4: Havoc Harbors

A Chapter by Jonny Hex

Mike scaled the tower slowly, pondering the motive behind this journey. “Why am I helping this mental-case? He hasn’t helped me any and I don’t owe him anything. I could be enjoying myself at home right now. But why…why do I continue to follow this coward?”

“Because it is not yet time for you to turn against him.” Mike stopped in confusion. He looked behind him to see a dark figure coming up the stairs. Mike prepared to fight him. “Stand down, boy. You can’t take me.” The figure waved its arm and Mike fell to the ground.

“Who are you and what do you want with me?” The figure stood silently. “Answer me goddamnit, you piece of…” The figure leaned down close to his face.

“I am your release from him. I know what is truly in your heart. I know how much you despise him. Strike him down when he’s weak from the challenges of his tower. That is the time of retribution. Only you can stop him from killing all of you. Remember that!” The figure vanished into the walls. Mike stood for a second then continued up the stairs. He came to a room with a fire in the center. The stairs closed behind him suddenly.

“What in Hell’s fury is this? There’s no other doorway.” He walked around the room. He looked in the fire and saw two black coal eyes filled with fury watching him. “What are you? Stupid piece of s**t!” The eyes started to rise up from the fire with a string of lava following them. The flames became a human-shaped flaming creature. “So this is my challenge. What a waste!” The creature hit him, knocking him into the wall. The creature stepped out of the fire, allowing his flames to cool into pahoehoe armor. It reached into the fire and pulled out a sword of flames. “Oh s**t.” The creature swung and Mike rolled to the right of the creature, punching its armor as hard as he could. He jumped back, holding his hand. “Damn, it’s as hard as steel. I can’t get through that.” The creature turned, advancing toward Mike. Mike looked above the fire. “Sword in the ceiling. I’ll have to lose this guy long enough to grab it. Hopefully it will be strong enough to break his skin.” Mike ran to the right side, jumped across the fire, and latched on to the sword. He landed on the ground, losing his balance almost falling into the fire. He jabbed the sword in to the ground behind him and pushed himself balanced. He looked at the creature across the fire, now approaching again. Mike pointed the sword at the creature and waited till it was close enough to the fire. Mike lunged across the fire, stabbing the creature through the chest and knocking it to the ground. The creature melted into water and the fire went out. Mike stood beside what was left of the creature, picking the sword up off the ground. A door opened across the room. “F*****g s**t, more freaking stairs. Oh well.” He started walking up the stairs. As he walked up the stairs, he began to sweat. He could see the stairwell getting blurry from increasing heat. “Damn, it’s getting hot in here.” He put his hand on the inside wall, and then jerked it back swiftly. “Damn, it’s scorching.” He looked at his hand, burned and peeling. He tore off a sleeve of his shirt, rapping his hand in it. After he finished, he continued on his way. He finally came to the top of the stairwell to a room with a smoking volcano in the center. “This explains a lot. The whole area below this room and above the previous room must be filled with magma.”

“Actually there is about 2 meters of pure rock above the other room to prevent the magma from leaking through.” A man wearing armor made of hardened magma, came out of the volcano.

“And who are you? The lava fairy?” Mike smirked. The man chuckled.

“You’re a funny man, Mike. My name is Zega. I’m a lot stronger that you believe yourself to be so I’d advise you leave this tower now.” Zega stepped down the volcano, bowing to his opponent. He put his hand upon his sheath, preparing to strike at Mike. “Let’s see how good you really think you are.” Zega ran towards Mike from the right. Mike saw this attack and brought his sword to block. Zega pulled out the sword and knocked Mike’s out of the way. He put the tip to Mike’s neck. “Oh Come on! This sucks. I was hoping for a true challenge from you. This is no fun!” Zega backed down, throwing Mike his sword. “You aren’t worthy of my time.” Zega walked back to the volcano.

