This is my first Fanfic I've done, EVER! It was orginally supposed to be sumitted as a contestant to a fanfic contest my site was running, but I started having too much fun with it and it got too long. This is part one of that story. By the time your reading this, I'm already atleast 2 parts ahead, so don't bother writing anything to influence how you want it to turn out. Im not sure how long this is gunna be, but count on 6 or 7 chapters. Hope you enjoy!
Part One
"Don't do anything stupid Tim" his parents said closing the hotel room door behind them. "We're only here for tonight, so don't plan on making any new friends tonight at the Angelic Arena"
Tim pouted a bit. "Aw come on ma'! I could make a buck or two down there, they'll bet on anything in Vegas, even Angelic Layer fights!"
"Gambling is illegal for anyone below 21. I don't think I have to remind you that your barely half that now."
"Yea... sure." He mumbled as his parents walked out the door.
He killed some time by watching late night cartoons until he was sure his parents were safely across town in their seats, watching their idols Pen and Teller entertain them. Tim had desperately wanted to go too, but had opted out saying he wasn't feeling well and the tricks that they would pull might make him nervous. Of course this wasn't really the case. He had plans of his own.
A good show was on. "Aww come on Shuugo, don't tell me you've never heard of the .hackers…" the girl on the screen was saying, but Tim had seen this episode so turned it off and rolled out of bed. The room was dark without the light from the television screen, and the nearest light switch was across the room. He padded the floor until he felt his backpack and angel inside it. He slung it over his shoulder and made out the door and downstairs to the various shops inside the hotel. The map he had picked up was not really helpful in finding his destination; it was mostly a mosaic of coupons and ads trying to seduce him into buying fine wines and colognes. One ad did catch his eye though since it had the information he was looking for. Otherwise, it was useless and he tossed it away at the first trashcan he found.
After a quick splurge of money at the local candy store, he followed the signs to the East wing of the hotel where the map had said the Angelic Layer store was. He was careful to avoid the massive host of slots and card tables; security had already chewed him out for merely watching a game of black jack. It was absurd he thought. "I'm fifteen now. I'm old enough to drive a car, watch R rated movies, stay at home alone, be targeted to start smoking and use drugs, but they think a simple card game is going to corrupt my mind. Bah! Oceans 11 was a great movie though..."
As a quick gust of fresh air hit him as he walked over the bridge into the East wing, a plane flew right over his head making its way to the Vegas airport about a mile away. It was a thin shaped jet, not supersonic but very high-tech looking. It was obviously from Asia since it was coming from the west and had huge engines. As if confirming his assumptions, Tim started smelling sweet smells or oriental cooking that almost put him in a trance. The combination of sweat and sour pork smells and the taste of Swedish Fish was heaven. It would be good to stay here awhile he thought.
He passed by shops selling books, movies and other things Eastern until he finally walked under a giant sign in the middle of the hall that said:
Angelic Layer
Official outlet
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Tim followed the arrows to the right and his eyes finally met what he had been looking for: The Angelic Layer store and mini arena. It was mostly dark as he walked in since most of the shop was shut down for the night and only a few tables operated 24 hours a day. He checked the clock to see what time it was, and found that it was only 9, giving him at least 2 hours before his parents made their way back across the city.
It was better to practice late at night. Most of the newbie's had given up for the day and the younger kids were all asleep. It wasn't that late yet, but mostly everyone had made it to their rooms or were blowing money on slots by now. Two tables caught Tim's eye as he made it to the back of the store. On the farther one, two boys of about the same age were deep into a battle that had obviously just begun. Both were calm and made no facial expressions as their angels traded blows on the layer. Their moves were complicated and smooth; their technique was extraordinary. Tim had not played Angelic Layer for a week; since the United States regional championships and thought it would be better if he got warmed up first with one of the other two on the nearer layer.
The Dues on the right was sweating and ocean and panting hard. The other had a smug look on his face as his Angel wreaked havoc on the other. His Angel had spiky green hair and had an outfit to match it. He was playing cheap, using two spiked clubs to fight. Even if it wasn't an official fight, it was still dirty.
The other angel looked frayed and worn out. It had taken quite a beating. Even if the spiky haired angel was playing fair, it didn't look like it stood a chance anyway. It was a full inch shorter and the Deus was young, and most likely inexperienced. He wore large rimless glasses and had neatly combed hair, though right now it was a bit of a mess. It was possible he was getting frustrated with the way the match was going and was trying to pull it out. As Tim looked closer, it almost looked like a few gray hair's were sprouting, but he was sure his eyes were just playing tricks on him. It was possible though, the kid looked really stressed out. It was obvious he didn't like to lose.
