Cardfight Vanguard: Setsuzoku Sensō
Prologue
Academic Documentary
Imagine… you're a young cardfighter with the dream of reaching the top of the Vanguard world, and you've just come home from school only to find the TV had been left running. You're just about to turn it off when something on screen suddenly catches your eye.
"Do you desire to reach the pinnacle of Vanguard?" a young man said in an almost hypnotically charismatic tone of voice.
With your curiosity piqued, you find a seat in front of the TV and turn up the volume.
"If that is indeed your heart's desire then prepare yourselves to take your first step onto the grounds of Setsuzoku Academy." A young man said.
From what you can tell this young man appears to be in his early to mid-20s, he had somewhat pale skin yet was still oddly handsome, deep dark purple hair that curled in different directions, and he had on a white formal shirt with a pair of black pants. For some strange reason he doesn't introduce himself, but then you come to the conclusion that he must have done so before you walked in front of the TV.
"We are recognized as the number 1 Vanguard school of this generation." The purple haired man said as the screen changed to show a video slide show of various studying teens, "And through our dedicated students as well as teachers…. We have every intention of maintaining that title."
Your passive interest in this commercial, documentary or whatever this is really slowly starts to change into a more active interest upon listening to this charismatic spokesperson. In fact if you start leaning forward towards the TV as it starts to show even more Setsuzoku students lined up in front of various Card Shops on academy grounds.
"We subsidize many cards that would otherwise cost a fortune and pass the saving onto you the future students, so you all can build your perfect image of victory." the purple haired charismatic man said, "Furthermore the greater the skill and academic performance you future students show….. the greater the discount and even more rare cards will be made available to purchase."
Your mouth begins to drool as the image on the TV begins to slide over various cards. Some are as cheap as a few bucks and others are easily worth several hundred if not thousands of dollars for a normal person, and you also notice stacks of cards so rare that you could spend your entire life looking for and never find a copy. To think you'd find such rare treasures for 50% off or more for students of this school.
"Our school goes from 7th-12th grade, and here for the sake of our students we provide the best teachers and facilities possible." The young man said.
Slowly the TV screen shows a slide show of pictures of the Academy's teachers with their names listed right below their faces. You immediately recognize a few of the faces shown as famous former and current professional Vanguard players. Hell…. for the school's general education courses you even see pictures of world-famous scientists, athletes, and historians.
"For our 2nd and third year high school students, we create specialized class lists all for the sake of strengthening their own unique way of fighting." The young man said.
Whether it was memorizing physics terms or card effects, doing pushups or drawing cards while wearing weights, and sitting in a sensory deprivation tank filled with Vanguard cards….. the TV shows you a short clip of students being drilled in countlessly different fashions.
"Some of you watching this may find some of the methods shown in this infomercial to be needlessly strict…. well know that not all of our classes our like this." the young man said in his charismatic voice, "But rising to the top of anything… not just Vanguard, one most put in countless hours of effort."
You quickly notice that the young man's tone shifts from being a charismatic figure to a strict military-like leader.
"As students of Setsuzoku Academy your goal should not be simply doing well in your studies, but to also strive to join the ranks of our 10 strongest fighters!" the young man yelled.
You then see 10 teenagers all with their own unique expressions standing in a line, with their rank listed right next to their names, the clans they use listed under their names, and in the center of this line you lay your eyes for the first time on the white if not silver haired young man who holds the title of Setsuzoku Academy's strongest.
"Sekai Akira… user of the Cosmic Sanctum clan." you mumble to yourself.
You of course easily memorize the names and clans of the other 9 students shown on TV, but without even seeing him fight and regardless of whether or not you get into this academy… you set Sekai Akira as the one you must surpass.
"Each member of the school's strongest are capable of defeating even renowned pro fighters. Those of you who prove themselves worthy of being a member of the top 10 will get to enjoy privileges that all of the lesser students can only dream of." The young man explained, "Personal instruction from a member of our staff selected to fit your playstyle, a training room for your exclusive use, access to cards so rare that even the best pro fighters would say don't exist, and several other privileges that I can't say with the time given."
Upon hearing these benefits, your mouth starts to drool once more as you imagine what it would be like as one of the Academy's strongest fighters.
"Those of you who graduate from Setsuzoku's junior high division are automatically enrolled in the high school division should that be their desire, and those of you outside the school will have to go through a strict examination process." the young man explained, "Furthermore those who are able to leave these hallowed halls are guaranteed to be rising stars in their specialized fields of Vanguard."
This infomercial then begins to show examples of such careers consisting of being a professional fighter, being a member of R&D for the sake of creating new cards, store owners selling all things Vanguard not stopping only at the cards themselves, and they even show career opportunities of what it's like to be a Vanguard instructor.
"Make no mistake however…. Simply getting into Setsuzoku Academy's high school division does not mean you'll be able to coast on through. Here we do our utmost to eliminate the weak from the strong, "Amongst our high school division's freshmen, only 30% make it their second year on average and amongst that 30% only 15% make it to their 3rd year. In addition there have even been years where we've had no 3rd year students as our curriculum is that strict."
