If she looked closely,she could a trail of almost phosphorescent white blood,but water had diluted it,and the light here was no better at all.

Eventually,she came to the bodies.

There were maybe six or seven,and they wore some kind of weird uniform.Army uniform?It was unlike any Army uniform she had seen before.No matter;these guys were torn up,and one looked shot in the face,a big gaping hole where he used to have subtle features,like a nose,some eyes,and most of his jaw.

'These are the guys Logan works with,'she thought distantly,even as she paused to throw up.

Even with just the one arm,Chimera had made mincemeat of them.Maybe six or eight men (some were just parts,and she wasn't about to play 'match that limb'),and she wasn't sure she'd heard a single bit of struggle.

Logan had,though.Why else had he cursed and come this way?

And where was he?

Stopping to vomit,she'd lost track of him,but there was almost nowhere else he could go.This road was a dead end,and the cannery was the end of it all,before you plunged into the Thames.And Logan had already done that.

In spite of the persistent,heavy darkness,she saw a silhouette on the top of the crumbling cannery,and knew from the rounded shoulders and the long,knife like claws hanging down from the hands that it was Logan.But how the fuck did he get up there, and why?

From the way he stalked the roof like an aggravated caged tiger,she realized he was surveying the area,and offering himself as an easy target for Chimera.Man,he loved to live dangerously.And it was so sad that she found that almost unbearably attractive.

It was then the eerily quiet night was shattered by a scream,a woman's scream,and a voice shouting desperately:"Logan,help me!"

It took her a moment to realize the voice was hers,and coming from somewhere in the shadows at the base of the cannery.

She became visible,even as Logan jumped down from the edge of the roof (he could jump four stories too?),and shouted, "No,it's not me!It's a trap!"

But it was too late,because as soon as Logan landed feet first on the ground,Chimera-disguised as her in spite of having one arm (which was only visible once he moved out of the shadows)-rushed him,and stabbed him through the throat with something that looked like a metal spear,hard enough that the end of it burst through the back of Logan's throat,and embedded in the wall behind him.And as soon as Logan lifted a claw,Chimera jabbed him with something that shot blue sparks on contact with him,making a cracking noise as loud as the snap of a whip.

Logan fell limp,sagging,the spear in his throat being the only thing keeping him up as his eyes stared wildly at Chimera,bright with pain.Blood was sluicing down Logan's chest and stomach like water had been when he pulled himself out of the river,and he was making a strange wet gasping noise as he tried to speak,swallow,or perhaps just breathe."It's solid adamantium,you know,"Chimera said,his tone mocking and dripping with contempt."Even if you could move,you couldn't cut through it."

Chimera then tapped a stubby claw right between Logan's eyes,which were growing glassy and distant,staring at absolutely nothing."You had a good run,old man.But now it's time for the new breed."

Blood was pooling at Logan's feet with frightening rapidity;Egghead had severed at least one major artery,and Logan was bleeding out like a cow in a slaughterhouse.She didn't think even he could survive that.

Going invisible again,she ran at the Eggman,pipe raised,ready to knock his head clean off his shoulders.

He must have sensed her coming,felt the shift of the wind,because he spun around,holding that boxy,spark shooting weapon defensively outward.She hit him in the side of the head as his weapon made contact with her pipe before being knocked away, and felt the electrical shock run through the pipe and straight into her.

As the Eggman hit the ground hard,she felt the jolt throughout her entire nervous system,and tasted copper as she suddenly lost her grip on the pipe as well as her ability to feel her own legs.She tried to catch herself as she pitched forward onto the rutted concrete lot surrounding the cannery,but her arms no longer obeyed her either,and she hit the pavement chin first.Not only did it hurt like a son of a bitch,but it made her consciousness briefly fade to grey before rallying very slowly back to full, painful color.

Maybe she was hit with a stun gun.She'd heard of such things being developed,but had never seen one.As her eyesight returned to full color,she realized the dark puddle of mud inches from her face was actually Logan's blood,and a small rill of it, following a crack in the pavement,was slowly coming right for her.

"That's quite a talent you got there,girl,"she heard Chimera say,as he climbed painfully back to his feet."I could use that.I'm very close to perfect,but I think that will put me over the edge."

She wanted to move her head,but she couldn't.She wanted to call out to Logan,see if he was still alive,but she couldn't do that either.'Please be alive,'she thought,desperately trying to will herself to move.'Don't leave me with this ugly psychotic gobshite.'

