"I'm here,"she said,still sounding faint and pained.

"Was he a telepath?"

"No,he's...oh god,his mind is a fucking nightmare,"she gasped,and it sounded like she was helping herself to a nice,strong drink."He was tortured at some point in his life,maybe recently,I don't know,but he kept thinking about it.I just couldn't bear it.I'm not going in there again."

"Tortured?"He asked,curious."Is that related to his World War Two dream the other night?"

"No,I don't think so.This seemed more higher tech,guys peeling his skin back or something-"She made a noise that he associated with a shudder."It was awful.I don't know how he didn't run screaming from the room."

Volta considered that carefully.There was something about Logan that he not only didn't like,but seemed to set off alarm bells inside his mind.He didn't like Humans as a rule-scummy meatbag leeches that they were-but the freaky muties were even worse.At least he'd wipe this scourge off the face of the earth once and for all,but it couldn't be soon enough for him.And he worried that a mutant freak like Logan would hold out for a while if he didn't see to the problem personally."Do you think it was deliberate?"He wondered.He figured he was an idiotic redneck dirtbag,but his use of honest to god strategy convinced Volta there might be more going on under that ugly mug of his. It was quite possible he was milking the stupid thing to try and fool everyone.

Niobe paused for a long time.He preferred her in her natural state,rather than the Human guise she adopted around other humanoid bipeds,but even she felt it was for the best that the others didn't know what she really was,since it was quite probable other demons might object to her random mind probes."I didn't sense intent,"she finally said."I didn't sense a lot of anything except rage.He's a very angry man,and after looking into his mind I think I see why."

"He's psychotic?"

"He's...I doubt his sanity.There seem to be lots of black spaces in his mind.And what's filled in isn't pretty.He's not Dru,but his mind is almost as...shattered.That's about the only way I can describe it."

"Is this good or bad?"Mayvik wondered testily.His dislike of the mutant was obvious,and he could hardly blame him.

"I'll consider it a plus,"he told him,turning off the radio."The crazy are unpredictable,but if you know how to push their buttons, they're relatively easy to control.Also,I doubt Bob would use the violently unstable as his agent-he's just too fucking goody two shoes."

"Who the hell is this Bob anyways?"Mayvik asked impatiently,his face screwing up in a way that made him look like he had just bit into a lemon.

"A complete motherfucker who seems to get a perverse enjoyment out of ruining everything for everyone else,"he replied coldly,wondering where on earth he was.

His agents in Australia had turned up no actual sign of Bob Black,making Volta wonder if he too had changed his name.He had used several aliases officially,although usually kept the first name Bob,if only so he'd always remember it.Rumors had him in England,America,and,according to one usually reliable source,Iceland,but no one had been able to confirm his physical presence in any country.The problem there was Bob was probably powerful enough by now that he could easily convince people staring him in the face that he didn't actually exist.Bob would only leave an easily traceable trail if he wished to be found,which was a bit of a catch twenty two,because Volta would doubt any discovery of Bob,figuring it was a deliberate plant by Bob to throw him off the trail.No one could disappear-in every sense of the word-as completely as Bob.In a way,he was a living myth.

He knew,way back when he started planning this after his resurrection-courtesy of the strangely forgiving Arakis-that Bob would be his biggest problem on this plane if he caught wind of this.Even Arakis knew it,and seemed to want Bob gone for reasons that were never quite clear,except she thought he was an asshole too.If he could complete the binding ceremony before Bob found out about this or found a way to get through his defenses,Bob would be as powerless as his Human pets.And the closer they came to zero hour,the more convinced he grew that Bob was lurking in the wings,waiting to strike as soon as the Cabal was at its most vulnerable.

But time was running out if Bob was out there,aware of what was going on.Crayax was almost strong enough,and setting all those fighters against Logan had helped,as that simply increased the bloodshed and the rage.Logan was-in an ironic twist he was surely too thickheaded to ever appreciate-feeding the fire that was going to exterminate his entire race.

The more Volta thought about it,it was wonderful poetic justice.The first Human who had a realistic shot at winning an ultimate champion fight was going to trigger the downfall of the entire species.Talk about winning the battle but losing the war.

