Larry was driving quickly, trying to find any sign of Zalaam, any clue to where he could have gone.
"He could be anywhere by now!" Lancelot said. "We're driving in circles and wasting time."
"He was the one who brought us to New York; I don't see why he would just leave," Teddy countered.
"So we wouldn't find him! That's why! He could be halfway across the world with Ahkmenrah, and we would have no idea."
"Can we stop the arguing and maybe help me look for him, please?!" Larry asked. "Maybe then we'll get something!"
He turned down road after road, hoping for something, anything at all that would tell him where to go, where Zalaam had taken their friend. The streets were still full of abandoned cars and random debris. C'mon, Ahk, where are you? He thought desperately. Where did you go? Where would Zalaam go in the city?
The moon was getting lower and the muscles in his body were getting tenser. He swerved down another turn and was met with flashing red and blue lights. The road was blocked off by a few squad cars, orange traffic cones and yellow construction tape.
"Must be an accident," Teddy observed.
Larry slowed down and placed his hand on the gear shift, preparing to back up and turn around. "...Wonder if the cops saw anything we could go off of," Larry pondered aloud. He put his hands back on the wheel, rolled down the window, and approached one of the officers. A tall policeman with a mustache looked at him. "Hi, excuse me?" Larry began.
"Road's closed. You're gonna have to turn around," the man said firmly.
"No, I get that, I'm just, I'm looking for somebody. I've been drivin' around trying to find a man dressed in a cape and gold skirt. He's got a crown on, he's like six foot-ish, olive skin-"
"Sir, given the current crisis, we haven't been able to get a good look at anyone. We were told to come down here and block off these roads, that's all. If I were you, I would get you and your friends here back inside and worry about your buddy later. It's not safe out here."
"Yeah, but-" Larry stopped himself. What am I supposed to say, that he was possessed by an ancient dead guy with sand magic? "Got it, thanks. Hey, um, is there any way to get around all this, err?"
"All the roads going this way are gonna be blocked off from here to the Empire State Building. If you live over there, you aren't gonna be allowed to get past. You're gonna have to back up and go the way you came."
"A'right, thank you." The officer nodded and Larry rolled the window back up.
"Well, it was a good try, Lawrence," Teddy told him.
Larry started to put it in reverse and back up, but he processed what the cop said. "Why would they block all these roads off?"
"Is that not normal?" Lancelot asked.
Teddy looked at him and seemed to read his mind. "You think Zalaam went that way?"
"Why else would they have all this blocked off? And with all the cops?"
"Why do you think he'd go to that part of the city of all places?" Lancelot interjected.
"I don't know. It's just weird. There's no accident or anything I see and none of the other places are like this." Larry scanned the area and tried to make sense of it all. He looked up to check the moon again and everything clicked when he saw it. He pointed to a large tower not too far away. "Empire State Building. That's what they're blocking all the roads off to."
"It's a big building," the knight observed. "Good place to hide, I guess."
"Gentlemen," Teddy began, "Didn't Zalaam say that he brought us all here because he wanted to see the city for himself?"
"You can see it all from the top." Larry's mind was made up. "That's where he is. That's why they don't want anyone there. He probably walked in and used his magic. That's why the area's blocked off. It's gotta be."
"Well even so," Lancelot pointed back to the police cars, "how are we going to get there? I'm assuming your technology doesn't allow us to just fly up there."
Larry sighed and put the car in drive again, knowing it was the only way past. "I'm gonna get arrested," he mumbled.
"Lawrence?" Teddy gave him a confused look.
"Hold on to something," he told him firmly. With that, he gunned the engine in a way that was fit for Jedediah. The tires squealed as he approached the road block. The policemen started to shout but got out of the way when they saw he clearly wasn't stopping. The car tore through the yellow police tape and Larry jumped a bit as the car flattened an orange cone.
Once he was past, he looked in the rearview mirror. "They're not following us," he said with relief. "They're probably too busy, they don't have a lot of units available to go after me."
"Well done, lad!" Teddy cheered.
"Now we've just got to get to this tower of yours," Lancelot added.
Larry glanced back at the Mirror in Teddy's hands and the feeling of dread filled the pit of his stomach. A small part of him wished they'd never found Zalaam so they wouldn't have to put Ahkmenrah in even more danger, but that would endanger everyone else. This is crazy, he thought. How are we gonna get close enough to even use the Mirror? We don't even know how it works! Does he have to look into it, or hold it, I don't know! How do we-
A loud bang was heard, and Larry jerked forwards. Teddy did the same and Lancelot was nearly on the floor. "I thought you had a seatbelt on."
