The Scepter of Maat (Part Two)

As Revenant shoots the 10 blades, the soldiers fall in line behind him, the blades hitting him and falling to the ground. He starts walking forward as his men are being killed by the magic man. He would suddenly feel a blade plunge into his own back, gritting his teeth as the deed is done. He turns around, not seeming to have died yet. He raises a fist which begins to glow green. He released a beam of energy, powerful enough to feel even if you weren't a physical being. He focuses a beam from both hands and I need from each of his eyes on each individual centurion. As soon as they were all destroyed, he'd whip all the beams around to the door where Mehka was.

The soldiers would start blasting the centurions until Warhead had destroyed them. They aim their weapons at Revenant and Mehka, firing their guns. Half were using a modified AK-74s with extended magazines and explosive rounds. Warhead had tossed his custom shotgun to his right hand. The shotgun alternated between birdshots and explosive slugs. Finally, the other half of the soldiers would be using gas grenade launchers. They would begin unloading at the group in front of them, not holding anything back.

Left foot… Right foot… Swing axe… Second one down...

This was all Lucas could think of, his mind was shut down, he moved in odd jerking motions, moving along with his thoughts, if you could even call them those. His speed was unnatural, he would move one foot in a blur of motions, then the other foot, then he would keep this up until he made it to one of the men, then swing. He didn't want to kill them, in the very back of his mind, he was shouting at himself to stop.
I bet he has a family, too bad he won't be seeing them, he probably was just trying to do what he thought was right, aren't we all?

But yet he continued, weird what fear can do to someone. Most people run and cower when afraid, but something is keeping him moving, even in awkwardness, he was efficient at taking down these men.

Four...

His body felt no pain, the only identification of injury was when he saw his arms, they were covered in blood, probably has almost a hundred bullets in his body, though, what can bullets do. He feels a chill again as his subconscious thinks of what Warhead will do to him next… But, he hasn't even punched him yet. He looks up and finally stops in awe… He’s… He’s bleeding... Warhead looks as shocked as he was, but he spins around and blasts something with one of his powerful blasts. Whatever that was… I think it's on our side… it… hurt him. This was fascinating to Luke, he met strong before, he seen people at the camp change the weather, he seen them walk around the camp before he could blink, he seen people who could shake the earth… But Warhead beat that all with his raw power, he hit him with concrete at his strongest, and still couldn't stop him. But these people, they actually got him “Bleeding”! He… almost relaxes, if they can do that, maybe they can stop him actually. And Luke wont die today.

Six...

Gas canisters launch past his head, he sees about eight of them go and hit the floor, that’s where he sees Mehka, she has an armor of some sort of… energy. But those canister’s may prove a problem, probably poisonous, but poisonous isn't a problem for Luke, but the others… he rushes to the canisters, and he begins grabbing them, once he has them all… He sticks it into his mouth, and he begins sucking it into his stomach, and then grabs another, then two, until he had no more canisters to “eat”. He felt the gas condense into a liquid in his body, this was sure to make him sick later, even his body couldn't handle the chemicals at such an amount, but this would have hurt the others. He feels the objects bulge a bit in his stomach, the gas was leaking a bit from his mouth and nose, but the reduction would make a tremendous difference. He looked down the hallway… and… Was that a woman back there? Who… is building… out of light?

Well damn it… I don't know if I should hope or not hope that this gas is causing illusions...

A woman seemed to slip past Iha's vision and duck behind a structure. He didn't notice her till she poke. Then all he could answer was, "Protect... Scepter." All of his concentration was focused on the man down by the door. As soon as the last word left his mouth, as soon as the man had turned his back, Iha threw his long metallic spear. His stance was shifty and unbalanced, the weapon left the untrained hands like a rocket without a guidance system. It flew through the air, a little high but managed to point downward enough, possibly hitting the man in the shoulder or the ribs on his right. Once he noticed the spears trajectory was true, Iha ducked to his left, getting behind another tall statue.

