The only sound that seems to come from the waiting room is by far a sound
that has to have been heard so many times before. The soft tap of someone with a
leg that won't stay still no matter what he tries. Juro is sitting on one of the
benches holding his angel as he looks her over making sure he didn't forget
something before the match. His leg making the same tap tap again and again as
it bounces up and down over his nerves. He was a showman he would be fine once
he got out in front of people but, no great stage man ever could keep himself or
herself from having jitters before a show right?
On the exact opposite side was a man apparenly not all that comfortable with
being in the spotlights: or at least not much of a showman. Not tapping his
feet, but just sitting there with a blank stare on his face. Or at least, it
probably was a blank stare: not that one could see past the half mask. Coloured
completely in white and with some black stripes on it to create a face on it
like a mask. Dressed completely in black, the man just seems to be staring into
nowhere with that one eye that was visable. His hands were hidden under the
black cloak he wore, and the black hair did not really give much away about this
person. The only thing that really was noticable was that this person was both
as straight as well as as /long/ as a pole. He was quite the giant for Japanese
people's doing, so most people had already asumed that he came from Europe
instead from Japan. "..." Not a word was spilled into the room where the tension
could almost be tasted... but then, with all the sweat: you could most surely
smell it!
Then finally a lady comes around the corner from the Arena's side, walking in
with a white clipboard on her arm and a neat Angelic Layer Staff uniform. "Layer
Phantom and Maeno Juro? You are up. Mister Phantom, west corner. Mister Juro,
east corner." The lady doublechecked her clipboard and nodded, looking back up
to see who would move.
Movement then indeed came, from the man in the cloaked robes. The person nodded
silently at the woman and stared around quickly to see who his opponent was.
There was nobody in the waitingroom whom he had recognized. "Hmm." A hum then
escaped his lips from underneath the half mask as he started to walk forth
towards the Arena area.
Juro feels his leg stop as someone comes in and lets him take his mind off
things again. His eyes drawn to the lady a moment as he nods as he finds out he
has the east. He slowly starts to stand up as he notices his opponent as his
nerves finally are taken care of. His eyes watching the tall person a moment
thinking odd he is fighting someone he has no idea about but, then again you
didn't needs to know names or faces in a duel. It was the angels that did the
hard parts so there dues only served there own part. "Thank you." He notices the
only sound from Mister Phantom a moment as he starts to make his way toward the
way out to his side of the larger layer.
A resounding beep echoes through the arena, giving a quick alert of the
impending match even before the egg-shaped chair lowers the announcer down
towards the layer from somewhere above. "Sorry for the delay, ladies and
gentlemen!" He says as he tucks a microphone up behind his sunglasses. "The next
match of the Tokyo City Tournament is a match between first-timers. Neither have
played in a major touranment before!" The spotlight swings over to shine on the
Eastern corner of the arena floor. "East corner: A boy known for magic,
illusions and slight-of-hand. Will his magic lead him to victory here today? I
present to you, Maeno Juro! Magic Juro!" The crowd cheers, a couple of people
whistle, and a few of those who had seen some of Juro's street magic start to
nudge each other and point. "West corner: A young man, known throughout Tokyo
for the strange and spooky things that seem to happen on the layer when he
plays." The announcer wiggles his fingers, and the audience gives a resounding,
spooky sounding 'ooooo'. "I present to you, Oi Ranmaru! The Layer Phantom!" A
second spotlight swings over towards the Western corner of the arena floor.
"Let's give them both a great welcome." Clapping, shouts, and cheers follow for
both of the duelists.
The Layer Phantom, a name given him by people he barely knew, but a name he had
taken on and was now even reflecting by the clothing he wore. Perhaps found
silly by some, but at least this way he did not have to see all those people he
was just able to hear. Slowly his feet took him forth into the direction of the
egg formed chairs. He always wondered who designed those things, because they
were a hell on your back. Yes, silly things to think about: keeping his mind off
of the real things that he needed to worry about.
