Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The white Japanese school building rang its bell as students exited from the premises, many in groups walking off towards unknown destinations. All the kids wore black coat uniforms with red neck accessories, ties for boys, and ribbons for girls.

It was the end of the day at Miyaji Academy, and most kids were heading to their lockers to get their items and go home, to clubs or sports. One particular boy was going to find his bland world turned upside down.

“What the...” A young, blonde, Japanese boy said aloud as he opened his locker to find a surprise inside. It seemed like a weird deck of cards with a black back, reading “Cardfight!! Vanguard,” and attached to the locker on the inside was a note reading, “Learn to use this deck.” He hadn’t been to his locker since yesterday after school.

“Well, this just got weird,” he spoke, peeking through the brightly colored cards.

“Hey, dude. Whaddya got there?” A boy dressed in the same uniform asked him

“I think I just got some weird cards. Do you know what they are?” he asked, showing them to his classmate, a brown-haired boy with hair coming down the sides and looking like small spikes. He wore his Miyaji uniform like others but had a small dinosaur fossil on the side of his bag.

“Ah, finally! You got Vanguard cards. Now you can come to the club!”

“What club?” he asked quizzically

“Come on, I’ll show ya!” his classmate, Nico Supaiku, responded, dragging him down the halls.
~
They soon arrived at a club room that sounded loud and was bustling with students.

“Hey, everyone! Remember this guy I told you about? My aloof classmate/BFF?” the classmate shouted as he slid open the door. All the club members looked up to look at the two boys who had just entered the room.

The room was a regular-sized clubroom with posters and whatnot strewn about, with various labels and images seemingly related to this “Vanguard” game.

the blue-haired boy, Aichi, spoke up. ”Welcome to the Vanguard Club. Are you interested in joining?”

“I-Uh… Hold on. I don’t even know what this is. I just got this stack of cards and a note in my locker.” He showed the note to Aichi, and Misaki stepped up behind him and asked, “Could I take a look at your deck?”

“This thing? Sure.”

He handed her the cards, and immediately, she started to flip through them.

“Hmm. I’ve never seen these cards before,” she spoke quizzically as she shuffled through them, noting their clan.

“And you’d know that how?” Hoshi asked in a curious tone

“Boss there has an Eidetic memory, so she sees everything and remembers it exactly,” a blonde girl spoke from her table, a cute smile in the direction of the white-haired girl.

“I told you all not to call me ‘Boss,” Misaki responded in a light blush towards Kourin, returning the cards to the new boy.

“Well, this note has no signature, and I don’t recognize this handwriting,” Aichi told them after reading the note.

“Well, while you’re here, why don’t you learn how to play?” the guy who dragged him here asked, already bringing out his deck.

“No thanks. I don’t care for this stuff,” the boy huffed as he turned to walk back through the open door.

“Oh, come on. Why not just stay?” he responded, sounding exasperated.

“Are you really going to leave now after flashing those cards here?” A snooty-looking club member called from the side of the room, “What a coward.”

“What. Did you say?” The boy asked the snotty student, turning a full 180 to face him

“You heard me. I might take it back if you beat me in a match, that is.”

Silence rang in the air for what seemed like several minutes.“...Alright. But keep your end up if I win.”

“Wait, dude! You don't even know how to play.” his classmate spoke to him

“I’ll pick it up as we go along,” he answered. He knew he would be fine. An ache grew in his chest from thinking that thought.

“You gonna keep me waiting?” the snotty student asked, heading toward one of the tables with circles on it.

“Cool your jets. Let's do this,” he said, walking to the end of the same table.

Hoshi looked at the table and felt slightly overwhelmed. It had a black mat on it with six circles, the front-center red and blue and the rest yellow, on both sides, a large green oval in the center between the two sides, and white zones reading Deck, Dropzone, and Damage Zone. It also had a zone outside the rest with cards already placed, but they had white and black patterns on them instead.

“Alright, to start, take one Grade 0 unit from your deck and place it on the Vanguard Circle,” Aichi explained.

“Alright then.” Looking in his deck, he placed the card he thought was right facedown where it needed to go.

“We’ll start by riding our Vanguards. Just flip them over for now,” his spikey classmate told him.

The boy nodded in confirmation and watched his opponent.

“Stand up, Vanguard,” the snooty young man shouted as they flipped over their card.

“I ride Machining Worker Ant.”

“Ride, Stellar Rookie,” said the kid, mimicking his opponent

“Imagine it; our spirits landing on the planet Cray, and-”

“Whatever. Let's get to playing.” The new guy cut off the snotty-sounding boy.

“Well, at least he has his eye on the ball,” Kourin commented from the side.

“You both start with Grade 0 Vanguard and ride a unit 1 grade higher during your ride phase until you reach Grade 3, and you do that by placing a unit on top of the old one,” Aichi stated to the newcomer

“Got it.” The boy looked for a Grade 1 unit to ride. “I’ll ride Stellar Soldier,” he stated as he placed his new unit on top of his old one.

The opponent piped up, ”My turn, draw. I’ll ride the Machining Hornet,” as he rode his vanguard, ”and call a second one to the rearguard,” placing his unit on the circle left of the vanguard.

“So you can call units from your hand as support for the vanguard. Got it,” the boy said.

Naoki spoke up for the first time, "You can only call units with a Grade less than or equal to your vanguard."

“I’ll attack with my vanguard at your vanguard,” the club member stated as he rotated his card to attack. “Time for the drive check.”

“Drive check?” the boy asked. Aichi explained, “When your vanguard attacks, you can call units from the top of your deck to your hand by revealing it. If there’s a mark in the top right corner, it will activate an effect depending on the trigger.”

“Drive Check, No trigger,” the member said, revealing the card as Machining Mantis.

“Now, you reveal the top card of your deck for a trigger before putting it into the damage zone,” Aichi explained again.

“Okay,” the boy said, flipping over the card.” Damage Check, huh?” the boy said, revealing a draw trigger, Serene Guardian.

“That’s a draw trigger; it will give 10,000 power to a unit for this turn, and then you can draw 1 card,” a different club member explained.

“All right, power to my vanguard, and I draw 1.” he then placed the card in the damage zone. 1/6.

“Since your vanguard has 18,000 power, I can’t deal damage with my rearguard Hornet. I think I'll end my turn.”

“Okay, my turn. I draw and ride the Grade 2 Interstellar Vigilante. And then I call!” He placed a Gravity Pursuit in his right front-row circle and a Solar Sleeper Agent on the opposite circle.

“Now, time to attack,” and attacked with his Agent

"Sorry, but that won't work. Your 6,000 power Agent can't beat my 8,000 power Hornet vanguard."

“Hmm. Now that you say that, I know to attack with Vigilante. Drive Check; Critical Trigger?” he said.

" A critical trigger boosts the damage count by one," Aichi taught Hoshi.

His opponent placed the 2 cards in the damage zone. 2/6.

“Finally, Pursuit attacks.”

“I will guard that attack!” said the member as he played Larva Mutant, Larvadraf on the Guardian Circle.

“Why didn’t the attack go through?”

“Because I guarded it. Before the attack, you can place units from your hand on the Guardian Circle to lend its shield stat, the number on the left border, to the targeted unit for this battle. Since your Pursuit had 10,000 Power, and my Hornet had 8,000, I used a 5,000 shield to give myself 13,000 power, enough to stop the damage. However, the used unit retires afterward to the dropzone.”

“Well, this is getting more interesting. I’ll end my turn.”

“Alright, draw. And ride, Machining Mantis. I move my Hornet back to call a second Mantis and a Bloody Hercules to my side."He placed them on either side of his vanguard.

Naoki spoke up, "You can swap units in the same column before your battle phase."

“Bloody Hercules, stomp him out!”

“Alright, damage check.” he revealed his card, Galactic Scales. 2/6

“Now, with a boost from Hornet, Mantis will attack!”

“Wait, what’s a boost?” He asked, pausing the attack

The member made some underlying noise before saying, “Each grade has different abilities. Grade 1 and 0 can give their power to a unit if they are in the back row. And Grade 2’s can intercept from the side as a guardian.”

“Oh”

“Like I said, attack with my rearguard Mantis, while boosted.”

“Not so fast. Guard with my Asteroid Hound,” as he placed his guardian on the circle.”Now you only have 7,000 power and won’t hit.”

“Alright, I’ll attack with my vanguard Mantis.”

“Bring it on.”

“Drive Check, Critical Trigger!” as he revealed Shelter Beetle

“Okay, first check, no trigger. Second check, no trigger,” placing his fourth damage. 4/6

“That’s it for my turn. You better not look for the apology.”

“Alright, draw!” Something in him shifted as soon as he saw what card it was. He didn’t know what possessed him, but he knew this would lead him to victory.

“Ride! Stellar Justice, Asterism!”

“A Grade 3. That means you can take an Imaginary Gif- wait a minute!” the opponent cut off.

“Imaginary Gift?”

Aichi popped up from the side, “When you ride a Grade 3, depending on the color, you can take a unique card from this pile,” pointing out the gift deck with black and white patterns,” and do certain actions with it. But yours doesn’t have a gift icon, meaning you won’t get one.”

“Hm. I will move back my Agent and call Mr. Cosmos,” placing his unit on the now open circle.

“Time to attack. I use Pursuit to strike.”

“No guard.” He placed his 3rd card. 3/6

“Attack with Asterism.”

“No Guard. And your Grade 3 has Twin Drive, so you might want to check twice. You'll need it.”

“Okay, Twin Drive. First Check, Critical Trigger. Second Check, Front Trigger."

"A front trigger gives 10,000 power to the full front row," the snobby kid spoke, shocked.

"I give all effects to my vanguard."

his classmate, this time, spoke, "Hoshi! You can split the boosts from critical triggers amongst your units."

"I'll have to remember. Thank you." Hoshi responded, nodding to the classmate.

“Er, Damage check. First, Second, Draw Trigger. Power to my Vanguard,” placing the 4th and 5th cards in his damage zone. 5/6.

“Alright, attack with Cosmos boosted by Agent.”

“Guard with a Medical Battler, Ranpi.”

“I guess my turn ends there.”

“Alright, I draw and ride a Machining Stag Beetle. Imaginary Gift, Protect II,” he placed it on his Mantis circle.

“And call a trigger unit to boost my Hercules. Attack, Hercules!”

“No guard.” And placed his fifth card in the damage zone. 5/6

“Attack with Stag Beetle.”

“Guard with Tranquil Guardian and Intercept with Pursuit.”

“Twin Drive. First check. Second Check, Critical Trigger. All effects to my Mantis, who’ll attack with a boost from Hornet. He now has 32,000 power.”

“Guard with my Tranquil Guardian.”

“My turn is over. I’ll crush you on my next turn.”

“You won’t get one. Draw, and call another Cosmos to my rearguard. And will call an Asteroid Hound to boot.” He placed his second unit on his center-back row.

“Attack with Mr. Cosmos on the right!

“Guard with my Mantis from the hand.”

“Attack with my other Mr. Cosmos boosted by my Agent.”

“Intercept with my rearguard Mantis, who has 15,000 due to the gift.”

“With a boost from Hound, Asterism attacks.”

“Guard with my Sharp Nail Scorpio. And an intercept from Hercules.”

“Twin Drive, first check, front trigger.”

“Everyone held their breath as he revealed the next one.

“Second Check…” and revealed it, a Heal trigger
“All effects to my vanguard!”

“No!” the snotty kid shouted. “Damage Check,” and revealed his sixth damage, a Machining Stag Beetle.

The boy had won. “Now take back what you said,” he asked the other boy, with a cold glare.

“Alright, Alright. I take it back, you aren’t a coward.” He shrugged while cleaning up his cards and leaving, muttering something about “Beginner's luck.”

“Looks like you win, eh, new kid?” Shingo asked

“Well, now that you are a part of the club, can we get your name?” Naoki asked the rookie

“Sure. The name is Hoshi. Hoshi Fukutsu. And remember it, 'cause now that I’ve played, I ain’t leaving for a while.”

~~
Hello, I am Demios72! Author and maker of Cardfight!! Vanguard Supernova (I own no rights to any of the characters in the original/reboot series, the cards either). In the spirit of how Vanguard episodes usually end with a card commentary, I will also be ending mine with card commentaries for any new cards revealed in the story, even though I have a separate lineup for all my custom cards.

Today, though, I'll just explain Vanguard as a concept.
Vanguard is a 2+ player TCG game from Bushiroad, which is also partnered with Shadowverse. There are three different formats, and the one I will use for the story will be V-Premium. Each player has a 50-card deck, including their starting Vanguard. With each turn, the player will ride a unit from their hand that can be up to one grade higher than the previous vanguard. The goal is to deal 6 damage to your opponent to win the game. Players may also deck out. Units are your allies in your army, that being your deck. The deck can have up to 4 copies of each named unit and can only use one clan. Each clan has its unique style and cards to play with, so swap decks and find your favorite.

To learn how to play, go onto YouTube and look specifically for a tutorial on the V-Premium series. If you here order cards or persona ride, you're in the current standard of D-series.

Chapter Text

The morning sunshine broke through the shutters of Hoshi Fukutsu’s bedroom, awakening him just as his alarm went off at 6 AM, allowing him ample time to get dressed into his uniform, wash his face, and get downstairs to find the usual note from his parents, reading “We are working until Sunday. See you then!” with a couple of hearts written after it, probably from his mother.

His parents loved him and he loved his parents, but they were high executives at a large company who were sent around the globe to deal with branch problems. Many of the items in his house were from said trips, ranging from a sofa out of Sweden, an array of paintings from auctions ranging from France to China, and a glass china set from the Thailand branch’s head.

“Well, better make myself some breakfast.” He got to work, making his toast slices with jelly and peanut butter for a breakfast PB&J, and making an omelet he would eat at school.

He got to school around 6:45 AM, a quarter of an hour before classes started. He sat down at his desk and started eating his omelet in peace. Not even after finishing his food and putting it away did he hear the familiar, fast-paced steps and keychain jingle of his classmate and proclaimed BFF, a smile-wearing doof named Nico Supaiku.

“Morning, Hoshi! Man, yesterday was great!” he spoke with his natural enthusiasm.

“What do you mean now?” Hoshi questioned Nico, hoping the classmate didn’t have amnesia. Again.

“What do I mean? You joined the club!”

“Oh yeah. Speaking of which, I brought my deck to play some more and understand it. Though I still wonder how they got into my locker.”

The class teacher stepped in, telling everyone to take their seats and that they would get a pop quiz on their material from weeks earlier. Everyone sighed a collective sigh, except for Hoshi.
~
As soon as classes ended, Nico and Hoshi got to the clubroom, where everyone was waiting to welcome the new member.

“It's so global that you decided to join the club!” said the president of the student council

“My power thirsts to fight you in Vanguard! Come to me, great darkness!” said the occult club’s only member

“Now, hold on a moment, everyone!” Kourin shouted, pulling the two boys back by their ears. Hoshi was silently thankful for pulling them out of his bubble.

”Just because he joined the club doesn’t mean he can up and play all of you.”

“She isn’t wrong. I don’t even know all the rules yet.” Hoshi addressed the crowd of people.

“Well, let's get you squared away then,” Naoki called from the crowd, moving his way to the front. “I’ll be your opponent this time.”

“No, I'll be. Remember? I am the official welcoming fighter to all new club members.” Kourin reproached Naoki

“Fine, you’re right. But I’m still going next.” Naoki responded, backing off.

“Let’s get started, shall we?” Kourin called to Hoshi, and the two moved over to a playing table.

The two searched for their starting vanguard and drew five cards. Kourin replaced three into her deck, with Hoshi staring at her actions quizzically.

“Oh, when you don’t like the hand you start with, you can take any number of cards and place them on the bottom of the deck and draw the same amount.”

Hoshi nodded, choosing two cards and placing them on the bottom, then drawing two more.

“Let's do this,” Hoshi responded, a small and discreet fire in his eyes

“Stand Up, Vanguard!” Both called out as they revealed their vanguards.

“I ride Crimson Lion Cub Kyrph!”

“I ride, Stellar Rookie!”

“I’ll go first. I draw and ride Knight of Elegant Skills, Gareth. And with Kyrph’s effect, I draw one card.”

“Okay, my turn. Draw and ride Stellar Soldier, and call Asteroid Hound.” Placing his canine unit on the left front-row rearguard.

“I’ll attack with the Asteroid Hound.”

“No guard. Damage check.” 1/6

“Attack with Soldier.”

“Guard with Flame of Victory.”

“No trigger. I end my turn.”

“Draw. I ride Knight of Superior Skills, Beaumains. With its skill, I discard a card to call Gareth from the deck. Gareth’s skill will counter-blast to give it 10,000 power this turn. Now, pay attention.”

Hoshi watched her movements, unknowing of the oncoming assault.

“Using its skill, I soul-blast Kyrph and superior ride! Incadescent Lion, Blond Ezel!”

Hoshi watched as Kourin rode a grade 3 unit and boosted a rearguard without a backrow unit. ‘It must be because of skills.’

“Wait, what’s a soul-blast and counter-blast?”

Kourin paused to explain. “Soul-blasting and counter-blasting are cost systems in Vanguard. You can activate skills by doing certain actions. Like I just did, I soul-blasted Kyrph for Ezel’s skill. Souls are the cards under the Vanguard. Blasting is placing them into the dropzone, and charging is putting the top card of your deck into your soul face-up. Counter-blasting is flipping a damage card facedown, and charging is back face-up. Any more questions?”

Hoshi stood at attention, absorbing this knowledge, “No. Thank you for the explanation. I think I saw some of those on my cards.”

Kourin coughed to continue the match. “Ezel’s ride gives me an Accel II gift. I’ll now call Battlefield Storm Sagramore to my Accel circle. Its skill will soul-blast one to draw me a card, and call another unit. Call Sacred Guardian Beast, Nemean Lion.” The new lion unit was placed to the left of Ezel, opposite to Gareth’s position.

“I’ll attack your Vanguard with Ezel. Since you're not a Grade 3, Ezel lost a drive. However, its skill will call Listener of Truth, Dindrane behind Nemean Lion. Her skill will soul-blast one to draw me a card.”

“No guard.”

“Drive check, Critical Trigger. Critical to Ezel and the power to Sagramore.”

“Dame Check. I got a heal trigger on my second damage with the power for my Vanguard.” 1/6.

“Attack Hound with Gareth.”

“No guard.”

“Attack with Nemean Lion, boosted by Dindrane.”

“Guard with Solar Sleeper Agent.”

“Attack with Sagramore.”

“No guard.” 2/6.

“I end my turn.” ‘This kid is handling himself well facing my Ezel, even if this is one of my easier Gold Paladin decks.’

“Draw. I ride Stellar Vigilante. With Soldier’s skill from the ride, I counter-blast one to lock your Dindrane.”

The unit was flipped over, shocking everyone there. “He locked Kourin’s unit? I thought only Kouji’s deck did that.” Shingo spoke from the side.

‘Is that really rare? Never mind, back to my fight.’ “Call Lunar Commando. Its skill will soul-blast one to call Solar Sleeper Agent from my dropzone and lock another unit. I lock your Sagramore.” The unit was again flipped over, this time on the card-made circle, as Hoshi placed his new Grade 1 behind his Vanguard.

“Call Gravity Pursuit and use Sleeper Agent’s skill to give one of my units 10,000 more power this turn. I choose Vigilante. Now, Commando attacks with 13,000 power by its skill.”

“No Guard.” 2/6.

“Attack your Vanguard with Vigilante.”

“No guard.”

“Drive check. Critical Trigger, critical to Vigilante and power to Pursuit.”

“Damage checks. Draw trigger for my third damage.” 4/6.

“Attack your Nemean Lion with Pursuit.” Kourin let the attack on her big cat through.

“You’ve gotten pretty good for your second game,” Kourin commented with a smirk.

“If you're all wondering why,” Nico popped up out of his spot, “Hoshi can grasp anything with some practice. I’ve seen him play basketball in gym one day and completely be able to do stuff that the veterans on the school teams around here take a lot of practice to learn.”

Hoshi silently ground his teeth only in Naoki and Aichi’s perception. ‘God dammit. Why can’t I rid myself of this curse?’

The student council’s vice president shifted his glasses, “That explains how he can match Kourin, a veteran fighter, card for card so far.”

“Let’s get back to the match,” Hoshi stated in a sour tone.

“Sorry. Draw. I call Evil Slaying Swordsman, Haugan.” The new red-armored unit appeared behind Gareth, with two broadswords in hand. “Also, Waving Owl to support my Ezel.”

“Attack Vigilante with Gareth boosted by Haugan.”

“No Guard.” 3/6.

“Attack with Ezel boosted by Owl. Its skill calls Beaumains to my rearguard. My knight’s skill gives it 3,000 more power this turn.

“Guard with Calm Guardian and intercept from Pursuit.”

“You're hoping I pull single trigger, right?” Jourin questioned with a cheeky glint in her eyes, poising herself for her drive check.

“Twin Drive. Just a front trigger. You got lucky, rookie.” The attack never hit, and Hoshi’s luck pulled through.

“Attack with Beaumains.”

“No guard. I got a draw trigger.” 4/6.

“I end my turn.” Kourin’s units unlocked at this moment.

“Draw. I ride Stellar Justice, Asterism. I use Vigilante’s skill for a counter-blast to call it to my open front row. I also call Stellar Soldier and Asteroid Hound. I use Soldier’s skill to lock your Dindrane for a counter-blast. Following that, Asterism’s own lock skill for a counter-blast and Solar Sleeper Agent’s skill will be used to give power to Asterism.” With a flurry of moves, Kourin’s Haugan was locked, and Asterism’s power was amped up to 33,000.

“I attack with Asterism.”

Kourin looked at her hand of 6 cards. She could stop it.

“Guard with Dantegal, Flame of Victory, and Nemean Lion.” Kourin placed down her three cards, gambling that he didn’t pull a double trigger.

“Twin Drive. Frist Check, no trigger. Second Check, Critical trigger. All effects to Commando.”

“Attack with Commando boosted by Soldier, for 34,000 power.”

“Kourin couldn’t block, for her hand had another Ezel, a Sagramore, and the only card with a shield, a Haugan. She would have to hope for a heal trigger.

“No guard. Damage check.” She didn’t get the card she needed as she placed her sixth card, a Blond Ezel.

“I’ve lost.” She stood up,” And you are now an official club member, Hoshi.” She extended her hand out to him, a smile of greeting upon her face

“Thank you. And thanks for the match.” He replied, shaking her hand

“Well, Ms. Tatsunagi, that was a good match, but you still have to brush up on your skills to have been beaten by a rookie,” Naoki commented from the side, earning a glare from Kourin.

“Wait, are you Kourin Tatsunagi from that Tatsunagi group?” Hoshi asked her

“Uh, yeah. Why do you ask?” She was hoping he wasn’t another fan like many others in the school.

“Maybe you know my parents. They worked with your group on several business subjects.”

“Oh, I remember them!" A look of a nice memory came across her face, "They were that nice couple who had met with Nome on some occasions. They would talk about their son here in Japan. That’s you?”

“Yep. My parents are usually on trips, so I follow their ventures via the news.”

“Okay, rookie. My turn!” Naoki interjected, drawing Hoshi's attention and walking over to the table. “Time to show you the power of Narukami!”

“Bring it on,” Hoshi responded, setting up his deck and field

“Stand up, Vanguard!”
~
I decided to use Kourin’s Gold Paladin deck to show Hoshi and any newcomers to Vanguard how some skills are used. But to talk about this week’s card!

Stellar Justice, Asterism. It is a grade 3 unit used by Hoshi as his ace of the deck. He can counter-blast one to lock an opponent’s back-row unit, and it gains +10000P during your turn while a locked unit is in play. It also has a mysterious 3rd ability that you’ll find out in Chapter 4.

It doesn't have an Imaginary Gift symbol like most main vanguards, that’s why its skills are meant to offset that.

Chapter Text

It was Saturday, and though Hoshi usually liked Saturdays, he couldn’t rid the urge to do something before his parents came home the next day. When he was younger, his parents coming home meant he could tell them about what he did during the week, but as seeing them became rare even in certain months, he started doing that less. Nevertheless, the urge was still there.

On his way down from his room to the front door, he saw the caretaker, Miss Akika, a nice grandmother who had known the family since Hoshi was born. She came by the place just to make sure it wasn’t burned down and was still in one piece. She smiled at him as he grabbed his jacket from the hangar since it was windy that day.

His house was on the bigger side, with a walk-in area connecting to a living room and paralleled by a kitchen. The dining room sat behind the kitchen via a wall, a small area cut out to allow passage of food without having to go through the hallway. Two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a storage closet were from the hallway. As the stairs joined the living room from the side, they led up to a 2nd floor with 2 more bedrooms and a small bathroom.

His parents' trip to America in their youth decided that they would have a cozy and big enough house.

Earlier that week, he decided to head to a card shop he had heard of from one of the club members, hoping to up his now interested mind and skills he had started attaining since he got his (curious, to say the least) deck. He soon found the place and entered after a little over half an hour of walking.

It was a small shop under some other buildings, the name “Card Capital” allowing him to find it.

“Welcome to Card Capital!” spoke a green-haired old man behind the counter when he entered.

Hoshi met the man at the counter, and a swift glance revealed some side doors and many tables, some shelves housing other cards. The most peculiar part was that to his right was a giant hole with a stand at the bottom, like he had seen at the club.

“Hello. I was wondering, could you look at my deck?” Hoshi responded after turning his attention to the old man, giving his deck to the stranger.

“Gladly. Huh; Hmm…” the man quickly changed the tone of his voice as he shuffled through the deck. “I’ve never seen these units before, but I have seen the clan. It's called the Link Joker, and it's extremely rare to find them.”

After hearing the words “Link Joker”, a nearby short middle schooler perked up from a table, turning around to see why the shop manager had said that specific clan and saw Hoshi taking back the deck.

Getting out of his chair, he walked to the front counter and spoke to the manager, “Hey, Shin. You said this guy has a Link Joker deck?”

Shin, apparently the green-haired man, answered him.” Yeah, Kamui. They’re Link Joker units, but nothing like Kouji’s.”

Hoshi wondered, ‘Kouji?’ but before he could ask, the boy named Kamui turned to him. “Are you up for a match?”

Hoshi looked down at him, thinking it over before answering, “Sure, I was looking for someone to play with.”

The two students soon faced each other at the table at the bottom of the shop.
“Stand up, Vanguard.”

“Kamui the Great Rides Battleraizer!”

“I ride, Stellar Rookie.”

“Me first. Kamui the Great Rides rides Raizer Custom!”

“I use the skill of Custom; by placing a card into the soul and reducing its drive, it can attack on the first turn. Go!” Kamui explained, launching his attack

“No Guard, and no trigger.” 1/6

“I end my turn.”

“Draw and ride! Stellar Soldier!”

“I also call Asteroid Hound.” Placing his unit to the left of the vanguard

‘Shin was right; it looks nothing like Kouji’s deck.’ Kamui thought to himself

“Attack with Hound.”

“No Guard, and no trigger.” 1/6

“Attack with Soldier!”

“Guard with Cannon Ball.”

“No trigger from the drive.”

“Not bad, Mr. Joker. How long have you been playing?”

Hoshi stared at him, answering, “I just started this last Thursday.”

“What!?! You just started a week ago?”

“Yeah. Are you going to play or what?” Hoshi looked at Kamui with a look of ‘Come on.’

“Oh, right. Draw. I ride Hi-Powered Raizer Custom!”

“Its skill will call Batleraizer from the soul. And get ready, 'cause I also call Brutal Jack!” He placed his original vanguard behind his current unit while the other unit was on the left of the vanguard.

“I attack with Jack! And he’s so high gear, he has 19,000 power by skill.”

“No Guard, and a critical trigger for my vanguard. (2/6). So, your deck forfeits materials for more attacks? The only way to describe it is all or nothing.” Hoshi remarked as Kamui did his play

“That’s why Nova Grapplers are so great! They’re pro fighters putting their all into every hit. Now, enough talk, I attack with Hi-powered boosted by Battleraizer.”

“I guard that with Placid Guardian.”

“No trigger from my drive, and I end my turn. Good thing you blocked my vanguard, otherwise, Jack would stand again.”

“Well, I had a rare gut feeling to stop the attack. Turns out it was right.”

Hoshi smiled while looking at his units, a strange sensation coming from within, he had forgotten long ago.

“My turn. I ride Stellar Vigilante, and Soldier’s skill will lock your Battleraizer.”

“Huh?” Both Kamui and Shin, the manager intrigued by the skill, exclaimed.

‘So that deck can lock like Kouji’s, but…’ Kamui thought as he watched Hoshi bring out a Gravity Pursuit to his Vanguard's left after moving back his Hound and calling another Pursuit to the open front-row circle.

“I attack with my Vanguard!”

“No guard.”

“Drive check, Front Trigger.”

“Damage Check, Draw Trigger; Power to my vanguard.” 2/6

“Attack Your Brutal Jack with my un-boosted Pursuit.”

“Guard with Raizer Custom!”

“Attack the Vanguard with Pursuit boosted by Asteroid Hound, its effect giving it a total of 33,000.”

“No Guard.” 3/6

Kamui looked at his damage count at 3 already, while Hoshi only had 2. “I ride! Perfect Raizer!”

“Imaginary Gift, Accel II! Call to the Accel Circle, Maximum Raizer! Burstraizer and Raizer Custom as well!”

“Why didn’t your Brutal Jack stand?” Hoshi questioned, looking at the still-rested card

“Jack is powerful, but I need to rest two of my units to let him stand and attack normally,” Kamui responded. “I attack your vanguard with Burstraizer, boosted by Custom.”

“No guard on the attack, and no trigger.” 3/6

“I use Maximum Riazer to attack your vanguard, which has 27,000 power.”

“No guard and critical trigger, effects going to my vanguard.” 4/6

“Attack with Perfect Raizer. Using its skill, I counter-blast two and stand my Maximum Raizer and Brutal Jack. Then, with Burstraizer’s soul-blast and counter-blast a piece and Raizer Custom’s skill, I stand them both!”

“Guard with Solar Sleeper Agent.”

“Twin Drive; First check, Heal trigger. Power to my Brutal Jack. Second check, no trigger.”

“Attack your Vanguard with Burstraizer boosted by Custom, for a total of 20,000 power.”

“No guard and no damage trigger.” 5/6

“Attack your vanguard with Maximum Raizer again!”

“Intercept from my left Pursuit.”

"Attack with Brutal Jack."

"Guard with Placid Guardian."

“I end my turn.”

Hoshi drew his next card.

“Ride, Stellar Justice, Asterism!”

“Vigilante’s skill calls it from the soul with a counter-blast,” Hoshi explained while placing his new rearguard to the right of the vanguard.

“And I call Lunar Commando, and soul-blast to use its skill to call Solar Sleeper Agent from the dropzone.” He placed his new units on the open front row and center back row circles, respectively.

