CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

Tunnel. A torch wipes the frame. It's Imhotep, creeping down a tunnel, unarmed but for the torch. Before Imhotep reached the tunnel, he came down the stairs made of sand.

At the bottom is a large gold crest embossed with a gold scorpion. Imhotep steps onto the crest. His entire body immediately spasms, as if hit by an electrical shock.

He cries out. Imhotep's face slowly regenerates, until he looks strong and healthy and whole once again. And then it's over. Imhotep is thrilled, looks stunned, and stares at his hands in despair.

"I may be healed. My curse is gone.. but so are my powers". For the second time in his life, Imhotep looks vulnerable. "How can I kill the Scorpion without my powers".

Back to now. The gold walls are covered in green mold and fungus. Imhotep's eyes widen as the vaporous electrical charge comes racing down the tunnel walls. Be spins around as it passes by him.

The fungus and mold on the walls are wiped clean. The gold looks brand spanking new.

The vaporous electrical charge spreads out across a giant dune made of black sand. As it subsides, reveal a golden sand dune opposite the black one.

Thousands upon thousands of medjai warriors crest the gold dune on horses. Ardeth Bey scans the black sand, then looks off and sees the tip of the gold pyramid rising above the distant dunes.

Imhotep enters the keyroom. Baltus Hafez the high priest is struggling to withdraw his arm, which is stuck inside.

"You're too late, my lord. I have released the Army of Anubis! She shall soon take command".

Imhotep breathed, said. "I've been knowing since. I told you once that I don't want to be involved in anything like this. I know who she is. Yes, she is soon take the command as for you are nothing more than her slaves".

"My lord Imhotep. She's gone crazy because of you". Baltus Hafez held in pain. "Do you think you can change yourself my lord? Having a family? does it kill the scorpion".

Imhotep shook his head. "I'll try. I wasn't a good man either but I'll try. She was born like that. And she is Amunet reincarnated if you are curious about her acting like that. She's not who you think she is, she's more evil than I am".

Imhotep pulls a small ancient double-ax out of the gold scorpion's grasp. Baltus Hafez laughed. "Can you kill her my lord?"

"Not after I get through with her".

The bracelet gets unstuck and Baltus Hafez starts to withdraw his arm, then suddenly his arm is grabbed from inside.

His eyes widen in terror. He starts tugging on his arm, trying to wrench it free. Then he starts screaming in agony as the sound of something eating his arm is heard, and the crunching of bones and the gnashing of hideous teeth.

Imhotep backs away, half horrified, half gratified. Baltus Hafez finally rips his arm out, or what's left of it.. under his torn robe there's only a stump. He staggers off down a tunnel screaming in pain.

Imhotep backs out of the roan, double-ax up.

Imhotep hears something that in ancient Egypt means I must face the Scorpion King alone.

Meela's voice echoed out of nowhere. Imhotep walks through a strange Netherworld, weird smoke and eerie shadows play across the stygian landscape. Water drips. A distant wind bowls.

He sees Meela standing in front of a giant gong mounted near a set of huge doors. Imhotep starts to jump over a crevice. Meela stood there staring at the huge gong.

The entire chamber trembles from the vibrations. Imhotep loses his balance and almost falls into the crevice. Be looked down into it, it drops to eternity. Meela gently turns to Imhotep, smirking at him.

The dunes. Day. Ten thousand medjai prepare for battle along the top of the golden dune. Ardeth Bey suddenly senses something coming, like a wave at night, dark and terrifying.

Be looks over to see the black dune starting to come alive with writhing forms. See that the black sand is slowly forming itself into thousands of hideous anubis warriors.

Ardeth muttered under his breath you better do something about it now Imhotep! as Ardeth eyes watch this.

Meela approached Imhotep, speaking in ancient egypt. "Imhotep. How nice to see you back here. I remember that night as I watched you and the pharaoh give you the Hom Dai curse". snickering. "Tell me Imhotep, what's it like?"

"Suffering and torture".

There is silence. She is not the Meela we know, Amunet takes control over Meela's body so then she can take her revenge on Imhotep.

How she misses him. "I see. You want to know exactly what happened after your death Imhotep".

"Nefertiri and Ramesses.."

"Of course. Woman that you love married the greatest pharaoh after your death. She's happy and I was so jealous of her happy marriage while I'm not".