As he found himself before the chair, his fingers spread out and he seemed to
feel over the fabric on which he would plant his body. It seemed different from
the ones at the piffle princess. Apparenly appeased by this, he settled down
quickly, moving one hand to move his cloak upwards before he sat down: for a
moment allowing people to see his pale hands: his arms hidden by a black long
sleeved shirt. "Hmmm." Another hum escaped his lips as his butt came down upon
the fabric and settled there most comfortable. His angels was nowhere in sight
as of yet... He just waited for the crane to take him up to the height of the
layer.
As Juro gets some cheers it surprises himself slightly as he wasn't expecting
that but, he does notice some of the people he had done tricks for standing in
the stands. His face drawing back in to a smile as he slowly makes his way to
his own seat. His eyes always seem to be going over each person in the crowd as
he takes it all in. His angel resting in a little pouch at his hip as he turns
and sits down in the chair. His body leaning back as he holds on tightly having
a feeling the movements to come might be a little odd to say the least. His eyes
watching his opponent a moment as he starts to think he has heard that name
before but, that was one odd outfit to be wearing even if it was for a duel.
"Ladies and gentlemen, your duelists for this match!" The announcer repeats once
both of the young men have taken their places. "And now... the layer this duel
will be played on is..." There is a dramatic pause as the layer begins to
flicker betwee sceneries. One after another, they blurr by until finally it
settles onto a small grove and a fountain. "It's the Fountain of Youth!" There
is some clapping from the crowd, and then things settle down as the announcer
raises his hand. "You all know what comes next! Entry Angel!"
Entry angel... right. A little shock was felt as the pneumatic system activated
and took his seat up into the air and settled him right in front of the huge
layer. "..." His mind went: wow. The layer was huge compared to the ones at the
piffle princess and at his own home. "Hmm." Another hum fled his lips as his one
visable eye touched down upon Juro's presence. His opponent of tonight.
Something inside of him wished to make this battle as fast as possible, away
from these people who were all cheering without truly knowing him. It all felt
so impersonal, yet at the same time quite flattering. "Entry angel... right." He
whispered to himself. There seemed to be some movement underneath the cloak as
he took hold of Kamui: an action quite invisable to others. His fingers wrapped
around the lithe body of his angel, holding it quite gently. "Illuminate the
darkness with your soul of bonds!" He suddenly calls out as his cloak is thrown
to the side and Kamui suddenly gets flung towards the layer. "Kamui, show us
your light! Fallin!" The black feline angel shoots forth..
It's head first as it touched the bright light of the layer, immediatly forcing
itself to open it's crimson red eyes, the rest of it's body following quite
quickly. It's fur ruffled violently by the speed it had been thrown! It's limbs
seemed to twitch for a moment before explosively coming to live. Stretching out
completely before making a beautiful double flip forth: finished by landing
perfectly on both knees and one fist, it's other arm set before it's face. It's
tail lashed violently for a moment before the angel actually seemed to 'bother'
to get up and take some paces back to his side of the layer.
Kamui's head cocked slightly to the left, it's lips reveiling one tooth,
allowing for the angel to give quite the smug look. But this look was not
directed at any opposing angel, it was directed at Juro himself. It's eyes
illuminated with that red hue, it was almost demonic: if not, at least feral.
As the order to fallin in Juro stops looking around and puts his attention back
on the here and now. His hands moving to his little bag as he pulls out his
angel and smiles. His eyes watching the other angel fallin and start to take a
rather moving pose as his eyes stare right back. His face wearing a slight smile
as his heart started to beat faster telling him of his need for this moment. He
leans forward a little as the seat had finished moving upwards making his
stomach lurch a moment. "I guess we should start as well." He takes his hand
holding his angel moving the black and white angel a little to show her toward
the layer. "Time to put on show, take the stage Rino, Fallin!" His arm tossing
forward to send his angel flipping head over heels toward the layer.
