This chapter is a continuation of the previous chapter. If you have not read that chapter, please do so before reading this one.

The sun is beginning to set on the first day of the tournament, as Alex is wandering the city looking for opponents. "Crap, the day's almost over!" she says, "I gotta find at least one more person for today!" Just as she says this, she turns a corner and bumps into someone she wasn't expecting. She looks up to see a young man wearing a dark gray sweater, brown spiky hair with a headband, and wearing earbuds. He notices her and looks down at her on the ground. "It's you…" Alex mutters, "Akiya Kojiro…"

The man stares at her for a minute as he pulls out one of his earbuds and says, "Do I know you?"

Alex flops onto the ground and puts her legs in the air with a groan. She then quickly sits up and shouts, "You don't remember?! I fought you at Card Capital a few weeks ago?"

Akiya glances up at the sky in thought for a minute. "Oh," he remembers, "I see." He then puts his earbud back in and proceeds to walk off.

"Hey! Wait!" Alex exclaims as she gets up off the ground, but Akiya can't hear her through his earbuds, or rather, chooses to ignore her, "I realize I never introduced myself before." But Akiya chooses to ignore her still. Alex puffs out her cheeks and darts in front of him, stopping him in his tracks. She puts a hand over her chest and says, "I'm Alex Shindou. Daughter of the legendary Chrono Shindou."

Akiya's eyes widen at her introduction. "Shindou…?" he says as he pulls his earbud again.

Opening Theme – Just Fly Away (Gundam Build Fighters TRY OP2)

Drive 22 – Team Crimson

"You're the daughter of the famous Chrono Shindou?" Akiya asks for clarification and Alex nods.

"Yeah," she says, "and it's my dream to become a legendary fighter like him one day!"

Akiya sighs and tells her, "Come with me." Before walking off.

"Huh?" Alex mutters as the champion walks past her, "Hey wait! Where are we going?" she asks as she chases after him.

Meanwhile, in another part of the city, Rina sits on a bench, still deep in thought about the truth she learned about Eiji and Koharu while trying to figure out who this rebellion is…

Flashback (Drive 21)

"We're a group of women who all have a collected hatred of people who use woman as nothing more than objects to satisfy their own twisted desires." Riku explains as Rina just stares at her blankly before Kyoko chimes in.

"That's right," she says with a cheery tone, "it's our job to find these people and make sure they get the justice they deserve!"

"And Koharu here is a member of our rebellion." Riku explains, gesturing toward the stressed woman.

Rina then starts to connect the pieces, "Because of Eiji?" she asks.

Riku nods and says, "Yes. We've actually had Eiji in our sights for quite a while now."

Riku slowly nods and says, "Yes… Koharu is pregnant…" Rina then looks at Koharu's expression and sees tears streaming down her face.

"Yep, she's got a little baby inside her tummy," Kyoko says, "Eiji's baby."

End of Flashback

"Koharu's pregnant?" Rina thinks to herself, "but… isn't she still in school?" she looks at her palm as she continues to think, "Why would she let herself be put through this? Why does she continue to let Eiji do this stuff to her? She always has the ability to stand up against him, so why doesn't she?" However, while she's thinking about this, she doesn't see the woman walking in front of her.

The woman has short blonde hair with a portion of it that hangs over her face dyed light blue. She is wearing a white neckless t-shirt with black sleeves that also revealed her bra straps, as well as a pair of blue jeans black boots, that are reminiscent of a rockstar's boots, and a pair of sunglasses. She also has some lipstick on. She was eating a banana and after she takes the last bite, she tosses the empty peel toward Rina.

The peel lands on the top of Rina's head, snapping her out of her deep thought. She pulls it off her head, looks around, and spots the woman walking away from her. "Hey!" she shouts, but the woman ignores her. She shouts again, "HEYYY!" the woman finally turns her head to look at Rina as she holds up the banana peel that got thrown at her, "What's your problem? Huh? Too lazy to find a trash can?"

