After Doctor Henry Jekyll gave his orders, teams from Prodigium began preparations for future expeditions to the city aimed at tracking down the escaped monsters. But while the men prepared their equipment, one of them moved away with a light and discreet step, checking that no one was looking in his direction before sneaking behind a corner of the wall. Once he was sure he was out of sight and earshot, the Prodigium man took a small transmitter from his pocket and secretly made contact with someone.

_"This is Mole 1, on report." the man whispered. "Doctor Jekyll has given his orders, Prodigium is going to start moving."

_"Very well." then replied a voice in the transmitter, modified so as not to be recognized. "Then there's not a moment to waste. Send the signal to Team Doppelganger. Let them take action."

************

Mathias didn't know what to think of what was happening around him. The air was heavy, charged with a macabre aura that made his senses shudder unpleasantly. For very long seconds now, he had been wandering, after leaving a metro station, lost in the streets of what he recognized as Paris. But everyone he met had the same unusual and disturbing behavior: motionless, like statues, expressionless, their gazes fixed and lost in vagueness. Several times, Mathias tried to talk to them, to make them react, passing his hand in front of their faces or snapping his fingers right next to their ears to hope for a reaction. But nothing was happening.

Then it was when he wanted to touch a person that incomprehension turned into horror. Barely had he placed his hand on a man's shoulder when Mathias saw the latter collapse into a pile of sand and dust just at his feet. Surprised, the young man gasped and took a step back, not understanding what was happening. Suddenly, a scorching and increasingly violent wind began to rise over the city, and the arid breath transformed everyone it touched into piles of sand which collapsed and were quickly dispersed by the infernal gust. Feeling the hot air burning his eyes, Mathias tried in vain to protect his face, but what he saw paralyzed him with shock and fear.

At the end of the avenue, a gigantic sandstorm rose, covering the entire horizon, rising like waves more than kilometers high and engulfing everything in their wake. The Eiffel Tower, symbol of the capital, also disappeared in the storm, which then took the form of a gigantic head and howling like a furious wind. And this head looked like... Ahmanet!

Opening his eyes, Mathias woke up, panting and with a sweaty forehead, sitting up slightly to see that he was still in this crypt, lying on this mattress. His heart still beating, the young man exhaled heavily, passing his face in his hands and managed to calm down by realizing that it was only a nightmare he had. As he gathered his senses and came back to reality, he noticed with confusion that the room was plunged into total darkness, the lights of the candles having been deliberately extinguished. Unable to see around him, Mathias fumbled around a bit to finally find his cell phone, which he picked up and activated the flashlight function. The beam of light cut through the darkness and Mathias was finally able to see and notice, with surprise, that Ahmanet was not lying next to him. She wasn't even in the room with him anymore.

_"Ahmanet?" he called, lighting everything around him but seeing her nowhere.

Where had she been? Did she let him sleep? As an undead, the notion of sleep no longer really concerned her, but in this case, where was she now? The question kept repeating itself in Mathias's head as he dressed and walked out of the small annex crypt and into the stone corridor. But as he approached the main crypt, the young man could hear voices in discussion, and among them he identified that of Ahmanet. Without first revealing himself completely, Mathias remained behind the corner of the wall and took a quick look. Sitting near a fire in a makeshift hearth, Ahmanet was there, and with her all the other monsters living in the lair, gathered around the flames like a secret meeting. Marya, the vampire, however, stayed away from the flames due to her vampiric nature and listened from a distance, hidden in the shadows, leaning against a wall. The amphibious humanoid creature from the Black Lagoon remained near its watering hole, not wanting to come near the fire which could dry out its skin. Lawrence, the werewolf, with Jack the Invisible Man and the little undead girl named Frankenstein, sat around the fire. Standing up, Ahmanet looked at them all one by one as she began to speak with darkness but also conviction.

_"We were all born in a world which today no longer exists..." she said to everyone who listened attentively. "A world that will never accept us as we are. We are feared, we are hated, because they know that they will never be able to control us. I learned one thing a long time ago: nothing is never a given, it must be taken. If humans refuse to grant us our rights, then we will take them ourselves."