The room seemed to quake with all of the energy. Punches from the man wear magnificent, if that was the word to use. He seemed to be able to control... something, and release it with force. Through all of this the building seemed to be doing quite well. Though as it filled with smoke thoughts that his friends wouldn't last too long filled Iha's head. There must be a way. He thought, then motioned to the girl. Hoping she would see his hand point back toward the door, as if he intended to jump that way any moment.

Mehka quickly sheltered behind a structure. Her shoulder ached. She ignored the feeling of blood running down to her hand. Her grip was fine and she could still move the arm, her armor must have taken the most out of the blast. Her thoughts went to the weapons the men used, they didn't seem normal, exploding on impact like that. She twisted her hands again, feeling the tingling sensation pulse through them. Six large lanterns appeared in the room, mostly around the walls and to the back where Iha was. Then three more centurions appeared out of the darkness, rushing and cutting down as many of the soldiers as they could be before they vanished.

The androids in the corner could no longer stand by and watch. Seeing the vitals and the alarm for the wound on Mehka's shoulder their programming kicked in. They simultaneously uncloaked, letting the teal fabric fall to the ground. Before gravity could take them there, both T-16s had laser rifles out. One blasting madly into the men, it would ignore all damage till it was not able to move any longer. The other focused on the man. It's rifle shot three quick blasts, blue in color, one aimed at the man's right hip, another at his chest where his heart was, and finally the last aimed to the left shoulder. The droid would quickly retract the rifle and pull his laser sword, seemingly out of nowhere, leap into the air; not high as for distance, it was a low artful leap forward. The sword high over its head he would swing it down onto the man. The swords didn't need much pressure to cut, the droid would be able to wield it masterfully. One moment it would be coming down onto the man's head, the next he would swing it across the man's belly.

"Protect scepter sounds good." The rain of bullets continued to berate Danny's blockades, but she could keep the stalemate for the mean time. What would hopefully break the stalemate continued to build up behind her. A bolt finally appeared in the turquoise firing mechanism. "I hope you aren't planning on me to protect that hallway's structural integrity."

Iha gave her a glance to the back door. Running across the bullet riddled exhibit would present many work related dangers. Putting up defenses came as a tired trick. It would come time for Danny to put forth the offense that would become her best defense.

Drawing back on turquoise mechanisms, a constructed wire would become more taut. Once the room began to clear out- and enough of the soldiers pushed their advantage, Danny would begin to fall back towards the door. A major force of energy would shoot down the hallway, eventually changing shape into a large flat face barrier. Danny did not intend to maim or kill with her projectile, but instead to obstruct Warhead and his men from making an easy follow.

The gas began to swell up around Danny's eyes as she made her way towards the door. Holding up a barrier became a little more difficult with her complications, but the complications would quickly become more desired once she stepped through the door. Her barriers faded completely. Anything her bracelet would speak to her mind went completely silent. "Oh, don't do this again."

Danny turned back to head down the stairs. A bullet caught her in the shoulder. It stung. It felt blunt and throbbing. Danny pulled herself against the wall and followed the stairs down. "I get it you won't help me fight things down here, but is it possible you could keep me from bleeding?" No response came. "Great. I hope I made some friends down here, because the only people more hostile than the guys down here are the goons upstairs."

The men would start falling over dead as they get riddled with lasers. They start returning fire on the t-16's as they are suddenly crushed with the force of a medium sized bomb from an energy blast. Warhead would grab the laser rifles and toss them to his soldiers to use. One Android fires several lasers at his body, the energy being drawn into him as the droid does so. As they leap into the air for a downward slice, Warhead would grab them and send an explosion that would generate enough heat to vaporize a medium house, concentrated into the one T-16. He let's out a battle cry as the centurions are summoned and releases a powerful beam from his eyes, and each of his fists all aimed at each Centurion. Each beam was even stronger than the one used on the T-16.

