"Ready! GO!" The official for the match announced. The two AT riders took off from the starting point, heading for the first hurdle. "Parts War, E Class! Hurdles! No Time Limit! You can only attack your opponent while moving! First one to get the medals wins!"
"FIRE!" Shouted the large coffee colored teen, rocketing off from the starting point like he was fired from a tanks cannon.
"Whoa!" His bird nested haired opponent said as he was left in the dust. "So this is a Parts War." He thought. "I'm at a huge disadvantage here, since I only just got used to skating normally… And, if I loose, my friends and I will have to spend everyday licking that pig's ass! It's too much of a risk just to cut off one pigs head." He told himself as he remembered his friends' battered forms, lying in those hospital beds. He then smirked at his enemy. "Meh, regardless… I'm still going to be the one who wins!"
Up on top of one of the schools buildings, a young girl with violet eyes hidden behind a pair of glasses, her brown hair done up into two tails under her beanie. From this point, she watched the race between her childhood friend and the ruler of the night.
"Looks like they finally started, on the road to Tropaeum." Came a voice from behind her.
She turned in surprise, only to smile at who it was. "Well isn't this rare. Never thought Id see you at an E Class battle, Spitfire." She stated to the young man.
"I wanted to invite you for a midnight stroll, Ringo-san. How about it? The moon is especially beautiful tonight." He said smiling.
She just shook her head. "Again with that…" "Did Simca-san tell you to watch?" She asked as she went back to the match.
"… No, this is reconnaissance. I want to see if he can breach the '1 wall'… But, it would appear it has one fatal flaw."
Ringo looked at him with a worried expression. "Fatal Flaw?"
"He sucks!" Spitfire announced loudly, causing Ringo to sweat drop. "I know that much." She thought.
Back on the ground, the coffee colored youth was approaching the first hurdle, the entrance to the school…
"Yo! Yo! Yooooo!" He shouted as he vaulted onto one wall, riding up it only to leap off, spinning in mid air and grabbing onto the edge of the roof, pulling himself up. "Back Spin Wall Ride 360! BuccA Special 1440!" He announced.
"N… No way! The pig just flew!" Announced the black haired teen.
"Yo! Baby Face! Show me your tricks!" Shouted the large teen from above.
"Ikki, though, only started Air Treks last month." Ringo told Spitfire.
"You're going higher right!" He asked as he pointed to the sky.
Crash!
"Huh?" Asked the stunned teen as he looked down, to find Ikki gone.
"… Ringo-san." Spitfire said as he rubbed his forehead.
"Like I said, Ikki can barely go straight. So of course he couldn't possibly go over the hurdle." She said, observing the match.
"Cant go over it! Then go through it!" Ikki thought.
"Oh! I like him, he's got style." A third voice said from behind Ringo and Spitfire.
Both youths turned to find a man clothed in blue jeans and a gray hoodie, the hood up covering his face.
"Y…y…you! You're…" Spitfire stuttered, but was interrupted by the new comer.
"Shush! Just watch for now." The stranger said with a smile, as he pointed to Bucca, who was currently chasing Ikki into the school.
"I expected you to pull something dirty like this, Piss Crow!" Bucca said as he gave chase to Ikki through the school. "Panzer Mode!" He shouted as the veins in his arms began to pulse.
As Ikki looked over his shoulder, he saw the outline of a Tank about to run him down.
"He's… He's fast! No, that's not it. I'm slow! So slow that this fat ass is catching up." Ikki thought.
"You're mocking me man. What's this suppose to mean?" Bucca asked. "Don't tell me this is the best you can do. That can't be, right?"
"You know your right Spitfire. He does suck." The third person said, only to receive a fist to the back of his head, courtesy of Ringo. "Ouch." He stated calmly.
"His legs are slow… he can't jump… for such an incredible weak nothing like him…" Spitfire said.
"Strategy is his only means of survival. "Said the third person, as he was in a headlock.
"I don't know what it is about this kid, but it pisses me off!" Ringo shouted inside her head.
"Ahahaha! I'll show you my secret technique! Glass Blizzard." Ikki shouted as he shattered glass with a chair.
