Match 20597 Wolverine vs. Multiple Man

[JohnnyChany]

THE XAVIER INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT PART 11

TEAMS AND SET-UP

 

 

 

In a steel factory setting conjured by the Danger Room, Jean Grey and Polaris used their respective powers of telekinesis and magnetic manipulation to throw steel beams and large pieces of lumber at one another. Both of their shields held up strong at the start but were beginning to fade from the stress of the back and forth battle. With exhaustion setting in, Jean’s shield dissipated first. Lorna seized on this opportunity and quickly bound Jean in steel sheeting. Jean fell to the ground. Lorna lifted a large pile of pipes and levitated them over Jean.

POLARIS: Nothing personal, but I’m ending this now Jean.

Before being buried in metal rubble, Jean fired back with her telekinesis and held the pipes in the air. The two powerful mutants struggled for control. The protective mutant, Lifeguard, watched in awe nearby inside the simulation. Outside the Danger Room, their combined teammates Cyclops, Beast, Iceman, Archangel, Havok, Strong Guy, Quicksilver, and Multiple Man along with Magneto watched intently in silence.

POLARIS: You’re not beating me this time!

Lorna’s magnetic forcefield faded away as she put more of her power into overpowering Jean’s defense. Jean quickly upended Lorna with a surge of telekinesis and Lorna crashed into a series of conveyor belts. Jean then pushed the metal pipes backward. The heavy collection of steel cylinders went flying and descended upon the downed Polaris.

HAVOK: Lorna!

Lifeguard, Heather Cameron, quickly swooped in and protected the defenseless Lorna. Jean freed herself from the metal binding Polaris had trapped her in.Polaris looked up at Lifeguard as she cocooned around her.

POLARIS: I just lost, didn’t I?

LIFEGUARD: Afraid so.

COMPUTER VOICE: The winner is Jean Grey. That is one point for the Original X-Men team.

Polaris took off the helmet given to her by her father and pounded the ground in frustration. Jean then joined them.

JEAN GREY: Quick to react as ever, Heather.

LIFEGUARD: I knew I had to stay ready. I knew you would both pull out all the stops to win.

Polaris rose to her feet and shook Jean’s hand.

POLARIS: You never cease to amaze me, Jean. I really thought I had you there.

Jean Grey chuckled.

JEAN GREY: So did I. If that final push wouldn’t have worked, I would have had nothing left.

The three women exited the Danger Room. Cyclops and Havok rushed to Jean and Lorna respectively. Magneto greeted Jean with a slow clap.

MAGNETO: Impressive. After all this time, you truly remain Charles’s star pupil.

Magneto then turned his attention to the X-Factor team.

MAGNETO: That is true straight losses for your team. I hope for your team’s sake that you can turn around before you fall too far behind. 

HAVOK: Don’t worry about us.

MAGNETO: I try not to.

Havok was then approached by his brother.

CYCLOPS: Since we have not been paired against one another I do wonder what they have in store for us.

HAVOK: I have some ideas.

CYCLOPS: Whoever it is, give ‘em hell, Alex.

JEAN GREY: I am looking forward to some rest before the next round of matches. That was quite draining.

BEAST: Also very exciting and fascinating.

CYCLOPS: Let’s move out, team.

Beast, Angel, and Iceman followed Cyclops and Jean and took their leave. As did Magneto after Lorna returned the helmet to him.

POLARIS: I’m sorry, Alex. I failed.

STRONG GUY: They certainly haven’t made it easy for us, being paired off against some X-Men legends back to back to start. Looking forward to when we get a crack at some of the kids.

QUICKSILVER: I’m not trying to duck anyone. That is a coward’s way.

HAVOK: Me neither. It doesn’t matter who we are paired against, we should have the confidence that we can win.

MULTIPLE MAN: Easy for you to say, I think you could probably blast away anyone here.

QUICKSILVER: Are you not confident that you will win your match?

MULTIPLE MAN: That depends on which me you’re asking.

HAVOK: Let’s go watch the other matches for this round, we can start to narrow down the options that will be left for Pietro, Jamie, and I.

