Nefertina stared up at the snarling wolf-monster that towered above her. It was huge, standing upright at about 7 and a half feet tall in a vaguely humanoid fashion. But that was where the similarity ended as it was otherwise lupine in appearance and had a thick brown pelt that lightened to blondish at the crown of its head. It also appeared to be wearing the tattered remnants of a pair of faded blue jeans. The angrily glowing pupiless eyes seemed to hold nothing but menace.

When she'd been knocked down her whip had flown out of her grasp and had skittered away across the floor out of reach, leaving the Cat Guardian with only her speed and considerable agility to defend herself with. But even so this didn't feel too fairly matched against 600 growling pounds of teeth and muscle.

Nefertina tensed her muscles preparing to strike first as it sniffed and leaned down, meeting her defiant stare. For the briefest of moments those eerie eyes seemed to change, taking on an almost human appearance before changing back again. The dazed mummy could have sworn that the fearsome expression had also changed to one of ... recognition? Inexplicably it suddenly backed off, looking this way and that as though searching for something.

"Nefertina!" One of Ja-kal's burning arrows flashed through the air and blasted into the monster's side, sending it sprawling across the museum's polished floor with a pained howl. The other mummies rushed to their fellow Guardian's aid as the wolf scrabbled to its feet.

"It must be one of Scarab's minions." reasoned Ja-kal as the creature regained its footing and shook its head to clear it.

"But he was already here and made off with the relic. Why in the name of Ra would he send one of his creatures back?" wondered Rath, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"Maybe he forgot someth- Look out!" Armon grabbed his golden tail and pulled him aside as the lupine beast bounded past, apparently trying to make a break for it. Armon swung his golden fist with great effect and caught it squarely on the chin, knocking the monster for six.

It recovered quickly though and, with a deafening roar, sprang again. But this time Ja-kal's arrows had no discernable effect as they had now lost the element of surprise. "What does it take to stop this thing?" he shouted as it ran past.

Nefertina had by now pretty much recovered from the blow to the head she had received when she hit the floor earlier. As she saw the creature loping towards the exit she thought *Even though it seemed to recognise me, if this creature really does serve Scarab, then I have to stop it*. Still without her whip she grabbed the nearest thing she could - in this case a large silver dish that was on a display stand - and swung it round with all her strength to hit the fast approaching canine.

As it connected with its head there was a brilliant flash of silver light. With a yelp the monster was blasted back into the far wall where it crashed into the brickwork and slumped heavily to the floor, stunned.

"Whoa!" she murmured, looking down at the now badly dented platter in her hands. It was hot to the touch and still glowing slightly. "Is this magical Rath?"

"I don't think so" answered Rath inspecting it and suddenly remembering a legend he had heard back in Egypt from a bard that had travelled from Europe, "but I believe I can explain why the dish had that effect. What we have here is a werewolf."

"A what?" asked Armon, puzzled. They hadn't had such beings back in ancient Egypt.

As Rath explained the mummies cautiously made their way over to the stricken creature. As they did so it was suddenly outlined in a green light in which the dark form altered and when the light receded a human shape was left behind.

Groggily F'lair opened his eyes. He rarely remembered much of what happened when he was in his wolf form. But this time he could recollect trying to get past these mummies as fast as possible, but failing when one of them struck him with something made of silver. He raised his eyes and saw them walking towards him, weapons drawn. Uh-oh, I'm in trouble now, he thought and tried to move. But he hurt too much from that last hit and his limbs didn't want to participate in any strenuous activity such as running away.

Realising he may have to talk his way out of this the undead werewolf started breathing again - a habit he usually kept up when conscious as an attempt to maintain at least a veneer of normality in his appearance, but also because he could never get used to the fact that he didn't actually have to breathe anymore.

"It's that guy from the restaurant!" exclaimed the female mummy. Shade dimly recalled recognising her scent after jumping out at her, he'd also heard her name called. Nefertina, wasn't it?

"But if he's one of Scarab's why didn't he fight us at the Beefy Burger's instead?" asked the one dressed in some kind of stylised hawk armour who seemed to be the leader.

*Scarab? Who the heck's Scarab?* "Why would I work for a beetle?" asked F'lair weakly, still dazed, drawing the mummies' attention.

"You don't work for Scarab?" the hawk-guy again.

"How could I? I've never even heard of him."

"Well who are you then, and why are you here?" asked another warrior, this time in armour designed to look like a cobra with an animate golden tail and impressive sword that was far different from F'lair's own curved samurai style blade.

"My name is F'lair," - he rarely ever used his surname - "although most know me as Shade. I've come looking for the headpiece of a relic called the Raven Staff," he decided that the simple truth was probably his best bet in a situation like this, "Who are you?"

Ja-kal made a brief introduction for everyone and then said, "You're out of luck. Scarab has already stolen it."

"And Scarab is...?"

"An evil sorcerer who wants to rule the world." said Armon, getting the point across nicely.

"Crush it beneath his heel, more likely." added Rath sombrely.

Shade muttered something that was, thankfully, in his native tongue of Caevalonian before reverting back to english, "Why can't these things fall into the hands of someone *nice* for a change? I have to get it back." Still unsteady on his feet but nevertheless determined, the Daemonslayer stood up. He staggered and nearly fell when he tried to move, but Armon's strong hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"Not so fast." Nefertina stood in front of him, hands on hips "You still haven't explained why you attacked me." She looked and sounded angry, but there was something else in her eyes.

