Sprawled on the floor of his room, Leonhart von Schroeder turned the pages of Hansel and Gretel. Despite the roaring of thunder outside his window, there was no place he could be more comfortable than curled up with a fairy tale.
His eyes had just left the final word of the last page when the fantasy in his head was disturbed by a knock at the door. One of the maids entered. "Master Leonhart, Miss Hopkins has arrived."
Leon blushed. Already? "Y-yes, thank you. Please send her in." He fixed his already-fine vest and hair and looked around nervously. Ah! This place is a mess. I've never had anyone over before. What will she think? Futilely, he struggled to tidy his various fairy tale storybooks into neat piles, but only succeeded in knocking them over and creating an even bigger mess.
The door suddenly burst open and Leon flushed, looking like a deer in the headlights. "What, was I supposed to knock or something?" the newcomer asked.
Leon quickly looked away, trying to hide his embarrassment. "N-no, that's fine." Glancing back at his guest, he noticed that she was examining the room critically. "S-sorry about the mess. I lost track of time…"
"Were you reading those fairy tales again? I don't see why you spend all your time doing that. You're not a kid anymore, and it's not like those stories are true..." the girl genius sighed.
"No, but what's wrong with them? They make me happy. T-there's nothing wrong with that," replied the boy prodigy.
Rebecca narrowed her eyes. "You're hopeless, Leon." An awkward silence passed. "Well, aren't you gonna invite me to sit down? I am your guest, right?"
"Oh, r-right, of course. Please, have a seat." Leon motioned toward a fancy-looking settee, which Rebecca promptly plopped down on, bag and all. "Thank you," she grinned, clearly glad that she was having her way. "Now, what did you call me here for?"
"Well, I remembered how much fun I had dueling you in the KC Grand Prix and I was wondering if you'd like a rematch…"
"A rematch? But you won… oh alright. I admit, I enjoyed it too. But I'm warning you, I definitely won't lose to you again!" The girl reached into her bag and pulled out her duel disk. She noticed the boy staring and blushed. "I… well, I had a feeling you wanted to duel, so I brought my duel disk just in case."
Leon grinned. "Alright, let's begin!"
Both prodigies readied their duel disks. "Duel!"
Leonhart von Schroeder LP 4000|Rebecca Hopkins LP 4000
"I'll go first. I draw!" Rebecca declared. "First I'll place two cards facedown. Then I summon Luster Dragon! My turn ends here."
Luster Dragon ATK 1900|DEF 1600
"My draw!" Leon shouted. He drew a card and grinned. "I guess it's about time I practice with the new cards Pegasus sent me."
"New cards?" Rebecca inquired.
"I summon Prince Charming!" Sparkles rained down from the sky, setting the stage for the materializing monster. The brunet prince wore a red riding outfit with white pants, as if he had just stepped off his white horse.
Prince Charming ATK 400|DEF 1600
"Oh no!" Rebecca groaned. "Not another fairy tale monster!"
"Prince Charming, attack Luster Dragon!" Leon commanded.
"What? But my Luster Dragon has way higher attack points than your prince!" Rebecca gasped.
Prince Charming withdrew his sword from the hilt on his belt and charged toward the dragon. Luster Dragon breathed out a blast, but was pierced by the prince's sword. The dragon shattered into pieces.
"B-but how? My Luster Dragon!" Rebecca cried.
Leonhart von Schroeder LP 2500|Rebecca Hopkins LP 4000
"Prince Charming's special ability allows him to destroy any dragon that he does battle with. However, damage is still applied accordingly," explained the German boy.
"No way… Stupid fairy tales!"
Leon pushed a spell card into his duel disk. "Now I activate Rain of Stars! This card can be activated when I take 1500 or more points of damage due to an attack I called. It allows me to special summon one Level 4 or lower monster from my deck."
"Rain of Stars? I've never heard of that card before…"
Leon smiled. "It's one of the cards Pegasus created for me. Its name comes from the fairy tale 'A Rain of Stars', where a young girl gave away all her clothing to poor people. Eventually she was left with nothing, and at that moment, all the stars came down from heaven and wrapped around her like a cloak."
"Hmph! It may sound like a pretty story, but that would never happen in real life." Rebecca said, annoyed.
