Back with Alex and Jonathan
The two of them had successfully snuck into the pyramid with Evy's body, working their way into its depths to try and steal the Book of the Dead back from Anck-Su-Namun. The passageway they walked was dark and poorly lit, but Alex held a torch to guide them as they walked down to the throne room.
Jonathan voiced a few concerns about this plan. "Alex, I'm all for this plan to save Evy. You know I am. But you do realize, of course, that this can only be done by someone who can actually read ancient Egyptian. I don't know about you, but I'm a tad rusty, and Zarha's spell only lets us understand spoken Egyptian, not written."
The two reached a crossroads in the hallway, and a sign in ancient Egyptian was written on the wall. Jonathan was still determining where to turn.
He groaned in annoyance. "This place is a bloody maze! Now, where do we go?"
Alex said simply. "We go to the right because the sign says "Kasheesh Osirian Nye." " Which is, "This way to the Scorpion King." He turned to look at the corpse of his mother, a single tear falling from his eye. "Mum taught me."
As Alex walked off in that direction, Jonathan was filled with renewed confidence. "This just might work, Evy. This just might work."
Jonathan walked after his nephew but bumped into a figure in the dark, causing him to scream. The figure took out a gun and pointed it at him. Alex came running back to save his uncle, revealing with his torch that the figure was…
"Dad!" Alex squeaked, now filled with dread that he was in BIG trouble.
It was Rick, Zarha, Imhotep, Taysir, and Amir, and they all looked at Jonathan with hard glares.
Rick glared at Alex for a moment, then to Jonathan. "What the hell are you doing here with him… and her?! Jonathan, I swear to whatever higher power is listening, I'm going to-"
Imhotep stopped Rick before he could throttle his brother-in-law, confessing. "The fault is mine, Rick O'Connell. I told the boy of a means to bring back his mother using the Book of the Dead, given that she hadn't been dead long enough for her spirit to transition to the underworld. With the book, we can restore your wife. It is the least I can do after everything that's occurred."
Zahra's jaw dropped before she grabbed Imhotep and pinned him to the wall, demanding answers. "Why in the world would you tell A CHILD that, Imhotep?! He has a better chance of being cursed by ACCIDENT than you were INTENTIONALLY for performing such sacrilege to the passage of life and death!"
Imhotep held his hands up in surrender. "I only wished to help my little guide after he lost his mother. I gave him the only loophole that exists for such a situation. The more we argue here, the faster that window closes. We must go and retrieve the Book!"
Zahra looked at her love momentarily, sighed in defeat, and then put him down. "All right, we will get that book. I'm sorry for lashing out, Imhotep."
Imhotep nodded, and Rick practically grabbed them both, begging for confirmation as if afraid to believe it to be true. "Is it true? Can we really get Evy back?"
The mummies nodded to him. "Yes, but we must move fast, O'Connell! We must kill that sister witch of mine and use it as fast as we can!"
The united group then rushed to the throne room, Alex serving as the perfect guide and Zahra helping the boy avoid a few traps, such as pitfalls, poison darts, swinging guillotines, and scorpion pits.
As they moved along, Jonathan asked Zahra about the Pyramids' construction. "So, Zahra, do you know how this Scorpion King fellow built this pyramid for Set? He couldn't have just waved his hand, and it just appeared, right?"
Zahra let out a controlled sigh, tired of listening to Jonathan's greed, but she answered anyway. "Jonathan, the Scorpion King built this pyramid on the backs of slaves, taking the sacred gold offered to the golds as tribute and using slaves from his conquests to construct it. He even had the bodies of the slaves who worked themselves to death thrown into the smelting vats for the gold to forever imprison their souls within the pyramid as punishment for dying on the job. The mere thought of it makes my blood boil."
Jonathan gulped and looked at the golden walls, noticing a few warped imperfections in the golden walls that looked like screaming faces, causing him and everyone to shudder. When they finally arrived at the throne room, they hid in the darkness and saw the Scorpion King in the flesh. He had Anak-Su-Namun on his lap, the two kissing deeply, while Lock-Nah was practicing with a whip that was connected by segmented blades. His expertise with the weapon was growing, demonstrated as he cut down a few columns in a single swing of the whip before it condensed suddenly, forming a beautiful black blade.
Zahra sneered in disgust at her sister . "Ugh, she chooses to pair with the Scorpion King, now? She will sell her soul if it means gaining power and rulership."
Imhotep grimaced and scolded himself. "How did it take me 3,000 years to realize this just now?"
Jonathan put a hand on the mummy's shoulder. "As we all figured out, she's a snake in every sense of the word. And an excellent manipulator, my friend. Seeing her like this… just drives that point home." Jonathan then looked around and spotted the book with some other treasure on a table. "Chaps, there! I can see the book! What's the plan?"
Imhotep removes his robe, revealing himself to be adorned with an Egyptian battle skirt underneath. "l must face the Scorpion King alone. No one else shall die for my foolish mistakes."
Zahra put her hands on Imhotep's chest, begging him not to. "No! You must not! The Scorpion King was famous for killing sorcerers of great power without an ounce of magic himself! Even with your powers, he will kill you!"
Imhotep was undeterred, placing a hand on Zarha's cheek. "I know the danger, my love, but I must make this right."
Rick stopped him. "Not alone, you're not." The man turned to face the reformed mummy. "Imhotep, I believe you want to make your things right, but let's not throw your life away to do it. We'll fight the bug king together."
Zahra and Imhotep snorted in amusement at Rick's insult, muttering "Bug King." under their breath as they chuckled.
Zahra then turned back to the throne room. The King and her sister were too enthralled by each other's pleasure to realize they were in the shadows, but Lock-Nah was starting to catch on.
The female mummy said only this. "Lock-Nah is MINE. That monster dies this day. After him, then my sister."
Jonathan spoke up. "I can distract that wench so Alex can swipe the book!"
Hafez, having regained some of his sense after the shock of losing his arm, spoke up. "Uh, what can I do to aid you, my Lord Imhotep and Lady Zahra?"
Imhotep looked to Hafez and then pointed to Alex. "Protect my little guide and assist him in reading the book's spells. No doubt there are symbols within it he's never seen before. Taysir and Amir, you will assist them and stand guard."
Hafez and the other two cultists nodded to their lord, vowing silently not to fail. Now that everyone knew their roles in the plan, they prepared to split up, only for Jonathan to whisper-shout. "WAIT!"
Everyone stopped and glared at him, Rick demanding, "What now, Jonathan?! Chickening out now of all times?!"
Jonathan waved his arms while still holding Evy's body. "No, no! I got an idea! Zahra, let me take the spear! Lock-Nah will be looking for it with you, so If you give it to me, it will buy us more time to keep him distracted!"
Zahra thought about it and agreed. "Not a bad plan, Jonathan, but I must be able to show off the spear to deceive him that I have it. What do you think we can use as a decoy?"
Jonathan pulled a wand from the nearby pile of treasure and gave it to Zahra. She looked over the simple golden scepter that looked like the spear in its more diminutive form but had a few stubble differences that couldn't be discerned unless one held it. She nodded, took it into her robes, and handed the real spear to Jonathan, who hid it in his coat.
"This will do. Now, let us go! We can waste no more time!" She ordered as everyone rushed off to do their part.
Imhotep and Rick came out of the shadows and marched to the throne, the promise of death in their eyes. As they leaped over the crevice separating them from the throne, they noticed down that horrible pit a light with hellfire, millions upon millions of damn souls grasping out with their hands and screaming in agony at their suffering.
Scorpion King had a pit to the Underworld in his throne room. Brilliant.
After successfully crossing, the two men stood before the throne. The King stopped kissing Anck-Su-Namun to see who dared interrupt his time with his future queen, only to be shocked to see the warriors of prophecy before him.
The King rose from his throne and glared at the woman. "You told me you slew the warriors prophesied to slay me. Why do they stand before me now?"
Anck-Su-Namun was utterly shocked to see the two of them standing before her. She was certain Rick was a broken shell of a man after she killed his wife, and she knew her brother had stabbed Imhotep in the back, dealing a fatal blow to him and Zahra. How was it possible that they stood before them now?
Before she could come up with any excuses, Imhotep spoke. "Your queen would have slain me and Zarha were it not for the intervention of Anubis, 'Your Majesty.'" The last words dripped off his voice like a sour venom on his tongue.
