Jackie: I promised myself I wouldn't cry!
Avery: Don't. We still have one more chapter to go...
Jackie: Oh yeah...wait...this is your last chapter. How are you not freaking out?
Avery: Oh, I'm not Avery. My name's Lizzie and I'm aspiring actress. I was hired by Avery to play her because she was...having a breakdown.
Jackie: That explains a lot. Keeper only owns us OCs...and apparently Lizzie.
"Let's start over, I'll try to do it right this time around. It's not over...this love is killing me but you're the only one. It's not over." -Daughtry
Being back in the tomb made Avery want to faint, but she held in the bile and walked proudly beside Evy. Until Beni decided to stand beside her, in which case she vomited on the ground "beside" his shoes. "I told you," Evy said with a triumphant smile, briefly glancing down at his feet. "Nasty little fellows always get their comeuppance."
Avery closed her eyes in mild annoyance and gratefulness and she had taken Beni's angered eyes off of her. Come on, Jackie, She thought. Move your arse! Pick up the pace! I don't intend to die in a movie!
"I'd take those bigger stones first," Jonathan suggested as Jackie, Rick and Ardeth went to work clearing away the stone that had magically placed itself in their path. "Take them from the top, otherwise the whole thing will cave in on us. Come on, put your backs into it."
Rick went up first, then Ardeth, and then Jackie, all gifting Jonathan with a variety of angered looks to have his choice of. "I'm going to hurt you," she growled.
"Right, uh, you've got the idea. Chop-chop?" He chuckled, tugging at his collar.
Jackie ignored any other comment Jonathan made until the stones were pulled away, and by that time he was just crying for attention. Literally. Screaming, really, which didn't bother Jackie in the slightest until he yanked up the arm of his shirt and revealed a beetle-sized object scrambling up his arm inside his skin.
"Whoa!" Rick exclaimed. "Hold him!" Ardeth held Jonathan firmly and Jackie froze upon seeing the knife come out from Rick. She did the only thing she could think to do in that situation and...kissed Jonathan.
It was quite romantic until a gun sounded and the shell of the horrific bug was the only thing that remained of their ordeal.
The gunshot made Avery, Evy and Beni jump where they stood, practically waiting for death to come to them. Evy smiled and whispered, "O'Connell."
Avery, who was suffering from dizziness and freaky hallucinations, thought that she had been the one who was shot and fell backwards. Evy propped her up and whispered, "Uh, uh, you can't do this to me girl, you've fainted enough and I need you here."
"I'm trying," She replied. "It's not like I want to faint." At that moment, that was a lie.
Imhotep blew dust towards the wall, and no matter how hilarious that may sound, it was pretty darn scary. Especially when the mummified priests popped out of their little hiding places and decided to scare the life, or what was left of it, out Avery and Evy. "Bembridge scholars never wrote about this,"
Beni tried to use them both as a way to stay hidden from the mummies, but they refused to be a wall. Avery's eyes widened as Imhotep's order translated in her head, "Kill them and wake the others."
Well, she was going to die, anyway, she might as well die trying to help her friends. "WATCH OUT, JACKIE, HE'S GOT AN UNDEAD ARMY OF PRIESTS! DON'T DO ANYTHING-" Imhotep clamped his hand over her mouth and muttered in his special language which left, to her horror, her mouth frozen shut. The one time it mattered to faint, she couldn't get it to happen? Her luck was amazing.
Jackie climbed out of the crack in the wall after Rick who had fired a bullet at one of those fancy mirror tricks, lighting up the room to reveal its hoard of treasure which made even her eyes glisten with greed and forgetfulness of the task at hand.
"Can you see-" Jonathan stammered.
"Yeah," Rick said.
"Can you believe-"
"Yeah,"
"Can we just-"
"No."
They were examining their fortune when a familiar cry reached her ears, "Watch out, Jackie, he's got an undead army of priests! Don't do anything-"
"Avery!" Without question, she took of running in the direction of the voice and didn't care to the shouts telling her to wait. She did, however, heed the mummy who had popped out of the ground (like daisies) and grabbed her ankle, forcing her to the ground and claiming a scream from her throat.
