Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX.
Chapter 5: Labyrinth of Bone
After a few moments of walking through what appeared to be a dark metal corridor, Jaden and the rest of the team arrived at the bottom of what looked like a massive well. The walls of the well were composed of bricks made of white stone and covered by years of moss. As soon all five members of the team were in the well, the mechanical door they had come through suddenly vanished without a trace. Meanwhile, right in front of them was a much larger wooden door with faded red paint. Engraved in a stone plaque above the door was the phrase, "Here lies the Empire of the Dead."
"This looks like a cheery place." Lena sarcastically remarked.
Before anyone could respond, a beam of blue light projected from the letters of the plaque. The light formed into a holographic screen that showed what looked to be a map of an elaborate maze.
"Welcome to stage two, Underworld Catacombs." Spoke the same computerized female voice from the previous level. "Your mission in this stage is to navigate to the center of the labyrinth beyond these doors and defeat the duelist waiting inside. Be warned that there are monsters wandering the halls of the labyrinth. Please note that winged monsters such as dragons are not allowed to move inside the labyrinth. There is no time limit to completing this mission. Good luck."
With that, the holographic screen vanished and the large wooden doors swung inward. Jaden and the others were quickly assaulted by a damp musty smell coming from the long black corridor that loomed before them.
"Do… do we really have to go in there." Hiroki asked as some of the color drained from his face.
"It's not like we have much of an option, mate." Clive pointed out.
"Are you scared, Hiroki?" Jaden asked.
"Scared? Me? Ha!" Hiroki scoffed. "This challenge is nothing to someone like me. Though I'd understand if someone like you was afraid."
"I'll admit that it is kind of creepy, but I've seen a lot worse." Jaden replied.
"Let's just get going." Aster told them. "I'm thinking that this is going to take us a while."
With that, Jaden and the others proceeded through the massive archway into the labyrinth. As soon as they were all through, the doors slammed shut behind them, causing Hiroki to let out a small yelp. For a moment they were in complete darkness until lines of torches on both sides of the corridor suddenly lit up on their own. The red light from the flames revealed that the walls were lined with row after row of human skulls.
"We're gonna run into Zombie monsters in here, aren't we?" Clive assumed.
"Oh yeah." Lena agreed.
The team headed silently through the long corridor into the labyrinth. The only sounds that could be heard were their footsteps on the hard stone floor and the occasional chattering of Hiroki's teeth. After a few short moments they reached a fork in the corridor that split to the left and the right.
"Well, which way do we go?" Aster asked.
"I could flip a coin and let lady luck decide." Clive suggested.
"And if your coin flip leads us to a dead end, what then?" Lena asked.
"Anyway you look at it, this labyrinth is going to take a long time to navigate." Aster pointed out. "There has to be some kind of clue that could point us in the right direction."
Jaden glanced down at the ground and in the dim torch light noticed something carved into one of the stone bricks that made up the floor. He kneeled down to take a closer look and saw that it appeared to be the carving of a skull, and that the top of the skull was pointing to the left direction.
"Hey guys, this might sound crazy, but I think we should try going left." Jaden suggested as he got back to his feet.
"What makes you say that, Fusion Master?" Clive asked.
"In the floor, there's a little carving of a skull that's kind of pointing in that direction." Jaden explained. "I think that might be the clue that Aster was talking about."
"And how do we know that following that skull marking won't lead us into a trap?" Hiroki asked.
"Right now it's really all we've got to go on." Aster pointed out. "We'll go left and keep an eye out for more skulls."
"Works for me." Lena responded. With that, the team headed into the corridor on the left.
Alec stood nervously in the control room of the lab looking through the window into the room where the pods were. He was relieved that the vital signs of Jaden and the others were still reading normally, but he knew that state could change in an instant if something else went wrong.
At that moment, a man with sandy-colored hair wearing a lab coat burst into the control room. "Dr. Flynn! We have another problem! Mr. Kaiba is here to speak with you."
"What!" Alec exclaimed.
The sandy-haired man was then pushed aside by two more men wearing black suits and sunglasses. The suited men stood at either side of the door, and walking into the control room was a young man with brown hair and piercing blue eyes wearing a white suit with a blue tie. Alec knew this man very well as the man who owned his lab, Seto Kaiba.
"Mr. Kaiba! I, uh… I did not expect you to come here in person." Alec told him.
"When I heard that a duel academy student got trapped inside your little simulator project, I decided to come here to make sure you didn't screw things up any more than you already have." Kaiba replied. "At the very least, this could turn into a PR nightmare for my company."
"I understand perfectly, sir." Alec assured him.
"What have you been doing to get that girl out?" Kaiba asked.
"So far, we've been unable to deactivate the simulation from the outside." Alec informed him. "So we've sent a team of five duelists in to clear the entire simulation in the hopes that doing so will end it and deactivate the pods."
