Somewhere, in a large stadium filled to the brim with a cheering audience, Alex stands at the center of the arena at a fight table and a champion fighter in front of her, "Korona attacks the Vanguard! Critical Trigger!" she shouts with lots of passion as a Driven Korona slashes through a large dinosaur unit causing it to shatter into a million pieces as her opponent is dealt the sixth damage.
"IT'S OVER! ALEX SHINDOU HAS WON THE TOURNAMENT! SHE IS NOW A CARD FIGHTING LEGEND!" the announcer shouts and the stadium erupts into loud cheers and applause.
In the audience, Yui and Rina watch Alex's fight. "WAY TO GO ALEX! I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT!" Yui cheers.
"Well done Alex, my rival." Rina nods her head and congratulates Alex for her win with a smile on her face.
An older man comes up to Alex and presents a golden trophy to her, "I DID IT GUYS! I FINALLY DID IT!" Alex cheers. She then looks up to the roof of the stadium to see another older man with spiky red hair looking down at her with a smile on his face, "I did it dad. I'm finally like you." She says in her mind to the man as a tear rolls down her cheek. Just then, the entire audience starts cheering her name over and over. Alex looks over to her friends and they give her a thumbs up and Alex smiles and giggles with sheer joy as her entire vision fades to white.
Alex lies sound asleep in her bed, snoring loudly and saying things she said in her dream in between snores. She then abruptly wakes up and stares at the bland white ceiling above her. "A dream?" she mutters in a tired voice. She sits up in the bed, her light-blue blanket completely tossed to the side toward the wall and wearing her normal night wear of a pink stomach-less tank-top, with one strap drooping off her shoulder, and black shorts. She looks out her window behind the TV next to her bed at the clear blue sky and smiles. She climbs off the bed and stretches her arms up high. As exits her room, still barely dressed in her nightwear, she hears a cat's meow down by her bare feet. She looks down to see a small kitten-size, tabby cat with white patches of fur on its neck and paws, wearing a red collar with a gold bell on it. "Jet!" Alex exclaims as she picks up the small kitten and it mews making her smile.
"Alex! Breakfast is ready!" she hears her mom call her from down stairs. Alex sets the kitten back down on the floor and runs down the stairs to the dining room, where she sees her mother cooking.
Alex sniffs the air and the smell of fried eggs, savory bacon, and perfectly toasted bread tickles her nostrils. "Ahhh… it smells so good!" she exclaims and sits down at the table as Tokoha puts a plate of the previous things in front of her, over hard eggs, peppered for flavor, nice and crunchy bacon, and a slice of toast nicely lathered with jam, "Thanks mom." Alex says and then gives thanks for the food. As she starts eating, her mother gives her a warm and kind smile. After she finishes eating, Alex runs up to the bathroom to take a shower. She stands in the shower letting the water fall onto her naked body as she gently rubs the shampoo in her hair and then rinses it out. After she gets out of the shower, Alex returns to her room in a towel. She throws off the towel and walks over to her dresser. She puts in a pair of light-blue panties with a matching bra, black ankle-high socks, blue jean shorts, a light blue shirt with green patterning, and a gray vest. She then grabs her deck on the nightstand and stares at the Korona card on bottom with a smile. She puts the deck in her deck case, puts it in her pocket, and runs back down stairs to the front door to put on her shoes for the day ahead. "I'm off!" she says to her mom.
"Have a good day Alex." She replies as Alex walks out the door, closing it behind her.
Opening Theme – ZERO! (Devil is a Part-Timer opening)
Drive 6 – Almighty Thunder Dragon
Alex walks down the street on her way to Card Capital 2, like she always does on her day off from school. She decides to take it slow and check out the various attractions around town today. There are several food stands set up, giving away samples of new recipes from famous restaurants and a young idol is performing live on the TV screens in a window shop and on the tops of tall buildings. Alex decides to stop by one of the food stands and pick up a sample of Takoyaki. As she eats it, she smiles at its delicious flavor and thanks the chef. She looks up to one of the display screens to look at the idol performing. She looks fairly young with short orange hair tied in a side-tail with a pink bow and wearing a sparkly blue and pink outfit with a shirt and jacket that reveals her stomach, a matching skirt, and light blue boots. She sounds like she's singing a remake of one of Rummy Labyrinth's old songs, Don't Look Back.
