A/N: Okay, guys, before I begin, let me just explain this to you. Obviously the monster stats in DDM are a little different than the regular game. So I'm going to explain it to you. The stats of the monsters in DDM are Attack Power (ATK), Defense Power (DEF), and Hit Points (HP). The three numbers you see in replacement of the ATK and DEF stats are (from top): ATK, DEF, and HP. HP means Hit Points, or how many times a monster can be hit before it's destroyed. ATK and DEF are the same. I'm going to use this order for the rest of the series. For example: Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress (10/10/10). Also, the heart points they have will be represented by 'X'. For example: Y (XXX). Okay, does everyone get it? No? Okay, well, just read on and it'll get clearer.
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Fanfic Chapter 46: Dungeon Dice Monsters Pt 2: A Whole New Game
Episode Basis: Dungeon Dice Monsters Pt 2
Previously on Yu-Gi-Oh! A new game shop opened in Domino, a game shop more extravagant than the one owned by Solomon Moto. The owner of this new game shop was a guy by the name of Duke Devlin. Duke was suave, cunning, and good with dice. Joey challenged him to a duel and although it looked like Joey would win, Duke was able to take all of his life points in one attack. For losing, Joey had to do whatever Duke said for an entire month which included putting on a dog suit and become a target for Duke's dice-shooting. He even told Joey that he couldn't be friends with Yugi and the others any more. Harold did his best to protect Joey but Duke was having a field day with the both of them. Yami-Yugi stepped into the fray and challenged Duke to a duel. Duke agreed but only if they would play a game of his choosing: Dungeon Dice Monsters. He then declared that if Yugi loses, he would give up Duel Monsters forever! With such odds at stake, can Yugi learn to master a game he has never played before?
On the outside, dozens of people huddled up to the television where the match between Duke Devlin, and Yugi Moto was about to begin.
"You don't even know the rules to the game, yet you accepted," Duke mused. "You fool! This shall be your last day as a Duelist! Let's get it on!" Duke snapped his fingers and the ring started to transform. The duel stations were pulled into the wall as the field widened. The spaces were replaced by a grid which came together like a puzzle. Tables popped with three heart images on it. "I know this game inside and out. If you're going to stand a ghost of a chance in keeping up with me, you'll have to learn on the fly."
Yami-Yugi stepped up to his table. The table was laid out in a gird similar to the actual field. A screen to the side showed six different images with the number 0 next to them all. A miniature chute that looked like a bowling ball return was on his right. Looks pretty straight forward. Then Yugi retracted his statement as a compartment opened up to reveal three rows of colorful dice. He gasped. Each of the dice had a different image on it.
"Lost already?" Duke teased. "Don't worry I'll walk you through it. That's your dice pool, select fifteen dice to use. I'd give you some tips on which to pick but since you're such a good gamer, you shouldn't need any of my advice."
"This is insane," Harold commented. "Since the game's brand new, there's no way to tell if Duke's making the rules up or not."
"Hurry up," Duke urged. "I already have my fifteen dice picked."
Yugi scowled. With all the colors and designs, there was no rhyme or reason to it. He just picked up a handful of dice. "I have mine."
"Good, now these dice will kind of be like your dueling deck and just like how you shuffle a deck before you start a duel, we'll shuffle these." He dropped his dice into an open hole on his left. Yugi did likewise. "The dice randomizer will select three dice and eject them through the slot on your right." Two blue dice and a white one appeared in the slot. "You're given three dice per round, at the beginning of your turn you throw all three dice at once and you get to move depending on your role but I'll explain more about that later. Now, in the matter of the score: the score will be determined by the hearts you see before you. These heart points are like your life points except you only get 3 and whoever loses all three first loses the game."
(D: XXX)
(Y: XXX)
Duke's cheerleaders started to spell out Duke's name. Joey just moaned in agony because they were using him for pom-poms.
"I'm going to make my first move now, Yugi," Duke announced as he rolled the dice. The three dice bounced and rolled on the table before settling on two four-point stars and an arrow. "Those symbols on the dice are called crests. And the star-shape crest I just rolled is a summon crest. To summon something, two out of the three dice must match up perfectly. As such, I already got two summon crest. Now watch." Duke lined up one of the summon die with one of the squares in the grid. "This is the dimensionalizing part." He pressed the die into the table calling out, "Dimension the dice!"
A large version of the white die appeared and unfolded onto the grid. Tea, Tristan, and Harold all gasped.
"And there you have it; I unlocked Ryu-Kishin (10/10/10)!" A pink gargoyle appeared at the center of the unfolded die.
