Chapter 1: Weird Night and Average Morning
14-year-old Leonard reminisced as he pulled his tie out of his aqua hair, allowing it to fall to his shoulders. He walked to his nightstand and placed it there, taking a moment to look out the window into the clear night sky.
It had been a whole year since he and his twin sister Luna had agreed to leave Neo-Domino City for London with their parents. It was on clear nights such as these that Leo would think back to when he was with his old friends, Yusei, Jack, Crow, and Aki, and the adventures they had had together. Every so often, Leo would hear about Jack and Crow in the Pro Dueling Leagues. As expected, both of them were often champions, and Crow had sent them a letter every month. Occasionally, Leo and Luna would get phone calls from Aki, and both of them would hear about how her medical studies were going. Even Dexter and Bob, friends from his previous school stayed in touch.
The only member of Team 5D's that the twins hadn't heard anything about these past few months was Yusei. Because of that, Leo would often think of him the most. Leo vowed that if he became a champion duelist one day, he would show Yusei his strength.
Leo glanced over at the clock on his night stand. It told him that it was 10:30pm on a Wednesday night, meaning Leo had school the next morning. Distracted from his thoughts, he saw a bright ball of light shoot across the sky. Leo watched as the ball of light passed over the city, until it vanished somewhere beyond the horizon. He was curious about it for a moment, yet decided it was best to turn out his lamp and change for bed.
* * *
The next morning, Leo walked to school while reading the newspaper. It seemed that he wasn't the only one who saw that strange light in the sky. Several other people reported seeing it as well. The authorities claimed that it was only a meteor that passed over the city but, according to the article, there was no sign of where the meteor had crashed.
"Leo, look out!" shouted a voice from behind him.
Leo looked up in time to see the light pole he walked into.
"Honestly, sometimes I wonder if you even have a brain." Luna said, worry in her voice, as she walked passed.
Like her brother, she had aqua hair and gold-grey eyes. Her hair was loose behind her and hung down to her upper back, unlike Leo's which he kept in a bun high at the back of his head. Around her neck and tucked into her shirt was a black lace that held Leo's prized Life-Stream Dragon. The only signer dragon that didn’t return to the Crimson Dragon.
Leo finished rubbing his face and caught up to his sister, tucking the news paper under his arm.
"So, did you see that weird light last night?" Leo asked, synchronizing his steps with his sister's.
"Weird light? No. I was probably already in bed. What were you doing up?" Luna asked in response.
"I was just thinking about the old team, when this ball of light comes hurdling across the sky." Leo answered, looking pensively up at the sky as they walked.
"Oh." Luna replied. There were times, Leo knew, when Luna would think about their friends from Team 5D's too. "It's been a while since we've heard from..."
"Luna, Leo!" While halfway across the intersection, the twins heard someone call from down the street to their right, interrupting them in mid-thought. The twins stopped and turned to see who was calling them. Running to them was a girl from their class.
"Mind if I join you?" Roxanne asked in her usual cheerful tone.
"Not at all, Roxanne." Luna answered with a smile.
Roxanne turned to look at Leo. Leo blushed and started to fidget a bit. Nervously he answered: "Um, uh, sure."
Roxanne Lane was a thin, freckled girl with green eyes, proud of her long blue-black hair that grew down to about mid-back, that was even now pulled back in her signature thick braid. Her friendly and cheerful personality was a welcome addition to their commute to school, Luna thought. Roxanne shrugged.
As the three resumed walking, Luna began to snicker.
"What's so funny?" Roxanne asked, blissfully unaware of the joke.
"Oh, nothing." Luna replied in a mischievous tone, falling a little behind the other two.
Roxanne rolled her eyes and gave a half-grin at Luna. She knew her friend well enough to know that it was probably something to do with her brother, and therefore nothing to do with her.
Leo was quite aware of what his sister found so amusing. He always acted like this around Roxanne, no matter how hard he tried to keep his composure. He walked quietly beside Roxanne for a while, with Luna not far behind.
Excitement, nervousness, and bliss fought valiantly to be his top emotion. But soon the three of them reached the London Duel Academy.
"Hey Luna, Roxanne, Marie." A voice called, referring to the two girls walking with Leo and the one jumping onto the left-most of 3 short walls that sloped alongside the stairs and ramp that lead to the front doors. Leo stopped walking and tightened his fists at the sound of that voice. Luna bumped into him from the sudden change of speed.
Luna and Roxanne followed the familiar voice to the stairs and beheld a boy. He was wearing a pair of shades and had short brown hair under his yellow cap. Their classmate, Luke Sampson, was leaning against the brick wall beside the door. He was a year older than Leo and was the most popular kid at the London Duel Academy. This is the guy that scored top in Physical Education last year. All the girls seemed to like him, but Leo couldn't stand the guy.
"Hi, Luke." The girls replied.
