I own nothing.
Chapter 19: At His Own Game
The peanut gallery took their sides as the two competitors headed to their respective podiums. The arena reconfigured to what (Y/N) could only assume was a typical board for Dungeon Dice Monsters. Of course, it wasn't lost on either spirit that Yami was at a woeful disadvantage, given he did not know how to play the game, something Duke took pleasure in mocking him for, only for Yami to respond with his usual sass of being a quick study.
"You better be, Yugi." Duke taunted. "Because I know this game inside and out. And if you want to win, you're gonna have to learn it as well. Now let's get started."
"Pride before the fall, Devlin. Remember that." (Y/N) shot before turning his head to her male counterpart. "You've beaten a master at his own game before, Yugi. Consider this a far less dangerous version."
Yami huffed a laugh before smiling and nodding to the girl. As he studied the panel before him, (Y/N) caught from the corner of her eye the slightest twitch of anger from Duke. Whatever she said had struck a nerve.
"How dare you mock our great Duke!" One of the cheerleaders yelled.
"Yeah! You should shut your mouth, Rain!"
She stared at them with an icy expression. "By all means, one of you is more than welcome to come over here and make me."
Immediately, they backed down, huddling together and shaking. Tea was both unnerved, yet impressed.
"Wow, (Y/N), you've got them shaking. I assume you'll be the one joining us for this match?"
The female spirit sighed. "I fear I must. Given Rain's current anger, let's just say she'd be wielding that fire extinguisher in a rather unintended way."
Tristan immediately caught her meaning and gulped. "And how effectively could Rain use a fire extinguisher as a blunt force weapon?"
"With the amount of rage she feels at the moment? Very."
Duke went back to smirking as he saw the confused expression on Yami's face as the set of dice were revealed.
"Lost already? Relax, I'll walk you through it. That's your dice pool. Select 15 dice from it to use for the game. I'd give you some tips on which to pick, Yugi, but being the master gamer that you are, I'm sure you'll figure it out." Duke picked up a couple of dice and started tossing them in his hand. "Hurry up, now. I got mine already set."
Eventually, Yami made his choice. "I'm ready, too."
"Good. Now here's how it works: these dice are gonna be kind of like your dueling deck, and just like you shuffle your deck, we shuffle these. Like so." Duke dropped his dice into a compartment at the top of the layout, Yami copied him. "See? Easy. The Dice Automator will randomize your 15 dice in groups of 3. You get three dice per round. You roll all 3 at the same time, and then you get to make your move depending on what you rolled, but I'll explain more about that a bit later. Now, take the 3 dice out of the auto hatch."
Yami copied Duke's movements, committing the rules to memory.
"Okay. Now how do you score? Well, in this game, we have heart points. You only get 3, that's it, and whoever loses all 3 first, loses. Game on!"
"Game on?" Tea repeated. "Yugi just learned the rules!"
"Yeah, that's probably just how Duke likes it." Tristan jabbed.
"Go! Go, Duke, go!" The cheerleaders cheered, dragging poor Joey in with them.
"Thanks, ladies." Duke said in a flirting tone. "You're beautiful!"
They all squealed, making Joey groan.
"Man, what a bunch of suck-ups."
"No yapping, you mutt!" One of them growled before he was grabbed on either side.
"This is a duel, not a dog show!"
"And if I hear barking out of any of you, I'm coming over there myself!" (Y/N) threatened, immediately causing the girls to let go and back off.
The spirit huffed and crossed her arms, causing Duke smirk as she recomposed herself.
"You know, Rain, I'd be more than happy to welcome you to my side of the field."
She snapped her head at him. "Don't think my threat didn't apply to you as well, Devlin."
He shrugged. "I'm gonna make my first roll now, Yugi. So from here on out, you're just gonna have to listen carefully and learn as we go." He tossed the dice. "See those markings there? Those are called crests. Different crests do different things. Take that green die, for example. That star crest I just rolled is for summoning. To be able to summon something, at least 2 of the 3 dice that you rolled have to land with the same type summon crest, face up. And if I'm not mistaken, it seems I've come up with two matching summoning crests on my very first roll of the game! Now, the dimensionalizing part of the process. Dimension the dice!"
