End of Days 8: Desperate Escape

continues from part seven

Part 8: Desperate Escape

Had this been any other time, Quinn would have been in heaven.... being fully mummified was a rare delight; being mummified and then locked into a rubber lined coffin was unheard of. Having someone else in the coffin with her was too good to be true. And yet, here she was, fully absorbed into one of her greatest fantasies. But this wasn't playful or wondrous. It wasn't a dream.

This was a nightmare.

Deep within her wrappings, Quinn could see or hear nothing; just darkness and an awful, awful silence that pressed down on her, reminding her that this was all she would know for the rest of her life, and there was nothing she could do about it. She could struggle all she wanted, but the bandages would keep her body tightly restrained. They were her jailers and guards, ensuring that she would serve out her sentence, and they could not be bargained with, nor would they listen to her pleas of mercy. They would be her constant companions for the rest of her life.

Quinn cried, or tried to. The outside world she had known and loved was gone forever. It still existed, but she would never enjoy it again, it would move on, with people going about their lives, but she was locked away in this private, personal prison.

Worse still, was knowing that she would eventually be forgotten. Others would forget about her, but she would still live in the darkness, serving her sentence.

She cried again, and despite all the bandages stuffed into her mouth, a faint sob managed to escape, even though nobody would ever hear it. But apparently, someone did, for her companion shifted. Having only been constructed to hold one prisoner, the coffin made it hard for either to move. But move the second prisoner did, wrapping her arms around Quinn's mummified body, and squeezing her as best she could, trying to give Quinn a comforting hug, reassuring her that even when locked up, at least she wouldn't be alone.

But there seemed to be something else. Even through all her wrappings, Quinn could sense that her cellmate was moving, apparently trying to do something. Exactly what, she wasn't sure. She wanted to know what it was, but with her eyes, ears, and mouth sealed, there was nothing she could do.

So, helpless, she lay back, and tried to figure out how she was going to get through all this without going insane.

***

With no clocks, light, or way of telling the time, Quinn soon lost track of it. Years, minutes, hours and days didn't exist anymore, blending together until they were all indistinguishable from one another. As Targonamey had said, it was warm and comfortable, but Quinn couldn't move. She couldn't even shift around in her cocoon.

Yet, her fellow prisoner was. She kept moving, doing something. Perhaps trying to break free, though Quinn couldn't see how. But at least they could move their arms and hands. If Quinn tried to move hers, she got unyielding resistance, making it impossible.

But then, after a long time, she felt something odd. It was as if there was something coming towards her. The pressure around her face seemed to be lessening. The bandages meant to wrap her up for life, slowly began to fall away. Then they were gone completely, and Quinn was shocked at being able to open her eyes, though there was still nothing to see but darkness.

"Quinn? Can you hear me?"

Wait a second, that was Vikki's voice.

Fingers and teeth shredded the wrappings around her mouth, allowing Vikki to yank out the wads forced into Quinn's mouth.

"Vikki?" Quinn stammered, never so happy in all her life at being able to speak. "What are you, "

"Long story," Vikki said, her fingers and teeth going over the wrappings around Quinn's body.

"We've got plenty of time," Quinn pointed out.

"When I was entombed for ten years, I got plenty of practice trying to chew my way out of my wrappings," Vikki explained. "I had actually gotten fairly close before being put into an eternal sleep. Figured if I was buried with someone, I could use the same tricks to free us both."

Quinn could have hugged her, if her arms hadn't been restrained. But there was another question on her mind. "What about getting us out of this coffin?"

"That, I'm still working on."

But no sooner had she spoken, then the coffin moved, jolting the two about. Then the coffin unexpectedly tilted, and fell, only to slam on an unseen floor.

"Did you happen to get help?" Quinn asked.

Vikki shook her head, as confused as Quinn was.

With a heavy grinding noise, the coffin lid was yanked out, and light flooded Quinn's eyes. She blinked furiously, trying to see who their rescuer was. When her eyes adjusted, she was surprised to see their unlikely savior.
"Gromet?"

