by Amma Lee
"Ah, yes. Give me a light Theo, and I'll take Thomas back for a few minutes." Theodore raised an eyebrow but nodded his head. He pulled another remote control from his pocket and pushed the button. The remote control changed into a drone and flew over to Leonne and Thomas brightening up the small space with more light.
"Be right back!" Leonne said and took Thomas into his arms and ran the way that they came. "What's wrong, Thomas?"
"I need to check on something that I almost forgot about," Thomas said and jumped from Leonne's arms. "Wait right here for a few minutes." Thomas didn't wait for Leonne's answer as he took off running.
"Hey!" Leonne shouted towards Thomas' retreating back, but it was too late. Why can't Thomas just tell me what's on his mind? Leonne asked himself. It didn't matter though because the cat detective was already gone. Sighing, Leonne decided to wait for the cat to return.
****
Leonne tapped his feet rapidly against the pavement as he started feeling like Thomas was not going to come back.
"What is he doing?" Leonne mumbled to himself. It wasn't like Thomas was hired to take on this mission; he just sort of joined of his own free will, so Leonne technically did not have to wait for him. "Did he really need to go to the bathroom?" Leonne asked himself. He was sure that his squad and the director were waiting for him to return. If the cat wasn’t back in the next five minutes, he'd return to his comrades.
Leonne sat down and sighed. The mission seemed like it was going to be a good one, but right now they were at a standstill. Leonne scratched his head as he thought about the current task at hand. They needed to solve the riddle on the door, but who in their right mind actually went through this great of a measure to keep people from getting into the catacombs? The drone that was lighting up Leonne's path started buzzing around his face.
"What are we doing?" Leonne asked the drone. He knew that the flying light wouldn't answer him back, but the drone was the only moving thing around at the moment. The drone let out a buzzing noise but other than that, it said nothing. "Humph… I figured as much." Leonne shook his head and stood up. Five minutes had surely passed by now. Thomas knew where to find them if he needed them. Leonne hustled back to the group; they had a mission to solve before things got dangerous. They had to make sure that they got the stolen stone back before the mummy king used it for evil.
*****
"What is this?" Thomas asked himself as he narrowed his eyes at the holographic screen. Back at the museum when they had arrived back to pick up the director, Thomas had snuck off to look for additional clues regarding the theft. The museum wasn't extremely high-tech at the moment, but Thomas was positive that the museum would at the very least have cameras. After searching for a few minutes, Thomas had found the surveillance camera room. It didn't take Thomas too long to locate the tape of the day in question.
"This dark figure had no difficulty navigating through the museum," Thomas said to himself. The camera showed a dark silhouette walking smoothly through the museum. Thomas used his paw to turn up the light on his hologram screen, but even he was having difficulty making out the figure. Thomas was sure that the dark body moving was a man though.
"Mummies….mummies," Thomas said as he watched the dark outline of a man standing near what appeared to be a pedestal. Thomas was sure that mummies moved slowly and not as precise as the figure in the hologram recording was moving. After reviewing the tape several times and watching the thief's movements, Thomas came to the conclusion that the ‘mummy' in the recording was either extremely intelligent or not a mummy.
Closing out of the hologram screen, Thomas sniffed the air several times. The only beings that Thomas could detect was the boys, the director, and himself. Nobody has been in here or near the waterfall in a very long time.
"Things just don't add up," Thomas said and turned around and made his way back towards his comrades. Either they were dealing with a very smart and up-to-date mummy, or they were looking at things from the wrong angle. Thomas couldn't help the grin that spread across his furry face. "This mission is getting better and better every moment!"
Chapter Six
"Theo, you've answered this riddle hundreds of times already," Dylan groaned and placed his hands on his hips. "I think it would be easier to make some type of…. I don't know explosive." Dylan said, and Director Morris intervened at that moment.
