In a world where trading card games are a part of everyone's normal daily life, the most popular trading card game being Cardfight Vanguard! A game that has touched the hearts of millions of people around the world, forming bonds and friendships. The game, fostering many legends in its history, now gives rise to the newest legend in its story!
Team K3 stands in the card shop, fighting their opponents. With determined smiles on their faces, they hold up their ace cards and shout, "Soul Drive… ACTIVATE!" as the cards give off a radiant flash of light.
Opening Theme – Just Fly Away! (Gundam Build Fighters TRY OP2)
Drive 15 – Crimson Flame
A few days later at school, Kazuma Shouji walks around the class room handing everyone a piece of paper, "I want you all to write down what your goals for the future are." He explains to the class, "Where do you see yourself in 20 years? Or where would you like to be in 20 years? Give it some long, hard thought. I want all your papers turned in on Monday." He then walks by Alex's desk and hands her a paper, "I think you already know where you want to be." He says to her. She looks up at him to see his reassuring smile.
"Of course. Like my goals would ever change." She tells him and picks up the paper to look at it.
"Well then this test should be no problem for you." Kazuma tells her and walks off as Alex continues to look at the paper.
Later at lunch time, Alex and her team, Yui and Rina, sit on the roof of the school with their lunch boxes in their laps. "I want to be a champion fighter like my parents. That's my goal for the future." Alex explains as she takes a bite of rice.
"Of course. That's the dream you've had since you were a little kid." Yui replies as she takes a bite of her melon bread.
"What about you Yui?" Alex asks back, "What do you want to do?"
Yui swallows her food and answers, "I want to be a champion with you Alex. Isn't that obvious?"
"But are you sure that's what you want to do?" Alex questions, "Don't you want to become your own person and not someone who plays second fiddle?" Yui starts to look a little upset and then Alex tells her, "Not that I'm unhappy with you, I love having you around Yui." In defense.
"How much longer are we going to discuss this?" Rina asks and they both look over at her, "Fighter's Royal is only a month away, so we need to find a strategy to get to grade 3 within that time."
"Relax Rina. We have a whole month to do quests, we've got plenty of time." Alex tells her with confidence.
"Yes, Fighter's Royal starts in a month, but the deadline for applications is two weeks before." She specifies, "So we don't have as much time as you think. Alex then leans against the fence in thought.
"Oh yeah! What's your goal for the future Rina?" Yui asks.
"Mine?" Rina repeats. She thinks between staying on topic or diverting to the new one, "I don't really know. I've never thought about it before."
"I'm sure you'll think of something." Alex reassures her with a smile, and Rina smiles back.
Later that night, Alex lays on her bed in only a pink tank top and black shorts, while watching the TV to the side. She then glances over at her deck sitting on the night stand. She picks up the top card, which is Korona, and looks at it. "Just you wait dad. I'm gonna get into Fighter's Royal and become a champion like you!" she says.
The next day, Alex's mother, Tokoha, was cleaning around the house wiping her duster over various furniture. As she goes to dust the bookshelves, a book falls off. She walks over to pick it up and notices it's an old scrap book from her youth. She looks at the front cover which showed her, Chrono, and Shion when they were Alex's age, smiles and says, "I haven't seen these in a long time." She decides to take a break from cleaning and takes the book over to the couch to look through it.
She opens it up near the middle of the book and sees various picture of her and her team at Card Capital 2, along with their various friends including Taiyou, Luna, Am, Kazuma, Kumi, Enishi, Kamui, Rin, Henri, and Kazumi. She turns a few pages to find her and Chrono, a little older, sitting on a park bench together. The next picture shows them at their wedding with Tokoha wearing a long white dress adorned with yellow flowers and Chrono wearing a black tuxedo. In the next pic, it shows them in the house she's in now, but her tummy is a little big. The next pic is the same, but her tummy is back to normal and she is now holding a baby with purple hair and a pink swirl. In the next pic, the baby has grown into an energetic little girl. In the next pic, the girl has grown more, but Chrono is missing...
She looks at the last pic which shows her and Alex on the couch together in recent times. She looks at a nearby picture which shows Chrono by himself, puts a hand over it, and sheds a tear as she reminisces her time with her beloved husband...
"I'm off!" Alex shouts as she runs down stairs to leave for the day, dressed in a striped white shirt under a red jacket and blue short shorts.
"Alex. Come here." Tokoha tells her. Alex stops what she's doing and walks over to her mother. "I've never shown you these, but now might be a good time." Tokoha shows her the various pictures in the scrapbook, "This is me and your father when we were your age."
