Author's Note: Now, it's time to take a peak at Egypt.

Chapter Thirteen: Forbidden Tombs

For the first time in her life Isis Ishtar honestly wondered if it was possible to turn back the sands of time. If she could do so, then she would go back in time and tell Dalin that she would not take assistance from his ward on her mission. 'The mistakes we make…'

Towering over her at her right hand side, just as always, was her adoptive brother Rishid. With his great height, bronzed skin, top-knot, and half his face tattooed with ancient scriptures, it was hard for anyone to not be intimidated by Rishid. That made it easier to travel through dangerous areas without risk.

Isis thought back to the past as well, remembering some of her experiences. Even at this juncture, quite a few years later, it seemed odd that she bore Dalin no ill will. Truthfully it had not been his direct actions that had caused the death of her young breath Malik, but it was partially because of him. Dalin had accepted full blame, and for that Isis had found herself unwilling to truly hold him responsible.

After the events involving the creature she still thought of as the Avatar of Apep controlling Taichi Nobuki, Dalin had began traveling the world. He had gone to various types of tournaments, earning money and searching for clues to his past. While in Cairo he had met Isis, and they had reconciled.

At some point, Isis felt she had been close to falling in love with him. This unknowable man who was always calm and in control, seeming to know more about any situation than he let on. The man whose past was a secret even to himself, and whose future was in flux as long as that past was hidden.

Three years ago the chances of her coming together with him had diminished to nothing. He had met with her and explained that without knowing his own past he could never know himself or his own feelings. Whether he had someone else out there waiting for him he did not know, so he could not take any action. Until he settled his past, it would be impossible for him to move onwards and decide his true feelings. 'Yes, I can understand the allure he holds, a powerful and nearly flawless man in many ways.'

Despite her acknowledgment of her own feelings, she still found this twenty one year old blonde girl to be annoying. It had been obvious from the start that Alice Terry, Dalin's young ward, was besotted with the man. However, she was more than besotted, she was obsessed.

"And then, bam, pow! He knocked that guard flat out! It was so awesome to see! Well, okay I didn't really see it, but I heard about it. Second hand. Third hand. Okay, I heard a rumor about, but it sounds likely right? Senpai's always doing cool stuff like that!" Isis let out a calming breath, her left eye twitching slightly.

"Oh, and there was this one time where he dueled Seto Kaiba! Now that was an amazing duel! When Seto brought out his Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon and then defused it for three direct attacks, I thought Senpai was a goner, but he had been prepared for the attack of the Blue Eyes the whole time! He's always doing cool things like that, always knows ahead of time." Isis idly wondered if Rishid was as annoyed as she was. He was stone faced, so it was hard to tell.

Suddenly Rishid stopped and shivered. Isis followed the path his eyes were taking as he scanned the rooftops. She gave him a questioning look, and he answered immediately. "I felt as if someone's eyes were boring into my very soul. I did not like it."

"Jumpy aren't you?" Alice yelped, and both Isis and Rishid spun back to see who had spoken. Standing just a handful of feet away, perched on a cart selling melons, was a bronze skinned young man, looking just slightly older than Alice.

Isis was a very self-aware person. It wasn't often that she lost focus on her surroundings, so she was not caught off guard when she noticed that nobody around them was moving. It was as if time had stopped. "Who are you?"

The bronze skinned man smiled, his midnight locks falling down across his face to cover his eyes, making it impossible to tell if he was looking at them directly. Idly he reached up one hand and brushed imaginary dust off his brown desert robes. "A shame, a true and utter shame that you nobody recognizes me these days."

Rishid frowned, a look that was made even more dangerous by his stony features. He stepped out in front of Isis, towering over the seated younger man. "We have never met you before. Now give your name and state your business or you will regret it."

Despite being confronted by a much bigger man, the young Egyptian looking man just grinned, looking quite cocky. He tilted his head up, and the hair parted, giving Rishid a look into eyes that were had no pupils, and were darker than the night itself. "Little man…I could eat you alive."

Rishid clutched his chest suddenly, feeling as if something was being pulled at within his body, within the very core of his being. It was a burning and tearing sensation that sent intense flashes of pain through his mind. In mere moments he was on the ground, twitching and clutching his chest. "Just a few moments more and I'll find out what your soul tastes like."