The woman gives her a crooked smile and says, "Just like old times huh?"

This confuses Rina slightly as she jumps in front of her and says, "I'm sorry, I don't think I know anyone who treats others like garbage cans."

"Oh? Was I that meaningless to you that you forgot about me?" the woman asks her as she takes off her sunglasses, revealing her dark blue eyes.

Rina is silent for a moment and then tells her, "Umm… I'm sorry, I don't remember you."

"ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" the woman yells at her with a stamp of her foot, "You ruined me in Elementary School all those years ago!"

Rina wracks her brain trying to remember who this woman is, but she says, "I'm sorry, I still can't remember."

The woman grinds her teeth while snarling at the pigtailed girl, "It was the final match of the Elementary League Tournament six years ago? I was your opponent."

Rina remembers back to that day and tries to remember the face of the kid she fought. In her flashback, she remembers seeing a girl with short blonde hair with a bang covering one of her eyes, but she could see the other as a shade of dark blue. Rina is then shellshocked as she finally remembers her name, "Ichiko Hoseki!"

"Took you long enough." Ichiko tells her, acting annoyed, "I can't believe you forgot me after what you did to me."

"I'm sorry," Rina says, grasping at one of her twin tails, "My memory of that time is kind of foggy."

"EXCUSES!" Ichiko shouts at her, startling Rina, "You may have forgotten, but I haven't!" one of her eyes begins to twitch as she stares at her enemy, "You defeated me in that tournament, and made me lose every single friend I ever had!" Ichiko then remembers the image of her friends standing in front of her. Two boys, and three girls. One was chubby and had short brown hair. Another had spiky black hair. One of the girls wore glasses and had short brown hair. Another had blue hair in a ponytail, and the last one had braided black hair. They all turn around and walk away from her, as she sits there alone, reaching out to them in vain, then breaking down into tears, "They thought I was weak! They left me for stronger people! "ALL BECAUSE OF YOU BEING BETTER THAN ME!" Rina simply stares at her with a sorrowful expression. Ichiko then smirks and says, "Well guess what… I am stronger now! I'm part of Team Crimson now!" she then clinches her fist and raises it at Rina, "I have all the strength I need to crush you, and all those who left me all those years ago!"

Those words resonate with Rina, as it reminds her of Eiji's delusions of power, as she constantly remembers what he told her.

Flashback (Turn 12)

Eiji holds out his fist like a king ruling his nation and says, "I gave them power, in exchange for allowing them to use Koharu, and any other girl as I see fit. Because with power, you can do absolutely anything you want!"

End of Flashback

Rina looks down at the ground in dismay, ticking off Ichiko, "Hey! Are you hearing me right now? She says as she tries to get in Rina's face. She then cocks her arm back and smacks Rina across the face. The sound of their skin slapping together, and the stinging pain Rina felt on her cheek snapped her out of her daze as Ichiko continues,

"If you won't focus on me, I'LL MAKE YOU FOCUS!" she then pulls out her deck and says, "FIGHT ME… RINA! RIGHT HERE! RIGHT NOW!"

Since the tournament's first day is still ongoing, Rina has no choice but to accept the challenge, as she pulls out her deck as well, and they find the nearest fight table. They prepare their decks and then declare, "Stand up… VANGUARD!"

Meanwhile, Yui runs down the street while looking at her phone. "Okay, there's only an hour and a half left in the day. I enough time for one more fight." She says as she frantically searches for an opponent. Just then, she spots a young girl, about her age, walking down the street across from her with her hands in her pockets. This girl had short green hair and was wearing a large sweater with pastel blue and pink colors over a white t-shirt with pink polka-dots, as well as brown shorts, and brown boots with pink bows. Yui runs up to the girl saying, "Um, excuse me!" The girl stops and turns to look at Yui with her incredibly stoic face, "Do you want to have a cardfight?"

