Chapter 18: Shifting Sands

In Egypt…Gambit, Storm, Iceman and Cyclops

The night air was cool as the winds shifted the course sands in the Valley of the Kings. It was truly a sight as the giant monuments that told stories of great conquest and lessons. Grand pyramids shadowed over the valley in the night. Ancient statues stood tall with grace and power protected by gods and goddesses they represent. Tall palm trees blew with the cool crisp breeze and the light from torches flickered across the sands. Gambit, Storm, Iceman and Cyclops were stationed around the valley searching for the Brotherhood. Iceman was so prepped for action he couldn't stand still.

Cyclops had watched the young adult pace and rant before him with unease. He turned to his crew and released a sigh he had been holding onto. There was so much tension in the air that he was sure his lasers wouldn't cut through it all. Everyone was quiet the whole time except for Bobby who managed to rant from the moment his name switched to Iceman during their mission. It was bothersome but something odd hung in the air and they all were just waiting for the first fist to fly.

"Come on guys." Cyclops muttered ready for the night to reveal its secrets.

India… Psyfire, Wolverine, Kitty, and Rogue

Hills of green pastures and exotic trees surrounded the remote sandy estate from prying outside eyes. The familiar curves of the architectural ceilings were intimidating yet brilliant as even in the night air it shown with such glamour. It looked more like an oasis the way it glistened from a distance. The tall white columns supporting the home of Huddad was great and gave the overall look of a mini palace then really a home. However, the beauty was ruined as Psyfire came closer and looked over everything. Half the building was set in flames and tree tops were falling off their giant structures crashing down on the nicely cut lawn. The roof seemed blackened on the other side and suddenly parts of it collapsed.

The X-men had landed without proper orders to do so, but time was of the essence. Wolverine predicted that based on the attackers in the jets, Mystique was already ahead. Psyfire flew over the estate where Huddad lived and noticed something wasn't quite right. She landed in the courtyard in the front but no one was there to greet them. She heard a rustling and quickly looked behind her to see Wolverine jumping over gates and walls to catch up, followed by Kitty and Rogue materializing through them instead.

"Pyro's been here, Wolverine." Psyfire declared. She looked around and saw scorch marks and flames eating away at the estate. Tree tops burned along with other debris.

Wolverine sniffed around a bit taking notice of the shifts in scent. "Well kid, we're late to the party." He growled and looked around analyzing the area with his senses. Smoke was working against his powerful sense of smell by hiding exactly what happened. His instincts were screaming however that they were not alone.

"So like, where is the welcoming committee?" Kitty asked as she and Rogue joined them also looking around at the damages.

"Ah don't know but, gal you should stay in the jet." Rogue ordered, a frown marring her forehead.

"What!" Kitty bellowed.

"Sorry Kid but, Rogue is right. Something just isn't sitting well with me." With that said Wolverine released his claws with a swift motion. "So get there now!"

'Assholes' Kitty muttered as she stormed off toward the Jet going back through the wall.

"Help!" They heard a sudden weak cry inside the home. The X-men looked up at the noise and quickly made their way inside. Wolverine sniffed again then growled as he suddenly took off with unparalleled speed inside the house.

Psyfire flew after him followed by the rest. "Wolverine! Wait up!" She yelled as she looked around and saw blood splatter and scratches on the wall. Shells form weaponry littered the shiny tiled floor. Cracks in the ground streaked down the hallway with impending doom in its definition. More scorch marks were found but no bodies were seen. Psyfire looked up and watched as Wolverine stopped in front of a broken entrance. The white frame was cracked in various parts almost falling down in front of them.

They heard a bone chilling crack as something heavy was thrown against the wall. When the team rushed in they saw Sabertooth holding a pretty woman by her neck squeezing in one hand and a little girl by her arm squeezing as well. A red collar flashed around Sabertooths neck and he seemed different in some way. They heard a moan as a man rolled on the floor with burnt flesh wounds littering his arms. His white clothes hung off him from being torn in various places. His machine gun thrown across from him on the other side snapped in half. He had tears marring his face as he watched in pure horror at his family being choked to death.

