Chapter 49
Dungeon Dice Monsters Part 4: The Miraculous Dark Magician
'Great. With Strike Ninja gone, Duke's got Twilight on the defensive again.' Yugi thought. 'Well, I'll have to find a way to protect my heart points and come up with a way to take out his last one.' Twilight thought as she collected her dice. "Go, dice roll!" she shouted before rolling a summoning crest, a movement crest and an attack crest. 'That'll work for now.' she thought. "I appear to have rolled a movement crest with a double bonus emblem, Duke. I'll use it to position my Knight of Twin Swords between your monsters and my heart points." she said. "Nice try, princess, but none of your monsters can stand against the power of Orgoth the Relentless. And he's coming for you!" Duke said as he rolled two movement crests and a defense crest. "I advance Orgoth four spaces!" he declared. 'Orgoth's heading for the Warp Vortex, and that'll let him get past my defenses without a fight!' Twilight thought. "Scared yet? Well, just like how you used the Warp Vortex to sneak behind my lines, two can play at that game. Orgoth, jump into the Warp Vortex!" Duke said as his mighty warrior entered the portal.
In moments, Orgoth warped to Twilight's side of the board. "The end is near, Twilight!" he stated. "Not quite, Duke. Not while I still have one heart point more than you." Twilight responded before collecting her dice from the auto hatch. "Now it's my move. Go, dice roll!" she added before rolling two movement crests and a magic crest. "There. Using the movement crests, I'll form a wall around my heart points. First Thunder Ball, then Mighty Mage and finally, Knight of Twin Swords." she concluded as her monsters moved into place. "How sad, a princess in retreat. You coward." Duke taunted before rolling two magic crests and a defense crest. "Now you'll see how a real master plays. I'll use two of my movement crests in my crest pool to move Orgoth into attack range. And with the magic crests I rolled, I'll raise Orgoth's attack power by ten, giving him a total of 40 attack points. I told you Orgoth was relentless, now you'll witness his strength up close." he added as Orgoth got into position. "Orgoth, show your power and destroy Thunder Ball With Diamond Blade Strike!" he commanded before the mighty warrior sliced Thunder Ball in half. "Tough to watch, eh, princess?" he asked.
'Oh, great. Twilight's almost out of monsters and I'm almost out of time!' Spike thought. "Dagnabbit, Twilight's only got two monsters left!" AJ shouted. "Twilight may have been in tough spots before, but this isn't like before." Rarity pointed out as everyone at the store entrance watched in anticipation. "Hang in there, Twilight! Just like in Duel Monsters, the game's not over until the last move is made!" Sol stated, even though he knew she couldn't hear him. "Poor Twilight. Now what? You can't summon anymore monsters because there's no room left in your territory. You've played well, for a first-timer, I'll give you that much, though. But soon, everyone will know that that hack, Yugi, will be a former Duel Monsters champion, once word gets out that he cheated to win. And now I'm gonna expose you as an ally to a cheater." Duke stated as Twilight gathered her dice. "Don't write that victory speech just yet, Duke! This game isn't over yet! Go, dice roll!" Twilight shouted before rolling two movement crests and an attack crest and checking her help screen, as well. "I just checked my help screen and found that Mighty Mage has a special ability that allows it to attack opponents that are two spaces away! Now, my little magician, Lightning Staff Attack!" she said before her Mage attacked. "No worries, I can weaken that magical attack with one defense crest!" Duke responded as the attack landed, but only took away 10 hit points.
"Oh, no! Orgoth is still standing!" Twilight said in shock. "That's right, Twilight. That attack only took away ten of his hit points, dropping them to twenty." Duke stated. "And that means, since Orgoth has forty attack points, my Mighty Mage's hit points dropped to twenty. He may be at half strength, but he's not finished yet, Duke." Twilight responded. "Oh, he will be, after my next turn." Duke said before collecting his dice from the auto hatch. "Alright! Go, dice roll!" he shouted before rolling a defense crest and two magic crests. "Orgoth, advance one space." he commanded. "Right now, Orgoth has forty attack points, but his special ability allows me to use six magic crests to increase his attack power by thirty points. More than enough to obliterate your mage." he added as Orgoth's attack points rose to 70. "Even you should know it takes more than strength to win, Devlin. Without strategy, power is just an empty threat." Yami said.