Alex looks at the picture of the red-haired man with a pink swirl, "That's my dad?"
"You were so young when he disappeared, so you probably didn't remember him." Tokoha tells her, "You two are so much alike. If he were hear right now, I'm sure he'd be very proud of you."
Alex thinks for a minute and smiles, "Yeah…" she mutters.
Tokoha then sits up and puts her arms around her daughter, "I love you Alex… and so does your father. I'm sure he misses you."
Alex hug her mother back and tells her, "Thank you mom. I will be a champion like him someday. That's a promise."
"Just don't push yourself too hard okay?" Tokoha says in concern, "Don't ever do things alone. Remember that you always have friends and family who will help you."
"I know." Alex says and the two let go of each other.
The two look into each other's eyes for a moment until Tokoha tells her, "Good luck Alex."
"Thanks mom." Alex replies and heads for the front door, "See ya later!" she says, slips on her red sneakers, and heads outside, closing the door behind her. Tokoha smiles at the door Alex just left through, then closes her eyes and puts her hands together like she's praying.
Alex arrives at Card Capital 2, bursting through the door and shouting "Heyo!" she looks around the store and sees the various people cardfighting in it, and also Yuto standing at the counter who looks straight at her.
"Ah Alex! Perfect timing!" he says and runs up to her, putting his hands together, "I need you do to me a really big favor!" Alex looks at him slightly confused. "You see… somethings came up in my family and I have to go home pretty quick. So, I need you to watch the store for me."
"Huh?!" she exclaims in shock.
"I don't need you to do anything special. Just stand at the counter and help any customers that come to you." He explains.
Alex thinks about it for a second and then nods her head and says, "Okay! I can do that."
"Oh thanks Alex! You're a lifesaver!" Yuto tells her, "Tell you what, I'll even make this a quest so you can earn some points off of it."
"Sounds good." Alex approves. Yuto quickly shows her how to run the register and check the back room for additional products. He then gives her his apron and leaves the shop while waving goodbye to her. "Okay! Time to get to work!" she says, taking off her jacket and putting the apron on in place of it.
A few hours later, everyone seems to have left the card shop and Alex leans on the counter as she yawns. "This really isn't as fun as I thought it'd be…" she complains, "I just wanna fight somebody!" At that very moment, she hears the front door open, "Welcome to Card Capital!" she says. Standing at the door was a tall, skinny man with short brown hair, a gray cardigan, blue jeans, and ear buds. "Is there anything I can help you with today?"
There is a little bit of silence until the man says, "So this is Card Capital? Not at all what I envisioned." He then looks over at Alex and asks, "Do you work here?"
Alex hesitates and then answers, "Eh haha, no… I'm just filling in for a friend."
"I see…" the man says and there is more awkward silence. He walks around the shop looking at its various features. "Are you the only one here?" he asks her.
"Y-Yes… yes I am…" Alex answers, slightly perturbed by the man's question. A light bulb then goes off in Alex's head, "Wait! Do I know you from somewhere?"
The man ignores her question and walks up to the counter, "I was told there'd be some strong fighters in this shop, but I guess they were mistaking. Good day" he then heads for the exit when Alex's stops him.
"Wait! If it's a Cardfight you're looking for, I'll fight you!" she tells him and he stops as he reaches for the door handle.
"Are you a strong fighter?" he asks.
"Well I am the daughter of a legendary fighter… so I guess…" Alex tells him and he narrows his eyes.
"A legendary fighter huh?" he says. He takes out his phone, pauses the song that was playing, and then takes out his ear buds and stuffs them into his pocket. "Okay, I'm in. Let's fight."
"Really?! Alright! Let's do this!" Alex exclaims, throwing off her apron. The two then gather at a fight table, shuffle each other's decks and ready their starting Vanguards.
"You sure you want to do this? I won't go easy on you." The man tells her.
"Please don't. I won't feel like I've won unless I can beat you with your full skill." Alex tells her. They both place their hands on the Vanguards and declare, in unison, "Stand up… VANGUARD!"
"Steam Maiden, Korona Early (G0/5000)!" Alex declares.
"Crimson Wing Dracokid (G0/5000)." The man declares.
"I'll go first." Alex declares, "Ride! Steam Mechanic Amba (G1/7000)! Using Amba's skill! I bind a card in my hand and draw a card. Next, I use Korona Early's skill! By binding her, I look at the top seven cards of my deck and add a unit with Korona in its name to my hand."
"Then its my turn. Draw!" the man declares, "Ride! Crimson Lizardman (G1/8000). Attack the Vanguard."