The white die appeared on the field, opening up into a T-shaped set of panels.
"And there you go: Ryu-kishin!" The pink, imp-like fiend appeared on the field.
Ryu-Kishin
10 ATK/10 DEF/10 HP
"The monsters are inside the dice?" Yami asked.
"Along with that, it seems those panels are creating a pathway." (Y/N) noted.
"Astute observation, Rainy. That's one of the key elements to Dungeon Dice Monsters, for, you see, once a die unfolds to dimensionalize a monster, it becomes a dungeon pathway, and with enough of this dungeon pathway, I can construct a route my monsters can use to get to your heart points."
"I see." (Y/N) said. "It's better to prioritize summoning monsters in order to create pathways for monsters to use to attack your opponent."
"Go ahead, Yugi, it's your turn."
"We're with you, Yugi!" Tea shouted.
"Yeah!" Tristan agreed. "All the way, buddy! Long live the King of Games!"
(Y/N) chuckled. "Hail to the king, I suppose."
Yami rolled, however, none of the crests he rolled matched.
Duke was of course smug. "Heh, an obvious outcome. After all, the level of dice you threw were way too high. Sorry. Didn't I mention that different dice had different levels? This is how it works: there are 6 types of crests on the surfaces of these dice: summon, movement, magic, attack, defense, and trap. How often each of these crests appear on a dice depends on that dice's level. The level 2 dice that I just used had 3 summon crests on each, so it was easy for me to roll 2 of 'em. But, the easier a monster is to summon, the weaker it is. Okay, now look carefully at your dice, Yugi."
Yami glanced at the dice and realized what Duke was talking about. "They each have only one summon crest."
"Right, and that makes it much more difficult for you to roll a pair of them. Of course, had you, it'd have been a very strong monster. Still, I'm of the opinion that in the early stages of the game, it's better to go for a low-level sure thing. After all, the odds of summoning a monster with high level dice are slim to none. Sorry, but if all you have are high-level dice at your disposal, you're gonna have a real hard time summoning any monsters."
Yami gritted his teeth as (Y/N) narrowed her eyes at Duke.
"How quaint you failed to mention this mechanic when you were choosing the dice. Though I suppose it's expecting too much of you to play fairly at this point."
"She's right!" Tea agreed. "You should've told Yugi all the rules before the game started!"
Tristan nodded. "This different dice level stuff changes everything. You should start the game fresh!"
"If it were someone else, maybe." Duke said. "But not the King of Games. He'll be okay."
Over the next several turns, Duke was able to consistently summon monsters every turn was Yami was unable to, either due to not rolling enough summoning crests or the crests not matching. Fortunately, the players also had a crest pool for their unused dice rolls. Still, Duke made sure to mock him each and every time, inching closer to his hearts. He also summoned what he called an Item Chest, but refused to elaborate further, making (Y/N) consider unleashing the feral Rain upon him. Eventually, with two squares separating Duke's monsters from the Yami's heart points, he was finally able to roll two level 4 summoning crests, summoning Mighty Mage to the field.
Mighty Mage
30 ATK/20 DEF/50 HP
"And next, I'll access my crest pool dice and use a movement crest to move my mage one space forward so he can launch an attack against the Thirteenth Grave! Lightning Staff!"
Might Mage turned to face the rotting skeleton, firing off a bolt of lightning to disintegrate it.
"All right!" Tristan cheered as (Y/N) smirked.
"The unfortunate fact about Lady Luck is that when you rely on her too much, she's bound to turn sour on you."
Tea stuck her tongue out at the cheerleaders, who had been headache inducing menaces this whole time. "In your face!"
They booed in response as Joey cheered Yugi on.
"Knowing this game and all of its rules may have given you the advantage in assembling your creatures against me, but now I have a monster of my own." Yami declared.
Duke showed no concern whatsoever. "Congratulations on your first monster, Yugi. Just 4 more now, and you'll have as many as I do."
"Or he can just blast the weaker ones you've insisted on flooding the field with." (Y/N) snarked, making everyone on their side snicker.
Duke gave her an annoyed look and rolled, getting yet another monster on to the field.
"I've unlocked the Blast Lizard!"