Reaching into the coffin, Gromet pulled Vikki out, set her on the ground, then did the same to Quinn, where he worked on trying to cut the bandages free. "Glad to see you're both okay," he whispered, glancing around to make sure he wasn't being seen.

"But I thought Targonamey caught-"

"Everyone else? Well, he missed me." With a cut of his pocket knife, he cut away the bandages binding Quinn's arms, and she frantically went to work unwrapping herself, as Gromet started doing the same to Vikki. "I have no idea how, but I'm not complaining." Another slice, and the last of Vikki's bandages fell away. "There, now let's get the heck out of here, before any guards find out what happened."

"Putting the coffin back might be a good idea," Quinn said.

They all tried moving it, only to discover that it was far heavier then it appeared, seemingly made of stone. It was only by luck that Gromet had managed to drag it free; to put it back, even with the three of them working on it, was impossible.

"I guess we go to plan B." Quinn said.

"What's plan B?" Vikki asked.

"Run like hell, and get out of here before anyone comes in."

"I can do that," Gromet said, already heading for the door. "Now let's go. If I remember right, the exit is this way."

Quinn and Vikki started after him, only for Quinn to stop a moment later, where she instead ran towards the bookshelf behind Targonamey's throne. There she grabbed several books, quickly skimmed through them, looking for the ones Targonamey had showed her.

"Quinn, come on," Vikki said, going over and taking her arm. "We have to leave. It's not safe here."

But Quinn kept looking. She wanted to see for herself if everything Targonamey had told her was true. She wanted to see if her life really was just a story, which she hoped was only a lie. Yet, as she went through the books, and saw the names of her companions within their pages, her heart sank. Targonamey had told her the truth.

"Come on," Vikki said, firmly grabbing Quinn's shoulder. "We have to get out of here."

"And go where?" Quinn said. "You heard Targonamey. Our world is ending. What's the point?"

"He was probably lying, trying to demoralize us."

Quinn held up a book titled, "The Golden Pyramid." "Look at this," she said. "This is about you. Is it accurate?"

Hesitant, Vikki took the book, looked through it, her face drooping as she went. "But, how? It's impossible, "

"It should be, but there you are. Your entire life story in a book. Everyone else is in a book too, Nia, Prince Theodore, Xesex, Targonamey was telling the truth. We're just playthings, characters in books."

It took Quinn a moment, but she realized that Gromet was standing off to the side, as if trying to make himself look inconspicuous. "Gromet? What is it?"

"Nothing," he said quickly.

"You may be a nice man, Mr. Gromet, but a poor liar. You're hiding something. What is it?"

Caught red handed, so to speak, Gromet sighed, not looking forward to spilling his own secrets.

"I've known all along that you were all characters in stories," he said. "I'm the one who categorizes them."

Quinn and Vikki listened, stunned.

"I run a website that gathers kinky stories, so to speak, and posts them. Vikki, you've shown up in quite a few of them, and so have all the others. You're all characters in kinky stories."

"I'm, I'm just a character for someone's kink?" Quinn said, baffled.

Gromet nodded.

"Then what are you doing here?" Vikki asked.

"That, I'm not sure," Gromet admitted. "I mean, I'm in the dark as much as all of you."

Glancing back at the books once again, Quinn spotted the book Targonamey had shown her, the one titled, "End of Days." Grabbing it, she shot through the pages, and finding everything that had happened to her and the others since this whole fiasco had started. She was in there, along with Vikki, Gromet, Xesex, and all the others. And as she read through it, she found that all her words and thoughts had been written down, and it even recounted her mummification and entombment, and even now was recounting her escape, her thoughts, and that she was reading an account of what had happened.

Head spinning, she turned the page, but found it blank.

"This doesn't make any sense," she said. "This book, it's writing down everything that's happening, but it's blank."

Vikki came over, took a look at the pages. "Wait, there's something new. A line just appeared showing that I took a look at the pages, " she stopped. "Oh my, this is making my head spin."

"How is this even possible?" Quinn asked Gromet. "I mean, how can there be a book describing that we're reading that same book?"

