Beginning Note: Hi, everyone. I'm honestly a little disappointed with the Cardfight Vanguard section of FF. But that's not your fault. If the show doesn't gather enough fans or take advantage of its obvious homosexual undertones to create incentive for people to write steamy sex-filled fun adventures based (loosely) on the show, then Bushiroad is the one to blame.

Anyway, this is a story that I've been keeping in the back of my mind for a time now. Ever since Vanguard came out, I've connected the game to Yugioh in some way. I was a little surprised that no one had written some sort of fiction bringing the two franchises together. But this is my attempt at it.

I have not posted a story to FF in a long while. However, I have still been writing fanfiction. I haven't been satisfied with my other work and I will not bother posting it. As for any of my currently incomplete stories, if I have any, consider them all abandoned. The original computer containing my work on those stories was lost a couple of years ago, and I have lost all motivation to continue from there. So I suppose you'll just have to deal with it.

And now, finally, let's get down to the important part of what this is all about.

Kattobingu Da needs some Vanguard. Simple as that. Kamui Katsuragi is no Tsukumo Yuma, that's for sure. And as cute as it is watching the gay interactions between Aichi and Kai, there is still something missing from the show. For a card game show, Vanguard has a tendency to...get boring. It doesn't have the excitement of Yugioh, nor the unpredictable stupidity that is needed to keep a card game audience entertained. So let's get this show on the road.

Kamui comes running after me as I walk out of the shop. I let loose a breath of relief I hadn't realized I had been holding. This new Gold Paladin deck is something I need to learn – and fast. With the VF circuit coming up very soon, I have almost no time to become a master of this brand new deck. Indeed, the limit break ability is an interesting technique. Garmore easily reached a threshold of power that many other vanguards would have struggled to obtain. But then again, Majesty Lord Blaster is also able to achieve that power, and another critical as well. Ah, there I go again. No point in whining about it. The Kageros and the paladins of the past are gone. If Gold Paladins are the remains of the Royal and the Shadow Paladains, then they are just as much my deck as the former two were. I may be slightly annoyed, and a little saddened that they aren't here, but I will just have to accept it and keep on fighting. What really catches my attention is the memory erase. I can understand why Kamui, Misaki, and the others wouldn't be able to remember. But why can't Kai remember either? He was given an entirely brand new deck! And a powerful one at that.

Does the memory rewrite have something to do with Psyqualia? If so, perhaps Ren remembers his Shadow Paladins. I'll have to investigate later.

"So, Kamui, ready to fight together once more?"

"You betcha, bro. I'm totally psyched to put this one in the can."

"I think you mean-"

I'm interrupted as I suddenly fall to the ground. Groaning in pain and confusion, I try to get back up only to realize the cause of my stumble.

"I'm sorry! Didn't mean to hurt ya!" The boy currently on top of me says. He stands up and extends his hand towards me, pulling me up from my position on the ground. I try to regain my bearings to tell him it's alright but he cracks a smile before asking, "Are you okay? Hope I didn't injure you or nothing."

"N-no, I'm fine. Thanks."

"HEY!" We both turn to look at Kamui, who is currently glaring at the boy who ran into me. A scowl adorns his face, twisting his normally playful features into a mask of agitation and concern. "Just who do you think you are? You can't run into people just like that, you know! How about the great Kamui teaches you to look where you're going!?"

"Stop it, Kamui-kun," I interject, placing myself between him and the new boy in an attempt to calm him down. "It was an accident."

"Yeah, I'm sor-"

The boy begins to apologize once more, but he is cut off when Kamui practically screams, "I don't wanna hear it. You!" He says, pointing past me at the kid. "Me!" He jabs his thumb at his chest. "Cardfight, now!"

"Cardfight?" "Cardfight?" We both ask at the same time. "Kamui-kun, we just met this person. Please be a little more polite." I give a small smile at the stranger. "We don't even know his name. I'm Aichi." Kamui scratches the back of his head, slightly embarassed, before returning to his firey attitude.

"I'm the great Kamui-sama, and I will show you my strength!" Resisting the urge to roll my eyes, I simply give a small sigh instead.

"Cool! Nice to meet ya! My name's Tsukumo Yuma, and I aim to be the greatest duelist of all time."

"Duelist?"

"What's that?" Kamui asks, his temper gone in place of curiosity. "What kind of fighter are you?"

