Cardfight Vanguard: TimeXross - Ride 1: I See Vanguard Units?! Enter Kirito Senjou
Cray, a planet of its own. It is said to be the home of various creatures and people of many clans and nations. The United Sanctuary, the home to the many warriors who protect the lands; the knights of Royal Paladins, Gold Paladins, Shadow Paladins. The angels of Angel Feather. The sorcerers and fortune tellers of Oracle Think Tank and Genesis.
Next are the dragons, wyrms and dinosaurs, the ninjas and the monks of the Dragon Empire; home to Kagero, Narukami, Nubatama, Murakumo, and Tachikaze.
In the seas of Megallanica, filled to the brim with ghosts of fallen pirates, mermaids, sailors, and sea dragons and serpents, houses the Aqua Force, Bermuda Triangle, and Granblue Clans.
The forests of the Zoo Nation, home to the Neo Nectar, Great Nature, Megacolony and Fable Tail Clans, living peacefully in the comfort of the grass and the trees that surround them.
Up in the outer reaches of space or deep underground are the mechanoids; Nova Grappler and Dimension Police.
In the darkest reaches of the lands are those from the Dark Zone Nation: Pale Moon, Dark Irregulars, Spike Brothers, and Gear Chronicle.
These twenty-three Clans live their lives differently and operate their societies in their own ways, but, in the midst of the peace, an otherworldly threat had arrived to end it. A twenty-forth Clan; Link Joker, brought doom upon Cray; they slaughtered many of the clans that fought against them; enslaved those they took under their control, and destroyed homelands left and right. An unexpected invasion, with the lead of a humanoid entity, these invaders declared themselves to be "The Possession-Vaders".
(~On Cray~)
In the conclusion of battle, a human on each side, one using the Gear Chronicle clan, and the other, Link Joker, concluded their cardfight with the victor being Link Joker. The Gear Chronicle user fell back, spilling his deck on the ground. The other human jumped down from the pillar they were standing on, making their way towards the loser saying in a modified voice "Hand over the cards. Now. So they can be exterminated."
The downed human raised his head, holding his hand up, gesturing for the entity to stay back. "...Never…" He retorted weakly. One of the cards shimmered, it's glow growing in brightness until it took the form of a small half-mechanical dragon. It rushed between the two humanoids, spreading it's small arms. "Keep away from him, you monster! I will not allow you to hurt him any further!"
"Is that a sacrifice? You wish to give yourself up to me for his safety?"
"..." The dragon whimpered, frightened of the entity, but before it could speak further, "No, Clockwork! Stay out of this!" The downed human yelled. Looking back, the dragon found that the human had collected all of the cards and was on his knees, struggling to stand. "We agreed that… I wouldn't let you be captured…"
"But…"
"I'm sorry, but "Parallel" is too strong for us right now…" After finishing the sentence, he fell on his knees. Clockwork ran to him to support him on his feet again. "I'm glad you realize that. Bravely facing me in a cardfight was admirable but foolhardy. Now that you have lost, you must suffer the consequences." The looming entity said, afterward, another entity appeared as a silhouette; it's piercing red eyes gazed down at the weak human and dragon. "That might be the case, Parallel… but only one of us will be suffering this time." The humanoid entity and the dragon hummed in confusion as the weak human smiled weakly. Reaching into his back pocket, he took out a small device. "I was supposed to use this to get all of us back, but I guess that won't happen, now."
"Is-Isn't that the time-warp device that would take you back to your time?!" The dragon exclaimed, tears building up in its eyes. The human nodded. "Yep. I don't have much... time... so listen carefully, Clockwork." He managed to say in between coughs. "I'm sending you further back… to a time before their arrival… Find someone… with a strong imagination who is able to… use you all."
"A strong imagination? Stronger than yours?" The human nodded. "If possible."
"Oh. Planning a retreat? I can see this failing miserably. Paralleros." The humanoid entity raised its hand towards the sky. The giant silhouette began moving finally, preparing an incantation. "Oh no! They're-"
"I see it! It's time for you to go!" The weak human pushed the button on the device. The clear orb on the end of the antenna flashed red, and in moments, a portal opened behind him and the dragon. The dragon looked at it with worry. "Hey, Clockwork?"