"Is that so? Orgoth, attack Mighty Mage, with Super Diamond Blade Strike!" Duke retorted before Twilight's mage was destroyed. 'Oh, no! That leaves just one monster standing between Duke and my heart points! How am I gonna get out of this?' Twilight thought as Duke chuckled. "Looks like your beginner's luck is finally giving out, Twilight." Duke taunted as Twilight gathered her dice. 'He may be right. Dungeon Dice Monsters is a different game than Duel Monsters. Maybe I'm just not good enough to beat Duke. Poor Spike. I promised him that I'd get him out of this jam, and I let him down.' she thought sadly. "Give it up, princess. Stop wasting my time and surrender." Duke demanded. "Twilight! Don't surrender to that bully!" Spike shouted, prompting the cheerleader to repromand him. "Will you girls just put a sock in your mouths for five seconds?! I got something to say to my sister-figure!" he declared, causing the girls to back up. "Don't let him rattle you, Twilight. You've seen Yugi go up against Duelists that are ten times better than this dice-brained lame-o, and he always came out on top because he kept faith in himself and his deck. He even beat Pegasus, the very man who FORCED him into the tournament at Duelist Kingdom!" he stated. "Even so, this is different." Twilight pointed out.
"Come on! This is no time to be humble. Yugi won the title of world champion because he was the best player on the island! Better than Weevil, better than Mako, even better than Mai and Joey! All because he believed in the Heart of the Cards, no matter who his opponent was or how tough he seemed! Don't forget, he beat the creator of Duel Monsters at his own game! So you can beat this joker at his own game! Don't let this dicey dork shake you! If Yugi is the King of Games, then in my mind, you're the Queen of Games! So what if Dungeon Dice Monsters has new rules? If you just trust in yourself, you can still win! Yugi himself taught you that!" Spike responded. "What the little guy said!" Joey shouted. "Spike's right, Twilight! Keep the faith!" AJ added. "And believe, in yourself, and the Heart of the Dice!" put in Yami. Suddenly, Twilight felt her will and strength renewed. "Spike, you're absolutely right. I can never forget the most important lesson of all the lessons I learned from the one who taught me Duel Monsters, believing in the Heart of the Cards. Dungeon Dice Monsters is no different. So long as I have the same faith in my dice that I have in my dueling deck, I can still win this! So I suggest watching that last heart point closely, Duke, because I'm coming after it!" she responded, ready to roll.
Everyone watching the duel was cheering for Twilight, surprising and shocking Yako. "That's right, Twilight. Trust in your heart and the dice and you'll never lose!" Sol declared. "Quit stalling, princess. I've got a game to win." Duke said. "I think you mean, to lose! Go, dice roll!" Twilight responded before rolling a movement crest and two attack crests. "Now I use that movement crest I rolled to move my knight forward two spaces." she added as her knight moved. "Next, I'll add four attack crests from my crest pool with the two I just rolled, giving my knight a total of six." she continued. 'Orgoth has only five defense crests, so with that advantage, Twilight should be able to destroy him and go on the offensive!' Yugi thought. "Knight of Twin Swords, Double Slash attack!" Twilight commanded as her knight attacked. "You amateur! You may have six attack crests, but I have Yaranzo's special ability! He can change any crests I have saved into defense crests, which allows him to further shield Orgoth from your attack!" Duke stated as Yaranzo granted Orgoth more defensive power. "I can't believe it! Orgoth managed to stop all six of my knight's attacks!" Twilight shouted.
"I'd say your time's just about up, Twilight. In a few more rolls of the dice, your heart points are gonna be history. And now you see why Orgoth's considered relentless. You're finished. You've got nothing left." Duke said as he rolled an attack crest, a movement crest and a trap crest. "Orgoth the Relentless, attack the Knight of Twin Swords with Diamond Blade Strike!" he commanded. "Oh, no! With nothing to protect him anymore, Twilight's knight is doomed!" Yami shouted as the knight was slain. "Looks like that was your last monster, Twilight. Now nothing stands in my way. This is gonna be sweet!" Duke said with a grin. "He's right. I don't see any other way Twilight can protect her heart points now." Fluttershy said with worry. "I'm just a move away from breaking your heart. Better pack it in, princess." Duke stated. "It's easy to give up, to give in when things get hard. But that's not the way to win. I won't quit, no matter how hopeless it seems, Devlin! That's not the way to get ahead, either in Duel Monsters, or in life. You may know this game inside and out, Duke, but you have a lot to learn about the people you play it with. Maybe by the time this match is over, you'll have learned more than just a new rule in this game." Twilight responded, determined to keep going before rolling.
