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"Does it hurt when you extend your claws?"
Logan paused briefly before answering in a calm tone, "It hurts every time."
Despite his extraordinary healing abilities and the virtually indestructible adamantium bonded to his bones, Logan's body isn't made of steel. His muscles and skin, though covering unbreakable metal, are still flesh and blood. Every time he gets hurt, his skin breaks, and blood spills. The wounds heal quickly, sometimes in the blink of an eye, but the pain remains the same.
Whether it was his original bone claws or the adamantium claws he has now, whenever Logan uses them in a fight, he's the first one to get hurt.
The claws don't pierce his enemies first—they pierce his own flesh. This might be where Logan's inner conflict between his animalistic instincts and human compassion lies.
Hearing his answer, Rogue fell silent.
She realized she had a strange connection with this rough-looking man. She just wanted to get close to others, but she often ended up hurting them. Logan wanted to protect himself, but he hurt himself first every time.
After this exchange, their relationship began to evolve from two strangers meeting by chance into a bond that transcended age. Rogue even tried to act "mature" and told Logan to wear his seatbelt.
Naturally, the tough guy Logan scoffed and said, "I don't need you to remind me." But the next second, the car crashed into a tree!
Without a seatbelt, Logan was launched from his seat, smashed through the windshield, and flew out, leaving a huge skid mark in the snow.
Watching from the screen, Erik chuckled and remarked, "Looks like you taught every driver a valuable lesson on why seatbelts are important."
Logan rolled his eyes, "Only an idiot wouldn't see that crash was deliberate."
Erik laughed, "True, but the idiot in the video didn't notice."
Logan ignored his taunts and focused back on the screen, where he saw Rogue in the passenger seat, wincing in pain.
She was wearing her seatbelt, but the force of the collision had pinned her in place, unable to move. Behind her, clothes in the back of the RV had fallen onto a heater, igniting a small fire. To make things worse, there were gas canisters in the RV. If the flames spread, an explosion was inevitable!
Rogue struggled to free herself but couldn't break loose. Outside, Logan had also taken a hard hit, leaving a large gash on his forehead, blood dripping down. But, as usual, his wound healed almost instantly. Just as he was about to help Rogue, he sniffed the air and caught the scent of danger.
In the next moment, a figure leapt out from the trees with a roar, tackling Logan to the ground!
Though this man looked a bit different, Logan immediately recognized him as his "brother," Victor, also known as Sabretooth.
For some reason, Sabretooth had suddenly attacked, and with Logan in his amnesiac state, he was clearly at a disadvantage. After just a few moves, Sabretooth knocked him onto the RV's hood, where he fell unconscious.
Inside the car, Rogue watched in fear and worry. The flames behind her were growing, and it wouldn't be long before the whole vehicle exploded. No matter how hard she struggled, she couldn't escape. The shadow of death loomed over her.
Just then, a fierce gust of wind and snow swept through the area. Sabretooth turned around cautiously, spotting two figures emerging from the snowstorm.
One was a white-haired woman dressed in black leather, and the other was a man wearing strange-looking glasses. The man pressed a finger to the side of his glasses, and a red laser beam shot out from his eyes. Sabretooth didn't dare take it head-on and quickly retreated into the forest, disappearing in a few flashes.
On the screen, Erik curiously eyed the man and woman in the video.
He recognized the man. He'd appeared in one of Logan's previous future videos, where he was imprisoned at the Three Mile Island facility by Stryker and later rescued by the bald-headed Professor X.
So, Erik reasoned, this guy must be one of Charles' people, and Charles had sent him to help?
In the video, the two hurried to the RV. The man used his laser to cut through the seat restraints, freeing Rogue, and then helped pull Logan off the vehicle. Moments later, the flames inside the RV spread, igniting the gas canisters and causing a massive explosion.
The scene shifted to a quiet room, where Logan lay unconscious on an operating table, receiving treatment.
The doctor attending him looked familiar. It was Jean Grey, the woman who'd previously spoken for mutants at a council meeting. At this point, it was clear that Logan had been saved by Charles' group.
For the first time, the audience saw Jean's abilities in action. She seemed to have telekinesis, able to move objects without touching them. Just as she was about to inject Logan, he suddenly jolted awake.
Years of wandering and hardship had made Logan incredibly vigilant. He immediately restrained Jean, his sharp gaze scanning his surroundings with unease. The lab setting seemed to trigger some unpleasant memories lurking in his subconscious.
But Logan didn't harm Jean. Realizing there was no one else around, he released her and, bare-chested, ran out of the room. He found himself in what appeared to be a secret research facility. Confused and alert, he began exploring the place, flinching in surprise when a strange voice echoed in his mind.
Following the voice's instructions, Logan climbed up to the upper floors of the building, where he was surprised to find a school bustling with young students.
Under the mental guidance, he made his way into Charles' office.
Sitting in a wheelchair, Charles was assigning homework to his mutant students, exuding an air of calm elegance. Despite the shiny bald head, he didn't look like a bad guy.
Logan, however, didn't let down his guard. Even when Charles extended a friendly greeting and introduced the two mutants who had saved him—Cyclops, whose real name was Scott Summers, and Storm, whose name was Ororo Munroe, along with Jean who had been treating him—he remained wary.
Charles explained that Logan had lost his memories and filled him in on Sabretooth and the mastermind behind the attack, Erik.
But none of that seemed to ease Logan's caution. He even snarked, "What's your nickname? Wheelchair Man?"
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