A/N: So I've learned that the back of the wrist is a very uncomfortable spot to burn yourself. But at least it's not my fingers this time, right?!
I feel like being able to settle this fight in two chapters is kinda cheap, but fights don't actually move as slow as they do in the show, folks. I would know, the guys at the shop play faster than I can think :/ Though I can't talk, since I can play just as well, I think.
My decks are just incomplete, that's all! That's totally why my win-loss record is so slanted!
But enough excuses as to why I don't have many wins to my name(all seven of them) - here's where the obligatory "let me tell you my life story" portion of the fight kicks in. Akio is gonna be sick of trying to relate to people after this, I swear. When did he become an All Loving Hero?
.
He's cheating.
The words whirled around in his head a few times before they made sense, and he quickly snapped back to reality when he noticed Nakuro's hands were still moving.
His. Deck. Look. At. His. Deck.
He slowly turned back to his opponent, who was starting to look very annoyed at how he's drawn out his turn, but he was more focused on something he didn't notice before.
How had he missed the fluorescent colors coming out in thin streams?
He looked up at Fujioka, too shocked to really say anything, mind still going through all the posible explanations for this.
He didn't think his opponent would actually cheat. It was a little hard to come to terms with.
This must be some kind of culture shock. He thought, biting his tongue. He's cheating. He's actually fucking cheating. I didn't think stuff like this happened in real life.
He was brought back from his daze by an incessant tapping, courtesy of Fujioka's left foot.
"Are you done staring?" He asked, annoyed. Akio took a shaky breath, opening his mouth to speak.
"... Did you know that there's a type of luminous paint that can only be seen under UV lighting?" He asked quietly, but loud enough for Fujioka to hear. The boy looked surprised at that, but closed his eyes, sighing.
"So you noticed." He said calmly, pushing his glasses up. "You have very good eyes. Without these it looks perfectly normal to me, although the colors do disappear for a few seconds."
"I know." Akio said, smiling crookedly. "I've hung around Nakkun's house enough to be able to see them, you wouldn't believe how the body can absorb chemical fumes and what they can do to you."
Fujioka nodded, crossing his arms and staring at his deck.
"And?" He pressed. "Are you going to rat me out, or do you think you can still win with a handicap? Though, since we can both see the colors, I don't think it's much of one."
"Yeah. If anything, I've got just as much an advantage." Though it's kinda hard to see from here. Looks like he's got a... if he's labeled them the way I think he has, he's gonna guard next to keep that grade 3. "Eclair boosts, Mocha attacks you Vanguard."
Fujioka's eyes widened for a split second before he threw out Shelter Beetle.
"Drive check!" Akio shouted, flipping over the first card. "Miracle Kid. Power goes to Mocha, and I draw one card."
He picked up the card without thinking, looking at it once it reached his hand, and his eyes widened.
Monaka.
He heard Fujioka click his tongue, and watched as he flipped over the top card.
"Bewitching Officer, Lady Butterfly." And it went into the damage zone.
Akio let out a breath, and smiled widely.
"See? Even if I'd said anything, neither of us knows what's in my deck, so either way we're pretty evenly matched!" He said happily, waving his arms around. Fujioka shook his head.
"That changes nothing. I still have to win this." He said, drawing his next card. He smiled. "And it's not like that last attack made any difference. I may be down a hand, but I have everything set up now."
At Akio's confused look, he threw the card down.
"Ride! Death Warden, Ant Lion!"
.
Kiritsu turned away from the fight, taking two steps before his arm was caught.
"Where do you think you're going?" Hagane asked coldly, glaring at him. The blond sighed.
"Out. There's nothing left for me to see here, seeing as your 'strategy' seems to have eithe fallen apart or given us a cheap win." Hagane looked at him oddly, and he suppressed a smirk. "You think seeing the cards makes a difference in this game? It just tells you if they're in a good position or not - either way, it's all up to luck."
Hagane shrugged. "Either way, you have to stay to the end, captain."
How he wished looks could kill.
.
"Call, Machining Armor Beetle."
He ignored Akio's shout of "How many more bugs?!", looking down at his field, pushing Mosquito into the soul for his new addition's skill.
My hand is empty, but I can fix that in a few turns...
He looked to his left, where his teammates stood. Kiritsu and Hagane seemed to be arguing now, and Kiritsu kept gesturing tp him wildly. He's really mad.
"Hey!" His head shot up, and he turned to Akio, who was giving him a confused look. "Why are you cheating anyway? Does the Cardfight Club really need our room that badly?"
Fujioka snorted. "Of course not. It was all Hagane-san's idea. I mean, Kiritsu-senpai protested, but..." He paused. "No one listens to him."
