Driving his motorcycle down the road, Logan thinks to himself that there ain’t no other way to say it. He got his ass kicked. In every way possible. Romulus knows him too well, he made him. Anything he can come up with, every plan of attack he’d use, is plan as day to him. He’d see it comin’ an’ he’d use it against him. He’d use it for himself, just like he’s been doin’ since the days he got his memories back. Romulus wants an heir to his throne.
At this point, there are only two contenders – him an’ Daken. His son. He doesn’t want it, Daken does. But to get it, he’s gotta go through him. He doesn’t want that either. Only way to resolve this ain’t by doin’ what he wants to do – which is destroyin’ Romulus – but by doin’ the one thing he’ll never expect. He’s gonna destroy the throne. An’ the reason he’ll never expect it? This ain’t his plan. He met with a fella a few days ago. Asked him what he’d have to do to get the job done. He gave him an answer. Can’t say it made much sense to him but that’s the point. All he has to do is put the pieces in place, startin’ there.
Walking up to a trailer in a junkyard, Wolverine tells the man sitting in front of it, Bruce, that he came to ask him a favor. Bruce tells him that if he’s looking to sell some scrap, he’ll have to come back during normal business hours and speak with Mr. Barrington. He’s just the temporary night watchman there. If it’s parts he’s looking for, they can probably work something out. But if he needs him to pull them for him, there’s a minimum charge of twenty dollars. He’s also available for physics tutoring. Usually, he only does that online but, in his case, he’ll make an exception. He charges sixty dollars per one-hour session, which is extremely reasonable, given his resume.
Wolverine replies that he’s lookin’ fer somethin’ else. Bruce asks “something” or someone? Staring up at him, Bruce tells him that part of his live is over, dead. Logan tells him not to jerk him around. Much like himself, he ain’t exactly known fer his patience. Bruce retorts that he is known for his excellent hearing. Making it kind of ironic that he’s having to repeat himself. Or maybe he just needs to simplify it for him. Standing up, Bruce informs Logan “no more Hulk, no more smash.”
Smacking Bruce across the face, Logan tells him bull. Wiping the blood off of his lip, Bruce tells Logan “buddy, you’ve just one made one hell of a big mistake.” Just then, a gigantic being appears on top of a pile of cars. Logan realizes that he has made a big mistake and it’s about to give him a Ford Taurus fer a tombstone. Dodging the car that is flung down towards him, Logan comes face to face with the gigantic being. Bruce tells him that he believes he remembers Skaar, his son.
Leaping down from his perch, Skaar goes to slice Logan in half with his sword. Logan manages to dodge the first assault but can’t dodge when Skaar grabs him by the ankle and flings him around the junkyard. As he does, Skaar asks Bruce that he’s not going to ask him to stop? Beg him not to kill the little rat? Bruce tells him no and that he can’t kill him. Peering at Bruce, Skaar asks if that is a challenge. Pulling himself out of the wreckage, Logan thinks to himself fer God’s sake Bruce. What’d he ever do to deserve… Remembering back to the time when he attacked the Hulk in Canada, Logan knows his answer.
Before he can react, Skaar slams his fist into Logan’s head. Standing over him, Skaar asks how. Bruce informs him that his, Logan’s, skeleton is bonded with adamantium. It’s unbreakable, even by their standards. Chest-deep in the ground, Logan thinks to himself that it hurts but more’n that, it’s embarassin’. Kneeling down, Bruce tells Logan that very soon Skaar is going to kick him. When he regains consciousness, he’ll be in the next state over and he’ll have forgotten both how and where he found them. Is that understood?
After asking Bruce if he’s layin’ low, Bruce replies that he is. Logan then asks if he’s hopin’ to keep his son from getting’ sucked into the same nightmare he was livin’. Bruce looks at Logan for a moment and then tells him yes. Pulling himself out of the hole, Logan informs Bruce that it might surprise him to know that he’s doin’ the same damn thing. Bruce tells him good luck with that and Skaar proceeds to kick him with great force out of the junkyard.
The next day, in the next state over, a man and his son are surveying the land. Looking through a leveling instrument, the father informs his son that the property line falls just to the west of that big… spruce tree. He then asks his son, Paul, if his cell phone worked out there. Paul tells him yeah and then asks why. His father tells him that he needs him to call 911. Paul asks his dad if he’s havin’ another heart attack. Putting his binoculars down, the father tells his son to relax, it ain’t for him. Handing the son his binoculars, he shows him Logan impaled on a tree.
