I watch, as people I knew and know of fight, a dream fighting a twisted perversion of the dream. My dream, and all I can do is hope that my dream proves the stronger. I can hear him beside me, taunting me about what is going on, but I ignore him, because he does not matter to me. My students, my friends, matter to me. My name is Charles Xavier, and the ultimate blame for the events that unfold now can be left at my door.

I brought these people together, I trained them, and they believed in me, but what I did not train them for was what would happen when I was gone. I thought I had time, but I did not and my death affected them all in different ways, altering the dream I had which bound them together and perhaps if I had not died this would not be happening, but I did die, killed by an unknown assassin. In truth, I always knew it would end that way, that I would be killed not by one of my known enemies, but by someone I did not know because of what I believed in.

As I died I knew my students would carry on my dream and I would be able to rest easily, but it was not enough and my soul was brought back. Lilandra restored my soul, but it would have been at the cost of the soul of another and I could not allow that, and I convinced Storm to kill me a second time, but the mysticism of the Shi'ar was not so easily thwarted and the body died, but my soul was not restored to the peace I had known and I realised that there was a power that was blocking me.

Onslaught, the amalgam of my darkest emotions and those of Magnus, was thought to be destroyed by the Heroes at the climax of the confrontation, but he had returned and somehow, unaware of my presence, he was preventing my ascension to the place where I had been, and while he endured I could not go back. I knew I was just a soul on the astral plane, a mere shade and not a true being, but there was also something else. I found that I was not just hidden from the prescience of Onslaught, but also of any telepath. I was merely background noise, unable to be detected and I watched and waited and I realised there was something greatly wrong, something confirmed when the Shadow King confronted Onslaught and defeated him.

The defeat on Onslaught sent out a tidal wave of psionic energy across the astral plane, which the Shadow King managed to control and stop before it destroyed every telepath in existence, and in that moment I saw it all, saw everything he was and everything he planned and I knew I could not go back, not yet and I worked in the background, and I found that I could make certain people aware of my presence, people such as Gateway, and while he had his own difficulties he knew the threat that was posed here, and he assisted me. However events got ahead of me I was forced to intervene directly and in doing so the Shadow King became aware of me and now I am in his grasp.

My only hope is my students, my X-Men. Even those who are not X-Men in name...

Wolverine: Retribution

by David Wheatley

"Come on Logan..." Elektra said. She had seen X-Force leave very quickly, and watched as Hank McCoy and Warren Worthington had arrived. Iceman was also about, arriving around the same time as Stick had disappeared. "Where are you?"

"He's already in place," replied a voice and Elektra turned to see Viper standing there and she heard the closing of a teleportation device. "We knew Jean would go back to Xavier's and she would ensure their defences were disabled."

"They teleported right inside..." muttered Elektra.

"And now they're waiting for the right moment," said Viper and then the mansion went dark. "Which has arrived, but we can't have you spoiling the fun..."

"Oh, I've been waiting for this," Elektra said, a slight smile coming across her lips and her sai flew from her hands, but Viper was not without her own fighting skills and she caught the flying blade as it approached her, flicked it up, caught it and threw it back. Elektra dodged and the blade embedded itself in to a tree

"So have I," Viper said, but Elektra wasn't wasting time with words. She was on the attack, painful memories returning and she knew that while Viper may not have had much of a choice, she had enjoyed it; maybe even done the things she had done voluntarily. This was for honour, for Logan, for herself and she struck out extending her leg with a scissor kick that struck the sternum of Viper, sending her back against a nearby tree.

Viper had seen it coming and she had twisted, so that while the kick connected it did not shatter the bone as Elektra had intended. She hurt but she was able to continue, but she knew that one or two of her ribs on the left side had been broken. She would live with that because she would not this resurrected ninja beat her and as Elektra came forward again, her strikes were met with defensive moves from Viper. Viper had always been a good fighter, but Logan had shown her more than his moves in the bedroom, and Elektra had been the one who had retrained him after his encounter with Genesis.

Elektra reigned blows with her fists, elbows and feet as Viper countered each one, dodging or blocking and then following up with moves of her own making sure that the young Greek woman knew she wasn't alone in this fight. The wounded ribs from the first strike slowed Viper down but she was focused on the task at hand and she would see the woman dead and she struck with a blow of her own, striking at Elektra's stomach, putting all her power in to a precision strike towards Elektra's own breastbone, and it was here Elektra made her first error of the conflict.

It had been a move she hadn't been expecting and she'd not been able to block in time, instead meeting it, slapping it down, but the blow was strong and she had been unable to stop it all the way. She had deflected the blow down and it had struck her just below the stomach, and Elektra staggered and her hand instinctively went to protect the area that had been hit. She knew something was wrong, because her body didn't feel right all of a sudden and her training meant she had to be in harmony with her body to be able to get the full measure of her abilities. Her eyes narrowed for a moment as she focused, pushing past the discord in her mind and went back, but Viper was ready and as she moved Viper kicked her in the stomach, aiming for the part she knew as injured and Elektra grabbed the leg as it retracted back and brought her elbow down on to it and there was a snap as the joint connected with the tibia and Viper cried out, the first of them to make an audible sound of pain since the fight had begun.

