Sitting on the bench near the door, Fukata yawns a little, he spent the time since the last match watching the replay of the last match, trying to work out just how he got beaten. He sighs, leaning back against the wall, and waiting for his opponent to show, since he'd turned up a little early. With a glance at the door, he remembers his previous matches with Keiichi - this would be a difficult match, but Fukata is sure he can win it.

Keiichi was coming off the last round with a loss as well, and had spent a little time brooding over the fact that he didn't push harder. Such was they way of life though, looking back shows you a much clearer picture of what you should have done, when in the present there are many pressures that might distract you from it. He passes through the waiting room door with a heavy sigh and a shrug of his shoulders, since now wasn't the time to be worrying about such things. He had another difficult match ahead of him, and he had to keep his wits about him if he wanted to win. The boy's eyes scan the room for a moment or two before settling on Fukata with a nod offered his way, "Oi, Ito-san." Now also wasn't the time to be cursing his luck at drawing two of the most difficult competitors in the game this year for the first two rounds either. Somewhere deep in the back of his mind, he had this feeling that Aogiri Mikage would end up on his list as well, things weren't looking good for qualifying this time around. Still, smile, time to smile and be friendly. He smiles a bit while making his way towards his next opponent.

"Eh? Ah, Keiichi-san." Fukata greets someone he's not sure is quite a friend yet, nor has he fought with him often enough to be a rival - just someone he gets along with. "Looking forwards to the match?" He grins at him, "Probably a bit easier than your last one." he comments, waving to him as he comes over. "I played against Ranmaru-san recently too, I'm sure I used to be better than him."

If not a friend, at least friendly right? Keiichi smiles as his hands slip into his pockets, pausing a couple paces from where Fukata was seated. "Ah yeah, it should be fun I think." His eyes shift over towards the monitor for a moment and he nods a little. "Ranmaru-san is quite strong... I, faltered in our match and it cost me. Hope I can keep from doing that again." There's a small grin now when he looks back towards Fukata, now was time to be confident despite the odds. "How about you?"

"A new player, Tomoe, hit me with something I've didn't even see coming. I thought the match was over, which it was - but not in my favour." Fukata smiles, "Seems like this tournament's full of difficult fights, eh?" He comments idly, whilst glancing at the monitor, which was displaying the AL icon, alternately with showing the players the crowds they were about to face. Fukata looks at the timer, letting them know they were almost needed in the arena. "Well, there's no doubt we'll be giving the crowd a show, ne?" he adds, the best matches always being between evenly matched deus's.

Keiichi furrows his brows slightly at the mention of Tomoe and her hitting Fukata with something unexpected. He'd played with her before, and while she was strong he was able to see through her attacks well enough. That could be bad news too, if he ends up against her. "Ah... Inugata-san. She's quite a strong player, and tricky." he lifts a hand to rub at his chin slightly, "Though I figured you would be able to beat her. She might be trouble later on then too hm." There is another sigh followed by a shrug of the shoulders, now wasn't the time to dwell on such things. Back to smiling, yep! "Ah well, it should be enjoyable for all involved I'd think. Yuki and Zankoku match up pretty well on the layer. I always enjoy watching it at least."

A voice calls from the monitor, "Would Misaka Keiichi and Ito Fukata please enter the arena." Fukata glances up at the monitor, and it seems that the break has finished. "Shall we go, Keiichi-san? he asks, standing himself to look down the hallway to the centre of the stadium. He waits a moment, for Keiichi to follow, then leads the way towards the arena.

Keiichi retrieves Zankoku from a pocket as the announcement comes and nods towards Fukata at his words, "Hai, it's time to play." He grins a bit and moves to follow along, down the hallway and into the crowd filled arena. This time he steeled himself a bit against the overbearing nature of it, and hopefully he could just concentrate on the match.

Stepping into the glaring lights which brighten some spots of the otherwise dark arena, Fukata looks up at the cheering spectators, always surprised by the number of people who're there to support him. Fukata grins, and waves to the crowd, as the announcer calls out, "In the west corner, a veteran deus, with no wins, and one loss so far this tournament. Ito Fukata and his angel, Yuki!"

