Disclaimer: Angelic Layer is the creation of CLAMP. Any non-canon characters belong to me. Got that? ;o)
Dedicated to Firebird and Phoenix from CCU, who never did get back to his AL fic :o) This is for you, guys.
Angelic Layer Neo: Tokyo Chapter 2: Aerial Assault! The Untouchable Angel, Zero
by HA
"Well, hurry up!" Tora shouted to the other side of the Layer. His unzipped backpack was at his feet, and his headset, a brightly orange colored model, was on. He held his Angel tightly.
Misaki unzipped her backpack and pulled out Hikaru and her headset. The crowd oooed and aaahhhed as she carried the pink-haired angel to the Layer. "It's Hikaru," one girl whispered, and the crowd murmured the name as Misaki took her place.
"Ready to lose?" Tora asked with a smirk.
Misaki frowned as she looked at the cocky Deus. "Wings of an Angel! Please guide me and Hikaru! Hikaru, fall in!" she said as she threw Hikaru into the Layer. Her Angel landed in a crouching position, then straightened up and awaited her opponent's appearance.
"Okay!" Tora assumed a pitcher's stance and threw his Angel into the Layer. "Take off and take out your opponent! Zero, fall in!"
However, instead of landing on the Layer, Tora's Angel hovered over it. The crowd murmured amongst itself, and Misaki looked over Hikaru's opponent. It was humanoid, yet like most of the new Angels Misaki had seen at school, it sported a mecha look. A red visor replaced the usual pair of eyes on its triangular head, and a red zero stood out on its forehead and chest. Twin jet packs kept it above the Layer, and its light, slender frame enabled it to hover effortlessly.
"Let's do it, Zero!" Tora yelled, shaking his fist at Misaki.
Zero aimed his arms at Hikaru. Two compartments on Zero's shoulder guards opened, and a volley of beam fire flew out of them. Gasping, Misaki moved Hikaru out of the way, but a few shots impacted on her chest, causing her to stagger a little. Zero continued to open fire on Hikaru, who found it difficult to dodge since he followed her every move. Bits of damage began showing up on Hikaru's energy gauge.
"This doesn't look good," Hatoko said as Hikaru ran while beam fire trailed after her.
"Come on, Misakichi!!!" Tamayo yelled at the top of her lungs as she balled her hands into fists. "Jump up and knock his block off!"
"She can't," Koutarou said. "Zero's out of her reach."
Misaki frowned as Hikaru continued dodging Zero's blasts. He's too high for Hikaru to attack.
"What's the matter, Suzuhara?" Tora yelled as Zero pressed on his attack. "Can't jump that high?"
Misaki tried to tune out Tora's taunts, but she lost her concentration for a brief moment. Hikaru stopped in her tracks.
Tora saw this and grinned. "Zero, attack Hikaru with your ultimate attack! Zero Blade!!!"
Ceasing fire, Zero stretched out his arm, and a red energy blade shot out of his wrist. The airborne Angel dashed towards Hikaru at an incredible speed.
"Look out!" Tamayo yelled.
Her friend's warning came too late for Misaki. Zero cleaved through Hikaru's abdomen with his blade, and as he flew to his previous altitude on the opposite side, Hikaru fell to her knees.
"Take that!" Tora said, raising his fist.
The display screen showed a sizeable chunk of Hikaru's energy gauge was gone. "Oh my," Hikari said.
"Oh, come on!" Basho glared at Tora and shook his fist at him. "Fight fairly!"
Tora laughed as Zero hovered over Hikaru. "As long as Zero remains airborne, he can't be defeated!"
Koutarou frowned. "He's got a point. Hikaru can't jump that high."
Hikari sighed. "Looks like he finally mastered it."
Tamayo glared at Hikari. "What do you mean by that?" She grabbed the other girl by the collar. "Do you know something we don't know?"
"Um, um," Hikari said, her lip trembling.
"Hey!" Basho said, stepping between the girls.
