Appearing in "The Crunch Conundrum Part 1: Heartbreak Motel!"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Jubilee
- Mystique
- Elsie Dee
- Albert
- Hunter in the Darkness
Villains:
Other Characters:
- X-Men
- Morlocks
- Masque
- Shingen Harada - danger room costruct
- Ogun - danger room costruct
- Sabretooth - danger room costruct
- Deathsrike - danger room costruct
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for "The Crunch Conundrum Part 1: Heartbreak Motel!"
Following Logan's incident in Windsor, Ontario, Professor X wants to know what Logan's current mental state is as they have fears that he has become more inclined to becoming violent, a request that Logan had made himself. To facilitate this, Wolverine is placed in the Danger Room for a series of tests to see how his body functions in a battle situation. To everyone's surprise Wolverine tears through everything thrown at him without even raising his pulse rate.
They then attempt to try another method, having him wear a virtual reality helmet and pitting him against virtual versions of his various foes. The X-Men watch in horror as Wolverine slaughters virtual replicas of Ogun, Shingen Harada, Sabertooth and Lady Deathstrike and ends the session by howling with joy. Disgusted by this, both Storm and Cyclops walk out wanting no part in pushing Logan more toward his animal side. After the session is over and Logan has showered and changed he is on his way out to get some fresh air. When Jubilee tries to tag along, Logan refuses telling her that he's going to Auger Inn, a dive out in Westchester that Jubilee finds repulsive.
There, Logan is instantly attracted to a woman who had entered the bar and she invites him back to her room at the Cloud 9 Motel. Logan, finding the womans scent familiar agrees to go along. Jubilee meanwhile, can't sleep and decides to see if Logan is still at the Auger Inn. When she gets there she finds that Logan's motorcycle is not in the parking lot but over at the Cloud 9. When she tries to take a peek she is forced to duck and hide when someone comes out of the motel room that Logan is in. She is shocked when she thinks she sees Jean Grey, and decides that it's best to leave. As it turns out it is really Mystique who has picked Wolverine up. When she returns to the room, Logan admits he knew it was her the whole time and is unimpressed that she is taking on the form of Jean and then later Silver Fox. Logan asks her what she has come to him for. She confides that she is scared witless of her former Freedom Force comrade Spiral has completely lost her mind. As she explains the situation, she refuses to say her name for fear that Spiral will track her down and attack her.
Meanwhile, down in the Morlock tunnels, Albert has finished rebuilding Elsie Dee's body and also rebuilding their stealth bomber. Having become friends with the Dweller in Darkness (to whom Elsie Dee has named "Puppy"), they prepare to leave and take the Hunter back to Canada. As they are getting ready to go, Elsie Dee's systems calibrate when they detect a flux in the space time continuum. When Albert asks her if that's bad, she is unsure but admits that it's strange. While back at the X-Mansion, Jubilee returns home and is relieved to see that Jean Grey is out jogging instead of having an affair with Wolverine and hugs Jean tightly.
While back at the motel room, Logan doesn't understand how it could be bad to say Spiral's name since it's such a general word and that there is no way that she could pin point their location uttering it. Unfortunately for Mystique, Logan says Spiral's name and sure enough she teleports before them, proving Logan wrong.
This story is continued next issue...