Joy: Sorry about the delay, folks. I was writing up a one-shot! YEAH! It's called "In Your Arms" Just a Seto/Joy confession fic. Or just one of the ways they COULD confess if I chose to do that in this series. And I was making sure about decks and stuff. I was getting everything ready, but I think I'm back on track now, so here comes Chapter 12, but first – review responses!

Sakura: Heh, does that mean you're on a sugar high now? Yeah, I'm glad he got beat, too.

Silver Moon Phoenix: I can't stand it when women are treated that way, either. He got what was coming to him. Thanks for reviewing my one-shot, BTW.

Dark Kuriboh Empire: Heh, I know all the swear words in Japanese, plus some other really good insults. About Writer's Block – that EVIL curse haunts me sometimes, too. I do some things that sometimes work and then sometimes they don't. Sometimes I go watch old YGO episodes. Sometimes I go duel my little bro. Sometimes I just stare at the computer screen -.-U Or I go over what I have written so far, or let someone else look at it. It can help to have an extra head to generate ideas. An outside source, so to speak.

Well, I guess I better start this chapter already. So here we go!

A Battle of Wits

Yugi, are you okay? Yami asked as he felt a bit of Yugi's pain over their shared link.

Yeah, just have a headache and my cuts sting a bit. Yugi sighed.

Let me take over, aibou. You can rest up.

Okay. The Puzzle glowed.

"Now to find a duel," Yami muttered out loud, looking around at all the crowd. As he passed a particularly large one, a voice rang out.

"I can beat anyone. Step right up and prepare to be defeated, losers!" Yami turned and spotted a brown-haired male American duelist in a spiffy-looking suit. When he spotted Yami, he smirked. "Hey, Spikey! Are you Yugi Moto?"

"I am," Yami said coolly.

"Then I challenge you to a duel, and the rules say you must accept. It'll be a pleasure taking down the so-called King of Games."

"I highly doubt you will succeed, but very well." Yami locked his duel disk into position and took his place across from the young man. "Your name?"

"Eric Mason." The man stood straighter and said his name with an air of arrogance. Yami rolled his eyes a bit.

"You speak Japanese very well, Eric Mason."

"Save the small talk, Moto. Let's duel!" They each drew their first five cards. Mason smirked as he looked over his hand.

"I'll start this duel off, if you have no objection," Yami said.

"Go ahead. This duel is in the bag for me. You see, I have Exodia lurking in my deck."

"Hmph. I have already defeated a duelist with Exodia in his deck, Mason. That is not a challenge for me."

"No, you just prevented Exodia from being summoned, Moto. You didn't defeat the monster itself. No one can. Plus, last time you had it easy. I have other monsters in my deck that are just waiting to take you down."

"We shall see. My move. I play Gamma the Magnet Warrior in attack mode and two cards facedown. Your move."

Yami: 4000

Eric: 4000

"Now I draw." Ha! Now I have three pieces of Exodia in my hand. Just two more and this duel is mine! "I place this monster facedown and two cards facedown. Soon you'll lose, Moto. Then the fame of the King of Games will be mine!"

"Is that all you seek, Mason? It takes more than fame to be respected," Yami commented.

"Respect? Who said anything about respect? It's the glory and the title I want. I don't give a damn if these peasants respect me as long as they honor me for the champion I am," Eric retorted.

Yami's eyes narrowed. "Then you will not receive the honor you seek, for you need respect from others for them to look up to you and praise your accomplishments."

"Bullshit! The title alone commands pride and honor. Now shut up and duel, Moto!"

"Very well." Yami drew. "I place one monster facedown and I shall attack with Alpha the Magnet Warrior!"

"Wabaku!"

"Remove Trap!"

"De-Spell!"

":De-Spell!"

Yami: 4000

Eric: 4000

Eric's monster disappeared. He glared at Yami, then drew. "I place this monster facedown and end my turn."

What is his strategy? To throw facedown monsters on the field? Or is he waiting for Exodia? Most likely the latter. Yami drew. "I place this monster facedown and a card facedown. Then I will activate this card: Card Destruction!"

Eric's eyes grew wide. "NO!"

Yami smirked. "Oh, yes. Now we both have to discard from our hands and draw all new hands. I certainly hope you didn't have any Exodia pieces in your hand, Mason. Otherwise, you have just lost your chance to summon it."

