Category: Pharaoh and Ibis

“So you have captured the godkiller” said Ra. Nine figures stood in a circle around the trio and behind the giants, Akenahten sat in shackles.

“So then we shall sentence him to eternal punishement,” said a woman smacking a reed in her hand before pointing it towards Akenahten.

“No, my wife, we shall let him ponder his sins in the infinite void where there is no beginning or end,” said a giant in a beard that seemed to be made of pure darkness.

Ra silenced the group. “My servants on Earth, you have brought an additional figure with you – whom might that be?” inquired Ra.

Caiman stood up. “False deity, I order that you release me.”

Ra picked up Caiman who struggled in Ra’s grasp. “Ahhh, an impatient one consumed with such anger. I can see why the world animal picked you, for his appetite also has filled him with rage in the past.”

“I shall paint this temple with your blood, heathen!” screamed Caiman still fighting.

“You should probably settle down,” suggested Kevin before Caiman stopped struggling.

“Perhaps we might summon our brother, The Arbiter,” commented a woman who wore a bright red crown.

“It shall be done,” said Ra.

Soon another figure with the head of a giant bird with a long neck appeared. The figure shrunk and began to shake Chris’s hand furiously. “Mister Cushing, sorry I’ve been a bit too busy running the universe to greet you and officially introduce your powers but I figured you’d get them all eventually am I right? I am aren’t I.” said the figure in one breath.

“Thoth,” started Ra “we desire your choice as to the fate of the traitor and the Caiman.”

Thoth stood there stroking his beak for a minute. “The traitor shall be sentenced to Duat to be judged for his crimes and the Caiman shall go free, as it was sent here with no ill intent.”

Chris tried to comment but found himself unable as suddenly with a loud clap, Caiman was released by Ra and both Thoth and Akenahten were gone.

“Why didn’t you say he was innocent or anything Chris!” complained Kevin.

“Mister Ra, Akenahten did not free himself and has shown no ill will. Can he please be freed from wherever he is?” pleaded Chris suddenly shaking his stupor.

“Duat,” added Caiman.

“The traitor shall be judged for his crimes justly. He sought that he might replace us,” said a figure of pure darkness.

“But he had a reason,” argued Kevin. “I mean if he got powers from following Aten, why would he question that stuff? I got powers from you and I’m just blindly following you. Mostly. Kinda. I’m a kid so…,” reasoned Kevin. “He was set up and spent thousands of years in a cell alone. And he didn’t even want revenge. Can’t you free him?”

“He speaks with more reason and passion than most,” said a snake headed woman.

Ra stared silently at Kevin and the other two. “You shall prove his innocence and your worth by traveling through Duat to free the man. If you succeed his is truly innocent. If you fail, you shall all share his fate.”

Kevin turned to Chris and asked “What’s Duat?”

The four found themselves on the top of a large square pyramid that would have dwarfed all of New York City. The stone steps that lead down it seemed to travel into an infinite blanket of mist. Before them a man who was covered in scales and had the head of a crocodile stood proudly. At his elbows and knees, smaller mouths opened and closed. Suddenly he came alive as if he tasted a difference in the air.

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The museum was empty when Chris and Kevin arrived. Cairo was unprepared for snow covered roads and a state of emergency had been declared. Lander in the meanwhile, had been sent to try and recover the Book of the Dead from Chris’s car, which was a much shorter drive than Chris and Kevin’s long flight to the museum.

Chris was lucky enough to still have his keys to the museum and the two wandered into the darkened halls. The lights clicked and sparked before flickering on and the two headed to Chris’s study.

“There are actually several copies of the Book of the Dead, but there are differences in each version based on when and why they were written.” Chris gestured down the hall only for the two to find that the office door was open. (maybe give a couple “examples”?)

Kevin whispered Ra under his breath and transformed to his Pharaoh form before opening the office door. Searching frantically through the papers was a wild looking thin man with long matted black hair.

“Halt there, criminal scum!” ordered Kevin causing the figure to look up and stumble backwards.

“Wait sir!,” it replied, collapsing into a cowering mass. Chris pushed Kevin aside and helped the figure up.

