It's a bright early morning in the city as Chrono runs down the street in a panic. "I overslept! I'm going to be late for the meeting!" he exclaims with frustration as he runs down the street on his way to school.
As he's about pass one a convenience store, a boy with black hair, with one strand colored white, and wearing the same uniform as Chrono, walks out of the store, but Chrono doesn't notice him in time and ends up running into him.
Both the boys stumble a little, but quickly regain their balance as Chrono looks back and says, "Sorry!" to the black-haired boy who simply glares in Chrono's direction.
He sighs and says to himself, "Idiot", referring to Chrono. He then pulls a black box out of his pocket that looks about big enough to hold a deck of cards, looks at it, and says, "Maybe I will give Vanguard another chance.
Opening Theme – STORY (Luck & Logic OP)
TURN 6 – Dragon's Awakening, Kazuma Shouji
Later, at school, in the Vanguard Club Room, a wooden circular table is placed in the middle of the room, as Chrono and Kumi sit at the table, while Tokoha stands with her arms crossed looking toward the door. "Where is she? The meeting was supposed to start 30 minutes ago." She says in agitation.
Chrono puts his elbow on the table and places his face into his palm and says, "Who cares? Can we just get on with this meeting?"
"We need to wait for Luna." Tokoha tells him looking back, "She just joined this club, so we can't make her feel left out." Just then, the door to the club room swings open and everyone looks toward it.
Luna stands there in the doorway, panting heavily as if she had been running a marathon. "S-Sorry… I'm… late…"
"Oh no, it's okay, we're just glad you're here." Tokoha tells her, "Where were you anyway?"
"I had rehearsal today," Luna replies, straightening her posture, "and Am is very strict about rehearsal schedules." She then bows and says, "I'm sorry if I caused you any trouble."
"You didn't cause any trouble at all." Tokoha replies, then turns to Chrono and Kumi, "but now that you're here, we can start the meeting!" Luna takes her seat next to Chrono on the table, so that he is between her and Kumi, as Tokoha stands in front of them all. Tokoha puts her hand on the table as she explains the situation to her friends, "Okay, as I'm sure you are all aware, we need seven members before this club can be considered official. We just got Luna yesterday, so that's makes four."
"So how are we going to get more members?" Luna asks.
"We need to advertise the club." Tokoha explains, "Let people know this is a place to come and play Vanguard at school and meet new friends. I've got posters put up around the school, but those only do so much. So that's why…" Tokoha bends down below the table and brings up a large stack of pink-colored paper. "That's why we're going to be handing out flyers around school."
"Didn't we already try this before?" Chrono asks.
"Maybe," Tokoha responds and looks toward Luna, "but this time we have a famous pop idol in our club. I'm sure she would be able to catch people's eyes, so that's why…" she looks toward Chrono and Luna, "Chrono, you and Luna will be handing out flyers at the front gate as the normal students come in, while Kumi and I hand out flyers at the front gate. Everyone got it?" the other three then nod their heads. "Alright, we have until the bell rings. Let's get out there and tell people about the Vanguard club!"
Kumi and Luna cheer, "Yeah!" with a lot of energy and cheer, while Chrono does it with very little energy.
A few minutes later, Chrono and Luna stand outside the front of the school, and a small table between them to put their stacks of flyers on. "I'm so excited! I can't wait to fight with more people!" Luna exclaims in a cheery tone, but then quivers a little and says, "I just hope I do well…"
Chrono sighs and replies with, "Yeah…"
Luna looks at him with a concerned face and asks, "Are you okay Chrono?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." He replies, "I just… don't like standing out and drawing attention."
"Aww come on, this'll be fun!" Luna tells him. She walks in front of him and looks at him with a warming smile, "Come on, let me see a smile." Chrono refuses to do it at first, but then Luna puts her fingers on the corners of his mouth and pushes up into the shape of a smile, but as soon as she lets go, his face goes back to a frown.
Just then, a boy walks around the corner of the gate and enters the school grounds. Chrono points him out and says, "Hey, someone's coming."
"Oh!" Luna then takes back her position and grabs a flyer. She hands it to the boy as she attempts to take on her idol persona and says, "Good morning! Are you interested in joining the Vanguard Club?"
