A Dragon's Tale
Volume Eight: Interlude Battle! Echo vs. Farah
Disclaimer: Angelic Layer is CLAMP's, the original characters are mine. I claim no credit for the pre-existing story points used as the starting point for A Dragon's Tale. By that same token, please don't claim any of my story points as your own. If you want to include something that belongs to me, just let me know and I'll probably be overjoyed to let you use it.
Author's Notes, Part One: This is a meanwhile, back at the ranch volume. A few days have passed since the fateful phone call, which, I promise, will be discussed. Without any further ado, let's get to the story! Read and review, and I'll see you at the bottom!
Shawn and Dean sat opposite each other. "Well, well," Shawn said, "Looks like you didn't lose after all."
Dean chuckled and tapped the side of his headset, deploying the wings. "Shut up. Let's go."
Shawn responded in like kind and bowed his head in mock reverence. "If you insist. After you."
Dean rolled his eyes. "I won't hold back, you know."
Shawn grinned, "I look forward to seeing exactly how much you've been holding back up until now."
The emcee raised her hand, "And now, for the final match of the tournament, Angel Echo versus Angel Farah! Angels to the layer!"
Shawn raised Echo and threw her into the layer, "Soar on the breath of a whispered song, Echo!" The small angel arced through the air, gracefully twisting to land with her feet together, her fingers interlocked but pointing up, head bowed, in the semblance of prayer.
"Fill the night with your Desert Requiem, Farah!" Farah quickly sailed through the air and landed sharply on one knee, then rose to her feet. She tightened her fighting gloves and took up a loose stance, visually similar to that of a boxer, but much more relaxed. Shawn looked up at Dean and winked, "Hey, Dean. This crowd sucks, doesn't it?"
Indeed the crowd was neither as enthusiastic nor as large as the finals warranted, but everyone present knew why. The most interesting angel had been mysteriously defeated, and until someone matched what Karsh had accomplished, enthusiasm would be lackluster at best.
Dean waved a hand dismissively, "Doesn't matter. I'm not worried about the crowd. On your guard!"
"Angelic… fight!"
Echo opened her stance and performed a few quick chops to warm up, before facing Farah and smiling.
Both angels kicked off the layer, sprinting towards each other. Echo crossed the middle of the layer and ducked underneath Farah's guard, delivering a quick spinning uppercut to her unprotected jaw. Farah's damage capacity dropped 10 percent.
Shawn grinned as the punch connected, "So you really weren't holding back after all, eh, Dean?"
Dean shrugged, "Not as such. Farah isn't a street fighter." Farah planted her feet, recovering quickly from Echo's uppercut. Shawn's eyes widened as he saw the next move, and Echo quickly attempted to jump backwards to widen the gap between them, but before she could break the close contact, Farah's arms wrapped tightly around her waist.
"She's a wrestler!" Farah threw her upper body backwards, performing a flawless suplex. Echo's head crashed against the layer and the crowd, now slightly interested, let out a collective gasp of pain. Echo's health meter dropped by 40 percent and a display appeared on Shawn's headset: "Warning: Heavy damage to neck joint. Additional impact will lead to likely breakdown of control equipment."
Echo kicked her legs forward, planting them on the layer and slipping through Farah's grip. She kicked off and backflipped over the prone Farah. Shawn muttered to himself, "Well, then. Can't take another hit like that, now can we, Echo?"
Farah quickly rose to her feet and lowered her stance, almost into a crouch, and began inching forward towards Echo. Closing the gap, Farah dove forward to tackle Echo to the ground. Echo quickly sidestepped the attack, delivering a downward chop to the back of Farah's neck, sending her crashing to the layer. Echo followed this with a punch to the back of Farah's head before bringing her right heel down onto Farah's unprotected back. Farah's health meter dropped by 60 percent.
Not giving Shawn a chance to widen the gap, Farah pushed off of the ground on all fours and tackled Echo to the layer. Pinned to the ground, Echo was helpless against the rain of punches that soon followed. The small angel struggled feebly to break free, but with her arms pinned to her side by Farah's knees, she wasn't strong enough. Shawn's mind raced as he watched his angel's damage meter grow smaller and smaller.
In a last-ditch effort, Echo kicked her legs upward and managed to hook her feet around Farah's neck. Pushing down with all of her might, Echo succeeded in pulling Farah away from her face enough to stop the barrage, but Dean quickly reacted and Farah began straining to pull herself forward enough to deliver the final blow. Shawn focused his entire mind on adding that extra ounce of power to Echo's legs that would pull Farah off of her, and, bit by bit, Echo gained ground.
Dean's mind raced. Shoot. Now what do I do? Of course her legs would be stronger than Farah's midsection…Wait a minute…Dean smiled.
If Shawn realized what Dean was smirking about, he was an instant too late. Farah violently extended her legs, performing a backflip, and slipped through Echo's feet. She latched onto Echo's leg, and swung with all of her body. The force of the swing lifted Echo from the ground and sent her sailing through the air. She passed over the edge of the layer, and the field on the edge of the layer shimmered.
"Layer out! Winner: Farah!" Farah bowed to the round of applause before exiting the layer.
Picking up Echo, Shawn smiled. "Well played. You're predictable, but I couldn't do anything to stop what you were planning."
Dean scratched the back of his head, grinning slightly. "Yeah, well…" He was interrupted by the announcer.
"Congratulations to both of you. As the first and second place winners in this tournament, Piffle Princess is pleased to present you with your prizes. Since you haven't won any official matches before this tournament, your Angel Card account hasn't been finalized, so you'll have to mail these in once you get your cards." Each of them received an envelope. Then the announcer turned to address those still gathered around the layer area. "In an effort to further reward those who consistently show skill on the layer, Piffle Princess has implemented a Silver and Gold Point system. These points can be accumulated by reaching the Finals of any store tournament. They can then be used towards purchasing exclusive equipment and modifications for your Angels. All of our previous tournament finalists' accounts will automatically be credited with their points. Thank you once again for your business, and we look forward to seeing your performances in two weeks."
Shawn's envelope contained a certificate for 100 Silver Points, and Dean's contained a certificate worth 100 Gold Points. Shawn smiled, "Well, that's pretty cool."
Dean nodded in agreement, "It's just too bad there isn't some sort of 'Makes your Angel work again' thing these could buy. We could give it to Serge."
The smiles faded from both their faces.
"Is he still at the hospital?"
"Yeah, he's been there since we left yesterday."
"Think we should go see how his mom's doing?"
"Think we should go see how he's holding up?"
"Yeah, let's go."
End of Volume 8
Author's Notes 2: The hospital visit used to go here, but I changed my mind because it was really difficult to integrate it into the chapter with minimal awkwardness. So we got to see some of the supporting cast's potential here. I see bright things in the future for Dean and Shawn.
Volume 9 will answer some questions and create some new ones. Look forward to it!