Scorpion King growled. "So my queen-to-be is only hindered by the interference of petty gods. Otherwise, I would not suffer the displeasure of you in my presence. Even from them, such disrespect shall be punished in due time."
Rick and Imhotep couldn't believe their ears. This guy was so arrogant as to threaten GODS? Either he was too big for his britches or actually had the power to back up what he threatened, both of which were not good prospects for either of them.
Scoffing, the Scorpion King continued. "No matter, I will deal with them later. For now, you both shall pay me the proper respect, for I am Mathayus, The Scorpion King. You WILL kneel to me or die a thousand deaths for your insolence."
Rick held up his ax, ready for battle. "Yeah, that's not happening, bug boy. We're killing you and sending your stolen troops back to the underworld."
Upon hearing the insult leave Rick's lips, the scorpion King roared with such force and power that the entire pyramid shook as if an earthquake had suddenly struck. The mummy and the man struggled to maintain balance and not fall into the pit behind them. The King drew his sword, brandishing it expertly as he willed a shield of gold with a scorpion embedded in it to fly to his open hand from a nearby wall. It was the same golden shield he wore into battle 5,000 years ago.
The scorpion King then glared at both opponents before him. "If the gods see fit to interfere with my conquest, then I have no choice but to end you both myself. Anak-Su-Namun, stay out of this battle. It has been ages since I spilled the blood of my enemies. The two of them shall be the first as I reignite my conquest of the world."
Kneeling before her king, the witch said. "If that is what you wish, my husband. All I request is that you make it painful. They have been a thorn in my side for my entire journey to your side."
King raised an eyebrow to her. "Have they, now? Then they're suffering shall be LEGENDARY!"
The scorpion King lunged forward with a roar, raising his blade to strike down Rick, but Imhotep grabbed the flat side blade in between his hands and tossed it aside, allowing Rick to knock the king's shield from his hands. Now forced to fight hand to hand, the king threw fists at the mummy and Rick, the three combatants using every ounce of strength they possessed.
Rick threw a few sucker punches to the king's gut, knocking him off balance, while Imhotep delivered sweeping strikes to the king's face before kicking him in the face and sending the king flying. The king recovered midair and propelled himself off the wall he'd crashed into, slamming into both opponents with a double clothesline. As Rick was sent tumbling across the room, the king grabbed Imhotep and smashed his skull into the mummy's face. Imhotep stumbled backward from the blow, allowing the king to sock him across the face, then the gut, and uppercut him so hard that Imhotep crashed into the ceiling before falling to the ground, reeling from the pain. As the Scorpion king smirked at his fallen foe, ready to finish him off, Rick came from behind and swung an ax he had taken from the wall into the king's shoulder. The king roared with pain and twisted quickly to face his other opponent, swiping his hand across Rick's face to stun him before slamming his fist into the man's gut, sending Rick sprawling to the ground. After removing the ax from his shoulder, the king's power from Set healed the wound, even cleaning up the blood. Rick was stunned at the healing factor of the king, granting his majesty the opportunity to kick Rick so hard that he was launched into the air, right into the King's awaiting hand, where he grabbed Rick by his throat and pinned him to the wall. Rick struggled to escape, but the king was too strong.
As this was going on, Anck-Su-Namun looked at her future husband with pride and lust, for he was not only handsome but even mightier than his legends claimed. She actually looked forward to bearing strong children for him once their rule was established. As she watched from the throne, she heard a noise behind her, as if someone was clearing their throat.
To her surprise, it was Jonathan, looking ready to throw down instead of running away like a coward. "AHEM. It's time someone taught you a lesson, wench. Come on."
He motioned his hand for Anck-Su-Namun to come at him. Amused, Anck-Su-Namun strode toward her opponent with a devilish smile while Jonathan got into a boxing stance, a fire burning in his heart for his sister. As she approached him, she failed to notice Alex, Amir, Taysir, and Hafez slip in and snag the Book of the Dead.
Meanwhile, with Zahra
As Zahra and Lock-Nah were threateningly circling each other, he taunted her. "You just don't know when to die until you finish your job, do you, Zahra? But I do admire your determination. Give me the Spear, and maybe I'll spare you as a future warrior slave. After all, you're a natural-born killer."
But unknown to him, Zarha did not have the spear; she left it with Jonathan and kept the fake to throw them off. She waved the fake spear in front of Lock-Nah.
"Come take it…like you did Horus' life. I'm not a killer, and even when I did, it was never personal. But after what you did to that brave falcon, I intend to enjoy every single second of it as I make you suffer!" Zahra countered as she put the fake spear in her robe.
Lock-Nah grinned evilly at that. "Very well. But please, try to stay alive so you can suffer longer than that disgusting creature did."
"RRRRRRAAAAAAA!" Zahra roared before avoiding a few lashes of Lock-Nah's whip sword, the segmented blade tearing apart the ground and surrounding decor of the throne room.
She got in close enough to get close and delivered a punch to his midsection, followed by a spin kick to his right knee and another to his head, sending him flying back before she rushed to him and uppercut him in the chin and then spun and kicked him into a wall! Lock-Nah caught himself on the floor and lept back as Zarha came down and aimed her fist at his head, causing her to miss and shatter the floor beneath them in fragmented stone. Lock-Nah then lashed out with his whip sword, the segmented-bladed whip lashing out with devastating force and practically obliterating everything it touched as the enforcer whipped it around to try and get Zarha. The female mummy darted around the room at inhuman speed, preparing to advance on him. But as soon as she did, Lock-Nah jumped up into a green portal to avoid a punch that was aimed at his head before he landed behind her and smashed her head against the wall, seemingly fracturing her skull.
Zahra knocked him away, stunned that Lock-Nah had performed magic as she recovered with her own magic. "How did you do that?! I know for a fact that the mystical arts are far beyond your ken, Lock-Nah!"
The enforcer smirked and pointed to a pendant from his neck. It was shaped like a jade scorpion and seemingly bonded to his flesh. "The Netherworld Scorpion Amulet. It allows me to jump between this world and the underworld as I please. A gift from my king for my loyalty."
Zahra snarled and threw her chains out toward him, trying to stab him though. However, Lock-Nah caught them and pulled them up and down fast, smashing her hard to the floor, stunning her long enough for him to jump towards her while wrapping her chains around her neck to strangle her to death.
"I'm going to finish the job your sister didn't and put you out of our misery for good before I personally have Ardeth Bay's head spiked! Die, you wretched vermin!" Lock-Nah said with anger.
But Zahra, enraged by that threat to her Medjai friend's life, gained her footing and shot her head into his face, breaking his nose and sending him back as he let go of the chains before she animated them back in her robes and conjuring a sword, just as she did when Ardeth sacrificed himself ten years ago. "Now…it's…time…to…DIE!"
"Indeed it is, Zahra." Lock-Nah said with an evil grin while whipping around his whip sword.
The fight continued, with the warriors fighting at superhuman speed as their blades clashed. They were evenly matched as they blocked each other's slashes before Lock-Nah found an opening and punched Zahra back, only for her to land a kick on his face as she went that sent him crashing into the Scorpion King's throne!
"RRAAAA!" Lock-Nah roared with rage while rushing to her, and they began blocking and dodging each other's slashes again until Zahra found an opening and disarmed him before punching him three times before drop-kicking him in the mouth, making him look at her with hate.
Back with Jonathan, Alex, and the Cultists
"This is for my sister." He said before throwing the first punch.
Anck-Su-Namun was caught off guard by the sudden spine of the usually cowardly man as the punch struck her cheek. She staggered, shocked at the audacity of this worm to dare hit her, and so she lunged with her nails straight to his face. While Jonathan flinched from her strikes, he returned them in kind as he rained his fists wildly upon her. The witch was not expecting to be hurt by this clown of a man, but she just took it as an incentive to make him suffer.
Dazed and dizzy, Jonathan stumbled a bit but stayed strong. "Is that all you've got, wench? Was it worth killing everyone you know just to have your new king?"
He threw his fist faster this time, sending Anck-Su-Namun tumbling to the floor. She glared at him with disbelief and anger as she flipped back to her feet, a new sense of killing intent in her eyes. She bolted towards a statue of set and drew a pair of sais from the statue's hands, twirling them dangerously in her hands. Jonathan was now somewhat nervous, quickly pulling out the Spear of Osiris in its stick form as a poor means of defense as he called to Alex and Hafez. "Boys, you may want to hurry it up!"
