Chapter 9

The sound of metal scrapping the ancient stones broke the silence that had fallen after the whole tomb had swallowed the Avengers and the Serpent Sisters. A pile of rocks that had once been a part of the tomb had entombed something that was not of this world. The rocks that had been one of the tomb had survived the passage of time but it had not been able to survive a battle that had been raged above it.

The pile of rocks jumped a few inches in the air as banging and clawing came from the new tomb that they formed above it. The sound of a mechanical growl vibrated through the ground and the walls. The tomb under the sand fell silent before the sound of electronic groaning and whirling followed by metal plates smashing against each other. The stones and rouble that had entombed the creature suddenly dropped in size as whatever was trapped under it got smaller. The growling got much louder before the sound of weapons clicking.

The tomb had gone silent once again. Not even the rats that had found their way into the ancient tomb made a noise. They were too busy in being focused on not bringing the attention of what was trapped under the stones. Their black beady eyes could see the slightest of movement that was happening under the stones. They could tell that there was something that was dangerous under the stones.

The silence was broken when two missiles were clicked into lock. It was followed by the sudden booming of the missiles being fired. A fireball exploded from under the stones. A few of the rats that had been watching and waiting for the struggles to finish had burnt to a crisp. The rats that survived scurried as fast as they could as a metal paw with three sharp claws slammed into the ground beside the pile of stones that had entombed it only a second ago. Using its sharp claws on all four of its feet it crawled out of the tomb that had been created from the tomb collapsing under Python's and Nightshade's weight.

With all four paws on the sandy ground the one optic mechanical tiger dropped to the ground. Its optic shuttered as blue sparks sparked from its body where there was bad damage that had been caused by the fighting between the Avengers and the Serpent Sisters. With a clicking sound the two machine guns that were on its shoulders folded back under the plates that covered the shoulder joints. Sharp claws scrapped against the sand as it began its self repairing.

Nightshade kept her systems on a low power as she began the basic repairs on her damaged systems. She had a hatred for sand and deserts. Sand was always causing her problems no matter where it was from. It didn't matter if the sand was from the desert or the beach or anywhere else where there was sand. The sand that had already gotten into her joints was already beginning to become a problem. The heat of her internal systems was already starting to melt the sand into glass. Glass that at the moment was not a problem and could be easily repaired by Ratchet when she returned to the Ark for the her annual check-up to make sure that all of her systems was working. She just needed to keep an optic on the glass built up before it got any worse and she caused damage to herself and the other Avengers.

For a few more minutes Nightshade lay on the sandy ground on the tomb. The tomb that was just a tunnel underneath the sand was pitch black. The only lights in the tunnel was the flames that had been started when Nightshade had released her missiles to get out of the trap that she had fallen into when she had fallen into the tunnels that spanned under the desert and no doubt to Hamunaptra. The other light source that was in the tunnel was the dim red glow of Nightshade's slightly shuttered optic. The blue sparks that sparked off from her joints was also bright in the dim light of the tomb.

The sound of a rat scratching at her pedes was enough to bring Nightshade back into full action. Her one optic in her tiger form rolled down to look at the rodent. The rodent that was looking to see if there was anything in the mechanical being that it could eat. Nightshade watched the small creature as it made its way to her clawed front paws. Scanning its life status from its simple brainwaves to its heartbeat. A steady heartbeat, it has no idea that it is so close to death.

Three metal claws slowly opened up that allowed the rat to walk right into a trap. The rat seeing more room to explore walked towards Nightshade's exposed paw. The rat was just an cm away from her pad of her paw when her claws snapped shut. The rat was trapped and dead before it knew what was happening. It happened so fast that it didn't have time to make a dying noise. Nightshade opened up her paws to reveal the dead rat that she had crushed. Rubbing her paw into the sand she removed the gore from the rats death.

Bringing the rest of her systems back online Nightshade got back to her feet. The crunching of glass sounded as she moved back to her four paws. Hissing in slight pain she started to move all of her joints. With a twist of her plating she transformed into her human form. Her hand reached for the wall beside her as she steadied herself on two feet. Finding her balance once again she removed her hand from the wall.

