He'd been out of the compound for several hours, hunting the various animals, using his recently won freedom to ensure that he hadn't lost his edge. The shackles that bound him had been damaged and he was free to unleash his claws once more. He smiled as he crunched down on the bones of the rabbit he managed to catch. Hunting rabbits wasn't much but it was something he could chase, that he could smell the fear on and in the end he could kill.

"Victor," came a voice and Sabretooth looked around. The vast plain was wide open and there was nobody about.

"Huh," he said. "Must be hearin' things."

"Creed," the voice said again and Sabretooth was on his feet, the rabbit forgotten. No way was he imagining things now and he sniffed, tasting the air, trying to find the scent that would tell him who and where the voice was coming from. Much to his annoyance he couldn't tell.

"Who's there?" he said, the adamantium claws glinting with evil intent in the morning sun.

"I am," the voice came again. "Losin' it, bub?"

"Logan," whispered Sabretooth. This was unexpected. He didn't think the runt would be up and about just yet. An unexpected surprise, but a pleasant one. "Come on out," he shouted, twisting his position to see if he could see his oldest of enemies. "Or are ya just runnin' scared?"

*SCHLUKT*

The sound of Logan's claws extending themselves from his forearm grabbed Sabretooth's attention but it was too late and the claws sliced in to his gut. He gave a feral roar of pain as he took a swipe at Logan, but Wolverine ducked out of his reach, the tips of the claws only just cutting through his hair. Creed was stunned at the X-Man's speed, as he held in his gut with one arm, waiting for his healing factor to kick in.

"How the hell did ya do that?" he snarled as Logan stood up.

"Ninja magic," replied Wolverine. "Okay, bub," he said, his voice calm and collected. "Now it's my turn."

"Logan's gone!" said Elektra as she came in to the small area where the X-Men were having their breakfast.

"What?" asked Rogue, quickly standing. "He ain't right yet." Quicksilver looked at Psylocke who tried to tag him with her psionic powers, to let her know where he was.

"I can't find him," said Betsy, with concern. "It's as if he's missing from the astral plane."

"Is that possible?" asked Pietro.

"I don't know," said Betsy. "Apparently so."

"Where's Creed?" asked Pietro, looking for the next logical step.

"He left early this morning," said Blink. "He said he was going for a walk, and not to expect him back while Wolverine was on the base."

"Could Logan's healing factor have done its work?" asked Joseph. "I know very little about the fundamentals of the power, or the extent of its capabilities."

"None of us really do," said Rogue. "How he survived having the adamantium ripped from his skeleton by Magneto,* we don't know."

* (In X-Men #25 - David)

"Or how he pulled himself back from the brink of savageness after he was lost to Genesis," said Elektra. "I helped him back to humanity then, as the X-Men did to health after Magneto."*

* (In Wolverine #103 - #105 - David)

"It became quite powerful, according to the files Charles wrote," said Warren. "In fact, I remember a conversation with Hank," said Warren, "when he and Charles and Moira were examining Logan not long after he attacked Sabretooth in the mansion. His healing factor was at an unbelievable rate - he'd was run over by a car, crushed to the point of death yet within seconds he was back up and on his feet."*

* (In Wolverine #92 - David)

"I believe restoring his body to some semblance of normality cost him that kind of regenerative power," said Elektra. "His body can keep him from mutating, regressing to a more primal visage."

"Which leaves us with more questions," said Pietro. "Okay, this is what we'll do. We split up in to teams to find him. I can cover a vast distance, as can Clarice. Rogue, you Warren and Joseph take to the skies, see what you can find. Psylocke, you're the contact if he comes back."

"What about me?" asked Elektra.

"Ah," said Pietro, and gave a moment's thoughts to her skills. Her training would make her quite an efficient tracker. "Okay, your tracking skills would be of use too. How you play it us up to you." She nodded. "Let's see if we can find Wolverine."

"It's interesting, isn't it, Kwannon?" said Matsu'o Tsurayaba, as they watched the X-Men make their exits from the compound. "That one man could spark such fierce loyalty amongst people of a high calibre as the X-Men, despite what he has done, what he has been made to do and what he will do in the future."

"Not really," said Kwannon. "I was one of them, for a time. Logan's innate strength of character makes it one of the things the X-Men respect. No matter what the odds, he gets the job done and that's something they know they can count on. That and the X-Men also have an near infinite capacity for forgiveness, but they never forget."

"The X-Men being in Australia was unforeseen. The Reavers were an important part of the Master's plan. The rebuilding of his enemies must be accomplished so that the coming of the One can be obtained."

"Has Tarrant located them yet?" asked Kwannon and Matsu'o closed his eyes.

