One peaceful Sunday morning, Alex walks down to Card Capital 2 on her day off school, wearing her casual attire of a pale-blue shirt with a green pattern, a gray vest, jean shorts, and pink sneakers. She walks through the front door shouting, "Good Morning!", only to her surprise to see that the shop is empty, except for one person, a young boy about her age with spiky red hair with a single strand that sticks straight up, wearing a red jacket over a blue sweat shirt, black jeans, and red and white sneakers, who is wiping down the display cases of cards.
He turns to face her, having heard her walk in the door. "Good morning." He says.
"Where is everybody?" Alex asks him, "I would have expected this place would be bustling on a Sunday."
"Well it's still early in the morning, people are probably out doing other stuff." He says, "I bet this place will be busy by the afternoon."
"I see…" Alex looks down at the boy and notices he's wearing the same apron Taiyou wears. "Do you work here?" she asks.
"Yep. Part time." He replies wiping his hands in the towel he was using to wipe the glass. "Name's Yuto Hajikura." He extends a hand to Alex.
"I'm Alex. Alex Shindou." She accepts the handshake and the boy's eyes light up.
"Shindou…?" he questions and lets go of her hand. "Um… this may be a strange question, but… is your father by chance… Chrono Shindou?"
"Yeah. Why?" Alex asks and is taken aback by Yuto placing his hands on her shoulders and getting in her face.
"You're kidding! Your father's a legend!" he tells her getting excited and then backs off. "I heard he actually defeated a god!"
"Yeah, he did." Alex tells him.
"Man, it must be amazing having a legendary cardfighter as a father, but to you, it probably just seems normal."
"Y-Yeah…" Alex hangs her head slightly.
"O-Oh, sorry. Was that a sensitive subject?" Yuto asks in guilt.
"No, not at all." She tells him putting a smile on her face, "but soon, you're gonna be praising me because my dream is to become as great a fighter as my dad was."
"I see." Yuto says intrigued. "But, there's more to being a champion than just being a good fighter." Alex tilts her head, "You can be an incredibly good fighter, but if you don't have a well-built deck, there's no guarantee it'll work. So do you mind if I take a look at yours?"
The two of them sit at a table in the back as Yuto sifts through Alex's cards. "Hmm, not bad." He says.
"Really?" Alex asks in excitement.
"Yeah. It looks like a really well-built deck. I would replace one or two grade 1s for some grade 2s but other than that, it looks really good."
"What about the triggers? That's the thing I struggle with the most."
"That all depends on what you want to do." He says looking at her, "If you feel like your deck needs more power, add some Critical Triggers. If it needs stability, add more Draw Triggers."
"I see."
"You also have to think if there are any additional effects that may help you."
"Huh?" Alex questions.
"You see, there are two kinds of triggers. Triggers that give 10000 power, but they are vanilla, meaning they have no skills, and triggers that give 5000 power. Those triggers also have additional unit skills that can help you. You just have to think which is better for you."
"Huh… I never knew that." Alex says, "You really know your stuff Yuto. How do you know so much about deck building?"
"I've been playing this game since I learned how to walk." He tells her glancing over, "I learned most of this stuff from my dad."
"Your dad?" Alex asks.
"Yeah, he was a master deck builder and well known in the Vanguard world. He could build decks that always gave you the exact card you needed at the right time."
"Wow!" Alex exclaims
"The thing is, he wasn't a very good cardfighter." Yuto tells her, "You can have the best deck ever, but if you don't properly know how to play well, it's not going to be any good. My mom on the other hand was an amazing cardfighter. My dad would always build decks for her and she would use them in tournaments. They were unstoppable, at least, until they fought TRY3."
"Oh yeah! One of my dad's teams." Alex says.
"Yeah, even they lost to your dad." Yuto stares at Alex's deck for a moment, then folds the cards up and hands it to her. "But regardless, your deck's looking good."
"Awesome!" she thanks him, "Hey, since you're the only one here, would you mind helping me test it?"
"I'd love to, but I have things to do around the store before the first wave of customers." He tells her.
"Then what am I supposed to do until then?" Alex asks in slight frustration.
"Why not do some quests?" Yuto suggests.