"Fighter? We say duelist where I come from," Yuma says. It is now that I truly realize just how strange he looks. His hair is mostly black, with red highlights in the front. But what's really eye catching are the two long red spikes that just jut up into the air, almost as if he had horns. On anyone else, I would have thought such a hair style to be utterly ridiculous, but somehow Yuma made it work. The red highlights complimented the red vest and blue shirt he was currently wearing, while the black hair served only to add contrast to his white, flame-tipped pants. An odd combination. He is certainly an eccentric dresser. Yuma would stand out in our town easily.

"There's that word again. Do-list?" Kamui says, feeling at the foreign word.

"Not do-list. Duelist. Do-Oh-list," I correct. Kamui's lips move silently as he ingrains the word into his memory.

"...Um, if you don't mind me asking, Tsukumo-san, just where do you come from?"

"You can call me Yuma. And I come from Heartland! Haven't you ever heard of it?" He asks me, his eyebrows upturned and waiting for clarification.

"Can't say that I have. T-then again, I never really did pay attention in history."

"History? It still exists, you know,"

Actually, I wouldn't – and don't – know. "It's not that. There are a lot of maps in history class. Don't they have classes where you come from?"

"Yeah, of course. But..." he says, a sheepish grin forming on his face. "I kinda sleep through classes most of the time. It's just so boring, right? Besides, I could be spending that time dueling." Well, look at that. Something in common.

"Yeah, I don't really like school that much either. The teachers used to pick on me all the time, but they stopped recently."

"Oh really? Why?"I could feel myself blush a little, my mind thinking of Kai and Blaster Blade. I glance at Kamui, who has gone back to staring at Yuma, probably trying to remember if he has ever heard of Heartland. Or maybe he just wants to avoid talking of history altogether. Yuma comes a little closer as he puts his hand onto my forehead. "You okay? Looks like you have a little fever," he says, worry crossing his features once again.

"I-it's nothing! Just...I'm...well, it's kind of embarrassing to say that playing a game gave me confidence. And now the teachers don't seem to bother me much," I say while trying not to sound too weak. If he had questioned me a while ago, I wouldn't have bothered, since I'm sure my Paladins would be more than enough to take him on. But these new ones – well, I still have some doubts. Aaaaaaaaaannnnnnddd there I go again, not believing in my cards. Sorry!

"Why is that embarrassing? It happened to me too! I used to be bullied a lot when I was little-er," I chuckle a little, "but ever since I got into duel monsters, all my problems seemed to just go away! It was a little overwhelming at first, but now I'm the champion back in Heartland!"

"Duel monsters? Champion? Are we really supposed to believe that? Just what kind of game is this duel monsters anyway?" Kamui seems to perk up at hearing champion. He must see this as some sort of challenge. What sort of training could be better for him than fighting a champion, right? Or at least that's what I think is going through that head of his. I find myself smiling at his antics, predicting he would soon challenge Yuma into a battle once more. But truth be told, I am also intrigued in this game Yuma has mentioned.

"Oh duel monsters? Only the funnest game of all time!" Yuma practically jumping up and down as he began explaining the game. "It's a card game that two people play. Actually, you can have more than two at the same time, but regular duels have only two people. And you have your deck, where you start off with 5 cards in your hand."

"Sounds like Vanguard so far," Kamui interrupts. I nod in agreement.

"Really? Anyway, then you start playing."

"What? No redraws?" Kamui asks.

"Redraws? Nope. The hand you get is the hand you get."

"What if you don't like a card in your hand?" I ask him, thinking it odd that duel monsters lacked a redraw component to its game play.

"Like I said, you have to be happy with what you get. I think it's exciting, since you'll have to decide the game's outcome based on your first five cards. Anyway, the first player begins their turn. You draw during the draw phase, and then you proceed to the main phase. Well, technically, there's a standby phase before that, but it doesn't matter since most cards can't do anything during that phase. During the main phase, you can use the cards in your hand or on the field. For example, you can set magic or trap cards, or summon monsters."

"M-m-magic?" I splutter.

"Trap cards? What are you talking about? And what do you mean 'summon monsters?' What about riding and calling?" Kamui demands to know, trying to wrap his head around the new game terms.

"Uh...don't you guys have anything like that in your game? No, I guess not, huh. Umm...traps and spells are cards that aren't monsters. Pretty obvious, right? But the thing is that they have special abilities meant to help you or deter your opponent during the duel. Here, let me show you!" He says as he whips out cards from a container on his belt. He begins rifling through his cards before a frown appears on his face. "What the? What is this? Hey, do you know what happened to my cards?" He whips out a card and shows it to both of us. I look at the picture of a robe covered, grey-haired man before looking at the clan.

