Due to a small delay on the plane he took, Mayuri arrived at the John F. Kennedy International Airport around eight in the afternoon, already nightime, but technically speaking, due to a bigger delay on Masato's private jet, the same day as Ryuuga and the others.

Mayuri walked out of the airport, dragging a small black suitcase behind him. With a sigh, he stopped on the sidewalk, looking for a taxi. "This sucks, I managed to screw up so much in less than twenty four hours... Eh, at least I don't have to tell them the exact location if they don't find me, so it's a win for me."

And as if judgement by fate, a black van stopped in front of Mayuri. Two tall figures came out of the back, rushing towards Mayuri. One grabbed his suitcase and the other literally shoved him into a bag big enough for him to fit.

One of the figures looked at the bystanders, who were all looking at them.

"He disrepected a promise made before a card game." Kaido, one of the figures and the one with Mayuri's suitcase, said to the audience.

"Just hurry up before the fangirls get here." Abbacchio, the other figure, said, tossing Mayuri into the van and jumping into it aswell.

"You heard the italian man." Kaido rushed into the an, closing the back doors and knocked one of the walls. "We're good to go!"

"Driving off." Hikaru, being the driver, drove off.

Now with a black bag on his head, Mayuri was sitted in a chair on the Onibitenbu apartment, surrounded by Kaido, Sakate, Ryuuga, Abbacchio, Joe, Hikaru, Emon and Taira. Behind him was Homura, who removed the bag from his head.

"What the- I ain't telling shit!"

"Oh? I'll have you know you aren't the sweet potato pie in an airport anymore." Homura growled, cracking her ten knuckles one at a time.

Mayuri looked up at the girl and wasted no time in saving hismelf. "The Golden Tower! A building near Time Square called The Golden Tower!" He yelled.

"It looks like we have everything set then." Ryuuga said. "Tomorrow, we charge into the Golden Tower!"

Under a greyish morning sky, Ryuuga and the others stood in front of the so called Golden Tower, the tower used by the Incomplete Arcana as a main headquarters. The day was saturday, the day after their arrival on New York. The four looked at the golden letters over the front door of the building, reading 'GOLDEN TOWER'.

"Man, talk being subtle." Hikaru whistled. "I mean, they even got it caps lock. How didn't we find this sooner?"

"Because by this time yesterday, we were still in a plane." Masato replied.

Homura felt a shiver run down her spine and hugged herself. "Don't remind me of that purgatory."

"If we finish this today, you'll be back in said purgatory quite soon. Just saying."

"You're a dead man, Deadsato...." The orange haired girl grown, slamming his fist against her plam with a glare terrifying enough to turn a lion into a scared cat.

"Yes, ma'am..." 

"Now you see what Bruno goes through." Emon chuckled.

"LET'S GO KICK ASS! THE MORNING TEA IS KICKING IN, I'M FEELING LUCKY!" Taira exclaimed, slapping himself once with each hand before getting into a karate pose. "REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Joe looked up at the tower silently, differentiating himself from the rest.  'Alan... No, I can't go into this being selfish. I'll fight for Ryuuga, like I've always done...!'

"Don't be so hard on yourself." Abbacchio said, nudging Joe's shoulder. "Just go in and fight. Don't make a civil war inside your head,"

"Right, right..." Joe took a deep breath. "Ryuuga?"

"Hm? Oh, right." Ryuuga shifted his gaze from the tower to the entrance door. Before moving forward, he looked at those around him. "Thank you. To all of you. I-"

"Booo, cancel the emotional speech! Leggo into war like we Ger-"

"I'm gonna stop your joke there."

"Man, what a party pooper, Emomon. Aight fine, no Germany starting wars jokes... But yeah, leggo into war like we Germany!"

Taira sighed. "We're going to get deported for those jokes, coach..."

"Eh, fine, I'll skip ahead the speech. But now for real, let's go!" Ryuuga exclaimed.

Everyone answered the same, all shouting a "Yeah!" as they threw their fists up.

The lobby of the Golden Tower, very much unlike the name of the building, had a white floor and ceiling aswell as brown floors. To the right of the entrance door was a counter where a receptionist stood, and on the wall opposite to the door was a pair of elevators. To the elevators' left were two reach couches and a television on the well. In one couch was Mayuri, freed from the grasp of his captors after he told them what they needed to know, and on the other couch were Rose and Iris.

