Chapter Text
Ochako could only sigh in relief when the internships were over. It wasn’t like hers was scary or difficult, but she felt so utterly nervous at the start. Still, Tenya and Momo hadn’t noticed it, with her even forgetting her nervousness during the time she had spent at Gunhead his agency.
Thankfully, everything went alright during her time there. She even got to cardfight against Gunhead his sidekicks and win. Which would be awesome if the Hero hadn’t interpreted it as her beating his sidekicks in an actual fight and, therefore, upped her training. All in all, nothing out of the ordinary happened.
Which she could not say about Hosu. Part of her was shocked at hearing what happened, while the other part was very alarmed when she found out that Stain was spotted and arrested. She was happy about that, of course, but another part had a very strong feeling that Tanya was involved during that, and if her gut feeling was right…
Tenya Iida, prepare yourself for Ochako’s retribution, for even God wouldn’t dare get in her way if that was the case.
She made her way through UA’s long hallways in silence, still thinking about her internship, until she arrived at the door. She reached for it with her hand and opened it, only to freeze at the sight in front of her.
“Dude, your hair!” Denki was wheezing in laughter, pointing at a certain explosive blond. “It looks so stupid!” He doubled over, almost hitting his head against Katuski’s desk when he did.
Katsuki, meanwhile, was trying very hard to not explode, and Ochako finally took the time to fully take the boy his state in. His hair, which was normally spiky and basically looked like an explosion in hair form, was very neatly combed back, giving him a very stereotypical rich boy look.
“Oh my god!” Ochako covered her mouth with both hands, muffling her giggles before anyone could see her, and quickly made her way to her desk. Before she made her way to her desk, she noticed Momo waving at her, her smile betraying how amused she was at the sight of a very neat-looking Katsuki. “Oh, Momo!” The brunette stopped at her desk and waved back. “How’d that happen?” she asked her, pointing at the fuming blond.
Momo, her shoulders still lightly shaking, managed to compose herself before fully turning to Ochako. “From what I’ve heard, the agency Bakugo was interning at was Best Jeanist. As you can see, he went through a few… changes.”
“B-Bakubro, are you sure your hair’s doin’ okay?” Eijiro asked him, barely able to stop himself from laughing. “‘Cause it’s lookin’ really funky, man.”
“I GET IT, IT LOOKS STUPID!” The Gear Chronicle user slammed his hands down, his hair suddenly popping back into its normal style. “FINALLY!”
“It even turned back into its usual look!” Denki was nearly out of breath at this point, struggling to even breathe.
“SHUT. IT.”
Ochako couldn’t stop herself from giggling anymore, having to lean against Momo her desk to support herself with the other girl joining. “I-I can’t!” She took a deep breath and managed to calm herself down. “S-so, how did your internship go?” the brunette asked her friend.
Still giggling a little bit, Momo turned to Ochako with a smile. “It went mostly uneventful. I had a few photo shoots at Uwabami’s agency and did a few patrols with her, but they mostly consisted of her signing her autographs while I stood in the back. How did yours go?”
“It went great!” Ochako grinned. “I got so much training in with Gunhead. I feel like I can take on the world now!” Her grin fell a little bit. “Hey, have you heard anything about Tenya? He didn’t respond to any of my texts after… you know.”
Momo her smile disappeared, a frown taking its place instead. “I haven’t either. I hope he’s alright after everything that happened there,” she said.
Just then, the door to their classroom slid open again, and both girls were beyond relieved when a familiar blue-haired boy stepped through. “Good morning, everyone!” Tenya greeted with a bow. Once he stood straight again, he jumped when Ochako was suddenly standing in front of him.
“Tenya,” Ochako looked him straight in the eye, staring right into his soul, “how did your internship go?” she inquired, and Tenya could feel every fiber of his being slowly panicking.
Tenya hadn’t even noticed that he was gulping before he answered, “It went alright. Nothing out of the ordinary,” he said a little too quickly. “I was on patrol when… all that happened, but I’m fine!”
Ochako narrowed her eyes, clearly suspicious of him, and took another step closer. “Are you sure, Tenya?” The blue-haired teen nodded. “…Fine.”
Tenya barely managed to stop himself from sighing in relief when she took a step back, her cheery demeanor returning. “My internship was amazing! I got so much training in!”
Denki watched all that happen from the side. “Dude, that was intense,” he whispered to Eijiro. “Any idea what that was about?”
“I dunno.” Eijiro shrugged.
Mina, who managed to sneak her way to them, grinned. “Is it love?” Both boys jumped when she suddenly spoke up. “Oh, I can already imagine it!” She sat down on Katsuki his desk.
“Get off.”
“Tenya, why did you have to leave me alone!” She cried, covering her eyes dramatically. “I can’t do this without my knight in shining armor!”
Ochako heard that, a blush quickly covering her face. “It’s not like that!” she exclaimed from the other side of the classroom.
“Uh-huh, sure.” Mina grinned.
“Ashido, with all due respect, I hold no romantic feelings towards my friend.” Tenya adjusted his glasses. “I deeply respect her, yes, but that does not equate to us becoming a couple any time soon.”
“Oh, so it can happen?” The pink-skinned girl gasped.
“No. It. Can’t!” Ochako exhaled through her nose. “And it most certainly won’t!” Momo was right next to her desperately trying to suppress her giggles, which she was slowly starting to fail at.
The door next to them slid open with Toru running through it, waving her arms around. “Guys, Aizawa’s almost here!”
Tenya’s gaze steeled almost instantly. “Everyone, get to your seats!” he said, and everyone immediately scrambled to find their desks.
Right when Denki sat down, and almost face planted against his desk, Aizawl walked into the classroom. “Good, all of you sat down before I got here. I’m impressed.” Everyone let out a mental sigh at that. “But Hagakure had warned most of you. Still, it meant that you took less time.”
After that, their class started, and everyone focused on what he had to say.
“We have an exam coming up!?” Denki cried out in despair, a few other students from different classes looking at the table he was sitting at. “But I suck at tests!”
“Oh, yes. How nice.” Mina looked down at her lunch, her hollow eyes betrayal how hopeless she felt. “I am totally gonna ace it.”
“If you study hard enough, then it’ll be alright,” Momo told them to try and reassure them. As expected, that only made both Denki and Mina their emotional states worsen.
“I mean, not everyone can be super good at remembering things, Momo,” Ochako said before turning to the other two. “But she’s right. How else can you two become Heroes if you fail your tests?”
“Then that’s it, I guess.” The pink-skinned girl shrugged. “Mom said that I could become a garbage man with my Quirk.”
“You’d be the best one there ever was.” Eijiro patted her on the shoulder.
“Can’t we just challenge our teachers to a cardfight or something?” Denki asked their Class President, his eyes shining with newfound hope.” “Like uh, if we win, then we pass!”
“Dude, this isn’t some crappy card game anime.” Eijiro deadpanned.
“Hey, those are super cool!” Denki huffed, crossing his arms. “Maybe having a cardfight or two will get all this stress off of me.”
“Oh, same!” Toru raised her hand from where she was. “I’m finally done with building my deck!”
“Wait, seriously!?” Mina gasped, standing up from where she sat. “Tell me, what does it look like? Is it cute? Does it have unicorns?”
“It’s super cool. Oh, and I got something else too.” The invisible girl rummaged around in her bag before pulling something out. “Tada!” She was holding a pair of pink, fingerless gloves in her hands, a red gem reflecting the light of the ceiling lamps on the back of it.
“Oh. My. God.” Mina suddenly stood next to her. “Where did you get these? They’re so cute! And is that a ruby on it?”
“Kouya got these for me after he helped me build my deck,” Toru told her with a giggle. “He told me about how there were a few people with a Quirk similar to mine participating in big tournaments, but they had to wear gloves like these to show where their hands are to prevent cheating. Other than that, they look really cute!”
“Girl, he got you jewelry.” Mina put her hands on Toru’s shoulders. “Put a ring on that.”
“N-no! I’m not interested in him like that!” Toru sputtered, pushing the pink-skinned girl off of her. Mina pouted and sat back down, her arms crossed.
“Still, that was very kind of him,” Momo said to her. “I’m actually surprised that he had the time to help you out with his deck while he and Izuku are also busy trying to form a cardfight club at their school.”
“Oh yeah! How’s that goin’?” Eijiro asked her.
Momo put a hand on her cheek, thinking. “Well…”
“You there, miss!” Takeshi was suddenly standing in front of a student, scaring the girl. “Are you willing to join our organization? If you do, then we’ll be able to stop the Company from taking over the world!”
“Takeshi!” Sayaka pulled him by his ear. “How many times do I have to tell you that yelling at people won’t work!?” She looked back at where the girl was, but she was already gone. “See? You scared her off!”
“I’m sorry, Master…” Takeshi turned to her as much as he could while she has holding his ear and sniffed. “I’m only trying my best…”
The two other members watched the exchange from farther away, both holding a stack of flyers in their arms. “Well, today’s going great,” Kouya said.
“I know.” Izuku sighed. His eyes lit up once he saw a familiar maroon-haired girl approaching them. “Oh, Kyoso! Good morning!”
“Morning,” Hikari greeted with a smile once she was close enough.
“Oh, Hikari! How’s it going?” Kouya asked her.
She shrugged. “The usual, I guess.” She leaned a bit to the side to see past the two, seeing Sayaka trying to console a very sad Takeshi. “Why’re you four so tense, if I may ask?”
“It’s… it’s our last day.” Izuku looked down at the flyers in he was holding.
“You mean your deadline.” Hikari her eyebrows shot up in surprise. “I’m sorry. I hadn’t realized that it was today.”
“It’s fine, Hikari.” Kouya shook his head. “Still, we gotta hurry. If we don’t have a fifth member, then we’ll have to disband the club and join a different one each.”
“And most of them are sports clubs.” Izuku shivered. “My delicate body can’t handle that.”
Kouya and Hikari snickered, already imagining Izuku wearing anything even remotely sport-like. “Yeah, delicate.” Kouya raised an eyebrow.
“That would a interesting sight to behold.” Hikari chuckled.
“Guys, come on!” Izuku blushed.
“…It’s going alright.” She chuckled weakly.
“Ya know, havin’ a cardfight club sounds pretty nice.” Eijiro hummed. “Like, we can have a ton of fun fights to blow off steam after we’re done with school.”
“And don’t forget that it’s still counted as a school activity,” Ochako pointed out. “And if we can let other students from different courses join, then that’ll be even more fun, right?”
“What are you talking about?” Tenya asked them when he sat down next to Ochako.
“Oh, Vice Prez!” Eijiro grinned. “We were just talkin’ about maybe starting a cardfight club! Wanna join?”
“But don’t we need five members for that?” he asked him.
“Dude, look around you. We have more than enough,” Denki said.
“While that may be true, we still need a teacher to approve it and be in charge of it,” the glasses-wearing boy told him. “After the USJ was attacked, quite a few rules regarding students staying on campus have changed, which includes any clubs and their after school activities.”
“Seriously?” With a groan, Denki let his face fall on the table, narrowly missing his food when Eijiro quickly moved it out of the way. “There’s no way we’ll get any of the teachers to listen.”
“Before we do that, can I make a suggestion?” Toru raised her hand. “Can we add that one rule Sayaka added to their club? The one where you have to beat a member to join?”
“I don’t see why not, but why do you want to implement it so badly?” Momo inquired.
She turned to the Genesis user. “Mineta.”
“I mean, that’s a pretty good reason,” Ochako agreed. “And Bakugo can be our rabid guard dog!”
“Don’t let Bakubro catch you sayin’ that!” Eijiro laughed.
“He’ll figure it out, don’t worry.” Ochako winked. “But hey, I won’t tell if you won’t.”
“Then it’s settled!” The Tachikaze user clapped his hands together, getting everyone their attention. “After we’re done with lunch, we’ll start looking for a teacher!” He raised a fist. “You guys with me?”
Everyone raised their hand and cheered.
Aizawa looked at the paper Momo handed to him. “No.”
Momo smiled nervously. “But sir, it won’t be too terrible. I promise you-“
Their home room teacher slammed the paper down on his desk and looked her in the eye, and Momo swore that she saw him experiencing a traumatic flashback. “No.”
Denki slowly turned to Ochako. “It was worth a shot..?”
“I guess..?” Ochako shrugged.
“Ectoplasm, sir, may I have a moment?” Momo handed the UA teacher another paper. “Me and a few of my classmates want to start a club, but we need a teacher to supervise it due to the newly added rules this year.”
Ectoplasm, scratched his chin as he read through the paper she have him. “A ‘cardfight’ club?” He handed her the paper back. “Sorry, but I can’t right now.”
“Ah, I understand, sir.” Momo nodded. “If I may, what is the reason why you cannot supervise our activities?”
“Oh, well…” Ectoplasm looked both ways before leaning down to her level. “You see, I’m actually seeing someone…”
“No way.” Mina gasped, leaning in. “Spill the tea! Is she pretty?”
“Does she have an amazing sense for fashion?” Toru joined in, equally as curious as the Dimension Police user.
“That’s enough, you two.” Denki grabbed the two girls by their uniform’s collar and started pulling them to the classroom’s exit. “Let’s go find another teacher.”
“But I need my gossip material!” Mina whined as she and Toru were pulled out of the classroom. “NNNOOOOOO!”
“I am terribly sorry for their behavior,” Momo apologized to the UA teacher, bowing as she did.
“It’s fine,” he reassured her with a chuckle. “But shouldn’t you join them?”
“Oh, r-right! Thank you for your time!” she said quickly before running to catch up to the others.
Denki grinned and pointed to a door. “Hey, maybe Mister Yamada can be in charge!”
Eijiro quickly pushed him along. “Let’s not, bro.”
“W-what!?” Denki dug his heels in the floor, but that didn’t stop the spiky redhead. “But why?”
“No offense to Yamada, but he’s… very loud.” Tenya involuntarily winced at the last part.
“Imagine focusing really hard on your match, but he accidentally activates his Quirk when he gets too hyped up,” Ochako said.
“But he would be such a cool teacher to have there!” The electric blond reached to the door where their English teacher was. “NNNOOOOOO!”
“Now you know how it feels!” Mina cackled.
Kan, 1B’s homeroom teacher, scanned the paper Momo gave him. “So you want to start a club?”
“Yes..?” Momo answered, unsure.
The UA teacher raised an eyebrow, his eyes never leaving the paper. “And you’re asking me, the one man who teaches the other Hero course, instead of Aizawa, the man who teaches your class.”
“In our defense, Aizawa very quickly said no,” Denki said.
