Disclaimer: No I do not own Yugioh.

Legends of the Demon Duelist-Midnight Arc

Chapter 20: Clowning Around

Krieger took a deep breath and sat down. "We need to do more?"

Griff stepped forward. "I'll take whatever is next."

Ichigo nodded.

Jester smirked. "Then let the games continue."

Griff stepped forward and lifted his arm. "Give me a disk."

Jester snapped his fingers and the device appeared around the boy's arm. "Are you ready then?" He whistled into his finger and a little clown car about the size of a dog rolled up. "Come on out boys!" The door opened and a mob of Peten the Dark Clowns started pouring out. One of the Petens bowed to Griff and lifted its arm, a duel disk on its arm. "Duel!"

Peten- 4000

Griff- 4000

Peten drew, while the audience quieted down. "Then I begin with Saggi the Dark Clown (600/1500) in defense mode. Also, I set two cards face-down and end my turn." An ugly clown appeared on the field in a crouching position.

Griff drew, while the crowd started to laugh. "Huh? Why's everyone…?" He realized why when he looked over at his opponent's field.

Saggi stuck its tongue out at him, and started dancing around.

"You…little…" Griff looked at the drawn card. "I summon A Man with Wdjat (1600/1600) in attack mode!" A man in purple robes appeared on the field. "Magical Sands!" A ball of earth shot from the man's wrist and hit the clown. "Gotcha!"

Peten started to laugh. "Reveal Deck Destruction Virus!"

"Oh no!" Griff stared in horror as a purple smoke sprayed over his field and into his deck. A number of cards exploded into dust. "That means all monsters on my field…" Man with Wdjat exploded. "…in my hand and in my deck with 1500 or more attack points are sent to the graveyard."

Peten blinked in surprise. "Why hasn't your deck been affected more?"

Griff sneered. "The joke's on you. Most of my monsters have less than 1500 attack points!" He slid a card into his disk. "I set one card face-down and end my turn."

Peten drew. "Now I summon Clown Knight (1800/1500) in attack mode!" A knight with a rainbow wig on its head and a rubber chicken in one hand appeared on the field. "Attack his life points directly!" It charged towards Griff cackling.

Griff pointed at his set card. "Go Treasure Trap!" A huge hole opened up underneath the Knight and dropped it out of sight. "This card destroys your monster and lets us both draw one card." They both drew a card.

Peten snickered and slid another card into his disk. "I set one card face-down on the field and end my turn."

Griff drew. ("I still have plenty of monsters that could fight. However…") "First I play Pot of Greed!" He drew two cards. "Now I summon Dark Scorpion-Chick the Yellow (1000/1000) and attack your life points directly!" The mallet-wielding thief appeared and charged towards Peten.

Peten pointed at its set card. "Go Send in the Clowns! This trap card lets me summon one Clown from my hand if I want!" Another Saggi appeared on the field and Chick backed off.

Griff growled. "End turn."

Peten drew. "I sacrifice Saggi…." The clown disappeared and was replaced by another clown, this one wearing a suit of high-powered armor. "Jet Clown!" (2000/1600) "Attack Chick now!" It launched forwards and punched the thief, blowing it apart.

Peten- 4000

Griff- 3000

Peten started to cackle. "Jet Clown, when it deals you damage, forces one card at random from your hand and lets me draw one card!"

Griff growled as one of his hand cards disappeared. Now he only had five cards in his hand. And Peten had three cards in his hand now, along with his Jet Clown and set card.

Peten looked at his three cards and slid one into his disk. "One card face-down. End turn."

Griff drew. ("I'm running out of cards…") "First Giant Trunade sends all magic and trap cards in play back to their owner's hands!" Both of Peten's face-down cards disappeared. "Now I set one monster face-down and one card face-down. Then I play Tablet of Time!" He discarded his two hand cards. "Discard two cards."

Peten tossed two cards from his hand, leaving him with two cards.

Griff smirked and pointed at his set card. "Go Mirage of Nightmare!" His face-down card flipped up. "End turn."

Peten drew. "Since I have three cards…"

Griff drew four cards. "Mirage of Nightmare lets me draw until I have four cards in my hand."

Peten pointed at Jet Clown. "Attack now!" It launched across the field and slashed through the set monster.

