Digi-mummies

Chapter Three

The Connections

By Celestra (Les)

*grins in an overly perky manner* Yokata, I think that candy finally did some nasty damage! Luckily, Les hasn't appeared, and so, all Hell is contained. Don't tell her I said that! Anyways, here is the third segment to Digi-mummies! Oddly enough, I keep referring to it as the fourth . . . Hopefully this turned out better than the other chapters, cause I read them over and I feel weird . . . Sometimes it's hard for me to write dark, mysterious, action stories considering I write so much humor. Yokata, Major_Magic, humor me here. Yokata, don't hurt me, help me pester David!

The sun blazed hotter as the day grew longer, reaching the hottest point in it's solar energy at around mid-afternoon. Presley had shed his jacket, and many of the kids had taken off their gloves. Rath had been heard complaining about his bandages being hot and itchy. "Is the Digiworld always this hot?" He asked.

"Hey, be grateful! At least it's not snowing!" Kate retorted with scowl, peeling off one of her yellow gloves, which was made difficult by the fact that the glove was wet and sticky with sweat.

"I was merely speculating."

"And I was merely answering your speculations!" Kate was still prying the glove off her delicate fingers.

"Hey, chill!" Matt soothed.

"Gee, I would like to, but the weather seems to say otherwise!"

"I would like to shed my fur right about now," griped Lasdamon.

Gatomon had pulled off one of her tiger-striped, claw-like gloves. Grimacing, she saw an old scar given to her by Myotismon. Visibly wincing, she pulled the glove back on, deciding to suffer through the heat rather than relive her dark and painful past.

"I don't think we ever had heat like this before!" Cat said. "Good, I was thinking it was like this every day!" Presley said, mopping off the beads of sweat from his forehead, in clumps of damp perspiration under his bangs. His jacket tied around his waist, he fingered his amulet, slippery under his perspiring hands.

"Oh, look, I think I see something! Let me check with my telescope! Oh, I'm sorry, it's just heat waves!" Tai exclaimed cynically.

"No need to get sarcastic, Tai." Sora muttered, removing her hat as red hair curled just above her eyes, sticky and wet.

"The heat is coming up through my socks!" Davis cried. Joe groaned. "Put your shoes back on, Davis."

"But it's hot!"

"But your feet stink!" Mimi chimed in, vigorously fanning herself with a paper fan she had found in her bag. "Oh, all right," Davis agreed. "I'm burning my feet anyways."

"Mimi, I'm roasting," Palmon said, looking up sadly at Mimi with her emerald colored eyes losing their light. "I think I'm turning brown!"

"Oh, you poor thing! You wear my hat for a while; I've got my fans!" Mimi plopped her pink ten-gallon hat on Palmon's flowered head.

"Wow, thanks, Mimi!" Palmon now smiled brightly under the cool shade provided by the large cowboy hat.

"Do you have any other fans?" Armon asked Mimi politely. Mimi beamed brightly. "Of course!" She dug into her bag, pulling out another few fans. Well, not a few. She had brought out nineteen! She granted Armon one, than turned to the rest of the traveling group.  "Here, there's one for everyone!"

Nefertina gratefully accepted hers. "Thanks, Mimi, but why didn't you give us some before?"

Mimi smiled childishly, her hazel eyes going into a ^ ^ shape. "Well, everyone seemed to be coping with the heat so well, and seeing as I wasn't really cut-out for this kind of stuff . . . "

Many of the children stopped and sweatdropped, many with inane looks on their faces. Presley and the mummies, not knowing Mimi all that well, just stood in quiet confusion. Jakal sighed, as did Rath, although Rath's sigh was more a sigh of frustration, as though he did not enjoy the company he was in right now, though perhaps excluding Izzy from his annoyance.

Now, less complaints of the heat were echoed; everybody sounded sounds of relief as they felt cool air – cool air they made with their handheld fans – blowing onto their scorched and tired faces.

Joe rubbed his nose, which seemed to have turned red during the period of walking. He slung his bag over his left shoulder, his right shoulder dreadfully chafed from carrying it all this time through the blazing heat. He stopped to adjust the strap, while the group moved around him, quickly moving in front of him until he would have to run in order to catch up. He started to run to catch up, believing he was last in line, when sounds of coughing were heard behind him. 'Behind me? I thought I was the slowest.' He turned to look, hoping it wasn't Metalseadramon or a Nightmare Soldier who's evil was to an equal extent of Metalseadramon's, who's desperation to destroy him and the others would go as far as luring him away with false sickness to an innocent soul, such as Sanimon had done.

However, the being whose helpless coughs reached his ears was Kari. She lay on the ground, coughing till her throat hurt, Gatomon sitting by her expectantly as her friend and fearless Guardian, enduring the heat to wait until her child felt better.

Against judgment to just join the others and waiting for Kari to do the same, he went to her, already rummaging through his bag for something that might calm her ailment. "What's wrong, Kari?" he asked softly, praying for the others to come back and for nothing to attack while the girl was weak.

