Okay, so I'm trying something different, here. I used to love this show when I was little, and back then I came up with my own characters and sideplot that mixed with it. Here is my version of The Mummy: the animated series. Every episode has been rewritten (except two that I skipped because I was lazy), as well as a mini-novel to finish it off, and then the story moves to another cartoon series which I may or may not upload separately. If you don't like this story, please don't comment. I only uploaded this for the entertainment of others.
Disclaimer: each character is the property of their respective owners. I make no money from this series.
Yue and Jena, however, do belong to me ^_^
The Summoning
Scotland
"And it's Alex O'Connell soaring into the lead of the Olympic bobsled!"
The fearless 11-year old was grinning ear-to-ear as he slid on his rear down the wide stone banister in the ancient Scottish castle, his arms out to balance himself as he neared the bottom.
"Uh-oh; race over." The end of the banister was higher than the bit he was sitting on, so he put his feet down and leaped head first over it. Flying head-over-heels through the air, he was just thinking that landing might actually hurt a little when a tall and muscular blond American man caught him deftly.
"Gotcha, Sport."
"Hey, Dad. Nice catch."
The pair turned towards the thin woman with auburn hair, who was bent over the rubble to a stone doorway. She lifted her head at their approach long enough to say in her English accent, "Alex, have I ever mentioned how I feel about bobsledding down 12th century banisters?" before resuming her task of searching through the stones for anything worth rescuing.
"Come on, Mom. We are on vacation, remember?"
Evy chuckled. "Point taken. I shouldn't be much longer."
"Yeah, that's what you said two hours ago."
"I know. Time flies when you're having fun." Lifting another few stones and examining them thoroughly, it was another half hour before she lifted a cracked bowl into their air. "Found it!"
Alex did not look impressed. "We missed a day at the beach for an old salad bowl?" the redhead asked skeptically.
"This is an exquisite example of Moorish pottery, young man."
"And… what was it used for?" her husband asked.
"Well, salads mostly," she admitted somewhat sheepishly.
"Come on, Mom, there's gotta be something more exciting around this place." Grunting as he opened a wooden door nearby, he gave an exclamation as a swarm of bats flew out. "Whoa!" Stepping backwards to avoid them, the boy fell onto a boulder which skidded into one of the supporting columns behind him. The column came crashing down on the one beside it, giving a domino effect all around the room. The three of them began sprinting out of the castle, which was rapidly falling down, but Evy tripped on a stone and her prized bowl flew into the air. Rick threw himself forward and barely caught it before it smashed and, holding it securely in one arm, helped his wife escape the old ruins. Outside, their troublemaking son smiled guiltily.
"Oops?" he offered feebly.
"You know the way you were grounded until you're thirteen?"
"Yeah," he said, not liking the sound of that.
"You're grounded until you're fifteen."
Egypt
Jena clutched her bag tightly as she ran through the village, beads of perspiration running down her pale skin. Her wavy silver-blue hair was damp and clung to her scalp in her heat, and her bare feet pounded on the sandy road as she panted heavily. A tall man – the one she was running from – appeared in front of her in an instant. She gave a cry and skidded on the ground, stopping in front of him. Making to run off again, she was stopped by his vice-like hand grasping her shoulder.
"Let me go!" she struggled violently, catching handfuls of his straight, knee-length silver hair as he wrapped his arms around her small form.
"I told you to stay out of this country," he said warningly.
"Let me go!" kicking and scratching, she did all she could to break free of him. It was all in vain.
"Jena, stop fighting and listen to me!"
"No, I won't!"
"JENA!" He was angry now, and she knew that was bad. The sand at her feet opened and swallowed her up to her ankles, holding her tightly. He released her and stepped back, and she overbalanced and fell to her hands which were also caught.
Taking her face in his pale hand, he forced her to look at him.
"Jena, this place is dangerous," he said forcefully. Glaring, she tried to bite his fingers.
"You always say that but you never tell me why!" the 11-year-old replied angrily. "And anyway, Laith is training here so it can't be that bad!"
"Laith is in a hidden place," Yue answered. "You, out in the open and blissfully unaware of the danger, are in constant peril."
"Well if you would tell me then – "
"No, Jena. We've been over this before. It is a good thing that you remember nothing of it."
"You may think that, but I have to find out for myself," she retorted. "You agreed to let me travel the world in search of something that might help me remember, but you have to leave me alone and let me look by myself."
"That I did. But not this country." Flicking his hand, the sand restraining her collapsed and she pulled herself free. He reached out to lay a hand on her shoulder, but she darted away.
