Opening Moves
Disclaimer: I do not own Charmed, Kingdom Hearts, Disney's Atlantis, nor the Mummy.
Story: Forever May Not Be Long Enough
Summary: After the events of In Search of the Dreamfinder, Prue proposes a desperate gamble in an attempt to save Andy.
Prue nestled in the warmth of Andy's arms, as they sat together on their swing in the park. She smiled before their lips met as they kissed.
"I won't lose you again." Prue said, "I will find a way to save you."
"To think…" Andy replied, "So many near misses we had since we first met. First I had to ruin things by going to college out of state."
"We got together again." Prue replied.
"Then I had to ruin things by not fully trusting you when we met again." Andy replied.
"I forgave you for that a long time ago." Prue replied as she turned around and leaned back, her head against Andy's chest. She closed her eyes and breathed in his scent.
"I really ruined things by dying though." Andy replied.
"In a weird, twisted sort of way Maleficent managed to fix that for you. I guess I owe her one for that." Prue replied.
"Then there's the little fact that I have four days left to live." Andy replied.
"I have a way to remedy that." Prue replied, "Imhotep's Book of the Dead. If we can steal it from him…"
"I would love to hear more of your plan. Tell me, will Godfrey dream up some scheme to try and wrest it from my control?" The voice that replied was not Andy's.
Prue opened her eyes and recoiled in horror, she found herself leaning against a desiccated and dried out mummy. She looked up just in time to see a tall, muscular, bronze skinned and bald Egyptian man standing behind the swing. Imhotep chanted something in his native tongue and the earth shook, a fault line opening in the sidewalk as the swing catapulted Prue into the abyss screaming…
Prue sat upright in bed, sweating profusely. She hugged her blanket close to herself and thanked God Andy was a heavy sleeper. She watched him sleep, listening to the even rhythm of his breathing as he lay on his stomach muttering something. She wasn't going to lose him again, especially not to Maleficent.
"Burning the midnight oil again, Godfrey?" Doc asked as he walked into the recreation room, finding Godfrey tossing darts at the board.
"I woke up an hour before I was set to go on watch," Godfrey remarked, "It wasn't worth it falling back to sleep."
"Bullshit." Doc replied, "Godfrey, I see your eyes move slightly to the left whenever you're lying."
"Bollocks." Godfrey replied.
"You're worried about someone or something and I have a sneaking suspicion it's the former rather than the latter." Doc replied.
"Prue just seems on edge for some reason." Godfrey began.
"That some reason is Andy has only four days left to him." Doc replied.
"Besides that I mean." Godfrey replied, "It's as if she's got something planned."
At Doc's quizzical expression, Godfrey added, "I know it sounds absolutely ridiculous, but I have a feeling that she's up to something."
"Donald already told us, the life of a Type B clone cannot be extended beyond its two week lifespan." Doc replied.
"First she borrowed my copy of Aunt Evie's work, and as soon as she found out I was related to the O'Connells and that they had bested Imhotep before, she started asking questions about it." Godfrey replied.
"Why do I get the feeling I don't like where this is leading?" Doc asked.
"Probably because you won't." Godfrey replied, "Her questions were specifically about the Book of the Dead…"
"You're right, this isn't good." Doc replied, "We might as well try and break into Fort Knox. We'd have more success looting the Federal Reserve than we would in getting the book away from Imhotep."
"Agreed. But we're going to have to try to talk her out of this." Godfrey replied.
"You know when Prue is set on something. It takes an act of God to tear her away from it." Doc replied.
"I know that. You know that. I'm well aware of that and that we'll have to enlist everyone we can to talk her out of this." Godfrey replied.
Prue felt the familiar sensation of astral projecting back home. Judging by the humidity in the air, she had clearly been projected back into the bathroom, and the shower had just been running recently.
"PRUE!" Paige yelped with surprise as she spun round and clutched the little white towel to her chest.
"Oh God!" Prue began, "I am so sorry…"
"It's alright. We understand you don't fully have control of your astral projections when you sleep." Paige replied, "It's karma."
