AUTHOR'S NOTE
I can't believe that it's been over a year since I touched this series! Now, I have managed two updates within a day of each other. The story is nearing its conclusion, so keep with me my dear readers!
Only one more part after this one. I promise I won't make you wait a year for the conclusion.
What happened? Well, writer's block. I couldn't figure out how to do the fight scene at the museum in part IV. I shelved it, intending to come back to it, but I never actually did. Eventually, I remembered that the best way to get over writer's block is to, well, write. So I wrote part V. Then I was easily able to come back to part IV and finish the scene that gave me difficulty. Should have done that a year ago!
So, after some editing, I presented part IV a few scant hours ago. And now, after more editing, I present Part V.
There are no new Lego sets, but I speak of a Bugatti and a heavily modified Ford Model A in this story. These vehicles are included in the Pharaoh's Quest line. The Bugatti is included with the Rise of the Sphinx (set #7326) and the Model A with the Scorpion Pyramid (set #7327).
Happy reading, and as always, comments and reviews are encouraged.
Lilly walked, her hand cradled in Seth's, toward the monument in the middle of the cemetery. With each step, chains clinked on their bodies like angry poltergeist. Lilly wasn't angry, though. She was concerned.
She looked at her boyfriend, dressed head-to-toe in black and wearing as much eye makeup as she was. He smiled back at her through his lip piercing, and she felt the same flutter in her stomach as when they first started dating. She returned the smile as she coyly combed a long strand of her sideburns away from her face, the only part she let grow. The rest of her jet black hair was clipped short, spiked straight up with too much holding gel.
She loved Seth, but her concern was over whether he returned that love. He said it, but they had been dating since their freshman year of high school and nothing. Two years into college, "nothing" meanst the only rings she wore were the usual skulls and Lovecraftian elder gods that she always had.
Each finger had its own ring, each ring its own story. But her left ring finger was intentionally left bare. A hint. A subtle one.
When they reached the monument, the couple stood in silence for what seemed like an age. Lilly knew Seth very well. His wringing hands, his rapid breathing. He was trying to gather courage. To tell her something.
Was he breaking up with her?
Was she getting that ring?
"Lilly," Seth said, "I can't think of any clever way to say this. So I just gotta."
Seth dropped to one knee, and took her left hand in both of his. "Look, we should... that is... Okay. Here it goes."
Seth inhaled sharply.
That's when a slow scrape in the stone path startled both young adults.
Seth muscled on. "Okay, Lilly, will -" Another scrape. Closer. Someone was walking closer to them.
Lilly sighed. Why now? Seth was finally asking her to marry him, in the spot of their first kiss, and someone was about to ruin their moment. Lilly turned around to say something to the approaching person, and found herself face-to-face with a mummified corpse wearing a blue Egyptian headdress, like those old pictures of King Tut she saw in history class.
And that was the last thing she ever saw as one bandaged arm freed her head from her torso.
Soaked in his beloved's blood, Seth managed a girlish, high-pitched scream as he tried to scramble to his feet. He failed, and had to crawl on his hands and feet for a yard or so before he was able to launch himself onto two feet. He pumped his legs as fast as he could, trying to outrun that horrible mummy.
He kept telling himself it was a dream, but he knew better.
New York City gathered around their TVs as regularly scheduled programming was preempted by Channel 6's own Johnny-on-the-Spot news anchor, Carlos Chaing O'Brien Gambe. Tongue click™.
O'Brien Gambe sat somberly as a picture of a mummy was superimposed on the top left of the screen. After identifying himself, O'Brien Gambe read the news in his traditional over-the-top voice. "Cemeteries all over the world gave up their dead, and it's a nightmarish George Romero movie come to life. An army of mummies has invaded the major cities of the world, and they seem unstoppable."
An image of a soldier blasting a mummy with a bazooka. The mummy is in tact, and keeps coming at the soldier. From off camera, another mummy attacks the camera man and the whole thing snows over, then cuts back to O'Brien Gambe. "Joining us is renown Egyptologist Professor Zane Welles..."
As he looked at the image of his rival Professor Welles next to O'Brien Gambe, Archibald Q. Hale heaved an incredulous sigh. "Can't believe they went with Welles and didn't ask me to do the interview."
