A Dragon's Tale
Volume One: Angels in America?!
Disclaimer: Angelic Layer is the property of the wonderful women of CLAMP. Everything not from the series belongs to me.
Author's Notes: This is my first fanfic, so bear with me if it's bad. Constructive criticism would be wonderful in helping me to become a better writer. Read and review, please. I want to see what direction you all would like me to take with this story. The other stuff will be at the bottom. Hope to see you there!
Serge sat at the dinner table, his mouth half open, caught just about to take a bite of his dinner, when he had seen what came on the news.
The newscaster shifted slightly in her seat before continuing, "...and now, the creator and operator of Angelic Layer, Ichiro Mihara!"
"Thank you," he said, "as a result of this year's national finals, in which an American, Aaron Lee, nearly took the Japanese title, as well as the increasing number of import orders from America for Angels and their accessories, Angelic Layer, in cooperation with Piffle Princess, has begun the stages of making Angelic Layer a worldwide competition. Starting in 2 months, Piffle Princess stores will open in countries across Europe, Asia, and the Americas."
I can't believe it! My wish came true! Serge thought, Angelic Layer is coming to America!
Mihara continued, "...as a result of the increased competition and variety of Angels that this decision will inevitably result in, we have decided to introduce a new aspect of Angelic Layer: the Element system. All Dei will be required to activate an elemental affinity for their Angels before they will be allowed to participate in any official Angelic Layer tournaments. The elements we will allow players to choose can be used to further an Angel's primary focus, or compensate for a deficiency."
Serge smiled, "I wonder if you can use multiple elements... that would make a really cool Angel..."
"The elements that players will be allowed to choose are as follows: Earth, Wind, Fire, Water, Ice, Light, Dark, Energy, and Time. Each of these elements will lend a specific power to the Angel that selects them."
A graphic appeared on screen, with a table showing the abilities of every element: Minuses indicate penalties, and pluses indicate bonuses. The degree of the bonus or penalty is represented by the letter grade, which is the level of the bonus or penalty:
Earth: Attack: D Defense: S Speed: B- Additional: 15% Damage Capacity
Wind: Attack: C Defense: D- Speed: A
Fire: Attack: A Defense: C- Speed: C- Additonal: 10% Damage Capacity
Water: Attack: D Defense: B Speed: C Additional: -15% Damage Capacity
Ice: Attack: C Defense: B Speed: D Additional: -15% Damage Capacity
Light: Attack: C Defense: B Speed: C Additional: -20% Damage Capacity
Dark: Attack: S Defense: A- Speed: D Additional: -10% Damage Capacity
Energy: Attack: D Defense: B- Speed: S Additonal: -10% Damage Capacity
Time: Attack: No bonus Defense: No Bonus Speed: No Bonus
"...as you can see, there are multiple well rounded boosts and penalties, and for each category, there is one affinity that results in an S Class boost for one attribute, which is the highest enhancement available. In recognition of the Dei that may choose to not alter their Angel's abilities, the Time affinity is available. "A new stat will be added to the Angel data computer, Special, which can be devoted to multitasking Elemental enhancements, or enhancing the Elements' effects.
"In addition, Elements will have weaknesses to other elements, resulting in increased damage caused by an element strong to the angel being attacked. The order goes as follows: Wind is strong vs. Earth. Earth is strong vs. Water. Water is strong vs. Fire. Fire is strong vs. Ice. Ice is strong vs. Wind. Energy is strong to Water and Ice, but is weak to both Earth and Wind. Light and Dark are strong against each other, and Time has no elemental affinity that is strong or weak to it. It is up to the players to figure out how to activate the element or elements that their angel is aligned with. We feel that this new addition will open up a new world of fighting strategies for our Dei, and look forward to the new World Championship tournament in Japan that will pit the national champions of every country against one another."
"Ok... question answered," Serge said. The news had switched to a different story now, so he lost interest and set about preparing to buy his own angel. He was 15 years old, so he was perfectly capable of paying for the Angel himself, and he had actually been saving to import one from Japan. Now that they were being released in America, however, he had saved more than enough to buy everything he would need.
"What was that news story that you were watching so intently, Serge?" his mother asked.
"Angelic Layer is coming to America, and they're implementing a new element system to increase the variety of Angels!" Serge exclaimed, barely able to control his excitement.
"So you mean that you don't have to spend all of your money importing one from Japan any more? That's wonderful, Serge!" His mom wasn't sure whether it was normal for her son to want to play Angelic Layer, but she had decided long ago to give him a fairly large amount of leeway in what he wanted to do, so she was going to do her best to be supportive.
Serge began sprinting up the stairs. "Where are you going off to? I doubt that you can order an Angel right away," his mom asked.
"I know that, but because I'm not too good with my hands, I want plenty of time to make my Angel's armor so that it looks really cool. So I'm going to import some material so I can get a head start. Anyways, I have too much money saved now, so I can afford to do this!" he replied.
His mother just smiled and moved on to finish cleaning up after their dinner.
20 Minutes Later
Serge hit the enter button with a resounding finality, as he had just finished ordering the material he would use to make the armor for his angel, after double- and triple-checking the design he had made so long ago for what his Angel would look like. "I'll have everything ready for you... so just wait. You'll be the perfect Angel, Karsh. I know just what to do."
Meanwhile, in Japan, in a somewhat familiar control room...
"Are you sure about this, Chief? A lot of Angels will be rendered obsolete just because of a mismatched element affinity..." Ogata questioned.
"Nonsense! Admittedly, if a Deus doesn't know what they are doing when they make their Angel, they can corner themselves, but I made the Special stat so that people could choose 2 elements and switch between them in case they encountered an Angel that is strong to their type," Ichiro replied. "And anyways," Ichiro paused to allow a flash of light catch his glasses, "This new system will allow players to push their Angels to new heights. I can't wait to see how they manage to exceed my imagination."
Ogata looked as if he were going to press the issue further, but thought better of it, and just lowered his head, "If you say so..."
End of Volume One
Author's Notes Part II: Sorry if the Element descriptions are a bit confusing. I had originally written a paragraph explanation for each of the elements, but I read over it and got the feeling you guys would get somewhat bored reading through all of the technical information. Suffice to say that Wind and Energy are speed types; Fire and Darkness are attack types; Ice, Water, and Earth are defense types, Light is a balanced type, and Time is just there for those that like their angel the way they are. I know this chapter was a bit boring, but it will get better once Serge learns how to properly control his Angel. Next chapter will be somewhat short, because I think the Angel development process deserves a chapter of its own, regardless of how little material there is to cover.