Gatomon peered up at him, her sapphire colored eyes looking at him hopefully. "She's got a fever and she was coughing for a while. I wanted her to sit down and rest to get her strengths up, but she said she didn't want to slow the others down and make them wait in the heat."

Joe smiled grimly. That was just like Kari, always thinking of the others before herself. He took a cold-compressed cloth from his medic bag, the coldness preserved by an airtight plastic bag. "I'm going to go get the others, all right? While I'm gone, you keep this pressed to her forehead."

Gatomon nodded, her eyes downcast. "All right. Just hurry. I don't know how long I can go while hearing her cough and suffer like this."

"You have my word, Gatomon." Joe hurried off, hoping to be able to live up to the expectations of the cunning feline.

Soon after Joe disappeared from sight, Gatomon turned and placed the cloth onto Kari's forehead. The girl exhaled a sigh of relief, her eyes closed lightly. Gatomon kept the cloth pressed to her forehead, noting the red flush on Kari's cheeks. She hovered over Kari expectantly, waiting for Joe to return with the others. She moved Kari over to a tree to add it's shade to the of the cold cloth.

She then lay down in the jungle heat and waited for Joe to return with the others.

                                                                  *  *  *

"Scarab? Scarab? Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Scaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarab!" Heka called, her red eyes desperately searching around for her master.

"Oh, how repulsive this place is! How I wish I were curled up at home with a bad book and a saucer of toilet water! Why did Scarab drag me here? He knows and I know that he could capture the Prince in an instant yet I'm here as his back up! Repulsive, I say! Although if he were here I could get him to bring me back so I could curl up and read and perhaps annoy Ammut. Revolting! Let me leave or suffer the wrath of Heka the Great! I'll take out the boy's throat with one bite for making me come here! Disgusting! Wait! I'm rambling! I never rambled with Scarab before! I'm a free snake!"

"Now that is amusing, Heka. Though I'm afraid that if you take his throat out with one bite, I'll take yours out with one claw. "Heka the Great"? Oh what a joke!"

Heka looked around, spotting Scarab standing off to the left, a smirk playing on his lips. She gasped.

  

"Wait a minute . . . How did you know what I was thinking?"

"I'm a sorcerer, Heka. Never underestimate me."

Heka slithered to him, muttering obscenities under her breath. "Well? Where's the prince?" she asked.

"We have to find him first, Heka! But I think I might want to construct a shabti factory initially."

"And what makes you think I'll let you do that?" Came a voice.

Scarab whirled around, his robes making a swishing sound as his eyes startlingly searched around. "What makes you think I'll let you go building things on my territory?" The voice repeated, miffed at the supposed ignorance of Scarab considering he lacked an answer as of yet.

"Who's there?!" Scarab demanded. "Tell me at once who's there!"

"You tell me! I asked first!" Out of a lake popped a head. An ominous head to those who were his enemies; Almost ominous to all. "Actually, I'll say first. Idiots have a right to know, and while you talk I'll make sure my ultra spiffy hair is at it's finest before I decide if I'll destroy you."

Scarab growled, his fist clenched as his other hand held Heka as a staff. He was obviously furious at being called an idiot.

"I am Metalseadramon, ruler of this sector." He glared at Scarab. "For not knowing who I am, I should destroy you."

"Please don't," Heka said, cowering behind Scarab.

"I am Scarab, sorcerer from Egypt."

Metalseadramon slowly nodded. "I do believe I've heard of you. From one of the Egyptian digimon, probably. Imprisoned by Ammenhotep for killing the prince, were you?" He laughed.

Scarab glared up at him. "I'd rather not talk about it. Anyways, did you receive any disturbances in your sector a couple of days ago? Perhaps a force entering the Digiworld?"

"Yes, that's why I'm here right now. I was checking for the disturbance. It was you, wasn't it?!" Metalseadramon said angrily.

"No, I traveled the digital way, through computer. I sent the reborn prince, as well as his mummy guardians here."

"Why? Trying to cause trouble for me?!" Metalseadramon's flashed maliciously.

"No, I tried to send the mummies here to separate them from the prince. Turns out the prince was sent along with them. You do know that by taking the soul of the prince you can obtain immortality?"

"How would that go by?" Metalseadramon's greed for immortality and power was making his voice go dangerously sweet. Scarab noticed this and decided to use it to his advantage. If he chose his words right, he would gain a very powerful ally. And when he got the prince and his power, he would destroy him anyhow.

"A digimon like you could not do it. You need a specific spell, and than only someone with very powerful magic could pull it off, like myself for example.         Now, perhaps you could allow me to make a shabti factory? Or possibly help me yourself? The mummies are very powerful and I could use some help destroying them."

Metalseadramon scoffed and turned as though he were to walk away. "Why should I help you? I am only interested in destroying the Digidestined. I have no time to help a lesser being." He started to float away.

"Wait! If you help me destroy the mummies and capture the prince, I'll help you destroy the Digidestined and I'll give you a portion of the immortality!" Scarab lost his confident nature, his eyes flashing desperately; his plans were certainly not going the way he thought it would be. But surely – Metalseadramon would agree to something like this.

