"Lance, nice to meet you. Why don't you take that seat behind Presley. Presley raise your
hand." he said. As Lance came towards him the odd feeling grew stronger and Presley had to force himself to act cool when he passed by and plopped into the desk behind him. The class wore for what seemed like a lifetime before the dismissal bell finally rang, causing a mad rush to the door. Hanging back Presley looked over at Lance who was busy stuffing his backpack with paper. "He probably needs some help getting around. I might as well do my good deed for the day." he thought.. With a friendly smile he went over to Lance "Hi I'm Presley." Lance looked up from what he was doing and cocked an amused eyebrow at him and smiled "Yeah I know. In case you missed it the name's Lance. Now that we know each other maybe you wouldn't mind telling me where the lunchroom is. I'm new to this school and don't quite know my way around yet." he said, getting up and swinging his backpack onto his shoulder. Presley grabbed his as they headed for the door "Sure, I'm going there myself. If you don't mind company when we get there I'll fill you in on what's what and who's who." he said. As they walked Lance looked at Presley thoughtfully " I know you'll probable think I'm mental but I have the strangest feeling that I know you but I know that's impossible since I just moved to San Francisco last week." he said. Presley looked at him startled "That's funny, I feel the same way so I guess we're both mental." he said with a grin. Lance smiled back and followed Presley into the lunchroom. The place was swarming with kids and they had to fight their way to an empty table in the back. Once there Presley dumped his lunch out onto the table. He was about to tear into his sandwich when he noticed that Lance didn't have a lunch. "Where's your food? Aren't you hungry." he asked. Lance dug around in his backpack and pulled out a can of soda and an apple " Starving." he said biting into the apple. Presley bit into his sandwich hungrily "Is that all your mom gave you to eat?" he asked surprised. Lance swallowed what he was chewing " I don't have a mom and my dad doesn't even know I exist. I like to eat light anyway." he said looking unconvertible. Presley winced inwardly, he sure did have a big mouth sometimes. Hoping to make Lance feel better he said " My dad is never around too. He lives in Memphis. I live with my mom and that's cool but I miss him a lot sometimes." he said. Lance relaxed a little and gave Presley a small friendly smile and Presley realized that he liked him. A tray slamming loudly on their table startled them both and turning together they saw two mean looking boys glaring down at them with smirks on their faces. Presley felt himself go all tense as he recognized the two boys. They where Tiny Turner and his punk friend Chuck, the two meanest kids in school. Seeing Presley tense Lance instantly was on guard, knowing that whatever these two punks wanted it would most defiantly be trouble. Tiny glared fiercely at Presley and Lance " What are you two dorks doing eating at our table. No one eats at our table without paying us first." he said. Presley was at a loss on what to do. He didn't want to look like a whimp in front of Lance but he didn't want to be fed his teeth by Tiny and Chuck ether. Fortunately Lance didn't have such problems. Glaring just as fierce at Tiny, Lance leaned back in his chair and took a hard bite out of his apple " Back off punk. We were here first. " he said. Tiny's sneered at him " A wise guy huh, well wise guy ether pay us now or the janitor is going to have to scrape you off the floor. " he threatened. Lance narrowed his eyes angrily at the bully. Then a sly smile formed on his face and with a private wink at Presley he stood up and slumped his shoulders " OK I'll pay. You win. " he mumbled, reaching into his pockets. Turning to Chuck Tiny grinned and nudged him in the stomach. Seeing Tiny distracted Lance quickly grabbed the soda can, shook it hard and when Tiny turned around he popped it open. Whoosh!!! Soda erupted from the can and into Tiny's face. The kids sitting at the surrounding tables laughed including Presley and Lance as Tiny stood drenched and sputtering in an puddle of brown soda. Wiping his face Tiny balled his fists as he glared murderously at Lance "You're dead meat dork." he growled through clenched teeth. Before Lance could respond a teacher came over to their table and seeing the mess he demanded " What's going on here." Lance looked innocently at the teacher " Nothing sir, just a little accident. It seems that my soda exploded when I opened it. Sorry. " he said with a sheepish shrug. Presley tried to hide a smile as he watched Lance talk his way out of detention " He's good." he thought then glanced nervously at Tiny and Chuck who where glaring at Lance with growing hostility. "And he's got guts." he added. When the teacher finally left Tiny grabbed Lance by the front of his shirt and brought him face to face with him, " This isn't over with yet dork. You'd better watch your back." he threatened. |