"Are you saying you sent even more people into that game of yours?" a displeased Kaiba asked. "You realize that you may have just tried to put out this fire using gasoline! If that team of yours doesn't succeed, than we'll be in an even worse position than we're already in!"
"I understand, sir. But you needn't worry. Among the members of the team I put together are some of the finest young pro duelists of their time." Alec assured him. "I have every confidence they will succeed."
"For your sake, they had better." Kaiba told him. "You know for a fact that I've never approved of this project of yours. I've had enough of my own experience with virtual simulation pod technology to know how potentially dangerous it is. From this point on, I'm going to personally oversee every step of this rescue operation of yours until it's resolved. After that, don't be surprised if your performance here at Kaiba Corp comes up for review."
"Yes sir." Alec responded as he wiped the sweat from his brow.
The team continued on through the corridor keeping an eye out for any more skull carvings in the floor. They had been walking for what seemed like several minutes when suddenly three living skeletons that were yellowed with age and wearing purple robs appeared right in front of them. Hiroki let out a scream upon seeing them.
"I've got this!" Jaden declared as he drew an opening hand. "Go, Elemental Hero Sparkman!"
Appearing inside the corridor was a warrior clad in a blue bodysuit that had gold armor covering his face and chest, along with a pair of wing-like pieces on his back. Running down the sides of each of his legs was a yellow line similar to a lightning bolt.
"I'll help too!" Aster told him as he drew his own hand. "Go, Destiny Hero – Diamond Dude!"
Appearing in the corridor next to Sparkman was another warrior with wild silver hair with gold streaks, wearing a tattered dark-green cape with a blue bodysuit. A diamond-like mask covered his eyes, and on the buckle of his belt was a gold letter D. Giant diamond shards grew from his back, with smaller shards of diamond grew from his arms and legs in an irregular pattern. In place of a right hand, he had what looked like a pincer made of diamond.
"I think I'll join this party too." Clive decided as he drew from his deck. "Go, Strike Ninja!"
Materializing next to Sparkman and Diamond Dude was a ninja clad in black. He had a tattered red scarf around his neck and a gold mask covering his face. Strike Ninja flipped through the air and struck one of the skeletons with a flying kick, reducing its bones to dust and causing its purple robes to fall to the ground. Sparkman destroyed the second skeleton with an electrified punch while Diamond Dude hit the remaining skeleton with his diamond-encrusted claw.
"Those were just Skull Servants, probably the weakest Zombie monsters in the game." Lena identified. "So far this maze is turning out to be a real yawn."
"There might be some stronger monsters waiting deeper inside the maze." Aster pointed out. "We shouldn't let our guard down."
At that moment, Hiroki glanced to his left and saw a smaller corridor leading to a door. "Hey! I think I found the room where that next simulated duelist is waiting."
"But we haven't been in this labyrinth for that long." Aster reminded him. "It seems unlikely that we'd find the boss room this quickly."
"We haven't seen a skull that points towards that room, Hiroki." Jaden pointed out. "We should probably get going."
"C'mon! This has to be the room!" Hiroki insisted as he suddenly stormed down the corridor. The rest of the team and their monsters went after him but couldn't stop Hiroki before he opened it. The entire team ended up going inside only to find an empty room.
"I don't get it. If this isn't the boss room, then what is it?" Hiroki asked.
Suddenly the door to the room slammed shut and the torches lining the walls lit up. Materializing in the center of the room was a massive creature with armored plating that looked like it was made out of bone. It had an almost human-like face with red eyes and a wide mouth filled with long sharp teeth. On its forehead was a single sharp horn, and the sides of its neck were covered in blue scales. The exposed open ribcage on the creature's chest showed a massive red orb. The thing's arms and legs appeared to be made of a collection of skulls that were mashed together. As soon as the creature appeared, two HP gauges appeared next to it.
"Oh crap!" Lena cursed. "Ryu Kokki! With all these Warrior monsters we have out, this is the worst thing that could've appeared!"
"I'll handle this!" Hiroki declared as he drew his opening hand. "I led us into this trap, so I'll get us out!"
"Hiroki, wait! You can't do anything in this battle!" Aster told him.
"Quiet, Phoenix!" Hiroki shot back. "I'll prove to both you and Jaden Yuki just how strong I truly am!"
Suddenly Ryu Kokki roared and stomped his foot near Hiroki, causing the blue-haired duelist to flinch and nearly drop his cards. The bone creature swung his claws down towards Hiroki only for Sparkman and Diamond Dude to fly in and strike the beast. Ryu Kokki pulled his bony hand back, but both Sparkman and Diamond Dude were instantly destroyed. Jaden's life points dropped from 4000 to 2400. Meanwhile, Aster's life points had dropped to 2600.