Before Akio could say anything, he pointed to Tarte. "Because of Beetle's skill, Tarte cannot stand next turn."
The unit was quickly entrapped in a yellow web, held in place and visibly straining against the bindings.
"But that doesn't mean you have to go along with it!" Akio said, looking worriedly at his unit. "Honestly, who do you respect more? Hagane or Shirogane-senpai?"
He bit the inside of his cheek, refraining from answering. Instead, he looked back at his field, counting the cards under his Vanguard.
Ant Lion has... five soul. If I can last another two turns, I should be able to activate his mega blast.
"It doesn't matter who I l-respect more! Orders are orders!" He said, quickly correcting his near-slip. "Hercules attacks Tarte!"
Akio jumped as the large beetle came charging at him, grabbing a card from his hand. "Guard, Battle Sister Ginger!"
The unit appeared in a green ring, stopping the enemy's advance and sending it sprawling. He breathed a sigh of relief. "You can't seriously believe that, right? I mean, I've disobeyed Yoshi-san plenty of times. I've got the bruises to prove it!"
He tried to block out the indignant "Don't tell people that!" from the sidelines, focusing on the next attack.
"Ant Lion attacks, boosted by C!" Fujioka called out, readying himself for the next check. Akio looked at his hand and bit his lip.
"No guard." He said, averting his eyes as the large bug stood over him.
"Trigger check. Medical Battler Ranpli." He placed the heal trigger in his hand, taking a card from his damage zone and placing it on the other side of the mat. "Second check - Raider Mantis. I draw one card."
He did so with no extra movement, not flinching at the wind kicked up from the attack.
"C's skill - counterblast one, and he goes into the soul. Eclair cannot stand next turn."
Another web, and Eclair was pinned to the ground. Akio winced.
"Damage check." He swallowed, former nervousness returning as he neared four damage. He held his breath-"... Battle Sister Chai!" -and released it at the sight of the green marking, placing it in the damage zone and removing one.
Fujioka frowned. I shouldn't have froze his units. I'm nowhere near enough damage to pay for Lion's skill...
He paused in his thought when Akio huffed, a hand on his hip.
"You know, you're really good, even without the cheating. Why even bother?"
He closed his eyes, sighing deeply. Upon opening them, his frown deepened when he saw Akio still giving him that same look.
"Does it matter? I mean, it's not like anything will change from me telling you." He said, waving a hand. Akio shrugged.
"No, go on. I seriously want to know what compelled you to cheat. Even if it's not working."
He realized how glad he was that the fighter's area was a good distance away from the spectators, and therefor no one could hear them. Otherwise, they'd be getting a lot of complaints.
"... Turn end." He said, hoping the prompt would make Akio give up on pressing for answers. He drew one card and stood what units he could, but made no move to ride. He made no move to do anything, actually. Fujioka raised an eyebrow. "You're not serious."
"Yep. Totally am. This fight isn't going anywhere until you tell me what's up." He huffed again, crossing his arms and looking away defiantly. He cracked a smile at his friend's confused faces. Fujioka sighed.
"They- Hagane told me to. That's it. I just have to win this fight, and everything will work out." He said, belatedly realizing what the last part of that sentence implied. "Th-that's really it! All I have to do is win and-"
Briefly, his mind flashed back to his senior's disappointed face. A cold dread washed over him as he glanced to where the boy stood, pointedly not watching the fight.
"... Our captain can be rather childish." He said, completely out of context by the look on Akio's face. "That's why I have to do this. If we can win here, the club's reputation might be salvaged just enough to motivate him."
He sighed, glaring at the brunet.
"Now hurry up and ride, unless you plan on continuing this fight with a grade 2 Vanguard."
Akio jerked, blinking rapidly and looking at his field. "Oh, uh, right!"
"Ride, Battle Sister Monaka!" He said, with none of the flourish or intensity his other three club members had - he found it weird, really, how they said all that stuff before riding their grade 3. "Call Fromage, Candy! Candy's skill, I counterblast one and place one card into my damage zone."
Taking the top card of his deck, he revealed it to be Vanilla before placing it in the damage zone. He knew it didn't make a difference right now, this skill - the requirements for Monaka's skill weren't fulfilled, but he had other plans for-
Wait.
... Huh?
"... No backsies, huh?" He asked, realizing the mistake he made. Fujioka smirked at him.
"This match is being played with official rules, so no, no backsies."
Out of the corner of his eye, Akio said Kyou burying his face in his hands. Oops.
.
"That idiot."
