A Dragon's Tale

Volume 5: The Calm Before the Storm

Disclaimer: As cool as it would be, the rights to Angelic Layer don't belong to me. They belong to that super-cool group CLAMP, who would never sue a fanboy like me. Right? Incidentally, everything in this story that doesn't belong to someone else is my property.

Author's Notes: Alrighty, well, after a bit of a mix-up with the title of last volume, I guess I'm going to have to be more careful. Still not quite clear on how that happened, but anyways! Double the fightingses in this chapter, which should be fun for all! Read and review, please, and I'll see you at the bottom!

Serge looked across the layer at his opponent, a young girl probably half his age. She didn't seem like the kind of person that would have decided to take anything so seriously by her age, but she hadn't withdrawn from the match like the first girl, so she had to be at least somewhat dedicated. Her angel, Lily, was a small speed-type, with a simple bodysuit made of medium-weight fabric. Serge was quietly surprised the girl had done so well making the armor, given her age.

The emcee checked both contestants to be sure they were ready, and then raised the mike to her mouth, "Well, then! Without any further ado, let's get this match started! Angels to the Layer!" The small crowd that had gathered around the layer cheered, and the girl threw her angel into the Layer.

"Time to shine! Let's dance together, Lily!" Her angel landed in the layer and struck a pose, right foot pointed out and to the right, left foot resting on its toes behind the right. Her right hand was open, covering her face, and her left supported her right elbow. There was a round of applause, and then it was Serge's turn.

"Show the power of a dragon's fury, Karsh, King of Dragons!" Karsh landed on the layer, and took up a relaxed stance, left foot pointing at Lily, the right a pace back, pointing out to the side. His left arm extended down his side, palm up, and the right crossed his chest, hovering slightly above his left pauldron.Let's see, Serge thought, Lily is pretty lightweight, so a good hit should score a ringout, but that means she'll be fast…He nodded to himself and chose his elements for the fight.

The emcee glanced sidelong at both angels, and then dropped her arm. "Angelic… fight!"

"Cleanse evil with your holy wind, Ethelinde, Saint of Wind!" A tornado swirled around Karsh, the occasional gaps of wind letting out beams of light. The whirlwind dissipated, leaving Karsh transformed once more. He had once more sprouted wings, only these were almost insect-like, glowing with a faint green radiance. His armor had turned green tinged with white, and all of the sharp edges had smoothed out, giving the armor an aerodynamic appearance. His damage capacity dropped by 20 percent.

Serge sat back, and Karsh mouthed the word, "Come." Lily's Deus swallowed hard and Lily broke out into a sprint, charging directly at the motionless Karsh. She threw a high punch, aiming for the face, but Karsh sidestepped and crouched low, grabbing her arm and spinning, flipping Lily over his back and slamming her onto the layer. Her damage meter fell 25 percent, and Serge smiled to himself; this was going to be too easy.

Lily spun from her position on the ground and caught Serge off guard, launching herself upward, right foot outstretched. Karsh's dodge was fast, but too late. The kick connected, and Karsh lifted off of the ground. Taking advantage, Lily spun, still in mid-air, and delivered a kick to the base of Karsh's neck, taking him to the ground.

Serge's eyes widened a bit, and Karsh's health dropped 15 percent. The added defense Light afforded had been a good idea, after all. Time to get serious, Serge told himself, and launched his offensive. Dodging a spinning kick as he rose, Karsh dashed to the side and spun about, connecting a short jab with Lily's ribs. A second jab followed the first, and then another. He finished the combo with a quick kick to the side of the head, and Lily sailed through the air, barely catching her hand on the ground in time to prevent a ring-out. Lily's deus bit her lip as she watched her health bar drop by another 30 percent.

"Damn," he muttered, and Karsh broke into a run, intent on finishing the fight quickly. Lily had just risen to her feet when Karsh started his roundhouse, and brought her arm up just in time to deflect the blow. Karsh's kick went wild, leaving his back completely open to counter-attack, so Lily delivered a flurry of blows, slowly driving Karsh to the edge of the Layer.

