Here's part three. Not much action (sorry to spoil it already) but an
interesting plot advancement. Thanx again SOOOO Much to Liyian-chan
again for beta-reading and fixing all my spelling mistakes .
Enjoy all!
Part Three
"What the hell do you mean sold out?!! We had reservations!"
Tim's mother was furious after being informed by the ditsy, long haired brunette behind the counter that they had been bumped off of their flight.
"I'm sorry ma'am, but we called your hotel room last night and no one picked up, so we naturally assumed you were giving us permission to move your flight to a later time."
Too hung over to notice the flaw in the airline's logic, Tim's mother blurted out: "Well our flight had better goddamn be free! First Class! And no crappy peanuts for a snack!"
"I'll see what I can do ma'am" the attendant said calmly, typing something seemingly random into her computer screen. By this time the two of them had created quite a scene. The entire terminal had been hushed and every single head was turned in their direction. The only sound that was heard afterwards was the bubble gum Tim had been chewing popping all over his face. This received several laughs from the people immediately around him, but Tim was too busy listening to his CD player to be embarrassed by that or by his mother's outbursts.
His mother came over from the desk to tell him and his father that they would have to stay an extra hour and a half before the next flight back to New York would board. Tim's father wasted no time falling back asleep, already deep into dream land, muttering "Its jus' the luck o' the Irish, lassy. 'ow bout we celebrate with some Guinness!"
His mother chuckled, but Tim merely rolled his eyes and stood up.
"Where are you going, honey?" his mother asked
"Just to the news stand down there." He responded, motioning to the Hudson News store at the end of the terminal. "Might pick something up to read."
"Oh God! Your starting up reading now?!! What is this world coming too?!"
"Don't have a heart attack ma'. We'll take it slow for today O.K.? I'm just going to get a magazine or two. Lots of pictures!" Tim said emphasizing the latter part to put his mother at ease. It was true he didn't usually like to read that much, especially after he started Angelic Layer. Most of the reading he had been doing in the past year came out of Angelic Layer strategy guides, all of which turned out to be useless, and profile sheets on upcoming opponents.
He wasn't the best student in school, though not a bad one. His favorite subjects were Japanese and Computer Programming, naturally, since those were what he enjoyed the most. The occasional book spiked his interest in English, and math came as second nature. Sports were not his forte, though. He had played travel baseball for about 3 years, but found that his teammates were growing stronger and faster while he stayed at about the same level. He dropped sports as soon as he fell in love with Angelic Layer. Now he just stayed in shape by visiting the gym three times a week.
He walked down the terminal, pausing at the airport arcade, looking longingly at a Dance Dance Revolution machine that had been set up. That had been his favorite arcade game before AL had taken over his life. It would have been nice to try it out again, but the arcade was closed for another hour, so he walked on.
The newsstand was open 24 hours, one of the few in the airport, so it was already busy with customers. Literature wasn't the only thing sold in the small, crowded shop. A variety of Las Vegas T-shirts and shiny watches seemed to call Tim's name as he squeezed his way to the back of the store. He looked over the selection of magazines and pulled out the latest Shonen Jump, PC Gamer, and EGM, then made his way to the register.
His CD player was still running when he handed over his stack to the clerk. He barely heard the cashier when she said "You got money kid?"
"Hmm?" Tim responded, completely oblivious. "Oh yea, here," he said and plopped down a twenty.
"Typical rich, spaced out, gamer kid..." the cashier muttered, but Tim didn't hear since the song he was listening to was climaxing at that moment. However, he did hear when a high pitched voice beside him piped in "Put me on his bill!" before the cashier had handed back Tim's change. Tim looked over and down to find Chris with a pile of reading taller than he was, topped with at least 10 chocolate bars. Tim nearly jumped out of his pants when he saw the short, nerdy looking kid. Speechless, he resorted to staring with his mouth hanging open.
"Yo!" Chris said after (thankfully) paying with his own money. He scowled "Close your mouth, you might catch flies with it like that."
