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It should not have been this easy to follow in the path of Wolverine.



The portal in the world where Logan had gone had been redirected. It

no longer led to or from the Earth of the X-Men.



Virtually anyone else who attempted what Jean Grey was doing would

have ended up in another universe entirely. Or perhaps they would

not have made it to another dimension at all, and would have simply

been trapped in the featureless void between universes.



But Jean Grey had the virtually limitless power of the Phoenix at

her fingertips. So she could `force' the portal to take her to its

previous destination. Using raw power to accomplish what only the

greatest skill could achieve.



Arriving in the world Wolverine had chased his prey to like an

avenging angel.



Full of power and fury.



*****



After days of frantic construction the portal facility in the

Iberian capital was virtually finished.



Its walls were rebuilt and reinforced, new wiring and computers were

installed, and security systems (such as video cameras) were set up.

Leaving the building well equipped to keep outsiders away.



But inside the Portal Room that contained the whole reason for the

facility, the only security was half a dozen lightly armed Imperious

Industries security personnel and a few security cameras. The other

planned security features for the portal room were still in the

design phase.



So there was virtually nothing to defend against The Phoenix when

she emerged from the portal.



Upon seeing the casually dressed woman with the fiery red hair and

blazing eyes step out of the portal, the squad leader in charge of

the security guards demanded she identify herself. Screaming at her

as though she were a subordinate who had screwed up.



Jean Grey glanced at the guards and the guns that they had aimed her

way. Then she telekinetically slammed them into a wall with crushing

force.



The Phoenix smiled and simply walked out of the portal room. Not

even bothering to glance at the bloody mess that was all that

remained of the guards as she did so.



*****



Because they were both aware of just how important the portal

facility was to their own causes Imperious Dakar and Minister Archon

both often monitored the portal facility (even when nothing appeared

to be going on there).



Archon using his telepathy and Dakar employing his technomancy.

So they were both aware almost instantly of Jean Grey arriving.



Moreover, since both the Security Minister and the head of Imperious

Industries had peered deeply into the memories of Jean Grey's fellow

X-Man, they each knew what she was, and had some idea of how

dangerous she could be.



Though their reactions to The Phoenix's arrival were very different.



*****



Imperious Dakar wished that Selene were here, instead of still on

the world that she had given him access to.



Unlike him, she had experience dealing with, and even surviving the

wrath of The Phoenix. And those were skills the cyborg technomancer

could definitely use right now.



From the crowded (with Imperious Industries personnel) office inside

the Presidential Palace that he had claimed for his own use,

Imperious Dakar used his cybernetically enhanced mind to quickly

review all the data he had received from Selene and Wolverine

regarding the Phoenix Force and its host. Hoping that he would

discover some weakness that he could easily exploit against the

woman.



But the tall technomancer could think of nothing.



If the Phoenix Force was as powerful as he had been led to believe,

there was no easy way of neutralizing it.



Imperious was forced to conclude that extreme measures were

necessary.



"Lock all weapons on target designated Phoenix…fire as soon as she

leaves populated areas" Imperious Dakar telepathically commanded his

most powerful automated weapons satellite.



*****



Minister Archon though, felt confident facing The Phoenix directly.



The powerful Mind Flayer could not really believe that her power was

as great as Wolverine thought. Archon believed it far more likely

that she had simply used her psychic abilities to make Wolverine and

others like him think that she was virtually all-powerful.



His own racism would not let him contemplate being outclassed by a

mere human in the mental arts.



Nevertheless, Archon was not stupid, so he did not simply attack The

Phoenix. Suspecting her power to be great (though of course not as

great as his own).



As soon as Jean Grey exited the portal facility, undead troops under

the direct command of Minister Archon opened fire on her. The

bullets were incinerated by Phoenix fire before they could even

touch Jean's body, then those supernatural flames engulfed the

cyborg zombies that had fired upon her.



Destroying over a dozen deadly Iberian soldiers in an instant.

But the soldiers were merely a distraction.



As soon as Jean Grey attacked them Archon psychically lashed out at

her. Using all of his vast power in an attempt to obliterate her

mind.



*****



Jean Grey groaned and clutched her head.



Falling to her knees as (mostly human) bystanders gawked at her.

Wondering what the obviously dangerous woman was doing.



A human soldier (with the Ministry of Defense) in the crowd rushed

off to report that a dangerous criminal was attacking Iberian

troops. Normally Jean Grey would have noticed and reacted to such a

move, but she had far bigger problems at the moment.



The Mind Flayers were a race of predatory telepaths who had refined

mental subversion and destruction via telepathy into a fine art. And

Minister Archon dwarfed the other Mind Flayers as much mentally as

he did physically.



