Mysterious Cairo

by Edited By Ed Stark

  The surprised priestess stumbled, outraged, into Havoc, who gave the woman a knockout blow to the temple with the handle of his .45, then took off after the retreating Asp.

  Amidst the worshippers, the four Knights found the resistance half-hearted at best. Many of the devotees broke ranks and fled when the three sword wielders began taking on two, three, four opponents each. A few stout hearted souls swung khopesh swords in defiance, but most of the blows clanged uselessly against the Knights' parrying, which was inevitably followed by a devastating counterstrike that left an increasing number of cultists dead.

  "Look! I see Havoc!" Corey shouted to her friends as her last bullet found a cultist. "He's chasing Asp into a wall recess!"

  "We must follow!" yelled Daremo as his two swords disemboweled an amazed cultist, who died before he hit the ground. "No telling what treachery the Asp has in store!"

  "Never mind the treachery," Corey shot back as she kicked a club-wielding cultist below the belt. "How the hell does she run so fast in those three-inch heels?"

  Asp ran down the secret corridor, and threw a switch before turning left. As Havoc reached that point, the floor gave way into a pit several dozen feet deep, the bottom covered with a living carpet of hissing snakes and scorpions. Mustering all of his strength and co-ordination, Havoc's gloved hand reached out and snagged a projection in the wall pit, stopping his descent halfway down. As he caught his breath, he realized that the projection was rapidly turning red hot.

  He heard the voices of his allies coming down the corridor, but he knew they would never arrive in time. Taking a deep breath, Havoc pushed off the wall with his legs and attempted an acrobatic flip up to the top. His legs cleared the pit lip, but failed to find a hold, and Havoc fell head first back down the pit.

  His descent was halted a scant two feet from the poisonous vermin, and he looked up to see Daremo with the avenger's rope-gun, the rope secured around Havoc's ankles. "You had forgotten this," the ninja grinned.

  "About time you got here," Havoc muttered as Kayla and Marcel pulled the hero up to the top.

  When the five Knights reached Asp's chambers, the villainess was waiting for them. "So, Havoc, we meet again," she purred as she took a deep breath and smiled at the men. "Have you changed your mind? Have you decided to accept my terms and become my consort? Together, we could conquer this world! My love for you is genuine, and I long to express it . any way I can."

  "Drop dead, Asp!" Havoc snarled, pulling out his guns and taking aim. "Tell me what you know about Mobius' plans for the Sphinx!"

  "It's taking place today at sundown, dearest," she smiled. "That's all I will tell you. Until next time, my love."

  Havoc cocked back the hammers of his pistols. "Hah! You're not going anywhere!" the hero snarled.

  Suddenly, a pair of blows caught Havoc in the back of the head, followed by the cries of surprise from Kayla and Corey. Laughing, the Asp vanished into a cloud of scarlet smoke. Havoc looked up to see a very confused Marcel and Daremo, the latter bowing deeply. "A thousand pardons, Major. I ... I ... do not know what came over me. For an instant, the prospect of you hurting the Asp seemed so awful to me, that I had to hit you."

  "Aye, 'twas the same for me!" Marcel added, the young Hospitaller flushing crimson.

  "Well, we feel like zapping that bimbo," Corey snarled, pulling out her gun. "Fire at will, Kayla," she yelled as she pumped hot lead into the scarlet smoke. The barbarian fired several arrows into the billowing cloud as well.

  Havoc rose and rubbed his neck. "Save your ammo; she's gone. Blast it, I forgot about her mind control powers. But at least she told us the when, and we already know where, so let's go! Sundown is only an hour away!"

  After making sure that the sacrifices were safe, the five Knights climbed back into the roadster and roared off to the site of the Sphinx as the sun began to set. As they drove, Corey, whose curiosity was piqued, spoke up in her best journalist voice.

  "Um . Major, what was Asp talking about back there about her loving you? And what was all that about her offer?"

  "Her husband was called the Copper Cobra," Havoc replied as he gave the amazed Daremo a meaningful glance. "He was killed accidentally by my powers. Now, the Asp wants me to take her dead husband's place. She's so obsessed with having me agree, that she goes on these crime sprees to get my attention."

  "Now, let me get this straight," Corey shook her head. "All of the wicked things she does, she does because she has a crush on you?"

  "Well, I guess that's one way of looking at it," Havoc replied.