"A – Ar – Are you-"
"Yea. Flying back in a little over an hour. My families over there." Chris said motioning to a group near a large window surveying the runways. In two seats were an older couple with their heads buried in the newest edition of USA Today. There was a square column in front of them, and leaning on it was a tall, muscular boy that Tim recognized as Chris's brother. He was talking to a girl who was frantically pressing him for an autograph, which he didn't seem very interested in giving. His gaze wavered and he met Tim's eyes. For a second he looked surprised, but then they both nodded in confirmation and he adjusted his hat. He took his leave of the girl and walked over to meet them. Tim's heart pounded. He wasn't sure quite what to say to someone whom he both respected and feared, noting the kid's gigantic arms. It didn't quite help when Chris ran out into the corridor chirping, "Hey bro, I found him for ya. Told you he'd be here!"
The boy walked over, and though Tim was tall he found himself looking up into the, young adult's face. It was awkward standing face to face with someone he had beaten in public, marginally, but still had stood above on the podium. Even more awkward when Tim realized that in real life the guy could snap him at the knees with a thought.
He extended an arm and Tim flinched, but looked down to the open palm of his outstretched hand. Tentatively, he took it and they shook. For someone with such huge biceps, it was a wonder how gentle he could be in not cracking every bone in Tim's fingers, Tim thought. "I didn't get a chance to congratulate after our match. The TV reporters hurried you away too quickly," he laughed, and Tim gave a nervous chuckle himself. "I think you've already met Chris, or at least he said you had last night. My name's Rob, nice to meet you for real"
"Yea, you too," Tim said with a little more confidence. "So, you coming to Internationals?"
"'Course. Gotta root on my bro's new idol" he grinned, and Chris blushed. "Have you decided on a second yet?"
"Yea, my neighbor Christie. She's been following Japanese AL for a lot longer than I have and knows my Angel almost even better than I do. She got me through regionals even though she couldn't be there, so we should make a good team at this tourney."
"Sounds good, kid. I wish ya luck. I'll be watchin'," he said and walked back to where he had been talking with a the girl.
Tim hadn't realized until that point that he had been shaking slightly throughout the conversation. Chris realized it too and of course had to say something about it. "Ha ha, scared of my bro? That's funny, he couldn't hurt a mouse." And all though Tim believed him somewhat, he decided in his mind he would never try to cross him no matter what.
They started walking down to the other end of the terminal, Chris deciding that Tim was better company than his family for the time being. The terminal had emptied out somewhat as the plane Tim's family had originally been scheduled for boarded and left, so Chris and Tim were able to take two seats in front of the big window that sat facing the runway. They talked for some time about video games and music, until Chris pulled out one of the magazines from his bag and started to read it. Tim wondered how he had fitted that previously huge stack in there, but decided not to worry about it.
Chris flipped through the skinny thing until he came to the last two pages and began to read. Tim thought he would save his for the plane flight, so asked, "Watcha got there?"
"Oh! I ordered this off the internet. It's an advanced copy of the program they're gunna hand out for the AL internationals. It's got a write up on all the angels and Deus's, even you!" he said, shoving the magazine into Tim's lap. He flipped through it, glancing at the pages until he came to the last two where Chris had been reading. There, side by side, were blown up pictures of both Hikaru and Wolfwind. To the side of the graphics were the articles Chris had mentioned. From what he had seen, the author had spent the least time on these last two and the least were written about them. However, on Wolfwind's side, paragraphs of extra info had been scribbled by hand, obviously Chris's work.
"Looks like we're the under dogs, huh?" Tim stated, noting the extreme lack of information on him and his Angel. "Yea," Chris said "But that's gunna make it even sweeter when you win it, right?!" Tim smiled. "Yea, right." And that seemed to please Chris. In his mind though, he doubted weather it would be possible. The other long shot, at least according to the article, was Hikaru, whom he had lost too the night before. It seemed odd, though, that the two Japanese runners up were getting more publicity than the two time champion. Something was fishy about whoever wrote it.
He handed it back to Chris, thanking him and turned around as he thought he heard a familiar voice. Sure enough, the Japanese crowed he had encountered the night before was walking down the terminal. This time, however, two adults were with them. One of which was the previous champion in Japan, or so Tim had read. The other was a man who didn't need write up for Tim to know who he was. Chief Icchan, the father of Angelic Layer.
Both Chris and Tim wore the exact admiring expression as the group walked by. The first two ignored them, but out of the crowed popped Misaki.
