Kino rests at the edge of the arena entrance, slash, waiting room exit, just staring into the crowds. Makynzi is in the boy's hands, and even off the layer, the angel looks full of life and ready to fight. The crowd is relatively quiet outside, for now. Relative quiet is loud enough to still create a soft hum here in the waiting room as people talk quietly too eachother concerning the last match, this tournament, the match to come...food...and life in general. The crowds are waiting tentatively for this, the second match...and while the first match is over, Kino wasn't paying attention. He chuckles to himself as he makes himself mentally prepared for his duel, "Keiichi and I were saying that it'd be nice to duel someone you know to start off with...and sure enough Makynzi-san...you get to duel Zankoku-san." He smiles.

Keiichi makes his way into the waiting room hurriedly, having gone off to pray for help before the matches! He'd managed to slide to a halt and produce Zankoku from his bag before glancing about. "Am I late?" He seemed to be panting a bit, most likely due to the distance he ran to get back here. In truth, he didn't even know who he was going to fight yet, and managed to not hear Kino due to his hurried state.

Kino smiles as Keiichi shows up, "No friend, you are just in time for your duel. Shall we?" He offers to usher Keiichi out to the arena, Makynzi in hand. "Are you okay then? I hope you weren't just in the bathroom throwing up. Everything will be okay once you start, like we were saying earlier." The crowd would start cheering as soon as they see the Deuses making their way out of the waiting room and towards the egg-shaped chairs that rise up off the ground to float ten feet above the layers. Yes, this is most definitely a bit different from the Piffle Princess...but not entirely.

Keiichi walks out into the arena with Kino, and falters a moment with all the bright lights and loudness of the crowd. Oh no no, Keiichi did not like this much attention. He took a deep breath to steady himself and made his way towards the layer and chairs along with his escort, who he know assumes is going to be his opponent. Familiarity is good, "Kino-kun, I'm guessing you're my first match up. Let's give them all a good show."

Kino chuckles and places a hand on Keiichi's shoulder as he starts to falter. Not only are there lights and sounds...there's also a tv camera pointing right in their faces for a close up. Kino nods his head and holds Makynzi up with his free hand. "Hai, I am your first duel. We will give them a great show." As the pair make it to the layer, the announcer starts up. "Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, children of all ages. We gather here today for one thing...and one thing only, ANGELIC LAYER FIIIIIIGHT!" The crowd roars into life going nuts. When it quiets down a bit, the announcer continues, "This is the second match of the Tokyo Regional Qualifying Tournament for the Kanto games. In the east corner, a talented young Deus who has taken second place in the past two tournaments held in the regions, the one, the only, the Jade Ninja, with his angel Makynzi, the little jade ninja." Seems Kino fights here using an alias. The crowd cheers to life as Makyzni is held up. Kino looks over to Keiichi and mouths, 'Good luck.' Kino walks over to the egg-shaped bowl chair and sits down. Placing the visor over his head and pressing the little button on its side, the wings fly up. Makynzi is thrown out as Kino yells out, "The earth is your element, know it well Makynzi!" The angel comes to life as it passes through the layer's holographic walls and lands on his feet. Makynzi brushes off some dust from its gui and gets ready. Kino eyes Keiichi with a nod with one eye, and reads statistics on Makynzi with the other...from the visor that is. The TV's pan into the layer to show Makynzi...and at that moment, his stats come onto the screen above the layers..

Keiichi closes his eyes and takes a deep breath to calm his nerves a bit. His grip on Zankoku tightened slightly before he exhaled and opened his eyes. His eyes were set with a determined look as he offered a nod, and then made his way towards the chair. The announcer pipes up again, "And in the west corner, a dues who is making his first appearance at this tournament, Misaka Keiichi and his angel Zankoku! What kind of fight can we expect here today?" The crowd was obviously loud, but not quite as much as they had been for the more famous Jade Ninja. Keiichi hopped into his egglike chair, and slipped the headset on his head before activating it. The chair then rose into position, and he drew his arm back before moving to throw the zombie angel towards the layer. "Reach beyond the bounds of death and fight with everything you have, Zankoku!" Zankoku spiraled his way past the barrier, his form becoming enshrouded in dark electrical tendrils of energy. "Angel, fall-in!" and down he went towards the layer's surface, landing heavily upon the ground of the reactor that had taken form there. Both fists were holding him up while croucned on one knee, and slowly the zombie's eyes opened with a brilliant flash of red. Steady and slow he rose to his feet as those dark tendrils of energy seeped into his form, no longer visible. Normally the zombie stood slightly hunched over, but for some reason he seemed different today, perhaps because of the dues's current will to win.

