An hour had elapsed since the war had begun. There had been five deaths so far: Mitsuba, Kouji, and Kiba from E Class; Imaishi and Koizumi from D Class.

It was around 4pm when the Yukina platoon had been ambushed by D Class while they were exploring the middle floor. Yukina, Nora, and Katsumi were surrounded on all sides by four D Class students: Mikitaka, Satou, John, and Albert.

So this was D Class's strategy, huh? I had an inkling that they were going for an ambush strategy, based on how Imaishi launched a surprise attack on Akari. Him being their secret weapon would make sense too, since he would be the best at this sort of attack. Good thing we killed him off early then.

This method of attack would be effective against dealing with groups, which is a strategy we done before in our last war, when we split up into two groups of attackers and defenders. Their strategy would be even more effective if we were travelling solo, since that single person would have to fight against the multiple people who ambushed them.

It's also probably the reason why Mikitaka made that grand "welcome" when they arrived at Higashi Mall. He wanted to lure someone upstairs to ambush them. Obvious trap was obvious, but the bait he hung was perfect for this platoon. That's why I wasn't worried about D Class cornering them. As long as they could win, they could escape. That was their only option.

"Y'all have some balls to come huntin' for us, ya ha ha ha!"

Mikitaka laughed feverishly, looking down at Yukina with a malicious grin.

"Mans don't think you have the facilities for dat, big man."

John tossed a plastic knife up into the air and caught it with its blade pointed at Nora.

"I just wanna go home..."

Satou mumbled, taking off his headphones reluctantly. Meanwhile, Albert simply nodded menacingly at Katsumi.

"Yuu, what do we do?!"

Yukina, with a voice of panic, opened a communication line to me. I only had a few seconds to figure out who they matched up the best against. I decided to hedge my bets and quickly connected Nora and Katsumi to the line so they could listen in to my plan.

"There's only one thing you can do. Fight. Nora-san, you go after Mikitaka-san, Yukina, you go after Satou-san, Katsumi-san, you go after John-san or Albert-san, either is fine. I'll call for back up, but your objective is to win and kill them. Got that?"

"Yes sir!"

Yukina gave me verbal confirmation as she, Nora, and Katsumi split up from their bunched up position and sprang out towards their respective enemies. While they did that, I looked for reinforcements elsewhere.

On the bottom floor, Akari and Kawaguchi were engaged in cardfights. Tadokoro was free, but I didn't have much confidence in her, so I decided to let her stay away from danger and kept her close to Akari and Kawaguchi.

On the top floor, Rinbayashi and Tanaka were also engaged in cardfights, but Taiga was not. She was still roaming around, trying to find enemies to kill. Her skill level was sufficient and she was already close to an elevator, so I opened a communication line to her.

"Taiga-san, slight change of plans."

"What happened?"

"Yukina's platoon got ambushed."

"Typical."

"Four D Class students got them, but there's only three of them there. Could you go to the middle floor and join them?"

"Sure thing! I've been itching for another fight anyways, ku ku."

The reason Taiga was free while Rinbayashi and Tanaka weren't was because they had also been ambushed earlier. However, it was a three on three, so I let them handle things. Taiga was the first to finish fighting, so I advised her to search the surrounding area for more people potentially hiding on the top floor. Since she came up empty handed, the timing was perfect for her to fight elsewhere.

"They're situated near Rikou Clothing right now."

I checked the camera footage of the middle floor and saw that Katsumi had been locked into fighting John. Seeing as he looked less threatening than Albert, it's understandable why she chose to fight him.

"You'll probably be fighting Albert-san. He's the only one not fighting right now."

Albert was simply hanging behind John with his arms crossed like a bouncer.

"Albert-san? Wait, do you mean Obama-kun?!"

"Yes? I don't think there's another Albert-san in our school... unless I'm mistaken."

For some reason, I was compelled to search the name "Albert" on the school app suddenly.

"Good thing we're cardfighting then..."

Taiga laughed with a little bit of fear in her voice.

"Well, you'll be fine. From the report Akari-san received, Albert-san uses Daman, which should be a walk in the park for Spectral Duke."

"Eh, true. Gold Paladin was broke so Percival went woke."

I ended the line with Taiga to let her concentrate on rushing over to the middle floor. I then turned my focus back on the three fights happening simultaneously on the middle floor. In particular, I focused on Katsumi vs John, because I was admittedly worried about her.

