Onslaught Island

It was near midnight. Across the island it was silent. It would still be another twelve hours before the daring breakout of the X-Man would be staged. Wolverine didn't know that. He didn't even know that Summers was in Onslaught's possession. All he had known the past several hours was pain as the wounds sustained from crashing through several floors in the Hellfire Club's brownstone healed.

He cleaned the sewage from his wounds with a small flask of whiskey he keep in his belt. He took a swig, then returned it to its holster. He sat back a moment and let his healing factor do its thing. It was a strange feeling when his healing factor went to work. It was a combination of painful and orgasmic sensations. He enjoyed it.

"Wonder how Kitty's doin'," he grunted softly to himself. "If they've done anythin' t' her..." His claws popped. "They ain't goin' t' be very happy anymore."

(X-Man #2 - Tony)

(Last issue - Tony)

Dwayne Turner stepped away from the battered and bloodied Kitty Pryde, buttoning his tunic. He smiled at her. She tried to avoid his gaze.

"I've enjoyed myself," he declared. "I hope you have."

"Go to he-" Turner's hand clamped over Kitty's mouth. He tisked her with a smile.

"Such language is unbecoming of someone so... lovely as you." Turner walked to the door of the cell, switching off the light.

"I'm going to kill you," Kitty called.

"Not if I kill you first," he called as the door shut. "See you tomorrow!"

Kitty struggled against the bonds she wore. They were too tight to phase through, ruining her only avenue of escape. She hoped that Logan would arrive soon. Then the two of them could go mop up these jokers. They had just taken them by surprise earlier. They could take them out.

She hoped.

Logan jumped through the hole he had made in his sudden descent to the sewers. The Cabal would learn not to mess with the Prelates of Onslaught. Especially Wolverine and Shadowcat.

He sniffed, catching Kitty's scent in the air. She was maybe a level up and a hundred feet to his right. He climbed through the next hole cautiously. He was now going into the inhabited levels. He had to be a lot more careful.

He headed down the hallway, ready for any threat. His senses alerted him to a man approaching the corridor from a distance, nothing to be worried about. He sniffed again, found Kitty's scent and approached her cell. He pulled a small lock-pick from his belt and quickly jimmied the lock. He crept around the door and shut the cell door behind him.

"I thought you weren't coming back until tomorrow Turner," Kitty's voice called into the darkness.

"Who's Turner, and do I have t' kill him?" Logan growled.

"Wolverine!" He heard Kitty shifting on the floor. "You're here! Thank the High Lord!" Logan heard keys jangling outside.

"Let's talk about this later," Logan said. "I gotta hide!"

Nick Fury threw the cell door open and turned the lights on. He saw Pryde against the far wall, curled in a fetal position. He picked up the small hunk of bread and bowl of water and strode to Shadowcat.

"Looks like Turner got a little overeager," he grunted. "Too much blood on your face." He looked down her body. "You don't seem to be dirty anywhere else. He's pretty clean when he does his thing." The cell door slammed shut. Fury spun around. There stood Logan, his claws stretched towards Fury.

"You want to be buried in one coffin or several," he asked. Fury screamed as Wolverine lunged at him.

Emma Frost looked at her companions in the Cabal. All but Fury and Turner were gathered in the room. Cain and Flint sat together, as usual, swapping stories. Jan and Rick stood together, also a common arrangement. Dane sat alone, absentmindedly swirling brandy in a glass, taking an occasional sip. She was about to call this informal meeting to order when a cry came from the main hall. The members of the Cabal poured out of the room to find a dismembered Nick Fury standing there.

Fury was missing his left forearm and had large gashes cut into his legs, chest and head. His internal organs were visible through the slashes in his gut. The eye patch that covered his hollow eye socket was missing, showing the full extent of that old injury. Fury gasped shallowly while his knees buckled beneath him.

"Wol-wolverine!" he screamed. "He's coming! H-he's going to get us all! Help m..." Fury collapsed from blood loss. Cain reached down and searched from a pulse with his huge fingers. He shook his head after a second.

"Split up," White Queen ordered. "Find them."

Dwayne tied a robe around himself as he stepped from the shower. His time with Shadowcat had left her blood all over him. Lighting a cigar, he stepped up to his sink and pulled a small bottle of peroxide from beneath the sink. The encounter had left small scratches all over himself.

Before he could open the bottle he heard a small crash in his room. Turner stuck his head around the corner. He looked around the room.

"Hello?" he said, walking into the room. "Anyone here?"

A foot slammed into his back, and Turner fell forward. He rolled over on his back. Shadowcat sat down his chest, forcing his breath from him. She grabbed the fallen cigar and took a long drag.

"At least you have some taste for tobacco," she said, blowing the smoke into his face. "Can't say anything else for your tastes." She stuck the hot end of the cigar into his arm. Turner cried out in pain.

"Glad that hurt," Kitty laughed. "Now you know a little how I feel." Shadowcat leaned in smiling. "You'll know the full extent. And a lot more." Kitty took another drag, blowing the smoke in Turner's face again. "Logan said I oughta let him kill you, but I promised you I would. And it'll be a good one." Kitty pulled a pair of handcuffs from her belt and fastened a pair to each of his hands. She then drove small hooks into the floor, fastening the cuffs firmly to the floor. She stood.

"How are you going to kill me?" he begged.

Kitty smiled. "You ever felt the sensation of being phased through?" Kitty stepped down on his stomach, but phased through his gut. "Interesting isn't it? Did you know that the laws of physics state that two different kinds of matter cannot exist in the same space? Phasing moves between the particles of matter, using the remaining space. It's not effortless. It's kinda like... walking through water. And since some things are denser than others, it's harder to phase through some things." Kitty took another drag of the cigar. She kicked him in the crotch. Hard. Turner screamed.

