Chapter 48
Dungeon Dice Monsters Part 3: Rise of Orgoth
The crowd outside the arena watched in amazement as the match proceeded while the cheerleaders mocked and made fun of Spike and his present situation, until Joey butted in. "I can't wait until Twilight wins this and gets her practical brother out of that stupid costume." Joey said. "No joke, that jerk." put in Rainbow. "I can tell he'd do anything to humiliate his opponents. Why else would he broadcast this game on DMTV?" AJ pointed out. "A man on a vendetta very rarely succeeds." Rarity stated. "Not to mention he's being unfair towards Yugi, he's blaming my Yugi for everything that's happened to him. His game not taking off, losing contact with a potential business partner in Pegasus, it's all just wrong." finished Fluttershy while Twilight checked her help screen. 'Please, Twilight, get me out of this flea-ridden costume before I decide to literally play dead.' Spike said before dropping to his knees and crying a bit. 'So, Duke took out one of my heart points already. I have to come up with a plan or he'll take another. I need to make this turn count, and I think I have an idea as to how.' Twilight thought as she checked her help screen for info on Thunder Ball. "Go, dice roll!" she shouted aloud. 'Alright, I need some magic crests, otherwise Spike won't be free.' she thought before her dice showed one magic crest, then a defense crest and lastly, another magic crest, allowing her to set her plan of attack into motion.
"I seem to have rolled two magic crests, Duke. And they have times 2 multiplier emblems, meaning each of their values are doubled, giving me four magic crests total. More than enough for me to activate Thunder Ball's special ability!" she stated. "Not bad. You even learned how to use your help screen to find out how to activate a monster's special ability." Duke said, admitting he was impressed. "That's right. Now I'll use three of the crests I rolled and activate Thunder Ball's special attack! Go, Rolling Crush!" Twilight said before her monster balled up and rolled right towards Blast Lizard. "Your Blast Lizard's gonna be bowled over in no time!" she shouted before Thunder Ball struck. "But my attack doesn't end there! I'll use three more magic crests I saved in my crest pool and have Thunder Ball strike again! This time, his target is your Gator Dragon!" she added before her monster struck and destroyed the beast. "You nailed him! Way to pick up the spare, Twi!" Joey shouted. "Okay, Duke Devlin, now we have a game!" Twilight declared with a triumphant smile on her face.
Outside, Sol saw the crowd gathered outside. "The Black Crown sure has a crowd today. Just what is my competition up to?" Sol said as he made his way through the crowd and saw Twilight battling Duke on the screens, along with Spike in his dog suit and the others. "Spike? Tea? Yugi? Twilight? It's not enough they take my business, but my own grandson and his closest friends, too?" Sol asked in shock. Back in the arena, the game continued. "Not bad, princess. You came up with a pretty impressive move, there. But, still, I wouldn't get any ideas about winning this match. You'll never know Dungeon Dice Monsters as well as I do. After all, I did say I invented the game." Duke said. "That's true, just as your idol, Pegasus, invented the Duel Monsters card game. But inventing a game, doesn't mean you can't be beaten at it, Devlin." Twilight retorted. "But perhaps Yugi beating Pegasus was the exception to the rule. Perhaps you are better." she continued. "And I'm inclined to agree with her." Yami pointed out. "Why, thank you." Duke said before realizing what he just said. "Hey, wait, you only beat Pegasus by cheating! Don't you or your royal friend try and fool me!" he shouted. "No, Duke. You're only fooling yourself." Twilight responded. "Yeah, right! So says the princess who associates with a cheat!" Duke retorted before grabbing his dice. "Go, dice roll!" he shouted before rolling two movement crests and an attack crest. "Nice. I'll save those in my crest pool." he said before Twilight took up her dice.
