As he makes his way through the Gray Island swampland in Louisiana, Logan recalls that, when you’ve been around as long as he has, when you’ve run with the Avengers and the X-Men and X-Force among others, you grow accustomed to traveling in strange circles. But leading a group comprised mostly of his pissed-off ex-girlfriends (Seraph, Melita Garner, Lynx and Cassie Lathrop) through a haunted swamp is still downright unsettling.
While they continue to make their way through the swamp, Seraph asks Logan why there are there. When Logan asks if she wants a simple explanation, Seraph quips that if there was anything simple about this, she wouldn’t be asking. Logan answers fair enough and says they’re there because he double-crossed a group of extremely powerful, extremely ruthless people.
Shanghai, 1935… Logan enters the headquarters of the Covenant. When he is asked if it’s done, if the girl is dead, Logan tells them that’s right. And even though the members of the Covenant should have died years ago, they managed to come back for their due. Wyatt Crowley, Vanessa Baker and Jefferson Chambers – a magician, a detective, and a mad scientist. The Menace, Murderous Lion and Ulysses Bloodstone – a vigilante, a warlord and a monster hunter. And him – a hired killer with too much blood on his hands. When Murderous Lion asked how he killed her, Logan told them he did the job. Only, he didn’t do the job so he told them a lie he knew wouldn’t last. Putting his arm on Logan’s shoulder, the Menace says that they realize this was an unpleasant task, but believe them, it was necessary. If there had been any other way… Vanessa cuts in and replies yes. If there had been any other way, she’s sure someone might have pursued such an option. They were prepared to offer him more work, he could see it in their eyes. They had others they wanted him to kill.
But he walked away. He didn’t have the taste for it. And he wanted to be far away if and when they ever found out he hadn’t killed the Dreaming Maiden. Seraph proceeds to ask Logan what is it with him and women. When is he going to learn that, every time he unzips his pants, he gets himself into a world of trouble? Elsa adds only this time he put the entire bloody world at risk. Logan tells Elsa to can it. Enraged, Elsa angrily tells Logan that she read her father’s journals. The Dreaming Maiden is a herald, a harbinger, a damn beacon. She’s not just dreaming, you git. Stepping in between them, Melita says maybe they should all just take a breath here. Cutting her off, Elsa angrily says no. Because that creature isn’t just dreaming, she’s calling out to someone. She’s summoning something much, much worse. Logan replies that there’s a lot of ways to make a situation worse. Keep talking about things you don’t understand and she’ll find out firsthand.
Reaching an abandoned river boat, Logan informs his crew that she’s in there. She’s dreaming again, telling him where to find her. He’ll go in first, try to get her out nice and quiet. Like that ever works. When Seraph asks how they will know if he needs backup, Logan answers she’ll know because she knows her.
Once aboard the river boat, Logan takes out three local guards. After defeating with them with relative ease, Logan remarks that, while she was telling him where to find her, the least she coulda done was tell him the best route to avoid the guards.
A short time later, Logan enters a room that houses the statue of the Dreaming Maiden. Sniffing the air, Logan calls out and says that he hopes they didn’t think they were gonna surprise him. Why don’t they come out? Let’s get this over with. Just then, Wyatt Crowley, Jefferson Chambers emerge from the shadows flanked by Chamber’s robots and additional guards. Crowley tells Logan to walk away lit’l man. Thar’s things ‘appening ‘ere that he can’t possibly understand. And trying to stop them now, that would be a mortal sin.
Chambers adds that Logan tricked them all those years ago. He convinced the Maiden to simply stop dreaming. He asked her to go against everything she was ever meant to be. She’s safe there with them now. No one there intends to hurt her. Crowley says that they can’t say th’ same for him. He shouldn’t haf come there, not alone. Logan replies that it doesn’t matter if they plan on hurting her or not. The lady doesn’t want to stay with them. His guess is the both of them are all-too-familiar with that notion. And as for him being alone… not hardly.
Just then, Seraph and her crew burst into the room, guns blazing. As a gigantic battle begins to commence, Crowley slams his fists into Logan, driving him to the ground. While he does, he tells him that she wuz always meant to dream. Deny her that, and those dreams become nightmares. Stabbing Crowley in the arm with his claws, Logan remarks that he always struck him as a reasonable sort, despite his bloodline. There doesn’t need to be any more blood between them. But if he stands back up, he’ll end him.