The annoucner calls out again, "Today our angels will be battling it out in the Reactor, it should be an interesting battle! Let's begin, Angelic Fight!" Zankoku's stats appeared on the readout above the layer for all to see at that moment..

Kino sits back into the chair and shakes his head, speaking to Makynzi as the chairs rocket up into the air. "Here we go partner..." Starting things off right, Makynzi bows to Zankoku and then straightens up. The fans love this and the announcer states, "What an angel that Makynzi, showing respect to his opponent." Kino grins and looks up to Keiichi, nodding to show that he's coming. On the layer, Makynzi begins walking forward stoically. At the last minute, he leans back, draws up his leg, and twists. His foot stabs out for a side kick to try and bat Zankoku away. Things are starting off easy.

Keiichi bows his head slightly and takes one last deep breath before shifting his attention fully to the battle and his opponent. Zankoku returned the bow with a slight nod of his own, a small grin forming on his features. This zombie was always ready for a fight, and so he took up a defensive stance. The approach of the ninja gave him plenty of time to prepare a defense, and when that kick came in it met with crossed arms rippling with black tendrils of energy that seemed to return a bit of a shock to the attacker. The result was negligable, and Zankoku's form twisted into a spinning motion, sending a round house towards the ninja's form.

Kino grunts at the tendrils of energy. It's a fun grunt though, he's smiling. Makynzi is on the move again as Zankoku spins and sends out a kick his way. The little ninja begins some fancy footwork, starting a kata of sorts...a speed kata in fact. The ninja continues to perform the series of moves after the kata has drawn him away from the dead angel's form. It is a kata and it must be completed.

Keiichi smiles while looking over to Kino, he was really into it this time. Zankoku meanwhile kept in motion as the ninja slipped away, following quickly after him. This time a quick series of small punches were sent at various points of Makynzi's form, though they were more to distract than anything else. The zombie's leg came up and delivered a well executed hook kick afterwards, displaying a bit of speed in the fact.

Kino studies Keiichi and is glad to see that the boy is smiling. He calls out, at the same time as the punches are coming at Makynzi mind you, "See, I told you, it is just like back in the Piffle Princess...once the duel starts that is." When the main attack comes for Makynzi, the ninja bounds high into the air. The low green glow that hangs over the layer due to the reactor bathes Makynzi warmly. Hanging their for a moment, Makynzi can hear the crowd cheering...and then he's back to moving, the wind whipping past the angel. Makynzi falls back to the layer floor with increasing speed. One knee tucks into his chest, while the other leg sticks out in a front kick.

Keiichi nods and his smile turns to a slight grin as the ninja comes in for the attack. The floor at Zankoku's feet swirls with dark energy that slips up and surrounds his form, and just at the last moment he shifts his stance to roll with the blow, forcing minimal damage from it. He continued his rolling motion to come up behind the ninja, that dark energy pooling down into his hand and forming a blade of sorts. It was then the zombie decided to attempt jabbing it into the ninja's back.

Kino nods to the display of dark energy around the zombie. He's seen it before though, so he has an idea of what is going to come at him next. When Zankoku rolls around Makynzi and springs up to throw out an energy covered fist, Makynzi simply vanishes. He's gone, and he doesn't even leave an after image he's that fast. The announcer goes crazy, "What an amazing series of attacks and defenses from both angels. These Deuses are giving us a great fight here tonight, but so far Makynzi's showing his signature speed to keep himself out of harms way." Makynzi is gone for a little while longer...but then he can be seen sitting on the side of the layer, typing away jokingly at one of those computer screens for the reactor.

Keiichi chuckles at the ninja's antics and nods to himself. Zankoku shifts and takes a few steps back and falls into a defensive stance. It was always hard to keep up with that ninja, so he figured he'd let him come back on his own for now.

So, yeah, remember what Kino said earlier about not messing around...well, so that was kind of a lie. He apparently messes around even during tournaments...but even his messing around is serious. Having taken some time to think, the ninja bounces off from his position and tilts its head to stare at Zankoku. The crowd chuckles lightly too at the antics...but then grows silent as soon as Makynzi moves in to attack. The angel's leg does the same thing that it did earlier...it is brought up, twisted, and shoved out in an attempt to kick the zombie off the layer.

Keiichi tilts his head slightly as he watches the action, nodding again as the attack comes in. Zankoku deftly moves out of the way of the kick, and hops back a few steps where he takes up his defensive position again. He wasn't done resting yet.

