I do not own Cardfight Vanguard, I'm pretty sure Bushiroad owns that.


A young middle school age boy walked down the streets looking down the road looking down because of how much he was teased at.

The young boy had dreams to become a professional card fighter, but he was always being mocked for using a card that many people considered a joke.

A trio of delinquent kids that the boy met at one of the junior tournaments ran over to him and started pushing him around. "You're such a joke!" One of the delinquent kids said.

"You really think you can become a professional fighter?" Another one said.

The young boy didn't know how to counter back and basically learned to just deal with all those teasing by ignoring what others had to say.

One of the delinquent boys grabbed the silver deck box that was in the young boy's backpack. "See!" The delinquent grabbed the first card from the deck. (Super Dimensional Robo, Daiyusha, Dimension Police, Grade 3, Power 10000)

"AH!" The boy yelped and chased the delinquent holding Daiyusha. The same delinquent dropped the young boy's deck box but the young boy was more focused on trying to save the Daiyusha card that he owned. "Give that back!"

The boy tried to get the card but the delinquent kept waving the card around the young boy. The other delinquents kept pushing the boy around just so the boy could not reach the card.

While all this was happening, a high school age boy wearing a red long coat came up to the scene and picked up the silver deck box that was on the ground.

"Give it back!" The young boy began to cry because of his inability to get the card back.

"Hah, you're crying!" One of the delinquents shouted.

"That's what you get for using a junk card!" The delinquent holding the card kept waving the card up and down.

The high schooler grabbed the Daiyusha card. "What's a junk card now?" The high schooler asked while he examined the card.

"HUH?" The delinquents and the young boy turned in surprise to look at the high schooler.

The high schooler looked at the Daiyusha card and examined the card. "I don't see what's so junk about this card, this card literally looks like one of the cooler cards in the game."

"WHY YOU!" One delinquent charged at the high schooler but then the high schooler held out a red deck box in front of the same delinquent.

"I've seen you in the junior tournaments before so I know you and your friends have decks." The high schooler said. "Come on, bring out your deck. We card fighters fight it out through cards!"

"And what reason do I have to fight you?" The delinquent asked the high schooler.

"Well for one, you all seem to want this card, so I guess if you win, I'll have to hand you the card." The high schooler nodded.

"NO!" The young boy shouted but the high schooler stopped the young boy, as if reassuring that the young boy won't lose the card to those delinquents.

"So basically, I'll leave you alone." The high schooler said.

"Still not buying it, why don't we just kick your ass?" The delinquent noted.

"Well how about this." The high schooler then reached into his coat and took out a huge stack of cards. The high schooler fanned the cards out, showing the delinquents that the cards were all rare cards that were worth quite a bit of money. "If any of you can beat me, then I'll give you all these cards." This gave incentive for the delinquents to play against the high schooler. "If you win you get these cards and this Daiyusha card but if you lose none of you get anything."

"Well then, time to haul your ass." The delinquent grinned a maniacal smile along with his friends. The young boy on the other hand looked really worried.

In a few moments however, the trio learned just how scary this one high schooler was. "No, I recognize you, you're the one who has been topping in the junior tournaments. You're Ryu Hino!"

The high schooler was in fact Ryu Hino. "Well you figured it out a little too late, now begone. Imagine it the might of the lord of the flame dragons, that which is eternal has an end, FINAL FLAME!" Ryu's Dragonic Overlord blew a fire blast that incinerated the delinquent's Vanguard.

The last of the delinquents fell after facing Ryu's Eternal Flame from Dragonic Overlord.

"Trying to desecrate another player's favorite card by mocking it and playing keep away," Ryu crossed his arm in disappointment at the delinquents he just played against. "You three don't have what it takes to be card fighters. If you ever want to be card fighters then go and improve and stop belittling other people's skill if your skills are not any better!"

"YES HINO-SAMA SIR!" The three delinquents bowed to Ryu then ran off.

The young boy watched in awe at how easily Ryu drove the delinquents off. Ryu then threw the Daiyusha card back to the young boy. "That's yours isn't it?" Ryu asked the boy. "I can tell after looking at your eyes, it's your favorite card isn't it?"

The boy looked like he was ashamed to admit that Daiyusha was his favorite card.

"Come on, why is it difficult for you to say it?" Ryu asked the boy. "It really should not be hard for you admit what your favorite card is you know."

The boy then explained, "No one likes Daiyusha." Daiyusha was a card that was infamous for losing to a Grade 2 unit. No one knows how a Grade 3 unit managed to lose to a Grade 2 unit let alone which unit took out Daiyusha. The problem is however, this one fight made Daiyusha famous for the wrong reasons and no one likes Daiyusha. This one boy was apparently one of the few people in the world that does like Daiyusha. But for some reason, liking Daiyusha seemed to get you teased and mocked by people.

"But you do." Ryu gave the boy a thumbs up, "and it fits you the best." The boy was surprised to see such encouragement coming from the one who topped in the junior tournaments. "If you like the card that much then it is truly your card. You should not be ashamed for liking the card." Ryu threw the silver deck box back to the boy. "Do your best to make good use of that card ok?"

"Huh . . ." Daigo has never been encouraged by anyone before. Daigo had always been mocked for liking the card that was beaten by a lesser grade card. But yet, this one player, a boy that was at the very top of the many Junior Tournaments that he participates in. "You . . . aren't going to tease me for liking Daiyusha?"

"Why should I?" Ryu asked. "Every card in this game has its use. Work with that card boy, and one day you can probably reach the top."

Ryu turned around, ready to leave. At the moment, the young boy was thinking hard about what Ryu has said. Ryu, the top player in the junior league that everyone says will one day reach the top of the professional circuit, is encouraging someone who uses a card that everyone openly mocks. Ryu, the one who everyone predicts will become the King of Vanguard is encouraging someone else to reach for the top, the goal that Ryu is striving for himself.

"UM!" The boy ran up to Ryu and accidentally stepped on Ryu's long coat.

"YAI!" Ryu yelped and fell onto the ground. Ryu flipped around and got up. "What is it?" Ryu asked after seeing the boy was bowing to apologize.

"Um, Hino-san." The boy bowed to Ryu. "Please have a fight with me."

"Huh?" Ryu wondered if this was meant to be a challenge.

"I've never been encouraged by anyone before." The boy said, "And I . . . I really look up to you Hino-san." Ryu wondered why. "You're good in Vanguard so I admire how skilled you are. I thought you of all people would also find Daiyusha useless." The boy bowed to Ryu again. "So please, I don't think I can beat you, but I still want to show you my skill."

Ryu was a little surprised at what just happened, but seeing how passionate the boy was about being the owner of a Daiyusha card, Ryu couldn't help but just feel in awe at the boy's spirit. "That's fine." Ryu said. "We'll play." The boy's eyes brightened.

The two set down their cards on the table, ready to begin. "Before we begin, can I ask, what your name is?" Ryu asked the boy.

"My name is Daigoro." The boy said, "But you can call me . . . Daigo."

"Well Daigo, after this, let's meet in the professional circuit one day." Ryu said with a smile.

"I look forward to it!"

Daigo was asleep due to his fainting. Ryu helped Daigo into a chair and had Shiroi watch the man to make sure nothing happens to Daigo. Ryu ran upstairs to his kitchen to prepare something for the man . . . and Ryu himself.

Ryu sneezed while he was in the kitchen since he has allergies. He placed a white mask over his mouth so he wouldn't accidentally sneeze into the food he was preparing. "Damn flu season." Ryu mumbled.

At the same time, Shiroi was watching Sei have her first fight with her newly constructed Dimension Police deck. A few kids were around also watching.

Hiroshi, the boy who has been a regular in Ryu's shop much longer than anyone else in the shop, was watching the fight closely and analyzed every little detail of the fight.

