Hi, this is my first AL fic. I hope you like it! (It's an Angelic Layer/Card Captor Sakura crossover.)

Complete summary:

Four Deuses come together when the Clow cards are released once again, twenty years after the end of AL and CCS. Each have their own reason for trying to recapture the cards, but only one will make it to the Final Judgment and emerge as the new Master of the Star Cards. ALCCS Crossover.

Disclaimer: AL and CCS belong to their respective owners and anyone else with permission to their rights. Unfortunately I cannot claim to belong to the group of either of these lucky people. Instead I belong to a third group that many of us here belong to, and that is the group of wishful dreamers who write fanfiction using the anime/manga and characters created by others.

A/N: This fic takes place in the U.S. Since it's twenty years after the end of both Angelic Layer and Card Captor Sakura, there's a lot of new technology out, and Layers functioning similar to the Internet are nothing uncommon. Plus, there are four main characters, and scenes may switch from one person's POV to another's often. I really hope you enjoy this fic, and please R&R!

BATTLE ONE

It was a warm and sunny day and the skies were a friendly light blue. As she walked home from her first day of the second week of middle school in America, twelve-year old Yuriko Li, known to most as Yuri, sighed with pleasure as she recalled the events of the past two weeks. She had not performed badly at all, and things had gone a lot smoother than she had anticipated. First she and her father, Syaoran Li, had packed up all their things and said their goodbyes to everyone in China. Then with one last phone call to her mother in England, Sakura Li, who had wished them both a good and safe journey, Yuri and her father had made their way over to America by plane. Once they had gotten over jet lag and were all settled, Yuri and her father had started their daily life, her father working for some big business company, while Yuri went to school. Sakura was set to join her family a month after they moved in to their new house because she still needed to finish up some work. Though moving did mean a new school for Yuri, she had done very well, making many friends within the first week, and exceeding in most of her classes.

Today, Yuri walked slowly, because she wanted to check out what many of her new friends had been talking about during lunch, the newest sensation currently out on the market, Angelic Layer. Rumor had it that twenty some years ago, a group of scientists had created hi-tech dolls that could be controlled by thoughts while trying to make replacement legs for handicapped people. The dolls were released to the public only when bankruptcy had threatened, but instantly became a major hit among people of all different ages including both genders, seemingly overnight. Battle tournaments were held on Layers where these dolls, now called Angels, could fight each other along with their human Deuses. National, and International Champion titles were up for grabs, and the dreams of young girls were set free while hopes soared. Angelic Layer was truly a work of genius, a real miracle for all. But a decade after its auspicious release, Angelic Layer had come to a crashing halt, with sudden abruptness and mystery. No one knew what had caused the collapse, but all of a sudden, Angelic Layer had gone from a respectable hobby for all to an old and outdated past time for nerds, freaks, and others of the sort. For a few years, all Layer activity had been suspended, until once more, Angelic Layer achieved great popularity when it was reintroduced again a few months ago. New Layers, new models of Angels, and all new ways to fight helped Angelic Layer reclaim its lost throne of fame around the world almost instantly. Of course, seeing as how all this about Angelic Layer's original release twenty years ago was just a rumor, most likely made by some ignorant person who had nothing better to do or some popularity heist from the Angelic Layer Project Development Team, it was more likely that Angelic Layer was really just a recent breakthrough in modern technology. This was what Yuri believed.

As a bright store sign in pastel colors came into Yuri's view, she broke into a run. The sign read: "Piffle Princess", which Yuri immediately recognized as the name of the store the girls at her lunch table had mentioned. Yuri reached the revolving doors at the entrance of the store huffing and puffing. She paused to catch her breath before she pushed on the doors and walked in.

The merchandise that was being sold inside nearly took Yuri's breath away again. It's beautiful, she thought, as she looked over to see a group of people gathered around a display of clear glass winged eggs. Another group of people carrying large rolls of fabric were lined up at a counter in the far corner of the store. From what she saw, it appeared to Yuri that the customers were waiting to get their cloth measured and cut. The cloth itself was marvelous, coming in all kinds of different colors, patterns, and textures. Yuri's eyes wandered around the store, taking in everything. There were so many fantastic displays, of large boxes labeled "Starting Kit", packs, of smaller boxes labeled accessories showing pictures of everything from jewelry to swords, and even more boxes, this time enormous in size, each labeled "Practice Layer for the Home". Located at the back of the store were four escalators, two going up and two going down, on which rode all sorts of different people carrying various small beautiful dolls on their arms and shoulders. Many carried cards in their hands, each labeled "Angel Card". Wow, Yuri thought wondrously, I don't know what this is all about, but after seeing the smiles on all these people's faces, I only know that whatever this may be, I want to become a part of it.

