," Wolverine said as he pulled his hat off and tossed it aside.
"You Americans for one. You always come here and cause trouble," the man said angry.
"Oh," Logan said as he raised an eyebrow. "I thought that you talking about the fact that I am a mutant. You know one of those scary things that you use to scare your children with," Logan growled out the last. He knew that he was slowly losing it but at the moment he no longer cared. He had lost a friend and now he was being told to leave the one place where he could get retribution. "By the way I am canadian," Logan said.
"We don't care," one of the men said a bit nervously now that they knew what Wolverine was.
Wolverine started forward and the men scattered. He chuckled to himself. It never failed. They were probably going to get a bunch of their friends and come back and kill the mutie scum. At least that is what most groups did. Logan figured it wouldn't be any different here.
He turned around and walked away. He needed to find Beast and he needed to talk to him. If he was going to fight this Vargas it always helped to know about your opponent.
* * * * *
Wolverine climbed the outside wall of the building so that he wouldn't be seen by anyone. He had changed his cloths and was now in his newest black leather uniform. He figured that he would be harder to see that way while he was climbing the building. He could have went through the front doors but he wanted no one to know that he was here in town. He didn't want the word to get out to Vargas that he was being hunted. At least not yet.
Wolverine used his claws to climb the brick wall. He loved his claws for that reason. He could climb any building that way. He also always had a weapon at hand which made him more dangerous than most mutants or people would expect. He was handing from the wall looking through one of the windows in the building when he noticed a dark bestial shape in a bed.
Logan smiled to himself. There was only one person who looked like a beast and that was Hank. Logan opened the window slowly so as not to make any noise and then he pulled himself into the room silently. He didn't want to rouse Beast quite yet. Logan closed the window behind him and he walked forward as quiet as his namesake stalking its prey.
Wolverine pulled up a chair and sat down next to Hank's right side. Wolverine noticed that he was breathing heavy and that he was hooked up to a machine. Wolverine had never seen him that way and it made him realize just how fragile even Beast was. "Everyone dies Hank. I was told that once and yet I find myself alive again and again no matter what is done to me," Logan said as he placed his hand on Hanks.
Hank's eyes fluttered open and he looked around the room almost in a panic. Then his eyes landed on Wolverine and he relaxed. "Yes Beast it's me. I am here to see how my old friend is doing," Logan said holding back the sadness that threatened to creep into his voice.
"I am doing better Logan. But how is Betsy. Storm and Rogue have been in to see but they haven't told me about her. They haven't told me if she made it home," Beast said in a voice so weak that Logan even had a hard time hearing him.
"She made it home old friend she made it home," Logan said. He couldn't bring himself to tell Hank that her body had been stolen.
"So . . . Logan. What has really brought you here. I . . . I have always been able to tell when you were lying to me," Hank said as he cracked a small bestial smile.
Wolverine couldn't held but smile back. "I am here for one reason Beast. I am here to kill Vargas. I won't allow my friends to be hurt or killed anymore. I am a hunter now Beast and Vargas is my prey," Wolverine said as his smile vanished.
Beast knew that he was speaking true. Beast though didn't know what he could do to change Wolverine's mind. No one had ever been able to do that but Kitty and Jubilee. Even they had a hard time of doing it though. "My friend don't. Psylocke wouldn't want that and you know it. Vengeance wasn't her way," Beast whispered.
"It wasn't her way but it is my way. Death is on it's way and there is nothing that Vargas can do to stop it," Logan said coldly.
Beast saw Logan's eyes flash to a deep black color and then change back. Even the whites of his eyes had changed and that made Beast nervous. He wondered if that statement about death held a deeper meaning.
"Logan Vargas is amazing. He took a punch from Rogue and it didn't even harm him. He was faster than Psylocke and he had reflexes that were truly astonishing. He could have killed Rogue I think," Beast said trying to get Wolverine to change his mind.
"That's alright Hank. I don't die so easily if you remember. It seems that I am cursed with a type of immortality," Wolverine said sadly as he patted Beast's blue furry hand.
"That is not true Logan. You are not cursed and you know it. We have been given gifts and we must use them the way we were taught not the way that you think they should be used," Beast sad as his breath caught in his throat.
Wolverine stood up fast and leaned over Beast. "Hank are you alright. Don't you die on me too. I couldn't stand to lose one of my best friends in addition to Betsy," Wolverine nearly growled.
"I will be fine my friend. Go and talk to Storm and the rest of them though. Let them know that you are in town. Let them know what happened if they don't already. Please just talk to them Wolverine. I know that you would rather deal with this yourself but it is best that you don't. I think that you need your family right now," Beast said but his last words were too late for Logan had already turned and walked back to the window.
"Beast if you see Storm tell her that a true beast has been loosened upon the city of Valencia. Tell her that he will not stop until he has found the killer," Wolverine replied with his head down. He then opened the window and jumped out.
"Logan don't do anything that you will regret," Beast said as tears glistened in the light of the rising sun. The sun lit the room up with wonder but Beast thought that it symbolized something else. He thought that the light was in a way Wolverine. Wolverine had showed up like the sun does but he always disappeared again just like the sun at night. And it was at those times when Logan was gone that the darkness of his animal side seemed to take hold. It was like night when the beast in humans came out and many murders were commited.
* * * * *
Storm and the rest of the team including Sage, Rogue, Neal, and Bishop were on their way up the stairs of the building that Logan had just come out of. Sage stopped and seemed to be listening to something or some other such thing. The rest of the X-men didn't know all that much about her powers but they knew the look.
"What is wrong Sage," Storm asked.
