Vanguard: Light Speed
Chapter 30
Purity of the Void
After narrowly defeating Team Aero Dreamers, of whom who were fighting for a better reason than I was at the time... Dalette and I hurried to where Team Resurgence was fighting the guys with the nerve to call themselves Team Red Star only to find out they weren't pretenders, but the world championship team themselves. We had arrived just in time to see Tsubasa of Team Resurgence defeat Micheal Yermakov in an overwhelming come from behind win.
"The... the... The match is over! Unbelievably Team Resurgence takes the first win against the world champions! There may be two more fights to go, but what an upset! Just how could things possibly get more exciting!" the commentator for this fight screamed.
Both teams had a lot to say to their allies, however Micheal was the first of the two to reach their team's bench turned dugout so I'll start with him first.
"Sorry... for embarrassing the team like this captain." Micheal says to Sebastian, but he looked less guilty about losing and looked more like he had a blast in his match against Tsubasa.
"Was she strong?" Sebastian asks.
"Very." Micheal answered.
"Did you enjoy the fight?" Sebastian asks in confidently smug tone of voice.
"You only need to look at my face to know the answer to that." Micheal retorts as he points to the large grin on his face.
"Ha... then you have nothing to feel bad about." Sebastian said as he gives off a slight chuckle in response to his teammate's answer.
"Respectfully... I disagree with your assessment of the situation Sebastian. We have several sponsors as the world champions... so we can't afford to show any sign of weakness. Losing a single fight at a regional tournament... a foreign one at that certainly counts." Jasmine points out as she on the other hand was apathetic to her teammate's defeat.
"Yeah yeah miss bossy pants." Micheal mumbles as he sits down on the bench, "I know it won't happen, but I'm kind of hoping that I'll be selected to fight twice."
That obviously didn't happen as the title of this entry should indicate, but getting back on topic... Tsubasa had far more trouble handling the results of her victory than Micheal did handling the results of his defeat.
"Amazing Tsubasa... I can't believe that you were actually able to beat a member of the world championship team!" Nikki said as she was obviously happy for her teammate's victory.
"Yeah.. it is... approve of you more now as our leader's right hand." Will said though he was referring to a different kind of approval than what one would expect.
"As... if I need your approval." Tsubasa mumbles.
They didn't see it at first since Tsubasa had kept her head down walking back to her team's side of the field, however once she actually sat down... both Nikki and Will could see that Tsubasa was out of breath and sweating as if she'd just been in a marathon.
"Here..." Nikki said as she passes Tsubasa a bottle of water while Will passes her a small towel.
"Thanks..." Tsubasa says after she takes a swig of the water and wipes the sweat of her face, "That bastard Micheal..."
When Tsubasa had stated the latter of those two sentences... she looked like a huntress that had her eyes locked onto her pray.
"What about him?" Nikki asks as despite how Tsubasa normally behaves she rarely actually swears.
"He's the weakest fighter on their team... yet that bastard is ridiculously strong. Fight may have looked like it was back and forth... but I thought it was a matter of time before I lost. I know I don't look it, but I'm shocked I won." Tsubasa explains to her teammate's as her breathing steadily returns to normal.
Between fights at an official Vanguard tournament there's always a short intermission ranging from a few minutes to an hour in length. I can't speak for other countries, but in the case of regional tournaments here in the US the breaks are only a few minutes. That was still more than enough time for me to get Virgil and Raphugio to explain to me and Dalette why a Russian Vanguard team was in a US regional tournament.
"Okay now that we have time... why the hell is Team Red Star here?" Dalette asks as she was actually the one to start this line of questioning.
"Yeah I mean... you'd think there would be a bigger crowd here in response to this." I point out.
"Don't forget Kiba... we all thought it was just going to be a bunch of fakers too." Virgil retorts.
"Anyways... we came over here just like the boss lady said and..." Raphugio was saying as he triggers the start of the ever classic flashback sequence.
When Raphugo and Virgil actually walked into this space the seats were only 5/8ths of the way full, but they also saw several faces that they recognized to be members of the other teams competing in this regional tournament. Like us, our competition was curious as to the identity of the people we thought were just ripping off the team name of the world champions.
"So where should we sit?" Virgil asks.
"The seats near the empty dugout seem good seeing as how it's the closest to this entrance and it has the most empty seats.
"Say... you think Kiba and Dalette will be fine?" Raphugio asks.
"Don't worry... between Kiba's new decks and Dalette's skills... they'll be fine." Virgil retorts as he casually dismisses the issue.
"Yeah I guess your right." Raphugio notes as he scans the battle floor to see whether or not both teams were in the arena, "Looks like the other team is missing."
As for the team that was actually here... well I'll leave for my friends to point out not that it's any surprise.
"Hey... there's that Nikki chick who fought Jacob!" Virgil yelled as he pointed to the dugout with an actual team sitting on it.
Upon that proclamation of Virgil's, the people sitting next to him and Raphugio turned their heads in the direction he was pointing only for them to find that he was right and have the cycle repeat itself throughout the bleachers.
"That Will guy who thrashed Teresa is there too!" one of the guys sitting near my friends yelled.
As Dalette and I were told or rather will be told at this point in the flashback, the word that the mysterious fighters of the equally mysterious Team Resurgence that everyone has been talking about over the internet spread like wildfire. Within minutes a steady stream of people started to come in, and of course the people already on the battlefield noticed what was going on as well.
"If all the people are any indication... I guess the match will be starting soon. Still I wonder where the heck are our opponents?" Nikki points out as the stream of people walking in become easily noticed background noise.