“We don’t need to hurt the guy, Kevin.”

“Call me Pharaoh, peasant winged man!”

“Kevin!” barked Chris, before turning to the mysterious man. “What is your name?”

“If he were here to cause trouble, why would he be at the museum of all places?” Chris replied.

“Yes, that is correct. Someone else freed me from my entombment. I simply wish to live free once more. (what?)”

“I am pretty sure I’d want revenge for that,” said Kevin crossing his arms. “And how did you get here foolish … immortal?”

“It was a figure covered in black spikes,” replied Akenahten. “He left me here and said that he would look for the Book of the Dead.” 

“And why were you digging in my office?” replied Chris.

“I was told that a Chris Cushing had a copy. I hoped to be of help to my rescuer.”

“Come on man, get a backbone,” groaned Kevin.

“Wait, did the figure in black save you from the tomb?” asked Chris, his mind whizzing.

“No, I did not see my rescuer,” explained Akenhaten. “I found the door open, the camp was on fire, and the ground was covered in something white and powdery.”

“The white stuff?” asked Kevin.

“He means the snow,” explained Chris.

“So when did the black person show up?” asked Kevin.

“We really need to find their name out,” commented Chris to himself.

“They came soon after my release. I was wandering in the desert and they grabbed me.”

“And where did they go?” asked Chris.

“They said they needed the book that you had.”

“Which means they wanted your car where Landers was heading,” exclaimed Kevin.

“And now they have returned in time to banish you monsters,” spat the black spiked figure in a low growl. He dropped an unconscious and frozen Landers on the ground.

Kevin drew his fists back ready to fight before Chris motioned for him to stop.

“Who are you?” asked Chris.

“My name is Caiman and I am the executor of justice,” replied the figure. “I was sent here by the gods to capture the traitor and those who released him. Now Cipactli, my work is completed!”

A hole opened up around the four and swallowed them up, leaving Landers on the ground alone.

Chris woke up in bed to find the bright face of Landers staring back at him. “You don’t wait for me and what happens? You die and you turn into an angel!” joked Landers. Chris looked around to find himself in his hospital room once more.

“What happened?” asked Chris as rubbed his head.

“Well mate, I drove out to the site after I found out that you went ahead. When I got there I found you with giant wings and two people fighting. The kid dropped out the sky and then the second person pulled you out of the tomb and tossed you into the snow.”

“Kid?” asked Chris confusedly.

“At first he was a big silver bloke, but he got beaten up bad and turned into a kid.”

“That explains a lot about the Pharaoh then,” groaned Chris. ”Did you find my car?”

“Oh yeah, I saw the rover flipped over in the snow. Probably covered in the stuff right now. Right weird.”

“The book was in there!” said Chris panicing.

“What book?”

“My copy of the Book of the Dead. Landers, I am going to say some crazy things and I need you to believe me.”

“Chris. I’ve known you for 8 years. I consider us great friends. I know you are not one to lie or make up weird stories. Plus, I saw you with wings and two people fighting in the sky. That bar’s pretty high.”

“That book, the powers and even the snow are all tied together. I am pretty sure. I mean, the snow started around the same time we opened the tomb, didn’t it?”

“Chris, the snow has been falling since this morning. All over.”

“Well, that doesn’t mean-” 

“Chris, this snow is worldwide. Detroit, London, Japan, Hawaii. And it is getting heavier,” interrupted Landers. “I don’t want you going back out there.”

“Landers, I care about what you say but I have no idea what is going on. I’m stuck with some weird super kid and somebody tried to trap me in a tomb. I need answers-” he stated as he got up, wincing from the pain in his arm. “- and my book will have them.”

Chris began to panic as Kevin flew to the entrance to the tomb and lifted the slab off of the ground once again opening the tomb. As quickly as he rose though, he fell even faster after a punch to the face knocked him and the slab back down. The door and the tomb shuddered under the sudden impact loosening bricks and sand. Angrily Kevin immediately flew back up and punched the door a second time so it simply flipped open and flew out.

Before Kevin standing in the the was a tall figure decked in a black full body suit covered in spikes and a ending in a vicious and long tail!