"Release him and speak! I'll listen to what you have to say, just stop this!" The young man shrugged and lifted his gaze from the fallen Egyptian man. His bangs fell across his eyes again, concealing them as he looked in Isis and Alice's direction.

"My name is Israfel. A pleasure to meet you." He extended one hand out to her, which she refused to take. Alice was standing completely behind her, terrified of the young man who had somehow nearly killed Rishid just by looking at him directly.

"That's not polite behavior. Don't act like I'm evil, I'm far from it. In fact, I come bearing advice for you, that's why I've temporarily placed us in a pocket of time separate from the rest of the time stream." His newest smile looked rather eerie in that it was both friendly, amused, and frightening.

"You tried to kill Rishid merely because he threatened you. What advice do you have that makes you worth listening to?" Israfel vanished, appeared to their right perched on top of an unlabeled brown box. His hidden eyes seemed to shift over to Rishid, and the tall Egyptian shuddered and stood to his feet.

"There, he's all better. Its best if mortals learn lessons in respect before someone truly cruel does something. As for my advice, well I'm sure you're aware that the apocalypse is coming, correct?" Isis nodded, still not sure what to make of this strange man.

Israfel laced his fingers together and placed his folded hands over his right knee, propping his chin on top of that. "The dinner of in honor of Osiris, the plot by Set to slay his brother, such things are to come to pass again. The champion is the destroyer, the savior the satan. That's basically it."

To the strange man's surprise, and to the shock of Isis and Rishid, there was a sudden snort following the comment. "That's it? A bunch of cryptic nonsense and then you'll just head off? The fate of the world is in the balance and that's what you give us? Hell, why should we even trust you anyways?"

Rishid stepped between Israfel and Alice immediately, keeping him from looking directly at her. Isis on the other hand turned around to face Alice, looking upset. "Alice, I understand that your knowledge is limited, however you must know this. Israfel is the name of the Angel of Song, who is said to come and blow his trumpet as the apocalypse begins."

Israfel laughed happily, slapping a leg with one hand, looking positively overjoyed by the response. "I always forget that you mortals don't really get how things work. Yet it's always so refreshing to be called by that term. You know, I was mortal once as well, a very long time ago."

Isis turned, looking for answers, but before she could even ask a question Israfel waved a hand, brushing her off. "Don't think about it too much. Just know that there is only so much I'm allowed to tell you. You'll come to understand the truth soon enough. If the Satan of this age is born, know that the apocalypse will come. That is your goal. Farewell."

Just as suddenly as it had stopped, the motions of the crowd returned to normal. Seeing that they needed a chance to discuss this strange development Rishid and Isis ducked into an alley, with a hushed warning to 'watch guard' to Alice. It was of course intended to keep her out of the way. And she knew it.

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Alice had dutifully stood guard. She had even agreed to Rishid's less than polite request to 'stop talking about Sumatin for five damned minutes'. Now, in an effort to impress her mentor, she was no sitting in a Jeep driving through the Sahara.

"So what are we out here looking for again?" Isis sighed, having already given the brief explanation three times already. It seemed odd to her that any adult could seem so immature, especially at twenty-one. After all, she had taken on adult responsibilities when she was fifteen.

Now she was a twenty-seven year old woman, head curator at the Cairo National Museum, and one of the world's top Egyptologists. To her embarrassment she had also ranked in the top twenty in Duelist Monthly's yearly 'Hundred Hottest Duelists' for the past four years. Even Rishid, normally without a sense of humor, had found it amusing.

'This Alice…she's so immature that she can't even be considered a woman yet. She's merely a girl, a teenager in overdrive with hormones. And she is driving me crazy!' Praying to all the goddess who was her namesake for patience, Isis leaned over the back seat to once again offer the explanation.

"We are going to find an ancient tomb hidden beneath the sands of Egypt, created when Egypt itself was first unified." Alice pouted, dropping her chin into her hands. Honestly she had been hoping for a full explanation, but so far that tiny bit was all she had gotten.

