"What? You want the cape off? Oh, come on! It's not that....ok, ok! Jeez." Geno smiled as he pressed button on the golden star around his neck, and his cape was released. He carefully rolled it up, making sure to care for it carefully. It had lasted 5000 years with millions of repairs, but he didn't want to finally have to replace it because he folded it too quick. IT, and the star that held it, were both gifts from his wife.

Geno looked up and laughed. The gravekeepers, far away, could hear this, and looked at each other, confused. "Ya, I know I still have my armor on....give me a moment, will ya? Geez, just like in Egypt: 'Take that Sword and breastplate off! Your going to be here a while, and I won't have you uncomfortable.'"

Geno continued to laugh as he reached to his sides and took out his two long swords out of there sheathes. Both had been made by Hephaestus back in Greece when he had first demanded that the gods give him the Army of Light. He had lost his armor, taken from him and kept by Pharaoh Atemu upon banishment (he had regained it after the Siege of Onimod, and it was now in the keeping of a family of gravekeepers). Using only his dagger, he had proven himself to the Greek Gods by not only climbing to Olympus, but also carrying the goddess Nephthys and Athena upon his back.

As a reward, the god of the forge had made for him armor that would later become the standard for the Roman army, as well as two swords that were indestructible. They were identical except for the hilts: The right one was made to look like a crown, the left to look like thick wings.

Geno gave them a quick spin, showing off, then chuckled and placed them at the stone statue's feet. Next, he removed his shield. It was a long shield, ending at the bottom with a point and capped with a jig-jag pattern. Upon it were two swords crossed, a four-point star, and a lightning bolt in the background. The shield was made of the same godly metal the great shield of Zeus, his aegis, had been forged of. IT had been a peace offering, to insure Kappa Neo would never again come to Olympus. Of course, that had not saved Athena....

"There, good?" HE looked at the statue and smiled. "Good. I want to tell you about how my month was." Geno sat down and took one of the tablets from the ground, and began to carve in it with his dagger. He wanted to finish the image he was working on, of him and her standing back to back, swords drawn. "Well, let's see...I guess you want to know where I was off to. Well, Seto Kaiba...you remember him?"

Geno paused, and then grinned. "yes, the cocky....Well, he started up this huge tournament called Battle City....no, I didn't duel. I was busy making sure Raia didn't kill herself. Anyway, he started it because...well, you remember the rumors that Pharaoh Atemu had three deadly ka monsters, each a servant of the gods? Well, Maximillion Pegasus made three cards based off of them."

The wind picked up, and a tree branch creaked. "Ya, I know, stupid huh? Well, Seto manages to get one of these cards from Ishizu, this museum director that is also one of the gravekeepers and, get this, has the Millennium necklace...or did. Well, her brother was all nuts over these cards, and using the Millennium Rod...." Geno stopped. "I forgot to mention he had the rod, and we know the holder of each item? Sorry, my bad. Anyway, he comes, and there is this huge duel tournament. I spend half of my time protecting Raia, Ishizu, and Ishizu's "servant" (wink wink), and the other half I spend dueling Malik in a shadow game. I won, by the way."

Geno turned and looked around. "but that isn't the big news." He leaned in close, as if he were telling a secret to a small child, not a huge 30-foot statue. "Kaikou got her memories back!" He grinned from ear to ear and stood up, checking thoughts off on his fingers. "She remembers Egypt, you (of course), her marriage to Atemu (aka that moron)....what do you mean, 'Have you told her you're her father?' Shima, she wouldn't understand. She would think I was some monster that abandoned you both to fight some stupid war. And when she finds out what I did to her husband and her people.......no, no! I won't tell her! Better to let her think her father is dead then a murderer!"

He stopped, and then let out a breath, looking at the statue sadly. "Listen, I'm sorry, alright? I didn't mean to yell...it's just upsetting, you know? I mean, I thought I lost both of you, yet I get you both again....but your trapped in a card and she trapped in the body of my best friend's sister...who I think has a crush on me now." Geno turned and frowned. "Yes, I know it's sick. She went out with Guy, broke his heart, and now wants me. I get the irony. Ha ha ha."

Geno sighed, and then walked back to his carving. "You know, I think this is turning out great. I think I'll put it near that tree, that way you can see it when the sun comes up. Don't you...."

Geno stopped, and whipped around. A scream pierced the sands, and he instantly grabbed his weapons. "I'll be right back, you hide...er....just stand there and act like a statue!"

He slipped his swords into the sheaths at his sides and shield on his back, and took off in a run, hurrying to get his cape fastened. He leapt over one of the small ponds and hit the sand, his feet digging in, racing as fast as he could. He was glad he had decided not to wear his armor this time, going with a simple gray tee and a pair of blue jeans.

