Author's Note - Warning! Warning! Warning! Character death! Character death! Character death! And in the TRIPLICATE!! You have been warned about it.

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Rick and Evie ran into the lobby to see the trio there. They were greeted by the doctors that Nick worked with and the other Federal Agents that Frank worked with as the other Medjai, Alex and Jonathan hurried up behind them.

"What the heck is going on here?" asked Jonathan as he stared at Ardeth.

"I'm scared Dad," Alex whined.

"I know Alex, so am I," Rick replied.

"I guess what is happening is that the final battle is coming," Evie said. "Imhotep was right."

Her family looked at her in disbelief.

"What did he ever say that could possibly be right at this moment?" demanded Rick.

Evie looked at each and every one of them.

"He said 'death is only the beginning.' He was right because that is what will happen to Ardeth and then to everybody else," she replied as she gazed over at her Medjai friend.

The three followed her gaze, not saying anything for they knew she was right with what she said.

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Jake looked at Cody, who appeared to be in some pain from his shoulder.

"Cody..." he started as he cautiously walked over to him.

Cody backed away and hit the wall, gasping out in pain as he held onto his painful shoulder. Alex and Monica also walked up to him.

"Cody, what's wrong?" asked Monica.

"Shoulder hurts really badly. Even more than when it first happened," he replied as a look of pain crossed his face.

He backed up against the wall and almost slid down it but was caught by Jake just in time.

"What the heck is going on here?" wondered Jake as they watched the three identical men standing in the lobby.

"I don't know Jake but whatever it is, it's happening now," replied Alex.

Cody cried out in pain again. They could tell that he was in a lot of it as he leaned a bit on Jake. Michelle was soon by his side.

"Are you alright?" she asked him.

Cody stared at her before nodding.

"I'll be fine," he replied as the pain laced his voice. "I'll just have to wait until the pain passes."

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Rae stepped forward but Matt grabbed her arm.

"What are you doing? We have to stop him!" Rae protested, trying to break free from his grasp.

"But it's his fight. We can't decide what he does for himself. If he feels he needs to do this, let him," Matt replied.

Jackie walked up to her side and sighed.

"Ever since the beginning, ever since I saw Ardeth here in the hospital, all I wished that this would be was some big joke but I know it's not Rae. I have a better knowledge now, though it may not be much better, of when a joke is being played or not. This isn't one. Though I feel what happened last year was a one-time thing," Jackie told her.

She looked away from the group. Rae knew Jackie and Matt were right though she couldn't believe it that Nick was going to be a martyr and risk his own life for the rest of the planet.

The Time Traveller stepped into view of the three men and smiled.

"You know why I am here," he told the trio.

"You are here to destroy our planet," Nick started, stepping forward.

"To kill us and our children," Frank continued.

"Plus our grandchildren," Ardeth added. "We will not allow that!"

"But it will happen you see. I have seen the future. You will be destroyed and so will everyone so dear to you," the Traveller replied with a laugh. "Besides, none of you are in any shape to fight. You are all so weak. Actually, I think you were all weak before this moment anyway!"

The three men growled at the Traveller before a bright light filled the room and a figure appeared before the Time Traveller, Spire in hand. Ardeth saw this and looked at his hand, now realizing that it was gone. His stare returned to the woman.

"Traveller, you will not win this. I know you will not," she said.

"Guardian, so good to see you again. When was the last time we met?" he asked her.

"It matters not. What matters is right now. The three behind me will defeat you," she told him. "You will never win. These men have something you will never have."

"I will win since they are now helpless and please tell me what they have that I don't. I'm eager to know," The Traveller asked of her.

"I will never tell you," came the reply as a light emitted from the eyes of the Spire and engulfed the people standing in the lobby.

Ardeth found himself surrounded by green. He gazed over it to see he was in the park and the other two men were with him as were Michelle, Sarah and Patrick. The others were there as well but were far enough away from them, having been put there by the Guardian. They knew that this wasn't their fight. Ardeth saw that Catlanda was nowhere to be seen. He expected as such since she was still in a delicate condition.

The small group watched as the Guardian appeared before them as did the Time Traveller. The two stared at each other, the hatred obvious between them that must have simmered for centuries.

"Traveller, you will perish this day," she said.

"No, I will not. They will perish. Now get out of my way!" he demanded.

"I have to Traveller. This is not my fight. It is theirs," she replied before disappearing into thin air.

Now the fight was on. The kids scrambled to get out of the way as the three men took stances as they surrounded the man. The man in the circle simply laughed.

"You think you can defeat me? I have defeated all three of you twice already! What makes you think you can do it now? All of you are in weaker states," the Traveller asked them with a snicker in his voice.

"We have the faith in ourselves and our children. That's all we need right now," Nick replied.

The group watched as the four just stood right where they were, unmoving. All of a sudden, the Traveller made the first move, heading for Frank, who held out his gun. He shot at the man advancing towards him but the bullets deflected off him. The Traveller laughed as he reached out for him and grabbed the gun, jerking it from his hands. Frank's eyes widened in surprise as he began to back away from the man.

"This can't be happening," he quietly said to himself as Nick and Ardeth moved in to help him.

Ardeth lifted his sword to attack the man but the Traveller spun around and hit the Medjai on his arm. Ardeth gasped in pain as he held onto his arm. Nick tried to punch the man but connected with the man's hand instead. Nick was surprised to see the man had blocked the punch.