Blast Lizard
10 ATK/10 DEF/20 HP
"Don't be fooled by his low-level status, Yugi. When played in just the right way, Blast Lizard has a special attack that packs a surprising punch."
"Ah yes, more rules you've conveniently refrained from explaining." (Y/N) snarled as Yami picked up the dice.
"My roll now."
This time, the partners were fortunate enough to have low level dice, meaning Yami was able to pull off another successful summon, this time, summoning Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress.
Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress
10 ATK/10 DEF/10 HP
"Now you have 2 monsters of mine to contend with, Devlin!"
Duke huffed. "Not for long, Yugi. It's my turn."
This time, Duke managed not to roll a single crest. However, he was completely unfazed.
"Remember what I said about playing my Blast Lizard in just the right way?"
"So, you were rolling for his special attack?" Yami questioned.
"That's kinda right, Yugi. The Blast Lizard's special attack requires 4 magic crests. I already had 2 in my crest pool, and now I have 2 more from my last roll. So now, I'll use a movement crest to position my Blast Lizard and use my 4 magic crests to have him attack you!" Blast Lizard ignited the fuses on the bombs it carried and threw them at Winged Dragon, blowing it to smithereens. "That's too bad. You worked so hard to summon that Winged Dragon too."
The girls screeched in joy as Yami remained unfazed.
"It's my turn."
Yami rolled, but was unable to summon, and to add insult to injury, Duke was immediately able to summon Dark Assailant next turn, along with moving his monsters within striking distance of Yugi's heart points with the movement crests he had stored up.
"Go ahead, take your turn. Nothing you roll is going to help you get out of this mess. I mean, I don't even think that I'd be able to find a way to pull it off, and I'm the one who invited the game."
"You're It's inventor!?" Yami shouted. "I knew you were its champion, but-,"
"I'm both! And everyone in the entire world should know it! I should be known as the second greatest game creator in all the world by now, Yugi! But I'm not, and it's all because of your cheating ways! That's the only way you could have beaten a great man like Pegasus! He has twice the skills you have! You ruined my life that day, Yugi. The defeat that you handed Pegasus changed everything for me!"
"How?"
"I dedicated my life to creating Dungeon Dice Monsters. I spent all of my free time perfecting its game play and fine tuning its rules, and when I was finished, it was clear that I had created something truly remarkable. I decided I had to send it to the only man who could possibly appreciate it, Pegasus. A couple of days passed, and I didn't hear anything from that great game master, until I got this crazy email. He said he'd read my proposal! I couldn't believe my eyes. He said 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 Island: Duelist Kingdom. I could hardly believe it! All my hard work was paying off! I was gonna meet my idol: Maximillion Pegasus! When we met, Pegasus immediately challenged me to a game of Dungeon Dice Monsters. I expected him to be good, but he was phenomenal! It was his first time playing the game, and he completely overpowered me. Me, the guy who created it! I was amazed with his skills."
"Because he was likely cheating with the Millennium Eye." (Y/N) muttered under her breath.
"And with that, the deal was sealed. He told me we'd draw up the official contract after he'd finished hosting a dueling tournament that was about to take place. He even promised to introduce me to a very important president of a shipping company so Dungeon Dice Monsters could go global in a matter of months! Of course, that tournament was the one that you were headed to, Yugi, and ever since you beat him there, I haven't been able to contact him at all. Everything that I worked for was shattered that day, and it's all your fault!"
"That's what this is about!?" (Y/N) snapped. "Sorry to burst your bubble, Devlin, but the only cheater at Duelist Kingdom was Pegasus himself!"
"Listen to Rain, Duke." Yami insisted. "You don't know what kind of man Pegasus was at all!"
"He was a great man until you came along and broke his spirit with your dirty cheating ways!"
"Cheating, theft, emotional manipulation, kidnapping, reckless endangerment, holding hostages." (Y/N) recounted at the top of her head. "The man threatened the lives of my grandfather and people to my face! He was a sociopath!"
"You're only saying that to protect your boyfriend over there!"
"I have never once cheated in my life." Yami proclaimed.
"Oh please! You expect me to believe that someone like you could defeat a great game master like Maximillion Pegasus? You can't even hold your own in Dungeon Dice Monsters!"