"I'm going to kill you now Turner," Kitty said, kneeling over him. She took another drag, then phased the cigar through Turner's skull, exhaling more smoke in his whimpering face. "You know what happens when two forms of matter occupy the same space?" Kitty smiled widely. "Boom."

Turner started to cry. Kitty laughed and let go of the cigar, phasing her body at the same time. The resulting explosion caused windows to shatter for blocks all around.

Cain Marko braced himself against a wall as the building shook all around him. He felt the heat of a fire nearby, and heard the sound of breaking glass all around him. Some sort of powerful explosion had just happened. Cain glanced back his shoulder at Flint.

"Let's go," he grunted. "I'll betcha that's where they are." The criminal once known as Sandman nodded and followed Juggernaut. They made their way down the hall towards what was once Turner's room. Cain heard a strangled grunt from Flint.

"You okay back there buddy?" Juggernaut asked. No answer. "Flint?" Juggernaut spun around to see a pile of blood-soaked sand. "FLINT?!"

"You should have been quieter," said a voice from above him. "I can hear th' rats in th' sewers about three blocks away. I can smell your team-mates in th' buildin'. You can't sneak up on me, bub. I'm yer worst nightmare."

Wolverine jumped out at Juggernaut from the shadows. Cain wished for his helmet, which would provide protection to one of his only weak spots; his head.

Wolverine slashed Cain's chest, his claws clanging against the mystical metal of the Juggernaut's armour. Cain grinned and threw his arm out at Wolverine, slamming him across the corridor. Logan picked himself up and lunged again, this time aiming for bare flesh. The adamantium blades scored true, and Wolverine drew blood. Juggernaut lashed out, but Wolverine dodged and leapt under Cain's legs.

Juggernaut started to turn, but Logan was on his back before he could. Cain slammed his back against the wall, while the punitive Prelate wrapped his arm around Cain's neck. He placed his free fist up to Cain's temple while the Juggernaut pounded him against the wall.

"I've- URK!- had fun," Wolverine grunted through blows. "But... game over."

>SNIKT!<

Rick Jones walked alongside Janet Van Dyne, who had shrunk thanks to some Pym Particles stolen from the HRM, and was flying due to strange wings that sprouted when she shrunk. Rick didn't understand it, and didn't want to. He doubted Jan did either.

Rick sensed something behind them, and looked over his shoulder. Nothing. His imagination was playing tricks on him. The White Queen had guessed wrong when she thought Rick and Jan, who had both played hero for a while during Onslaught's take-over, would switch allegiances, from good to bad. In that, the two had found kindred spirits in each other. Although they had never thought of becoming romantically involved at first due to their age difference, they became lovers for a short time, then split off once the White Queen hinted at discovering them. They remained friends, but still, the time they had spent together lingered between them.

Rick turned again. He was sure he had felt something behind them this time.

"What is it?" Jan whispered.

"I don't kn-!" Shadowcat phased through the floor and kicked Rick, spinning him around. Jan started flying in a defensive pattern, hoping to anticipate Shadowcat's next move.

"Shrink and grow wings, huh?" Shadowcat taunted. "I've seen better. I've beaten better."

Jan dived at Kitty, blasting her with bio-electric energy. Shadowcat laughed, then back handed the minuscule member of the Cabal. Jan slammed into the wall, then fell to the floor, her neck-broken fatally.

Rick stood, his nose bloodied. "You killed her!" he gasped angrily.

"That's the whole reason I'm here," Kitty laughed. Rick assumed an offensive martial arts stance, and Shadowcat laughed. "Oooh! Pretty boy of the Cabal thinks he can best Katherine Pryde in the martial arts. Let me tell you something -" Kitty assumed a similar stance. " - I wrote the book on these martial arts. Let's get it on!"

Rick leapt at her, and Kitty pushed him away with a slight sweep of her arm. Rick hit the wall, now stained with Jan's blood, and fell to the floor. He tried to get up, but Kitty slammed her foot into his spine with a satisfying crack. Rick lay on the floor, paralysed from his waist down. Kitty grabbed him by the hair, and held him in front of her face.

"Worthy fight," Kitty declared. "Too bad there isn't a flatscan on this planet worthy enough to face and defeat me." She twisted his neck brutally in a killing blow.

Emma Frost felt two of her Cabal die at once; Rick Jones and Dane Whitman. Whitman had been ambushed by Wolverine and didn't put up any fight whatsoever. Emma had always known he was weak.

"You're next," said a voice descending from the ceiling. Shadowcat floated to her eye level, her arms folded. Emma attempted to seize control of her mind, but had no affect.

"I can feel what you're trying to do," Kitty said. "It's too bad that Onslaught had psi buffers implanted directly into our minds six months ago."

"The only psi intrusion we'll have is one we want," growled a voice from behind her. Emma turned to see Wolverine slink towards her. "Who - or what - convinced you to betray the High Lord?"

"I don't have to answer to the likes of you, animal." Emma answered.

"You pull the info from her computers," Logan growled to his partner, "I'll try to get the information we need..." He held up his blood streaked claws. "...as nicely as I can."

In Wolverine & Shadowcat #03: Logan and Kitty go after the source of Frost's funding; a mysterious fortress in the sands of the Sahara. Who are Frost's founders, and why is there a battalion of Sentinels safeguarding the fortress? Find out in an issue that will bring this title and X-Man to a crossing.