"Now I know I'm looking in the right place. Thanks, Papa!" Waving, she slung her backpack over her shoulder and ran into the village.
"Jena…" Yue stared after her, knowing she inherited his stubborn nature. "I'm only trying to protect you. We all could have died, escaping from that which you have no memory."
London, British Museum of Antiquities
"Wow," Alex said, his voice echoing in the ancient helmet he was trying on. "How did anyone blow their noses in these things?" Taking off the helmet, he set it back on its stand and walked up to join his parents who were taking to the curator. He was a pompous old Englishman who was delighted with the Moorish salad bowl they had retrieved from the castle in Scotland.
"The museum is in your debt again, Mrs. O'Connell," Fenwick said. "Your talents are being squandered here in London. You should be out on the field full-time, discovering other ancient treasures. As you did with our prized Book of the Dead."
A small, weasel-looking man walked up, glaring daggers at Evy.
"Ah, Colin," the curator seemed pleased once again. "You're just in time to hear the good news. Evy, I'm promoting you to Chief Archeologist."
"You are?!" exclaimed both Evy and the new arrival.
"All right, Mom," Alex grinned.
"Nice work, Evy," Rick congratulated.
"That job was supposed to be mine," Colin said angrily. "Just because Miss. Perfect tripped over the Book of the Dead doesn't mean she gets my job!" he stormed off childishly.
"I thought he took it quite well," Rick said, dismissing the man.
"I don't know what to say," Evy said, still amazed.
"Say 'yes', and you and your family will leave for Egypt immediately," the curator replied, still smiling jovially. "There's a major excavation taking place at the Temple of Hamunaptra. I want you to oversee it."
Rick laughed. "So much for taking it easy for a while."
"Alex?" Evy asked.
"Well, I hate to miss school…" the boy spoke slowly, dusting off his navy uniform. "But if I have to."
"Be at the airfield tomorrow at seven am. Your new transportation will be waiting for you."
And bright and early the next morning, they were looking at a brand new zeppelin in admiration.
"It's called The Zephyr," Evy said.
"This is how to travel," Rick said approvingly. "In the air… no one for Alex to annoy… how much trouble can he get into at 10,000 feet?"
Excitedly running up to the blimp, his son asked, "Can I fly it?"
Evy grinned and as they two of them followed the boy, said to her husband, "You'd better take that back."
Steam sprang from the engines as they prepared to take off, but before they were even five feet off the ground a motor car sped onto the airfield with a panicky red-haired man driving it. He waved anxiously at the family who were leaving.
"Hey, it's Uncle Jonathan," Alex was the first one to see him.
"Jonathan?" both his parents echoed, one with confusion and the other with dread.
"Is he coming with us?" Alex asked excitedly.
The two adults exchanged a brief glance, and his mother replied, "Um… I don't think so, Alex. You see, Uncle Jonathan has a way of being…" she trailed off, unable to think of a way to explain her older brother to her son.
"An irresponsible pain in the butt?" he finished.
"Well put."
"Besides," Rick added. "We have enough hot air on board already."
Another car sped up to Jonathan's, and an angry man hung out the window. "Carnahan, you owe me big money!" he yelled.
Jonathan looked anxiously up at the zeppelin where his sister was. "Oh, Evy," he called apprehensively, clutching his many suitcases as the car stopped and the men ran out. After a moment the Zephyr's hatch opened and a rope ladder fell out. Running after it and grasping it, his foes forced him to drop all but one of his cases as the rope was hauled back into its pouch.
"Don't thank me," Rick said as he helped his brother-in-law into the blimp. "It was your sister's idea."
The Zephyr flew smoothly through the air towards Egypt, steered by the confident hands of Rick. Alex stood admiring his reflection in the glass as he said, "I've got to be the luckiest kid in the world. No school! I can stay up late. I get to travel the world in a blimp and see…" his mother held a book in front of him, blocking his view of the countryside. His tone changed. "Algebra?"
"Plus beginning biology, world history and several languages," Evy finished. "All your favorites. This way you won't have to miss out on any of your homework."
"Lesson number one," Jonathan said from where he was fixing the disrupted clothes in his remaining suitcase. "When something sounds too good to be true, it usually is."
Alex sighed and flopped onto the seat beside his uncle.
Egypt
Jena tried to walk casually, tried to not hold her bag too tightly. A voice made her jump out of her skin.
"Hey, kid!"