The angel flings in one turn after the next waiting for that moment of the layer
taking her. Her mismatched eyes of blue and red open with a snap as she is feed
energy from the layer. Her body spinning as she pulls her arms inwards turning
in a spiral as she uses the movement to help her body turn one last time as she
hits the layer skidding on her feet a moment before she gives a final bow with a
huge grin of her own. Her final movement making the bells on her outfit jingle
one time before she comes back up glancing around the layer a moment.
Well, there is at least one voice out in the crowd that is not solely
impersonal. It isn't exactly a 'voice' either. What comes is a whistle that
carries among the cheers in a familiar tune. Then, with both angels having taken
their place on the layer, the announcer raises his hand up towards the
scoreboard and yells, "Angelic Fight!" And from that moment, the timer begins,
and the outcome of the match is solely up to the two combatants and their
angels.
On the layer, Kamui slowly lowers it's gaze upon the angel before him. Black and
white in color, it was easily standing out amidst this grass field clearing.
It's eyes slowly shift towards the fountain. "Nya..." It let out a meow, a quite
satisfied one at that before aiming it's eyes back at Rino. "Nya!" It let out a
meow once more, this time a bit more pressing towards a growl. And then... the
angel disappeared. The only thing that proved that Kamui had indeed been
standing there on the grass were some scorchmarks.
It was from above that the angel suddenly appeared. Slowing down as it had to
shift it's direction to try and hit Rino. "Nyaaa~!" it let out a battlecry of
some sorts, claws extended and apparently aiming it's attack at Rino's head.
It's legs had been used to jump up, so were straight after it's body, making the
angel look as if it was still standing up. No horizontal stance here. This was
no lunge, this was just attacking from above!
Ranmaru in turn started looking away from the layer, staring at the direction of
a whistle which he had heard. It had sounded familiar and heartwarming,
something he had recognized for sure. "Mikage... ai." He spoke softly. "She is
cheering for me." He finished the sentence and aimed his head back to the layer.
"Let's do this."
It seems Juro is enjoying the moment as he leans forward in his seat watching
the layer as the other angel vanishes in a single drawn out moment. His eyes
having to keep on his angel as his heart is pounding so fast he fears he will
lose in seconds. His angel starting to move again the moment that the feline
vanishes only to reappear coming down toward her. The black and white seems like
a flash as she puts both arms up and does something new catching the coming
attack by it's wrist as she spins using her turn to deflect his blow to give a
slight mark on her shoulder but, nothing else.
"Guess we need to put on a show proper, Rino show him you ring trick. " The
angel reaching down in to the bag at her hip as she pulls out two small metal
rings that click and expand to a larger size. There metal rims gleam in the
light as she starts to spin one on each wrist as she starts to rush forward and
swings her arm around using the sharp edge of the ring as simple slash.
On the layer, Kamui jumped away from the opposing angel the moment it had hit
and been let go off.
'Weapons?' Ranmaru seemed to frown behind his mask as the opposing angel
presented two cirlcle-formed blades and started comming forth with them. His own
angel, after just having gotten away from the 'clown' the angel found itself
facing said blades quite closely though, as Rino started waving them around.
However, it seemed that Kamui was quite apt at ignoring these blades as it used
the fact that he was so close to the angel to: when the situation occurred,
suddenly shoot forth one arm. It's claws were found to be shining a bright light
for some reason. And to the crowd it was quite clear, if they were watching the
scoreboard, that it suddenly seemed to show white noise before setting it's
status for both angels to 'calculating damage' for some reason. A green aura had
shown itself between Kamui and Rino for a moment, as apparently Kamui had hit
the opposing angel...
The Layer Phantom in turn shifted it's eyes as he looked over the Deus' visors,
trying to make sense of it all. "Hmm." Apparently he recognized it however, as a
little smirk appeared on the non masked side of his lips...
