Chapter 1: Waking up in the Chuuni-est place out there

I groaned as I sat up, my entire body sore, and brought a hand up to cradle my brow. When I heard a distinct clack of metal against glass, I opened my eyes and frowned at the dark tint to my vision. I could see that my hand had met my forehead, but there was some sort of visor over my eyes, the sound coming from the gauntlet covering my arm hitting the visor.

What the Hell.

Looking down at myself, I was apparently in some sort of body tight armour or suit, all of it in white, black, and red. Some of my hair fell into my vision when I looked down and it looked to be a sort of bluish colour, if I was compensating for the tint correctly.

Seriously, what the Hell?

Pushing myself to my feet and wincing at the pain from my aching body, I glance around to try and figure out where I am. There are skyscrapers all around me that I don't recognize, all of them damaged by what looked to be city honestly looks like a cross between what I've seen of Vegas and all those other cities that seem to always be lit up in neon and flashing lights. But it was all wrecked, signs had fallen from their holders and shattered all over the ground, windows were blown in and out, cars and other such vehicles were overturned and wrecked in the streets.

I could even hear what sounded like an ongoing battle in the distance.

How… how do I deal with this?

I wake up in some weird bodysuit, wearing some weird visor, and my hair is apparently fucking blue. What the fuck is going on here?!

Taking a breath, I try to calm myself down, get my bearings.

It's not really working.

"Query: What are you doing, Barrier Star-vader, Promethium Unit? Assertion: You should be assisting Star-vader, Infinite Zero Dragon in his assault against the Shadow Paladins holding the next grid."

The voice came from my left, causing me to jerk my head around and look at the source. The voice was feminine but flat, and belonged to what looked like a woman, wearing a similar bodysuit to the one on me and with a red-rimmed black ring floating behind her head. Her eyes are coloured in a startling manner, of red iris and black sclera, which narrow as she continues, "Query: Why do you not reply to the query asked of you by this Star-vader, Colony Maker Unit?"

What. Star-vaders? Promethium? Colony Maker? Infinite Zero Dragon? Am I on fucking Cray? Am I somehow in the Cray continuity of Cardfight! Vanguard?

"Sorry, sorry, but can you tell me where I am?" I ask, trying to figure out if that was what was actually happening. It was improbable, if not impossible.

She quirks her head, giving me a flat but still quizzical stare as she replies, "Answering: You are in Star Gate, where the Link Joker are attempting to get a foothold on the Planet Cray. Query: Is there an issue with your memory, Barrier Star-Vader, Promethium Unit?"

"Something like that… listen just… just head over to the battle without me, I'm sure they need you." I answer, bringing a hand up to massage my chin, breathing a bit heavily.

She shook her head, somehow managing to sound stern as she shot back, "Assertion: Incorrect, as a Barrier Star-vader, Promethium, you are more tactically important than I am, I shall accompany you to a commanding officer or someone capable of fixing you."

"Listen…" I'm about to answer when there's a crashing sound and-

Oh my god, that has to be Raging Form Dragon. He's about two and half stories tall, black scaled with a jagged crystalline spear in his right hand and his left is glowing with an awesome power. Buildings buckled and collapsed as he swept his spear about, his palm glowing with an awesome power as he swept it across a squad of white and red clad cyborgs which turned them into a rather chunky red rain. The dragon roared, both triumphantly and in challenge, and it echoed across the city, "Come now Revengers! Push these Star-vaders from our beloved Cray! Give them no quarter! Show them no mercy, as they shall show none to us or our world!"

Oh my god, that's Raging Form Dragon, and I'm likely a Star-vader. That's Raging Form Dragon, I'm likely a Star-vader, and the Star-vader Invasion's just begun.

Fuck me, I've got to run.

Grabbing the arm of the Colony Maker who had been so kind as to help me, I ran in the opposite direction of the battle, watching out of the corner of my eye in case they spilled over in our direction. I caught sight of another dragon, covered in various cybernetic enhancements, and if that isn't Infinite Zero Dragon then lightning strike me down.

Running even faster, I have to swallow the whoop rising in my throat, born not just from the adrenaline, but from a single fact.

These beings, these aliens, dragons, elves, robots, all of them are real! It's insane, but it's so amazing!

I really am on Cray, aren't I?

Pulling the Colony Maker away from the battle, I figure it'd be best to run and find shelter somewhere out of the way.

I could hear the deep bellowing roar of Raging Form clashing with the high screeching roar of Infinite Zero, the sounds of combat crescendoing, making me turn for a moment to catch sight of Raging Form grabbing the Cyber Dragon with his glowing hand and unleashing a goddamn energy blast from it. The Star-vader was launched back and away, crushing a number of its own troops. It crushed more as it pushed itself back to its feet, screeching wordlessly at Raging Form as it stood to its full height and launched itself at the other dragon, scratching and biting the whole way. Raging Form staggered and roared, but did not falter, and brought it's jagged spear down on Infinite Zero's back.

I wanted to stay and watch, I really wanted to stay and watch, but that'd be like staying to watch Godzilla fight King Ghidorah from a block away, not a smart move and I should be running.

