Inside a cabin, Logan was thrown onto a table, courtesy of Sabretooth.
"You slime-sucking dirtbag." Logan insulted. "You've got a lot of guts coming up here, Sabretooth."
Sabretooth smirked. "That's no way to greet your old partner, runt, after all we've been through."
The woman known as Silver Fox crawled on the floor. "Logan. He's crazy."
"What's wrong, punk?" Sabretooth taunted. "Can't take care of your woman?"
"You're gonna pay for hurting her, Creed." Logan vowed.
Logan was squirming in his bed as the nightmares took their toll on him. He was in the infirmary with the professor, Scott, Jean, Beast, and Danny surrounding him.
"The nightmares and delusions are getting worse!" Jean cried in worry. "We've got to do something for him!"
Xavier tried to connect his mind to Logan's. "All I have done to help him has collapsed. Strange, tortuous memories pouring out, as if a dam had burst. I..." He screamed and twitched in his chair as if he were being electrocuted.
"Professor!" Jean cried in concern.
Wolverine then woke up as he got out of his restraints.
"Wolverine!" Scott got his attention.
When Logan looked at him, his mind hallucinated that it was Sabretooth.
"You're mine." Sabretooth said.
"Sabretooth!" Wolverine snarled as he tried to tackle Scott, but Beast held him back, prompting the feral mutant to throw Beast at Scott.
"Logan, stop." Jean tried to reason with him. "It's Jean!"
Logan ignored her as he ran out of the room.
"Logan!" Jean called out to him.
"Check on Scott." Danny told Jean. "I'll go after him."
"Be careful, Danny." Jean told him. "He doesn't know what he's doing."
Danny flew out to the front lawn as he called out for his friend. "Logan. Logan!" He saw headlights as Wolverine drove his Jeep toward him. Danny would have been run over if he hadn't turned intangible, letting the vehicle pass through him. "Stop! Logan!" Danny started to fly after him. "Sorry, pal, but this isn't the time for a late-night drive."
He then felt Jean trying to contact him telepathically, so he opened his mind to her.
"What is it, Jean?" He asked.
"Danny. I found this inside an envelope postmarked two weeks ago." Jean informed him. "There was no return address. I've seen this image in his mind."
Jean sent an image of the picture to Danny's mind. It was of Logan and a woman embracing in front of a car.
"It must be a clue to his delusions." Danny assumed. "Something about that photo must have triggered this."
"There's more." Jean told him. "On the back are a set of coordinates." She sent him an image of the coordinates. "Beast tells me that these coordinates are in southern Canada."
"Then that must be where he's going and where I'm following him to." Danny said. "Don't worry, Jean. I'll have him back safely."
"Be safe, Danny." Jean warned him before leaving his mind.
Danny had been following Wolverine for quite some time, as it was daylight when Wolverine stopped the Jeep. He got out and looked to see that he was in front of the same compound that he escaped from.
"Somehow, I ain't surprised." He muttered. He used his claws to cut through the gate as he approached the compound. He entered the lab through the same hole in the wall that he used to escape and saw the tube that he broke out of.
Wolverine felt another episode coming. 'Who's messing with my head?' He thought to himself.
"Is he damaged?" The professor asked.
"Nothing serious." Dr. Cornelius reassured him.
"Then begin the adamantium feed." The professor ordered.
"Feed initiated." Dr. Cornelius announced as the process began. Tubes attached themselves to the tank, and Wolverine was blasted by some waves before they condensed into a molecular beam.
"Steady." Dr. Cornelius observed the process as he read out the data. "Cardiotach higher than expected."
The glass shattered as the liquid spilled onto the floor. Wolverine stumbled out and removed his breathing apparatus.
The memory then changed to when Logan broke out of his tube as he chased Professor Oyama.
"No!" The professor cried. "Security! Security, help me!"
Wolverine found himself back in the real world as he started to slice open a door, only to hear someone behind him.
"Wolverine, I..." He turned intangible as Wolverine tried to attack him. "It's Danny. Wake up! You're hallucinating!"
He tried to slash Danny, only for his claw to go right through him and into a piece of machinery, which electrocuted him.
This snapped him back to his senses as he realized he just tried to attack Danny.
"Danny, I don't know what..." Wolverine tried to explain before Danny interrupted.
"Calm down!" Danny demanded. "I'm here to take you home."
"Get out of here." Wolverine said.
"I'm not leaving." Danny said.
"I said get out of here!" Wolverine shouted. "You shouldn't have followed me. I'm going nuts!"
