A girl was watching the TV with her sister while idly twirling around a large card on her finger. The younger did not mind that action as she was used to her older sister playing with things that she herself did not understand anyways. "Last time on Pokemon, Ash and his friends were traveling from the forest of..." "We interrupt this program to bring you a special news bulletin." Across the TV screen a mid-thirty years old man was nervously glancing at the camera as a corner of the screen showed pictures of a huge tidal wave off coast, something that seems to be just lots of snow covering everything, and continuous rain that is causing floods across streets and between buildings. "Japan and parts of Asia has been caught in the grips of what seems to be the most horrendous change in weather patterns since hurricane Nina struck Tokyo Bay. Flash flooding has occurred all through the city of Tokyo while Hong Kong is currently frozen under estimated 3 meters of snow. Off shore satellites has also detected a tidal wave heading towards the Japan, and scientists are yet to pinpoint the exact location of where it is heading towards." The man visibly pales for a moment, but assumes a somewhat calm posture. "However, it is estimated that the tidal wave is at least 14 meters high and stretch 3 kilometers long, and will it the shores of Japan in less than 5 hours..." **Click** "This is bad." ********************************************************************** <__< BLOSSOMS IN THE SPRING <__< A crossover Improfanfic started by The Eternal Lost Lurker Street Fighter and all related trademarks belong to Capcom. Cardcaptor Sakura and all related trademarks belong to CLAMP, Kodansha. Used without permission. Part 20: The Trio of Terror: WAVE, RAIN, and SNOW! Part 1 By Adyen ********************************************************************** [T - 4:40] Sakura grimly slouched on the sofa as she rested. They were currently in Tomoyo, or rather, Yuriko's home because her own home was not in any condition to receive guests, nor was there any room large enough to hold everyone she could and had found in such short notice. Unfortunately, the owner of the house was one of those who they couldn't find. "Sakura?" Someone asked. She warily opened her eyes to find Ken Masters looking worriedly at her. "Are you alright?" He held out his hands to test her temperature. Sakura shook her head and his hand away from her. "I'm fine. Just a bit tired from getting you all here." Ken nodded. He glanced at the assembled people in the room: Dan, who was surrounded by Sakura's track team and performing a few of his moves to lighten the mood up (or at least, he *thinks* that Dan's trying to lighten the mood up), Rei Kasawara with her father, who was staying in Yuriko's home while their dojo was being rebuit, and Blanka, who was currently resting on another sofa, and the Li kid, glancing at the occasional fish as it swam past the windows. It was nearly ten minutes ago that Ken Masters had phoned to where Blanka and Dan were staying at it. Sakura had told the pair that a problem has arrisn, said that she was going to pick them up. Both Dan and Ken had protested that it was already flooding the streets and the place would have had locked and sealed the entrances to the building, but Sakura had just asked for the location before she and one of her track team mate, Miyuki went into another room. It seemed that the mystical spirit, or Clow Cards, as they were called, that had possessed Miyuki is actually working, willingly, with the girl, and she in turn was working, also willingly, with Sakura. With the combined ability of the Loop Card and Move Card, they were able to quickly teleport from place to place, just by moving the loop from area to area, and brought both fighters to the house within a few short minutes. Arriving at Yuriko's home, they found Rei and her father talking with the girls from the track team, specifically Chiharu, Rena, and Yukari. Sakura had quickly head towards the couch and hasn't moved till addressed. Ken himself had taken to watch the news on what is happening around them. The four girls had taken this chance to explain to the group what has happened in the previous few hours. "Excuse me?" Sakura's voice echoed through the room as she stood up and addressed the crowd. "May I have your attention please?" Nine pairs of eyes locked onto her and she blushed slightly at the attention. "I'm sure that by now, you've noticed the problems that we are having." "That's one way to put it." Rena sarcastically replied, pointing out the underwater window. Sakura blushed even more. "Ummm... anyways, each of you have had dealings with the Clow Cards, so I... needyourhelp." The track team members nodded empathically while Dan powerposed and declared, "Of course we will help you! That's what friends are for, and Jimmy and I are your friends!" The green lightning shooter nodded in time with Dan's posing. "Sakura," Ken said, "Dan is right. We'll help however we can, not just because we owe you, but because all this to end, and that we are your friends." Rei chimed in with a smile. "Besides, if we allow this to continue, nobody's going to be able to see my fixed dojo!" With eyes nearly bursting with tears, Sakura looked at each one and bowed deeply in appreciation. "Thank you everyone." She nearly sobbed. "And I promise you, we will seal those cards!" Just then, a yellow pushie popped its head out from the back of Sakura's traditional gi; it being the only non 'battle costume' that Sakura could find in Yuriko's closet that fit her. "WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!!!" He yelled, causing the collective audience to jump back a step. Some in shock, some in fear, but mostly surprise that a small pushie could have such a loud voice. "KERO!!!" Sakura yelled and grabbed the small Guardian. "Where have you been?" "With