Kwannon looked up, pain in her head from the battle on the astral plane, but she pushed past it. She was an assassin, a ninja and compared to the pain of the Legacy Virus this was nothing. The Hand was slowly being routed by the Army of Darkness as she thought of it. Mephisto's army of warriors had done what they needed to but their erstwhile master was nowhere to be seen.

What could be happening that demanded his attention over this? Suddenly the sky changed to a deep orange colour and golden lightning flashed in the sky. The battle stopped as everyone's attention was taken by the blood that was raining down from the sky.

"I'd wager this isn't good," said Tarrant, helping her up.

"The Destroyer has arrived," she whispered. "We've lost..."

"There are incredible forces at work here," said Pierce who appeared on the horizon. "Mystical power on levels I've never seen before."

"Elektra!" said Kwannon as the young woman appeared in the middle of the battlefield, and she ran over to her. "Elektra, what's happened?" Then she felt the evil coming off her in waves and she recoiled in horror. "By the Gods..." she whispered as Elektra put her hand out and power came from her hand, surging in to Kwannon.

She screamed in mortal terror as the darkest powers of the universe entered her and she could feel her body being slowly discorporated.

"No!" cried Tarrant and pushed her out of the way, protecting her.

"You have protection," said the Destroyer, through Elektra, looking at them. "I sense the hand of Mephisto in this. I will deal with him in time, as I will with all who oppose me." The lightning flashed again and Elektra caught the lightning, and unleashed it upon the warriors on the battlefield, who screamed and shouted in pain. "Mortal slaves, serve me well - kill the servants of the Demon Lord!" The members of the Hand and the Soldiers of the Shield's skin went dark as the lightning touched them and converted them to the will of the Destroyer.

The Destroyer laughed and began to work it's will on the universe.

In Tokyo, millions and millions of ants appeared, running through the streets, devouring people as they came across them.

In England, the fabled green and rolling hills, turned black and charred as the very forces of nature rebelled against what was happening.

In Rocky Mountains of Canada, the snow and ice began to melt as the very rocks themselves began to heat up.

Deep in space, a planet slipped from it's orbit and began to drift in to space, where it would eventually collide with the closest of it's three suns and create a chain reaction that would destroy a small galaxy.

It wasn't much, but the Destroyer was still young and it's powers were growing, and it would use the fodder of this planet to provide it with the unlimited power it needed, and soon not even the great cosmic forces of the planet would be able to stop it. All would bend to the will of the Destroyer and reality would shatter before it.

John Wraith and Tyger Tiger appeared in the great hall of Ganna Nia, where Logan lay on the floor, surrounded by his own body wastes, his clothing soiled and the stench of human filth in the air.

"Mother of God," said Wraith, who had seen Logan in a great many states, but nothing even came close to this.

"LOGAN!" called Tyger and went across to him.

"Help... me..." Logan muttered, and Tyger could see the fire in his eyes, the will to get up, but somehow he was a broken man.

"What's happened to him?" asked Tyger.

"Worst case scenario," said Wraith. "It's the end of the world."

"How do we stop it?"

"Logan's the only one who can," said Wraith. "Hopefully this'll bring him round." He held the Sword of Life, the only weapon that could be used against the Destroyer.

As legend had it, the Sword of Life was created by God, or some supreme being anyway, as the counterpart to the weapon used by the Angel of Death. Over the years the sword of Death had become a scythe, but it was a sword of great power. The Sword of Death was the tool wielded to take life, and deliver souls to the afterlife, and more than that to destroy demons. However a balance was needed and a force for death needed to be countered by a force for life. However, therein was the problem.

The Sword of Life was a great tool, used to destroy falsehood, to take on the more powerful creatures spawned of the eternal darkness where even the angels feared to tread. These creatures were more than a match for these and only the Sword of Life would work against them, for it was a force for light. But the pureness of the light corrupted in some strange sense, because to be that pure meant that they would be on the level of the supreme being, and as use of the Sword of Death redeemed the wielder, the Sword of Life damned the user, and the evil took a hold of the holder in life and corrupted them, so that the dark power was unleashed and the Sword of Light would be used to destroy any that stood in their way.

And Logan was many things but he was never pure. If the evil of the Destroyer became a part of him, then they'd have created a force of pure darkness that none would be able to stop, unless they took him out straight away. However that would have to wait and he put the sword in Logan's metal hand.

"What happens now?" asked Tyger.

"We wait," said Wraith and both of them could see Logan's good fist begin to twitch. "And hope it doesn't take too long..."

The Army of Darkness had turned on them, and the four of them were being overwhelmed but not before they took out as many of the enemy as they could. Silk Fever was relishing the opportunity to cut loose and was flash frying as many as they could while, Tarrant, Kwannon and Pierce were using their various skills and abilities to fight the armies, but all four knew this was just to amuse the Destroyer.

"Every one of them we kill," said Pierce, looking through his sensors, "makes the Destroyer more powerful."

"Then what the hell do we do?" said Tarrant and Pierce looked at him.

