Chapter 1: Infinite Power Source

A power source was needed. An evil power source. One that could be used for a long time without worry that the energy would disappear completely. But it had to be alive and that only made it much harder to find. Living things eventually died. They needed something immortal that could not die no matter how long they were needed. They had searched for this source for a long time but had come up empty.

Then hope.

Someone knew of a power source that would not deplete for a long time, an ever living power source in a small out of the way galaxy. Immortal. Just what they were looking for.

So they had sent their most cunning hunter to retrieve it, knowing they did not have a lot of time. It was of the utmost importance that they get the source, no matter what.

Nothing was going to prevent them from obtaining the power of evil.

The pyramid loomed in the distance, black and foreboding as the ship touched down at the edge of the Desert of Sinking Sands on the planet of Third Earth. The pilot shut down the power and exited the ship turning their head and focusing on the structure in the distance.

A large black pyramid dark as a void surrounded by four black obelisks. The sky around the structure was covered in thick storm clouds that glowed red but at the moment the weather around it seemed calm.

That wouldn't be the case soon, the hunter thought, turning back to the ship to retrieve their weapons. If what their information had said was true the moment they got close enough to the target those clouds would soon turn into a storm and with that storm came complications.

Oh well, it couldn't be helped. They knew the risk when they agreed to this mission, no sense worrying about it now.

With that in mind the hunter armed themselves thoroughly and headed across the desert to their destination. They remained cautious through the trek, keeping their head down and weapons offline. It would be foolish to draw unwanted attention, especially in such a desert that was unpredictable. So far the ground was solid, without any surprises but that could change at any moment, especially if the being residing in the pyramid was made aware of their presence.

Not too long afterward they reached the outside of the pyramid without any incident and paused once more giving the structure a long look. There did not seem to be any entrance to the place but they knew there had to be one. If they could not find a way in they would make a way in. They moved around the pyramid, eyes on the walls, searching, searching, searching.

There!

On the other side of the structure was the entrance. a open doorway in the wall. They cautiously came toward it, nerves on edge, expecting some kind of trap. It couldn't be that easy. A flash of lighting made them jump. The hunter looked up at the sky, spotting a red streak of electricity hit one of the obelisks. They waited a moment, expecting more but nothing happened. If they had been spotted they were sure the pyramid would have done more. It seemed they were safe for now.

Breathing a sigh they continued toward the entrance and stepped inside the building without a moment's hesitation. The way to the center of the pyramid was free and clear and the hunter began to get the feeling that their target did indeed know they were there and was waiting for them. The hunter slowed their pace, growing more cautious. They couldn't help but smirk though. Let him know, he wouldn't be able to do anything about it once they got there. They could put up a fight, though. It would make things interesting.

They saw a light up ahead and knew that they were about to enter the burial chamber where their target resided. They gripped their weapon, steeling their nerves for when they got there. If they didn't get this done right they might as well never even return home.

"Here I come, ready or not." the hunter muttered before stepping into the chamber.

The moment they entered the room they had to pause a moment to look around. The burial chamber was a large enclosure that reached all the way to the very top of the structure. The walls seemed to be adorned with many different types of statues and horrifying images. In the center of the room stood four statues of a vulture, a bull, a crocodile, and a boar surrounding a large cauldron in the very center of the room which bubbled as if over a constant flame.

But none of that was of any importance to the hunter. It was just mere decoration anyway, as the being from antiquity who had made them were known for placing a lot of useless items with their dead. The hunter's eyes focused on a skull like image structure decorating the back wall and the sarcophagus propped up inside it. Their target would be resting inside that stone coffin.

Once spotting the sarcophagus they walked further into the room, nerves on edge and ready for anything that would be thrown at them. There was no point getting cocking and allowing themselves to be taken by surprise. It would be foolish.

"You must be very brave or very foolish to come here alone, hunter." a voice suddenly spoke.

The hunter stopped, eyes scanning the room for the source. It seemed to be coming from everywhere, echoing off the black stone walls. Movement by the coffin brought their attention back in that direction and they saw the lid slowly slide open. A figure wearing a blood red cloak stepped out and turned their face toward them. The hunter found themselves staring into two large red eyes that held an evil fire. The eyes were centered in a gray shriveled face and below them was a large saw toothed smile. They didn't even have to think too hard to conclude that this being was the person they had come to retrieve, even if he looked unimpressive. An old mummy, a frail shriveled being who looked like he would fall apart at any moment.