Jake Raines cocked an eyebrow at Hale. "Seriously? We might be the only ones who can save the world, and we need all hands on deck, and you would have abandoned us to go on a TV show?"
Hale didn't respond. Instead, he continued plotting the course they would take on his map. His upper lip curled into a sneer and he grunted just loud enough that Raines could hear.
The door to Hale's office burst open, and in walked the greasiest looking guy ever. He wore an old wife beater, yellow from age and wear. There were evident stains, some motor oil, some food. He held his dusty blue jeans up with a pair of brown suspenders.
"Plane's fueled up, Jake," he spat. He rubbed his unshaven chin, looking suspiciously at the turtles from under the brim of his old, ragged hat.
"Meet Mac MacCloud," Raines said. "Mechanic extraordinaire and my right hand. Mac, this is Leo, Donnie, Mikey, and Raph."
Mac considered this. "Huh. They're... turtles."
After getting used to the fact that their new allies weren't entirely human, and after Hale had at last plotted a satisfactory course, the new friends took off and flew as fast as the small Cessna could take them toward Egypt.
"Given that the apocalypse is on us, it's going to be hard to find a commercial airport to land at," Raines told the group mid-flight.
"Yeah, thanks, Captain Obvious," Leo sneered.
"Don't hate, man," Raines said. "If I hadn't taken the reins, you'd all be spinning your wheels back at the museum. Someone needs to lead this group."
Mac chimed in. "Jake is one of the best leaders ever. He's got us out of so many bad situations, I've lost count."
Raines clapped Mac on the shoulder. "Thanks, good buddy."
"I'm just sayin' the truth."
Leo hung his head.
"That's the kind of leader I want to follow," Raph said.
"Anyway," Raines continued, "I know a small, out-of-the way airstrip that should be perfect for our purposes. It's usually abandoned on a good day, so with a mummy apocalypse in the works we should have it totally to ourselves."
Three hours later, Raines eased the control stick gently forward on approach to the runway. He scanned the scene, first to the left. A control tower, no lights, sat like a creepy lighthouse in any number of haunted Saturday morning cartoons. Not a single sign of use. Then right, to the low metal arches of the hangars, rusted from neglect. His eyes returned to the prize: the runway.
The runway used to have a white, painted designation number but it has since chipped and faded away. A layer of sand blows across, as if the runway was a hibernating creature emerging from its long slumber. The concrete appears worse for wear; there are numerous dips and cracks forming their ominous spider-web shape visible even from this altitude. Despite its imperfections, the runway is clear of major obstructions and should serve them well.
Raines engaged the landing gear. He flipped several switches and kept the wings parallel to the ground. He watched an instrument similar to a level to keep steady. Landing is the trickiest of the basic plane maneuvers, and this won't be an easy one given the lack of air traffic control and the pitted and potholed runway.
Raines removed a hand-held mike from its cradle and depressed the button on its side. "This is your captain speaking," he said over the plane's loudspeaker system. "It's not going to be a pleasant landing, so please extinguish all cigarettes, return all trays to the upright position, buckle your safety belts, and assume crash positions."
Raines guided the plane to the edge of the runway and tipped it slightly to the rear. When the rear wheels scratched the old runway, he activated the brake and eased the control stick forward so that the front gear touched the earth.
As predicted, the plane skittered across the runway, fishtailing left, then right as Raines steered the control stick in a desperate attempt to maintain control. One wing collided with a hangar, shaving the domed roof clean off. The passengers bounce up and down in their seats. Mac nearly smashed his head when he lurched up to the ceiling.
In the pilot's seat, Raines wrenched the control stick hard to the left to avoid another skid and pushed the brake lever further down. He forced the wing flaps up to their highest position, and even pounded his foot into the floor where a car brake would be for good measure. A superstition, perhaps similar to moving the joystick through the air while playing a video game somehow helps the character jump further.
The landing gear screamed in protest, and bright orange sparks traced the plane's progress down the runway, finally skidding to a halt near the edge of the runway. Raines stayed tense for a few moments, hands poised over the controls to compensate in case the plane moved again, but they seemed have landed safely.