“Foolish Aten! You dare to fight me?” cried Kevin as he attempted to strike a heroic pose in the snow. Another punch came flying from the figure hitting him right in his face sending him flying through the air. He landed in the snow creating a small cloud of powder from the impact.

“Face punches are not enough to stop me mortal,” Kevin replied less confidently as he rose up again flying. He rubbed his sore jaw and flew forward again.

The figure moved to strike and Kevin used both hands to guard his face only to get sucker punched in the stomach. Kevin collapsed on the snow again curling up in pain.

“God-slave, you should return to your tomb because your judgement has not ended and your blight upon the world must be stopped,” said the figure as he walking towards Kevin. Kevin struggled to get up and resume flying.

“Hey spikey person, I don’t know who you are but I am the Pharaoh. I’m not some bad guy. I’m a servant of Ra and all of that stuff.” As he called out Ra’s name though he reverted to his child form and collapsed into the snow.

As the pair began to explore the site Kevin gleefully floated around. As the Pharaoh, the winged dude had no idea that he was really just a kid. He got respect, he got to lead and because he was pretending to know what was going on he got trust.

Kevin moved the block that had sealed the temple and accidentally sent it flying in the air. It continued to spin in the air before it landed far off in the horizon with a loud thud send a puff of snow into the air.

“What did you do that for?” said Chris coming up from the tomb. He’d realized it was impossible to read the hieroglyphics in the tent.

“Well I’m the Pharaoh and I rule Egypt so whatever I do is cool,” Kevin said trying to put up a front of false bravado. “Plus it’s not like they put anything helpful on the lid. I checked,” lied Kevin.

“So you can … read the hieroglyphics then? Maybe you won’t be so bad to bring along.” Chris said as his eyes lit up.

“Egyptology and those pictures have a… wait, if it is dark how can you read those symbols?” asked Chris.

Kevin floated up from the tomb with his eyes shooting out beams of light directly onto Chris. “No idea. Who was this Akenhaten though?” replied Kevin.

“Akenhaten was a pharaoh who according to the record, he was sealed in this tomb for his sins against the gods.”

“I thought that was Aten who was?”

“Akenhaten was a man, a mortal like… , well like normal people. Aten was his god who he tried replace the other gods with. When he died, the  priests used a ritual to steal Aten’s godly powers to grant them to Akenhaten bringing him back to like and trapping him in his tomb.”

“Then why did the gods say Aten was in here?”

“I don’t know. Perhaps they were not aware of the switch?” said Chris picking up a flashlight he found.

“So the gods aren’t all powerful then?” said Kevin starting to feel worried.

“I am worried we are going to find out that answer right now,” said Chris as he started to head down into the temple, struggling to fit his wings in.

“This is astounding,” commented Chris.

“What is so astounding?” asked Kevin sounding incredibly bored.

“I can read the hieroglyphics. I can simply read and translate them, even these ones that I’ve never seen. I can revolutionize the field with my ability!”

“You get the power to fly and you’re happy cause you can read?” replied Kevin who was laying down and stretching in mid air.

“Well, according to the tomb, this was a prison for Akenhaten but it seems Akenhaten also wrote, though I can’t translate what he wrote.”

“I thought Mr. Fancy Reader was able to read all the pictures now.”

“Well I can read them, it is just, he wrote these messages in the dark and they are hard to decipher,” said Chris motioning Kevin to look at the scratches made into the stone.

Suddenly the duo heard a large slam and looked to find that tomb had been sealed once more.

Chris continued to float upward the void until the world started to return. The clouds suddenly returned separating from the unreality with a steady stream of snow. Out of fright Chris looked down to see himself high above the desert. He began to quickly wave his arms in panic as he found himself floating above the rocky formations of the desert that were now painted white.

The lack of pain caused two realizations to form in Chris’s mind, the first being that his arm was healed and the second that he now possessed a large pair of gray wings on his back that were keeping him airborn. He shivered as the cold touched him causing him to realize the growth of wings caused his dress shirt to disappear.

He estimated that based on the cliffs he was several miles from where he had left his car.

“Of course, I have a healed arm and wings so I might be dreaming,” he said to himself.