“Wait!” Mike yelled as he looked over his sword. “Let’s try this again.” He took a fighting stance with his sword down behind him. Zega turned back to Mike, smirking as he walked off the volcano once more. He took a similar stance except with his sword turned upward. Mike lunged at Zega, sliding his sword across the ground swinging up. Zega stepped back and swung across the side. Mike ducked and stabbed forward. Zega knocked away the stab with his sheath. Mike fell back.

“It’s lurid how quickly you’re stance has changed. Not many warriors of this time period know any of the samurai sword stances.” Zega planted his sword in the floor, helping Mike to his feet.

“So do I pass?” Mike said standing. Zega bent over, picking up Mike’s sword and tossing it to him.

“Not a chance. You may know some ancient sword techniques but you still can’t defeat me in battle.” Zega pulled his sword from the ground, turning back to Mike. “So let’s try again. This is your last chance.” Mike took the same stance. He swung the sword behind his back, swinging around to hit Zega’s side. Zega blocked not looking, Mike recovered and slashed diagonally. Zega blocked again. Mike pressed down on the sword as hard as he could. “Give up, you can’t win!” Mike slid his sword down across Zega’s blade and as the tip slid off Zega’s blade, Mike forced his sword to Zega’s throat.

“Checkmate, Zega!” Mike put away his sword. Zega backed away and bowed. He grabbed his sword, which had dropped as he discovered his loss, and disappeared in to the volcano. A door opened behind Mike. He walked to the top and found an altar with Zega standing next to it.

“Here is your prize. I give you the power of the Coal Dragon, Coalnyx, housed in the Seed of Forgotten Sorrow.”

“Seed of the Forgotten Sorrow? How can he live in a seed? And where is this seed?” Mike said confusedly.

“The Seed is an ancient Japanese military base. It’s called the Seed of Forgotten Sorrow because no one remembers the massacre that happened there. It is under a mighty tree in Gunma prefecture. Now I must say adieu.” Zega disappeared. Mike grabbed the Dragon Clawlet and flew to the roof. He held it up and a wall of fire surrounded him.

“That’s it! Let’s get into the tower!” Sheik & Jonathan ran into the tower. As soon as they stepped through the door, they were in a room of thousands of statues. “Sheik, this room is strange. I can’t sense a spirit in these statues but they are still alive. We need to find the door before they wake up.” Jonathan whispered. They cautiously walked around the room, trying not to touch any of the statues. As Jonathan was looking, he scraped against one of the statues. “Damned!” The statues came to life, beginning to attack. Sheik & Jonathan started to knock away statues but the soulless creatures continued to overwhelm them. The statues began to tackle the two warriors. “Sheik, we can’t lose here. We’ve only just begun. We’ve got to take them out.” Jonathan started to glow, as more statues piled on top. He started lifting the statues, and knocked them all away. Sheik looked around as Jonathan continued to hold off the statues.

“There’s no door!” Sheik yelled.

“Then make one right above us!” Sheik shot upward, flying through the floor to the room above. Jonathan knocked them back and jumped up. They sealed the floor so the statues couldn’t reach it. The new room was empty except for two statues at the stairwell up. One statue was armed with two samurai swords while the other held a halberd. They were both lifeless.

“How much ya wanna bet they attack all at once?” Sheik looked at Jonathan.

“I’ll take your bet. I think they’ll attack one at a time. What’s the prize?” Sheik shook Jonathan’s hand. They walked towards the statues. Both statues awoke and started towards them.

“I get to choose which one of us fights.” They released hands and Jonathan pushed Sheik forward. “You get to fight them both since it is your tower.” Jonathan smirked. Sheik bit his thumb at Jonathan and then faced his enemies. The Halberdier swung horizontally at Sheik. Sheik rolled under it, punching his armor. Sheik rolled to the side, holding his hand.

“Sheeze, that armor is stiff.” He rolled again, barely being missed by the Samurai. He jumped back towards Jonathan. “Ya got a weapon I can use?”

“Don’t I always?” He reached into his pocket, pulling something out. He put it in Sheik’s hand. Sheik looked at the weapon and then punched Jonathan.

“A steel fork? What am I supposed to do with this?” Sheik yelled.

