Perceptions, Part 5

With a serial killer on the loose in Hope, British Columbia, Spider-Man meets with Wolverine in the woods. He discovers that the mutant has brought along the Wendigo, as the mythical creature has been blamed for the killings. At first, Spider-Man balks at the idea of having the Wendigo working with them, but Logan insists that this is what needs to be done. Wolverine explains that he and the Wendigo found the body of another victim and he asks Spider-Man to stay and "babysit" the monster while he goes into town to end this once and for all. Once again, all protests from the wall-crawler are quickly silenced by the bellows of the Wendigo. Wolverine insists on going through with his plan since they have done it Spider-Man's way until now and it has solved nothing. To ensure the web-slinger complies, Logan threatens to expose Peter Parker's secret identity to the press.[1] When Spider-Man tries to cover up the dead boy's body, it angers the Wendigo. This prompts Logan to explain that he wants the dead body visible to force a confession out of the real killer. Wolverine assures Spider-Man that the Wendigo is no threat to them because it hasn't eaten flesh yet and will work with them because it thinks they are hiding from the hunters as well. Nervous, when the web-slinger asks Logan how long it will take, the mutant tells him it will take as long as it takes.

Spider-Man finally pushes Wolverine too far when he asks Logan why he should be trusted. Using his claws to punctuate the point, Logan reminds him of the three dead boys, hundreds of dead animals and his own foul temperament are all the reasons to trust him. When Wolverine turns to leave, Spider-Man tries to pull him back with a web-line but it is quickly cut by the Wendigo. Soon, Wolverine is in town he changes into his street clothes and begins using his tracking abilities to try and locate the killer. At that same time, reporter Anna Brooks struggles to write her latest report on the "bigfoot" killings. After writing a particularly sensational, she deletes her story, disgusted by the tabloid style. She suddenly realizes that she has grown tired of writing the same headline every day. The media continues to pump out startling headlines across North America. At the headquarters of Alpha Flight, Canada's team of super-heroes, the Sasquatch takes umbrage with the media calling the killer a "Sasquatch".[2] His teammate Puck tells Sasquatch to remain calm, assuring him that their ally Wolverine has the situation well under control. By this point, Wolverine has put in a false report into the RCMP to lure the killer into the open. Sure enough, Luke Thorpe, the man hired by the RCMP to hunt down the Wendigo arrives on the scene.

Wolverine returns to where Spider-Man is watching on the Wendigo and tells Spider-Man that he needs the masked hero to distract the RCMP officers while he goes after the killer. While Spider-Man distracts the officers, Logan captures Chief Inspector Krahn. He takes Krahn, to where he has Luke Thorpe tied up. Logan leads Krahn to believe that he thinks Thorpe is the killer. He seemingly kills Thorpe, however, he merely knocked Luke out so he doesn't see what happens next. Suddenly, the Wendigo looms over Krahn who is frightened into confessing his crimes. The RCMP officer admits that he killed the three boys, all runaways because he had sexually molested them and then tried to cover it up by placing blame on the "bigfoot" story. After confessing to the whole thing, Krahn refuses to allow himself to be punished for his crimes and tries to make a break for it. In an ironic twist, Krahn is soon shot dead by one of the hunters who had converged on the area to hunt for the "bigfoot". With Krahn dead, Wolverine leaves a recording device with his confession with Luke Thorp.[3] The following day, the confession ends up in the newspapers, however, it is buried in page 20 as it is not considered as interesting as the idea of a monster stalking in the woods.

The whole ordeal leaves Wolverine disgusted by the senseless killing that happened and the press is already moving onto the next horrific story. Wolverine is not the only one with bad feelings over what happened. Peter Parker is deep in thought on his flight back to New York City. He has become increasingly disturbed by the lengths other so-called heroes are willing to go, and that they might even be as sick as the villains they fight. He promises himself that no matter what, he will never cross that line.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Wolverine, Wendigo, Anna Brooks, Inspector Krahn, Puck, Sasquatch, Luke Thorpe, Melvin Gooner

Continuity Notes

1. Wolverine leaned Spider-Man's secret identity in Spider-Man Versus Wolverine #1.

2. The newspaper that Sasquatch is reading has a report about Wayne Gretzky winning the Stanley Cup. This should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616. Particularly since Wayne Gretzky retired from playing hockey in 1999.

3. Wolverine is depicted as using a tape recorder. This technology should be considered topical as it is now an obsolete technology.