Lifting his shades and winking at Marie, who replied with a sigh, he made his way down the stairs, where he came up to an unimpressed Luna, who gave him a hard stare until he put his shades back down.
Marie, a childhood friend of Luke's, had dirty blond hair tied into twintails using strings with large green beads. Her blue eyes hid behind a pair of glasses with a green rope connecting to each arm and resting on the back of her neck to prevent them from falling off.
"How are you ladies doing this morning?" Luke asked the girls. Then, seemingly ignoring their answers, he turned to face Leo, who was standing in front of his sister, and said "Oh, hi Lenny."
"The name's Leo." Leo responded through gritted teeth.
Luke ignored this too. "So did you see that meteor in the sky last night?" Luke asked Luna as he leaned against the brick wall, his arms crossed.
"A meteor? So that's what it was!" Marie said, as she jumped down to stand behind Luke.
"I was too busy studying on the computer." Roxanne answered. "I read about it in the paper this morning."
"Um... I guess I was asleep at the time." Luna answered. "But Leo says he saw it."
Luke glanced over at Leo. "Is that so... Lenny?" Luke sneered.
"Uh..." Leo was speechless for a moment, his mouth open, as he thought of something to say. "Yeah. So what?" Leo responded with a note of irritation in his voice.
"I saw it too." Luke answered. "So did my dad. Of course he was at the Royal Observatory at the time.” Luke took Leo’s newspaper.
“Hey! That’s mine!” Leo shouted to Luke.
Luke ignored him and read from the paper. “Authorities have yet to discover where it landed.” He folded the paper and scoffed. “Anyway, my dad said that he thinks he knows where it went down. He said he'd take me there after school. You girls wanna come with?"
Leo's irritation began to swell. There were a lot of things that Leo didn't like about him, yet what Leo didn't like the most about him was that he seemed to pay too much attention to both Luna and Roxanne. Why Leo was bothered by Luke being so "friendly", if you can even call it such a thing, he didn't really understand. But it just drove him nuts.
"I wanna come!" Marie shouted, excitedly.
"Sure, Luke. I'll go." Roxanne said.
Luke glanced back over at Leo. "Oh, you can come too Lenny. I'm sure there's room enough in the trunk for you." Luke hardened his face.
"Luke. Stop." Luna said.
That was the last straw. It was one thing for Luke to all but completely ignore Leo and get his name wrong, but inviting him along on a trip like that just because he was the brother of a girl that he liked was a step too far.
"That's it!" Leo shouted and ripped the newspaper out of Luke’s hands. "I'm challenging you to a duel! Right here! Right now!" He threw the newspaper down and pointed at the ground exaggeratedly.
All the kids in front of the school went silent. They all stared at Leo as if he had just revealed the meaning of life or the secret of what really happened at area 51. Luna merely sighed and shook her head. She knew Leo’s rage dueling never ended well.
Luke pulled down his shades a little and looked at Leo quizzically with his baby blue eyes. "You want to duel me Lenny?" He took off his yellow cap, showing off his black hair slicked back to a point, and handed it to Marie without looking away from his challenger. She took it all too eagerly and jumped back onto the wall with her prize. "Okay, it's your funeral."
The two duelists moved to a spot in front of the steps and armed their duel disks. All of the other students present surrounded them in order to better watch the grudge match. It was Leo's first time dueling Luke, so he was a little bit nervous. Leo braced himself for the challenge ahead.
"Duel!" Both players shouted.
As soon as the life points on their duel disks were set to 4000, both of them drew five cards. Leo looked at his opening hand. It consisted of Morphtronic Clocken, Morphtronic Celfon, The Spell Absorbing Life, and two equip cards, Morphtronic Rusty Engine and Break! Draw!. It was a reasonable hand.
Leo could hear someone yell, "Go, Luke!" They both looked up and saw Marie balancing on the brick wall with her arms crossed over her chest, excitedly awaiting the duel. She proudly wore Lukes yellow hat. Luke smiled and faced Leo.
"I'll let you go first Lenny." Luke said in a gracious manner, gesturing to Leo with one massive arm.
“I swear, by the time this duel is over, I’ll wipe that smug expression off your face Luke.” He drew his first card and got Morphtronic Videon. He knew exactly what his first move would be.
"I summon Morphtronic Videon in Defense Mode!" Leo announced as he placed the card in the duel disk. A giant digital camera appeared in front of Leo as soon as he played the card.
"Next I equip Morphtronic Videon with Morphtronic Rusty Engine!" Leo announced as he played the Spell card. "When Morphtronic Videon is in Defense Mode, it gains 800 DEF for every card equipped to it. So Morphtronic Videon's DEF is now 1800!" An engine appeared on the field started rumbling.
Leo thought that he made a good opening move. Even if Luke could summon a monster strong enough to take out Videon, Morphtronic Rusty Engine's effect would kick in and deal Luke damage equal to the original ATK of the equipped "Morpthtronic" monster, which in this case is 1000. Leo knew that he'd take 1000 points of damage too if that happened, but he'd be 1000 points closer to taking Luke down. Even so, "I set one card and end my turn."