Raines blew out the breath he was holding in, and allowed the tension to leave his muscles. He'll be sore tomorrow.
"Everyone okay?" Raines called back.
"Yeah, peachy," Raph announced, rubbing his shoulder.
"Nice landing," Leo scoffed.
"Least we're in one piece," Mac said. Then he, too, breathed a sigh of relief while crossing himself.
The group quickly explored the ruins of the airfield. They came up with a few guns, a large cache of explosives, and a 1930 Bugatti Type 41 Royale. The Bugatti is not in mint condition, but Donnie and Mac are able to salvage enough engine parts from the nearby junkyard to get the car running.
The Bugatti, in its heyday, was gorgeous. Sleek, elongated engine compartment with flared wheel wells. The headlights are perfect circles on either side of an arch-shaped grill. A sliver hood ornament once sat atop this grill, but no more. It isn't designed for off-roading in a desert, but Raines can drive anything, anywhere.
Part of his charm, Leo thought bitterly.
The Bugatti seats four normally, six on a good day. The four turtles, Hale, Mac, and Raines are an extremely tight fit but they somehow make it work.
The pyramid itself stands only ten miles from the air strip. Like the other Egyptian pyramids of the fourth dynasty, it is a true pyramid built with Cyclopean architecture; the worked masonry sits so tightly without mortar that it won't fall down. Like its cousins at Giza, it has withstood 4,000 years of weather, earthquakes, and other natural disasters to remain largely in tact in the modern world.
Unlike its cousins, however, there is a giant stone scorpion sitting guard on the south wall. As if praying to Ra, its stone claws cover what must be the door to the tomb.
Raines punched the Bugatti's accelerator hard, gathering speed on the approach to the structure. The claws of the scorpion part, revealing two jackal-headed guards that stand a full eight feet tall, towering two feet above the far more numerous mummies that flank them.
The jackal-headed ones, representing the Egyptian deity Anubis, ordered the mummies forward. Like a bandaged tidal wave they poured down the steps of the pyramid toward the oncoming Bugatti.
"Hang on," Raines growled.
He floored the gas pedal and tore through the swath of oncoming mummies, knocking bandaged bodies this way and that as he maneuvered upstream. He hit the steps hard, and Mikey and Raph spring from the car into the thick of the mummies.
"Boo-ya-ka-sha!" Mikey bellowed, swinging his nunchukus with skill and speed, knocking mummies over. Then he delivered a powerful backward kick to take out two more.
"Got 'em," Mikey smiled.
"Don't get cocky," Raph cautioned as he spun one sai in a feint, stabbing forward with the other. He brought both together, trapping a mummy's scimitar between prongs, then disarming the creature in one smooth motion. With a balled fist, he knocked the mummy on its back.
The Bugatti climbed the weathered staircase with some effort, but the car closed quickly on the entrance. The Anubis guards glared harshly at the remaining passengers of the car.
"Oh, my," Hale exclaims. "Do be careful! You're ruining an archaeological treasure with this heap."
Leo and Raines exchanged glances. One thing they finally agreed on: Hale is nuts. Who cares what they ruin as long as they save the world?
The remainder of the racing Bugatti's passengers disembark suddenly, and the classic car crashed into the stone doors of the pyramid moments later. As planned, the car exploded in a ball of fire and the the doors crumble.
The pyramid is open.
With a giant wrench, Mac starts to beat the mummies into submission. Donnie parries with his bo, and connects with what is left of their skulls to bring the creatures down. The Anubis guards are visibly upset by this turn of events, and open their mouths in a horrible, indescribable roar of protest.
"Leo, Raines, go!" Donnie exclaims. "We'll hold them off!" Donnie and Mac return to crushing mummies, while Hale cowered in a safe corner.
Raines flashed a thumbs up, then ran into the pyramid.
Inside, the pyramid is dark and cold. The fighting outside is muffled here, so Leo and Raines are cloaked in an eerie silence. They walked step by echoing step, down the sparsely lit passageway. Eventually, they are confronted with two passages, straight on, or one that breaks off to the left.
"Which way, leader-man?" Leo asked.