"I can't let you face this alone." Danny reasoned. "Now tell me what's going on."
"I don't know!" Wolverine cried. "I've got to figure this out! I don't want to hurt anyone else. Now, something is drawing me back."
"Do you know this place?" Danny asked.
"I got my bones here." Wolverine revealed. "I got to find out why."
Wolverine tried to cut open the door before Danny phased him through.
"Alright, we'll look around and see what we can find." The hybrid relented.
They explored the compound as Wolverine found a virtual helmet on the ground. Logan picked it up and examined it.
"No!" Logan dropped it, as he could remember him going through a training program with this helmet and a voice sounding through his head.
"Subject taking directions well. Increase programming."
"Logan, can you hear me?" Danny snapped his friend out of his memory.
"Yeah." Logan answered. "What's wrong?"
"You just went into one of your flashbacks again." Danny informed him. "What did you see?"
"Me." Wolverine rubbed his head. "Being trained to take people out." He then saw the same car in the photo. "Our Lotus!"
"The car from the photograph." Danny said as he had a feeling that they were being set up.
Logan got in the car as he thought about his time with Fox.
"Silver Fox." He said fondly as another memory came.
They were driving home to a cabin where Logan used his claws to carve the words Logan and Silver Fox inside the shape of a heart on the cabin. The two kissed when the door opened, revealing Sabretooth, who pulled Silver Fox into the cabin as Logan followed, only to be thrown onto a table.
"What's wrong, punk?" Sabretooth taunted. "Can't take care of your woman?"
Wolverine ripped off the steering wheel in his rage.
"I should have known." A familiar voice said. "Why drag me all the way here, runt?" The figure stepped out of the shadows, revealing itself to be Sabretooth. "I could've sliced you up stateside!"
"Ah great." Danny groaned. "It's Mystique's boy toy."
"You're gonna pay for hurting her, Creed!" Logan charged at his old foe as they began to fight. "You sent me that photo!"
"What photo?" Sabretooth said. "You little weasel! You can't face me man-to-man! So you get cue ball Xavier to mess with my head!"
"I fight my own battles!" Wolverine retorted. "You taught me that you can't count on your friends!"
Sabretooth went on the defensive. "I saved both our lives, you..."
They both screamed as they experienced another memory.
"We got the C-synth!" Logan said as he took the item while the others were firing at the soldiers.
"Move it, runt!" Sabretooth ordered.
Logan and Sabretooth were evading shots from armed guards when Logan gestured for his friends to follow them.
"Come on, Fox." Logan urged. "Let's go! Run for it!"
Unfortunately, Omega Red appeared in their path.
Logan was about to rescue them when Sabretooth pushed him aside.
"Forget it, kid; they're expendable." Sabretooth blasted the door lock, closing the door and trapping Logan's friends with Omega Red.
"No!" Logan cried out to his friends.
"Easy, Logan." Danny calmed him down.
"Fox, Maverick." Logan glared at Sabretooth. "You left them to die!"
"So what?" Sabretooth said dismissively.
"Traitor!" Wolverine roared.
"Coward!" Sabretooth returned as they began to fight again. Wolverine managed to get on top of Sabretooth as he prepared to slash his throat.
"Say good night, Creed!" Logan threatened before he was blasted off of the large mutant.
He looked up to see that it came from Silver Fox, who had Maverick by her side.
"Silver Fox, Maverick, you're alive!" He murmured in disbelief.
"That was only a level three blast, gentlemen." Fox warned them. "Believe me, there's nothing I'd rather do than finish both of you right now, but unfortunately, that's not an option."
"You better do some fast talking!" Sabretooth demanded, wanting to know why he was dragged all the way here and forced to put up with Logan.
"Save it, Creed!" Fox snapped. "I'm not in the mood. The only reason you're still breathing is so we can get some answers."
"It's good to be needed, eh, Logan?" Maverick said to his old friend.
"I hope you enjoyed the photo." Fox said. "I assume you've been having headaches and nightmares like Maverick and I. They did something to our minds when we worked here, something codenamed Talos. Our pain's not gonna stop until we figure all this out. So let's try to keep from eviscerating each other until we get the job done."
They all followed Fox to a locked door, which she opened. "Welcome, gentlemen." She said. "Welcome to our past."
Inside was some sort of movie set, with all kinds of locations sprinkled throughout the room.
"What is this, Fox?" Logan asked. "Hoser Hollywood?"
"Take a closer look, Logan." Fox suggested. "You remember these places, don't you?"
