Wolverine (2nd series) #97

Issue Date: 
January 1996
Story Title: 
… Bump in the Night
Staff: 

Larry Hama (script), Adam Kubert (pencils), Dan Green (inker), Joe Rosas (colors), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (lettering), Malibu’s Hues (color seps), Bob Harras (editor) cover by Adam Kubert

Brief Description: 

In Scotland, Logan discovers that somebody or something broke Cyber out of his prison. Along with Jean Grey’s assistance, he finds the destroyed offices of Landau, Luckman and Lake (LLL). They are able to find a door marked WC – “warp chamber” – and proceed to make their way through it. On the other side, they find two agents of LLL slaughtered and Emmet, the office boy. Emmet tells them of the “gaslight frail” that attacked them. Eventually, they make their way to the attacker and Logan is forced to face her alone. Her name is Chimera and she is viewing what looks to be the bestial form of Logan on her screen. She then attacks Logan using projectile psionic illusions from her hands. After surviving her first assault, Logan is able to drive her off with the use of his claws. Once she leaves, Jean and Emmet enter the room and all three of them are met by Zoe Culloden. She hands Logan a package and proceeds to send him and Jean back to his time. Once they have left, Emmet asks if the package is going to help Logan or if it is another trap. When Zoe tells him that it will give Logan a fighting chance against what Genesis has planned for him, Emmet tells her not to make him laugh.

Full Summary: 

In Scotland, Logan recalls that he got the news that his old sparrin’ partner Cyber broke out o’ the Hoosegow in Scotland or that maybe someone sprung him on purpose. As he sniffs around, he figures the one good thing about goin’ feral is the ol’ sniffer is sharper than it’s ever been and it’s tellin’ him Cyber did have help. He just has to find out who.

When he gets up to the top of the building, he tells Jean Grey that he’s ready to blow the pop stand and tells her to come in high and steady. Just then, he leaps and grabs hold of the passing aircraft. Inside, Jean psychically asks him if he wants to climb inside. Logan tells her that it’s too cramped and airless inside and that he’s better out there, in the wind. He then asks her to head on over to the next stop. Jean tells him to have it his way and asks if he found anything pertinent in the dungeon. Logan replies the scent o’ Cyber and traces o’ forces beyond his power. Somebody or somethin’ sprung him. Somethin’ that could knock down a cell door that was designed by S.H.I.E.L.D. itself to keep Cyber locked up tight.

In short time, the two of them reach a part of the city where a building appears to have had the top half of it cut off at an angle. A nearby stone statue has the same features. Jean asks Logan if he is sure this is the right place; she thought it was supposed to be a six story building. Leaping off the aircraft and into the severed top half of the building, Logan tells her it is, or at least it used to be when he met Zoe Culloden there. He adds that whatever did this was unleashin’ weaponry you can’t pick up on the surplus market.

He then asks where is it, it’s gotta be around there someplace. Every office o’ Landau, Luckman and Lake (LLL) had one. As he begins to sift through the wreckage, Jean lands the aircraft, exits it and asks him one what. She tells Logan that he’s got to calm down and tell her what he is searching for. At that moment, Logan finds a door marked WC and asks Jean to help him get it upright. As she helps Logan raise the door up, she asks “This?” She’d hope that every office had one or better yet two. Logan tells her it’s not what she thinks. He saw old Chang go through a door like that once in lowtown Madripoor.

(flashback)

As Logan punched a man into the office of LLL, Chang says to him that their offices aren’t a prize ring. Logan ignores the comment and informs Chang that he needs that package he left with him for safekeeping and fifty grand in hundreds. Not looking up from his desk, Chang tells him that he doesn’t suppose it can wait until he finishes his report. Logan informs him not hardly. Chang sighs, puts down his pen and remarks that he now understands why the principals refer to him as a high-maintenance client.

Pulling a gun out of his desk drawer, he goes through a door marked private and says he’ll be back in due time. Once he has left, Logan thinks to himself that door don’t lead outside. He wonders where Chang went to and looks through the keyhole of the door marked private. On the other side, he recalls that was the first time he saw one of the doors marked WC. Ol’ Chang couldn’ta been inside more’n thirty seconds but when he came back out, his clothes were a mess, he had a two-day stubble on his chin and he had a different weapon than when he left.

(present)

Jean replies okay, so he found the door to a “rest room” and once upon a time in his mysterious past, he saw the Madripoor agent of LLL come out of one looking a tad disheveled. Maybe they were using it for storage, maybe it got a little dusty in there. Logan tells her c’mon, she knows more about this stuff than most. As he opens the door he says a lot of time passed for Chang than it did for him. The WC don’t stand for “water closet,” it stands for “warp chamber.” Grabbing Jean’s hand he begins to enter the door and asks her if she’s ready for this. Jean tells him of course. The question is, is he? Logan informs her only after he finds out where this takes them or “when.”

As they reach another door, Jean mentions that the dimensional shift is fading and they’re making reality contact. When they reach the next room, Jean looks around and sees a bunch of people lying dead on the floor and says that it looks like someone’s been there. Logan adds that they did a bad number on the staff while they were at it. He mentions that the poor jokers put up quite a fight though. Just then, Logan catches a scent in the air and tells Jean that somethin’s still in there with them behind the desk.

With that, Logan slices the desk in half to reveal a boy wielding two guns. Jean yells at Logan that she’s not reading any hostile thoughts; he’s just a boy. When the boy hears the name, Logan he says that he’s “da one da Expediter is all het up about. He goes on to tell Logan cheese Louise, he thot he wuz dat gaslight frail what put da whammy on Mr. Ramavishnu and Miss Kierkegaard.” He then introduces himself as da office boy, Emmet. Emmet then asks Logan who “da snapper” is; she’s a peach. Logan informs him that her name is Ms. Grey to him and offers him a word to the wise – he better watch what he thinks about her. Emmet replies okey-dokey. He then tells them now dat da reinforcements are there, they can read da riot act to da gaslight frail.

