The realization stunned Ash for a while. But they barely had any time to be surprised when suddenly, the mummy raised its arms, and SOMETHING... flew at the window!
"Get out!" Petach screamed and gave Ash and Max, who stood next to him, a firm push. He then turned around and spread his arms, as if he was going to catch whatever was coming at them.
A bright, blinding light enveloped his whole figure, and they all could see how he was staggering backwards. But slowly, he pushed the strange power backwards, until the light disappeared.
He turned around. "Step into the circle! I'll try and stop him!"
"No way!" Ash shouted. "We have Pokémon! We should fight him!"
"We have no time to argue!" Petach's voice sounded like he was in panic. "Just do it!" And he ran out of the room, to face the mummy outside.
Max looked at his sister, and May shrugged. "What should we do, Ash?" she asked.
Ash gritted his teeth. "I don't know what this thing wants from us, but if Petach thinks I'll stay just hear and let that mummy get him, he's deadly wrong!"
"I'll help you!" May said with determination.
Max nodded. "Yeah, me too!"
"No, Max!" Max turned to face her brother. "It's too dangerous! Please, stay up here. Brock, can you watch out for him?"
Brock nodded. "No problem, we'll stay here, you go and help the old man."
Ash and May nodded, and followed by Pikachu, they ran downstairs.
Max sighed. "She always leaves me behind..." He then looked at the 'circle' Petach had mentioned. It was a circle made of several stone figurines that were lying on the ground, all of them Bug Pokémon. They were mostly made of clay, but also of stone and iron.
But what surprised them most was that they weren't immobile anymore... they were crawling in a circle and let their bodies scrape against each other, which created a weird rustling and scraping sound.
"Creepy..." Max muttered. "Should we listen to his advice and step in?"
Anubis and Bast, who had come out from beneath the armchair, nodded at them.
Brock shrugged. "Well, they seem to know what's best, so why argue?"
"Petach!" Ash shouted as they reached the lower end of the stairs. "Where are you?"
"Stay up there, Ash!" they could hear his voice coming from somewhere. "He's too powerful for you and your Pokémon!"
"Forget it!" Ash snapped.
May gestured to their left. "I think they are in the hallway."
When they stepped through the door, they stared at the scene in front of their eyes. The mummy was standing in the middle of the front door, with its lance in its hands. The snow storm from outside blew past it and pushed Petach backwards. Somehow, they could see that the undead creature was somehow controlling the storm. But there was something else, a creepy yellow aura that surrounded the dead warrior's bandaged body.
"GO BACK WHERE YOU CAME FROM!" Petach shouted and fought against the invisible force that was pushing him back. "YOU HAVE NO POWER HERE! GO BACK TO YOUR DARK MASTER!"
"PETACH!" Ash shouted. "Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"
"PI-KAAA-CHUUUUUUU!"
The crackling electric attack surged forth at the mummy... and completely dissipated when it hit the blazing aura that surrounded the creature's body. Pikachu was not the only one to gasp in surprise.
"No way!" Ash said.
Petach turned around his head to look at them. "Why don't you listen to me? Go up and step into the circle, you are safe in there!"
"No way!" Ash protested, and at the same moment, May screamed: "LOOK OUT!"
The mummy had moved. With a single step, it had entered the house. It raised its lance high above its head and trusted it downwards at Petach. But the elderly man was much more agile than he looked like... he effortlessly dodged the attack, grabbed the mummy's arm and threw it across the room.
"Maybe... maybe I should use another Pokémon..." Ash muttered and grabbed one of his Pokéballs. "Grovyle, I choose you!"
"Grovyle!" the plant Pokémon exclaimed as it left its Pokéball. Then it started to shiver. "Gr-r-r-r-ov-v-v-vyle..."
"Ash, he won't stand a chance within that blizzard!" May protested.
"Uh, yes, you're right..." Ash murmured. "Grovyle, return!"
After calling Grovyle back, Ash chose another Pokémon. "Corphish, it's your turn!"
"Corphish!" the big lobster said, snapping its pincers.
"Corphish, Bubblebeam!" Ash commanded.
"Cooooorrrrrrr..." Obeying his friend, Corphish fired a powerful stream of bubbles through the snow at the mummy.
Its bandages body got completely soaked, but the attack didn't seem to have any other effect.
"Well, that certainly didn't help..." May said nervously. "M-maybe we should listen to him and go back up..."
"No way!" Ash shouted. "Corphish, use..."
He had no time to shout the order, as the mummy suddenly was standing next to him and smacked his head with the shaft of its lance.
Ash groaned. "Goodnight, mummy..." he muttered, then he fell over!
"ASH!" May screamed, then yelped as the undead warrior stabbed his lance at them.
"Corphish!" yelled the lobster as he jumped at the mummy, snapping at its arm with his massive pincer. The powerful attack severed the mummy's left arm from its body, but that still didn't faze their creepy opponent.
But then Petach was behind the mummy and grabbed its body with both arms. "Bring Ash upstairs!" he shouted. "You'll be safe in the circle!"
"O-okay..." The sight of an elderly man who fought against a thousand year old mummy in the middle of a snow storm seemed to convince May that it may be the best if she did what Petach said. She heaved Ash's body over her shoulder, and with the help of Pikachu and Corphish, she dragged him upstairs.
In the office, she found Max and Brock sitting in the middle of a circle of living clay figurines.
She sweatdropped. "That's the protective circle?"
Max shrugged. "Hey, don't ask me! I don't know if it works or not."
"Well, let's hope Petach knows what he does," May grimaced as she lifted Ash's body in the middle of the circle, careful not to step on any of their tiny guardians.
"What happened to him?" Brock asked.
"A hard blow to the head, that's all," May sighed. "But if it weren't for Petach and Corphish, we wouldn't be standing here... Thanks, Corphish!"
She petted the lobster Pokémon's head, and Corphish grinned bashfully.
"Wait a minute..." Max suddenly said. "Do you hear that?"
"Hear what?" May asked. "I don't hear anything."
"That's just it," Max said. "It's too quiet."
He was right: The only sound they could hear was the noise of the storm outside and the scraping of the crawling bug figurines.
"You think... he beat him?" May asked in a worried tone of voice.
All hopes she had were shattered when the door opened up... and the mummy stood in front of them. Behind him, they could see the limp form of Petach, as he slowly slid down the wall... and they also could see the lance that was sticking through his body, its bronze tip clearly visible as it pierced the old man's back. Blood was seeping from the deadly wound, and it also was smeared upon the wall his body was leaning against.
May yelped in horror while Max closed his eyes. Brock stood up and reached for his Pokéballs. Anubis growled and bared his teeth while Bast hissed at the undead creature.
"Well..." Brock murmured. "Either Petach's protection circle works... or we're in serious trouble!"
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(Posted Fri, 27 Jul 2007 22:20)
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