Everyone, including Kea, was piled onto the jet once they were each ready. Kea and Logan took a pair of seats up front, both of them on the phone relaying information to many of Kea's groups, while Ororo, Hank, and the Professor went to work trying to make some sort of plan to save the children. Kea tried to tell them that they wouldn't have the element of surprise, but still they tried to edit it into their plans just in case Kea was wrong. Kea was never wrong though.

All the kids were dressed in their standard uniforms, even the three bird kids who have never really worn them. Max had altered hers, cutting the sleeves short as well as removing the suffocating collar that hugged her neck. Iggy had left his alone though the darkness of it against his pale skin made him stand out completely, though Fang looked completely content with his since it was black. He had cut away the collar just an inch though, not completely as Max had.

Everyone sat next to someone else on the journey there, gossiping, talking and such, except for Max. She kept herself away from everyone, trying to prepare herself for the upcoming battle. She was obviously tense with her foot twitching against the floor and her gaze locked on the window that she sat next to her. Iggy was next to Evan farther behind her, talking of course, and Fang was by Jean doing what he liked to do near the very back.

Max

It was killing me just a little to sit here. I knew I wouldn't be able to make it to Egypt any faster with my own two wings, but I was still impatient. The flock has been separated before a few times, but this was worse. A lot more worse. The kids were all on their own this one time, and none of us were even close to getting to them.

I don't know Malcolm, but from what little whispers I keep hearing from Kea and the others up front, he sounded bad. When I say bad, I mean worse than the scientists. Malcolm will kill the kids and even his own men if it meant he would get his way. That's scary.

Rachael has been tied up and knocked out, only being brought with just in case she was trying to mislead us, but she was kept up front, far away from me now. Everyone, except me, decided she had to be kept safe….from me. I almost tried to kill her after our strategy meeting finished, which was right after I realized it was all her fault the kids were taken away in the first place. Fang had pulled me off her, I had gotten a few chunks of her hair pulled out in the process though, and then I pulled myself away from him. I would rather, willingly, walk into one of the labs and let them lock me away for years before I let Fang touch me again.

"Max," I heard His voice say before sliding silently into the empty chair next to me. I didn't move my head or even try to think of what to say to him. He was the reason I lost part of my life, why I wasn't able to protect my family when they needed me, and also the reason they weren't here now. "Max," he said again, soft and delicately that sent a shiver through my spine. The memories of him talking to me in that same voice assaulted my mind. I clenched my teeth.

"Go away," I said sharply.

"What's your problem?" he asked with a loud huff. What's his problem? That's the real question here.

"Go," I said, feeling myself rip apart inside. Everything I knew about him was tearing me to spreads as well as him sitting here. Right. Next. To. Me.

"Max-" Fang started softly.

"She said to leave her alone," Scott broke in. There was silence. I peeked over and saw the two staring at each other dangerously. My saving grace was here.

"Why don't you go," Fang suggested.

"I'm not the one causing problems though," Scott said quietly bending over to be eye to eye with him, "Time to go." He gripped Fang's arm, but didn't try to pull him up. He looked to me for approval and I nodded my head. I can't take having Him so close to me. I need more space than that. Fang yanked his arm away and got up on his own. He looked to me, familiar and frustrated, before leaving.

My head slumped against the wall and I let my hands fall uselessly in my lap. I felt like I was the one tearing my family apart, not Rachael or Jean as I used to think. It was always me it seems. Every time they get comfortable, I just brush through and drag them away with me. Maybe I'm the destroyer, not the protector….

"Max," Scott said gently, quieter than Fang. I couldn't look to him either. My thoughts were bringing tears to my eyes. I feel so stupid that I let Fang's relationship get to me so much that I let my family be broken up like this. Scott took hold of my shoulders with both hands and made me sit up. He wasn't going to let me go so easily it seemed. I looked to him and only wanted to know what he wanted.

"What?" I asked nastily. I was grateful that he got Fang away from me, but now I just wanted to be alone with my thoughts for once. No matter how much they kept hurting my head, I felt like I needed to think them through to make them go away faster.

"We'll get them back," He only said. That melted me right there. I don't know why, but that made me feel better and not so down. "They're waiting for you to save them, and they'll be happy just like they always were," He whispered. That made me feel even better. I remembered every time I've saved them before, and they were always grateful. I only hoped I wouldn't be abandoned again because I can't adapt to this new lifestyle. I don't think I can handle another round of it.

