We all lose our mind on occasion. It sort of comes with the territory in this line of work. But for whatever reason, Logan has always been more susceptible than most. Over the years, he’s been a brainwashed government assassin, a Horsemen of Apocalypse, an agent of the Hand, and his mindless berserker rages have become the stuff of legend. We X-Men have a saying. Lose your mind and try to kill a bunch of us once, shame on you… You can guess the rest.
As Wolverine rushes towards him in a berserker rage, Cyclops remains steadfast. Once Logan gets close enough, Scott says “now.” When he does, Magneto appears behind Logan and proceeds to pull the adamantium out of his body. After he does, Namor comes up behind him and rips Logan’s head from his body. Making his way over towards Logan’s fallen body, Scott unleashes an optic blast, destroying the rest of Logan’s body. Once Logan’s body is a charred carcass, Scott says “cease program.”
Weeks ago, after Scott Summers ran this program and when it is complete, he files it as Wolverine Protocols, A dash 1, encryption – level 12. He then gives the order to save with the others.
Moments ago, on Utopia, Scott Summers and Emma Frost watch over Colossus receiving medical care from Dr. Kavita Rao. As they do, Peter informs them that it was Logan but he wasn’t himself. Emma then informs Scott that Logan has fled to the mainland. His thoughts are… chaotic to say the least. Should they… Scott tells her that he needs both Magneto and Namor – now.
Now, Cyclops, Emma Frost, Magneto and Namor arrive in front of a church where Daimon Hellstrom, Mystique, two Ghost Riders, Melita Garner and Wolverine are. Melita makes her way over to Logan and begins to ask him if he’s okay. After Logan lashes out at her, Melita tells Logan to fight this; he can do it. Shaking, Logan pleads with her to run. Just then, his eyes turn red and Hellverine takes over. He tells Logan no more talking, maggot. Get back in your hole. This is their flesh now. And if they can’t have it, no one will. With that, Hellverine jams his claws into Logan’s chest. Covering her face, Melita runs off while Hellverine begins to laugh maniacally.
Mystique mentions to Hellstrom that he said his soul had returned to his body. Why isn’t he back to normal? Hellstrom answers that the spirits that possessed him aren’t giving up without a fight. Demons can be like that. Just then, Cyclops and the rest of his group approach and asks Mystique what the hell she has done there. Mystique tells him that he won’t believe it, but she’s actually trying to help this time. Scott says she’s right, he doesn’t believe it.
Hellstrom remarks that if it wasn’t for her, he wouldn’t be there. Scott says to him that he’s Hellstrom, the exorcist. What has he done to his friend? Hellstrom informs him that his friend was a victim of spiritual displacement. In other words, his soul had been abducted and his body commandeered by demonic spirits. When Scott asks how long ago this happened, Hellstrom says a few days he supposes. Scott then asks him that he’s telling him the most dangerous mutant in the world has been under complete demonic control for a matter of days and he’s just now hearing about it. Hellstrom asks if he should speak slower or something. Yes, that’s exactly what he’s telling him.
When Scott asks if he’s killed anyone yet, Mystique admits that he has. Melita pipes in and asks Mr. Cyclops to allow these men to finish their work. This is Logan’s only hope. Telepathically, Scott asks Emma who the woman is. After Emma informs him that she is Logan’s girlfriend, Scott asks that Logan has a girlfriend. Emma then reminds him to focus. Hellstrom then informs those gathered that he’s afraid they are finished. The spirits possessing Wolverine have their claws dug in so deeply, no exorcism could every pry them out. There’s nothing more he can do. If the demons are going to be expelled, it will have to be Logan himself who does it. This is his fight now.
Inside his mind, Logan wakes up in a patch of grass and flowers. When he does, the dark spirits that have accumulated overhead tells him welcome back. They hope he doesn’t mind but they sort of made themselves at home while he was gone. Looking around, Logan asks that this is the inside of his head? The spirits say that it’s not much to look at it, is it. Trust them, it’s way better now that it was before. It was a real dump when they got there. They made a few renovations while he was gone. They hope he likes what they’ve done with the place. All around the green patch is large areas of dead grass, smoke, and small fires.
After Logan tells the spirits to get out of his head, all of them, the spirits say that it was his head. Not anymore, they’re afraid. Like they said, they’ve been making themselves at home and they kind of like it there. They think they’ll take it, all of it. None of them are particularly enthused about going back to the pit. Not after the way he left things there. So thanks for dropping by now, but they’re afraid he really must be going. Popping his claws, Logan yells at the spirits to get out of his #%*@ head and proceeds to attack them. As they fight back, the spirits remark that they can see he’s not interested in listening to reason. They’ll be tearing his soul to shreds now and then dumping out the bits next time they take a bowel movement. Goodbye forever, little man.