“Be creative. You might wanna figure it out soon cuz here they come.” Jonathan jumped away as a sword came down in front of him. Sheik looked at the fork, and then threw it at the Samurai’s helmet. It went through the eyehole. The Samurai dropped his swords as he covered his eye. Jonathan was against the wall laughing. “Told ya!” Sheik dashed, slicing the Samurai’s head off with his own swords. The Halberdier swung down, cutting what was left of the Samurai in half, as Sheik rolled again. He took a knee behind the Halberdier and scissor-cut it. Sheik stood, looking at Jonathan as he walked by. Sheik noticed a sword horizontally sheathed on the back of Jonathan’s pants.

“When did you get a sword?” He asked as Jonathan stopped at the stairs.

“I had it the whole time.” Sheik ran after him, as Jonathan walked up the stairs.

“Why didn’t you give it to me when I asked for a weapon?” Jonathan arrived at the next room.

“You asked for a weapon. You didn’t specify a sword. But that fork worked out for you anyways. You got two swords out of it.” Jonathan laughed as he stopped just inside the third room. There was a statue of a Coal dragon in the center. Around the walls, there were statues of the ten past Coal Dragoons. “Well now, we end up in the elemental rooms. So Divinus, what are we supposed to do in these rooms?”

“Demonstrate your expertise of the elements. Only then can you proceed.” The voice disappeared. Sheik looked at Jonathan. He pushed Sheik to the statue.

“How am I supposed to summon fire and put it in the torch?” Sheik looked at Jonathan.

“Use your blood. I’d say for a beginner, cut your thumb, and ignite it into flames. Blood is the easiest thing to concentrate into flames. I don’t know why but it was how I learned it. Soon you’ll be able to pull from your body without cutting kind of like this.” Jonathan held up his hand and a flame formed in his hand. “It doesn’t take much. I can create a bonfire from just a drop of blood.” Sheik put down one of the swords and made a small cut on his finger. He walked to the torch in the dragon’s claw and dropped blood in it. He held his hand over the blood and concentrated, trying to light the blood. Jonathan walked by and snapped his fingers. The statues against the wall had flames in front of them now. “You’re trying too hard. Just relax.” Jonathan put his hand on Sheik’s shoulders. “Let me show you.” Jonathan put a hand on Sheik’s head. An orb entered Sheik’s head from Jonathan’s hand. Jonathan backed away. Sheik tried again. A large flame started in the torch.

“How did I?” Sheik looked confused. Jonathan smirked.

“I gave you a natural elemental spirit. I gave you the spirit of Corneval the elf from my head.” A door opened behind the statue. They walked up the stairs.

“How did you know you could do that? And why would you?” Sheik looked very confused.

“I figured if I can force spirits out of me, then I can put them into others. And we don’t really have time for you to master them on your own. You’ll get used to it soon.” They came to a room like the other but it was a shrine for Atlantis dragoons. The dragon in the center held an empty water bowl.

“So what’s the secret to water?” Sheik approached the bowl.

“Either moisture from the Earth or saliva. Saliva is quicker than anything else.” Sheik spit in to the bowl and waved his hand over it. The spit multiplied, filling the bowl with pure water. A door opened and they walked up. They went through the Earth shrine and then the Thunder, Light, Darkness, and Wind. They climbed the stairs coming from the Wind Shrine, to find a room covered in vines with a flower ready to bloom in the center.

“What is this? It looks like that room that Hannah went through earlier.” They looked at the ceiling but there were no monkeys hanging from it. The flower started to open. Sheik pulled out his swords as Jonathan backed up to lean against the wall. The flower opened to expose Alfred, the Tornado Dragoon. He stepped off the flower, pulling a spear off his back. Alfred motioned for Sheik to attack. Sheik took a defensive stance, inviting Alfred to strike first. Alfred ran towards Sheik, jabbing when he got close enough to hit Sheik. Sheik blocked with his swords, trying to counteract each thrust. Sheik finally forced the spear into the ground.