"He really calls that a technique? Looks more like damaging school property for the fun of it to me." The hooded youth said.
"Ikki still doesn't understand how terrifying a true Storm Rider can be." Ringo thought.
"The probability of an F class rider beating an Advanced Parts War rider is only 1." Spitfire said. AS they witnessed Ikki and Bucca emerge from the building, only to see Ikki trip on a flowerbed.
"Nice face plant."
"Bwahahaha! What was that? Was that a gag just now?" Bucca asked as tears streamed down his face from laughing.
Ikki then appeared back up again, holding multiple flower pots. "Take this, my exquisite skill, Reverse Donkey Kong!" Ikki said as he began to roll them on the ground towards Bucca, as he skated away.
"Well, it is unique. Though the whole shotgun and floor wax seems a bit pointless." The stranger said as he watched Bucca bury his hands into the pavement, looking more like a bulldozer than a tank now. "Wow, that's some power there."
Ikki was about to pull something from his jacket as Bucca spoke. "Stop already. No matter what you do, it's still useless. It's too bad, but I've already seen your real power." He said.
The stranger sighed, as Spitfire said. "Its over. He should end it."
Ikki smiled as he pulled out a fire extinguisher and sprayed it in Buccas face. "Say whatever you like! Unless it's a fist fight, there's no way I can beat you." "But I still have to win. No matter what I say, or dirty tricks I use, I have to win!"
"Spinning Wall Ride Overbank 1800 Bucca Special to Moonsault 900!" Bucca announced as he spun up the side of the wall, flipping onto the top of the second hurdle.
"And with that, the battle is done. He is probably the only person in E-class that can do that move." Spitfire said. "Buccha dares to use the round-about way to cross over the school buildings. Even though he calculates that he will loose some time doing so, he knows he will ultimately win."
"This battle is the Storm riders official 'Parts Wars.'" Finished the other man.
"But, more importantly, it's because Buccha's strength as a rider is greater than Ikki's." Spitfire Added.
"Ah, I will have to argue with you there Spitfire-kun." The hooded teen said.
"Ikki…" Ringo said sadly.
"Hey… Wait a sec. You're just going to go up there and ignore me?" Ikki said, anger and surprise in his voice. "Not yet. The battles not over yet! It's like sympathy, like your looking down on me! It's like being….." He said his voice trialing off. Then as if gaining new strength, his eyes narrowed as he shouted. "Don't fuck with me!" With that said, he launched himself up in the air.
"This won't end well."
"Ikki! No!" Ringo shouted as she witnessed him crashed into the side of the building. "From that height… He'll die. He can't even do the basics of wall ride." Spitfire said as he closed his eyes.
"Hey, Spitfire-kun, don't close your eyes yet. Watch." The stranger told him.
"Ikki!" Ringo shouted again. Then everyone went quiet as Ikki seemed to stop in midair, the moment his AT's touched the side of the building, he then grabbed a flag pole.
"Upper soul! 23 Roll!" Ikki said as he spun up the flagpole.
"What?!" Shouted Bucca as he was hit with a cross chop from Ikki.
Spitfire turned to look at the third person on the roof. "Miles… did you…" He whispered, but Miles just shook his head.
"I am as surprised as you are. I think Simca-chan might be right about this one."
"Spitfire! That was…" Ringo started.
"Yeah… Sorry! I had my eyes closed and I missed it!" He shouted, causing both Miles and Ringo to sweat drop.
"It's good to know you haven't changed that much Spitfire-kun." Miles muttered.
"… First Ikki rode the roof of the vending machines, and then he used the 2nd floor crossing corridor and the protrusion to get to the 3rd floor, where he crashed into the wall. You saw that much right?" Spitfire nodded. "Then, the instant his Air Treks touched the wall, he seemed to stopped falling. Then… he did the Upper soul."
"Impossible." Spitfire said, disbelieving what he heard. "Impossible, he should be an F-Class. If he was trying for that from the start it would be possible. But… he recovered from an accident like that, such an advanced technique."
"Looks like the Crow has some pretty big wings." Miles said as he smiled.
"I 'saw' the path. I knew that pole was there." Ikki announced when asked how he did that.
"… The trick path…" Buccha said.