"Greetings, Hunter," the being said, revealing then that it was the voice they'd heard earlier. "So you seek an audience with Mumm-Ra, do you?"

The hunter spoke then. "Not an audience, mummy," they corrected him.

The being chuckled, as if amused by what the other had said. "Then tell me, hunter," he said. "Why are you here? You don't seem to be working with the Thundercats."

"It's simple, mummy," the hunter said, holding their weapon in an offensive posture. "I was sent here to get you and bring you back to my planet with me." they clicked a button on their weapon. "and it would be very wise of you to do what I ask."

"Go with you?" the mummy laughed mockingly. "Why would I do such a foolish thing like that?"

"You don't have a choice," they said. "If you don't agree to come with me I will be forced to make you."

The mummy found that highly amused and laughed once more. "You make me come with you?" he taunted. "I'd like to see you try."

The hunter had hoped things would go down easily but it had been apparent from the start that was not going to happen. They sighed and raised their weapon aiming it at him. "All right then. We'll just have to do this the hard way."

"Hard for you, but easy for me," the other being replied, smirking at him. "because this is where your journey ends, hunter."

The mummy raised it arms and began to chant some kind of incantation.

"Ancient Spirits of Evil, transform this decayed form into Mumm-Ra the Ever Living!"

As he said this his body seemed to grow and fill out, becoming more muscular and alive looking. His cloak and wrappings were replaced with a wing like cape, a gold, blue, and red skirt, and a helmet adorned with gold fixtures and two black cobra's on the top. Red and black streamers with a life of their own flowed out from the helmet and on the creature's muscular torso sat a tattoo of a red circle surrounding two snakes intertwined.

When the transformation was complete the now much larger and more powerful creature raised it's hand and fired red beams of energy at them.

The hunter moved quickly, jumping up in the air to avoid being hit. They flipped over the cauldron and landed in front of the monster. Having to throw themselves sideways when he swung a large clawed fist at them. He followed after them with his other hand, firing shot after shot of dark energy, just barely missing hitting them, though one managed to graze the armor on their back.

The hunter was chased away from the being, rushing behind a large statue of a bull to avoid being hit directly.

"Come out, hunter," they heard the creature call out with a laugh. "Are you afraid to face me now that you know what you're up against? You were a fool to have come here all by yourself because now this place will become your grave."

The hunter snuck a quick peek around the side of the statue to see where their adversary was. The monster spotted them instantly. "Found you!" he shouted shooting at them and forcing them to duck back behind the statue.

The hunter pressed their back against the statue, gritting their teeth under their helmet, their mind racing through all the information it had learned about this thing who called itself Mumm-Ra the Ever Living. Somewhere in all that data there had to be some way to beat this thing, that was why they'd come there after all. If only they could remember what they had read...

A growling sound got their attention and they looked down at their feet and lowered their head, spotting a rather ugly old dog standing close by, it's hackles raised and it's gums pulled back away from it's teeth in a vicious growl. Not another problem. The hunter raised their weapon and fired at the dog, in no mood to deal with it. The last thing they needed right now was to have their mind split into two adversaries. The dog yelped and ran away from the firepower.

"Shooting at helpless animals now?" a voice spoke up behind them. "I would have thought that was beneath such a noble warrior."

The hunter spun around, firing wildly at the creature called Mumm-Ra. He easily deflected the blow with his hand, laughing mockingly while doing so. "You'll have to do better than that." he fired at the hunter this time who had to jerk backward to avoid being hit.

The blast managed to make contact with their weapon, causing it to overload. They quickly threw the item away which exploded in the air.

Mumm-Ra continued laughing at the hunter, still dishing out verbal abuse. "So much for your little toy." he rose in the air and fired again, forcing the hunter to take cover once more. "You shouldn't have come here with such useless weaponry. It won't be of any use to you here."

Hot energy flew over the hunter's head as they threw themselves to the ground to avoid being hit.

The mummy laughed at the hunter's scrambling to get out of the way, shouting insults at how pathetic they were being and giving them no chance to fire back. Mocking them for coming after him when it was obvious they were not qualified for the job after all. That is until the hunter ducked behind another one of those giant statues. He stopped blasting at them then and began to fly around it to get at them.

The hunter remained just out of sight, ducking around the corners as he flew around after it. As they did so their mind started drawing conclusions. Their target seemed to be making an effort not to damage these statues and as they ducked out of his line of fire once more they remembered something they had read in the files for the creature, something they'd forgotten only moments before.