“You are an excellent countering defender but can you actually strike me down?” Sheik jumped back, sheathing his swords. He concentrated to make a fireball and lunged it at Alfred. Alfred threw a leaf at the ball, dispelling the flame. “You can’t hit me with such a measly flame.”

“Damned! He’s adroit!” Sheik pulled out one of his swords, approaching Alfred. Alfred stabbed at Sheik but he blocked it. With his free hand, Sheik created an electrical fireball and forced it into Alfred’s stomach. Alfred screeched as he dropped the spear and fell onto the floor. “I’ve beaten you. Now can I pass?”

“Not quite.” At that moment, Alfred got to his hands & knees. Sheik could see Alfred’s eyes turning dark green. Alfred’s clothes were ripping as he started to grow, sprouting wings, a tail and scales. He changed into a giant tusked dragon. “Now let’s go!” Alfred swung his claw, knocking Sheik against the wall. Sheik spat up blood. Jonathan stood beside him with his arms crossed and eyes closed as if thinking.

“So now what, Joncefer?” Jonathan put one of his fingers on his forehead, sliding it down between his eyes. Sheik nodded, grabbing both of his swords. Jonathan grabbed Sheik’s shoulder.

“Take mine. It’s stronger than yours.” Sheik shook his head, pushing Jonathan’s hand off. He ran, jumping up on Alfred’s head. He took both his swords and jabbed them into the dragon: one between the eyes, the other in Alfred’s upper head. The sword’s shattered as they hit the skin. Neither of the swords even pierced Alfred’s rock hard scales.

“Plan B.” He took the shattered swords and stabbed them into each of Alfred’s eyes as he fell off. Sheik flipped over; landing on his feet to watch Alfred fall to the ground, blood running everywhere. Sheik walked to the dragon, yanking out his swords. Sheik looked at his ruined swords. “Damnable! What am I supposed to do now?” Jonathan walked past Sheik and stood at Alfred’s stomach. He pulled out his sword and cut open its stomach. “How did you do that? My swords broke.” Jonathan held up his sword in front of him.

“My sword, Bludryu, is triple tempered Dragon-steel. It can cut through anything. It was a gift from God before he gave me my spiritual sight. This is actually one of the first times I have gotten to use it. But here are your new swords.” Jonathan cut two of the dragon’s ribs and threw them on the ground in front of Sheik. “That’s what Dragon-steel is made of. All you have to do is picture the design of your sword and they will take the shape. It’s useful for changing the form of your swords in battle.” Sheik shoved the ribs over the shattered blade remains of his swords. The ribs started to change into four-foot long samurai swords. He practiced swinging the swords.

“These are pretty swift,” He walked to the remains of Alfred and sliced bits of him to smaller pieces. “And strong too. You’re right, Joncefer. This Dragon-steel is useful and powerful.” They walked towards the door. The next room had clouds covering the ceiling. Jerik sat in the center of the room. He saw the two enter so he stood. He bowed to both of them.

“Welcome sirs. I am pleased to see you made it past Alfred. Now I will have to ask you to discard your weapons. I would like this to be a fair fist fight.” Sheik removed his sheaths and gave them to Jonathan. He approached Jerik and bowed. They took kickboxing stances a few feet from each other. “Are you sure you want to wear those heavy clothes? They’ll only make this victory easier for me?” Sheik smirked as Jerik said this.

“We’ll see.” Jerik swung at Sheik, coming close to hitting Sheik’s head. Sheik ducked uppercutting as Jerik’s punch went past. Jerik flipped backwards, dodging Sheik’s fist and kicking Sheik back. Jerik landed on the ground a few feet to the left of Jonathan. Sheik was about to lunge back at Jerik but Jonathan knocked him back. Jonathan stood in front of Sheik, preventing him from going anywhere.