"So these are the Morphtronic monsters you use." Luke said. "Too bad that camera won't be around long enough to record you losing. My move!" Luke announced as he drew his first card. Luke looked at the card in his hand and smirked.
"I start by activating the spell card Reinforcement of the Army. This spell card adds 1 Warrior type monster from my deck to my hand, such as this Comrade Swordsman of Landstar." Luke searched his deck for his monster, showed it, and added it to his hand. "Next, I play Angel Baton. With this, I draw 2 cards, then send 1 of those 2 to the Graveyard." Luke drew 2 cards, then sent Gaia the Fierce Knight to the Graveyard.
"I summon Marauding Captain in Attack Mode!" Luke announced. As he place the card in his duel disk, an unshaven warrior in medieval armor and a tattered cape appeared in front of him.
"When Marauding Captain is Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon a level four or lower monster from my hand. With this effect I Special Summon my Comrade Swordsman of Landstar!" Luke announced as he played another card.
An odd looking warrior appeared on the field wearing a purple outfit and shield. The ATK of his Marauding Captain increased from 1200 to 1600 and his Comrade's ATK went from 500 to 900.
"Hey. The attack strength of your monsters went up." Leo noted.
"Yes, that's right. While Swordsman of Landstar is on my field, the Warrior monsters I control are strengthened by 400 points." Luke explained.
"So what?! 1600 is still less than my monster's defense points, so your warriors can't break my wall anyway."
"These two can't, yet one is a tuner." Luke countered, determination in his voice. "I now tune the level three Marauding Captain into the level three Comrade Swordsman of Landstar!" Luke announced. Comrade Swordsman of Landstar then turned into three rings made of green light, which surrounded Marauding Captain and turned him into three balls of white light. As that happened, Luke chanted: "Spirits of Earth now come together! Cry out for the crusader of justice! Synchro Summon! Charge forth! Gaia Knight, the Force of Earth!"
In a burst of light, a cybernetic knight in blue and yellow armor carrying two red lances appeared on the field riding a purple cybernetic horse. Gaia Knight had 2600 ATK, which was far greater than Videon's 1800 DEF.
"Now, because Gaia Knight is a Warrior, and the only monster I control, I equip it with the Spell card Assault Armor!" Luke announced. A yellow light emanated from his monster. "Gaia Knight's punch packs 300 more points now."
Leo suddenly became very worried. He remembered that spell from his class about Warrior monsters. Not only did it increase Gaia Knight's ATK to 2900 while equipped, it also had another effect that Leo didn't like.
"Gaia Knight, attack!" Luke commanded. "Spiral Lance!"
Gaia Knight charged at Morphtronic Videon and attacked it with his lance. The video camera shattered and the engine started to smoke. Gaia Knight returned to Luke's side of the field as the rusty engine exploded, reducing both Leo's and Luke's life points from 4000 to 3000.
"I'm not done yet." Luke claimed.
"I know." Leo said with a roll of his eyes, feeling disgusted at his current situation.
The glow on Gaia Knight dispersed, then disappeared altogether. "I send Assault Armor to the Graveyard so that Gaia Knight can attack twice." Gaia Knight charged at Leo and thrust its lance at him. This dropped Leo's Life Points from 3000 to 400. Leo's defensive strategy had completely blown up in his face.
"Pretty lame defense there Lenny." Luke mocked. "I set two cards and end."
Leo was ticked off again. "My move!" Leo announced as he drew his next card.
Leo looked at the card and didn't like what he saw.
"I summon Morphtronic Celfon in attack mode." A cell phone appeared on the field and transformed into a robot. It had 100 ATK. He looked at his sister, who smiled at him.
"You're..." Luke pulled his shades low on his nose and looked at Leo over the top. "You're kidding me, right?"
Leo stuck his tongue out at Luke. "I activate its effect." the numbers on the phone started to light up one at a time cycling through randomly, quickly at first but gradually slowing down. Soon it stopped on the number 5. "I check the top 5 cards of my deck and summon 1 Morphtronic monster from among them."
Leo checked the top 5 cards of his deck. They were Morphtronic Boarden, Morphtronic Celfon, Morphtransition, Break! Draw!, and Defense Draw. "I summon Morphtronic Celfon in attack position, and return the rest to my deck."
Luke pushed his shades back up to where they were and shrugged. "Okay." He was clearly not impressed with the two monsters with 100 ATK on Leo's field.
"I use this Morphtronic Celfon's effect." Like before, with the previous Celfon, the numbers cycled through quickly then slowed down, yet this time stopped on two. "I check the top 2 cards of my deck and summon 1 Morphtronic monster from among them."
Leo checked the top card of his deck. He can't summon Pain to Power. He checked the second card and smiled. "I summon Morphtronic Scopen in attack position!" A large microscope appeared on the field in front of Leo and transformed into an oddly shaped robot. It had 800 ATK.
