Strange Tales #35 Part 5 Featuring  Written by Bob Gansler

YEAR FOUR JAN

Outside, the sands of the Egyptian desert howled mercilessly.  Inside of a well-concealed underground enclosure, a solitary figure sat hunched over a set of ancient books.  To anyone with a sense of the occult, this room was rife with it.  Censers burned with incense manufactured thousands of years ago.  The books were written at a time when the pyramids were young.  The reader had been there when some of those arcane books had been written, he had slaved in the construction of one of those pyramids.  He was N’Kantu, better known as the Living Mummy.

N’Kantu had been holed up in this hidden underground building for many months now.  It had taken him countless months to find this hideaway - the former home of the evil wizard Nepphrus.  It had been
Nephrus, High Priest under Pharaoh Aram-Set, who transformed N’Kantu into the stalking monster that he was now.

Thoughts of those days three thousand years would have brought bile to his mouth, that is, if his body still had any other liquids save the preservative fluid that flowed within his veins.  It was this fluid, injected by the thrice-damned Nephrus, that gave him the semblance of life.  Nephrus had mummified N’Kantu alive after N’Kantu had slain the Pharaoh.  The wizard had enacted the Black Land’s revenge upon N’Kantu by mummifying him alive and burying him in a casket deep under the sands of Egypt.  The preservative fluid had put N’Kantu in a sort of suspended animation that took years to wear off.  The remainder of the three millennia were spent in maddening paralysis.

After regaining mobility, he had clawed his way to the surface and began a rampage through the streets of Cairo.  An electric shock had temporarily put him back into suspended animation, but he soon revived to his distressing state.  However, if he had his way, he would not be in this state for much longer.

N’Kantu was confident that he would find the cure to his condition here in the hideaway of Nephrus.  He was certain that there was a magic that could be performed to end this existence – either by returning him to human form or granting him the surcease of death.  This damnable existence was not worthy of a chief of the Swarilis, the proudest tribe of North Africa.

Turning page after page, N’Kantu strove to understand the magic formulae that Nephrus had collected.  There were all sorts of spells inside, but none of them seemed to be appropriate for him. He wished that he had someone with some magical aptitude to assist him, somebody like Doctor Druid.  However, the Druid had seemingly disappeared, and with his disappearance, the short-lived Shock Troop team ended.  N’Kantu thought back with a sense disbelief at the group.  Druid had recruited him to be a part of an occult investigation squad.  The doctor’s telepathic abilities had allowed N’Kantu to speak with the other team members, the Blazing Skull and Shadowoman, since the only languages that N’Kantu could speak were ancient Swarili and Egyptian.  Druid had outfitted him in a hat and trenchcoat to make him ‘less conspicuous’, although the truth of that assertion escaped him.

With no one to help him communicate in the modern world, N’Kantu had returned to Egypt looking for a cure.  He had been fortunate to be able to find the remains of the Spirit Gem.  This was the enchanted jewel into which Nephrus had placed a portion of his dark soul.  A few years ago, Gamal Hassan, a descendant of Nephrus, had used the Gem to obtain power.  However, all he managed to do was to forfeit his body to the returned Spirit of Nephrus.  N’Kantu had overcome the reborn Nephrus with the help of some rocky orange-skinned monster.  (The ever-loving blue-eyed Thing, as shown in Marvel Two-In-One #95)  When the Gem was crushed, Nephrus was destroyed, but the magic was still there.  N’Kantu had brought the shards back here in hopes of utilizing the gem’s remaining power.

Just outside of the hidden enclosure, the robed figure of Nephrus stood seemingly oblivious to the biting windswept sand.  His face had the appearance that he was enjoying the sensations.  “Ah, the sharp night winds of Egypt,” he commented happily.  “It has been too long since I felt your sweet caress.”

Nephrus prepared a small spell to gain access to the underground chamber.  He was surprised to find that the doorway had been left open.  To the naked eye, it was virtually indistinguishable from the desert sand, but he could see that it had been forced open.  He knew that it would have taken a tremendous feat of strength to accomplish that.  The question was how long ago had the forced entry been made.  He would find out once he went inside.

As he descended down the ancient petrified wooden stairway, Nephrus could tell that there was someone inside.  The entry must have been recent.  Nephrus reached the bottom of the stairway and turned the corner into the main chamber.  As he did so, he demanded, “Who dares invade my ancient sanctum?”

N’Kantu stood up as quickly as he could (which was rather slow) and turned around.  His jaw painfully dropped as he recognized the evil wizard who stood before him.

For his own part, Nephrus was quite surprised to find N’Kantu here. “So, it seems that I didn’t even have to spend any effort finding you, loathsome thing.”  He had come here with the intention of preparing a number of spells specifically for the destruction of the Living Mummy.

