Nick was doing his best to keep his mind occupied as he walked down the quiet hallways dragging a mop bucket along with him. McPhee's right, this place did get kinda dirty. What kinda parents let their kid stick candy on the cavemen? I'm starting to get why he doesn't like little kids.
He dragged his mop along but paused for a moment. Sacajawea's glass exhibit was covered in handprints. Nick mumbled under his breath and reached for the glass cleaner he'd hooked on his belt along with a rag. Maybe we should put a sign on here, this is crazy. How hard is it to not put your hands on this?...Wow, I even sound like McPhee. What is going on with-
A small noise made him jump a bit. He looked up to see Sacagawea tapping on the glass, gently, from the inside. She smiled and gave a small wave, her eyes bright. "Oh, hey, Wea. Long time no - what the! You're awake?!" She made a confused face and pointed to her ear. Oh, duh, she can't hear me in there. Wow, lack of sleep is really messin' with me right now.
He assisted Sacagawea out of her exhibit and looked to see that Lewis and Clark had already started their nightly argument. They've been up for like, three minutes. What are they fighting about?
"Thank you, Nicky," Sacagawea said in her usual calm, light voice. "I'm a bit surprised to see you. It has been quite some time since I last saw you, hasn't it?"
"Yeah, it's been a couple years I think."
"You got taller."
"Yeah?"
She nodded. "What brings you back?"
"Oh, um, I'm just helpin' Dr. McPhee out with, like, cleaning and stuff."
"That's very nice of you. He's been rather overworked since your father left. Speaking of which, he, Ahkmenrah and Teddy must have returned since we are all awake again. Shall we go greet them?"
Nick looked to the floor for a second.
"Is everything alright?" the Shoshone woman asked.
"Uh, yeah." He faked a smile. "Yeah, I'm good. Let's go see what's up."
They walked out of the room and Nick tried to think on what he was going to say to his dad. I guess I just say hi and then see what he does? I mean, it's been a while since I blew up. Maybe I just say sorry and then ask how Egypt was? He's probably had other stuff on his mind with whatever that black sand stuff was. I wonder what was up with-
Nick had just rounded a corner when someone crashed into him, knocking him onto the floor. Groaning, he barely got a glimpse of the person before they got back up and ran off again. I guess that's why McPhee has the "No running in the halls" rule, too. He started to sit back up when a new voice called out.
"Nicky! Thank goodness we found ya!"
Nick looked over and saw none other than Jedediah and Octavius on the floor nearby. "Hey, guys, what are you doing-"
The sound of pounding footsteps and loud shouts cut him off. He looked over his shoulder only to be met with the sight of a red-faced Atilla and three of his men racing down the hall, weapons drawn. Without wasting a second, he snatched up the miniatures and got to his feet, putting a protective arm in front of Sacagawea and stepping out of their way. The Huns raced past them without a single glance.
"What is going on?" Sacagawea asked.
"We ain't got time to explain, ya gotta stop those Huns!" Jedediah shouted.
"Yes, Kahmunrah is not a threat to the museum at the moment!" Octavius told him.
"Wait, that was Kahmunrah? Ahk's crazy brother?!"
"Yeah, yeah, it's all messed up but ya gotta go after 'em! We'll clear it up after, promise!"
Baffled, he looked at Sacagawea, but by her face he could tell she agreed with the miniatures. Confused, he held the two men in his hand and started down the hall after the Mongols. Sacagawea was just a few steps behind him. Nick ran as quickly as he could, making sure the miniatures didn't fall out of his hands. He dodged bouncing kangaroos and nearly ran straight into Christopher Columbus. By the time he'd found the Huns again, they'd ended up in the Hall of African Mammals. Most of the animals had, thankfully, left the exhibit, but the remaining ones were even more riled up and watching the action.
Kahmunrah was backed against a wall as Attila raised his sword. The Egyptian held up his own weapon and blocked his shot, but that only angered the Hun more. "If you'd just hear me out for a moment," Kahmunrah shouted over their yelling, his lisp more pronounced. "I could explain everything, I mean there's really no need for - you don't understand a word I'm saying, do you?"
"Attila!" Nick shouted, breathlessly, pushing past the other Huns. "Attila, stop!"
"What have we told you about your temper?" Sacagawea added.
The Mongol's dark eyes darted towards them, his teeth still gritted. The long sword was still inches from Kahmunrah's face. "Attila, you need to back off, okay?" Nick told him firmly. "You know the rules; you're not allowed to kill people in the museum."
Attila shouted out some gibberish and pointed furiously at Kahmunrah with his other hand.
