Rattler20200: Hello all!
Kaylee: We're back! And with a new story from Rattler's Legacy of Atlantis universe!
Rattler: o.O
Kaylee: Same universe Rattler...
Alex: Isn't this a direct sequel to Legacy of Atlantis?
Rattler: ...
Deunan: Alex... Disclaimer.
Alex: Ah crap... Rattler20200 owns nothing... except for Me, Deunan, and Kaylee... -_-
Deunan: Also... flames will be used for BBQ, and Flamers will be Spaced.
Rattler: Thanks guys, and Deunan... you are evil. And I will NOT say the disclaimer again in this fic. It's been said, I don't need to say it again. Now... *Dramatic hand gesture* Begin Story
Chapter 1
Three years. That's how long it's been since he left home. Three years since he heard from his family. Granted at the moment he was in the middle of European nowhere, but still. He really missed his family, especially his little brother.
"Mom, Dad, Miles… I hope you're ok," he sighed. He was sitting in a tent set up at their latest dig site when a call came from outside.
"Hey Power, get out here! We found something!"
Growling under his breath, Alex Prower got up, and exited the tent. He really wasn't anything special, except for his skill with computers, a fourteen year old fox with dirty blonde fur and, unlike his brother, had a single tail. His outfit consisted of a black vest and a pair of sunglasses perched on top of his head. He also wore the same style sneakers as his brother, except they were blue instead of red. His blue eyes settled on a black crow a near the entrance of some ruins. Waylon had his arms crossed over his chest.
"How many times do I have to tell you, bird brain. It's Prower," Alex shot at the crow. Waylon ignored the fox and motioned for him to follow.
"Tomb Raider found something interesting," Waylon said. Alex rolled his eyes, knowing who he was referring to. She and Alex were the only members of the team that weren't birds. The pair walked down into the bowels of the ruins, and Alex whistled. It was some sort of tomb all right. Near a statue of what looked like an armored fox stood a female hedgehog.
"What'cha find this time Dee?" Alex asked.
Deunan Keller turned to face him, a smile on her face. She had her short quills tied back, and he couldn't help but notice that she was wearing a low cut green t-shirt, along with her favorite forest camo shorts. Another thing that was rather hard not to miss was the pair of handguns resting on her hips, which added to the Lara Croft persona that she unintentionally made for herself.
"Hey Alex," Deunan replied, "You have got to see this."
Deunan's black boots kicked up some dust as she led him deeper into the ruins. Several murals caught the young fox's eye. One seemed to depict some sort of water creature, while another showed a creature made of, what Alex guessed, was fire.
"These ruins are connected to the ancient kingdom of Vulpine," Deunan said.
"Isn't vulpine Latin for fox?" Alex asked.
"Something like that," Deunan replied, "The water creature depicted over there is Chaos, who was responsible for nearly wiping out the Angel Island Echidnas. The fire creature over here is named… Iblis. Apparently, Iblis was captured by Atlantians."
Alex looked at the brunette hedgehog at the mention of Atlantis. Even out in the middle of nowhere, they had heard of the discovery of the mythical lost city a couple months ago. Deunan continued to lead Alex to another statue. This one was holding what looked like a book made out of metal. The thing was, it looked out of place. Alex grabbed onto the statue, and started to climb up to the book. Deunan was about to say something when he reached it.
"Dee, toss me a light!" Alex called down. Deunan pulled out her flashlight, and tossed it up to him. Alex caught it, and turned it on. He was surprised to discover that the book was not a part of the statue. Putting the flashlight in his mouth, Alex braced himself against the statue, and pulled on the book. It slid out easily after about a minute. He tossed the flashlight back to Deunan, and climbed back down to the ground. Deunan grabbed the book out of his hand as soon as he was dirtside.
"What have we here?" she said to herself. Whoever made it wanted to make sure that it survived. Deunan took note of the fact that it seemed to be held shut by a pair of what looked like claws.
"It's the Book of the Dead," Alex wisecracked, "Don't read anything. I don't want to have to fight a mummy."
Deunan laughed, but Alex was right. It kinda did look like the book from The Mummy, right down to the lock. Alex noticed some writing at the base of the statue, and asked Deunan if she could read it. The brunette hedgehog put the book into her backpack, and moved over to examine the text. She blew some of the dust away, making Alex sneeze.
"Huh…" Deunan said.
"What?"
"It says something about a powerful spell caster, and something called 'The Imprisoning War'. No idea what that is."
"Sounds like something from a Zelda game."
"Maybe that's where they got the idea."
"Are you too done down there?" Waylon's voice interrupted. Deunan grabbed her backpack, and the pair headed up to where the crow was waiting. As soon as Deunan was close, he tossed an object over to her.
"What is this?" she asked.
"I was hoping you could tell me," Waylon replied, "We found it in another statue near a door."
Waylon lead them to a heavy looking stone door. A parrot was examining what looked like a lock. Deunan heard one of the others mention something about a 290, and rolled her eyes. The number was code for a shaped explosive charge. She immediately chased the parrot away, and examined the lock. There was some writing along the door, and she couldn't help but follow the line of text as she started translating.
"Darkness is sealed within. Seek not to enter, lest your lives be forfeit."
"Sounds like it's booby trapped," Alex said.
"Just your standard warning Power. A lot of tombs have a variation of it." Waylon dismissed the idea. Alex again glared at him, not even bothering to say something. Deunan looked back at the lock, then pulled out the object Waylon had tossed her. Her finger brushed against a small knob, and the object sprung open with a click.
"Just like in The Mummy," Alex said quietly.