His psychic power was comparable to the greatest telepaths of Jean

Grey's own world, and Archon was currently using all that power to

assault Jean's mind.



He was tearing through her consciousness with all the restraint and

delicacy of a bull on a rampage. Jean Grey was unprepared for such a

quick and brutal mental assault, and for moment Archon was free to

attack Jean's mind at will. Using his vast power to tear at the

foundations of her mind.



Then The Phoenix got over her shock, and realized exactly what was

happening.



"No…this is impossible…a human CAN'T simply deny my power like this"

Minister Archon thought in disbelief. As Jean Grey threw him out of

her mind and raised a mental shield around her consciousness that

defeated his next assault.



"I AM SUPERIOR" Archon mentally shouted, as much to assure himself

as to intimidate his enemy.



Then the Mind Flayer concentrated as much of his vast mental power

as he could into a single bolt of energy directed at his foe.

Hitting Jean Grey with a psychic bolt strong enough to reduce

virtually any mind to little more than scattered thoughts.



But it had no affect.



The great psychic blast seemed to simply glance off The Phoenix's

mental shields.



The dumbfounded Archon truly studied the psychic presence of his foe

for the first time.



He got the impression that something vast and terrible was about to

attack him. And for the first time in his long and privileged life,

Archon found himself truly terrified of another telepath.



*****



Minister Archon had been in one of the many dungeons inside the

Ministry of Security headquarters when he had detected the Phoenix.

Surrounded by his closest advisors (and fellow Mind Flayers) as he

interrogated one of the many Security Ministry agents accused

of `improper' loyalty.



Now the Mind Flayers and the Halfling assassin they had helped

torture watched as the leader who had always towered over them

mentally and physically trembled and mouthed gibberish.



Things they had never imagined their powerful and seemingly

untouchable minister ever doing.



But the illithids were less concerned by what they were seeing, than

by what they were registering with their other senses. For these

telepaths could feel an almost unimaginably strong force assaulting

Archon.



The frightened Mind Flayers were still deciding what to do when

Archon's tentacled head exploded in a shower of blood and bone, just

as his body spontaneously combusted.



*****



The Phoenix barely noticed the arriving Iberian troops who attacked

her. Destroying the soldiers with contemptuous ease.

Jean Grey was preoccupied searching for traces of Wolverine and the

witch Selene, as well as processing the information she had ripped

from the mind of Archon just before she killed him.



"It appears the witch was looking for a new powerbase…she and her

allies have secretly taken over this country," the Phoenix reasoned

(based on the knowledge she had taken from Archon).



On a destructive whim, The Phoenix decided to tear away all the

spells of Selene that she could detect.



*****



Esme Cuckoo gasped as she felt a powerful force touch her mind and

do SOMETHING. Looking wildly around the crowded Neroka café where

she was eating alone in response to the invasive presence.



Then the sensation faded.



"What the hell was that?" an angry and confused Esme muttered to

herself. Having no idea what had just happened.



*****



The man guarding the specially prepared cell where Marian Casta

resided was bored.



He knew Marian Casta was a powerful, ruthless vampire, but he also

knew that Marian was imprisoned by strong walls and powerful magic.



Besides, the Imperious Industries employee knew what Susan Zweller

was doing to Marian Casta, and thought that the female vampire was

probably too weak, injured, and frightened at this point to be a

threat to anyone.



The guard felt at ease enough to put a chair right beside the door

to Marian's cell and sit down. Passing the time by reading Men's and

adult magazines.



The guard had a slight trace of psychic ability, and caught the echo

of a powerful voice mentally shouting "your free."



Then the door of Marian Casta's cell opened, seemingly on its own.

The slightly overweight half-elf guard found himself looking into

the maddened eyes of a vampire who had been starved and tortured for

days.



Marian Casta's naked body was dirty and bruised, her blonde hair was

filthy and tangled, and dried tears of blood were on her face. But

Marian's blue eyes were glowing with hunger as she gazed upon the

guard, and her teeth gleamed dangerously as she looked at the first

prey she had seen in days.



The terrified guard reached for the weapon at his hip. Grasping it

just as the vampire's fangs pierced his jugular.



*****



For the first time in as long as she could remember, Gennifer Lera

had no spells controlling or influencing her mind.



Gennifer looked down at her own bare bosom, staring at her breasts

as Selene's magic was stripped away and they returned to their

normal size.



She gazed around the luxuriously appointed harem room, and realized

all the other women there were sleeping. Including her daughter (who

was resting on her lap), the once seemingly indomitable Chrissy Lera.



