Another round for the tournament. Tomoe is seated in the waiting room, seated as far away as everyone else as she can. Her head is bowed, her hair quite fully obscuring her face. Chimera is in her lap. She's slowly and gently running a finger over the irregular spines that run down his back, while waiting for her name to be called - and hoping that no one bothers her before then.

No chance! Tomoe /will/ get bothered, although at least she will know that she is not the only one being bothered! A young twelve year old is running through the waiting room, apparently unable to sit out of excitement. A small bar of candy is in his hand, allowing for a nice little sugar rush, as he goes from person to person looking at their angels and making sounds of impression. "Ohhhh!", and "Ahhhh!", and "Pretty angel!" are things that keep escaping from this twerps mouth until he finally arrives at Tomoe, and points at Chimera. He doesn't touch! The youngster simply points. "Ohhh... wait. What is that? Is that a puppy? I'll call him Fido!"

Were this an anime, a very visible stress mark would be pulsating over Tomoe's head during all of the kid's running around. When he comes over to her, Tomoe pulls Chimera a bit closer, covering him a little more fully with her hands. She turns slightly away from the kid, but doesn't say anything - words might encourage him. It would seem that she doesn't like kids. Especially the hyper, annoying variety.

"Ara?" When the kid gets no response he shrugs. "Well, ah! Wait! You are the only who I get to duel against! Hello!" He waves his hand right in front of her face. "I am Osaka's top player! Nice to meetcha!" With his best Osakan and proud voice, he taps on his chest with his other hand, now turned to a fist, and then holds out a hand in order to shake hers. "Kurosawa Yuji! But you can call me 'mister awesome'!"

Tomoe lifts her head very slightly, but it's not really enough to reveal much of her face. ". . ." This kid is her next opponent? Lovely. " . . . Inugata Tomoe." Her voice is somewhat cold, and a bit quiet, and she bows her head as soon as she's spoken. She makes no move to shake Yuji's hand. She's probably doing well to have answered him at all.

While this enthralling interaction is occurring in the waiting room, the announcer has prepared to begin the next fight! His voice, loud and booming, comes in clearly through the wall monitor. "Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, Deuses and Angels, are you ready for another spectacular spectacle?" The crowd cheers, a few sections starting up some kind of organized "Angel Fight! Angel Fight!" chant.

When Tomoe does not accept his hand, Yuji returns it to his side and tips his head a little in order to give the girl a confused look. "Ne? Are you okay? Are you like... con... ehh.. constu... constupidated?" However, without waiting for a response he immediately turns about and sets his eyes on the wall monitor and notices that they are about to get announced. "Weeee! I'm going to be on the screen again! This is sooooo coooool!"

" . . ." Tomoe doesn't answer Yuji. The last thing she needs to worry about before going back out to those horrific lights and crowds is dealing with some hyperactive brat's annoying questions. She doesn't rise from her seat or look up at the monitor, either - she'll wait until her name is actually called. Until then, she'll do her best to focus herself. Concentrate on the upcoming battle . . .

The announcer continues his spiel. "What amazing moves will we see this time? Will we be witness to new, never-before-seen moves? Amazing new uses of the old familiar? Only time will tell, as our next match plays out!" The crowd, of course, is loving the little speech, and continues to cheer wildly.

"Oh come on already!" Yuji begins to jump up and down and approaches the hallway that leads out, but doesn't go through it yet. "Call my name! Call me! I wanna go ooouuut! This is too exciting!" One can only wonder how this would have been during this kid's very first round!? "Come on!" He has (luckily) begun to totally ignore Tomoe now, so she won't have to deal with him. Instead, the attendant at the door has to keep him at bay now. "Calm down please, you can go when you get called out."

And so, Tomoe is able to turn her attention well away from the kid. She breathes a bit deeply, keeping herself calm, and doing her best to keep her nerves at bay. She's dealt with the crowds and lights and attention before, and she'll be able to do it again. As soon as she's in her chair, and Chimera is on the layer, she'll be able to block everything else out. Until then . . . she needs just focus.

Above the roar of the crowds, the announcer continues. "Up next, we've got a newcomer and a returning deus from last year's tournament! In the west corner, a marvel from the south! Rumors call him the best deus in Osaka, and with no tournament record, you'll see him here first! Kurosawa Yuji, and his angel, Ryu!" A chorus of cheers erupt, and all the lights turn to the hallway, to highly Yuji as he makes his very first appearance!

"YAY!" The youngster jumps into the air with his arms up and immediately rushes out and begins to wave around like an idiot. "Yaaay!" The crowd keeps cheering, but a little less so seeing as they don't really know this newcomer. And, after all, he'd lost the last round against a relative newbie as well! So what was this kid being all excited for!? Well, it doesn't seem like Yuji really cares, he just keeps waving around and makes a half circle motion over the entire dome area before finally going over to his seat.

The announcer lets Yuji play in the spotlight for just a bit before he continues. "And, in the east corner, with 8 tournament wins and 7 losses, the ever-gloomy, always serious Inugata Tomoe, and her angel, Chimera!" The crowd cheers, and the lights return to the hallway.