“Then lock your Burstraizer by Commando’s Skill.”

Kamui and Shin watched as the mechanical unit was locked.

‘Shin was still right. It works far differently from Kouji’s “Messiah” deck.’ Kamui once again thought in his booming head voice.

At about this time, a new young man with brown spiky hair and bangs in a jacket stepped through the sliding doors, noticing Shin watching with great strain from above the pit.

“Hey, Shin, who’s playing down there?” The newcomer walked over to the old, green-haired manager.

“Oh, hello there, Kai. Kamui is playing against someone who has a Link Joker deck. But it seems different from Kouji’s:” Shin responded to the question as Hoshi attacked from below, using his card skills to deal Kamui the sixth and final damage, a Beast Deity, Azure Dragon. (6/6) “, and he just won as well.”

Kai watched as the Link Joker user bowed to Kamui in thanks, and Kamui did the same. Both soon gathered up their cards and headed back up.

Shin turned to them. “Excellent match, you too! Right, Kai?” Shin turned to the male brunette as Kai walked forward to face Hoshi.

“Where did you get that deck?” Kai asked, his gaze proving to be unrelenting

Hoshi considered how the boy had asked him and decided to speak the truth. “I found it in my locker at my school, with a note saying to play the game.”

“So I assume your name must be Hoshi, then.”

“Yeah, it is. How did you know?”

“Aichi told me about a newcomer to the club playing with a new Link Joker deck. Catching the tail end of your match, that person must be you.”

Hoshi studied the brown-haired boy. He was still in high school but had a vibe that was both mysterious and powerful.

“Hold on a moment, is your name Toshiki Kai? Aichi said something about wanting us two to play against each other. While I’m here, why don’t we play?” Hoshi spoke to who he assumed was Toshiki Kai.

“Why not? I can assess your strength first-hand then.” Kai answered in response to the request, and both students soon set up their decks to play.

“Stand Up, the Vanguard!”
“Stand up, Vanguard”
~~
Yep, I had to bring in Kai early for the “Trial by Fire” he puts newbies through. The next chapter will be worth the wait, hopefully, as some cool and mysterious things are going to happen.
Time for this week’s card-

Stellar Vigilante
The main grade 2 Hoshi rides from his stellar soldier to his ace unit. It has a cool skill to call itself from the soul on the ride, which I unofficially still call Forerunner. It’s a perfect grade 2 for an Asterism deck as it gains power and shield while your vanguard is Asterism.

Chapter Text

“I ride Lizard Runner, Undeuex.”
“Ride, Stellar Rookie.”

“I’ll go first,” said Hoshi,” and ride Stellar Soldier.” He drew his card from Rookie’s skill.
“I end my turn.”

“Ride Sabel Dragonewt!” Kai spoke after his main draw and then drew his other from his starter’s skill.

“I also call Flame of Hope, Aermo. Attack with my vanguard.”

“No guard.” 1/6

Kai drew his Drive check, revealing a Dragonic Overlord. Hoshi placed his 1st damage into his zone.

“Sabel Dragonewt’s skill; when its attack hits, I draw a card. Attack with Aermo.”

“Guard with Solar Sleeper Agent.”

Hoshi started his turn.”I ride Stellar Vigilante and call a Lunar Commando. Its skill will place my Agent back from the dropzone with a soul-blast while locking your Aermo.”

Kai watched, unnerved by this action. He knew Link Joker loved messing with opponents' boards, but a lock on the grade 2 ride? Kai watched Hoshi lock his Agent placed in the center back-row to use its skill. Hoshi attacked with his vanguard.

“No Guard.”

“Drive Check, No trigger.” 1/6

“Attack with Commando. Its skill gives it 3,000 power.”

“Guard with Dragon Knight, Burj.”

“I end my turn. Solar Sleeper Agent unlocks.”

“My turn. Ride Dragon Full-Armored Buster. Its skill will soul-blast two to retire your Commando. Then I add Dragonic Overlord “The Great” from the top seven cards of my deck.”

Hoshi watched as his opponent called a Burj to his center back-row, and a Dragon Knight, Nehalem, to the right of his vanguard.

“Nehalem’s counter-blast, I retire your Sleeper Agent. Then it gains 5,000 power for the turn.”

Kai continued his onslaught, his Buster gaining 3,000 power by its skill.

“Attack with my Buster boosted by Burj.”

“No guard.”

“Drive Check, Critical Trigger. Critical to my vanguard, power to Nehalem.”

“Damage Check, 1st and 2nd. Draw Trigger; Power to my Vigilante.” 3/6

“Attack with Nehalem.”

“Guard with Hyper Helper.”

“I end my turn, unlocking my Aermo.”

~

Hoshi felt a sense of power from his opponent. He thought his vision was messing with him, but as he blinked, he saw the shadowy visage of a tall, dragon-like creature enshrouded in flames. As it sounded, he broke out of his trance and looked around.
~
Kai seemed to notice this, and then something strange happened. His PSYqualia activated, which hadn’t kicked in since his second fight with Aichi. He was out in space in his spirit form, near Cray. He saw two stars, a light and a dark one, clashing against each other. As he tried to get closer, he heard a familiar roar behind him.

He turned around to see Dragonic Overlord, his Dragonic Overlord. He knew it was him. But it was vastly different. It seemed to have technological advancement, with tech similar to the 2 beings fighting each other, its blade seemingly now plasma of red, and its wings sporting metal armor with lines of the same pulsing red.
~
Kamui and Shun watched from above as both fighters stood there for a minute and regained their bearings. Shun knew something was off, but decided to save it for later.
~
“I ride Stellar Justice, Asterism! Vigilante’s skill will call itself to my rearguard.” He placed his old vanguard on his left circle.

“I call Celestial Helix and two Blackout Designers. I use the skill of Celestial Helix, locking my two Designers to give it 10,000 power for the turn. Then, I lock your Nehalem and Aermo.”

“Attack with Asterism, who has 23,000 power by its skill.”

“Perfect Guard,” Kai said, discarding a card. He knew he would need to hold out until he had Overlord in play.

"A Perfect Guard means you stop the whole attack, right?"

"That's correct. Now, I do know you have some knowledge of the game." Kai spoke in a tone that partially infuriated Hoshi.

“Now my Drive Check. First check, second check; huh?” Hoshi flipped over the second card, revealing a card he hadn’t previously seen in his deck.

I looked like Asterism but was blue colored instead of the silver that was his vanguard. It also seemed to have a Force marker on the side, indicating that he would get an Imaginary Gift.

He wondered, ‘How could I use this?’ Then something clicked.

“All or nothing time. After Asterism attacks, I can soul-blast one. Doing so allows me to ride a new “Asterism” unit from my hand, deck, or dropzone.”

Everyone around the pit, where the match had amassed quite the crowd, gasped. Kai especially was perplexed as Hoshi explained.

“This is Override! And by this, I ride Asterism “Force Mode!”

Hoshi placed his new unit down over his old one. “With that, I gain an Imaginary Gift: Force I for Asterism.”

“ I attack with Vigilante with 15,000 power.”

“No guard. Damage check, no trigger.” 2/6

“Attack with Celestial Helix.”

“No guard, and I got a critical trigger for myself.” 3/6

“I attack with Force Mode. Because of Override, it lost its two drive checks.”

“Guard with a Dragon-Armored Knight.”

“Override will replace my Asterism from my soul back on top as rest. I end my turn and unlock my Designers.”

“Well played. I’m at three damage, but this will end soon. Ride the Vanguard! Dragonic Overlord!”

Kai placed down his fiery avatar, and Hoshi realized it was the same as the shadow he had seen earlier.

“Imaginary Gift: Force I. I use Burj’s skill, counter-blasting, and placing it into the soul to give Overlord 10000 power, then retire your Helix.”

Hoshi watched as his grade 3 unit was retired, and Kai boosted Overlord with its soul-blast skill.

“I will attack your vanguard with Dragonic Overlord.”

“I don’t guard.”

“Twin Drive, First check; Second check; Critical Trigger. All effects to Overlord.”

“First damage, no trigger. Second damage, no trigger.” 5/6

“I use Overlord’s skill; since his attack hit, I can counter-blast one and discard two cards to stand him with one less drive.” Kai discarded his cards as he then stood his Overlord.

“Attack with Overlord again.”

Hoshi looked at his hand. And played what he knew he needed to play.

“Perfect Guard! Galactic Scales!”

Kai saw this and realized he had only a few cards left in his hand. He had stopped the primary lock unit that was in play.

“Drive Check, Heal Trigger. I end my turn." Kai unlocked all his units. He watched Hoshi as the rookie made his move.

“Draw and call Gravity Pursuit. I attack with Asterism.”

“Guard with Genjo and Gojo.”

“Drive check, First check; Second Check; no triggers. I activate Override and soul-blast my Force Mode to ride it again. I give the Force II to my vanguard.”

Kai watched Hoshi, knowing he could take a hit from the rearguards while blocking his new unit.

“I use Force Mode’s skill; when placing him, I can counter-blast two and give all my front-row units +1 critical for this turn!”

“What?”

“I attack with Vigilante.”

“No guard, and my damage check revealed a draw trigger. I give the effects to Overlord.” 5/6

“Attack your Nehalem with Pursuit boosted by Blackout Designer."

"I'll let that one through."

“Attack with Force Mode!”

Kai placed down his guardian, discarding a Dragonic Neoflame. “Wyvern Strike, Barri. Perfect Guard.”

Hoshi looked at his meager 4-card hand of a Mr. Cosmos, Asterism, Asteroid Hound, and Lunar Commando. He then looked at his 5 damage and saw his opponent draw and exclaim, “Final Turn.”

“I ride; Dragonic Overlord “The Great!”

Hoshi looked at the card, and Kai spoke up to him.

“Imagine it.”

Hoshi soon found himself in a rocky valley, being stared down by the now even more powerful Overlord.

“I get a Force I for my Vanguard and call Dragonic Neoflame from the dropzone by its skill.”

“I attack with Neoflame, targeting your Gravity Pursuit.”

“No Guard.”

“Attack with The Great. Neoflame’s skill gives The Great 5000 more power, and with a counter-blast of 2, an extra critical.”

“I intercept with Vigilante and guard with everything I have, a 30000 total shield.”

“Twin Drive. First check, no trigger. Second check, draw trigger; Power to Overlord.”

Hoshi watched as the sword in the hand of this Eternal Flame came down on him.

“Damage Check…No trigger.” He placed his last damage, an Asterism, in his damage zone. He had lost.

“Hoshi, that was a good mat-” Kai was cut off by laughter emitting from the boy. Everyone stared as he continued to laugh uncontrollably.

‘Finally, I found something that I can do without feeling like a nuisance to others. I can be…a human for once.’ Hoshi thought to himself. Then, silently, he gathered up his cards, thanked Kai for the match, and walked home.

When he got back, he immediately got onto his computer. He had to know everything he could about Vanguard. The poor boy stayed up all night, not even noticing a text from his mother saying that his parents wouldn’t be back for a couple more days.
~
After Kai was done with his shift at Capital, a job Shin gave him after Misaki started dating Kourin, he went home and texted Aichi about what had happened, including his vision with PSYqualia.

>‘I saw a light and dark star battling and also saw a different Overlord’
<‘You might be onto something. Ever since I met Hoshi, I’ve had this weird feeling coming from the back of my mind. I think we should contact Nome and Tetsu.
>’We’ll do that tomorrow. For now, let’s just hope there isn’t anything crazy happening again.’

Kai turned off his phone and got ready for bed. He soon dreamt he was in a dark void, with no direction. He then saw a glimmering object in the distance and a familiar roar. He tried to run towards it and caught it. The light was blinding until he awoke with the sun on his face.

He sat up in his bed, walked over to his deck, and picked it up. He shuffled through them until he happened upon what he was looking for, his eyes almost bulging from surprise. He then immediately set down his deck and called Tetsu.

The card he left on the top of his deck looked exactly like the unit in his vision, and its name read-
Dragonic Overlord “The Future”
~~
Welcome back, readers! Glad you've stuck with me this far. I was tossing ideas over the fence of how I should go about this fight and decided Kai would use his “Great” deck since we didn’t get a chance to see it much in the anime. While I felt Hoshi could win, he's not Aichi in episode 1 of any series. So, I decided Kai could take a W.

I give you Asterism’s skill: Override! I watched the Dress series of the current anime and thought immediately that RevolDress from the Youthberk line was cool, so I mashed it with Gear Chronicle’s (sorry, it won’t make an appearance here) stride-like skill that grade 3’s have, and ta-da! Override. For now, all of Hoshi’s Override units will be unusable otherwise. And no, I didn’t forget Link Joker was a Force Clan, and that I didn’t accidentally make the front trigger. For now, this week’s card-

Asterism “Force Mode”
Asterism’s modes can’t be placed or rode normally and can only do so via Override. This one is the power of the Force Gift and can give +1C to all front-row units when placed, with a counter-blast of two.

Chapter Text

“We need to meet with Nome. Something about a new club mate of Aichi’s is throwing my PSYqualia for a loop.”

A large, young adult on the other line spoke, “I’ll get in touch with Suiko. If your PSYqualia went off in a match against this rookie, combined with your dream, this might be like the Deletor incident all over again.”

Kai remembered his defeat at Kouji’s Deletors. All of the main players in that incident had regained their memories via their cards' spirits. If it had to do with Brandt again, this was going to be rough.

‘But if this had to do with Brandt, why did Overloard change, and I don’t feel anything sinister from it?’ He asked himself as he picked up his new card.
~
“Mmmhmmmh. This is so great!” Nico spoke with his full mouth as he ate the deluxe banana split sundae Hoshi had just bought him. How this situation had happened would take them back half an hour.
—
Hoshi had been jogging since around 9 AM today, Sunday. His overnight studying of Vanguard had made him sleep in late, as he usually woke up at 7:30 on weekends. After listening to his parents’ recording, he decided to take a jog to clear his head and wake himself up.

He soon realized that in his hour of running, he had wandered into the shopping district of an open mall nearby. He slowed himself to a walk as he took in his surroundings, where he ran into his classmate Nico, who was running a pseudo-fossil stand.

“Hey bud! what are you doing out here?” Nico asked his BFF as Hoshi decided to stay and talk.

“I stayed up late studying Vanguard, so I decided to have a wake-up jog; I found myself here. Might I ask, what are you doing here?” Hoshi responded in a less enthusiastic tone.

“I was helping out the natural history museum, which is on the other side of the city, by selling these gift shop items over here. Say, I’m gonna take a break here anyway. wanna come with me to eat something? There’s a cute cafe a few sections down.”

Hoshi thought it over before he felt his stomach rumble. He hadn’t eaten anything for breakfast, so he said, “Sure. I have to eat something anyway.”

They had made their way over, and when sitting down, Nico realized he had left his wallet at the stand in the money safe. Hoshi decided to buy him some food to stop his crying. 'Now, I can call up a favor from him.’ Hoshi had gotten a pancake platter, while his classmate had bought a deluxe banana split sundae.
—
Hoshi had saved up a lot of allowance money he barely spent, so he knew he wouldn’t lose anything buying food for him and his classmate.

Hoshi looked over the spikey-haired boy and remembered something was missing.
“Hey Nico, where’s your keychain at? The one with the dinosaur claw.”

“Oh, I left it back at home on my bag. Hey, wanna hear the story of how I got that fossil?”

Hoshi thought it over, and though he thought he didn't want to, “Sure,” said his voice instead.

“My father is this popular paleontologis and took me to some of his dig sites when he could. When I was about to enter middle school, he took me to a site in a region known for its earthquakes. While digging, an earthquake hit.” Nico spoke slowly compared to his usual enthusiastic tone.

“In the resulting fault line, I almost fell in! But maybe fate had other plans for me. This massive skeleton of a therapod, the big guys like T. rex, was unearthed from that fault line, and I fell on it. It saved my life that day. And that fossil on my bag reminds me of that life-saving skeleton, as it's a claw from a hand digit of that exact skeleton.”

Hoshi, who had eaten his platter, was partially dumbfounded. This boy had gone through 3 different near-death experiences in his 17-year life. While his face didn’t show that, Hoshi’s machination of his brain went to work trying to figure out what was keeping this kid alive. ‘Pure optimism?’

“Anyway, that was years ago. Now that I ate something, I better get back to the stand.” Nico stood up from his chair and thanked Hoshi for the food.

Hoshi paid the bill and was leaving a couple minutes later when he heard the shouting of Nico at his booth.

“THE SAFE! WHERE IS IT?” Hoshi saw Nico scrambling around the booth, trying to find the safe.

An old man in a stall across from them spoke up at the two boys,”I don’t know if this will help ya, Sunny, but some thug looking students came by and took the safe. Sorry, nobody could do anything. They’re a nasty couple of kids who vagrant themselves around here.” The old man pulled out a map and pointed to an area a couple miles away from the mall. “They gather in an abandoned warehouse off the river around here. I hope you get your safe back, youngsters.”

Nico shot up and immediately grabbed Hoshi. “Thank you, sir! Hoshi, let’s go get that safe!”

Nico dragged the unwilling accomplice to the area in under half an hour and found the place. After Nico let go of Hoshi, who was contemplating leaving as this had nothing to do with him, he saw the doors slightly open.

A multitude of thugs wearing purple items, mostly school-jacket-like ones, poured out. They soon surrounded the two Miyaji students. Hoshi was slightly panicked, but not much. Nico didn't back down. “I heard you stole the safe of a booth I was working at. I would like that safe back, and the money if you openned it already.”

A big lug from the group walked up to him, easily a foot taller than Nico. The pair could smell the garlic off his breath as he spoke. “We’re the Spike Brothers, this area’s top group. I’m the acting head, Crusher. You want what from us?”

“I said, We. Are. Here. For. The. Money. Your. Goons. Took,” Nico said with a fearless tone, staring down the behemoth.

“...” Hoshi was already halfway through the 3rd iteration of his and Nico’s escape plan when all the surrounding members started laughing. Before anything could happen, he had a split-second thought

“Wait! You said your group’s name is the Spike Brothers, as in the Vanguard clan? Does anyone play?” Hoshi asked quickly, hoping to stop any oncoming fights. Everyone stared at him for a moment until all of them raised their hands.

Crusher spoke up, “All of us play Vanguard. Our team name is Team Spikes. I take it you all play Vanguard too?”

"Yeah. How about this? We play, and whoever wins does what the other person wants. Deal?" Hoshi questioned the lug.

The person thought for a moment and decided. "Deal."

Hoshi brought out his deck and moved forward before Nico put out an arm to stop him. “Don’t, Hoshi. I lost the safe and dragged you with me without thinking. Let me handle this.” Nico had a serious tone to his voice. The two were led inside to a gaming table. The two players, Nico and Crusher, set up their decks.

“If I win, I take the safe back. If you win…” Nico spoke to the lug.

“If I win, you have to be our errand boy until we say so,” Crusher spoke back.

“Good thing I won't lose.”

The two readied their cards after the reshuffle.
“Stand up, Vanguard!”

“I ride Mecha Trainer.”

“I ride Dragon Egg.”

Nico took the first turn. “I ride Assistopteryx and draw a card by my Egg. I end my turn.”

“Ride, Gyro Slinger. With its skill, I put a card into the soul and look at the top of my deck and call it to rearguard. Superior call, Funky Bazooka.”

Hoshi watched them. From his research, he knew Tachikaze and Spike Brothers were very aggressive within their styles. He could kill two birds with one stone watching this fight.

“Attack your vanguard with Slinger.”

“No guard.”

“Drive check, not trigger.” His card was a General Seifried.

“Damage Check.” Nico placed a Tyrant, Deathrex. 1/6.

“Attack with Bazooka.”

“Guard with Sonic Noa.”

“That's it for my turn.”

“Draw and ride Ravenous Dragon, Megarex. I also call Sonic Noa and Laceraterex. Both of their skills put the top card of my deck as equip gauges for them.”

Hoshi, watching, remembered reading about this. The equip gauge was a big part of Tachikaze's strategies.

“I attack your vanguard with Laceraterex.”

“No guard. The damage trigger check,” his check revealed a Spike Bouncer. 1/6.

“Attack with Sonic Noa.”

“No guard.” His next damage revealed a Juggernaut Maximum. 2/6.

“Noa’s skill; I retire Laceraterex to draw a card. Laceraterex’s skill by soul-blast will return its equip gauge to my hand.”

“Attack with Megarex. I retire Noa to draw one card.”

“Guard with Silence Joker”

“Drive Check, no trigger.”

“My turn now. Draw and ride, Spike Bouncer. Its skill will counter-blast and soul-blast one to look at the top two cards of my deck and call Highspeed Brakki from among them. I also move back Bazooka to call a White Tight End.”

“Attack with Brakki at 20,000 power.”

“No guard. Damage check, no trigger.” 2/6.

“Attack with Spike Bouncer.”

“No guard.”

“Drive check, critical trigger. Critical to Bouncer and power to Tight End.”

“Damage check one, and two,” Nico revealed a critical trigger on his second damage. 4/6. “Power to my Megarex.”

“Attack with Tight End boosted by Bazooka.”

“Guard with Tinyrex, the card I got off Laceraterex’s equip gauge.”

“I end my turn.”

Nico drew his next card. “Split the heavens and feast on Earth! Ride, Ravenous Dragon, Gigarex!”

Hoshi felt a hit to his brain as his vision blurred, and he saw what was in front of him. No longer was it the warehouse, but plains of rocks and stone. Standing there were Crusher’s units, actual units. Hoshi heard a roar and felt a whirlwind as he turned around. In front of him now was Nico’s new vanuard, Ravenous Dragon, Gigarex.

‘Uh oh. I’m right in the middle of this now!” Hoshi spoke as Gigarex rose in its glory and roared.
~
Yes, Nico is the Tachikaze user of this series. I didn’t like how Tachikaze and Spike Brothers were shelved in the reboot. Gigarex is super cool, in my opinion, and makes an awesome ace for the dino-enthusiast, Nico Supaiku. And Hoshi might be getting PSYqualia. But don’t despair, for we have yet to meet the next member of the main group, who’ll appear in the next chapter with a Spike Brothers deck.
Today’s card is-

Draonic Overlord
Kai’s ace card is a grade 3 flame dragon from Kagero and has 2 skills. It first gives it 10,000P for the turn by a soul-blast. After its attack hits a unit, you can counter-blast one and discard two cards to stand it again with a single drive check. It's a really strong card, but also hard to use. I recommend playing some easier cards before trying this one!

Chapter Text

Hoshi couldn’t believe what he saw. In front of him were Crusher and Nico’s units. He then heard their voices from somewhere.

“I choose to get an Imaginary Gift: Accel I. I call Blightops to my new circle. Also, call Megarex, Savage Raider, and Winged Dragon, Skyptero.” He placed his units on the left and right of Gigarex, then placed his Skyptero behind his Raider. The prehistoric units called out in war cries and roars.

“Raider gets an equip gauge on the placement." Where a card would be placed, it instead became a glowing bar next to Nico's Raider. "I attack with Gigarex, whose skill activates; I put an equip gauge onto each of my rearguards, so four total. Then, he gets 5,000 power for each of my units, so 20,000 power!”

“Uh, no guard.”

“Drive Checks: first check, second check.” He got no trigger out of his twin drive, but he continued. 3/6.

“I attack your vanguard with Savage Raider, boosted by Skyptero. Raider's skill will move its 2 gauges to Megarex.”

“Guard with Wonder Boy.” The named unit appeared in front of Crusher's vanguard. It took the hit as it disappeared afterward.

“I attack your Brakki with Blightops.” The three-horned attacked by firing three beams from its horns.

“No guard.”

“Finally, I attack with Megarex and use its skill. By retiring my Skyptero, I can draw a card and give Megarex an equip gauge. Then, for every equip gauge on it, it gains 5,000 power, up to 20,000 power!”

Crusher saw the incoming 29,000 power attack and didn’t guard. He got a draw trigger from his fourth damage. 4/6.

“Skyptero’s skill will add it back to my hand via a counter-blast.”

“Okay, my turn. I ride, General Seifried, giving him an Imaginary Gift: Force II." Hoshi saw the old unit shatter, and in its place arose a new unit. He could have sworn he saw a spirit version of Crusher as the units transferred.

"I use Seifried’s skill to counter-blast one and put Tight End into the soul to call a new one from the deck with 10,000 more power.” He placed the new unit where his old Tight End had been.

“I call Treasured Panther and Wonder Boy. Wonder Boy’s skill will put Brakki from my dropzone back on the bottom of my deck and give it 5,000 power for the turn.” His Wonder Boy, placed behind his new vanguard, got the boost from its effect to 13,000 power.

“I attack with Tight End, whose skill puts him at 28,000 power.”

“No guard on the attack.” 5/6.

“Attack your vanguard with Panther, whose soul-blast will give it 15,000 power until the end of the battle.”

“Guard with Skyptero, and Intercept from my Raider.”

“Panther goes into my soul because it gained that boost. But I’ll continue with an attack from my General, boosted by Wonder Boy.”

“Perfect Guard. Archbird.” He chose to discard a copy of Assistopteryx.

“Twin drive; I got a critical trigger. Effects to my Vamguard."

Crusher saw his attacks fail and ended his turn, loathing the spikey-haired kid in front of him. His General grimaced at the oncoming onslaught.

“Final Turn. I draw. I call Assistopteryx and Savage King ."He placed his last units on the right back row and left front row, respectively.

Nico looked up at Crusher through Gigarex. "I use Gigarex’s skill; by discarding five equip gauges, my front row rearguards gain 5.000 power for the turn. And since you have four damage, I deal you one damage! Go, Gigarex! Equip Cannon!”

Gigarex roared as power surged through him. It absorbed all of the equip gauges in play to give an aura to all the front-row units. Then, making a high-pitched charging sound, it moved its side armaments to face forward. With a single shot of red energy, it blasted away at the General, dealing him one damage.

“No trigger,” Crusher responded despondently, placing his fifth damage. 5/6.

“I attack your vanguard with Gigarex, who gives four equip gauges total and gains 20,000 power again.”

Crusher looked at his hand of 5 cards. He wasn’t that good at Vanguard, but even he knew that he would be beaten. Nonetheless, he persevered. “Guard with Cheer Girl, Tiara and Bombing Tall-Back!”

“Twin Drive; I got a front trigger.” Nico pushed his assault further.

“Attack with Blightops, with 34,000 power.”

“Guard with Sonic Breaker and Commander, Garry Ganon!”

“I attack with Megarex, boosted by Assistopteryx. Megarex will retire my Blightops to draw a card, and with a counter-blast, will give it another equip gauge and with it, 10,000 power.” Nico also placed the Blightops Equip gauges from Blightops into his hand via a counter-blast from the retired unit's skill.

“No guard." His hand only had a Bakki. He was hoping for a heal trigger.

“This is the final attack!”

“Damage tigger check; c’mon, c’mon, c’mon.” He revealed his last damage. It wasn’t a heal trigger.

Hoshi snapped out of whatever he was going through and saw the board exactly as he had seen the units. 'What was that?'

Crusher hung over the board, defeated and dejected. Nico tapped him on the shoulder.

“Regardless of taking that safe, you played earnestly, fairly, and to the final card. That was a good match.”

Crusher, looking up to see his hand and hearing those words, was about to shake Nico’s hand when a female voice cut through the warehouse.

“What do you think you’re doing, you worthless losers?”

Crusher froze up as he and all the other members turned in fear to the opening of the warehouse. There stood a high school girl wearing the uniform of Kyoto Jujutsu High. Nico and Hoshi watched as the boys all cowered in fear at her advancing footsteps.

Through the light of the sun, they found a young American-looking caucasian girl with black hair. She spoke up, her voice calm and thundering at the same time. “When you all gathered under me, what was the number one thing about Vanguard I set as a rule?”

“Winning is everything: Losing is forbidden. Anyone caught losing is to be released from the team immediately.” All the members spoke, their posture straight as a line. The girl advanced on them, many sweating in fear.

“Well then, why aren’t you all escorting Loser outside the warehouse?”

Within a second, all the other boys had gathered around Crusher and carried him out. Many were apologizing as they threw him out of the warehouse and closed the door. After that was done, the girl turned to the two non-members. “And why, pray tell, are you in my base?”

Nico stepped forward, asking,” I followed your goons to here after an old man saw them take my safe from my stand. I made a deal with Crusher to get it back, and I won the deal. So now, I want it back.”

The girl, hearing this, turned to the others and, in her thundering voice, asked, “Did anyone here steal a safe? You know rule number two: You may only take when you win a match. Come forward now, or punishment for all of you!”

None of the goons stepped forward, signifying something to only the girl. She turned to Hoshi and Nico, “I might not trust these numbnuts in a match, but I do trust them to keep to the rules I set. They also know that group punishment is worse than singular punishment.”

Nico was about to open his mouth again when a finger came up to stop him. “But you said there was an old man across from your booth? The police know of someone in the open mall area who’s been conning money. Here.” She gave the two boys a business card for an officer, specifically a detective. “I know the man on the card. Call him and tell him what happened. Now, if you so kindly were to leave immediately! And you never got that from me.”

She snapped her fingers, and the goons made a straight chute for the boys to go outside. As they were leaving, Hoshi turned around to ask something he would later come to never regret.

“Hey, you. What’s your name?”

She turned to him, “You won’t know it until you ever beat me in Vanguard. But you may call me Aku otherwise.”

The doors shut and were locked from the inside. The two boys soon called the detective and found the man still in his booth. Nico got his safe and wallet back and treated Hoshi to some cards at a nearby card shop.

It was around 3 o’clock already, and the station had some questions for them on the old con man’s whereabouts. When they told them about the Spike Brothers, the same detective sighed. “They may seem like thugs, but they're just a team of Vanguard players. They haven’t hurt anyone except for taking cards in an ante, which we can’t enforce. At least they don’t steal from the younger kids.”

Hoshi entered his house and took a shower, after which he lay down on his bed with his arms sprawled back, thinking about the day. He had seen his classmate-no, friend- go toe-to-toe with a strong opponent, never backing down for a second. And he wanted to be strong enough to face anyone, even that Kai person at Card Capital.

He then remembered what he saw during Nico’s match. It all felt so real. He could hear and feel the unit's noises and actions. But how? It was just a card game, right? Just as he thought this, another headache beset him. He closed his eyes and found the headache gone. When he opened them, however…

“Welcome, my now other-half,” spoke the deep, almost ancient voice of what he thought he saw. Hs ace card, Asterism.
~
Well, this keeps getting more and more strange. Now, Hoshi saw the units of Nico and Crusher’s fight. And who's the black haired girl who knew the detective? You’ll just have to keep reading and following my story. Thanks.
Today’s card is-

Ravenous Dragon, Gigarex
Nico’s current ace is the lynchpin of his dinosaur-themed Tachikaze deck. Yes, I gave him a dinosaur theme. But for now, let's talk about its skills. When it attacks, it can give all your rearguards an equip gauge, a huge resource for Tachikaze. It then gains +5,000P for each of your rearguards. Its final skill is that by using the five equip gauge, you can give your front row rearguards a power bonus and deal the opponent damage if they have four or less. How’s that for strong?