"Because you didn't tell the rules before!" Tea shouted as (Y/N) gritted her teeth.
"Devlin, Yugi isn't a cheater, you're just a fool in denial. Would you like me to track down the officials who refereed the match, or are you just going to accuse them of corruption or incompetence?"
"Will you shut up!?" Duke finally snapped at her. "I have had it with your snide remarks and your holier than thou attitude!"
Yami glared at Duke. "Never speak to her in that manner again, Devlin!"
"Yugi." (Y/N) said calmly before turning to Duke. "Throughout this entire charade, the only thing you have proven is that you are an immature, unconfident, hypocrite! You insult Yugi by calling him a cheater when you forced him into this game without explaining the rules. What does it say about you, the creator of this game, that you decided to blitz a novice to prove a point? You're a disgrace, and (L/N)s don't deal with lowlifes."
"Why you-," Duke suddenly froze. "Wait, did you say (L/N)?"
"Yes."
"(L/N)? Your full name is Rain (L/N)?"
"I would think I'd know my own name."
The color from Duke's face seemed to drain as he held the bridge of his now. "You...ugh...you wouldn't happen to be related to a Cater (L/N), would you?"
"My grandfather." An auditable groan came from Duke. "So that's who Pegasus intended to introduce you to. I should've guessed. I don't know what his plan was given they have never been on good terms, but given our business, we were sure to cross paths eventually. Word of advice, this line of work doesn't take kindly to those who throw temper tantrums when they don't get their way. Yugi, put him in his place."
Duke was irate, having been scolded like a child, but he also knew he had seriously messed up. If he had known who Rain was, he would've never said a thing to her. The spirit turned towards the elevator.
"Where are you going?" Tea asked.
"Rain needs to make a call. I have faith in our friend to put an end to Devlin's tantrum."
Tristan looked quite pleased. "Gonna squeal on him to her granddad."
(Y/N) pondered it. "We'll see. If the truth were to come out, Duke would be a dead man, business wise and literally. Rain gets her bursts of anger from someone. I'll be back as soon as I can."
(Timeskip)
Rain, in control again, impatiently walking back and forth in front of the shop, waited for her gramps to pick up the phone. (Y/N), in spirit form, was sitting on a bench watching her.
"Calm down, Rain. You'll give yourself a stroke at the rate you're going."
"I can't!" She huffed. "Just dealing with this guy is making me want to pull my hair out! How dare he call Yugi a cheater! He and Yami risked their lives to beat Pegasus!"
"I know, but that isn't exactly something we can explain to a normal person."
Rain mumbled angrily. "Err, yeah, burden of knowledge, and all that."
"Indeed, young Wayfarer. Though I saw it necessary to tear into his ego, I think we should also acknowledge his side of this story."
"What do you mean?"
"Duke put a great amount of effort into creating Dungeon Dice Monsters and came so close to making it a reality, only to see all his hard work ripped away from after the man who gave him a chance went silent after a defeat. It's natural to lash out and find someone to blame in that situation. It isn't right, but it is very common."
Rain gave her a look. "What? Are you saying I should give that jerk a pass?"
"I'm saying Duke could follow a better path with a little bit of Wayfarer generosity, someone with a bit of experience in the world he wants to enter."
As per usual, (Y/N) was not too subtle about her suggestion as the phone on the other end of the line finally picked up.
"Rain?" Carter's voice came from the other end.
"Oh, hey gramps! Listen, this is gonna sound random, but you know a Duke Devlin?"
"Devlin...Devlin...the name is familiar." She heard papers being shuffled on the other end of the line. "Oh that's right! Right before that whole Duelist Kingdom fiasco, Pegasus did send me an email regarding a lad of that name. Said he had created a new game he was invested in and wanted my help distributing it. He even sent me a copy of the rules and examples. He even wanted me to meet Duke before we made any deals. It did seem promising, but once Duelist Kingdom happened, I figured it was just a trap to lure me there. Then with the move, it completely slipped my mind."
Rain felt a twinge of guilt over that last part before sighing. "Yeah, no gramps. It was a real offer."
"How do you know that?"
