Chapter Twenty-Nine: Trial of the Gods
"We have to climb this?" Joey asked staring at the tower.
"Yup. We have to get to the top," Becky replied. Yugi, Joey, Becky and Saria had just arrived at the base of the tower and were ready to go inside of the tower to search for the sword in the legend.
"Well, the sooner we enter, the sooner we reach the top," Yugi sighed as he took up the oars with Joey. As they first entered, they couldn't help gasping at the architecture of the tower. The first room of the tower was dimly lit and the floor was covered in sea water, making it impossible to tell how deep it really was. Every now and then, the water would rise, then recede. The room overall however was very strange. There were at least three different paths to take, one to the north, one to the west, and one to the east. The northern door had cascading falls blocking it.
"It's clear we have to go north, but how do we get through?" Becky wondered as she scratched her head in thought. Yugi then noticed something to their left: Two beady red eyes staring at them.
"Uh guys?" Yugi asked nervously.
"Sh! Yugi! I'm trying to think," Mrs. Floyd replied. Joey, however, had spotted the eyes too.
"Then you better think fast! Cause we got company!" Joey panicked. Everyone turned and saw a large sinewy purple dragon with four claws and short wings.
"That's a Serpent Night Dragon! Where did that come from?" Joey gasped. But he never got an answer as it soared towards the boat.
"Abandon ship!" Joey cried as the dragon tore the boat to shreds, forcing everyone into the cold sea water. Yugi was the first to surface.
I can't summon any monsters in the water, it'll damage my duel disk! Yugi thought as he ducked under the water again to avoid the dragon's sonic blasts.
Yugi! Maybe we can summon a monster without drawing the actual card! Yami suggested.
OK, lets try it! Yugi replied. He focused on his Millennium Puzzle and on the monster he wanted to summon. There was a brief flash of light and in a furious splash of water, Yugi and his Dark Magician shot out of the water and aimed for the dragon.
"Go Dark Magician! Attack with dark magic attack!" Yugi sputtered. Yugi's magician promptly destroyed the dragon in a flash of dark magic. Yugi watched as his magician landed gracefully on the water and turned to its master.
"Dark Magician return!" Yami commanded and the magician vanished. It was then Yugi noticed that the others hadn't surfaced.
"Mrs. Floyd! Joey! Saria!" Yugi shouted.
"Yugi! Over here!" Came Mrs. Floyd's echoing voice. Yugi looked around and saw no one.
"Yugi!" Joey shouted. His voice also echoed.
"Where are you?" Yugi shouted.
"Behind the waterfall! Dive under the waterfall!" Saria instructed. Yugi paddled over to the raging water and dove underneath. When he surfaced, he saw his three friends sitting at the base of a staircase. Joey pulled him out of the water.
"You OK man?" Joey asked. Yugi nodded.
"Then shall we press on?" Mrs. Floyd said and everyone went through a gold-colored door. The next room looked to be several stories tall. In the center of the room was a small tower thing the size of Saria. It had a rotating eye.
"What's that?" Joey wondered.
"A Beamos," Saria replied, "It shoots a laser with its eye."
"So how do we get past?"
"We can try blinding it or we shoot out its eye."
"I got a better idea." Joey reached into his deck and pulled out a ten-star warrior monster.
"Yugi, summon my monster. It's special ability should short-circuit that laser shooting pest," Joey said as he handed the card to Yugi. Yugi nodded and he merged spirits with Yami.
"Gilford the Lightning, come forth!" Yami commanded. The card glowed as the masked warrior carrying a large broadsword appeared. It let out a warrior's cry and then swung its sword. Everyone watched as the warrior shot out lightning that turned the Beamos into a smoking ash pile.
"Looks like Gilford did the trick," Joey noticed as he stepped into a yellow circular area. He looked around and saw no more hazards. Everyone joined him and Saria saw that the room was made of stone and solid gold beams.
"Do you think that gold is real?" Saria whispered to Joey.
"If it is, I get first dibs on the low beam!" Joey replied, grinning and he dashed forward.
"Freeze! Don't get any ideas about damaging that beam Joesph Wheeler!" Mrs. Floyd ordered. Joey halted in his tracks and turned to the mother.
"Sorry," Joey grinned.
"Well, how do we keep going? I don't see any doors," Yami wondered. Saria was staring intently at some stable platforms over an abyss. They were too high for the others to jump to. Saria then noticed something else. In the floor, were three glowing plates. When Saria stepped on one, the pink glow turned green.
"Guys! Step on these floor panels!" Saria commanded. The boys saw the panels.
"Sure." Yugi stepped on one and Joey stepped on the other. The lights under the panels vanished and the floating platforms above began to move up and down and glow black and gold.
"We did it!" Saria cried.
"Yeah, those floor panels must have done the trick!" Joey realized. Yugi was staring nervously at the moving platforms.
"What's wrong Yugi?" Mrs. Floyd asked.
"I'm scared of heights," Yugi admitted.
"I wasn't going to let you all climb that anyway," Mrs. Floyd said.
"Are you saying you wish to go alone?" Yami asked.
"I'm going to go on exploring the tower. When I get to the top, I'll teleport you to the top, OK?" Mrs. Floyd told everyone. Saria looked ready to protest but agreed. They watched nervously as Mrs. Floyd nimbly leapt from one platform to the next until she vanished from view.
MEANWHILE, AT OASIS ISLAND, ONE SECTOR SOUTH OF TOWER OF THE GODS...
"Blue Eyes! Wipe out his life points!" Kaiba commanded. Kaiba watched as his mighty dragon hit a redhead teenager with a lightning blast, decimating his life points.