"Probably... say Nikki, could you wake up Tsubasa? I'd do it myself, but I'd rather not have her bite me again." Will asks.
For whatever reason known only to her, Tsubasa was asleep sitting up on her team's bench turned dugout.
"Tsu... wake up... wake up... wake up." Nikki says over and over again as she gently shakes her team's number 2 awake but to no avail, "Oh for the love of... I have some crispy bacon."
Yes Nikki really did say that in order to get Tsubasa to wake up... she apparently has an odd obsession with bacon.
"Where?!" Tsubasa mumbles as her eyes just shoot open before scanning the room around her, "Where's Aby? I know she was here before I fell asleep."
"Said she had to go somewhere all of a sudden, but didn't say where." Will answers.
"She said she should be back by the end of the first fight... assuming that she's not actually the one selected to fight first." Nikki interjects.
"You realize that this is Abby we're talking about? The biggest air-headed ditz ever?" Tsubasa points out as she highly doubts that things will be as simple as their leader proclaimed.
You wouldn't begin to believe the stories I could say about Aby in that regards, but before either Nikki or Will could say something... the lights darken, a little music starts playing, a judge walks up to the center line of the playing field, and a hired commentator does a quick sound check of his mic.
"Good afternoon everyone! With a few first round matches left to go and second round fights already underway... lets not keep any of you waiting any longer." the commentator announced.
"About time." Tsubasa mumbles.
"Ha ha... you have no right to complain... you've been asleep the entire time." Will chuckled just short of actually busting out laughing.
"This first round match will be between the mysterious group of fighters that's been on everyone's lips, Team Resurgence!" the commentator yelled.
It was no where near as fancy as our introduction sequence in our first round fight, however upon the announcement of their team name a spotlight started shining down upon the members of Team Resurgence; of which made their appearance clear to those who couldn't see them before.
"Their opponents are... not here." the commentator pointed out as his announcing momentum was destroyed upon the sight of the empty bench.
"If the members of Team Red Star don't show up in the next three minutes, then by official tournament guidelines they'll be disqualified." the judge declared as he didn't care whether or not this Team Red Star was the real thing or a bunch of impostors.
Before they were proven otherwise, there were several people who thought that this Team Red Star was just a bunch of people ripping off a name that they didn't deserve.
"I bet these guys couldn't live through with their little scam." says one of the people siting in the stands.
"The real real Team Red Star probably heard about what was going on and had the fakers dealt with." another young man sitting in the stands said.
"Ha ha... yeah I bet they're rotting in some gulag somewhere in the motherland." a friend of that young man chuckles.
"Team Red Star shall be officially disqualified for tardiness in five... four... three... two... on-" the judge was saying as his eyes were drawn to the watch around his wrist.
"Wait!" a voice with a heavy Russian accent yells from the hallway competitors would use to enter the fighting floor, "I apologize for our tardiness, but it was rather difficult to walk in here without causing a scene."
"Ah well that..." was all the commentator could say until he actually saw the team walking in.
The commentator just dropped his mic as the room went completely silent due to the tension in the room suddenly rising. The fighters here who were actually capable of sensing this change to its full effect wondered why this was happening at a regional tournament, but they as well as everyone else watching found the answer to that question when the sound of footsteps continued to grow louder... and finally stopped once the people who made them walk into view.
"Team Red Star, at your service." Sebastian said offering a respectful bow to the crowd of Vanguard as Micheal and Jasmine stood behind.
"It... it seams that instead of the fakes everyone expected... we'll get to watch the fight of the world Champions themselves!" the commentator yelled as the crowd went crazy.
"Ahem... I know all of you are shocked to see us here at the regional tournament of what is to us a foreign country." Sebastian points out after he gets the commentator to give him his mic, "In order to make this year's US national tournament more exciting, Alexander Verde invited us as guest competitors but we said no."
At that comment, several people were thinking "If you said no than why are you here?" An understandable reaction, but it was one that Sebastian would easily explain.
"We of Team Red Star have risen to the top year after year after making it through the regional level, the national level, and finally the world stage just like the champions before us. To be in the main tournament without having worked for it is an insult to everyone that dreams of reaching the stage that we have! Which is why... we have agreed to enter as guest competitors on the condition that we start from the bottom up like everyone else." Sebastian explained in the most charismatic tone he was capable of.
It was amazing how all of the people watching Sebastian were hanging on his every word. The man may very well be as skilled Orator as he is a fighter.
"Now to you our opponents..." Sebastian says in the mic as he turns to face the members of Team Resurgence, "Let's have a good fight!"
The proceedings from that point on was actually straight forward for once. Tsubasa acted in Abygail's place for the traditional meet and greet between captains, she was then selected to fight Micheal first, and then as you saw in my last entry Dalette and I came along to witness the end of the fight.
"And... that's pretty much what happened before you guys got here." Virgil said as he finished his long winded and highly detailed retelling of recent events.
"Looks like things will only be getting more exciting from here." I mumble in response.
"Shhh..." Dalette whispers as she holds one finger in front of her mouth, "They're about to announce the pairing for the next fight."
Just as it has been for all of the matches... at least at this regional tournament that when it came time for the next pair of fighters to be announced, they'd have their attention drawn to the large monitors placed in each of these halls where names would be shuffled together with the assistance of some kind of visual animation. In any case the names that are brought forth this time are...
"The second fight will be between Abygail Ingrid and... oh my... Sebastian Glazkov of Team Red Star!" the commentator yelled.
