Chapter 6: The faces in front of me.
Leo was dropped off at the port for the boat to duelist kingdom. With him was a suitcase containing his original duel disk and deck which Leo felt he may need soon, a change of clothes, the millennium scale, and some snacks. Leo waved goodbye to Gerald as he drove away and he turned the boat, he listened to the speech given by an Industrial illusions executive who told them about the tournament's basics, but Leo wasn't paying attention. He was thinking on what his next course of action was going to be, he can't go synchro summoning like he usually did because that'll draw too much attention to him, but what concerned him more was his potential damage on the timestream. If he were to face Yugi, Joey or some other significant character and win causing them to lose the tournament, the damage done to time would be catastrophic to say the least. He had two options, find a way to sneak into the castle without the star chips, or defeat enough people to get inside the castle and hopefully not face anyone in order to find what anomalies the finals held. He was so in thought he realized people were starting to board the ship, he breathed slowly and steeled himself before walking onto the boat.
He had a key to a luxury room, no doubt confirming it was likely Gerald who told Pegasus about his item. He set up his stuff in the room to where it was comfy for him but can be removed quickly for when they arrive. Deciding to opt for a small little walk on the boat, it was a wild crowd he'd give it that, lots of people of all ages practicing the game against each other preparing for the eventual tournament, it was both amusing and a bit sad for Leo, knowing that in the end if history is to play out as it should be, then none of their practice would truly mean anything. As he was walking near a less crowded area of the ship he heard a woman's voice ring out "Wait are you joking?!" Leo turned to follow the source of the voice and he saw Mai Valentine complaining to one of the industrial illusions employees in front of Rex Raptor, "A lady like me has to be stuck in a room with all those people without even a shower!?", "B-But... that's the rule" the employee nervously replied
"Tell the person in charge to come here!"
Rex then was quick to give a snarky remark saying "Don't be so rude, or you'll be thrown off the ship". Mai turning over to the boy "Who are you?"
"Do you want to have a rest in my single room" replied Rex, Leo chuckled before walking over and saying "Look Rexy, I have a single room too, but you don't see me offering to share beds with randoms". Mai and Rex turned over to Leo, "Random! I am-", "Mai Valentine, I know who you are" Leo said, Rex scoffed "Keep out of this kid!" Rex remarked causing Leo to shrug and walk away, he did know who those two were but admittedly fanboying over those two was not on his bucket list at the moment. Leo went over to his room and entered inside. It was a very nice room even surprising Leo, it had a mini fridge, TV, large bed, a bathroom with a shower, etc. Leo soon began to set up his stuff before hearing a knock at the door, and his face deadpanned seeing Mai and Rex there. "S-see lady, look at his room, its way better than mine!"
"It looks the same, did you forget I was just in yours!?" Mai retorted.
Rex just began sweating before Mai rolled her eyes and turned to Leo "So. You want to play a little game with me? After all you must be a very good card player to have a room this good" Leo shrugged as he welcomed the two into his room "Oh I am, you could say I'm ahead of the curve when it comes to this game. What's the game?"
Mai chuckled and after some conversation she pulls out her deck "So lets get to this game. You have to cut the cards, if I guess the cards correctly you have to clear out of the room for the rest of the night. But if you win, I will give you a kiss." that last part caused Leo to admittedly blush before he then noticed a faint aroma from the deck. He knew that scent, it was that perfume Jack gave to Carly once called Queen's Robes and he then recognized another one, a second perfume used by Akiza known as Garden of Eden. Leo then remembered in duelist kingdom Mai was allegedly said to be psychic, it didn't take too long for Leo to piece together that Mai was using perfume on her cards to predict which one was which. Leo however knew just how to counter it.
"Sure, but let me go grab a quick snack, I haven't had anything to eat in a while" Mai nodded and Leo went over to his bag grabbing out his spicy garlic barbecue potato chips. Sure it was true he didn't eat for a while, but Leo chose those specific chips because their aroma was very potent, which he knew would make Mai have trouble telling which card was which by scent. After eating a few he walked over and sat down in front Mai and Rex, setting aside the bag of chips on the table and him cutting the deck. "I trust you know what you're doing" Leo said holding the cards close to his face before setting them down on the table. "You have no idea kid" Rex replied.
