AN: You guys do extortion well. We reach a whole six reviews for the last chapter! A shout-out to those reviewers: Ensuing, Pokessassin, Hannibal Smith, and Flute125. And a special shout out to my most faithful reviewers: Funnybia and Notapepper. You guys are pretty much the reason I keep writing this story. Well, this chapter is twice as long as any of my previous chapters, so please enjoy!

The daylight was young—had the lethargic Doug been there, he would have argued the daylight non-existent—when Leo awoke the next morning. He was so excited he hardly knew what order to do everything. He rushed into the kitchen and poured his cereal into a bowl, ran back to his room and put on his slacks, put his invention in his satchel, ran back to the kitchen and poured his milk into a separate bowl, ran back to his room, and put on his socks, ran back to the kitchen and ate cereal straight from the box with a spoon, then gulped down his bowl of milk. Racing back into his room, he completed his ensemble, when he realized—he didn't know how to tie a tie. All his thundering through the apartment had woken up his mother, and she came to his rescue. She twisted and looped and knotted the stretch of fabric around her son's neck. She smoothed it to his chest, and began to cry as she looked into his eyes.

"You look so much like your father…" She pulled him into the tightest hug he'd ever experienced. He didn't really know what to do so he just kept his arms by his side and bounced on the balls of his feet, rocking back and forth slightly. She finally let him go, and offered to ride the bus with him to the University.

They walked up the high steps onto the bus heading north towards the University, she in her waitress garb, and he in his suit and tie. She grasped his hand when his stop came before hers, "Good luck!" She whispered in his ear, and slipped something into his hand. After he was off the bus, he unclasped his fingers to see a £10 note in his palm. Leo grinned as he approached the steps to the grand, old Ivy League, and followed the signs to the registration desk. This was where he really needed to look professional. He pushed a hand through his curly locks and straightened his posture. He had memorized a story as to why he didn't have his ID, and when his birthday was, and the address to his very own flat. The fourteen-year-old stood in line with the twenty to eighty year olds, and realized he didn't fit in one bit.

Everyone held their inventions in one hand, and their proof of birth in the other. Leo began to perspire on his forehead and his hands became clammy. He tried rubbing them on his slacks, but they just kept feeling stickier. There was no way he would get away with this. He could already see people looking at him skeptically.

"Next!" A large, American woman called from behind the long, white folding table. She could have easily used two folding chairs to hold up her wide hips, but she seemed oddly content with her one. Leo attempted to steady his breathing, but to no avail. "Photo ID and invention." She was still looking at her clipboard and writing down notes from the previous contestant. "Please," she added, as if it made her callous personality somehow nice.

"Oh!" Leo said, patting his pockets and searching his satchel. "I seem to have left my ID at home." He hoped it didn't sound as recited as he thought it did. "However, my birthday is December 17th, 1982" He grinned. "I am eighteen." He forced the grin to hold. Unfortunately, she didn't buy it.

"Sorry kid, no ID, no admittance."

"You don't understand!" He pleaded to her, "I've worked really hard on this," he fished the device out of his satchel. "Look, I'm hot and sweaty," He clamped the Ice Ghost to his skin. "Now I am temperate and chilled! Try it! You hav'ta let me in!" He was at the verge of tears now, when a man came up behind the American woman. He grabbed Leo by the arm and pulled him to the outside of the building.

"Come back in four years, lad."

Leo shook his arm free of his captor and sat on the steps of the college. All this work for nothing. He crossed his arms stared angrily into the distance. He sat that way for several minutes before he heard a door open behind him. He turned, and to his left he saw a janitor pushing a trash cart out of a side door. Even from here, Leo could hear the commotion and the announcer kicking things off in the gathering hall. Leo stood quickly and snuck to the corner of the building, waiting for the janitor to turn his back and dump the trash. With the hot summer sun as the only witness, Leo grabbed the closing door and slipped into the hall. He didn't have time to take in his surroundings, as he made his way to the front of the hall, where everyone else gathered. There was an announcer on a chair, explaining how the elimination rounds, unbiased judging, and disqualifications would work. He explained how, when you registered, you should have received an application form for your invention, and where then to place it on the table in the back of the room for evaluation. Leo glanced to the back of the room, and started inching in that direction. He stepped on a piece of paper he noticed as the application form he would need. Moving to one of the circular tables set up in the side of the room, he filled out his stolen form.

Thankfully, Leo was able to complete the form and set up his device and the instructions to use it without any question from employees. You weren't supposed to stand by your invention, so as to keep the judging as unbiased as possible, so instead Leo went and looked at other people's inventions. People had submitted everything from broom attachments to electronic helicopters. There were many things people had just re-built instead of inventing their own, which was a basis for disqualification. Leo had high hopes of making it to the next round. He had put his name down as Darius Fitz, his father's name, just in case someone recognized him as the kid who was kicked out. He was looking at a rather odd invention that looked like someone had wrapped tin-foil around binoculars, when someone approached him.

"You like eet, eh?" Said an elderly man with gray hair sticking out of random spots of his face and head in little tufts. "I made eet meself."

"Uh, yes sir, it's very nice… but, uh, what does it do?" Leo tried, while slowly backing away.