The girl simply turns away and says, "No thanks." And starts walking again.

Slightly stunned by the very quick rejection, she asks again, "I-I'm in Fighter's Royal, and I really need to fight at least one more person today."

The girl stops again. "You're in Fighter's Royal?" she asks, turning her head toward Yui.

Yui nods and says, "Yeah. Aren't you?"

The girl thinks for a minute, then sighs before fully turning toward Yui and saying, "Alright. I guess I'll fight you." Still maintaining her stoic expression. The two of them then head to a fight table in a nearby park. "By the way," Yui says as she's shuffling her deck, "what's your name?"

Without even looking up at her, the girl responds with, "Why do you care?"

Yui pauses for a second and thinks. "Uhh… I… just wanted to get to know you."

The girl closes her eyes and says, "Why bother getting to know me? You'll probably never see me again."

"Still, it's nice to learn someone's name when you cardfight them." Yui tells her.

The girl then lets out an annoyed sigh and introduces herself as, "Renka Tachibana."

"Renka?" Yui repeats with a smile, "That's a nice name."

"Whatever…" Renka responds half-heartedly. Yui puffs her cheek out a little, slightly annoyed by this, but quickly recovers as they both declare in unison, "Stand up… VANGUARD!"

While all this is going on, Alex follows Akiya to the top of a building that overlooks the city, with a tower off in the distance. Alex rushes up the stairs to see Akiya standing by the balcony, as the light of the setting sun shines from in front of him. "So…" she says, trying to catch her breath, "you wanna tell me why you brought me up here, and how do you know my father?"

"Everyone's heard of your father by this point." Akiya responds, without even turning around, "You even said it yourself. He's a legendary fighter." He finally turns to face her as he says, "Though I must admit, I was a bit shocked to learn that YOU'RE his daughter. You look nothing like him aside from that swirl on your head."

Alex scratches the back of her head and says, "Hehehe, well they do say traits can skip a generation." She then composes herself and asks, "But wait, why do you care about father?"

Akiya pauses for a minute, and then tells her, "I'll just say it. I've been tasked with trying to find you."

Alex raises an eyebrow. "Why?" she asks.

After another pause, Akiya responds, "I know why your father disappeared." Alex's heart sinks hearing this, "Not only that, but I know where he went too."

Alex's eyes widen, and her pupils shrink, as she takes a step back in shock. "W-What…?" she says, unable to fathom what he is saying.

"Yes," Akiya says with a nod, "and it's not just me. Everyone you've ever interacted with knows. Kazuma… Taiyou… even your own mother."

"No… No you're lying! If they knew, why didn't they just tell me?!"

"I don't know why," Akiya answers, "but you being his daughter means you're involved in something greater. I can't say exactly what though. I'm just a messenger. I was only 10 years old around the time your father disappeared."

"So then… how do you know all that?" Alex asks him.

Akiya pauses again, for longer this time, and then says, "Because 'he' told me."

"'He'"? Alex questions, wondering who he's referring to.

Meanwhile, Rina and Ichiko are well into their fight. "I attack your Vanguard (G3/12000-20000)!" Ichiko declares. The Vanguard was a short girl wearing crimson red bug armor with bug wings and large pincers on her hands. She swoops in and slashes right through Relena, causing her to collapse to the ground.

Rina looks back at her fallen Vanguard, then looks back and declares, "Damage Check (none/none). No trigger…" (Rina: [X][X][][]).

"Now with a boost from Butterfly Captain, Melody Mutant Nelnympha attacks your Vanguard (G2/10000-18000)!"

"I guard (10000)!" Rina declares, stopping the attack. As the fight currently stands, Rina has 4 damage, while Ichiko has 3. Rina has 7 cards in hand, while Ichiko has 8.

"I end my turn." Ichiko declares.

