---

  The massive grizzly bear had just started to flee when a figure shot out like an arrow, nding squarely in its path.

  It was Non.

  In an instant, he was blocking the bear's escape. The beast roared in frustration, rising to its full, towering height. With a thunderous growl, it raised both of its massive paws and swiped at Non one solid hit could easily reduce a man to a bloodied ragdoll.

  "He's insane!" Eddie and his companions exchanged armed gnces. They'd seen what a full-grown grizzly could do to a man. Nobody in their right mind would stand their ground like that.

  But the next second, their jaws dropped.

  Non lifted his shield and caught the bear's blow head-on. The sheer force should've knocked him off his feet but he didn't budge an inch.

  The bear roared louder and rose upright, its two-meter frame looming like a mountain. It squared off against Non, a man facing a monster.

  The poachers stood frozen in pce. And then the bear colpsed, darted by a flurry of tranquillizer darts from all directions.

  A deafening shout cut through the rain.

  "Who are you people?!"

  A blur of motion burst from the forest, followed by a scream. One of the team members fell, clutching his abdomen and crying out in agony.

  Rain streamed down Non's face, but he paid it no mind. He shouted into his comm, "Target sighted. Execute the pn!"

  Logan, better known as Wolverine, had lived through war, betrayal, and the deaths of friends. Though he'd long since retired from the blood-soaked battlefield, instincts forged in fire never dulled. His body, gifted with unnatural resilience, was still a weapon.

  He stood over the tranquillized bear, eyes locked on Non and the shield in his hand.

  "Captain America?" Logan growled, his voice rough with suspicion. "I haven't done a damn thing to S.H.I.E.L.D."

  Even in seclusion, Logan wasn't blind. Captain America was the star-spangled symbol of American heroism, and that shield was iconic. To see a stranger wield it was... unsettling.

  But Non said nothing.

  He dashed forward, shield raised.

  With a metallic snikt, Logan's adamantium cws burst forth three on each hand. They gleamed in the rain like six bdes of death. His cws met Non's shield with a shrieking cng of metal.

  Yet the cws didn't slice through.

  Logan's eyes narrowed. "You're not Steve. Who the hell are you?"

  "You're Logan," Non said calmly. "Or do you prefer Wolverine? You've been in hiding a long time... but your cws are still sharp."

  He parried strike after strike with the shield, which spun and twisted with practised precision. Logan fought with pure aggression abandoning defence entirely, sshing at Non in relentless arcs.

  "You working for Stryker?" Logan growled.

  He was furious now. But before Non could reply, the air filled with the hiss of syringes. A dozen tranquillizer darts buried themselves into Logan's flesh. The chemicals hit his bloodstream immediately, but his mutant healing factor burned through them faster than expected.

  Still, his steps faltered. His vision blurred.

  He turned to flee, pushing himself through the forest like a wounded beast.

  "You run?" Non's voice was cold.

  A gunshot rang out. The tranquillized bear groaned.

  Logan turned his head just for a second.

  That second was all Non needed.

  He caught up and unched into a furious assault, his shield smashing down again and again. Logan, half-dazed, still fought like a cornered animal, sshing with desperate strength.

  Then—it happened.

  A net dropped from above, reinforced with vibranium wiring. The magnetic anchors snapped into pce, locking Logan in a metallic cocoon.

  He tried to cut his way out but the net didn't budge.

  Non exhaled. "Thank you, Kue. Your vibranium stash came in handy."

  Another volley of tranquillizers hit Logan, dosing him with enough sedatives to drop an elephant.

  Finally, the Wolverine colpsed.

  ---

  Hours Later...

  Logan stirred.

  Voices drifted in.

  "...this is who you were after? A grizzled old man with a beard?"

  "Logan. One of the former top dogs at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters."

  "I thought they all vanished off the grid. You actually found one?"

  "Enough chatter. I'm starting the research. You staying?"

  "Hell no. I want to keep my dinner down."

  Logan's eyes fluttered open to a blinding white ceiling.

  Panic rose in his chest.

  He remembered this feeling all too well.

  Being strapped down. Being cut open. Being studied like a b rat.

  He growled.

  "You're awake," Non said with a grin, tightening his surgical gloves. "Honestly, I thought this would be harder."

  They'd shipped Logan out of Canada under heavy sedation. Non had dosed him again and again with high-grade ether to keep him unconscious until they reached New York.

  Now, the real work began.

  "Who the hell are you?" Logan spat, his voice hoarse.

  "Name's Non," he said lightly, lifting a scalpel.

  The next few hours were a blur of agony.

  Non worked with brutal precision, slicing and analyzing Logan's body yer by yer, measuring his regeneration with scientific zeal. Every wound was catalogued, and every reaction was recorded.

  [Surface ceration: fully healed within 5 seconds.] [Bicep muscle incision: 60 seconds to regenerate.] [Testicur rupture: 65 seconds recovery time.]

  Non's fingers danced over the keyboard, recording each line with clinical detachment.

  His face was unreadable, even as blood pooled and congealed.

  "This b's equipment isn't advanced enough," he muttered. "If I had Stark's AI setup, everything would be voice-commanded, and records would be instantaneous..."

  He sighed. "Kue's still too poor. I need better funding. No matter how strong I get, I can't perform miracles without proper tools."

  And yet he worked tirelessly, methodically.

  He had caught the Wolverine.

  And now, the true evolution could begin.

  ---

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