"Quests?" Alex tilts her head in question…
Opening Theme – ZERO! (Devil is a Part-Timer opening)
Drive 3 – Deep Sea Divas
Yuto takes Alex over to a large computer screen in the card shop that has three touch pads on the bottom. "This is the quest board." Yuto explains, "People issue quests from all around the world when they need help with something, or are just looking for a fight." He then taps the touch pad and a map of the entire world appears on the screen.
"Whoa!" Alex exclaims. "So this is what that app you made me download is for?" she asks pulling out her smartphone
"Yep. They used to use these things called FICAs, but now they've moved to a simple smartphone app." He tells her then explains how to work the system. "First you start by selecting your country and the city you're in." Yuto moves the cursor over to Japan and clicks it, then moves it over to the city they live in and clicks it.
"What are all those dots?" Alex asks about the dots she sees on the screen.
"Those are all shops with registered quest boards." He explains, "Go on, click one and see what quest are available in that area."
Alex clicks on one of the dots and a screen with over 5000 quests pops up. "Whoa! Are there really that many quests in this one district?!" she asks in shock.
"Yep, why don't you see which one appeals to you."
Alex scrolls through the quest list and eventually finds one. "I'm looking for an experienced cardfighter to give me some pointers." She reads the quest's description aloud. "This sounds easy. I think I'll take it."
"Just place your phone's screen against the scanner and it'll add the quest to your app." Yuto explains, and as Alex goes to do that, another person beats her to it.
"YOINK!" she hears a voice say. She looks over to see a slightly older boy with spiky black hair that sticks straight up.
"AH! Who are you?!" Alex exclaims.
The boy stares at her in the eyes, "Only the best cardfighter in this whole shop!" he states.
Alex's eyes light up, "Whoa, really?"
"No, not really." Yuto says pulling out a harisen fan and slaps the boy. "I thought I told you to stop coming in here and saying that. I've beaten you countless times."
"No you haven't! I'm the best! No one can beat me!" the boy exclaims striking a dominant pose.
Yuto lets out an annoyed sigh and says, "You know what, forget it. Just get out of here and do your quest." The boy snarls and leaves.
"Who was that dufus?" Alex asks.
"Subaru Morikawa. He's probably the most annoying person in this shop." Yuto tells her.
"Why does he think he's the best fighter?"
Yuto is about to tell her, but… "I think I'll leave that until you see him fight. Anyway, why don't you pick another quest."
Alex scrolls through the quest list again and finds another one. "A card of mine blew up into a bird's nest and I'm too scared to get it down because the birds are very mean. Someone help me." She reads the description aloud. "I think I'll do this one. It's not a fight, but at least I'll have some time to kill." This time, Alex gets her phone scanned successfully.
"Now that the quest has been added, your GPS will guide you to the location." Yuto explains.
"Sweet! Then I should get going. See ya!" Alex says as she runs out the door waving at Yuto.
Later, Alex arrives at the park where the quest giver is waiting. "So your card is stuck up in that bird's nest?" Alex asks the little boy.
He nods shyly and tells her, "I was playing with my friend and a large crow came and swiped the card from me."
"I see." Alex says looking up at the crow's nest in the tree, "Not exactly what I was expecting, but whatever. Don't worry kid, I'll get your card back for you."
"Thank you, ma'am!" he says cheerfully.
Alex looks up at the nest and studies it for a second, then wraps both her legs and arms around the tree trunk and shimmies her way up the tree until she's at the top. The crow is pecking at stuff in the nest. Alex then grabs the crow's body causing it to squawk loudly as she quickly swipes the card from the nest. "I'll be taking that." She says. Just after that, the crow gets mad and flies out of Alex's hand and starts pecking at her head. "Ow ow ow!" she winces in pain causing her to lose grip on the tree and fall to the ground, landing on her back. "Owwww…" she moans in pain and the little boy and his friends run up to her.
"Are you okay miss?" he asks.
"Yeah, I'm fine." She says sitting up and hands the card to the boy. "Here's your card." The boy's face beams with joy as he takes the card.
"Thank you so much miss!" he thanks her hugging her around her legs.
"Heh, you're welcome." She says giving the boy a pat on the head. Alex then pulls out her phone and opens the quest on it. She taps the "Complete Quest" button and then it asks for a signature from the quest giver. Alex hands her phone to the boy and he signs the box and Alex's quest is complete. "Alright!" she cheers, "I just completed my first quest!"