Lance slapped Tiny's hand off his shirt "Anytime punk." he shot back. The two boys glared at each other for a few seconds more then Tiny smirked nastily at Lance " Catch you later." he said and walked out of the lunchroom with Chuck close behind. With a loud sigh Lance dropped down into his seat and picked up his apple " What a way to start a new school year. So who where those two numskulls." he asked Presley. Presley shook his head in amazement "The one you dumped soda on was Tiny and his human shadow Chuck. You are ether really tough or have one really big death wish. Nobody has ever stood up to Tiny and kept all their teeth. But that was one cool trick." he said. Lance shrugged and bit into his apple "No big deal, I just hate bullies that's all. And if they want to start something with me that's fine, I'm no stranger to fighting." he said. They finished the rest off their lunch and left for their next class. On the way they stopped by their lockers which happened to be close by each other and switched books. Slamming his locker closed Presley went over to Lance who was zipping up his backpack, "Hey Lance I was thinking, if you're not doing anything after school maybe we could go to the mall and hit the arcade." he said. Lance smiled "Sure, sounds great Presley. I'll meet you on the front steps later." he said, swing his pack onto his shoulder. Presley nodded and they went their separate ways. Presley was the first one to get to the steps when school finally ended. He hopped Lance remembered where they were suppose to meet and was about to going look for him when a hand clamped onto his shoulder and spun him roughly around. " Where's your wise guy friend whimp. " Tiny demanded, pushing Presley against the wall. Chuck cracked his knuckles "Yeah, we have a little unfinished business to take care of." he said. Presley frowned and tried to walk by Tiny " How would I know, I'm not his baby-sitter. Bug off." he said. Tiny grabbed him and pulled him back " Hold on. You see me and Chuck are in the mood to pound someone and since your buddy isn't here I guess we'll have to settle with you." he said, bringing his fist up. Chuck moved up behind him, cutting off his escape and Tiny had him by his shirt so he couldn't get a good hold on him. Unable to do anything to stop it Presley braced himself for Tiny's fist to slam into his face but before it hit a voice called out "Stop, leave him alone. Your fight is with me punk, leave Presley out of this." Everyone turned to see Lance walking towards them. Tiny smiled and pushed Presley away "Fine with me, it's you I want anyway tough guy." he said. Lance stopped and threw his backpack on the ground and crouched as the two bullies surrounded him "Well here I am. Lets have at it." he said. Tiny lunged for him, fists swinging which Lance easily dodged. Grabbing hold of Tiny's arm as he went by he swung him with all his might and sent Tiny flying head first into a bush. Chuck then tried to tackle him but Lance caught him by his shoulders and flipped head-over-heels into Tiny who was pulling twigs from his hair and the two of them went crashing back into the bush. Presley watched all this in shock. Lance was using moves that looked familiarly like those used in Egypt-sue yet that was impossible. Only he and four reborn mummies knew the art of Egypt-sue but what Lance was doing looked awfully like it. Lance walked over to the bullies who where struggling to get out of the bush "Had enough?" he asked, he wasn't even breathing hard. Tiny and Chuck quickly got out of the bush, leaves and twigs sticking on their close and hair. " Uh yeah, we where just fooling around, no hard feelings OK. Come on Chuck, move." said Tiny and they took off as fast as they could. Smiling Lance went over to pick up his pack and found Presley holding it. " That was some fancy moves, where did you learn them?" he asked, handing Lance his backpack. Lance shrugged " It just sort of came to me. You don't live for twelve years practically on your own and not learn a thing or two about fighting." he said, taking his pack from Presley and shouldering it. Presley nodded " Well you where good. You don't mind swinging by the City Museum for a few minutes do you? I have to check in with my mom about something. It shouldn't take long." he said. Lance shook his head "Fine with me, I like museums, you find a lot of weird stuff in them. What's there? Dinosaur skeletons? Spaceships?" he said. Presley shook his head "Nah none of that stuff, it's mostly stuff from Egypt, statues, scrolls, stuff like that. My mom works there, it's pretty cool." he said with a smile. Lance looked thoughtful, "Egypt stuff huh, I've always liked Egypt. The mystery, the magic, it draws me for some reason but then again I'm drawn to anything dealing with magic and sorcery. I find it fascinating. Crazy huh?" he said with a crocked grin. Presley gave him a knowing smile " If you only knew Lance." he thought looking down at his amulet. The museum was nearly empty when they got their so Presley gave Lance a personal tour. Lance walked like he was in a daze as they went from one exhibit to the next and sometimes he stopped to gawk and Presley had to push him hard to make him move. They stopped in a room that had many different types of amulets and scrolls displayed in glass covered tables. |
Presley turned to Lance " Everything in this room deals with magic. The scrolls are said
to contain ancient spells and incantations and the amulets hold some magic abilities that
I don't know. I have to go find my mom, wait here I shouldn't be long." he said but Lance