"Now I activate Morphtronic Scopen's effect." Leo announced. "When Morphtronic Scopen is on the field in Attack Mode, Once per turn I can Special Summon a level four or lower machine-type monster from my hand. It's about time that I summoned Morphtronic Clocken!" A clock appeared on the field. This monster only had 600 ATK.
Leo flipped his set card. "I activate the trap card The Spell Absorbing Life. For each effect monster on the field, I gain 400 Life Points."
"Gaia Knight, the Force of Earth is not an effect monster." Luke put in.
"Then I gain 1600 Life Points." Leo's Life Points rose from 400 to 2000.
"Go for it, Leo." Luna said to him, softly.
"Next, I tune my 2 level one Morphtronic Celfons and my level two Morphtronic Clocken into my level three Morphtronic Scopen!" Leo announced. Morphtronic Scopen turned into three rings of green light which surrounded the other monsters and turned them into four balls of white light. As that happened, Leo chanted: "Docking strength with courage to protect world peace! Synchro Summon! Envoy of love and justice, Power Tool Dragon!"
In a burst of white light, a yellow and grey mechanical dragon appeared on the field. The right arm of the dragon ended in a blue scoop one might find on a back-hoe. Mounted on the dragon's left arm was a jack hammer. On the end of the dragon's tail was the spade of a shovel. Leo’s ace monster had 2300 ATK.
"Now I activate Power Tool Dragon's effect, which let's me add one random Equip Spell from my deck to my hand." Leo announced.
A card popped out from Leo's deck. Leo picked up the card, grinned, and placed the card in his hand. It was Break! Draw!.
"I equip Power Tool Dragon with Power Pickaxe and Break! Draw!." Leo announced as he placed the cards in his duel disk. Power Tool Dragon's back-hoe claw transformed into an orange Pickaxe, and his jack hammer turned into a sword.
"But to play Power Pickaxe," Leo explained, "I have to remove an effect monster in my opponent's Graveyard from play with equal or less attack points than the equipped monster. Then, by this card's effect, Power Tool Dragon gains attack points equal to half the attack point of the monster excluded by this card's cost." Luke's Marauding Captain popped out of his graveyard. "So by excluding your Marauding Captain from the game for its cost, I give my Power Tool Dragon an extra 600 attack points!" Power Tool Dragon's ATK rose from 2300 to 2900.
"Power Tool Dragon attack Gaia Knight!" Leo commanded. "Crafty Break!"
Power Tool Dragon struck Gaia Knight with its Pickaxe tool. The knight shattered into gold triangles and disappeared. The attack dropped Luke's life points from 3000 to 2700. Leo had almost gained the upper hand.
"Since I destroyed a monster by battle with a monster equipped with Break! Draw!," Power Tool Dragon thrust his sword arm bravely into the air. The white light that reflected off its blade detached itself and rose high into the air, where it stretched and turned into the shape of a card. "well I'm sure you know what happens now." Leo drew a card.
"I end my turn with a face-down." Leo said bravely, staring down his opponent's wide open field. But it wouldn't stay that way for long.
"What a weird deck." Luke said with a smirk, as he flipped over a card.
Leo gritted his teeth. He didn't need that smug jerk's judgment.
"During your End Phase, I activate my set card Revival Gift. Not only do you get two tokens in attack position on your side of the field, I also get to summon a tuner monster from my graveyard, with its effect negated." Leo placed two token monsters vertically on his duel disk, while Luke put Comrade Swordsman of Landstar back on the field in defense position. Comrade Swordsman of Landstar reappeared on the field in front of Luke, and two small fiends appeared in front of Leo. The 2 Gift Fiend Tokens each had 1500 ATK.
"Then I activate my other set card, Balance of Judgment." Luke flipped his other card. "With this, we each count our cards, and the player who has the least cards on the field and in the hand gets to draw a number of cards equal to the other player's surplus." Luke explained.
Leo counted the cards in his hand and on his field. "I have 7 cards here."
Luke also counted his cards. "Oh, is that so? Well I only have 3. So that means, I get to draw 4 new cards." Luke added the top 4 cards of his deck to his hand.
"My turn!" Luke announced as he drew another card for the start of his turn. "I summon Dark Blade in Attack Mode!" He announced as he placed a new card in his duel disk. A knight in black and silver armor appeared on the field in front of Luke. It had 1800 ATK because Comrade Swordsman of Landstar’s effect was negated.
"Now I Tune my level four Dark Blade into my level three Comrade Swordsman of Landstar!" Luke announced. Comrade Swordsman of Landstar turned into 3 rings of green light that surrounded Dark Blade, which turned into 4 balls of white light. As this happened, Luke chanted: "Spirits of vengeance now come together! Cry out for the iron destroyer! Synchro Summon! Arise! Scrap Archfiend!"