The other monsters listened and exchanged looks that seemed to agree with what the princess was saying.

_"So, what do you suggest, majesty?" asked Jack Griffin, the invisible man?

The Princess of Egypt then showed, in the iris of her eye, absolute determination shining.

_"In the lands that were once my homeland, I will rebuild a kingdom for our people, a kingdom that I will govern and protect against human invaders. We will seek out other monsters, we will gather them under our banner and all together will proclaim the birth of a new legitimate people."

A kingdom of monsters in Egypt? Mathias gasped upon hearing this and saw that the other monsters seemed really excited by such an idea, apart from the werewolf Lawrence who expressed a dark but essential point.

_"But how can we hope to fight humans if they refuse to recognize us as a nation? We cannot make war on them, they are too numerous for us, despite our capabilities."

Ahmanet understood her ally's question and to answer him clearly she revealed something in her hand: Set's dagger. When he saw this cursed black blade, Mathias felt his heart jump and his throat tighten.

_"Then humans will know my true fury and will have to pay the price for their stupidity in defying me once too often." Ahmanet replied darkly, holding the dagger tightly. "Their precious little world will be completely ravaged by sand and ashes."

At the sight of the cursed dagger forged by the Egyptian god of darkness, the other monsters showed varying reactions. Marya, the vampire, smiles fiercely, her eyes shining. The amphibian creature from the Black Lagoon reacts with a grunt of satisfaction. The little Frankenstein girl remained shy, hugging her damaged doll to her and staying close to the invisible man Jack Griffin who remained thoughtful to her, as if not really knowing what to think. Lawrence did not show much enthusiasm for the idea that such an artifact could be used.

Still out of sight and having listened to the entire conversation, Mathias noticed in Ahmanet's determined and strong look that she was not joking at all, and that was what worried him. In case of last resort, Ahmanet might not hesitate to use Set's dagger to impose his request on humans. He really didn't like it and so decided to go out into the candlelight and walked calmly towards the monsters.

_"Were you listening to us, you filfthy little rat?!" the vampire Marya then growled with hostility towards him.

But barely had she finished her sentence and taken a step towards the young man when Ahmanet's powerful hand grabbed her neck, lifting her off the ground like nothing.

_"Be very careful how you talk about my future king, Marya, or this could end badly for you." Ahmanet indicated in an undisguised threat.

Marya then nodded in pain as she felt the princess' powerful grip around her neck, then she was released, allowed to take a few steps back while rubbing her sore neck. The Egyptian princess then looked at the other monsters in silence, making them understand with a simple look that those who wanted to attack Mathias would have to deal with her. Mathias inwardly thanked Ahmanet for her intervention but quickly focused on the main subject.

_"Ahmanet..." asked the young man, a little confused. "Can you tell me what you do?"

_"I am preparing our future, my love." Ahmanet then responded tenderly, looking at him with conviction and taking his hands gently in hers. "A future where we can live forever, you and I."

_"By openly threatening the world with destruction if it does not bend to your will?" Mathias then asked, not as a judgment but more as a worry.

Ahmanet then sensed his fear in his voice and lost his smile, almost seeming disappointed to see him react like this.

_"I must ensure our survival, Mathias." then added the princess firmly. "I have already been deprived of my destiny, and I will not allow the one that I wish to forge alongside you, as we have chosen, you and I to be destroyed."

The other monsters stayed back, listening to the conversation and Lawrence signaling them not to intervene. Mathias had listened to the words of his beloved and did not let go of her hands, keeping them in his and even moving closer to Ahmanet.

_"I understand you Ahmanet, believe me..." he said. "But this is not the solution. I know only too well that humans can be stupid, unfriendly and cruel... But they are not all like that. There are many good people in this world, innocent people who do not deserve to suffer your wrath and to suffer because of the stupidity of others."

Ahmanet had listened to every word but was quite confused, watching Mathias's hands hold hers.

_"You will then refuse to help me?" she asked with a certain bitterness. "You who said that you would follow me to hell if necessary?"

Mathias saw that she misunderstood his intentions, that she was blinded, not by anger but by her own fear of losing everything again. He didn't blame her for doubting. To prove her she was wrong, he approached and placed his lips on hers in a short and tender kiss.

