Deep within his mind, Wolverine sits, body still and
at peace, when his thoughts come in like black tendrils and envelope him! He
screams and back in reality, Psylocke screams as well, her mind linked with his
as he floats upside down in a sensory deprivation tank. Matsuo Tsurayaba
explains to Jubilee that they’re planning to use this sensory deprivation to
brainwash Wolverine just as they have Psylocke, into becoming their deadliest
assassin! As the combination of the sensory deprivation and Psylocke’s probing
begin to take their toll, Wolverine starts to lose the human part of himself,
bringing out the animal inside, better to sculpt him however they wish!
Tsurayaba considers this an act of vengeance, turning one of their greatest
enemies into their greatest tool. One of Tsurayaba's men then informs him that
the feelings Psylocke is getting from Wolverine are being transferred to them,
causing some of their more weak-willed members to lash out in fury! One such
man attacks his fellow Hand ninja, and Jubilee uses the distraction to let
loose a blinding flash, which has the added benefit of shorting out the
consoles. Using the darkness to her advantage, Jubilee dodges and weaves around
the Hand ninja, throwing out more blinding flashes for good measure, until she
runs headfirst into the Mandarin!
The Mandarin regards Jubilee, before subduing her with
his mento-intensifier ring. The Hand then catch up, claiming that they were
tasked with reclaiming Jubilee. The Mandarin makes short work of the attacking
Hand ninja, through a combination of his rings and martial arts prowess. Matsuo
then arrives and apologizes for his subjects’ lapse in judgment and promises
that it won’t happen again. Across the world, on Muir Isle, Banshee tests the
new defenses set up by Forge. Banshee flies in low to try and avoid detection
but he’s quickly incapacitated and caught all the same. Embarrassed, he’s
brought back to the control room, where Forge and Moira deem the new defenses a
resounding success. Banshee can’t help but still feel as if something is wrong,
with everyone but himself and Polaris acting oddly. Wondering where Polaris is,
she’s then shown to have been locked in Mutant X’s old cell by Legion. As
Polaris slams against the door in an attempt to get out, Legion reappears to
her, his villainous Jack Wayne identity having taken control of all of the
others, and their powers. He then reaffirms his plans to take control of
everyone on the island, to use as his own personal playthings!
Back in Hong Kong, the Mandarin has his servant dress
Jubilee up in traditional Chinese garb, in order to get her to appreciate her
heritage. She stubbornly rebels against this and the Mandarin states his plans
to use mutants to form the vanguard of his army when he takes over the whole of
Hong Kong! Down in the catacombs, Psylocke continues to try and break
Wolverine. Within his mind, she appears to him as Jean Grey, then Mariko, then
Yukio, presenting herself as a perfect combination of all the women he’s ever
truly loved in an attempt to seduce him. This doesn’t work and he slashes at
her, demanding she face him as herself. Psylocke turns back to herself and
attacks him, taking him down hard before stabbing him right in the head with her
psychic knife! However, this resulting psychic merge causes Wolverine to wake
up as Psylocke receives a painful psychic feedback. Now connected to
Wolverine’s mind, Psylocke sees Wolverine’s hallucinations of Carol Danvers and
Nick Fury as they attack her! At the same time, now awake, Wolverine slashes
his way out of the tank, as the Hand move to converge on him. As Wolverine
stands ready to fight, Psylocke jumps down on him, claiming him as her prey!
Up in Mandarin’s villa, Psylocke presents the
apparently dead Wolverine to the Mandarin! Overcome by shock and grief, Jubilee
lets loose an enormous energy blast that fills the whole room and blows a hole
in the side of the building! Jubilee sits in the aftermath wondering how she
did that, and Psylocke reveals that she’s free of her brainwashing, using the
opening to attack the Mandarin! The Mandarin dons his armor and fires back
against Psylocke. The Mandarin gets the upper hand, throwing Psylocke back into
Jubilee, and prepares for the final blow. Psylocke reaches out telepathically
to take control of him, resulting in a battle of wills between the two. Just
when it seems Mandarin may win again, Wolverine sneaks up on Mandarin and
extends his outer claws on either side of Mandarin’s neck. Now at an impasse,
the two come to an agreement to end things peaceably. Later, Wolverine,
Jubilee, and Psylocke stand on Wolverine’s boat and Wolverine explains that
when Psylocke zapped into his head, the mental feedback ended up shocking her
back to normal. Wolverine admits it was a calculated risk on his part, and
thought that connecting with his mental demons might be the only way to free
her. Psylocke admits that she isn’t sure if she really is completely free of
the Hand and when she asks how Logan can trust her, he responds that he has no
choice but to.
Give that special marvelite a timely gift