  "I hate to interrupt this conversation, but the Sphinx is over the next hill," Daremo announced. "We had better pull over and decide how to approach the thing."

  As the Knights got out of their roadster, they could hear the thundering rhythm of many voices raised in a strange chant. As they discussed their tactics in hurried whispers, they climbed up the hill on their bellies. Their progress was halted when the Knights saw four shocktroopers, silhouetted against the rising moon.

  "I think I should tell you, the area is a hardpoint for Core Earth," Havoc explained. It's strongest at the pyramids, and weaker near the Sphinx. Just the same, any of you who want to cover yourselves in your realities, you had better do it now."

  In response, Daremo assumed a lotus position and began meditating. Summoning all of his ki power, he called into his inner being all that is truly Japan. Suddenly, he recalled his martial arts prowess as his digital watch beeped back to life.

  "A good idea," Marcel murmured. "I shall do likewise." Drawing forth his sword and placing it point first into the sand, the Hospitaller knelt down and began reciting the Lord's Prayer. He let out a sigh as his cyber systems clicked back on line. Enhanced strength flowed through his limbs, and his prayer beads' LED displays flared to life.

  "Let me take the four guards," Daremo offered. "I shall signal when all is clear." With that, the ninj a slipped into the shadows.

  "That's not necessary, Daremo," Corey replied as she loaded her pistol. "Daremo? . Daremo?"

  Kayla knelt to the ground near where Daremo was last seen. "He has left, and his tracks are barely visible!" The wonderment in her voice was obvious to all.

  "But how will we know what the signal is?" Corey whispered.

  A dagger landed at Marcel's feet. Attached to it were four Egyptian headdresses.

  "Call it a hunch, but I'd say we've just been signalled," Havoc observed with approval. "I have to say, I like that guy."

  The four Knights climbed the crest of the hill and looked down. Everyone let out a gasp of wonder. The Great Sphinx was illuminated with bulky spotlights, with the three pyramids of Giza looming in the background. A crowd of several hundred shocktroopers, priests, mathematicians, and engineers swayed and chanted, as they lifted their fiery torches to the heavens. A large cage of vicious looking war dogs was the closest thing to the Knights' position.

  Corey let out a low whistle. "Would you look at that."

  "Yeah, but no sign of Mobius," Havoc mumbled. "Blazes! Where is he? We need to get closer. Everyone lock hands in a circle. Things are going to get dark for a while, but we're going to move forward. Trust me." Havoc closed his eyes and pictured the death of his wife. The terrible pain of seeing a loved one's life snuffed out so quickly due to such a random act of violence brought the sadness and anger in Havoc's heart to his consciousness. A globe of inky blackness covered the Knights.

  Within minutes, the Knights had managed to get close to the actual Sphinx itself. Havoc, who was the only one who could see beyond his darkness, guided the Knights with great skill. As they came to a halt, the ground began to tremble as a deafening cheer rose from the assembled throng. Judging that everyone's attention was on the tremors, Havoc released his darkness and sent it back into the depths of his soul.

  The sand beside the Sphinx erupted in a great explosion as a huge, gleaming object of metal rose from below. The cheers were bordering on hysterical joy as the creature rose up on four titanic steel
paws like a great cat. The Knights gasped in amazement as they realized that they were staring at a steel robot replica of the Great Sphinx. Corey pulled out her minicam and began filming. The robot's eyes gleamed a deep red, and from its mouth a static- filled voice crackled.

  "Assembled faithful, the hour has come!"

  "Mobius!" Havoc hissed as a chill passed through the group of Knights.

  "No longer shall my forces be deadlocked by the infernal Israelis!" the voice boomed. "With my mighty Robosphinx, fashioned by my genius and some small help from the assembled engineers and mathematicians, and blessed by the priests using every planet possible, I shall smash through the battlefront stalemate and rout the enemy! On to Jerusalem!"

  "Jerusalem! Jerusalem!" the crowd screamed.

  "That does it. I've heard enough," Havoc mumbled as he strode up to the front paws of the Sphinx, heedless of the gasps of amazement and outrage from the assembled enemies and the pleas of his friends. Hands on hips, cloak billowing heroically, Havoc addressed the Sphinx, ignoring the sounds of dozen of bolts being drawn on dozens of Schmeissers. "Mobius! You worm! It is I, Major Havoc!"

