Chapter 29: Epilogue


The trip back to Earth, as it turned out, was fairly uneventful. Nothing else was heard from Klaatu or Gort, and aside from the Gill-man's worsening health during the brief trip, and the difficult experience of re-entry, there weren't too many extra surprises.

Dobson succeeded in landing the ship in the ocean near London, and of course, the first thing she did was to tilt the rocket on one side, so that it could be used as a boat, and open the main door to let the Gill-man out into the sea. It took him several seconds to recover from his dehydration, but when he finally did, he swam off without another word to any of them. Adam had a feeling that it would be a while before they saw him again, if they ever did, but there were other things to worry about, because it looked like it was time to abandon ship, and head for shore.

Still, as for what to do after that, Adam wasn't sure. He still had the device that was keeping the power off, and as far as he could tell, it was still working. He might want Dobson's help in figuring out how to control it, just in case there was ever a reason to turn some of the power back on, but aside from that, he wasn't sure what, if anything, could keep their little group together. Imhotep had already gotten to his feet, and looked like he was about to head off, just as wordlessly as the Gill-man had, but somehow, Adam just didn't feel right about that.

"What are you going to do next?" Adam asked the mummy before he could reach the door. However, Imhotep finally began to smile at that point.

"I expect those aliens to betray us, and return. When that happens, I will still be here. However, in the meantime, I have every intention of returning to my people. Though strange, inefficient philosophies have invaded the land of Egypt, there are still a few who would wish to live by older ways. Perhaps I will gather them into a new kingdom of my own; a new nation, ruled by Pharaoh Imhotep the first. With my powers, I can walk easily among the people, talk to them, find out about them, and make them all my offer without any danger to myself."

For a moment, Imhotep seemed to be deep in thought, but at last, he turned to Adam, and spoke in something that sounded a bit like amusement.

"Just before we visited the sacred pool, I told you that we were the ones with the power; that we had the strength to guide the destiny of our people. Perhaps the people of my homeland will not find me such a cruel ruler, though I will not give them the freedom to engage in meaningless violence, as they have in the past."

Then, in just a moment, Imhotep had leapt up onto the top of the rocket, and soon, his whole body had changed its shape; twisting and dissolving into a tremendous cyclone of sand, which sped off across the ocean with tremendous speed just a moment later. Of all the members of their team, Adam trusted Imhotep the least, and yet, he didn't feel it would make sense to panic over the mummy's future plans. For the first time in his un-life, he'd participated in a mission to do good, and the patchwork man had some hope that that habit might start to rub off on him.

In just a moment, however, Adam had turned to face Nancy, and asked her a very serious question.

"What's Kong going to do from now on?"

Nancy looked a little confused, for a moment, but she must have known what Adam was really asking. Kong had basically been hanging around with her for longer than the two of them had known Adam, and somehow, the idea of taking him back to the United States, to be locked up in another facility didn't seem right; especially after all they'd been through together. Kong was Nancy's friend, and she clearly wanted better for him than that.

"The island where Kong used to rule is long gone..." Nancy said sadly, "I read the report on that. Still, there must be a jungle someplace where he can be happy. Maybe I'll find it somewhere in Africa or South America if I look. I trust him now, and I want him to be happy, but... Well, I know he can't really be happy with me, and I can't really be happy with him. He needs to be with other gorillas, and I admit, I've been trying to deny it, but I need to be with other human beings."

That comment surprised Adam Frankenstein just a little.

"So you're going back home?" Adam asked in surprise, although Nancy didn't seem sure of just how to answer that at first.

"I don't really have a home anymore, exactly." she said, "I haven't had one for a while, but I think I'll go back to the United States anyway, even if it's just to make a new home for myself, and maybe give myself the chance to meet a few good people. What about you? What are you planning next?"

However, in some ways, Adam felt pretty sad about what he had to say. He still admired Nancy a lot, and he would have preferred to continue traveling with her for a while, but he still had something else to do; something very important.