Metalseadramon looked back, his eyes glinting mischievously. "What do I need part of your immortality for? Digimon are immortal as long as they don't get destroyed. And even if they do get destroyed, they get reborn in Primary Village. Well, they did anyways. Now that Primary Village was destroyed by us, no one else will be reborn!"

"What if you happen to get destroyed?" Scarab asked cautiously, his eyes regaining their old gleam.

"What?! Who could possibly destroy a superior being such as myself?!"

"Oh brother," Heka spoke inaudibly from the safety behind Scarab's long robes.

Metalseadramon turned to leave once more. "Discussion over. I'll find and destroy only the Digidestined. You just consider yourself lucky that I haven't decided to destroy you."

Apparently, Metalseadramon didn't know that Heka was with Scarab. Had he noticed Heka's presence, he would have responded quite differently to Scarab's plea.

As he stalked off, muttering about time-wasters, he failed to notice as Heka slithered out from behind Scarab, exhaling a sigh of relief as she did. "Well, I guess we'll have to think of a different plan of action, Scarab. And I was sooooooooooo looking forward to getting this over with. I don't believe I ever saw someone as spiffy as him before."

Metalsearamon turned, and he saw the female golden cobra coiled by Scarab's feet. His eyes widened. He went back to where Scarab stood, muttering to Heka, who shook her head in annoyance. He wondered what her name was, until he heard Scarab shouting, "Heka! How can you think that!" He coughed loudly, hoping to draw Scarab's attention – or rather, Heka's.

"I have, um, re-evaluate my actions for now and I'd like, to, um, discuss a plan of action or what to do."

"I knew you'd see it my way." Scarab hissed, his eyes glinting in an un-seen smirk.

Metalseadramon's eyes narrowed. "I don't trust you with a fair bargain. How about, uh, you?"

"Me?" Heka asked, perplexed that such a powerful mega digimon wanted to barter with her. "Well, okay then."

Metalseadramon drew Heka aside, watching in amusement as Scarab looked on impatiently. "You know, you're the first other golden snake I've ever seen. I'm willing to reconsider my decision about helping Scarab and you if it'll make you happy." He waited for her response.

Heka looked over at Scarab. He gave her a glare as to say," You make sure we get the deal or you'll live to regret it!" Heka gulped nervously and looked back at Metalseadramon, who was patiently waiting, looking at her calmly with red eyes. This was a big change from the regular way Metalseadramon; usually he was irritable, destroying everything in sight, thinking up plans to obliterate the Digidestined, and most certainly not purposely trying to help someone. It was not in his nature. But helping a beautiful golden serpent – now that appealed to him.

"Is that the perfection discussion or what? We don't even have to discuss; I'm offering this to you on a golden platter. What do you say?"

Heka looked lazily at Metalseadramon, contemplating his words. She realized that Scarab would now get what he needed to do his dirty work – and that this would be done sooner than she anticipated after hearing Scarab and Metalseadramon's previous argument. She shrugged as best as a snake could; having no shoulders and all.

"Okay."

Metalseadramon floated over to Scarab. His voice lost the placidity he used to speak with Heka, regaining his swaggering personality. "We've come to an agreement. I'll provide aid for you – but only because of her. You just consider yourself lucky that you have a beautiful and talented golden serpent at your side. Now, what supplies do you need for your, "shabti factory", as you call it?"

"Oh, oh, oh, you poor doddering fool; why would I need supplies; when I can do this!" With a sweep of his arm -      his robe sleeve swishing as he did so – he spoke some more strange-sounding words; they sounded sort of like the words he spoke in order to travel to the Digiworld in the first place. "Kometto Chikara, Dosei Chikara, Atarashii Chi Boku Ganmou!"

Nothing happened for a few minutes. Finally, Heka spoke. "Gee, boss, where do you dig up these reject spells?"  Scarab's eyes flickered over to where she sat coiled. "It takes a while to make complete buildings from nothing, and making them appear here, you know!" He continued to concentrate. "Ima!"

Suddenly, a tremor in the ground was felt. More quakes and shakes were present. Metalseadramon, who was already hovering, just stayed where he was, indolently looking around. Heka took her place in Scarab's hand as a staff, and Scarab himself just floated upwards with a simple levitating spell. A swirling grey mist eddied around, taking the shape of what seemed to be a rectangular box. More colors were traced into the mist, brown and black and yellow, and several others to name.

After a portion of the mist had finally vanished, the remaining section suddenly became solid. The now solid mist was in fact a building, complete with a large chimney and a bulky chain-link fence; even it's own little "Beware of Snake" sign.

"Is my spell still a reject spell, Heka?" Scarab asked impishly.

"Does it have a special snake cushion, Egyptian style?" She asked in disdain. Scarab nodded. "Then it's a first-rate spell!"

"What are you going to use to attack them with? I don't have very many Nightmare Soldier digimon that I will allow you to use."

"Silly, we will attack!" Heka giggled.

"Heka, you baka, even here we will have a shabti factory with are personal shabti-army!"

"Fiiiiiiiine."

"So what exactly are shabti?" Metalseadramon asked curtly, irritated by having Heka's attention drawn away from him.