_"Yes I said it, but not in a hell that we will have created ourselves." replied the young man after the kiss. "I trust you, Ahmanet and I am ready to help you, but not at the expense of the lives of innocent people. The decision is yours and I know you will make the right one."

With these words, he left Ahmanet to keep Set's dagger in hand, choosing and agreeing to place his destiny in her hands. He took a few steps back, while the princess remained silent, thoughtful, contemplating this cursed serrated blade that she held in her hand. This weapon which would give her the power to establish an absolute domination over this world, to bring these humans to their knees and dissuade them from any attempt at rebellion against her reign. However, she thought back to Mathias' words, who said that innocence and goodness still existed among humans. Mathias was an exceptional case for her, the only one who had shown compassion and open-mindedness towards her. Until now, she had only seen treachery and cruelty in other humans. Ahmanet felt like she was cut in two, she wanted to believe Mathias but on the other hand couldn't deny this fear within of seeing humans take everything from her again.

Mathias had stayed behind, watching her struggle with her own inner dilemmas but remained calm, trusting in her in the choice she would make. He had given his heart to a monster, understood the beauty of the beast, and he did not regret his choices, they were his.

_"Setepai..." Ahmanet breathed between her lips, as if she was preparing to tell him that she would be his choice.

But suddenly, the princess fell silent, opening her round eyes, as if she had sensed something that the others did not see. At the same time, Lawrence's keen werewolf senses went on alert, a spark flashing in his eye as he frowned and seemed surprised as he looked quickly over his shoulder at the wall. right behind him and the others.

_"WATCH OUT!" he suddenly yelled, leaping nimbly on Jack Griffin and little Frankenstein to push them aside.

In the next second, the wall directly behind them burst in a powerful explosion that sent a wave of shock and flame inward. Marya and the creature of the Black Lagoon also had time to jump back to avoid the blast. Ahmanet, for her part, had jumped with supernatural speed towards Mathias, grabbing him in her arms and pulling him as far away as possible from the explosion, saving him from certain death. Half blinded by the flash of the explosion and coughing from the large amount of smoke, Mathias did not understand at all what was happening as Ahmanet placed him on the ground, sitting him against a wall and made sure that he was fine.

From the breach created in the old wall, men burst into the crypt, all equipped with full black military-looking outfits, equipped with helmets, bulletproof vests, night vision goggles and gas masks, and all armed with assault rifles and other weapons. Illuminating with the beams of their lamps integrated into the barrels of their rifles, they immediately spotted the monsters which were barely getting up.

_"It's Prodigium!" Jack Griffin gasped.

_"Here they are! Fire at will!" then ordered one of the soldiers in black.

Without hesitation, the others obeyed and a hail of shots followed in a deafening chorus. Marya nimbly leapt upwards and crawled at full speed on the walls and ceiling like a spider to avoid the shots while the creature from the Black Lagoon dove into the murky water hole. Lawrence had jumped for cover behind a pile of debris, accompanied by Jack and Frankenstein.

Seeing that some shots were aimed at Mathias, Ahmanet reacted and hugged him forcefully, placing her own back in front and tooking all the projectiles. The princess gave a slight grunt of pain, feeling that it was not ordinary bullets that had touched her flesh, but bullets coated with silver and blessed.

_"Ahmanet!" Mathias gasped when he saw her slightly injured.

_"Hide, setepai..." she growled with love towards him but with fury towards his intruders.

The young man shuddered when he heard the sound of his princess's voice, seeing clearly that she was more than furious. He nevertheless obeyed her request and moved away to take cover behind a pillar nearby. Ahmanet stood up, facing the soldiers in black and showing unparalleled flames of anger in his eyes. Emitting a shrill roar of rage, Ahmanet quickly leapt towards the nearest man and punched him so hard in the chest that he was thrown backwards and slammed into the wall as if a truck had rammed him at full speed.

_"Our queen needs us! Monsters, attack! Let's defend our house!" Lawrence then shouted as he saw Ahmanet start to fight.