After a long trot around town, Alex finally arrives at Card Capital 2. She opens the door and shouts "Good morning everyone!" in her usual cheery voice, but she quickly realizes that the shop is completely empty. "Hello? Taiyou? Yuto?" she calls out but no one answers. As she looks around the shop for any sign of life, she hears a noise come from the back room that sounds like boxes collapsing. She hops the counter and opens the door to the back room. It's dark and boxes are scattered everywhere. She looks down and even in the dark room, she can make out a body underneath a bunch of fallen boxes, and she recognizes the face "Yuto!" she screams and pushes the boxes off of him. "Hey! Are you okay?!" She asks in a panic, fearing for her friend's life. Yuto weakly opens his eyes and looks at her.
"A-Alex?" he mutters as he sits up off the floor, "Ugh… when did you get here?" he asks.
"Not too long ago," she tells him, "Never mind that, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, just have a little bit of a headache." He tells her. The two of them clean up the storage room and head back out to the vending machine for a drink.
"So what happened?" Alex asks opening her can of melon soda.
"I was checking inventory, and I needed to get to a box on top of the stack." Yuto explains, "When I went to grab the box, I slipped and then everything came down on me. Next thing I knew, you were there."
"I see… Do you normally do that?" Alex asks taking another sip of her soda.
"If you mean, bring boxes down on myself, then no." Yuto says sarcastically, "But I do normally come in early to do inventory, checking what we have in stock, as well as clean up the shop a little.
Alex looks around the shop again, seeing no one in it other than themselves, "It's pretty quiet in here, I expected it to be at least a little busier on a Sunday." She says.
"It is odd seeing no one in here." Yuto tells her with a heavy sigh.
"You okay?" she asks.
"I'm fine…" Yuto replies, "It's just… me and Taiyou are the only ones who work here, and this location's business is riding on us."
"You mean there's more Card Capitals?" Alex asks in mild surprise.
"Yep. There's the original Card Capital, then they recently opened a Card Capital 3 a few years ago."
"A Card Capital 3?!" Alex exclaims.
Yuto nods. "Taiyou told me it was started by the Tokura family," he explains, "specifically their daughter, Misaki and her uncle Shin. I heard they're running the third location, while Taiyou and I are running the second."
"Then who's running the first?" Alex asks.
"I don't know their name, but I know they're a friend of Tokura." He tells her.
"I see…" Alex says and nods, having learned the history of her favorite shop. The two then just sit there in awkward silence, not knowing what to do next. "Well I guess I'll just do some quests now."
"Oh yeah, about that…" Yuto stops her, "the uh… servers are down for maintenance."
"Seriously?! So I can't even look at the quests?!" Alex exclaims.
"Yep…" he tells her with a wary smile.
"So then what am I supposed to do? I don't want to just sit around and do nothing!" Alex exclaims. Just then, an idea hits her. "I got it!" she says as she snaps her fingers, "Let's have a fight!"
Yuto perks up, "A fight? You and me?" he asks, slightly surprised.
"Yeah." Alex nods as she pulls her deck out of her pocket, "You said you're a genius deck builder, so I want to see your skills in action!"
Yuto smiles and stands up off the couch, "I'm not as good as my dad, but I'd be happy to take you on." He says and pulls out his deck and the two hold their decks to each other. They gather at a fight table, and set their starting Vanguards. As Alex is shuffling her deck she looks at the way Yuto shuffles, and it looks way more professional compared to her. When he draws his starting hand, he carefully examines each card, and eventually determines to put two back and redraw two. He smiles at the two cards he drew. "You ready?" he asks her.
"You bet!" Alex replies, the two ready themselves and declare in unison… "Stand up… VANGUARD!"
"Steam Maiden, Ayncia (G0/5000)!" Alex declares.
"Red Shock Dracokid (G0/5000)!" Yuto declares. "Let's play Rock, Paper, Scissors to decide who goes first." He suggests and Alex agrees. "Rock, Paper, Scissors, SHOOT!" Alex throws Rock and Yuto throws Scissors.
"Looks like I win!" Alex cheers.
"Ugh… why am I always so bad at this game?" Yuto says as he facepalms himself.
"My turn, DRAW! Ride! Steam Maiden Nanniya (G1/7000)! Using Ayncia's skill to add a Gearoid to my hand and end my turn."