Alex returns to Card Capital to tell Yuto, but when she walks in the door, she hears arguing. "What do you mean I'm too small?!" a familiar voice screams. Alex looks up to see Yui arguing with the spiky-haired boy from earlier.
"Exactly what it sounds like. You're too small and weak." He says in a snide voice, "You don't deserve to be a cardfighter, especially with that trash clan."
Yui puffs her cheeks in frustration, "Bermuda Triangle is not a trash clan!" she screams at him.
"Hey! What's going on here?" Alex asks running up to them.
"This smart aleck over here says I'm not a good fighter because I'm short and use terrible cards." Yui tells her.
Alex glares at the boy, "Listen pal, Subaru was your name, I don't care if you're the best fighter in this shop, but that doesn't mean you can just belittle other fighters."
"When you're the king of the Vanguard world, you can do anything!" he boasts and Alex flinches in surprise.
"K-King of the Vanguard world? Are you serious?!" she asks.
Before he could answer, Yuto comes up behind him and whacks him with the fan again, "No, it's not." He says, "He's just saying that to get you to fear him when there's not really any reason."
"Oh yeah, well if you won't believe me, why don't you fight me and see for yourself!" Subaru tells her.
"Regardless if you're the king or not, I never turn down a challenge, you're on!" Alex says as she begins to pull out her deck, but Yui stops her. "Yui?"
"I'll fight him Alex." She says, "I won't forgive this guy for making fun of me like that."
Alex looks at Yui for a moment and lets up, "Alright, give him your worst Yui!" she says and Yui nods cheerfully.
"Tech, why do I get the weakling?" Subaru asks in an annoyed tone.
"Keep talking like that and I'll beat you even harder!" Yui tells him.
The two of them gather at a fight table with Yuto standing behind Subaru (to keep an eye on him) and Alex stands behind Yui as the two of them prepare their Vanguards. "Stand up… VANGUARD!"
"Pure Gifter, Aliche (G0/6000)!" Yui declares.
"Mecha Analyzer (G0/5000)!" Subaru declares.
"Spike Brothers?" Alex questions, "I don't know much about this clan."
"Its main focus is building up units with huge amounts of power that are almost impossible to guard against." Yuto explains, "But as you'll see, that's not gonna be the case."
"I'll go first!" Yui declares, "Draw! Ride! Special Message, Ourora (G1/8000)! Using her skill, I draw a card and discard a card. Then I use Aliche's skill! When she's rode upon, I draw a card."
"My turn! Draw!" Subaru exclaims loudly and squints at his hand "The time has come! I'll use the future to help me!" he exclaims putting a foot on the table and shouting loudly, "G ASSIST!"
"G assist?!" Alex and Yui exclaim.
"It's when you don't have any cards to ride during the ride phase." Yuto explains, "If your Vanguard isn't grade 3 or higher, you can reveal your hand to your opponent to verify you don't have any cards to ride."
"Look at my hand!" Subaru reveals his hand to Yui and her face drops.
"E-Every single card's a grade 3!" she exclaims in shock.
"Wow, now that's some bad luck." Alex states.
"After revealing my hand, I look at the top 5 cards of my deck and add a card among them that's one grade higher than my Vanguard to my hand." Subaru explains, "After that, I shuffle my deck, and two cards from my hand and G-Zone can no longer be used in the match at all. That is G Assist."
"I see." Yui says, "I didn't know that."
"Ride!" he interrupts her by loudly (and overdramatically) declaring his ride, "Wonder Boy (G1/8000)! Using Mecha Analyzer's Forerunner, he moves back. Boosted by Analyzer, Wonderboy attacks (8000-13000)! The holograms hit Yui's vanguard with a major tackle, "Drive Check (Critical)." He smirks, "I got a Critical Trigger. (13000-23000)."
Yui groans and checks, "Damage Check (none/none)." (Yui: [][]).
"The fact you took damage from such a weak unit shows that you're not cut out to be a fighter."
"Shut up!" Yui shouts at him and begins her turn, "Ride! Choco Love Heart, Liselotte (G2/10000)! I activate her skill! I can look at the top card of my deck and either call it or put it into my soul. I choose to call it! Top Star, Cier (G1/8000) Using her skill (Soul 2-1), I look at the top seven cards of my deck and add one card among them with Melody and add it to my hand."