In a burst of light, a large demon made out of scrap metal appeared on the field in front of Luke. Its red eyes blazed like fire.
"Next I play the normal spell Wightening. If I control a non-effect monster, like my Archfiend, then I destroy and remove from the game 1 face-up Spell or Trap card you control, and my non-effect monster's stats increase by 500 until the End Phase. With this, I destroy Power Pick-axe." Scrap Archfiend's ATK jumped from 2700 to 3200 and its DEF from 1800 to 2300, while Power Tool Dragon's ATK dropped to 2300. Leo nervously banished his spell. Yet bad was about to get worse.
"I equip my Scrap Archfiend with Fighting Spirit. This strengthens my monster by 300 for each monster you control." Scrap Archfiend's ATK rose from 3200 to 4100, making it more than strong enough to beat Power Tool Dragon. "Now, that's power!"
"Scrap Archfiend, show him what I mean!" Luke announced. "I attack Gift Fiend Token with Rusty Claw!"
The claws on Scrap Archfiend began to glow red. It lunged towards Leo to deliver the death blow. Leo knew if he didn't act fast, he would lose with this attack.
Leo flipped his set card. "I activate Defense Draw! I take no Battle Damage from this attack, and I draw 1 card." Leo drew a card and removed the token from the field. With one less monster on the field, Scrap Archfiend's ATK dropped to 3800.
"Nice save there!" Luke complimented.
Leo grunted.
"I don't know what you're going to pull next turn, but just to be on the safe side, I activate One Day of Peace. With this each of us draws 1 card, and neither of us takes damage." Luke grinned mischievously. "Well, at least until your End Phase: after that, you're totally fair game. I set 2 cards and end my turn. Scrap Archfiend's ATK dropped to 3300, due to the expiration of Wightening.
Leo gritted his teeth in frustration. He didn't want Luke's compliments.
"My turn!" Leo announced as he drew another card. Leo had four cards in his hand, while Luke had only one.
"I play my quick-play spell card Summon Close." Luke cut in. "You can't Special Summon this turn. I also discard 1 card, and draw another." Luke discarded Tune Warrior and drew a new card.
This was, of course, unexpected. But Leo wasn't planning on Special Summoning this turn anyway. He had other things in mind.
"First I activate Power Tool Dragon's search effect to add another random Equip Spell from my deck to my hand." Leo announced.
Another card popped out of Leo's deck, which he placed on the field. "Now I equip Power Tool Dragon with Break! Draw! and Double Tool C&D!" Leo announced as he played the other card in his duel disk.
The back-hoe scoop on Power Tool Dragon's right arm changed into a circular saw. While the sword mounted on Power Tool Dragon's left arm changed into a drill. The sword replaced the shovel spade on its tail, and another tail appeared, with a sword on the end of it.
"By the effect of Double Tool C&D, During my turn, Power Tool Dragon gains 1000 points, and the effects of its attack target are negated on the field." Leo explained. Power Tool Dragon's ATK rose to 3300. "I tribute Gift Fiend Token to summon my level 6 Gadget Hauler!" A circle appeared under the Gift fiend token and sucked it in. Then a large blue truck appeared next to Power Tool Dragon.
"Wow. You have a lot of weak monsters, Lenny." Luke commented about Leo's 1300 ATK monster. It had half the ATK of Luke's Gaia Knight, which was also level 6.
"I'll show you weak!!!" Leo screamed at Luke. "Power Tool Dragon! Attack Scrap Archfiend! Crafty Break!"
Power Tool Dragon struck at Scrap Archfiend with its saw blade, which responded with a blow of its own. “Since they have the same ATK, and would both destroy each other, I used Power Tool Dragon's effect, sending 1 Break! Draw! to the graveyard to protect Power Tool Dragon from destruction.” Leo reached to his deck to draw a card from the Break! Draw! still equipped to Power Tool Dragon.
"I use the effect of my Fighting Spirit! called Luke as the explosion cleared. By sending it to the graveyard, I can protect my monster. Scrap Archfiend s armor broke. Nonetheless, it remained with a solid grip on Power Tool Dragon s tail. In Power Tool Dragon s retreat back to Leo, the sword on its tail broke off.
It looks like you're not the only one who knows how to protect their monsters, Lenny." He said, as arrogant as ever.
Leo pulled his hand away from his deck. Because he didn't destroy Scrap Archfiend by battle, he couldn't draw. Leo was running low on cards. "I set 2 cards and end my turn." Leo announced, his hand empty. Power Tool Dragon's ATK went back down to 2300.
The duel was still pretty even. Leo admitted to himself that Luke was pretty good, but he wasn't going to let Luke beat him. What bothered Leo the most though, was that he couldn't seem to wipe that smug expression from Luke's face. Nothing Leo did could shake Luke up.