Chapter Text

“Young lady, what did I tell you about our investigations?” Detective Haruka asked his 16-year-old daughter, who sat opposite him at their table while eating that Sunday night. Two boys had recently been conned by the old man at the open mall, whom they had been tracking down for some time. This led to them following his daughter’s team to their hideout, where she gave them one of his business cards to get the old man into custody.

“It’s not like you would get any evidence soon anyway. The old man was a step in front of you every time. He saw your stings a mile away, and when those two lost the safe, I knew they could help.” She retorted, knowing full well that she wasn’t supposed to help.

“I’m not frustrated about that. I’m more frustrated with you handing out my business cards. I’m a detective, and you know what that entails.” He spoke to her, a heavy air settling over them as he finished.

The American girl sat there, looking at her food until she stood up, “I’m going to bed. See you in the morning.” She made her way up the stairs and to her room. The detective, Nagi Haruka, sat back in his chair and sighed.

‘It's been 6 years since her family's death, and I still can’t get her to open up. What am I going to do? I knew I should have gotten a parenting book years ago,’ he thought as he continued his meal. ‘Susan, I’m sorry for what you’ve lost. But when will you open up again? Where was that little girl I met when you were still just learning to have fun?’
~
“Hello, everyone. It’s been a long time since we all gathered here.” Nome Tatsunagi, a young man in a toga of sorts, said as he entered the room where all the players of the deleted incident were. This included Ultra Rare, Miyaji’s original club members, Kai, Ren, Tetsu, Kouji, and Takuto.

“Yes, it has been some time,” Takuto spoke, his marks shifting from his blue line to a red crest, showing he was connected to Brandt now.

“We all know why we are here. It has something to do with Hoshi,” Kai spoke, turning his gaze to the Destiny Conductor. “And why did my Overlord change to be a partial Link Joker?”

All the eyes in the room turned toward Kai. ‘Overlord changed?’ was the thought in everyone but Tetsu and Brandt’s minds. Takuto spoke, ”May I see your new card?”

Kai got his deck out and gave the top card to Takuto. As soon as he touched it, all of them were transported to the space outside of Brandt, in spirit form. As they all stared outwards, Brandt, in his full form next to Takuto’s spirit, spoke.

“This can’t be possible. It has been eons since this type of power was felt by any Link Joker. It simply cannot be.”

“What do you mean by this?” Kouji spoke.

“I should tell you the myth of Brandt’s creation. Many eons ago, a giant star was orbited by a multitude of planets and even other stars. It destroyed itself from implosion, creating a black hole and supernova at the same time that sucked in all existing matter around it. From these two events were born two deities, one of order and the other of chaos. They fought for millennia until they fell into rest. From chaos was born Brandt. We don’t know what happened to the order. After the Harmonics Messiah took us in, I, as the ruler of Brandt, felt a shift in my planet that I had never felt. It was as if something was awakening.”

As he spoke the last sentence, the group turned to see two stars, the same Kai had seen, shoot out and around, clashing against each other until one hit sent them both flying until they stopped and their light started to fade. From the dark star, it collected matter and became Brandt, seemingly reenacting what the Conductor had just said. The light star, on the other hand, took more matter than the dark star and became a planet as well.

The matter and being became Cray.

~
“Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! What am I doing out in space, talking to a card?” Hoshi shouted, waving his hands in front of him, as he found himself in front of his deck’s ace, Asterism. He was conceiving this, yet trying to rationalize it.

“Young one, I ask you to wait until I have spoken my part before you can question me over the current situation.” Asterism spoke, apparently making noise in the vacuum of space. “An evil is awakening, and I can’t stop it by myself. Not anymore.”

Hoshi, who had settled down at Asterism’s behest, felt like his brain broke a moment before saying, “Huh?”

Asterism continued, “Eons ago, a giant star collapsed on itself. When this happened, a supernova and blackhole were born, sucking in all surrounding matter. My identity as a Deity of Order was born from that supernova.”

Now, Hoshi was just plain confused. An alien god born eons ago needed his help?

“And from the blackhole was born a Deity of Chaos, my brother. We immediately went to battle, fighting for a millennia until one final attack from each of us sent us lightyears from each other. Our bodies collected space matter and debris until we became planets. He became the planet known as Brandt, and I became Cray, home of all other clans.”

“Back-up a moment. You and your brother deity were born from two collapsing star events and duked it out until you both got knocked out and became planets? Am I getting this right? And you need my help to stop him, who’s awake for what reason?”

“Recently, Brandt attacked Cray until it lost and was taken under the care of one of my vessels, Harmonics Messiah. However, with both of us so close to one another, we have awoken to end our millennia-long duel.”

“Why were you two fighting anyway?”

With what seemed to be a hint of sadness in his voice, he said, “He wanted to bring full chaos to the universe, unbridled destruction until nothing was left. I wish to stop him, for that is my born and sworn duty.”

“Two more questions- 1. Where are we? And 2, why me?” Hoshi couldn’t wrap his head around anything else right now.

“This is my mental space I am sharing with you from planet Cray, my physical body's shell. The cards you have now are my followers and form I take when needing to help the universe. To answer your second question, when Cray and Earth became connected, I sent an envoy of myself to Earth, just in case something like this ever happened. That envoy wrapped itself into you after wandering for some time.”

Hoshi thought long and hard about what he should do. What could he do? He felt a tug at his memories and realised something.

His life had been boring. Hoshi's natural capability to do anything he wanted to do, but that made life worthless. He could be good at anything, no problem. But this...

“Okay, I’ll help you out. What do we need to stop your brother?”

“We must defeat him at his apex in your way, this game you call Vanguard. Unless we don’t stop him, his power will spread to not only Cray but Earth as well. All will fall, and all will end.”

“Got it. Where can I find him?”

“Unlike me, he can control others via his cards. I fear he has already made his way to Earth.”

“Well, I’ll just have to find him, or maybe…” Hoshi had a thought back to how Vanguard tournaments are held for teams, and usually by the Tatsunagi group. ‘If I can convince Kourin and the rest I’m not delusional, maybe I could set up a tournament to find this deity.’

“I might have an idea. But I need to return to my body.”

“Of course. I bestow upon you a gift from Cray. Your residents seem to call it PSYqualia, the power to communicate telepathically with citizens of Cray and Brandt alike.”

Hoshi soon felt himself being drawn away from the realm and back into his body. He took out his deck and thought aloud, “Either that was real or a dream.”

“Sorry, partner, that wasn’t a dream.” A new, disembodied voice spoke.

Hoshi shot up to look around his room until he saw it. It was a white spirit in the shape of a ball until it shifted into a new form, that of his Stellar Rookie. It was a 3" tall alien with silver-colored armor ike Asterism. He had just three fingers per hand, including a thumb.

“I am Stellar Rookie. Asterism is having me watch over you,” spoke the spirit.

“So that means you can probably tell me who the deity is possessing?”

“That’s right, but I can’t get far. Farthest I can’t get from you is ten meters.”

“So that wasn’t a dream. I do gotta stop an evil Deity of Chaos. Just my luck.”

“You’re taking this in stride, you know that?”

“Chalk it up to reading too much fantasy when I was younger.”

Hoshi ended his conversation with Rookie, who had several questions about the human race and planet Earth. ‘I’ll deal with that tomorrow.’
~
Yeah, no match in this chapter, but a full explanation instead. Wanted to do this in a single chapter so that I wouldn’t traverse multiple chapters without having to be lost. Besides, an explanation from two sides works better, as one has a more personal look into things. Don’t worry, you’ll get another match in this upcoming chapter.
Today’s card is-

Celestial Helix-
A new Grade 3 unit for Hoshi’s deck, it can lock up to three of your units to gain +5,000P for each one, then lock an equal amount of the opponent’s units. It's a super powerful card for any Link Joker deck!

Chapter Text

*Beep**Beep**Beep**Beep**Beep*
Hoshi’s alarm went off at its usual time, and when Hoshi was getting ready to leave,  Rookie popped up next to him.

“Where are we going?”

“I have school. It’s a learning institution like Great Nature.” Good thing he also studied Cray lore.

“Well, I must accompany you to keep you safe.”

Hoshi looked over at his glowing friend and asked, “What if someone sees you?”

Rookie laughed at this, “Because I’m a spirit, only people connected to Cray can see me.”

Hoshi and Rookie played 20 Questions on the way to school. As Hoshi got to his classroom to sit down and eat, Nico popped up again with his little fossil charm.

“Hoshi! How are you doing, my BFF?” He was even more enthusiastic than usual, if that was even possible.

Hoshi looked up at Nicu and decided to say something back this time. “I’m doing good, thanks.”

Everyone in the class stopped to look at him after hearing the quietest kid in class speak up without a prompt or question from the teacher or authority figure in the school. Everyone felt tense.

“Well, you just creeped out the entire class with that response,” Nico spoke quietly, wondering what happened to his usually stoic friend.

“Well, I’m just answering your question. How’d the safe problem go?”

“I got the money for the museum! They were super thankful for me getting them the extra money.” And as quick as that, the mood shifted back to how it was before.

The class teacher walked in, having everyone take their seats and sending Nico to his class.
~
Nico and Hoshi headed to the club room. Hoshi was still trying to figure out how to convince them he wasn’t crazy (or so he thought. He had doubts.).

“Hey, Hoshi. You and us five of us need to talk somewhere.” Kourin and the rest of the original club members dragged Hoshi off as Nico stayed in the room, asking out loud, “What just happened?”

The group of 6 people made it out to a limo outside the school in several minutes, where they all jumped in (and Hoshi dragged in) as it took off towards its destination.

“Okay, what are you all doing?” Hoshi questioned them angrily, sitting up in his seat, scowling at them until he felt the seat. Man, was this comfy.

“We’re taking you to see Nome, the head of the Tatsunagi group. We need to check about something.” Misaki answered.

“Um,” Aichi looked at Hoshi, realizing they weren’t truly alone, “Hoshi, who’s the spirit next to you?”

“You can see me? You must have a connection to Cray, too!” Rookie, who had been hiding in Hoshi’s deck until now, spoke as he materialized in front of the blue-haired boy.

The group of people heard him, but only Aichi and Hoshi could see him. “Wait, you can see him too? Good to know I’m not going crazy after all.” Hoshi thanked Aichi.

“With us knowing you have a spirit next to you of one of your cards, convincing you won’t take so much trouble,” Naoki said.

“We believe a fight between two deities is about to break out, and yours is one of them,” Shingo spoke up.

“I already got told that by Asterism. I entered his mental space and talked to him last night. Long story short, I got an envoy he sent to Earth when it first connected to Cray and needs my help stopping his brother, the other deity, from sending Cray and Earth into chaos.”

All the students blinked, wondering how this had all worked out for them. Like some sort of lazy writing in a story. They all soon arrived at the Tatsunagi mansion and went in to meet with the head. Nome, Suiko, Rekka, and Takuto were in the drawing room, waiting. All of them were dressed in their usual clothes, Suiko and Rekka still in their uniforms. “I am glad to meet you, envoy of order.” Brandt, in a spirit from next to Takuto, spoke. Of course, only Takuto, Hoshi, and Aichi could see him.

“So, you’re the ruler of Brandt, and why the other deity is waking up,” Rookie spoke to him with a pissed tone.

“It was never my intention to awaken a chaos even my people cannot comprehend. We were trying to survive.” He responded in an equally defensive tone.

“Will you not go after each other’s necks yet?” Suiko spoke up, having kept her tongue for the moment.

The two spirits looked at each other, deciding to put their quarrel aside for later. Nome spoke up, “Thank you for coming, Hoshi, and I believe Asterism has already talked with you?”

“Yeah, last night. I have an idea on how to find this chaos junkie.”

“Oh? What is that?” 

“A tournament. I know it's not the season for it, but if we can pinpoint him using your resources as a conglomerate, we could funnel him into a tournament with groups full of strong opponents. Like these guys here or some of their old friends or teammates.” Hoshi responded, having thought about everything in his morning classes. His study into Vanguard yielded results like Miyaji Academy’s record, Aichi’s and his friends' reputations.

“That was already on the table. We also have two other objectives with the Vanguard Association: that being a new type of card and a new playing system. Would you and someone in this room be willing to try the prototype for the card? The system is still in the works, so they say.”

Naoki stepped forth, “Why not me? Now that we know he’s going to have to fight a deity, he might as well fight the guy who beat Kouji last team tournament.”

Hoshi looked at Naoki and agreed. They all went to the outside terrace where the match between Takuto and Aich had been held some time ago.

“This won’t be like last time, Naoki. I’ve gotten stronger.” Hoshi remarked.

“After hearing you say that, I have to make it a 2-0 score for me!” Naoki remarked with equal enthusiasm.

“Stand up, Vanguard!”

Hoshi was again transported to Cray like in Nico’s fight, but this time, he was in Stellar Rookie. “Ride, Stellar Rookie.”

Naoki’s spirit took on a new unit from his previous fight, “Ride Eradicator, Spring Light Dracokid.” It was a small baby dragon with volts of energy coming off it.

“I’ll go first to show my new strength. I draw and ride, Bright Nebula!” Hoshi turned into his new vanguard, a Cyberoid made out of multiple bright plasma colors, wearing a closed knight visor. “I end my turn. Bright Nebula’s skill will discard a card from my hand and look in my deck for a specific Grade 2 unit.” He discarded his card, Asterism “Force Mode.”

As he was shuffling his deck, Naoki took his turn. “Ride, Isolation Eradicator, Nusku. Dracokid’s skill draws me a card, and since you have a Grade 1 Vanguard, I can add a Quick Shield Ticket to my hand.” Naoki added the new card to his hand, an Order card.

“Nusku can check the top five cards in my deck for an Eradicator. I choose Gauntlet Buster Dragon, my ace!” Naoki then had to discard a card because he added it to his hand.

“Attack with Nusku (8,000).” The child with sparks coming out of its fingers aimed the attack at Nebula.

“No guard,” Hoshi said through his unit.

“Drive Check, no trigger.” The attack landed, causing a dust cloud to surround Hoshi.

‘I can feel and see what the battle is like. Is this my imagination or something else?’ Hoshi thought, unable to tell whether or not.

“No trigger (1/6). Okay, my turn. Draw and ride Protostar Rutile.” Rutile forms appeared from the dust, two blades cutting the dust away from his polished metal and yellow stripes of the Cyber Golem.

“Call Alien Trent and Lightyear Jet.” A fighter jet with alien markings on it and a treant with pulsing blue lines appeared on the right and left of Rutile, respectively. “Trent allows me to check the top card of my deck and call it locked if it's a unit.” Hoshi checked his card back on Earth and decided. “I’ll put it on the bottom of my deck instead.”

“Attack with my Jet (9,000)!” His ally on the left hovered before the enemy vanguard and shot two missiles at him.

“No guard. Damage check.” His first damage revealed an Eradicator, Demolition Dragon. 1/6.

“My turn to attack (10,000)!” Hoshi as Rutile dove forth, both blades coming down on top of Nusku.

“Guard with Malevolent Djinn.” A red genie appeared before Rutile, stopping his attack with a flame barrier.

“Drive Check, no trigger.” His drive revealed a Hyper Helper.

“Attack with Trent (10,000).” Vines danced like sentient serpents lunged at Naoki’s Vanguard.

“No Guard and Heal trigger.” Naoki placed a Worm Toxin Eradicator, Seiobo, and put his other damage into the dropzone. 1/6.

“I end my turn. Now, time to show you all what this new deck can do.” Hoshi spoke, intriguing everyone there, Naoki especially.

“Since Rookie is in the soul, I can use Rutile’s skill; by discarding a card, I can ride Asterism from the deck as rest.” Hoshi discarded another copy of Asterism and searched his deck for Stellar Justice, Asterism.

Hoshi felt his soul settle into the new gun-metal grey metal that was Asterism’s body. He shifted his arms, which had a laser gatling gun on the left forearm and a pair of arm blades sprouting from the right forearm. He looked down and realised he was floating, his legs several feet above the ground. His feet looked like a spiky version of ballerina slippers. He felt his face and head; it had a cover like a spike coming over his head with two triangular eyes of black coloring, while his body had to hoop-like structure coming of it from chest to the shoulder blades area.

“Woah. That deck of yours is really something, ya know?” Naoki spoke.

“You haven’t seen anything yet,” Hoshi responded, feeling like a fire was pulsing through him.

“Draw. I ride Eradicator, Plasmacatapult Dragon. Come, Thunderstorm Dragoon.” Naoki possessed a new dragon and called forth a dragon rider to his left. “Using Plasmacatapult’s skill, I counter-blast and soul-blast one to bind one of your front row rearguards and draw a card. I choose your Alien Trent.” Naoki’s Vanguard roared, causing its electricity to shoot at Trent and open a black portal that dragged it into another dimension.

“Right, Narukami likes to bind units from the front and destroy the board like that. I should've remembered that from our first match.”

“This will just keep getting better. I also call Dragon Monk, Egan.” Naoki placed his new unit behind his Vanguard, “And I’ll attack your Vanguard with Plasmacatapult boosted by Egan (18,000).” Having power lent to him by the monk, the dragon shot a beam of arcing light at Asterism.

“No guard.”

“Drive Check, Critical trigger. Critical to my Vanguard and power to Thunderstorm Dragoon.”

“Damage Checks, no triggers.” 3/6. 

“Attack with Dragoon, who's at 24,000 power!”

“Guard with Hyper Helper.” His unit, a small Cyberoid in space armor, took the blow for him.

“I end my turn.”

“My turn, draw. I call Dwarf Chaperone and Blackout Designer.” Hoshi placed a stout and sturdy dwarf with a suit on and a female with a black dress, star colored trimming around its edges.

“I use Asterism’s skill and counter-blast one to lock your Egan.” the monk shouted out as he was sucked into the black and red circle with two perpendicular line surrounding it.

“I attack your Vanguard with Asterism (23,000)!” Hoshi shot forward, aiming his weaponized arms at Plasmacatapult.

“No guard.”

“Twin Drive, draw trigger. Power to my Dwarf Chaperone.” The bladed arm struck at the enemy unit, digging into the Thunder Dragon.

“Damage Check, no trigger.” 2/6.

“I use Asterism’s skill. I Override from the deck Asterism “Accel Mode!”

Everyone watched as he searched his deck for his new unit and placed it on his old one. On Cray, Asterism’s colors changed from gun-metal silver to yellow.

“I’ll get an Accel II. Using Accel Mode’s skill, I call Mr. Cosmos from the hand to the Accel circle.” As the additional rearguard became active, a bulky purple superhero with a mask popped up on it.

“I attack with Accel Mode (17,000)!”

“Crap! I guard with Ceremonial Bonfire Eradicator, Castor.” Naoki placed a fairy-like unit to stop the attack.

“Accel Mode gives my front row 5,000 power during my turn. Attack with Lightyear Jet. Since I’m in Override, its power goes up by 10,000 (24,000).” Now with its markings glowing, it shot two beams of lasers at Naoki’s Cray body.

“No Guard.” 3/6.

“Attack with Dwarf Chaperone, boosted by Blackout Designer (32,000).” The lady gave her power to the dwarf as he brought out an axe to swing down upon the Narukami unit. 

“No guard.” 4/6.

“Chaperone’s skill will bind it to call a new unit from my hand as locked and draw me a card,” Hoshi explained as a card entered play in the same sphere as Egen.

“Attack with Mr. Cosmos (27,000).” Mr. Cosmos readied himself, flying onwards.

“Guard with Lightning of Triumphant Return, Roseph.” Naoki placed his card, the unit being a child with a sparking barrier stopping Mr. Cosmos.

“This is another Sentinel that belongs to critical triggers. It has a 30,000 shield to stop your attack.” Naoki explained to Hoshi.

“I end my turn. I unlock my new unit, a Stellar Vigilante. Override will replace Asterism as the Vanguard.” Hoshi explained, his body on Cray returning to its silver form.

“That was quite good, Hoshi. But now it's my turn! I ride Eradicator, Gauntlet Buster Dragon.” Naoki’s ace roared to life, its hands of crushing weight ready to do their job.

“I choose an Accel II gift, drawing a card. I use Gauntlet Buster’s skill; By counter-blasting one and discarding a card, I can bind your front row. Then, move up your Blackout Designer.” The crackling portals opened again, taking all of Hoshi’s units as Designer moved forward next to Hoshi. “Then for every front row circle that’s open, my Vanguard gets 5,000 power and 1 critical. Meaning, I’m at 22,000 power and 3 critical at the moment.”

“Come, Detonix Stinger Dragon and Recklessness Dragon. Stinger’s counter-blast binds your last unit and gives him 5,000 more power.” The dark portal opened again, taking Designer.

“I’ll attack with Gauntlet Buster Dragon (27,000)!” The Eradicator moved forward, aiming to crush the alien.

“Perfect Guard! Absorbing Guardian.” Hoshi placed his draw trigger sentinel to stop the 4 critical attack.

“Drive Checks, draw trigger. Power to Recklessness Dragon. I attack with it, giving it 3,000 more power (22,000).”

“No guard. Damage Check, no trigger.” 4/6.

“But now, I use Asterism’s skill and Override from the deck! Asterism “Protect Mode!” Hoshi played his cards and rode his new unit, a green version of Asterism.

“I thought you could only use that when you attacked!” Naoki exclaimed.

“Asterism can take a hit to activate Override. I didn’t use it the first time I took damage to get some damage, especially because of its skill. I choose a Protect I, and its skill will allow me to discard a card to add a Sentinel back from the dropzone.”

“Now he has two perfect guards in hand, essentially,” Misaki spoke from here, where the others had been watching.

“Attack with Thunderstorm Dragoon (14,000).”

“No guard, and heal trigger. Power to Protect Mode.” 4/6.

“Attack with Detonix Stinger Dragon, who has 22,000 power.”

“No guard.” 5/6.

“I end my turn. You’re holding on well.” Naoki, unlocking his Egan, commented to Hoshi, who replaced Asterism from the soul and drew his next card.

“ I know. I use Asterism's skill to lock Egan once again. I'll then call Alien Trent again. With its skill, I call the top of my deck as locked.” The tree-alien reappeared on the accel circle. Then, a card behind Asterism appeared bound like Egan was.

“I also call Lunar Commando, using its soul-blast to call Solar Sleeper Agent from the dropzone and lock Thunderstorm Dragoon.” The blond dragon ride was locked as the Agent appeared behind the Commando to Asterism’s right. 

“Finally, call Bright Nebula and Antimatter Goon.” The prism colored hominid appeared to Asterism’s left, and the black-suited being was placed behind Nebula.

“I’ll attack with Bright Nebula boosted by Goon. Goon gets 2,000 power for each of my Vanguard’s grades, making its power 13000 (21,000).”

“No guard. Damage check, no trigger.” 5/6.

“Now to use Nebula’s rearguard skill. By retiring it from a successful attack, I can look at the top two cards of my deck and choose to put one on the top or both on the bottom.” Hoshi looked at his cards, replacing one on top and the other on the bottom of his deck.

“Attack, Asterism!” Hoshi shot forward, readying his weapons against the crushing dragon.

“Since you put the card back, it must be a trigger. I Perfect Guard with Wyvern Guard, Guld.” Naoki placed his sentinel, dropping his hand down to three, including the order he hadn’t played yet.

“Drive Checks. The first is a front trigger. The second is a no trigger. But that won’t stop me! I soul-blast one to override from the dropzone, Asterism “Force Mode.” Asterism changed into a blue form, like in his fight against Kai.

“I choose a Force I. Attack with Asterism (23,000)!” Hoshi moved himself to strike at Gauntlet Buster.

“I guard with Mighty Bolt Dragon, and I use this Quick Shield Ticket to give my vanguard 5,000 more power.” A new sparkling dragon appeared, and a clan symbol appeared in front of Naoki’s ace, its power rising to 17,000 for the battle.

“Attack with Lunar Commando boosted by Agent, for a total of 29,000 power.” The unit in white armor shot forward as it took aim and fired a barrage at the dragon.

“Guard with Exorcist Mage, Lin Lin, and intercept from Recklessness Dragon.” Both of Naoki’s units came to his aid, but Hoshi had one last attack left. Naoki just had to pull a heal trigger.

“Attack with Trent (25,000).” Hoshi knew that if his opponent pulled a heal trigger, he might hold out for the turn. ‘No, I won’t think like that. I should put all of it into this last attack.’

“If I pull a heal trigger, I get another turn. No guard.” Naoki took his hand and placed it on the top card of his deck. He placed his last card into the damage zone. 6/6.

Hoshi, who had broken into a sweat and was breathing heavily, shoulders going up and down with each breath, looked up at Naoki. After Trent’s attack landed, Hoshi felt himself re-enter his own body and remove himself from the autopilot-feeling. It felt weird, but he could get used to this. ‘It's up to me to stop him. Two worlds count on it.’

Naoki picked up his cards and gave the Order card back to Nome. “It was weird playing the card. It helped near that ending, but it might take some time to get used to it.” 

Nome nodded. “Duly noted. Thank you both for the match.”

Hoshi picked up his cards, walking over to the rest. “Are you willing to help me stop this chaos junkie?”

“Yes. The Tatsunagi family has been helping keep the peace between Cray and Earth. We’ll host a tournament and look through to see if any fighters are willing to join.”
~
In a dark area of a city in Japan, a teen in common clothes was running away from a fight table in a dark alleyway when a tendril of red, dark energy shot forward at him and wrapped around him, knocking him out.

A voice coming from the hunched-over body, stepping forward, with a sway of side to side, to examine the boy in its tendrils was ancient, almost possessive like. “Yes, this next body will do well to help me find my brother.”

Another person by his side stepped next to him, with limbs and height only described as reminding people of stick bugs.

~
A young boy with darkish blonde hair and dark eyes was on a train headed for a hospital he had been to many times. He wore a light blue leather jacket with a black t-shirt with dark blue pants and black socks, and blue shoes. He is a bit taller than most, standing at 5'8. 'Wait for me, Tsuki. I'll get you out of there one day.'

~
So much excitement! Asterism has the power of all 3 gifts? Yes, he does. Since he is the original Cray unit, he would have them, but they are separate. For now... And who are these 3 new characters in the story? And who's Tsuki? You'll just have to wait till next week. Sorry, not sorry! ;p
I did introduce Orders, but they won't be in effect for a while.
Today's card is-

Asterism "Accel Mode"
This version of Asterism has an Accel gift marker instead of a Force marker. When he's placed, you can place a unit from your hand or dropzone on an open rearguard circle, but you can't use its Auto skills for that turn. While he is also in play, your front row gains +5,000P during your turn.

Chapter Text

Shin was opening the shop one day, a week after Hoshi’s match with Kai. As he was just setting things up, he got a call from an old friend.

“Hello,” Shin spoke into his phone, standing behind the counter.

“Hello, Shinnemon. It's been a while since we’ve talked.” A pink-haired lady spoke on the other side, sitting in an office chair overlooking the city she was in. “The Tatsunagi Foundation contacted me to find you. They want you and me to start up two teams to enter this tournament they're hosting. And it has something to do with the other side.”

Shin straightened himself, remembering that night so many years ago. He was awestruck and heartbroken that night; that deck of Shin’s has been locked away since. “Why would they want me?”

“I don’t know, but I’m putting Dragon’s Vanity back together with me in it. The tournament’s format will be different from the usual team format, but I'll put you in contact with those two. I presume you still have his number?” She swirled her chair back to her desk from facing the giant window.

“Yeah, I do. I’ll meet up with him. When is this tournament taking place?”

“As soon as there are 10 teams ready. Your niece has her school team, and she’s contacting others to join. Very hush-hush. I don’t know the full story, but they want strong players.”

“Okay, thank you, Esuka,” Shin spoke, hanging up the phone and calling Mark to tell him to get the costumes out. They were coming out of retirement for the next few months.
~

Kai, Miwa, and Kouji were at their old park, having frequented it since they reunited. “We all know it has something to do with Brandt,” Miwa stated, having been caught up by his two friends.

“We’ll just have to join to find out. But considering they’re extending to ten teams only, it must be short notice.” Kouji responds, leaning against a nearby tree, arms slung across his chest.

Kai was partially listening to them but was more focused on rebuilding his deck. He was trying to see if his new Overlord fit anywhere. It works, somewhat. “It must have something to do with Hoshi. Aichi messaged me that he seems to have PSYqualia. I bet the rest know now after his apparent match against Naoki,” Kai spoke up, straightening his back from the hunch he had on the bench, “and if calling in powerful players, they’re looking for someone.”

“Or something.” Kouji stood up from his leaning position and brought out his deck. “Now that your deck seems fixed, are you up for a match?”

Kai readied his deck, and they set up their boards.

“Stand up, the Vangaurd!”

~
“And now to play the waiting game,” Hoshi spoke to himself. He had made himself lunch at his house and was thinking about how he could make his team. “They said they’ll put ten slots together for teams, and they’ve already got 4 filled: Team Miyaji, that team full of some rising tournament winners, Team Dragon’s Vanity from that old Esucup tournament, and finally, the team with him.”

The Tatsunagi Foundation had found the person possessed by Asterism’s brother and contacted him into the tournament, which wasn’t too hard. The deity had found some people who were strong and put together a team, fittingly called “Team Blackhole.”

The tournament was team-based and had peculiar settings, but still needed at least three members per team. “If I don’t bring Nico, I’ll never hear the end of it.” He could imagine the dino-enthusiast asking why he wasn’t coming along. “And he’s also strong enough, probably. Maybe I should go looking for some prospective members.” After stretching his body, he set out into the city to look for fighters. After stopping at several shops and playing a couple of matches, he had some prospects until he saw some familiar purple jackets. He walked over to where they were and spoke up, his hand waving them down, “Oy! Spike Brothers! Remember me?”

The group of 5 turned around, and Hoshi noticed they had someone else with them. As he walked towards them, he realised it was Aku, their leader.

“What do you want?” the girl remarked snidely as she turned to face him with a scowl. She was wearing a white and purple jacket with the kanji for ‘evil’ on her back, black pants, shoes, and a tank top shirt with a skull on it. Surprisingly, she had no makeup on at all.

“I’m sorry that my friend and I accused your crew of stealing the safe. Thank you.” Hoshi bowed towards her, surprising all of the group. He had gone out that day in a grey zipper jacket with white long pants, his dark blue undershirt sporting a sky blue rhombus/diamond-shaped piece in its center.

“I told you to forget it.” She spouted, now fully turned to him. Now that he had a good look at her, he could tell she was definitely American, but her Japanese was so fluent. “I just wanted to thank you on behalf of my friend and me. Say, you're a cardfighter, right?”

She lifted her eyebrows at this. “Yeah, I’m a cardfighter. You think you can play against me?” Her words seemed to become a deeper feeling. Hoshi felt an angry aura from her, but it also felt sad.