"Huh?" The human handed over the deck to the dragon. "Take this... to the one who will save Cray." The dragon, hesitantly, took the deck into its claws. It looked back to the human, looking at his eyes with tears streaming down it's scaly face. The other units from the deck took a physical form as well, giving their saddened expressions. "I know. It's tough having to say good-bye. You were all great friends and all I wish is that you guys flee safely. Remember that this war is not over yet; we can still win this. Now, go on."
"We will not fail you, young master." the largest armored dragon replied. "You are agreeing to this?!" Clockwork yelled. Before it could speak further, another of the dragon's in the group picked it up. "We need to leave!" The female-voiced dragoness said. "No! Wait! KIRI!" Clockworks yells and pleas continued on as all of the creatures went through the portal. The weak human watched until the portal closed, giving one final reply: Stay strong… for us."
(~On Earth~)
"Kirito! Kirito, where are you!?" A woman's voice called out as she was carrying a wooden box. She stumbled out from the back of a moving truck, which was mostly empty. With her view of what's in front of her obscured, she nearly tripped over the sidewalk when a middle-aged man took hold of the box. "I GOT'CHA!" He screamed. He managed to catch the box, but the woman fell on her knees. "Oh, thank you, honey."
"Of course. Is this everything?" He asked. Picking herself up, the woman dusted herself off as she replied. "No. Kirito still hasn't gotten his boxes out."
"Still? Geez, that boy… He must still be upset about this move." He reasoned. "I get that, but the arrangements have already been made, we're here, and he needs to deal with it. KIRITO SENJOU! GET OUT HERE AND GET YOUR BOXES INSIDE!" She yelled, making the man cringe. The called boy finally trudged out, his hands in the pockets of his pants and an annoyed glare present on his face. "There you are. Were you picking out your room?" Kirito stayed silent. "Kirito...?"
"...Yes, mom..." He mumbled, but did so loud enough that she heard. "And...? Which one did you like?"
"...Second floor, third door down the hall."
"Good. Now go get your stuff." She said before walking past him into the new house. He gave a sigh, trudging towards the moving truck to acquire his things. Nearly walking into his father, he made him stumble and fall on his back by slightly bumping into the box he was carrying. It didn't take long for him to carry his stuff into his room of choice, but instead of unpacking immediately, he dropped back-first onto the bed. With his arms behind his head, Kirito stared at the ceiling with a blank expression. Who knew how long he was doing this, but after some time, his mother walked in. Seeing him staring up, she knocked on the doorframe. "Kirito?" He responded with a hum. "...I get it if you're upset about moving again, but you know this job opening was important to us. "
"Couldn't you guys just have moved away without me and come visit like a normal family would?" He replied. "Now, Kirito, that is very rude to say! Sure, our jobs required us to move again and you liked the neighborhood we were in, but we couldn't miss this opportunity!"
"It's not that we moved, mom! All right? If it was just a once or twice thing then maybe I would be alright with it, but we've moved five times this year."
"I understand that, Kirito. I really do-"
"I don't think you do. You and dad want to go chasing your dreams and forget what others might think about it."
"We did nothing of the sort, now, listen! If things were different, we could settle down anywhere we wanted to, but our jobs require us to be in different places for a set period of time."
"Then why do I have to tag along every time, huh? I am capable of looking after a home on my own. You keep leaving on my own when you leave for work, anyway." His mother was in the process of finding the words to respond when he stood up. "You know what? I don't want to know." He said, walking past her. "W-Where are you going? Kirito."
"For a walk. Going to familiarize myself with the city. I'll be back later." With that, he walked past his father who was joining his mother in calling out for him to come back. Ignoring them, he made his way out the front door.