"Huh?" Prue asked, dumbfounded.
"Well, you accidentally got projected into Piper's room a few nights ago when she and Leo were…" Paige replied.
"Don't remind me." Prue replied.
"Who could forget Piper breaking into full-bitch mode?" Paige laughed.
"So you're getting used to it?" Prue asked as Paige threw her bathrobe on.
"You could say that." Paige replied.
"I kind of miss it when Piper goes into rants." Prue replied.
Paige rolled her eyes, "You don't have to live with it every day."
"Paige," Prue replied, "I lived with Piper all of her life and most of mine, I know what happens when Piper goes into full ranting mode. It beat Vinny causing explosions every fifteen seconds."
"I'm surprised the crew hasn't killed him yet." Paige quipped.
"Well, he did help out a lot in the battle of EPCOT." Prue replied.
"EPCOT?" Paige replied, "As in the theme park?"
"Yeah, exactly." Prue replied, "But it's like a world fair slash international neutral area where I am."
"Whoa." Paige replied, as the pair walked towards her bedroom. Prue waited outside while Paige got dressed.
"On a lighter not, be sure to congratulate Piper when you see her." Paige replied, as she stepped out of the room, drying her hair with a towel.
"Why? Don't tell me she's…Oh my God…" The color drained out of Prue's face as a smile set into her face, "I can't believe I've missed almost an entire year of your lives."
"Yes, Piper's going to have a baby." Paige replied.
Piper walked upstairs just then and Prue rushed over to her, smothering her younger sister with a hug. "Congratulations," Prue replied, tears of joy in her eyes.
"Thanks." Piper replied, "Not that I'm not happy to see you, but what's this all about?"
"It has something to do with the fact that I'm going to be an aunt." Prue replied.
"I waited so long." Piper replied, "I still can't believe its happening for me."
Phoebe walked out of her bedroom just then and both Prue and Piper let go of each other and turned around.
"I see you've heard Piper's good news." Phoebe replied.
"I'm sorry about your baby, Phoebe." Prue replied, putting an arm around her sister.
Phoebe was about to reply when she felt a premonition, seen through Prue's perspective:
The temple shook violently. It was an old structure, suffering from long decline. It was ancient Egyptian in origin, old bas reliefs and hieroglyphics nearly faded by blowing sand and wind. Rock and tile fell from the ceiling.
A large, bald black man holding a rifle just knocked down a Heartless. An Italian man with a black mustache, wearing a metal breastplate was yelling something, from the lip reading it had to be about the temple.
"I can't guarantee the temple's gonna be standing much longer!" Vinny shouted.
Kida was fighting against an Egyptian woman, trading strikes, kicks and clawing attacks to no effect. Kolopak was picking off Heartless from a hiding place on top of the altar with his 1903 Springfield rifle.
A large fissure opened a few inches from Prue's feet. Inside the fissure were damned souls, flames surrounding them. They reached up out of the pit. Prue turned around, as Phoebe saw through her older sister's eyes.
Andy was lying on the ground, blood flowing from the side of his head. In Prue's hands was a heavy book, somewhat metallic. Crouched near Andy was a dark haired man wearing the desert tan uniform of the British Army.
From lip reading, Phoebe could tell that Godfrey was saying something, "Prue, we have to get rid of it!"
Godfrey was suddenly lifted into the air by an invisible force. A bald, muscular Egyptian man held his hands out, contorting his hands, bending Godfrey's body in many different directions. "Prue, get rid of it!" Godfrey shouted with a choking shout…
"Oh my God, Prue…" Phoebe began.
"What happened? What did you see Phoebe?" Prue began.
Phoebe remained silent. How do I just tell her that she's going to lose Andy again?
"Phoebe…" Prue began in her best annoyed big sister tone.
"This could be important, Phoebe." Piper added.
"It's about Andy." Phoebe began.
"If this is about him living for only two weeks, I'm not going to let that happen. I have a plan to take the Book of the Dead from Imhotep…" Prue began.
