AN: Hello everyone! It's been a minute since I've posted on here. At the end of this fic I'll be addressing the current status of Darkness of Imagination. I'm also now cross-posting on AO3, so you can read it here or there. I hope you all enjoy this new work.
His eyes opened as he found himself in a quaking chair. Blurred for a moment. A bright red light blasting itself in his face in intervals, accompanied by a blaring alarm going off in tandem with the flash. More things came into reality. In a jumpsuit and a cracked helmet on his head, with his bangs falling down covering his eyes partially. Surrounded by controls and the realization that he was in a cockpit, his hand already on the controls, seemingly stained with dark red. Looking up, he saw the cockpit's monitor and was blinded for a moment, only to then see an angel-like woman, donned in shrine maiden attire, a spear in her right hand, a shield on the left, and an owl perched on her shoulder. The woman spoke out:
"Did you think this was over, pilot of the Blau Series? You're not the only one who can stand up, you know?" She said as she twirled the spear in her arm once more pointed towards him. "It's time I finish this."
The pilot's muscles tightened all over his body, his teeth gritted, his fist clenched on the handles.
He found his mouth saying the words: "No Guard…" as the spear was now barreling toward the thing he was piloting, and crashed into the cockpit, at a speed so fast he couldn't even react, blowing him away.
His eyes opened again. Instead of a jumpsuit, cockpit, blood stains, and a red flashing light, a reality check consisting of pajamas, a blanket, a bit of sweat, and the morning sunlight gleaming in through the window against his face. "That dream again…"
The boy pulled up his phone charging on his nightstand, and went to a bookmarked video saved on his browser. The video's contents were the same fight replayed in his dreams, except from a different perspective. He scrolled to the part that his dream ended at and pressed play.
The caster's voice roared through the speaker of his phone. He saw as his opponent moved the cards on her board like magic. "Alice Lorenz has done it once again folks! By using the Limit Break of Minerva, she's filled up the entire rearguard! Will Aster Ciel be able to block it?" While the cheers of the crowd began to drown out the voices, Aster could still read Alice's lips saying the same thing from his dream. He had reached the point where the dream ended, and saw his younger self defeated as he had placed Galaxy Blaukluger in his damage zone. He let out a sigh as the video finished.
"It's been years since then…" He closed the video as he proceeded to begin his day. From his closet he grabbed a white button up and black dress pants. He slid his retail name tag through his shirt pocket. Combing his brunette hair to his right side, he let out a sigh as he thought about the fight once more. "If I keep having this dream… I wonder if I should…" He debated to himself as he went under his bed, and pulled out a blue Ultra-Pro box with a scribbled "Blau" on the top. "Maybe I should give it another go?"
On his walk to work, Aster decided to make a stop at a local card store that happened to be in the area. As he was greeted, he peered at the shelves, only to see a collection of MTG, Yu-Gi-Oh, and Pokémon. As he kept glancing at the boxes lined against a wall, he asked the store clerk about the Bushiroad game. "Excuse me, do you happen to carry Cardfight! Vanguard?"
The clerk shook his head and apologized. "That's a game we haven't carried in a while. Sorry about that."
"It's okay. Thank you." Aster said, a wry smile on his face. He left the store and began to walk back to work, now wearing a frown on his face. On his way, he pulled up a store list on the Vanguard website and began to call stores listed there. Repeating the same statement he asked earlier, he was met with the same answer as well, each time he called a new store. One special store was able to grant him with "Yes! We have boxes of Descent of the King of Knights. "In 2023? Really?" He let out a defeated sigh. "All of these stores were on the list, and yet none of them actually have it anymore. Is there any place else I can look…Oh! I wonder if I'm still on there."
Pulling up Facebook, Aster scrolled through his groups and found one for Vanguard. "Yes!" He said as he began typing a message. "Does anyone know if there's any stores close to this area? None of the stores listed on the site were accurate. Please DM if possible, hoping to get back into the game!" He typed out as he attached the details of the area he was in. As he arrived at the big box retail store that was his job, he put his phone in his pocket and began his shift.
Going through his daily shift, Aster sorted clothes and picked up various items left throughout his store, pointing out where certain items were to customers, and would even peek at a few of the other TCGs the store had. Vanguard wasn't a part of that list to his disappointment, but the sets of the games that would come out interested him just a little bit of his time as a TCGplayer. As he finished his shift, he let out a sigh, clocked out, he checked his phone to see if there was any response. There was one from half an hour ago:
Alice Lorenz:
"Hey, I live in that area! There's a shop that just recently gained official Bushiroad store status. Would you like to meet up?"
Aster stared at the name. "Wait…" He stared at the profile picture. "Alice? That can't be the same person, right? Lorenz might be a common last name." He looked more into the account. He was dumbfounded when he saw a photo of the person messaging him in a full cosplay of the card that beat him. "That's definitely her… But she doesn't seem to remember me. Otherwise she would have said something… Does she not?" He thought about it, but the more he did, the more agitated he got. "Was my fight nothing to her then? Well, if she doesn't remember I don't need to remind her. It's been years since then." He shrugged it off and messaged her back.
"Hello! Sorry, I was at work. Yes. Are you free today? Is there a date and time you'd like to meet up there? "
As he sent the message, someone peeped up behind him on his left, wearing a similar uniform to what he was wearing. "Hey Aster. Are you off already?" She said while looking up at him.
Aster jumped a little, caught off guard. "AGH?! Oh… hey Serena. Yeah. Are you still on?" He said, as he almost dropped his phone.
"Yeah…" She said with a sigh. "I have another hour. But, are you free later today? Some of us are planning on going to dinner. Wanna come?" She asked with a finger on her lips.
"Ah, I…" Aster felt his phone vibrate, and saw a response from his regional rival.
"Sure! Don't worry about it. Down to meet there in an hour?"
Aster was a bit surprised by the quick response, but was also excited. A revenge match with the person who beat him all those years back might be a good opportunity. He looked back at his coworker. "I'm sorry. I have some plans going on. Can I take a rain check?"
"Eh? You must be a weather caster with the way you rain check with us. Well, you look busy anyway. I'll see you later." She waved as she headed back inside.
Aster waved back and shot another message to Alice.
"Fine by me. Is there anything in the game that's changed much?" He asked, slightly hoping for his deck to still be relevant. And again with a quick follow up:
"When was the last time you played?"
He stared at that message, and thought back to the fight. "I wanted to quit after that. I didn't, but I didn't stay for a while either. The last thing I saw were those first Link Joker Grade 4s…"
"I think when they first introduced strides? A few months after that? Not quite sure, around then though..." He texted with a lack of confidence with his answer. This time, the typing bubble from Alice's side showed up, but stopped. After a minute, a response finally came.