Getting back to the sprinting, and pulling at the arm of the Colony Maker, I run as fast a I can through the streets, intent on finding somewhere away from the battle.

I can't tell how far I've run or how long I've been running, but I'm fairly sure that I've covered a decent amount of ground. My body isn't sweating and I'm not feeling any physical tiredness from it, despite the fact that I'm fairly sure that I sprinted farther and faster than my record, while dragging someone behind me. I wasn't breathing hard even though I knew I should be panting and gasping for air, my arms and legs didn't ache, and dear god was it weird!

Looking to the Colony Maker, I was about to ask to see if she was okay when she spoke up, "Query: Why did you not lend your aid to Star-vader, Infinite Zero Dragon? Assertion: As a Barrier Star-vader, Promethium, you would have been able to provide invaluable support that might have allowed Star-vader, Infinite Zero Dragon to defeat the enemy identified as Revenger, Raging Form Dragon."

"Well… I panicked, I mean, did you see what was happening there? It was insane!" I want to shake her to get my point across, doesn't she understand how crazy that battle was?

She quirked an eyebrow as she studied me, before replying, "Realization: You are feeling emotions such as fear, that is the source of your confusion and reluctance. Assertion: Once you have been reprocessed, you shall not feel such things that might interfere with your purpose. Reassurance: All will be well."

My mouth shut with a click as my teeth clattered together.

That's right, the Star-vaders never really showed much individuality, emotion, or personality, outside of a few of the units that are known to be high ranked and valued over their peers. Why would I, apparently a Perfect Guard at the moment, show any sort of personality or emotion seeing as I wasn't that important to the Link Joker as a whole.

I was about to speak when another crash interrupted me.

Looking about the cause was quite obvious.

A giant robot coloured in metals of blue, red, gold, and white had been slammed into a building, where they were struggling to keep the sword in their manipulator steady. A sudden roaring sound, and another giant mech had swooped in and grabbed it by the throat, this new mech a tall white, orange, red, and black tiger like construct.

These two, they can't be anyone other than the Ultimate Dimensional Robo, Great Daiyusha for the one that's primarily blue, and the other is the Deadliest Beast Deity, Ethics Buster Яeverse.

Shit, I ran from one battle right into another.

I was about to try and run away again, only for the sound of laughter to stop me short. It was clicking and high, and I turned to look at the source and saw despair.

Descending from the sky behind Ethics Buster was a cybernetic dragon coloured in white, black, red, and gold, a large crimson black bladed scythe held across its body, and a sickeningly wide grin painted across its maw. It touched down in such a way that the road didn't crack beneath its feet and stepped towards the mech crashed halfway through the building and spoke in a high, grating voice, "Now then, have you considered surrendering? I can promise that we of the Star-vaders shall spare the inhabitants of Star Gate."

"Y-you lie." Daiyusha coughed as he struggled against Ethics Buster's grip.

The cybernetic dragon shook its head, as it replied, "Nonsense, nonsense. I would be more than happy to swear it to you, I nor my Star-vaders will hurt those who live in Star Gate."

I could see the hope lighting up in Daiyusha's eyes. I want to shout at him not to accept, it's a trick of some sort, but I keep quiet. As much as I want to help, I don't want to die.

The Dimensional robot nodded, "Then so long as you swear not to hurt any of the ones living in Star Gate…"

"Good, good, I so swear that I shall not harm the inhabitants of Star Gate…" The dragon announced as it took a step towards the mech and placed a claw on the mech's chin, moving his head to get a better look at it. The dragon then burst out laughing as it continued its speech, "That's what you'll be for, after all!"

As Daiyusha began to buck and panic, shouting about the dragon's lies, crimson and black lines raced up the dragon's arm and stream into Daiyusha. As the mech went rigid and then collapsed, his body having been died black, gold, and red, meaning that he was now the Dark Dimensional Robo, Яeverse Daiyusha.

As the dragon stepped away from Daiyusha and forced Ethics Buster to do the same, the newly corrupted mech stood to his full height. The dragon spoke to it, "I'm glad that you're ready to serve us Daiyusha, your job will be the subjugation and pacification of Star Gate, as you wanted. We of the Star-vader's shan't touch them as they are your jurisdiction. Hunt them all down and bring them together, unite Star Gate underneath your rule, and by extension, the rule of Link Joker."

The Dark Dimensional Robo simply nodded, and the dragon simply shot off into the sky with Ethics Buster trailing behind it.

The corrupted Daiyusha strode away, his every step leaving a deep imprint in the road as he went.

I stared after the dragon, and muttered, "Chaos Breaker Dragon, the Clown of the Star-vaders, he gave hope and then snatched it away."

My favourite card in all of Vanguard, he even managed to pull that trick of his off on me just now.

AN: Welcome to the SI that I'm working on at the moment, which is into the Cray Continuity of Cardfight! Vanguard's lore. I suppose you could say that I've been a bit inspired by the various good SIs I've seen on SpaceBattles recently (you should know who they are), and decided to throw my hat into the ring. If you're confused, don't worry, I'll be going a bit into the state of Cray with the next chapter.