She felt Chimera's shadow over her as he leaned down and hoisted her up,onto his shoulder-a clumsy and grotesque proposition at best with one arm and a stump (and she knew he touched her with his stump.Only the stun gun shock kept her from throwing up again),yet somehow he managed."At least your death won't be a complete waste,"he told her,as he walked past Logan on his way inside the cannery.If there was any life in him at all,she didn't see it;he was nailed to the wall like a specimen insect to a peg board,and he looked just as lively.

Now she knew she had to hold out until she could move,and kill this fucker herself.

Somehow.Some way.

**

Camp Lejune,Alberta,Canada

They were in a thin stand of scrub pine,just within view of a deep crag of rock,and what looked like a simple shelf of snow. Except the sun had melted enough of it that a part of it shined like a mirror.How did they explain shiny rock?

"What the hell just happened?"Scott asked,having the sense to keep his voice low.

"I teleported us to party central,"he told him,pretty sure this was both the right place and the right dimension.The air was a bit thinner up here,colder,and right now seemed to barely move.And it was quiet.

Extremely quiet.

"Shit,"Bob cursed,wondering why he didn't see this coming.

"What now?"Scott asked,sounding slightly peevish.

But Jean had jumped the gun,perhaps launching into defensive mode in an attempt to protect them all,and she gave Bob a truly shocked look."There's no one here."

He nodded in agreement.If he didn't pick up anyone,she certainly wouldn't."The place is abandoned.They must have evacuated the instant it all went tits up.Excuse my French."

From the scowl he got from Scott,he was more offended by his language than Jean."Why is this a shock?"

"Scott,"Jean said,and then reached out and touched the side of his head.There was no affection in the gesture;she was simply telepathically bringing him up to speed,which was quicker than the clumsy oral way.Speech could be nothing but a pain sometimes.

"Oh,"Scott finally said,as Jean withdrew her hand."This is one of the bases where Logan got altered?"

Nice way to put it.Made him sound like a dog who'd been spayed.(Well,that would have made Scott happy if he was.) "Possibly.It was the place you and Logan were supposed to be brought back to once he was captured,subdued,or turned, whichever worked first."

"But we didn't show up fast enough,"Jean said,finishing his thought,and sounding extremely disappointed.Part of her really wanted to a boot in the ribs of those who had kidnapped Scott and tortured Logan.

Bob stared at the base,wondering why it hadn't blown up yet.They wouldn't leave it for some hiker to find.These paranoid fuckers destroyed every last trace of evidence that they ever existed,and yet still kept existing,like bugs who lived under rocks,and instantly burrowed into the Earth the moment one was overturned.

But that was offending the bugs.Unlike these bastards,they never hurt anyone,and certainly weren't engaged in a secret war.
Suddenly he knew why it hadn't self-destructed yet.They were waiting for visitors.

"What is it?"Jean asked,reading his facial expression.

"You two stay here,keep an eye out in case company returns,"Bob told them,stepping out of the protective shield of the trees. "I'm gonna see what they left behind."

"You're not going in alone-"Scott insisted,and started to follow him,but Bob simply turned around and stared at him.Scott froze in his tracks,as did Jean,who was starting to follow him.

"You both take shelter and stay here,"he informed them."Stay out of detonation range,and neutralize anyone who comes by." Bob didn't expect anyone to return,but he wanted to give them a sense of purpose while they waited a safe distance away.It would feel more natural,and less like a push in retrospect.

He then went ahead,and into the Camp Lejune base.

The door was open,but he expected that.They were just supposed to waltz in here like idiots."You're such an inspiration for the ways that I will never ever choose to be,"he sang,as he entered the adamantium lined airlock that opened up into an equally metal lined wall."Oh so many ways for me to show you how your saint has abandoned you."The acoustics were great in here,as was the lighting,but then the relentless silver plating reflected a lot.He'd need to put his sunglasses on soon,as it was starting to hurt his eyes.But he bet the blood and guts hosed off real nice."Fuck your god,your lord,your Christ.He did this,took all you had and left you this way.Stood and prayed,never stray,never taste of the fruit.Never thought to question why."The halls seemed perfectly the same,holding an equal amount of adamantium doored cells and laboratories,including a couple of operating theaters with nice big bay windows,so the normals could look down and watch a mutant get torn apart piece by piece,while they were still conscious enough to watch it.This was like the absolute epitome of torture chambers;high tech,newfangled,sterile as hell,so only those who wanted to get blood on their hands would.He had no idea where he was going,but like all roads led to Rome,all halls would lead to the command center eventually."It's not like you killed someone. It's not like you drove a hateful spear into his side.Praise the one who left you broken down and paralyzed.He did it all for you."