"Oh boy… There's a lot I need to tell you about, then."
Now with his name tag away, and a blue zip-up on top of his work uniform, he pulled up to the address that was left in the messages. "MangaKard. That's a cute name." As he walked into the store, he was greeted with an overly Otaku-based decor. While the store was empty population wise, besides two people, the clerk and the person he assumed was to meet here, it was filled with plenty of products. One shelf was lined with popular manga titles, one even had multiple Gunpla stacked on it. There were game tables along the shop's sides as well, and even more interestingly, a poker table that caught his eye. The clerk of this shop almost looked like someone out of a casino to boot with the poker table. However, behind the counter was a display lined with vanguard packs. Aster's eyes were glued to it like candy. However, his concentration was broken when he heard a female voice call out to him.
"Hey! Are you Aster?" Aster turned to the voice calling out to him. As he turned, he saw a fair-skinned woman, with long blonde hair down to her chest, wearing a long red coat on top of a white button up similar to his and a red and white skirt. The woman was waving to him, but he was dumbfounded at who it was. The person who defeated him nine years ago now stood in front of him once again.
"There's no doubt about it. That's her." He tried to play it off as looking around after realizing he was staring for a moment. He then made eye contact with her, and waved back. "Hi! Alice, right?"
She nodded as she began to head over to him. "So, you've played Vanguard before, like your message said, right?" She tilted her head slightly.
Aster nodded, and pulled out the blue deck box that he had grabbed from under his bed earlier. "This is the deck that I used to play!" He proudly showed off the box, and took the deck out. The Blau Ride Chain that was chained on top of the deck, and the 8 card G-Zone that consisted of the only 2 Meteokaisers from the first set of G. "It's a bit outdated, but I used to take this one everywhere." He said as he handed the deck for Alice to see.
Alice was quiet for a moment. She looked shocked, like she had seen a ghost. A blue and green mecha ghost that was the ancient deck that was handed to her. She had mixed emotions and reactions upon seeing it. She didn't know whether to feel pity or amazement at the age of the deck.
"This is so innocent… I'd love to play a game of G, if that format still existed, but what am I supposed to tell him? I guess I'll have to be the bearer of bad news…
"This deck is really well built. Incorporating some of the units from G like Sazanda to enhance rearguard standing is really unique. There's just one problem with it…"
"WHAT?! You mean I missed TWO different reboots of the game?" Aster cried out. He sat down at one of the tables and slumped down in defeat. The chances of his deck beating his one-sided rival who didn't even remember him, which already had low odds of winning due to its age, but now to find out its illegality, absolutely crushed the dreamer.
"So, you're saying that with now there being five nations-"
The woman chirped in and cut him off. "Six, bermuda got their own."
Aster let out an irritated moan. "Of course they did. So, with six nations, do I have to buy packs of each of those clans to fully build a deck that incorporates all of those clans?" He said, as he slumped down even more.
"Well, that's not exactly the case, luckily. Most of the cards that come out now are simply under the six nations, so you won't have to worry about your clan missing support anymore. Plus, each nation gets new cards every pack, so you won't have to worry about being under-supported." She explained as she wagged her finger in gesture of her explanation.
"I guess that's not so bad." He let out a sigh. "Still… If my deck is outdated, I'd hate to have to restart… Maybe I should just go." He said as he got up and began to walk to the door.
Alice hesitated for a moment, however, just as Aster was about to reach for the door handle, she called out to him. "Wait!" She called. Even the clerk's attention was now on the two.
Aster stopped, and looked back at her, both of them standing still. Alice spoke out again. "I'll… buy you a Start Deck. Then you can decide if you want to stay or not."
Aster thought about the offer, but felt a bit concerned."It doesn't seem like she remembers me, but should I still even be here? "Are you sure? Wouldn't those be a bit expensive? Plus, if we were to fight, would you be beating me with a super strong boss?"
The clerk spoke out between the two, looking toward Aster. "If I may, sir. The current wave of Start Decks is only $5. Additionally, some of the bosses from these Start Decks remain to be viable in the current play setting, receiving constant support."
"Only $5?! That's surprising. And the bosses are still even getting support… That wouldn't happen with a lot of the trial deck bosses back in the day." He placed his finger to his chin, and after a moment, came to a decision. "Okay. But on two conditions." He raised his finger. "The first: you must use a Starter Deck as well. Even if they're good bosses, I'd like for the playing field to be more fair." Alice nodded in response, clenching her fist. "The second?"
"If I win, I'll leave."
Alice bit her lip, and thought about it for a moment. Then nodded. "I accept your conditions."
The Clerk brought up all six of the options to show to Aster. A bird, a Spike Brothers unit, a Royal Paladin-eqsue unit, A Great Nature unit, a Dimension Police Officer, and one similar to the Dragon Dancers.
"No robot boss, huh?" He said to himself as he closed his eyes, with no unit similar to his old boss.
Alice interjected, and placed her hand on the one with the police officer on it. "While it's not a robot…This one has a lot of mecha support units. Plus, it's the successor to Star Gate, so it's kind of like Blaus…?" She bent her head down in defeat as she failed to relate the two decks.
Aster looked at where her hand was, and slid the deck from under her hand. "Aurora Battle Princess, huh? So is it a Dimension Police unit?" He asked as he lifted the deck up to inspect it. He looked at the sides and the list on the bottom as well.
Alice pondered with her own finger on her chin, slowly giving a response. "I guess she's one? It's never outright stated…" She began to zone out, thinking about the lore of the card.
Aster stared at the deck some more, and closed his eyes as he set it down and made his decision. "Right… Well, if it's the same nation, this should be fine." He said as he placed it near her hands so she could purchase it for him. "I'll wait here." He said as he plopped himself down at a nearby table.
Alice nodded, and grabbed the one with the knight on it. "Then in that case, I'll use this one." She brought both of the decks to be rung up by the store's clerk. She picked up two packs of sleeves to go with them, specifically a blue one to match the theme of the old deck Aster had used to play. She headed back to the table and handed Aster the sleeves and the deck.
Aster was surprised by the gift, and slid them back as they were handed to him. "Oh, you didn't have to. I could have gotten my own." He said as he only focused on the deck, beginning to take the tape off the sides.
Alice shook her head and slid them back. "It's okay. I insist. If it were just the deck on me, it would feel wrong to give it to you without giving it the proper accessories to prevent damage."