was already inspecting a display table that held odd shaped amulets. Lance didn't notice that he was alone and he wouldn't of cared if he did. As soon as he set eyes on the amulets everything else faded away into the background. He let his eyes roam over each item till they locked onto one particular one. It was a cross shaped like a T with a loop at the top. Lance stared at it in puzzled wonder, for some reason he felt drawn to this thing. He bent closer to the glass for a better look " What magic do you posses I wonder." he mumbled. Suddenly he felt weird all over and he had to grab onto the table to keep from falling. The feeling quickly passed leaving Lance dazed "Woah, twice in one day, first with Presley and now here. I must be coming down with something." he said holding his head. He looked back down at the strange cross and gasped. It was glowing silver though Lance was positive it wasn't before. Hesitantly he placed his hand on the glass over the glowing cross. Other then a warm tingle in his palm nothing happened. So intent was he at looking at the cross that he didn't notice that he was no longer alone until he felt a hand on his shoulder. With a cry of surprise he jumped away from the display table and spun around. Seeing that it was only Presley he relaxed " Man don't ever do that to me again, I nearly jumped out of my skin." he said. Presley grinned and looked at the display " Sorry. What's so interesting." he said. Lance pointed to the cross that to his amazement was no longer glowing, " That strange cross was glowing just a second ago. What is it and how do you make it do that?" he said, moving closer for a better look. Presley looked closely at the cross then shrugged "It's called an ankh but I've never seen it glow. You might of seen light reflecting off the glass and thought it was glowing. Anyway lets go to the mall. I was able to sponge a few extra dollars off my mom. " he said. Lance gave the ankh one last glance before following Presley. He was sure that the cross had glowed and that he had felt something when he touched the glass over it. Shrugging he exited the museum and was heading towards the mall when Presley stopped him. "How did you get that?" he asked pointing to the object in Lance's hand. Lance's eyes widened in shock for there in his right hand was the ankh he had seen in the display table. He looked at Presley in bewilderment " I haven't the foggiest idea." he said. Presley frowned " There's no way you could of swiped it without me seeing you or without setting off any alarms. I better take it back before someone misses it." he said reaching for it. Before his hand touched it the ankh started to glow silver and Presley quickly pulled back his hand. The two boys stared at each other, shocked speechless by what just happened. Lance carefully placed the ankh down on the ground and slowly took two steps away from it. Presley was about to pick it up but Lance motioned for him to wait. Slowly the ankh slid towards him till it hit the tips of his sneakers. Then to both their amazement the ankh rose from the ground and hovered in front of Lance who nervously took it. " This is totally unreal. " he said in a slightly shake voice and before Presley could make a move to stop him Lance quickly grabbed his backpack and jammed the amulet in it. They waited expectantly for it to do something but the ankh remained where it was and the two boys relaxed. " I just remembered that today my cousins are coming over to visit and I'm suppose to be home when they get there. I promised my mom that I would show them around. Maybe we could go to the mall tomorrow or something. " said Presley. Lance nodded " Fine with me. I'm not going to get into any trouble over this am I because I didn't do anything." he said glancing at Presleys backpack. Presley shook his head "No I'm going to take care of that. Don't worry. See you tomorrow." he said. Presley waited till Lance was gone before he started walking towards the Sphinx. When he got there he found Armon on the stone couch watching Lifestyles of the Inexplicably Famous. "Hi Armon, have you seen Rath anywhere? " he asked the mummy. Armon glanced over at Presley " Hey Presley, he's in his study." he said and took a huge bite out of a large sandwich. Presley left him to his food and went to where he was told Rath would be. Sure enough he found his guardian in his study, bent over a scroll that was spread across a table. Hearing Presley come in Rath turned around "Greetings young prince, is there something I can do for you?" he said. Presley nodded "Yes, you can tell me what's up with this ankh. Hey it's gone!" he cried digging around in his backpack. Rath looked at him in confusion "What is gone my prince?" he asked. Presley scratched his head in puzzlement, " An ankh that belongs in the museum. I took a friend to see it and when we left he had it in his hand yet he swears he didn't take it. When I tried to take it back it started to glow silver. Then Lance, my friend placed it on the ground and walked away from it. But it followed him and floated in the air in front of him. He slipped it in my backpack and I came here. Now it's gone." he explained. Rath looked thoughtful but before he could say a word the alarms went off. Presley looked around startled " What is it? Is Scarab attacking?" he asked as Armon, Nefer-tina and Ja-Kal rushed into the room. Ja-Kal frowned " There is an intruder in the Sphinx but I don't think it's Scarab. Shut the lights off and we'll surprise whoever it is when they come through the door." he said moving closer to the door. |
Armon and Rath stood on one side while Nefer-tina stayed with Ja-Kal on the other side.
