Wolverine

“RRRRRAAAARGGGHHH!”

The Mutant known as Wolverine let out a primal scream as his razor-sharp Adamantium claws sliced through yet another of Ultron’s robotic drone soldiers.

“Easy, Logan,” Magik said to her fellow X-Man. “If we’re going to win this battle and save Krakoa, we need your head in the game. Not just your claws.”

“Thanks for the reminder, snowflake,” Logan said as he took a deep breath. Pulling himself back from the edge of a berserker rage, the cloud of red obscuring Logan’s vision began to fade. He was once again able to survey the battle taking place around him with a clear mind. And despite the devastation sweeping across the nation he called home, he liked some of what he saw.

Magik had already returned to the battle, using her giant Soulsword to cut multiple androids in half with a single stroke. Around her, a horde of demons — Magik’s loyal subjects from Limbo, the netherworld in which she reigned — stood at the entrance of a Krakoan gateway, eviscerating any mechanical invader that dared to pass through to the living island. Logan had been fond of Magik ever since she was just a little girl, but seeing the strong and fearless warrior that this version of her had grown into filled him with a sense of pride that he rarely felt.

Nearby, another Mutant warrior was skillfully fending off Ultron’s forces with her psychic blade, but this one was only vaguely familiar to Logan. True, he and Psylocke had fought side-by-side for many years as members of the X-Men, but this woman — who simply referred to herself as Sai — was a version of Psylocke from another timeline who had only recently arrived on Krakoa. And unlike the alternate Magik, this Psylocke was vastly different from the one Logan knew. Even so, she defended her new home as if it had always been her own, which is all that Logan could ask for. And her pet wolf, who happened to share both Logan’s name and his ferocity, wasn’t so bad to have around either.

Logan heard a noise coming from the shoreline and turned to see a small army of sea creatures emerging from the churning waves. The aquatic beasts blasted the bots with bolts of seawater. A massive monster even shot an enormous laser, obliterating an entire squadron of Ultron’s drones. Namor, the king of the seas, stepped up next to Logan and smiled proudly.

“You Mutants are lucky to have me on your side,” Namor said. “Ultron’s toys are no match for the monsters of the deep.”

“I sure hope you’re right, fish breath,” Logan said, as yet another battalion of robotic drones blasted its way through an unguarded Krakoan gate, “cuz we’ve got more uninvited guests!”

As Logan ran directly into the new wave of android assailants, he held his arms out to his sides so that his fully extended claws could slash their way through every hunk of scrap unfortunate enough to pass him by. The drones fell to the ground in pieces around him.

“About time I started getting the security I paid for,” a voice said inside of Logan’s head. It belonged to the Mutant telepath Emma Frost.

Emma had been the one who had planned tonight’s extravagant Hellfire Gala on the island of Krakoa. She had invited countless Super Heroes and powerful world leaders to dine, dance, and determine the future of relations between man and Mutantkind. But things went terribly wrong when the genocidal robot called Ultron returned to Earth and crashed the party. What started as an evening of fun and festivities had since devolved into chaos and all-out war.

“If you wanted a bouncer, Emma, you shoulda hired the Blob,” Logan snapped back in his mind. “I can’t control who comes through the gates. I can just cut ‘em to pieces once they do.”

“I simply imagined that you and the little X-Force you assembled —” Emma continued.

“This ain’t no X-Force, lady,” Logan barked, stopping Emma mid-thought. “Magik, Sai, Namor… They’re all tough as nails, sure. But despite the matchin’ costumes, we ain’t never fought as a team before. And it shows.”

“Indeed it does…” Emma’s said as her thoughts began to trail away. Logan knew that she meant no harm, but even so, he was glad to finally have her out of his mind. He had more important things to focus on.

Wolverine raced over to where Magik and Namor were standing. Both Magik’s demons and Namor’s sea creatures were doing their best to block off any new reinforcements from coming through the Krakoan gates. But for every portal they managed to secure, another seemed to open, as if Ultron had somehow gained full access to Krakoa’s network of interspatial gateways.

“We’ve gotta shut these blasted doors down,” Logan said. “We can’t let any more of these things in.”

“The only problem with that plan,” Magik replied, “is that no one else would be able to get out either. Including all the innocent people who were attending the Hellfire Gala.”

“I know of very few air breathers whom I would consider ‘innocent people’…” Namor said with indifference. “Besides, I thought you Mutants put the safety and sanctity of Krakoa before all else.”

“Not before helpin’ others,” Logan replied. “Even if the folks we’re tryin’ to save are the very same kinda humans who would send an army of Sentinels to wipe out our entire nation if they had the —”

Logan paused for a second, realizing that what he just said might hold the key to their dilemma.

“Sentinels,” he muttered under his breath. “That’s it!”

For years, humanity had attempted to exterminate Logan’s people by building massive Mutant-hunting robots known as Sentinels. At first, they were easy to defeat with just a few slashes from Logan’s claws. But with every new generation, the Sentinels’ defenses had been improved upon. Still, there was one thing that always succeeded in taking down these mechanical menaces — an electromagnetic pulse.

“Anyone seen Magneto?” Logan asked.

“Last I heard, Ultron took him out,” Magik said. “I would check the Arbor Magna. He should almost be resurrected by now.”

“Ain’t got time to wait,” Logan scowled, rushing off toward the jungle at the heart of Krakoa. “Gonna have to go to my back-up plan.”

