In a barren wasteland, shrouded by darkness, Rina runs as fast as her legs can carry her, unable to see where she's going because of the darkness. She runs, and runs, and runs while not looking back, afraid of what she'll see, but she glances over anyway, and sees nothing. Her relief only lasted a few seconds, as she quickly bumped into someone in front of her she didn't see and is knocked to the ground. She looks up at the figure and can make out Eiji's face in the darkness. "Where are you going young lady?" he asks in a menacing and lecherous tone as seemingly teleports behind Rina and wraps his arms around her waist causing her to squeal, "You didn't think you could walk out before we were done did you…?" he asks again as he pulls down her skirt.
"N-No… please…" Rina begs with tears in her eyes and unable to move at all, but the now faceless Eiji doesn't respond. He slides his hand up her shirt to reach her chest.
"I'll make a real woman out of you… just like I did to Koharu." he whispers into her ear; his voice having gone demonic. She can hear his maniacal laugh as he rubs her flat chest, with one hand and massaging her lower region with the other, her body now fully unclothed, only covered by the darkness around her, and she is helpless as Eiji pleasures her, unable to move to speak.
"help me…" Rina pleads, "SOMEBODY HELP MEEEEEEE!" …
Rina screams and gasps for air as she shoots up from her bed, breathing heavily as the sweat running down her body glistens in the moonlight. She puts her hand on her forehead and sighs, "Just a dream…" She collapses back onto her bed, her pink pajamas soaked in her sweat as she stares out the window by her bedside. After a few minutes, she attempted to close her eyes and fall back asleep, but the thoughts of the dream still linger, making her unable to fall asleep.
Opening Theme – ZERO! (Devil is a Part-Timer opening)
Drive 14 – Our Vanguard
The next day, Rina, who is deep in thought, sits on the roof of school watching several other students down below, some sitting and chatting, some playing sports, some even not doing anything. "Rina…? Rina!" she hears a voice calling her name and turns around to see them. It was Alex who was just sitting across from her with Yui to their side.
"W-What?" Rina mutters, having been spacing out for a while.
"We're supposed to be talking about our team right now." Alex explains to a discouraged Rina and she nods her head. "Ok. Now, I found something last night that could be our first step to becoming legends." Alex says as she reaches into her book bag and pulls out a tablet with a commercial playing. The commercial features silhouettes of several fighters, and the logo of a Stride Circle under and Imaginary Gift icon appears with the words "Fighters Royal" displayed across the top.
"Fighter's Royal?" Yui reads it allowed.
Alex nods her head and says, "Yeah, I've heard some people say it's going to be very similar to the G Quest that made my parents legends several years ago. I think this could be a good place to start our path. What do you guys think?"
"I approve!" an energetic Yui says with a thumbs up, but Rina remains silent.
"What about you Rina?" Alex asks to try and get her attention, but no response, "Rina…? Rina!"
Rina eventually snaps back to reality she glances down at her nearly empty lunch box as she answers Alex, "Y-Yeah… it's fine, but you do realize we can't enter without a name. Right?"
"I know." Alex says, "That's why last night, I spent time in coming up with a name." she stands up, like an actor about to give a performance and says, "Our team name will be, LEGENDS3!" as she poses, and both Yui and Rina make awkward faces to Alex.
"That's the best you could come up with?" Rina says in a sassy tone.
"Well, we are the daughters of legends, and the 3 part is taken from my parents' team, TRY3." She explains.
"That's fine Alex but there's one thing…" Yui mutters in an awkward tone as she scratches her cheek, "My parents aren't legends…"
"O-Oh… yeah I forgot about that." Alex says as she sits back down with her arms and legs crossed in thought, "And I spent a long time on that too…" She then glances up at Rina who is staring at her food, "What do you think we should be called Rina? Rina…? Rina!"
When she finally snaps back to reality, Rina looks at Alex, then glances away, "It doesn't matter what we're called, as long as it's not something stupid…"
"Legends3 is not stupid." Alex counters, but Yui butts in.
"Are you okay? You've been spacing out a lot today…?" Yui asks.
"I'm fine!" Rina tells them, growing annoyed, "I just…" she mutters then starts gathering her stuff, "I just want to be alone right now." She walks to the doors and heads downstairs.
"You think something's not right with Rina?" Yui asks in slight concern.
"I don't know," Alex says with a serious face, "she's always kind of reserved, but… I don't know… I've just got a really bad feeling…" she then decides to gather up her stuff and head for the doors.
"Hey! Where are you going?" Yui asks, trying to stop her.
"I going to find out what's wrong with Rina." Alex says and runs down the stairs after her twin tailed friend.
"H-Hey! Wait for me!" Yui says in a panic as she grabs her stuff and follows suit.
After the two of them leave the roof, they follow Rina down the hallway as they watch her from around a corner, "You think she's having her 'time of the month'?" Yui asks.
"Maybe…" Alex replies. They continue to follow and watch Rina from a variety of places around school, the cafeteria, the front yard, in class, and even the bathroom. Rina walks in the women's restroom and both Alex and Yui nod at each other and follow her inside.