This was her first fight in this war, and with her low self-esteem stemming from her perception of being the "weakest" in the Takanori group, she could easily implode on herself by making a silly misplay out of fear and nervousness. However, even if she saw herself as one of the weakest, I didn't. I believed that Katsumi was just a good of a player as the rest of us.

And with that belief, I had confidence she'd win against John.

"Stand up, (da!) Vanguard!"

"Dimensional Robo, Goyusha!"

"Mecha Trainer!"

"First Turn: Katsumi Kou."

"Yosha! I get to go first!"

Katsumi cheered, knowing this would give her a huge advantage over John.

"Stand and draw! I ride Ambush Dexter from my Ride Deck! Trainer's skill, draw one, then Dexter's skill, discard one to draw one again! Turn end!"

Katsumi:
Hand: 6
Damage: 0
OXO
OOO

John:
Hand: 5
Damage: 0
OXO
OOO

"Mans stands and draws! Mans rides Dimensional Robo, Daiscooper from mans Ride Deck innit! Den mans draws and gets a Quick Shield ting from da starter! Daiscooper shanks you mans bruv! (8000)"

"No guard!"

"Drive check bruv! (Dimensional Robo, Gofire) Aye, dis deck niced me, brrrap!"

"Damage check! (Breach Spurt)"

"End uv mans turn innit."

Katsumi:
Hand: 6
Damage: 1
OXO
OOO

John:
Hand: 8
Damage: 0
OXO
OOO

"Stand and draw! I ride Adorbs Perm, Rona from my Ride Deck! Rona's skill, I counterblast and call a grade 3 from my deck to rear-guard! I call Juggernaut Maximum! Juggy's skill, when he's called, he gets +10k! (13000 > 23000) I call Commander, Garry Gannon and Highspeed, Brakki, who has has the same skill as Juggy! (10000 > 20000)"

If Garry Gannon was the team manager, then Juggernaut was the lineman who'd open up a path for Brakki, the running back, or Rona, the wide receiver. All Katsumi missing was a quarterback who'd critically pass the ball around to where it was needed.

"Boosted by Garry Gannon, Rona attacks! (10000 > 18000)"

"Mans not guard."

"Drive check! (Wonder Boy)"

"Damage check bruv! (Dimensional Robo, Gobiker) Wasteman, not mans moped!"

"Garry Gannon's skill, since the attack hit, I put him into soul to draw two! Then I put a card from my hand to the bottom of my deck. Brakki attacks! (20000)"

"Mans guard wid Dairacer! (23000)"

"Juggy attacks! (23000)"

"Mans not guard. (Dimensional Robo, Daidumper)"

"Turn end!"

Katsumi:
Hand: 6
Damage: 1
XXX
OOO

John:
Hand: 7
Damage: 2
OXO
OOO

"Mans stands and draws! Mans rides Devourer of Planets, Zeal from mans Ride Deck innit! When mans like Daiscooper gets rode on, no homo bruv, mans can take a cheeky look at da top seven cards from mans deck and cop a grade 3 from dem. Mans gon get Daiarm, ya done kno! Zeal shanks you mans bruv! (10000)"

John's early game was really lacking compared to Katsumi's. He didn't even call anything down this turn.

"No guard!"

"Drive check bruv! (Dimensional Robo, Gofire) Noice."

"Damage check! (Ambush Dexter)"

"End uv mans turn innit."

Katsumi:
Hand: 6
Damage: 2
XXX
OOO

John:
Hand: 9
Damage: 2
OXO
OOO

"Stand and draw! The megaton whirlwind that crushes through the defence line has arrived! Blow a hole straight through the impossible, my avatar! I ride Deadheat Bullspike from my Ride Deck!"

Katsumi's quarterback, the cornerstone of her deck, had arrived to complete her team.

"Imaginary Gift: Force I! I put it on Brakki's circle! (10000 > 20000) At the beginning of my main phase, both Juggy and Brakki go into soul to call a copy of themselves from deck! Their skills activate too! (13000 > 23000) (10000 > 20000 > 30000) I call Dexter, Rona, who gets boost since she's in the same column as a grade 3 unit, and Wonder Boy, who gets 5k if I put a non-grade 1 card from my drop zone to the bottom of my deck! (8000 > 13000) It's time to play ball! Boosted by Wonder Boy, Brakki attacks! (30000 > 43000)"

"Mans not guard. (Super Dimensional Robo, Dairoller)"

"Boosted by Dexter, Bullspike attacks! (13000 > 21000) Bullspike's skill, when a unit attacks, I soulblast to move all my Force markers to that unit! (21000 > 31000) Nothing is impenetrable, Kinetic Storm!"