“Where do you think you’re going?” Namor demanded.

“To end this fight once and for all, bub,” Logan yelled back, never breaking his stride. “Hold the fort ‘til I get back, eh?”

Logan raced as fast as he could to the entrance of a secluded cave. Stepping inside, he found himself in the Armory — the secret workshop of the X-Men’s resident inventor, Forge. Unfortunately, Forge wasn’t currently home… but Logan could smell that he wasn’t alone…

“You don’t belong here,” Logan growled at the intruder.

“Funny,” Rocket replied, stepping out from the shadows clad in a massive hat and flowery shirt, “I thought you Mutants were supposed to be all about coexistence.”

“I am Groot,” his tree-like companion added as the shiny little Warwolf called Amazing Baby nibbled on his stray branches.

Logan snatched a strange, high-tech device out of Rocket’s paws.

“This ain’t your tech, runt,” Logan said. “You got no idea what you’re dealin’ with here.”

“True,” Rocket mused, “this stuff is all pretty advanced by Terran standards. But to me, it’s as outdated as Quill’s stupid music player. My work is lightyears ahead of this!”

“Then maybe you can help me,” Logan said, suddenly realizing that having a self-proclaimed tech genius like Rocket on his side might be exactly the advantage he needed. “If we want to take down Ultron once and for all, we need somethin’ powerful. Like —“

“An electromagnetic pulse grenade?” Rocket asked with a smirk.

“Yeah,” Logan said. “One of those.”

“Whaddaya think you’re holdin’, pal?” Rocket said, pointing a tiny finger at the device that Logan had snatched from him earlier.

“I am Groot,” Groot added.

“You tell him, big guy,” Rocket laughed.

“So… if we set this thing off, Ultron’s done for?” Logan asked as he examined the device.

“In theory,” Rocket replied. “But there’s a catch. Alla’ the other tech across the island goes down, too. That means fancy suits of armor, bionic limbs, and any top-secret gizmos you might be hidin’ in caves like this one.”

“Cerebro…” Logan whispered, realizing that the pulse would also potentially take out the one piece of technology that Mutantkind valued the most. Cerebro was used to store the genetic data and memory profiles of every Mutant on Krakoa, making it the key to their Resurrection Protocols. If the EMP destroyed Cerebro, it would take the future of Logan’s people with it.

“Did you say ‘Cerebro’?” Rocket asked, raising a bushy eyebrow. “Me and Groot heard Ultron jabberin’ about that thing… whatever it is. Said he was gonna claim it for himself.”

“Over my dead body,” Logan snarled. He took the EMP grenade and rushed towards the exit of the Armory.

“Hey! Get back here with my flarkin’ pulse bomb!” Rocket yelled.

“I am Groot,” Groot said with disappointment as Logan disappeared back into the Krakoan jungle.

“I know, right?” Rocket responded with frustration. “I did all the work and that walkin’ can opener is gonna get the credit! Story of my life…”

Logan wasn’t concerned about who got recognition for ending this fight. All he wanted was for it to be over before Ultron could do any more damage. And now that Ultron had his sights set on Cerebro, Logan knew he had no other choice. He couldn’t allow the sensitive data stored on Cerebro to fall into Ultron’s hands. He would rather destroy the device than let Ultron pose a greater threat to Krakoa and all of Mutantkind.

Using his heightened senses, Logan hunted the original Ultron through the Krakoan jungle. There was something different about his smell that set him apart from all of his robotic duplicates that had flooded the island. It was almost as if this Ultron was made from a different metal… but it was one Logan’s nose couldn’t quite place…

Hacking his way through the dense undergrowth, Logan finally emerged just outside of the Pointe. Ultron was already there, attempting to blast his way into the Cradle — the location of the primary Cerebro unit. Logan had arrived without a moment to spare.

“You will not stop me from completing my new directive,” Ultron said as he turned and fired a laser beam at Logan. “Cerebro will be mine.”

“Take it,” Logan said. “It ain’t gonna do ya any good when you’re both lyin’ in the scrap heap!”

Dodging a barrage of lasers, Logan tossed the EMP grenade at Ultron. A split-second later, an enormous burst of electromagnetic energy released from the tiny bomb. Logan’s body was sent hurling backwards by the blast. It felt as if his bones were about to be torn out of his body. But he could handle the pain if it meant that Ultron was shut off for good.

For a moment, a hush fell over Krakoa. But then, an unexpected voice broke the silence.

“A valiant attempt,” Ultron said, hovering over to look down at the disoriented Logan. “But my body was forged of Mysterium alloy. Electrical conductivity simply charges me. And it seems your dear Cerebro is still on-line as well, thanks to the vines of Krakoa that kept it grounded.

“Nnnn… nnoooo…” Wolverine groaned.

“It seems that all you managed to do was to wipe out a few of my soldiers…” Ultron continued, “…and nearly all of the weapons belonging to your fellow heroes. I really should thank you for the assist…”

Ultron released a massive burst of energy at Logan, burning most of the flesh off his Adamantium skeleton in an instant. Logan roared in pain as he was roasted alive.

“…but I have worlds to conquer.”

Logan laid helpless on the Krakoan soil, only able to watch from a distance as Ultron entered the Cradle to claim Cerebro. As his healing factor finally started to kick in, Wolverine vowed that he would finish the job he had started in the only way guaranteed to take Ultron out of service permanently.

With his bare claws.