"Oh look, the losers arrived." Mayuri rolled his eyes.

"When can we stop seeing you?!" Homura exclaimed, grinding her teeth. "I'm going to punch your teeth in one of these days, you darn kid!"

"Calm down, Saki. First we fight, then you can bully the child." Emon said, holding the girl back by placing his hand on her shoulder.

"Oh man, they were right, you two do look like their future children!" Hikaru said, looking at Rose and Iris. "Hi hi, I'm your future unkie Hikaru!"

"Eh, can't believe that creepy old man went and told other people about it." Rose huffed, crossing her arms with a pout.

"I think it's sweet. And Emma was really cute!" Iris said.

"I don't care, that guy is still a creepy old man!"

"Man, she really has Kaido's attitude." Hikaru sighed.

"You know why we're here." Ryuuga said, looking at Mayuri. 

"Yeah, I know, you want war. That's why we three are here. We ain't entering it, mainly because we already lost." Mayuri explained.

"You lost twice." Iris said.

"Stinky loser." Rose huffed.

"You two shut up!"

"Our point still remains." The two sisters deadpanned.

"Anyway, since we aren't fighting, we're here to explain how things will go down. The big goal is to reach the Boss, isn't it? The Boss is in a room on the ninth floor, which you can only get to through three elevators. One's in the Boss' room, one on the fourth floor and one on the sixth floor. You can go to either the fourth and six floor, but however, the elevators there are within rooms were members of the Arcana will be waiting to fight. Which ones? I don't know. Actually scrap that, I do know, but I don't wanna tell ya, same goes for which members are in which floors. The least I'll tell you is that there's a tag fight on the fourth floor, but I won't go any further than that. Oh, and of course, if you get lost on the floors, don't be surprised. They're built the way they are to deal with pesky idiots like you." Mayuri explained.

"I see. Our best chance is to split up. The Incomplete Arcana has a total of eleven members, three of which won't fight and one who we can't fight right off the gate, meaning at least seven are left between the fourth and sixth floor. I'll head on to the sixth. Hikaru and Taira, are you two fine with taking the tag fight?" Ryuuga asked.

"Sure thing my guy. Me and champ got the strats!" Hikaru replied.

"I'll fight alongside coach as I've doing for months, REEE!"

"I'll go to the sixth with you." Abbacchio announced. "Is that fine with everyone?"

"I'm fine with any." Masato said. "I'll go to the fourth. Homura, Emon, Joe, what about you lot?"

"Aslong as I can kick ass and take names, any floor works." Homura answered, cracking her knuckles. "I'll head to the sixth with Ryuuga and Abbacchio."

Emon nodded. "I'm fine with going to the fourth."

"That leaves me to go to the sixth. Alright, we have a plan of action." Joe said.

"Then that settles it. All I can do is tell you all this: Good luck." Ryuuga said.

The group split up, with those going up to the fourth floor going into the left elevator and the ones heading onto the sixth going into the right one. Once the golden doors of the elevators closed, the machines started moving up, leaving Mayuri and twins on the lobby.

"They'll lose, no questions asked. I bet my left kidney." Mayuri said with a closed-eye smirk, followed by an inner chuckle.

"Get ready to get your kidney shanked out then, loser." Rose threatned, replicating the motion of switching up a switch knife with her right hand.

"You really are like that white-haired villain-looking guy with the yacht..." Mayuri deadpanned while Iris chuckled at her sister, lightly pushing her hand down.

"What the friggity fuckitty frack..." Hikaru mumbled as he looked at a map of the fourth floor, placed on the wall. The elevator he and the rest of the group coming to the fourth floor lead them to a hallway that connected with two other hallways, continuing the colour scheme of the lobby with white floors and ceilings and walls coloured brown. By the elevator's left was a map of the floor, which was a nearly perfect replica of a maze. "Does anyone read Maze Runner?"

"Bold to assume I read anything other than cardboard." Taira replied, looking at the map aswell. The two tilted their heads to the side until Masato sighed and pushed them away.

"Let me see this." Masato said. As he rubbed the back of his neck, he looked closely at the map. "So many hallways, all of them with so many doors... There's no doubt about it, this will take a while. I say we split up here or else we'll get lost in here the whole day."

