SOMETIMES, ELEANOR HATED how she depended on Erik's gift to calm her nerves.

The woman observed the metal ball float above her palm once again, glowing red. She had indeed grown so attached to it that she greatly feared losing it. A smile crept up her lips as she remembered a moment she thought she lost the ball bearing. Eleanor searched her whole house and even retraced her steps at the grocery store she went in that day, only to discover it was just sitting neatly inside her cabinet. She placed it there since she took a bath and completely forgot she put it there.

The brunette let the smooth ball roll between her fingers and her palm, soothing her. She shut her eyes for a moment, biting her lip.

In a few minutes from now, she would be fighting a mutant who thinks he's god himself, convince her ex-boyfriend not to rip the world apart, and save her fiancé from all this madness.

The universe must indeed hate her existence.

She sighed. She also had to make sure Moira and her children would not get caught in the crossfire. There were just a lot of matters at hand that she wasn't sure she could take anymore.

"Mommy, are you alright?" Anastasia placed his hand over her hand. "You look kinda pale."

Eleanor smiled at her daughter, brushing her little girl's hair back. She pocketed the metal ball, safely keeping it. "I'm fine, sweetie. I'm just thinking."

She then watched Anastasia hung her head low, a bit of fear present in her blue eyes. "Dad's going to be okay, right?"

Which dad? She wanted to humor her child, but then just nodded. "Of course, he'll be. We'll save him."

"I don't want anything to happen to him." said Anastasia, anxiously. The young girl wrung her hands together, wiggling her foot. Eleanor watched her daughter sigh and pinch her little nose. She almost chuckled at that.

If Nathan was Erik's copy when it comes to mannerisms, Anastasia was Charles'. Her girl adored and idolized her fiancé so much -- no, actually both of them do. Eleanor couldn't imagine how heartbreaking it'll be for the two of them once they find out the truth about their father.

"Were you scared?" suddenly asked Jean, her head turned to Raven. "That day in DC, were you scared?"

"No." Raven curtly responded before realizing her harsh she may have sounded. "But I was scared on my first mission. I was on a plane like this with my friends." She recalled, fondly. "About your age. We called ourselves the X-Men. Actually, Valerie was the one who came up with that."

"Your brother was there." the blonde continued narrating. "We used to call him Havoc. He was a real handful, but... when it came down to it, he was very brave."

"What happened to the rest of the kids that went with you?" Kurt questioned in his thick German accent. "The X-Men."

Eleanor watched Raven look at the floor, remorseful. "Hank, Valerie, and I are the only ones left. I couldn't save the rest of them. I told you, I'm not a hero." she asserted.

"Well, you're a hero to us. Both you and Miss Ridges. Seeing you two that day on TV changed my life."

"Me too."

"Me too." Peter agreed, then shrugging. "I mean, I still live in my mom's basement," He snorted. "but... everything else is... well, it's pretty much the same. I'm a total loser."

Everyone chortled at Peter's statement, shaking their heads. "You aren't a loser, Peter. My kids think you're cool." Eleanor offered, smiling. Nathan and Ana did think Peter was awesome. Would they still the same when they find he's their half-brother? Probably yes.

"Seventh wonder, 12 o' clock."

Eleanor removed her seatbelt and walked over to the cockpit, standing between Valerie and Hank. "I'm not the only one seeing this, right?" She asked, gazing at the pyramid situated at the center of city of Cairo.

"No, certainly no." remarked Valerie, maneuvering the jet to land somewhere open and safe. She was co-piloting with together with Hank. "I can't even believe mutant dude just built a pyramid in here. I mean, is it even made of Limestone and Granite? Does it even have a King's Chamber? If not, then it sucks." She ranted.

Eleanor almost patted Valerie's back to calm her down, but Jean interrupted them with information about Charles. "He has the Professor in the center of the pyramid. He's going to transfer his consciousness into the Professor. If he does that, he'll have the power to control every mind in the world."

"Oh, so he does have a King's Chamber." Valerie clicked her tongue. "Groovy, at least."

The brunette pursed her lips as she felt Charles' mind slowly succumb to En Sabah Nur's transference. She could already reach his mind, but she couldn't talk to him. She could feel her heart race and she gritted her teeth in anger. "We are absolutely not allowing this fucking mutant dude -- as you call him Valerie," she stared at her friend and then to the rest of the team. "transfer his consciousness to Charles. Our main priority in this is to keep his rotting hands away from him, understood?"

"What the hell is that?"

Eleanor spun around and narrowed her eyes down to the figure that was inside an invisible sphere with multiple debris and metals floatinv around him. As soon as she caught sight of the reddish-purple suit, she knew who it was and sighed. "Great. It's Erik, my fucking ex." mumbled the woman.

Upon hearing his name, Peter zoomed past them, leaning behind Hank to get a closer look at Erik. Raven stepped up beside her, taking charge. "You guys help Nightcrawler get into the pyramid. Get Charles. I'll take care of Erik." Eleanor nodded though she wanted to be the one to talk to him. Yes, Raven was close with Erik, but Eleanor knew it in herself that she would be able to talk some sense into him.