Aster took the sleeves as they were given back to him. "Well, I guess that's true…Thank you, by the way." he said as he began to unwrap the sleeves, and was able to get the deck open. Alice gave him a smile back. He began to slowly sleeve the deck. "This is crazy. There's 4 perfect guards AND four of the Ace unit in here… Some of these are mecha units, that's interesting. But… A lot of them are Police themed…I wonder if there are any different types in the booster sets avai-" Suddenly, as he was thinking, he was given four sleeves from Alice.
"You're going to need those. Just like how I'll need these." She took four from his own pile.
Aster was a bit unsure of why, and didn't know how to react. "Can you… Explain to me why?" he said as he laid out the sleeves.
"You see…" She grabbed four cards from the deck, and showed them to Aster. "You used to play a ride chain right? It's like that, but now, you can set your ride chain at the start of the game on the side of the deck! You won't have to worry about missing your rides ever again! You'll be looking for all the ones that have a Vanguard skill." she happily explained.
"Wait, so I won't have to miss my grade one anymore? I won't have to lose my game plan anymore while still having consistent effects? And everyone has these?" He asked excitedly, while finding the four cards from his deck that had vanguard related skills.
"Yep. Each different deck now has a ride chain-esque skill that all have skills that correlate to the main playstyle of the deck. However, now they're called Ride Lines. Speaking of that, did you want to play with skills for your first game back? Or did you want to play without them?" She asked as she finally finished sleeving the deck. She began shuffling her main deck as well.
"I think I should be fine. There are a few things that have changed, but in that case, would you be able to help me out with that?' Aster asked as he finished his own deck as well.
Alice nodded as both players began to draw their starting hand. 'I'll go first to explain the turn flow. As Alice was about to do her mulligan, she panicked when she realized that Aster was about to place cards at the top of his deck, cutting him off as he was about to shuffle. "Wait! They changed the mulligan rules!" She hurried to stop him before the two would have had to restart. "You place your cards at the bottom, draw, then shuffle! That way you have a smaller chance of drawing the same cards."
Aster quickly put the deck down, and followed suit to what was being explained to him, sending to the bottom, and then drawing. He then set his starting Vanguard face down.
"Excuse me if this is a bit cringe, but did you ever imagine it while playing?" Aster shyly asked Alice, his field prepared.
"No, don't worry about it at all. I still do that to this day!" She said with a smile on her face.
"Then without further ado!"
"Right!"
"Stand up! Vanguard!"
The spirits of the two appeared in an enormous prison building in the space above Planet Cray. This was the Space Prison that all criminals that encountered the Aurora Battle Princesses were sent to. Suddenly, the lights in the prison began flashing red, flickering off and on as the two spirits crossed eyes with each other.
"Knight of Heavenly Bows, Base!" Alice's spirit turned into a bow-wielding angel, now prepared to see what opponent it would face.
"Aurora Battle Princess, Ruby Red." What appeared from across Base was an agent of Cosmo Security, a red-haired girl holding a stuffed animal in one hand, a gun in the other.
"Right then, let me show you how it's done!" Alice said as she drew her first card. She then took one card from her hand, and placed it in her drop zone. "By discarding a card from your hand, instead of normal riding, you can ride one grade up from your ride deck. I ride Knight of Heavenly Sword, Fort." In between the flashes of the prison, the Angel had disappeared, leaving a sword-wielding knight in his place. "And that's the end of my turn," Alice signaled to Aster.
"Stand…well, just draw, for now. "Aster said as he picked a card up from his deck.
"So like this, then? I ride Kyanite Blue." He said as he discarded another card from his hand, picked up the grade 1 from his ride deck, and placed it onto his Vanguard circle.
The agent had also disappeared in between the flashes, and now a hat-wearing officer with a baton had shown up onto the scene. He saw as Alice verified his play, then looked down at the card. "I'm supposed to search for a prison card… I wonder what unit that's like? He said as he picked up his deck. He grabbed the card that had prison bars on it.
"Wait… what's an order?" He said as he revealed the set one in his hand.
"Oh! My apologies. I didn't explain that at all. Vanguard has special non-unit cards now, orders issued by the vanguard themselves." She bowed to apologize while explaining. "There are three types. Normal Orders, where one time effects happen, Set Orders, like your prison one, and Blitz Orders, which act like guardians." She finished her explanation.
"Well, in that case, due to Ruby's skill, I draw, and then I have to rest a unit to play this one, so I'll call this one for now. Autonomic Caution." He said as he placed the grade 1 behind his vanguard.
While the flashing of the prison continued to flicker, a workeroid unit appeared behind Kyanite Blue. "By resting a unit for the cost…" He said as Caution was rested. "I place this card in the set order zone."
[Galaxy Central Prison, Galactoluz] - Rest 1 unit
Then I… S-Charge?" He said as he read out the fact. "Oh! Soul Charge. That's a nice way of abbreviating it. I Soul Charge 3." He said as he placed the cards from his deck under his vanguard.
Now, the prison doors began to close, and the looming threat of the prison became more apparent to the knight squadron.
"Battle. Kyanite Blue attacks Fort." He said as he rested his vanguard.
[8,000 VS 8,000]
"No guard." Alice replied after viewing her hand.
"Drive Check." Aster revealed the top card of his deck.
[Aurora Battle Princess, Lourus Yellow] - Critical Trigger
"This one's a critical. I give Kyanite the critical and 5,000 power." He said as he added the check to his hand.
The baton-wielding officer charged the sword-wielding knight, who was preparing for his attack. However, from the shadows, another officer, holding a megaphone snuck behind him, and shrieked with the megaphone into his ears, catching him unprepared as the vanguard struck.
"Damage Check. Oh, by the way, trigger power is now 10,000 instead of 5. But their shield value has gone up too!" She said as she began to flip the cards over.
[Shadow Bow Archer, Lisanna] - No Trigger
[Knight of Heavenly Pierce, Gallus] - Draw Trigger
"Drawing one, and power to the vanguard."
"Really? 10,000 now, huh? That'll take a minute to get used to… That being said. I end my turn."
