With the brief lull in between the third and fourth round of matches, the waiting room had become surprisingly quiet. A few of the deus' still hung around tinkering with their angels or sending messages to their friends using their phones, but the majority had taken leave to go and get something to eat or drink from the vending machine outside. Of course, this involved making their way around the excitable crowd that waited just outside. Some of the deus' even had fans...but that only made things worse as they got swamped the moment they left the waiting area.

Given how tense he was about his matches, Asayama had already snuck out of the waiting room more than once in order to pick up a bottle of iced tea for outside. He found that the drink helped immensely with the dry throat that came with tension and even now, as he sits on one of the benches near the large monitor that displays everything that goes on within the arena, he sips away at a bottle. He isn't even really watching the screen, not much is going on in the arena at the moment anyway so the camera is mainly focused on the crowd. They aren't cheering now so much as they are milling about and getting snacks. They'd be called back to their seats a few minutes before the next match.

Then, suddenly, the display flickers and goes black, the image of the crowd being replaced with a black screen. A list of names roll up onto the screen and soon lines form between them indicating the next person with whom each deus would duel. With a sudden interest, Asayama leans forwards, his attention having been caught by the flicker. He reads down the list slowly, taking the occasional sip from his tea until he finds his own name. He follows the line along and around until it comes to another name.

"Inugata....Tomoe..." He reads the characters out loud softly. The name certainly did look familiar for some reason, but he couldn't quite pair it with a face. He rubs at his chin a little in thought and then, with a small sigh, shrugs it off. He'd find out who she was soon enough, there was no reason to get caught up in it. Leaning back once again to resume his slouched position on the chair, he folds his arms and waits for the staff to tell him when he needs to be in the arena.

Tomoe makes her way into the waiting room when she can still expect it to be at least a bit less that crammed. She doesn't bother looking around much - she hasn't actually bothered looking up any of her opponents beforehand, anyway. Knowing who they are makes no difference. The ones that will disappoint will disappoint whether you expect them to or not, and the ones that play seriously, will play seriously. Tomoe shows no sign of the bubbly nervousness that so many other deuses display. She is nervous - but its the lights and the crowds that make her anxious, rather than the upcoming fight. The match itself will be a relief from the surroundings.

Without a word, Tomoe makes her way to a seat as far away from anyone else who lingers in the waiting room, as possible. She sets Chimera upon her lap, looking down at him, the curtain of her hair helping to block her attention from anything else. The beast's maintenance has been becoming easier and easier. It's almost as if he's growing bored, himself - or, more directly, that the part of herself that controls him grows bored. Oddly enough, that makes her feel oddly . . . sad. Not that any such emotion is noticeable within her.

Soon after Tomoe enters other people start filing back into the waiting room, they don't all come at once but in short bursts. Perhaps someone found a way to evade the crowd and everyone else was just following them. Nonetheless, the room is soon populated again by deus' of all shapes and sizes. A punk with spiky red hair slumps down on the bench beside Asayama and is met with a brief glare from the man for disturbing his thoughts. To make a little more room for other people, the tall man puts his hands on his knees and lurches forwards, pushing himself up and into a standing position. After all, with him not flopped over it the bench in front of the monitor could probably accommodate at least two more kids. All this causes his hair to drape over his face, requiring it to be brushed away.

In the midst of glancing around looking for another place to sit, he catches the eye of a young woman dressed in the uniform of the tournament staff. Given his height, she managed to spot him as soon as he stood up, and glides over to him with her briefcase in hand. "Asayama Kentaro-san," She begins politely, he statement accompanied with a deep bow that almost all the staff gave to deus'. "Your next match will begin at the end of the intermission in about five minutes, so please proceed to the arena for your duel at that time." She gives him another bow, this one more shallow than the last, as he nods to her and makes a soft grunt in acknowledgement. Glancing at her pad, the woman checks off Asayama's name and then begins to look for his opponent, who also needs to be told that they are next.

Tomoe isn't that difficult to find. She's picked the same place to sit before each match, and her unique coloration /does/ make her stand out rather more than she'd like. She doesn't look up at the attendant when she's told that her match is next, but nods, saying a very quiet "Thank you." She has about five minutes to endure in this hellish little room. She's spent longer in worse places. For now, she just focuses on Chimera, running a fingertip very lightly over the spines that run down the center of his back. Five minutes shouldn't be long.