With that announcement, it was as if the crowd got a proverbial shot in the arm when they started cheering even louder than before. There were several recordings of Sebastian's fights up until this point and he won each fight with skill, but he never used his true clan in any of them as he's admitted on several occasions. That was the topic on everyone's mind... would the world champ use his true clan in a lowly regional tournament?
"She's the captain!" I yell as I stand up from my seat out of shock.
"You know her?" Virgil asks.
"Yeah..." I answer as I sit back down after realizing I had caused a unnecessary amount of eyes to be drawn towards me.
Keep in mind that I reacted this way at the time because I didn't know Abygail was involved... or rather I suspected she was, but I refused to believe it.
"Hmmm... so I take it that Abygail Ingrid is the name of your captain?" Sebastian asks the members of Team Resurgence once he realized there was no one standing in the MF system across from him.
"Yeah... I may have only barely been able to beat the weakest of the three of you, but Aby is way stronger than any of us so don't expect it to be an easy fight." Tsubasa declared as she had absolute confidence in her captain's ability, but at the same time was also thinking "Arghhhhhh! You silver haired balloon headed idiot, where the heck are you?!"
"If your captain doesn't show up within the next few seconds then she'll lose the match by default." the judge proclaimed as it was clear that he was a real stickler for the rules.
"Now now we were a few minutes late ourselves, so it's only fair to offer my opponent the same courtesy." Sebastian points out as he both really didn't mind waiting and refused to win a fight by default.
"None the less... you all still arrived within the allotted time allowed by tournament regulations, but said time happens to be less for the individual fights themselves. Now if the captain of Team Resurgence show up within that time frame... then there will be no problem." the judge retorts as he wasn't going to make an exception even for the world champion.
"But I've been here for the past few seconds... I've just been waiting for the judge to say we can start the fight." a certain extremely air-headed girl said.
"Hmm... ahhh!" the judge yelled as his heart rate went up once he realized the source of that voice was standing next to him.
Of course that air head was a certain young woman we all know now with long silver hair wearing a worn blue school blazer, of whom was even able to surprise a few people sitting in the stands despite them having a wider view of the area.
"There goes her bad habit again." Nikki mumbles as she just shakes her head.
The bad habit that Nikki was referring to was that due to the mass of air in between her ears, Abygail sometimes subconsciously hides her presence if not greatly suppresses it... causing people quite a scare when it seems like she had just appeared out of thin air. I'm told she gets it from her father, of whom apparently scared a lot of his schoolmates in his youth.
"I see... ahem... then can you please return to your side of the field so we can get things under way?" the judge asks as he at least superficially made the attempt to regain his composure.
You're late!" Tsubasa yelled as she wasn't sure whether or not she should hug her captain for avoiding a loss by default or throttle her because Team Resurgence almost lost a fight by default.
"Sorry sorry... it took me a little longer to powder my nose than I thought it would to powder my nose." Abygail chuckles as she innocently dismisses the issue.
If a normal woman said that just now you'd assume she was simply talking about going to the bathroom, however with this woman it's hard to tell whether or not she's being metaphorical or literal half the time.
"Now let's get things started." Abygail mumbles to herself as she takes out a pair of worn fight gloves.
I believe I've said it before, but some teams still get them made for what they represent even though they're no longer necessary to make MF systems work. It takes less than a minute for Abygail to half her starting Vanguard set face down and her opening hand set up, but Sebastian on the other hand is wresting his chin on his fingers as he appears to have his mind wrapped around some serious issue.
"Is something a matter?" Abygail asks as even someone like her finds this behavior unusual.
"Surprisingly I can't decide what deck to use this time." Sebastian explained as unzipped his jacket revealing that he had at least 6 or 7 different decks attached to the inner-right side, "I guess a little of this kind of indecisiveness it to be expected."
"Your real deck of course... I built the one I'm using right now to beat your real deck in case we ended up facing one another." Abygail retorts.
"That implies you already knew that we've been invited as guest competitors for the national tournament." Sebastian points out as he's rather intrigued by Abygail's choice of words.
"We've all known for at least 2 weeks." Abygail counters.
"I guess it wouldn't be hard to get someone on Mr. Verde's personal staff to talk if they knew what buttons to press, but I've only shown my real deck to Micheal and Jasmine... so you see there's no way you could know it." Sebastian notes as he initially dismisses the notion as nothing more than a joke.
"Your G-Zone consists of a 2/4/2 line up starting from the rarest card to the least rare. The last two of which are the only two that don't have the name of your clan's Generation Break 2 main written on it." Abygail points out as she shows that she's capable of walking the walk so to speak.
"I see... so it looks like you weren't joking... very well I'll use it, but I hope you'll have the skills to warrant it." Sebastian smirks slightly enamored by Abygail's behavior as he sticks his hand inside the left side of his jacket, "But I have to ask... how do you know this?"
"My mama was what anime fans would call an ojou-sama... so actually I guess that would make me one too, but anyways they have a lot of business contacts all over the world including your nation's government. Anyways all it took was for me to ask my mama a favor who in turn asked my grandpa for a favor." Abygail explained.
"At the very least your team seems to have far greater information gathering ability than one would expect of a relatively unknown team." Sebastian smirks as his eyes starts to transform into that of one who seeks battle, "I knew there was a chance I'd have to fight since the first round was set to an ARMU format, but now... I'm looking forward to this more than I thought I would."
"Well I do think it's important to try and make the best of... oh... did I forget to close the refrigerator this morning?" Abygail seemingly randomly blurts out as Sebastian goes through the pre-fight preparatory motions, "Anyways it's important to try and make the best of a bad situation.