"No, but it does teach us a lesson, don't you think?"
"I suppose…"
"I choose Cinderella!" Leon declared. "And because of her special ability, I am able to summon Pumpkin Carriage, which allows her to attack directly. I can also equip Cinderella with Glass Slippers. Prince Charming's special ability also activates – when Cinderella is on the field, he gains 1000 attack points!"
"What a combo!" Rebecca commented, stunned.
Cinderella ATK 300|DEF 600
Pumpkin Carriage DEF 800|ATK 0
Prince Charming ATK 1400|DEF 1600
Leon placed two cards face down and ended his turn.
Rebecca glared at his field. What a strong tactic! He's got three monsters on his field and I have none… I better get serious! "I draw! I summon Princess Mermaid. Attack Cinderella!"
Princess Mermaid ATK 1500|DEF 800
"Not so fast! I activate Holy Barrier – Mirror Force! When my opponent calls an attack, all of her attack position monsters are destroyed!" Leon countered.
"I won't let you do that! I activate my trap: Seven Tools of the Bandit! By paying 1000 life points, I negate your trap card and destroy it!"
"Good one, Rebecca. However, I activate Prince Charming's second ability! When Cinderella becomes the target of an attack, I can switch the target to him instead!"
"What? Argh, another fairy tale effect!" Rebecca wailed as Prince Charming shattered.
Leonhart von Schroeder LP 2400|Rebecca Hopkins LP 3000
This is ridiculous. Rebecca thought. My strategy is being suppressed by these childish characters! I wouldn't be half as annoyed right now if he had used normal monsters that everyone's heard of… "I end my turn!"
Leon glanced over at his stack of fairy tales. Thank you for helping me, he wished. He drew a card. "Cinderella, attack Rebecca directly!"
Rebecca winced as the Solid Vision glass shards sprinkled around her.
Leonhart von Schroeder LP 2400|Rebecca Hopkins LP 2700
A glass slipper materialized at the end of Princess Mermaid's tail.
Princess Mermaid ATK 500|DEF 800
"Turn end." Leonhart grinned sheepishly.
Rebecca fumed. Why is he fazing me? It's just because of his stupid fairy tale cards! Concentrate, Rebecca! He's just another opponent… Why do I feel strange inside? Those cards of his are playing tricks on me! "I draw. And now, because of Princess Mermaid's special ability, I gain 800 life points. I also summon Big Bang Girl!"
Leonhart von Schroeder LP 4000|Rebecca Hopkins LP 3500
Big Bang Girl ATK 1300|DEF 1500
"Princess Mermaid attacks Pumpkin Carriage!"
Leon activated another trap card. "Shards of the Enchanted Mirror! When my opponent declares an attack on one of my monsters, I can change the target to one of her monsters."
"No way…" Rebecca looked on helplessly as her Big Bang Girl countered her Princess Mermaid.
Leonhart von Schroeder LP 2400|Rebecca Hopkins LP 2700
"This card comes from the story 'The Snow Queen'. Once, a magic mirror was made that magnified all the bad aspects of things. Evil beings wanted to make fools of the angels in the sky but as they lifted the mirror higher and higher, the mirror got more excited, and eventually it fell to earth, shattering into thousands of pieces. The shards were then embedded in people's eyes and hearts, distorting their view so that they would only see the bad sides of everything."
"I…I didn't ask for an explanation!" Rebecca retorted, hurt.
"R-Rebecca? Sorry, I got carried away with my fairy tales."
"Yeah, no kidding," came the bitter reply. "After my Princess Mermaid was destroyed, Cinderella gets back her Glass Slippers and gains 1000 attack points. My turn ends."
Cinderella ATK 1300|DEF 600
"I draw." Leon looked at his cards. "Cinderella, attack her directly."
Rebecca activated her facedown Negate attack and ended the battle phase. "Nice move," Leon said, amazed.
"My turn! I tribute my Big Bang Girl in order to summon my Emerald Dragon. I also activate my trap card, Dragon's Imperial Wrath! Go, Emerald Dragon. Attack Pumpkin Carriage!"
Emerald Dragon ATK 2400|DEF 1400
Leonhart von Schroeder LP 800|Rebecca Hopkins LP 2700
"Due to my Dragon's Imperial Wrath, all dragons inflict piercing damage. Now you can't directly attack me anymore. Turn end."