"Now its my turn, Duke. Go, dice roll!" she said before she rolled one movement crests and two summoning crests. "Excellent. Two summoning crests and a movement crests. I hereby dimension the dice! Now, behold the monster that I've unlocked! I summon, the Knight of Twin Swords!" she continued as her monster, a level two warrior with 20 attack points, 10 defense points and 30 hit points, appeared. "A lot of good it'll do you. None of my monsters are within striking distance of him." Duke said. "That's why I'll store my movement crest in my crest pool for later." Twilight responded. "So, it seems you've become skilled in saving your crests. About time." Duke said. "Crest this, crest that, I bet Spike's as totally lost as I am." Joey said. "Guess you really can't teach an old dog new tricks, huh? I mean, its the first rule of the game. You can take the crests you roll and save them for later use." Duke stated. 'Thanks for the heads up, slave driver.' Spike thought. 'Hmm. There goes Twilight again, scouring that help screen. She's certainly a quick study, I'll give her that. Some of the things she's learned in minutes took me weeks to come up with. Guess I'll have to take things up a notch. And I think I have just the dice to do it with, too.' Duke thought before taking those very dice.
"My turn, now! Go, dice roll!" he shouted before rolling a movement crest and two summoning crests. "Alright! A pair of summoning crests! I dimension the dice and unlock my new creature!" he declared as his die materialized and unboxed. "Now here's a creature your knight may want to steer clear of, the Battle Ox! Then again, you may have a hard time avoiding him, because I'm using four of the movement crests I've stored and have him charge in for an attack." he added as his creature, a level two beast with 20 attack points, 20 defense points and 20 hit points, appeared and walked towards the Knight of Twin Swords. "Here he comes, princess! Invading your turf, and you better be ready cause this bull knows how to fight! Now, Battle Ox, attack the Knight of Twin Swords! And as a bonus, my Battle Ox gains an extra 10 attack points when battling a warrior, like your knight!" he continued as his Battle Ox raised its blade to attack after its attack points jumped to 30. "Knight of Twin Swords, quickly now, switch to defense mode!" Twilight declared as her knight managed to defend against the attack, losing only 10 hit points. "Sorry, Devlin, but my knight has 10 defense points, meaning your Battle Ox will only take away 20 of its hit points!" she added. "Good call, Twilight. Your knight may lose 20 of its hit points, but it'll still be on the board." Yami said, commending Twilight's move while Duke grew frustrated.
'Unbelievable! That cheater's friend taught herself how to defend against attacks!' Duke thought. "It's my turn! Go, dice roll!" Twilight declared as she rolled two attack crests and a summoning crest. "I'm activating my knight's special ability, by using both of the attack crests I rolled! Now he's allowed to attack you twice in one turn, and make two assaults on your ox's hit points! Go, Double Slash attack!" she continued as a shocked Devlin watches his Battle Ox get turned into filet mignon. "Sorry, Duke, but your ox has just been gored!" she concluded. "No! My ox! That knight slaughtered him!" Duke shouted while his cheerleaders panicked. "Alright! Twilight's on a roll!" Rainbow shouted. "Your turn, Duke, but this time, you may want to steer clear of my monsters!" Twilight said. But Duke just started laughing. "So you were able to defeat my Battle Ox, Twilight. So what? My last move wasn't about simply creating another monster, it was about building out my dungeon path." he stated. "That so?" Twilight asked. "Of course! Just take a look at your dungeon path, your highness." Duke answered. "What about it, Duke?" Twilight asked. "I'll tell you what, princess. It's been stopped dead in its tracks." Duke answered before everyone looked down at the board. "See how my dungeon path stretches from one side to the other, forming a line in front of your path? Well, news flash, your dungeon path can't cross it. And that means your monsters can't reach my heart points on the other side of it. You're stuck, Twilight! You can't build your dungeon path anymore! You've been completely boxed in!" he explained. "No! He's trapped her!" Yami shouted as Twilight saw just what Duke was talking about.
