Wolverine #181

Publisher
Marvel
Year
2002
Month
11
LastChanged
2/11/2024 1:18:41 PM
Chasers

Summary

  A shot of the present, where Logan is having a drink. at a bar. The evidence of a chaotic scene sometime in the past was around him, as the lifeless bodies of three men at a table and a man with a shotgun sprawled out on the bar counter surrounds Logan.

  To the past, approximately 30 minutes ago, at Chez Bippy's, a bar. Logan walks into the bar where only the bartender and three of his clients were present. As Logan have a few drinks at the bar, he overhears a conversation going on between the three men at a table. One of the three members, presumably their lead, talks about how this one guy had owed "Nicky" money, and Nicky had given this guy a chance initially ... starting off with slow threats. But the guy who owed the money said that he wasn't going to give in and that back in his country, he believed that "...you stand up, or one day, you end up gettin' delivered to your wife in a pickle barrel". It was this comment which lead to Nicky doing exactly this to the guy who owed money.

  Then they talk about this other guy, Joey Fucillo, and this gambler, Ricky Bertel, who owed him about $10k. Ricky, desparate, manages to convince Joey to convince him to loan another $10k on another gamble, and in a struck of luck, Bertel manages to win the gamble. At the end, Ricky only owed Joey $100. Joey, mad about losing out on $10k, demands from Bertel the money that he owed. Ricky couldn't get that money until the next day, however, when the bank opened, so Joey tied Ricky to the back of his car and dragged him down a street until Ricky was unrecognizable.

  As they continue their conversation, they remember the story about "Mad Dog" Perretta, whose girlfriend worked at a brokerage firm. Her boss yelled at her one day, so she complained to her boyfriend. As revenge, "Mad Dog" went to her boss with a hammer, expecting to have a "talk" with him. In the past, "Mad Dog" had broken someone's kneecaps with the hammer, so it is presumed that he was going to do the same to her boss, putting him in a wheelchair. He only discovers, later, that his girlfriend's boss was already wheelchair-bound. So, "Mad Dog" wheels him over to the window to toss him out.

  Suddenly, the group's lead senses that something was up, as he notices Logan staring in their direction. He demands from Logan what he was looking at. One of the two other guys recognized Logan vaguely as someone who had beat up someone locally, and asks Logan whether he was a local "leg-breaker" for someone. Logan invites himself to their table and orders drinks for everyone.

  Logan then begins his own story to the three guys. He talks about this guy that he knows who owned a bar up in Westchester. His daughter had gotten sick, and borrowed money from some "real lowlives". And because of that, his friend had no choice but to get help "...from a guy who knows a thing or two about garbage, an' how to dispose of it ... a guy who visits Nicky Dell'adera ... and Joey Fucillo ... an' Mad Dog Perretta ... an' persuades 'em to cough up some names". Logan continues with his story, telling how this guy was going to make those three look as if they got off easy compared to what he was going to do to those guys that he was looking for. The lead of the three guys loses his hand and his windpipes, the other two gets gutted, and the fourth guy, playing the hero, was going to try unsuccessfully to shoot off his shotgun.

  The lead of the group realizes what Logan's story was all about. Logan "sniffs" the air. The lead demands to know what Logan was smelling in the air. Logan's response? "Fear". The lights go off, claws are heard unleashed, and blood is seen flying in the darkness. A door opens, and Logan is seen heading down into the basement. In the corner, a little girl is seen bound, near a water heater. Logan tells her to not be afraid and that he was going to take her home.

  Moments later, Logan is seen emerging from the bar with the little girl in his arms. As they walk away, she asks him whether he was Spider-Man. He looks at her, thinks about it, and responds "No, darlin, ... Spider-Man's a sissy".