Rina enters one of the stalls, pulls down her skirt and panties, and sits on the toilet with a heavy sigh, having finally found some privacy. She hangs her head in thought, thinking back to that day she fought Eiji in the abandoned building (see Drive 12), "He had me every way possible…" she says out loud, "He crushed me in the fight, and he had a plan to counter mine… I had no chance of winning…" she clinches her first and puts it over her eye, "and because of that… I failed Koharu…"
"Koharu?" Yui mutters listening with Alex, a few stalls over. Alex shushes her and they continue listening. "Wait… I can't hear her anymore…" Alex says. She then hears footsteps walking toward the stall they were in.
The door opens and Rina stares them down with a menacing face. "Unless you two were planning to go together, I would appreciate it if you didn't follow me."
"Rina, we just want to know what's going on with you." Alex tells her, "You haven't been acting like yourself."
"Like I said, I'm fine." Rina tells them with an annoyed expression.
"You don't sound fine." Yui implies.
"Rina, you're our teammate." Alex says as puts a hand on her shoulder, "We just want to make sure you're alright."
Rina's eyebrow twitches and she shoves Alex's hand off her shoulder. "First off, I didn't ask to be part of this team," she tells her growing frustrated, "in fact, I never wanted to become a legend in the first place!" Both Alex and Yui back off a little at her words, "I'm only here because you two dragged me into this by cheap persuasion! Not to mention I'm dealing with a lot of other crap right now so I most certainly don't need to two breathing down my neck talking about this damn team!"
"Rina I…" Alex tries to say something, but gets interrupted.
"Shut it!" Rina exclaims, "I never wanted to be a part of this team… so you can consider me gone!" She spins on her heels and walks out of the bathroom.
Yui holds her hands over her chest in concern as Alex grits her teeth and clinches her fist in frustration. "Rina…!" she says walking up to her and putting a hand on her shoulder, but Rina immediately swings back and smacks Alex in the face with her elbow, knocking her on to the bathroom floor.
"Alex!" Yui exclaims as she kneels down to help Alex off the floor.
"Stop following me! I am off the team and that is final!" Rina walks out of the bathroom, slamming the door behind her, as Alex lies on the floor, rubbing her red cheek where she got hit.
Later after school, Alex and Yui stand on the bridge over the river, looking over the guard rail at the setting sun, as cars drive past them on the road. "So, what do we do now?" Yui asks, "With Rina gone, it's just us now." She looks at Alex who is staring down into the water below, "Should we just look for someone else?" she asks, but Alex doesn't respond, "Alex…?"
"I just don't get it…" Alex mutters, "Rina looked like she loved Vanguard…"
Flashback (Turn 2)
"I… I actually won…" Rina mutters unable to believe the situation.
"…That was an amazing fight Rina!" Alex exclaims to Rina, but notices how she looks. "R-Rina…?"
Rina hesitates for a moment then jumps in the air with a loud cheer, "I DID IT!" she shouts in a much higher and cheerful voice than before, catching both Alex and Yui off guard. "I don't believe it! I actually won my first real fight!" she says still talking in that high voice, while holding her hands to her cheeks and squirming her body.
End Flashback
"I know what she's really like…" Alex adds, "I wonder what changed about her…"
"Back in the bathroom, she said something about Koharu…" Yui states.
"I know… but…" Alex hesitates for a minute, "there are a lot of things that don't make sense right now… Rina loved playing Vanguard, I could see it in her eyes. She has a passion for the game, so why wouldn't she want to become a legend…? And not to mention, she's been acting very strangely even outside of Vanguard…"
"You think something happened to her when we weren't looking?" Yui suggests.
"I don't know…" Alex says. She then grabs the guard rail and pulls herself up, "That's it! I'm going to get to the bottom of this!"
"How so…?"
"I'm going to pay Rina a little visit." She says with a determined smile on her face.
Later that night, Rina sits in the bathtub at home, relaxed by the soothing warmth of the water. She leans her head against the back wall as she continues to remember back to that day.
Meanwhile, Alex walks up to the front door of her house and looks at the nameplate on the gate that reads "Shouji". "This must be the place." She rings the doorbell and after a few seconds, Kazuma answers the door in a simple t-shirt and pajama pants.
"Alex?" he as in confusion, "What are you doing here so late?"
"I came to see how Rina's feeling." She says.
Kazuma looks behind himself, then back at Alex. "Come inside." He says, gesturing Alex in. She takes off her shoes and leaves them by the door as she steps onto the hardwood floor. Kazuma takes Alex to the living room and says. "I'll be right back." as he walks up stairs. Alex takes a moment to look around the room.
