Episode Two: By Invitation Only
The tears streaking down a young Leo's cheeks smeared the dust and soot on his face. The fire around him singed his skin as it mercilessly devoured everything about him, and although the tongues of flame licked at his clothes he remained miraculously unharmed.
"Leo!" A voice - that of a woman - called through the blaze and the smoke. "Leo where are you?!"
Leo cried loudly as the rapid pat-pat of footsteps approached him.
"Leo."
A woman forced her way through the flames and wrapped him in a protective hug. She let go and looked over him to see if he was harmed.
"Are you ok?" She asked. "What happened?"
Leo sniffled and wiped the snot from his nose. "I'm sorry, Mum," he said. "I just wanted to play with my dragon. I just wanted to see."
A wooden beam splintered and fell victim to the blaze, and in a heartbeat the woman had picked him up and was taking long strides to escape. Leo watched through his tears as the home behind him burned, slowly turning to ash and memories.
He barely registered being put down on the ground. His body was on autopilot, keeping him standing. He wiped his eyes and looked around. Off to his right his father held his baby brother in his arms, rocking him back and forth so that he might stop screaming.
"Leo."
Leo's eyes locked with those of his mother. She forced the Duel Monsters card that he still held from his hand and held it up.
"This card," she started, "holds uncontrollable power. It's dangerous, ok? You can't risk to use it, because all it does is bring pain and loss and destruction. All you can do is keep it safe, so that no one else can misuse its power. Do you understand me?"
Leo sniffled, a new bout of sobbing welling up inside of him. "Is it my fault, Mum?" he asked. "Did I do this?"
His mother's eyes went soft, and she smiled and held him close.
"This isn't your fault, son," she soothed. "No one's blaming you. This was just a bit of bad luck. That's all it is. That's all..."
The memory pulled Leo from his sleep. His breathing was coming in heaving breaths, and sweat dripped from his forehead. He groaned and made to move, but noticed a smaller mass beside him. The mass stirred and rolled over, revealing Oliver's tired face. The younger boy rubbed sleep from his eyes and looked up to his brother.
"Ollie? What are you doing here?"
"Sorry, Leo," the younger boy croaked. "I didn't mean to wake you. I just had a bad dream."
"Yeah," Leo replied. "Me too. Go to sleep, buddy. I'll keep you safe."
Oliver nodded tiredly and closed his eyes.
Leo readjusted the sheets over his brother and brushed hair from his eyes.
"Go to sleep."
When Leo woke up the next morning he tried to get ready for school without waking the still-sleeping Oliver. Many times he almost lost his balance or hit something as he got dressed, but he managed to prepare in silence and close the door with a soft click behind him.
Before he went downstairs his hand instinctively went down to his belt. Reassuring himself that he had his deck with him, he took the stairs two at a time. He went to the kitchen and made himself some toast, which he buttered and took with him on his way out of the door. On his way down the hall he passed his fathers office, and the temptation to peek inside took hold of him like it did every time. He cursed himself and moved on, exiting the house only to see Hikari waiting on the sidewalk.
She perked up as he exited the house and stumbled to her feet.
"Morning Leo," she said brightly.
Leo took a bite of his toast. "Very spritely today, aren't you?"
"Well, I kind of have big news." She rummaged around in her hoodie and procured a slip of paper. Leo took hold of it and glanced over it, his jaw dropping open the more he read.
"N-n-no way!" He exclaimed.
Hikari nodded excitedly. "I know. You were right, my dad was offered a ticket to the Survival Island Duellist Challenge, but he didn't want it so he gave it to me."
"Hikari that's so cool," Leo was filled with energy.
She offered it to him. "I know you wanted a ticket. Here."
Leo looked down at the ticket and then up to Hikari. He raised his hand and pushed the ticket closer toward her.
"You should go," he smiled. "You're as good a duellist as any. You deserve that ticket as much as your dad."
Hikari blinked in surprise. "You're joking."
