Kitty Pryde : Agent of SHIELD #2

Issue Date: 
January 1998
Story Title: 
The Mission
Staff: 

Larry Hama (script), Jesus Redondo (penciler), Sergio Melia (inks), Glynis Oliver (coloring), Jim Novak (lettering), Bobbie Chase (editor), Bob Harras (editor-in-chief)

Brief Description: 

Ogun challenges Kitty and hints at plans for her and Wolverine, while the out of control Heli-Carrier takes a nosedive. Heading for their meeting point at the Brooklyn Bridge, Wolverine sees the helicarrier and, sensing Kitty is in trouble, he rides up the bridge’s railing and thus reaches the Carrier. Kitty, in the meantime, phases into the computer vault to switch off the computer systems – and therefore Ogun’s influence – manually. Despite Ogun trying to scare her away as a rotting corpse, she reaches through him and succeeds, saving the Heli-Carrier seconds before it crashes. Later, Wolverine explains to everybody who Ogun is and his history with himself and Kitty. The crisis past, Kitty admits to Wolverine that she might have feelings for Rigby, who is currently attemping to purge the computers of Ogun’s influence is instead possessed by him.

Full Summary: 

Recruited by SHIELD to troubleshoot the Heli-carrier computer system, Kitty Pryde discovers that the bug in the system is her old foe, Ogun. Determined but futilely, she strikes at Ogun’s ghostly form, vowing that she will beat him again. The ninja master in turn mocks that he is merely a virtual projection. Rigby Fallon adds that Ogun is embedded in the system code. They have to go in and write him out line by line. A mathematically impossible task, Ogun mocks as he assumes control of the helm and the Heli-carrier begins to dive, a maneuver it wasn’t designed for.

Rigby loses his balance and falls on Kitty’s bag. A protesting squawk comes out of it and Lockheed frees himself. There’s a little dragon in her bag, Rigby adds unnecessarily. So that’s where he was hiding, Kitty exclaims.

Dugan and Valentina contact them, demanding to know what’s going on in computing. They need Pryde to access the mainframe and let them take control of the helm. Kitty remembers that Ogun changed the codes so that only her palm activates the computer system. However, access is now denied. Uh-oh, Kitty mutters. Of course it no longer works, Ogun mocks. He only made it work from her palm print to lure her there. Soon, his adversary will be joining them and they shall all spin merrily off the edge of the wheel of life.

What was that about? Rigby wonders. He tricked Wolverine into coming onto the Heli-carrier, Kitty spells it out for him. How’s that Wooferino guy pull that off? Rigby wonders. Fly?

Wolverine drives through Manhattan streets on his motor bike. “Meet me on the Brooklyn Bridge” he mocks what she said. “‘Wear your costume,’ she says.” Anybody but Kitty asks him to do this, he’d tell ‘em where to— Whoa! he mutters as he sees the Heli-carrier about to dive bomb towards Brooklyn Bridge. Wind is shifting and he catches a distinct scent aboard the carrier… Kitty!

On the Carrier, Rigby Fallon considers a manual override on the whole computer system by shutting them all down but this is the only access to the mainframe banks and it’s been locked by the computer. What do the switches look like? Kitty asks.

Wolverine, in the meantime, decides Kitty is in trouble and he’s got to get aboard the Heli-carrier. He accelerates, rides over a cab (whose cabby shouts at him to signal when he passes) and drives upwards on the bridge’s railing.

Kitty orders Rigby to pretend he didn‘t see that and phases inside the computer vault. Is she some kind of projection? Rigby asks. No, just a mutant. she replies.

The carrier makes it under the bridge by a hair and Wolverine’s chopper jumps aboard. Piece of cake. A lot easier than the last time he tried that stunt.

Kitty runs as fast as she can, muttering that of course the switch she needs is all the way over on the other side.

Wolverine lands and starts looking for Kitty.

Dugan and the Contessa signal Rigby, telling him they need those computers shut down now! Rigby informs them that Kitty is already inside the computer vault. Almost there, Kitty realizes. She’s about to touch the button when Ogun materializes in front of her, suggesting she not presume victory until she has achieved it. Kitty shouts she isn’t afraid of him. He’s just a hologram.

He takes off his mask to reveal a corpselike face. With a smirk, he informs her that this form has substance of a sort. It’s the ectoplasmic manifestation of an undead revenant. Oy Gevalt! Kitty exclaims.

Outside, Rigby bangs against the door, demanding to know if Kitty is all right.

In the meantime Wolverine and his chopper take the fast way down the aircraft elevator.

Ogun leers at Kitty, ordering her to come and be his, forevermore.

Logan lands and sniffs.

Things turn worse as the alarm klaxons are sounded. The Heli-carrier is about to crash into a daytime cruise full of tourists.

Kitty tells Ogun he is dead, just a lingering vestige of life energy. He’s nothing but cold chill down her back. If he is of such little consequence, he suggests, then she shall have no qualms about passing through him to shut down the computer. He urges her to go right ahead. She does not even need to use her phasing power. Kitty does so with closed eyes, while Ogun asks her if she feels the cold, the unrelenting chill of the grave, the dark profound silent eternity. It’s not going to stop her, she replies with clenched teeth and finally presses the button. She’s won! Kitty exclaims. But what has she lost? Ogun asks with a grin.