"I can't tell if you're doing it intentionally or not, but I can tell... you're strong even if everyone else can't because of your personality. Most of the people here probably think the tension skyrocketed because I'm fighting." Sebastian points out as he's effectively acknowledging Abygail's skill before the fight begins, "But no... some of the smarter fighters watching us will have realized the tension rose the moment you walked in the room."
"Is he right boss lady? Can you tell?" I ask.
"Yeah... look." Dalette said as she lifts up her left hand and shows us how badly its shaking, "Every time I focus my attention on this Abygail... this happens."
As records of her fights should indicate... our boss lady is very strong, so for her to act this way... we thought that at the time that would mean Abygail was even stronger then her. If you thought the tension was bad now... well know that it's nothing compared to how it would be if my ex dropped the facade and fought seriously.
"Are the both of you ready?" the judge asks.
"Of course." Abygail answers whilst and I kid you not was thinking, "Oh dear I think I really did leave the refrigerator open."
"Da." Sebastian replies as he says yes in his native tongue.
"Then let this fight between captains begin!" the judge declared.
"Stand up,Vanguard!" Abygail yelled.
"Stand up nash Vanguard!" Sebastian yelled.
For those of you who don't speak Russian, "Nash" means "Our" in English.
The battlefield that took form this time was a lifelessly white moon floating in the middle of a sea of purple interstellar clouds, shining stars as far as the eye can see, and finally as well as perhaps the most worrisome are the series of planets with giant red rings surrounding them.
"Shining Knight, Millius [Power: 5000]!" Abygail declared.
"Spawn of the Spiral Nebula [Power: 5000]!" Sebastian declared.
"To those of you watching at home, do not touch your remotes. You are seeing here for the first time... the true deck of the world champion here today!" the commentator screams into his microphone.
"That's..." I was about to say when I get a migraine due to what I suspect was my subconscious recalling the nightmare I mentioned in an earlier entry.
"Yeah..." Dalette whispers thinking I had only gone speechless, "Link Joker... and if that unit is Sebastian's starter... then there's only one card that could possibly be his ace... still how could he have possibly have gotten it?"
"Oh... so it was Link Joker after all." Abygail mumbles as she seems honestly surprised by Sebastian's starting vanguard.
"I thought you already knew." Sebastian retorts.
"All my grandpa could find out was what I told you a minute ago about your G-Zone and it was only a gut feeling, but I can't believe I was right." Abygail said as she feels like a mature girl that was just proven to be immature.
"So all of it was a bluff to get me to use my real deck?" Sebastian asks.
"Yeah." Abygail answers, "One that clearly worked better than I expected."
"Ha ha ha... I'm even more interested in what goes on through that head of your now. Alright... I wasn't planning on it, but now I'm going to come at you full throttle." Sebastian said as his eyes finishes their transformation.
By transformation, I'm referring to the look in Sebastian's eyes slowly changing to match the one Isaac had on his face when he clashed with Jacob. He had the look of a fighter who found their destined rival... and that fight had only just started.
"Abygail Ingrid will go first." the judge ordered.
"I ride Laurel Knight, Silicus [Power: 7000], and now I'll move my Millius behind my vanguard." Abygail says in a tone that was as if this move was an epiphany sent to her by god.
"I ride Lady Battler of the White Dwarf [Power: 7000], then I move Nebula to the back row, and now I'll use her to boost and attack your vanguard [Total: Power: 12000]!" Sebastian declared.
"I have no reason to block the first attack, soooooo no guard." Abygail said.
[Drive Check – Asteroid Wolf – Critical Trigger]
"I give all effects to Lady Battler of the White Dwarf [New Total: 17000 2 Crit]!" Sebastian declared.
This Lady Battler just waves her arms in order to summon several dark red spheres with a black core made of who knows what kind of energy... and then it took another wave of this Lady Battler's arms to send them flying at Silicus like a storm of arrows.
[Damage Check – Margal – Draw Trigger]
[Damage Check – Margal – Draw Trigger]
"Lucky me... double draw trigger get... +10000 to my vanguard, and I can draw two cards." Abygail said like she just discovered the greatest shoe sale on earth.
Just for the sake of avoiding any potential confusion, of course Abygail went through the motions of revealing the trigger, drawing, and then repeating.
"As expected of the world champion, Sebastian was able to pull a first attack f! Still... Abygail got two draw triggers in response... perhaps this is her deck's way of giving herself a handicap so she'll at least make the world's strongest fighter flex his muscles." the commentator yelled into his mic as unlike with Tsubasa he believes Abygail is 100% guaranteed to lose.
"Hey, don't belittle our leader like that! In fact why don't I show you how you should treat her." Tsubasa yelled as she looked like she was about to knock the commentator to the ground and kick his face in.
In fact Nikki and Will were so worried about Tsubasa doing this that they were sitting on both sides of her... ready in fact to tackle her to the ground if necessary. You'd think they wouldn't need to do that, but there have been a few incidents not covered by the media.
"I hope your first offensive will be able to take advantage of your luck then... I end my turn." Sebastian retorts.
Abygail – Sebastian
7 – Hand – 6
0 – Soul – 0
2 – Damage – 0
0 – Counterblast – 0
F(0) U(8) – G-Zone – F(0) U(8)
Empty / Empty – Empty / Empty
Shining Knight, Millius / Laurel Knight, Silicus – Lady Battler of the White Dwarf, Spawn of the Spiral Nebula
Empty / Empty – Empty / Empty
"I know that your deck uses one of the game's legendary grade three units, so I believe it's only fair that I show you a legendary unit of my own." Abygail said as she contemplated what card to play next like how one would think about what purse to try on.
