A/N: Special, special thanks to ishandahalf, enchantedlight, Star-of-Chaos, Moon Comix, Jean1, Lucas'sgirl, SperryDee, mela, and FireBringer for taking the time to review the last chapter.
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(Warning: The fight scene in this next chapter gets a little graphic in certain parts.)
"I'm gonna make you regret layin' finger one on the girl, you son of a bitch!" A very agitated Logan shouted at Keniuchio Harada.
"Those are very brave words, but do you have the means to back them up?" Harada, also known as the Silver Samurai, replied from the far side of the room in a very calm tone.
"Well, you're about to find out first hand." Logan said, as he started to walk towards Harada. But he was stopped, as a hand grasped him by the arm from behind.
"No, Logan-san, I believe that Rogue's well-being is paramount. Leave my brother to me, I want to hear what it is that he has to say." Mariko said, as she walked closer to her brother. Meanwhile, Logan went over to the side of the room to check on Rogue, who was still unconscious on the floor.
"You seem to be keeping rather…interesting company these days, Mariko." Harada told her.
"Whom I spend my time with is none of your concern." Mariko replied quickly, "You said that you wanted to discuss our family with me, so here is your opportunity."
"What I have to say is simple. I think the time has come for you to turn the leadership of Clan Yashida over to me." Harada stated.
"Is that why you sent that thief to steal the sacred symbol of our family?" Mariko asked him.
"I sent him to illustrate a point." Harada started, "If you cannot prevent a lone Westerner from infiltrating the sanctity of your own home, how will you fare against a truly skilled foe? For example, the Hand have currently pledged their services to me, but what if the day comes when they decide to once again pursue their own agenda of global domination? What if they set their sights on the Clan Yashida, the oldest and most powerful collection of families in Japan?"
"Dear sister, the world is a rapidly changing place, a place where the old rules often times no longer apply." Harada said as he continued, "It seems that in today's world, the might of the sword speaks far louder than the olive branch of peace ever will. Mariko, your heart is in the right place, but your desire to use diplomacy to maintain an atmosphere of good-will is misguided, at best. The ruthlessness that an enemy may employ against you must be met with an equal or greater response, a lesson that I have learned well."
The Silver Samurai then stood there, waiting for his sister to respond to his assertion.
"You are insane if you think that I cannot see through your words, and understand your true motives. You simply want control of the Clan so that you may further your own criminal ventures. That is the very reason why I removed you as the acting Head of the Clan years ago. Had I known what kind of man that you truly were, I would have never appointed you to such a position in the first place." Mariko replied.
"It is not as though you had a choice. You were little more than a child when our father died, and you were not capable of assuming such a monumental task as becoming Daimyo of the Clan. During the years under my tenure, the Clan flourished with my guidance." Harada responded.
"Yes, due to your involvement in corruption, murder, theft, and other illegal activities in the Jigoku criminal underworld. I have been working diligently since your removal to unravel all of those criminal entanglements that were entered into under your leadership. I will not allow you to have a second chance to finish ruining my family's name." Mariko stated, "If our father were here, he would be ashamed of your actions as well."
"Our father. Ashamed?" Harada smiled, as he looked Mariko squarely in the eye, "Shingen Yashida was a great man that understood power, in all of its forms. All of the enterprises that I engaged in were begun by our father himself."
"You are lying!" Mariko exclaimed, totally surprised by her brother's revelation.
After taking over control of the Clan Yashida and it's finances, Mariko had been working hard to rid her family of any criminal activities that they were involved in. She had assumed that her brother was the one that had begun these dealings. But now, the shock of hearing that her father was the one who had initiated such endeavors was inconceivable to her. Shingen Yashida had been a man that Mariko had always held in the highest of esteem; he was her hero and role-model when she was growing up as a little girl.
"Seeing as you are apparently unaware of what's going on, even in your own household, I believe that to be all the more reason for you to turn leadership over to more capable hands." Harada said, trying to convince her of his point.