"The monsters are inside the dice?" Yami-Yugi asked.
"And it looks like the dice themselves are part of the game," Tea observed.
"I'm glad that you made that point, my little cheerleader-in-waiting," Duke said. Tea shivered in disgust. "That's one of the keys elements in Dungeon Dice Monsters. You see, once the die unfolds and dimensionalizes the monster, the die becomes a dungeon pathway and with enough pathways, I can lay out a route directly to Yugi's heart points!"
Oh I get it, Yami-Yugi thought. The key to this game is to get your monsters close enough to attack your opponent's heart points directly, unlike Duel Monsters where you have to destroy monsters to affect your opponent. So the more dungeon path I have, the better. Sounds simple enough.
"Come on, Yugi, it's your turn!"
"Don't forget, Devlin, if I win, you have to release Joey from his promise."
"If you win," Duke pointed out.
"I'm counting on you, bud," Joey called. "If there's anyone who can beat him, it's you!"
"No talking," one of the cheerleaders snapped. "Your allegiance is with Mister Devlin now."
"Bite my tail," Joey snapped. The cheerleaders ended up bashing him with a rolled-up newspaper.
"Yugi, we're with you, buddy!"
"We'll stand by you no matter what!"
"Dork Devlin doesn't have a snowball's chance in you-know-where," Harold said.
"Oh please," an uptight voice said. The man who met them at the front door walked up to them, pressing his glasses up with his middle finger. "It's your Little-Yugi who doesn't have a snowball's chance. Master Devlin is the game's champion. Nobody can defeat him. Your pathetic little friend will be humiliated on national television."
"And you are…?" Harold asked annoyed.
"I am Simon, manager of the Black Crown," the man introduced. "And with all the publicity generated by Master Devlin's beating of your so-called King of Games, The Black Crown will corner the market on Dungeon Dice Monsters and I'll be the second-richest man in the world, next to Master Devlin."
"Publicity?" Harold asked, and then gasped. "The cameras!"
"Precisely. The whole world will see the truth about that little ankle biter and the glory that is Master Devlin."
Somebody gag him with anything, Harold thought rolling his eyes.
"Go, dice roll!" Yugi shouted throwing the dice onto the table. "Oh no, none of the crests matched!"
"That's because the dice you use are way too high," Duke pointed out. "Didn't I mention that different dice had different levels? Silly me, let me explain it to you. There are six crests on the dice: summon, movement, magic, attack, defense, and trap. How often a crest appears on a die is determined by its level. The level two dice that I just used had three summon crests, so it was easy for me to role the two needed for a summons. But the lower the level of the die, the weaker the monster is."
"Unlike that pathetic Duel Monsters card game, the monsters in Dungeon Dice Monsters have three stats," Simon said to the people on the sidelines. "In addition to the attack and defense numbers, the monsters also have Hit Points or HP. Hit Points is just what it sounds like, how many times a monster can accept attacks from another monster before the attacked monster is destroyed."
"Yugi, take a look at your die," Duke instructed. Yami-Yugi did and noticed that they all had one summon crest. "And that makes it more difficult for you to role a pair. Of course, had you, it would've been a very powerful monster. Still, I believe that it's always best to go for a low level sure thing. Because the odds of summoning a monster with high-level dice are slim to none."
Oh no, almost all the dice I picked are high level. I don't believe this, the game just started and I'm already at a huge disadvantage.
"This isn't fair, pony tail head," Harold said. "You should've told him about the whole level thing before hand!"
"Start the game over," Tea pleaded.
"Why should I? Considering how he's the King of Games, he should be able to overcome a handicap like that. Go, dice roll!" Duke rolled a movement crest and two low-level summon crests. "Great, now I can extend my path plus I'll have two monsters on the field. Dimension the dice! And unlock… Yaranzo (10/10/10)!" Yaranzo was a creature inside a treasure chest.
His dungeon path is getting closer and closer to my heart points. And I'm not even on the board yet!
"I'm coming for you, Yugi, and since I just rolled a movement crest too, I can use it to advance my monster further along the dungeon pathway. F.Y.I., if you don't want to use a crest right away, you can save it in your crest pool." The crest pool was the little screen on the side that displayed the images and numbers.
"Go, dice roll!" Yami-Yugi's next role also was a blank.
"Maybe you should try blowing on them for good luck," Duke suggested. "Go, dice roll!" Duke got another two summon crests. "Well, what do you know; another summoning. Dimension the dice! And look at the surprise hidden inside: Gator Dragon (10/10/10). And I'll also use the movement crest I rolled to move him forward. The combination alligator/humanoid dragon advanced to the end of the pathway.