Hoshi stood straight and looked her in the eye. “Yes. If you would allow me,” he answered with an equal tone. She stared him down and turned away, motioning with her hand for him to follow her. Her body language, to Hoshi, spoke that she seemed to have something heavy on her shoulders.

They were at a nearby shop, setting up their decks with her crew standing to the side. Many customers were curious, but swift glances from the Brothers stopped them from approaching them.

“Before we start, didn’t you say that if I beat you, I could learn your name?” Hoshi quizzes her, his memory relaying his last meeting with Aku.

“Yeah. Anyone who can beat me can learn my name. Yet no one here has.” She spat lightly, some venom in her words.

“We’ll see about that.” ‘I have to up my skills somehow. Seeing her skills will do that, and see if she might join my team.’

“Stand up, Vanguard.” Their spirits arrived on Cray, this time in a Spikeball field, with lights from the stadium surrounding them activating. The seats were filled with all sorts of units from Royal Paladins to even other Spike Brothers. It was a dark night outside with a full moon overlooking them.

“Ride, Stellar Rookie.”

“I ride Running Sniper.”

‘So she uses Spike Brothers too.’ Hoshi thought, reading himself as he dove into his unit on Cray in a fighting stance.

‘Link Joker? Who knew this chump had a rare clan?' Aku thought, as her spirit became a demon with a sniper rifle in hand.

“I’ll go first. Ride, Dudley William.” Her unit’s body stood with its shoulders wide, priding itself on assured victory.

“Draw. Ride, Bright Nebula.” Hoshi possessed the prismatic Cyberoid. “I call a second one to the rearguard.” The new one appeared next to him like a doppelganger.

“Attack with rearguard Nebula (8,000).” The unit ran forward, its fists ready to pummel the enemy.

“No Guard.” 1/6. The attack landed with a flurry of blows. It soon fell to pieces of light.

“Bright Nebula’s skill retires it to look at the top two cards of my deck, and then I can replace one of them on top. I choose to place this one on top.” As Hoshi manipulated his deck, his body sagging as it went through the motions, Aku could sense he wasn’t all there.

“Attack with my Vanguard (8,000),” he shot forward with his own flurry.

“Guard with Silence Joker.” A spikey, armored unit came forward to protect the young demon.

“Drive check, critical trigger. I end my turn, and I discard a card to search my deck for Protostar Rutile by Nebula’s skill.” Hoshi searched his deck, discarding a copy of Asterism.

“Draw.” Aku tensed as she drew her card, her plan falling into place. She could see her victory. “Ride, Dudley Davie. Its skill will counter-blast one to call a non-Grade 2 Dudley unit from the deck. I call Dudley Daisy!” A girl with horns appeared behind the Vanguard in a similar wardrobe to the other Dudleys, sticking her tongue out at the enemy humanoid.

“Dudley William will call itself from the soul.” She called her old unit out into play to the right of her new Vanguard. “I’ll use Daisy’s skill to soul-blast one and call a Grade 3 ‘Dudley' from the deck. I’ll call Demonic Lord, Dudley Lucifer.” An even bigger unit came forth, residing to the left of the Vanguard. It had horns jutting from its purple head, the same color cloaking its Spikeball uniform.

Hoshi shifted his position on Earth and Cray. He knew he hadn’t seen all of Spike Brothers tricks in Nico’s fight. Aku launched her units at Nebula with fury.

“Call Commander, Gary Gannon, behind William. Attack with William boosted by Gannon (16,000).” The ash-haired demon lent its support to its smaller comrade as it swished around Nebula, aiming its kick at Hoshi’s vanguard.

“No guard. Damage check, no trigger.” 1/6. The attack left a dent in the prismatic being, withdrawing a couple of steps.

“Gary Gannon’s skill puts him into the soul so I can draw two cards.” She drew her cards and took one from her hand, “And take one from my hand to place on the bottom.” Gannon became particles after its skill was used.

“Attack with my vanguard, boosted by Daisy.” The demons moved forward, ganging up on Nebula for a total of 18,000 power.

“Guard with Calm Guardian.” An alien in monk robes stood in the ogres’ path.

“Drive Check, no trigger. I use Dudley Lucifer to strike (13,000)!”

“No Guard. And no trigger.” 2/6.

“I end my turn. Daisy returns herself and Lucifer to the bottom of my deck. So,” Aku shifted herself with a cocky smile, “Your actually good at this.”

“Yeah. I have a goal, and Vanguard can help me with that. My turn and draw. I ride Protostar Rutile.” Hoshi once again took the form of a silver and yellow robot with two swords, the polished metal glinting under the artificial light.

“I also call Lightyear Jet and Solar Sleeper Agent.” the blue alien jet appeared to Rutile’s left and the whit armored soldier appeared behind Rutile.

“I use Sleeper Agent’s skill to lock it and give 10,000 power to one of my units. I choose Lightyear Jet.” As the soldier entered the black and red capsule of being locked, Hoshi launched forward with his Rutile’s blades (10,000).

“No guard.” The blades connected with their intended target, knocking the demonic unit back.

“Drive Check, draw trigger. Power to Jet.”

“Damage Check, no trigger.” 2/6.

“Attack with Jet (29,000).” The spacecraft’s power energized, shooting missiles at the ogre.

“No guard. Damage check, no trigger.” 3/6. A wave of dust settled over the field, obscuring the view of all seated.

“I end my turn, unlocking Sleeper Agent. And with Rutile’s skill, I discard a card to ride Stellar Justice Asterism from my deck!” While the soldier was coming out of the locked state, Hoshi’s Rutile faded to nothing as he entered his ace’s body in all its silver glory, rising above the dust.

“Looks shiny. I’ll just have to scratch it up! Time to go all out; Ride! Demonic Lord, Dudley Emperor!”

Asterism stared as before him appeared a giant machine of white and purple armor, with spikes and glowing parts all around. It towered over Hoshi’s ace, easily looking to crush the Link Joker unit floating in front of him.

“I get an Imaginary Gift: Force I. I’ll place it here, though.” She put her marker on the circle to the left of her vanguard. ‘Why would she place it there?’

“Call! Derange Thaddeus, Wonder Boy, Gunburst Linebacker, and Juggernaut Maximum!” After moving back her William, her units appeared all around her, their effects taking place. “First, my Linebacker can attack while in the backrow of a Grade 3 unit. Wonder Boy places Silence Joker from my dropzone on the bottom of my deck to gain 5,000 power this turn. And Maximum gains 10,000 power for this turn.”

Hoshi watched everything happening. He had two damage, but it felt like he could lose that turn. On Earth, he smiled much to Aku’s chagrin.

“Thaddeus attacks. By using Dudley Emperor’s skill, it gains 5,000 more power (25,000).” The demon took charge with the spikeball in the crook of its arm, thrusting its chainsaw up and bringing it down on the shiny unit down to the ground in a small crater.

“No guard. Damage check, no trigger.” 3/6. “I use Asterism’s skill to soul-blast one and Override! Asterism “Protect Mode.” Hoshi chose to soul-blast his Rutile from the soul as Asterism shifted green from the change. “I choose to get an Imaginary Gift: Protect I”

“Thaddeus’s skill retires your rearguard on hit, so I choose your Jet. Then by my Emperor, it returns to the bottom of my deck.” As the chainsaw shifted from Asterism to the Jet, Hoshi was knocked back by an ogre in full upper-body armor charging at him into the ground.

“Attack with Maximum boosted by William (31,000).”

“Guard with Hyper Helper, its shield getting boosted by 5,000.”

“William will get placed into the soul to move my marker to Linebacker’s circle.” As the unit disappeared, the mark moved from the open rearguard to the one with Linebacker.

“Next, I use Dudley Emperor to attack. Its skill will counter-blast one to call a new Dudley from the deck that’s Grade 2 or higher and give himself 10,000 more power (23,000). I’ll call Dudley Lucifer again. Its skill will soul-blast one, so I can counter-charge one.” The giant foot came down to stomp on Asterism.

“No Guard.”

“Twin Drive. First check. Second check, draw trigger. Power to Lucifer.”

“Damage check, draw trigger. Power to Protect Mode.” 4/6. The crushing weight had left Asterism even more dented. Hoshi felt aches all over, even though it wasn’t his body.

“Attack with Linebacker, whose counter-blast and soul-blast of one gives it 5,000 more power for each force marker in play (25,000).” The hands of the machine shifted into barrels as it shifted around Asterism, firing at it from all angles.

“No Guard. Damage check, no trigger.” 5/6. More explosions rocked the arena as the green character stood up from his hole.

“I attack with Lucifer, boosted by Wonder Boy (36,000)

“Guard, with Protect I,” The symbol of an Imaginary Gift came between the two units, stopping the demon’s pummeling. Hoshi decided to discard Force Mode for the cost.

“I end my turn. You're not too bad, kid.” Aku spoke, her attitude shifting from her earlier one to being somewhat enthralled by the fight. She hadn’t fought anyone like this in ages. But something was starting to well up inside her. Something she didn’t like and was keeping to the back of her mind.

“At the end, Asterism rides from the soul as rest. Stand and draw. I call Asteroid Hound, Blackout Designer, and Bright Nebula. I use Asterism’s skill to lock your Linebacker. Now, I use Sleeper Agent’s skill to power up my Bright Nebula.” As the units were locked and all were boosted by skills, Hoshi felt a rush. He hadn’t ever felt something like this until he started playing Vanguard.

“I attack Dudley Emperor with Nebula (18,000).” The smaller being came upon the giant’s feet and started pummeling at the shiny armor, denting it over and over again.

“No guard. Damage check, no trigger.” 4/6.

“I retire Nebula to look at the top two cards of my deck. I place them both on the bottom. I attack with Asterism (23,000)!” The silver unit shot forward with such speed that it threw Dudley Emperor to the ground on impact.

"Perfect Guard with Cheer Girl, Marilyn!" A new unit, with pom-poms, stood in the way of Asterism's attack.

"Twin Drive, first check. Second check, critical trigger. All effects to Asteroid Hound."

"I Override into Asterism "Accel Mode." I chose an Accel II. Using its skill, I call a Stellar Vigilante from the dropzone." A silver unit, this time with a cowl and knife, appeared where the accel cricel was.

"Attack with Accel Mode (17,000)." The new yellow unit shot forward again, weaving in and out of the enemy's reach to stop it.

"No guard. Damage check, no trigger." 5/6. The attack it landed made a crater in the giant's armor, leaving behind a burning hole.

"Attack with Stellar Vigilante (25,000)." The other unit on the circle jumped onto the towering unit and hacked at its head.

"Guard with Machine Gun Gloria and Spike Bouncer. Her skill will call her to my rearguard via a counter-blast." A smaller unit shot its ball at the attacking unit with the support of the same unit Crusher had rode for his Grade 2, sending the caped alien flying to the side

"Attack with Asteroid Hound boosted by Blackout Designer, whose skill boost it by 5000 more power (37,000)." The lady lent her power to advancing Cyberbeast as it dug into the armor of the massive unit.

Aku looked at her hand of 1 card and couldn't do anything. "No guard." As the canine tore into the machinery, Hoshi was watching when he suddenly blinked into a white room. He couldn’t figure out where he was until he heard sobbing. He turned to see a little girl on the ground, sitting and curled into a ball. “Hey, kid, you okay?” Hoshi asked, stepping forward and stooping down to check on her.

“Go away. I’m all alone now.” The girl spat back, revealing her face. Hoshi was shocked to find it was a younger Aku. She had the same black hair and eyes.

Hoshi was knocked out of space and reentered his body. He had won the match when he looked at the state of the board. The crowd assembled from their match all wanted to know who he was, as he was caught up in the crowd. He saw Aku and the rest walk out of the shop. On the table was a note, but in English. It read-

‘My name is Susan J. Smith.’

‘Good thing I took some English literature in middle school. So Susan, huh.’ Hoshi rushed out of the shop, hoping to find them, but they were gone. “I’ll find her again. She’s strong; I just hope strong enough for what’s to come.”
~
At a hospital north of where Hoshi was, there was a teenage girl in a wing of that hospital. She was comatose and in a hospital gown, and sitting next to her was her boyfriend of several years, Shirozaki Inuzaki.

His dark blonde hair was ruffled, having been swept back many times while going through his books. Medical journals and college books alike pertaining specifically to comatose patients. He would find a way to wake up his beloved, even if it meant sacrificing all his time and youth. “Samael, please give me strength.” He spoke aloud next to his beloved, Tsukuyomi. Next to him on a table was a deck of cards, and on the top was a card labeled “Purefeather Angel, Samael.”

~
Hornet Grover could only be described as an insect. His hair was the same shade of dark green as many bugs, and was spindly like a stick-bug standing at 5’10.” His clothes were no better, having a dark green jacket with a stag beetle outline on its back, his shoes and shirt also being dark green. Even his socks were. Only his pants were a different color: black.

He and his master had been traveling from their original base of operations. They had been invited to join a surprise Vanguard tournament being held by that Tatsunagi group. “Chatter on the net is that they’re revealing a new type of card and system of play. But why does this feel like a trap for someone?” ‘Or-thing,’ he thought, as he shifted his focus to his cloaked friend next to him. They were on a bus to the city where the tournament would be held. “Master, the entry did say we needed three members minimum. How shall we look for the third?”

They were now 10 minutes from the city, and his master could sense a strong fighting spirit from somewhere. As they exited the bus at the station, the cloaked figure followed his instincts to the hospital some blocks down. “Hello, beauty. You’ll make a fine piece in my collection of spirits.”

~
Shiro had been studying for hours and was particularly tired. As he blinked for a moment, he felt a shudder down his spine, a cold sweat breaking out for a moment.
He jolted up and looked around. The monitors were still the same for his Tsuki, as they had been for the past 1 and a half years. “What was that?” He questioned, not knowing the storm brewing in the future of his life.

~
Susan J. Smith. An American-Japanese girl who's going to the same school as Kai and Miwa, and uses the Dudley Spike Brothers deck. She's also the leader of Team Spike. I needed a girl in the series to balance out the team I have in mind for the tournament. This includes Hoshi and Nico, as well as Shirozaki. (Thank you Daniel.)
However, Today's card is-

Demonic Lord, Dudley Emperor
A Spike Brother with skills tuned for attacking! When it attacks or is rode upon, you can counter-blast one to call a Dudley unit from your deck that's Grade 2 or higher and give your Vanguard +10,000P for the turn. Its other effect can give your rearguard a bonus of +5,000P when it's attacking, as long as your Vanguard is a Dudley, and then return it back to your deck after the attack. This helps open up a spot to call a new unit for more attacks!

Chapter Text

Shirzozaki Inuzaki, or just Shiro, had always been rougher around the edges than most people. His life hadn’t been fun; Usually bullied by others until halfway through middle school, when he started fighting back. His mother had died when he was younger, and his father made off with another woman soon after, leaving him in family care. After turning 18, he moved out on his own and started college. At 15, however, he met a girl who would change his life forever.

Her name was Tsukuyomi Tenshi. When Shiro had met her, she was a raven-haired middle school girl stopping him from beating up another kid (she let him beat him up after finding out the student was stealing pictures of the girls in swimsuits, even joining in after a little bit). They just clicked together like two puzzle pieces in their own little world. They hung out, started dating, and even decided that after they exited college, they would get married. They were happy. Until they weren’t.

Shiro had been working late one night when he got home to their shared apartment. Tsuki, as her nickname, smelled perfume on him from helping a co-worker get back to her home. They got into an argument, where she ran out after something was said that Shiro never should have said. It was their only real argument ever, and he couldn’t even remember what it was about.

Rain set in as he looked all over for her. When he saw the lights from an ambulance, he rushed over to see, hoping it wasn’t her. He was three meters away from her as she was being wheeled away in a stretcher, airlifted to the next hospital for surgery. She had been struck by an oncoming vehicle that couldn’t see her in the rain.

“Her surgery went off without a hitch, and she should wake up some time soon.” The doctors had told him that a year and a half ago. Ever since, he had turned his major in college into studying for a medical degree, poring through papers, books, and medical journals over comatose patients. He went through nights of studying, leaving barely any time for himself. His schedule had always been consistent, as he was with his beloved again in the afternoon of a Sunday, next to her. The beep of the monitors and whatnot that even he didn’t know yet were at a steady rate as she lay there, like his own Sleeping Beauty. “If only a kiss could awaken you.” He spoke somberly, taking her hand in his.

He had dark bags under his eyes from twilight studying and around-the-clock work for 2 jobs. He was the sole caretaker for her, while her family paid the basic bills. Anything specific, like treatments and tests, was left to his care. Her family tried to be there, as she had moved in with him after a bad fight over her future with Shiro. When they finally met Shrio after hearing the news, they initially blamed the young man until they realized he was in even worse pain than they might have been. They tried to help the best they could, but coming from a below-average pay background, money was tight for them.

“One day, I promise you. One day.” He was resting both of his hands on her one. He closed his eyes, hoping for some sort of miracle. He would get one, but not now. He leaned back in the chair and drifted off to sleep. When he awoke, it was an hour later.

As he opened his heavy eyelids, he saw a hooded figure next to his raven-haired beloved. He shot out of his chair and tried to grab the body of the cloaked figure. As he got his hands on them to try and turn them around, he was grabbed from behind by someone. He couldn’t see either face still, but a voice spoke up from the one behind him.

“Calm down, sir. We are not here to harm you or her.” The voice was level-headed and younger, younger than Shiro by a couple of years.

“I don’t care! Get away from her!” He shouted in rage, trying to flail his way out of the hold the mysterious person had on him.

The cloaked figure now spoke, its voice deeper than Shiro thought for its size, “Calm down, young one. I’m here to help.” They moved their hand over their heart area as if to slightly bow. “I can help you awaken her.” They snapped their fingers and suddenly, the monitors were shut down as the room’s electricity trembled on and off, lights flickering. As the devices went back to normal, a single finger of the blue-haired boy’s other half started to wiggle. As Shiro watched in awe in the afternoon sun, Tsuki’s eyes began to open, fluttering from her sluggish state.

As her eyes fully opened, she looked around the room and landed her eyes on Shiro. “Shiro? Where am I?” She looked around, trying to garner her surroundings. Shiro ran over after being released by the boy and knelt by her side, tears streaming down his face, and he cried. But then, she went limp faster than she had awoken. As Shiro watched her fade into her forever sleep, his tears dried up as he turned to rush the figure again. Before the other insect-looking boy could stop him, he was knocked back by something. He hit the wall hard as the wheeze of air left his lungs. As he looked up, he saw a dark, red tendril shift around in the air, snaking towards him. It grasped him and lifted him, bringing him closer to the figure. Shrio tried fighting his way out of it, but it held tighter than the other boy’s grip.

“Listen closely, little boy,” The deep voice from within the cloak drew out. “I awaken her fully when you find me someone. If I recall what my associate told me, his name is Hoshi Fukutsu. I want you to find him and bring me his deck of cards. Do that, and I will give her to you. I sense that you are a player of Vanguard, no?"

Shiro wasn’t taking in anything else except ‘I will give her to you.’ He looked over at his sleeping beauty. “Okay, fine. I’ll do it.” ‘It's just some cards anyway. But this tendril is another story.’ He didn’t know what that thing was, but if he wasn’t careful, he could lose Tsuki. “Where can I find this kid?” He asked as he was let down.

The other boy, who wore all green except his pants, spoke up this time. “Look for him around the city. His exploits are increasing his reputation, alongside his deck. He was heard at Card Capital at the last point of most contact.”

‘That place, where the green-haired manager works?’ “Fine. But even if you are the Devil himself, you keep your end of the deal up. Her life, for the cards.”

“Excellent. A deal is a deal, of course.” The figure stretched out its hand to him, and they shook on it.
~
Shiro left the room and headed out. “Master, why not just find your brother and defeat him yourself?” Hornet asked his master.

“Because, my young acquaintance, to beat my brother here in a fight, we both must become stronger through this game. I don’t know why, but I know that if I destroy his cards while possessing this body, I could destroy his link to Earth and Cray, severing his life force to allow my power to reign.”

“I see, sir.”

“Now,” The figure turned to view the woman in the bed, “Your soul looks very pretty, and oh so chaotic. It must be mine.” A smaller tendril of energy snaked its way towards Tsuki, latching on as her body began to slightly convulse.
~
It was 5 p.m. on a Sunday, and Nico was feeling good about himself. Hoshi had invited him to join his team for an upcoming tournament (How Hoshi, a rookie, got invited to a Tatsunagi tournament, Nico didn’t know or care). He went to Card Capital, a usual hangout for Miyaji members and friends alike, and had been practicing his skills. He had bought some packs and was rebuilding his deck. “Man, these new Dinodragons make equip gauge usage way easier!”

Just as he was rebuilding his deck, the doors to the shop opened. Nico felt an urge to look at who came in and saw a 5’ 8” young adult in a lot of blue walk up to the counter and ask the current manager something. Shin was elsewhere at the moment. As Nico turned back around, he heard the voices from the front.

“Hey, I’m looking for a guy named Hoshi Fukutsu. I heard he's cardfighting around here?”

“Sorry. I only work certain days, so I don’t know who that is.”

Nico looked over at the person once again and realised something. That “young man” was Shirozaki Inuzaki. Many people knew him as a major threat to anyone on the street. ‘But word on the street was that he disappeared. What’s he doing here?’

Nico then realized something. If he was looking for Hoshi, his friend must’ve gotten into some trouble. Nico didn’t want to let his friend down (even though he didn’t realize that Hoshi would have dealt with it regardless).

Nico stomped over to the boy and proclaimed loudly, “So you’re looking for me, Hoshi Fukutsu?”

Shiro turned to face the somewhat shorter boy (Nico was 5’5”) and looked him over. Not really impressive. “Are you Hoshi Fukustu?”

Nico didn’t waver in his lie. “Yeah, I heard you wanted to cardfight me.” He shifted his position to that of preparing himself for a fight. Shiro kept calm and straight as a board.

“That’s the correct assumption. We’ll play down there.” He pointed to the stand at the bottom next to them. They soon made their way down, and as they were setting up,

“I need you to know something. When I win, I need your deck. Please, know it's nothing personal. It’s just business.” Shiro spoke, replacing his hand and setting his vanguard.

“Fine. But if I win, you don’t ever come near me, got it?” Nico spoke up. If this guy were after Hoshi’s cards, then it would be better to keep him away indefinitely.

“It's a deal.” ‘I don’t like this, but one thing I learned from my life is that you don’t go back on a deal.’ He had a visage of a memory where two pinkies were held together as he and Tsuki promised something to each other. Shiro held back his emotions and gut feeling of something being wrong to focus on his fight.

Nico drew his hand and readied his vanguard. They soon imagined themselves in an open area in a city, near a white fountain and surrounded by buildings in the United Sanctuary.

“Stand up, Vanguard!”

“I ride Dragon Egg.” Nico’s spirit took the form of the baby Dinodragon, as it sprang forward with big eyes.

“I ride, Medical Kit Angel.” Shiro’s spirit became a small Angel with just as big eyes and toy-like medical tools.

“I’ll go first. I draw and ride Scaling Angel. Medical Kit draws me a card. And Scaling Angel allows me to discard another card to draw a new one.” As Shiro shifted to the teenager Angel with a staff and cycled his hand, Nico realized something again.

‘I’ve barely ever played against Angel Feather decks. Don’t they need insane amounts of control? He must be strong then.’

“My turn. I draw and ride Sonic Noa.” Nico shifted his units, now becoming an orange Dinodragon with a bigger frame. “I draw from my Egg. I attack with my Vanguard (8,000).”

The techno dino jumped forward with its claws and maw, gnashing at the Angel.

“No Guard.”

“Drive Check, no trigger.” The claws slashed across the Angel, drawing blood from the unit.

Shiro placed his card, noting it was a Million Ray Pegasus (1/6). Nico smiled at the damage, “I end my turn.”

“Draw. I ride Shake Patch Angel.” This Angel was more pink, with a giant hammer with band-aids on the top. “I also call Rear Impetus Celestial, Armaiti. Using its skill, I’ll soul-blast Scaling Angel to call Million Ray Pegasus from the damage zone, then place a new card from the top of my deck into the damage zone.” As the new Angel with a laser syringe and blue wings appeared to Shrio’s left, another unit in the form of a pegasus with armor and semi-mechanical wings appeared to its right.

“Since I placed a new card into my damage zone this turn, my Pegasus gains 5,000 power and shield. And my Vanguard gains 3,000 power per card in my damage zone. I attack with Armaiti (9,000).” As Shiro swiped his card as he still stayed straight as a board, his Angel on Cray shot at the Dinodragon.

“No guard.” Noa was knocked back from where it was by the laser, but still stood its ground. “No trigger.” 1/6. Shiro didn’t let the beast breathe for a moment as his vanguard was flying above it, bringing the (literal) hammer down.

“Attack with Shake Patch Angel (12,000).”

“Guard with Black Cannon Tiger.” A mechanical sabertooth appeared, firing its missiles at the Angel.

“Drive Check, draw trigger. Power to Million Ray Pegasus, who’ll now attack (24,000).” The High Beast now shot its lasers at the unsuspecting Dinodragon.

“No guard. Damage check, Heal trigger.” 1/6. ‘Man, what bad luck to have an early heal trigger.’

“I end my turn.”

“Stand and draw. I ride Ravenous Dragon, Megarex. I also call Savage Raider and Clearout Dragon, Sweeperacrocanto.” A red quadrupedal Dinodragon with Gatling guns on its sides appeared to the left, and a hominid with tribal bones and paint appeared to the right, with a bar of light next to it. “Raider’s skill equips the top card of my deck to it as an equip gauge.”

“I attack your vanguard with Savage Raider (9,000). Using its skill, I move its gauge to my Sweeperacrocanto.” As the hominid attacked with its bone weapon, Shiro decided to guard against the attack. “Guard with Bouqet Toss Messenger.” A new angel with a flower surrounding it stopped the attack with a barrier of petals.

“I attack with Megarex (9,000). Using its skill, I retire Raider and draw a card.” As the Dinodragon attacked the hammer Angel, the Raider was turned into particles from the skill.

“No guard.”

“Drive check, critical trigger! Power to Sweeperacrocanto and critical to Megarex.” The dinosaur bit down hard on the Angel, trying to fit its entirety into its mouth.

“Damage checks, no trigger; draw trigger. Power to Shake Patch.” 3/6. Shiro took note that his last damage was a Service Improver.

“I attack with Sweeperacrocanto, whose skill gives it an equip gauge. Its skill gives 5,000 power per gauge (29,000).” The strange-looking Dinodragon started its Gatling guns at the Angel of pink.

“I intercept from Million Ray, who has a 10,000 shield, and Armaiti.” Both units took the shots from the red unit as its barrage ended.

“I end my turn.” Nico was feeling pumped! 3 damage on his second turn was great.

“Stand and draw. I ride Cosmo Healer, Ergodiel. Imaginary Gift, Protect II. I choose not to use Shake Patch Angel’s skill, but I will use Ergodiel’s skill, with a counter-blast of one, I place your Sweeperacrocanto into your damage zone and you heal one damage, then Ergodiel gets an extra critical for the turn.” Nico’s unit dissipated from the golden Angel’s blast from its devices as it swapped to the damage zone. Both of the equip gauges were sent to Nico’s dropzone.

“Come to my aid! Black Call, Nakir, Despense Angel, and Thermometry Angel!” As Shir lined up his units, he activated their effects in order. “When Nakir is placed, I can check the top five of my deck for a Grade 3 unit. I choose this one.” He revealed his chosen unit, a Bosker Surgeon, Asphael. “All of their skills give them a bonus in power this turn.”

Nico knew he was going to take a lot of damage this turn. He steadied himself as the attacks came again. “I use Despense Angel to attack (17,000).”

“No guard. Damage check, no trigger.” 2/6.

“Attack with Ergodiel, boosted by Nakir. Ergodiel gets 10,000 since you have 2 face-up damage cards (29,000).” boosted by the dark-skinned Angel, the golden vanguard took flight, showering the dino in a barrage of energy beams.

“Perfect Guard! Archbird!” A smaller dinosaur sprang forth, casting a fiery barrier around the Megarex as the laser came down upon them.”

“Twin Drive. First check. Second Check, Heal trigger. Power Thermometry Angel.” Shiro placed his only face-down damage into his dropzone.

“Finally, attack with Thermometry Angel (34,000).” The Angel, with the bonus from the Protect II marker, shot their medical daggers at the dinosaur’s scales.

“No guard. Damage check, draw trigger.” 3/6.

“I end my turn.”

“Stand and draw.” Nico looked at the card he had drawn and raised it above his head. “Carve open the skies and feast on the Earth! Ravenous Dragon, Gigarex!” Nico’s vanguard appeared in a typhoon of power as it reared back its spiked body and roared at the floating Angels.

“I get an Imaginary Gift, Accel II. I call: Vicious Claw Dragon, Laceraterex,” A blue raptor with a metal visor appeared on the Accel Circle, “Fiery Light Dragon, Opticalcerato,” A Dinodragon with laser cannon was mounted on its back roared to life to Gigarex’s left, “Sharp Thorn Dragon, Polacanspine,” An armored, tank-like Dinodragon with purple coloring appeared behind the second unit, “Angry Roar Dragon, Roarbaryo,” A less armored Dinodagon with huge claws and a giant maw appeared on the right back circle on Nico’s board, “And another Megarex!” He placed his last unit to the right of his Gigarex. All of the Dinodragons roared in unison, shuddering the entire area in the city.

“Laceratrex gives itself an equip gauge on placement. Opticalcerato gives an Equip gauge to my reargaurd; I choose Polacanspine. Roarbyro soul-blasts one to give an equip gauge to my Polacanspine, and 5,000 more power for the turn. I attack with Gigarex!” The giant was clawing at the golden Angel above him. “Gigarex moves an equip gauge to all my rearguards and gives itself 5,000 power for each one, so 25,000 power is added (37,000)!”

“No guard.”

“Twin Drive, Draw trigger. Power to Laceraterex.” The giant Dinosaur swiped its tail at the Angel, sending it flying into a building.

“Damage check, no trigger.” 3/6.

“I attack with Laceraterex (23,000)!” The blueish raptor leaped at the angel with vigor.

“Guard with Buoqet Toss Messenger and Thousand Ray Pegasus.” The two units, a smaller pegasus and the Angel with flowers, appeared to stop the attack.

“I attack with Opticalcerato boosted by Polacanspine (25,000)!”

“No guard. Damage check, no trigger.” Shiro looked at his fourth damage and saw it. The card he would use to win. 4/6.

“I attack with Megarex, boosted by Roarbyro. Megarex retires my Polacanspine to draw me one card, and Polacanspine can give me a soul-charge and move its equip gauge to my Megarex. Before that, since it's on rearguard, I can counter-blast one to give it an equip gauge, for a total of 2, and get a total of 10,000 power from its skill (27,000)!” The lights from the equip gauge moved to the unit. The Megarex unit chomped down on the unit, trying to crush it even more than the last time.

