Cardfight Vanguard - Azure Crimson Chapter 29: Ride 29 - The First Tag Fight! Part 1, a cardfight!! vanguard/cardfight!! ヴァンガード fanfic

"Well, who should we send?" Drake asked. "After all, we have to fight our way up." he said.

"Yeah...At the same time, though, it may not be wise to show everything we have, either." Azure commented, tapping his chin in thought, before Ray stepped up.

"I'll go. I already saw that concerned look on your face with how shady they seemed, and I know why that is." Ray said, Azure raising an eyebrow. "They were at the underground earlier." He said, Azure looking surprised to hear it.

"Wait, you guys were at the underground?" Marisa asked in disbelief, the three boys sweat-dropping.

"Long story." Azure explained. "I'll tell you later, but right now...Ray, if you think you can handle it, go for it, but remember, it's a tag fight. Someone'll have to go with you." He told Ray, who nodded.

"In that case, I'll pick..." Ray started, looking at the group with clear indecisiveness, which made Azure speak up.

"Oh, I know..! How about Gaea?" He suggested, Ray flinching immediately, Gaea looking over at him with slight surprise.

"M-Me..?" Gaea asked.

"H-Hey, Hey, Azure...Maybe you're being a little hasty there?" Ray started, as Azure shook his head.

"No, I think this could be a good idea, Ray. We can see what she's capable of, and you can look out for her if need be." Azure said, Ray slightly sweat-dropping.

"Well, If that's what you think...Alright then, Gaea...Let's go win a tag fight." Ray said, relatively nervously, as Gaea looked at the ground, clasping her hands.

"A-Alright...I'll do my best, I promise..." She told him.

...Dear lord, you are too precious for this world. Ray thought to himself, before walking with Gaea to the arena, as the entrance and exit lowered, and the arena was surrounded by water, Gaea looking at it with slight curiosity.

"Must be dramatic effect." Ray observed, as two shady fighters were grinning and already at their positions.

"Ay, Rod. All they brought was some purple kid and a little scaredy-cat girl. Ain't that funny?" One of them asked.

"You bet, Tod. This should be a piece'a cake." The other one answered.

"Uh...Rod and Tod, huh?" Ray said, deadpanning.

"Of course. Rod is short for Rodney." Rod answered.

"Right, so that means 'Tod' is just-" Ray started, before getting cut off by:

"Todney." Tod said, Ray's face going pure blank.

"...You'd best be joking." Ray said with the most emotionless tone he could muster, Gaea tilting her head in confusion. "Whatever, rock paper scissors and let's decide who goes first." He said, going up to Rod, as the two played off.

"Drat! How could I lose the first move?! I never lose rock paper scissors!" Rod said, in shock.

"I'm really lucky. Anyway, that means it'll go from me, to Tod, to Gaea, to you, to me." Ray said, putting his Neo-Fight glove on, the others doing the same.

"S-Should I follow your lead..?" Gaea asked, Ray immediately flinching.

"Please, do not. Because I am at least 80 percent sure you're smarter than I am." Ray answered, Gaea making a confused expression at that. "ANYway, let's stand up our Vanguards! Stand up, Vanguard!" He already called out, as his first vanguard manifested. "DeVoid N/A!" He declared, before looking over at Gaea's first vanguard.

"S-Stand up, Vanguard..! Phantasm Heart, Trickstar!" She said, as a youthful black-haired girl showed up, Ray realizing the clan, as Rod and Tod's vanguards appeared as well.

"...Machining Worker Ant!" They both called out, Ray deadpanning.

"You've got to be joking. I am clearly just getting the most elaborate joke of all time right now, and I refuse to accept otherwise." Ray said, drawing, before tossing a card. "Ride. DeVoid StryK. His effect activates, and from the top 5 cards of my deck, I add DeVoid Enigma to my hand, and drop a hand card." He said, as the card flew into his hand, as he tossed another into the drop zone. "In addition, N/A moves back. I end my turn." Ray said, shrugging. "And because of this weird zig-zag we've got going, it seems like the first attack goes to Gaea." He reminded, as Tod drew a card.

"However, that little girl has nothing on the power of Rod and Tod! Ride! Giant Salute Mutant, Towerhorn!" Tod declared, as the large bug manifested, Gaea looking intimidated by it. "Towerhorn's skill! I drop a hand card and draw a new one! In addition, I draw one card with Worker Ant! I end my turn!" They declared with pride.

Still, there's no mistaking it...That card is Phantom Commander, right? I remember hearing about it from people at school, but I didn't think that his younger cousin had it as well. Ray thought to himself as Gaea drew.

