Cardfight!! Vanguard: Burning Spirit Episode 1

Cardfight!! Vanguard: Burning Spirit

Episode 1: Fiery Beginning

A grey cloudy sky, along with purple lightning striking the surface of the battlefield. A tall dragon charges at an elven knight with shining silver armour with a helmet that has wings and a Pegasus, wearing a blue cape with red on the inside, mounted on an armoured Pegasus and wielding a bright glowing blade with a blue aura. The dragons face is covered by his helmet, his blade swipes at the knight but is blocked by a pink mechanical dog. She evaporates into blue dust particles and then the dragon tries to attack once again, but is denied his attack as the elven knight guards with his sword. The dragon speaks.

“Unbelievable! You still think you can win, Gancelot?” the dragon looks him in the eyes then backs away. He has two warbeasts at his side. They're wearing purple and black robes and skulls for a necklace. Gancelot has two men by his side with orange and red scarfs and sheathed swords; both blind folded. A little boy with blue and white robes holding a book and wearing glasses is behind one of the warriors.

“I’ll be able to survive this turn, your finished Gancelot!” said the dragon named Dueling Dragon, ZANBAKU. Gancelot smiles at the remark, as he prepares his Pegasus to charge.

“Think again, ZANBAKU. I’m preparing to charge up the counterblasts!” Gancelot’s blade starts to glow blue as a blue aura shines around his body.

“Oh god!” ZANBAKU starts to tremble at this sight and bolsters his defences.

“Stealth Beast, White Mane, will Intercept!” the two robed warbeasts teleport from a cloud of smoke in front of ZANBAKU to guard their general. Gancelot charges at them, not caring that these warriors stand in his way. With one swift, swing from his sword, he cuts straight through the White Manes with ease. They both disappear in a cloud of grey smoke, but through the smoke comes Gancelot as he lays a fatal blow on ZANBAKU.

“This is the end!” shouts Gancelot and ZANBAKU starts to fade away in a cloud that is a dark teal colour. Gancelot has won the battle. But now I cut back to reality. I see that the game has come to an end. To the right end of the table, Ushio Suzuki, a young Japanese man around the age of eighteen to nineteen, with black middle length hair, a blue jacket with a white shirt under it and light brown pants and black and white shoes on, had defeated the man at the left end, my sister’s boyfriend Jason Benjamin, an American man aged twenty with black short hair, a black singlet, bright red baggy pants and Nike's. He also had a piercing on the right side of his lips and eyebrows. Jason punches the table in anger at his humiliating defeat in front of my sister.

“How… How did I lose to someone who has a trial deck, when I put a lot into making this deck work?!” Ushio had packed his cards in a blue deck box with the Cardfight!! Vanguard circle on the front and back. 
Yoshio looked at him and said “It’s because you didn’t see a winning image with that deck, I saw mine with this.” He looks at the deck box and walks to the card store manager, a fiery redhead with beautiful green eyes and purple lipstick; she was wearing casual clothing in the store and bright green shoes. The store manager had declared Yoshio the winner of the store tournament, everyone started clapping and cheering. I was at the back of the crowed, looking at Jason. He seemed pretty upset that he didn’t win.
My name is Shinichi Hara and I’m only fifteen years old and have brown wavy short hair and blue eyes, wearing a grey long sleeve tee-shirt and light cream coloured pants with red sports shoes. My sister, Kiriko Hara went to see if Jason was alright. I could tell from the rage in his eyes that he wasn’t. My sister wore light and dark blue coloured clothing, with a long sleeved tee-shirt, an unbuttoned vest over it and a blue skirt, with lovely light blue shoes.

The walk back home was eventful, listening to Jason go on about how he could have won and how he could have done this, could have done that. I zoned out ages ago. I was too busy messing with my game on the DS. Jason decided to vent his frustration out on me and snatched the DS out of my hands.
I quickly looked back at him and said “Give it back, please?” I tried to jump at him but he nudged me to the ground.

My sister didn't do more than say“Jason, stop messing around and just give it back to him”.
Jason laughed a bit and walked up to me. 

