Emma Frost’s psychic therapy group, today…
Kitty admits that she still has recurring dreams about the day Wolverine phased through her body, and killed Northstar instead of her, and blames herself for his death. Iceman remembers Kitty that, if she hadn’t phased herself, it would be her dead right now. Beast agrees, but thinks it’s impossible to know how Kitty will react until the very moment Logan is back at the school and breathing in everyone’s necks. Beast admits even he feels a bit stupid, seeing everything he went through in his life. On the day Wolverine attacked, Hank was just as scared as the rest of the students.
Rachel thinks that, if anyone should feel guilty, it should be her, because she has one of the most powerful telepathic minds in the whole world, and should have blown Logan into space when he attacked. Instead, she just did anything he asked. Emma finds that thought to be stupid, as there are a million of other outcomes to the battle with Wolverine, and comparing that would be like blaming Hitler’s grandparents for deciding to have children.
Bobby tries to imagine what Logan must be going through right now, knowing that SHIELD has de-programmed Logan and that Logan might know all the terrible things Hydra made him do. It must be eating Logan up alive. Rachel asks Kitty if Logan is still calling her. Kitty explains that he is, but Logan immediately hangs up when she picks up the phone. The poor guy just can’t find the words.
SHIELD Emergency Outpost, location unknown…
A hooded Logan sits alone in a dark room. The door opens. Dr. Weinberg says hi, and notices that Logan is at least looking a little better since the last time they saw each other. He asks Logan if he feels better after killing all of those people. Not necessarily, Logan responds. Weinberg knows that revenge never makes someone happy. A SHIELD agent enters, and warns Weinberg that the meeting upstairs begins in fifteen minutes.
Weinberg knows that. He asks Logan if he shouldn’t be suiting up by now, as he has heard that Logan and Elektra would be attacking the Gorgon together, once SHIELD has pinpointed his safe-house. The doctor finds Elektra interesting and, with all those names and secret locations, he is confident that they could have Hydra closed down by midnight.
Logan admits that’s the plan. Weinberg wants to know what Logan is doing here, then. Logan mentions that he just wanted to know how Northstar’s doing, as he had heard that the scientists are putting Jean-Paul through the same deprogramming routine he went through. Weinberg confirms those rumors, but shamefully has to say that, with Logan, the routine actually worked. He opens a viewing screen for Logan, so he can look at Northstar in the operating room.
Weinberg explains that the idea is good enough: a thousand simulations a second, where the brainwashed subject commits atrocity after atrocity after the point where the rage is completely out of his system. Logan needed three days to get it out, but they have had Northstar for the better part of the week and, well, on the viewing screen besides Jean-Paul’s bed, he can see Jean-Paul murdering people into pieces. The screens show what’s going on in Jean-Paul’s head. Logan wants to know why the routine worked for him and not for Jean-Paul. Weinberg isn’t certain, but thinks its maybe harder coming to terms by being murdered by a friend.
Logan has heard enough. A short while later, he decides to hit the showers. He recalls that Special Forces use bunnies to toughen up their new recruits. First day in camp, they are all exhausted from all the different duties. Then, the boss gives you a rabbit and tells you to spend some quality time with it. The first day, you are bored out of your skull. The second day, you find yourself playing with the rabbit, and even teach it some tricks. On the third day, the rabbit has become your best friend in the whole world, and by the fourth day it knows everything that happened in your life: from your first kiss to your first leg injury.
That’s what makes day seven so traumatic. On that day, the boss asks you to break the rabbit’s neck, and eat it! Logan knows that the bunny-lesson is the most important lesson a black ops recruit can learn, because it teaches them to switch off and be less human to get the job done. Logan remembers Ichiro’s son, and that he’s dead today. Blood falls down Logan’s claws and he recalls that five thousand villains are dead, and that there are seven thousand to go.
Later that day, Wolverine is all suited up in his X-Men uniform. Elektra and tons of SHIELD agents gather around him. Dum-Dum Dugan enters the briefing room, as he stands in for the hospitalized Nick Fury. Dugan reveals that Intel Elektra gave them pinpointed seven Hydra death-factories in six different countries. They have discovered that this is where Hydra builds their doomsday weapons, which notes they got from the taken notes from Reed Richards.
Elektra asks if they have to perform a surgical strike. Dugan adds that everyone has to, since Hydra is building weapons they can’t have, so they have to respond back in the only way possible. Wolverine wants to know if any other heroes are going to help out. Dugan denies that, since it’s going to be a bloodbath. That’s okay, since Logan and Elektra know what’s being asked from them. Logan also doesn’t have a problem hitting on these kinds of numbers of people, and can’t wait to test out all the new high-tech weapons SHIELD gave him.