"My turn." Yuto states as he draws a card, and without hesitation, he takes a card from his hand and rides it with confidence, "Ride! Lightning Brawler (G1/7000)! Using Dracokid's skill. When he's ridden on by a Thunder Dragon unit, I can place him face up in your bind zone."
"In my bind zone?!" Alex exclaims. Yuto puts the card down there and continues his turn.
"I call Dragon Dancer, Leiya (G1/6000), now boost and attack the Vanguard (7000-13000)!" he declares with a grin. (Alex: []). Alex flinches back from the attack, but quickly recovers.
"Ride! Lost Break Dragon (G2/10000)! Using his skill, I bind a card and draw a card (BZ: G0-2). I call Steam Fighter Memenne (G1/6000) and Steam Hunter Kishla (G2/9000). Due to Kishla's skill, she gains 1000 power for each grade face-up in my bind zone (9000-11000). Boosted my Memenne, Lost Break attacks (10000-16000)!"
"Guard (10000)."
"He's guarding this early? I wonder what he's planning." Alex questions, "Drive Check (none). Ugh… Kishla attacks the Vanguard!" (Yuto: []).
"Stand and draw." Yuto declares, "Ride! Red Voltage Dragon (G2/9000)! I call two Exceed Storm Dragons (G2/9000)! Using their Thunderstrike 2!"
"Thunderstrike?" Alex questions.
"The specialty of the Narukami clan." Yuto explains, "They're skills that activate if you have a certain number of cards face up in your bind zone. For example, Thunderstrike 2 means they're active if you have 2 face up cards."
"What?! Crap! My deck binds a lot of cards… so I'm helping him in the long run!" Alex exclaims in fear.
"Due to their skills, you bind a card from the top of your deck for each one." Alex does so (BZ: G2-3-6). "I also call Dragon Knight Ryukai (G1/8000)! Boosted by Ryukai, my left Exceed Dragon attacks (9000-17000)! Ryukai's Thunderstrike 2! Add 5000 power to the boosted unit (17000-22000)!" (Alex: [][]). "Boosted by Leiya, Voltage attacks (9000-15000)! Using Voltage's skill (Soul: 1-0), Bind Kishla face up." He declares, and Alex does so (BZ: G6-8).
"No guard."
"Drive Check (Draw). Draw Trigger. Add 10000 power to my other Exceed Dragon and draw a card (9000-19000)." (Alex: [][][]). "My last Exceed Dragon attacks!"
"Guard (10000)." As Yuto ends his turn, Alex looks up at him panting, "Man… he's pretty good. It's almost like I can feel the attacks as he hits me." She looks down at her hand at Korona, "But I'm not giving up that easily! Let's go, you and me! To a new world of our true potential! Ride! High Steam Maiden, Korona (G3/12000)! Using Memenne's skill! I draw a card and discard a card. Since I discarded a grade 3, add 5000 power to herself and Korona (6000-11000) (12000-17000). I call Steam Mechanic Nabu (G2/10000) and Steam Scara Kalain (G1/8000)."
Board State
(G3/17000) – (G2/10000)
(G1/11000) – (G1/8000)
"Let's go! Nabu attacks your Vanguard!"
Yuto ponders the situation for a moment, "Korona has a skill that allows it to pseudo-Time Leap a unit when it finishes an attack… with that, Alex will have three attacks this turn. She didn't boost with Kalain, so she's probably saving it for the new unit. In that case… No guard." (Yuto: [][]).
"Korona's skill ([X][][])! I bind Nabu face up (BZ: G8-11) and call High Steam Maiden Elul X (G3/12000)! Using her skill (Soul 3-2)! I call Fearless Steam Knight Ludger (G2/9000)! Due to Ludger's skill, if I have a total of 10 grades face up in my bind zone, he gains 10000 power (9000-19000)!"
"Hmm… that complicates this a little." Yuto thinks.
"Boosted by Memenne, Korona attacks (17000-28000)!"
"Complete Guard!"
"Twin Drive (none/Critical). Critical Trigger! All effects to Elul (12000-22000/Crit 1-2). Ludger attacks your Vanguard!"
"Guard (15000)!"
"Boosted by Kalain, Elul attacks (22000-30000)! Using Kalain's skill (Soul: 2-1). Now you can't intercept or call more than three guardians!"
