X-Men: Decimation

Fire and Brimstone

The drive to the mansion was pronounced by small talk between Steve and Kurt, while Kyle was noticeably less talkative. Reaching over, Steve laid a hand on Steve's thigh and gave it a playful squeeze. Kyle simply cracked a light smile before returning his attention to the view of the mansion as they approached the grounds. Once they arrived in front of the school, Ororo descended the steps of the entrance to greet them.

"What's going on around here?" Kyle asked his friend as she ushered them into the main hall.

"Three days ago, Professor Xavier received a visit from the head of Department H," Ororo calmly explained as she led the way toward the elevator.

"Sonya Boucher," Steve recalled. "What did she want?" Steve asked.

Ororo swept her curtain of white hair off of her shoulders, throwing the scent of jasmine in its wake. "A mutant attacked Guardian and his wife, Heather," Ororo carried on. "A mutant man who happened to be a test subject in a secret project being overseen by General Ross."

"Ah, good old Ross," Steve sighed as he recollected what he had heard about this from Alpha Flight. A secret government organization was conducting experiments on mutants. Guardian and his team had stormed the facility in an effort to free the only surviving test subject- a man named Logan.

"For reasons we aren't aware of, Alpha Flight was led to believe that Logan was dead. They claimed he was killed," Ororo said. "But he later turned up at Guardian and his wife's cabin where he briefly held her hostage before being subdued by Guardian."

"And then they brought him here?" Kyle asked. "Why?"

The elevator opened up and Ororo led the small group down a sterile, metallic corridor and toward the holding cells. As they walked, Jean Grey and Professor Xavier appeared in a doorway.

"I've just been bringing them up to speed," Ororo said.

"Why did Boucher bring Logan here?" Steve asked.

Xavier scowled as he attempted to put the situation into words that would be more palatable to one who was not a psychic. "Logan," he finally said in a tense voice, "appears to be suffering from an immense amount of amnesia. He isn't aware of who he is. And every attempt to repair the fractures of his mind is met with incredible resistance. Whoever had him before us certainly did a great deal of damage to him."

"He attacked Guardian- probably because he was able to track him," Jean added. "Logan is a mutant with highly enhanced physical senses. In addition to that, he has a healing factor that makes him pretty durable and resistant to many forms of damage."

"What about the claws?" Steve asked as he stared down at his shield, taking notice of the scratches left behind.

"Adamantium," Xavier said. "His entire skeleton is coated in the metal."

"That's why he was so heavy," Steve said, finally answering an early question as to why his kick hadn't necessarily thrown Logan like he would have expected it to.

"He did feel really heavy when I shoved him," Kyle remarked. "So...what happens now?"

"Jean, Emma and I are going to work on his mind," Xavier explained. "We're going to attempt to bring some order to the chaos so that perhaps he can carry on a civilized conversation."

Kyle frowned. "What about Betsy?"

"Betsy is in London at the moment," Jean said. "Her brother woke from his coma."

Kyle's eyes widened in shock. "That's...that's incredible!"

"Yes, it's quite miraculous," Xavier agreed. He then smiled at the group. "I apologize for cutting this short, but Jean, Emma and I must see to Logan. He is in a state of great rage and confusion. Anything we can do to ease him and restore order will be better than what he faces now."