Yami no Game: Dark Saga

Chapter 26

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From outside, one could see the groups of kids clamoring to the TVs set up in the windows that just broadcast the entire match between Jou and Otogi along with announcing the match and deal that was now set up between Otogi and Yami. "Otogi might just beat him with his own game."

"Yami should be able to win, right? He did defeat Pegasus."

"But there are the rumors of him being a cheat. Guess we'll find out from this." Back inside, they stood on opposite sides once more. "Remember the deal, Otogi. I win and both you and Jade will break up with Jounouchi and Kaiser and let them return back to their real partners." Otogi's eyes narrowed. "Fine, and if I win, they stay and you will never play Duel Monsters again, giving up your title as Duelist King."

"Agreed." Otogi smirked. "Alright then. Let's get this game started!" he called as he snapped his fingers and the arena started to change. The original dueling ring lowered into the floor, making room for the checkerboard field. The dueling platforms were brought in and replaced with an entirely new one. "Hope you can keep up, Yami. Cause I won't be playing easy for beginners." The raven murmured as he stepped up before looking over to Jou. "And why not have my lucky charm next to me while I fight. Get over here, puppy." he called. "You heard him." One of the girls hissed as she shoved Jou over to him. The blonde glared at the girls before making his way over and looked to Otogi with darkened eyes. "Now don't give me that look. You need a person who's more fun than business." Otogi cooed as another cheerleader brought over a chair and Jou sat down with a sigh. Yami growled. /He's so broken up on the inside that he's following Otogi's orders like a trained animal./

/You have to save him, Yami. You just have to./ Yugi pleaded. /I will but I might not be the only one that has a hand in this.../ he added with a soft smile before stepping up to the new platform. "Huh?" Yugi blinked for a moment before looking up to Aqua. "What does he means by someone else having a hand with this?" Aqua looked down to him and smiled. "You'll see soon enough." Yami stepped up to the platform and noted that the layout looked rather simple but easily changed when he was revealed his "deck" as one could call it. "Well, looks like you're already confused so let me explain. What that is before you is your dice pool. Select fifteen of them to use and you're set. Now I would give you some tips but I wouldn't want to make this too easy on you. Being such a gaming master, I'm sure you can figure out what's best for you." Otogi said with a devious smirk.

Yami gave a growl before looking down to his selections again. 'So many different colors and symbols. This will be hell to figure out which ones are the best...' he thought to himself. Otogi tapped his foot lightly as a hand moved to rest on Jou's head. "Come on now, we don't want to leave the public waiting." Yami hissed angrily before nodding as he selected his dice and nodded to Otogi. "Good. Now as I'm sure you guessed, your dice are like your dueling deck and as such, you'll have to shuffle them like so." he spoke as he tossed them into the dice port on the side. Yami did the same and looked back to Otogi. "Now that wasn't so bad now was it? The dice automater will shuffle your dice and it will come out in groups of three on the other side. You get three dice for each round and whatever you don't use will be saved off to the side." he explained as the machine did its work and brought out three dice for both. "Now how you score, you ask? Well we have these things called heart points. Only thing is you get three. Once you lose them, its game over." he said before smirking. "Now let's get this game started."

"But that's no fair! Yami is just learning still and he's already ready to start the game." Yugi whispered. "That's probably what he wants. The less he knows, the easier it would be for him to win or at the very least get the better deal out of what he made. He probably cares more about keeping Jou as his own than the fact that Yami will lose his title and be known to the entire world as a cheat." Aqua murmured. "This is a load of bull! Come on, Jou! Just leave that pansy ass and come back over here with us!" Honda called. "Sorry, buddy but Katsuya knows where his loyalties lie so just give up while you have the chance." Jade murmured from the side and Kaiser growled. "You may have broken bro's spirit but I'm not letting you get the best of me." he whispered.

Otogi chuckled before taking his dice. "Now why don't I take my turn first." he spoke before making his roll. "Now I'm sure you're wondering about what's on the dice. Well they are called crests and each one does a different thing. Take a look at this green die here. The star pattern is for summoning. To summon your monster, you have to match up two of them with the three dice you roll. After that, all you have to do is dimension the dice and there you go." he said as he made his summon, revealing Ryu-Kishin from inside the die. "So the monsters are held within the dice." Yami whispered. "But it looks like the dice are a part of the game as well." Myrrh pointed out as she looked to the field. "Nice of you to point that out~ As the die unfolds, it creates a path for my monsters. As long as I have successful summons, I can create my path and once it reaches your side, I'll be able to target your heart points." Otogi explained as he started petting Jou's head which caused the other to slip further down his seat. Yami growled slightly before smirking a little. 'At least I know for a fact that Otogi didn't consider one factor of this entire bet he had with Jou...'