Mariko didn't reply this time, as she actually contemplated if there was any truth in her brother's words.
"Way I see it, her hands are as capable as they come." Logan said to Harada, as he walked back into the room and over to Mariko.
Logan had been checking on Rogue, looking her over to see how badly she had been injured. He noticed that she had a nasty bruise on the side of her head, but otherwise seemed to be okay. Fortunately, he was still wearing his leather jacket and a pair of gloves from his ride with Mariko, so he simply picked her up and carried her into another side room that was adjacent to them. He found some pillows and laid Rogue down on a small sofa in the room. Logan then took off his leather jacket and placed it over her and placed the pillows underneath her head, trying to make Rogue as comfortable as possible until she regained consciousness. Then, he walked back into the main room to join the conversation Mariko and Harada were having. As he walked back, he picked up the sword that had been laying on the floor next to Rogue and carried it with him.
"You would do well to remain silent when your betters are speaking, Gaijin." Harada said to Logan. Then, he turned his attention back to his sister.
"I had heard rumors that you were seen around Tokyo with someone beneath a Lady of your status. I thought you were better than to compromise yourself with the likes of him, but it appears that I have misjudged you." Harada said, as he threw a less-than-subtle insult at Mariko, "I believe the term that the Americans use for your behavior is…'slumming'."
"That…is…it!" Logan yelled, as he finally lost control over the temper that he had been working so hard to maintain ever since his decision to remain at Xavier's school, "First you hurt the girl, next you insult me, then you go and insult your own sister. Bub, that's three strikes and you're about to be out."
Logan then ran at Harada with the sword that he was holding and swung it at him. But Harada pulled his own sword from its sheath and blocked Logan's attack.
"It is time for you to be taught a lesson, peasant. One, which you will not soon forget." The Silver Samurai said, as he took up a defensive position with his sword.
"Logan, be careful. My brother is an expert swordsman, but he can also use his sword to--." Mariko said as she tried to warn Logan, but didn't get the chance to finish her statement.
"Don't worry darlin'. I'm gonna hand his ass to him on a platter that's the same color as that armor he's wearin'!" Logan told her boldly.
"Your over-confidence will be your undoing, Gaijin." The Samurai said, as he ran quickly past Wolverine, and cut him on his left arm.
Wolverine grabbed his left arm with his right hand, and saw it covered from where the Samurai had drawn first-blood. Wolverine knew that within a matter of minutes the deep wound would be closed, so he held up his sword up in front of him and waited for the Samurai to make his next move. And the Silver Samurai did just that.
Wolverine was surprised at the speed and agility that the Samurai possessed, considering his larger, more muscular frame. Wolverine also took into account the fact that the Silver Samurai's outfit was a combination of gray leather and chrome-colored plating that covered most of his upper torso, parts of his arms and his legs. The plating was placed strategically so that it kept him fairly well-protected, but wasn't so bulky and heavy that the Samurai couldn't move in it.
"I can't really talk," Wolverine thought to himself, "This multi-million dollar metal bonded to my skeleton doesn't exactly improve my mobility either."
As Wolverine was thinking to himself, he came back to reality just in the nick of time. He barely managed to dodge a jump-kick from the Silver Samurai, which had been aimed at his head. The two combatants continued their duel for some time, and the clanking sounds from their swords striking together were loud enough to illustrate the intensity of their fight. In between the sword strikes, Wolverine and the Silver Samurai each tried to gain an advantage on the other with their vast knowledge of martial arts techniques. One would attempt a punch or a kick to throw the other off, but each man would be forced back into a defensive position, as his opponent countered. They seemed to be very evenly matched, and each man was determined not to give a single inch.
"You are good, Gaijin. But your skills, like the girl's, are no match for me." The Silver Samurai said, as he and Wolverine stood and took a brief pause in their battle. Both of them were starting to tire, but each was determined not to give up.