Though you know it will not truly set in for you until much later….. assuming you get into the school in the first place, you can't help but imagine the thought of making a valuable friend one day only for them to be burned in the fires of expulsion the text. Still…. the strictness that this young man described only serves to motivate you to become one of the few geniuses that make it out the other end.
"Does this surprise you? Does this seem unfair?" the young man asked, "Well too bad… if your fate is expulsion then expelled you shall be."
Even though it's only through a television screen, the words this young man spoke seem to possess such weight that you realize you're starting to sweat to sweat in response. Regardless…. even now you still believe yourself to be up to the challenge.
"If you still claim after listening to my words that you have the courage to rise to the top, the will to accept the possibility of expulsion, and the diligence to be dedicated to your studies….. then apply today so that I Yuuske Takamaki, can be the first one to welcome you to Setsuzoku Academy!" Yuuske declared.
The next thing that starts playing on your TV is a random fast-food commercial, but you quickly turn your TV off as now you have better things to do. Regardless of whether or not it's through a computer, laptop, cellphone, tablet, or even a physical piece of paper….. you pull up a copy of the application to Setsuzoku Academy. Some parts of the application ask for particularly personal information, other parts request unusual information, but regardless the important segments of the application are as followed…..
*Name:
*Age:
*Gender:
*Hair/Eye Color:
*General Appearance:
*General History:
Casual Outfit:
*Personality:
*What year are you applying for:
*Your current grade if you're already a student:
*Clan: (List all that you seriously use)
Ace: (List if you consider yourself to have one)
As you fill out the application you notice one expected and two unusual footnotes at the end. The first expected footnote was that amongst the many things you had to fill out on the application, all fields marked with a "*" are required. The second expected footnote was that given the academy's strict curriculum, some applicants may be rejected immediately. The first unusual footnote was that you can only fill out one application per person, no submitting multiple applications under various aliases. The second unusual footnote and perhaps the most unusual one of them all is that all applications must be PM to the author.
"PM the author? Don't they mean submit online, in person, or….. something?" you thought, "Well whatever… that last part must have been a typo."
You finish filling out the application after a few more minutes; and after submitting your application like with your earlier thoughts online, in person, or some other method. You breathe a sigh of relief after submitting your application only for a different kind of weight to be placed on your shoulders, but it's a good kind of weight…. specifically the kind that makes you try harder because you want to.
"My Vanguard legend starts now!" you say to yourself as your gaze is drawn to the sky.
To Be Continued
A/N: Hi, this is your favorite new author Sulmore speaking. I was inspired to create a fanfic account and write this oh so wonderful little tale after getting into Vanguard due to reading Tsukuyomi-chan's old VG Academy style fic and reading my super favorite series as of yet Shokugeki no Soma. Hope you like it, but in case you couldn't understand the "4 footnote" bit let me put it in plain English.
When it comes to describing a character I needs to knows these details so I don't accidentally describe you potential academy applicants as a girl when you're a boy or calm and collected when your hot-headed.
Compared to Tsukuyomi-chan's old VG fic I don't have a need for anywhere near as many OC submissions, so I will be a lot more strict when I look through submissions. If your OC isn't selected I apologize and hope that didn't hurt your feelings.
This one's straight forward but one OC submission per FanFic account. This way I can make the review process go by a lot faster, and perhaps it'll increase the chances of your hopefully wonderful OCs of being used.
If you actually want to submit an OC, don't do it through a review just PM it to me. Of course if you wants to leave a review I certainly won't stop you LOL ;-)!
I didn't put this up there, but I'm mentioning it now…. try to avoid saying your submission is the X ranked fighter of the school as I want to be as unbiased as possible through the selection process
To finish things up… special tnx to my IRL BFF Terminus Zwei for agreeing to be my beta reader in his spare time.
Terminus Zwei: I had to include this at the end, but for the record… YES... FOR THE LOVE OF GOD YES, Sulmore really does speak like this in real life.
A/N: I do not! But anyways there's one thing I forgot to mention… all though I may take an OC using an official clan like NN, RP, AQF, etc if the character is interesting enough…. I want to give a chance to the guys who created fan clans on the Vanguard fanon wiki a chance in the spotlight by having their work shown here. I'll be giving more consideration to applicants who use the reasonable fan clans (as in balanced such that Bushiroad would actually release it) rather than any of the fan clans that a beginner like little old me can tell are unbalanced. One example of what my super wonderful beta reader considers a balanced fan clan on the fanon wiki is the Cosmic Sanctum clan I mentioned above. Basically what I'm saying is do your research on the Vanguard fanon wiki.
Terminus Zwei: After re-reviewing this, fanfic name forgot to add the "next chapter preview bit" so I'll just keep it short. Ahem…. Next time on Cardfight Vanguard: Setsuzoku Sensō, "Unknown Dinner Exam"
A/N: Hmph…. so rude, but… I'll leave it as is, and won't forget it myself for next time.