"A what?" the knight asked.
Larry sighed and got back to the matter at hand. The car had stopped on a dime and a small sound was heard, like the wind almost. "We popped a tire," he concluded. "No big deal, we're just gonna...why isn't the car moving?" He pressed the gas pedal to the floor and heard the remaining tires start to spin, but the car stayed put like it was made of stone. "What the? Hang on, I gotta look at this."
Larry unclicked his seatbelt and got out of the car. Front tire looks alright. Back tire⦠A long spear was buried deep into the rubber...Oh no. The situation dawned on him too late. Shapes in the darkness walked closer, their footsteps inaudible. A few men made of black sand stalked closer. One had a bow and arrow, prepared to shoot, the other two were armed with long spears identical to the one currently in his tire.
Lancelot shot out of the car, sword in hard, immediately dueling with one of the spear warriors. Teddy ran to the battle as Larry snapped out of his panic. He raced to the car tire and yanked the spear out, quickly. The moment he turned back around he was face to face with a warrior who raised his own spear up. Acting fast he blocked the shot, surprised at just how strong a man made of sand could be. With his arms blocking the attack, Larry had no choice but to kick the soldier in the midsection. His foot left an imprint for a moment but disappeared quickly as the sand filled the space back up again. Larry's back was slammed against the car as the sand man pressed his spear against Larry's chest. To his horror, a second warrior came up and raised his own weapon into the sky, preparing to strike.
Lancelot's sword swept through the sand man's neck with ease then slid down its middle. He made quick work of the one immobilizing Larry as well. Before Larry's eyes, the warriors dissolved into puddles of black sand.
"They don't stay down for long!" Lancelot shouted, already moving to another soldier. "They just reform a moment later!"
"Lawrence!" Teddy yelled. "Take the Mirror and go!"
"What about you?!"
"Lancelot and I will hold them off! Unless you get to that tower and stop Zalaam, his minions are just going to keep coming back!"
Knowing better than to argue in a crisis, Larry tossed him his spear since the wax president had nothing else to fight with beyond his hands. Without wasting a second, he got back into the car and snatched the Mirror off the passenger seat. Because the car was immobile, Larry broke into a run towards the Empire State Building, taking a moment to look back at Teddy and Lancelot. Fear seized his insides as he thought of how much he didn't want to lose anyone else. For all he knew, he'd already lost Ahkmenrah.
The enormous building got closer and closer as Larry kept running. I gotta think of some kinda plan. Without Lance and Teddy, I have to figure out how to get Zalaam in this thing myself. How am I supposed to stop him when he's magic?! How am I gonna...oh God.
Under the moonbeams and lights on in the Empire State Building, Larry could see Zalaam's army guarding the tower. There were at least a thousand ebony sand warriors, all armed with bows, spears, shields, everything Larry didn't have. A few of the faceless men turned his way.
I'm not even gonna get that far, Larry realized.
An arrow whizzed past his ear and a few other men approached him quickly, spears pointed at him. Panicking, he turned the Mirror towards them. A red light seemed to emit from the snake head that was carved on the handle and one of the soldiers was pulled forwards, like it was magnetic. He disintegrated in a blink, vanishing into the glass.
The other soldiers paused for a moment but advanced again, quicker this time. Four of them held their weapons out and he took a step back. He held the Mirror up again, but the second he aimed it at one, the others made to jab at him. They began to circle around him, and Larry's brain couldn't put together a cohesive thought. He had no idea what to do with no weapon but the Mirror and not enough time to take all four of them at once. Another arrow shot through the air and nearly went right into his stomach if he hadn't moved out of the way. The sudden move made him lose his balance and before he even realized it, Larry hit the trembling pavement hard, nearly dropping the Mirror. The tip of a spear glinted in the moonlight as a soldier raised it over his head, prepared to strike.
Larry felt a rush of air over him as a long, skeletal tail swept the soldiers into piles of black dust. He rolled out of the way of the spear as it hit the ground. Before he could even get off his knees, he looked up to see Rexy lowering his head and letting out a thunderous roar, blowing a few handfuls of sand soldiers out of existence. The army retaliated, throwing their spears and firing arrows as fast as they could, but they either went between the dinosaur's ribs or simply hit bone and fell to the ground.
Rexy?! Larry marveled. But how the heck did-
"Dad!"
He finally noticed the young man on the tyrannosaurus's back. "Get on, quick!" Nick yelled over the noise.