"Looks fine to me. Although, I've never seen that card before. Where'd ya get it? Did a new pack come out?" Kamui asks, stars shining in his eyes as he thinks of new potential combos.

"More importantly, what sort of clan is that? I've never heard of the 'Syllable' clan yet. It seems weird since they seem to have come from United Santuary," I ask before Kamui can divert the conversation to combos and packs and eventually onto his Nova Grapplers. At any other time, I might have let him continue, but I am currently very interested in these so-called syllables.

"I don't know! One minute, I'm sleeping in my hammock, next thing I know, I'm over here looking at weird cards," he exlaims, rubbing his face in thought. Wait a minute.

"...Y-yuma-kun, how do you not know how you got here? Were you kidnapped?"

"Kidnapped?" Kamui snaps out of his reverie, and glances up at me.

Yuma closes his eyes and begins fingering the necklace hanging around his neck before opening his eyes and denying my theory. "If I was kidnapped, why would they let me go? Besides, I'm sure Kotori or someone would have called me on my D-gazer by now. Speaking of which, why haven't they called me yet?" Yuma says, reaching into his pocket. Kamui and I watch in fascination as he hooks some sort of device onto his left ear before making a 'tch' in an exasperated manner. "No wonder. No signal," he says before we can ask. He places the device back into his pocket before seemingly staring off into space.
"A-are you o-okay?" I ask, unsure of myself.

"Me? Yeah. Just thinking. Astral said something about falling into a different dimension."

"D-different dimension!?" Kamui and I shout in unison. Honestly, you'd think this were some sort of poorly written fanfiction meeting if you were here. Which brings to mind the question: what sort of stupid idiot would even think of writing such a story? Ah well, whatever. We have dimension-crossing matters to take care of. "Yuma, what do you mean different dimensions? And who is Astral?" I ask, trying to sort the new information and also deciding between listening to Yuma or sending him to a psychiatrist. Okay, perhaps that's a little hypocritical. After all, I was once a warrior of Cray – or rather, I am once again a warrior for Cray, and that's a little far-fetched for most people. I should give Yuma a chance to at least explain himself.

"I'm not sure about the different dimension thing, but I can tell you who Astral is. He's the spirit living inside my key!"

Okay, maybe he does need to visit a psychiatrist. I believe in my cards, and I can imagine myself on Cray becoming one with the Paladins, but a spirit in a key? A key to what? His necklace doesn't even look like a key! "He's this cool dude who used to be annoying because he would interfere with my duels but we're good friends now!" Uh...no comment? Actually, if anything, too many comments. Such as 'what in the world?'

"Yuma-kun, are you -"

"You don't believe me do you," he interrupts, looking a little crestfallen.

"No duh! How could we! You seem like some kinda cool dude with a brand new deck and some thing and stuff but then you start blurting nonsense about different dimensions and duel monsters and keys! Come on, Aichi, let's leave this wacko and go to Card Capital." Good thinking, Kamui. Leave the wacko and tell him just where we plan on going. Nice job. Once again resisting the urge to roll my eyes or slap my forehead, I tell Kamui,

"Don't be so mean, Kamui. He doesn't look like he's lying to us." Turning to face Yuma, I continue, "Yuma-kun, would you like to come with us to Card Capital? Maybe we can look at your cards there and then figure something out about your current situation." The boy looks at me thoughtfully, then fingers his key once more before nodding yes. I ignore Kamui's gestures and walk towards Card Capital. Soon, both follow and we walk side-by-side. Yuma takes out his deck as he looks once more at his cards. Kamui trods along, a pout on his face as if he can't believe we are walking to Card Capital with some potential lunatic besides us. And I would be lying if I say I'm not surprised a bit myself. But this new clan, this new dimension stuff, and the invisible and possibly fake entity named Astral intrigue me. At the very least, I want to help Yuma find something out and maybe help him get home or wherever it is he needs to go. Kamui's grumbles fade away as Card Capital came into view.

"We're here," I say pointlessly. I don't doubt Yuma's ability to read, seeing as how he plays a card game which requires some sort of reading ability, but rather to take away the awfully awkward silence that had been cast on us since we began walking towards the card shop. "Yuma-kun, what do you say to a game? Just a friendly match to find out what those cards can do." The boy turns towards me and takes a moment before saying 'sure'.

