Note: This story is almost writing itself. Almost.
Enjoying the story so far. During the sleep time I got and in between the bathroom and breakfast, I started working things out for this story. Now I have a general direction I want to head in, and hopefully I'll be able to do just that. So why don't we just drop down and resume our journey?
Kattobingu da, Ore!
"I ride first!"
"Ride?" I look up at Yuma and find an uncertain look on his face.
"It's when we place a card over our Vanguards. After the draw phase, you enter the ride phase. In this phase, you can place one Vanguard with a grade level equal to or one higher than the one you currently have. Since we start at 0, we can upgrade to grade 1 during our first turns."
"Riding, huh. Sounds sort of like overlaying," he says, deep in thought. I scratch the side of my face absentmindedly.
"I guess you also stack cards as warriors in your game?" I say, although it ends up coming out as a half-question, half-sentence.
"Yeah, but not for all of them. Only certain monsters require overlaying."
"Okay then. After the ride phase, we enter our main phase. During this phase you can activate effects or call rearguards to aid in your attack," I demonstrate by calling another Knight of Elegant skills, Gareth, and by activating Little Fighter, Cron's ability to move to the rearguard circle. "Normally, after this, we enter the battle phase, but the first player cannot attack. So it is your turn, Yuma-kun."
"I draw!" The boy draws melodramatically. Of course. Why wouldn't he be as eccentric a player as he is a dresser? "Ride phase, right?" I nod. "Cool! I ride my good friend, Gogogo Golem!" Yuma slaps the card on top of his Kurivolt. "Then, I can activate Kurivolt's effect. When I ride a Syllable on top of it, I can call it to the rearguard." He moves it directly behind Gogogo Golem. "Now battle! I attack your mons-"
"Slow down there, kid!" Miwa butts in to the battle. "Let Aichi show you how the battle phase works." I smile as Yuma sits back down and waits for my instructions.
"It's not that difficult. You can attack with any of the cards in the first row. But the cards in the back are important too. They can boost your attacking unit and give them a power increase equal to their attack. So if you were to attack me with Gogogo Golem, I'd have 5000 Power coming my way. But if you boost it with Kurivolt and add its 3000 Power to Gogogo Golem, it would be at 8000 power, which increases the percentage of you getting in the hit," I briefly explain.
"Okay. More power is better. Got it."
"When you attack, you put the unit and boosting unit to rest. So switch them sideways to indicate they're at rest." Yuma follows the instructions, and once again declares his attacks on my Vanguard. "Alright, Yuma, let me show you something now. You can only deal damage when you attack the Vanguard. The limit is 6. Once you have 6, you lose."
"Only 6? It's not at all like life points. Aw man," he pouts slightly as the people currently surrounding the table frown slightly at 'life points.' I can only assume that duel monsters calculated damage differently. I also take a brief glance at everyone around us. Not surprisingly, it seems this match has acquired a bit of attention. Misaki, Miwa, Kamui, and Shin are still there watching, but 5 others have joined. Probably more on the way.
"Yes, Yuma-kun. Only 6 damage. When the attacking unit has Power equal to or greater than the unit it is attacking, then the attack goes through. If the attacked unit is a rearguard, then that unit is retired and placed in the Drop Zone. If the attacked unit is the Vanguard, you take 1 damage instead. You take the top card of your deck, look for a trigger, and then send it face up to your damage zone."
"Okay, I get it now. But what's a trigger?" I hear groans come from all around me. 'This guy must be living under a rock' and 'Who is this kid' echo throughout the small store.
"I'll explain later, when we check into one. More importantly, the attacked player can call units from their hand to Guard against the attack. Only grade 0's and grade 1's can be called from the hand to Guard. Grade 2's must be on the forward rearguard circles in order to intercept. Grade 3's can't defend at all. And I will guard against your 8000 Power with a 5000 shield, which brings your units Power down to 3000.
"Is that all?" Yuma asks as he stores away the rules of the game.