"No, please no!" The women choked fighting for air. "Not my daughter!"

The little brown girl kicked at the rugged man but he only squeezed harder at her arm. There was defining crack as the sound of her bone snapped. She cried out in pain and the X-men couldn't react fast enough. Wolverine infuriated, launched his body in the air towards Sabertooth in an all-out assault. Sabertooth threw the two sideways before jumping out of the way.

Psyfire quickly flew to the man and the child that was thrown close to each other. "What happened?" Psyfire demanded as she immediately began checking their wounds for more serious injuries. The little girl was rendered unconscious and seemed to be sporting a broken arm now. Her mother was scrambling to cover her with her body and sobbing hysterically. She gagged on her oxygen intake and her tears were blinding as she held her daughter.

The man rushed to his family's side and looked at his daughter with tears in his eyes. Psyfire looked at his side and saw the blood that dripped from his injuries. "They came and demanded information about the amulet, for the love of my family I could not deny her."

Psyfire patted the man on his forehead to sooth him as she pulled the little girl close to her. She looked back to see Sabertooth and Wolverine going at it. Rogue rushed over and immediately began tending to the woman but Sabertooth tried to swipe at them causing her to get involved in the fight.

"Dammit! Rogue, help me get these people out of here! Psyfire shouted watching the smoke increase around the room.

Rogue slammed Sabertooth in the back into the wall and caused a giant hole in it as his body made contact. She turned to rush back to Rogue but Sabertooth grabbed her by her arm and threw her to the side. Wolverine jumped into the air and began swinging at him soon after.

Psyfire thought of her options. These people needed help and needed to get out of the home. The building was starting to smell of smoke and she could tell the fire was spreading. "This building is unstable!"

"Please save my wife and child. She's pregnant and -" Psyfire immediately got up and ran to the women watching her roll onto the floor in pain holding her neck. When she got close, she was slammed into her side by some unknown force. She immediately flew into a broken brown table and skidded into a white wall. She grabbed her head and looked up to see Pyro smirking as he walked up to Psyfire. Also another red collar placed around his neck and he also seemed different.

"Well, well, well…I was starting to get lonely. I was wondering when you guys would show up." He then blew out a burst of flames in her direction. She immediately moved out of the way and flew at him from the side. She grabbed his head and slung him head first into the same wall Sabertooth had gone through earlier. She went over to the pregnant women and stopped her from moving otherwise she would further hurt herself. She saw the claw marks of Sabertooth on her brown flesh into her skin making the soft flesh develop red and purple hues.

"I'm here to help. But I need you to get up." The women nodded then her eyes widened. She began speaking in a foreign language rapidly and pointed behind her. Psyfire lifted the woman up and turned to see Pyro get up slowly and wobble out of the wall. Fire was ablaze now in other areas of the house and the smoke became thicker. He looked at them then ran full speed in their direction. Psyfire was getting ready to maneuver when another body jumped from the hallway at Pyro. Suddenly Pyro's form slid in the ground with his shrill cries following him. Psyfire took steady steps away while being mindful of the woman's neck. Kitty came up moments later and ran towards them.

"It's a set up!" Kitty bellowed.

"I told you to stay in the jet!" Wolverine yelled as he punched Sabertooth in the face and then was thrown in the other room. Rogue immediately picked up Sabertooth from behind and launched him through another wall and he landed outside in the courtyard. Wolverine got up and jumped out to meet him with his claws followed by Rogue.

"Jean just sent me a psychic message that this is a setup. It's not here!" Kitty yelled as she went over to the civilians and Psyfire. The building shook and dust rained down from the ceiling and cracks increased along the surface interior of the place. Her wide eyes looked around her in fright. The heat was unbearably hot now.