He walked down the pavement of their new lawn, looking down the entire time. Gazing up, he turned his head left, then right. (Which way, I wonder...) He took a coin out of his pocket and flipped it. Catching and observing it (Heads), he decided on moving left. A mile down that direction was a small convenience store, a gas station, and a library on his left; to the right was a park. Continuing forward, he made his way to a long, straight bridge, with a massive river under it. (With a river this wide, does it lead to the ocean? Maybe there's a beach in this city? None of the other town's we lived in had that. That would be a plus, I guess.) On this bridge was a blonde-haired boy, wearing a black dress shirt with a white tie and white dress pants, around his age, staring at the river, standing straight and confidently. Kirito remained silent, observing the boy's actions, but there was no difference in his movements for at least a few minutes. Deciding to press forward, Kirito moved on, even when the boy finally responded. "I were staring at me and-huh?" The boy looked to his right where Kirito once was but was not there now. He looked to the left where he was now. "Wait a minute. Why were you...Staring…" The blonde-haired boy quieted himself instead of giving chase.
Walking past more houses, stores and workplaces, Kirito stopped at a train station. (All this walking and I haven't seen a school yet. Might've wandered past one and didn't realize it. I might be using this station often if the school I go to is far.) On the screen above him and all the passing pedestrians, a commercial came on. Two teenage-looking girls, one pink-haired girl and one blue-haired girl, were present on the screen."(Pink-haired girl)-Helllllo, cardfighters! Hope you're all excited for the up-coming Cardfight Vanguard Circus hosted in the Dark Zone branch! (Blue-haired girl)-If you forgot how to sign up; just go to our official website on your 'Fica's' and register! (Pink-haired girl)-With our lead singing group. (Blue-haired girl)-Yours truly. (Together)-Rummy Labyrinth! Branch manager Yuichirou Kanzaki will be our host at the event and we'll have lots of cardfighting fun! So come while there's still time!"
"Cardfight... Vanguard…? What's that?" Kirito inquired to no-one, an eyebrow cocked up as he watched the screen with slight intrigue. "Probably some children's game or something." Just as he was ready to leave, a panting voice drew his attention. He looked to the left; nothing there. To the right; nothing, either. But back in front of him was a… (Is that a… A dragon?!) He watched the dragon in shock as it flew desperately in random directions, but what caught Kirito's attention was that nobody else seemed fazed by it. "Uh… Uh…" He walked up to a random person. "Hey! Do you see that dragon flying over there?!"
"What? Dragon? What dragon, mister?" Kirito's eyes widened. "How can you not see it?! It's flying in broad daylight!"
"Sir, there is no dragon. It must be your imagination." The young man said. Kirito slowly backed away, panicking. "Wha… But… But…" He looked to where the dragon was but it wasn't there. "What? Where… Where did it go!?" He ran to after it, wherever it had gone.
Making it to the area where he first spotted it, Kirito looked in every direction; to his left, he spotted it again. "There!" He gave chase which made the dragon fly faster. He chased it for what felt like miles until they eventually stopped in an alleyway between two seemingly empty houses; the dragon frightfully moved closer to the brick wall in the far back as Kirito crept closer. (A… A mechanical dragon…? Where did it come from?) Kirito, sharing some of that fear, still kept moving but slowed his movements to not scare it off. "What… What are you…?"
"Keep back! You people are possessed by Link Joker! You're not yourselves!" It cried, trembling on the wall. "Link…Joker?"
"You… You are trying to capture me, right?! You're with that fiend, Parallel, right?!"
"What are you-I don't know what you're talking about! Is that a person?" Kirito further inquired, stopping his advancements. The dragon, still trembling, slowly looked to Kirito with it's terrified expression. "You're… You're not… with them…?" It asked. Kirito shook his head. "I have no idea who "they" are, but who are you and how are you here?"
"You're not with them, but you can see me?" It asked instead of answering. "Yes, but answer the question." Before it could, though, someone else caught the dragon's attention. That someone made himself known. "You found it for me? Thanks.." A man spoke from behind Kirito, making him look back. "Hey, kid. I appreciate you slowing it down for me."
"You know what that thing is? You can see it?" Kirito asked dumbfoundedly. "Yes! He was the one chasing me before you!" The dragon cried again. "He's one of Parallel's lackey's."
"I still don't know who this 'Parallel' is, you know."
"You don't need to know. All you have to do is stand aside." The man walked closer to them before Kirito could make another action. In his hands was a black box with a red crest on it; his right hand had a white glove on. The dragon whimpered more, but as for Kirito; he moved in the assailant's way instead of leaving. "Hmm? Got something to say?"
