As the school bell rang signaling the end of class Elizabeth began putting her books and the rest of her supplies in her backpack, a small smile on her face.

While she did this a number of her classmates were eyeing her out of the corner of their eyes, and whispering.

"Oi, is that really Elizabeth the ice queen humming over there?" A male asked.

"It is." His friend confirmed. "But seriously, what happened to her?"

"She's changed recently hasn't she?" A girl asked no one in particular.

"Her black hair is so beautiful, I'm really jealous of it." Another girl spoke.

"Do you think I can ask her out now that she's not as hostile as before?" A male asked his friends.

"Don't do it man." One of his friends said. "Despite her new looks she's still frosty. You'll get shot down quicker than you can blink if you risk it."

"Besides, haven't you noticed how she hangs out with Anthony, Eric, and some of the others who are really into vanguard?" His other friend asked him. "I heard a rumor that she's even joined a team to try and make it into the upcoming World Tournament." The male explained.

The whispers and conjectures went on and one.

And although Elizabeth pretended she couldn't hear any of it, it was in fact the opposite.

Her classmates weren't as quiet as they liked to believe.

However since Elizabeth had a thick skin for this sort of thing she paid it little attention. Instead she quickly finished packing her bag, before standing up and leaving school for the day.

Making her way outside Elizabeth spotted Cera and Anthony walking together. So she decided to walk up to them.

"Hey guys," she said.

"Hey." Cera said.

"What's up?" Anthony answered.

The three of them then made small talk as they left the school grounds. It was mostly about vanguard, but they also mentioned other topics such as the newest animes for the season and recents events in their favorite comic books series. Since all of them were into that stuff.

Cera and Elziabeth even exchanged information about shampoos and skin creams. But when that happened Anthony tuned it out.

He is a guy after all.

The three of them continued walking, heading straight for Victory. Everything was going fine, until suddenly their path became blocked.

Several girls walked out of a nearby alley and formed a wall in front of them.

Anthony raised a brow at this. "Sorry, but can we help you?" He asked.

"Boss, so good to see you again." A girl said, ignoring Anthony's question.

He would've told her off, but he chose not to. The reason being Elizabeth.

When one of the girls in front of him spoke the word boss Elizabeth turned as white as a sheet. She tried to speak but no words would come out of her mouth. Her entire body even started trembling.

Cera and Anthony had no words for what they were seeing. In the short time they had spent around Elizabeth they had never seen her act like this. So afraid and scared.

'Just what is going on?' Anthony thought. He was about to turn to the girls in front of him and ask some questions, but before he could another voice called out to Elizabeth.

"Hey, what's with that look Ellie, it looks like you've seen a ghost?"

The new voice belonged to another female.

She walked out of the alley and came into full view. She was their age with long raven-colored hair all the way to her mid-back, streaks of red intermixed within it. Her eyes were a deep brown. As for her attire she is wearing a black long-sleeve v-neck shirt, a red leather belt around her waist outside of her shirt, blue jeans, and dark brown ankle boots.

When Elizabeth saw the girl that came out of the alley, a look of recognition and guilt flashed across her face.

"Resa is that you?" Elizabeth asked the new girl.

"Don't call me that!" The girl known as Resa yelled at Elizabeth.

"Wait, Resa I don't want to fi-"

Slap!

Before Elizabeth could even finish her sentence Resa ran up to her and slap her hard across the face, causing her to fall to her knees, and let out a wince of pain.

Cera and Anthony's eyes widened in shock upon seeing this.

"Didn't I just say, you don't get to call me that!" Resa shouted at Elizabeth, anger evident in her tone.

Elizabeth didn't say anything back this time. She just kneeled on the ground, her hair covering her eyes, as she placed a hand on her now red cheek.

"What, can't you say anything?" Resa asked. She then snorted. "But I should expect nothing less from you. After all you are a traitor. Running away is your speciality. Hey, hey, have you run away from anyone else lately, well have you you co-"

"That's enough."

