Rick ran to the nearest tent and shouted at the top of his lungs, "She's gone! Ardeth's kidnapped Evy!" The startled Med-jai warrior, after hearing this, laughed and told Rick he must have been having a nightmare. The scene was repeated with the next two Med-jai he woke. Furious, he shouted in the poor mens' faces until they told him that Ardeth would never do such a thing. Yeah, I know, Rick had thought. It's not like him. But the fact remained that she was gone, and he had taken her. And nobody was listening to him. He decided to change his tactics. "He's gone! Ardeth and Evy've been kidnapped!" The response was immediate. The entire Med-jai camp awoke and within minutes was armed and ready to go. Rick didn't know how, or where Ardeth had disappeared to, but he had a pretty good guess. "They've been taken to Hamunaptra!" he shouted. The Med-jai warriors muttered knowingly and started off, giving Rick a horse only as an afterthought. He didn't like the idea of leaving Alex alone in the camp, but neither did he like the idea of bringing him to a cursed Egyptian city with a psychotic kidnapper on the loose. He followed the Med-jai uneasily as they made their way to the City of the Dead.

Evy's sobs echoed dully in the sacrificing room. Imhotep took no notice, as he was searching the room for signs that his priests could be resurrected. It would only work if the sacred incantations had been perfectly preserved on the walls. Unfortunately, Imhotep doubted that they had survived at all in the submergence of the City. Studying the walls, he could make out parts of the incantation, but- no, it was not complete. He sighed. He would not be able to complete the ceremony, which meant that he would have to kill this… Evy… by himself. It would take twice as long, but it could still be done; and he would do it, he would sacrifice Evy as he had always longed to do. This time it did not have the purpose of resurrecting Anck-su-namun- his train of thought was broken momentarily by that thought. Anck-su-namun. His living, breathing purpose of several thousand years. A false purpose, as it had turned out. He lived now only for revenge- what else was there? What else could there be… He almost didn't notice as Evy's sobs gradually died down. After a moment, he turned and noticed that she had sat up and was staring at him.

"What?" he asked out of curiosity. He could afford to be indulgent when she was about to die. "Imhotep?" she asked clearly. He could see her fright. "Yes?" he asked, a bit annoyed that she had not recognized him. She looked down. "Why…" She looked right at him. "Why are you doing this?" Imhotep smiled. All the victims he had smuggled into this room over the centuries had asked him the same question. He often wondered why they felt the need to justify their deaths. Perhaps it was out of misguided need to die honorably. "Why am I going to kill you?" he asked. He could see her shiver at his deadpan statement. "I have told you this before." He walked down the steps towards her altar. "Revenge, Nefertiri. I am evening the score." It momentarily amused him, his own use of that foreign phrase. He did not believe it originated from the Med-jai culture; he assumed it was the American's… Rick. Evy looked confused. Hesitantly, she asked, "What did we do to you?" Disbelief halted his progress. "What did you do?" he repeated.

Images tumbled over each other in his mind. The death of Anck-su-namun. The thwarting of her resurrection. His eternal damnation as the Hom-dai was performed. His resurrection and again failed resurrection of Anck-su-namun, and then his second death. His second resurrection, his defeat at the hands of the O'Connells, and his crushing defeat at the hands of his other half. His third death. "What did you do?" he repeated again. "You resurrected me!" he shouted, louder than he had intended. "You brought me back, doomed to fail, again and again!" Evy shrank back, frightened. "You brought her within my reach, only to slip out of my grasp! Gone!" he shouted, wracking his chest with the force of his bellow. Evy cowered. He blinked, and tried to breathe normally. He had not meant to appear out of control. Slowly, Evy looked up at him. "I admit that perhaps much of your torture is our doing…" she spoke very quietly, almost whispering. Imhotep opened his mouth to respond furiously, but her soft tone cut through his rage. "But… is it truly our fault… that she ran away from you?" She slid into a whisper on her last few words. Imhotep stared at her, unable to answer. "Is it?" she asked, emboldened just a bit by his lack of response. He couldn't answer.

"If I am not dreaming, then how is it that I see you?"

Ardeth was kneeling in front of Osiris, having instinctively genuflected in the presence of such omnipotence.

"I allowed you to view us."

"Why?"

Osiris smiled. "You are here by mistake, mortal. We have no wish to torture innocent souls."

Ardeth furrowed his brows. "How did I get here?"

"One of my subjects cast an incantation without our knowing."

Ardeth processed that. Slowly, he began to understand. "Imhotep?"

"If you mean the High Priest of Seti the First, then you are correct."

Ardeth hissed in frustration and rage. "Imhotep!"

Osiris raised his eyebrows slightly. "You know this rogue?"

Ardeth shook his head. "We have never met. But he has been threatening the safety of the world ever since my people began their protection of Hamunaptra."

Osiris nodded, understanding. "The City of the Dead. I believe that I have heard of his doings on the world."

"Then you understand why we must stop him?"

Anubis growled and took a step toward him. "We? Mortal, you go too far. We are not equals, to be assumed allies with you. We are your bettors, man. Make no mistake…" Osiris held up a hand.
"Peace, Anubis. This mortal is a part of the modern world… he has no reason to revere us as our subjects did… and do." The god turned to Ardeth. "You see, mortal, although our subjects are no longer a part of the topside world, they exist here…" His hand swept the fiery abyss around them, "…in the Underworld. We are still Gods…and we are still powerful." His gentle eyes turned hard and flashed dangerously. "And we will not allow this insult to go unnoticed. Prepare, mortal," he said, voice rising, "prepare. For in a moment, you will no longer be here, and neither will we." Anubis howled in anticipatory glee.
"And I will show this mortal Imhotep what the Gods are to him… and will always be!" Ardeth had no time to prepare himself as a white light flashed, and everything went blank.