“And he was super clear about it, too!” Toru followed up.
Kan pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “Kids, listen, I don’t have enough time to spend on teaching both my class and being in charge of yours. I’m sorry.” He turned to the 1A students. “Isn’t there someone else that can help you out with… this?” He waved the paper in his hand for extra emphasis.
“Well, there is still one more person that can help us out.” Momo her eyes lit up. “Actually, that could work!”
“You don’t mean..?” Denki gulped. “Absolutely not! Do you want me to get traumatized!?”
“Oh, don’t be such a big baby, Denki!” Mina clapped him on his shoulder.
“Yeah bro, you never know until you try!” Eijiro grinned.
Denki looked at both of them, pleading silently, but sighed in the end, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to win this argument. “Fine…”
Denki started at the classroom door in front of them in fear, knowing what was waiting on the other side. “You know, I think I’m good. I’ll just wait outside, okay?” He turned around to walk away, but Eijiro grabbed him by his uniform its collar.
The Nova Grappler user grinned in a way that, while normally would be very inspiring, gave him a sense of incredible dread. “Dude, ya gotta face your fears!” With ease, he pushed Denki towards the door. At first, Denki thought that he would just smack his face against it, but Mina—being an absolutely terrible friend—gleefully slid the door open to let him fall through it, causing him to land on the floor with his face instead.
“Oh, who do we have here~?” a very feminine voice purred. “A little boy, all lost and alone in my classroom?”
Very slowly, the electric blond looked up, looking straight in the eyes of Nemuri Kayama, otherwise known as the R-Rated Hero: Midnight, her predacious gaze on him making the boy shiver. “H-hey.” He waved awkwardly. “Don’t hurt me.”
“Don’t worry,” the UA teacher bend down and caressed his cheek with one finger, “I’ll be gentle.”
Denki gulped. “I-I need an adult.”
She gave him a terrifying smile. “Oh, but I am an adult.”
“Good afternoon, Miss Kayama,” Momo greeted, stepping past Denki, who was still lying on the ground and was fully paralyzed in fear.
Kayama her gaze quickly shifted to a more pleasant one once Momo made her presence known. “Ah, Yaoyorozu! Good afternoon!” She smiled, sitting back in her chair. “To what do I owe the pleasure?” She propped one of her legs over the other, waiting for the Genesis user to answer.
“Bro, are you okay?” Eijiro helped Denki up, whose legs were still shaking. “You look like you’re about to pee yourself.”
“Dude, she is scary!” he hastily whispered.
“I think she’s pretty cool,” Toru said.
“Yeah, what’s so wrong with her?” Ochako asked him.
“…You two wouldn’t understand.” Denki sighed. “This is a boy thing.”
“Hey, that’s sexist!” Mina pointed an accusing finger at him.
“What? No, it isn’t!”
“Don’t mind them.” Momo chuckled. “Me and my classmates want to start a club, but due to the new rules set after the Villain attack on the USJ, we need a teacher to be in charge of our after-school activities,” she explained, handing the paper she gave every teacher, bar the few obviously busy ones, to the R-Rated Hero.
“Well then, let’s see what this is about.” Kayama read the paper, her eyebrows quickly rising higher with each second. “A ‘cardfight’ club? What exactly is this club about?”
“Well-“
“It’s about this game called Vanguard!” Denki spoke up from farther away, a distance that he was comfortable with. “You play it with two people and try to beat the other up by making really cool plays.”
“And don’t forget how intense these fights can get, bro! I was sweating bullets last time!” Eijiro added. “Man, these games are always so passionate!”
“Uh…” Momo blinked before she turned back to the UA teacher. “I’m sorry about that; but yes, that is basically what our club will be about. I understand if you’re not… interested?” She noticed Kayama not responding. “Miss Kayama?”
“They’re intense, get the blood pumping, and are passionate?” she asked no one in particular, her gaze unfocused.
“Yes?” Momo said, unsure on how to answer.
She jumped slightly when the teacher slammed the paper down on her desk, a wide grin on her face and her cheeks slightly red. “I approve of this club!”
“Oh my gosh, yay!” Toru cheered, raising both her arms.
“That’s what I’m talkin’ about!” Eijiro pumped a fist in the air. “Miss Kayama, you’re the best!”
“Thank you, thank you, but I need to make some arrangements right now,” she told them with a wave, already writing all this down. “You tell your other members and start looking for a room. I’ll show this to Nezu.”
“Well, you heard her.” Denki smiled. “The UA cardfight club is official, baby!”
After telling the rest that were interested, while also immediately implementing their newest rule after establishing their first members, the UA cardfight club made their way through UA’s many hallways, looking for an empty classroom to call their own. Katsuki was the person they were the most surprised by, not expecting him to tag along with the, he kept mostly to himself.
“Let’s see here…” Momo hummed, looking through a map that showed the school’s layout in her hand. “The bigger classrooms that are not in use should be around here somewhere.”
“And it would be for the best to have one with enough windows to allow a lot of sunlight to shine through,” Tenya said as he looked over her shoulder to read the map she was holding. “After all, it should not feel like we’re being held in a concrete prison.”
“Good idea, Tenya.”
“I’m gonna call shotgun on the decorations!” Mina raised her hand before Denki could.
“But wouldn’t it just be a lot of pink if you did?” Ochako asked her.
“Don’t fight it, fellow pink lover!”
“I mean, you’re right,” the brunette shrugged, “but wouldn’t it be nice if we picked a bunch of colors that’d fit the school’s overall aesthetic instead?”
“That’s what I’ve been saying all this time!” Denki crossed his arms. “But it would ‘look so boring’ if I did.”
“But it’s true!” Mina pouted. “Who actually wants to look at red, blue, and gold all day when you have pink, the best color in the whole world, instead?”
“And go blind? No thanks,” Katsuki told her, finally deciding to speak up.
“Ah, this one is perfect!” Momo suddenly spoke up, gaining the rest of the group their attention. They stopped in front of a surprisingly large door.
“Ooh, what’s inside?” Toru asked their Class President.
“According to the map, this used to be a Hero course class during the school’s construction, but was quickly considered obsolete when the rest of the facilities a Hero course student needed where on the other side of the school,” Tenya explained. “This room is now used for storage, but we can move the things inside around and to the classrooms surrounding this one to make more room.”
“Sounds neat!” The invisible girl started jumping up and down. “Come on, open the door! I wanna see the inside!”
Denki quickly slid past her and held his hand above the door handle. “Ladies and gentlemen, here’s the one thing you’ve all been waiting for…” He opened the door, revealing the classroom inside to the rest.
“Oh, hi Todoroki!”
“A Todoro- wait, what?” Denki blinked and looked inside, only to blink again. “Todoroki!?”
Shoto, who was sitting on a pile of boxes while eating a bowl of ice-cold soba, looked up from the school book he was reading. “Hi.” He waved.
“The hell are you doing here, Icyhot?” Katsuki shot him a glare.
Shoto looked down at his book, to his soba—the ice cubes melting by now—and then back to the Gear Chronicle user. “School,” he answered, somehow annoying Katsuki with that.
“That’s cool, bro!” Eijiro said. “Do you mind if we move some stuff outta here? You can stay there if ya want!”
Shoto shrugged, not caring in the slightest. “Sure.”
“Sweet! Thanks, man!” Eijiro grinned, showing a row of razor-sharp teeth to the dual-haired boy.
The cardfight club quickly went to work with clearing most of the room from any trash that could get in the way, with Katsuki reluctantly helping them out after Eijiro asked him enough times, the spiky redhead his positivity impossible to fight, even for the explosive blond.
Shoto watched them from the stack of boxes he was sitting on, partially curious about what they were doing until he finally decided that he didn’t care enough to continue watching them, instead focusing on his schoolwork. It was quite a shame, really, for he wanted to look through his deck to see if he could rematch Himitsu, but wasn’t in the mood to explain to his classmates why he had a Vanguard deck and a FICA on hand.
Right as the cardfight club was about to settle down in their club room after removing enough junk, they heard a knock at the door. “Who’s there?” Ochako asked out loud.
Momo went to the door and opened it, but had to quickly step out of the way of a grey-haired boy bursting through and stopping right in the middle of the room. “Is this the cardfight club?”
“Tetsutetsu, don’t just barge in like that!” A girl, her orange hair tied in a ponytail, stopped next to Momo. “I am so sorry, Yaoyorozu, but he couldn’t wait for two whole seconds for you to open the door,” she apologized.
“Oh no, it’s fine, Kendo,” the Genesis user told her.
Eijiro grinned. “Bro!”
“Kirishima, my man!” Tetsutetsu grinned back, the two manly teens bumping their chests against each other.
“Dude, how’s it goin’?” Eijiro grinned. “I haven’t heard a peep from ya after our internship!”
“Ya know, doin’ stuff, training some more,” the other boy said. “Hey, is this the cardfight club? Kan told me and Kendo about you guys forming one.”
“I mean, it is, but why do you wanna know?” Eijiro tilted his head, curious.
Tetsutetsu thumped his chest. “‘Cause I wanna join, obviously!” he announced, surprising the cardfight club.
“Wait, you play?” Denki asked him. As his answer, Tetsutetsu pulled out a FICA, surprising the electric blond. “He does!”
“And he’s not the only one,” Kendo spoke up, revealing a FICA of her own. “I want to try and join the club too, if you guys don’t mind.”
“Kendo, you’re a cardfighter?” Momo asked her, her surprise clear on her face. “Since when?”
“Since very, very recently.” The orange-haired girl chuckled. “I don’t know, but watching you play that day just made me… interested in it, I guess.”
“I mean, that’s nice and all, but we kinda, maybe have set a new rule for our club.” Denki looked away, a bit embarrassed.
“You have to beat a club member in order to join,” Mina told them.
“Wait, why is that?” Kendo asked her.
“Mineta,” was all Toru said, and Kendo instantly understood, suppressing a shiver as she did.
Tetsutetsu put a hand to his chin. “If that’s the case…” He grinned and turned to Eijiro. “Bro, I wanna fight you! You’re the only one that’ll be able to challenge me!”
“Dude, seriously? Let’s do it!” Eijiro and Tetsutetsu bumped fists, a fire in both their eyes.
Kendo and Momo chuckled. “Well, then that’s settled.” The later suddenly remembered something. “Oh, before I forget.” Momo turned to a certain white and red-haired boy. “Todoroki, Do you mind if a Eijiro and Tetsutetsu have a cardfight here?”
Said boy looked up from his book and shrugged. “I don’t mind. I have a pair of headphones with me.” He pulled out said pair and put them on.
“Thank you, Todoroki! Now that everything is handled.” The Genesis user clapped her hands to gain everyone’s attention. “Everyone, please make room for Eijiro and Tetsutetsu!”
“Yes, Class President!”
As the two manly teens were busy setting up their fields and hands, the other club members, plus Kendo, were conversing with each other, betting on who would win.
“I mean, Kiri’s got this in the bag,” Mina said, kicking the air from the table she was sitting on. “I mean, have you seen him during the national tournament? He was on fire!”
“Yeah, his Illuminal Dragon is no joke!” Denki nodded enthusiastically. “I’m kinda surprised Bakugo didn’t try challenging him.”
“Because I’d beat him, obviously,” Katsuki huffed from where he was sitting, watching the fight about to happen with disinterest. “He got a better chance at beating hair-for-brains than me.”
“Aw, are you being nice to him?” Mina grinned. “Is our resident living grenade growing soft?”
Katsuki turned away. “Shut it, Racoon Eyes.”
“Ouch, so mean!”
Shoto pretended to work on his homework from the pile of boxed he was still sitting on while, in fact, he was keeping an eye on the match that was about to go down. He shouldn’t care about this—he only started playing because he didn’t want to be like his father, after all—but a small part of him wanted to watch so badly, and he caved in to those urges in the end. Still, that didn’t mean that everyone had to notice.
Meanwhile, Kendo, Momo, Tenya, And Ochako formed a little group themselves. “So, how strong is Kirishima exactly?”
“Well, he managed to beat Tenya, and he’s already super strong,” Ochako told her.
“Well, I don’t think I’m that talented.” Tenya said under his breath, but no one caught it.
“So, Tetsutetsu has no chance on winning this?”
“That’s not how Vanguard works,” Momo said. “While skill is obviously important, luck and believing in your own abilities are just as vital as well. Even a beginner can beat a seasoned player under the right circ*mstances.”
Kendo crossed her arms, eyebrows raised. “Huh, guess there’s more to this game than meets the eye.”
“That it does.” Momo chuckled, but quickly noticed that the two boys were done preparing. “Oh, just a moment.” She quickly made her way to them, stopping right in front of the fighters table and between them.
“Bro, I’m gonna give it my all,” the Nova Grappler player told his soon-to-be-opponent. “Sorry if you’re suddenly beaten to a pulp.”
“The same goes for me.” Tetsutetsu cracked his knuckles. “This is gonna be a fun one.”
Momo cleared her throat, gaining both boys their attention. “As the Class President of 1A, it is my responsibility to announce the next fight taking place,” she said. “One of the UA cardfight club its members, Eijiro Kirishima, will face off against Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu, our challenger for today whose aim is to join the cardfight club. Are both fighters ready?”
“I’m ready!” Eijiro flashed his sharp teeth.
“Ready to rumble.”
“Then…” Momo raised her hand, and quickly brought it down again. “Let the first match begin!” Right on cue, both Eijiro and Tetsutetsu flipped their Vanguards face up.
“Stand up, Vanguard!”
The two teens there spirits were transported to a mountain that met the clouds hanging in the heavens themselves. Lightning cracked, lighting up the dark clouds right above the flat area of the mountain the two cardfighters their spirits materialized. Purple crystals jutted out of the stone surrounding them, drawing in the lightning from the dark clouds.
“I ride!” Eijiro his spirit was enveloped in red light, a large white, tiger-themed robot taking his place. The grade zero unit punched the ground, shattering the rock. “Beast Deity, White Tiger!”
Tetsutetsu was enveloped in steel-gray light instead. A single slash cut the light away, and a new unit revealed itself. Standing where the teenager once stood was a small, humanoid dragon with green scales wearing a yellow cape and gray armor around its chest and stomach area. It brandished its sword, lightning crackling off the metal blade. “Harbinger Draco*kid!”
“That’s… Narukami?” Mina tilted her head. “Aren’t those guys, like, lightning dragons or something?”
“Please, don’t remind me that they exist.” Denki groaned, burying his face in his hands. “Your cards are way cooler. They have guns and swords and cause lots of explosions or something cool like that.” He muttered.
