O'Connell, Rose, Evelyn and Jonathan race up the staircase, just ahead of the mass of scurrying, chittering scarabs. Rick leaps out onto a pedestal. Jonathan jumps up next to him. Evelyn and Rose jump up into a grotto on the other side of the narrow stairway. The horrible herd of vicious scarabs scurries between them, their ear-piercing critters send shivers up the girl's spines. They leans back and the wall moves. Evelyn and Rose fall backwards through an opening. O'Connell and Jonathan watch the scarabs vanish up the staircase. Then they look across the way. Rose and Evelyn are gone.
"EVY!? ROSE!?"
Rose and Evelyn sit up, shakes the sand out of their hair, and fearfully look around. It's almost pitch black. They get up and feel their way along the dark walls. They rounds a corner. A shaft of moonlight filters in through a crack in the ceiling. A man stands in the middle of the room. Evelyn and Rose walk towards him.
"Oh thank goodness, you're one of the Americans, aren't you?" Just as they reaches him, he turns around. It's Burns. Both of his eyes are missing. He stares at them with vacant sockets. Rose and Evelyn scream in horror and backs away, hyperventilating, Rose bumps into something. Her and Evelyn scream again and spin around; it's the mummy. With two fresh eyeballs in his sockets. Evelyn and Rose scream again and backs away into a wall. Evy's hair is down, her face is dirty and sweaty, her blouse is ripped, her dress is torn. Rose is in a torn night gown, hair loose, like Evy her face is dirty and sweaty.
Imhotep sqints. "Anck-su-namun? Nefertari?"
O'Connell is feeling his way around inside the grotto."Damn-it! Must be a trap door around here or somethin'."
And then they heat men screaming, and suddenly, Henderson, Daniels and one of the Diggers come running down the stairs."RUN, YOU SONS-A-BITCHES! RUUUUN!"
O'Connell and Jonathan join them as they hear the herd of chittering scarabs coming their way. The Digger suddenly trips and falls. O'Connell slows down, about to go back and help him. But it's too late. The Digger screams in horror as the herd of scarabs run over him, eating straight through him, leaving behind the Digger's half eaten skeleton. Daniels, Henderson and Jonathan react in horror. O'Connell's already running, races right past them. The others turn and haul-ass.
Imhotep steps forward, the sand around him seems to magnetize, swirling and dancing around his flaking skeletal legs. Rose and Evelyn start backing away, horrified, they look at Burns. "Help me, ...please, ...help me." Rose quietly whimpers.
Burns opens his mouth, but can only gurgle and moan because hid tongue is missing. Imhotep grabs him, throws him to the ground and sets his skeletal foot on Burns' chest, like a big game hunter standing on his kill. Imhotep then parts his fetid lips, a fresh tongue flaps between his rotten teeth.
"Come my Princess Nefertari!" Rose shivers in fear as Evelyn cowers away from him.
Suddenly, O'Connell comes flying around the corner and runs right up to them."Would you quit playin, around! Let's get outta here already!" O'Connell sees the look in their eyes and turns around, at the sight of Imhotep, O'Connell jumps back in fright."WHOA!"
O'Connell, Rose and Evelyn start backing away down the wall. Imhotep glides sideways with them, like a tiger cornering his prey, the sand around him swirls and dances. Burns starts to crawl away, whimpering as he goes. Imhotep suddenly stops and unhinges his skeletal jaw, his skinless mouth stretches to an inhuman size, and he lets out a horrific, primordial shriek. "NEFERTARI!"
Rose screams. Evelyn screams. O'Connell shudders, then, embarrassed by his fear, he opens his own mouth and roars right back at him."Ahhhhhhhh!" Then blasts him with the elephant gun, BLAM! Through the smoke and flame, Imhotep blown off his feet, his ribcage half torn away. O'Connell grabs Evelyn who grabs Rose and they run.