Scarab allowed himself a smirk. He flicked his hand at the newly built edifice. The dark grey metal door opened, and out walked one of the lesser shabties, the kind dressed in blue, yellow and white. "This kind of shabti is one of minor kinds. It performs the simpler things, unless another type is commanding them. But they can still attack quite well."

"Wait," Metalseadramon said suspiciously. "You say that as if there are more forms like that."

"Oh, there's one more kind." The door opened again, and out walked another the shabti; this one dressed in purple, pink and yellow. "These kinds are more intelligent and obey orders more adequately. However, the other type have better attack power. So by using both types, I have the perfect shabti army to back me up."

Metalseadramon laughed. "If these clay men are going to be your army and will do your dirty work for you, then you need help."

                                                                 *  *  * 

"Tai! Tai! Come quick!"

Tai turned, his dusky eyes regarding Joe as he panted after his long run to catch up.

"What is it?" Tai sounded quite uninterested.

"Come quick; Kari's sick!"

Tai quickly lost his bored nature, his eyes widening in disbelief. "What's wrong?" His voice was laced in concern. He and the group stopped moving, Gomamon and Agumon both looking at Joe in mild concern. Elanna ran to Joe and Tai, her eyes gazing at the two boys. "What's wrong with her?"

"She's got a fever and her face is flushed; she's also been coughing and her throat sounds harsh with all the coughing!"

Tai's anxious face suddenly became angry, his fists clenching as if stopping them from clobbering the blue-haired boy. "Why did you leave her, all alone?! She could be attacked!"

"I left her with Gatomon; and I gave her a cold cloth to cool her fever! That's why I told you to come quick, remember?!"

Tai looked ready to argue some more, but Elanna quickly stepped in, her face severe because Tai was wasting precious time, time that could be used to help Kari. "Stop fighting! If Kari is sick, then we go find and help her! You don't argue with the person capable of saving her!" She yelled. Suddenly her face fell. "I'm sorry, Tai, I didn't mean to yell. But we should just go help, ne?" She left with Joe, the group running after Joe this time. Tai collected his thoughts, and ran with the others.

Elanna was running, and seeing Kari, sickly and pale, she stopped short with a gasp, skidding for a couple for seconds in the soft ground. She skidded right past Kari, and tripped over a small stone, landing on her stomach, right in the mud. Joe walked by, stopping quietly beside Kari and Gatomon, smirking at the muddied girl with his hands on his hips, his glasses slightly askew as he smirked on. "Gee, now I have two patients to treat!" He kidded.

"Very funny," Elanna said darkly, spitting out grass. Raimon came up next. "Why are you covered in mud?" she asked.

"Don't ask." Kate and Lasdamon came by next, Lasdamon walking right by Elanna, so that in addition to being covered in mud, one of her legs had purple fuzz sticking in the mud. "You did that somehow, didn't you, and because of what Cat did with the rain cloud?"

Kate smiled craftily. "Maybe."

"That wasn't me, that was Cat!" Kate's smile widened. 

Elanna sat up and began to pick the purple fluff off her pants. Kate gave a short laugh at Elanna's expression as she picked out the shaggy purple fur. She and Joe stood beside Kari, Gatomon, Lasdamon and Raimon. Gatomon's smile was wide, but her eyes were pained and she looked again at Kari.

"Elanna, you're so silly," a faint raspy voice said. Kari's eyes were opened slightly. Joe went to her, putting a finger to her lips. "Don't talk, save your strength." Elanna now stood up, brushing off the mud and leaves that clung to her.

Matt and Gabumon arrived now, TK following behind him, with Patamon in his arms as Cat trailed behind him, holding Foximon. Matt stopped short when he saw Elanna, covered in mud. He moved to help her brush it off. Kate laughed at his actions, seeing him trying to be careful when he was actually making more of a mess.

"What happened?"

"I skidded and tripped. Matt, I can do it myself, you know." Matt looked at her, and then went to check on Kari.

Elanna finally cleared off the majority of the mud as more kids, digimon and mummies began to arrive. Clumps of mud were still on her shoes. Presley stepped into view and looked at the pile of mud by Elanna and at her soiled clothes. "Not going to ask, don't want to know," he commented.

Surprisingly, Tai was one of the last of the stragglers to arrive. "Why haven't you helped Kari yet?" he demanded Joe, his eyes blazing, and his fist trembling slightly again.

"We were watching the entertainment!" Kate replied with a grin and a shrug.

"Hey!" Elanna protested in mock anger.

Tai took one look at his sister and laughed outright. "Gee, thanks for the support, Tai," she remarked sardonically.

"Gomen," he apologized. He turned to Kari. "Hey, how are you doing?" he asked caringly.

"Joe told me not to talk so I can regain my strength," Kari replied. 

"Then why did you just talk?" he joked. He turned to Joe. "What can you do to make her feel better?" he asked.

"Well, she should keep the cloth on her forehead and she can take these cough drops. Make sure she gets plenty of rest and she'll be fit as a fiddle."

"You hear that, Kari? You get some rest."