I caught the DS as he threw it at me with a menacing look and said “There you go, you little runt.” He then walked off with Kiriko. I got back up and managed to get home quickly. Dad was at work, like always and mum was doing her work. I went straight up stairs, washed my hands and sat down at my desk, where I had my lap light on. To my left was a present my grandfather had given me. I hadn’t opened it yet because he was coming down to visit us soon; I wanted to open it with him here. He's been diagnosed with cancer; it’s not severe and he's going through chemo therapy so that it doesn't spread. He could have surgery to remove it but the problem is him surviving the operation and having the money to pay for it. Night came quickly and I was off to bed.

I heard a light knock on my door and said. “Come in” as I climbed into bed. It was my dad, he’d come in to talk to me. He was wearing his suit still. He sat at the end of my bed and patted my leg.

“How was your day, son?” he asked me. I shrugged.

“Can’t complain, had a good day, you? I asked. My father shrugged his shoulders as well then scratched his left cheek.

“Helped out clients then found out from Kiriko that Jason hurt you. Are you ok?” He placed his hand on my shoulder. Dad has always looked out for me and hates Jason as much as I do.

I hugged him and said “I’m ok dad, I just really want him to stop antagonising me” Dad patted me on the back then held me at arms length, hands on my shoulders, looking me straight in the eyes.

“Shinichi, Kiriko will not be with him forever, believe me. He will make a mistake that she won’t over look, besides, I think you should hang out with your American friend more; not all of them are bad” He smiled and laughed a bit, so did I; it brought a smile to my face.

“Good night, Shinichi.” Dad said as he kissed me on the head then walked to the door. He turned back to me.

“Shinichi, are you looking forward to grandfather coming down? He misses you guys so much”.

I nodded.“Yeah, I haven’t seen him in a while and I love him so much, but doesn’t he miss you and mum?” Dad nodded back in response and walked out the door, closing it behind him.

“Good night dad” I called out then snuggled down and drifted off to sleep. 

The next morning at school was eventful as I heard my best friend, Johnathan Trave, scream at the top of his lungs “Final turn!”. He has blond short hair and silver eyes. He’s wearing the school uniform but with the two top buttons undone and his tie loosened and black shoes. He's always been a bad ass in, a sense,but he is a great guy.

“Stand and Draw” John said, turning his cards on the mat so they faced up then drew one from his deck. He drew a creepy looking demon then cheered himself for drawing what he needed. The other kids around were in awe as this match was pretty big. I watched thinking John was amazing; he was a natural at Cardfighting. Cardfight!! Vanguard is the name of the card game that John, Jason and Ushio play. It’s a game where you are a leader of a clan on the planet Cray and as this leader, the vanguard, you level up your grade and call other units into battle alongside you. Your mission is to defeat your opponent’s vanguard and claim victory and the land they defended or they claim yours. On Cray, I could imagine that on the battlefield, this demon, at grade two, stared down this massive behemoth giant, grade three unit called Juggernaut Maximum. He had a football helmet and shoulder pads with spikes on them along with cuffs with spikes and chains, hence why his clan is called Spike Brothers. The demon is the grade two unit, Demon of Aspiration, Amon. John’s main cards are the evolutions of Amon, a mighty demon lord of the Dark Irregulars clan. John held his card and started to chant.

“Your power evolves beyond mortals, ripping the minds and souls of foes are child’s play. Beware and cower, the devil has arrived! I Ride! Demon World Marquis, Amon!” John places the card on top of the one he has on the Vanguard Circle and it spins for a while, the card and the vanguard circle glowing maroon. Amon’s body changes and grows taller, his stomach rips open and develops teeth and an eye. His skin becomes black and red, he grows two more arms and his wings and tail become bigger, grade 3 with 10000 power. He roars across the battlefield, a terrible shriek of terrifying power sent fear through the Spike Brothers; this poor opponent facing John had no chance now. They both had four damage dealt to them. The way you win in a Cardfight is that you need to deal sic damage to your opponent and vice versa.

