Lies. If there’s been one constant in my life… aside from beer and my weakness for redheads… it’s that my life has been a cesspool of secrets and lies. Tonight is no exception. Including the redhead. But there comes a time… even when you’re a mutant super hero… where you have to take the bull by the tail and face the situation.
Two minutes ago, in a helicopter above the Canadian Rockies, the mysterious redhead informs Logan that her name is Remus. As in “Romulus and.” She needs a favor that will help both of them. She wants him to kill his twin brother. When Logan asks her why he should believe her, Remus replies because it’s the truth. Popping his claws, Logan lunges towards Remus and tells her that he’s not a big fan of her family; how about he kills her instead? Remus says twice in about as many days she’s saved his life. Doesn’t that count for anything? Logan responds that Romulus has done nothin’ but play him. This smacks of another one of his games.
As she delivers a knee to Logan’s gut, Remus tells him that she has answers about Romulus, Sabretooth and every lie he’s ever been told. If he wants to toss all that away… just remember, she did ask nicely. With that, Remus delivers an elbow to the back of Logan’s head and knocks him out of the helicopter.
She’s got skills, I’ll give her that. Reminds me a bit of Elektra. Only the accent isn’t Greek. Hers is more Italian with a hint of Japanese. Only one other person sounds like that. Romulus. As he falls out of the helicopter, Logan jams his claws into the side of it, grabs Remus by the leg and pulls her out to join him so they can continue their discussion. When he does, Remus begins to fall to the ground but the pilot banks the chopper back around and she’s back on him with her arm wrapped around his neck. Logan tells her that if he lets go, he’ll survive.
Remus says maybe and then asks how he knows she won’t as well. She’s been around a long time. A very long time… With that, Remus pops a single claw that emerges from under her wrist and jams it into Logan’s arm. When she does, Logan loses her grip and the two of them plummet towards the ground below.
Picking himself up off the snowy ground, Logan tells Remus that, earlier tonight, he was thinkin’ how much he enjoyed that kiss she laid on him. But now, all he wants to do is kill…
Looking at Remus and seeing the skin torn away from the right side of her body, exposing the metal underneath, Logan asks “what the hell?!” Looking down at her arm, Remus remarks that she hit some rocks on the way in. Give her a moment and he can finish that thought. Like she said, she’s been around a long time. Noticing that her skin has already grown back, Logan remarks that she has a healing factor. Remus adds “among other things.” Peering at Logan, Remus says he really doesn’t remember, does he. The things they did to him at Weapon X. Logan tells her to make him smarter.
When Remus says “quod sum eris,” Logan replies “I am what you will be.” Latin. Romulus’ go-to phrase. That he’d be like him someday. Remus asks Logan if that is what he thinks it means. Her brother and her watched as entire civilizations were built and then were destroyed. The Hunnic Empire, Roman, Greek, the Third Reich. Each opportunity taken from glory to wasteland. The common denominator was that humans were the architects. But what if there were only mutants?
Logan says “a master race.” Magneto and Apocalypse chased that dragon. It ends badly. Remus tells Logan that his healing factor is both a blessing and a curse. Everyone he ever loved will die off long before him. Logan says to tell him something he doesn’t know. Remus states that there’s so much Logan doesn’t know. So much Romulus didn’t want him to remember. So much Logan agreed to…
Popping his claws, Logan angrily asks Remus what he wants with Sabretooth. Remus calmly asks if he’s going to let it out. What does he call it? His “berserker rage” he desperately wants to suppress? Or is that his true self? Logan says lies. Like all that nonsense about Homo-lupus. That there was a different species of mutants descended from wolves – the lupine.
Remus smiles and says she hopes he didn’t believe any of that. Does he recall the state he was in at the time? He had just gotten his memories back… some, not all evidently… and he wanted him to sniff out the truth. That’s what he does, isn’t it? A mystery! Why does the feral gene seem to replicate itself more often in mutants? Why not flight, telepathy? Romulus wasn’t looking for a new species. He was looking to create one. The bones he found in the elephant graveyard in Wakanda. Does he think he left them there by mistake? They were to throw him off and they did. He’d been mining there, looking for as much of it as possible. When Logan asks vibranium, Remus says as part of a new adamantium. For a new age, their age. Romulus doesn’t want him dead. He wants him by his side. With that, Logan tells Remus to take him to Romulus.
The Amalfi Coast – Italy. Remus says this place is thousands of years old. Originally built by her brother. Not that I believe any of that. No way to approach from land, air or by sea without him knowing. Probably worked out well once upon a time. Got a different way to travel now. Appearing in the main hall of the mansion with Dagger and Remus in tow thanks to Cloak, Logan reminds them that they all have personal reasons for being there. But that’s how you get killed. Cloak and Dagger are good kids… but that’s what they are: kids. Cloak’s a teleporter. I couldn’t get in without him and he wouldn’t go without her. Now I gotta make sure they get back alive.
Turning towards his compatriots, Logan tells them that he’s going first. Just then, Logan starts running down the hall. He’s got his scent. They’ll know when to come and not before.
I lied. I didn’t just get his scent. I got both of them. Sabretooth is here too. Dropping down from the ceiling, Creed tells Logan that he can’t say he’s surprised. He’d follow a “red” into hell if she were pretty enough. Particularly that one. Looks like I hit the two-for-one special on kill shots tonight. Rushing towards Creed with his claws extended, Logan tells him that he doesn’t need some gal he just met to give him a reason to come after him.
Creed asks “just met…?” He doesn’t remember? Well, that changes things. Slamming Logan’s head into the wall, Creed states that he comes back “from the dead” and he’s the smarter one? Head-butting Creed, Logan tells him that as usual, he has no idea what he’s talkin’ about. And the nice part about it is he doesn’t care. Without further ado, Logan continues his assault on Creed. Have to let go… let the rage take me. Picture all the women… friends and worse… he’s attacked or worse. Psylocke, Boomer, Feral, Dagger, Silver Fox. My eyesight goes… blood red. To stop a monster I gotta become one. With that, Logan slashes away at Creed, slams him around, and jams his claws through his chin.
Entering a nearby room, Logan sees a containment tube with Romulus inside. Takes a moment to pull myself in. Get my bearings. The chemicals, the stench. Like fire in my head. He’s built a Weapon X tank here. In his home. Wired himself in. Yanking Romulus out of the tank, Logan angrily tells him the insanity has to stop. Whatever it takes to kill him, he’s goin’ there now. After Logan slashes him across the face, Romulus fires back with a kick to his chest and tells him that he is forever… a disappointment. “Quod sum eris.” “I am what you will be.”
Upon seeing the metal under Romulus’ skin, Logan tells him that he’s spent too much time in that bathwater. All these years, his dealings with the Weapon X program was for this? To become a cheap imitation of him? As he pops four metal claws out of his skin on each of his hands, Romulus tells Logan that he always thought small. Logan had him change his memories. Made him out to be the tortured test subject. His search for the truth has brought him back to the biggest lie he ever told himself. The Weapon X program was, is, and always will be Logan’s idea.
Lies. All lies. Then… why do I have this sick feeling in the pit of my stomach… that he’s telling me the truth?!