"No. When the Vanguard attacks, you perform a drive check. You draw the top card of your deck, look for a trigger, and then add it to your hand."
"Triggers again, huh. They must be important. Hopefully we'll see one later," he comments as he performs his check and reveals no trigger.
"No damage. My move. Draw." I drew into a Player of the Holy Bow, Viviane. With no damage to use her effect, I guess I'll use her later. "Ride! Knight of Superior Skills, Beaumains! This is a Grade 2, Yuma-kun. I call Sleygal Sword, another Grade 2, besides my Vanguard. And now, let us proceed to the battle phase. With a boost from Cron, I attack your Vanguard with Beaumains. Will you guard?"
"You betcha! I guard with Gagaga Gardna! 10000 Shield coming your way, Aichi!" Yuma seems to be getting into the groove of the game.
"Drive check! No trigger. Now I'll attack with Sleygal Sword, boosted by Tron."
"No need to guard that one." He reveals one card from the top of his deck before sending it to the damage zone.
"Now then, it's my move! Draw! Now, I ride my faithful friend, Gagaga Girl! Nice, huh! Then I'll call Card Car D! And activate his effect. By tributing him, I can draw two cards from my deck! But then I won't be able to attack this turn. Draw!" Tributing? I suppose Yuma simply can't drop his old lingo for the Vanguard terms. Although it's not difficult to understand him. "Look what I drew, Aichi! I call another Card Car D and activate its effect as well!" Impressive. He's not only replenishing his hand, but also thinning it out. I wonder what card he's waiting for. "Now then, I'll summon the grade 2 Gogogo Giant and activate his effect! When he hits the field, I can special summon one Gogogo monster from my graveyard or soul in defense mode! Or rest, as you guys would say. However, I won't be able to attack this turn. Not a problem, since Card Car D already took effect. With that, I'll end my turn, Aichi."
A general murmur goes throughout the crowd. Many of them are probably pondering the same things I'm going over in my head. Graveyard? Special summon? Defense mode? This game – this duel monsters is proving very interesting, and I haven't even seen it yet. All I've heard are vague key words that Yuma spouts unconsciously. I bet he doesn't even realize he's using duel monster terms when he's playing Vanguard. But still, even more curious is his ability. He says he's never played this game before, but he isn't making the typical mistakes a beginner usually makes. His hand isn't used up; he filled it back up in fact, and not only that, but he piggybacked on the negative effect of Card Car D to pretty much bypass the negative drawback of Gogogo Giant. Does he – no...I hope for his sake that Yuma hasn't fallen to the powers of Psyqualia. Although I'm not sensing any malicious intent from the boy sitting across from me. Perhaps it's simply natural skill. He seems to be plenty in tune with his old cards, so maybe that bond carried over to his new deck? It seems to be the only logical explanation aside from Psyqualia. Oh well. Better get on with it.
"My move. Stand and Draw. Now watch Yuma-kun. I ride! A Grade 3! Great Silver Wolf, Garmore! This is usually what people aim for, Yuma-kun."
"People usually aim for a Grade 3? Why? It has the same attack as your previous Vanguard. Do they have some sort of ability?"
"Yes, Yuma-kun. Grade 3's have a special ability unique to them that aids a player immensely. I call to my field Sacred Guardian Beast, Nemean Lion along with Sleygal Sword! Then I'll also call Little Battler, Tron, and Player of the Holy Axe, Nimue! With the boost from Nimue, Garmore has 1700 damage. Will you guard, Yuma-kun?"
"17000 Power? Not bad. Uh...no guard!" He says, looking briefly at his hand before turning to face the wall again. Maybe this was just a waste of time. Maybe Yuma really was just a nut-case. I hope not. Kamui would gloat about me trusting a psycho for a long time. I'd probably never hear the end of it.
