Hunt for Wolverine: Mystery in Madripoor #3

Issue Date: 
September 2018
Story Title: 
Untitled
Staff: 

Jim Zub (writer), Thony Silas (artists), Felipe Sobreiro (colorist), Virtual Calligraphy's Joe Sabino (letterer), Giuseppe Camuncoli, Roberto Poggi & Dean White (cover artists), Chris Bachalo & Tim Townsend (variant cover artists), Chris Robinson & Christina Harrington (assistant editors), Mike Paniccia & Jordan D White (editors), C B Cebulski (editor-in-chief), Joe Quesada (chief creative officer), Dan Buckley (president), Alan Fine (executive producer)

Special thanks to Mike O'Sullivan

Brief Description: 

Domino recalls an adventure with Wolverine as she, Kitty Pryde and Jubilee head towards the rocket launch pad with Stenya Ubacowits. Domino is left to keep watch of Stenya and make sure the rocket stays grounded, while Kitty and Jubilee head off to find their missing teammates. Viper receives a message from the Soteira representative who tells her that they are not happy the rocket hasn't been launched yet. Viper explains that the severe weather has prevented the launch, but he isn't interested and orders the launch to proceed. Sapphire approaches Viper, clearly troubled as a hallucination of Patch attacks her. Mindblast is toying with the captive Magneto when she receives instructions to assist in the throne room. She and Knockout head to the throne room but en route are ambushed by Kitty and Jubilee, who keep them at bay. Domino discovers that Storm and Rogue are being led into the rocket, before Bloodlust attacks her. They fight, before the platform they are on is destroyed and they fall to the ground. Kitty phases through Mindblast's tech, which disrupts Mindblast's control over Magneto, who breaks free from the stasis tank and attacks Mindblast. Sapphire Styx is still going crazy as the hallucination attacks her, while Viper orders the rocket to launch. Kitty tells Magneto stop his attack on Mindblast as they have to stop the rocket. Domino recovers from her fall in time to see Sapphire fall out a window. She then hears who she thinks is Psylocke telling Sapphire that this ends here, and Sapphire's body begins to break into shards.

Full Summary: 

Domino remembers fighting alongside Wolverine long ago – dodging Hydra agents who shot at them. Domino tells herself that whenever Wolverine was involved, she knew they were in for a good time. He was fearless, cocky, ridiculously lucky, death seemed impossible- unless you crossed the two of them working together, as these Hydra agents found out. Domino remembers that those bad old days were oh so good – they didn't just fight alongside each other, they also slept together. She remembers looking into Wolverine's eyes – it was a life built on trouble – and that is what Logan was – is – and always has been – trouble. Which is why they would never last.

And that's also why Domino is here today, in Madripoor, rain pouring down as she works with other X-Men to figure out who took his body after he died. So far the mission has gone poorly, as the team was ambushed by Viper and the Femme Fatales, who kidnapped Storm, Psylocke and Rogue faster than anyone can say “adamantium”, leaving Domino, Kitty Pryde and Jubilee to clean up the mess. A guard walks nearby as Domino, Kitty, Jubilee and their associate, Stenya Ubacowits, a math major hired by Viper to calculate flight paths for some kind of rocket launch move alongside a building. Domino decides that this is a caper worthy of Logan, but there is no sign of him yet. She holds a gun to Stenya's head and tells him to stay still until the guard is gone.

They carry on, another guard is busy on his cell phone – until Kitty phases her hand through a wall, and slams his head into the wall, knocking him out. The rain continues to beat down on them, as Jubilee tells Stenya to take Domino to the launch pad. 'Okay, but -' Stenya begins, to which Jubilee tells him 'No buts – just results'.

Domino holds her gun to Stenya's back and assures Kitty and Jubilee that she will make sure Viper's satellite stays grounded. 'Good Jubilee and I will find the others... then we get the hell out of here' Kitty replies. 'I thought the deal was just to show you the fortress! If they find me with you I'll -' Stenya tells Domino, who shushes him and remarks that the only thing she hates more than a chatty man is a cowardly chatty man. 'Now get moving' Domino declares.