"Granted Blue Sky Knight, Altmile is a very famous card... but I personally wouldn't go as far as calling it legendary." Sebastian points out having apparently made an assumption about Abygail's deck based on her starter.
"I have the same opinion about him as well, but I never said that he was the ace of this deck." Abygail retorts.
"Well you still have to wait until your next turn to play one of the Royal Paladin's legendary grade 3 units. I mean the only thing you could show me at grade 2 is..." Sebastian said as he has an epiphany as well mid-sentence, but his was more shocking in nature once he realized what card Abygail was talking about.
"Yes... it's that one." Abygail said with a wide smile in order to confirm whatever Sebastian's suspicions were, "Just watch and find out."
Up until this point I've seen Abygail fight several times, however I had absolutely no idea as to what card Sebastian was suddenly worried about or what card my ex was about to play. Little did I know that she would play something that would cause this regional tournament to be remembered as one of the greatest in US Vanguard Tournament history.
"Illuminate the world in light, my avatar! I ride Blaster Blade [Power: 9000]!" Abygail yelled.
I could go into surreptitious detail about every curve and crevice of this legendary grade 2 unit's appearance, but Blaster Blade has proven himself to be a unit that requires no description as proven by the billions of views of hundreds of recordings of the dozens of fighters who have proven themselves worthy to wield him over the course of the past few decades.
"I don't believe it... but the leader of the unknown Team Resurgence has rode the legendary grade 2 Blaster Blade!" the commentator yelled.
"Maybe this fight will actually be better than we thought guys." yet another guy in the crowd watching says to a group of his friends.
"Ha ha ha... this is too rich. I've always hoped to one day face this legendary unit it battle, but I didn't think it would be here. Abygail was it? I'm starting to like you even more now." Sebastian says as he just busts out laughing.
"I actually work part time as a maid, so I guess it's part of the job to make people happy." Abygail says with a smile.
"A maid huh?" Sebastian thought.
Yes his thoughts went in the direction they imply, but there is still a fight that must be fnished so let's get down to it.
"With a boost from Millius, my avatar will attack White Dwarf [Total Power: 14000]!" Abygail declared.
[Drive Check – Seeker, Hallowed Breath Dragon – Critical Trigger]
"Wow... I got a critical on my first attack. I must have really done something right today, but in any case... I give all of the effects to my vanguard [New Total: 19000 2 Crit]!" Abygail yelled as like Sebastian said earlier... her personality makes it impossible for normal people to notice the tension she adds to the room.
"Good... beating you while the godless of luck working against me shall only serve to make my victory all the more enjoyable." Sebastian thought.
This legendary warrior jumps into the air as he raises his blade spewing out the energy from the trigger over his head. Normally he would never harm a woman, but when one threatens the things he holds dear... then all bets are off.
[Damage Check – Beloved Child of Superstring Theory – Draw Trigger]
[Damage Check – Beloved Child of Superstring Theory – Draw Trigger]
"Perhaps the goddess of luck doesn't have it out for me after all. Or maybe she's acknowledged the strength we both posses, and wants to give us as big a chance as possible to bring our full power to bare." Sebastian suggests in a casual tone as he finds his own luck a little amusing, "In any case I get to draw two cards and give my vanguard a +10000 power bonus as well."
"I've forged my own path by making the difficult choices. Now, it is your turn." Abygail retorts as she finds her opponent's words amusing.
Amusing yes... but not to the silly air-headed persona that Abygail lets people see of her... no the part that found it amusing was the Abygail that was completely serious... not that Sebastian had actually pushed her to the point of fighting seriously, but he was getting close.
Abygail – Sebastian
8 – Hand – 8
1 – Soul – 0
2 – Damage – 2
0 – Counterblast – 0
F(0) U(8) – G-Zone – F(0) U(8)
Empty / Empty – Empty / Empty
Shining Knight, Millius / Blaster Blade – Lady Battler of the White Dwarf, Spawn of the Spiral Nebula
Empty / Empty – Empty / Empty
"The score is currently tied at 8 cards in hand and two cards in the damage zone. It's now the world champion's turn to go on the offensive. Just what kind attack will he show us now?" the commentator yelled into his mic.
"Hey Jasmine." Micheal says as he snaps his fingers directly in front of his teammate's face in order to ensure he gets her attention.
"I've already noticed." Jasmine retorts as she was quite annoyed with her teammate's action, "It's still too early in the game to say for sure, but this Abygail may very well force Sebastian to use that card."
Those of you reading this who haven't seen the recording of this fight are probably wondering just what card Jasmine was talking about. Don't worry... I'll get to that later as well.
"Stand and draw." Sebastian whispers to himself, "I ride Awakening Messiah [Power: 9000]!"
"Before you continue with the rest of your turn, do you mind if I ask where you acquired that deck?" Abygail inquired.
She had actually timed her question perfectly as at the same time Sebastian had put two cards in his other hand likely intending to call them to the rearguard.
"Would you believe me if I were to tell you that it just appeared in my P.E locker one day after class?" Sebastian said in a coy tone as he answers one question with another question.
"No... I mean something like that only happens in comic books." Abygail retorts.
"Ha ha... I don't blame you. I would believe me either had I told myself such a thing in the mirror." Sebastian laughs, " Now is there anything else?"
"No go ahead. Just as one shouldn't keep a lady waiting... a lady mustn't keep others waiting." Abygail answers.