When he says that, Logan notices that the SHIELD agents behind him bristle whenever he’s around them. Logan doesn’t blame them, since he probably killed a lot of their friends when Hydra had him brainwashed and made him attack SHIELD. Dugan just feels sorry for Nick, as he has been fighting Hydra for fifty years now and the night they are going to close them down he can’t be with it. Logan smiles, and promises to take some good pictures of it.
Meanwhile, at one of the AIM bases, the agents are working on the Null machine Mr. Fantastic invented, which was intended to stop Galactus the next time he showed up. Null was a two-hundred foot killer android, designed to eat gods like gods eat planets and every step of how to build him is now in the hand of AIM thugs. The scary thing is that Null is only one eight thousand of ideas on his hard drive that could take down entire cities, and maybe even planets, with just one push on a button. Hence, therefore, SHIELD chooses to get that back first.
AIM agents hears noises in another room and then, suddenly, an explosion takes place! Startled, they are attacked by thousands of SHIELD agents, lead by the Constrictor, Tombstone, Warhawk and Bison! They have agreed to help out, since SHIELD promised them to take off a few years of their jail time.
In his safe house, Gorgon asks Elsbeth if she is afraid of him. Elsbeth asks Gorgon if everyone isn’t afraid of him. Gorgon asks Elsbeth if she understands why they have to build these weapons. That this is just a strike to end all life, against light and God himself. Elsbeth knows that they never asked to be born. Gorgon completely agrees. He worries sometimes that the actions of New Hydra are perceived as cruelty, while his intentions are a lot more pure than those of Elsbeth’s late husband. Elsbeth understands that better than anyone. That’s why she feels that they are wasting their time with the supper they are now having that Gorgon arranged with all the super-criminal fraternities. Elsbeth knows that they’ll never appreciate the purity of Gorgon’s agenda, as they only care about power and empires.
Gorgon adds that he isn’t here to convince the people of his arguments. He just wants to show them who they are working for now. Elsbeth asks Gorgon if he thinks it will be painful, when he releases the arsenal AIM has been building. Dying seems so alien when someone has been living for that long as she has. Gorgon wants to respond, but… he senses something. Elsbeth panics a bit, and wants to know what’s wrong. He senses that their European bases are under attack! Suddenly, a missile flies right through the living room, and the room explodes!
Gorgon gets up from the rubble of bricks… and finds Elsbeth bleeding! SHIELD helicopters have shut their cloaks down and beam team alpha inside. Wolverine and Elektra teleport in front of the Gorgon and, as fast as they can, attack the Gorgon together. They quickly corner him and Wolverine puts all of his claws and Elektra puts her sword right through the Gorgon’s stomach!
He bleeds, but isn’t dead! Gorgon picks up a brick, and is so fast that he hits Elektra. She loses her psi-blocks, and Logan realizes that she’s an open book to the Gorgon now. While the Gorgon keeps hitting Wolverine, SHIELD agents report to Dugan that the Hydra plants in Amsterdam and Brussels are down. They are impressed by what the Rhino is doing to Hydra’s St. Petersburg’s factory. Dugan asks the agents to shut up, as he doesn’t like how the situation in New York is going. He asks the agents to have team beta ready to roll as soon as he gives the word.
Gorgon takes out his sword, and tries to hit Wolverine again, but the X-Man ducks. Instead, Gorgon cuts of the heads a lot of SHIELD agents! Gorgon calls Logan and Elektra idiots, as this isn’t Wolfgang they are fighting. He slams Logan against a wall and sticks his sword through him! Wolverine starts to bleed, badly.
Outside, the SHIELD pilots report that they have successfully evacuated the other guests in the hotel where Gorgon was staying. Dugan doesn’t care, as he wants the beta team send in as the alpha team is down!
Meanwhile, Gorgon points his attention to Elektra. He grabs her by her throat. Gorgon compliments Elektra that her minds goes deeper than they thought it would, but now, he can read everything that’s inside it. He can see for whom else she has been working. And what’s worse, the Gorgon can see where they keep Nick Fury! He holds Elektra tighter, and teleports away!
Above the top secret SHIELD hospital, in West 24th street…
The agents guarding Fury warn that they’ve got a security breach, as someone has teleported through every defense and that they are already in the lobby. The guards realize they better stay on post and guard Fury.
Meanwhile, the beta team teleports inside the Gorgon’s safe house. Logan warns the agents to help get the sword out of him, as the Gorgon’s about to kill Nick Fury!
At the same time in the lobby, the Gorgon has arrived and holds an unconscious Elektra by her throat, with the other hospital staff staring at him…