"Yeah: to buzz off. You're scaring this thing. Don't you see that?" The assailant looked surprised and the dragon's ears perked up. "What…?"
"You got a screw loose? Beat it or I'll make you!" The assailant exclaimed, clearly becoming agitated. "Then make me! I'll just beat you up and anyone else who shows up!"
"You're... protecting me?" The answer to it was in a nod. The dragon looked at it's claws as it glowed, then back to Kirito. Getting off the wall, it flew in front of Kirito, presenting the deck in its claws to him. "What?"
"You know how to cardfight?" It asked. Taken back by the question, Kirito shook his head. "Then I'll teach you. Let's get rid of this guy together." He looked in the dragon's eyes, seeing it's confidence; that confidence in it gave him some of that in him and he took hold of the deck. By doing so, however, it began to glow brightly, blinding Kirito and the assailant. When the glow faded, Kirito blinked a few times. In front of him and the assailant was a table, at least four-six inches long and five inches wide. "What the… Where'd the dragon-"
"Mister. I'm right here." Kirito's gaze came down to the source; that being the deck. "Hu-huh?"
"You said you don't know how to play, right? I'll show you."
Cardfight Vanguard: TimeXross
Confused, Kirito checked his surroundings; a table formed out of nowhere, the dragon turned into a card, and now, the assailant had a strange dark red aura cloaking him. Though not panicking anymore, Kirito still felt shaken. "What is happening right now?" He asked. "That aura? It's the aura that engulfs you when you become possessed by Link Joker. It changes the way you act and feel for the worse. It's really scary."
"Okay, so how do we get rid of it?"
"That's easy; we beat him in a cardfight." The way the dragon's voice sounded when replying made Kirito uneasy. "You make that sound easy, but I've never done a 'cardfight' before."
"I heard you the first time, kid. That's why I am going to show you. First, put me on the upper center circle face-down; that area is called the 'vanguard circle'. I'm the unit named 'Steamvisor, Clockwork Dracokid (Grade 0)'." Kirito looked through the cards, momentarily finding the card that looked like the dragon. "This one?"
"Yep. I am considered 'the starting vanguard'. The starting vanguard has to be a grade 0 because you have to build up from grade 0 to grade 3."
"Grade…?"
"See the icon on the top-most left of my card? With the number 0?"
"Oh, that."
"Next, you and your opponent shuffle each other's decks." Kirito looked to the assailant, a noticeable uncomfortableness evident in his gaze, but the man merely grinned mischievously. "...What? Do I frighten you, little kitty?" That comment was all that was needed to make Kirito confidently hand over the deck. "Shuffle it." He said. Receiving the man's deck in return, they proceeded to shuffle. Once finished, they got their decks back and placed them on the deck zone. "Now, draw your starting five cards." Kirito drew his first five: Steamvisor, Dracosaw (Grade 0, Trigger: Critical), Steamvisor, Dracorazor (Grade 1), Steamvisor, Dracolancet (Grade 2), Steamvisor, Dracorocket (Grade 2), Steamvisor, Dracosaw (Grade 0, Trigger: Critical). "How is it? What grades are in your hand?" The dragon's voice inquired. "Two grade 0's, a grade 1 and two grade 2's." Kirito replied. "Hmm... Decent, but it is important to have your grade 0's in your deck. You need a good balance of grade 1's, grade 2's, and if possible, a grade 3 in your starting hand. Worry not; all you have to do is put any cards you don't want in your starting hand at the bottom of your deck, shuffle it and draw the same number of cards you sent back. In this case, put your grade 0's back." As requested, Kirito put the grade 0's at the bottom, shuffled his deck, and drew two cards: Steamvisor, Dracoguard (Grade 1, Sentinel), Steamvisor, Dracoguantlet (Grade 2). The man did the same, but with returning and drawing one card. "What did you get?"
"Got another grade 1 and grade 2." Kirito told Clockwork Dracokid's voice. "Much better. Now to decide the starting player. How would you decide that? Rock-paper-scissors? Rolling a dice? Coin flip?" Kirito, remembering he had a coin, took it out and presented it to the man." I'll pick heads. You okay with that?" The man just shrugged. "'Kay..." He flipped the coin: it landed on tails. The man responded with a chuckle. "I go first, then, little kitty."
