Here's a brief summary of Mummies Alive for those of you unfamiliar with it:

In ancient Egypt, an evil sorcerer, Scarab, kills the pharaoh's son, Prince Rapses, so he can use the boy's soul to become immortal. Before he could complete the spell, he was stopped by the Pharaoh's guards. Entombed alive for his crime (Rapses' body was also never found), Scarab is released when an archaeologist breaks the seal on his tomb. Now in the modern world, he begins his search for Rapses' reincarnation, a San Francisco-dwelling boy named Presley Carnovan. Rapses' bodyguards, Ja-Kal, Rath, Armon, and Nefertina, rise from the dead to protect him from Scarab. Each of the mummies is aligned with the power of an Egyptian god and are able to call upon it for magical armor and powers to fight superhuman evildoers, although once their strength is exhausted they must rest in their sarcophagi to regain the ability.

Chapter 1

A pale man sat behind his large desk, pouring over ancient texts. He was dressed in flowing dark grey robes, purple hieroglyphs embroidered on the hem. A thick strip of red material hung down from his waist with a large yellow scarab beetle in the middle of it. He had an Egyptian collar around his neck, striped in dark purple and yellow. He wore a cone-shaped headdress that was a same color of his robes. The cloth rustled softly as he leaned forward, squinting his aged eyes slightly in order to better make out the symbols on the wrinkled page, the words faded with time. Next to him, Heka -an enchanted staff in the shape of a golden cobra- was coiled on the table, the TV remote lying in front of her as she used her tail to flip through the channels. She stopped as one show caught her attention, staring intently at the screen.

"I play the Summoned Skull, in attack mode! Summoned Skull, attack the Shadow Ghoul!"

Heka watched as a skeletal creature with wings raised its arms into the air, lightning striking its hands. The creature brought its hands down, thrusting them forward and releasing the energy. There was an inhuman scream as a green insect-like creature covered with red eyes was hit by the blast, shattering into thousands of pieces. A number at the bottom of the screen counted down rapidly, stopping when it reached 750. Heka shuddered. "Those things are almost as creepy as the monsters you summon," she remarked, not bothering to turn her head to see if Scarab was listening to her.

Thrusting the parchment away from him in annoyance, the old sorcerer turned his tired eyes to the television to see what Heka was talking about. His eyes narrowed as the screen changed, showing one of the duelists. Leaning forward, he peered intently at the bottom of the screen. "I know I've seen that before..." he said softly. Without a word, Scarab stood, his long robes swishing around him as he strode quickly into the other room.

The camera zoomed in on a boy with tri-colored hair, his face betraying nothing of the thoughts or strategies running through his mind. Dangling around his neck, almost out of the screen, was a small golden upside-down pyramid, light glinting off of the up-raised eye of Ra as he moved.

. . .

Yugi flopped back onto the hotel bed, grinning. "This tournament is sure different from the one Pegasus hosted on his island!" he said.

Yami stood across the room, in spirit form, leaning against a desk. "Yes, it is. It is a pleasant change to not have anything other than the title riding on the outcome of the final duel," he remarked.

Yugi rolled over onto his stomach, facing his dark half. "I still can't believe that they invited us to come to San Francisco just for the tournament! I mean, they're even paying for us to stay in this hotel!"

"Well, you did earn the title King of Games," Yami commented.

"You mean, we earned it. I couldn't have defeated Pegasus without you."

Yami smiled, but his response was cut off by a knock on the door. "Yugi, are you ready yet?" his grandfather asked through the door.

The spirit disappeared back into the Puzzle while the teen hopped off the bed. "Yeah, I'm ready," he said, opening the door.

Solomon grabbed his grandson's shoulder, steering him towards the elevator. "Then, let's go! The tournament is almost over, meaning we don't have much more time to explore the city!" he said, sounding like a child on Christmas morning. Yugi laughed, allowing his grandfather to guide him down the corridor.

. . .

All afternoon and late into the night, Scarab poured over his scrolls. His normally carefully organized library was in shambles. Delicate scrolls littered the floor, ancient texts stacked haphazardly here and there, magical talismans lying where they had been carelessly pushed aside. The sorcerer was oblivious to the mess he'd created, his mind focused solely on finding out where he had seen that golden artifact before. There was something important about it, but he couldn't remember what it was.