Volta was almost sorry that there probably wouldn't be a championship final;he would have loved to have seen the look on Logan's face as the enormity of what was happening finally sunk in,and he realized he had helped destroyed the world as he knew it.

A double shame Logan was never going to live to see it anyways.

What a strange,strange woman.But seriously,who was he to object?The meeting with Volta would make great pillow talk.

Of course,it didn't turn out quite that way.Although he was tired,he still had a remarkable amount of energy to burn off,and sex with Helga was sort of an athletic experience:he bet she never had any normal Human lovers,because frankly she would kill them.He wondered how close to death she had brought him,and how often.They way he was built,he couldn't really tell.

He must have fallen asleep afterwards,although he had no honest recollection of it,because the next thing he knew he found himself on a beach.Not the beach outside their hotel,but a wide, sandy beach,the golden sand stretching for meters in nearly every direction,except where it met the ocean.

And the ocean was something.A deep,rich blue,it seemed to stretch for miles,disappearing into the horizon,large waves crashing onto the shore and scattering white foam like the detritus of clouds over wet sand and black reefs on the far side of the beach.Logan saw,as a brightly colored speck on the near horizon,some dumb ass surfer attempting to ride a wave that looked like a miniature tidal wave,a large funnel shaped wave that looked like it was starting to collapse in on itself as it roared towards the shore.The surfer continued to skim along the top of the curve,flirting with imminent disaster.

He looked up to see he was being shaded by a parasol,and laying on a beach towel that had a picture of a hairy animal on it-oh,a wolverine.How fucking funny.He now knew Bob was responsible for this,if he had no idea earlier.

Helga was sitting beside him in a beach chair,directly under the brightly colored,red and green striped parasol.Still wearing her red bikini (now she was wearing the top),she was now reading a well thumbed paperback book titled "The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy",and had what looked like a glass of ice tea held between her knees.From the smell,he knew it was actually a Long Island Iced Tea.

"Does this have something to do with sex?"He hissed at her,sitting up.He was wearing his black trunks from earlier,but that was it."How come every time we sleep together,Bob shows up?"

She glanced at him curiously over the top of her book,softly arching a single eyebrow at him. "Seems like coincidence to me,Logan."

"Once is coincidence;twice is conspiracy."

She gave him that feral grin again,chuckling faintly."You're even more paranoid than I am. Congrats."

"I'm serious,Helga."

"So am I."

He shook his head,sure he wasn't going to get a straight answer from her.He heard music playing softly-sounded like the Foo Fighters-but looking around he could not find the low tuned radio it must have been coming from.More Bob head games,presumably.

Speaking of Bob,he started to wonder where he was,but then noticed the surfer,riding the wave in, had bright yellow and green colored jams on.The realization that it was Surfer Bob was not as surprising as the fact that the massive,white capped wave finally collapsed in on itself,spilling Bob and his surfboard head first into the ocean.If this was his mind,why did that happen?

There was a moment when the water settled,and the only thing that could be seen was Bob's board-red with a wide black stripe,it had a large skull and crossbones on it,only the skull was wearing a large,rainbow colored afro wig and a blue clown nose, with a green feather boa draped over its crossed bones (a surfboard didn't actually exist that looked like that,did it?And if so,good lord why?)-bobbing in the slightly turbulent surf,but then Bob surfaced,instantly shaking his wet hair out of his eyes."I really do need to work on the whole stopping thing,"he shouted,grabbing his board and swimming to shore.

"I never imagined you as a surfer,"Logan replied,suddenly able to see that there was writing on the end of the board in small black letters.If he was reading them right,it said:"Dead clowns squirt no seltzer".

He was never going to get Bob's sense of humor.Not in a million years.

"I'm a Sydney boy,"he shouted back,finally close enough to shore to walk in."I surf better than I drive."

"How can you tell?"

Helga laughed,but quickly buried her face in her book.

Bob grimaced humorously at him,walking up onto the beach with his dead clown board under one arm,water sluicing off him and making his loud shorts cling to him like a second skin."For a guy not known for his sense of humor,you have a quick wit,Logan."

"Witty bon mots don't stop people from trying to kill you,"he pointed out,not sure if Bob had been making fun of him or not.No,probably not.Nor did he bother to mention that,according to Bob himself,he was originally from England (several hundred years ago,but still...) and demon anyways.

