In Panama, Claudine tells Sebastian Shaw that it is quite a devious little plan he’s come up with. But, she asks, what about when Wolverine finds out that the Hellfire Club had nothing to do with his son’s kidnapping? Shaw ponders for a moment and tells her that is an interesting question. Even more interesting, to him at least, is the question of who will be left alive to tell him.
At the New York headquarters of the Hellfire Club, Wolverine begins his assault on Castlemere, Mercedes and the feline version of Turner Scholl. Dodging a blast from Castlemere, he deftly delivers a kick to his stomach and follows up with a punch to Mercedes and an elbow shot to Scholl. While he does all these things, he thinks to himself that he’s gotta pour it on, keep ‘em from coordinatin’ their efforts for at least he next second.
Just then, a fiery blast rocks the Hellfire Club. When it does, Wolverine recalls that, on his way there, he rigged their psi-shield generator to blow for a couple ‘a reasons. First, it provides one helluva distraction, an’ second…
Continuing his assault on the Inner Circle, Wolverine asks Professor Charles Xavier mentally if he’s in. Xavier replies that he is but he, Logan, needs to get out. When Wolverine asks him why, Xavier tells him that he needs to get out of there now. Logan proceeds to ask what the Hellfire Club knows. Xavier informs him about Daken, nothing. When he hears that, Wolverine tells Scholl bad news. This little get-together just went from interrogation to execution. With that, he plunges his claws below Scholl’s chin and up through his head, killing him. Xavier then informs him that this was a set-up and that somehow, they’ve been convinced that Shaw…
Logan cuts him off and tells him that he knows. Upon hearing that, Xavier asks that he knows, then why is he? Before Logan can answer him, he is shot in the back with a blast from Castlemere. Enraged, Logan brushes it off and leaps at the two remaining members of the Hellfire Club’s Inner Circle.
In Panama, Claudine screams in pain and proceeds to fall to the ground in a heap. When Shaw asks her what happened, Claudine tells him that he told her to monitor the situation at the Hellfire Club. Well, the situation just changed. Somebody just kicked open the psychic doors of the Hellfire Club. Shaw tells her that would be Wolverine and in spectacular fashion, no doubt. Looking at his reaction, Claudine remarks that he almost looks happy. Shaw replies that he is indeed. He feels like a child at Christmas time, staring at a beautiful present under the tree with his name on it. Waiting for him to strip away its wrapping and revel it in all its glory. As they talk, Daken sits up in his bed and pops the claws on his right hand, peering at them intently. Down below, Shaw asks Claudine if she has any sense of what’s happening at the old club. Claudine informs her just one sense – fear.
At the destroyed remains of the Hellfire Club in New York, Mercedes tells Castlemere that she thinks he made their adversary angry. Castlemere tells her no, he made him foolish. With that, Castlemere blasts a charging Wolverine with everything he has. Unfortunately for him, it did him no good as Logan grabs him by the throat. Castlemere continues to blast Wolverine but it does little good.
Watching the two of them struggle, Mercedes tells Castlemere that they’re too close together; she can’t use her powers. When she sees Wolverine’s claws mere centimeters away from Castlemere’s eyes, she figures the hell with it, he’s a goner anyway. Unleashing her blast, she calls out that she’ll be damned if she’s gonna wait around for her turn. In turn, the full extent of the blast blows Wolverine and Castlemere and they fly through the air until they land in a thud. As she runs off, Mercedes remarks “well, that’s one way to get a promotion.” When he gets up Wolverine sees a dead Castlemere and thinks to himself that the Hellfire Club never exactly was a place to make friends but they must really be at each others’ throats around there.