"Now then... I call another Awakening Messiah [Power: 9000] as well as Dark Metal Chameleon [Power: 7000] to the rearguard." Sebastian said just before wiping a little sweat off his brow.
"If I had any doubts about the ace of his deck earlier... they're definitely gone now guys." Will says to his teammates as his gaze was focused on Sebastian's Awakening Messiah vanguard.
"Hmph... well she did say it was a strong possibility that it would be that card, so you shouldn't be acting all starstruck." Tsubasa shrugs.
"Maybe... we'll get to see what our leader looks like when she fights seriously." Nikki suggests.
"With a boost from Spiral Nebula, my vanguard Awakening Messiah will attack [Total Power: 14000]!" Sebastian declared.
He already hand his hand on the top of his deck when he said that... and he did so because he could already tell what Abygail's response will be.
"No guard." Abygail said.
[Drive Check – Destiny Dealer – No Trigger]
Sebastian's vanguard Awakening Messiah raises its right arm as if reaching for the heavens and draws the eyes of its allies as well as its enemies as it does so. Then all of a sudden the world is rendered blind by a flash of purple light.
[Damage Check – Alabaster Owl – Critical Trigger]
"I give all of the effects to Blaster Blade."Abygail said as she wished to minimize the pain her avatar would have to take in this fight.
"Now then... rearguard Awakening Messiah, attack Blaster Blade [Total Power: 16000]!" Sebastian declared.
"I guard with the third Margal [Total Shield: 5000]." Abygail quickly counters.
"That just means barring the performance of legion... that I only have 1 draw trigger of yours to worry about for now. I'll cross that bridge when it gets there, but for now I'm ending my turn." Sebastian smiled as he let his arms rest at his sides.
Abygail – Sebastian
7 – Hand – 7
1 – Soul – 1
3 – Damage – 2
0 – Counterblast – 0
F(0) U(8) – G-Zone – F(0) U(8)
Empty / Empty – Empty / Empty
Shining Knight, Millius / Blaster Blade – Awakening Messiah, Spawn of the Spiral Nebula
Empty / Empty – Awakening Messiah / Dark Metal Chameleon
"Stand and draw." Abygail whispers to herself.
"The score is even in this fight so far save for hand and field presence. After Sebastian's furious assault, just how will Abygail attempt to match up?!" the commentator says to the crowd.
"Ha... I'm not as arrogant as the captain and my... ahem her beloved number 2 so I won't go as far as to say that Abygail will be able to defeat the world champ, but she's not the kind of fighter he'll be able to brush to the side either." Will thought as he had the calmest expression among the three members of Team Resurgence watching their leader fight.
"Enter the fray, king of past knights! I ride King of Knights' Vanguard, Ezzell [Power: 11000]!" Abygail yelled.
"So that sword will be wielded for the sake of Vanguard's future... is that it?" Sebastian asks as he was surprised to see the unit Abygail had played, but was still able to hide his reaction well.
"Oh yeah...I forgot about the quote for this card, but... to answer your question you'll have to wait and find out." Abygail answers as she moves two cards from her right hand to her left hand.
"Then I guess I'll just stand back and enjoy the show." Sebastian retorts as a grin appears on his face yet again.
"Thank you very much for that. I call to the rearguard the Swordsmen of Light... Yunos [Power: 7000] and Ahmes [Power: 9000]!" Abygail yelled.
It didn't take much of the brain power of anyone here to realize that the unit standing next to Abygail's vanguard Ezzell with his armor in full splendor was the legendary knight Blaster Blade before he became known as Blaster Blade, however people still wonder... just what kind of skills did this knight possess in the time before he acquired his namesake?
"Now then... with the support of Millius, the vanguard of my king of knights attacks yours [Total Power: 16000]!" Abygail declared as she had her left hand outstretched in an epic fashion.
"Of course I'm not going to guard that." Sebastian said.
[Drive Check – King of Knights, Alfred – No Trigger]
[Drive Check – Ardent Jewel Knight, Polli – Heal Trigger]
"I recover 1 point of damage, and I'll give the power bonus to Ahmes." Abygail said as she puts one of the draw triggers in her damage zone into her drop zone.
[Damage Check – Star-vader, Apollonel Dragon – Critical Trigger]
"My vanguard Awakening Messiah +5000 power and +1 critical." Sebastian's said as he tapped his vanguard with the trigger.
"I'm far from done... Ahmes will attack your rear guard Awakening Messiah [Total Power: 21000]!" Abygail yelled.
Just as Blaster Blade did a jumping strike upon Sebastian's vanguard, Ahmes is able to do the same thing to the rearguard Awakening Messiah... and yet it looks as though it wasn't as done with the same kind of ease.
"It's your turn now Mr. World Champion." Abygail says in her usual air-headed tone of voice, but to me... it was no where near as strong as it usually was.
Abygail – Sebastian
7 – Hand – 7
2 – Soul – 1
3 – Damage – 3
0 – Counterblast – 0
F(0) U(8) – G-Zone – F(0) U(8)
Swordsman of Light, Yunos / Swordsman of Light, Ahmes – Empty / Empty
Shining Knight, Millius / King of Knights' Vanguard Ezzell – Awakening Messiah, Spawn of the Spiral Nebula
Empty / Empty – Empty / Dark Metal Chameleon
"I have to say... we're only just getting into the start of the fight's mid-game, I'm already enjoying how things have played out so far." Sebastian said for the sake of complimenting Abygail.
"Well as I said earlier... I work as a maid part time and it's part of the job to make our employers happy, but thank you none the less." Abygail retorts as she clearly appreciates the compliment, but most of her focus is still directed towards beating the fighter across from her.