"I don't know. I just felt like there was a cold presence or someone that I know was just upstairs. I have that feeling now and again," Sage said as she shook her head.
"Well let's hurry on up sugah and see how old Beast is doing shall we," Rogue said in her southern drawl as she started to sprint up the stairs.
The others followed behind but at a much slower pace. Rogue was waiting for them at the entrance to Beast's room. "Well go on in," Bishop said and Neal nodded his head in agreement. He wanted to see how Beast was doing since he hadn't seen him in a couple of days.
They opened the door and the first thing that they noticed was that the window was open when it shouldn't be. Rogue walked over to the window and shut it but she saw a man running along the ground with a black uniform and hair that looked awful familiar, "Logan," she whispered to herself perplexed. What would he be doing here?
"Beast what is wrong," Storm said as she sat down in the chair next Beast's bed. The chair was still warm as if someone had already been sitting in it before they had arrived.
"It is nothing Storm," Beast said as the tears disappeared into the fur of his face.
"Tell me Beast. Something is wrong and we are your friends. You can tell us anything that has upset you," Storm said compassionately.
Beast took as deep a breath as he could and he whispered in a voice filled with regret, "It is just this Storm. A mutual friend of ours was just here and he gave me some disturbing news."
"Who would tell you anything that would disturb you in the state that you are in. he couldn't have been a true friend," Neal yelled furious that someone would do that.
"Neal I couldn't ask for a truer or better friend. He has been with me through everything and has always been there for everyone else if they needed him or not," Beast said as the tears stopped flowing.
"Who was it Beast," Bishop asked in his normal tone of voice.
"Wolverine was just here," Beast said.
"What! Wolverine was just here. But he was supposed to be back at the mansion burying Betsy," Storm said shocked and voicing what everyone else was thinking.
"That may be true but he was just here. You only just missed him," Beast said sadly.
"What did he tell you Beast," Storm asked.
"He said that Betsy had never made it home. He said that her body had been stolen by Vargas," Beast sad and fresh tears glistened in his eyes.
"No that bastard," Neal screamed as he summoned his power without thought.
"Neal get yourself under control," Storm admonished strictly and severely. "We had suspected that but we had no proof. All we had was a rose, which didn't mean that much. Now we have proof Neal that is all," Storm said as calmly as she could but the news had affected her as well.
She could tell that the others were all similarly affected but that they were doing their best to hide it from each other. Psylocke had been like family to all of them. Like a sister to some and more to others Storm thought, as she looked at Neal the newest member to their little family.
"Did Logan say anything else," Storm wanted to know even though she wasn't sure that she would like the answer. If she knew Logan then she guessed why he was here and that didn't bode well for anyone in the city if they had met Vargas.
"He also said that a real beast had been loosed upon this city and that nothing would stop him from getting his prey," Beast choked out. He wasn't used to talking so much. Of course though he liked it because it made him feel better just to see his friends.
"What does that mean," Neal asked confused. He didn't really know Wolverine and he didn't know what that meant.
"What it means sugah is that our Logan is here on business. He is here for vengeance plain and simple. Logan is here to kill vargas and if that means reverting to his animal self then that is what he'll do," Rogue answered for them all. She had seen it once or twice and it was a frightening thing to watch. Not many people could say that they had been a witness to one of his Beserker rages but Storm and herself could. They had even drawn him back from the brink with the help of Psylocke once or twice.
"If that is the case," Storm said, "then we have to find him. We can't let him do what he is going to do. My friends it seems that we have a job to do. Everyone spread out and start to look for Logan. Don't let him harm anyone." Storm then stood up and they all walked from the room, all except for Sage and Rogue who stopped to look back at Beast.
Beast looked at them and he motioned for them to come back. They walked back over to him and he whispered to them, "Be careful. Logan has only been like this rarely. No one knows how much Psylocke meant to Logan but she meant a lot. Also Logan feels hurt about something and I wouldn't let Storm find him first. That comment about the animal was meant for her because he addressed it to her. I think that he blames her," Beast said and he leaned forward to get his point across.
"All right Beast we understand. Now you must rest. Rogue and I shall find him first you can count on that. I would like to talk to him anyway," Sage said and then they walked out the door, leaving Beast to his pain and his thoughts.
"So it seems that Wolverine is here to kill one man and now his family is out to stop him. He will take that wrong but I trust him. If it is anyone but Neal they will be fine. If it is Neal we may have another dead friend shortly," Beast whispered to himself.
* * * *
Logan sat on a nearby building and watched as Beast talked to the X-Men. Logan found himself not liking the Neal guy and Wolverine and Bishop had never truly gotten along that well. Sage he did not know all that well either so that left Storm and Rogue from the team. He knew that he would let only one of those two find him when they started to look for him.
He leaped off the building and twisted around in midair. He extended his claws and stuck them into the building in order to slow his descent to the ground. He had a job to do and it was past time that he started to do it.
Valencia had a animal loose on it's streets but it was no ordinary animal. It was a animal who could think and could fight like no other. It was also a animal that could loose itself to a base instinct and let loose a part of itself seldom seen by people. That animal had a purpose now and was straining to be released.
Wolverine had to fight himself daily but even more so now. He so wanted to just let loose and hack and slash anything that got in his way but he knew that he couldn't allow that. He needed his sanity and he needed the animal contained so that he could harness the fighting instincts that it possessed. The creature loose on the streets of the Spanish town was none other than a Wolverine. And a Wolverine who had lost a member of its family in a violent way which only made the Wolverine itself more violent. It stalked the streets as it left the building when it hit the ground and right away it picked up a scent of a man who seemed to have a little stench on him of Vargas.