“Dude, seriously?” Eijiro pouted. “I was kinda hopin’ we’d have the same thing here.”
“Bro, there’s no way I want to copy you on this, too.” Tetsutetsu shook his head. “Besides, I’m likin’ the way these guys look. They’re pretty badass to me, and gonna win with ‘em!” He pumped a fist in the air.
“That’s what I like to hear, bro! Here goes. Stand and draw!” After drawing a card from his deck, Eijiro picked a card from his hand. “I ride Screamin’ and Dancin’ Announcer, Shout!”
A smaller, octopus-like alien wearing a pair of headphones took the Beast Deity its place, its gray tentacles constantly moving.
“With White Tiger its skill, I draw a card. Over to you, bro!” Eijiro told him.
Tetsutetsu smiled. “Then I’ll take this as my chance to beat ya up, so don’t start crying! I draw!” Tetsutetsu grabbed a card from his hand. “Mighty Bolt Dragoon, Let’s go!”
Lightning struck Harbinger Draco*kid, causing a huge dust cloud to suddenly appear where the grade zero unit previously was. Once the dust cloud cleared, a shirtless man wearing iron shoulder pads took Harbinger’s place. He pointed his electricity-covered blade to Shout, a fierce, battle-ready look in his eyes.
“With its skill, Harbinger lets me draw a card. Oh, and I get a Quick Shield, too!” After adding the two cards to his hand, the Narukami player grabbed a different card from his hand. “And I ain’t done yet! I also call Dragon Dancer, Anastasia!”
Next to Mighty Bolt Dragon stood a young, blonde-haired girl wielding silky cloth as her weapon, her hair and the cloth flowing in the wind.
Mighty Bolt held his blade with both hands. “Here I come!” He jumped off the ground, the stone underneath his feet cracking from the pressure exerted, and quickly closed in on the Screamin’ and Dancin’ Announcer, his blade raised above him.
Eijiro quickly reacted to that by grabbing a card from his hand. “I guard that with Red Lightning!”
Mighty Bolt Dragoon swung his blade down on the panicking Nova Grappler Vanguard, But his attack was parried by a white-haired alien in red armor. Red Lightning kicked Mighty Bolt hard enough to force him back to his side of the field.
“Drive check!” Tetsutetsu flipped over the top card of his deck, revealing a normal unit. “I can still attack. Anastasia’s up next!”
The Dragon Dancer started dancing gracefully, almost looking like she was gliding above the ground, and several orbs of lightning suddenly were surrounding her. She took one more step and opened her arms, letting her cloth flow freely in the wind and sending the orbs of electricity crashing into Shout, electrifying the extraterrestrial being.
“No trigger.” Eijiro sighed and put the card he had revealed for his damage check in his damage zone, raising the total amount there to one while he had five cards in his hand.
“Guess I’ll end my turn with that,” Tetsutetsu declared with a smirk. “So, how’d you like that, eh?”
The spiky redhead chuckled. “Not bad, dude.”
Further away from the fight, Toru leaned to Mina. “So uh, should we be weary of Tetsutetsu?”
Mina shrugged, but Denki spoke up, “Well, Narukami is stupidly good at taking out your rear-guards. Meanwhile, Nova Grappler needs its rear-guards in order to function.” He leaned back. “So if Eijiro knows when to conserve his hand cards and when to strike, then he should be fine… I think.”
“You think?” The pink-skinned girl raised an eyebrow before turning back to Eijiro. “Kick his butt, Kiri!”
“Don’t worry, I got this in the bag!” He gave her a thumbs up before facing his opponent. “Ya hear that? I gotta win this! Stand and draw!” After drawing a card from his deck, he placed the one he got on his Vanguard. “I ride Brutal Jack!”
The Screamin’ and Dancin’ Announcer was replaced by a large, black war machine. Its green optics lit up before it let out an ear-splitting screech, forcing the Narukami units to cover their ears.
“During my turn, Jack gains an extra ten thousand power.” Eijiro picked two more cards from his hand. “And I call Glanz Dragon and Eclair Dragon!”
In the empty column next to the mechanical demon stood the two Beast Deity unit. Glanz hovered behind Eclair, the latter readying its spear.
“Here I go, bro. Brutal Jack’s attacking Mighty Bolt Dragoon!” The Nova Grappler Vanguard reared its head back, green energy quickly flowing through its throat and into its maw. An orb of green energy was building up inside it, and Jack opened its maw fully, unleashing a torrent of energy that was heading towards Mighty Bolt.
Tetsutetsu glanced at his hand before making his choice. “No guard!” he declared.
“Drive trigger check!” The spiky redhead flipped the top card of his deck face up. “Oh yeah, a draw trigger!” He out the card in his hand. “The power goes to Eclair, and another card’s for me!”
Mighty Bolt raised his blade to try and block the attack, but was quickly overpowered by the beam that hit him. The beam hit him in his stomach, pushing him off his feet, and he smacked his back against one of the crystal spikes jutting out of the ground. Grunting, Mighty Bolt slowly stood back up, bruises and scrapes covering the exposed parts of his body. He grinned, wiping some blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. “Not bad.”
Tetsutetsu revealed the cards for his damage check. “No trigger.”
“If ya think that was scary, then watch this!” Eijiro moved his hand to his other column. “With a boost from Glanz, Eclair Dragon’s takin’ aim at your Vanguard!”
The two dragon-themed Beast Deity unit’s ignited the thrusters on their backs, taking of at high speeds and quickly closing in on Mighty Bolt Dragoon, who was clutching his side in pain. The Narukami warrior managed to block the first strike from Glanz Dragon, but wasn’t quick enough for Eclair’s strike. The grade two rear-guard hit Mighty Bolt on the head and then slammed the flat side of the spear’s point in his side, knocking him off his feet.
“Damage check.” Tetsutetsu flipped over the next card as well, revealing another copy of Anastasia. “No trigger.” He put the of the Dragon Dancer in his damage zone, raising the amount there to two.
“And I end my turn with that!” Eijiro declared with a grin, his hand at five cards. “That was some good defending there, bro!” He gave his opponent a thumbs up.
“Thanks, but don’t think I’m gonna sit back and let you keep hitting me like that. Stand and draw!” After drawing a card from his deck, the gray-haired boy picked a different card from his hand. “Voltage Horn Dragon, ride!”
A flash of light engulfed the still-injured Mighty Bolt Dragon, and a large, quadrupedal dragon with golden scales took the grade one Vanguard’s place. The thunder dragon roared, lightning arching between the two curved horns on its head and the wing-shaped ones protruding from the joints on its front legs.
“Let’s see…” Tetsutetsu slid the copy of Anastasia he had on his rear-guard circle back and grabbed two cards. “I move Anastasia back, and I call Excess Streak Dragon, and Demonic Dragon Berserker, Chatura!”
Next to the Narukami Vanguard stood a tall, red-scaled dragon, the large front claws being its most notable features, while the Dragon Dancer jumped back and made room for a humanoid dragon with its lower body being an incredibly long tail. Chatura readied its glaive, electricity coating the blade of the weapon.
“Excess Streak’s skill activates!” The red-scaled dragon opened its maw, a ball of electric slowly growing larger inside it. “I counter blast and soul blast to give Excess Streak an extra ten thousand power, and I get to bind your Eclair Dragon!” Excess Streak shot a bolt of lightning and hit the Beast Deity unit square in the chest, electrocuting it. Before the rear-guard could recover, however, a portal opened up underneath it and sucked Eclair up, leaving not a single trace of the battleroid behind.
“That isn’t very ideal for Eijiro.” Momo winced.
“How so?” Kendo asked, turning to 1A’s Class President for an answer.
Tenya was already ahead of her. “Narukami’s greatest strength is its ability to easily get rid of your opponent their rear-guards, but Nova Grappler needs its rear-guards in order to function properly. Without them, most of Eijiro his strategies won’t work,” he explained.
“Getting rid of Eclair like that is pretty annoying, not gonna lie, but I’m not gonna start panickin’ from that!” Eijiro smiled.
“Then you won’t mind this either!” A grey aura suddenly appeared around Voltage Horn, its power increasing. “When a card gets bound, Voltage Horn Dragon gets an extra five thousand power for the rest of the turn!” Voltage horn turned to the rear-guard on the left side. “Excess Streak, attack Brutal Jack!”
The grade two rear-guard complied and shot another bolt of electricity, its target being the Nova Grappler Vanguard. A robot with a thick layer of clay jumped in front Jack, taking the attack instead.
“Clay-doll Mechanic will stop that!” The spiky redhead placed the card he used to guard in his drop zone.
“Oh, ya wanna start defending yourself, huh?” Voltage Horn growled, electricity coating its body. “Then how ‘bout this!?” The Narukami Vanguard spread its wings and flew towards Brutal Jack. The two collided, and Voltage Horn started tearing the enemy’s black armor apart, peeling away lay after layer and exposing the unit’s inner parts to the dragon’s electricity.
Eijiro looked down at the cards in his hand, a frown on his face, before he looked up at his opponent again. “I don’t guard!”
Jack’s shoulders were pinned down by Voltage Horn Dragon paws, its low claws digging deep into the metal, and watched helplessly as the latter reared its head back, ready to unleash a devastating energy attack.
“Drive trigger check!” Tetsutetsu flipped over the top card of his deck, and grinned. “Got it, a critical trigger! The power goes to Chatura, and my Vanguard’s goin’ critical!”
A torrent of lightning bolts was unleashed from the thunder dragon, frying most of a Brutal Jack’s inner circuitry and causing one of its optics to overheat and explode, tearing apart half of its face. Looking smug from its violent handiwork, Voltage Horn spread its wings and flew back to Tetsutetsu his side of the battlefield.
“No trigger.” Eijiro placed the two cards he had revealed in his damage zone.
“And I still ain’t done yet!” The Narukami user went to his last column. “With a boost from Anastasia, Chatura attacks your Vanguard!”
The Demonic Dragon Berserker spun its weapon around, electricity building up inside the weapon, and jammed the blade into the ground, a stream of electricity flowing through the ground towards the heavily-injured Nova Grappler warrior. When it reached its target, a large pillar of lightning erupted from the ground, frying Brutal Jack and launching it into the air.
Brutal Jack fell down to the ground and was ready to be smashed to smithereens upon landing, but the battleroid was caught by a smaller, blue robot its wall-like arms before being gently placed on the ground by said robot.
“Wallboy?” Eijiro blinked at the card he got, surprise etched on his face, but quickly shook his head. “It’s a heal trigger! I heal one point of damage!” With that, Eijiro was sitting at three damage with four cards in his hand.
“Not bad, dude, not bad, but I’m still not done!” The Chatura card on Tetsutetsu’s field suddenly started glowing. “When Chatura’s attack hits, I can soul blast to draw one card. I end my turn with that, bro.” After adding the card to his hand, he ended his turn with seven cards.
“Dude, that was totally awesome!” Eijiro laughed. “I don’t think I’ve fought anyone as aggressive as you before, and I’m countin’ Sayaka, too!”
“Thanks, man!” Tetsutetsu grinned and crossed his arms. “Just you wait and see. I got something even better up my sleeve.”
“Can’t wait for that.” Still smiling, Eijiro picked a card from his hand after he stood his units back up. “Here goes! It’s one of my manliest cards!”
“Heh, bring it.” Tetsutetsu braced himself.
“Mighty warrior of the Nova Grapplers, show yourself!” Eijiro held the card above his head, blue fire coating it. “Show ‘em why you’re the toughest fighter around! Manly ride!”
Brutal Jack suddenly started convulsing on the ground before it exploded, forcing Tetsutetsu his units to block the suddenly blast of wind that almost pushed them off the edge of the mountain. Standing inside a crater created by the explosion was a tall, dragon-themed robot, its blue armor reflecting the light of the crystals surrounding them. The newest Vanguard readied its spear and shield, both covered in fire and electricity. “Beast Deity, Azure Dragon!”
“There it is!” Denki started rubbing his hands in glee. “Now he’s in real trouble.”
“It’s Azure Dragon!” Mina cheered. “You got this in the bag, Kiri!”
“Imaginary Gift: Accel II!” Eijiro placed the marker on the upper left side of his field, the card flowing for a moment before the light died down, and drew an extra card. “Next up, I’m activating Azure Dragon its skill! Counter blast!” After turning a card from his damage zone face down, he drew another card and picked a different one from his hand. “Come on out, Black Tortoise!”
Right next to the grade three Beast Deity unit suddenly stood a smaller, tortoise-themed robot with a crystal bo staff. “And don’t forget about its extra attack!” Black Tortoise was suddenly gone in a blur, reappearing in front of Voltage Horn Dragon and hitting it square in the jaw with its weapon. While it didn’t electrocute the Narukami unit, it definitely managed to daze it.
“He can attack right after he rode a new unit?” Kendo looked shocked at the play Eijiro made. “Is that legal?”
“It is, actually,” Tenya said. “Azure Dragon its skill allows the unit it called to attack immediately during the ride phase.”
“And if the attack didn’t hit, Black Tortoise gets to stand back up again,” Ochako added. “So no matter what you do, Eijiro gets something out of it.”
“That’s sounds pretty scary, actually.” The orange-haired girl crossed her arms. “You’re constantly at a dilemma whenever Kirishima activates one of these skills. I can’t imagine being able to figure out what you’d have to do in a situation like this.”
“Sometimes, you just have to ride it out and see what happens,” Momo said, confusing Kendo. “It’s something Kouya told me once. He said that you shouldn’t always have to worry about everything and just do what feels right to you.” She nodded sagely.
Kendo chuckled. “Words to live by.”
“N-no trigger.” Tetsutetsu placed the card he had revealed for his damage check in his damage zone. “Dude, just what was that?”
“Something that just shows how manly I can really be, that’s what! And I’m still not done, ‘cause I’m activating Black Tortoise’s skills!” He flipped a card from his damage zone face down. “Tortoise is doin’ another attack!”
The grade two Beast Deity unit suddenly charged towards Voltage Horn again, the thunder dragon still dazed from the last attack.
“W-wait just a sec!” The gray-haired teen scrambled to reach one of the cards in his front row. “Excess Streak Dragon intercepts!”
Just as Tortoise was about to smack the Narukami unit on the head again, Excess Streak tackled the Beast Deity, pushing both of them farther away from Voltage Horn. The guardian bit Black Tortoise in the shoulder, but got hit on the head multiple times by the latter’s weapon. One good swing was all it took to knock the dragon out and free Black Tortoise.