The trip continued for nearly an hour longer, until at long last Rishid stopped the car in the middle of nowhere on top of a dune. "Sister, our scriptures indicate that the Forbidden Tomb is located beneath our very feet."

Alice leaned over the edge of the car, her blonde hair spilling down around her face as she looked around. "I don't see anything but sand beneath us. And it goes for miles. This is after all a giant desert."

Rishid's right eye twitched as he desperately tried to reign in his wrath. She was merely immature, and that was no reason to inflict severe bodily harm upon her. "The tomb is beneath the sand. We're going to open the path to it using you."

The blonde girl blinked and pointed at herself, looking surprised. "Me? What am I supposed to do to open this thing up? I don't even know the first thing about it."

Isis let out a deep breath, and then held up a slim looking dagger. "To open the pathway requires the blood of someone of pure heart to be spilled on the sands that cover the tomb. It is an ancient method and crude, but it is what must be done."

Alice frowned, backing away slightly from the knife. "My blood? Umm…but…but…why couldn't it be one of you two? Why does it have to be me? You guys don't seem evil to me."

The statuesque Egyptian woman looked like she didn't want to have to say, but a steady look from Rishid convinced her. "Being an ancient pact in blood, pure means…a virgin. To open the path requires the blood of a virgin."

Alice blushed, embarrassed that it was known that she was in fact a virgin. But still, she didn't want others to know that and just use it for their own whims, like using her blood to open up tombs. "Here I thought you were uptight all this time. Who'd you do?"

Isis' cheeks were tinged with pink, barely noticeable because of her copper skin. "That is of no importance. Now, I just need to prick your finger and let the blood drip onto the sand. Let's get this over with."

Still not looking quite satisfied, Alice extended her hand. Isis carefully pricked her finger with the knife, and then held Alice's hand out over the sand. It took a moment for the blood to gather, but finally a drop of blood fell to the ground. "That's it?"

Before anything else could be said in response, the sand about ten feet away began to be pushed to the side by what appeared to be magic. On further reflection Alice concluded that, since it required blood, it was actually magic. "Oh."

In under a minute the sand had parted enough to reveal a small tunnel with stairs that seemed to lead deep into the ground. "So we go in? We are taking lights right?"

In response Isis and Rishid extended her a flashlight, while Rishid held a lamp and Isis another flashlight. "Of course. Come, it's time to enter the forbidden tomb."

"You know, if it's forbidden, then why are we entering it? Shouldn't we stay out just based on the fact that it is forbidden?" She got no reply, because Isis and Rishid had already entered. Sighing she trudged after them, passing through the archway and into the tunnel.

Shining the flashlight around helped ease some of her fears, until she saw what was depicted on the walls the whole way through the tunnel. Scenes of death and torture, people being ripped apart by horrible monsters, men being dragged to death by chariots. "What…what is this place?"

Isis stopped, her flashlight centered on a particularly gruesome image of a man with his innards hanging out of his stomach, while he was chained up to something. "This is known as the Forbidden Tomb. It was created roughly five thousand years ago, just after Narmer united Upper and Lower Egypt, thus beginning the Old Kingdom."

She stopped, pointing her flashlight at a massive stone doorway just up ahead. The point her flashlight met was an image of a man in a large headdress of some sort, holding a mace in one hand threateningly. "Narmer united Egypt, but specific histories are uncertain about this. However, specific histories known to the tomb keepers indicate the truth of unification."

Alice leaned in, intrigued by this new bit of information. Rishid on the other hand appeared bored, as he had heard this story many times. "Okay, so this Narmer guy united Egypt. Is this his tomb or something?"

Isis shook her head, apparently not bothered by the interruption. "No, in fact it is still currently believed that his tomb has been found in Umm el-Qa´a, Abedjou. His body has yet to be discovered of course, but the point is that this is not his tomb. No, this is the tomb of the reason that Egypt was unified."

The Egyptian woman shone her flashlight to another part of the doorway, this time the light settling on a more fearsome image. Much taller than Narmer was a fierce looking man, whose mouth appeared to be dripping blood, and he wore nothing but a loincloth. "This is the reason."