One well aimed shot from Rick lead to her freedom and she took hold of a nice looking scepter and ran the mummy through, hoisting him above her head and letting him slide off the scepter into the mounds of treasure far from her and her friends.
"Who are these guys?!"
"Priests," Ardeth replied. "Imhotep's priests."
The room exploded in brief gunfire and then lead to them, once more, running towards Avery's call.
Avery watched in horror as an unconscious Evy was shackled to a stone slab beside a dead body, presumably Anck-su-namun. She shook her head and felt the warm tears slide down her cheeks in her silence while she was tied to a stone post farthest away from Evy, but close enough to see everything.
Imhotep cupped her chin and forced her to look at him, "Soon it will be your turn, little princess."
She spat in his face.
He growled and went to slap her, but stopped and grinned darkly. "More and more like your father everyday."
"You are not my father," She hissed. "You will not win."
"We shall see."
"There he is!" Jonathan shouted as he dove for the statue of Horus. "This is where the book is!" Jackie didn't care anymore, she was clinging to her scepter and helping Ardeth and Rick take care of the undead priests who kept coming from absolutely nowhere.
Rick used Ardeth's face to strike a match, used to light dynamite, which earned him a dark look. He quickly amended his wrong, "It's time to close the door." He tossed it into the tunnel and it exploded, encasing the tunnel and the mummies in rock.
Undead priests circled Evy and the body and Imhotep came forward with the God darn book that had gotten them into this mess. Imhotep cast a loving look upon the horrific pieces of Anck-su-namun and then opened the book. She must have been a beauty three thousand years ago because she certainly wasn't anymore.
Evy began to cry out for help and Avery shook her head, wanting more than anything to help everyone like she was supposed to do. To apologize to those she had wronged, to make right her stupid acts of young age and to say goodbye, and before all hell broke lose, she thought about what was going to happen to Evy and only had to words to describe how she felt about the delicate situation.
Hell no.
While Jonathan and Rick pulled with all their manly might the little compartment under Horus' feet, the priests decided to enter another way.
"Jeez, these guys just don't die."
"Keep digging," Ardeth ordered, preparing the gun he had "borrowed" from Rick. Finally, while Ardeth held them off, they were able to recover the gold book.
Very abruptly, the gunfire ceased and Ardeth turned to them with a sad look upon his face, "Kill the creature, save the girl, save Avery." He looked to Jackie. "Tell her I love her."
"What? No, wait-"
But he was already long gone.
Rick lit another stick of dynamite and tossed it reluctantly into the brawl, closing his eyes when the explosion went off and shaking his head. Jackie had tears in her eyes again. "We gotta go," Rick muttered and then pretty much dragged Jackie away.
Imhotep was chanting and a black gooey figure from the dark pool had possessed the decayed body of Anck-su-namun when Avery stood, free of her chains with orbs of gold where her eyes had been, speaking in ancient Egyptian to Imhotep. "You will not succeed, father, I will not let you."
"Amunet, I am pleased that you have decided to join us." Imhotep scowled, but then returned his gaze to the book. "But it is too late." He raised the dagger just as Rick, Jonathan and Jackie came running in to kill Evy when Amunet-in-Avery's-body shouted "NO!" and the knife was locked in his grip and his hand could not pass through a force field surrounding Evy.
"The Book of Amun-Ra! I found it, Evy! I found it!"
Jonathan's triumphant shouts drew all eyes to him as he raised the gold book victoriously over his head. "You found it?!" Jackie exclaimed. "It wasn't just you, you numbskull!"
"Shut up and get me off of here!" Evy replied. "Open the book, Jonathan. It's the only way to kill him. You have to open the book and find the inscription."
"Well, I can't open it! It's locked or something!" They searched the book furiously, scanning the cover and spine and back. "We need the key, Evy!"
"It's inside his robes!"
Imhotep was already heading in Jonathan and Jackie's direction with a look of death in his eyes when Avery ran and skidded to a halt in his path, a sword raised. "If you want them, you'll have to go through us," She challenged, her voice sounded as though a choir was speaking in unison. Jackie and Jonathan took this as a cue to run.
He smirked at her and her eyes narrowed, "We will not hesitate to kill you,"
"I know, I find it amusing that you think you can."