"Now to start the game, kid! Take hold of me and flip me over saying "Stand up, my vanguard"!" As told, Kirito and the assailant held their face-down vanguards and flipped them over. "Stand up, (Kirito)-my (Assailant)-the (Together)-Vanguard!" A strong wind blew over them, though the cards remained still. Kirito covered his eyes as the wind blew, but momentarily, it calmed. Somehow, they were in a completely different place, heck, a completely different world, rather. Kirito stared ahead in awe, the words failing to describe what he was feeling. "Can you see it, kid? This world is called 'Cray'. It is where all of the units live and where cardfights take place. This is where I come from." Clockwork Dracokid explained, but Kirito seemingly blocked out the voice completely. He took in the environment with much interest; the lushes green grass and trees, the crystal clear waters and skies, the gray stones and rocks he stood on. "Whoa…I MUST be dreaming at this point. If everything else wasn't already."
"Err...Kid?" Feeling ignored, the voice tried to snagged his attention. Kirito continued to observe Cray, but when he raised his hands to touch his head, that was when he stopped and noticed his hands were the same as the dragon's whose voice was speaking to him. "WHAT THE HECK?! WHAT HAPPENED TO ME!?"
"Calm down. You're the vanguard. You take the form of the unit on your vanguard circle, and whoever becomes your new vanguard will be the form you change into." Looking back towards the man, he saw that he had changed into a female archer. "As you can see, he is the grade 0 Genesis unit: Aiming for the Stars, Artemis (Grade 0)." Kirito blinked a few times, doing so made everything change back to where they were. (So, is that part of my imagination? Does this game have some kind of mystical power or something? This is off the rails weird.) "Kid, he's starting." Clockwork Dracokid's voice said. He looked at the man who had drawn a card. "Ride! Witch of Cats, Cumin (Grade 1)!" He began with riding a grade 1. Kirito paid close attention to his actions. "Artemis' skill. When rode upon, I draw a card." The man drew a card. "And that will end my turn." (Brief, but interesting...) "So, my turn?"
"Yep. Draw your card for the turn." Kirito drew a card: Steamvisor, Dracowrench (Grade 0, Trigger: Draw). "Now, like he did on his Ride Phase, choose a grade 1 from your hand and place it on your vanguard. It will become your new vanguard."
"Ride Phase?"
"Right. The turn order is Ride Phase, Main Phase, Battle Phase, and last, End Phase. He had to end his turn because the first player cannot attack on their first turn. Since he had nothing else to do, he passed the turn on to you." Clockwork Dracokid explained. "But, do I get to attack?"
"Yes. The second player gets the first attack." (Good. So let's see...) Kirito paid close attention to each of his cards, reading the effects carefully. (I don't really get how this works, but I'll trust my gut on this. The symbols on the effects of this thing matches the symbols on the field, so there might be a reason for it. Here goes!) "Ride! Steamvisor, Dracorazor (Grade 1)!" His form changed from Steamvisor, Clockwork Dracokid (Grade 0) to the new unit. "And with my effect, like Artemis, you can draw a card."
"Right." He drew a card: Steamvisor, Dracowarp (Grade 1). "But then, Dracorazor has his own effect when placed on the vanguard circle." Clockwork Dracokid said. "Is it because of the 'V' symbol?"