Regaining consciousness, Logan can’t %@#?*$ believe this. Using his claws, Logan cuts the tree right below him. As it moves, Logan yells out in pain. That hurt, but the fall down is gonna hurt a lot worse. Once he falls to the ground, the father and his son arrive on the scene in their truck. The son tries to convince his dad to stop but the father runs over to Logan and tells him to take it easy. After seeing his claws, the father notices that Logan is a mutant. Peering up at him, Logan asks him if he’s got a problem with that. The father replies that from what he can tell, he’s the one with the problem, not him. Logan thinks to himself good point and lies on his back.
The son asks him what happened to him - did he fall out of a plane or something? Standing up, Logan asks him who the hell falls out of a plane. Angrily, the son tells Logan that he’s tryin’ to help him so drop the attitude. Seeing the phone in the son’s hand, Logan asks him who he called. The son informs him that he called 911. Logan informs him to call ‘em back an’ tell ‘em it was a false alarm or somethin’. He doesn’t need an ambulance. All he needs is some clean water to flush this out an’ a place to rest up for a few hours, an’ maybe somethin’ to eat? The father immediately tells Logan sure. The son asks what?! Turning to his dad, he points out to him that he doesn’t even know who or what this guy even is. The father replies sure he does, he’s a fella that’s hurt.
Later, the son calls the FBI field office in Seattle and informs the agent on the other end of the line that the mutant they found was a white guy, short, an’ really hairy, an’ he has metal claws. Ever since his mom died, and his dad had his heart attack, he’s been actin’ kinda… Look, he just doesn’t want him to get hurt. The agent tells the son not to worry, he did the right thing. The son says yeah, because this guy is dangerous. He can tell when he wakes up, there’s no telling what he’ll…
Pulling out a file, the agent sees a number (632-9577) stuck to the front of the file and calls out “yes!” Hearing that, the son asks “excuse me?” The agent tells him to hold the line. Dialing the other number, the agent asks if this is… The man on the other end of the line, Romulus, is on a train and verifies that it is him. The agent tells Romulus that his old partner told him that if he ever had anything juicy on a mutant named Wolverine, that he should pass it along via this number that he gave him and that he’d, y’know, take care of him. Romulus informs Agent Bartholomew that he will take care of him; he can rest assured of that. Bartholomew begins to ask how he knew his name, but Romulus asks him what he has that is so “juicy.” The agent informs him that for starters, he knows where he is.
In a room, Logan is healed up. The plan he’s workin’ all hinges on stayin’ one step ahead o’ Romulus. If he finds out who he’s been talkin’ to before… Just then, Logan hears sirens. Exiting the building, Logan realizes that he’s been sold up the river, what a shocking development. Upon seeing the son with his cell phone, Logan thinks to himself that maybe he was wrong. Maybe all sons are jerks. An’ here he thought it was just his.
In one of the oncoming cop cars, one of the officers asks his partner that he’s certain the governor said the warrant would have the right time of issue on it. His partner replies’s what he said, said they’d have a copy waitin’ for them back at the post when they return with their prisoner. The cop asks what they know about the fugitive. Shouldn’t the FBI be in on this? His partner tells him he asks a lot of questions. The cop apologizes but adds that this is the kinda stuff that can get you kicked outta the state patrol. His partner asks by who, the governor? He then tells him to listen. Odds are, this is a political favor the governor’s doin’ for some other greasy politician. Helpin’ him pull it off ain’t gonna hurt his career, it’s gonna help it. That’s how the system works – favors for favors.
On his train, Romulus tells the governor that’s very good news and tells him to sleep tight. He then begins to wonder what Wolverine is up to.
In the woods, Logan thinks to himself that he can’t just skin outta there. If he ain’t where he’s been reported to be, they’ll just arrest the kid an’ his dad an’ he can’t be sure Romulus wouldn’t have ‘em killed. No, he’s gotta let ‘em see him, give ‘em somethin’ to chase. He doubts whoever sent ‘em after him bothered to tell ‘em who or what he is, so…
Popping his claws, he readies himself for the cops and to give them the surprise of their lives. When the cops don’t show up on account of a piece of a bridge being dropped in their path by Skaar, Logan wonders what the hell… Bruce then tells him that he’s been thinkin’ about what he said. They may be able to help each other out after all.