The buzzer for the end of the second round came none too soon for the little nerd's angel. It looked just as stressed as its owner. The older kid started laughing.
"Jeez. You really suck at this. You sure you want to keep playing?? Its getting really borin' fighting you."
It was true. The younger kid was fighting recklessly and stiffly. He was not a very good Deus. However, he was giving the fight his all, inexperienced or not, and Tim just couldn't stand Jerk's like the older boy. They talked big, but usually their strength was in their words and nothing else.
"Mind if I take your spot?" Tim asked casually
"Shudap! If you think you can take my spot just cuz' im losing to your asshole of a friend your wrong! Im gunna win this somehow!" the younger kid yelled.
Tim raised his eyebrows a little but did not yell back. "Friend? I've never even seen this kid before." He said jerking his head over at the older kid who was busy straightening the clothing on his Angel, ignoring their conversation. The younger kid looked up from his angel now and gasped. "Oh! Y – Your -!"
"It doesn't matter" Tim interrupted with a grin. "How bout you let me sit down and ill help you out a little"
The smaller kid nearly jumped out of his seat to let Tim sit down. "Thanks" Tim said with a wink to reassure him. The "asshole of a friend" looked across the layer now and smiled maliciously. "Oh! So the little wimp finally gave up huh? Fine, you think you can take me then?!" He laughed. Tim didn't say a thing as he calmly brought out his Angel from his bag. 'Angel' was a fitting description of the toy he held in front of him. He wore a long black trench coat and a silky dark grey undershirt. His pants were identical to the baggy black jeans that Tim was wearing, and his hair was nearly the same except for the color. It was combed down and outwards from a parting at the top with silver grey bangs hanging down about his forehead and eyes. Thought they were closed at the moment, Tim knew his eyes were a rich dark blue, the type that seemed bottomless but sparkled along the way. It was truly a 'Pretty-Boy' but had a hint of Matrix in him to smooth it out with coolness.
The younger geeky kid stared at his angel with wide eyes as Tim prepared it for entry. "I never thought I'd see it up close.." he mumbled. Then, to Tim's surprise, he gained confidence and exclaimed "In Western corner: Deus; The champion of Northeast America. "King of the Layer" - Tim O'Brian! Angel: Wolfwind!" He paused as if waiting for cheers. Apparently satisfied he started again. "And Eastern corner. Deus-"
"Oh shut up!" the player across from him interrupted "Let's get this fight started already. Beat the crap outa this guy! Go Destructo!"
Tim scowled at the rudeness but followed suit by putting on the blue head set that stretched around his head to fit perfectly. "Moon and the stars, hear our cry to the night! Go Wolfwind!" he said and tossed the toy into the layer and it took to life. For a moment they stood facing each other calmly. The other Deus grinned again. "I don't care what wimpy tournament you might have one! You don't have a chance on my home turf! And your entry line is gay too. Come and Get it!" he said and his angel lunged forward, carelessly swinging his clubs. Wolfwind stood still, but as the club came to the spot where he was, he seemed to disappear, then instantly reappear directly behind Destructo.
"Heh, your pretty fast." The other Deus said. "But speed wont get you anywhere against Destructo. He's invincible!" and Destructo came wheeling around with his clubs and they hit their target. Wolfwind was sent flying to the other end of the layer and almost rolled off. Wolfwind faked being hurt for a second, but got up to his feet. Tim smiled. "If that's the best you got, I would suggest giving up right now before your angel gets hurt."
The other kid jerked as if he had just been slapped "Look retard! I just hit a home run with your stupid doll! Im winning this, look at your hit points! You havn't even hit me yet!"
Tim smirked. "I haven't needed to. It will only take one and it will be over. Now quit talking and let's fight."
By this time Wolfwind was balancing precariously close to the edge of the layer in front of the other Deus. Like an idiot, Destructo came full force, swinging his clubs like a mad man. It was only a matter of a front flip and a hard kick to the back that sent the other Angel flying out of the layer and into the unsuspecting Deus' face. A drop of blood escaped from his nose. Wolfwind had done a good job taking out two birds with one stone Tim thought.
"Why you cheep son of a bitch! Ill kill you!" he yelled and grabbed Tim by the scruff of the neck. Tim smiled. Not because he was about to get the crap beat out of him, but as a friendly gesture to the security guard ho had come up behind the other kid and grabbed by the back of his collar. "Wrong, kid. There won't be any killing today, sorry. Your coming with me." He said and jerked him away. The Deus was pulled away, screaming and kicking, yelling "What?! I wasn't gunna do anything!! I swear!"
When this didn't work, he took to threats, and the last that was heard form him was "My daddy's a lawyer! He'll sue you!!!!!"