Gromet shook his head.

"Maybe this story can't predict the future," Vikki suggested, even as her words appeared on the page. "Maybe it can only record what has happened."

Another thought came to Quinn. "Gromet, you said you run a website of stories, do you know who's writing this one?"

"Well, kinda. I've posted a lot of his works, but I don't know him personally. I don't even know what he looks like."

Her brain spinning, Quinn tried to figure out where this was going, and what this all meant. "Then, there really is someone writing all this down," she said. "If all this, the world we're in right now, is fiction, then that means, that someone's controlling all this."

"Including us?" Vikki asked.

"Maybe, I don't know. It certainly doesn't feel like someone's controlling everything I do." She thought for a moment, then dropped down and started doing pushups, just for the heck of it.

"Uhh, what was that for?"

"I just wanted to try and do some pushups. Nobody forced me to do it." She eyed the book. "Or this either."

Taking the book, she tore it apart, yanking out the pages with her bare hands, then grabbing the spine and breaking it in two, scattering everything across the floor. Yet, even as she leaned down, she saw that words were still coming down on the remains of the paper, writing down on she had done those pushups and torn the book apart.

"Maybe it's best not to think too much of all this," Vikki said. "It could drive us mad."

"Maybe," Quinn admitted. "I just don't like the idea of being an object for someone else's kinkiness. I mean, if you think about it, can you imagine existing just so that some great, cosmic being can j-"

There was a rumble nearby.

"I think we should drop this whole thing and get the hell out of here," Gromet said.

"But what about the others?" Vikki said. "We can't just leave them!"

"This place is swarming with guards," Gromet said. "I just barely managed to make it here without being spotted. Sooner of later, one of them is going to come in here, and spot us."

"Then we get Xesex," Quinn said. "I'd rather have a god on our side. And we can come back for the others later after we've stopped this whole mess."

They went over to Xesex's tomb. Going up, the three managed to yank the stones away, and pull out his massive coffin, then tear the lid off, finding his tightly bandaged form inside, wiggling ever so slightly as he tried to escape. With three sets of hands tearing away at the wrappings, it wasn't long at all before the god was freed, and slithered out of his final resting place.

"Thank you," he said. "A great relief to know that I won't be spending eternity locked inside a box. Now hurry, we must leave."

"What about the others?" Vikki asked.

"We will come back to rescue them once the tower has been destroyed, and Targonamey stopped," Xesex said as he headed for the exit.

"Hey Xesex," Quinn said. "Did you know about what Targonamey was talking about? That we're apparently just characters in a book?"

Xesex paused, thinking. "No, I did not," he said. "But we are all part of a great tale, no matter how small or large our roles. Now come, we must hurry before our escape is discovered, and the tower is locked down. Fortune smiled on us once; it may not do so again."

*

Quinn and the others quickly discovered that Gromet had been correct about the tower being well guarded, for at every intersection, there seemed to be at least two wrapped guards at each door. Sneaking by would have been impossible, but the group had made a smart move in freeing Xesex, for the god was able to put each guard to sleep before they could raise the alarm, giving the group free reign to make their way through the tower.

"So, what's the plan?" Quinn asked as they passed yet another pair of guards.

"We exit the tower, and deploy the energy bombs," Xesex said.

"And just what do these bombs do, exactly?"

"I will tell you later," Xesex said. "There's no time to explain now."

They reached a massive stairwell that led down towards the main entrance of the tower, but they found it surrounded by dozens of guards.

"There are too many," Xesex said. "And I do not have unlimited strength to deal with them." He considered their situation for a moment, then turned to a side door. "There." There was a large, more ornate set of doors then any of them had yet seen, and there were only two guards present. Once they were asleep, the group went through.

Quinn didn't know what to expect upon going through the doors, but even she was caught off guard by the huge, ornate chamber before her. It was a large, indoor pool, with hundreds of plants lining the marble walls, with hundreds more vines draped from the walls and ceiling, giving the room the feeling of being an oasis.