The layer leaving the flash would make more then a few people gasp as the attack
almost seemed to fast to see what happened. The layer letting people see again
as it seems damage was done but, not nearly a lot. A small spark flies off of
Rino's cheek as a small cut is shown on the left cheek but, not a single mark
other then that. It was slightly odd but, this angel was something odd all by
herself.
The angel starts to move quickly not letting this moment pass by as her arms
swing the blades around. Her body turning as she starts to flick the rings a new
glint taken in them as she throws one then the other in a quick one two throw of
the blades as they spin and whirl toward the opponent.
On the layer, Kamui once again made distance between itself and Rino, jumping
twice back and finding itself at the fountain. What followed was quite... basic
and silly. The angel jumped all the way onto the fountain and turned around
towards the opponent. It's chest turned into a horizontal position and it's head
shifted to look at Rino, who was quite some inches away from Kamui. "Nya nya nya
nya nyaaaa." It taunted, patting it's but with one paw, tail twitching: whilst
the other at it's eye. As if Kamui was sticking out it's tongue and pulling down
the skin at his right eye.
Ranmaru's hand came up to his mouth and he seemed to chuckle as this occurred,
finding it quite amusing apparently. "Baka neko." He then spoke for the very
first time, that was: at an audible volume. His head shook as he chuckled again.
On the layer, Kamui by then jumped down the fountain once more and made it so
that Rino was on the exact opposite side of the fountain at all times.
The magic boy rolls his eyes and chuckle as the neko makes it clear he is much
faster this this other angel. Rino does her best as she makes a jerk motion
backwards with her arms as the faint light shows off two twin wires that are
attached to the rings so as she jerks they stop movement forward and fly
backwards where she catches them. She throws her arms outwards and starts to
bounce the two rings off the fountain trying to get a attack to get at just the
right angle to make it around the stone fountain and hit at the neko.
When the blades shoot out, a grin appeared on the Layer Phantom's face. A grin,
he could have sworn also appeared on Kamui's. The angel suddenly jumped to the
right after a couple of attacks had hit the fountaint and actually caught the
wire, using the pull back to fling itself straight at Rino. It's claws set
forth, a sudden violent blue aura appears around the angelic catboy. An aura
that shone quite brightly, more brightly than the layer itself at least. It was
quite undescribable to most, but recognizable by others. One of Rei's signature
moves, the Spirit Force. A bond between Deus and angel, forged to such strong
ends that they were able to assist eachother beyond the normal bounds of
control.
It's speed was insane as it was, but with the momentum of using the opponent's
attack, Kamui seemed to be like a blue meteor rampaging forth at Rino. It's
claws seemed to be brilliantly lit up: the diamonds creating a rainbow which
displayed in the air above the layer because of the light filtering through it.
At the last moment said rainbow shot forth... aimed at Rino as well.
The whole thing seems to be going a mile a moment as each blow comes off only to
lead to the next one. Rino has no time as her blades come back as the opponent
times his own attack to time with her moment of error. The wires going tight as
she flicks her wrist trying to pull them back as the other angel starts to fling
those claws forward again. The single swing of her arms sideways pulling the
rings in at the last seconds as Kamui's attack leaves a mask of sparks as
diamond claws cut in to the steel rings marking in to the metal as Rino shows
why it is said what she does is magic sometimes.
With the way things where going Juro couldn't let even a second pass before the
next movement of this dance moved forward. The angel moves slightly using the
marked rings as she grips them from the inside tightly to swing her arms trying
to flick one ring around his neck as the other slides in under it like a odd
trick to try and hold him and slice him at the neck in a single fluid motion.