"We need to get out! Can you take her to a safe place outside?" Psyfire asked sweating bullets.

"Yeah!" Kitty declared grabbing the little girl and doing her best to carry her. Psyfire picked up the woman carefully while the man held his bleeding side fighting to stand.

"Please, take my daughter! Leave me but save my family!" Huddad yelled as he clutched his side falling back onto the floor. He grabbed her hand pleadingly and the building shook again as fire began to be seen in the halls. The smoke was getting denser which meant time was running out.

"Is this everyone?" Psyfire asked urgently.

"Yes! It's just us. Now go quickly!" Huddad begged running his fingers through his wife's hair saying a prayer. Psyfire looked at the man with giant sad eyes. "I will get you out too!" She yelled. She focused on the training with Jacob and pulled her telekinetic ability forward. She focused on lifting the man. She swallowed using every ounce of power in her body to focus on picking him up. She held her finger at him and slowly the man began to rise off the ground. Psyfire immediately felt tired and the smoke wasn't helping her. With security she flew herself up and at a slow steady pace they made their way out of a broken window. She felt her mind waver and she grew tired. She only practiced defense and not actually lifting three beings at once in a chaotic environment. Great respect for Jean built in her chest and understanding of the struggle she faced on a constant basis.

"No!" Rogue yelled as she watched in horror as Pyro came rushing from the woods. He clutched a detonator in his hand tightly. With unknown madness in his eyes he pressed the button and set it off. Suddenly the room they just left burst into flames and the house toppled over into rubble. Fire and smoke exploded in a loud boom that rocked the earth. In the distance civilians from the city were racing forward to help the family but stopped as they saw the activity. The explosion was so big it knocked over Psyfire and pushed her onto the ground. She but managed to focus on shielding the woman in her arms and her badly wounded husband from impact. Debris fell everywhere and the fire was still raging.

Suddenly, Wolverine's roar echoed across the area dragging Sabertooth's body behind him. His body had gained multiple scratches from Sabertooth's guerilla warfare. His uniform was ruined and his skin was charred from the fire of the explosion. It wasn't like him at all to fight so tacky and stay once he got what he wanted. Rogue ran to Pyro before he could escape and rendered him unconscious with her deadly touch of her gloveless hands. Her eyes widened and she looked to the collar with disgust. She reached down and broke the collar on his neck watching the fixture's light die.

Wolverine turned around and ran towards Psyfire who now lay unconscious underneath the occupants. He picked up the man carefully wrinkling his nose at the amount of blood everywhere while Rogue reached for the woman mindful of her neck. They ran to the Jet with inhuman speed and deposited them safely in chairs. "Watch their vital signs and hook up the equipment." Rogue ordered Kitty while Wolverine rushed to get Psyfire.

"Upsy Daisy!" He grunted as he picked up Psyfire. He surveyed her skin seeing small burns but nothing life threatening. He looked up to see Rogue carrying Pyro towards them by the collar of his uniform. They both went at fast speeds to the Jet and loaded it. Kitty had done what she was told and had called the Professor about a medical unit nearby. Rogue threw Pyro in and started the jet as they made their way out of harm's way. Wolverine rushed to get Sabertooth's body dragging him through the dirt not even bothering to be gentle with the man. Rogue turned her head as he entered the jet. "They were being controlled. Destroy the collar around his neck." She ordered.

Wolverine looked at the giant beast's collar and crushed it with the strength of his claws. Knowing the brute wouldn't be down for long he immediately went to lock him and Pyro up. He placed special equipment to subdue their mutant powers and keep them safe away from everyone on the ship. His locked the bars of the safety unit tightly wondering if he should keep a tranquilizer nearby just in case.

'Professor! We need help. We have people injured and our sub-medic is out cold! We also need someone to put out these fires! It could spread!' Kitty screamed mentally to the Professor looking out of the window as the civilians fled the area.