Anck-Su-Namun quickly turned around and saw that the Book of the Dead was gone! She quickly scanned the room in search of it until she spotted a pair of shadows behind a column, with two cultists that she didn't recognize standing on the other side of them, looking at her with their guns trained on her. Anak-Su-Namun could hear a pair of voices faintly chanting one of the spells from the book, but she didn't know which one it was. As she was about to charge at them and reclaim the Book of the Dead, Jonathan got in a surprise attack and knocked the side of her head with the stick, sending her reeling as she quickly turned to block his next strike, a look of growing fear on her face as she came to a new conclusion: Jonathan Conahan was NOT to be taken lightly when he was serious.
Back with Rick and Imhotep
As Rick was about to pass out from the King strangling him, the recovered Imhotep tackled the king away before throwing him into the air and slamming him into the ceiling, holding him in place with his telekinetic powers. The King struggled to escape, Imhotep struggling even harder to keep him in place while Rick recovered his breath. As Rick stood back up and gave the mummy a thumbs up, the king broke free and landed with thunderous force, separating the two men as Imhotep crashed into a column a bit too close to the pit, the mummy struggling not to lose his balance as he grabbed the column for dear life. Rick was sent spiraling through the air, but he managed to land on his feet while the king was right on top of him, roaring again in a rage as he swung a fist at him. Rick ducked just in time as the blow from the Scorpion king blew apart the cave wall behind Rick, sending stone and gravel scattering everywhere.
While the King was blinded by the dust cloud of the shattered rock, Rick socked him in the face, then his gut, then a backhanded strike his face again, followed by a strike to his back and then his stomach, causing the king to keel over in pain from the sudden flurry of blows. Imhotep rushed back over, now holding a new weapon in one hand, a battle staff with curved-half-moon blades on either end, and throwing a pair of axes to Rick. As Rick caught his new weapons, the Scorpion King thrust out his hands, and his sword and shield flew back to him, and the battle of fists became one of steel as the blades clashed.
Meanwhile, at the Battle of Ahm Shere
It was pure chaos; the Army of Anubis and the Medjai fought with everything they could muster as blades clashed and battle cries roared. Ardeth threw his sword at an Anubian warrior, decapitating it before it could strike down one of his Medjai brothers. As he rushed past the blade and picked it up while on horseback, the guardians roared and fought like this was their final act. The first guardian expertly dueled with a trio of Anubian warriors, deflecting their blades with his shield while relieving them of their heads with a single strike of his Khopesh. The third guardian charged throughout the battlefield, skewering more enemy warriors on his spear while using his shield to defend himself. On his back was another Medjai who decapitated the warriors the guardian skewered with his spear. The second guardian threw his pair of Khopesh swords as if they were boomerangs, decapitating a dozen more warriors before they flew back to his hands. The fourth guardian was a walking sentinel, stabbing Anubian warriors through their skulls and slicking them to pieces with his Khopesh—no signs of his rampage ending anytime soon.
Meanwhile, with Zahra
Lock-Nah lashed out again with his whip sword, Zahra expertly dodging and maneuvering as if she were dancing with a deadly partner. She leaped into the air after dodging another strike from the whip sword. She threw her chain toward the ground, dragging its blade across the earth and causing the divided trail it left behind to erupt with hellfire as the underworld's presence was given another outlet into the throne room. Lock-Nah lept back from the inferno, but Zahra used this chance to leap through it and cloak herself in its blaze before spin-kicking Lock-Nah into the ground. Before he landed, Lock-Nah used his amulet again to vanish into a green portal, reappearing above her, smashing his knee into her back, and slamming her into the ground when they both landed.
Zahra flipped him off of her and wrapped her chains around her left arm while holding her sword in the right; the chains animated like serpents with knives for heads. Lock-Nah drew his old scimitar in his right hand while holding his whip sword in his left, and the two charged each other with hateful roars. Their blades and whips clashed in a flurry of steel and metallic wrath, Zahra's chains cutting up the enforcer as she slowly overpowered him in swordplay. Lock-Nah's whip sword was suddenly knocked from his grasp as Zahra then seized him by his throat, lifting him up and off the ground. The pressure she applied to his neck was too great to ignore, forcing the enforcer to drop his weapons in a vain attempt to pry Zahra's hand from his windpipe. Her face reflected the heart of a storm, and her eyes promised nothing but suffering before death.
Oh, she was going to ENJOY this.
Back with Rick and Imhotep
The Scorpion King's blade was an arc of pure destruction as he swung and slashed with speeds almost impossible to see, cleaving stone and other statues in his path while his opponents were forced back. Imhotep worked on defending the two of them, blocking and dodging the king's attacks, while Rick was on the offensive and got in a few lucky strikes with his axes. The king suddenly swung his blade to cleave Rick in two, but the man blocked the strike by crossing his axes, but the blade did land upon his shoulder, causing him to scream in pain as blood flowed from the wound. Imhotep then put the but of his battle staff to the ground and used it as a pole to jump up and quickly kick the king away with both feet, sending him crashing into one of the braziers and crashing to the floor. Oil and fire spread from the spill while the Scorpion King quickly covered his blade with the oil and ignited his sword, twirling it around in a deadly arc of flame.
Rick and Imhotep looked at each other in shock as the man asked the mummy. "Can you do that?"
Imhotep shook his head. "I am now wishing that I could, O'Connell."
The Scorpion King roared again, the force of his voice enough to make some of the ceiling cave in and nearly crash upon Rick and Imhotep, who barely managed not to be crushed. Just as they recovered, the King was on them again, the promise of agonizing death in his eyes and blood-lusting smile.
Back at the Battle of Ahm Shere
Ardeth and the guardians kept fighting, slaying warrior after warrior. Despite initially seeming endless, the Army of Anubis faltered as more warriors fell into Medjai swords. With the aid of the Guardians, the Medjai barely had any losses, but there were still losses of the Medjai brothers.
One of the warriors threw its ax at Ardeth, forcing him to abandon his horse and roll off of it to safety as the ax cleanly cleaved the horse's head from its neck. Ardeth snarled at the warrior for killing his loyal steed, and the guardians were already pinning it down and killing that particular warrior.
Ardeth looked to the chaos of the battle; the Medjai were barely dying around him because the Anubian warriors put most of their focus on the guardians. Even while enthralled by Set, they sought to complete their duty and crush the undead. The army of Anubis was breaking down as Medjai warriors fearlessly fought back on horseback, on foot, or even leaping from their mounts to pounce upon the Anubian troops. Most of them had started to retreat, trying to regroup and strike back, but they were losing too many soldiers to build a meaningful counterattack.
Ardeth thought to himself. 'We are winning! Allah, grant us the strength to see this to the end!'
Back with Alex, the cultists, and Jonathan
While Jonathan was doing better than he expected fighting off Anck-Su-Namun, he was provided cover fire by Amir and Taysir, getting a few lucky shots on Anck-Su-Namun's legs. Still, to their shock, it wasn't even slowing her down. They figure the Scorpion king must have given her some supernatural gift to heal her wounds.
Meanwhile, Alex and Hafez were reading the last of the spell's incantations. Alex stumbled and was confused by the final symbol of the spell. "Mr. Hafez, what does this last symbol mean? I don't get it, and it's the last one! We're so close!"
Hafez turned to where the boy was pointing to, a stork symbol. He knew what it was immediately. "That symbol is called 'Ahmenophus,' my boy." The older man smiled. "If we were in a class, I'd give you an A for only needing help with that one symbol. It gets a lot of people, I assure you."
Alex smiled and completed the spell with the last symbol. "Efday Shokran Amenophus!"
Evy's body began glowing with a white light, Alex and Hafex's eyes widening in shock as the book's magic did its work. Jonathan saw the light from behind the column and cheered his nephew. "Well done, Alex!"