“He’s fast, faster than you are. Take off your boots and armor.” Sheik shed his armor and boots. “Now, you see the clouds. That’s what makes him so fast. We’re in his element. The clouds are supplying him with electrical energy. It’s enhancing his muscle activity. The only way to beat him is to neutralize its effect on you. Use the opposite element to protect you from him.” Sheik nodded and reapproached Jerik. He closed his eyes & concentrated. Jerik started pulling energy from the clouds into a ball in his left hand. When he finished, Jerik struck Sheik with it. Sheik did not move. Jerik glanced up at Sheik hoping for something to happen. Suddenly, Sheik opened his eyes & grabbed Jerik’s arm. He flipped Jerik over his back into the wall. As soon as Jerik was back on his feet, Sheik knocked him back down. Jerik concentrated all the thunder that he could into his fist & hit Sheik in the cheek. Sheik smirked, grabbing Jerik’s arm & moving it away from his cheek. A layer of rock fell off his face as he moved the fist away. Sheik then threw Jerik back towards the center. Jerik landed on his feet. Sheik started approaching him again. Jerik took off behind Sheik & started attacking him from behind. Sheik turned and struck Jerik into the ground. Jerik did not move from the ground. Lightning struck a place in the wall, exposing the doorway.

“What? No dragon form to fight?” Sheik looked down at Jerik. Jerik stood up & bowed as if nothing had happened.

“No, that would be dishonorable for me to do. You would have beaten me anyways. It doesn’t matter what I did.” Jerik sat back down in the center and meditated. Sheik grabbed his clothing & weapons. They walked up the stairs to a room with stonewalls everywhere. A roar came from the center of the room.

“Come, challenger. Come through my stone maze and find me so I may take down yet another worthless challenger.” A voice said after the roar. Sheik looked back at Jonathan. Jonathan motioned him on and Sheik started through the maze. He followed it and took a few turns. He had no clue where he was going but he somehow found his way to the center. The center was an open area with a large rock in its middle. The rock broke open as he approached. The giant Beosan stepped out the remains of the rock. He pulled his axe from the wall and swung it over his head, landing inches from Sheik. Sheik walked past, right beside Beosan. Beosan was trying to pull the axe from the ground. Sheik looked at him and continued walking past him. Sheik put his hand on the wall. Beosan yanked the axe up with a murderous intent and swung the axe. Right as the axe was about to hit Sheik, it stopped. Beosan grunted as he tried to force the axe down on Sheik. Sheik turned to look at him.

“Are we having problems?” Sheik walked around him. “It might be the electricity running up your legs. You see, you shouldn’t have made this room of metals. Electricity travels well through metal. You probably thought you were safe surrounding it with rocks but I sent enough electricity to puncture through the rocks and stop you where you swung long enough to walk behind you,” Sheik stopped behind Beosan. Beosan started moving again. Sheik knocked him through the wall. Beosan fell unconscious to the ground. “And let you free. But by that time, I could have totally destroyed you.” The wall behind Sheik blew away, allowing Jonathan to walk in. “Oh, now you show up.”

“Well it wouldn’t be right if I did your job for you, now would it?” Jonathan stopped beside Sheik, looking at the unconscious opponent. “Good job on finding those metal poles. You’re getting better at this sensing stuff.” Jonathan created holes through the walls to the stairwell.

“Actually I noticed it when I was wondering through the maze. I saw a spot where the metal was exposed. It was luck.” They walked to the stairs. As they walked up the stairs, Sheik looked at Jonathan with a strange look. Jonathan stopped, looking at Sheik as if waiting for a question.

“Master, how is it that you came across these powers so quickly? I don’t remember being able to do all the abilities that you can do. I mean, there were spirits like Corneval but none of them could do it to the degree that you can.” Jonathan smirked.

“You’re right. I have drawn power extremely fast. I guess the power I have comes from this.” He held in his hand the dragon necklace that he wore around his neck. “It’s like the Divine Dragon said. This is the necklace of a far superior dragon. He often whispers in my ear, instructs me on what to do. He actually taught me how to use the elements so well. He also gives me his whole power when I’m in danger of death. It’s a really nice gift.” Sheik and Jonathan continued up the stairs. They entered a room with two inches of water on the floor and a large pool in the center. “I’ll stand in the door way.” Jonathan stepped back on the ledge of the entrance. Sheik walked to the edge of the deep pool. As he looked down, Maeka sneakily dropped from the ceiling and pushed him in. She jumped in after him. Sheik resurfaced.