Outside, Bruce was taking a break from card fighting. Bruce flew up to the bird feeder, with his deck in a thin deck box strapped on his body like a satchel. The bird feeder had a tiny platform that was practically installed just for Bruce. Bruce uses this platform as a bed for napping. After having his fill of the bird seeds, Bruce went to his platform and slept with his wings behind his head.

"Aw." Sei turned away from her fight and said after looking out the window to see Bruce falling asleep and noticing how cute Bruce looked falling asleep.

"That bird is so humanlike." Shiroi noted.

Sei went back to her fight and drew her card to her hand. Her Vanguard was Enigman Rain. Behind Enigman Rain was Glory Maker and to Enigman Rain's left was a Miracle Beauty unit. Behind Miracle Beauty was a unit named Commander Laurel (Dimension Police, grade 1, Power 4000). Her total damage was five.

Sei looked at her Opponent's hand of three cards and looked at her Opponent's Vanguard, Demonic Lord Dudley Emperor (Spike Brothers, Grade 3, Power 10000). Next to Dudley Emperor were two Dudley Douglas units (Spike Brothers, Grade 2, Power 9000). His total damage was three.

"Ok, I got it." Sei nodded. "Call!" Sei played down two units to the right of the Vanguard column. "Miracle Beauty!"

In the fight image, another Miracle Beauty, colored with a much more darker color scheme than the first Miracle Beauty, appeared in a sparkling vortex. Miracle Beauty winked upon her arrival.

"And Speed Star! (Dimension Police, Grade 1, Power 6000)" Sei tapped the Speed Star unit. "Speed Star's skill, I can add a power plus 2000 to another Dimension Police unit." Sei then pointed at Enigman Rain, "I give the power to Rain!"

In the fight image, Rain glowed white to indicate she got power from Speed Star.

"Now that Enigman Rain has a total of 12000 power," Hiroshi said, "Enigman Rain when she hits the Vanguard, one rearguard can be stood.

"Now from the soul, I activate Dimensional Robo Daimariner's (Dimension Police, Grade 1, Power 7000) skill!" Sei then took out the Daimariner card from her soul and threw the card into the Drop Zone. "Daimariner adds a power plus 3000 to Enigman Rain!"

Enigman Rain glowed white to indicate that she gained even more power. Her total power now was 15000.

"Dimension Police's specialty is to power up their Vanguards." Shiroi commentated. "Powering up multiple times can make it that much harder to guard."

Sei then prepared or battle, "Now first attack, Miracle Beauty with a boost from Commander Laurel attacks your right rearguard Dudley Douglas!"

With a total of 14000, the first Miracle Beauty jumped and came down for a kick on the right Dudley Douglas rearguard.

"Now my second Miracle Beauty with a boost from Speed Star attacks your left Dudley Douglas!"

With a total power of 16000, Miracle Beauty jumped onto Speed Star since the unit was a motorcycle. Miracle Beauty and Speed Star charged forward and rammed the left Dudley Douglas with the bike.

"Now finally . . ." Sei breathed in, "An attack from Enigman Rain!" Sei rested Rain and Glory Maker. "Glory Maker's skill, an additional power plus 4000 to my Vanguard!" Total power was 25000.

The Dudley Emperor player looked at his damage zone and then chuckled. The only way Sei could possibly win would be if she pulled a double critical since he had three damage. There was no point in wasting guards on this attack. "No guard!" He exclaimed confidently. "You need two critical triggers to win anyway. You have no other way to win!"

Sei sternly pulled her first card. "First check." Sei flipped the first card and pulled, "Lady Justice." There was no trigger. "Second check," her next card was a card named Guide Dolphin (Dimension Police, grade 0, Power 4000), a stand trigger. "Lucky!" Sei exclaimed. "I now stand up my right Miracle Beauty." Sei stood up the Miracle Beauty to the right. "Her skill activates. When she is stood up, the rearguard behind her also stands up!" Sei also stood up the Speed Star unit. "Also, power to my Vanguard!"

Everyone was a little surprised as to why Sei would give Rain the power when Rain was about to hit anyway. The Dudley Emperor player let out a cackle. "NOOB!" He exclaimed.

"Huh?" Sei wondered why the boy would call her a noob. "Shiroi-chan, isn't that a derogatory term for someone new?"

"Well . . . yeah." Shiroi nodded.

"Why is he calling me that?" Sei started to sob a little.

Ryu came down the stairs at this moment holding a steaming pot of chicken noodle soup. Ryu heard Sei sob a little. "Shiroi, what did you do boy?"

"I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!" Shiroi shouted. "Sei, don't mind, but you do know that in this game you deal six damage to your opponent and not make a unit that is about to hit anyway more powerful right?"

Hiroshi was a little skeptical at first, but then noticed what Sei was doing. "Shiroi right?"

"Huh?" Shiroi turned to Hiroshi.

"You probably should be quiet." Hiroshi said sternly.

"What are you talking about?" Shiroi asked.

"You want to be a pro right?" Hiroshi asked Shiroi. Shiroi nodded. "You really need to learn to read the field better then. You'll never be a pro like that." Hiroshi, who was much younger than anybody that he was interacting with, urged Sei to continue with her move.

"What are you talking about?" Shiroi asked while the Dudley Emperor player sent a card to the damage zone which wasn't a trigger.

"Since Rain's attack has hit your Vanguard, I can now stand up a unit. I stand up my other Miracle Beauty!" Sei's other Miracle Beauty stood up. "Miracle Beauty's skill also activates! Commander Laurel stands as well!" Sei stood up the left column.

"I have four damage." The Dudley Emperor player taunted. "You have two more attacks coming in. I can take one damage and I have three cards in my hand. You obviously aren't winning this turn."

"I wouldn't count on that." Hiroshi said, in a way that sounded kind of like Ryu.

"What are you, a mini-Hino-san?" Shiroi asked.

"I am Hiroshi Hino you know." Hiroshi replied.

Shiroi noticed that Hiroshi shared a last name with Ryu. "SAY WHA?" Now Shiroi was kind of curious as to how Hiroshi was related to Ryu.

"Anyway, Sei isn't going to be attacking with her Miracle Beauties next." Hiroshi said.

Both Shiroi and the Dudley Emperor player were a little surprised. "WHAT?" Both said.

"Shiroi you said that you study cards you've seen before right?" Hiroshi said while Ryu set the pot on the table next to Daigo. Shiroi nodded. "What's the rearguard behind the left Miracle Beauty?"

Shiroi looked at the unit, then said, "Commander Laurel?" Hiroshi nodded.

"And how many rearguards does she have standing?" Hiroshi asked.

"Four?" Shiroi replied, then realized, that four standing rearguards and Commander Laurel equals, "OH!" Shiroi realized what Sei was doing and why Sei gave the power to Rain. "Sei I'm so sorry for ever doubting you." Shiroi sobbed a little.

"What is everyone talking about?" The Dudley Emperor player asked then saw Sei resting all four of her standing rearguards all at once. "Seriously, what are you doing?"

"Commander Laurel's skill activates!" Sei tapped the Commander Laurel card. "When my Vanguard's attack hits, I can rest four rearguards and stand my Vanguard . . . ONCE AGAIN!" Enigman Rain's card flashed white then Sei stood her Vanguard once again.

"WHAT?" The Dudley Emperor player yelped. "You could do that?"

"Why did you think I gave Rain the power from that stand trigger for?" Sei asked. Then she rested her Vanguard. "She's coming at you again, total power 20000!"

The Dudley Emperor player panicked and was afraid of being hit by a critical trigger. However, Sei struck down his interceptors and the boy had one Grade 3 in the hand. His two cards that he could use to guard were Cheer Girl Tiara (Spike Brothers, Grade 0, Power 5000) and High Speed Brakki (Spike Brothers, Grade 2, Power 9000). The two combined were total guard of 15000. However, that equates to a total power of 25000 for his Dudley Emperor which means if Sei were to pull one critical trigger, it would be all over anyway since the power added to Rain would add up to 25000 anyway which would break through Dudley Emperor's guard. There was really no point in guarding. "No . . . no guard." The boy struggled to say.