Hitting the lights Presley and the mummies waited tensely for the intruder to show
themselves. It wasn't long before they heard the sound of someone stumbling around in the
dark coming closer. Cautiously the intruder stepped into the room and together the mummies pounced. After a brief struggle the mummies finally subdued the trespasser and Presley switched on the lights. There pinned to the ground was Lance. Seeing Presley Lance cocked an eyebrow at him " You've got very interesting cousins Presley. Could you tell them to get off my back before my lungs burst." he panted. Nefer-tina looked at Presley " Do you know this boy my prince?" she asked. He nodded " Yes, it's OK you can let him up." he said, walking over to them. One by one the mummies got off Lance and Armon helped him to his feet. Dusting himself off Lance looked around him, very much impressed " This is some place you got here and your costumes are really wild. Dose all this belong to the museum or is it yours? " he said. Presley was about to answer but Ja-Kal cut him off " Who are you and why are you here." he demanded, frowning down at Lance. Matching the mummy's frown with one of his own he replied " The names Lance Peterson and to tell you the truth I've not a clue as to why I'm here, it certainly wasn't my idea. I was on my way home when I find this thing " he holds up the ankh " in my pocket. Then everything started getting weird. The freaky thing started glowing silvery white and I found myself being pulled into to this place. I was looking for the way out when the lights suddenly went off . You know what happened after that." Curiously Rath looked closely at the ankh " Amazing. May I see it.?" he asked. Lance gave him a wry grin " Sure, if you can. This thing doesn't seem to like being handled by anyone but me." he said, holding the amulet out to mummy. As Rath moved to take it the thing started to glow and so did Presleys amulet. " OK this is beyond weird, can someone please tell me what's going on here because I'm on the verge of panic." he said, moving slowly away from Presley. Before anyone could say a word there was a blinding flash of silvery light and a strange feeling, like when he was in the museum came over Lance. When his vision had cleared he found a boy surrounded in light with long black hair and wearing what looked like a pale silver toga standing in front of him. But the most startling thing about the boy was that he looked eerily like him. Nobody moved or made a sound as they stared in stunned silence at the strange boy. Looking amused the kid spoke " After 3500 years is this the welcome I get?" Rath was the first to recover his voice " Is it really you Cabeth?" he asked in shocked disbelief. The spirit boy grinned " None other. It is good seeing you all again. Especially you." he said, happily turning to Presley. "You are the one who holds my foster brother's spirit. You look so much like him it's amazing but then you are probably thinking the same thing about me and my new body." he said looking over at Lance. Snapping back to attention Lance shook his head "Whoa, wait a minute. What's all this about and what do you mean new body?" he said. Ja-Kal looked from the spirit to him " This is Cabeth. He is Prince Rapses foster brother. You apparently are the reincarnation of him." he explained. Presley found his throat suddenly tight as feeling of sadness and anger welled up inside of him. " How did you die? Was it Scarab?" he asked, his voice strained with emotion. The spirit of Cabeth bowed his head as deep sadness and shame swamp him " No brother, it was not him though by the gods and goddesses I wished he had struck me down as well. If you really want to know then I will tell you. Make yourselves confertable for my tale is long and hard. Father had gone to Nubia for some reason I have long forgotten. That's when the trouble started. " Don't do it Cabeth, you know what father said. You'll get in trouble." Rapses pleaded to his foster brother as they headed for the Royal Stables. Cabeth rolled his eyes " Yes I know that he has forbidden me to ride Sandstorm but if I remember correctly he said I could not ride him across the desert, he said nothing about not riding him in the training arena so I really am not disobeying him." he said with a grin. The prince shook his head and grinned " You know full well what he ment. If you must ride pick a horse that's not so mean spirited, no one has been able to stay more then a minute on him, not even Nefer." he said. Cabeth shook his head " Sandstorm is the best and I aim to tame him. You won't tell father will you?" he said, looking sideways at his brother. Rapses sighed " No but why don't you come hunting with me and Ja-Kal. If we are lucky we might kill a lion, wouldn't that be great." he said excitedly. Cabeth stopped and faced Rapses " Count yourself lucky if you do not come across a lion my brother for though Ja-Kal is the greatest hunter in all of Egypt you are not. Must you go hunting today, could you not wait till father returns." he told him. |
Rapses crossed his arms across his chest " I am so a good hunter. The last time Ja-Kal