"I have the device that Klaatu used to shut off the world's power." Adam replied, "If Dobson will agree to help me, we'll try to figure out how it works, but I'm going to protect it from now on, and wherever I go, I'll take it with me. I'm also thinking of looking for some of the vampires who Dracula was responsible for creating, to try to keep them from multiplying anymore."

"I'm sure they couldn't have a worse enemy than you." Nancy replied with a smile, "You're awesome, Adam."

"What?" Adam asked, suddenly feeling a little bashful at having received a compliment like that from her, "Aw-awesome? What do you mean?"

"I mean that you're a real hero." Nancy replied, however, smiling in admiration, "It's always tough for you, but you're always trying to help people as much as you can."

However, Adam started to frown a bit when she said that, and at last, he replied "It's the only thing I can really do right now. I mean, I know what it's like to be selfish, and prey on people for greed and revenge. I couldn't go back to that kind of life."

Barry didn't seem to have paid too much attention to what those two were saying, though he must have heard Nancy's big, booming voice all across the ship. However, he'd just looked very deep in thought for the most part, and when the conversation between Nancy and Adam had gotten to that point, he got to his feet, looking a little uncomfortable. In fact, he looked like he wanted to talk to Adam about his own plans for the future when they were alone. He obviously trusted Adam a lot more than any of the others, even though none of them had ever betrayed him either.

However, in just a moment, Dobson shut off the rocket, and turned to face Adam with a very confrontational scowl on her face.

"Let me say something right now, Adam." Dobson said at last, "I don't feel the least bit happy about the idea of you taking that machine with you. I'd much rather keep it in a vault somewhere, and just bury it underground. Besides, the whole idea of completely giving up on electricity bothers me. I mean, I'm still a scientist."

"Well, that's why I want you to help me figure it out." Adam explained, "I thought you might want to find out more about the machine yourself, so that..."

"Don't give me that." Dobson replied, "You're not doing this to increase my knowledge of the universe. You're doing it because you want to be the one who controls the world's electricity. Don't try to tell me I'm wrong about that. You're being awfully arrogant, Adam."

However, when he responded to that accusation, Adam was starting to look very angry, and even Nancy seemed a little worried at that point.

"Doctor Dobson, when I was on that alien ship, I heard Dracula talking about how he'd planned to betray us, and how he wanted to sweep over the universe with an army of monsters. I could have gone along with his plan, pretended I'd never heard it, and just let it happen, or I could have exorcized him to prevent it. You could accuse me of being arrogant for making any of those choices. The fact of the matter is that this is what it means to have power and be willing to use it; every decision you make could lead to people dying, and if you can make those choices without any regrets, someone is going to accuse you of arrogance, but I'm not trying to be arrogant. I'm trying to do the right thing, and right now, if I let mankind blunder back into space again, that wouldn't be right. We're not ready to visit alien worlds yet, Dobson. That's not a choice I made; just a simple observation. I think that what just happened to us proves that. Wouldn't you agree?"

However, for some reason, not only had Dobson stopped scowling, but she actually looked like she was starting to cheer up. For once in his life, Adam's words had had the desired effect, and Dobson was smiling openly when she replied to him.

"I suppose you're right. When you've got as much power as we do, every choice seems arrogant and prideful. I'm still not comfortable with the idea of you holding onto that alien machine, but if you keep in touch with me, so I can find you whenever I need to, we'll call it even."

Then, in just another moment, Adam and Dobson were shaking hands, and the group was making plans to meet one last time in their old base; at the mansion of the late Lord Dracula.


Barry Hammerson had hung around the base when Nancy and Kong had started out on their journey together, and he'd continued to live there for the next few days, barely saying a word to anyone, as Stephanie Dobson and Adam had determined how the alien machine worked; a process that had required quite a bit of research and study. However, in the end, it seemed like Dobson had figured out its secrets, because she had a very big smile on her face after the first few days of work, and that was when Barry had stepped into the lab, where Adam and Dobson were putting away machine parts together.

"Excuse me..." Barry said, looking at both of them for a moment, and causing them to look back up at him, "Are you done?"

For a moment, Adam looked a little confused, but soon, he asked "Well, you weren't waiting for us to finish, were you?"