Anck-Su-Namun quickly pounced on him and grabbed his throat, pinning him to the wall and raising a sia to try and stab him. Jonathan was able to throw her off of him and knocked one of the witch's sias from her hands while Amir shot that disarmed hand off, causing the witch to scream. To their horror, they watched as the hand not only grew back, but the severed hand started convulsing and growing; the middle finger extended and sprouted a pair of reptilian eyes, the pointer and ring fingers cracked and stretched with their pairs of hands rising from the ends of them, the pinky and Thumb were contorting as feet sprouted from the ends of them and they bent at unnatural angles. Finally, the stump of the severed limb extended and stretched, becoming a long snake's tail. When the transformation ended, the severed hand of Anck-Su-Namun had transformed into a snake-headed man. The creature flicked its forked tongue out a few times before lunging for a screaming Amir, but Taysir quickly blew off its head with a shot from his rifle, causing it to collapse dead.
Taysir screamed as he and Amir then started shooting at Anck-Su-Namun as if she were some sort of demon. "SHE'S A DEMON! A DEMON! JONATHAN, GET OUT OF THERE!"
Jonathan refused. "Not yet! They need more time! Just keep shooting her!"
The bullets pierced her flesh, but Anck-Su-Namun just laughed evilly as a pair of snake fangs extended from her mouth, and her skin blackened and covered itself in snake scales. She continued to battle Jonathan, quickly coming back and choking him again. All the while, the white light shining from Evy's body grew stronger.
Back with Imhotep and Rick
Imhotep blocked a shield bash from the Scorpion King, only for the king to swing his flaming blade upwards and cleave Imhotep's battle staff in two. Rick quickly jumped in to save his friend from a killing blow as the king thrust his sword forward, only for Rick to block it again and knee the king in his royal jewels. The king let out a shriek of pain that sent the two other combatants stumbling to the ground as the whole pyramid shook from the king's roaring. The king then rose to his feet, heaving and huffing as he glared hatefully at his two foes.
"I WILL NOT BE SLAIN BY THE LIKES OF YOU! I WILL CLAIM THIS WORLD AND RULE AN EMPIRE THAT THE SUN SHALL NEVER SET UPON!" The Scorpion King roared and swung his blade, unleashing a wave of fire that sailed toward Rick and Imhotep.
The two men rolled out of the way in the last second, watching as the wave of flame sailed past them and crashed into the wall, melting all the gold and stone it came into contact with and leaving a trail of molten rock and metal. They looked at each other with wide eyes and silently agreed on what to do next: Get that magic flaming sword out of the King's hand. IMMEDIATELY.
Back with Zahra
Zahra stabbed the restrained Lock-Nah with her sword, the blade piercing straight through his ribs and barely missing his spine. Lock-Nah coughed blood and struggled harder, but Zahra's grip was like iron. As she had the blade disperse into sand, Zahra relentlessly pummeled the enforcer, and she felt something in him break each time she struck: femur, ribs, skull, collar bone, and jaw. Finally dropping him to his feet, Lock-Nah stumbled and desperately tried to get his amulet to work so he could escape, but Zahra's onslaught shattered it.
She rushed forward, spinning like a dust devil before slamming both fists into Lock-Nah's torso, making him scream in pain as his body felt as if it was on fire from the pain. He was thrown into the air, Zahra throwing her chains at him to pull him back down as the blades at the ends of each chain stabbed into his forearms. With a single pull, Zahra brought Lock-Nah crashing down and ripped his arms from their sockets, the enforcer now screaming so loud his voice was raw. One of the chains lashed out on its own, piercing through Lock-Nah's sternum and spine as it rushed out of his body.
"YOU WILL NEVER ESCAPE YOUR DAMNATION, LOCK-NAH!" Zahra screamed with rage as she pulled him towards her, his feet dragging uselessly against the ground until she grabbed him by his throat with her left hand while the other gripped the chain piercing through him.
Zahra started chanting a curse of her own, all her hate for Lock-Nah being poured into it. "O Almighty Osiris, God of the Afterlife, I offer this wretched soul for eternal damnation by the fires of the Underworld! May these flames consume his flesh and disintegrate his spirit, may his legacy be forever scorned and hated by all who knew him, may the ten plagues of Egypt themselves forever haunt his being and never grant him peace, and may Apophis himself take pleasure from consuming what remains of his putrid soul!"
As if responding to her calls, the pit in the center of the throne room erupted with hellfire, forming an enormous hand of flame. Zarha pulled Lock-Nah close to her face and whispered one last thing before leaving him to his fate. "May all the gods curse you and forevermore see you suffer until the end of creation itself."
She then tossed Lock-Nah towards the flaming hand, which grasped the screaming enforcer as the hellfire swallowed his whole body. His screams echoed throughout the pyramid as his body was burned to ashes, his flesh disintegrated from his blackened bones, and his eyes popped into a boiling mess as his tongue melted into a bubble ooze. Finally, the screams stopped, and the body collapsed into a mangled pile of burned-black bones, his charred skull clacking against the floor as it bounced to Zahra's feet. With a single motion, she stomped on it, crushing it into fragments.
"Never know peace again, Lock-Nah. Ever." Zahra said as she turned away from his remains and rushed off to help her friends.
But If Zahra had turned around for even a second after she ran off to the battle, she would have been aware of the skull pulling itself back together and its eye sockets emitting a red glow. The skull of Lock-Nah emitted an eerie and terrifying feeling as if foreboding to a far worse evil that was soon on its way as the skull slowly warped into a larger, far more familiar shape, befitting the God of Chaos and Evil, the quiet sound of cracking and reforming bones slowly growing louder.
Back with Jonathan
Anck-Su-Namun had slashed across the man's chest. Jonathan was now bleeding from the minor wound, but he knew he wasn't in good shape. Using her free hand, the witch's fingers turned black, transforming into Black Mamba snakes, just like the one she tried to kill him with back at his family home in London. Jonathan gasped in fright at the display of magic.
She smirked as she brought her snake fingers closer to his face. "This seems familiar, don't you agree?"
Jonathan laughed nervously as the woman's hand was mere inches from his face, but it quickly retreated as Anck-Su-Namun suddenly screamed in agony and dropped her other sai.
Her attacker from behind was none other than Evy. The spell had worked. Her face held a disappointed glare as she shoved the witch away from her brother. "Why don't you pick on somebody your own size?"
Jonathan was in disbelief but overjoyed nonetheless. "Oh, my God. Evy! It worked!"
Evy smiled warmly at her brother but quickly turned serious again. "Take Alex, go and help Rick."
Jonathan nodded. "Yup, you got it, baby sister! Come on, Alex! Amir, Taysir, and Hafez, come on, we're getting out of here!"
The cultists, still shaken by Anck-Su-Namun's powers, nodded and quickly followed after them.
Alex called over his shoulder to his mother. "Be careful, mom! She's got crazy powers!"
Evy smiled after her son. "Don't worry, Alex." She took a pair of sais from a statue of Set. "I'll be just fine. Besides… the witch is mine."
As they ran back to the throne room, Alex yelled with joy. "We did, Mr. Hafez! We did it, Uncle John!"
Hafez smiled proudly at the boy while Jonathan agreed. "Right, partner. Now, let's go help your dad!"
Anck-Su-Namun snarled but then smirked as the two women circled each other. "Nefertiri."
Evy spun the pair of sais in her hands, her face of cold indifference, but her eyes betrayed her fury. "Anck-Su-Namun."
The witch grinned evilly. "Good. Now, I shall have the pleasure of killing you twice!"
The two women lunged at each other, ready for blood as their sais clashed and metal danced in the footsteps of death.
Back with Imhotep and Rick
The Scorpion King was on his knees, blocking the finishing blows from both Imhotep and Rick with his shield and flaming sword. The king had fought many powerful entities like the mummy he was currently facing, but the fact that this mortal fought alongside him complicated things. The Scorpion King was bruised, bloody, and tired. He hadn't been in this situation since he slew Memnon 5,000 years ago. Once a pristine and beautiful shrine to the Scorpion King's glory, the throne room was now reduced to molten slag, as the swings of his magical flaming sword had left molten scars all over the place, ruining the perfection it once held in his honor.
As he tried to rise to his feet, he felt someone kick the back of his knee and send him back to the ground. The king glared and turned to see the other mummy, Zahra, had arrived to fight as she wrapped her chains around his throat.
"Accursed Lock-Nah! How dare you fail your king! I will raise you from death just to kill you myself!" The scorpion king growled as Zahra tightened the chains to try and choke him out.