Inside Viper's throne room, Viper and Snake Whip stand before a hologram of a representative from Soteira, who reminds Viper that she told him plans were proceeding on schedule. 'Why is there now a delay?' he asks. Viper informs him that they didn't have a choice, as the island is being hit by torrential rain. 'Unacceptable' the Soteira official declares. He tells Viper that they insist she continue with the original timeline and launch before sunrise. 'That's insane!' Viper replies, pointing out that this entire operation could be destroyed. The official warns Viper not to question Soteira's motivation, as forces far greater than her are at play here. He suggests that her engineering team can boost the rocket through the troposphere and compensate for drift created by the weather. 'Very well' Viper responds, before she hears some deranged laughyer. 'Oh, for #$%&'s sake...what now?' Viper asks, spinning around, she finds Sapphire Styx stumbling towards her, clutching her head. 'He never left! Never, never, oh so clever... I wish I'd never seen such weather...' she mumbles.

'What the $#%& are you going on about?' Snake Whip asks. 'Hold her, Snake Whip' Viper instructs Snake Whip, who places her rope around Sapphire Styx, who suddenly screams 'SILENCE!' and Snake Whip falls over, clutching her head. Viper puts a gun to Sapphire's head and asks her what she is doing. 'Isn't it obvious?' Can't you see? I'm here with our old friend...it's Patch!' Sapphire Styx gasps, wide-eyed, as a hallucination of Patch appears before her. 'Logan, Wolverine, X-Man, Weapon X, your X-husband... who we thought had been x-ecuted...' Sapphire rambles. Patch tells her to slow down, that she is getting ahead of herself – Viper and the others can't see him. 'I'm here just for you' Patch reveals, popping his claws in front of her face. 'Nonononon' Sapphire utters, terrified.

In a holding room, Mindblast is sitting on the lap of Magneto, who is currently restrained. A voice comes over the intercom, instructing Mindblast to stop playing with Magneto and to get up to the main room. 'What? Why?' Mindblast retorts. 'Something's seriously messed up with Sapphire. She's rambling... not making any #$&%*$ sense' she is told. Mindblast scowls, 'Fine' she mutters, before telling Magneto not to worry, as she will be back later. Mindblast turns to Knockout, who is standing nearby and tells her to come on, that they need to go take care of this $#%&. 'Kay' Knockout replies. 'You got Magneto to mess with and I got nothing. I was hoping to go a couple more rounds with Rogue. Show her who's boss...' Knockout tells Mindblast as they walk down a corridor. 'No can do. Soteira decided they wanted all the x-wenches we nabbed included in the big delivery' Mindblast explains. 'What about the dead one?' Knockout asks. 'Leave her. She's Sapphire's problem, not ours' Mindblast declares. Knockout utters many expletives, to which Mindblast tells her not to worry, that they will get her more people to punch.

Suddenly: 'SURPRISE!' Jubilee shouts as she drops down from the rafters above Knockout and Mindblast, distracting them with her fireworks powers. 'Whoa!' Knockout calls out as Kitty phases through the wall, 'The bigger they are...you know the rest' Kitty remarks as she trips Knockout up, while warning Jubilee not to let Mindblast concentrate, even for a moment. Knockout roars as she gets back to her feet and tries to punch Kitty, while Jubilee wraps her legs around Mindblast's neck. 'I haven't decided if your weird-ass brain har is cool or $#%&$#& gross or what, but whatever it is, I'm not letting you get the whammy on us this time!' Jubilee exclaims as she tosses some more fireworks in front of Mindblast.

Back outside, Domino decides that it looks like she will be adding “stopped evil rocket launch” to her resume as she watches as guards walk through the rain, carrying two stasis tanks towards the rocket. Stenya points out that he has brought Domino to the site, and now she can do whatever she wants, but she needs to let him go. 'Don't rush me, math man' Domino replies as she notices that Storm and Rogue are inside the stasis tanks. Domino declares that she has to figure out how to get Storm and Rogue off that rocket, when suddenly, Bloodlust leaps onto the platform Domino is standing on and shoves her blades into Stenya's back. 'You're dead, Domino' Bloodlust proclaims. 'Oh crap' Domino mutters, quickly dodging Bloodlust as she lunges towards her. 'You're called “Bloodlust” right?' Domino asks, while Bloodlust roars at her. Domino tells her opponent that she can appreciate a name like that, as she is a real 90s girl, too. Bloodlust starts to cut the wire fence that surrounds the platform they are on, as Domino calls out 'I mean, look at us, two unnaturally pale-skinned chicks with a penchant for killing and -' she doesn't get to finish her sentence, as the platform collapses and both of them begin to fall. 'DIE!' Bloodlust shrieks. 'I'm working on it...' Domino mutters.

