CHAPTER LVI
TEMPLE OF BOOM
Donald and Goofy sneaked stealthily around the corner of the jail, Eddy hovering nearby. "Okay, let's go…" Donald whispered in his heavy lisp, leading them down a long hallway.
Up ahead, they saw two large shadows of men wearing the golden headdress…guards. "Quick, hide!" Goofy whispered hurriedly, pushing them into a small, unmarked doorway. As they walked through it, they realized that it wasn't anything like the rest of the temple – the walls were a gray stone as opposed to the pricey brown and gold slabs that adorned the rest of the temple. After walking for what seemed like ten minutes down the gray path, they came across a large stone carving in the wall.
It stood out facing them like a guardian – an ugly boar with two massive spiked tusks. On the ground surrounding the statue there were several stone squares, forming a semi-circle.
Goofy examined the tusks, touching them very slightly. "Looks like a lever…" he said, pulling the tusk on the right. As the three of them were sucked downward into one of the now open squares, they somehow got the feeling that they had pulled the wrong lever…
Their fears were confirmed as they splashed down in a waist high pool of water, teeming with crocodiles from the river. They lunged at Donald with their razor sharp teeth as he swung his staff, knocking them backwards. Goofy bounced his shield off of the wall, cracking two of the crocs in the head with it. Suddenly, Donald started to snicker with delight.
"Goofy, jump!" he said, jumping in unison with his dog companion. As they were at their highest, Donald cried 'thunder!', shocking the pool of water and knocking out all of the crocodiles that lay within.
They climbed the nearby dark, musty stair case up to a small doorway that opened in the wall, letting them back into the boar's head chamber.
"I don't even know why they have that lever…" Goofy said as Eddy buzzed around his head. He pulled the other lever, sending them down a much shorter fall.
Goofy and Donald landed in the seats of what looked like a rollercoaster – a small, two person cart that sat at the very top of a long, winding track made of granite. A small metal bar clamped shut on their laps, holding them tightly, as Donald shoved Eddy between them. Preparing for the worst, Donald held on tight as the cart was launched forward and downward, spiraling down the long, narrow path.
Next to him, Goofy was hooting and raising his hands over his head. "Gawrsh! This is some fun, ain't it Donald?" he yelled over the winds whipping him in the face. Goofy had never seen a green duck before – but Donald looked so sick as they spun through an overhead loop, he thought he would explode at any moment. The cart took them over several gaps where there was no ground at all, and the weightlessness caused Goofy to grab the bar.
Abruptly, the cart screeched to a stop at the bottom of the ride, only a few feet above the stone floor. As the cart stopped, the bar lifted and shot Goofy and Donald out to the ground like a pair of pinballs. As they stood up, the realized that the fall had outfitted them somehow in a strange set of white lab coats and even stranger goggles. They pulled these odd garments off as they explored the hidden chamber, keeping their ears at the ready in case someone found them.
Eddy zipped along past them, out of the cart. The three of them rounded a corner and were shocked to see what lie ahead – a massive science lab, complete with glass beakers, tubes and burners all flowing with multi-colored liquids. Pink liquids were pouring into a large tub at the end of the massive bench. The room was dark, lit only by the neon colors of the various experiments.
A chalkboard stood in the corner, bearing the image of a sloppily drawn Kuzco. Next to that was a plus sign, followed by a little vial of liquid they had assumed to be poison.
"Gawrsh…check this out, Donald…" Goofy said, marveling at a massive stone cabinet. It was shaped like an owl, though it stood almost a foot taller than Goofy. As he carefully opened the wing-like doors of the cabinet, Donald's face as well as his was illuminated with a strange pink glow. In the cabinet were hundreds of tiny, glass vials – each containing a pink liquid topped off with a brown cork. Under each of the vials was a different picture; some depicted elephants, some showed birds, and some looked like dogs. One in particular had taken Goofy's interest – the picture seemed to show the image of a human being standing on two feet.
"What do ya think dey are?" Donald asked quietly.
"Well…Kronk said that he messed up and turned Kuzco into a llama…right?" he lightly picked up a vial that sat on the shelf above a picture of a llama. "Maybe he gave him this potion?"
"But what if it's poison?" Donald asked, Eddy bouncing next to him in agreement. Eddy's excitement grew as he saw Yzma over Goofy's shoulder entering like a silent snake slithering through the grass…
He bounced around, silently, trying to get Goofy and Donald to turn around. They were too busy staring into the potion cabinet…if only he could get their attention…
Without giving it too much more thought, Eddy rammed headfirst into the potion cabinet, causing it to rock back and forth, dropping vials all over the floor. They clinked together as they rolled around, causing Donald and Goofy to drop to the ground, trying to pick them up.
"Peasants! You'll never find the one you need…if you haven't noticed, they're not individually labeled…" Yzma bellowed from behind them.
"Why didn't you tell us she was there!" Donald screamed at Eddy. All Eddy did was close his eyes and count to ten…
"Guards! Take them away!" Yzma called out into the darkness. Eight guards appeared behind Donald, Goofy and Eddy…
"Take 'em all!" Goofy howled, stuffing his pockets full of vials as Donald did the same. They had gotten most of the vials when the guards became too close for comfort…in a stunning display of 'not thinking', Donald tossed a handful of vials toward the guard's feet, engulfing them in a cloud of pink smoke…
When the smoke cleared, the guards were gone – in their place were eight different animals, each wearing the silly golden headdress, still clutching spears, axes and maces like they had been a moment before.
The cow, snake, octopus, badger, monkey, horse, toucan and the bear all looked at each other, blinking with disbelief. The cow guard looked down at his hooves that still allowed him to clutch his battle axe.
"Uh…I'm a cow…can I go home?" he asked.
The lead guard, now turned into a little brown monkey, smacked him in the back of the head. "Get them, you fools! Yzma's orders!"
With the animal guards chasing them, Donald, Goofy and Eddy ran through the door they had come in from, heading for the light of outdoors…