'Duke's laid out his dungeon path so that it completely prevents me from advancing. I'm trapped.' Twilight thought. "Great, so Twilight's trapped like a cow in a corn maze?" AJ asked in frustration. "Exactly, cowgirl." Duke answered. "And that means Spike is stuck in that dog costume." Joey added. "And it also means the so-called King of Games over there is about to be forced into early retirement." Duke stated. "Looks like the only way for Twilight to advance is for her to..." Rarity began to say. "Exactly. By cruising through my own dungeon path. That is, if she doesn't mind running her forces through a virtual gauntlet, cause to get to my heart points, she'll have to get past all three of the monsters I summoned and worry about the surprise in that chest." Duke confirmed. "Then that would mean her monsters would be more likely to be pulverized!" Tristan stated. "No joke. My roll, now." Duke said before collecting his dice. "Perfect. Just perfect. You know what this is, Twilight?" he asked. "Looks like a black die." Twilight answered. "A very rare die, to be exact. And with it, I'll be one step closer to finishing you off and winning this game! Go, dice roll!" Duke responded before rolling a defense crest and two summoning crests. "Well, what is it?" Twilight asked. "A pair of summoning crests. I hereby dimension the dice, now you'll see the power of the rare black die!" Duke answered as a vortex appeared from the die. "Behold, the Warp Vortex!" he shouted in delight. "A Warp Vortex?" Twilight asked.
"That's right. Allow me to explain. The portal you see before you is something only a rare black die can create. You see, when a monster jumps into the portal, they're sent to another place on the board instantly, but that second place depends on where the other vortex is placed. It takes two vortexes to complete the circuit and create a warp tube. And I got the second vortex's location all picked out. Deep in your territory and well behind your defenses. The perfect spot for easy access to your heart points. Now, Twilight, all that remains between you and defeat is the time it takes my automator to produce the next black die! And I have a feeling it won't be long now, start planning on helping Yugi with his retirement speech." Duke explained. 'There's not much I can do. I'll just have to build up my defenses.' Twilight thought as she took her dice. "Go, dice roll!" she shouted before rolling two summoning crests and a movement crest. "Excellent! A great roll! I hereby dimension the dice!" she declared as her die appeared on the board and unboxed. "Now, Devlin, let's see how well I've learned your game. I summon the Strike Ninja!" she said as her creature, a level three warrior with 20 attack points, 10 defense points and 10 hit points, appeared. "His high speed allows him to move three spaces for each movement crest I have!" she continued
"High speed, huh? Nice try, but he doesn't come close to the warp speed that my vortex will give me. Speaking of which...check out this baby." Duke said before collecting his dice. "Is it what I think it is?" Twilight asked. "If you're thinking its my second black die, you're right." Duke answered. "Now I'll roll to complete the warp tube and then finish you off for good." he added while everyone else worried. "Go, dice roll!" he shouted. 'If he summons another Warp Vortex, Twilight's finished!' Yugi thought. "Keep the faith, Twilight!" Fluttershy shouted. What Duke rolled was a movement crest, a magic crest and a trap crest. "Looks like you won't be getting a warp vortex!" Twilight declared as Pinkie played a trombone. "You got lucky, this time." Duke responded as Twilight looked at her next three dice, and smiles. "Devlin, I just found a major hole in your plan. Or, if you prefer, a vortex. Thanks to this." the princess of friendship said with a smile as she revealed she had a black die, too. "A black die?!" Duke asked in shock while everyone gained more hope for Twilight. "Go, dice roll!" she shouted before rolling a movement crest and two summoning crests.
"Excellent! A pair of summoning crests. I hereby dimension the dice! Therefore allowing me to place the second Warp Vortex, and allow my monsters easy access to your heart points!" she declared as the vortex appeared. "Now Strike Ninja, enter the vortex!" she commanded before her ninja leaped into it. "No! He's gone into the vortex! And that means..." Duke said in shock. "That's right, Devlin. He'll come out on your side of the board!" Twilight confirmed as her ninja reappeared. "Now, Strike Ninja, attack Ryu-Kishin with Stealth Slash attack!" she commanded before her speedy assassin destroyed his target. "Alright! That takes care of the guard protecting Puke Devlin's heart points!" Joey shouted. 'Duke may have prevented me from extending my dungeon path any further, but thanks to the Warp Vortex he placed, I have a better and faster way of getting to his heart points, turning his own portal against him.' Twilight thought. 'I can't believe this amateur got a rare black die! Now she's using my own Warp Vortex against me! And with that high speed Strike Ninja already deep in my territory, all Twilight has to do is roll one movement crest and she'll be able to move within striking distance of my heart points! I have to stop her!' Duke thought, desperate not to lose.