Emon nodded. "I agree. I'll go to the left and go from there. Hikaru and Ansei, you take the right. Onizuka, you come with me and then we'll split up."

"You heard the Emomon. Lemme just..." With his phone, Hikaru snapped a photo of the map which he then texted to Masato, Taira and Emon. "That will help unless you somehow dunked at geography classes for three years straight like I did. Emomon, Charmysato, good luck! Sack crits and sack fronts and call it a day! Champ, leggo sack some fronts and crits of our own!"

"REEEEEETASTIC, COACH!"

Fifteen minutes into the search for a member of the Incomplete Arcana, Emon was already lost in the maze of hallways and doors leading to empty rooms that was the floor he was in. So far, he had opened over twenty three doors, seventeen of which lead to empty rooms, and had already crossed three hallways which he couldn't tell if were new or the ones he had crossed for all looked the same.

"Assuming the sixth floor is where other Arcana members are, I'm sure Saki and the others are also going through mazes." Emon said to himself. He grabbed his phone and looked at it; no signal. "Dammit, I can't call anyone." He muttered to himself as he turned a corner at the end of one of the hallways, leading to a sort of dead end. "Huh?"

The new hallway, unlike all the others, only had one door, which was at it's end. Upon looking closer at the door after walking up to it, Emon noticed the door was unlike the others so far. Up to now, all the doors were simply white with white door knobs, but this one was different. While it was white like the others, it's door knob was golden.

"Hm... It's as good of a chance as any." Emon said as he opened the door and walked into the room behind it.

The room was completly dark, and the only light entering was the one coming through the open door, but as soon as Emon let go of the handle, the door closed itself behind him. That in itself was a signal.

"There's no doubt about it, this is an Arcana room. Show yourself!" He demanded.

"Fufufufu... Welcome to my stage, Kaido Mikazuchi-san!" Said a voice present within the room. The voice's tone was different from a normal one, and echoed louder, meaing it was being amplified through a microphone. As smoke started to come out of smoke machines within the room, the lights of the room were turned on, revealing a makeshift stage made out of two tables, and on top of it, Joshu Takenaka, striking the chords of his guitar. 

"Huh?"

"You may think my super awesome little bro Mikitaka-aniki is- Wait a sec, you're not Kaido Mikazuchi-san, you're Emon Kiba-san!" Joshu exclaimed.

"Yeah no shit, Holmes. Who are you and what's up with the honourifics?"

"Name's Joshu Takenaka and game's playing guitar! No wait, that's the other way around... Ah screw that, welcome to my fighting room, Emon Kiba-san!"

"Hm, I see you've made your research." Emon said.

"Yes, I am!" Joshu declared. He swung his guitar behind his back and got out a small notepad and a pen, which he tossed at Emon's feet. "You're also mine and my bro's favourite Spiral Terra member so yeah! Can I get two of your autographs please?"

"Huh?" Emon deadpanned. 'This is nowhere near what I expected...' "Sure, always good to meet a fan. I should dedicate this to?"

"Joshu Takenaka and Mikitaka Takenaka, please!"

"Done. So what now, we fight?"

"Exactly! Get ready because my chords while ring through the stars, for I am The Star, Joshu Takenaka!" Joshu got out his deck box and a small remote from his pocket, which had two buttons, one red and one white. Upon pressing the white one, a fighting table came out of the ground. 

"I see you are equipped with the good gear. This will be a nice fight, Takenaka!" Emon exclaimed, take out his own deck box.

"There it is, that thing you do where you call people by their last name unless you have some great respect for them unless it is your best friend Akira!"

Emon squinted. "Just how accurate are the fan sites?!"

"Scarily accurate!"

Now standing one across another, Emon and Joshu glared at each other as they reached for the face down card on the center of their board, the two already holding five cards in their hands.

"Stand up, vanguard! Lizard Soldier, Conroe! (6000)" Emon's vanguard circle expanded yellow.

"Stand up-"

"The vanguard!"

Late in the afternoon, the sun was already setting, turning the skies above Tokyo orange. This all happened months ago, a week before the start of April and the start of a new school year, and in the living room of an apartment.