"So whatcha got there, Princess Preach?" Duke asked mockingly. "No summoning crests. So there's not much I can do this turn." Twilight answered. "Guess you philosophy isn't working out, huh? You're about to be schooled, just watch the master roll his dice." Duke said before rolling a magic crest and two movement crests. "Perfect, two more movement crests. I move Orgoth the Relentless two more spaces, putting him in striking range of your heart points! Now, Orgoth, do it!" he added before his warrior struck another of Twilight's heart points, bringing her down to her last one. "Hang in there, Twilight! You got one heart point left!" Pinkie shouted. "You only have one last turn before Orgoth destroys you. And at last, I can avenge Pegasus' defeat and show Yugi as the phony he is!" Duke stated. "I wouldn't gloat just yet, Devlin. All I have to do is summon a monster and I can turn this match around!" Twilight retorted. "Dream on! Sure, it sounds simple, but I control the field, princess! You don't have any room left to dimension the dice! Duke responded, causing everyone to worry. "Have faith, Twilight!" Sol called. "Millions of gaming fans around the world are glued to the DMTV channel, waiting for me to defeat you and show Yugi up for the fake that he really is, so this is the moment of truth." Duke stated. 'He's right. It is the moment of truth. But I know that there's still one monster that can help me win. I just have to believe, and call on him right now!' Twilight thought. "Go, dice roll!' she shouted before rolling a trap crest and two summoning crests, the very crests that she desperately needed.
"A level four summoning!" she shouted. "Nice roll, too bad I got you so boxed in you can't dimension the dice." Duke said, but Twilight smirked and chuckled. "Don't be so sure." she said. "What do you mean?" Duke asked. "There's more than one way to dimension the dice, Duke. You just have to believe." Twilight answered. "Don't tell me how to play my game!" Duke shouted. "Then I'll let this die tell you. I hereby dimension the dice!" Twilight responded as her die of choice appeared on the board and began to unbox. 'She can't. She just can't.' Duke thought, but to his shock, the pieces fit perfectly. "NO! It's falling perfectly into alignment! YOU COMPLETED THE SUMMONING!" he shouted, absolutely shocked. "Yes, and now, I summon the Dark Magician!" Twilight declared. "The Dark Magician?! PEGASUS PUT THAT MONSTER IN THE GAME!" Duke shouted in horror as the Dark Magician, bearing 40 attack points, 20 defense points and 30 hit points, appeared. "The Dark Magician has never failed me, nor Yugi, Devlin! All I had to do is believe, and sure enough, he has appeared!" Twilight stated. 'I've been underestimating this girl all along! And now, she's managed to dimension her and Yugi's favorite monster! Could I have been wrong about them both?! About Yugi and Pegasus?! No, I can't believe that!' Duke thought, absolutely in disbelief over what just happened.
"I'll move the Dark Magician forward, and use his forty attack points to bring down Orgoth the Relentless! Dark Magic Attack!" Twilight declared as her magician blasted Orgoth to pieces. "With only twenty defense point, Orgoth couldn't stand a chance against Twilight's magician." Yami said with pride, prompting everyone to celebrate. 'Keep smiling, Twilight. It'll make it that much sweeter when I take out your last heart point. And I know the perfect way to do it.' Duke thought. "Your comeback ends now!" he shouted before rolling two magic crests and a defense crest. "I move the Dark Assailant towards the item chest!" he declared as his monster hopped onto the chest. "What's that bonehead up to?" Rainbow asked. "Remember when I told you about item summoning, princess? Well, the time has come! Dark Assailant, open the chest!" Duke said before, from the chest, came a cannon on the back of a dragon. "Say hello, to the Monster Cannon!" he added. "That thing looks nothing like my party cannon!" Pinkie pointed out. "You want to know what it does? It'll take down Twilight's Dark Magician in one attack! How? By simply firing one of my monsters at the enemy instead of a cannonball." Duke explained before the Dark Assailant hopped into the cannon itself. "I already have the target. Monster Cannon, ready? Aim." he continued until Twilight pulled a fast one.