The scorpion king smashed the back of his head into Zahra's face, sending the female mummy tumbling backward from the force of the blow. In retaliation, Rick kicked the back of his knee, sending the king to the floor and knocking away his sword and shield. Imhotep used Rick's chance to slash across the king's chest with his two halves of the battle staff. Blood splattered the floor as the King looked at the deep cut on his chest in shock: he'd been wounded grievously. The king couldn't remember the last time he'd been injured this badly. Before long, Rick brought his twin axes down upon the King's wound, driving the ax blades deep into his chest. The king sputtered blood, and his body convulsed, his eyes wide with shock that he'd received a fatal blow. He tried to pry the axes out, but Imhotep pinned his arms down as he thrashed about to escape while Zahra used her chains to restrain his legs. Slowly, the king's struggle grew weaker and weaker until it finally ceased, his hands falling limp to the floor.
The Scorpion King was dead.
Imhotep and Rick helped each other to their feet, leaning on each other for support as they stared at the king's body. Zahra retracted her chains and leaned against a column half melted by the King's flaming blade, breathing heavily.
Rick released his breath, not realizing he'd been holding it, and said, "Holy hell… we… we got him… right? He's not gonna… ya know…"
Imhotep looked to his friend and back at the corpse, confirming . "No, the king will NOT rise from the grave to take revenge, O'Connell. At least, not on his own. He'd need some outside interference, and I doubt Set would be interested in bringing a failed servant back from the brink."
As if fate itself wished to mock Imhotep, the burnt skull of Lock-Nah floated over, stunning the three of them as they watched the cursed object simply stare at them with its evil red eyes. Its slow transformation was still progressing as the front of the skull stretched outwards into a long snout, and the teeth within the extending jaw started to elongate into ivory fangs.
For the first time in 3,000 years, Zahra was afraid, unable to grasp what was happening as the skull kept changing. "Imhotep, what is-?!"
She didn't finish before the skull shot flames from its maw and onto the Scorpion King's body, enveloping it in fire and causing the king to reawaken with a scream of agony. "No! Lord Set, I beg you! Don't do this...to me!" The scorpion king begged as he knew what this meant. It was punishment for failing to conquer his enemies in human form.
That was when Set's voice spoke from inside his head, the floating skull mimicking the movements of mouth and voice despite the King being the only one who could hear it. "Do not fight this, my eternal servant. They've proven that your human form is no match for them. It is time... to embrace the monster you are...in physical form."
The tearing of flesh, breaking and reforming of bones, and contorting of mass could be heard from within the inferno as the Scorpion King grew taller, his limbs warping and hardening into a complex, chitinous shell. His lower body widened and extended far behind him as multiple scorpion legs sprouted, and a trio of scorpion tails and stingers stretched from the back. His arms and human legs warped and twisted as they were forced into pincer-like shapes with clanking armor. As his transformation continued, the King screamed and roared with agony and fury as he was changed against his will, warping from the perfect warrior into some half-human, half-scorpion abomination.
As his transformation ended, the two mummies and the man gazed at their enemy in horror as the Scorpion King truly lived up to his title. His body was now that of a centauroid scorpion, towering over them at least 10 feet tall. His waist and legs were replaced with the lower half of a horse-sized scorpion with a pair of thick, shield-like scorpion claws coming from where his human legs once were, and his hands were replaced with similarly large, sword-like claws.
The king glared at his new form, furious that his human shape had been defiled so horridly. "I curse you, Set! You WILL return me to my normal self after I have dealt with these mongrels!"
The king froze after spouting out his threat to his master, shocked that his once strong and divine voice had also changed to a deep guttural groan. He growled in anger, which only increased as he listened to the sound of his voice, creating a loop of anger that just kept rising until the king simply roared in a blind rage, rushing towards the foes he blamed for his hideous transformation, his new legs clacking like cloven hooves on the stonework floor of the throne room. Rick rolled out of the way as the king smashed one of his claws into the wall, obliterating it in a blast of stone and debris. Rick threw both axes at the king but bounced off his new hardened skin, much to his newfound terror.
The king was surprised to feel nothing as the axes bounced off his skin, a maniacal grin spreading across his face. "Perhaps this new form has its advantages after all. Once I have killed you all, I must ask Lord Set to be given the power to shift between forms at will. Thus making me truly INVINCIBLE!"
Imhotep tried to get the king away from Rick by throwing his weapons at him, but his new tails deflected them easily. The king glared at the mummy, who tried to interrupt his fun tormenting Rick and threw a piece of debris from the destroyed wall at Imhotep, the thrown chunk large enough to crush him like a bug. Zahra threw her chains out and yanked her love out of the way before he was crushed. The Scorpion King knocked over a pair of braziers to cut off Zahra and Imhotep from helping Rick. The man desperately grabbed whatever weapon he could and battled with him, only for the king to keep mockingly disarming him. The mummies tried to help Rick, but the king's new form proved far deadlier than they could have ever perceived. But one humiliating thought came to both their minds as they tried to save Rick: They were in a fight for their lives against a giant bug.
Back with Evy and Anck-Su-Namun
Evy and Anck-Su-Namun kept trading strikes and parrying death blows, just as they did 3,000 years ago in their spar for Seti's court, albeit Evy was using sais while Anck-su-namun was using her transformed hands with each of her fingers transformed into black mamba snakes while her hair also transformed into a medusa like scalp of serpents that lashed out and struck wherever the was an opening. Evy held all of Nefertiri's memories thanks to her rebirth from the underworld, and thus, she never missed a step as she fought Anck-Su-Namun. The witch was fighting more recklessly than before, allowing certain limbs to be severed, only for them to transform into snake-like creatures to aid her, but Evy cut them with ease. The fight was instead even because of it: Evy had no qualms about killing blows, but Anck-Su-Namun's new regenerative powers and the constant need to defend herself from her opponent's serpents made it challenging to make a killing strike that stuck.
Eventually, the witch grabbed Evy's weapons, locking them in a deadlock, before pushing her up against a wall, the witch hissing with a forked tongue at Evy's neck. "You have remembered the old ways. A pity they will not do you any good now."
Rather than responding, Evy bashed her forehead against the witch's face, staggering her back as she looked at Evy with a skeptical glare, as if stunned by her audacity to use such a crass tactic in combat.
Evy didn't care and snarled. "That's a little something new! This is for Nefertiti's father, you snake!"
Evy was on the attack, Anck-Su-Namun struggling to defend herself as her opponent used every dirty trick in the book to get the upper hand, throwing dust in her face, tripping her, feint attacks, Evy did it all. She was mixing everything Rick had taught her with precision and skill from her past life as Nefertiri, creating a deadly whirlwind of unpredictable and precise attacks that left the witch covered in deep cuts and wounds, enraging her.
"I WON'T BE DENIED WHAT IS MINE! THE WORLD WAS MADE FOR ME TO RULE! EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING THAT GETS IN MY WAY DESERVES TO DIE!" Anck-Su-Namun screamed in fury as she started to transform.
Her legs melded together and extended, her skin darkening into pitch-black snake scales, her eyes becoming a hellfire orange, the black locks of her hair shifting into snakes, her fingers extending an additional two feet as the snakes they had turned into grew with her now towering stature. Standing as a 10-foot-tall black-scaled Lamia with full-grown snakes for hair and fingers, she lunged at Evy with her fangs bared. Evy rolled aside and kept fighting, slashing and stabbing with her sais, but the wounds inflicted did not pierce the witch deep enough to be effective, and her new lamia form was fast. Forced to run, Evy dashed away from Anak-Su-Namun towards the throne room.
The witch was in hot pursuit as she laughed maniacally after her prey. "YES! YES! RUN, LITTLE NEFERTIRI! I WILL ALWAYS FIND YOU AND DESTROY EVERYTHING YOU LOVE! YOUR HAPPINESS IS POISON TO ME, AND I WILL SEE YOU SUFFER FOR THE CRIME OF YOUR EXISTENCE! YOU AND YOUR KIN WILL NEVER BE WELCOME IN MY WORLD!"
Back with Jonathan, Alex, and the cultists
Hafez had run out of breath, still recovering from the loss of his arm. Alex and his uncle did their best to keep him upright, while Amir and Taysir kept their guns ready in case of an ambush.
As they walked in, Alex looked at the old man and asked. "Mr. Hafez, do you know how to make the spear of Osiris and an actual spear? Right now, it's just a stick. We can't kill the Scorpion King with a stick."