"Because I've met Duke. I'm at his new shop right now. Hey gramps? Any chance you could come by and talk to him?"
"Well, I suppose I owe that much for ignoring this for so long. I'll be there as soon as I can."
"Great. It's right down the street from the Kame Shop, you can't miss."
"Well, I suppose that would give me an opportunity to see Solomon. We have a poker game scheduled soon."
"You have a what scheduled?"
"Love you, dear!"
The line went dead as Rain to a deep breath.
"One problem at a time, Rain."
(Y/N) chuckled at her antics before standing up. "If you don't mind switching, I still don't trust you not to bludgeon one of those cheerleaders."
Rain nodded her head to her. "You're probably not wrong to."
(Timeskip)
(Y/N) returned to the arena, and was immediately greeted by Tea.
"Sorry it took me so long. What did I miss?"
In span it took for Rain and (Y/N) to head to the surface and make a call (it was a shockingly long ride up and back down, not helped by Carter refusing to pick up his phone despite this being his tea hour), Yami had managed to somewhat turn the tides, taking out 2 of Duke's hearts while he still had 2. However, according to Tristan, it was more of a hollow victory as Duke's dungeon path now cut off Yami territory, severely limiting his summoning options, especially after the necessary one's he'd made. To top it all off, Duke had managed to summon Orgoth the Relentless, the same monster he had used to defeat Joey, and it was tearing through Yami's remaining monsters.
"Give it up, Yugi." Duke mocked. "Stop wasting my time and surrender."
"Duke!" The cheerleaders sang before Joey jumped up.
"Yugi! Don't you dare surrender to that blowhard!"
"This mutt just won't learn!" One said.
"Bad dog!"
"That's it, get the muzzle!"
"Muzzle yourselves!" Joey snapped at them. "I got something to say here! Don't let Duke rattle ya, Yuge! You've been in tougher situations, against better duelists than this guy and you've always turned it around! You even whipped Pegasus, and he was as crooked as they come! You won the entire tournament at Duelist Kingdom, Yugi!"
"Even so, this is different."
"Come on. This is no time to be humble, buddy. You won the championship because you were the best gamer on the island! You beat the inventor at his own game! You can beat this joker at his. You can't let this Duke of Dork shake you! You're the King of Games, Yuge! So what if Dungeon Dice Monsters has a few new rules? If you just trust in yourself, you can still win! You taught me that, pal."
"What he said!" Tristan jumped in.
Tea nodded. "Joey's right, Yugi, you've gotta keep the faith!"
"Come what may, you have all of our support." (Y/N) assured him as Tristan turned to Joey.
"Inspiring speech, Joey. No one could accuse you of rolling over and playing dead!"
"Tristan!" Tea snapped as (Y/N) looked at him disappointed.
"Oh, come on, I'm allowed one joke."
"One." (Y/N) repeated.
Yami seemed more confident again after that speech. "You're absolutely right, Joey. So long as I have the same faith in my dice that I had in my dueling deck, I can still win this. So I'd advise to keep an eye on your last heart point, Duke, because I'm coming after it!"
Duke was upset that his opponent had regained his composure and acted out childishly again.
"Quit stalling, Yugi. I've got a game to win."
"Or to lose." Yami and (Y/N) said at the same time, making Tristan smirk.
"Birds of a feather, it seems."
"Very funny." The female spirit said as her counterpart rolled.
With his roll, Yami was able to position Knight of Twin Swords to attack Orgoth six times. The beast, however, refused to die, aided by Yaranzo's ability to change the crests in Duke's pool to defense crests to shield Orgoth. Ultimately, this allowed Orgoth to destroy the knight, and given Yami wasn't able to summon on his next turn, Orgoth was free to attack his heart points, leaving him with just one remaining.
"You only have one more turn before Orgoth destroys your last heart point. Finally, I'll avenge Pegasus's loss and show everyone what a phony you are, Yugi."
"I wouldn't gloat just yet, Devlin! All I have to do is summon a monster and I can turn this match around!"
"Dream on! Sure, it sounds simple, but I control the field, Yugi! You don't have any room left to dimension the dice! Millions of gaming fans around the world are glued to the TV waiting for me to show you up for the fake you really are, so this is the moment of truth, Yugi!"