"But ya know! I really am a genius!" Ikki said as he jumped over the fence, heading for the goal of the race.
"It looks like he's sticking to the side of the wall. Is he using traction heels after all?" Spitfire asked.
"No, those AT's are made of parts from Onigiri-kun's and Kazu-kun's AT's. The parts for the front and rear wheels are different." Ringo explained.
"Interesting. I like his morals." Mile said softly, watching Buccha and Ikki race for the final area.
"…I can't let my guard down anymore." Spitfire said to no one in particular.
"…No, that's not true." Ringo told him. "He's already right behind you."
"Oh, I see his strategy." Miles said, bringing their attention back to the race. "He is just the right size for that opening. If Buccha gets there first, Ikki won't have anyway around."
"Your body won't fit Buccha." Ikki called. "My ramen has destroyed your plan. With the extra weight it provided, you can't fit through there."
"So… that's all you were trying to say?" Said, sounding a little sad. "My stomach is twis-twis-twisting!" Buccha announced as his stomach suddenly shrunk, all the fat that was there, seemingly disappeared, leaving nothing but muscle in its place, and a much thinner Buccha.
"That was cool." Miles said a light shining where his eyes should be. "Wonder if I could do that."
Spitfire just chuckled as he looked into the light. "Good to see you haven't changed much too." His laughter came to a halt as his face grew serious. "… I knew right from the beginning. That 1 wall was to thick and high for him."
"Fuu…" Ringo said as she bit her lip and took off her beanie. "That may be but… I think that Ikki fought well. Even though he lost a lot, you can't count the number of things he gained. Everybody gets better, little by little like this. Friends, rivals, emblems and parts. Little by little he is gaining different things." Ringo said as she turned to leave. "Because Ikki has the biggest wings of all."
"You won't watch till the end?" Spitfire asked.
Just as Ringo was about to walk away, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She followed it back to Miles' form. "If you leave now, you don't have any right to call him a friend." He told her, his voice bordering cold. Ringo bit her lip and ran off.
"She may be the heiress to the legendary "Sleeping Forest", but she's still a girl, Miles." Spitfire told his friend.
"Be that as it may, its just as bad as abandoning him while he's wounded. It also shows that she doesn't have much faith in his abilities, however new they may be. Just look." Miles said, as he pointed to the tunnel Ikki was in, just in time to see the walls close in on Buccha, courtesy of the girls track team, and Ikki jump over him for the win. "I'm just meeting the kid and I think he can do it. The next Sky King."
Just as Ikki grabbed the emblems, the rest of the Night lords' team mates came out of the woodwork to attack. Ikki's group, the East Side Gunz, were there to meet them head on.
"Think we should step in?" Miles asked.
Spitfire just smirked. "Let's wait a bit."
Ikki climbed out from the building he was in and stood on the roof. "The battle was a complete and total victory for me! Thanks you guys!" He said to his friends.
"He certainly is a charismatic isn't he?" Spitfire said.
"Yeah, I think he will do nicely." Miles responded as he watched Buccha and Ikki shake hands, and then punch each other in the face. "Well, if you're going to be looking for me in the future, I think I'll be around here, ok Spitfire?"
"Yeah yeah, now I'm going to go introduce myself. Make sure you go see Simca-san, she's been worried about you." Spitfire said as he jumped off the ledge, his wheels glowing.
"Yeah, I know." Miles said as he walked away.
Next day in school.
"Everyone please quiet down. Today we have a new student joining us, please introduce yourself." Ton-chan said as the door opened, letting in a young man.
He stood at about five feet ten inches tall. Black hair with grey streaks in it sticking out like he never ran a comb through it, ever. And bandages going around his head, which covered his eyes.
"Ohyao! My name is Miles Desidero. Pleased to meet you!" He said, smiling wide for everyone.
A/N: There we go. Thought Id try something new with the Air Gear thread. A Non-Yiao-Yuri Story! Don't get me wrong, nothing against either but… All I saw was Ikki/Kazu, or Ikki/Agito/Akito. Figured someone should probably break the mold, plus I just finished reading all 190 chapters that are translated, and I loved it. Anyways, hope you enjoyed the first chapter, till next time!