Another thank you to all of you. You are awesome.
"Look lady can you get out of the way?" Larry asked impatiently.
"Lady? Who are you calling lady?" the woman asked. "The name is Amelia."
A soldier suddenly hit one of their tires with a spear, deflating it completely. They jumped off of the motorcycle and ran as the soldiers closed in.
"Amelia Earhart! Perhaps you've heard of me?"
"Yeah, the famous woman pilot?" Izzy inquired distractedly as they hid behind some of the storage containers at the end of a row.
"Pilot? I was the first woman to fly the Atlantic! First woman to receive the flying cross, first woman to fly across the 48 states in a gyroprop. Now if you'd wipe that perhaps-permanent look of alarm off both your kissers, I was wondering if you might be so kind as to tell me exactly where I am."
"Under a museum," Izzy supplied airily, peeking her head around the corner of the boxes for a quick look for their pursuers.
"And we are in kind of a dangerous situation right now, so you might not want to be anywhere near us now," Larry added.
"What are your names?"
"My name is Larry Daley," he responded as he looked around for signs of the soldiers as they got closer.
"I'm Isis Porter."
"Well, Larry and Isis, in case you weren't listening, I'm not one to shy away from danger." She stepped out from their hiding place and was immediately surrounded by spears embedded into the wall behind her.
"How about spears? Are you one to shy away from spears?" Larry asked.
They ran for their lives as the soldiers followed them. They made it up to the main part of the museum and proceeded through rooms full of framed artwork.
"You are quite the popular duo. Why don't you just skedaddle?" Amelia asked.
"We can't just go," Isis answered. "Our friends are down there. We have to get them while avoiding the angry lisping Pharaoh that wants this tablet," she shook the tablet for reference, "to take over the world."
No sooner had they found a room and stepped inside before the soldiers were upon them, blocking the only exits. Isis cast her eyes about and her gaze landing on the famous portrait of two people kissing in Times Square at the end of the war. Stealing herself, she plunged a hand in and found it went through and into the painting, coloring her hand in pallid shades of black and white.
"Larry, come on!" she shouted to him and jumped through the picture still carrying the tablet. Seconds later, Larry and Amelia followed her example. They looked around appraisingly, taking stock of their new surroundings.
"Well, this is one humdinger of a hootenanny," Amelia declared proudly.
"No time for sight seeing," Isis shouted above the crowds cheering. They ran along the street avoiding the soldiers in the crowd. Larry stopped to answer a call from Nick just as Amelia was lead off by a young man. In Larry's distraction he bumped into a young soldier.
"Buddy, what's your hurry? Didn't you hear? The war's over!" the man announced happily.
"Sorry, can you help us?" Isis asked politely, knowing how helpful men in this time could be for a lady in danger. "Those guys are chasing us." She indicated the ancient soldiers to the man.
"What? What am I looking at, Marti Gras?"
"Can you help a girl out?" she pleaded giving the young man a nervous smile.
"Sure doll," he smiled. "Hey fellas! These so-and-so's are trying to rough up the lady and my pal here." The man called to his fellow soldiers and they worked their way through the crowd to stop them.
Larry and Isis rushed back to the entrance to the portrait but a quick glance back showed that their pursuers were not halted by the men who wanted to teach them a lesson.
"We need to blend in, sorry," Larry spoke to her. She barely had time to question him before he grabbed her and bent her down for a kiss.
Her skin tingled, though not in a pleasant warm feeling. To be more accurate, her skin crawled. The kiss was more akin to accidentally kissing a relative on the mouth when you were aiming for their cheek. Her body tensed uncomfortably and she found herself hoping some soldiers were passing by; anything to get her out of this awkward situation faster.
Finally someone came to her rescue, but it wasn't who she was expecting.
"Anytime you are done, Mr. Daley," Amelia drawled out.
They broke apart immediately. Isis felt her cheeks burning as well as something within her. Rage, most likely. Isis brusquely walked back through the portrait, Larry and the pilot following after her.
"So, you are quite the smooth operator, aren't you, Mr. Daley?" Amelia asked in a cheeky manner. Isis chose that exact moment to slap Larry across the face. "Perhaps not," Amelia amended.
"Don't you ever do that to me again!" Isis shouted, the words hastened out of her mouth, barely formed, in her rage.
Larry didn't retaliate before they all saw the Egyptian soldiers rushing toward the portrait.
"Quick!" They hurried to turn the painting around and held it there hoping to keep them trapped. Thankfully it worked.
They ran along more rooms filled with other kinds of artwork. They had to hide behind a fountain from some French soldiers and then down more and more corridors. It was lucky for them they were running from their enemy in the biggest museum in the world as it gave them plenty of hiding places.