There are cupboards filled with all sorts of pictures of Rina and her family, a large flat screen TV on the wall, surrounded by shelves of family mementos. Alex spots one cupboard filled with all sorts of swimming competition stuff, like trophies, medals, and other stuff of the sorts. All the trophies were for anywhere from 4th to 1st place. "Was Rina a pro swimmer in middle school?" She looks over and sees another shelf with a trophy that says, "Elementary Tournament League Champion, Rina Shouji". The trophy also has a picture stand next to it and Alex picks it up to look at it. It depicts a younger Kazuma, about in his twenties, standing next to a pink haired woman, about the same age, as they both have their hands on a little girl, about 7 years old, with long dark blue hair in pigtails and a big, cheerful smile on her face. "Is that… Rina…?!" Alex asks, surprised by how happy Rina looks in the picture as opposed to now.
"I'm back." Kazuma says as he comes back down the stairs, following shortly by a pink haired woman, the same one as in the picture. Alex quickly puts down the picture and pretends like she wasn't snooping around.
"You must be Alex…" the pink haired woman asks her.
"Ah, y-yes. Yes I am." Alex says nervously.
"I'm Luna, Kazuma's wife and Rina's mother." The woman introduces herself with a slight bow, "I'm actually glad you've come." Alex tilts her head slightly at her words. The three of them then sit down to talk. Alex sits on the couch while Kazuma and Luna sit on separate chairs across from her. "From what Kazuma has told me, you're Rina's teammate… right?" Luna asks.
"W-Well… that's actually why I'm here," Alex explains, scratching the back of her head, "Rina said she was leaving our team because she had… 'other stuff'… going on. So I was hoping to see her and find out what's going on. She's my friend, so I want to make sure she's alright."
Both Kazuma and Luna glance at each other, then back at Alex, "Look Alex," Kazuma starts, "I'm glad you care for Rina, but there's somethings you should know…" Alex sits up straight and listens to the story, "You see, Rina… hasn't always been like this…"
Alex looks at the picture she was just looking at over Kazuma's shoulder. "What do you mean?" She asks.
"Back in elementary school, she used to love playing Vanguard." Luna explains, "in fact, she was so good that she was the top fighter in the Elementary League at her old school." She puts her hands over her heart, "Those are times I'll never forget, because it was the happiest I've ever seen Rina."
"So what happened to her?" Alex asks.
"She just sorta… fell out of the game," Kazuma explains, "but she wouldn't tell us why. I tried getting her to tell us, but she kept brushing us off." Kazuma stares at his palm with concern, "I'm worried, now that she's doing the same thing now as she was doing back then."
Alex looks at them confused and concerned, "What happened this time?"
Kazuma and Luna glance at each other, then back at Alex, "A few days ago, I got a call from the police, saying she was held captive by a group of thugs and forced to play their games…" Kazuma explains.
Alex's face sinks in shock, "What?!" she exclaims, "Is she okay?!"
"Yeah, she's fine… thankfully…" Luna says crossing her hands over her heart again, "They didn't do anything to her… at least that we're aware of…"
"Is that why she's been acting the way she has?" Alex thinks to herself.
"I'm still worried all the same…" Kazuma says and grips his knee tightly, "I wish she could just know that we're her parents! We'd be willing to listen to anything she has going on…"
"Um… Mr. Shouj… I mean, Kazuma…" Alex mutters and he looks up at her, "is it alright if I go see Rina? Maybe as a friend of similar age, she might be more willing to open up and listen to me."
Kazuma and Luna give Alex's offer some thought and tell her, "If you think you can get our little girl to finally open up about her problems, then be my guest." Alex nods as Kazuma gets up from his chair and walks over to her. He kneels down in front of her and puts a hand on her shoulder, "Alex…" he says, "Rina means the world to us… and I hate seeing her in pain and not wanting to talk about it. So please, help her… I want to see my little girl smile again like she did all those years ago…"
Alex simmers on the though, then nods back at Kazuma and says, "Alright, you can count on me." Making the father smile. After that, Kazuma tells Alex to go meet Rina in her room.
A few minutes later, Rina walks out of the bathroom in a towel and takes a big sigh. She walks down the hall a little bit and opens the door to her dark room, there she finds Alex snooping around. "Huh…?!" Rina exclaims.
Hearing the sound of the door open, Alex turns to see Rina in the doorway, "Ah there you are. Were you in the bath or something?"
Rina's face goes beet red and almost drops her towel, but holds it tightly on as she points at Alex in a fury. "Wh-WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY ROOM?!" she exclaims.
"Your parents let me in." Alex explains and Rina looks dumbfounded and disgusted. Alex sits down on Rina's bed as she continues, "They just want to know what's been going on with you, and so do I. You've been acting really strange the past few days, always spacing out, and I just want to know so I can help you, as a teammate."
"Tch… I'm not your teammate," she says with frustration, "if I wouldn't tell my parents, what makes you think I'd tell you?"
Alex smirks and says, "Well if you won't tell me directly… then I'll have to make you tell me!" she pulls out her deck and points it at Rina.
"You're challenging me to a cardfight?" Rina asks.
Alex nods and says, "If I win, you have to tell me and your parents what's been happening with you."
