Wolverine Is the Biggest Loser in X of Swords So Far
As Marvel’s X of Swords tournament rages on, the X-Men continue to find themselves at the whim of Lady Saturnyne’s bizarre contests. From arm wrestling to maulings to marriages, the strangest of the Majestrix’s games have yet to be seen with Wolverine’s battles being no exception. To put it bluntly, Wolverine hasn’t been doing so hot and is currently Krakoa’s least valuable player.
For his first match of the contest, Wolverine finds himself in one of the Foul Courts of the Otherworld known as Blightspoke. Blightspoke is a barren wasteland that serves as a dumping ground for the unwanted junk of all the realities to which it is connected. As such, the remains of destroyed realties gather here and cause anyone who sets foot in Blightspoke to warp through each of these realities. And the whole place is fatally poisonous too which makes this place the perfect venue for a battle between immortals!
Saturnyne calls for a battle to the death between Logan and his adversary. Wolverine’s opponent for this match is none other than the Summoner, Apocalypse’s grandson. The Summoner’s invulnerability is pitted against Wolverine’s healing factor as Blightspoke’s constantly shifting reality coupled with the venomous landscape causes more damage to our warriors than they could ever do to each other. At the climax of a long bloody battle across an indiscernible amount of realities, Wolverine flings his blade, Muramasa, at the Summoner. The sword pierces through the Summoner’s head and the battle is finished. Since the contest called for a battle to the death and the Summoner was the first to reach this state, the Summoner gains a point for Arakko.
After losing a point for the Krakoans, Logan immediately finds himself in his second match, a drinking contest against Storm and the two decide to enjoy their beverages as Storm labels the match, “a gimme” for Krakoa. They earn a point for their team and are about to kiss in their drunken stupor when Wolverine is abruptly teleported to the Starlight Citadel where another match between two Swordbearers of Arakko is occurring. Logan finds himself between War, Apocalypse’s daughter and mother to the recently deceased Summoner, and Solem, a charismatic mutant with Adamantium skin who had recently helped Wolverine claim his Muramasa sword.
In Wolverine #6, Wolverine and Solem were searching for their respective swords in order to enter the tournament, the two mutants ran into each other at a Hand wedding in Hell initiated by the Beast (not to be confused with Hank McCoy). The bride and the groom of the ceremony each received a blade from the legendary blacksmith, Muramasa. In order to take these swords, Solem and Wolverine kill the couple and Solem ends up with both weapons while Wolverine falls into the clutches of the Beast. Solem proposes a deal to help Wolverine escape. He will give Wolverine one of the Muramasa swords in exchange for a favor. Desperate, Wolverine accepts and is able to escape the Beast.
Back in the present, it turns out that Wolverine’s appearance in this match is Solem calling in his favor, asking Logan to fight in his stead. As he exits the battleground, Solem reminds War of her son’s murderer. Logan’s continued intoxication from his drinks with Storm show how his healing factor isn’t working. Saturnyne states the rules of the battle to be, “The first to sever an appendage wins.” An enraged War attacks with her flaming sword, Vermillion, burning and lacerating Wolverine’s flesh with each swing. She pushes the drunk X-man on his back and digs her blade into his neck trying to decapitate him. Her attempts are for naught as her blade cannot sever Wolverine’s Adamantium spine. Wolverine pops his claws and cuts off War’s hand, repaying his debt to Solem and scoring a point for Arakko.
Wolverine hasn’t been the best team player during X of Swords. He not only loses a point for Krakoa in his first match, he even scores a point for the other team. His only saving grace from all this losing is the point that he gained with Storm. The current score for the X of Swords is currently at Arakko’s five points to Krakoa’s two. Only time will tell if Wolverine and his fellow Krakoans can make up this huge point deficit.