"Tamayo!" Koutarou seized one of his friend's arms and tried to separate her from Hikari.
"Let go of her," Hatoko said, grabbing at Tamayo's other arm. "Please."
Tamayo's actions didn't escape Tora's notice. "Hey, leave her alone!!!" he yelled, glaring at Tamayo. He shook her fist at her.
"Suzuhara, now!" a girl shouted from the crowd.
Misaki saw Zero slowly falling towards the Layer. This is my chance! Hikaru rose to her feet and rushed towards her opponent.
"Nice try!" Tora yelled, and Zero shot upwards as Hikaru took a swing at him. "You may be fast, Hikaru, but Zero's faster!" The Angel proved his speed by firing upon Hikaru once he was back at his safe altitude.
Hikaru! Misaki gasped in her mind.
Tamayo let go of Hikari, who let out a sigh as she felt her feet touch the ground. "Misakichi!" she shouted as Hikaru staggered under the assault.
"Interesting."
Misaki's friends, Hikari, and Basho stared at the newcomer in their midst. "Toriyama?" Tamayo said, turning away from the Fight. "What are you doing here?"
"Zero Blade!" Tora yelled, and once again, Hikaru received a slash to the abdomen.
Chiaki looked at Tamayo with gentle eyes. "I wanted to watch the Fight."
"Misaki can't counter anything this guy throws at her," Koutarou said as Zero fired on Hikaru again.
Tamayo glared at her friend and raised her fist to his face. "Do you doubt Misakichi's abilities?"
"Actually, he is wrong," Chiaki said.
"Huh?" Basho watched as Zero slashed Hikaru again. "Much as I like Suzuhara, it looks like Tora might win."
"Suzuhara still has a chance," Chiaki said, and she looked at Hikari. "You know why."
Hikari blinked. "I do?"
"Look at the Fight," Chiaki said.
"We've been doing that," Tamayo said, almost crunching her teeth together as Zero slashed Hikaru again. "What's your point?"
"Study it," Chiaki continued calmly. "Zero has a weakness. Look at everything closely, and you will understand."
"Weakness?" Hikari watched the Fight. "When we practiced, I didn't notice any..." She paused. "Of course!"
Hatoko watched closely. "Ah!"
Chiaki smiled. "You see it."
Basho scratched his head. "See what?"
"Yeah, see what?" Tamayo said.
Koutarou watched the lop-sided Fight. Hikaru was barely standing, and Zero was still hovering over her. His eyes noticed the display screen. "Of course! Misaki...!"
"Do not tell her," Chiaki said calmly.
"What do you mean we can't tell her?" Tamayo said, her eyes ablaze with rage. "She's getting her butt kicked!"
Chiaki returned her focus to the Fight. "If Suzuhara is truly a great Deus, she will discover Zero's weakness by herself. After all, her eyes pick up everything, correct?"
Hatoko nodded. "They do."
In the Layer, Zero hovered above Hikaru. "This is too easy," Tora declared. "I don't have to do anything but wait for time to run out, and I'll win!" The crowd booed loudly, and the store owner found himself taking ice cream bar wrappers and soda cans out of angry hands. "You can't beat Zero!"
Misaki frowned as she looked at the Layer. The display screen showed Hikaru having a small chunk of energy in contrast to Zero's full gauge. No Angel's unbeatable, she thought as she recalled her past Fights. Images of Lanka, Mao, and Shirahime flashed in her head. Her eyes studied everything in front of her. There must be something... She looked over Zero, noting his body type. It hit her. "Of course," she whispered.
"What's that, Suzuhara?" Tora said, holding his open palm next to his ear as he leaned against the edge of the Layer. "You give up?"
"Shut up, gaki!" one boy yelled.
Misaki closed her eyes and took a deep breath. I have to have faith in Hikaru. She opened her eyes. "Hibiki, Zero is a wonderful Angel."