F'lair met her eyes with his own steady gaze, "I honestly didn't mean to hurt you - All I wanted was to get past but I'm not really in control of my wolf form. Can you forgive me?" Although the rest was sincere, the last question was spoken with a faint smile. His soft voice contrasted in an oddly harmonious way with his sharp accent.

Nefertina pretended to consider this like it was a very difficult decision, and finally said, "Yeah, I *suppose* so."

"Well I'm glad we've got that all sorted," said Rath, tapping his foot a bit impatiently, "Now I suggest we leave - all the noise you made would have alerted any 'security guardians' from here to the Western Gate!" The rebuff didn't do much for the werewolf's confidence, and he fell silent.

As they left Ja-kal fell into step with F'lair, still being supported by Armon - coming into contact with silver was the only attack from which he couldn't recover quickly, "So why do you need the Staff?" he asked. He was still a little suspicious as he didn't know how well they could trust this man.

"Two reasons. First: I don't want it falling into the hands of those who'd use it for ill, and secondly: I need it for my...uhm...profession."

"Which is?" prompted Ja-kal, wanting to know what sort of 'profession' he led in order to require a mystical staff that could control the spirits of the dead. Judging by the way the others had been paying great attention, they obviously wanted to know too.

Shade sighed. He'd guessed he would have to tell them, but really didn't know what the mummies would make of this, "I'm a Daemonslayer. Myself and one other - he's not here right now - pledged our lives through a Blood Oath to hunt down and destroy demons and other evil nether-entities. The Raven Staff would make the task a whole lot easier as it would be a powerful weapon against their magic."

Admittedly Ja-kal hadn't quite expected an answer like that (although he hadn't exactly expected to find an undead werewolf from another planet in the museum either!), but he could tell from the unusual conviction with which he spoke that he wasn't lying. Satisfied that he really was on their side, he decided that they could trust Shade but Ja-kal still made it his business, as the guardians' leader, to remain wary.

Armon, who'd given what he'd just heard a bit of thought, spoke up and broke the somewhat startled silence, "An oath like we've pledged our lives to be the Pharaoh, Prince Rapses', Guardians," he was pleased at having made such a connection.

"Prince who?" Things were starting to get a little confused for Shade who was still at a loss as to what four Egyptian Mummies were doing in modern-day San Francisco (the fact that they were walking and talking didn't pose as much of a quandary to him since he himself was in a similar condition to them; i.e. Dead).

"Ah yes, that's quite a story," said Rath, who had remained listening quietly up until this point, "Now where to begin...?" he had been about to launch into a detailed account of the life history of the Egyptian Prince, but didn't get the chance as Nefertina got her oar in first.

"Better than that, you can meet him!" she said, "He's just outside in our horseless chariot, the Hot-Ra."

"Let me get this straight. You're all here to protect you," a nod at Presley, "who's had the 3500 year old spirit of an Egyptian prince reborn in you, from the clutches of an evil sorcerer-guy called Scarab who wants Rapses' spirit to make himself immortal so he can conquer the world. I think I can see a vague sort of logic to all this, and where the Staff could fit in...sort of."

The four guardians, along with Presley and F'lair were in the garage area of the sphinx where they had let him park his bike, which he had revealed to be known as the Steed.

"Yes, Rath thought that Scarab could either use it against us, or maybe even to gain control of Rapses' spirit," said Ja-kal. The concern he held for his comrades and their charge was clearly evident in his crystal blue eyes.

"Uh-uh. That won't work because Presley is alive. But I think you four might be in trouble - even the headpiece of the Raven Staff on its own could be used to banish your souls to the Spirit World."

"What about you though?" asked Presley, "No offence or anything, but you're not exactly alive either," (F'lair had explained his 'condition' to them on the way to the sphinx.

Shade simply shook his head, a faint, bitterly ironic smile on his bloodless lips. He quickly changed the subject before anyone could question him further by launching into an impromptu history of the relic. "The Raven Staff is believed to have been created eons ago by an infamously powerful dracoliche (that's an undead dragon with the ability to control the dead, by the way) known as Raven, who has not been seen or heard of since. I don't know much else about it other than that it was broken in two and the headpiece lost in a magical vortex, apparently forever, or not, as the case now seems." He failed to add one or two 'minor' details...such as why an attempt had been made to destroy the Staff forever in the first place.

Rath looked thoughtful, "Maybe if we had the second half we could negate the power of the first,"

"What's wrong?" asked Nefertina. Standing beside F'lair she had noticed the sudden change in his expression.

"I completely forgot!" he said, surprised at himself. Jumping up from where he'd been leaning against the Hot-ra, he ran over to his bike and returned carrying a long thin object wrapped in old brown leather. It had been slung across his back in the museum, but he'd strapped it onto his bike for the short trip back to the sphinx. Pulling back the material he revealed a staff, about 5.1/2 feet long, black as obsidian with strange, scrawling runes carved along its length. One end was uneven, as if something had been broken off. The material from which it was made could not be identified.

Rath stared at it in awe, he could feel the magic literally pulsing out from it.

To the others, not really attuned to sensing magic, the Staff was just a staff, albeit an unusual one with its mysterious sigla.

Presley was slightly nonplussed, "I don't see how this could beat any of you guys, unless you were hit on the head with it or something." Reaching out he found that the shaft was warm to the touch - and getting hotter. F'lair hadn't noticed as he still held it by the leather wrapping.

