"Where is she, Wraith?"

John Wraith looked up from his desk as Logan walked in to the office.

"Logan..." he started to say, but before he could say more Wolverine had him by the collar and Wraith was lifted off the ground. "Hey!"

"Asked a question, Wraith! Where is Yuriko Oyama?"

"I don't know," Wraith gasped. "Why should I?"

"Because the L's have an interest in her," said Zoë Culloden, entering the office. "You want to put him down, Logan?"

"Sure," said Logan, letting him go. "I'm looking for Deathstrike, Zoë, where is she?"

"She's here," said Culloden. "Not in Japan, as you thought."

"Figured that when I made some calls," said Logan. "Wanna explain what's going on?"

"After the Onslaught affair, we became aware of converging possibilities," said Zoë, as she sat down and Logan lit up a cigar. "I sent you a box."

"Ya mean this?" Logan placed the box on the table.

"I thought that was at Xavier's," muttered Zoë.

"Yeah, like I'm leaving anything there with Cyke of his head," replied Wolverine. "Anyway, I know it has the markings on of the Oyama family, which means by right's it's hers. Hell, we had a throw down over it not long after you gave it to me."

"I'm sorry," said Zoë. "However the Deadpool situation took priority. It's The Spirit Box."

"The what?" asked Wraith. "I don't know that name."

"I do," said Logan. "Explains a hell of a lot, too."

"Go on then," said Zoë, looking at her friend.

"Goes back to when I first went to Japan. Ogun had it..." Logan paused. "I was warned, by you and by Stick that he was coming for me, and then he took over Deathstrike."

"Yes," said Zoë. "He was supposed to be the greatest battle you would face, but Lady Deathstrike added a new element to things and destiny changed. We still do not know how she found out about the box being in your possession so fast, even though we have asked them."

"It's how Ogun managed to use his powers," said Logan, putting the pieces together. "How he transferred himself from one person to the next."

"It was a part of it," said Zoë. "It allowed him to cast the spell of transference, and he tried it on you, but the spell didn't work, for he thought he had broken you, removed the animal from your soul."

"Submit to me," Ogun said, as he placed his hand on Logan's head, urging his essence to depart his body and enter that of this student. Logan's mind was full of fear, but fear created rage, and rage lessened his focus. Relaxed, in the right frame of mind, he would have been vulnerable, but Ogun had underestimated the power his feral nature possessed, and it had been waiting for the opportunity to be released.

"I kept it dormant," said Logan, thinking back and remembering, the event causing him to shudder inside at what had almost happened to him. "It gave me the edge."

"The spell failed," said Zoë. "It failed but even then it gave him power, his life became longer than it would have been before, and he knew he needed a new host body. He even tried the powers of the Hand to make him whole again, but he knew that if he died without completing the spell, he would be trapped as an undead revenant forever, unless he rebounded with you, or with someone who was... prepared correctly. But you were also affected as well. It weakened your natural defences and made it easier for people to possess you, control you," said Zoë. "The Destroyer took Ogun's place when he was dealt with by Kitty Pryde."

"How do you know?" asked Logan

"Because it's in the files," said Wraith, softly. "The Spirit Box was lost after your fight with Ogun, and it fell in to the hands of the Ogama family. Lord Darkwind used it to perfect the adamantium bonding process."

"How?" Wolverine blew a smoke ring.

"He used it to draw the spirit from the subject while the adamantium was bonded to them. However he mentioned it in the notes he made," said Zoë. "We only found out when we confiscated the documentation."

"The L's knew about the bonding process?" Logan's eye's narrowed as he thought about what was being said, what they had known and never told him.

"Yes," said Zoë. "They did. A leak in the L's security allowed the relevant data to be used at a certain project..."

"Damn you all," muttered Logan. "The memory of the box in Shanghai was false, implanted by the L's so I'd never get it right."

"Except Ogun came and faced you, and triggered the memory," said Zoë. "It wasn't supposed to happen like that, but then Ogun has never played by the rules."

"How powerful could he have become?" Logan was concerned about this, knowing that somewhere, the spirit of Ogun was out there.

"If he had regained the Spirit Box, he could have become a dominant force in the universe, unable to die in any sense and possessing great power, but something went wrong and he possessed Deathstrike," Zoë answered. "It corrupted him, changed him because he had never before seen the digital age, and he believed it to be something bigger than he could have been. He used her but she was infused with something that even she didn't know about - the power of the Spirit Box."

"How?" asked Logan.

"Something Darkwind did," said Wraith. "A protection for her, in case Ogun ever came looking. She was the right type, a young woman, trained well in the samurai arts..."

"He had a profile..."

"Yes," said Zoë. "Yuriko could have become what he intended Kitty Pryde to become, but she was programmed to fight him off and Ogun was forced to flee her body and he went after Kitty again, after all she was prepared for him to enter. You he could have done, but you had the Spirit Box and it protected you."