me, Sakura." A voice belonging to Syaoran Li replied as a door opened wider for him to enter. At first glance, he looked very much like his everyday self, but upon closer examination, one could tell that he had very little sleep from his tired eyes and disorganized clothing. "We were in contact with my mother in Hong Kong. It seemed that things are getting worse there, though the warm air from the ocean is slowing things down. Mother is also working on weakening Snow, but she's no match for the Clow Cards, nor whatever is powering the Clow cards to do those acts." Sakura sighed. "Li, I know how you feel. Tom... Yuriko was a close friend of mine as well, but we need you to be at full strength right now. If we are to save her, we have to be." Ken nodded. "It's no use to overextend yourself before a fight. I'm sure we will be able to save your friends." Li stared at Sakura for a moment before sighing slightly. "You're right. So, what are we going to do?" Sakura gave a small smile. "First thing is to find a way to fight all three Cards. I can't be at three places at once, and there's still those people under the book's control." A small silence descended upon the group of people while they each tried to think of something. In the end, it was Sakura who spoke first. "With Snow, I can easily defeat it with this." She said as she brought out the Firey card. "But I think the more pressing concern is Wave. I'm the only one who can stop it." She turned to face Li. "Li, I'm going to lend you the Firey card, since you're the only who can invoke them 'properly'," she emphasized 'properly' as to not insult Loop and Miyuki, "so I'll leave it to you to handle things in Hong Kong until I get there. Is there any way you can travel all the way over there in this weather condition?" Li hesitatingly nodded, his brows deep in concentration. "However..." he said, "It's going to take a lot of magic out of me, so I won't be able to fight until I regain my strength." "How much do you need?" Kero asked, floating towards Li. Li's eyebrows furrowed deeper into his face. "I'm not sure, but at least enough to open a Gateway. We can use that to travel all the way to Hong Kong if we do it right." "WHAT?!!!!" Kero exclaimed. "Don't you know that it's very dangerous to use a Gate!!! You could be lost forever and never find your way back!" Sakura whirled to face the flying yellow pushie. "Kero! We don't have a choice! No planes are going to be flying soon, and boats will take too long! Why don't you go with Li, or at least, open the Gateway for him so he won't have to use so much of his energy?" Kero mulled around in the air for a bit and didn't respond, so Sakura just continued on. "Dan-sensei, Blanka-san, Ken-san I'm hoping that you'll travel with Li." Before Li could complain, Sakura hurried on. "Li himself said that he's not going to be in top condition after he gets to Hong Kong, so I'm asking you two to watch over him." "Of course, Sakura!" Dan exuberantly replied. "We won't let anything happen to Li, right Jimmy?!" Blanka energetically nodded in agreement. Ken just glanced at Sakura worriedly before reluctantly nodding. "Thank you. Rei, Chiharu, Rena, Miyuki, Yukari. I'm going to have to leave Rain to you five... Or six." Sakura hastily added seeing the frown on Kasawara- san's face. "Miyuki knows what the man looks like, so all you have to do is find him..." An uncertain look crossed her face as her voice faded off. "What's wrong, Sakura?" Rena asked. "Well..." Sakura answered, looking uncertainly at Kero. "I think I can give you back the cards I took..." "SAKURA!!!!" Kero yelled as he flew in front of her face. At close range, she could practically see a vein budging on the Guardian Beast's head. "WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" Sakura took a step back from Kero's outburst and fell right back into the sofa. "Well..." she hesitantly answered, looking at Kero's fuming form. "It wouldn't be fair to just let them try to catch Rain without some help, so I was thinking of some way to help them..." "Go on..." Kero said, still angry that Sakura would suggest such a thing. Li didn't look much better either, but he was too tired to yell. "Well, I was really tired, you see, and so I kinda fell asleep, so," Sakura stuttered, "suddenly, a copy of me appeared in my dream, and told me that she was actually Mirror..." [Flashback] "Sakura?" Sakura opened her eyes to find herself in her room, except there's another her sitting in front of her desk, looking back at her. "Wh... Who are, wait, Mirror, am I right?" Sakura, the real one, asked. Mirror smiled and nodded. "Dream and I understand your worries and combined our powers to tell you this: Those who are willing, such as Dash and I, can be temporarily 'loaned' to other people like before you recaptured us." A stunned Sakura opened her mouth, shook her head when no sounds came out, and then opened her mouth again to ask, "How?" Mirror kept her smile and softly replied, "Just invoke us in our true form, and have the person you wish to lend our strength to touch us. Then, you say the following while pointing to the person with the wand: 'I, Sakura, Mistress of the Clow Cards, hereby lend you my strength, my magic, until such time for it to return. I invoke thee,' then point your wand at whichever card you are going to lend, and say its name." Sakura silently repeated what Mirror said before the copy spoke again. "This must be volunteering on both sides for this to work, and because it is such, the person will be using their own natural magic and the card's own magic at the same time, therefore sustaining the card's power. When you wish for the card to return to you, just hold your wand in front of the person, and say: 'Clow Card, Release', and we should return to you." Sakura moved over to hug Mirror, saying a simple "Thank you." "You're welcome." Mirror