With a broken leg Viper could barely stand, and Elektra swiped, striking her face with the back of her hand and a scratch was left across Viper's face, as well as a bleeding lip and her tongue went up and licked the blood and she fell to one knee, her good leg sweeping out as she fell and striking Elektra's legs, cutting them from under her and she fell back and Viper took a moment to sip on a vial that she produced from her belt and Elektra saw her wince at the taste of it, but then she stood and she knew it had to be some kind of painkiller because the agony Viper would be feeling in her leg should be intense as the damaged bone rubbed and cut in to the softer tissues. It was already swelling badly, and Elektra leapt to her feet in a fluid movement, one hand striking at the damaged ribs with a back handed fist and the other hand punching Viper in the gut, and the green haired woman doubled over and the speed of the moves and then Elektra went slightly dizzy, the result of the attack from earlier catching up with her and she took a few steps back, allowing Viper to get back in to the fight and she came across, hobbling but with some speed and grabbed the disorientated Elektra and slammed her back in to a tree slamming her knee in to her gut while slamming her head against the tree, making her grunt in pain as her skull impacted on the solid wood.

Elektra reached out, trying to push her away to no effect and then she slammed her head on to the head of Viper and then stopped her, allowing Elektra to reach up, her hand reaching her sai and she used the leverage it gave her to pull up and her knees struck Viper and her feet pushed her away, just as the sai gave way and she dropped to the floor, landing in a crouch, her sai in her hand and she drew the other one from her belt, and moved forward, slashing and striking with swift moves, but Viper seemed to be one step ahead of her and she kept just out of range or deflect her strikes with blows, swatting them aside, but Elektra wasn't done and she threw the blades and they spun, thrusting themselves in to another of the trees that surrounded the clearing in which they fought. Viper misread them as missed throws, and as Elektra she readied a strike, but Elektra jumped up, pushing herself using Viper's head as a vault, shoving her to the floor and she grabbed the sais as handholds, ricocheting her body from the tree, pulling the blades free and she twisted herself in the air and landed, the two blades stabbing Viper in the back just under the shoulder blades but Viper gave no cry of pain so Elektra twisted the blades, and whatever drug Viper had taken before seemed to give up and now she cried out.

"You were never going to win..." Elektra said, her breath hot and panting on Viper's neck. "I was never going to let you."

"Is this the way of the Chaste?" Viper taunted. "Isn't this against their credo?"

"I'm the Chaste now," said Elektra her knee grinding on the broken leg of her enemy making her cry out once more, "and I do things slightly differently. That's why you're not dead."

"That's a mistake you'll live to regret," Viper hissed. "I'll make sure you pay for this."

"And what makes you think you'll get the chance?" Elektra said, her elbow meeting the spine of the other woman and Viper was suddenly paralysed from the blow to her spinal column and Elektra stood up, her hand going to her injury from before. In her mouth she could feel the slight taste of blood and she knew there was an injury of some sort there, something internal. Luckily she knew if she passed out she would have Logan in her head who'd be able to take over long enough to get help.

The X-Men were down there and she could see some members of the original five had stopped the other members, with Angel taking Pete Wisdom back inside the mansion, and she could just about see inside from her vantage point. She knew the battle was pretty much over and she could feel herself starting to pass out from whatever had happened to her but there was something else. During the course of the fight she had been so busy focusing on Viper, she hadn't noticed that somehow Logan's presence had slipped from her mind.

"No," she whispered, and she tried to fight to stay awake but it was too late and she passed out, Viper's laughter in her ears.

This is the place I came to when Elektra taught me the ways of the Chaste, where I got my mind, body and soul back in to synch, where I went to when I got my memories back. It's a place you can't get to by usual means. You have to be able to see it, or be able to access it. I'd seen it just once before Elektra showed me what to do. The Neuri showed it to me.

It's called the Alshra and it showed me there was more to life than what I knew. They also told me I could access it but the adamantium was a conflict in me that prevented my harmony. Without it, I was able to be who I was supposed to be. Not sure what'll happen when I go back, but I'm gonna find out.

From here I can see it happening, my body poised over that of Cyclops, ready to strike for one final time. Anyone else would be done for, but Scott Summers ain't gonna go down that easy. You can see the Shadow King all over this one.

"Tell Chuck that I said 'Hi,'. Any last words, Slim?"

"Yeah. Tell your girlfriend... That I said... 'Hi!'" Scott hits my body hard, and you know kicking someone in the groin and solar plexus is gonna hurt both of you when the one being kicked's got a skeleton laced with adamantium, but Scott's a trooper and follows it with an optic blast and when my body comes down it's covered in debris, and I've got my opening and as I try to enter my body, the darkness that's inside come to me instead. Always gotta go the hard way...