The boy looks at her like he had just met his idol and says, "Hey, aren't you Luna from Rummy Labyrinth, and what's the Vanguard Club?"
"It's a club where you get to come play Vanguard and meet new friends." Luna tells him.
"Are you in the club?" the boy asks.
"Of course, I am!"
"Then I'll definitely join. Thank you so much." The boy says as he takes a flyer and walks off.
Luna looks back toward him and says, "There's an application form on the back. We'll see you after class!" she then looks toward Chrono and tells him, "That's really all you need to do."
Chrono looks at the flyer in his hand as a boy walks toward him. Chrono stops him and says, "Hey!" in an unintentionally angry voice, "You wanna join the Vanguard Club?
The boy trembles at Chrono's harsh tone, but then he notices Luna to the side, "Oh my gosh! It's Luna!" he says, sounding like a dog who has come home to its master, "Are you in the Vanguard Club?"
"Of course I…"
before she could even finish, the boy gets in her face and asks, "Can I join?"
A little unnerved by this, Luna responds with, "Um… yeah sure…"
As she hands him the flyer, another boy appears out of nowhere and says, "I wanna join too!"
Then another, "Me too!"
And another, "Me three!" and soon enough, boys were coming at her from all directions, wanting to join the Vanguard Club.
"Ah whoa hey! One at a time now!" Luna exclaims, trying to calm the swarm of boys that surrounds her, meanwhile, Chrono just snickers at her. She then spends the next hour trying to dissipate the crowd around her by handing out flyers to each of them, while Chrono tries to give a flyer to the occasional girl or non-Luna obsessed boy that passes by but ends up scaring them off. In the end, all the people who got flyers were the ones who crowded around Luna, and soon enough, the bell that signals first-period rings. Luna lets out a heavy sigh and says, "Well, that was… unexpected." She looks at the flyers on the table and realizes hers is completely gone while Chrono's is only a little smaller than what it started as. She didn't have enough flyers in her stack, so she had to take some from him.
"We should get going or we're gonna be late for class." Chrono tells her. She nods as they grab their remaining flyers and head off to class.
Later that day, in the club room, Tokoha stands behind the podium, as Chrono sits in a chair napping, while Kumi and Luna have a cardfight, all while waiting for new members to show up. "Judging by the amount of flyers you guys had left, I assume you got quite a few people to join." He asks Luna and Chrono, who wakes up from his sleep.
Luna thinks back to the crowd of boys she had to deal with and nervously responds, "Um… yeah we did."
Just then, the club room door swings open, and a normal-looking boy with brown hair stands there, "Hey, is this the Vanguard Club?"
"Yes, it is," Tokoha responds, "are you here to join?"
"Of course, I am. Sign me up!" he says, but then, another boy appears.
"Hey! I wanna join too!"
"Me too!" and all the boys from before came flooding into the club room, demanding Tokoha to let them join.
"Whoa hang on guys! One at a time!" Tokoha tells them and has them all line up in a single file line. The first boy comes up to her as she looks at his application, "So what made you want to join the Vanguard Club?"
"Luna obviously!" the boy replies, making Tokoha raise an eyebrow while the other 3 members look toward them with a concerned face, except Chrono, who acts like he doesn't care, "Dude, she's an idol! How could I pass up this opportunity?!"
"Hey buddy! I'm here for Luna too, so you better back off!" the next boy in the line says with an angry tone.
"Yeah, I want to fight Luna too!" another boy says, and the boys start arguing with each other before starting to crowd around Tokoha, begging her to sign their application.
"H-Hey wait! Hang on a minute!" she says, trying to get them under control, but they aren't listening. She tries, and tries, and tries, but the boys aren't letting up. The claustrophobia starts to set in for her as she clinches her fist tighter and tighter, and her frustration grows more and more, until, she finally snaps and shouts, "JUST SHUT UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUP!" the entire room then goes silent, shocked by her outburst, "If you all are really here to play Vanguard, then prove it by defeating me or Chrono!"
The boys all talk amongst themselves saying, "So all we gotta do is win right?"
"Seems that way."
"I can handle that." Before they all turn back to her and agree to fight.