  "Maj or Havoc," the electronic voice sneered. The great head suddenly lifted up and addressed the gathering. "No one interfere! I shall take care of this Mystery Man myself!" The head spun downward until the huge red eyes focused squarely on the figure of Major Havoc, a good twenty feet down. "So, Havoc! We meet again! This time on another world — a world that shall soon be mine! What I am about to do to you, I shall do to all opposition!"

  A panel opened on Robosphinx's back, and a missile shot out of the hole. It roared into the sky, then detonated with a blinding flash, causing streaks of silver to cascade downward as the crowd cheered.

  The Knights felt a wave of power wash over them, bringing with it thoughts of Good, Evil, and heroism.

  "A reality bomb?" Havoc shouted to Mobius. "Not bad, but is that the best you can do?"

  With the sound of clanking gears and humming servomotors, a great paw raised itself up and maneuvered itself over Havoc's head. Sand fell onto the brim of the Major's black hat. "Surrender, Havoc! Join my organization, or become part of the sand!"

  In reply, Havoc drew his twin .45s, aimed at the eyes of the huge robot, and pulled the triggers. Nothing happened. Havoc noticed with alarm that his automatics were filled with sand. "Oops," he muttered.

  "Ooooo, I am so sorry! Wrong answer!" Mobius cackled as the paw came thundering down, smashing Havoc flat into the sand.

  "Nooooo!" Corey screamed, calling Mobius and the crowds' attention to her little group of Knights.

  "Whatever we do now, we must destroy that Sphinx!" Daremo shouted over the roar of the crowd as tears filled his own eyes. "Avenge Havoc! We shall do honor to his name, or fall!"

  A maniacal laugh issued from the Sphinx's mouth. "Kill the stormers!"

  Marcel was already one step ahead of the crowd. In order to cause a distraction, he had made his way to the war dogs' cages. Leaping atop the cages, the Hospitaller drew his sword and flicked a button, causing the weapon to flare with electrical energy. With a loud scream of "Havoc!" the Knight sliced through the kennels' mesh and let loose the war dogs. The dogs, kept hungry and without their handlers nearby, began hurling themselves into the crowd. Marcel himself, with his powersword in one hand and his GodMeeter in the other, jumped into the crowd like an avenging cybernetic angel. With a cry of "Ave Maria, Ave Jesu!", he began harvesting the dark souls of the followers of Mobius, his CSI Eyekill methodically picking out the targets which posed the greatest threat.

  Many in the crowd, in an effort to escape Marcel's wrath, began swirling towards the remaining Knights, cutting off any clear path to the Robosphinx. In reply, Kayla's sword and Daremo's 13mm Chunyokai pistol were unleashed upon the homicidal masses. "Whatever you do, don't let Corey or yourself fall into the grip of this land's laws!" Daremo called out to Kayla. "If we are to win, we must remember who we are and cling to it! We must not lose our realities. We must not disconnect from them!"

  "So, this so-called disconnecting would be bad?" Kayla asked as she struck down two shocktroopers.

  Daremo took out another three gun-wielding cronies and turned to Kayla. Four troopers were sneaking up on her. In a single motion, Daremo let four shuriken fly, embedding them in the four mens' foreheads. "Absolutely." he called back. "If you see one of us change appearance or bearing, chances are they have disconnected. Bring them back by reminding them of what they once were or did."

  Corey, meanwhile, still stood at the spot where she was when she saw Havoc die. Her camera continued recording. She could not stop looking at the ground where Havoc lay, no doubt buried under the sand. That is no grave worthy of a hero like that, a voice in her head spoke. He died trying to save a land that is not even his. He was a true hero.

  Hero. The word burned in her mind. In Corey's America, the America of the 1990s, the word was almost obsolete. Cynicism and suspicion had killed the concept of a true hero. There were no heroes left to fight Evil. But that's alright, the voice in her head replied sarcastically, because the whole idea of Good and Evil, and the lines that separate them, seem to have been deliberately blurred these days. People can be Evil, then just write a book or give lectures about what they did, and they'll just become richer. Some punishment!

  The idea angered Corey. Life was unfair! This place, the Nile, seemed to have the right idea! Either you are Good, or you are Evil! No in-betweens! 'And what are you?' the voice in her head asked, 'Whom do you serve?'