'This guy has really fast reflexes as well as a body that must be made from steel,' Nick thought to himself.

He then felt himself being thrown to the ground. He grunted as the impact drove the air out of his lungs and caused pain to shoot through him, his ribs beginning to ache even more now. He watched as the Traveller turned his attention to Ardeth again.

Ardeth slowly limped away from the man until the Traveller grabbed him by the throat and began strangling him. Ardeth gasped for air as he felt himself being lifted off the ground. Frank saw this and charged the man only to meet a solid form stopping him. He fell to the ground in pain. The three children couldn't help but watch the scene. Michelle and Sarah were on the verge of screaming out for them.

"What do we do? The man's killing them! We just can't sit back and let him do this!" cried Michelle.

"I agree. Let's go!" agreed Sarah as the three ran for the man.

They jumped over the man, allowing Ardeth to wriggle free from the man's grasp. He slowly backed away, a hand at his throat and gasping for air. Frank and Nick both climbed to their feet and saw what the three were doing.

"Mika, get away from him!" Frank cried out.

His team were surprised at the reaction for it sounded unlike the Frank Donovan they knew. The cry sounded desperate. Of course, there was never really a time where both of them were truly fighting for their lives. They continued to watch as Frank ran up to her and pulled her away from the man after she climbed off.

At that moment, Sarah and Patrick decided to get away from the dangerous man and hurried over to Nick. The surgeon leaned against Patrick as they slowly walked away from the Time Traveller, who appeared to be very angry.

"You will all pay for this. Your world will be dead, a barren wasteland that will be put to my use," the Traveller sneered at them. "You will all die!"

Michelle stood in front of Frank as the Traveller headed towards him again. Frank put a hand on her shoulder, his way of protesting against this act. Michelle knew what this meant but stayed right where she was standing, arms out to her sides.

"And I'll start with you!" the Traveller screamed as a knife appeared in his hand.

He aimed the knife right for Michelle's heart but at the last moment and began to thrust it at her, Frank quickly put an arm around her and shifted their positions. Now the knife went into Frank's back as he shielded her from the attack. He cried out in pain as the the sank to the ground and she went with him. Michelle's eyes now brimmed with tears as she stared at the blood stain now appearing on Frank's clothes. She pulled up his shirt to see the wound bleeding profusely amongst the scars from the blast a few years earlier. She placed her arms around him.

"You bastard," Michelle cursed at the man who attacked them, the tears now falling down her face.

"Oh I'm sorry, did I do that?" the Traveller said in a mocking tone before laughing. "You will soon feel the blade in your skin as well so be prepared."

His attention was now focused towards Nick, who was still leaning against Patrick. Sarah was on the other side of him and she looked like a determined teenager to protect the man.

"Nice to see you again. Too bad this will be the last time we meet. You will die today," snarled the man.

He managed to reach out and grab Sarah by her arm. He jerked her forward and away from Nick. She cried out in pain as she hit the ground hard. She lifted herself up slightly before falling back down, unconscious.

"Sarah!" cried Nick as Patrick took a step forward in front of him.

"Get out of my way!" growled the Traveller.

"Never!" Patrick yelled back at him.

"Patrick..." started Nick as he reached out for the younger man.

Before anything else could be said, Patrick was pushed to the ground and Nick felt pain in his abdomen area. He looked down to see knife sticking out of his stomach. He fell to his knees as he began to lose consciousness. Everyone gasped as they looked on, watching as Nick lay on the ground.

"No!" Patrick yelled as he hurried up to Nick.

"Pat, taking you and your sister in was the best thing I've ever done. I'll never regret it," Nick whispered to him

He felt his blood beginning to pool beneath him.Tears began to fall down Patrick's face as the Traveller now turned his attention to Ardeth. The man put his hands around the Medjai's throat and held him against the tree.

"You are the last one to deal with only with you, your daughter isn't here. You are going to die alone," the Traveller whispered to him.

"My daughter... will always be with me and so will... her child as I will always be with her," Ardeth managed to say. "She has always been my top priority."

The Traveller snickered as he began to choke him even tighter. Ardeth tried to break free from his grasp but it proved useless as he began to see stars before him. He fell limp in the man's arms and the Traveller let him drop to the ground. The man knelt by the Medjai and pulled out a large jewel from one of the pockets.

"Ah, half of the jewel of Ramses II. He had his chance and he failed. I find that this is an interesting gift indeed. I wonder if I do anything to it, if anything will happen," he mused as he gripped tightened around it.

He crushed it into small pieces and laughed while he did so. At that very moment, Catlanda began to breath heavily in her hospital bed. She had a hand on her stomach. Pain began to engulf all her senses.

"The jewel," she whispered. "Father, the jewel is broken."

It was all she said before she succumbed to darkness.

The Traveller climbed to his feet, the shards of the jewel at his feet and sitting next to Ardeth. He gazed down at Ardeth before turning to look at the unconscious forms of Nick and Frank. Their children were by their sides, their friends unable to get to them.

"They can't dead!" he heard Rae cry.

"But it looks like they just might be," Matt said to her.

"Yes, they are soon dead and all because they took in orphans, delinquents or runaways," the Traveller sneered.

Patrick and Michelle watched as he lifted a gun and shot the two men laying next to them. The tears began to fall even faster as they knew then that Frank and Nick were truly dead now. The Traveller aimed it at Ardeth and also shot him, ensuring his death as well.

TBC...