"Well...I'm waiting. It's your turn, Yami."

"I know that. Just remember the deal, Ryuuji." Otogi smirked. "Oh, we're on a first name basis now? Well I know but that's if you win." he answered as he moved his hand down to tug at the collar. "But as long as I'm in the lead, this won't be coming off anytime soon." Kaiser growled before shoving Jade away while he wasn't paying attention to him. "I know he'll win and once we're free from these chains, I will pound both ya faces in for this!" he growled before flinching as he realized Otogi's cheerleading posse surrounded him. "Bad dog! Remember who your master is!" One spoke. "Yeah!"

"Oh zip it! I have no master in this room that deserves my loyalty any more than Ruby!" Kaiser snapped before yelping as he was tackled down by them. "Guess they think otherwise, vixen." Jade said with a smirk. Yami looked over to Kaiser before turning back to Otogi with a glare before tossing his dice but to his misfortune, none of them matched. "Well look at that, none matched. Well you might be having worse luck from here on out since you probably picked nothing but high level dice. I must've forgotten to mention that to you." Otogi commented and Yami clenched his teeth. "Damn you..."

"Now, now. No need for hostility but at least I can give you another tip about the crest layout on the dice. There are six in total; summon, movement, attack, defense, trap and magic. The amount of times a crest appears on the dice depends on the level. Remember my summon die? That was a level 2 die which had 3 summon crests on it, making it easy for me to summon a monster. But the easier it is to summon, the weaker the monster. Now take a look at your dice." Otogi spoke and Yami did so. "Shit...they only have one summon crest..." he whispered. "As I'm sure you noticed, you only have one which makes it much harder to summon a monster but should you be able to succeed, it would've been a powerful one." he announced with a grin. "That's no fair! All this dice level shit makes it totally unfair! You should restart the game so Yami can have a better advantage!" Honda yelled. "If it were someone else, maybe. But this is the king of games we're talking about. He'll be perfectly fine." Honda sneered at Otogi before looking down. Otogi scratched Jou's head lightly as he was given his next set of dice. He took them before making his dice roll, getting another pair of summon crests.

"Good, another summon and another path to your heart points." he murmured as he summoned Yaranzo onto the field. "And since I almost have a movement crest at my disposal, I'll make Yaranzo advance even closer over the dungeon path. And here's a little tip to remember, whatever crests you don't want to use can be saved in your crest pool to be used for later." Yami only nodded as his next set of dice came and he grabbed them before giving them a roll. 'Let's hope that by some luck, I can get something out before Otogi destroys everything.' he thought. Nothing still and he growled as Otogi smirked. "Still nothing? This might just be the easiest game I could win with the best prizes waiting for me when it's done." he hummed as he took his dice and rolled them. He gained another two summon crest and brought out Gator Dragon before advancing him forward. Yami growled as he looked over to Jou before taking his dice. "You may think so but don't think you'll have him for long." he muttered as he rolled his dice and got two summoning crests. "Finally..." he whispered, relieved.

"Not so fast. I applaud you for rolling two summoning but I laugh because they're not the same levels. Nice try." Otogi spoke. He took his next set of summoning dice and smirked. "Well look at that, level four summoning dice. Well you didn't have a good chance at it so let's see how I roll." he said before rolling the dice and to Yami's misfortune, he got another summon. "Very nice. Looks like lady luck is on my side now. I mean come on, four summons in a row." he said as he set the dice and from within was a chest. "And before you start wondering, this is an item summon but we'll talk more about that later." He growled before taking his next set of dice and rolled and missed once more. "My, my...at this rate, he'll have him beat before he can get a monster on the board. Oh well, that means more good things for us." Jade said with a smirk as he looked down to Kaiser. "So you best start to get use to me." Kaiser growled and moved away from him. "Not on your life." he hissed before looking up as he heard the door slam open. Seto glared at Otogi then looked down to Jou. "Katsuya!" he called and the other looked up, his gaze showing his helplessness.

"Katsuya..."

