A/N: Okay, chapter one came out fine. Figured I'd do a chapter two. Enjoy. Only Alice belongs to me, by the way, everyone else isn't mine.
I stared at the spears, following them to their owners, a few very angry Egyptian warriors. I glanced behind them at a few more warriors and a man that looked like a pharaoh. He glared at me. I smiled nervously, poking the end of a spear. A pinpoint of blood appeared on it.
"If you'll excuse me for a moment.." I slowly closed the doors and turned to the exhibits. "Uh oh." They looked at me, worried. Sacajawea grabbed my arm. I suppose I was about to fall over.
"What is it, Alice?" My eyes met the eyes of every single person in that crate and I could feel the tension building. I swallowed, then opened my mouth.
"There's a pack of angry Egyptians out there, with pointy objects, and they don't seem very friendly." Everyone looked at me, not completely believing me. I pointed at the doors. "Seriously. They're out there." I heard a pounding on the door, and someone shouted in Egyptian. I tensed up, and the whole crate seemed to follow me. I took a deep breath.
"I'm going to see what's going on." The exhibits nodded, and I opened the door a bit. The spears were still there.
"Excuse me! Um, hi. Can we talk?" The pharaoh looked at me, then said something in Egyptian. The warriors rested their spears on their shoulders and I made my way out to meet the man, face to face. I glanced back for a moment to see the faces of my friends peeking out from the crack in the door, then looked back at the pharaoh.
"Um, hello, sir. I am, um, Alice Ricardi. You see, we're new here and I was sort of hoping that your men could not skewer any of us. It's just that-" He held up a hand, silencing me. I bit my lower lip as he seemed to consider what I had said.
"I am the great Kahmunrah, and I have come BACK TO LIFE!" He spoke in a loud, commanding voice with a slight lisp, and rose his voice at what he must have felt was important. I nodded, thinking. Where had I heard that name, before? It was on the tip of my tongue… I'd heard it before in a history book…. I put up a finger.
"Oh! Kahmunrah! I've met your brother, Ahkmenrah. He's a really nice guy." The man, Kahmunrah, scowled at the word 'brother'.
"So you know my little brother, do you? Mother and Father always gave him everything! He took the throne and tablet away from me! He never mentioned that, did he?" I opened my mouth to say something, but there was nothing to say.
"No," I managed to squeak out. The man scowled at me, examining me. I felt kind of like a bug under a microscope. Not fun. I could feel the stony gaze of his guards, too, and the hopeful stares from my friends. Kahmunrah finally reached out and lifted my chin, to get a better look at my face. Normally, I would smack the hand away and yell something, but since he had a bunch of guards with spears, I figured I shouldn't.
"You have a pretty face," he finally said, "If you give me the tablet, I promise not to hurt you." I felt really awkward, at this moment. Obviously, he was bitter about being upstaged by his brother, and I knew for a fact that a guy like that would not do good with a magical tablet. I smiled, nervously, backing out of his grip.
"Um, we sort of need it, so I can't quite give it to you. Maybe some other time." Kahmunrah gave me a disappointed look. Not the sort of 'Aww. Why not?' looks, but more of a, "Hmph. Now I have to kill you.' Look.
"Well then. I suppose I'll have to kill you." Then he said something in Egyptian. The guards lowered their spears at me. I let out a yelp and scampered back into the crate, slamming the doors shut behind me. I heard the clang of metal against metal.
"That could have gone better." I huffed, collapsing to the ground. My friends huddled around me, making sure I was fine. I nodded to them, catching my breath. This wasn't good.
I finally stood, picking up my cell phone and pressing send. I put it on speaker and set it next to Jed. The exhibits and I began to pick up their weapons, which was basically a few bows and a quiver or two of arrows. The phone rang a few times, before going to the voice-mail. I groaned as Jed began to yell into the phone.
"GIGANTOR! WE NEED YOU!" I joined him, standing above the phone.
"Larry! Dexter stole the tablet and now everything's come to life!" The phone was suddenly picked up.
"Guys?! Jed?! Alice?! Dexter did what?!" I glanced around. The Huns had opened the doors a bit, poking their arrows out at the Egyptians.
"He stole the tablet! And now we're being surrounded by the guards of Kahmunrah, Ahkmenrah's brother!" I shouted above the noise. How he could hear us, I'd never know. It was chaos!
"And, boy, is he madder than a rattlesnake that choked on a mouse! Not a friendly! I repeat: not a friendly! Come quick! Come qui- Hey! Give me back the talkin' box! No, don't do that! No…" A Neanderthal had grabbed the phone and was shaking it around, accidentally smashing it on the crate. My eyes teared up a bit; there went our last hope of survival.
I felt the tears swell in my eyes when I felt a tiny hand pat my cheek. Octavius smiled at me, trying to seem comforting. Jed did the same on the other cheek.