"Melody?" Subaru questions in annoyance.
"Melody huh? This could get interesting." Yuto thinks to himself.
"I call Concealed Bitter, Enes (G2/9000) and Self-Management, Ralentesse (G1/8000)! Using Enes's skill ([X][])(Soul 1-0) she gains 5000 power and if I called another rear-guard, I also draw a card (9000-14000). Boosted by Ralentesse, Liselotte attacks the Vanguard (10000-18000)!"
"No guard." Subaru declares.
"Drive Check (Draw). Draw Trigger! Add 10000 power to Enes and draw a card (14000-24000)." (Subaru: []) "Boosted by Cier, Enes attacks the Vanguard (24000-32000)!"
"No guard." He declares again
"Seriously?" Yui questions as her uni leaps out of the holographic water a slaps Subaru's Vanguard with her tail. (Subaru: [][]).
"My turn! Draw!" Subaru looks looks at the card he drew and snarls, "Tech, what a pathetic card. Ride! Treasured Black Panther (G2/10000)! Boosted by Analyzer, Panther attacks your Vanguard (10000-15000)!"
"No guard." Yui declares. (Yui: [X][][]).
Alex sits on the couch watching the fight and wonders, "Why is he not doing anything else?" Then a realization hits her and she begins to worry, "Is he saving his resources for when he gets a massive boss unit?! Yui watch out! He's up to something!"
"I know!" Yui says, "But I'm ready for anything! Stand and draw!" Yui looks at the card she drew and smiles cheerfully. "Now you're gonna get it! I'll make you regret making fun of me! Ride!" Liselotte vanishes and, in her place, a mermaid with short red hair and deep violet eyes jumps out of the water and splashes back down, "Harmony of the sea… Eris (G3/11000)! I call Liselotte to rear-guard (G2/10000) using her skill, I check the top card again, this time, I put it into my soul (Soul 1-2). Next, I call over Enes, Colorful Pastorale, Sonata (G3/13000)!"
"There it is! Yui's Colorful Pastorale cards!" Alex exclaims.
"The heck do they do?" Subaru asks.
"Let me explain," Yui says in a cocky way, "They utilize a mechanic known as Melody! Any unit with Melody gains the effects of any unit with a Melody ability! Sonata has a Melody ability, so Eris also has that ability! And that ability is, gaining 5000 power during my turn (Eris: 11000-16000) (Sonata: 13000-18000)! I call Devoted Time, Inasta (G2/10000) and Coloful Pastorale Canon (G3/13000)! Canon's skill! I Soul Charge 1 when she's placed (Soul 2-3), and any unit with Melody also has that ability since it's a Melody ability! And since it's a Melody ability, Canon gains 5000 power due to Sonata's Melody (13000-18000)!"
Board State
(G3/18000) (G3/16000) (G3/18000)
(G2/10000) (G1/8000) (G1/8000)
"Due to Inasta's skill, if there's a Grade 3 in the same column as her, she can boost and also intercept from the back row! Boosted by Inasta, Canon attacks (18000-28000)!"
"No guard."
"Eh?"
"Damage Check (Draw). Draw Trigger! 10000 power to my Vanguard draw a card (10000-20000)!" (Subaru: [][][]).
Yui growls and continues, "Boosted by Ralentesse, Eris attacks the Vanguard (16000-24000)!"
"Complete guard!" Subaru declares.
"Finally, he guards." Yuto says having sit down next to Alex on the couch.
"Twin Drive (none/Critical). Critical Trigger! All effects to Sonata (18000-28000/Crit 1-2)! Boosted by Cier, Sonata attacks the Vanguard (28000-36000/Crit 2)!"
"No guard."
"Seriously?!" Yui exclaims.
"Damage Check (none/none)." (Subaru: [][][][][]).
"Five damage and he's barely done anything." Alex states, "I can't tell what he's doing."
"Don't bother trying to understand what he's doing. It won't make sense either way." Yuto tells her.
"I end my turn." Yui declares.
"Ha ha ha ha ha!" Subaru laughs menacingly, "It's time!" he says making Yui and Alex panic slightly, "Now I'll show you my ultimate power! Ride! General Seifried (G3/13000)!" a massively buff robot-like football player appears on the board. "Imaginary Gift… FORCE II!"
"Imaginary Gift?!" Alex exclaims.
