"Ladies and gentlemen, this tournament isn't even half over yet, and we've already seen more action than I've expected! There will now be another ten minute intermission, but hurry back, you won't want to miss a thing."

"That was awesome!"

"Did you guys expect anything less?"

"From you? Not in a million years." replied Joey.

Just then Mai noticed something odd as Kaiba left the duelist box to do whatever he needed to do.

"I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that those two have some kind of history."

"What? Kaiba and Kiryu?"

"What makes you say that?" asked Yugi.

"Well for one thing, he's done his best to avoid making eye contact with her since we got here, and she's done nothing but stare at him with that weird grin on her face."

"Kaiba isn't the kind of person who has girlfriends."

"Maybe that's because she's his ex."

"More likely some fan girl that sends him crazy love letters on a regular basis."

Yugi couldn't quite put his finger on it, but there was something about Dr. Kiryu that seemed very familiar.

"You're sure it's her Seto?"

"I'm afraid so Mokuba… But this doesn't change anything."

"She's the only person who's ever beaten you at chess."

"That's ancient history! I was a boy. I would have found a way to beat her, but she was adopted. I'm an entirely different person now, and this is an entirely different game, a game that she has very little experience with. She doesn't stand a chance."

"She made it to the quarter finals in a tournament full of duelists from all around the world, and don't forget what happened the last time a newcomer walked into your life."

Little did Kaiba know, someone was listening in on their conversation.

"Interesting…"

"Ladies and gentlemen! It's time for the next duel of the quarter finals! This next match pits Laffy the Clown against the reigning King of Games… Yugi Moto!"

"Good luck Yugi… not that you'll need it."

"Uh… thanks Tea."

Something had changed about Tea during the time they had been apart. After Yugi's duel with Atem there was a brief period where they didn't even talk. Then at graduation there was the usual sadness that came with everyone going their separate ways, and yet just the other night Tea had asked Yugi if he liked her new hair. They were going to have to talk about things soon enough, but for now he had to focus on the duel ahead of him.

"Will Laffy the Clown please enter the ring at this time?"

This time Laffy came into the ring hoping on one leg, balancing three eggs on his nose, and spinning plates on sticks.

"Why do we get all the weirdoes at these tournaments?" asked Tea.

"I've asked myself that question too many times." said Mai.

"Look on the bright side, Yugi's got this one in the bag."

"Ah, Yugi Moto, the famous King of Games." said Laffy in an overly exaggerated accent "I've got something special just for you."

Laffy inexplicably pulled a present out of his suit.

"Do you really think I'm that stupid."

"Party pooper."

"At least I have an education."

"I'll have you know I'm really an established solicitor, I just do this because I get off on it."

"Can we duel already."

"Indeed we shall."

"Let's duel!"

(Yugi: 8000)

(Laffy: 8000)

"I'll start things off… A Row of Ducks! Always good for some yucks!"

"What?"

"A Row of Ducks! By banishing five cards from the top of my deck, I can special summon five duck tokens to the field in defense mode."

The five duck tokens were plastic dummies with targets painted on them, the kind of thing you'd expect to find in a carnival game.

(5x ATK: 0 DEF: 0)

"Fortunately for you I can't use this tokens as tributes, so it's your turn."

"Some opening move. He just banished a significant amount of his deck to stall five of my attacks… There has to be more to it than that."

Yugi drew his card.

"I summon The Crusader of Endymion!"

(ATK: 1900 DEF: 1200)

"Next I'll activate the spell card Double Summon, and use it to summon Defender, The Magical Knight!"

(ATK: 1600 DEF: 2000)

"And I'll have both of them attack your duck tokens!"

As soon as the duck tokens were attacked, they exploded.

"Oh one thing I forgot to mention… Whenever one of my duck tokens is destroyed, you take 500 points of damage!"

(Yugi: 7000)

"And Laffy draws first blood!"

"And it doesn't stop there. I summon Freddy the Creepy Clown in attack mode!"

(ATK: 2000 DEF: 1600)

"Next I'll activate the field spell known as the Fun House!"

The Fun House transformed the arena into a bizarrely shaped room full of crazy mirrors, doors on the floor and ceiling as well as the walls, and then some.

"In this magical place left is right and up is down. Right now our monsters have left back at the right of the front, or is it the back of the front or the right of the left, I can never keep those two straight."

"Do you have a point?"