"TWIN DRIVE!" Sei said happily then flipped over the first card of her deck, "LUCKY AGAIN!" Sei squealed. "Stand Trigger!" The card was Cosmo Fang (Dimension Police, Grade 0, Power 5000). "Stand my left Miracle Beauty and power to Rain!"

"AGAIN?" The Dudley Emperor player yelped.

The second card pulled in the trigger check had no trigger. "Oh well." Sei said. The boy took a fifth card as damage. "Rain's skill, stand up my other Miracle Beauty!"

"I can guard your rearguards." The boy said confidently since he had a 10000 and 5000 shield. Brakki could block the left Miracle Beauty and Tiara could block the right Miracle Beauty.

"Dude, she's not going to attack you with her rearguards." Shiroi said.

"What?"

"How many rearguards do I have standing?" Sei asked this time.

The boy looked at how many rearguards were standing and started to count. "One, two, three, four . . . and?"

"Dude, do you even know which unit was the one that stood her Vanguard?" Hiroshi asked.

"Huh?" The boy then started to scan the field to find which unit stood Rain up. Then he looked at Commander Laurel. "OH MY GOD!"

"Laurel's skill activates!" Sei squealed then rested her four standing rearguards all at once. "Rain stands up . . . ONCE MORE!" Rain was now standing and this time had a total power of 25000. The boy can no longer guard.

"This is the unique skill of Sei-chan's deck!" Ryu enthusiastically said while fanning the steam towards Daigo's face in hopes of waking the man up. "This is her . . ." Ryu pointed to the ceiling, "Infinite Beauty Rain!"

"OOH!" Sei squealed, "That's good, mind if I use that?" Ryu shook his head. It was after all, HER special technique. Sei then turned to her opponent, and she gave off a maniacal grin. "Rain attacks your Vanguard once more!" Total power was 25000.

The boy didn't even have enough cards to guard. He shivered. "No guard." Only a heal trigger could save him now.

"First check." Sei flipped over her first card to get no trigger. She then flipped over her next card to get a Guide Dolphin. "ANOTHER STAND TRIGGER!" Sei squealed.

"WHAT?" The boy yelped as he saw a Miracle Beauty stand up with Speed Star. The power was also added to Rain's power. The boy damage checked into a heal trigger allowing him to heal and giving power to Dudley Emperor . . . however.

"INFINITE BEAUTY RAIN!" Sei announced, then rested her four standing rearguards and stood up her resting Vanguard. Sei now attacked for a total power of 30000! The boy again had to say no guard. Sei then drove check into another stand trigger, causing an utterly surprising reaction from the boy, Hiroshi, Shiroi, and Ryu.

"Dang how many stand triggers has that been?" Ryu asked.

"That's like her fourth stand trigger." Hiroshi mentioned. Ryu whistled.

"By the way why are you wearing a mask?" Shiroi asked Ryu then Ryu posed like some sort of transforming TV hero. Then Ryu sneezed. Shiroi sweat dropped then said, "You're not cool enough to be a Mask Police."

The boy damage checked into another Heal Trigger allowing him to power Dudley Emperor to 20000 and healing back to five damage. But . . . Rain now had a total power of 35000 and was stood up again by Laurel's skill. Sei now rested Rain again for one more attack. The boy could not block so had no choice but to take the hit.

"Drive Check." Sei flipped the first card and got nothing, then she pulled a Critical Trigger. "Well here comes Justice Colbalt! (Dimension Police, Grade 0, Power 5000)" Sei cheered and applied the critical to Rain and power to the Miracle Beauty in front of Speed Star. The boy had no hope left. Sure he could damage check into a heal trigger again, but there are two heal triggers in the damage zone and one in his hand. It is only legal to have four heal triggers in the deck and thus, that means there is only one more heal trigger in his deck . . . meaning, he lost.

"First check." The boy sent the first card to his damage zone and it was in fact, a heal trigger. The second card was Dudley Emperor. "I lost . . ."

Boy's Damage 6
Ending Result: Sei Wins

Sei cheered as she won the first fight she used her Enigman Rain deck in. "Shiroi-chan, I won!"

"Yeah you did." Shiroi said nodding, not because he was nodding to Sei winning, but rather he was nodding in disbelief at the fact of how Sei pulled off her win.

"Dang Sei-chan doesn't seem like that bad of a fighter." Ryu mentioned. "She might actually have what it takes to take it to the top."

"Though she's too much of a ditz." Hiroshi said to the man that might be related to him.

"Seriously are you two related?" Shiroi asked but somehow got no answer only to have Ryu sneezed.

"Luckily I have this mask." Ryu noted after sneezing. "Though this mask is quite wet right now."

"By the way, what the heck are you doing?" Shiroi said pointing at Ryu fanning the steam from the chicken noodle soup at Daigo's face.

Ryu looked at the pot and pointed at the pot. Shiroi nodded. "This is chicken noodle soup."

"What?" Shiroi asked.

"The point is the old Hiryuu Chicken Noodle soup recipe has healing properties so I was hoping I can use it to wake this guy up." Ryu tapped Daigo making Daigo fall off the chair. Ryu pulled Daigo back up. "That and I feel sick today since I sneezed a lot today."

Shiroi looked at the sheer size of the pot and wondered if all of it was really for Ryu ad Daigo. "Are both of you supposed to finish that up?"

Ryu looked at the pot. "Actually I made a bit too much." Ryu said. "When I cook, I tend to go overboard. Why do you think I let Lee live here? I cook so much that I don't even mind if Lee joins in for the meals." Shiroi nodded. "Once this guy wakes up I got paper bowls for everyone. Anyone want some?"

Everyone except Shiroi raised their hand. "Isn't this a little rude?" Shiroi asked.

Hiroshi then explained, "This isn't the first time Ryu brought out some food that he cooked." Hiroshi said. "He tends to go overboard a lot. So he brings out food a lot." Hiroshi patted the boy that he was younger than. "You don't have to hold back."

Shiroi then looked at Ryu and noticed how humble and reliable he looked. "Man . . . no wonder they all love you." Shiroi said in reference to . . . quite a number of girls.

Ryu kept fanning the steam in hopes that Daigo would smell the steam, "Man, I remember when I was younger I did this to my sister."

"Huh?" Shiroi wondered what Ryu was talking about.

"Mom taught me how to make this." Ryu said. "There was one time where Yume was really sick and Mom wasn't home so I had to make this soup for her. She wouldn't get out of bed so I fanned the steam towards her in hopes of getting her up." Ryu chuckled nervously and started to remember what happened. Yume was sick with a flu and she didn't want to get out of bed. Ryu took the pot into her room and tried shaking her awake. She decided not to get up of bed, refusing to get out of the blanket, so Ryu then fanned the steam from the soup towards Yume. Yume got a little annoyed and got up to drink the soup. "Now that I think about it, I think the only reason she got up was because I was annoying her."

"Maybe you should punch the man to wake him up." Sei mentioned.

Ryu actually thought about doing that.

"DON'T DO IT MAN!" Shiroi shouted. "He could sue you for assault!"


Yume, Ryn, Karen, and Miku were taking a lunch break as were many of the people from the audience. The four girls were eating in the cafe were Mai and Maya work at. Mainly because Yume is Maya's cousin so Q4 can use her to get a discount.

Yume was a little flustered because she remembered her little yell on stage when she was asked if there was someone that she liked (coincidentally asked by her second elder brother). When she tried thinking about who she liked, she ended up thinking up an image of a person with a flame hair style and a red coat from the back. Yume blushed a little because that image resembled Ryu, A LOT.

"Don't be so flustered Yume." Miku said figuring that Yume was thinking about that little outburst. "You looked really cute out there."

