//------------------------------// // Death is Only the Beginning // Story: The Mummy // by Lady Umbra //------------------------------// The undead guards stood with their weapons raised as they slowly stepped toward the pair, Zephyr looked at the situation with shock and regret. Meanwhile, Sombra looked at the guards with a wide grin. "If we make it out of here remind me to kill your brother" Discord shook his head as he tightened his grip on the sword. "Zephyr do something" Fluttershy begged her older brother "ME?!" Zephyr shouted to his sister. "Did you hit your head?!" "You can command them" "You Must be joking, Flutters" Zephyr said as his back hit a stone column "Finish the inscription on the cover you idiot" Fluttershy glared in his general direction. "Only then can you control them" "Uhh right!" Zephyr ran into the corridors again to avoid Sombra when Fluttershy was almost gutted by the now risen Chrysalis who began swinging the dagger wildly at her, leaving Discord to face the guards. Sombra gave the signal for his new minions to surround Discord who seemed ready to fight as he stood his ground and faced down the first three. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!" "ROOOOAAAAARRRGGGHHH!!!" "....Uh uh." Discord turned tail and bolted away from the mummies, before running over the black bog. "Scuse me! pardon me! coming through!" Discord shouted as he stepped on the skeletal remains that covered the bog surface Fluttershy scrambled through the room to evade the undead woman, however, Chrysalis still managed to block her off with the dagger raised to impale the woman's heart. Fluttershy quickly backed away in fear. "Hurry up Zephyr" "This isn't as easy as you think!" While Zephyr struggled with the inscription, Discord was weaving his way through the piles of gold and staircases before finally circling back to the platform at the center of the room. "Oh screw this!" he cursed as he turned around to fight when suddenly, the tomb guards seemingly vanished. Seeing this Discord shouldered the blade and chuckled as he started to turn around, only to let out a surprised scream as the undead guards were standing behind him with their weapons raised. Discord blocked the blades of a duel sickle mummy before finding an opening and relieving it of its head, Meanwhile, Zephyr was calling out to his younger sister due to an unknown glyph. "Flutters, I need your help!" Zephyr called out not taking his eyes off the golden book. "I can't figure out this last symbol" "What does it look like?" Fluttershy called out before Chrysalis wrapped her mummified hand around the pink-haired woman's neck "It's a bird...A Stork!" "Ah! Ah! Ahmenophus!" Fluttershy screamed out through her breaths as she held back the knife aimed at her heart Zephyr tilts his head and looks at the symbol again. "Oh yeah! How'd I forget that one?" As Zephyr managed to translate the book cover, Discord was fighting for his life in the middle of the staircase against the tomb guards. The black-haired man slammed out of the guards into the murky bog, immediately one jumped behind him as he fought off a guard who was swinging its sword at him. Discord managed to block the strikes before going on the offensive, the guard defended against Discord's swings as the guard behind him raised his axe. Discord managed to knock the sword from the mummy's hand before cutting off his arm, the gunman then raised his sword which unknowingly stabbed the head of the guard behind him. The gunman brought the weapon down on the guard in front of him before he noticed the mummy behind him, the headless mummy started to swing blindly as Discord severed its arms and moved further up the stairs. However, it seemed that no matter how many he killed they just came back, Discord clashed swords with another guard which knocked his weapon away and him to the ground. the mummy lifted its weapon to kill the man, thinking quickly Discord grabbed a nearby torch and set the mummy ablaze. Discord wasted no time in reclaiming his sword before kicking it off the stairs, unfortunately, two more guards charged him with their spears raised. The gunman managed to knock both of them off the stairs with a single swift strike, the man then turned only to come face to face with two guards wielding sickles. the guards attack in unison causing Discord to hastily block and lose his balance, Discord tumbles down the steps as the spearmen from before join them. The four march toward Discord before raising their weapons and bringing them down with full force, meanwhile Zephyr was spotted by Sombra who marched toward the man with a vile grin. "Hootash im Ahmenophus!" Zephyr shouts causing Sombra to turn towards the mummies with shock plastered on his regenerated face Discord opened his eyes and saw all four mummies were frozen in place, the undead guards pulled back their weapons and turned to the right. Discord crawled away from the mummies before grabbing his sword and running after the high priest, Sombra broke from his stupor before he started barking orders at the tomb guards. "Destroy