Field Check:
Alice:
Back Row: None - None - None
Front Row: None - Knight of Heavenly Sword, Fort - None
Damage: 2
Drop: 1
Soul: 1
Hand: 6
Aster:
Front Row: None - Aurora Battle Princes, Kyanite Blue - None
Back Row: None - Autonomic Caution - None
Damage: 0
Drop: 1
Soul: 4
Hand: 6
"Nice critical. But I'll show you the power of Keter Sanctuary…or, what you once knew as United Sanctuary, I guess…" She said as she rode into her next unit. "I ride Knight of Heavenly Spear, Rooks! Next, I activate the skill of Fort. When Rooks is ridden, I activate Fort's skill." She said as she began to grab two cards from her hand, then flipped them, revealing Knight of Broadaxe and Apex Ruler, Bastion. "These 2 units are both grade 3's, so I can call the top card of my deck!" She said as she happily checked her top card, then placed it on the rearguard circle next to her vanguard. Vehement Witch, Ramana. "I also call Platinum wolf behind my vanguard!"
Another red flash, and Fort was replaced by Rooks. Then, by raising his spear, and pointing to his left, a black mist began swirling for a moment, and a witch appeared from the mist, pointing her staff at the officer. Behind Rooks, a high beast appeared at his side.
"A grade 3 off the top? Not to mention this early into the game." He said as he clenched onto his hand. "Is this deck a tempo-based one? Should I guard early to guard for triggers later?", he wondered as he tried to compute the new shield values in his hand. "This is going to take a bit of time to get used to…"
His thought process was cut off as Alice began her attack. "Ready or not, here I come! With a boost from Platinum Wolf, Rooks attacks the vanguard!" She said without hesitation as she began resting her middle column.
[18,000 VS 8,000]
With his thought process slightly cut off, he panicked while looking at the cards in his hand, almost dropping a few of them. "Ah… um… No guard!"
With no hesitation, Alice flipped over the top card of her deck. "Checking the drive…"
[Knight of Heavenly Hammer, Gurgant] - Critical Trigger
"Right back atcha! Critical Trigger. Critical to the vanguard, power to Ramana!"
Platinum Wolf bolted toward the blue-haired officer, keeping her distracted. As Rooks charged the vanguard, Gurgant appeared alongside him, and as Kyanite was focused on the high-beast, she was struck with two different spears.
"Quite the openers, huh? Damage check." He flipped the cards one by one from his deck into the trigger zone, and then into the damage zone.
[Alert Guard Gunner] - No Trigger
[Craggy Monster, Gigrand] - No Trigger
"That's a shame. No triggers unlike you." He said as he then began calculating the guard for the other unit. "23,000. I could stop it if I dropped 15,000 and 5,000… then I should be fine." Aster prepared for the attack and hand his hands on both cards.
"Ramana attacks, and with a counterblast, she gains another 5,000!" Alice added as she flipped over one of the cards in her damage zone.
[28,000 VS 8,000]
"28?! This all at turn 2? Do I use my perfect guard? Are the numbers going to be even bigger than that going forward? Crap… I should have asked to read it." He said as he let go of the two cards he had prepared. "No guard.
Ramana pointed her staff at Kyanite Blue, and a light began to glow from the staff. It began to get even more intense until she fired off a ball of energy which crashed into Kyanite Blue.
[Aurora Battle Princess, Risatt Pink] - No Trigger
Aster let out a sigh as he entered the halfway point to the game's conclusion, and awaited for Alice to pass her turn. While thinking, he thought about the fight from nine years ago. "Come to think of it… She pushed me to three damage back then too."
In the cockpit from his dreams, Aster glared at a green-haired noble, and to her side, another noble.
"Goddess of Trees, Jupiter attacks with a boost from Cider, and with her skill, she gains 3,000 power, for a total of 24,000!"
Reminiscing on his recurring dream of fumbling, he compared his situation from then to now.
"Two cards wasn't enough then, ei-"
"Hey, Aster, are you okay? I ended my turn already." Alice said as she looked at him with a frown. "Did you want to stop?"
Aster blinked back into reality and shook his head, and began to speak with an apologetic tone. "Sorry, I was just thinking about when I used to play Vanguard a long time ago. Playing right now makes me feel nostalgic. Stand and draw." He said as he began putting his units back into the Stand position. "I ride Risatt Pink." He said, discardinga king from his hand. "Let's see… a card from your hand gets placed into my prison?" He asked as he read out the card, but already found Alice's hands moving a card to his prison. "Oh, looks like you got it on lockdown."
"Heh. Kind of like my units." She said with a chuckle.
[Shadow Bow Archer, Lisanna] - Imprisoned
Running through the prison was an archer from Shadow Paladin, trying to meet up with the main force in the hallway. However, on her way, she met Lisatt Pink, already on her way to the battlefield. Unable to react, with a snap of Lisatt's fingers, she found herself surrounded by a jail cell.
As Alice came back to her side of the board, she decided to follow up with Aster's comment.
"Hey, if you don't mind me asking. Was there a specific reason why you stopped playing Vanguard?" She cocked her head while asking. "You don't have to say if you don't want to, though."
As Aster was thinking about the cards in his hand, this caught him off guard. He stopped thinking about the game for a moment, trying to come up with a response. "No, that's fine. I don't mind talking about it. I think one reason I stopped was because at the time, Blau wasn't one of the archetypes receiving support. It had been nearly three years without support for it, while stuff like Raizers and Beast Deities kept getting some." He explained.
Alice listened to the explanation, but something wasn't quite right to her. "Is that…all?" She dug in a little bit.
Aster chuckled, thinking about the irony of the situation he found himself in.
"She really doesn't remember me…"
"There was one other thing. But I don't remember it that well." He fibbed in response.
"Ah… I'm sorry about that. Please continue. I'm sorry for interrupting your turn." She bowed.
"Don't worry about it. I'll keep going. I call Security Patroller. And with its skill, with a soulblast, I imprison Ramana!" He pointed at the rearguard. "And I also call Jeweled Combination, Jewelion."
From the halls of Galactraz, a duo of a colorful robot and a white and black police themed mecha soared through the halls, performing aerial maneuvers on the way. The police mecha crashed into Ramana and forced her into a cell that opened on his way in. It backflipped as the witch flew into the cell, and the cell doors was locked. Both battleroids stood next to Lisatt Pink.
"Going to battle, Patroller attacks Rooks." Aster rested the police mecha.
[10,000 VS 10,000]
"Gallus will guard that." Alice calmly placed the guard onto the guardian circle.
[10,000 VS 15,000] - Guard Successful
The police mecha charged toward the spear-wielding knight; however, it was cut off as arrows were volleyed off in its direction, ending its attack.
"Next, with a boost from Autonomic Caution, Risatt attacks. As long as there's an imprisoned card, Caution gains 2,000 power, too!" Aster added as he rested the middle column.
[20,000 VS 10,000]
"No guard." Alice said as she set her hand down.
"My drive check." Aster said as he placed his hand on the top the deck, then flipping it over.