“Nephrus?” N’Kantu struggled to say, as much from pain as from surprise.  His voice was very cracked.

“Yes, you lowly swine,” the wizard snarled.  “Nephrus, the mighty wizard that doomed you to this hellish existence.”

N’Kantu tensed himself.  How could Nephrus be alive again?  He saw the wizard’s destruction himself when the Spirit Gem was shattered.  He began to slowly advance upon the sorcerer.

Nephrus put his hands up, palms outward.  “Take heart, N’Kantu.  I come to do you a service.”

“Human?” N’Kantu knew that this was a foolish hope, but perhaps Nephrus wanted to return N’Kantu to human form.

Nephrus laughed hideously.  “No, I am not that generous.  I will, however, undo the spell that transformed you into this walking mockery.  I shall give you the peace of the grave that you so desire.”

“Take nothing from you,” the Living Mummy replied slowly.  “Kill you again for what you did.”  While N’Kantu would relish the peace of the afterlife, he did not want it to come at the price of the world having to endure the evil of Nephrus.  No, he was not that selfish.  He could endure his hellish existence easier if he knew that Nephrus was destroyed once again.

Nephrus shook his head.  “I had thought this would be a simple matter.  I could ‘atone’ for what I did to you so many years ago.”  He began to move his hands to form a powerful spell.  “I could have had you killed back then, N’Kantu.  You had committed regicide.  You had killed our beloved Pharaoh.”

N’Kantu continued to approach.  “Not .. my ... Pharaoh.  I ... chief ... Swarili.”

“No,” Nephrus countered as he unleashed a scintillating blast of magical force at N’Kantu.  “You were an inferior being, prized only for your brawn.”

The blast washed over N’Kantu’s ragged form.  The force of it staggered him, but he remained standing.  He was almost surprised that the sorcery did not cause him any pain.  He emitted a harsh laugh.  “Your own magic … protects me,”

Nephrus was momentarily taken aback.  He had thought the spell would have been enough to at least injure the Living Mummy.  “True, but the spell is not proof against all things.  As I recall, fire was a particularly strong limitation.”

A spark erupted from his finger and leapt onto some worthless parchments (at least Nephrus considered them worthless; archaeologists might disagree about the worth of three thousand year old scribblings).  The parchments erupted into flame.  Nephrus motioned again, and the burning parchments flew at N’Kantu.

The Living Mummy tried to fend off the fiery pages, but they brushed against his ragged wrappings.  Where they touched, they flamed.  N’Kantu began slapping himself, trying to put out his burning body.  The heat from the fire was beginning to affect the preservative fluid that coursed inside of him.  He could feel his body begin to stiffen.  If he did not put out the flame quickly, he would be at the mercy of Nephrus since his body would be frozen into immobility.  He had already suffered from millennia of paralysis; he would not endure any more.

N’Kantu was losing the battle against his burning body.  As a last ditch effort, he fell to the ground and began to roll.  His actions served to smother the flame.  He could feel his limited mobility returning to him.

“Not ... good ... enough,” N’Kantu growled as he slowly rose to his feet.

“Perhaps I should burn the entire place down,” Nephrus thought aloud.  “You deserve to suffer for what you did to me after my first resurrection.  There is nothing here that would be utterly irreplaceable, to me at least.  You would lose any chance at a cure, but then, why would that matter? You would be destroyed.”

N’Kantu reached back and picked up the remnants of the Spirit Gem.  He showed them to Nephrus.  “Not ... worth ... anything ... to  ... you?”

Nephrus immediately recognized what it was that the Living Mummy held in his hands.  “The Spirit Gem?”  His face burned in rage.  “Give it to me this instant!”

N’Kantu pushed the shards in between his wrappings.  He thought that Nephrus might still put some importance on the Spirit Gem.  It had held a portion of his soul before.

“Serpent of Set,” Nephrus hissed.  It was obvious to him that N’Kantu had deduced that the Spirit Gem was of great value to him.  Not only did it still contain a portion of soul, but more importantly it held a portion of his magical power.  Only with a reconstituted Spirit Gem could his magical powers be brought to their peak.

“No!” was N’Kantu hoarse reply.

Nephrus was stymied.  He could not risk striking too harshly at the N’Kantu for fear of damaging the Spirit Gem irreparably.  An inferno of fire could certainly harm the Spirit Gem.  Perhaps diplomacy would the better tact.  He could offer to return N’Kantu to human form.  That would fulfill the letter of his agreement with DOA.  A human N’Kantu would equate with his charge to destroy the Living Mummy.  If he could get his Spirit Gem back, he would have enough power so as not to fear any reprisals that DOA might make.