"That didn't work too well, did it, bub?"

"Impossible!" Wolverine answers. "You're gone."

"Nope," I reply. "Just got moved somewhere else. I want my body back."

"You can't have it!" he says and I smile. It's not like he's gonna get a choice in this. He's not the real me, he the thing the Shadow King used to fill the void when he used his power to remove my soul from my body and Nate Grey kept me from getting' back in. Nate's been taken out by Jeannie, and I've been in Elektra's head long enough. Now it's my turn.

"Guess we're gonna have to do this the old-fashioned way," I tell him. "You've got my body, you've got my name, but bub, you ain't got me!" I stand there and my claws come out, as do his, but there's no adamantium here and we fight, Logan versus Wolverine, a spiritual battle of everything I fought against my entire life - the man versus the beast. He comes against me, and as he slashes at me, I slash back. His claws hack a piece out of me, but mine do something else. They replace a piece of him with a piece of me and I know that's the true me going back where it belongs and he growls at me.

I ain't ever willingly let the beast beat me before and I don't intend to start now, because I'm the best there is at what I do and he's just a shadow of me. There's so much to fight for - Elektra, Jacob, Jeannie, Jubilee, Kitty, the Clan Yashida... I've got more than I ever realised and I know I'm never gonna be alone again. He strikes at me again and I raise myself above him and as he hacks and slashes with berserk rage I dodge and weave and ready myself. This is more a battle of will than a physical one and it's just manifesting that way. I strike back, where I can replacing more of the Shadow with Logan and then we go at it properly, hgacking and slashing and this reminds me of the battle I had with Shingen, the first time I accepted that I was a man, and that the animal within had it's uses but it was not my master.

He said I wasn't worthy of his daughter, of being the champion of the Clan Yashida and it took me a while to discover otherwise. I can hear his laughter in the back of my mind. His laughter and that of Ogun. They're not on anyone's side, they're memories given a form by this place, they're telling me that they were right - but I know they weren't and as Wolverine hacks more bits out of me their voices get stronger, but this is the way it used to be. I fight back, not because I need to beat the animal back, but because the shadow needs defeating. I grab the claws and twist them around, using them against Wolverine and I push them back in to him and he seems stunned. He really thought he was gonna win, he really thought that his way was the only way.

There's a new way now, a way none of my critics and enemies never knew I was capable of, a way I never knew I was capable of and I strike at the wounded Wolverine, driving my claws in to the shadow that is Wolverine, piercing him fully and expanding my arms, tearing him apart. Wolverine's defeated and I can see the Shadow fading away being replaced by Logan, mirroring me, but that's not the way and the transformation stops and I touch the mirrored version and we merge in to one being.

The man and animal can live in harmony. I proved that with the Chaste teachings and dealt with it - I'll use them to deal with the adamantium conflicting with my healing factor. My mind will be whole, proper. I'm not just Wolverine, I'm not just Logan, I'm one of the Chaste, guardian and defender of the Path. I'm better than the sum of my parts. I'm Logan, Wolverine, animal, man, however you call me, whatever I decide I am now, I am who I'm supposed to be and my time is now...

"Three against one's a safe bet, right?"

I can hear Iceman's voice as I crawl from the rubble around me but I can also hear that he ain't so sure.

"Not in yer case, Drake," I reply and I can see them get ready for a fight. Not sure that I'll be able to convince them I'm back to bein' myself again, but then again someone else sorts that out as I hear Jeannie's voice in my mind as she speaks with Scott tellin' him I'm me again, like I'm bein' copied in and I smile as I get rid of the stiffness in my neck. I'd have kept my body in better shape, but I guess that's why he was evil.

"Get Hank," Scott says to Angel and Iceman. "We'll regroup at Jean's location in the graveyard!" I make my way forward, my eyes narrow because neither of us are quite sure of what to say and he tenses up an backs off a little. "Err... you are good again, right?" he asks and I smile.

"Good as I'll ever be, considerin'. Let's get goin', Slim. Jeannie and the world both needs us right now."

He nods and smiles. We both gave each other a fight, and he's gotta be wishin' he had my healin' factor right now, but we've work to do. He's got his act together, I've got mine now we're gonna show Farouk what it means to be X-Men...

"Logan is lost to us," the Shadow King said, annoyance in his voice as Viper stood, using a branch to support herself. "As are the X-Men. Jean Grey is more powerful than I anticipated, however I must have one more test before I confront her properly."

"What about Elektra?" Viper replied.

"Bring her to me, she may yet prove a bargaining chip when Logan comes, because he will come."

"How do you know?"

"I am still inside Jacob, and if they are prepared to wait and regroup, I have bait besides the woman he loves." Viper could sense the amusement in Farouk's voice and she rested upon Elektra and activated the tesseract device and the two women vanished returning to Almagordo.