[Aurora Battle Princess, Fronte Rose] - Front Trigger
"A pink trigger? Is it a miscolored draw trigger? A stand? But that one is blue…"
"Ah, excuse me, I didn't explain that one. Stand triggers aren't available in the current format. In their place, they have front triggers. That one gives the entire front row 10,000 power." Alice explained.
"Interesting…there's a lot more value, power wise. But I can see how it can be ineffective at times…like now." Aster said as he looked at the already rested rearguard in the front row.
"That's another thing to get used to."
"There is one more trigger… But that one is very special." Alice said with a mysterious tone in her voice. "If you see it, it should be self explanatory. But for now, here's the damage check."
[Apex Ruler, Bastion] - No Trigger
As Lisatt aimed her pistol at the vanguard, another Aurora Battle Princess appeared. With multiple rockets armed to her side, she intended on aiding both Jewelion and Lisatt. Lisatt pulled the trigger to her pistol and fired off on Rooks.
"Then I guess just for now, Jewelion attacks the vanguard." Aster rested his last rearguard.
[20,000 VS 10,000]
"This time I'll guard with Gurgant!" She added the card to her guardian circle.
[20,000 VS 25,000] - Guard Successful
Jewelion held his sword, and with the support from Rose's rockets, flew toward Rooks. However, the same knight that aided in the attack from earlier appeared, and clashed his hammer against the sword, fending the attack off.
"Then, that's everything from me." Aster said, passing the turn.
Field Check:
Alice:
Back Row: None - Platinum Wolf - None
Front Row: None - Knight of Heavenly Spear, Rooks - None
Damage: 3
Drop: 4
Soul: 2
Hand: 4
Aster:
Front Row: Jeweled Combination, Jewelion - Aurora Battle Princes, Risatt Pink - Security Patroller
Back Row: None - Autonomic Caution - None
Damage: 3
Drop: 3
Soul: 4
Hand: 5
Prison: 1
Alice couldn't help but shake the feeling that there was something still wrong, and when viewing her hand, came to a conclusion. "Aster Ciel, right?" She clarified her opponent's name as she stopped her concentration for a moment.
Aster looked up with a surprised face now that he was called out."Huh? Does she remember me now?"
"Yeah. That's me. Is something up?" He said as he set his hand down.
"There's something you're not telling me." She elaborated. "And since you have a condition you gave for yourself winning, I'd like one too!" The girl exclaimed while pointing at Aster.
"She hasn't realized yet. Then…"
"I'm not sure what you're going on about, but be my guest! I've gotten a good grasp of how this deck works now, so I'm not going to hold back, regardless of your request!" Aster exclaimed back.
"You're going to tell me the other reason why you quit Vanguard! Stand and draw!" She began to start her turn and stood all of her units, and put passion into the draw on her turn.
"I told you I don't remember! How can I fulfill that request if I don't remember why? It's been eight years since I last played!"
"Like I believe that." She now said with a smirk, discarding a card from her hand. "Have you ever heard the sound of a pegasus' wings? Captain of the Cloud Knights, descend!"'
Rooks pointed upwards, and the ceiling of the prison cracked, and began to make rapid breaking sounds, until it burst under too much pressure. The flapping of wings blew the debris and dust away, and as it cleared revealed a white armored knight with blue trimmings, mounted upon a black pegasus. The pegasus flapped again, landing gracefully as its hooves touched the prison floor, with the knight having its sword pointed toward the officer.
"Apex Ruler Bastion!"
"That's this deck's boss, huh? It reminds me of Gancelot."
"Rooks' skill is activated when Bastion is ridden! By revealing three grade 3's from my hand, I can draw a card!" She said while revealing the same two cards from before, and this time an additional grade 3 order being revealed.
"Three grade 3's? Doesn't that run the risk of low guard value?" Aster tried to analyze the skills revealed so far to make up what sort of playstyle Alice would be using going forward.
"Release from the prison! I'll be paying a soul blast twice!" She said as she slid moved her two rideline cards to the drop zone.
"So that's what that cost meant…" Aster said as he grabbed the two cards in the prison, and handed them back to Alice for her to call.
Rooks and Fort both went to free their imprisoned comrades, and slashed at the prison bars to break them out.
"I call them to the same column! I also call Rafluke!" She called the additional rearguard.
"Then, heed me, Keter Sanctuary! Give your strength to the heavens!
The Hour of Holy Judgement Cometh!"
[The Hour of Holy Judgement Cometh] - COST CB2
Ramana and Lisanna rejoined the field, and with a swoop of an axe, the golden armored Rafluke joined the front lines. With 3 different paladins present, the three put their weapons together, combining their strengths to defeat their foes.
"Giving power to Rafluke, and drawing two cards. Additionally, with Bastion's continuous skill, all of my grade 3 units gain 2,000 during my turn, permanently!"
[CONT Grade 3s: Power +2,000]
"This isn't tempo… At least half of the skills she's used so far have correlated to grade 3's. Not to mention, if the unit's skills are permanently 15, that can impact the numbers on the board… This is a beatdown deck!" Aster had fully completed his analysis.
"Now, here I go! Rafluke attacks the vanguard!" Alice said as she got ready for her attack.
[20,000 VS 10,000]
"I guard with Fronte Rose!"
[20,000 VS 25,000] - Guard Successful
As the 3 paladins split to begin their attack, Rafluke bolted toward Risatt Pink, and jumped mid air, beginning to spin with his axe to crush down onto the officer. However, he was blown back by the rockets launched by Fronte Rose.
"I'm not done! With a boost from Platinum Wolf, you shall fall to the Holy Sword!"
[23,000 VS 10,000]
"No guard!" Aster exclaimed without hesitation.
"Here's my drive triggers.
First Check…" She flipped the first.
[Vehement Witch, Ramana] - Grade 3
While it wasn't a trigger, Alice grew a smirk on her face. "No Trigger. The second."
[Knight of Heavenly Rend, Lif] - Front Trigger
"All effects to the front row." She added the card to her hand.
A new knight, this one wielding twin blades, began coordinating the frontlines. Bastion's pegasus began to flap its wings once more, and Platinum Wolf hopped on to the back of it. The duo took off toward Risatt, and when in range, both jumped off to strike at her.
"Damage check."
[Aurora Battle Princess, Treleuse Green] - Heal Trigger
Aster breathed a sigh of relief as he tapped his vanguard with the card, then placed one card from the damage zone into the drop zone.
