Wolverine # 42 (volume 2), published in July 1991, is a key issue titled "Papa Was a Rolling Stone!" which features a major development in the rivalry between Wolverine and Sabretooth, specifically resolving whether Sabretooth is Wolverine's father. The story also includes guest appearances by Cable, Elsie-Dee, Jubilee, Forge, and Nick Fury.
- Sewer Showdown: The issue continues a battle between Wolverine and Sabretooth in the Morlock tunnels, which are rapidly flooding due to a rainstorm above. They become trapped in a section of the sewer with a locked metal door on one end and a closed grate on the other.
- Unlikely Rescue: On the other side of the locked door are Cable and the android Elsie-Dee. Cable is reluctant to help Wolverine, but Elsie-Dee detaches her head and uses her body to grab Cable's gun and blast the lock open, allowing a torrent of water to wash them all through the tunnels.
- The Grate and Sacrifice: The group is swept up against another closed grate. With the Morlock tunnels in danger of flooding the city, Masque activates the grate's cleaning machinery, threatening to crush them. To save them, Elsie-Dee sacrifices her body by initiating her self-detonation sequence, blowing open the grate and sending everyone into the East River.
- S.H.I.E.L.D. Intervention: A S.H.I.E.L.D. helicopter, carrying Nick Fury, Forge, and Jubilee, pulls everyone from the water.
- Paternity Question Answered: On the helicopter, Sabretooth breaks free and attacks Wolverine, but the still-functional Elsie-Dee head bites his neck, sending him falling back into the river. A S.H.I.E.L.D. physician confirms that based on blood samples, Sabretooth is not Wolverine's biological father, though Fury reveals that Sabretooth truly believes he is.
- Elsie-Dee and Albert: Below the water, the Wolverine-android Albert, who was reactivated in the previous issue, finds Elsie-Dee's head and connects it to his power source, saving her memory and keeping her operational.