  Corey was so lost in her thoughts that she did not see the Sphinx's eyes focus on her. "I am Good!" she screamed as bolts of electricity struck her, hurling her to the ground.

  The stunned woman got up and shook her head. She was still alive! In fact, she felt odd. "Feels like I stuck a wet hand in a VCR," she mumbled, then realized that she no longer knew what the initials stood for. An odd itching began manifesting itself as she felt something moving under her khaki desert clothes. Instinctively, she knew what it was, for she was no longer Corey Jones, American telejournalist (whatever that was), no, she was .

  "Electronic Media!" she shouted, ripping off her clothes to reveal a red, white and blue bodysuit with a lightning bolt on her chest. Grabbing her pen, which now flared with electrical energy, she leaped into the air and realized that she was flying. "Now, Mobius! Feel the power of the free press! The pen is mightier than the sword!" A bolt of electrical energy shot forth from the fountain pen and struck the Robosphinx, causing the mammoth machine to stagger.

  In the meantime, Marcel managed to carve a path to his two friends. The three Knights, Daremo, Kayla, and Marcel, formed their usual defensive circle and continued to take on all who were foolish enough to fight them.

  Marcel's sword arm rose and fell with a steady rhythm, which reminded the young Christian warrior of a machine. A machine. His mind reeled. In fact, wasn't that was he truly was? A machine? He was not human, not anymore. No, now he was a machine. Marcel's mind snapped as he began flailing about, now no longer caring who he hit, including his friends, since after all, machines have no friends.

  "Marcel's gone berserk!" Daremo called to Kayla. "He's become psychotic!"

  The barbarian woman seized the cyberwarrior and was amazed at his strength. "Marcel, it is us! Your friends!"

  In response, Marcel growled and hurled Kayla into the crowd, which immediately fell upon her. Daremo, who was busy trying to keep the crowd back, witnessed the attack and despaired on how he was going to save Kayla and stop Marcel. A loud crackle of electricity and the smell of ozone filled the air. Daremo looked up at the Robosphinx, only to see Corey dressed in a gaudy costume, firing bolts of energy at the robot and actuailly damaging it.

  Corey, too, saw Daremo, and saw what had happened. Breaking off her attack on the robot, the newly born heroine swooped down on the crowd and pulled Kayla out from their murderous clutches.

  Daremo's sigh of relief was cut short by a cybernet-ically enhanced punch to
the back of the neck. Recovering quickly and landing on his feet, Daremo spun around to face Marcel, whose eyes gleamed with electronic madness.

  "Marcel! Marcel, we are your friends, for God's sake!" the ninja pleaded, while still using one arm to swipe at any of the crowd that got too close.

  The word "God" struck a chord in Marcel's brain. The word echoed, and grew in intensity as it began to drive out the madness. The word grew into a whole chain of associated words, each with its own power to heal some part of the stricken Knight. GodSpiritChrist TrinityResurrectionGraceForgivenessRedemption ...

  "Salvation!" Marcel screamed as his soul shook of the last of the madness.

  Daremo let out a whoosh of air in relief. "Glad to have you back, friend," the ninja nodded. "Let us attend the matter at hand. In fact, the tide turns in our favor. Corey seems to have flipped over to the Nile, and she has become a Mystery Woman. If she stays that way a while longer, we may actually win this fight."

  At that very moment, Corey touched down in a safe place, carrying the shaken Kayla with her. "There, fellow Storm Knight! You should be safe now!" she said in a commanding, heroic voice. "I must make Mobius pay for his crimes! For I am ... Electronic Media!"

  The barbarian realized that her friend was no longer her usual self. "No, no! You are Corey Jones! Do you not remember?" Kayla replied, shaking Corey by the shoulders and ignoring the pandemonium around them.

  "Corey? Corey Jones?" the heroine replied, uncertainly.

  "Yes! That is your real name! You are from a land called America. You used to carry this odd device called a 'minnecamb.'" The barbarian picked up the damaged minicam, which, unknown to her was the cause of Corey's disconnection.

  "You mean a mini-cam," Corey replied, and suddenly she remembered what a mini-cam was. The electricity coursing through her began to fade, and so did the costume, as all the information about Core Earth rushed back into her head, making her stagger. "Wh-What? What am I doing! Where are my clothes?" Kayla removed her cloak and wrapped Corey in it.