CHAPTER 25: TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES

TOWER 3

Looking down at the Underworld from above, it seemed like a dizzying corkscrew that would go on for eternity. Ace was briefly tempted to spit down the abyss, but he would never hear the impact. Beside him, Azul was glaring down worriedly.

"I'm glad this path is so wide," the Octavinelle housewarden noted. "If either of us fell, we would be done for."

"Yeah…" Ace stepped back from the edge. "But nothing we can't handle, right, Riddle?" He paused. "Riddle?"

For the briefest of moments, Ace was worried that Riddle was done for. But then he heard a loud, familiar voice.

"How long are you going to be gawking down there?!" Riddle demanded, already halfway down the steps. "We don't have time to twiddle our thumbs!"

"I wasn't twiddling! I was surveying the area!" Azul argued, rushing down the steps. "Plowing headfirst into danger isn't going to help us!"

"Ugh, I'm between these two extreme guys…" Ace muttered as he struggled to catch up. He couldn't help but wish he was with Deuce, or Epel… or Jill. Of course he was worried about his housewarden in the beginning, when Riddle was taken in by Charon. But of course Ace should've known that Riddle could easily fend for himself. The card soldier would have to prove he wasn't deadweight.

As Riddle and Azul continued to bicker, the air grew slightly colder upon their descent. There were blue torches lined across the walls, but they offered no warmth. Ace shivered; he knew that Night Raven outfits were insulated, though it didn't feel like enough. Riddle rubbed at his arms, while Azul didn't react to the temperature.

"I must say, this place seems so different than the facility upstairs," Riddle noted. "Styx is so high-tech, and the Underworld appears so… primitive."

"Stone walls, torches, most of the tech is shut down… yeah, only thing it's missing are cave drawings," Ace agreed. "This place really has been around for thousands of years, huh?"

"And yet in all this time, no one thought to put in a guard rail for safety," Azul chided. He looked back and noticed that Riddle and Ace were shivering. "Are you alright?" he asked the Heartslabyuls. "The cold doesn't bother me, but is it affecting you?"

"D-Don't worry about us. It will take more than a little chill to stop us. Right, Ace?" Riddle said.

"Y-Yeah." Ace saw his breath come out in puffs. "Reminds me of Ignihyde dorm… just a little colder."

"Supposedly, Hades's realm was cold as well," Azul said. "Perhaps that's where Ignihyde and Styx get their atmosphere from."

Ace stopped in his tracks. "Did we just hit a dead end?" he asked frustratedly.

It seemed that way. The set of stairs ended at a large platform, with a set of double doors in front of them. An elevator.

"Ortho was taunting us to come down… but he turned off our only means of descent!" Riddle fumed, turning red.

"Perhaps not," Azul said. "If Ortho indeed wants us to come down, then he would provide us a way."

As if to answer his words, the doors parted. The elevator was bathed in an eerie bluish glow, and there was a monitor in front of them in place of buttons.

"This has 'death trap' written all over it," Ace muttered.

"I know, but… we can't stop here," Riddle said. "Let's go…"

One by one, the trio entered the elevator, and it closed behind them. Just as they were feeling claustrophobic in the metallic box, the monitor flickered and showed a holographic version of Idia.

"Whee hee!" he chuckled. "Hey, guys… or should I say players?"

"You!" Riddle's face nearly turned red again. "You have a lot to answer for! Just wait until I get my hands on—"

"Yeah, yeah, save it for the final boss battle," Idia said, rolling his eyes. "Just took a quick break from opening Tartarus to welcome all the players to the Underworld! And I'll be in charge of your first trial!"

"Trial? I thought you wanted us to come down and face you?" The redheaded housewarden was confused.

"Oh, I get it." Azul glared at Idia. "Video game dungeons always have challenges before you face the boss. And Hercules himself faced trials to become a hero. I suppose that's your reasoning for putting obstacles in our path."

"And since you're in control of this whole place, you won't let us use the elevator until we pass some dumb challenge," Ace summed up.

"Took you long enough to get it," Idia sighed. "If you can beat my game, then you can pass. Sound fair?"

"Nothing about this is fair," Riddle said. "Just give us whatever game you want, and we'll clear it!"

"Alright then. You'll have to touch the monitor's screen to move instead of using the controller," Idia explained. His hologram faded away, and the screen was replaced with the Legend of the Underworld game.

"So we're playing as someone on a boat?" Ace asked. "What kind of game is that?"

"It's Charon, the Boatsman of the Underworld," Azul said. "You go through the river collecting souls and dodging obstacles. Riddle and I played this earlier."

"I thought you were going through horrible tests! And you were playing games?" Ace said.

"Well, it'll be useful now. I beat this before!" Azul claimed, starting the game. The river before him was littered with rocks, but he moved the boat through them all…

Until the path ahead was completely covered with rocks. With nowhere to go, Azul's boat crashed into the wall of debris.

"Wait, what kind of level is that?!" Ace cried. "There was no way to go around it!"

"Idia cheated!" Riddle griped.

Idia's hologram reappeared, smirking nastily. "It's not my fault you can't get good," he teased.

"I thought you wanted us to face you," Azul reminded him. "You can't make Level 1 this impossible."

"Yes, a game is no good without a fair set of rules!" Riddle said.

"Calm down, I'll reset the game at an easier level for you little babies… on one condition." Idia pointed at Ace. "Mister Heart-Face over here has to play."

"What? Why me?" Ace asked.

"Because Riddle and Azul already beat their own levels. It's boring to watch," Idia said. "It's your turn, Ace. The other two can help, but you have to play it through."

"Fine, but you're gonna eat those words!" Ace marched forward and tapped the screen. Idia disappeared, and the game restarted.

Azul and Riddle were at either side of Ace, telling him where to go and where the souls were. Ace was already proficient in games, so he was certain he could do this without their help, but this wasn't the time to argue with them. After what felt like a long time, he got to the end with all the souls collected.

"Ha, in your face, fire-brain!" Ace said with a huge smirk.

"Oh, you sure showed me," Idia said sarcastically from the monitor. "Enjoy your ride, boys. Just so you know, it'll only get harder from here, so buckle up!"

The elevator shivered, then slowly descended. As Riddle and Azul paused to catch their breath, Ace couldn't help but feel like he was going down a rabbit hole he wouldn't escape from.

Hope the others are okay, he thought.

Author's Note: In Book 6, this world is named Tartarus and the Titans' cell is named the Underworld. I switched it around because it's more accurate this way. Tartarus really was the name for the Titans' prison, and the Underworld is supposed to be... well, a world. Maybe it's a translation issue, but the inaccuracy bothered me a tad.