"Thanks," I whispered.

"Everyone, listen up," Kea shouted. She was standing up front, looking stern and dangerous in a skin tight black suit. She reminded me a cat with her suit as well as her stance. She was probably a lot more dangerous though. Everyone shut up and looked up front. She looked down to the professor and then back up.

"Here's the plan we have. None of my kids are close to Egypt so we will be the first ones there. Making any plan is impossible. We have no home of surprising them, so we are just going to storm the place. All we can do is try to keep our overwhelming power on our side for as long as possible. We've derived a few teams and jobs for all of you, so listen up," She shouted. She took up a piece of paper and examined it before speaking again. "We will send group after group into the temple to prevent anyone getting left behind in any group. The first group will comprise of Logan, Max, Scott, Kitty, and Kurt. The second group will be Ororo, Jean, Fang, Evan, Rouge. Once my kids met us there, I will send them in their own groups. If I didn't call your name you're staying on the ship as reserves and to help any injured that come in. Any questions?" There were none. "Good, now everyone should try to get some sleep."

Sleep sounded impossible here. How could I try to think of anything other than the kids? I can't that's what.

"She's right," Scott said and leaned his head back against the headrest. My foot tapped impatiently against the ground as I, once again, yearned to be with the kids, or at least in Egypt. "Max, sleep," Scott said and took my hand. I calmed myself a little and truly tried to sleep. Amazingly, I actually slept after many, many, many long minutes.

"Max, time to wake up," Scott said and quickly shook me. I forced my eyes opened and yawned. Were we there already?

"Are we there?" I asked getting up, since everyone else was already up too. The jet wasn't moving anymore so we must be on the ground.

"We just landed a few minutes ago," He said and waited for me to stretch out. "Kea wants us outside," He said and then lead the way out the door. I followed, still stretching as I went. It was time to save the kids, and I don't want to feel as stiff as I did right now.

"Max, let's go!" Kea yelled. The sun was setting over the sand it was almost cool out here. I expected Egypt to be a lot hotter, but it seems I was wrong. Scott went over to where Logan was waiting by the black square entrance and I followed. As Scott got closer, Logan tossed him two flashlights. Scott then tossed one to me as the rest of our group disappeared into the blackness.

We were entering what looked like a huge pyramid. The corners weren't dulled or chipped like I've seen in pictures of the actual pyramids. In fact, this thing looked like brand new. I know it's impossible to go back in time so someone must have just built it. Why would you build a pyramid though? That seems like extra work considering a bunker or fort would have been easier.

No one said anything. Kitty and Kurt kept looking to the top of the pyramid. There was something barely shinning up there in the last moments of sunlight. It was unnerving to look at it. I felt like something evil was slithering to me and then ready to coil inside and eat my soul. I forced myself to look away from it and followed the rest inside.

"Max: 3, 1, 4, 2. Don't forget it"

And welcome back voice. I see that you took your time coming back. I shook my head and flicked on my flashlight as we descended the few steps right after the door. Our steps echoed off the stones and we sounded like giant monsters in my opinion. We may not be able to surprise them, but we could at least not alert them to where exactly we were though. There were echoes no matter how quietly walked. I gave up very quickly. It wasn't worth the effort.

"Which way?" Logan asked quietly as we came to a four-way fork. Each way looked exactly the same without any indication of which could be the right one. This was a problem.

"Max: 3, 1, 4, 2"

What's that supposed to me? It sounds like a combination to something, but what? Maybe Scott would know something. I tugged at his sleeve and he looked down at me in wonder. I didn't know what to say then. I forgot, he didn't know about the voice.

"What do these numbers mean to you: 3, 1, 4, 2," I asked, hoping he wouldn't ask where I got them from.

"A combination?" He suggested quietly.

"I think they have something to do with this place or Malcolm or something," I said. He didn't question it, but I could see he was trying to think of something. I looked to the doorways where everyone was still trying to make sense of which direction seemed most promising. Wait….the doors. Maybe it was which door to take. Worth a shot I guess since we didn't have any other suggestions.

"Let's try this door," I said and went to the third from the right. Everyone looked at me with wonder.

"Why?" Logan asked. Why indeed.

"All the doorways look the same so let's just pick one," I suggested. He watched me, but then nodded his head.