Tora smiled. "He is, indeed, and when this Fight is over, he'll be the best Angel in the entire world!" His smile widened. "Ya know, I'll just have him finish off Hikaru now!" He pointed at the other Angel. "Zero, finish her off. Zero Blade!"
Zero activated his beam weapon and sped towards Hikaru. The crowd gasped. Chiaki and Hatoko watched intently. Hikari gulped. Basho gulped louder.
"Misakichi!" Tamayo yelled as she held poor Koutarou in a headlock. Despite his position, he did his best to watch.
Just as the blade was about to strike her, Hikaru reached for it, and the crowd gasped again as she gripped the weapon with both hands. Impact Light crackled as Hikaru kept her grip, her face forming a grimace of determination.
Tora's eyes bugged out from behind his headset. "No way!"
No one spoke. Zero strained to move his weapon towards its target, but Hikaru held her ground. This is my only chance, Misaki thought, her eyes fixed firmly on the two Angels. "Hikaru, now!"
Hikaru pulled on the blade, and Zero found himself the recipient of a knee to the abdomen. His blade vanished, and as he staggered back, Hikaru assumed a stance familiar to Hatoko. While Zero tried to maintain his balance, Hikaru made her move. Jumping back, she executed a perfect bicycle kick that struck her opponent in the head.
"The Rolling Thunder," Hatoko said, recognizing the special attack of her own Angel.
"No!" Tora shouted, and with good reason. The impact almost took Zero's head off. As Hikaru landed on her feet, Zero's energy gauge dropped down to zero, and the once-airborne Angel crashed to the Layer. The red glow in his visor vanished.
The crowd continued to stare at the Layer at Hikaru stood over Zero. The display screen showed Hikaru's barely full gauge and Zero's empty one. Tora fell to his knees, muttering "I don't believe it" repeatedly.
Basho broke the silence. "All right, Suzuhara!"
"All right, Misakichi!" Tamayo said as she ran towards the Layer, and as Misaki picked up Hikaru, she threw her arms around the Miracle Deus.
"T-T-Tamayo-chan!" Misaki said as she gasped for air.
Hatoko smiled and elbowed her brother at his side. "Why don't you go over there and help her celebrate?"
Koutarou blushed, and he followed Basho as he marched towards Misaki. The crowd cried out Misaki's surname repeatedly and began to gather around the little Deus. "Not a bad Fight, huh?" Hatoko said, looking at her side. She blinked. Chiaki was gone.
Hikari watched as Tora gathered Zero in his arms. "If you'll excuse me..." she said to Hatoko. The other girl nodded, and Hikari appeared at the side of her friend. She placed her hand on his shoulder.
Tora saw her. "How? How'd she beat me?" she said as Zero hung limply in his hands. "I had the perfect strategy, Hikari. How'd she beat me?"
"Maybe you just lack the right skills!" a boy shouted.
"Yeah! All talk and no substance," a girl said. "Pathetic, really."
"Didn't even use her Impact Light abilities!" another boy jeered. "All that fancy flying, and it couldn't even help beat Suzuhara."
The taunts continued, and Tora kept his head down. Only Hikari stayed at his side. She held her Angel closely to her chest.
"That's enough!"
Misaki's shout silenced the cruel crowd. Everyone watched as the young Deus approached her opponent with her friends and Basho. Tora raised his head. "Suzuhara?"
With Hikaru in her arms and her friends and Basho at her side, Misaki smiled at her opponent. "You did a good job in the Layer," she said kindly. "You almost beat Hikaru."
"Huh?" Tora blinked. "But I lost. 'Almost' doesn't cut it with me."
"You're new to Angelic Layer," Hatoko said. "You'll get better."
"More practice with me and Ririka for you," Hikari said, showing her friend her Angel.
"And me and Baraxus," Basho added with a large grin with Baraxus draped over his shoulder.
"Yeah," Tora said with a sigh. He looked at Misaki. "So, how'd you beat my great strategy?"