As the sand and wind whip through the ruins as O'Connell, Evelyn and Rose stumble up out of the crevice and come face-to-face with ten armed Medjai. The Medjai quickly raise their guns. Rick, Rose and Evelyn quickly raise their hands. Jonathan, Henderson, Daniels and the Egyptologist are already on their knees, hands over their heads. Ardeth Bay steps forward.
"I told you to leave or die, you refused, and now you may have killed us all. For you have unleashed the creature that we have feared for more than four thousand years."
"Relax, I got him." Rick states.
"No mortal weapons can kill this creature. He is not of this world."
"Are we talkin, about the same creature? The walking corpse? Really big mouth? Really bad breath?" Rose shutters behind Rick when he talks about the creature.
Beni slowly backs up around Anubis, eyes wide, gun up. He turns around, Imhotep is right there! Beni screams, backs away and opens fire. Six gunshots perforate Imhotep, but have no effect except to splatter molten flesh rot onto the back wall. Beni retreats into a corner, scared shitless. Imhotep moves forward, his one hand trying to stop the molten mummy guts from oozing out of the large shotgun hole in his side.
Beni drops his gun and grabs at the chains around his neck, religious symbols and icons dangle from each chain. Beni holds the first one up: A Christian crucifix. He quickly makes the sign of-the cross and blesses himself in English:"May the good Lord protect and watch over me as a shepherd watches over his flock. And may Satan in all his forms be vanquished forever."
It has no effect on Imhotep, who continues forward. Beni quickly grabs at the other symbols and icons, holding them out towards Imhotep, one after the other, trying to slow his progress: an Islamic Sword and Crescent Moon necklace; a Hindu Brahma medallion; a small Buddhist Bodhisattva statue. All while blessing himself in Arabic, Hindi, Chinese and Latin. Nothing works. Imhotep's skeletal hand reaches for Beni's throat. Tears run down Beni's cheeks he's so freaked. And that's when he holds up The Star Of David and blesses himself in Hebrew. Imhotep stops in his tracks. His hand lowers. His grotesque new eyeballs stare at Beni.
"The language of the slaves." Looking at him quizzically. Imhotep takes a step back.
"I may have use for you. And the rewards will be great." Imhotep reaches into his tattered robe, and then holds out his fetid hand, filled with squirming maggots. Beni cringes, about to throw up, but then the maggots part, revealing a tiny pile of little jewels. Beni's eyes widen. Imhotep raises his other hand, it holds Anck-su-namun's broken canopic jar.
"Where are the other sacred jars?"
Several Medjai drag Burns up, he stares out with vacant sockets. Daniels and Henderson are especially horrified."You bastards!"
"What did you do to him!?"
"We saved him! Saved him before the creature could finish his work. Now leave, all of you, quickly, before he finishes you all."
"You're not going to kill us?" Evelyn elbows Jonathan in the ribs. As Rose looks at him as though he is insane.
"We must now hunt him down, and try and find a way to kill him, before he consumes the earth. Allah be with us.
Ardeth Bay and the Medjai start heading down into the crevice. O'Connell yells at them, trying to convince himself."I told ya, I already got him!"
Ardeth Bay stops and looks back, deadly serious."Know this, the creature will be coming for you. He must consummate the curse. And until he does, he will never eat, he will never sleep, and he will never stop." Ardeth Bay turns and jumps down into the crevice.
O'Connell and Jonathan boost Evelyn and Rose up onto a camel. Daniels and Henderson throw Burns up onto another. The Egyptologist, still clutching The Book Of The Dead, gets up on yet another. They all head off into the dark, windblown desert... And then a skeletal hand suddenly punches up out of the sand, accompanied by the most horrific, primordial shriek imaginable. "NEFERTARI!"
A British flag flies over British soldiers manning the front gate. our tired, disheveled Heroes saunter up on their dusty camels. The Soldiers check their papers, then let them enter.
A steamer trunk is slammed to the floor and thrown open. O'Connell chucks a load of dresses into the trunk."I thought you didn't believe in this stuff!?"
O'Connell heads for the closet. Evelyn unpacks the dresses,"Having an encounter with a four thousand year old walking-talking corpse tends to convert one."