"It's alright, my lady. We'll figure out a way out of this. Perhaps, when the morning comes, you can get out with the tablet and this will be solved." I nodded, but I didn't feel much better. He was right. I could walk out of there when morning came. But that would mean that my friend's last memories would be of angry Egyptians. Either way, it looked bad. I picked up a bow, but Sacajawea stopped me.
"You are real. If you get stabbed, then you are really dead. We are just wax. You need to stay back." I nodded, huddling at the back of the crate. I knew she was right, but I wanted to help.
My friends held off the Egyptians for a while, but the guards were too strong and too many. I checked my clock, watching the hours tick by. I don't remember when I fell asleep, but I remember the shouts of my friends, the angry Egyptian words, and someone's voice telling me everything would be fine.
&&&&&&&&&&
When I woke up, it was 10:00 AM. I stood, my body protesting. Everything ached. My friends, even though they were frozen, were pounding against the door, bows and arrows still at the ready. I moved some of them out of the way to access the doors and pushed.
They didn't budge. I threw all my weight against the doors, but they wouldn't open. Kahmunrah must have locked the door while I was asleep, because I had no way out. I felt myself crying again, wishing for someone to come, but no one seemed to visit the Federal Archives very often, because when I asked to enter, the other guard looked at me like I was crazy.
I huddled against the back wall, again. Trying to imagine what I'd do if I could get out. I'd say goodbye to my friends, then go out and push a few guards around. Then, I'd laugh in Kahmunrah's frozen face and walk out with the tablet. I'd then send it to Larry and live happily ever after. Maybe. If I ever got out of the crate!
My stomach growled and I'd wished I'd had a bigger dinner. I was stuck, and there was no way I could get food. I tried to ignore the hunger pangs, but it was too hard. I paced around the crate for a while. I picked up Jed and Octavius once or twice, and made them say nice things to me, to cheer me up. I held a bow pulling it back and feeling powerful. Mostly, I slept.
I slept for hours, dreaming of New York, and Ahkmenrah, and the museum. The good old days, really. Oh, those dreams were so great. They felt so real. I remembered the soccer matches, and our big parties, and riding on Rexy with Nicky. I remembered conversing with Octavius about my paper in Ancient Rome, and how Jed got so jealous that I hadn't done one on the Old West.
I remembered just sitting and talking with Ahkmenrah, and how it'd make me feel so lucky, and so loved inside. I woke up smiling, before remembering that I was stuck in a crate. My watch said it was after 4:00 PM. I got up and paced a bit more before going back to sleep.
My dreams of happiness ended, and my nightmares began. I dreamt of my friends getting stabbed through by Egyptian spears, then me getting run through. I dreamt of Larry going to rescue me, but failing. I deamed of Larry not coming, at all.
My mind wandered farther, drifting to the exhibit I'd seen of Al Capone. My mind skimmed through his history, then left me with my worst nightmare. I was standing in a black space when a spotlight shown on the wax figure of Al Capone. His features shifted until he was giving me a feral grin.
"Sorry, Doll face." He raised his Tommy gun at me, and I took a step back in fear. BANG!
I woke in a cold sweat. I heard a loud CLICK! Then the door opened slightly to reveal a face I thought I'd never see. I stood up, and ran over to him, grabbing him in a tight hug. He seemed surprised at my sudden appearance, but took it well.
"Larry! Oh, Larry! Thank god! We need to get the tablet out of here before they wake up!" I ran back in and grabbed the tablet from Dexter's grasp, then handed it to Larry. He inspected it for a moment, then looked up at me. I looked at my watch, but the battery had died.
"By the way, what time is it?" He looked at his watch, then back at me.
"7:45. Why?" I grabbed his arm and tried to pull him away from the area, but it was too late. The exhibits awoke, then screaming continued. The doors to the container were immediately shut and Larry and I were surrounded by spears.
Kahmunrah said something in Egyptian. We didn't respond. He shook his head, and began to speak French. We were silent, again. He glared at me, then said.
"English, then?" We nodded, and he continued, looking at Larry, "For you who doesn't know, I am Kahmunrah! King of kings! Ruler of Egypt, and I have come back TO LIFE!" Larry and I looked at each other for a moment, grimacing, then back to Kahmunrah, who seemed kind of unhappy.
"You! I am a centuries old Pharaoh! Why don't you fear me? I have come back to life!" Larry took a few steps towards him.
"Yeah, Welcome back. I'm, uh, Larry Daley, of Daley Devices. I think you've already met Alice, Alice Ricardi. I'm from Brooklyn. We actually know your brother, Ahkmenrah. Nice kid, really polite."