"Protected me?"

"Yes," said Zoë. "I was always watching your back, Logan. We were always watching your back, but there is one thing you need to know."

"Just one?" asked Logan.

"The Spirit Box is fashioned of the same material as the Sword of Life. It was created by the Elder Gods, and as such has a link..."

"To the Destroyer," Logan finished. It made sense now. Deathstrike was another name for the Destroyer, she was influenced by it, made one of it's thralls. That was why she had allowed herself to be altered, made in to something less than human, to have parts of herself replaced by circuits and adamantium blades. "Is that why she's here?"

"Yes," said Zoë. "When the Destroyer came she... became crazed and lashed out. It took three containment teams to subdue her..."

"Great," said Logan. "It's time we finished this, once and for all. Take me to her, Zoë. It's time to air some secrets."

Alarms blared all around her as she moved through the complex, using stealth as much as she could but she had known it would only be a matter of time before they realised that she was gone. Landau, Luckman, Lake and LeQuare (Retired) wanted to keep an eye on her, to see if she became evil incarnate, but she knew that it wasn't going to happen.

The lessons of the Chaste had allowed her to sense things about herself and she knew that while she had changed and was now something a little less than human in body, she was still human in soul. Whatever could have been done to her hadn't been done to her and now she had to find Logan. He'd be waiting for her out there, he needed her and she needed him.

"Stop!" shouted a voice and she could see a guard standing there, weapon drawn and pointed at her. Even from here, without weapons, she could think of six different ways of killing him before he knew what was going on, but that was not her way and she moved quickly and suddenly he was out cold on the floor before he could fire a shot. She was sorry, but she didn't have time for this and she hurried, not knowing where she was really going, but looking for a way, any way, of getting out of the complex.

She wasn't sure what it was but she seemed to have an instinct about the place and she felt it was in the direction she was going, as if there were something in her head that was telling her. Whether it was something to do with what Pierce had done to her, or whether it was something else she didn't know, but she'd find out later and kept on going. Then she met her first real problem - a group of soldiers.

"Miss Natchios," said their commander, "we've been ordered to accompany you back to your room. Don't make this any harder than it already is."

"Get out of my way," Elektra responded.

"We can't do that, ma'am," he answered. "Orders of the Overboss."

"Then I'm sorry," she said and ran forward, pounced, landed on her hands and pushed in to them with her feet in one fluid motion, taking down the commander and the man to his left. As they went down, she braced herself, landed on her feet and hands and pushed herself up, lashing out and another two fell. In five seconds four of them were out cold and there were only three left.

These people were good but they had never expected this from a woman who was unarmed and had just left a hospital bed and the moments of hesitation cost them as Elektra grabbed one as the other two opened fire, riddling their colleague with shots. They didn't sound like real bullets as they fired and Elektra guessed they had to take her alive, so she grabbed the gun of their fallen comrade and fired in to them and they hit the floor as fast as the others had done.

Elektra smiled to herself as she continued thinking that being dead hadn't dulled her skills any and continued on her way, armed with the knowledge that while they were prepared to stop her, they weren't prepared to stop her with any finality. She could just imagine what would happen when Logan found out they had shot her while she tried to escape.

"Yuriko?"

"I hear you," Deathstrike hissed. "I know you... murderer."

"You two ought to stay outta this," said Logan as he looked at Wraith and Zoë. "I'll handle her."

"Be careful, Logan," said Wraith. "She's not the same Yurkio you once knew."

"Neither am I," said Logan and he entered the room, sensing the movement of Deathstrike before she made it and he avoided her talons as they shot towards him. "Only want to talk, Yuriko."

"I will see you dead," she cried. "You killed the master, as you killed my father and stole my legacy!" She came for him, slashing with her claws and Logan slashed back at her with his.

"Don't have time for this Yuriko," Logan said as they grappled. "Ya need to fight him, Yuriko. The Destroyer's gone. Dead, it's over..."

"Never over, not while I live, while we live! I will have you for my own..." Her face changed as she fought, using the reconfiguration programme Pierce installed when she dealt with Domino some time ago, and the face of Ogun appears before Logan, instead of the woman he once knew.

"Ain't gonna work," Logan said. "Ogun's out there somewhere, but he ain't' here and one day I'll find him and we'll finish it once and for all, but I need you."

"To what, betray me again?" The face returned to that of Yuriko's and her claws flashed towards him, and Logan instinctively raised his won claws and the adamantium met bone and Logan's hit the floor. "You will die and honour will be appeased!"

