"You want a plan this time?" Ardeth half-teased.
Rick looked at him oddly. That was very unlike him. Ardeth shrugged.
"I suppose we should take him by surprise," Ardeth suggested. "Kill him before he even knows we're there."
Rick nodded. "Sure. We can do that." He sounded like he was trying to convince himself.
Suddenly Jonathan comes running at them. "We found her!" he cried.
Rick and Ardeth moaned, prepared for the battle they knew would ensue.
Sure enough, Imhotep came out of the room, and Jonathan ran right into him. Immediately, Imhotep grabbed him by the neck and lifted him up. Jonathan strugged, and kicked him in the leg.
Imhotep bent slightly to the pain, and Ardeth took the opportunity to slice at him with his sword. Imhotep threw Jonathan at them, and Rick, Ardeth, and Jonathan all ended up in a ball on the floor.
Evelyn and Alex came up next. They had been in time to see Jonathan get thrown. Evelyn stopped. Alex didn't.
"Alex, get back here!" Evelyn hissed. Alex didn't listen. He walked straight up to Imhotep and punched him in the stomach. It did nothing to him. Alex ended up with the rest of them in the pile.
Imhotep looked at Evelyn and smiled. He ducked back into the room and closed the door behind him. By then everyone was on their feet. They tried without success to open the door.
"He could do anything in there," Ardeth stated.
"Like destroy the universe," Rick commented. He turned to Evelyn. "By the way, what does this mean?" He repeated what Imhotep had said earlier, as best he could.
Evelyn gasped. "He cursed Anck-su-Namun!"
Ardeth started. "He must want revenge for her running away on him."
"We have to stop him!" Evelyn cried. She beat on the door, but the stone made her hands hurt.
She put her ear up to the tiny crack in the wall. She could hear nothing. "What are we going to do?"
"We have to get this door open," Ardeth said.
"But how?" Jonathan asked. "You going to pry it open with your sword?"
Rick and Ardeth looked at each other, then tried it. It didn't work.
Suddenly the door came open. Imhotep stood there, wearing the jewel around his neck and a smile on his face. He spoke.
"Now will come the end of the world. It will pay the price for my love's rejection."
"That sounds bad," Rick said.
The two men tried to fight Imhotep, but he blew them off. Apparently he still had his powers, though they were obviously diminished with his suicide.
They seemed at an impass. No one knew what to do.