It was late in the night when they arrived at the dig. The professor, not normally one to remain awake much after nightfall, was unusually alert, and seemed highly motivated to get on with the reason for their visit. Akim held up a paw for Fifine, the young lady taking the offered appendage, and stepping from the treaded truck, her eyes locked on his for all that they were lost in the dim, moonless shadows of the desert night. General Barrax snorted awake, and made an, unfortunately, typical show of stretching out his limbs.

"Pox! Damnation! Opprobrium!" The former dictator shouts, looking around disdainfully on no one in particular, and on Professor Proton specifically. He shook his head, waving a hand imperiously. "You can do as you like, you delirious old fart! I'm going to bed!" He turned and stalked off, the diminutive Professor gulping audibly, suddenly nervous for the irascible air of the General. Fifine lays a hand on the curious armor of his shoulder, and he looks up at the tall female. "Never mind him Professor," she looks away from the departing officer, and down at the wizened doctor, smiling encouragingly, "I'll go with you." He smiles back, heartened greatly with her support, then turned when he heard the sound of rapidly approaching footfalls.

"Professor Proton!" The male calls out as he draws near, the torch held in his hand adding much-needed illumination to the small group. "You have arrived!" The doctor took a step forward and offered his hand in greeting. "Ah, Doktor Isep! Good to see you at last!" The two men shook hands, then old Professor Proton turned to introduce the young lady standing next to him. "Doktor, this is my, er," he glances up at her, suddenly unsure, and Fifine smoothly assumes control. "I am Fifine, Doktor, I am helping out my friend, Professor Proton, as his assistant on this dig." Doktor Isep's eyes light up with recognition. "The Fifine from United World Press?! The one that reported on those Underworld Nazi Daemons?" His head bobbed rapidly. "Well! This is a pleasure." And he enthusiastically and emphatically pumped her arm, Fifine eventually snatching it back and cradling it close to her chest when he was done, eyes wide. The doktor looked suddenly chagrined, fumbling with his hand as if he couldn't figure out what to do with it, while the rest of them looked at her with new eyes. He abruptly held up his free arm and motioned towards the dig. "Come, this way," he turned and led them off into the quiet night, "the tomb of Sah-ba Rha-een-Nah awaits!"

The doktor pushed through, and over, the small mound of dirt that still partially barred their way at the mouth of the tomb, then held out his paw as each successive person slid through the opening, extending each a hand as they rose into the tall, dark hallway. He held the torch up and advanced to the fore of the line, leading them ever father into its inky recesses. Eventually they emerged into a cavernous room, the black shadows seeming to envelop, nay, extinguish the paltry torch he held up high. They gathered into a quiet knot as they watch their only source of illumination bob and weave, then spread, and the immense chamber slowly gained light as the archeologist spread the fire to several strategically placed torchiers arrayed around the room. Mouths fell open and gasps echoed as they turned around in dumbstruck awe, gazing up at the rich, colorful hieroglyphs that covered the walls, the immense statues that lined them, and lastly, the incredible gold sarcophagi at the center of the chamber.

Fifine was the first one to regain her wits. "My God! It's completely intact!" Her eyes focused on the walls and she stepped over to one, raising her hand and tracing the glyphs etched and painted there. "They're all animals…" her voice trailed off as the Professor stepped up next to her, polishing his pince-nez before popping them back onto the end of his long nose, but it was Doktor Isep who replied. "Yes, well, we know that the Egyptians had many animal deities," he shakes his head, looking around again, "there's no real surprise there…" but her attention shifted elsewhere before he was even done speaking, grabbing the professors arm urgently as her eyes roved over a piece of text she could only partially digest…" Professor Proton! What does this say?" He quickly redirected his attention to her new focus, and found himself numbly translating the ancient script.

"The damage has been undone." He says somewhat cryptically, before shifting his attention to the next set of glyphs. "The two are once again whole." His tone of voice becomes more solid as he progresses, and he takes a deep breath before he translates the next line: "The time of fur has passed."

Fifine tilts her head to the side, then looks up at the six-foot tall female fox sculpture on her left, then at the four-foot turtle sculpture on her right, and then, finally back at the bald professor. "Fur?" She asks quietly just as Doktor Isep cleared his throat, commanding their instant attention. "Fifine, Professor," he held out a hand, indicating the opulent sarcophagi, and its bas-relief lid, "this is why I called you here."

Professor Proton stepped around to the far side as the archeologist approached the near one, all three sets of eyes locked on the shimmering vision before them. "I locked the site down the moment I saw it, Professor…"

Professor Proton could only nod his head numbly as he reached out his arms and plucked the bleached skull from between the sculpted hands of the crypts lid. Fifine looked down at it, then snaked out a hand and ran a finger over it, tracing around the large eye openings, along the long muzzle, and terminating at the powerful jaws, as the Professor lifted it for closer examination. She shifted her gaze to the smooth, hairless face of her mentor, her voice breathless when it inevitably came "what does it all mean, Professor?" The aged human lowered the skull and looked into his faux-apprentices eyes. "It means, my dear, that it is as I had always suspected: Anthropomorphs walked the surface of the earth, before the rebirth of man."

The End?