"Oh, no you don't!" Serge yelled, and Karsh vaulted into the air, aided by a flap of his fluorescent wings, catching Lily in mid-punch. Her momentum, finding nothing against which to connect, pushed her forward, where she was balanced precariously on the edge of the layer. Serge decided it was time to try that idea he had had earlier in the week. "Now, Ethelinde, cleanse the Layer of all that is evil! Spirit Wind!" Karsh planted his feet on the layer behind Lily, and his wings began flapping, agitating the air around the angel.

The air slowly gathered to Karsh's outstretched palm, and he released it in Lily's direction. The ball of wind soared through the air, slamming into Lily's back and tossing her out of the layer. "Ring out! Karsh wins!" The crowd, which had steadily grown as more people heard about the fight, erupted into cheers and applause.

Dean's voice rose slightly above the din of the crowd from his place behind Serge, "Great job, Serge! That was totally awesome!"

Shawn joined in, "Really, Serge. Too cool!"

Serge grinned and lifted Karsh off the layer. He removed his headset and stood, "I was worried that wasn't going to work, and I was just going to look like an idiot."

"Well, too late for that, but good thing all the same!" Dean and Shawn's voices united for that brief sentence, and all three burst into laughter.

The PA clicked, and after a short tone, the crowds throughout the store quieted down. "This concludes the second round of our Angelic Layer tournament! We will now proceed to the third round. Will numbers 3, 10, 16, 42, 54, and 60 please report to the three tournament Layers. Again, numbers 3, 10, 16, 42, 54, and 60 please report to the tournament Layers."

Serge raised an eyebrow, "Well, that was fast." He walked over to the emcee and nodded. "54"

The emcee smiled and said, "You're going to be on the same layer you just got off of. Karsh will be fighting Angel Nariko, deus Meryl Summer." Serge nodded and took a seat, donning the headset once more and deploying the wings on either side. Meryl was in the class below Serge, and he had been friends with her when he was in the 8th grade. They had lost touch after he graduated to High School, but it seemed very likely that she would attend his school after she graduated in a few months. Meryl was relatively short, only 5'4", but she was an athletic girl, playing soccer and softball almost year-round. She had relatively short blonde hair that was almost always bunched up in a ponytail, and her green eyes radiated her zest for life.

Meryl took a seat across from him and smiled, "It's been a while, Serge."

Serge nodded and smiled as she put on the headset. "Touching reunion, isn't it?"

"Just play the game."

"Yes, ma'am. Show the power of a dragon's fury, Karsh, King of Dragons!" Serge threw Karsh once more into the layer. Flipping deftly through the air, Karsh landed on his right knee and fist in a kneeling position, left arm resting on his left thigh. He then rose and assumed the same fighting position as he used in his fight with Lily.

Meryl raised her angel and shouted, "Unleash the fury of a hurricane! Nariko, Thunder Goddess!"

Nariko was lightweight angel, with an overbearing emphasis on speed. With slightly above average attack, and dismal defense, Alicia relied on flurries of small attacks to chip away at an enemy's health, rather than finishing a fight in a few blows. She had long, dark hair tied back by a dark cloth hachimaki, with a few strands of hair arcing over the headband, the ends of which rested on her forehead. The rest of her hair was bunched into a ponytail that fell down to the small of her back, somewhat like that of Sonata. She wore a white and purple kenpogi with leather straps running in a criss-cross pattern on her shoulders, and a black sash to tie it closed. Her forearms were covered by fighting kote, with a large piece of leather and wooden armor guarding the forearm, and a smaller section covering the back of her hand. She wore black hakama, and black kyahan, as well.

Nariko landed upright, her left foot flat, and on the ball of her right. She paused to adjust her kote, and then took up a standard stance, with a low center of gravity and left arm half-extended, palm open to the side. Her right hand was balled up in a fist above her midsection, and she held most of her weight on her rear foot.

"Alright, then! The first bout of round three is about to begin with Karsh fighting Nariko! Angelic… fight!"