"That isn't going to work." Phoebe replied.
"What do you mean?" Prue asked.
"You have a choice, Prue…" Phoebe replied.
"What is wrong with you people?" Prue shouted in exasperation at the heavens before she returned to her own body.
"There's something weird about Prue today." Godfrey replied.
"Great, it's the weather forecast…" D'Artagnan commented, "Again."
"I'm certain this time that something terrible is going to happen." Godfrey replied, after he munched down another mouthful of breakfast.
"And the weather on the Halliwell front is stormy." D'Artagnan commented.
"Thanks for the commenting, Armand." Godfrey rolled his eyes.
"Well, someone pays attention to the forecast." Vinny replied as he took a seat at the table where D'Artagnan, Godfrey and Doc were sitting.
"Do I dare ask why you smell like smoke?" Godfrey asked, "Would it have anything to do with the fact that a bar of soap is missing from my bathroom?"
"Heh heh heh…" Vinny laughed, reddening, "A funny story, really…You see, gunpowder is a marvelous substance, but it has its limitations. When wet, it won't explode. And I was experimenting with ways to make the walking cherry bombs explode underwater. I've already perfected waterproof fuses…"
"And that explains why your bathroom rug is drying on the air vent in the hallway." Doc replied.
"How do you think I figured out that the underwater fuses are perfect?" Vinny asked.
"And apparently you don't know that the floor of your bathroom leaks." Kolopak replied as he walked into the room.
"If your explosions and insane cackles didn't keep me awake, the trickling water down the ceiling crack right onto my face while lying awake really did the trick." Kolopak replied, his eyes bloodshot and veins appearing out of his neck.
Prue walked into the room, deep in thought, and almost right into Kolopak. "Oh, I'm sorry Kolopak…Wow, you look like hell."
"Blame Vinny and his latest explosive experiments." Kolopak replied, "Between explosions, insane cackling in the middle of the night, and water tricking through the crack in my ceiling onto my face…I wound up sleeping on the floor."
"I can fix you right up." Prue replied.
"Take care Prue doesn't spill the coffee she makes near a graveyard. It can wake the dead." Godfrey replied.
"Ha ha." Prue replied.
"Kolopak, a bullet to the heart is a much less painful way of committing suicide." Godfrey replied.
"My coffee is not that bad." Prue protested.
"I tried it last week and it nearly ate through my insides." Godfrey replied, "I'm surprised you have innards left."
"Wuss." Prue replied, "You can stand up to a hulking, running Welshman on the rugby pitch; you fight against the Japanese, the Germans, the Heartless, but you can't drink a cup of coffee."
"That's because rugby is fun. Fighting the Japanese and Germans is much less painful than feeling like your heart is going to explode." Godfrey replied.
"Rugby, fun? You're insane." Prue replied, "It's blunt force trauma without padding."
"It's fun." Godfrey replied.
"You're insane." Andy added, "Prue's right."
"You're just annoyed because…" Godfrey replied.
"Because I had the armpit of some huge, hairy Welshman right in my face. And the guy didn't shower for at least a week." Andy replied.
"I think Godfrey's been tackled a few too many times without a helmet." Doc observed.
"At Chillingsborough we were athletes as well as scholars. I just happened to like rugby." Godfrey replied.
"No wonder your aim is so off whenever you throw darts." Doc remarked.
"That my friend, sounds like a challenge." Godfrey retorted, reaching into his pocket, "I followed your approach and had a custom set made at the UK pavilion in EPCOT."
Doc's normally calm and friendly expression took an ominous air, "Bring it on."
"Is it just me, or are those two obsessed with darts. It's almost pathological…" Vinny began.
"Said the psychopath." Andy quipped.
"Hey, my inventions are useful!" Vinny protested.
"Useful at causing destruction, devastation, and frayed nerves perhaps…" Andy replied.
"I said I was sorry, Donald!" came the shout from outside.
"Yeah! Don't blow things out of proportion!" Sora added.
WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!
"What's going on now?" Prue asked.
"Don't go there." Doc said.