X-Factor walked to one of the several rooms with giant tvs linked to the feed from the Danger Room. After the last match of the second round between Captain Britain of Excalibur and Guardian concluded, the team was called over by Dr. Cecilia Reyes.

HAVOK:  I assume you are here to take us to the next fight.

CECILIA REYES: Yes I am.

MULTIPLE MAN: Our team is going first, again? Hardly seems fair.

CECILIA REYES: I don’t see any inherent advantages or disadvantages either way. The possibilities for your next opponent is shrinking but it still remains vast in possibilities.

HAVOK: The connections between fighters have made sense so far, Guido and Piotr, Lorna and Jean. I am still unsure about who Jamie and I are going to be squaring off against but I think I have Pietro’s opponent pegged. Assuming they are the ones that are waiting for us.

QUICKSILVER: I think we are both thinking of the same mutant.

When they arrived at the Danger Room they were met by the X-Men Blue team of Wolverine, Jubilee, Rogue, Psylocke, and Rogue. X-Men Blue was undefeated thus far after victories by Gambit and Psylocke.

HAVOK: Not who I was expecting.

WOLVERINE: Right back at ya, pal.

ROGUE: I’m a little confused. I could see myself in a fight against Strong Guy, but he already fought Colossus. Pietro and I have some history with the Brotherhood, is that it?

CECILIA REYES: You are not fighting in this round, Rogue.  

Jubilee’s eyes widened.

JUBILEE: You guys aren’t putting me against Havok are ya?

CECILIA REYES: No, you aren’t fighting in this round either.

WOLVERINE: So, it’s finally my turn.

CECILIA REYES: That is correct, Logan.

WOLVERINE: Hmmm, I would have figured if I was fighting someone from this version of X-Factor, it would have been Rahne. But, she isn’t here.

CECILIA REYES: Initially, Sage had you pegged in a matchup against Feral from X-Force. The connection was obvious with your shared history of barely controlled rage and injuring teammates during training. However, I talked her out of it when it became clear I would be the one on hand for your matchup and I didn’t want to get caught up in the crossfire of a violent fight pushed too far by anger. 

ROGUE: A wise call, suga.

WOLVERINE: Then who is my opponent here?

CECILIA REYES: Multiple Man.

Jamie smiled.

MULTIPLE MAN: Oh thank god, I was certain I was going to be facing Banshee or Monet.

JUBILEE: Why would you think that?

MULTIPLE MAN: One of my dupes slept with Monet while I was with Siryn and then… you know what there’s no need to talk about it right now.

WOLVERINE: If you were worried that M was going to beat you senseless, I have bad news for you, Maddrox. You ended up in a worse place. I’m just a little disappointed my matchup wasn’t against someone stronger.

Jamie was unbothered and held up a copy of his own file from Xavier’s records and read it aloud.

MULTIPLE MAN: Jamie used to have a max limit of creating 50 clones or “dupes” as he has named them, however in recent times that limit has grown far greater and the current cap is unknown. Ohh, that sounds like it might be a problem for you Wolverine.

Jamie stomped his foot to create a dupe. The dupe grabbed the file from Jamie Prime and continued to read.

DUPE #1: Each dupe has all the skills and abilities of the original Jamie and can sustain injury or even die without affecting him. Not that I would want to die, but it’s always good to be reminded.

Jamie stomped his foot again to create another dupe who then took the file.

DUPE #2: Jamie can reabsorb the dupes at any time, gaining whatever knowledge and abilities they have acquired and in the process can also help heal himself from injury. Tell me Logan, does that make you feel a little less special?

Wolverine unsheathed his claws.

WOLVERINE: It’s going to take a whole lot more than parlor tricks and an army of pranksters to shake my confidence, bub. I’ll cut all of you down.

CECILIA REYES: I feel the need to interject again and remind everyone that this is just a friendly skirmish. I’m here to tend to potential injuries not maimings.

WOLVERINE: Heh. Wouldn’t dream of it.

MULTIPLE MAN: You know Logan, even with all my years of experience having lived a hundred lives simultaneously I still don’t think I would be able to defeat you one on one.

DUPE #1: However, a whole army of me…

Multiple Man created several more dupes of himself.

DUPE #3: You don’t stand a chance.