"If you think that's bad, wait until you see this. Grade 3's are important not only because of their high attack strength and abilities. They also have the unique power of being able to drive check twice! Which means I get to add 2 cards to my hand instead of 1. So this is the first one." I reveal a second Great Silver Wolf, Garmore. "And now for the second." I reveal a Flame of Victory. "Yes. I got a trigger.
"The boy here doesn't know what that is, Aichi," someone interrupts. Not going to bother finding out who. This is getting fun.
"I was getting to that. Triggers are special units that have effects that activate during a drive or damage check. You just look at the top right corner of a card for an emblem. If it's there, you have a trigger unit. All triggers have the effect of giving +5000 Power to a Unit on your field. This one in particular is a critical trigger unit, which means it also has the additional ability of giving one unit on my field an extra critical. And I give the +5000 to my Nemean Lion, and the extra critical to Garmore. You take two damage, Yuma-kun."
"Two damage? Does that mean two checks, as well?" He asks. Good to see he's paying attention.
"Yes." He reveals the top two cards of his deck before placing them both into the damage zone. "Now I attack with Nemean Lion, boosted by Tron. Tron's ability activates. Since I have more rearguards then you, he gains power to give Nemean Lion a +10000 boost instead." Yuma doesn't guard against this attack. He places one more card into his damage zone. 4 damage so far. Is he weak? Or are the Gold Paladins simply very powerful? No, I doubt Yuma's weakness. His demonstration before proves that he's not just a regular player. What sort of play can I expect from a supposed dimensional traveler?
"Now then, Sleygal Sword, attack the Vanguard!" Yuma guards with 10000 shield and negates the battle.
"Alright then. My turn! And I will draw!" Yuma then begins to act strangely. He closes his eyes and begins nodding a couple of times while whispering something under his breath. Could he be speaking with that Astral entity? "Well, I certainly understand why Grade 3's are so strong. But I've got a Grade 3 of my own, and it's a doozy. This card was given to me by Astral himself, so there's now way you'll get past it! Kattobingu Da, Ore! Ride! Number 39: Emperor of Hope! It is at this moment that the effect of my Gagaga girl activates. Whenever I overlay her with a Number card, I can pick one Vanguard on the field and reduce its attack equal to half of the Attack of the Vanguard I just rode. So Hope's 10000 attack makes your Garmore's attack turn to 5000 for this turn!"
"Wow, what a powerful effect!"
"Yes, it is. However, there is a drawback. This turn, all my units lose their special abilities, such as twin drive," he explains. Not much of a drawback. Reducing my Vanguard's Power to 5000 this turn puts me at a grave disadvantage. I'll need to devote more cards to guarding. The only plus side is he loses twin drive. But speaking of which, what sort of skill does his Emperor of Hope have? And what other sort of Numbers does Yuma hold within his deck? And what did he mean when he said Astral gave him that card? Yuma seems to have as much of a bond to this number as I do with Blaster Blade. I don't know why, but I can feel his trust in his cards is as strong as my own. And if he can trust his Vanguard deck so quickly, why can't I trust my Gold Paladins yet?
"Is there a problem, Aichi?" He asks.
"N-not at all,Yuma-kun. Please proceed." No, no problem at all. Except my old clan is gone and I'm stuck with the remainders and I have to stop some evil forces that's about to destroy Cray. My life is just dandy. Oh, why must I always appear so weak on the outside? If only I had the trust and confidence...
"Call! Achacha Archer! This Grade 1 unit gives +5000 attack on the turn it is summoned. Perfect for its original 6000 attack!" Hmm. 5000 Power Vanguard, and he's still powering up against me. Definitely taking some damage this turn. Should I be worried? The score is currently 0-4 in my favor. Perhaps I'm worrying too soon. "But that's not all! I activate Kurivolt's effect! By removing one exceed material -"
"Exceed material?" the whole room echoes. "What's he talking about?"
"Kid, that's the soul!""
"Yeah, did you grow up under a rock!"
"Where did you come from, horn boy?"