Imhotep's face turned angry, he marched toward her. "What did you do to her Amunet!?"

"Nothing. You know how much Ramesses adore Nefertiri just like you did, I barely touch her. Why will a man I ever love turn back on me and choose her".

Amunet starts circling around Imhotep.

"Why Imhotep?" she stops, whispering in Imhotep's ears. "Because no one loves me". her tongue licks Imhotep ears that makes him jolted, back away from her.

Amunet laughed hard. Imhotep wiped his ears where it had been licked by the most disgusting woman like Amunet.

Imhotep leaps forward and swings the double-ax at her. Meela reaches the small trident she keeps behind her back.

She shows Imhotep.

"Never thought I'd have to kill you Amunet". Meela grins. They start to circle each other. "But I'm happy to get the chance to kill you". Imhotep grit his teeth.

The army of Anubis, two thousand hideous creatures strong, raise their spears, swords and tridents and shriek wildly without a word, Ardeth and the ten thousand medjai raise their scimitars. Fiercely determined.

Meela and Imhotep viciously and relentlessly punch, kick, elbow and backhand each other. Expertly fighting hand-to-hand across the floor.

She may be a woman but her strength is too strong to fight for. As a man Imhotep won't give up. She took his life before Imhotep won't forget it.

"The pharaoh are so stupid to hear that filthy mouth of yours Amunet. The pharaoh may love you but you cannot conceive a child the pharaoh wants it to. The maid did".

Meela marches towards Imhotep in anger. Of course she remembers that. Imhotep smirking.

"He wants a son that you couldn't give him. Neither you.. can give what I want".

Meela screams. "The pharaoh never loved me! I was his sex slaves, he was about to make me as his queen until he know I couldn't give what he want and he decide to take advantage on the maid. The great pharaoh people bow to him are the real evil than we are Imhotep".

"I am the pharaoh loyal and he killed me without my will".

"Then shall we take revenge on the pharaoh we love?"

Imhotep shook his head. "Because my love toward Nefertiri is never endless. I bow to the pharaoh more than you, Amunet. You were right about yourself... you are the useless mistress for the pharaoh and useless woman for the world".

As Meela screams again to Imhotep. Suddenly, the entire chamber trembles. Meela and Imhotep freeze and look around, something's coming.

Imhotep recovers first and throws a book into Meela's jaw. She slams up against a weapon wielding scorpion statue. She grip tightly her trident.

Imhotep steps over to another statue and grabs two of the same. They start to circle.

An Anubis warrior screeches a command. The Anubis warriors charge forward. Ardeth yells a command. The medjai gallop forward. The Anubis warriors race across the sand, full bore. The medjai crash into the Anubis warriors. The battle begins.

Imhotep smacks Amunet's forehead with his. Imhotep blink many time to get his sight back, feel dizzy but he's fine. "Do you really want to do this Amunet? enough of this. With my command I ask you to stops".

"Why should I!? You are not God!"

"If you still love me, you will end this now".

Imhotep sees how Meela begins to breathe heavily, still in her angry mood. She won't forget how Imhotep treats her kindness compared to the pharaoh himself.

The pharaoh is heartless while Imhotep is the loving one. As she met Imhotep, he's the reason why she tries to be a good woman. But the pharaoh..?

"End this". Imhotep fake smile. "I know how hard you try to love the pharaoh but.. he never appreciated it. The pharaoh is long gone, Amunet. You are a free woman now, chose to stay and lived".

Meela breathed, said. "I chose to kill!"

The medjai are actually beating the anubis warriors, clearly getting the upper hand.

Imhotep is slammed up against a wall, stunned and choking. Meela smiles, quite pleased with herself. She raises her trident, then lunges forward for the final blow!

A hand grabs her wrist, stopping the blade from piercing Imhotep's throat. Meela heads whips around to see who grabbed her.

It's Evelyn.

She shoves Meela away. The two women face off. Dakota steps up. "Can I throw a rock at her?"

"Get away from my Imhotep you bitch! pick someone with your own size".

Imhotep leaned exhausted, and Evelyn turned to him.

"You should kill the Scorpion King and I mean now!" Evelyn turns to Jonathan reaching his collar neck. "Take Dakota and help Imhotep".