"It was so embarrassing." Yume groaned and slumped down.

Karen patted Yume to make Yume feel better. "You really don't have to feel so down." Karen said. "Besides, what you said must've really broken a ton of hearts out there." Karen said with a maniacal smirk.

"You're evil." Yume note.

Ryn looked at Yume worryingly. Ryn more or less figured out what exactly Yume was thinking about. Ryn sighed. Yume's obsession with the man in Yume's image is a little unhealthy. "Yume . . ." Ryn sighed since she wasn't sure what to say to Yume.

Ryou, with a mask over his mouth and a fedora on top of his head, pushed the door open to the cafe. Then he noticed that Yume was also in the cafe. Ryou hesitated a little because he's willing to watch his sister from afar, but he does not want to actually come up close to her or anyone in his family. It should be noted that Ryou doesn't know that his cousin works in the cafe. In fact Ryou kind of forgot Maya even existed, and he's not the one with amnesia!

Ryou decided that he would be better off finding another place to have lunch when all of a sudden, a man wearing a large trench coat and white marine cap bumped into Ryou while trying to get inside the cafe.

At this very moment, Ryou saw the world around him dissolve and it seemed like he was taken to another place. His eyes were showing him something. "What?" Ryou looked around in the dark abandoned valley.

Ryou looked around and saw that his body was like an astral projection. Ryou looked up then found Dragonic Overlord. "What the?" Ryou wondered why he was seeing Dragonic Overlord.

All of a sudden Ryou heard a roar and he turned around. Ryou found a blue dragon with large missile launchers on its shoulders. Dragonic Overlord and this blue dragon was facing off in a fight to the death. Ryou did not recognize the dragon whatsoever, "WHAT IS THAT?" Ryou shouted then noticed that Dragonic Overlord was wounded badly.

The blue dragon was about to finish off Dragonic Overlord. One roar and a ton of missiles started flying towards Dragonic Overlord, bombarding the red dragon.

"OVERLORD!" Ryou shouted. He knew what he was seeing. Overlord was representing Ryu, and this image was . . .

"So you can see it huh?" The man with the marine cap said as his astral projection appeared a few feet away from Ryou.

Ryou turned to see the man and noticed, despite blue being a natural eye color, this man's blue eyes looked very odd. Ryou then noticed that his face was uncovered and his purple eyes were looking at the man.

"So you're the Hino who has that gift." The man said to Ryou.

"What?" Ryou knows what his eyes could do but he isn't even sure what his eyes were. Yet, this man knows what those eyes were.

"I can see you have many questions." The man noticed Ryou looking confused.

Ryou then asked, "What is that dragon?" Ryou asked pointing at the blue dragon. At the same time, the spot that Dragonic Overlord was standing on broke off and Dragonic Overlord fell down into the sea. "Is that dragon supposed to represent you?"

The man stood with a cold expression on his face, then all of a sudden the smile contorted into a devilish grin. "How observant of you."

"What is it!" Ryou demanded. "And what do you want with my brother?"

"Seems you Hinos are much smarter than you seem." The man grinned. "Let me ask you, do you know what Aqua Force is?"

Ryou has never heard of that clan before, "What is the Aqua Force?"

The man's face was much more devilish than before. "A legendary clan of the planet Cray."

Ryou's ears perked up when he heard the world, Cray. "Say what?"

"You have those eyes." The man pointed at Ryou's eyes and at the same time, the man's eyes glowed an ominous glow. "I'm surprised you don't know what planet Cray is." Then a shockwave just flew off from the man, blowing at Ryou.

Ryou grunted when he felt the pressure.

"The Aqua Force have returned . . ." The man chuckled, "And they will have their vengeance."

"Vengeance, what are you talking about?" Ryou wondered what the Aqua Force had to do with the Kagero and all of a sudden Ryou found himself returning back to the front of the cafe this time with his face covered again.

The man that he saw within the image was in front of him. The two men stared at each other coldly. Then the man walked forward and ended up sitting in the booth behind Yume. Ryou noticed that, and noticed something was up. The man purposely sat in that booth. Ryou got worried and decided to go inside to make sure nothing happens to his sister.

Ryou made sure to sit nearby so he could watch over Yume but also keep out of sight from Yume. Maya served Ryou a cup of coffee on the house. "Hiya Cuz." Maya said and tapped Ryou's fedora.

Ryou didn't really recognize the voice because he honestly did completely forget that he had a cousin but after feeling someone tap his fedora, Ryou looked around to try to find who talked to him, and to find who called him Cuz. "Did I have a cousin?" The Hino Y chromosome has the idiot gene. Ryou has the Y chromosome. He's an idiot.

Yume drank her smoothie slowly because she was still a little embarrassed by her little outburst on stage. It didn't seem that it would affect her reputation by much, seeing as how fanboys are fanboys so there isn't much repercussion for acting a little 'cute' on stage. Yume laid her head back and accidentally bumped the back of the head of the man behind her. "OW!" Yume jerked forward and rubbed the back of her head.

The man, the one with the marine hat, was barely affected and just sipped his coffee with a cold expression.

"Sorry." Yume turned around and apologized, then both her and the man's eyes met. "OH!" Yume pointed at the man in surprise. "It's you again!"

The man simply placed down his coffee cup and didn't respond.

"Who is that?" Ryn asked trying to look behind Yume to see who Yume had hit.

The man then held out his hand towards Yume. "What?" Yume asked the man.

"My card." The man said. "I have 49 cards in my deck and the last person that I've interacted with is you." The man nodded, "Give me my card back." He said bluntly.

"Yeesh, you're really rude." Yume mumbled and reached into her deck box on her belt. She opened the box and pulled out the Naval Gazer Dragon card that the man had dropped then handed the card back to the man.

"Thank you, Ryu Hino's wife." The man bluntly said, making Yume fall off her seat, making Ryn jump back a little back in surprise, making Karen drop her spoon creating a loud clang, making Miku freeze in place because it was weird to hear someone calling Ryu's sister his wife, and making Ryou spit out his coffee because there was just something wrong with what that man said.

YUME! Ryou thought. Are you married to Nii-san? Ryou was in absolute horror at that revelation.

Yume got up, completely red once again, and bellowed, "I told you, I'm his SISTER!" Yume stomped her foot, "HIS SISTER!"

The man just ignored her and sipped his coffee.

"Boy he's kind of rude isn't he." Ryn commented on the way the man was acting.

Ryou let out a sigh of relief. "Well good thing to know my brother and sister haven't cross that threshold yet." Ryou apparently is afraid that one day Ryu would break a few laws and actually do something that Ryu isn't supposed to.


Ryu then sneezed and accidentally jerked forward to actually hit Daigo off the seat. Daigo let out a yell after he hit the floor.

"Aiya." Ryu gasped and palmed his face for jerking forward to knock the guy awake. Daigo actually woke up early after impacting against the floor.

"Sei was right, you should've just hit him to wake him up." Shiroi muttered and sweat dropped to the fact that in the end, they might as well have just hit Daigo to wake the man up.

Daigo groaned as he got up then he noticed Ryu handing over a paper bowl full of chicken noodle soup. "Come on, drink up." Ryu said. "It's good for you when you're sick."

"Uh . . . ok." Daigo was kind of confused since he wasn't really sick anyway but the gesture was still kind of Ryu. Daigo also noticed that a lot of the kids in the shop were also drinking the same soup.

"I made a lot so don't hold back." Ryu said then took off his mask to smell his own soup and gulped down a bowl. "HO YEAH!" Ryu pumped his fist. "That ought to stop any sort of sneezing that I'm about to have now."

"Yeesh you talk as if the soup has healing properties." Shiroi sarcastically said then noticed Ryu just staring at Shiroi blankly. "What?"

"The Hiryuu Chicken Noodle soup is supposed to have healing properties." Ryu said with a monotone.