"I got this, Seto. I will win this and get Jou away from him." Seto glanced up to him and nodded. "You better or so help me..." Otogi glared at the intruder before smirking. "Well you best give up, Kaiba. He's not coming back. Yami here seems to be having worse luck than usual today." Otogi jeered as he picked up his dice. "Once I win, Jounouchi will be mine and you can say your last goodbyes."

"Like hell I will. He will never bow to you. He is stronger than he looks and I respect that of him. As long as he knows he has a chance to get away from you, he'll keep on fighting to come back to his true lover." Jou heard him and he blinked before calling out to Seto. "Seto! Please help me out here!" Otogi growled and snagged his collar. "You be quiet! If he interferes, I'll end this game with Yami as the loser! He'll lose his title and seal your fate." Jou sneered before looking back to Seto. Otogi looked back to Yami who was growling once more. "Oh stop. You know that bad dogs need to be reined back when they speak out of turn. Now let's get back to the game." he snapped before rolling the dice, getting another summoning. "And luck is still on my side. I summon 13th Grave." As the die was placed on the board, the path opened allowing the monster to appear. "Only a couple steps away before I reach your hearts points." Yami sighed before glancing down to the board then the dice that was presented to him. 'So many fates ride on this one roll. If I don't get something fast, things will go downhill from here.' he thought before rolling the dice. 'Please give me a summon!'

Everything seemed to be in slow motion as Yami watched the dice roll. One stopped, landing on a movement. The last two continued to roll, one stopping on a summon crest. Yugi prayed the second was another summon crest. Otogi's eyes narrowed as he watched. The last die finally came to a stop and he smiled, seeing it was another summon crest. "Got it." he whispered before summoning the dice. Otogi growled and Jou smiled. This was the beginning of the comeback. "I summon Mighty Mage to the field. Looks like your power surge is over, Ryuuji." Yami snipped. "Now I'll access a movement crest to move my mage up one space and take out your 13th Grave. Go Lightning Staff!" The mage moved forward and faced the other monster and shot a bolt of lightning at it, destroying it easily. Kaiser cheered and the cheerleaders frowned. "Now we're getting somewhere. Once Yami gets a monster out, Otogi's a dead man." Kaiser preened. "But can we really hope that he'll get this win..." Myrrh questioned softly.

"I know he can win. Don't give up on him." Yugi whispered. "He still has a ways to go but we shouldn't give up on him just yet." Aqua added as he continued to watch the battle. Otogi clapped mockingly, eyes still narrowed. "Good job on getting a monster out but you still have a long way to go if you want to catch up to me." he commented before taking his next set of dice and gave them a roll. He got two more summoning crests and he laughed. "Guess that's one more monster to catch up with." he said as he set the monster. "Ah, Blast Lizard. He may have some low level stats but don't be fooled by that so easily. He has a nice ability when exploited right, will be devastating."

"Special abilities, huh? Looks like another rule that Otogi conveniently forgot to mention." Aqua mumbled and snorted softly. It was Yami's turn and he took the dice and smiled. It was some level 2 dice. 'Looks like I didn't forget to add in a couple of these.' he thought before making the roll and sent out Winged Dragon. "Now you have another monster to contend with."

"Sure...but not for long." Otogi whispered as he rolled the dice he grabbed. It was two magics and a movement. "Failed to get a monster?" Seto questioned from the sidelines. "Who said I wanted to get a monster. If you were paying attention, I said I played Blast Lizard to make use of his special ability at the right time. And that time is now. He needed four magic crests to activate it and I already had two so two more is all I needed and I got it." he spoke. "Now, I'll use my movement crests to get into position then activate his special ability with my magic crests." The bombs held in the Blast Lizard's hand ignited and he tossed them up over the Winged Dragon. They exploded on contact, taking the dragon with them. The cheerleaders cheered and Kaiser grumbled. "Where's some damn earmuffs when you need 'em..." Yami growled before taking his next set and rolled them but got nothing. Otogi grinned and rolled his dice, getting another summon. "Wonderful. A Level 3 summoning. I'll bring out Dark Assailant." Otogi spoke as he set the die and brought out the monster. "And to get the chance to end game before you can do something, I'll use two movement crests to get Blast Lizard and Gator Dragon within striking range." Yami frowned and Otogi chuckled. "Well, it's your turn, although I don't know how you can pull off a good move to save yourself. I mean, even I can figure something out from this layout and I'm the one that created the game with a little help from my dear sibling."

"What?! You two created the game?!"

