Cardfight!! Vanguard: Zerø Chronicles

Turn 01 / Phase 02: Union of Paladins

[Italicized text = Occurs within the player's imaginations of the fight on Planet Cray]

Jin stopped walking and turned to the building on his right. "Card Shop: C4P1TAL, huh..." he mumbled to himself, his eyes alternating between the paper map and the front of the shop. "Well... as the saying goes, you miss 100% of the shots you don't take." He took a deep breath in before walking into the establishment.

"Attack!" a little boy said, turning his card sideways.

"Huh? Gah... I can't guard that..." another boy on the opposite side of the table lamented.

"Hey this card looks cool!" a girl said to her friend, the two giggled while looking at their cards.

Jin took a few more steps into the card shop, taking in the sight of people of all ages conversing and playing with each other. Shinon, coming from a back room in the shop, saw the newcomer and struck up a conversation.

"Greetings, new customer!" he said, now leaning on the counter. "What can I do you for?"

"Oh... uh..." Jin started, taking the deck out of his pocket. "I'm new to all of this, so is there someone who can teach me how to play this... Vanguard? Is it?"

"Ah, yes. Cardfight!! Vanguard is the name of the game! Well, if it's a teaching fight you're here for..." Shinon turned to Kanade, who was assisting some players with a ruling question. "Kanade! If you're done with those customers, there's someone here who needs a teaching fight! I'm going to head to the back and do some more inventory."

Shinon turned to Jin, explaining that the girl he was talking to would help him out, and returned to the back room of the shop.

"I'll be there in a sec!" Kanade responded before returning to the players, making sure they understood what she had told them. She raised her arms and stretched before approaching Jin. "I see that you already have your own deck," she noted, eyeing the cards he held in his hands. "Did you build it yourself?"

"This deck..." Jin paused, trying to find the right words he wanted to use, "...was a gift. I have no experience with this game at all though, haha."

"I see... In that case, I'll use this deck." Kanade took a box from the counter labeled 'Teaching Fights Only' and opened it. "This is a—"

"Hello card shop! I am ready to cardfight!" Hikaru exclaimed as he walked through the doors to C4P1TAL.

"You-!" Kanade snapped at Hikaru, storming towards him. "Keep that racket up and I'll kick you out myself! You are too loud, ya hear?"

"Y...YES MA'AM...!" Hikaru panicked, imitating a soldier's salute. "I just got excited is all. This is my first time in a shop, and I was also hoping to have my first cardfight here too..."

Kanade sighed and placed her 'Teaching Fight' deck on the counter. "At least you understand. Now then..." she started, gears in her head turning with an idea. "Since you two are both newcomers to the game, why don't you fight each other while I explain the rules. Sound good?"

Kanade turned to both of the new customers, looking for acknowledgment. They both nodded their heads, and she led them to a vacant table.

"I'm pumped! Let's get this started!" Hikaru said, still bursting with excitement.

"Haha, I'm excited as well," Jin said before scratching his head. "The thing is... how exactly do we start?"

"Well first, you need to imagine..." Kanade started, getting into 'the zone'.

"I...Imagine...?" Jin and Hikaru questioned in unison. They looked at each other, equally as puzzled, and turned back to Kanade for an explanation.

"Yes—imagine." she repeated before closing her eyes.

The two followed Kanade's lead and closed their eyes. Once they were open, the two first-timers were in shock at their new surroundings—they found themselves on top of a large skyscraper within the capital city of the United Sanctuary. Dragons and angels flew in the sky, while on land many humans, elves, and other races walked around in the streets, looking like mere insects from where Jin and Hikaru were.

"It must pretty interesting, right?" Kanade inquired, walking towards the two.

"Heck yeah!" Hikaru said, looking up at the fantastical sights his imagination could produce.

"Where are we?" Jin inquired, his interest piqued but still feeling a little reserved.

"This place is a part of the planet known as Cray," she began to explain, looking up at the sky. "It's similar to Earth, but not just humans live here—dragons, demons, robots, and other creatures live here. We can't physically go to Cray, but we appear in the world as astral spirits, taking the forms of the inhabitants here known as 'units'."

"So... none of this is actually real? Darn..." Hikaru pouted, disappointed at the news. "I guess the possession seems pretty cool though."

"That's the first of two powers you have as a spirit on Cray. It's known as a ride." Kanade responded. "The second power you have is known as a 'call', or the power to summon units to the field as allies. Now then..."

Kanade raised her right arm and snapped her fingers. Suddenly, the trio were "transported back" to Earth. Kanade sighed, seeing the two getting their bearings back from the experience, and cleared her throat.

"It seems that both of you have a good enough imagination to visualize everything, so now we'll move on to actual play. I hope you're ready, because I'll say things only once. Got it?" Kanade said sternly. The two nodded their heads in understanding.

"Good. Now place a grade 0 unit from your deck onto the front-row-center circle, or the 'Vanguard Circle'." Kanade began to explain. "That unit will become your vanguard—the one who leads the way."

"The one who leads, eh? Interesting..." Jin said to himself, staring at his cards.

Alright! I get to lead troops into battle! So exciting! Hikaru thought to himself, trying to contain his excitement.

The two looked through their decks and placed a card onto the specified circle.

"Typically, I'd go ahead and say that I'll go first to explain the rules, but... I'm not playing. So you two will play Rock-Paper-Scissors—the winner will go first."

"Then let's do it!" Hikaru exclaimed, his heart racing as they progressed closer and closer to starting the game. "Now rock..."

"Paper..."

"Scissors..."

"Shoot!" The two said in unison as they extended their hands; Hikaru played scissors while Jin played paper.

"Alright! I get to start!" Hikaru said, jumping up and down excitedly.

Kanade cleared her throat and stared at Hikaru, gesturing him to settle down. "Now that we've got that settled, give your decks a good shuffle and draw the top 5 cards. This will be your starting hand; you want a combination of units between grades 1, 2, and 3." Kanade lectured further, her fingers imitating the count of the numbers 1 through 3 as she talked.

"Um..." Jin raised his hand, looking at Kanade with a concerned expression. "Is there anything we can do if we don't have one of those grades?"

"In that case," Kanade pointed at the cards in Jin's hand, "you may perform a mulligan."

"A mulli-what?" Hikaru butted-in, confused by the expression.

"I said a mulligan." Kanade replied, slightly annoyed she had to repeat herself. "Simply place any cards you don't want or like on the bottom of the deck, redraw the same amount of cards, and shuffle your deck. Simple enough?"

"Mhm," the two boys said in unison. Jin returned 3 cards to the deck while Hikaru returned 2 cards.

"Now when you're both ready, you say 'Stand up, Vanguard!' and the battle will begin," Kanade said.

"Alright then," Hikaru said as he placed his hand on his Starting Vanguard unit. "You ready Jin?"

"Whenever you are..!" Jin replied, following Hikaru's lead.

"Now then," the two said in unison, "Stand up, Vanguard!"