"No guard." Alex declares (Alex: []). "Ride! Steam Scara Irkab (G2/10000)! Irkab's skill ([X])! I discard a card from my hand and my Vanguard gains 1 drive! Next I activate Susuda's skill in the bind zone! I put the top card of my deck into the bind zone (G3) to call her from my bind zone (G2/10000)(BZ:G3-1-4). Next I call Steam Maiden Elal (G1/7000) use her skill to bind a card from my hand (BZ:G4-5) and add 3000 power to Susuda (10000-13000)! Also, Elal gains 1000 power for each card face up in my bind zone (7000-10000)! Let's battle! Boosted by Elal, Irkab attacks the Vanguard (10000-20000)!"
"No guard." The man declares.
"Twin Drive (none/Critical). Critical Trigger! Power to Susuda (13000-23000) Critical to Irkab (20000/Crit 1-2)!"
"Damage check (none/Critical). Critical Trigger. Add 10000 power to the Vanguard (8000-18000)." (?: [][]).
"Susuda now attacks the Vanguard!" Alex declares.
"Guard (10000)."
"My turn. Ride! Crimson Dragon Knight Zavied (G2/10000)! I activate Zavied's skill ([X][]). Retire Susuda."
"Eh?!" Alex exclaims as Susuda is put into the drop zone.
"Then, Zavied lets me look at the top five cards of my deck and call a Crimson Dragon among them. I call Crimson Wyvern (G2/9000). Next I activate Crimson Wing Dracokid's skill. When your unit is retired by an ability and my Vanguard is a Crimson Dragon, I can draw 1 card. I call Dragon Dancer Marina (G1/7000) and due to her skill, she gains 3000 power for each unit of yours I retire this turn (7000-10000). With this, Blazing is now active."
"Blazing?" Alex questions.
"It's a skill that activates if I have more rear-guards than you at the start of my attack." The man explains to her.
"Crap… and he does…"
"Boosted by Marina, Zavied attacks the Vanguard (10000-20000! Due to Zavied's skill, if he's blazing when he attacks, add 10000 power (20000-30000)."
"No guard!" Alex declares.
"Drive check (Draw). Draw Trigger. Power to Crimson Wyvern (9000-19000)." (Alex: [X][]). "Wyvern attacks the Vanguard. Wyvern's skill, Blaze! If my Vanguard is a Crimson Dragon, I draw 1 card."
"I guard that attack (10000)."
"I end my turn." The man says.
"Stand and draw." Alex looks at the card she drew and smiles, "Let's do this partner! To a world of infinite possibilities! Ride! High Steam Maiden, Korona (G3/12000)! I call Steam Engineer Imta (G2/10000), Steam Hunter, Feena (G1/7000), and Steam Mechanic Nabu (G2/10000)! With Feena's skill, add 3000 power (7000-10000)!" The man looks at her board with curiosity.
Board State
(G2/10000) (G3/12000) (G2/10000)
(XXXX) (G1/10000) (G1/10000)
"Let's go! Boosted by Feena, Imta attacks t he Vanguard (10000-20000)!"
"Guard (15000)."
Alex slightly groans at his block, "Using Korona's skill ([X][X]), bind Imta face up and call Steam Scara Nanum from my deck (G3/12000)! Boosted by Elal, Korona attacks the Vanguard (12000-22000)!"
"No guard." The man declares.
"Twin Drive (none/Critical). Critical Trigger! Power to Nabu (10000-20000), Critical to Korona (22000/Crit 1-2)! HAAAAAAAA!" Alex screams as Korona slices her swords through the man's Vanguard. (?: [X][][][]). "Nabu now attacks the Vanguard! Using her skill! Bind Susuda from the drop zone and you can't guard with grade 1 or higher units on this attack!"
"No guard." (?: [X][][][][]).
"At the end of the battle, Nabu goes to the soul and I draw a card. Then at the end of my turn, Nanum goes to the bind zone and Imta returns to the field."
"You put up a good fight, I'll give you that." The man tells her, "However… you still have a lot to learn."
"Huh?" Alex questions as the man holds up a card.
"I'll show you what a real fighter is capable of. Howling crimson flames, reduce everything to ash, so that only the strong may still be standing! Ride!" the hologram is engulfed in dark red flames, only for them to be blown away moments later as a large red dragon with a large broad sword stands there, "Crimson Blade Dragon (G3/13000)!" Alex is taken aback by the sheer ferocity of the unit. "I discard Soul Burn Dragon from my hand to activate Crimson Blade Dragon's Soul Drive instantly!"