With one table between the two, Joshu and another boy sat on top of some pillows, cardfighting each other. The other boy was some years younger than Joshu and considerably different from him, sporting a well-maintained pompadour and being more built-up than people his age.

"Suck this! I ride Gyro Slinger!" The boy said, slamming a card over his vanguard.

"You're welcome to try, Mikitaka-aniki, but I will be victorious! My hair doesn't look like a bird's nest!"

"Oh?" Mikitaka smirked. "You'll learn what it means to shit on my hair!"

"The vanguard! Pan of New Style! (6000)" Joshu's vanguard circle expanded in a golden colour. "You can take the first turn, Emon Kiba-san."

"Fine then. Draw! I ride Sobel Dragonewt! (8000) With Conroe's skill, I draw one card. Turn end."

Emon
Hand: 6
Damage: 0
OXO
OOO

Joshu
Hand: 5
Damage: 0
OXO
OOO

"Draw. I shall ride Dikei of the Just Path! (8000) With Pan's skill, I draw one card. And then, since your vangaurd is grade 1, I get to add a Quick Shield Ticket from my hand!" Joshu grabbed one of the cards from the pile where he kept his Imagianry Gift markers and added it to his hand.

'I see that the Quick Shield mechanic got to America aswell. It's weird considering how Vanguard products always come to english after two months of release in Japan. In fact, it's so new we only added it to our decks this morning.' Emon thought.

"And of course, Dikei's skill! I'll put a hand card into the soul and check the top seven cards for up to two Astral Poets." Joshu explained as he looked at seven cards and placed two on the board, shuffling the rest back. "I add Gleaming Lord, Uranus, and Quaking Heavenly Dragon, Astraios Dragon to my hand. And since I add two, I get a Force marker that goes to the vanguard! Activate Imaginary Gift, Force I! (8000>>18000) Attack! (18000)"

"No guard!"

"Drive check! (Deputize Bear)"

"Damage check! (Dragonic Neoflame)"

"My turn ends."

Emon
Hand: 6
Damage: 1
OXO
OOO

Joshu
Hand: 9
Damage: 0
OXO
OOO

'He already has nine cards in hand, I also need to boost my hand size. Going into Full-armored Buster knowing he can fail isn't a good route.' "Draw. I ride Berserk Dragon! (10000) Counterblast, soulblast, I draw one card! Now I call Aermo! (8000) Boosted by Aermo, Berserk Dragon attacks! And with his skill, Aermo gains 3k! (10000>>18000>>21000)"

"I won't guard, Emon Kiba-san!

"Drive check! (Dragon Monk, Genjo - Heal) A heal trigger. I put Neoflame into the drop zone and give all to my vanguard. (21000>>31000)"

"Damage check! (Phinomenus of the Constellations)"

"Turn end."

Emon
Hand: 7
Damage: 0
OXO
OXO

Joshu
Hand: 9
Damage: 1
OXO
OOO

"Stand and draw! I ride Battle Maiden, Mutsuki! (10000>>20000) Since she was ridden, I counterblast and soulblast to draw one. And then, get, Imaginary Gift Force I! On the vanguard once again! (20000>>30000) Mutsuki attacks the vanguard! (30000)"

"Tch, no guard!" 'The attacks keep getting bigger each turn, and knowing he'll ride up to Astraios Dragon next turn, they power of his attacks will keep increasing!'

"Drive check! (Atlas of Heavenly Sphere)"

"(Dragonic Overlord)"

"My turn ends."

Emon
Hand: 7
Damage: 1
OXO
OXO

Joshu
Hand: 11
Damage: 1
OXO
OOO

"Stand and draw! A crimson flame that burns hotter than the sun descends! Scorch everything! I ride! Dragonic Overlord! (13000)" Emon's vanguard circle exploded red and orange, like the colours of a flame.

'I have to let your attack hit to get some counterblast, but it's fine. I can guard whatever hits you throw at me with this hand advantage!' Joshu thought.

"Imaginary Gift, Force I! I give it to my vanguard! (13000>>23000) And then with a soulblast, I'll have it gain another 10k! (23000>>33000) Boosted by Aermo, Dragonic Overlord attacks! (33000>>41000>>44000) Be reduced to ash! Exploding Crimson Flame!"

"No guard!"

"Twin drive! (Dragonic Overlord the Great) (Dragonic Neoflame) No trigger!"