"Fake memories, but why would anyone want to do this?" Danny asked. It seemed like a lot of trouble to set this up. Getting curious, he went to the security room to look for any clues.
Wolverine found a diner, which triggered another memory.
Logan was leaving the diner when he was ambushed by men in suits who tranquilized him.
"That's not how it happened!" Wolverine cried. "I wasn't kidnapped in a parking lot!" He shouted in rage as he started to destroy the place. "That ain't what happened!"
"Hairy little fireplug can't take it." Sabretooth teased as he watched Logan destroy his surroundings.
He then stopped as he found himself in front of a familiar house. What the?" Sabretooth bit out in shock. "But that's home."
It was Sabretooth's turn to have another flashback.
A young Sabretooth was in the basement when his father came down carrying a wooden board.
"He's no son of mine." His father said. "He's some kind of animal. He's full of wickedness. That's what it is. But don't you worry, boy. Jebediah Creed knows how to get the wickedness out of you!"
"No, please!" Young Sabretooth begged. "Please, Pa, not again! I'll be good."
"I'll be good." Sabretooth sobbed as he showed a bit of vulnerability.
Wolverine was watching this when he noticed that Maverick was also having another traumatic flashback.
"No! Creed!" Maverick yelled, remembering how Creed abandoned him and Silver Fox. "Stop him! Somebody stop him!"
"This is nuts." Wolverine exclaimed. "Why would somebody want us to remember this like it was all terrible?" He went up to Fox, who was in tears as she was looking at the cabin that she and Logan were at. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Fox, you ok?"
Fox slapped it away. "Don't touch me!"
Wolverine examined the cabin. "The cabin. Was that a lie, too? Fox, what's going on?"
"I think I've found the answer to what's going on." Danny said over the intercom. "I found some records and a video journal of the experiments they've done here. Let's see what we've got."
On the screen, an image of Professor Oyama appeared.
"Despite initial setbacks, all subjects are responding to the trauma conditioning." He said. "We will be able to reintegrate them into society with no memory that we conditioned them. The key is to reach the subconscious mind. When their covert services are needed, they will attack their target and then remember nothing. The subjects must be repeatedly exposed to a simulation of extreme emotional trauma. While using psychoactive chemicals, we flood the subjects' minds with false memories. Overwhelming them. Breaking them down. Making them controllable. The process seems to work best when based on actual life events."
"The bastard fucked with your minds." Danny told them.
"There's your answer, Fox." Sabretooth said in anger. "It's all a load of garbage! Our memories are some chrome dome's science project. Let's find the jerk and do some traumatizing of our own!"
"Hey, furball, chill." Danny told him. "There's more."
An image of Professor Oyama appeared again.
"The remarkable tissue regeneration in the subjects codenamed Wolverine and Sabretooth appears to be genetic. We believe this healing factor may enable subjects to survive the adamantium bonding process theorized by Professor Oyama. We will try the process on Wolverine first, then if successful, on Sabretooth."
"Well, what do you know?" Sabretooth said. "If the runt hadn't trashed the place, I could've had tin-plated bones too!"
"You ought to thank me." Wolverine said.
The tape then showed Wolverine escaping the compound, with Sabretooth, Maverick, and Fox all escaping as well before it ended.
"That was the last tape." Danny told them as he flew down to join the others.
"I've checked this place out, but there's one chamber I can't get into." Fox said. "That's why I sent for you."
The group found a door with four panels on it. Wolverine tried to slice it open, but it was too strong.
"Hmm." Wolverine said. "Adamantium?"
"I held a cutting laser on it for over an hour." Fox explained. She pointed to a small burn mark on the door. "This is all it did. The thing's got some sort of DNA lock on it. That is the only way in. Four panels, four of us. The answers have got to be in here!"
"Well, lucky you." Wolverine gestured to Danny. "Casper can phase us through the door."
"Are you sure, Wolverine?" Danny asked hesitantly. "If they were trying to hide the truth from you, why would they place it behind a door only the four of you could open? It sounds like a trap."
"This whole deal is rotten, Danny." Wolverine said. "But whatever's in there, I got to know."
Danny rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'll phase us through the door. Everyone grab hands."
Wolverine saw Sabretooth smirking as he held out his hand.
Wolverine shook his head. "Not in a million years. Change of plan; we'll just use the genetic locks."
Wolverine, Sabretooth, Maverick, and Fox all placed their hands on each of the panels, unlocking the door.
They all entered the room to find nothing in it.
"Nothing!" Sabretooth said in annoyance. "Not a blasted thing!"
"Look!" Danny pointed to a monitor where Professor Oyama appeared.