"Wolf-kun!" she yelled and surprisingly hugged Tim. "Are you leaving for New York today too?!"
"Uh, yea. I guess we're on the same flight then?"
Another boy came up beside her whom Tim recognized as the boy who had scolded the little girl the night before. He didn't say anything, and he didn't have any facial expression. Tim guessed he was shy and spoke first. "Ohayo" he said and the boy nodded. Misaki took to introducing them since neither seemed like talking. "Wolf-kun, this is my boyfriend, Kotarou-chan. Kotarou, Wolf-kun."
Another two walked up and Misaki introduced them as Oojiro and Tamayo. Tim noted they were holding hands and made a mental note on the connection. The group came around to sit in front of Chris and Tim, naturally on the floor like in Japan. Tim thought it rude to be sitting above them and so took to the floor and Chris followed. They sat in a circle and talked about whatever came to their mind, though Tim not as much as he translated the conversation to Chris. After some time, an announcement on the PA system announced that their flight would be boarding first class A-C sections momentarily. Tim stood up, as did the rest of the group and they filed over to the boarding ramp.
Tim knew his parents trusted him enough to get on the plane and to get a seat by himself, so he didn't bother telling them where he was. He saw them near the back of the line and waved, but they didn't see him. Chris and Tim were first on the plane, and Tim had to pose as Chris's big brother to get him on without a parent. The plane was empty of course. On both side of the aisle were rows of seats, three at a time. Chris chose a window seat near the back of first class and Tim sat next to him. A minute later, Oojiro, Tamayo, Misaki, and Kotarou boarded and walked back to the adjacent row. The four of them could not sit in three seats, and so, with Tim's permission, the boy named Oojiro sat next to them in the aisle seat.
As Chris's family boarded, he waved and they nodded and sat two rows up from them. Chris then buried himself in another magazine for the remainder of the flight. Tim still wasn't quite interested in reading, and so polished off a chapter of Naruto before he fell into a discussion with the Japanese boy. From what he learned from him, the woman named Shuuko was walking on artificial legs, and that the Angelic Layer project had been started as an experiment for some sort of nerve disease treatment. He also learned that she had been champion for the first three years that Angelic Layer had been around in Japan, and that she had only ever been defeated by Hikaru and Misaki, who just happened to be her daughter.
Tim found this extremely interesting, and wondered what other technologies Japan might be developing that would make the world a better place. Video games and Anime were good enough for him, but this was extraordinary. He also learned that Oojiro himself had only even been defeated by Shuuko's angel Athena and by Hikaru. When Tim asked to see his Angel, he gladly brought it out of his coat pocket to show off. In exchange, Tim brought out Wolfwind.
The similarities between the two were striking. Their hair was almost cut exactly the same way, but where Wolfwinds colors were predominantly black, Wizard, as Oojiro called him, wore different shades of blue. On a quick observation, Tim noted Wizard was also a speed type, like Hikaru and Wolfwind. Oojiro seemed just as interested in Tim's Angel, and they reluctantly exchanged back.
"It's built quite well. I look forward to fighting you" he said and smiled.
The plane landed in New York a few hours later. As Tim walked out the door his cell phone rang and he flipped it open.
"Hello?"
"TIM!!! Geez, I've been trying to reach you for the last hour! Where are you?"
"I'm just getting off the plane now, whatcha need Chris?"
Chris, who was still consumed by his magazine, looked up "Huh?" he asked lazily.
"No, not you," Tim whispered. "Her, Christie"
"Well, I got some good news, but it's also bad news." She said cautiously
"Yea? What is it?"
"Well, you know that summer internship I applied for with AL Co USA?"
"Yea, did you get it?!"
"YES!!! But that's the bad thing! They want me on duty for the tournament in the viewing room which means-"
"Which means you can't be my second..."
Christie was in hysterics, but calmed down a little. "Yea... exactly..."
Tim was disappointed. He had hoped Christie would be able to second him. She was an Angelic Layer genius and it was going to be tougher without having her backing him up. On the other hand, knowing someone on the inside wasn't a bad trade off.
"That's fine, Chris. I'll find someone. Don't worry about it, just do a good job at whatever they want you to do."