Finally,he came to a big circular door,a smaller version of the front airlock,and it was not only adamantium plated,but had a retinal scanner as a lock.Bob wondered if he should blow its mind.

He leaned down until the red laser of the scanner shined in his peripheral vision,and then he let his eye do what could only be described as 'alter',to borrow Scott's term.It would now be looking for a retina that wasn't there."Even though he did this to you,you never thought to question why,"he sang,as the computer behind the wall started to make the most curious noise.

Everything had a retina,and its software had not included instructions on what to do when confronted with an eye that met all those parameters but that one.As it started to chase its own tail in a destructive little feedback loop,Bob put his hand against the door,and cast a simple spell:"Open."

The door did just that,irising open with a slight pneumatic gasp."Hey,I didn't say 'sesame',"he pointed out,but he knew humor would be lost on a simple A.I. security system.

The control room looked as bland as the security hub for any major casino:there were walls upon walls of monitors,which should have been showing the compound,the surrounding area,and all the rooms inside the base in the most minute detail,but were now disabled and showing nothing but electronic snow,the exact type of black and white hissing static you got when your cable went out.

Except one.One monitor was showing a blank white wall.

Bob crossed the steel floor and stood before a computer panel that could have come from Captain Picard's Enterprise,glancing around to see if any of the instrumentation still functioned.No,of course not,but Bob didn't need to see readouts to know exactly what was going on.That was the beauty of being him sometimes.

"Hello hello hello,good day to you,Mr. and Mrs. America and all the ships at sea,"he said into the one functioning monitor. "Anyone out there in t.v. land?"

The picture on the monitor seemed to slew around,and came to rest on a homely (was there any other kind?) green scaled Ressik demon."I told them you'd figure it out,but they almost didn't believe me,"the Ressik said,in a voice so deep Barry White would have weeped.

"The bastards,"Bob mock commiserated.He wished he was surprised to see this ugly asshole,but no,he wasn't.They must have pulled info about him from Scott's mind,and did a bit of homework.Damn;he hated being anticipated in any way,shape,or form.

The Ressik frowned,making it look like the lower half of his face was in danger of falling off."You're not taking this seriously, are you Drai'shajan?"

Damn,they knew that identity."I take the systematic mutilation and murder of an entire species of Human very seriously.But you?No."

The Ressik continued to give him that remarkably dour look."There's stuff stronger than you,you know."

"Of course I know.There's stuff stronger than Logan too,but it hasn't seemed to help them catch him either."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

He tried to think of a way to put it that a Ressik would understand."It's not the size of the gun,it's how you use it,mate."

"Is that what your girlfriend told you?"He replied,and Bob chuckled,because he knew that was coming."That's too bad for you."

"We're not discussing the size of my Howitzer,"he pointed out,trying to keep a straight face.Even in an empty Torquemada's wet dream,it was difficult."We're supposed to be discussing what the fuck those chickenshits want from me."

It was the Ressik's turn to chuckle."The chickenshits want a truce."

"Do they?Are they going to stop torturing and killing mutants?"

The Ressik shrugged."I dunno.There's a tape I'm supposed to play."

"Well,play on,MacDuff."

The Ressik scowled at him."I'm glad you find yourself amusing."

"Mate,I'm hilarious,"he assured him,as he waited for him to load up the tape.Of course,Bob was sure he couldn't be nearly as hilarious as what he was about to watch,but hey,everyone had their cross to bear.

Finally,it started,the white screen switching to solid blue,and then a close up of a man's face appeared,although it had been digitally blurred to hide all features,rendering him a fuzzy beige oval with a thin crop of dark hair."Hello,Drai'shajan,"the man said,and his voice had been digitally processed too,making him sound like the Ressik Barry White.He felt like he was watching testimony from a mob informant,but it just proved how paranoid these people were.

Rightly so,actually.If he knew what Control looked like,it would be only a matter of time before he found him.

"Hello,dickweed,"Bob replied cheerily,even though he knew Control couldn't possibly hear him.He must have found out his voice was a potentially deadly weapon.

"I have a proposition for you,"Control droned on relentlessly in his digitally processed voice."If you cease your pursuit of us,we,in turn,will help you bring down the Powers That Be."