"Welcome." He greeted. "I cannot say I'm happy you four are here. Your presence indicates that you've discovered the truth about your memory therapy. Conditioning has failed. When you opened the door, a failsafe program was activated, codenamed Talos, which will see to your capture and reprogramming. Uncontrolled, with your true memories returning, you are a threat to our operations."
"I told you it was a trap." Danny told them as the door closed behind them.
"Mmm." Sabretooth was getting excited. "Looks like we'll get a little action this trip after all."
"Hold it, Creed!" Fox stopped him from doing anything rash. "Let's find out what we're up against! Maverick, scan the area!"
"I'll phase us through the doors." Danny said as they all grabbed hands and phased through the door.
"Well, that was easy." Wolverine said before the door blew up as a robot walked out.
"I am Talos." The machine informed them. "You are to be reprogrammed. If you resist, I will terminate you."
Wolverine pulled out his claws. "Another tin can with an attitude."
"Maverick, give Sabretooth a blaster." Fox ordered.
"You got it." Maverick complied with her order.
"Keep the robot busy while Wolverine attacks." Fox told everyone as Wolverine attacked Talos.
"Unit in capture mode!" Talos pushed Wolverine aside.
Fox started to fire at the mechanical menace. "If you tough guys have a plan, this would be a real good time to use it!"
Sabretooth blasted Talos into a wall.
"Weaponry at stun level." Talos droned with his robotic voice.
"Stun, huh?" Sabretooth teased as he dodged Talos's blasts. "Sorry, pal, I play for keeps!"
"Power source is buried pretty deep." Maverick said as he examined Talos's schematics on one of his machines. 'We have to get a thermite grenade right next to it, inside the armor."
"I can do that." Danny said as he phased the grenade Maverick gave him into Talos as it exploded into several pieces.
Sabretooth picked up Talos's head.
"Well, looky here!" He mocked. "I got me a new ashtray!"
"Structural integrity severely compromised." Talos said. "Activating mnemonic trauma triggers."
Wolverine, Sabretooth, Maverick, and Fox all fell unconscious.
Danny rolled his eyes, as it was now up to him to get them all out of here. "That's just great."
"Primary attack unit now disabled!" Talos's voice said. "Activating secondary attack unit."
Danny saw a pickup truck and loaded Wolverine, Maverick, and Fox in the back. He took a look at the unconscious Sabretooth and debated with himself about whether to save him for a couple of seconds before his obsession took over.
"Fine." Danny sighed as he lifted Sabretooth into the back with the others.
Another Talos unit showed up. "I am Talos." It said. "You are to be terminated."
"No." Danny aimed an ecto-blast at the machine. "You are terminated." He fired, destroying it.
Danny then got into the driver's seat and started to drive the truck out of the compound. The still-operative Talos fired two missiles as they chased the truck. He saw the front doors were starting to close, causing him to roll his eyes. "Please." He turned the truck intangible and drove through the walls as the missiles collided with the doors, causing the compound to explode.
"Those fireworks are bound to attract unwanted attention, so I say we get out of here." Danny told the group as they woke up. "I called for a mini-jet to pick us up."
"So long, Logan." Maverick shook his hand. "It was good to see you."
"Yeah, me too." Wolverine said as he turned to Fox. "Fox. I..." He wondered what they were now that those memories were fake. "I don't know what they did to us, to our memories. But some of what you and me must have been true. You remember the cabin. I carved our names in that door."
"Don't you get it, Logan?" Fox said, irritated with Logan's refusal to accept the truth. "It was all made up!"
"The fake cabin in there didn't have any names on the door." Wolverine pointed out. "Ours did. It happened, Fox. We happened."
"Perhaps." Fox acknowledged. "But that was another lifetime. Goodbye, Logan."
She summoned her hovercraft and got into it. The two shared one last look before Fox took off.
"Mini-jet's ready." Danny told Logan before noticing Sabretooth was missing. "Where's Sabretooth, not that I care?"
"Don't know and don't care." Logan answered. "I think we've both had enough for one day." He sighed as he thought back on what they had just learned. "What does it all mean, Danny? I came here to find answers, and now I know less than I did before. I can't even trust my own memories."
"I don't know, but I think the past is best left where it belongs." Danny said. "In the past. The others and I are here for you now. Those are real memories that you can trust. Now come on. Let's go home."
They got into the mini-jet, which had Logan's Jeep loaded inside, as they made their way back home.
As they took off, they didn't notice a tree with the words Logan and Silver Fox in the shape of a heart carved into it.