Dugan finds that the helm is finally responding and pulls up the carrier, seconds before the imminent collision.

Kitty phases outside the vault again, still shuddering with disgust and horror. Rigby holds her steady, telling her she beat that thing whatever it was. That was about the bravest thing he ever saw. Kitty is touched and the two are about to kiss.

Wolverine chooses this moment for his entrance, asking whether he’s interrupting anything. Kitty is happy to see him, but quickly explains that Ogun is back. Wolverine knows about that, having already run into him himself, but he was hoping Ogun had forgotten about Kitty. He guesses that was a pipe dream. Lockheed flies over to him and coos happily.

Rigby nervously asks him what he knows about this Ogun character, before wondering how Wolverine got on the Heli-carrier and past security. He jumped his motorcycle from the Brooklyn Bridge onto their flight deck, explains Val, who has just joined them with a lot of very armed SHIELD agents. Almost as dramatic an entrance as the last time he boarded the Heli-carrier from the top of the Citicorp building and through the armored glass of the bridge. Anybody else would be heaved ignominiously into the brig, but they make an exception around here for poker buddies of Nick Fury.

Rigby’s face lights up. He’s a pal of the legendary Nick Fury? Him and the colonel go back aways, Wolverine replies. Did some sneaky-peeky stuff for the puzzle palace honchos in the bad ole days o’ the Cold War… As fer Ogun, he was his teacher. He was the greatest living swordsman of his time, but to borrow a phrase that’s been hashed around a bit, “he was seduced by his dark side.”

Wolverine’s tale:

Ogun wanted something from Wolverine but couldn’t get it. He though he could get it from Kitty, so he imprinted his psyche over hers – giving her martial skills beyond her years and making her his slave as well. His control was so great, he was able to make Kitty try to kill Wolverine. But Kitty proved too strong for him eventually. When she had the chance she refused to kill Ogun in spite of what he had done to her. Instead it was Wolverine who put out Ogun’s lights, thrusting right through Kitty’s phasing body even as Ogun was cutting down on him.

Present:

Wolverine adds that he had a run-in with Ogun a while back at the Metropolitan museum and another one just recently in the East Village. He’s a revenant now, somewhere between being dead and alive and it ain’t just computers he possesses… he can take over people as well.

Dugan orders to get the computer back online and have Rigby run a systems scan and purge that bad guy from the memory so they can get back to fly-by-wire and autopilot. Rigby complies, as soon as Kitty pops the security door for him. Kitty phases her hand through and opens the door. She never has to worry about forgetting her keys, she jokes as she opens the door. Rigby tells her he’ll only need a few minutes to set up the auto-purge. A lot easier than rewriting the code line by line.

In the meantime, Val is issuing Wolverine a temporary I.D. card and orders him to return it to her personally before he disembarks. It’s a date, Valentina, comes the reply. He turns to Kitty, remarking that young fella seems like a nice kid. Is she sweet on him? Rigby? No way, she protests. They met like minutes ago. Besides Pete Wisdom and she are… Sheepishly, she amends that she doesn’t really know. Pete’s been acting like a perfect jerk lately and Rigby is so kind and smart and…

And kinda easy on the eyes as well, Wolverine teases. He suggests she just give it some time and let her heart sort it all out. She should go with what her heart tells her to do and she might roll right into a mess of pain, but years down the pike she won’t regret it.

She guesses he’s heading on out of here? He gets on his bike, as Kitty muses with the computer chaos solved she might be kinda redundant herself. Wolverine warns her that Ogun might not be out for the count yet. He might stick around to make sure.

In the meantime, Rigby finds that his job isn’t quite as easy. Purge an undead entity from the system. What manual does he look up the procedure for that in? Suddenly, Ogun appears on the screen, suggesting he might be better served to ask where the instructions for exorcisms are. Ogun emerges from the screen and takes over the struggling Rigby.

Shortly, Rigby joins Kitty who’s surprised that he’s already finished. Life is too short to waste time needlessly, he replies. Why don’t they pick up where they left off?

Suspicious, Lockheed growls at him.

Characters Involved: 

Shadowcat, (member of Excalibur)

Wolverine (member of the X-Men)

Lockheed

Rigby Fallon (SHIELD computer intern)

Dugan, Contessa Valentina de Fontaine (SHIELD commanders)

Ogun

SHIELD agents

In Wolverine’s story:

Shadowcat, Wolverine (both X-Men)

Ogun

Story Notes: 

The last time Wolverine tried a stunt like this was in Wolverine (2nd series) #50.

Wolverine confronted the undead Ogun in Wolverine (2nd series) #89 and #111-114.

Kitty herself had a run-in with Ogun in Excalibur (1st series) #111.

Kitty and Wolverine originally fought Ogun in the Kitty Pryde & Wolverine limited series.

Issue Information: 
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