“I activate Amon’s skill, counterblast.” Said John as he flipped one card in his Damage Zone face down, then proceeded to put one of his rear-guard cards into the soul, the pile of cards under the vanguard himself.

“I put one of my Rear-Guards into the soul I choose Demon Bike of the Witching Hour, then you choose one of your Rear-Guards and retire it.” John said. He had a smile on his face, not a sadistic smile, but a smile indicating he’s having lots of fun.

“I’ll retire Wonder Boy.” Said John’s opponent, Billy, a kid with blue dyed hair and brown eyes. Amon shot a demonic laser at Wonder Boy and made him vanish in a cloud of dust coloured dark purple. Amon had swallowed the Demon Bike of the Witching Hour with his mouth. Juggernaut Maximum stood firm against this foe, but it will be his undoing. John picked three cards from his hand and placed them in three open rear-guard circles.

“I Call Demon Bike of the Witching Hour, Prisoner Beast and Gwynn the Ripper.” The three units appear next to and behind Amon, his loyal subjects are ready to end this fight. Gwynn the Ripper had blue skin and wavy long white hair, his armour is black with purple markings on his chest plate and leg guards. He also sports a purple cape that suit his look, grade 2 with 9000 power. 

John then flipped over two cards in his damage zone and says “Counterblast! I active Gwynn’s skill and retire your Panzer Gale!” Gwynn raises his right arm, blades appear around his arm and he shoots one of the spikes into a giant Ogre with a purple shirt with the number sixteen on it, along with purple spiked shoulder pads and a helmet with a massive silver horn. Panzer Gale vanishes in a big cloud of light purple dust. Demon Bike of the Witching Hour is behind Gwynn - the bike is demonic looking with spikes and glowing red lights, grade 1 with 6000 power. John now prepares his attack on Billy.

“Prisoner Beast boosts Werewolf Sieger and he attacks your Vanguard!” John said turning his cards side-ways. Prisoner Beast has blue fur all over except for his hands and feet which are covered in yellow fur. His horns are yellow and he is quite big for a demon, but, ironically, his wings are too small. He also has chains on him so that he cannot escape, grade 1 with 8000 power. He starts producing this maroon coloured aura that then gives his 8000 power to Werewolf Sieger. Sieger is a demonic looking werewolf with claws that put lions to shame; his power is now boosted with the power that Prisoner Beast wields, and he is now at +18000 power. With this, Sieger rushes his way up to Juggernaut Maximum. Billy takes one card and places it above the vanguard and the two front row rear-guards.

“Guard with Silence Joker!” Billy declares. A purple demon wrapped in spikes teleported from a light purple coloured dust in front of Juggernaut, grade 0 with 10000 Shield. Sieger sliced his way through Joker, but his power was reduced and he wasn’t strong enough to harm Juggernaut, so he backed off to stand beside Amon. 

John smiled and chuckled a bit, saying “Not bad Billy, brilliant really; but it’s far from over.” John then turns Devil Child, a grade one boosting unit behind Amon, then does the same for Demon World Marquis, Amon. Devil Child is a demon woman with black coverings and white skin, along with black horns and red cloth like threads coming off her coverings. She wields two black spears with golden chains around them, her maroon aura adds her power to Amon’s. Her 6000 power is added on to Amon’s 10000 power making him +16000. 

John says “Devil Child boosts Demon World Maquis, Amon” Amon’s eye within his abdomen opens, releasing this laser that turns into a tiny black flaming ball that Amon charges with his four hands. John then adds to the power of Amon with his and Devil Child’s skills.

“Devil Child’s skill activate. When there is six or more cards in the soul, my Dark Irregulars vanguard gains an additional +4000 power on top of what he has.” Amon’s power went from 16000 to +20000 in an instant, his flames start to grow larger and his hands are now further apart from each other.

“But I’m not done there.” Said John. Billy looked worried, wondering what was going to happen next, trembling slightly at the sight. John took out the cards that were in the vanguards soul and counted them. There were fifteen.

John smiled then placed the cards back under Amon and said “Amon has a skill.” Billy gasped, he knew something bad was about to hit.