"But I don't think it'll be much of a challenge. I've never played Vanguard before and I don't know these cards at all. Not that I'm backing out!"

"No worries, Yuma-kun. It's just a friendly game. I just want to play you so you can learn the rules. Besides, I also have to get used to my deck."

"Brother, what are you talking about? Aren't you already used to your Gold Paladins? You've never used any other clan before." Kamui pulls on my hand to get my attention, and I find myself stumbling for an answer.

"Uh, y-yeah! But I think – maybe- there's some new strategy or something to -errr- help me w-win my future matches?" The mask-tape lie comes out as some sort of unsure question, but Kamui just nods his head and accepts the hastily put together reply. It isn't entirely a lie; I am looking for some way to fight with these new cards. But I have to remember that the others don't remember. Must try to not look loony. Hopefully Yuma could outshine me in loony-ness. Yuma stares at me with a raised eyebrow, as if trying to determing whether I was lying or not, before shrugging his shoulders to himself and entering the card shop.

"Welcome, Aichi, Kamui. Hello. Welcome to Card Capital." Misaki greets, as usual. She quickly eyes Yuma up and down, memorizing his look with that uncanny ability of hers. Even after knowing her already for so long, it still amazes me how she could memorize anything with a simple one-second glance. If only I had such an ability; school would be a breeze for me. "I've never seen you around before. I'm Tokura Misaki," she said as she placed the book she was currently reading on the counter.

"Hi, Misaki!" I blanched. 1St name already? And without any honorifics. I look briefly at Misaki hoping she isn't too angry at Yuma. And while I see surprise and a little frustration in her eyes, she lets it slide.
"My name is Tsukumo Yuma. And I'm here because my friends Aichi and Kamui told me I might find some answers in this card shop. Do you know anything about Heartland, or the number cards?" Yuma asks her. Number cards? What is he talking about? Just how more mysterious can you get, Yuma? Misaki blinks twice before speaking.

"I've never heard of Heartland before. Or number cards. Do you mean the series number of cards?" Misaki asks, looking at me for clarification.

"Yuma-kun seems to be lost, Misaki-san. He doesn't know where he is, and doesn't know of the Vanguard world," her eyes widen at that statement. "What's odd is that Yuma has a Vanguard deck, but even stranger is that he possesses a clan from United Sanctuary that I've never seen before."

"From United Sanctuary? The same as the Gold Paladins? Impossible," she claims, huffing a bit. "I know, and you know, all of the clans in United Sanctuary."

"Um, I meant to ask this before back when we met, but just what is 'United Sanctuary?'" Yuma asks as he makes quotes in the air.

"You weren't kidding when you said he had no idea, huh?" Misaki says before a small smile graces her pretty face. "To answer your question, Tsukumo-san, it's the nation your clan comes from. Or your supposed clan anyway. Which is what, exactly?"

"Syllables, apparently," I inform her as Yuma begins to take out his deck once more.

"Syllables?" Misaki repeats. Yuma hands her his deck and her eyes widen once more as she looked at the lower right hand corner of the card. She looks back at Yuma, then at me, and then back to the cards. Once she looks at all the cards and memorizes them, she hands them back to Yuma who stores them tenderly in his belt box. "I've never seen or heard of these cards before. But I can't deny what I just saw. Syllables from United Sanctuary. I'm sorry, Tsukumo-san, but I can't help you."

"Please call me Yuma. I was never a fan of honorifics, really."

"I noticed," Misaki curtly replies, letting out a small chuckle. I find myself smiling. She really should smile a lot more. But then I drop the smile as I turn to Yuma and apologize for leading him to an apparent dead end.

"It's okay, Aichi. You just wanted to help me, that's all. Thanks. So are you still up for that match?" His eyes light up as he remembers our little cardfight and I lead him to the back of the room towards a table. Misaki follows, obviously interested in the fight that the Syllable clan would soon show us. Shin comes back into the room, voicing his disapproval but Kamui, who had remained quiet and prideful as we talked amongsts ourselves, pulls him towards us. "...some sort of new clan..." is all I hear as Yuma and I set up for our match. I take out my deck. Yuma mirrors my actions and pulls the cards out carefully.