Nephrus’ demeanor calmed and he smiled sweetly.  “Perhaps we could come to some agreement.  In return for transforming you back into the proud Swarili warrior you once were, you would give me back the shards to my Spirit Gem.”

N’Kantu thought about the offer for what Nephrus considered an interminably long time.  The longer it went, the more confident that Nephrus became in the belief that N’Kantu would accept.  Nephrus was beginning to think that he might even uphold his part of the proposed bargain, instead of simply killing N’Kantu in the process of transforming him.

N’Kantu slowly reached inside of his wrappings and brought the shards back out.  He held them all in his right hand.  He looked down at the shards and then up at Nephrus.

Nephrus grinned confidently.  “We have a bargain, then?”

After a moment of silence, N’Kantu said as loudly as he could.  “Never!”  He tossed the shards past Nephrus, and then they scattered as they bounced among the steps.

As the shards flew past him, Nephrus’ head shook in amazement.   He began to turn to gather the shards, but then he turned back to face N’Kantu.  The Living Mummy was hurtling through the air at the wizard.  The two collided and fell to the ground.  N’Kantu wriggled to get on top of the sorcerer.  He quickly pinned wizard’s arms.  Nephrus struggled vainly against the Living Mummy’s extrahuman strength.  He began to mutter an incantation.  N’Kantu brought the mage’s two arms together, holding both of them with one hand above the sorcerer’s head.  With his free hand, N’Kantu struck Nephrus viciously in the mouth.  The impact shattered the wizard’s jaw, rendering him unable to cast any type of spell.

Nephrus looked at N’Kantu with pleading eyes.  He knew what N’Kantu’s intentions were.  He tried to plead for this life, but his words came out garbled from his loose-hanging jaw.  N’Kantu brought back his right fist and then crushed the sorcerer’s skull with one powerful blow.  The fear in Nephrus’ eyes was frozen in place as his spirit left the mortal plane for the third time. (and for the last time, N’Kantu prayed)

N’Kantu began to gather up the shards of the Spirit Gem.  They still might be useful in his attempts for a cure.

“Congratulations are in order, N’Kantu?” a voice called out, seemingly from the air.  Actually, it was one of Malpractice's watching eyes.

The Living Mummy was startled by the voice.  Someone else knew who he was, and that someone was speaking in ancient Egyptian as well.

“Who … are … you?” N’Kantu responded hoarsely.

“We are DOA, and we brought Nephrus back into the world to destroy you," the voice explained.  “We are in the land that has raped the land of the Nile for years.”

“England,” the Mummy hissed.  That nation had stolen much of Egypt’s historical treasures, Doctor Druid had explained to him.

“Yes, my mummified friend - England.  We are in that land, at the British Museum, in fact.  We await your arrival, else we might set other ‘friends’ from your past on you.  Perhaps Aram-Set would like revenge upon you for his death and your hands.”

“Destroy ... me.  Want to end.”  If these foreigners wanted to slay him, let them try.  Perhaps they had the power to do so.  Let them prove it.  Otherwise, they were just a nuisance.  N’Kantu would simply continue in his own quest to remedy his tormented condition.

“Oh, I’m sure you want to end your hellish existence.  We have the power to do that.  But think for a moment, we have the power to bring back the dead back to life.  Would it not stand to reason that we have the power to bring a living mummy back to human life.”

“Human ... again?” N’Kantu growled.  Could they have that power?

“Yes, we could make you human again, or we could destroy you.  The only way is for you to come to us.”

“I ... come,” N’Kantu bellowed.  He would find his way to the Land of the Angles and these foreign sorcerers would end his tormented existence, one way or the other.  He would no longer me the Living Mummy - he would either be living or a mummy, but not both.

While I was a big fan of Mark Gruenwald’s writing on Captain America and Quasar, I was a little disappointed with the introduction of the Shock Troop in the pages of Quasar.  It just didn’t seem right.  Skull the Slayer had been turned into a modern-day Blazing Skull, and the Living Mummy had become an English-speaking, hat-and-trenchcoat-wearing occult investigator.  I hope that my explanation serves to preserve what had been written as well as who the Living Mummy truly is.  If you’re wondering that his motivations might seem inconsistent, remember that he was conscious all those centuries that he was trapped under the sand.  When the paralysis wore off and he was free, he was quite insane.  I don’t think he’s quite regained his sanity yet.

A few words about N’Kantu’s one-time teammates - you can find out what Doctor Druid has been up to in the Hell’s War story in Defenders and Ghost Rider; the Blazing Skull can be found in the pages of Liberty Legion.