WOLVERINE: We’ll just have to find out. Maybe this will be a better challenge than I thought.

CECILIA REYES: Wolverine, Multiple Man, please step into the Danger Room. The third round begins with the two of you.

Logan and Jamie stepped into the Danger Room which transformed into a research facility that shared elements of the one near where Jamie was born in New Mexico and the Weapon X facility where adamantium was bonded to Logan’s bones.

ROGUE: If there was concern about Logan going berserk during this tournament, I don’t think selecting this as a location was the best idea. 

CECILIA REYES: The thought process is to test both Logan and Jamie’s concentration when being potentially distracted  by images of the past. Both of their lives were shaped by these facilities for better and for worse. 

[Callisto]

Learn More About
Wolverine
Read more about Wolverine at Wikipedia
Official Site: Marvel Comics Links: Wolverine Wiki entry Marvel Wolverine-Answers.com

Multiple Man
Read more about Multiple Man at Wikipedia
Official Site: Marvel Links: Wikipedia Uncanny Xmen Marvel Database Project

[leroypowell3]

I'm not sure how Wolverine can beat Maddrox. A fight like this can go on forever. The only way I can see it ending is if Maddrox makes enough of himself to pin Wolverine down for a ten count or something.

[Pizza Guy]

On 5/19/2024 at 9:15 PM, leroypowell3 said:

I'm not sure how Wolverine can beat Maddrox. A fight like this can go on forever. The only way I can see it ending is if Maddrox makes enough of himself to pin Wolverine down for a ten count or something.

Slash through them until he kills/knocks out Maddrox Prime? You do realize Wolverine has fought through groups of opponents very frequently throughout his comic history right?

https://imgur.com/a/wolv-massacres-purifiers-x-force-special-aint-no-dog-2008-41nAU

https://imgur.com/a/wolv-crowd-sweeper-various-LKCC9

https://imgur.com/a/wolv-slasher-movie-on-baddies-wolverine-vol-3-27-IGdZ1

https://imgur.com/a/wolverine-beats-undead-samurai-wolverine-soletaker-4-CIdOj

Amongst those groups include d-list supervillains, vampires, and undead samurai warriors. All of whom are more dangerous close combat fighters than Maddrox’s clones.

[DSkillz]

Another good chapter to this arc, @JohnnyChany. This one could go on for quite a while. If I were you, I wouldn't show the conclusion of this fight until a few matches down the line, just to give a good idea of how much of a battle of attrition this would be. 😁

2 hours ago, Pizza Guy said:

Slash through them until he kills/knocks out Maddrox Prime? You do realize Wolverine has fought through groups of opponents very frequently throughout his comic history right?

https://imgur.com/a/wolv-massacres-purifiers-x-force-special-aint-no-dog-2008-41nAU

https://imgur.com/a/wolv-crowd-sweeper-various-LKCC9

https://imgur.com/a/wolv-slasher-movie-on-baddies-wolverine-vol-3-27-IGdZ1

https://imgur.com/a/wolverine-beats-undead-samurai-wolverine-soletaker-4-CIdOj

Amongst those groups include d-list supervillains, vampires, and undead samurai warriors. All of whom are more dangerous close combat fighters than Maddrox’s clones.

If this were a battle to the death, I'd kind of agree, even though Jamie could heal himself to some extent by absorbing any number of his healthier clones. Since this is just a friendly contest, though, Logan may have it a little tougher since he can't use lethal force. 

I'd still say Wolvie has the edge, but it's gonna be a long battle. 

[Culwych1]

Yeah definitely going with Wolverine on this one. It'll be a tough fight, but he is a savage and competent enough fighter to get through to the original and either knock him out or make him surrender. 

Awesome story arc. 

[Callisto]

Match Final Results

Member Ratings:
5.00 - Boratz
4.00 - patrickthekid
4.50 - Pizza Guy
4.60 - DSkillz
5.00 - Culwych1

FPA Calculation:
5 Total Votes cast
23.10 Total Combined Score
23.10 / 5 = 4.62 Final Rating on the match

MATCH SCORE
Wolverine: 3
Multiple Man: 4

[Culwych1]

Ooh, surprising outcome!