"Absolutely not!" he screamed out, and Theodore couldn't help but flinch at the unexpected outburst. Anger was one of the emotions that Director Morris never showed to Theodore. The young boy had only seen extreme happiness or equally intense sorrow. "You might damage the stone! It's very fragile," the older man said, clearing his throat. He wasn't trying to get on the Millennium Squad's bad side.
"Then we have to keep on working," Leonne said trying to bring back some order amongst his crew. He didn't like having to bend over backward to try and open a door, but they had no other choice. At the corner of Leonne's eye, he saw movement. It was Thomas! "Theo, discuss alternative methods with Director Morris."
"Sure," Theodore nodded his head and walked a few feet away as he tried to calm down Director Morris.
"What took you so long, Thomas?" Leonne asked quietly.
"I ‘borrowed' the surveillance footage from the museum. There were some things I needed to look into." Thomas said, and Leonne raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"You borrowed a surveillance video? When did you have a chance to get it and where were you carrying it all this time?" Thomas shook his head.
"Never mind that," Thomas had his ways of doing things and he didn't feel the need to let Leonne in on his secrets. "I think we're looking at this all wrong. Remember how I said I didn't sense anyone in the area… I believe whatever or whoever took the stone was never here," Thomas said quickly.
"So… you're saying we're here for nothing?" Dylan asked frustrated. If the stone wasn't here, then they didn't need to be here any longer.
"Then who stole it?" Leonne asked scratching his head. Thomas opened his mouth about to speak, but immediately closed it when he heard footsteps.
"We think we know the answer!" Theodore shouted in glee. Thomas inwardly sighed. Thomas had a bad feeling running up his spine. The more he thought about it, the more Thomas believed that the puzzle to the door shouldn't be solved. He wanted to stop Theodore and scream no, but it was already too late.
"Theo…" Leonne was just about to stop him when he noticed Thomas' expression, but Theodore started shouting.
"Here lie the remains of the mummy king. Preserving royalties' bodies was for the best, his kingdom believed. They had one goal for their bodies as their souls climbed towards the sky. What was their purpose for these mummies without a life? Their goals were to make it through eternity with their bodies and belongings!"
As soon as the answer left from Theodore's lips, the door slowly started opening.
****
This is not okay, Thomas thought as the doors opened slowly revealing a pitch black room. Shivers ran up and down Thomas' spine. He could tell that something bad was about to happen. He felt a twinge of fear, but that wasn't the only emotion Thomas felt. He was excited as well.
"It's… it's pretty dark in there," Theodore said, frozen in place. He was happy that he had managed to figure out the puzzle, but he wasn't prepared for how intense the atmosphere had gotten after that. He was incredibly uneasy. Looking over his shoulder, Theodore saw that Thomas was kind of tense as well. Oh no, Theodore thought to himself. Did I do something wrong?
"Light up the way boys!" Director Morris said slightly excited. "We're so close to the stone, I can feel it!" Leonne looked over at the director of the museum and frowned. He was starting to see why Thomas believed something was ‘off' about this mission. Leonne didn't know why the director was so calm now. Wasn't he the one that said the mummy king stole the stone to awaken the mummies? Leonne didn't understand why the director wasn't acting more afraid.
"I see what you're saying," Leonne whispered,
but he knew that Thomas would be able to hear him. "Something is off about this mission. We don't even know for sure if the mummy king stole the stone. I feel like… the world would have already been in chaos if he did." Thomas looked up at Leonne and grinned. He was glad that the young boy was starting to see the bigger picture.
"Hey! Wait up! The drone's light works the best near members of the Millennium Squad! If you go up ahead by yourself, there won't be any light!" Theodore yelled after Director Morris as he hurried down the dark hallway. Director Morris paid Theodore no mind and didn't even turn around to acknowledge that Theodore was speaking.
"Boys!" Thomas shouted once Director Morris was out of sight. Leonne, Dylan, and Theodore turned around and faced Thomas. "Be on your guard and be prepared for anything," Thomas said with a grave expression on his face. "We don't truly know what we're up against. Stay close together! That means no splitting up." Thomas said and took off in the direction where Director Morris had just disappeared in.