"Can I get your vest?"
Various shouts issue from many people. I glance around me again and I'm slightly astonished that there are so many people. The audience of 8 has easily doubled, perhaps a little more. I won't take the time and trouble to count. I can certainly understand why they're here. I've never seen an Emperor of Hope before. But these Number cards must be powerful if he's only at Number 39. What other powerful Numbers are there?
"Enough guys, let them play," Miwa takes control of the situation quickly.
"Right, the soul! Hehe, my bad," Yuma says as he scratches the back of his head. "Anyway, I pay the cost and remove one card from the soul and then I can special sum – I mean, superior call another Kurivolt from my deck! And so I enter my battle phase! With a boost from Kurivolt, Achacha Archer attacks your Vanguard!"
"11000 Power plus 3000 power huh? I can guard that," I begin.
"Not so fast! I activate Kurivolt's effect! For every other Kurivolt on my field, during my battle phase only, he gains an additional 3000 attack! So it's really 17000 Power!"
"No way!" What an incredible technique. At the mere cost of one soul card, he can superior ride a Kurivolt from his deck, and then power up his monsters during the battle phase. Syllables are powerful indeed.
"Yes way! Will you guard?" He grins gleefully at me.
"No guard!"
"Yatta! One damage!" Yuma almost dances in his seat. Repressing the urge to join him in his goofy splendor, I reveal the top card of my deck. No trigger. "Alright buddy, get set to get decked! 'Cause there's more coming to ya! With a boost from Gogogo Golem, I attack with Gogogo Giant!"
"I'll guard this one, Yuma-kun." I slap the Flame of Victory I drive checked earlier onto the Guardian circle, as well as intercepting with Sleygal Sword, which reduces Gogogo Giant's power to 0. Safe for now. Have to watch for the Vanguard now.
"Here we go! Emperor of Hope, with the boost from Kurivolt, attack his Vanguard!"
"No guard," I say after deciding to save the perfect guard in my hand for a later time, should it ever come about.
"Drive check! And...I get a draw trigger! So I guess that means I draw, right?"
"Right. You draw 1 card, and add 5000 power to one unit on your field. Now I damage check." I reveal the top of my deck. "No trigger. That's two damage so far, Yuma-kun. But now it's my turn. Stand and Draw! I activate the effect of the Cron on my field. Counterblast of 1 and then it moves to the Soul. So now I look at the top 5 cards of my deck and then I add 1 Grade 3 among them to my hand. I add Battlefield Storm, Sagramore! Next I'll call Silver Fang Witch and activate her skill to draw 1 card!" I move two cards from the Soul to the Drop Zone. "Next I'll call Gareth. Now then, it's time to battle! Tron boosts Nemean Lion! Will you guard against 12000 Power?"
"Of course! Defend me, Zubaba Knight! 5000 shield is more than enough to stop your attack," a smug grin comes across his face.
"Go, Garmore! 17000 Power! Will you guard?"
"I'll do better." Huh? What could he mean be that? "I activate the effect of Number 39. When he is attacked, I can remove 1 card from the soul, and flip 2 cards in my damage zone and reduce the attacking unit's critical to 0 for this battle only." The crowd erupted into turmoil. What sort of skill was that! Emperor of Hope, a scary looking unit with some decent attack behind it, was really a defensive type unit all this time? I've never even heard of removing critical from another unit! Without a critical trigger, I won't be doing any damage.
"Drive check. 1st check...2nd check." No triggers revealed. "Not bad, Yuma. But I still have one attack. With a boost from Witch, I attack with Gareth."
"Simple to guard against. I activate Gogogo Golem's effect! I can retire this card and reduce an incoming monster's Power by 5000. So that means your attack won't come through," Yuma says smugly.