'Calm down Kitty, help is on the way.' The Professor assured. 'Beast has sent coordinates to your vessel to the nearest hospital that will take them in. Get there and then Hank and I will meet with you in route to Egypt.'

"Guys, the Professor sent us the directions to a hospital. We need to go like now. Kitty said frantically.

Wolverine nodded and immediately rushed to the pilot seat. "Locking them in now."

"It's too late. Mystique has been there this whole time." Pyro muttered as he coughed out his lungs and rolled on his side. His hands touched his neck massaging the sensitive skin there.

Wolverine got up and immediately brought out his claws. He stood before the cage watching Pyro scramble back as far as the wall of the jet would allow in panic. "Start talking Bub."

"She was in Egypt this whole time wanting us to do her dirty work! She knew you would all stick together especially after the last battle for that Asian guy. She offered us the job but we turned it down seeing as we're not getting anything and none of us really care for her. It's not the same when we're not working for Magneto." He sputtered. "We didn't want anything to do with her scheme. She's nuts!"

"To the point!" Wolverine yelled stepping closer to the cell.

"Ok, ok!" Pyro called onto his powers but nothing happened. He moved into the farthest corner. "We wouldn't do it so she made us do it with those collars. She stuck them on us except for Toad. I think she wanted you to split up and give her time to do whatever in Egypt. She's already in the tomb and now she's just waiting for Flash to give her the amulet."

"Oh my gosh! Kitty muttered.

Pyro looked at her and nodded. "I'm pretty sure she has the others there with collars ready to protect her should you guys get too close."

Wolverine growled then shoved away from the cell harshly going back to the jet's controls. He sat down heavily in the leather seat and began to flip buttons and switches. Rogue did her best to assist the injured while maintaining pressure on Huddad's wound to stop the bleeding. She looked around feeling the jet rise into the air. Kitty ran to the phones to call for Cyclop's crew but, no one answered. She called Jean.

"Yes?" Jeans voice echoed.

"Tell Cyclops that Mystique is there with them! Flash has the amulet. Guard the tomb!" Kitty urged.

"What?" Jean yelled.

"It's a set up! Get out of th-"Kitty opened her mouth to say something else before her ears were met with the dial tone.

"Hello?"

"Hello" Kitty asked again having a sinking feeling in her stomach that all wasn't well for their team in Brazil.

In Egypt…Gambit, Storm, Iceman and Cyclops

Storm flew around the area surveying what she could but didn't see anything unusual. She felt regal as she flew in her home continent enjoying the wind threw her billowing snowy hair. She landed near the specific tomb that was meant for Mystique's return. Cyclops sat with Iceman looking shocked for some odd reason as his friend moved his hands franticly replaying some story. She looked over to her best friend to see him playing with his cards sitting on an old crate of digging instruments with a serious look on his face. Storm had heard what happened earlier from Bobby but decided to stay out of it. However, she could never leave him out to dry. With that in mind she decided to check up on him.

"It's not like you to not develop sudden sticky fingers, Gambit." Storm said casually as she walked over to him.

Gambit smirked and stood to his full height as he stretched showing the wrinkles in his forehead. "Don' get too excited Stormy, Remy still a t'ief at heart."

Storm watched as he did this and felt great empathy for her friend. He didn't move with the grace of a feline cat but with more the heavy footsteps of a giant with the weight of the world on his shoulders. Gambit smiled and flicked a few cards between his fingers.

Storm went over and sat on the crate looking to him with her understanding blue eyes. "Remy, as your good friend… I want you to know-"

Suddenly a loud explosion rocked the area and shook the ground. Storm flew up into the air quickly while looking down at the earth. Gambit crouched low to the ground feeling the shifts come from behind him. He turned his head and saw who was behind it all. After getting his bearings he looked about to see Avalanche causing all the commotion. A red collar glittered around his throat as he shook the ground beneath him.

