Rating: PG13 prolly eventually
Author: Angel - http://www.geocities.com/ninthsaturn
Summary: The ending of the Scorpion King changed and expanded upon. The O'Connells meet up with some strange people that look very familiar. Almost too familiar.
Disclaimer: I don't own The Mummy or it's characters. But I would give a whole heck of a bunch to own Imhotep and Ardeth. ;-)
*
"Please, don't argue with me," Alannah said firmly, her dark eyes glinting in the falling sun. Her hands rested on her hips in an agressive stance as she stared her priest down. She seemed quite firm in her resolve, so Evy thought as she and Rick cuddled together against the vehicle where her brother lay. There had been no change and Evy found that if she put her mind elsewhere, it would ease her fears concerning him. So she and Rick eavesdropped.
Imhotep wasn't going to take Ardeth and Jonathan back to the future and that was just final. He wouldn't hear of it. "Michael is better equipped to handle the people of your time than I. Send him."
The couple was around the other side of the SUV, but Evy and Rick could hear well enough. They could tell Alannah was starting to get upset. "Imhotep, you must go. Please, listen to me this time. If the Scorpion King kills you then a part of me will die with you."
"Disgusting," Rick whispered, kissing his wife on the cheek afterwards. "Do you find that monster attractive?"
Seeing an opportunity, Evy batted her eyelashes prettily and glanced over where the younger Imhotep sat, talking with - of all people - Alex. "Absolutely. Look at that golden skin and his eyes." She grinned up at Rick.
The ex-Legionnaire exhaled softly and nodded in an accepting manner. "Yeah, I suppose it was inevitable."
Evy arched one of her eyebrows, gazing at him dubiously. "You mean you aren't jealous that I think Imhotep is very handsome?" That was hard to believe.
His expression was easy going and very understanding. He shook his head. "Not at all. It wouldn't be very fair of me to be jealous when I thought Ancksunamun was quite the looker herself." Rick kept his face straight and looked into her face. "Did you see those legs she's got?"
Squinting up at him now, Evy pinched his forearm and won a small cry of pain. "Rick O'Connell, for your sake you'd better be kidding."
"Now, Evy," he chided, rubbing his arm and smiling softly. "That's not very fair."
She bumped into him gently and smiled back, sugar coating her expression thoroughly. "What's your point?" She settled back into his embrace, listening to the two around the truck talk.
"I will not leave my woman when she is fighting," Imhotep was telling Alannah. Evy heard her husband groan and could imagine his eyes rolling. "Especially now. Send Michael."
They heard Alannah sigh in defeat. Rick grunted and squeezed Evy closer. "Spending the next God knows how long with two of him. That's just great." She smirked.
Across the sand they saw Michael tending to Ardeth, securing his arm to his chest and preparing him to be moved. He shot a few glances towards the back of his fallen vehicle. Standing, he glared at Imhotep and Alannah. "Enough. I will go, because I trust Imhotep, even if he does not return that."
Imhotep came from behind the Escalade, his face calm, but holding that edge Evy'd seen a few times on his younger version. "This is not the place for that arguement. These injured men do not have time for your insecurity."
That cut deep, Evy could tell. She looked at Michael, the mirror of her friend, and felt bad for him. Despite the nice attitude, Evy thought she saw a little of the old monster in Imhotep surface. Or perhaps it wasn't the monster as much as it was the spoiled near royalty he'd been most of his life. He was used to getting his way and doing anything at all to see it come to him. Michael's eyes were hot with anger as he glared a moment, then turned his back.
Alannah didn't look happy and Evelyn felt sorry for her also. The poor girl's heart was torn between two men and from the looks of it, things weren't going too well. One day Alannah might be forced to make a hard choice. "You should be the one going," she told Imhotep.
"But I will not," was his reply as he touched her shoulder. He sighed when she pulled away, and went to Michael, saying, "I am sorry," as he bent down to help him take Ardeth to the car.
The Med-Jai in their arms groaned in pain as they lifted him and began towards Imhotep's sleek car. "I'm taking you to help," Michael assured the man he helped into the passenger seat. He pushed it down to allow Ardeth to lay back, then fastened the belt around him. Standing straight, he looked upon the man within the car and listened to the terrible soft wheezing that came from the mirror of himself. The grave eyes of the priest at his side warned him to be wary of time. It was passing all too quickly. "We must help Carnahan."
Imhotep looked to the white truck then, nodding his head. Together they went and lifted the lifeless form of Evelyn's brother. Not a single sound came from his lips, nor a movement that betrayed any sense of pain. Only the softness of his breath that told them life remained. They placed him in the back seat to rest.
Michael sighed and looked over his companions. Alannah held his dark gaze for a few long moments, each expressing deep affection towards the other with only what could be spoken through visual communication. "Take care of her," the dark haired man said in low tones, his eyes never leaving the face of his love.
"With my life," was the priest's reply, his shadowy eyes remaining downcast that he may not interfere with what passed between the woman he loved and the man that held her heart.
Giving them their moment, Evy and Rick approached Imhotep's car and looked inside. With a casual smile, O'Connell bent down and leaned against the door, peering inside the window at his friend. "You'll be feeling better in no time," he assured the pale Med-Jai. Ardeth was losing oxygen, there was no doubt about that. "Tell me what the future's like, okay?"
With black eyes of weariness, Ardeth nodded softly. His unwounded arm lay draped over his chest as if he were trying to curl up from pain, the broken one tied down to prevent movement. "I will," he promised, but said no more than that. To do so would likely cause his breathing to become harder.
Rick looked in the back seat. His wife held to her brother's hand, stroking his cheek with the other. "I know everything will be fine," Evy whispered gently, trying to hide the emotion behind her words. She couldn't. "And when you wake up, I'm going to kill you for scaring me like this." When her eyes came to Rick's he could see the tears they held and his chest hurt in renewed grief for his brother in law and anger that his wife was hurting.