As soon as the emcee had finished talking, Nariko broke into a sprint straight at Karsh. A few paces away, she jumped into a spinning kick, trying to prevent Karsh from unlocking his hidden powers. Serge had planned for this, however, and timed the dodge perfectly. Karsh ducked in time to prevent Nariko from changing directions, and connected with a punch while she was still in mid-air. Nariko's health meter dropped by 5 percent. Meryl's frowned as Nariko hit the ground and muttered, "So much for that."

"Let your fury wash over all who oppose you, Xiuhcoatl, the magma serpent!" Serge shouted. Karsh smashed his fists together in front of him, and then, with what seemed like a great deal of effort, pulled them apart, each fist now pointing outwards. Karsh's skin hardened and changed hues to a dull black with veins of red running through it. Massive clouds of ash bound in the shape of wings hovered an inch from his back, and his armor turned obsidian. The first two bars and half of the third on Karsh's health meter turned from their red hue to a golden color.

Meryl smirked, "Fire and Earth, huh? As if your angel wasn't slow enough!" Nariko rolled to her feet and dashed at Karsh once more. Striking from below, she threw an uppercut, followed by a flurry of body blows. Karsh didn't retaliate, but rather took a defensive stance, arms crossed in an X in front of his torso, head tucked down behind his fists.

Nariko kept up the flood of blows, slowly chipping away at Karsh's health. Two minutes passed, and she finally dropped his health to 110 percent. Ultimately, she had to inflict another 20.1 percent damage and then avoid being attacked for the rest of the fight, and she would win. Another three minutes passed and Karsh was officially losing the fight.

"What's wrong? You aren't even going to try?" Meryl taunted Serge.

Serge shrugged, and Karsh took a swing at Nariko. She deftly dodged, performing a backwards handspring to put some distance between them. Magma streaked through the air after Karsh's fist and fell to the layer. The next three minutes consisted of Nariko dancing about Karsh, dodging slow but powerful attacks and irritating him with counters now and then.

Meryl smiled. "Seems like you can't hit me. Might want to go ahead and give up! Imagine that, I'm going to defeat the King of Dragons without breaking a sweat."

A minute later, the clock switched to counting the seconds, and Serge smirked. "Would you like to give up, now?"

Meryl laughed, and Nariko with her, still dancing about the blows. "You're so funny Serge. That's why I like you."

Serge nodded. "Funny indeed. Well, things might be getting a bit warmer pretty soon here. River of flames, consume all that stands in my way! Xiuhcoatl, Burning Tomb!" Karsh placed his hands together in front of him, with all his fingers pressed flat against each other. Then, he folded his two index fingers into his palms, resting their third knuckles and tips against each other. From this position, he laid his hands on the layer, and the magma that had followed his attacks grew, bonding together and dividing. Ten seconds passed, and half of the layer was covered, slowly surrounding Nariko.

Another ten seconds, and Nariko had nowhere to run. The lava reached her feet, and Karsh lifted his hands. Instantly, the lava hardened into rock, rooting Nariko firmly to the ground. "Remember, I gave you the chance to surrender." Karsh crossed the distance to Nariko, the rock crunching slightly underneath his boots. He delivered a crushing uppercut just as the clock reached zero. The hit connected with enough force to break the volcanic rock binding Nariko to the ground. She sailed through the air and landed a foot away.

A display rolled across the small screen above the layer, "Calculating damage…" Both Serge and Meryl watched in their headsets, biting their lips. Karsh only had 40 percent health left; his attack had to cause her to lose more than 55 percent for him to win. It had been a pretty big gamble, and Serge kicked himself for making the mistake.

The display reverted to the standard combat status screen, and Nariko's health bar steadily dropped. It stopped, and a gasp ran through the crowd. The emcee raised her free hand, and brought her microphone up to her mouth.

End of Volume 5

Author's Notes, futatsu: I know, I know. Evil, isn't it? I hope everyone liked the fights, it took me a while to work through them, though. :falls over: I'll get Volume 6 up before the 10th, so look forward to it!
Mata ne,
Karsh