On the layer, Kamui found himself hitting metal instead of the fleshy substance
that marked the angels so distincly. The angel immediatly pushed itself away,
only to find out that it had been caught... though because of his rapid
movements, one right had come onto his right arm which he had moved upwards to
give him more momentum in his jump upwards. The angel ended up falling to the
ground like a kitty using something humans have never heard of before... kitty
gravity! That's right, the nice little landing on four paws. The ring was then
quickly undone with it's other hands before it settled down on all fours,
lowering itself as far as possible to the ground and started a staringcontest
with the clown. Or at least, it was trying to do so.
It was hard to think that the cat like angel could move so quickly or well but,
it was showing that Rino was at a real disadvantage to this faster angel. Her
rings now both still on wire but, she makes no move jerk the wires back and
instead does something a little more simple. She leaves them where they are as
she starts to rush forward and tries to make this staring contest end by making
what looks like a foot ball punt kick trying to use a kitty head as a ball.
The hell the angel was going to just stick around and wait right there to be
kicked, right? It seemed as if it was waiting though. Rino comming closer and
closer... it waited. Kamui waited until Rino actually moved one feet back before
he suddenly attacked! A magnificent attack! A murderous move! A... pounce? Yes,
that's right, Kamui had wiggled it's behind and leaped at Rino to try and pounce
the clown over onto the floor. No intentions of damage, just putting all of it's
weight onto this clown. "Nya!" It let out a satisfied meow as it did so.
Ranmaru in turn started chuckling once more, nodding at Kogi. "I hope you are
having as much fun as I am." He spoke, trying to start a conversation. "Don't
mind Kamui's odd antics, he's just weird sometimes. But then, you can't blame
him. He is as unpredictable as a cat." The boy was talking about the angel as if
it was a completely differentl being.
The other boy sitting in the high up chair chuckles as he shakes his head. "OF
course I am having fun, it is hard not to be having a blast right? " His hands
making little motions as his angel is held down showing slightly little bumps
from the fall but, nothing else. "I have to admit your angel is something else."
The angel under the feline starts to move again giving no warning as she flicks
her wrist and the wire goes tight and one of the rings rings as it starts to
roll down the layer in a long drawn out sliding cut. Her hand trained to catch
it touches the inside that isn't sharp and turns the ring with a flick to try
and cut the feline again.
In turn the angel just... jumps. It jumps over the wire as if it were nothing
and then suddenly chased it! It were mere seconds as the angel chased the metal
circle and suddenly shot it's paws forth to... cut the wire. That's right,
Ranmaru was a man who knew science quite well. And with his instinctive feeling
he had sent out his angel to cut the wire at just the moment so that the circle
would change directions and fling at Rino. Having hit or not, Kamui quickly got
out of the way after that and settled at the fountain once more, only to sit in
the waterfountain and to start to clean itself. That's right, a cleaning cat.
Apparently the angel was having trouble keeping itself clean with all this
fighting and running, and was under the impression that this was the moment to
go and groom his fur. Ranmaru seemed to raise an eyebrow for a moment,
apparently confused by this behavior: as if he had not ordered the angel to do
this at all. But a shrug followed. "I am indeed having a blast." He answered at
a monotone voice. "I really am." He tried to make himself sound enthusiastic,
but it just would not come out that way.
There is something you don't see every day a angel that would rather cut a wire
then clean itself instead of really attacking. That isn't the point at all it
seems as Rino finds the ring coming back to her but, not controlled like before.
Her body having only enough time to get up and try to move before the ring makes
a gash in her side as it flies past in a single go before falling to the layer
with a clatter.
The other arm jerks pulling her last ring toward herself and without a moment to
spare she swings her arm forward tossing the ring sideways to make a slice in
the air toward the fountain and the cleaning cat.
Okay, there are a couple of things you do not do with a cat. One... wake it up
whilst it is sleeping. Two... not feeding it in time. Three... bother it whilst
it is cleaning. And guess what Rino just did! He just broke the most important
rule of all. Number three! He attacked a cat whilst it was grooming itself. A
little reflection formed a star-like expression on the side of it's eye as Kamui
caught sight of the metal object. "..." It did not even say anything. It seemed
as if it was not even dodging. Well, it also seemed like Kamui had never been on
that fountain! Just like the very first attack he had pulled off, the angel had
simply disappeared into nowhere. The layer even seemed to dim for a moment, as
if it did not even register Kamui on the layer anymore!