"Damage check! (Gleaming Lord, Uranus) Go ahead and restand your vanguard, Emon Kiba-san!" Joshu exclaimed.

"Dragonic Overlord's skill! Counterblast one, then discard two to restand the vanguard! One drive check is lost. Now attack once again! (33000) Exploding Crimson Flame!"

"No guard!"

"(Wyvern Guard, Barri - Draw) A draw trigger! I give everything to the vanguard and draw one! (31000>>41000)"

"And my damage check! (Atlas of Hevenly Sphere) No trigger."

"I end my turn there." Emon said as he looked through his hand. 'Next turn I'll be able to hit him with The Great and Neoflame. Even if he doesn't call any units on his turn, I'll still be able to reduce his hand.'

Emon
Hand: 9
Damage: 1
OXO
OXO

Joshu
Hand: 9
Damage: 3
OXO
OOO

"I managed to survive your string of attacks. Pretty cool for an autopilot deck, don't you think so?" Joshu asked.

"There's no such thing as an autopilot deck, there are just decks with less plays than others. We've been fighting for a while, and seeing as you haven't thrown insults of anything of the sort at me like Mayuri or Alan, then answer me this. Why would you be in the Arcana?" Emon asked in return.

"Eh, it's a question I've been asked many times by my friends." Joshu explained. "I'm here to protect the one thing I love the most. I'm sure you'd understand, out of of everyone in Spiral Terra, you're the guy who fights to protect your loved ones. I also have someone to protect, not from anyone, but from something, from that darn school that breaks the spirits of those who it sees as not good enough for it. I'm sure you've already heard the rumours about-"

"GEN Academy. The school on an island."

"Bingo. I have a younger bro studying there, and while he hasn't been there alot, I can't let that school turn his heart pitch black. That's why I have aligned myself with the Arcana, to force change upon the school and protect my Mikitaka-aniki! Everything else doesn't matter!"

'I think I can understand you. I also heard the rumours about the school, that's why I never considered it at all. But if one of my brothers or sisters went there, I think I'd have the same worry. But still, going this far is something I don't think I'd be brave enough to do.' Emon thought.

"We live in a crazy noisy bizarre society, man. So all I can do-"

"Damage check... Dammit, that was my super cool finisher wolf!" Mikitaka said as he fell back after losing the fight to Joshu.

"Get cucked by autopilot decks, Mikitaka-aniki!"

"Man this ain't far, let's go another around! I gotta go until I'm good enough to fight Kaido!"

"Oh, you're still on that. Are you sure going to a school filled with rumours because you want to fight this one person is that good of an idea?"

"It's about card games so you know it's a good idea! The plan is simple. Carry the delinquent act until I fight Kaido and then study my ass off to get good grades on everything! We're only stopping at the top of the worldwide game! Hell, I'll even raid the library with my delinquent bros and have them study to better their academics without them knowing and study when not doing delinquent stuff."

"And I get that but come on, you heard them too. Don't you think it'd be better to go to another school and fight Kaido at any other time? Why not next summer break? There's a plethora of Vanguard events during summer break, you'll cross his path no questions asked."

"I could but this is the faster route. I promise that after I fight him, I'll stop being a slacker delinquent and hit the books like I hit my-"

"Mikitaka-aniki, that's disgusting!"

"Punching bag!"

"Boy I really skipped the gun on that one."

"Either way, it's all good, Joshu-anoue! Even if I miss my chance to fight him, it's fine, I'll just become an ace of studies and fight him on college!" Mikitaka declared, following it up with a smile.

Joshu placed his cards down and grabbed his guitar from his back, striking the cords once it was in place. "IS MAKE MY LYRICS REACH MY MIKITAKA-ANIKI'S HEART!" Joshu swung his guitar over his shoulder, returning it to his back as he grabbed his cards. "But back to the game, card games are sacred. Stand and draw! The quake of the stars, rippling in the cosmos! The stars align, and darkness, begone! Now descend! Ride! Quaking Heavenly Dragon, Astraios Dragon! (13000>>33000) Imaginary Gift, Force I! To the vanguard why of course! (33000>>43000) I use Astraios Dragon's skill! One counterblast to get a new Force I marker and put it on the vanguard! (43000>>53000) I call Atlas of Heavenly Sphere! (8000) I counterblast and put him into the soul to draw one and get yet another Force I marker! (53000>>63000) And now that I have five Force markers on my vanguard, the center backrow circle on my board will become the pathway for a new unit! Open, Astral Plane! I call Deputize Bear! (8000) With his skill, I check the top seven and add Valkerion to the hand and shuffle the rest! Now call! Gleaming Lord, Uranus (13000) and Phinomenus of the Constellations! (10000) And of course, standing on the Astral Plane, the deity from beyond the stars! Descend! Giant Deity of Distant World, Valkerion! (70000)" The circle where the Astral Plane exploded in white.