"Yes, you did show me weak. My move!" Luke drew a new card and grinned. "I normal summon Jutte Fighter." A squat man in glasses appeared on the field, strapped to his back was a grenade as big as he was. It had 900 DEF. "Now I tune my level seven Scrap Archfiend into my level two Jutte Fighter!"Jutte Fighter turned into 2 rings of green light that surrounded Scrap Archfiend, which turned into 7 balls of white light. As this happened, Luke chanted: "Spirits of nature now come together! Cry out for the king of the forest! Synchro Summon! Roar! Naturia Leodrake."
At the same time as Luke yelled the word roar, a loud roar filled the school yard, overlaying his own. Anyone who hadn't yet noticed this duel had no excuse not to know about it by now, and more people gathered around to see what the commotion was all about. Students and teachers and parents alike. And Synchronized with him calling the name Naturia Leodrake, with a flash of bright light a proud and strong lion appeared, possessing a formidable original ATK of 3000. Its yellow fur was mostly covered in rich green leaves, which grew out in a red flower at the tail. The red mane was also made of flower petals.
"I play the spell card Card of Sanctity. Now each of us draw until we have 6 cards in our hands." Luke and Leo both drew 6 cards. "I set 2 cards and play Card Destruction. We each discard our entire hands, then draw the same amount of cards." Leo discarded Megamorph, Morphtronic Boomboxen, Morphtransition, Morphtronic Vacuumen, Defense Draw, and Morphtransition and drew Limiter Removal, Monster Reborn, Factory of 100 Machines, Morphtronic Remoten, Morphtronic Cord, and Morphtronic Boomboxen. Luke discarded 3 cards and drew 3 cards.
"Looks like this duel is almost over. I play the Spell card Miracle Synchro Fusion!" Luke announced. "This card Fusion Summons 1 Fusion Monster that lists a Symchro Monster as material using monsters on my side of the field or in my grave. By excluding Gaia Knight, the Force of Earth and Scrap Archfiend from my Graveyard, I Fusion Summon Gaia Drake, the Universal Force!"
A gigantic vortex appeared in the air above Luke and sucked in the holograms of those monsters. From the vortex appeared a cybernetic knight in black, silver, red, and gold armor that carried two black lances with gold trim. The knight rode a black Pegasus that wore armor similar to the knight's. Gaia Drake had 3500 ATK, far more powerful than Power Tool Dragon. "Gaia Drake can't be targeted or destroyed by monster effects."
"I also play Dragon's Mirror! This Fusion Spell also lets me use Fusion Material from my field and Graveyard, but the Fusion Monster needs to be a Dragon-type. By excluding Gaia the Fierce Knight and Curse of Dragon from my Graveyard, I Fusion Summon Gaia the Dragon Champion!" Another vortex appeared above Luke and sucked in the holograms of those monster. From the vortex appeared a knight in blue, black, and red armor riding a dragon that resembled the color of bones. It had 2600 ATK, also stronger than Power Tool Dragon.
Luke looked at the last card in his hand, and across the field. He even checked his Graveyard. "Hmmm...” He showed it to Marie. "I don't know. Should I do it?"
She looked at it, curiously at first, then paled.
"I mean, he's only got 2000 Life Points left." Luke said to Marie, as casually as if there weren't hundreds of people waiting eagerly to see if this battle ended the duel. Luke had enough ATK on board that he should be able to win with just this.
He was looking straight at her. And her at him. And they were having a discussion in the middle of a duel. He looked at his sister, and she was just eagerly watching the duel as if nothing just happened. This got on Leo's last nerve.
"Are you going to attack me or not, you noob!" slipped out from Leo's mouth. The audience gasped.
"Leo!" Luna called in disapproval, and more so, disbelief. A shocked look tarnished her features. This was not something people said in this place.
Marie and Luke looked at Leo. Marie stared him down with a piercing glare full of disgust and enmity, one that Leo had never seen on her face before, while Luke just looked a little taken aback with his mouth open. She took the card from his hand and put it on the field for him.
Luke regained his composure and shrugged. "I activate Wight Fusion. With this, I Fusion Summon 1 non-effect monster using monsters from my Hand or Graveyard. By excluding Dark Blade and Kiryu, I Fusion summon Dark Blade the Dragon Tamer and add 1 Wight card from my deck to my hand."
Once more a vortex appeared, consuming the two monsters and spitting out a bigger one, and a spell card to boot. The warrior was clad in rich black spiked metalsilver armor riding a sleek thin vermilion dragon. It had 2500 ATK.
Now Leo was barely paying attention. There was a voice whispering in his head. One that he couldn't quite understand, over all the voices whispering outside his head.
“I activate the field spell Wightcastle.” A special zone opened in Luke’s duel disk, and he placed the field spell in it. Behind Luke, the school turned into a macabre castle the color of bone. A dark mist gathered at the feet of duelists and audience members in the near vicinity. Though the sun shined brightly above and its early autumn warmth could be felt, the front steps to the school were dark and eerie looking.