Following a touchdown by Juggernaut, Katsumi's team had a chance to get a try-for point either by kicking the ball through the post or another touchdown. Despite a try-for touchdown earning them two points, rather than the try-for kick's one, it was the more difficult play to do, so Katsumi opted for the kick. However, without a dedicated kicker, such as Offensive Punter, present on the field, Bullspike had no choice but to do it himself.

"The Diamond Ace ting go skrrrrrrrrah!"

In other words, John perfect guarded the attack.

"S-skrah?"

"You mans dunno da skrah? Raaaaah fam, dat's bare peak fam, pap pap."

"Um... what does that mean?"

"When a ting goes skrrrrrah da ting does a ting and blocks you mans like poom poom! Is not hard to get blud, stop acting like such a wasteman innit!"

"S-sorry!"

Katsumi, frightened by John's nearly unintelligible slang, continued her turn. However, that little conversation between them got me wondering something.

"Chabashira-sensei, I have a question."

"What is it?"

"I know that Commanders aren't allowed to intervene or interfere in cardfights, but Katsumi-san seemed to struggle trying to understand John-san when he was speaking. Since I understand what John-san is saying, since he's using slang from England, could it be possible for me to open a communication line to Katsumi-san while they're fighting and translate for her?"

"While that's a nice idea, unfortunately, it's not allowed. Not only does doing that risk the Commander backseat playing for the fighter and/or sullying the game as a third party had been allowed to add outsider input, but it's also interfering with the evaluation of the student during war time. I'll let you in on an obvious secret. One of the aspects measured in the war is your ability to communicate, but I'm sure you already guessed that."

That I did.

"This is both in speaking and listening. For example, it is Katsumi-san's responsibility to listen to John-san carefully and try to interpret what he says, no matter how broken it may be. Likewise, it is also John-san's responsibility to speak in clear and proper Japanese so others can understand what he is saying. Even if it seems insignificant, it's still an important factor we need to consider when evaluating them in their entirety."

"So what you're saying is they've gotta rely on themselves, huh?"

"Exactly. There will be times where teamwork is necessary and there will be times where individuality is necessary. This is one of them."

"What if I offered to pay to do it with private points?"

"Well, that would be a separate case altogether. Are you willing to pay a hefty sum just to translate for Katsumi-san?"

"How much is it?"

"It would depend on how you specify your requested purchase."

"Alright... then, what's the cost of opening a communication line to Katsumi-san during her fight in this war specifically just to translate what John-san is saying to her?"

Chabashira-sensei thought about it for awhile.

"600,000 private points."

"That's a lot..."

"It's a bargain, if you ask me."

"I wonder... what's the cost of opening a communication line to Katsumi-san in this fight so I can tell her anything?"

Without missing a beat, Chabashira-sensei responded immediately.

"3,000,000 private points."

I was starting to wish I had Kaido's money now. His one billion points made that cost look like chump change.

"...I see what you meant by saying that was a bargain earlier."

"Like I said, prepare to pay a hefty price for unreasonable requests."

"Pricing at this school really is whack."

"You're whack for even having these strange ideas, Takanori-san."

"I'm just thinking outside the box, sensei."

I returned my attention back to Katsumi's fight.

"Twin Drive!! (Breach Spurt, Adorbs Perm, Rona)"

Smashing the ball with all his might, Bullspike sent it flying through the air. However, with all power and no precision, the accuracy of the kick was nonexistent. It flew through the air in an arch, swerving to the left mid flight, before landing smack on the left pole of the post, rather than go between it. The kick was incomplete and no try-for point was scored.

"Bullspike's skill! When the attack of a unit on a circle with a Force marker doesn't hit, I draw a card and retire one of your rear-guards! But you don't have any, so I'll just activate my Skill instead!"

Katsumi's visor began glowing dark magenta.

"Wide Kick! When the attack of a unit on a circle with a Force marker doesn't hit, I draw a card!"

Her skill was a clone of Bullspike's secondary skill, minus the retire portion. This let her draw an extra card off a missed attack.

"Boosted by Rona, Juggy attacks! (23000 > 33000) Bullspike's skill, I soulblast to move all my Force markers to him! (33000 > 43000)"

"Mans not guard. (Dimensional Robo, Daigyro) Heh, mans has "gyro" in his name. Mans shoulda been Daikebab, ya done kno!"

Of course the British man associates "gyro" with the Greek food derived from doner kebabs rather than the scientific term...

"Turn end!"