Kari took the cough drops and lay down to sleep. Elanna wiped a muddy finger on her shirt and touched Kari's forehead, her fingers resting there softly. "Sleep well, Hikari," she whispered.

Hours passed. Kate sat, her back against a tree. She sighed softly. When being in the shade, the heat seemed not so vigorous any more. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her binoculars, playing with idly. She was bored. She was more used to being active. She wished something exciting would happen. Not an attack or anything. Something good.

"Hi, Kate!"

Kate was startled. She had not heard this voice all afternoon. She wasn't sure if she should be hearing it now.

"Kari?"

"Yeah?" The smallest girl crawled into Kate's lap, her mild red eyes wide with curiosity of why the older girl was startled at her appearance.

"What's wrong, Kate?"

"Nothing's wrong, in fact, something good happened!"

"What?" Kari looked up at the pre-teen.

"You're feeling better, of course! I wasn't expecting to see you so spry all of a sudden! I wasn't even expecting to see you awake!"

Kari blushed prettily. "Well, I was resting before Joe even noticed I was sick. I'm not completely healed yet, but I can get up and do stuff."

"That's good. I was feeling like I would have to use my power to cool your fever down! Fire of Ice!" Kate joked, not expecting to have her power burst from her fingertips like before.

"Hiya! Fire of Ice!" she joked again.

Suddenly, a beam made of ice shot out of her outspread hands, coming from the middle of her palm. The ice shot out, and engulfed the tree in front of her. The tree became a block of solid ice. Not like frost, which simply covers the tree, but into ice, meaning any damage done to the ice would add damage to whatever was frozen. And then, the fire began.

Flames rushed up at the icicle-tree, melting it in a matter of seconds. Where a tree used to stand, there was now just a puddle of water.

Kate stared at her hands, than at the puddle that used to be a tree, than back at her hands in disbelief and fright. Kari's eyes widened in fright and surprise. She turned to stare at Kate, who stared back just as perplexedly. Slowly, Kari whispered,

"Kate, you're not supposed to have your power." 

                                                               *  *  *

"There! It's perfect! Don't you think it's perfect, Heka?"

Heka stared at the dark humanoid shape intently in the lab of Scarab's new building.

"What's it for?"

"This will be destroying the mummies once I find them."

Scarab led the shape by an appendage to what seemed to be a shooting gallery of sorts. "Now for some testing." Several pictures of Jakal were tacked up on the wall. The shape deftly destroyed each one.

"What will you do soon?" Scarab asked it.

"Destroy the mummies and capture the prince," it answered.

"Good, good," Scarab whispered, his eyes narrowing. "The worlds will be in ruins."

                                                                *  *  *

"-and it just happened! Popped right out and destroyed the tree! I wasn't even trying to summon it!"

Kate sat down with her knees hugged to her chest as Elanna leaned against a tree, her eyes hooded and her face grim. Cat, Tai, Izzy and Kari sat near.

"This isn't good. Our powers are supposed to be locked away; with the exception of Cat, Kate, Kari and Davis having to go through the tests to get their powers, but now you've got them and Gennai said they were locked away as soon as Kate found hers." Elanna said.

"This shouldn't be happening. It's an unnatural phenomenon and it isn't logical. We weren't even supposed to find them the first time, not until the ultimate evil arrives. And if the ultimate evil isn't Myotismon or the Dark Masters, than who can it be?" Izzy regarded.

"Are you sure you're not pulling our legs, Kate?" Tai asked.

Kate was ready to make an angry retort, but Kari cut in. "She's not, Tai! I saw it with my own eyes! There's the puddle! Look before it evaporates!" Sure enough, the puddle was still there.

Cat was looking strangely at the sky. "Something is going to happen," she whispered.

The six children looked around at each other.

                                                                 *  *  * 

"Go, my shabtis! We'll see if the creation is necessary!" Scarab commanded his newest shabti army, newly created in his newly created lab.

"You," he directed to an unknown being, "stay here until I command. You may not even be needed until later."

"Fine," the figure answered in an angsty voice.

The shabtis marched forward in the direction the mummies were by use of trackers invented by Scarab. Few purple-clothed shabtis led many blue-clothed shabtis. Scarab felt his revenge was very near. Metalseadramon had barely helped him so far, so if he gained immortality, what would he owe?

"This will be the very best day in my history!"

                                                                 *  *  *

Jakal sat idly, discussing the strange differences of the Real world and the Digiworld with Agumon. Jakal could only think of the pros of the Real world, while Agumon was arguing quite loudly that the Real world had way more cons it had.

"-in fact, the only good thing about the Real world I can think of is watermelon-" Agumon was saying before Jakal stiffened.

"Quiet!" He hissed.

"You just want me to be quiet because you're losing the argument-"

"Shh! I think I hear something!"

Agumon quieted immediately, instinctively raising his claws lest it be Metalseadramon. A rustling of the large bushes was heard, soft at first, making Agumon wonder how Jakal had heard it, but gradually it grew louder and louder. The climax came – a bush right beside rustled. Jakal stood upright in a flashed, his eyes narrowed.

Out of the bushes, came a shabti.