Stepping over to rest against the wall near the monitor, Asayama followed the woman with the clipboard with his eyes as she made her way over to where he presumed his opponent was sitting. She had left after a very brief chat, leaving behind the girl she had been speaking to. He blinks for a moment, taking in the features of the girl. She's very distinctive, he's not quite sure whether or not her hair has been dyed as it isn't quite as obvious as most other girls who do. Nonetheless, the moment he saw her, he suddenly got a very bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.....and the name suddenly went together with a face.

He remembered speaking to Eisaku about this girl a little while ago, but he hadn't heard back from him before the tournament started. He'd wanted to smooth things over a bit so that he could chat with her about her angel....and Eisaku's angel for that matter. However, he hadn't gotten the chance to speak to her yet, so this could become very bad, very quickly.

He had to do something, say something, anything. So, against his better judgment, he wandered over. He wasn't really intending to be quiet, or to sneak up on her, but he wasn't going to go making any loud noises either. He got the impression that she really wouldn't like that. Then, finally, he gets quite close and notices that due to the lighting his shadow is starting to loom over her. He steps to the side a little, allowing the light to shine in once again and perhaps get her attention before he even says anything. "Inugata Tomoe-san..." He begins, politely. "I'm Asayama Kentaro, I believe we've met.....though not under the best of circumstances." He gives her a slight bow and then awaits her response. Finding out how she felt, either directly, or through body language, would be the key to clearing things up.

Tomoe remains rather still, for the most part. She doesn't look up until after Asayama has spoken - but once she does look up, her eyes narrow, and her posture shifts into something rather more aggressive - a small roll of her shoulders and arch of her back as she sits up straight, keeping her chin tucked in while still peering up at him through her hair. " . . . /You/ . . ." There's a bit of a sneer in that, despite his politeness. She certainly hasn't forgotten him. "What do you want?" Her speaks gruffly, rather unlike she's spoken in quite some time, and slips into the male language that she uses when she's expecting a fight - of the more realistic variety. Not that she has any intention of actually /starting/ a fight, herself, but if one is started, she's not about to back down - and it /is/ somewhat obvious. Given the attitude that this /employee/ of the company had given her previously, she's not exactly wanting to deal with his BS now. Besides, she half expects him to tell her she has to go to another layer, or she can't continue in the tournament, or some similar nonsense.

It takes something for a man of Asayama's height to back down, but he does try. He's not even quite sure if this will work or be taken as a sign of weakness but....you miss a hundred percent of the targets you don't fire at, right? "Well, first...." He begins softly, maintaining the polite form of speech that he opened with. "...I wanted to apologise." He lets that hang there for a moment, and watches her a little to gauge her reaction. Looking her over momentarily. "...that is, I wanted to apologise for telling you to go to another layer." He can't actually remember when it was, it was so long ago and he hadn't actually thought about it much at the time. "At the time I thought that other layer's were available for you to use, I also thought that you might have liked to help me with my research....those were assumptions though, and I really should have thought about it more clearly." He folds his arms somewhat defensively.

"As to the other matter....well, I've heard that you think I threw our match. That's not true at all, I would have liked the match to continue on longer, I can't get any good information if the match doesn't last for a good amount of time. The truth is, I had only started dueling myself and your angel....simply overwhelmed me." He pauses for a moment, carefully considering his words and wieghing each one before finally slumping his shoulders and continuing. "I can't convince you that what I'm saying is the truth, of course but....." He has trouble finishing the sentence. In general Asayama wasn't very good at apologies. In his time at the Piffle Princess he'd swing around from being arrogant and self righteous to actually trying to help people for genuine reasons....so he found it hard to explain much of his previous behavior. He simply sighs a little. "...I don't know what else to tell you." Finishing with that, he bows again and holds that position, waiting to be hammered by her response. His brow is still furrowed slightly though, indicating that he will defend himself further if he needs to. However, it's his voice and pose that show he doesn't want a fight.