Eric gave Yami the nastiest glare he could as he sent his cards into his Graveyard. Yami, still smirking, did the same, drawing his new hand. Then his smirk widened. This man goes down in the next turn. "Your turn, Mason. If you have one, that is." Eric looked over his new hand, dismayed to find the last two pieces of Exodia looking back at him.

"I play Ookazi."

Yami: 3200

Eric: 4000

"Good. Now it's time to end this duel. First, I shall play my magic card: Fissure, destroying you monster. Now I will sacrifice my two facedown monsters to bring forth The Dark Magician in attack mode. Dark Magician – attack his life points directly!"

Yami: 3200

Eric: 1500

"Now, Gamma the Magnet Warrior – finish him off with another direct attack!"

Yami: 3200

Eric: 0000

Yami smiled. "You lose, Mason. Now, hand me your star card."

"Fine, but don't think this is the last time we will ever duel, Moto. You'll see me again."

"I'm looking forward to future victories against you, Mason," Yami said in a cocky voice. Eric gave him one last glare as he walked away.

Good duel, Yami.

Thank you, Yugi. Are you feeling better?

A lot better. Thank you for dueling and letting me have a chance to rest, Yami.

Hungry? I can let you have control and get something to eat. It's almost time for lunch anyway.

Sure! Sounds great! The puzzle glowed again, letting Yugi take control. He went off in search of a restaurant, humming a happy tune along the way. About ten minutes later he spotted a familiar face by a pizzeria. Oh, look, Yami! It's Ryou!

Hmmm…is Joy with him? Yami asked curiously.

I don't know – oh wait, there she is. I'm gonna go over and chat with them. I wonder how many star cards Joy has. And I wonder if she has seen Kaiba since we split up.

Very well. Yugi headed over to his friends.

"Hey guys!" They looked over and smiled and waved him over.

"Hey, Yugi! Come on over! We have plenty of pizza!" Joy said.

"Great! I'm starving." They sat down and ate for awhile, then Yugi asked: "Joy, how are you doing so far? I have two star cards." He held up the cards. "Have you seen Kaiba at all?"

"That's great! So do I." Joy produced her winning cards. "And no, haven't seen him around since we split up this morning. I bet he's ahead of us. That guy doesn't stop."

"The person she dueled was a real jerk. I hope he gets kicked out of the finals for good. He kept making passes at Joy and looking at her in an inappropriate way," Ryou explained with a frown.

"I bet Katilli was thrilled about that," Yugi said with a chuckle.

"Yeah, I practically had to force her to calm down. But I kicked that guy's ass, so I don't think we'll be seeing him again anytime soon," Joy commented with a triumphant look on her face.

"The person we faced was kind of cocky and conceited, too. But Yami beat him with little trouble. So now we're tied." Yugi smiled over at his friend.

"Well, we can't have that, can we? I guess we'll just have to go out there and see which one of us gets to the finals first, me or you." Joy returned the smile with one of her own.

Ah, a challenge I am more than willing to accept, Yami said through the link.

"Yami says he accepts that challenge, Joy." They shook hands, sealing the deal. Ryou rolled his eyes and shook his head.

I can't believe these two are in a contest to see who gets to the finals first. I mean, they will both get there in due time.

Oh, let them be, host. Besides, I am curious to see who makes it first. I would be nice to see that Pharaoh lose at something in his afterlife.

Ryou smiled. "Well, if you two are going to have a chance at this, we better get going."

"You're right, Ryou. Let's go." All three got up from the table. "See you later, Yugi."

"Sayonara, Joy and Ryou. See you soon."

With that, they resumed their search for more duels, going off in opposite directions.

Joy: There you go. Some interaction. There will be more later. Now I am not going to put every single duel the characters fight in this story. That would be too boring after a while, and we already know they are good duelists and such. In fact, the next chapter is going to skip to nighttime when everyone regroups to get some sleep at the old mansion. This tournament is going to last a while, so there is plenty of time for them to get enough star cards to get into the finals.

The next chapter is called 'Nightly Conversations', and there will be several, so hopefully I can make it a longer chapter than the last few have been.

One more announcement about some email conversations I had. Everyone who sent in OCs thought that the notion of having me do separate stories was a good idea, and I am still going to do that. These stories will be one-shots, and possibly songfics. If you want a particular song included, send it to me by email, guys and gals, and I will write it up for you.