X-Men Legends (1st series) #7

Nighttime in Osaka, a rainy dinghy street:
Logan drags Jubilee into one of the buildings and announces that he heard there might be someone here interested in some fresh merchandise. The men at the table call him a gaijin and order him to get lost. Logan shoves Jubilee forward and explains that she is different. A genuine mutant.

One of the men orders Jubilee to show what she’s got. She creates some very weak firecrackers. The men laugh. Just last week, they brokered a girl who could burn through steel plates! they boast. One man gets closer to Logan and explains the clan that took over Dai Kumo’s old turf is looking for the special ones. No matter what level of powers they have.

Suddenly, he stabs a knife into Logan’s chest and asks why they should share their commission with some smelly gaijin?

Impaling him from behind with his claws, Logan retorts that he might have asked himself that before he was dead.

Another man attacks with a katana, while the other two threaten Jubilee with a knife. Logan hits the one man in the face and orders Jubilee to light them up where the sun don’t shine.

Jubilee lights up her fireworks next to the men’s groin area and very quickly they run outside, leaving behind the only female member of the gang. She has drawn her knife but, suddenly, two thrown blades nail her to the wall, courtesy of Logan’s old friend Yukio. She had a feeling he would be here. The police are already on their way. She suggests they make their exit before they are stuck answering awkward questions.

They go to a ramen stall. Jubilee praises Yukio for her slick moves with the knives. Is she a ninja? Not hardly, she is an adventurer. Logan asks Yukio what brings her to Osaka. Her usual haunt is Tokyo.

She takes out a photo of two girls. She was hired by an orphanage to find these two sisters, Yurei and Hino-chan. The parents died in a housefire when the girl were toddlers. The orphanage directors thought Hino-chan was a pyromaniac and left her locked up, but she melted the lock. They think she used a blowtorch, but Yukio knows better. She also suspects the girl has congenital analgesia and is probably impervious to psychic pain as well. Yukio continues how Yurei was mistaken as some child prodigy escape artist, because locked rooms could not contain her. The thing is, she can phase her molecules through solid matter. She teleports too and can phase and teleport anything she touches. Yurei is hypersensitive to pain both physical and psychic.

While Logan studies the photo, he explains Xavier heard about mutant kids being abducted and wanted him and Jubilee to check that out. These two seem to be likely candidates for his little academy in Westchester.

Yukio reminds him he mentioned something about the Yakuza, saying something about the gang that took over Dai Kumo’s. He was a bigtime oyabun around here. Ligan knows who he is and where his turf is. Shall they go there and rattle a few cages?

Jubilee asks if she can have a noodle refill first. Yukio orders for her.

Elsewhere, Journalist Reiko Sato reports from Shinsenkai, where a yakuza-owned nightclub has apparently been raided by another gang. She describes a popular aqua-themed eatery occupying a site that was once the HQ of the criminal clan run by Dai Kumo. She walks into the devastated building, explaining the yakuza who survived this raid fled and have taken their dead and wounded, so there are no witnesses. Passers-by noted flashes of what seemed to be fireworks from inside the building.

The police are baffled by the mysterious claw marks. Reiko wonders aloud if ninja were involved, noting the shuriken stuck in the table. She walks down to the cellar which includes a cellblock, raising the question who was locked up here. One of the cells is lined with asbestos and below it is a mysterious foil. A scorched schoolgirl uniform blazer was lying on the futon. The brass button is from the Kondo orphanage school in Tokyo.

While the report is shown in the news, Logan, Jubilee and Yukio surround a tied-up Yakuza member, who warns them they have no idea what they are meddling with. There are others involved who will chew them up and spit them out. Unimpressed, Yukio demands where the kids they had locked up in those cells are now. The man replies he was an underboss in Kumo’s clan, before he started his own. They have a system of honor. He will not betray Kumo, no matter how they torture him.

Wolverine unsheathes his claws. They traffic children and he has the gall to claim he has honor? Don’t worry, no one’s gonna work him over. He was smart enough to bail on Dai Kumo before he gave him and his crew his just dessert… He cuts through the ties. The man identifies him as Patch. He was the one who… The one and only, Wolverine interrupts him. Sliced and diced his pet tiger too. He holds his claws in front of the man’s face. Where did the kids go?

A little later, the three of them (now in working clothes) are in a cab on their way to the Aquarium. The cab driver, taking in their costumes, wonders that the aquarium seems a strange place for a manga and anime convention. What characters are they supposed to be? He becomes even more doubtful, as the venue seems closed. Pre-opening event for gold ticket holders, the heroes assure him. Very exclusive and low key.

However, when he has left, Wolverine admits this joint is locked up tighter than a clam with lockjaw. How are they getting in? She has her ways, Yukio replies evasively. Inside the aquarium are several people. Two men are leading a tied up and blindfolded Hino-Chan. Watching a fish tank are a middle-aged woman in widow’s garb and a smaller woman in a cloak.

Calling the other one “snow maiden,” the older woman praises her performance. She is almost inclined to forgive her for allowing the wraith child to escape. Their buyer is very disappointed but still anxious for the sale of this fire-child. So, she will oversee the sale and make sure the buyer is satisfied. The cloaked woman promises not to fail her and calls her nee-san. The older woman chides her for insulting her by rendering her name in her inferior language. Use Mandarin! Obediently, the cloaked woman calls her Jie Jie, most auspicious elder sister.

The two guards put Hino-chan into a tank. Angrily, she cries that Yurei will find her and then they will all be sorry. She is put under the fish tank’s false bottom.

The cloaked woman praises Jie Jie’s idea to transport the merchandise in fish tanks. The baby goblin sharks are the crowning touch. No custom inspector is going to stick their arm down there.

That moment, the three heroes arrive and attack. The cloaked woman drops her cloak and reveals herself as Lady Deathstrike, who promises to deal with the interlopers. She slashes at Wolverine. Jubilee distracts the guards with her fireworks, allowing Yukio to take them out.

Deathstrike stabs her finger-claws into Wolverine’s chest. He knocks her away. He sinks down but promises his healing factor can handle it.

Jie jie announces the amateurs have had their turn, now it is the turn of the professionals. Cue for several red-garbed Hand ninjas to drop from the ceiling and attack the heroes.

Wolverine is surprised the Hand is involved. While heroes and ninjas are fighting, Jie Jie orders Deathstrike to load the merchandise onto the ship and accompany it to its destination.

Wolverine shouts for someone to stop her. Yukio and Jubilee race after Deathstrike. Lady Deathstrike knocks Yukio down and grabs Jubilee. She warns her not to use her powers or Deathstrike will tear her throat out. She figures Jubilee may be of interest to the buyer.

Wolverine tries to break free of the ninjas. He stabs his claws into the aquarium, which then bursts allowing him to free himself. He calls for Yukio. She is in the water and shouts at him to get to the freighter at the end of the pier.

The ship has already left and he helplessly sees Jubilee aboard. A voice tells him she can take him to her. If he takes her hand. It is a young girl in a schoolgirl uniform – Yurei. He does and the two disappear.

Yukio wonder at this and gets stabbed in the back by Elder Sister, who announces she will have to get to Shanghai as well.