"We die," he said. "And this time, there's no coming back." Then they were both interrupted by a scream of sheer pain. Silk Fever was struck by the lightning and suddenly nothing remained of her but ash. The Destroyer's powers were growing, and now not even the power of Mephisto could protect them.

"Die well," said Pierce and pushed Tarrant forward and started to run for it.

"Treachery!" cried Tarrant as he was overwhelmed and the crowds held him down and the Destroyer walked over to both the captured Kwannon and himself.

"Fight it, Elektra," said Kwannon.

"Elektra is gone," said the Destroyer, as his hand traced the skin of Kwannon, who felt the urge to vomit at the touch. "As are you." Kwannon struggled in vain as Elektra's lips pressed against her own and Kwannon's bowels emptied as she felt the touch of pure evil, a darkness that not even Mephisto had made happen. Then she felt the life being sucked out of her and she tried to scream, but nothing happened and the last thing she saw was the faint image of a skull with fire in it's eyes in the blanks where Elektra's own eyes used to be.

Then the Destroyer released her and her corpse fell to the floor and began to become dust in the breeze and the Destroyer turned to Tarrant.

"Now it's your turn." Tarrant struggled as the Destroyer came towards him and lightning flashed in the sky again, except the lightning this time was red and the Destroyer looked up.

In the distance, a small hairy man stood naked, sword in hand. The Destroyer could sense the man's anger at what he was seeing as well as the pain at knowing what had to happen.

"No, bub, now it's my turn."

I've seen a lot in my lifetime.

Hell, I've done a lot in my lifetime, but I ain't ever been in this place before. The man in me wants to fight, to get up and get on and do what I got to do, but the animal in me -the animal wants to hide and the Destroyer did somethin' on a level I ain't been touched on before and both parts of me are in conflict.

And I'm as shut down as I can be, barely aware of what's going on around me, but I can hear screams and shouts an' there's nothin' I can do. I ain't been this helpless in a very long time.

"LOGAN!" The voice. I know that voice.

"Help... me..." It's Tyger. How is Tyger here?

"What's happened to him?" I can hear her speaking but I don't know who to, the screams are too loud...

"How do we stop it?" The other person is becoming a little clearer to me? Wraith? Is that a sword I see in my hand?

"Hopefully this'll bring him round."

"What happens now?"

"We wait. And hope it doesn't take too long..." I can feel my hand again, an' my legs. Slowly, I'm getting' sensation back an' it's as if every cell in my body is hyper-charged, like my healing factor's being pushed to it's limits and beyond and is takin' it an' slowly I stand as my body works and my mind is back in one piece. There's some serious power in this blade and I'm gonna need it.

I gotta save Elektra and to save her I'm gonna have to fight her.

"Thanks," I growl as I rip off my clothes. I can't fight like this and I'd rather fight naked than weighed down by my own wastes. "What's goin' on out there?"

"No idea," says Wraith, "but I can guess it's bad." There's a crash of lightning out there and I can feel the evil in the air, resonating through the sword. "What happened?"

"The Destroyer's in Elektra," I say, thinking back to the dark emptiness inside me when he tried to take me over decades ago. It was like I was trapped in a void, unable to move, my senses useless and in my mind a voice telling me of all the evils in the universe that had come about because of my actions. "I gotta help her."

"She's gone, man," says Wraith and if looks could kill he'd be dead right now.

"I came back from possession, so'll she. I ain't come this far..." I ain't gonna finish the sentence.

"Logan."

"Tyger."

"Can you do this?"

"I ain't got a choice, darlin'. I have to fight her. I have to save her."

"For luck, then," and she kisses my cheek, a reminder of the good times we had. We've both changed since then, but one things still the same - we still take care of our own and I set of running, the sword in my hand. There's a feel to the weapon, a buzz like I've never known and my other hand hurts so much... as if... I stop and remove the metal hand. Somehow, my hand's back, as if the power in the sword has fixed it.

"Ain't that a kick in the head?" Guess I gotta be whole to face the Destroyer so whoever's in charge is evenin' the odds and I start to run but I'm too late to save Kwannon. I don't care who she's workin' for now, she was an X-Man. Tarrant I could have lived without, but the Destroyer had to start on my friends first.

"Now it's your turn." I can hear the Destroyer's voice echoing across the field and there's a flash of lightning. Red lightning and it hits the floor in front of me and the Destroyer turns.

"No, bub, now it's my turn." It's more confident than I sound, because although I got to hurt her, I don't want to. Before she fixed my mind, I might have been able to do it, but I love her.

"Little man." She sounds impressed. "You are indeed strong. Our progeny will rule will multiverse itself."

"Don't count on it, darlin'," I say and I moved forward and she reacts quickly, firing off an energy blast of some kind. Except I've been fightin' bastards like this a lifetime, an' if there's one thing they all excel at it's using their powers instead of a one on one fight, which is great but you gotta connect before you press the advantage.

Except that this ain't no usual powerhouse and as 'm avoiding the blast, Elektra's on me, at a supernatural speed and she's got five blows in before I can block her and she knows how to do damage. In moment's I've a broken arm, a shattered kneecap, crushed ribs and I can't see out of one eye, but I still have the sword.