"Ow!" Armon had followed suit with Presley only to quickly withdraw his hand when the heat became intense.

Suddenly the runes flared to life with a brilliant yellow-green light. Shape dropped it in surprise and everyone jumped back. The light then faded and some of the runes ceased to glow. Gingerly, he bent down to pick it up.

"Careful," cautioned Rath, concerned over what might happen next.

"But we hardly even touched it!" said Armon, noticing Ja-kal's stern gaze fall on him and Presley.

"From what I've been able to learn, this probably has more to do with Scarab activating the magic of the Raven Staff's other half rather than with you two," said Rath, although he also disapproved of them poking at the potentially dangerous magical artifact like that.

"Then Scarab's probably setting up a trap for us even as we speak!" Ja-kal was grim and more than a bit worried about what their arch enemy - and one time murderer - might have in store for them.

"How can we stop him if we don't even know where he is?" Nefertina was getting agitated. She was in the perfect mood to go kick some major tut and wasn't too happy standing around talking.

"Even the lion must sometimes wait for his prey to see which way it will move."

F'lair was perplexed by Ja-kal's whismical statement, "Lions? I thought we were talking about the beetle-guy."

"He means we have to wait for Scarab to make the next move." explained Nefertina, used to these sayings. She sometimes wondered if Ja-kal didn't have a secret book full of them - with a different one for every day!

" Maybe not necessarily," F'lair swung the Staff round in an arc, testing a hunch. As the broken end faced one particular direction, more runes lit up and the glow became brighter.

Rath immediately saw the implications of this, "The two halves must share a link! Follow the direction it's facing now and we'll find the headpiece. And Scarab."

"We can get the fall on him! He doesn't know we can find him!" Nefertina liked the sound of this.

"'Drop'," corrected Presley rather half-heartedly.

"We'll have to move fast before Scarab has the chance to prepare fully," Ja-kal paused, one foot in the Hot-ra, "I assume you're driving Nefertina," he said with perhaps a hint of trepidation in his voice.

"Well actually," she turned to look hopefully at Shade, "I was wondering if you'd let me try out the Steed..."

A bit taken aback, but certainly not averse to this idea, F'lair shrugged, "Sure, why not? Long as you don't mind me as a passenger."

"If you can use the Staff to lead the way then we'll follow in the Hot-ra," said Ja-kal. He added to Presley, "I'm sorry, my prince, but time is of the essence and we may not be able to drop you home just yet."

Presley said that was okay, and tried not to look *too* glad about being able to come along.

As the Daemonslayer jumped onto the back of his motorbike, he briefly wondered why Rath and Armon had been desperately shaking their heads behind their fellow guardian's back at her suggestion, as though letting Nefertina drive wasn't quite such a good idea...

* * *

"Whoo! Yeah!" Nefertina's whoop of delight could be heard even over the engine's thunderous roar as the Steed flew over the brow of the steep San Francisco hill.

Behind her, gripping the Raven Staff in one hand and desperately clutching on to the back of the saddle with the other, Shade didn't quite share her enthusiasm. He was used to this kind of driving, but that was when *he* was behind the handlebars. This was as nerve-wracking as being in a vehicle driven by Blackjack (and that was saying something!).

"Watch that truck! Ahhh...red light!!" If he'd had a free hand, F'lair would have covered his eyes as Nefertina gleefully carved up a truck and then jumped the lights, swerving dangerously to avoid the fast moving traffic, "I guess red doesn't actually mean we *have* to stop or anything," he said under his breath. Although he couldn't 'die' as such, the werewolf's instincts of self-preservation were still going strong, *We're gonna crash! The bike's paintwork'll get scratched! Oh no, not another set of lights...!* F'lair always had been of a paranoid, rather nervous disposition.

Completely oblivious to her passenger's discomfort, above the noise of the engine and of other road users hooting and yelling angrily at them, Nefertina wondered, "Do you think Rath would inscribe any Speed Spells on the Jet Cycle for me?" She was eyeing some of the various rune structures carved into the bike. When she'd asked what they were for earlier, Shade had told her that the different constructs were spells that could be activated on the vehicle, such as the Rune of Speed he'd pointed out as an example (and was now glad he hadn't activated it). A sudden change in the sigla on the Staff let Shade avoid giving his opinion on that idea (probably a good thing, considering his current state of mind), "I think we're here!" He had to shout to make himself heard.

Nefertina brought the Steed to a screeching halt, "That was fun! We'll have to do it again!" she enthused. F'lair groaned quietly and looked up to see that they were outside Golden Gate Park. It appeared to be deserted.

In the moonless night the park was virtually blanketed by darkness, other than where ornamental lamps cast soft pools of yellow light in the mist from after the rainstorm. Looming up behind the park above the trees was the hulking mass of the Golden Gate Bridge. The storm had caused a power outage up there and the floodlights that normally illuminated it only left the bridge as a black mass against clouds that reflected some of the light cast skywards by the city.

"So Scarab's in there somewhere?" asked Nefertina, peering into the darkness. She was still exhilarated by the ride and hoped the others would get here soon so she wouldn't have to sit idle.

"I guess so, at least, that's what the Staff says," replied F'lair hoping he had his information right, not wanting Nefertina to be disappointed.

A few moments later the Hot-ra appeared from round the corner and pulled up behind them. As the transparent shield drew back, Rath, who had been driving, cast them a stern look, "You two were meant to be leading us, not racing us."