Rina thinks for a minute and lets out a heavy sigh. "Fine… if it will shut you up and get you out of my room." She says, "but let me get dressed first…"
Alex looks down at her body and realizes she's just in a towel, "Oh yeah of course, my bad." Alex giggles, acting innocent as usual. Rina changes into some comfortable clothes of a light blue sleeveless low-cut shirt and purple shorts and then the two of them sit on the floor as Alex pulls out a playmat.
Alex hands Rina her deck, "Here, you can shuffle my deck."
Rina thinks for a moment, then takes the deck, and in return, hands Alex her deck, "And you can shuffle mine." She says. The two of them shuffle each other's deck before giving them back. They draw their starting hands, ready their starters and declare in unison, "Stand up… VANGUARD!"
They imagine themselves in the land ruled by the Shadow Paladins.
"Steam Maiden, Ayncia (G0/5000)!" Alex declares.
"Apprentice Witch, Kona (G0/5000)." Rina declares.
"I'll go first." Alex declares.
"Whatever…" Rina replies.
Alex narrows her eyes and draws her card, "Ride! Steam Maiden Nanniya (G1/7000)!" Using Ayncia's skill! Look at the top five cards and added a Gearoid to my hand. I also called Steam Maiden Memenne (G1/6000)." Alex smiles at Rina saying, "It's your turn."
Rina doesn't reply and just draws her card. She looks through her hand and picks a card and declares, "Ride! Witch of the Lance, Vera (G1/7000). Moving Kona back with Forerunner (G0/5000). Boosted by Kona, Vera attacks the Vanguard (7000-12000)."
"No guard." Alex declares.
"Drive Check (Critical). Critical Trigger. All effects to Vera (12000-22000/Crit 1-2)." (Alex: [][]).
"My turn!" Alex declares, "Ride! Fearless Steam Knight, Ludger (G2/9000)! I activate Memenne's skill! Discard a card and draw a card. I discard Steam Maiden Elul X, so add 5000 power to Memenne and Ludger (6000-11000) (9000-14000). Next I call Steam Mechanic Nabu (G2/10000). Boosted by Memenne, Ludger attacks the Vanguard (14000-25000)!"
"Guard (10000+10000)." Rina declares (Ritual: 0-2).
"Drive Check (Draw (Sentinel))! Draw Trigger! Power to Nabu and draw (10000-20000). Nabu attacks the Vanguard! Nabu's skill! Bind Elul X from my drop zone and you can't guard with grade 1 or higher units this battle." (BZG: 0-3).
"Then no guard…" Rina says hesitantly. (Rina: []).
"I end my turn. Nabu goes to the soul and I draw." Alex says.
"Stand and draw." Rina declares. She looks at the card she drew and hesitates a little. She lets out a heavy sigh and rides her card, "Ride! Slacking Witch Relena (G2/10000)." Alex flinches a little seeing Rina bring out her ace, "I call Witch of the Tome, Madoka (G2/9000) and use her skill ([X]). Since Relena is my Vanguard, I can search my deck for a grade 2 or lower unit and call it. I call Witch of the Spear, Sulita (G2/9000). Next I call Witch of the Sword Sabie (G1/7000) and Witch of the Gun Bellet (G1/7000). Boosted by Sabie, Madoka attacks the Vanguard (9000-16000)."
Alex thinks for a moment and declare, "No guard." (Alex: [][][]).
"I activate Sabie's Ritual 1. Retire her and draw a card (Ritual: 2-3). Boosted by Kona, Relena attacks the Vanguard (10000-15000)."
"Guard (10000)!"
"Drive Check (none)." Rina scoffs and as she puts the card into her hand, "Boosted by Bellet, Sulita attacks the Vanguard (9000-16000). Sulita's skill. Retire Madoka and add 5000 power (16000-21000)."
"No guard." Alex states. (Alex: [][][][]).
"Bellet's skill. I call another Witch of the Spear, Sulita and attack the Vanguard (G2/9000)."
"Guard (10000)!"
Rina lets out a heavy sigh and says, "I end my turn."
"My turn! Draw!" Alex looks at the card she drew and smiles, "You know something I just realized?" she asks, "This fight is so far playing out almost exactly like our first fight. The cards we're playing, the moves we're making, it's all exactly the same."
"Oh really? Huh…" Rina says half-heartedly, causing Alex to get annoyed.
"Well let's see you change your tone after this!" Alex holds up her card and chants, "Soar high, the future is limitless, so let's not wait for it! We'll make it here and now! Ride! High Steam Maiden, Korona (G3/12000)! I activate Memenne's skilI! I discard Steam Scara Nanum, so add 5000 power to Korona and Memenne (12000-17000) (6000-11000). I call High Steam Hunter Feena (G2/10000), Lost Break Dragon (G2/10000), and Steam Scara Kalain (G1/8000). Using the skill of Lost Break! I bind a card in my hand and draw a card (BZG: 3-5). Also, since I have a face up card in my bind zone, he gains 3000 power (10000-13000)."
Board State
(G2/13000) (G3/17000) (G2/10000)
(G1/8000) (G1/11000) (XXXX)
Alex looks up at Rina, but she doesn't look phased. Starting to get annoyed, Alex declares her battle phase, "Feena attacks the right Sulita!"