“Damage check, no trigger.” 5/6.

‘If I can hold out until my next turn, I can use Equip Cannon to deal him damage even if he heals one damage.’ Nico thought, smiling a bright, hopeful smile.

“Final turn.” Nico stopped short of his smile when he heard those words.

“Hellish devil, reborn by merciful wings, protect the victim’s sanctuary! Ride! Purefeather Angel, Samael!” A new unit appeared, his ace. It was unlike his others. While those angels were white and lighter colored, this one had a black wing on his left side with a red trident in that hand. On the other side was a white wing with a sword made of seemingly angelic power.

“What is that unit?” Nico questioned, resetting his stance. The angel looked down at him with a red and black eye on the left and right, respectively. His face betrayed no expression but anger and contempt for the Dinodragon he faced.

“My avatar. I get a Protect II and place it left of my vanguard.” The marker boosted the Despense Angel that was left on the field.

“I move back Despsense Angel to call Bosker Surgeon, Asphael.” As the other Angel shifted back, a new one with a spear and spiky halo appeared with a smile.

“Using my Asphael's skill, I counter-blast three to heal three damage.” Shiro placed his cards he had flipped over, including a copy of Samael from his fourth damage, and replaced them in his damage zone. “And replace them with three from the dropzone. Now, Samael’s skill activates. When a card is placed into the damage zone, my front row gets 5,000 power per card.” All of Shiro’s units’ power increased instrumentally, surprising Nico.

“And since I placed a copy of Samael into my damage zone, your front row loses 5,000 power for the turn.” On Cray, several arcs of light shot at the front row of Dinodragons, causing all of them to fall to the ground in pain.

“This isn’t good. It just makes it harder for me to guard now.” Nico spoke aloud, stepping back a little bit from the table until he snapped himself out of it. ‘He needs to deal me 3 damage, and I have a Perfect Guard from my Archbird. I can make it if I hope on a single critical trigger.”

“Also, since I placed a new card into my damage zone, both Thermometry and Nakir get another 5,000 power.”

“How are you doing this?” Nico shouted, surprised at the turn of events.

“It doesn’t matter to you. Once I win, I’ll get her back.”

‘Who?’

“I also use Samael’s skill. By soul-blasting a card and discarding another, I can give Samael a new effect this turn. I attack with Samael, boosted by Nakir (40,000).” The Angel with two different wings gathered its energy, putting its weapons together to shoot a beam of energy at the unit below it.

“Perfect Bird, Archbird!” A fiery barrier appeared, stopping the full-force attack.

“Twin Drive. First check. Second check, critical trigger. All effects to Asphael.”

“Man, this might be close, but if I pull a trigger from the 2 damage, I might just make it.’ Is what you're thinking, I assume.” Shiro spoke coldly to the shorter boy, who shivered for some reason from that. “Samael’s skill gives him the power to double all my triggers until the end of your turn. Counter Corruption!” Asphael’s bonus doubled, giving it even more strength. Nico gulped, sweating in disbelief at the power coming at him. He could only hope for a heal trigger.

“Attack with Asphael, boosted by Dispense Angel (59,000).” The Angel shot high into the sky, coming down on top of Gigarex in a fatal blow into the ground, causing its own whirlwind to shake the building around them.

“No guard. Damage check one, two.” Nico placed his cards into the damage zone (5/6). “3rd check. No trigger.” Nico placed his sixth damage, a copy of Gigarex. 6/6.

The Miyaji student collapsed to the ground in shock at the defeat. ‘So much power. He’s so strong. I can’t even compete at my current level.’ Nico thought. He watched Shiro gather up every card on the table from both players. “I assume you’ll keep up your end of the deal. I’ll be taking your deck.”

Shiro left the shop, walking fast to the bus station. He would make it back to Tsuki as fast as possible. “Soon, my love, soon.”
~
Nico picked himself up from the ordeal and moved up to the storefront and immediately sprinted out, even though he felt sore for some reason. ‘I gotta find Hoshi. Once Shiro figures out that I’m not him, he’ll look for Hoshi next. He said he was up north today, looking for potential teammates.’ “Gah! Why didn’t I get Hoshi’s phone number?!”
~
Shiro had made it back to the hospital and entered the room of his sleeping beauty. As he entered, he saw the two figures still there, waiting.

Insect boy noticed him first, “Did you get the cards?”

“Yeah. Here you go. I wonder why you made him sound strong. He was easy to take down.” Shiro commented, passing the strange boy the deck he got.

“...These are not it. You failed.” The boy tossed them to the ground, the cards fluttering everywhere. “These are Tachikaze cards, you incompetent fool. You did not fight Hoshi. The deal is off.”

“What do you mean? I went to Card Capital and looked for him. A smaller dude came up, saying he was Hoshi. I challenged him and I won. Now, wake Tsuki up.” Shiro snarled, becoming increasingly impatient. He picked up the cards, though, respecting the previous fighter. ‘Better get these back then, when I ring that boy's neck.’

“I believe the phrase you Earthlings use is that 'you have been duped.” Is that correct, Hornet?” The hooded figure drawled out, sounding out each word of the phrase. “You humans have such a strange way of speaking. Listen close, young one.” The figure shifted closer to Shiro as if it were floating (which wouldn’t be strange enough). “I will give you one last chance to get me those cards. If not, forget waking your oh so dear female up.” The tone of mockery infuriated Shiro to no end. But he allowed his end of the deal to fall through. He had to get Tsuki back.

“Yes. Crystal clear.” Shiro remarked in the same tone he had used with Nico.

“Hornet, go with him this time. I want this done right.”

“Yes, master.” The green-haired boy, Hornet, spoke in the affirmative. “You,” He pointed at Shiro. “Let us make haste.” He swiftly exited the room, heading for the ground.

‘Who speaks like that anyway?’ Shiro thought, racing after him.
~
Hoshi had been sitting in a small park, watching people go by. ‘What was that space? And why was a younger Susan in their?’ The questions repeated in his mind. ‘Did my PSYqualia kick in for that?’

Hoshi had looked for Susan or any semblance of the Spike Brothers, but they disappeared. Hoshi decided to get up and make his way home when all of a sudden,

“HOSHI!” Hoshi turned to where the voice was coming from and saw a trail of dust as his (currently, only) friend, Nico, made his way towards him, outpacing the bicyclists he was passing every moment. “WHAT DID YOU DO?!” The spikey-haired brown boy came to a halt, stopping inches from Hoshi.

“Don’t yell out here. What do you mean, ‘What did I do?’ And how did you find me?”

Nico stopped to take a breath, as he had been running for the past 20 minutes nonstop. “A guy named Shirozaki, this mean-looking dude in blue, came by Card Capital and was looking for you. I tried to beat him in Vanguard to get him off your scent, since you're my BFF and all. But he was so strong, he took my deck, and I think by now he realized I’m not you!”

Hoshi blinked for a second as he tried to figure out what to do. “Well, what does he want from me?”

A semi-deep voice from behind him answered that question. “I want your deck, Hoshi Fukustu.”

As Hoshi spun around, he came nearly face-to-face with a blue-wearing young adult with white hair and a face with a frown so gnarly, even the devil would be scared.

“So, I guess you're the guy looking for me. Or more specifically, my deck?” Hosh shifted back a couple foot feet. While he and Shirozaki were about the same height, the build difference between the two unnerved Hoshi. “Looks like Nico’s ruse got you. Why do you want my deck?”

“I made a deal with someone, and I need to hold up my end. Now, will you cardfight me?” Shiro brought out his deck. While he could easily try to take it by force, he was a person who tried to be civil about many things since his younger days.

“If it might get you to leave me alone, maybe.” Hoshi brought out his deck, and the two found a table in the park to play at. ‘Asterism’s brother might be behind this. The Tatsunagi messaged me, saying he was here. He must want to end things early.’

Nico was super worried about Hoshi. “Hoshi, this guy uses Angel Feather and is extremely strong, like Misaki strong!” At that, Hoshi paled a little. He had seen Misaki play seriously, and it scared him. But this wasn’t Misaki in front of him.

“It’ll be fine, Nico. I’ve gotten stronger since you last saw me play. I could take on anyone right now.”

“Big words. Let’s see if you can back them up.” Shiro responded out of character. He shouldn’t have been talking to his target like a friendly rival. ‘For Tsuki,’ He thought.

“So, if I win, you leave me alone. If you win, you get my deck. Is that alright to you?”

“It is.” The two set up their boards and readied themselves.

“Stand up, Vanguard!”
~
Shirozaki is one of the trauma characters I have. He lost his mother, father, and almost lost his only friend. What can he do when you have nothing else except possibly years until she might wake up? I would just as well take the deal. And sorry, no face reveal for our evil space deity just yet.
Today’s card is-

Purefeather Angel, Samael
A custom Grade 3 ace unit I made for Shiro that is decked out for damage. It has an Act that, by soul-blasting one and discarding a card at 4 damage, you can heal one or double trigger effects, until the end of your opponent's turn. He also has a second effect that boosts when damage is placed into either damage zone, and even debuffs if a copy of him is placed. All around, a very strong and awesome card! I chose to make a custom card since I couldn't find an Angel Feather unit that fit him.

Chapter Text

“Stand up, Vanguard.”

The two boys' spirits landed on Cray, yet again in the same place where Nico and Shiro’s match had taken place.

“I ride Medical Kit Angel.” Shiro took the form of a small Angel with toy tools.

“Ride, Stellar Rookie.” Hoshi took the form of his spirit guardian, a small grey-armored alien with a big head.

“I’ll go first. I draw and ride, Scaling Angel.” Shiro took the form of the teen Angel again. “Using its skill, I discard and draw. I end my turn.”

“Draw. Ride, Bright Nebula!” the Cyberoid came to life, with flashing prismatic colors. “I also call Dwarf Chaperone.” A well-dressed dwarf appeared next to Hoshi.

“I attack with Dwarf Chaperone (8,000).” The dwarf used some form of hammer space to create an ax that he swung at the enemy vanguard.

“No guard. Damage check, no trigger.” 1/6. Shiro noted that the first damage was a copy of Samael.

“I use Dwarf’s skill to bind it facedown and call a unit from my hand as locked and draw a card.” Hoshi placed the new unit to the left of the vanguard as the dwarf left play. “I attack with Nebula (8,000).” Hoshi readied his fists on Cray for the Angel.

“Guard with Service Improver, which gets a 5,000 shield bonus by its skill.” A small Angel with brown wings darted in front of Bright Nebula.

“Drive check, no trigger. I end my turn, unlocking my Celestial Helix.” A giant Cyber Golem with transparent blue body parts and tendrils of red exited the sphere of red and black. “And Bright Nebula searches Protostar Rutile from my deck by dropping a card.”

Nico was watching from the sidelines, silently cheering for Hoshi. ‘Hoshi was right; he has imporved since I last saw him play.’

“Stand and draw. I ride Shake Patch Angel.” An Angel with a giant pink hammer replaced the old Angel. “I call Thermometry Angel and Black Mapping, Salaphiel.” Two new angels appeared to aid the hammer-wielding vanguard. “Salaphiel soul-blasts one to heal one damage and deal me one damage.” As the damage was swapped out, Shiro got a draw trigger, giving it to his Shake Patch Angel. 1/6.

“I attack with Shake Patch Angel (22,000).” The powered-up vanguard flew into the air, swinging its hammer down on the Cyberoid.

“No guard.” The attack crushed Nebula into the earth below him.

“Drive check, no trigger.”

“Damage check, no trigger.” 1/6.

“I attack with Salaphiel (19,000).”

“No guard. Damage check, front trigger.” 2/6. Nebula was once again hit as it was getting up from the last blow.

“Attack with Thermometry Angel (19,000).” Needle projectiles were aimed in the last attack.

“Guard with Nuclear Man.” A superhero with green coloring swooped in from the sky, stopping the attack by taking the hit.

“I end my turn.”

“Stand and draw. I ride Protostar Rutile.” The new unit stood menacingly in front of the Angel’s smiling faces. “I call Doppler Cloner and use its skill. By counter-blasting one, I can call a Doppler Token to a back row reargaurd circle.” A human with a lab coat appeared behind Helix, a new unit that looked nearly identical, save for the younger age, was placed behind Rutile.

“Using Celestial Helix’s skill, I lock my Cloner to give it 5,000 power for the turn and lock one of your units. I choose Thermometry Angel.” As both units were banished into spheres, Hoshi readied his attack. “Using Rutile boosted by my Token, I attack the vanguard (15,000).” The Cyber Golem of yellow ran forward, jumping off buildings to hit the Angel with a hammer.

“No guard.”

“Drive Check, critical trigger. Critical to Rutile and power to Helix.” Rutile’s blades slashed at the Angel, wounding her wings so she was closer to the ground for his ally.

“Damage checks, draw trigger. Power to Shake Patch.” 3/6.

“Attack with Helix (28,000).” A giant hand came down from the blue pseudo-deity, nearly crushing the Angel.

“Guard with Million Ray Pegasus. It gets a 5,000 shield bonus from taking damage this turn.” The High Beast flew under the hand, carrying the Angel away from the oncoming threat.

“I end my turn, unlocking my Cloner. And using Rutile’s skill, I discard a card and superior ride Stellar Justice, Asterism!” Hoshi became his alter ego, with a silver gleam. If any nearby unit had seen Asterism, they would make a statue of how glorious he looked then and there.

“So that’s your ace. Seems strong. But not as strong as mine.” Shiro drew his next card. “I ride Cosmo Healer, Ergodiel.” The same golden Angel appeared, wielding its weapons of irony.

“I get an Imaginary Gift: Protect I. Using its skill, I counter-blast one to place my Salaphiel and your Helix into our damage zones, allowing us to both heal one.”

“I use Shake Patch Angel’s ride skill to place it into the damage zone facedown and call another unit from there. I call Despense Angel, who gains 10,000 power from a new card in my damage zone. I also call Black Call, Nakir. Using her skill, I check the top five of my deck for a Grade 3 to add to my hand. I choose this one, my ace.” Shiro revealed his Samael, making Nico sweat.

“Hoshi, watch out for it. It’s super powerful.”

“Attack with Ergodiel boosted by Nakir. With its skill, Ergodiel gets 10,000 power (35,000)

“No guard.”

“Twin drive, heal trigger. Power to Despense Angel.” Ergodiel knocked Asterism back with its weapons, dealing two damage to Hoshi.

“Damage checks, no triggers. (4/6) Now, I use Asterism’s skill to Override into Asterism “Protect Mode” from my deck.” Asterism shifted into his green form from the damage he sustained, feeling less worn. “I get a Protect I as well.”

“I attack with Despense Angel (29,000).”

“Guard with Calm Guardian, who gets 5,000 more shield from Protect Mode.” An alien monk with robes appeared, blocking the attack from the Angel.

“I end my turn.” Thermometry Angel was released from the lock as Asterism regained its silver form.

“Stand and draw. I call Mr. Cosmos to my aid.” A purple hero with bulky gear appeared next to Asterism. “I use Asterism’s skill to lock your Nakir.” As the dark-colored angel became trapped in the red sphere of the Link Joker’s, Hoshi used Asterism to attack Ergodiel (23,000).

“Perfect Guard, Protect I.” The marker symbol appeared in front of Ergodiel as Asterism tried to attack.

“Drive Check. First check, draw trigger. Power to Cosmos. Second check, heal trigger. Power to Cosmos.” Hoshi healed his facedown Celestial Helix.

“I use Override to ride “Accel Mode” from my dropzone. I choose an Accel II. Using Accel Mode’s skill, I call Celestial Helix from my dropzone to the accel circle. And, my front row gains 5,000 power during my turn.”

“Impressive. So that’s what Override can do.” Shiro and Nico both commented.

“You both haven’t seen the half of it. I use Accel Mode boosted by my Doppler Token (22,000)”

“No guard. Damage check, no trigger.” 3/6. Asterism’s attack landed this time, proving to be an effective blow to the Angel.

“I attack with Helix (23,000)!” The reanimated giant’s hand came down upon the vanguard.

“No guard. Damage check, no trigger.” 4/6.

“Attack with Mr. Cosmos boosted by Doppler Cloner (47,000).” The superhero shot forward with his fist facing forward, laughing as he aimed to beat down the enemy in front of him.

“Guard with Sunny Smile Angel and Critical Hit Angel." A smaller, blue-haired Angel and blonde haired Angel, bothbin nurse uniforms, intercepted the hero’s attack by acting in danger from some falling debris, averting his path towards Ergodiel.

“I end my turn. I ride back into Asterism.” The deity’s power deactivated, reinstating his silver form

“Stand and draw.” Shiro was calm as he waved his card in front of him. “Hellish devil, reborn by merciful wings, protect the victim’s sanctuary! Ride! Purefeather Angel, Samael!” in a flash of light so powerful even Asterism had to look away. When the eyes returned, he saw a wrathful Angel with a black-feathered wing on the left and a trident in the same hand. On the other was a white wing with a sword. The eyes stared at him, feelings of rage reaching Hoshi’s Cray body.

“So this is your ace, Samael. It’s indeed powerful.”

“You haven’t seen anything yet. I get a Protect I. I also move back Despense Angel to call Bosker Surgeon, Aspheal. Using its skill, I counter-blast three to heal 3 and place 3 cards from my dropzone into my damage zone. With Samael’s skill, I give my front row 5,000 power per card placed. Since I placed a copy of Samael into the damage zone, your front row also loses 5,000 power this turn. Despense and Thermometry gain power from their effects as well."

The sudden power increase made Hoshi flinch as he stared at the board. ‘I have two perfect guards and can take two damage.’

“I use Samael’s skill. By soul-blasting one and discarding a card, my trigger effects activate twice until your turn’s end. So, can you withstand my power? I attack with Samael (27,000).” The Angel with dual-colored eyes came down with the force of a meteor onto Asterism.

“Of course I can. Perfect Guard, Protect I!” The marker appeared in front of Asterism this time, stopping the devilish Angel’s attack.

“Twin drive. Critical trigger. I double the activations, so both my front row rearguards gain an extra critical and extra power. Despair, as I attack with Thermometry Angel (39,000).”

“Perfect Guard, Absorbing Guardian!” An alien monk, more heavyset than the last, used its powers to redirect the attack.

Shiro gritted his teeth, straining himself to grasp victory. “I use Asphael, boosted by Despense Angel, to attack your vanguard (54,000).” A stream of pure light came from the heavens as Asphael, with Despense Angel’s support, blasted away at the deity of order.

“No guard. Damage checks, no triggers.” 5/6. Hoshi placed his 5th damage as he could feel something tugging at the back of his mind, like with his match against Susan. ‘Does that mean I might be able to help him?’ Hoshi questioned internally, when suddenly, Rookie appeared as a spirit next to him on Earth. “Hey, I sense one of that guy’s minions around here. He’s over in that direction.” Rookie pointed to the left of Hoshi, who looked and saw a figure behind the trees. All he could make out was his height and clothes color: Tall and green. “Don’t worry. I’ll deal with him later. They must have put Shiro up to this if he wants my deck.”

“Stop mumbling to yourself over there. I end my turn.” Shiro ended his turn, flipping his Nakir face up.

“Final turn! Stand and draw. I call Stellar Vigilante and Stellar Soldier. Using Soldier’s skill, I lock your Despense Angel. I also use Asterism’s skill to lock your Nakir again.” As the Angel Feather Units were flipped facedown, Hoshi locked his Doppler Cloner and similar Token to use Celestial Helix’s effect. “I choose both units in your front row!” And with that, all of Shiro’s units had been put out of commission.

“I attack with Asterism (23,000)!”

“Imaginary Gift: Protect I!” As the marker appeared between the two clashing blades, Shiro and Hoshi both could feel the tremors of the strike. As Samael shot backwards to retreat, he left in his wake a ray of light trying to stop Asterism. “Twin drive. No triggers.” But Hoshi smirked instead, knowing full well he had the perfect card to finish this fight.

“Asterism’s Override. Time to show you what we can do! Override!” As Asterism was hit by the blast, a glow appeared from him as he released an energy wave, knocking back the beam of light and Samael. Shiro and Samael watched as Asterism’s color shifted again, but this time to a crimson red. The weapons on its forearms shifted into the arm, creating only a fist as a weapon. “Asterism “Brawl Mode!” Because of it, I get a Force I for my vanguard. And Brawl Mode’s skills give it an extra 10,000 power and 2 more critical!”

Shiro flinched this time, his composure being overridden by the crimson unit in front of him.

“I use Mr. Cosmos to attack your vanguard (25,000).”

“No guard. Damage check, no trigger. Since a card was placed into my damage zone, my front row gains 5,000 power.” 5/6.

“Still, I will win this turn. Attack with Brawl Mode (33,000)!”

“Guard with Buoqet Toss Messenger and Service Improver!” As the crimson streak came down, its back shifted out four more arms, all the fists of Asterism clenching to beat down the dual-colored Angel, but it was stopped by the power of both Angels.

“I’m not done. Attack with Vigilante boosted by Soldier (26,000)!” From behind Samael, the silver colored back alley fighter aimed its dagger at the unsuspecting Angel.

Shiro looked at his hand and could only hope for a heal trigger to use. “No guard.”

The blade stuck deep into the Angel, who fell to the ground in defeat.

“Damage Check.” Shiro looked at the card and revealed it. It was a copy of Asphael. 6/6.

As soon as Hoshi won, he was once again transported into the same space, but this was different. Instead of a white room, it was a room full of journals on medical expertise. As Hoshi looked around, he found a younger Shiro at the bedside of a comatose girl in a hospital. He was crying, saying, “Please don't leave me.”
~
Hornet had been watching from the side and was gone as soon as he saw Hoshi Override into Brawl Mode. He leaped onto a bus, heading away from the park, but also from the hospital where his master was. He took out his phone, calling the figure on the other end. “Master, the Angel Feather imbecile lost. I recommend we move on to Plan B, the tournament. I assume you have her currently?”

The figure on the other end, who had recently learned to use phones, was marveling at it. “Eartherlings sure do know how to make unique designs, though they are an unevolved species, unlike many units from Cray and Brandt. And ye,s Hornet, I have her here with me. Why don’t you say hello, Tsuki?”

A feminine voice that was the same tone as a robot came from the other end to Hornet’s ear, “Hello.”
~
“Hey!”

As Hoshi tried to reach out and get to Shiro in front of him, he again returned to Earth and saw that Shiro was crying, trying to hold them back. He wasn’t sobbing or anything, just tears coming out like a leaky faucet. “I must leave,” Shiro said only that as he picked up his cards, leaving. Hoshi turned to where the mysterious figure had been, but saw no one. He soon headed back to his house, having called it a day to ponder on his strange, intrusive experiences that day.

Nico, though, tried to follow Shiro. “That bastard has my deck!”
~
Shiro got to the hospital and was making it into the room, having dried up his tears, as he walked in, he found an empty bed and Tsuki gone. He dashed out of the room in a flurry, desperately heading to the desk on that floor.

“HEY! Did you see a previously comatose patient walk out of here? I can’t find her!”

The nurse sitting there lifted her head at him and spoke in a tone. “If she were comatose, she wouldn’t be able to walk. But if you're talking about the only one on this floor, she left with her guardian, Shirozaki Inuzaki.”

“I’M Shirozaki!” Shiro exclaimed, getting his face closer to the woman to emphasize the point. “Did you see who had her?” He was ready to break something, and was starting to see red.

The nurse noticed and immediately called the number on the paper. Shiro’s phone soon buzzed, and the nurse turned pale. She called the security team and surveillence team to look at some of the tape, but when they tried, they found only a static until Shiro entered the room. Nothing had been caught on camera.

Shiro rushed out of the hospital totry and find all three of them. ‘When I get my hands on those two, regardless of their power, I will kill them!’ he spent hours into the afternoon and night, trying to search everywhere. He asked everyone he could, looked in all that big and small places. By midnight, he had tried everywhere he couldn get into. Tsuki, Hornet-or whatever, and his master were gone without a trace.

“Dammit!” Shiro was angry. He had sat down on a swing at a nearby park on the west side of the city and was debating whether to file a missing person’s case or not. As he hung his head down, trying to calm himself, he heard a familiar voice try to curse him out. He looked up to see the same spiky-haired kid he had beaten earlier that day running at him at near cheetah speed.

“Wether you can kick my ass or not, I want my deck back you-” As Nico was about to curse him again, Shiro held up a hand to pause him and brought out the cards he had picked up in the hospital room.

“I won’t ring your neck because what you did was right. I shouldn’t have tried to steal cards, even if they might have been the only way to wake her up.”

“Mind my question, but wake who up?” Nico asked. He took the deck of cards (his precious!) and sat on the swing next to Shiro. Where was the guy earlier who was cold and damning everyone in his gaze?

“My only friend in life and fiancé, Tsuki. We got into an argument over a year and a half ago, and she was hit by a car. She’s been comatose since then, till today. A pair of weird guys appeared, a cloaked one even saying he could awaken her. The crazy part is, they did. She was awake for just a second. I made a deal saying that I was going to get your friend's cards to him in return for Tsuki waking up. I beat you, then he beat me. The other guy was watching from the side, and I think your friend Hoshi saw him hiding. When I lost, he must have told his “master” and taken Tsuki. When I got back to the hospital, they were gone without a trace. I’ve been looking since.”

Nico had been following along until Shiro said the guy did something to wake her up. Something ticked in the back of his mind about how Hoshi had been taken by the original members and came back different somehow. “Maybe Hoshi might know something, considering he was who they were after.”

Shiro realized the shorter boy was right, but before he could act on the next impulse he had to do, he felt a wave of drowsiness hit him. As he tried to stay awake, Nico held out a can of instant coffee from a bag Shiro hadn’t noticed. “Drink this. You can stay with my family tonight if you need to.”

Shiro looked at the boy and felt something he had only for very few people: A sense of kinship.

“Wait, why do you have coffee, and are out at midnight? Aren’t you still a high schooler?”

“Yeah, but my Mom ran out of coffee at home and needed some night juice for her deadline. Come on, let’s get there before it gets any later.”
~
Hornet had contacted the Tatsunagi group and had them put up in a hotel. As he was sipping on some coffee, he heard a knock at the door and went to it. He looked out the peephole and found his master and the girl. He let them in, “I hope this accommodates your tastes, master.” They had been put in a nice suite for the time until the tournament officially began, allowing for ample time to put a team together. It was around midnight.

“You humans fascinate me with why you would build such places. In a millennium or even less, it will fall and be forgotten. But its luxuries are something you don’t get as a planet, I tell you.” The figure took off its cloak. Hornet kept his face turned, as his master wished not to be seen just yet.

“I do not know the feeling, master. Maybe if I become one with the universe, I can expect such things. But for now, we must see how well our new teammate does in a match. Shall we, Ms. Tsukuyomi?”

The girl had changed into a red and pink dress and skirt, having been there for her when she awoke from her coma. She was alive, awake, and moving, but her eyes were dead, like the dolls in her deck. Her body was near bone and skin, muscle atrophy eating away for the past year and a half. If it wasn’t for the power of the chaos deity, she would collapse right then and there.

“Yes I am, master Hornet.”
~
“Hey, Rookie. Why did I get a new Asterism mode?” Hoshi had made it back and was still awake, trying to put the pieces of this cosmic puzzle together.

“Maybe because you're getting stronger, or Asterism is lending you power for the fight against his brother. Who knows? I just make sure you don’t get hurt.” The ball of light had been floating around the room. He had found he could interact with certain objects physically if he tried hard enough to move them, almost like a ghost.

“Well, I’ll have to go down to the station to see if I can look for Susan. She was strong, and she seemed like someone I could trust. That detective said she kept her crew in check, so she can’t be all bad. I’ll head down to the station since I still have the detective’s card, see if he knows how to get in touch with her.”

For now, Hoshi needed to sleep. His day had felt exhausting, to say the least. He said goodnight to Rookie and fell asleep, unknowingly missing a message from Nico about helping Shiro. Oh well, that’s tomorrow-Hoshi’s problem.
~
When you read the title, some of you must have thought, “Crimson Impact, Metatron.” Sorry, not sorry. I have worked on my cards over an entire span of 4 months, and Asterism had major revisions before becoming what it is now. And how will Shiro get Tsuki back? You’ll just have to wait and keep reading!
Today’s card is-

Asterism “Brawl Mode”
Taking key aspects from one of my favorite games, Asura’s Wrath, I made a heavily melee-focused crimson Asterism whose uses more power than Force Mode. He not only gets 10,000P during your turn, but if you have 4 or more damage, you also get 2 extra critical. Combining that with a Force I marker, that's a 33,000P/3C just off the bat. Keep a lookout for even more versions!

Chapter Text

“Nico, please explain to me why he’s here with us?” Hoshi asked the Tachikaze user, staring at the now seemingly friendly Shirozaki Inuzaki walking alongside them to the police station they had visited weeks earlier.

“I told you in the text, he was trying to get your deck because somehow it would make a person wake up Shiro’s soulmate. After he lost to you, she was gone from her bed and couldn’t find her. That’s why we’re all going to the station together.” Nico explained to his BFF. “And we figured if they know you, then you must know something about all of this, and why Shiro here,” Nico patted the taller boy’s back, “Lost his comatose fiancée, but also was manhandled by a weird tentacle. No use trying to get out of it, we both need an explanation.”

Hoshi sighed heavily for the… He didn’t actually know how many times he had sighed today, but it had been constant. “Okay, know how my cards just appeared in my locker, Nico? And you should listen to Shiro.” Nico was paying attention while the blue boy snapped out of his daze. He had been running through the checklist of Tsuki’s usual spots where she could still hide.

Hoshi told them about Asterism and his brother, how one was on Earth and was probably who manhandled Shiro. “I guess that he wanted to cut off Asterism’s connection to Earth to fully let loose. Don’t know how he got here, though. And Tsukuyomi might already be a part of his team. That’s why I’m going to the station to find Susan.”

“Susan?” Nico questioned. He had followed along and even felt elated that he was going to fight some big, bad, evil god. ‘This is gonna be great!’ thought the overly optimistic boy as Hoshi had still been explaining that Monday afternoon. Nico had found Hoshi after school, heading to the police station from their earlier adventure. Nico told him to wait and brought Shiro. The Link Joker user eyed the Angel Feather used along the way till now.

“Susan was the girl who we saw at the Spike Brothers little hide-out. She gave us the detective’s card, remember?”

“Oh, yeah. Didn’t she say her name was Aku, though?”

“I beat her yesterday while looking for more teammates. She gave me her name in English on a piece of paper when she left. I want to find her and have her join Team Supernova.”

Shiro snickered at the name, drawing attention to himself. “That’s your name? Did Spikey come up with it?”

“No, I actually did,” Hoshi responded in turn. “A supernova represents a new beginning. And with Vanguard, I’ve been working towards that.”