"Hey! Why are you dragging me into this?!" Chrono replies.
"Because you're my vice president, and I can't take them all on my own, so get up here and help me."
Chrono sighs in annoyance and says, "Alright fight." They set up two sets of tables and chairs to fight on as all the boys in the line come in two at a time. "Chronojet Dragon attacks the Vanguard!" Chrono declares, winning his game.
"Ride! Ranunculus Flower Maiden Ahsha! Attack!" Tokoha declares, winning her game. They start winning game, after game, as all their opponents proved to be no challenge at all, even for Chrono, who is still a novice.
Meanwhile, a boy with black hair with one white stand walks down the halls of the school and sees the massive line that's formed. Having his curiosity peeked, he walks up to the line and asks, "What's going on here?"
"This is a line to join the Vanguard Club." One of the boys responds.
"Vanguard Club?" the black-haired boy questions, as he looks toward the front of the line and sees it going into the club room. He thinks for a minute and eventually decides to get in the line.
Later, having churned through almost all the kids in the line, Chrono and Tokoha defeat their last opponents before they leave the room with heavy sighs. "I don't even know how to play…" one of them says.
Chrono and Tokoha lean back in their chairs with a sigh of relief that they managed to get through that. "That was… a struggle…"
"Tell me about it…" Chrono replies.
"I'm sorry you guys…" Luna mutters in a meek voice.
Tokoha looks at Luna and asks, "Sorry? For what?"
"I'm pretty sure all those boys just wanted to join so they could get closer to me."
"Yeah, well I'm not surprised," Chrono states, "Seeing as you're an idol and all."
"I'm sorry…" Luna moans, "This is all my fault… maybe I shouldn't even be in this club."
"It's not your fault Luna," Tokoha tells her, "We're glad to have you."
"But now thanks to her and your new rule, we have no new members." Chrono says until a boy with black hair walks in.
"Hey." He says in a very nonchalant voice, getting all their attention, "I'm here to play Vanguard."
Chrono then recognizes the boy, "Hey wait a minute, didn't I run into you on the way to school today?"
"Yeah, you did." The boy responds, "That wasn't cool by the way."
"Sorry, I was in a rush." Chrono explains.
"Whatever. So, what do I have to do to join?"
"Well…" Tokoha begins to explain, "after all the commotion we just had, we have a new rule that says you have to defeat one of us in a cardfight."
"Is that it?" he asks, sounding unimpressed.
"Um… yeah? We do this because one of our members is kind of a hit around school."
"I see. Alright." The boy replies, then looks toward Chrono, pulling out his deck, "Hey! Twirly Head. Let's fight."
"Who are you calling Twirly Head?!" Chrono replies, growing angry, and still tired from dealing with the crowd, but then he sighs and says, "Alright, I'll fight you."
The boy sits down at Chrono's table as they begin shuffling their decks. "By the way," Kumi asks him, "what's your name?"
The boy looks at her and replies, "Kazuma Shouji." Then he looks at Chrono, "So are you ready?"
"Of course I am!" Chrono responds. They both then declare in unison, "Stand up… VANGUARD!"
"Chrono Dran (G0/6000)!" Chrono declares.
"Dragprince, Rute (G0/6000)." Kazuma declares.
Chrono looks at the clan Kazuma uses and raises an eyebrow, "Shadow Paladin?"
"I've never seen this clan either." Luna adds.
"It's sort of like the opposite of Shion's Royal Paladins." Tokoha explains, "Just watch and see." She then looks at Chrono and Kazuma and says, "A common rule we have is to play Rock Paper Scissors to decide who goes first."
Chrono and Kazuma play Rock Paper Scissors, and Chrono throws Paper and Kazuma throws Rock. "Guess you're up first." Kazuma says.
Chrono nods and says, "Okay." Before proceeding with this turn, "Ride! Steam Breath Dragon (G1/8000)! With his skill, I can put a grade 3 from the top five cards of my deck into my hand." Chrono adds Chronojet Dragon.