"He says don't split up and he runs ahead!" Dylan exclaimed. "Talk about hypocrisy!"
"There's no time to complain, move your feet!" Leonne said with that familiar steel in his voice. What he ordered must be followed no matter what.
"Sir!" Dylan and Theodore said and started running down the hall. Even with the bright light of the drone lighting their path, the boys could only see so far. How exactly was Director Morris able to navigate through the catacombs without a light?
"Look!" Theodore said and pointed in front of him. Leonne's and Dylan's eyes followed Theodore's pointed finger. "There's a light at the end of the hall!" They could barely see what Theodore was talking about from their current location, but as they got closer towards the end of the corridor, they were now able to see the light.
"Please be careful," Leonne warned everyone.
"Took you three long enough," Thomas said as the Millennium Squad made their way to stand next to him. Thomas looked up at the three boys briefly and then back through the opened doorway.
"You shouldn't have run off on your own," Leonne responded. "You may not be a member of the Millennium Squad, but we're still a team. Don't tell us to stick together and run off on your own. We can help you just like you help us, Thomas." Leonne scolded Thomas. Thomas was a bit taken back by what Leonne said, but he couldn't help but smile. Leonne is starting to sound like a real Grade A detective, Thomas thought to himself.
"My apologies, I'm not used to working with… others yet." Thomas said honestly. Thomas had always worked alone because he felt that he was the only one who would be able to get the job done correctly. The Millennium Squad was starting to prove him wrong, though. The longer he spent with them, the more Thomas felt like working with others could be beneficial. "Hmm…" Thomas lost his train of thought then and focused his attention towards the opened doorway.
"Heh! Heh! Heh!" short bursts of laughter could be heard inside the lit room. Leonne, Dylan, and Theodore looked through the door and saw a sight that shocked them. In the middle of the chamber was Director Morris directly in front of a closed tomb, laughing maniacally as he held the Emerald Stone in his hand.
Chapter Seven
"It's mine! The Emerald Stone is finally mine! Heh, heh!" Director Morris said as he looked at the stone adoringly. "And I couldn't have gotten the stone without you," Director Morris' grinned widened as he looked at the Millennium Squad.
"Wait… what?" Theodore asked confused. He expected Director Morris to be excited about getting the stone back, but the way that he was acting was odd. It's almost as if the director never had the stone!
"You heard me," Director Morris said and his once kind and gentle face morphed into something else. Leonne frowned and folded his arms.
"I knew something was off about you," Leonne said, staring angrily at the older man. "Thomas had a bad feeling about you this whole time. I only wished that I would have caught on to what you were doing earlier." Theodore turned towards Leonne in confusion.
"What… what is going on?" Theodore asked confused. He didn't know what was going on. Why was the director suddenly acting like this?
"It's obvious," Dylan said in a matter a fact type of way. "The rock…"
"Stone!" Dylan rolled his eyes at everyone's outburst and continued.
"The stone was never his to begin with! He used us just so that he could steal it from the mummies." Dylan was the last one to figure out these types of things, and he was surprised that he found out something wasn't quite right with the director before Theodore did. He'd never admit it, but Dylan had Thomas to thank for that.
"Theodore…" Leonne said as he briefly looked at Theodore and then moved his eyes back to the director. "The director was missing this piece from his collection. He's the head of a museum, of course he wanted an artifact that is as rare as the Emerald Stone." The grin never left Director Morris' face.
"Not quite young one," Director Morris responded. "This stone is rare indeed, but I never just wanted it for my collection. This stone can awaken the mummies and turn humans into mummies as well." The Millennium Squad's eyes widened at that.
"Turn humans into mummies? Why would you want that?" Theodore asked in complete shock, and Director Morris' eyes narrowed then.
"So that I can become immortal and collect every artifact in the world. I will have an army of mummies who would steal and destroy anyone who gets in my way." Thomas hissed in anger, but the man paid him no mind. "I will be the ruler of the new world. Heh, heh!" Director Morris chuckled and closed the palm of his hand and whispered something.