"Corrrrectimondo! You said you had a grade 2 in hand, right? That means you can fulfill the first effect of Dracorazor." Kirito nodded. "When placed, I bind a grade 2 or higher from my hand," He took one of the grade 2's in hand (Steamvisor, Dracoguantlet (Grade 2)), and placed it in the bind zone. "look at the top six cards from the top of my deck, and add one grade 2 or greater card with "Steamvisor" in its card name to my hand," The six cards were; Steamvisor, Dracodriver (Grade 0, Trigger: Heal), Steamvisor, Dracobouncer (Grade 1), Steamvisor, Dracobouncer (Grade 1), Interdimensional Dragon, Steamvisor Draco-Titan (Grade 4), Steamvisor, Dracohammer (Grade 0, Trigger: Critical), and Steamvisor, Dracostead (Grade 3). (I don't have a grade 3 in hand or 4, but the dragon told me I had to build my way up the grades, so...) He chose the grade 3. "then shuffle the rest back into the deck." He put the remaining five in the deck and shuffled it. "Since you will have the first attack, why not call a card from your hand to a rear-guard circle? You can only call units from your hand to your rear-guard circles with the same grade as your vanguard, and no higher. The two rear-guard circles in the front-row will be your attackers alongside your vanguard, but each of your three units attack one at a time. The units played in the back-row are your boosters; they give your attacking units their power to make you stronger." Clockwork Dracokid explained further. Kirito nodded in understanding. "Then I'll call! Steamvisor, Dracowarp (Grade 1)! Under my vanguard!" The dragon from the card appeared out of a windy vortex behind Kirito. "I am here, my vanguard." The female-voiced dragon told Kirito. "Good. Now for my attack! My vanguard attacks yours!" Kirito announced, but nothing happened. "Kid, you have to tap your attacking and boosting units. Turn them to the side in the 'rest' position."
"O-oh." He tapped his vanguard and booster. A white emitted from Dracowarp, then it passed on to Dracorazor before Razor leaped in the air, it's razorblade raised as it was preparing a downward slash. "No guard." The man decided. "Now, this is the fun part! When your vanguard attacks, you have to flip the top card of your deck and reveal it to your opponent! This is called a 'drive check', and it only applies to you and your opponent's vanguards. You add the drive checked card to your hand to be used for later."
"Okay! Here goes!" Kirito flipped the top card: Steamvisor, Dracohammer (Grade 0, Trigger: Critical). "Looks like you revealed a trigger unit! The trigger icon is on the top right of a grade 0 unit, and trigger effects only apply during drive checks. Because you got a critical trigger, you can give your vanguard an extra critical and do two damage to your opponent." Dracorazor glowed again from the trigger's effects adding to its strength. It did its downward slash on Cumin, making her cry out in pain. "Damage check." The man flipped the top two, neither being triggers. "Since you cannot attack any further, you have to end your turn." (Wow. That was actually kinda fun to do.) Kirito genuinely grinned, staring at the cards in his hand. The man, meanwhile, started his turn. "Draw!" He drew his card. "Ride! Prometheus of Dancing Lights (Grade 2)!" His vanguard changed into the man on the card image. "His skill activates. When placed, I look at the top two cards of my deck." He took the top two cards from his deck and held them. "I can put a card from among them into my soul and the other at the top of my deck." He put one under his vanguard and the other back on the top of his deck. (So, that's the 'soul'. I wonder what that is used for.) "I call! Two Swift Runner of Clear Skies, Achilles (Grade 1), and Strong Bow of the Starry Night, Ulixes (Grade 2)!" The three units appeared on the surface of Cray in the order the man played them on his field. "I will put the Swift Runner in the center back-row into my soul to use his skill! By doing this, three of my units get +3000 power." The man slid the card under his vanguard into his soul. "Now to my Battle Phase! My vanguard attacks." (When I attacked, he said 'no guard', so I'm guessing there's a way to stop or block attacks?) "Kid, are you going to guard it?" Clockwork Dracokid's voice inquired out of the blue, surprising Kirito. "Err…"
"No worries. To guard, you have to put cards from your hand to the guardian circle; it's the area above your vanguard and front-row rear-guard circles. Your shield value is the far left of the cards, but grade 3 and higher units do not have any shield value." Kirito looked at his hand. He discovered the different number values of each card. (I see...) "Mm-hmm. Then, I'll guard with Steamvisor, Dracohammer (Grade 0, Trigger: Critical)!" He placed the said card in the guardian circle. "Drive check! Ah! A critical trigger: Battle Maiden, Kukurihime (Grade 0, Trigger: Critical)!" It's Dracorazor's 23000 power against Prometheus' 23000. "Kid, the attack went through! Now, you have to do a damage check, and because it was a critical…" (So it hits if the powers are equal? Dang it!) Prometheus swung the fans in his hands, creating a gust of wind launched at Kirito. When it hit, Kirito did his damage check: Steamvisor, Dracorazor (Grade 1) and Steamvisor, Dracowrench (Grade 0, Trigger: Draw). "A draw trigger! The trigger will be put in the damage zone, but you get to add an additional card to your hand."