“The dragon lied to us. This tank has to be at least 50 feet deep. There’s no way it could be room on top of room.” At that moment, Sheik was pulled under. He looked down and saw a water dragon’s tail coming from Maeka. She continued dragging him down. He pulled out one of his swords and cut her tail. She let go of him and he floated in place. He created an air bubble around himself. “I almost drowned down here. I’ve gotta be careful.” Maeka floated up in front of him.

“Come now, scaredy cat. I won’t hurt you too badly. I was hoping for a nice fight.” Sheik looked around for a way out. He looked below him, noticing something that looked like clouds. Maeka approached the bubble. “Fine! I’ll drag you out of there.” Scratched the edge of the bubble. When it busted, Maeka was knocked back into the wall as Sheik flew downward, swimming as fast as he could. “That’s not fair! You aren’t allowed to escape!” Maeka started swimming after Sheik, transforming into her more versatile aquatic dragon form. Sheik was close to the clouds when he looked behind him and saw Maeka so close to him. He fell through the floor to the pool and found himself lying in front of Jerik.

“Back already?” Jerik smirked, not even opening his eyes. Sheik got up, looking through the clouds. As soon as he summoned his electrical powers, Maeka started coming through the clouds. Sheik launched the electricity at the water, knocking out Maeka. She fell through the clouds in her human form and Sheik caught her. He nodded at Jerik who was still meditating and then headed back up the stairs to Jonathan.

Jonathan noticed the electricity flowing through the water. “I guess he won.” He bent down, hovering his hand over the water. He pulled the electricity out of the water, turning it into a disco ball. He hung it on the wall. By the time he was done, Sheik was coming into the room with Maeka still in his arms. Sheik laid her in the water and they continued up the next stairs. “So the tank was a warp to Jerik’s room? Very interesting. These dragoons really thought out this tower.” They heard festive music as they came up the stairs. They entered a wide-open room where Rose & Miranda were doing a synchronized dance. They stopped as they noticed Sheik & Jonathan enter the room. The stairwell behind them closed. “Welcome to the hardest challenge of this tower: the duel with the dual sisters.”

“Very interesting.” Jonathan said, smirking as he leaned against the wall as he had in almost every room before.

“What is, master?” Sheik looked at him confused.

“Light and darkness, twin sisters, yet they are both unique and deadly to each other. Start with the fight. I have a theory about this fight based upon mythology that I want you to test.” Jonathan took Sheik’s swords. “But do this unarmed.” Sheik looked at Jonathan even stranger now than before. He turned and approached the sisters. They giggled and began dancing again. Sheik watched them as they drew closer to him, still dancing. As they were dancing around Sheik, they began hitting him with dance moves. He started being knocked around as they hit him quickly and unexpectedly. He did nothing to block or dodge, as he could not tell when they would attack. “Stop taking this abuse! Do something!” Jonathan yelled at him. Sheik swung several times, trying to hit them but their dance seemed to allow them to dodge and counter his attacks. He was caught between their attacks. He began to think to himself as the beating continued.

“I can’t take too much more of this. I can’t even get a hit on them.” He looked towards Jonathan, who looked like he was asleep standing up. “What was the theory that Master Jonathan had? Light…Darkness…? Twin…sisters? Mythology…I get it now!” He caught the next hit the two sisters threw at him. They stopped, struggling to get free of his grip.

“How did he catch that? He hasn’t been able to dodge our moves yet, and suddenly he can catch them.” Rose yelled.

“Why is it that you two haven’t touched each other yet? Is it the fact that you are using your elements across your entire body? Does this mean that you’re afraid of using your powers on each other?”

“He finally caught on.” Jonathan whispered to himself, smirking. Sheik started pulling the two sisters together. An electrical shock started between the two sisters. As soon as Sheik touched them together, the two sisters flew into the wall, opposite each other. Sheik was huffing as he tried to catch his breath. Jonathan walked up and put his hand on Sheik’s shoulder. “Not what I had in mind but it still worked.”