Suddenly, a large flat barrier is formed in the hallway, keeping them from moving further. Warhead scoffs and tells his men to hold their fire. He fires a controlled beam into the ground, basically digging under the barrier. He and his men scoot under and start approaching the door with powerful steps. Those lasers attacks seriously powered him up. Warhead's eyes would be glowing with power, along with his fists. "Брось сейчас, трус. Твои барьеры даже не замедляют меня. You can't stop pure Russian might." He and his men would continue advancing.

He yells to Danny "You try to get that scepter and tourists around this area will be bombed. You can't stop it, child. Your powers are negligible compared to my own. I'll make the civilians pay for your mistakes if you defy my commands." He turns into the stairwell and his comrades would start firing down the stairs at Danny with some newly acquired laser guns in the hands of lieutenants.

Luke Looks over to see Warhead approach that one lady with the energy bracelet, which he now knows is not an illusion, which has him worried.

He rushes for Warhead, no longer stalling the moment, he feels his body heat up from the blood rushing through him, and he swings for Warheads knee with the blunt of his axe at full force…

Here we go again...

Bullets and lasers zing and zipped down the hall toward Iha and the newcomer. Thoughts of how easy the androids were destroyed darted past Iha's mind, but he nestled them toward the back. There was no time. At least the enemy was coming toward him and not paying much attention to Mehka. It was clear as glass what the man wanted, he was after the scepter like everyone else.

It only took a thought for the holographic band around Iha's arm to spin and activate. As it did the bubbles of mettalic material that floated around him formed into a wall that acted like a shield. Bullets would hit and burst on impact, some ricocheted in fantastic angles, others coming to a screeching halt as they smashed and fell to the ground. The lasers too would seem to evaporate into the metal, not even a scratch would appear. The shield would follow Iha and the girl down the hall keeping to a five foot distance.

"You know him?" Iha asked the girl. He quickly took her hand and tried to pull her into a light run.

A moan echoed. The hall was dark ahead. Thanks to the android eyes Iha had he could see almost clearly. Not sure if the girl could, "There... is a ..." He stumbled for a word, "creature here..." he attempted in his Egyptian accent.

Though he had been born here, in Egypt, he never liked the foul magic. This placed seemed to give birth to things, he dared not call them human. Maybe they once were but the darkness (or time) seemed to crumple their mind's. The moaning body in front of him was the personification of this. It was wrapped head to toe in cloth, all moth eaten and worn, used to be white but now stains and dirt riddled it. Some decorative and artfully crafted gems hung around its neck, but the beauty had gone from its humanoid form. The skin dark and dried clang to it's skull and any other bony feature on it. It walked slowly toward them with one outstretched arm.

Why would Maat place such a creature in front of us? He questioned for a moment.

The thing crept closer. Its movements slow and sluggish, seeming still hurting from whatever had killed it the first time. Iha jabbed it quick with his fist, sending the creature down the hall in a summersault fashion. He smiled at the girl, but it vanished as the hall moaned louder with mummies.

Just as before, Danny's bracelet began to take a terribly timed break. The mummy she last saw now had more backup. "It's never that easy with these temples. They either want something from you, or they just don't show up at all- either way, I'm pretty sure that scepter shut my bracelet off." The same candelabra she tossed down before laid nearby. If she needed a weapon, it would have to do.

But, that decision might wait for later.

"He's going to start killing hostages." Danny looked over to the others with her. "We can't let him get the scepter, but we may be able to save the hostages too if I surrender. He might put me with the other hostages and I can save them, or he might use me as a hostage and then we're back in this spot again, but I'm in a worse position."

She weighed her options very closely, taking in what the rest of those dubbed heroic in this situation would offer up.

He looks down as the boy from earlier swings an axe at his knees. Of course, it doesn't affect him and he looks down at Luke, shaking his head. He grabs the axe in one hand and would crush the axe head with one hand, not even wincing. With his other hand, he releases Hiroshima all over again. It's not really a nuclear explosion but rather a beam of energy releasing radiation and a whole lot of knock back. A bit of pain as well.