With these words, Lawrence let the beast within him take over, his fangs becoming carnivorous, his ears becoming pointed, his eyes becoming yellow and bloodshot and his hair growing, making him look more and more like a wolf. His fingernails and toenails became sharp claws. Letting out a powerful wolf cry, Lawrence jumped into the fray.

Hidden in the darkness of the ceiling, the vampire Marya smiles with all her teeth at the idea of finally being able to quench her thirst for human blood. Dropping from the ceiling, she landed on a soldier, pinning him to the ground, and tore out his throat with her teeth to drink every last drop of his blood. Nearby, Lawrence began a carnage with his claws, inflicting withering blows that disemboweled and lacerated every man he reached, tearing their outfits and vests with bullets like paper. The invisible man, Jack Griffin, had remained in cover behind the pile of debris, but had taken from his pocket an old Luger pistol dating from the Second World War, and bearing his family's initials, and began to open fire towards the enemy soldiers. Close to him, huddled, the little Frankenstein girl hugged her doll, frightened by these humans who were coming to attack them in their home, moaning and crying at hearing all this violence.

Suddenly, the ground beneath two soldiers shattered, shattered by the superhuman strength of the creature from the Black Lagoon which had swum through the underground network that ran everywhere beneath the crypt to reach the enemy from below. Grabbing the two men by the legs, the creature slammed them together brutally, before throwing them against the walls where they burst into an explosion of blood, flesh and broken bones.

Despite these losses and the violence of the monsters towards them, the soldiers in black remained imperturbable, continuing to arrive through the breach in ever greater numbers and to maintain their assault on the refuge. Some, armed with flamethrowers, caused hell to spew forth. The torrents of flames and the infernal heat forced Lawrence, Marya and the amphibian creature to have to retreat, but also to have to endure some enemy fire. Hidden behind the pillar, Mathias watched anxiously. His attention was focused on Ahmanet, who despite the numerical superiority of the enemy, continued her wave of unprecedented massacre. Breaking necks with her bare hands, hitting enemies against walls or on the ground, the princess did not hold back her strength or her ferocity towards these invaders, her hands and face covered with the blood of her victims. She had been hit by several bullets, but did not seem to be weakened at all as she was so furious.

But despite all the chaos and rage consuming her, Ahmanet realized that something was wrong with these men. Ordinary humans, even fully armed, would start to panic seeing so many of their fellow humans being slaughtered. But they remained impassive and continued to shoot, without even paying attention to their mortally wounded comrades who were writhing in pain on the ground right at their feet. Furthermore, their military training was chaotic, disordered, unbecoming of so-called elite soldiers. Perplexed, Ahmanet snatched the gas mask from one of the dead at her feet, and what she saw left her even more confused. The dead man's face was frozen in an ecstatic smile, eyes round, pupils dilated... Through her supernatural eyes, she also noticed this small mark on his neck, invisible to human eyes, but not to her. It looked like the mark... of a sting!

_"They... they are controlled!" the princess then understood.

Would Prodigium go so far as to drug its own soldiers in order to transform them into true fearless machines? Having already seen what humanity was capable of over its long existence, Ahmanet wouldn't be that surprised.

But suddenly, a shot hit her in the middle of the back, causing her to stagger and drop to one knee. Seeing his princess injured, Mathias gasped and ran towards her to help her and take cover. But he barely had time when a shot passed through his thigh, inflicting excruciating pain and making him fall to the ground, under the gaze of Ahmanet who was horrified. Their eyes met, sharing the same distress of losing each other and holding out their hands to try to reach each other.

But suddenly a grenade thrown by one of the enemies rolled between them and exploded. The force of the explosion threw Ahmanet backwards and his back hit a wall. The force of the detonation was such that it caused part of the crypt to collapse. Ahmanet raised his head to see Mathias, struggling in the middle of the chaos but due to his injury was not fast enough to escape the landslide.

_"MATHIAS!" Ahmanet shouted as she saw her love fall and disappear in the collapse of the ground with the rain of debris. Running as fast as she could, Ahmanet fell to her knees in front of the gap. With tearful eyes, she saw only unfathomable darkness down into which Mathias had fallen and disappeared. She called his name several times despite the chaos around, but nothing, no response came.

