The Silver Samurai had set his sights on Logan, but certainly not because Logan was the strongest.
It was because Logan, who had lived in post-war Japan for a time, was once revered as the "Wolf Samurai" (the Japanese seemingly unable to find a more fitting title) for his numerous good deeds. As a somewhat famous warrior, Logan was the ideal opponent for the Silver Samurai to prove his worth.
A literal bastard son, his biological father had raised him for the sole purpose of exploiting his mutant abilities, intending to mold him into a mere enforcer. He had fled and joined Hydra with the intent of proving he was more than a common thug. And what better way to prove oneself than by defeating the Wolf Samurai?
There were plenty of better ways, of course, but his small brain couldn't fathom them; he was stubbornly fixated on a duel with Logan.
Logan didn't go easy on him. He unsheathed his steel claws and lunged. After a swift dodge of the enemy's slash, he prepared to drive his claws into the man's chest. However, the Silver Samurai held his katana horizontally. As his mutant ability activated, the steel claws on Logan's left hand were sliced clean off in a single stroke.
Logan froze, staring in disbelief at his own claws. In a frantic move, he used the claws on his right hand to defend, only for them to be instantly severed as well.
Logan rolled away toward the katana he had previously discarded. He snatched it up to parry with the Silver Samurai, but the blade was snapped instantly. His chest was subsequently slashed open by the opponent's katana.
At this moment, Logan could only look at his adversary with utter confusion: Is that katana even legal?
"This is my mutant ability, Wolf Samurai. Just like your bone claws, I can make any sharp blade indestructible! No weapon can withstand the edge of the Silver Samurai!"
"Logan, catch!"
After another roll to evade an attack, Logan reached up and caught the Dragonfang sword that Spider-Man had tossed from out of nowhere. Operating on a "might as well try" attitude, he locked blades with the Silver Samurai. This time, the ancient-looking longsword actually withstood the slash.
The Silver Samurai paused in surprise, then let out an excited roar: "Haha, yes! That's it! Wolf Samurai! Let us settle this once and for all!"
"I really don't get what's going on in that guy's head."
After tossing Logan the magical weapon, Peter sighed while dodging Daken's relentless assault. Compared to the Silver Samurai, Daken's claws were sharp, but he was much easier to manage. Peter directly countered by deploying the four mechanical spider-arms from his back to clash with Daken.
"Speaking of which, it's been about a year since we last met, hasn't it? Where have you been since the Raft breakout, pal? Care to share? Weren't you with Sinister last time? Any news on him? Still keeping in touch?"
While watching Daken struggle against the relentless, rhythmic strikes of the steel claws, Peter fired web-lines in an attempt to snare the man's legs. Daken dodged with remarkable agility and found an opening to pounce. Peter, however, simply stood there and was easily impaled.
Of course, what he impaled was merely an outer shell.
The layer of armor he pierced quickly reorganized into nanobots, firmly pinning Daken's limbs. Lacking the strength or ability to break free from such a tether, Daken could only snarl continuously at Peter. Peter walked up to him and inspected him closely.
"So, the Hand really does have a brainwashing ritual, and a damn effective one at that. To think they could brainwash a man so thoroughly he can't even hold a conversation with his mother's killer."
Looking at the firmly bound Daken, Peter raised an eyebrow before sensing something and turning around. At that moment, Black Cat and Shadowcat were dealing with X-23. It wasn't that X-23 was fundamentally stronger than Logan or Daken, but she was unique.
Logan and his descendants possessed powerful healing factors and an accompanying feral nature due to their mutation. Both Logan and Daken had suppressed that feral side and dampened their healing factors by having Adamantium bonded to their skeletons. X-23, however, only had Adamantium on her claws; her skeletal structure remained natural bone.
This meant she was faster than both Logan and Daken, and her combat style was entirely different. When not in combat, X-23 looked cold and detached behind her sunglasses, but once she started fighting, she was a blur of motion. She moved with incredible speed and a combat style akin to a wild beast. Furthermore, her feral senses were not dampened. Peter tried to target her with webs and trip her up, but she moved far too quickly.
This was the situation Kitty and Felicia were facing. Kitty was fine; though she wasn't particularly fast, X-23 couldn't touch her while phased. Felicia, however, was having a harder time. Even with the enhancement of the Super Soldier Serum ensuring she wouldn't be caught, her gear was proving largely useless against such a target.
After a moment of thought, Peter devised a plan. He quickly communicated with Kitty, then looked toward Felicia. "Black Cat, run toward me!"
"I hope you have a way to make me stop running. I can't do a thing to this kid."
Felicia gritted her teeth and sprinted over. X-23 gave chase immediately. Peter fired a succession of web-lines at X-23, forcing her to dodge repeatedly until she landed exactly on the path he had predetermined.
Suddenly, a pair of hands reached up from the floor, seized X-23's ankles, and yanked hard, plunging her waist-deep into the ground.
Kitty emerged from the floor next to Peter and looked at X-23. The girl, unable to speak, snarled and clawed the air at the three of them. On the other side of the room, Logan, now armed with a proper weapon, used his superior swordsmanship to beat the Silver Samurai into the dirt.
"It seems you don't quite fit in with the Hand. They recruit ninjas, not chuunibyou kids who fantasize about being samurai."
"Perhaps you are right, Wolf Samurai. I thought our end would be a duel to the finish, but the Hand prefers more despicable methods to eliminate you."
The Silver Samurai smiled at Logan before being swallowed by a blue vortex and vanishing, leaving the four heroes with two captured Wolverines.
"Norn Stones are just too convenient. By the way, what 'despicable method' is he talking about?"
In response to Peter's question, Logan sniffed the air and caught a foul scent. "Hmm... bombs. A massive amount of them. It smells like the explosives in this vicinity are currently being detonated. They intend to blow us all up."
"Then they should know that won't actually kill us. However, this building... hang on. Kitty, please phase the bombs out."
Peter opened a Mirror Dimension and activated the speed mode on his suit, taking Kitty with him to retrieve all the bombs and dump them into the Mirror Dimension to detonate. Just as Peter was silently appreciating how useful magic was, his Spider-Sense flared violently, showing him a vision of what was about to happen in the next second.
Daken and X-23 began to emit a blinding light from within their bodies. Then, they exploded.
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