Goodwill
Well-Known Member
New Marvel Universe #1
No Side Other Than His Own
Weapon X Facility
Undisclosed Location
Doctor Abraham Cornelius approached, he could smell him. There was someone else, though, that he could not identify. The stranger stunk, that was for sure.
“Logan, I’d like you to meet someone.” Cornelius said.
“Thought I wasn’t allowed visitors, Doctor.”
Cornelius made a gesture over to the man beside him. Logan glared at him from inside his glass cell.
“I’d like you to meet Colonel Nicholas Fury, Logan. He’s with SHIELD.”
“Good to meet you.” Fury said. He was cold, Logan noticed.
“Pleasure.” Logan neglected to look in Fury’s direction, he seemed preoccupied with the ceiling tiles.
“Your doctor has told me about your condition. If you’re interested, I’d like to offer you some work.”
“’Work’, huh?” Logan said. “You better ask Creed. He’s the crazy one.”
“You must not understand, Mr. Logan. Creed’s condition differs from yours. I--”
“The answer’s no.”
“We pay well, though, Mr. Logan. Would you reconsider?”
“I told ya – ask Creed. He’ll do anything for a paycheck. Guy would prob’ly do anything for a damn tenderloin.”
“Mr. Logan, I can provide things far more valuable than money.”
“Yea? Like what?”
“The truth.”
Logan’s eyes locked on his guest.
* * *
Atlantic Ocean
En Route to Undisclosed Location
Within the hour, Logan was discharged from the ‘medical facility’ that he had been held captive in for as long as he could remember. That wasn’t saying much, though. He and Nick Fury boarded a helicopter piloted by two Joes. Logan first spoke when he first noticed they were flying above the Atlantic.
“So?” Logan said. His attitude had not changed towards Fury.
“So what?” Fury replied.
“Mind tellin’ me where we’re going?”
“Can’t.”
To say that Logan was agitated would have been an understatement.
“What do you mean, you can’t?”
“SHIELD is a highly secretive organization. People know we exist, not what we do. There are things that I can tell you and things that I can’t, understand?” Fury said.
“Well, what can you tell me?”
“Where we are going there’s a person that SHIELD considers highly dangerous. I need you to take care of him for me.”
“You sprung me outta jail for a hit?” Logan fumed. “You could’ve asked anyone.”
“Actually, I couldn’t have. Our man’s a telepath, a powerful one at that. I’d put a bullet in him myself if I thought I could without him knowing.” Fury patted the pistol hanging from his waist.
“Why not put another telepath up for the task? Couldn’t they just, I dunno, ‘block’ him?”
“We don’t trust them, frankly. Besides, we have you – the one man no telepath can read.”
“What?” Logan didn’t understand.
“I understand that you don’t remember a lot of your years spent at that place, that you had to be briefed on what happened in more than fifteen years’ time. During that time, your mind was tampered with. As you can probably tell you don’t remember much from before and during those fifteen years.”
“Who would ever want to do that? Take a man’s memories?”
Logan was beside himself, staring out the window, longingly. Where had his life gone?
“Well, for one,” Fury said. “I would.”
“You--”
SNIKT! Thoughtless, Logan shot up from his seat and unsheathed his claws. He pointed them towards Fury, eye level, watching him; if he so much as flinched…
Fury, of course, did not flinch.
“I had a reason!” He thought, then corrected himself, “Have a reason, now would you calm down? When super powers were first introduced into this world, we panicked. SHIELD panicked. We threw money at our problems, opening up all sorts of ways to keep these super powered people under control, like Weapon X, for instance. One of the things we started to do was utilize some of these people. ‘If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em’, right?”
Logan gripped Fury’s collar and pulled him closer to his lethal claws.
“Make a point. Before I do.”
“Your healing ability…” Fury stared at the three knife-like points, only millimeters away from his nose. “Your claws. The only thing keeping you from being the perfect soldier was your personal investment, your emotion. We wanted your mind to be clear so that we could have you act without a conscience--”
“Well, you can die knowing you were successful!” Logan put his claws against Fury’s neck, ready to plunge them inside.
“Wait!” Fury gasped. “You kill me, and you’ll never see your wife and kid again!”