Bob threw his board on the sand about a meter away from him,out of the penumbra of shade and in the bright,unrelenting sunshine,and sat down upon it,pulling a pair of dark blue sunglasses out of nowhere (indeed,they just appeared in his hand) and slipping them on."Indeed,it sometimes makes people want to kill you all the more."He then grinned at them both,brushing wet strands of hair off his forehead before saying,cheerfully,"So how are things on the lovely isle of Dis?"

"Well,I got to kill me a Gr'grz'kyvlek,and Logan dazzled the crowd with his macho butchness," Helga replied,taking a sip of her alcoholic iced tea.

"His machismo is like the sun:stare into it too long and you go blind,"Bob replied with mock solemnity.When Logan gave him a deadly scowl,he gave him his patented shit eating grin."Just takin' the piss,mate.Do I take it they tried to kill you already?"

Before he could say anything,Helga told him,"They had him fight five demons in a row.A bunch of badasses too-Ressiks, Thhorrens, M'griens."

"Shit.You're okay though,huh?"Bob asked him,seemingly concerned.

"Ain't I always?"He snapped,unexpectedly annoyed.

"What the hell's eating you?"Helga suddenly asked,sounding annoyed herself.

But Bob continued to frown at him in a concerned manner."What happened,Logan?"

He told them both about his brief,puzzling meeting with Volta after the matches,and Helga clapped him on the shoulder,her hand cold and wet from her sweating drink glass."Good show, Logan!Running a Myriast busybody out of the room."

"Bad memories as a tactical weapon,"Bob mused,lifting an eyebrow."Good use of horrid shit.But you don't think he really wanted to bribe you to take a dive."

"No.It was just a test,or an opportunity to scan me up close.Otherwise,I don't know what else it could have been."

Bob looked out at the choppy aquamarine ocean,frowning in thought."He's suspicious.He really did put in all those security precautions for my benefit."

"Why would he think I'm working with you?"Logan asked.Did Bob have a pattern of getting Humans to do his dirty work?

"He's probably suspectin' everyone at this point.Things must be coming to a head.Until it's over,he expects me to burst in stage left any second now,with air support from the Mexican Army and four thousand ninja Berserkers."

"Sounds like a plan,"Logan said,only partially sarcastic."But what the fuck is he doing?And what the fuck do you plan to do about it?"

Bob sighed like a balloon deflating rapidly and collapsed back on his surfboard,staring up at the sky through his blue tinted glasses."Well,let's see:vortex,ley line degradation,a whole bunch of dead people."

"And a new Hellmouth is out,"Helga interjected.

"Right.So why are the ley lines degrading?Is it some form of occult erosion,or perhaps a draining ..."he paused,then said,"That's it.The energy is being drained off in such massive quantities its doing beaucoup damage."

"Why's it being drained off?"Logan asked,still not completely sure he got any of this."For what purpose?A machine or somethin'?"

Bob turned his head towards him,giving him a pensive look."What?A machine?"

Logan shrugged."Like I know what the fuck this is about."He'd just been falling back on Magneto and his weird ass machine.

"Feeding the machine,huh?Feeding the-"Bob suddenly gasped,and sat up,looking at him in slack jawed shock."That's it,Logan-he's using the ley lines to feed the vortex."

"What?"

"How's he doing that?"Helga asked."And what kind of vortex is it?"

"Well,ley lines wouldn't just feed any vortex.This would have to be dimensional in nature."

"Wasn't that what he was doin' when you killed him last time?"Logan interjected."Trying to open a dimensional portal or something?"

"Yes.but that didn't cause a lot of ley line disruption.Even if he was opening up Arakis's dimension again,it wouldn't cause this kind of damage."

"So this is bigger,"Helga said,concurring.

Bob nodded."Much bigger.In fact,at the rate the energy is being siphoned off-holy shit!"

"What?"Logan wondered."Is he going to suck us all into a black hole or something?"

"You wish,"he replied cryptically,gnawing on his lower lip as he seemed briefly lost in thought."The problem was we were thinking in the singular when we should have been thinking in the plural. Several vortices being opened-or trying to open several vortices at once."

"And what's the point of that?"Logan asked.