Katsumi:
Hand: 7
Damage: 2
XXX
XXX

John:
Hand: 7
Damage: 4
OXO
OOO

OST: Here Comes the Pain Train (ft. Yung White House)

"Before mans can start his turn. Yung White House, you mans hit it, brrrrtsch!"

Albert, who had been silently watching their fight from the sidelines, stepped forward. John smirked confidentially as Albert put his hands to his mouth and started to beatbox the beat of Here Comes the Pain Train.

"All aboard da Final Turn!"

Katsumi staggered back in shock by John's unbelievable declaration. Even I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Was John seriously trying to end the game on his turn 3? There was no way he could, right?

"Mans stands and draws! When you feel da ground shaking, better step to da left! Here comes da pain train! Mans rides Super Dimensional Robo, Dailiner from mans Ride Deck innit!"

"Here comes the pain train! Here comes the pain train! Here comes the pain train!"

Albert then suddenly started singing the song in the background while simultaneously beatboxing the beat. I could feel the bass shake my eardrums as I listened through my visor. He was a one man music machine, and I had to say, it was really impressive.

I can only imagine how intimidating it was to Katsumi, who didn't even understand the language he was singing in. She probably thought he was cursing her in American or something.

"Imaginary Gift: Force II innit! Dailiner gets bare Ps fam! (13000/1 > 2) When mans like Zeal gets rode on, no homo bruv, you mans vanguard loses 5k bruv!"

"W-what?! (13000 > 8000)"

"Dat's right, you mans got shanked! Ha! Dailiner does his ting, counterblast and soulblast to take a cheeky look at da top seven cards from mans deck and cop a normal unit from dem. Mans gon get Daiarm, ya done kno! Since Daiarm's a grade 3 and all dat, Dailiner gets +20k and a crit bruv! (13000 > 33000/2 > 3) You mans wanna know what dey call da bossman in D Class? Dey call me The Conductor, ya done kno! Let mans show you why blud! Mans Skill goes skrrrrrrrah!"

John's visor began glowing the golden colour of fried chicken.

"Phantom Hand innit! You mans hand is counted as having ten or more cards in hand regardless uv you mans actual hand size, yea? Got dat blud? Good, cos mans gon call two Gofire to mans front row and three Daiarm to mans back row, ya done kno!"

My jaw dropped.

"Daiarm's skill innit, if mans opponent has ten or more cards in deir hands, three uv da front row mandem get +30k blud! Dats all uv dem! Do da math ting on da calc, beep beep boop boop! Now just repeat dis skill like three times, cos I called three uv dem! (9000 > 39000 > 69000 > 99000) (33000 > 63000 > 93000 > 123000/3) (9000 > 39000 > 69000 > 99000) Get shanked bruv!"

This was the reason for John's skill. He needed his opponent to have ten cards in hand to activate this insane effect. This wasn't just the pain train anymore. This was the death train. Destination? Katsumi.

"Then mans calls like two Daijacker over two Daiarm! Aight, calm. Boosted by Daijacker, Gofire shanks you mans! (99000 > 107000) Gofire's skill innit, if you mans hand is ten or more, mans gets +20k and a crit bruv! (107000 > 127000/2)"

Just when I thought this couldn't get more absurd...

At this point, Katsumi was on the verge of tears seeing these three huge attacks come hurling her way. The only way to stop John's monstrous death train is if she had two perfect guards, as she could afford to eat only one attack. However, judging by the way she looked at her measly seven card hand with swirls in her eyes, it was safe to say she had none. I could tell because it looked like she was trying to do mental maths, one of her greatest weaknesses.

"N-no guard...? (Highspeed, Brakki, Liar Lips) O-oh, a critical... um, a-all to vanguard... h-ha ha? (8000 > 18000)"

"Wasteman, getting damage triggers at a time like dis! Whatever blud, Daijacker's skill innit, end of battle he boosted, mans dies and gives a crit to da mandem! (123000/3 > 4) Boosted by Daijacker, Gofire shanks you mans! (99000 > 107000) You mans know what happens, don't make mans waste his breath, antiiii. (107000 > 127000/2)"

"N-no guard..."

Well, this was expected. If she couldn't stop the first attack, she couldn't stop another that was the exact same. Katsumi put up a great fight regardless. No one could've seen John's rampage coming. I'll have to warn Taiga about this.

"S-sorry, everyone... that I couldn't guard this... d-damage checks... (Juggernaut Maximum, Cheer Girl, Tiara) H-h-h-h-h-hEAL TRIGGER—"

John blinked.