"Forget it, we're out the door down the hall and gone."
"No, we are not."
O'Connell throws a handful of her underthings into the trunk,"Oh yes we are."
O'Connell continues to pack Evelyn's clothes as she continues to unpack them:"No we are not. We woke him up, and we must try and stop him."
"We?! What we?! You didn't read that book. I told you not to play around with that thing."
"Alright then, Me, I, ...I read the book, I woke him up and I intend to stop him." Evelyn stutters out.
O'Connell angrily stretches a bra between his hands."How!? You heard the man, no mortal weapons can kill this guy."
Evelyn grabs the bra and throws it into a drawer."Then we'll have to find some immortal ones."
"There goes that stuff again. Not me, I am outta here!" O'Connell stuffs a pile of Evelyn's shoes into the trunk. Evelyn kicks the lid shut, slamming it on his fingers. O'Connell yelps and angrily storms around the room sucking his fingers as Evelyn follows him.
"According to that Book, once this creature has been reborn, his curse will spread, and as he grows in strength, so will his curse grow, infecting the people until the whole of the earth is destroyed."
"Yeah? So? Is that My problem?"
Evelyn says incredulous,"It's everybody's problem!"
"Look lady, I appreciate you saving my life and all, but when I signed on, I agreed to take you out there and bring you back, and I did, now were even, end of job, end of story, contract terminated."
"That's what I am to you? A contract?" Evy quietly says.
"You can either tag along with me, or you can stay here and play around with mister Maggot."
"I'm staying."
"FINE" O'Connell storms out and slams the door. Then the door opens and O'Connell's hand reaches back in and throws a handful of frilly panties to the floor and slams the door.
O'Connell angrily strides through the compound. He sees Beni coming up the path with a man dressed in hooded robes, his face covered by an ornate death mask. Imhotep disguised.
"Beni ya little stink weed, where did you slink off to?"
"You left me! You left me in the desert to rot."
"Oh yeah, ...sorry bout that," gesturing to Imhotep. "So who's this guy?"
"This is Prince Imhotep, High Priest of Osiris."
"Oh, hey, how ya doin'?" O'Connell sticks out his hand, Imhotep instantly recoils O'Connell gives him the once-over.
Beni quickly covers. "The Prince does not like to be touched by other humans. A Silly eastern superstition, I'm afraid."
"Yeah, well, we all got our little problems today don't we?" Rick says.
"He has come to help mister Burns. Somehow I feel responsible."
"Don't gimme that, you never had any scruples."
"Do you know where I can steal some?" O'Connell fake-punches him. Beni flinches. O'Connell gives Imhotep a look as he strides off."See ya around, Padre." Imhotep's grotesque new eyes glare out from behind the mask.
At the Casbah, the proverbial den-of-iniquity. Hard men, hard women and hard liquor. Lots of deals going down. An older guy with a walrus moustache is drunk and talking to some tough customers. He wears British WWI fighter pilot gear. "I'm the last of the Royal Force still stationed here, you know? All the other laddies died in the air and were buried in the sand."
The tough customers shove him away. Winston staggers over to O'Connell, Rose and Jonathan at the bar, not missing a beat. "Ever since the end of the Great War, there hasn't been a single challenge worthy of a man like me."
"I've heard it before, Winston," O'Connell shoves him away. Winston staggers back to Jonathan."I just wish I would've chucked it with the other laddies, gone down in a flame of glory, instead of sitting around here, rotting from boredom and booze!"
Jonathan shoves him towards another group of unlucky sods as Henderson and Daniels sidle up to the bar next to the three of them.
Burns, now tongue-less, talks with a severe impediment, "The drawer there, spectacles." he tries to laugh,"As you see, I won't be needing them." Imhotep opens the drawer and pulls out some bifocals. He puts the bifocals on over his death mask, and grins broadly, his rotted teeth showing through the mouth hole.
"Mister Burns, Prince Imhotep thanks you for your spectacles,...and for your eyes,...and for your tongue."
