Ride 29: To Be a Champion
Card of the Day: Justice Flag
The minibus pulled up outside Shop Avalon, and the members of the team filed out, followed by their spectators. Mr. Owens stepped onto the pavement, gazing around at them. Finally, his gaze fell on the four members of Team Avalon.
"All of you, congratulations," he said. "I... honestly don't believe you've made it so far... am I dreaming?" A second later, he yelped slightly as Alice pinched him on the arm lightly. "I guess I'm not..."
"Sorry," she said with a playful smile.
"Samuel," Mrs. Gladstone said.
"Hm?"
"You live near Agatha and I in Alresford, right?"
"Yeah," he replied. "Why do you ask?"
"I can give you a lift home if you like," she said. "Save you having to wait for the bus." She glanced aside. "You too, Leah. There's enough room in the car."
"Thank you," they said, and Samuel added, "that's very kind of you." The siblings followed her and Agatha towards the car parked just down the street, Samuel stopping and looking back at Charles and Robert.
"We've passed Regionals," he called to them. "But Nationals will be far, far tougher. We all need to get stronger. To improve. And we need to be a true team." His gaze turned particularly to Charles at this. "We can't win if we're divided. We have to stand united." With that, he turned and followed his sister towards the car.
"Why does he love being so high and mighty?" Charles muttered, turning to Robert. "So, you'll be heading home, right? Getting a lift?"
"No... mum's working late," Robert murmured. "I'll just walk, I guess. It's not all that far, just Stanmore..."
"Well, I live around there," Charles said. "I can walk up with you, if you like."
Robert shrugged. "Sure... I'd like the company." He looked at Alice. "What about Aunt?"
"I'm sticking around in town," she said. "Meeting some friends. You could stay if you like... I'm sure they'd be fine with you."
"No... I just want to go home," he said. "I'll walk back with Charles."
"Oh... okay," Alice said. "I'll see you later then, Robert." The girl turned and walked away. Robert looked to Richard.
"What about you?" he asked.
"I think I'll hang around too... mind if I stick with you?" he called after Alice.
"No, tag along all you like," she called back mirthfully. Richard turned back to Robert.
"You mind me sticking with your cousin?"
"No," the Dimension Police user murmured in return. "I'll see you later, Richard."
"Goodbye, both of you," Richard said, turning to walk away after Alice.
"So, let's get going," Charles said. "It's time we got back home."
"Yeah..." Robert said quietly.
VBH29
In the car, Samuel and Leah sat in the back seat as Mrs. Gladstone drove them out of the city, her daughter sat next to her in the front.
"You all did well," the woman said, keeping her eyes on the road. "I don't understand this game you play... but it was spectacular. Dragons... magicians... robots... all of it." She paused. "I might have to try and get into Vanguard myself... it looked exciting to play."
"It is," Leah mused. "I've only really just started... but I have a lot of fun when I fight."
"That's right," Agatha said. "But I guess anything you're good at is like that... something you enjoy doing." She retrieved her deck from its case, looking at it. "And if you're good enough... you can get fame and fortune from it."
"Maybe one day we'll be standing on that podium together, as a team."
Her other hand clenched out of sight as the memory came to her unbidden, and then she put it aside. Gabriel was just the past... paling in comparison to her team, the friends and allies who needed her in the battles to come. Even though she still wanted to find out the truth from him, she had to put that aside now. The others needed her.
"Are you alright, Agatha?"
"Huh... I'm fine," she said, glancing back at Samuel and smiling slightly. "Just... memories."
"I see," he murmured. He had his own deck in his hand, she noticed, with Phantom Blaster Dragon as the front card.
"I was wondering..."
"Yes?"
"Leah mentioned you'd been at Nationals-level... why'd you quit?" she asked. "Why are you here if you could still be there? Is it something to do with that teammate you mentioned?"
He was silent for some time, remembering.
"You're going along with them... after you promised..."
"This is a big chance! I could make it big... don't you understand, Samuel...? I thought... you would..."