Jakal kicked it to smithereens, than turned to Agumon. "Go, quickly, find the others! Scarab is here and he sent shabties and they found us!"

Agumon nodded, though he didn't really understand what the fuss was about. Two more shabties appeared. "Go!" Jakal shouted. Agumon nodded again and ran off as fast as his stumpy legs could go, yelling, "Shabties are here!"

Jakal turned and found five more shabties. More came, and he found the total had come up to eleven, not counting the one he had already destroyed. Even more came. "This is will get nasty," he grumbled. "With the Strength of RA!"

*  *  *

"Hurry! Jakal said the shabties are here!"

Nefertina and Rath looked up from the conversation they were having with Sora, Davis, Mimi, Joe, Palmon, Gomamon, Veemon, Biyomon and Tentomon.

"Are you sure? I mean, did he say "shabties are ugly" or "if a shabti were here I'd kick it's ugly a-"

"That's not what he said! He said shabties were here and then this man made of clay came out of the bushes!"

Rath looked over to Nefertina, who nodded. "Let's go!" They rushed after Agumon, Sora, Joe, Mimi, Davis and the digimon following behind. They followed into the clearing and they saw Jakal in his falcon armor, single-handedly defeating three shabties at a time. But they noticed he was tiring, slowly but surely. Agumon rushed back to retrieve the others.

Rath turned to Nefertina. "Don't transform. You save your strength until we need it and I'll help Jakal." Nefertina nodded slowly, this being one of the few times where they agreed. Rath rushed into the battle, shouting, "With the Strength of RA!" He glowed momentarily, the shape of his cobra armor taking place. Mimi, Joe, Davis and Sora all gasped, awed at the intricate Falcon Armor and the elaborate Cobra armor.

Agumon suddenly showed up, panting and out of breath, the rest of the Digidestined and digimon behind him. "I brought everyone . . . " he said slowly, collapsing on the spot.

"Agumon! Buddy!" Tai shouted, running to his partner. "I'm so . . . tired, Tai," he mumbled.

"Rest," Tai said. He suddenly got a glance of Jakal and Rath fighting the shabties. "Their armor is . . . that?" He asked, disbelief passing over his face. He watched as Jakal spread his wings and flew upwards, taking out his bow and arrows and shooting the three shabties that had ambushed Rath. "They can do all that?" he asked.

"All that and more," Nefertina grinned proudly. "You haven't even seen mine and Armon's."

"When I heard you guys had armor, I was thinking lame medieval armor, not this . . ."

Sounds of running caused him to look up, and he saw Elanna and Kari, followed by Presley, Raimon and Gatomon. "Kari, you should rest some more!" Elanna was calling.

"Really, I'm all right!" Kari called back. Kari sauntered over to Agumon to comfort him, while Elanna stayed where she was, intense shock passing over her face. "What are those?!" She asked in a mixture of fear and shock. She turned to Raimon. "What kind of digimon are they?"

Raimon looked up at her human friend. "Elanna, those aren't digimon. I have no idea what they are."

"I do."

Elanna looked up at Presley, whose green eyes were narrowed with suspicion and disbelief. "They're shabties. There these clay men that Scarab makes. There not particularly dangerous, but they're strong and attack in groups that can range fifty and up. Scarab makes a lot in his factories."

Elanna was looking confused. "But in Egyptology, shabties are clay statues of men placed in the tombs of the higher class of Egypt. They believed that once the mummy was in the afterlife, the shabties would come to life and serve the mummy like a servant to a master."

Presley grimaced. "Scarab wasn't dead when he was put in the tomb, so why should his shabties?" His face softened. "Hey, how do you know that?"

"I told you, I'm obsessed with ancient Egypt."

"Watch out!" Raimon pushed Elanna to the ground as a shabti fired a blast of energy with his blasting scepter. Elanna quickly got to her feet, looking at Presley irately. "I thought you said they weren't dangerous!"

"Sue me, I lied," he said diving behind a tree as another blast narrowly missed his ear. He, Raimon and Elanna made their way to the others. "Great, they spotted me. Now they're not going to leave me alone." He growled. "Something's weird about this, though. How can shabties be here when Scarab isn't? You don't think he's here . . . " He looked over his shoulder nervously as though expecting Scarab to come flying and grab him.

Suddenly, Elanna felt a hand on her shoulder. "Ahh! It's Scarab!" she shrieked, running forward and stepping on Raimon's tail.

"Hold your chariots, it's just me!" Nefertina yelled. "You guys should get with the group, some shabties have singled you out cause you're alone and it'll be harder to get attacked in a group!" As if to prove her point, a shabti leapt onto her back. She grabbed it effortlessly by an arm and flung it calmly into a tree.

Going to the group, Presley smirked. "And you told me you had the Crest of Bravery!"

"Shut up." She mumbled. Arriving to the other kids, she saw the armor of Jakal and Rath. A thoughtful look passed over her face as she noted that Jakal's armor was that of the falcon, and his amulet was also a falcon. She couldn't think of any gods that were snake-like, but seeing that Rath was a scribe. . .  She looked over at Nefertina, who was just itching to get into the fight. "Can I ask you a question?" she asked Nefertina.

