Star League 3 (6 page)

I desperately reach into my potion satchel, hoping to find something to get me out of this mess, but my hand comes up empty – I'm out of potions! The mummy looms over me. This is it. I'm done for!

I definitely don't have the fighting skills of Jay or Asuka, but maybe I can buy myself some time. I reach out to push the mummy away, but my hand gets tangled in one of its loose bandages. I flail around, trying to get free. The mummy roars in anger. I pull more and more bandages away, spinning the mummy around in circles. Then it starts to fall apart.

First a hand, then a foot, and then the whole mummy collapses in pieces. Of course! Without the bandages, there's nothing to hold it together.
The pieces of the mummy still moan and wriggle around my feet.

‘Everyone, listen up!' I yell. ‘Their weak point is the bandages! Go for the bandages and they fall apart!'

The others stare at me for a moment as my words sink in, then they set to work on their mummies.

Jay dodges a bolt of lightning from his mummy and ducks under its arm. He grabs the loose end of a bandage and pulls as hard as he can. The mummy spins around like a top and collapses in pieces.

Asuka whips out a small dagger to cut a few bandage strips off her mummy. Then she pulls the loose ends and the mummy falls apart.

Connor makes fast work of his mummy. With his werewolf claws, he slashes at the bandages and in a matter of seconds it's nothing but spare parts.

Leigh and Chu work together on their mummy, each grabbing a loose end. They pull, running in
opposite directions, and eventually the mummy falls to the ground.

Sam seems to be taking his time thinking about something. It looks like the mummy is about to attack him when he pulls the tip off his finger, producing a laser. He burns off a small patch of bandage. At first I think it's not going to be enough, but then the rest of the bandages fall off. He must've been analysing the mummy to find a weak spot!

Now all that's left are six piles of mummy parts and a whole lot of bandages. Somebody starts laughing, and I look around. Nefertina! I'd forgotten all about her.

She stands with her head thrown back in maniacal laughter, slowly clapping her hands. ‘Well done, Star League,' she hisses. ‘But did you really think it would be that easy to put a stop to my Modified Mummies?'

I shrug. ‘Well, yeah, it looks like it.'

Nefertina shakes her head. ‘These are mummies, which means they're undead. And do you know what happens to something that's undead when it gets pulled apart?'

My shoulders sag because I know the answer. ‘It puts itself back together again.'

‘Very good!' Nefertina squeals. The mummies begin to twitch and pull their limbs back together, just like I do when I've been broken into pieces. In a matter of seconds they've completely restored themselves.

They grab each of us, holding us in place. I struggle against the mummy holding me, but its grip is rock-solid. The others try to get free too, but for the moment it doesn't seem like anyone's going anywhere.

They line us up in a row and Nefertina walks down examining each one of us.

‘You know, I “borrowed” these mummies from the museum's ancient Egypt exhibition,' she says.

‘You mean stole,' interrupts Jay.

‘Be quiet!' screeches Nefertina. ‘Sooner or later the museum is going to notice them missing. So perhaps I should replace them.'

Nefertina holds up an old, yellowing bandage and begins wrapping it around Jay. In a couple of minutes he's covered from head to toe.

‘You look just like the real thing!' she says, standing back to admire her handiwork. ‘With you six replacing my mummies in the exhibition, you'll be out of my way for good!'be out of my way for good!

Oh no! Trapped in a museum forever? I think about spending the rest of my life under bandages and layers of dust and I know we've got to stop Nefertina. She's still working her way down the line, wrapping the others in bandages. I try to wriggle against the mummy holding me but it's got an iron grip on my wrists … on my wrists. An idea pops into my head, but it's risky. There's a small chance it might do me in for good. Well, more than a small chance actually. I just hope I've got enough Loosifying Juice left in my system.

Using the last ounce of my strength, I pop one of my hands off. It falls to the floor with a soft plop, but I guess the mummy is too brain-dead to hear it.

I direct my hand over to the large vats of
Zombification Potion and Loosifying Juice, hoping that Nefertina won't turn around and spot it. Then my hand climbs up the side of one of the vats. The next part is tricky, because if I'm wrong about my hunch then me and the rest of the Star League are history – history exhibits in a museum, that is!

I'm distracted as Nefertina begins wrapping bandages around me. Normally I wouldn't be so worried since I've already got out of this once by falling apart. But with my Loosifying powers already drained, I don't think I can do it again. She finishes wrapping me up like a mummy, but luckily she's missed a spot over my left eye.

When she's finished tying us all up, Nefertina orders the mummies around her in a circle and starts giving them orders. I can't believe my luck – they're standing directly under the vats. I watch my hand as it starts searching and finds what it's after: an automatic release lever.

My hand pulls the lever and the big vat of
Loosifying Juice slowly begins to topple over. Nefertina doesn't notice until the very last second when a tidal wave of red potion slops out of the vat and crashes into her and the mummies.

‘Nooo!' she screeches before choking on a mouthful of the stuff. Unfortunately the wave doesn't stop there. It surges towards me and knocks me off my feet. I lie there dazed for a minute, then I try to get up.

Except my torso is over by the door and my legs are in one corner! Which I guess is a good thing because it means my plan worked. Too much Loosifying Juice makes you too loose, and you still can't put yourself back together. I look over at the mummies and they're also in pieces scattered all over the floor. They're grunting with the effort of putting themselves back together again, but as I'd suspected, they've had an overdose of Loosifying Juice and it'll be a while before they can reconnect with themselves.

By this point the Star League have managed to wriggle out of their bandages and they've cornered Nefertina.

‘Give it up, Nefertina,' I yell. ‘You're outnumbered!' She glares at me, then hangs her head. She doesn't even try to fight back as Jay ties her hands behind her back with some of the bandages.

‘That was a great plan, Roger,' says Jay. ‘I always knew you had a good head on your shoulders.'

‘Yeah,' says Asuka. ‘I thought we'd reached a dead end!'

‘But thanks to you we're all in one piece,' says Connor with a smirk.

‘How did you manage to hold it together so well?' says Leigh, who giggles a little. Then they all burst out laughing.

‘Also, you're a zombie and you're able to disconnect parts of your body,' says Sam. The others stare at him. I don't think Sam really gets jokes.

‘Ha ha! Very funny, guys,' I say, rolling my eyes. ‘Now, can you give me a hand getting out of here? I can't put myself back together until the extra Loosifying Juice wears off … that is,
if
it wears off!'

As the others scoop me up, Jay grabs my recipe book from Nefertina's desk.

‘Want me to hold onto this for a while?'

I glance at my hands on the other side of the room. ‘Yeah, that's probably a good idea.'

‘What about these guys?' asks Asuka, pointing to the mummies and Nefertina.

‘Well, the Zombification Potion that brought the mummies back to life should wear off sooner or later and then we can return them to the museum,' I say. ‘As for Nefertina, she should be behind bars.'

‘You'll never hold me for long! I'll escape, and then I'll …'

Jay wraps a big piece of bandage over her mouth.

‘Looks like this case is all wrapped up,' I say.
‘Now let's make like mummies and go unwind!'

The others laugh and we work on finding that emergency exit.