Welcome one and all to the latest chapter of The Mummy! I apologize greatly for the long delay of this chapter. I've been really busy with other projects. That being said, please enjoy the story!

Back with Dr. Rippen, Robbie, and the rest of the scavengers, they had cleared out most of the dirt off of the statue of Anubis and had gotten a clear shot at the base. The desire for untold riches made short work of Kevin as he tried to pry the hidden chamber open.

"Alright boys, let's get us some treasure," said Kevin about to plunge a crowbar into the base.

"Wait!" called Rippen stopping the mercenary. "Rose Quartz was many things and foolish was not one of them. We must be cautious."

Kevin looked at all the workers that Rippen had hired. They were all huddled up together and whispered to one another almost as they expected something bad to happen.

"You know what Kev," said Oscar "Maybe we should let someone else open this thing. No need for us to take all the glory."

"Yeah, let the diggers do it," replied Kevin

Rippen ordered the diggers to get some crowbars and open the chamber. Only three diggers amongst the large group were brave enough to move up and try to open the chamber. The three diggers struggled to get their tools in the right position and soon enough found themselves pushing and pulling to open it. Rippen ordered them in Egyptian to open the chamber faster and with more strength. With every word the air got colder and tensions rose as Rippen was downright screaming at the workers to hurry up. With that final scream, the diggers triggered the hidden trap. A highly pressurised liquid was blasted from the outline of the chamber stone, covering the three diggers, burning their skin and causing them to scream in great pain and for everyone else to take a step back in fear of being next.

Meanwhile, Mason, Wendy and the members of the Wild Geese were taking a break. All the while Mabel and Star were messing around as if they were playing golf.

"So how exactly does mummification work?" asked Randy in order to make conversation. "I've heard about it but I don't think much about it."

"Well they basically rip out your vital organs and put them in these ceremonial canopic jars. It was all in order to preserve them for you in the afterlife," explained Mason

"That doesn't sound very sanitary," said Wendy

"Oh, would you guys like to know how they got your brain out?" asked Mason with a bit of a smirk.

"Bro-bro, I don't think that we need to know stuff like that," said Mabel.

"I'm a little curious," replied Star, swinging her makeshift golf club. "How did they get it out? Break your skull open or something?"

"Oh no, that's a tad barbaric," said Mason, smirking before continuing, "They took a metal rod like this one, heat it up, stick it inside your nose, scrabble things around and then pull it all out through the nostrils."

The members of the Wild Geese had seen a whole lot of crazy things in their adventures. Some would say that they had seen it all, but that mental picture that Mason had described gave them chills down their spines.

"I prefer being shot," said Randy, his face going a bit pale.

"Don't worry guys, you'd be long dead when they do this," said Mason

"Yeah, Marco, for the record: if I don't make it, don't put me down for mummification," said Star

"Likewise," said Marco

"Me three," said Mabel before swinging her pickaxe turned golf club.

However, the moment the young brunette swung and struck the pebble, the roof collapsed right between the separated groups with a loud *CRASH*, scaring the living daylights out of the entire company, with Mabel completely frozen in fear and thanking every known deity in every pantheon that whatever just hit the ground wasn't five feet to the right.

Slowly turning her head as the rest of the party got over the shock they had suffered, they found what looked to be a massive stone box or chest now lying dead center in the middle of the chamber. Mason slowly got up from the sand-covered floor and began to approach the sandstone object.

Placing his palm atop the chest, he began to examine the structure of it before coming to a conclusion.

"Guys… I think this might be a sarcophagus…" He said slowly before looking up at where it had fallen from, "Buried at the base of Anubis."

Everyone soon approached the sarcophagus with caution, almost afraid that it might try to crush them once more. Mason then took out a brush from his pants pocket and began to sweep away the sand that soon uncovered a series of hieroglyphics on the lid.

"What's it say, Dipper?" Mabel asked out of curiosity since her knowledge of Ancient Egyptian language was below average compared to her twin's immense knowledge on the subject.

Mason began reading the ancient writing, moving any sand to clear the symbols. His eyes narrowed as he translated the different symbols, but even with the translation what laid before him made no sense. Normally, ancient sarcophaguses would have the name of the person so that they wouldn't be powerless in the Ma'at or the afterlife.

"It says 'she who shall not be named'," said Mason "To be buried underneath the statue of Anubis and to have their name erased. This person must've done something very, very bad."

Back on his own, Warden Gideon was still ripping into the jewels that were locked into the carving.

"Woo hoo, this has certainly been a very well earned investment," said Gideon laughing as he placed another jewel into his bag, only for it to fall. "With this amount of money I'll be rich and that sweet brown haired beauty will be mine."