"No, I mean it. I couldn't take that ticket off you. Besides, even if I don't get one, it'd be awesome to see someone I knew on TV. That, and I'd be able to sell your autographs for money, so that's always good."
Hikari chuckled and put the ticket back where she got it.
"Thanks Leo," she said. "Are we going to the Card Shop this afternoon?"
"I dunno, what day is it?"
"Thursday."
"Sweet! That means there are new cards coming in."
Hikari rolled her eyes, and the two walked to school.
As was the norm, the school day passed in a mundane unfolding of events. Bell, class, bell, class, break, duel, bell, class, etc. To Leo's surprise, Brant didn't arrive that day, and when kids questioned him about it he said he had no idea. That didn't stop a rumour that Leo's thrashing of the bully had led him to become so ashamed of himself that he wouldn't go to school, and although Leo knew Brant had been doing the wrong thing he couldn't help but feel a little guilty. It started an influx of requests.
"Hey Leo, can you duel this guy for me."
"Hey Leo, can you duel that guy for me."
Leo always replied with the same thing. "Duel Monsters isn't a game about putting yourself above someone else. It's about having fun, and learning, and making friends."
They always mumbled apologies and left him alone after that.
Eventually the day ended and the students gathered their things to go home.
"C'mon Hikari! We don't have time to waste!" Leo was dragging Hikari by the arm, in an obvious hurry.
"Leo," Hikari was saying, "Bruno isn't going to sell any cards that might be useful to you before you see them. He's known you too long to do that."
Nevertheless, Leo didn't stop.
They ran until Hikari was puffed, but Leo seemed to have enough adrenaline in him to do laps of the city. When they made it to the Card Shop, Hikari had to sit down on the sidewalk to catch her breath.
"Why - is it like this - every - Thursday," she said between pants.
"Hikari, c'mon," Leo urged, as stubborn as a toddler.
"I'm catching my breath," Hikari told him. "Go on in, I'll catch up."
Leo was bounding into the store before she'd even finished her sentence.
"What the hell?"
The Card Shop was more full than he'd ever seen it. Children and adults alike browsed the glass cabinets filled with the rarer Duel Monsters cards, but the most notable difference was the line of people trailing from the back of the store, where, upon investigation, people were challenging Bruno to duels. On the table Bruno and his challengers played analogue. There were no duel disks, or projectors for holograms, but the table came equipped with its own deck reader so the hardlight cards could be projected into the players hands. A screen at the tables centre displayed both players Life Points.
Bruno was smiling a crooked smile, indicating to Leo that not only was he winning, he was on a winning streak. It didn't come as a surprise. No one who came to the Card Shop had ever beaten Bruno. Not even Leo. He sidled up to someone in the line.
"Hey, what's going on here?" Leo asked.
The person he'd asked - a tall, red-headed youth Leo didn't recognise - answered in a texan accent. "The owner of the shop has been given a ticket to this Survival Island challenge. He's said he'd give it to anyone who can beat him in a duel."
Leo's heart rate rose somewhat. "Yeah? Might get in line myself. Thanks."
"Welcome," the texan boy replied, and went back to waiting.
"What's going on?"
Leo jumped out of his skin a bit at the sound of Hikari's voice beside him.
"Bruno has a ticket," Leo said quickly. "He'll give it to whoever beats him."
Hikari looked up the line and then back to Leo. "This is a lot of people, Leo," she said, somewhat doubtfully. "What if someone beats him before you get the chance?"
"Hikari, this is Bruno we're talking about." Leo replied. "How long have we been coming to this place?"
"A few years now."
"Yeah. And how many times have you seen Bruno lose a duel?"
"None."
"Exactly. None of these people stand a chance. I'm gonna win that ticket."
Hikari smiled. "I know you will, Leo."
Leo grinned back at her. "Just watch and wait."
Wait they did.
It took the best part of the afternoon and evening for Bruno to trounce everyone who had come to his table, hoping they had the skill to defeat the shop owner and win the ticket to Survival Island. It looked to Leo like Bruno hadn't had this much fun in years. With everyone who left the shop with the weight of bitter defeat hanging over them, Bruno's grin got wider and wider.