The expression on Burns' face starts to change, very puzzled."But I am afraid more is needed, the Prince says he must finish the job, consummate the curse which you and your friends have brought down upon yourselves." A look of pure fear registers on Burns, face. Beni quickly backs away and runs out of the room. Imhotep picks up the sacred canopic jar, then removes the death mask, revealing his hideous, shattered corpse-skull.
Three shot glasses clink together. O'Connell, Jonathan and Henderson slug 'em down, all three of them instantly spit out the liquid. Half the bar spits out their drinks as well.
"Sweet Jesus! That tasted just like,...like..."
"Blood." They all look at each other, even more nervous.
"And the rivers and waters of Egypt went red and were as blood." A look passes over O'Connell's face, a realization.
"He's here." He suddenly jumps away from the bar and runs for the door, Rose follows. "Who's here!?"
"The guy! The Priest! THE MUMMY!"
Lightening flashes as O'Connell races across the compound, knocking several Soldiers out of his way, panic stricken."Evelyn! EVELYYYYNN!"
Evelyn calmly steps into a courtyard carrying a handful of books. A blast of thunder and lightening scares her. She drops half the books. Then a hand grabs her! She jumps again and drops the rest of the books. It's O'Connell, breathing hard with Rose close behind him.
"We got problems." And that's when a barrage of hail and fire slams into the courtyard. O'Connell and Evelyn jump back. A water fountain bursts into steam. A wooden trellis catches fire. O'Connell and Evelyn run under the eaves as soldiers, servants and camels run in every direction, trying to avoid the maelstrom.
"He's here! I saw him! That thing is here!"
"The creature!? Are you sure!?" O'Connell gives her an incredulous look and gestures at the hail and fire."Pretty sure!"
The hail and fire come to a stop. Everything goes dead quiet. O'Connell, Rose and Evelyn freeze. And then a blood curdling scream is heard coming from the living quarters directly above them. They all race up the stairs.
O'Connell, Rose and Evelyn race into the room, past the Servant who is running out screaming. They skid to a stop as they spot Burns, or what's left of him, lying dead on the floor, his body is shrivelled to half its size. Drained of all organs and liquids. O'Connell, Evelyn and Rose are shocked. Then they hear a loud moan and notice Imhotep standing on the far side of the room. O'Connell draws his gun. Imhotep is regenerating: A thick skin forms over powerful new musculature. His tendons ripple. His bones bulge and reform. His mouth opens to an inhuman size as he moans and cries out, in severe pain. And then it's over. And he looks like an incredibly muscular, corpse-like vision from hell. O'Connell, Rose and Evelyn are stunned. "We are in serious trouble." Imhotep starts to move towards them, staring at Rose.
Rose starts to once again see the images of Imhotep from the past. "Be safe, My Heart. We will see you when you get back." Nefertari kisses his lips, after a moment he kneels down to kiss his seven year old sons forehead. "I will be back, Husani. Look after you mother and sibling, while I am gone." Imhotep leans over and kisses his wife bulging stomach. At Ricks voice Rose is snapped back to what is happening in front of her, as the kind man from her visions stalks toward them. "Back off, creep."
Imhotep keeps coming. Rick opens fire blasting Imhotep. Bullets rip through his body. Though Imhotep doesn't seem to mind. Jonathan, Henderson and Daniels run into the room. They're all stunned at the sight of Imhotep. O'Connell steps forward, throws a right hook, punches Imhotep in the face, his fist goes through Imhotep's skull and gets stuck deep inside his head. Rick stares at it, shocked, then quickly yanks his fist back out. The area of Imhotep's face that came into contact with O'Connell's fist quickly degenerates and decays, right down to the bone, as if Rick's hand instantly infected it.
Imhotep angrily turns, grabs O'Connell, and with no effort, throws him across the room and into Jonathan and the others knocking them down. Imhotep looks at his hand, the one that just grabbed Rick, it starts to shrivel and decay. He quickly turns to Evelyn. Evelyn backs away into a wall, terrorized. Imhotep steps up to her.
