Chapter Two: Fighting the enemy
I now waited silently in the room next to my chair. Hikaru was on the table, staring blankly at the ceiling. I was afraid I would have squeezed her to pieces if I would have held on much longer; I was that angry.
All the anger from past pessimistic times flooded back. I felt everything grow pressured. I felt like my heart was going to burst. Mr. Icchan had never mentioned he had a son, at least a hidden one, one whom I had to fight in two minutes! He had lied to me. He, my trusted trainer, had lied to me!
(I bet he even lied to himself about his family. He probably convinced himself that he didn't have a son, that the boy was just a distant memory, one whom just happened to show up at his invention, Angelic Layer.)
"You're on, Misaki." A director came in, announcing the start of the fight that would prove all. I nodded and picked up Hikaru, waiting for the director to leave.
"Hikaru, let's win this! Let's win it all, and show them! We'll show everyone!" I said to my angel, the darling doll I held in my arms. She was a part of me, now, and I was a part of her. Somehow, she knew we had to win.
As I stood at my place while the crowd roared, I was aware of Mr. Icchan and Ringo Seto and all of my friends watching me, hoping I would win yet another fight. However, I also knew that Mr. Icchan wanted Adam, his hidden son, to win, to show the world that he had trained him well. The question was, whom did Mr. Icchan want to win overall?
The fight began rather quickly.
"Angel Wings, please guide me and Hikaru!" I called, throwing my beautiful pink haired angel into the Layer, hoping for the best.
Adam threw Fukigen in, too. His voice was quiet.
"Let Fukigen rule all!" He cried as his angel flew in and landed in front of him.
I started with a few kicks and punches, but Adam's angel was incredibly fast and dodged each attack with ease and little effort.
From the beginning, I sensed an imbalance of power, but I knew I had to win. I just had to.
(My reputation lies upon this game. My place in the Kontou Games lies upon this game. My pride lies upon this game. And my relationship with Mr. Icchan lies on all of that. I have to raise his confidence in me. I have to show him I can beat his son. I know I can.)
Fukigen laid a kick on Hikaru in my lapse of attention. I frowned and tried to counterattack with a hard punch, but he slipped away.
I decided to do what Hatoko Kobayashi had done. I watched his eyes. With this I landed a kick and two punches, but they didn't even take his angel down to seventy-five percent of its hit points.
As the clock rung down to six minutes, I felt myself panic.
(What if he uses his finishing move? Is it very strong? What am I thinking? Of course it's strong! I have to use another strategy…but what else is there? I can't hit him anyway, so why bother?)
I continued to use Hatoko's technique, but he had already figured me out and was fighting back harshly.
(He's really smart. I have to figure out some way to get to him.)
I felt something strange going on. A ball of energy piling up somewhere. I came to focus and saw the enemy angel grow weaker. Hikaru landed a series of kicks on him before he flew up into the air.
(What is he doing?)
"Misaki-chi!" I heard Kotarou yell my name from the stands. "Energy attack!"
His warning was too late. As Hikaru kicked Fukigen once more, his hands grew bright and a large blast of energy flew out and hit Hikaru. He finished the attack with a strong kick to the jaw. Hikaru flew over near Adam, dangerously close to the edge.
"Hikaru!" I screamed, alarming Adam.
(That attack knocked off eight hit points!)
I realized that I'd have to hurt him as much as possible when he got ready to do an energy blast, because I didn't have enough hit points to last another attack.
My chance came sooner than I expected when I kicked Fukigen in the jaw. He sailed up into the air and relaxed. This attack would take longer than the last one because he had less energy left from the last blast.
Hikaru unleashed every stomp, smash, hit, and punch she had. Fukigen angrily smashed the side of her face as a counterattack, then concentrated harder.
(Oh no!)
I had one hit point left, as did Fukigen. I prepared Hikaru to avoid the attack, although I knew it was pointless.
"Hikaru!" I called out in anguish…as the energy burst flew past Hikaru and into the wall behind her. The wall fizzed for a second, startling the crowd. The power faded away into the darkness.
(He…he let it miss me…he had a clear shot! He missed on purpose! But why...?)
Hikaru kicked out at the enemy angel – and missed.
(Come on Hikaru!)
Fukigen swiped at Hikaru and swung its fist across her face. My darling angel flew across the arena and in front of me, her hair touching the barrier that separated her world and mine. All of her hit points were gone.
(I…I lost?)
All of a sudden Fukigen collapsed, not even twitching. Its hit points dropped immediately to zero. The bell rang loudly, but unlike previous times, the sound was ominous.
"This is a first! Both angels have been knocked unconscious! By scoring both Hikaru and Fukigen, the winner is…" The announcer froze, looking at his papers.
(Oh, please be me! I need this win!)
"The winner is Hikaru!"
Everyone jumped up and cheered, like old times.
(Why did Fukigen collapse?)
I struggled to see my opponent through the crowd that was beginning to swarm around me like a pack of bees. Then I saw Adam, and my heart fell. The reason his angel had fallen was because he had fallen. I ran over to him, my heart pounding, hoping for the best.
"Somebody get some help! Somebody!" I called. It seemed like the world was going in slow motion, like no one was going to help.
Adam's eyes opened for a second. He looked at me, his multi-colored eyes pleading for help. Pleading for someone to care.
Author's notes: Okay, I need to know if you want an additional chapter! Even if I would make one, though, it won't be up for a while because of homework and school things. I've also got three Final Fantasy stories and a Star Ocean story in the making, and also a Kingdom Hearts story (for those who have been wondering if I would ever beat it!).