Yuri was broken from her dreamy trance suddenly as she was jostled from behind. "Hey!" she protested as she turned around, "Watch where—" Yuri gasped. A whole crowd of people had just forsaken what they were doing and were now making their way up the escalators. Unable to fight her way through back to the gates, Yuri was dragged up with the mini-stampede of people.

A few seconds later, she found herself in a large and airy room, where a sign labeled "Piffle Princess Official Minor Tournaments" hung overhead. Large circular tables that seemed to be lighted from within were scattered all over this second floor. Two egg-shaped winged chairs sat at opposite ends of the lighted tables. Some chairs were occupied by people wearing winged, clear pink visors, who were staring in deep concentration at the table in front of them where one to two of the dolls Yuri had seen, depending on the number of people sitting on the chairs, danced, fought, and practiced new battle moves.

The people who had rode the escalator with Yuri had made their way over to the largest group of onlookers standing around a table in the corner of the room. The crowd was so thick, Yuri couldn't see what lay beyond, so she made her way over and squeezed between two girls with dolls on their shoulders.

Yuri gasped at the sight that greeted her once she had made it into the barrier of people. Two people sat at one of the circular tables, both wearing the winged headsets. They were both females, one a middle-aged woman with oddly fashioned dark brown hair and sparkling blue eyes, and the other a girl who looked to be around Yuri's age, with long ebony hair tied back and beautifully arched dark eyebrows, framing cold emotionless violet eyes. The girl's skin color was a light mocha color, hinting that her ancestry was from elsewhere other than the U.S., possibly someplace in southeast Asia.

Out of nowhere a voice announced, "Ladies and Gentlemen! We welcome you to this exciting and unexpected treat we have in store for you today. Those of you lucky enough to be here today should be informed that this was entirely accidental, only when both our Deuces here made their presence be known, we realized that though they were here the same day by mere coincidence, this was a great opportunity for many of us to experience a great fight firsthand. These two brilliant Deuces are . . ."

The audience looked as if they were holding their breath. The blue-eyed woman looked happy while the violet-eyed girl continued to stare indifferently.

"Deus Misaki Suzuhara and Angel Hikaru against Deus Rya Shikari and Angel Artemis! The universal Champion against our own National Champion."

The man missed the violet-eyed girl mutter under her breath, "Tentative National Champion. How can there possibly be a National Champion when there hasn't even been a National Tournament?"

Oblivious to the girl's comment, the man continued, "They have never battled before. When they found themselves in the same place at the same time with their Angels, at a place with an abundance of Layers, we— er . . . they decided to have a battle to test each other's abilities. However, since this is not an official battle, the results will not count on anything, nor will they be released to anyone. But that doesn't mean we can't all have some fun! Here are the conditions: The first one to remove her opponent's Angel from battle wins. If time runs out before that, then the Deus who has acquired more damage points will lose. And now . . . ENTER THE ANGELS!"

"Angel Wings, please guide me and Hikaru! Angel Fall In!" Deus Misaki threw a red-clad doll with short pink hair and bright pink eyes onto the table. It passed through an invisible barrier before neatly landing on the table. Yuri stared in awe. Hikaru was so . . . amazing. There was no other way to describe her.

"The hunt has begun, let the moon shine upon our path, Artemis! Angel Fall In!" Deus Rya threw in a beautiful silvery violet-haired doll, her long hair tied in the same style as her Deus, but allowing two long silver locks loose on either side, framing a face that looked stern, but gentle at the same time. Her beautifully arched eyebrows, shaped like her Deus's, accented her dark amethyst eyes, many shades darker than those of her Deus. Artemis wore mostly leather and other tough materials made to look like armor. She had on a sleeveless short indigo tunic belted with a jewel studded belt complete with a sword sheath from which the silver hilt of a sword could be seen on the left side, and a quiver of arrows from the right. She carried a bow on her back and wore long navy bluish-violet pants. Bits of silver armor studded with amethysts and sapphires adorned her arms, legs, and middle. Long black gloves were visible underneath the armor on her arm. The doll's dark silvery-violet hair flew all around her as she flew through the barrier headfirst, then somersaulted slowly in the air with poise, before landing on her feet with great elegance, quickly unsheathing her sword with her right hand, and then resheathing it with her left, making a magnificent display of both speed and confidence. Yuri felt an excitement unlike any she had ever felt before.