The female mummy folded her arms indignantly, "It's not our fault if you drive like a 3500 year old granny."

The two glared at each other until Armon, not wanting his friends to argue, stepped in the way of their lines of sight, blocking them like a brick wall, "So what do we do now?"

Everyone looked expectantly at Shade who had got them out here in the first place. However, the Daemonslayer just shrugged, "Uhm...We normally just improvise really."

"You know you must never underestimate the value of forward planning." said Rath, feeling that the younger man was in need of his wisdom, "If you think ahead, then you can almost certainly see a way out of any tricky situation."

"There you go with your 'brains' talk again! Take it from me F'lair, the best 'forward planning' you can do goes as far as which shabtie you hit next." advised Armon, casting a quick look at a disapproving Rath. This philosophy had worked fine for him so far.

"Sheer brawn won't get you anywhere except in trouble Armon!"

Shade had the feeling that this 'discussion' had ceased to include him in the equation and was now between the Scribe and the Fighter. From the apologetic - and somewhat despairing - look Nefertina gave him, the argument was probably quite a long-standing one too. She looked relieved when Ja-kal spoke up, telling them to stop bickering like hyenas and to listen to him.

"I have a plan. Armon, Rath and I will draw Scarab's attention. You two can take him by surprise, Scarab doesn't know about you F'lair, so that should give you enough of an advantage to get the headpiece off him."

"What about me?" Presley was eager to join in, but he had a feeling he already knew what part he'd be playing in all this.

"I think perhaps it may be wise if you stay here o'prince...this could get dangerous."

Presley slumped back down in his seat, "How come you guys get all the fun?" he muttered, but offered no complaints as his guardians were all obviously concerned about the task that lay ahead of them.

Ja-kal finished going over the finer details of the plan, and then Guardians and Daemonslayer headed their separate ways.

* * *

"How much longer are they gonna be? I'm getting cramp."

"You haven't even got a circulation - how can you get cramp?" whispered Nefertina back. She and Shade, who just shrugged in reply, were hunkered down behind a bush from where they could see Scarab about 100 yards away.

He appeared to be alone, apart from Heka, and was studying the Raven Staff's headpiece on its make-shift shaft intently. He was still wearing his grey and purple robes since, not yet expecting the mummies, he did not see the need to transform into his armour. F'lair had been a little incredulous on first seeing Scarab; "*That* shrinkled old prune's your worst enemy?" until Nefertina had reminded him about how powerful the wizard was, despite all appearances.

"Ow! Watch what you're doing!" hissed the cat Guardian when F'lair accidentally knocked her on the head with the Staff as he tried to shift to a more comfortable position. They'd had to cover it back up to stop the glowing runes from drawing their enemy's attention.

"Sorry." He restrained from pointing out that he was still sore from the clout she'd given with that silver tray earlier.

Nefertina snuck a sidelong glance at him. She found that she couldn't help comparing F'lair to Pep, although the only real similarities between them were that they were both bikers and were both of the supernatural persuasion. Whilst Pep had been bold and self assured, Shade was nervy, slightly paranoid and had little faith in his own judgement; as though he'd made a bad failure in the past and didn't believe in himself enough to dispel the fear of it happening again.

Looking at him she remembered something she'd been meaning to ask the mummies' new friend, "How come the Raven Staff works against us, but not on you?"

"On its own the headpiece will only work against the souls of the dead."

This didn't exactly answer the question so she continued to look at him in askance. Shade's expression of anticipation of the upcoming confrontation had faded and was now replaced by one of sadness and regret.

"You guys all have your souls...In the same 'incident' that turned me into a werewolf I lost mine. I don't have a soul for the Staff to affect anymore."

Nefertina looked at him in a mixture of shock and pity. For Egyptians the soul was incredibly important...to be without one was unthinkable. She could see now why he'd been avoiding giving that answer.

"I-I'm sorry." she ventured, not really knowing what to say. F'lair shut his faintly glowing eyes and shook his head slightly.

"Don't apologise Nefertina, it wasn't your fault or anything," *It was mine*.He shook his head again and let the mood pass. He had a job to do here which required his concentration much more than mistakes from his past, "Is that Ja-kal over there?"

Nefertina squinted through the mist and the darkness to see the Hawk Guardian - in armour - appear, closely followed by Rath and Armon. The three male mummies were opposite to them, so when Scarab turned to face the trio he had his back to the unseen observers.

"Didn't you know it's not fashionable to be early?" sneered Scarab, hiding his surprise at the appearance of that accursed Ja-kal and his cronies behind his facade of cynism. The sorcerer was wondering how Rapses' Guardians had found him so soon.

"Oh, but it's far more polite." countered Rath as the three took up battle-ready stances.

As Scarab 'bulked up' into the purple armour representative of the creature from which he took his name, Heka, noticing one mummy missing, took the opportunity to join in with condescending tones, "Where's your little friend? Did she have to go use the litter box?" She didn't get a reply. "Oh fine, ignore me then. Gee, a snake can't just can't be appreciated for her humour round here," muttered the golden cobra, feigning insult.

"You may have caught me unawares, but certainly not unprepared." grinned Scarab beneath his beetle armour, holding the Raven Staff up high. True, the mummies had come sooner than expected, but not before Scarab had been able to work out how to use the Staff.