"Neat." He drew a card: Interdimensional Dragon, Mystery-Flare Dragon (Grade 4). "Now, for my rear-guard's attack. Boosted by Swift Runner, Ulixes attacks!" 24000 to 18000. Looking at his hand, Kirito gave a distant look. Not concerned, but unnerved. "...No guard." Was his decision. He took another from his deck into his damage zone; Steamvisor, Dracoguantlet (Grade 2). "Nervous?" The man asked, perking Kirito's attention. "You should be, newbie. You're at three damage and this was only my first turn of attacks. Three more and it's game over."
"He's right, Kid. If you receive six damage, you lose."
"I'm not scared. This may be my first time playing, and things aren't looking good, but I will turn things around!" Kirito confidently replied. "Besides, I can't lose to some bozo who can't pick on someone his own size. He's gotta pick on small people… and creatures, just to seem strong and validated. Punks like that are a pushover."
"Ugh! You talk big for someone who is losing! I activate Ulixes' skill! At the end of the battle that it attacks a vanguard, I put it into the soul to draw a card and soul charge 1 card." The agitated man slid his front-row rear-guard into the soul, drew a card and put the top card of his deck into the soul. (How many cards are in there? Six? What is he pushing for?) "That will end my turn." The man passed the turn to Kirito. Just as Kirito was going to draw…"Wait! You have to untap your units first." Clockwork Dracokid's voice interrupted. Kirito nodded and turned his vanguard and rear-guard up-right. "Now. Draw!" He drew: Steamvisor, Dracosword (Grade 2). "Ride! Steamvisor, Dracorocket (Grade 2)!" he took a card from his hand and placed it on top of his vanguard, changing the old vanguard unit into the new one. "And Dracorocket has its own vanguard skill! When placed on the vanguard circle only, like with Dracorazor, I bind a grade 2 or higher unit from my hand," He bound Interdimensional Dragon, Mystery-Flare Dragon (Grade 4) from his hand. "look at the top six cards from my deck and add a grade 3 from among them to my hand." The revealed cards were: Interdimensional Dragon, Mystery-Flare Dragon (Grade 4), Steamvisor, Dracodriver (Grade 0, Trigger Heal), Steamvisor, Dracodriver (Grade 0, Trigger: Heal), Steamvisor, Dracostead (Grade 3), Steamvisor, Dracosword (Grade 2), and Steamvisor, Dracoguard (Grade 1, Sentinel). (Dracostead again? (Sigh) It'll have to make do.) "I'll add Dracostead to my hand. Then shuffle the remaining cards back into the deck." He put the remaining five cards into the deck and then shuffled. "Then I'll call Steamvisor, Dracosword (Grade 2) and Dracolancet (Grade 2) from my hand!" The two mecha-dragonic rear-guards appeared, the second looking particularly more pleased than the other. "Glad to be of your services, mate." Dracolancet said with a wink. "And with Dracolancet's skill, I soul blast one card…"
"You soul blast by removing a card from your soul to the drop zone." Clockwork's voice informed. "Okay. Soul Blast." He took Steamvisor, Dracorazor (Grade 1) from his soul and sent it to the drop zone. "By doing this, I can call a card from my bind zone to the rear-guard circle behind him. At the end of the turn, it goes into the soul." He took Steamvisor, Dracoguantlet (Grade 2) from his bind zone and placed it behind Dracolancet. "Howdy." Dracoguantlet introduced itself. "When placed on a rear-guard circle from the bind zone by a card effect, it can boost until the End Phase. But it's the other skill I'm focusing on! By paying its cost with a counter blast."
"You counter blast by flipping a card from your damage zone face-down."
"Right. Got it." Kirito flipped a card in his damage zone face-down to pay Dracoguantlet's skill. "Now, you have to send one of your grade 1 or less rear-guards to the bottom of your deck, while I bind a rear-guard from my field." The man sent away his last rear-guard while Kirito bound Dracowarp. "Now, let's battle! My vanguard attacks!" He tapped his vanguard. "Here they come!" Dracorocket shouted as she launched six miniature rockets from her two cannons. 10000 power to 10000 power. "...No guard."