He felt a hand on his shoulder, and saw Madoka wearing a similarly pained look. he turned to Yoshiro.
"Don't make that mistake. It's a little harder with your deck, but don't make that mistake." He said seriously. Yoshiro winced.
"Got it."
.
"Well, I think I'm effectively dead once this fight is over, so let's just go with it!" He said with a fake enthusiasm. Despite this, he scanned his field carefully, before his eyes landed on Eclair. "Well, since she can't do anything anyway - counterblast one, Eclair goes into the soul."
He slid the card out of its place and under Monaka, flipping over one card with his other hand.
"I look at the top five cards of my deck and pick one grade 3 or higher to put in my hand. The rest go back and I shuffle the deck." Maybe this can make up for my mistake.
He placed his hand down, slowly picking up five cards and looking them over. His eyes widened.
Someone up there must really like me. He thought, picking out one card.
"Battle Sister Monaka."
The rest went back into his deck, and he carefully shuffled it a few times before putting it back down. He took a deep breath.
"Okay." He turned the first card. "Monaka's skill - counterblast one, persona bast." The Monaka in his hand fell into the drop zone. "I look at the top five cards of my deck and take two, and the rest go to the bottom in any order I want."
He repeated his earlier action, taking five cards and looking over them carefully.
"I take... Tarte and Caramel." He said, revealing the two cards and placing them in his hand. He switched the positions of the other three before sliding them under his deck. "I retire the Tarte on my field and replace her with the one from my hand."
He quickly swiped the frozen unit and replaced it with the same one, briefly wondering if he could have just stood it and dropped the one that was in his hand, but he didn't mention this.
"Now, Fromage attacks with a boost from Candy!"
"No guard." Fujioka said, letting the attack pass him. "Damage - Butterfly."
Akio nodded, reaching for his Vanguard. "Monaka attacks your Vanguard. Twin drive." He reached for his deck when he saw that His opponent had no intention of guarding. "First check - Battle Sister Ginger. Power goes to Tarte, critical to Monaka." He saw Fujioka wince slightly. "Second check - Battle Sister Fromage."
Fujioka clicked his tongue, grabbing both cards at once and flipping them over.
"Damage check - first is Phantom Black. Second is Ranpli. I heal one damage, and the power goes to Lion."
Akio swallowed, glancing at his opponent's damage zone before looking at his own. Six turns and we're only at three damage. Is that good or bad?
Deciding it was best to ignore it for now - he knew he should start guarding more by four damage, at least - he returned to the fight.
"Kid boosts, Tarte attacks your Vanguard."
.
"He's doing better."
Kyou frowned, hearing the comment but not responding. While he didn't like the mistakes Akio made, it was true that he managed to bounce back, but something still didn't sit well with him.
Maybe because it's so... anticlimactic? He wondered, thinking back to the fights he had in the past. During every match he could recall himself of his opponent pulling off some extraordinary move, activating a skill that turned the game around, even managing to get their ace on the field. While they both certainly had their main cards out, the way things looked, only Akio was able to use his Vanguard's main skill, although he chose not to go through with the second one.
He made the right choice then, since Fujioka didn't guard, but... He looked up at the projection, which showed each player's field. At this rate they're just going back and forth. If one of them loses, it'll be due to not having any guards, not because they were particularly skilled. Although...
Looking back at Akio, Kyou held in a sigh.
Maybe it's best that it turns out that way.
.
"Damage check - Raider Mantis. I draw one card."
Fujioka placed the trigger down, wasting no time in drawing the card. He saw Akio let out a breath, choosing a card from his damage zone to finalize Candy's skill and returning it to his deck before ending his turn, allowing him to finally draw.
Machining Mosquito and Brillian Blister. Good.
Placing them in his hand, he surveyed his field before making his move.
"First off, Lion's skill. Soul charge one, and he gains two thousand power."
He flipped over the top card, frowning at the sight of a critical trigger.
"Call Machining Mosquito. Skill activates, soul charge one." That's seven. Just one more... and one damage. "Call one more Mosquito. Soul charge."
Another went in, and he didn't even blink when he saw it was another Lion.
Eight.
Everything was ready. He just needed to survive the next turn-
...
Survive?
When did it come to that? He thought to himself. He wondered when it went from "guarding the next attack" to wondering if he would be able to guard it at all.
That's not right. I've got a guard of twenty-five thousand with Brillian Blister, enough to at least guard against his two rearguards.
A thought occurred to him, and he glanced at Akio.
... If he doesn't pull a trigger.
"Heeeey, what's taking so long?" Akio's voice snapped him out of his thoughts, and he shook his head. It's alright. As long as I get one trigger in my drive check, I'll be okay.