As he pointed it at the mummies, Scarab could have sworn that, just for a fleeting moment, he'd seen an evilly grinning inhuman spectral face in the large blue gem set in the carved raven's back, but there was nothing there now. Reciting the words of the incantation he had found, he invoked the Staff's magic,

"Power of the Raven Staff, I call upon you to rid this world of these unwanted spirits!" He started to laugh as he felt the magical power build within the headpiece. Those mummies were finally going to join Osiris, and this world would be his! But the laughter died on his lips when the magic suddenly fizzled out, and the little bolts of energy that had been emanating from the two green 'eye' gems faded away. "What?!" he stared angrily at the artifact, wondering what had gone wrong.

All too aware of the approaching enemy, Heka decided to give Scarab a bit of gentle prompting, "We appear to be experiencing slight technical difficulties right now, but please stay tuned as we show a replacement program."

Taking the hint, Scarab ordered, "Destroy them my shabtie."

From out of the mist the numerous looming figures appeared. Their faces were devoid of all expression, but their intentions to obliterate the mummies were all-too-apparent.

The first of the shabtie reached Armon - and was consequently reduced to small clay chips by his golden fist. Another two tried to grab an arm each, simply resulting in being hefted into the air and then smashed together by the mighty Ram Guardian.

Ja-kal found himself being charged from both sides by two more of the mindless henchmen. He left it until the last second before spreading his wings and leaping skyward, leaving the animate statues to crash into each other, resulting in yet another pile of clay rubble.

Rath was faring just as well. Ducking to avoid a clumsy punch and then slicing with his khepesh, the blade cut through his unfortunate attacker like a hot knife through butter. But as he toppled another by cracking its ankles with his tail, Rath suddenly found himself being caught up from behind in a stony, vice-like grip pinioning his arms to his sides. The scribe could never claim to be physically strongest of the mummies and, as the deadly bear-hug crushed in round his chest he found that, struggle as he may, he could not break free.

As the fuzzy mists of unconsciousness began to close in, Rath felt a sudden shock shudder through the animate statue and the pressure lifted as it crumbled to dust.

"I didn't see your brain beat *him*," said Armon, dusting off his hands and then reaching down to help his friend to his feet.

"Brawn won't win in the end, you know." replied Rath, still slightly breathless from almost having the afterlife crushed out of him, but not prepared to let up with his side of their age-old argument.

Remaining in the air after seeing Armon rescue their stricken teammate, Ja-kal took out his bow and arrows and, with expert shots that struck each of his targets in a critical spot in the centre of the chest, causing them to crumble instantly, he began picking off the shabties closest to Scarab, without making it too obvious that it was his intention for the sorcerer to be on his own.

Deciding that the three guardians were now otherwise engaged, Scarab turned his attention to the Staff, trying to work out what was wrong with the magical relic, although he still kept half an eye on the battle before him.

"Maybe it needs new batteries." suggested Heka, coiled around his arm.

"Shut up and make sure those walking dusters remain occupied," snapped Scarab, not in the mood for his sidekick's irreverent comments right now.

Seeing that the sorcerer - still with his back to them - was now completely distracted, Nefertina stood up, "This is our chance. I'll take Scarab from the front, you get the Staff from behind." Putting her hand upon her amulet she called out,

"WITH THE STRENGTH OF RA!!!!!!!"

F'lair hadn't ever actually seen any of the mummies transform into their armour, and he hadn't seen Nefertina's armour at all. He was, needless to say, suitably impressed by the magical transformation.

As her new friend slung the Staff across his back and went to grasp the hilt of his sword, Nefertina caught Shade's hand, "Be careful, okay? Scarab always has a trick up his sleeve." She was concerned that the Daemonslayer was unfamiliar with this enemy. And Scarab never fought fair, especially not against newcomers.

"Perhaps he's not the only one..." replied F'lair, flashing her a wide, wolfish grin that hinted that 'fair' fights weren't his speciality either.

"Good luck," she said quietly, and then left the shrub's cover, skirting around the edge of the fray until she was close enough to Scarab to actually hear what he was saying---something about the magic being cancelled out by a nearby source of similar power. *Here goes...* "Hey! Dung beetle!"

Scarab snapped his head up, startled out of his reverie by Nefertina's bold insult, "So you're here too. Then you will perish *with* your friends rather than soon after!" He held Heka forward and the familiar spat out a purple energy bolt.

The Cat Guardian dropped to one knee and rolled sideways, allowing the blast to impact harmlessly into the ground sending up a small shower of dirt, "HAI-RA !" with a flick of the wrist her whip lashed out, the tip cracking loudly inches from Scarab's nose. The sorcerer took an involuntary step backwards and then rounded on her with a surprisingly fast left hook. But however fast he was, Nefertina was faster. She back flipped out of harm's way and then kicked out at his ankle, forcing him to flail his arms in order to regain his balance.

Backing off for a moment in order to plan her next assault, Nefertina glanced past Scarab looking for Shade. She caught sight of him creeping up behind with a predatory stealth, drawn sword gleaming dully in the gentle lamplight. A quick thumbs-up sign told her things were going to plan.

"Don't tell me, after 35 centuries, you're slowing down now!" she goaded, wanting to ensure Scarab was too busy being mad at her to notice the threat approaching from behind.

"You're the one who'll be moving slow in a moment...*dead* slow," he growled, preparing to cast another spell at her. Nefertina tensed, ready to leap either way to avoid it, but she was too intent on the sorcerer to hear the two shabties that were coming up behind her, preparing to attack her with their spears.