Nightshade looked over her shoulder to see if there was anything sneaking up on her. There was nothing behind her. Satisfied that nothing was going to sneak up her she returned her attention back to the direction that was in front of her. The tomb in front of her was just as dark as behind her. Her optics were quick to adapt to the dim light of the tomb that she was able to see that outlines of obstacles in red. Happy that she would be able to see what was coming up in front of her she began to look for the other Avengers.

"Captain Rogers!" she shouted. Her voice echoing in the tombs tunnels. The tunnels that she didn't doubt spanned under the whole desert from Hamunaptra to the modern city. Looking up at the ceiling above her, her optics took in all the details that they were seeing. Stone and wood had been used to create the ceiling and keep the sand from dropping down onto the tomb. "What could that has done for this place!" Nightshade commented as she looked down at the ground. The ground underneath her feet was covered in sand that had managed to seep through the cracks and land on the ground. Then there had been where she had fallen. The stone and wood that was keeping the ceiling up had caved under Python's and her true forms combined weight during the fight. She could not go out the way she had come from. It had become block with debris that had fallen from the avalanche of sand and rock. There was also the Serpent Sisters. She really didn't want to go back and deal with all three of them alone. Even with working with Rogers had hardly done anything to Python. They needed to regroup before they could do anything like take Hamunaptra from the Sisters who had no doubt started the short trek there.

"Come on Rogers we don't have time for these human games of hide and seek!" she shouted into the darkness. She knew it was foolish to shout into the darkness when she was alone, but she had very little choice. She like the Moonray had been having problems with all of her systems. Systems that she had not really thought that she needed until she started to notice that they were switching themselves off. She knew that they needed to get to the City of the Dead and get the Book of the Dead. The Book of the Dead was a key weapon in the war against Seth. The only way she would now where Rogers was by her getting his attention.

Nightshade remained still and silent for a few moments. Time that will allow Rogers to hear her shouting for him and time for him to react. She knew that humans could be slow in reacting. Feeling a new spark of pain course through her legs she hissed in pain before she leaned against the wall. She needed to find Captain Rogers fast. Being closer to Hamunaptra was becoming dangerous for her.

"Come on Steve, we don't have all day for you to catch your beauty sleep!" she shouted out into the darkness while still leaning against the wall. "Come on Steve!" she shouted as she removed herself from the wall that she was leaning against. Checking her systems on last time she was glad to see that everything had settled down and had retuned to a normal functioning rate.

Taken a step away from the wall. She looked over her shoulder once again before she looked in the direction that she had started to walk in. "Okay Rogers if you are trying to scare me you are going to need to try better than that!" she started to walk down the tombs tunnel. She was glad that her systems were beginning to start to come online.

She had only been walking for a few moments when she started to hear hissing. The hissing was muffled as it sounded underneath something. Nightshade stopped when she started to hear the hissing along with her name being shouted. She reached for her sword at her side as her hearing strained to hear what the source of the noise was. Her optics scanned the shadows in looking for a human shaped figure standing up. Seeing nothing she turned her attention to the ground in hopes of seeing the human figure on the ground.

A second later she spotted a huddled shape. Nightshade took a step closer to the shape. The shape got even tighter in on itself as she got closer to it. Nightshade stopped dead in her tracks. She raised her hands up to show that she was not a threat. The hissing stopped but the creature kept huddled up in the ground. She could not see what the creature was but from the way that it was moving she could tell that it was a snake. She couldn't tell what snake it was, but she had a felling that it was a python or something along those lines.

"Friend Nightshade!" boomed Thor's voice. The Asgardian let Clint and Hawkeye up to the alien shapeshifter.

Nightshade glared at Thor. Her optics glowing red and that was enough to cause the three other Avengers to stop dead. "What is wrong?" Thor asked. He had already reached for his hammer that was beginning to spark with lightning. Thor followed Nightshade's gaze back to the shadows to see a form slithering towards Nightshade. "Nightshade behind you!" he shouted. He raised his weapon into the air as Clint reached for his bow and an arrow. The two older members of the Avengers both focused on the creature that slithered up to Nightshade's side. Wanda had frozen at the sight of the snake that had come of the shadows only to hide behind Nightshade.