On the steps of the church, Logan is holding his head in obvious pain. Emma informs the others that it’s psychic Armageddon inside Logan’s head. The demonic presence is overwhelming. She can feel them tearing and burning every…
Just then, Emma lets out a scream. Rushing to his wife’s side, Scott begins to comfort her. As he does, Emma tells him that all the demons did was look at her and it was like a pack of dogs ran wild in her brain. They’re not letting go. And they’re not letting anyone else in. They’ve just made that abundantly clear. God, she thinks she threw up in her head. She doesn’t know how many different entities. More than she could count. They’re tearing him apart from the inside. They’re razing his mind to the ground.
Overhearing their conversation, Melita tells them that he can beat them, they just have to give him the chance. Telepathically, Emma tells Scott that Logan can’t last. His mental defenses are strong but he’s infested with these things. Informing the others, Scott tells them that they are giving Logan five minutes. Nobody touch him, nobody get near him. They need to clear this area completely. With that, Namor asks the nearby citizens that can’t they see there are forces at play there that could murder them all – run away!
Once the heroes are alone, Cyclops informs Hellstrom and his crew that he needs them to fall back. He’s taking point on this. Hellstrom tells him like hell he is. If Logan wins this fight, it’ll be like stomping on a nest of cockroaches. Angry demonic cockroaches will come scurrying out of him in every direction, all looking for a safe place to hide. Like inside one of them. Or maybe Logan doesn’t win, and they’re dealing with a soul-dead super-soldier under full-bore demonic control. Either way, it’s something you people aren’t equipped to deal with. With a stern look on his face, Magneto asks what Hellstrom means by “you people.”
Emma adds that she can see the inherent logic in his argument. It would’ve perhaps been more convincing if he hadn’t been picturing her naked and on all fours lapping from a dog bowl the entire time he was talking. Gritting his teeth, Scott says they’re not going anywhere. One of the Ghost Riders proceeds to tell fish face (Namor) that he looks like he’s itching to hit someone. Namor answers that he’s told he always looks like that. Yet in his defense, he looks like something that’s been mortally wounded. The thought of killing him strikes him as an act of mercy.
Hellstrom interjects that he’s making the Ghost Riders angry. He wouldn’t do that if he were them. Scott tells Hellstrom to tell them to stand down. Melita pleads with them to stop and turns towards Mystique for assistance but Mystique takes off running. Yelling at them, Melita tells them to listen to her. She asks if they’ve forgotten why they’re there. They’re there to help…
Before Melita can finish her thought, Hellverine’s demonic laugh is heard. Making his way down the church steps, he calls all of them pathetic little weevils. They came there to save their friend. Instead, they’re going to die by his hand. Upon seeing Hellverine pop his claws and seeing them on fire, Scott tells Hellstrom that he can take point.
On Utopia, the news report of what is happening is seen and heard by many of the X-Men, including Jubilee, Kitty Pryde, Colossus, Rogue and Storm. With Colossus’ blessing, Kitty takes off to join the fray. She is joined by Rogue and Storm. The report states that they are getting reports from the Nob Hill area of a battle that has apparently broken out between members of the X-Men and unknown assailants. They then show live footage from the steps of Grace Cathedral where the battle is being waged. They have confirmed that it’s the X-Man Wolverine who seems to be at the center of this. It appears that he is out of control and attacking the others. No word yet on how this all started. My god, can you see the intensity of the battle… it appears that someone may be on fire down there. Police are urging residents to evacuate the area.
At the battle site, Hellverine stabs the second Ghost Rider in the head and takes him out, just like he did to the other one. Hellstrom replies in kind by shooting him in the back with his weapon, with little to no effect. Watching the battle, Magneto begins to ask Scott something but Scott tells him that they hold. Melita pleads with them to do something. Don’t just stand there. They’re supposed to be his friends. Scott utters Emma’s name and Emma immediately intervenes. She tells Ms. Garner that they need to get her someplace safe and grabs hold of her wrists. Melita tells her to stop it and take her damn hands off of her. Emma says to her to trust her. Whatever happens next, she does not want to see it.
Just then, Hellverine grabs hold of Hellstrom and begins to choke him. When Melita yells out no, somewhere deep inside Logan’s head, he hears her call out and instead of killing Hellstrom, he tosses him away. As Hellverine leaps down the street, Scott gives the order to Magneto and Namor to follow him. As they follow, Namor and Magneto both witness Hellverine ripping a car to shreds. Namor remarks to hell with Summers, he’s taking him down.
Magneto tells Scott that they need to act. He has to give the order. Putting her hand on Scott’s shoulder, Emma reminds him this is the most dangerous mutant alive under the control of an outside force. He cannot be corralled or controlled and they cannot give him anymore time. He’s already killed and he’s going to kill again. He would want him to do it before he hurt anyone else. He knows he would. With a solemn look on his face, Scott gives the order to Magneto to do it. Lifting Hellverine in the air using his powers, Magneto replies that they’ll try to make it quick.
