Cardfight!! Vanguard SC: Defenders of the Gate

Chapter 29: Яeverse Яeawakened

Soon enough, Yudai and the rest arrived at door leading to the underground near the subway. Rei rechecked his phone to make sure they were at the right place and then they continued down a flight of stairs that was past a sign that said "Keep out. No Unauthorised Personnel beyond this point." Roka hugged her arms.

"Hey, guys? I know I was all excited about this before, but now I kinda feel like I'm walking through a scene in a horror movie....." Kiniro gave her a comforting pat on the back, which reassured her.

"I'm sure it's fine. These are Chiho's friends after all. I bet they're just as flighty as she is." He said with a smile. But in Yudai's opinion, Roka wasn't too far off. He too sensed an eeriness along the path they were going, but not wanting to come off as superstitious, he wasn't vocal about it. They reached the bottom of the stairs and looked around the hall. There was no one there, not even any sounds to show there were other humans amongst them. It was quiet. Way too quiet. Suddenly, Izo, who had been silent the entire time, leapt in front of the ground and with the reaction speed of a wild cat, caught a projectile that was being hurled at them. He looked the said projectile. It was a Vanguard card. The group looked up to see their adversary. It was a boy around their age (not including Izo) and he was standing on one of the overhead pipes. Despite the underground being well lit, they couldn't make out his face. Izo stepped forward.

"Who's there?" Izo yelled. The boy replied with a sinister chuckle and jumped down from the pipes, now level with them. They could now see him face. But they probably wished they hadn't. The red marks of the loathed curse called the Яeverse afflicted his face. The marks that turned friend against friend, family against family, units against their own brethren, was right in front of them. The marks they tried so desperately to get rid of and hoped to never see again had resurfaced. And it didn't do any favours for the gang either. Since Roka and Yudai were still infants in the cardfighting world and were not really familiar with the Яeverse other than through word of mouth, they didn't react other than scowling. As Izo didn't really have friends to fight for during the crisis, he wasn't exactly scarred by the experience, so he just narrowed his eyes in disgust. But as for Kiniro and Rei, to say that they weren't coping well was an understatement. Rei was literally shaking, his pupils had shrunk and beads of sweat were already making their way down his face. As for Kiniro, the time-jumper who had only just come out of that hell on earth, he fell to his knees, hugged his arms and began to  hyperventilate, while whispering to himself to calm down.

"Who are you?" Izo snapped. The boy who had confronted them gave a mock bow as he addressed himself.

"My name is Yza Blade; advocate of the void. But formally known as the Darkhero of the Cursed Black Sword; Clan Guardian of the mighty Shadow Paladins." Yudai ears pricked up at the statement. So that was why the Clan Cards had been reacting so strangely! The  clans had been tainted by the Яeverse! Izo scowled

"I didn't ask for a speech, Яeverse scum! Now tell us where that Chiho girl is." Yza sighed in response.

"And here I thought I was being such a good host. Oh well, you can't leave without greeting the rest of the gang, now can you?" He snapped his fingers and in a matter of seconds, the hall was filled with at least thirty other Яeversed fighters, each one of them grinning with bloodlust in their lifeless eyes. They quickly surrounded the five fighters while Yza took his leave and walked down the hall and behind another door. Their backs were against each others as the wave of fighters came closer.

"Okay, here's the plan. You guys go follow that Yza guy, defeat him and rescue Rei's significant other. I'll hang back here and take these guys down. Okay?" Roka gave him a worried look. She knew Izo was strong, but fighting and beating these many fighters in a row? She couldn't help but have her doubts.