took me hunting I shot a running gazelle all by myself." he said indignantly. Laughing Cabeth punched him in the arm " I stand corrected. Go on then, have your fun while I have mine. I will meet you later for lunch. Good hunting." he called out as they went their separate ways. To his relief he found the stable empty except for an expecting mare and Sandstorm. The huge red stallion must of sensed what Cabeth was there for because it started to snort and paw the ground. Smiling with anticipation Cabeth picked up a golden halter and slowly approached the riled horse " Easy you great beauty, you know me and you know why I'm here. Just calm down so I can slip this over your head." he said soothingly. Sandstorm obeyed and even allowed a saddle to be placed onto his back. Knowing the worst was yet to come Cabeth walked the horse out to the training arena. When they where both in the enclosure Cabeth turned to the horse " Now just give me a chance to get in the saddle, then we can have at it." he said. The horse laid back his ears and bracing himself Cabeth leaped onto the horses back. No sooner had his butt touched the saddle Sandstorm took off at full gallop around the fence. Cabeth managed to keep his seat for a full two minutes before he was bucked off. Landing hard on his side, the wind knocked out of him he watched helplessly as Sandstorm circled the arena one more time before jumping over the fence and galloped away. Knowing he was in hot oil if he didn't get that horse back before his father came back Cabeth picked his aching body off the ground and set off after him. " It was near sundown when I finally managed to rope him and by the time we got back home it was dark. I was afraid to see anyone so I stayed in the stables knowing that sooner or later one of you would find me. I waited a long time but no one came." Settling Sandstorm down in his stall Cabeth began pacing about nervously " Nefer should of been here by now, he always makes frequent checks on the horses especially now that Desert Runner is so close to giving birth. I can't stay here all night and Rapses has probably told everyone what I've done so I might as well face the lions and get it over with." he said to himself. Bracing himself for the sever toung lashing he would undoubtedly get from everyone Cabeth headed for the palace. As he made his way to his room he noticed that everything seemed strangely quiet and deserted. He was passing his foster mothers chamber when a sound he had never heard before reached his ears, his mother crying. Quietly he crept to the closed door and pressed his ear to it, trying to hear what was going on inside. He heard the sound of many people moving about and his mother's hysterical sobbing. He was about to walk in when he heard the voice of Tia, Ja-Kal's wife say soothingly "Calm down my queen or you will make yourself sick. Prince Rapses will be found, Ja-Kal and the others have already went out in search for him." The sobbing lessened a bit " But it has been so long since they rode west, towards the setting sun. And Scarab is not to be found as well and I just know that he has something to do with my son's disappearance. I wish Amenhotep was here." his mother wailed. Cabeth backed away, stunned at what he just discovered. Rapses was missing. As silent as a shadow Cabeth fled from the palace and raced back to the Royal Stables. Snatching up a halter from the wall he went to Sandstorms stall and had the thing strapped on before the startled horse knew what was happening. When the stallion tried to rear and pull away Cabeth yanked down hard on the reins, snapping the horse's head cruelly down to his own. He glared angrily into the horse's eyes " Listen to me you worthless, broken down, old plow horse. We are going for a ride right now and I don't care how tired you are you are going to run like the wind. And I warn you is you give me any trouble the wild dogs will be feasting on your mangy carcass come morning." he said, menacingly. Flinging open the stall door Cabeth led a docile Sandstorm out of the stables and into the courtyard. Not bothering with a saddle he vaulted onto the horse's back and with a sharp kick he headed west. He was well out of the city when his head cleared and he was able to think more clearly. Realizing that he could do nothing till morning he stopped and after ordering Sandstorm to stay he dismounted and found a safe place to rest and wait for Ra to appear in the sky. After what seemed like an eternity the sky started to get lighter and like a jack rabbit Cabeth was up and searching for any sign of a trail. It didn't take his trained eyes long to spot many hoof prints in the sand and with rising spirits he jumped onto Sandstorm and followed them at full speed. The tracks led to a large cluster of rocks but as they got closer a feeling of uneasiness came over Cabeth and he erged the horse faster. The wind suddenly shifted, blowing a sickening stench their way. With a snort Sandstorm planted his hoof firmly in the sand, nearly unseating Cabeth and wouldn't move no matter