He doesn't seem to be slowing down as he keeps firing his beam into Lucas, trying to mutate his regenerative cells negatively. At the same time he puts his two fingers on an earpiece. "Comrades, if you don't hear back from me in a minute, set off the bombs." You hear an audible "Got it." and a timer start.

"You hear that, heroes? This area is going off if all of you don't surrender. Hundreds of civilians die if you aren't here with your hands up in about 55 seconds. My comrades will make sure of that."

The axe doesn't work. An incredible crack would reverberate from the handle, and the vibrations would shake Lucas, knocking him to his knees. He doesn't even look up, he knows what will be next… This, was not much of a surprise to Lucas, well… He hoped it wouldn't be.

He feels the axe be lifted from his hand and hears him break the axe head. This man, no… This god just crushed him, the unkillable was now fearing for his life. He hears the energy crackle from one of Warheads special blasts. And then he hears only a low hum… he cant move, but he knows he hasn't been hit yet, he would have felt it…

He assumes this is his body giving him some time before he dies. He thinks of the experiences he had a while back, not much, he's not that old… Considering he could probably live for much longer then a regular human, it was almost something to laugh at in this situation, but he couldn't get the courage, or the breath, to do so. He thought of the delicious foods that once made there way to his mouth when he had the money, the delicious smells and taste, and sometimes colors they had. The last thing HE will be tasting is a little bit of lead, and a whole lot of blood. He feels the will in him drain away, his skin would flush back to a normal, tan color instead of its usual grey, why fight it? He was going to die, he knew it, it was just a matter of when. But why ask for it to go quicker? He will relish these precious seconds he has…

He finally feels the energy of the blast, it presses his back to the ground, his knees beneath him, his arms outstretched, and his back arched from the blast. He feels an intense searing, and he screams. He never been burnt by radiation before, but now he knew. It stung, a lot, and he could feel almost a reverberation of pain pulse from the point of impact, and yet, his pain was dulling. He soon couldn't feel anything, it was all numb, even his thoughts. Then, his mind raced at lightspeed, he was remembering everything that happened to him, and what he ever did, he say a light, but then that light dulled, he still say, memories fly by him, they almost looked like these white crystals, significant only to the person viewing them, but the user knew each and everyone. And when they saw them, they saw either beauty or hate, or a bit in between. This… This was it, this was death's door, it was cold to the touch, yet it was almost hot, and there where… Nothing… Empty… Breath in… Breath out… No light… No thought… Limbo… Limbo… LIMBO…

Then, there was a bit of light…

I Will never die...

(The appearance of luke would be a scorched humanoid, a bit charred, but still soaking the floor with a pool of blood. And he will be stuck in the form he was at once hit, but screaming, no noise shall be heard after a while of blasting. The flesh would stop pulsing, then begin pulsing once again, slowly, now that it's got some life, and then a hoarse breathing, as his burnt lungs feel some air)

Not a lot of time to think. Iha had to make a choice. The scepter or the destruction of civilians. In the end it was obvious, he had to go back and face the energy man; to go back and help Mehka deal with this. The scepter has been down here for centuries, it could wait another few minutes.

Iha looked at the girl. "We go back." he sighed. The moans of mummies began to fill the room. Figures closing in on them as they backed up toward the surface.

Iha was sure to keep his metallic shield in front of him, protecting him from further blasts. He left a small hole, the size of the tip of his finger, to the side where he could occasionally glance through.

Once back at the surface the shields center opened slightly, Iha waved his hand, "We ... back." He attempted. "No more killing." He said emphatically.

"Where are you Mehka?" Iha asked over comms.

"I'm on the wall, behind one of the statues... There isn't much of it left though. I don't know if I can move my arm anymore." Her voice was weak.

"I'm not sure why it's 55 seconds and not one minute, but..." Danny began to wander in her own mind. "Hey! I'm coming up." Danny walked forward, her hands held in the air. Dust still floated about the air, hanging around in a less irritable way than the armed men, but still agitating her senses- and the connection she shared with her bracelet.