They had also apparently stumbled across Targonamey's brothel, for there were numerous reclining chairs around the room, and in each one were neoprene sleepsacks, all containing tightly restrained men and women, with no skin visible under the neoprene and matching hoods.

"Looks like Targonamey has a fondness for neoprene," Quinn said.

Vikki started towards the closest woman, aiming to free her from the sack. But Xesex put a hand on her shoulder. "We do not have time," he said. "We must continue on."

"We can't just leave them."

"Your heart is good, little one," Xesex said. "But right now, our mission is more important. There will be time to save them, but it is not now. Now come, let us leave this place."

"I think not."

All turned at hearing the unexpected voice. A massive form had stepped into the room, and it was someone that Quinn, and all the others, had hoped never to see again.

"Anubis," Xesex said.

"It's been a long time, brother," the Egyptian god of the dead growled.

"Not long enough, if I may say so, myself," Xesex said. "But if I may inquire, why have you aligned yourself with a human who dreams only of tyranny and oppression?"

"Oh, I am not lost on our situation," Anubis said. "Unlike you, I'm fully aware that our universe is ending. Not even a god such as myself can stand before it, nor hope to stop it. Our best chance is to ally ourselves with the one individual who may have a chance to save us all."

"Upon which you'll dispose of him, and take power for yourself," Xesex pointed out, shifting himself. It took Quinn a moment to realize that the god was putting himself between Anubis and the others, giving them a chance to sneak away.

"Of course. Humans, driders, vixens, all inferior life forms. We are gods. We have the right to rule them."

Xesex shifted again. "You may think so. But I don't."

Anubis waved his hands. Quinn expected bandages to wind around her once again, but to her unpleasant surprise, instead, a neoprene sleepsack shot out, and opened wide, then enveloped her body, closing and locking itself in seconds, completely sealing her inside. Unable to use her arms or legs, Quinn fell to the ground and was left wriggling and struggling furiously against her sleepsack. Vikki and Gromet quickly moved to her, but Anubis shot out more sleepsacks, and the two were caught in the same manner, and fell to the floor.

"You seriously did not think you could hide the mortals and allow them to escape, did you?" Anubis said, grinning. "Benevolent, you may be, brother, but you are also stupid. Now why don't you join this little neoprene harem, and learn your true place in the scheme of things?"

Anubis shot another sleepsack towards Xesex, but he was prepared for it, and stopped it in mid-air, tore it to shreds.

"You know, brother, I abhor violence," Xesex said. "I always believe in spreading love, peace, and compassion. But just this once, I shall make an exception for you."

Without waiting for a response, Xesex leapt through the air and tackled Anubis, knocking both of them into the water.

"Vikki!" Quinn said, realizing that no matter how hard she struggled, she wasn't going to get free of her sleepsack. "Can you chew through these?"

Vikki was already working on it, her sharp teeth tearing at the neoprene, scratching it, but unable to tear through.

In the water nearby, Xesex and Quinn fought, trying to wrap each other, only for their respective attacks to be blocked and reversed, parried and countered, neither gaining the advantage.

With a frantic tear, Vikki managed to get an arm free, which she used to tear away the buckle around her neck, and undo the zipper, freeing herself. Peeling her sack away, she scrambled out, moved to work on Gromet, but she had to resort to tearing at his buckled neck, slowing the process.

"You fight for mortals, even in the face of Armageddon?" Anubis snarled at Xesex. "You fight for those less then yourself?"

"Oh yes," Xesex said. "I've found them quite fun to be around."

He shot his own wrappings at Anubis.

"Certainly more fun then you."

Teeth still ripping, Vikki managed to tear Gromet's sack open, and pulled him out. "There we go. One more."

She turned to Quinn, only to be knocked down as Xesex was slammed into the side of the pool. "Go!" he said, getting up. "Run!"

"What about you?!" Gromet asked.

"I will buy time for your escape. Now go-"

Bandages shot out and wound around Xesex's mouth, closing it. Behind, Anubis kept shooting out, trying his hardest to overwhelm Xesex in bandages, seeking to mummify him. But Xesex managed to tear them away, though only just.