"How are you going to get through that?"

Peter turned to Raven. "I can get you in there. I came here for him. Let me help you." he offered.

"You sure you're ready for him to know?" whispered Eleanor to him. She herself wasn't even sure she was ready to let Erik know he's the father of her children, but if Peter could admit the truth, then so can she.

"Let's see." the silver-haired boy swallowed, shrugging. "We'll never know if we don't try, right?"

Eleanor nodded, understanding. Raven then continued saying her commands. "The rest of you, get Charles on this plane and get him out of here."

"We're not leaving without you!"

"Don't worry." Peter assured, glancing at Raven. "We'll catch up."

"Alright, kids, hold on." Valerie landed the jet somewhere safe and they both went up to their children who were sitting on their seats, distressed.

Eleanor approached Jacob first, staring at the boy with kind eyes. He was fidgeting and it was clear he was uncomfortable with the whole situation. Thoughts of his mom and father hurt were rushing inside his head that she couldn't help, but feel sad about what he was thinking. The brunette knelt down to him, pushing his disheveled hair back. "I can feel your fear, Jacob. Don't worry, your mother and your father will be safe. You have my word on that."

The boy stared up to her, shyly. "Thank you."

Eleanor smiled at him and ruffled his hair lightly before moving to her own children. "Now, both of you, listen to me." She caught their attention. "Under no circumstances are you two leaving this plane unless necessary, am I clear?" She raised her eyebrow. "Stay inside this jet with Moira."

She had been hearing her children's thoughts since earlier. They wanted to help save Charles, not caring about the danger of the situation. She placed a loving kiss on their heads. "Please, please, just this one, do not be stubborn. We'll be right back as soon as we can, okay? I love you both."

The two nodded even though Eleanor really had a deep feeling something would go wrong and they'll have to fight for their lives. She hoped her gut was wrong in just this one or she may burn the world.

One by one, the rest of the group exit the jet, apprehensively. "You ready?" Valerie asked, smirking. Her sleek batons were inserted in the holsters on her back and she was grinning. She found batons back in the hangar of the facility earlier and Eleanor recalled laughing at the sight of Valerie's eyes lighting up when she caught sight of them.

"Am I always not?"

The two stood behind Jean and Scott, waiting for the next part of the plan. Actually, they had no exact plan which frustrated Eleanor a bit. All they knew was that they had to get Charles out, but Eleanor doubted En Sabah Nur would let him go easily.

"Hank, Valerie, Eleanor, you go with the kids." Raven ordered. "Moira will be waiting on the plane."

"Wait."

"What?"

"Not all of us can fully control our powers." Scott hesitated.

"Then, don't." Raven stood straighter. "You need to embrace them. We all do." She asserted before transforming into her natural form. With that, she and Peter were gone. Eleanor didn't know, but that somehow empowered her. Embrace who she was. That rang inside her head. What is she even now? What is she fully capable of now? A strong tug inside her mind pulled her out of her thoughts. The transference had finally started and Charles' body was soon to taken by En Sabah Nur.

They discreetly moved forward towards the pyramid, hiding behind the wall of a battered house. Eleanor surveyed the area, immediately noticing an opening in the front of the pyramid. "There's an entrance. It's clear. Bring Valerie with you insi -- "

However, he wasn't able to finish his command for a mutant with metallic wings fired sharp, metallic feathers at them. "Kurt, get in there!"

Just as Kurt teleported inside, Jean stood up and telekinetically held up several debris to cover them from the attack. Eleanor hurled a red psionic energy at him which he evaded easily before following the teleporter inside.

"In the pyramid! Move! Go!"

The group moved out of their hiding spot to go enter the pyramid, but multiple strikes of lightning blocked their path. Eleanor then caught sight of an olive-skinned woman with white hair in front of them, raising her arms as she sauntered confidently. A strong gush of wind followed and a car was hurled at them. Valerie was quick to put up a forcefield around them, causing the car bounce back from them.

Scott finally removed his glasses and blasted their enemy with his plasma energy just as Hank picked up the car and tossed it at their slightly rattled opponent. Yet, before it could even reach her, it was sliced into two by another mutant who had a katana and a magenta psionic blade on the other.

"Split them up."

At this, the atmokinetic struck them with lightning, causing the group to run off to avoid it. Eleanor, however, only raised her eyebrow and swiped her glowing red hand to the right, diverting the thunderbolt away from her. Levitating in the air, she then curled her fingers and closed her palm. A string of red light formed at the woman's neck, strangling her. Her opponent clawed at her neck, thrashing. Eleanor didn't even feel an ounce of regret as she had done so. All she knew was that she had to neutralize the enemy and something inside of her told her not to care how she would do it.

