Chapter 12: Preparation!

At school the week after the announcement of the next round contestants, both Takehiro and Adrienne entered homeroom and some of the girls shouted, "CONGRATULATIONS!"

"Eh!?" Adrienne asked as they tossed some confetti. Both Takehiro and Adrienne lost their hold with their hands.

"Congratulations Adrienne on moving onto the next round of the games! How does it feel?" one of them asked.

"Well, I never won anything before so it feels great I guess." She answered.

"That's the way! Go Adrienne!" another girl exclaimed.

"Like if she'll win." They heard Jing say.

"Get away Jing, Adrienne already got this far and she won't let you ruin it."

"Yeah!"

"Oh yeah? Once I beat Suzuka, I will take Aerial down Jing exclaimed.

"Let's see if you can! Knight is nothing but a puny light weight with kicks." Adrienne growled.

"Very well, once you lose you won't get to see the layer again." Jing said as he cackled and walked away.

"What a jerk." One of the girls said.

"Yeah!" another one agreed.

At lunch, Takehiro was on his laptop doing some maintenance on Aerial and said, "Well, he's in top shape. No bugs to worry about. All I have to say is that move with Wizard was fantastic. I never knew that the silver wing mode could break his Magic Guard and also take him down while it was at it."

"Well, I came up with the idea when I noticed that he wasn't get hit but Aerial so I had to have him at it with Aerial." Adrienne explained.

"Keep it up, there is one thing you need to know though, in the next round, when you lose you are out of the games so you need to prepare for the next round." Takehiro told her.

"Right, so Knight is going to Suzuka and Aerial against Vampire, right?" she asked.

"Yep, then you go against the winner from the Knight and Suzuka fight."

"By the way, what kind of angel is Vampire?" Adrienne asked.

"Let me check." He answered as he took a look at the Angelic Layer profiles. "Vampire is the same model as yours and is a light weight. I don't know why a lot of girls prefer light over heavy. This is weird though, her emphasis is on strength instead of speed."

"That is weird, usually heavy types are that." Adrienne said.

"I don't know but this is one dark angel."

She nodded.

"When school lets out we are heading to the tournament center to train Aerial because if you get a chance to verse Knight, you will be prepared in time for that."

"Thanks Takehiro." She said and pecked his cheek.

After school, Aerial was taking down the flying targets in an all about flipped and took one down from behind.

"Whoa, that was awesome!" Takehiro exclaimed.

"You did say some of these angels could attack from behind so I practiced that when I was about to go against you." She told him.

"Not a bad idea." He said.

"Excuse me, are you Miss Adrienne Stone?" they ehard and they turned to see a girl a little shorter than them.

"Wait, I versed your sister, Arisu isn't it?" Takehiro asked.

"Yeah, I saw you practicing and recognized you, I was wondering if you want to battle me on the layer?" she asked.

"Sure, I need to practice for the next round anyways." Adrienne answered.

"All right!" Arisu exclaimed.

They rented a layer and put their visors on.

"Okay guys, enter the angels!" Takehiro exclaimed.

"Show the layer your reflection Alice!" Arisu exclaimed as she threw her angel onto the layer. "The angel descends!"

"Spread your silver wings and fly Aerial!" Adrienne exclaimed and threw Aerial onto the layer. "The angel descends!"

"Let's have an angelic fight!"

Alice charged at Aerial but Aerial jumped and dodged. Alice charged at him again and started throwing punches while Aerial started dodging and blocking.

"You're angel is good but not good enough!" Adrienne exclaimed as she had Aerial kick Alice down.

"Yours not as bad either!" Arisu said as she had Alice stand up and charge at Aerial again and started kicking and punching. Aerial started to fight back.

Meanwhile on another layer, Aura finished another practice battle. "Looks like I win again, come on Vampire." She said as she picked up her angel.

Her opponent looked at her and said, "I can't believe you beat me…"

"Better believe it, next time make sure your angel could beat silver wing mode." Aura said and walked away. She noticed the crowd around the layer where Adrienne and Arisu were playing on and went over to see. She saw that Aerial had Alice pinned down and Alice kicked Aerial out of the way.

"Now Aerial use your silver hemisphere!" Adrienne yelled and the attack came out of him and hit Alice and she flew off the layer.

"Aerial wins!" Takehiro exclaimed.

"All right!" Adrienne exclaimed and everyone cheered her name.

"Way to go Adrienne." Takehiro said while he watched her pick Aerial off the layer.

"Your angel was amazing, I never knew he would have the silver wing mode! He was awesome!" Arisu exclaimed.

"Thanks and Alice was pretty tough as well, keep on practicing." Adrienne told her.

Arisu smiled and said, "Thanks! I will!"

"Some deuce you are!" they heard and looked to see Aura.

"What do you mean?" Adrienne asked.

"You think you could win all because of your love for your angel and using the berserker mode? I think not! Angelic Layer is all about winning and moving on! I don't get why a rookie like you would move onto the next round with me!"

"She has skills Aura, you maybe a first year student but Adrienne is top at her class!" Takehiro defended.

"Yeah, I will teach you a lesson in Angelic Layer! I'll see you there!" Adrienne said and walked off.

"Wait for me." Takehiro said and followed her.

"It looks like she won't be easy to beat." Adrienne said.

"Yeah, you can beat her I know it, come on, let's get you ready for your English exam." Takehiro told her.

"All right." Adrienne said as she went with him to his house and thought, Aura, I will beat you in the next round!