Gundam Mummy
Prologue: Introduction - The Curse
by Shin-chan
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Disclaimer - Gundam Wing and all characters associated with it belong to Sunrise, Bandai and Sotsu Agency. The Mummy and all characters associated with it belong to Universal pictures. Sefice and any characters not belonging to Gundam Wing and The Mummy belong to the author, Lady Koneko. And last, but not least, Brendan Fraser belongs to Brendan Fraser. *mournful sigh*
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The Gundam Mummy
Prologue: Introduction - The Curse
by Lady Koneko
Thebes - 1290 BC
{The scene opens upon one of the pyramids being bathed in the golden light of the afternoon sun. The focus shifts, now upon the striking visage of the Sphinx, once again getting a face lift, to the busy streets full of people. On one busy street, peasants bow before a racing chariot with a single rider. A low, soft soprano voice starts narrating.} "Thebes . . . City of the Living. Crown jewel of Pharaoh Seti the First."
{We now see a well built, bald but handsome man looking out of a balcony onto the city. Behind him streaks of light still shines on the taller of the buildings and monuments.} "Home of Imhotep, Pharaoh's high priest."
{A lovely young woman, full figured and wearing nothing but a scanty loin cloth and some very artistically done body paint enters the room.} "Birthplace of Anck-su-namun, Pharaoh's mistress. No man was allowed to touch her."
{Anck-su-namun walks across the room, heading to the alcove that Imhotep is waiting in. Imhotep's priests watch, worried looks on their faces, and quickly go to the massive doors to shut them.} "But for their love, they were willing to risk life itself."
{The narrator sounds a bit sad. Imhotep and Anak-su-amun gently greet each other, then passionately kiss. Imhotep rubs his hands possessively over her arms, smearing the dark paint. So caught up in each other, neither notice. Meanwhile at the door, the priests were just about to lock the door, when Pharaoh bursts into the room. He looks at the assorted Priests of Osiris, and demands to know why they were here, in Anck-su-namun's house. He storms to the alcove, and the priests watch in mute silence. Once there, Seti confronts Anck-su-namun, now alone, and sees the no longer perfect paint on her arm. He demands to know who touched her. She looks at her arm in surprise, then smiles and looks behind him. Imoteph steps into view, and Seti turns to him, realization finally dawning on him of what has been going on behind his back. It is a bit too late, though, as Anck-su-namun pulls out a Hittite dagger and plunges it into his back. Imhotep unsheathes a short sword, and joins his lover in the killing of the Pharaoh. Shocked by what they were seeing, the priests rush to close and bolt the door. It is too late. Pharaoh's bodyguards, the feared Med-jai, had finally arrived. They burst into the room, as menacing as hired killers with a mission could only be. Imhotep and Anck-su-namun have a quick reality check, gaze down upon the slain body of the Pharaoh between them and realize they are in deep trouble. Anck-su-namun commands her love to leave, to save himself. Imhotep refuses to leave her, but the priests haul him away. When Pharaoh's body guards enter the alcove, they see Pharaoh's blood-covered corpse on the ground, and Anck-su-namun standing triumphantly over it. She defiantly declares that her body is no longer his temple, and plunges her dagger into her stomach. Imhotep watches the shadow on the wall, and cringes. Time passes, and a chariot races through the cold night of the desert.} "To resurrect Anck-su-namun, Imoteph and his priests broke into her crypt and stole her body. They raced deep into the desert, taking Anck-su-namun's body to Hamunaptra, City of the Dead, ancient burial site for the sons of Pharaohs and the resting place of the wealth of Egypt."
{The chariot enters a deserted city, lit only by a few torches. Watching over the city are massive statues of Anubis and Horus, sons of Osiris, guardians of the dead. The view changes, and we now see Imhotep walking down a flight of stairs, a heavy black book in his arms, and his priests following devoutly behind him. The narrator starts speaking again, this time sounding scornful.} "For his love, Imhotep dared the Gods anger by going deep into the city, where he took the Black Book of the Dead from its holy resting place."
{The body of Anck-su-namun, divested of her burial wrappings, lies on a dark stone pyre, five jars resting next to her. Imhotep's priests surround her, chanting. Imhotep steps into the circle they form, and opens the book. Finding the spell, he starts to speak.} "Anck-su-namun's soul had been sent to the dark underworld, her vital organs removed and placed into five sacred canopic jars."
{Not far away from the stone pyre, a pool of black sludge-like liquid starts to roll and burble. A shadowy form rises from it and approaches the pyre. While Imhotep recites the spell, the black shadow enters Anck-su-namun's body. From one of the sacred canopic jars came a faint, rymathic drumming throb as Anck-su-namun's heart started to beat. On the pyre, she opens her eyes and gasps for breath.} "Anck-su-namun's soul had come back."
{Imhotep raises his ceremonial dagger to complete the rite, to carve open Anck-su-namun's body and replace the vital organs now resting in the jars around her, but a score of armed men rushed Imhotep. One of them grabs Imhotep's arm, restraining him. Another breaks the canopic jar containing Anck-su-namun's heart, crushing the organ within. She stiffens.} "But Pharaoh's bodyguards had followed Imhotep and stopped him before the ritual could be completed."
{As all watch, the black shadow rises from Anck-su-namun's body, and with a shrill screech, dives into the black pool. The scene shifts, and we are now in a preparation room. The narrator has a slight smug sound in her voice.} "Imhotep's priests were condemned to be mummified alive."
