Marill Re-Reads "Oasis of Abatua"

I hope you've got your popcorn cos it's once again movie time on Marill's Re-Reads and you need something to throw at the screen that won't break it.

Now unlike Resurrection and its sequels, Oasis of Abatua was not part of the original plan back when they were Kidz Trek chapters and Voyager books. This only came about because their inspiration, The Mummy, got a sequel. Of course I had to steal it, come on.

A draft was started long before it spat onto our screens entitled The Reincarnation. To be honest I prefer that title, or what would've been the reboot title The Oasis. Now it's probably fine but the way I've always pronounced Abatua, and I can't see another way, makes it sound like an oasis in the middle of a slaughterhouse. ANYWAYS, some of the draft was used in the released version, but after that it pretty much relies on The Mummy Returns to tell the story. Literally. While yeah Resurrection did this sometimes, it still bothered to do things its own way. Oasis does not. Its rare original moments are few.

Another thing to note, that Oasis was written May 2002, which started off a long running curse of Mays that were awful. A lot happened which delayed the remaining parts and probably is partially to blame for the copy and paste story.

Okay I think I've said what I've needed to. I don't like this movie anymore, it also has its problems that cannot be blamed on the source material. So yeah, "enjoy"

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The episode opens on an expositional paragraph like Resurrection, only this one no one is telling it, it's written well for its time (though peaceful and quiet, as well as beautiful planet, are repeated a lot). I like it. It's cryptic, leaving the story up to interpretation.

The first actual scene is also notbad, and I wonder how long it takes before we're out of draft territory, cos we can't be having good in Oasis of Slaughter House

The stone corridor was dark and stuffy. The only light was coming from the far end. A poorly lit shadow became imprinted on the wall as a figure came around the corner.

Jessie glanced briefly at the walls as she slowly made her way down the corridor. She heard what sounded like voices coming from further down the corridor, so she picked up speed. She turned the next corner then she stopped dead in her tracks.

Lena and James arrives, though the description says they're on the Enterprise, so we think Jessie's hallucinating. She doesn't respond to them either.

She runs off and they follow, only to find her passed out on the floor.

Faye was wandering around the warp core in Engineering.

"Is it just me or is this one fatter than ours?" Faye asked, she didn't take her eyes off the core.

You laugh now but it also has a shield that protects it from damage. Works like a charm, won't go off in the first hit at all, and even if it did, it won't overload immediately and drop us out of warp in a dead zone. nosiree

Faye stares at it further. Since she's me, B'Elanna's touching her shoulder gives her a panic attack and she runs off to Sickbay.

Ian meanwhile finds some First Contact souveniers; a Borg alcove still standing there. They assume its decoration and move on.

Medical Lab

Faye stepped through the doors. She nearly tripped over some medical junk that was in there. More or less the entire room was filled with medical equipment from Voyager.

I'm confused. Where?

She stopped in the centre of the room then she picked up a small container. As she did so a strange wind blew passed her. Without realising it she was opening the container, then she screamed.

Considering what happens here and later I'm gonna assume she went to Voyager.

Meanwhile in the Voyager Sickbay set on the Enterprise, Doc wakes up Jessie.

"I have no idea, it was this weird creepy tunnel system," Jessie replied.

"Did you see anyone there, what happened?" Doctor Jones asked.

Jessie looked a bit disgusted for a brief second, then she looked at Lena and James. "No, nobody else was there, and nothing happened."

James: ohno she's found out where I really go during my off screen moments. hope she doesn't figure it out

Doc ignores the tension and runs for his life

"Lena, go away. I can't stand the sight of you," Jessie muttered.

Lena stared in shock. "Excuse me, but what have I done wrong?"

"Lena, I think you should just go," James said.

"Fine, I know when I'm not wanted," Lena huffed, and she stormed into the office.

Oooph. At this moment in time Jessie's had a bad dream hallucination where Lena did something bad, so Lena's huffyness is warranted.

"What do you were think you were doing with her?" Jessie asked.

"Erm, when and where are we talking about," James replied nervously.

"I saw you in that tunnel, explain it," Jessie said.

Uh Jessie. Someone want to explain hallucination to her

"That was the hallucination, we haven't been off the ship in a few days," James said.

"Oh yeah, is that the best you can do. Maybe I should have listened to Craig," Jessie grumbled.

Yeah this is bizarre. No one should listen to Craig

"You should know what happened, you can't blame it on her being connected to Emma again this time," Jessie replied.

The realisation kicked in at long last, James looked rather disgusted. "You have strange dreams, don't you?"

Bwahahahahaha

for anyone not sure what Jessie's insinuating happened in her totally real hallucination:

oh and lol, I like how the scene ends there. James is the off screen king but I doubt even he'll be able to defend himself here after that comment.

Doc meanwhile catches Faye in the lab, so I was wrong about being on Voyager and I wonder why the Doc brought THAT with him to the Enterprise.

Faye stopped and she turned around. Doctor Jones backed into the wall when he saw her face. She was staring at him with black eyes.

I'm only sniggering cos I remembered I made Faye part Betazoid. They have almost or probably black eyes already.

Lena was sitting on the desk, she looked towards the door. She jumped down from the desk. "Guys!" she yelled. She ran out of the room.

James and Jessie stopped their conversation then followed Lena out. They saw Lena go into the medical lab so they followed her inside.

Dunno why Faye giving the Doc the heebies is what clues Lena in that something happens. I'll give her a Sue pass though.

They go in to find that whatever Faye's doing, some mime act with her arms, doesn't impress the hologram. Though it does impress the trio so much they hit a wall. She scarpers soon after.

"There's something wrong with Faye, she's got some strange powers, and she's on the loose," Doctor Jones said. He searched around for something with his hand. He found a tricorder then he scanned Lena, Jessie and James.

I find it odd that Faye of all people was lured to this place, but didn't really start acting out of sorts until the box was opened. how and why?

hopefully it gets explained before this turns into The Mummy Returns.

Later Jessie hunts down The Mess Hall/Ten Forward/Both?, but instead walks into a weird ass flashback

She was inside a huge room that seemed like a hall. A group of people were watching her from the side of the room. She saw a girl facing her with a mask on. She had a strange but very basic outfit on, and she had a strange knife in each hand.

Jessie looked down at herself, she was wearing something similar to the girl, also she had a similar mask on her head. She had knives in her hands as well. She continued to look around the room but the girl suddenly attacked her.

Oh there it is, we're mummy returnsing earlier than expected

Something caught Jessie's eye, she saw James in the group, but something was definitely different about him.

though I like this touch.

She shrugged and she pulled her own off. Jessie's mouth dropped when she saw the girl's face. She looked a lot like Lena, except older. She remembered her last vision and she quickly pulled herself back onto her feet. The girl quickly attacked Jessie, and another round started.

hmmmmm

as expected "Lena" wins

He spoke in the language the girl spoke. "Well done, both of you. Who better to defend the key to the Gate than my daughter. Who better to protect me than my future wife, Makia." His last sentence was directed the girl's way.

lol

I know it said Lena was older, but I'm still sniggering at the thought that this guy's marrying someone 10 years younger than his daughter. anyways

vision ends and

Lena, James, Neelix and a few others were standing over Jessie. She was lying unconscious on the Mess Hall ground.

"I'm sorry, but it wasn't my fault," Lena said.

um??

"Save it Lena," James said as he knelt down beside Jessie.

lol did I assume correctly, that Jessie acted out the same fight in real life and Lena pretty much fought back? I like it but if you think about it, doesn't work. Lena'd have to fight back the same way her otherself Makia did, and to not have the Slayer advantage. Though Jessie doesn't get KO'd in the hallucination, she clearly does here. I'll allow it.

Janeway brings some strange man with her to Sickbay to ask wtf is happening.

Lena climbed off the nearby biobed. "Fine I guess, she put up a good fight."

Jessie's now the one doing all the badassing off screen, though does it count if we still kinda saw it?

Lena looked rather nervous. "I don't like it either, but James told me that in the first one she saw me and James, erm."

"You and James what?" Kathryn asked.

"Er, is there a better term for making out?" Lena muttered.

"What?" Kathryn exclaimed in a devil's voice.

Doctor Jones quickly came to the rescue. "It obviously didn't really happen, Captain. But this may explain why Jessie attacked Lena."

"It better not have happened!" Kathryn growled.

"I hate to interfere, but this seems very familiar to me," the man said.

We still have no idea who this guy is and why he's there

"A friend of mine has had these kind of hallucinations before. Her subconscious was sending her a message. The only way to cure this girl is to find out what's bothering her subconscious and do something about it," the man replied.

Though I do remember this from the draft version, so maybe "the man" was introduced in that and I forgot to do it here.

James shows up, apparently late, even though he was with Jessie probably when she was taken to Sickbay while Lena apparently went as well.

"You took your time," Lena muttered.

"I forgot that Sickbay was no where near Deck Five," James said.

pfffthahaha

"Hallucinate! What are you talking about, that was no hallucination," Jessie said in disbelief.

"You had a fight with Lena in the Mess Hall," James said.

yes we get it, it seems real. still!

"I fought a girl that looked like her, Makia or something. It wasn't Lena who was with you, it was this Makia with..." Jessie said.

"Why does that name sound familiar," Lena muttered.

"Guys, that wasn't James, it was Iinan," Jessie said.

Janeway calls for red alert, while Tom is disappointed she didn't call for battle stations cos he called the joystick.

"Iinan, he was the man that was cursed over 3000 years ago. How do you know about him?" the man asked.

Everyone else glanced at each other, all with confused expressions. "We could ask you the same thing," Kathryn said.

Reminder, Oasis of Abatua was a Season Two entry originally. So it made sense that they were still sorta local to people who knew of Iinan and the curse.

It however got moved to after Fair Chance, the one that was always going to send Voyager back to the Delta Quadrant, and it even nicely said where abouts they were. We're talking tens of thousands of lightyears difference between Resurrection's planet and where they are now. QUICK think of an excuse

"He murdered the leader who ruled both this planet and Thairo. Back then the two planets were linked with a hidden gate. Only a few people knew the location," the man said.

"Thairo is thousands of lightyears away, must be some gate," James muttered.

"Let me guess, there was a key to the gate," Jessie said.

Which needed to be guarded by the second best fighter, the first had to "bodyguard" the king, cough. yesh I see where that king's priorities lay

"Then you must find the key," the man said.

"Why?" James asked.

"Why?" Duncan repeated.

Aaaw

"Trust me, your past life guarded that key. The only reason you're getting these hallucinations is that your subconscious knows that someone is going to find the key," the man said.

and? that's a bad thing because? Voyager and Enterprise might want it I suppose, depending on the size of the gate, but I don't think that's considered. they just assume this person is evil.

"I was in an underground tunnel in one. I had a dream last night where I was going into a strange temple or something. It looked like it had been abandoned for centuries," Jessie said.

"The temple of Atini. That place is supposed to be cursed," the man muttered.

Only one abandoned old temple on this planet. what luck! (and no one's looked inside and looted this key already, ookay)

We actually return to Voyager, GASP, so hold off on the Enterprise counter for the time being

"We can't stay in orbit any longer, we'll have to land somewhere. The ship doesn't have enough power to stay up here without losing life support again," Tom said.

Oh of course, never mind then, counter on standby

"Why?" a voice yelled.

James nearly jumped a mile when he heard the voice. He looked down and saw Duncan.

"Oh god, don't ever do that again," James said.

"Why not?" Duncan asked, and he giggled.

1) Why the f$$$ is Duncan with them? (Cos Alex is, I know) If you can't find a babysitter, try and try again, or one of you stay behind.

2) Duncan's inherited his dad's stealth, and it makes me laugh that it almost didn't work on James but still did. kid's a pro

3) I really hope I'm wrong about ageing up Duncan (not literally for once) to suit the plot. He needs to remain like this, cute, mischevious and funny.

"But I saw your mark, at the entrance," Duncan moaned.

"My mark?" James said questioningly.

"The one on your shoulder. There was a shape just like it on the wall," Duncan said.

It's copied dialogue, yep. Still nice that it's some continuity from Man Out Of You. If you don't recall he's talking about the bruise that never healed.

which is doubley interesting, perhaps triperly. prequel spoiler alert: Abatua is close to New Earth, which is also close to Zare's home planet where the watchers train Slayers. I imagine it was only made coincidental later, but I still like it.

"Ok, I'll check it out soon. For now go back to the entrance," James said.

"But..." Duncan stuttered.

Yeah this is a stupid idea. It's Rick's stupid idea. Hey my wife and kid are lurking around some ancient abandoned building, which one should I follow around? The wife or my young son? hmm tricky one, gotta be the wife since she's got a reputation for reviving curses. James has to be Rick cos I was lazy, so James gotta abandon his much younger kid in an ancient alien temple. suresure

He continued down the corridor. Jessie was there near the end of it. She was looking at some of the drawings on a wall.

"We need to break that wall down," Jessie said. She turned away from the wall.

or, you could go around, map a way there with tricorders

"Ok, step back," James said, he raised the rifle.

"Is that really necessary?" Jessie asked.

um, that's what you wanted wasn't it? did she want him to punch it down cos its her kink, and is now disappointed he's only using a rifle? aaw

She rolls her eyes after he pretty much says this is the way he's doing it, so yeah, she's gonna have to get her thrill elsewhere.

They find they have to walk through bugs, and while they're wary they don't freak out like they did before, since bugs weren't their fear to begin with (finally!). James tries to ladies first her, she has none of it, and I snigger at it.

"Erm, I think I killed some of them," James said.

"So?" Jessie said. She looked around. The other side of the room was a dead end.

How many is some, I need to add to the Kill Counter

Meanwhile Duncan's playing around without adult or at least JJ supervision when obvious crooks walts into this abandoned temple thing.

Meanwhile again James is thwarted by the previous meanwhile ending abruptly, so cannot open an ancient heavy door that has no handle. fairenough. this one clearly is phaserproof. Jessie then sees Unu open it, so she knows how to.

It's all Mummy Returnsy for a while, so summing up:
# Duncan pisses off the crooks, one crook thinks everything is curses
# Jessie wants to open the chest that Unu was supposed to protect. James finds a necklace chain to open it
# Opening it is bad, booby trap tries to drown everyone
# JJ saved by random pillars playing dominoes, Duncan thinks he did it

MEANWHILE, thousands of lightyears away

Two hours later, Thairo, Naptwo

There were hundreds of different kinds of aliens digging up the ruins. A girl who looked exactly like Lena, only with short brown hair, was carrying the Book of Death. She walked up to a taller man.

Yeah this, this... clearly Mummy Returns own reincarnation plot got in the way of the one I made up for the Resurrection episodes.

Original Mummy had no reincarnations. There was one villain, he had one girlfriend (the pharoah's wife/mistress) who wasn't cursed. Resurrection changed things up with Iinan having two girlfriends, the "new" one being the pharoah's daughter and she joined in with the curse. The two are past lives of the mcs, while its hinted in later eps that the suicidal first girlfriend is the past life of Lena.

Mummy Returns though thought about making the film's heroine the reincarnation of the pharoah's daughter, and so reincarnated the bad guy's girlfriend as well. She wants to resurrect said bad guy, who then later makes her possessed by her past life. Since I'm following The Mummy Returns with no deviation so far, at least anymore, this creates the problem that there is already a girlfriend reincarnation in my story and she's one of the good guys. What to do, what to do

SHE HAS TWO REINCARNATIONS BECAUSE ONE OF MAKIA'S REINCARNATIONS WAS AN IDENTICAL TWIN, SO THEY HAD TO SHARE THE SOUL BETWEEN THEM, WHO THEN DIED AND REINCARNATED SEPARATELY INTO TWO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT PEOPLE FROM DIFFERENT SPECIES (BUT THEY LOOK ALIKE), SUCH GENIUS

or I could've changed things up like I did with Resurrection, have them kidnap Lena to bring back Makia, with no other reincarnation villain girl at all. OMG so hard.

anyway back to Lena's soul twin or something, I dunno, who is hanging around with some ex Borgs.

They're trying to dig up Iinan, completely forgetting that a) Iinan turned to dust, and b) The Mummy didn't have any sequels in between it and Returns that had people already doing that. But they'll find some ashes and that's enough to bring him back. I'm as surprised as you that they didn't find his whole corpse marbalised in a pretty fossil like the movie.

so erm, I'll get back to you when there's anything original worth quoting......

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