"My roll now," Yami-Yugi said as he rolled the dice. Finally, he got two summon crests. "Now I can summon a monster!"
"Wrong-o," Duke said. "Your summon crests don't match so it doesn't count."
"But…"
"It's my roll!" Duke held up two level 4 dice. "This game's getting boring, so why don't I spice it up a little with a level 4 summoning!" Yami-Yugi involuntarily took a step back. "They might've been too hot for you, but not for me. Go, dice roll!" Throwing the dice onto the table, Duke rolled two level 4 summon crests and a movement crest. "Well what do you know; I guess lady luck has the hots for Duke Devlin, like everyone else."
"Oh no!" Harold gasped.
"Oh yes," Simon said smugly.
"Dimension the dice!" A treasure chest appeared. "This is an item summoning, but more on that later."
Yugi's roll turned up nothing again.
"You know, maybe we should change your title from the King of Games to the King of Lame. I mean at this rate, I'll have you beaten before you're even on the board. I knew you weren't the real deal. Go, dice roll!" Duke got another two summon crests. "Another summoning, now I'll have a monster right by your heart points. Dimension the dice, and unlock the Thirteenth Grave (10/0/10)." A skeleton carrying a large sword appeared.
I have to summon a monster and take out that Thirteenth Grave before Duke can advance him three squares and attack my heart points!
Soon, everyone will truly see you as what you really are: a cheater who never could've beaten Pegasus.
This is it, Yami-Yugi thought. No matter how high the odds are stacked against me, I have to believe that it's possible to role two perfect summon crests, the same way I believe in the Heart of the Cards.
"Go, dice roll!"
The first die came up a magic crest.
The second one came up a summon crest.
And the third one also came up a summon crest.
"There, I rolled two summon crests!" Duke grunted. "Now I can summon a monster to defend my heart points. Dimension the dice!" A small blue figure carrying a staff appeared. "Behold, the Mighty Mage (30/20/50). And next, I'll dip into my crest pool and use a movement crest to move my Mage one space, so it can launch an attack at the Thirteenth Grave!" The little spellcaster moved around the corner of the blue dungeon path to face the zombie. "Mighty Mage, Lightning Staff Attack!" A burst of lightning destroyed the Thirteenth Grave.
Tea, Tristan, Harold, and Joey cheered (though Joey's was quiet). The cheerleaders moaned.
On the outside, people were amazed at how Yugi was able to pull a level four monster out.
"He did it," Tristan said happily.
"Yugi's not out of the woods yet," Tea said.
"You're right, Tea, Duke has more monsters on the board and even without that, his path is still more spread out than Yugi's. He has a long way to go." Harold lowered his head.
"The only place Yugi's going is down, at the hands of Master Devlin," Simon said.
"Do you think Duke would mind if I punched his flunky's lights out?" Harold asked Tristan and Tea.
"I certainly wouldn't mind," Tea replied.
"Congratulations on your first summoning, Yugi," Duke said. "Just four more and you'll have as many monsters as me. Go, dice role!" Duke's role produced another summoning. "Oops, spoke too soon, make that five. Dimension the dice and unlock… the Blast Lizard (10/10/20)! But don't be fooled by his low stats, when played in just the right way, Blast Lizard has a special attack that delivers quite the punch."
Sounds like another rule Duke conveniently forgot to tell me about. Yami-Yugi took his dice and discovered that they were low-level. All right, I knew I had at least a few of these; it should be easier to summon a monster. "Go, dice roll!" Yugi threw the dice onto the table and came up with two summon crests. "Dimension the dice!" This time, the monster was one that Yugi recognized because he had one in his deck: Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress #1 (10/10/10). "Now you have two monsters of mine to contend with, Devlin."
"Not for long. Go, dice roll!" Duke rolled two magic crests and a movement crest.
"You failed to summon anything," Yami-Yugi pointed out.
"Whoever said I was trying to summon a monster?"
"What?"
"Boy, are you dense. Remember what I said about Blast Lizard being played in just the right way?"
"So you were rolling for his special attack?"
"That's kind of right, Yugi, the Blast Lizard's special attack requires four magic crests. I already had two in my crest pool so I needed to role two more which I did. Next, I'll use a movement crest to position my Blast Lizard. Blast Lizard, massive explosion!" The Blast Lizard threw his bombs and destroyed the Winged Dragon. "Too bad, and you worked so hard to summoned that monster too."
"It's my roll. Go, dice roll!" Yami-Yugi only got three attack crests.
Duke rolled next and got ANOTHER summoning. "And with level three dice too," he added.
"This is getting redundant," Harold complained.