Resa stopped speaking and turned her gaze on the one who interrupted her speaking to Elizabeth.

Which was Cera.

"Sorry, but who are you?" Resa asked Cera.

"The friend of the person you're treating like dirt. Got a problem with that bitch?" Cera asked, her tone cold. She also narrowed her eyes at Resa and started excluding quite the aura. Because despite her doll-like appearance and small size, Cera can be quite frightening when anyone of anything she cares about is in danger.

That's why none of the other girls who came along with Resa moved in to assist her or said one word. Cera is just that scary in their eyes.

Eyeing Cera for a moment Resa didn't say anything. Then after a few seconds passed she did something completely unexpected given the situation.

She smiled.

"Fu, friends are you?" Resa asked Cera while pointed at Elizabeth.

"That's right." Cera answered. She even nodded as well.

"Really, with this loser?" Resa asked. She then sighed, turning to Elizabeth. Resa then reached down and used her fingers to lift up Elizabeth's chin, moving the hair out of her eyes.

When that happened everyone saw that tears were streaming down Elizabeth's face.

"You really have these people fooled huh?" Resa question in a curt manner. "You got them thinking that your friends, when we both know its all bullshit."

"But it's not...we're..are..friends. Just like y-"

Resa moved to slap Elizabeth again. But this time before she could she was the one hit. Cera used her bag to knock her back. She then moved in front of Elizabeth to protect her.

"What did I just say, do you need your ears cleaned out huh?" Cera asked Resa.

"Oh spunky, I like that." Resa said, recovering from being pushed back. "Even so, don't do that again or you'll regret it."

"No, I don't think I will." Cera retorted.

Invisible sparks started flying between the two.

Seeing that the situation was only going from bad to worse Anthony decided it was time to step in. He moved in between the two and held up his hands to both of them. "Ok, I think that's enough. Let's stop this now before it goes too far." He turned a hard gaze to Resa and her gang of girls. "And by that I mean you ladies need to go. Otherwise things might get messy."

"Hey, who are you?" Resa asked. "Are you Ellie's boyfriend or something?"

"I'm just her friend." Anthony answered. "Also stop that, she doesn't like to be called Ellie."

"Of course, because it reminds her of me. And the time she betrayed me." Resa said.

"But I didn't." Elizabeth started. But when she saw the hateful look Resa was giving her she backed down and didn't say another word.

"Yeah, that's what I thought." Resa said. She then turned her gaze back to Anthony. "Anyway cutie, step out of the way. This doesn't concern you. So leave now and we'll pretend like you were never here, ok?"

"Didn't I just say she was my friend Are you heard of hearing or something?" Anthony questioned.

"Snarky, and you look like the brainy-type. Yeah, Ellie's definitely got a thing for you or is developing one, you're the image of her perfect guy after all." Resa explained. "So since that's the case, how about you and I-"

"Hey, look at what's happening over there." A male voice said.

"Aren't those three from our school?" A girl asked. "It looks like they're in trouble."

A few students from Anthony and the other school came upon the scene and started watching it. They even started taking out their phones to get it on camera.

Seeing this Resa clicked her tongue. "Girls, let's go." She said. She then turned and started to walk away, along with the other girls. But before she did, she turned her head and looked Anthony straight in the eyes. "Oh one more thing before I go. Don't trust Ellie, because you'll just be disappointed in the end." With that Resa left.

When she did Anthony breathed a sigh of relief.

He then turned to Elizabeth to make sure she was ok, but noticed the hollow look in her eyes.

Which he didn't like seeing one bit.

Sitting at his desk at school Anthony looked out the window, a lot on his mind.

It's been a week since the incident with the girls and their leader named Resa took place.

And during that time Elizabeth hasn't been to school since.

The day after everything took place rumors instantly started flying around about Elizabeth and her path. People started talking, some even badmouthing her and saying the entire thing was her fault.

Anthony and the others did their best to quash the rumors, but even so the whispers still happened.