Storm flew up to avoid Avalnache's rocky attempt to distort them. She called the wind forth and released them at the young man. Gambit jumped onto his feet and charged a card while running at full speed towards the young man. He threw his charged card hard at Avalanche's feet causing Avalanche to topple over and be swept into Storms winds. The Blob showed up and ran full speed at Cyclops. Cyclops managed to avoid his attack and adjust his visor to shoot a wider beam of charged energy at him. The blob was knocked backed but wasn't hindered.

'Cyclops! Flash has the amulet! Mystique is inside the tomb! Block that tomb' Jean mentally yelled inside of Cyclops mind.

"Flash has the amulet guys!" Cyclops screamed alerting everyone. "Block the tomb and get the amulet!"

Out of nowhere Scarlet Witch and Boom Boom joined the party. The Blob and Avalanche shook off their opponents attacks ready to go again.

"What's dat on dey necks?" Gambit asked as he pointed with his bow staff towards Avalanche.

The four started to walk forward at them in a slow deadly manner. "I don't' know, but it don't look good." Iceman stated as he took a fighters stance.

Suddenly the four rushed at them at a quick rate. Scarlet Witch ran at Storm and threw a nasty energy bolt her way. Storm dodged it but was attacked relentlessly again by another. She flew in the air and sent one of her own to meet the teen. Scarlet dodged it by rolling on the floor causing sand to whip up in her stead. Getting an idea, she used the sand and pushed it full force at Storm. Storm was then knocked out of the air spiraling toward a lump of sand dunes near one of the excavation sites. She landed skidding into the sand but quickly recuperating. Suddenly they heard the sound of sirens in the background. Storm shook off the sand and stood up.

Iceman was getting squished by the Blob. Literally. There wasn't a lot of moisture in the air to freeze him completely. So Iceman just kept dodging the Blobs sudden burst to run him over. Iceman avoided his attacks and kicked him in the back as hard as he could. The Blob fell over the crate Gambit was previously sitting on before they showed up. "What's the matter, Blob? You tired?" Iceman asked humorously.

The Blob quickly stood up recovering faster than usual actually surprising Iceman. "I didn't know you had it in you to run this long. Don't push yourself too hard." Iceman taunted. The Blob chased Iceman around another tomb not seeming to tire like he usually would. Iceman's feet sunk into the sand a bit making it difficult to put distance between them. The Blob ran full speed at Iceman this time catching him and knocking him into a nearby palm tree. The tree snapped in half as it fell due to Iceman's weight sending it crashing along with him. He landed face first into the sand and immediately sputtered. "This is gross!" He spit out more sand from between his lips before forcefully moving to his right out of the way of the Blobs path. Iceman looked up to see Gambit going at it with Boom Boom.

Gambit didn't know that Boom Boom could do hand to hand combat. And since when? He moved out the way of her left hook and instead tripped her using a sweep of his feet underneath hers. She immediately reacted and rolled to her feet. Rushing towards him she threw a punch at his face. Gambit grabbed her fist and tossed her body over his shoulder sending her flying into a dig spot. Gambit immediately pulled out two cards from his duster. Boom Boom got up with a nose bleed and began creating small explosives in her hands. She immediately threw hers at Gambits form and he dodged them with his acrobatic moves. "I nev'r miss when I shoot for a pretty girl, Chere" He stated with smirk as he let his own energy devices take flight into the air. They hit Boom Boom on her legs. Gambit quickly saw the collar around her neck blinking and he grabbed another one to aim at her neck. He tossed it quickly catching her off guard watching as it blew up slightly burning her under her chin. Her red collar broke and she let out a piercing scream from the radiation. Boom Boom fell back onto her hunches into the sand panting.

Avalanche and Cyclops were duking it out as Cyclops tried to keep the Brotherhood away from the tomb and while watching out for signs of Flash. Avalanche picked up new moves as he used MMA style fighting. He grappled Cyclops to the ground shoving his weight on top of him. Cyclops immediately blasted Avalanche in the torso with a laser sending him flying away from the present destination. Avalanche hit a base of a pyramid in the back hard and came falling down face first with a cloud of sand and resin blowing behind his descent into the sand below.