Raines considered the straight passage. He held a flat palm to Leo, a traffic cop signaling to stop. Raines walked carefully forward about twenty feet, then returned. He then took the passage to the left about twenty feet, and paused. He scratched his 5 o'clock shadow. "This way," he said, moving his arm in a semicircle, fingertips pointing down the passage.
"How can you be sure?" Leo asked, tentatively stepping into the passage.
"Pharaohs are buried, so to speak, in the pinnacle of the pyramid. This passage angles upward, I can feel it. It will lead us to the funerary barge. Let's go!"
The pyramids of ancient Egypt were surprisingly uncomplicated structures on the inside. Passages would angle up, the corridors generally keeping the traveler to the outside edge of the pyramid. At landings, there would be rooms of offerings or lesser burial chambers. Inevitably, there would be another passage up. Eventually, the duo reached the final corridor that had, in magnificent hieroglyphs, the story of Amset-Ra's life and rule. Leo couldn't read these, but he could see that many of the pictures included bloody battles and what appeared to be massacres of innocent people. This was not a benign king. The treasures were easily recognizable, even when rendered in the stylized art of the fourth dynasty Egyptians.
When they exited the high, vaulted passageway, they weren't in a tomb but a throne room. Atop the throne sat a mummy with a golden nemes upon its head. In his hand, he clutched the Golden Staff. This could only be Amset-Ra.
"Welcome, my would-be assassins," Amset-Ra said in a dry, inhuman voice.
Leo drew his katanas. Raines cocked his pistol, aiming it at the mummy.
Amset-Ra rose from his throne and descended the stone steps toward Leo and Raines. "A turtle and a mortal seem to think that they can do better than a thousand villagers sealing me alive in this pyramid, then? I would love to see you try."
Amset-Ra readied the Golden Staff, and assumed a fighting posture. He dared Leo and Raines to advance on him.
"We need a plan of attack," Leo whispered to Raines.
"No," said Raines. "We attack." He looked Amset-Ra directly in the eyes. "Now!"
Raines charged the mummy, running full speed. He shot at the creature, once, twice, three times. Amset-Ra held his ground, and when Raines was in range the pharaoh swatted Raines away like an annoying mosquito. Amset-Ra moved the staff suddenly and decisively across his body, connecting with Raines and sending the adventurer through the air. Raines collided with the stone masonry of the pyramid, audibly expelling air from his solar plexus as he slid down the wall in a heap. He immediately rolled over on his elbows, coughing and struggling to regain oxygen. He spit blood onto the floor.
Leo assumed a ready stance.
"Your move, turtle," Amset-Ra taunted.
Leo ran quickly forward, and feinted with both katanas to the right, then cut quickly across Amset-Ra on the left. The mummy, however, read Leo accurately and raised his staff to block. Leo held the staff with one katana, and swiped right with the other, trying to slice under Amset-Ra's left arm. The creature moved with the skill of a dancer out of range, and freed his staff.
"My turn," he growled.
He brought the staff to bear on Leo, and Leo mimicked the move with his katana. Leo, however, misread his opponent and paid the price. Amset-Ra brought the heel of his hand under Leo's chin and connected with great force, lifting Leo up in the air.
Leo, however, let his momentum carry him into a backflip and landed on his feet only a yard away from Amset-Ra. Leo surged forward, bringing his katanas together on the mummy. Amset-Ra blocked both with the staff, and sidestepped to Leo's right. Leo turned quickly to try another shot with his left-handed katana, glancing a blow off Amset-Ra's golden headdress.
The mummy growled.
Quickly, Amset-Ra countered, landing a hard blow with the staff on Leo's right cheek, sending the turtle in a barrel roll to the foot of the steps of the throne. Seizing this advantage, Amset-Ra walked toward Leo and raised his staff over his head, preparing to land a killing blow.
When suddenly, a shot rang out, connecting with the back of Amset-Ra's head and escaping out of his face. It mangled what little wisps of flesh still clung there, splitting the skull lengthwise and the creature crumbled to the floor.
Leo looked past where the mummy once stood, and focused his eyes on Raines. The adventurer had regained his breath and stood, pistol leveled at the spot recently occupied by Amset-Ra. Leo rose, and carefully sidestepped the bones of his adversary. He approached Raines.