Shiro stared and snorted. The kid wasn’t wrong. It took some time for a new beginning to happen with Tsuki and him. “But to move her around right now is bad. She was comatose for a year and a half. Her atrophy could cause her body to shut down.”

“Atrophy?” Nico questioned.

“It's when the body's muscles break down due to prolonged use or no usage at all, her being the latter. That’s why people need therapy after waking up. And why, if they took Tsuki, she might even get hurt more than when she was comatose.”

“Well, good thing we’re at the station. Now we can file a missing persons report for your fiancé and check with the detective what he knows about Susan. He spoke as if he knew her.”

All the boys entered the precinct, waiting at the front desk until the detective from before, Detective Nagi Haruka, came out to meet them personally. “I remember you two boys, from that mall scammer. What brings you to the precinct today?”

Shiro spoke up first, “I need to file a missing persons report. I have a more recent photo as well.”

Det. Haruka looked over at one of the street cops and motioned for him. “Zakusa here will take care of that if you could follow him. And how about you two boys?”

“I want to find someone as well, and since they gave me your card, we were hoping you might know how to find them.”

“By the card, you mean Susan?”

“Yes. I played a Vanguard match against her, and I want her to join my team for this upcoming tournament. Nico and Shiro are also on it.” Hoshi motioned towards Nico and Shiro.

Det. Haruka looked over the boys and felt a feeling of relief. “I can help you boys with that. Let me give her a ring and we’ll wait in my office.” After calling her to come down to the station, the three went into the office of Det. Haruka’s. As Nico and Hoshi looked around, Hoshi noticed a picture with a younger Det. Haruka and Susan with a young woman who looked like Susan.

“If you don’t mind my asking, who’s this lady in the picture?”

Nagi looked over and saw the picture, a somber frown appearing over his neutral look. “That would be Hanaomi. She was my wife and Susan’s mother. She… passed on about 6 years ago.”

Nico and Hoshi both felt somber. Nico had his near-death experiences. But Hoshi had something else: an old memory. It was him at a park with other kids, playing with a specific kid. He couldn’t remember the face, but he felt sad. ‘It's been some time since I’ve had that memory cross my mind.’

“I’m sorry about that. What happened to her, if I might ask?” Hoshi pushed further. It might explain what happened when he had entered that room with the younger Susan.

“I’m sorry, but it's not something I can talk about. Not without Susan present.”

Nico, however, looked at the photo and pieced it together loudly. “Are you her father? But when we met her and then saw you, you looked nothing alike.”

Nagi laughed, his somber feeling leaving for a little bit. “It’s a bit complicated. You see, Susan was born to Hanaomi when she was married to a man over in the States, who went by the name James Smith. When they divorced, the custody was left to him since she was a citizen there and her mother was coming back to Japan, where I married her a year later.” Nagi continued to smile as he told some more lore. “While James remarried as well, he and Hanaomi were on good terms, and we visited Susan in the States. James, I, Hanaomi, and James's new wife were all very good friends before the accident.” Nagi once again had a look on his face, even more distant than before. “James and his wife were hit by an impaired driver when Susan was 6. She came to live with us in Japan and became distant.” Hoshi could sense he might say more, but held his tongue as the door was knocked on.

“Sir, your stepdaughter’s here,” a female voice came from behind the door.

“Thank you, Megumi. If you could send her in, please.” The door was opened as Susan J. Smith walked through the door with a perturbed look on her face. “What do ya’ want, ya’ old man?”

Nico and Hoshi both recognized the voice and turned around to face her. Susan turned to keep her eyes on Hoshi, who gave an even worse snarl of “What do you want?”

“Susan, these boys wanted to talk to you about something related to Vanguard. I think you might be interested in what they have to say.” Nagi spoke, his hands clasped together, while he had a calm tone in contrast to his stepdaughter’s.

Susan eyed the boys for a couple of seconds and then promptly turned around to leave. “Hey, wait!” Hoshi and Nico chased after her out of the room. Nagi watched and picked up the picture that the boys had seen previously. “Hanaomi, I hope those three can help. I’ve tried everything. Maybe now you can help guide her.” He brushed his finger over her face, flashing a sad smile.
~
“Okay, everything is in order. We’ll put out a BOLO for your fiancé. If you have any questions or get any new information, contact me.” Zakusa had given his card to Shiro. The college boy walked out of the precinct, waiting for the other boys, when suddenly,

“Out of the way, you damn giant!” Shiro turned to see a young girl with raven hair in his alma mater’s uniform barreling through the door. For her size and build, about 5’ 4” and on the thinner side, her elbow sent him reeling as she ran off in another direction.

As the Angel Feather user gathered himself, he saw Hoshi and Nico rush through the doors as well, looking every which way. “Let me guess,” he asked sarcastically, “That was Susan?”

“Yeah. We didn’t even get to ask her if she would join!” Nico exclaimed.

“Well, I might be able to find her. She was wearing my alma mater’s uniform. I still have a few strings that I could use to find her.” Shiro took out his phone and dialed a number he would dial only once ever again. “Hey, it's me. What do you know about a Susan J. Smith?”
~
Hornet had been wandering the area in back alleys. He was scouting for any more promising members to join the team, and hopefully, the cause. “Considering I am in the slums of the Cardfighting areas, I am not surprised by any performances I have seen so far.” The green-wearing fighter was near the end of his rope for all the hooligans he came across when he sensed something coming from a small shop. It was partially underground, and when he went inside, it looked like a bar. He looked around and heard a crowd shouting from a table. He walked over and made his way through the crowd. He saw a grunt-looking fighter against a peculiar one, to say the least. He had a dark blue jacket on with a black undershirt. His pants were sweats and sky blue. On his head was a bandana covering most of his hair, the color being black with a Jolly Roger symbol on the side. What hair peeked out underneath was sky blue, like his paints. His shoes and socks were the same. The only change in the scheme was the boy’s darkish blue eyes.

“I attack!” The boy attacked with his vanguard, finishing off his opponent. The boy smirked as he loudly proclaimed, “And that's 30 victories in a row for me! Who wants to face off against the great Kaito Daizo?” The boy was extremely short, only about 5’ 1.” Everyone at the table shimmied back, except Hornet. “30 in a row, you say? How about I take a go?” The blue-covered boy looked over the taller, green boy and smirked. “If you think you can handle me, you pill-bug.” He laughed a hearty laugh, almost like a pirate would. Hornet felt disdain at the comment and decided he was going to demolish that kid. His demeanor didn’t shift at all, however, as he readied his side of the board.

“You are about to have a lesson you soon will not forget, little boy.”
~
“They said she hangs out around here somewhere.” Shiro, Nico, and Hoshi had all been wandering for half an hour since 5 o’clock. Shiro found that Susan was usually seen heading to the area they were in: A small neighborhood area with mostly families living in the houses. The boys had discussed how to get her to not run again when they came to a fork in the road. “I’ll take this way, you two go that way,” Shiro stated, going to the right. He wandered a bit more until he saw a playground. He remembered the time he and his mother went when his father had been at home, sleeping off a hangover. He walked over and saw a girl swinging. It was the same one who had elbowed him back at the precinct building.

He tiptoed behind her without her noticing and asked, “Mind if I sit with you?” The girl jumped out of the swing and fell to the ground, dirtying her uniform. She got up and glared at the taller boy. “If you want an apology from the elbow, you ain’t getting one ya’ jerk!”

Shiro raised an eyebrow and hands in defense, “I’m not here for that. I just want to talk. If you would listen, that would save me and my teammates even more effort.”

Susan looked at him with suspicion until she sat back down in her swing. Shiro sat in the one next to her, keeping an eye on her.

“So, why do you want me to join your damn team, huh?”

“I was told by Blondey that you fought him yesterday. He saw your skills and wants you on the team for this upcoming tournament.”

“Hell no. I don’t do tournaments or team-based things. And before you even say anything about my crew, they aren’t anywhere near my level, so they follow me. I don’t want to join.”

“Why?”

“Because I just don’t want to.”

Shiro gazed at the girl and closed his eyes. “You know, I can always tell when someone holds something heavy in their heart. I can tell you hold much.”

Susan looked the other way, her hand on her open palm. “You don’t know me. What I’ve been through.”

Shiro laughed at that, startling the girl to his attention. “What’s so funny?” She snarled. His laughter subsided as he met her eyes with the spirit of an older person. “Not all of you, but I know the feeling of losing my loved ones, and feeling helpless about it.”

“How do you know about me losing someone?” her tone was more questioning than with an attitude.

“Blondey and Spikey told me what your stepfather told them. I heard you lost your mother and father within 4 years. That's a lot for anybody, especially someone young like you.”

Now, the girl was speechless. She didn’t know what to say. She wanted to say something and nothing at the same time. Soon, her memories about her mother and father crept through the void of a room Hoshi had seen before. The little girl inside wandered around the room and found a picture with all her family in it. She picked it up, and droplets fell on the 5-person picture.

“YOU DON’T KNOW ME!” She shouted at him, the emotional flood already breaking. She had kept it down for how many years, pushing around how many people? How could she let this guy make this happen with so few words? She stood up and was about to run away when a hand caught her arm, bringing her back into an embrace.

“I know what you went through, and are still going through. I live it every day. It’s okay.” This ogre in blue was hugging her in an embrace. She wanted to get free, but something was stopping her other than the boy's arms. She just stood there. She stood there for a couple of minutes, just taking deep breaths, till Shiro could feel she had calmed down.

“I lost my mother at a young age as well, and I might lose the only person who cares for me. Don’t let yourself believe you have no one. There will be someone there for you, even if they seem so far away.”

With those words in mind, she remembered all the nights in her stepfather’s house, how he tried to get her to open up. And how she turned him away with attitude or coldness in her heart. She knew he wanted to help her, and she didn’t want it. She just wanted to wallow in her own self-pity. She remembered her mother's last words in the hospital.

“When I leave, don’t close the world off. Find people and make some friends.”

Back then, she wanted her mother to live, and those words didn’t sink in. Now, with the young man in front of her opening part of his heart, she wanted to desperately open hers.

“Thank you.” She hugged him back, both bonding over the sense of loss they shared.
~
Hoshi and Nico had heard yelling and followed the sound until the park came into view. Hoshi held Nico back before the brunette could make any noises and startle the girl. ‘Looks like Shiro was also in pain. Good to know we now have two trauma muffins on the crew, if she’ll still join. Right, I still have to explain the bad novel plot of my current life situation.’

He realised Nico had stopped moving and let his hand off to let the Tachikaze user get some air. After some big gasps, Nico decided to curse out his BFF.
~
Shiro and Susan both stepped back as soon as they heard a familiar voice cursing out someone.

“HOSHI, YOU COULD HAVE KILLED ME YOU CRAZY SON OF A-” Nico was shouting when Hoshi appeared from behind a building, smiling a cheeky smile, walking up to the two.

“Sorry, we didn’t mean to startle you or eavesdrop like that. We only came when we heard shouting coming this way. You guys okay?”

Shiro answered. “Yeah, I am. And I think you are too.” His eyes moved over to the girl who seemed to have less heavy of a heart.

“Yeah, I’m fine you damn blonde.” She barked, but without much meaning behind it. “So, why do you really want me on this team of yours?”

Hoshi could feel the stares of the three members boring holes through him. He decided the best place to talk was his house, since his parents still hadn’t come back with any word. “Let's get to my house. And it's getting late, so Susan and Nico should call their families.”

“Probably a good idea. Wait, does this make it a slumber par-”

“No,” Hoshi cut off the boy before the sentence was complete. “But we need some caffeine before this explanation takes place.” Nico called his mother, letting her know what was going on. Susan, on the other hand, felt nervous about calling her stepfather. An action she hadn’t done in 6 years. ”I’ll walk behind you three. I need you all out of earshot to talk about some stuff.”

“Works with me. Just keep up.” The three boys took the lead, heading to a bus stop. Susan dialed the number on her phone and waited. It clicked on with a “Susan? Are you okay, dear?”

She bit her lip with anxiety. “I’m alright, Nagi. Just going somewhere with some acquaintances. I’ll be back later tonight.” She still had an edge, but not all of it. The detective on the other line could tell. “Alright, sweetie, just make sure you get home safe.”

“I will. And Nagi?”

“Yeah?”

“...Thanks for everything.” She had no tone in her voice, a surprise to the 43-year-old detective. The line hung up on her end, and he put his personal phone away. “Well,” he started, his eyes back on the photo of the three. “I hope this isn’t just a phase. I may have experience in the field, but I don’t know how much more moody tom-boy teenager I can take. Eh, Hanaomi? I wonder what you would say if you were here.” He sat in his chair and thought about the three boys from earlier. ‘Maybe I’ll do a check, just to be safe.’ He booted up his computer (It was old and from the 90s. He didn’t trust the new stuff).
~
“So, you need us, three ordinary cardfighters, to help you fight an old chaos deity because you entered a headspace of the order deity fighting that dude? How can I not say you're crazy?” Susan was sitting on the floor with the others at Hoshi’s place and had been given the story. “And how did he rope you two into this?” She pointed with her chopsticks. Hoshi had made them some food as they were settling down.

“I believe him. He wouldn’t lie, even if he was crazy. That’s how close we are as BFFs.” Nico answered with 1000% confidence.

“I can actually prove that story, since Tsuki, my fiancé whom I told you about, was taken by those dudes. She was in a coma and then was gone when I got back. People don’t just wake up from comas and move.” Shiro answered this time. ‘Man, Hoshi knows how to cook.’ He was eating his ramen while Hoshi re-explained the situation. Hoshi also told them about how he entered their heads after both fights. “I didn’t see much in yours, Susan. But Shiro’s had a lot of medical journals, and he was at the edge of a hospital bed with only who I assume is Tsukuyomi.”

“Okay, so you all are in for different reasons. But why me? I’m a counter fighter if you haven’t checked.”

“Counter fighter?” Hoshi questioned.

“It means someone who doesn’t play in official tournaments. They stick to smaller places.” Shiro explained. “The pros are seen as the front fighters, as they pave the way for most of Vanguard. Many of them are in big tournaments constantly and have made names for themselves. Like Leon Soryu, or Kenji Mitsusade.”

“So you mean like Aichi and Kourin from school?” Hoshi asked again.

“They count, but mostly it's constant fighters,” Nico answered this time.

“And before anything else,” Susan drew their attention back to her, “the Tatsunagi group put this tournament together to beat this dude. Didn’t you say he could only be beaten by you to end him? What if he loses before that?”

“Rookie explained that to me. Here, I’ll show ya.” Hoshi brought out his guardian's card and held it out for all to touch. As soon as all of them were holding it, Hoshi activated his PSYqualia, and Rookie appeared before them.

“Hello, everyone! You already know my name, but I am Stellar Rookie!” All of them, sans Hoshi, jumped back at the appearance of the unit.

“What the hell? Now I must be going crazy. HOW DID YOU DO THIS TO ME, BLONDIE!” She started shaking Hoshi at the collar, making him go back and forth.

“Hey, leave him alone!” The spirit got between the two kids.

“Yeah, right. Ya can't hurt m-” Her sentence was cut off by a smack on the head by Rookie.

“How do you like them apples? Now sit and let me explain.” The young girl sat down, embarrassed at her outburst.

“So, what Hoshi said was true. If you exist, can you tell me where Tsuki is?” Shiro questioned the unit.

“Sorry, unless close enough, I can’t tell you the exact location,” he said, shaking his head.

“Damn,” Shiro commented under his breath, “that sucks.”

“So, Asterism has told me that certain people who come into contact with you get some form of his power. He said, “My power leaks from you onto players with a natural desire to win.” He also said any unit touched by his power can spread it. It allows him to beat his brother as well.”

“So that means people in the tournament could be whoever he possesses and stop this, if they have some of Asterism’s power. That makes this easier. But the only problem is that we need to get to the participants then.” Hoshi was in thought when Rookie chuckled.

“Leave that to me. Once the tournament rolls around, I can pull a trick for that.”

“So, who are the teams, and how many?” Susan asked.

“With us together as Team Supernova, we have a total of 8: Team Black Hole with the chaos dude on it; Team Miyaji with the Aichi, Kourin, Misaki, Naoki, and Shingo; Team Champion with some up and coming stars in the leagues; Team Chronicle with the pros Nanami Gonomi and Tonori Fujinami and two more mystery players; Team Dragon’s Vanity from that old tournament; Team Asteroid with Ren Suzugamori and the rest; And finally, Team Vanguard with Toshiki Kai, Kouji Ibuki, and Taishi Miwa. We’re still waiting for two more teams, but they sent out the invites to Gouki Daimonji, Leon Soryu, and Kenji Mitsusada. We’re hoping they form a team.” Hoshi counted down each of his fingers for each of the teams, most of the rest human mouths dropping at this.

“WHAT?” All of them shouted at how many big names were entering.

“Are you sure we can get through all this tournament? These are big names.” Nico stated, his regular enthusiasm replaced by a serious tone. “I’m barely past the year mark. Those players are country-level fighters.”

“I agree with Spiky here.”-“Hey!”-“Blondie, I’m with ya to get back Tsuki, but we need to get stronger than we are now.”

“I know. We’ll have to train while we wait for the last two teams. Also, before I forget, here.” Hoshi pulled some cards out of his new box and handed them to each person. “These are new units they’ll release come the tournament. They’re promoting a new card called an Order, and these are the first prototypes. You’ll get them via riding after the opponent’s Grade 1 is rode. These are the new starting vanguards. Sorry, Nico, I don’t have a Dragon Egg.” He gave each of them their new versions, giving Nico a Minimum Carno instead.

“That’s sweet! I can’t wait to try them out.”

“I agree with Mr. Smiles here. These might give me an edge in some of my training matches.” Susan commented.

Shiro took a look outside and shot up. “Sorry, I have to get to work. Thank you for the food and opportunity. If I want to get Tsuki back, I’ll have to train. Here’s my number.” Shiro sent them a message to double check and left.

“I should get going as well. Gotta make sure Nagi doesn’t think I’m fooling around.” She gave them her number as well and left soon after.

“Hey, Nico, how about a card fight?” Hoshi asked, bringing out his deck. “Ever since I saw you play, I wanted to see how well I could fight against you.”

Nico smiled at that. “You’re on!”
~
“Welcome back, Hornet. It appears we have a new recruit?” The cowled individual drew out. Tsukoyomi was currently standing at attention next to them, her eyes still dead.

“Yes, master. I believe him to be an excellent fighter for our team. Introduce yourself, if you would.” Hornet motioned to the boy behind him.

“Hey there. I’m Kaizo Daito! Heard ya need another member. How about I join ya for this tournament? Heard my teacher was joining as well.”

“And who’d be your teacher?” The figure asked.

“Gouki Daimonji. He taught me Vanguard, and I wanna repay him on the big stage.” The 5’ boy with a blue pirate getup was standing proud. The figure looked them over with its power.

“You seem strong. I’ll permit you to join Team Black Hole.”

“NICE! You won’t regret it!” The boy left the room, heading out for something to eat. “Man, I’m famished. I could eat a thousand meats on a stick right now.”

“Hornet, how many openings are left until the tournament officially begins?” The figure asked after the boy left.

“Two teams, sir. Why?”

“I have an idea, if something is to go awry. What team does not have any connections to many people in the tournament itself?”

“From my research, Team Champion so far.” Hornet’s brain was already churning about how his master would prove the effort fruitful if things were not to work out for them in the early stages. ‘But their skills are magnificent, to say the least. We should be able to beat the team with the order deity.’

The figure looked out the window, marveling at the stars. When they were in their original body, they were too busy fighting Asterism to truly appreciate the beauty of the universe. It almost wanted to make them not cause chaos to the planets. The keyword was ‘Almost.’
~
“Nagi. I’m home.” Susan shouted as she took off her shoes. Man, what a day.

“In here, dear.” The older man’s voice came from the living room of the small house. As Susan turned the corner, she saw that her stepdad had several photo albums out on the floor.

“Did you seriously get all of these outta the closet? I haven’t seen these in forever.” Without a hint of any sarcasm or attitude, she sat down with Nagi to look through them all. “Oh, I remember this day. We all went out to get ice cream after the Fourth of July celebration at the park I played at. Oh! And here’s when we went to Orlando for Universal Studios. Remember when I tried to taste the butter beer and Dad tried to say, “No, she can’t have any; It's beer!” That was great.” The sparkling colors in her eyes soon went back to being cold, the momentary flash of memories and nostalgia gone. She sat down, still holding the album. She let her head rest on her stepdad’s shoulder and closed her eyes. “I miss them.”

“I do too. But, if we stay in the past, we can never look to the future.”

She looked up at him. “I’m sorry for everything these past 6 years.”

“Me too. I’m sorry I wasn’t always there.”

The two sat together like that, finding a sense of tranquility that had left 6 years ago.
~
Today’s card is-

Asterism “Protect Mode”
This version of Asterism has a Protect marker, allowing for more defensive plays. While in play, it gives 3,000P to all your units. The bonus, however, is that your guardians gain 5,000S extra during your opponent’s turn. It can also allow you to drop a card to add a Sentinel back to your hand from the dropzone on placement.

Chapter Text

A young girl with golden hair was making her way down the street to a card shop. She was wearing a simple blue dress with yellow heels that all seemed to fit her perfectly. She was dialing up someone on her phone, cursing the other person out when it didn’t connect.

“Where could that S-class idiot be? I’ve been looking for him for three days!” She had a bite to her tone. She entered the card shop, which had images of giant waves and galleons all around its outside, the top reading “Card Shop Handsome.”

“Hey, I said we should be called Team Handsome!” a rough and young voice came from the first person the girl saw. He was tanned and muscular for his age, wearing a brown cut-off jacket and a red headband. His hair came out of the back of the bandana, the orange shirt underneath feeling like an eyesore to the girl’s fashion sense.

“And I say, should we be called Team Caesar!” Another young man spoke up, confronting the tanned boy face to face. He was wearing a jacket of equal red to the bandana the other boy wore, with white dress pants, a dark blue shirt, and a necklace making up the rest of the brunette’s style of clothing.

“Jeez, have these two not figured out what to call themselves yet?” The girl, Sunny, spoke to a yellow-haired boy whom she sat down next to at a table.

“The wind has yet to allow those two to change fate,” the boy in the blue uniform spoke, in a weird voice that unnerved the girl.

“Leon, you and your wind still creep me out. Also, have you seen Kaito lately?” Sunny asked Leon Soryu. She was still watching the argument between Gouki Daimonji and Kenji Mitsusada. The three had been given an invitation to the upcoming tournament as a team. They had yet to put together a name for their team though.

“No, I haven’t. It does seem concerning that his wind hasn’t blown through here for some time.” Leon answered, pondering the whereabouts of Gouki’s apprentice.

“Great. Hey, you two!” She shouted to the still-arguing boys. “Have either of you seen Kaito?”

Gouki stopped arguing, hearing his disciple's name from the boy's friend. “I’m not really sure. He said something about going out and getting stronger. The last thing I saw was him heading into back alleys to fight people. He’s strong, so he could take care of himself. I did train him in cardfighting after all!” he gloated that last sentence, earning a good smack from Sunny on the bandana boy’s head.

“This is serious.” She spoke sternly. “I haven’t heard from him since yesterday, and he always comes back after roaming the streets. I just want to know he’s okay.” She sighed, thinking about how the boy in light blue would always have trouble following behind. “Maybe I should invest in a tracking device and plant it on him?” She mumbled as Gouki was getting back up with a giant bump on his head. “Man, that hurt.”
~
“Oh~~~, this looks so adorable! Doesn’t it look cute, Emi?” Rekka was in her standard disguise for shopping. She had brought Emi along because she was the only friend she had outside of school. Also, she had brought some package mules by enticement.

“Man, this stuff is heavy.” Kamui commented from behind a bunch of piled high, cutely colored boxes and bags he and Kyo were both carrying.

“Hey! You two said you’d come with us and help with this stuff.” Rekka retorted, making Kyo and Kamui show their faces from behind the towers they each held.

“You said if we helped you, I could join your team for the upcoming tournament.” Kyo answered in an pissed tone. “I’m starting to think this was just for us to be pack mules.”

“Yeah, right? Though, at least I get to spend time with miss Emi.” Kamui daydreamed about him and his crush standing some feet away from him going on a date. “But still,” he said, breaking himself from the spell, “I want to join this tournament and see how well I can do against the rest of the fighters.”

Kyo looked over at his rival/friend and commented, “You and me both.” ‘Too bad we have to be on the same team, or I’d crush him again.’

The quad had been at the mall for some time and decided to break for lunch at the cafeteria. They soon made their way back into the shopping districts, entering a department store.

Rekka and Emi were looking around at small trinkets and perfumes from the beauty section. Kyo and Kamui weren’t far behind, still carrying the boxes and rueing the day. Suddenly, Kamui felt a strange tingle go down his spine. He whipped his head each way, looking around as if he was in an ambush. And before he could react-

“KAMUI!” a small girl with dirty blonde hair shot out from nowhere and barreling into the middle schooler with a giant hairdo. He was kncoked back into a rack of suits, the small girl still hanging onto him. The bought items were still in the air, suspended for just a moment before coming back down. Kamui opened his eyes and saw the boxes falling. He remembered what Rekka had said before, when Kamui and Kyo were going to mutiny against the mule treatment.

“You drop any of those boxes, not only will I drop you from the tournament, I will make you both suffer.” An aura of dark energy surrounded her as she spoke those words.

Kamui was able to move the girl off of him and jump up, grabbing as many boxes and bags as he could with his hands, stacking them as they fell. As he settled, he saw one more box coming down. Moving his hands to the side, he kicked his right foot up and caught the last falling box on his foot. He balanced everything, hoping the cardboard Jenga towers didn’t topple over. He heard clapping and saw Emi, Rekka, and Nagisa Daimonji all clapping at his performance.

“Anyone, a little help?”
~
“Nagisa, why are you here and how did you even find me?” Kamui was interrogating the girl who rammed into him and almost cost him the tournament entry.

“You’re my sweetheart. The red thread of fate allows me to find you anywhere. I just knew you were here.” the girl in a red jacket answered. She was wearing her signature light-orange skirt and pink shirt.

“That still doesn’t explain what your doing here.” Kamui responded in turn. After putting the boxes down, Kamui decided to question the Daimonji sister.

“Actually, while I did find you, I was told by my big brother that he was entering the tournament. I decided I would do the same and he sent me to find her.” She pointed to Rekka, who was now checking all her goods were safe from the incident.

“So, you want to join the team I’m putting together. But this tournament isn’t for kiddies like you, sister.” Rekka responded while turning to face the younger girl. “Since your brother and even stronger fighters are joining, this won’t be a honeymoon for you and your boyfriend here.”

“Nagisa isn’t my girlfriend!” Kamui responded in an outburst.

“How could you say that, Kamui? I even wanted to pick out our wedding clothes.” Nagisa spoke with tears in her eyes, the lighting making them reflect onto the others in sadness. Kamui sweat dropped at this, hanging his head.

“We aren’t getting married. The one I’m gonna marry is…” He looked over at Emi and blushed, the words caught in his throat. His thoughts started to deviate into his usual daydreams, while Nagisa turned her attention to Rekka again. “So, how can I get on your team?”

“Hmm” Rekka thought, her finger tapping on her mouth. “How about,” she said, “You card fight Kamui and I’ll see how you do.”

Nagisa glowed like a Christmas light bulb in response to that, and immediately grabbed Kamui to find a place to play. Kamui yelped, trying to fight back, but he was powerless in the face of the girl’s in-human strength. The leftover trio followed the two, Kyo now having to carry all the boxes and bags, including ones Rekka had grabbed from the store they were in previously. He was starting to sweat through his usual clothes of a white, cut-off dress shirt and black pants.

“So, if I beat Kamui, I’ll get to join your team, right?” Nagisa asked the young idol. Rekka gave her a thumbs up, smiling a “yes.”

‘Wait, that means I might have to deal with her in the tournament as well. And if we’re teammates, then I can’t get away from her then!’ Kamui thought, already sweating from the prospective though. ‘I have to win and not let that happen.’

“Stand up, Vanguard.” Kamui and Nagisa both started the game, landing on a dark, rocky beach with a storm blowing overhead. It was a wide area, with both spirits hovering on opposite sides.

Kamui was on the beach section. “Kamui the Great rides Beast Deity, White Tiger!” Kamui transformed into a small, white tiger mecha. It held its clawed hands up similar to a grappler’s style.

“Ride, Guiding Zombie.” Nagisa became a pale zombie in a black suit and carrying a lamp. As she possessed it, her head popped out on top with her dirty blonde hair. She was hovering over the watery grave of any non-Magallanica unit.

“I’ll go first, my love.” She blew a kiss at the robot, the spirit inside shuddering at that. “I ride Dandy Guy, Romario.” Nagisa’s new unit was another zombie, this time in a white suit and holding a rose in one hand. “Guiding Zombie’s skill, I draw a card. Over to you, my hubby.” She smiled at the middle-schooler across from her. They had found a bench and were currently playing on that.

“My turn. I ride Beast Deity, Max Beat!” Kamui transformed from his tiger into an ram Battleroid with a glaive for a weapon. It wore armor like that of Egyptians, golden and shiny. “Using Tiger’s skill, I draw. Then, Max Beast lets me check the top three cards of my deck to add a Grade 2 or higher “Beast Deity” from among them to the hand.” Kamui looked over his choices and decided on the best option. “I choose my Beast Deity, Brainy Papio. The rest go to the bottom of my deck.” Kamui knew the dangers of the Granblue, and wanted to end this quickly. “I also call Screamin’ and Dancin’ Announcer, Shout as well.” behind Max Beat appeared an Alien with multiple grey tentacles, shimmying and dancing to the rhythm of his headphones.

“Using Shout’s skill, I rest him to have us both check the top of our decks. The unit with the higher grade is added to the hand and the lower one goes to the soul.” Kamui and Nagisa both revealed the cards, turning out to be Grade 0 units. “Since they’re the same, we both add them to our hand.” ‘At least I got a shield value of 15,000.’

“I attack with Max Beat (8,000)!” the unit hoofed it towards the zombie, jumping up into the air to slash down with its glave. The Zombie was knocked back onto the water, bouncing back to their feet in an undead manner. Both Kamui and Nagisa’s trigger checks revealed no cards. (1/6.)

“My turn now! I ride Ruin Shade!” In place of the Zombie rose a cutlass wielding spirit of darkness, in blue pirate clothes. “Using Romario’s skill, I counterblast and put a hand card into my soul to send the top three cards of my deck to the dropzone and add one of them to the hand” As Nagisa did her play, she decided to add a Commodore Blueblood from among them.

“I call Commodore Blueblood and Norman the Ghostie.” In the left column, from below the waves, two units rised. The first was a blue-skinned Vampire in a fancy red officer’s uniform, wielding an old gun, and a Ghost with a great hairdo appeared from front to back. “I attack with Ruin Shade. Using its skill, I send the top two cards of my deck to the dropzone to give it 4,000 more power for this battle (13,000).”