Logan freed Fury from his grasp. His claws returned between his knuckles. He was stunned – his question was no longer where his life had gone, but how much of it had gone. A wife? A kid? How come he couldn’t remember?
“You can tell me where they are?”
Suddenly, it was vital for Logan to know everything. If it meant keeping Fury alive, so be it.
“I’ve got a file an inch thick about you. I can tell you everything.”
“Colonel Fury. We’ve found a safe place to land. We’ll begin our descent momentarily.” The pilot said, gradually rearing the helicopter in a downward spiral motion.
“The man I’m killing, what’s his name?” Logan asked.
“Is it important for you to know?”
“Yes.”
“His name’s Charles Xavier and he’s a terrorist.”
* * *
Undisclosed Location
Logan was dropped into a remote jungle. He was given a square of fabric that Fury said had Xavier’s scent on it and a satellite phone to notify Fury when the deed was done. With Logan’s heightened senses, he could easily locate him, even in the lush forest maze he now found himself in. It was an easy enough assignment – one man’s life for Logan’s life in exchange.
It wasn’t long before Logan found someone, or rather; it wasn’t long until someone found him.
In another clearing, Logan stood parallel to another man. He was lean and entirely bald. He did not seem alarmed by Logan.
SNIKT! Logan’s claws shot from the grooves between his knuckles. He didn’t think it would be this easy.
“Please, I just want to--”
“Shut up!” Logan snarled. He began to charge. “You don’t get to talk!”
“Who sent you? Was it Fury?” Xavier asked.
Logan slowed his pace and began circling skeptically. How’d he know if he couldn’t read his mind? He didn’t understand. Could this be a set up?
“You work for a man like him; you might as well have sold your soul to the devil.”
“I said shut up!”
Logan planted his feet and lunged towards Xavier. In the midst of his jump he was brought to a jarring stop – it was Xavier’s doing.
“It’s true, what he told you,” Xavier said calmly, watching Logan flail around trying to free himself. “I can’t read your mind.”
“Then…” Logan struggled. “How did you know?”
“You can’t exactly be discreet landing a helicopter on a nearly deserted island. That and Fury got a little too close to me. I may not be able to read your mind, but I can most certainly read his. Didn’t he tell you I am the strongest known telepath?”
Fury should’ve known that, Logan thought.
“So what now?” Logan asked. He’d been found out, what else could he do? His life was in Xavier’s hands now, an alleged terrorist’s hands.
I’ll leave that up to you,” Xavier said. “You can be part of the problem, or you can be part of the solution. Fury wants me dead because I’m different, because he can’t control me. He’ll start a war if he’s ever successful.”
“And what makes you so important?”
“It’s not who I am, but what I am,” Charles said. “No one knows why or how, but super powered people – mutants, they call us – popped up. This changed everything from politics to religion. This makes us a threat to what makes people comfortable. Eventually, people will get their pitch forks and torches out and hunt us down. Fury and SHIELD think they can do this behind the scenes, without startling anyone. But, as you can see,” Xavier said with a smirk on his face. “They’re not doing such a good job.”
“So, you’re saying it’s us or them, huh?”
“Not saying that’s what I want, but what it will be.”
“It’s why you’re hiding,” Logan said. “You’re a prepared one.”
“In more ways than you’ll know,” Xavier replied. He paused and added, “And what about yourself? What will you do?”
With that, Logan was freed from Xavier’s telekinetic paralysis and he subsequently crashed to the ground. Logan looked up at Xavier, agitated.
“Well?” Charles persisted.
Logan was given this choice; Xavier could’ve killed him instantaneously. He could not trust either Fury or Xavier. After little consideration, Logan implemented the first plan that came to mind.
He reached for the sat phone Fury gave him. Logan glared at the still living Xavier and said, “Go hide,” before his call went through.
Charles did not reply and began back into the jungle.
“Fury?” Logan asked into the phone when he was through. “Yea, deed’s done. He’s dead. Come get me.”
Logan had spent more than fifteen years of his life caged in the Weapon X facility and on the day that Fury granted him freedom, he was sure he’d only be caged again. Now, after only a few hours of being free, he was making sure he’d never have to answer to anyone else but himself. Xavier predicted a war and Logan was sure that he’d be a part of it, but he’d choose no side.
