Wolverine: Heart of a Beast, Soul of a Samurai Arc #2: Reminiscence

Midnight's Orders

Weeks have gone by in Jasmine Falls, Japan, and Wolverine is making good progress. Although he is a superhuman, he is not perfect, and he makes mistakes along the way. He has already mastered three forms in three weeks and takes on some of the temples' best students. Logan also meditates with them as well. The training that he undergoes is not just physical training of the martial arts, but their concepts, and philosophy as well.

"If Logan can remember the philosophy behind these arts, perhaps it will help him to better remember them as well," said Osami to the other mentors at the temple.

"I agree. He is making rapid progress. He is quite skilled, and his acrobatic ability has greatly improved. He is using his agility and reflexes to dodge blows from spears and other weapons." During one of his morning sessions, he trains on wooden beams, to help improve his balance, reflexes, and agility. All the while using the three forms he has recently learned. While on the wooden beams, three students hurl ninja stars at him, and they are also armed with Yari's, which is the term for one of the traditionally made Japanese blades, nihonto. The training exercise begins. A student jabs at Logan, he sidesteps, aerials over to a beam, then sweep kicks the student off his feet. He grabs the spear, but then drops it, because a student violently strikes Logan's shoulder, using the bottom of his hand. Logan ducks his head underneath the students' arm, then gets both his hands on the students' bicep, then twists the students' arm downward, causing the student to lose his balance, he then swings his left leg over the man's head, and sits on the man's shoulder. An overhead swing from another student, Logan gets hit, begins to fall, but uses his right hand to balance on a beam, using this he backflips and regains his balance. A student spins a spear in his hand and attacks Logan. The two other students come at him from. All three of them hurl their spears, Logan ducks one, catches the other one and spins it in his hand. He uses that spear to swat the other one away. He assumes a fighting stance. He growls under his breath.

"Grrrrrr." He leaps in the air with a cartwheel, using the flat of the spear to attack one of the students' pressure points' at the side of the neck. He hurled his spear at a student. So accurate and powerful was the throw that it made the student go three feet back to the wall, and it was targeted right above the student's shoulder. The tip of the spear was at the top of the students' shirt, pinning the student against the wall. The last student hurls ninja stars at him, Logan sidesteps one, ducks another, then twirls over the last one and attempts to kick the student across the face. But the student ducks, does a sweeping kick, knocking Logan off his feet. He pulls out a sword and brings it down on Logan, who catches it in between his hands. Faster than thought, Logan spins on his bottom, knocking the soldier over. The soldier begins to fall, but using his sword, puts it in the side of the beam, and swings himself back and forth, then flipping onto another beam. While he does this, Logan backflips onto another beam. He throws his sword at Logan, who moves his face out of the way, grabs the handle, then hurls the sword back at the student. The student front flips over it. Logan attacks the student, executing a quick O Guruma, a judo throw, and knocks out the student. Osami claps.

"Well done Logan-San. I liked how you improvised during this training exercise."

"Thank you master," said Logan as he bowed to Osami. Logan helped the students up, then showered, ate lunch and went to go visit Jubilee at her job. He gets to her just in time for her lunch break, and buys her something to eat.

"You like your job Jubes?" asked Logan as he smoked from a cigar.

"It's really busy. Most of the customers are rude, and it makes me stressed out," answered Jubilee while she munched on a dumpling.

"Anyway, how's training going?"

"I've already mastered three martial arts, but I'm making mistakes along the way. Osami is a harsher teacher, but I like it. It makes me more focused and disciplined in a fight," said Logan.

"That's good Wolvie! Keep working hard," said Jubilee.

"Thanks Jubes, have you seen anything suspicious lately? Anything weird or sketchy at all?" asked Wolverine.

"Uh, not really lol. But some people talk about a ninja clad in white. They say he comes out at night and robs the stores for food and supplies."

"Really? Do they know anything else?" asked Wolverine.

"They say that he's black. Specifically dark-skinned," answered Jubilee.

"Interesting," said Logan.

"He's probably just a hand-ninja," said Jubilee.

"Hand ninjas don't rob stores for supplies, and they don't dress in white," answered Logan.

"Well, whoever he is, the people in this town sure do seem scared of him. I gotta go Logan. I don't wanna be late for my next shift." She thanked Logan for the lunch, gave him a big hug, then hurried out of the store. (After saying thank-you). Once Logan returns to the temple, he tells Roku, one of the masters at the temple about what Jubilee told him at the restaurant.

"Kono otoko rōgansan ni tsuite no uwasa o kiita koto ga arimasu. Kare ga hitori de 100-ri no dansei o koroshita to iu setsumei o kiita." (We have heard rumors about this man Logan-San. I heard an account that he killed 100 hand ninjas single-handedly).  

"Kare wa dare ga roku o masutā shite imasu ka?" (Who is he master Roku?)

"Karera wa kare o mayonaka to yobimasu." (They call him Midnight).  

"Kono mayonaka ga tokubetsuna riyū wa nanidesu ka?" (What makes this midnight so special?)

"Watashi wa shiranai. Tadashi, kono mondai ni tsuite wa atode setsumei shimasu. Torēningu no nagai tsuitachi o sugoshimashita. Yasumanai to." (I do not know. But we will speak of this matter later. You have had a long day of training. You must rest).   Logan eats his dinner, then goes to relax in his quarters for a little bit. In a dark cave by the mountains, Midnight is given his orders from the spirit of Ogun.

"Master, we need supplies. We are running low steel and rice, and we need tools to build our weapons," said Midnight.

"Chisana mura ni wa hitsuyōna busshi ga arimasu. Sore wa chīsana bōgyo de, chīsana muradesu. 40-Ri no samurai-tai o tsurete ikimasu. Mura o shūgeki shimasu. Seizon-sha o nokoshimasen. Bea to taigā no shizoku ni taisuru fuku Our no tame no seifuku to tankyū no sensō ga hajimarimashita!"  (The village of Chisana mura has the supplies we need. It is a small village, with little defenses. Take a squad of 40 samurai with you. Raid the village. Leave no survivors. Our war of conquest and quest for revenge against the Bear and Tiger clans starts now!)