“Not bad. Guess I’ll just have to spice things up even more! Since the attack didn’t go through, Black Tortoise stands back up again.” After turning the card in question vertically again, the Nova Grappler player grabbed two more cards from his hand. “Asura Kaiser, Kick Kick Typhoon, join me!”
In the empty column stood a large, red and gray robot with its multiple mechanical arms holding a weapon, while a smaller, more agile-looking battleroid took its place on the Accel circle. It slammed the shields on its arms together, sparks flying off of them, before it did a few experimental kicks in the air.
“With Kick Kick its skill, since it’s called on an Accel circle, I get to give Black a Tortoise an extra five thousand power!” The grade two Beast Deity rear-guard suddenly gained a red and orange aura around itself, its optics lighting up as it slowly powered up. “Alright Asura Kaiser, attack Chatura!”
The massive war machine charged towards the Demonic Dragon Berserker and swung its largest battle axe in a wide arc, but a crystal shield appeared in front of the dragonman to block it. Angered, Asura Kaiser slammed all of its weapons down on it, only to be pushed back harshly by the shield.
“My Quick Shield will stop that one!” Tetsutetsu showed the card in question.
“Then Black Tortoise is up next!” Black Tortoise started zigzagging towards Voltage Horn Dragon to try and confuse it and successfully managed to smack it on its head again.
“Damn, no trigger.” The Narukami player put the card he got in his damage zone, raising the total there to four. “You’re really startin’ to push me to the edge.”
“That’s the point!” Eijiro moved to the rear-guard on his Accel circle. “Kick Kick Typhoon is next! And I activate its battle skill!”
Black Tortoise suddenly stood back up. To Tetsutetsu his surprise, the Glanz Dragon behind it also stood up.
Mina blinked, looking beyond confused at what happened. “Wait, how’d he do that?”
“When Kick Kick Typhoon attacks, if all the rear-guard circles in your front row have a unit and your pay one counter blast, you get to stand a unit back up,” Denki explained to her. “And Glanz Dragon can restand itself when another unit attacks by paying a soul blast of one, effectively granting you another full-power attack!”
“That’s so cool!” The Dimension Police user cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, “Go, Kiri! Kick his butt even harder than before!”
“Got it!” He grinned. “Here goes, attack!”
Kick Kick Typhoon jumped into the air, coating its outstretched foot in blue flames, and quickly closed in on Voltage Horn Dragon. Right as the attack was about to hit, a boy with long, pointy ears and pale-blue skin raised its finger and fired several bolts of lightning towards Kick Kick, forcing the battleroid to stop attacking and retreat.
“Lightning of Hope, Elena guards!”
“Then Azure Dragon comes charging in!” The Nova Grappler Vanguard took off, leaving behind a pair of small craters after taking off. “I activate its skill! I counter blast and stand Kick Kick Typhoon!”
“Ah, crap!” Voltage Horn flapped is wings, taking to the skies with Azure Dragon hot on its tail. The Narukami dragon weaved through several slashes and jabs performed by the Beast Deity unit, but the latter pulled a fast one on the former by doing a feint, forcing the former to dodge and leaving itself open, and slamming Voltage Horn back to the ground.
Groaning, the thunder dragon opened its eyes, only to widen in panic as it saw Azure Dragon its spear quickly closing in on it. Right before it reached its eyes and penetrated its skull, a small dragon with red scales and a white underbelly jumped in front of Voltage Horn and used its small blade to parry the attack, sending it flying and causing it to get stuck inside a crystal.
“Spark Edge Draco*kid puts a stop to that one!” Tetsutetsu placed the card on the guardian circle, raising the defensive power of his Vanguard to twenty-four thousand.
“Oh, really?” Eijiro his eye twitched, but the grin adorning his face gave away how he really felt about being stopped like that. “Guess I’ll just need to get lucky, huh? Twin drive check!” He flipped over the top card of his deck, a yellow glow accompanying the card. “A critical trigger! All of the effects go to Black Tortoise!”
“Seriously , a critical trigger?” Tetsutetsu winced. “Man, you’re out for blood, aren’t ya?”
Eijiro laughed, showing off his row of razor-sharp teeth. “This is me when I get serious, man!” He moved to the card on his Accel circle. “Kick Kick’s attacking your Vanguard once more!”
The yellow and black battleroid ran towards Tetsutetsu’s Vanguard. Voltage Horn retaliated by firing off multiple bolts of lightning to try and zap its attacker, but Kick Kick did a slide, easily avoiding every attack sent its way, and sweeper the dragon off its feet. While Voltage Horn was still in the air from being knocked off balance, Kick Kick Typhoon twirled around and landed a powerful kick in the enemy Vanguard its chest, sending it crashing into a stone wall.
“Alright Glanz, Black Tortoise, finish him off!” Eijiro turned the two cards horizontally.
“That’s thirty-two thousand power!” Ochako gasped.
“Tetsutetsu, hang in there!” Kendo clenched her fists.
The two Beast Deity units took a step forward, Ready to charge in, but magic circles suddenly appeared around their middles, keeping them in place. The two rear-guards looked up, seeing a small, orange-haired boy with pointy ears and wearing mostly black clothes floating in the air, a magic circle similar to the ones holding them in front of his hands.
“Lightning of Triumphant Return, Reseph guards!” Tetsutetsu put the card he had used to guard in the drop zone, reducing the amount of cards in his hand to four while he had five damage.
Toru blinked—at least, that was what it looked like—and turned to Denki. “So uh, how many times did he attack this turn?”
Denki tilted his head and stared off into space. “Well, if we count his normal attacks, each skill being used, and the Accel circle…” The electric blond went pale. “Then uh, that’s eight attacks.”
“Wait, did you just say eight attacks!?” Mina exclaimed.
“That’s how Nova Grappler rolls, I guess,” Denki said with a shrug. “They keep relentlessly attacking your Vanguard, and sometimes rear-guards, without ever stopping, so this is quite normal for them, actually,” he told her.
“But I can’t do that,” Toru said, taking her own deck out and looking at it. “At least, I think I can’t.” She pouted.
“But you can do other cool stuff, right?” Denki asked her. “Besides, you don’t have to stand out like that. Just be yourself!”
“Denki’s right!” Mina smiled. “Just stick with your guns and you’ll sparkle like a super star!”
Toru nodded, clearly happy. “You’re right!”
Eijiro took a deep breath to calm himself. “I end my turn,” he declared, holding six cards in his hand.
Azure Dragon landed on the ground right next to the pillar that its spear was stuck in and pulled it out. The unit stood up to its full height, watching as the magic circles keeping Glanz Dragon and Black Tortoise from moving disappear and Voltage Horn joining its rear-guards. The dragon-themed robot calmly walked towards its own side of the battlefield. “I may not be able to beat you this turn, but the next one will do it for sure.”
Voltage Horn bared its teeth, a grin forming on its snout. “Are you sure about that?” The dragon spread its wings, a lightning bolt cracking behind it. “I’m gonna beat the living daylights out of you, Eijiro!”
From where he was standing, Izuku watched Sayaka and Takeshi trying to get more challengers for their club, but ultimately failing in the process, every student they meet having suffered one too many losses against them.
“Good afternoon, Izuku.”
Startled from being suddenly addressed, Izuku turned to the owner of the voice. “Oh, Maki! Good afternoon.”
She chuckled and sat down next to him, watching Kouya trying to get a few students to try and fight him, with them ultimately declining and walking away. “How is your club doing?” she asked him, pushing her glasses up. “Today’s your deadline, right?”
Upon hearing that, Izuku let out an exhausting sigh, his shoulders slumped. “Not great, to be honest. I think everyone finally gave up,” he told her. “Still, we have a little bit of time left. We have till three, after all.” He tried to smile, be positive, but he knew that he was lying to himself.
Maki noticed this, however, and pondered over it. “I can talk to Hanazono and get you some more time, but I’m afraid that that is all I can do for you,” she told him, grabbing a flyer from the pile next to him.
Izuku gasped. “R-really? You’d do that for us!?”
“Of course,” Maki answered with a smile. “How can I have a proper match against you if there isn’t a club room to do so?” She chuckled and stood up. “I’ll do my best. Meanwhile, you better not slack off, Izuku.”
“I won’t, I promise!” the green-haired teen said as he watched he disappear behind the corner.
Maki had a little smile on her face once she was out of his eyesight. She truly wanted him to succeed, but he needed more than just luck to do so. She caught a head of maroon hair in the corner of her eye, seeing Hikari Kyoso looking inside the cafeteria and watching the cardfight club from where she was standing.
Curious, Maki approached her. “Kyoso?”
Hikari turned to her. “…Nagashiro, correct? You’re the Student Council’s secretary. At least, one of the two the have.”
The glasses-wearing girl cleared her throat, not in the mood to remember what happened before with her position. “Yes, that’s right. But what exactly are you doing here?” she inquired. “Last time I checked, spying on your classmates isn’t considered quite normal around here.”
“Well, you see,” Hikari took another glance at the cafeteria, watching Izuku excitedly talk about the club, before turning back to Maki, “it’s the cardfight club.”
“And your problem is..?” Maki raised an eyebrow. “If you want, you can try and join them. Something tells me that you’ll be right at home with them.”
Hikari put her hand right above her heart. “I… I can’t.” She shook her head. “I have my reasons to not join. I’m sorry.”
Maki looked her in the eye, trying to see through her, to understand, but she gave up. “Still, it never hurts to think about it.” She handed the maroon-haired girl the flyer she was holding in her hand. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to head to the Student Council. Have a nice afternoon, Kyoso.”
Maki bowed before she turned around and walked away, leaving Hikari behind with her conflicting thoughts. She looked back one more time to where the cardfight club was and looked down at the flyer in her hand. She didn’t want too, her life was too hectic, but her heart…
Hikari sighed and pocketed it, her feelings fighting against her logic.
“I stand and draw!” Tetsutetsu drew a card from his deck, signaling the start of his turn. He grabbed a card from his hand, a large grin on his face. “You ready, bro? I’m about to show you my full power!”
“Ready, dude!” Eijiro braced himself, not sure what to expect from the manliest cardfighter he had the pleasure of facing off against.
Tetsutetsu held the card in front of his face, small, crimson sparks surrounding it. “Great, red beast, come down from the skies and ravage the lands.” He raised it above his head, a large bolt of lightning hitting the card. “Embody the strength of a cataclysm, bring chaos to the battlefield! Ride!”
The clouds hanging low above the battlefield rumbled, lightning cracking between them and lighting the battlefield, and a large lightning bolt hit the ground and tore the stone ground apart, right where Voltage Horn was standing. Once it died down, Azure Dragon dared to look into the light.
Kneeling where the previous Vanguard first stood was a larger, more humanoid dragon, its red scales reflecting the light of the crystals surrounding it and a mane of white hair atop its head flowing in the wind. Slowly standing up, the creature spread its wings, lightning arching around the purple armor accented with gold covering its upper body. Once it fully stood up, the dragon reared its head and let out a mighty roar, the crystals around it having their energy taken out of them to creat orbs of electricity around it. “Dragonic Vanquisher!”
Vanquisher slammed its fists against each other and flexed, causing more electricity to crackle around and over its body, dancing along its scales. “Come on, bro, let’s get serious!”
Azure Dragon hit its spear and shield with a loud clang, sparks flying off of them. “You said it!”
“Imaginary Gift: Accel I!” The Imaginary Gift its symbol appeared in front of Vanquisher in a flash of multi-colored light. The Narukami Vanguard crushed it with one hand, absorbing the marker’s powers. “Rally to me, Voltage Horn Dragon, Mighty Bolt Dragoon!” Vanquisher raised its arms and summoned two electric orbs to the, before throwing them in the empty column.
In the front stood the gold-scaled, quadrupedal dragon once more, its wings fully spread, while the young Dragoon stood behind the grade two thunder dragon, readying his blade.
“I activate Mighty Bolt his skill. I look at the top five card of my deck for a grade three card,” Tetsutetsu said as he picked said amount of cards from his deck and looked through them, managing to find what he needed. “I add Jaggy Shot Dragoon to my hand.”
After discarding a different card from his hand, he picked the card he had just gotten. “And I’m callin’ Jaggy Shot to the Accel circle!”
A silver-haired man riding a blood-red dragon stood on the far left of Tetsutetsu his side of the field. He readied his firearm, which vaguely resembled a shotgun, and kept it locked onto the Beast Deity Vanguard.
“That’s a really good formation he got there,” Momo noted. “If I recall their effects correctly, then Voltage Horn and Jaggy Shot both also possess skills that bind your opponent’s rear-guards.”
“And using Accel I gives you a bigger offensive boost to your formation.” Tenya put a hand to his chin. “It’s risky, but it can pay off if you play your cards right.”
“Dude, that card looks so manly!” Eijiro told his opponent.
Tetsutetsu grinned. “If that’s all it took to get you excited, then watch the rest. I activate Dragonic Vanquisher’s skill! Counter blast!”
The Narukami Vanguard raised its arms above its head and called upon the lightning in the sky, forcing it to crash down onto it and the unit catching the bolts in its hands. The energy condensed into a ball of energy, lightning crackling off the edges, and Vanquisher pointed the orb to Eijiro’s side of the battlefield. “I bind Black Tortoise!” The orb hit the Beast Deity rear-guard, stunning it and letting it fall through a portal that appeared beneath it.
“And there goes another one…” Denki sighed. “Poor guy won’t have any cards left at this rate.”
“Okay Jaggy Shot, attack Azure Dragon!” The grade three Dragoon unit aimed his firearm at the Nova Grappler warrior, the barrel of the gun rapidly building up energy. “I activate Jaggy Shot Dragoon his skill! I bind a card from my hand to bind Asura Kaiser!” The grade three rear-guard pulled the trigger, sending an energy beam flying towards the multi-armed warrior and hitting the ground in front of it, opening another portal that Asura Kaiser fell into.
“You get to bind another card?” Eijiro glanced at the three cards in his bind zone.
“Yup! And that’s not all, ‘cause I’m activating the skill of the card I just bound!” Tetsutetsu grabbed the only card in his bind zone. “Come on out; Desert Gunner, Bahjan!”
Behind Vanquisher appeared a young, black-haired boy, the long, black cloak he was wearing around his waist decorated with metal lightning bolts.
“With Bahjan his skill, since a card was bound this turn, I get to soul charge.” Tetsutetsu slid the top card of his deck underneath his Vanguard.
“He gets to activate the effects of the cards he binds himself!?” Denki exclaimed.
“That’s so crazy!” Toru paused. “Wait, that is crazy, right?”