“During my turn, Amon gains +1000 power for every card in the soul, right now I have fifteen. So Amon gains +15000 power!” Amon now became a powerhouse, reaching +35000 power with those skills. Amon’s ball of fire was now humungous, the fire was jet-black flames dancing around the ball of fire. Amon laughed his demonic "human" laugh, Juggernaut cringed at the sound. Billy could see this wouldn’t go down well for him.

“Feel the power of Amon, attack!” John said, with his right hand above his vanguard, glowing with a maroon colour.

Placing the cards in his hands down on the mat, Billy decided to say“No guard.” Guarding is the act of taking cards from your hand and adding their defensive shield to your Rear-Guard or your Vanguard - the lower the grade, the more powerful the shield is. But it this case, it seems Billy wants to wait it out a bit. John placed his right hand on the top of his deck, ready to perform a twin drive. A drive check can only be done with the Vanguard; it’s the act of taking the top card of your deck and showing it to your opponent, in the hopes of getting a trigger unit. Trigger units are all grade zeros - they have a special effect that can only be activated when you do a drive check, and they give you a bonus +5000 power and an added effect. A twin drive can only be done with a grade three vanguard - it allows you to check two cards instead of one, in the hopes of getting a trigger unit or two. There are four types of trigger units. Critical Triggers are units that allow you to give a unit +1 Critical that in turn deals two damage to an opponent, then if you get another that’s +2 Critical that deals three damage and so on. Stan Triggers allow you to stand a unit that has just attack, allowing for more attacks in one turn. Draw Triggers allow you to draw one card from your deck. And Heals Triggers allow you to heal one point of damage if you have higher or the same amount of damage as your opponent.

“Twin drive check.” Said John as he reveals the first card, Dark Knight of Nightmareland is revealed, a Critical Trigger. John smiles as the card glows yellow and reveals it to Billy.

“Critical Trigger, giving +5000 power to Gwynn, and the Critical effect to Amon.” Gwynn gains a +5000 power boost and has +14000 power now, as for Amon, he gets to inflict two damage to Billy. Juggernaut whimpers at the sight of Amon’s power; if he wasn’t scared before he sure is now. John reveals the next card to be Devil Child, not a trigger. John says.

“Face the awesome power of hell, Inferno Ritual!” Amon fired the massive black ball or fire at Juggernaut Maximum, it hit with such ferocity and power. 

Billy had a look of determination, hoping to pull a heal trigger, therefor he announced “Damage Trigger check.” The way you take damage in the game is the same way you drive check with the Vanguard, but instead of the card or cards going to your hand, they are sent to the damage zone to your left. He checked a card, but it wasn’t a trigger. He checked the next and no luck there; Billy had six damage - he had lost. The guys went wild, they cheered for John, who was considered the best player in the 9^th grade vanguard club.

“John Trave has won the cardfight!” Said the announcer. John rose from his seat and approached me first, with that smile on his face.

“Well? Did that quench your thirst for the game?” He said, giving me a nudge on my shoulder.

“I don’t even know what that’s meant to mean” I laughed. Everyone was talking as the home bell rang. 

John walked with me home, his house not being too far from mine. He asked me something that I’m sure he’s asked me before, but that didn’t stop him.

“So, have you thought about giving vanguard a try?” I looked at him, turning my attention away from the game I was playing on my DS.

I simply said “I have, I just don’t know what type of deck I would like to make.” John patted me on the shoulder.

“Don’t worry man, I’ll help you. When you find out what clan you want, let me know and I’ll find anything related to them.” John said. I smiled and nodded my thanks. John and I have been friends forever and he's always been there for me. I helped him make more friends and he’s repayed me by helping me with homework, and nasty people that I couldn’t handle on my own. 

We parted ways as soon as I approached the front door to my house. I opened it to be greeted by my grandfather. His hair was grey but neat, he had light blue eyes and a few wrinkles but still looked in good shape. I gave him a big hug as soon as I saw him; I'd really missed him and was on the verge of tears.

