CHAPTER 9

"Where are we going?"

"Away from here! Is there an exit somewhere?"

"I don't know, I only know the way we came down!" And of course that path was now blocked by an angry sea creature. Oh how she missed her pufferfish friend.

They kept running around in circles it seemed until they had unexpectedly come to a dead end. One end faced the angry guards while the other faced the octopus who was smashing its way into crates, setting loose various animals and fossils. Suddenly they heard revving and looked up to see a general riding a motorbike with a sidecar attached. He called for them to jump on and they did not hesitate. Larry took the wheel. Avery held onto his waist as she jumped in behind him. They did not hesitate to bowl over Kahmunrah's guards who scattered as they rolled past.

"General George A. Custer at your service."

"What's our plan here guys? We can't just keep driving around here until the gas runs out." Avery was being surprisingly practical when she should have been panicking.

"A plan? We don't need no plan! We're Americans! We don't think, we do!" Well he wasn't wrong on that declaration. They basically were relying on gut instincts at this point.

Unfortunately for him he stood up and hit a low shelf. Avery winced as she heard the impact. Though she carefully climbed into the sidecar and secured the tablet in her arms. She braced herself as Larry took several sharp turns before he had to brake abruptly.

"Move lady! You're blocking our getaway!" Larry had yelled at the exhibit who almost got bowled over.

"Lady? The name's Amelia Earhart bud." A spear was thrown and punctured the tire.

Great, there goes our quick getaway.

"Uh right, you're some famous pilot."

"Some pilot? I was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic," she listed her other accomplishments while Larry looked around.

"Now would you be so kind as to tell me where I am?"

"You're in a museum, Ms Earhart!" Avery had always liked learning about her in school.

"Just call me Amelia! What are your names?"

"Larry Daley and that's Avery. Look, we're in a kind of dangerous situation right now…"

"Well I'm not one to shy away from danger." She struck a pose with her hands on her hips, just in time for a set of spears to be thrown at her lodging in the crate behind her.

"But you're okay with spears being thrown at you?" Avery stared in horror while Amelia just shrugged and stepped out of them. Almost watching someone become a kabob was not on her bucket list, least of all the first female pilot. It seemed like Larry had taken on the leadership role in their group. After some careful directions, they finally found an exit door and ran like hell up the stairs.

Avery was not prepared for what she saw as they emerged. They were in one of the art galleries and the paintings had come to life! It was like a dream come true for her! She always wondered what it would be like if the New York museum had paintings like these. She had a large grin on her face as she looked around the gallery. A snowball was thrown out of one painting hitting her cheek. It was a pleasant contrast as opposed to the Mayans poison darts.

"Wow," was all she could say as she looked around in awe. "Larry, are you seeing this?"

She walked over to a painting of a sad girl in the pop art style. She waved at her and the girl tearfully waved back.

"Yeah, this is new…"

The people in the paintings were backing away and a quick glance behind them revealed the reason why. Kahmunrah's guards had found a way out of the maze.

Larry grabbed the pitchfork out of the American Gothic painting and told the guards to get back. Of course they weren't intimidated by him.

"Never send a boy to do a woman's job."

Amelia had grabbed it from him attempting to show off her skills. Unfortunately she misjudged it as the guards had quicker reflexes. They were pressed against a wall and the only other escape was a black and white photograph. Avery's elbow had brushed up against it but instead of being met with a solid structure, she phased into it. In light of this new revelation, she knew what they had to do.

"Guys jump in here!" She yelled and crashed through the photograph quickly followed by Larry and Amelia. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the whole atmosphere.

"We're in a photograph! Oh my god, this is amazing! We're black and white, Larry!" She marveled as she held her hands out in front of her and looked around.

"Yeah, yeah it's all great but I'm not sure-" They were jostled around by all the people celebrating. Unfortunately for them, Kahmunrah's guards had figured out how to enter the photograph as well.

In their momentary separation, two sailors had made their way up to the women and extended their hand for a dance. Amelia accepted immediately and Avery was too excited to pass up an opportunity to party in the 1940s. Under the guise of a dancing couple, Avery and the sailor were able to get past the guards with ease. She had to admit that the sailor was pleasing to her eyes. He held her close as they swayed in the crowd. Meanwhile, Larry had made friends with a sailor boy and was able to convince him to help distract the guards. He quickly found Amelia and Avery, who reluctantly left her dance partner. They were looking for an exit when the guards had broken through the sailors' defenses.

In a last ditch effort, Larry pushed the man out of the way and kissed the famous nurse as the guards walked right by him. It wasn't hard for the women to quickly blend in either.

"Anytime you're done, Mr Daley," Amelia teased. Avery smirked as she saw his face darken with a blush. As they jumped out of the picture, she knew they would have a problem when the guards came through that way too.

"Turn the picture around! It might stop them!" And it worked, she was pretty pleased with herself. She had a 50/50 chance that that would work.

As they began to move again, Avery marveled at all the paintings and sculptures as they began to freely move about. A red balloon dog sculpture by Jeff Koons bounced past them. Ameila and Larry were in front of her as Avery stuck behind looking at the living sculptures in front of her.

"Avery! Are you coming?"

"Oh uh, yeah, sorry!" She scrambled to catch up.

"Nothing personal but she and I are in the middle of something that is not your fight."

"It's because I'm a woman isn't it?" Avery looked at her crazy for a second.

"Um I don't think that argument works, I am also a woman."

"No, it's because we got this evil pharaoh breathing down our necks trying to get this tablet to rule the world."

"So it is because I'm a woman!"

Why bother? Amelia clearly was caught up in her own convictions.

"What? No, I just said-" He was cut off.

"Listen, I can help you two. Not frankly because I like you personally, Mr Daley, but because I like adventure. And I want in!"

"Alright, well don't blame us if something bad happens to you." Larry shook his head at this woman and continued walking.

"Is he always this optimistic?"

"Ehh, you get used to it."