"Oooh, eet geeves yuh super-sonic sight, it does!" He picked up the binoculars and placed them to his eyes, backwards. "Wow, I can see yur bones, laddie!" He laughed hoarsely and grinned, showing all four of his teeth, and the sour smell of cheap alcohol curled from his breath.

"Oh... goody…" Leo forced a smile, then added, "Well, I really have to go… find… my… foot." He cringed at the lamest excuse he had ever heard and tripped backwards, then turned around, leaving the man muttering.

"Foot? I ought to find mine too… Where ye at, footsy!"

The inventions making it to the next round of competition were being announced after lunch. Lunch that Leo had forgotten to bring in his nerves and haste. His stomach rumbled, and he wondered if he would have been too nervous to eat anyway. He looked across the room at a man eating a delightful ham sandwich with what looked like pears and alfalfa sprouts… oh, never mind, I will never be too nervous to eat. Leo wiped the drool from his mouth and tried looking anywhere but at the delicious lunches being eaten around the room. A familiar scent dropped down beside him.

"Oi, laddy! Didja find 'ur foot? Ey, I can see ya did!" He leaned in uncomfortably close. "Don'ja worry, I won't tell anyone ya lost it in da first place!" He laughed again and a bit of saliva fell on Leo's arm and face.

"Thanks," Leo looked away from his seat-mate.

"Ya gonna have lunch or what, lad?" The old man grinned at him, obviously with good intent, but Leo could help but feel bitter. He was hangry—hungry and angry—after all.

"No. I forgot to bring mine." Leo looked at the table intently, picking at the grain that stayed firmly in place.

"Ah, that's too bad. Ya want some of mine? I's got fish and chips!" The elderly gentleman pulled out a ratty blue cooler and thermos. He pulled out a stale, half eaten fried fish and soggy chips with catsup stains on the wrapper. As Leo had guessed from the man's breath, the thermos was filled with a strong liquor-based substance.

"I'll pass. I'm really not that hungry." That was probably the biggest lie Leo had told in his entire life.

"Yer missin' out, then. But I ain't hurt by it, more for me!" Leo watched uncomfortably as the man began scarfing down his fish and chips. "Oi, where are mah manners!" He rubbed his palms on his pants and offered Leo his hand. "Da name's Richard, but most of mah people calls me Richy. But don' be fooled, I ain't even close to rich!" He burst out laughing, sending bits of fish and chips across the table, but thankfully not in Leo's direction. Leo sat awkwardly for the next ten minutes until the announcer stood on the make-shift stage at the front of the room. "Dis'll be us, lad. We's gonna make it!" Richard—or excuse me, Richy—nudged Leo in the arm. Hard.

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for your participation in our contest. We had over one hundred entries this year!" Applause broke out around the room, so Leo joined. "Thank-you, thank-you! This is our third annual contest, and we were overwhelmed with participation and quality this year. However, the difference this year is that some of the guys from IET, Glasgow and Edinburg University are here for judging and recruiting!" Even more applause broke out, and Leo looked around, to try and identify the celebrities. It was a dream of Leo's to attend IET—Institute for Engineering and Technology. "Now, let's move on to the part you lads actually care about! Now, with the surprising number of participants this year, we also had a surprising amount of disqualifications due to forgery—works that have been previously submitted, or are already in circulation. Therefore, we took the remaining participants, with only a few exclusions, and promoted them to the next round of judging. The projects moving forward, in no particular order are: The Broom Assistant, Gildory's Invention, Pen-Sill, ExpertCare, Lighting Remote, Gifted, Hide-A-Way, SearchLight, Retain, Ice Ghost…" The announcer continued on, but Leo wasn't listening. He leaned back in his chair, exhaling with relief. He ran his hand through his hair and a smile grew on his face so large, it almost hurt.

"Ey, well, I guess they can't keep everyone, then. I guess I'll just, uh, head home, then. Bye laddy, nice tah meetcha." Richard said, pushing everything back in his cooler and taking a swig from his thermos. Even though Leo hadn't enjoyed Richy's company, he was still a bit sad to see him go, because he had at least been company.

"Goodbye, Richy. Good luck with your next invention…" Leo tried.

"Ey, thanks. But I don't think I'm any good. Not aft'a today." Richard left after that, waddling out the door with his faded blue cooler.

Leo didn't have time to think too much on his forgotten friend, and went to check out the other remaining entries. There appeared to only be fifteen entries left. The day continued on in almost the same way, minus the balding Richy, and Leo's palms remained sticky until quater finals were over, and semis had been announced. He passed to semis, much to his surprise, and now quarter finals were over, and after the new judges were brought in, semi-finals began. Leo wandered around the hall aimlessly, avoiding anyone with an official lanyard or an "I'm a volunteer!" sticker. Just before dinner, finalist would be announced. Leo felt incredibly lucky to have made the cut for both quarters and semis, but finals was something entirely different, and felt completely out of his league. But all he could do was sweat through his suit and wait.

AN: Same rules apply. If you want an update by tomorrow, five reviews. If you want an update by Saturday, two. If you never want me to write on Fitz's behalf again, zero reviews. Thanks!