Heka was coiled in an urn, having fallen asleep hours previous. She was startled into wakefulness by a cry of triumph from across the room. Wearily, she raised herself up out of the pot, looking towards her master.

Scarab was leaning over a table, muttering to himself. "I knew I had seen it before...not much information about it, though..." he said, softly, as he scanned the page of the open book in front of him. "Yes, that's it!"

Knowing that she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep until her master had calmed down, Heka got out of her urn, slithering over to Scarab.

"What are you so happy about?" she asked.

"This," he replied, moving slightly to the side as he pointed at something in the book.

Heka raised herself off the floor until she was high enough see the faded page on the table. There was a vague drawing of what appeared to be an upside-down pyramid, the eye of Ra on the front being the only distinguishing feature. "What is it?"

"My immortality."

"Really? It doesn't look all that impressive to me. Besides, I thought you needed Rapses' soul," she commented.

"The object itself is of no use to me and the spell for my eternal life merely requires the soul of a pharaoh. It just so happens that this artifact holds an ancient pharaoh's spirit within it," he explained.

"His soul was sealed inside? Whatever for?" Heka asked, confused.

Scarab shook his head. "The only thing this book tells me is that the soul of a pharaoh is inside that item. However, the reasons behind it are not important. All that matters is that I have found another soul that can grant me eternal life. And this pharaoh will not have the mummies guarding him," he said, a thin smile stretching over his face in anticipation.

"Alright, so you've found another pharaoh's soul. How do you know this artifact even exists?" Heka asked.

"Because I saw it earlier today. Tell me, what were you watching on television earlier, before I left the room?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Hm? Oh, it was a card game called Duel Monsters, or something like that. Apparently, there is a tournament being held in the city right now. Why?" she asked, not seeing what relevance a TV show could have to the conversation.

"I think tomorrow I will invite one of the contestants over for a little 'chat.'"

. . .

Yugi walked out of the dueling arena, blinking his eyes in the bright sunlight. He turned upon hearing someone calling his name, bringing up a hand to shade his eyes. "Grandpa!" he called, hurrying down the steps to where his grandfather was waiting for him with a taxi. "Did you see my duel?" he asked excitedly.

"Yes, you did very well. I will admit that I was a bit worried for a while, but you managed to make a spectacular comeback, in the end. I knew you'd make it to the finals. And you'll win this tournament tomorrow!" the old man said, patting Yugi on the back. "Although, I've been waiting out here for almost fifteen minutes. I was beginning to think that you had left without me."

"Oh, sorry about that! There were quite a few people in there that had heard about Pegasus' tournament and wanted the autograph of the 'King of Games.' And then there were the reporters..." Yugi trailed off, looking back to make sure no one had followed him outside.

Solomon laughed. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get used to all the attention. In the meantime, I heard there was a new Ancient Egyptian exhibit at one of the museums in town. You've become much more interested in that culture as of late, so I thought you might like to go see it."

"Really? Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Yugi said excitedly, climbing into the car. Neither noticed the expressionless faces of several people in the parking lot, carefully watching their every move.

. . .

At the museum, the Mutou's ran into a familiar face.

"Solomon, what a pleasant surprise to run into you again so soon."

"Arthur! What are you doing in San Francisco?" Mr. Mutou asked, turning to his old friend.

The taller man smiled. "Oh, I'm here setting up an exhibit of some of the most recent artifacts we've excavated. Nothing too spectacular, but you can't have a groundbreaking discovery every time, eh? But, what brings you to the United States?"

"Oh, I'm here with Yugi for the tournament. Yugi, you remember Professor Hawkins, don't you?" Solomon asked.

"Yes, I remember him. It's kinda hard to forget a duel with someone like Rebecca," he replied.

"Yes, my precocious granddaughter still has a few things to learn," the archeologist said.

"Yugi has taken an interest in Ancient Egypt. Is the exhibit set up?" Solomon asked.

"It is, but it won't be opened to the public until tomorrow. However, I can let you look at it if you're careful not to touch anything. Solomon, would you like to go catch-up on old times while Yugi looks around?" Arthur asked.