how hard he was kicked. Swallowing hard he dismounted and with legs that felt like stone Cabeth walked slowly towards the rocks. As he neared them a horrifying sight met his eyes. Laying scattered and motionless in the sand were the broken bodies of his brother's fore guardians. With tears poring down his face he went to each one, checking for any sign of life and finding none. There was also no sign of his brother. Pushing the deep grief he felt for the lose of his friends and tutors aside for now Cabeth searched the rocks for Rapses, calling frantically for him. He was climbing up the largest rock when an aura of sorcery suddenly surrounded him. It was extremely powerful and pure evil, so evil was the feeling that Cabeth almost turned back from fear but then he caught sight of something gold glittering in the morning sun at the top that filled his heart with dread. Slowly he continued to climb till he reached the glittering object which turned out to be a small crown, his brother's. Hugging it to his chest he howled out his grief and anger to the rising sun. |
" I stayed on that rock till sundown, numb with shame and guilt. I couldn't live with myself knowing how I had failed you so badly so I made up my mind to follow you. I figured that since I was not there for you in life I would be with you in death. I used magic to send my spirit after yours and together we walked the land for centuries, waiting to be reborn. It was then that I learned that it was Scarab who had killed you all and I took great pleasure watching him be entombed alive. After decades of endless wandering we where finally reborn but we where no longer together and I did not want to live again without you by my side so I slept. Now that we are together again I am ready to join fully with my new body." he said. Rath shook his head in puzzlement " Something is still unclear to me young Cabeth. You said you used magic to help send your spirit after Rapses but how can that be? Such a spell is extremely difficult, how ever did you manage to do it by yourself?" he asked. Cabeth gave him a secretive smile, " I sort of managed to get a hold of one of the Scrolls of Thoth and after reading it I was blessed with some very unique powers. I kept my gift a secret because I knew it was forbidden for any to read the sacred scrolls but I practiced and learned and soon I mastered the art of sorcery. That is why I believe if I had been there when Scarab....well I could of stopped him. But now I have a second chance at him and this time I well settle the score between us, even if I have to die again doing it." he told them. Lance held up his hands and backed away towards the door " Hold it right there. You said that I am the reincarnation of you which means we share the same body. And that means that if you go up against this Scarab creep and get fried then I also will get fried. Right." he said. Cabeth nodded " That is correct." he replied. With a humorless laugh Lance turned and walked quickly to the door " Yeah well you can count me out of that pal, I want nothing to do with any of this. See ya." he said over his shoulder. In a flash of light Cabeth suddenly appeared before him " I am afraid that you are a part of this weather you like it or not. You are my body and I am your spirit, it's as simple as that. Now you can make it easy for both of us if you just except me back into you or you can make it hard by being a stubborn mule about this whole thing. It's up to you." he said, crossing his arms. Cabeth glared at the spirit, " I don't care if you are my spirit, I'm not going to let you take control of my body so you can get it destroyed fighting some ancient magician." he told him. Ja-Kal nodded, " He is right young Cabeth. Scarab is not of your concern, he is ours. Rejoin your body, we will handle him." he said. The spirit whirled and glared at him with eyes that burned with rage and hatred " That demon spawn killed my brother. I will not rest till I have settled the score." he growled. Fixing Lance with the same glare he said in a more calmer voice " I can not force you to accept me but nor will I inhabit a body that dose not want me. So until you do I will stay in the ankh that you are wearing." Startled Lance looked down at his chest where, hanging from a silver chain was the ankh. Turning away from him Cabeth bowed his head slightly to Presley and the mummies, " Until we meet again." he said and disappeared in a flash of light. No one said anything for a long time then Lance groaned " This is all to weird for me to handle. My life is hard enough I don't need this. Will someone please show me the way out of this fun house." Just then the ankh started to glow, " Allow me." said Cabeth and the ankh suddenly jerk out in front of him and began to pull him away before anyone could make a move or say another word. Meanwhile in another part of the city Scarab was pacing moodily in his room. " Time and time again I have come up with ingenious, foolproof plans on how to get my hands on the Pharoah's spirit but they always get smashed to dust by those meddlesome mummies. I tell