"No guard." Sulita is destroyed. "Due to Sulita's skill, she's treated as a grade 1 in the drop zone (Ritual 3-4)."
"I activate Korona's skill ([X][][][]). I bind Feena and call High Steam Maiden Elul X from my deck (G3/12000) (BZG: 5-7)! I activate Elul's skill! I call Steam Lynx Anbu and add 10000 power (G1/7000-17000)!"
"Boosted by Memenne, Korona attacks your Vanguard (17000-28000)!"
"No guard…" Rina states.
"Twin Drive (none/Critical). Critical Trigger! All I give the power to Elul and the Critical to Korona (12000-22000) (12000/Crit 1-2)!"
"Damage Check (none/Critical). Critical Trigger. Add 10000 power to Relena (10000-20000)." (Rina: [X][][]).
"Boosted by Kalain, Lost Break attacks the Vanguard (13000-21000)! Using Kalain's skill (Soul 4-3)! You can't intercept or call more than 3 guardians this battle!"
"No guard." (Rina: [X][][][]).
"Kalain binds herself with her skill (BZG 7-8). Due to Elul's skill, she gains 1000 power for each grade face up in my bind zone, so add 8000 power (12000-20000). Anbu boosts Elul and I activate her skill! Discard a card in my hand and both her and Elul gain 1000 power for each grade in my bind zone. So add 8000 power to Anbu and Elul (17000-25000) (20000-28000-53000)!" Rina still doesn't look phased. Alex grits her teeth and declares her attack, "Elul attacks the Vanguard!"
"No guard…" (Rina: [X][][][][]).
"I activate Elul's skill she got from Anbu. Since the attack hit, send Kona to the bottom of the deck. I end my turn. Anbu is bound due to Elul's skill and Elul is bound due to Korona's skill and I recall Feena (G2/10000) (BZG: 8-9-12-10). What's with you Rina?"
"Huh?" Rina acts confused.
"You're making a pretty lame fight here. Why are you playing so half-heartedly?" Alex asks in mild frustration.
"The truth is…" Rina begins to explain, "I don't care about Vanguard anymore…"
"What?!" Alex exclaims, "but you were so into it when we first fought, and when we competed in that quiz tournament at Dragon Empire. What changed?"
"It's none of your damn business…" Rina tells her, growing frustrated, making Alex grow frustrated as well.
"Rina… I want to help you. So please, tell me what's going on." Alex tells her.
Rina hesitates for a moment and says, "It's just… I've never been good at the game, and how can you have fun in playing a game if you're so bad you're always going lose…?"
"That's not true!" Alex exclaims, surprising Rina, "I saw the pictures of you downstairs. You were a champion fighter back in Elementary School, weren't you?" Rina grits her teeth at Alex's words, "Not only that, but even after Elementary school, you clearly still had a passion for the game."
"What do you mean?"
"When we bumped into each other at school that one day, I saw the card that fell out of your bag." Alex reminds her.
Flashback (Turn 2)
as Alex walks down the hall and turns a corner, she bumps into someone, knocking them both to the ground. "Ow…" Alex groans as she rubs her tailbone, "Sorry 'bout that. You okay?" she asks the girl, with the dark blue hair in pigtails, tied up with yellow ribbons.
"I-I'm fine." She says in a cold voice as she picks herself up off the ground, "You really should watch where you're going."
"Sorry, how was I supposed to see you from around the corner?" Alex asks with a shrug. She glances down at the ground and notices a card on the ground. "A Vanguard card? Do you play Vanguard?" Before Alex could question anymore, the girl swipes the card from her.
"Give me that!" she exclaims as her cheeks turn slightly red, "and no I don't!"
End of flashback
"It's clear you still enjoyed Vanguard…" Alex says in a calming tone and Rina starts growing disheartened. "Rina… if there's something bothering you, I'm willing to listen. Just be honest with yourself."
"Why do you even care?!" Rina exclaims in frustration.
Alex notices something glistening in her eyes, "A-Are you… crying?"
"Why do you care about my problems?!" Rina exclaims as she sheds tears from her eyes, "They're not yours to begin with, so why even bother?! You should just focus on your own life! Why do you even care so much about me?!"
"Because I see you as a friend." Alex says and Rina looks at her, now streams of tears flowing from her eyes.
"H-huh…?" she mutters with a shaky voice.
"All my life, I've never really had many friends aside from Yui," Alex explains, "so when I meet someone about my age who is just as passionate about the game as I am, of course I'm going to try and become friends with them."
Rina tries to stop the tears from flowing, looks away from Alex and says, "Well when you stalk someone, they're not going to want to be friends with you." Referring to earlier.
"I know I may have been a little shady today, but that's only because I was worried about you." Alex tells her, "I see you as a friend, so of course I'm going to want to make sure you're happy. Isn't that what real friends do?"
"Alex…" Rina starts to cry more. Her tears streaming down her face, "th-thank you…" she mutters in a soft voice, but Alex couldn't hear it.
"Hmm?"