"The time for jokes has ENDED!" Shadow King shouted as he suddenly appeared in his astral form, that of a bulked up, shadowy spectre before the X-Men that assembled around the grave of Charles Xavier.. The X-Men, including Wolverine and X-Man, jumped up in shock and Farouk smiled. "Victory will be MINE!!"

"The only victory you'll be gettin' are the receivin' end of these!" Wolverine shouted as he popped his claws.

"Oh, how wrong you are, Logan..." Shadow King's powerful voice echoed and he a massive psi-bolt, but as he suspected would happen, Phoenix and X-Man pooled their powers together and formed a psionic buffer zone within the minds of everyone.

"ARGHH!!!" Shadow King shouted in feigned frustration as he disappeared, because now he had the measure of his most powerful enemy but he left an inkling, a trail that Phoenix could follow and soon enough the spirits of the X-Men appeared on the astral plane and he could see the horror in their minds as they saw the captured Xavier.

"Charles...?" Cyclops gasped. Charles looked at his old students and his eyes widened and Farouk laughed

"That's right! In the short time Xavier's essence was brought back from the ether, I felt it...justly poetic that I hold onto him!"

"Don't give into him, my X-Men! I love you all--mmph!" Charles said no more as Farouk put him back as Cyclops gave the order to attack but Farouk was not in the mood to play anymore and he cast them back to their bodies. He could see them debating what to do, and even Jean Grey was saying she could not detect Xavier.

"They will come for you, Charles," said Farouk. "They think that they have the advantage, but they won't be able to stop me this time. I am ready and they cannot touch me this time."

"There will always be someone to stop you," Xavier answered. "Today, tomorrow, it will happen."

"Keep telling yourself that," Farouk answered.

"We'll never make it to New Mexico," Nate said as he and Jean took to the skies, holding Logan telekinetically.. "It's too far and the Shadow King will be getting ready."

"How else do we get there?" asked Jean. "X-Force have the Ominjet and…"

"Back to the mansion," said Wolverine. "Gateway's there, waiting. He'll get us there."

Jean nodded and they headed to the mansion where they could sense that the new X-Men had escaped from the Danger Room and Gateway was waiting on the roof. He looked up, no trace of emotion on his face, but he knew what was needed and he began to spin his bullroarer, opening a portal and the three X-Men flew through it appearing on the other side, looking down on the complex that they thought had been destroyed when the X-Men had last been here.

"Almagordo," said Jean, looking down at the ruined complex that had been part of the Weapon X programme so many years ago. It had been the place where Charles' father had worked, where he had died. It was fitting in a way that Farouk had chosen this place as his base of operations.

"Gotta make sure nobody else uses this place," Logan answered as they landed. "You can handle Farouk while I make sure of it?" Jean smiled.

"What do you think?" she said. "And Nate's got my back."

"Go for it," said Wolverine. "I'll set the destruct and level this place once and for all." Then Phoenix flared up the firebird effect and punched a hole through the ground, heading for the lower levels of the complex and the three heroes descended, the psions floating down, Logan simply leaping down and landing in a crouch and he extended his claws. No words were exchanged because they knew what needed to be done and they separated, Wolverine going to make sure the place was destroyed, and Phoenix and X-Man headed for the main chamber, to destroy the Shadow King once and for all, maybe even saving baby Jacob in the process.

Wolverine watched for a moment as the telepaths headed off and then he turned and started running. There was a minimal Hydra presence here as most of the agents were around the world attacking as many places as they could, taking advantage of the chaos created by the Sons of Set, but there were enough to get in his way, and they'd been prepared for his arrival, for they were well armed, but Logan wasn't in the mood to mess around as they fired bullets at him, but most missed as they realised what was coming at them and those that hit didn't bother him.

His claws flashed through the air, striking at the terrorists, dispatching them swiftly and mercilessly as he passed them by, and within moments he was the last man standing, bodies piled down the corridor and he quickly checked his bearings and moved down another corridor, coming across more terrorists and these Hydra agents bothered him even less than the others had. His target was the main control room, where Arnim Zola's lab was and as he passed the adamantium bonding chamber he paused. The door was closed and he knew the room had been sound-proofed so that nothing from outside could disrupt what had been going on. Jamie Munoz was a careful man and he had executed the operation with extreme precision. If the door was closed, that could only mean one thing - that the chamber was being prepared again.

"I'm the last, bub," Logan said as he hacked at the door, slicing it open and he entered the room. Inside he could see Munoz, standing over the immersion tank, preparing it for what would be another subject.

"Wolverine!" Munoz gasped and Logan smiled.

"I remember your name now," Logan replied. "I heard of you when Zoe Culloden told me about your research, You got what you wanted, bub?"

"It was a great break through in medical research," Munoz started to say, but Logan ran forward and vaulted towards him, using the chamber is a pivot and he kicked Munoz in the chest, sending the doctor in to the machinery and he looked in to the tank.