'There it is. One extra attack, but more drive checks and a base power of 70k on itself!'

"Valkerion's skill! I check the top five and drop Mutsuki, gaining Twin Drive! The rest is shuffled back. I soulblast one to draw one with Astraios' third skill. Now battle! Astraios Dragon attacks the vanguard! (63000) Starlight Obliteration!"

Emon looked at his damage zone and then at his hand, shaking his head. "No guard!"

"Twin drive! (Dikei of the Just Path) (Atlas of Heavenly Sphere) No trigger!"

"Damage check! (Dragon Full-armored Buster)"

"Valkerion, attack! (70000) Zodiac Crusher!"

"No guard!"

"Twin drive! (Cyber Tiger - Critical) A critical! I give the power to Uranus and the critical to Valkerion! (13000>>23000) (70000>>70000/2) (Quaking Heavnly Dragon, Astraios Dragon)"

"Tch, damage check! (Sabel Dragonewt) (Angry Horn Dragon - Critical) I put it all on the vanguard! (23000)"

"Cards that were drive checked by Valkerion are put into the soul. Now boosted by Deputize Bear, Uranus attacks! (23000>>31000)"

"I guard with Calamity Tower Wyvern! (33000)"

"Phinomenus attacks! For each of my Force markers on the field, add 5k to the attack! (10000>>35000)"

"Tahr! (38000)"

"At the end of my turn, Valkerion is returned to the bottom of the deck. Turn end!"

Emon
Hand: 7
Damage: 4
OXO
OXO

Joshu
Hand: 9
Damage: 3
XXX
OOX

Emon took a closer look at the state of the game, and thought about the best option to take considering it. 'He has the bigger hand, but no damage to use on his turn, so he'll take at least one attack this turn, but I can still keep pushing with The Great this turn.' "Stand and draw! The ultimate flame grows stronger, the god of raging fire descends! Ride! Dragonic Overlord the Great! (13000>>23000)" Emon's vanguard circle exploded red and orange once again. "Imaginary Gift, Force I! I put on the left side. The Great's skill when ridden. I superior Dragonic Neoflame from the drop zome! (10000>>20000) I call Sabel Dragonewt (8000) and Dragon Full-armored Buster! (10000) With his skill, I soulblast two and retire Phinomenus!"

Joshu placed his card on the drop zone. "Now Aermo and Sabel Dragonewt will trigger."

"That's correct. But first, I look at the top seven cards of my deck and add Dragonic Overlord to my hand. Now I retire both of Sabel and Aermo to draw two and countercharge one. I call Calamity Tower Wyven. (7000) Battle! Neoflame attacks Uranus! (20000)"

"He retires."

"Now The Great attacks! Neoflame's skill boost his power by 5k! (23000>>28000) Eternal Ashen Flame!"

"I guard with Laurier! (33000) And then, Quick Shield activates! I drop it and give my vanguard 5k during this battle! (38000) That's one to pass."

"Twin drive! (Flame of Hope, Aermo) (Dragon Full-armoured Buster) No trigger. However, The Great's other skill activates! I counterblast one and drop two from hand to stand both him and Neoflame, losing one drive! Now The Great attacks once again! Neoflame gives him 5k, but this tiem, I'll counterblast two to give him a critical too! (23000>>28000/2)"

"Not a chance! Complete guard!"

"Drive check! (Dragon Monk, Genjo - Heal) A heal trigger. I give all effects to Buster and heal one. (10000>>20000) Buster attacks! (20000)"

"No guard! (Giant Deity of Distant World, Valkerion)"

"Boosted by Wyvern, Neoflame! (20000>>27000)"

"No guard again! (Dikei of the Just Path)"

"Turn end."