"Go!" he roared. "Run!"

Vikki had just started to kneel to free Quinn, but upon hearing him yell, she instead grabbed Quinn and threw her over her shoulder, sack and all.

"Hey!" Quinn said, struggling. "Let me out!"

"I'll have to do that later," Vikki said, starting to run.

Gromet followed, leaving the two gods to fight inside Targonamey's brothel, dueling each other to see who would emerge triumphant.

*

"So, where do we go?!"

"No idea," Vikki said. "Just keep running!"

With their legs going as fast as they could, Vikki and Gromet were making good headway as they ran down the corridors, trying to find the exit. For Quinn, the experience was frightening; being trapped in the sleepsack meant that she was helpless, and if Vikki should drop her, then she would be helpless to get back up. She was completely dependent on the vixen for her escape, and this was one time where Quinn didn't like being helpless.

They reached a large staircase, and started down, going faster then they normally would. At one point, Vikki stumbled momentarily forcing her to grab the railing.

"Careful!" Quinn hissed.

"Sorry."

"You know, this could be a lot easier if you'd just let me out of here!"

"No time," Vikki said. Already she could hear guards in the distance, eager to re-capture them. "Damn, Anubis must have raised an alarm."

From further down the stairs, they heard more guards heading up to intercept them. They were being corralled, and it was only a matter of time before they were assaulted from both front and behind.

Gromet looked, saw a nearby door. Kicking it open, he ran inside. "In here!"

Vikki followed, Gromet shutting the door behind her. They had entered what appeared to be a closet of some kind, full of boxes and long chains.

"Any ideas?" Vikki said.

"I'm thinking," Gromet said, going to a window, and peering outside.

There was a pounding at the door. Before Gromet or Vikki could move to shove a box before it, the door burst open, and one of Targonamey's cranes flew in, shrieking like a banshee.

"Shit!" Gromet shouted, ducking as the crane shot past him, bandages already trailing out from it's feet as it tried to mummify him.

Glancing at a nearby chain, Vikki tossed Quinn onto some boxes.

"Hey!"

"Sorry sweetie," Vikki said, grabbing the chain. "This'll just take a second."

While Quinn kept struggling in her sack, Vikki quickly spun the chain, turning it into a lasso. The crane, being so focused on Gromet, didn't notice Vikki, who ran up behind it and jumped onto it's back, slinging the chain around it's neck, creating a crude, but effective collar. Caught by surprise, the crane squawked and flew, trying to get away, which was exactly what Vikki wanted.

"Gromet!" she shouted. "Grab Quinn!"

Gromet ran to Quinn and picked her up, slinging her over his shoulder.

"Get on!"

No sooner had Gromet leapt onto the crane then it finally full on-panicked, flying about the room, toppling crates and boxes left and right, only to smash into the window, and break through, flying outside. As Vikki had hoped, the crane somehow managed to remain flying, even with three people on its back. Yet, it couldn't control itself, and careened towards the streets outside the tower, finally slamming into them, and knocking it's passengers off.

The crane squawked, got back to it's feet. But a heavy punch from Vikki brought it to the ground, where she grabbed a cinder block and smashed it into the crane's head, knocking it out for good.

"Good riddance," Vikki spat, running over to Gromet. "You two okay?"

"Yeah, if you can get me out of this!" Quinn said. Getting flown out in such a manner, completely helpless, was getting to her, and she couldn't stand to be restrained like this any longer.

"Okay, okay, hold on." Taking Quinn from Gromet, Vikki lay her on the ground, moved towards the thick collar. "Won't take a second."

"Going somewhere?"

The three turned. Targonamey was standing behind them, Anubis at his side. The god was battered, and covered with numerous cuts and scrapes, having taken a huge beating from Xesex's hands. But still he stood, for an unconscious Xesex lay at his feet, equally as bloody, perhaps even more so.

"Really, why do you even bother running?" Targonamey asked. "Your efforts are for naught. You will not delay the inevitable."

"Beats being locked in a tomb for the rest of my life," Quinn spat.