"Doesn't seem that way to me, especially the way that you're huffin'-and-puffin' over there." Wolverine smirked, as he started to spin his sword with his wrist in a circular motion away from his body on the outsides of his shoulders.
As Wolverine made that last comment, he was unaware that the Silver Samurai had a trick up his sleeve. The Samurai pulled out three shakens (ninja throwing stars) from his belt and threw them at Wolverine in rapid succession. Wolverine dodged the first one and deflected the second with his sword, but the third one managed to find its mark. It deeply lodged itself in his lower thigh, hobbling him in the process and causing Wolverine to fall down to one knee. As he kneeled down on the floor, Wolverine reached down to his right leg and pulled the throwing star out in one swift, and very painful, motion. He let out an undecipherable grunt as he took out the star, and then got up to continue the battle. But the Silver Samurai was standing there, waiting, and kicked Wolverine in the throat, knocking him back down to the ground.
"Pathetic. You made a grave mistake in daring to challenge me fool." The Silver Samurai said, as he stood over a crouching Wolverine. Wolverine quickly used his sword to strike back at the Silver Samurai, making a very painful gash on the Samurai's side where there was no armor plating, only the gray leather of his outfit.
"Looks like you better rethink that last statement." Wolverine said, as he remained kneeling on the ground using his own sword as support, while the Silver Samurai backed up and inspected the wound that had just been inflicted on him, "Now I'm gonna take another plug out of you."
Just as Wolverine was about to continue his attack, he was distracted as the other important lady in his life entered the room, through a doorway behind the Samurai.
"Logan, what happened?" Rogue said as she entered the room, rubbing the side of her head, "The last thing Ah remember is tryin' to help Mariko's guards, after some guy busted in. So I followed him into this room, and did my best to make my teacher proud. But, he must've hit me pretty good, because my head is still swimming."
Rogue was totally unaware of the fight going on when she entered the room, and because of her injury, she didn't notice that the Silver Samurai was standing not too far from her.
"Perhaps, I should finish what I started earlier with the girl?" The Silver Samurai smiled, as he turned around behind him to face Rogue. He then held his sword up in an attack position.
"Rogue, look out!!" Logan yelled, as he raced over in an attempt to reach her, before the Samurai did.
In what seemed to be a split-second, the Silver Samurai's sword began to glow as bright as the sun, as an eerie blue and red light emanated from it. Logan saw the sword glowing just as he neared the Samurai, and assumed that it was some fancy new weapon. But, in the very same split-second, Logan realized that he had been set up for an attack by the Samurai. It was too late, however, for him to do anything about it.
The Silver Samurai then proceeded to run his energy-charged sword through Logan's lower abdomen.
"Logan!" Mariko cried out, as she witnessed the man that she loved being cut down before her very eyes.
Meanwhile, Rogue finally regained her full senses, just in time to see the carnage in front of her, and she gasped in disbelief.
"Arrrggghhh!" Logan screamed out, as he stood impaled on the Samurai's blade. Logan slumped over against the Samurai's right shoulder, as the Samurai maintained his grip on his sword. Then Harada leaned over, to say something into Logan's ear.
"I do not know where it is that you came from exactly, but wherever it is, you may have been something significant there. Here, however, you have gone up against a true warrior and have learned who is the better man this day. Consider our lesson over now." The Silver Samurai said, as his blade stuck out of Logan's back, with energy still coursing through the sword.
Then suddenly, Logan looked up at the Silver Samurai with a look in his eye that could burn a hole through solid steel.
"Our lesson may be over, but I'm goin' for some extra credit now." Wolverine said, as the deep, maddening rage that he had been attempting to learn to hold in and control for the last few months, finally came back to the surface. It could be summed up in a single word, as a reflex in Wolverine produced a familiar sound…
Snikt!