"I said thank you…" Rina repeats more clearly, and finally cracks a smile. "The real truth is… unlike you, I never had any friends as a kid, and I was too shy to make any… so I rarely got to fight people outside of my family, except for that tournament back in elementary school." Her face then turns to a frown again as she continues, "Come middle school, I no longer had any of the friends I met at the tournament. In fact, the middle school I went to didn't allow us to play Vanguard on campus, so, again, I didn't have anyone to pay against, so I just fell out of the game…"
"That's why you wanted a refresher that day…" Alex reminds her.
Rina nods and says, "Yeah… and truth be told, I started to lose interest in the game… but when you and I competed in that tournament a few weeks ago, I guess you could say… you're the one who rekindled my spirit, so… Thank you."
Alex smiles back at Rina and tells her, "You're welcome… but I know that's not what was causing your problems." Rina then remembers the incident again, "Your parents said that you were captured by a group of thugs and forced to play their games."
"I was…" Rina mutters and proceeds to tell the story, "I saw Koharu walking to an abandoned building…"
"Koharu?" Alex questions.
"Being as curious, and concerned as I was, I followed her inside where I saw her playing rigged fights against these thugs who were making her strip her clothes off as she lost."
"What?! That's horrible!"
"Yeah…" Rina hesitates about the next part, "but you know the worst part…" Alex looks concerned, "E-Eiji was the one behind it all."
"E-Eiji? You mean the heir to Kiba?!" Alex exclaims in pure shock.
Rina nods and confirms, "He and I had a cardfight to determine Koharu's fate, but I had to play by their rules, meaning I had to strip as I took damage." Alex shutters at the thought.
"D-Did you win?" Alex asks.
"No… I lost…" Rina tells her, "but while I did lose, I sneaked Koharu my phone and had her call the police to try and have Eiji arrested, but he beat up his own thugs and made it look like he rescued us… now he still has hold of Koharu." Rina shutters and looks at Alex, "Listen to me Alex! Eiji said he'd hunt me down if I said anything about him. So please, don't tell anyone that I told you he was involved in this!"
Alex hesitates, "Alright Rina, as a friend of mine, I won't tell anyone."
Rina smiles back at Alex and says, "Thank you… for both things…" and Alex gives her signature smile back.
"Now, what do you say we finish this fight?" Alex says and Rina nods.
"Alright." Rina picks her hand back up and declares, "Stand and draw." She looks at the card she drew and smiles, "Just what I wanted." She holds up her card and chants, "Wonderous Witch whose purpose has become realized! Get up and explore your new found potential! Ride! Master Witch of Devotion, Relena (G3/13000)!" the card art depicts Relena in a more refined attire, unhooded and long flowing hair. "I activate the skill of Witch of Staff, Ran in my hand (Soul 2-1) (Ritual 4-5)! I discard her, and this allows Relena to activate her Soul Drive this turn!"
"No way!" Alex exclaims in shock.
"Master Witch of Devotion, Relena's Soul Drive… ACTIVATES!" They imagine Relena's hair glowing a bright purple and her eyes a bright red as a strong aura emanates off her body, "I can retire two rear-guards to have her gain 3000 power, 1 grade, and 1 drive. However, since I have a Relena card in my soul, I only have to retire 1 rear-guard." Rina says holding up her index finger.
"What?!" Alex exclaims in shock, again.
"I retire Bellet!" (Relena: G3-4/13000-16000/drive 2-3) (Ritual 5-6). "Next, due to Relena's skill, if she's Driven, all Grade 0 units in my drop zone also count towards Ritual!"
"It can do all of that?!" Alex asks.
"Since Ran and Kona are grade 0s, they count as grade 1 cards (Ritual 6-8)!" Rina then takes a card from her G-Zone and holds it up, "Liberating the Generation Zone!" She soul blasts a card and discards a card in her hand, which is Motivated Witch Relena (Soul 1-0). She imagines herself flying through a starry vortex with a bright violet light at the end, and her body clothed only in a bright light. She raises a fist and chants, "Now show it to me, a future I've always desired! Generation… STRIDE!" On Cray, Relena is engulfed in a bright blue fire, and when it fades, a woman with long black hair in dragonic armor and dragon wings, wielding a blue fire sword appears in her place, "Dragvanquisher, Atalana (GX/27000)!"
Alex calms down and looks over Rina's new unit and gives a heartwarming smile. "Now that's the real Rina." She says.
"Due to Relena's skill, she also can apply her grade changing skill in the soul, meaning as a heart, and she also counts other Relena units. I have 2. Slacking Witch Relena, and Motivated Witch Relena, so I'm now at Ritual 10 (Ritual 8-10). I now activate Atalana's Ritual 7! You now have to retire rear-guards for each of my empty rear-guard circles, and if you retire 5, you have to call two or more guardians per battle this turn." Rina then looks over Alex's field and realizes she only has 2 rear-guards, "O-Oh…"
"You may have wiped my board, but at least I'll still be able to guard." She replies and retires Lost Break and Memenne.