"It was sort of because of him..." Samuel finally said. "But... understand this, Agatha. Nationals-level competition... professional Vanguard... it isn't like everyone thinks. When people think of professional Vanguard fights, they think glamour and glory, right? Well, that's there... but they aren't won through your merits. They're won by whatever the crowd thinks is best, and by how much money powerful people stand to gain by win or loss." His tone was bitter as he spoke. "If you win there, it's because the house wants you to... and like they say, the house always wins."
Leah looked between the two. "Samuel..."
"I just... thought I could trust him," the Shadow Paladin user murmured. "And then he just... cast us aside like we didn't matter... went along with their rules for his own benefit..."
"You want to fight him?" Agatha wondered. "Is that why you're going along with us, even though you're so opposed to how things are?"
"No... well, partly... but also because of you and Robert," he said. "You both have your dreams... and I want to help you achieve them. So I'll fight as your teammate... and I won't let you down. Not like... he did to me..."
"Have you tried to get back in touch with your old teammate?" Mrs. Gladstone asked.
"No... I got the impression from how he left that things were over," he murmured. "In any case, I've moved on... found new friends and new teammates. I suppose that now, there's not much point in digging up bitter memories." But even as he spoke, he couldn't help but remember.
"You're betraying us! You're selfish... just out for yourself!"
"Samuel... please..."
"No! We swore we'd reach the top together! And now... you're doing this! Throwing your lot in with their side! How could you... how could you?!"
"I never wanted to hurt you... I thought you'd understand! This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance! Can't you... understand that?!"
"Enough about my past," Samuel finally said. "We won... we should be celebrating. Not remembering old times."
"That's right," Leah murmured. "You guys should be celebrating... you won at Regionals, after all. You're through to Nationals... a step closer to the top." She paused. "I'm glad you've got that far... you have a chance of reaching the very top. Becoming the National Champions."
"Yeah... I didn't think we'd get even this far," Agatha admitted. "It's a nice surprise."
"Yes, but if we don't get ready for Nationals, it may all be for nothing," Samuel pointed out. "We'll need to train hard, and probably upgrade our decks with cards from Awakening of Twin Blades. If Regionals were tough, then Nationals will be far, far worse. Only the strongest get there, and only the truly strongest reach the finals. Even if we do get there... Celestial Dusk and Eternal Nightfall will almost certainly be there. The two strongest teams... the champion and second-place teams from last time. They'll have only gotten better, and if we fight them... it will be tough to win."
"Even so," Agatha murmured. "I think, if we stand together as a team... we can do it. Just maybe... we can win."
"Perhaps," Samuel mused. "It is possible... unlikely, maybe, but possible. But if you truly think that... then we should train as hard as we can, and get ready for Nationals. It won't be easy, not by a long shot. But if we're at our best, then we have a much better chance." There was a moment of silence as they reflected on this.
Agatha thought back for a moment, remembering the days when she and Richard had fought beside Gabriel. Good as those times had been, they were now long since past. She had to move forward now. And even though Robert was inexperienced still and Charles, despite his boasting about Nationals, had been taken down quickly the last time he had been there... she believed it. That alongside herself and Samuel, they could do it. That Team Avalon could surpass everything in their way and become champions.
"We can do it," she said quietly. "That's what I think. Together, as true teammates."
Samuel nodded. "Then let's do our best to reach it... that title. National Champions."
VBH29
The streets were empty as Robert and Charles trailed their way through them towards their homes, the two talking quietly as they walked.
"You did well, I'd say," Charles considered. "You lost to Cynthia and Joel, true, but you won your other fights, and fought well in all of them."
"Joel was right though... I need to get better if I want to get there... to achieve my dreams," the Dimension Police user sighed. "I'm just not in the league of players like him. He crushed me... so easily..."
"Hey, don't get so down," Charles smiled. "Give yourself credit. You won some pretty important games out there, you beat Lucy, and Oliver. You're a good fighter, you just need some more training to match up to fighters like Joel."
"I guess," he mused. "I just... can't let you all down."
"I know... look, Alice told me about your mum," he admitted. "I know what you're fighting for, and I'm with you all the way. If you want to win this to help her, then I'll right behind you, Robert." He smiled, patting his teammate on the shoulder. "I think you've got the potential to be a champion, and you just need to draw it out." He glanced down at the deck case on Robert's belt. "Dimension Police... why did you choose that Clan, out of interest?"