In short time, at the nearby location of the Gate of Heaven cemetery where Xavier was stationed, Xavier grabs Logan by the collar and yells at him. Logan calmly tells him that, ‘less he wants to end up back in a wheelchair, he suggests he take his hands off of him. Removing his hands, Xavier turns away from him and says to Logan that he knew the Hellfire Club had nothing to do with Daken’s disappearance but he attacked them anyway! Logan replies that a bad guy’s a bad guy. Just ‘cause they’re innocent ‘a one thing don’t make ‘em not guilty of another. Turning around to face him, Xavier says to him “a bad guy’s a bad guy,” and asks him if he really believes that. Logan tells him damn right he does. Xavier asks him why he believes Daken should be spared then. Logan tells him to see if this rings any bells – “it is not the gallows that kills…
It is the hangman.” Years ago, Xavier told Logan that very statement in his office. He also told him that he is a weapon and just like any weapon, he is incapable of solely committing murder, he has simply been used to do so. Logan asked him that he knew he was sent to kill him, how? Can he read his mind? Xavier told him only fragments, not as a whole and that’s remarkable. Logan asked him then how. Xavier informs him that he was psychically monitoring him during his battle with the Hulk and the Wendigo. He then asked Logan if he realizes that even when he was delivering the killing stroke to the Wendigo, he never once thought about killing him. But it was in that moment, when he intentionally unfocused his psychic awareness, hoping to side-step the barrage of psionic dissonance that emanates from such things that he heard it.
When Logan asked “heard what,” Xavier tells him his name “X.” He linked to it almost casually, floating like a child’s balloon tied to his wrist by a string was the blackest, most terrifying cluster of psychic energy he’s ever encountered. He told Logan that he never thought about killing the Wendigo but he did think about killing him. Logan replied that he let him get close to him anyway. He let him in his house, why? Xavier simply told him – because he needs a weapon.
Back in the present time in the cemetery, Logan tells Xavier “surprise Charlie, you’re a bastard too. Welcome to the club.” Just then, Logan sniffs the air and Xavier points out that there is a man with a rifle at seven o’clock high and that there are three others as well. Before Xavier can be gunned down, Logan pushes him out of the way and takes the blast for him. With Xavier safe, Logan leaps into action and charges the gunmen. With one swift move, he slices the arm off of one of the gunmen. When he does so, he uses the gunman as a shield and mows down the rest of the gunmen with a rifle.
After he shoots the last one, Xavier tells him to keep the one that he sliced the arm off of alive. Logan tells him okay but he better hurry. It looks like he sprung a leak. As the gunmen starts to bleed profusely, he tells Xavier that he’ll never tell him. Xavier replies that he already has.
Just then, the gunman falls to the ground, dead. Logan proceeds to ask Xavier if they were Shaw’s boys to which Xavier tells him yes, sent to kill him. Logan responds that he guesses they didn’t expect him back so soon. Xavier tells him “or he did.” He informs Logan that Shaw is planning a coup d’etat of the Hellfire Club. And he’s incorporated him, Logan, and obviously Daken into his plans. When the psi-shield generator inside the Hellfire Club went down, he immediately felt Shaw’s corrupt resonance within every chamber. Not long ago, there was an embittered battle over who should replace Sunspot as Lord Imperial made moreso by Shaw, who stoked the argument by first supporting one side then the other. He’s done everything he can to produce the maximum amount of animosity and distrust. In doing so, he’s cutting a clear path to the throne.
Logan states that explains why he threw him at the Inner Circle. Xavier tells him yes, but it doesn’t reveal his intentions for Daken. Logan says yeah it does an’ Xavier knows it. Shaw needs a weapon to back up his authority just like he did, back then. But he knows exactly how to take that weapon away, doesn’t he? If his askin’ wasn’t enough for him to do it, then this’d better be. Xavier tells him that he can’t but Logan tells him no, he can’t change Daken, just like he couldn’t change him. But he can change what side he’s on by just…
… blocking effectively all of Logan’s embedded programming.” – words spoken by Xavier years ago in his office. Xavier told him that when he wakes, he will remember only that he’s forgotten. Logan asked him what if he don’t remember who he is. Xavier informed him that he will remember who he is. He will remember that he is an X-Man and that is the only thing that matters.