"He's scary…but how could that one guy be the reason for Egypt needing to be unified by Narmer? I mean, did he have a big army or something? Was he an invader?" Isis shook her head, and Alice noticed something. While she looked at that image, Isis appeared…afraid.

"This…this is Am-heh. It is called the Devourer of Millions, and it is not a man in the strictest sense. Whatever sort of evil he was born from, it made him powerful beyond anything Upper or Lower Egypt had seen before. Single handedly he tore villages apart, slaughtering countless men, women, and children." She shined the flashlight over to the wall to their left, which showed Am-heh holding a person's arm above his head, looking bloodthirsty.

Alice gulped, unable to take her eyes off the terrible image. Even the crude stone carvings of the tomb seemed…life like when depicting this man. "Neither part of Egypt had a standing army, so fighting back seemed impossible. But the gods sent a messenger to Narmer, and told him what to do."

Once again the flashlight moved, this time coming to rest on a large image of Narmer with dozens of men with spears behind him. "In the time of crisis Narmer unified the nation and brought forth an army. Then, with the power he was bestowed by the messenger from the gods, he unleashed his Ka, the first in Egypt to do so as a weapon."

This time the flashlight showed Narmer standing with his mace above his head, facing Am-heh. Directly behind Narmer, with wings extended, was a carving that could only be one thing. "That…that's the Blue Eyes White Dragon!"

"Yes, Narmer's true Ka was that of the Blue Eyes, a Ka that would continue to be a mighty symbol in Egypt. It would pass through his family line, eventually taken forcibly by a High Priest three thousand years ago. Seto Kaiba's ancestor. But that is another story." Alice nodded, knowing that she'd have to ask again about that later.

"Okay, so Narmer had his big old duel monster to fight with him and an army. Then they kicked Am-heh's butt right?" Isis paused, and then shook her head and scanned with the flashlight. What she found was another gruesome image, this one showing Am-heh standing in front of Narmer on top of a pile of bodies.

"Despite the army that Narmer brought with him, Am-heh proved too powerful. Once again the unholy beast tore apart the opposition, leaving the army in tatters. The very ground above our heads was the site of that great battle, and it bathed in impure blood. That is why the blood of the pure is required to open the way." Alice gulped, rubbing her arms superstitiously as she looked around at the various images of Am-heh's acts of brutality.

"However, Narmer was not going to give up. He fought a brutal battle with Am-heh, his remaining soldiers giving their lives to keep him alive as he used his Ka to inflict damage upon Am-heh. When Am-heh was weakened and injured it lashed out and destroyed Narmer's Ka, nearly killing Narmer." Another image showed Am-heh standing on top of the broken and bleeding body of the Blue Eyes.

"Seeing it as his last chance, as Am-heh approached him to strike him down, Narmer reached out and took one of his fallen soldier's spears. A spear soaked in the blood of thousands of men. He stabbed Am-heh in the chest with it, trapping him into a wall of bodies that he had created. It was then that the messenger of the gods appeared, bringing with it the method to stop Am-heh once and for all." A shadowed figure now stood by Narmer's side, and cauldrons bubbled around them.

"It was a secret brought by this messenger that was written down shortly thereafter into a book that provided information on shadow magic. The corpses of the slain soldiers were smelted with gold to create chains that would bind Am-heh, and the spear was coated it in it as well. Thus he was trapped, unable to move or remove the spear that kept his wound opened and him weakened." The next image showed Am-heh tied down by golden bands on his legs and arms, with the spear sticking out of his belly.

"Am-heh was unkillable, that much was certain. But it turned out that while keeping him weakened by the spear was all that kept him in his chains it had a terrible side effect. Am-heh's blood continued to flow without end, and any who came into contact with it were driven insane and became murdering animals. Any touched by this blood had to be put down before they could deal too much damage." Alice shivered; finally understand the brutal acts she had seen earlier on. Those were the works of people affected by Am-heh's blood.

"So what did they do?" Isis immediately motioned to the walls that surrounded them, and at the door behind her.

