Battle for the Stone II

Anubis looked over and saw five Egyptian soldiers all with golden masks on. Anubis recognized them as the Pharaoh guard. They all were armed with crooks and flails similar to Soban's. Except one, Anubis knew this guy, he was Tutankhamen, leader of the guard. They all removed the golden masks they had and clipped them to their backs.

"Hercules, by order of Ra, you are to leave this place and not harm the stone," Tutankhamen yelled.

Hercules tossed Soban and Cerberus away and walked to Tutankhamen. He stood a few feet away from him and was joined by Dionysus and Atalanta. Perseus broke away from Achilles and went to Hercules. In that time, Achilles went to tend to Cerberus and Soban and Anubis freed the circus members.

"Why does Ra care about the stone being broken, he would get power too," Hercules said.

"Ra knows how Zeus works, once the power comes he will attack all other lands, including ours," Tutankhamen said.

"I have my orders," Hercules said.

"And I have mine," Tutankhamen said.

"Don't do this, Tutankhamen."

"Call me Tut."

"No."

Hercules smiled and they stared into each other's eyes for what seemed like minutes. Hercules was much bigger than his Egyptian counterpart but the energy around Tut exuded danger. In a flash, Hercules swung his hand at Tut's face and Tut deflected it.

"You've improved," Hercules commented.

"You haven't," Tut said.

Tut swung his arm and punched Hercules in the stomach so hard the ground shattered everywhere around them. Hercules was sent flying away and past the winged boy who was still watching the battle. Hercules popped up and charged forward again, unharmed from the attack.

"Achilles, take the stone and hide it," Tut ordered as his men engaged Hercules'.

"I don't take orders from you, but a good idea is a good idea," Achilles responded.

Anubis struggled to use his magic to put everyone back on the Mandjet. He noticed the Juggler staying still on the ship. He contemplated attacking him but decided against it. He used the rest of his power to heal Medic and passed out.

Achilles carefully snuck away to the stone. He grabbed the fist sized ordinary looking stone and ran to the Mandjet. He sat in the pilot's seat and took off. He got a mile away before he was stopped in his tracks. The winged boy was standing in front of them and the ship was slowly brought down by some unknown form of magic.

"Looks like they win the stone," the winged boy said.

Achilles saw Tut standing over Hercules with a golden blade to his throat. There was nothing but surprise in Achilles' mind. The Egyptians were knocked back by the magic of the boy and teleported away.

"Here you go, Hercules," the winged boy said and took the rock from Achilles.

He floated down and handed it to the injured Hercules. With a grunt, Hercules picked himself up off the ground and started to walk away but turned back.

"Thank you, I guess," Hercules said.

Hercules and his crew left with the stone, a flash of lightning splashed over them and they disappeared. Achilles hopped off the ship and ran up to the winged boy.

"What did we do wrong?" Achilles asked calmly, careful not to anger the winged boy.

"You ran away without winning the stone, so, you're disqualified," the winged boy answered.

A beam of light shot through the clouds and illuminated the winged boy.

"Uh oh," he said.

Two other winged people dropped from the light and landed next to the winged boy. These ones were full grown men and were twice as tall as the winged boy. Achilles had a hard time breathing in their presence and he took steps back to ease this feeling.

"Lucy, we gave you a simple task," one of the men said.

"Gabe, Mike, I just wanted to have some fun," the winged boy said.

"Lucy, you ar-"

"That is not my name!" the winged boy yelled.

A few feathers on the boy's white wings turned black. One of the other men quickly grabbed the winged boy by the back of his neck and took him through the beam of light back up into the sky. The other man turned to Achilles and smiled. Achilles looked over the person's brilliant tan armor and noticed that the man didn't even look real, but like an illusion fused with reality.

"Have a good day," the winged man said and flew away.

"You too?" Achilles said then walked back to the ship.

It was a short journey home, but to Achilles, it seemed like it was instantaneous.