As the knight had retreated after its strike, a medical officer from the prison appeared behind Risatt Pink, and sprayed her with a medical spray. The pink haired officer smiled and nodded as the medical officer retreated.
"Even if you healed, I'm not done yet! Witness the power of the holy sword!" Alice said as she discarded a card from her hand. Bastion pointed the holy sword toward Rafluke, and a light shined upon the gold paladin. Moments later, he stood back up.
"A restand, here?!" Aster exclaimed as he checked the cards in his hand again.
"Rafluke gains 10,000 too!" Alice said happily. "Next, Ramana attacks, however, since I don't have enough for the cost, I won't be using her skill."
[23,000 VS 20,000]
"Jewelion!" Aster called upon the combination robot to move from offense to defense.
[23,000 VS 25,000] - Guard Successful
As the witch's second blast fired off, the rainbow battleroid moved in to block the attack with its sword.
"Last attack! Rafluke, crush that officer!" She said as she rested her last unit.
[40,000 VS 20,000]
"That much?!" Aster was so surprised by the power level he blurted it out. "No guard!"
Now imbued with the power of the holy sword, Rafluke moved even faster than usual, and appeared behind Risatt Pink. This time, his axe successfully made contact with the officer.
"Damage Check."
[Galaxy Central Prison, Galactoluz] - No Trigger
Aster placed the second copy of his order into the damage zone, now getting even closer to a loss. However, his turn was coming back up, and he planned to make a comeback then.
"Not bad. You were able to survive that. But you were able to heal out. So next time, you might not be as lucky, and I'll get that answer out of you! Turn end!" She set her hand down.
"I already told you…" He said as he stood and drew. "I don't remember!" He discarded a card from his hand.
"I ride Aurora Battle Princess, Seraph Snow!"
As Risatt Pink was recovering, she looked up to the lookout of the prison. A white haired lady descended, the machine guns on her back acting as a proxy for her wings, her hair flowing in the wind, fitting to her title.
"I activate Seraph Snow's skill. Lisanna and Ramana, Double Imprison!" Aster pointed at the column. With a wave of Seraph Snow's hand, the cells came to the units themselves, as if she was a witch in her own haunted house, incarcerating the two units.
"Then I call Alert Guard Gunner and Kyanite Blue! And with Kyanite's counter and soulblast, I draw an additional card. Then I call another Autonomic Caution!" He said as he filled the entire board. As he called the last card, he began to clench his fist even more. He felt his heartbeat pounding.
He closed his eyes, and once he opened them again. He found himself staring at the white armored knight. He moved his hands, and they were the gloves of Seraph Snow.
"I haven't felt like this in ages… I'm enjoying this fight… I want to win!" He said as he waved his hand as the Aurora Battle Princess.
"I'm going all out! Seraph Snow attacks the vanguard! With Seraph Snow's skill, since there are 2 imprisoned cards, Snow gains 10,000 power! Caution gains 2,000 as well!"
[33,000 VS 13,000]
"No guard!" Aster could see from the knight calling back to him.
"Twin Drive check!"
[Aurora Battle Princess, Amy Orange] - Draw Trigger
"Giving the power to Alert Guard Gunner! Drawing 1!
The second!"
[Aurora Battle Princess, Treleuse Green] - Heal Trigger
"I give the effects to Security Patroller!" Aster said as he could feel the medical officer behind him once again. This time, he could feel the medical spray's mist on his skin, making him move even quicker.
"Now, open fire!" He said with Autonomic Caution at his side, and both machine guns locked onto the target. Both opened fire with a firestorm of bullets, the bullets from the machine guns clanking against the round as they fell, hammering against the knight like hail.
"Damage Check!"
[Life-Saving Angel, Kurabiel] - No Trigger
"Next, Alert Guard Gunner!"
[33,000 VS 13,000]
Alice checked her hand as the battleroid pointed its gun at her. "Tch. He aimed for the on hit pressure instead of going from highest to lowest in terms of power. I don't have a choice. I'll have to spend all of my resources on recovering from the prison on the next turn.
"
"No guard!" She concluded.
Amy Orange appeared with the two battleroids. With all 3 of them aiming their guns at the knight, they all opened fire.
[Knight of Heavenly Hammer, Gurgant] - Critical Trigger
Gurgant saw the knight in distress, and left him with his hammer.
"Since the attack hit, Rafluke is imprisoned!"
Aster waved his left hand, and the unit was flown into another cell.
"Security Patroller!" Aster rested his last unit.
[28,000 VS 20,000]
"Arshes will guard!" She dropped the heal trigger from her hand to stop the last attack.
As Security Patroller charged the knight, a staff wielding mage created a shield to stop the attack.
"That's the end of my turn. Bring it on!" Aster said, swiping his arm in a dominating motion.
Field Check:
Alice:
Back Row: None - Platinum Wolf - None
Front Row: None - Apex Ruler, Bastion - None
Damage: 4
Drop: 9
Soul: 1
Hand: 5
Aster:
Front Row: Alert Guard Gunner - ABS, Seraph Snow - Security Patroller
Back Row: Autonomic Caution - Autonomic Caution - ABS, Kyanite Blue
Damage: 3
Drop: 9
Soul: 4
Hand: 5
Prison: 3
Alice nodded, and drew her next card, even more passionate than her last draw. Deciding to spare a bit of information to the returning player, she tamed her passion for a bit.
"You played during the break ride, correct? Then let me show you a new mechanic that this format includes. All grade 3's have this diamond symbol below their twin drive symbol. That icon is called Persona Ride. While one specific unit had that name before, here specifically applies to anytime you ride another copy of your grade 3 unit once again. Like so." She said as she took one from her hand, and echoed the same grade 3 onto her vanguard circle once again.
Bastion raised his sword, and for a moment, an emblem appeared over him, imbuing itself onto him.
"With Persona Ride, you get to draw an extra card." She said, doing so.
Aster tilted his head, underwhelmed with the ability. "Is that all?" He asked.
She smirked in response, as she prepared to call out a board. "There is one more thing. The front row circles gain 10,000 power. That includes any unit that gets called there!" Her passion began to radiate in this game, as she smirked and paid 2 counterblasts to begin her prison breakout.
"Wait, if anything that gets called there gets the power, then…!" He gritted his teeth as he handed the cards in the prison back.
"Come, Ramana, Rafluke, Lisanna! Then I call Rooks!" Alice moved the units back to her board like magic, then filled the last missing slot.
Bastion cut the respective cell doors down to free his allies. Additionally, Rooks appeared behind Rafluke for an all out attack. "With Rooks' skill, he gains 5,000 power and the ability to boost!" Her dialogue of skills lead into a passionate smile, as she began her attack.