Leo then drew the first card "So which one is this?" Mai tried to smell it but the scent of barbecue and garlic was overpowering the perfume scent, 'that brat! Why did he have to chose those chips, I still won't back down', "I guess its harpie lady" Leo smiled "Yup" he then holds it up before he drew the next two cards. "Harpie's feather duster and Harpie's pet dragon" Mai confidently said but Leo shook his head "Wrong, it was cyber shield and shadow of eyes. I'm afraid you lose, don't worry I'll decline that kiss". Mai was slightly relieved she didn't have to kiss him and she then turns to a dumbfounded Rex, "Go clean out your room," Rex angrily walks out alongside Mai
After he finished putting everything away Leo exited his room and walked around the ship and he eventually found a pair of stairs walking onto the higher floor of the ship. he eventually entered an area with some table and quickly stopped in his tracks when he saw two figures, Joey Wheeler and Yugi Mouto. Not fanboying over Mai and Rex was one thing, its another when the person he's looking at is the kind of games himself. 'OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD ITS YUGI, ITS THE KING OF GAMES!' Leo thought, he quickly tried to control himself, last thing he wanted was to damage time by shouting out that Yugi is the king of games in a fanboyish symphony. Leo had to quickly compose himself before he approached Yugi. But as he did Yugi was approached first by who Leo recognized as Weevil Underwood. He saw as Weevil began to talk about Yugi's exodia cards and asked to see them, he then saw Yugi going to take them out and Leo on pure instinct rushed forward "YUGI DON'T!"
The three people turn over to Leo, "Don't what?" Asked Joey. Leo began explaining, "Don't show him the Exodia cards Yugi. Those cards are some of the most valuable cards in the game and I don't think you should hand them out to someone you just met-" Leo was quickly cut off by Weevil "Shut it you brat!" Joey and Yugi began to think it over, Joey was the first to respond "He does have a point Yugi, all we really know about him is that he's the regional champ and uses an insect deck", Weevil quickly tried to regain control of the situation "Come on, you can trust me. All I want is to see those legendary cards that most could only dream of holding!"
Yugi and Joey looked at each other, 'maybe the stranger is right. Weevil is acting weird' thought Yugi. "What could I possibly want to do? All you're doing is showing me those cards", Leo was quickly deducing Weevil's nice guy act and says "Perhaps you plan to steal them or throw them off the boat". Weevil then angrily yells at Leo "I said quiet you bastard! You don't have the right to speak to me, the regional champ, that way. And you also don't have the right to stick your nose into this conversation that doesn't concern you!". "Okay okay! I'll show you the exodia cards if you calm down" Yugi says causing Weevil to quickly turn over to him. Yugi holds up the cards in his hand, and Joey was keeping a keen eye on Weevil to where if Weevil tries anything he'd be able to stop it. Weevil was beyond angered at Leo for ruining his plan but had to keep up the charade. "Those are some neat cards, see you soon at the tournament" Weevil says stomping away. 'Yes, I stopped him from throwing his exodia overboard ... wait! Oh NO!' Leo said freezing in his tracks, he just significantly altered an event in history of Yugi loosing Exodia and now he may use it again in the tournament probably causing some deviations in history. Leo had to think of something.
"Thanks kid" said Joey quickly shaking Leo out of his daze. "Y-you're welcome" replied Leo ensuring not to use Joey's name to drive up more suspicion. He then looked over at Yugi "It ... it's really you." Leo said extending his hand, Yugi smiles and does the same shaking Leo's hand "M-m-my name is Leo. And i-it's an honor to finally be meeting you, it truly is!" Leo was barley able to contain his sheer excitement he was almost crying tears of joy and he even forgot he damaged time earlier. "Thanks, I am glad you think so" Yugi says. Leo began to converse with Yugi and Joey and it was almost everything he could've dreamed of, the entire time he was smiling from ear to ear, then he remembered how he damaged time and fortunately he had a way to have Yugi simply not use exodia in his deck. "Y'know Yugi, speaking of Exodia. Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't think you should use it in the tournament"
Yugi and Joey raised an eyebrow "No way, Exodia is the most powerful monster in the game able to win duels with its mere summon" Joey replied, Leo then began to explain further "Yes that is true, but you need five cards in your hand at the same time to pull it off, meanwhile you'd have to fend off the opponent's monsters. And sometimes exodia can have you loose duels, like say you need to draw something like polymerization to summon a fusion when the opponent has a strong monster but you draw an exodia piece, it can cost you a lot of life points and worst case scenario you'd lose." Joey and Yugi looked at each other, that did make sense. Exodia needed five cards in the hand, drawing each of them would not be an easy task plus it can lead to dead draws when a part is drawn and if one goes to the graveyard it wasn't easy getting it back.
"You make a good point Leo, plus it would also free up some space in my deck so I have a higher chance of drawing what I need" Yugi says putting his exodia cards in one of his jacket's pockets. Leo sighed in relief, he sort of fixed the timestream this way, he then went back to fanboying and decided to ask one big question "Would you want to be friends with me? I'd really like to get to know you better Yugi.".
"Of course Leo, you seem like a good person to be friends with" Yugi says, Joey following up with "Yeah, you really helped us earlier and you actually are pretty cool yourself. We'd be happy to be friends" Leo was crying tears of joy, this was one of the happiest moments of his life as he is talking to his childhood heroes.