Bob laughed.He had to hear this.

London,England-1987

Eggy put her on some kind of table,face up,and handcuffed her hands in front of her."Understand,I killed all the engineers who worked on me,"he said,walking out of her limited viewing range.She heard the clink of metal instruments,and she wondered what exactly he planned to do to her.What did he mean by engineers?Was he a fucking robot or something?"But I know there are some still alive.I'm sure I can persuade them to do a little more work on me.After all,pain and fear of death is a great motivator."

'You are a sick fuck,'she thought,but of course she couldn't say it yet.But she thought she could feel herself wiggle her toes. Was she getting some feeling back?

She saw him return in the corner of her eye,and he was holding up something it took her a moment to identify.A hypodermic needle."Oh,don't fret,love,"he said,smiling faintly in a way that was genuinely creepy.He probably didn't have a sane neuron in his head."I just need some of your DNA.Think of it as giving blood for a cause so much greater than you could ever know."

Man,she hated needles.But all she could do was inwardly cringe as he pushed the tip of the needle through her upper left arm, and pulled back on the plunger,getting a hypo full of blood before he stopped and pulled the needle out of her.

"There,"he said,grinning at the needle full of her blood."It's awesome to think the secret of your gift is in there somewhere, isn't it?Just waiting to be isolated and exploited."

She wondered why she was supposed to care,and what he was planning to do with it.What,did he sell mutant blood on the black market?What for?

She was now positive she could move her leg now;feeling was coming back to her body.But the bad part of that was the pain. Not only did her arm ache from the needle,but she felt like she had been burned from the inside out due to the stun gun,and her head hurt.Actually,hurt was too mild a word;it felt like it was full of molten lead,and her eyes were made of broken glass. Hitting the ground face first must have rattled her head more than she thought.

He decanted the blood into a little vial that looked like the kind doctors took serum from."It was nice of the old man to give me an improvement before he left,"he said,sounding very happy with himself."Maybe he wasn't such a waste of flesh after all."

She couldn't help but think he was the waste of flesh around here,but he wouldn't accept that.She was just about to try her luck and move,but then she thought she heard a noise outside.What was that?

Eggy's head snapped violently towards the front of the cannery,and that's when the door seemed to explode open,and an angry scream filled the abandoned plant as Logan streaked across the room like a heat seeking missile,headed straight for the Eggman.

'You killed him,'she thought,almost laughing at the absurdity of the idea.'Now you've really pissed him off.'

Eggy attempted to defend himself,but Logan moved so fast she couldn't even see what happened until Chimera's head fell off his shoulders and rolled lopsidedly across the floor,gaining a foot or so before his body hit the ground.

Logan viciously kicked the headless corpse.She was pretty sure she heard something snap,and not in Logan."Come on,man, pull yourself together,"he snarled,leaning down and slashing the body.He cut off the other arm,and began dicing the body like luncheon meat,splattering white blood everywhere.She thought it was a fit of rage,but as she glanced at the head...did his mouth move?

Did Chimera's mouth just move?Was he still trying to speak,even decapitated?

She closed her eyes tightly,willing herself not to throw up again.It was a spasm,right,a death spasm?There was no fucking way he could still be alive just as a head.

But then why was Logan dismembering the body?That was the only way Chimera would stay dead,wasn't it?Total dismemberment.Jesus fucking Christ,she was going to get sick again.

After a minute or two of listening to the sickening sound of Logan's claws tearing through flesh,she heard him walk across the concrete floor,but not towards her.There was a pause before he said,"What?Are you going to threaten to bite my kneecaps off?"

He was talking to the head.She just knew he was talking to the head.

He walked across the factory again,away from her,and she risked opening her eyes in time to see him approach the far wall,so underlit and swallowed by shadows she could pretend that was just a misshapen bowling ball he was carrying in his right hand.Logan kicked the wall,so hard he made a hole clean through,and she could smell the salty,polluted tang of the river on the cool night air that wafted into this sterile,airless place,now fetid with blood.

"Go sleep with the fishes,asshole,"Logan snapped,and threw the head through the hole.She was pretty sure she heard a distant splash.Logan had thrown the Eggman's head into the Thames.

As if it wasn't polluted enough.

When he turned,he looked in her direction,although she wasn't perfectly sure,since her vision was a bit blurry at the edges. "You all right?Spud?"