As all three of them enter through another door, Logan asks him how they know they’re on his side. Emmet tells him da Expediter sez dat Logan is jake and dat’s copacetic with him. Stepping through the doorway, Emmet warns them to watcher step, dis is a principal’s office. In the office, Logan asks if the “gaslight frail” killed Mr. Landau too. Emmet asks rub out Mr. Landau, get real. He’s a principal, ain’t like either of them. Making their way over to another door, Emmet asks them didn’t da Expediter fill them in on all dis. Logan answers that he don’t know what… As they enter through the next door, Emmet tells them to shhhh, they gotta do dis on da Q.T. if they wanna bushwhack Chimera and douse her lamps. Jean asks Chimera, like the monster in Greek legend… Emmet tells her “woise, she’s….”

As soon as Logan makes his way through the door, it slams shut. Before him stands a blonde-haired lady wearing a mask and a tight black body-suit. She is looking at a large display screen that shows what looks to be Wolverine in a highly feral state. The lady says to Logan that they don’t need the other two do they… now that the subject himself has deigned to honor them with his presence. Logan asks her, the subject o’ what? The lady replies of such an exquisitely thorough investigation resulting in the stunning 3-D extrapolation of his regression. She adds that the Expediter does such good work; it would thrill them to no end to suck out the Expediter’s spine but there is a contract and the fulfillment thereof is contingent on the delivery of this data. Quite a bonus for delivery of the subject himself in an inanimate state, of course.

Logan replies that it ain’t gonna happen. Talking to her hand, the lady mocks, “Awwww, widdle Wogan doesn’t wanna pway.” Her “hand” – moving in the shape of a puppet-like mouth – tells her, “Thuck out hith thpine, Chimera.” In mock reply, Chimera tells her hand that they mustn’t rush things. No, no, no! Popping his claws, Logan tells her that he thinks she’s missing all the hotels from her Monopoly set an’ that’s too bad, ‘cause he has a lot of questions. ‘Bout Landau, Luckman and Lake, ‘bout Cyber that she’s gonna have to answer. Chimera turns and says oh my goodness and asks Logan if that is murderous intent they see flashing in his eyes. She asks how far down the dark road to a pure bestial state has he gone. Chimera adds that good thing for them that LLL set up psi-shields on their security doors or his lady friend might be in there being utterly appalled at his behavior.

Holding out her hand, Chimera says to Logan that he’s not going to make this difficult for them, is he? She then tells him to be a nice little beastie-thing and come to Chimera and offer them his throat. Logan angrily replies that she’s the one who ain’t quite human and asks her what happened to Cyber. Chimera looks at her hand again and tells it that he “weaves them no wecourse” and that he is poking his nose where it doesn’t belong. The “hand” says “wet’s thwash him.”

Just then, Chimera yells out thrash, thrash and burn and emits an extremely large being of energy in the form of a dragon. To himself, Logan says it’s a sock-puppet from hell with eyes like open furnace doors, teeth like daggers of white fire. When the dragon being grabs Logan in its jaws, Logan begins to hurt past redline, clean off the scale. As he collapses, Chimera’s other hand “says” thave thome for them. Chimera tells it they’ll let them clean up but right now, they must let the psychic poisons do their work. Once Chimera pulls back her “dragon,” she tells her hand good job and it thanks her. Chimera tells her hand it is quite welcome, stands over Logan, holds out her other hand and tells it it’s their turn to…

Interrupting, Logan slams his claws into Chimera’s hand and tells her wrong; it’s her turn to hurt. Leaping in pain and holding on to the wall above, Chimera screams. Logan says to her that she can dish it out, but she sure can’t take it. As she disappears, Chimera tells him they’ll meet again and, next time, she won’t be trying to take him alive.

At that moment, Logan hears a loud explosion behind him and sees Jean and Emmet blasting through the door. Jean tells him they got through as fast as they could while Emmet says they hadda recharge da hardware. He then says, “Willya lookit dat, it’s da Expediter.” From another teleportation chamber, Logan recognizes the Expediter as Zoe Culloden. He asks her what’s goin’ on and what’s happened there? Zoe tells him there’s no time to explain and hands him a package. She tells him that he’ll just have to trust her, like he’s always trusted LLL to manager his affairs. The package she just gave him will explain everything and tells them to hurry – she’s sending them both back on a sidereal time-slip.

Once they have left, Emmet asks Zoe if the package is gonna explain everything or if it is another trap. Zoe tells him that Logan is a warrior born. She could not tell him of Genesis and what the madman had planned for him but at least she may have given him a fighting chance. Emmet asks “Fighting chance? Against what Genesis is gonna do?” Don’t make him laugh.

Characters Involved: 

Jean Grey, Wolverine (both X-Men)

Mr. Ramavishnu, Miss Kierkegaard, Zoe Culloden/Expediter (agents of Landau, Luckman and Lake)

Emmet (office boy of Landau, Luckman and Lake)

Chimera

In flashbacks:

Logan

Mr. Chang

Story Notes: 

“Water Closet” was an early name for a small room with a toilet, before society chose the euphemism of “bathroom” (despite the fact that few bathrooms have a bath).

Cyber was broken out of prison by Genesis’ Dark Riders back in Wolverine (2nd series) #93.

In Greek mythology, the Chimera is a monstrous creature which is made of the parts of other animals.

First appearance of Chimera.

Issue Information: 
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