"It was simple for Misakichi!" Tamayo said, getting into Tora's face as she continued to hold Koutarou in a headlock. Tora stepped back as she continued talking. "You were no match for her!"
"Um..." Tora sweatdropped. "How did you beat me again?" he asked, looking at Misaki.
"Well..." Misaki rubbed her hand on the back of her head. "I noticed that Zero didn't cause much damage to Hikaru whenever he attacked. I figured Zero used too much power to flying instead of his weapons, and since he had to be light enough to maneuver, he didn't have strong armor..."
"...so you figured a few good strong blows would be enough to knock Zero out," Hikari said.
"And I noticed the attack pattern Zero used, so I was able to predict when Hikaru could grab the Zero Blade," Misaki added.
"All right!" Tamayo shouted joyfully while Koutarou tried to breathe, and she pumped her fist into the air. "Nothing gets past Misakichi's ever vigilant eyes!"
All of the spectators clapped loudly. Even the store owner joined in. Misaki found herself surrounded and being praised from all directions. In his haste to thank Misaki, a boy shoved Tora out of the way. As everyone complimented Misaki, Tora watched with a downcast look. He felt someone put a hand on his shoulder, and when he turned around, he found Hikari looking at him gently. Basho stood behind her.
"Cheer up," she said. "She's been playing longer than you. You just need more practice."
"Yeah," Basho said. "Baraxus and I will help you get better."
"We both will," Hikari said, looking at Ririka.
Tora looked at Misaki for a moment. It was clear she was flustered at all the attention, and Tamayo was the loudest of all her fans. Fortunately for him, Koutarou had been released from his friend's strong grip, and he stood at her side catching his breath. Tora made up his mind. "Suzuhara!" he yelled.
Everyone became silent. All the spectators frowned at the defeated Deus. "What do you want?" one girl asked.
"Don't you have a hole to crawl into?" a boy said with a sneer.
"Wait, wait," Misaki said, waving her hand. "I'd like to hear what he has to say."
The crowd quieted down, but still glared at Tora. With his head down and Zero in his arms, he walked up to Misaki. Once he was in front of her, he raised his head and looked her in the eye. Everyone waited for what he had to say. Tamayo got ready to lay the smackdown if he said the wrong thing.
"Suzuhara..." Tora began.
Misaki smiled. "Yes?"
Quickly, Tora fell to his knees and grabbed Misaki's legs. "Make me your disciple!" he cried out as waterfall tears fell down his cheeks. Hikari had to step forward to catch Zero before he hit the ground.
"Naaaaaa?" Misaki exclaimed as she looked at Tora.
Tamayo seized Tora and lifted him to his feet. "What are you trying to do? Look up Misakichi's skirt?" She grabbed him by the neck. "Unacceptable!" she said through clenched teeth.
Hikari glared and frowned at her friend. "You were what?"
Tora shook his head. "N-n-n-no! I wasn't doing anything like that!"
"Tamayo-chan!" Misaki said, her arms waving frantically in the air.
Tamayo let go of Tora, and the younger boy caught his breath. "I want to be the best Deus out there, and in order to do that, I must train under the best!" He went to his knees and bowed deeply. His hands were clasped together as if he was praying. "Please make me your disciple!" he said, keeping his head down.
"Oh come on!" Basho grabbed Tora by his vest and hoisted him up. "There's no way Suzuhara's gonna make you her disciple." He closed his eyes, jabbed his thumb towards himself, and smiled. "That's because I'm gonna be her disciple!"
The crowd stared at him. "Whaaaaaaaa?"
"Naaaaa?" Misaki exclaimed.
"Yeah!" Basho said. "Suzuhara, please make me your disciple!"
"Hey!" Tora yelled, his limbs waving around. "I asked her first!"
"You were rude to her!" Basho yelled back. "Why would she want you as a disciple?"
With both Zero and Ririka in her arms, Hikari sighed. "Can't you two grow up?" she yelled.