"In order to keep Am-heh's blood from causing future chaos, and to prevent him from ever being free, the people of the now united Egypt created this tomb, protected by powerful magics. They buried it deep beneath the earth, with Am-heh at the farthest depths of it, guarded by a powerful spirit born of those Am-heh had slaughtered on the battlefield. That is what this is, the Forbidden Tomb, the Tomb of Am-heh." All three of them couldn't help but shiver, just knowing that they were in the prison of a terribly evil and powerful creature.

"So, why exactly are we here? I can't see how being in the tomb of some uber-evil freak is a good thing. We're not here to set Am-heh free, that's for certain." Isis smiled slightly and nodded. She gestured for Alice to come closer, and when the blonde girl did she held up the slim knife again.

"I'll need your blood to open this door. Before you enter the next room I'll explain. We've come because deep within this tomb is a pool of Am-heh's blood, the only amount of it ever successfully purified. It is now called the Well of Lost Memories. It provides a link to secrets of the past that could tell us how to stop a certain evil in its tracks once and for all." Understanding that this was important to the world, Alice freely extended her hand and let it be pricked again.

Once the blood was at the tip of her finger she reached out and dragged it against the wall. It shook, and then rolled aside, heading off into darkness. "So, let's get on our way and get to this Well of Lost Memories."

She started walking forwards, but stopped when she realized that she wasn't be followed. "Umm…how come you guys aren't coming with me? Shouldn't we get going?"

Isis and Rishid exchanged sad glances, and then finally looked at her again. This time it was Rishid who explained. "I must apologize Alice, but your blood is the reason you are here. The spirit that guards Am-heh will only allow us to pass if the one whose blood opened the way can defeat him in a Darkness Game. Only you can move on to defeat this guardian spirit."

The blonde gulped, looking back into the darkness. Waiting somewhere in there was a powerful spirit born of slaughtered soldiers. A spirit that she had to beat in a Darkness Game before they could reach the Well of Lost Memories. "What happens if I lose?"

"Then your soul is incorporated into the guardian, further increasing his strength. Your body will whither and rot away without the soul to hold it together. That is the fate that awaits you if you should lose." Rishid's face was completely serious, so Alice knew he wasn't kidding at all.

Girding herself, Alice stepped to the edge of the darkness. "Well…wish me luck." She stepped into the darkness and was out of view in seconds, leaving Isis and Rishid standing at the edge.

Isis bowed her head, feeling horrible for what she had just done. "Good luck."

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Alice felt a chill run up her spine as she looked around. The room she was in now appeared to be fully lit, and it was filled with carvings of thousands of different men, each one looking different than the previous. "Wow…what is this place?"

"This is my chamber, and these are the men who died at the hands of Am-heh in the final battle, the men whose fallen spirits were used to create me. I am the guardian of Am-heh, and you, who are pure, have trespassed. The Darkness Game shall now begin!" Appearing out of nowhere, standing a dozen or more feet away from her, was a tall Egyptian man in ancient armor, dressed like all those others.

He had on what looked like a bronze breastplate, and had a little goatee that extended down from his chin. "Now, bring forth your Ka so that we might do battle like honorable warriors."

Alice paused, her hand just shy of pressing the activation button on her DD3. "Err…Ka? I thought we were going to duel."

The man looked at the object on her arm, appearing a bit confused. "I see. So the method in which Darkness Games are fought has changed since the last time someone entered this tomb. Very well, the darkness will impart me with what I need as always."

There was a flicker, and suddenly motes of light shot out from individual pictures in the wall, gathering around the man and his outstretched left arm. Moments later a golden DD3 was on his arm, a deck in place. "Thank you spirits of the past for giving me the knowledge I need for this game. Let it begin!"

Alice activated her duel disk and slid five cards off of it immediately. But just as her opponent was reaching for his deck she realized something. "Say…what am I supposed to call you anyways? I'm Alice Terry." (ALP: 4000)

He paused in the process of drawing his cards, and then came up with an answer. "I have no name. Simply refer to me however you wish."

"Oh for Pete's sake! Sheesh, I'll call you Steve if you can't come up with your own name." The man arched an eyebrow, looking rather indignant about the name.

