I dug this mummy of a story up from almost the literal dead—all because my brother showed me a video on youtube called something like Tribute to Ra-Stargate-You're Playing With the Big Boys Now. Go check it out. You'll love it. Oh, and if you enjoy the chap, please review so I know maybe one or two people are interested in seeing where this goes. Thanks!:))

VVV

Chapter Four

"So you think you've got friends in high places
With the power to put us on the run
Well, forgive us these smiles on our faces
You'll know what power is when we are done
Son...

You're playing with the big boys now
Playing with the big boys now
Ev'ry spell and gesture
Tells you who's the best—

You're playing with the big boys now."

-The Prince of Egypt

"Here. Look in the mirror."

"The mirror?"

"Quite an advanced invention," Ra chuckled. "You gaze into it and see a crystal clear, still reflection of yourself."

Thoori stepped cautiously toward the "mirror," a tall object that looked almost like a window in the wall. He caught sight of his reflection—and stopped suddenly.

He did not recognize himself. He wore the leather collar, which made his shoulders look broader. Beneath that, the sleeveless linen robe draped down, sweeping behind him and beside him, its hem glimmering, and he wore sandals that wrapped around his feet and legs up to his knees. And his hair hung straight down past his shoulders, like a waterfall of obsidian—like the hood of a cobra. He looked almost as grand as that prince.

Suddenly, his eyes blazed. For an instant, all color in his eyes was consumed by a flash of white. He froze.

"What was that?" he whispered.

"Forgive me," Ra said quickly as the flash faded. "It is a Gou'auld mannerism—one of the only outward displays that we live in here."

"Why did that happen?" Thoori said breathlessly.

"Our eyes flash in moments of strong emotion, or for emphasis or intimidation."

"It would work," Thoori confessed, unsettled.

"Are you ready to face Jesphet?"

Nervousness twisted Thoori's gut.

"I am…not sure," he confessed.

"Would you rather I handle him?"

"You are planning something," Thoori guessed darkly.

"I am."

"Then yes, you should talk to him, and let me do the walking," Thoori said reluctantly. Then, he hesitantly added: "But you have to promise not to let him hit me."

Ra chuckled deeply.

"He will not have the chance. Trust me."

Thoori let out a long breath, gazing at his reflection.

"I do," he said—and as he thought back over the fish, and the captured goods, and the return of his three beloved birds—he realized with surprise that he meant it.

VVV

Thoori imagined the cobra. He fought to keep its image before his eyes—its grace, its power, its coldness. But if it had not been for Ra's firm calmness, his feet might have faltered as he entered the vast chair room.

Three lights in the ceiling illuminated the chamber harshly. His sandaled feet padded softly, steadily against the dark stone. His cape rustled and whispered behind him. Ra lifted his right hand, and beckoned with his fingers.

A door slid open.

"Slower, please," Ra advised quietly. "Stop here."

Thoori did as he asked, and halted. Ra sucked in a deep breath, and lifted his chin—Thoori's attention went still, fixing on the light coming through the far door.

A shadow flashed, then lingered. And then a tall man stumbled through, looking all around him. His panicked breathing echoed against the walls, as did his hasty footsteps. He staggered forward, toward Ra and Thoori—

Then jerked to a stop. No one moved. The man kept gasping, his shoulders heaving.

"Who…Who's there?"

Thoori instantly recognized the man's hoarse voice. It was Jesphet. And then, when Jesphet stepped half a pace forward, into a beam of light, he recognized his face—now pale, and covered in sweat.

"Wait…it can't be…" Jesphet stammered, squinting.

Ra did not move or speak. Thoori, unsure, stayed still. Then, a potent mix of distaste and satisfaction swelled up and through him. Ra took a breath. His mouth moved. And he spoke.

"Good day, Jesphet, son of Ithnu."

Thoori's heart jolted. His voice—a deep, rumbling, multi-toned, terrible sound—echoed and slithered through the room, like a tomb door sliding against polished marble.

Jesphet's eyes went wide.

"Please?" Ra asked, as if under his breath—and Thoori answered before he thought about it.

"Go forward."

Thoori felt his whole frame straighten—and at the same time, liquefy. A smile curled Ra's lips, and he eased fluidly forward, his sandals silent.

"What?" Ra purred—and the tones thudded against Thoori's breastbone. "Do you not recognize this face?"

Jesphet's wide brown eyes stared back at him, a hard line of concentration appearing between his eyebrows. His mouth worked, but no sound came out. He closed his mouth, and swallowed.

"I do," Jesphet finally managed. "But…But it cannot be…"

"Cannot be what?" Ra pressed, pausing directly in front of him, an arm's length away. "The boy whose falcons you stole? Whose head you crushed into the sand?" Ra slowly canted his head. "Whose face you struck—the one you mocked, and called weak and unwanted?"

Gall rose in Thoori's throat—his soul shuddered with a poisonous fury that made him sick. He reflexively tried to clench his fists, but Ra did not stir.