Imhotep leaps off after giving Evelyn a kiss on the lips. Imhotep, Jonathan and Dakota then look for the Scorpion king.

As for Evelyn, she faces Meela. Meela wields her trident and stares at Evelyn.

"Nefertiri".

Evelyn grabs another small trident off a statue and stares back. "Amunet". Meela smiles, pleased that Evelyn knows who they both are.

"Good!" They raise their weapons.

The last anubis warrior goes down. The medjai burst into cheers. All except Ardeth Bey and a few commanders standing near him. They know it's not over yet.

Evelyn and Meela are having an exact recap of the fight they had three thousand years ago. Using the small tridents, the two gorgeous women expertly punch, kick, elbow and backhand each other as they brilliantly fight across the maze floor.

"Imhotep is mine you bitch!" Evelyn scream, kicks Meela. "You filthy bitch!"

Imhotep, Jonathan and Dakota at the Netherworld room. And that's when the huge doors burst open. For a beat, there is nothing there, and then the scorpion king slowly lowers himself down from the ceiling, still partly hidden in shadow.

From the waist up, he's exactly how we remember him; a huge, muscular, vicious warrior, but from the waist down, he's a very large scorpion, an Egyptian minotaur.

Jonathan and Dakota back away as they see the Scorpion king right in front of their eyes. Jonathan gulped.

"That thing is huge and large".

The men stare in awe at the horrid creature, then they look at each other, then back at the Scorpion King.

They break away from each other and back off in opposite directions, keeping their eyes on the creature.

"Keep Dakota safe! Back OFF!" said Imhotep to Jonathan. "Slowly do not move fast, he can sense it".

The Scorpion King suddenly and quite angrily scuttles up to Imhotep. Imhotep backs away, then thinks quickly. He kneels down and slaps his hideous dry skullcap.

"I am your servant!"

The remaining medjai are still cheering when a strange sound stops them cold. Ardeth quickly turns to the dune behind them, clambers up it and looks over to the other side.

Spread out across the plain in front of him are fifty thousand Anubis warriors. The medjai are vastly outnumbered.

"Allah save us".

Meela is viciously thrown to the floor. Evelyn lunges forward, stopping her knife a quarter inch before it plunges into Meela's neck.

Evelyn's eyes are on fire, she wants to do it badly. Meela forces herself to smile.

"You have improved greatly, Princess Nefertiri".

And that's when they hear the Scorpion King bellow in fury. Evelyn is distracted. Meela knocks the trident away and takes off running. Evelyn hauls tail after her.

Imhotep is slammed up against a wall next to a life sized cartouche of a man. Imhotep shakes off the cobwebs in his bald head, then notices the cartouche.

It's actually holding the Scepter of Osiris. And then Imhotep's eyes get really big.

"It needs a man with a pure heart while I don't". Imhotep said, panting. "Only the pure heart could kill the Scorpion king".

Imhotep thought of Ardeth but Ardeth in the dunes with the other warriors. Then Imhotep thinks of Jonathan.

"It can't be me".

Imhotep eyes stare. We go tight on Imhotep's; then pan over to the cartouche's.

The Scorpion King's tail suddenly pulverizes the cartouche, missing Imhotep's head by an inch. Imhotep leaps away. Dives and rolls. Paps up on his feet.

He looks back at the cartouche wall, which is actually a pictograph, multiple cartouche's of the same Man holding the Scepter of Osiris, fiddling with the head of it and then telescoping, pinging it out into a spear.

The last cartouche shows the man throwing the spear at a likeness of the Scorpion King.

"Pure heart. Jonathan!"

Imhotep ducks as the Scorpion King's tail whips over his bald head and takes out another pillar. He takes off running.

Jonathan and Dakota race into the cavern and skid to a stop, they go wide eyed as they see the Scorpion King crashing through the landscape chasing Imhotep.

Imhotep sees them. "Jonathan! Dakota! It's a spear! The scepter is a spear! It opens up into a spear!"

"Yes? And?"

"Pure heart!"

"What!? Do you need my heart?"

"NO! ONLY THE PURE HEART CAN KILL HIM!"

Jonathan looks down to Dakota. "I think your dad needs me to kill the Scorpion king. Because I have a pure heart".

"I MEANT ME!" Imhotep shouts at Jonathan.

"Ah, I see!"