"Basically nothing new." Andy observed, "Vinny's carrying out experiments, Doc and Godfrey are on another endless round of dart contests…"
"Basically another normal day on the Morrowind." Prue remarked.
"Exactly." Andy replied, "At least it wasn't as bad as yesterday…"
BOOM!
"Vinny! You did not turn the recreation room hallway into a minefield!" Doc shouted.
"It was only luminous paint!" Vinny protested.
"You'll love the luminous paint when we make you eat it!" Godfrey shouted.
"HELP!" Vinny shouted as he ran down the hall, with Godfrey and Doc in tow, throwing darts at him.
"Someone help me! They're going to kill me!" Vinny shouted.
"Godfrey! Doc! Don't kill Vinny!" Donald shouted, "Let me get him first!"
Donald showed up, also covered in chalk dust and luminous paint. Sora ran behind him saying, "Donald, I'm sorry! I didn't know that Vinny turned the hallway into a minefield…"
"After I get my hands on Vinny! You're next!" Donald said.
"We have a fight to break up." Prue observed.
Several hours later, Sora sat between a couple crates in the cargo hold. Prue walked into the cargo hold, after a rather annoyed and still faintly glowing Donald had noticed Sora was missing from the daily magic lesson.
"Sora?" Prue asked.
"Yeah…" came a voice.
"Are you OK?" Prue asked, "Donald's looking for you…"
"I kinda want to be alone. OK?" Sora replied.
"In the cargo hold?" Prue asked, hugging her arms to her chest. This was the only area of the Morrowind that wasn't heated or air conditioned.
"Donald can find me in my room." Sora replied.
Prue headed over to where Sora's voice could be heard, between two large shipping crates. "Sora, what's going on?" Prue asked.
"I…" Sora began, "I'm fine, OK. I just wanted to be alone for a while."
"Sora," Prue began gently, "I know that tone. And I know you're not fine."
Prue gently lifted Sora's chin with her right hand, "You haven't been sleeping well, have you? You're worried about someone or something…"
"You wouldn't understand." Sora replied.
"Try me." Prue replied.
"Donald won't understand either." Sora replied, "All he cares about is this quest, and the fact that I wield the Keyblade, and that my magic…"
"Donald cares." Prue replied, "But it is your responsibility as a magical being…"
"I'm just so worried about them." Sora replied.
"Who?" Prue asked, gently.
"It's like my friends are taking the back burner to this 'magical responsibility' that Donald preaches every day." Sora confided.
"Your friends? Are they in Traverse Town, because we'll be there in about forty-five minutes." Prue replied.
"No, I haven't seen them since my world was destroyed." Sora replied, "I promised Kairi and Riku I'd look for them, but I haven't been able to find them. And with my quest and this Keyblade, I haven't had time to keep my promise."
"Sora," Prue began, "I understand more than anyone else what it's like to have to put magic before your personal life. I know what you feel right now. I have had to make my sacrifices as a witch…"
"You mean Andy." Sora replied.
Prue nodded, remembering that day as if it was yesterday. The sight of Andy's dead body. Rodriguez's attack. The funeral, the red and white roses, the emptiness and pain despite having served the greater good.
"I promise I'll talk to Donald, and Kolopak if need be, to give you some time to look for your friends…" Prue replied.
"Thank you." Sora replied, "So what did Donald want to teach us today?"
"More potions." Prue replied.
"Oh great, the teaching room is going to smell like Vinny's lab again." Sora rolled his eyes.
BANG!
"HA HA HA HA! EUREKA! I'VE CREATED…" Vinny could be heard shouting.
"A very deep pile of shit that you are now up to your eyeballs in!" Kolopak shouted.
Gefreiter (Corporal) Heinz Schaller of the 217th Machine Gun Battalion marched under the baking heat of the North African sun. The British forces were retreating before the might of the Afrika Korps. He noticed the burned out remains of a Panzer Mark IV tank that had been destroyed by P-40 fighter bombers of No. 5 Squadron, South African Air Force.