Tomoe stands up even before her name is called, eager to get this part of the match over with. Those descriptors are annoying, but she can ignore them. She passes through the hallway with her head bowed, holding Chimera a bit too tightly, once again. As soon as she steps through into the arena, she heads directly for her chair, doing her best not to see the lights, or hear the crowds. She takes a seat quickly, and carefully positions her headset, keeping her face as obscured as possible, much like always.

The announcer moves right back into the swing of things as the deuses take their seats. He presses a button, and the layer lights up. "Where will our angels battle it out, this time! Let's find out!" Scenery flickers in and out of view, before settling on the idyllic image of a small samurai village. "A scene from the past, for a duel to the death! Will these gardens and homes survive the coming onslaught? Will the horses stay put as the battle ensues? Only time will tell! Deuses, Entry Angel!"

Yuji takes his time to put on his visor and even after the call for the entry of his angel has been made, he is still fussing with his things. "Mooo..." He lets out little disappointed sounds until he finally gets his visor set up and connected and has taken out what looks like... a piece of rags. "Yush!" He holds up the rags which, likely, have his angel inside. "Ryu!" He calls out... "Fallin!" What!? That was his fallin? He throws his angel straight into the layer and the angel ends up bouncing on the ground a few times before he knocks into a pullcart. A loud laughter emanates from the crowd during this little spiel, although some may not quite be able to appreciate this youngster's unfamiliarity with how to even perform a good fallin. "Best deus from Osaka huh? I wonder how bad the worst must be then." Someone shouts from the crowds.

In turn, Yuji crawls up on the chair and begins to shake his fist at whoever just called that out. "You be quiet you! I will show you! So you just watch! Hah!" Having shared those words he plops right back down in the eggshaped contraption and puffs up his cheeks as he begins to concentrate on his angel. His head slowly begins to turn red as he attempts to get the angel to move... but there's little to see other than a few twitches beneath the robes and a faint glow from the white bandages wrapped around the cloth. The rest of the angel is impossible to see.

Tomoe sighs at her opponent's little spectacle, before bowing he head. She takes a deep breath, holding Chimera aloft for a moment, then calls out. "Fight fierce, Chimera! Fall-in!" There's a quick motion, and the bestial angel is thrown into the layer. In contrast to Ryu, Chimera springs to life the moment he passes through the layer barrier. There's a low growling sound, and that single, unbalanced wing snaps outward, clapping down heavily to slow and guide Chimera's descent. Forefeet come down in the center of a road, followed soon after by hind, and the lips on that massive central maw pull back in a snarl, showing off the vicious teeth beneath. The cervid head pulls back with a swooping display of those great antlers, bellowing deeply, and the serpent head coils about over the central neck, hissing. There's a bit of a twitch of those heavy faux muscles, beginning along Chimera's shoulders, and running down to his haunches, and that tri-split tail lashes about annoyedly.

And then, quite suddenly, the beast charges forward. One might expect a deus to wait for her opponent to demonstrate control of his angel before sending hers in to attack, but the match has started - perhaps he should have mastered his control a bit better before jumping into a serious match. Tomoe isn't here to hold hands. And neither is Chimera - whether his mysterious opponent gets up or not, he rushes forward, that central, wolf-like maw opening wide, attempting to bite into whatever happens to be hidden beneath those rags..

There is a momentary set of blue sparks from the robed angel, spawning from the back of the angel, licking over the broken cartwheel and some of the hay which is sitting within. It doesn't take long for the hay to suddenly turn to flames, hiding the opposing angel for a short moment while Chimera jumps at him. Then suddenly, at a severely loud volume, a demonic screeching sound fills the layer. Two gigantic holographic wings suddenly spawn from the robed being's back and fill half of the layer! They are beautiful to observe, however shortly change their appearance again.

There is an eerie glow from behind the wall of fire the moment those wings spread, and with an even louder demonic screech, the wings quickly retract to a much more humanoid size. Ryu, in the meantime, has begun to move off of the cart and is standing with his side facing Chimera. If this angel is going to respond, it will have to be soon! There are little glowing things beneath the hood of the angel, which likely are its eyes, that light up a little bit more brightly just as Chimera seems to be about to lay its claws on the being as suddenly the angel finds something else to bite on!

What looks like an oldtype angel antenna has found its way out from underneath the hood and is holding Chimera at back! What looks like a small blue shield is now stuck between Chimera's mouth. Upon it, glowing kanji slowly rotate. Surely, this must be magic! "You got him! Quick Ryu! Kick Fido's ass!" Apparently Chimera's new name is going to stick for a while. "Attack Fido!" A second tentacle-like antenna rolls out from underneath the hood and much like a whip it lashes out at Ryu's opponent. All this while, the bandages light up more and more, as if trying to 'prevent' something.

Chimera seems oblivious to the lightshow and flames - he's focused entirely on his opponent. Even when that odd antenna strikes out at him, the beast makes no attempt to move. The blow seems a bit too well placed, in fact - the flesh along Chimera's chest is all-too-easily split, and there's a sharp cracking sound as the tentacle bites into that matted mane. There's a very small convulsion, and then a jet of stick, corrosive black goo shoots forth, spraying wide and deep, and eating into all it touches. The wood on signs and carts is melted away, leaving behind little wisps of nearly-nauseating fumes. But the beast does not relent - growling, bellowing, hissing, he pushes forward, attempting to crush that fancy little shield and plow directly into Ryu, rending and tearing with all three vicious jaws, and kicking and clawing with both forefeet.

