Editor's Note: This issue takes place after Apocalypse: Ageless Fury #2

I'm lyin' face down in the snow. Motor controls ain't respondin'. I can't get up and I'm feelin' numb.

My senses aren't so hot either - can barely see, the white of the snow, but I can still hear, I can still smell.

Several scents are comin' at me. First is my own blood, leaking from my battered body waiting for the healing factor to do it's thing - if it can. Second is the man closest to me. He's not the man who did this, but he is the man who ordered it to happen. I can't be sure by scent but if it's who I think it is, I'm dead.

He speaks and his voice confirms his identity. The voice of evil, the voice of death, the voice of everything the X-Men have fought against. Against him, even Magnus is nothing and if the prophecies are true then nobody can or will. However I don't buy in to that mumbo jumbo.

If I could only get up.

"You fought well, X-Man, and are worthy of respect. You took it to a standstill when many would have fallen. You are a survivor, however it would appear your survival is at an end."

I ain't afraid of dying, only that my death ain't in vain. If I can't stand, if I can't end this here and now, then it won't have been.

All I wanted to do was go fishing...

Wood Buffalo National Park, in Northern Alberta. Wild, rugged, undisturbed. Maybe that's why I like it so much. Brings me back to nature in a way no other place on Earth can. Not like the calm beauty of Japan, the organised chaos of Madripoor, the hustle and bustle of New York.

Here I can be myself, goin' back to nature, running wild without having to be in fear of letting the beast within me loose, for it responds to the wilds as well as I do - body and soul working in perfect harmony. The only place in the world I know of that does it.

Back in the old days, when I worked for Department H, running as Weapon X, code-named Wolverine, I used to have a small log cabin on the borders of Alberta, Saskatchewan and the Northern Territories. Then it was home to a load of high tech stuff from the Department, so they could call me in to action. These days it's not got much more than a chair, a log fire and a bed.

I may like goin' back to basics but I sure like a bed these days. Without the adamantium I can feel the cold in my bones after I've been sleeping on the floor. I need a rest, a complete break from the rest of the world, to heal, to rest and fix myself up. Time's of late have been hard. The battles long, not easily won and sometimes not won at all.

This is the best place to do it, and today I'm going fishin'. There's a nice little lake about fifty miles east of the cabin where the fish are jumpin, the water's fresh and cool and I can practice my huntin'. A man's gotta eat, and I'm in the mood for sushi.

The water's running free and the fish are flowing past me, but there's an unnatural stillness in the air. There ain't no bird song, there's no animals running in the area and even the wind seems to have died down. Other than me splashin' about in the water, there's not a sound. At least not the sounds there should be.

I'm on guard as I fish, spearing salmon with my claws as they go past. It's easier than catchin' by hand and the claws are already out, just in case. I don't know what's going on, but I don't intend my down time being spoiled without a real good reason, or by being caught unawares. Then I hear it. The swish of something being uncoiled towards me, and I instinctively dive under water to avoid it.

As I come back up, the wind has picked up and I can smell him.

"Arkady," I growl as I see Omega Red standing before me, only this isn't the same Omega Red I knew. Looks like somebody's been doin' some modifications to him. His coils aren't the only thing made of carbonadium like before, but it looks like his bones have been laced with it as well, including his teeth and fingernails.

Whoever did it seems to have modified the process used on me and carbonadium is a cheaper more malleable version of adamantium. Meaning it can't take the punishment adamantium can. Problem is, with claws of bone don't think cutting the coils will work. Barely been able to take Omega Red before. This time it's gonna be a whole lot harder.

And I thought an adamantium Sabretooth was bad.

"Logan," he responds. "By the order of the Eternal one, you are to die!"

"The Eternal one?" I gotta feeling I won't like this.

"The Master of the Horsemen, who are unfit to speak His name." As he speaks he fires out with the coils again, catching hold of me and pulling me in close. I can feel the death spore virus coming forth from him, invading my body, making me feel weaker. "My skeleton is akin to the glory that once was yours, and it contains my death factor, giving me full control over it, and preventing it from killing me. Unlike you, who have no protection."

"Bub, whilst I'm wrapped in yer coils, I'm partially shielded, besides having an carbonadium laced skeleton only means your bones are protected." My arms are pinned but my head's free and I butt him in the throat, pushing his Adams apple in to the back of his throat, causing him to momentarily choke.

As he does so, he releases me and I press the attack. I've gotta make this count, because he's got a better reach with those coils and the death factor won't do me any favours, either. Plus he's as strong and mean enough already. I don't do what I can now, it's gonna be over before it's even begun. I'm already feelin' nauseous from the virus in my blood stream, but I push past it as I run forwards.

The tears in his eyes cloud his vision as he coughs for air and I plunge my claws in to his gut and lift up, tearing vital internal tissue , until I reach his ribs, where my claws stop dead, one of them breaking as it connects against the metal.

I don't gasp, I don't wince, just take my hand out of his chest and run towards the woodland, knowing I have to get my healing factor kickin' in to combat his virus. In the depths of the woods I stop to catch breath, and vomit on to the snow, retching up the fish I'd just eaten, depleting the protein reserves that make my healing factor work.

This isn't good, 'cause without being able to heal as quickly, I'm in real trouble. Then again, I have gutted him and left him a claw for good measure. He doesn't have a healing factor, just a death factor. Bit o' luck I'll have evened the odds, and this is my territory not his.