'Seriously, just what was that all about?' Anthony thought. He didn't understand most of it. But he knew that Elizabeth and the girl Resa shared a past. Though that's all he knew. Along with everyone else.

They had tried asking Elizabeth about it, but other than sending them a group text letting them know she was still alive, she didn't respond to any other calls or texts. None of them had even been to her house before, so they couldn't go there.

Basically they are almost completely in the dark about the whole thing. Which none of them liked one bit, seeing as Elizabeth had become their friend and they wanted to help her anyway that they could.

However it was proving more difficult the longer the days passed.

Anthony got through the rest of the day with ease.

He then started to pack up and get ready to go home after the last bell. But before he could he heard someone call out for him.

"Hey, is there an Anthony Blackwell in here?" A feminine voice asked.

Anthony stopped packing and turned towards the classroom door. There he saw a girl in the same year as him. She has short dark brown hair and deep green eyes.

Hearing her question Anthony raised his hand. "Ah, that would be me. Anthony Blackwell, right here." He said. Even though he has no idea who the girl calling out to him is.

The girl looked at Anthony and smiled. "Great." She said. She then walked up to him and grabbed his arm, and began dragging him off. "You're coming with me, no arguing."

Anthony wanted to argue actually, but decided against it.

He wanted to see what this whole thing was about.

"So, what's this all about?" Anthony asked the girl in front of him.

After she had come to his classroom and dragged him off, she took him to a local restaurant.

"The thing is...I'm terribly sorry!" The girl blurted out. She then started bowing her head to Anthony.

Which only made him even more confused.

"Please stop and explain the situation." Anthony said. He then took a sip of his milkshake to calm his nerves. The situation he is currently in is bad for them.

The girl lifted her head up. "Right, let's start from the beginning. My name is Allison Myers. A friend of Elizabeth's." She explained.

Anthony raised a brow at this. "You are a friend of Elizabeth's?" He questioned.

"Yeah, that so hard to believe?" The girl asked.

"Well, she's just…."Anthony didn't finish his sentence and instead put a wry smile on his face.

"Ok, I get what you mean." Allison said, understanding Anthony's reaction given Elizabeth's usual demeanor. "But believe me we are friends. Childhood friends to be exact. Like that girl you met the other day."

"So you're saying that girl is her childhood friend?" Anthony questioned, using a finger to adjust his glasses. "Really, her?"

Allison nodded. She then sighed. "Her name is Teresa Holice. She, Ellie, and I are childhood friends. But due to certain events she and Ellie have really bad blood."

"Yeah, I saw that the other day." Anthony mused. "So, is that you called me out like this?"

Allison nodded. "Yep, that's right. You see, ever since things went bad between them I've been trying to fix it. Unfortunately I'm not having any luck at all. In part due to the fact that both of them are so damn stubborn, but that's beside the point. The thing is Elizabeth started going back to the way she youst to be after agreeing to play vanguard with you and your friends. When she was telling me about you guys her eyes lit up, and I was really happy for her too. But then Teresa heard about her, and things ended up like this. Which is why I sought you out. I think you and the others could help them where I failed. So, how about it, want to hear more about Elizabeth's past?"

"Yes." Anthony immediately answered.

Elizabeth is his friend now and although they hadn't known each other for very long he wanted to help her out.

"Ok then, but just so you know it's not a pretty story," Allison said. A bit of sadness in her voice.

She then started the story.

When Elizabeth was thirteen years old her mother passed away.

Apparently she had been battling cancer since Elizabeth was eight. Everything was going well, and then it wasn't. Her mother took a turn for the worst and in just under a month, she was gone.

Right as Elizabeth was getting ready to start middle school.

It's the reason she started acting out. It's also the reason she beat up on a classmate, getting her kicked out of her first middle school.

Allison and Teresa tried to talk to her, but Elizabeth didn't want to talk to anybody. She just wanted to be angry, and so being the friends that they were both Teresa and Sera supported Elizabeth as best they could.

However Allison drew the line during their second-year of middle school.

That's when Elizabeth started skipping classes and going to places that hosted illegal cardfights.