There's a huff of a sound as Asayama apologizes, but Tomoe's posture does ease up, if only a little. She shakes her head as he continues to talk, then lets her gaze fall back to Chimera. It almost seems as if she ignores the rest of his explanation, but, when he's finished, she speaks up again, using the same tone and gruff, masculine language. "No one conveniently falls off the layer in the first few seconds after spending minutes telling someone to go away." Another huff, and she covers Chimera's heads with a hand, obscuring the little beast. "If you mean your apology, don't throw another match. A real player gives the match his all, regardless of his opponent. No holding back." Another noise, and a shake of her head. "To do otherwise is an insult." She nearly growls those words, but still doesn't look back to the man.

"I did try, but it was my inexperience that made me fall from the layer, I believe." Asayama stands tall and spreads his arms, trying to ease up a bit before dropping them by his sides. "However, it's been a year. I'd like to think that my skill as a deus has grown as much as my research has developed so, I'll do my best to give you a good match." He flicks his hair behind his head. "We'll see soon enough in any case. I believe that we are opponents in the next match." His polite demeanor falls away slightly as he continues to speak, after all, being polite during an apology is one thing, but being polite in casual conversation is quite another. "Speaking of which..." He checks his watch. "....it's almost time for that."

Turning away from the girl with one last nod, he walks forth towards the doors leading to the arena. He's fairly sure that the girl would rather spend her last few minutes tending to her angel than talking to him, and further conversation was practically pointless. This girl would understand his sincerity or apparent lack thereof on the layer and nowhere else, so he'd have to give it his absolute all if he wanted to make peace between the two of them.

Near the doorway, he meets once again with the woman holding the clipboard, she passes through the doors just as he approaches them. "Ah, Asayama-san, good." She begins tentatively, checking the board again as if she were timid about looking directly at him. In response Asayama softens his expression, he must have been frowning pretty hard in order to force someone to look away. She glances back up and continues. "Your match will be announced momentarily, if you could just proceed to the eastern entryway to the arena..." She stands to the side and holds her arm out for him to follow. Without a word and with only a slight nod, he marches past her and through the doors. She turns away and proceeds towards his opponent to do almost exactly the same thing.

Tomoe doesn't respond or look up when Asayama leaves. There is a small huff once he's gone, though. So, she has to face /him/, again? Given that 'apology,' she figures that he'll either play seriously, this time, or was just trying to start something. Surely even /he/ wouldn't be brainless enough to throw a tournament match, anyway. Not playing to one's ability is one thing - but throwing is something entirely different. Still, by the time the attendant reaches Tomoe, the girl has resumed her usual neutral demeanor, once more attempting to not be noticed. She nods when she's told head out to the arena. After rising slowly, she does so.

The lights on the arena floor dim once again as the intermission ends, replaced by the strong white flood lights above it. The buzzing of the crowd quietens down to a murmur and then finally, silence. A spot light moves swiftly over the floor and then finally settles on the announcer, replete with his purple suit and big red bow tie. The moment the light lands on him, he strikes a pose by swirling the microphone causing the cable to twirl. He regards the audience for but a moment and then shifts into a different pose, throwing a hand up in the air and holding the mike as if he were about to sing into it.

"Laaaaaadies and gentlemen! Thank you all for your patience during that short break, I hope you're all well rested cause I just a moment you're going to be on the edge of your seats! That's right, this tournament is going to kick back into action with a bang as we begin Round Four of the qualifiers for the Kantoooooo Gaaaaames!" As he speaks the name of the tournament he arches his body back a little, yelling into the microphone and sending his voice reverberating across the stadium.

"And now, the first match of Round Four, we have two deus' who have really shown their might tonight! First, on the west side, we have a deus' whose angel has to be seen to be believed. They just don't sell stuff like this in store's folks, it's a real monster! Inugata Tomoe and her angel, Chiiiiiiimeraaaaa!" The crowd goes absolutely wild, looks like Chimera and Tomoe really have some fans. Then, it's as if the announcer's entire body swivels around and he aims a finger at the other side of the stadium. "And pitting his wits against the mythical beast, we have a programmer for the angelic layer corporation! This guy puts other deus' to the test by creating weapons out of the very layer itself. Asayama Kentaro and his angel, the sharpshooter, Gunslingeeeeer!"

Then he opens his arms wide, regarding the audience and the two deus' from over the top of his sunglasses, with a giant grin and manic expression. "But who will emerge victorious? The beast with three heads or the gunner with a hundred weapons? The only way to find out is to stick around and watch!" He pauses for a moment, allowing the audience to create a din with their cheering and the two competitors to get comfortable in their chairs.