Denki nodded. “Tetsutetsu doesn’t have to worry about losing any cards from the costs he has to pay, because he can call them to the field with their skills, effectively losing nothing in terms of card advantage.” He turned his attention back to the fight. “Is there anything else this deck can do?”
“Vanquisher’s other skill activates too!” A silver aura suddenly surrounded Tetsutetsu his front row units. “If at least three cards are bound during my turn, my units in the front row gain ten thousand power!”
Mina turned to the Tachikaze user. “Denki…”
Denki facepalmed. “Me and my big mouth.”
“I uh…” Eijiro looked through the cards in his hand, pondering over what to do. “I guard that with Ord Anchor and Scarlet Bird!”
Jaggy Shot fired off another energy beam, but this one was blocked by a humanoid, bird-themed robot and a far larger one with one of its arms replaced by an anchor.
“Oh, really? You wanna play like that?” Vanquisher flexed its hands. “See if you can handle me, then!”
The thunder dragon spread its wings and shot towards Azure Dragon. Once it was close enough, Vanquisher slid on the stone ground to do a low spinning sweep on the Beast Deity warrior to try and knock it off balance, but the latter jumped right in time to avoid the attack, instead bringing its weapon down on the red dragon. Vanquisher flapped its wings once more, barely managing to get out of the way.
“Not bad,” Vanquisher stood up, coating its hands in electricity, “but let’s see if you can keep up with this!” The dragon tried to land several lightning-powered punches, but they were blocked by Azure Dragon’s Shield, the unit looking none the worse for wear.
“Sorry bro, but I ain’t giving up that easy!” Azure swiped its spear once more to try and make space between them, but the thunder dragon jumped over it, an electric orb rapidly growing larger in its hand. Azure Dragon jumped out of the way and avoided the attack just in time, watching Vanquisher hit the ground instead. “Missed me!”
“No,” Vanquisher slowly raised its head, a smile on its snout, “I didn’t.”
A powerful wind suddenly picked up around Azure Dragon, forcing the Vanguard to brace itself. The winds intensified and turned into a tornado that picked Azure up, keeping the unit trapped inside.
“Twin drive check!” Tetsutetsu revealed the first card. “No trigger.”
A countless amount of electric orbs appeared around the tornado Azure Dragon was trapped in. The Nova Grappler unit noticed this, but was unable to break free from the winds restricting its movement.
“Second check…” Flipping over the next card, a green glow accompanied it. “A heal trigger! The power goes to Chatura, and I heal one point of damage!”
Dragonic Vanquisher clapped its hands together, a burst of lightning exploding between them. “Thunderclap!” The unit commanded countless orbs surrounding the tornado to crash into Azure Dragon, frying the battleroid alive.
The winds died down and the Beast Deity unit crashed to the ground, its metal charred and sparks flying between its joints. It weakly looked up, seeing the Narukami units slowly approaching its fallen and injured form.
“Chatura, go and attack Azure Dragon!” Vanquisher commanded.
The Demonic Dragon Berserker nodded before it slithered towards the downed robot, its glaive crackling with electricity. The dragonman swung its blade, but it was parried by the blue lightsaber of a silver, humanoid robot with yellow optics.
“Twin Blader nullifies that!” Eijiro discarded a card for the cost of the sentinel unit, reducing the amount of cards in his hand to two.
“That won’t be enough, bro!” The Narukami player moved his hand to the final column. “With a boost from Mighty Bolt, Voltage Horn Dragon’s takin’ aim at your Vanguard! I also activate its skill!”
The golden-scaled dragon reared its head beach before unleashing a torrent of lightning bolts on Kick Kick Typhoon. The Nova Grappler read-guard managed to dodge the first few bolts, but the barrage quickly became overwhelming, causing the unit to get hit and be sucked into a portal like the others.
Ochako gasped. “No way, his whole front row is gone!”
“Yeah, Tetsutetsu’s no joke when he’s serious,” Kendo told her with a chuckle.
“And thanks to Mighty Bolt, Vanquisher, and its own skills, Voltage Horn Dragon its power is thirty-seven thousand,” Momo said.
“Being able to destroy your opponent’s battle formation while also gaining a lot of power is a terrifying combination.” Tenya crossed his arms. “Will Eijiro be able to recover from this, is the question.”
Eijiro glanced at his hand and sighed. “I don’t guard.”
Voltage Horn and Mighty Bolt Dragoon joined forces, the former coating the latter his blade in energy. The Dragoon unit charged and swung his blade, hitting Azure Dragon in the chest and leaving behind a massive gash there. The Nova Grappler Vanguard clutched its chest in pain, feeling oil leaking out of it and between its fingers.
“Damage check.” Flipping the top card of his deck over, Eijiro was surprised at the card he saw. “A draw trigger! I draw one card thanks to that!” With that, the spiky redhead had three cards in his hand and five damage.
“I guess I’ll end my turn with that,” Tetsutetsu declared, putting his hands on his hips. He ended the turn with four cards in his hand and damage zone each. “Hope you enjoyed the show.”
“Enjoyed? Bro, I was more than enjoying it.” Eijiro grinned. “That was super hype!”
Tetsutetsu laughed. “I’m glad to live up to the hype, then!”
“Yeah, but are you still convinced that you can win?” The spiky redhead slammed his fists together. “As long as I don’t have six damage, I can still win this! Stand and draw!” He drew the next card, his eyes widening once he saw what it was. “Guess it’s my lucky day, ‘cause I got something even better than Azure!”
Tetsutetsu tilted his head, his face betraying how curious he was. “Something even better?”
“Just watch and see.” A golden glow surrounded the card Eijiro drew, nearly blinding his opponent.
“My eyes!” Mina covered her eyes with her hands.
Denki grinned, now suddenly wearing a pair of sunglasses. “Oh boy, Tetsutetsu is so screwed, now that Eijiro’s best card is here!”
“A warrior wrapped in gold with a will that never wavers, show yourself to us!” Wind started picking up around him. “Bring me a fight that is beyond legendary! My manly victory ride!”
A pillar of golden light erupted from underneath Azure Dragon, enveloping the injured Beast Deity in its radiance and forcing Tetsutetsu his unit’s to cover their eyes. The light exploded, pushing the Narukami warriors back. Standing where Azure Dragon first stood was a taller, stronger version of itself, the battleroid its golden armor shining in the light of the crystals surrounding them.
The new unit swung its double-sided blade, a powerful slash sounding through the air, and the crystals closest to the Nova Grappler unit their upper halves slid off and landed in the ground, perfectly cut in half. “Ultra Beast Deity, Illuminal Dragon!”
“Imaginary Gift: Accel II!” Eijiro put the marker card on the upper right corner and drew a card, increasing the amount he held in his hand to four cards.
“Did your Vanguard just evolve!?” Tetsutetsu exclaimed. “Aw, come on! Why can’t I do that?”
“Sorry, I gotta try my hardest if I wanna win this!” Grinning, Eijiro grabbed a card from his hand. “Come on out, Eclair Dragon!”
On the Accel circle stood a silver, dragon-themed robot wielding a spear. A multi-colored aura appeared around the rear-guard, the Imaginary Gift it was on granting it more power.
“I activate Eclair’s skill! I discard one card from my hand to give it three thousand power.” The card turned horizontally by itself. “And that’s not all, ‘cause it’s also attacking Vanquisher!”
Tetsutetsu grabbed a card from his hand. “Desert Gunner, Bahjan guards!”
The grade two Beast Deity unit ignited the thrusters on its back, rapidly closing in on Dragonic Vanquisher, but its spear was parried by the shot of a young, black-haired boy his gun. Eclair Dragon retreated back to Illuminal’s side, still ready to attack.
“Even though Tetsutetsu guarded the attack, Eclair can still attack this turn.” Tenya adjusted his glasses. “But was discarding a card from his hand really worth it if the attack got blocked, though?”
“It would, actually,” Ochako spoke up. “Doesn’t Illuminal Dragon have a skill that activates when another unit hits their attack?”
“Oh, that’s right! Illuminal Dragon gains fifteen thousand power if an attack hits!” Momo nodded. “That still forces Tetsutetsu to make a hard decision between saving a card from his hand but dealing with a stronger Vanguard, or losing a card but making Illuminal weaker.”
“Even then, Eijiro can still attack with his other rear-guards, and Illuminal Dragon its second skill is also terrifying to think about.” Tenya shivered.
“It’s second skill?”
Momo turned to Kendo, who looked understandably confused. “When a rear-guard its attack doesn’t hit and Illuminal Dragon is the Vanguard, Eijiro can use its second skill to stand the rear-guard whose attack missed and give it ten thousand power,” she explained.
Kendo blinked, surprised. “So, that’s another opportunity to activate the first skill?”
“Or a good way to end a fight,” Tenya said. “Either way, Illuminal Dragon is a force to be reckoned with, and you shouldn’t let your guard down around it.”
“You ready, bro? I’m goin’ all out!” Eijiro grabbed the only two cards left in his hand. “I call Brutal Jack and Clay-doll Mechanic!”
On the other Accel circle stood a robot covered in clay armor, while the black war machine took its place in front of Glanz Dragon, its green optics shining brightly.
“With Clay-doll’s skill, I draw a card,” Eijiro said as he drew a card from his deck, his hand now holding only one card. “Alright, here comes Clay-doll!”
The grade one rear-guard fired off a red laser from each optic, but the Demonic Dragon Berserker stepped in front of Vanquisher to block the attack with its weapon of choice, leaving its leader unharmed.
“Chatura intercepts!” Tetsutetsu put the guardian in the drop zone after that.
Eijiro had a little frown on his face from that, but he didn’t let that stop him. “Then Eclair is up next!”
The grade two Beast Deity rear-guard attacked once more, its weapon in front of itself and ready to pierce through the Narukami Vanguard’s scales and armor, but the attack was blocked once more, by another copy of Mighty Bolt Dragoon, the guardian parrying the attack with his blade.
“Sorry, but that one still ain’t goin’ through!” Tetsutetsu smirked, but his eyes betrayed how nervous he really felt.
“Since the attack didn’t get through, I get to activate Illuminal’s skill!” The spiky redhead flipped a card in his damage zone face down. “Eclair stands back up, gains ten thousand power, and attacks your Vanguard again!”
Before Vanquisher could even react, it was hit in its side by the dragon-themed battleroid. Vanquisher stumbled back, clutching the side where it was hit but still standing steady on both feet.
“The attack hit, which means Illuminal’s other skill activates too!” A golden aura blazed to life around the Ultra Beast Deity, its power rapidly increasing with each passing second. “My Vanguard gains fifteen thousand power!”
“T-that isn’t good.” The gray-haired boy gulped.
“Your ready, bro?” Illuminal crouched down, the ground shaking under the unit’s feet. “Here I come!” Illuminal took off, leaving large cracks on the ground where it first stood.
Vanquisher dodged the first jab, but had to stay on the defensive, barely dodging each swipe and jab of its opponent. The Ultra Beast Deity knocked the red-scaled dragon off its feet, causing the latter to land on its back, and was ready to end the fight.
Right before the blade made contact, however, red cloth wrapped itself around Illuminal’s weapon, stopping it from dealing the final blow. The Nova Grappler warrior looked back and saw a blue-haired woman standing farther away from them, in her hands the cloth stopping Illuminal from extinguishing Vanquisher’s life.
“Dragon Dancer, Jirina guards!”
“Is he crazy!? That’s barely enough to guard!” Denki exclaimed, eyes the size of dinner plates.
“If he reveals one trigger, then it’ll go through.” Mina clenched her fists. “Go Kiri, finish him off!”
“Twin drive check! The first one!” His hand hovering above his deck, Eijiro hesitated to draw the first card. Taking a deep breath, he flipped it over. “No trigger.” He grit his teeth.
“That’s one.” Kendo sighed.
“But it’s not over yet,” Ochako said. “There’s still one more card!”
“Second check…” His hand back on his deck, everyone—including Katsuki and Shoto, both not even pretending to not be interested anymore—waited with baited breath.
“Come on, be a dud.” Tetsutetsu held his breath.
Eijiro flipped it over. “N-no trigger…”
The Dragon Dancer pulled even harder, causing the Ultra Beast Deity to lose his balance, and yanked it back to Eijiro his side of the battlefield. Illuminal Dragon landed on both its feet and huffed. “Damn. Just when I thought I‘d win.”
“NNNOOOOOO!” the pink-skinned girl cried. “Kiri, how could you!?”
“Nice!” Toru cheered, but quickly paused. “Wait, who am I supposed to cheer on again?”
“He survived it.” Tenya let the breath go he hadn’t realized he was holding.
“No, he’s not in the clear yet.” Ochako shook her head. “There’s still Brutal Jack.”
“You may have been able to block that one, but this one’ll end it!” The Nova Grappler user turned to the last card still standing on his field. “With a boost from Glanz Dragon, Jack’s ending this!”
The black war machine jabbed its metal claws into the ground to keep itself steady and opened its maw, green energy building up inside it. Once the energy build up for long enough, Brutal Jack unleashed a beam of energy towards the Narukami Vanguard, the attack so strong that the ground vaporized from the sheer power behind it.
“T-that’s twenty-seven thousand power!” Kendo gasped. “Tetsutetsu, look out!”
Tetsutetsu grabbed the last card in his hand to defend himself with. “I intercept with Voltage Horn Dragon!”
The golden-scaled dragon jumped in front of its leader and wrapped its wings around itself, the wing membranes glowing brightly as they managed to block the lethal attack.
“That’s not enough, though.” Eijiro tilted his head, confused at the play. “Dude, I think you need to count again.”
“Oh, I did, don’t worry.” The card in Tetsutetsu’s back row started glowing, the one card that was there since the beginning of the cardfight. “Anastasia her skill activates! When a unit’s under attack, I can move her to the guardian circle by paying one soul blast!”
The grade one Dragon Dancer joined Voltage Horn, summoning a barrier to push the attack even further away, but the beam was still slowly pushing them back.
“That still isn’t enough!” Eijiro told his opponent.
“Which is why I came prepared! Anastasia her other skill activates too!” The card in question on the guardian circle started glowing even brighter. “When my opponent’s got at least three cards in their bind zone, Anastasia gains an extra five thousand shield!”
The barrier its power intensified, easily repelling the deadly attack and using its residual energy to push Jack back with a burst of energy. Brutal Jack landed on its side, but quickly recovered, joining its Vanguard on its side of the field.
“I… I end my turn.” Eijiro his shoulders slumped.
“That was some incredible defending on Tetsutetsu’s part!” Momo smiled. “He took a huge gamble with Illuminal Dragon’s attack, but it paid off in the end!”