Tim watched him go and sighed. Wolfwind casually flipped off the layer into his out stretched hand. "That was quite something huh?" he said to the kid with the glasses, who by now was not alone. A crowed of about 10 people had gathered to watch the fight and the outcome afterwards. Most looked foreign and were gathered in a tight group. "Yea" the kid said, slightly shaken. "That was awesome though!."
Tim smiled. "Here, your angel took quite a beating. Let me see if I can fix it uh…um…"
"Chris! My names Chris" said enthusiastically handing over his angel. Tim looked it over some. It was extremely well made. Probably even better constructed than Wolfwind, Tim noted. He may not have been very good at moving them, but the kid obviously knew how to make Angels.
Tim looked the small figure over and moved a few joints back into place. "There" he said handing it back "That should do for now, but your probably better at fixing it than I am." Chris reached out his hand to accept it but one of the members of the crowed stepped forward and took it out of Tim's hands. She was a full foot shorter than Tim, and had long black plowing hair. She looked quite young, maybe about 7 or 8, but by the way she handled the Angel it seemed she too knew more about fixing them than Tim did. Very quickly she looked over the angel and made some adjustments before Chris could protest. Just as he was about to snatch it away, she handed it back up and smiled innocently. Chris took it cautiously and looked it over. "Wow" he said. "Good as new! Thank you!"
The girl continued to smile but out of the crowed a boy of about Tim's age emerged and grabbed her by the arm. "Hatoko!!" he exclaimed and she looked up fiercely. The boy sighed and said in broken English "I'm sorry to have bothered you".
Tim recognized the accent as Japanese and responded in the boy's own language. "It's ok. Anyone who's a friend of Angelic Layer is a friend of mine." Both him and Chris stood wide eyed and gaping. Chris spoke first.
"Wow! You're amazing! You can even speak Japanese?!"
Tim had only taken 2 years of it so far, but he was fluent enough to hold a conversation. The crowed had thinned out by now and only half a dozen remained. Two of them were girls of about the same age. Both had brown hair, one cut short and one with some hair that hung down about her shoulders. Both wore short sleeved T-shirts and shorts. They were about Tim's age, and he thought them quite cute, though in his mind he had already rejected the idea of anything since they were obviously from out of the country. The other reason was that a boy who was obviously older and taller than Tim was standing with them, and Tim really didn't want to start any more fights, one was enough for the night.
The girl with the slightly longer hair held something in her hand, which Tim identified as an Angel. She stepped forward and sat down in the adjacent seat. She was obviously ready for an Angelic fight, but was having some trouble with the headset. Without thinking Tim scoffed. "Newbie…."
The girl that had been next to her was on him in an instant. "Heeeeey!!! You had better take that back you know! That's the Japanese National two time champion 'The miracle Deus: Misaki Suzahara!!"
Tim was shocked for a moment but took a deep breath and removed the girls hands from the scruff of his neck. "Of course!" he thought "Japanese players still use the old pink feathery head sets. American corporations switched styles so they would appeal to guys and they wouldn't think Angelic Layer was too girly. It was a good move, I probably wouldn't want to be caught wearing one of those…"
He was about to help the girl but when he turned around she had it on properly and was staring at the other girl with a cute shocked face. "Nyaaaa! Tamayo-chan! Its ok, I think I got the hang of it." She changed her look to a determined one as she switched her gaze onto Tim. An unspoken understanding flowed between them as Tim checked the clock to see that already an hour had past. He had enough time though for one more battle, and this was going to be exciting. Tim had never been able to fight anyone decent outside his own region in the Northeast, or for that matter anyone from outside the country.
She was supposedly a champion and had found a worthy opponent. It was only natural for her to want to size up against him. It only hit Tim then then reason why an Angelic Layer champion would be out of their country. In a weeks time was the International Angelic Layer Olympics. Only 4 countries were participating as this was the first annual event, and Angelic Layer was only recently popular worldwide. The champions from each of the 5 regions of the United stated would be attending, along with three representatives from Japan, three from China, and 5 from the European Union.
Tim, being the Northeast American champion would be attending, and since it was obvious this girl would be too, this would be a good way to get a head start on the competition. He sat down and put on his headset. Wolfwind was ready in his hand for entry. "Ready?" Tim asked and the girl acknowledged. "Whenever you are" she said and prepared her Angel.
Chris didn't know quite what she said, since the conversations had been in Japanese, but he could grasp the gist of it so he returned to his announcer position. With the proper introductions and entry, the battle was ready to begin. "Well then!" Chris exclaimed "ANGELIC FIGHT!"
End Part One