"He's chanting some type of spell!" Thomas shouted, unable to keep quiet. Thomas believed, no, Thomas knew that whatever the director was saying was going to awaken the mummy king and what Thomas thought to be his minions.
"Dylan!" Leonne shouted, and Dylan nodded his head.
"Right!" Dylan said as he and Leonne made a B-line for the director. Leonne and Dylan may have been twelve-years-olds, but they were tough. Leonne and Dylan were almost close enough to Director Morris to stop him from chanting, but they came to a complete stop when the room starting shaking.
"Fall back!" Thomas screamed, and Leonne and Dylan did as they were told. Soon enough, Leonne, Dylan, Theodore, and Thomas heard a loud scratching noise as the top of a nearby tomb was being pushed aside.
****
"Ugh! We're too late," Dylan yelled frustrated as he looked on as the tomb was slowly opening.
"Hmm… just the mummy king? Well… I haven't used the stone's power before. I need to study it more." Director Morris mumbled, but the boys didn't pay him any mind.
"What do we do?" Theodore asked as a dirty body wrapped in linen emerged from the tomb with a horribly loud screech.
"I don't know, Thomas what should we do?" Leonne asked and got into a fighting stance. He was happy that they would only be fighting one mummy, but this was the king after all. "Thomas?" Leonne turned around and looked at the silent cat. Thomas was fuming at the fact that Director Morris had the nerve to resurrect a mummy.
"*Roar!*" the mummy screamed in rage, and Director Morris flinched.
"Got to go, I don't want to be around for this." Director Morris said and made a dash towards the door.
"Stop!" Thomas yelled and ran after him. "C'mon Theodore," Thomas couldn't let this human get away with this, but he couldn't take him down with his small and furry body. He needed a person.
"Wait… I… I don't… I can't believe this." Theodore said confused to what he should do.
"Less hesitation and more movement," Director Morris tried to close the door quickly behind him, but they slipped through the door with ease.
"Looks like we're on our own," Leonne said, and Dylan moved in closer to Leonne.
"Heh, mummy or not we'll get him." Leonne nodded his head and made a move towards the mummy king once it fully emerged out of the tomb.
"Hah!" Leonne yelled as he tried to kick the mummy. The mummy was slow, as expected, but it dodged Leonne's swift kick with ease.
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"Grr…" The mummy groaned and swung its arm at Leonne. Leonne tried to avoid it, but he wasn't able to. The mummy's arm connected with Leonne's chest and he flew back into the stone wall.
"Ah!" Leonne shouted.
"Hey, you mess with my leader you mess with me!" Dylan yelled and threw several punches at the mummy king. Dylan didn't land any of the punches, but he never gave up. Leonne stood up and watched the mummy king for a moment. Once he realized that the stone actually belonged to the mummies and that they were the actual thieves, Leonne felt the need to try to explain their actions.
"Please stop mummy king!" Leonne shouted and threw up his hands in surrender. "Please let us explain!" Leonne wasn't sure if the mummy was able to understand him, but the mummy king did look over at him. "Dylan, stop!" Dylan frowned, but he stopped in his steps. Dylan's current mission was to destroy the mummy king before it destroyed them. He was not in the mood to try to compromise with it.
The mummy king was a frightening sight indeed, but it stopped attacking when Dylan halted his movements.
"I hope you have some type of plan, Leonne," Dylan said placing his hands on his hips. He wasn't trying to get pummeled to the ground by a monster wrapped in dirty rags.
"I hope this works," Leonne took a breath and held up his arms in surrender. The leader of the Millennium Squad spoke slowly then. If this didn't work, Leonne and Dylan would have no choice but to fight the beast.
Chapter Eight
"Stop running!" Theodore yelled as he and Thomas chased after Director Morris. For an old man, he moved quickly.
"Grr…and let you spoil my plans?" Director Morris took in shaky breaths as his strength was starting to leave him. "I think not!"