"Leo!" He said when the younger boy approached the table. "I was wondering when I'd be seeing you. Hello Hikari," he added, nodding politely to Hikari, who herself nodded back. Bruno stood from the table and gestured for Leo to follow. "Come here, I'll show you something."
The people waiting in line made annoyed noises as he went behind his counter and rummaged around in the safe he kept hidden there for a moment before coming back up and placing two cards on the counter.
"They've released two new cards as part of the Phoenix Fighter archetype," Bruno explained. "I got the delivery today. Thought I'd keep them aside for you to look at before I put them up for sale."
Leo looked at both cards without touching them.
"Oath of Fire and Oath of Rebirth," he said to himself. They were a trap and spell card respectively, and were excellent support for his fusion monsters. "How much?"
"Tell you what," Bruno started. "You beat me in a duel and I'll give you these cards for free. As well as the ticket. Sound good?"
"Sounds awesome," Leo said. "So are we gonna do this?"
Bruno took them both back to the table, where they sat opposite each other and loaded their decks. The screen in the centre of the table lit up, and the words LEO and BRUNO were displayed, with the number 4000 being displayed under each of them.
Hikari watched from the side, and everyone in the line leaned one way or the other to get a glimpse of the duel.
DUEL START - (Leo LP: 4000) (Bruno LP: 4000)
"Do you want to go first, or...?" Leo asked.
"Nah, you can have this one." Bruno said.
Leo nodded as if he expected the answer, and cast his eyes down to his hand.
"I'll start by summoning Phoenix Fighter - Aegis (FIRE/Level 3/Winged Beast/Effect/ATK 1000/DEF 2000) in defence mode," Leo placed the card down on the table. "I'll set two cards facedown and that'll do me." (Leo hand: 2)
"Starting defensively is a bit unlike you, Leo," Bruno observed. "I'll draw. Now let's see... I summon Soul-Devouring Oviraptor (DARK/Level 4/Dinosaur/Effect/ATK 1800/DEF 500) in attack mode. When it's summoned its effect activates. I can choose a dinosaur monster in my deck and add it to my hand or send it to the graveyard. I choose the later." Hardlight holograms were of the available cards were projected in front of Bruno's face. He tapped one, and it went to his graveyard. The deck shuffled itself.
"That's all I need to set up a win," Bruno said, though not arrogantly. "I'll end my turn." (Bruno hand: 5)
The scary part was, Bruno was right. Leo had seen him duel enough to know what it was he'd sent to the graveyard, and he knew he needed some luck on this turn unless he wanted to be toast in the near future.
"Draw," he declared, taking his card. "I activate the spell card Gift of Red Feathers. This spell lets me draw two more cards, but I have to banish a Red Feathers monster from my extra deck." He draw his two cards, and sent one of his fusion monsters to the banish pile. "I'll summon Phoenix Fighter - Vigilance (FIRE/Level 2/Winged Beast/Effect/ATK 800/DEF 800) in defence mode." Leo grimaced. "I have to end my turn." (Leo hand: 3)
Bruno raised his eyebrows somewhat. "I gotta say, Leo, I'm surprised. Luck of the draw, eh? We're all hit with a bit of bad luck sometimes, don't worry about it. I draw, and summon Babycerasaurus (EARTH/Level 2/Dinosaur/Effect/ATK 500/DEF 500) in attack mode. It won't be around for long though. By using the effect of my Oviraptor I can destroy Babycerasaurus to Special Summon a dinosaur from my graveyard in defence mode. Come to the field, Dogoran, the Mad Flame Kaiju (FIRE/Level 8/Dinosaur/Effect/ATK 3000/DEF 1200)!"
The name of the monster filled Leo with a little bit of fear. He didn't want to imagine how big the hologram of that thing would be.