Rina shakes it off and calls the last card in her hand, "I call Witch of the Katana, Mukuro (G2/9000)."
Board State
(G2/9000) (GX/27000) (G2/9000)
(XXXX) (XXXX) (XXXX)
"Let's go! Mukuro attacks your Vanguard! Mukuro's Ritual X! She gains 1000 power for each grade 1 in my drop zone, and if I have 7 or more with a Driven Vanguard, she also gains 1 critical (9000-19000/Crit 1-2)!"
Alex looks at her hand and thinks about what to do. She finally takes a card from her hand and declares, "Guard!" (10000).
"Atalana attacks the Vanguard! Atalana's Ritual X! She gains 2000 power for each grade 1 in my drop zone, if I have 7 or more, she gains 1 Critical, but if I have 10 or more, she gains 1 drive as well."
"4 drive checks?!" Alex exclaims (27000-47000/Crit 1-2/drive 3-4). She then looks over her hand and notices a specific card in it "Complete Guard!"
Rina grits her teeth at Alex's play "Quadruple Drive (none/Critical/?/?). Critical Trigger! All effects to Sulita (9000-19000/Crit 1-2). Third Check (none), Fourth Check (Heal)." Her eyes then light up with joy, "Heal Trigger! Power to Sulita and heal 1 damage (19000-29000) (Rina: [][][][]). Now Sulita attacks the Vanguard (29000/Crit 2)!"
Alex looks over her hand. She needs 20000 shield to guard this attack, and she doesn't have enough. She then looks at her damage (Alex: [][][][]). Knowing she might lose, looks at Rina with a stern face and declares, "No guard." On Cray, Sulita raises her spear and jams it through the stomach of Korona.
"D-Did I just win?" A surprised Rina mutters.
"Damage Check." Alex declares, "First (none)." (Alex: [][][][][]). She holds her hand over her deck, ready to draw the last card, "AHHHHHH!" she shouts flipping over her final card and… (Heal). Both of them are shocked by this. "Heal Trigger! I'm still in the game!" On Cray, a dying Korona is able to stand up thanks to the Steam Doctor healing her.
"Well that was unexpected. No problem, I'll just beat you on my next turn." Rina says as she returns Atalana to the G-Zone.
Alex draws her card and smiles, "Sorry Rina, but I'm gonna win this fight." She holds up a card in her hand and reveals it to Rina, "I discard Steam Gunner Riche and she can count as the entire cost for Korona's Soul Drive!"
Rina is stunned for a minute but quickly regains composer and smiles back at Alex, "So you had one too?"
"You know it!" Alex says with a wink and declares, "Korona's Soul Drive activates! She gains 3000 power, 1 grade, and 1 drive (G3-4/12000-15000/drive 2-3)!" she then takes the two cards in her hand and calls them. I call Steam Maiden Susuda (G2/10000) and Pressure Burst Gear Fox (G1/7000). Liberating… the Generation Zone!" Alex binds both Susuda and Gear Fox (BZG: 10-13), then imagines herself flying through a starry vortex with a bright blue light at the end, and her body clothed only in a bright light. She raises a fist and chants, "Let's go! To a path always destined for me to travel! Show me the future I always desired! Generation… STRIDE!" Korona is engulfed in a bright blue light and a giant clockwork dragon appears in her place, "Interdimensional Dragon… Chronograph Dragon (GX/25000)! I activate Ayncia's skill in the Soul! Since I have a Korona unit as my Vanguard, which I do thanks to G Unit rules, I can bind her and draw a card (BZG: 13-14)." Alex raws her card and smiles.
"Huh?" Rina mutters, curious what she drew.
"I activate Susuda's skill in the bind zone! By binding the top card of my deck, I can call her from my bind zone." Alex reveals the top card of her deck, and it's High Steam Maiden Korona. She smiles at this and calls Susuda (G2/10000) (BZG: 14-12-15). I call Steam Scout Bazi (G2/10000) and activate her skill! I bind her to search my deck for two Gearoid units. I call one of them and bind the other. I call Steam Scara Kalain and bind Steam Scara Nanum (BZG: 15-18)."
Board State
(G2/10000) (GX/25000) (XXXX)
(XXXX) (G1/8000) (XXXX)
"I'm gonna give it my all! Boosted by Kalain, Chronograph Dragon attacks the Vanguard (25000-33000)! Using his skill! If the total grade of all cards in my bind zone is 15 or greater, Chronograph's Power and Critical double."
"What?!" Rina exclaims (GX/33000-66000/Crit 1-2).
"And due to Kalain's skill (Soul 3-2), you can't Intercept and can only call up to 3 guardians!"
Rina looks at her hand and sighs, "No guard…"
"This is the finisher! Triple Drive (none/none/Critical)! Critical Trigger! All effects to Chronograph (66000-76000/Crit 2-3)!" on Cray, Chronograph Dragon charges as a clock forms on its wings and it fires a massive beam of energy toward Relena. Rina, as Relena, stands still as the attack comes her way and simply closes her eyes and smiles as the beam engulfs her… ending the fight (Rina: [][][][][][]).