"R-Ride..! Red Heart..!" Gaea said, as a red-haired girl showed up, and Trickstar hopped behind them. "Trickstar moves back, grants me a Quick Shield, and boosts to attack your Vanguard..!" She said, as the girls rushed towards the Grade 1 Insect.

[POWER - 13000]

"Tag Guard!" Rod declared, tossing a card to the guardian circle, as a bug got in the way.

[GUARD - Sharp Nail Scorpio - 15000]

[TOTAL - 23000]

"A tag guard this early..?" Ray wondered out loud, before looking over at Gaea, who looked just as surprised. They're cautious about taking damage, but why? If Gaea gets a trigger... He thought to himself, as the top card flew in front of Gaea, and revealed itself.

[DRIVE CHECK - Green-Heart Dragon [G3]]

At that, Ray's eyes slightly widened. Wait a minute...did I see that wrong? He thought, before shaking his head, as the card went into Gaea's hand.

"I end my turn..." Gaea said.

"As you can see, our defense is impenetrable!" Rod declared.

"S-Sorry, Ray...If I drew a trigger, we could've gotten through that..." Gaea said.

...WHY is she so pure? Ray thought to himself, before brushing it off. "It's fine, the fight's only just begun." he told her.

[Ray/Gaea] - [Rodney/Todney]

[Hand - 5/6 (plus 'Quick Shield')] - [Hand - 4/6]

[Soul - 0/0] - [Soul - 0/1]

[Damage - 0/0 - 0] - [Damage - 0/0 - 0]

[CB - 0/0] - [CB - 0/0]

[Drop Zone - 1/0] - [Drop Zone - 1/1]

[FIELD - Ray/Rodney]

[R] [DeVoid StryK [G1 - 8000]] [R] - [R] [Machining Worker Ant [G0 - 6000]] [R]

[R] [DeVoid N/A [G0 - 5000]] [R] - [R] [R] [R]

[FIELD - Gaea/Todney]

[R] [Red Heart [G1 - 8000]] [R] - [R] [Giant Salute Mutant, Towerhorn [G1 - 8000]] [R]

[R] [Phantasm Heart, Trickstar [G0 - 5000]] [R] - [R] [R] [R]

"My turn!" Rod declared, drawing. "Ride! Giant Salute Mutant, Towerhorn! With Worker Ant, I will also draw a card and a quick shield, then dispose of the quick shield with Towerhorn, to draw a new card!" Rod declared, drawing. "Then, I call Machining Hornet behind Towerhorn!" They added, as the red bug appeared behind them. "Attack DeVoid StryK!" Rod called out, resting both units, as the bugs charged forward, Ray looking over to notice Gaea reaching for a card in her hand.

[POWER - 16000]

"Don't!" Ray said, Gaea flinching, before Ray addressed the attack. "No guard!" He called out, as Rod held out the top card of his deck.

[DRIVE CHECK - Scissor-Shot Mutant, Bombscissor [G0 - Critical Trigger]]

"Critical Trigger! I give the effects to my Vanguard!" Rod declared.

[POWER - 26000] [CRITICAL - 2]

"Damage check..!" Ray said, tossing the top cards of his deck towards the damage zone, as one took on a shine.

[DAMAGE CHECK - DeVoid Marionette [G1]]

[DAMAGE CHECK - DeVoid Maiden [G0 - Heal Trigger]]

"Heal Trigger. I give the power to my Vanguard, and heal one damage." Ray said, moving Marionette out of the damage zone.

"Tch. You got lucky, kid." Rod started, before holding their hand out. "Hornet's boosted attack hit it's mark, so from the top 6 cards of the deck, I add this one to my hand. Machining Ornamental, and move Hornet to the soul!" They said.

"S-Sorry..." Gaea started.

"No, don't apologize. You were just worried about me taking damage, but if we defend too much, attack will become impossible." Ray told Gaea. "You're a soft person, but that's why I was worried about you." he admitted, Gaea looking surprised to hear it. "These people aren't so soft. They'll do whatever it takes to win." He told her, as Rod yawned.

"ANYWAY, my turn's over, kiddies. So can you hurry up with yours so you can lose already?" Rod asked.

Still, that one confirmed Machining Ornamental...Are they both going for the same card, or..? Ray wondered.

[Ray/Gaea] - [Rodney/Todney]

[Hand - 5/6 (plus 'Quick Shield')] - [Hand - 5/6]

[Soul - 0/0] - [Soul - 2/1]

[Damage - 1/0 - 1] - [Damage - 0/0 - 0]