"No guard." Yuto declares and takes the big hit. (Yuto: [][][][]).
"I end my turn. At the end of the turn, I bind Ludger due to Elul's skill and Kalain due to her skill (BZ: G11-13-14), then I bind Elul and call Nabu back (BZ: G14-17-15). Alright! I've taken the lead!"
"That was awesome Alex, I didn't expect you to call Ludger using Elul." Yuto compliments her.
"Aw come on, that was nothing." Alex scratches the back of her head bashfully.
"Looks like I'm gonna have to get serious!" He tells her with determined eyes. "Stand and draw! The Lightning crashes! Bring forth my true desires! Ride my Vanguard! Dragonic DESIRE! (G3/12000)" As Yuto declares this, a blue humanoid dragon with silver, feathery wings appears with his body clad in violet colored lightning. Alex stares in awe at the majestic dragon. "I activate his skill ([X][][][])! Bind Memenne face up!" Alex clicks her teeth and does so (BZ: G15-16). "I call Red Voltage Dragon over one of my Exceed Dragons (G2/9000). Due to Red Voltage's skill, he gains 5000 power if my Vanguard is Dragon Desire (9000-14000)! I call Dragon Dancer Leiya (G1/6000)."
(G2/14000) – (G3/12000) – (G2/9000)
(XXXXX) – (G1/6000) – (G1/6000)
"Let's battle! Boosted by Leiya, Dragonic Desire attacks your Vanguard (12000-18000)! I activate Desire's Thunderstrike X! With this, all units in my front row gain 2000 power for each face up card in your bind zone!"
"What?!" Alex exclaims in a panic.
"There are nine cards in your bind zone! So add 18000 power!"
(G2/14000-32000) – (G3/18000-36000) – (G2/9000-27000)
"Also, due to Red Shock Dracokid's skill in your bind zone, you can't call grade 1 or greater units!"
"No guard…" Alex says.
"Twin Drive (none/Critical). Critical Trigger!"
"Wait, that one looks different from the others…" Alex says.
"That's because this one only gives 5000 power, but it has another skill that activates depending on the type of check it was revealed in. Since I revealed it in a Drive Check, I bind Nabu (BZ: 16-18). Now I add 5000 power to Exceed Dragon and give the Critical to Desire (G2/27000-32000) (G3/36000/Crit 1-2)!"
"Damage Check (Heal). Heal Trigger! As Alex was about to use the effect, she realizes something (Alex: [X][][]) (Yuto: [X][][][]). "That's right… I can't heal since you have more damage right now."
"That's how it is unfortunately." He tells her and Alex hesitantly puts the card in her damage zone (Alex: [X][][][]).
"I can still give 10000 power to Korona (12000-22000). Second check (none)." (Alex: [X][][][][]).
"Boosted by Leiya, Exceed attacks (32000-38000)!"
"Guard (15000+5000=20000)!"
"Red Voltage attacks!"
"Guard (10000+5000=15000)!" Alex guards with almost everything in her hand, leaving only 1 card left.
"I end my turn." Yuto states.
"Stand and draw." Alex looks at the card she drew, and it's a trigger, she will not be able to Stride this turn. "I'm gonna put everything on the line this turn! I activate Korona's Soul Drive (G3-4/12000-15000)! I call Steam Maiden Susuda (G2/10000) and a second from my bind zone at the cost of binding the top card of my deck (G2/10000) (BZ: G18-16). Due to their skills, they gain 3000 power and 5000 shield if I have 3 or more cards face up in my bind zone (G2/10000-13000/Shield 5000-10000 each). I call Steam Bomber Digul (G0/5000)!"
Board State
(G2/13000) – (G4/15000) – (G2/13000)
(XXXXX) – (G0/5000) – (XXXXX)
"Boosted by Digul, Korona attacks (15000-20000)!"
"Guard (Shield 10000+10000=20000)."
"Triple Drive (none/none/Critical). Critical Trigger. I give all effects to my right Susuda (13000-23000/Crit 1-2). My right Susuda attacks!"
"Using Leiya's skill! If Dragon Desire is my Vanguard, I can have her intercept from the back row (Shield: 15000)." He says, and Alex groans.
"My other Susuda attacks!"
"No guard." (Yuto: [X][][][][]).
