As Logan moved through the place, he saw piles of rubble scattered everywhere, the remains of what appeared to be some kind of nuclear facility.

Taking in his surroundings, he felt small prickling sensations inside his head, each one putting him in a worse mood. He found himself longing for a beer just to ease the discomfort.

When he looked toward one of the piles of rubble, he noticed what appeared to be a person lying among the debris, so he quickened his pace to get a better look.

Once he arrived, he saw the person on the ground and froze in surprise. It was the same man he had seen before, only now with two bullet wounds in his forehead.

Logan bent down and reached toward one of the wounds, but the moment his fingers came close, the world around him twisted. The wound expanded like a vortex, and before he could react, he was pulled inside.

Plum!

"Argh."

He groaned from the impact, and when he lifted his head, he found himself somewhere completely different. Nearby stood a man with two children.

Getting up from the floor, Logan watched the man speaking with someone lying in a bed. As he turned his head, he suddenly began hearing the distant shouts of a man repeatedly yelling a name that echoed through his mind.

Elizabeth.

Deep down, Logan felt that he recognized that name.

He watched as the man and one of the boys left the room. Looking toward the other boy still lying in bed, Logan felt the pain in his head intensify. Then he heard a sound from beyond the door, a sound he somehow knew he would recognize anywhere.

The boy climbed out of bed and opened the door.

Logan followed him.

He ran alongside the boy through the hallway until they reached the railing, where both stopped to see what was happening below. Logan moved down the stairs faster than the boy and saw a man lying on the floor, dying from a gunshot wound.

He approached the man’s side, and for one strange moment, Logan felt as though both he and the boy were standing in the same place, watching the same scene through different eyes.

The dying man spoke the boy’s name.

James.

Involuntarily, Logan’s claws emerged.

He saw the wounded man holding the woman and trying to rise, but Logan himself felt as though he were pinned to the ground. No matter how much he wanted to move, he could not. A powerless rage began rising inside him.

"There are things you do not understand," said a voice.

"No!" Elizabeth cried.

"I need you to know!"

"Please, no."

"No more lies."

"James."

Logan’s gaze shifted from the wounded man to the boy when he heard a sound he recognized. Looking at the boy’s hands, his eyes widened when he saw what was emerging from them.

Bone claws.

The boy screamed in rage and lunged at the man in front of him. Just as someone was about to shoot him, the woman moved the weapon aside, allowing the boy to finish what he had started.

"Ha.... James~."

Logan looked down.

The dying man was staring directly at him.

He ignored the screams around him.

The man slowly raised a trembling hand, and Logan took it.

"Re.... remember.... Ja.... James."

The words struck him like bullets.

His childhood.

His birthdays.

His fears.

His insecurities.

The identity of the other boy.

His mother.

His father.

His home.

Memory after memory exploded through his mind. Logan staggered as years of his childhood returned all at once. Looking down at the dying man, he lifted him from the ground and held him tightly, closing his eyes as every forgotten piece of his early life returned.

But his moment of peace did not last.

The world changed again.

Logan barely had time to understand what was happening before he found himself standing in the middle of a battlefield. Gunshots, grenades, and artillery fire thundered around him. He watched another version of himself charging through heavy fire, only for the scene to shift into another war.

Then another.

Then another.

And in each one, a familiar figure appeared beside him.

"Victor."

Logan watched himself and Victor fight side by side through battle after battle, confrontation after confrontation. They moved like animals through the chaos, protecting each other and tearing through anyone who stood in their path.

But Logan also saw something else.

He saw the war slowly changing Victor.

He watched the thirst for blood consume him little by little.

Suddenly, the battlefield changed again. This war was different. The weapons were more advanced, the tanks more powerful, and the enemy soldiers better equipped than anything from the previous conflicts.

Yet every one of them had something in common.

A symbol.

A skull with tentacles.

Logan immediately understood.

Hydra.

At times, he was forced to take cover from the gunfire even though he knew it was only a memory. He did not want to wake up. He was closer to recovering his past than he had been in years, and now that he had finally reached the beginning of his life, he refused to let it slip away.

Turning left, he saw a man in a blue, white, and red uniform carrying a shield, fighting soldiers marked with red skull symbols.

Next to Rogers was Bucky.

And alongside them were himself, Victor, and the rest of the squad.

"Rogers," Logan muttered with astonishment.

He had heard countless stories about the man.

Now he remembered fighting beside him.

The scene changed again.

Victor was fighting several soldiers when one of them raised a weapon behind him. Logan watched his younger self shove Victor aside, preventing the shot from hitting him. More soldiers quickly surrounded them, weapons aimed from every direction.

Then everything shifted.

Logan found himself tied to a post.

Victor was beside him.

He knew what was coming.

Bang.

Bang.

Bang.

Bang.