Bob frowned,and made himself look older,although not for long."He's trying to shatter the fabric of reality itself.Holy Jesus lizard,he's going for broke.He's not trying to open the one measly portal, he's trying to open them all."

"Can he do that?"Helga asked,sounding dubious.

"What does that mean exactly?"Logan persisted.

"Well,I'm guessing he's opening up portals to some of the uglier dimensions,which would mean when reality crashed-and under that strain,it would spectacularly-Humanity can kiss its collective ass goodbye.So could some of the more peaceable demons:demon chow for sure."

Logan stared at him,shaking his head slowly."Why?I know I'm missin' something.And the shorthand English version please."

Bob sighed,but not in an impatient way.It was more frustrated than that."Think of each dimension layered one on top of each other,like lasagna noodles in a big pan.But they don't touch, because their natural polarity keeps them apart.But by trying to open all these portals at once,he is trying to alter enough of this dimension's natural polarity that it will 'flip'-literally match the harmonics of the intruding dimensions.When that happens,the floodgates open."

"Everything from that dimension-dimensions-exist here now,no portals necessary."Helga continued, sounding grim."Tidy set up."

"But why does this doom humanity?"He asked,feeling like he was following it in theory.Although this parallel dimension shit still seemed like so much nonsense to him.And the lasagna metaphor really sucked,but he assumed Bob knew that.

" 'Cause there's no way in hell it's prepared for the gate crashers that will come falling through the door,"Bob replied."Especially if Arakis and her party people are among the crew,and I'm sure they are."

"She could have brought him back,"Helga said.

Bob nodded."Probably.She's usually not that forgiving of people who fail her,though."

"He was probably her best bet in a long time."

"In that case,how sad is she?"Bob asked rhetorically.He idly brushed sand off his leg,and muttered,"But it doesn't make sense. Even if Arakis threw all her weight behind him,she alone does not have enough power in this dimension-without an open doorway-to help him fuel all this.There has to be a shadow player-or players-we don't know about."

"The blood sacrifices could be appeasement to a demon god,"Helga suggested."It could be payment for his or her help."

Bob nodded."Which leaves the field open to a hundred candidates,and we just don't have the time to dick around."He stood up,hands clenching and unclenching in a nervous gesture that was not only unfamiliar for him but troubling.Since when was Bob ever nervous?"We're gonna have to move ASAP.We can't let this decay-and blood sacrifice-continue."

"Fine.So what's the plan?"Logan asked,standing up as well.He barely avoided the edge of the parasol and nearly knocked it over, but that was okay,because in the blink of an eye it was suddenly gone.

"I'll get back to you on that.Be ready to move just before dawn-that's when most of your nocturnal demons are in a precarious state."

"Move and do what?"He reiterated,suddenly seized by the feeling that Bob was completely at sea. He was at a loss as to what they were supposed to do.

But Bob's eyes,now almost black hidden behind electric blue lenses,met his fearlessly,and he told him:"Take the battle to him.To all of them."

"Look,honey,I know we can kick anything's ass,"Helga said,walking towards him.She was on her feet too,drink,book,and chair completely gone."But we don't know who-and how many-we're dealing with here.And Volta's obviously worked out a contingency plan for you."She slid her arms around his waist,her tail flicking back and forth in a metronomic pattern.

Bob looked down at her,and one corner of his mouth quirked up,as if he found Helga's concern for him more than a little funny. "Yes,well,I have a little surprise in store for him.I'm not comin' in alone,and I don't mean just you guys either.I'm bringin' more friends,and we're all gonna trash his house."

"Who?"She asked,before Logan could.

Bob smiled,but it seemed grimly determined,not at all smug or secretly amused like almost every other smile Bob was capable of forming.That's how Logan knew this was all really,really bad. "You'll see."He then kissed the top of her forehead,and he looked at Logan over the top of her head. "Wait for my signal."

It was then,just as he was opening his mouth to say something,that the lights seemed to go out again,and then he woke up,back in the darkened hotel bedroom in Dis.

"Goddamn it!"Helga exclaimed,sitting up and punching the mattress."How dare he break the link without telling me what he's doing!I'm gonna kick his ass for this!"