"You saved me from the undead. I thank you." He turns and walks to Rose leaning in, about to kiss her with his decayed face. And that's when a white cat jumps onto the piano, hissing. Imhotep shrieks. The balcony doors blow open. And Imhotep spins into a blasts of wind and sand and swirls out the doors. Gone. O'Connell, Evelyn, Rose, Jonathan and Daniels stand transfixed. Henderson kneels next to Burns, shrivelled body, horrified. "The curse. The curse."
O'Connell, Jonathan, Rose, Henderson and Daniels follow Evelyn across the Ramses Museum.
"There's only one person I know who can possibly give us some answers." They round a corner and come upon the Curator, who is talking with Ardeth Bay. Everybody stops.
"YOU!" O'Connell and the American's quickly draw their guns. Ardeth Bay just scowls. The Curator nods his head.
"Misses Carnahan. Gentlemen."
"What is he doing here?" Evy asks sourly.
"Do you truly wish to know? Or would you prefer to just shoot us?" Everybody tenses, guns up.
Then O'Connell uncocks his.38."I just saw my fist vanish into some guy's head." He slides his gun back into his shoulder-holster."I'm willin', to go on a little faith, here.
"You will not believe it."
"Try me."
Everyone is assembled around the tomb display of Seti The First. His chariot and sword. The Curator sits on Seti's throne.
"We are part of an ancient secret society, the cult-of-the-Medjai, and we have a sacred mission, passed down through thirty-nine generations. For over four thousand years we have guarded The City Of The Dead. we are sworn at manhood to, do any and all in our power to stop the High Priest Imhotep from being reborn into this world."
"And because of you, we have failed."
Evelyn states appalled."And you think this justifies killing innocent people!?"
"To have stopped this creature? Yes!" Both Ardeth and the Curator state together.
"Okay, let's cut to the chase. He's afraid of cats, what's that about?"
"According to the ancients, cat's are the guardians at the gates of the underworld. Imhotep will fear them until he is fully regenerated, and then he will fear nothing."
Daniels is totally freaked out, he looks at O'Connell."Right! And ya know how he gets fully regenerated?! By killing everybody who opened that chest and sucking us dry! That's how!"
"Yes, the creature must first try and regenerate, and then he will attempt to resurrect the one he has loved for more than four thousand years."
"Anck-su-namun." Evy mutter, while Rose whispers," Nefertari." The Curator and Ardeth Bay look at Rose and Evelyn, thunderstruck.
"In the necropolis, when I... we saw him, alive,...walking, he called me Anck-su-namun. Then when he looked at Rose he said Nefertari. And then in mister Burns' quarters he tried to kiss Rose."
Ignoring what Evy said, the Curator continues,"It is because it was you who read from the Book. He has chosen you to be-the human sacrifice needed to regenerate the body of Anck-su-namun."
"It wont be Anck-su-namun that he tries to bring back." Rose says calmly.
"Of course she will be, who else but his first love would he try to resurrect." The Curator scolds Rose.
Rose, now feed up with the Curator ignoring her snaps,"He will try to bring back Princess Nefertari. Because she was his wife, they had two children together."
"How do you know that?" The Curator asks as everyone looks at Rose.
"Ever since around the time his sarcophagus fell, I have been having vision. Visions of the past. Of Imhotep before he was cursed, before Anck-su-namun. I don't know what happened to her and their children." Both Ardeth and the Curator look shocked and worried. Jonathan scratches his ear with the barrel of his pistol."This is not good. Not good at all."
Ardeth Bay has been staring out a wall of windows."Tonight is the full moon. The moon of Osiris. It will begin tonight."
Everyone follows Ardeth Bay's eyes, through the windows we can see the sun, which is now going into a full eclipse. "...and he stretched forth his hands towards the heavens, and there was darkness throughout the land of Egypt." Jonathan recounts.
O'Connell looks out a window at the British Soldiers manning the walls. Above and beyond them, is the black sun.