Simon just chuckled.
"Dimension the dice! And unlock… Dark Assailant (10/20/10)!" Another skeleton appeared, but this one was wearing clothes and carried two swords. "And now I'll dip into my crest pool again and move in on your heart points." Blast Lizard and Gator Dragon moved up to Yugi's podium. "Go ahead and take your turn, not that it'll do you any good, nothing you role can get you out of that mess. I mean I don't think even I could get out of that jam and I'm the one who invented the game."
"You're its creator? I had a feeling you were its champion, but…"
"I'm both! And everyone in the entire world should know it!" Yami-Yugi was aghast. "I should be known as the second-greatest game creator in the world, but I'm not! And it's all because of your cheating ways!"
"That's bull crap," Harold protested. "Yugi never cheated before!"
"Just shut up and listen, you fool," Simon said straightening his glasses with his middle finger.
"You ruined my life, Yugi; that defeat that you handed Pegasus changed everything for me!"
"But how?"
I dedicated my life to creating Dungeon Dice Monsters. I spent all my free time fine-tuning its rules and perfecting its game play. I realized that I had created something truly remarkable, so I decided to send it to the only one who would appreciate it: Maxamillian Pegasus.
A couple of days passed and I haven't heard a word from him, until I received an e-mail. It was from Pegasus himself, he said that he read my proposal and was intrigued. He wanted to fly me out on his personal helicopter so that we could discuss the game in person!
The very next day, I was brought to Pegasus's personal island: the Duelist Kingdom. I could hardly believe it, all my hard work and effort was paying off! When I got there, he immediately challenged me to a game of Dungeon Dice Monsters. I expected him to be good, but I didn't realize how good until I actually played him. He was phenomenal! It was his first time playing the game and he completely overpowered me.
"Looks like I win, Devlin-boy."
"Whoa, you're good!"
"I must say, this Dungeon Dice Monsters game is really something else, I thoroughly enjoyed it. And together, we'll see to it that the whole world does as well. Partners?"
"I'd be honored, Mister Pegasus!"
He told me he would draw up the official contract after he finishes holding a Duel Monsters tournament, the tournament that YOU were heading to, Yugi. And ever since then, I haven't been able to contact him at all!
"Everything I worked for was shattered that day, Yugi, and it's all your fault!"
"You don't understand the situation, Devlin!"
"No, I understand perfectly! You cheated your way into a victory and now drove him into hiding."
"Just shut up and listen to me, Devlin, your hero worship of Pegasus has blinded you to reason!"
"No, I can see perfectly, I can see a no-good lousy cheater!"
"I never cheated at anything before in my life!"
"No, you did cheat, you did cheat!"
"Shut your trap, moron," Harold snapped. "I can vouch that Yugi never cheated before. He always played the game straight!"
"Then explain how he was able to defeat the creator of the Duel Monster card game at his own game," Simon said.
"Uh…" Harold wasn't sure what to say. How do you explain a victory without involving magical artifacts, ancient spirits or kidnapped souls?
"Precisely what I thought."
"Just roll, you cheater!"
"Fine, I'll go, and prove to you that I never cheated before! Go, dice roll!" Yami-Yugi got two level three summoning. "Yes, that's another monster for me. Dimension the dice! And unlock… Thunderball (10/10/30)!"
Despite being a level three monster, Thunderball is weak, Duke thought. Unless Yugi discovers how to use his special ability, which I highly doubt that he will. "It's my move, now. Go, dice role!" Duke rolled an attack crest and two movement crests. "I'll use my movement crests to position Gator Dragon and Blast Lizard right in front of your heart points!"
"Oh no, he's vulnerable," Harold gasped.
"Gator Dragon, attack Yugi with Swamp Fire Blast!" Yami-Yugi's podium was engulfed in flames.
"Yugi!" His friends cried out. When the inferno subsided, Yugi remained but one of his heart point indicators was dark.
(D: XXX)
(Y: XX)
"Now you only have two heart points remaining, but not for long. And once they're gone, you will be forced to retire from Duel Monsters in shame! Pegasus will be avenged!"
"This guy is a nut job!" Harold shouted. "Yugi has never cheated before, and you can't force someone into retirement because of something they're not! I oughta… YEOW!" Simon had literally pinched one of Harold's nerves sending the boy to his knees.
"Silence, peon, Master Devlin is never wrong!"
Hang in there, Yugi, Joey thought even while being assaulted by the cheerleaders.
What do I do? Duke's got more monsters, more dungeon path, and more heart points than me. And he's in a position to attack again! How can I beat Duke at his own game?
To Be Continued.