"Stand and draw." Rina draws a card, but when she goes to stand her units, she realizes the two she has on both the left and right have been Paralyzed by Ichiko's Megacolony deck, so they are unable to stand. She looks behind her to see those same units on their knees and in pain as static electricity courses through them.

Rina hesitates, being in such a tough situation, but then Ichiko butts in, "You've got 4 damage and four paralyzed units. You can always give up."

Rina shakes her head and says, "No! I can't give up! My teams needs me!"

Ichiko smirks, shrugs, and says, "That's good, because winning through forfeit just wouldn't be satisfying at all."

Rina hangs her head. Although she said she won't give up, she is very distracted by recent events, she smacks her head and tries to regain focus on the fight at hand. "I gotta focus!" she says, "I activate Relena's Soul Drive! By retiring two rear-guards, she permanently gains 3000 power, 1 grade, and 1 drive (G3-4/13000-16000/drive 2-3)!" Relena stands on her feet as her eyes begin to glow a bright fiery blue as glowing blue markings start to appear on her body. "I activate her other skill! I retire my other two rear-guards to have you retire Nelnympha!" Relena moves her fingers around in front of her, drawing out a magic circle, which insnares the bug girl, causing her to disappear. "Then if Relena is Driven, I draw a card. How do you like that?! I just got rid of all the units your paralyzed!"

Ichiko simply smirks and doesn't say anything as Rina continues her turn.

"Also, with the Driven Skill of Relena, all Relena units in my drop zone count towards Ritual! I call Witch of the Gun, Bellet (G2/10000)! With her skill, discard and draw." Rina discards a copy of her Vanguard. "I also call Witch of the Scythe Ferris (G3/13000), and Witch of the Tome Madoka (G1/8000)! I activate Madoka's skill ([X][X][X][])! Call Witch of the Lance Vera from my deck (G1/7000)! Vera's skill, Ritual 1! Call Slacking Witch Relena from my hand and add 5000 power (G1/8000-13000)! Next, I use the skill of Witch of the Boomerang Aussie in my drop zone, Ritual 5! I superior call her over Vera (G1/8000)! Slacking Relena's skill, Ritual 3! Add 4000 power (13000-17000)!"

Board State

(G3/13000) (G4/16000) (G2/10000)

(G1/8000) (G1/17000) (G1/8000)

"Not bad." Ichiko says, not even the slightest bit worried.

"Ferris attacks your Vanguard (13000)!"

"I'll guard that (5000)."

"Boosted by Madoka, Bellet attacks (10000-18000)! Bellet's skill ([X][X][X][X])! I call Motivated Witch Relena over Ferris (G2/10000)! I use Relena's skill to look at the top five cards of my deck and call a unit with Ritual from among them." Rina frowns when she looks at the cards she pulls, "No target though…" Rina puts the cards back on top of her deck and proceeds with her turn.

"I'll take that attack." Ichiko says, performing a damage check (none) (Ichiko: [][][][]).

"Now, my Vanguard Relena attacks (16000)! Activating her skill! Normally this skill would cost me 3 Counter Blasts and having to put 2 normal units from my drop zone on bottom of my deck, but since there are three Relena cards in my drop zone I only need to return the units!"

Ichiko smirks again, intrigued by Relena's skill.

"Relena gains 15000 power and 1 Critical (16000-31000/Crit 1-2)!"

"Complete Guard!"

"Triple Drive (none/none/Critical)! Critical Trigger! I give all effects to Motivated Relena (10000-20000/Crit 1-2)! At the end of the battle, if Relena is Driven, she can stand and gets minus 2 drive (31000/drive 3-1)! Boosted by Aussie, Motivated Relena attacks your Vanguard (20000-28000/Crit 2)!"

"Guard (15000+10000=25000)!"

"Boosted by Slacking Relena, Devoted Relena attacks your Vanguard again (31000-48000/Crit 2)!" Relena holds out her staff and fires a large beam of magic from it.