"What you're doing isn't for medical reasons, you're making livin' weapons…"

"Every ruler needs enforcers," Munoz said. "They…"

"Save it," said Wolverine holding him up by the collar. "Yer a dangerous man to let wander around, but I ain't gonna kill you, bub. Too easy, too swift. I'm gonna do something special…" He lifted him and pushed him in to the tank, fitting Munoz with a breathing mask as he held him down and he watched as the clamps connected, holding him in place. "Let's see if you can survive the bonding process…" Logan wandered over to the machines and turned them on and the systems began to do what they had been programmed to do, in case Munzo had died and the Shadow King needed someone else to do the work. "See ya around, bub…"

"So you have come at last," said Farouk, speaking from the host body of baby Jacob in to the minds of the two telepaths. "I was beginning to think you'd never get here."

"It's over for you, Farouk," Phoenix telepathically replied, walking over to the crib where Jacob was looking up. "For what you've done, what you've allowed, you're going to pay."

"I sincerely doubt that, madam," the Shadow King said. "I have faced you twice. The first time I saw the truth of who you are and the second I saw what you have become capable of and I am ready for you. And little Nathan as well…"

"Ignore him," said Phoenix. "I can feel his fear."

"So can I," said Grey. "You're going down, Farouk…"

"Enough talk - let us see which is the most powerful telepath…"

The three of them ascended to the astral, where Farouk's astral avatar was waiting, dark, immense and foreboding. Nate's avatar was the way he had alaways looked but Jean's was that of the Phoenix bird and Nate looked at her.

"Nice look," he said.

"The kid gloves are off," Jean said. "Just keep me grounded, Nate." The Phoenix effect flared and claws shot out from the bird of fire, reaching out at the Shadow King who allowed the claws to dig in to him, creating a psionic bond between them, giving him access to her as she had to him.

"You have forgotten the basics since you lost your powers, Miss Grey," Farouk said. "For all your raw power, you lack the subtle finesse of your tutor."

"It's Grey-Summers," Jean countered, pouring on the power. "I am Phoenix, I am fire and life incarnate and you are death, evil, suffering and I will not let you poison anymore of us."

"You remember the last time we battled like this?" Farouk said. "You used your powers then to blast me to atoms to free Charles? This time I am ready…"

"You have never faced the Phoenix!" Jean said. "I am so much more now…"

"As am I," said Farouk and he turned the power of the Phoenix back on her, creating a feedback loop and Jean was pushed back, her own power assaulting her and she was cast back through the astral plane, where the Shadow King reached out his hand and grabbed a hold of her. "I have learnt much…"

"I've not even started," Jean said and she surrendered herself to the full power of the Phoenix, not holding back any of the energies she had and the claws of the firebird hacked at the shadow form of Ahmal Farouk, tearing at him and the Shadow King fought back, but seemed to be all he could do to make sure he was destroyed utterly. Nate watched in awe as she struck at him and he could feel her losing herself to the power and he knew what she had meant by keeping her grounded. She was wielding power on the level of the Dark Phoenix, but this time she would not lose her soul to it. Nate would make sure of that, but as he tried they could both feel that there was something wrong and Nate couldn't keep up with her.

"At last," the Shadow King said, a note of triumph in his voice, as if he had been waiting for this. "Nate Grey is dying…"

"Nate!" Jean said, in shock and she could feel Nate's power starting to consume his body, just as Sinister had predicted they would and all the tests done when he had first arrived here had indicated. In her concern over Nate, the boy should have been her son, she paused in her assault and the Shadow King gathered the energies of the astral plane and once more cast her back.

"The weapon against Apocalypse is done," said the Shadow King. "When En Sabah Nur used him to maintain his version of reality, he weakened Nate substantially. I was able to use that weakness and make him mine. How many times have you been blindsided, Nathan? First Logan broke your telekinetic hold on him by scaring you with his ferocity. Then Elektra stopped you, Payne took you out, next was Sabretooth and the appearance of your version of Forge rattled you. In trying to keep up with Phoenix you have accelerated your demise…"

"I can save him," Jean said, her astral form a cross between her normal self and the firebird avatar.

"Or you can defeat me, you will not do both," the Shadow King said, and Jean had no choice. As Cable had restored her power, she would use hers to restore Nate. She would be weakened, but she would soon recover her powers, given time to do so and the firebird expanded, holding Nate as if he were a child and she cradled him in her arms.

"I can't let you die," she said and Nate absorbed the energies that were being given to him as Phoenix used her powers to hold him and she started to rebuild his genetics, but something stopped her and she knew that even the power of the Phoenix could not tamper with this. Nate had a destiny, maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow but one day he would realise it and she could not tamper with what had been ordained. Keeping him alive for now would be enough and then she cast Nate from the astral plane and faced the Shadow King once again. "You waited."