A loud snap! Accompanied by a clang! Took their attention to Evy who had been freed from her chains by Rick O'Connell.
Fighting ensued, and while Rick and Evy were kept busy by Imhotep's undead priests, Avery/Amunet and Imhotep had a field day.
"We can't just leave them out there!" Jackie shouted.
Jonathan looked into the room and was dazzled by how much O'Connell could destroy in a matter of seconds. "He certainly seems to have everything under control-"
"JONATHAN!"
"Alright, alright, look, there's an inscription here. I'll read it and we'll see what happens." He eyed in with a confused expression and then stammered out, "Rasheem...Rasheem oola...Rasheem oola Kashka!"
They looked around and found a door which had opened on its own which had bore undead warriors with spears and shields.
"Oh, boy,"
"This just keeps getting better and better," Rick grumbled.
"Do something Jonathan, Jackie," Evy said shakily as she and Rick backed away from their menacing presence.
"Me?" They said in unison.
"You can command them,"
"You've got to be joking,"
"Finish the inscription on the cover!" Avery commanded, still in intense combat with Imhotep who seemed to not tire nearly as fast as she. "Then you can control them."
Anck-su-namun popped out of nowhere and began deftly swinging a sword at Evy who dodged out of the way just in time. Her strange and incredibly unhelpful appearance made Avery/Amunet lose track of what was happening at them moment, allowing Imhotep to slice a nasty gash from her knee to her ankle. Crying out in pain from the blow, it didn't help her case when her "father" shoved her over, crashing into a vase which broke opened and spilled out the dust of whatever had been inside.
Imhotep shouted something in ancient Egyptian which made everything freeze for two seconds before exploding into chaos once more. The warriors Jonathan had summoned were now under his command and were lunging for Rick or heading for Jonathan and Jackie who screamed in fear and made a dash to the furthest corner.
Rick made a stand against the three which had come to battle him and he roared in their faces. They roared back with equal strength and fear infliction. Rick just stared, his mouth hanging open as he muttered, "Uh-uh," and made a dash to anywhere but there.
"Hurry up, Jonathan!"
"I can't figure out this last symbol," Jonathan cried as they walked between statues.
"What does it look like?" Evy asked.
Jackie's eyes widened, "I know this!" She exclaimed, "I just have to remember!" Watching the movies so many times had lead her to believe that she knew almost everything there was to know. Apparently, she was wrong. Slamming her fist into the center of her forehead, she chanted, "What is it? What is it? What is it?"
"It's a, uh, a bird—a stork!"
Jackie's eyes brightened, "Ahmenophus!"
"Ah, yes, I see,"
Jackie's eyes went to Avery and she discarded everything, clutched her gold scepter tighter and stalked to Imhotep.
Imhotep walked slowly towards Avery who was covered in cuts of various sizes thanks to the vase. She glanced up to him, tears in her eyes from Amunet's memories of her father and didn't bother to reach for her sword which he kicked away instinctively.
"One last chance, daughter, join me," He said, offering his hand to her. She spit in his face. Growling, he stomped upon her wounded leg which pulled an anguished cry from her throat. Taking up a vase shard, she slammed it into his foot, ignoring the blood which ran down her hand as she watched him yell in anger. He raised his weapon to kill her, only to be disarmed—literally—by the golden (and bloody sharp) scepter. "Don't touch my sister," Jackie warned and then whacked him, sending him away for the minute.
Jackie bent down and pulled one of Avery's arms around her shoulders, hoisting her up and limping as far away as possible.
"Hootash im Ahmenophus!" Jonathan yelled and the warrior mummies froze, waiting for their next set of instructions. Imhotep twisted his arm back into his body and tried barking commands to the warriors, but they would not listen. "Fa-Kooshka Anck-su-namun!"
Finally, that darn hag was put back in her rightful place and Evy joined the girls, wrapping Avery's other arm around her shoulders which claimed a painful choke from Avery.
Angry from Anck-su-namun's death, Imhotep went to Jonathan and picked him up by his throat, meaning to kill when Rick came up from behind and once again chopped off his arm. He must've been getting tired of losing limbs like that.