"Already?!"
"Let the flames of deep crimson burn in your soul! Unleash your infinite destruction! Soul Drive, ACTIVATE!" the man shouts as passionately as he can (G3-4/13000-17000/drive 2-3)!"
"17000 power on a Soul Drive?!" Alex exclaims in shock.
"I activate Blade Dragon's skill (Soul 3-2)!" the man holds up three fingers and says, "Call the top three cards of your deck to your rear-guard."
"What? Alright…" Alex hesitantly agrees. I call Steam Hunter Lippitt (G2/10000), Steam Mechanic Mel-nya (G1/7000), and High Steam Maiden Elul X (G3/12000)! Mel-nya and Elul's skills activate!"
"No they don't." the man says and Alex is surprised, "Due to Crimson Blade Dragon's skill, the Auto abilities of the units called by this ability do not activate, and then they are immediately retired."
"No way!" Alex exclaims as the units she just called are wiped off the board as quickly as they appeared, the units screaming in pain as they are swallowed by the flames.
"Due to Crimson Blade Dragon's other skill, when a unit of yours is retired by my ability, he gains 2000 power. Since three units were retired, add 6000 power (17000-23000). Now I liberate the G Zone ([X][X][X][][])(Soul 2-1)! Generation Soul Stride! The board sword dragon is engulfed in even larger dark red flames as a giant serpent dragon emerges from the flames wielding two giant broad swords, "Supreme Crimson Emperor Dragon, Inferno Lord Dragon (GX/30000)! Using his skill! Retire Elal and Feena!"
"Both of them?!" Alex exclaims as the dragon shoots fire beams from its swords at Elal and Feena, both of them screaming in pain before disintegrating into particles.
"Due to Inferno Lord Dragon's skill, he gains 3000 power for each of your units I've retired this turn. Since I retired five, add 15000 power (30000-45000)! And due to Marina's skill, she gains 5000 power for each of your rear-guards I retired (7000-22000). Next I call Crimson Fist Dragon (G1/8000) and Crimson Lance Dragon (G2/10000)! Using Crimson Fist's skill! Call the top card of your deck and immediately retire it. Auto skills are not active."
Alex groans as she flips over the top card of her deck and a chill runs down Alex's spine. It's another copy of Korona. "I call High Steam Maiden Korona and retire her."
"With this, add another 3000 power to Marina and Inferno Lord (22000-25000) (45000-48000). Crimson Fist Dragon has the same skill, except add 2000 power (8000-20000), same with Crimson Lance (10000-22000)!"
Board State
(G2/9000) (GX/48000) (G2/22000)
(XXXX) (G1/25000) (G1/20000)
Alex looks at his board in fear of the massive power levels. "There's no way I can guard all that…" she mutters to herself but the remembers, "Wait! I only have 2 damage, even if all three attacks go through, that will only put me up to five damage. I can hold out!"
"Boosted by Crimson Fist Dragon, Crimson Lance Dragon attacks the Vanguard (22000-42000)! Crimson Lance's skill ([X][X][X][X][])(Soul 1-0)! When he attacks and you have no rear-guards, add 10000 power and 1 Critical (42000-52000/Crit 1-2)!"
Alex flinches back in shock. She doesn't have enough in her hand to guard that much power, not even a Sentinel. "No guard…" Korona is stuck by the Crimson Dragon's lance causing her uniform to tear a little and even cough up some blood (Alex: [X][][][]).
"Boosted by Marina, Inferno Lord Dragon attacks the Vanguard (48000-73000)!"
"Seventy-three thousand?!" Alex exclaims.
"Using Inferno Lord's skill ([X][X][X][X][X])! If you have no rear-guards, add 1 Critical and 1 Drive (73000/Crit 1-2/drive 3-4)!"
Alex sees the dragon looming over Korona and weakly closes her eyes saying, "No guard…"
"Quadruple Drive (none/Critical/none/Critical). Double Critical. All effects to Inferno Lord (73000-93000/Crit 2-4)." The large dragon dives down and scoops up Korona in its mouth, flings her in the air, then breaths crimson red flames on her, causing her to scream in immense pain before rushing through the flames and slashing through her. Korona feints and plummets to the ground with enough force to cause a small crater. Korona lies there unconscious as her body disintegrates into particles (Alex: [X][][][][][]).
The holograms disappear as Alex lets go of the cards in her hand and they drop to the floor. "What… was that…?!" Alex questions in shock after the fight. She snaps out of her shock and looks up at the man, who reaches into his pocket to pull out his ear buds and puts them back in his ears.