"I do not know this Pete deity of yours, but this name 'Steve'…it does not feel suiting. If that is the name you would give me, I would prefer you merely call me Guardian. Now, let the duel begin." He finished the motion of drawing his five cards, and then Alice drew her sixth. (GLP: 4000)

Alice scanned her cards, her mind going back to her days at the Duelist Academy in that other dimension, and her time as a junior member of the Underworld of Dueling. But most of all, she thought about everything her senpai had taught her. "I start off by summoning Atomic Soldier(1600/1200) in attack mode!"

A muscular man in green army fatigues appeared in front of her, a backpack strapped to his back with the nuclear warning sign on it. "I'll play one card face down. Go ahead Guardian."

Guardian drew and held up the drawn card. "Purge lets me destroy one card on the field when activated. However, if I have no cards in play it instead destroys two cards. So Atomic Soldier and your face down card are destroyed."

Alice gasped as both of her cards were blown apart in mere seconds. But her shock was turned to a grin as remaining in place of Atomic Soldier was a floating globe of energy. "When destroy by an effect Atomic Soldier's secondary effect activates, dealing you seven hundred damage!"

The energy sphere shot straight at Guardian, exploded against his bronze breastplate. But Guardian was made up of fallen warriors, and was not so easily harmed. He didn't even flinch or budge upon the impact and explosion. "Despite the damage, the field is mine." (GLP: 3300)

The blonde girl was well aware of that fact. Her field was empty after just one card from her opponent. And it looked like he was making his move. "I set a monster in defense mode. Next I'll bring it into attack mode by playing Book of Taiyou, which lets me flip one face down monster into face-up attack mode."

A royal looking zombie guard formed from the face down card, holding its weapon in preparation. "This is Royal Keeper(1600/1700). When flipped its effect activates, making it gain three hundred attack and defense points. Now, Royal Keeper attacks directly!"

Alice screamed as the blade slashed across her arm, drawing blood. She grabbed at the wound, horrified that it had been a real cut. "That was a strike to show you what this Darkness Game is capable of. Next time I will not be lenient. End turn." (ALP: 2100)

Despite his simplistic words, the move wasn't that simple. As he finished his turn the Guardian slid a card face down into his duel disk, and then Keeper vanished, replaced by a horizontal brown backed card. "Royal Keeper can be flipped face down once per turn."

She grimaced, realizing what he intended. By flipping it back down that meant she had to get a monster out of over two thousand attack points if she intended to destroy it. And if she didn't then he'd just flip it up in his turn and boost it up to nineteen hundred attack points. "My turn, draw!"

When she saw the card she had drawn, she immediately look at one of the other cards she was holding. There it was, a combo perfect for showing this guy what she was made of. "I activate the continuous magic card Hydrogen Fuel Cell! When this card is in play all monsters with 'atom', 'nuclear', or 'radioactive' in their names gain three hundred attack and defense!"

A giant chrome sphere now floated on her field, granting power to whatever she would summon. "Don't worry about that power boost, because its other effect is what you should worry about. When destroyed it takes out every card in play. So I activate my own Cyclone to destroy it!"

A burst of lightning strike the hydrogen fuel cell, and it began to shake. Then it exploded, encompassing the field with a blinding light. "Ha! There goes your field, opening the path to my victory!"

Her joy was crushed when his field returned to sight, showing a face down monster still there. Guardian pointed to his now face-up trap card, obviously the culprit. "When activated the trap card Offering of Self lets me send cards off the top of my deck equal to half the level of monsters on my field to keep them from being destroyed."

Two cards went to his grave, and then the trap card faded away, purpose served. "If I can't blow your field away, I'll at the very least put up a defense. I summon Radioactive Sludge(1000/1000) to the field!"

A glowing green lump of…something, now sat on Alice's field, oozing. "By discard cards from my hand when summoned, Radioactive Sludge lets me summon others of its kind into play. So I discard both of my remaining cards to special summon the other two Radioactive Sludge in defense mode!"

With no other cards in her hand, she was done. Guardian drew, understanding what her plan had been. She would have destroyed his field, then summoned her Radioactive Sludge in attack. Using its effect she would have summoned the other two and done three direct attacks, reducing him to three hundred life points. "A good plan, even though it failed."