“But he only got one card left in his hand, though,” the brunette told her. “I don’t want to sound like a pessimist, but he can’t survive another turn like that.”
“He’ll win. I just know,” Kendo spoke up, gaining the other three their attention. “Even outside of Vanguard, he didn’t get into the Hero course by giving up.”
“Dude, that was insane!” Eijiro let out a bark of laughter. “Now I’m sure that you’re the manliest of guys out there!”
“You better believe it. So get ready,” Tetsutetsu tightened his grip on the card he was holding, “because I’m gonna end it right here, right now.”
He drew a card from his deck, signaling the start of his turn, and grabbed a card from his hand. “I ride Vanquisher again!”
The Narukami Vanguard its wounds mended magically on their own while another Imaginary Gift appeared in front of it, empowering the unit. “Hope you’re ready, ‘cause I’m activating my Vanguard’s skill again!” The red-scales dragon raised its hands to the sky, summoning a lightning bolt that hit Eclair Dragon, stunning it while a portal appeared underneath it and sucked the unit inside.
Eijiro chuckled. “Again? That isn’t going to work, y’know.”
“Who said that I was gonna do the same thing again?” Right as Tetsutetsu said that, two lightning bolts sudden hit their hand cards from the ceiling, surprising Eijiro. “When Vanquisher uses this skill while there’s a grade three in the soul, we both have to bind a card from our hands!”
A burst of lightning, and a card was knocked out of both their hands. “W-What the heck!?” The spiky redhead flinched.
“And that’s not all! I bound Chatura from my hand, so I can superior call it to the field with an extra ten thousand power instead!” Appearing on the newly acquired Accel circle stood the dragonman, a silver aura surrounding the rear-guard.
“And Tetsutetsu bound three cards this turn, which means that Vanquisher’s other skill goes live as well,” Denki said. “Which means that Vanquisher can support its first skill on in its own.”
Eijiro grew nervous at the growing power on his opponent’s side of the field. “Uh-oh, that doesn’t look good for me.”
“Here goes!” Vanquisher spread its wings, the unit’s hands coated in electricity. “I’m goin’ all out!” The thunder dragon took off, quickly closing in on Illuminal Dragon.
The Ultra Beast Deity sidestepped the first punch and retaliated with a jab of its weapon, but Vanquisher parried that with its armored wrist, sparks flying off when the attack connected. With a powerful swing of its arm, Vanquisher knocked Illuminal’s weapon out of its hand and charged once more. Illuminal did the same, the two units pushed against each other, hand against hand, but neither budged.
“I…” Eijiro looked down at his hand, already knowing that there was no way he could defend himself this turn. “I don’t guard.”
Still pushing against each other, Vanquisher grinned and sent a powerful current through Illuminal Dragon’s body, causing the latter to spasm where it stood and lose its grip. Dragonic Vanquisher crushed the battelroid’s hands, reducing them to sparking scrap metal, and started unleashing a flurry of punches on the still-recovering Vanguard. With each punch, a large dent was left behind, the metal bending from the sheer force behind each attack.
Vanquisher grabbed Illuminal by its head and brought it down on its knee, crushing part of the Beast Deity’s head. “You-“ Vanquisher grabbed Illuminal by the back of its head and smashed its face into the ground, causing the stone to crack. “Lose!” Looking up weakly, Illuminal its sight was assaulted by a bright, white light. Looking past it, the red-scaled dragon was readying another lightning bolt, one that put the previous ones to shame.
Dragonic Vanquisher unleashed its final attack, watching the Ultra Beast Deity evaporate in front of it.
“And the winner is…” Momo pointed her arm to the victor. “Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu!” she announced, the rest of the club applauding Tetsutetsu.
“Man, that was intense!” Denki clapped. “I didn’t know that it would be this close!”
“No! Why, Kiri?” Mina cried, tears going down her face. “Why!?”
Katsuki his eye twitched. “Seriously?”
“Oh yeah!” The winner in question roared. “Ya see that? I was a total badass there!”
“Congratulations on winning your match, Tetsutetsu.” Momo shook his hand. “Welcome to the UA cardfight club.”
“Wait, we were fightin’ for that?” Tetsutetsu blinked, but suddenly remembered. “Oh yeah, we were doing that.” He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
“Dude,” Eijiro stepped up to him, “that was awesome!” He grabbed his former opponent his hand, squeezing as hard as he could. “We totally gotta fight again!”
“You said it, bro!” Tetsutetsu returned the gesture, also squeezing as hard as he could.
Kendo chuckled at the very manly display of respect and friendship. “It’s my turn, right?” Crossing her arms, she turned to the rest. “So, who’s going to be my opponent?”
“That’ll be me.” To everyone their surprise, Katsuki stood up from his chair, walking to Kendo with his hands stuffed in his pockets.
“Bakubro?” Eijiro watched the explosive blond stand ready at the fighters table.
“If she wants in, then she has to go through me.” Katsuki gave her a glare, one that was focused. “I’m not gonna let another extra get in. Not on my watch.”
“Bakugo, don’t call one of your schoolmates an extra!” Tenya frowned.
“Let him be, Tenya,” Ochako told him. “He’s not going to listen.”
Kendo grinned and took her own Vanguard deck out. “If that’s what you want, then let’s do it.”
“Excuse me!” Kouya approached two students, a charming smile adorning his face, and handed them a flyer. “Are you interested in joining the cardfight club? The only thing you have to do is beat one of our members.”
One of the two girls looked at the paper before handing it back to the peach-haired boy. “I’m sorry, but I’m not interested.”
“Oh, that’s fine. How about you, then?” Kouya turned to the other girl. “The game is super fun, and it’s a great way to get to know some awesome people!”
The other girl kindly declined as well, and Kouya waited for them to be far enough to sigh. “And there goes another one…” He looked up, only to see something in the corner of his eye. Turning to whatever it was, the Nubataka player saw Izuku talking to Maki. It looked like the green-haired teen was thanking her before he turned around and headed for Kouya. “So… What was that about?”
“We got more time!” Izuku smiled brightly. “We have until the end of the day to find someone!”
“Wait, you somehow managed to convince Hanazono to give us more time?” Kouya patted him roughly on the shoulder. “Izu, you’re the man!”
“It was Maki that asked her, actually,” Izuku corrected, “but this should give us some time to get a fifth member… I hope.”
“It’ll be fine.” Kouya rolled his eyes playfully. “So stop fretting about it and start looking for our fifth member!”
“Let’s tell the others while we’re at it,” the Megacolony user said as he turned to where Sayaka and Takeshi were, only to see the former running after Tesaki with murderous intent. “Or we can wait until they’re done.”
Kouya nodded, fully agreeing with him.
“So, Tetsutetsu,” the boy in question turned to Denki, a curious look in his eyes, “what made you play Narukami?”
“Oh, Himitsu helped me out,” Tetsutetsu answered.
“Wait, Kouya?” Toru looked surprised at that. “He helped you pick your deck out too?”
“Uh, yeah..?” Tetsutetsu shrugged. “Once he showed me these cards, I just knew I gotta use ‘em.”
“Then Bromitsu made the right choice!” Eijiro grinned.
“Bromitsu?” Mina giggled, Toru joining her as well.
The two manly teens hadn’t heard them. “Himitsu also helped Kendo out with her deck.” Tetsutetsu slammed his fists together. “And lemme tell ya, her cards pack a punch. There were a few cardfights where I could barely beat her!”
“Wait, she’s that strong?” Mina turned to the Katsuki and Kendo, both cardfighters almost ready.
Meanwhile, Momo waited patiently for the two soon-to-be-opponents. “Are you two ready?”
Kendo looked through her hand after redrawing a few cards back into her deck. “Ready,” she responded.
Katsuki clicked his tongue, having chosen to not change his hand. “Just get to the whole introduction round.”
Momo nodded and raised her voice so that everyone could hear her. “For this initiation cardfight, we have the challenger, Itsuka Kendo, fight Katsuki Bakugo. Are both players ready?” The both nodded. “Then, begin!” Both cardfight flipped their starting Vanguards face up.
“Stand up, Vanguard!”
Kendo and Katsuki their spirits were taken to the blue seas of Megallanica. Their spirits materialized in the middle of the blue ocean, both fighters floating above the deep waters.
In a flash of light, Katsuki was replaced by a small dragon still sitting in a golden eggshell decorated with gears. The baby dragon opened its eyes, forest green watching Kendo her every move. “Primordial Draco*kid!”
“And I ride!” The water around Kendo suddenly enveloped her, hiding her form from her opponent. When the water disappeared, a young, cyan-haired boy wearing a white marine uniform took her place and brandished his blade made out of green energy, his red eyes burning with determination. “Officer Cadet, Erikk!”
Momo her eyebrows shot up, having rejoined Ochako and Tenya their side after the match had started. “Aqua Force?”
“How interesting. Isn’t this clan its main focus launching coordinated attacks on the opponent?” Tenya put a hand on his chin. “Not everyone can use such a deck, because of how technical and hard to use it can be for a lot people.”
“Shall I take the first turn, Bakugo?” Kendo asked her opponent, a smile adorning her face.
“Go on, take it,” Katsuki said with a huff. “I’ll win either way.”
Kendo chuckled. “You’ll regret saying that. I draw!” After adding a card to her hand, she grabbed a different one from her hand. “I ride Storm Rider, Nikoloz!”
The Officer Cadet was replaced by an older boy who wore his coat like a cape. He readied his firearm, a large energy rifle, and pointed it at Primordial Draco*kid.
Kendo drew a card from her deck after that. “With Erikk his skill, I draw a card. I also activate Nikoloz his skill.” After looking at the cards in her deck, she added one of them to her hand. “I add Algos from the top seven cards of my deck to my hand,” she told her opponent as she revealed the card in question and added it to her hand, ending her turn with seven cards.
“That’s a pretty solid start.” Denki grinned. “Getting a card like Algos immediately helps her with her future turns!”
“Tsk. Like it’d actually matter if you get an extra card.” Katsuki drew a card from his deck before he picked a different one from his hand. “I ride Wedgemove Dragon!”
A pink, humanoid dragon in bronze armor took the baby dragon its place. Flipping the glowing knife in its hand, the Gear Chronicle unit took on a battle stance, looking ready to fight.
After he drew a card and added a Quick Shield to his hand, he picked another card from among them. “And I call Steam Scara, Kalain.”
Right next to Wedgemove appeared a young boy wearing glasses with a book held in his hands. “Kalain attacks first!” The boy opened his book and used it to summon several magic circles.
The Aqua Force user glanced at her hand. “I don’t guard,” she declared.
With a wave of his hand, the Steam Scara sent the magic circles towards Nikoloz. The Storm Rider tried shooting the projectiles down with his rifle, but there were too many and he got hit in the process, the resulting explosion sending him skidding along the ocean’s surface.
“Wedgemove is next!” While in midair, Nikoloz opened it eyes, only to see Wedgemove above him, ready to strike him down.
Kendo didn’t even look at her hand this time. “I don’t guard.”
“I-is she doing okay?” Mina asked, clearly worried. “Like, shouldn’t she try to defend herself or something?”
“Don’t worry,” Tetsutetsu crossed his arms and grinned widely, showing his sharp teeth, “she got this in the bag.”
Katsuki raised an eyebrow, but didn’t care in the end. “Drive check.” He revealed the top card of his deck, a red glow accompanying it. “A draw trigger. I draw a card, and give the power to my Vanguard.”
In the blink of an eye, Wedgemove Dragon slashed Nikoloz across the chest, tearing his uniform, apart and slamming him against the water, thankfully not going under the surface.
“You know, that was pretty stupid of you. Are you suicidal or something?” Katsuki asked her with a huff. “You know what, never mind. I activate Wedgemove’s skill.” He out a card from his hand into his bind zone. “I bind the Idealize Dragon I have in my hand to draw one card. I end my turn,” he said, now holding eight cards in his hand.
Kendo had a little smile adorning her face. “You think I’d just take those attacks without thinking things through first? Guess again, Bakugo. It’s my turn!” Kendo grabbed a card from her hand and placed it on the Vanguard circle. “I ride Marine General of the Restless Tides, Algos!”
An older man with short, cyan hair wearing a white marine uniform with golden pauldrons took the injured Vanguard its place. Algos raised both its energy guns and kept them focused on Wedgemove Dragon, the barrels humming softly.
Kendo grabbed three more cards from her hand. “I also call Tidal Assault, Storm Rider, Basil; Storm Rider, Nikoloz; and Battle Siren, Viviana!”
On one side appeared a pale-skinned man wielding two emerald-colored energy swords, his arms crossed, while another marine soldier with a long, blue scarf riding a red hover board appeared on the other side of the Marine General, a pink-haired mermaid mermaid equipped with a chain and kunai behind him. Meanwhile, another copy of Nikoloz stood behind Algos.
“D-did she just call four cards on her second turn!?” Ochako exclaimed, eyes wide. “She could’ve used those cards to defend herself instead!”
Tenya adjusted his glasses. “She’s trying to deal as much damage as possible at the start, before Bakugo can get to his grade fours.”
“That is not a bad strategy, actually,” Momo said. “She must’ve watched the national tournament, so she knows what her opponent’s play style is and what kind of cards to expect.”
Katsuki’s eye twitched at the formation his opponent had built out of nothing. “You’re really something, aren’t you?” He frowned. “It’s annoying, by the way.”
Kendo chuckled. “Thanks, But I’m only getting started, Bakugo.” She moved her hand to the first card. “I attack with Tidal Assault! I also activate his battle skill!” She removed a card from the stack underneath her Vanguard. “I soul blast one card in order to stand Tidal back up!”
Tidal Assault uncrossed his arms and charged towards the Gear Chronicle Vanguard. Wedgemove managed to roll out of the way, but Tidal quickly recovered and charged once more, surprising the gear dragon. The rear-guard swung his blade, but a transparent barrier blocked the attack, leaving Wedgemove unharmed.
“My Quick Shield will stop that!” Katsuki showed the card in question to his opponent before removing it from the field.
The orange-haired girl grinned. “I guess I’ll try again, then. Tidal’s attacking once more!”
Tidal Assault moved around the shield, managing to slide his way behind Wedgemove, and raised his blade to strike the unit down. Right as he was about to bring his weapon down on the dragon, he was pushed out of the way by a white, fluffy dragon wearing a blue hood.
“Luckypot Draco*kid stops that!”
“Oh, you’re guardian again?” Algos jumped into the air and twirled his guns in his hands before pointing them at Wedgemove Dragon. “Then my Vanguard’s attacking next! And seeing as how this is at least the second battle of this turn, I can activate my Vanguard’s skill! By paying one counter blast and soul blast, Tidal Assault stands back up again!”