“Oh, looks like someone missed you a lot.” My mum said. She had her hair in a ponytail, it was light brown and she had bright brown eyes too. After having dinner and catching up with events, Grandfather said that he was doing well with the chemo therapy; the cancer hadn't spread and he'd almost saved up enough for the surgery. He came up to my room to talk to me and saw the present, unopened.

He sat next to me on the bed. “Why haven’t you opened it yet?” He said with a confused look on his face. I had to explain.

“Well, I wanted to open it when you came down, it’ll make it so much better, I think.” He smiled and a small tear ran down his cheek. He passed me the present and encouraged me to open it. I tore the golden paper and gasped - it was a bunch of items related to vanguard. I now had in my hands a Cardfight!! Vanguard Trial Deck 2: Raging Dragon of the Empire. The small box was red and had a unit on the front cover, a red armoured humanoid dragon with yellow eyes and wings made of fire, a might dragon sword in his hand. There were also five vanguard packs of CFV BT01 Descent of the King of Knights. These packs had a knight in white armour on a blue horse with fire for hair; the art work was quite amazing. I opened the deck first and flicked through the cards, they all looked great but the one card that stood out to me was the cover card, Dragonic Overlord. I opened the packs and pulled some great cards to add to my deck. I got two Wyvern Guard, Barri double rare cards, a Vortex Dragon double rare card, Dragon Knight, Aleph double rare and another Dragonic Overlord SP rarity, the highest there is. Grandfather was watching me grin and exclaim over each card, amazed at such a wonderful gift. He smiled and told me something that made me honour the cards even more.e.

“This clan, the Kagero clan, are one of four legendary clans that are quite hard to find. I got this a while ago and saved it for this occasion. I want you to have this deck and build one yourself, enjoy it with your friends and meet new people.” He said, solemnly. For some reason, I felt sad, tears falling from eyes and my Grandfather hugged me hard.

“I’m sorry grandfather, for not being able to help you.” I said. My cries could be heard through the house, mum, dad and my sister Kiriko came to my bedroom door, watching quietly. 

My grandfather held me and said “There’s no need to be sorry Shinichi, if I am meant to die, then I have lived a good life. You and Kiriko are the best things to enter my life, I am very happy to have seen the both of you again.” Those words followed me into my dreams and were still in my head when I awoke the next day for school. Putting my clothes on, I noticed that my new deck was on the bed side table. I grabbed it and popped it into my custom made red deck box. I headed out the door. John was waiting at the school gate for me. 

He patted my shoulder as I walked up to him and asked “Hey man, decided what clan you wanted to use?” I smiled at his persistence but waited till we got to class, placed my bag on my desk and got out my deck box. 

I showed it to him and said. “Yes I have, it’s in this deck box right now.” He took out the deck and the first unit he saw was Dragonic Overlord; his eyes didn’t lie to him. It was a Kagero deck that I have.

“No way, you’ve got a Kagero clan? Where did you get this?!” I smiled as he asked; he seemed to enjoy this moment. Hours passed and lunch time was here. We walked out to the tables with our food and talked about events. John had just found out that he can go to the shop tournament. I gave him my full support and he was happy. There was a cardfight going on, between two cardfighters named George and Ushio, a few tables away. I was surprised he went to my school, he always seemed to me like the type of person who has already finished school. We heard a shout and cheering; Ushio had just won the fight and stood up in triumph.

“Hey, you!” John yelled out. I cringed at his voice and how loud it was.

“Ouch! Do you have to yell so loud?” I asked. John turned to me and smiled nervously.

“Haha, sorry. Anyway, Ushio, you want to fight me?” He yelled again, turning back to Ushio who looked everywhere but at John.

“I don’t fight those who are below me.” Ushio stated, finally looking John in the eyes. John was furious, being called below someone is like a punch in the stomach. John was ready to knock the lights out of him, I tried to hold him back and, with the help of two others, we restrained him. 

I walked over to the Ushio and said “Ushio, I… I don’t like it when people insult my friends, I will fight you!” John was shocked. He shrugged off those holding him back and calmly walked up to me, putting his hand on my shoulder.