Keiichi's eyes close as he steps out into the brightly lit arena, the noise of the crowd light a crushing wave. Another deep breath, and he opens his eyes and focuses on the chair he's supposed to be using. That is his target, and he makes his way towards it, settling in and starting preparations for the match. The announcer's voice carries on after the first introduction, "And in the east corner, a qualifier from last year also with no wins, Misaka Keiichi and his angel, Zankoku!"

Fukata seats himself in the egg shaped chair, and leans back, placing the headset over his eyes. He holds his angel in his hand, and looking around all the crowds, he closes his eyes and holds her to his chest, begining his fallin phrase, clearly and calmly. "Even in the impossible, let us not accept defeat. Ikke! Yuki!" and with that he looses his angel towards the layer scenery. She turns in the air, and as she reaches the barrier, her eyes and his open in unison, a clear focus visible in both. She tumbles towards the layer, and lands in amongst the gritty sand, taking a few steps back, and leaving little footprints in on the layer, she looks across to the other side of the layer, waiting for her opponent to appear, so the match can begin..

After Keiichi's chair rises into the air and Yuki makes her entrance, his gaze settles upon her in an appraising manner. He smiles a bit and then nods while drawing his arm back, getting ready to toss Zankoku in. "Wreak the vengeance of the dead upon the living, Zankoku!" And off he goes!

Zankoku tumbles through the air and into the layer barrier, falling towards the gritty-sandy surface below. He lands with a heavy thump upon both knees and one hand, kicking up a bit of the litter and sending it away from him a bit. There's a small impact crater below him as he stands slowly, crossing his arms over his chest and looking over towards his opponent. He offers a small nod her way.

On the layer, Yuki waves in the second before the buzzer sounds, smiling that she would face a familiar opponent, and someone sure to provide an interesting battle. She then takes off towards Zankoku on the other side of the layer at her usual pace, kicking up a little sand as she moves. Just as she's about to reach the other angel, she digs one foot into the ground and spins the other around her, arcing sand into the air, and obscuring herself from Zankoku's, and possibly Keiichi's view. With a quick movement under this cover, she comes in from the side of Zankoku, and an elbow breaks through the sand before it's begun to fall, at about head height.

On the layer, Zankoku watches in his usual silence as Yuki makes her approach, seemingly unwaivering in his movement for now. When the littler is kicked up into an obscuring mist however, he simply smiles and shifts his body and moves his arms to block the attack though the force was enough to still clock him upside the head a little. He's got her arm locked though, and just with the moment of impact his foot kicks out at her shin with a great deal of force as he twists back with his body weight, attempting to throw her off and away. Hopefully it would be at least a little bit difficult to avoid.

On the layer, Yuki seems to have started in high gear this match, as the arm moves with such speed that Zankoku can't react in time to stop her from slipping loose. With a twirl that throws yet more sand into the air, Yuki drops into a crouch, one arm extended forwards, and another backwards, her body visibly tensing in preparation of her next move. Then with the incredible speed she's known for, she flashes sideways, bringing up a high thin wall of sand in her wake, she turns to encircle the other angel, spinning him once so that they are encircled by a wall of sand, almost like a small arena of it's own, and she lunges forwards at Zankoku before the sand begins to fall, unleashing a flurry of kicks and punches, with almost no room to manouver, and little warning to prepare for a strike.

On the layer, Zankoku should have expected this, but unfortunately he was caught a bit unawares. Apparently Keiichi is still a bit distracted by the crowds and delaying his reaction time. He doesn't seem to put up much of a physical defense, an invisible field of energy warping the trajectory or some of the blows, causing a few to miss. Unfortunately not enough, and the rest sent the zombie-angel falling back and rolling along the ground afterwards. Zankoku's eyes narrow as he rolls up into a crouch a fair distance away. This wasn't good, and a direct attack wasn't going to win him anything here, time for Keiichi to think.