"And now . . . ANGELIC FIGHT!"

The scene unfolding right in front of Yuri and the other onlookers' eyes as they watched was beyond spectacular. Hikaru rushed Artemis as soon as her feet hit the ground. Artemis dodged beautifully, and kicked Hikaru hard in the stomach, before placing herself just out of Hikaru's reach. Hikaru recovered quickly and came at Artemis again, swifter than anything. Artemis stood her ground, and did not even attempt to move away. Once Hikaru came within a few inches of Artemis, Artemis raised her arms as if preparing herself for the attack. Hikaru suddenly dropped down to the ground, on her knees, slightly levered herself up with her hands before extending out one leg and spin-kicking Artemis, tripping her and making her fall to the ground. Artemis' health counter went down just the tiniest fraction. She still had a lot more health left than Hikaru. She quickly jumped back up and stared at Hikaru with contempt.

Misaki continued to smile, while Rya still showed no emotion, though her eyes seemed to have cooled down a few more degrees, giving her a harsh look.

Hikaru came once more towards Artemis, so fast that she was simply a red blur on the Layer. Artemis did not move until the last minute, when she turned around so that her back was facing Hikaru. With more speed than even Hikaru, Artemis dropped to the ground on both hands, copying her opponent's previous move. But her kick was unique. Just as Hikaru was about to tackle Artemis and send her flying out, both of Artemis's legs shot out from behind her, catching Hikaru in the stomach. Obviously hurt, Hikaru fell backwards on her behind, doubled up in pain. Hikaru's health counter went down well below the halfway point.

Artemis walked over to Hikaru and stood over her fallen form, looking ready to deliver the final blow that would end it. Instead, Artemis simply waited. Slowly Hikaru stood up, her face grimaced in an expression of great pain. As soon as she looked ready, Artemis took hold of both her hands in her own. She started to spin, pulling Hikaru along, as she spun with her, like two little girls playing Ring-Around-the-Rosie. At first the two Angels were whirling around slowly, hand in hand. A few moments later, you could barely distinguish the difference between them. Red and indigo fused together to form a brilliant shade of spiraling violet. Hikaru and Artemis became one in a spectacular show of speed, grace, and nimbleness.

Misaki's smile faltered and was replaced by a look of confusion. Rya kept her face blank.

Suddenly Artemis let go, and both Angels went flying to the edges of the Layer, unable to stop because the momentum from the spin was so great. Unexpectedly, just as the two Angels neared the edge of the Layer and the health counters prepared to go down once they hit the ground, all the lights on the third story of the store flickered and went out. The two Deuses, and everyone surrounding them were left in total darkness.

"What happened?" asked someone fearfully.

"I don't know," answered another.

"The lights went out."

"Duh! That's why it's all black, right?"

"Ahem!" the voice of the announcer silenced everyone, as he strained to make his voice loud, seeing as how his microphone did not work anymore. "We are experiencing a technical difficulty. Our heartfelt apologies go out to you all. But since we do not expect for this to be cleared up for a couple of hours, we would advise you all to go home. In case you're wondering, this match between Deus Misaki Suzuhara and Deus Rya Shikari has been declared a tie. We thank you in advance for your cooperation, and we hope for our systems to be back up and running by tomorrow."

The crowed grumbled unhappily as they made their way to the escalators, climbing down them because they had stopped. Yuri was dragged down the escalators, and pushed out the revolving doors by the surging crown. She found herself outside, soaking wet in the pouring rain. Lightning flashed across the sky and thunder rumbled. Dark, ominous storm clouds moved in. Yuri started walking home, puzzling over the weather and going over the awesome battle she had just seen. What on earth? It was just sunny before I entered the store! Oh well, I better rush home now before Dad starts worrying too much. Speaking of which, that battle I just saw was amazing! Angelic Layer is so cool. I so have to convince Dad to let me buy my own Angel. I'll even pay for it myself!

The next day, Yuri found herself once again inside Piffle Princess. But this time, she was with her father, and her pockets were full of money to buy an Angel and Starter Kit with. At the store, she quickly picked out her Angel Egg and Starter Kit, which included an Angel Cord, Angel Computer, and other miscellaneous necessities, and placed them carefully in her cart, which she left with her father who had decided to wait near the entrance, watching his daughter with vigilance in case someone tried to hurt her, which did not seem very likely, but Yuri's dad was kind of a nutcase. Yuri then ran over to the cloth section and emptied the rest of her wallet on fancy and expensive leathers and silks. At the counter, she paid for it all, using up every last cent she had saved since her fifth birthday.

