A/N: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF YU GI OH 5Ds! ALL RIGHTS GO TO THE CREATORS! THE ONLY THING I OWN ARE MY OCS!

Chapter 12: Trial of Mentality

Yusei found himself in cavern with a door on the far side. He walked over to it and tried to open it, but it was practically a decoration. He looked above it to see a stone tablet like plate, but it was blank. He began to see if there was another way out, but there was no sign of any sort of escape route.

"Okay, Mountain of Fate, what do you have for me next?" Yusei commented, mostly to himself.

He turned however as a message began to be written on the tablet: "I can make you successful, or make you a failure. I am totally at your command. Tell me what you want to change about you and I will do it automatically. Be easy with me and I'll destroy you. What am I?"

'A riddle?' Yusei thought. 'This has to be a test on my mentality, both in skill and facing something I didn't realize may be a weakness of mine.'

He looked over and read the riddle again. "A choice can make you successful or make you a failure and we command that choice. But it's usually about something else, not yourself and you don't always do it automatically." He looked at the final part. "Be easy with me and I'll destroy you." He then went wide eyed in realization. "My habit to keep people's worries off of me nearly killed and is on the brink of killing me. My habit of helping people and wanting to keep them safe, nearly made it so I didn't get out of that base. And habit is a part of every bit before that. The answer… The answer is habit." The door's edges glowed for a second before slowly opening.

'That couldn't be the real final trial,' Yusei thought. 'There's gotta be something beyond that door. But what?' He took a breath. 'Only one way to find out.' He slowly stepped through it.

. . .

Ayumi stepped into a room very similar to Yusei's, only there were different colored gems along the walls. The door in front of her was made of diamond that was so thick, she couldn't see through it.

Ayumi tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge even a bit. It was like a decoration or something and there was no sign of any other doors except the one she came from which was now sealed. She sighed and backed up a bit to think.

However, she flipped to a stone tablet sitting above the doorway as something was written: "I am a moment never forgotten, etched within the temples of men and women. I can be attached to a smell, sound or taste, maybe even brought forth by a place. I am sometimes considered bad, it is true; As making depression is a side effect for you. However, do not fear, do not despair, there is still the good me you will love and share. What am I?"

Ayumi looked at it completely confused. "'I am a moment never forgotten, etched within the temples of men and women'…" she repeated. "I couldn't be a thought. Those can be forgotten." She then read the next bit, "'I can be attached to a smell, sound or taste, maybe even brought forth by a place'…" She then began to think again, "A smell, sound, or taste can be connected to a memory." She then gasped as she read the rest again, "'I am sometimes considered bad, it is true; As making depression is a side effect for you. However, do not fear, do not despair, there is still the good me you will love and share'…" She went wide eyed. "My memories of my father have always brought me happiness and sadness. And I remember some of them by sound and the sound of his voice. And they can be good memories and bad ones. So the answer is memories!"

The door glowed bright, making the young girl shield her eyes, as it opened. When it dimmed enough, she brought her arms down and looked at the doorway. "Is this the last test?" she thought a bit worried. "What's the last one?" She cautiously walked through the doorway, unsure and a bit worried as to what will come.

. . .

Yusei stepped into another room similar to the last but held onyx and blue gems dotting the walls. He heard another door open and close and looked to see Ayumi stepping through.

"Ayumi!" he exclaimed.

She flipped to him and nearly immediately was smacking into him. "Daddy!" she exclaimed. Yusei kneeled down and hugged. "Daddy…"

"Are you alright?" Yusei asked.

She nodded. "Yes," she answered. She looked around. "Are we done with the trials?"

"I don't think so," Yusei answered. "I think we're about to face a final riddle."

"Hopefully it's not too hard," Ayumi responded.

They flipped to a golden glow from the stone tablet above the doorway. It dimmed to reveal another riddle and it made them sigh a bit in frustration. Yusei read it slowly, "I make you weak at the worst of all time. I keep you safe, I keep you fine. I make your hands sweat, and your heart grow cold. I visit the weak, but seldom the bold. What am I?"

"Daddy, what does 'seldom' mean?" Ayumi asked.

"Not often or rarely," he answered.

"So whatever the answer is, it makes you weak when it'll probably put you in danger, but keeps you safe and fine? Isn't that kind of an oxymoron or whatever it's called?" Ayumi questioned.

"Yep," Yusei answered. "And it visits the weak, but not really the bold?" He looked it over. "What is it that the bold never really feel, Ayumi?"

Ayumi thought about it for a moment. "Fear, maybe? I'm not really sure." She then gasped. "When we really need courage, fear can really hit us and sometimes puts us in danger. But it protects us when it is really needed. Right, Daddy?"

"That's right," Yusei answered. "When I dueled Kalin for the first time during a Shadow Duel, my fears got the best of me and I nearly died that time."

"And I don't know a lot of times that you're really afraid by what I've seen of you," Ayumi commented.

"That's just because I'm good at keeping my emotions in check," he responded with a grin.

Ayumi laughed. "Or you're just really brave," she suggested.

"That could be another possibility," he responded. "Do we know the answer, though?" Ayumi nodded.

In unison, they said, "The answer is our fears."

The next doorway opened to reveal a blue light path heading into a dark space. Ayumi grabbed Yusei's hand in a bit of worry and he gave her a comforting grin before they both walked in it.