Scents and Senses!

The X-Man known as Wolverine is out in the forests of Upstate New York hunting a deer. However, he doesn't intend to kill the majestic creature, as he uses his enhanced senses to get close enough to touch the deer. As he does so, the feral mutant is unaware that someone is observing his activities from a far away observation center. Wolverine suddenly becomes aware of a human scent and is surprised when he is confronted by a man on horseback dressed in the garb of a Roman soldier. The man orders Wolverine off the property, telling the mutant that he is trespassing on private property. The soldier tells Wolverine to surrender and accompany him to his master for punishment. Extracting his Adamantium claws, Wolverine refuses to go without a fight and gets one when an army of soldiers begin coming out of the woods around him. Wolverine relishes the fight, but as he begins gaining ground, one of the soldiers gasses him and takes Wolverine prisoner. When Wolverine's capture is brought to their leader, the mysterious professor decides that after his psionic experiments being foiled by Captain America and Defenders, he demands to know more about superheroes and orders his men to capture another one.

A short time later, Spider-Man is swinging across the city to meet up with his classmates Marcy Kane, Roger Hotchberg and his date Mia Carrera. However, before Spider-Man can change back into Peter Parker to meet with them he is suddenly attacked by a fleet of Roman soldiers in one-man aircraft to capture him for their leader. Spider-Man lures his attackers away from the growing crowd on the streets and manages to lose them before they can gas him. As the soldiers fly away, Spider-Man tags on of their ships with a spider-tracer so he can track them later. He then changes back into Peter Parker to meet up with his friends. Meanwhile, Wolverine wakes up to find himself in a mock-up of a Roman coliseum where he is forced to fight a jouster on horseback dressed in a suit of armor. Wolverine easily dismounts his attacker and rips off his helmet. This reveals what appears to be a helpless old man who begs Wolverine to spare him as he was forced to attack him. However, Wolverine's senses tell him the truth and he slashes apart what is actually a robot. He then slashes his way out of the arena to see where he is.

By this time, Spider-Man has tracked the signal from his spider-tracer to a medieval castle. Observing Spider-Man's arrival, the owner activates a device that makes the castle mobile. Still, Spider-Man manages to leap inside but instantly begins dodging various death traps within. Elsewhere in the facility, Wolverine finds himself in a replica of a Roman bacchanal surrounded by more robots. The robots disassemble and attack him from all corners but he easily slices them to bits. When the battle is over he is joined by Spider-Man who just arrived via a trap door. At first, Wolverine thinks this is another robot and attacks, but his senses quickly tell him that he is dealing with the genuine article and stops his attack. The two decide to work together to find out who is responsible for their capture.

Their captor sends a massive robot out to greet them and it explains that its master is planning to gas the inmates at a nearby prison while simultaneously sending troops to wipe out a small town. It then provides the two heroes with a schematic that can lead them out of the castle or to its master and gives them the offer to stop him or stop these acts of mass murder. Wolverine responds by attacking the robot, ripping its head to shreds. A second robot appears and when Spider-Man asks why its creator would attack these two locations and it explains that it is a test to see their abilities. While deciding what to do, Wolverine isn't concerned for the inmates, but Spider-Man wants to save both locations. When the wall-crawler decides to go and save the prisoners, this leaves Wolverine with the task of saving the innocent people of Ivy Town, however, before he departs he destroys the second robot.

While Spider-Man slingshots himself onto the plane that is attempting to drop the toxic gas on the prison, Wolverine confronts the soldiers attempting to annihilate Ivy Town. While the wall-crawler makes short work of the plane, Wolverine's appearance prompts the soldiers to teleport back to their castle. When they double back, they find that the castle has gone. Realizing that it must have burrowed into the ground, they try to dig down to the tunnel, only to witness it being destroyed, leaving them with no leads on where their mystery attacker went. Meanwhile, within the castle, the mastermind behind this plot -- a man named Professor Power -- holds a meeting with his minions. When they ask where superheroes fit into his plans for a new world order, he tells them that he has much to consider.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Wolverine, Marcy Kane, Professor Power, Roger Hochberg, Mia Carrera

Continuity Notes

• Professor Power reveals that he is the man who created the psi-ops unit that battled Captain America and the Defenders in Captain America #268 and Defenders #106.