Appearing in "Faces in the Fire"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Onslaught (Mentioned)
Other Characters:
- Human Torch (Johnny Storm)
- FDNY
- Magneto (Erik Magnus Lensherr) (Mentioned)
- X-Men (Mentioned in narration)
- Professor X (Charles Xavier) (Mentioned in narration)
- Fantastic Four (Mentioned in narration)
- Avengers (Mentioned in narration)
- Captain America (Steve Rogers) (Mentioned)
- Elsie-Dee (Mentioned in narration)
- Elektra (Natchios) (Mentioned)
Races and Species:
Locations:
- Earth
- North America
- United States of America
- New York State
- New York City
- Manhattan
- Four Freedoms Plaza (Mentioned)
- Manhattan
- New York City
- California (Mentioned in narration)
- Venice (Mentioned in narration)
- New York State
- United States of America
- North America
Items:
- X-Uniforms
- Adamantium (Mentioned)
Synopsis for "Faces in the Fire"
This story follows the events of Uncanny X-Men #336...
Following the destruction caused by Onslaught's electromagnetic pulse, Wolverine has left the battle against Onslaught directly to those with more substantial powers so that he can focus on aiding in the rescue efforts of people injured or endangered as a result of Onslaughts attack. He is doing his part by helping local fire fighters with pulling people out of apartment fires.
When a young mother's son is still trapped in a burning apartment building because he went back for "Mr. Winky" and the rescue ladder cannot reach the window, Logan decides to help out the best he can. Getting doused with fire hoses he runs up the ladder and jumps through the window. The boy, frightened by Logan runs and hides under his bed, however Logan is able to find him with his enhanced senses. He convinces the boy that he is a super-hero who has come to rescue him and hands the boy his mask. When Logan asks who Mr. Winky is, he learns that it's not a person at all, but the young boys beloved teddy bear.
Grabbing up the kid Logan runs back to jump out the window he came from, however flaming wreckage falls in their path. Wolverine then dashes out into the hallway and asks the boy if he knows where the emergency stairs are. When Sean doesn't have a clue and asks if they are going to die, Sean tells him that super-heroes don't die. When the boy retorts by telling Logan he's not a hero, Wolverine corrects him by putting his mask on the boys head. As Logan searches for the fire stairs, he runs into an old man with a walking stick who leads him the way. When the old man leads them to the stairs, Logan finds that they are full ablaze. The old man tells them that it's the only way out and Logan has no other choice. In order to protect the little boy, Logan wraps him up in his shirt and makes a run down six flights of burning stairs. The pain reminds him of the time he did the same thing with the cyborg Elsie Dee[1]. Despite the challenge, Wolverine makes it out and the flames around him are put out with fire hoses.
The boy is okay as well and is reunited with his family. The crowd is shocked by how badly burned Wolverine is, but he has another surprise for them when his healing factor quickly restores him to full health. When Wolverine realizes that the old man didn't make it out with them he orders the firemen to hose him down again and so that he can go back in after him. Before he goes back in, the little boy gives Logan back his mask. The boy asks him if he's Captain America, but Logan tells him that he is Wolverine. The kid, unfortunately doesn't know who he is.
Inside the burning building, Logan begins looking for the old man, but the old man finds him in the blaze. It turns out that it's Elektra's old master Stick, who has come to teach Logan another lesson in regaining his humanity. As they fight it out on in the blazing building, Stick points out that no matter what Elektra teaches him, he will never truly accomplish regaining his humanity if he doesn't believe it himself. He also warns Logan that it doesn't matter what's been done to him or that Magneto pulled the Adamantium out of his body[2], that he's always been a man in the places that matter. He warns Logan that he must learn this otherwise Onslaught will make short work of him very soon.
Their battle has taken them to a single remaining wall of the burning building and it is on the brink of collapsing. Stick tells Wolverine that if he truly wants to live he is going to want to jump where he is pointing his stick. Logan decides to take a chance and jumps into the black smoke and darkeness and reaches out. To his surprise, he finds a fire ladder there to greet him. Below, the rescue crews and civilians cheer that Wolverine had survived the collapsing building. As Wolverine is gaining his footing he is approached by the Human Torch who tells Wolverine that the heroes are regrouping at the Four Freedom's Plaza to prepare for the final assault on Onslaught.
This story is continued in Onslaught: Marvel #1...
| Onslaught Impact Two | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazing Spider-Man #415 | Avengers #402 | Generation X #19 | Green Goblin #12 | Incredible Hulk #445 | Iron Man #332 | |||||
| Punisher (Vol. 3) #11 | Spider-Man #72 | Wolverine (Vol. 2) #105 | X-Factor #126 | X-Force #58 | X-Men Unlimited #12 | |||||
Notes
- Part of the Onslaught Event. This story is part of Impact 2 of stories that focuses on sub-plots and aftershocks caused by Phase 2 of the Onslaught event. This story happens between the events of Amazing Spider-Man #415 and Spider-Man #72.