Larry's mind was racing, but he didn't want to stick around and wait till he got attacked again. Rexy seemed to wait, obediently, keeping low to the ground. He got onto his boney, cold spine behind Nick. Rexy got back up, making Larry's stomach flip.
"Nick, what are you doing here?!" he shouted over the noise of the sand army.
"Kahmunrah walked into the museum with the Tablet and said you needed help!"
"Nick, this is dangerous! You shouldn't be here by yourself!"
"Who said I was?!" His son pointed behind him and Larry turned around. A wall of museum exhibits was running up to the battle. The cavemen immediately started to throw things and jump onto the sand people and the Civil War mannequins charged at them with their bayonets at the ready. Somewhere in the cacophony of fighting, he could pick out the sound of Attila shouting to his men. Scanning the ranks, he saw Teddy and Lance among the fighters. Larry was in awe.
"...You led them here?" he asked, still taking in the scene.
"They all wanted to come help you and Ahk!"
Larry was thrown to the side slightly as Rexy took another swing at Zalaam's army with his tail. He suddenly felt like a bull rider. Though he was still in shock, especially with Nick, he forced himself out of it. "Okay, here's the thing: We gotta get to the-"
"Top of the building," Nick finished, bobbing a bit with Rexy's stomping.
"...Yeah." Larry blinked. "And then somehow I gotta get close enough to Zalaam to-"
"Don't use the Mirror!" Nick shouted. "We got a better idea, one that's not gonna risk Ahkmenrah's soul. Here, help me find Kahmunrah!"
"What, why?"
"I don't know, he said to make sure he got to Ahk!"
"So he's helping his brother now?!"
"I don't know. I was gonna ask you about that! Do you see him?"
"I can't tell. Everyone keeps moving around!"
"A'right, um, you look left. I'll look right!"
Larry was surprised about the tone in Nick's voice. How confident, how in control he sounded. He did his best to pick out the Egyptian among the sea of sand warriors and museum exhibits. McPhee's car had suddenly appeared and was quickly tearing through Zalaam's ranks with ease. C'mon, where is he? God, it's like a high stakes game of "Where's Waldo?".
His father's khopesh tore through the black sand warriors easily as Kahmunrah did his best to keep heading towards the enormous building. It's no pyramid, he thought as he won another battle, but I suppose I should give it some credit. It's definitely where Zalaam is, though. At least he'd better be, or else-
A loud noise was drowned out by the fighting as his hat hit the ground. A stray arrow had knocked it off of his head. Just as he went to grab it, something collided with his back and almost knocked him forward. Kahmunrah spun around on his heels and brought the khopesh up, prepared to strike.
"Hold it, hold it! It's only me!" Lancelot lowered his sword and gave him a slight grin. "Bit jumpy in battle, aren't you? You've got good form, but it's not the best strategy to stab an ally."
"Watch where you're going! I could've killed you!"
"I know, you scared me!" The knight told him. "For a second, I thought you were - behind you!"
Kahmunrah turned only to catch a glimpse of a spear head going for his chest. A large sword tore through the sand warrior's arm and the spear clattered to the ground. Lancelot quickly advanced and brought his sword through the sand man until it was nothing but a pile at his feet. Kahmunrah hadn't moved, he was frozen in place.
"You know," the other man said, his blue eyes back on him. "You and your brother certainly get into a lot of trouble, at least from where I'm standing." Lancelot picked up the hat as his feet and held it out with a smile.
Kahmunrah grabbed it and replaced it where it belonged. "I would have seen him coming if you hadn't been distracting me."
"I'm going to take that as a 'thank you'." Lancelot slashed through another soldier and Kahmunrah dodged an arrow.
"It was bad form, It was going to attack me from behind!" he defended. "Otherwise I would have handled it. I'm quite capable of winning my own battles."
"Is that what made you come to help us?" The knight had a sneaky smile on his face.
Kahmunrah rolled his eyes and was about to keep going through the countless sand warriors, figuring it would be much more tolerable than the current company, when the ground began to shake under his sandals. Over the raging battle, he heard the sound of stomping and it gave him a chill. He turned around quickly and saw Rexy looking down at him.
"Stay behind us!" Nick shouted to them. "We'll get to the doors quicker! I'd say get on, but there's not a lot of space!"
I would sooner stand in the sunlight than ride this thing, Kahmunrah thought.
The dinosaur, which he saw now carried both the young man and Larry Daley, quickly began to run towards the Empire State Building's entrance. Its giant feet destroyed a few soldiers with each step and Kahmunrah made sure to stay behind its enormous tail as he ran after it. He quickly sliced through any sand man that got in his way. Lancelot was only a step or two behind him, making quick work of Zalaam's army.