Ichiko takes a card, with a green symbol in the top left, from her hand and nonchalantly toss it into her drop zone. "Generation Guard! Silver Wing Mutant Deity, Papillon (GX/Shield: 25000)!" A girl with red bug eyes and silver-colored butterfly wings appears in the middle of the field and holds her wings in front of her, attempting to absorb the strength of Relena's attack, "Using her skill ([X][][][])! For every two of your units that didn't stand during your last stand phase, add 5000 shield (25000-35000), next I'll guard on top of that (10000) (Total Shield: 45000)!"

"If I can get a trigger, off this one drive check, I'll win!" Rina thinks to herself but suddenly becomes hesitant.

"What's wrong?" Ichiko says mockingly, seeing Rina hesitate, "You seem worried. Afraid you'll lose to me?" Rina tries to push out her taunting, but she continues to talk, "I don't blame you. I'm sure you'd feel terrible losing to me since you disgraced me before!"

Rina grits her teeth and grabs the top card of her deck, "DRIVE CHECK!" she screams, pulls off the card, and slaps it on the table… but when she sees it, her heart sinks (none). She is at a loss for words, "N… No… Trigger…" The butterfly girl spreads her wings out, and all the magic energy that was hitting her disappears, as does she and the other unit. Rina stands there with soulless eyes, looking over the board.

"That's too bad." Ichiko says, smiling menacingly, "Looks like I got this in the bag! Stand and draw! I activate Ambri Paigi's Soul Drive ([X][X][][])!" Ichiko retires one of her rear-guards and says, "Ambri Paigi now permanently gains 2000 power, 1 grade, and 1 drive (G3-4/12000-14000/drive 2-3)! I call Seizing Slash Mutant, Bruslash (G2/10000)! Using his skill ([X][X][X][])! I can Soul Charge 1 card for every two of your units that didn't stand during your last stand phase!"

"What?!" Rina exclaims.

"Since four units didn't stand, I soul charge 2." Ichiko takes two cards off the top of her deck and puts them under her Vanguard (Soul 0-2)! I call Small Captain, Butterfly Officer (G1/8000), Using her skill (Soul 2-1)! You have to call the top card of your deck at rest, and that unit can't stand on your next turn! Not that you'll get a next turn."

Rina takes off the top card and is stunned by what it is. It's a heal trigger. "I call Abyss Healer (G0/5000)…"

"Next, with Bruslash's skill, since three or more of your units didn't stand last turn, add 10000 power (10000-20000)! Next, with the skill of Flowery Tearer, add 2000 power for each unit that didn't stand last turn (8000-16000)!"

Board State

(G2/20000) (G4/14000) (XXXX)

(G1/8000) (G1/16000) (XXXX)

"Boosted by Flowery Tearer, Ambri Paigi attacks the Vanguard (14000-30000)! Using her skill ([X][X][X][X])! If one or more units didn't stand last turn, you can only guard from your hand, and if three or more didn't stand, you can't call sentinels! Also, if she's driven, she can instantly deal 1 damage to your Vanguard!" Ichiko puts on a sadistic smile as she says this.

"No way…" Rina says as her body begins to quiver. Ambri Paigi swoops in and stabs Relena through the stomach as she struggles for breath.

Ichiko then points at Rina and says, "Also, that card you're taking, it goes face down." Rina grits her teeth as she flips over the card and puts it into her damage zone (Rina: [X][X][X][X][X]). To make matters worse, it was a trigger unit, and she wasn't able to get the power benefit off of it.

Rina looks at the cards in her hand and tries to come up with a strategy to keep herself alive. "I guard (15000+10000+10000+10000=45000)!"

"Nice play. Triple Drive (Critical/Draw/Front)." Rina is stunned by this pull, "Triple Trigger! Add 30000 power to Bruslash, 1 critical, and draw a card (20000-50000/Crit 1-2). Boosted by Butterfly Captain, Bruslash attacks the Vanguard (50000-58000)!"