"Another new mechanic that's been coming around lately." Yuto explains, "When you ride a unit with a gift marker, you can gain an Imaginary Gift of that type, and one of two types of that gift. He chose the Force Gift, and the second one, so that means he can put it on any on of his circles, and any unit in that circle has its original Critical set to 2."
"No way!"
"Where as the first Force gift would give 10000 power to a unit in said circle."
"I apply this gift to my Vanguard (13000/Crit 1-2)! I call two Juggernaut Maximums (G3/13000) Due to their skills, add 10000 power to both of them (13000-23000)! I know activate Seifried's skill ([X][][][][])! I put Juggernaut Maximum into my soul and call another Maximum from my deck (G3/13000)(Soul 2-3) and this one gains 10000 power, and then another 10000 power due to its own skill!"
"So that's 20000 in total!" Alex exclaims (13000-33000).
"And I can use this skill again ([X][X][][][])! I use it on the other Maximum and call a fourth Maximum (G3/13000-33000)(Soul 3-4)!"
"No way!" Yui exclaims.
"Hahahahahahaha! Witness the awesome and unruled power of GRADE 3 UNITS!" Subaru declares and calls three more random grade 3s to his back row.
Board State
(G3/33000) (G3/13000/Crit 2) (G3/33000)
(G3/13000) (G3/11000) (G3/11000)
"I will crush you! Attack the Vanguard with Seifried!"
"Complete Guard!" Yui declares.
"Twin Drive (Critical/Critical)!"
"No way!" Yuto exclaims.
"Double Critical?!" Yui panics.
"I give one trigger to each of my Juggernauts (33000-43000/Crit 1-2)! Juggernaut Maximum attacks!"
"N-No guard." Yui declares as Maximum rams into her Vanguard and appearing to distort the hologram (Yui: [X][][][][]).
"I don't believe it, Subaru's actually winning." Yuto says.
"Yui, be careful!" Alex tells her.
"Time to end this, the other Juggernaut attacks the Vanguard!" Subaru declares. Maximum lets out a roar and charges at Yui's Vanguard, but other units jump out of the simulated water and get in the way.
"Guard (Shield: 15000+5000+15000=32000)!"
"No way!" Subaru exclaims, "How?! How did you stop my onslaught of Grade 3s?!"
"It wasn't that hard honestly. All I did was *actually* guard." Yui tells him.
Subaru snarls and points at her, "This isn't over! On my next turn, I'll kill you for dishonoring me!"
"I wasn't dishonoring anybody." Yui says.
Alex looks a little annoyed, "I'm starting to see why you dislike this guy." She says to Yuto.
"Yep, he thinks he's like a king and that everything should go his way." He tells her.
"But now he's finished." Alex says looking at Yui and seeing a serious, yet smiling face. "Yui's got her serious face on."
"Stand and draw!" Yui declares, "I call Colorful Pastorale, Caro (G3/13000) and I Soul Charge 1 due to Canon's Melody (Soul 3-4). Let your voice be heard across the vast ocean! Release your hidden talent and sing with the sound of the sea creatures dancing in harmony! I Counter Blast 1 and return a unit with Melody from my drop zone to my deck ([X][X][][][]). Eris's Soul Drive… ACTIVATE! She gains 3000 power, 1 grade, 1 drive, and becomes Driven (G3-4/11000-14000/drive 2-3)! Due to her Soul Drive ability, any of my units with Melody are also considered to be Driven!"
"WHAT?!" Subaru panics.
"Due to Sonata's Melody, all of my Melody units gain 5000 power (14000-19000) (13000-18000) (13000-18000) (13000-18000)! Now due to Caro's Melody, all of my Melody units can boost and gain 5000 power when they boost! I call Live in Utopia, Luka (G2/10000)! And she has Melody, meaning she gains all the skills of my Melody units! Soul Charge 1 (Soul 4-5), add 5000 power (10000-15000) and gain boost!"
Board State
(G3/18000) (G4/19000) (G3/18000)
(G2/10000) (G2/15000) (G3/18000)
"Let's do this! Boosted by Luka, Eris attacks the Vanguard! And due to her Melody skill, add 5000 power when she boosts (15000-20000) (19000-39000)!"
"Complete guard!" Subaru declares.
"Where'd he get that from?" Alex asks.