"Someone should stay so we don't get lost," He said. Kitty volunteered and he took the lead. We followed down the path until we came to a three way fork this time.

"Which way now?" Logan asked, almost mockingly. I went to the right doorway and took it. Kurt stayed behind this time. We came to another four-way and I took the second from the right, Scott stayed behind, and finally we came to another three way split.

"Which way?" Logan asked. I went to the second on the right, but he grabbed me from behind. "You stay here," He said and went on alone. I fumed and waited a few minutes before I quietly followed afterwards. Light was filtering through the walls, making my flashlight useless. I turned it off, but I kept ahold of it in case it got dark again.

I soon came to a spacious place filled with light and old Egyptian artifacts that looked like new. Malcolm was seated in a throne or gold at the far back and above him hung three equally small cages. There were the kids, huddled in fear and hopelessness about a hundred feet above the ground. Above them was a swirling mass of blackness. That didn't seem good.

I took my eyes off them and continued surveying the room. Logan was fighting with some warrior, a girl that looked like Rachel in a quieter way. There were a few other warriors around, but not many. I heard the rushing of feet behind me and I decided not to wait. I rushed forward, taking to the air quickly and rushed to the cages.

"Stop her!" Malcolm yelled in a commanding voice. It wasn't a shock or worry filled yell, just a shout to command his guards. He obviously didn't think much of me, but why should he? There's a pattern with crazy huge men and ignoring everything that's smaller than him. He had short black hair and a stubbly beard. In a way, he was scary. He gave me that same feeling that I got when I looked at the shinning thing on the pyramid.

I brushed against the first cage, Angel's, and hovered beside it.

"Max!" She yelled and clung to me through the cage bars.

"I'm here baby," I responded and looked for a way to get her out of the cage. It almost looked like it was made around her because there were no locks or doors or hinges.

"That man makes stuff bend, be careful," She hushed and looked down at Malcolm. I looked up at the chains that disappeared into the blackness. I need to find a way to get them down. There had to be switch or something to lower them.

"I'll be back," I said and flapped back a little to look for the switch She let go of me even though she was still scared. The second group of fighters was here already and mixed into a frenzy of fighting. Kea was here too, launching herself at Malcolm with attack after attack. For a girl with mental powers, she sure had a lot of power in her arms and legs I could see by the way the big man was pushed back inch after inch. I found a switch behind the throne and I dived for it, dodging Malcolm's one attack aimed at me. Kea distracted him from me right away though.

I landed and turned the pirate ship looking wheel, successfully lowering the cages to the ground. They weren't much safer there though. They were still trapped in the cages with no way out. This Malcolm bent the metal around them. I can't bend metal or know anyone who can. I know someone who could cut through it. The cages clanged against the ground and I jumped into the air, dodging another deadly attack from Malcolm, and searched for Logan.

"Logan!" I yelled through cupped hands. He looked up and I pointed down. He looked to where I pointed before running. He wasn't stopped or attacked. All of Malcolm's fighters were kids who weren't aiming for a kill or to hurt, just to distract it seemed. Why? While Logan went for the kids, I helped with the fight. I was almost to some monster looking little girl that was picking on Kitty when the whole place shuddered.

"EVERYONE OUT!" Kea's voice rang out. I looked back at her, and I regretted it. Her hands were soaked in blood, and at her feet was Malcolm's body, slit by the knife on the floor beside him. My stomach recoiled and I quickly looked away. Everyone indeed rushed out, even the enemy kids, but only one fought the wave: Scott.

I looked for the kids and saw them running out with Gazzy slung over Kea's back and Angel clinging to Logan's neck. Nudge was keeping up on her own thankfully. Fang was right behind her, never looking back. Did he even notice that I was still here? I was relieved though that my flock was getting out, but I stopped myself from rushing to the doorway. It was flooded with panicked people. Me joining the crowd wasn't going to help people move away any faster.

That's when I saw it.

A huge piece of building the building crashed through the blackness and was headed toward the last trail of people heading toward the crowd; my family. My eyes widened and I did the only thing I could, I flew at top speed and slammed into the thing from the side.

The stone cracked and crumbled into the side of the room, making my shoulder hurt painfully as well as knocking the air from me completely.

"Max!" Scott yelled as I fell through the air, getting hit by rocks from the still crumbling stone left and right. It wasn't until a sharp one hit my head did I black out though.