"Not a challenge after all." He says, then grabs his cards and walks away.
As he's about to leave the shop, Alex stops him by shouting, "Wait! I don't even know your name!" the man stops, but doesn't look back at her.
"Akiya." He says, "Akiya Kojiro. See ya around." He then walks out of the card shop as Yui and Rina walk in. Yui dressed in a small yellow dress over a white t-shirt and black leggings, while Rina is dressed in a blue jacket under a black t-shirt and blue shorts.
"Alex?" Rina calls her out, "Who was that?"
"No way! It can't be!" Alex exclaims and runs back behind the counter and gets on the computer.
"Alex?" Yui mutters.
Typing at the keyboard like some kind of mad hacker, Alex searches the internet and finds an article that makes her eyes sparkle like diamonds, "Guys! Come look at this!" Yui and Rina step behind the counter and look over Alex's shoulders at the screen. It's an article about a high ranking Vanguard team known as Team Crimson, their members consist of Akiya Kojiro, Haruna Mayanako, and Renka Tachibana.
"Wait! That was Akiya Kojiro of Team Crimson?!" Yui exclaims.
"Who's that?" Rina asks.
"One of the highest ranking Vanguard teams in the world, they're right up there with Team Exodus!" Alex explains.
"It also says here they'll be participating in Fighter's Royal!" Yui explains pointing to a sentence on the screen.
"I guess we'll have some steep competition." Rina says.
"Yeah, without a doubt." Alex says, "But that's just one more reason to get into Fighter's Royal." Alex looks at the poster, advertising the tournament on the wall, "We'll be going up against of the strongest fighters in the world, so we need to crack down and really train hard!"
"Says the girl who keeps goofing off instead of actually training." Rina mocks her.
Alex blushes a little and admits, "Y-Yeah… okay that may be true, but we still have time!"
"We have another day off from school tomorrow, what about if we spend all of tomorrow training and doing quests?" Yui proposes.
"Sounds like it's gonna be a long day," Rina says, "but if it can get us into Fighter's Royal, I'm in."
"Yeah, same." Alex says, "Besides, I also want another chance to fight him, and actually win!" she flinches her fist and then looks at her teammates. They each put a hand in the middle, "Together, we of K3, will get into Fighter's Royal and win the whole thing!"
"Whoa Alex," Rina stops her, "Don't you think that's setting expectations a little too high?"
"Maybe, but it doesn't mean we can't try. Right?" she response and Rina looks at her with a weary smile.
"Yeah, I suppose."
"Okay, then let's give it our all and get to Fighter's Royal!" Alex declares.
"YEAH!" Yui and Rina respond with excitement as they break.
And so, with determination in their hearts, Team K3 set off to do many quests and train to get ready for Fighter's Royal, which will be the hardest challenge they've faced yet!
…to be continued
Ending Theme – Eternal Star (Island ED1)
[Next Time]
Alex: We still have a long way to go until we're ready for Fighter's Royal. Saki's been training with Saki, so she's on her way, but as for me and Rina, we still need to work hard! So the team and I decide to work on doing some quests around the city… until Team Exodus comes up to us… Next time on Vanguard X: "Road to Fighter's Royal!" Don't miss it!
Alex & Rina's Card Corner
Alex: Hello everyone! Thanks for coming back for another chapter.
Rina: We apologize it took a long time to get this out, but the writer has been dealing with a lot of real life stuff.
Alex: And it was only made worse by this COVID-19 thing…
Rina: Thankfully we don't have to deal with that. So let's get on with today's featured card.
Alex: It's Akiya's avatar unit, Crimson Blade Dragon!
Grade 3 / 13000 Power / Twin Drive / Kagero / Crimson Dragon
Rina: It's Soul Drive can be achieved by retiring 3 rear-guards and it will boost Crimson Blade's power by 4000, putting him at 17000, which is the highest any Soul Drive unit can get without restrictions.
Alex: It also has the Blazing ability, which is active if you have more rear-guards than your opponent, and a Vanguard/Rear-guard skill to gain 2000 power for each of your opponent's units you retired via skills this turn.
Rina: But it's final skill is it's main kicker. Once per turn, by simply Soul Blasting 1 card, your opponent calls the top 3 cards of their deck to the rear-circles with their AUTO abilities nullified, and then they're immediately retired.
Alex: Combine with its first skill, that gives it an instant 6000 power!
Rina: On top of that, if you retired 5 or more rear-guards in the current turn, and Crimson Blade is Driven and Blazing, it gains 2 Critical!
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!