"Of course," they muttered, reaching into their utility belt. "He gets his power from the statues, or more likely the beings inside of them." They pulled out a small disc. "Destroy the statues and you destroy that power..."They placed the disc against the statue and took off running, counting under their breath as they rushed away from it. "Three... two.. one..."

BOOM!

There was an explosion by the statue as the bomb the hunter had placed on it went off. The statue shuddered for a moment then broke it half, the top falling heavily to the floor.

The hunter heard yelling behind them and looked over their shoulder, spotting the being holding his head in horror, pain, or both. He recovered after a moment and turned his attention back to them. "You will pay for that!"

They moved quickly, avoiding more blasts of energy from him as they rushed to the next statue, taking out another bomb to attach to it. The statues did indeed seem to be connected to his powers and destroying that one seemed to have harmed him in some way. All they needed to do was destroy the rest and they would have Mumm-Ra right where they wanted him. They attached another bomb to the statue of the vulture and rushed away before it exploded.

More screaming as the statue fell over and then the sound of rushing air. The hunter dived to the ground just seconds before they would have been grabbed by the mummy who had dive bombed them in an attempt to stop them. They looked up, spotting him circling around for another go and rolled sideways, taking out a small crossbow that attached to their wrist. They attached another bomb to it and fired the arrow at the other statue just as Mumm-Ra flew down and grabbed them by the throat and once more rose into the air, taking them with him.

He glared into their visor covered face, murder in his glowing red eyes. "You are going to-"

KABOOM!

The arrow hadn't attached itself to the statue but it had been close enough to it to do good damage when it went off. The surface of the statue cracked and the top fell to the floor. When this happen Mumm-Ra grabbed his head with his free hand and screamed into the hunter's face, his flight suddenly growing erratic. They could sense he was going to crash any minute and raised their legs, kicking him mightily in the chest. He was so distracted with his own pain he easily let them go and allowed the hunter to land safely on the ground while he flew over them and crashed in front of the skull like structure housing the sarcophagus. He then lay on the ground, holding his head and groaning.

The hunter sighed and brushed themselves off, keeping their eye on him the whole time. He continued writhing on the floor seemingly so blinded by his own agony he had forgotten all about his adversary. The hunter smirked under their helmet, thinking how pathetic the mummy looked now that his precious statues were broken.

Now he would be easier to deal with.

Taking off their helmet the hunter walked toward the tortured mummy, using their free hand to reach into their utility belt to retrieve another piece of their arsenal. A tranquilizer gun. They didn't know how this things system worked dut to it obviously being some kind of lich but the planet's scientific minds had managed to come up with some kind of sedative that hopefully worked, even on undead magicians.

I'll find out soon enough, the hunter thought, raising the gun and taking aim at Mumm-Ra. Because I am going to try it. If it doesn't work I am screwed.

As they drew close enough to fire Mumm-Ra looked up at them, his red eyes falling on the hunter's face and he was given his first good look at the creature he would grow to have a hate more than even the Thundercats.

It was a youngish face covered in pale pink skin, white hair that seemed to move on its own accord framed the slender face which held two glowing white eyes, a small nose and pale blue lips, two sharply pointed ears stuck out from under that chaotically alive hair. The face looked like that of a woman's but there was something terribly off putting about it, though the features didn't seem that impressive. It gave him a very uneasy feeling, but he couldn't figure out why.

"Wh-what are you?" he managed to ask, his voice strained.

The hunter's eyes stopped glowing and changed to two more human like eyes though the irises were black as a void, housing no pupils. When the hunter spoke it was in a fractured tone, different now that they had removed their helmet which had held a translator. "A nightmare."

The hunter aimed at him and fired off the small gun they held.

He flinched slightly when they did so feeling something prick him in the neck. His vision began to swim instantly and he felt his energy waning. He suddenly felt very tired, like he should just lay down and go to sleep...

"No!" he exclaimed instantly realizing was was happened. He forced himself to stand, fighting off the drug with a fresh burst of anger.. "You will not win! I will not allow it!" he managed to get on his feet, towering over the hunter. He raised his hand to hit this disgusting otherworldly upstart with a blast of power. But the moment he tried, his legs seemed to give out and he stumbled forward before collapsing heavily to the stone floor with a crash.

The last thing he saw before his vision was encased in darkness was the gloating smile on the hunter's pale face.

A/N

I had an idea. Any questions will be answered later so if this piqued your interest keep reading.