"It amused me," said Farouk. "Xavier, by the way, is pleased. He would be, he was always so concerned about life. Now, Jean Grey-Summers, shall we try again?"

"I had you before," she said. "I will make sure you die, even if it I have to give my own life to do so."

"Yes," said Farouk, "but now it is my turn." The shadows descended around he and Jean willed the firebird to return and it started to do so, but Farouk was no longer fighting the same fight they had been and Jean could see her own body on the floor next to her and she could see the horror in Nate's eyes as he looked at her.

"He's brought you here," he said and Jean realised that Farouk had torn them from the astral plane and given them a physical form here and this was not something she was used to her and it put pressure upon her mind, as it existed in two places at the same time. She could feel Nate trying to help her, but he was recovering from his own problems and Farouk pressed the advantage, using her weakened state as well as her disorientation to attack, and Phoenix was being pushed back and for every bit of damage that she took form the savagery of the Shadow King, she could see the injuries appear on her own body and she could feel the Shadow King's laughter in her mind as well as hearing it.

The energies of the Phoenix would only help her for so long and then it would be all over and Jean psionically called out, and she hoped that someone would hear her cry.

"Hey, bub."

Zola felt the tap on his shoulder and he turned only to see three adamantium claws come towards him and he hurridly commanded his ESP box top transfer his conciousness in to another host and he hoped the speed of thought was faster than the speed of the claws of Wolverine, who smashed through the protective barrier in the chest plate and cut through the head in to the brain of Zola and he retracted them and Zola fell to the floor.

Logan wasn't sure if he was dead or not, but he was out of this fight and he looked over to the table and his heart froze as he saw the medical devices attached to the mutilated body and he knew it was Yuriko Oyama and he moved over to her.

"Yuriko," he said, but she didn't seem to hear him and he looked down. Her legs were little more than stumps and her cybernetics had been cannibalised for parts and she was little more than a rod frame with a head and Logan could remember watching as the engineers had cut in to her, he remembered revelling in her screams of agony as they had removed pieces of her and he knew she was dying at the end of it, and the look she had given him was not one of hatred but one of pity. "You should have saved it, darlin'," he said. Zola had obviously been using what remained of her to experiment on, for his own twisted reasons.

"Never was one for self-pity," she rasped, her eyes opening. "It is you…"

"Yup," he confirmed. "I'm back, but too late…"

"Did they?" she asked and he nodded and she knew her father's procedures had been used again. "Then I have failed…"

"No," said Wolverine, looking at her. "It ain't over yet… I…" He heard Jean's voice in his head and he looked back at the door. "Damn," he said, his fist clenched. "I can't destroy this place if I go back, Jeannie…"

"Let me," said Yuriko. " Move me to the consoles, I still have strength to push buttons, and send this place to hell."

"I move you, you'll die," said Logan, looking at the devices. "I know that much about what's going on."

"I'm dead anyway," she said. "Perhaps I died long ago. Maybe this way honour will be satisfied. It is the last repository of my father's experiments."

"Yuriko…" he said but as he looked in to her eyes he could see the fire he had known and the woman known as Deathstrike was truly gone, but her shade had enough passion left for one final killing blow. "I ain't gonna forget this, Yuriko," he said and he kissed her forehead then he unhooked the devices.

"My last breath will be the one that triggers the destruct," she said, her voice filled with pain as he moved her over to the machinery and he showed her the combination of commands and then he sliced of Zola's hand.

"That'll activate it," he said as he put it on the reader panel and she nodded.

"Go," she said. "I don't know how long I have left." Wolverine nodded and he started to run to where the main chamber was and by the time he arrived he could see that Jean was being joined by several other telepaths. Nate Grey, two versions of Monet St Croix, Marcus Raven, Psylocke, and Martinique Jason. The telepaths were pooling their resources, forcing the Shadow King in to a war on many fronts, but he was holding his own.

"Wolvie!" shouted a voice and Logan could see Jubilee was there.

"Whatcha doin' here, darlin'?" he asked, joy and fear entering him as the two of them embraced, unable to help in the battle that was going on.

"Heard you were in trouble," she said. "I left you alone too long again…"

"It's great to see ya, darlin', but you shouldn't have come. I ain't sure what you can do here…"

"She can get Elektra," said a voice and they turned to see a familiar face.

"Stick?" they said and then they looked at each other. "You can see him?"

"Yeah, you both can, because you're both Chaste, which is why she'd needed, Logan. You, Elektra and Jubilee are the first of the new Chaste, and Elektra's in trouble."

"I'm on it," Logan said, but Stick stood there.

"You're needed here," he said. "Jubilation's gotta rescue her."

"Viper," Logan said, thinking he hadn't seen her and Stickj nodded.

"I won't let you down, Logan," she said.

"I know you won't," he answered. "Just be careful. Viper's not easy."

"Neither am I," said Jubilee and Stick pointed the way and she set off, then he turned to Wolverine.

"I'll guide her in a moment, but you've a job to do."