"Yeah, I know, man. I get it," Nick said, putting his hands up to his chest. "Believe me, I don't like him anymore that you do. I mean, this guy literally tried to kill my dad a few years ago."
"An' me!" Jedediah said, raising his hand.
"Whose side are you on?!" Kahmunrah asked in a panicked tone. Attila looked at him again and growled.
"But you can't go around killing people just because you don't like them," Nick told him. "C'mon, man, I know you're better than this."
"Attila," Sacagawea began. "I understand he has wronged us in the past, but two wrongs do not make a right. Getting your revenge will make you no better than Kahmunrah."
"Yes, and though we may not like it, he is actually here to assist us," Octavius shouted.
Attila's eyes met Nick's before flicking back to the Egyptian he had at his mercy. With a snarl, he sheathed his weapon and backed up a bit, muttering in his native tongue. His face had gone from red to more of a light pink.
Kahmunrah looked as if he was recovering from a heart attack. He straightened himself and looked at Jedediah. "If I'm not mistaken, our deal was that you would prevent that from happening."
"Hey, hey," the cowboy said, holding his hands up defensively. "I can't speak a lick 'a their language. I jus' figured if we ran into them, you'd have to talk to 'em."
"I don't speak Hun!"
"Well, I thought ya could! I mean, Ahk knows how to...lemme rephrase that."
Kahmunrah bared his teeth and made a move towards Nick, who still held the miniatures. Without fear, Sacagawea stepped in front of him with her hand out. She stared at the Egyptian with a look in her eyes that made Nick think of his mother when she was mad. "If I were in your position," she said firmly. "I would not do anything foolish."
Kahmunrah's rage became a look of surprise and he retreated slowly.
"Thanks, Wea," Nick told her. No wonder she and Teddy work so well. He opened his mouth to say something when footsteps marched into the room. A very pale, tired looking Dr. McPhee ran inside.
"There you are!" he said, catching his breath. "I've been looking for you. Have you seen your father? With everyone up he must be back now. I'd like to have a word with-" He looked around and took in the scene. "What's going on here? And who is this?" He gestured to Kahmunrah.
"A'right." Jedediah clapped his hands. "'Bout time we clear this up, 'cause we're wastin' moonlight. First, intros. McPhee, Nicky, this is Kahmunrah, Ahk's brother. Kahmunrah, this is Gigantor's son, Nick, an' Dr. McPhee. I'm assumin' you remember Wea from the Smithsonian." Nick looked at Kahmunrah, who didn't look overly pleased to meet him. "Now that that's taken care of, we got a real issue," the cowboy continued. "Y'all hear about that sand changin' color in Egypt?"
"The black sand?" Nick asked. "Yeah, McPhee told me that was where you guys went. Something about an ancient enemy or something?"
"Exactly right," Octavius told him.
"Basically," Jedediah said, "the sand meant that this crazy guy, Zalaam, was gonna come back for revenge on Ahk's family and try to take over the world. The catch was his soul was gonna have to possess someone's body fer him to do it."
"Possess someone?" McPhee parroted.
"So, we had to go on this crazy journey to find the Mirror of Wadjet, which could trap Zalaam's soul forever," Jed told them. Nick was doing his best to process all the information. "Thing is, if he got a body, the Mirror could take the wrong soul!"
"Zalaam rose up before we could stop him. His sand warriors are all over the city as we speak," Octavius jumped in. "...And he overpowered Ahkmenrah."
"What?" Nick and McPhee said in unison. Sacagawea placed a hand over her mouth.
"Ahkmenrah?" Attila asked, paying full attention now.
"Yeah, an' now yer dad, Lance, and Teddy are trying to find him and use that Mirror!" The cowboy concluded.
"Wait, but I thought you said that it might take Ahk instead of Zalaam," Nick said. His eyes were wide from the insane story.
"It can, but it was the only solution we had at the time," Octavius told him. "But now that we've woken up the museum, we think we might stand a chance of fighting Zalaam. Even with his magic and soldiers, we may have a shot at stopping him without risking our friend's life."
"And we're wasting time," Kahmunrah added, impatiently.
"Well, we have, we need to, to, to do something!" Nick shouted. "We've got to get the museum together right now!"
"Wait a moment, wait," McPhee told him, frantically. "Do we even know where this Zalaam is?"
"All we know is that he is somewhere in New York," Octavius chimed. "At least, we hope he still is."
"Well, we can't just parade the exhibits around the city, blindly!" McPhee yelled.
"But we must help Ahkmenrah," Sacagawea argued. "We cannot risk him being trapped in this mirror forever! Or worse, under the control of this Zalaam."