Emon
Hand: 8
Damage: 3
XXX
XOO

Joshu
Hand: 5
Damage: 5
OXO
OOX

"It seems the game is mine for the taking, Emon Kiba-san! This turn will end it all. Stand and draw! Across the stars, and everything in the cosmos! The fate is scribbled in the darkness of space, which becomes the new light! Be the origin of change! Ride!"

'That card-!'

"Origin Deity of Heavenly Light, Uranus! (13000>>63000)" Joshu's vanguard circle exploded in a golden colour once again, though now much brighter. "Imaginary Gift, Force I! I put it on the side and move Bear up! (8000>>18000) I call Dikei! (8000) With his skill, I put Atlas into the soul and check the top seven to add another Uranus to hand! Now call, Uranus (13000) and Astraios Dragon! (13000) Uranus' skill! I soulblast units until the sum of their grades is five to open the Astral Plane! And standing on the Astral Plane, the deity of the distant world! Descend! Giant Deity of Distant World, Valkerion! (70000)" Joshu grabbed the top five cards of his deck and threw one into the drop zone. "The card dropped by Valkerion's effect was Valkerion itself, meaning he gains quintuple drive! Now Valkerion, attack! (70000) Zodiac Crusher!"

"Barri, complete guard!"

"Five drive checks coming right up! The first! (Battle Maiden, Mutsuki) The second! (Battle Maiden, Kukurihime - Critical) A critical! The power goes to Dikei and the critical to Valkerion! (8000>>18000) (70000>>70000/2) The third! (Witch of Pots, Laurier - Heal) A heal trigger! I power up Bear and heal one! (18000>>28000) The fourth! (Origin Deity of Heavenly Light, Uranus) And finally, the fifth! (Cyber Tiger - Critical) Another critical! Dikei gets the power, and Valkerion gets the critical! (18000>>28000) (70000>>70000/3) Uranus' skill! I rest my two rear-guard Astral Poets to restand Valkerion and he loses all his drive checks! Emon Kiba-san, the thing is... Even though my Mikitaka-aniki is a fine delinquent with a good heart who'll become a top student after his dream becomes a reality... And even though he's older now...! I see things different! What I see-!"

"Peek-a-boo!" A much younger Joshu, still a child, looked at his baby brother, who was laid on a crib. Upon seeing him, the baby smiled.

"What I see is still the pure smile of someone who deserves better than the darkness of that school! And I will protect that smile! THIS ONE GOES OUT FOR YOU, MIKITAKA-ANIKI! ZODIAC CRUSHER! (70000/3) GOODBYE, EMON KIBA-SAN!"

'I'll have to put everything I got into stopping this attack!' "I guard with two Genjos, Aermo and then Gaias! (73000) Your attack is stopped!"

"I still have more! Uranus attacks! (63000) Blade of Origin Light!"

"NO GUARD!" Emon declared. 

"Twin drive! (Origin Deity of Heavenly Light, Uranus) (Phinomenus of the Constallations) No trigger!"

"Damage check! (Dragonic Overlord the Great)"

"Bear! (28000)"

"I guard with Tahr and intercept with Buster! (33000)"

"Dikei!"

"No guard! (Dragonic Waterfall)"

"I didn't end it this turn... Damn, I'm sorry Mikitaka-aniki. Valkerion returns to the bottom of the deck and my turn ends."

Emon
Hand: 3
Damage: 5
XXO
XOO

Joshu
Hand: 4
Damage: 4
XXX
XOX

Emon looked at the ffith card on his damage zone. "Takenaka... You might have taught me something I should have realized ages ago."

"What is that, Emon Kiba-san?"

"I too have something to protect!"

(Play the media)

"While I'm here fighting for the Arcana's end, I'm fighting for Fukushima, to protect Fukushima and all others Royalties! You're braver than me, you're risking it all for your brother, and while I don't have your bravery, I have fighting spirit! And while I have that, I'll keep fighting to protect! Stand and draw! You rose once, you rose twice, and you shall rise once again, ephmeral ocean of flames! THE DEITY OF THE ULTIMATE FLAME DESCENDS! SHOWER THE SKIES WITH YOUR BLUE FLAMES, MY VANGUARD! DRAGONIC WATERFALL! (13000>>23000)"

"Your iconic unit Dragonic Waterfal?!"