"Yeah, sure," Nefertina smiled.

"Do you have certain Egyptian gods that you worship that grants you the energy source to your armor? I mean, am I correct in saying that Horus is the patron god of Jakal and Thoth is the patron god of Rath?"

Nefertina nodded. "Yeah, that's right! You even have the gods' right! Horus is Jakal's patron god and Thoth is Rath's!" Nefertina smiled slyly. "Can you guess mine?"

Elanna looked at Nefertina's cat shaped amulet and smiled, knowing at once who hers was. "Yours is Bastet!"

"Right! Here's a tricky one. Can you guess Armon's?"

Elanna's brow furrowed as she tapped her cheek with a finger. She remembered that Armon's amulet was in the shape of a ram. Her face brightened.

"Is Armon's patron god Khnumn?"

"Yep!"

Elanna turned to Presley. "Do you have armor too?"

"Me? Nah."

Presley suddenly became more interested in watching the battle. He watched as Rath drew his sword and slashed through five shabties at a time. He watched as Jakal flew up in the air and dove towards a shabti, shattering it. He was forced to watch in turn as a shabti clubbed Rath in the head, making him stumble. Rath kicked the shabti hard, destroying it while holding his head, but another shabti hit him in the back of his legs, causing him to fall over. He tried to get up, but the shabti dealt him the final blow – a blast with the scepter. Rath's armor disappeared, leaving him vulnerable to shabti attacks. 

"Rath!" He shouted, running to the fallen mummy. "Wait!" Armon held on his shoulder. "Presley, I thought you knew enough to stay away from shabties!" He nodded to Nefertina, who ran to help Rath. Rath mumbled and tried to get up, but the end of the scepter was right in his face. Well, it was until Nefertina kicked it away, than kicked the shabti in the groin. Had the shabti been a human, it would have hurt a lot.

Nefertina clenched her teeth. It would have been so much better to transform, but she knew she mustn't. Where there were shabties there was Scarab. Jakal was suddenly shot from the sky with a blast from a scepter. He returned in his mummy form.

The digimon hadn't attacked yet on account of an order from Jakal. Now it looked like they would have to, even though they didn't know that the shabties were . . . shabties.

'If only I could transform . . . but I'll to explain about the shabties so they'll have a chance!' Nefertina thought angrily.

"So . . . what are they?" Palmon asked, her emerald green eyes flickered to where the shabties were fighting with Jakal. His strength wasn't gone yet, even if he was in mummy form.

"Those," Nefertina explained, "are called shabties. They're servants of Scarab, and they're made by him in his plants. They can be pretty dangerous at times, so I don't know if any one but experienced fighters of them can do that much damage to Scarab's servants. At water they simply dissolve, but Kate's puddle has long but evaporated." She joked.

Jakal was lying on the ground near Rath, out of commission after a nasty punch from a shabti. "Take the prince and run," he croaked. "I never run from a fight!" Nefertina spat.

The shabties began to surround the two remaining mummies, Presley, the Digidestined and the Digimon. Sora glanced around fearfully. There many more shabties than there were of them, she noticed. She moved fearfully towards Tai, watching in terror as one of the shabties took aim at her with his scepter. She suddenly realized, in horror, that she was its target. Tai noticed this. "Sora!" He pushed her to the ground, feeling the pulsating blast above his head.

"Are you okay?" he asked. Shaken, Sora nodded. The group moved closer together as the shabties stalked closer. " I have to transform, Jakal!" Nefertina yelled. "No!" he called back. "You need to save your strength in case Scarab shows up!" Nefertina growled. "You know he's right," Armon said.

"Why not let us digimon take care of them?" Veemon asked, tensing his muscles. "You probably could. . . even normal people can destroy them with kicks and stuff . . . but not for long, anyhow."

"Wait. . . you said they dissolve at water, right?" Gomamon asked.

Armon nodded, his eyes on the approaching shabties.

Gomamon winked at Raimon. "Let's go!"

Gatomon rushed towards them. "Lightning Claw!" Gatomon's claw shattered an approaching shabti. "Barely scratched him," she said.

Lasdamon followed suite. "Rainbow Claw!" Her attack was similar, although she left rainbow colored marks there, collapsing the shabti.

"Marching Fishes!" Fish appeared from nowhere, water spouting from their mouths. The from the forty or so fishes sprayed about seventy or so shabties, destroying half of their numbers, but where each shabti was destroyed, tow came in its place.

"Watericity!" Raimon's water attack spiraled down towards six shabties, electricity crackling along with it. The shabties dissolved, but the electricity went on, crackling around the shabties until they exploded. Izzy shielded his eyes as the bits rock and clay flew everywhere, hitting his body and landing in his hair.

"Spiral Twister!"

"Blue Blaster!"

"Electro Shocker!"

"Fire Fox Paws!"

"Vee Head Butt!"

"Boom Bubble!"

Even Agumon managed a weak, "Pepper Breath!" "Wow! Digimon can do all that?" Presley asked in amazement. "All that and more!" TK said proudly.