"It's over," Raines said.
"No, quite the contrary," an inhuman voice said.
Raines stood dumbfounded as the bones reassembled themselves into Amset-Ra. Amset-Ra lifted his Golden Staff, and a golden beam of lighting shot out of it to the tip of the pyramid.
"It has only just begun," Amset-Ra said.
With most of the mummies eating dirt, Donnie, Mikey, and Raph congratulated themselves on a job well done. "It's so great to have a leader like Raines," Raph said. "Confident, assured. Leo over-thinks everything. Raines didn't have a plan, but he charged in, and it worked!"
A bolt of golden lightning enveloped the pyramid. The scorpion sitting on the pyramid slowly began to stir, and then crawl off the front of the pyramid altogether. It reared up to strike the three turtles.
"Care to re-evaluate your position?" Donnie asked.
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me," Raph grumbled.
Amset-Ra cackled a chilling, inhuman laugh more frightening than his dry and throaty voice. "Time to die," he said.
Leo looked at Raines. He was frozen.
It was time to act. It was time to reclaim his team, and his position as leader.
"They win, for now," Leo said. "Retreat!"
Facing the giant scorpion, Raph didn't think they had enough firepower between their three martial bludgeoning weapons to take it out. It was, after all, solid stone and infused with magic.
At that moment, Leo and Raines ran swiftly out of the pyramid. Raines cocked his pistol and shot an Anubis guard in the face, and the creature wailed as it fell off the stairs toward the sand below.
Leo pounded down the stairs with Raines in tow. Mac, fresh from smacking a mummy with his wrench, took notice and joined the two. When they neared the turtles, Leo called a retreat.
The other three nodded, and bowed out of the scorpion battle they could not win. The stone giant took one last stab at them with its deadly tail, but it sank harmlessly into the sand as the trio took off into the desert, followed closely by Leo, Raines, and Mac.
The walk back to the airstrip only took an hour and a half, but the turtles and their new human allies were so badly beaten that it seemed to take much longer. They walked in complete silence, in part to avoid facing the defeat and in part to conserve energy. They were, after all, in a desert and had no food or water.
On arriving at the airstrip, they gorged themselves on the supplies from the plane.
After eating and resting, Donnie and Mac took an inventory of the parts they remembered from the nearby junkyard and started brainstorming what they could do. After about a half hour, they trudged to the junkyard itself, arguing about the feasibility of this or that vehicle the whole way there.
Raph brooded as he normally did. Alone. When the luster of sitting in silence wore off, he drew his sais and practiced. First, he shadowboxed. But soon, he needed to blow more steam off and rummaged through some of the abandoned hangars. He was able to produce some scrap metal and various wooden planks which he used for target practice.
Raph hated defeat, but this one was even worse. Not only had the mad pharaoh beaten them, but Raph had become enamored with the loose canon leadership of Raines. He followed Raines both because of the man's magnetic charisma and because he mirrored Raph's own kick-in-the-door fighting style.
He liked Raines because Raines was him. And this is exactly why Leo should be the leader over Raph. For the first time, Raph saw what Splinter had always seen. The half-cocked plans and brooding anger only get you so far. Leo may not be the most creative with plans. He might over-analyze things and come to the wrong conclusions. But he keeps a cool head throughout. Raph doesn't, and neither does Raines.
Mikey originally tried to tag along with Donnie and Mac, but both discouraged him. So he tried to help Raph practice, but that fell through and he caused more damage. So he ended up staking claim to the supplies, trying to invent new pizza toppings from what they had left.
Raines, like Raph, stalked off by himself. He didn't want to be seen by anyone. He had been born into leadership roles, always dominating the playground. People did what he wanted to do. He never compromised. Never explained.
And it worked. As brusque and off-putting as it sounds, it works. Women adored him. They lined up to get to him, in fact. Feminism, Raines thought, was nothing more than some kind of obligatory PC bull. Women enjoyed – even craved – being told what to do and when to do it.
But this was the first time he failed at leading. His half-cocked plans normally worked, the villain suffered a defeat and Raines got the girl. But not this time – the villain was triumphant, and Raines couldn't understand why.