The driver's side door opened and Michael got in. Turning the ignition, he inhaled and looked up. "Fight well, Rick O'Connell," he said, a small smile hidden within his expression. "And you, Evelyn."
Rick nodded his head and stepped back. Evy leaned forward, he noticed. She turned her eyes on Michael with a seriousness about her that Rick knew related to her worry. "Take care of them."
"You have my word."
Evy stepped out of the car, allowing Izzy to climb in back with her brother. Not sure Michael meant for the thin pilot to join him, she looked inside and questioned the younger 'Ardeth' with her eyes. He held up a forestalling hand, telling her that it was all right. It was then that Alannah came forward, a paper in her hands.
They moved away and watched in silence as the blue haired woman chanted the words written before her.
*
The effects of the time jump were...odd. It wasn't like Ardeth didn't already have enough reason to feel sick, dizzy and tired, but the strange feelings that now coursed through him were enough to make him wish for unconsciousness. Turning his head slightly, he glanced at his double and saw his fingers curled tightly around the steering wheel. It seemed Ardeth wasn't alone in experiencing the weird transition. "I had hoped returning to the future would be better," Michael commented, leaning back.
"What the hell was that?" came a slightly ragged voice from behind. Izzy, who held the still sleeping Jonathan on his lap, leaned his head against the back of his seat and breathed out loudly.
Also inhaling deeply, Michael looked around at their surroundings. Open desert. It was impossible to tell whether or not the spell had worked correctly. "That, my friend, was time speeding up and slowing down again." He looked to his injured counterpart. "Are you all right?"
With a small nod, Ardeth managed, "Yes." His wheezing wasn't getting any better he knew. If he didn't reach a healer soon he could very well end up returning to the past in a coffin. They were going to have to get somewhere fast. He idly wondered what the Med-Jai of today were like and if they were encamped in the same place.
"Hey," exclaimed Izzy, darting a pointing finger into the front and motioning out the windshield. "What's that?"
Ardeth brought himself out of the pain and looked out across the desert. There was a very large structure ahead of them. Very large and build in a very familiar shape. A pyramid stood out over the distance in the direction of Ahm Shere. It was huge, almost unreal in it's size. What purpose could such a building serve? "Michael?" he breathed.
The younger man was shaking his head, his eyes wide. "I have never seen that building before. It's not supposed to be there." He turned the ignition on and looked to his companions. "I have a bad feeling about this."
Izzy shook his head and gazed out his window. "Well, whatever it is, let's go in the other direction, okay?"
Ardeth breathed in, desiring treatment. He also knew that Jonathan needed attention even more than he did. They could investigate later. Right now it was vitally important to find a physician.
And everything seemed to go according to plan. Michael turned the car around and headed away from the strange, dark pyramid and drove away. Unfortunately, however, someone else had other plans. Not five minutes into their journey a few figures could be seen in the distance behind them, running at supernatural speeds towards Imhotep's car. "What in the name of God is going on?" Michael hissed, pressing his foot to the gas pedal.
Rolling his window down and carefully laying Jonathan elsewhere, Izzy pushed himself halfway out and drew his guns. Shot after shot rang forth into the air, but it just didn't seem to be enough to stop the creatures behind them. Yet something even more distressing caught the Med-Jai's attention as they made their escape. The shots weren't only from the gun of his companion. They also came from behind. The creatures of Anubis were now armed with guns.
"We're not going to make it," Izzy said, pulling himself back into the car. "They're gaining too fast."
"Stop the car," Ardeth groaned, drawing precious air rapidly.
Michael shook his head, his foot flooring the gas. "We'll find a way to escape," he retorted, swerving to avoid a leaping creature.
There wouldn't be any escape. Ardeth could sympathize with the younger man's need to fight until the death, but there were other ways to fight. Live today, fight tomorrow. If they died now because they refused to stop, then the fight would stop here. If they stopped the creatures could bring them to their master for questioning. It was a gamble, but the Med-Jai had a hunch that stopping would pay off. "Stop," he repeated, this time a little more firmly. He could say no more and prayed his future self would understand the urgency and trust him.
Uncertain, dark eyes met Ardeth's as Michael looked his former self over. The fight was still being fought within his eyes. He did not want to give up. But Ardeth could also see the unwanted knowledge that running away was hopeless. He exhaled and pushed the brakes. "I hope we don't get killed."
With a small smile, Ardeth replied, "Me too."
True to Ardeth's hope, the Anubis beings didn't rush right towards the car and start attacking like wild animals. Seven creatures crept forward in the dusky shadows and one approached Michael's door. The sound of the beast's rough hands meeting the metal of the door handle scraped through the air and Michael tensed when his door was ripped open. Suddenly the barrel of a shot gun entered the interior of the car and found it's way to the young man's head.
The Anubis creature snarled at the sight of the car's occupants and hissed in a vile, otherworldly tone, "Get out."
Michael obeyed silently, unable to even glance at his friends. Listening with keen ears, for he couldn't turn enough to see what was happening, Ardeth waited for something to happen. When it did his heart both sank and raced. Following the sound of a gunshot, Ardeth heard the distinct sound of something hitting the sand. But he didn't have time to contemplate the implications of such a noise.
Shoving itself into the car, an Anubis creature took Ardeth by the shirt and yanked him from his seat. Darkness flooded his vision before he could even glance at the sky.
*
Uh-oh! Thanks for the reviews as always...you guys are way awesome! Hoe you enjoyed this little chapter. This story seems to be taking a while to get out...lol. Blame it on Star Wars lessening my Mummy mood. :O Anyhow, thanks a bunch you guys! Enjoy!
-Angel