Cardfight!! Vanguard SC: Defenders of the Gate

Chapter 2: The Thrill of Vanguard

"Fine. I choose....." Yudai started until he suddenly felt a strange sensation in his eyes. It was as if his eyes were telling him what to do. He walked over to a shelf, moved two items out of the way and revealing a small cardboard box. "I'll take this one," Yudai said, picking up the box. He lifted off the cover of the box and saw the deck of cards inside. Then he frowned. "Wait a sec. How did I know there was a deck over there?" He thought.

"I think were only allowed to.....What trial deck is that?" Rei asked. 

"You're seriously asking me?" Yudai asked in a sarcastic tone. Yudai looked at the box in more detail. Instead of a cool box and box art like the others, this deck was just in a small, regular box with words written on it with a marker. It read "Defenders of the Cosmos".  Rei peaked over his shoulder.

"Cosmic Sanctum cards? Woah, mind if I take a look at those." Yudai handed him the cards and Rei flicked through them. "Little Stargazer, Regulus. Asteroid Keeper, Pallas. Star Cluster Titan. Twinkle Lady, Adelaide. And even a G Unit? Woah, they seem legit. Hey, Manager, is it okay if my buddy uses these cards?" He asked. Misaki walked over and took the cards from Rei and scanned through them, her facial expression ever changing as she flipped through each card. 

"These cards...Where did you find them?" she asked. Yudai edged his head in the direction of the shelf.

"I just found them behind some stuff on that shelf over there." He explained. Misaki shifted to a contemplative state, twirling her hair between her fingers as she stared at the cards.

"Well, even though unregistered in the inventory, I may be so bold to say this deck is store property. But, I'll let you use it. But after that, I'll take them to FIVA and have them examined." Yudai's eyes narrowed. He didn't know why, but the thought of those cards being taken away displeased him for some reason. What was going on with him? This didn't go unnoticed by Misaki. "Tell you what. Impress me, and that deck is yours to keep. Free of charge, even," said Misaki. Yudai raised his eyebrows.

"Impress you how?" 

"Well, you can fight your friend over there. If you can beat him in a cardfight, you pass. Sound fair?" Yudai shrugged and stuffed his hands in his pockets.

"Not really. I don't even know how to play." He said, though trailing off at the last part.

"Yudai, look what Mom gave me today! It's from a game called Vanguard!" The girl showed Yudai the deck of cards. "Look she got you one too! Wanna play with me?" She asked. Yudai leant closer to see his share of cards. 

"Nah. Looks lame. Later, Yui, I'm going to my room." He replied.

"Big brother, that's mean!" She said, puffing out here cheeks."

"I wouldn't worry about that. I've seen newbies defeat seasoned fighters during their first time playing," said Misaki, thinking about one blue-haired individual in particular. Yudai sighed and gave in, deciding to accept The Manager's wager.

"Fine. I've got nothing better to be doing right now."

The three went to the back of the store and Rei took out a strange rectangular device. "What's that?" Yudai asked his friend. 

"Oh, this is a Fighter's Card or FiCa for short. It's given to anyone who wants to register as an official cardfighter. It also helps to know the skill level of your opponent" Rei held up his FiCa, which had a brick red streak on it. "I'm a Grade 2. So I'm no pushover, you hear?" Rei said to his friend/opponent. 

"Whatever you say, dude,"he replied. Rei put his Fica on a fitting section on the fight table. Once he did this the table 'said' the words "Stand up, Vanguard".