"Oh, I don't know. This is the first time Yugi has been to this city-" Solomon started.

"I'll be alright! I just wanna look around here for a while and then I can take a cab back to the hotel," he said.

"Are you sure, Yugi?"

"Don't worry about me, grandpa! I'll be fine," he assured the older man.

"Well, alright, then," he conceded.

"Splendid. Yugi, the exhibit is in this room," Arthur said, unlocking a door and opening it for him. "Just be careful with everything in there. Now, Solomon, you have to tell me what you've been doing all these years..." the conversation faded away as the two old men walked down the hall.

Yugi stopped just inside the door, looking intently at the stone statue of an ancient Egyptian guard, holding an odd looking spear. Glancing around the room, he noticed that the walls were lined with duplicates, the statues all placed about four feet apart. Moving on, he looked at all the old, cracked items on the shelves. There were vases and urns of all sizes inside glass display cases, as well as various pieces of ancient jewelry. Yami was silent as Yugi moved further into the room, looking at a display of spears with a net hanging off of them, obviously replicas of what was used in ancient times. A stone slab was on the wall behind it, the picture carved on its surface showing two men in a long boat using spears and nets to catch fish.

The short boy turned, seeing something of interest in an adjoining room. He walked into it, eyes glancing around at the lamps, jars and jewelry adorning the shelves as he made his way over to a sarcophagus. The elaborate lid was raised, allowing Yugi to peer inside. It was empty.

/Where's the body?/ Yami asked curiously.

/I guess there wasn't one when the tomb was opened up. Grandpa said that's a pretty common occurrence, / the adolescent stated.

/In other words, tomb robbers had broken in and desecrated the body long ago./ His voice was now filled with disgust and tinged with anger.

/I guess so, / Yugi said hesitantly. /Has seeing any of this brought back any memories?/ he asked quickly, changing the subject. He could feel the spirit sigh.

/No. Nothing, / the Pharaoh replied.

The short boy wandered around through the other adjacent rooms for several minutes, not finding anything else of real interest. He headed back towards the first room, but found his way blocked by the statues. Their faces were expressionless as they came to life, pointing their spears at him as they slowly closed in.

Yami took over immediately, his options racing through his mind. What on earth is going on here? Those were mere statues a moment ago- not even the Millennium Rod can manipulate clay like this. The Pharaoh threw his hand out in front of him, palm open. "Mind Crush!" he yelled. One of the statues stumbled as the magic hit it, but quickly recovered, continuing towards the short boy. Yami slowly backed up, being careful to not allow himself to be cornered. Unfortunately, he didn't have many places to go. They have no souls. Perhaps they are merely machines? Kaiba most certainly has the means and technology to create such as these. But, that doesn't make any sense! He denies his Egyptian heritage vehemently! And why would he have chased me all the way to America to send these creatures after me? The ancient spirit shook his head, retreating into another room as the clay figures continued their advance. Regardless, escape would probably be the best option right now. They are blocking one exit, but there must be another way out of here, Yami thought, glancing around. He saw a door behind one of the display cases and quickly ran towards it, trying the handle. It was unlocked and the Pharaoh entered it, ignoring the 'Staff Only' sign on the door. The statues followed him.

Yami found himself running down a corridor, several doors on either side as well as one at the end of the hall. One of the doors was open and he saw a few mops and buckets inside as he ran past. Reaching the end of the hall, he opened the door and ran through it. The spirit paused, briefly, bringing his hand up to shade his eyes from the harsh glare of the sun as he exited the building. Running footsteps behind him prompted him into action and he took off again, trying to put some distance between himself and his pursuers. He jumped, startled, as part of the pavement next to him exploded.

Glancing back over his shoulder, Yami saw several of the statues pointing their spears in his general direction, the ends glowing ominously. A blast of energy shot from one of the spears, narrowly missing Yami and hitting a palm tree in the parking lot. The thin trunk was destroyed and the tree fell, smashing down across three cars that had been parked next to it. Yami increased his speed, zigzagging as much as he could to provide a harder target to hit.

. . .

To Be Continued

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