On the layer, Makynzi stands, leg still stretched out like Neo from the Matrix. He twists, keeping his leg up until he is facing Zankoku head on again. The foot lowers and Makynzi starts in for a run. Like the road runner, the little ninja speeds right up to in front of the zombie and suddenly pauses...and stops...*meep meep* Makynzi throws out a hook punch.

What was this? Zankoku just stood there and took the blow without even flinching, though there was obvious damage on his form. The facial expression of the zombie angel remained a grin as his eyes flashed red, and he struck out with a quick front kick towards the ninja's shin. Sadly, Zankoku wasn't as silly as the ninja.

The announcer pipes in, "Makynzi just struck a resounding blow against Zankoku, but he didn't even move! This is getting exciting folks!"

On the layer, Makynzi pulls back as his punch lands...dents the zombie a little, but doesn't seem to really phase him. Instead of being beaten down...Makynzi finds that Zankoku is good enough to try and still beat Makynzi down. The little jade ninja goes into one more of those speed katas and finishes it up once more. At the end of it, he gives Zankoku a little bow again. Kino meanwhile smiles broadly towards Keiichi.

Keiichi grins back towards Kino, thoroughly enjoying the match at the moment, so much in fact that he completely phased out the crowd and lights. On the layer, Zankoku keeps going and closes in quickly upon the ninja after returning the bow with another nod. Dark tendrils of energy snaked about his arm, and another energy covered fist came lashing out towards Makynzi. Indeed, the zombie was still quite capable of fighting, and still grinning his wide grin.

It's the dark energy that causes Makynzi to know the large attack is coming. Kino nods and the little angel suddenly falls into the layer. The crowd goes silent for a moment...until the announcer states..."We're seeing one of Makynzi's finest tactics here...the earth meld! You see it first on live TV folks!" The crowd begins to cheer again. A moment later, Makynzi comes up out of the layer quickly. He comes up in a flash, being quite close to Zankoku...and with his jumping out of the grave...something that Zankoku knows all about, both of Makynzi's hands shoot up to smack the zombie backwards.

On the layer, Zankoku is quicker than one might imagine though, and easily slides out of the way of the attack, during which he shifts into another spin of sorts. This is another roundhouse, plain and simple. Hopefully it'd be more effective than the last one though.

Kino nods approvingly as Zankoku shows some of that speed that was seen in their last match together. One attack is traded in for another. This time however, as the roundhouse comes for him, a crack in the reactor floor opens...spilling out radiant green light all over the place...and harsh billowy smoke. From the crack comes the jade tiger figurine that Zankoku has seen Makynzi summon before. The summoned statue leaps high into the air, its own jade color reflecting that of the reactor's. Flying into the air to meet the tiger is Makynzi. As the pair come together, there's a gasp as the cameras finally manage to pan to the speedy devils. Makynzi and his jade mount rocket back to the reactor core in a series of jade flashes. Whipping itself around, the jade ninja crushes several of the computer monitors and equipment. The angel angles his ride towards Zankoku then, leaving behind a mess of sparking wires. Perhaps it was all that radiation...or perhaps it is just how the summoning works...but as the ninja gets close to the zombie, the tiger statue crumbles to dust. Makynzi is sent flying, arms out, in an awkward uppercut to Zankoku's chest.

Keiichi tilts his head slightly as the familiar attack begins, it was quite flashy wasn't it? On the layer, Zankoku shifted slightly and was far too familiar with this tactic. His movements were such that the blow barely grazed across his form, and as the ninja passed by the zombie lifted his knee with quite a bit of force to try and knock the speedy green flash out of his momentum.

Luckily, the laws of physics do not apply to animes. You see, Makynzi makes contact but does it in such a way so as to not get hit himself. Now, however he can change his momentum from one way to another in midair...well, let's just tack it up to the usual anime style! Heh, either that or he knows how to use his gui to change course in air...either way, the attack misses him. After his hit, he falls backwards and comes to a halt. He holds his hands up into the air and waves. Kino looks over to Keiichi and yells, "I'm sorry friend...but I must see if I can make this work in a tournament situation." He pauses and Makynzi's hands ball up into a fists. "I've never performed such a maneuver with an opponent...so I hope it works, because I want to send a message to the other Deuses. I want to qualify for the Kanto Tournament." The announcer hears only specks of the conversation and begins speaking himself, "It appears that Kino and Makynzi are...yes, looking to try and finish this match here and now. Kino is saying that this will be a message to the other Deuses." Makynzi's fists come down to Makynzi's sides and he gets ready to try this trick. Kino's right leg is drawn up, only to be shoved back down to the layer floor. There's a crack. As soon as the foot lands, the angel is off, running forwards for Zankoku. As Makynzi travels, not only does Kino remain fully concentrated, but the floor under his feet also begins to crack. Just as the reactor floor opens up under the zombie, discharging green light and broken jagged concrete blocks from the hole, Makynzi's hand shoots out like a knife, attempting to pierce that armor of Zankoku's.