Jonathan scoffed confidently, trying to alleviate his nephew's fears. "Oh, don't worry, Alex! We killed things a lot bigger than a man with sticks in the days of cavemen, right? A stick should be just fine-"
He was interrupted by a roar in the darkness of the throne room. The group looked in growing terror to see what made the roar and spotted the Scorpion King chasing Rick, coming right towards them. Zahra was caught in one of the king's lower claws and shaken around like a rag doll while Imhotep desperately tried to free his love from the claw's iron grip. The four men and a single boy all screamed in terror at the sight of the king. They split up in a panic to escape the coming monster: Jonathan, Amir, and Taysir rolled to the right, while Hafez, finding his missing strength in his terror, grabbed Alex with his remaining arm and made a mad dash to the left. Rick saw what was happening and ran for his son, following Hafez to try and save them. But the king saw where his prey was going and what he was trying to do.
The Scorpion King grinned evilly . "I've missed killing children. They make such wonderful little screams when their sparks of life are snuffed out. Oh, how they'd cry for their mothers and only realize in their final moments… SHE'S NOT COMING!"
Rick felt a sense of dread snake down his spine as he screamed to Hafez. "RUN! GET ALEX OUT OF HERE!"
The old man didn't need to be told twice as he practically doubled in speed towards the exit of the throne room, just a few dozen more feet to-
Hafez felt his legs be tripped up, making him drop the boy. Alex tumbled from his grip and onto the floor a few feet ahead of Hafez. The Scorpion King towered over them both, his grin now thirsting for blood as he raised a claw. Zarha, still held tight by a claw, struggled and thrashed with all her might, but even with her mummy's strength and Imhotep's aid, the claw refused to give up.
Rick ran for his child, screaming. "NNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
The king brought down his claw.
It pierced flesh and shattered bone.
Alex gasped…
and Hafez coughed up blood.
He'd jumped in the way of the king's claw at the last moment. He'd saved the boy.
As blood drips from the Scorpion King's claw, now protruding through Hafez's torso like a disgusting rusty nail covered in gore, the cult leader gives the boy in front of him a bloody smile and says his final words. "Live, Child, and be blessed by the paradise to come… now… r-run…"
The king lifted the old man, unaware he'd released Zahra from his grip in his glee for blood, and lept up to the ceiling, his monstrous form crawling up the wall and across the ceiling surface like a spider before he tore Hafez into pieces, dropping them into the pit to the underworld. Alex screamed and cried as he watched the old man who'd saved him be brutally slain, Zahra snatching up the sobbing child and dashing towards Rick, handing him his child.
She told them to flee. "Run, O'Connell. Run."
Rick took his son into his arms and ran for the hall out of the throne room as Zahra turned to face the king, distracted by Imhotep wielding a spear he'd taken from the wall. While her love did very well with the spear against the king, he was disarmed again by the king's tail and forced to run just as Rick had. Zahra growled in a simmering rage as she jumped on the King's back and wrestled with his three tails: Hafez had redeemed himself and sacrificed his life to save Alex.
It was time to repay his final act and squash this damned bug.
Back with Rick
As Rick and Alex entered the hall, the father did his best to comfort his crying child. Jonathan and the two cultists had met up with them. Jonathan did his best to hold his Nephew, but the grief of watching Hafez be so brutally killed weighed heavily on them. But Rick was distracted when he noticed something in the corner of his eye.
It was the bomb Izzy gave him, still primed and ready to blow, leaning against the wall.
Rick decided now was the time.
Hafez had saved his son. And now he'd make sure the Bug King burned in hell for his murder.
With that in mind, Rick slung the large canister over his shoulder and ran back to the throne room, leaving his crying son to call after him. Jonathan took his nephew into his arms and fled to escape the throne room, followed by the grieving Amir and Taysir.
Battle of Ahm Shere
Only the three commanding officers of the Army of Anubis remained, the whole Medjai surrounding them and cornering them into a kill circle. The guardians and Ardeth were the only combatants fighting the three of them. At the same time, the first and third guardians battled with the first commander of the Anubian troops, the second and fourth fought with the second commander, and Ardeth battled the third. The Medjai cheered the five warriors on as they brought the commanders to their knees, the first and third pinning down the first commander and decapitating him in a scissor-like swipe of their Khopesh in unison. In contrast, the second and fourth guardians turned the second commander into a leathery piece of Swiss cheese with their spears. Finally, Ardeth disarmed the commander he was fighting and cleaved him in two with a single swing.
With the last Anubian warrior now dead and disintegrating, the Medjai and guardians cheered and praised the gods for granting them victory. They'd made history: the first army to claim victory over the Army of Anubis! It was not all good news, though, as Ardeth was the sole surviving commander of the Medjai tribes, and the chosen initial successors to the tribe commanders were not ready to take command or were dead on the battlefield. Thus, the responsibility to lead his people fell on Ardeth. It was a heavy task, but everyone believed that he'd be the best fit for-
Ardeth and the four guardians stopped celebrating as they felt something shake the ground like an earthquake and fill the air with thunder. Ardeth and the guardians took off towards the sound, passing hundreds of Medjai as they weaved between the soldiers. The Medjai stopped cheering and dashed off after the five warriors, shouting and commanding that the battle was not over. As Ardeth and the guardians made it over a dune, they saw what made the thunderous approach.
A wished to Amun-Ra that they were having a nightmare instead.
On the other side of the dunes were thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of Anubiam warriors, all armed and ready for battle. Like a great flood of darkness, death, and steel, they charged across the sand toward the Medjai, roaring and laughing like demons about to start a slaughter. Ardeth and the Guardians were speechless as the horrid realization came over them.
They did not defeat the Army of Anubis but merely conquered its vanguard.
Ardeth was in disbelief and horror, uttering a prayer for aid from God in desperation. "God help us."
The first guardian took a shaky step back in horror. "Impossible…"
The second nearly dropped his spear and shield as his arms went slack. "This… this is the TRUE army of the god of death?"
The third spun his pair of Khopeshes in his hands in an anxious manner, refusing to show his fear . "No wonder Set wished to command his son's army: it's endless…"
The fourth said nothing but resolved himself as he raised his Khopesh and spear, ready to go down fighting.
Back with Rick
As Rick snuck back into the throne room carrying the bomb, Imhotep was thrown by King across the room, landing right in front of Rick. But the Scorpion King didn't seem to notice because he was busy trying to pry Zahra off of him and free his three tails, the female mummy clinging for dear life on the one blind spot of the monstrous beast. Rick quickly helped Imhotep to his feet and told him his plan.
"Imhotep, I'm gonna use Izzy's bomb and blow this place to hell. We just gotta knock that buggy bastard off his feet and-"
Imhotep interrupted Rick and pointed to a carving on the wall. "O'Connell, look! The wall!"
Rick turned and spotted what the mummy was pointing at. It was a hieroglyphic story of an ancient Medjai warrior wielding the Spear of Osiris and using it to kill the Scorpion King. To Rick's shock, the Medjai symbol on the hieroglyphic's arm was the same as his own, but that wasn't what got Rick's attention. What had his complete focus was the SECOND warrior standing alongside the one wielding the spear, their hands up and using magic to create fire, sand, earth, water, and other things that Rick didn't make out. On the magician's left arm, he saw the same symbol as the one on his right, the mummy staring in awe at the magician Medjai fighting alongside the warrior. Then Rick noticed that Imhoteph had removed his left bracer and was now looking at a symbol on his left arm, previously covered by the bracer.
Imhotep's left arm had the same Medjai symbol as the magician on the wall.
Rick had questions. "Imhotep, you're a Medjai?!"
The mummy looked away, ashamed. "I was many lifetimes ago, before… Seti…"
Rick immediately got the message: Imhotep had been stripped of his position in the Medjai for his part in killing Seti, and his name was stricken from their records and history to ensure his shame would not darken their future.
Imhotep then remembered something very important. "O'Connell, did you ever figure out how to make the Spear of Osiris actually take its spear form?"
Rick froze at the mummy's words as he realized the truth to them: they hadn't figured out how the spear changed forms yet.
Rick turned to face the mummy, grumbling. "Of all the times for this to bite us in the ass…" He cleared his throat and spoke up. "We gotta get that spear and figure it out, NOW."