Christie let out a sigh of relief. "Oh good, I knew you'd understand! Thank you soooooo much Tim, mwah!"
"Yea don't mention it, ill see ya later then."
Chris, the boy, had tuned into the conversation for a bit and since Christie talked so ridiculously loud, Chris had heard everything.
"Oooooo," he mocked, "Timie's got a girrrrrrlfriend!"
Tim gave a threatening glance, and that was all that was needed to shut Chris up. However, it did give him an idea. Since the paper work had already been submitted with Christie's name as the second, he would have to find a replacement that was just like her or else withdraw from the tournament. Besides, it seemed like the kid was obsessed over Wolfwind anyway, so he might as well give it a shot.
"Hey, kid, your goin' to the tournament right?" Tim asked, already knowing the answer.
"Are you kidding?! Of course!" Chris erupted.
"You ever consider being a second?"
Chris stopped in his tracks. "No, I mean, for who?"
Tim stayed silent as the answer passed between them in silence.
"You mean, for you?!! At the internationals?! That would be AWESOME!!!!" he yelled, jumping up and down.
"Jeeez, keep it down kid. Quit making a scene. Before you know it, people are going to want your autograph, trust me, you don't want that," but it was too late. Already a crowd had formed around them, pressing in with hats, books, bags all armed with sharpies and all wearing shirts with Wolfwind on it. It was lucky for Tim to get out of that alive, but Chris was enjoying himself as people crowded around and he boasted he was the new second.
The Japanese group followed them off, and a few stopped to give autographs. Tim had almost forgotten how big Angelic Layer had become in America, especially in New York with the festivities about to occur. News reporters flashed cameras directly into their faces as they got off the plane, but luckily no TV reporters were there searching for interviews.
About an hour later Tim was in the back of his parents car, driving to the suburbs of the city where their house was. He had given Misaki, and Oojiro his cell number to call whenever, and Chris had exchanged his email address before departing his own way. Again, suddenly, Tim was hit with a server case of jet lag and promptly fell asleep. He did not even wake when his parents pulled up to the house and carried him to his bed. The only response he gave was "Come on dad, we have to catch Lucky!". He slept for the rest of the afternoon and evening, and didn't even wake with the next days with the sun.
End Part Three
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Part Three
"What the hell do you mean sold out?!! We had reservations!"
Tim's mother was furious after being informed by the ditsy, long haired brunette behind the counter that they had been bumped off of their flight.
"I'm sorry ma'am, but we called your hotel room last night and no one picked up, so we naturally assumed you were giving us permission to move your flight to a later time."
Too hung over to notice the flaw in the airline's logic, Tim's mother blurted out: "Well our flight had better goddamn be free! First Class! And no crappy peanuts for a snack!"
"I'll see what I can do ma'am" the attendant said calmly, typing something seemingly random into her computer screen. By this time the two of them had created quite a scene. The entire terminal had been hushed and every single head was turned in their direction. The only sound that was heard afterwards was the bubble gum Tim had been chewing popping all over his face. This received several laughs from the people immediately around him, but Tim was too busy listening to his CD player to be embarrassed by that or by his mother's outbursts.
His mother came over from the desk to tell him and his father that they would have to stay an extra hour and a half before the next flight back to New York would board. Tim's father wasted no time falling back asleep, already deep into dream land, muttering "Its jus' the luck o' the Irish, lassy. 'ow bout we celebrate with some Guinness!"
His mother chuckled, but Tim merely rolled his eyes and stood up.
"Where are you going, honey?" his mother asked
"Just to the news stand down there." He responded, motioning to the Hudson News store at the end of the terminal. "Might pick something up to read."
"Oh God! Your starting up reading now?!! What is this world coming too?!"
"Don't have a heart attack ma'. We'll take it slow for today O.K.? I'm just going to get a magazine or two. Lots of pictures!" Tim said emphasizing the latter part to put his mother at ease. It was true he didn't usually like to read that much, especially after he started Angelic Layer. Most of the reading he had been doing in the past year came out of Angelic Layer strategy guides, all of which turned out to be useless, and profile sheets on upcoming opponents.