Ryu Kokki attempted to swing his other arm towards Hiroki, only for Clive to send Strike Ninja to block the attack. The ninja struck the bone monster with his daggers, causing Ryu Kokki to pull back. Strike Ninja meanwhile shattered into bits of light and Clive's life points dropped to 2300.
"Hiroki, are you okay?" Jaden asked.
"I'm perfectly fine, and I didn't need Hero users like you to protect me!" Hiroki told them.
"Never mind that!" Aster told him. "It's best right now to just let Lena handle this battle. We'll try and support her with Spell cards as best we can."
"Nonsense! We don't need Ms. Rogers to handle this battle, because I've just drawn the perfect monster for this situation!" Hiroki told them. "I summon Getsu Fuhma!"
Appearing inside the chamber was an effeminate male warrior with long red hair, wearing grey and red samurai-like armor. In his right hand, he carried a long katana. As soon as Getsu Fuhma appeared, Ryu Kokki paused and starred down at him. Getsu Fuhma meanwhile glared back at the bone monsters.
"You have got to be kidding me!" Lena exclaimed.
"I equip Getsu Fuhma with the Spell card, Mist Body!" Hiroki announced. "Now he can't be destroyed in battle! More importantly though, any Fiend or Zombie monster that Fuhma attacks is instantly destroyed!"
"Hiroki, wait!" Jaden called.
"Getsu Fuhma, attack Ryu Kokki and end this nightmare!" Hiroki commanded.
The redheaded warrior leapt up into the air with his sword raised to strike Ryu Kokki. The blade struck the creature's bony hide and suddenly an explosion of white light washed out the entire chamber. Hiroki was knocked onto his back by the resulting shockwave and his life points had dropped to 2300. When the light cleared, the door to the chamber opened on its own and there was no trace of either Ryu Kokki or Getsu Fuhma.
"What… what just happened?" Hiroki asked as he got back to his feet. "Why was Getsu Fuhma destroyed?"
"You dumbass! Don't you know that Getsu Fuhma and Ryu Kokki are arch enemies?" Lena told him.
"They are?" a confused Hiroki replied.
"Yeah! Just like Getsu Fuhma has an effect that destroys any Fiend or Zombie monster he battles, Ryu Kokki has an effect that destroys any Warrior or Spellcaster monster that battles him." Lena explained. "They have opposite effects that are guaranteed to take one another out. That's why all you did was blow yourself up just now."
"So then… Getsu Fuhma was destroyed by Ryu Kokki's effect?" Hiroki realized.
"Duh! Just like every other Warrior monster that attacked him just now." Lena told him. "Why did you think that the monsters of Jaden and the others were taken out in one hit by that thing?"
"I had just assumed that they were too weak and didn't have enough HP to survive the attack." Hiroki answered.
"That's why I told you before that you couldn't help in this battle." Aster told Hiroki. "You use a Warrior deck just like most of the rest of us do. Lena's deck was the best one suited to take on Ryu Kokki."
"In a way though mates, Hiroki using Getsu Fuhma like that saved us a bit of time and energy." Clive pointed out. "Of course it looks like because of the way this game is set up, we each lost life points equal to the ATK of our monsters."
"Well, the important thing is that we managed to get out of this trap." Jaden pointed out. "Let's just get back out there and find the boss room."
With that, Jaden left the chamber, followed by Aster, Clive and Lena. Hiroki let out a heavy sigh before following them out a moment later.
Alec was a nervous wreck as he stood in the control room, though he did his best to maintain a calm demeanor. Every few seconds he'd glance back and look at Kaiba as he talked on his phone. The one thing that Alec was sure of about the situation was that he would need to take a vacation once it was all over. Though by the time Kaiba was through with him, Alec knew that he'd probably have more time off than he knew what to do with.
"Dr. Flynn! Mr. Kaiba!" called Randy, one of Alec's assistants. "I've found something you should both see."
"What is it?" Kaiba asked as he and Alec walked over to Randy's station.
"I figured out why we lost control of the simulator." Randy explained. "There's something that's completely overriding our commands to the system."
"Are you saying that someone else has taken control of the simulator?" Alec asked.
"That seems to be the case." Randy answered.
"Who on earth would do something like this?" Alec asked.
"We can figure that out later." Kaiba told him. "What I'd like to know is if you can get control of the system back?"
"Not yet, but I think I can trace where the person controlling the system is." Randy answered.
"Do it then." Kaiba ordered. "If we can find the scum screwing with this project, then we can quickly bring this to an end."