"As a matter of fact I do. In this place all my monster gain 300 extra attack points."

(ATK: 2300)

"Freddy, attack defender!"

Suddenly the hologram of Freddy pulled out a huge weapon that looked like a cross between a sword and a boomerang and charged.

"Not so fast, I activate Defender's effect! When he was summoned I got to place a spell counter on him, and by removing that spell counter I can prevent one spellcaster from being destroyed, so my Magician is safe!"

"But your life points aren't."

(Yugi: 6300)

"It's my turn, and I'll Gemini summon my Crusader of Endymion, turning him into an effect monster! Now I'll activate his special effect, which let's me place another spell counter on my Defender, and since I used this effect Endymion gains an additional 600 attack points for the duration of my turn!"

(ATK: 2500)

"Endymion, attack and destroy Freddy!"

Freddy was obliterated.

(Laffy: 7800)

"When Freddy is destroyed, I can automatically destroy one monster on the field, so say goodbye to you crusader!"

"I don't think so, remember my Defender's effect?"

Freddy's stray weapon flew at Endymion, but Defender rushed over and deflected it with his shield.

"Now I'll have Defender destroy another one of your duck tokens."

"Then you take another 500 points of damage."

(Yugi: 5800)

"Forcing his opponents to give up life points so they can get to his, I understand why some people call him the most annoying duelist they've ever met." said Mai.

"I'll end my turn by placing this card face down."

"Hmm… decisions… decisions… I think I'll just place this card face down."

"I summon the Rapid-Fire Magician!"

(ATK: 1600 DEF: 1200)

"Next I'll activate my Pot of Greed, not only do I get to draw two cards, but now my Magician's effect activates, inflicting 400 points of damage to you."

(Laffy: 7400)

Yugi drew his cards.

"I activate Magical Stone Excavation, by discarding two cards I can take one spell in my graveyard and return it to my hand. And now my Magician's effect activates again."

(Laffy: 7000)

"Now I'll activate the spell I just brought back, Double Summon! And I'll use it to summon the Skilled Dark Magician!"

(ATK: 1900 DEF: 1700)

"And now my Rapid-Fire Magician will attack again!"

(Laffy: 6600)

"Yugi Moto has four spellcasters in play while Laffy has only two duck tokens and one face down monster, I smell a comeback!" said the announcer.

"First I'll destroy your two remaining duck tokens with Rapid-Fire Magician and Defender!"

BOOM!

"Then you take 1000 more points of damage!"

(Yugi: 4800)

"Next I'll activate Endymion's special effect, and place another counter on defender, giving Endymion a 600 point boost!"

(ATK: 2500)

"Endymion, attack and destroy his face down monster!"

"I don't think so! Reveal, Bongo the Fat Clown!"

(ATK: 1500 DEF: 2500)

Bongo looked like he weighed over three hundred pounds, unfortunately his defense points were equal to Endymion's boosted attack power.

"Okay… I officially hate clowns now." said Tristan.

"Now it's my turn. First I'll destroy your face down with Mystical Space Typhoon! Next I summon Chuckles the Laughing Clown in attack mode!"

(ATK: 700 DEF: 1000)

"And he gains an extra 300 thanks to the effect of my Funhouse field spell."

(ATK: 1000)

"Next I'll activate the spell card Secret Pass to the Treasures, now for the duration of my turn Chuckles can attack you directly, and get this… he gets to attack once for every monster on my side of the field with Clown in its name."

Chuckles took out two huge pies and threw them at Yugi's face.

(Yugi: 2800)

"Oh come on, was that really necessary?" asked Tea.

"And don't get any ideas of attacking Chuckles, because as long as Bongo is on the field you can't attack any other monster I have out that has Clown in it's name. And I think I'll end my turn by placing this card face down."

"Laffy the clown has a huge lead on Yugi! Could we be seeing the birth of a new King of Games?!" cried the announcer.

"If he loses this duel, shoot me."

On the bright side, Kaiba was seeing an obvious difference in Yugi's dueling skills.

"He's gotten soft since our last duel, and the fact that he no longer has the god cards cinches it. Even if he wins this duel there's no way he'll be able to beat me."

"He no longer has the god cards?"

"What the?! How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough. And in order to duel him, you'll need to beat me first." replied Kiryu.

"That won't be an issue…"

"Well, I guess we'll just see what we'll see."