No side other than his own.
No Side Other Than His Own
Weapon X Facility
Undisclosed Location
Doctor Abraham Cornelius approached, he could smell him. There was someone else, though, that he could not identify. The stranger stunk, that was for sure.
“Logan, I’d like you to meet someone.” Cornelius said.
“Thought I wasn’t allowed visitors, Doctor.”
Cornelius made a gesture over to the man beside him. Logan glared at him from inside his glass cell.
“I’d like you to meet Colonel Nicholas Fury, Logan. He’s with SHIELD.”
“Good to meet you.” Fury said. He was cold, Logan noticed.
“Pleasure.” Logan neglected to look in Fury’s direction, he seemed preoccupied with the ceiling tiles.
“Your doctor has told me about your condition. If you’re interested, I’d like to offer you some work.”
“’Work’, huh?” Logan said. “You better ask Creed. He’s the crazy one.”
“You must not understand, Mr. Logan. Creed’s condition differs from yours. I--”
“The answer’s no.”
“We pay well, though, Mr. Logan. Would you reconsider?”
“I told ya – ask Creed. He’ll do anything for a paycheck. Guy would prob’ly do anything for a damn tenderloin.”
“Mr. Logan, I can provide things far more valuable than money.”
“Yea? Like what?”
“The truth.”
Logan’s eyes locked on his guest.
* * *
Atlantic Ocean
En Route to Undisclosed Location
Within the hour, Logan was discharged from the ‘medical facility’ that he had been held captive in for as long as he could remember. That wasn’t saying much, though. He and Nick Fury boarded a helicopter piloted by two Joes. Logan first spoke when he first noticed they were flying above the Atlantic.
“So?” Logan said. His attitude had not changed towards Fury.
“So what?” Fury replied.
“Mind tellin’ me where we’re going?”
“Can’t.”
To say that Logan was agitated would have been an understatement.
“What do you mean, you can’t?”
“SHIELD is a highly secretive organization. People know we exist, not what we do. There are things that I can tell you and things that I can’t, understand?” Fury said.
“Well, what can you tell me?”
“Where we are going there’s a person that SHIELD considers highly dangerous. I need you to take care of him for me.”
“You sprung me outta jail for a hit?” Logan fumed. “You could’ve asked anyone.”
“Actually, I couldn’t have. Our man’s a telepath, a powerful one at that. I’d put a bullet in him myself if I thought I could without him knowing.” Fury patted the pistol hanging from his waist.
“Why not put another telepath up for the task? Couldn’t they just, I dunno, ‘block’ him?”
“We don’t trust them, frankly. Besides, we have you – the one man no telepath can read.”
“What?” Logan didn’t understand.
“I understand that you don’t remember a lot of your years spent at that place, that you had to be briefed on what happened in more than fifteen years’ time. During that time, your mind was tampered with. As you can probably tell you don’t remember much from before and during those fifteen years.”
“Who would ever want to do that? Take a man’s memories?”
Logan was beside himself, staring out the window, longingly. Where had his life gone?
“Well, for one,” Fury said. “I would.”
“You--”
SNIKT! Thoughtless, Logan shot up from his seat and unsheathed his claws. He pointed them towards Fury, eye level, watching him; if he so much as flinched…
Fury, of course, did not flinch.
“I had a reason!” He thought, then corrected himself, “Have a reason, now would you calm down? When super powers were first introduced into this world, we panicked. SHIELD panicked. We threw money at our problems, opening up all sorts of ways to keep these super powered people under control, like Weapon X, for instance. One of the things we started to do was utilize some of these people. ‘If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em’, right?”
Logan gripped Fury’s collar and pulled him closer to his lethal claws.
“Make a point. Before I do.”
“Your healing ability…” Fury stared at the three knife-like points, only millimeters away from his nose. “Your claws. The only thing keeping you from being the perfect soldier was your personal investment, your emotion. We wanted your mind to be clear so that we could have you act without a conscience--”
“Well, you can die knowing you were successful!” Logan put his claws against Fury’s neck, ready to plunge them inside.
“Wait!” Fury gasped. “You kill me, and you’ll never see your wife and kid again!”