Anthony knew what those wore. Cardfights were fighters bet their best cards, money, and even other items of value. If you won you got everything, and if you lost you got nothing. It was either success or failure.

Elizabeth didn't care what Allison thought, she still went to do illegal cardfight matches anyway and made quite the reputation for herself. She became known in the underground circuit as the Queen of Darkness since she uses Shadow Paladin and for her eye and hair color.

As for Teresa, she also joined Elizabeth on the underground fight circuit and became known as the Witch of the Dusk, given her usage of Shadow Paladin and their witches.

However Teresa didn't like fighting on the underground circuit one bit. She was only there to support Elizabeth.

Teresa had always been a crybaby since she was little. Which made her an easy target for bullies. That is until she met Elizabeth who became her friend and started protecting her. Allison did that as well, but she knew that the bond between Teresa and Elizabeth was deeper, however she wasn't jealous, but glad for her friends.

Anyway in no time at all Elizabeth and Teresa became quite popular in the vanguard underworld. Before they knew it they had people wanting to follow them, and in no time at all formed their own gang called Twin Shadows.

Things weren't great, but they were getting bye.

That is until a certain event took place.

During the summer right before she entered highschool Elizabeth ended up chasing a girl into traffic and she got hit by a car.

The girl survived and showed signs of a full recovery, but that was a wakeup call for Elizabeth. She finally began dealing with her mother's death properly. It was thanks to this breakthrough that she decided to stop competing on the underground fight circuit. She started to distance herself from that life.

She also asked Teresa to do the same.

But Teresa didn't walk away. She called Elizabeth selfish and blamed her for dragging her into something she didn't even want to do in the first place.

This led to a big fight between the two, and they had a falling out.

"And so that's the story." Allison finished. She then took a sip of her drink. "It's been close to two-years since then. And during that time Elizabeth started to close herself off to people, meanwhile Teresa sunk deeper into the shadows and the air is only getting murkier as time goes on."

Anthony took off his glasses and set them on the table. He then began rubbing his temple. "We had no idea. I had no idea, heh, some friend I am right?"

"Don't beat yourself up about it." Allison said. "Elizabeth isn't the best at sharing and all these wounds are still incredibly fresh. The fact that she's even functioning normally at all is a miracle in my book. I know vanguard has a large part to do with it. I also know that you guys befriending her despite everything that's happened is something she needs, even if she denies it. So don't give up on her."

"I wasn't planning on it." Anthony said. He then put back on his glasses. "So on that note, do you know where she lives?"

"We're next door neighbors actually." Allison said.

Anthony nodded at this.

That's just what he needed at the moment.

As the alarm on her phone went off Elizabeth reached from underneath her covers and pushed the button to turn it off. She then pulled her hand back into the folds, and stopped moving altogether.

A few seconds after she did this her bedroom door was opened by a man in his 40's. He has blonde hair and blue eyes, along with a goatee. This man is Elizabeth's father, Leon Greenhouse Smith.

Ironically he is also a doctor.

"Elizabeth dear, are you going to school today?" Leon asked his daughter.

"No." Elizabeth simply answered.

"Alright then." Leon said.

He then closed the door to his daughters' room and sighed once he had.

Leon knew it had been a week since his daughter had been to school, and he was worried for her. But he also knew what she happened through over the past three years and didn't want to push her too fast too far.

It also didn't help that just like Elizabeth, Leon was not good at communicating his feelings. In fact he knew that she had inherited that trait from him and didn't like it one bit. He would rather she take more after her mother, his late wife Madelyne when it came to expressing her emotions.

However that was not the case.

"Madelyne, please let me find a way to help our daughter through this." Leon murmured to himself.

He then headed towards his room to get ready for the day.

The entire day passed and Elizabeth had only gotten up from her bed to use the bathroom. Other than that she laid under her covers, her thoughts and emotions a complete mess.

As she was thinking about what to do next the door to her room suddenly slammed open and the lights were flipped on. Then before she could even respond, the covers were yanked off her.