'This brain babe's got a bunch of tech junk on her back!' Jubilee calls out as she continues to blast Mindblast with fireworks. 'Roger that!' Kitty responds, before phasing her hand through Mindblast's neck, disrupting the circuits. Mindblast screams, before clutching her head and declaring that Kitty has ruined it – all the psychic enhancements that her mistress gave her. 'You two think you can stop us? I'm gonna twist your heads off you li'l -' Knockout exclaims as she moves towards Kitty and Jubilee, until Mindblast tells her not to, and that they have to get out of here. 'What the hell are you talking about?' Knockout asks. Mindblast explains that without her enhancements, she can't control minds anymore. There is a loud rumbling and Mindblast declares that Magneto is free. 'Did she say “Magneto”?' Jubilee asks. 'Oh, $#%&' Knockout mutters before Magneto breaks free of the stasis tank he was placed in and warns Mindblast that she will pay for what she has done.

Back in the throne room: 'Head feels like a bowling ball...' Snake Whip moans as she comes to, and is shocked to look up and see the hallucination of Patch fighting Sapphire. 'Is that Wolverine?' she asks. 'It's time for payback, Sapphire! You never shoulda hitched yer ride to my wagon!' Patch tells her as he punches Sapphire in the face. 'Don't let him kill me...' Sapphire calls out, shielding herself from Patch, claw marks manifesting on her body. 'Who? There's no one here, you crazy &!%(#' Viper responds, while someone informs Viper via communicator that the launch site is under attack. 'Launch now!' Viper commands.

At the launch site, Domino and Bloodlust lie motionless on the ground where they had fallen. Thankfully, whenever death is a heartbeat away, Domino's little luck power kicks into gear – it doesn't mean things aren't painful, of course, they are just not lethal. A blast knocks her and Bloodlust backwards, and Domino wakes to see Magneto hovering nearby, with Mindblast trapped in metal coils. 'Did you think you could violate my mind and live to see another day?' Magneto asks her. 'Please! Don't!' Mindblast pleads, while Kitty calls out to Magneto, telling him to leave Mindblast, and motioning to the rocket nearby informing him that they have to stop it. Magneto leers at the rocket, and drops Mindblast to the ground as an announcement reports that the launch will commence in 30 seconds. Domino looks up and decides that she doesn't recall the bad old days hurting quite as much as this. She sees Bloodlust starting to recover and kicks her in the face 'Oh well' Domino mutters.

As the launch sequence continues to countdown, the hallucination of Patch pushes Sapphire Styx through a window, and she crashes to the ground below. 'How many people have you drained? How many souls have you taken?' Patch asks, standing over Sapphire, his claws at the ready as Sapphire declares that they are hers, and Logan can't have them. Magneto flies over to the rocket as launch sequence continues to count down, while Domino goes over to Sapphire and points a gun at her: 'Did you just say “Logan”? Where is he?' Domino demands. 'He... he's buried inside me...with the others...' Sapphire explains, before she screams as a voice projects around everyone: 'It ends here, Sapphire!' the voice exclaims. 'Betsy...is that you?' Domino calls out. 'No more! NO MORE SOULS!' the voice calls out as Sapphire's form begins to splinter and break apart!

Characters Involved: 

Domino, Juiblee, Kitty Pryde, Psylocke, Rogue, Storm (all X-Men)

Bloodlust, Knockout, Mindblast, Snake Whip (all Femme Fatales)

Viper II

Sapphire Styx

 

Magneto

 

Stenya Ubacowits

Soteira representative

 

in Domino's memory:

Domino

Wolverine

Hydra agents

 

as hallucination:

Patch

Written By: