Bullied because of his eastern ethnicity, Danny Khalifa is suddenly summoned by the old Ibis the Invincible (Prince Amentep). Guided by Amentep's fading consciousness, Danny reluctantly mummifies Amentep and his wife Taia. As the mummification finishes, Amentep passes on his Ibistick to Danny (as only descendants of the Egyptian royal family can wield it), along with a warning that the dark god Set has the Helmet of Fate, and that he intends to use it to overthrow the other Egyptian gods and then block out the sun and turn the world into a desert. Furthermore, Amentep urges Danny to find Thoth and retrieve the helmet.
When Danny returns home, he begins to read his father's books on Egyptian myth. Later he finds a way to seek out Thoth on the Internet, and uses a ritual including the Ibistick and painted hieroglyphs to transfer himself to Thoth's realm. When alerted of the situation, the god of wisdom appears rather apathetic, and tells Danny that there's nothing to do but prepare humanity for a thousand years of misery and pain. As Danny disagrees, Thoth gives in and grants him the full power of the Ibistick, a way to Set's house, and a cryptic advice.
Arriving at Set's house in the red lands, it doesn't take long for the new Ibis the Invincible to get trapped before Set. While being frozen like a statue, Danny recalls the advice he gained from Thoth. As Set realizes that Danny desperately wants to say something, he temporarily releases him, only for Danny to summon Horus, god of the sun and light - and Set's eternal enemy. Set and Horus begin to fight, and Danny calls out to Thoth to get him out of there.
Out of danger, Thoth instructs Danny to seal away the Helmet of Fate from the reach of gods and evil men, which he then does. After Thoth dissappears, the bullies from the beginning of the story appears again, and Danny attempts to summon the Ibistick, which he discovers he cannot. Thoth, in his giant baboon-headed form, appears instead and scares of the bullies, and then explains that the Ibistick cannot be summoned for "scuffles with other urchins". Danny then walks away to wonder whether this was the best day ever or the worst.
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