On the layer, Yuki looks at the angel rolling across the ground with a little surprise, as if she had been expecting this angel who had previously caused her untold trouble in fights with almost impossible evasion, to pull something out of his sleeves. But even if she seemed to be winning, she wasn't going to let up on her advantage - she takes a step forwards, then leaps into the sky above the layer, twirling as she turns to face the earth and extending both arms, she spirals down over Zankoku, in her crushing missile-like attack.

On the layer, Zankoku remains crouched low as Yuki bursts into movement again. Swirls of dark energy kick up in a circular pattern about his position, shades and phantoms rising up out of the ground and twisting about him with a howl. He doesn't move, he just takes the hit dead-on center. It smahes into him, but it barely seems to do anything, and now Yuki was close. The zombie-angel's eyes narrow as his arm draws back with a flare of energy busting through it, and it then comes rocketing forwards at Yuki's head with blinding speed. Oh yes, he was mad now.

On the layer, Yuki blinkblinks as the hit, one she knew had immense force behind it, is barely felt by the other angel, but I guess that's because Zankoku is a zombie angel. She stays in close hoping to hit him with another strong attack he hopefully couldn't evade. So when the attack comes, she prepares for the strike rather than avoiding it. The strike hits her head at near full force, as she twists at the last moment to lessen the power. She didn't expect it to hit quite this hard though, so she staggers back, a little stunned, and she drops to one knee. After a second she pushes herself back up to her full stance, and launches a knee at Keiichi's side, quick and quite powerful, but it's clear that both the attack, and her early burst of speed have tired her.

On the layer, Zankoku can tell that this attack was greatly slowed down from prior ones, and since the maneuvering to get out of the way was easy enough it gave his deus time to think things through. There's no way he could take another huge hit head on, he would have to try to persevere. The zombie angel having just twisted out of the way comes around and reaches his arm out towards Yuki's neck with a quick grabbing motion. The target, obvious since they've fought several times before.

On the layer, Yuki takes a step to the side, Zankoku's attack hitting only air. She smiles at him and comments, "I'm slower, I'm not actually asleep, Zankoku-san." she jibes him, hopping backwards in small jumps to put some distance between the two angels. Then she takes a moment to examine the situation, thinking to herself 'One more hit should do it. If I can hit him, he's been conserving his speed until now.'

On the layer, Zankoku smirks a little and nods as he falls back as well and settles into a defensive stance. He didn't expect that to connect, why should it? She was too fast for such tricks. Which meant he'd need some other kind of trick to touch her, but what could he do? Hrmn. For now it it seemed like the two would stand at an impasse.

On the layer, Yuki seeks to end that impasse as quickly as possible, as her advantage would lessen the longer she fought. She launched herself forwards, crouching low to the ground as she tears up sand behind her, the fast approaching projectile that is Yuki does a quick back flip as she reaches Zankoku, throwing her feet out in a high speed dropkick to the chest.

On the layer, Zankoku watches quietly as Yuki rockets in with lightning speed once more, but he wasn't having that this time around. The zombie-angel shifts his stance. and does something Yuki probably wouldn't expect. He moonwalks out of the way, sliding his feet over the granular litter easily enough, though he just barely got out of the way. He settles into a defensive posture after words, as Keiichi smirks slightly. "Heh." He couldn't do this much longer though, he had to attack if he wanted to win.

On the layer, Yuki rolls to her feet, and lunges forwards towards Zankoku, continuing her assualt - but switching to using her fists, she moves to push him back at the same time as letting loose a hail of little punches, each too slight to cause any significant harm, but together a wearying onslaught.

On the layer, Zankoku knows there is no way for him to avoid this next onslaught of attacks, so instead his body flares up with an aura of dark energies. Then the series of attacks come in, the zombie-angel's hands move swiftly to block and knock aside each and every blow without taking the hit headon to the hand. In fact, the blur of the attacks and the blocking should be quite the spectacle to see for the crowd even! With each deflection, a bit of energy flares off of his hands, and after the last one is knocked aside he steps in with a blurring elbow toward's Yuki's chest. He's not going down yet.