"Then as a reward for my loyal maid I'll-" Sebastian was going to say with the barest hint of flirtation when...
"But I don't work for you, so I can't be your loyal maid unless you ask for me personally through the cleaning service I work for; and even then there's no guarantee I'll be the one sent on the job." Abygail points out as Sebastian's light attempt at flirtation goes completely over her head.
"Ha ha... your right of course, but I have a reward in mind none the less." Sebastian said as his face turns from one filled with laughter back to his normal serious expression.
"Just what grade 3 unit will the world champ Sebastian play now?" the commentator yelled, though the smarter fighters here quickly realized that the answer to that question was obvious.
"Now come forth arcana of the world in a beat of white wings! I ride Alter Ego Messiah [Power: 11000]!" Sebastian yelled.
The truth is that even today I don't know how to describe Alter Ego Messiah with the amount of detail it deserves. Still... to give those of you who've never seen the card some idea of what it looks like... its a mostly silver dragon, with tinges of dark orange in a few places, a turquoise green gem on its forehead, and two miniature planets floating over its shoulders as if caught in some kind of stasis field. One planet is our home world of earth, and the other is widely believed to be Cray... the world that many units call home.
"Liberating the generation zone!" Sebastian yelled as he discarded the copy of Destiny Dealer that he got from his earlier drive check in order to pay the cost for stride.
"Here it comes... his first real attack." Abygail thought as she mentally braced herself for the coming storm.
"Emerge from the future as the messiah of the world's bonds, stride generation! Genesis Dragon, Amnesty Messiah [Power: 26000]!" Sebastian yelled as he placed the G-Unit on his vanguard circle.
Compared to Alter Ego, the options I have available to me to describe this form of Messiah are incredibly limited in terms of its actual physical appearance. If I were forced to say anything about this form however... it would be that it's a very beautiful card... one worthy of a near god-like being.
"Alter Ego Messiah's stride skill: I lock my Dark Metal Chameleon, your Ahmes, and for this turn my vanguard gets +5000 power!" Sebastian yelled.
If the use of Awakening Messiah's power could be described as a single flash of a dark purple light, then Alter Ego's could be described as two pulses of a dark red light... one that causes a red sphere to form around the two units Sebastian had mentioned, but at the same time they were different than the one from my nightmare. Where as they were condensed into small spheres with rings circling around them... the power of "Lock" here allows the fighter to see the pained expression on their units assuming that they're capable of showing pained expressions that is.
"I call Heavy Material Dragon [Power: 8000]! Lock!" Sebastian declared.
The card that Sebastian had consumed by the red sphere of "Lock" this time was his starting vanguard Spawn of the Spiral Nebula, however it's not as though he got nothing in return by doing so. No... by discarding a copy of Cosmo Wreath of all cards Sebastian was allowed to draw two more from his deck.
"I'll also call Later Battler of the Gravity Well [Power: 9000]! Now I'll use Gravity Well's skill to lock Heavy Material Dragon!" Sebastian yelled as as red sphere burst forth to consume this unit as well.
"Amazing... in just a few short moves... the World Champion Sebastian Glazkov has used the unique power of Link Joker to lock 4 units in a single turn. Any other Link Joker deck used by any other fighter would require a great deal of luck to pull of the same feat!" the commentator yelled.
This particular commentator was making an unnecessarily big deal out of every move Sebastian made. In fact the man himself would later say regarding this particular turn that he only pulled it off because of "A great deal of luck" just as the commentator had described.
"Lady Battler of the Gravity Well gains +4000 power for the turn." Sebastian explained as he took a deep breath in preparation of his next move, "I attack Ezzell with Amnesty Messiah! Now I'll activate Amnesty Messiah's skill... unlock!"
Once again a series of red pulses burst out from Sebastian's vanguard... three of them this time in fact, but this time instead of three more units being locked... the three units of his that he locked are broken free from their seal and by proxy their pain.
"First of all Dark Metal Chameleon's skill allows me to counter charge when he's unlocked. Secondly my Amnesty Messiah gains +3000 power for every unit I unlock through his skill, and since I unlocked 3 units he gains +1 critical!" Sebastian declared.
"Luckily he can't boost with the units he just unlocked, but 40000 power and +1 critical is still a lot of power to block for." Virgil mumbles aloud.
"It is, but to Abygail it doesn't really matter." I thought, but I'd soon realize how wrong I was upon the start of Abygail's next turn.
"Bring forth the bonds formed between those trapped in the void and turn it into light! White Lightning Undulation! [Total Power: 40000 2 Crit]!"
"Holy Knight Guardian guards [Perfect Defense]!" Abygail quickly if not almost desperately counters.
[Drive Check – Destiny Dealer – No Trigger]
[Drive Check – Sunset Edge, Duskblade – No Trigger]
[Drive Check – Lady Gunner of the Neutron Star – No Trigger]
In a work of animation lightning is typically depicted as a bright white, yellow, or blue color... what Amnesty Messiah decides to attack with however is nothing close to that. Energy gathers in a spiral like fashion in Amnesty's hands, then he or she claps them together, and from that a giant beam of energy capable of wiping planets off the galactic map is fired. Or at least that's what would of happened if Holy Knight Guardian's magic barrier wasn't placed in the way of this mighty unit.
"Arghhh!" Abygail screams as even though her perfect guard blocks Sebastian's attack, it doesn't stop the image of the shock her units feel from witnessing such destructive power up close from affecting her.
