Wolverine (3rd series) #18

Issue Date: 
October 2004
Story Title: 
Return of the Native - part 6
Staff: 

Greg Rucka (writer), Darick Robertson (pencils), Jimmy Palmiotti & Tom Palmer (inkers), Studio F (colors), Virtual Calligraphy’s Rus Wooton (letters), Axel Alonso (editor), Warren Simmons (asst. editor), Joe Quesada (editor in chief), Dan Buckley (publisher).

Brief Description: 

Two guards respond to the security alarm at the gate of the ranch guarding the mysterious Workshop where the Native is held captive. They find Sabretooth, parked under his own S.U.V. Logan kills one of the guards and takes his clothing to infiltrate the compound. Once inside, he draws his claws and begins hunting the Native once more. Wolverine encounters a group of armed guards, and kills them, leaving one alive to lead him to the Native. Sabretooth finds Willoughby, and guts him for his treachery. Creed leaves the office in search of Logan, who is in the compound beneath. Wolverine finds Vapor performing surgery on the Native. Vapor explains that Native is pregnant, most likely with Wolverine’s child. She also explains that they have harvested all of Native’s eggs. Wolverine feels Native’s rage behind him, and kills Vapor. The two rush to leave the now nearly empty-feeling compound. Upstairs, Creed leaves behind the gutted bodies of several guards, and heads after Wolverine and Native to finish what he started.

Full Summary: 

The Workshop, Montana:

Two guards, dressed as ranchers, respond to a gate alarm at the front of the hidden Workshop. The guards argue that if the boss only sent the two of them to investigate instead of a whole squad, it can’t be anything big. They shine a flashlight on a Humvee parked in front of the gate, and find the cause of the alarm – Sabretooth is parked under the vehicle. Sabretooth greets the two men, and tells them to get the damn car off of him. The two men report to another “rancher” behind the house, informing him that Creed is here. The third man tells the first two to bring him in carefully, for Creed will gut them if they aren’t careful. Before he can say anything else, Logan sneaks up behind and slits his throat.

Inside, a barefoot man wearing rancher clothing walks in and greets a man at a security checkpoint. He asks if it is true that they found a man outside with a car parked on him. Logan peeks out from under the hat, and smiles:

”Wasn’t a car. More an S.U.V.”

Logan draws his claws and finishes the guard, stealing his keycard. He removes his own disguise and sprints into the Workshop’s sterile, metallic environment.

Upstairs, Willoughby and Murray argue about Wolverine and Sabretooth’s persistence. Willoughby screams that they are both supposed to be dead. Murray says that mutants aren’t people, they are more like roaches. He orders a group to attack Logan, and another post to bring in Creed.

Logan continues his sprint down the hallways of the compound, sniffing his way to the Native. Suddenly, he freezes, and draws his claws. Ahead, there are a dozen or so armed guards, similar to the ones he and Native fought outside Vancouver. The guards patrol ahead, but don’t hear anything. When they do, it is too late to do anything about it. Logan dives forward with his claws out, unleashing the fury on everything in his way. He grabs one of the guards to use as a bullet shield. The three that survive Logan’s initial onslaught expend all of their ammunition. Logan tells them to hurry up and reload, so that he can kill every last one of them. Logan kills all of the guards that remain, save for one who is cowering against the wall. Wolverine picks the man up, and orders the man to take him to the Native.

Upstairs, the guards lead Sabretooth into Murray’s office. Creed mocks the suits, telling them that he missed their company. Willoughby says that the bomb under Creed’s car was business, not personal. Creed lets them know that he understands, just the same way that it will be personal when he guts Willoughby. Willoughby tells Creed to stop posturing, and Murray chimes in that he is willing to rectify the way they treated Creed. Sabretooth knows right away that they are looking for Creed to take out Logan for them. Murray offers Sabretooth five million dollars to do it. Creed thinks about it for a moment. He asks if they are really in a crisis situation if they are offering that much right off the bat. Willoughby says that they are already taking bids on the Native, and Logan is about to ruin everything. Sabretooth gets in Willoughby’s face, and says that they are right about his hatred for Wolverine, but the thing is, he likes them even less. Sabretooth guts Willoughby, and Murray runs away screaming. Sabretooth leaps across the room at Murray, and breaks his neck, calling him a little girl. The rest of the guards begin firing at Sabretooth, but it only excites him, as he leaps to kill them all.

Logan continues forcing the guard to lead him to the Native. The guard leads him to a locked door, and Logan warns him to start running. He jams his claws into the lock, and finds Vapor operating on the Native inside. Logan tells Vapor to stay back if she wants to stay alive. Native wakes up, and cries for Logan. Vapor seems pleased to meet the legendary Logan. Wolverine tells her to shut up. Logan picks up the Native, but she is too sick to travel. Logan asks why this is, and Vapor replies that she came up with an ingenious method of putting a radioactive pellet into her body so that she wouldn’t regenerate as surgery was performed. Vapor reveals that Native is pregnant, and that Wolverine is the father – though it could also be Sabretooth. Logan apologizes to Native for the pain, and cuts the radioactive pellet out of her. Wolverine threatens to put it inside Vapor if she doesn’t start talking. Vapor says that they were harvesting Native’s eggs, for sale to breed genetic weapons. Vapor says that it is no different than breeding racehorses. Native draws her claws on the operating table. Vapor explains that she can’t have the eggs back, they have already been shipped to a secure facility. Vapor tells Logan not to be so outraged – after all, it’s not like he is even human. Wolverine slices Vapor to death, then picks up the Native and heads out of the building.

Upstairs, Sabretooth comments on the cute couple leaving the workshop. He walks outside, saying that he should finish what he started –

“But don’t worry, Willoughby… this one’s on me.”

Characters Involved: 

Wolverine

Sabretooth

The Native

Willoughby

Murray

Vapor

Various employees and mercenaries of Weapon X / The Workshop

Story Notes: 

-

Issue Information: 

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