Dakota quickly grabs the Scepter away from Jonathan. "Gimme that!"

The massive horde of Anubis warriors shriek wildly and then start to stampede across the plain, heading right for the

remaining medjai. It's going to be a very quick slaughter.

The medjai look shocked and defeated.

And then Ardeth grits his teeth, clenches his sword and yells out a battle cry. The other medjai look at him.

A true warrior to the bitter end. This gives them courage. They all clench their swords and join in his battle cry.

The Scorpion King's pincers and stingers slash and tear their way through the pillars and walls, trying to kill Imhotep.

Jonathan and Dakota are deciphering the hieratic on the scepter and futzing with the various indentations on the head of it.

"IMHOTEP!"

Imhotep spirals through the air, slams into a wall and lands on his ass, spread-eagled. He sees Evelyn. His face

twist.

"WHAT!?"

"GET YOUR ASS UP AND KILL HIM!"

The Scorpion King's stinger slams down between his legs, smashing a hole in the floor. Imhotep leaps to his feet and

grab his trident off the floor.

"FOR HOW LONG!?" as Imhotep shouts to Jonathan and Dakota. He whips the trident at the Scorpion King, but it just bounces harmlessly off his shell.

Imhotep rolled up his eyes feeling defeated.

Jonathan twists the bottom of the Scepter, it slides open, revealing a sharp tip.

Dakota grabs it and telescopes it out

another four feet, now it looks just like a spear. Jonathan sees Imhotep keep fighting for his life.

The Anubis warriors race full bore at the medjai. Shrieking wildly. A hundred yards away. Now eighty yards. Now sixty. Fifty. Forty. Ardeth Bey is to die.

The spear is then thrown by Jonathan, the spear spins across the room like a propeller.

This time Meela shows up beside Evelyn, both women trying to scratch each other. Meela sees the spear flying, she roughly pushes Evelyn and runs towards where the spear was.

But it's too late.

Imhotep leaps up and grabs it out of the air. Hits the ground running and heaves the spear back at the Scorpion King. It nails him right in the chest.

With a terrifying scream of pain and

rage, the Scorpion King staggers back. Imhotep couldn't believe it, he did it. Meela runs towards the Scorpion King howling in rage.

"NiiiiYYY!!"

The Scorpion King looks at Imhotep and bellows horribly. Imhotep fights his pain, grits his teeth and stares back.

"I may not be a good man, and I will protect my family!" Imhotep spoke in ancient Egypt.

The Scorpion King explodes into black vapor. Total black out.

The medjai are three feet away from being stampeded by the huge mass of Anubis warriors when all of a sudden they explode into black sand and dissipate across the medjai.

Thick black vapor explodes out of all the arches around the pyramid and then mushrooms up into the sky like a

thermonuclear blast.

The giant mushroom cloud takes the

form of the Scorpion King's face screaming in rage.

Ardeth and the medjai watch as the horrific cloud quickly reaches its apex. The Scorpion King's cloud face gives one last bellow, and then the whole thing implodes in on itself.

Actually being sucked back into the pyramid.

The whole place starts shaking like mad. The crevice splits wider. Meela was clinging on Imhotep whom she and he knocked into its crevice.

Evelyn lunges forward and grabs Imhotep, before Imhotep and Meela fall inside. Below them is a drop to eternity.

Imhotep cried for Meela. "Lived". Meela just gives Imhotep a smile. "Please.. live. You belong to this world, you are a free woman, Amunet. Lived".

Imhotep sees Meela's tears drop out, she speaks. "I am sorry for what I have done to you Imhotep".

"No! No! you've done nothing wrong".

They hang there for a long, terrible moment. Imhotep's grasp starts to loosen. Finally, she looks him in the eye.

"Let me go".

"No. Please no... we all can start a new life together as friends".

They two stare at each other, a lifetime between them. "It's okay..." Meela cried as she nodded her head. She made so many mistakes in her past life and now. She won't forgive herself.

"Amunet, no.."

"I won't stop loving you Imhotep". Then Meela kicks off the crevice wall, yanking out of Imhotep's grasp. She falls for eternity.

Imhotep dangles from the wall, staring down, helpless, stifling his scream. Evelyn helps yank Imhotep up and over the lip of the crevice to relative safety.

Imhotep was totally devastated by losing Amunet.