As per usual, Tomoe completely ignores the crowd, making her way directly to her seat. She climbs in quickly, and is just as quick in positioning her headset, careful to keep her face as well obscured as possible. These headsets are pretty decent at hiding the face, after all - or at least, enough of it. Chimera is back in her lap, and she looks out onto the layer. Only a little bit longer before she can let her attention sink into it, completely.

So, it was already Round 4. Asayama sighs as he walks out into the arena, not believing that he'll ever get used to the roar of the crowd or the flare of the lights. He'd thought that by now he'd have simply been able to stride out into the arena, head held high but instead he seems to shrink as he goes, slouching down further and further. He's once again somewhat impressed that he actually has any fans at all, and does his best to give them a little wave through his own self-consciousness. The light from the flood lights and heat from the weather make being outside the waiting room an exercise in heat resistance for the deus'. Asayama removes his coat and slings it over one shoulder, hoping that will cool him down enough without having to unbutton anything.

Finally, after what seemed like a walk through hell, he arrives at the deus' chair and slumps down into it, rummaging around in his coat pocket and lifting his angel free of it before tossing the coat over the armrest. Despite the heat, Gunslinger is still wrapped in the same red cloth he always is, and Asayama has to carefully unwrap the little figure, rivulets of sweat starting to bead on his forehead as he does so. Finally, with Gunslinger released from the cloth, he holds the angel up so the audience can see it properly. They respond by cheering even louder, and Asayama glances at the announcers to communicate that he's ready to fall in whenever the announcer gives the word.

The announcer points at the layer, then straight up into the air as he screams into his mic. "OOOOH! Look here folks! Our angels will be fighting on top of a solid block of ice! The glacier is going to make maneuvering difficult! Don't slip out there angels! Careful of the glare deus's, you may just go blind! We've got our deus's... We've got our scenery... Now all we need is to ENTAAAAAAAAARU DE AAAAAANGEEEEEELLLLLS!"

Tomoe looks out over the layer in silence, before lifting Chimera up on one hand. There's a breath, and she speaks up. "Fight fierce, Chimera. Fall in!" With that, there's a flick of her wrist, and she tosses Chimera out toward the layer.

The beast comes to life as soon as he passes through the layer barrier. That single wing shoots outward, only to be quickly tucked in, and those mismatched forefeet are stretched out. They pound down heavily into the ice, claws and talons scraping into it even as hind-paw and hoof make contact. All six eyes are turned to the opposite side of the layer, awaiting Chimera's opponent..

In the audience, you hear a male voice shouting, "Chimera, Chimera, Chimera!"

Asayama folds his arms for a moment and quirks his head to the side before standing up and taking the headset with him as he goes, placing hit on his head as he reaches his full height. He found it much better to throw his angel at the layer from a high vantage point, since it appeared as a much bigger target and it would be more than a little embarrassing if he tossed the poor angel over the layer. He takes one step forwards and then glances at his opponent, Tomoe. She definitely still didn't look very happy with him but that was to be expected, at least now she was more focused on the duel. He'd have to try hard not to disappoint her....and not to let himself down. He raises a hand to his mouth and coughs to clear his throat, he almost casts a hand out dramatically as he did in the days when he was the black knight, but manages to stop himself just in time. Then, in a deep voice, says "Warrior of the West, Gunslinger.....Ikimasu!" and tosses the small figure at the layer like a dagger.

Gunslinger's red scarf flaps about as he sails through the air, he posture completely unchanging right up until he hits the field of energy surrounding the layer. Then, he blinks as he awakens, his eyes lighting up. Falling through the air once again, the cowboy fights to right himself before he smacks head first into the giant block of ice that is getting ever closer. He eventually manages to get his feet in front of himself, landing unceremoniously on the glacier and falling forwards to catch himself with one arm while the other hangs onto his hat so that it doesn't fly away. He slides backwards down the ice a little bit before finally ending up near the foot of the icy mountain before finally standing up and folding his arms. Were it not for all the falling about beforehand, he'd probably look somewhat cool in that pose..

In the audience, you hear a male voice shouting, "Shoot em up Gunslinger-san!!! You can do it Asayama-san!"