Logan freed Fury from his grasp. His claws returned between his knuckles. He was stunned – his question was no longer where his life had gone, but how much of it had gone. A wife? A kid? How come he couldn’t remember?
“You can tell me where they are?”
Suddenly, it was vital for Logan to know everything. If it meant keeping Fury alive, so be it.
“I’ve got a file an inch thick about you. I can tell you everything.”
“Colonel Fury. We’ve found a safe place to land. We’ll begin our descent momentarily.” The pilot said, gradually rearing the helicopter in a downward spiral motion.
“The man I’m killing, what’s his name?” Logan asked.
“Is it important for you to know?”
“Yes.”
“His name’s Charles Xavier and he’s a terrorist.”
* * *
Undisclosed Location
Logan was dropped into a remote jungle. He was given a square of fabric that Fury said had Xavier’s scent on it and a satellite phone to notify Fury when the deed was done. With Logan’s heightened senses, he could easily locate him, even in the lush forest maze he now found himself in. It was an easy enough assignment – one man’s life for Logan’s life in exchange.
It wasn’t long before Logan found someone, or rather; it wasn’t long until someone found him.
In another clearing, Logan stood parallel to another man. He was lean and entirely bald. He did not seem alarmed by Logan.
SNIKT! Logan’s claws shot from the grooves between his knuckles. He didn’t think it would be this easy.
“Please, I just want to--”
“Shut up!” Logan snarled. He began to charge. “You don’t get to talk!”
“Who sent you? Was it Fury?” Xavier asked.
Logan slowed his pace and began circling skeptically. How’d he know if he couldn’t read his mind? He didn’t understand. Could this be a set up?
“You work for a man like him; you might as well have sold your soul to the devil.”
“I said shut up!”
Logan planted his feet and lunged towards Xavier. In the midst of his jump he was brought to a jarring stop – it was Xavier’s doing.
“It’s true, what he told you,” Xavier said calmly, watching Logan flail around trying to free himself. “I can’t read your mind.”
“Then…” Logan struggled. “How did you know?”
“You can’t exactly be discreet landing a helicopter on a nearly deserted island. That and Fury got a little too close to me. I may not be able to read your mind, but I can most certainly read his. Didn’t he tell you I am the strongest known telepath?”
Fury should’ve known that, Logan thought.
“So what now?” Logan asked. He’d been found out, what else could he do? His life was in Xavier’s hands now, an alleged terrorist’s hands.
I’ll leave that up to you,” Xavier said. “You can be part of the problem, or you can be part of the solution. Fury wants me dead because I’m different, because he can’t control me. He’ll start a war if he’s ever successful.”
“And what makes you so important?”
“It’s not who I am, but what I am,” Charles said. “No one knows why or how, but super powered people – mutants, they call us – popped up. This changed everything from politics to religion. This makes us a threat to what makes people comfortable. Eventually, people will get their pitch forks and torches out and hunt us down. Fury and SHIELD think they can do this behind the scenes, without startling anyone. But, as you can see,” Xavier said with a smirk on his face. “They’re not doing such a good job.”
“So, you’re saying it’s us or them, huh?”
“Not saying that’s what I want, but what it will be.”
“It’s why you’re hiding,” Logan said. “You’re a prepared one.”
“In more ways than you’ll know,” Xavier replied. He paused and added, “And what about yourself? What will you do?”
With that, Logan was freed from Xavier’s telekinetic paralysis and he subsequently crashed to the ground. Logan looked up at Xavier, agitated.
“Well?” Charles persisted.
Logan was given this choice; Xavier could’ve killed him instantaneously. He could not trust either Fury or Xavier. After little consideration, Logan implemented the first plan that came to mind.
He reached for the sat phone Fury gave him. Logan glared at the still living Xavier and said, “Go hide,” before his call went through.
Charles did not reply and began back into the jungle.
“Fury?” Logan asked into the phone when he was through. “Yea, deed’s done. He’s dead. Come get me.”
Logan had spent more than fifteen years of his life caged in the Weapon X facility and on the day that Fury granted him freedom, he was sure he’d only be caged again. Now, after only a few hours of being free, he was making sure he’d never have to answer to anyone else but himself. Xavier predicted a war and Logan was sure that he’d be a part of it, but he’d choose no side.
No side other than his own.
