It's been a few days since Jessie started working at the card shop. Today is his first shift working alone without Sophia to guide him.
Micheal stands on the opposite side of the counter, a smug look plastered over his face with a pair of big, wide, anime eyes.
Jessie lets out a sigh, "Alright, let it out before you hurt yourself."
"Nice apron," Micheal bursts out laughing, seeing this as a comeback against Jessie for dragging him to the movies.
Jessie lets it slide, trying to keep professional now that he's working. "Yes, well. It goes with my eyes, now doesn't it? Besides, Sophia seems to like it."
Micheal lifts his head from his laughing fit, "Oh, she does? And, you getting this job. Would this be because..."
Jessie is quick to cut them off, "Don't even go there. This is all because I need the work. A lecturer advised me that some part-time work can build character, and it looks good on a CV, so here I am. Besides, it's better to work at a place I know."
"Sure," Micheal looks around, "So, where is Sophia now?"
"She's in Liverpool with an aunt or something. I think they had tickets to Take That or something. Not my first choice, but they've got some good songs. Like that one from Stardust and..., oh..."
"What?" Micheal looks at him concerned.
"It's nothing. I just remembered. I got to do inventory upstairs. You'll be fine holding the fort while I'm up there, right? Cheers." Coming round the counter, Jessie heads upstairs through a back door, leaving the bewildered Micheal.
Micheal stands there on his own. Reaching into his jacket pocket, he pulls out a deck box. "This time for sure I've got you. What he doesn't know is I've already rebuilt this baby with the start deck, and now have a new grade 3 to throw out."
"You seem very confident," a cool voice appears behind Micheal, catching him off guard. He turns to see a pale lad, college-aged just like him and Jessie. Micheal is taken aback by this new face. While they look normal with light eyes and jet black hair, their attire looks at home at the black parade, baggy black trousers with unnecessary chains hanging from the waist, a tight band t-shirt, and a jacket that's a cross between medieval military, and march band.
"I'm sorry, did I spook you?" They speak softly, with a hint of an accent in their voice. "I just heard you saying you've built a new deck. You're a Cardfighter?"
Micheal shows off the deck box, now that he's collected himself, "Yes. I built a new one. I think I could finally beat my mate upstairs. But, I might need to test it first."
The stranger pulls out a deckbox of their own, "Well, I wouldn't mind playing the part. My name is Rapheal, by the way. I'm new to your country and thought I'd check out the Vanguard scene. Care to be my introduction?"
Micheal accepts without thinking twice.
Taking a table close to the counter, they pair set up their board, placing down the starting vanguard, and redrawing their hands. Rapheal closes his eyes, "Picture it. Standing on the surface of Cray, let's give this planet a fight worthy of viewing."
With that, they turn over their starting vanguard. "Stand up! Vanguard!"
"Battleraizer!"
"Vermillion Gatekeeper!"
Rapheal
Vs
Micheal
Rapheal takes the first turn. "I ride Alluring Succubus. The skill of Gatekeeper, I soul charge. And then again with Alluring." [Soul 3]
"My go. I draw. I ride Tough Boy. Batterraizer moves to the back. Tough Boy attacks Alluring." Rapheal chooses not to guard the attack. "Drive check, no trigger." With neither player pulling a trigger, Rapheal stands as the only one with damage.
[Rapheal damage 1]
"I draw. Ride, Werwolf Sieger. Then I call Dark Soul Conductor to the rearguard." [Soul 4] "I'll attack with Sieger first."
"I'll guard with Lucky Girl." Micheal defends the first attack, protecting himself completely from the attack.
[Tough 8000 + Lucky Girl 10000 = 18000]
"Drive check, draw trigger. I'll give the 5k to Conductor, and then draw. Conductor attacks Tough Boy." Not guarding that attack, Micheal turns over a normal unit, putting both players at the same damage.
[Micheal damage 1]
Micheal takes his turn, riding into King of Sword before calling Queen of Hearts, Tough Boy, and a second King to the rearguard. "King of Sword will attack the vanguard."
"I'll intercept with Conductor. With their skill, I soul charge 2 cards." Rapheal is quick to protect his vanguard, mostly looking to build up his soul some more. [Soul 6]
"Boosted by Queen of Hearts, King of Sword attacks the vanguard. With the Queen's boost, King gains another 4000 power to swing with."
[King 10000 + Queen 6000 + 4000 = 20000]
"No guard." Rapheal lets the attack go through. Micheal pulls a stand trigger from the deck and gives all the effects to the rearguard King.
[King of Sword 15000]
[Rapheal damage 2]
"Battleraizer boosted Tough Boy on the vanguard. With their skill, Tough Boy gets another 3000."
[Tough 8000 + Battlerazier 3000 + 3000 = 14000]
With both powered-up units, Rapheal takes both attacks head-on, taking more damage than expected. Battleraizer returns to the deck with their skill.