"Well duh. Why would we be so good at chance games and not create a game such as this?" Jade spoke and Kaiser spat off to the side. "The only thing you two are good for is a shitload of deception and foul play to get what you want." Jade chuckled before jerking the collar he wore, making Ruby hiss angrily. "So says you. But yes, we are the creators while Otogi is the champion. He won't lose to a newbie like him. Besides, if it wasn't for Yami here, we would've been known as the second best game creators next to Pegasus. You see, his defeat ruined everything for us. And if you want to know, here's the story." Jade began as he looked to the stage.

"We dedicated our lives to the game of Dungeon Dice monsters. I worked on the gameplay while Otogi fine-tuned everything else and corrected any mistakes that he found. After we finished, we couldn't help but feel proud off the game. It was truly a remarkable find. So Otogi decided to send it to the one person that mattered, Pegasus himself. After the proposal was sent, we waited for anything to come from him but nothing. But to our luck, something finally came from Pegasus. He told us to come to his island to talk about the game. Of course my sibling was ecstatic over the news. So we left and got to Duelist Kingdom to meet our idol. When we met him, he immediately challenged Otogi to a game of Dungeon Dice. Now we knew he was an amazing player but for a first-timer, he was phenomenal. I mean, he absolutely thrashed Otogi in his own game that he created. He enjoyed himself and would gladly help endorse the game and we agreed before we left. He told us he would draw up the documents after he finished hosting a tournament that he was holding. The very same one that you all headed to." Jade explained before glaring over at Yami. "We haven't been able to contact him since. All that hard work we put into this game was all for nothing and it's your entire fault!" Kaiser stood and glared to him. "You listen here! Apparently you never saw that man's true colors like we did. We went through hell in that tournament!" Kaiser growled. "Sit down and shut up!" Jade hissed. "Guess I need to teach you some manners once this game's over."

"I believe in Yami to win against Otogi!"

"You better think again!"

Ruby growled even more and would've gone over there to teach Jade a thing or two but was held back by Seto. "Let me go, Seto..." he whispered. "Don't do it. Put your faith in Yami for now. If he fails, then we'll make our move." Ruby sighed before nodding. "Listen to me, Ryuuji...your hero worship of Pegasus has blinded you to the truth. What Kaiser speaks of is true." he murmured but was interrupted by Otogi. "No, you listen. I am going to defeat you and expose you for who you are. A cheater and a fraud."

"Well let's see if you can achieve this foolish goal then." Yami whispered as he took his dice and rolled them, gaining a level 3 summoning. "Alright, I unlock Thunderball!" Otogi only chuckled as he looked to the monster. "Thunderball, huh? He has some poor stats so he won't be of much help..." he said. 'Unless he figures out his special ability but I'll have him beat before he can learn it.' Otogi took his dice and rolled them, smirking as he got two movements and an attack crest. "Great. Now it's time to finish you off. I'll position Gator Dragon and Blast Lizard into attacking range." Otogi spoke as the two monsters moved up close to Yami's heart points. "Oh no..." Myrrh whispered. "They've gotten up to Yami's heart points. If he doesn't do something fast, he's a goner." Honda muttered. "No, he can't lose...not here." Kaiser whimpered. "Come on, Yami! I know you can pull something off!"

"Not likely. Now Gator Dragon, attack him with Swamp Fire Blast!" The dragon roared before unleashing its attack on Yami, taking out one of his heart points. "One heart point down and two to go but that won't last for long. My monsters are in position and once the next round comes up, I'll destroy you. And since lots of people are watching this broadcast, they will watch as you retire from Duel Monsters in shame and be known as a cheater."

"He can't lose...not here..." Yugi whispered as he looked over to Yami. 'There's has to be something you can do, Yami. If you don't, it will be all over for you and both Jou and Kaiser.' Yami could feel Yugi's sadness filtering through the link and growled. 'Indeed. I need to figure out something and fast. Otogi already has more heart points, monsters and dungeon path compared to me. And said monsters are already in a position to attack again. Hopefully these dice can grant me some luck before I lose more than just my position as an honest duelist but how can I beat a man at his own game?'

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Zypher: -wipes brow- Whew, that took a bit of time to get out. But there you have it. Another chapter with Otogi being an ass, Yami finally getting onto the board and action, action and more action. Well I have two episodes loaded [leaving with a bunch of tabs -laughs-] so more shall be uploaded soon but hope you enjoyed this one and please, feel free to beat up Otogi and Jade. Just leave 'em alive since I still need them. -chuckles before running off with a wave, leaving Otogi and Jade behind in her dust-