you Hekka it's enough to drive a person mad." he raged. Looking up from the scroll she was reading the gold serpent smiled " Have you ever considered the fact that maybe it's not just the mummies that are spoiling your attempts to catch the young prince?" she hissed. Scarab glared at her " And what dose that suppose to mean? Are you implying that I am to blame?" he demanded. Hekka coiled back a little " No no, I am saying that maybe the Shabties are the cause. They can't think for themselves and are to easily destroyed. The mummies know their weakness and so easily defeat them. But what if you had a new army, an army of creatures who know how to fight and won't break apart when hit or douses in water." she quickly explained. The evil sorcer rubbed his beard thoughtfully, " You may have something there, I need an army that has brains as well as strength. What do you have in mind my dear." he said, walking over to the cobra. Hekka moved over so Scarab go see the scroll, " This incantation will allow you to put any living creature in this city under your control. You could have every dog, cat, bird, and snake in the city out looking for the boy. The mummies wouldn't even know what was happening till it's too late." she hissed. Scarab's eyes scanned the ancient scroll and slowly smiled " This just may be the solution I've been looking for. Quickly Hekka, go to that chest and find me fore animal charms." he said, gesturing towards a large, gold chest in the corner of the room. Studying the spell carefully Scarab went to his balcony which over looked the city. Soon Hekka came over to him, carrying fore gold charms in her mouth. Taking them from her he held them high into the air and called out " I Scarab summon the spirits of every cat, dog, bird and snake, wild or tame to me. I bind you to these charms and until they are destroyed you will all obay my will." |
The amulets flared brightly but other then that nothing happened. Hekka slithered up onto
Scarab's shoulders " Well did it work?" she asked. The sorcer fastened the animal charms onto a magical gold chain and slipped them over his head. " There's only one way to find out." he said, grasping the bird shaped charm. Holding out his arm he called out " Birds to me, I summon you." When nothing happened he scowled down at the scroll " I don't understand, I did everything as I was suppose to. What went wrong? Hekka stop squeezing my shoulders." he said irritably. The gold cobra slid off his shoulders and ducked behind him, " Uh boss, we're about to have company." she hissed, pointing to the sky with her tail. Looking up Scarab gave a cry of triumph as birds from all over San Francisco flocked towards them " I did it, it works. Now nothing will stop me from getting the Pharoah's spirit." he laughed. Hekka looked at the birds nervously, " That's nice boss but if you don't call off those flying balls of feathers we are going to be up to our necks in birds." she warned. Still holding his bird charm Scarab raised his arm towards the flock " Stop." he commanded and instantly the birds stopped and hovered in mid-air. Smiling with satisfaction the evil sorcerer waved his hand at them " Away" he commanded and as one by one the birds flew off in different directions until all were gone. Still smiling Scarab turned to the cobra " Go to the zoo and wait there till it closes. When everyone is gone call me on the cell phone. Take some Shabties with you." he instructed. Hekka looked at him oddly, " Why, what do you have planned at the zoo." she asked skeptically. Scarab shook his head " I will explain everything tonight now go." he said, turning away from her. As the snake left Scarab looked out at the city below him and grinned evily " Soon Rapses you're spirit will be mine." Lance heaved a sigh of relief as he left the Sphinx, " That was beyond weird. No way could all that be real, it must be a put-on by the museum or something." he mumbled to himself as he walked home. The ankh started to glow and from out of nowhere came Cabeth's voice, " Denying what you just witnessed won't make it any less real or true." Angrily Lance grabbed the cross " I've heard enough from you for one day so just keep your opinions to yourself." he said and dropped the amulet under his shirt. He got home without further incident and wearily went to his room. Grabbing his remote he plopped down onto his bed and switched on the TV. He found a ball game and was starting to get into it when the picture got all blurry. He was about to hit the set when the pitcher cleared but instead of baseball game there was strange people riding in small horse-drawn carts. Puzzled he flipped the channel which showed strange-looking kids running around playing some kind of game while in the background he could see tall triangle shaped mountains. " What the heck is going on." he demanded, flipping through the channels which all showed pretty much the same thing. Then it dawned on him and angrily he pulled out the ankh which was glowing a silvery white, " Isn't it enough that you're in my body, must you also posses my TV to?" he asked it very