"I activate one of the Dark Magician's special abilities!" she shouted. "You what?!" Duke asked. "Conceal yourself, my magician, with the Magical Hats!" she commanded before the hats appeared and hid the Dark Magician. "Feeling lucky, Devlin? My Dark Magician is under one of those hats, but you only have one shot to get it right!" she added. "Your little carnival trick won't save you, Twilight! Monster Cannon, fire at the second hat on the left! Fire!" Duke responded before his Dark Assailant was fired at the hat. "He had to be under there!" he added, until the smoke cleared and revealed his choice was wrong. "Looks like you guessed wrong!" Twilight stated before the Dark Magician reappeared. "No! It can't be! He survived!" Duke shouted in shock. "I should thank you, Duke, for making one of the Dark Magician's special abilities in this game the same as the magic and traps Yugi and I use with him in Duel Monsters!" Twilight stated. "Yaranzo, return to your original space!" Duke ordered before Yaranzo started to retreat. 'Her Dark Magician has two special abilities, so I'll have to strengthen my defenses before I lose my advantage!' he thought desparately. "You can run, Devlin, but you can't hide!" Twilight shouted before rolling an attack crest and two magic crests.
"I'll use those two magic crests to activate the Dark Magician's second special ability! Behold the Mystic Box!" Twilight shouted as herb box appeared. "Your Warp Vortex inspirted me to find an alternate route to your side of the field, now watch as the first Mystic Box is pierced!" she added as swords rained down and slid through the slots of the box. "How are you gonna get to my side of the field by skewering your own monster?!" Duke asked, only to realize, to his horror, when the Mystic Box opened, it wasn't the Dark Magician that was skewered, but Yaranzo instead. "No! Yaranzo! Your magician switched positions with my monster! But, how?!" he shouted in shock before the second Mystic Box opened, revealing an unharmed Dark Magician, who wagged his finger at Duke. "Looks like he's telling you a good magician never reveals his secrets." Yami said with a smirk and a chuckle. "No! Now he's in attack range! And there's nothing between him and my heart points!" Duke shouted in shock, realizing he was about to lose at his own game. "Which means he'll deliver the final blow! DARK MAGIC ATTACK!" Twilight bellowed as her magician attacked, destroyed Duke's final heart points, and took the game. On the sidelines, everyone celebrated. "YES! My dog days are over before they even begin!" Spike shouted while Yami smiled approvingly, knowing his friend played well.
Back at the store entrance, everyone was abuzz about what happened, some were even chanting for Yugi, since his title as King of Games was on the line, prompting Yako to head downstairs to tell Duke what was going on. "Mr. Devlin! You won't believe this, but everyone upstairs on the main floor, they're all chanting for Yugi!" he shouted. "WHAT?! How can they cheer for that cheat! He didn't win this game! He didn't even play! They shouldn't be cheering at all!" Duke bellowed, angry and bitter that he lost, but causing Twilight to finally lose her patience. "That... Is... ENOUGH!" she shouted before letting her magic loose, shocking everyone, particularly Duke. "Wha... What's going on?!" he asked, somewhat frightened. "You've tested my patience for the last time, Duke Devlin! Now you're going to listen to me and do as I tell you, since the cameras stopped rolling. Do you have footage from Yugi's duel against Pegasus?" Twilight responded, her hair flowing from her magical power being unleashed. "Y...Yes, ma'am. We have it. Industrial Illusions gave us footage from all the duels in the tournament at Duelist Kingdom, they made an agreement with KaibaCorp." Duke said, still frightened. "Good. Now, you're going to take us to your broadcasting station and you're going to watch the footage of Yugi's duel with Pegasus. And if not, then you REALLY will have earned my fury, not just for humiliating my practical little brother, but for trashing my friend, Yugi's, dueling skills and his win at Duelist Kingdom." Twilight explained before snapping her fingers, making the dog costume on Spike completely disappear.