She didn't turn back. Breaking into a run, she clutched her treasure and sprinted between the stalls at the crowded market. A while later, when she thought she had lost him, she grinned in triumph and retrieved the melon from her bag. Taking out a hand knife, she split it in pieces and hungrily started eating the juicy flesh as if she hadn't eaten in weeks. Although it had only been a few days, it certainly felt longer.
"There you are!" It was the man she had stolen the fruit from. "Little wench!"
Looking up fearfully, Jena quickly backed away between the two buildings.
"What do you think you're doing, huh?" The burly man took another step closer, and suddenly her stomach growled loudly. He suddenly saw the thinness of her face, the knife in her hand, and the sugary juice smeared all over her mouth. "Kid, haven't you got parents who'll buy you food?"
She shook her head slowly, still wary of him.
"Where are you staying at night?"
She shrugged one shoulder.
The man sighed. "Come on, kid. My brother has a spare room you can stay in. He can find you a nice family to take care of you. Would you like that?"
Jena saw his guard lower and suddenly darted through his long arms. He somehow managed to grasp her wrist, but she pried his fingers apart with her other hand and a determined look on her face. She was easily stronger than him.
"What is the problem here?"
She looked up and saw Yue staring stoically at the pair. The man spoke. "This girl stole a couple of melons from me."
"What happened to the money I gave you?"
Jena looked at the ground, too ashamed to tell him she had given it to a child who looked like he hadn't eaten in months. "A boy knocked me down and stole it. But he was strong, Papa!"
Yue sighed and threw a few coins at the man before dragging his daughter away. Giving her another bag of money, he said, "If I have to keep coming to your aid, I will bring you home again. Understand?"
Accepting the money, Jena humbly said, "Yes, Papa."
#~#~#
"…And two shifts of over 100 diggers, archeologists, cartographers. They've moved over ten tons of earth already," Evy said to her family as they walked through the dig site at Hamunaptra. "Of course that's nothing compared to the tens of thousands of people it took to build this temple in the first place. Impressive, isn't it?"
Her older brother sighed and wiped sweat off his forehead. "I don't suppose there's a lemonade stand anywhere about?" At his sister's glare he casually added, "Just asking."
As the four walked into the reopened passageway into the temple, Rick commented, "You gotta love what they've done to the place," as he swept his flaming torch around the sandy stones. Some loose rocks fell from the ceiling and Jonathan jumped sharply to the side to avoid them. The force that he landed on a weak part of the floor made the ground break open, and he fell into the level below with a thud and a storm of sand and dust.
"Uncle Jonathan!" Alex cried. "You okay?"
He groaned, rubbing his backside. "Fortunately for me, this stone floor broke my fall."
"Jonathan," Evy said excitedly, swinging her lantern around the chamber her brother had inadvertently happened upon. "You've discovered the temple vault!"
"I did?" Looking around, he quickly added. "Well, of course I did."
Rick untied a rope from around his waist and quickly secured it to a more stable boulder. Within five minutes, the other three were at the same level as Jonathan, exploring the vault thoroughly.
"C'mere, Alex," Rick said, proceeding to show his son how to properly dust off fragile artifacts from the sand. Jonathan took a piece of cloth from his not-so-white jacket and began cleaning his expensive shoes with it. Something on the ground gleamed in the light of Rick's torch and Evy's lantern, and he dug an old bracelet out of the sand. It was a funky thing that looked like a shackle, but he suspected it was gold. He brought it over to the light to examine it better.
"Well, a bit on the gaudy side, but – "
"Jonathan!" Evy exclaimed, taking it and dusting the sand off it to see the pattern. "That's the Manacle of Osiris!" Rick and Alex grouped around to get a better look at it. "According to Egyptian mythology, this Manacle was created by Osiris, king of the underworld, to vanquish his foes on earth. It's rumored to have the power to move mountains, blot out the sun, set the seas aflame, and resurrect the dead."
"A Swiss army knife has nothin' on this thing," Rick grinned, examining it in the limited light.
"Sounds like we should be able to make quite a pretty penny on the open market," Jonathan schemed, already spending the money in his mind.
"Jonathan!" Evy snatched the manacle away from her greedy brother. "The Manacle is going nowhere but to the museum, where it can be properly studied. Until then, I will hold onto it for safe-keeping."
He moaned, of course, but couldn't do anything against his strong willed (stubborn) sister. They continued examining the vault, and hours passed before they eventually left. The next morning, Evy decided Alex had had enough adventure and not enough studying.
"Your father and I are going back to the dig site," she told him and her brother. "You two stay here. And keep him out of trouble."
"You can count on me," Jonathan said, who was also staying behind.