"Go, dice roll!" he shouted, hoping for two summoning crests, before rolling a trap crest and two attack crests. "My roll failed me!" he shouted in frustration before Pinkie played her trombone again. "Go, dice roll!" Twilight shouted before rolling a summoning crest and two movement crests. "Perfect! A set of movement crests! Strike Ninja, advance now and attack his heart points, with Lunging Claw Thrust!" she declared before her fast ninja moved into position and attacked, taking out one of Duke's heart points. "NO! One of my heart points!" Duke shouted prompting his cheerleaders to fret while Twilight's friends celebrated. "One down and two to go!" Pinkie shouted. "Now it's even." Fluttershy added. Even Sol was happy. "Looks like Twilight's a fast learner, just like my grandson, the King of Games, Yugi Muto." he said proudly. But Duke soon started to laugh. "I'm sorry, your highness. It's just been so long since I lost a heart point in this game. You should really give yourself a pat on the back, because I can guarantee you, it's not gonna happen again! Go, dice roll!" he said before furiously rolling his dice, coming up with two summoning crests and a defense crest. "Perfect, now I can summon a level three monster. I hereby dimension the dice, and unlock my undefeatable monster!" he said before his die appeared and unboxed. "I summon, Orgoth the Relentless!" he declared as his creature, a level four warrior with 20 attack points, 20 defense points, and 50 hit points, appeared in all its might and glory.
"Next, I'll use two magic crests and activate Orgoth's special ability, raising his power from 20 to 30!" he added as his creature's attack power increased. "And now, I'll use two of my stored movement crests and position Orgoth to attack!" he continued before his creature was within striking distance of the ninja. "Orgoth the Relentless, attack the Strike Ninja, with Diamond Blade Strike!" he commanded as his warrior raised his sword. 'I better think fast if I want to save my ninja.' Twilight thought as she consulted her help screen again, eventually finding the answer she needed before her ninja was seemingly destroyed. "Your ninja's been destroyed." Duke said proudly. "I wouldn't be so sure if I were you." Twilight said with a smile. "What are you talking about?" Duke asked. "Why don't you take a closer look, Devlin?" Twilight asked back before he did look and saw the unthinkable. "No! It can't be! The Strike Ninja, is still standing?!" Duke shouted. "Sorry, Duke, but just before Orgoth attacked, I activated my ninja's special ability with a stored trap crest. Allowing him to quickly dodge any attack that's thrown at him and escape unharmed." Twilight said. 'I can't believe that princess taught herself such an advanced defense maneuver! She's making me look like a novice at my own game! I can't let her rattle me. I have to remember that, despite her royal blood, she's friends with a lousy cheat. She doesn't have the skills to win this match.' Duke thought, more frustrated than ever. "It's my roll now, Duke." Twilight said before rolling three movement crests. "And now, I can attack again! Strike Ninja, Lunging Claw Thrust!" she declared before her ninja struck again, dropping Duke's heart points down to one.
"No! Not another one of my hearts!" Duke shouted as his cheerleaders cried and Twilight's friends celebrated. "Two down and one to go!" AJ shouted. "Guess Twilight could be considered the Queen of Games." Joey suggested. "I believe I've taken the lead, Devlin." Twilight said with a confident look. 'That little royal wannabe! I swore I'd have my revenge on Yugi for cheating Pegasus and sabotaging my game, and I WILL!' Duke thought, more angry than ever. "Go, dice roll!" he shouted before rolling a movement crest, a magic crest and a defense crest. "Now, Orgoth, show that ninja why you're considered relentless!" he commanded. 'No! I don't have any more trap crests in my crest pool! Looks like my ninja won't be escaping this.' Twilight thought. "Diamond Blade Strike!" Duke ordered, and in moments, the Strike Ninja was struck down. "Oh, great! There goes the Strike Ninja!" Rainbow shouted. "You were close, princess, closer than anyone I've ever faced. But I'm afraid that close doesn't cut it in Dungeon Dice Monsters. Sure, you may have one heart points more than me, but I have Orgoth the Relentless and none of your monsters will be able to stop it from reaching your heart points! You may have started down the victory trail, Twilight, but now you've reached a dead end!" Duke declared before laughing in triumph.