Uncanny X-Men, Vol. 1

This story takes place after the events of Wolverine #4...

Tokyo: The X-Men arrive in Japan for Wolverine's wedding to Mariko Yashida, which is to occur in 5 days. Wolverine warmly greets all of them, except Rogue, who remains in the doorway until Mariko says something. Logan would rather tear her heart out, but the others tell him she's now an X-Man, and Mariko formally welcomes her.

Atop a nearby building, the Silver Samurai is watching them, but is also being watched! Yukio strikes from the shadows, but the blow barely phases the Silver Samurai, and battle is joined. Wolverine hears the attack, and Nightcrawler teleports both of them near the battle to see what's up. Wolverine tells Nightcrawler to grab Yukio and he goes after the Samurai. Silver Samurai teleports away - letting Wolverine plunge off the edge of the building - but Nightcrawler saves him. Yukio, however, is gone. We see her bounce off poles and ledges with ease, but suddenly her foot slips and she falls downwards - until Storm grabs her! Landing, Storm tells her she could have been killed, but she laughs it off as an amazing ride. She cartwheels away, still laughing.

Later, Storm tells Wolverine that she recognized the assailant from a recent battle the New Mutants had.[1] Wolverine comments on Clan Yashida's past ties to the criminal underworld in Japan, but that he'd taken care of Shingen. Kurt gets Wolverine's implication - and Kitty is a little shocked.

Elsewhere in the apartment, Mariko steels herself for a meeting she's been requested to attend. It is her honor at stake, and so she refuses to even tell Logan what she will be about. She summons Toni to tell her she'll be out for a bit, that the X-Men are not to know, and leaves. Unfortunately for Toni, she is ambushed by Viper shortly thereafter. Viper disguises herself as Toni and serves the X-Men poisoned tea.

The tea is distributed, and Wolverine and Logan talk about Logan's concerns with Yashida's involvement in criminal matters, and Wolverine is worried that Mariko might be corrupted if she tries to deal with it herself. Wolverine finally takes a sip of tea and realizes its poisoned - and warns Storm just before she drinks! But for the others, the damage has been done...

Outside, a driver pulls up with Mariko's car and she gets in. The driver, however, is no other than Yukio!

Anchorage: Scott is digging into his grandparents' airline company's records on Madelyne. Alex comes in to ask him what he's doing, and wonders if its a good idea. Scott tells him he has to know - and that Maddie didn't walk away from the crash merely the same day that Jean died, but the same instant!

A warehouse in Tokyo: Mariko goes into the building, and there finds Viper, Silver Samurai, and Nabatone Yokuse. We learn that Silver Samurai is Mariko's half-brother. Mariko declares that she does not recognize the crime world rulings - only the emperor's word matters. Harada (Silver Samurai) declares that his father promised him rulership of the clan, but Mariko denies his claim, and he starts to draw his sword. Mariko asks Nabatone about his promise of safety, but he says his promise was to Mariko, and that she wasn't Mariko!

"Mariko" unmasks herself as Yukio! Viper goes to find the real Mariko while Silver Samurai draws on the Ronin. Yukio gets the first hit, but Silver Samurai is well-armored. Viper goes outside and opens the car door - and is blown away by a gust of wind. However, Storm barely controls it, and it slams Viper into the wall, rendering her senseless. Storm flies up and in through a skylight window in the warehouse. Seeing Yukio in deadly combat with Harada, she tries to summon her lightning, only for it to use far more power than she intended! Nabatone thinks something about Storm having sprung his trap, but Storm is too worried about electrocuting Harada and tries to draw the power into herself. This overloads Storm, sending bolts of electricity across the warehouse and detonating boxes of explosives. Yukio grabs the kimono she disguised herself in and jumps high into the air off a stack of boxes, grabbing Storm in the kimono, and sending them both into the water. Behind them, the warehouse explodes. As they come back to the surface, they see a large firebird form over the inferno of the warehouse!

Silver Samurai emerges from the Inferno to find Viper. He takes her and escapes. Storm and Yukio stagger off to find a haven - with Nabatone mysteriously watching from the shadows!

The hospital: Mariko is trying to stop Wolverine from going after Harada, but he won't be put off. Rogue (also recovered)[2] tells Wolverine she's going with him. They have a brief discussion - Wolverine is not keen on working with her - but he relents, telling her in no uncertain terms he's in charge.