"The hell with this," snarled Logan, getting angry more with himself for making such a foolish error. The Ogun thing had got to him more than he cared to admit, his memories focused on the events decades ago, triggered by Zoë's words earlier. "You wanna throw down with me? Let's go." But as the words left him, he could feel something else, something he had learnt on a mountain top where he had learned to tame the anger inside and he let the teachings of the Chaste come to him again. Fight not with anger, but with calm. Defend, do not attack. Mercy comes in many forms. Deathstrike struck and Logan lowered his defences and allowed the claws to rake through his guts and throat and he fell to the floor. "Good shot, Yuriko..." he managed to gasp then he closed his eyes and fell to the floor, the Spirit Box falling from the inner jacket pocket that had been opened.

It hit the floor and rolled towards her and Yuriko looked at the box, curiously, the memory of it coming in to her mind.

"No," she whispered as she touched it and a bright light surged from it. "NO!" she screamed as her circuitry burned with the energy being unleashed and as the light faded she fell to the floor, sparks sputtering from her, and tears leaking from her eyes. The doors to the room opened as medics entered and Zoë and Wraith rushed in.

"What has happened to me?" Yuriko was saying to herself. "I have failed."

"You may have done more than that," said Wraith as the medics looked at Logan. "Zoë?"

"She cut open his throat hacked out a chunk of his stomach and sliced his intestines to shreds," the Overboss said, looking at the scans. "He's not responding to what's happened to him either. They've given him something to jumpstart his healing factor but I don't think it's is working..."

"Wouldn't... say that," muttered Logan, a trickle of blood coming from his mouth.

"You're alive?" said a medic, in surprise.

"Just took a... second or two," Logan rasped. "Light connected us... showed the truth..."

"It almost killed you," said Zoë. "What was so important?"

"The truth, Zoë, the truth. Honour, vengeance... it's nothing without... the truth t'back the words up." Logan sighed, his breathing hurt and he closed his eyes.

"Can you stand?" asked Wraith, glancing at the window where someone was trying to get Zoë's attention.

"Just been gutted... Wraith," Logan said. "Gimme a moment or two. Healin' factor can only do... so much without me goin' feral..." He'd taken a big gamble on coming back from this one, but he'd figured if Mariko could do something similar to him and he could come out of it more or less okay, he could do it again. The trick this time was staying human, because without Elektra around...

"We'll let the medics help you both," said Zoë and she and Wraith went outside and the doors closed.

"Yuriko?" asked Logan.

"I am shamed," said Deathstrike. "My quest has been wrong all these years."

"Tried tellin' you darlin', but you wouldn't listen," Logan answered. "Never chose to have the adamantium bonding..."

"Look what I have done, what I have become," she said. "I understand now..."

"I know," said Logan. "Forces beyond our control did this, but we gotta live with what's happened here, an' I need your help."

"I saw the things in your mind. The Shadow King..."

"Gotta stop him, Yuriko. Rescue my kid and make sure there's a chance for us all. The Shadow King's got too much power an' he ain't the benevolent type."

"I will help you, and atone for what has happened between us. I owe you."

"No you don't, darlin'. Scars fades, wounds heal an' the world keep's turnin'."

Outside the room, Zoë was angry.

"How the hell did you let her escape?" she was saying to someone on the other end of the line. "She's just one woman... Yes, you're right, there will be an investigation in to this, and yes, Department H will be heavily criticised in this. They get no more help from us when they're in trouble." She turned the link off and looked at Wraith. "Elektra broke out of the holding facility at Department H. Nobody's dead, but she's on the run."

"Any idea where she's going?"

"No," said Zoë, "and we don't know how much she knows or what resources she has to hand. He can't know of this..."

"He won't like it if he finds out," said Wraith, looking on as the medics did what they could for him as he spoke with Deathstrike.

"We'll deal with that then," she said. "If he loses this fight... you know what's coming, and he needs to be a part of this."

"I don't know why we can't do anything to prevent this," said Wraith.

"Because it's not our place," said Zoë. "We have access to so many things, and there's only so much we can do. We bent the rules on the Destroyer situation... we can't do it again for a very long time. There are rules..." Wraith nodded.

"Doesn't mean I have to like them," he said.

"Neither do I," said Zoë. "Neither do I."

"What's going on?" asked Tyger Tiger as she came towards them. "I heard Logan was about."

"He is," said Wraith. "Got in to a fight with Lady Deathstrike. The medics are patching him up, letting his healing factor do the rest."

"Great," said Tyger, sardonically. "When he feels like getting ready, his strike team is ready. Elena Ivanovich and Roughouse are briefed and ready to go whenever he is. Same here."

"Good," said Zoë. "As soon as he's mobile, the five of you are going after the Shadow King. It's high time he was dealt with."

Elektra ran through the countryside, unsure if she was being hunted by Department H, or even Alpha Flight. Either way, she needed to get out of there, and get to someone who would know how to find Logan. There was only one real choice, one place where Logan would always have a home, no matter what was going on - she needed to get to the Xavier Institute.