Gennifer slowly got off the couch, being careful not to wake the

sleeping Chrissy. Then she stared down at her daughter as she

absentmindedly grabbed a discarded shirt off the floor and put it

over her bare torso.



"I'm free" Gennifer whispered to herself, as she realized that for

the first time in over a century there was no magical force

controlling her mind.



Her thoughts were her own.



"I'M FREE" Gennifer Lera said hysterically as she ran from the room.

Terrified that her daughter would bewitch her mind again.



*****



Marian Casta's cell had been located in a Presidential Palace

dungeon (which the previous government had built many of) almost

directly beneath the harem. However, despite the fact that the

blonde vampire wanted to find President Chrissy Lera, it took her

quite a while to get there.



A great many Imperious Industries security personnel had been

assigned to the Presidential Palace over the last week (supposedly

on President Chrissy's order), fortunately for the blonde vampire,

most of them were rushing to the portal facility at the moment, to

deal with the crisis there.



There were still some left though, and the nude and maddened vampire

killed or brutally interrogated all the guards she came across until

one could tell her where Chrissy Lera was.



Savagely rending or slicing through their flesh with her claws,

fangs, and even her own shape shifting blood. Desperate to get to

Chrissy and get out of there.



The necromancer Chrissy Lera was more than her friend, lover, and

financer. Chrissy was also the source of much of Marian's power.



Casta NEEDED to rescue her oldest friend and then get as far away

from Susan Zweller as possible. Just the thought of the female

werewolf filled her with pain, loathing, and fear.



Marian Casta burst into the harem.

Knocking down the heavy door with raw supernatural strength. Then

killing the guard on the other side with a bone-crushing blow to the

head.



As the vampire entered the harem section of the Palace, Chrissy

Lera's mother rushed past her. But Marian was desperate to get

Chrissy and escape, so she barely noticed.



The other harem women all fled the room or simply stayed still and

tried not to attract Marian's attention. None of them had ever seen

the normally domineering and sophisticated vampire so savage looking.



Marian Casta's nude body was covered in blood, especially her face,

which was drenched in crimson fluid. Her eyes glowed with unholy

fury, and her face was twisted in a feral expression.



Marian stared at the harem women still in the room (females she had

often used for food and pleasure), smelling their fear more strongly

than perhaps ever before. Normally such a scent would have aroused

her hunger and carnal appetites, but one goal dominated all of

Marian's thoughts right now.



She rushed over to the newest addition to the harem, the half-Orc

Jenny Calendar. The well muscled yet voluptuous Jenny tried to run

away, but Marian was supernaturally quick and easily caught her.

Grabbing the half-Orc by the front of the pretty pink dress she was

wearing.



The watching women did nothing.

Too frightened (and trained to be submissive) to interfere.



"Where is Chrissy" vampire growled. Shaking the stronger looking

woman in her grip with frightening ease.



"In…in the biggest bedroom…I think she's still asleep" Jenny

whimpered. Hoping the crazy looking vampire wouldn't hurt her.



Marian threw Jenny Calendar aside and the pretty half-Orc fell

roughly on her back. But the blonde bloodsucker didn't notice, for

she had begun running to the bedroom before she even let go of Jenny.



When Marian entered the bedroom two of the harem women were sitting

on one of the beds and quietly talking about something. But the

vampire screeched at them to get out and they fled the room.



Marian Casta found President Chrissy Lera sleeping on the floor.

Wearing nothing but a white bra and panties.



The pretty dark elf looked very vulnerable as she slept on the

floor, and Marian found herself wondering how their captors had

tormented the female who had once looked up to her as a mentor as

well as a friend and lover.



"Don't worry Chrissy…I'll get us out of here…I won't let them hurt

us anymore" Marian said tenderly as she picked the sleeping drow up

and held her to her bosom.

Then, as she cradled her oldest friend and lover in her arms, Marian

Casta ran out of harem. Fleeing towards what she hoped was safety.



*****



Jean Grey was now surrounded by more than fifty Iberian undead

troops, and some of those troops had anti-tank weapons.



Which they attempted to use on Jean, only to have Grey

telekinetically grab the rockets in midair and hurl them back at the

soldiers. The resulting explosions destroyed eight of the cyborg

zombies, and severely damaged ten more.



Fortunately most of the civilians had fled the area at this point,

so none of them were hurt.



"They may be abominations but their response time is very impressive…

I wonder who came up with the idea to combine mindless undead with

cybernetics?" Jean thought. As she watched the Black armored cyborgs

prepare for another attack against her.



The Phoenix thought about simply waiting for more zombies to come

along for her to destroy, for there was something she found

fundamentally repugnant about them.