On the layer, Yuki eeps as the elbow comes in through an opening in her attack, and has to throw herself backwards, sliding back on the sand and losing her usual grace. She frowns, and with an arch of her back, throws herself back to her feet, only to start backflipping away, clear of further attacks. Fukata looks worried - the battle was originally going all his way, how could he have been pushed into a corner like this? Yuki tries to see a way to get past Zankoku's defences, but it seems it might take more out of her than him were she to charge in now.
On the layer, Zankoku narrows his eyes a bit as Yuki throws herself away from the attack. He isn't going to let up yet, it's his turn to press the advantage. He rushes after her, with his usual speed, meaning it takes a little bit of time since she's flipping away. His hand draws out to the side, fingers shifting into a claw-like fashion, and when he's close enough he sweeps it towards her eyes with a twisted grin on his face. Keiichi tilts his head slightly, watching the match below. "Hmn. . ."

On the layer, Yuki ducks the slash at her face, and manouvers around the attack. Saying to her opponent, "I was trying to get some breathing space, so-" she reaches for Zankoku's waist, trying to grab hold, and then she says, if she has a grip pulling him with her as she does, "-give me..." she say, reaching speed, "...some space!" and with that, she would release Zankoku and hurl him with all the gathered momentum.

On the layer, Zankoku is hurled off into the litter, but when he hits the ground he rolls up to his feet and rushes back in. When close enough he leaps into the air and comes down in a slide towards Yuki's feet, kicking out at the last moment to try and take her down into the gritty litter.

On the layer, Yuki is swept off her feet, and pushes herself back to a standing position slowly - she seems a lot more like the zombie angel when she's this exhausted. She breathes heavily, and levels her gaze with Zankoku - then in a sudden movement, she roars and charges at him, pulling an arm back to make a quick lunge, but with the power of desperation behind it.
On the layer, Zankoku stands his ground and closes his eyes as she approaches. What's this, he isn't going to even watch the attack? Nope. The reason for this is obvious when the blow comes in to make a connection. An invisible field seems to be surrounding him, maleable like jell-o. When Yuki's fist reaches it, the attack is completely slowed down to a light tap against the zombie-angel's body. It also seemed to be leeching energy out of her as well, that couldn't be good. Zankoku's eyes open after the tap, and he grins darkly. At such a close range, with Yuki partially stuck, he should be able to land this next attack. His arm draws back quickly, and his hip twists to the side. And then, all at once he heaves his weight into a punch aimed square at her head.

On the layer, Yuki reacts a little slower to the punch than Fukata had hoped, but that was probably more the tiredness than the effect of the draining field. As the punch connects, and Yuki is tossed to the ground, Fukata wills her to stand again, as she has done a number of times before, and Fukata can usually tell when she is capable of a little more fight...but the angel lies still, and the meter above buzzes, while Fukata is still furrowing his brows in concentration, trying to get the angel to try for one more attack. As the announcer calls out Keiichi's win, Fukata realises the battle is already over, and sighs, "Two losses, this tournament is going well as always." he mutters, having always seemed to do less well than he had hoped in the tournaments. Fukata lifts the visor from his head and smiles a little tiredly at Keiichi, mouthing "Good match."

The announcer calls out across the layer, and to the crowd "Zankoku ... wins!" and the crowds cheer for the winning deus.

On the layer, Zankoku recovers his stance after connecting his last attack, and he waits and watches knowing Yuki can sometimes rebound from such damage. He will be prepared. But, it doesn't come and when the buzzer sounds the zombie-angel finally relaxes a bit and offers a nod towards both Yuki and Fukata before sitting down with his legs crossed in front of him. He'll just wait there for retrieval. Keiichi meanwhile just kind of blinks at the results. . . he wasn't quite sure how he managed to pull that around in the end there but it seems luck was on his side this time around, unlike with Ranmaru. He takes in another heavy breath and then looks towards Fukata with a smile of his own. "Ah, hai. Good match, Ito-san. Close, as always."