This is a slightly different spin-off from ‘Illusion of Weakness’. If all the angels came to life, then what happens to the Deus?

Disclaimer: CLAMP owns Angelic Layer. Pokemon belongs to Nintendo and Shogakukan Comics. This non-profit, non-copyright infringing fanfic belongs to me. Ok? Notes: <> for telepathy, ** for thoughts, italics if a pokemon talks

Title: Grayscale

Ash was 14 in Illusion of Weakness; this takes place 4 years later and is optional.

Chapter 1

One night.

The next morning, the news bulletins were blaring. Hundreds of people lay dead, and no one knew why. The only evidence was that they had all been active Deuses in Angelic Layer.

This made Delia very worried.

“Now Ash, they might be targeting everyone who plays. You have to be careful!”

Ash nodded.

It was nearing his last semester of high school, and he was going to college, but he still occasionally played Angelic Layer in his free time.

He tucked Lance in his jacket and walked outside.

< Duck! >

Ash did, gasped when what looked like a Flamethrower soared overhead. And… it was…

A vulpix model? But no, as if it had been given life… it was like when Lance had turned human, but the Vulpix was the size of a small dog.

Lance floated out of his jacket and shifted, letting his steel wings shine as he stood in front of his Deus protectively.

All humans must die! The vulpix roared, spitting off another gout of flame. Lance was faster and used Dragon Rage, knocking the Vulpix out.

“They are all coming to life?” Ash asked weakly. “Then…”

“Yes. The ones with bad Deus are obviously what killed them.” Lance said. He looked worried, though. He wasn’t the most powerful angel in the Layer…

Hmm….

“But we can’t just leave Vulpix here.”

“I’ve got it.” Lance said. He pointed to the small ribbon on the Vulpix’s ear. “Remember how in the Layer they are controlled with mind signals transmitted through the cords?”

Ash nodded, and took the ribbon. Suddenly, it turned into a red-and-white ball that sucked Vulpix in, before bouncing back to his hand and shrinking to the size of a marble.

“It looks like we’ve found a solution.” Lance said.

Ash nodded. “But what about you?”

“Remember, I’m a human model angel.”

“Right!”

School was… empty. Most of the students were gone, although whether they were dead or hiding was up for grabs.

However, during lunchtime, Ash hid in the bathroom and watched, horrified, and a group of wild angels, all without a Deus, attacked and killed several of the students.

“We’ve got to stop them, Lance!”

“How?”

“The same way, then…” Ash held the ball Vulpix was in. “I guess, catch them in poke balls…”

They were ‘pokemon’ type models.

“Say, Ash, have you seen Gary and Sabrina?”

“N-no… oh no! They can’t be dead, can they?”

“I hope not… we can go check after school.”

“Okay!”

On the way home, Ash netted a Caterpie (lucky it was a weak angel), a Pidgeot (that one was harder, but Lance was still stronger), and a Lapras (how could it move on land?)

“They’re all alive like you are, Lance.”

“Yes.”

Ash knocked on Gary’s door, and Gary quickly ushered him inside.

“Man, you were wandering around outside? That’s not safe!” Gary said. As Ash’s eyes adjusted to the darkness, he noticed that Sabrina was there, with her Kadabra, and Gary’s Nidoking was protecting her.

“They really are coming to life!”

“Of course.”

Gary jumped. “Ash? Who’s that?”

Lance poked his head out of Ash’s jacket and transformed into human form.

“Wait… you can turn back and forth? I thought…”

“Lance didn’t change now.” Ash said.

Lance nodded. “I’ve been with my Deus for four years already.”

A few things instantly became clear to Gary.

One, it explained how Ash could play Angelic Layer without Lance wearing any cords.

Two, it explained _why_ Ash didn’t have a girl – or boy – friend.

Three, it probably explained why he spent so much time ‘alone’…

“So he won’t attack?”

“I would never harm my Deus.” Lance said, looking at Ash with adoration. Ash smiled. “Well, I have figured out a way…”

He held out four marble-sized red and white balls.

“Hmm…”

Nidoking suddenly spoke. You are smart, young one. That is how we were controlled in the layer.

“Yes.”

“So what do we do?” Sabrina asked. “We can’t hide here forever.”

“Well,” Ash said. “We have to go out and catch all the renegade angels.”

“That’s insane! God knows how many of those there are! It’s impossible!”

“Maybe not…”

“Well, I trust my Deus.” Lance said.

Sabrina shook her head. “It’s too risky.”

Gary nodded.

“Then I wish you two to stay safe.” Ash said. “I have to go home now. I hope nothing happened to my mom…”

He and Lance took off in the blue glow of teleport.

“Besides,” Sabrina said. “None of our angels are as strong as his…”

End Chapter

Completed 8/5/04