"In a turn, Dogoran will be much more of a threat. But I'm not done," Bruno continued. "Since Babycerasaurus was destroyed by a card effect, I can Special Summon a level 4 or lower dinosaur from my deck. I'll choose a second Soul-Devouring Oviraptor, which, when Special Summoned, lets me add a dinosaur from my deck to my hand, or send a dinosaur from my deck to the graveyard. I choose the former this time." Bruno added a monster to his hand. "Now, using both my Oviraptors as Xyz material, I can build the overlay network to Xyz Summon Evolzar Laggia (FIRE/Rank 4/Dragon/Effect/ATK 2400/DEF 2000)."
Hikari made a worried sound. Leo swallowed heavily.
"My Laggia will attack your Vigilance."
"Aegis' ability makes it so you have to attack him," Leo explained. "Also, if I control another Phoenix Fighter, your monster loses 200 ATK points for each other Phoenix Fighter I control."
"That's only one," Bruno said. "My monster will still destroy yours."
"Not quite. I activate one of my facedown cards: Phoenix Fighters Unleashed! This trap card special summons itself as an effect monster (FIRE/Level 1/Rock/Effect/ATK 0/DEF 0), and it's treated as a Phoenix Fighter monster itself, making two."
"Sorry Leo, but I'm not letting that happen. I detach 2 Xyz materials from Laggia to negate the activation of your trap card and destroy it."
"Then I'll activate the effect of my Vigilance." Leo countered. "If I control another Phoenix Fighter, I can tribute Vigilance to negate your attack, return your monster to the hand, and end the battle phase."
Bruno's mouth tightened as he thought for a bit, before putting Laggia back into his Extra Deck. Leo sighed in relief and put Vigilance in his graveyard. He lost a monster, but at least he stalled Bruno for another turn at least.
"I suppose I'm done, then." Bruno said. (Bruno hand: 6)
Leo drew his card. He knew enough about Bruno and his deck to know that monsters are more useful in his graveyard than anywhere else, and the guy famously refused to use spell or trap cards. That never held him back though. Leo could destroy his Kaiju, but Bruno probably had some way to bring it back. Regardless, he couldn't risk it being switched to attack mode.
"I summon Phoenix Fighter - Justice (FIRE/Level 4/Winged Beast/Effect/ATK 1800/DEF 1500) in attack mode." Leo started. "My Justice will attack your Dogoran, and inflict piercing battle damage to you."
Bruno nodded as if this was expected. "First blood," he said jokingly. (Bruno LP: 3400)
Leo had managed to empty his field. "Ok, I set a facedown and end my turn." (Leo hand: 2)
"I'll draw." Bruno said. "Tell me, Leo. Did you think my Kaiju was my ultimate monster?"
Leo paled as he realised what Bruno was getting at. Everyone in the line took a sharp intake of breath.
"I can banish two dinosaur monsters, we'll say both of my Oviraptors, to Special Summon Ultimate Conductor Tyranno (LIGHT/Level 10/Dinosaur/Effect/ATK 3500/DEF 3200) from my hand."
"Wait, what does that thing do?!" Leo demanded, a little bit panicked.
"My Tyranno can attack each of your monsters once each." Bruno explained. "As it attacks your Aegis it can use its effect to send your defence position monster straight to the graveyard without destroying it, and inflicting 1000 points of damage to you (Leo LP: 3000). Then it can attack your Justice, destroy it, and inflict normal damage, which is a lot (Leo LP: 1300)."
"That thing is too overpowered," Leo said.
"I'm inclined to agree. But the card exists anyway."
"Well," Leo interrupted. "Three things are going to happen. One: since you destroyed a Phoenix Fighter, I can Special Summon Phoenix Fighter - Vengeance (FIRE/Level 3/Winged Beast/Effect/ATK 1000/DEF 0) from my hand. Two: I activate my first facedown, the quick-play spell From the Ashes! Since you destroyed Justice just now, I can bring him straight back to the field. And third: I activate my second facedown, the quick-play spell Burst Fusion Fire."