"No, not all of them, not yet. The mutant displaced them across the globe and getting them back together takes time. The Master's resources are not infinite anymore, and we have much to do. Wolverine must be ready for the challenges ahead of him. The Shadow King will be defeated and Logan and his scions will be ours."

"Matsu'o," said Kwannon as she saw the small aborigine watching them from a mountain.

"Gateway," he said. "He is bound by his oath. He cannot interfere, he will not stop us."

"Let's leave," she said. "His presence unnerves me." Matsu'o was stunned at this departure in character from her. She was a master assassin, a great warrior and there was little that unnerved her. That a gnomic former member of the Chaste would do so did not seem to fit with her.

"As you wish," he said and they disappeared in a burst of hellfire. Gateway watched the space where they had been, keeping his own counsel.

The adamantium claws raked Logan's skin. The fight seemed to be much more even as both seemed to be one handed. Creed was waiting for his healing factor to ensure that his skin held in his gut. He could feel the internal organs shifting and moving as they rebuilt themselves within him. Soon he would be back and then Logan's static hand would be a disadvantage, however at the moment he seemed to have the upper hand, as if Logan somehow knew what he was going to do next.

The static hand did nothing but protect the wound but it did make for a hefty slap, as if he were being hit with a steel block. Fortunately the adamantium skeleton that he now had meant that he wouldn't be hurt too much. If only Logan knew exactly how he'd gotten it, the little runt would choke, but that was something he'd have to figure out for himself.

The claws of bone raked his skin, taking off the flesh from his face but once again he was protected from too much damage, but the wounds that Logan was giving him detracted from his main healing problem. He wasn't going to let Logan win. Yet he was bleeding much worse than Logan was.

"What's goin' on here?" said Creed, realising that Logan was fighting at a peak, yet not letting the animal within go. His savage side was present in the fury of his moves but his moves themselves were calculating. He was keeping his distance, not throwing himself in to the fight like he normally did. "You ain't Logan."

"I am Logan," he answered. "Just not one you've ever faced." Creed looked in his eyes and for the first time in their long association he saw a stranger, yet one he could have sworn he knew.

"What the hell?" He backed off slowly, his arm moving away from his gut. There was little to no tingling there now and he knew his healing factor had done it's work.

"Don't you get it, Victor? I've conquered the part of me you surrendered to, I..." Creed kicked out, slamming in to Logan's gut, knocking him to the ground.

"Talk too much?" Sabretooth was at his full savage glory and now it was payback time. He leapt at Wolverine who had managed to pivot from off the floor and he slashed towards Logan's throat, intent on causing maximum possible damage, but Logan ducked and Creed overshot his target, allowing Logan to grab him and throw him to the floor.

"Fine," he said as Creed leapt back up with a powerful flip and went back on the offensive but Logan seemed to avoid his moves. The first swipe of the claws went to the left and the second to the right and Logan simply turned away to avoid each pass. "I know how you fight. There's a predictability to what you do."

"Ain't possible to predict a wild animal," said Creed who tried again but once more missed, and Logan slammed his two of his three claws in to Creed's forearm, the middle claw retracted so that it didn't catch on the adamantium bone. Creed snarled and pulled Logan close and then head-butted him. He heard the crack as Logan's nose broke pushing it to one side, but his arm was wounded. "See?"

"Unled yur an amimad," said Logan as his healing factor started to kick in and repair the damage done to him. "An'... an'... Logan paused, fighting to regain some control over himself and Creed could see that the man he knew was still in there. Something was seriously wrong with him and Creed decided to take advantage. With his good arm he grabbed Logan by the throat and pushed him to the floor, pinning him there. Logan struggled to free himself but Creed was heavier than he was and it was going to take a super human effort to get loose. Creed smiled at the futile struggle and pushed past the pain to lift his wounded arm and it flashed dangerously above Logan, who couldn't get free.

"Guess you've got a problem," said Creed. "Figure that's what cost you yer hand. Gonna cost you it again." The claws dropped in an effort to cut off the replacement, and it scrapped over the metal hand, sparks flying, the paint coming off the hand. "What the?"

"Adamannium, bub," said Logan, and managed to get his hand free and the claws gashed Creed's throat. Creed gasped, and released Logan to cover his neck. He hadn't done too much damage but blood was pouring and he had to apply pressure. Logan grabbed hold of his nose and manoeuvred it so it was back in place and he could feel his healing factor make it right again.

"He can't fight both of us at once," said Logan, "so thank you Victor." The claws flashed again and Creed felt his leg cut in to quite deeply. Logan was doing some serious damage to him, hitting at vital points not just striking over and over again. Creed fell to the floor, the damage done leaving him helpless and at Logan's mercy.