“No guard.” The shadow pirate stepped around the glaive-wielding Beast Deity, until it saw an opening to slash it on its back.”Drive Check, critical trigger! Critical to Ruin Shade, and power to Blueblood.”

“Er. Damage checks. Oh yeah, I got a critical trigger!” As Kamui placed his two damage (2/6.) and powered up his Battleroid, Commodore attacked with a boost from Norman. “With another Commodore in the dropzone, it gets another 4,000 power, for a total of 30,000 power!” As the Commodore took aim and fired away, a blue robot with a bulky frame let the attack hit it instead.

I guard that attack with Turboraizer.” ‘At least I dropped the card she knew I had. And things could have gotten messy if Blueblood hit.’

“That's it for my turn of love.” Nagisa once again blew a kiss through her vanguard, making even the Beast Deity shiver.

“Okay, my turn. Stand and draw. I ride the Beast Deity Brainy Papio!” Max Beat broke into an array of light as a more brown Battleroid With a bulkier frame and hands. It was noticeably like a baboon of all things.

“I use Shout's skill again. I reveal my Beast Deity, Typhoon Bird.”

Nagisa revealed hers with a smile. “I got Rick the Ghostie. Guess that means he goes to my soul.”

“That's right. Now I call the Typhoon Bird I got with Shout's skill.” Kamui's new unit had both a feminine and a blue peacock look, appearing to the right of the monkey Battleroid. Kamui activated her skill by a counter-blast, allowing him to look at the top five cards of his deck for a “Beast Deity” unit without a Grade of 2. “I'll call my Beast Deity Lift Tauros!” As Kamui brought out his bull-based unit behind the Typhoon Bird, it's skill allowed itself to stand to boost Kamui's attack from his peacock Battleroid (17,000).

“No guard. And no trigger dear.” (2/6.) “I could feel your love emanating from that attack.” the Ruin Shade spoke with blushed cheeks.

“Ugh~. I attack with Brainy Paplo (9,000).” The monkey Beast Deity hopped up into the air using a staff it extended from its arms and was aiming for the damage to become 3.

“Guard with Knight Spirit.” A blue armored knight's body appeared to stop the attack, its head only a fire. It aimed its slash at the Nova Grappler vanguards staff, knocking it into the ocean below. Brainy Poplo's fall created a good-sized wave as the Battleroid tried not to drown. ‘Wait,’ Kamui looked around at why he wasn't drowning. He was still going down. But the rest of the unit's head fell in line, Shout creating an air bubble to keep himself safe. They all soon arrived at the bottom of the sea floor, where Nagisa And her units soon arrived.

‘Right, I'm a robotic Battleroid. I can be underwater.’ “Drive check, no trigger. I end my turn.”

“My turn. Stand and draw. Ride of love! Dragon Undead, Skull Dragon!” Nagisa's Ruin Shade dispersed into shadows as countless bones around their seafloor came together in an underwater tornado, forming the skeletal dragon.

“Imaginary Gift, Protect I.” Nagisa decided to use a card Kamui had yet to cross paths with. “I also call the Pirate Swordsman, Colombard!” The Vampire was undead, but held a black cloak around itself. It stood to the right of Skull Dragon and Nagisa used its skill. “For just a counter-blast, I can look in my deck for a single card of my choice and send it to the drop zone. I'll choose my other Skull Dragon. Now, I can call it back.” Nagisa called yet another Skeleton behind the swordsman, causing Kamui to get anxious.

“I'll attack with my vanguard, who gains 2000 power per card in my dropzone for 10,000 power (22,000)!” The Skull Dragon menacingly glided through the water, bringing its sword down on the monkey unit.

“Perfect Guard, with Twin Blader!” A silver unit with two swords appeared, blocking each attempted blow from the Skeleton.

“Twin Drive. Look, I got a critical trigger. All effects to Columbard!” As the unit powered up, it made its move for the enemy vanguard (19,000).

“Intercept from Typhoon Bird, and guard with Clay-doll Mechanic!” The peacock unit jumped forward, shooting its feathers at the swordsman, while a yellow robot grabbed onto him with pincers and held them back.

“With a boost from Norman, Blueblood attacks (19,000)!” Nagisa swiped her cards, dealing a single damage to Kamui (3/6.). “With Commodore's skill, I retire him to draw two and discard one. Over to you.”
~
Emi, who was watching with the others off to the side, asked a question over the rearguard Skull Dragon. “Doesn't Skull Dragon retire at the end of Nagisa's turn?

Kyo looked over at her, the items placed on the ground around them to give his aching arms a rest. “Skull Dragon only retires after it attacks. Nagisa has her next move set up already.”

“Oh, I see. She's planning for the next turn.”
~
Kamui looked at his hand of 6 cards. It was time to ride the ace of his deck. “Ride, Beast Deity, Azure Dragon!” the light from Paplo transformed around the Beast Deity into a blue dragon with golden pieces, holding a staff pointed at the enemy dragon.

“I get an Accel II. Using Azure Dragons's skill, I call Giant Elephant Battler, Paon Mask and attack with it as an extra attack (14,000).”

“Intercept from Colombard.” As the elephant wrestler tried to tackle the Skull Dragon, the Vampire shot into its body, knocking the unit back before disappearing.

“That actually helps. Since the attack didn't hit, my Mask stands.” The anthropomorphic pachyderm stood back up and entered the fray, charging up power to itself and Azure Dragon. “When my Elephant stands by a skill, I can give it and my vanguard an extra 10,000 power for the turn!”

Kamui proceeded to call a Beast Deity, Eclair Dragon and attacked with its skill, dealing Nagisa her 3rd damage.

“Finally, I move up Tauros to call Transraizer and also Beast Deity, Glanzend Dragon.” As the bovine Battleroid shifted forward on the sea floor, a green Battleroid differing from the previous units appeared behind it. Another Beast Deity, a black dragon with a green blade, appeared behind the rested dragon.

“Attack with Tauros boosted by Transraizer! Using my Raizer's skill, I soul-blast two to counter-charge one, and give it 3000 power for the turn.” The green unit's wires snaked towards the unit in front, boosting the total power to 19,000.

“No guard. Damage check, I got a draw trigger. Power to my vanguard and I draw one card.” The attack from the Beast Deity nearly crumbled the Skull Dragon to powder, but the power from Gust Djinn kept it going.

“Attack with Azure Dragon, boosted by Shout (28,000). Using the skill of Azure, I can stand Eclair Dragon!” The blue dragon shifted forward, towering face-to-face with the Skeleton, before an Imaginary Gift marker appeared, stopping the attack.

“I use Protect I to stop that attack. You'll have to try harder than that sweetie!” The Skull Dragon smiled (what Kamui thought might be a smile) at the Azure Dragon's stoic facade.

“I still have my Twin Drive. First check, no trigger. Second check, front trigger!” The middle-schooler was ecstatic at this and soon attacked with his Eclair Dragon boosted by his Glanzend, but was in dismay when Nagisa used two cards to stop his 30,000 attack. It was even more dismay when his Elephant Wrestler's damage was nullified by a heal trigger.

“My turn. Stand and draw. The door to the demonic seas is linked to Hades! Ride! King of Demonic Seas, Basskirk!” The Skull Dragon disappeared into powder in the sea, where a gate arose from the ocean floor. As it opened, the water became so hot even the readings in the Battleroid's were off the charts. What stepped forward was a Gillman in a captain’s red uniform with a whip at its side. It's tentacles of hair waving around in the current until the gate closed behind it.

“I gotta Protect I again. I move up my Skull Dragon, while also using my Ghostie’s skill. By putting it and two cards from my deck into the dropzone, I can give my Basskirk 10,000 power for the turn. And with at least 10 cards in my dropzone, my Basskirk gains another 5000 power, and an extra critical.” As the Ghostie dispersed into nothing, the demonic sea king grew in strength.
~
“Well, that's not good for Kamui.” Rekka commented as Nagisa did her combo.

“I remember when Nagisa, Gouki, Leon, and Kenji came to the shop when they fought Aichi and Kamui's team. Didn't Granblue base it around using the dropzone?”

Kyo answered this time, unnerved by creepy units. “When I fought Gouki, I may have won, but that was also due to my luck and strategy. If I didn't have Zanbaku at that moment, things could have gone differently. Granblue's “graveyard” strategy allows for use of units already beyond the living and stands for late game as well.”

Rekka turned to Kyo in curiosity. “The Kyo I met and know wouldn't be so humble. Where'd all that go?”

Kyo lightly blushed at this, stuttering. “After going through my losses to you and regaining my will to play Vanguard, I gained a new perspective on the game and about how strong my opponents can really be.”

“How mature.” Rekka cooed, turning her attention back to the match.
~
“Using a boost from Romario, Basskirk attacks (54,000)!” The Gillman whipped at the Battleroid, drawing oil into the water as it also entered the body of Azure Dragon.

‘I can't guard here. My only hope is she doesn't draw a critical trigger.’

“Twin Drive. Yay! I got a critical trigger. Go, Basskirk! Demonic whipping, of love!” The flurry continued until the Beast Deity broke down, causing Kamui's spirit to be sent into the gate that had summoned Basskirk. Red chains pulled him in, as Nagisa floated alongside him into their honeymoon suite of the demonic realm.

“C'mon, give me a trigger!” Kamui looked at his final card, a copy of a Beast Deity, Illuminal Dragon. He wailed in despair at the prospect of having to deal with Nagisa even longer.

Speaking of Kamui's devil herself, she walked up to Rekka, while dragging Kamui behind her. “So, I can join your team now?”

Rekka held out her hand, and shook hands when the dirty blonde extended hers. “Welcome to Team Victory.”

“Yay~! Now Kamui, let's go pick out our wedding clothes!” She soon started running away from the group of three, dragging a nearly pale Kamui along with her. He was so pale, his hair had turned into a pale shade of white, like Kouji’s.

“Great!” Kyo shouted as he looked at all the items he had to carry. “Nagisa Daimonji, I will crush you for taking the only other person carrying this stuff!”
~
Sunny was still looking for an oaf of her best friend in the slums of the city. By slums, she meant it as in cardfighting. She had made sure to dress as a dude, with baggy clothing to keep the charade up. She knew some of the guys back here wouldn't be caught dead being beat by a woman. ‘Where is that damn idiot?’ She round the corner of the alley and ran into someone, knocking them both down.

“Watch where you're going, you ass-wipe!” She shouted, and was going to profusely curse them out until she noticed who it was.

“KAITO?!? WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!?”

“Geez, Sunny! Stop yelling-”

“What do you mean stop yelling? I've been trying to contact your ass since the other day and with no answer, you think you won't get chewed out right now?! You better-woah!” she was dragged behind the boy holding her hand, who was running out of the area they were in, stopping her yelling and making her cheeks flush at this. They soon exited the alleyways into a residential area and slowed down. The blue coated boy let go of Sunny's hand and turned to face her, his tone that of apologetic. “I'm sorry, Sunny. I was trying to fight and find some way to enter the tournament Gouki and the crew are entering. I want to thank Gouki on the big stage for what he's done for me. And you.” he finished that last sentence with a smile only he would use for his crush. The girl slightly blushed again from that smile, turning away to hide the fact. “Well, just tell me where you are next time and pick up your phone when I call. Otherwise, I'm getting a tracking device and clamping it onto you.” She spoke while turned away, her face still blushed.

“Again, Sorry. My phone died after entering the underground areas. But I have good news! I joined a team!”

“Huh? You did what?” The blush was gone, instead a face of shock. “Who would let you join their team? You're an idiot.”

Kaito wasn't nearly as appalled at Sunny not believing he was joining a team as he was being called an idiot. “1. I may not be smart, but I can figure things out with time. 2. Yeah, they call themselves Team Black Hole. I lost to an insect looking dude and he said I had potential, so I joined. I only hope I get to face Gouki in this one. And make my debut as a pro fighter.” The Granblue user had a glint in his eyes as he dreamed of his future matches in the leagues. Sunn noticed this and reminisced over their past.
~
“Get back here, you brats!” Sunny heard the caretaker of the orphanage yell at her and Kaito as they ran away at the age of 10. “You won't survive a night on those streets alone!” The man shouted while not trying to chase them. They were stuck at the orphanage for at least 3 years together. Sunny had been waiting for her cousin to graduate before being taken care of, but Kaito Daizo was another story. He was born into a home of abuse, knowing only anguish and rage while under that roof. When the government agents took him away, his parents didn't even try to stop them. They just let it happen. It was only a week later that Kaito was getting into trouble, fighting other kids and stealing from the scum they knew as their caretaker. When Kaito was being punished again, he finally snapped, and when the caretaker’s back was turned, Kaito found a heavy object and smashed it over the man's head. He woke up with a bloody head, and tried to chase after the boy, even though Kaito was faster than the man with a gut.

Sunny had seen what happened with the two and decided to help Kaito. They made an escape onto the streets, with no end in sight for when they could rest. Only after the afternoon sun was barely over the city did they stop. Kaito tried to steal some bread to feed them, but was beaten badly by the owner. They slept near a dumpster, trying to stay hidden. They tried to sleep, but the night was without warmth. They couldn't go anywhere and do anything. Kaito knew he could take the punishment from the caretaker, but Suny had never been punished like he had. “Sunny,” a younger Kaito spoke while they huddled together, “If we go back-”

“Don't say you'll protect me again Kaito. Your always making sure I'm taken care of." She spoke over him in anguish. "We have each other: we'll make it work. “

Thankfully, the shop owner reported the kids and the police found how the caretaker had “cared” for the children. Sunny was sent to live with her cousin who had just graduated and got a job. She never knew what happened to Kaito until that fateful first day in middle school.
~
“Yeah, I remember. You met Gouki while we were apart. And when he taught you Vanguard, you decided you would become a pro. Alright then.” She grabbed him by his shoulders and they met each other’s eyes. “When you fight Gouki, or whoever, in this tournament, remember that I'll be by your side.” she smiled an innocent, pure smile she only used on him.

They held their stare for some might agree as long as romance partners would. They both realized this and turned crimson, until Sunny pinched and pulled at Kaito's cheeks.

“But I am going to invest in a tracker on you, to make sure trouble doesn't take you away from me. Understood?”

“Yesh ma'am!” Kaito responded the best he could.
~
“Where is that giant glutton at?” A girl with orange hair and a green dress spoke under her sunglasses, trying to find her cardfighting partner. “I swear, someday I'll find a way to make him suffer for making us late all the time.” She looked around the place, a small plaza they would meet their teammates for this upcoming tournament at. She eyed a red-haired boy holding two corn dogs, dressed in his usual plain attire. “Tonori, why do you always do this?”

The boy, Tonori, answered between chews. “Well, it's not like they aren't late either.”

“Unless we were here the entire time!” A voice popped up behind the corn dog weiding boy, who jumped at the sudden surprise of someone sneaking up on him. Tonori turned to see a blond man with a pointed goatee and tinted glasses. “Been some time you two. How ya’ been?”

“It's been awhile, Ninja Master M.” Nanami answered. “We've been good. The leagues have been easy so far. Where's Late-emon?”

“Oh, Shin's on his way. He just got done getting his replacement set up. He should be here any minute.”

They sat down at the nearby Cafe and ordered some sweets to get Tonori to stop grumbling. They waited several minutes before Shin appeared. He was in usual grey pocket shirt, wearing dark blue jeans to match. He also had on his pale green jacket, something he wore when meeting outside the shop.

“Nanami, Tonori! Esuka said you would be willing to join us for the tournament the Tatsunagi group is holding.” He asked, sitting down at the table they were at.

Nanami answered, of course. “Esuka said she wanted some extra hands for the tournament since they needed another slot for a team filled up. Otherwise, we wouldn't have joined if she didn't ask and we weren't partnered up with you two.”

Tonori answered as well between his sweets. “Yeah. We also weren't doing anything else for the season. Too bad you didn't become a pro, Shin.”

At that, he earned a smack on the head from Nanami. But Shin remembered his younger days. And his master. “Did Esuka tell you anything else?”

Nanami narrowed her eyes, more serious than she had previously been. “That it might have something to do with what happened that night? Yeah, she did.”

Mark piped up now, “Shin, do you really think it has anything to do with Rive and Myojin?”

Shin nodded. “I want answers, but this could be another thing entirely from my history with Cray. The only way to find out is if I enter. Are you in?” He asked all of them, his glasses being useless to his glare towards all of them.

“You know I would do anything to help ya’ Shin.” Mark answered, ready to break out their old costumes.

“I'll help you. Especially since Esuka is going to be on a team. I want a chance to fight her on the big stage one last time.” Nanami answered, looking towards the future.

“Sure. I have nothing else to do.” Tonori answered, still focusing on his food.

“Good. I already have a team name picked out for us.”
~
Today's card is-
King of Demonic Seas, Basskirk!
A Grade 3 Granblue unit, this Gillman has the power of Hades on their side! If you have 10 or more cards in your dropzone, it gets an extra 5,000P and 1C during your turn. But, it can also revive a unit and gain 5,000P for each of the unit's Grades! It's gonna put a use to that full dropzone.

Chapter Text

Tetsu was walking into the Asteroids main building, followed by a young man that was about high school age. He wore a maroon vest, his long sleeve shirt having a simple white and black diamond pattern. His pants were maroon like his jacket, almost like he was covered in blood to a distant eye. They entered the training area to meet with Ren Suzugamori and Asaka Narumi. Ren was wearing his same black jacket, a melancholy look on his face, while Asak was in her dark blue clothing usually seen by fighters.

“Hey there Tetsu. And…new guy?” Ren asked the shorter boy behind the Dark Irregulars user.

“Ren, Asaka, this is Alistair Magnus. He's been working with me on understanding PSYqualia and the effects it has on both Earth and Cray. While I've been studying here in Japan, he's been studying in America as an exchange student.”

“Oh?” Ren answered, intrigued only a little bit

Alistair stepped forward, his black hair in a ponytail bouncing, readjusting his glasses over his crimson eyes, full of lust for knowledge. “Good to meet you, Mr. Suzugamori. My name is Alistair Magnus, a British-Japanese who studied in America for some time. I’ve been corresponding with Tetsu here about PSYqualia and other forms of supernatural connections to Cray. While I have yet to experience a fight with a PSYqualia user, I do find it intriguing how Earth has had a connection with Cray.”

Asaka walked forward with a glint of annoyance at Alistair taking up Ren's time. “So why are you here?”

“With Tetsu still out of commission from your prior incident with Brandt, he decided it was a good idea that I am here as a replacement for fighting PSYqualia users in a match. Which,” The boy took out his deck of cards,”I would like to play a match against you, Mr. Suzugamori.” His eyes had a fire, but not of getting stronger- a desire to understand the unknown.

Ren could see this, something he would gladly allow. “Okay. But it might not awaken what you're looking for.” They placed their cards on the nearest table, readying themselves. They imagined it, appearing in a dark altar in the Dark Zone nation.

“Stand up, Vanguard!” a whirlwind appeared around both spirits, as they rode their starting Vanguard.

“I ride Fullbau.” Ren became the jet black High Beast with a sky blue gazer.

“I ride Vermillion Gatekeeper.” Alistair also had an orange gazer over his eyes as he rode into the Dark Irregulars unit, a black armored and cloaked humanoid.

“So, you use a deck like Tetsu’s? This might help you, if you can understand that deck. Ride, Blaster Javelin!” Ren's Fullbau broke into light as the new unit, a human with dark colored armor and a tech enhanced pole arm. Ren drew By Fullabu’s skill and ended his turn.

“I prefer Dark Zone decks, as combo decks are a specialty of mine. Draw and ride Yellow Bolt.” His next unit was a yellow, lightning surrounded human with yellow blades wings over its body. “I draw with Gatekeeper, then call a pair of Prisoner Beast!” These units were monstrous, arms and body that of a Chimera, with black chains stuck to the altar pieces around them.

“With their skill, I soul-charge two. I attack with Yellow Bolt (8,000).” The Alistair possessed unit attacked the Shadow Paladin, sending bolts of yellow electricity their way.

“Hm. Guard with Death Feather Eagle.” A Dark, multicolored eagle unit appeared, swooping in to claw at the Dark Irregular.

“Drive Check. No trigger. Attack with Prisoner Beast on the left (8,000)” The creature broke from the chains holding it down, running on all fours at Blaster Javelin.

The unit held its Javelin defensively, pushing against the attacker until it was swiped away from a backhand. Just as he was recovering, Ren was struck down again by another Prisoner Beast that broke free. Both of the cards that entered Ren's damage zone were without triggers.

“I'll end my turn.” Alistair said with a flourish of sorts.

“Well, well, well. It seems I might have to pull out the stops. Ride, the Vanguard of darkness!” Blaster Javelin disperse in darkness as Ren's spirit shifted into a dark armored Human. and from the darkness swirling around it, it pulled forth a blade with a similar aesthetic to the previous Vanguard’s weapon of choice. “Blaster Dark!”

The darkness came in waves as they hit Yellow Bolt, who held steadfast against the aura with a smirk. “Do your worst.”

“Greediness Shadow takes away one of your units.” As the Ren possessed unit shot a dark aura from its blade that had opened slightly, it shot at the Prisoner Beast on the right of the opponent.

“Good move,” Alistair said back on Earth. “But with a single unit still in play, you can't use Blaster Darks's second skill.”

“Well, I'll just have to think outside the box.” Ren's eyes seemed to glaze over as he activated his PSYqualia. “Yes, I see. I call Skull Witch, Nemain.” behind Blaster Dark appeared a witch with horns weidling a crystal skull. “I rest her to call a 5,000 power unit from the deck. Come, Fallen Dive Eagle.” The new unit was a mid-sized blue eagle with gold accents along its feathers. “Finally, I call Foldbau!” The wolf-like unit in blue armor howled as it appeared behind the newly called Eagle.

“Attack with Blaster Dark (10,000)” The unit jumped into the air, swinging down to strike Yellow Bolt.

“No guard” Alistair assessed.

“Drive check, critical trigger. Power to Eagle and critical to Blaster Dark.” The attack damaged Yellow Bolt, who fell from the blade's shock. Just as they were trying to get their legs under them, Foldbau appeared to hold him down as Fall Dive Eagle (23,000) came down from above to claw at him, leaving deep scratches along Yellow Bolt's body. As he placed his third damage, a green light enveloped him from his heal trigger. Alice in Nightmareland soon dispersed “your welcome, my Vanguard.”

“I end my turn.” Ren had glazed eyes still, signaling to everyone where he really was.

“So, this is a fight against someone with PSYqualia? It seems I still need some more time to observe this. Stand and draw. Ride, Emblem Master!” As Yellow Bolt faded away into the darkness, it swirled around Alistair's spirit form into a humanoid with black leather, having two blades coming from its shoulders.

“Emblem Master's skill. When placed, for a counter-blast, I place 3 units with the same name from my deck into the soul. I choose 3 Werewolf Ketzer. Also with Yellow Bolt, I soul-charge two.” Alistair slid the five cards under Emblem Master, raising the soul count to nine total. “Since I put a trigger into the soul, I can draw.”
~
Suiko had walked into the building to meet with Asteroid about the tournament, and found herself watching the fight with Tetsu and Asaka.

“You said he was to replace Tetsu for this tournament, no?”

Tetsu answered her query without missing a beat from the match unfolding in their minds. “Yes. Since my Deletor fight, I have yet to find my old spark. And with Kyou joining a separate team already, same with Kouji, we needed an extra player.”

“Well, I was going to say I would like to join your team for the tournament.” Tsuiko spoke, turning both Asteroid members' attention to her. “We want to keep an eye on the tournament from the ground level. Also, Rekka and Kourin both get to fight, so I wanted a shot as well.”
~
“Call Metallic-Winged Bird Princess, Rhodia, Ignite Proposer, and Alluring Succubus.” After moving his Prisoner Beast back, Alistair's units were created from the darkness from within the broken shrine. The first appeared to Emblem Master's right, a girl with chains and wings in a tight body suit. The next one was in front of the previous Prisoner Beast, another human with purple gloves and a jacket, having a lock of orange hair on their head. The final unit formed behind the vanguard and was a silver skinned and haired Succubus with black horns pointing forward.

“With a boost from Alluring Succubus, Emblem Master attacks Blaster Dark (17,000).”

“No guard.” The Shadow Paladin unit watched as the enemy unit disappeared into the darkness around them. As Dark tried to search around, he felt a presence behind him, and spun around to slash into… nothing. He kept trying to see where the attack would land, when suddenly

SLASH!

As the unit felt blood begin to leek from his back, he crouched in pain, like how Ren felt the pain on his back on Earth.

“AUGH~!” Ren and Blaster Dark screamed as they tried to retaliate on Cray.

“No trigger.” Alastair said after the attack had left its mark on both. “Seems that pain also corresponds in some manner. I wonder if residuals also connect.” He questioned as he continued with his attack using Rhodia (14,000).

“Guard with Knight of Authority, Demne!” As the humanoid tried to scratch at the wounded Blaster Dark, a knight in just as black armor on a cavalry horse batted away the assailant with its blue energy halberd. As it tried again, the knight stepped forward again, dancing with the Metallic-Winged unit like a tango.

“Then attack with Proposer boosted by Prisoner Beast for the final attack of this turn (26,000).”

Just as the Proposer was going to throw its charged up orange candies of doom at the now standing Blaster Dark, a unit from the side came as an unexpected twist. “Intercept with Fallen Dive Eagle! While your attack is from a rearguard, this intercept nullifies the attack.” The High Beast cast something upon itself as it shone a dark light to cover against its foe. “Crawh!”

“Thank you for the protection.” Ren thanked the dispersing unit.
~
“Master Ren…” Asaka saw the attack and immediately wanted to help ease his pain.
~
“I end my turn. What strangeness from this match. And so much to learn.” Alistair spoke, eyeing the un-staggered Ren.

“Well, I might just have to see how far I can take this. Stand and draw.” As Ren drew his card, he shifted his eyes to another in his hand. A dark power emanated from it as he plucked it by his open hand and held it high. “Born from darkness, a maelstrom made to run amok! Ride the Vanguard!”

As Blaster Dark convulsed, darkness seeped in waves, circling around in a tornado. As it dispersed, a hand with claws shot out to grab a giant spear that had manifested in front of it. As it walked forward, its form was revealed as a giant bipedal dragon with blue lines running across it. As it awoke, it sounded so by a giant roar that shook all around them.

“Phantom Blaster Dragon! Imaginary Gift, Force I. Using Nemain's skill, I call a second copy of Nemain from the deck.” As the Skull Witch brought forth another one of itself, the Abyss Dragon gleamed its eyes, shadowing over the only other units on its side. “Counter-blast. And retire both Nemains and Foldbau to activate, Damned Charging Lance!” The units watched in horror as the Abyss Dragon held its weapon above its head as it sliced through all of them, and the essence of all units shifted towards it, turning its blue line red. “Now my dragon has 2 critical and 38,000 power. Now, choose which units to retire.” The dark energy leftover shot at the enemy units.

“I choose Ignite Proposer, Prisoner Beast, and Rhodia.” The units that were chosen were torn into darkness as they retired from Alistair's field. “Such power. Though, without a Grade 3 in your soul and my still having Alluring Succubus in play, you can't activate your Dragon's other skill.”
~
“He's good. He's studied Ren's style and cards and created countermeasures.” Asaka spoke, curious about the black-haired boy.

“He did get to America's Finals. He only lost because his opponent pulled a perfect combo.” Tetsu explained, proud of his friend's performance.
~
“Call Pulverize Knight, Damain and Blaster Axe!” To Ren's right appeared a Human with a tech-based axe, to his left appeared another Human with dark, jagged armor and a similarly black blade.

“I use Phantom Blaster Dragon to attack your vanguard.” The Abyss Dragon stretched its black wings and hefted its spear above their head, towering above Emblem Master.

“No guard.”

Ren looked up at Alistair as it turned to the drive check. “You do know that I can call up a double trigger, right?”

“Yes. But where's the fun without some risk.”

Ren smiled at this. “Twin Drive. First check, draw trigger. Power to Blaster Axe and I draw one. Second check, heal trigger. Power to Demain and I heal one damage” as Mac Lir and Abyss Healer entered Ren's hand, Alistair took two damage and found no triggers (4/6). The attack on Cray was devastating, leaving Emblem Master in a crater and bruised.

“Attack with Blaster Axe (20,000).”

“Guard with Werluchs Gefreiter” a small demonic cat jumped in the way of the Shadow Paladin, causing the knight to go awry with its attack.

“Attack with Demain. Using its skill, it gains 5,000 power (28,000).”

“No guard. Looks like I got a draw trigger.” As Aistair placed his fifth damage, he sensed the game would close soon. “Stand and draw. Sacrifice the living to feed your ever-growing power! Ride, Scharhrot Vampir!” The darkness swirled around Emblem Master, tearing it apart from the inside until the surrounding Mist was red, when it gathered together to form a humanoid shape. A red haired humanoid with long ears. The blood turned into dark colored armor with blades protruding from all over it. In his hands held two circular claws with bladed appendages, its wings given a similar treatment.

“Protect I. I call another Emblem Master and use its skill to place three Vroukalaka into its soul. With their skill, however, my Vampir gains 10,000 for each one, so 30,000 total. Also, I use the skill of all Werewolf Ketzer in the soul, binding all three to soul-charge six cards total. Using Alluring Succubus skill, I counter-blast and place her into the soul to look at the top seven cards of my deck, and choose two Grade 3's.” Alistair's eyes glinted at what he saw. “I place the Number of Terror into my hand and place a King of Masks, Dantarian into my soul.” As Alistair shuffled his deck, he recounted his cards to make sure. “Currently, Ren, I have 17 cards in my soul. With 5 cards in my hand and field from the deck and 5 damage cards, combining the 8 from my dropzone and bind zone. What is that total?”

“Let’s see here. That makes 35 cards, right?”

“And how many triggers were taken from the deck?”

Ren lost focus for a moment and looked at the boy with a more serious expression than from the beginning. “Between 6 and 8. A deck runs 16 triggers, so you have at least 8 triggers left in a 15 card deck.”
~
“WHAT!” Asaka shouted at this, Suiko equally surprised in her more monotone fashion.

“As I said, he made it to the finals of the American League. And he chose to do so with the Dark Irregulars for their tactical removal of choice cards from the deck. He is on par with anyone from the other league's. The thing is, he doesn't always use the best cards just to prolong fights.” Tetsu watched their expressions change from shock to wonder at this revelation.

“So that means…” Suiko started, “that this is-”

“A test? Yes. It is.” Tetsu finished.
~
“Call Number of Terror and Stone Framer.” A young boy took the spot of the previous Ignite Proposer, while a younger Succubus in more armor-like clothing was behind Emblem Master. “And, Scharhrot's first skill. At the beginning of my battle phase, my front row gains 1,000 power for each soul card. So, 17,000 power is added to all front-row units. Bloody Subordination!”