"I-I-I-I heal a damage! P-p-p-power to vanguard! (18000 > 28000) O-o-oh my god! I-I can live!"

"You fockin' pussy'ole! Bruv, dis is actually bare stress, just die already fam, swear down! Daijacker's skill innit, mans dies and gives a crit to da mandem! (123000/4 > 5)"

By some miracle, she had gotten to live through two of his attacks. Now this was do or die for Katsumi. If she could stop John's final attack here, she'd win the game since he declared Final Turn. However, the difference between 123000 and 28000 was 100000 shield. Katsumi needed to scrape together at least that much to make it a one to pass.

"Dailiner shanks you mans! (123000/5) L0 Series Maglev: 374mph!!!!!"

"G-guard with Liar Lips, Tiara, Mevis, Spurt, Rona! A-and Brakki intercepts! (28000 > 58000 > 78000 > 93000 > 98000 > 103000 > 108000)"

In a last ditch effort attempt to survive, Katsumi threw down every card in her hand, except her shieldless copy of Bullspike, onto the guardian circle, as well as used her only intercept. Despite impressively breaking the 100k mark with what she had left, she was unfortunately 20k short from even making it a one to pass.

"T-that's... not enough..."

"Here comes the pain train!" Albert menacingly sang.

"Twin Drive bruv!! (Dimensional Robo, Daibattles, Dimensional Robo, Dairacer) Double crit, God save da Queen, all to Dailiner bruv innit! (123000 > 143000/5 > 7) Get cheffed by mans Seven Star Shank blud!"

Dailiner transformed into a train and ran over Bullspike while speeding down the railway at 374mph.

"I-I didn't even get to play... d-damage checks... (Deadheat Bullspike, Ambush Dexter, Adorbs Perm, Rona, Juggernaut Maximum, Offensive Punter, Commander, Garry Gannon, Deadheat Bullspike)"

Even though she only had to take one damage, Katsumi decided to be a good sport and do all seven damage checks, losing the game at an astonishing twelve damage. John had dealt six more damage than he needed to.

Because of his goofy appearance, we had underestimated him. If John wasn't a roadman, he would've been seen as a real threat during war time by everyone else in the school from this feature fight alone. However, it was hard for others to respect his strength when his appearance and speech was so polarising to so many Japanese people.

Putting aside the cultural barrier that prevented him from being recognised by others as a threat, I had to admit that John was the real deal, all thanks to his Fighter's Skill, Phantom Hand. There was no doubt in my mind that he was D Class's hidden ace.

Katsumi, who was on her knees and shaking from that loss, looked up to see Albert look down at her and take off his sunglasses.

"You've been hit by the pain train, baby."

In his hard hitting American accent, Albert finished off the song by saying the final line to Katsumi's face in English.

"Katsumi Kou is Dead."

The pop-up appeared on my visor, confirming her violent and excessive death.

This felt unfair. This didn't feel right. It felt like an injustice had been done. Katsumi had worked harder than anyone else to catch up with us. She pushed her mind to its absolute limits trying to understand this foreign concept of "card games" for our class. In less than a week, through a hellish death march of training, she had become someone I could, hand on heart, say was a good cardfighter. Her infectious energy and kindness kept everyone's spirits alive. She's part of the reason I even got so far as a leader...

All her encouragement... all that effort and work she put in... not just for herself, but for us too... everything she poured out and told me... no matter how embarrassing or difficult it was... the countless questions she asked to get better... the endless sports concepts I learnt to try and make it easier for her... everything I did to tutor her... everything she did to love Vanguard like it was a sport... all of that was taken away unfairly from her... all of it... by John.

It pissed me off.

It made me want to storm out of this preparation room and personally avenge her. Then, I realised how hard I was squeezing my fist in anger for somebody else. I relaxed my hand and wondered, when did I start caring about others so much?

Then, I realised something else. In this school, Katsumi was my first proper friend by my own volition. We were two people that shouldn't have become friends by any stretch of the imagination, but somehow did anyways. That's what real friendship meant to me.

To me, Katsumi was just as important as Yukina or Suzune. That's why I couldn't forgive what happened to her.

However... this wasn't the time to have those sorts of thoughts. And it wasn't the time to act irrationally based on my own fleeting emotions. I had to get my head back into the game and figure out a way to get rid of John, or else he'd bulldoze through our entire class.

I took a deep breath to compose myself, then opened up a communication line to Taiga.

"Taiga-san. Avoid John-san at all costs."

I left her with that firm and serious warning, praying she'd take it with heed.