The voices in Leo's head were a little stronger in this dark setting, and though the crowd had quieted down a little, he still couldn't understand what they said. But he could now distinguish that the overlapping voices sounded as if from one entity saying many things all at once.
"When this card is activated, I return all 'Wight' Spell and Trap cards from my Graveyard to my Deck to return all banished monsters that were used as Fusion Material to my grave. Then, you wanna know what's next?"
"Quiet." Leo whispered to the voices in his head, but no one heard him.
"You draw 2 cards." Marie answered.
"Exactly." And wouldn't you know it, he did just that.
Leo closed his eye. "Be quiet." He whispered to the voices again, so no one else could hear. "Please be quiet." Leo s breath quickened.
Three flags bearing a crown of skeletal hands folded together rose from the castle behind Luke. The ATK of Naturia Leodrake, Gaia the Dragon Champion, Dark Blade the Dragon Tamer each increased by 1500 points: to 4500, 4100, and 4000 respectively. "At the start of the Battle Phase, each non-effect monster I control gains ATK equal to 500 times the number of non-effect monsters I control, and Battle Damage between monsters involving non-effect monsters is halved." Luke explained.
"Gaia Drake, attack Gadget Hauler! Miracle Spiral Lance!" The warrior dug his heals into his mount and it flew at Gadget Hauler.
With that attack, something in Leo snapped. Power Tool Dragon's drill started running, and it stood in front of Gadget Hauler. The faster it spun, the louder it became; so too was Leo's growl growing louder, seemingly to be heard over the drill. Then he took a deep breath and was seemingly much calmer and more aware. His golden eyes glowed bright in the dark setting. "During your turn, as long as a monster is equipped with Double Tool C&D, it is the only monster you can attack."
The Universal Force thrust its spear, which was parried by Power Tool Dragon's sword. "I send Break! Draw! to the Graveyard to prevent its destruction!" Leo said, moving the card to his graveyard. The sword shattered and was replaced by a shovel spade. As the attack landed, Leo bent his knees and put his arm in front of his face to brace for the impact. Leo took 1200 Battle Damage, leaving him with a mere 800 Life Points. After the attack, he ripped his arms away from his face, almost ferally, and glared back at Luke with his glowing eyes.
"Dark Blade, attack Power Tool..." Luke started.
"Trap card open. Draining Shield." Leo interjected fiercely, and ran in front of his monsters with his duel disk raised. "Your attack is negated, and I gain life point equal that that attack!" From his duel disk came a giant barrier that spread, covering him in a large protective sphere. He fearlessly jumped straight at Dark Blade, duel disk first, and they slammed into each other. Under the roar of the still spinning saw was the sound of Life Points increasing. Suddenly, Leo had a massive 4800 Life Points.
But with the barrier gone, Leo slammed into the ground on two feet and a hand. He slid back from the force of the attack, shook the wind-tossed hair from his eyes, then looked back and forth between the two monsters on Luke’s field that haven't attacked yet. In a creepy voice, Leo said "Mmm... Attack me more, Luke."
"Of course. Now, for your safety, could everyone please cover your ears." Luke said graciously, then pointed at Power Tool Dragon dramatically. "You, Gaia the Dragon Champion!" The he spun around and pointed with his other hand. "And you, Naturia Leodrake! Attack that Power Tool Dragon!" Luke commanded. "Champion's Spiral Lance! Nature's Roar!"
Everyone covered their ears as Naturia Leodrake took a breath and let loose a powerful roar that sent a sonic blast rippling toward Leo's monster. And Gaia Drake thrust the lance he carried in his right hand, creating a spiraling wave of energy that also headed for Power Tool Dragon.
Power Tool Dragon crossed its arms to block the Dragon Champion's attack. The tools on its arms shattered and reverted back to their original forms the moment the spiral wave hit. The drill silenced, and then the second attack hit and destroyed Power Tool Dragon, which shattered into silver triangles.
"Ow." Said Leo, as the two attacks dropped his Life Points down to 2800. He removed his hands from his ears and put the 2 cards in his Graveyard.
"I guess that's all I got. Your move Lenny." Luke said.
"Leo..." Luna called worriedly. He didn't even respond to his name.
"During your End Phase, I activate the trap card Power Break! I return any number of Equip Spells from my side of the field or my graveyard back to my deck, and you take 500 damage for each one returned." Leo checked his graveyard, since he had none left on his field. From there, he returned Morphtronic Rusty Engine, Break! Draw!, Megamorph, Break! Draw!, and Double Tool C&D to his deck. "I return 5 cards to my deck, so you take 2500 damage!"
A purple beam struck Luke and smashed him against one of the front doors, where his body slumped, his head only a few inches from the handle. The crowd gasped. Luke now had 200 Life Points. He wouldn’t even have had that much if he didn’t banish that one equip spell earlier in the duel.
"Lucky you. My turn." Leo announced as Luke grunted and stood up. "Draw!" Things were finally looking up for Leo. He now had 7 cards in his hand, and he had this feeling of power flowing through him.