Yami, without a word, threw the dice, fatefully managing to roll a level 4 summon.
"Nice roll." Duke mocked. "Too bad I've got you so boxed in you can't dimension the dice."
Yami, being his usual self, gave his signature smirk. "Don't be so sure."
"What do you mean?"
"There's more than one way to dimension the dice, Duke Devlin. You just have to believe."
"Don't tell me how to play my game!"
"I'll let the dice tell you."
Yami placed the summoning die onto the panel, summoning it to the field. It opened and aligned perfectly with the small, 6 spaced diagonal. And the monster he summoned?
Who else?
"I summon the Dark Magician!" Yami stated as his ace monster appeared. "The Dark Magician has never failed me, Duke. All I had to do was trust my dice. And sure enough, he has appeared!"
Dark Magician
40 ATK/20 DEF/30 HP
"I move the Dark Magician forward, and use his 40 attack points to bring down Orgoth the Relentless! Dark Magic attack!"
Dark Magician tore through Orgoth, saving Yami from the jaws of defeat.
"Hang that from your ear and dangle it, Dukie Boy!"
Duke was fuming at this point, snatching the dice and throwing them.
"Your comeback ends now! I move the Dark Assailant!"
The skeletal warrior cackled as it jumped onto the item box Duke had summoned at the start.
"What's that skull head up too?" Joey demanded.
"Remember when I told you about item summoning, Yugi? The time has come. Dark Assailant, open the treasure chest! Say hello to Monster Cannon!"
The smoke cleared, revealing a massive cannon strapped to a dinosaur in place of the chest.
"Oh, this can't be good." (Y/N) said.
"What's it do?" Duke asked rhetorically. "It takes down Yugi's Dark Magician! Monster Cannon is a weapon that fires a monster at the enemy. Today's target? Your Dark Magician! Monster Cannon, ready, aim-,"
Yami interrupted him.
"I activate Dark Magician's special ability! Conceal yourself with Magical Hats!" The four familiar hats appeared, hiding Dark Magician and shuffling. "Feeling lucky, Devlin? My mage is under one of these hats, but you only have one shot to get it right!"
Duke growled. "Your carnival tricks won't save you this time, Yugi! Monster Cannon, attack the Dark Magician underneath the second hat from the left! Fire!"
Dark Assailant was launched and plowed through the hat, only to come up empty.
"Looks like you guessed wrong." Yami gloated as Dark Magician emerged.
"No, it can't be! Yaranzo, retreat to your original square!"
Duke's remaining monster fell back, but Yami was having none of it as he rolled.
"You can run, Devlin, but you can't hide! I'll use those two magic crests to activate another special ability: My Dark Magician's Mystic Box! Your warp vortex inspired me to find an alternative path to your side of the field!"
Dark Magician hopped into the box as several swords pierced through it.
"How are you gonna do that? By skewering your own monster!?"
Mystic Box reopened, revealing Yaranzo was the one impaled. The beast's arm hung limp for a moment before vanishing.
"No! Yaranzo! Your Magician switched positions with my monster!"
Dark Magician emerged seeming to smirk at Duke with the same coyness as his master.
"Which means he'll deliver the final blow! Dark Magic attack!"
With nothing to protect him, Duke's final heart point was blasted away, leaving Yami the victor. Joey screeched in delight, ripping off the costume as everyone cheered.
"A dramatic end as usual." (Y/N) said, smiling fondly at her counterpart.
Rain appeared beside her, smirking. "Don't act like you don't love it."
Everyone headed back upstairs to a personal office and Duke turned to Yugi, who was back in control, humbled now.
"Yugi...I'm sorry I accused you of cheating. The better player won today, and it was you. You really did beat Pegasus. Ugh, I was such a creep, today!"
"Yeah, you were." Rain bluntly said before Yugi elbowed her. "What? He was!"
Duke then turned to the Wayfarer girl. "I'm also really sorry for the things I said to you, Rain. You were right, I was a complete immature, hypocritical, lowlife. No one's gonna want to play Dungeon Dice Monsters now."
A knock suddenly came at the door as the male attendant from before peaked, looking a bit panicked.