"Who knows, he may have had it the whole time, I haven't been paying attention to him that much." Yuto tells her.
"Triple Drive (none/Heal/none). Heal Trigger! Add 10000 power to Sonata and heal 1 damage (18000-28000)([X][][][])! Boosted by Caro, Sonata attacks the Vanguard (Caro: 18000-23000)(Sonata: 28000-51000)! I activate Sonata's Melody that she got from Eris (Soul 5-3)!"
"What?!" Subaru panics.
"Since Eris made all my Melody units Driven, Sonata can now Drive Check once while on the rear circle!"
"IMPOSSIBLE!" Subaru's face sinks into complete horror.
"Drive Check (Critical)! Critical Trigger!" Alex and Yuto's faces beam with joy, "All effects to Sonata (51000-61000/Crit 1-2)!" Sonata splashes her tail in the water multiple times creating a massive tidal wave that washes away Subaru's Vanguard. (Subaru: [X][X][][][][]).
"Alright! I won!" Yui cheers as she jumps in the air.
"Great job Yui!" Alex says putting a hand on her shoulder, "That was an amazing fight!"
"Thanks Alex!" Yui says with a cheerful smile. She then looks back at Subaru who has collapsed on the floor. "How do you like that? Think I'm a weak fighter now?!" She asks him, but he remains silent. "Um, hello?"
He continues to remain silent for a moment, then instant springs off the floor and grabs Yui's hands holding them up. "Amazing! You truly are a great cardfighter! You must travel the path of the Grade 3s with me! Your Grade 3s support one another and give each other ultimate power! Please! Travel down the path of Grade 3s with me!"
Yui stares at him dumbfounded, "Uhhhh…"
"Hold on, I need to see something." Alex says and grabs Subaru's deck of the table and looks through it. She is shocked at what she sees. "A-Almost every single card in here is a Grade 3! I'm only seeing one grade 1, one grade 2, one grade 0, and only a few random Triggers!"
"Why bother with anything else? Grade 3s are all that matter! They hold the ultimate power!" Subaru tells her letting go of Yui.
"There's more to Vanguard than just Grade 3s." Alex tells him. But when she says these words, Subaru bursts out into a fit of rage.
"NO THERE ISN'T! GRADE 3S ARE ALL THAT MATTERS AND NOTHING ELSE! THAT'S WHAT MY FATHER, A LEGENDARY CARDFIGHTER SAID! SO HE'S RIGHT!" he screams as he snatches his deck from Alex and runs out the door.
Both Alex and Yui just stare at the door dumbfounded, "Uhh… what just happened?" Alex asks.
"This is why I can't stand this guy." Yuto tells her. "He believes Grade 3s are all that matter and won't listen to anything else."
"I see…" Yui mutters.
"From now on, anytime you see him, just ignore everything he says." Yuto tells them.
"I think that's probably the best idea…" Alex says.
Ending Theme – Itsuka Sekai ga Kawaru made (Kishuku Gakkou no Juliet ED)
[Next Time]
Alex: I'm gonna keep doing quests so I can increase my ranking in the Vanguard system. Wait, who is this girl with long brown hair? I feel like I remember her from my school. Wait… Koharu-senpai! Is that you?! Next time on Vanguard X: "Dreams Never Die!" Don't miss it!
Alex and Rina's Card Corner!
Alex: *waves* Hello everyone! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Rina: It's sad I didn't get to appear in it.
Alex: Don't worry Rina, I'm sure you'll appear in the next one. Anyway, let's get on with this chapter's featured card!
Rina: Right. The featured card this time is, Harmony of the Sea Eris.
Grade 3 / Twin Drive! / 11000 Power / Bermuda Triangle / Mermaid
Alex: She has the Soul Drive ability of Counter Blasting 1 and shuffling a unit with Melody from your drop zone into your deck to gain 3000 power, 1 grade, and 1 drive.
Rina: She also has the ability to treat all of your units with Melody as Driven units as well.
Alex: On top of that, she has her own Melody skill of Soul Blasting 2 to allow her and all Melody units to Drive Check once while on the rear-circle!
Rina: This skill only allows the unit to Drive Check 1 card, regardless of how high their drive is.
Alex: So what do you think? You like this card?
Rina: With this, you can also…
Alex & Rina: Stand up Vanguard!