replied with the same serene smile on her face before she was waken up by Ken... [End Flashback] Kero looked at Sakura suspiciously. "Are you sure that's what the Cards told you? I don't remember the Cards having that ability before..." Sakura nodded empathically and said, "It's possible that the Clow Cards learned how to do that from possessing people. I mean, it hasn't be able to do *that* before either." Li took up a position besides Sakura. "Are you sure it's safe?" Shrugging, Sakura got up and headed over to where the four track members were discussing something between themselves. "We'll know for sure when we try it." The four girls broke the huddle and Rena said, "I'll do it. I knew Dash best, so if anything happens, I'm sure Dash won't harm me." Sakura smiled and brought out the Dash Card. "I thought as much. Alright..." She brought out her Key and with a short incantation and a yell of "RELEASE!", the wand appeared in her hands. "Ready?" Sakura asked. Rena nodded her head and Sakura placed Dash in front of her. "Dash Card, I release you in thy true from! RELEASE!" As the wand hit the flashing Dash card, the shape of Dash started to appear above where the Card once was, and soon, the small form of Dash was on the floor, glancing around the room. Sakura nodded to Rena, who proceeded to pick Dash up from the floor, Dashing having nuzzled Rena when she got close enough, and Sakura started the second part of this ritual. "I, Sakura, Mistress of the Clow Cards," she lifted her staff to point at Rena, "hereby lend you my strength, my magic, until such time for it to return." She waved her staff around her and ended up with the 'head' facing Dash, who seemed excited about this while ritual as everyone else was. "I invoke thee, DASH!" A burst of color exploded from Dash as its form started fading into streams of color, which flew into the air and doubled back to encircle the startled Rena. With a small gasp, she was completely covered by a whirling tornado of light, which lasted for a few seconds before it seemed to completely enter Rena's body. As the light disappeared, Rena slumped forwards just as Sakura caught her before she fell to the ground. By the time that Sakura had gently let her down on a couch, everyone else was gathering around her, Kero floating on top of the girl and seemingly trying to puzzle out what happened. Finally, Rena spoke. "Whoa... Let's do that again!" Massive sweatdrops appeared behind everyone's back as Rena suddenly jumped back up and seemed to bounce around the room at high speeds. "Well," Kero deadpanned, "at least we know she can use Dash's powers." ___***___***___***___***___***___***___***___***___***___***___***___***___*** [T - 3:40] By the time they managed to get Rena to stop dashing around, Sakura had started on Jump and Chiharu, but this time, Sakura had told her *NOT* to jump around after they finished. "...I invoke thee, JUMP!" When the light show ended, Sakura caught Chiharu and had softly put her on the same couch that Rena had sat in. "Oh my..." Her first words were to a somewhat embarrassed Rena. "I can see why you were dashing around. The power's intoxicating." Rena nodded wryly. "Even when we first got the power, it wasn't like *this*! It's like the Cards were reduced to one quarter of their power when freed and after they were captured, they became whole again." Ken and the others just looked curiously at each other, having felt the power of a Clow Card before, and trying to figure out how much power would the Cards really have. "Of course!" Kero exuberantly declared. "From what I can understand, when the Cards originally possessed you, it was forcefully trying to gain access to your magical abilities. Now, since it's willing on both sides, and the proper rituals preformed, they are gaining the full power of your magical potentials. And trust me, if you didn't have a certain amount, the Cards wouldn't have choose you in the first place." "What about me?" Miyuki asked, feeling slightly underpowered. Sakura shrugged. "If Loop's willing..." Miyuki's eyes seemed to cross as she somehow talked with Loop. "I'll get back to you on that." "Fine with me. Yukari? Dream, Flower, and Mirror are willing, so is Fight," Ken flinched slightly at the mention of the Card, "I think, though reluctant." She thought for a moment before deciding. "I think Dream will work just fine. When we find the man Rain possessed, I can make him fall asleep and we can carry him to find you. Rain will probably follow us, so..." Sakura nod understandingly. "Then let's start. I got to warn you though; the person who originally was possessed by Dream kept falling asleep. Dream's a good card, but you got to keep firmly in mind that stopping Rain in reality is more important than dreaming you stopped Rain." Yukari gave her affirmative before they started the ritual. On one side, Rei was asking Dan, Ken, and Blanka a question. "So, are you going to ask for the power of the Cards?" Rei innocently asked. Both Ken and Dan frowned. Blanka had also frowned, but it was hard to make out with the green skin and all. They glanced at each other for only a second before shaking their heads. "I don't think any of us are going to ask for it back." Ken replied. "What about you?" Rei hesitantly shook her head. "I don't think I want Illusion back. The Card caused me too much trouble for me to handle..." As Sakura finished the final incantation, Sakura was sweating slightly and was obviously breathing slightly deeper. Miyuki finally approached her and nodded. "Loop has agreed to be captured by you on two conditions." Sakura looked at Miyuki straight in the face and replied, "Name it." "One: That Loop be bonded with me immediately afterwards." "Easily done." Sakura nodded with a simple smile. "I thought so." Miyuki said. "And two: Even if you managed to defeat all three cards, if you did a bad job at it, