Appearing in "Nightmare Persist"
Featured Characters:
- Wolverine (Leaves the X-Men)
Supporting Characters:
Villains:
- Sabertooth (Illusion or holographic simulation)
- Magneto (Illusion or holographic simulation)
Other Characters:
- Carol Hines (Illusion or holographic simulation)
- Abraham Cornelius (Illusion or holographic simulation)
- Deathstrike (Illusion or holographic simulation)
- Illyana Rasputina (Spirit)
- Iceman
- Psylocke
- Storm
- Shadowcat
- Beast
- Cyclops
- Quicksilver
- Moira MacTaggert
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for "Nightmare Persist"
Story continued from X-Men #25....
The X-Men are returning to Earth following their battle against Magneto aboard his space station Avalon with a critical passenger: Wolverine, who has just suffered having the Adamantium ripped from his body by Magneto's powers. With Wolverine's condition critical, Professor X and Jean Grey use their telepathy to enter Logan's mind to try and help him push through. In his mind they find themselves in a running course of Logan's memories, witnessing as a mental image of Logan is being attacked by Sabertooth, while he is crucified on a giant letter X. They witness as Logan relives the pain of having the Adamantium pulled out of his body by Magneto and suddenly find themselves in a flashback of Wolverine's time during the Weapon X program where his bones had Adamantium grafted to them. Realizing that they are seeing Wolverine's private memories that he wouldn't even share with his fellow X-Men, Jean finds their intrusion wrong and convinces the Professor to leave Logan's mind.
They do just as the Blackbird, hastily modified for space travel, begins having mechanical troubles due to it being unaccustomed for reentry into Earth's atmosphere. With failure to the main heat-shields, Bishop, Quicksilver and Gambit work hard to try and maintain the Blackbird's vital systems and prevent them from breaking up in mid air. The rough flying causes the medi-table that Logan is strapped onto to come loose and crash Logan into one of the planes walls. He awakens from unconsciousness howling with pain. Wolverine refuses to give up, but the other X-Men fear for the worst as they watch as Logan's healing factor begins to fail on him due to the extent of the damage done to his body.
As the Blackbird streaks through the atmosphere, Professor X, Jean Grey and Rogue try to keep Logan stable, and patch in to the X-Mansion where Moira MacTaggert is standing ready. She begins walking them through how to keep Logan stabilized as a grief stricken Jubilee watches from behind. With Rogue needed to assist Bishop and Quicksilver, Gambit goes to aid Wolverine. When the reentry causes the Blackbird's wing skin to begin cracking under the pressure, Jean is forced to use her telekinesis to keep it together. As the remaining X-Men on Earth watch things unfold, Professor X orders Gambit to monitor Logan's now fading vital signs as he enters his mind once more to try and keep Logan alive. He warns Gambit to snap him out of the psi-link if things get too grave, as if Logan dies with the Professor still in his mind, Xavier would die as well.
Inside Logan's mind, Xavier sees yet another revision of Logan's battle against Magneto, which ends much in the same way it did in real life. As a boneless Logan now begins to give up on living, he begins to head toward a bright light that has appeared in his mind. In the real world, the Blackbird has reentered Earth's atmosphere but it's not out of danger yet as it flies into a storm front between New Jersey and New York causing more damage to the craft, prompting Bishop to get Gambit to help them. Inside Logan's mind, Logan goes toward the light, ready to end his life when he is visited by the spirit of Illyana[1]. The spirit pushes Logan back, rejecting him from death, despite Logan's protests.
In the real world, Xavier is forced to leave Logan's mind as the storm begins to break loose the main hatch destabilizing the cabin pressure and threatening to suck them all out. Jean uses her mental powers to force the door shut, however when lightning strikes the plane it causes her concentration to momentarily slip and the hatch to break off. Jean is instantly sucked out the door but she grabs on for dear life. With the others lives in jeopardy, Jean uses her mental powers to keep them from being sucked out as well. In Logan's mind, he is surrounded by light and sees a hand reach out for him. Thinking that it's a hand to guide him back to the after life he reaches for it when he realizes it's Jean and she's in trouble. Regaining consciousness, Logan has gained enough strength to get out of his med-bay and grab Jean and pull her to safety as the Blackbird begins to land back at the X-Mansion.
Some time later, after given some time to heal, Logan finds that his healing factor has been significantly weakened. Despite this, he insists on participating in a Danger Room sequence to see if he's still got what it takes to be a member of the X-Men, even without his Adamantium bones and claws. The X-Men watch as Wolverine operates in the Danger Room with a look of uncertainty and fear on his face. Despite this, Logan presses on and refusing to give up he surprises himself and everyone else when bone claws suddenly rip out of his hands. With his healing factor not working at full strength, he is at risk of bleeding to death, prompting Moira MacTaggert to stop the Danger Room sequence and the X-Men to rush him to the medical lab.
Sometime later, Logan is out with Jubilee on the mansion property talking about the new revelation that his claws were bone and not implants, raising more questions about how Logan didn't know this for all these years, even during the his time before the Weapon X project. Logan talks about how his life had changed for the better since he got with the X-Men, but wonders where his place is with them now especially with his healing factor no longer running at peak capacity. When he lights up a cigar, he experiences for the first time a smokers cough and decides that perhaps he should give up smoking.
That night, Logan wakes up in the middle of the night and begins packing his things, he leaves a letter for Jubilee telling her that he needs to leave to figure out what to do with his life now and for her to stick with Charles Xavier and the X-Men. He leaves notes for all his teammates and goes to his motorcycle. Before he leaves, he looks up and sees that Jubilee is awake and tearfully watching him leave the premises. Waving goodbye, Wolverine rides off into the night, beginning the next chapter in his life, a chapter without his friends the X-Men.
Notes
- Part of the Fatal Attractions event.
- First revealed that Wolverine's claws were part of his bone structure and not implants.
See Also
Links and References
References
- ↑ Illyana died of the Legacy Virus in Uncanny X-Men #304