"My turn then." Kazuma states, drawing a card, "Ride! Dragwizard Knies (G1/8000). With Knies's skill, I add Dragwizard Liafail to my hand. Attack the Vanguard." Knies holds up her staff and fires a beam of dark red magic that hits Steam Breath dragon directly on the head. (Chrono: [])
"Ride! Smokegear Dragon (G2/10000)! I call Lost Break Dragon (G2/10000) and Steam Fighter Memenne (G1/6000)! Lost Break's skill. Bind one card in my hand and draw. Add 3000 power (10000-13000)." On cray, Chrono imagines himself as Smokegear and declares, "Memenne! Help me!"
To which she replies, "You got it!" as they both rush toward Kazuma (10000-16000).
"With Smokegear's skill, add 5000 power (16000-21000)!" Smokegear swings its claw and slaps Knies across the face as Memenne roundhouse kicks her. (Kazuma: []) "Lost Break! Attack the Vanguard!" Kazuma does not guard again, and Lost Break's canon beam hits (Kazuma: [][]).
"Ride! Dragwizard Liafail (G2/10000). Liafail's skill ([X][]), I call Black Sage Charon from the deck (G1/8000). Charon's skill (Soul 2-1), Counter Charge and add 3000 power (8000-11000) ([][]). I call two Black Wing Sword Breakers (G1/5000) and Dragwizard Morfessa (G2/10000)! Sword Breaker's skill ([X][X]) draw a total of two cards, and add 5000 to them both (5000-10000)." Chrono slightly trembles at Kazuma's massive board, "Sword Breaker attacks the Vanguard!"
"No guard…" Chrono declares. (Chrono: [][])
"Boosted by Charon, Liafail attacks the Vanguard (10000-21000)."
"I guard (15000)!"
"Boosted by Sword Breaker, Morfessa attacks the Vanguard (10000-20000)." Morfessa conjures some magic circles and fires a beam of energy at Smokegear, which lands. (Chrono: [][][])
"Wow. Kazuma's actually not that bad." Tokoha says, watching the action closely, then looks up at Kazuma, "Is this your first time playing?"
Kazuma is silent for a moment, then replies, "Well, I used to play with my brother when I was little, but I kind of fell out of the game for a while."
"So, what made you decide to take it up again?" Luna asked.
"Eh…" Kazuma groans, "It was just kind of a feeling. I don't really know how to explain it." Tokoha then holds her chin in thought as Chrono carries on with his turn.
"Alright. It's my turn now! Open the gates! Guide me to the future! Ride! Chronojet Dragon (G3/13000)! Imaginary Gift: Force 1 (13000-23000)! I call Steam Mechanic Nabu (G2/10000) and Steam Scara Irkab (G2/10000)! Next I activate Chronojet's skill! I discard Bearing Rover from my hand, which counts as a grade 3! Now show it to me! The future I truly desire! Generation Ride! Chronodragon Nextage (G4/25000)!"
"Hm?!" Kazuma mutters seeing Chrono's grade 4 unit.
"I activate Memenne's skill. Draw a card and discard a card. Since I discard a grade 3, add 5000 power to herself (6000-11000), Nextage (25000-30000), and Nabu (10000-15000)! Next I use Irkab's skill ([X][][]) (Hand 3-2)! Add 1 drive to Nextage (30000/drive 2-3)!"
Board State
(G2/15000) (G4/30000) (G2/13000)
(XXXX) (G1/11000) (G2/10000)
"Let's go! Lost Break attacks the Vanguard!"
"No guard." Kazuma declares. (Kazuma: [X][X][])
"Boosted by Memenne, Nextage attacks the Vanguard (30000-41000)!"
"Complete Guard!"
"Triple Drive (none/none/Critical)! Critical Trigger! I give all effects to Nabu (15000-25000/Crit 1-2)! I activate Nextage's skill! Discard two cards and Ride Chronojet from the soul and add 15000 power (23000-38000)!"
"You can do that?" Kazuma asks, sounding only slightly phased.
"Imaginary Gift: Force (38000-48000)! Attack the Vanguard! With Chronojet's skill ([X][X][]), add 5000 power and you can't guard with sentinels (48000-53000)!"
"No guard then." Kazuma declares, growing agitated.
"Twin Drive (none/Critical)! Critical Trigger! Power to Nabu (25000-35000/Crit 2), Critical to Chronojet (53000/Crit 1-2)!"