"Sort of..." Barry replied, however, "I mean, I'm not sure what you're doing in here, exactly, but it must be important... I didn't want to interrupt."

"No, that's alright." Adam replied quickly, "What's the problem?"

"Actually, it's not really a problem, exactly..." Barry said just a moment later, starting to brighten up, "The truth is, I think I've figured out how to repress the evil will of the werewolf while transformed. I changed once while I was on the alien ship, and I was still in control. Now, I wasn't at full power there; not like when I fought the avenger of Thoth, but I think if I keep my cool and do everything I can to stay in control, I should be able to hang onto my free will, even in my transformed state."

Somehow, Adam looked like he was having a hard time believing that, but Dobson didn't seem to question it. She just kept smiling, almost as if she'd been expecting him to say something like that. However, it was Adam who spoke next.

"I hope you're right about this, Barry. I've seen a lot of werewolves who thought they could control themselves in their transformed state. It never worked out well."

"You also said I was probably different from every other werewolf you'd met." Barry replied with a smile, "I'm pretty sure about this. Of course, I won't really have proof until the next full moon, but for right now, I'm going to head out. I may start looking for you again at some point if things don't work out, but then again, if they do... If they do... Well, if they work out, maybe I'll be able to start making a life for myself again. I think I probably shouldn't go back to Kelly, but maybe I can have a chance to be happy anyway."

Adam still didn't look too pleased with Barry's response, but he didn't reprimand him either. In just another moment, the two monsters were shaking hands, and Adam had a somewhat sad look on his face as he recognized that his other friend was about to leave.

"Be careful out there." Adam said, finally starting to smile a bit, "Don't give in to the evil inside of you, no matter what."

"You too." Barry replied, smiling back.


It didn't take Adam long to realize what Barry had meant by that. Every single person; monster and human had to fight for their lives against temptations and wickedness from within their own hearts. Some temptations were stronger than others, but on the whole, that wasn't really something that divided them from one another. Somehow, Barry Hammerson had managed to fight the evil within him, and reduce it to another mere temptation in his own life, and that meant that his relationship with Adam was changing quite a bit, because suddenly, Barry didn't need Adam as much as he once had.

Adam Frankenstein wasn't really sure why that didn't make him feel miserable. Some part of him had sort of been enjoying his time spent with Barry; teaching him, and being there to support him, but maybe it was like a father's love for his child, in a sense. Children started off dependent on their fathers, and in the end, became independent, which was just another source of joy to their parents. It was still a little confusing, but as Barry left the base one last time, and headed back out into the world, Adam didn't find himself feeling any regret over how things had turned out.

Of course, that only left one loose end to tie up, and in some ways, it was one of the most dangerous ones that Adam had to deal with.

"I assume I can just take the machine with me anytime." Adam said, and Dobson nodded quickly in reply, glancing off to one side as she spoke to him.

"I've marked all the controls on it, so it should be easy to master, if you ever decide to break your word and switch the power back on."

"I don't plan on doing that." Adam replied, "Still, I don't know what kinds of circumstances might arise in the future. What about you? What's next on your schedule?"

"I'll be flying back to my home very soon." Dobson replied with a casual tilt of her head, "I suspect it'll be under attack by vultures before too long, and may eventually need some input from me in defending itself."

"Vultures?" Adam asked in confusion, "What are you talking about? Are you saying someone's going to attack your home, to try to pick it clean?"

"My house is the only one left in the world, aside from this one, that still has its lights on." Dobson responded, "Of course people will try to steal my technology. I need to make them realize their place in that respect. When they understand that they can't overpower me, I can start doing things with them."

"Things?" Adam asked suspiciously, however, "What kinds of things?"

However, Dobson started laughing when he asked that question, and after a few moments, she spoke again with even more amusement in her voice.

"Adam, you must realize that without power, a lot of things about the world will change. It won't be an easy transition for the people of Earth, and I don't think too many major governments will survive as anything more than a skeleton of their former selves. I don't think that peace-keeping forces will be quite as effective as they were in the past either; especially after all those alien attacks."