"Look out!" Ja-kal, who had seen the danger, swooped down in the nick of time slicing one shabtie in half with his wing. Nefertina quickly despatched the other using her claws and then stood ready as the next wave of attackers charged. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a sudden flash of metal accompanied by the solid 'thunk' as the blade sliced clean through wood, telling her that her diversion had worked long enough for Shade to slip past Scarab and Heka's guard.

Scarab whirled round to see an outsider - not a mummy, but obviously on their side - sheathing his sword and retrieving the Raven Staff's headpiece, freshly severed from the now useless shaft of wood he held in his claws. He froze under the sorcerer's glare.

"So that's why the Staff didn't work, you cancelled out its magic with *that*." said Scarab, eyeing the half this newcomer had strapped across his back, "You know, you're really on the wrong side - whoever you are. Now give me back *my* Staff." He made a grab for him, but missed as F'lair feigned to the left and then dodged out of reach to the right. Unfortunately he had miscalculated slightly (or rather, he hadn't calculated at all) and came face to snout with Heka, forcing him to stop. The golden cobra had provided enough of a distraction to allow Scarab to have another try. This time he was successful and caught the stranger, lifting him clean off the ground by the front of his jacket, "Now I've got you," he sneered.

"Watch it, pal - go easy on the chimera leather!" Scarab suddenly found himself holding ought but thin air as Shade simply discorporated into a shadow, reappearing a few metres away, "The name's Shade, by the way. You sure you don't need a Zimmer frame, old guy?" he said mockingly.

"Well, 'Shade', *you'll* be needing an intensive care unit," growled Scarab, firing off a magic missile spell.

"Too late for that, I'm afraid," replied the werewolf cryptically, discorporating enough just in time to allow the blast to pass straight through him. Scarab wasn't having much luck with his aim today, but F'lair was unsure whether he could maintain his concentration enough to use his shadowcasting abilities again.

Not knowing that Shade's ability was flagging Scarab tried something different, needing to find a way to quickly despatch this vexing adversary to get back the Staff. Taking out the amulet he had created earlier that day, he aimed it at the ground beneath the man's feet, speaking the cantrip needed to activate its magic.

Shade gasped as the ground suddenly liquified and he began to sink. Using all his energy he jumped clear, tearing free from the earth's cloying grip. But even as he regained his balance, the solid ground began to go soft. He stepped hastily back, but the liquified patch followed him, as though it were intent on swallowing him and there was nothing he could do. A saying his 'partner in crime', Blackjack, occasionally used came to mind, 'If you can't beat it and it's going to beat you, RUN!' The Daemonslayer took this teaching to heart, and made a hasty 'tactical withdrawal' with the enchanted ground literally at his heels.

Heka grinned, "I see you fixed that amulet." Scarab simply smiled icily in response, pleased to see his handiwork performing its task so well.

Using his tail Rath smashed a spear thrown at him in midair and raised his arm protectively in front of his face so that his green bracer could deflect the splinters. Then he back-flipped away as his aggressor charged and held his khepesh out in front, letting the shabtie's momentum cause it to skewer itself on the lethal blade. As he freed the sword from the crumbling statue, he caught sight of sudden movement behind it. He peered into the pre-dawn darkness just in time to see Shade - running hell for leather - charging past, as though there were a hoard of demons at his heels (something that was in fact quite a common occurrence for the Daemonslayer!).

As the Cobra Guardian called out to Ja-kal - who was in the best position to assist - he saw what could only be described as a 'wave' in the ground behind the fast moving werewolf. *It must be Scarab's doing* he thought to himself. Guessing that his magical know-how might be in need here, he also headed off after their ally.

Circling up above the battlefield, Ja-kal gave chase to F'lair. He hadn't witnessed the unusual activity of the ground like Rath had, and he had no idea as to what Shade was up to, save that it wasn't part of the original plan! As he swooped down the Daemonslayer - bizarrely - took a flying leap off the ground to the top of the nearest lamp post where he clung on for dear unlife.

"HEELLLP!!" much to his surprise, Ja-kal saw as the lamp post rapidly began to...*sink*?! He made a low pass trying - unsuccessfully - to grab Shade. But the post listed suddenly to the side, dumping its cargo on (or rather, *in*) the fluid ground. The earth reached up as he passed, attempting to catch him too.

"Rath! Be careful - it's like the dirt itself is alive!" he warned as the scribe approached.

"It's magic. I think I know a spell to turn the ground solid again."

"But won't he get stuck?" questioned Ja-kal. F'lair was up to his waist already, but it was too far to the edge of the quicksand for the mummies to reach him and pull him out.

"I'll end up being buried first if you two don't get me out of here!" he yelled, starting to panic as the mud reached chest height.

"Here, catch hold!" the end of Nefertina's whip landed beside him. Thankfully, Shade grabbed the lifeline, but he wasn't out of the woods yet, "I...can't...free him," said the Cat Guardian, voice strained as she pulled with all her might. Rath and Ja-kal joined in. But the more the three pulled, the harder the earth gripped Shade, unwilling to relinquish its victim. But at least they were managing to keep him from sinking further.

Fighting back, the enchanted ground suddenly pulled, nearly dragging the Guardians into the quicksand. They landed in a heap at its edge. Fortunately Ja-kal still had hold of one end of the whip, but the other end - and Shade - were no longer in view.