But the problem with running while trying to hide was that eventually you ran into those you were trying to hide from.
They were stopped between rooms by several French soldiers and a man that could only be Napoleon.
"And so, the little tiny man who could not be a smaller or shorter mouse runs into the claws of the giant cat!" he shouted in his French accent
"Wow, you're really hung up on the height, aren't you?" Larry asked.
"No, it's not about height, see. It's about the plan! A brilliant plan." Napoleon stated proudly.
"Snazzy maneuver, Emperor," Amelia admired.
Napoleon stepped up to her with a smile.
"Merci, Mademoiselle. Now, if your boyfriend and la petite Mademoiselle would kindly come with me."
"Oh, I'm not her boyfriend. Not her boyfriend," Larry insisted.
Napoleon looked to Izzy. "Then perhaps..." he waved his hand between Izzy and Larry.
"No!" Izzy groaned. "I'm closer to his son's age. Larry is more like an uncle or something."
"Yes, definitely no one's boyfriend," Larry reiterated.
Napoleon stood back and eyed Amelia appraisingly. "No? Just friends? Oh." The Emperor slid next to Larry in an instant and began whispering curiously into his ear.
Isis rolled her eyes when she overheard their conversation concerning Larry's relationships. "Bayonets all around and out friends in danger. What a wonderful time to have this conversation," she muttered to herself. Seeming satisfied, Napoleon brandished his dagger at Larry again.
"Now, this way, or you die." Napoleon shouted orders to his troops and led Larry away himself as one of the guards ushered Izzy along with a firm grip on her arm. She kept a tight hold on the tablet, clutching it to her chest as tightly as possible as she was pulled along.
"Wait, I'm coming with you!" Amelia shouted from behind them.
"No! Our fight is not with you." Napoleon shouted without so much as a glance in her direction.
They were marched along to a room whose floor was littered with numerous museum pieces. Sitting upon an arm chair in the middle of the makeshift dais was none other than Kahmunrah.
"Hello, nice to see you again. Now if you don't mind, I shall take that from you. Thank you." He wrenched the tablet out of Isis' grip and stalked away. "Finally. Finally!" He set the tablet into it's place and began pushing upon the pads. "After 3000 years my evil army of the damned, my beautiful, beautiful army, shall be unleashed!"
He ended his speech dramatically and everyone watched in anticipation as nothing happened.
"I'm afraid that Mother and Father may have slightly changed the combination on me." Kahmunrah looked embarrassed as he admitted this oversight. He pressed his fingers together nervously.
"I guess this whole unleashing-the-underworld thing isn't really working out for you, huh?" Larry broke the silence awkwardly. "It must be really frustrating, 'cause you've waited thousands of years to come back from the dead and everything and now you can't get it open."
"Fear not, for I shall wait a thousand more if I must."
"Good, 'cause in a few hours you'll be standing there in a frustrated position, frozen and we'll walk right out of here with our buddies and that'll be that. So, we've got all night."
"Really? All night? Well! He doesn't." Kahmunrah pointed to a bird cage containing Jedediah.
"Jed!" Isis exclaimed.
"Open that cage," the King commanded.
"What are you doing?" Larry asked.
"No touching! No touching!" Jed cried out as Kahmunrah made to grab him. Both Larry and Isis were blocked from going to their friend by Kahmunrah's guards. Jed squirmed and shouted as Kahmunrah grabbed him and placed him in an hourglass and tipped it so sand rained down upon Jed's head.
"I don't think he has all night at all, Mr. Daley. From the looks of things I'd say he has a little over an hour," the King finished with an air of condescension.
"Take me out of here!" Jed demanded.
"You were the guardian!" Kahmunrah continued as he pulled the tablet off the wall, stalking over towards Larry. "You know all about this tablet. You're obviously much more clever than the rest of us. You may or may not know the combination, but I am going to give you exactly one hour to figure it out." He thrust the tablet into Larry's chest. "If you do not, I shall kill your friends. And please don't think about escaping, for I shall be watching you."
"Look," Larry said pleadingly, "I don't even know how to begin to decipher this thing, all right? Really."
"What a pity. And your little cowboy friend seemed like such a charming little fellow. Ah, well tick-tock Mr. Daley. Your hour has begun."
"Hey!" Jed called. "You two got this. I know you do."
"Off with you Mr. Daley." He waved his hand about in a 'shooing' motion to Larry just before his eyes alighted upon Isis. "Oh, and I will be keeping the woman, too."
Thanks for reading. What do you think is going to happen?