"It looks like I win," Kaiba smirked as he walked up to the kid, "Now, fork over your rarest card!" The kid nervously pulled out a single card from his deck. Kaiba stared at it and frowned. He threw it back at the kid.
"A Great Dezard? Surely you have something better than this?" Kaiba wondered. The kid shook his head. Kaiba frowned.
"Get out of my face!" Kaiba commanded, his voice not totally sounding like his own. Kaiba coughed a few times to clear his throat but found his throat raspy. He walked over to a water fountain and took a drink and stared at himself in the puddle's reflection.
What's wrong with me? This cough of mine hasn't stopped since I got those cards from Shadow Island. Kaiba asked himself. And now his head was starting to hurt too. He clutched his head and braced himself on the fountain.
"Mister? I want to get a drink. Can you please move?" Kaiba turned to see a little girl clutching a teddy bear. Instead of moving, Kaiba turned and let out an unearthly roar. The girl screamed in fear and ran away, tears in her eyes.
What's wrong with me? Kaiba wondered again, staring back at his reflection.
You need more power. Said a voice. Kaiba turned around and saw no one but the usual passersby.
"Must be my imagination," Kaiba mumbled.
Scaring that girl was just the beginning for you. You need to scare everyone, make them fear you. Continued the voice.
"Identify yourself," Kaiba commanded.
I'm you Kaiba. I'm your deepest desires. If you want to meet me, go back to your room. Said the voice. Kaiba shook his head. Something inside of him was telling him to do it. He ran to the docks and jumped onto a black submarine, known as Kaiba Craft IV. He climbed below decks and entered his cabin. The first thing he noticed was the mirror in his cabin was glowing a black color. Kaiba walked over to it. He stared at his reflection and in a flash of black light, Kaiba felt changed.
"Seto! Are you there? Open up Seto!" Came a child's voice.
Mokuba, Kaiba thought. He opened the door and sure enough, saw the younger Kaiba looking up at him.
"Seto! You won't believe this! A large tower just appeared to the north!" Mokuba said excitedly. The new Kaiba smiled.
"Show me!" Kaiba commanded and he let the younger Kaiba guide him to the surface. To the north, Kaiba could see the Tower of the Gods. He pulled out a telescope and saw the Courage IX dropping a row boat. Kaiba smiled.
"Prepare my fleet Mokuba. We're going to investigate that tower," Kaiba declared. Mokuba saluted and he went below decks.
So, the Sage of Time is finally making her move. Too bad. Cause as soon as she leaves that tower with the sword, I'll make my move. Kaiba thought as he went below.
BACK AT THE TOWER OF THE GODS...
An hour had passed since Mrs. Floyd had left the three teens at the large room. The three were currently sitting in the middle of the room, Joey and Yugi playing Go Fish while Saria looked over her deck.
I don't know why, but I must put the Princess of Destiny in my deck somehow. I'd hate to remove my Hero of Time, but I can't see what I'd remove to make it fit. Saria thought. She then pulled two cards out and slipped the ritual cards into her deck. Saria replaced her deck and switched the disk back to watch mode. It was then the three teens began to glow green and hover into the air.
"What's going on?" Yugi asked Saria.
"We're teleporting with Farore's Wind," Saria replied as the three vanished in a column of green light. The three reappeared at the balcony of the tower, at least a hundred feet up. Around them were eyeless Beamos. Saria looked around and saw her mom waving for her.
"This way you guys!" Saria urged. And the two boys followed her up the steps to the top of the tower. Standing in front of a door that was locked and chained was Mrs. Floyd, who clutched a gold key.
"Sorry it took so long. There was a lot of puzzles and monsters, but I got a feeling that it will soon be worth it," Mrs. Floyd said as she unlocked the lock. The chains vanished and the door opened to reveal a room that was a domed arena with a hole in the ceiling. Ancient marking adorned the walls. Around the circular arena, was a ditch. The ditch looked like something from a circuit board except that it occasionally shot out sparks. The yellow-pinkish light lit the room. It was then Saria's Triforce began to glow. It seemed to pull her forward into the center of the room.
"Wait for us!" Joey shouted but as soon as Saria stepped into the center of the room, the room began to rumble. Saria looked up and saw a giant, headdress wearing head and two hands with eyes detaching themselves from the opposite wall.
"Saria! Get away!" Yugi shouted. Saria just stood there, rooted to her spot.
"I'll get her!" Joey declared but before he could take two steps, the arena became enshrouded in a yellow energy barrier that made it hard to see what was happening inside.
"That's not good!" Joey said blandly as he saw Saria talking to the stone head.
"Oh Chosen One! I am Gohdan! I am the one who shall pass judgment upon you! If thou seeks the blade of evil's bane, thou must go past thee! A Destiny Game shall decide your fate!" The head shouted. Then Gohdan began to glow.
"What going on?" Joey wondered.
"He's transforming!" Yami realized.
"No! He's creating something!" Becky replied. She was right because when the glow faded, there was a second Saria standing in front of Gohdan. This one however had black skin, black clothes and red eyes. On her wrist was a duel disk, prepped and ready.
"You're going to play the game you call Duel Monsters against your dark side for the right to wield the sword of the legendary one!" Gohdan declared.
"What are the rules?" Saria demanded.
"Your life points are equal to your life force! The first one to run out of life points and die is the loser!" Gohdan simply said.
"Whoa! That's crazy!" Joey shouted. Gohdan turned to the trio.
"This is not your battle!" Gohdan argued, "Now begin!" Gohdan then flew back behind Shadow Saria.
"Ready to die?" asked Shadow Saria. Saria prepped her duel disk.
"Funny, I was going to ask you the same thing! It may not be in my nature, but I will win this duel! So lets just duel already!" Saria challenged, her life point counter reseting.