Wolverine Was Sent To Kill A Kid In The X-Men’s Darkest Story Ever
In the single darkest story in X-Men history, Wolverine is ordered to assassinate a child - whose power makes him one of the most dangerous mutants alive. The X-Men are no strangers to dark and unhappy stories, but Ultimate X-Men #41, written by Brian Michael Bendis with art by David Finch and colors by Frank D'Armata, stands out in a blunt, cold fashion. For the sake of mutantkind, a child must die, and only Wolverine can kill him.
An unnamed child known only as "J" wakes up to an empty house; his parents are nowhere to be found, but J sees clothes lying on the floor. He has no time to be curious since he's late for school, and leaves the house only to find empty streets everywhere he walks (and abandoned clothes too - even a dog collar lies on the sidewalk). Finally arriving at the school, he talks to his friends only to witness a truly horrific sight: one by one, everyone around him appears to burst into flame from the inside out. A friend can only make out "It's you" before her entire body chars and vaporizes, along with everyone in sight.
Some time later, Wolverine finds J hiding in a cave. He ignores J's warnings ("I got a healing factor. You ain't gonna hurt me") and explains he's a mutant - just like J - and Professor X used Cerebro to find him. J's power vaporizes all organic tissue within a large radius...and he's killed over 265 people just by walking through town. J breaks down. "This can't be my life! I CAN'T LIVE WITH THIS!!" exclaims J, and Wolverine coldly answers. "I know." If it ever became public knowledge that a mutant was responsible for the deaths, "...that'd be it for mutants." J is despondent, but after realizing what he's done, he doesn't even try to protest. "Just do it." Wolverine later leaves the cave - alone.
Thus, Wolverine was sent to assassinate a child - a fellow mutant - to protect all mutantkind from deadly reprisal. Wolverine's healing factor is the only thing protecting him from J's deadly abilities - but only so he can get close to deliver a killing blow. It seems entirely unlike Professor Xavier to assassinate a mutant without giving them a chance to learn to control their powers...but in Ultimate X-Men #42, the President of the United States reveals that Nick Fury, not Xavier, sent Logan on the mission. Fury is coldly pragmatic if nothing else, and while Logan certainly has sympathy for J, he also realizes the consequences if J is left alive.
Other new mutants have accidentally killed people with their powers, but none on a scale such as J. Wolverine tells J the true nature of the deaths will be covered up, and no one will know that J was responsible. But it doesn't detract from J's hideously unfair fate, or Wolverine's incredibly difficult mission to murder a child in cold blood. Wolverine has killed many people throughout his life, but J's life was one of the most difficult to take in the X-Men's darkest story.