"I activate Emergency Card Stash! Now I can draw six cards from my deck, and thanks to Rapid-Fire Magician, you lose another 400 life points!"

(Laffy: 6200)

Yugi drew his cards.

"I summon Ameba!"

(ATK: 300 DEF: 350)

"Next I'll activate the Mystic Box! This let's me destroy one of your monsters, in exchange for giving you control of one of mine. I'll destroy Bongo and give you control of Ameba!"

Bongo was skewered inside the Mystic Box and Ameba appeared on Laffy's side of the field.

"When Ameba goes to your side of the field, you take 2000 points of damage!"

(Laffy: 4200)

"And Rapid-Fire Magician takes another 400 points!"

(Laffy: 3800)

"But that's not all. Between the spells both you and I have activated, my Skilled Dark Magician now has three spell counters, so I can sacrifice him to special summon the Dark Magician!"

(ATK: 2500 DEF: 2100)

"Now I'll attack Ameba with my Defender, and since he's on your side of the field you lose the life points!"

(Laffy: 2500)

"Rapid-Fire Magician, attack his Laughing Clown!"

"Now so fast! I activate the second effect of my Fun House! By banishing one monster from my graveyard, I can negate one battle per turn!"

"No matter, I still have two more monsters. Endymion, attack his clown!"

(Laffy: 1600)

"Dark Magician, finish him off!"

"I don't think so! I activate the trap card Soul Sacrifice! Whenever my opponent attacks me directly, I can banish one monster from my deck who's attack points are equal to or higher than the attacking monsters and cancel the attack."

"Nuts, so close… I guess I'll end my turn with a face down."

"I don't believe it!" cried the announcer "Just like that Yugi Moto comes out of nowhere to take the lead!"

"That's my buddy!" said Joey.

"Long live the King of Games!"

"Let's see you survive this one…" said Laffy drawing his card "I play Graceful Charity! Next I activate the spell card Miraculous Return! By giving up 1000 life points, I can special summon one monster that I've banished. And I choose Gigantus The King Clown!"

(Laffy: 600)

(ATK: 3000 DEF: 3000)

Gigantus was at least two stories high. He had terrifying crimson eyes and razor teeth.

"It's hideous!" exclaimed Serenity.

"Now every child watching this duel is going to be afraid of clowns." said Tea.

"And I still haven't normal summoned yet. I summon Icky the Sick Clown!"

(ATK: 500 DEF: 500)

"Next I activate the spell card Tribute to the Doomed! Which I'll use to destroy Icky!"

"Uh… why would he summon that monster just to destroy it?"

Serenity pulled the card's information on the screen.

When Icky the Sick Clown is sent to the graveyard, the attack points of every monster the opponent currently has in play are permanently halved.

(ATK: 800)

(ATK: 800)

(ATK: 950)

(ATK: 1250)

"Now I activate Gigantus' special effect! By banishing monsters from my graveyard, I can increase his attack points by 500 each, and I think I'll banish two monsters!"

(ATK: 4300)

"Now Gigantus, destroy the Dark Magician and end this duel!"

"You forgot my face down card, go Mirror Force!"

Gigantus' attack was deflected, but when the smoke cleared he was still standing.

"What?!"

"Oh, guess I forgot to mention that Gigantus can't be destroyed by traps. Since my turn is over he loses his attack boost, but you don't have any monsters that can take him on anyway."

(ATK: 3300)

Gigantus was actually sticking his tongue out at Yugi and was laughing like a madman.

"That is the single most annoying thing I've seen since Pegasus' toon monsters." said Joey.

"Even if Yugi could summon a monster with enough attack points to bring that thing down, the clown could just negate the battle with Fun House's effect, then give Gigantus another boost on his next turn." said Mai.

"He'll find a way… he always does." said Tea.

Yugi drew his card and smiled.

"I activate the spell card Magical Blast! This causes you to take 200 points of damage for every spellcaster that I have out, and I have four!"

(Laffy: 0)

"Winner! Yugi Moto!" cried the ref.

"Weirdest duel ever." said Yugi under his breath.

"Not the most climatic of endings, but a win is a win!" said the announcer "Once again Yugi Moto has emerged victorious, and the next duel will determine his opponent in the semi-finals!"

(To be continued)

Will Kaiba win or lose? You decide!

Next time in Chapter 11: Kaiba vs. Kiryu