"And if my dad finds Zalaam first, he could really get hurt. Him, Lance, and Teddy!" Nick told him.
"Hey, wait a sec!" Jed shouted. He looked to the Egyptian. "Kahmunrah! You tried to take over the world b'fore!"
"...And?" he replied.
"If you were in Zalaam's shoes, where would you go? If yer plan was workin' and you had it all, whaddaya do next?"
"That's your idea?" Kahmunrah asked.
"Hey, it's all we got! You wanna get yer brother back 'er not?"
Kahmunrah furrowed his brow but was quiet for a moment. "...I don't know," he said after a moment. "If I was that powerful and knew I'd be successful...I suppose I would just watch it all unfold? I'd want to see everything fall into place, find somewhere where I could see it all. Does that answer your moronic question?"
A lightbulb went off in Nick's head. "The Empire State Building!"
"You think he would go there?" McPhee asked.
"Why not? When my dad took me to the top, we saw the whole city! He could see any possible attack from miles away."
"Jedediah," Octavius began. "Didn't that woman on the news say that building had been evacuated?"
The cowboy brightened. "Hey, yeah, yer right!"
"I think we just figured out why," McPhee conceded.
"Then we gotta get everyone," Nick said. His stomach was knotting up at the thought that Ahkmenrah was trapped once more and his father could be in danger. Every cell in his body wanted to go and go now. "C'mon, guys, we need to tell everyone what's going on."
By the time they got to the staircase once again, the museum had started it's nightly party. Music was blasting and everyone was either playing a game or dancing. Nick made his way right to the DJ booth, which was manned by a Union soldier. "Hey, I gotta cut in for a sec," he told the faceless mannequin. "It's an emergency." The soldier backed up immediately and Nicky got to work hooking up one of the microphones. And Mom and Dad said DJing wouldn't come in handy in the future. Once it was all set, he cut the track mid-song. "Hey, um, excuse me…"
All eyes turned to him and Nick felt a chill go up his spine. "Um, hi. Look, I'm sorry to cut the party short but we've got a big problem. An evil sorcerer has taken over New York and now wants to control the world as we know it. Not only that, but he's using our good friend, Ahkmenrah, to do it and a few of our other friends could be in grave danger." The exhibits got into an uproar, instantly and Nick looked around at their panic. "Guys, just, just stay with me here! We've got a plan. Hello! Look, ya gotta listen to-"
"QUIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!"
The shout of the Easter Island Head pounded on Nick's eardrums. For a moment, one could hear a pin drop in another state.
"Dum Dum Junior want to speak," the booming voice concluded.
Nick cleared his throat, his ears ringing a bit. "Umm...thanks. As I was saying, if this new enemy isn't stopped, Ahkmenrah could be trapped forever and we could lose our friends...including my dad," he added quietly. "So, we need you all to help us before anything else happens. We've got to come together and fight for our city and our friends! Who's with me?!" he yelled, throwing a fist in the air.
A cacophony of cheers rang out as the Museum of Natural History signed up for the battle. Rexy's energized roar beat them all.
Nick didn't miss a beat. "Alright, here's what we're gonna do. All of you arm yourselves and meet outside by the statue. I want the Civil War soldiers, the Huns, and anyone else with a background in battle at the front!" The Huns shouted in agreement and ran to meet their new brothers in arms. "Sacagawea," he began. The Shoshone woman held her head high. "You go gather anyone else who knows how to heal and gather supplies, okay? I want everyone who leaves this building to come back in one piece. Make sure to get the First Aid in the office. After that, grab your bow and arrows and head outside."
"Right away."
Exhibit after exhibit, Nick gave them their marching orders, building up an army. With each word, he felt a confidence rise up in him like a fire. They listened without objection, scrambling to their duties when he was finally through. He took a deep breath and watched what he'd done with a sense that he'd done well.
"That was real good, Nicky," Jed congratulated from his hand. "Sounded jus' like yer dad."
Nick's eyes widened at the comment and the hint of a smile came to his face. Kahmunrah cleared his throat and the moment was ruined. "I hate to interrupt, but we should be going!"
"Um, they're not going anywhere," McPhee interjected, gesturing to the miniatures in Nick's hand. The young man looked at them and gave in, handing them over.
"Aw, c'mon, McPhee, we wanna save Ahk too!" the cowboy objected. "Nicky, c'mon!"
"Sorry, guys," he told them. "You gotta sit this one out. Ahk's already in danger, I don't want anything to happen to you."