"Essentially, what I'm saying is that I suspect individual communities will be hit the hardest by the economic consequences of the choice you've just made, and once their survival is on the line, there's going to be more division between them than ever." Dobson continued after a brief pause, "When that happens, each one of us will have a very good chance to establish a power base among them, for their protection, and our own. That's what I meant when I said I wanted to do something with them. I want to make them my own little army, for the sake of their own safety, of course. After all, with my technology, I could help several communities survive the difficult times ahead, and after everything I learned from you and those aliens, there's no limit to what else I could uncover."

For a few moments, Adam just looked at Dobson as if she were an alien herself. He'd realized, of course, that of all of them, she had the greatest scientific mind, but what he hadn't realized was just what an amazing tactical brain she had as well. It seemed that while Adam had been thinking about the long-term wellbeing of Earth and the human race, she'd been concerning herself more with her survival in the short term, and how she was going to maintain her power after all of that was over with. Both were necessary concerns, of course, but he'd mainly been ignoring one, and for a moment, he felt pretty bad about forgetting that. Dobson had been predicting the future to some degree; anticipating what the world would be like, so that she'd have more of a chance to control her section of it. However, in a way, that only scared Adam even more.

"Will your section of the world contain the people who laughed at your claims in the past?" Adam asked, looking sadly at Dobson again, but the toothy smile that was spreading across her face told him the answer to that question, even before she started explaining her plans in that regard.

"Probably. Still, everyone needs to survive, and if they fall into line, I can't think of any reason why I'd want to hurt them. I might even wind up providing their very livelihood. Isn't that generous of me?"

"Hardly." Adam replied with a sad shake of his head, "You're just doing it to one-up them. There's nothing generous about that. Something tells me you're going to revel in the power you'll have over those men."

"Maybe a little." Dobson admitted, still grinning broadly as she held her left thumb and forefinger up to illustrate.

"Just be careful." Adam responded firmly, "If you let it go to your head, you might wind up doing something you'll regret later. Taking care of a family isn't something that calls for arrogance or selfishness."

However, when Adam said that, a look of surprise spread across Dobson's face again, as though she really hadn't even considered that aspect of it. She'd been describing communities, nations, and people being dependent on her, and yet, she'd apparently never thought of it as a family, exactly.

"Heh." Dobson chuckled, looking at the floor for a moment in amazement, "A family."

However, she didn't say much more than that, before raising her left arm up, and pressing a switch on one side of her advanced bracers. Even as the blue fire rose up around her, teleporting her elsewhere, Dobson didn't say another word to Adam. She just kept smiling, until finally, she was gone, and Adam was alone with the alien machine; the burden that he'd accepted for the sake of the survival of mankind.


May 13th, 2031 A.D.


Bill Sheeran looked out across the fields of Nebraska through his binoculars, staring in amazement at the town on the horizon. According to some of his men, the town was called Oakesville, and it was much bigger and more populous than most of the towns in the state. A lot of people lived there, and as far as he'd been able to determine, there were a lot of children in that town. However, they also had one of the biggest barns that he'd ever seen, which probably meant that their town had resources like no other town around.

For a long time, the five families of marauders that he'd been leading had stayed well away from that town. After all, there just weren't enough of them to invade or rob a big community like that. However, Bill had finally succeeded in making a tentative peace with all eighteen of the other marauding groups in the areas around Oakesville. They'd all been suffering from a plain and simple lack of resources recently, and just hadn't been able to steal enough from the local towns to keep themselves going, so in the end, they'd all joined forces temporarily, in the hopes of accomplishing one big raid, which could get them all back on their feet.

Bill continued to stare at that huge barn, wondering to himself just what was kept in it. It looked like it could have held enough food for a dozen armies, and with any luck, he concluded, the army that he'd become a part of would find out what was in there soon enough.


The moment that the marauders had begun to gather on the horizon, near Oakesville, one of the lookouts had spotted them, and started raising the alarm. Immediately, men from all across town ran for their weapons and headed for the outskirts of the community, where the assembled enemy could already be seen; dominating the horizon. The sight of so many enemy forces was an ugly one. In fact, there'd never been an invasion attempt quite as bad as that one, at any point in the history of Oakesville.