A small tint of turquoise formed in the corner of the room. She had no plan to enact a daring escape. She just wanted to see if she could still manage to create anything. "Nice job setting the bombs. Really sells the whole villain thing. Where's the goon squad?"

If she could create a small block on a far away corner, a tiny, sharp edge in her shoe would not be so hard to make. But, the dust persisted. And, Danny's focus waned. "You don't seem like the ancient artifact type guy. You seem like the guy who brings an army to rob a bank and then gets shot by your own men when they learn dividing by a number minus one makes their share bigger." She pointed to Iha. "He looks like an artifact guy. Don't know why, maybe just a hunch. Or, maybe all the weird stuff he was doing.." Her eyes closed, feigning an annoyance at the dust in the room while also continuing to babble idly for as long as she could. She could feel the edge of the blade forming under her foot, just against the sole of her shoe.

A little glimmer of hope.

Warhead stands before them with Revenant at his feet, in a charred mess. By the throat, he lifts Revenant and what happens next would be astonishingly brutal. Warhead has ascended into a higher plane of existence. He brings his fist into the stomach of Luke, delivering the most disgustingly devestating gut punch of almost anybody's career. Somehow he didn't punch a hole through Revenant, but instead spread ou the energy through his whole body. The punch envelops Revenant in an aura of energy, giving off a tingling sensation to anybody in the vicinity. At jaw dropping speeds, Revenant would be heaved through the solid concrete in the ceiling, but still sails through the sky. From the speed and angle he's travelling, it would be reasonable to accept that he's going to land about a good few miles away. Dust would pour out of the ceiling onto them as Warhead advances. He brushes off his shoulder as he prepares himself mentally.

The Russian Radion would turn to Danny and Iha, a fist still raised and glowing. Their eyes would be piercing their souls like nuclear radiation seeping into your pores. Well, Danny's pores since the other dude is a robot.

"No hero truly gives themselves up willingly. They're always plotting something. After all, heroes usually end up stopping the villain. Because they're sneaky."

He unleashes two powerful beams of energy from each fist, leaking radiation at both of his enemies while firing a beam that could turn concrete to a flowing liquid. The beam alone was powerful, but for any humans in the area, the radiation would have devestating effects. Through clothing or walls of steel, the radiation would seep through the bones and could potentially be fatal. But that will come later. For now, with this amount of exposure, vomiting and nausea would be the norm. The men behind Warhead make sure to back up to avoid the effects of the radiation.


"My men are loyal to the point of death. I obviously won't order them to commit suicide, as it could be a trick to get rid of my allies. But they'll die before betraying their leader. Which is also impossible. I could kill them with a snap of my fingers. And I could do the same to you. But I wish to let you suffer. I control your pain. However, I will give you a quick death. If you take it."

Luke never felt so relieved, yet horrified. This, this was fantastic, he wasn't dead! But at the same time, would Warhead still try to kill him? And to answer that, he felt from some of the nerves regrowing in his body at the last moments, something grab him by his throat and lift him up, Lucas would grow an eye and look into the eyes of his foe, the one who brought so much pain to him, and a tear would roll down his face, he couldn't deal with this anymore, he was so young, why does he have to die now? Then, with superhuman speed, Warhead jabs his fist in his gut, and creates a weak blast to harden his innards, then launch him. Luke flies towards the ceiling so fast he doesn't know what is going on at first, then everything goes black again. Unlike that time he lost his head, literally, he can't even feel.
No wait.

Lucas feels something like, a lot of wind, then he feels impact. Then, he feels, the ground, but its smooth, and, its dusty?

He doesn't know where he is, he doesn't have a clue what part of him “this” is, but he knows he’s not dead, and he ain't going to quit until he sees the pearly gates.

Then he feels some growth.



And then he feels some pressure, and then he feels, oh crap, absorption.