[Rapheal damage 4]
"Stand, and draw." Rapheal shows no concern with being pushed into the back. "The powerful demon has come to reap all. I ride, King of Diptera, Beelzebub." Rapheal has brought out one of his strongest units of the deck. With the stockpiled cards in hand, he calls Poet of Darkness, Amon, Demon of Aspiration, Amon, Alluring Succubus, and Gwynn the Ripper. Using the skill of Alluring he soul charges again, and with Ripper, he retires King of Sword. [Soul 8]
"With at least 6 cards in my soul, both Amons gain 3000 power. And with 8, Beelzebub now stands at a base power of 11000." Rapheal moves into the battle phase, ready to push Micheal back into the wall. "Boosting Ripper with Alluring, I'll attack the vanguard."
[Ripper 9000 + Alluring 7000 = 16000]
Micheal lets the attack go through. He takes the damage. While it's not a trigger, it gets worse when he reveals a copy of Asura Kaiser.
[Micheal damage 2]
"Beelzebub attacks the vanguard. I use their skill. With a counterblast of 2, I give 3k to both Amon rearguards." Rapheal piles on another stack of power onto his already boosted rearguards.
Micheal looks at the cards in his hand, and then back on the board. With just two damage, he takes a deep breath. "No guard."
"Twin drive." Rapheal reaches for his deck and turns over the top two. "Heal trigger. I'll give the 5k to my grade 2 Amon. And recover one damage." He removes one of the facedown cards in the damage, before turning over the next card, "Second check...Critical trigger" Rapheal's vanguard has grown as a threat, as does the rearguard.
[Rapheal damage 3]
[Micheal damage 4]
"Now, with a boost from Poet, Demon of Aspiration attacks your vanguard."
[Aspiration 11000 + 3000 + Poet 9000 + 3000 + 10000 = 36000]
"Twin Blader will guard that attack." Micheal throws out his perfect guard unit. By discarding a card, the attack has been prevented entirely.
"Not bad, you must have been saving that one for a while, weren't you?" Rapheal's voice feels cold. Like ice freezing over on someone's soul.
Micheal shrugs it off and moves on with his turn. "Stand, and draw." Looking over his hand again, he feels that his turn may be the last. "Mechanical Solider, cut through the dark, and return the light. I ride, Gold Rutile." Micheal rides the secondary grade 3 of his deck. "I move Tough Boy back and then call Brutal Jack and Super Electromagnetic Lifeform, Storm to the front. With a counterblast, Jack is online to fight now."
Micheal is now on the same plain as Rapheal, putting them on a near equal standing as each other.
"Jack attacks the vanguard."
"I'll intercept with Ripper."
"Boosted by Tough Boy, Storm attacks Beelzebub."
"Guard with Sieger and Shirley."
"Boosted by Queen of Hearts, Gold Rutile attacks Beelzebub." Rapheal smiles, letting the attack go through. "Twin drive, first check, nothing. Second check...stand trigger!" His excitement at the trigger is clear as he gives all the effects to Storm. The damage goes through, and Rapheal fails to get a trigger.
[Storm 14000]
[Rapheal damage 4]
"Gold Rutile's skill. I counterblast two cards to restand Brutal Jack. Now that he's back up, I'll attack Beelzebub again." Rapheal lets this attack hit too. He checks the damage to find no trigger.
[Rapheal damage 5]
"Rutile allows me to countercharge a card when a rearguard attack hits." Micheal is too eager to win. "Storm will close the fight by attacking the vanguard."
Rapheal puts his hand down, and pushes a rearguard into the circle, "I intercept with Aspiration." Micheal had forgotten about the other grade 2 unit. With the last attack stopped Rapheal starts his turn, "Stand and draw." Rapheal's smile becomes twisted as he pulls his ace in the hole.
"The demon lord of the Irregulars, bring this welp down to hell. I ride, Demon World Marquis, Amon!" [Soul 9] Micheal's eyes widened upon seeing this unit. "Amon is a special unit. He gains 1000 power for every card in the soul. I have 9 altogether, so his power is 19k." He continues on, "I move Poet forward, and call another Ripper to the right. With their counterblast, I retire Brutal Jack. Battle. I attack Storm with Poet." Rapheal makes quick work of Micheal's rearguards before finishing the turn.
Coming down from upstairs, Jessie enters the main shop floor carrying a fair large box of products to restock the shelf with.
"Sorry that took so long, We just got a call in for a new shipment of the recent set, so I just needed to confirm with...," Jessie notices Micheal looking down at the table defeated. His face is pale as a ghost while Rapheal packs up his cards, satisfied with himself. "...Micheal?"
Jessie walks up to the table as Rapheal gets up to leave, "Good game. Or...maybe not." He passes Jessie as he approaches his friend. "I suggest you don't bother with him. At his current level, no amount of help will do him any good."
Standing by his friend's side, he puts his hand on their shoulder. He feels cold, yet he has a sweat on, with visibly shaking hands. Jessie looks back up at Rapheal, "The hell did you do to him?"
Rapheal is already walking out the door, and Jessie follows after him. Pushing the doors open, he catches theme before taking the corner, "Oi! I was talking to you. What is your problem?"
Rapheal stops and stands there, back turned to Jessie. "I'm just a wanderer. A lost soul looking to be moved through this game we love so much. You do love Vanguard, don't you?" Turning on his heel, he glares at Jessie with a pair of scarlet red eyes and a creepy smile, "I'll be sure to deal with you next time. As for now, don't worry about your friend. He'll be fine...or maybe not." Rapheal keeps walking. Jessie watches them go before returning to the shop to comfort their friend.