As the couple left, Rick grinned and added, "Who said she was talking to you?"
It was several hours later when Jonathan finally yawned and stood up. "I'm going to stretch my legs a bit," he said, going outside.
Alex looked up from his study of ancient Egyptian to make sure his uncle was gone, then started rummaging through his mother's suitcase. Eventually finding the key he was looking for, he took it and unlocked the box where she had stored the golden manacle. Taking it in his hands, he half expected to be struck down by lightning. When nothing happened, he tapped it and looked at it properly for the first time.
"Hm. Doesn't look all that powerful." Slipping it on his wrist, he said loudly, "Behold! I am Osiris, king of the underworld!"
Suddenly there was a burst of energy and light from the bracelet, and a pain shot through his wrist as the object shrank to grip his arm tightly. "Ow! Hey!" tugging it and struggling in vain to get it off, he said, "This is not good."
A mere five miles away, Jena sat up straight, woken suddenly from her rest. Her eyes glowed golden.
#~#~#
Two guards stood outside the pyramid's crypt. It was boring, and they were chatting mindlessly to pass the time. One guard suddenly broke off and fell to the ground, and the other saw a tranquilizer dart sticking out of his neck. Before he could even think of what to do, he felt a painless blow to his head and fell into unconsciousness. The trespasser easily sneaked passed them, carrying the ancient Book of the Dead.
Eventually finding the tomb in the labyrinth, Colin Weasler walked up to the occupied sarcophagus. "Time to rise and shine, my mummy friend. I need you to settle a score for me." Opening the book, he began reading an incantation. "Awake, Lord Imhotep, High Priest of Memphis. For death is only the beginning." He read the Egyptian glyphs out loud.
The sarcophagus slowly opened, stone grinding loudly, and Weasler faltered. He seriously considered abandoning the whole thing, but as a mummified body rose out of the coffin it didn't look as if he had a lot of choice.
The Mummy spoke in ancient Egyptian.
"I – I possess the Book of the Dead, and I command you to – " Weasler abruptly shut up when he felt a swirl of dark energy lift him into the air and throw him backwards. The book floated into the Mummy's hands, and he finished the incantation. Energy came from all directions towards him, and Weasler shut his eyes until it was gone.
A full flesh-figure of Imhotep barked a command, and skeletons of ancient guards jumped out of the walls.
"The world condemned me to eternal suffering," he said darkly. "Now it shall pay; I only need the Manacle of Osiris to exact my revenge. It lies in the Temple of Hamunaptra."
"The Temple of Hamunaptra," Weasler managed to squeeze out. "Really? What a coincidence. Perhaps we can come to some kind of arrangement of mutual benefit."
Imhotep turned and raised his arm. The familiar energy lifting the small man into the air brought his throat into the High Priest's grasp.
"The Manacle… or your life."
"You… certainly drive a hard bargain," Weasler choked.
Meanwhile, Alex was frantically tugging the Manacle in attempt to get it off. When he was swinging his arm around, a sharp pain suddenly shot through his head, and his vision changed. He was lying on a stone table, bound by serpents, and an Egyptian man was looming over him. The man's face deformed itself and turned a purplish, undead color. There was a book, written in hieroglyphics, whose pages flipped backwards until he could see the front of it and the scarab seal inset onto the stone. Then it passed, and he was back in his parents' research tent.
"Whoa," was all he could say. "What was that?"
"Alex?" his mother's voice came and she and Rick appeared. She sounded cross. "What are you doing? Please take that Manacle off this instant."
"I tried," he turned to face her. "It won't come off."
The flap to the tent suddenly vanished as they all turned to see a young, pale-skinned girl with silvery blue hair flick it out of the way. She wore a dirty baggy t-shirt that may once have been blue and loose black shorts that stopped at her knees. She was bare-foot. "Let me help," she said in an unfriendly voice.
"What are you doing here?" Rick asked. "This research facility is off-limits to anyone not involved in the project."
"Don't worry, I'll be leaving soon," the girl replied, still unsmiling. "But I'll be taking that bracelet; give it to me."
"I'd love to," Alex said, gripping it and pulling at it once again. "But it's stuck."
"That's a shame," she rummaged into her old leather bag and pulled out a jungle knife, removing its casing. "I'll just have to cut your arm off, then."
"Now, look here," Evy stepped in front of her son protectively. "Don't you have parents anywhere? I'm sure they must be worried about you."
"Once I have that bracelet, I'll go back to them."
"Look, kid. You can't expect us to let you cut off our son's arm just to please you."