Wolverine pushed the Silver Samurai back far enough to give him room to strike him with the three, one-foot long claws that had emerged from his right hand. The Silver Samurai reacted, just in time, to avoid being cut completely in half. Wolverine's claws still managed though to cut through the Samurai's upper body plating, leaving three very straight and bloody gashes across his chest.
"An animal, you are nothing more than an animal masquerading as a man! Is this what you have chosen as your future consort, sister?" The Samurai said, as he clutched his chest with both of his arms. His body armor had provided protection against the attack, and his wound was not as deep as it could have been. The Silver Samurai then delivered his ultimatum to his sister.
"Mariko, either hand leadership of the Clan over to me, or I will take it from you by force. You have forty-eight hours to make your decision." The Silver Samurai said, as he turned and stumbled through an exit on the far side of the room.
Meanwhile Logan fell to his knees, with the Samurai's sword running through his lower abdomen. The sword had stopped glowing as soon as the Silver Samurai released it. Logan grabbed the sword by its handle and proceeded to remove it from inside of himself, enduring the agony with only a few grunts of pain during the process. Once it was taken out, Logan dropped the sword on the floor next to him and collapsed. Mariko then quickly rushed over to a table in the hall and removed it's tablecloth. She made her way over and knelt down next to Logan, preparing the tablecloth for use as a tourniquet until medical attention could arrive.
"M'iko," Logan started, as he lay on the floor, "I was meanin' to tell you about the claws, about everything…"
"Shh, that…is not important now. You must remain calm so that I may apply this, and prevent any further blood loss." Mariko interrupted, as she went to raise up the bottom half of Logan's blood-stained t-shirt.
"That's just it, I'm what you would call a…mutant. The claws are only part of it, my body also heals itself really fast." Logan said, as he left his claws extended on his right hand. He desperately searched for the words to try and explain things to Mariko.
But, Mariko didn't need to hear any further words on the subject, she was getting a first-hand illustration of Logan's abilities right in front of her. She had started to clean the area around his wound with a part of the tablecloth that she had torn off. As Mariko did that she noticed the most peculiar thing, Logan's wound appeared to close itself right before her own two eyes. Mariko ran her hand over the area of his abdomen where the wound had been only seconds before, and realized that it was perfectly healed.
There was no more blood running out, no scabbing, not even a scar to indicate that such a severe injury had even occurred.
Mariko stood up, shocked by what she had just seen.
"I…I must…go and check on the rest of the security and staff." Mariko said, as she stood up and took a few steps back, before turning to leave the room.
Logan laid there, watching the woman that he had declared his love for only a few hours before and who had said the same about him, walk away after discovering the secret truth that he had been keeping from her. He knew by the expression on her face as she left, that things were not going to be the same between them.
"Logan, are you goin' to be all right?" Rogue asked.
"Yeah, I just need to sit still for a little bit." Logan replied, "How about you?"
"I think Ah'll be fine, after a few dozen aspirin and a good night's sleep." Rogue replied, "Ah guess we'll both just have to wait for time to heal all of our wounds."
"In my case, I don't think that theory's gonna completely hold up." Logan told her.
"What do you mean? It looks like your healing factor's kickin' in just fine to me." Rogue said as she sat down on the floor next to him, in an Indian-style position.
"I'm talkin' about me and Mariko." Logan answered.
"She's probably just shook up from everything that happened with her brother." Rogue told him.
"You're not getting what I'm sayin'. I could see fear in her eyes and she was scared, but not because of her brother, but because of me." Logan asserted.
"Well, when you're able to, go after her and just explain everything to her. Ah'm sure she'll understand." Rogue responded.
"I don't know if that's gonna make a difference. I mean if she can't handle these, then what kind of future do we have together?" Logan said, as he held out one of his hands with his claws still extended, before retracting them, "She probably thinks I'm some kind of monster right now, and who knows, maybe she's right?"
After that last sentence, Logan sat and waited for his healing factor to finish repairing the internal damage that he had sustained during his fight.