Suddenly a bright silver shape began to come towards him. “Greetings mortal human being person, I am the mighty Pharaoh. Also if you are the fiendish Aten” If you are I shall smack you down and defeat you with a powerful force of the gods!”

“This is a weird dream,” groaned Chris.

The figure before him stood over 6 feet tall and was imposingly muscled. In the middle of the silver costume a painting of the sun that seemed to actually burn as it stared into Chris. The figure put his arms akimbo and then crossed them again, trying to look menacing.

“I’m sorry but I have no idea what is going on here. Who are you?” asked Chris rubbing his temples as he floated in the air. The fact that he had not woken up was proof enough that this wasn’t happening.

“I am the super strong and tough Pharaoh who has been sent by the gods to destroy the foul and gross Aten who betrayed the them. The gods have given me every power needed to defeat them. I mean, Aten.”

“Yes, I understand that much but the gods aren’t real and I realize that this sounds silly coming from a man floating with wings.”

“Well duh. I don’t think you can float with wings,” replied the silver garbed man childishly.

“I’ve ruled out that this is a dream but if you are looking for Aten I suppose that we need to travel to the tomb of Akhenaten to solve this… predicament.”

“Then lead forth, mortal angel man,” said the Pharaoh pointing forward.

“I am Chris Cushing, the Director of Egyptology at the British Museum, so I’d prefer if you treated me with some level of respect, Pharaoh”

Chris looked around in horror, falling over himself. “Mayuhddin! Zikri!” he called out to no reply.

The Pharaoh called over “Director Chris, this hole-place is opened up.”

Chris hovered over to find that Tomb of Akhenaten was indeed open, as Pharaoh had said. Chris gave one last look to the camp as he crawled inside.

“Kevin Canyon, you have been chosen to save the world,” said a bright and loud voice.

Kevin found himself to be alone, walking through a dark, featureless void. “Am I dead?” asked Kevin as he continued through the darkness.

“No, Kevin. You have been chosen to prevent chaos in the world caused by Aten.”

“Who is Aten and who the heck are you?” Kevin asked putting up a front of bravery.

“I thought the sun was just gravity and space stuff.”

“Your science is only able to study the laws that we greater powers have set in motion. The truths and the path to control the natural world still belongs to us. Still, we have found it best to distance ourselves from the world but situations with Aten have caused us to change our policy. As such we have chosen you as an emissary of us to save the world in our name”

“Who is this Aten dude? Is he a god?”

“Aten sought to replace the gods and faced a brutal punishment for his actions. Now that he has gained freedom though, he undoutably seeks revenge against us.”

“Well why the heck are you gonna send a kid to fight against a god?”

“That is simple, Kevin Canyon. You are part of the royal lineage and beyond that, you are a soul who has proven himself strong willed and independent. You gift shall be beyond that of basic royalty though.”

“Wait, so am I the Pharaoh now?”

“We no longer have earthly reign but you shall be the leader of men, granted powers by us to uphold justice and order.”

“So I’m the Pharaoh. Awesome. ”

“Yes! You shall summon awe! To activate your powers, you must simply call on me for your power.”

“So what now?”

Kevin headed to the park feeling hungry and betrayed (why would he feel betrayed?). He’d been promised that he wouldn’t get turned in to child services. He’d been promised he wouldn’t be hassled about who he was. Kevin fought back his tears as he ran to the park. Normally he’d hope to find a field trip group where he could sneak a packed lunch but the snow took away any chance of that.

As he headed to the playground in the back of the metro park, he saw  a police officer waiting for him there. The officer noticed Kevin and casually began walking towards him.

The officer looked at the description of the kid he was looking for – Arabic descent, black hair, 5’4”, aged 14. The kid matched that description.

”Kevin, I need you to come with me,” called the officer. “Your aunt is looking for you.” He started to speed up trudging through the snow with his black dress shoes that he’d wore for a much drier day.

Kevin started to run through the snow that had piled up to a foot so far. He looked back and saw the officer stumble in the snow and then Kevin suddenly heard his feet beating on empty concrete instead of the powered crunch of snow. Kevin looked down and found himself in a dark tunnel with a light at the end.