Griff pointed at his field, where a cobra appeared on the field. "Cobra Jar (600/300) special summons a Cobra Token (500/1200) to the field in defense mode."

Peten smirked. "I set two cards face-down. End turn."

Griff drew. "Now I play the quickplay magic card Emergency Provisions!"

Peten saw the card appear on the field and pointed at his set card. "Go Forbidden Curse!" He discarded the card in his hand. "By discarding one trap card from my hand I can negate your magic card and force the top two cards off of your deck!" Emergency Provisions shimmered away.

Griff stared at his hand as the four cards disappeared. "Oh no…end….turn…"

Peten drew. "It's showtime folks!" He pointed at Griff. "So draw your four cards!"

Griff snarled and drew four cards through the effect of Mirage of Nightmare.

Peten slapped down a card. "Come on out me!" (500/1200) Another Peten appeared on his field. "Now I attack with Jet Clown!" The monster slashed through the Cobra Token and blew it apart. "Take this!" The other Peten leapt across the field and stabbed Griff right in the chest with a knife. "End turn."

Peten- 4000

Griff- 2500

Griff drew slowly. "I've got it…Mystical Space Typhoon!" A blast of wind shattered Mirage of Nightmare. "Now Mirage of Nightmare's effect is negated!" He looked at the four cards in his hand. ("This guy's strategy is so weird…") "I set one monster and one card face-down. End turn!"

Peten drew. "You're such a fool. Take this!" He slapped a card down. "Go Hell Clown (1300/1200) and attack the set monster!" A demon in clown make-up appeared on the field and charged forwards, slashing through the set card with a knife. "This monster negates your destroyed monster's effect."

Griff frowned calmly. "Damn…"

"Jet Clown, direct attack!" Peten pointed at him. "This duel is over!" The cyber clown launched towards Griff rapidly.

Griff pointed at his set card. "Go Return Fire!" An explosion shook the field and blew all three of Peten's monsters apart. "This trap card has the power to destroy all attack mode monsters on your field when there is ten or more monsters in my graveyard."

Peten pointed at his graveyard. "My special ability returns me to the field by removing the destroyed me!" Another of the strange clowns appeared on the field in a crouching position. "End turn."

Griff drew. "I summon Don Zaloog (1400/1500) to the field!" The white-haired king of thieves appeared on the field. "Attack Peten now!" Don snapped up two handguns and opened fire, blowing it apart.

Peten pointed at his set card. "Go Dark Genocide Virus!" His face-down card flipped up. "The effect of this continuous trap card is perfect in nature. When a dark monster with 500 or less attack points on my field is destroyed through battle then the destroying monster's owner loses ten random cards from his deck!" Phantom tentacles exploded out of the card and curled around Griff's disk.

The boy stared in fear as his deck shrank down to a tiny little group of cards. By his count there was only four remaining. "Damn you…I set one card face-down. End turn."

Peten pointed at his field and another Peten appeared. Then he drew. "Little child…you're far from ready to deal with my deck. Now I summon another Clown Knight!" Another of the comedic knights appeared on the field. "Attack now!" It charged across the field and slapped its rubber chicken across Don Zaloog's face, blowing him apart. "End turn."

Peten- 4000

Griff- 2100

Griff trembled weakly…and dropped to his knees. ("No…") He drew. ("For Sammy…for everyone…I'll fight!") "I summon Big Shield Gardna (100/2600) in defense mode!" A man holding a large shield in front of him appeared on the field in a crouching position. "End turn."

Peten drew. "This duel is done…" He snapped his card up. "The magic card Banana Cream Pie…of DOOM!"

Griff, despite the fact he was nearing exhaustion, face-fell. "That can't be its name…"

The card turned into a giant pie that rested in the clown's hand. "This card's special ability lets me discard the top two cards from your deck." He hurled the pie across the field and it slammed right into Griff's face.

Two of Griff's remaining three cards disappeared.

Peten cackled. "End turn!"

Griff looked down at his deck…and groaned. ("I…I…") He drew. ("The continuous magic card Souls of the Thief. This card lets me discard one card from my opponent's hand whenever one of my monsters deals life point damage. My other card is Charge of the Warriors. By discarding one magic card from my hand I can add the defense of one warrior monster I have in play to another warrior's attack. Also, that monster's attack is doubled…with it Big Shield Gardna's attack strength can become 5400. But it wouldn't be enough…unless.") He looked at his graveyard. ("One of the cards in there must be Trap Crash. It will destroy the Deck Genocide Virus…")

He looked at his set card. ("Perfect….I've got him.") "I have the combo to destroy you! From my graveyard I activate Trap Crash! By removing this card from play I can destroy your Virus!" The card exploded into dust.

