Gotc: Hmmm... School starts soon...WHY MUST SUMMER GO BY SO FAST!

Ace: Cause you spend all of your time locked in a small little room with a pencil, pad of paper, your computer, and Yami.

Yami: shakes in corner Don't make me go back...

Gotc: I thought you liked to play video games!

Yami: Not for 48 hours staright!

Gotc: Whatever. K I'm a liittle pressed for time so I have to make this quick. Squeaky! Disclaimer!

Squeaky: Squeak! (Translation: Gotc does not own YGO and sadly never will. Ace however will remain her slave until the end of all time.)

Ace: ... Thank you Squeaky! Please start the fic before that whale ends up in a very bad place... oh and for those of you with weak constitutions, this chap gets a little ugly so watch out. But for those out there who love pain and misery, this chap's for you!

Chapter 10: Rise of the Guardian

"How does it feel to be free again my master?"

Yami looked at the monstrosity before him. He could fell the puzzle burning almost white-hot against his chest. Never before had it reacted so violently to anything. Sharrackor. So this was the Dark Lord Boran had planned to release all along. The monster dwarfed even the Gods in size as he stretched his gigantic wings. The Dark Lord let out a roar that Yami felt rather than heard. His voice carried in a deep baritone the made him want to double over in pain. No wonder he was known as the Dark Lord.

"Ah...I thought I'd never be free of that wretched realm..How good it is to feel fresh air again."

"HOW DARE YOU SHOW YOU FACE IN THIS REALM AGAIN YOU MONSTER!"

Yami looked to see Ace standing before the towering Beast, literally shaking with anger. Aura poured off of his body in huge amounts. His eyes now held nothing but anger, sorrow and countless years of pain.

"Hehehe...Who is it that dares to defy my return? You boy? Humph. You seem familiar..." Sharrackor said glaring at Ace.

Yami could see Ace tighten the grip on his sword making his knuckles go white. Why did this look so familiar? Ace hung his head so his eyes were no longer visible.

"So I see that after all this time you don't remember me..."

Then from somewhere behind Yami, Kyadreon let loose a massive blast that struck the Dark Lord squarely in the helmet. Sharrackor roared in pain and surprise and tried to peer through the smoke the blast had created. But before he could find the culprit, Ace appeared through the smoke riding on Kyadreon's back, eyes flashing with fury.

"If you do not remember me, then perhaps the bite of my blade will jog your memory!"

Using all the strength in his body, he brought his sword down on Sharrackor, the ancient blade slicing through the flesh on the monster's massive shoulder, where a piece of armor had already been sliced away...

Yami and Yugi watched the scene unfold from below, in both awe and disbelief. Everything suddenly made sense. This was Yugi's dream, playing out again before there very eyes. Ace, the dragons, Sharrackor. This had all happened before. And before, only Ace had survived...

/No way.../

Sharrackor howled in pain. It couldn't be. He should have been dead!

"You!"

A vengeful grin appeared on Ace's face, as he bared his right shoulder revealing the scar that ran there.

"That's right Sharrackor," he said tracing the scar with two fingers, " You missed."

For a moment Sharrackor looked stunned, but then he began to laugh in the maniacal way only villains can.

"Hahahahahahaha! And here I thought Atlantis was dead! You're a good deal tougher than I first gave you credit before. I was sloppy. But I can give you my word, this time: I. Won't. Miss."

"You may be surprised Sharrackor. A lot's happened since you were here last," Ace said pulling the small crest out from around his neck, "I won't be as easy to beat as I was back then."

Sharrackor stared at the crest wide-eyed.

"So not only has Atlantis survived through you, but the Guardians as well. Impressive. You must have taken the deaths of this island's people hard to accomplish so much. It's a shame really, that you will be joining them so soon. I hope you have a place in that little valley for yourself."

Anger quickly returned to Ace's eyes.

"How dare you even mention that! You have no right to even be here! Do not flaunt their deaths in front of me!"

Sharrackor grinned menacingly.

"What's wrong?" He asked disappearing from view, only to reappear just a breath behind Ace, "Still bitter!"

"Bitter doesn't even start to cover it."

Sharrackor swung at Ace only to connect with nothing but air. But Ace wasn't far. In fact, he was just below the Dark Lord's fist, arm outstretched and glowing an angry blue.

"You missed again."

Ace let the energy fly into Sharrackor, violently jerking the Beasts's head backwards.

"And here I thought you would be difficult to beat."

But Ace's victory was short lived. As if nothing had even happened, Sharrackor looked Ace in the eyes, completely unharmed. For the first time, Ace's eyes filled with terror.

"Don't be so sure you have won just yet Guardian."

With one blind fast stroke, Sharrackor smacked Ace and Kyadreon out of the Sky as if they were no more than a fly. Kyadreon hit and flew into the underbrush near Joey and the others. Ace wasn't as lucky. The force of the impact shattered his armor, leaving only broken scraps uselessly clinging to him. He tried to get back up, but before he had the chance, he felt Sharrackor's gauntlet close around his body. Without thinking, he reached out and grabbed the shard of metal closest to him, as Sharrackor brought him up to eye level.

"Hmph. I was hoping for more of a fight from you. Oh well, perhaps I'll amuse myself by breaking each bone in your body," He said squeezing the body in his hand until he heard a satisfying 'crack', "one by one."

