"Awoo!"
The honey badger let out another cry.
Wade spread his hands in frustration. "Ta-da. The most Wolverine-like Wolverine I've ever seen, and still not the one I need."
Axel glanced at the animal, unimpressed. "And we can't even fight it without someone screaming about animal rights. Forget it, let's move."
Flames flared, and in the next instant, Axel dragged Wade into another universe.
They appeared in a forest.
Ahead of them stood a man in a yellow and black suit, claws extended.
Axel studied him carefully, then nodded. "This one looks right. Normal build, normal age, nothing strange. Finally."
He paused briefly, then smirked. "Funny how 'normal' is now a requirement."
He tapped Wade's shoulder. "What do you think?"
Wade grinned. "Perfect. This is the one, I'll go talk to him right now…"
"ROAR! Hulk is angry!"
A thunderous roar interrupted him.
Both turned.
A massive green figure charged toward them.
Wade blinked. "So this is really happening. Hulk versus Wolverine?"
He raised a hand and flipped Hulk off. "Hey, big guy, I'm the one saving the universe here."
The moment he finished speaking, he dropped flat to the ground.
Wolverine lunged forward, claws raised.
Hulk leaped to meet him.
And Axel stood between them.
He caught Wolverine's claws with one hand and blocked Hulk's punch with the other.
Boom.
The impact exploded outward. Trees within hundreds of meters shattered, and Wade was blasted backward by the shockwave.
As he flew, he gave Axel a thumbs up. "So this is your idea of an easy fight. Noted."
He opened a portal behind himself. "Let's not get involved any further."
He vanished.
Axel grabbed Wolverine and swung him hard, using his body to knock Hulk away.
As Hulk crashed back, Axel brushed off his hands, straightened Wolverine's hair briefly, then stepped into flames and disappeared.
He reappeared beside Wade.
Wade had not moved on.
He sat beside a crude grave made of stacked stones.
The grave had been dug open.
Scattered around it were silver bones, unmistakably Adamantium. Some still carried traces of blood.
Axel raised an eyebrow.
Wade sighed and gestured toward the remains. "Welcome to my universe."
Axel looked at him. "You're sure about that?"
"Of course I'm sure. This is my world."
Axel clicked his tongue, then crouched slightly to examine the skeleton. "Shame. Adamantium can't be reshaped once it's set. Otherwise, I'd turn this into armor."
Wade shot him an annoyed look. "That's messed up, even for you. I only borrowed the claws. You're talking about melting the whole skeleton."
He picked up a bone and swung it idly.
Silence hung for a moment.
Axel walked over, holding a set of claws, and lightly tapped Wade's head with them. "You're taking this pretty hard. We've been jumping around, and I still don't know what actually happened. Want to explain?"
Wade scoffed. "Don't act clueless. You know my story. Don't tell me you haven't even seen my movie."
Axel shrugged. "It hadn't been released before I started traveling."
Wade froze, then raised both hands in frustration. "Unbelievable. You're missing out on greatness."
He exhaled slowly.
"I fell in love with Vanessa. Lost her. Got her back. Then lost her again, not because she died, but because she walked away."
His tone dropped slightly.
"My life kept dragging her into danger. Again and again. Maybe she just got tired of it."
He glanced down at the bones.
"I tried to fix things. Tried to become better. Thought joining a team might help. First the X-Men turned me down, then the Avengers. No one wanted me."
He let out a dry laugh. "Except Peter."
"So I ended up selling cars. Toyotas. Every day, dealing with people and pretending everything was fine."
He paused, then shook his head.
"My friends threw me a birthday party. Before I could even figure things out with Vanessa, the Time Variance Authority showed up."
He suddenly stood, walked over to the skull, and kicked it away.
"Paradox told me my timeline was dying."
He turned back to Axel, his expression serious.
"Every universe has an anchor. A core existence that keeps everything stable. If that anchor disappears, the whole timeline collapses."
He pointed at the scattered Adamantium bones.
"In my universe, that anchor is Logan."
Axel's gaze sharpened slightly.
Wade continued, his voice tighter now. "And Logan is gone. Which means everything goes with him. My world, my people… Vanessa."
He exhaled slowly.
"There's less than seventy-one hours left."
He straightened up and looked at Axel. "So I either find another Wolverine to replace him, or I watch everything turn to dust."
For a moment, there was silence.
Then Wade clapped his hands once, forcing energy back into his voice. "Alright. Enough sitting around. Let's keep going."
He pointed ahead.
"Let's find one that actually works."
Axel smirked. "Now that sounds better."
Flames rose again.
They vanished, reappearing behind another Wolverine.
This one didn't even turn around.
He simply picked up a bottle of whiskey and drank deeply, as if he hadn't noticed them at all.