He wasn't the best student in school, though not a bad one. His favorite subjects were Japanese and Computer Programming, naturally, since those were what he enjoyed the most. The occasional book spiked his interest in English, and math came as second nature. Sports were not his forte, though. He had played travel baseball for about 3 years, but found that his teammates were growing stronger and faster while he stayed at about the same level. He dropped sports as soon as he fell in love with Angelic Layer. Now he just stayed in shape by visiting the gym three times a week.
He walked down the terminal, pausing at the airport arcade, looking longingly at a Dance Dance Revolution machine that had been set up. That had been his favorite arcade game before AL had taken over his life. It would have been nice to try it out again, but the arcade was closed for another hour, so he walked on.
The newsstand was open 24 hours, one of the few in the airport, so it was already busy with customers. Literature wasn't the only thing sold in the small, crowded shop. A variety of Las Vegas T-shirts and shiny watches seemed to call Tim's name as he squeezed his way to the back of the store. He looked over the selection of magazines and pulled out the latest Shonen Jump, PC Gamer, and EGM, then made his way to the register.
His CD player was still running when he handed over his stack to the clerk. He barely heard the cashier when she said "You got money kid?"
"Hmm?" Tim responded, completely oblivious. "Oh yea, here," he said and plopped down a twenty.
"Typical rich, spaced out, gamer kid..." the cashier muttered, but Tim didn't hear since the song he was listening to was climaxing at that moment. However, he did hear when a high pitched voice beside him piped in "Put me on his bill!" before the cashier had handed back Tim's change. Tim looked over and down to find Chris with a pile of reading taller than he was, topped with at least 10 chocolate bars. Tim nearly jumped out of his pants when he saw the short, nerdy looking kid. Speechless, he resorted to staring with his mouth hanging open.
"Yo!" Chris said after (thankfully) paying with his own money. He scowled "Close your mouth, you might catch flies with it like that."
"A – Ar – Are you-"
"Yea. Flying back in a little over an hour. My families over there." Chris said motioning to a group near a large window surveying the runways. In two seats were an older couple with their heads buried in the newest edition of USA Today. There was a square column in front of them, and leaning on it was a tall, muscular boy that Tim recognized as Chris's brother. He was talking to a girl who was frantically pressing him for an autograph, which he didn't seem very interested in giving. His gaze wavered and he met Tim's eyes. For a second he looked surprised, but then they both nodded in confirmation and he adjusted his hat. He took his leave of the girl and walked over to meet them. Tim's heart pounded. He wasn't sure quite what to say to someone whom he both respected and feared, noting the kid's gigantic arms. It didn't quite help when Chris ran out into the corridor chirping, "Hey bro, I found him for ya. Told you he'd be here!"
The boy walked over, and though Tim was tall he found himself looking up into the, young adult's face. It was awkward standing face to face with someone he had beaten in public, marginally, but still had stood above on the podium. Even more awkward when Tim realized that in real life the guy could snap him at the knees with a thought.
He extended an arm and Tim flinched, but looked down to the open palm of his outstretched hand. Tentatively, he took it and they shook. For someone with such huge biceps, it was a wonder how gentle he could be in not cracking every bone in Tim's fingers, Tim thought. "I didn't get a chance to congratulate after our match. The TV reporters hurried you away too quickly," he laughed, and Tim gave a nervous chuckle himself. "I think you've already met Chris, or at least he said you had last night. My name's Rob, nice to meet you for real"
"Yea, you too," Tim said with a little more confidence. "So, you coming to Internationals?"
"'Course. Gotta root on my bro's new idol" he grinned, and Chris blushed. "Have you decided on a second yet?"
"Yea, my neighbor Christie. She's been following Japanese AL for a lot longer than I have and knows my Angel almost even better than I do. She got me through regionals even though she couldn't be there, so we should make a good team at this tourney."
"Sounds good, kid. I wish ya luck. I'll be watchin'," he said and walked back to where he had been talking with a the girl.
Tim hadn't realized until that point that he had been shaking slightly throughout the conversation. Chris realized it too and of course had to say something about it. "Ha ha, scared of my bro? That's funny, he couldn't hurt a mouse." And all though Tim believed him somewhat, he decided in his mind he would never try to cross him no matter what.