She knew of her only person currently in her life who would be so brazen.

Turning over, Elizabeth had an annoyed expression on her face. "Allison, how many times have I t-"

Elizabeth stopped talking.

That's because it was not just Allison in her room. There was also Anthony, Eric, Cera, and Christina as well.

Seeing them all Elizabeth became speechless.

"Rise and shine sleepy head." Allison mused.

"No." Elizabeth said. She finally recollected herself and reached for her covers. "All of you, go away."

"No." Cera said. She threw the covers out of reach of Elizabeth. "We're not going anywhere."

"Why, it's not like we're friends." Elizabeth bluntly said.

"No, we are." Eric retorted.

"Heh," Elizabeth chuckled. "Yeah right. You guys just wanted me to fill a spot on your team. Nothing more and nothing less. I don't need whatever this is, so you can get out of my house right now."

"We're not leaving." Christina said.

"Elizabeth, Allison told us everything. And I mean everything." Anthony said.

Elizabeth's eyed widened at that for a moment. But then she put a caustic smile on her face. "So it's all out huh? Well that's great. So once again, why are you all here? Is this pity, because I don't need your pity! So just leave my house!" She shouted.

But no one moved.

Except Cera that is.

She moved closer to Elizabeth and wrapped her in a hug.

"What, get off me." Elizabeth said. She tried to escape Cera's hug, but she just pulled her in tighter.

"It's fine." Cera gently said. "You must be really lonely. Holding all of it in. So you can let it out, because we're here for you."

"Stop lying." Elizabeth said. "We're not friends. I don't even want to be friends with you guys. And I know no one wants to be friends with a person like me. A person who abandons others, a person who chases people into traffic, a person who runs away from their problems. I'm not friend material."

"Yes, you are." Eric said. "Listen you went through some hard stuff, and you fell down. It happens to people all the time. But what's important is you got back up."

"No!" Elizabeth shouted. "I didn't get back up, I simply ran away again! And thanks to that Resa.." Elizabeth trailed off.

"Teresa what?" Christina asked.

"I'm not going to say anymore." Elizabeth murmured.

That's when Allison walked up to her and flicked her on the forehead.

"Ow!" She screamed.

"That's for lying. So just stop and say what you really mean!" Allison demmaned. "Also stop saying that, Resa doesn't hate you."

"But she won't even talk to me!" Elizabeth shouted. "How am I supposed to make up with her, to apologize, to be friends with her again if she looks at me with those eyes every time we cross paths, huh?!" She shouted.

"Well, we're just going to have to make her listen then." Anthony said. "So, you can say what you really want, because as your friends we'll back you up. All the way."

"Yeah, we're here for you." Christina added.

"The same." Cera said. "We're more alike than you think."

"Just hurry it up." Eric said. "If you keep this up we won't get to see who the better cardfighter is."

Hearing everyone's words Elizabeth was overcome with immense happiness. In truth she wanted friends, but didn't want another situation like the one with Teresa to occur so she distanced herself from people.

But it looks like she had made some friends without even realizing it.

These bonds broke the shackles around her heart, and started to allow her to properly heal.

"Wah!" Elizabeth started crying. "I want to be friends with Teresa again!" She cried. "I want to talk to Resa again like before."

No one said a word as Elizabeth cried her eyes out.

Everyone just listened as their friend poured out her inner hopes and dreams.

When it was all over Elizabeth smiled. "Thank you." She whispered.

"No problem, it's what friends are for." Eric said.

"Eric is right, we're always going to have your back." Anthony said.

"Thank you." Elizabeth repeated. She then started blushing a bit. "Also, you can call me Ellie if you want."

'Too cute!' Anthony thought. He almost felt the cuteness he was seeing at the moment was going to cause his heart to burst. But it didn't.

"Ok, well then I guess we should be going." Eric said.

He then grabbed onto Anthony because he was standing their frozen like a statue, and began dragging him out of the room. "We'll see you later. Stay safe, and come back to school. We miss you there."

