Appearing in "See Venice & Die!"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Mobsters
- Bunny
- Cindy
- Silver Surfer (On Graffitti)
Races and Species:
Locations:
- Earth
- North America
- United States of America
- California
- Las Vegas (Mentioned)
- Reno (Mentioned)
- Vancouver (Mentioned)
- United States of America
- North America
Synopsis for "See Venice & Die!"
Storm is looking for her teammate Wolverine in California. Her search has brought her to some wanted posters that apparently have Logan's picture. Following their trail to an illegal casino operated by mobsters named Sally and Jocko who explain to her that the man she is looking for has been robbing them of their ill-gotten gains. Storm is unbelieving until they show her a security tape depicting a man fitting Logan's description with a little girl holding up one of the illegal casinos. The final proof she needs is the fact that the man appears to be bullet proof and is armed with adamantium claws. When Sally and Jocko attempt to shoot Storm in the back, she uses her mutant powers to generate a wind to blow them off their feet and destroy their illegal casino.
As Sally and Jocko assess the damage to their establishment they get a call from two of their men Molokai and Reno who have spotted Wolverine getting off a bus from Vancouver that has just arrived in Venice. Before they can hear that their information doesn't sound correct, they hang up on their bosses and approach Wolverine just as he's getting off the bus with two attractive women. Noticing the two mobsters, Wolverine sends the two girls away and confronts them. When he learns that he's "wanted" by Jocko and Sally, he allows himself to be "knocked out" and taken away by the two thugs.
While up in Beverley Hills, yet another illegal casino is crashed by the Wolverine look-alike robot created by Donald Pierce and his sidekick, the little-girl robot known as Elsie-Dee. "Wolverine" demands that they hand over the money, and the mobsters soon find that bullets are useless against this impostor. Meanwhile, Wolverine is taken to Sally and Jocko and he reveals that he was faking being knocked out so that he can confront Molokai and Reno's bosses directly. He reveals his ruse just as Jocko berates his subordinates for getting the "wrong guy" as the man they are apparently looking for just hit up the ritziest illegal casino in the area and that they escaped by car to Venice Beach.
There, Elsie-Dee and the Wolverine duplicate race to a warehouse with the money they stole. When "Wolverine" notices a transmitter in the money, Elsie-Dee tells him not to destroy it as they want people to find them, because they want to attract as much attention as possible in the hopes of drawing out the real Wolverine. In Australia, as Lady Deathstrike is being repaired following her battle with Wolverine, Donald Pierce explains to her that his plan is simple: to lure Wolverine to rescue what he thinks is a little girl, and that his robot Elsie-Dee is armed with a bomb with sufficient force to kill Wolverine. Deathstrike points out that a robot with the mind of a five year old girl might not want to self-destruct -- however Pierce points out that this is where his plan is genius - should the little robot try to circumvent her programming she won't have sufficient intelligence to deactivate the bomb within her.
Having stolen the tracking device that Sally and Jocko were using to track the faux Wolverine, Logan hopes to find the man who has apparently been impersonating him. Meanwhile, Sally and his men are not about ready to give up on recovering their stolen loot and also give chase. While at the warehouse where "Wolverine" and Elsie-Dee are holed up, Elsie-Dee is taking the knowledge that she learned from speed-reading books at a Radio Hut and uses equipment they purchased to upgrade her companion. Saying that he will be as smart as Einstein she begins calling him Albert and hopes that with his added intelligence and new equipment installed he might be able to find a way to defeat Wolverine in battle so that she doesn't have to sacrifice herself with her destruct protocol. Now with a higher intelligence, Albert has developed a sense of feelings toward Elsie-Dee and hopes that she doesn't get destroyed either.
As Logan approaches Venice Beach, he comes across the two girls he rode into town with. Stripped down to bikinis and carrying surfboards, the two girls ask Logan for a lift to the beach. He is more than happy to oblige, even going so far as to chop off the roof with his claws so that they can fit their surfboards in the vehicle. While back at the warehouse, Elsie-Dee is upgrading herself so that she and Albert are connected via radio so that they can communicate with each other. When Albert detects Wolverine coming, he goes out through the warehouse's trapdoor to sneak up on the feral mutant.
As Sally and his goons speed to Venice beach, he calls Lumpy over in the Hills and tells him that if Storm shows up there not to tell her anything. This warning comes too late as Storm is already there and has used her powers to knock down most of Lumpy's house. Learning that Wolverine has been spotted headed toward Venice beach, she leaves Lumpy in the ruin of his home to meet up with her comrade. Back on the beach, Wolverine picks up Albert's scent under the boardwalk he is walking on with the girls. Telling the girls to get to cover, Wolverine jumps below just as Albert slashes open a hole in the boardwalk. The two begin to fight.
Elsewhere on the beach, Sally and his goons arrive to find what Wolverine did to Molokai's car when they are confronted by Storm, who warns them to turn around and walk away. Before their stand-off can progress, both Wolverine and Albert smash up through the boardwalk in front of them. Before Sally and his goons can attack Logan, Storm summons a tidal wave to wash them away. Slashing his opponent Wolverine realizes that he's fighting a robot duplicate and begins really tearing into Albert. Elsie-Dee tells Albert to get somewhere to allow his repair systems to fix the damage done to his body, and creates a distraction to lure Wolverine away - namely starting a fire and pretending to be a little girl in distress. Albert collapses and plays possum until Wolverine and Storm notice the fire and hear Elsie-Dee's cries for "help". Only seeing a little girl in trouble, Wolverine rushes to her rescue, completely unaware of the deadly trap that he is charging toward.
This story is continued next issue...