Imhotep nodded, and the two made a break for it to escape the throne room. As they did, they bumped into Jonathan and Alex, who were trying to return to the throne room, along with…
"Evy?!" Rick was shocked that his wife, which he saw with his own eyes.
Evy said nothing but simply grabbed her husband by her shirt collar and kissed him deeply. The man quickly reciprocated her affection. As soon as the kiss started, Evy broke away and informed her husband of the coming danger. "Rick, that witch is right behind us! The others tried to escape, but Anak-Su-Namun chased us back here! We need to find another way out!"
As Evy finished her explanation, Anck-Su-Namun came through the corridor into the throne room. Her towering, black lamia form was imposing and unnatural, and her mad laughter echoed throughout the room.
"HA! SO, NOW ALL MY ENEMIES GATHER TOGETHER FOR THE SLAUGHTER! AT LAST, I WILL BE FREE OF YOU WORMS AND THE WORLD SHALL BECOME MINE!" Anck-su-Namun cackled as she lunged forward at the group.
Jonathan, Alex, Amir, and Taysir all screamed in terror as they all dashed out of the way, Jonathan dragging his nephew along while Amir and Taysir took cover behind some columns and readied their guns again. Rick and Imhotep were speechless at the witch's new form, as it was nearly as nightmare-inducing as the Scorpion King's monstrous form. Speaking of the King, he growled and caught the attention of Rick, Evy, and Imhotep as they all whipped around to see him crawling along the ceiling, with Zahra still struggling to wrestle with his scorpion tails. With a laughing roar, the king leaped from the ceiling towards them, but Rick grabbed his wife while Imhotep used his magic to transform into a small sandstorm and dodge. As a result, Anck-Su-Namun and the Scorpion King crashed into each other instead of pouncing upon their prey, the two monsters now tangled in each other's complex bodies.
"Ack! Husband, remove your claws from my face and cease stepping on my tail!" Anck-Su-Namun cried out in pain as her future husband kept stepping on her accidentally.
"I am trying, but your snake hair is snapping at my face, and your fingers coil around my lower claws! Command them to release me!" The king growled, clearly upset that this situation was not what he'd envisioned, as he'd enjoy it if it were what it looked like.
Zahra leaped away from the king as he crashed into her monstrous sister and used the opportunity to bind them with her chains, entangling them further and causing the two monsters to fall to the ground as they couldn't keep their balance. They both roared and screamed and struggled, but Zahra's chains refused to give as she tightened them further.
She then turned her head to Jonathan, calling over her shoulder. "Jonathan! Get the spear ready! We END this now!"
The man nodded and fumbled with the spear, Alex, Amir, and Taysir quickly tried to get the Spear of Osiris to take its true form, the whole lot of them fumbling over how to get it to work. Meanwhile, Rick, Evy, and Imhotep aided Zarha with her chains by pulling them tighter and keeping Anak-Su-Namun and the Scorpion King pinned.
Back at the battle of Ahm Shere
Ardeth, the guardians, and the Medjai army all looked in horror and disbelief at the thousands of Anubian warriors charged across the sands towards them, the promise of death in their eyes as they advanced. Ardeth looked to his fellow Medjai, and they looked back to him, the last surviving commander of the Medjai tribes, for hope. Ardeth knew this would be their dying day now that he'd seen the full might of the Army of Anubis.
If this were the day that the whole of the Medjai would be lost to time, he'd make sure it would not be quiet.
He raised his blade and screamed out for all to hear. "Til Death, my brothers-in-arms! TIL DEATH TAKES US BEFORE ANUBIS AND OSIRIS THEMSELVES! WE FIGHT TO THE LAST MAN FOR THE GOOD OF ALL!"
The Medjai and guardians roared with courage and pride at his words and prepared themselves for their final battle before being sent to the afterlife.
Back at the Pyramid
"Twist it!" Alex cried as he yanked on the spear.
"Pull! l tried it! Push!" Jonathan yelled back as he felt something in the spear move.
"Yes, yes! And then you pull!" Taysir said as he aided the two while Amir kept his gun trained on the entangled monsters as they struggled to escape.
In seconds after saying that, the spear of Osiris ends with the Medjai symbol extended from the back, while the front produces a sharp golden tip glowing with magic.
Upon realizing they'd finally opened the spear, Jonathan threw it towards Imhotep. "IMHOTEP, CATCH!"
Throwing the spear like a professional Olympian, Jonathan threw the spear to Imhotep from across the throne room. Imhotep shot up his hand and caught Osiris's spear before handing it to Rick. "O'Connell, end this! Let us fulfill our destinies together!"
Rick nodded and raised the spear above the two monsters, who immediately recognized it and began to struggle more wildly in blind panic, knowing their end was coming.
"NO, NONONONONONONONONONONONONO! THIS IS NOT RIGHT! YOU WERE ALL MEANT TO FALL TO ME AND MY REIGN TO BE ETERNAL! DAMN YOU ALL FOR DENYING MY RIGHT TO RULE ALL!" Anak-Su-Namun screamed with a mix of emotions best described as despair, fear of death, and a child's tantrum.
The Scorpion King was in a similar mental state but far more angry. "YOU DARE DO THIS TO ME?! I CONQUERED THE WORLD! I OWN EVERYTHING IT HAS TO OFFER, INCLUDING YOU! YOUR LIVES ARE WORTHLESS TO ME, YOU SCUM! OBEY YOUR MASTERS AND KNEEL!"
Zarha scoffed to herself and said aloud. "You both talk too much. Just shut up and PERISH!"
With Zahra's command, Rick plunged the spear into the Scorpion King's back, piercing through him and into Anck-Su-Namun's mouth, piercing through her skull, killing her instantly. At the same time, the King struggled to keep the power, which was now writhing in agony within him, from exploding out.
Rick said one final thing to the king. "GO TO HELL, GIVE ANUBIS BACK HIS ARMY, AND TAKE THAT BITCH WITH YOU!"
The Scorpion King screamed so loudly that the pyramid shook as if it were about to topple any second before his body exploded in a burst of black fog, covering the room in darkness. Everyone was knocked off their feet by the force of the explosion, the black smoke rushing out of the golden pyramid and rising into the sky above Ahm Shere.
Back at the battle of Ahm Shere
As the army of Anubis now had reached halfway to meeting the Medjai army, they froze and looked at the dark smoke rising from the oasis. The Medjai and guardians also turned to see the rising smoke, the visage of the screaming Scorpion King and Anck-Su-Namun imprinted into the coalescing cloud, their faces warped in agony and horror. The cloud caused their faces to stretch and twist as if by a funhouse mirror while their doom befell them. It lingered in the air for a moment before quickly being sucked up like a vacuum back into the pyramid, unleashing a shockwave of force that caused the whole of the oasis to tremble as the walls of sand began to close in on the pyramid as if they had come to life.
Back in the pyramid
Rick and Imhotep were dangling off the side of the pit to the underworld, the damned souls attempting to drag them both down to join their eternal suffering. Rick still has Osiris's spear in his hand and has stuffed it into his belt to not drop it into literal Hell. Imhotep looked to Rick, the man quickly realizing what the mummy was about to do, and offered his hand. Imhotep grabbed it and, with a heave, threw Rick out of the Pit and onto his feet, the man now using every ounce of his strength to try and pull the mummy free of the pit, but the damned souls had an iron grip on him.
Rick called for some help. "UH, GUYS?! A LITTLE HELP HERE, PLEASE!"
Zahra rushed over, as did Evy, while Jonathan, Alex, Amir, and Taysir ran to the exit and waited for the others there. With their combined efforts, the three managed to pull Imhotep out of the pit and away from the damned as they screamed in anger for their denial of fresh meat. Once Imhotep was safe from the pit, he and Zahra embraced, the latter of the two sobbing as she held Imhotep tightly and had her heart filled with joy.
The moment was interrupted by a voice that made their skin crawl and their bones quake in terror. As the smoke from the Scorpion King's and Anak-Su-Namun's deaths retreated into the pyramid, it was all swallowed by a single, growing object floating in the center of the room.
The skull of Lock-Nah, possessed by the ancient evil that had set everything into motion.
Its transformation had progressed even further, now taking the shape of a Jackal's skull with ivory fangs that shone a golden red in the light of the braziers in the room. As it sucked in all the black fog, it kept growing larger and larger until it was as long as a crocodile's tail, its sockets glowing a deep blood-red. The jaw began to move as if the skull had started to slowly cackly, a chuckle that grew louder and louder beginning to fill the room as it changed into booming laughter.