The wind began whipping around their bodies as a loud sound approached them. They looked up to see Nicole and Jean fly closer holding onto the boys dropping them on the battlefield below forming a line. "Block this tomb!" Jean screamed.

Jacob jumped out of the jet fully transformed into beast mode. Kurt lowered the jet far away and teleported his way to the scene. "Police are showing up to da party guys!" He yelled.

Soon enough they heard sirens and the sounds of guns charging. Three helicopters began to circle the area with blinding white lights flashing around them chaotically. "This is the police. You are all under arrest. Do not resist." Declared one officer speaking from a speaker.

"Oh man! Not good!" Yelled Kurt his jacket blowing harshly about him. The police shot off a shot that flew past Nicole's face and struck Iceman in the throat. She looked to see what it was and noticed that it was a tranquilizer. Iceman blinked a few times puzzled as he looked around.

"Bobby?" Nicole asked questioningly.

He looked at her, smirked, and fell to the ground. His eyes rolled back into is head until they closed when he hit the sand. Everyone looked at Bobby's predicament and the police took that as a cue to fire and run into the area. Everyone immediately went into action to avoid being hit into unconsciousness by the tranquilizers. Cyclops ran and picked up Iceman's body while Jean covered him with her psychic shield. Sand was kicked up into the air and they were reflected off the shield to hit other things and the pyramids. Stone and pieces of wood flew everywhere. Avalanche released a powerful shock wave that rocked the area. Police cars toppled over and men were sucked up into the sand that threatened to engulf them in its wrath. Jacob ran full force to stop Avalanche from killing the men and when he reached him he tackled the young man to the ground forcefully. He hit him so hard that it knocked the wind out of his esophagus rendering him unconscious. Scarlet witch used the sand as a defense to stop against the police assault. She used her power to reverse the tranquilizers back at the police officers effectively hitting them. One by one officers began passing out from the high dosage.

"Oh man! Let's get out of here Boom Boom!" Toad urged his friend as he decided to attempt bravery by running cowardly on the battlefield off the jet. Everyone was in combat. He looked around to see Scarlet take out more officers then suddenly was knocked out of the air by Storm and Nicole.

The Blob ran trying to sit on poor Kurt who had teleported himself to the peak of the largest pyramid. He surveyed the area when he saw a sudden flash of wind go through specific areas. He squinted when he realized who it was. He came up beside Gambit in blue smoke with urgency.

"He's here!"

Gambit was twirling his boa in a quick front hand spin to stop the oncoming tranquilizers from attacking his body. He jumped back in a summersault before throwing a card at the Blob to stop him from crushing Jeans shield. "What!"

"Flash! He's trying to get to da entrance!" Kurt yelled.

The X-men heard him and quickly pulled it together double time. They gave everything they had as more sand was kicked up and pieces of Egyptian architect flew past them and made contact with various substances. A flash of silver flew past them inside the tomb with vast speed and disappeared. Storm and Gambit ran after the light into the tomb and stopped at the entrance as it separated into two passage ways. Sand was kicked up furiously getting rid of any kinds of footprints that Mystique or the Flash may have left. Egyptian hieroglyphics covered the peeling walls and torches were lit lighting both sandy pathways.

"This is not good my friend." Storm said as she looked around. Suddenly Gambit ran forward in one of the pathways and Storm ran right on his heels. She suddenly felt very claustrophobic at the tight entrance ways but held it in.

"Where are you going?" Storm said breathlessly as they rounded the corner and past two giant pillars with gold trimming and jumped over two more that were laid brokenly on the sandy floor.

"Hurry Stormy!" Gambit yelled as they suddenly came to a large entrance with Flash laying unconscious against the stone wall. The floor was raised in the center with water surrounding the platform in the center. Torches lit the walls and gold statues of Anubis were around the area. In the center Mystique was glowing a bright red hue and her eyes were lit as well. She turned to face the duo with a smirk on her face.