"You know that's not true." Rogue quickly said, as she responded to Logan's self-doubt.
"I ain't just talkin' about the claws, or the skeleton, or the healin' factor. What I mean is what's deep down inside of me. Sometimes we just gotta accept who we are." Logan said, as he revealed to Rogue some of his most inner-most beliefs about himself.
"We are who we strive to be, not what our circumstances may dictate to us."
"Ah heard that once from this really wise and smart guy that runs a school back in Westchester County." Rogue replied as she recited a quote from Professor Xavier, one that had stuck with her ever since she had first heard him say it.
"That may be, but there are some things we can't change about ourselves, no matter how much we may want to." Logan said, as he finally was able to stand up. He then looked intensely at his adamantium claws as he popped them from his hand once again, "I've been pretendin' for too long, maybe it's high time I faced facts."
"You talk like you're givin' up?" Rogue said, as she stood up as well.
Logan didn't reply to Rogue's statement, and didn't say anything at all for a few moments. But eventually, he did speak again.
"I'm gonna go outside and check on everyone else around here, to see if they're okay." Logan told Rogue, "You gonna be all right in here?"
"Yeah." Rogue replied simply, as her eyes trailed Logan as he exited the room.
Logan lit a cigar as he walked around, and he saw some of the security guards around the estate. Most seemed to be relatively okay, but a few looked as though they needed some minor medical attention. For whatever his reasons, the Silver Samurai had not killed any of them. Logan figured it probably wouldn't look all that great for a boss to start offing his future employees; at least they would be working for him if Harada had his way.
The police arrived later and began to take a report of what had happened. Logan ran into Toru, Mariko's head of security, as he walked outside alone. Toru told Logan that the police were going to station some of their men around the estate. He also told Logan, in all honesty, that probably nothing would be done to Harada for what had happened. The police on the scene only had jurisdiction within the local area, and Harada was probably half-way back to Tokyo by now. On top of that, the Tokyo police would probably be unwilling to move against such a powerful individual like Keniuchio Harada, on a case of simple assault.
Logan just chalked it up to the legal system in Japan becoming more like the law back home. Logan told Toru that he needed to borrow Mariko's bike, that he thought it best if he and Rogue returned to Tokyo that night. Logan said he would drop the bike off at Mariko's penthouse in the city once they got back to Tokyo. After learning from the other staff how Logan had fought the Silver Samurai, Toru said that it would be fine.
Logan went and told Rogue to pack, that they were going back to the Royal Prince hotel in Tokyo that night. Logan then went and changed into a fresh set of clothes and gathered his things as well. After leaving his quarters, he tracked Mariko's scent to the garden area outside. He wanted to tell her that he was leaving, so he could give her some time and some space. His ultra-sensitive hearing detected her sitting in the garden, but he heard her crying softly to herself. So, Logan thought it would be best if he didn't disturb her, and he just left.
Logan and Rogue rode all of the way back to Tokyo that night. When they arrived back at their hotel, it was already past midnight.
"You still got your hotel key, darlin'." Logan asked Rogue, as she dismounted from the bike.
"Yeah. But where are you goin'?" Rogue asked him.
"I'm gonna take this bike back to Mariko's place here in the city, and then I'm gonna go somewhere so I can think for a while." Logan replied.
Rogue could hear the hurt in Logan's voice and she knew, first-hand, that only one thing could make a person sound that way.
Having your heart broken.
She remembered how she felt when Bobby Drake broke up with her, before she came to Japan with Logan. Rogue hated to think that Logan, who had been something of a mentor, a brother, and a friend all-in-one to her, was feeling that same way. She wanted to reach out and tell him something, anything, that might make him feel a little better, but she didn't get the chance to. After Rogue removed her bag from the back of the bike, Logan simply sped away and headed off into the night…
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Next chapter: Logan tries to come to terms with everything that has happened recently in his life, all the while an unexpected alliance is forged on the streets of Tokyo…