The girl stared at Rick with an unfriendly gaze. "I am not beneath stopping the two of you from preventing me from taking it. That bracelet belongs to me." She ran at them. Rick acted quickly, taking his whip from his belt and using it to snatch the blade from the girl's hand. Not faltering, she balled her fist and punched him square on the jaw. He didn't expect it to hurt, and was unpleasantly surprised when he found it was as if he had been hit by a man half his age.
"Dad!" Alex ran up to his father, who was lying dazed on the ground. The girl spun around to face him and her hand flew out. The second it touched the bracelet, light shot through the tent and both children's visions changed.
The girl was obviously at least ten years older, and was being held captive by a man with an evil expression. He wore metal plated armor and green scaled gloves, and his brown eyes were marred by a diagonal black stripe running from the center outwards. His pale skin was a vast comparison to his jet-black, waist-length hair that was tinged with a greenish shade when it hit the light. He was glaring at Alex, who stood a little way away and was also much older, and he suddenly turned and reached out his tongue, trailing it slowly up the captive woman's neck and cheek. She winced.
Alex held his arm out in feeble attempt to stop him, and the second they saw the Manacle still on his wrist everything vanished.
The girl's eyes rolled into the back of her head and she collapsed, breathing heavily. A strong hand fell onto her shoulder, and she automatically spun around and out of Rick's grasp. He was astonished to see her now look scared.
"Alex, what just happened?" Rick asked his son tentatively.
"I don't know. I think I just had a vision of the future. It's like the Manacle is trying to tell me something. It happened just before you came, too."
"And what'd you see?"
The girl's eyes grew wide with fear, and she shuffled backward as she grasped her head with her hands. "It's him, it's him. He's going to find me."
Evy cautiously crept up to her and spoke gently. "Who is going to find you?"
Her voice was barely a whisper. "The Destroyer's Apprentice." Suddenly her head snapped up. Any trace of fear was gone. "You have to give me that bracelet."
"But I can't."
"Perhaps I can be of some assistance." They all turned to see Weasler standing at the entrance. "Have you met my friend – Imhotep?"
The tent flap blew open in the breeze to reveal the tall Egyptian High Priest, signs of death still clinging to his face and a foul stench rolling through the tent. Several skeletal guards were standing behind him.
"Mom? Dad?" Alex asked, feeling scared for the first time in years.
"The Book of the Dead!" Evy exclaimed. "You stole it to resurrect Imhotep!"
"Jealous?" Weasler grinned horribly.
Imhotep pointed to Alex and commanded his soldiers. "The Manacle of Osiris."
They all began advancing. As one of them was reaching out to grasp Alex, Jena sprang forward and kicked him back.
"The Manacle is mine, High Priest," she said, glaring at Imhotep. As the guards surrounded them, there was a ripping noise as an X-shaped tear appeared in the ten. A man with long dark hair and an ink mark on each cheek appeared from the hole, wielding a sword in each hand.
"Ardeth Bay!" Evy exclaimed, relieved that they finally came across a friendly face.
Ardeth threw one of his swords to Rick, who caught it deftly, and they began fighting off the guards with Jena. Standing back to back as the skeletons closed in on them, Rick said, "We've gotta stop meeting like this."
"Agreed," Ardeth replied as they attacked again.
Taking Alex by the wrist, Evy ran with him to the tent's entrance in attempt to escape. A roar echoed after them as Imhotep's face deformed, and fire rose up from the ground, effectively blocking their escape. The sand around him began stirring as a miniature whirlwind appeared around him. Books, compasses and various other items were thrown all around the tent with the force of the gale. Rick charged at the former priest, but the wind threw him backward as if he were a feather. Alex, on the other hand, felt the wind pulling him in, and in a few seconds he was lifted off the ground.
"Mom!" he cried, slipping from her grasp.
"Alex!"
He vanished into the gale, and the tent exploded as the whirlwind grew and traveled away rapidly. The four remaining stared in its wake, unable to believe what had happened.
Jonathan came back at that moment. "What happened to the research tent? It looks like a tornado hit it!"
"Jena!" Yue appeared, huge white wings sprouted from his back as he flew down to the site. "Jena!"
"I'm okay," she said, still staring in the direction Alex had vanished in. Suddenly she turned to her father. "Papa, what is the Manacle of Osiris?"
#~#~#
Evy was fiercely trying to hold back tears with Rick's strong arms around her.
"When I heard Imhotep's tomb guards had been assaulted, I feared the worst," Ardeth was saying.
"What's going to happen to Alex?" Evy asked.
"I assure you no harm will come to your son until Imhotep possesses the Scrolls of Thebes."