"Er, hold on a moment..." Misaki said, waving for peace.
As the two boys continued arguing with Hikari and Misaki trying to stop them, Tamayo grinned slyly and whispered to Koutarou, "Looks like you've got competition, and from younger men, too."
Koutarou froze. His face reddened. "Wh-wh-what?"
"My my," Hatoko said with a smile, which made her older brother blush even more.
"Hey, Misakichi, if you're going to take on a disciple, you'd better make sure he's worthy," Tamayo said with a wink.
"Naaaaaa!" Misaki exclaimed.
"I'm worthy of being your disciple, Suzuhara!" Basho shouted.
"No, I am!" Tora shouted, still hanging from Basho's hand.
As the arguing intensified, Chiaki watched from a distance with half-opened eyes. Misaki was trying to calm the two boys, and Hikari was shouting at them to stop being immature. She looked at Misaki and smiled. "Good work, Suzuhara," she said with a small smile before walking away.
Above her, a crow watched everything from its perch on a traffic light. If people had taken the time to notice, they would've seen the shiny black metal coat and the camera eyes on the bird. Data swirled through its processors. After taking in what it was assigned to do, the mechanical bird took off.
The old car manufacturing plant had remained without ownership for quite some time. Its closure had been big news years ago, but now it laid forgotten on the outskirts of the city. Negligence had contributed to its decay, and the paint and plaster were cracked and chipped in numerous places. The car company which once owned it couldn't find a buyer for a long time, and no one had bothered to take out all the machinery or disconnect the power.
That night, the power went on courtesy of the new owners.
Inside, where cars once rolled on and off the assembly line via conveyor belts, parts of Angels were awaiting assembling at the careful claws of the modified construction robots. In another section, computer chips were being prepared to be placed into the future fighters. Another section of the factory assembled Deus headsets. Pitch-black and bat-winged, they rolled into boxes. All of this activity was watched by several individuals in black fatigues and berets. Careful eyes watched behind shades, and gloved hands picked up the boxes and moved them to another part of the factory.
One such person entered the office of the person in charge. The room was spacious and had been refitted with the latest communications technology and even more. The room was dimly lit, but with the flick of a switch, the lighting could brighten the entire room. A black banner with the jagged silver letters "DG" set in a red pentagon hung from the ceiling above an elaborately set-up desk, which was the focus of what little light existed in the chamber. There, the back of a chair greeted the newcomer.
"Sir, the first batch of Demons is complete," he said, standing at attention.
The chair turned around, and the messenger bowed before a masked and helmeted visage with opaque glasses. A cape hung on his shoulders, and his gloved hands gripped the armrests of his chair. "Excellent. Assign them to the first wave at once. Have them hit the streets as soon as possible. You know what orders are to be followed."
"By your command, my Shogun," the person said, and he left the room to carry out the order.
Ignoring his underling's forgetfulness about proper procedures, the masked person chuckled. "Ah, everything is right on schedule, as it should be." He pressed a button on his desk, and a screen appeared displaying the face of a girl wearing a black cat mask that covered everything except her mouth. "Report, Tomie."
"Thanks to our surveillance device, I was able to see our target's abilities for myself," the girl said. The screen changed to the fight between Hikaru and Zero. The masked leader watched as she delivered the finishing blow with the Rolling Thunder. The girl's face appeared on the screen. "As you can see, sir, she is quite powerful despite her light frame."
"I'm perfectly aware of that," the masked leader said. "You know your orders. Do not fail me."
The girl bowed. "Yes, Shogun Gaizock-sama. You should not worry. Operation Destroy Hikaru will be underway soon."
"It had better be," the masked leader said. He curled his gloved hand into a fist. "I want Hikaru...eliminated."
"Yes, sir," the girl said, and to her superior's delight, she followed protocol. "DG, dominate."
With those words, the screen vanished, leaving the chamber in semi-darkness.
