Uncanny X-Men, The (1981 series) #268

In Madripoor, in the summer of 1941, Captain America finds a bunch of Hand ninja attacking Ivan Petrovich and leaps to defend him. Still fairly new to being Captain America, Cap ends up getting surprised and stunned by the ninja. Before they can land a finishing blow, they’re confronted by a younger Wolverine, who works together with Cap to take out the whole group of ninja. Once the battle is over, Cap is surprised to see the defeated Hand ninja disintegrate. Cap and Logan officially introduce themselves to each other, and Logan welcomes Cap and Ivan to Lowtown! In the present day, Black Widow has her own troubles against the Hand in Madripoor. Cursing herself for having walked into a trap, Natasha gets snared by some chains. As the Hand bear down her, and Natasha accepts that this may be the end, she’s suddenly saved by the arrival of the three X-Men currently in Madripoor. Jubilee blinds the whole group of ninja with an energy flash, allowing Psylocke and Wolverine to take them out ruthlessly and efficiently! Once that battle is over, Psylocke psychically determines there are no more Hand in the area. Black Widow thanks Wolverine for saving her, and points out it’s starting to become something of a habit there, right as she collapses in his arms!

Back in 1941, at a bar called Seraph’s, Logan ends up bumping into Baron Strucker on his way back to his table. Strucker and his right-hand man try to intimidate Logan into apologizing until they’re confronted by the owner of the establishment, Seraph. An old friend of Logan’s, Seraph gets Strucker to apologize before giving Logan a tongue-lashing too, and tells him not cause trouble at her place. Logan returns to his table, where Cap and Ivan are sitting, and Cap notes that Logan bumped into Strucker deliberately. Logan explains that he now has Strucker’s scent and can locate him anywhere on the island, where he and the Hand appear to have a common interest. Ivan then explains that Strucker and the Hand have abducted a young girl that was left in his charge: Natasha Romanoff! Back in the present, Natasha awakens to find Logan by her bedside. The two embrace in a long overdue reunion, as Jubilee peeks in from outside, wondering why all of Wolverine’s old friends seem to be gorgeous women. A little bit later, Black Widow explains that she’s been tracking the Strucker twins as a favor to Nick Fury and happened to run into the Hand. Intel says that the Struckers are meeting with Matsuo Tsurayaba, and Natasha and Logan think it may be tied to the first time they met!

Back in 1941, Wolverine stands in the middle of the road to block Strucker’s car. He jumps up and kicks right through the windshield, causing the car to skid into a crash! Cap and Ivan run up to assist against the guards, when one tries to shoot the young Natasha held captive within the car. Logan shields her from the shots, leading Cap and Ivan to think he’s dead as they retrieve Natasha. They end up heading to the American Consulate, where it turns out the U.S. consul named Sydenham is working with Strucker and leads them into a trap! Briefly back in the present day, Black Widow and Wolverine interrogate a guy about where Tsurayaba and the Srucker twins are meeting. Back in 1941, Strucker, Sydenham, and the Hand have Cap and Ivan tied up, where they explain their plan to spread their Aryan beliefs around the globe. Not only that, they plan to use young Natasha as their perfect assassin in order to take down Communist Russia!

Back in the present, Wolverine, Psylocke, Black Widow, and Jubilee infiltrate a large yacht where Tsurayaba and the Struckers are apparently having their meeting. Jubilee blows up the yacht’s engines, leaving the guards and the Hand for the other three. In 1941, Wolverine arrives in the nick of time to stop Natasha from being forced to kill Cap and Ivan, killing the leader of the Hand in the process. While they’re surprised to see Logan’s not dead, Logan frees them, and they savagely fight through the rest of the Hand! With Seraph driving, the group race for an airfield. Cap, Ivan, and Natasha board a plane to get Natasha back to Russia, and Cap and Logan say farewell to each other, both hoping they’ll meet again. Finally, in the present day, the group are discouraged to find out the whole thing was a diversion, with the Tsurayaba and Struckers there only ringers! Psylocke psi-scans their foes but learns they have no valuable information. While the rest are disappointed, Wolverine just says they’ll learn for next time, to make sure it doesn’t happen again, all overseen by the real Tsurayaba and Struckers, who toast to their victory!