"I activate Korona's skill ([X][X][][][])! I bind Susuda and call Steam Scara Nanum (G3/12000) (BZ: 16-18). Also, since Korona is Driven, Nanum gains 2000 power for each grade face up in my bind zone!"
"What?!" You exclaims.
"There are a total of 18 grades in my bind zone, so add 36000 power (12000-48000)! Nanum now attacks your Vanguard! I activate her skill (Soul 1-0)! She gains 2000 power for each card face up in my bind zone!"
"What?!" Yuto exclaims in shock.
"There are 11 cards, so add another 22000 power (48000-70000)!"
"Seventy-thousand?!" Yuto exclaims in great surprise.
"Let's goooooooooooooooo!" Nanum raises her wand and fires a beam of magical energy toward Dragonic Desire, causing it to disintegrate." (Yuto: [X][][][][][]).
"I… won…?" Alex mutters in surprise.
"Whoa… that was amazing Alex," Yuto congratulates her, "I really thought I had you for a moment."
"I thought I was done for too…" Alex says, "I guess going for Nanum with Korona's skill was the right way to go." She says scratching her head. "But regardless, that was an awesome fight! Those deck building skills really came in handy. Maybe you could teach me some of them?"
"Sure thing." Yuto tells her with a smile. As the two walk around the table to meet each other, Yuto accidentally trips on some loose carpet that he didn't see. "Wha?!" he exclaims as he loses his balance.
"Ah!" Alex exclaims seeing him fall. She holds out her arms to try and catch him, but he ends up knocking her over.
"Ow, that… actually didn't hurt as much as I thought it would." He says, and then feels something soft in the palms of his hands. He picks up his head and realizes when he fell over, he faceplanted in between Alex's ample C sized breasts, and holding them with his hands. Yuto's face goes as red as the jacket he is wearing. Alex simply looks at the hands groping her boobs with a shocked, but not distressed, face. "Ah… s-sorry?"
"D-Don't worry, I'm not gonna freak out and punch you like most girls would…" Alex tells him, "Th-though… it would be nice if you got off of me.
"Y-yeah…" he says.
Just as he was about to get off, the two of them hear a familiar voice coming in their direction, "Alex! Are you here?" it's Yui. She turns the corner to see them on the floor.
"H-Hi Yui…" Alex mutters in embarrassment.
"Wh-wh-wh-wh-wh…" she stutters, "WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING?!" she exclaims in distress, and ends up trying to punch Yuto on the back of the head out of reflex, but he quickly gets off of Alex and Yui's fist ends up going straight to Alex's face. "Ah! Alex! I'm so sorry!"
"It's ok… I've had worse…" She tells her, picking herself up off the floor while holding her nose. Yuto then explains what happened to Yui, and she apologizes for overacting, and the three of them carry out their day, with Yuto teaching them deck building strategies.
Ending Theme – Itsuka Sekai ga Kawaru made (Kishuku Gakkou no Juliet ED)
[Next Time]
Alex: The Dragon Empire branch is holding a quest for Cardfighters in the area to partake in a variety of Vanguard related competitions to see who is the best fighter in the area. Looks like Rina and I are gonna really go at it…! Next time on Vanguard X, "Rivalry"! Don't miss it!
Alex and Rina's Card Corner
Alex: Hello everyone! Another chapter done and dusted!
Rina: You almost looked like you enjoyed being groped by Yuto there for a moment.
Alex: Sh-Shut up! No I wasn't!
Rina: And you call me the tsundere?
Alex: Ugh… let's just get on with today's featured card.
Rina: Right. Today's featured card is Yuto's ace unit and avatar, Dragonic Desire.
Grade 3 / Twin Drive / 12000 Power / Narukami / Thunder Dragon
Alex: It's Soul Drive allows you to shuffle two cards in your opponent's bind zone into their deck to gain 3000 power, 1 grade, and 1 drive.
Rina: It also has a Thunderstrike X skill that gives all of your front row units 2000 power for every card face up in your opponent's bind zone when it attacks.
Alex: Not only that, but if it's Driven, it can also give them the ability of drawing a card if the attack hits.
Rina: Lastly, it has a once per turn ACT ability of binding an opponent's rear-guard for 1 Counter Blast.
Alex: As well as making them bind a card in their drop zone as well. That's a two for one deal!
Alex: So what do you think? You like this card?
Rina: With this, you can also…
Alex & Rina: Stand up Vanguard!