Shiroi noticed that he probably should not have said anything about the soup. "Sorry, didn't mean it."

Ryu handed Daigo a spoon since it looked like Daigo was hesitating to drink. Sei saw that gesture with a pink aura around the two men and she blushed and squealed in delight on seeing the scene.

So after a while when everyone finished the soup completely, Ryu apologized to Daigo. "Sorry if I don't remember you." Ryu said. "It's most likely because of my amnesia."

"That's . . . that's ok." Daigo said. "It's not like you and I are close friends anyway."

"Well if that's the case why do you know Hino-san?" Shiroi asked Daigo.

"Isn't it obvious?" Sei asked. "He's Ryu's stalker!"

Everyone (as in, everyone that was a male) stared at Sei weirdly. Then Ryu whispered into Shiroi's ear, "She's cute . . . but you have a weird one on your hands."

"Don't remind me." Shiroi chuckled nervously and sweat dropped.

Daigo sweat dropped. "So these are the people that you interact with since you didn't become a pro huh?" Daigo said to himself but Ryu heard Daigo and something about Daigo's voice talking about being a pro sounded familiar to Ryu.

In fact now that Ryu thought about it, Daigo's voice sounded very familiar. Not that Ryu can remember the voice from a long time ago at the moment but when Ryu listened carefully to Daigo's voice it sounded just like the voice of the large man that was with Ryou on Mayu-Talk.

However, Daigo wasn't huge and Ryu is pretty sure he had never met the man that was with Ryou. And yet there was some familiarity with this man's voice. Ryu tried thinking hard how someone could know him and tried thinking back to the only logical reason, "You know me from my junior tournament days don't you?" Ryu asked Daigo.

Daigo's eyes brightened when he noticed that Ryu seemed to be remembering something.

"I still don't remember you." Ryu bluntly said, crushing Daigo's spirit again. Ryu then scratched his head, "Well it's not like I remember everything about my junior tournament days." Ryu said. Ryu really was trying to remember who Daigo was because after thinking about it, Ryu did feel like he's seen Daigo before.

Shiroi really does not like prying into other people's business but he was genuinely interested in why this Daigo knew who Ryu was. "Hey I've been wondering, how exactly do you know Hino-san?" Shiroi asked Daigo.

Daigo looked at Shiroi then asked the boy, "Do you know who Ryu Hino is?" Shiroi wondered why kind of question that was. "Ryu Hino is the junior player that everyone predicted would become the next King of Vanguard."

Shiroi then jumped a little and let out a huge loud gasp then sharply turned to Ryu, "You mean you are THE legendary junior player that everyone said would become King?"

Ryu stayed silent and frowned, as if he didn't like being reminded of the fact.

"I thought that King Ryou was that player but after looking at King Ryou's statistics and the legendary junior player something just didn't add up." Then Shiroi pointed at Ryu, "And that must mean, that it really was you then!"

"Wait, I don't get it." Sei walked up to Shiroi, "If he's that good how come he's working in a Card Shop?"

Daigo too wondered that himself. When Daigo entered the professional circuit, he went into it hoping that one day he would meet up with Ryu Hino again, only when they would meet again, Ryu Hino would be the King of Vanguard. Instead Daigo met the other Hino . . .


The man that sat behind Yume chuckled a little, "To think that the legendary Ryu Hino has fallen so low."

All the girls and Ryou heard this and looked at the man. "What did you say?" Yume asked coldly.

"Ryu Hino." The man said and smirked. "Everyone said that he was going to be the King of Vanguard. But look at him now," The man turned to the girls, "he's become some lowly manager to a group of pop idols and he's managing a card shop."

All who paid attention to the man knew that he was insulting Ryu.

"The legendary junior player isn't even the King." The man grinned sinisterly, "Am I not wrong? Isn't it his brother who is the King?"


"I usually did not follow what happened in the junior tournaments but I remember that I really looked up to the legendary junior player." Shiroi noted because when he was little, the legendary junior player gave Shiroi hope that one day Shiroi could become a really good pro player. Shiroi never thought that the day that he met Ryu was also the day he met that very same card fighter. Shiroi turned to Ryu then asked, "How come you're not playing in the professional circuit?"

Ryu shuffled through a few Oracle Think Tank cards that he looked like he was fixing up for someone. Ryu closed his eyes and flashback to a few events.

A high school aged Ryu was holding the hand of a woman on life support in the hospital.

Ryu cried out to the woman as if he was pleading something to her. His tears rolled down his eyes in excess amount.

Ryuuji slumped down on a table while he was surrounded by bottles of alcohol. Ryu tried his best to help Ryuuji up but Ryuuji was heavily heart broken and lost the will to live.

"A lot had happened." Ryu placed the Oracle Think Tank cards down. "There was too many problems with this shop." Ryu looked around at the shop and thought back to the old days when he and his family lived together in the shop. "I couldn't just abandon it." Ryu sighed and remembered how one day he and his siblings talked about who would take over the shop. Ryu knew his siblings had dreams of their own and Ryu didn't want to snatch away their chance. They figured that Yume was too young to run the shop so she was exempt from being chosen, but what about Ryu and Ryou? Ryu saw how hard Ryou worked towards the dream of being a professional player. Ryu let Ryou lose that chance, so Ryu took over the shop.


The man continued insulting Ryu while he talked to the girls, "Surely he must have figured that he was too weak for the professional circuit." The man chuckled, "That shows just how weak he is."

"TAKE THAT BACK!" Yume slammed the table and sharply turned to the man. Her slamming the table got the attention of everyone within the cafe. Yume's scowling face really did not match her usual demeanor. "My brother has worked hard his whole entire life to become the best." Yume growled, "He doesn't need someone like you to insult him just because his personal life didn't allow him what he wanted."

Ryou heard this then sighed. Ryou felt like it was his fault that Ryu didn't become the pro that Ryu had wanted. Ryou always did his best to follow in Ryu's footsteps and Ryu must've mistaken Ryou following Ryu for passion for the game. Ryou was passionate about the game, but he wasn't as passionate for the game as Ryu was. But yet, Ryu saw a fire within Ryou that Ryu didn't want put out. Ryu's taking over the shop allowed Ryou to become a pro. But unfortunately . . . Ryou must be a disappointment to Ryu now.


"I entered the circuit hoping to meet you one day." Daigo said with a sigh. "I actually feel a little disappointed that I never met you?" Shiroi gave Daigo a look as if Shiroi was asking was Daigo really a professional card fighter? (After all, this Daigo is named Daigo but isn't the same Daigo that Shiroi knows. Also Shiroi had never seen this Daigo before)

"How's my brother doing?" Ryu asked Daigo all of a sudden.

"Huh?" Daigo looked at Ryu in surprise.

"You don't have to hide it." Ryu said while looking at Daigo coldly. "I know who you are." Ryu noticed Daigo had a similar voice to the Daigo that Ryu saw on Mayu-Talk a few weeks ago and on top of that when Ryu looked closely enough Daigo had a similar facial structure to the big man that Ryu saw. Ryu figured that the big Daigo was probably some sort of hologram.

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT!" Daigo yelped and panicked. He wasn't allowed to have his identity revealed, that was all stated in his contract. Shiroi and Sei wondered what Ryu was talking about.

"Don't worry about it." Ryu said, "I won't tell anyone your secret." What Ryu said made Shiroi and Sei a little bit more curious.

"DON'T SAY THAT I HAVE A SECRET!" Daigo hissed at Ryu. "Man you're just as bad as your brother."

"Well?" Ryu asked. "How's Ryou doing?"

Daigo looked at Ryu, "Well I was disappointed that you didn't make it to be the King of Vanguard." Daigo sighed, "When I went to see the King I was hoping it was you, but I ended up meeting your brother instead." Daigo scratched his head nervously, "Honestly I find him very different from you and the contrast was very jarring."

"And?" Ryu asked again.