"Everyone lower your weapons!" Nightshade commanded looking back at Thor. She kept her arms up to show that she was not a threat while also commanding Thor not to attack. Taken a quick glance at the snake that had curled around her right foot she then looked back at Thor. "We are in a tomb under the Egyptian desert and there is no doubt many creatures down here that will want to kill us now that they have smelled our blood and Energon!" she started to explain to Thor. She kept her focus halved on Thor and the snake that had wrapped itself around her foot. The snake was a large enough to easily crush her leg in the state that she was in at the moment, but it was not doing that. No, it had rested its head on her boot. Its eyes were closed and its black forked tongue hardly flickered out of its mouth. "We don't know if they will attack us! But we can not attack them if they do not mean us a threat!" she finished explaining to Thor when she looked back at the God of Thunder.

Thor snarled but he lowered his hammer. He snarled at the snake that had wrapped itself around Nightshade's leg. The snake looked to relaxed around the alien shapeshifter that he didn't like about. "We were just attacked by three lady snakes and you are happy with a snake that is wrapped around your leg!" Thor shouted at Nightshade. He looked up at the ceiling that was still standing and keeping the desert out of the underground tomb.

Nightshade let out a hiss and took a step forward. It was hard for her to make the move with the snake that was wrapped around her foot. Her optics were glowing a bright red as she glared right at Thor. "Listen to me Thor! We have no idea what can be lurking in these tunnels and Hamunaptra itself! And without the Moonray I am not able to get in touch with UNIT or SHIELD as this place messes with technology! Right now we need to find our way through these tunnels to either find the others or get to Hamunaptra before Seth and those snake winches get there!" she said looking at Thor.

Wanda who had been busy staring at the snake that was wrapped around Nightshade's foot finally moved. She looked away from the snake and back at Nightshade. "How do we do that? There could be miles of tunnels here and it could take us some time to find our way to this city that we need to go to!" she said looking right at Nightshade's optics.

"We move quietly and quickly through the tunnels! We will leave marks in the walls to show us that we have been here and what direction we took!" Nightshade replied to Wanda. She looked down the corridor that Thor had come with the others. There was a chance that they could follow the path that had led them to her. "It will also help the others know that we have been here and what way we took! But there is a chance that all the creepy crawlies that live in here could also follow us and ambush us!" Nightshade said looking at the wall.

Wanda had gone to look back at the snake that had wrapped itself around Nightshade's leg as the alien shapeshifter walked towards the wall. The snake looked way to relaxed when it was wrapped around her foot. Its eyes were closed and its tongue hardly flickered out of its mouth. She could sense the confusion and pain that was coming off of the snake that had sought Nightshade's leg for a place to wrap itself up.

The young physic Avenger looked from the snake back to Nightshade. The Dragonoid was busy studying the writing that was on the wall. A bright blue light had flickered into existence and was given Nightshade the light that she needed to read the writing that was on the wall. Wanda watched as Nightshade studied all the words that were written on the wall, letters that she would not be able to read. She was beginning to wish that she had learned more languages when she had joined the Avengers. Nightshade along with Imhotep where the only ones who could read the ancient righting that was on the walls. The Avengers had been quick to get everything ready for their trip to Egypt, but Nightshade had taken very little time to learn the ancient language. Wanda had watched Nightshade as she downloaded the language that Imhotep had been born with. Once the download had been done Nightshade knew the language well both spoken and written.

"What have you found?" Thor asked when Nightshade moved away from the wall that she had been reading. The snake was still wrapped around her foot and it was not showing any sign that it was moving from its sleeping spot.

Wanda was still watching the blue and red python that was wrapped around Nightshade's foot. There was something that was not making sense with the snake. It had gone towards Nightshade when it should have gone into hiding somewhere away from them. She could pick up its emotions something that she could not do with an animal and she had tried. She could only read humans, and to an extent Julian when he was in his wolf form. She also found it hard to read aliens like Nightshade, Galvatron and Dalek Sec. But that might be because they were non-biological aliens that made it hard for her to understand their emotions and thoughts.