Geno saw several gravekeepers staring at him. He didn't even bother to look at them, but he know that as he passed them, they had fell to their knees and began to beg him for a quick and painless death. Don't worry guys, if this is a trick, I will give you the quickest death....but it won't be painless.

He looked at the only two gravekeepers that weren't mumbling gibberish, and stopped next to them. One was a man, maybe 35, maybe 40, it was hard to tell. He was knelling next to an older man who looked about 70.

"This better be good." Geno said.

"Kappa Neo!"

"I know who I am, now what the hell happened?"

The gravekeeper mumbled a soft prayer then caressed the older man's hand. "It is my son, he has been cursed!"

Geno raised an eyebrow. "What, you find a time machine to produce a kid older then you?"

The gravekeeper shook his head violently. "No!" Geno gave him a look and he lowered his head. "My son is only 5...I brought him to show..."

Geno finished the sentence. "To show him me." Geno finished by spitting into the sand. "Go on."

The man nodded. "we were watching..when a hand reached up from the sand. It grabbed m son's ankle, and he...he is now like this!" Geno frowned and stood up, his eyes looking at the ground as he headed back to the oasis. "Will you not help?" He didn't say a word, and the keeper stared at him as he walked away. "I do not care if you can kill us, you CAN'T ABANDON US!"

Geno whipped around. "Quiet, or you son will die soon! If you want him to live, let me work!"

All of them grew silent as Geno slowly walked the sands, moving in strange patterns, till he finally stopped, his hand held out. The Millennium Dagger flew into his palm, and with darting move, stabbed into the sand.

A shriek came from below him, and a rift formed, running from him. Geno leapt in the air and landed right on top of the ridge, slamming his dagger into the earth. The shriek issued again, and from the sands Geno pulled out the creature that had attacked the child, exposing it to the harsh noontime sun. It howled, breaking free of his grip and stared at him, taking up a stance.

A Zombie...wonderful

It wasn't like the zombies one saw in the movies: a recently dead human with guts torn or blood covering their body, eyes dead and emotionless, staring at you with only a base intelligence.

No, this was better called a skeletal monster. It was merely bones with bits of linen clinging stubbornly to its arms and chest. Around its head it wore a small metal band a golden eye upon it, and around its neck was a strange pendant. It howled, it's bony fingers pawing at the two holes in its skull where Geno had struck while to looked upon its foe in anger.

"Well, look at what we have here." Geno smiled and gave the creature a slight wave. "Are you supposed to scare me? Please...I have fought things that blow you out of their nose." He chuckled. "You like picking on these gravekeepers, huh? Well, I like picking on monsters like you!"

The zombie screamed and charged him, it's hands reaching out to ensnare his throat, wanting nothing more then to choke the life out of the man that stood before it, taunting it. Geno smiled and stood still, waiting for the creature to get close enough that it would not be able to redirect it's attack, a mistake tat he loved to take advantage of over and over.

Finally, he reached back, and in a fluid motion, brought his shield out and bashed the zombie against the steel. IT hollowed in agony, and Geno grinned, taking out one of his swords, giving it a slight spin as the zombie reeled, trying to gain it's bearings back, clutching it's bare skull.

"This was too easy." With a spin, he cut the demon in half, snatching the pendent. He threw the item to a gravekeeper. "Break it above the child!"

They nodded, and as one held it above the old man, another shattered it with a staff. A pale liquid poured out all over the man, and rapidly, the old man regressed into a 5 year old. His father gave him and hug, then looked back at Geno.

"Thank you Kap...look out!"

Geno twisted right as a zombie slashed at his chest. Geno leaned back,, avoiding the long nails of the skeletal zombie, and then pivoted, and bring his sword down, cleaving the head of the beast from its neck. He turned to see that a group of the creatures were pulling themselves from the sand, all of them watching him and tensing up to take him out.

He grinned, and held out his hand, stopping the creatures dead in their tracks with his magic. They let out a startled call, and tried to pull their legs from the sand, but found themselves rooted. Geno sighed, and looked them over carefully, planning on how he could take them out ad debating if her wanted them to die quick and painless or with a lot of flashy lights and sounds.

The gravekeepers gasped, and waited for him to rush them. But instead, Geno decided he was going to put on a show. The words of the father of the boy rang in his ears, and it annoyed him that they even dared to say tat too him. Maybe it was time to remind them of who he really was, and these zombies would be the creatures to help in his little demonstration.

So, he laid his shield down, taking a small container that was inside out and then flipped the shield back up on the sand, allowing him to see his reflection. He then carefully painted on two pairs of thunderbolts on his cheeks, a triangle under each arm, and the line down his nose with the inverted arrow at his forehead. He stop, and drew up his sword and shield, and let everyone stare at him carefully.

"Let us see how these monsters fair against the Blitzkrieg commander!"