"Need a hand?" Armon's reassuringly solid presence came as a relief, "Uh, no pun intended," he added with a smile. With deceptive ease, he hoisted on the whip and with a loud sucking sound a coughing and spluttering Shade was freed. Apart from being shaken and very muddy, he was otherwise unharmed.

"Be still angry earth!!!" as Rath spoke the commanding words of magic, Scarab's spell faded and the earth returned to its natural non-violent state.

"Are you okay?" asked Nefertina, helping him up. Grateful that the awful moment when he'd been dragged under was passed.

"Yeah, but I don't wanna do that again in a hurry," came the reply. As he tried to dust himself off, Shade realised that a certain weight was gone from his back. At the same time Rath had also noticed what was missing.

"Where's the Staff?"

"The strap must have come loose. The headpiece is gone as well!" groaned the werewolf, "Where's Scarab and the stone guys?" he asked, noticing that they were now alone.

At that moment Presley came running up, "What's going on guys? I just saw Beetle-brain heading up to the Golden Gate Bridge!" he exclaimed breathlessly.

"Why would he go to the Western Gate with the Staff when we're right here?" wondered Ja-kal (right now there were more important things to worry about than reprimanding the Prince for leaving the safety of the Hot-ra).

Shade knew why. He'd guessed that the area around the bridge was a weak point in reality because when he'd first teleported to San Francisco that was where he had arrived rather than outside the museum. This 'Western Gate' thing was apparently some kind of gateway into the Prime Material Plane from - well, he hadn't quite worked out where from. But what was more important was the fact that this place was ideal for the use of one of the fabled Raven Staff's most formidable powers, "Um...everyone? There's something I think you should know about the Staff..."

****

In the chill of the fast-approaching late autumn dawn Scarab stood upon the Golden Gate Bridge directly above the middle of the Western Gate. The eerie pre-dawn glow from the east lent an insubstantial iridescence to the bridge and the fast-thickening mist, serving more to highlight the shadows rather than to actually illuminate. In his hand he held the Raven Staff, allowing its insidious magic to warm his ancient veins. For the moment he had given those mummies the slip, but right now they didn't matter. What was important was the knowledge he had gained upon uniting the two halves of the relic. Fusing headpiece with shaft had released the wisdom held within, telling Scarab of the true power of the Raven Staff, "With this, Heka," he explained to his reptilian companion, "I can unleash an undefeatable, undying army upon this miserable planet. All the dead of the Spirit World will be under my command and, at last, I will get what is rightfully mine...rulership of the entire world!" he finished the proclamation with an evil laugh. Once he had attained this goal, destroying the mummies and then gaining everlasting life from Rapses' spirit would be a walkover!

Heka looked sidelong at the green glowing runes of the 'rival' Staff, its black surface seemed to suck in any light around it and she found it more than a little bit sinister..."I hope this doesn't mean I'm about to be made redundant," she sniffed, "Personally, I think it's just creepy." she shuddered a little at the thought of the legion of the dead the sorcerer was preparing to summon through the Western Gate.

"Fear not, my venomous vixen. Once I get my due you..." he didn't get to finish the promise as the unexpected (and unwelcome) interruption of Ja-kal's voice cut into his day-dreams of world domination:

"You'll get what's coming to you alright!" threatened the Hawk Guardian confidently. The Guardians, were lined up across the bridge. Visible behind them was the Hot-ra beside which stood F'lair and Presley. Ja-kal wasn't too sure as to why the werewolf had omitted to tell them about just how powerful the Staff was, and he sincerely hoped he was making the right decision in still trusting...

With a put-upon sigh Scarab raised his arm, pointing at the mummies and not even bothering to give a verbal order. His shabties automatically began to advance upon them.

"I don't know why you bother, really," said Rath. They all knew what the inevitable outcome always was when Scarab pitted his magically animated henchmen against the Guardians.

"But this time I thought I'd add a little variety and make this a bit more of a challenge for you," replied Scarab. As he spoke the Raven Staff began to emanate a soft blue glow from the main gem embedded in the carved raven's back. For an instant the sorcerer could have sworn he'd seen that mysterious face again and then a flash of brilliant blue light flooded the bridge.

"What in Ra's name?!!" Armon was first to speak as the light faded and they found themselves without their armour. Fortunately they still had their weapons as the shabties - armed with blades mounted on their wrists - charged.

Near the seaward side of the bridge, Rath parried a vicious slash from a shabtie, and was about to return the favour when, from Armon's direction a stoney leg shattered it instead. This gave him a free moment to try and see how the others were doing. Nefertina momentarily came into view as she jumped over a shabtie, well clear of the knife on its arm. He didn't need to look for Armon - he'd just seen the evidence that he was doing just fine. Ja-kal, too, was close by. Close enough that they caught each other's eye, and instantly the scribe new the hunter was thinking the same thing as him, *We're all right for now, but without our armour to enhance our strength how long can we last against this army?*

From beside the Hot-Ra, Shade and Presley had watched the display of magic in shock. They were now thinking much the same thing as Rath and Ja-kal had been.

"We have to do something!" yelled Presley, "I know they're great fighters and everything, but they're outnumbered like a zillion to one!."

F'lair pursed his lips thoughtfully and then drew his sword, "Ja-kal told me to ensure you came to no harm - and I guess that helping your Guardians is a roundabout way of doing that...You'll stay here out of the fight, right?" Presley nodded knowing this was important.