"What are they?" Rick asked.
"The Scrolls are an ancient instruction manual for the manacle on Alex's wrist," he noticed Yue was listening intently, but continued anyway. "If Imhotep obtains both the Manacle and the Scrolls, the world will be forced to bow at the Mummy's feet."
"We've got to get the Scrolls before Imhotep," Evy said to her husband. "It's the only way to protect Alex."
"They were rumored to have been buried with King Dozier in his pyramid in Sacara," Ardeth said. "We must hurry; the Mummy knows this as well."
"I'll go with you," Jena said.
"No, you won't," Yue contradicted. "This quest of yours has gone on long enough. It's time you came home and stop searching for the past."
She turned on him. "I get the tiniest bit closer to discovering something and you want to bring me home? What is it that you're afraid of me finding out? Was this the danger that you won't tell me about?"
"No," he replied. "The true danger is far worse than an undead priest."
"Then you have no reason to stop me. Think about how she feels," Jena pointed at Evy. "If something happened to me, wouldn't you want all the help you could get to save me?"
Yue didn't answer, and briefly made eye contact with Evy.
"Fine," he eventually said. "I will make an arrangement with you. If you can save that boy without any help from me, I will permit you to continue this foolish mission of yours. If not, you will come home and forget about the past."
His wings sprouted from his back and stretched wide. As he flew off, Jena yelled after him, "Don't you dare interfere!"
She turned back to the other four.
"How do we know you won't try and hurt Alex again?" Rick asked suspiciously.
"I'm sorry, but we have to hurry and get to Sacara and find the Scrolls. You'll just have to trust me."
#~#~#
Alex and Weasler were thrown out of the whirlwind and landed painfully on the ground, coughing sand out of their mouths and noses. Imhotep, unfazed, walked up to the pyramid they had arrived at and said something in Egyptian that made the stones open up a path.
Alex, seeing the Zephyr in the dusky sky, took out his pocket-watch and used the back of it to reflect the sunlight, signaling in blinding flashes his position to his parents. The blimp slowly turned to head towards him, but the watch in his hands suddenly rose into the air, surrounded by dark energy. It floated into Imhotep's hand, and he crushed it slowly.
"You would have made an excellent Medjai warrior," was all he said. "Pity you won't live to see that day." Taking a stone from inside his robe, he gripped it tightly as it glowed red and morphed into a scarab beetle. The scarab's pincers clicked together, and it flew from Imhotep's hand up to the approaching Zephyr. Then he grasped the struggling boy's wrist and dragged him inside the pyramid, followed by Weasler.
Throwing him into the main chamber, Alex looked up at the golden skeleton statue and said to himself, "Why do I get the feeling I've been here before?"
Imhotep turned on Weasler. "The Scrolls will be in the burial chamber. Bring them to me," he ordered. "I will prepare the boy for the separation ritual."
Alex shuddered. "Somehow, I don't like the sound of that." He tried to make a run for it, but energy surrounded him and threw him onto the stone table beneath the statue. Serpents in the sculpture glowed and came to life, slithering through the table and over him, binding his arms, waist and then legs. He struggled relentlessly, but it was all in vain.
"When my dad gets here, you're gonna wish you still had your bandages!" he said to Imhotep, hoping he sounded in control.
Taking the Book of the Dead, the high priest replied, "Your parents will never reach this pyramid. Behold." He raised his arm and part of the wall rippled to show an illusion of what was happening in the Zephyr.
Jonathan was the first to notice the scarab. It crawled past his foot, and he quickly stomped on it. "You have a major bug problem here, Evy," he complained. The beetle beneath his foot continued moving, bringing his leg with him, and he fell painfully.
"Black scarabs," Ardeth said, springing forward to help him up. "A gift from Imhotep, no doubt. They will devour everything in their path." He took out one of his swords and began swinging it at the swarm of scarabs that advanced toward the five of them. Jena snatched her jungle knife from Rick's belt and began helping him.
Rick abruptly let go of the wheel as he saw another horde crawl up it, then swung it round suddenly to throw them off. Above the passenger compartment, Evy watched in alarm as a hole appeared in the air chamber, and the blimp slowly began to sink towards the ground.
"They must be in the superstructure," Rick said. "If they destroy too much of the outer skin we'll be kissing sand. Evy, take the controls."
She sprang to take the wheel as he climbed up into the gas compartment.
Alex watched in horror as the illusion vanished.
"Their fate is sealed," Imhotep said, walking up to the table. "As is yours."