Which made destroying the zombies deeply satisfying.



She also considered inflicting more havoc and chaos on Selene's

allies. Maliciously contemplating how the old witch would react to

returning to this world only to find her new kingdom destroyed.



It would be so easy to simply give in to the awesome fury of the

Phoenix Force and destroy them all.



Jean could feel the destructive power, practically aching to come

out. It would be so very easy.



"No…that's not what I came here for…I came here to rescue Wolverine"

Jean Grey reminded herself.



Then with barely a thought, she located the mutant's psychic

signature.



Jean Grey seemed to simply disappear in a blinding burst of Phoenix

fire. Leaving Imperious Dakar and his automated weapons satellite

very confused.



*****



Since being taken to the secluded Imperious Industries laboratory in

the Columbian jungle, Wolverine had been kept passive with

telepathic commands and enough tranquilizers to affect even his

regenerating body.



Despite the remoteness of its location, the Imperious Industries lab

had the look and feel of a high-class hospital. Professional looking

doctors and scientists would often go into the operating room where

Wolverine was being held and cut Logan open for tissue samples and

various experiments (such as how long it took him to heal and what

exactly happened inside his body when he did).

But Wolverine barely noticed any of this.



He was semi-conscious most of the time and all his physical senses

were severely dulled thanks to the drugs. Logan's sense of time was

also severely impaired.



Sometimes it seemed as though he had been in this lab however, while

other times he felt as though he had just arrived. But he didn't

feel angry about it.



He didn't feel much of anything at this point.



Wolverine was simply too suppressed mentally and physically to have

strong feelings on anything.



Then after an indefinite period of time, Logan's dream girl came.



"God Logan…look what those bastards did to you…I promise you they

will pay for this."



Though Logan had trouble focusing on anything, he recognized Jean

Grey's face and the sound of her voice. He wanted to respond, but

his drug-dulled mind couldn't think of anything to say beyond a

simple whispered "Jean?"



"Yes Logan…its me…I've come to take you out of here" Jean replied in

a reassuring tone.



Wolverine distantly realized that his body (which was bound to an

operating table) was naked, and it occurred to him that he should

feel embarrassed (or at least make some attempt to cover up). But

that seemed like too much effort, and besides he couldn't really

move anyway.



The restraints and monitoring devices on Logan's body seemed to melt

away. He felt like he was floating, then he was suddenly in Jean's

arms.



Wolverine was not alert enough to notice the vengeful expression

that crossed Jean's features as she looked around the lab, or the

dangerous gleam in her blazing eyes.



Phoenix fire suddenly burst from Jean Grey's body (though it did not

burn the man in her arms). It incinerated everything in its path,

creating a huge firestorm that destroyed the entire laboratory and

everyone and everything in it.



Except for the man and the woman at the center of the inferno.



*****



Marian Casta stood inside the Portal Room, as she held a still

sleeping Chrissy Lera in her arms.



One of the guards she had used her vampiric powers to interrogate

had told her about this place, and after leaving the Presidential

Palace Marian had rushed over to the Portal Facility. Using all of

her supernatural speed to make it to the building as quickly as

possible.



But despite her formidable abilities, the master vampire never would

have made it inside the Portal Facility so quickly if The Phoenix

had not already destroyed most of the facility's security measures.



Now the naked and savage looking vampire stood before the

inter-dimensional portal. Knowing little about this hole in the

fabric of normal space-time beyond the fact that it led to another

world.



"If I don't go through now Archon's people will probably catch us

before we can leave the country…and I don't know how the military

people will react with Rosenthrall dead…me and Chrissy need to leave

now" Marian told herself as she stared at the glowing portal.



The vampire also knew that more Imperious Industries security

personnel would probably be arriving in the Portal Room soon. And

the two women were in no condition for another fight.



Nevertheless, Marian still hesitated.



She was a woman who enjoyed (and had come to expect) her comforts,

luxuries, and the other perks that came with her status. Casta

probably wouldn't have any of those things in this other world.



The natives of this new world might not even tolerate elves or

vampires.



Then Marian's sensitive hearing detected voices outside the Portal

Room. One of which sounded somewhat like Susan Zweller's.

As the traumatized vampire thought of the savage werewolf's doglike

head, and (in many ways even crueler) human face, she made up her

mind.



"It has to be better than here" Marian Casta whispered to herself.



Chrissy Lera began to stir in her arms, and Marian clutched the dark

elf more tightly to her chest as she began to run to the portal.



The semi-conscious necromancer was just opening her eyes as she and

her vampire entered the portal. Giving President Chrissy Lera barely

enough time to gasp in fear and confusion before being transported

to another world.