"Huh?! What did you just do to the dog suit?!" Duke asked, shocked. "Its magic, Devlin. And it was magic that Pegasus used to beat you, though you didn't know it, and it was magic he used to force Yugi into dueling at Duelist Kingdom." Twilight explained. Soon enough, they were all in the broadcast station room and Duke saw the moment when Pegasus turned the duel into a Shadow Game. "What's with the cloud over the dueling field?" he asked. "That was part of Pegasus' magic. You see, like me, Pegasus has an ancient Egyptian artifact that can grant the wielder incredible power. He used it to create that dark cloud and to see the monsters in my hand." Yami answered. "Then, that means, Pegasus, CHEATED ME?! He cheated during our game of Dungeon Dice Monsters?!" Duke asked, shocked that his idol would stoop that low. "Either that, or he scanned your mind to learn the rules of Dungeon Dice Monsters before the game began." Twilight pointed out. "Then, my game, it might never take off now." Duke said, somberly. "You can worry about your game later, for now, broadcast all the footage of Duelist Kingdom onto DMTV. Including the footage from Pegasus' duel with Yugi." Spike suggested.
Still in shock, Duke did so. Later that night, everyone was at Duke's home and their host was showing how Dungeon Dice Monsters looked without the holograms. "Yugi, I'm sorry I accused you of cheating. The better player won today, and it was Twilight. She proved that you really did beat Pegasus, fair and square. I acted like such a creep, and thanks to those TV cameras, the whole world knows it. The Black Crown is ruined! No one's gonna want to play Dungeon Dice Monsters now." Duke said, distraught, with his face in his hands. But Yugi just smiled. "That's not true at all, Duke. Dungeon Dice Monsters has the potential to become a huge hit." he said. "True. I haven't seen a game this exciting since Duel Monsters was first introduced. You've got to keep your store open." Sol added. "There's more than enough room in this town for two game stores, partner." AJ pointed out. "And once Dungeon Dice Monsters takes off, you'll both have more customers than you'll know what to do with." Rarity added. "No way. Do you really think so?" Duke asked, cheering up a bit. "Sure. Dungeon Dice Monsters was great to watch, but it was your attitude that I didn't like." Joey stated. "I honestly wouldn't mind learning how to play myself." Rainbow admitted. "I can teach you." Duke said happily. "Well, now that Spike's out of the dog house, maybe things will get back to normal around here." Twilight suggested.
"Which means I can finally get back to playing games of Duel Monsters just for fun." Yugi added. "Wait, that's it? How can you and Twilight let me off so easily, Yugi?" Duke asked. "Sure, you acted like a jerk towards us, but the game's over. We should leave the fighting on the field, because revenge leaves you with nothing but more bad feelings inside. And, I'm sorry I snapped at you. I just take friendship very seriously." Twilight answered. "And if you're truly sorry, Duke, the best thing to do is be a friend towards us." Yugi added. "I am sorry. And you're both offering me something better than winning." Duke said before Yugi extended his hand. "Friendship always is." the King of Games said with a smile before Duke accepted and shook his hand. Suddenly, a sound was heard from Duke's laptop. "Sounds like someone has an email!" Pinkie said with a smile. Duke went to check, and lo and behold, it was an email he had been waiting for. "WHOA! Industrial Illusions sent me a contract after all! It says that due to a medical emergency on the part of Maximillian Pegasus, the email was delayed, but now they're ready to make the deal and take Dungeon Dice Monsters global!" Duke said with a smile, prompting everyone to congratulate him. "Congratulations, Duke. You really made it." Twilight said with a smile. "Twilight, thank you so much. I really couldn't have done it without you and Yugi setting me straight. "Well, you invented a great game, Duke." Yugi said. "Maybe, but you both made me see that it was missing something. You showed me that a game isn't about mastering the rules, but about getting to know your opponent." Duke responded.
"That's right. It's not all about rules and how to win, it's about meeting, having fun with and making new friends." Twilight said. 'Because you never know where you're gonna find them. Or, once you've met them, how close they're gonna become.' Yugi thought, clearly thinking about Yami, who chuckled upon hearing Yugi's words of kindness.