Running into the fray, the werewolf found the shabties to be quite a disconcerting enemy. They had no scent and no sense of self-preservation and tried no sneaky tricks (unlike most demons) and they just attacked unthinkingly. They were easy to destroy, but there was just so damn many of them! With a mental command, the magical flame of the fireblade sprang to life, helping to slice through any shabties coming too close as Shade tried to make his way through to Scarab.

Nefertina saw the Daemonslayer join the fight, and used her whip to crumble a shabtie attempting to come up behind him.

"Thanks," he said simply, mind on the fight and trying not to let his savage wolf instincts take control. With a canine snarl he twisted round, kicking a shabtie so hard in the knee that its leg shattered, toppling it to the ground where another two tripped over it, winding up in a heap.

"Nice move," commented Nefertina, considering his lack of self confidence she was a surprised by the ferocity with which he fought, "but aren't you meant to be with Presley?"

"He's fine, but someone has to get the Staff back off Scarab - and you guys seem to have your hands full right now," he dropped to a crouch as Nefertina cracked her whip overhead, decapitating another unfortunate animate statue. Then he charged at another, barrelling into its chest and knocking it to the ground, "Agh!" the shabtie's knife had cut deep into his arm but, having no pulse to drive it, the dark deoxygenated blood only oozed sluggishly out and the wound began to quickly heal over.

"Careful," warned the female mummy, concerned for her friend's welfare.

"Don't worry about me," Shade could see Scarab preparing to use the Raven Staff again, he also saw a possible route to him through the mass of clay warriors, "It's yourselves you should be concerned about. Cover me!" he headed off towards Scarab.

"But I don't have a blanket!" Nefertina called after him. Though she had the suspicion that - like many sayings in this modern world - it didn't mean quite the same as how it sounded.

Letting out another growl, Shade ducked and swerved through the melee, avoiding kicks, blades and punches. Just as he thought he had reached Scarab, another shabtie moved to block his way. Time was of the essence here and it wouldn't be long before the sorcerer grew tired of his sport and decided to put an end to the mummies' existence once and for all. The Daemonslayer didn't have time for this. Plunging the fireblade up to the hilt in the shabtie's chest, Shade willed the sword's magic into action and the clay warrior was engulfed in a tower of flame. Part of the sword's enchantment was that it could not harm its wielder, and Shade leapt safely through the inferno, landing in a crouch on the other side.

The red mist of his battle-lust faded slightly and the werewolf saw Scarab looking at him with a mixture of surprise and annoyance - and perhaps a small amount of interest as to exactly who this newcomer really was to possess such magic. Not giving him the chance to find out, F'lair leapt again, snatching the Raven Staff clean out of Scarab's hand. Unfortunately, this bound had taken the Daemonslayer right to the edge of the bridge, actually landing him on the railing!

Shade did not need to glance behind to know there was nowhere for him to go, his heel hung precariously over the edge of the railing and the roar of the sea far below echoed in his ears. Cornered the werewolf faced his aggressor.

"I won't let you have the Staff," he said, holding the relic out behind him over the empty air as Scarab purposefully approached.

Realising that Shade might drop the Staff if further antagonised, Scarab backed off a little and tried a different approach,"Let us not be hasty - you don't want to do something you'll regret now, do you?"

Taking his glowing eyes off Scarab, F'lair glanced out beyond the ring of shabties surrounding him. He could see the mummies - his friends - fighting for their afterlives against the animate clay warriors. They seemed to be doing well even without the power of their amulets: Nefertina was jumping high into the air, leaving two to charge into each other and shatter whilst Ja-kal and Rath, close by, were standing back to back, smashing apart any that came within range with well placed kicks and punches learned from years of training in Egypt-su. Armon, of course, was holding his own having ripped up a piece of loose railing he was now swinging it like a club, easily destroying the statues within a wide radius of himself. Presley was out of Shade's line of site but, knowing the formidable abilities of his Guardians, he was more than safe. *But if Scarab gets the Staff they'll have about as much chance as an ice cube in the Abyss* he thought sadly. F'lair turned his gaze for one final, fleeting instant back to Nefertina. At the same moment she looked up and their eyes met. Hers widened upon seeing Shade's predicament and she shouted something, but he did not hear as he returned his attention to Scarab.

"I *can't* let you have the Staff." he reiterated. His voice was cold and hard as icy steel and somehow the tone had changed - as though the Daemonslayer's voice was echoing in the empty place where his soul should have been - it sent a chill down even Scarab's back. The ancient sorcerer had seen the reckless glint in those strange green-yellow eyes, and he also knew a silent 'goodbye' when he saw it. Scarab lunged suddenly forward, trying to make a grab for the Raven Staff before it was too late. But his hands closed on thin air as F'lair, closing his eyes, stepped backwards off the Golden Gate Bridge...

TO BE CONTINUED....

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Legal stuff (you know the score): Mummies Alive is owned by those who possess the copyright, ie, not me. This story is for entertainment purposes only (no money is being made.::sigh::) etc.
Just a word on continuity...I've no idea where this story would come in the MA series (we haven't seen all the episodes yet where I am).

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All characters, places and anything else portrayed in this story is copyright 2004 to the author, Isabelle Davis (Drakhenliche), and may not be used without express permission. Meccha/Soul (c) Elsa Lai 2004

Comments, questions, whatever, can be addressed to me at the www.NecroDragon.com forum.