Jaden and the rest of the team had been wandering through the labyrinth for what seemed like several minutes following the skull carvings in the floor. They had avoided entering the rooms like the one Hiroki had found earlier. Lena had also taken the lead and had summoned her Gagagigo to fight off any Skull Servants that they encountered. For the most part though, the trip through the labyrinth had been silent. As the team pressed on, Jaden glanced back and noticed how glum that Hiroki seemed to be and fell back to talk to him.
"Hey Hiroki, you doing okay?" Jaden asked.
"My well-being isn't any of your business." Hiroki told him.
"Look, don't feel bad about what happened back there with Ryu Kokki." Jaden continued. "A lot of times, I have trouble remembering what certain cards do too."
"If you don't mind, I'd like to be left alone right now." Hiroki requested.
Jaden let out a small sigh and moved towards the front of the group. Soon after, Clive fell back to have a word with the young duelist.
"Hey man, why're being so hostile towards the Fusion Master?" Clive asked him. "He was only trying to be nice just now."
"I know, but until I defeat Jaden Yuki I must consider him my enemy." Hiroki told him. "The same goes for Aster Phoenix."
"Jeez mate. Just what the hell is it with you and Hero users anyway?" Clive asked.
"It's… it's not something that's easy for me to talk about." Hiroki told him.
At long last, the team reached a large round chamber inside the labyrinth. Right in front of them was a large wall carved to look like a massive human skull with an open mouth. Inside the mouth was a massive red door.
"Looks like we're here." Aster observed.
"What's that carved on the door?" Lena asked, noticing the large letters that seemed to be engraved across the front.
"It looks like it's written in French." Aster observed. "Let's see… it says, 'The way may be opened by paying the price of blood.' I wonder what that means?"
"It's probably nothing." Hiroki assumed as he walked up to the door.
As soon as Hiroki touched the handle of the door bolts of crimson lightning shot from the teeth of the giant skull around the entrance and shocked him. The blue-haired duelist's life points dropped down to 1700. After a moment the shocks ended and a dazed Hiroki let go of the door handle. Suddenly the doors slid open by themselves to reveal the chamber on the other side. Soon after, Lena's monster vanished and her deck was reset.
"Guess the price of blood was the cost of 600 life points." Clive realized.
"You okay Hiroki?" Jaden asked.
"Uh… yeah, I'm fine." Hiroki assured them. "Let's go."
With that, the team headed into what they hoped was the final chamber of the labyrinth. As soon as they were through, the doors slammed shut behind them and the torches on the wall lit up on their own, revealing that they were inside a large circular chamber suitable for a dueling arena. Standing on the far side of the chamber was a very short young-looking man with extremely pale skin, sunken cheeks and long grey hair that stood up on end. He had on tattered brown robs and an old Kaiba Corp duel disk on his left arm.
"Welcome duelists to the crypt that will be your final resting place." The short young man greeted.
"Hey! I know who this guy's supposed to be. That's Bonz Kotsuzuka!" Clive identified. "He was one of the game's first Zombie duelists. He even made it into duelist Kingdom and Battle City, though he didn't get very far in either tournament. In fact, during Battle City they say he disappeared while dueling some bloke in a cemetery towards the end of the prelims."
"What do you mean disappeared?" Jaden asked.
"I mean he vanished off the face of the earth." Clive answered. "Of course some say that he got beaten so badly during that duel that he quit dueling and blended into normal society, but others say that Bonz's opponent banished him to hell after he beat him."
"Sounds like some stupid campfire story to me." Lena remarked.
"Which of you unfortunate souls has the nerve to step forward and face me?" Bonz asked.
"I'll do it!" Hiroki declared as he stepped forward.
"But Hiroki, you've only got 1700 life points left." Jaden reminded him.
"So? In the early days, duelists would start out with only 2000 life points." Hiroki pointed out.
"Yeah, but the game wasn't nearly as complex then as it is now." Aster pointed out. "Plus Bonz is going to start out with a full 4000 life points."
"Besides, you've nearly wet your pants at the sight of almost every undead thing we've run into in this dungeon." Lena added. "You'll probably faint at the sight of even this guy's weakest monsters."
"That won't happen." Hiroki declared.
"C'mon Hiroki, let one of us take this one." Jaden requested.
"By 'one of us,' do you mean you and Phoenix?" Aster asked.
"That's not…" Jaden began.
"Forget it! I'm going to show you both right now how strong I really am by beating this guy." Hiroki told them. "By the time this duel is over, both you Hero users will have to acknowledge just how strong a duelist Hiroki Kitami really is!"
Author's Note: So yeah, the villain for this level is a simulation of Bandit Keith's little minion from Duelist Kingdom, Bonz. I know it might seem like I'm scrapping the bottom of the barrel for enemy duelists here, but I am trying to use characters that I haven't used before for at least the first few chapters. Anyway, in the next chapter we'll find out a little bit more about Hiroki. So stay tuned.
In the meantime, please review and let me know what you think.