"I just... when I was younger, I wanted to grow up to be a hero," Robert said softly. "I used to watch stuff, like Thunderbirds... it took all of them working together to save peoples' lives. And with Dimension Police, it takes the Rearguards supporting the Vanguard to win. That's it... the reason. They're comrades standing together, no matter what, they'd never abandon one another... the way mum and I were abandoned..."
Charles was silent.
"Mum was still in school when she got pregnant with me..." he continued quietly. "She told father... and he just walked away and left her. Everyone was against her having me, her parents, aunt... everyone told her to just let it go, that she had her life ahead of her and it wasn't worth throwing it all away for me if that scumbag wasn't going to support her. But..." he paused, "she just... wouldn't. She insisted on having me and looking after me. It meant they all gave up on her... my grandparents still won't talk to her, even today... and they look at me this way... like I ruined everything..." He paused again. "Aunt's nicer... she keeps trying to get mum to take money from her, to make things better. Mum just says no... aunt says she's too proud for her own good. She won't take charity. But if I can earn this money, through my own hard work... maybe she'll take that... maybe we can finally end the debts and the bailiffs knocking on the door every few weeks. I'll make everything better for her... for us..."
"That's... wow..." Charles murmured. "You've had it hard... even your grandparents treating you like dirt..." He frowned. "I can see why you'd like a group who stand together no matter what. Just... why not Royal Paladins, then? They're the same."
"Too expensive, really... and they're not like I imagined... the hero I wanted to be," Robert said. "Dimension Police are heroes who fight to protect people... they're not trying to protect a nation at all costs, or chase glory. They're like the police, the firemen... the ambulance... just the everyday heroes we have here. In our lives, the men and women we never truly appreciate until they save the day. And then they fade away again." At that moment, a siren sounded through the air, carried to them on the wind. "When I was younger, I got lost once. Mum and I were out in London for the day... one of the few little treats she's been able to give me..." He paused, remembering that day. The throngs of people in London's streets, so many, so unknown, so confusing. The smells of the capital and the deafening sound of thousands of people milling about. To an eight-year-old, it had been horrifying.
"I tried to get out of the crowds... I slipped and fell and cut my knee on something... some broken glass, I think. And then... there was someone standing over me." The policeman standing there, the wailing young boy staring at his black shoes, before looking up to see a black jacket over a white shirt, and finally a smiling man's face under the black cap.
"Are you alright, young man... oh... that looks nasty. Where's your mummy? Or your daddy?" He faltered at seeing the flicker of sadness in the young Robert's eyes at the mention of the missing father. "Are they around here?"
"Mummy... is... daddy's not here... never has been..." he whispered.
"Well, let's get that cut cleaned up, and get you back to your mummy, okay?" The policeman reached out a hand, smiling comfortingly. Robert hesitated for a moment, and then reached out, taking it.
"It seems silly now, doesn't it?"
"No," Charles said, shaking his head. "I can get why you'd be so happy to see a policeman if that happened... when you were so young."
"He got my cut cleaned up... and got a bandage for it," Robert recalled. "Then he went back and found mum... she was so happy to see me again..." There was a second of silence as he remembered his mother's tearful face. "But that policeman... I just wanted to be like him one day, never really remembered... I never even found out his name. But even so... he helped me, and he never wanted anything in return for it. That's the sort of person I want to be one day... just helping people. A policeman, a fireman... something like that."
"It must be nice to look at the world that way," Charles murmured. "So idealistically, thinking that they're all heroes."
Robert looked at him. "I know... they're not perfect. But... even so... maybe I want to be a heroic policeman or firefighter to set a standard. An example for them to follow... to inspire others. That's what the Vanguard does , isn't it? The one who leads from the front... inspiring the Rearguards behind it to fight with all their courage and strength. Maybe you could say I want to be a Vanguard for them... an inspiration."
"A Vanguard," Charles smiled, amused. "That's strange and at the same time, I get it. You just want to inspire others, somehow. To give them a standard to follow, an ideal to live by. The world's a horrible place, so you want to make things better."