Peten shrugged. "How can you possibly win?"

Griff pointed at Big Shield Gardna. "Attack mode!" The warrior stood up. "Now I discard a magic card from my hand to activate Charge of the Warriors!" (5400/0) "Now for my final blow…go Graverobber!" His face-down card flipped up. "And I'll use one of the cards you set earlier, thinking that you would trick me! Mechanical Magic Mirror!"

Snatch Steal appeared in his hand. "This will let me activate one magic card from my own graveyard, because it's your trap I am using!"

"How did you know that one of my cards was Mechanical Magic Mirror?" Peten looked a mix of surprised and angry.

"Just a guess really." Griff pointed at Clown Knight. "Clown Knight, obey me and attack Peten!" It turned and smacked the other clown with its chicken, blowing it apart. "Big Shield Gardna, direct attack!" The warrior charged forwards, lifting its shield to bash Peten in the head.

The clown looked at his empty field…and started to cackle. "Stupid fool! From my graveyard…I activate Clown Horn!" A huge cartoon horn appeared in front of him and a huge wall of sound slammed into Big Shield Gardna and sent it flying back to Griff's field. "By removing this card from my graveyard I can negate an attack."

Griff stood quietly, his eyes wide. "No…I had you…"

Peten drew. "End turn." A loud beep came from Griff's disk to indicate he had no cards in his deck, and as such lost by default.

Peten- 4000

Griff- Loss by Deck-out

A cloud of rainbow smoke enveloped Griff.

"NO!" Ichigo started to run towards the cloud. "Griff!" ("I won't lose anyone else…I won't…")

Jester hopped in front of him. "Come now, don't be a sour…"

Ichigo's eyes and hair flared black. "MOVE!" An explosion of power blew the clown out of the way. "GRIFF!" He dove through the cloud…but came out the other side with nothing but air. "Griff! Where are you?"

A whimper caught his attention up above. In the arms of one of the Petens was a small sand-colored dog. "GRIFF!" Ichigo's hand snapped up. "Die!" An explosion of energy flew from his hand and blew the Peten apart, leaving Griff in free-fall. Another Peten swung by and grabbed the dog, cackling up the point it was blown away by another Dark Halo charged blast.

And this kept going for a few minutes…until Ichigo dropped to one knee. ("No matter how hard I try…they just keep…") A foot slammed into his cheek, sending him skidding along the floor.

"What did I say?" Jester tapped his foot impatiently. "Your friend is ours. A new addition to my menagerie."

Ichigo slowly stood up, his hair brown. "I challenge you…and if you win, then the Dark Halo is yours!"

Jester smirked. "The Dark Halo huh? Well who could turn that proposition down?" He whistled and the Peten swung on their ropes up to the rafters. "Keep him safe boys…this shouldn't take long." A purple duel disk appeared on his arm. "Let's duel."

Ichigo resisted the urge to unleash Halo on this guy. ("No…he's mine...") A duel disk appeared on his arm and he slammed his disk into it. "Duel!"

Jester- 4000

Ichigo- 4000

To be continued…

Ichigo…are you crazy? You're risking our best chance in this fight against Midnight to save Griff? Get your priorities straight! Oh man...you're losing?

Next Episode: Jester's Attack

To Seeker of the Soul: Are you thinking of using some of those cards?

To G.O.T. Nick: Sorry about this…

To Just a Dude: Ahran is gone. His soul, like those of Rikuo and the others, are lost until Midnight is defeated.

To LucienShadowMaster: Put me on author alert then, you AH.

To Mario: It has holes for air. Jester just needed a reason to get them to duel.

To Bobbomp: No…you've mostly been spouting stupid stuff that it would serve no practical purpose to reply to. And I quote, "OMGWTFLOLBBQ! Ichigo... no... Dark Halo did it! Looks like I have a new favorite characters". Now what would I say in response to something like that which wouldn't make me look foolish?

To Anime Albino: Because he's a magician…and magicians are part of circus acts sometimes.