“Wait, you’re doing what?” Katsuki watched in surprise as the rear-guard stood up again.
“T-that’s the third time Tidal Assault gets to attack!” Denki said, his mouth open.
“That’s so cool!” Toru did a little jump from excitement. “It really feels like a general commanding his army!”
Gritting his teeth, Katsuki looked down at his hand before he made his choice. “I don’t guard!”
“Drive trigger check!” Kendo revealed the top card of her deck. “It’s a heal trigger! I heal one damage, and Basil gains ten thousand power!”
Two beams of green energy were shot out of the Marine General his two guns, quickly making their way to their target, and hit Wedgemove in the stomach and side, leaving nasty-looking burn wounds behind.
Wedgemove clutched its wounds in pain, dropping its weapon in the process, and heard a scream right next to where it stood. Looking to the side, it watched as Kalain was struck down by Tidal Assault, forcing the rear-guard to retire.
“And she’s going after his rear-guards?” Ochako winced. “Yikes, that must hurt.”
Kendo moved her hand to the last column. “With a boost from Vivana, Basil’s attacking your Vanguard! I also activate his skill!” She flipped a card from her damage zone face down. “Normally, Basil would gain five thousand power if he attacked during the third attack, but this is the fifth attack of the turn, which means that the amount he gains becomes ten thousand instead!”
“That’s forty-six thousand!” Mina gasped.
“That’s it, Kendo,” Tetsutetsu pumped a fist, “show him what you’re made of!”
Looking through his hand, Katsuki realized that he didn’t have a choice but to let it through. “I don’t guard…”
The Storm Rider charged, using his hover board to quickly close the distance between him and his target, and swung his sword in a wide arc once he got close enough. Wedgemove wasn’t fast enough to dodge in time and got hit in the stomach, forcing him back with a deep cut where he was hit.
“No trigger.” Katsuki placed the card revealed for his damage check in the damage zone, raising the amount there to two while he held six cards in his hand.
“With Viviana her skill, since the attack hit and since it’s at least the third battle this turn, I put her in the soul to draw a card.” With that, Kendo ended the turn with five cards in her hand.
Katsuki his eye was twitching a little bit harder this time. “Okay, I’ve changed my mind. You’re not an extra, you’re an annoyance.”
Kendo raised an eyebrow. “Thanks for the promotion?”
“It’s not a compliment, in case you didn’t realize! Stand and draw!” After drawing a card from his deck, the spiky blond grabbed a different one and slammed it down on his Vanguard circle. “Lost Break Dragon, ride!”
A blue, humanoid dragon wearing golden armor on its lower legs, arms, and shoulders took the smaller Vanguard’s place, its red scarf billowing in the wind.
“I activate Lost Break Dragon’s skill. I bind Lippitt from my hand to draw a card.” After placing the card in his bind zone and drawing a card, Katsuki grabbed three cards from his hand. “I call Nabu, Gun-bezel, and Steam Fighter, Memenne!”
A Gear dragon wearing bronze armor with a purple scarf stood next to Lost Break, both the unit’s gums aimed at Kendo her units, while a blue-haired woman stood on the other side, sitting on a cannon, with a blonde-haired girl doing a few experimental kicks in the air behind her.
Algos never let his eyes wander, fully focused on Katsuki his units. “Not bad.”
Lost Break’s eye twitched. “Don’t look so smug.” The Gear Chronicle Vanguard raised its hand, a ball of energy building up in its palm. “How about this, then!?” Flexing its fingers, Lost Break blasted the ball towards Algos, causing the water to evaporate while making its way to the Marine General.
“I don’t guard,” Kendo declared as Algos crossed his arms, ready to tank the attack.
Katsuki moved his hand to his deck. “That’s a bad move. Drive check!” Flipping over the card sitting on top of his deck, the teen grinned. “A critical trigger! I give the power to Gun-bezel, and my Vanguard gets the critical!”
Upon making contact with its target, the energy ball exploded, the shockwave pushing Algos back and tearing his upper uniform to tatters. Still, he was standing, albeit with a few more bruises and burn wounds than he wanted.
“No trigger.” Kendo put the two cards revealed for her damage check in her damage zone, raising the total amount of cards there to four. “That all?”
“No, it definitely isn’t!” Lost Break turned to the blue-haired woman. “Nabu, attack the Vanguard!”
“Nabu’s skill activates!” Katsuki picked a card from his drop zone. “I bind Kalain from my drop zone, and you can’t guard this attack with grade one or higher units!”
“If that’s the case,” Kendo immediately responded to that, “then I’ll guard that with Dolphin Soldier of High Speed Raids!”
The Steam Mechanic pressed a button on her cannon and fired of a beam of pure energy. Right when it was about to hit the Aqua Force Vanguard, a dolphin wearing a marine uniform surfaced from the water, summoning a barrier to block the attack.
Katsuki frowned. “With the other part of her skill, I put Nabu in the soul to draw a card.” After drawing a card, Katsuki moved his hand to the last unit that still stood ready to attack. “Gun-bezel’s attacking your Vanguard! And with its skill, it gains an extra ten thousand power!”
The gear dragon fired both its guns, hitting Algos on his shoulder and side. The Marine General dropped to one knee, the pain too much to keep him standing. Gun-bezel twirled both its guns and blew the barrels before it disappeared in a portal that appeared underneath its feet.
“With Gun-bezel its skill, it binds itself. Over to you.” Katsuki ended his turn with five cards in his hand.
“Why isn’t he focusing on Kendo her rear-guards? Aren’t they more of a threat to him?” Ochako asked to no one in particular.
“I think he’s trying to end the fight as quickly as possible, and dealing so much damage will help him with that,” Tenya answered. “And the amount of grades he has in his bind zone is at nine already.”
“Which means that he’s ready to unleash a grade four unit next turn,” Momo said. “If he gets four more grades in there, he can use seventy-five percent of Mystery Flare Dragon’s effect as well.”
“Wait, seventy-five? You’re saying that it got…” Ochako took a moment to do her calculations. “One more skill?”
“Indeed.” Tenya nodded. “If you ride Mystery Flare Dragon, and you have nineteen grades in your bind zone at that moment, you get an extra turn.”
“A-an extra turn?” Ochako looked at Tenya, her eyes wide and jaw dropped. “T-that’s insane! I was joking back then, during the national tournament!”
“Don’t worry. It’s impossible for Bakugo to have that many grades on his next turn,” Momo reassured her.
“S-still, that’s insane!”
Kendo smiled as she looked through the four cards she held in her hand. “That wasn’t so bad. No wonder you were so successful during the national tournament.”
Katsuki blinked, not having expected to hear that from his opponent. “You know about that?”
“Yup. Binged the entire thing in one night, actually,” she admitted, chuckling as she did. “But that also means I know what you’re capable of! I stand and draw!” She smiled at the card she drew. “Perfect timing. Get ready, Bakugo!”
Algos his physical form crumbled away, revealing Kendo floating above the the ocean’s surface. A whirlpool swirled to life beneath her, growing larger with each passing second. “Water, flow forevermore. Turn your gentle waves into a tsunami that engulfs everything! Ride!”
The whirlpool suddenly swirled around her and turned into a watery whirlwind, droplets of water gently floating around it. The water exploded outward, revealing a large, purple dragon floating above the water. Its head was covered in blue scales with green armor covering its legs. The water dragon readied the large cannons mounted on its shoulders, its yellow eyes never leaving Lost Break. “Blue Storm Dragon, Maelstrom!”
“Imaginary Gift: Accel II!” Kendo placed the marker she obtained in the upper left corner of her field before drawing a card. “Next up, I call Light Signals Penguin Soldier and Storm Rider, Diamantes!”
Behind Tidal Assault floated a penguin wearing a marine uniform, wielding two glow sticks, while a man wielding two large swords surfaced from the water and stood ready on the Accel circle, the engine built in the aquaroid his blades humming softly.
“I activate Maelstrom’s skill!” Kendo flipped a card from her damage zone face down, causing the cards in her front row to glow softly. “All my front row units gain three thousand power!”
“Wait, why three thousand?” Mina tilted her head. “Sounds like a waste to me.”
“It’s so that her rear-guards can hit Bakugo’s Vanguard way easier,” Denki said. “Without this boost, cards like Tidal Assault wouldn’t be able to hit Lost Break if he stood back up from his skill.”
“With Penguin’s skill, I rest it to give Tidal Assault an extra five thousand power.” The penguin waved its glow sticks around, transferring some of its energy to the Aqua Force unit in front of it. “Okay Tidal, attack Lost Break! I also activate his skill!”
Katsuki clicked his tongue in annoyance. “I don’t guard.”
Tidal Assault closed in on Lost Break, unleashing a flurry of slashes that tore into the dragon’s scales and leaving multiple cute behind on its body. Tidal jumped back to make room for Maelstrom, who was readying its cannons.
Each panel opened, a rocket poking out of each opening. “Judgement Maelstrom!” A barrage of rockets was unleashed upon the Gear Chronicle unit, making it impossible for the unit to dodge all of them.
“I don’t guard!” Lost Break crossed its arms, ready to take the assault head on.
“Twin drive check!” Kendo flipped over the top card of her deck. “It’s a draw trigger! I draw one card, and the power goes to Diamantes!”
The rockets hit Lost Break Dragon at the same time, creating an explosions that shook the ocean itself. Once the smoke died down, everyone on the battlefield could see how injured Lost Break was, many burn wounds and scrapes decorating the exposed parts of its body while its armor was dented in several places.
“Damage check.” Frowning, Katsuki revealed his damage check, his frown quickly turning to a smirk. “A draw trigger! The power goes to my Vanguard, and I draw one card!”
“Oh no! Kendo’s attacks are shut down!” Toru gasped.
“Wait, why are you gasping?” Mina turned to her, a deadpan expression on his face. “Shouldn’t we cheer Bakugo on?”
“But I can’t decide, so I’ll cheer them both on!” Toru said resolutely.
Eijiro laughed. “Honestly, I feel the same! Their fight is so manly!”
“You said it, bro!” Both teens bumped their fists, a grin on both their faces.
Meanwhile Denki watched the fight with rapt attention. “That damage trigger really puts a dent in Kendo her plans. Still, Diamantes should be able to threaten Bakugo.” He sighed. “He won’t like this.”
Maelstrom looked at the state the field was in, a frown on its face. “I can’t attack your Vanguard with all my rear-guards, and you don’t have any rear-guards yourself…”
Lost Break smirked. “Are you going to give up?”
“I never said that. I was just thinking, but I know what to do now.” Maelstrom turned to the only rear-guard that could do anything. “Diamantes, attack Lost Break Dragon!”
“Diamantes his skill activates!” Kendo flipped a card from her damage zone face down. “When he’s the third attacker of the turn, I can discard one card from my hand and counter blast one card to stand him back up again, but he loses three thousand power!”
The Storm Rider nodded and charged, both his blades coated in green energy. Lost Break jumped out of the way, but had to duck underneath one of his blades when Diamantes turned around and swung with his blades again. Seeing a chance to counterattack, Lost Break avoided another attack and decked the grade three rear-guard in the face, sending him flying. To its surprise, the Storm Rider jabbed his blade into the water, stopping him from moving farther back, and used the momentum to launch himself towards the Gear Chronicle Vanguard.
“Reclaim Key Draco*kid and Gun-bezel guard!” Right when his blade was about to go through Lost Break’s chest, a small, humanoid dragon wearing goggles appeared right beneath the sword and shot it out of his hand, sending the weapon flying. Diamantes jumped up to try and catch it, but it was further shot into the air by Gun-bezel’s gun.
“Sorry, but that’s not happening,” Katsuki said with a grin.
“Oh, but I’m not done yet.” Kendo smiled. “Diamantes is attacking again! I also activate Penguin Soldier’s skill! Since this is the fourth attack of the turn, I can retire it to counter charge.”
Gaining a burst of energy, a platform made of pure water appeared underneath the Storm Rider, giving him another opportunity to jump and grab his weapon. With both his blades in each hand, Diamantes charged once more.
Katsuki responded to that attack by grabbing a card from his hand. “Steam Maiden, Uluru stops that!”
The world around them turned black and white. Right in front of Diamantes floated a black-haired girl with a large hourglass floating behind her. She waved hare hand, and time reversed, rewinding the Storm Rider back in time, right before he was about to attack.
The orange-haired girl had a satisfied smile in her face. “I end my turn,” she declared, holding five cards in her hand and having four damage.
Katsuki assessed his field, taking note of the four damage he had while holding three cards in his hand. He was pushed into a corner by an annoyance? “Don’t think you’ve won yet.”
“I should say the same about you.” Kendo smirked. “You’re looking pretty rough there.”
“Tsk! Don’t you dare look down on me! Stand and draw!” After drawing a card from his deck, he picked a different one from among them. “Take to the skies, make the soul shake! Ride!”
A layer of light crept up from Lost Break’s feet, slowly covering its entire body, as it raised its fists. Slamming them down, the light around the gear dragon shattered and revealed a new unit. A slim, blue dragon floated where Lost Break stood, its wings spread wide and the red cloak covering the front of it billowing in the wind. “Chronojet Dragon!”
“Imaginary Gift: Force II!” The circle next to Chronojet glowed for a moment as the Imaginary Gift was placed there. After placing the marker down, he grabbed two more cards from his hand. “Get over here, Lost Break, Lippitt!”
In front of the Steam Fighter stood a girl with long, purple hair, the small gun she held in her hand absorbing the Imaginary Gift its power, while Lost Break Dragon took its position next to Chronojet.
“With Lost Break’s skill, I bind the Mystery Flare Dragon I have in my hand to draw a card,” Katsuki said as he placed said card in the bind zone.
“But that means that the amount of grades he has bound is thirteen,” Denki grinned, “which means that he can use a lot of his grade fours their skills!”
The Aqua Force user looked at the cards in her opponent’s bind zone. “So, you’re ready to finish this?”
Katsuki grinned. “Hell yeah, I am! I activate Chronojet Dragon’s skill!” Katsuki revealed another copy of Chronojet Dragon. “I discard a grade three from my hand and superior ride a grade four unit from my deck!”
A thin line of light went from the bottom of Katsuki his deck slowly up until it stopped. The card flew out of the stack of cards and landed in the spiky blond his hand, a trail of fire following the card. “Transcend dimensions, and blow these losers away! Superior ride!”