"You're too late!" Mystique said with mirth as she pointed at them. Suddenly they heard laughter and were engulfed in a bright red light. Their bodies glowed with it and were picked up and hurled toward the wall like ragdolls.

"Finally! Power of my own! No more following the notions of a man. This world shall be mine!" she shouted as she walked out of the exit towards the people outside.

…#$#$#$#$#$#$….Outside…#$#$#$#$…..

The X-men managed to remove the collars around the Blob, Scarlet Witch and Avalanche. Another jet landed in the distance as Wolverine, Kitty, Rogue, and Psyfire joined the battle. They dropped off the family at the hospital and made their way to the action as quickly as possible. Upon exiting, the Professor gave them an odd relic in the form of a scepter that was supposed to deflect the amulet's power. Now they arrived on the battlefield to see pure chaos.

"What happened?" Yelled Rogue.

Jean ran over to fill them in. "Gambit and Storm ran in after Flash inside the tomb and th-"

Suddenly there was a big explosion as sand kicked up and knocked everyone off their feet and blew them back a few feet. They all crash landed and looked shakily up to see Mystique standing in the center with an evil smirk on her face.

"I've had enough of your constant interfering in my affairs!" She bellowed. She pointed to the ground with both hands and started to speak in Ancient Egyptian Arabic. The ground rumbled beneath them.

"Dis is not good." Kurt stated as he looked down to see a bony carcass pop from the sand. Suddenly more dead bodies rose from the sand with heads of Anubis and carried weapons.

"This isn't happening!" Kitty yelled as one of them reached out for her. She immediately phased out the way and backed up into a tree. Her eyes grew wide and bulged at the reality of the situation.

The X-men and the Brotherhood had the expressions of fear and confusion as they looked at the scene played out before them.

Psyfire shared a glance with Jacob as the hair on his body stood up; yet he held his ground with a ferocity she had never seen. She looked in her hand at the gold scepter and suddenly felt an odd sensation cover her.

Gambit and Storm came running out of the building. Storm was being held up by Gambit as they looked at the scene before them.

"Rise and kill them all!" Mystique ordered.

The dead shook off the dirt that buried them for centuries and ran at the X-men with uncanny speed. The X-men were suddenly dueling with the dead warriors as they parried off attacks with their own. Cyclops blasted one and its body disintegrated into dust. But its place seemed to be immediately taken by another entity. Jean picked up a few and blasted them away but more came jumping off the pyramids or popping from the ground. One came from behind but she was able to block it with her psychic shield. She was suddenly rushed by three who were fighting now like pros and had knocked her back a few feet. Rogue picked up a few and slung them into another. Wolverine ran through and diced some trying to make his way towards Mystique as his fury was ignited. Mystique smiled evilly as she mumbled some words and black beetles came crawling out the entrance of the Pyramid toward him. They were quickly destroyed by Nicole who burned them to death with her fire attacks. Frowning she pointed at Nicole and red engulfed her as well.

Hearing noises Mystique looked over to see Boom Boom and Toad run out the Pyramid holding an unconscious Flash as they tried to escape but they immediately were halted by a dead warrior trying to snap their heads off with swords. She shrugged as she continued her spell and then suddenly Jacob launched at her arm biting it but not snapping it off. She immediately had to fight him off as his jaws to snap down viciously on her limb. His teeth struck bone as he continued to tear at her flesh. She jumped near the pyramid wall and proceeded to slam his body into the structure. Taken back at her sudden super strength and power he immediately began another tactic. He made a move to maneuver and slam her when she grabbed him with both hands and threw him powerfully at another pyramid. He flew towards the top and crashed into the hard rock material causing a large dent into the ancient structure. The force was so great that he was knocked unconscious and sent sliding down at an angle.

"I've had enough!" She screeched. She reached her hands to the sky and all went black.