They started walking down to the other end of the terminal, Chris deciding that Tim was better company than his family for the time being. The terminal had emptied out somewhat as the plane Tim's family had originally been scheduled for boarded and left, so Chris and Tim were able to take two seats in front of the big window that sat facing the runway. They talked for some time about video games and music, until Chris pulled out one of the magazines from his bag and started to read it. Tim wondered how he had fitted that previously huge stack in there, but decided not to worry about it.
Chris flipped through the skinny thing until he came to the last two pages and began to read. Tim thought he would save his for the plane flight, so asked, "Watcha got there?"
"Oh! I ordered this off the internet. It's an advanced copy of the program they're gunna hand out for the AL internationals. It's got a write up on all the angels and Deus's, even you!" he said, shoving the magazine into Tim's lap. He flipped through it, glancing at the pages until he came to the last two where Chris had been reading. There, side by side, were blown up pictures of both Hikaru and Wolfwind. To the side of the graphics were the articles Chris had mentioned. From what he had seen, the author had spent the least time on these last two and the least were written about them. However, on Wolfwind's side, paragraphs of extra info had been scribbled by hand, obviously Chris's work.
"Looks like we're the under dogs, huh?" Tim stated, noting the extreme lack of information on him and his Angel. "Yea," Chris said "But that's gunna make it even sweeter when you win it, right?!" Tim smiled. "Yea, right." And that seemed to please Chris. In his mind though, he doubted weather it would be possible. The other long shot, at least according to the article, was Hikaru, whom he had lost too the night before. It seemed odd, though, that the two Japanese runners up were getting more publicity than the two time champion. Something was fishy about whoever wrote it.
He handed it back to Chris, thanking him and turned around as he thought he heard a familiar voice. Sure enough, the Japanese crowed he had encountered the night before was walking down the terminal. This time, however, two adults were with them. One of which was the previous champion in Japan, or so Tim had read. The other was a man who didn't need write up for Tim to know who he was. Chief Icchan, the father of Angelic Layer.
Both Chris and Tim wore the exact admiring expression as the group walked by. The first two ignored them, but out of the crowed popped Misaki.
"Wolf-kun!" she yelled and surprisingly hugged Tim. "Are you leaving for New York today too?!"
"Uh, yea. I guess we're on the same flight then?"
Another boy came up beside her whom Tim recognized as the boy who had scolded the little girl the night before. He didn't say anything, and he didn't have any facial expression. Tim guessed he was shy and spoke first. "Ohayo" he said and the boy nodded. Misaki took to introducing them since neither seemed like talking. "Wolf-kun, this is my boyfriend, Kotarou-chan. Kotarou, Wolf-kun."
Another two walked up and Misaki introduced them as Oojiro and Tamayo. Tim noted they were holding hands and made a mental note on the connection. The group came around to sit in front of Chris and Tim, naturally on the floor like in Japan. Tim thought it rude to be sitting above them and so took to the floor and Chris followed. They sat in a circle and talked about whatever came to their mind, though Tim not as much as he translated the conversation to Chris. After some time, an announcement on the PA system announced that their flight would be boarding first class A-C sections momentarily. Tim stood up, as did the rest of the group and they filed over to the boarding ramp.
Tim knew his parents trusted him enough to get on the plane and to get a seat by himself, so he didn't bother telling them where he was. He saw them near the back of the line and waved, but they didn't see him. Chris and Tim were first on the plane, and Tim had to pose as Chris's big brother to get him on without a parent. The plane was empty of course. On both side of the aisle were rows of seats, three at a time. Chris chose a window seat near the back of first class and Tim sat next to him. A minute later, Oojiro, Tamayo, Misaki, and Kotarou boarded and walked back to the adjacent row. The four of them could not sit in three seats, and so, with Tim's permission, the boy named Oojiro sat next to them in the aisle seat.
As Chris's family boarded, he waved and they nodded and sat two rows up from them. Chris then buried himself in another magazine for the remainder of the flight. Tim still wasn't quite interested in reading, and so polished off a chapter of Naruto before he fell into a discussion with the Japanese boy. From what he learned from him, the woman named Shuuko was walking on artificial legs, and that the Angelic Layer project had been started as an experiment for some sort of nerve disease treatment. He also learned that she had been champion for the first three years that Angelic Layer had been around in Japan, and that she had only ever been defeated by Hikaru and Misaki, who just happened to be her daughter.
