At 3 a.m. near Salem Center, the owner of Larry’s bar, Larry bids adieu to two patrons leaving. Strolling back into his bar, he thinks to himself that it sure does an old man proud t’see another pair o’ satisfied customers. Reminds him o’ why he got inta the diner biz in the first place. Speaking o’ satisfied customers, the night owls in the corner look about due f’r another round. They’ve been sittin’ there for hours without sayin’ a word. With that, Larry takes another seltzer water and beer for the two men – Cable and Logan.
Seeing Cable’s metal arm, Larry mentions to him that’s a might fine prosthetic he’s got there. He has a tin plate in the back o’ the ol’ noggin’ himself, a little souvenir from ‘Nam. Cable replies not with speech but by grunting at him. A little put off, Larry tells them both that they better enjoy their drinks cuz this is their “last call.” Walking away, Larry thinks to himself that from the looks o’ those two, ya’d think one of ‘em killed the other’s kid or somethin’.
Back at the booth, Logan and Cable sit across from each other without saying a word and choose to communicate only telepathically. Logan asks Cable if he’s sure he wants to know how it went down, can he handle the truth? Cable replies to the very last detail. Besides, it’s now like anyone can hear them whey they “talk” telepathically. Opening his beer with a single bone claw, Logan tells him to have it his way but it ain’t a pretty story.
He starts by saying that he has to remember that this all happened on the heels o’ his run in with Sabretooth, the one where he nearly did that lousy sonuvagun in f’r good. The red rage was burnin’ hot in him those days, and he needed t’get it out somehow. So when that ol’ pain in his rump, Cyber, got busted outta stir on Muir Island his pal – Zoe Culloden, the “Expediter” – helped him track the rat fink t’ Egypt. But more specifically, to Akkaba. Turned out that Apocalypse’s Dark Riders kidnapped him so’s they could leech his body o’ his indestructible adamantium skin. He got the drop on those amateurs, but their boss, his boy Genesis, got the drop on him instead. Flamin’ kid tried ta re-bond the adamantium to his bones and turn him inta the killin’ machine he used to be just so that his master, Apocalypse, would have a deadly new horsemen when he returned from the grave. That punk sure put him through a world o’ hurt, tryin’ ta shove all that metal back up his keister.
And he just mighta succeeded if lil’ Sammie Guthrie hadn’ta blasted right inta the mix like he wuz an X-Man since the word go. He adds that he has to hand it to Cable. Whether he intended ta or not he really taught that Kentucky farm boy what it means ta be a hero. Too bad a hero’s gumption don’t always cut it when the odds’re three-ta-one. Now, he didn’t want the kid t’get his butt whupped on his account so, by sheer force o’ will, and a little help from the ol’ enhanced healing factor, he was able to turn the tables on those goons and pull Sam’s fat out o’ the fire. He may regret it now, but the looks on the Dark Riders faces, the ones that survived, mind ya, when he stepped out o’ that test tube all mutated an’ howlin’ like a wolf who’s just tasted the blood o’ his kill made the world o’ hurt he had just lived through all worthwhile.
But there was still one loose end left t’be tied. He couldn’t see nothin’ but red. The beast growin’ inside o’ him took control and once the man he usedta be – the noble, honorable samurai – wuz gone. His boy, Tyler, didn’t have a chance. Gritting his teeth, Logan exclaims stupid flamin’ kid. He shoulda known better than t’get mixed up with Apocalypse in the first place. Cable replies that he did know better. As his “father” he taught him that, at least he tried to. Drinking more of his beer, Logan tells him to go on.
Cable informs him that he was the best kid you could ever meet. The world around them was in a total state of chaos but you never saw the boy without a smile plastered from ear to ear. And even though he wasn’t their biological son his wife, Jenskot, and him tried to give him everything that his own “adoptive” parents – Slym and Redd – gave him growing up. While she, Jenskot, helped him refine his mutant powers, he taught him the arts of war and survival in a future world gone mad.
Amazingly enough, when it came to any of those disciplines Tyler always proved to be a quick study, just like he was at his age. But all the training in the world didn’t prepare them for what happened when the Canaanite army led by his clone, the self-styled ‘chaos-bringer’ Stryfe pinned their band of freedom fighters behind enemy lines that fateful day. Stryfe popped a thermite explosive to take him down and he probably would’ve if Jenskot hadn’t shielded him from the blast. The concussion lasted only a split second but that’s all the time it took for his family, his entire world, to come to an end. Not only did Stryfe take his beautiful beloved wife from him, but he abducted his son and corrupted him in his own twisted image. He always figured he’d be able to save him but now, thanks to Logan he’ll never get the chance to undo that damage.
At that moment, Larry tells Logan and Cable that they can sit there and stare at each other all night f’r all he cares but he has to get some shut-eye, else he’s gonna be one ornery cuss in the mornin’. When he gets no response, Larry throws up his hands and exclaims that’s it, he gives up. The taps’re closed an’ he’s outta there. As he walks back to the bar, Larry tells them to jus’ do him a favor an’ turn the lights off on their way out.
At the table, Logan asks Logan what he wants to hear. That if he could do it over, he’d do it differently. Maybe he would if he could go back in time but he can’t. It’s done. So there really ain’t much else t’say ‘cept he’s sorry. With that, Logan shakes Cable’s hand.