#~#~#
"I can't keep her steady!" Evy struggled with the wheel. The whole zeppelin jerked sharply as it crashed against a statue of pharaoh.
"There are too many of them," Ardeth said, both him and Jena trying their utmost to destroy the scarabs.
"I have an idea, but we'll need some bait," she said, looking at her brother.
"Why are you looking at me?" he exclaimed, using a collapsible chair to kill the beetles.
"Sand over the cargo door and wait for my signal."
"You always were bossy."
Understanding her scheme, Jena spoke up. "Maybe it would be better for me to do it. I can jump higher than him."
"No argument here," Jonathan said.
The girl leaped over to the hatch and stood on top of it, snatching Jonathan's chair and chucking him her knife. "I'm ready." Unfolding the chair, she set it onto the cargo door and jumped onto its seat. The scarabs battled each other to climb up its legs, and when they were all over the hatch she said, "Pull the lever now!"
Evy did so, and the hatch opened. As the scarabs fell out, Jena leaped off the back of the chair and flew backwards, her nose passing less than an inch from the roof, and flipped herself backwards to land on her feet.
"They're all gone," she said, running to the window and seeing more of the black beetles falling from the tear in the gas chamber. "Your husband must have managed to push them out of the superstructure. We should be all right, as long as we land safely."
"Easier said than done!" Evy exclaimed, still struggling with the wheel.
#~#~#
Weasler was frantically looking through the burial chamber for the Scrolls of Thebes, throwing ancient golden statuettes out of the way. Finding nothing, the now-familiar fear for his life rushed through him. "They've got to be here somewhere. I can't go back there empty-handed!"
A strong hand fell onto his shoulder and, being pulled upright, he found himself staring into the smug eyes of Rick O'Connell.
"Remember us?" Rick asked.
"Now this is my kind of pyramid," Jonathan said, itching to grab some of the treasures.
"Where is Alex?" Evy asked dangerously of the small man, held securely by the strong Rick and Ardeth.
"If you believe you can intimidate me, you are sorely – "
Evy grabbed his clothes and pulled him away from the men. "Don't mess with a mum!" Dangling him over the edge of a very deep pit, she commanded, "Tell me where Alex is now!"
"Th – th – the Grand Gallery," Weasler stuttered. Between undead mummies bent on revenge and scary women whose children had been kidnapped, he was seriously wondering if he was going to survive the night.
"Very impressive," Jena approved her tactics.
"But you won't get him back," Weasler added. "He's with Imhotep."
"And the Scrolls?" Ardeth demanded.
"They're not here, I swear! A lot can happen in three thousand years!"
Roughly pulling him out of danger, she passed the man to Rick. The American man easily lifted Weasler onto a broken stone high off the ground and grinned as the captive's shirt caught on it. "You hang out right here."
The five ran out of the room quickly.
In the gallery, Imhotep was looking through the Book of the Dead. "Soon, the world will be mine." Suddenly a small body darted past him, snatching the book from his hands. Jena balanced herself on the jutting out parts of the statue as if she was a monkey.
"I told you, High Priest, this Manacle is mine," she said. "You can't have it."
"Insignificant wretches!" he turned to see the four adults in the chamber entrance. "How dare you challenge Imhotep? Arise, my warriors!"
Flames shot from his hands into the ground and more skeletal guards rose from the stone, grabbing their legs at the same time. In the distraction, Jonathan managed to sneak past them all and struggled to free Alex from the binding serpents as Imhotep floated through the air over the intruders. Above the entrance was a statue of Anubis, which he picked up as it if were a piece of paper and held high above his head.
"Draw your last breath."
"Dad! No!" Alex cried, and the Manacle on his wrist suddenly glowed brightly. Light shot out of it in all directions and the ground shook, splitting open. Jena fell off the statue to the ground, her eyes golden and her body unresponsive as the guards and the serpent bindings both crumbled to sand. Then as quickly as the Manacle activated, it died again.
"Maybe this thing isn't so bad, after all," the redhead stared at it. Remembering the first vision it had showed him, he cried out to his parents. "Mom, it's the Book of the Dead! You can send him back!"
"Here it is," Jena said before getting off the ground and running over to Evy, handing her the book. Imhotep angrily advanced to them, but she already began reading the incantation. Imhotep was captured in energy, and the life was visibly being drained from his body as it became weaker and decayed. The group began getting hopeful, but just then something knocked the book out of Evy's hands.
"Remember me?" Weasler asked as he hurried to help Imhotep to his feet.