“Shinich, are sure? I mean you saw what this guy did in the tournament, he annihilated the competition and this would be your first match.” I nodded.

“I’m sure, besides I need to start somewhere and I’ve learned how to play before.” I said, looking at Ushio. This weird feeling came over me; there was something in his eyes that wasn’t normal, almost supernatural. 

He smiled and said to me “Sure, I’m game.” We walked to the cardfight table and sat at opposite ends. We took our first vanguards and placed them face down on the vanguard circles. After that, we shuffled our decks and placed them in the deck zone.

“Are you ready?" Ushio said. "Imagine it, we’re standing on the surface of the planet Cray. A world much like ours but different in terrain and inhabitants.” In my mind, Cray looked beautiful, with dragons and eagles the size of humans, soaring through the clouds. We picked up our card, ready to do battle on Cray. The cards I have are Embodiment of Armour Bahr, Wyvern Strike Tejas, Wyvern Strike, Jarran, Flame of Hope, Aermo and Dragon Monk, Goku. Ushio had two Little Sage Marrons, Wingal, Knight of Silence, Gallatin and Solitary Knight, Gancelot. 

We placed our right hand on our Vanguards and said in unison “Stand up, Vanguard!”

Our vanguards turned over to the card art and our circles glowed: mine glowed red and I said with a proud and furious tone “Lizard Runner, Undeux!." The red aura evaporated and showed this lizard with mechanical wings, wielding two yellow pulse blades roared like a baby dragon, grade 0 with 6000 power. Ushio’s vanguard circle glowed blue and called out his first vanguard.

“Stardust Trumpeter!” With the blue waves disappearing, a little angel girl in white with a trumpet stood against my Undeux, grade 0 with 6000 power. Ushio drew a card from his deck and took one from his hand, stacking it on top of his vanguard.

“I Ride, Little Sage Marron.” The Vanguard Circle glows as he placed the card on top. Stardust Trumpeter blows her horn and is transformed into a little boy with blue robes covered with white armour, with a blue hat with a white stripe, a red and purple book in his right hand.

“I end my turn.” Ushio said, looking me straight in the eyes. I draw my next card, Berserk Dragon, a grade 2. Could come in handy next time. I take a card and do the same thing he did in the beginning.

“Ride the Embodiment of Armour, Bahr.” Undeux is covered by a flash of red light and turns into this demon with white hair, blue skin, and yellow eyes and is in demonic armour wielding a black sword, grade 1 with 8000 power. He grunts as he swipes his sword through the dust.

“Then I Call the Flame of Hope, Aermo.” Behind Bahr, a girl with red skin and tribal clothing appears, grade 1 with 6000. I turn Aermo side ways and do the same with Bahr.

“Boosted by Aermo, Bahr attacks your vanguard.” I said to Ushio, Bahr was covered by Aermo’s red aura as his power of 8000 was increased by Aermo’s power of 6000 combining it to +14000 power, Bahr lifts his blade onto his shoulder and charges at Marron who readies himself for the attack.

Ushio said “No guard.” 

I put my hand on the top of my deck to perform a drive check, Bahr charges at Marron.

“Drive check, no Trigger.” I say, revealing the top card to be Dragon Knight, Nehalem, a grade 2 and not a trigger, but at least I hit his vanguard. Marron was struck by Bahr’s blade and fell to his knees. Bahr jumps back as Marron gets back up.

“Damage check.” Ushio takes the top card and places it in the damage zone. The game score is Shinichi 0 damage and Ushio, 1 damage. He draws a card for his turn. His eyes glowed that weird blue colour again, very different from his usual eye colour, I really didn’t understand it. I raised his card to the sky, the card had a glow to it, shining and bright.

“Stand up the Sword of Courage! Ride! Blaster Blade!” Ushio shouts out and places the card on the Vanguard Circle, the blue glow appears when Blaster Blade is rode. Marron changes from this mage to a tall warrior, in white armour with futuristic patterns and spiky shoulder blades, blades of his heels and a helmet, along with a long white blade; he places his sword into the ground in front of him and puts both his hands on the hilt of the blade, grade 2 with 9000 power. Everyone was in awe, they knew something I didn’t.