She moved her head to give him a disbelieving glare,but that seemed to shift the molten contents inside her brain,and shot a stabbing pain from her forehead to her shoulders.The blurring got worse,and she felt suddenly very nauseous again.Still,she managed to maintain,if just barely."Am I all right?I watched you get stabbed in the throat and die,then watched you dismember someone,and I'm handcuffed on a table.I'm fucking bloody brilliant!What do you think?!"

"I didn't die,"he replied testily,as if that was somehow an insult."Do I look dead?"

But as he reached the table,he seemed to stagger a bit,and grabbed onto the edge."My blood volume isn't back up to normal yet,"he said,as if that was an excuse.Well,it was,but it was a weird one.

"Yes,you look dead,"she told him.He scowled at her,but it was the truth.He looked frighteningly pale;his lips were so bloodless they were all but white,and his facial hair stood out like a dark smudge stain on his face.He still had a partial hole in his throat,but it must have been mostly surface,as it was hardly bleeding at all,and he seemed to be talking and breathing just fine.Well,gasping a bit,but he seemed okay otherwise.Bloody remarkable for a man impaled through the neck."How much blood volume are you running on?"

He shrugged as he popped a single claw."No idea.Probably fumes-adrenaline makes up for a lot.Hold still."Before she could ask why,he sliced one of the handcuffs off her wrist,and then another.He never even nicked her.

"How sharp are those things?"She wondered.His claws had cut through the steel cuffs like they were made of crepe paper.

"They're adamantium,"he said,and sounded almost embarrassed as the claw disappeared inside his hand.

"I didn't think that was a naturally occurring metal."

"It's not,"he said,not explaining anything at all.But then he looked down at her in a curious manner."Your eyes are unfocused."

"What does that mean?"

He didn't answer immediately."Head hurt?Kinda nauseous?"

"I just watched you tear someone to pieces-wouldn't you be nauseous?"

"No.Can you move?"

She tried,but the pain in her head,the lurch of her stomach,and the sudden red fading of her vision made her stop."Not a lot, no."

He nodded."Concussion.Stay here.I'll just get rid of him and then I'll be back for you."

"Rid of him?What are you going to do with him?And what the fuck was he,anyways?"

"I figure he can join the rest of himself in the river,the last victim of the 'slasher'.And he was a mistake,Spud;a big fucking mistake."

"That doesn't help me."

She heard him walking around doing something.She figured he was collecting body parts,so she didn't bother to look."He was supposed to be the ultimate killing machine.But he was too good at it,and they seemed shocked that when he went off the rails,they couldn't stop him."

"So that's why they called in you."

"Yeah."

"Why'd he want my DNA?"

"Huh?"He sounded startled by that.

"He took my blood.He said he wanted my DNA."

She heard him kick the wall again,probably to make the hole bigger,and heard several distant splashes.Logan had to be a hit man;absolutely none of this gore bothered him."He was bugfuck,Spud.A complete nutjob."

"I know,but that's no answer,Logan.You're not tellin' me something."

"Let it go,Srina."

Okay,he used her real name.Now she knew it was bad."Tell me,goddamn it!This fucker almost killed me!"

"I told you to go home."

"Well,fuck you very much!I was trying to save your life,arsehole!"

"Didn't need it."

"Hell if you didn't,"she snapped bitterly.She felt well enough that she decided to risk standing up,or a least get off the bloody table.She wanted some answers;she deserved some answers,damn it.

She let her left side slide off the table,and tried to stand,which turned out to be the biggest mistake of her life-well,up to this moment.All the contents of her head seemed to shift to one side,sending a pain beyond description ripping through her entire head,and her vision skidded over into complete,unrelenting red.

'I really shouldn't have done that,'she thought,as she felt herself falling,and her vision went completely to black.

**

Camp Lejune Base-Now

"What would they say if you went up in smoke?"He sang quietly to himself,glancing around the control room.Yes,that hum was getting louder."What if I dug you up and made soup of your bones?"

"We have no argument with you,"Control concluded finally."But if you persist,you will find us a formidable enemy.It doesn't have to be that way.Nobody wants a holy war,Drai'shajan."

"You think you have a chance against me?"He scoffed aloud."Then why are you hiding behind Ressiks and videotape?Get your story straight and pick a side of your mouth to talk out of."

The tape concluded,and the Ressik's ugly mug reappeared on screen."I take it that's your answer?"

Obviously he heard his comments.He gave the demon a sour look."I can't believe they'd try and fuck me around like this. They've wasted both our time on a half-hearted bluff."