"He's not a bad person." Daigo chuckled nervously. "Actually we ended up becoming friends pretty fast. Said that I kind of reminded him of you." Daigo said to Ryu.

Ryu looked away, then whispered, "Ryou . . ."


Ryou decided that he needed to get between Yume and the man insulting Ryu before something bad came out of it, but all of a sudden the man declared, "If you so insist that he is strong, why not show me if you yourself has what it takes to defend his honor?"

"WHAT!" Ryou yelped. He knows what the man could do. The man has the same curse as Ryou and if the man were to fight Yume . . . Ryou broke into a run to try to stop Yume but then Maya's hand came out and grabbed Ryou's hand. Ryou growled then turned to Maya. Maya shook her head to stop Ryou, except Ryou ended up asking, "Who are you?"

Maya almost fell in shock because another one of her cousins forgot who she was but she ended up not doing it because she wanted to make sure Ryou didn't interfere between the man and Yume.

"I'll show you that you have no right to insult my brother." Yume said then pointed at the man, "If you are challenging me, then I accept your challenge!"

"Yume!" Ryou shouted but his voice didn't reach Yume.

"Yume are you sure you want to do this?" Ryn asked Yume and Yume nodded.

Yume won't let some stranger that she or even Ryu has never met before to insult Ryu. In Ryu's name, Yume will make sure to punish the man.


After figuring out Daigo's secret, an image of a young Daigo slowly crept into Ryu's mind. All of a sudden, a certain card flashed within his mind and he himself saw the image of the unit overlay Daigo's body. The image that Ryu saw was Daigo's true avatar. "Daigo." Ryu said, "Did you look up to me during my junior tournament days?"

Daigo nodded, "You gave me the encouragement that I needed to become the Pro that I wanted to become." Daigo then twiddled his finger, "But at the same I'm still working at it . . ." Daigo's fighting form is famous for using Enigman Storm. Not that Daigo doesn't use Daiyusha in the deck but his contract states that he must use Enigman Storm as the main unit. Daigo was hoping to make Daiyusha into the next big thing with Ryu's help but because Ryu didn't become the King, Daigo couldn't look for Ryu for help.

Ryu thought hard then he turned towards Hiroshi, "Hiroshi, help me fix up this Scarlet Witch deck for Miku." Hiroshi ran over and Ryu handed Hiroshi the list for the Scarlet Witch Coco deck that Ryu was building for Miku.

"What are you going to do Ryu?" Hiroshi asked while taking the list.

"Something." Ryu went over to his coat hanger and then swiped the cloak so he could wear the cloak.

"Where you going?" Daigo asked Ryu. Shiroi too wondered where Ryu was heading.

"I'll be back in a sec." Ryu said exiting the shop.


The man, Yume and the girls of Q4 walked outside to find a Motion Figure fight table. Shortly after Ryou trailed the girls to again try to stop Yume or at the very least take her place. Yume may not be able to face against the curse but Ryou can at least counter the man's blue eye curse with his own purple eye curse.

Yume and the man shuffled their decks and Yume asked, "Can I at least know what the name of the player I'm playing against is?"

The man then answered, "The name is Long Shen." Long's eyes flashed a little but it seemed Yume didn't notice a thing.

Karen on the other hand noticed there was something about Long's eyes but she brushed it aside. "Make sure you beat him." Karen said to Yume. Karen alongside the other girls did not appreciate Long insulting Ryu so they wanted Yume to win.

Ryou broke into a run to make sure he stopped the fight but then Yume and Long slammed their decks onto the fight table. A brush of wind blew around the area and the area became submerged in a holographic sea. By Ryou's honor as a professional card fighter, he is not allowed to interrupt a fight when it has started.

"STAND UP!" Both Yume and Long shouted.

"The," Yume said on her own.

"My," Long said on his own at the same time as Yume.

"VANGUARD!"

A small blue dragon appeared behind Long while a young blonde mermaid appeared behind Yume.

"Bermuda Triangle Cadet Riviere (Bermuda Triangle, Grade 0, Power 4000)!" Yume announced.

"Aqua Breath Dracokid (Aqua Force, Grade 0, Power 5000)." Long said.

Everyone, now a crowd for some reason, looked at the blue dragon in shock. "What is that unit?" Miku yelped.

"That's something I haven't seen before!" Ryn herself yelped.

"Is that a new clan or something?" Takuto asked then Karen looked at Takuto in surprise as Takuto came out of nowhere.

"Where did you come from?" Karen asked noticing Takuto and Saito standing next to each other. "And where did all these people come from?" Karen asked noticing that a whole lot of Q4 fans came out of nowhere.

"Where one Q4 fan goes, the rest follows!" Takuto exclaimed happily.

"Or rather everyone just followed you to see Yume play." Saito said to Takuto with a sweat drop.

Long looked at his unit's card and he smirked.

From afar, Ryuuji felt a sudden chill go up his back. "I can feel it." He said shivering. Kaiyo looked at Ryuuji surprise, "They're back."

"What are you talking about?" Kaiyo asked Ryuuji.

Ryuuji sighed, and shook his head, "It's nothing."


Ryu drove his portable fight table in bike form towards the entrance of the shop then transformed the bike to a table. He carried the table into the shop one handed then slammed the table in an empty spot. "What is that?" Daigo asked Ryu.

Ryu then held out his Dragonic Overlord card to Daigo. "I don't really remember you Daigo." Ryu said, "But I feel like something is emerging and I just have this feeling . . ." Ryu let out a breath, "You want to show me how strong you've become don't you?"

Daigo gulped. Ryu was right on the spot, Daigo has for a long time wanted to show Ryu how much Daigo has improved.

"Fight me Daigo." Ryu said. "I want to see you in the battlefield on Cray." Ryu then closed his eyes and imagined the battle that he would be having with Daigo on Cray. Ryu tried to see what Daigo's avatar is, but Ryu could not fully make out the image of Daigo's avatar. "Maybe if we fight, my memory of you will come back."

Daigo's eyes widened in surprise, then he nodded, "HAI!" Daigo bowed to Ryu. "I won't disappoint you Ryu-san!"

Shiroi for some reason felt a rush go through his body, as if he knew how exciting the battle between the two was going to be. Shiroi really wanted to see this fight. "Sei, we might want to witness this."

Sei nodded. "I can feel it too." She too felt the exciting air between the two men, and it wasn't the same air that Sei kept seeing a moment before. This was the air of two men ready for battle.

"Prepare yourself!" Ryu shouted, "Imagine it, you and I are astral beings on the planet Cray ready to take charge of an army ready for battle!" Ryu's words created an image of the sky of Cray for everyone to see for a split second.

"STAND UP!" Ryu and Daigo shouted. "THE VANGUARD!" Both men shouted at the same time, Ryu because it was his habit, and Daigo because he was emulating the man he looked up to.

"Lizard Soldier Conroe!" Ryu exclaimed.

"Dimensional Robo Goyusha! (Dimension Police, Grade 0, Power 5000)" Daigo announced.

The term Dimensional Robo made the image of Daigo's avatar that much clearer. "It's that unit isn't it?" Ryu said to himself as the image of battle appeared above the fight table.

Daigo, Shiroi, and Sei stared in awe at the virtual image that the fight table was emitting. Two ships in the air as platforms while Conroe appeared on Ryu's side and a blue robot with the number one on its chest appeared on Daigo's side.

Seeing Goyusha made the image of Daigo's avatar clear, "Daiyusha . . ." Ryu then smirked, "All right Daigo, let's go!"

"HAI!" Daigo nodded and the two prepared for battle.


The battle was beginning for Long and Yume's fight. Ryou squeezed his way through the crowd and ended up standing next to Ryn. "Man where did this crowd come from?" Ryou himself asked.

Ryn heard Ryou's voice then turned to look at the masked Ryou. Ryou's disguise wasn't fooling her though, "Ah, it's Ryou." Ryn said.