Essentially, what I'm saying is that the power of Sebastian's imagination alone (an important factor in Vanguard) was so strong that it affected Abygail physically knocking the wind out of her.
"Are you okay? Sebastian asks in a concerned tone.
This wasn't the first time that the power of Sebastian's imagination was able to induce this kind of reaction in someone, however this was the first time he showed this kind of concern for the person he did this to.
"Yeah." Abygail said as she uses the MF system to keep herself upright while attempting to replace the air her lungs lost, "I just underestimated how strong your imagination was."
Now what's interesting... no... what's so worrisome about Abygail's response was that this time it was completely devoid of her usual air-headed personality.
"Good... I wouldn't want to win by default. Now then... Heavy Material Dragon attack [Total Power: 15000]!" Sebastian yelled.
[Damage Check – Ardent Jewel Knight, Polli – Heal Trigger]
"Power to the vanguard, and I get to heal again." Abygail said as she all of all people breathes a sigh of relief.
"Then since Gravity Well won't be able to do anything with her attack I'll end my turn." Sebastian said.
"Looks like it'll come to that after all." Abygail thought as she starts to bite her nail.
"And since it's the end of my turn... Amnesty Messiah goes back to my G-Zone." Sebastian says as he finishes his line from earlier.
Abygail – Sebastian
6 – Hand – 8
2 – Soul – 2
3 – Damage – 3
0 – Counterblast – 2
F(0) U(8) – G-Zone – F(1) U(7)
Swordsman of Light, Yunos / Swordsman of Light, Ahmes(L) – Lady Battler of the Gravity Well / Empty
Shining Knight, Millius / King of Knights' Vanguard Ezzell – Awakening Messiah, Spawn of the Spiral Nebula
Empty / Empty – Heavy Material Dragon / Dark Metal Chameleon
Abygail stands all of her units and draws for the turn as dictated by the game's official rule, however for some strange reason she doesn't just speed off into her next turn. Rather... she's content with just spending the next few minutes breathing in and out as if to show us that Sebastian's earlier attack had rattled her more then we thought.
"This is your first warning, no delay of game will be tolerated." the judge said as he wasn't going to have any of Abygail's inaction.
"Sorry, but I'm going to have to call a time out for a moment." Abygail said with a smile as she formed the symbol of the described action with her hands.
"There are no time out's in a Vanguard tournament!" the judge retorts.
But Abygail doesn't pay the judge any heed as she leaves her hand on the MF system so as to avoid any accusations of foul play, and starts walking back to her team's dugout.
"It's strictly forbidden for a player to walk away from an MF system while a match is in progress. The punishment for doing so is an automat-" the judge was trying to say.
"Let her do what she wants. I don't mind." Sebastian interrupts just before the judge could attempt to enforce tournament rules.
"That may be, but official tournament rules clearly dictates that-" the judge was abou to say in an annoyed tone.
"I said... let her do what she wants." Sebastian said interrupting the judge again, but this time in a much firmer tone of voice.
The firmness of Sebastian's tone may have not been that big of a deal to us, but when the judge saw his face as he was about to voice an objection for a third time... the seriousness in the world champ's facial expression scared him off. To the judge, Sebastian looked as though he were an angry demon that would kill him for interrupting the fight.
"Sigh... very well." the judge said as he decided to drop the issue due fearing that what I had just described would come to fruition in a dark alleyway, at night, and with no witnesses.
Of course I'm just being a little extreme in describing the judge's sudden fear of Sebastian, but he would still be silent for the rest of this fight. Now what of Abygail's teammates? What do they think of this behavior of their leader's?
"Could you hold onto this for me for the rest of the fight Tsu?" Abygail asks of her second in command as she presents her worn blue blazer to Tsubasa in her left hand.
"So its finally come to that huh?" Tsubasa asks in turn as she seems to know the exact reason behind her captain's unusual behavior.
"Yeah." Abygail answers as she turns around to walk back towards her side of the MF system.
I didn't notice what else Abygail was wearing as my eyes were focused on her blazer, but now that she took it off we all saw that she was wearing a black short-sleeved sweater and a black business skirt that perfectly contrasted with her silver hair.
"Something feels different about this Abygail all of a sudden." Dalette points.
"She seems to have her usual happy-go-lucky expression, but the boss lady is right. Something about her seems off all of a sudden." I thought.
It was when Abygail had walked back up to the MF system that she pulls out presumably from her blazer or her skirt's pocket a small black ribbon. After checking it to make sure there was no damage, Abygail ties the ribbon around her long silver hair forming it into a kind of ponytail that only anime characters could have.
"Just what is she trying to do." Sebastian thought as Abygail closes her eyes after picking her hand back up.
It was the very act of Abygail closing her eyes that caused everything to concern this fight to change. The tension in the room was already strong enough with the presence of Team Red Star alone, but then it just suddenly started to magnify in intensity.
"If you want to see my sword fully drawn from its sheath, so be it. That means... no matter what happens now, you can't complain right?" Abygail said as her eyes burst open with explosive force.
And of course the look in Abygail's eyes had changed... it changed from the droopy tamere eyes that perfectly showed off how much of an airhead she was into slanted tsurime eyes. If you don't know what those terms mean then look them up, but what I am trying to say is... that you're about to see what Abygail is like when she's fighting seriously.
To Be Continued
Kiba: Amazing... I never thought a fight between these two would be so even.
Nikki: To think they'd generate that kind of power! It's... it's making my eyes glow.
Kiba: Next time on Vanguard: Light Speed "Love at First Excelics"
Abygail: That day, the woman became a dragon.