"Excuse me?" Bruno asked. "I didn't know such a card existed."
"It helps in a pinch," Leo grinned, although his heart was pounding like crazy. "I can use my Justice and Vengeance as fusion materials to Fusion Summon Swordsman of Red Feathers (FIRE/Level 6/Winged Beast/Fusion/Effect/ATK 2500/DEF 2000)."
"Hold on, your Red Feathers monsters can only be summoned with Phoenix Fusion Fire."
"This spell is treated as a Phoenix Fusion Fire," Leo explained. "So no one's breaking any rules here."
"I see," Bruno was nodding. "Gotta say Leo, I'm kind of impressed. But you need to know that it's still my Battle Phase, and my Ultimate Conductor Tyranno can attack each of your monsters once each. My Tyranno will swing at your Swordsman."
"Bingo," Leo said. "When your monster declares an attack, I can activate the effect of my Swordsman. I can tribute it to negate your attack and destroy your monster."
Bruno blinked hard. "I should've known that." He said sheepishly, and both players put their monsters in the graveyard.
"Yes Leo!" Hikari called, and as a result the line of challengers started clapping and cheering as well.
Leo's nervousness fell away.
"Looks like we have supporters," Bruno smiled.
Leo nodded. "This is a lot of fun."
"Don't forget the stakes," Bruno eyed Leo. "I know now you can probably beat me and take that ticket, and those cards. But I'm not gonna make it easy for you. So bring it on, Leo! Let's finish this. I can still normal summon this turn, so I'll summon a Miscellaneousaurus (FIRE/Level 4/Dinosaur/Effect/ATK 1800/DEF 1000) in attack mode and end my turn there." (Bruno hand: 5)
Leo drew a card. With two cards in hand, compared to Bruno's five, he couldn't help but feel he was running a little low on options. But he had an idea.
"During my standby phase, since Swordsman of Red Feathers was sent to the graveyard by his own effect, he comes straight back to the field." Leo placed his fusion monster from the graveyard back onto the field. "I'll now summon Phoenix Fighter - Virtue (FIRE/Level 3/Winged Beast/Effect/ATK 1200/DEF 1500) in defence mode. When she's summoned, I can add Phoenix Fusion Fire from my deck or graveyard to my hand. There's one in my deck." Leo did so. "Now I'll use the spell card Firetongue Phantom. This card lets me banish a level 4 or lower monster from my graveyard, and Special Summon a Firetongue Phantom Token (FIRE/Pyro) to the field. It's destroyed during the end phase, sure, but its name, level, attack and defence becomes those of the monster I banished. I banished Phoenix Fighter - Aegis (Firetongue Phantom Token = "Phoenix Fighter - Aegis"). Technically, I now have an Aegis and a Virtue on the field, so I can use Phoenix Fusion Fire to use them as fusion materials so that I can Fusion Summon Sentinel of Red Feathers (FIRE/Level 6/Winged Beast/Fusion/Effect/ATK 0/DEF 3000)!"
Leo set up his board so that his two fusion monsters were on the field.
"Sentinel has to be summoned in defence mode, which I'm fine with," Leo explained. "My Swordsman will attack your Miscellaneousaurus."
Bruno took the card from the field and his life points adjusted (Bruno LP: 2700).
"I have no choice but to end my turn." Leo said. (Leo hand: 0)
"You'll have to do better than that, Leo, if you're going to survive in a tournament," Bruno said. "I can activate the effect of my Miscellaneousaurus in my graveyard to banish any number of dinosaurs from my graveyard, and Special Summon a dinosaur from my deck whose level is equal to the dinosaurs banished. I can banish my Miscellaneousaurus, Ultimate Conductor Tyranno, Babycerasaurus, and Dogoran, making four dinosaurs, to Special Summon from my deck Tyranno Infinity (EARTH/Level 4/Dinosaur/Effect/ATK ?/DEF 0)."
"How much attack does that dinosaur have?" Leo asked warily.