"And the Tablet goes with me as well," Dr. McPhee said firmly. Though he was the shortest of the men, Nick watched him gaze at Kahmunrah with ice. The Egyptian handed him the backpack he'd been holding, surprisingly without a fight. The man removed the Tablet and turned back to Nick. The young man flinched a bit from the determined look on the man. "Anything happens to my exhibits, I promise you will be sorry. Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir." Nick forced the idea of losing anyone else out of his mind.
"Good."
As the curator rushed off towards the Egyptian exhibit, Nick finally focused his attention on Kahmunrah. "Umm," He shifted uncomfortably. "I mean, I guess just-"
"If you honestly think I am about to take orders from a teenager, you are sadly mistaken," the man interrupted sourly.
"I mean, I'm not a teen, but...okay"
"Just keep your little friends out of my way and make sure I get to Ahkmenrah."
Without another word, he walked off with a khopesh in hand, towards the door. Nick ignored the man and quickly got down to the ground floor. Rexy was jumping, excitedly, like a dog who had to use the bathroom. "I know, I know," he told the skeleton. "I didn't forget about you."
The dinosaur lowered its head, expectedly and Nick quickly got on its back, holding on tightly. For a moment, a memory flashed by of when he and Ahkmenrah had ridden around on the dino, years ago, laughing and having fun. A knot formed in his stomach. "We're gonna go get him," he told Rexy. "Before this Zalaam can do anything else. And before Dad uses that Mirror." Or worse, he thought. Zalaam could kill my dad, and- He fought the idea off like the plague. There was no time for doubts. He sighed and ordered the skeleton to exit the museum. The exhibits were waiting in the moonlight, watching as he got in front of them. The moon was high enough, but he knew it wouldn't last long. "Stay close behind me," he shouted to the museum inhabitants. With that, the dinosaur began to stomp down the road, leaving enormous tracks behind him. Nick jumped a bit with each movement but kept his eyes on the Empire State Building, the top of which he could see clearly. We're coming guys. Just hang on.
"Aw, c'mon, McPhee!" Jed shouted up from the man's chest pocket. "Ya gotta let us go!"
The curator didn't even glance down, just kept speed-walking down the halls with the Tablet under his arms. "You two are staying with me until this is over and that's final."
"But-"
"Jedediah, for the last time I am not letting either of you out of my sight. God knows you'll find trouble, and from the looks of the city, there's plenty of it to find."
The cowboy clenched his teeth in his mouth. He pulled Octavius closer and moved the helmet a bit so he could whisper in his ear. "I say we jump for it."
"Jump?" Octavius parroted, his eyes widening. "That's quite a fall. We could get hurt very easily."
"Yeah, but I'm willin' to risk it. Look, all our friends are out there, and Ahk needs our help. I don't wanna see Zalaam take over the world an' know I didn't do my part to try to stop it, much less let one of our guys get hurt 'er worse."
"Are you certain we can't try to convince Doctor McPhee?"
"You heard 'em, Octy, he's not budgin'. We stay with McPhee, we'll prob'bly end up hidin' in the broom closet er something. But just 'cause he ain't willing to go fight fer our friends don't mean I'm gonna be stuck with him while everybody else tries to save Ahk. Ya with me?"
Octavius glanced down to the floor for a moment before nodding.
"Okay, on the count 'a three. One." He looked forwards again, trying to see just what room the doctor had walked into. It appeared to be the Egyptian exhibit, but the more Jed looked, the more he saw how different it looked. "Wait, did this place get bigger or am I losing my head here?"
"No, it definitely changed since we left," the Roman agreed. "Doctor McPhee, did you have Ahkmenrah's exhibit enlarged for a reason?"
"Yeah, you expectin' a new mummy, er..?"
The man raced around Ahkmenrah's empty sarcophagus and went to fill the space in the wall where the Tablet belonged. "No, we are not getting a new mummy," he said quickly. "Just thought it would be nice if he had more space with as much help as he is."
"...Oh." Jed shifted a bit in his pocket. Doctor McPhee replaced the Tablet and quickly got out of the room, passing the two Jackal guards on the way out. The cowboy was too caught up in his thoughts to remember his plan to escape. That prob'bly cost a lotta money. Kinda weird fer McPhee to do all that just to be nice. I mean, Ahk deserves it, a'course but...McPhee? Mr. "Don't touch that, it's expensive"? What in the world is-
"Jedediah?"
The cowboy snapped out of it and looked at Octavius. "Were you...still counting to three?" he asked.
"Hm? Oh, yeah, right! Umm...he's walkin' kinda quick, maybe we should wait till he stops fer a minute. That way we don't get hurt as bad."
"Good idea."