"Which is?"

"The Shadow King's too powerful to defeat on the astral plane, but by coming here he's made a mistake. There's a Chaste ritual…"

"The Alshra," Logan realised. "I can take him out there."

"Yes," said Stick.

"Then I guess there's work to do," he said and Stick vanished and Logan cleared his mind, focusing on achieving the harmony he knew he was capable of achieving. He could see the telepaths driving the Shadow King back as they attacked him on the astral plane and Jean unleashed her full power, using the added advantage of the others to see what Nate was capable of, and the Shadow King had learnt of. The firebird flared and Phoenix drove him off the physical world as Logan's mind called to her, telling her to keep the two realms joined.

"I'll do it," Nate said. "Without you he'll kill the others on the astral plane" and Jean nodded as Logan closed his eyes and focused. He could see it all in his mind, the battle, the injuries, the death that was in this place and he knew it had to end one way or another. He opened them and the world was replaced by a land of light, energy and colour and he was on the Alshra and he went one step further, using the rituals of the Chaste to push himself up, his body discorporating in to the energy of the Alshra and in the physical sense he was gone, but he still had form upon the Alshra and he moved to the portal, diving in and accessing the astral plane.

He could see the Shadow King pushing the telepaths back, and he could see that they were going to lose this fight. Phoenix had all but burnt herself out with such intense uses of her power and she needed to recharge, to somehow feed, but that would be a problem for later as Logan focused on the things Elektra had taught him and as she had done to him on a mountain some months ago he touched the Shadow King and made him a part of the Alshra, a dark, malevolent mass against the intense colours of the Alshra

"What is this?" the Shadow King demanded, not recognising the purity that was Logan. "Where am I?"

"The last safe haven," Logan said.

"The telepaths don't have this kind of power," said Farouk.

"I do though," said Wolverine. "You've had your shot, bub. Now it's my turn."

"Where is he?" M asked as the Shadow King seemed to disappear.

"Logan has him," Jean said. "I can almost hear them, but I can't tell where they are or what is going on"

"We've one chance," said Raven. "Xavier…"

"Without the Shadow King to keep him here, we can get him back where he belongs," said Mastermind. She had no love for Xavier, and in her mind he was better out of the way than controlling things from the ether.

"But how?" said Psylocke. "We're talking about souls here, is this even in our league?"

"We have to try," Jean said "And Charles will aid us. I know it." The telepaths pooled their resources and focused, trying to find the man who had brought them all together one way or another.

Jubilee hurried, following Stick and she reached a chamber.

"In there," said Stick and Jubilee destroyed the door with her explosives.

"You're not Logan," Viper hissed. "You're the other daughter."

"And you're the btich who's his wife. Guess that you makes you my Mom."

"Then I will punish you," said Viper with a smile.

"Not today," said Jubilee as she let off some of her explosives, disorientating Viper just long enough for FX to scout the room and see what was happening with Elektra. She was on top on a stand, a thin cord around her neck that was suspended from a beam. She was bound and gagged and she was fighting to keep her stability, because if the stand gave way she would be hanged. Viper had obviously planned it so that Wolverine would have had to kill her to get to Elektra before she was either asphyxiated or her neck was snapped by the cord jerking her head up as she fell.

"You lose," said Jubilee as she fired her explosives but they could not damage the cord and Elektra's eyes went wide as the stand rocked and only her skills managed to keep it from toppling.

"Adamantium," said Viper, striking at Jubilee and kicking her in the back, sending the young X-Man to the floor. "Apparently your powers have no effect on the cord, nor will they on the support which is also made of the metal. This is how Hydra executed convicted traitors, and it serves well enough now."

"Whatever," said Jubilee, as she fired her explosives at her, forcing her back. Viper had been prepared for Wolverine, but not for an energy attack like this and she had no obvious protection as Jubilee pushed her away. She knew the ways of the Chaste meant she couldn't kill her, even though she wanted to which was why she didn't just make her explode, as she so richly deserved, but that didn't mean she couldn't make sure she didn't hurt. Then she noticed that Viper's leg had metal armour around it and she smiled. That was the weak point and she fired an explosion just above it and Viper staggered and fell, but as she did so she threw something that struck Jubilee in the neck and then she felt dizzy.

"Logan will find you dead instead," Viper said, watching as the poison took effect and FX fired her explosions wildly, and they struck walls and Viper screamed as masonry fell down towards her and then she screamed no more. Jubilee looked at Elektra.

"I'll get help," she said, fighting the burning sensation that was spreading through her veins as the toxin took effect, and she started to run, trying desperately not to fall over, before the poison overcame her. She'd promised Logan she wouldn't let him down, and she knew would die first before she did that.

"You cannot stop me," Farouk said as Logan punched him. "No matter what you do to me, I will return and you will never be free of me."