him!! Destroy Him!!" Sombra shouted to the tomb guards. "I command you to destroy him!!" However, no matter how much he shouted, the guards refused to move an inch. Zephyr's attention was drawn to the screams of his sister, the elder sibling steeled his nerves and barked an order to the tomb guards. "Miya Facusca Un Chrysalis" Zephyr said in the ancient tongue The Guards gripped their weapons as they marched down the stairs before advancing toward the high priest's love. "Chrysalis!!" Sombra called out as he saw his dear love turn to face the guards "Give me that Book!" Sombra shouted as he stormed after Zephyr who dropped the book in fear However, he would be too late as Chrysalis dropped the dagger in fear of the tomb guards. "SOMBRA!!" The mummy screamed as the spear pierced her stomach. "CHRYSALIS!!!" Sombra called out in horror as he watched the tomb guard hack and chop his beloved until she was nothing. Shock and Horror clashed in the high priest's mind before his anger overtook him, the mummy stomped after Zephyr with murder in his glowing eyes. "Now You DIE!" Sombra shouted as he lifted the eldest brother by his throat. "Mind if I cut in?" Discord said as he saved Zephyr by cutting off the mummy's arm. " Okay pal, let's see how tough you are without your right arm." Zephyr Dropped to the ground with the mummy's hand still around his neck, needless to say, the elder sibling spazzed out as removed the limb and crawled away from the pair. Sombra turned to Discord before looking at his arm and then turning back to him, Sombra let out a growl as he grabbed Discord with his left arm and throws him halfway across the chamber. Discord slammed into one of the columns, bounces off, and crashes to the ground. Discord let out a groan as Sombra approached the man while re-attaching his arm. "Alright,... Apparently, he's left-handed." With Sombra's attention on Discord, Zephyr rummages through his discarded robes before jumping to his feet with something in his hand. "Flutters, I got it!" Zephyr said proudly as he smiles at Fluttershy. Fluttershy runs for her brother as he picks up the golden book. "Give me the key!" Fluttershy ordered as she snatched the key from her brother while Zephyr held out the book before his sister. "Keep him busy" Discord screamed as he collided with another stone column. "Sure..." Discord moaned in pain. "No problem" Discord swings his sword and cleaves a big chunk of molten flesh rot out of Sombra's stomach. On the outside, Sombra looks human, but on the inside, he is still a rotten old mummy. As his flesh repaired itself, Sombra backhands Discord and knocks him twenty feet back. Discord staggers to his feet and looked up only to find Sombra right there, the mummy clubs him hard with his left arm. Discord spins through the air, the man slams into the side of a ritual chamber. Sombra approaches, rage still burning in his eyes. Discord gets up, quickly pivots, and hacks into Sombra's head. Sombra grins and punched Discord in the face. Discord is thrown back, pulling his sword with him. Fluttershy opens the Golden Book Of The Living and quickly turns the heavy gold pages looking for something. "Hurry Flutters," Zephyr said in a panic as he watched Discords beatdown. "You're not helping Zephyr," Fluttershy said as she tracked her finger down the golden page Sombra walked up to the downed and beaten man before grabbing him by the throat and lifting him off his feet, Discord hangs there in a dazed mess as Sombra grins and says something in his native tongue "And now, it's your turn" Sombra growled as he started to strangle Discord "I've got it!" Fluttershy chanted as Sombra turns and looks at her with pure terror. "Kadeesh mal! Kadeesh mal! Pared oos! PARED OOS!!" At first nothing seemed to happen when a portal suddenly appeared from atop the staircase and through it came riding a ghostly chariot with a hooded figure. As the chariot charged at Sombra, the ghostly rider reached into the priests chest and wrenched out what appeared to be his soul as Sombra tried to chase after it in vain but was helpless as another portal appeared and the chariot vanished through it. Enraged by this loss, Sombra glared at Discord with eyes full of hate and was looking to finish their fight once and for all. "I though you said it was gonna kill him!!" Discord shouted as Sombra reached for his throat. Out of instinct, Discord thrusted his sword into the priests stomach when to his surprise, Sombra actually felt pain, the first pain he had in over three thousand years. "...He's mortal." Fluttershy said after revealing what the spell had done to the now mortal priest as he stumbled into the pool at the center of the chamber. All three watch as Sombra gently sinks into the fetid swamp, and slowly his body reverts to its original mummified state. Sombra looks at the trio and flashes them one final grin just before his head goes under, Sombra says something in ancient Egyptian as his head drops into the bog "Death is only the beginning." Fluttershy translated While the trio were recovering from the ordeal, Bitty in all his