Leonhart looked at his opponent and noticed her expression. His own expression softened as he realized what had occurred. Rebecca… do you really hate fairy tales that much? He drew a card and stared at it for a long time. Finally, he played another card from his hand: "Water of Life. I special summon Prince Charming from my graveyard in attack position. Then I place one card face down and end my turn."
Prince Charming ATK 1400|DEF 1600
Rebecca noticed a change in Leon's manner. Why… is that it? He'll lose if my attack goes through. "My draw. I activate Cyclone! This destroys your facedown card."
The card on the opposing side lifted up to reveal Negate Attack. The card then shattered.
"Emerald Dragon attacks Cinderella."
The dragon raised its head and shot a stream of light toward the princess. Cinderella fainted and shattered, the stream of light also hitting Leon.
Leonhart von Schroeder LP 0|Rebecca Hopkins LP 2700
Leon smiled bitterly. "Good match."
Rebecca growled. "Leon! Why did you resurrect your Prince Charming? What good did that do?"
She was met with no reply. "Leon!" Rebecca stormed up to him and shook him. "Answer me!" Then she noticed his hand.
"Leon… you let me win? Why? You had Spinning Yarn Needle in your hand! You could have destroyed my dragon and attacked me with both your monsters. You could have won! Why, Leon, why? Answer me!"
"I'm sorry, Rebecca. Forgive me," Leon replied gently. He couldn't bear to look at her. Why didn't I notice it before? It was stupid of me to think I could invite her over to duel.
"Ugh. Leon, you idiot!" Rebecca cried, before running from the room.
"Rebecca! Wait! I'm sorry!" Leon called after her. He ran into the hallway to see her disappear out the main doors. Oh no! This is all my fault…
Without hesitating, he followed her. The rain had stopped by now, but the ground was still very damp. "Rebecca!" Leon cried, running through the forest behind his home. He followed her muddy footprints. Wait… isn't she heading for… "Rebecca! Stop!"
His warning came too late as her scream echoed throughout the forest. "Rebecca!" Leon burst into a clearing, right before the edge of a cliff. He could see a hand groping around the tip of the cliff, trying to find something to hold on to.
"Rebecca!" Leon leaned over the side of the cliff to see his friend holding on to a branch with one hand.
"L-Leon… help me…"
"Rebecca! I'm sorry for before! Here, take my hand."
The moment their fingertips touched, the branch snapped, taking Rebecca with it.
"Rebecca!" Leon tried to lean farther over the cliff, but lost his footing. He plunged through the air, still trying to grab Rebecca's hand.
Miraculously, his hand did find hers, and he pulled her into an embrace. "Rebecca, I'm so sorry!"
"Leon! I should be sorry… I'm sorry for being rude to you. I know how much you love fairy tales… it was wrong of me. It's my fault that we're now going to die." She hugged him tight.
"Don't worry about it, Rebecca. Apology accepted." He smiled.
"But! We're going to die…" Rebecca whispered, defeated.
"I don't mind. Not if it's going to end like this," Leon grinned sheepishly.
"Like this…?" Rebecca blushed.
"I-uh… kind of like you, Rebecca." The boy prodigy turned eight shades of red and looked away.
The girl genius's eyes widened. "R-really?"
Leon nodded, still pink. "I'm sorry about befo–" He was cut off as Rebecca gave a small giggle. "Well, maybe I kinda like you too, Leon!" She gently pressed her lips to his.
A warm light enveloped the two. Leon's body glowed as white wings emerged from his back. Holding Rebecca, he soared back up the cliff and gently landed in the clearing. Both duelists were bewildered.
"L-Leon? What just happened…" a very shocked Rebecca asked.
Leon stumbled, still daunted by the fall. "I… don't know…" He tried to look at his back, but the wings had already disappeared.
Rebecca was silent for a moment. "Maybe… maybe fairy tales aren't so bad after all…"
Leon gave a small smile. "Maybe." He looked out across the cliff at the rest of the world. "Maybe we could write a happy ending together." He held out his hand for her to take.
Rebecca jumped up and hung on to his arm. "That sounds great." She returned his smile.
The two walked back to the castle, a big rainbow glimmering in the sky.