The two of them then left, leaving the girls alone.

Once they did Allison put a knowing smile on her face. "Wow Ellie, he's a good catch."

"What?!" Elizabeth questioned, her cheeks turning redder by the second. "No, Anthoiny and I aren't like that!"

"Ah, who said I was talking about Anthony?" Allison said, her smirk growing by the second.

"It's not like that!" Elizabeth cried. She looked towards Christina and Cera for help, but both girls also had knowing smiles on their faces.

The stimulation was too much for Elizabeth and she ended up passing out, a trail of steam coming out of her ears.

Sitting on her bed in her room Teresa was staring at an object in her hand.

It was a string bracelet with the letters BFF as cubes stringed together on it.

The bracelet was one pair of a set, the other belonging to Elizabeth.

She and Teresa had made them together in grade school as a symbol that they would always be friends no matter what.

"Huh," Teresa sighed. She has been doing it a lot lately. She has also been thinking about Elizabeth and how things between them hadn't been the same over the past two years.

"Maybe...maybe I should give her a chance." Teresa mused.

"Mhm, I wouldn't do that."

"Ah!" Teresa screamed. She then jumped off her bed and looked around her room. That's because she had just heard someone speaking to her, but she was alone. "Who's there, who said that?"

"Look at your desk."

The voice said again.

Since it was distorted Teresa didn't know who was speaking to her, but she decided to find out. So she looked on her desk, only to see her vanguard deck case glowing with a strange light.

"This isn't real, this is all a strange dream." She murmured to herself.

"My dear, but it's not." The voice spoke once more. This time clear as day, though still littered with distortion. "This is very much real."

"Go away, go away right now!" Teresa shouted. She placed her hands over her ears to down out of the voice, and ended up falling on her but into a cradle position, rocking herself back and forth.

"Fufu, come on darling, there's no need to fear me. I'm here to help you." The voice said. "And unlike your other two so-called friends I won't abandon you."

"No one abandoned me." Teresa denied.

"Now we both know that's a lie." The voice said.

In the next second Teresa's deck case exploded with energy, and a dark shadow humanoid form came into existence. Seeing this Teresa became frozen in fear, her persona from earlier completely gone. Now she began crying, just like she had since she was little.

"Leave me alone." Teresa pleaded.

The shadow humanoid didn't listen. Instead it moved toward Teresa with ease. But it didn't attack her. Instead it simply went behind her and wrapped its arms around her neck, leaning its head on her shoulder.

"Like I said, I won't hurt you. I want to be your friend." The creature spoke.

"My friend?" Teresa questioned.

"Yes, your friend. A true friend who will never abandon you. Unlike Elizabeth."

"No!" Teresa denied. "Ellie isn't like that at all. She-"

"-Left you all alone to be a part of a world you didn't even want to join in the first place." The voice interrupted. "So selfish of her. You must've been so scared, so alone, so afraid."

"Y-yes." Teresa admitted.

"There, there," the creature said, trying to pet Teresa's head. "It's alright, now that I'm here that won't ever happen again."

"Ah, thank you." Teresa said. Though her voice had become robotic, and slowly the light was leaving her eyes. "So, you'll stay with me forever, and never leave?"

"Yes, that's right." The creature said. "And also I'll help you get revenge. Revenge on those who abandon you. Just put your faith in me."

"Alright, I will do as you say." Teresa robotically spoke.

"Such a good girl." The voice said.

It then started chuckling as all the energy started entering into Teresa's body, her face marred as screaming during the entire thing.

A/N:

That's chapter nine folks.

Also I know it might be a bit fast with Elizabeth's backstory, but I needed to get it done to advance to the next stage of the plot. Which will link really well with the ending, but that's still a bit far off. Though just so you know, it's not going to be boring at all.

Next Time: Things are finally starting. The Vanguard World Tournament is about to begin. First up is the preliminaries. As the various competitors gather, Team Victories gets a glimpse of what they will need to face in order to even make it into the main tournament.

The Preliminaries Begin