David Chandler ran halfway across town as soon as the alarm was sounded, having picked up his weapon within moments of getting up. It hadn't taken him long to finish loading the weapon and run out to the edge of town. However, even once he'd gotten there, one thing about the situation had really puzzled him. He could look out at the horizon, and see the dark shapes of invaders preparing for battle. He could see his friends and neighbors, all armed and preparing to defend themselves as well, and he could see the eight-year-old Martin Larkin running back and forth among the crowd of people, handing out bayonets and extra powder. All around them, the wooden houses of Oakesville stood; virtually none of them painted, and yet, there was one important member of the town who was missing.

Quickly, David pulled Martin to one side, and bent down to ask him the question that must have been on everyone's mind, by that point.

"Martin, where's your mother?"

"The falls." Martin replied, looking helpless and afraid, "She always draws water at about this time every day."

"Well, I hope she can hear us over all that noise, because we really need her protection right now." David observed. However, for some reason, Martin didn't look like he really agreed with that. In a moment, he was shaking his head with a frown.

"We've got them outnumbered two to one. We'll survive."

That was the first time that David had really realized the truth about Oakesville, and the real reason why it had been so successful. The protection of Martin's mother had helped them to get started at first, but it was really her advice and guidance that had been protecting them since then. The large, unified families they'd had in Oakesville, the hard work they'd all needed to do, for themselves and for their neighbors, and all the time that they'd spent preparing to defend themselves, just in case the enemy ever attacked at a bad time. After all of that, if they still needed personal protection, it would be because they just weren't willing to take risks and make sacrifices of their own.

Of course, any one of them could still die in that attack, but it did reassure David a little, when he took a moment to remember all the adversity he'd conquered in the past, and all the support he'd gotten from his family and the other members of their community, to say nothing of what a nice experience it had been, working alongside Martin's mother in building and running Oakesville. Even if he did wind up dying in a battle like that, he wouldn't have changed a thing. His life had been full of suffering, but it had also been the stuff that legends were made of.

At last, the attack began, and the forces that had gathered outside of town began to advance, little by little, to within firing range. There was no way to tell how many of them were armed with guns, or how skilled they were at shooting, though. David just had to pray that all of his practice hadn't been in vain. Soon, the sound of the first shot being fired echoed across that town and the surrounding fields, but David still didn't fire back just yet. He was sure that first shot had been fired prematurely. The enemy still wasn't quite in range yet, and there still wasn't any real danger.

At last, however, the marauders advanced further, after firing several more useless shots, and came just within range of the town. That was the first time that David fired, and those around him fired as well, using the surrounding buildings for cover as gunfire was exchanged between both sides. It was one of the most horrible, ugliest things that could ever happen to a town like Oakesville, or indeed, to anyone. It was war, and it wasn't long before someone died.


Bill and his army had been so sure that they stood a chance at first; that they'd be able to just invade the town, and carry off its riches, but it seemed that the buildings were providing the town's inhabitants with much better cover, and as large as their own army was, the enemy was even more numerous.

He couldn't explain it. He didn't understand how a community like that one could possibly have grown so populous. Among the marauders, it was generally considered unwise to have too many children, because finding the resources to feed and support them was always a challenge. However, it seemed that the people of that town had been taught something a bit different. There were hundreds of people in that town, who were firing at them, and from what Bill could see through his binoculars, most of them were fairly young. Clearly, at some point during the last twenty years, someone in that town had gotten the bring idea to start having as many children as possible, and found a way to feed and arm them all. It was no wonder, Bill realized, that they'd needed to build such a large barn. Supporting a community of that size must have required a very impressive amount of space, just to store all the food they needed. However, even at that moment, there was one thing that he didn't realize about that town; that what he'd originally mistaken for a barn was actually not used to store food.