"Lisanna boosts Ramana, and attacks Seraph Snow!"
[33,000 VS 13,000]
"Tch…No guard!" Aster concluded as his hand couldn't stop the large numbers of the beatdown deck.
Aster prepped himself as he saw both the witch and the archer aim their sights at him, and was blown away by both attacks, his heels screeching against the metal floor as he attempted to dig his feet in.
"Damage check…"
[Security Patroller] - No Trigger
"I'm not letting you rest! The Holy Sword shall cut you down!" Aster saw as Alice held the sword in her hand, and once again, the Pegasus took off after the wolf behind it howled.
[33,000 VS 13,000]
Aster snapped their fingers, and one of the cell doors opened.
"Craggy Monster, Gigrand!"
[33,000 VS Sentinel]
A giant monster crawled out from one of the cells, and began scurrying across the battlefield like a crab, and rammed itself into Bastion.
"Tch, Twin Drive!"
[The Hour of Holy Judgement Cometh] - Grade 3
[Knight of Heavenly Hammer, Gurgant] - Critical Trigger
"I give all of the effects to Rafluke. And with the Holy Sword…!" Alice said as she discarded a card.
Bastion once again raised the holy sword. This time at Ramana, who twirled her staff as she readied herself for another attack.
"This'll be the end of it! With Rooks now capable of boosting, Rafluke, crush that officer!" Alice rested one unit as soon as she stood the other.
[48,000 (Critical 2) VS 13,000]
"...If this hits, I'll…" Aster calculated the board state carefully. He then grabbed the last three cards in his hand. "Lourus Yellow! Treleuse Green! Amy Orange!" He also slid the grade 2 from his front row forward. "Security Patroller intercepts!"
[48,000 VS 53,000]
As Rafluke's ax almost almost landed on Aster, Aster raised his hand as the rainbow colored trigger officers appeared in front of him. Each of their capabilities aided in the shield to stop the ax from penetrating their shield, and were fully able to put it to a stop when Security Patroller punched Rafluke away. "Thank you, everyone." Aster said as the four units went to retreat.
"You actually survived that? I'm impressed. But with nothing in your hand….Ramana attacks Alert Guard Gunner!"
[33,000 VS 13,000]
"No guard…"
Ramana pointed her staff at the robot instead of the officer, and fired off a ball of energy that exploded on contact with the mecha.
"That's the end of my turn." Alice said with her eyes narrowing, preparing for whatever Aster was going to throw at her.
"Stand and…" As Aster reached for his next card with his empty hand, he began thinking to himself.
"I know it's just a starter deck match, but …" Aster took in the match he was in. The tension he could feel, the units on the board. Even the opponent he was fighting now. "I'm having so much fun. I can imagine myself having more fun. Being able to fight everyone at their best. I know I said I would leave if I beat her… But maybe it'll be the start of something new for me… even if it it is, I want to win this fight!"
"Draw!" The two fighters felt a slight breeze brush against them as Aster drew his card for the turn.
"Seraph Snow, huh. Then that means I can…."
"I'm going all out." He said as he placed the card he drew onto the vanguard circle.
{Track Insert: Valkyria Chronicles 3: Risking Everything on this strike}
The yellow diamond that appeared before Bastion moments earlier now appeared in front of Aster and imbued himself onto him. "Draw. Now I call Security Patroller to the right. The Autonomic Caution on the left moves up!" Aster began making field commands, as the Police battleroid appeared once again, and the cylindrical one moved up. "And once again, Ramana, Lisanna, Rafluke!" With another wave of his hand, the units he named off were placed into jail cells once again.
"I'm attacking the vanguard! The same power ups as my last turn happen again! And since there are three cards in your prison, I perform an extra drive check!" Aster said as both machine guns were pointed toward Bastion, and began unleashing another stream of bullets at him.
[43,000 VS 13,000]
Alice held up a single card in her hand and displayed it to her opponent, as she discarded another from her hand. "Life-saving Angel, Kurabiel!"
[43,000 VS Sentinel]
As the bullets were about to crash into Bastion, a trio of magic circles spun themselves into existence in front of him, and from the roof in the ceiling where Bastion had broken through, appeared an angel.
"I'm not losing here! My triple drive!"
[Aurora Battle Princess, Fronte Rose] - Front Trigger
[Aurora Battle Princess, Kyanite Blue] - No Trigger
"Not yet!"
"Third Check!"
[Spiritual King of Determination, Olbaria] - Over Trigger
'That one is…"
Alice clenched her hand as he saw what he had just pulled. "Give it a read."
Aster, snapping back to reality for a moment, read the card slowly to himself. "When revealed as a trigger, remove this card from the game and…" Aster smirked at the Spiritual King's arrival. This was the chance that he was waiting for.
Returning to his passions, he smiled as he held both his hands at his sides.
Raising the left, he began the assignment of the trigger. "I draw. The first 100,000,000 goes to Autonomic Caution."
He then raised the right. "The additional 100,000,000 will go to Security Patroller!"
With both units at 100,000,000 power, Aster finally saw his chance to beat the person who had so often defeated him in his dreams.
"Autonomic Caution attacks!"
[100,030,000 VS 13,000]
"No guard…"
Alice had no choice as the front rearguards of Aster's field both had wings phase in on their backs, that in the same vein of Olbaria.
The workeroid flew on its new wings and crashed into Bastion repeating the phrase, "Apprehending Transgessor." The impact of the enhanced workeroid sent Bastion flying off his pegasus, as he tumbled off into one of the non-cell walls, leaving an impact crater as he slowly got up.
[Shadow Bow Archer, Lisanna] - No Trigger
"Finish this! Security Patroller!" Aster rested his super enhanced battleroid.
[100,038,000 VS 13,000]
With the same wings as Olbaria, he took off toward the knight, barely standing after the last attack. Bastion stood, with no energy left in him. With the Battleroid moving at immeasurable speeds, Bastion raised his sword in hopes to attempt to stop the attack. However, once again, three bright blue circles appeared in front of him once again, and the battleroid crashed into them.
[100,038,000 VS Sentinel]
"Life-saving Angel…Kurabiel." Alice was barely able to form the words out of her mouth, barely making it out of that turn.
Aster let out a sigh, as with two cards left in his opponent's hand, his survival chances grew slim. However, his determination preserved as he checked his hand, and declared the words:
"Turn end."