“What! Well, what mythological story were you thinking of?” Sheik said weakly. Jonathan smirked at him.

“The tortoise and the hare.” Jonathan smiled and began to laugh. Sheik looked at him with a smile on his face.

“You are a strange man, Jonathan.” The doors opened. Jonathan & Sheik walked up yet another set of stairs. They sat down halfway up the stairs as Sheik was tired and the humidity seemed to have increased tremendously since they started up the stairs. “The next room, it’s…Zega, isn’t it?” Jonathan nodded to him. Sheik looked at his feet. After a short break, they continued up the stairs once more. They came to a room that was filled with smoke. A ditch around the room was filled with lava. There was a bridge over the ditch to the central floor just a foot from them as they entered. Sheik looked at Jonathan and then crossed the bridge into the mysterious smoke. Sheik stopped as he saw Zega standing across from him, leaning on his sword in the ground. Sheik laid his swords across his shoulders as if waiting for an invitation.

“I take it that you are ready to lose.” Zega pulled his sword from the ground. The two drew closer, bowed, and swung at each other. Their swords hit and then ricocheted, knocking them back some. They continued to swing at each other. This fight was different from the earlier fight with Mike. Every swing that Zega made, Sheik countered and neared a hit. Neither of the two could get the upper hand. Even though, Sheik had two swords, he couldn’t hit Zega. Then at one counter, Sheik found his chance. Zega had allowed an open spot under his sword. Sheik lodged one sword in the ground and used the freehand to shoot a water blast at Zega. Zega countered with enough fire to put it out. In that instant that Zega let his guard down to counter the water, Sheik dislodged his sword and struck down Zega with the butt of his sword. Zega fell to a knee, knowing that he had just been defeated. Sheik walked towards the stairs. Jonathan, sensing the victory, started across. As Jonathan passed, Zega grabbed him. “I’ll be seeing you soon enough.”

“I hope for it.” Jonathan pulled away, following Sheik to the stairs. To both of their surprise, the stairs circled around outside. They looked around and saw the barriers that their friends had set. They continued to climb the stairs to what looked to be the top of the tower. A podium sat in the center of the roof with the Divine Clawlet on it. “This can’t be! How are we on the roof? This isn’t what the tower looked like before. It was much taller. It’s like they changed the tower completely.” At that moment, a floating panel brought a silver-haired man wearing red samurai armor to the opposite side of the tower. The man stepped off the panel and approached the podium.

“So you are the one that Divinus calls Sheik, the challenger upon my power.” The man looked at Jonathan. “And you must be the one that Exulticous has called on.” The man walked up to Jonathan. “They say you’re supposed to save the world.” The man examined Jonathan. “You don’t look like much to me but it’s not up to me. We will see what he thinks.” He walked back towards the podium.

“Who are you, sir?” Sheik asked the man sternly, trying not to act worried. The man had his back turned to them. He looked over his shoulder and then turned back to them.

“My name is Traze Alcortus. I was the only person to hold the power of Divinus, the Dragon of Divine Elements. I brought out the powers; I owned the powers; I became the guardian of the powers.”

“You didn’t just use the powers,” Jonathan gritted his teeth and then yelled angrily at Traze. “You nearly destroyed the Dragon power. You used it to the extent that no one else could become a Divine Dragoon. You became greedy and wouldn’t give up your power. It took all the Dragoons to take you down.” Traze turned his back to them again, clenching his fist as Jonathan spoke.

“You act as if you were there; like you had a part in it. But you could never know what it was like.” He looked back at them. Glowing red lightning streaks appeared on his face as if they were living tribal signs. “The power was a great burden on me. All these centuries of waiting for someone as the dragon kept me alive & sapped my powers just so that he could roam the Earth. I can’t die peacefully until the worthy warrior of Divine blood appears and defeats me. Over these years, I have seen my blunder in becoming a dragoon.”