"Not this time, bub. There's nowhere for you to run to, nowhere to go," Logan said, holding him up "Yer psi powers won't work here, because this isn't a place for them. This is a place of truth and the truth is you are nothing, not nay more. Yer a lingering afterthought, and you're gonna be forgotten."

"I think not," said the Shadow King and he unleashed a bolt of psionic energy at Wolverine, clouding his mind, hoping to burn it out once and for all, but the energy rolled off Logan as if it wasn't even happening.

"The truth is this - you can't touch me anymore," Logan said. "My soul is my own now and there isn't a thing you can do, but I can do this…" Three claws appeared from the backs of his hands and he plunged them in to Farouk. "That's for Jacob."

"This isn't real," said the Shadow King. "This cannot be…"

"You've no power anymore," Wolverine answered. "When you came to the physical world, you left yourself exposed to forces you ain't ever considered. It's over."

"I will not allow this," said the Shadow King, but Logan wasn't listening. He was seeing the Shadow King as he truly was, a small man and he held the Shadow King in the palm of his hand.

"You're not in charge anymore," Logan said and clenched his fist. Farouk screamed as the truth held him and he could not hide from what he was, what he had become. His dreams were dying around him, his schemes were ended and his voice faded away to nothingness and Logan knew that he was gone and he would not return. He had faded away to nothing, because without his powers that was what he truly was.

"Got him!" said Jean and the telepaths managed to force Charles Xavier in to an astral form, more a shade than a presence and he smiled.

"Thank you," he said, looking at them all. "The spectre of Ahmal Farouk is gone, and finally I can rest. The last piece of unfinished business has been taken care of and I can finally let go."

"Charles…" Jean started to say.

"No, Jean," he answered. "My time is over. You, Scott, everyone… you've all done well, better than I hoped. Tell him… not to fear making mistakes as I did."

Jean nodded as Xavier looked at them all on turn and the shade began to grow paler and paler but there was also an amazing light that surrounded him and the telepaths were blinded by it's brilliance and then Xavier was gone and they were all in their bodies.

"It's over," said Psylocke. "The Shadow King is gone…" Nate nodded.

"He was always in my mind, but now he's not."

"There's really no trace of him, anywhere," the two Monets said at the same time and Jean nodded.

"Ah wonder what happens next," said Marcus, and then they turned to see Wolverine reappearing, flecks of light cascading around him as his body reformed and he returned.

"Wasn't sure if I was gonna get back," he said, as Jean helped him up.

"We did it, Logan," she said and he nodded. "Charles is free, the Shadow King is gone, and…" They were interrupted by a cry. And they all looked to the crib.

"Who's is the kid?" Mastermind asked.

"Mine," said Logan, looking down at his son and wondering how it had happened. "I don't understand. If he was taken over by the Shadow King then…"

"We'll figure it another day," said Psylocke. "Right now, I just want to get out of here and put this behind us."

"Agreed," said Logan. "But first…" He was cut off by alarms and he knew that the self-destruct had been activated. "Five minutes!" he said. "We've five minutes before the place blows…" Then he tasted the air. "Jubilee…" He turned and saw her there, stumbling towards them.

"Wolvie," she said as she passed out.

"Elektra's in trouble," said Marcus, reading her mind. "And Jubilee's been poisoned."

"Jean!" said Logan and Phoenix telekinetically held her in stasis.

"I don't know how long I can do this," she said.

"Get outta here," he said. "Betsy…"

"I hjave Jacob," she said and Wolverine nodded in thanks.

"You go, I'll get Elektra."

"Hurry," Jean said and Logan nodded and he started to run as Phoenix telekinetically lifted them out of there, forcing their way up to the surface to see the SHIELD Helicarrier hovering overhead.

"How the hell did they know?" Psylocke asked but Marcus Raven smiled.

"Wisdom," he said. "This is down to him." Mastermind knew that she wasn't exactly on the best of terms with the law enforcement authorities and she used her illusion powers to disappear. Emma had asked her to help out and she had done. Emma Frost was about to make big plays and it always helped to have a hand, just in case. What Shinobi would say if he ever found out was another matter…

"X-Men, this is Genesis," said a voice that sounded like Forge. "Can we offer our assistance?" The X-Men looked at Marcus who was the only SHIELD agent on site.

"Genesis, this is Agent Raven, we need HERMES transport to the medical wing, ASAP."

"Confirmed, Marcus," Genesis replied and they vanished and reappeared in the medical wing, where the med team started to look at Jubilee.

"She's been poisoned," said the X-Men Monet said.

"And someone needs to change the baby…" said Betsy, holding Jacob at arms length and Jean gasped.

"LOGAN!" she shouted as an explosion rocked the Helicarrier as Almagordo disintegrated, sending out a shockwave.

"Did he get out?" Psylocke said, looking at her but Jean was pale.

"I don't know," she said. "I felt him say they were out of time and…" She put her hand across her mouth.

"What?" Jean looked at them, a tear falling down her cheek.

"He told me to look after Jacob for him, and then he was gone…"