greed was busy hauling yet another heavy sack of gold through the halls of the temple and as he took a moment to catch his breath the cowardly graverobber foolishly placed the heavy sack on a switch sticking out of the wall and the entire city suddenly began to rumble. "...TIME TO GO!" Discord shouted as he grabbed Fluttershy by the arm and they made a break for the exit but in their haste, Zephyr accidentally dropped the book into the moat around the altar much to the dismay of his sister. "YOU LOST THE BOOK?!? Zephyr I can't believe-!" "LET'S GO!!" Discord insisted as he and Zephyr pulled flutters along before stopping once more in the middle of the treasure room. "...Can't we just?" "NO! Come on Zephyr!" Fluttershy said as the tables quickly turned and she ended up pulling her brother along. Following close behind the trio, Golden Bit tripped over a pile of gold causing a statue to land on his foot. The clatters gained the attention of Discord who stopped to look between the exit and his friend. "Just leave him" Fluttershy ordered "Get your sister out of here," Discord said running back to help Bitty. Golden Bit was shocked to find Discord pushing the statue off of the sketchy man. "What are you doing?" "Saving your ass...Again" Discord said as Golden Bit slid out from underneath the statue however his foot was too injured to walk. "You can die some other time, but I'm not letting you die here" Discord slung Golden Bit's over his shoulders and helped his friend up the stairs towards the exit, however, the trap that Bitty activated was about to seal them both inside. "We're not going to make it" "We're going to make it!" Discord said as they approached the sealing door "We won't make it," Golden Bit said as he gripped Discord's clothing. "But you still can" Before Discord could understand what he was saying, Golden Bit pushed him through what limited space was left for the door. Discord scrambled to his feet and tried to pull his friend through, Golden Bit did grab hold of his hand but all he did was flash a smile to his friend. "Goodbye Discord," Golden Bit said flashing his golden tooth with his smile. "Deep down I truly considered you my one and only friend" Golden Bit and Discord separated as the door hit the ground cutting the pair off from each other, Discord balled up his fist before hitting the door and uttered one last thing to his friend. "Bye Bye Bitty" Discord said running through the temple before he too was trapped here With no other escape, Bitty was now trapped in the treasure room and watched as the reflecting mirrors were crushed one by one until only his torch was the only source of light. Limping to the statue that crushed his foot, Golden Bit picked up his torch in hopes of finding another exit. That plan of action was halted when he spotted a single scarab on top of the fallen statue, fear and panic gripped his being as he tried to burn the insect with the torch. Golden bit then froze as he heard the familiar skittering sound, turning around, The man found hundreds of thousands of flesh-eating scarabs approaching him from every angle. Golden Bit's only saving grace was the torchlight was keeping the insects at bay, unfortunately, that light was rapidly fading. "She was right," Golden Bit said as the light was reduced to a mere ember which caused him to let out a meek laugh. "They Always get their comeuppance" The light flickered out plunging the room into pitch darkness, the only sounds that could be heard were the skittering of the scarabs and the blood-curdling screams of Golden Bit After narrowly escaping the crumbling city, the three explorers watched from a distance as the temples and monuments fell into the sand and Zephyr could swear he saw gold flying through the air as the last of the structures crumbled leaving nothing but a barren wasteland as if the city never existed. As they watched the last of the city disappear, Zephyr let out a scream after feeling a hand grab his shoulder and all turned around to see Zecora alive and well with her hand bandaged, no doubt broken from fighting off Sombra's minions. "Oh geez! thank you for that, thank you VERY much!!" Zephyr whined as he clutched his chest. "You have earned the love and respect of my people." Zecora smiled at the trio with a respectful bow of her head. "May the gods smile upon you always." "And uh same...to you." Zephyr replied as she rode off on her camel. "Well...I guess we go home empty handed...again." He sighed in defeat while Discord and Fluttershy turned to one another with warm smiles and loving eyes. "I wouldn't say that." Discord said as he gave Fluttershy a more proper kiss to which her brother just rolled his eyes. "Oh give me a break" Zephyr snorts in disgust and climbs up onto a camel. When the kiss is over, Discord and Fluttershy share a smile before leaping up into the saddle of one of the camels. Discord reaches down and pulls Fluttershy up onto the camel, Fluttershy wraps her arms around his waist. The camels start to move out as none of the trio noticed the glint of gold stashed away in the camel's saddlebags