Two Hand members are standing guard in a hallway when Jubilee looks around the corner and asks them if “there is a little girl’s room.” The Hand members go to check out who it was that said that, as Beast takes one of them out and Cyclops deals with the other one. Jubilee comments on how she thought Wolverine was the only team bruiser and Cyclops says to her, “we get by.” Beast checks his hand held Cerebro for any sign of the new mutant‘s (Omega Red) signature, but says that the unit will not work because of interference from the facility’s dampers. Just then Omega Red busts through the wall-taking Beast out, then he releases his death spores on the other two X-Men. Omega Red reports in that half of the invading party has been taken out and he can’t see any sign of Wolverine. Matsu‘o says that it is all right that he has a “specialist” on his way to find him.
At that moment several blocks away in a subterranean cavern Maverick is trying to save Wolverine’s life by giving him, in Maverick’s words “enough Neuro-Apinephrine to wake all United Germany”.
(flashback, about 30 years ago)
Wolverine remembers a time when Maverick, Victor Creed, and himself worked together trying to save an undercover agent and retrieve the Carbonadium Synthesizer from a facility in Berlin. Omega Red had the three would be rescuers and the undercover agent blocked against a window. Creed says they all have to jump or be captured and killed by Omega Red, the undercover agent Janice refuses and Creed calls her a liability before shooting her in the back. As Logan tries to help Janice, Creed grabs both him and Maverick and all three of them fall out the window. Amazingly they all survive the ten-story drop and Creed then says that now he is sure that Omega “Red ain’t the only mutant in service to his country.”
(present)
Lila Cheney transports Longshot and Dazzler straight to the Mojoverse where Mojo is waiting for them. Lila Cheney’s powers have been canceled by Mojo’s assistant Major Domo and unable to escape, the three try to fight off the attacks of Mojo’s henchmen, when a Mojoverse freedom fighter appears from a trap door. He helps them escape by way of a hovercar, which had been waiting there for Longshot’s return. The hovercar takes them to the rebel’s camp where they welcome Longshot home. Lila reminds Longshot about Dazzler and he runs after her. When he finds her she is confused about what is happening and Longshot tries to comfort her. He says that he loves her and he will always be by her side forever and asks if that will help her to feel better and she replies, “oddly enough, yes”.
In Berlin, Gambit, Rogue, and Psylocke are fighting the Hand; Gambit remarks that it seems to him that he has already taken out the same hand member for the third time and Rogue agrees. Psylocke is commenting on how she is not able to pick up her shared psychic bond with Wolverine when the Fenris twins walk in and tell her the reason she can’t pick up the link is probably because Wolverine is dead. Gambit makes a comment about Andreas von Strucker’s pony tale and he say’s that Gambit should not worry about his hair but about “the bio-electric fury of Fenris”. Gambit takes the brunt of the blast and is taken out of the fight. As Psylocke probes Gambit to see if he is okay, Matsu‘o Tsurayaba enters and takes over Psylocke’s mind with a “previously implanted post hypnotic suggestion” when he says the word “fine.” Afterwards Psylocke is commanded to use her psi-blade to take Rogue out, which she does.
Because of the psi-link shared between Wolverine and Psylocke, Wolverine sees Betsy stabbing Rogue with her psi-blade, which brings him out of his coma. Maverick comments, “That’s it, Logan - Work it through” as Wolverine pops his two claws around Mavericks head asking how Maverick may know who he is, but Wolverine does not know him “from Adam.” Maverick doesn’t know whether to say he is Wolverine’s old drinking buddy or just to say he is Maverick so he chooses the later but, Wolverine senses he is holding something back.
(flashback, about 30 years ago)
Maverick remembers their time when they were a small group of hand-picked CIA operatives from different countries: Logan from Canada, Creed‘s native country unknown and himself from West Germany. It would be years later that they learned what actually saved them from the ten-story fall. Logan and Creed both had mutant healing factors, while Maverick’s mutant power helped him absorb the kinetic impact. About twenty-four hours after escaping from Omega Red, they had a debriefing. Creed (Sabretooth) was arguing with his supervisor on how if it was not for the bad intelligence reports that they might have been more prepared for their mission and Janice’s life might not have been lost. That was when Logan jumped Creed saying how Creed had shot Janice because Creed had panicked. Creed threw Logan to the ground and was fixing to attack him when the guards attemted to hold him back. Logan walked out and Maverick believed that Logan took the C-Synthesizer with him.
(present)
Wolverine is distracted though when Maverick’s parameter alarm goes off giving Maverick enough time to pull a gun out on Wolverine, but Wolverine is not noticing the gun, he is noticing Creed (Sabretooth) on the video monitor behind Maverick. Sabretooth is standing in an alleyway wearing a double-breasted suit and commenting on how the area doesn’t look like an area you would want to start a “Fourth Reich.” Birdy, his assistant, is with him and she confirms that she can sense the emotional feedback of the Fenris twins and a mystery mutant (Maverick). Sabretooth asks Birdy to disrupt the video monitors system and he tells whomever the mystery mutant was that he had better be glad they’re lucky.
Once Sabretooth is inside the complex he goes to the holding area where the X-Men are shackled and Fenris, Matsu‘o Tsurayaba, and Omega Red are waiting to meet him. Sabretooth comments on them starting a collection of X-Men and vaguely remembering the smell of Omega Red from his past. Sabretooth walks over to Gambit and asks why Gambits working for the good side now, or is he just conning the X-Men too. Sabretooth then cuts Gambits chest with his claws causing him to bleed. He comments on how Gambits blood is spicier than he remembers it. Then Sabretooth tries to scare Jubilee, but Cyclops tells Sabretooth he is the one who needs to watch out for trouble, because there is an army of robots chasing after him right now (events of Wolverine #50). Sabretooth and Psylocke then leave to find Wolverine.
Maverick is walking Wolverine through the sewers taking him to see the Major so he can figure out the whereabouts of the C-Synthesizer. Wolverine senses Psylocke and Sabretooth coming and tells Maverick he better free him from his bonds, unless he wants to face the two of them alone. Maverick releases him just as Sabretooth shows up, Sabretooth wonders aloud who Wolverine’s new friend is and Maverick knows now that neither Logan nor Creed remembers their shared past. Wolverine tells Maverick to not harm Psylocke and Maverick comments that the fight shouldn’t last “all but two seconds”, but actually it lasts thirty seconds, the outcome though was never really even a question.
Dr. Cornelius and Matsu‘o see on the video screen Sabretooth dragging Wolverine and Maverick, and are pleased. Fenris and Matsu‘o Tsurayaba have a toast to their victory and Omega Red comments on how Sabretooth will be paid for his debts he is owed. Matsu‘o leaves telling Omega Red to take the lives of the X-Men to satisfy his need for other people’s life forces until they can figure out from Wolverine’s memories where to find the C-Synthesizer.