Jesphet's eyes flashed. He took half a step back.

"Thoori?" he realized, his breath hushed.

"Yes, he is here," Ra nodded once. "But so am I."

Jesphet blinked.

"What?"

Ra lifted his chin.

"I am Ra, Supreme System Lord of the Gou'auld," he thrummed. "And now I stand between you and Thoori."

Jesphet's brow twisted. He glanced up and around, then back at the one in front of him.

"I don't understand."

A delicate expression crossed Thoori's face—a slight lift of the right eyebrow, a tiny smirk, a flicker of the eyes.

"You will," Ra said. He swiftly lifted his hand.

Jesphet flinched back.

A thrill of scalding satisfaction shot through Thoori. Jesphet was afraid of him.

Ra stood utterly still for a moment. Then, he snapped his fingers.

The noise cracked through the room like a whip.

And something lumbered into the room from off to their right.

Ra lifted their glance toward it. Thoori's triumph drained out of him. His heart froze.

It was a towering, tan-colored, scaly creature—like a walking, short-nosed alligator, its eyes blazing and intelligent, with horns protruding from its chin. It wore a loincloth, and carried a glinting obsidian box in its broad, clawed hands

Jesphet had spun toward the creature—and then his whole body quivered like a reed.

"This is the one," Ra's deadly voice said, lowering his hand and pointing at Jesphet. The massive creature dipped its head and grunted. Then, he lunged toward Jesphet.

Jesphet backpedaled. But he was not fast enough.

The monster grabbed him by the throat. Jesphet strangled, and scrabbled at the mighty paw. Ra's smile increased, swelling through Thoori. Thoori could only watch, baffled.

Then, the monster opened the black box.

A hissing, flashing thing boiled out, snarling and frothing worse than any snake. It darted up from its bed, into the light—

And slammed into the back of Jesphet's head.

"What is that?" Thoori screamed, sickening horror flooding him. Ra did not answer.

The black snake creature burrowed into Jesphet's skull. Jesphet writhed in the monster's hold, gagging and wailing, his face contorting.

Then, he went limp.

Thoori jerked.

The monster dropped Jesphet. He crashed to the marble floor and lay, facedown, at Ra's feet.

"What happened, what happened?" Thoori yelped, curling in on himself.

"Be calm," Ra soothed. "Nothing worse than what happened to you."

Thoori wanted to felt the emotional equivalent of a raised eyebrow pulse through him.

"Does he deserve something better, Thoori?"

Thoori stared down at the motionless man.

And he remembered what Jesphet and Hathtet had done to him—and what Jesphet would have done to Shau'ri.

He calmed.

Jesphet's finger moved. He took a deep breath. He frowned, uncomfortable.

And Ra knelt down on the floor.

"Brother?" he said, his tone softer. He reached out, and rested his left hand on Jesphet's head. The touch shocked Thoori.

"Brother?" he demanded—but again, Ra did not answer.

Jesphet grunted, and shakily pushed himself up off the floor. Ra grabbed hold of both his broad shoulders, helping him up onto his knees.

Jesphet blinked rapidly, and shook his head a couple of times, as if trying to clear it. His hands flailed weakly, and landed on Ra's wrists.

His eyes opened. He squinted, and gazed into Ra's eyes. Thoori stared back.

He did not know him.

"Apophis?" Ra murmured, leaning toward him, searching. The other man blinked. And then his mouth opened.

"Ra…?" he breathed—and his voice carried the same eerie double tone that shook the floors. "I…" He glanced down at himself, letting go of Ra's wrists and pressing his hands to his own chest. He took a deep breath, lifted his head, and his eyes then became equally as searching.

"Such a strange face…" he noted. "Is it truly you?"

"It is," Ra nodded earnestly, tightening his hold on the other man.

The other man's expression cleared, and a reflexive smile crossed his mouth—it seemed to startle him.

"How are you?" Ra pressed. "Your last host was so ill, do you feel…Will you be all right now?"

The other man took another deep breath. And then he nodded again, and met Ra's eyes.

"Yes. Yes, I will."

Ra threw his arms around him, and pulled him tight.

Thoori jolted, his head spinning with blatant, confusing strangeness—

The other man stiffened. Then his arms loosely circled Ra, and he chuckled.

"Is this a Tau'ri mannerism you've picked up, brother?"

Ra also chuckled, backed up and shrugged, grinning.

"I hardly thought about it," he confessed. "So…yes, I believe it is."

"What is happening?" Thoori said numbly, staggered.

"This is my brother, Apophis," Ra said distractedly. "He now lives inside your friend Jesphet, just as I live inside you."

"I have plans for Osiris, as well," Ra declared out loud to Apophis, resting a hand on his shoulder. "I know he is eager to leave his broken-down old body."

"Over-eager, I would say," Apophis answered. He frowned thoughtfully. "This body feels…weaker," he commented. "It cannot lift as much weight, can it?"