Nearby, Seraph states that this is one favor Logan will never be able to repay. When one of the guards pushes by Cassie and heads towards Melita, Cassie tells her to look out. Melita responds by slamming the guard’s head into the wall as the hologram of Vanessa Baker looks on approvingly.
When Logan makes his way towards Chambers, Chambers remarks that it’s unfortunate they’re at odds there. It was, after all, he who gave them the idea of using the Maiden’s dreams against the drifting chaos. It was he who taught her to lie. Doesn’t he see? They can use her dreams. They can use her to trick the drifting chaos, to send it away. They can repel the end times. As Logan jams his claws into Chambers armor and hacks away at it, Logan tells him that the world can go on forever, Chambers just won’t be there to enjoy it. Falling to his knees, Chambers stammers n-no… no… Still work to be done… n-not finished…
Just then, Chambers disappears into thin air, much to Logan’s surprise. Vanessa tells him that he didn’t think killing someone as old as Chambers would be simple, did he. He may not have a healing factor, but he compensates with numerous fail-safes. Somewhere, he’s probably already having his decaying flesh outfitted with new hardware. Holding his open wounds, Crowley tells Logan they w-were right. Turnin’ th’ Maiden’s dreams against the chaos… It was whut they shoulda done so long ago. But, widdout their guidance, widdout them controlling the dreams, and engine of entropy and destruction like none other will be drawn to them like a moth t’ the flame. Logan replies maybe so. Once they find a safe place for her, they’ll figure it out. Crowley replies that the Covenant could keep her safe. Clenching his fist, Logan angrily states that the last time he checked, the Covenant was at each other’s…
At that moment, Logan senses someone else. The scent’s different, the body is new, but he knows the outfit. He knows the weapons – the Menace. Emerging from the shadows, the Menace fires their weapons. Logan tells everyone to get down and moves towards the Menace’s gunfire. He’s fast but he’ll never clear the distance in time to… Once he is hit with gunfire, Logan hits the ground.
When he wakes up, he finds himself in a white area. Waking him up gently, the Maiden tells him he promised he’d return. He swore that, if she stopped dreaming, if she was patient, he’d come back for her. She waited so long. And only now, at the end, has she come back for her. Logan replies that he thought he was doing right by her. The Covenant… they wanted her dead because of what her dreams might bring. And they were scared of anyone, anything, that could reach into their minds the way she could. He knew if she ever started dreaming again, they’d come for her. The Maiden tells him he hoped they would forget in time. But it was he who…
Logan replies “for a while, yeah.” He couldn’t remember her even if he wanted but then he could remember. He just didn’t want to because he didn’t know how to help her. He knew this day would come when she couldn’t be silent any longer. And what are her options now? She did something to them, the Covenant. She reached into their heads. The Dreaming Maiden states that she showed them just enough to turn them against one another. They wanted to save the world, or prove something, or kill her, only to satisfy their own lusts. She promised them that which they desired. Logan then tells Aleena that he should’ve been there for her. He shouldn’t have been afraid of what she was. All those kids he hoped to teach, to guide in the use of their powers, it ain’t right that he abandoned… her.
Just then, Logan sits up. When he does, Melita has her hand over her mouth and starts to stammer. With her head hung down, Vanessa remarks that it happened so fast. There was nothing they could do. As Logan makes his way over to the beheaded statue of the Dreaming Maiden, Elsa tells him that, no matter what he says, she still thinks she was a threat. The world’s safer now with her gone. But she’s sorry for what he’s lost. Leaning down to pick up the Dreaming Maiden’s head, Logan asks Vanessa what Aleena promised her.
At the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning, Logan and Melita sit in an office. After Logan asks where they were, Melita tells him that they don’t have to do this. Not after all that’s happened. Maybe they need some time. Logan replies that he wants to do this. His memories were ripped from him. He doesn’t even know all the things that he’s forgotten. But he knows he’s forgotten her. And he knows that he wants to remember. Meanwhile, out in the garden, the statue of the Dreaming Maiden now resides.
In a castle somewhere in the Alps, Vanessa Baker tells the other members of the Covenant – Murderous Lion, Wyatt Crowley, Elsa Bloodstone, Jefferson Chambers and the Menace that she’s pleased that they could all join her there. She thinks it is safe to assume that they all realize that there is still a significant task before them. Now that this period of disquiet between them has passed… let’s get back down to business.