I reached out to stop him, because I knew that the second Larry mentioned Ahkmenrah, Kahmunrah would get pretty peeved. But, it was too late. The pharaoh rolled his eyes.
"Ohhh, he knows baby brother, too! My brother got the best of everything. Mother and Father spoiled him so. He got the throne and the tablet, which are rightfully mine. He never told you that?" I sighed, having already heard this. Larry looked a little uncomfortable. We both knew that this guy couldn't get a hold of the tablet. Kahmunrah looked at me for a moment, then back at Larry.
"If you give me the tablet, now, I won't hurt the girl." I felt someone grab me from behind, and I felt the razor sharp tip of a spear pressed gently against my throat. I could hear the voices of my friends from inside the crate, but there was nothing they could do. Larry looked at the ground, then handed the tablet over to Kahmunrah.
"I thought you would've wanted the cube, though." Kahmunrah and I looked up at the same moment. Cube? What cube? I wracked my brain for such a thing, but nothing came to mind. I looked at Larry, trying to figure out what he was getting at.
"Cube?" The guard let me go, and I walked next to Larry, who continued on about this 'cube', calm as ever.
"Yeah! The cube of… Rubik's! Even your brother didn't want to have a part in it. I just thought you were a next level kind of guy. But, whatever. My bad." Larry started to lead me away from the pharaoh, when we heard from behind us.
"Wait! Take me to this 'cube'." I felt myself being grabbed by the shoulders and turned to look at Kahmunrah by a guard. Larry nodded and started walking, leading us to the heart of the Federal Archives. By this point, I knew there was no 'cube'. Since there wasn't, I could only wonder what he was bringing us to.
"Here it is." We stopped by a large crate, and Kahmunrah ordered his guards to open it. The used one of their spears as a crowbar, and one side fell off. Much to my, and their, surprise, the tentacles of a giant squid burst out of it, grabbing whatever it felt, which was basically the guards and Kahmunrah.
The pharaoh yelped as he felt himself being lifted into the air, and lost his grip on the tablet. I managed to grab it and took off running. I could hear him cursing and ordering his guards in Egyptian. I could hear Larry's footsteps beside me, then the faint footsteps of the guards behind us. I pushed myself to run, faster.
"Where should we-?" I turned to see that Larry had deserted me, and that was when I ran, full force, into someone. I immediately recognized it to be Amelia Earhart from the old-fashioned flying clothes.
"So, missy, what's got you jimmy jacked? What's your name?" I stared at her, speechless for a moment, as she grabbed my hand and helped me to my feet. The sounds of shouting in another aisle brought me to my senses.
"Alice, Alice Ricardi. And, right now's not the best time. I'm being chased by angry Egyptians with spears and a giant squid. I really need to get moving!" I turned to start running again when I felt an arm grab mine. Amelia wasn't letting me go.
"Well count me in! Damn it, I smell adventure and I want in!" I nodded, and she took off running, dragging me with her. At the end of the aisle, I saw Larry stop and look at us. We ran to meet him.
"Larry, Amelia. Amelia, Larry. Now let's go!" I tossed Larry the tablet and we took off running down another aisle. I could hear Kahmunrah's shouts, and figured that he'd escaped the squid. And he was probably mad. I turned to ask Larry something when I saw he was gone, again. Amelia seemed to be playing the 'Leave-Alice-behind' game, too.
I turned a corner, finding myself face to face with a very unhappy Kahmunrah. He pointed to me and shouted something like, 'SEIZE HER!' But I was already running. I glanced behind me to see the guards were catching up, and turned another corner to find racks and racks of costumes. I dove in between some long skirts from the 1800s, hiding. I heard the guards walk into the aisle, looking around for me, confused as to why I wasn't there.
"Come on, then! She's not here! We must find them!" Kahmunrah must have been very peeved by my disappearance. This meant he was 0 for 2, or rather 3, now. I waited until I heard them walk away, then a little longer until I emerged. I had lost my hat, which made me sad. I'd loved that hat; it was my favorite.
I began inspecting the costumes they had. Maybe if I dressed differently, like one of the exhibits, they wouldn't recognize me. I'd get a chance to grab the tablet and make things right again. I was immediately drawn to the 1920s section. When most people think of the '20s, they think of flappers, and that was obviously most of what I found.
I'm not very found of dresses, and the showgirl's dresses I found were as short as they came, so I skipped out those and went to the men's clothes. I smiled, finding a suit that was almost identical to what I was wearing, then one Al Capone was wearing when I saw him, the day before. The one he was in when I had my dream….
I shuddered, moving back to the women's clothes. I managed to find a long pinstriped skirt, one that reached my calves, and kind of fluffed out a bit. Then, I stole the real pinstriped vest from the Al Capone look-alike suit, and put it on over my black button-down shirt. I managed to find a purple tie and put it on, tucking it under the vest.