However, despite Gideon's belief that his ill gotten riches would set him for life, the fates had another idea in mind. The 'jewel' that had fallen to the sand began to crack. Tiny stick like legs began to sprout from the cracks until a pair of pincers broke the jewel from the inside revealing what was inside. A strange black beetle looked around in curiosity, looking for the source of his awakening. It then spotted Gideon chuckling to himself.

The insect crawled through the sand until it reached Gideon's shoe and with a swift and hungry move, it cut into the shoe and began to eat its way into the foot.

"Yes, yes, ye-" began saying Gideon until he began feeling something biting into him.

A great pain coursed through the warden's foot causing him to scream dropping his knife. Gideon looked at his leg as the painful sensation crawled higher and higher towards the rest of his body. Every movement felt like knives and sharp needles pierced Gideon's body and made him scream in pain. He grabbed hold of his shirt and ripped it open as he saw a small bulge traveling higher inside his body.

Gideon began running and screaming in pain as the nasty insect crawled into his skull.

Mason and the rest of the group were removing as much dust as they could and came across a strange hole that had the symbol of a flying scarab on it.

"Whoever this person was must've been quite evil to suffer this fate," said Mason

"This thing looks like a lock of some sort," said Wendy

"Too bad we don't have any keys with us," said Randy

Upon hearing those words, Mason's mind went back to the boat and how that mysterious woman that tried to kill him over some key. He looked at the outline of the keyhole and remembered the strange box that they found the map in.

"Of course! That's what she was after!" said Mason, pulling out the key.

"Hey, that's mine," Mabel complained before looking over her clothes for any sign of holes. "How did you get it?"

Mason triggered the key, opening it and just as he was about to insert it into the ancient stone coffin, a loud scream echoed through the tomb. The Wild Geese grabbed their weapons and were ready to face whatever was making that noise. The group of mercenaries ran towards the source of the screaming followed by Mason and Mabel.

The warriors arrived to see Gideon ripping off his own hair and holding his head while screaming like a mad man.

"What's wrong?" asked Wendy

"Were you attacked or something?" asked Randy

Gideon didn't answer the question. Instead he ran past them at high speeds dropping his bag towards one of the walls of the ancient tombs. Without any care or fear of death, the Warden crashed head first into the wall, cracking his skull and dying from shock and pain.

"What the hell just happened?" asked Mabel.

"I think we should call it a day," said Randy with everyone else agreeing with him.

Before they left, Mabel decided to grab the bag hoping to at least figure out what Gideon was doing before going insane. As they walked, the crew couldn't help but feel as something truly evil was within the halls of the ancient tomb.

Night had fallen in the city of the pharaohs and the two groups had set up their respective camp sites. The Wild Geese gathered around the fire along with Wendy, Mason, Mabel, and Soos. Everyone held on to their weapons, just in case someone had a dumb idea.

"What do you think happened to him?" asked Mason

"Not sure, maybe there is a curse in this place," said Star

"Our friends over there had a little misfortune of their own," said Wendy holding her shotgun. "Compressed sulfuric acid, like an old school booby trap. Melted three of their workers."

"Could we please change the subject?" asked Mason poking at the fire. "I'm amazed that a group such as yourselves would believe some superstitious nonsense."

"You believe in this city, but not in ghosts?" asked Penn with a raised eyebrow.

"No, I believe that if I can see it it's real," said Dipper

"I wouldn't be so quick to disregard the supernatural. The guys and I could tell you some stories honey," said Wendy throwing a glance at Dipper.

"Ooh, do tell. How did your rough and tough gang get together?" asked Mabel

The Wild Geese looked at one another, wordlessly questioning whether they should tell their employer their origins.

With a sigh, Penn decided that it wouldn't hurt.

"Well, I guess I'll start," said Penn twirling his revolver. "My parents were big time lovers of adventure, spent most of their youth exploring the world. They used to read me stories of the Wild West and how the hero would always ride into the sunset, looking for adventure. I guess you could say that being in the Foreign Legion was like my Wild West."

"That's beautiful dude," said Soos sniffing in tears.

"Alright I'll go next, but none of you get sappy or else," threatened Sashi before starting her story. "I grew up as the eldest child in a traditional Japanese family that had just moved to the states. My parents would often tell me to keep my cool, not get in trouble, had to maintain the family's reputation. You know the type. The whole 'don't speak unless you're spoken to' thing. One day, I couldn't take it anymore and started picking fights and training into the deadly arts of sword fighting. When I fight, I feel the true essence of freedom."