In the audience, you hear a male voice shouting, "Hang onto your hat this time!"
The announcer looks from the layer, to each of the deuses and their angels to make sure they're prepared. "ARE. YOU. READY FOLKS!? This is it... time for an ANGELIIIIIIC FIIIIIIIGHT!!"

In the audience, you hear a male voice shouting, "WooooOOooO!!"

In the audience, you hear a male voice shouting, "Gunslinger versus Chimera, odds at 2:3 at the moment! Place your bets! Starting at 100 yen!"

Chimera watches as Gunslinger lands on the layer, and the great beast crouches down slightly. A low, three-chambered growl begins, resonating deep in Chimera's chest. There are a few slight twitches of muscle under dirty skin and matter fur, but he waits for that announcer's call before moving.

In the audience, you hear a female voice shouting, "I'll take that bet! Go Gunslinger!!"

Gunslinger begins his long and arduous hike up the mountain in front of him. It literally feels as if the glacier itself wants him to fall off and layer out. For every step he takes he seems to move two steps back. Eventually though, he begins to make progress, digging his heels into the ice and marching upwards and onwards. Even though angel's don't breath, little puffs of white steam can be seen coming from the muffler and simulating breath as he climbs. Finally, he makes it to the top and stands tall in front of the beast, attempting to stare it down. Time to start things off with a bang, indeed.

He gets into a standard sharpshooter pose, his fingers wiggling near by his hips where in a real gunfight they would grab the weapons holstered there. This time, though, there's no weapons there, only little blue sparkles that gather about the angels fingers. Suddenly, he dashes forwards, kicking up ice as he goes, and throws his hands out to generate his first weapon, a high powered rifle. Dancing around the beast and firing the weapon a few times, he tosses it up into the air. It's barely finished spinning before it explodes into sparks and two large pistols are created in Gunslinger's hands, he continues to fire with these, keeping on moving until he runs out of ammunition. To end the dance, he leaps fowards kicking up ice as he goes so that he's standing close to the larger angel. The pistols discarded, a shotgun forms all too quickly in his hands and he holds it near to the beast with one hand, attempting to fire it at as close a range as he can get.

The moment the signal was made to begin the fight, Chimera began his charge. He seems to have something of an advantage on the ice - while that hoof is fairly useless, the beast's claws and talons dig easily into the ice, giving him purchase that Gunslinger lacks. The cowboy's advantage, however, is in the projectile nature of his weapons - Chimera is not the first to land an attack. Bullets riddle that matted fur, biting deep into Chimera's flesh. One hits particularly deep, and there's a sharp crashing sound, as of glass breaking. The beast convulses slightly, and then a jet of corrosive, gooey black 'blood' shoots forth, spraying long and wide. It hisses and sizzles upon contact with anything it lands on - which just happens to melt a large swath of ice around Chimera.

The beast's charge does not stop, either. He splashes through the melted ice, continuing to pursue Gunslinger. The central head roars, and the outer two pull back a bit, before lunging forward. From the serpent maw, another jet of the black goo shoots forth, and from the cervid mouth, a blast of freezing air - cold enough to freeze the once-melted spray of ice that flies out at the cowboy.

In the audience, you hear a male voice shouting, "Yeeeeaaa! Chimera! Kick that cowboy's rawhide butt! Heeehaaaw!"

Gunslinger topples backwards. He hadn't been expecting the beast to leap straight at him after that assault and no he's burnt, blackened and the gun he was holding is frozen stiff. He's still alive though, and that's the main thing. Even so, he's heavily damaged and he has to move quickly in order to get out of the way of the charging beast. That's a difficult thing to do on this frozen surface. He let's the gun fall out of his hands and it shatters on the ice below, then he rolls to the side, staggering to his feet and holding one damaged arm with the other. Now he only has one hand free, so he'll just have to make do. Then he has an idea which will hopefully help him get some distance on the beast.

He holds out his unburnt hand, and a new weapon begins to form in it, something like a pistol, but a little smaller and stubbier. This weapon is a little shorter and stubbier than the one before it, but it looks somewhat more futuristic than a standard pistol should be. He aims it towards the beast, bracing the weapon with his burnt arm and fires. The ammunition expelled from the end of the barrel isn't even a bullet, just a little dart. However, this dart carries a strong charge meant to disrupt, however momentarily, the connection between deus and angel. It's meant to create a stunning effect, and hopefully it'll give Gunslinger time to run like hell.