For Schaller the burned out tank hull represented his personal landmark in the North African war. Six months ago that tank had been destroyed by the South African fighter bombers. Six months ago, Schaller had arrived in North Africa, as the Afrika Korps advanced towards the Egyptian frontier. Six months ago, there had been seven other soldiers that arrived in the desert into the unit with his intake. Six months later, Schaller was the only one to survive.
Behm had been the first to die, marching beside the wreckage of the tank. He was seventeen and a half years old, from Stuttgart. His mother had been a blubbering, sobbing wreck when she'd seen him off at the train station.
God will have a hell of a time putting Behm back together whenever the dead are resurrected. Schaller thought, as his weary feet took another step forward, remembering Behm had been less than three feet away from the tank when the P-40 dropped two bombs onto it. The explosion had blasted the slightly chubby youth into three charred pieces, buried in the regimental cemetery further behind the line.
Four times in six months Schaller had passed the remnants of the now gutted tank. First it was advancing into Egypt, only to retreat from a particularly intense counter attack from the 51st Highland Division with armored support. Second was a counter-attack supported by the 91st Panzer Division that was broken by dogged attacks by South African P-40s and Royal Air Force Hurricanes strafing and bombing the column. Third was being suddenly diverted to the rear to contain the 9th Australian Division, after it had shattered the Italian units guarding the northern flank. Fourth was now.
The crew of the tank was long dead, save the sole survivor, medically evacuated to Germany covered with third degree burns. The other four crewmen died a fiery death, running and screaming torches set alight by South African bombs. What little usable equipment on the tank that remained had been stripped away by mechanics of the 91st Panzer Division.
"ALARM!" came the shout.
Schaller dived into a dried out tire rut, flattening himself into the ground. The sound of aircraft overhead could be heard. The tire rut was maybe an inch deep, but it was the only cover to be found. A nearby half-track exploded as a Hurricane fighter strafed it with 20mm cannon fire that punctured the fuel tank.
A soldier fell into the rut, a chunk of steel embedded in the base of his throat. He clawed at the steel, as if trying to remove a medal that he would rather have not received. Schaller prayed that the bombs wouldn't find him, that he wouldn't wind up like the torn, mutilated bodies he'd seen after countless air attacks.
"Mother! Mother!" A soldier screamed, lying on his back, splinters from 20mm rounds having torn into his stomach.
Several Heartless let out inhuman shrieks as they were caught in the middle of the airstrike. I should leave you stupid bastards in the open more often. Schaller thought ironically.
Almost as soon as they appeared, the British fighter bombers flew off over the horizon and Schaller stood again as soldiers used up precious water to try and fight the fire consuming a truck filled with ammunition. Medics raced among the wounded, trying frantically to stabilize them.
Fucking Heartless. Fucking Nazi Party. Fucking war…Schaller thought angrily, kicking the body of a dead Shadow Heartless that had been traveling with the unit.
He felt satisfaction course through his body as he kicked the dead creature. They gave him the fucking creeps. Sure Imhotep and these creatures had helped Germany rearm and throw the damnable treaty of Versailles out the window, but damn if these creatures didn't make him nervous, as if they were waiting to turn their attacks on Germany as soon as her enemies were defeated…
"Godfrey," Doc said, "There you are…I was looking all over for you."
Godfrey wiped the sweat from his brow after he'd finished a run shortly after they'd landed, "I just wanted to get a few miles in, jogging to and from an impromptu rugby match. It turns out some of the RAF blokes here were a man short."
"I need to treat you for pathological obsession." Doc rolled his eyes.
"Bollocks. I love a game of rugby." Godfrey replied.
"Let's hope your game of rugby is better than your game of darts." Doc replied, with a twinkle.
"As soon as I get showered…" Godfrey replied.
"How was your rugby match by the way?" Doc asked.
"The Aussies ground us out forty to fourteen." Godfrey replied, "And their bloody flankers (I) were damn good play readers, better tacklers, and they went after the flyhalf and scrumhalf with a vengeance."