"Ah, but it is much more agile," Ra countered, starting up from the floor quickly. "Easier to heal, much more articulate and expressive. Also, their eyes are better, even if their sense of smell is deficient."

"And they are easier to get into, I must say," Apophis said, rising carefully up from the floor himself. Ra pointed at the beast-creature.

"You," he ordered. "Take my brother to his new quarters and dress him and feed him. Then give the Tau'ri called Hathtet to Osiris—he is waiting."

Again, the beast lowered his head, and stepped up next to the one who was now Apophis—not Jesphet. Not Jesphet…

Apophis moved Jesphet's lips into a smile.

"Well done, brother," he commended Ra.

"I will see you soon," Ra promised. Apophis nodded, turned and strode in front of the beast-creature out of the vast chamber, as easily as if he had been doing it all his life. A sliver of suspicion needled through Thoori's chest. But Ra ignored it—and he spun, and began to walk just as surely in the other direction, the silk cape fluttering behind him.

Thoori's thoughts jumbled and bumped together, rendering him speechless for several minutes as Ra wound through countless dim corridors. At last, Thoori latched onto the first concrete objection he could grasp, and stammered it out.

"You…You can walk just fine!"

"Oh, indeed," Ra replied, still walking with long, even strides. "You're a very good teacher, Thoori, I must say."

"But…But you…You said you needed my help!"

"I did," Ra admitted. "For the first few seconds. After that, I just wanted you to feel useful."

"You lied," Thoori spat. Ra paused, and blinked.

"I…Well, perhaps I did," Ra confessed, as if the concept was foreign to him. "A little."

"And what about…What about being a Supreme System Lord?" Thoori demanded as Ra's pace picked up again. "What is that? I thought you said you were young, that your people didn't believe in you yet!"

"I am young," Ra insisted, giving a rippling frown. "I am only two thousand years old—there are many who are older. But I am also the Supreme System Lord, by virtue of a key victory over my nest-traitor, Anubis." He snarled out the name. "Ruler in the wake of victory, you might say."

Thoori felt sick and staggered—the sight of that snake-thing tunneling into Jesphet's head—and realizing that the same thing had happened to him—turned his stomach over and over. And Ra was thousands of years old…?

"So…So is Jesphet…" he wanted to swallow convulsively, but couldn't. "Is he…awake? Will your brother speak to him?"

"Oh, I doubt it," Ra snorted. "Jesphet is hardly worthy of such consideration. And my brother is less interested in his hosts, less compassionate than I am. But Jesphet is a dog. So is Hathtet."

Thoori fell silent, his thoughts stumbling. Weakness filtered through him, along with cold despair. Ra suddenly stopped mid stride, and canted his head sharply.

"Thoori, what is wrong?" he asked urgently.

"Am I…" Thoori choked. "Am I…Are you through with me?"

"What do you mean?" Ra asked, his tone genuine.

"You know everything, now," Thoori noted. "You can walk and talk and eat and dress…You don't need me." He wanted to take a deep breath—he felt faint. "Are you just going to let me rot, now?"

Ra laughed. It was a startled, reflexive, but real sensation of amusement, and it rang aloud through the air as well as through Thoori's body.

"What? Of course not!"

"Wh—What then?" Thoori dared.

"I need hosts for my family and allies," Ra told him. Thoori jerked.

"You're going after the rest of my tribe—?" he gasped.

"No!" Ra cut in. "No, no." He started walking with a heavier stride, and lowered his head, glaring. "I will take the tribe who slaughtered your family when you were a child."

"You know where they are?" Thoori whispered. Ra shook his head.

"No. Which is why I need you."

They rounded a corner, and entered a broad room, with one wide wall that slanted toward them.

"You want me to tell you where my enemies are, so your people can possess them?" Thoori wanted to clarify, stunned.

"Yes, Thoori," Ra answered, slowing to a stop. "And in return…"

He waved a hand. A deep, metal groaning sounded. Then, the wall began to slide open.

Thoori's eyes instinctively flinched closed against the brilliant light that spilled in through the widening crack. A gust of hot, fresh wind struck him—wind carrying the smell of dust, spices, sunburned grass, and distant rain.

He blinked rapidly, absently feeling Ra pull free of him, like fingers loosening their grip.

And all at once, he stood on his own power. His eyes focused—and he could see.

Before him, through a huge now-open window, stretched a vast countryside—sandy hills in the distance, and a verdant green valley stretched out beneath him, cut through by the flashing silver of a broad, slow-moving, mighty river—all over-arched by a pale blue sky, and bathed in the white-gold of the reigning midday sun.

Warmth rushed over Thoori, tingling his skin, stinging his eyes. He gasped in an unsteady breath, and closed his eyes. A tear spilled down his cheek. He forced his cloudy eyes open and swallowed hard as the faraway chatter of a gull reached his ears.

"And in return…" Ra murmured, like an echo of an afterthought. "I will give you Egypt."

To be continued...

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