"Are you sure this kid's a newbie?" Voices of disbelief once again course throughout the shop. I'm one of them. Yuma is playing as if he's a champion. And these syllable cards...they're definitely worth investigating. A defensive clan indeed, but it has the power to attack as well. He managed to escape the last turn with no damage whatsoever. Even so, I have the advantage. 2 damage against 4 damage is fine by me. I just need to make him waste Hope's limit break and then I can attack him freely without losing my criticals. "I really want that vest," some random dude cries out. I resist the urge to slap my forehead. I settle instead for a weak and awkward chuckle. Cracking a smile, I give Yuma the go-ahead. Despite everything that's on my mind and all the stress and concern I have over my lost comrades, I find myself enjoying this match. Yuma may be an inter-dimensional traveler from a place where Vanguard doesn't exist but he's doing things I've never seen before. And by the looks of many people watching our match, they've never heard of it either.
"Draw! And now, I call to the field the Grade 1 Bachibachibachi! With a boost from Bachi, my Gogogo Giant attacks your Vanguard."
"I guard against your 16000 Power with Elixer Somelier. So the attack won't go through."
"Hmmm...Hope attacks with a boost from Kurivolt."
"No guard!"
"Yes, critical trigger! You take two damage, Aichi," Yuma grins as he pulls his first drive check critical.
"Draw trigger. I draw 1 card and give plus 5000 Power to my Vanguard." I smile innocently at Yuma. This fight was getting interesting. And now the playing field was a little more even. 4 damage to 4 damage. Both of us were now capable of activating our Limit Breaks.
"Achacha Archer attacks. He now has 17000 Power with the boost from Kurivolt and the critical trigger."
"Yes, Yuma-kun. But I will intercept with Nemean Lion. Whenever this card intercepts for a Gold Paladin Vanguard, it gains 5000 shield which makes it bring down your attack below Garmore's attack."
Yuma sucks noisily on his teeth before the grin returns full force to his face.
"This game is AWESOME, Aichi. I can not believe we don't have this over there. Right, Astral?" He smiles to his left quickly before turning back to me. I ignore the crowd's confused looks and proceed with my turn.
"Stand and draw. I call a new Nemean Lion to the field. Now I'll proceed directly to the battle. Gareth, boosted by my Silver Fang Witch, attacks your rearguard Gogogo Giant. Will you guard?" He shakes his head left and right and retires his unit. "Now I boost with Tron and attack with Nemean Lion. Cron's skill activates, giving my Nemean Lion a total power of 18000."
"I'll have to let that go through, Aichi." He flips over one card, and reveals it to be a stand trigger,. "I'll give Hope the additional 5000 Power.
"Now, Garmore attacks Hope! With his skill, I'll transcend the limits! Limit Break! Garmore gains 5000 Power. With Nimue boosting him, that's a total of 22000 Power." Yuma looks undaunted.
"Not bad, Aichi. But even though I can't use my Limit Break anymore since there are no cards left in my soul, I can still fend off this attack. Triple Defense! I guard with two Gagaga Clerks and a Gagaga Caesar.
"Drive check! I got a draw trigger. All effects go to my Vanguard."
"Still not enough," I hear Yuma say. Miwa snorts besides me.
"2nd check! Not bad Yuma. You anticipated the trigger."
'Of course! That twin drive ability is pretty dangerous after all," he speaks through his grin. "Now it's my move. And it's time to finish this." Hmmm, I only have four cards in my hand. Two of them are Grade 3's and cannot guard. I have one Perfect Guard, but I need to make sure I use it at the right time. The other card has a shield of 5000. It might be able to ward off an attack.
"From the powers of Astral, an emperor undergoes a metamorphosis of power. Arise as the reborn king! Kattobingu Ride! Chaos Number 39: Emperor of Enlightening Hope Ray!"
"C-c-chaos numbers!?" I stutter. Everyone around me also stands with the mouths agape. Chaos number? What is he doing now?