“Attack with Emblem Master Boosted by Stone Framer (39,000).”

“No guard.” Ren said calmly, his hair covering his bangs. (3/6)

“Attack with Number of Terror (39,000). Using its skill, I move Framer to the soul to draw two. Stone Framer's skill gives Scharhrot 10,000 more power.”

“No guard.” Now Ren was at 4 damage, and Phantom Blaster Dragon was badly hurt. It tried to keep standing, but it faltered, relying on its spear as a crutch.

“Scharhrot attacks.” The Vampir walked forward slowly until it was right before the Abyss Dragon. As said Dragon tried to swing at it, the Vampir dodged with ease. It flew up from the impact site and aimed its blades, now larger than before. Just as it would sink its blades into the enemy vanguard, a shadow moved in front of the Vampir to create a barrier that not even the 69,000 power unit couldn't penetrate. “Perfect Guard with Mac Lir.”

“I was waiting for that. But Scharhrot has another skill. Since it has at least 13 cards in my soul, I can stand my front-row for just a counter-blast! And I still have my Twin Drive.”

“Bring it on.”

“First Check. Not trigger. Second check…” Alistair turned the card to show Ren. “Critical Trigger. All effects to Number of Terror. Attack with Emblem Master (31,000)

“Guard with Abyss Healer.” A Succubus with a green aura whipped the enemy unit away.

“Attack with Number of Terror. I move Emblem to the soul to draw two more cards (49,000)”

“No guard. First check, draw trigger. Second check, heal trigger.” Ren, who had barely looked up since the revelation of the trigger rate was now smiling an old, sinister smile.

“You've done good. But let me show you my image. Stand and draw.” As Ren drew, the card he had in his right hand started to darken around it, seeping dark power that even the Dark Irregulars user feared.

“The silent scream shall herald the end of all, light and dark! Your visage of shadow is mine alone! RIDE!” The previously downed Phantom Blaster Dragon rose into the air with a dark red aura twisting around it. As it roared, its transformation was complete. As it landed, it showed how strong it had truly become. Gone was its single spear, in its place a pair of golden lances, the same golden Armour accentuating its body. Upon its head was a helm of dark visage, and its roar blew back everything, even the mist around them. The moon showed through onto its mighty body, towering over everything near them. "PHANTOM BLASTER OVERLORD!"

“Such power. So this is what PSYqualia brings to life.” Alistair had never seen that unit before, and it gave him chills. But he also… blushed.

“I can't believe I get to fight a never before seen unit!” His voice was like it was euphoric, ecstatic at his enemy. “Show me what it can do!”

“Don't worry. That will happen, and despair shall follow. Since I have its original self in the soul, I can give it 10,000 more power, and its critical becomes 2. Can't forget the Force I for my Blaster Axe. I now call Knight of Instant Slash, Greete and Blaster Javelin to my aid. Since I have another Grade 1, Javelin counter-blasts one to draw a card and give himself 3,000 more power. and call the Witch of Nostrum, Ariahnrod.” The units appeared behind the front-row, ready to aid their Vanguard. “Using Ariahnrod’s skill, I rest her and soul-blast one to give Overlord 10,000 more power. Attack with Damain at your Vampir (18,000)!” The Pulverizing Knight shot at the enemy, swinging at it with such strength, the pillars Scharhrot had taken to hiding behind crumbled on impact.

“Guard with Blitzritter!” A cycloptic demon jumped towards the knight, but was broken to bits by the unit. As it turned to fight its real enemy, it was besieged by claws, forced to move away. As it did, a hefty axe was thrown at the Vampir, who countered with its back wings.

“Then, attack with Blaster Axe, boosted by Javelin (31,000).” As Blaster Axe tried to attack like its brother in arms, it was halted by another demon of similar likeness to its first attack.

“Guard with Werluchs Gefreiter, and Direful Noise for good measure.” As Javelin tried to charge at the Vampir, it got caught by a sonic attack from a child-sized unit wearing a masque.

“Let your powers run amok! With a boost from Greete, Phantom Blaster Overlord attacks (43,000)! Using its skill, I retire Axe to retire your Number of Terror, and call a new unit from the deck.” As Ren flipped a damage card for the cost, he looked for a specific card. “Call to rearguard, Phantom Blaster Dragon!” Hia old vanguard now stood side by side to its evolved form, just a menacingly.

“Protect I will end this attack.” Alistair spoke, his euphoric feeling gone. “And here I thought your Ace in the hole would end things for you.”

As the barrier of the gift went up to stop the incoming darkness from striking him, Vampir noticed that his barrier was starting to break.

“What's happening?” Scharhrot watched as it broke from a single slash of something hidden in the dark storm that was Overlord’s attack. “I saw the image of you using Protect I to stop my attack, but I knew just my ace in the hole wouldn't get me a victory. That's when I saw her. Knight of Instant Slash, Greete: her first skill gives her a power bonus when my rearguard is retired during my battle phase. But,” he paused, “her true power lies when she boosts a sentinel blocked attack. For just a counter-blast, she deals one damage to your vanguard.” His voice was calm, just like the storm that had hidden Greete had turned to just a simple breeze.

“So, not even the cursed dragon of the Shadow Paladins could beat me, but you did.” Scharhrot, possessed by Alistair, spoke. “Well played. I would never have seen that coming.”

Gleete readied her hand on her blade, which had been sheathed from its earlier assault.

“Ittoryu: Kurayami o tsutsumu!” As her voice rang out, she drew her blade at the rush towards Vampir. Just as he tried to stop it, she disappeared. He could hear the metal cut, but felt no pain. He turned to see where she stood, blade drawn. As he tried to move, she sheathed her blade. On its click from its guard on the scabbard, he felt a pain across his entire body as it sprayed blood from a slash across his chest to his hip. As he fell, he coughed up blood, looking at the moonlight.

“So…beautiful…” He soon began to crumble into nothing, leaving just dust taken by the wind.
~
Ren and Alistair sat for a moment, until they both fell to the floor on their backs.

‘REN/ALISTAIR!” Asaka and Tetsu respectively spoke as they rushed to their friends' aid. Suiko walked forward slowly, keeping an eye on them.

Ren had fallen asleep, probably from overusing his PSYqualia, she thought. ‘But, Alistair …’ she looked at the boy's flush face, apparently in a euphoric state of unconsciousness from the image he saw from Ren. “This should be interesting.”

Ren had his resting head put on Asaka's lap( she was so happy she could squeal in delight, but that would wake her Master Ren) as Tetsu took Alistair to a nearby couch in the other room. “This idiot overdid it again.” He spoke, shaking his head.
~
Kai had been walking around after school, trying to find something to do.

“Miwa had to stay back for a test. And Kouji had practice at his martial arts school. And others are also doing their own thing.” He wanted to practice a bit more before the tournament finally picked up after everyone was ready. “We can't catch a break, eh Overlord?” he took out his deck and looked at his new-ish version of Overlord that had appeared. “When I get a chance, I'll have to find Hoshi to ask him why this happened.”

Kai continued to wander the streets, the daylight starting to make him feel hot. He looked around for a place to sit and find a drink, when he saw a familiar lock of blonde hair dressed in a grey zip up jacket and white long pants. “HEY, HOSHI!”

“Huh? Toshiki Kai?” Hoshi turned to see where Kai was a few meters away. As the older boy made his way to the Link Joker user, “What a coincidence meeting you out here.”

“Yeah. I'm trying to find a place to hone some of my skills for the upcoming tournament. You?”

“Ditto. I heard a shop tournament was underway and my team has their personal lives, so I, as the member with the shortest playing time, decided to grind some experience.” Hoshi answered Kai.

“Really? Well, I might as well join. Is this the place?” Kai responded with his usual monotone tone.

“I think. I haven't gone in yet.”

They both entered the card shop, finding it set up for the tournament they were holding. They signed up via a sheet and had to wait for some time. Kai decided now was the best time to ask his earlier thoughts.

“Hoshi. Do you know anything about this?” Kai questioned him as he brought out The Future to show him. Hoshi looked over the card in surprise, then turned to the air next to him and said “Rookie, what did you do?”

Kai looked in strangeness at the boy until he heard a response, but could barely make out the spirit. It looked like Hoshi's starting Vanguard, Stellar Rookie. He then heard it speak. “Oh! I wonder why I felt some of Asterism’s power seep through by accident. It was drawn out by the Perdition Dragon Emperor.”

“What?” Kai asked.

“Apparently,” Hoshi started, “To help stop whatever evil is coming, Asterism is giving out parts of his power to units who are extremely powerful. But I thought it would hit at the tournament. How did you get your Overlord like that Wait, maybe your fighting spirit and Overlord’s want of victory caused him to draw that power unknowingly? Just a guess from fighting you and looking up Cray lore on Overlord.”

Kai thought this answer over and found it acceptable. If the Dragonic Overlord got stronger by choice, Kai would use it to his advantage and draw out their full power.

“Ehm. Welcome everyone! I want to thank you all for coming to this shop's bi-annual tournament for Vanguard.” spoke a small manager on a stool at the back of the shop, using a small mic to get everyone's attention. Behind him were several baskets with boxes in them.

“Ah, it must be starting. Let's get ready.” Kai stood up, his question satiated.

“Yep.”

“Now, I want everyone to remember this is a random deck tournament, so participants, come grab a deck box from the baskets, if you could.”

Hoshi and Kai stopped in their tracks to realize what he had just said. “Random decks?” They spoke at the same time to understand what they had joined.

Chapter Text

“A random deck tournament?” Hoshi stared into space, repeating that question inside his head. How was he supposed to get better if he couldn't use his own deck in the tournament?

“Hoshi.”

Shaken out of his mind and being slightly startled in the process, Hoshi turned to Kai, who was looking at him.

“Since you don’t have as much experience as the rest, this will give you a good idea of how to adapt to different fighters and their decks.” There was a ghost of a smile on his face, but it wasn’t really towards Hoshi. “This is a good way to go out of your comfort zone as well.”

Hoshi looked at him in shock at realizing this. “You're right.” ‘And I don't want to rely on my talent-thing for anything.’

“Let's grab a deck,” Kai spoke with stoicism. They made their way up and counted 30 other participants.

Kai grabbed a vermillion colored deck case, while Hoshi grabbed a dark blue deck case.

“Now that it seems all participants have a deck, I will reveal the brackets.” The short manager spoke and walked over from his stool to a large poster paper with small taps connected by a string to a piece the manager was holding.

“Hup!” The short manager pulled the string to tear away the tape and reveal who would fight whom. Hoshi found his name on the left side, in the first match of round 1. He then found Kai's name in the bottom corner of the right, the last match of round 1. They would meet in the finals if they both made it.

Hoshi turned to Kai. “I'll see you in the finals,” he said, smiling, something he was starting to pick back up after some time.

Kai lightly scoffed at that. “Maybe. But I'm winning this thing.”

“You're on, Kai.”

“Now, now. Everyone, settle down and open your boxes. Due to them being used as rental decks, they will be in card sleeves.”

“Hm, neat.” Hoshi opened up his box to find a deck with sleeves similar in artwork to The Great Wave. When he actually looked at the clan, he found himself looking at underwater humans, dragons, and… mermaids?

“Aqua Force, huh? Didn't they use Accel like Nova Grappler and Tachikaze? But if my memory serves me right, they did attacks in certain orders like a wave after another.” Hoshi spoke to himself. He wondered what Kai got, though. As he tried to peek at the older boy, he was swept up by the small crowd that was the rest of the tournament goers. As Hoshi was pushed towards his table, he met a small boy with a mop of brown hair pulled back into a ponytail knot on the top. He wore a green overshirt on his black shirt, with khakis.

“So you're my opponent. I'm Eiji Saga, yo.” The boy spoke with a jive and enthusiasm.

“I'm Hoshi Fukutsu. Thank you for the match.” He extended his arm to shake his opponent's hand.

“Likewise, yo. Now,” The boy showed his deck, with sleeves that had a cartoonish robot on them. “Let's see who'll make it through.”

“Stand up, Vanguard.” They entered Cray's atmosphere, being near space for their battleground.
~
‘Looks like I have a clan from the Dragon Empire. This will work.” Kai thought as he made his way over to his match. He was met by someone very surprising.

“Morikawa? What are you doing here?” Kai questioned the boy he saw. The boy wore the same school uniform as Kai, but had spiky black hair like a small explosion.

“I am here to train my Vanguard skills!” The boy responded with enthusiasm. “But, why are you here?”

“Same thing.” Kai held up his deck with a pair of lightning bolts in the shape of an X. “Now, let's do this.”

Morikawa held up his, with a flame on his sleeves. “You're on.”

“Stand up, Vanguard/the Vanguard!” Their spirits appeared in the desert of the Dragon Empire.

“Ahaha, the all-powerful Morikawa rides Lizard Runner, Undeux.” Morikawa possessed the form of Kai's usual starting Vanguard.

“This is gonna be easy,” Kai spoke without a moment's hesitation, flipping over his unit. “Stand up, the Vanguard.”
~
A black Battleroid with a giant black scythe was hovering over space, tired from its fight against the enemy Vanguard.

“Genovious will finish you off!” Hoshi, possessing the form of the Thundering Ripple unit, launched forward with its spear at the enemy Bradblack unit.

“Come on, yo. Gimme a heal trigger… Aw man!” Eiji said as he placed his sixth damage. “Man, how’d you beat me, yo? I was sure about that deck.”

“I just got lucky. But it seems this deck fits my style of aggressive plays. Thank you for the match.” Hoshi bowed to the younger boy.

“No problem. Just promise you’ll win this, yo.” The boy gave him a thumbs-up, Hoshi actually smiling from the gesture.

“I will,” he nodded.
~
Embodiment of Victory, Aleph, was cowering on his dragon. He was supposed to gain victory! He watched as the vermillion-colored Thunder Dragon made its way forward, surrounded by crackling lightning.

“Attack Aleph!” Kai shouted his attack, the corresponding vanguard roaring at this. It charged up its attack via its fang in its left hand. After that was charged up, it transferred the power to the curved, bladed weapon in its right hand. It raised its weapon above its head and let forth a slash of thunderous power.

“NO~~!” Aleph shouted as it was struck by the attack, Morikawa placing his final two damage. “I thought I had you. Even with a different deck, how did you beat me?”

“Because,” Kai started as he got up and went to the front to wait for the next round.
~
Both boys made their way through the tournament with ease until they met face-to-face at the final round’s table. They stared at each other, making a silent vow to win on both sides.

“Told ya I’d make it to the finals.”

“So you did.” Kai closed his eyes. “But,” Kai opened his eyes, which were now full of thunder. “I’m winning this tournament.”

They readied their sleeved cards: The Great Wave against the Crossed Lightning.

“Stand up, The Vanguard/Vanguard!” They shouted, finding themselves on a similar battlefield to that of Nagisa and Kamui’s, but it was a clear day, the sun scorching the rocky outcropped cliffs.

“Ride, Barit Dracokid.” Kai once again became the blue dragon kid he had come to like. He appeared on the rocky outcrop.

“Ride, Starting Ripple, Alecs.” Hoshi possessed a new unit. It was a humanoid in a white naval officer’s uniform, wielding twin green blades. While he appeared over the ocean's top, he had strange dichromia with a teal blue right eye and a purple left eye.

“Aqua Force/Narukami?” They questioned each other’s clans.

“Well, no point in dawdling. Draw and Ride, Silent Ripple, Sotirio” Hoshi replaced his younger unit with an older one, who had a similar uniform. However, this boy had a blue anchor and chain swirling around, while holding a light blue rapier.

“With its skill, I look at the top seven cards of my deck for either Rising Ripple, Pavroth, or Thundering Ripple, Genovious. I add Pavroth. And with Alecs, I draw one. I end my turn.”

“Draw. I ride, Demolition Dragon!” A quadrupedal Thunder Dragon with a crown-like crest on its head roared to life on the rocks. A small, dark cloud began moving across the blazing sky, growing larger with each passing second.

“Call Thunder Valet Dragon. Using its skill, I also look at the top seven cards of my deck for two specific units. Looks like I got one. I add Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion to my hand.” The electricity in the air sparked as the scarlet colored Thunder Dragon used its skill, Kai discarding a card for Vermillion. Kai knew that the card he discarded would bring him closer to victory.

“Attack with Demolition Dragon (8000)!” Sotirio was shot at with yellow rays of energy, shocked to the very bones, and feeling a metallic taste in his mouth.

“No guard.”

“Drive Check, no trigger. Since the attack hit, Demolition lets me draw one card.” Kai’s hand was now at 7. Hoshi flipped over the top of his deck to reveal a normal unit. (1/6)

“Attack with Thunder Valet, and it gains 5,000 power when my vanguard lands an attack (13000).”

“Guard with Wheel Assault.”

“I end my turn.” Kai was still stone cold, even worse now that he had a good handle on Narukami.

Sotirio saw the incoming cloud, now nearly covering the horizon, and felt dread. “Draw. Ride, Rising Ripple, Pavroth.” With another similar uniform, this Aquaroid was a redhead and wielded a giant saber with orange lights running through it, as big as his body.

“I call Terrific Coil Dragon, Coral Assault, and Wheel Assault!” The new Aquaroids and Tear Dragon joined Pavroth above the water, brandishing their ferocity at the enemies.

“Attack with Coil (9000). Using its skill, I soul-blast and stand it back up!” Coil shot its cannon at Demolition, and the dragon sent back some feet from the damage.

“No guard. Damage check, no trigger (1/6).” Kai saw the card and had an idea. This was unnoticed by Hoshi, who continued his attacks.

“I attack again with Coil (9000),” And Kai was dealt a second damage that turn (2/6).

“Attack Pavroth, boosted by Wheel Assault (17000). Pavroth soul-blasts one to search the top seven for Thundering Ripple, Genovious. Looks like I got it.” He had a cheeky grin as he revealed his grade 3 ride.

“Guard with Malevolant Djinn and Rising Phoenix.” A red genie and phoenix appeared to stop Pavroth, even with a trigger.

“No trigger. But using Wheel Assault's skill, I swap Coil and Coral Assault, who'll now attack (9000).”

“No guard. And look, a heal trigger.” Demolition Dragon was revitalized from the powers of Dragon Dancer, Jirina, leaving Kai with two damage.

“Using Coral's skill, it moves to the soul, and I draw a card.” Hoshi ended his turn, at least tying up the damage score.

“Stand and draw. Ride Recklessness Dragon.” Kai now possessed a blue bipedal dragon with gems across it. Hoshi knew this unit already, as it was one of Naoki's favorite grade 2s.

“I call Spark Arrow Dragon and Demolition Dragon!” After moving Thunder Valet to the back row, Kai's front row was filled with even more powerful units.

“I attack with Recklessness Dragon (9000).” The blue Thunder Dragon flew into the sky to drop down and hit the enemy with a thunderous fist.

“No guard.”

“Drive check, draw trigger. Power to Spark Arrow, who'll now attack your vanguard (19000),” The string of its bow was strung tight as it aimed and let the arrow loose.

“No guard (3/6).”

“Attack with Demolition, boosted by Valet (24000).”

“Damage check, heal trigger.” His total damage was 3, but that was optimal. “You've gotten used to your Narukami deck like I have to my Aqua Force deck. Stand and draw.” Hoshi shifted his hand to a previous card he added just last turn. “Ride your beliefs of absolute justice on the crashing, thundering ripples. Ride! Thundering Ripple, Genovious!”

The unit was decorated by his uniform, with a yellow highlight sash with similar colors to his uniform running from his right shoulder to his left hip. The weapon of choice for the grey-haired Aquaroid was a giant sword that looked like a lance from another angle. It was as tall as his shoulder and looked heavy, but Genovious swung it with ease, creating a gust of wind that sent a small shockwave to the Narukami units on land.

“I get an Accel II. Moving up Coil, I call Sotirio behind it. Also, call Kelpie Rider, Denis, and then Pavroth.” The new Kelpie Rider appeared on the additional circle, granting it 5,000 more power.

“Using Denise's skill, I rest Sotirio to call the top card of my deck.” Hoshi did so and got a good card. “Call Battle Siren, Nerissa, behind Pavroth.”

Kai looked the field over. “You've filled your board already.”

“True. But now, it's time to hit you with a wave of attacks. First, I attack with Coil at your vanguard (9000).” The Tear Dragon launched its missiles towards the quadreped.

“No guard. Looks like luck still wants me to win.” Kai's next damage was a copy of Sprk Edge Dracokid, and gave all the effects to his Vanguard (3/6).

“Fine, then attack with Pavroth at your Spark Arrow Dragon (9000).”

“No guard.” With a single slash, the archer was struck into thousands of pieces.

“Attack your Demolition Dragon with Denis (14000).” The Kelpie Rider flew across the open water as fast as its steed would take them.

“No guard.” Like its brother, Demolition Dragon was broken into multiple pieces of light.

“I use Genovious to attack your vanguard, boosted by Wheel Assault (20000).” Hoshi’s current vanguard stepped forward, lifting their blade over their heads. The water around him started to ripple until he let loose a slash that was followed by a tsunami tidal wave.

“Guard with Jirina.” As the wave was about to hit Recklessness, the Dragon Dancer appeared in a light of green, and swayed in a prayer-like dance that sent the oncoming attack into the air with a spiral twist, letting rain fall on every unit under the dark clouds that fell over the battlefield.

“Twin Drive. First check, draw trigger. Power to Pavroth. Second check, no trigger. Using Genovious's skill, I counter-blast to stand Pavroth, who gets another 5,000 power from its skill. With a boost from Nerissa, Pavroth attacks again (32000)!” Pavroth took a slash at Reckless, the attack sending the Thunder Dragon back a few feet.

“No guard (4/6).”

“Using Pavroth's soul-blast, I check the top seven for a copy of Genovious. Then I put him into the soul. Using Nerissa's skill, she goes to the soul, and I draw another card.” Ending his turn with three damage and nine hand cards, including a perfect guard, he felt confident. Until he saw Kai's eyes.

“Burn away the world with your crimson flame and cerulean lightning! Ride the Vanguard!” The approaching thunderclouds were now overhead, sending strikes of lightning down around them. Hoshi, as Genovious, watched around him as the storm steeped into powerful winds. As soon as Genovious's eyes could register in the shadows of the clouds, he could make out a form with blue wings. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness even more, he made out a vermillion-colored body, with a strange pointed item in its left hand. In the other was a blade/spear weapon with lightning crackling around it.

“Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion!” As its full form was revealed, it let out a ground-shattering, sea-splitting roar that shook every unit on Hoshi's side of the field. As they recovered, the strikes subsided for the time.

“I get an Accel II as well. I call Spark Arrow and use its skill. With a soul-blast and retiring it, I can- SUPERIOR RIDE!” The storm became even more intense, dirt and water mixing to form a cyclone. As that natural disaster ended, Genovious saw Vermillion change into something stronger.

“White wings of thunder, your roar shatters the earth, your silver sword cleaving through! Superior Ride! Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion “THE BLOOD!” With a ring over its head like a golden halo, and white wings made from the sky itself, Vermillion had been reborn–no, it had evolved!

“--” Hoshi couldn't say anything about this. It was all so surreal, especially from the view of Genovious.

“Calling Dragonic Deathscythe.” A weird dragon with a giant scythe, the blade made of energy, appeared, but held back its blade from swiping at an enemy.

“Using The Blood's skill, I counter-blast and place a card from my hand into the soul to give it an extra 5,000 power and drive,” Kai revealed the cards, another copy of Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion. “And since it put its original form into the soul, it powers up by another 10,000 power and goes critical! And this is all while being able to attack the entire front row.”

Hoshi felt overwhelmed. How could he fight this thing? He didn't just see THE BLOOD, but also Kai leading the attack. But Hoshi also felt…

“Hahahahahaha!” Hoshi laughed. He laughed at this, a dragon raring to destroy him.

Kai looked at him and felt a ping from his chest. A reminder.

“Also, by soul-blasting a Kaiser unit, I can give it another drive this turn.”
~
“WHAT!!!!!” Morikawa, having stayed to watch the finals, shouted at this reveal. How come Kai didn't use that unit in their fight?
~
“You effectively have a quadruple drive. How can your cards get any more busted?” That was meant to be rhetorical, but Kai still answered.

“Because this deck chose me for this battle. I can sense it won't let me down, and we shall prove to be victorious. Now,” His gaze flared to life, “time to let loose! I attack with THE BLOOD (27000)! Vermillion Catastrophe!”

Kai looked to his dropzone, and Hoshi knew this wouldn't end well. Kai lifted his hand over the dropzone, a crimson aura rising from under the small stack. "Apocalypse of lightning! Seek your mate in the eye of the storm! Superior call!” On Earth, Kai took the card and placed it on his last open rearguard circle. On Cray, however…

It was another twister, with tints of green all around it. The until inside came to rest in the sky next to THE BLOOD, mirroring its mate's stance.

“Dragonic Kaiser Crimson!”

“Me and my big mouth. But I use Emerald Shield, Pascal, to nullify the attack on my vanguard. Sorry, Denis.” As a green barrier surrounded Genovious, Denis and Terrific Coil were struck down by the strength of the great Thunder Dragon Kai had chosen as his vanguard that day. Because of Spark Arrow’s skill as well, it was bound alongside its allies to another dimension.

“Quadruple drive! First check, no trigger. Second check, Critical trigger. All effects to Crimson.” Kai’s third card was a bust, but his fourth was another critical trigger. Giving the critical to Crimson and the power to Valet, also boosted by its skill to attack (28000). “Using the skill of the Rising Phoenix from my dropzone, I can call it from the dropzone when your unit is bound.” With that, Kai now had a nearly full field.

“Guard with Supersonic Sailor and Coral Assault!” A young boy with a whistle sent sound waves that distorted the Thunder Dragon long enough to have Coral Assault run into it before being struck down.

“Attack with Deathscythe, giving it 5,000 more power (14000).” The reaper-like unit flew towards Genvoious, swinging its scythe into the air.

“Guard with Denise!” Denise came forth and clashed with the raven-faced unit’s scythe with its lance, the sparks from the clash being carried away by the wind.

“Attack with Crimson (27000)! Crimson Cyclone!” The green Dragonic Kaiser aimed its weapon at Genovious and let loose a whirling storm of dark wind, sending Genovious across the water.

“No guard. No triggers either.” Hoshi placed his 4th and 5th damage and eyed Rising Phoenix, now armed with a marker bonus.

“Let’s end this. Phoenix attacks your vanguard (16000)!”

“Guard with Loading Brave Shooter!” Hoshi pulled through with three cards in hand and zero front row rearguards.

“I end my turn. Because I soul-blasted a card, I have to deal one damage to myself.” THE BLOOD was shocked by its own lightning, to the surprise of the Aqua Force enemy.

“However,” Kai placed his card into the trigger zone above the deck, and turned his hand to the Dragonic Kaiser Crimson, “Using a soul-blast and retiring it, I can send the damage to the dropzone instead.” On Cray, Crimson lifted its weapon to redirect the lightning at its mate towards itself, bidding farewell with a final roar.

“Draw!” Hoshi knew it was his last turn. He looked at his hand of four cards and Kai’s six, which included 2 critical triggers with 15000 shield. But he pressed forward, “Final Turn!”

Kai slanted his eyes at this proclamation. Normally, it would be folly to say this to him. If that was while Kai had his Kagero deck. With Hoshi using a deck based on multiple attacks, even a six-card hand with intercept from Deathscythe might not be enough

“I ride Genovious again! And another Accel II!” With four cards in hand, Hoshi called a Denise to his new accel circle, a Nerissa to the open rearguard circle next to Genovious, a Pascal to behind his Nerissa, and finally called a Pavroth to his last accel circle.

“I use Denise’s skill and rest Nerissa to call from the top of my deck Steel Whip of Stormy Waves, Gheorghe!” A new unit with chains whirled around it in front of Sotirio. From four hand cards, Hoshi had put together a full battle formation as well.

“With her skill, I soul-blast a card to stand Nerissa with an extra 10,000 power!”

“I attack with Denise first (14000)!”

“Intercept from Deathscythe.”

“Attack with Pavroth (14000)!”

“Guard with Spark Arrow Dragon.”

“Then Sotirio boosts Gheorge (20000)!”

“Guard with Malevolent Djinn.” Now, Kai was questioning what Hoshi’s real plan was. With Genovious’s skill only standing a single unit, why attack before his drive checks?

“Attack with Nerissa boosted by Pascal (23000)!”

“No guard. Damage check, draw trigger. Power to THE BLOOD.”

“Genovious attacks boosted by Wheel Assault (20000). Using its counter-blast, and now that I have four damage, all my rearguards stand back up! And since a copy of Pavroth is still in my soul, all those units gain an extra 5,000 power for the turn!”

“Perfect guard with Guld, then.” Kai still kept his cool identity, but even he knew that three cards weren’t going to help him, not unless the damage he let through was a heal trigger.

“Twin drive. First check, no trigger,” Hoshi flipped his second card and found a critical trigger waiting for him. “I give the power to Denise and critical to Gheorge!”

“Using Pavroth, I attack again! Since it also stood, it gains another 5,000 power boost (24000)!”

“Guard with Spark Arrow Dragon.” Two cards.

“I use Gheorge boosted by Sotirio, and all the skills give the column a total of 35,000 power and 2 critical!”

“Guard with Spark Edge Dracokid.” One card

“Then Nerissa attacks again (33000)!”

“No guard.” Kai had only a 10,000 shield card. If it were to come to pass, he would need a heal trigger. “Damage check…”

Kai placed his sixth and final damage into his damage zone, sealing his fate with another copy of Dragonic Kaiser Crimson.

Hoshi returned to his body on Earth and saw the board state. Slick with a cold sweat, he shook for a few seconds before raising his hands into the air and a triumphant shout (appropriate for the store size).

Everyone who had stayed around cheered in unison, as during the match, they all had stayed silent because of how tense it got between Kai and Hoshi. As Hoshi was swept away by the crowd of people to the manager, who was holding a small trophy for the boy, Hoshi smiled a smile he never thought he had. As he looked around, he saw Kai leaving the shop. Trying to get out, he was stuck there until everyone dispersed from the shop. He was gifted a card pack as well, but forgot it in his pocket a he ran after Kai.
~
Kai was walking to the grocery store, as he was out of eggs and milk, when he heard a patter of footsteps behind him. He continued still, but a voice called out.

“KAI!”

Hoshi was running up behind Kai, who turned to greet him. “What?”

“Nothing.” Hoshi was slightly panting, but could get a sentence together. “I wanted to thank you for the match and how you inspired me back at Card Capital to keep playing.” Hoshi now bowed towards the boy, whose features softened for a second.

“You can thank me on the stage for this upcoming Tatsunagi tournament. Make it to the finals with your team.” Kai turned away after this, leaving an awestruck Hoshi behind.

“Then,” Hoshi said, “I’ll see you there.”