"Basically they went after you on every play." Doc replied.
"Basically." Godfrey replied, "No sooner than the RAF scrumhalf caught the ball from the scrum and passed it to me. He got hit by an enormous Australian flanker. No sooner than I catch the ball, I get sandwiched right between the other Aussie flanker and their No.8 (II)."
"Ouch." Doc commented, "And you are driven to play this game why?"
"It was my favorite game at Chillingborough, when I was at university, and even when I joined the Mayapore Constabulary." Godfrey replied.
"And you didn't invite me?" Doc asked.
"As much as I know you love a good game of rugby…" Godfrey began.
"I prefer to tag along just in case you injure yourself." Doc replied.
"Bollocks." Godfrey replied, "I've not been hurt that badly."
"The blood on your upper lip might be proof otherwise." Doc replied.
"The wanker's elbow came into contact with my face." Godfrey replied.
"And your eye socket." Doc observed, noticing a nasty bruise under Godfrey's right eye.
"No, I tried to tackle the Aussie scrumhalf. He was a slippery bloke." Godfrey replied.
"Anyway, what I really wanted to talk about was Prue." Doc replied.
"What about her?" Godfrey asked.
"She's been acting strange since we left EPCOT." Doc replied.
"And it's likely due to the fact that she is about to lose Andy in a few days." Godfrey replied.
"I'm thinking there's something more to it than that." Doc replied, "She doesn't sound like someone soon to grieve a loss. She sounds like a woman on a mission, and if we're not careful a suicide mission."
"OK, but what exactly do you want me to do about this." Godfrey replied.
"You two are pretty close on the friendly front." Doc asked, "Can you at least try and figure out what she's up to?"
"Be wary of Greeks bearing gifts." Godfrey replied.
"Godfrey, what the hell do you mean?" Doc asked.
"I'm saying it seems a bit much. I mean trying to pry information out of Prue." Godfrey replied, "It seems deceptive."
"Look, I have a gut feeling that something terrible is about to happen." Doc replied, "And one thing's certain. You are not Greek."
"No, he's a red blooded Englishman." Came a voice. The two men turned to see a gangly, blonde haired eighteen-year-old private in the uniform of the British Army, bearing the patch of the 7th Armored Division.
"The RAF blokes told me you were here, sir." The British soldier replied.
Godfrey took a closer look and smiled, "Alex, if you call me 'sir' one more time…"
"I'm sorry, sir, I mean Alan. Several weeks basic training in the UK will do that." Alex O'Connell replied.
The two swapped hugs and Godfrey asked, "When did you enter service?"
"Over two months ago. Mum and Dad weren't too happy." Alex replied.
"Well, you can't exactly avoid being drafted." Godfrey replied.
"I didn't get drafted." Alex replied, "I volunteered."
"Well, Aunt Evy and Uncle Rick can't do anything about that." Godfrey replied, "They're in the UK, and it's an average of nine days between letters…"
"Ahem," Alex replied, "Mum and Dad aren't in the UK. They're here in Traverse Town for at least another month…And they're driving me out of my bloody mind."
"What job did you get with the Armored Division, exactly?" Godfrey asked.
"Driving Crusader tanks with the 1st Royal Tank Regiment." Alex replied.
"And you ship off to Egypt when?" Godfrey asked.
"In a day or so." Alex replied.
"Now I see why Aunt Evy and Uncle Rick aren't too happy. Especially after the incident with Imhotep…" Godfrey replied.
"I was eight when it happened. I'm eighteen and I can take care of myself." Alex replied.
"Trust me, Mums carry the eternal worry complex well into their adult lives." Godfrey replied, "Feel free to come aboard and talk about this entire lot."
The three men walked aboard the Morrowind.
"Godfrey," Doc remarked, "You have a very interesting family tree."
TBC: Up next the crew meets the O'Connell family and another crossover in the form of the Mummyverse is to be added to this fic…
I Flankers are rugby forwards who are the best tacklers on a fifteen-man rugby squad.
II The largest forward on a rugby squad.