"You thought Hope was cool, you'll like this guy. Let's show them your power, Hope Ray. Limit Break! I pay the Counterblast of 3. Hope Ray then reduces your Vanguard's attack by 5000 and adds an additional 5000 Power to 3 units I control. Call! Come out, Gagaga Girl! Gagaga Caesar! Boosted by Gagaga Caesar, Gagaga Girl attacks!"
"Guard!" I yell as I throw down the Precipice Whirlwind, Sagramore onto the Guardian Circle.
'Go, Achacha Archer! Boosted by Kurivolt, I attack your Vanguard!"
"No guard!" I say. It's important that I let this attack go through. The card revealed is not a trigger, but if all things go well, it won't matter. The damage is 5 to 5. The next turn will be the last.
"Now! Hope Ray! Boosted by Kurivolt, he attacks Garmore! Hope King Slash!"
"That's a very powerful unit you control, Yuma-kun. But I can't let that attack go through. Perfect Guard!" I drop the Sagramore from Cron's search into the Drop Zone, followed by Halo Shield Mark.
"Perfect Guard? So the attack won't go through?" he asks.
"Right, but you still get to drive check." Even if he reveals a stand trigger, it shouldn't make a difference. Even if he stands Achacha Archer again and gave it 16000 Power, my Nemean Lion would protect me just fine.
"No triggers," he reveals. "Your move."
"My go." Even though I am not under the influence of Psyqualia anymore, I can barely resist the urge to declare 'Final Turn'. "Yuma-kun, brace yourself."
Despite his valiant attempts to deflect all my attacks, Yuma is unable to handle the Heal Trigger that Garmore pulled. He sighs as the last card flew into his damage zone, revealing no trigger. I look up at Miwa and grin at his slightly agape mouth.
"That was a sick game," Kamui says as he regains his bearings. Similar statements travel amongst the crowd watching us. Yuma stares intently at his field before carefully putting them away in his box.
"Nice game, Aichi. This Vanguard game is very fun indeed. But it seems I still have much to learn." No problems there, Yuma. I also have much to learn regarding my new clan. I look around to see Shin shooing away other customers as Misaki, Kamui, and the others drag Yuma and me into the storage area.
"Alright, Yuma-san, we've got a few questions. Hope you don't mind answering them," Misaki began.
And that's where I stop for now. Going to go work on my term paper. Also, not all the chapters will be Cardfights. This chapter was experimental. I wanted to see what kind of battle would play itself out in written form. I hope it wasn't too confusing following the duel. As the writer, I have no problem understanding my own work, but for an outside reader, you may have had trouble knowing what happened and when. It's happened to me plenty of times. I'll read a Yugioh fanfiction only to find out that the duels were too confusing to even follow. Unfortunately, in a cardgame show and its respective fandom, it is important to not only meet and care for the characters but also understand just what cards were played and what happened.
You may be thinking that I plan on making Yuma super powerful. As you can see, he held up a little bit to Aichi. But he will not be all powerful. Yuma was not the best duelist back in Heartland. He will not be the best Cardfighter here. He simply doesn't start off at base level because of his connection to both Astral and his own cards.
By the way, I could use some ideas as to what I should make the other Numbers' effects be. I know what Number 17: Revise Dragon will do. But transferring the abilities of the others to Vanguard and trying not to make them broken has proven difficult. Just deciding on Hope's skill was almost impossible. Initially, I wanted Hope to negate an attack just the way he does in ZeXal. But at the low cost of 1 soul, it was WAY too overpowered to give him an ability equal to a Perfect Guard. So then I added a Counterblast of 2 with it, but it was still way too powerful. I decided to instead turn the critical of the attacking unit into 0 because then Hope would have no problem fending off rearguard attacks but the Vanguard would still have a chance of getting a hit in.
I also spent an entire Astronomy class thinking about Hope Ray's effect. I really hope I didn't make it too powerful, but I figure it's fine, considering his effect can only activate when Hope is in the soul.
Anyway, suggestions are welcome. Reviews are definitely welcome. So thanks for reading. Until the next update!