Wolverine & Shadowcat

#04
15th MARCH 2001

Wolverine: He is known by most only as Logan, Onslaught's most dangerous prelate. He was among Onslaught's first gathered prelates and is his most trusted assasin. Logan posseses an adamantium skeleton, a healing factor , and a set of razor sharp claws. He has a close relationship with his partner, Kitty, and loves her as if she were his own daughter.

X-Man: Scott Summers was the first X-Man. With the power of concussive optic blasts, Scott first took the code-name of Cyclops and led the X-Men. During his time as leader of the X-Men he married Madelyn Pryor and fathered a son, Nathan, who cured his uncontrolable optic blasts. He was later captured by Onslaught's prelates, where he fathered Rachel Summers to prelate Jean Grey. Thanks to the trechery of Hank McCoy, another of Onslaught's prelates, Scott was freed and reunited with Maddie and Nathan. Now Scott and Maddie fight to keep their son out of the hands of Onslaught.

Shadowcat: Kitty Pryde has worked with Logan since the moment she was first enrolled into Onslaught's army, and chosen to become one of his prelates. She is a technological genius, and posseses the ability to phase through solid matter. She also posseses the ability to disrupt electrical currents while in her "phased" state.

Iceman: Bobby Drake served with Scott as one of the first X-Men. Now he is hunted by Onslaught's prelates as one of Onslaught's fabled "Five," a group who are destined to lead Onslaught's forces to victory.

"Mortality" (Prelude to Armageddon Conclusion!)

by Tony Thornley.

edited by Benn Vallely

Akkaba, Egypt
Logan's feral roar tore through the dusk of the Egyptian desert. Wolverine's bloodlust was at a peak, with good reason. He had just been attacked by one of the world's most powerful psi talents, and her attacks had driven him into a rage. A rage that meant the demise of that particular psi talent, Madelyn Pryor-Summers.
Another roar echoed through the night. That of Scott Summers, the X-Man. His was a cry of mourning, not that of rage or bloodlust. He had been unable to stop his wife's demise. But he could avenge her murder. Scott leapt from the high wall, and let loose with an incredibly powerful blast.
Logan was standing, ready to claim another victim to his bloodlust. His eyes were clouded over with red, hungry for the sight of blood. He never saw Scott's blast coming.
Logan was thrown back several hundred yards by the sheer magnitude of the blast. Logan leapt to his feet, his rage no longer dominating his thoughts. He had felt that energy signature before, and now searched for the source. He saw Summers and growled. He sprinted across the sand of Apocalypse's training grounds, and leapt into the air at Summers. X-Man mirrored him, and met him in the air with a high kick. Wolverine twisted to avoid it, and Scott's foot glanced off his jaw.
The two combatants landed, and Wolverine grabbed Scott's still airborne foot and threw him. Scott landed with a grunt, then let loose with another blast. Wolverine was prepared for the concussive energy of the X-Man, and stood his ground as best he could. The energy sliced his uniform apart, revealing the scar from Scott's final blast six months before.
Logan tore the rest of his top off, and did the same to his mask. Scott unbuckled the cloak from his shoulders, and laid it on the desert sands. The two mutants started circling each other, each ready to pounce. Scott silently wished for his visor, which would eliminate the time it took for his powers to prepare a blast.
Logan acted first, moving in a powerful leap, his adamantium claws held forward like a deadly missile. Scott ducked beneath the deadly blades, and drove his elbow upwards, but Wolverine had already twisted his body to avoid such a blow. Scott turned and blasted Logan, sending the assassin tumbling through the air.
(In Age of Onslaught: Alpha - Tony)
(His son Nathan used his psi powers to enable Scott to control his optic powers- Tony)

Kitty Pryde looked at the combatants, then at the unconscious form of Bobby Drake beside her. It would be such a waste to kill a man as beautiful as he. Kitty knew that he would be a prime breeder.
Shadowcat drew a knife, one stained with the blood of its countless victims. She rose it over her head, ready for the killing blow. Two X-Men would die tonight.
An arrow whistled through the air and drove through Kitty's hand. Kitty dropped the knife and looked at the arrow protruding through her hand. Blood flowed down her arm. It was a serious wound.
Kitty looked in the direction the arrow had come and saw an archer clad in purple aiming at her heart. Kitty phased through the ground as the arrow flew over her head. Shadowcat was gone.