"You know, it's almost kind of funny," the knight began. "Just the other day, you were being chased by a dinosaur, and now look at you!"
"I don't see the humor in this situation."
A gloved hand grabbed Kahmunrah's shoulder and he couldn't help but jump a little again "I see the Tablet made its way to New York after all," Teddy began with a smile. "Good thinking bringing the rest of the museum!"
"Well I obviously couldn't rely on the three of you to stop Zalaam," he replied.
"Is that why you tagged along then?"
"Is this really the time for this?!"
"I'm just saying, denial isn't just a river in Egypt."
"Of course it is! We were there!"
"Heads down!" Lancelot shouted. Kahmunrah looked up just in time to duck under the dinosaur's tail as it took a swing at the soldiers guarding the door. In one swoop, they were reduced to nothing but dust on the ground.
"Quickly, before they come back!" the wax president shouted.
They ran past the tyrannosaurus and got through the threshold, forcing their way passed each other. Once inside the messy, silent room, Kahmunrah started to look for some way to get to the top floor. Larry, having gotten off the dinosaur, ran passed them with his son at his heels. "The elevator's over here, come on!"
Having no idea what that was, he followed the rest of them and soon found himself inside the small box. Kahmunrah shook slightly when it started to move and, after making sure no one saw, placed a hand on the railing on the wall. He could hear a quiet song over the sound of everyone catching their breath:
"I want to break free from your lies
You're so self-satisfied I don't need you
I've got to break free
God knows, God knows I want to break free"
He looked up and saw the red numbers kept climbing: four, fix, six, seven. What are we going to do when we get to the top? Kahmunrah wondered. I didn't have time to figure this out.
"What floor do we need?" Teddy asked, breaking the silence.
"One-hundred-and-two," Larry explained.
Kahmunrah grumbled. The quiet returned for a moment and he tapped his hand on the wall, anxiously. We have to find a way to get Zalaam out of his body. But with his magic, I don't know what to do! Ask him nicely? "Oh, please, release Ahkmenrah, Zalaam. We promise not to trap you in this magic mirror after." He looked over and saw the Mirror of Wadjet still in Larry's hand. We can't use it until there's no chance that it will take Ahkmenrah.
"Okay," Larry began, turning towards him. "So, fill me in, what are you doing here? I left you back at my place and then all of a sudden-"
"Your little monkey stole your backpack when we got here and ran off." Kahmunrah pretended to get something out from under his fingernails. "I found him and the Tablet and got the rest of your little group together."
"That's how I got involved," Nick added.
"You were at the museum?" Teddy asked.
"Yeah, I was um, just helpin' out. Then everyone woke up and...here I am."
"So, you just ignored the message I left you?" Larry questioned.
"What message? Oh! That was you? I didn't even look. I was mopping."
"You know," Kahmunrah started with a sigh. "As much as I'm loving the game of catch up here, shouldn't we figure out how to stop Zalaam?"
"I thought you had a plan," Larry told him.
"Yeah, that's what you told me," his son added.
"Um, no. I told you to get me to Ahkmenrah."
"That implies that you know what to do when you get there, though," Teddy said.
"I don't care what it implies. The only thought I had was to get your little museum and find a way to separate Zalaam and Ahkmenrah so we can use the Mirror without fear."
"Well that's not even much of a plan," Lancelot chimed. "That's more of just...a general idea."
"I never said I had a-" He closed his mouth tightly and looked at the numbers again. They had just passed floor twenty-five. Anubis, give me strength. Kahmunrah sighed and tried again. "Okay. I don't have a detailed plan on what we are going to do now that we have gotten to this point. I'm asking what you four think would be a good course of action to somehow get Zalaam to release Ahkmenrah."
"Well, we can't just attack him," Teddy said. "He's too strong. He could easily make another thousand sand warriors and we're back where we started."
"If only we had something to tempt him with. Something he'd be willing to exchange for Ahkmenrah's safety," Lancelot stated.
"Do either of you have the Tablet?" Larry looked at Kahmunrah and Nick.
"No, I think McPhee left it back at the Museum," his son explained.
"...What if we offered to take his place?" Teddy asked. "One of us in exchange for Ahkmenrah."
"That won't work," Kahmunrah told him, matter-of-factly. "He has what he wants. Besides, that's clearly a trap. He would never leave Ahkmenrah's body just to take someone else."