"Maybe I won't make a difference... but even so, I have to try, right? I won't achieve anything if I give up before I'd even started." He retrieved his deck from its case, looking at the front card. Enigman Cloud. "Inspiring people to fight their hardest... Cloud does that. But you can't do that alone... you need friends and allies with you. Like with Dimension Police, their Rearguards have to support the Vanguard for it to achieve its full potential. We need the support of our friends and family..."
"Well, Robert," he said. "I'll do my best to help you... so you can get the money you need to help your mum. You seem to have had a bad life before now, but I'll do all I can to help you rise above that and make things better. Okay?"
"I... thank you, Charles," Robert said. "Thank you... for supporting me." He paused. "I won't let you down... any of you... this isn't just about me. You all want to win too..."
"Yeah... but it looks like of us all, you have the greatest reason to win."
"Reason... like he said... think about my reason for fighting," he mused, recalling Joel's words. "He has some reason for fighting too... something he's chasing that title for. What is it..." He frowned. "What if... to achieve my dream, I have to crush his... there are other people fighting for reasons that matter too..."
"You have to accept that, Robert," Charles sighed. "It's just the price of competing with others."
"But my reason... is it really more important than others? What if someone's trying to win to get money to save someone they love who's dying? Joel... what if that's his motivation, and to get to my dream... I'd have to crush his underfoot... I... is that really fair to them?"
"Robert... it's the price you have to pay. I'm sure when the time comes... you'll know what to do," Charles said. "In any case... let's just keep aiming for that goal of yours, and deal with problems when we get to them, rather than just questioning ourselves now."
With that, the two fell into silence.
VBH29
There was a photograph in a frame on Samuel's desk, angled away from his bed, but as he sat, staring at the cards in his deck, he was drawn to it now. He reached up, picking it up and looking at it. He looked at himself within it, taking the centre of the picture, deck in hand. The front card was barely recognisable as Knight of Godspeed, Galahad, his former ace card. To his left was one of his teammates, Ryan, who had since moved onto other pursuits besides Vanguard. Crowning the deck in his hand was Asura Kaiser, his proud trump card. And finally, on the right, there he was.
With messy blond hair and warm blue-green eyes, he didn't show any signs of the betrayal he would later commit. He was dressed casually in a white shirt and gray shorts, his deck held to display the front card, General Zaifreet. He was smiling, happy beside his teammates. It had been a glorious day, the day they qualified for the professional Vanguard circuit. And yet after just one disastrous match there, everything had gone to hell. And he had turned and so easily broken away from his team in pursuit of his own glory.
"Henry..." Samuel murmured, remembering the fighter he had once considered a truly close friend. He had even brought Henry here, to his home. His friend had met Leah, and his parents. They had been close allies, bound by their shared passion for Vanguard. Along with Ryan, they had such vivid dreams of reaching the top, of conquering the professional circuit and succeeding. But then it had all gone wrong, and when it had, Henry had left. And the question still resounded in Samuel's head even now, looking at that photograph, because even though he had answered it himself, filling in the gap, he was still unable to lay his doubts to rest.
"Why...?"
VBH29
Card of the Day:
Justice Flag
Grade 0/Boost
Star Gate – Alien – Dimension Police
5000 Power/10000 Shield/Critical 1
Auto: When a Dimension Police Rides this Unit, you call this Unit to a Rearguard Circle.
Activate [R]: [Counterblast 1] Your Dimension Police Vanguard gains 1000 Power until end of turn.
'Bearing the emblem of Justice, he stands in support of the heroes who cannot prevail alone.'
VBH29
Next time, a series of exhibition matches are held on the professional circuit to celebrate the release of Set 5, Awakening of Twin Blades, and as such, several high-ranking teams compete with one another to display to the nation the full potential of these new cards. Team Avalon watch eagerly, trying to discover anything of use against their potential opponents, but all they see is the sheer prowess of the foes they are hoping to surpass. And as they watch, one surprising new team rises to the fore upon the battlefield, with implications which send ripples through the circuit.
Keep reading for Chapter 30 – Glimpse of Power...