She moves to strike again, but I'm blocking now, as my healing factor goes to work. If it rebuilt my hand, then this should be okay as long as I hold the sword, but then again Elektra can see that as well. The Destroyer can feel it's powers, I can see it in her eyes. I can also see the face of death as well, an' I know that wherever the woman I love is in there, she's locked away deep. Not gonna let that stop me though an' I fight back.

Except she's faster than I am, the Destroyer's got moves I've never seen before and it knows it's better using her skills against me than it's own because I still thinking it's her I'm fighting. Except for the eyes.

"Let's see how you deal with this," I mutter and as I block with my hand I extend my claws and shove them in to her hand and she cries out. Her voice, not the tainted Destroyer voice and it throws me, allowing the Destroyer to take hold of the Sword of Life.

"You have failed," I hear him say but I'm not really listening, because the Destroyer's made a mistake.

"Elektra!" Logan was standing on small red road, surrounded by darkness and whatever was below them remained hidden, but a short way away from him was the woman he loved

"Logan!" She called to him at the same time, but neither of them could get closer to each other, and as it were they were just out of reach from the other.

"Where are we?" asked Logan.

"The Path." Another voice came to them as a person appeared.

"Stick." Both of them knew who it was, Elektra's mentor, one of the original Chaste.

"I'm riskin all of us to do this, and it's usin' the last of my power," said Stick. "After this, I'm done. I can bend the laws of time to make this happen but after this, I won't be comin' back."

"Why?" Logan demanded, but Elektra stayed silent, knowing why.

"Logan, you know you can take the Destroyer, that you can defeat me, but you're holding back. You know why."

"I can't do this, not again," replies Logan. "Not to you."

"Logan," she replies. "You have to do this. The Destroyer has to be beaten. When the link is broken, I'm going back... to that hell."

"You can't ask me to do this..."

"Logan," said Stick. "It's one or the other."

"Little man," echoes the voice of the Destroyer, "you cannot hide from me." There was a wave of energy and the Path began to dissipate about them. "You and your kind are done." Stick acted as if he were gripped in a vice and the shade cried out and then he was gone and the Path disappeared and both Logan and Elektra fell in to the void below...

"Finish this!"

Elektra's voice echoes in my mind and I push past the pain in my heart and my body and I begin to fight back, pulling my claws free of her body, tearing flesh as I do so..

"Not in this lifetime, bub," I say as I grab the Sword back again and her touch meets mine and there's a connection. It's not the tender touch of Elektra, but the touch of pure evil, but the Sword protects me this time and I look in to her eyes.

"My power is..."

"Nothin' compared to this pig-sticker," I say and I free the claws again and cut in to her hand. The Destroyer simply laughs, but that's not what I wanted. I wanted to strike with my other claws as well, my broken arm hanging loosely at my side but there's a capacity to move it and the claws from that hand slash at her side. The Destroyer's mortal form is just that - mortal. It's immortality mean's it can't be destroyed, but that's where the Sword comes from.

The Destroyer is death and this is the Sword of Life and in a single moment, I grab the sword and it's poised at Elektra's breast.

"This cannot be," said the Destroyer.

"Wanna bet?" I reply and thrust the sword in to her. Elektra cries out as does the Destroyer and the Sword flares to life, draining the ultimate evil within to it, within to me. I can feel it overwhelming me, as it did many years ago, but unlike many years ago I'm my own man and this world will tremble at my hand.

Magneto, Apocalypse, the Shadow King, I'll crush them all in my power and then I will rule this planet and lead it to a new glory.

~Logan~

~Elektra~

~This is not for you. It is not your path. Our path~

~I...~

~The Destroyer's darkness will overwhelm you, my love, and you will be worse than he could ever hope you to be~

~Not a choice, darlin'. My life for many. Wraith'll see to that~

~It is not for you. This is the price I paid to find you. I'll save you again~

~Don't!~

~Trust in our love. Remember me~

Her voice echoes in my mind, and my mind is clear. The sky's no longer dark, an it' ain't raining blood any more, but the floor is littered with the bodies of the Son's of the Shield and the Hand are nothing more than dust on the wind as I drop the Sword of Life to the floor, catching Elektra as she falls towards my arms, her eyes back to normal.

"'Lektra..." I start but she's limp. "Darlin'?" She's not breathin'. Her heart's not beatin' and her body's cold to the touch and I can feel my heart breakin'. "No..."

"Logan!" calls Wraith. "Stand down!"

"Don't worry about it Wraith," I reply, I say biting back what I want to cry out. "I'm me and the Destroyer's gone"

"You did it again," I hear Wraith say. "Outstanding! You did it, man! It's over."

"Logan?" Tyger touches my shoulder as I lay Elektra to the floor.

"She gave me everything she had, everything she was. What she had in her, what we shared - it was enough to protect me from the Sword's curse." I look at Tyger, an ' I can feel the tears formin' in my eyes. "She saved me, darlin'."

"Oh, Logan..." I look back at Elektra, lying so still on the ground and I have one last thing to do. I close her eyes and then kiss her mouth and taste her lips for the last time.

"Now it's over."