Chimera continues to charge after Gunslinger, without paying any mind to the cowboy's attacks. The dart disappears into the beast's matted mane, but seems, at first, to do nothing. At first, anyway. There are a few more bounds, claws and talons carving deep into the glacier ice with each step - and then the beast slumps forward. The broad chest crashes downward, sending out a web-work of cracks. Chimera twitches slightly, his tail lashing violently, but he does not immediately rise.

The Gunslinger uses this slight break in the beasts assault to charge forwards himself, those darts really don't last very long and he'd have to hit it with something while it was immobilised to make it remember that it wasn't fighting the same weakling it fought a year ago. He raises a hand and the blue fragments swirl around to create a high powered rifle, the same one he used in his initial offensive. Such a weapon was good at this range, maybe if he was lucky it would pin the beast a little bit, there was barely any time to think though, and he aims it, firing from the hip. He can only hope that his shots make contact before the Chimera rises again and moves to slaughter him. The moment the shots have been fired, he let's them take the direction of the Chimera while he moves the opposite way, sliding down the side of the glacier whilst pay only a small amount of attention to his wounds. Maybe this distance will be enough....and maybe not.

The stun does not last long. Even as Gunslinger summons a rifle for his next shot, the beast is rising, growling low and deep. The beast lunges as the blast blows away a bit of his shoulder and mane - and that single wing slaps strongly down, off-setting the negative momentum of the blow. Somehow, it seems as though the attack propels Chimera forward, sending him all the more quickly at the cowboy. Chimera attempts to plow directly into Gunslinger - to slam into him with that wounded shoulder.

In the audience, you hear a male voice shouting, "Kickass time! Whoo!"

In the audience, you hear a male voice shouting, "You can defeat the beast Asayama-san! Don't let ...umm... Gouraya-su win."
In the audience, you hear a male voice shouting, "Emo-gurl! Beat that shady guy!"

The beast's charge surprises Gunslinger as much as anyone else....he simply cannot keep that thing at bay. It's by luck and nothing else that he survives. He slips on the ice glacier, not only rolling down and out of the way, but sliding a little further down the side of the mountain. He keeps going until almost on the edge of the layer, then his foot catches on a small block that of ice that sticks out from the side of the monolith, somehow stopping his descent and preventing a layer out. He turns around, lying prone, and levels the rifle once again at the angry beast.

This time he fires a few successive shots, over and over. Last time he got a lucky shot, this time, even aiming he probably couldn't hope to do much damage. Still he doesn't plan to go down without a fight and fires away. He knows from experience now that absolutely nothing he does will give that creature pause enough to stop it killing him, but even so he can try to injure it as much as possible in the process. He tries, a little unsteadily, to get up onto one knee. From that position he can possibly rise and spring away if it gets too close but.....it's an incredibly long shot with him this close to the edge of the layer.

Even as Gunslinger slips away, Chimera pursues. There's an angry-sounding roar, and that wing swings out as claws cut deeper into the ice, swooping Chimera around to continue a direct charge - not even the small change of direction caused by the cowboy's slip seems to have allowed any extra breathing room. This blast of Gunslinger's rifle hits the exact same shoulder as the last, taking with it another slug of flesh and fur - yet Chimera keeps coming. That shoulder wound is black and raw, gooey blood seeping from the blast-wound . . . and Chimera once against to slam it against Gunslinger.

In the audience, you hear a male voice shouting, "Ganbare, ganbare, ganbare, Gunslinger! *chant*"

In the audience, you hear a male voice shouting, "Nyan nya nya nyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan! (A cat is cheering on Chimera!? O.o)"

As Chimera moves forwards, so does Gunslinger, moving himself around the attack and getting out of the way of that black goo. It's not easy on this ice, he almost trips and falls over. He's damn sure he's not going to let that thing take him down easy again though, it's going to be a fight to the finish, since that's all he can do. Of course, Asayama has heard rumours about Chimera's resilience, about how the creature simply *won't* die even when it seems to be on it's last legs. The cowboy is too close to the edge of the layer to even hope to mount a proper defence though, and there's absolutely no way he can fight back after this, so....the battle is pretty much over.