"It has 1000 attack points for each of my banished dinosaurs," Bruno smiled his crooked smile. "That's six (Tyranno Infinity ATK/6000)."
Leo was confused for a moment.
"My Tyranno Infinity attacks your Swordsman." Bruno said.
"Ok, so Sentinel has to be targeted by attacks or effects as long as it's on the field," Leo replied. "Also, I can tribute my Swordsman to negate your attack and destroy your monster. Did you forget that?" Leo smirked a little.
Bruno swallowed, but said nothing. He put his Tyranno Infinity into his graveyard.
"End your turn?" Leo asked.
Bruno nodded.
Leo couldn't believe what was happening. For the first time since Leo had started visiting the Card Shop Bruno had lost, and he knew he'd lost.
"I draw," Leo said. "My Swordsman returns to the field, since it was sent to the graveyard by its own effect. Then I'll summon Phoenix Fighter - Zephyr (FIRE/Level 4/Winged Beast/Effect/ATK 1600/DEF 1000),and I'll have both monsters attack you directly."
Bruno looked to his hand, back to Leo, and then back to his hand. He hung his head and his life points dropped (Bruno LP: 0)
DUEL END - Victor: Leo
As soon as the waiting challengers realised what had happened they began to grumble and file out.
"Oh my God! Leo! You did it!" Leo had to stand up to hug the oncoming Hikari, otherwise he would've been knocked out of his chair. "You're going to the tournament. You really are."
"We both are," Leo laughed. "And don't think I'll go easy on you just because we're friends."
"I wouldn't dream of it."
Bruno started to laugh, causing both students to look in his direction.
"You really had me there, Leo," the shop-owner chuckled. "I thought I'd get you with Tyranno Infinity, but you just needed to have that Swordsman of Red Feathers out on the field, didn't you? Anyway, as promised..." Leo and Hikari both followed Bruno as he rummaged around in his safe again. He withdrew the two cards and a sealed envelope with the Raiden Technologies printed on the front. "You've won yourself two cards for your Phoenix Fighter deck, and a very special invitation to the Survival Island Duellist Challenge." Bruno offered one of his signature crooked smiles. "Congratulations, Leo."
Leo held the envelope delicately in his hands, as if the slightest movement would turn it to dust. Excitement brought butterflies to his stomach, and he was aware of how shallow his breathing was. He made an effort to breathe deeply.
"Wow, this is a lot," he said, more to himself than anyone else. "Thank you, Bruno."
Bruno nodded. He gestured with his eyes to someone behind them. "I think you've got a fan, Leo," he said softly, and then walked away.
Leo raised an eyebrow but turned around, coming face-to-face with the texan boy from before. He looked a little older than Leo, although the two stood at roughly the same height. He was skinny, but not unhealthily so, and his grey eyes looked quizzically at Leo. He extended a hand.
"Roy," he said.
Leo took the hand and shook it. "Leo."
Roy nodded. "Good game, Leo. When you get back from this challenge, I wouldn't mind duelling you myself."
"I'd like that," Leo grinned. "Wouldn't turn down a duel for the world."
"I look forward to it." He nodded goodbye and gave a light bow to Hikari on his way out, murmuring a "m'lady" as he passed.
"He seems nice," Hikari said.
Leo agreed. "C'mon, Hikari. I think it's high time we got ourselves home."
A/N: This one was a long time coming. It would've been done sooner, but I spent a lot of time prepping for a D&D game just gone. For those of you who are interested: it was a lot of fun. I'm becoming acquainted with writing the duels, and how much of a challenge it can be. But I'm having fun! And hopefully, so are all of you.
I'd like to thank gamergirl101 and Sangai-Havoc for submitting OCs. I don't know how many places still need filling myself, so for now I'm leaving OC submissions open. So if you have a zesty character that you just need to send in, there is no time like the present.
As always, I'm open to constructive criticism and feedback to make this whole story better to write for me and better to read for you because, let's be honest, this story is pretty people-powered. I hope to see you all in the next instalment. - Neckee
