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CHAPTER TEN
Wolverine came tumbling out in the middle of the black void. He noticed Rogue hugging Harmony so tight that the girl was in danger of being crushed. "I'm so sorry I left you,"she was saying. "I'll never do it again."
"It's okay,"Harmony said calmly. "The nice men looked after me."
Wolverine's gaze flicked from Havok and Cannonball to Professor X…and Magneto. "Just when you think it can't get any worse,"he commented.
"I'm glad to see you too, Logan,"Magneto replied.
"Eric isn't really here,"Xavier offered. "He is merely a construct from our memories."
"So be careful how you remember me,"Magneto suggested.
Wolverine raised an eyebrow. "Did he just make a funny?"
"Where are we?"Havok asked.
"Inside Onslaught,"Xavier replied. "A dreamscape representing the dimensions of his mind."
Woverine looked round at the other three. "Okay, you know the drill. Try and break out of here."
Cannonball took off into the air at high speed. After giving Harmony a reassuring pat, Rogue joined him, attempting to work out the edges of the area where they were trapped. Havok began firing power blasts wildly around him.
"Ah, Logan,"Xavier said quietly. "This isn't a physical area we're in. We can't break out from the inside."
"But we are inside Onslaught?"Wolverine checked. "Physically?"
"Well…yes, I suppose so."
Logan smiled. "Then our plan ought to work."
Onslaught had, for the moment, ceased his assault on his mutant opponents. Instead, he was surveying them cruelly. "The day of the X-Men is over,"he told them. "The day of humanity is over. I am the ultimate mutant. The greatest form of life ever on this planet. You will all become part of me."
"We might do,"Storm agreed coolly. "But you're new to this world and there's one thing you haven't learned yet about the dangers of eating too quickly."
"And what's that?"
"You get indigestion."
Beside her, Thunderbird fired off a stream of plasma that bathed Onslaught. The evil mutant gave a cry of pain and looked murderously at him, as though planning to draw him into his body. "Hurts, doesn't it?" Thunderbird asked. "Bet it would hurt even more if you had it on the inside."
"We made a new friend,"Wolverine was explaining to Xavier. "Name's Neal Shaara but we've taken to calling him Thunderbird."
"Thunderbird?"Xavier checked.
"He picked it himself,"Rogue assured him.
"Anyway, his power is firing streams of super-heated plasma,"Wolverine continued. "So we thought, what if we could release some of it inside Onslaught?"
"Do you have any with you?"Magneto asked.
"Yes. In me. One of Beast's little inventions. Implanted in me and timed to go off in just a few minutes."
Outside, in the real world, Onslaught had begun to realise his predicament. "No! No!"he shouted in frustration. His body opened up to reveal the white glow again but this time it wasn't sucking anyone in, it was spewing outwards.
"What's going on?"Iceman wondered.
"What we'd hoped,"Storm replied. "Onslaught knows there's something in there that can harm him. He's trying to get rid of it."
"What if he succeeds?"
"Well, then at the very least we get our friends back. But I'm betting he's underestimated just how stubborn Logan can be."
"And if he has?"Polaris wondered.
"Then he's in for the biggest attack of heartburn you can imagine,"Thunderbird replied grimly.
"So get ready,"Beast warned the others.
Inside Onslaught's interior dimension, a slit of white seemed to appear in the blackness. "That's your cue to leave,"Wolverine noted.
"You don't need to tell us twice." Rogue grabbed Harmony and leapt through the slit. A moment later, Havok and Cannonball followed her example.
Professor X hesitated, lingering behind. "Logan, do you need me to..?"
"Nothing you can do here,"Wolverine replied. "Get going."
Xavier nodded and leapt through the opening.
When Xavier emerged into the real world, he suddenly found himself back in his wrecked robot body. He clattered heavily on the floor. Instantly, Colossus scooped him up and put him under his arm. "It's okay, Professor, I've got you."
"Everybody back!"Storm shouted. "It's going to blow!"
The X-Men, X-Factor and New Mutants rapidly retreated to a safe distance, with Iceman and Siryn dragging Angel and Jubilee along with them. Behind them, Onslaught was convulsing desperately.
Wolverine felt himself being dragged towards the slit by the force of Onslaught's will. He looked at Magneto. "You not going?"
"There's no body out there for me to go back into,"Magneto pointed out.
"Good. Then keep me here!" Wolverine began flying towards the tear but Magneto used his magnetic powers to stop him in mid-air. Wolverine felt himself being pulled in both directions, by the part of Onslaught desperate to get rid of him and by the part of Onslaught that held the personality and memories of Magneto and was determined to keep him there. He gritted his teeth, letting out a cry of pain at the offensive.
And then the device inside him erupted.
The X-Men and their friends saw Onslaught erupt. "Is he gone?"Polaris asked.
"I think so,"Moonstar offered.
"And what about Logan?"Rogue asked.
Storm didn't say anything. She just moved towards the scene of the eruption.
Behind her, Colossus had placed Professor X near Angel and Jubilee, who were both sat on the floor. Angel looked dazed, Jubilee was quietly sobbing. The professor touched both their temples. "I think they're going to be all right,"he said at last.
Storm led Beast, Thunderbird and Rogue over to where pieces of Onslaught were scattered. In the middle of it lay Logan, a gaping hole in his chest. But slowly, as they watch, the wound healed over and he opened his eyes. "Ororo?"he asked.
Storm knelt next to him. "Yes?"
"Remind me never to do that again."