"I didn't complete it," Evy got up and anxiously hurried to where the book was perilously sitting on the edge of one of the cracks in the ground that the Manacle had made. The book fell into the depths of the earth as Imhotep angrily created a protective whirlwind around himself and, taking Weasler with him, left the chamber.
"Dad!" Alex ran into his father's arms. Rick spun him around joyfully. "Remind me never to wish for things to be more exciting."
"Good riddance, I say," Jonathan commented as Evy hugged her son tightly.
"Something tells me we haven't seen the last of old gauze-head," Rick said.
"What are you talking about? That Mummy beat it out of here like his robe was on fire."
"No," Jena said. "The High Priest has gone to find the Scrolls of Thebes."
"Then he'll come back for the Manacle, won't he?" Alex asked.
"He'll have to go through us first," Evy said.
"In that case," the young girl said. "I should stay with you. I can't have him taking my Manacle."
"Do you promise not to try and cut my arm off?"
Jena giggled sheepishly, smiling for the first time. "I'm sorry about that. I get very obsessive when it comes to my past."
"Jena!" Yue suddenly appeared in the chamber. Seeing Alex, he looked displeased. "You succeeded, then. I assume you will continue your foolish quest."
"That's right. But, Papa," she said. "You can tell Mama to stop worrying about me. From now on I'll be traveling with these people."
#~#~#
The five of them safely loaded in the Zephyr, they journeyed back to the research facility. After helping repair the blimp's air chamber Yue had left with Ardeth to visit his son, a student in the Medjai's care. Jena had almost gone with them, but decided against it.
"Is your brother older or younger than you?" Alex asked.
"He's four years younger. Laith is the youngest of the three of us – he has a twin sister."
"And why's he training to be a Medjai? Are you guys from Egypt or something?"
Jena shrugged. "I have no idea where we're from. We moved to America nearly a year and a half ago, but I have absolutely no memories of my life before that time. That's why I'm traveling at the moment. I don't know where to start, so I've been visiting different countries to see if something jogs my memory." She paused, and her eyes clouded. "My father doesn't want me to remember anything. There was a great danger that we escaped from in our home, and that was what caused me to forget everything. Then that Manacle sent me a message." She stared at the golden shackle. "I don't know what my connection is to it, but I'm sure I'll find out more when we find the Scrolls of Thebes."
"Jena," Evy walked up to the two of them. "Please don't take this the wrong way, but don't you have a spare set of clothes?"
Jena stared at her for a full five seconds before blinking. Then she smiled. "You're very like my mother. No, this is all I have. I used to have more, but my old bag got stolen. Everything I have with me, I took for myself."
"How long were you traveling all by yourself?"
She shrugged. "A few months, I think."
"A few months!" Evy exclaimed.
"It's no big deal. I know I'm only eleven, but I'm not like you guys. I'm not human – I'm an arukatasu. That's why I have hair this color," she flicked one of her dirty strands.
"I guess that also explains why you have a pretty mean left hook," Rick commented from the wheel.
She grinned. "Yes, I'm a little stronger and faster than humans. But I've barely scratched the surface of my power. My family can do so much more than me. The only problem is, I don't remember anything about it. I have no idea how to train myself to fly, or manipulate things, or anything else."
"Well, that comes later," Evy said. "As soon as we get back to the research facility, you are going straight to have a shower. Then we can go shopping for some clothes for you."
"Mom always wanted a girl," Alex grinned at the arukatasu.
"But I don't have enough money for clothes. I'll be fine with what I have."
"Don't be silly! I can't let you run around in rags. This will be my treat. Just think of it as pre-payment on the help you're going to give us searching for the Scrolls."
Jena grinned, then jumped up to hug Evy. "I was right; you're just like my mother. I think I'm going to like traveling with you all."
Jonathan rolled his eyes. "Oh, please. Why would you want anyone like Little Miss Bossy?"
Jena slumped against the English woman, and Evy was alarmed until she looked down and saw the girl breathing peacefully. "She's asleep."
"I can't believe her father let a kid like her travel the world by herself," Rick said as his wife laid the girl on a bed in the cabin. "Even if he flies through the sky and watches over her all the time."
"You're right," she agreed. "I can't imagine the kind of life she must have been brought up in."
"At least she has a real Mom," Alex said. "Anyway, she can stay with us after we get the Scrolls, right?"
Rick and Evy exchanged a glance, suspecting their son had his first crush on a girl. "We'll see, Alex," Evy said. "It's up to her, really."
Alex saw their look. "Stop thinking that! I don't like her!"
Rick grinned. "Sure thing, Sport. Whatever you say."