"Amen sister," said Star with an eager smile. "I was a lot like Sashi, an incredibly overbearing mother trying to make me into this perfect little princess. I hated every minute of it. My family ran this flower shop called "Butterfly Castle Flowers", it was the only girly thing I ever liked. Except for the times these daddy's girls came around asking for a lot of flowers for their catillions, if they matched their dresses or their eyes. Who cares?! Anyway, one night I was closing shop after having to make a dozen special order bouquets when a strange yet alluring smell caught my attention. I followed it to the shop next door. I couldn't see much in the dark so I lit a small match, and then BOOM ! No more Chinese Laundry. The explosion sent me flying clear through the front window and showed me all these colors. It was like a sign from God. From that day on I knew my destiny was in blowing stuff up."

"Since Star shared her story I guess I'll go next," said Marco before taking a swig of his canteen. "I started working in my dad's garage fixing cars since I was ten. I could put an engine together in 10 minutes when I was twelve. Life was good, even had a baby sister. I was then recruited into the Legion because one of my dad's constant customers was looking for competent mechanics that could speak more than one language. Figuring out how each machine worked and was put together fascinated me and I've been enthralled by this sense of uncertainty for tomorrow. Guess I want to like without a clear idea of what could happen."

"Ooh, can I go next?" asked Milo raising his hand. "Ok, well, hi I'm Milo Murphy and I'm pretty much the medic of the team. I don't know if you can tell but I've been accident prone my whole life. So I figured that a career in knowing how to put myself and others together was a pretty good one. After finishing Medical School I noticed many of the people coming back from the Legion weren't in the best of shapes. So I let my luck guide me and I ended up with these guys. And I've been keeping them in as few pieces as possible."

"And you've been doing a pretty good job, doc," said Penn, showing off some of his scars, including a nasty gash across his abdomen that Sashi, for lack of a better term, purred at the sight of.

"Well, since everyone's telling their fun little life stories," Melissa said, twirling a knife. "I've always had a knack for going beyond everyone's expectations, and growing up in a quiet little town, that wasn't hard. One day, a traveling gunsmith came to town and began showing off his collection of rifles. I was allowed to fire one, and I was the only one around my age that managed to hit a bullseye. Even though my parents weren't happy, they taught me how to shoot. A few years later and some boys started asking for my hand. I said no to all of them, but that didn't stop them from trying again and again. So I enlisted hoping to get away from any suitors. Met Milo and we hit it off."

"Well, there's nothing to say about me, so pass," said Randy before Wendy slugged him on the shoulder.

"Come on Randy, tell them the truth," said Wendy.

"The Cunningham men have always been fighters. My old man was a boxer that could take on three guys with his eyes blindfolded, but he never wanted that life for me," said Randy looking at the fire. "He wanted me to be something better, a teacher or a cop."

"You would've been an awesome teacher," said Penn interrupting.

"Yeah, I know. So one night pondering my future with my friend Howard we both got drunk, one thing led to another and we ended up enlisting in the Foreign Legion," said Randy laughing. "His sister was furious with the two of us when she found out, but I promised her that we'd be careful. One night when we all got acquainted, and a few drinks later Howard and I decided to get tattoos. I got my family's lucky number 69, but Howard feeling religious said that his soul was still of God but only the Devil would save his skin. So, he got himself a laughing devil right in the ass. The next day we were on patrol near a fortress when we were ambushed, one of the cannon balls got Howard. A blinding flash and he was gone. And let me tell you something Mr. Pines, you see life through different eyes when you have to pick up what's left of your best friend with a shovel. But there is one thing that I saw that day that made my blood run cold. We came across a piece we recognized. It wasn't a hand or a tooth, it was the patch of skin with the laughing devil. But finding it wasn't the scary part. The piece looked in perfect condition, no burnt marks or cuts, it was like it was cut off. I stared at it for a good minute, knowing that he was laughing at my pale face. In the end, Howard was right, the Devil did save his skin. Just not all of it."

At the end of Randy's story, a strong gust of wind blew the fire in one direction giving the sombre atmosphere a much spookier tone.

"Well let's see what Gideon believed in," said Mabel pulling out the warden's bag.

She started rummaging through it until she felt something knick her finger causing her to flinch and yelp.

"What's wrong?" asked Mason

Mabel looked inside the bag and pulled out what had cut her. It was a bottle of alcohol with a chipped neck.

"A broken bottle," She said, examining the label, "Wow, Lagavulin Scotch. 16 years old," She said before opening the bottle and taking a small swig from it, "He might've been a creep that didn't know I wasn't interested, but he had good taste."