Ryou panicked when he heard Ryn call his name, then he grabbed Ryn's arm and covered Ryn's mouth with his other hand. Ryn mumbled loudly for help but no one heard her as everyone else was more into Long and Yume's fight and were trying to figure out what type of units Long was using. Ryou dragged Ryn away while no one cared.

"Draw!" Yume had the first move and she drew the first card of the game.

Yume's Hand: 6

Yume took one card from her hand and rode the card on top of Riviere, "I ride Mermaid Idol Riviere (Bermuda Triangle, Grade 1, Power 7000)!" Yume announced and played down an older version of the Riviere card she was riding over.

Rivere closed her eyes and in a vortex grew up a little.

"When Bermuda Triangle Cadet Riviere is in the soul, Mermaid Idol Riviere gets a power plus of 1000." Riviere had a total power of 8000. Then Yume pulled out the starting Riviere to show the card, "Now Bermuda Triangle Cadet Riviere's skill, when I ride Mermaid Idol Riviere, I can look through the top seven cards of my deck to add in either Super Idol Riviere (Bermuda Triangle, Grade 2, Power 9000) or Top Idol Riviere (Bermuda Triangle, Grade 3, Power 10000) to my hand." Yume snatched the top seven cards of her deck and scrolled through the stack to see if either one of the two cards was in the stack. Top Idol Riviere within the stack flashed pink, "I'll be taking Top Idol Riviere and I'm adding it to my hand." She grabbed the card and added it to her hand. Then she shuffled the remaining cards back to her deck. "Turn end."

Yume's Ending Hand: 6

"Draw." Long drew the top card of his deck.

Long's Hand: 6

Long looked through his hand to see what he should play, then he grabbed the card he was going to use, "Ride, Tear Knight Theo (Aqua Force, Grade 1, Power 8000)." Long played down the card on top of Aqua Breath Dracokid.

A blue vortex appeared in front of Dracokid and a naval officer with a giant rifle appeared in front of Dracokid.

"Aqua Breath Dracokid moves to rearguard circle." Long placed Dracokid behind Theo. "Now, battle formations ready!" Long announced. He rested both Theo and Dracokid. "Theo attacks with a boost from Dracokid, 13000 against your Riviere!"

"No guard!" Yume announced.

Theo jumped in the air after Dracokid blew a breath towards Theo's weapon. Theo pointed the rifle at Riviere and fired a concentrated blast.

Long drove check a unit named Coral Assault (Aqua Force, Grade 2, Power 8000) and Riviere screamed after the impact from Theo's shot.

"Damage check." Yume flipped over the top card of her deck, (Mermaid Idol Felluca, Bermuda Triangle, Grade 1, Power 7000) and placed the card into her damage zone.

"That'll be the end." Long bowed to Yume.

Long's Ending Hand: 6, Field: 2
Yume's Hand: 6, Field: 1, Damage: 1

As Yume stood her units to prepare for her turn, Ryou ended up taking Ryn far away from the area. AIYA! Ryou thought, What the hell was I thinking! For some reason when Ryou was found out, his very first reaction was to take away the person that knew and dragged her away.

Ryn mumbled loudly, then she elbowed Ryou on the chest. Ryou released Ryn because of the impact then Ryn slapped Ryou hard on the face. "What the hell are you thinking Ryou!" Ryn shouted at the brother of Ryu and Yume.

Ryou bowed to Ryn to apologize, "I'm sorry but I panicked."

Ryn sighed, "What are you doing here anyway?" Ryn asked, "You're not usually the type to go out."

"Hey, don't insult me." Ryou said, "You may not know this but I attend all of your concerts to see how Yume is doing."

Ryn had to listen carefully to Ryou because the mask that Ryou was wearing muffled his voice a bit, "Excuse me?"

Ryou sighed then took off his mask to reveal his lips, "I still support my sister you know." Ryou said, "She's family after all."

"Well that makes sense." Ryn said, "But I didn't think you would come up to see her fight.

"I'm worried is all." Ryou said and turned back to see Yume and Long.

"What's there to be worried about?" Ryn asked. If Ryou was worried about Yume losing, Ryou wouldn't sound so worried.

"That man." Ryou said to himself and his eyes flashed purple. "He better not do something to hurt Yume."

"Well standing over here won't help matters much." Ryn patted Ryou's back. "If you want to support your sister right now, it's best if you actually watch her fight."

"Yeah you got a point." Ryou nodded.

"And then afterward you should really go visit your brother." Ryn said.

Ryou jumped up in shock. He wasn't ready to see Ryu again, not after what he did, what with him running away from home and all. Ryou sighed and just placed his mask back over his face.

Ryou and Ryn made it back to see Yume drawing her card.

Yume's Hand: 7

Yume grabbed another incarnation of Riviere from her hand, the Grade 2 version. "Ride, Super Idol Riviere!" Yume slammed the card on top of Mermaid Idol Riviere.

In a vortex, Mermaid Idol Riviere grew up into Super Idol Riviere.

"When Mermaid Idol Riviere is in the soul, Super Idol Riviere gains an additional 1000 to her power." Total power is 10000. "Mermaid Idol Riviere's skill." Yume pulled Mermaid Idol Riviere's card out to show that it had a skill, "When Super Idol Riviere rides on top of her and Bermuda Triangle Cadet Riviere is in the soul, I can draw a card." Yume drew a card into her hand increasing her hand size further. "Call!" Yume grabbed three cards in her hand that she was about to play, "Pearl Sisters Perla and two Pearl Sister Perle." (Bermuda Triangle, respectively Grade 2 and Grade 1, respectively Power 9000 and 7000)

Units that look like they were sisters appeared in the rearguard circles. Perla appeared next to Riviere with one Perle behind Perla. The other Perle appeared in the rearguard back circle of the other column next to Riviere.

"Both Perles' skills activate!" Yume tapped the two Perle cards and both flashed pink. "I can choose a Perla on the field," Yume tapped Perla, "and give her an additional skill for the turn." The Perla unit gained a skill through the use of her sisters' skill. "When her attack hits your Vanguard this turn, I am allowed to soul charge and draw a card."

"So Perla has two instances of that skill." Karen pointed out to Takuto, who got lost between what was happening, and Saito.

"Call, Girls Rock Rio! (Bermuda Triangle, Grade 2, Power 8000)" Yume played down a new unit in front of the other Perle unit.

A blue ponytail Mermaid holding a black guitar appeared.

Yume rested Girls Rock Rio and Perle, "Rio attacks you for 15000!"

Rio strung her guitar and with the help of Perle fired out a sonic wave at Theo.

"Damage check." Long sent a another copy of Theo to the Damage Zone.

"Now Riviere attacks you!" Yume rested Riviere.

"Mothership Intelligence (Aqua Force, Grade 0, Power 5000, Guard 10000) guards!" Long threw down a card from his hand to guard.

A naval officer woman with blue hair appeared in front of Theo as Riviere was charging in for an attack.

"Drive Check." Yume flipped over the top card of her deck which glowed red, "GET!" Yume exclaimed, "Draw Trigger, Drive Quartet Bubblin (Bermuda Triangle, Grade 0, Power 4000). I'll give the power to Perla and I'll draw a card."

Riviere pouted because her attack could not get in while Perla glowed red to indicate that she got power from Bubblin's trigger. Riviere swam back to her spot.

"Now with a boost from her sister, Perla attacks your Vanguard for a total of 20000!"

Normally Long would guard this type of attack due to the danger of the skill that comes when it hits, however Long did not have enough in his hand to guard the attack with. "No Guard."

Both Perla and Perle did a tag team assault and both fired out a siren's wail on Theo.

A card named Blue Storm Dragon Maelstrom (Aqua Force, Grade 3, Power 11000) entered the damage zone.

