New York City, weeks ago…
Scaling up the side of a tall building using his claws, Wolverine tells the man shackled at the top, Cloak, that he wants him to know this wind is killing him and his cape thing isn’t helping.
Always wanted to go up to the top of the Empire State Building but this ain’t how I pictured it. The kid’s name is Cloak. Has the ability to pull things, people, in and out of something called the Darkness Dimension. He’s pretty good at what he does. Me? I’m Wolverine. I’m the best at what I do. And right now, that’s gonna be getting us down from up here.
As Wolverine frees Cloak from the chains shackling him, Cloak weakly tells him that he… has… Dagger… When Wolverine asks who has her, Cloak collapses into Wolverine and tells him “Sabretooth.” Wolverine is surprised to hear this, and that momentary hesitation causes him to be unable to grab hold of the post and the two heroes plummet towards the ground below. As they begin their free-fall, Wolverine exclaims that’s not possible. Cloaks asks that he’s never… heard of anyone… coming back from the dead?
I’m sure everyone has heard the story that if you drop a penny off the top of the Empire State Building. On impact it would cut through a city bus like butter and continue so far into the street it’d hit a subway train. A penny. I may have adamantium bones, but even I don’t think I could survive a fall from this height.
Wolverine tells Cloak that they’ve got only one chance, maybe. He’s got to teleport them out of there. Weakly, Cloak tells him that he can’t… nothing… left. Grabbing hold of Cloak’s hand, Wolverine tells him to listen to him. This isn’t about whether or not they’re going to be chuck wagon in about nine seconds. This is about Dagger. The girl he cares about more than himself. Which is fine. But if he doesn’t suck it up, right now, and teleport them exactly where he’s going to tell him, she’s dead. Because, if Sabretooth is alive, he’s in the “killing-pretty-girls” business. Just then, Cloak teleports them…
...to Canada. Shoveling up the dirt and snow, Wolverine mentions to Cloak that he wanted to leave him for the wolves. But he got convinced there are enough psychopaths out there who would try and bring him back to life if they could find his body. Weakly, Cloak reminds Wolverine that he said they’d go after Dagger. Wolverine responds that they will. Right after he makes sure he’s there.
Upon seeing Sabretooth’s dead body and severed head, Wolverine picks up the head and holds it in his hands. When Cloak asks him how he can touch that, the smell, Wolverine tells him that it’s an improvement over when he was alive. The smell. Something about it didn’t add up even when I killed him.
Tossing the head to the ground, Wolverine again asks Cloak who took Dagger. Cloak tells him Sabretooth. He came at them, so fast, told him that if he didn’t… if he didn’t release Romulus from the Darkness Dimension, he would kill her. Looking at him, Wolverine says to Cloak “tell me you didn’t.” After Cloak replies that he was going to kill her, Wolverine says you stupid… you let Romulus out? And they still kept his girl, beat him within an inch of his life, so he’d call him for help. They didn’t want her, they didn’t want him. That’s why he’s still alive. So he could bring Wolverine to them. And they knew he’d come there first.
Just then, a scream permeates through the air. When it does, Cloak remarks that’s Dagger. Immediately, Wolverine runs off into the snow towards the direction of the scream. One way or another, if it involves Sabretooth it always comes back here. Silver Fox’s house. Where we lived… and she died. Murdered by Sabretooth. Haven’t been up here in a while. Haven’t had any reason to come after I buried Sabretooth. It’s been rebuilt. And not by me.
Kicking the door of the cabin open, Wolverine sees Romulus holding Dagger by the throat. After he yells at Romulus to let her go, Romulus tells him that he should be thanking him. He wanted to kill her right off the top. Old habits and all that. As he tosses Dagger aside, Romulus adds that he saw the possibilities in looking at it another way. Like he always does. Wolverine tells Cloak to get Dagger out of there and then proceeds to pop his claws and tell Romulus that he comes onto his land, in this house, there’s only one possibility – he’s gonna die!
Just then, Wolverine attacks Romulus. Romulus claims to be thousands of years old. Thinks he’s immortal. Claims a lot of things, about his past. Thought I had this handled. I was wrong. Gotta fix that.
As the battle makes its way out into the snow and the cabin burns to the ground, Romulus tells Wolverine if only killing him were that easy. Nearby, Dagger tries to convince Cloak to help Wolverine out. Cloak tells her that he only has enough to get them out of there. Wolverine yells at Cloak to go. He came there for her and now he has her. Seeing them rush away, Wolverine turns his attention back to Romulus. Once he does, Romulus is able to knock him away. As he does, he tells Wolverine that now the distractions are gone, he can have his full attention. Picking himself up off the ground, Wolverine grabs hold of a wooden post and cracks Romulus across the face with it. While he does, he asks Romulus who he is working with, why he came back, what the hell he wants. Grabbing hold of Romulus’ head, Wolverine holds his claws to his neck and says to him to tell him the truth or he swears he’ll cut his head clean off.
After slamming his head back into Wolverine’s jaw, Romulus asks him how much time he has spent in the Darkness Dimension. Connecting with a back-fist, Romulus asks a second or two while that child transported you here or there. He has no idea how time works in that place. It’s a tedium beyond even the tedium of immortality on earth. So he had a very long time to think about them while he had him locked away. Slashing Romulus across the face, Wolverine replies that it sounded like he wasted some valuable alone time. Grabbing Wolverine’s arm, Romulus snaps his wrist, calls him an ungrateful whelp and proceeds to kick him in the gut. As he does, Romulus tells Wolverine the things they could’ve accomplished together – riches, women, power. As Romulus holds Wolverine by the throat, Wolverine breathlessly tells him there’s nothing he has that he would ever want. Romulus tells him as always, that’s where he is… wrongurkkk!
Just then, Romulus is stabbed from behind by an unnamed red-haired woman brandishing a sword. The woman tells Logan that won’t keep him down for long. Looking at her, Logan wonders who? Head’s all banged around… is that… Jean…? The woman looks at Logan and asks him that he’s going to pass out, isn’t he. Okay, do that. Heal up. You’re going to need it. But before you go, there’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. Taking Logan in her arms, the woman kisses him and whispers in his ear “The answers you seek are at the Weapon X facility. But hurry, he’ll know I told you.”
When I woke up, she was gone. Romulus as well. Never seen her before. That kiss… even with my screwed-up memory, I’d remember. Her accent. Italian with a hint of Japanese. That I have heard before… “The Weapon X facility,” is what she whispered. “That’s where you’ll find the answers.” This hellish place…left it in flames the last time I visited. Nothing stays buried. A long time ago I was held prisoner here. Tested. Trained. Tortured. From what I remember… Romulus was part of all that. Claimed he knew more about the mutant gene than Sinister, Magneto and Xavier combined.
Entering the compound, Wolverine sees a number of containment tubes, all housing Sabretooth in various forms. Genetics. That’s what this has been about all along. Some people called the Weapon X program Canada’s version of the American super-soldier program. One way, we got Captain America. In my nightmares, we’d get this. Romulus could start a war with an unstoppable army.
Popping his claws, Wolverine remarks that he burned this place to the ground once, now he has to do it twice. Looking at all of the containment tubes, Logan remarks that there must be dozens of them. Just then, Logan hears a voice behind him who tells him only one is the real deal. After Logan exclaims “Sabretooth,” Sabretooth states that he’s back, runt. Just in time to see him die!
