"Well, that's that." Ray remarked, taking out his phone and texting again. "Ugh...Why's she even acting like she bought that wine? She probably got it from one of her many 'acquaintances' at the club...If acquaintances make an earthquake on her bed..." He muttered to himself. "I already told that piece of..." He started to himself again. "I haven't even been home yet..!" He rambled, Azure raising a concerned eyebrow. "Ugh...Rain check on that fight, Azure. My mom's being a piece of garbage right now." He said, before walking off, only adding to Azure's concern. "Maybe Avi can let me hang around for a while..." Ray commented to himself.

"...He sounds like he's in pain..." Marisa realized, Azure nodding in agreement.

"I know he's hurting, he's just...hiding it through that attitude of his." Azure commented, before shaking his head. "I want to see what Ray's really like, but right now, I shouldn't push things...I'm going home." Azure said, starting to walk off.

"Huh..." Marisa said, sighing, before looking up at the sky.

As Azure was walking home, he checked his phone to note that he had a text. "Huh? Who the heck got my number..?" He wondered out loud, before reading the text.

"Azure Cova. Your friend Drake was nice enough to let me know what number to text you with. I have a request for you, regarding your team 'Azure Crimson'. Meet me at the school rooftop tomorrow after school. Don't worry, I don't intend to keep this as one of those 'secret people' cliches. I'm Maxon Stark, from your class."

Huh...Maxon wants something with me? What could it be? I should at least hear him out... Azure decided, putting his phone away, before opening the door to his home, looking around. That reminds me...I need to talk to Mira about that picture of her on TV...I have to know if that was real or not. He thought to himself, before walking to his room. Then again, there's always the internet... Azure decided, before walking over to his desk, and turning on his computer. "Huh...Marisa was a streamer too, wasn't she? I wonder how hard it'd be to guess her-" Azure started, before already finding the result. "...Huh. Well, if she's live, then I shouldn't bother her." He decided, clicking out before resuming his actual search. "They said her last name a few times in class, so I'll just try her name." He decided to himself, pressing enter, before noticing the images on the search engine, before slowly pressing the X button, and walking out of his room with a deadpan expression.

...I got what I needed to know. On the other hand, I think those picture angles count as harassment... He thought to himself, before shaking his head. I'm just gonna pretend I didn't see that. He decided, before going over to his bed, deciding to retire early for the night, before hearing his phone go off, as he just lazily reached for it, before noticing who he got a text from. "Ray?" He asked, before reading the message.

"Hey buddy, sorry about bailing on you earlier, mom was being a POS, y'know how it is. BTW I'm guessing you're looking for a sub member now? Hopefully they're someone pretty cool, y'know? Maybe a protect person, we only have one of those, am I right? After all, we got you and me with force, Drake and Kyros as accels, and only that girl who interrupted us earlier as protect, so it's like, 2-2-1, and that's weird."

At that, Azure sighed, before noticing a picture attached, and tapping on it.

"...Ray, this wasn't a meme I needed to see in the middle of the night." Azure commented to himself, facepalming, before going back to bed.

The next day, Azure found himself sitting through class, keeping notes, doing what the average student does, before hearing the bell, getting up to leave immediately, before bumping into Mira, both of whom fell over. "Agh..! Ah, crap...Sorry, Mira." Azure said, offering a hand to help her up, which she accepted.

"It's fine...I wasn't paying attention to where I was going." Mira admitted.

"Me neither...Oh, uh, by the way, congratulations on the idol training. Ah, crap, look at the time, I'm gonna be late...Sorry to cut this short!" Azure said, rushing towards the rooftop...as Mira looked shocked.

How did he know about that..?! She thought to herself.

Eventually, Azure arrived at the rooftop, before noticing a boy with their hood over their head standing around, turning over to show their dark brown hair and black eyes. "I came, Maxon. What request did you have for me?" He asked, as the boy looked up at the sky.

"Before I get into that...I want you to fight me, Azure." Maxon said, holding out his deck. "I've heard rumors about your strange clan, and I wanted to confirm them for myself before asking what I need to ask of you." He declared.

"Why am I not surprised..?" Azure asked, mostly to himself, before taking his own deck out. "But if it's a fight you want, I'm more than happy to have a friendly match." He answered.

"In that case, since I challenged you, I'll let you decide who's going first." Maxon said, before putting his deck into his Neo-Fight System.

"I'll take the first move, then." Azure said, putting his own deck into his Neo-Fight System, as the field appeared on the rooftop.

"Stand up, my, Vanguard!" Azure called out.

"Stand up, the, Vanguard!" Maxon also called out, as a pillar of blue and purple light appeared on each respective side.

"Arctic Magi." Azure called out, as the Magi appeared, holding their staff out, before Azure's eyes slightly widened.

"Phantasm, Noma." Maxon said, as a black-haired boy in black armor with dark purple outlines appeared.

What is that clan..? Azure wondered to himself.