Even though the battle continued for a while, and the sounds of gunfire rang out across Oakesville, louder and more numerous than ever, there was another sound, gradually growing in the distance, to the point where even Bill was beginning to notice it; a repeated booming noise; at least once every second, which shook the ground as it grew louder. Finally, however, when the marauders in their army began to look upwards, screaming in alarm, and running away as fast as they could, dropping their weapons where they were, it became obvious to Bill that the fight was lost, even before he looked up himself, and saw one of the most distressing sights that he'd ever seen in his life.

There on the horizon, sprinting towards them with horrifying speed, was a dark brown-haired woman, dressed in green and brown, and every time one of her feet hit the ground, it felt like a miniature earthquake was shaking the whole region. She was scowling angrily at Bill's army as she approached, and the most discouraging part by far, was that she was at least fifty feet tall.

A couple of people seemed to have made the mistake of firing at the woman, but she shrugged the meager attacks off, like the bites of mosquitos, and charged into their midst, scattering them in all directions, and even kicking one or two of them into the air. Marauders dropped their weapons like flaming coals as they fled the scene of that battle, but the giantess didn't stop her attack until the gunfire had finally come to an end, and the enemy was on the run again.

Eventually, it turned out that dozens of marauders had perished during that attack, and their tentative alliance had been broken up for good. The number of Oakesville citizens who'd died during that small war had only been five.


The rest of the day, for the most part, had been devoted to cleaning up the battlefield and burying the dead, along with all the other jobs and chores that needed to be done daily in Oakesville, but somehow, it was all done with time to spare by the time the evening rolled around, and after dinner, most of the children in that town left their homes and headed towards the building that Bill had originally mistaken for a barn. In only a moment, the first of the children had started knocking on the door of that giant building, and soon, the massive door had been opened slowly from within to admit them. Right inside of that door, there stood Mrs. Nancy Larkin; formerly Colonel Archer of the United States army, and the sight of her home always gave the children a bit of a thrill.

Chairs and tables came in two sizes in that home; some perched on top of others, with stairs leading up to them; a design that Nancy had apparently seen somewhere else, and had replicated herself, when she'd first begun building her house. Inside, the first room of the house was the kitchen, with a big table in the center, and a large fire in a brick structure near the far end, which was gradually going out. The table in the middle of the room was over twenty feet tall, and the chair next to it was just as big. Perched on top of that table was another table; smaller and shorter, but with many more chairs around it, for the smaller people who were eating there.

Mr. Abe Larkin was sitting at one end of the table, all smiles as he talked to his children over dinner, while his wife answered the door. There were four children sitting around that table; Martin, the oldest, as well as six-year-old Kelly, four-year-old Daniel, and little Fred; who was still only about one and a half.

There were two other large rooms off to either side of the house; one of which had another fireplace, and the other was a bedroom. The rest of the doors in that house looked like mouse holes by comparison, though really, they were regular-sized doors. It was only that the fifty-foot mother of the house never needed to enter them.

"Hello, kids." Nancy said with a smile as she invited the crowd of children inside, "I wasn't sure you'd show up tonight, after what happened; especially you, Charlie."

Charlie looked a little sheepish when she said that, apparently not sure whether he was being scolded or not. After all, one of the people who'd died during the attack had been his own father; Wallace Dew. However, as uncomfortable as it was, it seemed that he had a reason for showing up, in spite of his grief and loss.

"Mrs. Larkin; I'm sorry. I just... It's really painful, what happened, but I don't blame you. I know you were just trying to help us, and you can't be everywhere at once... I just... I still need your help. I don't know what I'm going to do without dad."

Nancy looked, for a moment, as if she wasn't quite sure how to best reply to that, but at last, she said "When you're done grieving, we can talk about this a little more, but nothing I can say will really comfort you, will it?"

For a moment, he just looked amazed by her reply, but at last, he said "No. I guess not, but it might help if I could hear the rest of your story."

"Oh?" Nancy asked, finally daring to smile just a little, "Do you really want to hear the rest of the story? What about the rest of you?"

All of the other kids were just as enthusiastic, so after a moment, Nancy stepped past them and into the next room, leaving her dinner unfinished. All the children followed her quickly, eager to hear the conclusion to the tale she'd been telling them the night before.