“Can you believe, out of all of the fighter, the legendary Royal Paladin clan would choose him?” One of the watchers said.

“Yeah, they’re really hard to get, and also hard to use, but Ushio is using them like he’s always had them.” Another said, so this clan was another that is legendary, the Royal Paladin clan, amazing.

“I Call Knight of Silence, Gallatin, Little Sage, Marron and Wingal to Rear-Guard.” Appearing next to him is another Marron, grade 1 with 8000 power and the warrior from his tournament shop win, the blind one with the red scarf with armoured shoulder pads and greaves, armed with his sword in his sheath ready to do battle, grade 2 with 10000 power. Wingal, on the other hand, is a blue dog with wings for ears and a red scarf. He also has a little dagger on his left front leg, grade 1 with 6000 power.

“Marron attacks first.” Said Ushio, switching his rear guard sideways. Marron opens his book and blasts Bahr with magical lightning, Bahr grunts in pain. The top card of my deck is placed in the damage zone.

“Boosted by Wingal, my vanguard Blaster Blade attacks Bahr.” Said Ushio in a stern tone. Blaster Blade picks his sword up, holding it out in front of him with both hands, Wingal gives his power to the vanguard with a blue aura surrounding them both, 9000 was increased by 6000 to become +15000 power. Ushio then said.

“Wingal’s skill activates, while boosting a unit named “Blaster Blade” the unit is given an extra +4000 power!” Blaster Blade was give more power, now he was at +19000 power, over more than he needed to attack, but more isn’t bad, well not bad form, me, yes.

“Drive check.” Ushio, takes the top card and reveals it to be, a trigger. The card in his hand glows golden yellow from the trigger activating.

“Draw Trigger. +5000 power to Gallatin, and then draw. Ushio said, drawing his card and placing it in his hand. Gallatin’s power is now +15000 while Blaster Blade lips from the air and slams his blade across the middle of Bahr, Bahr cries out from the attack and Blaster Blade leaps back next to Gallatin and Marron with his sword in hand. 

My second card is placed on the Damage Zone, then Ushio switches Gallatin sideways and says “Last, Gallatin attacks Bahr.” Gallatin charges and my vanguard, drawing his blade from his sheath then slashes him across the stomach. Bahr grunts in pain and knees down. I take the next card and reveal it, and my luck it was a trigger; it glowed bright.

“Damage check, Heal Trigger, +5000 to my vanguard and I recover 1 point of damage.” I said, taking one of the cards and putting it in the Drop Zone, Bahr’s power is now +13000.

“Turn end.” Ushio says. The game score is now Shinichi, 2 damage and Ushio, 1 damage. 

I turn my card up right and said “Stand and Draw.” I draw my next to be revealed as Embodiment of Armour, Bahr. I then took a card and placed it on the Vanguard Circle; it was Nehalem. The Vanguard Circle glowed red when I rode him.

“Ride! Dragon Knight, Nehalem.” I said, proudly. Bahr’s body flashes from a red light and a new unit emerges - a knight in blue armour wearing a red scarf, with a javelin, a large purple shield with a sword symbol and an incrusted green gem. He is mounted on a brown scaled dragon with steel claws attached to his arms, grade 2 with 10000 power. I take three of my cards and throw them on the Rear-Guard circles; the three units glow yellow.

“Call, Berserk Dragon, Wyvern Strike Tejas and Jarran.” I said and a blue scaled dragon with two long necked heads, wings, flame projectors in his hands and armour covering his chest, appeared on the right side of Nehalem, grade 2 with 9000 power. Wyvern Strike, Tejas, is a knight in steel armour, a red cape, holding a blue shield and a sword at his side, sitting astride a blue mechanized wyvern with cream coloured under side of its neck, two missiles under each of his wings and a mini gun inside its mouth, grade 2 with 8000 power. Jarran is a knight in orange armour with green parts on it. He wields a double edged javelin on a mechanized wyvern that is red and white with a fire mechanic in its mouth, grade 1 with 6000 power.