Guardian slapped down his most recently drawn card, and a towering monster appeared. It had an eye of hours in its face, and terrible claws. "This is Grave Ouja(1600/1200). When monsters are flip summoned on my field it deals you three hundred damage. So I flip summon Royal Keeper, increasing its attack by three hundred."

The zombie reappeared, its power boosting. Immediately after the newest monster fired a barbed spike from its hand, which Alice avoided by jumping to the side, letting it be buried in the wall. "You really were trying to kill me weren't you! Jerk…" (ALP: 1800)

"Your life is not important, this game is. Grave Ouja and Royal Keeper attack two of your sludges." Each monster lunged forwards and attacked the goo monsters, splattering them completely. Only radioactive waste was left on the field.

"When a Radioactive Sludge is destroyed I pick up one random card from my cemetery and add it to my hand. Since you destroyed two I get back two cards!" Two cards shot out of her graveyard, and she placed them back into her hand.

Guardian paused for a moment, and then pointed at Royal Keeper. It vanished, returning to face down position. "One card face down. End turn."

Alice drew her a card off her deck, and then smirked. "My mentor taught me that power is important in a duel, and planning ahead of time is great as well. So, guess what happens now? Hydrogen Fuel Cell activates!"

The permanent magic card of before reappeared, and Guardian's gaze immediately traveled to her hand. "It is highly unlikely that the other card you received at random is the card you need. Bluffing is pointless."

"Highly unlikely, but there it is anyways. Cyclone!" The hydrogen fuel cell detonated once again, and this time the blast took out every other card. When the field cleared the Radioactive Sludge was gone, as well as both of Guardian's monsters and his set card.

A card popped out of Alice's grave according to the effect of Radioactive Sludge, giving her two cards in hand. She looked at the card, and then tossed it onto the plate of her duel disk. "Atomic Soldier(1600/1200) is welcomed back, and he gives you a taste of direct attack power!"

The familiar soldier reappeared and planted his backpack into the ground. Then he slammed a button on the side of it and a blast of green light shot out of it, covering Guardian's field. He didn't move, but he did appear uncomfortable. "This…itches." (GLP: 1700)

Alice slipped her final card into her duel disk, and then pointed to Guardian. "It'll do more than itch pretty soon. Your turn!"

Guardian drew, and smiled. "Your strength is more impressive than I had given you credit for. So, allow me to begin again, this time with my full power. Magic card activates! Clean Slate takes all cards in my grave and shuffles them back into my deck!"

His cemetery ejected and he shuffled all of the cards back into his deck. Then he held up the remaining card in his hand. "Treasure of Slashing Life lets me draw till I hold five cards, then in five turns I discard my hand."

"Keeper of the Tomb(1800/1500) in attack mode. Attack Atomic Soldier!" A monster that looked exactly like he did appeared, and then launched itself directly at the weaker soldier. But Alice was ready for it.

"Activate trap card, Exposure to Radiation! This lets me sacrifice one monster on my field to destroy one monster on yours. Then I get to summon the radioactive version of my tributed monster! So we both lose monsters, and then I summon Radioactive Soldier(2100/1800)!" Both of their monsters faded away, to be replaced by a similar soldier, this one with glowing green skin and hollow eyes.

Guardian narrowed his eyes, then took two of his drawn cards and slid them into his duel disk. "Two cards face down. My turn now ends."

The moment Alice drew the soldier raised one fist and fired a blast of green energy which hit Guardian in the arm. "During my standby phase Radioactive Soldier deals one hundred damage to you for each monster in your grave." (GLP: 1600)

"Radioactive Soldier, attack him directly!" It raised its fists to launch another bolt of radioactive energy, but suddenly the ground beneath it collapsed and it fell onto waiting spikes, blowing apart. (ALP: 775)

"Chasm of Spikes activates when the opponent attacks. It destroys the attacking monster and inflicts a quarter that monster's attack as damage to the opponent's life points. Your efforts have failed." Alice smirked and snapped her fingers, and instantly a bolt of green energy shot out of the now closing pit and hit Guardian again. (GLP: 1500)

"When Radioactive Soldier is destroyed by an effect it also deals you one hundred damage for each monster in your grave. But he's not gone for good, because I play Irradiated Birth, summoning one monster from the grave that has 'radioactive' in its title!" Radioactive Soldier returned, glaring at Guardian.