Rina looks at her hand in disappointment. She doesn't have any sentinels in her hand, and the cards she does have don't have enough shield to get over 58000. She hangs her head in disappointment and says, "No guard…"

Ichiko smirks and laughs. "Just what I wanted to hear!" she says, "Now die!" Bruslash raises his giant sword and charges at Relena and stabbing her through the chest, making her body go still, as some of her holographic blood splatters on Rina's face. Shortly afterward, all the holograms disappear as Rina falls to her knees (Rina: [X][X][X][X][X][]).

"Yes! I win! Finally!" Ichiko exclaims before walking over to the defeated Rina. She grabs her by the pigtail and hoists her off the ground. She then looks directly in her face and says, "Who's the disgraced one now?! I win, you lose! Just as it should have been all those years ago!" She puts her hand on Rina's face and shoves her onto the ground before walking away triumphantly, taunting Rina as she goes.

Rina picks herself up off the ground and snarls at the girl as she walks away. She pulls out her phone and opens the Fighter's Royal app, and what she sees is horrifying for her. Her points have dropped to 0…

Meanwhile, with Yui and Renka, their fight has been pretty one-sided. While they both have 4 damage, Yui is struggling to survive against Renka's onslaught of attacks. Yui then proceeded to go all out with what little forces she could muster up, but it wasn't enough. Renka blocked it all.

Yui's Board State

(G2/10000) (G4/15000) (G2/9000)

(XXXX) (G1/8000) (XXXX)

"I end my turn." Yui says and then looks at her lone mermaid Vanguard behind her. She looks back at Renka and says, "Wow…you're strong…" Yui says trying to catch her breath.

"Yeah whatever." Renka replies, unpleased.

"Aww come on, that was a compliment." Yui says opening her arms like she's asking for a hug, "You could at least smile." However, Renka does not choose to smile, instead, maintaining her stoic poker face.

"My turn. I activate Stealth Dragon Kageruju's Soul Drive (Soul 2-1) (Hand 3-2). Add 3000 power, 1 grade, and 1 drive (G3-4/12000-15000/drive 2-3)."

Board State

(G2/10000) (G4/15000) (G2/10000)

(G1/8000) (G1/8000) (G1/8000)

"Here we go. Boosted by Stealth Beast Rouge Kurononeko, Stealth Beast Ibudanuki attacks the Vanguard. Using Ibudanuki's skill, I put Stealth Beast Jagunro into my hand. Ambush!"

"Ambush?" Yui questions.

"When a unit with the Ambush skill is put into my hand from a rear circle during the battle phase, I can call it back immediately." Renka explains, "Jagunro's skill. Add 3000 power to Kageruju (15000-18000)."

"Shapely Eyes Rue intercepts, then I guard (5000)!" Yui declares, blocking the attack.

"Kageruju's skill. At the end of a battle my rear-guard attacked, I can return it to my hand to make you put Enes into your hand. Then you have to choose a card in your hand to discard." Yui discards Enes, which she just returned.

"Ambush. Call Ibudanuki (G2/10000). Boosted by Jagunro, my other Ibudanki attacks the Vanguard (10000-18000). Using his skill, return my resting Kurononeko to my hand. Ambush. Call Kurononeko (G1/8000)."

"No guard…" Yui declares as the dog ninja takes a swipe at her Vanguard (Yui: [X][X][][][])

"Kageruju's skill, put Ibudanuki into my hand a return Lahti to your hand." Yui puts her unit into her hand and discards a card. Now her Vanguard is all alone. "Boosted by Kuroneko, Kageruju attacks the Vanguard (18000-26000). Kageruju's skill. Add 3000 power for each card you discarded this turn, and if you have four or fewer cards in your hand, Kageruju gets 1 critical (26000-32000/Crit 1-2)."