“Counterblast.” I said, turning the two cards in my damage zone face down. Berserk Dragon starts to ignite flames from his hands and the glands in his mouths.

“I retire your Knight of Silence, Gallatin.” I said. Berserk Dragon shoots fire at Gallatin, burning him into blue dust. The card itself is sent to the Drop Zone. Ushio looks unfazed by this turn, but that wouldn’t stop me from attacking. 

Turning Berserk Dragon to the side, I start this off.

“Berserk Dragon attacks Little Sage Marron.” Berserk Dragon lights the fire and burns Marron, he screams in pain and vanishes, Ushio placed Marron into the Drop Zone.

“Aermo boost, Nehalem’s attack on Blaster Blade!” I said, turning Aermo then Nehalem, Aermo’s red aura surrounds Nehalem as his 10000 power is increased by Aermo’s 6000, making Nehalem +16000. Nehalem’s javelin is covered with flames. He points it at Blaster Blade and readies the ignition. Blaster Blade looks worried but stern in the face of this assault. Ushio takes a card from his hand and places it on the Guardian Circle.

“I Guard, Flogal.” Ushio said, guarding with a trigger unit. Flogal, a pink mechanical puppy appears in front of Blaster Blade to protect him, grade 0 with 10000 Shield. This made Blaster Blade stronger than my vanguard with a total of +19000, I wouldn’t hit him.

Damnit, I’ll need a trigger to hit, I thought to myself, placing my hand on the top of my deck, hoping for a trigger to pierce his shield.

“Drive check.” I said, revealing the top card. Everyone watched with such anticipation. It was as if time itself slowed down, the card slowly turned over onto the Trigger Zone. That little glow made everyone’s eyes widen.

“Critical Trigger! +5000 power to Tejas, and +1 Critical to Nehalem.” Tejas now has +13000 power, while Nehalem’s critical is +2. Nehalem shot the fire bolt at Blaster Blade, torching Flogal into blue sparks and hitting Blaster Blade. He screams in agonising pain and falls to his knees. Ushio takes the two cards from his deck and puts them into the Damage Zone; I then turn Jarran and Tejas.

“Boosted by Jarran, Tejas attacks.” Jarran’s aura is given to Tejas and his power is increased by Jarran’s 6000 power, making it +19000.

“Jarran’s skill, giving +4000 to “Wyvern Strike, Tejas” making him +23000.” Tejas flies above Ushio’s vanguard and fires the mini gun.

“No guard.” Ushio said, the bullets hitting Blaster Blade and the ground around him. The fourth card is placed in the Damage Zone.

“Turn end.” I said. Shinichi, 2 damage and Ushio, 4 damage.

“Stand and Draw.” Ushio said, standing all of his units and drawing his next card. Taking the next card, he intends to ride to grade 3; this is where the game really kicks off. But I noticed something, his eyes had that weird blue colour to them.

“You have no hope of winning. Might as well give up, now.” Ushio said, his eyes with that colour; it was all too strange and gave me chills.

I shook it off and said to him “Who are you to look down on me?” Looking at him furiously, he was starting to get on my nerves. Ushio looked at me, cool and uncaring.

“Quiet, you’re obviously below me, just like your sister’s boyfriend.” Ushio said, just smiling with such sinister eyes. At this time, Kiriko and her friends passed by, her friends pointing me out.

“Your brother seems to be getting his but handed to him.” One of her friends said, then the other pipped up and said “You said it sister.” laughing so irritatingly loud. 

Kiriko was just watching in the background while her friends went on about how hot and sexy Ushio was.

What are you doing Shinichi?, she thought. She could see I was barely able to contain my anger towards this guy.

“Hope you’ve said your prayers.” Ushio said, taking the card, ready to ride to the next grade.

“Nobel white wings of pride, spread through the sky and take flight. Proud knight, lead the charge! Ride the Vanguard! Solitary Knight, Gancelot!” Blaster Blade ignited into blue, glowing light and was replaced with the silver knight from his tournament win, grade 3 with 9000 power. The battle was only just getting started.

To be continued…..