Nonetheless, Gunslinger generates one last weapon to try and fight the beast, he simply randomises it, pulling out the first thing he can find from his inventory of guns simply so that the weapon comes out faster and he get's one last shot off before being taken down. Sadly, it doesn't appear that luck is on his side anymore....and all he gets for his troubles is a small pistol, a berretta to be exact. And there's only really time for one shot before the beast attacks again. He jams it into the side of the monster, well aware that he'll be covered in black goo in doing so, and fires.

Chimera seems to pay no mind to the pistol as it is dug into his side, and fired. Still, the angle is good - the shot /should/ be enough. There is no blast of goo, but an odd darkness does cover the beast, as the three-voice barking sound echoes about the layer, hallow and ghostly. When the darkness passes, it is not Chimera who Gunslinger grapples with, but a massive, three-headed dog. The dog snarls, and one head lunges to bite - and yet, mid-way through the lunge, the dog-face fades away to reveal Chimera's similarly canine, if rather more twisted, central head, attempting to sink it's heavy teeth into Gunslinger's shoulder. Indeed - the dog has vanished entirely, revealing Chimera once more, outer heads pulled back. Should that central head's chomp land, the beast will move directly into a vicious shake - the type designed to rend flesh from bone (or pseudo-flesh from underlying apparatus, as the case may be).

Wait, what? Cerberus!? But how? There really was no time to think about the specifics of all this but Gunslinger tries anyway. There's really nowhere to go and the jaws of the large dog, now having resumed it's form as Chimera, bite into him. There's a crushing sound and he twitches a little bit, convulsing as the beast chews. This doesn't really bode well for the angel, as some of the parts inside him are breaking, and the flesh gel is indeed beginning to peel off. The buzzer sounds, but the crowd doesn't immediately start cheering, it just goes quiet for a moment, watching as the beast continues to chew. Then, initially with a nervous clap, the crowd breaks out in a buzzing cheer just before the announcer makes his announcement.

Asayama removes his visor and sighs. He's not quite sure what to make of this, he'd heard that her angel was resilient but this was....a little much. There had to be something he could do to resolve the problems with his angel in future, he didn't quite know what though....at least, not yet. He'd give it some thought. Standing slowly, he looks up just as the announcer goes crazy once again and yells through the microphone. "Gunslinger is too damaged to continue.....winner.....Chiiiiiimeraaaaa!" He volume of the cheering crowd steps up a few notches and Asayama, still frowning a little, walks over to the layer to collect his angel. "As I suspected," He mutters, just loud enough to be heard by the girl. "My connection with my angel still isn't strong enough to beat the likes of you....." He pushes his glasses up his nose. "...perhaps in future though." He nods to the girl quietly, and arches an eyebrow a little at having to retrieve his angel from the jaws of Chimera. He could.....he could fix this, it would just take some work, and he'd need to work fast.

He glances back up at the girl, not really expecting a reply, annoyed at him as she was in the first place. Instead he simply waits for her to remove her visor so that he can retrieve his angel safely. He folds his arms and watches quietly.

Tomoe remains quiet as Chimera is called the winner. She's just as careful with the removal of her headset as she was with putting it on - only the very slightest glimpse of the bleached-white patches of her are noticeable, before her hair obscures her face once more. She's makes no immediate response to Asayama, but waits for him to retrieve Gunslinger before she does likewise with Chimera. Only then does she speak - quiet, but still harsh in tone. "Better. Not good enough." She doesn't look to him - or the crowd - but makes her way rather quickly back into the waiting room. She won't linger there, either, but find someplace quiet to rest, and see to the pup's maintenance.

Finally, Asayama can get his hands on his own angel, and watches the girl walk off. What was that she said? Not good enough? Well...at least that was something, something more than words of pure hatred anyway. He shakes his head a little, people really shouldn't hold grudges for as long as she does, she'll end up giving herself a heart attack one day with all her pent up rage. Turning away, he glances over his angel as he walks away from the layer and back towards the waiting room. There was some damage indeed, but really nothing he couldn't find some way to fix. He had his tools with him after all. Shutting the door to the corridor behind him and shielding himself from the din of the crowd with the sound-proofing, he wipes the sweat from his brow, he's going to have a lot to think about after this tournament. Perhaps that's what his boss intended after all.

In the audience, you hear a male voice shouting, "Woo! Good match!!!"