Interlude:
Onslaught Island
*THOOOM*
He didn't know what time it was.
*THOOOM*
The only thing in his mind was revenge.
*THOOOM*
He had seen his friends die.
*THOOOM*
Now he was going to avenge their deaths.
*THOOOM*
He neared the Prelate's barracks.
*THOOOM*
He was unstoppable.
*THOOOM*
He was the Juggernaut.
*THOOOM*

They ignored their wounds as the fight had been reduced to a wrestling match. The sand beneath them was stained red. Scott and Logan rolled over and over, the upper hand being gained then lost by each combatant.
Scott punched Logan hard in the gut, forcing the Prelate to arch his back, and giving Scott an opening to use his legs. He curled his knees to his chest and drove his feet upward. Logan jumped back, and landed on his feet, rubbing his gut where X-Man had just kicked him.
Kitty phased up through the sand next to him. She was pale, and he saw why when her hand emerged, the arrow still sticking out of it and blood flowing freely.
Logan slapped his comm badge. "Mainframe, this is Logan, get us out of here!" Wolverine and Shadowcat stumbled through a newly opened portal, back to Onslaught Island. Scott strode back to where he had dropped his cloak and fastened it back to his shoulders.
Hawkeye joined him, and Bobby slowly stood up, rubbing where Shadowcat had hit him.
"Is it over?" Clint asked.
"No," Scott said, "I promised Wolverine the day we next met he would die. That promise wasn't kept today. It will be kept the day the X-Men attack Onslaught Island." Scott turned from where he gazed, and looked at his wife's corpse. "Contact the other teams. I want them here when I bury Madelyn."

Epilogue:
"I would advise that you pull the troops from Akkaba," Wolverine said, bowing before Onslaught. "It seems that Apocalypse will come to you, my lord."
{And the X-Man will come to you?}
"Yes, my lord."
{How is Shadowcat?}
"The medics were forced to amputate her hand. She is already at work creating a prosthetic."
{It was the archer that escaped the Prelate at the statue, was it not?}
"Yes," Wolverine said.
{Then Pryde deserves retribution on the Prelates who let him escape. Deliver that message to her.} Logan stood and turned to leave. {Oh, and Logan.}
"Yes, my lord?"
{Excellent job on Pryor, but there is one of the Cabal who survived. Cain Marko, the Juggernaut.}
"Let him come," Logan growled. "Let him come."
(See X-Man #01 - Tony)

In Age of Onslaught: Omega it'll be Wolverine versus X-Man, to the very end! And this time, there's no holding back!

Story © 2001 Tony Thornley, and may not be reproduced without permission.

	Wolverine: He is known by most only as Logan, Onslaught's most dangerous prelate. He was among Onslaught's first gathered prelates and is his most trusted assasin. Logan posseses an adamantium skeleton, a healing factor , and a set of razor sharp claws. He has a close relationship with his partner, Kitty, and loves her as if she were his own daughter.

	X-Man: Scott Summers was the first X-Man. With the power of concussive optic blasts, Scott first took the code-name of Cyclops and led the X-Men. During his time as leader of the X-Men he married Madelyn Pryor and fathered a son, Nathan, who cured his uncontrolable optic blasts. He was later captured by Onslaught's prelates, where he fathered Rachel Summers to prelate Jean Grey. Thanks to the trechery of Hank McCoy, another of Onslaught's prelates, Scott was freed and reunited with Maddie and Nathan. Now Scott and Maddie fight to keep their son out of the hands of Onslaught.

	Shadowcat: Kitty Pryde has worked with Logan since the moment she was first enrolled into Onslaught's army, and chosen to become one of his prelates. She is a technological genius, and posseses the ability to phase through solid matter. She also posseses the ability to disrupt electrical currents while in her "phased" state.

	Iceman: Bobby Drake served with Scott as one of the first X-Men. Now he is hunted by Onslaught's prelates as one of Onslaught's fabled "Five," a group who are destined to lead Onslaught's forces to victory.