Cardfight!! Vanguard SC: Defenders of the Gate

Chapter 6: Fateful Encounters

Yudai was busy enjoying his afternoon stroll, it being the weekend he had no school and was free to do as he pleased. He was wearing his usual casual attire which consisted of a blue jacket, a white baseball tee with a purple-coloured collar and sleeves, bluish-black pants and dark brown boots. He had also bought a new belt with a pouch he could his FICA in. A few hours earlier, he had been able to successfully complete three quests, which he was quite happy about. He yawned, putting his right hand over his mouth, "Man, nothing beats peace and quiet." Yudai said to himself, enjoying the current tranquillity. This was cut short when he heard some noise coming from a nearby alleyway. Of course, it could be nothing, but sudden noises from alleyways usually always meant trouble. Becoming suspicious, he went to see what was causing such commotion to disturb him, being careful to not make himself seen, but getting close enough to hear what was going on. 

"C'mon, a pretty looking girl like you shouldn't be in an alley all on her lonesome." One voice said, obviously male. 

"Yeah, you should come with us. No need to be scared." Another male voice said. 

"Do I look like I'm stupid?" The girl asked the two thugs. "There's no way I'd hang around with someone I met in an alley, much less two sketchy guys like you two! So, get out of my way!" The girl attempted to push past the two men, but one of them grabbed her hand. As she struggled to release herself, something fell out of her jacket pocket. 

"Boss, check it out. It's a FiCa!" One declared.

"Well, the little missy is a cardfighter, huh? Grade 1, too?" Added the other. Yudai established that the one with the deeper voice was the leader between the two. "Hey, girly. I've got a deal for ya. I'll cardfight ya and if you win, you go your way and we'll go ours. If we win, you gotta come with us." He explained. The girl looked to her left and saw that the other one of them had taken a steel pipe in hand and was waving it around menacingly.

"Normally, I wouldn't be dumb enough to accept a challenge like this, but it doesn't look like you're giving me a choice. I accept your terms. Okay, let's fight."

During the fight, Yudai had taken the time to shift behind a pile of scrap metal while the others were distracted. He looked. He saw that the two men were middle-aged, one slightly taller than the other. The girl was around his age, though he couldn't tell if she was older or younger than him. She had long, wavy, light blue hair. She sported a white short sleeved blouse and a black vest over it, a purple miniskirt with black thigh high socks. She also wore black linen fingerless gloves and a green hairband. He couldn't see her face, but Yudai could tell she was a pretty girl. Pretty enough to have two thugs after her, anyway.

"Stand up, Vanguard" is what Yudai probably heard, but he really couldn't be sure. It was pretty hard to hear his end. He was lucky to even know what was going on. Now that he was able to see what was going on, he was able to get the gist of the fight. Within ten minutes, give or take a few, the thug that had fought the girl dropped his cards in shock and took several steps backwards. It seemed he had lost the fight.

"Woah, this girl is too strong!" The thug exclaimed through gritted teeth. "Ima, forget the stupid bet! Just grab her!" He commanded. The thug holding the steel pipe advanced towards her. Yudai and the girl's eyes widened. Yudai knew that there wasn't a big chance two alleyway thugs were going to honour a wager, but this was going too far. 

The one named Ima raised the impromptu weapon over his head and prepared to swing. Yudai found that his legs had moved on his own, as he sprinted onto the scene. He raised his left arm in the way of the attack on the girl. He howled as the pipe struck his arm, full force. Yudai (and most likely everyone else within a 30-foot radius) heard a sickening crack as the two collided.