Ryou noticed the artwork for this dragon and realized that Maelstrom was the dragon that he saw in the image fighting against Dragonic Overlord. "That card . . ." Ryou wondered how many copies of the card Long had in the deck.

"Now, Perla's skills." Yume said as Perla had three skills to use, "Since her attack on your Vanguard was successful I now activate the skills that she obtained from Perle." Yume played down two Perle units meaning that Perla had the same skill twice, "I now soul charge." Yume took the top card of her deck and swiped the card (Super Idol Riviere) into the soul, "And I draw." Yume drew the top card of her deck, "Once more." Yume soul charged Drive Quartet Flows (Bermuda Triangle, Grade 0, Power 4000) and drew her card. "And now, with Perla's innate skill, I soul blast!" Yume took out the duplicate Mermaid Idol Riviere card in Riviere's soul and sent the card to the drop zone, "Perla's skill, I can no return a Bermuda Triangle unit back to my hand." Each rearguard card began to flash white, "I choose Girls Rock Rio!" All the other cards stopped flashing while Rio flew back to Yume's hand. Girls Rock Rio disappeared from the field.

"Bermuda Triangle focuses on returning their units back to the hand." Karen continued to explain to Takuto.

"With that in mind, Bermuda Triangle Cards have skills they can use when they're returned to the hand." Miku said.

"Rio's skill," Yume then flipped over the card in her damage zone, "When she returns to my hand I can Counterblast, so now I soul charge one card," Yume took the top card of her deck (Mermaid Idol Riviere), "And I can draw one card" Yume drew her card. "Turn End." Yume said with a smile.

Yume's Ending Hand: 8
Long's Hand: 5, Field: 2, Damage: 2

"Impressive." Long said with a smirk, "But some cheap tricks won't get you anywhere."

Yume's ears perked up in shock, "What?"

"HEY YOU TAKE THAT BACK!" A fan of Yume's shouted from within the crowd but Long ignored the fan.

"Stand and draw." Long stood his units and drew his card.

Long's Hand: 6

Long grabbed a Grade 2 unit from his hand, "I ride, Marine General of the Restless Tides ALGOS! (Aqua Force, Grade 2, Power 9000)" Long slammed the unit on top of Theo.

Theo roared and in a whirlpool transformed into a much more higher ranking naval officer holding two giant guns.

"Now I use Dracokid's skill." Long moved Dracokid to the soul. "I give power plus 1000 to Algos," Algos glowed blue to indicate the power boost, "And if he attacks fourth or more this turn and I hit your Vanguard, I can draw a card from my deck."

"Huh?" Yume noticed that Long said something about a fourth attack. However, Algos was a Vanguard. Normally a Vanguard should only be able to attack with the first through third attacks because there are only two rearguards that can attack before the Vanguard. How can Aqua Force make use of such a skill if it requires the Vanguard to attack fourth?

"CALL!' Long played down four units, "Coral Assault," A unit riding a jetski appeared next to Algos, "Storm Rider Basil (Aqua Force, Grade 2, Power 8000)," A naval officer holding a sword appeared on the other side of Algos, "Battle Siren Dorothea (Aqua Force, Grade 1, Power 6000)." A naval mermaid holding a trident appeared behind Algos. "And Tear Knight Lazarus (Aqua Force, Grade 2, Power 10000)." A naval knight appeared behind Storm Rider Basil.

"What the?" Yume was confused as to why Long would play a Grade 2 unit behind another Grade 2 unit. Each grade has their own unique abilities and boosting a Vanguard is left only to Grade 0 or 1 units. However, Long just played two Grade 2 units in the same column. Was there a reason for Long to do that?

"Dude that guy just misplayed badly!" A fan in the crowd said.

"Oh I wouldn't be so sure." Karen herself said ominously.

"Battle Formation ready!" Long announced and rested Storm Rider Basil, "Basil attacks your Vanguard. Since he's the first one to battle he gains a power plus 2000!"

Basil with a power of 10000 swung his sword to fire a sword wave at Riviere.

"Guard!" Yume place down Bubblin to guard. (Guard 5000)

The red hair mermaid appeared in front of Riviere and sang a song that blew away the sword wave.

"Guarding won't do anything!" Long then tapped Basil, "Since he's the first to attack, he now switch places with the unit behind him!" Long then switched the places of the rested Basil with the standing Lazarus.

"AH!" Yume yelped and everyone in the crowd realized why Long would play a Grade 2 behind a Grade 2. Yume finally realized how Long would be able to get that fourth attack for Algos. By switching places, the new unit in the front row is allowed to attack.

"Lazarus rests and attacks Perla!" Long pointed at Perla.

Lazarus jumped and came down on Perla, "HAH!" Lazarus slashed Perla. Perla screamed and disintegrated as her sister Perle watched in horror.

"That's two attacks." Long said. Long rested Coral Assault, "Coral Assault attacks your Vanguard!" Some fans were about to taunt Long for attacking a 10000 unit with the 8000 unit that Coral Assault was, but then Long announced, "Coral Assault's skill, when he is the third attack, he gains a power plus 3000!" This shut up the fans that knew nothing about Aqua Force or rather everyone that wasn't Long since no one around knew what Aqua Force was.

Coral Assault with a total power of 11000 fired bullets at Riviere. Riviere yelped when she was hit.

Yume sent Mermaid Idol Ellie (Bermuda Triangle, Grade 1, Power 6000) to the damage zone. Yume grunted at the loss of a perfect defense card.

"Now, that was three." Long then rested Algos and Dorothena. "NUMBER FOUR!" Long's shout released a huge wind that everyone felt. "When it is the third attack or more, Dorothena gives my Vanguard an additional power plus 4000!"

Algos glowed white from getting the boost from Dorothena and her skill.

"On top of that, Algos has the very same skill that Dracokid gave him built right in!" Long announced with glee. Long was hit by Perla with Perle's skill on in the turn before allowing Yume to draw two cards. Now it was time for Long to pay Yume back.

Yume grunted. She too like Long would want to prevent this type of attack (that when successful will draw two cards) from hitting but Algos's total power of 20000 would require her to lose a lot of cards in her hand to guard. She didn't want to do that after all, she wants to prepare for, I need these against that card! She knows she needs to prepare for the unit that she believes she will face, Navalgazer Dragon. "NO GUARD!" Yume yelped.

"Check my Drive Trigger." Long said then flipped over the blue glowing card. "Enemy Seeking Seagull Soldier (Aqua Force, Grade 0, Power 5000) stand trigger."

Yume yelped. A stand trigger will allow Long to attack once more.

"Stand Coral Assault!" Long stood Coral Assault, "And power goes to him as well!" Coral Assault glowed blue to indicate the power boost.

Algos's jumped in the air and after a roar, opened fire on Riviere. Riviere screamed as the bullets slammed her.

Velvet Voice Raindear (Bermuda Triangle, Grade 3, Power 10000) entered the damage zone for Yume.

"Now Algos and Dracokid's skills activate." Long drew two cards from his deck with both Algos and Dracokid's skills. "But I'm not done, Coral Assault attacks, fifth attack means that he is allowed a power boost of 3000!"

Coral Assault roared and revved his jetski to ram Riviere. Riviere screamed after getting hit.

The card that got sent to the damage zone glowed green, "Heal Trigger!" Yume exclaimed after seeing the Heal Trigger (Drive Quartet Flows). "I'll heal one damage and give the power to Riviere." Yume took the one damage that was flipped and sent the card to the drop zone.

"Ooh bad timing for a trigger." Takuto mentioned.

"At least it was a heal." Saito mentioned.

"That ends the terms of my attack." Long said.

Long's Ending Hand: 4
Yume's Hand: 7, Field: 4, Damage: 3

"Can you see it?" Long taunted, "The power of the Aqua Force!" Long then held his hand over Algos, "With this deck, I'll show you just how weak you are to me, you mere idol!"

Yume growled in panic. What has she gotten herself into?