And pierce they do, and under normal circumstances that might have been the end. Every blow landed and punched right through Zankoku's frame, sending black sparks out from the open holes. The zombie's glowing eyes dimmed a moment, and it seemed as if all was lost. Keiichi's eyes widened slightly with the onslaught, knowing full well the end was near, he could only smile and shake his head slightly. "Ouch." After the attack ended, the zombie just stood there for a moment before his eyes flared again. What was this? He was still standing and ready to fight? The announcer calls, "This is almost unbelievable, Zankoku is still standing after that torrent of blows! How is this possible?" Grim determination was the only answer really, Keiichi really didn't want to lose despite himself. And so the zombie lurched into motion again, this time dark tendrils of energy covered his entire form, lashing out into the layer around him. The reator and electrical components all reacted negatively to it of course, and the place seemed like it was about to blow really. The zombie slowly staggered towards the ninja, in an attempt to lock him in a bear hug and seep all that negative energy into his form. It was a last ditch effort, as there wasn't much left in him to give and he was already pushing past his limits.

Kino claps his hands as the maneuver works....well, it only partially does. Everything strikes, but Zankoku refuses to go down. It is then that Kino nods, "Well done Keiichi-san," he says mainly to himself. The announcer continues to go on about how Zankoku is still standing...though Kino knows that it is only a matter of time. The shambling zombie moves in with those tendrils and...actually grasps Makynzi. It seems like the attack might actually work, but then the ninja disappears into a dark swirl of fog. For Kino, he knows that Makynzi is safe...but to the crowd, Makynzi was just pulverized into smoke and ashes. The screen above the layers though still shows Makynzi as being alive...and as people start realizing that he got out, the murmurs start. A moment later, another fog layer appears and Makynzi steps out of it, undamaged. He stares at Keiichi and just waits.

Keiichi chuckles to himself, it was a good match but it was over. Zankoku didn't have anything left really, but he'd struggle until the last. The black energy within the layer died away slowly, and Zankoku shifted his form to face the ninja. His expression was that same old grin he always wore, and he began a staggering shamble towards Makynzi. Could he possibly go on? Not really, he was pushed well past his means, but he tried anyway. Those staggered steps brought him just outside of striking range of the ninja, and finally the lights in his eyes went out. The strain was too much, and he couldn't stand any longer. To the ground he fell, lifeless. The match was over.

The annoucer calls out, "It looks like Zankoku is finally out of steam, he's no longer moving. Makynzi wins!" And with that the crowd erupts into that familiar cheer! If nothing else, it was a pretty light show in the end right?

Makynzi just stands there as Zankoku comes closer. He's decided that he won't attack any more. That last major attack was the one to finish the job...and he's going to prove it by not doing anything else. Makynzi almost takes a step to dodge the next attack...but instead the zombie falls to the ground. Kino sweatdrops lightly. "And there, I thought you would keep going Keiichi-san. That was quite a good duel. I think we gave them that show that they wanted to see." The announcer goes on to speak, but Kino is bringing his chair down to grab Makynzi. As the chair stops, he gets out, snags Makynzi, and then heads over to where Keiichi will come down.

Keiichi smiles and lowers the chair down towards the layer, to retrieve the quite severely damaged Zankoku. Looks like he'd be needing to fix him up in a bit. "Well Zankoku. . . you did your best, that's all I can ask." The chair then shifted backwards and to the ground, where he departed and met with Kino. A smile given, and his hand was offered for a handshake as was befitting two opponents who'd just finished a well fought battle. "I would have kept going, if he had anything left in him. His power system is shot though, should be fun to repair." He offered a grin, "I do believe we gave them quite a show, and that new attack of yours is quite awesome I must say."

Kino chuckles, "I am just glad it worked my friend. I hadn't practiced it with someone else yet. You were giving Makynzi and I a run for our money." Kino doesn't bow or anything to show respect, but the fact that he's waiting for Keiichi after the match shows that he thought it was a good match. Kino begins heading towards the waiting room once Keiichi follows. "Good luck in your next battles." As he makes it to the waiting room, Kino keeps walking...done for now.

Keiichi nods and follows along towards the waiting room, "I'm sure it'll be quite useful in your next matches. Good luck to you as well, Kino-kun. I'll be sure to watch." He grinned again, and watched the boy leave. Even though he lost, he still had a feeling of satisfaction. The kind of feeling you get when you know there was nothing else you could do and you did your best.