The snake, however was much easier to read than a few members of the Avengers. Natasha and Clint had both created walls that shielded their thoughts and emotions from psychics like her. A few of the older Avengers like Thor and Stark had their emotions all over the place, but that had been because they had seen many things in their lives. Edward and Julian when they were in the New Avengers Facility where hard for her to read, but she always had a feeling that was because they were undead and their minds didn't work the same way as the other Avengers much like Galvatron and Nightshade. The only Avenger that Wanda found easy to read other than Vision was Captain America. This snake gave the very same thoughts that Steve gave off. Looking deeper into the snakes mind she saw the last fight that the Avengers had been fighting in.

Wanda stared at the snake that was wrapped around Nightshade's foot. The snake that had gone for the one Avenger that was not a threat to it. It was starting to make sense. The snake's scales were red and blue and on its head was a white star, much like on Captain America's star on his uniform and shield. The snake had gone to Nightshade as Rogers had a longer friendship with the alien shapeshifter than he did with Stark. It all made sense when she looked at the snake who was listening to Nightshade speak to Thor and Clint about the next stage in the plan.

"If we can trust what the Hieroglyphs say it says that we are close to Hamunaptra! Closer than what we were topside! How that works I am not entirely sure! It has not been made clear! All I can make out is that we follow that way to get to the armoury of Hamunaptra!" Wanda heard Nightshade say to Thor.

"Why the armoury? What could be in there that they wont us to go so badly?" Clint asked. The archer had decided to make himself known to the Dragonoid and the Asgardian. Both of which looked at him. Nightshade's optics were no longer glowing red and had returned to their normal human form colour of green and hazel.

Nightshade looked back at the wall that she had been reading in hope of finding why they needed to go to the armoury. A moment of readying of Hieroglyphs she returned her attention back to Thor and Clint. "It does not say why this tunnel is taken us to the armoury! It might be that is where this tunnel goes and that there is nothing special with what is in the armour!" she replied to the two Avengers who were doing the speaking with her.

Thor grunted in agreement with what made sense. The Asgardian looked at the snake that was still wrapped around Nightshade's foot. "And what about your little friend, Nightshade?" he asked her.

Nightshade looked down at the snake. The large python had tightened its coils around her leg and ankle. Its head was resting on her foot like it owned the thing. It's brilliant blue eyes had opened and somehow they had managed to look up towards her. In all her life in fighting giant snakes from Basilisks and Nagas she had never seen a snake rolling its eyes. The eyes that were looking up at her was familiar, but she could not place how they looked so familiar. It could be a Skinwalker or something that just wanted to be close to her due to the heat her systems created.

"Nightshade?" Wanda asked. Her voice was uncertain as she got Nightshade's attention. The Dragonoid looked at Wanda with a questioning look in her optics. "Can animals show human emotions and thought process?" Wanda asked her.

"Wanda why are you asking this? The only way that animals can show human emotions is if they are a Skinwalker or if they were transformed into an animal!" Nightshade replied to Wanda. She noticed that Wanda was looking down at the python that was unwrapping itself from her foot. The python looked up at Nightshade. Its blue eyes pleading her to know what has happened to him. Nightshade lowered herself to the snakes level. "Of course the other Sister! She had flung some powder at Rogers! It must have turned him into the python!" Nightshade said as she looked at Wanda.

Wanda and Nightshade both looked at the python that had curled into a tight ball in front of the two female members of the Avengers. "We need to make a move now!" Nightshade ordered. She reached down for the python. The snake that was Captain America hissed and curled tighter in on himself. "Easy Steve! I am not going to hurt you! We just need to make quick process through the tunnels and towards the armoury!" Nightshade said to Captain America. That was enough for the snake to relax and allow her to pick him up.

ooo000oo0

"Are we nearly there?" Clint asked for the tenth time. The archer walked beside Wanda as they walked behind the Dragonoid and the Asgardian. He looked at Wanda who rolled her eyes at him for his childish behaviour. He smiled seeing that his plan was working. He was glad that he had managed to make her smile. He had noticed that Wanda had been terrified. She had been terrified when he had found her in the tunnel before Thor had showed up. Hawkeye had been quick to ease Wanda to feel more comfortable. When they had found Nightshade and Captain America the Python Wanda had once again relaxed a lot.