That night, after dinner, Yuri sat down with her Angel Egg, completely forgetting about her math homework, which was on the floor right in front of her. Not bothering to waste any of her precious time reading the instructions, Yuri went ahead and opened the Egg. A transparent slimy liquid spilled out all over her homework. Yuri let out a cry. What have I done? Yuri quickly took her math homework, ran to the bathroom and shook off any excess water, and then left it to dry on the counter. I'll do it later, she thought a bit guiltily. I should have time. Yuri ran back to her room and turned her attention to the Angel Egg. An Angel had fallen out when she had opened it. She carefully picked up the Angel and ran back to the bathroom to rinse off any remaining liquid, before drying it on a towel and running back to her room.

Yuri excitedly began tearing off the wrappings on all her packages. Okay, first she needs hair. Yuri looked through all her hair choices; there were just so many to pick from! After a while, Yuri's mind finally settled on cherry-blossom pink hair, like Hikaru's. Perfect, decided Yuri. She didn't bother to take out her scissors, instead she left the hair length untouched, all the way down to her Angel's waist. When Yuri finally set up the computer, she placed her Angel in between two metal rings on a stand. White light sealed in her Angel into a round cylinder, known as the Angel Scanner, and held it in place as it hovered in the air. The Angel computer came on and started listing personalized options. First Yuri chose the gender, most obviously female. Next came stats. After a moment's thought, Yuri decided on a middleweight with great offense. I want my Angel to be like Hikaru, and not. This is one way she'll be different. Yuri's emphasis on attack caused her Angel's defense to suffer greatly, and while her speed was less than average, it wasn't that bad. After a few more decisions, Yuri's Angel was completed. The final screen came up. Yuri looked at it and started thinking. A name for my Angel? Well it has to be special. Should I make it in English or Japanese? Finally, a half hour later, Yuri typed "Kokoro" into the name blank. May you always be true of heart, my dear Angel Kokoro, Yuri thought with a giggle. It did take me forever to come up with your name . . .

Kokoro opened her eyes, cherry-blossom pink, matching her hair, but one shade darker. Yuri squealed in delight before picking her up and dancing around the room with joy. Kokoro's eyes closed shut once she left the lighted plates, but Yuri was excited all the same. "My very own Angel!" she thought happily. "Wait till I show you to Kari-chan! She's my best friend already, though I've only been in school for a week or so, and she's a Deus too. She'll be happy to see you and I'm sure she'll help us get started playing Angelic Layer, together!"

At school the next day, Yuri showed her Angel to Kari at lunch. Kari was originally from Japan, like Yuri, but had brown hair and black eyes. She was very enthusiastic about Yuri's Angel, who was already dressed thanks to Yuri's staying up past four in the morning working on her outfit. "Welcome to the world of Angelic Layer, Yuri-chan!"

"Arigatou . . ." Yuri said shyly.

"What's her name?" asked Kari.

"Kokoro," Yuri replied.

"Cool. Would you like to see my Angel? We can go over to a Training Center after school together to practice if that's okay with you and I'll show you the ropes."

"Okay and okay." With a pang of guilt, Yuri vaguely remembered that she was supposed to stay after school with her math teacher, Ms. Ongko, while she did her homework from last night and made up for having fallen asleep during class, something Yuri had never been guilty of before. The homework had never been finished because Yuri's mind was too occupied with Angelic Layer. It had not helped that her worksheet was soaked with shock-absorbent liquid. But I can always do it later, Ms. Ongko is a nice enough teacher, I doubt she'll mind, thought Yuri. She quickly switched her thoughts over to Angelic Layer. "So can I see your Angel, Kari-chan?"

Kari took out her Angel in response, a blue-eyed blonde wearing a flowery pink sundress, and red bonnet. "Her name is Katrina," said Kari.

"She's pretty," said Yuri, looking at her appreciatively.

Neither Yuri, nor Kari saw another girl standing a few feet behind them, her back against a wall, eyeing Katrina with disgust. Just how does she expect that Angel to fight in a dress? thought the girl disdainfully, it's not exactly going to look attractive, at least not to most people when she tries to kick. The girl had dark skin and black hair, and looked almost normal . . . except for her eyes. They were a remarkable shade of dark-violet.

END BATTLE ONE