"Fine. Drive check!" He flipped the top card: Steamvisor, Dracodriver (Grade 0, Trigger: Heal). "It's a heal trigger!" Kirito announced. "With a heal trigger, if you have equal or more cards in your damage zone than your opponent, you can put one of your damage into your drop zone. You always want to put your face-down cards away as you need the face-up cards for counter blast skills." Clockwork's voice explained. "Then I'll do just that." Kirito put the only face-down card into the drop zone. "The power from the trigger's effect to..." (This attack will hit whether I give my vanguard the power or not. So maybe...) "...The power will go to Dracosword. Then, I'll attack with him, next." While the man had put the top card of his deck to the damage zone (No trigger), Kirito tapped Dracosword. "And he has a counter blast skill as well! When he attacks a vanguard, I counter blast 1 and bind a unit from my drop zone with 'Steamvisor' in its name." He flipped another damage face-down and sent Steamvisor, Dracorazor (Grade 1) to the bind zone. "Dracosword gets the original power of the unit bound and if it's attack hits, I draw a card." Dracosword grunted as it leaped forward, sword readily pointed to jab Prometheus. 28000 power to 10000 power. The man stumbled back as the attack landed. When he recovered, he took the top card of his deck and placed it in the damage zone. Kirito responded in drawing a card: Steamvisor, Dracofix-it (Grade 1). "Dracolancet attacks last, supported by Dracoguantlet." 20000 power to 10000 power. Dracolancet threw it's lance at Prometheus hitting him directly in the abdomen. The man repeated the previous action, and this time he got a heal trigger (Witch of Big Pots, Laurier (Grade 0, Trigger: Heal)). "Putting Dracoguantlet into the soul, that will end my turn." Kirito told the man. "Not bad. You play like a natural for a new cardfighter." Clockwork complimented. "I guess the game isn't as difficult as I initially thought."
"Not hard, huh?" The man spoke in an irritated tone. "It's going to get a lot 'harder' for you from here, and I'm going to beat you down until you reach six damage! After all that smack talking you did, I will get you for it!" He yelled as he was untapping his vanguard. "Draw!" He drew with force in his swing. "I ride! Battle Deity of the Night, Artemis (Grade 3, Marker: Force)!" He practically slammed it onto the vanguard circle. "Acquire! Force 1!" He announced, obtaining a strangely designed card. "What the heck is that? There's no grade, power, shield, nor trigger icon."
"That is an 'Imaginary Gift'. You get one when you ride a grade 3 unit with a certain marker; in Artemis' case, she possesses a 'Force' gift marker. The gifts go like this: the first is 'Force' which with Force 1 grants the unit you apply its effects to get +10000 power during your turn, and they stack under the same unit if you desire it. Force 2 allows you to have an additional critical, but you can only have one on each unit. The next type of marker is 'Accel' which grants you an additional rear-guard circle, and whoever occupies that circle gets +10000 power during your turn if you use Accel 1. Accel 2, on the other hand, gives only +5000 power, but you can draw a card when activated. Lastly is 'Protect'. Protect 1 works exactly how a sentinel works, while Protect 2 acts semi-like Accel 2, giving +5000 power and +10000 shield, but it does not give you another rear-guard circle or draw you a card." (So two out of the three 'Imaginary Gifts' I should worry about, right? And he's using one of them. Do I have something like that?) Kirito looked at his hand, particularly at Steamvisor, Dracostead (Grade 3); it had no marker icon. (Dang it! Nothing! Well, uh, hopefully I can survive whatever he throws at me...) "Hey, Clockwork Dracokid? We have a card like that, right?"
"We do, but I don't get why you haven't seen it yet."
"Is it going to just magically show up? It sure is taking its sweet time if that's the case."
"Don't be so cynical. You may just draw it on your next turn, if you're lucky." Kirito glared at the deck, a noticeable hopefulness in his eyes. He then looked ahead to the man in the form of Artemis; her daunting gaze returning his gaze, almost as if they were having a staring contest. (Let's hope I do...)
(End of Ride 1)
(Note: When a character says the full name of a card and the (Grade Insert Grade Number) appears, they do not say it, just the unit's name. Just wanted to make that clear.)