Elanna kicked a shabti away from her, watching it crumble. "Wait till you see them digivolve!" She smiled. Suddenly, her expression changed. "Watch it!" She swung her leg in a roundhouse kick, kicking a shabti in the head as it made a grab for Presley.

"How about you watch it," Kate muttered, diving towards Elanna and heaving her out of the way as another shabti swiped a rock-hard hand towards her head.

"We can't go on like this!" grunted Cat, slapping a shabti across the face when it reached for her. Its head snapped upwards and off. "The digimon are tiring, and Rath and Jakal are still too tired to fight! Plus, they still keep coming!" Foximon tried to take on another shabti, but it kicked her into a tree. "Oh no! Foximon!" Cat ran off to aid her digimon.

"Don't give up hope, guys!" Matt grunted, punching a shabti twice and topping it off with a flashy knee-to-chin. He panted after finishing his combo. "Let's keep it up! For the mummies!" Nefertina felt a blush creep up into her dead cheeks.

Suddenly, a shabti from behind Matt lifted him off his feet and threw him to the ground. "Matt!" TK called, rushing off to assist his brother. Most of the digimon were now too tired to fight. The digidestined now had to fight using there own strengths.

"There . . .  must . . . be a way . . . to destroy them all . . . with one blow!" Elanna grunted as a shabti hefted her off her feet. "Let go of her, you!" Tai shouted, his foot connecting with the shabti's head with a bone-crunching clunk. Elanna dropped to all fours a gasped, as she was aided into standing by Armon.

"Let . . . go!" Kate grunted. She was being held in chokehold by the shabti.

"Hey!" Davis kicked the shabti in the shins. Luckily, he dropped Kate. Unluckily, the shabti dropped Kate onto Davis. "Ouch! Kate, you're heavy!"

"Say that again and I'll knock your teeth out."

"There's a way to get rid of them all, I know it!" Cat cried.

"If you're talking about our powers, Cat, than think again! Our powers are locked away and we won't get them again until the ultimate evil arrives, and if I recall correctly, Gennai said we weren't going to get them any time soon!" Izzy shouted.

"There has to be a way." Elanna said, her hand by her heart, resting on top of her crest. Her eyes closed lightly.

"There has to." Presley almost seemed to mimic her action, his hand on his heart, although his hand was resting on his amulet, over his heart. His eyes also closed. But a faint turquoise light caused him open them. "Elanna . . . you crest . . ."

Elanna opened her eyes. They flickered downwards  to her crest, which glowing with a faint turquoise light. She looked at Presley, then she gasped. "My crest?! Look at your amulet!" Presley's eyes flitted downwards towards his amulet, which was bathed in a faint golden light. Twin gasps sounded from the two of them. All the others looked and gasped, including Jakal and Rath, who still lay. Even the shabties paused in their actions and regarding the two glowing charms.

Presley's eyes rolled back in their sockets. Elanna's did two. A strong windy mist whistled around them, ruffling their hair. Elanna let out a groan as she felt a faint presence in her mind. Their eyes turned back to normal – almost. For a brief instant, Elanna's eyes were the emerald green shade that Presley's was. However, Presley's eyes were the soft blue Elanna's were. Both blinked at the exact same time, and the green appeared once more in Presley's eyes while the blue crept back into Elanna's eyes.

The windy mist was still there, but now it began to spin around like a mini tornado. Many of the kids and digimon began to slip or lose their footing, and Nefertina and Armon had to hold onto Jakal and Rath to keep them from blowing away in the gale. Some of the shabties did lose their footing, but Presley and Elanna didn't even flinch. They faced each other, their eyes staring straight at each other, not noticing the wind. It was as if they were rooted to the ground. Not even their hair was blowing anymore.

Unexpectedly, a bright flash of silver light flared, blinding everyone who dared to look upon it. Everybody immediately covered his or her eyes. Once the light had dimmed into nothingness, everyone couldn't help but notice the lack of presences – all the shabties were gone. The windstorm hadn't completely gone away, but it gradually leaving. Things still spun around. A small sharp rock – a broken piece of shabti – hit Presley sharply on his left wrist.

Izzy noticed this. "Presley, are you okay?"

"Ouch!" Elanna clutched at her left wrist, and in the same sport where Presley was hit, there was an angry red mark. Izzy could see that Presley had an identical welt. Something in his mind clicked. It was a long shot, he knew that. He heard a case like that only once before. But it fit. He picked up his laptop, which had fallen, even though he knew he didn't have to use it. This theory came straight from thought.

"What just happened?" Elanna asked weakly. "The eyes, the winds, everything, what happened?" Izzy blinked. He knew this was time to tell the others his hypothesis. He walked slowly towards the others.

"Guys, I think I have a theory."  

The end! Of chapter 3 that is! Yokata, you know all of the hidden stuff here; the eyes, the teeth, etc. Maj, I'll talk to you more later. Yokata, I know you're going to hurt me for stopping it here, so leave me alone and I'll work on the next chapter. I hope this chapter amounts to the others, and I hope it was better, so off you go, review, click the button, and I'll receive your comments, constructive criticism, and flames. (hopefully not flames) Ja, baby!