They waited patiently as McPhee made his way into his obsessively clean office and started to open the desk drawers, frantically. "C'mon," he mumbled. "Where the bloody hell, why can't I find them when I need to?"
The miniatures looked at each other for a moment before Octavius spoke up. "What are you searching for, Doctor?"
"My keys," he told them in a frantic voice. "I can't find my car keys! They should be right - I always - they always go right - I don't know why I can't find - my coat! They must be in my coat." He ran over to the coat hanger on the wall and started to look through the pockets. "Aha! Finally!"
"What's he need those for?" Jed whispered. He turned to see a smug look on the Roman's face. "What?"
"I told you," he said quietly.
"Huh?"
"I told you McPhee cared about us."
Jed widened his eyes for a moment but quickly brushed it off. "Aw, quit it, we ain't got time for that. So he redid Ahk's room while we were gone. That doesn't mean he's-" The sentence stopped all of a sudden as the chilly New York air hit his face and nearly blew his hat off. McPhee ran over to a decent sized black car, unlocked it, and quickly got inside.
"Whoa, whoa, wait a sec," Jed began, confused. "What are we doin' here, McPhee?"
"Oh, well, I just thought we should go out for a bit and enjoy the city," the Brit quipped. "You know, before it's destroyed. What do you think? We're going to help get our young pharaoh back and make sure others aren't hurt. What, did you think we were just going to go hide in a closet or something until this was over?"
"...Uh...no, a'course not." Jedediah shot the smirking Roman a glare.
"Well apparently everyone else did because they left without us!" McPhee said. "Now we're going to have to catch up to them." The car came to life with a hum and pulled out of the parking lot.
"You know," Octavius began. "I'm not usually one to say I told you so, but...I told you sowoah!"
Jedediah almost fell into the pocket as the car sped up dramatically. "Hey, McPhee, be careful! The city's gone coo-coo! You could get in an accident er somethin'!"
"I'm going to pretend you didn't just say that, Sheriff 'I wrecked another car'. What's the matter? Going too fast for you?"
Octavius snickered a bit and Jedediah looked at him again. "'Course not. Just surprised me."
"Good, good," McPhee said. The cowboy looked at his expression and saw a smirk on his lips. "Because we're going to have some fun."
Jedediah lurched forward, almost losing his hat. He watched as the needle on the speedometer kept climbing: fifty, sixty, seventy. "Don't ya think that's kinda dangerous?"
"Do you want to go help everyone or not?"
"Yeah, but I figure ya wanna do it in one piece! Yer gonna get in an accident out here! The city's gone haywire, everybody's goin' crazy."
"I do hope you see the irony in this," McPhee told him. He rounded a corner and the tires screeched under them.
"Won't the police stop you at this speed?" the Roman asked.
"With everything else that's going on in this city right now, I certainly hope a speeding car isn't their priority." Another sharp turn. Jedediah couldn't believe what he was seeing. McPhee raced past a red light without a concern and swerved around a bunch of debris in the road. They were going so quick it was hard to tell what they were even passing.
"McPhee, you lost yer marbles?! What happened to followin' the rules 'a the road and making sure everything's all safe?"
"There are times when you've got to take the rules and just toss them out the bloody window. When the world is close to being conquered and our friends are in mortal peril, it's one of those times."
"Whoa, whoa, that wasn't the attitude when I was breakin' the rules."
"No, it was not. Because you, Jedediah, never break the rules when it's acceptable to do so."
The cowboy opened his mouth to argue, but surrendered as he recalled all the times he'd crashed into something or almost broke something. "Guess ya got a point there." He rubbed the back of his neck for a moment before asking another question. "So, what's yer plan here?"
"You said he had some weird warriors made of sand?"
"Yes, we saw them on the news," Octavius told him.
"Then we're going to take them out and make sure the others can get to our pharaoh in need."
"Wait, so yer just gonna...run 'em over?"
"That's the idea." He nodded.
Jedediah's eyes widened. "Okay." He shrugged, not sure what else to do. "What umm...what can we do ta help, then?"
"It scares me that I'm putting you two in charge of this," he began. "But don't let me crash."
A/N: Hi, guys! I hope you are healthy and keeping as calm as you can be. Again, a bit or a larger chapter because, 1. What else can we do right now other than stay inside and read and 2. It was either I make this one long or the next one, so, here we are. I hope you guys enjoy! The museum is on the way to help! But will they make it in time?
Also, just due to everything that's going on, I'm leaving a link here to donate and help other people through the CDC: give/ways-to-give
Please help if you are able and take care of yourselves! Sending virtual hugs.