In a desperate effort to break free, her opponent manipulated the wind, creating a small tornado that instantly pulled Eleanor inside. The brunette was then tossed around the vicious twister and some debris soon hit the side of her forehead, wounding her. She screamed in pain as she continued to whirl around. Feeling a bubble of rage swim in her chest, the brunette released a large wave of psionic energy and she raised her hand in the air, splitting the tornado in half.

Unflinching, she wiped the blood off her wound, and scowled. "Is that all you've got?" she taunted, striding forward. "Come on, hit me more! You can't?" As she took more steps, the tips of her hair and her fingertips sizzled with a dark red color. "Let me show you then how it's fucking done then."

She attacked her opponent by blasting her repeatedly. But, then she was distracted suddenly when the other mutant with psionic powers almost stabbed her in her back.

"Hey!" Valerie shouted just as she elbowed the raven-haired woman in the nose and stomped on her foot. Not even giving her a time to recover, Valerie delivered a kick to her stomach, prompting their opponent to stumble backwards and crash to the ground several feet away from them.

Her partner grabbed Eleanor's hand and pulled her up to stand. "You're bleeding." Valerie noted, pointing to the open wound Eleanor had just above her eyebrow.

"It's just a cut. Nothing life-threatening."

The two then glared at their rivals, both ready to unleash hell. Valerie smirked, turning her head to Eleanor. "Let's go bring this bitches down. You go?"

"Do you even have to ask?"

Both grinning wildly, they began to saunter towards their foes; their hands sparking with their own powers, blue and red. A beautiful and deadly combination.
"You take the other woman, this one's mine." Valerie started to run towards the white-haired mutant, twirling her batons as she released a powerful shockwave of pure energy.

Eleanor took charge of the blade-wielding woman, evading her blows and swings by bending and using her spheres to block the attacks. Her opponent was agile and swiftly adapted to her defense style, finding an open space. She elbowed Eleanor's abdomen and at the same time, punched her jaw.

The brunette crashed to the ground and for a moment, she curled her fist, crushing the dirt. Letting out a growl, she threw the soil she had picked up and narrowed her eyes at the woman. She finally lost the last of her control and let her anger take her over.

"You wanna know what I don't like, you piece of shit?"

Just at that moment, a wave of burgundy psionic energy was released from her fingertips, crawling to the ground and into the two boulders behind her. She levitated off the ground, bringing together with the boulders. Her irises flashed red and the mist surrounding her grew unstable, almost sparking.

"People who fucking piss me off."

At this, Eleanor hurled the two boulders at her enemy. It was easily cut in half by her foe just as she dropped to the ground and sent simultaneous energy blasts at her, each one growing stronger. This threw the other mutant several feet away from her, slamming hard against a wall.

Her opponent then conjured a long magenta rope and whipped at Eleanor's side. This only caused the brunette to laugh. "Oh, you're not the only one who can do that." She dared, creating her own whip.

She lashed it at the mutant, not giving her a spare moment. Eleanor gritted her teeth and hurled her rope, successfully wrapping it around the woman's neck. Curling her hand, she dragged her enemy across the ground before throwing her to the roof of the other building where Hank was waiting to attack. "Adios!" She laughed, giving a salute.

The brunette then paused when she felt a strong tug inside her mind. Charles was in danger. His body was slowly being taken over already. With this in mind, she spun around to Valerie who had just knocked out her rival.

Another tug inside her mind and she felt that her fiancé was free of the threat. Kurt appeared before them and was about to grab their hands, but Eleanor moved away. "You both go. I'll wait for Raven and Peter down here."

Truthfully, Eleanor had other reasons why she stayed. She was going to confront the world's first mutant alone and give everyone the time they need to escape. She knew En Sabah Nur will be furious once he knew his transference was interrupted. He'll come out looking for him and then that will be the time she'll battle him. Because over her dead body will she allow him to take Charles again in order to take over the minds of everyone.

A sudden thought occurred inside her brain. Charles had mentioned that she was last person needed in the plan. Wasn't tranferring his soul to Charles enough? What was her role?

Her eyes fluttered towards the direction of Erik's magnetic forcefield. It seemed like they had not convinced him to stop which was what she expected. Clenching her fists, she made a decsion to levitate over to him. She was going to try and persuade him to change his mind. She was confident that he'll listen to her. The way his eyes softened when when they first saw each other again in the sub-basement was enough proof that she still somehow had a place in his life.

Yet, just as she was halfway near him, she heard a loud explosion behind her. Her heart dropped as she realized it was the jet. Soon, fear and shock filled her chest and mind. Her children. They were inside.

"They're okay! We're okay, ma'am!" Jean telepathically informed her. Eleanor's fear was then replaced with relief. Her worry must've radiated so much that it was felt by the other telepath.

"Good." Eleanor's eye twitched as she tilted her head towards Erik. "Keep them safe for me while I deal with this guy over here."

And with that, she landed behind Raven and Peter, startling the two. "Jesus!" exclaimed the silver-haired boy, but Eleanor didn't mind and instead focused her eyes on the lover who left her ten years ago.

"Erik, let's fucking talk."