He feels his body grow, but this body was different than the generals, it was, rotten. He assumes it must be a mummy, rare, a sarcophagus shouldn't be open at this time and place. But he takes it anyways. He finally has his full skeleton and a few muscles, but no sensory organs. He reaches out to balance his unstable body, and somehow touches something else! His body absorbs it as well, and same as the last, rotten. He feels some bandages, and his body somehow absorbs these too. His body is now 2/3rds there, still no eyes, he steps back, and steps on another! His body vacuums the decay, and he is now finally full, he looks down to see bandages? On himself, instead of skin, he see’s bandages? Underneath is meat, muscles, bones, but no skin? Just bandages. And he gots these weird, loincloth on? Shorts? In his hand, he himself gots a scimitar. He spins around, to see dozens of the dead, walking dead!

I… I… I joined the walking dead!

They all moan together, a horrifying chorus echoes up the stairway…
And they begin storming up the the stairs… Lucas standing there confused, trying to figure what the hell just happened to him. As the body’s of the dead rush up, to the green glow they run... And it probably wont be long before they know he isn't really a mummy, or is he?

This man wasn't giving up anytime soon Radiation? The thought interrupted every other as a red alert sign flashed in Iha's vision. The man had just sent Luke flying through the air, then pointed his glowing hands toward them, radiation alarm sounding loud and clear in Iha's head. They wont be able to protect themselves. Iha' forced his hands wide, sending metallic fluid through the air. It shielded around Mehka and the other girl in the room, knowing that the magical properties should have some resistance to the bombarding rays. If the ladies tried to move from their position they would find no difficulty, but Iha would have to re-position the shield if needed, it surrounded them all the way around tightly fitting against the ground.

Radiation bombarded Iha's body. The heat that it caused wasn't too extreme and He couldn't detect anything else that might be going wrong, though he didn't stand there to figure it out. Iha darted across the room, sprinting to the left, going behind the remnants of pillars and statues. His hand went to his belt as words flowed out of his mouth. Red hair fell to the ground. The spell was sure. In Iha's wake a large necropolis came out of the ground. On each one of its sides stood an Anubis statue with glowing eyes. The eyes flashed from green to red as three spirit foxes darted from the structure. Each sicking after the man attacking the heroes. One going for a leg, one going for the mans arm, the last his neck.

Iha continued to run along the wall, pulling what is left from the metallic fluid into a five inch blade that lay in his hand. He jumped from the side and attempted to plunge the magically imbued metal blade with all of his force into the man's throat. No padding there... The thought of his foxes not far off comforted him.

Mehka took shelter in the metallic bubble. He shoulder throbbed. Her hand was now covered in blood and she wasn't sure if she could work it or not, she really didn't want to try, the pain was too much sometimes. Even sitting against the stone wall aggravated it. Her heavy samurai armor still sat tight along her body. Wait... I still have the lights floating about don't I? The though crossed her mind. She vaguely remembered but she could picture the lights against the wall, shinning bright, casting shadows this way and that off of all the statues that lay in heaps on the ground. Her other wrists gyrated...

Three centurion solders appeared in the room, each darting at the attacking man. One lay sprinted parallel with one of the spirit foxes, his blade over his head and swinging down on top of the attacker. The others appeared only feet from the energy pulsing arms, on his right a shadowed figure attempted to thrust his sword under the man's armor around his belly, and on his left the shadow swung madly toward the center of his back.

For once Plan A looked better than Plan B. Revoking the attempt to mediate shifted things to the side of the heroes. It did not make Danny feel any less angry about the deception. "We were going to talk you jerk! Fine! Here's the new gambit!" Like normal, Danny did not want to kill him. Well, she wanted to kill. She really wanted to kill him, but like normal, Danny abstained from straight up murdering someone and instead opted to go for a nonlethal subjugation.

Focusing not just on the creation of material, but more or less where to put it took enough focus from Danny to draw a bead of sweat from her brow. It was also really hot, but Danny would just chalk it up to focus. Danny went for it. A turquoise bar would appear just below Warhead's sixth rib, piercing between his lung and liver. It would not kill him, but it would hurt. A lot.

If the turquoise bar did not end the fight, turquoise bars would still follow up to bind Warhead, keeping him wrapped up for the time period.

None of this evened out Danny's anger.