"Uh, Mr Devlin! You have a visitor! You really, really should meet him!"
The teens looked up to see Carter walking in.
"Carter?" Solomon, who had been outside watching the game the whole time, said, tilting his head.
Rain smiled. "Hey gramps. Thanks for coming."
Duke's eyes widened as he realized who the man was, standing up to greet him. "Mr. (L/N)! Sir!"
Carter smiled and nodded. "Ah, so you're Duke Devlin. It's nice to meet you, son! I hope you don't mind, but my granddaughter invited me down here so we could have that meeting."
"N-no sir! No! It's completely fine!"
"Excellent." Carter then got serious. "I should apologize to you, son. Part of the reason I delayed this meeting were...well, let's say personal misgivings. That and with our move here, it completely slipped."
Duke rubbed his head. "It's no trouble at all, sir."
"Well, I reviewed the notes Pegasus sent me, and I have to admit, it was quite impressive. You're a bright lad with a promising future!"
"T-thank you, sir."
Carter then pursed his lips. "Course, I probably should see a game for myself before I make a call."
"No need, gramps." Rain said. "Him and Yugi played a game just now."
"Oh really?" Carter said as Duke looked at her in terror. "However."
Rain's expression screamed 'your fate is in my hands', but she chose benevolence.
"The notes couldn't do it justice. Wouldn't you agree, grandpa Solomon?"
The other old man smiled and nodded. "Why yes."
Carter clapped his hands. "Well, I'm not quite an expert on games outside the classics, so I'll trust the experts. Duke, while I do have my reservations with Industrial Illusions at the moment, I'd be more than happy to mentor you through the process to get your game out. I think we have a real hit!"
"Thank you, sir!" Duke said. "That means so much to me!"
"Well, we can talk more once you get your contract in order. Rain can act as our go between for now then. Anyways, I must be off. Solomon, care to join me?"
"I'd be delighted."
The two older men headed out and Duke let out a sigh of relief before turning to Rain.
"Hey, Rain? Thanks for that."
"You were an asshole today." Rain then pulled out Rite of Renewal. "But I don't think you're a complete one. If gramps sees potential in you, I'll follow his lead, but you've gotta promise to learn from the man."
"I will." Duke said before frowning. "Still, I don't know how many people will want to play my game after what happened."
"Don't say that." Yugi said. "Your game has the potential to become a huge hit!"
"There's enough room in town for two game stores." Tea assured him. "I'm sure once Dungeon Dice Monsters takes off, you'll have more customers than you can handle!"
"You really think so?"
"Sure!" Joey answered. "Dice Monsters is great! It's you I don't like."
"I'd love to learn how to play." Tristan said as Tea smacked Joey.
Duke seemed a bit bashful, but also guilty. "So that's it? How can you guys let me off so easily? I was a total jerk."
"The game is over now." Yugi assured him. "Let's just leave the fighting on the field. Revenge never gets you anything. And if you're truly sorry, the best thing to do is be friends."
"I am sorry, and I promise to not squander the kindness you've shown me."
The two boys shook hands before Rain stood up.
"That's all well and good, but really, nothing we could come up with could match the potential devastation that could hit you."
Duke froze. "Huh?"
Rain's grin was intimidating. "Oh, Duke, if my gramps ever found out about half the stuff you said to my face, well, it's not a matter of if he'll come for your head in the night, it's a matter of which of his antique weapons he'll use. He's got a collection of them!"
Duke sweatdropped. "You're kidding...right?"
She patted his shoulder. "Whatever helps you sleep at night. Anyways, I'm gonna head out guys. See ya tomorrow!"
Rain then merrily went on her way before Duke turned to the other.
"She was joking, right?"
Tristan clapped his hands together. "Dude, burn the evidence, pay off the witnesses, and pray to every god you believe in for mercy."
Joey jumped in. "Heck, pray to the ones you don't believe in too. That family of wizards is scary!"
So, I wanted to give Duke his dues cause I do enjoy his character and he does have a decent role in the anime...but I also wanted to get to the date episode, hence why we'll be jumping ahead. Hope you guys don't mind. Also, Carter has a soft spot for kids, which Pegasus would've have majorly exploited with Duke.