"Okay Yuma! This is your first Vanguard fight, so I'll explain how we begin. First, you take one grade 0 from your deck, and place it face down on your Vanguard circle. Imagine it! You are one with your cards, and they all have contracts with you. But your Vanguard does not only have a contract with you. It is your sole embodied in a warrior on the planet Cray! This planet is similarly to Earth, only inhabited by the members of various clans that fight. So are you ready? Did you pick your grade 0?"

"I assume the number in the top left corner is the grade, right?" I nod in confimation. "Yosh! I've got my Vanguard then. So I place it face down, got it." Looking at my field, he places the card face down in the Vanguard circle.

"Good. Then we shuffle our decks, and draw 5 cards." We draw our hands. Someone taps me on the shoulder and I look back to see Miwa attempting to talk to me.

"Miwa-san, what is it?" I'm a little busy here.

"Just wanted to inform you that your boyfriend won't be here today," he says through a toothy grin. I can feel myself blushing. I hear the others chuckling at my expense.

"Boyfriend?" Yuma tilts his head to the right. He doesn't look disturbed, only slightly confused.

"He's joking!" I quickly add, turning around to glare at Miwa and the others for embarrassing me. Miwa simply pats my head, tousling my hair a little and tells me to get back to my game. "Anyway, let's get back to what we were doing. Once you draw 5 cards, you can pick any amount of cards, shuffle them back in, and then redraw until you have 5 cards in the hand. And I will be reshuffling 3."

Yuma looked at me uncertainly, before turning to the left to stare at the wall for a moment. I suppose he was talking to that invisible spirit, Astral, because he shrugged and reshuffled 1 card back into his deck.

"Okay. Next, we flip over our face down cards on the field and say, 'Stand up, Vanguard' or something like that." We flip over our vanguards.

"Let's do this," Yuma says, grinning at me.

"Right then. I'll take the first turn, Yuma!" I say as I recall to mind how Kai first taught me the rules of the game. I ride first, Yuma!

Hope you guys like it so far. I know I am. This story has been plaguing me for quite some time, so it's about time I get it out of my head and onto . I know there have been some of you out there awaiting a yugiohXvanguard fic, and here it is.

Before any of you ask:

Yes, this will be focused on Vanguard the card game. Yugioh (GX, 5ds, ZeXal) have enough fiction written about them. And as such, have enough duels written as well. Vanguard deserves some attention.

Why? Vanguard is a fun game. If any of you guys play Yugioh, you'll notice that the game is going down in the fun factor. Especially the recent formats, which have been completely stupid and unfair to many people. Vanguard is a game that anyone can play without having to learn extensive rulings or factor stupid misplays. I hope Vannguard never gets to the point where you spend half the duel arguing over rules or waiting for your opponent to end their loop,

I have been playing a ton of Vanguard in the past few months.

Why Yuma? Because Yugi won't cut it. Because I hate Jaden. Because synchro monsters ruined the game. And because Yusei is a D-wheeler and I can't fit that into Vanguard. Yuma is a good protaganist. I don't get why people hate on him so much. Yugi was just as much of a scrub as Yuma was. And they both have spirits on necklaces that they wear. And they both make friends out of dueling. So why does Yuma get more hate? Is it because his show is better animated? Or because people just need to bitch that 5ds ended? Idk. I don't like Jaden. This probably has to do with growing up with the English dub, but I just can't stand him. The only good thing about Jaden is the Yaoi fanfic he inspires that revolve around him. I love Yusei, but he won't fit into Vanguard. Too pro for what we're doing. Plus Riding Duels / Cardfights don't mix. But if someone does manage to create an awesome momentum-avatar adventure of fun, I will be impressed.

Yuma's vanguard deck will be Syllables. And he will use the numbers.

Yuma comes in just after he saves the world. He's lost to Kaito already, though. Maybe that happened in the same day. Don't remember. Whatevs.

Update schedule? Don't have one. Just gotta wait for it, I guess. I'll write whenever I'm not procrastinating on my homework. Speaking of my homework, I have a huge term paper along with 2 other essays and a project due in a couple of weeks. ...Fun...

Duel disks? I am currently thinking on it. I had Yuma show the D-gazer, but his duel pad won't be shown until later. I might give Aichi and the others D-pads as well, but I need to find some way to fit that in. This might be a little spoiler, but there is a scene later on where Aichi will be be cardfighting for his soul. It'd be much more exciting if they were playing somewhere odd, instead of in the middle of the stadium.

That's all for now. Sorry for OOC-ness. I'm bad at writing. Even so, a little R&R goes a long way. So make sure to review. And give ideas / constructive criticism. See ya.