Chronojet punches Liafail and sends him flying, but he is caught a unit with red hair and black armor. "Heal Trigger. I add 10000 power to Liafail and recover 1 damage. (Kazuma: [X][][][])
"Nabu attacks the Vanguard! Using her skill! Bind Kashima in the drop zone, and you can't guard with grade 1 or higher units!"
"Then I'll guard with a grade 0 (20000)!"
"I end my turn." Chrono states, "At the end of the battle, Nabu goes to my soul and I draw a card (Soul 3-4). It's your turn."
"Yeah. I know." Kazuma draws a card, but when he takes a specific card out of his hand, that depicts a mage in black robes with a demonic arm, he starts to feel a little angry, even gritting his teeth. "I'm giving this fight everything I have!" he whispers to himself, but Luna could hear him slightly since she is standing the closest to him. Kazuma then lifts his card into the air and slaps it down on the board while screaming. "Ride!" Liafail then vanishes as bright several red circles of demonic power appear on the ground, and standing within the circles is Kazuma's true Vanguard, "Dragheart… LUARD (G3/13000)! Imaginary Gift: Force 1 (13000-23000)! I activate Luard's skill! Retire both of my Swordbreakers, draw one card, and you have to retire Lost Break Dragon!"
Chrono groans as he moves his Lost Break card to the drop zone. "That's the specialty of Shadow Paladin." Tokoha says, "Retiring their own rear-guards for power."
"I call Darkness Maiden Macha (G2/10000), and with her skill, I call Abyssal Owl from my hand (G1/5000), to draw a card and add 5000 power (10000-15000)! Abyssal Owl's skill (Soul 2-1), draw a card. Next I call Shadow Blaze Dragon (G3/13000)! Using Shadow Blaze's skill ([X][X][][]). I look at two cards from the top of my deck. I call Knies over Shadow Blaze and put this Charon into my drop zone. Using Knies's skill (Soul 1-0)! Choose one of your rear-guards and retire it!"
"Ugh… I retire Memenne." Chrono groans. On Cray, Chrono looks up at Kazuma to see Luard is shrouded in a dark red aura.
"I activate Luard's skill! For each grade 1 in the drop zone, the skill's cost is reduced by 1 Counter Blast!"
"What?!" Chrono exclaims.
"And since there are three grade 1s in the drop zone…" Kazuma looks up at Chrono and smirks, "the skill doesn't cost anything! I return two normal units to my deck and then…" Kazuma searches his deck for a specific card and shouts, "This is my true power! Go! Generation Ride!" Luard is then engulfed in a bright, red, light, and when it fades, the upper half of his robes have been ripped off and his skin has become dark and scaley, like that of a dragon as his eyes glow a menacing red, "Dragdriver… LUARD (G3/23000)!"
"No way!" Chrono exclaims.
"He can do a Generation Ride too?!" Tokoha exclaims.
"Imaginary Gift: Force (23000-33000)! Using Dragdriver Luard's skill ([X][X][X][])! For each Luard card in my soul, I can call the same number of grade 1 units from my deck, plus one extra! I call Cherishing Knight Branwen (G1/8000) and Dragwizard Knies (G1/8000)! Knies's skill (Soul 2-1)!"
"Crap…" Chrono mutters as he has no choice but to retire Irkab, leaving him completely defenseless.
"With Branwen's skill, add 5000 power (8000-13000)! Lastly, for each of my grade 1 rear-guards, Luard gains 5000 power, since there are four, that's 20000 power (33000-53000)!"
Board State
(G2/15000) (G3/53000) (G2(1)/10000)
(G1/8000) (G1/8000) (G1/13000)
"Let's end this! Boosted by Knies, Macha attacks the Vanguard (15000-23000)!"
"No guard." (Chrono: [X][X][][]) Chrono is starting to panic a little.
"Boosted by Charon, Dragdriver Luard… ATTACK THE VANGUARD (53000-61000)!"
"I guard (15000/15000/20000/10000 Total: 73000)!"