"I ain't gonna kill you, Vic," said Logan, crouching down and looking at him. "It'd create too many problems, and there's a long way to go yet before I need to deal with that kind of attention. I'm the inner darkness that you've always known was there, released and given form by the Shadow King. Aren't you pleased to see me?" He spat on Creed. "I know everything that Logan has ever known, pushing past those false memories and forgotten pieces of his past. You know you've always thought you were Logan's father? How's this for irony - he's yours. I'm yours." He smiled and Creed recognised the face he saw.

It was his own.

"Goodbye, Victor," said Logan standing and kicking him in the head. It was like kicking a steel door, but the shot was placed with precision so that it knocked Sabretooth out. "Next time we meet, I'll kill you." Then he wandered over to where the manacles had been and replaced them. They were broken, but the X-Men didn't need to know that. It would keep him out of his way while the old Logan simply faded away.

He smiled and started walking.

At the compound, Psylocke felt the slight emergence of Logan from behind the cloud and she knew how much trouble he was in. She also knew the X-Men would be unable to help him with this, and the only person who could was Elektra.

~Elektra~ she sent out. ~Elektra, can you hear me?~

~I can hear you, Elisabeth~ she replied. ~Have you found him?~

~Only a brief lock on his location, but I lost it. But I know where he was. I'll tell the others that you've found him so you can deal with this on your own~

Psylocke had spoken to Logan about what had been going on and she knew that if the darkness of the Shadow King had overtaken him, then only Elektra's knowledge of the Chaste could bring him back.

~Thank you~ replied Elektra.

~Good luck~ answered Betsy and then she broke the link to let the others know what was going on.

Elektra altered her direction and started to run, she had to find him and bring him back. She needed him and he needed her and their love would see them through this. It had to, otherwise they were lost. She could see him in the distance, slowly walking away and she picked up the pace. Her weeks of self imposed exile had not lessened her physical fitness and she had done plenty of martial arts meditation exercises and she was soon able to catch up with him.

"Logan," she said, grabbing hold of his shoulder, but he threw her off of him.

"Let go o' me," he snarled and turned to face her but as he did so, she leapt up and over him, landing with poise and grace, her sais drawn and ready.

"Funny, I was about to tell you the same thing."

"You wanna dance with me, darlin'?"

"No, I want to make you bring him back."

"He's gone, princess, an' as much as I'd love to caress that pretty Greek hide o' yours, I'll kill ya if ya get in my way."

"I'm not moving," she said. "I trained you, I brought you back. I know you better than you know yourself."

"Don't count on it," he replied. "I..." He hesitated a moment and he looked directly at her, and she could see in his eyes what she had to do, she could see the man he truly was pleading for her help, and Elektra used the moment the hesitation had bought to slam the sai in to his chest, stabbing him in the heart.

"Forgive me," she said as she pulled it out, dropping the weapon to the ground as Logan fell to his knees.

"Under... estimated you," he said.

"No," she said. "You didn't." Then she performed a roundhouse kick and knocked him out cold. The wound was already closing as his healing factor kicked in, the blood on his clothes not spreading as it had when she withdrew the blade. He would survive but she needed to get him out of here, to ensure that the darkness within did not resurface straight away, for he would not be caught like that again.

He may have underestimated her, but the man she loved had not. He knew she would do what she had to do and that was enough. Elektra also knew that if she couldn't cure him, then it could be that she had to kill him. Logan was her responsibility now, not the X-Men's, not SHIELD, not the Canadian Government, hers.

The place she had to get him to was Tibet and there was no real way she'd get him there in time. The teachings of the Chaste were the only thing to help him, but she knew he'd never climb the mountain if he awoke the same. However she was the last of the old Chaste, but more than that she was the first of the new and the old rules did not apply. She would get him to the fortress of the Chaste one way or another and then she saw him.

"Gateway," she said. He kept appearing when she needed him the most and she didn't know why. Not that it was unappreciated, but she doubted that it was true that he was doing this out of the goodness of his heart. There was always a cost at some point but she didn't have much of a choice. "Please, take us to the top of the mountain."

Gateway made no sign of acknowledgement but produced his bullroarer and began to spin it, creating a portal that surrounded the two three of them and they disappeared from the Australian Outback to appear in the snow covered courtyard of the fortress of the Chaste.

"I'm back," she whispered.

Creed awoke to find himself alone in the desert. His whole body ached and for a moment he wondered what had happened, before he remembered the fight. Logan had done this, but it was not the Logan he had known. This was a darker, more malevolent man he had faced, one not bothered with honour and decency but armed with a supreme confidence in himself and what he was capable of.

"Welcome to my side," he chuckled as he stood up. Then he remembered what Logan had said just before he'd knocked Creed out.

"You know you've always thought you were Logan's father? How's this for irony - he's yours. I'm yours."

The roar of Sabretooth echoed across the wastes.