much annoyed. The TV screen suddenly lit up and Cabeth was suddenly there, looking just as annoyed as Lance was. " I wanted to show you how your or should I say our life was 3500 years ago. Then maybe you would loosen up and accept things how they are. But I see now that you're too stubborn and close minded for that to happen." he retorted. Lance stared at the spirit in disbelief, " Stubborn! Close minded! Me?! Why you annoying, little pain in the butt, I ought to..." he was interrupted by the doorbell and with one last scowl at Cabeth he stormed out of the room. When he opened the door he was surprised to see Presley standing there, " What are you doing here? How do you know where I live?" he asked suspiciously. Presley gave him a sheepish smile, " I followed you. I just wanted to see if you where OK. Are you?" he said. Lance smirked and cocked an eyebrow at him " I stopped being OK the minute I walked into the museum but if you want to know how I'm handling the news that I am a modern day version of an Egyptian Pharoah's foster brother who's spirit is inside of me then I'll have to get back to you on that because I'm not sure myself yet. How about you, don't you have some ancient spirit in you? How do you handle it?" he said. Presley shrugged " Mine's different, Rapses never comes out unless he's drawn out by magic or something." he said. Lance nodded " Good enough, since you're here do you want to hang out or something?" he said. Presley shook his head " Sorry I can't, I have to make up a math assignment that's due tomorrow and my math teacher hates it when I turn in late work. Hey why don't you come by the Sphinx tonight and we'll all go to Beefy Burger, my treat." he said. Lance smiled, " Thanks but I'll have to pass. I've had my fill of mummies, Egypt and everything associated with them. But thanks for asking." he said. Presley nodded " I understand. Well, see you tomorrow." and with a wave he left. |
With a sigh Lance went back to his room and plopped down onto his bed. He was relived to
see that Cabeth was no longer on the TV, instead the Boston Red Soxs and Chicago Braves
where playing and happily he settled back and enjoyed the game. Hekka was bored. She had spent the entire day pretending to be a rubber snake, draped around a disguised Shabtie's shoulders as it sold zoo T-shirts and she was sick of it. After what seemed like a ages closing time finally came around. Whispering an order to the stone warrior it quickly hid and waited till the last zoo worker left. When she was sure the place was empty she got out the cell phone and called Scarab. After two rings she heard " Scarab here, is that you Hekka?" The snake hissed " Who else would be calling you this late. The coast is clear, are you coming?" A loud click answered her question " I hate when he dose that." she complained to the Shabtie. It wasn't long before Scarab came flying in and after checking out all the animals he turned to awaiting Shabties " You two go and free the lions and tigers, you and you go free the wolves and hyenas. The rest of you set the eagles and pythons lose." he instructed. As the statues left to do his bidding Hekka slithered up onto his shoulders " Are you sure about this. These are wild fierce creatures, are you sure you can control so many." she asked, glancing about nervously. Scarab gave the snake a withering look " Quite sure. As long as I posses the charms they will be as docile as sheep unless I tell them to be otherwise." he said. The air suddenly erupted with thunderous roars, howls and screeches. Smiling with anticipation Scarab grasped the charms " Here they come." he said. It wasn't long before the animals came into view and with a firm grasp on his charms he called out " Stop." The charms flared brightly and the beasts stopped dead in their tracks. Smiling at Hekka Scarab pulled out a torn piece of Presley's shirt that he had saved from a recent battle and held it out to the waiting animals. " I want the boy who wears this shirt. Bring him to me unharmed but you are to destroy the mummies who guard him. Take his sent and go fetch him." he commanded. One by one the animals came over to sniff the rag and when all of them had the sent they raced off to do as their master ordered. Feeling victory close at hand Scarab looked around " Where is the python? I didn't see it with the others." he said. Something suddenly moved in the shadows and slowly a 15 foot python slithered over to them. Holding onto the snake charm Scarab bent down and petted the snakes head " Come with me my beauty, we must get ready to greet our visitors." Send them to me at: lmassimilla@sprintmail.com |
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It was not intended to copy or resemble that site. Any similarities are purely accidental and
coincidental especially after the discovery that I cannot draw or edit for beans.
Mummies Alive! is the property and trademark of Dic Inc. and the
producers of that show. The images on these pages were created by me for informational and
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Copyright © 1998 Anubis |