Bang.

Bang.

Logan felt every shot.

And with every impact came another memory.

How he survived after running away from home.

The years spent wandering.

The times he stole simply to eat.

His enlistment at Victor’s request.

The advantages and horrors of war.

The comrades he made.

The skills he learned.

Every bullet that tore through his body.

Every grenade.

Every artillery shell.

Every broken bone.

How he met Rogers.

The offer to help him.

The time he helped free him from a Hydra prison.

Everything returned.

Every memory led him toward one final moment.

His execution.

"Animals!"

The scene changed again.

"I am Major William Stryker."

The instant Logan raised his head, every cell in his body screamed at him to kill the man standing in front of him.

"You are accused of killing a superior officer. Is that correct?"

Logan looked toward Victor on his left, then toward his younger self on the right, sitting tensely inside the cell.

"It seems we have trouble respecting authority...."

"Shut your mouth, idiot!" James said with an annoyed expression.

"Sir," Victor finished.

"I hear your sentence was carried out by firing squad at 10:00 AM. How did it go?" Stryker asked, barely suppressing a smile.

"It was just tickles," James said while watching Victor play with a rat.

"Are you tired of running?"

Stryker removed his glasses and walked fearlessly into the cell.

"Tired of denying your true nature?"

Every word and every step drew the attention of the two brothers.

"And what the hell is it to you, sir?"

"Quite a lot, actually. I need you because I know how special you are."

That caught Victor’s attention.

"What you are worth."

Hearing the man’s words, Logan could not help comparing him to the devil. It was the way he moved, the confidence in his voice, the carefully chosen praise meant to make them feel special, as though he were perhaps the only person in the world who truly understood them.

"Listen. If you want, you two can stay here locked up like freaks, abominations of nature, or you can join me. I am gathering a group of people like yourselves, people with special abilities."

Victor looked at James.

James returned his gaze.

"Now tell me. Would you really like to serve your nation?"

....

"Damn. These changes are already messing with my head," Logan muttered, feeling dizzy from the sudden shift from a prison cell to the inside of a moving plane.

He raised his head.

Then froze.

"Wade?"

"Hey, Logan. Flashback to the future. Great way to add me to this Chapter, author. You really outdid yourself," Wade said while sharpening his katana, attracting everyone’s attention.

"What did you say?" James asked.

Logan stared at him.

"Can you see me?"

"So, if you want to know why I love this gun...and if I can see you right now...bye-bye."

Wade casually waved goodbye, leaving James staring at him strangely and Logan slightly disturbed.

"James."

"No."

"It is memorable," Wade said.

"Wade? Wade!" Logan tried to grab him, but his hand passed straight through his body. "What the hell is going on here?"

"It is kind of bulky, hard to take on a plane, but if you pull a couple of these out at your ex-girlfriend’s wedding, they will never forget it," Wade said while looking at Victor, who did not even flinch. "Apparently, you did not get it."

"How curious, Wade. I think you are confusing me with someone who cares about your affairs," Victor said.

"Sure. Because that is Peter. My future best friend, your friend and savior, and your walking terror."

Wade pointed at himself, then at James, and finally at Victor.

The comment made Logan try to touch him again.

His hand passed straight through him.

"They probably are not as intimidating as a gun, bone claws, or the overgrown manicure of a certain animal, but believe me, when they are used by a man dressed in red-and-black spider-themed spandex, they become so terrifying that you remember them for a lifetime."

"Okay. This is getting weird," Logan muttered.

"Your little nails do not intimidate me," Wade said.

Victor’s claws extended.

"There is only one person in this world who has a spider theme, and it is not you."

"Victor, relax. It is just Wade talking nonsense," James said.

"Hugh Jackman is right. Manicure?"

Wade held up an object for the group to see.

"Fred has a new tattoo. It worries me, though it is nothing like Peter’s."

James looked toward Fred.

"Fred, you only met her last night."

"I love her," Fred said.

"You love her after one night?"

"She is a gymnast."

Several people smiled.

"Bradley, land us now!" Stryker ordered.

The man in front touched his temple, causing the plane to turn sharply.

Both James and Logan immediately covered their mouths.

"Oh God," James groaned.

"Damn," Logan muttered.

"Are you going to be sick?" Fred asked.

"If we were meant to fly, God would have given us wings," James said.

"Relax, honey. More people die in car accidents," someone said.

"What about impalement?" James and Logan asked simultaneously.

"Hey. Calm down. Be nice, or at least try."

The person looked toward James.

"Do you want a bucket?"

"No," James answered.

"Gentlemen. We will be landing in five minutes," Stryker announced.

"Well. Why do I doubt I can stand being in here any longer?" James muttered.

"As my good friend V would say," Wade began.

"Grrr. Enough, Wade," James and Logan said simultaneously.

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