Tim found this extremely interesting, and wondered what other technologies Japan might be developing that would make the world a better place. Video games and Anime were good enough for him, but this was extraordinary. He also learned that Oojiro himself had only even been defeated by Shuuko's angel Athena and by Hikaru. When Tim asked to see his Angel, he gladly brought it out of his coat pocket to show off. In exchange, Tim brought out Wolfwind.
The similarities between the two were striking. Their hair was almost cut exactly the same way, but where Wolfwinds colors were predominantly black, Wizard, as Oojiro called him, wore different shades of blue. On a quick observation, Tim noted Wizard was also a speed type, like Hikaru and Wolfwind. Oojiro seemed just as interested in Tim's Angel, and they reluctantly exchanged back.
"It's built quite well. I look forward to fighting you" he said and smiled.
The plane landed in New York a few hours later. As Tim walked out the door his cell phone rang and he flipped it open.
"Hello?"
"TIM!!! Geez, I've been trying to reach you for the last hour! Where are you?"
"I'm just getting off the plane now, whatcha need Chris?"
Chris, who was still consumed by his magazine, looked up "Huh?" he asked lazily.
"No, not you," Tim whispered. "Her, Christie"
"Well, I got some good news, but it's also bad news." She said cautiously
"Yea? What is it?"
"Well, you know that summer internship I applied for with AL Co USA?"
"Yea, did you get it?!"
"YES!!! But that's the bad thing! They want me on duty for the tournament in the viewing room which means-"
"Which means you can't be my second..."
Christie was in hysterics, but calmed down a little. "Yea... exactly..."
Tim was disappointed. He had hoped Christie would be able to second him. She was an Angelic Layer genius and it was going to be tougher without having her backing him up. On the other hand, knowing someone on the inside wasn't a bad trade off.
"That's fine, Chris. I'll find someone. Don't worry about it, just do a good job at whatever they want you to do."
Christie let out a sigh of relief. "Oh good, I knew you'd understand! Thank you soooooo much Tim, mwah!"
"Yea don't mention it, ill see ya later then."
Chris, the boy, had tuned into the conversation for a bit and since Christie talked so ridiculously loud, Chris had heard everything.
"Oooooo," he mocked, "Timie's got a girrrrrrlfriend!"
Tim gave a threatening glance, and that was all that was needed to shut Chris up. However, it did give him an idea. Since the paper work had already been submitted with Christie's name as the second, he would have to find a replacement that was just like her or else withdraw from the tournament. Besides, it seemed like the kid was obsessed over Wolfwind anyway, so he might as well give it a shot.
"Hey, kid, your goin' to the tournament right?" Tim asked, already knowing the answer.
"Are you kidding?! Of course!" Chris erupted.
"You ever consider being a second?"
Chris stopped in his tracks. "No, I mean, for who?"
Tim stayed silent as the answer passed between them in silence.
"You mean, for you?!! At the internationals?! That would be AWESOME!!!!" he yelled, jumping up and down.
"Jeeez, keep it down kid. Quit making a scene. Before you know it, people are going to want your autograph, trust me, you don't want that," but it was too late. Already a crowd had formed around them, pressing in with hats, books, bags all armed with sharpies and all wearing shirts with Wolfwind on it. It was lucky for Tim to get out of that alive, but Chris was enjoying himself as people crowded around and he boasted he was the new second.
The Japanese group followed them off, and a few stopped to give autographs. Tim had almost forgotten how big Angelic Layer had become in America, especially in New York with the festivities about to occur. News reporters flashed cameras directly into their faces as they got off the plane, but luckily no TV reporters were there searching for interviews.
About an hour later Tim was in the back of his parents car, driving to the suburbs of the city where their house was. He had given Misaki, and Oojiro his cell number to call whenever, and Chris had exchanged his email address before departing his own way. Again, suddenly, Tim was hit with a server case of jet lag and promptly fell asleep. He did not even wake when his parents pulled up to the house and carried him to his bed. The only response he gave was "Come on dad, we have to catch Lucky!". He slept for the rest of the afternoon and evening, and didn't even wake with the next days with the sun.
End Part Three
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