"I just thought of something." Akio said suddenly, hand on his hip and brows furrowed. "I don't know if I'm right, but... you don't seem to like Hagane that much."
Fujioka blinked.
"And... how did you come to that conclusion?" He asked, momentarily forgetting about the match. Akio hummed.
"Well, when I asked who you respected more, you didn't really answer. You said "orders are orders" and all, but doesn't that mean you don't actually want to do this?"
"You don't actually want to do this, do you?"
He flinched visibly when the words rang in his head, a different voice speaking them this time.
"You say you joined because you respected me, but... I can't believe that when you won't even listen to reason."
This is reason. I'm doing this for the club.
He shook his head in an attempt to rid himself of the thoughts. He sighed.
"Like I said, it doesn't matter who I like more. I'm doing this because I was told to-"
"Yeah, that's why it's weird." Akio interrupted, startling him. "Your captain wasn't the one that ordered it - Hagane did. So why do you have to listen to him?
Why?
I thought it was obvious.
"It's... the only way." He said softly, enough that Akio had to strain his ears to hear it. "As if I can win otherwise. I only started Vanguard a year ago, you know? I'm not even that good."
Akio looked completely unconvinced. In fact, he looked downright annoyed.
"Are you kidding me? You say you're not that good, but so far, you've been kicking my ass! I've just gotten lucky!"
"That's also part of the game." He said dismissively. "At least you had people to teach you. I got into the game because..."
He trailed off, the image of shoulder-length platinum-blonde hair and a smile flashing through his mind.
"Vanguard? It's a game I really love."
"You like bugs, right? Why not try playing Megacolony?"
He pushed the memory from his mind, instead looking down at his field.
"... Mosquito boosts, Beetle attacks your Vanguard." Akio looked surprised at the change in pace, hurriedly shouting "no guard" and closing his eyes as the attack hit.
"D-Damage check." He said, flipping over the top card. "Miracle Kid - Draw."
Once he had his new card, Fujioka wasted no time in declaring his next attack.
"My second Mosquito boosts, Lion attacks your Vanguard."
He watched the counter rise up to nineteen thousand before looking to Akio, who looked about ready to panic.
Of course. He only has three cards in his hand, one of which is a draw trigger. If I manage to get a trigger, it's over.
He looked down at his deck, tapping the top card impatiently.
"Um, perfect guard!" Akio finally announced, shocking him out of his daze. Chocolat materialized on the field, a familiar green barrier blocking his Vanguard. He clicked his tongue as Akio dropped a card into his drop zone.
"Drive check. First - Raider Mantis. Draw, and power to Hercules. Second - Paralyze Madonna."
Placing the perfect guard in his hand, he looked at the card he drew, vaguely wondering if it was a good sign.
"... Heracles attacks your Vanguard." He said, deciding not to go after the rearguards. He only has Tarte that he can use to guard, and anything in his hand is most likely a five thousand guard at best.
Which is why he wasn't surprised when Maple appeared in the guard circle, taking the final hit. Akio let out a long breath.
"Alright, now that it's my turn and I therefor have all the right to stall under the pretense that I'm thinking - can we continue that conversation?"
"No." Fujioka said flatly, wondering how someone could cling to one subject for so long. "If you're going to tell me "Nothing justifies cheating" then I definitely don't want to finish it."
"Oh come on!" Akio cried. He pinched the bridge of his nose, then waved a hand. "Alright, I won't say it. But I still wanna know why."
Why.
.
A/N: For those that didn't catch Akio's mistake - he realized that he could have ridden Fromage instead of Monaka and called Candy to not only fulfill the "four Battle Sister RGs" condition, but also get Limit Break, which would have let him draw two cards. The reason I didn't change this when it happened - I didn't notice either until Candy's skill was activated. But stuff like this legitimately happens, and it's Akio. Not only is he a total newbie, but he's not the best thinker. As you saw above, his plan was to return Chai to the deck so he would have another heal trigger. At least he had a strategy. To be honest, this is what I used to do before I started actively using Limit Breaks.
So it looks like I'm not finishing this fight in two chapters like I thought I would, because it ended up being longer than I thought it would and by that point I was getting tired of one continuous document. And I ended up staring at the screen for a while before I realized I had no way to transition at the end.
Last but not least... the thing about writing these fights, it's a bad idea to leave off halfway through and not continue right away, because you forget what's going on and have to look over your notes again before you remember. Imagine how a month long gap between writing this affected the fight. Especially when my internet died in the middle and I couldn't look up cards(I have them all saved on the computer now to prevent this).