Before Deunan could reply, Waylon snatched the key out of her hand, and placed it into the lock. It fit perfectly. Deunan objected, saying that it was a bad idea to just open a tomb with this kind of security.
"Nothing ventured, nothing gained," Waylon replied.
"Famous last words…" Alex muttered. He was starting to get a really bad feeling about this. Waylon ignored the fox and turned the key. The ancient door opened slowly. A nearby peacock put the explosive charge down since it was no longer needed. Waylon entered, followed by the parrot, peacock, Deunan and Alex.
"There's nothing here," the parrot said, looking around.
"Not exactly," Waylon said, pointing at a sword on the far end of the chamber. He started towards the sword, when Alex grabbed him by the shoulder.
"Bad idea," he warned.
Waylon ignored the fox, brushing his hand off. He reached the sword, and placed a hand on its hilt. It looked like it was shoved into a rock at an angle. The hilt itself was black and evil looking. Alex had no doubt that the blade was just as nasty looking. Waylon got a firm grip, and pulled. The sword came out almost effortlessly, surprising the crow as he staggered back. The blade looked like it was made out of obsidian, and gleamed in the low light of the chamber. Deunan gasped, and pointed at the rock.
"GAS!" she exclaimed, " Everybody out! Now!"
Before they could react, a violet cloud billowed out from the hole in the rock, and gathered above their heads. Alex said something about it not acting like gas, as it wasn't killing them as expected. Deunan thought she heard someone muttering, but couldn't make it out. The cloud shifted, and revealed what appeared to be two red glowing slits. Alex's fur stood on end, and he took a step back. Again, there was the sound of muttering, and a lightning bolt leapt from the cloud at Alex. Deunan was the first to react, and tackled the fox. The bolt sailed harmlessly over them. Waylon stood there, frozen in fear. He had no idea what to do. The cloud turned to him, and charged.
"Waylon!" Alex shouted as the cloud slammed into him. It seemed to engulf the shocked crow before forcing its way into his nose and mouth.
Alex was the first to move after the cloud vanished into Waylon. The crow was just standing there with his eyes closed, as if nothing happened. The young fox approached Waylon, and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Waylon?" he asked, trying to get a response.
Waylon's eyes shot open. Alex gasped, and pulled back. The crow's eyes were red. Something was seriously wrong. The tip of the obsidian sword snapped up, and found a spot right under Alex's chin. He finally spoke, but the voice was not Waylon's, and it sent chills down Alex's spine.
"Did you honestly think that you could be rid of me that easily fox?"
"Um… I have no idea what you're talking about," Alex said nervously.
"Really?" he smirked, then noticed Alex's outfit, "What year is it?"
"2009."
"Has it truly been that long?" he mused, dropping the blade from Alex's throat. The young fox backed away while he was distracted. Before Alex could react, the blade once again found his throat. It was clear that whoever he was, he knew how to handle a sword, and Waylon wasn't home.
"Who are you?" Alex asked.
"Has history forgotten me? I, who made kings tremble at the very mention of my name? Who destroyed entire kingdoms with but a wave of my hand?" As if to emphasize the last line, he waved his hand through the air. "Has history truly forgotten me? Well then, I'll just have to make the world remember."
He pulled the blade away from Alex, and grabbed him by the throat with his other hand. Alex fought to break his hold, but couldn't.
"I am Ixis Naugus!" he snarled into Alex's face, then threw him into a wall. It was then that he noticed Deunan. "What have we here? An Atlantian? What a surprise."
Deunan stepped back as Naugus approached her. Alex recovered, and charged at the possessed crow. Naugus saw him coming and raised the sword. A bolt of lightning shot from the tip of the blade slamming Alex into the wall. Deunan curled up into a ball in time to avoid a lightning bolt, then made a dash for Alex. She grabbed his arm and the pair ran for the exit. Alex grabbed the key from the door as they passed, then stopped by the demo charge. He quickly set it on the door, and armed it. Grabbing the detonator, he followed Deunan out of the ruins. As soon as they were clear, Alex hit the switch. A loud bang was heard, followed by a dust cloud flowing out from the ruins.
"What now?" Deunan asked.
Before Alex could reply, he was tackled by one of the other expedition members. Deunan knocked her off her friend. The canary's eyes looked glazed over and vacant. Again, she charged at the pair, only to get tripped by Alex. More were coming, each one with the same vacant look. The pair ran for one of the jeeps, and jumped in. Deunan drew her pistols, but looked unwilling to use them against the approaching birds. Alex fumbled with the ignition, then finally got the key in.
The engine sputtered and died.
"Alex?" Deunan sounded nervous.
"Dee, if they get too close, start busting kneecaps."
Deunan shifted her aim lower, still not wanting to fire on friends. Alex tried again to start the jeep.
"Come on, come on…" he urged, as he struggled with the ignition. The engine finally cooperated, and the jeep started up. Deunan got down into her seat as Alex slammed his foot on the gas. The jeep sped off, leaving a trail of dust in its wake.
"Now what?" Deunan asked.
"Dee, have you ever heard of this Ixis Naugus before?"
"No, but something tells me we're gonna find out."
"We need to get as far away from here as possible," Alex said, after a couple minutes. Deunan looked at him. She had no idea where they were going to go, and voiced her concern.
"I've got an idea," Alex said, looking into Deunan's green eyes. "We'll go to my place. We'll go to Westside Island."
Author's note: Yes... Teh Rattler haz returned! As is my usual style, the actual story has been written, but I will space out posting chapters. This story will be a bit OC centric, but I will bring in everyone's favorite blue blur. You guys know the drill. Review PLZ! *cue Dramatic Prarie Dog*