It may be as cold as Moscow in summer, but that doesn't mean it's like Russia. The forest, the wilds, the rest of it. This is my world, and if I'm going to die, I'm sure as hell taking him with me.

"LOGAN!"

He's shouting my name. Calling me, challenging me. The beast within me wants to rise to the challenge, to face him down, to tear out his throat and feed it to him, but the man says wait, take the advantage. The lake is filled from the stream. The stream comes from the mountains. The mountains are the best place to defend from.

It's easier to defend the highest point than to attack it, though I bet whoever thought of that didn't have a Soviet Super Soldier with a death factor chasing him, wanting him dead for the glory of his Eternal Master. One of these days I'm gonna get a proper job, but until that happens I gotta do what I do.

And I am the best there is at doing it. To be the best, you don't have to be the strongest, you don't have to be the fastest or the smartest, you gotta be the last one standing. Sometimes it comes down to luck, others skill. But mostly luck.

As I head towards the mountains I can hear trees being torn up behind me as he follows me. I'm not as bad as I was, the air clearing my head and the healing factor doing the rest. The missing claws on my left hand is a pain - figuratively and literally - but there's nothing I can do about it. I start to climb, making my way up the mountain.

It's a familiar sensation. I remember something similar the first time I fought Sabretooth. At least I think it's real. So many flash memories flappin around my head, sometimes I lose track. Most of them have been cleared, but some remain and that's one of them. Circumstances are wrong though. Something else must have happened then that I can't remember.

Then I hear the swish of the coils coming and I move as it shoots past me, but this isn't the greatest vantage point.

"Gotta do better than that. Arkady!" I shout as I swing up grabbing a ledge as I do and pull myself up. He fires a coil up, but doesn't have the reach to get me now. I'd chuckle, but this isn't a laughing matter, because he's used the coils to hook on to the mountain and he's pulling himself up that way. I start to slash at the rocks below my feet, causing them to weaken and crumble.

This starts other little rocks to join it creating a miniature avalanche and it'd delaying Omega quite a bit. Above me's a bigger rock, that'll cause a much bigger avalanche an with luck bury him under several tons of rock, giving me time to get reinforcements. Gotta feeling I may need them.

Arkady's swaying in the breeze as the rocks slip past him and he 's on his way up again. It's a race now, and I've gotta win. It's not easy, as he's firing his lines past me, and I know he's going go use my own idea against me. I kick at his coil, causing him to swing from side to side. He can't climb whilst swinging that violently or he might lose his grip and fall, so I keep going up.

I reach the boulder before Omega Red, but he's not far behind me, and I can feel him unleashing the virus. It's getting to me, as I start to heave against the boulder and it takes all I've got to knock it loose. It slips from the mountainside as Arkady reaches the top, and it smashes in to him taking him with it. I watch as he falls down shouting my name.

I gasp and then fall to my knees as my healing factor takes on the virus, but I'm physically wasted and I'm barely aware of myself falling down at a great speed, the mountain blurring past my eyes. I barely feel the cold of the snow as I hit the floor with a thud then darkness takes me.

When I awake, I'm aware that I'm lyin' face down in the snow. Motor controls ain't respondin'. I can't get up and I'm feelin' numb. My senses aren't so hot either - can barely see, the white of the snow, but I can still hear, I can still smell.

Several scents are comin' at me. First is my own blood, leaking from my battered body waiting for the healing factor to do it's thing - if it can. Second is the man closest to me. He's not the man who did this, but he is the man who ordered it to happen. I can't be sure by scent but if it's who I think it is, I'm dead.

He speaks and his voice confirms his identity. The voice of evil, the voice of death, the voice of everything the X-Men have fought against. Against him, even Magnus is nothing and if the prophecies are true then nobody can or will. However I don't buy in to that mumbo jumbo.

If I could only get up.

"You fought well, X-Man, and are worthy of respect. You took it to a standstill when many would have fallen. You are a survivor, however it would appear your survival is at an end."

I ain't afraid of dying, only that my death ain't in vain. If I can't stand, if I can't end this here and now, then it won't have been.

All I wanted to do was go fishing, not face off against a Horseman of Apocalypse of the big man himself.

"Come, my Horseman," he says walking away from me. "Let us see if his vaunted healing factor will save him this time." There's a faint hum like a teleporter beam and then there are only the residual scents left. I still can't get up.

I'm tired, so very, very tired. I don't want to quit, to stop, but I don't think I have too much of a choice. Goodbye, Jean. Goodbye, Kitty. Goodbye, Jubilee. Sorry I let you all down. I can hear someone calling my name. A voice warm and tender. I close my eyes as I try and place the voice and one name comes to mind.

Mariko...

"Logan."

I open my eyes, the harshness of the strip lights hitting me and I shield my eyes.

"Logan!" comes the voice again. It's not Mariko, and I look at her.

"Heather..." I answer, a weakness in my voice. I'm at Department H.

"Rest easy," says James MacDonald Hudson as he comes closer. "You've had a busy day."

Mac and Heather explain how as soon as Omega entered Canada all the alarms went of at Alpha Base and Alpha Flight were scrambled to meet him, however by the time they got there, all they found was me. They hooked me up to their medical equipment and gave my healing factor a hand. From all accounts, it was still touch and go.

I explain what happened and Mac goes to send word to Xavier's. Heather and me have a good long chat, both of us knowing that this one was close, and also far from over.