"Then what do we do?" Nick inquired, bringing his hands up. "We can't attack him, we can't reason with him...what's left to do? Beg?"
The sound of the elevator beeping with each floor filled the air.
"I don't see any way around it," Larry mumbled. "We have to use the Mirror."
Kahmunrah's head snapped up.
"Dad, you can't!" Nick shouted. "What if it traps Ahk?"
"I did not bring you an army just for you to trap Ahkmenrah inside that thing," Kahmunrah growled.
"Well, what am I supposed to do?" Larry asked. "We don't have any alternative! I can't just let him take over the world and keep Ahk prisoner forever. We don't have anything he wants! Without the Mirror, he wins. At least if we use this, there's a chance he'll get stuck in it and Ahk'll be free."
"But then we are back to how you even get close enough to use it," Lancelot reminded him.
There has to be something, Kahmunrah thought, ignoring the current conversation. We cannot use that Mirror until they are separated, I won't allow it. What could we possibly use to get him to release Ahkmenrah? He has everything he was after. The only part of his revenge plan that didn't work was killing me! Which, given that we seem to be riding up to our doom, is something he will soon accomplish! I may as well walk up to him and... "You're wrong," Kahmunrah began, interrupting the group. They had just passed floor fifty-six.
"What?" Larry asked.
"There's one last thing Zalaam is after."
"What is it?" Nick looked at him with a hopeful expression.
"You're looking at it," Kahmunrah told him.
"...I'm not following you," Lancelot admitted.
That's no surprise, he thought. "In order to get revenge on our parents, Zalaam wanted to possess one of us and kill the other. He's got Ahkmenrah, and now he'll be after me. If we can keep his focus on me, that might give the rest of you a chance to ambush him. Once you have him, we may be able to get him to release Ahkmenrah."
"Wait, wait," Nick started. "So, you're just gonna get him to fight you?"
"Of course not, he'd kill me in a second," Kahmunrah told him. "But just the fact that I'm here when I know he wants to destroy me will catch him off guard. If I can just keep his attention long enough, you can make a move."
Larry was looking at him like he'd just spoken another language.
"...It could work," Teddy said. "We could sneak up on him. If we restrain Ahkmenrah's body, he might leave it and try to get to another."
"Then once his soul is out of Ahkmenrah we can trap him in the Mirror!" Nick cheered. Floor seventy-three.
"...You're sure about this?" Larry asked him. He was still looking at him oddly.
"Did we not just eliminate every other option?" Kahmunrah snapped.
He studied him for a moment before shifting a little "Alright," Larry said. "Let's do it. If you keep his eyes on you, we can get him from behind. Lance, when we get off, you go to the left with me. Teddy, you take Nick and go the other way. Once we have a shot, I'll give you a sign and we rush him. We have to keep him down until he gets out of Ahk. When he does, we have to get him in this Mirror quickly, or he'll just get one of us instead and we're back at square one. Everyone clear?"
There was a mumble of agreement and Kahmunrah leaned his back against the cool wall. He eyed the numbers and saw they were on floor eighty-six. I don't have a lot of time. I need to figure out how I'm going to do this. From the way he attacked me in the tomb in Egypt, he'll draw this out. He could have easily broken my neck when he had the chance. If I can just keep him talking somehow, that could do it. I just have to keep his focus...and not get killed. This had better work. Ra, please, let this work.
The sound of the elevator was like a clock, every floor getting them closer to the big moment. At floor ninety-four, he felt Lancelot's hand touch his shoulder.
"There is a word to describe what you're doing, you know," the knight said quietly.
"'Foolishness'?"
"No. 'Honorable'."
Kahmunrah looked at him for a moment before clearing his throat and staring at the wall. The elevator beeped a final time and stopped moving. The large doors opened with a shaky sound. Larry motioned to Lancelot and the knight nodded and followed with his sword drawn.
"Good luck," Teddy said to him as he went the other way.
"Umm...don't die," Nick told him before quickly following Teddy.
You're a few thousand years too late to be giving me that advice, Kahmunrah thought with a roll of his eyes. He took a deep breath and walked out of the elevator.
A/N: Another long chapter because 1. The story is wrapping up 2. I didn't know where to cut this and 3. quarantine. How are we all doing? What are your thoughts on the story?
ALSO here is a charity that's helping during this crisis: Feeding America
They're trying to make sure people who rely on food banks and food pantries (which are really being hit hard due to the virus) can still get enough food for their families. Please donate on their website if you can! And STAY HOME and take care of yourself.
(also also I may or may not be working on an original short story...)