Yui looks at her hand and says to herself, "Even if I were to guard this, I wouldn't have any cards left to defend against her last unit." She gives in and declares, "No guard…"

"Triple Drive (none/none/Critical). Critical Trigger. All effects to Kageruju (32000-42000/Crit 2-3)." The dark red-skinned dragon rushes toward Yui's Vanguard as it holds both its katars beside its head. It does an "X" shaped slash as the mermaid screams in pain and flops to the floor before disintegrating, along with the rest of the holograms (Yui: [X][X][][][][]).

Yui looks up at Renka who proceeds to walk away. "Hey wait!" she exclaims as she jumps in front of the stoic girl, "You really are a strong fighter. We should be friends!"

"Friends?" Renka questions.

"Yeah! I may have lost, but I had a lot of fun, and I want to fight you again sometime!"

Renka looks down at her feet and mutters to herself, "Friends… Fun…" she then has some flashbacks to her younger life, where she has a bucket on her head and covered in water, or covered in chalk dust, or with her pants pulled down in the middle of a crowd. She snaps back to reality, grits her teeth, and clinches her fist.

She quickly settles down and walks away past Yui, who quickly turns around and shouts to her, "I-I can get stronger if I'm too weak for you!"

"Do what you want. I don't care." Renka replies, a little louder than she has been talking, and continues walking.

Yui holds out her hand. She wants to chase after her but decides that might not be the best course of action. She sighs and checks her Fighter's Royal app. Her points have hit 0. She also notices that Rina's points are also at 0. She sighs again when seeing this and says, "This isn't good… what are we going to do now?"

Back on top of the building that overlooks most of the city, Alex and Akiya stand across from each other as Alex asks, "Who told you about my father?!"

Akiya hesitates for a moment and says, "He's a man that knew your father very well. Ryuzu Myoujin. The very driving force of this tournament." Alex takes another step back hearing the name. Akiya then pulls his earbuds out of his pocket and walks past her as he says, "If you want to know more about your father, you're going to have to talk with him. However, he won't tell you anything unless you can prove that you can hold your own." He looks back at her and says, "Which means you're going to have to defeat me first."

"Grrrr…" Alex growls at him.

"If you really want to learn the truth about your father, then defeat me in the finals of the tournament. Only then, will Ryuzu talk." He puts his earbuds in and walks down the stairs waving his hand back at Alex. "Later."

Alex wants to chase after him, but she takes a deep breath and calms herself down, and tries to process all the information she just learned as the sun fully does down behind her. "Everyone knew?" she asks, "Then why didn't they tell me?" Just then, she hears her phone's notification sound. She pulls it out and opens the Fighter's Royal app to see that both her teammates are at 0 points. "They both lost?!" she exclaims. And with that, the first day of Fighter's Royal comes to a close… but there are still many mysteries in the air.

Ending Theme – Play the World (BOFURI Ending)

[Next Time]

It's day 2 of Fighter's Royal, Alex and her teammates meet up early to get a head start on the competition. Meanwhile, Yuji and Yusuke of Team Exodus follow a strange man who leads them into some kind of trap, and then challenges them to a two-on-one card fight! Next time on Vanguard X: "The World Ending Roar!" Don't miss it!

Message to the Reader, from Team K3:

Alex: Hi guys, thanks for reading another chapter, however, we have a bit of a problem.

Yui: You see, it's been so long since Vanguard X has seen any action, the author is getting a little concerned that anyone is even interested in this series anymore.

Rina: As such, it's a little disheartening to our author.

Alex: So we just ask you guys to do one simple thing. Please leave a review, or message him on the discord if you're on there that you are still enjoying this series. We want to know how many of you are still enjoying it.

Rina: If you read this chapter to the end, please leave a review. It would mean the world to us and the author to see that you guys are still interested.

Yui: Please? The author could really use some spirit right now.

Alex: He'll try to have the next chapter out as soon as he can, but until then, please let us know if you're still interested. That's it for now. Have a nice day.