“Well, then let’s get this show on the road.” Sheik drew his swords. Traze sighed. He spun around, disappearing. Next thing Sheik knew, he was coughing up blood with Traze’s fist in his stomach. He dropped his swords, falling backwards to the ground. Traze put his foot on Sheik’s chest, pressing down hard.

“I guess you weren’t a challenge after all.” He pushed down harder as Sheik let out a whelp.

“I can’t…take much more…of this. How can I lose so quickly? I am a warrior king. I should be better than this.” Sheik thought to himself as he felt his ribs breaking from the force. He kept imagining his death as Traze pushed harder. Then in one glimpse, Sheik grabbed Traze’s foot and flung him away. He carefully rolled over and pushed himself up. “I…won’t…lose to…you!” Sheik yelled, panting exhaustedly. Traze landed on the edge of the tower. He looked behind him, staring at the leap of faith behind him.

“It’s not like you have any choice. I am far more powerful than you’ll ever be.” Traze said sternly.

“You’re wrong! I am King Johoyshika Dorobin of Shogona. I have destroyed hundreds of armies far greater than my own. I cannot lose so easily.” Sheik put his hand over his chest, magically moving his ribs back into place. Crackling could be heard as they fixed themselves.

“We’ll see.” Sheik flew at Traze and hit him with a right hook. Traze flew off the side of the tower. He floated there. Sheik continued to attack him but seemed to make no damage. After hundreds of hits from Sheik, Traze caught his fist and hit him in the face. Sheik flipped over backwards. Traze jumped above him and slammed him downward. Sheik flew downward swiftly through the clouds and hit the ground below. Traze looked below to see if he would move. Sheik laid there unconscious. Traze landed on the edge of the tower still looking down. He grew a large smirk as he looked toward Jonathan. “I guess he wasn’t as great as he thought.” Traze started walking towards Jonathan. Sheik slowly flew up behind Traze unnoticed and put him in a rear naked choke. Traze couldn’t escape.

“You thought you won, didn’t you? Luckily I know a little of ninjutsu like replacement. That right there is only a brick changed to look like me, while I hid out of your view.” Traze struggled to get free. Sheik tightened his grip. “Give up! You can’t win now.” Traze gripped his hands together and forced them down with all his might, breaking free of Sheik’s grip. Sheik stepped backwards from the force of the break. He threw a punch at Traze but missed. Traze caught his arm and flung him to the side. Sheik recovered and stopped midair. Traze walked to the edge of the tower standing in front of Sheik, who was floating off the tower.

“Nice try but you’ll have to do a lot better than that.” Traze said calmly. Sheik sneered at him and then grew a smirk. He disappeared. Traze looked around, surprised, trying to find Sheik. Sheik reappeared behind Traze.

“Maybe I’m not all that slow. There’s another great thing about we, Shogonans. We increase in power after each attack our enemy makes on us or our substitutions.”

“It won’t make a difference against me.” Traze swung his arm around trying to hit Sheik. Sheik ducked as the arm went around and landed a massive hit on Traze. Traze gripped his stomach, backing up in pain. Sheik roundhouse kicked Traze and then slammed him into the ground.

“It just did. Anyways, I was holding back some of my power earlier so that it would make a difference.” Traze put his hands on the ground beside him and pushed upward. Sheik kicked Traze over onto his back and bent down beside him. “Don’t try to get up. I’ve won so just take an honorable defeat.” Sheik said calmly staring at Traze in this weakened state.

“It was a pleasure to fight you.” Traze teleported away. Sheik stared at the spot where Traze had just been and then stood. He looked at Jonathan over his shoulder. They nodded at each other and then they walked to the podium. Sheik put his hand on the bracelet, firing off a beam upward. Jonathan’s tower appeared above them.

“I guess it’s time. See you after I’m done.” They shook hands and Jonathan walked towards the panel that flew Traze to them. He stepped on and it took off upward. He waved to Sheik as he disappeared upwards. Sheik put on the Dragon bracelet and seven beams connected to the towers where the others were. A protective barrier covered the lower Towers of Lucathsius.

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