"He's still there." Ranmaru suddenly voiced. "Right there."
Yes indeed, the layersystems had found Kamui indeed, and at what a place it did!
The angel had found itself placed right behind Rino. It had seemed as if he
walked out of an invisable door. As if the holographic projection of the system
had hid Kamui from sight! "Nya! Hiss! Meow hisss! Meow kill! Meow hiss! Meow
MURDER!" Was it using Japanese words now all of the sudden? The angel's claws
were both extended, the paws set above the clown... ready to let the impending
doom befal Rino. "NYA!" And down came the claws in a frenzy of attacks. Trying
to claw on anything it could find, anything it could possibly get it's claws on
was quite likely to be torn to shreds. Those were real life diamonds it used as
weaponry, and Ranmaru had only recently let new ones be cut to make sure that
they were nice and sharp. Kamui's eyes were a violent and bright crimson red
now, as if it was going berserk!
It is hard to know the rules that should never be broken if you don't own a cat
yourself. It was hard to think anything could move that fast but, it meant very
little what anyone thought. The sound of ripping and grinding parts can be heard
loud and clear as each slash and move started to cut in to and rip large gashes
in to Rino's back. The angel falling forward almost unable to get away as the
bar on the display for health drops like a rock. Rino wasn't one to give up but
man that hurt.
The moment seems to last a whole hour pressed in to a few seconds as Rino starts
to jump backwards in time to turn and tries to swing her arm in a simple punch
running out of energy for show it seems.
"You have already lost, mister Juro. As much as people like magic... the show is
over. There is no more need for it to go on. Kamui... finish it." On the layer,
Kamui just steps aside as Rino tried to punch at him. "Nya...?" The angel seemed
to turn towards Ranmaru quickly, to see if it was 'okay'. The Layer Phantom
nodded gently with a smile... and Kamui turned back towards the opposing angel.
It too showed a little nod before it started shining in a bright blue light once
more. The same light that had been shown before. The layer suddenly illuminates
in a beautiful whitish light, and two objects suddenly seem to appear at the top
of the layer. A beautiful image of two blue orbs, floating towards eachother and
combining into one. Kamui lights up more fiercely. It's almost as if the angel
were on fire! "It was fun." Ranmaru commented gently, giving a most gentle smile
at Juro. "Thank you." And suddenly the layer itself becomes as bright as the sun
itself. Well, okay, not that bright, but it was bright enough to blind anyone
for a few seconds who was not looking away!
The only real noises that seem to come from the blinding bright layer are the
sounds of ripping and something that sounds like a heavy hit. The whole thing
sounds really great to bad not a single person can see what is going on but, as
the light is still held even higher the angel comes flying out. Not under her
own power the dead look in her eyes making that clear to anyone that can see
that as she flies out of the layer and lands with a heavy thunk on the ground
far down. It was hard to say what exactly happened but by the look of the angel
it looks as if someone had taken a dagger to her body again and again then
slammed her chest inward like crumpling paper.
"I guess that is it then.." he shrugs slightly not looking at all that sad as he
sighs and waits for the seat to lower so that he can retrieve his angel from her
landing spot on the ground.
The Layer Phantom takes hold of his angel as it jumped towards him, and allowed
the crane to take him down to the ground. With a quick movement with his cloak
he got up and turned around, walking away from the layer at a steady pace. His
eyes however seeking over the stands, in search of the albino girl he loved. But
he could not find her because of his bad eyesight.
And as he finally stepped into the doorway that took him away from the arena, he
took off his mask to bind his blindfold back over his head before putting it
back on... going out of the waitingroom to wait for anybody who wanted to maybe
talk to him.