Imhotep tossed Rick away and screwed his arm back on, heading to face Rick now. Evy sent a look to Jackie which told her to run to Jonathan after he had said, "Evy, I've got it."
"Keep him busy!"
"No problem,"
Jonathan fumbled with the key as they placed it in the book and opened it, hastily rushing through the pages in search of the right thing to read. "Hurry, Jonathan, hurry!" Jackie ordered as Imhotep picked Rick up and tossed him around the room some more.
"You're not helping-"
"I've got it!" Jonathan exclaimed. "Kadeesh mal, kadeesh mal. Pared oos, pared oos!" A massive blue chariot came by and ripped through Imhotep, stealing away his immortality and powers—allowing Rick to stick him through when he had the chance. Imhotep slid into the black pool where the gooey figure of death had come out of and looked to Avery, whispering in ancient Egyptian, "Death is only the beginning."
And then the whole place started rumbling and everything started to cave in on itself. Rick scooped Avery up in his arms and they ran as fast as possible while Jonathan took Jackie's hand—after he slipped and dropped the book in the black goo pool.
"You dropped the book, Jonathan!" Evy cried, outraged.
"COME ON!" Jackie grabbed her hand and they all made a break for it, running through falling sand and sliding under closing doors into the treasure room.
Jonathan stopped, "Can we just-"
"NO!"
Rick set Avery down and pushed her to the other side of the door where she crawled into a standing position, waiting for the others to join her. She thought she heard Beni, but didn't care if it was real or not. After limping for a little while longer, Rick scooped her up again and they ran like heck out of the dying city of the dead.
When they finally stopped running beside their camels, it looked as though a bomb had been dropped and when the dust cleared, there was nothing left but a desert.
Staring blankly at the sand, they panted for a few good minutes, Rick still holding on to Avery when Jonathan screamed out of fear, drawing screams from Evy and Jackie as well only to find that it was Ardeth!
"Oh! Thank you. Thank you very much!" He exclaimed, clinging to Jackie like a child.
"You've earned the respect and gratitude of me and my people," He said.
"Yes, well, it was nothing," Jonathan replied, waving his hand as if to tell him to leave.
Ardeth dismounted the camel he was riding and approached Avery who was hastily set down by Rick. "I would like you to come with me, to meet my people," He explained, but stopped when she blinked and her eyes turned completely gold once more.
She smiled warmly and said with an echoing voice, "Avery and Jacqueline are not from this time, they have a home and family that await their arrival. You ask much of her. Would you care for her unlike the way you cared for me? Would you protect her no matter the cost?"
"I would do my best," He replied firmly.
Avery/Amunet nodded and turned to Jackie. She lifted up two nearly identical necklaces of gold scarabs, one with red jewels and one with blue. "When the jewels glow, it means that you are able to travel between the worlds, though I can not guarantee that it will be often." She looked up and gestured with her head to a sandstorm that was heading their way. "That is your way home, compliments of Megara senior and Garret. If you wish to go home, enter the storm and if you wish to return, push the antennae together when the jewels glow. Avery will inform you of her choice momentarily."
She shook her head and returned to normal; they smiled knowingly to each other. "I can't go back," She whispered.
"I know," Jackie nodded. "But I have to."
Avery nodded understandingly and, with tears in her eyes, hugged her dearest friend—her sister. "To think this was all because we couldn't figure out how to work a DVD player."
Jackie laughed and then retreated, looking to Ardeth, she said, "Take good care of her, or else I will haunt you."
The storm was very close now. She turned to Evy and Rick and nodded, "You have the Jackie Smith seal of approval, good luck." Now it Jonathan's turn. Sighing, she said, "I love you-" but was silenced with a kiss to her lips.
"And I love you, but this couldn't have worked out, darling, no worries." He said with a smile and then glanced to the storm. "You better get going."
"Jonathan," She turned and handed him the scepter. "I want you to have this."
He smiled and accepted it, basking in its beauty.
She took a "few" steps away from the group and waited for the winds to take her away, the two groups waving to each other as the sands swept her into oblivion.
The last thing she saw of Egypt, 1923 was Avery and Ardeth sharing a kiss on a camel.