Ace could feel his ribs snapping like twigs underneath the pressure. He knew full well that he couldn't take much more of this. With all the strength he had left, he plunged the shard in his hand in to a weak spot in Sharrackor's gauntlet. The Dark Lord cried out in pain and hurdled Ace to the ground. Ace lay there for a moment, strugling to breathe, but before he had a chance, he felt Sharrackor's foot slam onto his back pinning him facedown to the ground.

"You pathetic worm. How dare you even think about opposing me. Guardian or not you never stood a chance. It took all seven to seal me away before. And here you are. All alone. But then again this shouldn't be anything new for you. After all, I'm sure you've spent plenty of time alone."

Ace was far to weak now to say anything. Blood seeped out of a corner of his mouth staining the ground crimson. All he could do now...was listen... Then he heard the voices of his friends calling out to him, and to Sharrackor.

"Leave him alone Sharrackor! He's no threat to you now! Your fight's with me!"

The Pharaoh. He couldn't let him get mixed up in this. It was his fight. He couldn't let this monster hurt him.

"Nooooo...Ph...ar..aoh...don'...t..."

"How sweet. Trying to save all you have left from me? I'm afraid your little friends were doomed the moment I set foot in this world. Before I spared you the agony of watching your family die. This time you won't be so lucky."

Ace took a shallow breath as Sharrckor removed his foot off of him. But where it was going was what worried him. He could only watch as the Dark Lord hovered over Yami, then with out any hesitation caught him up in a sadistic red and black beam. Yami's cry carried over the island. He knew what sharrackor was doing. He was sucking the very life out of him. But he couldn't do anything but watch as his friend was slowly killed. It was over. He had failed. Everyone. His freinds. His family. His promise to all of them. He had sworn so many years ago that this would never happen. And now here he lay just letting it! No! It won't! Not again!

Instinctively he reached deep within and grabbed hold of a power he never really knew was there, letting it course through his entire body, flooding him with new life and strength. This day would be Sharrackor's last.

"SHARRACKOR!"

The Dark Lord released Yami and turned to see what he thought was the beaten Guardian back on his feet and seething a white-hot aura.

"To you I have lost my home and my family. But it will be a cold day in Hell before I will ever lose to the likes of you!"

Then Ace let the energy consume him. He could feel it taking shape around him. Melding itself to him. In one final moment the two became atuned. The fusion complete.

Sharrackor could only look back at the sight before him and shiver. A figure, clad in white armor now stood before him. Mortal words could not describe what had once been in Ace's place. But it was a face he knew, and feared all to well.

"No!" he screamed, "That's impossible! He can't be human!"

"I warned you of this in our last encounter Sharrakor." It spoke in the same baritone that Sharrakor did, " The boy is nothing like the others. And I suppose we have you to thank for that. After all, if you would have left this island alone all those eons ago-.."

"It doesn't matter what power this boy may hold, Kyron, and you know it!"

"Sharrackor...How can you be so blind? The power Katon used, the power that has defied you from first to last, was never mine."

For the first time fear betrayed Sharrackor

"Katon has never, until now, drawn upon the power that lies with in the crest. He has sworn to defeat you with his own two hands, and I shall honor that wish."

The Being Sharrackor had called Kyron, narrowed his eyes, and uttered several words, forcing open the shadows behind him once more and called forth a powerful wind to draw everything in its path back into the shadows. Boran screamed for a brief second, before the shadows consumed him

"HA! You think the shadows will listen to you when their master stands before them?"

"Watch your tongue Shadow. You forget who created that realm." Kyron growled, and as if on que, tendrils of shadow shot out from inside of the hole and wrapped themselves around Sharrackor.

Kyron then turned to Yami, who lay motionless on the ground at his feet. The Guardian streached out a hand and a soft green glow surrounded Yami's body, then faded away. The Pharaoh stirred slightly, then looked up at Kyron.

"Katon trusts you Pharaoh, and for good reason. You were willing to risk your life to save his. That kind of courage is rare and never goes unrewarded. And so I have returned to you the strength Sharrackor had taken."

"Wh-who are you?" Yami managed to stutter

"I am Kyron the Healer. The spirit who dwells within the crest around Katon's neck, and one of the seven Guardians who fought the shadows at the beginning of Time, and sealed them away within the Shadow Realm. We have since lost our corporal bodies and rely on the strength of men to protect our crests until the time when we are needed again."

Yami could have sworn he seen what looked like a smile cross the face of the Guardian.

"Take care of Katon. This hasn't been easy on him, and trying times are soon to come. He will need the help of you and your friends very soon."

Kyron then turned back to Sharrackor.

"Now, return to the realm from which you came!"

"Never!" Sharrackor screamed over the roar of the wind

Kyron grabbed the Dark Lord by the collar, hoisted him above the ground and looked him dead in the eye.

"Let it be heard in this realm and yours, that the Guardian has returned."

With that he flung Sharrakor into the swirling vortex, his cry fading into nothing.

Thousands of miles away, a man began to laugh to himself in the darkness.

"Hehehe...Welcome back 'Guardian'...Now let the games begin..."

Gotc:WOOOOOOOOOOO! I finished it! dances And left things with a serious cliffe! Kinda...

Ace: Yeah...yay...limps away

Yami: What on earth do you do in your spare time to come up with this stuff?

Gotc: Do you reeeeeeeallllllyyyyyy want to know?

Yami: No, not really...

Gotc: Good. Now on to the next one. Squeaky! Coffee!

Yami: Well...All that aside remember to R&R or Gotc may stop writing...

Ace: We can only hope...Until next fic!