It was the voice of Set, God of Evil, Storms, and Chaos. "Well, well, well… I didn't think my champion and his bride would be felled so easily after I gifted them such strength. I will need to collect their souls and punish them later."
The skull turned to face them, a hungry glint and growing fury in its glowing eye sockets. "Zahra… protector of pharaoh Nefertiti… I now swear to you… I will punish and defile you for turning my favorite pawn, Imhotep, against my designs. I will force you to be my bride and make you bear my offspring of chaos FOREVER. You will scream and beg for release, and I will NEVER GIVE IT TO YOU, YOU RIGHTEOUS INTERLOPING WITCH! I WILL DENY YOU EVERYTHING YOU LOVE AND DEBASE YOU INTO AN ANIMAL, BEREFT OF AFFECTION, CLOTHING, AND SANITY! I WILL MAKE YOU A WORTHLESS, NAKED, HELPLESS THING THAT MOTHERS MY CHILDREN AND HOWLS WITH DESPAIR AS THEY TEAR YOU APART!"
Zahra was terrified now. The god of evil was slowly manifesting right before her and her friends, threatening to make her less than an animal in his grasp. She took a step back, Imhotep protectively stepping in front of her as she clung to his shoulder and trembled in terror.
Rick had had enough of the madness of this wretched place and prepped Izzy's bomb. "Nope. Not dealing with you. Bye-bye, skully."
Evy saw what her husband was up to and helped him pick up the bomb. The married couple quickly lifted the canister and, with a combined heave, tossed it toward the skull. The explosion was immediate upon contact as the skull was consumed in a massive fireball. The throne room finally gave in to all the punishment it had taken from the previous battle and began to collapse and fall apart, debris from the ceiling threatening to crush them all beneath the pyramid. Imhotep and Zahra quickly lifted their mortal friends with their magic and took the forms of sandstorms, carrying them out and rushing to escape the pyramid at speeds they hadn't reached since their last battle at Hamunaptra. But they couldn't escape the pyramid, as the oasis was being swallowed by the pyramid and sent to the underworld, creating a barrier of debris and remaining pygmies as it rushed past them. Going back to human forms, Zarha and Imhotep put the mortals against the wall, the two of them using themselves as shields to keep back the flying debris.
Rick then spotted a staircase going up. "Let's go up! Izzy can get us from the top of the pyramid!" He then rushed up the stairs while carrying Alex and Evy at his side.
As they all quickly rushed up the stairs, Jonathan mentioned with dread. "I hope Izzy didn't get caught up in this mess!"
As they climbed the stairs, they came out of the pyramid and saw the towering tsunamis of sand closing in on the pyramid while everything between them was swallowed by the pyramid like a giant vacuum.
"This whole damn place is gonna get sucked up! Let's move up! Go!" Rick yelled to everyone as he quickly grabbed his wife and son and rushed up the pyramid.
Jonathan, the cultists, and the mummies right behind them. Once at the top with nowhere to go, Evy finally spotted their ride. "IZZY! IZZY, DOWN HERE!"
Izzy had managed to get the blimp in the air before the oasis had begun collapsing, looking for his passengers. Evy's voice helped him pinpoint them through the chaos.
"O'CONNELL! HURRY, CLIMB UP! CLIMB!" Izzy screamed as he threw a rope down for them to climb, looking back at the giant wall of sand that kept closing in, making him panic. "COME ON! GET YOUR BUTTS MOVING!"
Putting his son on his back, Rick went up first, with Evy behind him. Amir and Taysir went up next, with Imhotep and Zahra using their magic to propel themselves into the blimp. Evy looked around frantically as she noticed her brother wasn't there with them.
"WHERE'S JONATHAN?!" She screamed as she looked over the side, frustrated that her brother's greedy habits got the better of him again.
Jonathan had climbed to the top of the pyramid and grabbed the giant diamond, his face filled with a sick satisfaction at the treasure he now held. Once he was back to his senses and noticed he was alone, he screamed to the others, "AAAAAH! PULL ME UP! PULL ME UP!"
Zahra launched a chain at Jonathan, wrapping tightly around him before yanking him up. He crashed on the deck of the blimp face-first, the diamond still in his hands. At first, he gleefully giggled as he got his treasure, only to be filled with pain and fear the next time Zahra ripped it from his grip while Evy smacked the back of his head.
Evy was furious. "YOU STUPID, GREEDY, PIG-HEADED, MORONIC IDIOT! DON'T EVER DO THAT AGAIN!"
Jonathan only nodded, afraid he'd say something stupid. Zahra marched up to Izy and shoved the diamond into his hands.
"My compensation for taking the golden spear earlier. I hope this covers the costs of our travels with you, Izzy." Zahra said tiredly.
Izzy's eyes were dinner plates as he held his new diamond in his hands and then looked to Zahra. "Yeah, this works. Thank you." He then turned to talk to Rick. "O'Connell, who the hell you been messin' with this time? I admit that I never got close to being shot at, but you did almost get me killed!"
Rick sighed tiredly and walked up to the pilot. "Huh? Oh, you know, the usual. Evil-now-good Mummies, murderous pygmies, giant royal bugs. The usual ancient evil stuff."
As the sand finally fell upon the pyramid, an explosion of debris and sand erupted from the closing point where the pyramid last saw the sun, covering the blimp in foliage from the trees and broken branches. But something else came out of it.
Something that sailed over the blimp and crashed right before the Army of Anubis. A figure of towering stature and unmistakable might, the sand around him turning the deep crimson color of blood while the sky darkened and lightning began to dance in the newly forming storm angrily.
Zahra shuddered as Imhotep protectively wrapped his arms around her, whispering under her breath. "No…"
"But how…? We killed the Scorpion King… How is he here?!" Imhotep's growing panic as he held Zarha tightly to him, afraid that if he let her go, then the figure would seize her from him, even from down on the battlefield.
Standing over 12 feet tall and commanding the powers of Chaos was the god Set himself. He was a massive black Jackal-headed humanoid with red eyes shining like bleeding stars. His pitch-black skin had golden hieroglyphics and dark gold highlights, while the fangs of his jackal head shined like diamonds in the sunlight. In his right hand was a long, obsidian battle scepter with a hook at the end carved into a jackal's head while the other end had sharpened into a stake. In his left hand was a golden Kophesh sword with less of the usual curve as most other Khopesh blades. Both weapons were more suited for his giant stature. Thus, the Kopesh appeared nearly the size of a fully grown man, while the scepter was easily twice that long.
The god of evil looked around at his surroundings, eyeing the Medjai that trembled before him, the army of his son that knelt before him, and finally, the blimp that held the interlopers that dared defy him. Set simply nudged his head to the left, and the blimp was thrown by a gust of sudden wind that sent it spiraling toward the ground, crashing in a burst of sand as its passengers all screamed from the sudden impact of the god's power. When the cloud of sand from the impact cleared, the blimp was relatively intact, albeit the passengers had been thrown from it. Rick, Evy, Jonathan, and Alex had fallen a few dozen feet away from the blimp. Rick had used himself as a landing pad for his wife and son while Jonathan shakily got to his feet and helped them up. Amir and Taysir were tangled in the netting of the blimp with Izzy and were all stuck in it. Imhotep and Zahra crashed fifty feet away from them all, less than a few feet from the god himself. Imhotep noticed immediately and tried to fight, but Set just kicked him away, sending the mummy screaming over the dunes and crashing into the side of the blimp, wood shattering upon impact. Zahra scrambled after her lover but felt an invisible force quickly lift her from the ground, and her powers refused to answer her will as she was turned to face Set.
The god smirked and sheathed his Kophesh before wrapping his now free arm around her, slipping his hand beneath her robes. "You belong to me now, Zahra. Who knows? You might enjoy it after some… disciplinary lessons."
Zahra squirmed and struggled, not daring to scream and give the god of evil satisfaction despite knowing they'd lost.
The God of Evil was free and still controlling his son's army. The world was lost.
There you go, my dear friends, the 2nd part of the ending is complete. And soon, the final part of the ending and the final battle will commence. Be sure to thank my good friend, Zerzenkul0981, for the ideas for this great chapter.
Rate and review and I'll see you all soon, my dear friends.