"Alright! I won!" Alex exclaims as she takes a victory pose.
"Alex…" Rina mutters, making Alex looks at her. Rina looks up at Alex with an innocent face and says, "Thank you…"
"For what? Alex asks.
"For everything…" Rina tells her, "You rekindled my love for Vanguard. I want to play Vanguard more now. More than ever. You really showed me how to imagine the game and reminded me how fun it really is. You also helped me get my issues off my chest so… thank you…" Rina hesitates for a moment and says, "…my friend."
These words surprise Alex a little, but smiles back and says, "No problem, my friend." She attempts to walk over to Rina to give her a friendly gesture, but she trips on her own two feet and comes crashing to the floor, on top of Rina. Alex and Rina stare at each other as Alex stands on her hands and knees over Rina.
Just then, they hear a voice come from behind the door in the hallway, "Rina, Alex…" it's Luna's voice. The door opens and she says, "How are you… two…?" she trails off when she notices the position they're in. Surprised and shocked, she puts a hand to her cheek and says, "Oh my, are you two at that stage already?"
"M-m-m-mom… it's not what it looks like!" Rina pleads, but Luna isn't listening.
"I'll just leave you two to it then." She says with a weary smile on her face and slowly closes the door. They can then hear her shouting, "Kazuma! Don't go in there right now, they're having some girl time."
"IT'S NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!" Rina shouts as she throws Alex off of her.
After a long night of explaining the situation to her parents, Rina says goodbye to Alex and they go their separate ways for the night. The next day, Alex, and Yui gather at Card Capital 2 after school. The two are chatting when they hear the door to the shop open and see Rina standing there with a smile on her face in the shop, lit only by the orange light of the sunset from the window. "Rina!" Yui exclaims.
"Does this mean you're going to continue with the team?" Alex asks.
Rina nods and says and looks down at her hand, "Yeah, I did some thinking… while I do enjoy the game more now, I still don't want to be a legend like my father." She then looks back up at her friends, "I want to become my own legend, with my own team and my own friends. I talked to him about it last night, and he agreed."
Alex and Yui look at each other, and smile and nod. "Then welcome to the team Rina." Yui says and gives her a hug.
"Thanks Yui." Rina replies and looks back at Alex, who smiles back. Rina then remembers something, "By the way, do we even have a team name yet?"
"Yeah we do." Alex says, "Yui and I were talking about it, and we decided to go with," Alex does a dramatic build up and calls themselves, "Team K3!"
"Team K3?" Rina questions.
"The K stands for Kizuna, which means Bond, as in the bond the three of us share, and 3 because there's 3 of us."
Rina thinks about it, with Yui still hugging her, smiles and says, "I like it. It's certainly better than Legends3." Alex blushes at her smug remark and laughs it off.
"Yeah, definitely… hahahahaha…" she says, having actually liked the last name, but the other two start laughing along with her.
Meanwhile, Taiyou watches them from behind the counter and smiles at their conviction. "So their journey finally begins…" he says to himself, "I hope you're watching her growth… Chrono…"
Ending Theme – Just Fly Away (Gundam Build Fighters TRY OP2)
[Next Time]
Alex: Fighters Royal is coming in just a few months, and Yuto leaves me in charge of taking care of Card Capital. Then a strange person walks into the card shop one day, claiming he's looking for strong fighters. If he's looking for strong fighters, he must be a strong fighter himself, this ought to be good! Next time on Vanguard X, "Crimson Flames"! It's the beginning of a new arc, so don't miss it!
Alex and Rina's Card Corner
Alex & Rina: Hello everyone.
Rina: Welcome back to the card corner, where we talk about this chapter's featured card.
Alex: I hope you enjoyed this chapter; it took a long time to put together, but for good reason. It's the final chapter of Vanguard X's first arc.
Rina: Next chapter will be the start of the tournament arc, where we get ready for Fighters Royal and then take part in the tournament.
Alex: And the ending theme for this chapter will be the new opening for the series.
Rina: Now, with that out of the way, let's get on with the featured card. It's the final form of my ace, Master Witch of Devotion, Relena!
Grade 3 / Twin Drive / 13000 Power / Shadow Paladin / Human
Alex: Its Soul Drive can be activated by retiring 2 rear-guards, but if you have a Relena card in your Soul, you can only retire 1 if you want.
Rina: Also when it's Driven, it treats all grade 0 units and Relena units in your drop zone as grade 1s, helping with Rituals.
Alex: And if you have a Relena unit in your drop zone, it's third skill, a Ritual 7, allows it to, once per turn, Counter Blast 1 and discard a card to re-stand itself and lose 2 drive.
Rina: Then if she's Driven, she also gains 1 Critical on top of that.
Alex: So what do you think? You like this card?
Rina: If you wanna discuss the fanfic or any of the author's other fanfics, you can join us on the author's Discord server at
discord . gg / BQfguu8
Rina: Just paste this link into your internet browser without spaces. We look forward to seeing you there!
Alex: In the meantime, always remember…
Alex & Rina: Stand up the Vanguard!