"I activate Monster Reborn. This spell card allows me to Special Summon 1 monster from either of our Graveyards. Return to me, my pet. I summon Power Tool Dragon!" A purple circle appeared on the ground in front of Leo, and from it came the mechanical Dragon. Luke walked down the stairs, then looked back and forth between where he was standing and the door. He was thrown a good 3 yards by that trap. He scratched his head.
"I use Power Tool Dragon's effect." A random card stuck out of his deck and Leo took it. It was his other Power Pickaxe. "I equip Power Tool Dragon with Power Pickaxe by excluding your Swift Gaia the Fierce Knight." Leo announced. "It gains 1150 ATK!" Its backhoe scoop turned into a pickaxe. Leo’s ace monster's ATK was now 3450.
"I normal summon Morphtronic Magnen Bar." A red and black magnet appeared on the field next to Power Tool Dragon, and folded in half. A metal animal-like head stuck out the top at the back. It had 100 ATK.
"What else would you summon but another weak Morphtronic?" Luke mocked, not knowing the effect. But he didn’t have the bravado he once had. Leo had really shaken him this time.
"I activate Gadget Hauler's effect, discarding 2 Morphtronic monsters it increase its attack by 1600 points!" Leo discarded Morphtronic Remoten and Morphtronic Boomboxen. Gadget Hauler's ATK increased from 1300 to 2900. As he did this, the truck split in half at the middle, and a giant laser extended up from the back. "Then I play the Quick-Play Spell, Factory of 100 Machines, targeting Gadget Hauler." A bunch of Morphtronic monsters piled into Gadget Hauler. Leo removed all 6 Morphtronic monsters from his graveyard. "This increases Gadget Hauler's ATK by 200 for each Morphtronic monster I banish for its cost." Gadget Hauler's ATK now matched Gaia the Dragon Champion's ATK.
“I'm not done yet. I also play the Quick-Play Spell, Limiter Removal! This doubles the ATK of all my Machine-type monsters until the End Phase, and destroys them during the End Phase." Power Tool Dragon and Gadget Hauler doubled in size and Power Tool Dragon’s eyes started to glow a bright yellow to match Leo's. Power Tool Dragon's ATK went up to 6900, and Gadget Hauler's ATK went up to 8200. Magnen Bar's ATK went up from 100 to 200.
Luke's jaw dropped. "Whoa. Those are some really big monsters you got there Lenny."
Leo scoffed and continued. "Finally, I activate Magnen Bar's effect. Because I control 2 other monsters, and no additional monsters, it gains both of their attack points until the End Phase, yet they can't attack this turn." Energy seeped from the other two monsters into Magnen Bar, and a large ball of lightning grew at the front. Its ATK skyrocketed to 15300. "Battle".
"At the start of the Battle Phase, I gain 1 more flag on my Wightcastle for each non-effect monster on the field." Three more flags rose from the castle. The ATK of Dark Blade the Dragon Tamer, Gaia the Dragon Champion, and Naturia Leodrake rose to 5500, 5600, and 6000 respectively. But that wouldn't be enough to save Luke now.
"Magnen Bar, attack Dragon Champion!" Leo commanded. It shot lightning from the polarized business ends, and suddenly the playing field was all light.
Leo closed his eyes and shielded them from the immense light of the hologram. A moment later, Leo heard the sound of the life Point meter moving, yet it sounded closer than he expected it to. When he opened his eyes, he saw Luke's two fusion monsters standing there untouched. Two giant purple tubes with white question marks hovered over them.
It wasn't Luke's but Leo's Life Points that had hit 0. He had lost the duel.
"I don't think so." Luke said. "I activate Magic Cylinder! Now your attack" Luke paused for emphasis "gets bounced back to you!" The hologram disappeared.
Leo blinked, and his eyes went back to normal. And just like that, he was annoyed again.
"Well that was fun." Luke said as he walked over to Marie, who gave him his hat. "I'm actually disappointed a little though Lenny. Your sister led me to believe that you were a much better duelist."
Suddenly the school bell began to ring, signaling the start of classes.
"Oh, there's the bell. I'd better get going." Luke said, turning to leave. "Talk to me again if you want a rematch Lenny. Later ladies."
All the spectators of the duel also began to walk into the school. Leo stood where he was, gritting his teeth in frustration at his loss. He had made himself look like an idiot in front of both Luna and Roxanne. He was only glad that Yusei and Jack weren't there to see his humiliating defeat. The voice in his head spoke one more thing, then fell silent: "You aren't ready."
Suddenly Leo felt empty and drained, the toll of the duel setting in.
Luna approached her brother. "Come on Leo. We'll be late." And put her hand on his back for a moment. She disarmed his duel disk, put away his deck, and picked his things off the ground. She put her arm under his and he let her carry him to class. It looked like it was going to be one of those days.