Nightshade stopped dead in her tracks and turned around to face Clint. Steve was still wrapped around her neck and down her left arm. The blue and red python that the leader of the Avengers turned snake glared at Hawkeye. His black tongue flickered out as he regarded the archer from his perch on Nightshade's shoulder. The Dragonoid had made no complaint that she had become his way of travel. She was also a great source of heat, something that his new snake body needed a lot more than his human body needed.

"Clint would you please stop asking the same question all over again! We can be in these tunnels for some time!" Rogers said. His black tongue flickered out as he stared at Hawkeye with his still human coloured eyes. He then changed his position so that he could look at Nightshade. "How far do you think we are from Hamunaptra?" he asked the Dragonoid.

He leaned back when he noticed that Nightshade was no longer paying him or Clint any attention. She was once again readying what was on the wall that was beside her. "Nightshade?" he asked. He flicked out his tongue again as he allowed a hiss to escape from his throat. He was getting use to his snake body. He still found it weird that he needed a external source of height as his own body could not produce its own heat, and that was where Nightshade came in handy. Out of Thor and Barton, she was the warmest out of the three of them. The downside to being around Nightshade's neck and down her left arm was that he was wrapped around metal. Metal that was not covered in soft tissues like muscle and skin.

Nightshade only responded with making a grumbling noise. She had heard that she had heard him speaking to her, but she had not taken in the words that he had said. Hissing again, Steve tightened his coils that were around Nightshade. Seeing that was having very little effect on Nightshade he let out another annoyed hiss before he lunged towards Nightshade. His fangs extended from where they had been tucked away and struck Nightshade in her neck. His fangs did not get through the thick metal that acted as her skin, but it was enough to get her attention to focus on him rather than what was on the wall.

"I am sorry! What was it you were saying?" she asked. She focused her attention on the blue and red Python that as soon as he could wrapped himself around her neck and left arm. She took a quick glance back at the wall that she had been studying as Rogers had told Barton to shut up. A hiss came from her side and she was quick to turn her attention back to Captain America.

"How far do you think we are from Hamunaptra?" Captain America asked her. He tightened his coils that were wrapped around her. He could tell that there was something wrong with her. He could see the growing worry that was showing in her optics from something that she had no doubt read on the walls or had heard further down in the tombs tunnels. He could also feel her bones tightened and could also feel the power growing in her left arm as she powered up a weapon there. Being a snake was helping him to understand one of his oldest allies more than he thought he would ever know. He had never known that Nightshade could be expressive but being a snake that was wrapped around her body he could tell that there was much more to Nightshade than meets the eye.

Nightshade was silent for a second. She looked back at the wall that she was reading. She could feel Roger's altering the coils that he had wrapped around her neck and left arm until the Python's head came up beside her. The black forked tongue flickered out as the coils tightened on her left arm again. "From readying this I can tell that we are already in Hamunaptra! It appears that the City of the Dead is much larger than we first thought and this is going to make finding the Book all that harder!" she finally replied.

"Can you locate the Books location from this wall or must we go to the armoury like we suggested in going in the first place?" Thor asked joining in the conversation. He stood on Nightshade's other side well away from Captain America's snake head. The head that had a star on its forehead but reminded him way to well of his brother. His brother was had transformed himself into a snake to attack him. Growing up the grown prince of Asgard had always loved snakes until his brother had played that prank on him. There was also the legend of him dying in fighting the Midguard Serpent. His whole love of snakes had gone over the years with him fighting snake like creatures all over the Nine Realms. He knew that the blue and red python was Captain Rogers turned into a snake by one of the Serpent Sisters but he was still weary of them altogether. Until he was cured of this curse he was keeping well away from him.

Nightshade looked back at the God of Thunder. She then looked back at Captain America's head. His blue eyes were following the Hieroglyphs that were etched onto the wall but he had no clue what they were saying. There was only two members of the Avengers who could read the words of the Ancient Egyptians. "No! The best thing that we can do is get to the main part of Hamunaptra and start looking from there! Because all that I can see here is tunnels and skulls!" she said as she kicked a skull that was lying on the ground at her feet. The skull crunched when it impacted with the wall. "Also I have a felling that the closer we get to the Book the more traps and guards that there will be!" she said to Thor when she looked back at him.

"Then we better get a move on!" Captain America said. That was enough to get them all to start moving again.