The princess's heart was torn... She couldn't believe it even if she had just seen it. No human could have survived such a fall and landslide of such violence... She could no longer feel it... She had lost it... Mathias was dead. Tears streaming down her cheeks, she remained frozen, on her knees in front of this dark hole into which the love of her life had disappeared. Lips trembling, the princess let out of her mouth a shrill and powerful howl of sadness and anger. Even the shots that hit his back no longer did anything to him.

Opening his eyes, Ahmanet found himself again in the middle of these desert hills, at the foot of these majestic pyramids under this hypnotizing twilight sky. Kneeling in the sand, the princess was broken by what had just happened. Once again, she had failed and had just lost everything, as she feared. Mathias... she hadn't been able to protect him...

_"You see..." suddenly came the overwhelming and ghostly voice of Set around her. "Your naivety in believing that you could change your destiny will inexorably lead you to suffering. You have given up power and this is the result... Your true love is dead."

The shadowy, clawed hands of the deceitful god came gently to grasp the shoulders of the princess, and she let it happen, no longer having the strength to fight.

_"Humans will never accept you, admit it." Set added. "See, they murdered your beloved and you could do nothing to stop it. So take your revenge, Princess Ahmanet. Show these miserable creatures what it costs to defy true power and become the one that you were always meant to be!"

Buried by the god's words, Ahmanet let them enter her like poison. Looking down at her blood-covered hands, then at the cursed dagger she held in her hand, the princess stopped fighting against her darkness within her and let it penetrate her heart, totally bruised by loss. Yes... that was enough... the time for revenge had finally come!

As she accepted this monstrous darkness within her, the sky above her changed, becoming cloudier, blacker, and a storm seeming to rise around her.

Opening his eyes and coming back to reality, Ahmanet slowly rose to his feet. Behind her, the soldiers in black had closed in and were ready to fire again. Lawrence and the other monsters, injured, had taken cover and were observing what was happening. Not even turning towards the soldiers, Ahmanet fell into a sort of deep trance, reciting an incantation in the ancient Egyptian language.

_"God of Death, hear my voice. Feed my hatred and give me strength. I summon the sands of Egypt! May my will be done!"

As she spoke, her voice increasing in strength, the entire crypt began to shake as if an earthquake were beginning, to everyone's amazement. Then, from the ground as well as from the walls and ceiling which all cracked, columns of sand emerged in veritable clouds like insects, coming quickly to attack and cover the entire troop of soldiers who, in an orchestra of howls of pain and agony, were little by little devoured by the cursed sands, entering through all their orifices and which in a few seconds left only rickety and desiccated corpses, emptied of all vital energy under their equipment.

Emerging from their hiding place, Lawrence and the other monsters slowly approached to observe the carnage and seeing Ahmanet turn towards the dead men, casting them a look of contempt. Then, the princess mumbled a few words between her lips, like another incantation. Seconds later, the dry corpses of the soldiers reanimated with guttural, inhuman groans, cracking their joints loudly as they rose from the dead, thus forming the first soldiers of the future new army of the dead that Ahmanet was about to create. The zombies remained fixed, waiting for the first order that would be given to them.

Lawrence then approached Ahmanet, who now remained macabre, dark, and he could see the fearful flame of vengeance shining in her eyes. Deep down, he understood her, having clearly seen the love that she and Mathias shared. Although at first he had not been very optimistic about the idea of bringing humans to their knees with violence, this time they had crossed the line.

_"My queen?" he asked.

_"This time, it's over..." she then growled forcefully. "No more hiding. No more hesitation, no more choices. Mathias was the only shield that stood between humans and their annihilation... and they took him from me... This is enough! All humanity will pay the price for my suffering, and on their ashes I will build my new kingdom... A kingdom of gods and monsters!"

Surrounded by all her monster allies and undead soldiers, Ahmanet then looked up at the broken ceiling of the crypt, leading towards the surface, towards the human world. Once again, giving free rein to her darkness and her monstrous side nourished by the god Set, the princess once again invoked the cursed sands of Egypt which little by little rose to form a veritable maelstrom around her and her allies. The bells of humanity's final judgment had rung.