With her hand empty and that move having taken her into her second main phase, Alice was done, giving the duel back over to Guardian. The ancient duelist drew, and then immediately his face down card flipped up. "Tomb Cleansing activates when it is the only card on my field. It sends all cards on your field to the cemetery, and deals one hundred damage to you for each lost card."

Alice grimaced as her monster faded away, leaving her with a totally empty field. 'No…with so few life points if he attacks me with anything at all I'm basically finished!' (ALP: 675, GLP: 1400)

"During the turn this card is activated I have no battle phase, so you are safe. I summon Guard of the Tomb(800/2200) in defense and place one card face down. End turn." A bulky man in bronze armor emerged, holding a heavy shield out in front of him. Behind him a card appeared.

She drew as fast as she could, her heart beating heavily in her chest. If she couldn't defend herself then she was finished in Guardian's next turn. So her drawn card would have to work. "I set a monster in defense mode. That's all I can do."

Once more it was Guardian's turn, and as soon as he had drawn his set card flipped up. "Reverse card open, Curse of the Tomb. This switches your set monster into attack mode and cuts its attack power in half."

A red haired man in pale blue robes with images of atoms on the white sleeves now stood in front of Alice, holding a staff out, indicating that it was a spellcaster. "Atom Sorcerer(500/1000) is now in attack mode with its attack points halved, just like your trap said."

"Guard of the Tomb, attack her monster." The bronze armored warrior shifted into attack mode and held up a spear. It pulled its arm back, and then hurled the spear at full strength. The spear stabbed Atom Sorcerer in the chest, and he shattered. (ALP: 375)

"When Atom Sorcerer dies I bring out four tokens. Proton Sorcerer(500/500), Neutron Sorcerer(500/500), Electron Sorcerer(500/500), and Quartz Sorcerer(500/500) all in defense mode!" Four monsters, each in different colored robes, now crouched on her field.

"Unimportant. After Guard of the Tomb deals life point damage you must send three monsters from your cemetery to the grave." Alice sighed and unlatched her deck, searching through it until she had chosen three monsters. Then she dumped them into the graveyard and replaced her deck in its position.

Alice watched Guardian carefully as he slid one of the last two cards in his hand into his duel disk, and then took the remaining cards and slipped it into his graveyard slot. "To activate this next card I discard one card from my hand. I have chosen Head of Tomb Construction(900/1400)."

The blonde girl gasped as behind Guardian hundreds of people wearing loincloths appeared, all of them working together and hacking away at stone, putting bricks in place. "My continuous magic card is Construction of the Tomb. In three turns this card will activate my ultimate field card, and if it activates in this manner it cannot be removed from play."

"So what happens if you get your field card?" Guardian glanced over his shoulder at the activity behind him, and then returned to look back at her, his face completely serious.

"When my field card activates, victory for you becomes impossible."

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Author's Notes: Hey you peoples! Been a little while since I updated her, so I'll explain. My other story I'm working on, Rising Star to Heaven, is a project I have to keep me relaxed and for when I'm not inspired with Twilight. Right now I'm totally inspired for Twilight and uninspired for Rising Star, so thus you got this chapter.

Next Time: Even while Alice struggles against Guardian, trying to prove herself, another battle is about to begin. Deep in the mountains of Tibet is a secret sect of monks, one of whom has a power that could prove crucial to the gang's efforts to stop the apocalypse. Can Dalin and Hikari get the monk's aid for free, or is a test required?

See it all in, Sanctuary in the Sky!

Review Response

Time Mage: You'll learn more about Eramoros next time we take a peak at Kai and Takuya's efforts.

WolfGeneral: Yep, Duel Presences are cool. And Kedamono's is a doozy.

Black Death X: He is indeed pretty near unbeatable. And Takuya appreciates the compliment.

Blue-Eyes White Knight: Been a while since I've seen you in a review. Welcome back.

G.O.T. Nick: And thus, lo there was comic relief in the form of the immature blonde girl!

Darksoulkai: Welcome to the reviewer group. I hope you continue to enjoy my stories.