The next room was a large, open space with a fireplace on one side, and a thick rug in the center. Some old books were also stacked up in shelves around the outside of the room, although there weren't any chairs in that room that were big enough for Nancy. For the moment, she just did what she always did, seating herself on the rug, and giving the kids a chance to sit down as well. Soon, when everyone was seated, Nancy continued her tale.

"Now, after that journey into space, we all came back to Earth in the same ship, except for Dracula, of course."

"Was that really it for Dracula?" one of the kids interrupted, but Nancy didn't mind.

"No." she replied, "We thought it was, but it seems like it's harder to kill an undead person than just exorcizing them once. We didn't see him again for a while after that, though, and at first, we all went our separate ways. Imhotep set up a colony of his own in Egypt, just like he said he would, and Kong went back to living in the wild. I didn't hear from him again for a long time. Barry became a performing acrobat for a while, and eventually managed to start a troop of his own. I think they're still operating in England. The Gill-man claimed that he lived in the wild again for quite some time after that, but I think he might have been lying about that, and Dobson actually founded a miniature country of her own, right in the middle of the United States; the republic of Ratia."

"What happened to Adam?" another of the children asked, and that time, Nancy's smile began to sag just a little when she replied to the question.

"He took the alien machine to somewhere in Asia, where he hid with it for a while. I didn't see him again until months later, and he never told me exactly where he'd been. I was setting up Oakesville at the same time, of course, though I didn't realize it. I thought I was just struggling to survive, and helping out a few other people too. I guess the thought of founding a new town didn't occur to me at the time. This was before I met Abe, of course, and I think that's about it. The end."

However, it was obvious that a couple of the children sitting there still weren't satisfied with that, and at last, one of them spoke up; a young girl named Lucy.

"That can't be all of it! What about the avenger of Thoth, and the medjai? What about Osiris? I mean, I thought they hated Imhotep. What happened with all that?"

"Yeah..." a little boy named Jason agreed in obvious confusion, "Didn't you ever have to worry about that? I mean, it still seems like a lot of other things must have happened..."

However, Nancy was already smiling when they started to ask those kinds of questions, and a moment later, she replied to them happily, glad that they were picking up on all of that so quickly.

"Oh..." Nancy observed with a smile, "The 'Egyptian Gods.' Yes, that problem did come up eventually, but that's another story..."


Author's Note: I may or may not continue this story one day. For now, this is all I have planned, so I may as well head off a few questions before anyone asks them.

First, this is definitely not a happy ending, but then again, it isn't exactly a happy story; just not angsty either. The tragic elements of the story, are, I'd like to think, similar to the tragic elements of life. At least similar enough to be taken as such.

Adam's choice at the end was a bit extreme, I feel. Honestly, I don't think I really agree with him; at least not totally, though there is something to be said for the notion that human technology has been used to do (and promote) a lot of evil over the last two hundred years. With some work, I think he could have found a better path of some sort, which didn't force him to take extreme measures like that, but I also don't see him as the type who'd put himself that much on the side of mankind, given his past.

I didn't plan to have Barry losing control of his transformations anymore. His struggle for control and civility is the same as the struggle we all face, and like all struggles, it's easier when you have the upper hand, as he now does.

Yes; I did plan to bring Dracula back at some point, more as an anti-hero than a member of the team, although if it came down to it, I think Imhotep would want to be part of the team again. He acts cold to the rest of them, but he clearly doesn't feel threatened by them, as Dracula did.

I'm not sure what else I could do with Dobson and the Gill-man. They're both compelling and powerful characters, and could have further potential, which is, I think, something to contemplate, and neither would be opposed to rejoining the team, though for obvious reasons, neither would be overjoyed at the prospect either.

Kong isn't coming back, but as for Nancy... Nancy would probably be the first one on board for another mission, and now the big question, which my brother asked me.

How could Nancy have a family? Well, if you must think about it (and I don't think you must,) then you could either just take my word that it's possible, since we know next to nothing about the process that transformed Nancy into what she is today, or else you could just assume that all her children were adopted. For our collective peace of mind, the latter assumption might be safer.

May you have a more fortunate future. God bless you all.