"You might not have to,"he told her,staring up at the ceiling through the black canopy shrouding their bed.The fact that Bob had actually seemed anxious left him unnerved-if Bob wasn't powerful enough to handle this,who would be?"Volta might do it for you."

She said nothing to that.What could she say?

But he knew they were both wondering exactly who Bob intended to bring in as the cavalry.

****

Yes,okay,she was a little upset;Scott was being childish.Just thinking about their argument this morning made her ticked off all over again,sending a flush of heat to her face.But she quickly clamped it down and shoved it aside.She was lucky there was no else here,and lucky it was only a coffee mug that exploded when her anger decided to manifest itself in a physical way;if she ever let that happen again,she might not be that lucky.

This was a perfect example of why she could not get emotional.Anger seemed to feed her telekinesis,make it more prone to 'misfire', and she couldn't afford to have it happen ever again.She could not allow her emotions to run away with her.Too bad no one taught a class on how not to feel.Wasn't that Zen,though,part of the Zen philosophy?Maybe she had that wrong.She had to look that up.She could just ask Marie,but that felt funny,especially since she only mentioned it as part of something she had absorbed from Logan.Somehow she couldn't ever imagine Logan even attempting to learn the Zen philosophy,but she supposed if anyone needed that kind of peace of mind,it was him.

She had just dumped the dustpan full of ceramic shards into the wastebasket by her desk when she sensed she was not alone.Not only that,but there was a strange psychic pressure right along with it,a feeling that was almost familiar...

She turned and gasped,jumping slightly as she saw Bob standing in the corner of the room.

"Sorry to barge in like this,"he said,walking between the rows of desks casually,as if he was supposed to be here."But I have a  favor to ask."Suddenly,he paused,and cocked his head at her in a curious way."Repressing emotions actually leads to stuff like this. You need to own them,Jean, not repress them even further."

"How is that a favor?"She snapped in irritation.All she needed now was a 'demon' busybody.If that's what he was.

He certainly looked human;in fact,he looked like a male model,and after he did that guest lecture on theoretical physics that the Professor had invited him to do,all the girls in the school seemed to have a major crush on him.Even Storm,to her horror,mentioned he was an 'attractive man'.Yes,he was physically appealing,but she didn't trust him at all,and she didn't know how Logan could ever trust him in whatever slim way possible.And why the Professor had invited him to speak she had no idea-he was not a mutant,although she really wasn't sure what he was.

He seemed to be wearing the same black leather pants and matching biker boots she had seen him in when he showed up to lecture;he'd changed his shirt,though.Now it was black leather too,to match his jacket.It was like he was fresh from a shoot featuring sadomasochistic clothing for the hip young sophisticate.

Bob grimaced,and she resented the look in his unrealistically blue eyes,like she was a child who wasn't quite grasping a simple concept."It is in a way,Jean,but I realize you don't see it like that."

"No,I don't,"she agreed,tossing the empty dustpan on her desk.She didn't want to use her powers now,fearing they'd spiral out of control again.She would have loved to have read his mind,but that was the source of the psychic pressure,wasn't it?He was unreadable,a psychic energy source so powerful he claimed he would cause instantaneous brain hemorrhages in any telepath who tried to make contact with his mind,and certainly the Professor was in pain whenever Bob was around.It wasn't always a ball for her either.

(And Logan claimed Bob had brought him back from the dead...)

"Why the hell are you here?"She snapped,wanting him to be gone as quickly as possible.

For some reason,the look he gave her was almost sympathetic,and that just infuriated her even more."I'm not your enemy,Jean."

"No,you're just an asshole."

"Fair enough."

"Bob,"the Professor said,and they both looked to see him just outside the classroom doorway, trying hard to pretend he wasn't wincing from the pain of Bob's proximity."I thought I felt you show up."

"Hey Chuck.Sorry to just drop in unannounced,but there's a bit of an emergency."

The Professor raised a single eyebrow,pain still creasing his face."What kind of emergency?"

"Well,you might want to assemble the troops,"Bob admitted,brushing back his golden brown hair with his fingers."It's quite possible the world's gonna end in a few hours,and I thought you guys want to give me a hand in stopping it."

She stared at him in open disbelief."You're making that up,"she accused.

But the rather apologetic look he gave her almost convinced her he wasn't.

**