Its a shame Chimera's deus had not watching the previous battle by Yuji then. Although he may have noticed it during the acidic attack that had been unleashed during Ryu's 'tentacle' assault. Said acid had sprayed directly towards Ryu, at which point the bandages had begun to glow in a much more violent and bright manner, showing them to be sealing runes. A large spherical shield at that point had formed and stopped the acid from reaching the actual robes and bands around the angel, although still damaging him. It appears that the angel uses his lifeforce to form these shields? Either way, when Chimera begins its frenzied attack, she finds nothing to chew on. Her teeth glide over what feels like really thick water as they touch upon the shield. Claws find themselves unable to get further into the shield than halfway between said sphere and Ryu himself.

A growl begins to emanate from beneath the hood and suddenly the angel jumps back into the air! This is a first! Ryu had never took off into the air before. Well, its likely because he can't for very long. The wings shift into really small ones and begin to flutter like a mad hummingbird... only for him to lose his altitude again and land on top of one of the houses. The shield is clearly still surrounding him as the roof beneath him seems to start dissipating from its feet.

Now, from its new vantage point, the odd robed angel begins his attack! The angel antennas return to beneath the hood and the runes' glow begin to center around the left where one would expect a hand to be. At that position a strange icey dust begins to collect, swirling in the air until it takes up the shape of a large icicle spear! And not too short after its creation, this spear shoots out at Tomoe's angel!

The moment the bizarrely wrapped angel takes flight, Chimera charges after him. That single heavy wing slaps down as the beast leaps, and those mismatched feet kick at poles and awnings and anything else nearby to provide additional boost. There isn't even an illusion of an attempt to avoid the spear - it sinks into Chimera's chest, apparently lodging itself there, and doing nothing to negate the monstrosity's momentum. Chimera is at Ryu again in mere moments, and both cervid and serpentine heads strike forward, each trying to connect in its own vicious bite.

With this kind of attack, even a sealed being like Ryu can get out of the way! The being 'lets' his wings grow again to a larger shape and almost looks like he jumps into the air before closing its wings all around it in order to drop from the air much like a brick! The intent is clear, to squish Chimera beneath the shield that still surrounds him, and possible even smash her through the roof and into the house below.

All six of Chimera's eyes remain focused on his opponent, even as Ryu takes to the sky. The very moment that it Ryu begins to plummet downward, the beast growls and flips over onto his back, holding up all four of those mismatched feet to take the blow - and return it. As the impact comes in, Chimera does his best to latch onto whatever he can on Ryu, and attempting to bite and tear with all three maws. The impact is, indeed, enough to crash through the roof of the house, and, if Ryu does not get away, Chimera's single wing beats out wildly once they are within, attempting to turn the mysterious angel over so that /it/ will take the brunt of the second impact.

The somewhat odd looking blue wings roll along as their master gets tumbled over! Chimera still has to do with biting simply on the shield, however this keeps on shrinking and shrinking, but keeps up well enough to stop anything sharp from undoing the bandages on the angel. Those blue wings spread out for a moment, in a downwards arc showing at the roof of the little house he and Chimera just broke through... and just at the last moment when his health drops, out of the sight of the crowd, a second loud screech sounds! A wild blue explosion suddenly breaks the entire house and the wings spread over the entirety of the layer as the buzzer goes and the light dissipates! "Ah! I lost!" Yuji comments calmly, before getting back to his energetic self! "Lady lady! Your Fido is so coooool!"

The crowd cheers at the explosions and lights, and, once the buzzer sounds, the announcer speaks up again. "What a spectacular show! Ryu put up a fight, but in this match, Chimera Wins!" There's more cheering, as the layer goes back to its flat, empty state, leaving the two angels without any pretty scenery.

Tomoe huffs slightly as the match ends. No challenge at all - a lot of lights and flashes, but nothing to show for it. She seems rather annoyed, and doesn't respond to Yuji. As soon as her chair moves her near enough, she leans forward to retrieve Chimera, then quickly pulls off her visor, providing just a glimpse of her discolored face before her hair obscures it once more. The crowds are too loud. The lights are too bright. As soon as her chair nears the floor, she slips out of it, and heads directly back into the waiting room. She doesn't even pause to look over Chimera's damage - that can wait until she's out of the spotlight.

"Hmm?" When Yuji retrieves his angel he finally notices that something odd has happened to his angel. It appears that at some point, whether it was during the end of the fight or when Chimera was removed from the layer, one of the little bandages on Ryu has been slightly ripped. "Ohhh..." A smile appears on his face. "It seems the next chapter is approaching fast, my proud warrior!" The youngster hugs his angel to his chest before disconnecting his visor, putting Ryu into the little pouch at his belly and... still with the Visor on, begins to do a little round across the dome in order to wave at people before finally being 'helped' out of the arena by one of the attendants.