Targonamey nodded. "Well, I cannot deny that. But I must admit, your escape was, unexpected. I am afraid that next time, I will send you to Anubis' realm. You will all spend eternity in a coffin, wishing you had stayed where you were."

Anubis cracked his knuckles.

"Wake up, you idiot!" Quinn snapped, trying to think of a way to stall for time. "This plan of yours isn't going to work. If all this really is just a story, you think the author is going to end it with the bad guy winning?"

Targonamey scowled. "Bad guy? I am no, 'bad guy.' I am seeking to save our reality. How is that an act of evil?"

"Enslaving everyone against their will is a good start," Vikki said.

"No one would believe me if I told them the truth," Targonamey said, loosing his patience. "Tell me, if I had gone up to you, Quinn, and told you what was happening, would you have joined me? Or would you instead declare me a madman, and cast me aside? Look around you! Look to the heavens!"

Above, the dark clouds were swirling, and as Quinn and the others listened, they heard a loud rumble, unlike anything anyone, god and mortal alike, had ever heard. It was like ancient gears slowly grinding to a halt, rusting so much that they were falling apart."

"What is that?" Vikki said.

"You are listening to the very end of the universe," Targonamey explained, and for once, there was fear in his voice. "The end of our universe, of all our worlds. Time has grown short, and I must act quickly if I am to save us from it."

"You can't do it!" Quinn said. "You may think you're special, but you're just like us! You're just a guy with some magical powers! Only the arrogant would think they could single-handily stop an entire universe from imploding!"

Targonamey's face contorted with barely controlled anger. "You doubt me?! You dare to insult the very first being who was ever brought into this universe?! I am more powerful then you can ever dream of, Quinn, and when I am the god of this universe, I will show everyone what true power is!"

"In my world, we have a saying," Gromet said, "Absolute power corrupts absolutely."

"In your reality, you have never had to deal with the universe itself coming to an end," Targonamey growled. "Once I save us all, all the worlds will thank me, and kneel at my feet to accept my rule, except for all of you. All you have to look forward to is a dark and silent tomb."

He turned to Anubis. "Take them."

Cracking his knuckles once again, Anubis started towards the three, hands glowing.

"Hey, can't we negotiate about this?!" Quinn shouted, feeling utterly helpless inside her sleepsack, and wishing with all her might that the others had freed her earlier.

"There is no negotiation," Targonamey growled. "You are all threats, and will be treated as such. My mercy towards you is at an end."

"As is mine."

Targonamey was starting to turn when Xesex's tail shot out and knocked him aside. Anubis turned, caught Xesex as he leapt through the air, punching and fighting. But though Anubis had taken a severe beating, Xesex had taken an even worse one, and was knocked to the ground.

"It's over, brother," Anubis growled. "You will join these three in a coffin of your own. Tell me, does spending eternity in a box sound sexy to you?"

"No," Xesex gasped, coughing up blood. "But I won't let you take them."

Anubis laughed. "And how will you do that?"

Xesex raised his hands, and a glow appeared, the exact same color as the bombs Quinn and the others had distributed inside the tower.

"Tell me you've heard of Götterdämmerung, the twilight of the gods?" Xesex asked. "If this is the end of all things, it is the end of us. And I can think of no better way then to spare the mortals from you."

He clenched his fist.

"No!" Anubis roared, both in anger, and in terror. But even as he leapt towards Xesex, there was a thundering explosion from within the tower as every single bomb Quinn and the others had planted, exploded. But they did not give off fire, gas, and explosive pressure; rather, waves of energy shot through the tower, passing through walls, its inhabitants, and the surrounding area. Everyone was knocked to the ground; Quinn, helpless, rolled across the concrete, unable to stop herself.

Above it all, Anubis yelled in unbearable pain, as if he was having the very life sucked from him.

Then the energy faded, and was gone.

Anubis struggled to his feet, looking at his hands, trying to conjure magic with it. But no matter what he did, he couldn't do it.

"No! No!" he yelled, and Quinn was surprised to hear terror in the god's voice. "No, not this! Anything but this!"