{Track End}
Alice:
Back Row: None - Platinum Wolf - Knight of Heavenly Spear, Rooks
Front Row: None - Apex Ruler, Bastion - None
Damage:5
Drop:14
Soul:2
Hand:2
Aster:
Front Row: Autonomic Caution - ABP, Seraph Snow - Security Patroller
Back Row: None - Autonomic Caution - ABP, Kyanite Blue
Damage:4
Drop:15
Soul:4
Hand:3
Prison: 3
"It's my turn…" Alice said as she drew. "I won't ride! But I'll still finish this here." She said with confidence. "I prison release Ramana and Rafluke! Rafluke's skill, giving Ramana 10,000 power! Then I call another! I release Lisanna too!"
Bastion slashed open the prison cells that held his comrades, and tagged them in. However, Rafluke being exhausted from the fight, fist bumped Ramana, entrusting her with his power.
"Platinum Wolf's skill! It gains 5,000 power! Now, go for it! Ramana!" Alice cried out as she rested her empowered rearguard.
[31,000 VS 13,000]
"No guard!"
Aster took the combined arrow and magic assault of the right column.
[Aurora Battle Princess, Amy Orange] - Draw Trigger
"All effects to the vanguard!" He said as he desperately drew another card.
"Go, Bastion!"
With the wolf howling behind him, Bastion crouched, then leaped toward Aster with full force.
[28,000 VS 23,000]
"Right now, I have a perfect guard and 2 cards of 15,000 shield value I can stop the last Ramana and the vanguard now, and I should be even fine if she restands!" Without thinking, Aster called upon the Craggy Monster once again, scurrying to stop Bastion.
[28.000 VS Sentinel]
"I'm not gonna lose! Drive check!"
[Knight of Heavenly Sword, Fort] - No Trigger
[Spiritual King of Determination, Olbaria] - Over Trigger
"Yes!" Alice exclaimed with a happy shout as she drew her next card. "All effects to the left Ramana!"
Aster was dumbfounded. The same card he had pulled just a turn earlier had just now shut him down. But there was still a chance for a heal trigger. He awaited her attack.
"Let's go! Ramana!" Alice rested her last unit.
[200,028,000 VS 23,000]
"Even if I'm losing now though…" He said as he looked at the cards on his field.
"This really was… super fun!"
Aster looked up at the Witch, now with the same wings his other units had before. The blast that Ramana generated was now a colorful rainbow, and opened fire onto the Officer.
"No Guard."
[Aurora Battle Princess, Seraph Snow] - No Trigger
WINNER: Alice Lorenz
Aster, despite putting the sixth card in his damage zone, still held a smile on his face.
"It was because I lost an important match." He finally said, fulfilling his end of the deal.
Alice, still in the moment, looked slightly confused. "Sorry?"
"You were right. I was holding back. I don't like talking about it, but since you won, I can tell you that much." He said as he began putting the cards away.
Finally making sense of what he was saying, Alice had a small frown. "Ah. I'm sorry to pry that from you." She bowed in apology, feeling bad about making him have to talk about the subject.
"Don't worry about it." He assured her with a friendly smile. "Can I ask you something, though?" He said as he finished putting the cards back into one deck.
Alice tilted her head as she moved onto the next topic. "Sure, what's up?"
"Why did you want me to stay?" Aster bluntly asked, slightly confused as to why she initiated a fight with him in the first place.
"Ah…That's…Well…To put it simply…I'm currently the only Vanguard player here." She said with a slightly defeated, yet hopeful tone. "This store has been supporting Vanguard for a month, and yet I'm the only one who shows up, so… I was going to ask…If you could help me build this community?" She said, looking down.
Aster stared at the girl, now having beaten him for a second time. He was surprised, to say the least. The regional champion from their area, the one who had defeated him, was now the one in a defeated situation. Being the only one there for weeks on end.
"I'll be honest… trying to build a community wasn't the thing I had in mind when I came back…" Aster began to say. The uncertain response made Alice flinch in fear of his rejection.
"But…" Alice looked up as he continued.
"I had so much fun today. I remember all of the fun times I had playing this game. All the friends I made, all the people I could talk deck lists and strategies with…" Alice could only stare as he began to reminisce about good times playing Vanguard.
"So if you're the only one here…" Aster hesitated for a bit, surprising himself that he had even gotten this far, and the contrast from his original plan. "I will help you. Let me be the first person that you can discuss your decklists with. Let me be the person to do trades with you when online vendors run out of copies of cards." He then got closer to her as he picked up a card from his deck.
"And let's build this community together." He said with a large smile, holding the Vanguard logo for her to see, and for her to grab the other end with.
Alice could feel the gratitude from her heart swelling up.
"I-I…" The usual passionate tone that would come from her voice now stammered as she tried to form words. "I don't know what to say…" She blurted out, slowly starting to raise her hand to the card.
"Then…How about Stand Up, Vanguard?" Aster smiled as he flipped the card over, and edged it toward her.
Alice's face turned from a confused and faltering look, and slowly turned into one that was holding a laugh in, until she let it out at Aster's joke. As she collected herself, she smiled and nodded. "Thank you. Let's build this community together, then." She said as she let go of the card, and headed over to the shop counter.
"Hey, Mr. Dealer~" She said with a teasing tone. "Deal me a pack of that new set you just got in, why don't you?"
The clerk, bothered by the nickname, begrudgingly grabbed a pack for her, and rang her up.
Alice returned and handed the pack to Aster.
"This is a gift. A sign of good will, to our new partnership!" She placed the pack into Aster's hands. The pack revealed a football player and a pink haired man on the packaging.
"Thank you." Aster graciously accepted the gift. "Wow, seven cards per pack with two rares?" He said as he read the information of the pack. "Then, I hope there's something good in here."
He tore the paper off, and the two stared at the contents of the pack as Aster slowly went through the cards one by one. "Let's see…Diabolos…Almajestar…Blue…" His eyes widened as he got to the last card in the pack. His pupils reflected against the foil pattern.
"Blue Deathster, "Skyrender" Avantgarda…"
AN End notes: Thank you for coming to read the start of this fic! The last time I posted on here was 5 years ago. Regarding Darkness of Imagination, being completely real, writing the chapters that were to come after the chapter I left on became really hard and left me with consistent writers block. I would find myself even writing other fics(I have a few EX One-Shots left on the back burner that I can post now) It wasn't until recently that I was fired up to create a D-Series work. So that being said, I apologize as Darkness of Imagination will be put on Indefinite Hiatus. And while I still have a busy schedule, I want to try to make consistent updates to this fic, hopefully Bi-monthly. So for now, please look forward to more to come with our Blue Mecha Pilot!