"Yeah! Imaginary Gift, Force I! Vanguard! (23000>>33000) Calamity Wyvern's skill! Soulblast, retire itself, give the vanguard 15k! (33000>>48000) And call, Aermo! Boosted by Aermo, Dragonic Waterfall attacks! With Aermo's skill, add 3k, and with Waterfall's, add 10k, a critical and the glory ability! (48000>>56000>>59000>>69000/2) One final attack that dictates the winner and loser of this game!"

"That's my way of playing, Emon Kiba-san!"

"The final attack!"

"NO GUARD!"

"Twin drive! (Dragonic Neoflame) (Berserk Dragon) Take this, BLUEGEYSER EXTREME FLAME!"

"DAMAGE CHECK! (Battle Maiden, Kukurihime - Critical) AND THE FINAL! (Origin Deity of Heavenly Light, Uranus) I LOST, EMON KIBA-SAN!"

"You don't have to shout, and Emon is good enough."

"In that case, Emon-san. This isn't the room that will take you to The World. My apologies."

"It's fine. It's not up to me to fight him, it's up to someone braver."

"Wise words, Emon-san... I understood your message!" Joshu declared.

Emon blinked twice. "...huh?"

"Emon-san, my ways of protection are wrong, that's what your fighting showed me! I should stay by your side until I learn how to become the ultimate protector of my Mikitaka-aniki!"

"I-i... I'm gonna go." Emon grabbed his cards and started walking for the door, until something grabbed his leg. "Huh..?" He looked down to see Joshu, on the floor, grabbing hold of his right leg with his hands. "What are you-"

"EMON-SAAAAAAAAN, TEACH ME YOUR WAYS!"

"I... Let go."

"EMON-SAN, TEACH ME YOUR WAYS! MAKE ME YOUR STUDENT AND I SHALL LEARN!"

"I..." Emon moved forward, but Joshu ddn't let go. "This is why Homura likes not being recognized by her fans..."

"MIKITAKA-ANIKI!" Joshu yelled into his phone.

"JOSHU-ANOUE!"

"I'M GRABBING ONTO EMON-SAN'S LEG AND HIS GONNA TEACH ME HOW TO PROTECT YOU BETTER, MIKITAKA-ANIKI!"

"BITCHIN', JOSHU-ANOUE!"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH DID YOU GET HIS AUTOGRAPH?!"

"I DID!"

"BITCHIN'!"

"BITCHIN'! OKAY TALK TO YOU LATER, MIKITAKA-ANIKI!"

"This is why I'm not coming in any more things that are related to Vanguard on another countries." Emon sighed.

(Ending)

Next Week-

#27: The Strength - Jean-Pierre Arcand

----------------------------------------
MINI SOUL: "Mikitaka's Big Moment"

Mikitaka: *standing in front of GEN* I'm finally gonna fight Kaido and nothing is gonna stand in my way! *trips and starts falling* I'm a failure. I'm sorry, mom. I'm sorry, Joshu-anoue. I've been falling for a while, this is really gonna hurt.

Kaido: *catches Mikitaka* Hey kid, wanna be my rival?

Mikitaka: *loud gasp* YE-

Joshu: *wakes up Mikitaka* MIKITAKA-ANIKI WAKE UP!

Mikitaka: MY DREAM, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-----

Mikitaka: Look I'm a GEN character but volume 2 comes out in 2021 so this its best if you first see me here to understand my character.

Kaido: Wanna be my rival?

Mikitaka: FUCK YEAH

Kaido: Suck it Yuuto.

Ryuuga: Why did you call him by his name?

Because his nickname is too much of an hassle. Have a meme.

You wanna know what is the basis for Joshu's character? It's his iconic line that goes-

Joshu: EMON-SAN TEACH EM YOUR WAYS

Hikaru: Come back next week for the answer to the biggest question in everyone's mind: Is Taira x Hinata happening?

You know how me and romance go.

My name is Shida, thanks for reading and I will see you later. Bye bye!

Kaido: Now do it as I taught you.

Mikitaka: Loner virgin loser with daddy issues who had a crush on his mom!

Kaido: *proud dad smile*