Leo stayed back and observed. And analyzed. He surmised that Raph was ashamed of following Raines. Wait, no, his brother never felt shame. He substituted anger for more appropriate emotions, so Raph was more than likely mad at himself for this debacle. Leo approached his brother gently. The Warrior faced his plaster and wooden makeshift targets, but stopped when he sensed Leo. Raph didn't turn around.
"I suppose you're here to gloat," Raph grunted.
"No," Leo said evenly.
Raph delivered a side kick to one target, then slashed at a second with a sai. "You've earned it," Raph said.
Leo knew that the only thing his brother dreaded more than defeat was having to apologize. He always danced around it. Raph was only implying that he had been wrong but not really saying the words.
Leo also knew that if he pushed, he'd eventually get an apology. But he had no intention of doing that. Instead, he approached Raph and placed a loving hand on his brother's shoulder.
"I'm," Raph stammered. "Leo, I'm -"
"Don't," Leo said. The turtles embraced in a one-armed bro hug, complete with a single pat on each others' backs by the free hand.
They released each other. "Turtles first," Raph promised.
"Turtles first," Leo agreed.
Leo had one more fence to mend. Leaving Raph to his practice, he approached Raines. This man was still very much a stranger, and therefore he would be harder to approach. Leo concluded that this man was a lot like Raph, and like Raph he rushed half-prepared into dangerous situations. When they didn't go his way, he loses his temper. Much like Raph in every way.
Yet, Leo sensed that the approach would have to be gentler than with Raph.
"I've never failed, Leo," Raines said as Leo walked toward him. Raines buried his face in his hands to avoid meeting Leo's gaze.
"I'm not here to gloat," Leo said.
"I can feel you judging me," Raines said. "I lost it back there."
"I don't blame you, and I'm not judging you."
Raines scoffed. "Of course you are," he said.
"I'm not," Leo said. "Promise. We have only one goal... to destroy that thing before it takes over the world. It doesn't matter who leads us to that goal."
Raines looked up at Leo. "It should be me."
"Us," Leo corrected him. Then he switched gears. "Look," he said with all of the sympathy he could muster, "none of us have ever faced real magic before. Real sorcery. How could you know?"
"That's true," Raines said, still sounding far away.
"But now we both know what we're up against. Get it together and let's try again. We need you."
"No," Raines said. He seemed to recover his stride. He stood up and walked closer to Leo. "We need you to lead us, and I'm okay with that."
Leo and Raines clapped hands. "No hard feelings," Leo said.
Raines tightened the handshake, and met Leo's eyes full. "No hard feelings."
The handshake ended. Now allies, turtle and human walked into the airfield proper with heads held high.
"We need a plan," Raines said. "None of my wings or prayers."
"Agreed," Leo said. "But what sort of plan? I gotta say, I don't even know where to begin."
A small but sharp horn sounded as a Model A pulled into the airfield.
"We might be able to help with that," Donnie called out.
Everyone gathered around the Model A. It was red and had the original flared wheel wells and bug-eyed headlights framing an arc-shaped grill. The engine compartment was elongated, ending with a small, rectangular windshield the size of a table tennis net. Not that much different than the Bugatti they used earlier.
But Donnie and Mac had modified this one, rather than only making it drive as they had with the Bugatti.
The spare tires, usually on either side of the engine compartment, were in use to create a tank-like set of treads with the back tires serving as the the other drive sprocket. The cab had been removed, leaving only the driver's seat and a passenger seat. Behind the seats was a large rail gun mounted on the back of the car. A place on the back of the car provided standing room to operate the gun, as well as some tools and all of the dynamite that they could pack.
"Donnie, this is awesome!" Raph exclaimed. "A tank made out of a classic car. Genius!"
"Well," Donnie said, "Mac deserves a lot of the credit."
"You're being modest," Mac blushed.
"We've got the heaviest explosives here, here, and here," Donnie pointed out each bundle of dynamite as he spoke. "Hopefully it's enough to take down that giant scorpion."
Leo smiled. "And with that -"
"The Bug Buster," Mikey exclaimed.
Everyone looked at him, puzzled.
"That's what we'll call it, since it's gonna bust that bug!"
Awkward silence. It was broken by Leo. "And with that, I have a plan."