I picked up the hat from Al Capone's suit, and put it on my head when I realized that a wig would be needed. I took the hat off and tucked it under my arm and searched for a good wig, without a headband attached. I may not have mentioned, but I have really short hair. I cut it a couple years ago, when I left home, to show off my independence, and I liked to spike it up once and a while. However, haircuts weren't quite that short in the '20s.
I picked a black bob that flipped out a bit at the ends, curling up at my ears. For the finishing touches, I grabbed a women's pinstriped jacket and some acceptable black shoes, since I tried to avoid heels for obvious reasons. I plopped the hat back on my head and searched for a mirror, but since there wasn't one, I figured I'd just have to trust my luck.
I'd followed all my vast history knowledge told me, and despite the fact that I could be Al Capone's female twin, I figured I looked pretty good. I folded my old clothes, promising to come back and get them, later, and left.
I made my way into the actual museums -the art museum, to be exact- and found Larry and Amelia running. I ran to meet them.
"Guys! Wait!" All of a sudden, I saw the Egyptian guards behind me, and I began sprinting after the two. I turned to see where we were heading, when I saw a wall. Well, the picture of the couple kissing in Times Square, to be exact. I braced myself for impact, since I couldn't stop, but it never came. I ran into something, hard, but it was fleshy and yelped, "Ow!"
Now sitting on the ground, I looked up to see a sailor, who looked down at me in shock. He offered a hand, which I took, and helped me up. I dusted myself off, examining him from head to toe. He was quite handsome, and I found myself blushing. Geez! Why did every good-looking man on the planet make my insides melt?! He smiled at me.
"Sorry 'bout that… But, did you hear? We won! The name's Joey, by the way. Joey Motorola." I smiled. He had the same name as my phone company! The average person would be asking 'What war?' But the '40s were my specialty, and I smiled.
"We beat the Germans?" The man, Joey, nodded. I gave him my best smile, "I'm Alice, Alice Ricardi." He nodded, smiling and thinking.
"Alice… That's a nice name. "I was about to ask him more when I saw Larry and Amelia run up to us, panting for breath. I could hear the guards' voices above the crowd and panicked, grabbing onto Joey. He didn't seem to mind, but was taken by surprise.
"Hey, what're you worrying 'bout? The war's over!" I saw the guards getting closer, but didn't want to let go of Joey. Hugging him made me feel better. Larry pointed to the guards.
"I'm sorry. I'm just trying to run from those guys back there. They're giving me grief because I'm from Brooklyn!" Joey stiffened, and I let him go. His face turned from one of happiness and maybe a little confusion to one of disgust. He motioned for some friends to come over. We were soon surrounded by some large sailors.
"Don't worry, we'll take care of them. Hey, boys! These guys are giving my buddy here trouble for being from Brooklyn!" The guys frowned, and started heading towards the guards. I saw Joey wink at me, and I smiled back. Larry tugged on my arm and we began running. I glanced back to see Joey pick up a Blackberry.
"Hey, mister! You dropped your- What the hell is this thing?!" I smiled, when suddenly, I was ripped out of Larry's grip. A guard had grabbed me, and was pulling me back towards the others. I saw Larry look back for a moment, but keep running. I knew it was probably killing him to do it, but I couldn't endanger him for me. I turned to look at the guard and stomped hard on his bare foot. He yelled and let go, and I took off towards the exit of the painting.
I could hear the pounding of the guard's feet on the pavement and picked up my pace. I suppose Joey's friends could only hold them off for so long. I took one last stride before jumping out of the painting and landing on the ground. I was immediately standing and turned the painting around, trapping the many guards inside. I panted heavily, pushing the frame into the wall until I figured it was okay. I then began laughing crazily, collapsing to the ground.
"I must be out of my mind!" I said to myself, shaking with laughter. Or maybe it was fear. Or exhaustion. Or all of them. I heard the soft click of nice shoes on the ground, and stood up, turning around, slowly.
I stared at him with wide eyes as he sauntered forward. I knew all about him: his temper, his history, his ups and downs, everything. I never believed this was going to happen to me. Al Capone grinned at me, pointing his Tommy gun at my chest. I was going to die by the hands of someone who should no longer be alive...
"Sorry, Toots." He gave me a feral grin, just like in my dream, and I took a step back, as if distance would save me. Suddenly, I felt something hit me in the back of the head with a loud WHAP! Everything was suddenly silent. I felt my knees buckle beneath me, and I collapsed. The last thing I saw was Al Capone walking forward, laughing. My world went dark.
A/N: Hope you are enjoying it, so far. I've been trying to stick with the original story, but some parts, like General Custer, were left out. Sorry about that, but I figured Larry would've met him after leaving Alice for that bit. Remember that reviews get you cookies and maybe a spleen or two!