"Twin Drive (Critical/?). Critical Trigger!" Kazuma thinks about his situation and decides, "Power to Luard (61000-71000), Critical to Morfessa (10000/Crit 1-2)! Second check (Draw). Draw Trigger!" Chrono's eyes widen at the pull, "Power to Luard and draw a card (71000-81000)! AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" Kazuma screams as Luard fires a massive energy beam from his demonic arm and engulfs Chronojet.
"AAAAAGGHHHHH!" Chrono screams in pain as he's hit by the attack. (Chrono: [X][X][][][]).
"This is the end! Boosted by Branwen, Morfessa attacks the Vanguard (10000-23000/Crit 2)!"
Chrono looks at his hand. The last two cards in it are Bearing Rover (Shield 10000) and Chronojet Dragon (Shield 0). He sighs and says, "No guard…"
Morfessa conjures magic circles and entraps Chronojet in them. The circles then begin to shrink, squeezing Chronojet tighter and tighter until… "AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Chrono screams as Chronojet is crushed into dust by the magic circles. (Chrono: [X][X][][][][])
The whole room is silent, shocked by the development of events. Even Kazuma couldn't believe it, "I… won…?" he says as the orange light of the sunset fills the room.
"No way…" Tokoha mutters, "He actually beat Chrono!"
"How long exactly was that hiatus of yours?" Luna asks him.
"Um…" Kazuma thinks for a minute, "I think about five or seven years?"
"Wow, to pick up the game after seven years and be that good? That's amazing!" Kumi says.
"Yeah," Chrono adds, "You were really good."
"Eh, I guess…" Kazuma says, trying to be humble.
"So Kazuma, since you beat Chrono, are you still interested in joining the Vanguard Club?" Tokoha asks, putting her hands together.
Kazuma scratches the back of his head and says, "Um… I don't know…"
Luna then gets up close to him, startling him, and stares at him like a sad puppy. "Please Kazuma?" she begs, "You're so strong! We'd really appreciate having someone like you in our club."
"She's right." Tokoha tells him, "You beat Chrono, and he's beaten everyone of us in this room."
"Besides, I'm still new to Vanguard, and I could learn a lot from you! Pleeease Kazuma?" Luna begs, still looking at him with sad puppy eyes.
Kazuma begins to freak out, feeling a little uncomfortable looking at Luna's watery eyes. He eventually gives in to her and exclaims, "Alright! I'll join…" as he slouches over.
Luna smiles brightly and cheers, "Yay!" as she jumps for joy.
"On one condition…" Kazuma adds, stopping everyone in their tracks. He looks at Luna, still slouched over, and tells her, "Just… please don't look at me with those puppy eyes again. I uh… kind of have a soft spot for cute things."
Luna's eyes widen as she smiles and blushes as she says, "Awww… Kazuma, you think I'm cute?"
"N-No! Th-That's not what I said!" Kazuma answers in a flustered tone.
"But you just said my puppy eyes were cute." Luna adds, putting her index fingers to her cheeks.
"Y-Yeah but…" Kazuma can't even find the words to utter as Tokoha teases him.
"Aww, Kazuma has a crush."
"I do not!" he shouts, growing angry, "Now all of you, stop picking on me or I will leave this club!" and the rest of the club laughs at his flustered side.
Chrono then walks up to him and says, "But they did get one thing right. You are a really strong fighter." He extends a hand to the black-haired kid and says, "I look forward to fighting you again."
Kazuma stares at Chrono's hand for a moment, then smirks and says, "Yeah." Before clasping his hand. The two boys look into each other's eyes with a look of determination as they shake hands. Now the Vanguard Club has 5 out of 7 members. Only 2 more to go, but the next two might not be as easy to get…
Ending Theme – Days of Dash (Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo ED)
[Next Time]
Tokoha: Alright, as a celebration for Kazuma joining the club, let's go out for Croquettes!
Chrono: What's that?
Tokoha: It's this really tasty bread from Nishi Bakery! It's so loaded with flavor, it's amazing!
Kazuma: Don't go having a foodgasm on us now.
Luna: A foodgasm?"
Kazuma: D-Don't worry about it.
Tokoha: Alright everyone, follow me! To Nishi Bakery!
Chrono: She's a lot more hyperactive all of a sudden…
NEXT TIME on Vanguard GV: Solar Radiance, Taiyou Asukawa! Don't miss it!