"What happened?" Gromet asked, confused.

Xesex dragged himself over to the group. "The bombs you placed contained the most powerful magic I possessed," he said. "It was magic that neutralizes all divine powers, magic, and sorcery in any being it touched. Including gods."

"Damn you!" Anubis yelled, as he collapsed to his knees, sobbing.

"Then, he's powerless?"

Xesex nodded. "As am I. We are now but mortals, with no magical power."

Vikki came up to the god, stroked his cheek. "I'm sorry."

"It was a worthy sacrifice. With his powers gone, Targonamey cannot harm anyone ever again. His quest is over."

An energy blast his Xesex, knocking him through the air.

"I had no idea," Targonamey fumed, lowering his staff, "that even gods would want to die, rather then be saved. Did you really think your spells would work on me? I am Targonamey, the first creation of the storyteller! Your powers are nothing compared to mine! You have only stripped yourselves of power!"

He looked around, and to Quinn, he seemed to be turning into a madman before her eyes. "I would not believe it, but you have shown me the truth, that everyone and everything in this world, and in all the others, will oppose me, no matter what I do. I cannot, and will not allow that!"

"Uhh, help?" Quinn said, still struggling against her sack.

As Gromet ran to her, Xesex crawled his way back to the three. "Listen, all of you," he whispered. "You have to go to the start of it all. You have to stop Targonamey at the source. It's your only hope."

Targonamey raised his staff, which was now glowing at the tip.

"What are you talking about?" Vikki asked quickly, sensing that time was running out.

Xesex reached inside himself, and pulled out what looked like a small, rolled up scroll.

"Take this," he said, giving it to Vikki. "You must use this when the time is right, where it all began. It's the only way to-"

A deep, rumbling sonic boom shattered the air, and cut off Xesex.

Turning, they all saw Targonamey, who was now floating into the air, his robes billowing as they parted, revealing mounds of woven bandages beneath, where his body should have been.

"What the-"

Before Vikki could finish, streams of bandages suddenly flooded out from Targonamey, and shot right at Xesex. Faster then any of them could follow, the bandages grabbed the god, and quickly wrapped him up, quickly encasing him in bandages.

"Xesex!" Vikki shouted.

The bandages yanked the mummified god towards Targonamey, and then into the mounds of bandages, the man absorbing the god into his body, until Xesex's wrapped tail vanished from sight.

"He was the first," Targonamey said, floating higher and higher. "And he shall not be the last!"

Vikki turned, and ran to the others. "Come on, we gotta go!" She grabbed Quinn, and threw her over her shoulder, and ran, Gromet following close behind.

"You may run," Targonamey shouted. "But there is nowhere you can hide, for now, at the end of days, I claim this world, and all others, as my own, now and forever!"

He threw his staff, and it sailed into the ground, hitting with the force of a bomb as it embedded itself into the street. Streams of bandages shot out, but not the dozens that Quinn and the others had seen before. Hundreds, then thousands, then millions of bandages were shooting out from the base of the staff, heading off in all directions.

From above, Targonamey raised his staff, and levitated Anubis as well, the god now helpless, and completely dependant upon the human to save him from what was taking place below.

Vikki and Gromet ran as fast as they could down the streets, and only Quinn could watch as the bandages continued to shoot out, advancing across the streets like a tidal wave, wrapping all the nearby signs, mailboxes, street lights, and stores. Even the nearby buildings weren't safe as the bandages spread out and wrapped them up tightly, smashing the windows and going inside to do the same for every single object inside.

Within a minute, several city blocks had been mummified, and it was clear the bandages weren't going to stop.

"What's going on?!" Gromet shouted, daring to glance back, only to speed up again as he saw the bandages advancing.

"Oh shit, guys!" Quinn shouted. "Go faster! Faster, faster, faster!"

"Why?" Vikki asked, already going as fast as she could.

It was a moment before Quinn answered, because she had realized exactly what Targonamey was planning to do, and her heart almost stopped.

"Because the entire planet's being mummified!"

27.08.12