{The priests are tied to pillars as their intestines are carved out, eyes bored out, and brains scrambled by jackal-headed priests of Anubis. Imhotep is a silent witness to the suffering of his devoted followers. The narrator starts speaking again, a scornful note in her voice. But this time, it is directed at Pharaoh's bodyguards, at the punishment they were about to mete out to the High Priest of Osiris, and not at Imhotep as before.} "As for Imhotep, he was condemned to endure the Hom-dai, the most horrible of ancient curses, one so horrible, it had never before been bestowed."
{We watch as Imhotep's tongue is cut off. He is then wrapped, and placed into a plain wooden coffin. A priest of Anubis approaches, a large pottery jar being held over his shoulder. He stops before Imhotep, and then dumps the contents over him. Icky black things scurry over him, and Imhotep attempts to scream. The coffin is closed, then locked. It is then placed into a granite sarcophagus, which is also locked.} "He was to remain sealed inside his sarcophagus, the undead, for all eternity."
{The huge stone sarcophagus is lowered into a pit, and the Med-jai start to shovel sand over it. The narrator's voice grows vibrant.} "The Med-jai would never allow him to be released, for he would arise a walking disease. A plague upon mankind. An unholy flesh eater with the strength of ages. Power over the sands, and the glory of invincibility!"
{Wide shot of the Mai Jai burring Imhotep, and we see that he is being buried underneath a statue of Anubis, which seems to have a stern look on its stone face.}
Hamunaptra - 1923 AD
{French Foreign Legionnaires scurry over weathered remains of the sunbaked Hamunaptra in some sort of panic.} "For three thousand years, men and armies fought over this land, never knowing what evil laid beneath it."
{The Legionnaires are preparing for battle. In the distance, a tribe of Tuaregs warriors head for Hamunaptra. Upon a cliff overlooking the City of the Dead is a small group of men wearing black with tatoos upon their faces.} "And for three thousand years, the Mai Jai, the decedents of Pharaoh's sacred bodyguards have watched and guarded the city."
{We focus on two men. One of them is a rather seedy, weaselish looking man who you wouldn't trust to clean your shoes, let alone watch your back. The other is a tall man, with big blue eyes and dishwater blond hair who gives off the aura of a boy scout for some reason. While everyone else is dressed as legionnaires, he is wearing a tan waistcoat and has two bandoleers strapped around his chest. As the Tuaregs come closer, the small, weasel-like man, whose name is Beni Gabor, breaks and bolts into the city, looking for cover. The other man, a Rick O'Connell, give him a weary, accepting look and sites down his riffle. The Tuaregs reach the City of the Dead, yelling war cries.} {A battle ensues, but it is a hopeless battle for the Legionnaires, outnumbered ten to one. Rick uses his rifle until the Tuaregs are too close, then pulls several off of their horses. Now that the Tuaregs were on top of them, he pulled out two pistols and shoots until he is out of bullets. He pulls out two more and does the same. Once he is completely out of bullets, he turns and runs into Hamunaptra. He sees Beni enter a building, and runs to him, calling for him to wait. Beni, being the caring individual that he is, closes the door on him. Several Tuaregs race after Rick as he runs through the ruins, until he comes to a stop at a half buried statue in the sand. He turns and faces the Tuaregs defiantly. The Tuaregs site down on Rick, but their horses become spooked. Instead of fighting their horses, the Tuaregs wheel around and race off, leaving a confused Rick behind them. He turns, and sees that the stature is that of a man with a jackals head. For some reason, he cannot place his finger on, Rick is seriously disturbed.} {Before he can gather his wits and wonder what the heck is going on, the sand shifts before him. He turns, and then the sand rips into great gouges, carving an image in the sand. Rick doesn't care, more intent on getting the heck out of there and away from the feeling of overwhelming menace and evil that arrived with the flying sand. He falls, and his hand touches a cool, metallic object that had been turned up in the sand. He grabs it and gets to his feet, shoving the object, a gold puzzle box, into his tan waistcoat, and makes for the desert. The sand stills, having formed the visage of a screaming face. Rick does not notice, and the Med-jai cannot see. The Med-jai watch passively as Rick wanders into the desert, swearing never to return.}
Hamunaptra - 195 AC
{A wide shot of Hamunaptra in the cool morning hours. A roar of vehicles and a rooster tail of sand is heading toward Hamunaptra. Upon the cliff where the Med-jai has always watched, now stands a lone figure wrapped in a swath of white cloth. Though totally covered by the brilliant white cloth, one can still tell that the figure has a feminine form.} "And for all these thousands of years, others had watched over The City of the Dead, silently, unable to intervene, patently waiting for the time when they could act."
{The focus is once again upon Hamunaptra, where three large trucks come to a stop. A score of men dressed in Oz uniforms climb out and set about setting up camp. Four other men also climb out of the trucks, three of American descent and one of Egyptian. They look at the ruins, then start to talk amongst themselves. During the discussion, one takes out a small gold object and looks at it. Behind them, a weaselish looking man of Arabic descent looks at the city with a mixture of foreboding and greed. Up on the cliff the figure in white has been joined by two men wrapped in dark cloth. Though the female figure is completely covered, the two men are not, and we can see that both are well tanned, handsome individuals. Around the neck of one is an Amulet of Anubis, around the other an Amulet of Horus.} "For there is that under the sand that cannot be looked upon by mortal man again, lest the world be taken by darkness, the sun never to shine again!"
{A dark shadow passes over Hamunaptra, causing the small group of four men and the weaselish Arabic to look up into the blue sky. No clouds are in sight. The four men glance at each other, then pay the strange incident no mind. The Arabic crosses himself nervously, hoping that the treasure he would steal from this place would make up for coming to this cursed city. On the cliff, a stray breeze blows across the sand, erasing the only marks that someone had stood there minutes before.} Prologue - End