A large Vanguard circle appeared above the Gear Chronicle warrior. Spreading its wings and igniting the thrusters built into it, Chronojet took off, rapidly closing in on it. Once the Vanguard made contact with the Vanguard circle, a bright flash of light erupted from them, temporarily blinding Kendo her units. Looking through its fingers, Maelstrom saw a large silhouette flying higher in the air. The light died down, giving Maelstrom’s eyes time to recover from the assault on its eyes. Once its eyes adjusted to the lack of light, the Blue Storm Dragon looked up, seeing a new unit floating higher in the air.
A massive dragon covered head to toe in armor, smoke blowing out of the several exhaust pipes attached to its body as the ethereal gears floating behind its back rotated gently, the dragon readied both its large cannons for use. “Interdimensional Dragon, Mystery Flare Dragon!”
“There it is!” Eijiro cheered. “Mystery Flare Dragon is here to kick butt!”
“So, that’s your strongest card?” Kendo looked down at her hand, pondering over how to defend herself this turn.
“It obviously is. Mystery Flare’s skill activates!” The card on his Vanguard circle started glowing brightly. “I have thirteen grades in my bind zone, which means that Mystery Flare gains an extra drive and critical, while all my units gain ten thousand power!”
The Interdimensional Dragon raised its cannon to the sky and fired a shot. The ball of energy exploded in the air, the particles resulting from it falling down on the Vanguard and its units and granting them more power.
“T-that’s a lot of power, bro.” Tetsutetsu rubbed the back of his neck. He shook his head and balled his fists. “Still, Kendo can win this!”
“That’s the spirit, dude!” The Nova Grappler player gave him a hearty slap on the back.
Maelstrom watched Mystery Flare slowly descending, its presence only growing stronger with each second. Once it landed on the ground, the grade four Vanguard pointed on of its guns at the tear dragon, the barrel humming and glowing. “Get ready, ‘cause this’ll be the last thing you see.”
Mystery Flared raised its other cannon, energy building up between the two barrels. The air around the Vanguard rippled, reality itself shifting from the sheer power emanating from the gear dragon its weapons. “Now, die!” Two beams were shot out of Mystery Flare its cannons and rapidly approached Maelstrom, the seas splitting to the very bottom from the attack.
“Emerald Shield, Paschal!” A young man appeared in front of the Blue Storm Dragon, summoning an emerald shield that managed to completely block the attack.
“The attack is nullified!” Kendo discarded a card to pay for the sentinel his cost. “Sorry, but I’m not in the mood to take an attack like that.”
Katsuki grit his teeth, clearly annoyed. “Triple drive!” The first card he flipped over glowed brightly. “A draw trigger! The power goes to Lippitt, and I draw!” After adding the card from his drive check to his hand, he flipped the next one over, revealing a normal unit. “Damn it.”
“What’s wrong? Is your luck running out?” Kendo grinned.
“Think again! Third check!” He revealed the final card, revealing a card with a golden glow surrounding it. “Heal trigger! I heal one damage, and Lippitt gets the power again!”
“A heal trigger?” Kendo stammered, quickly glancing at the cards in her hand. “This is bad…”
The Gear Chronicle user barked out a laugh. “Good, because you’re supposed to lose here! Lost Break, finish that overgrown fish off! With its skill, Lost Break gains three thousand power!”
The grade two rear-guard jumped towards the Aqua Force Vanguard, rearing its fist back and ready managed to land a devastating punch on its face.
“It’s a dragon!” Maelstrom raised a claw and slapped the rear-guard away.
Katsuki frowned. “Just go down already! Lippitt, finish her off!”
“That attack’s sitting at fifty-six thousand!” Ochako exclaimed.
“She can survive it! I just know she can!” Momo said.
The Steam Hunter aimed her gun before letting loose a barrage of multiple, smaller energy projectiles, all of them heading towards the Blue Storm Dragon.
Kendo grabbed a card from her hand. “Medical Officer of the Rainbow Elixir!”
A woman wearing an eyepatch threw several small orbs towards the approaching projectiles, the orbs exploding once they got close enough and pushing the attack away, but it wasn’t enough. “Tidal Assault and Basil intercept!” Both Aqua Force units sprung into action, Algos shooting down every lethal projectile with his guns while Basil used his blade to cut the few down that managed to get past.
“Did you forget how to count?” Katsuki grinned. “That’s still not enough!”
“Oh, I know.” Still smiling, the orange-haired girl grabbed another card from her hand, Katsuki his eyes widening in shock.
A few projectiles managed to sneak their way past the three guardians. Right as they were about to hit their target, a small, white dragon jumped out of the ocean and swung its large tail, summoning powerful winds to redirect the last few away from them.
“Outride Draco*kid guards!”
“Damn it!” Katsuki slammed his fist down on the table. He glanced at the card that had just attacked. “I end my turn...” With that, he held four cards in his hand and while Kendo only had one card and five damage.
Mystery Flare Dragon its form crumbled away, revealing Chronojet Dragon, and an Imaginary Gift appeared around Lost Break Dragon, empowering the rear-guard.
“No way, she survived!” Ochako cheered, a large grin on her face.
“But Kendo barely has anything left.” Tenya crossed his arms. “She has two rear-guards and one card in her hand. Meanwhile, Bakugo has three damage.”
“This will be an uphill battle for her, for sure,” Momo said. “Still, there’s a chance that she may just win this.”
“Man, you’re pretty tough, Bakugo.” Kendo chuckled. “Looks like I have to put everything on the line to win now! I stand…” after turning the three cards on her field vertically, Kendo draw the top card of her deck in one motion, a trail of cyan energy following it, “and draw!”
She smiled once she saw the card she drew, and grabbed one of them. “I call Maelstrom!”
Next to the Aqua Force Vanguard stood another copy of itself, this one its scales a soft-yellow instead of the purple the Vanguard has.
“I activate my Vanguard’s skill! Counter blast!” A cyan aura appeared around the two Maelstrom units and Diamantes, granting them more power. “My rear-guard Maelstrom is attacking first!”
The grade three unit reared its head back and gathered energy in its mouth, frost drifting away from it, and unleashed a beam of subzero temperatures that was rapidly approaching. Right as the attack was about to hit, however, Lost Break stepped in front of the attack and defended its Vanguard from the attack.
“Lost Break Dragon intercepts!”
Kendo smiles, not looking deterred by it in the slightest. “Then, Maelstrom is up next!”
The Blue Storm Dragon leaned forward so that the missile launchers on its shoulders were pointing at Chronojet. The panels opened up, and a countless amount of missiles were fired off, all of them heading towards the gear dragon.
Katsuki looked down at his hand before he made his choice. “I don’t guard!”
“Twin drive check!” Kendo flipped over the first card of her deck, smiling once she saw what it was. “A front trigger! My front row powers up! Second check!” The orange-haired girl revealed the next card, revealing another trigger. “Heal trigger!”
“T-two!?” Katsuki exclaimed.
“I heal one damage, and the power goes to Diamantes!” Kendo added the two cards to her hand.
The missiles hit their target, resulting in a huge explosion that pushed Chronojet Dragon back. The Gear Chronicle warrior dug its wheel-like feet into the water to slow itself down. Once it finally stopped, Chronojet almost lost its balance, feeling the dents and scratches on its body. “D-Damn it…”
“Diamantes, go and attack Chronojet Dragon!” The Storm Rider dashed forward, both its blades held by his sides. “With his skill, I stand Diamantes back up, and he loses three thousand power!”
Diamantes swung his blades in a wide arc, but the attack was blocked by a short-haired girl wearing goggles, who used her shield to stop his assault. Pressing a button on the back of her shield, the guardian her shield pulsed with energy, pushing the grade three rear-guard back to Kendo her side of the field.
“Steam Guard, Kastilia guards that!” Katsuki said as he discarded a card from is hand to pay for the sentinel’s cost.
“Still, that doesn’t stop Diamantes from attacking again!” The Storm Rider recovered midair and landed on both his feet before he charged once more, his two blades coated in green energy.
Katsuki clicked his tongue, clearly annoyed. “I don’t guard!”
Diamantes ducked underneath Chronojet’s right hook, sliding until he stood underneath the gear dragon. Flipping one of his blades so that he held it in a reverse-grip, Diamantes landed a devastating uppercut on Chronojet, sending the unit flying high into the air. Chronojet managed to recover from the attack and landed on both its feet, stumbling for only a moment.
“You didn’t win.” The Gear Chronicle player looked smug, raising his chin a little. “That’s not gonna cut it against me.”
“Who said my turn ended yet?” Kendo smirked, the card on her Vanguard circle glowing in response and surprising her opponent. “When a rear-guard’s attack hits a Vanguard, and it was the third or fourth battle of the turn, Maelstrom gets to stand back up again!”
Slowly, the Maelstrom card on her Vanguard circle turned vertically again, the glow around it intensifying.
“No way, she gets another attack!” Toru waved with both her hands. “Go!”
The explosive blond felt his eye twitched, but he quickly realized something else. “That’s why you didn’t boost.”
“So, you noticed. It was a gamble worth risking everything for!” Smiling, Kendo moved her hand to the glowing card. “With a boost from Nikoloz, Maelstrom’s attacking Chronojet Dragon!”
The Blue Storm Dragon gathered the water surrounding them in its hands, the orb growing bigger with each passing second and unleashed a stream of water, all of it fully concentrated on Chronojet.
Katsuki looked down at his hand, and knew what to do. “Steam Maiden, Uluru!”
The Steam Maiden appeared in front of Chronojet, summoning a barrier to keep the attack at bay, but she was visibly struggling against it, the barrier revealing a few cracks around the edges.
“Twin drive!” Kendo her hand hovered above her deck for a moment before she flipped the card sitting on top over, revealing a normal unit. “No trigger.”
“Come on…” Tetsutetsu slammed his fists together. “Break through!”
“Second check…” Taking a deep breath, the orange-haired girl flipped over the next card.
Katsuki his eyes widened in shock. “No way!”
Grinning, Kendo revealed the card she got. “It’s a front trigger! The power goes to my Vanguard!”
Maelstrom Caleb upon even more water, the beam pushing against Uluru her barrier growing larger and stronger. The Steam Maiden winced, seeing the cracks appears all over her barrier before it fully broke, engulfing her and Chronojet.
The gear dragon struggled against the waves that were pulling the unit down into the ocean’s depths, but it was grabbed by its neck. Struggling to look up, Chronojet saw Maelstrom looking it straight in the eye. The tear dragon opened its maw and tore into Chronojet’s torso.
With one yank of its head, Maelstrom tore Chronojet in half.
“No trigger…” Katsuki placed the card he revealed in the damage zone, raising the amount there to six.
“Itsuka Kendo wins the match!” Momo pointed to the orange-haired girl in question with her arm, the rest of the club giving her an applause.
“G-Guys, you really don’t have to give me a round of applause for this.” Kendo rubbed the back of her head, a light blush on her face.
“Still, you did amazing,” Momo said, taking Kendo’s hands in hers and shaking them. “Congratulations on joining the club!”
“Bakubro, you did great out there, so cheer up!” Eijiro slapped the him on the back.
Katsuki grumbled something under his breath and sat down where he previously was seated, his arms crossed.
“Dude,” Tetsutetsu leaned to the spiky redhead, “is he always like this?”
“Nah man, he’s just upset that he lost after giving it his all,” Eijiro told him, causing the Narukami player to snicker.
Momo cleared her throat, catching everyone their attention. “Now that our newest members have joined the club, we should wait and hear from Miss Kayama where Principal Nezu agrees on our club or not.”
Right after she said that, they heard a knock at their door before it slid open, revealing none other than the R-Rated Hero herself. “Oh, did I accidentally barge in?” she asked as she stepped inside.
“No. In fact, we were just done with our…” Momo pondered over what to call the last two fights. “…Initiation tests?”
Ochako gave her a pat on the shoulder. “We’ll come up with a better name later.” Momo nodded her thanks.
Midnight smiled. “Well, then let me give you some good news as well.” She turned the paper she was holding to the Genesis user. “Nezu approved your club!”
“Seriously?” Mina gasped.
“That’s awesome!” Toru jumped up and down in excitement.
“This is the best day of my life!” Denki stood up and did a dab.
“Dude, don’t ever do that again,” Eijiro told him, barely able to hold himself back from cringing.
“Never!”
Momo tried her utter best to ignore the chaos starting behind her, instead focusing on the UA teacher. “Is there anything else that we have to keep in mind?”
“As far as I know, you don’t.” She shrugged. “As long as I’m present, you kiddos can do whatever you want.”
“But wouldn’t that mean that you have to stay here longer?” Momo asked her. “I mean, I appreciate you wanting to do this for us, but you surely still want to spent some time doing something you like?”
“Hey, don’t worry about me. I can use this time to grade more papers.” Kayama put a hand on her shoulder. “You kids went through a lot in such a short amount of time, so let me help you and your classmates out with this.” She winked. “After all, you can’t stay so young forever, so cherish these moments while you still can.”
Momo hadn’t expected to feel so moved by her words. “Thank you,” was all she could respond with, and it definitely didn’t feel like it was enough.
“You’re welcome.” Kayama smiled. “It’s getting late, so I’m heading home, which means you kiddos also have to get off school grounds.”
“Of course. Have a nice evening, Miss Kayama.” Momo turned to the rest of the club after the UA teacher left. “So, everyone got everything they need? Then let’s head to Castle to celebrate!”
After everyone nodded in affirmation, the UA cardfight club left the classroom, but they forgot a certain teen that was watching them in complete silence the entire time.
Shoto looked down at his schoolbook, having completely forgotten about it once the cardfights had started. “A cardfight club, huh.”
Sure, Shoto played the game once and had a fully customized deck, but did that really mean that he had to socialize with the rest of his class. But, another part of him realized, seeing as this was an after school activity, it gave him the perfect excuse to spend less time with Endeavor.
After having weighed his options, Shoto made his decision.
Castle had not changed since the last time he was here. Well, it was not like it was a very long time ago, Shoto thought. The dual-haired boy stood in front of the closed doors of Castle, his reflection on the glass doors staring back at him. He was already so far, so he decided to bite the bullet and step inside.
Just like the outside, the interior of the card shop was exactly the same, minus the lack of decorations and snacks that were there when he stayed the night. He only had to take a few steps before someone noticed him and walked up to him.
Yaoyorozu walked up to him, clearly surprised about seeing him here. “Todoroki?” She shook her head. “I’m sorry. Can I help you?”
Shoto looked her in the eye, a small part of him thinking that maybe he should say that he wasn’t interested, but he went for it anyway.
“I want to join the cardfight club.”
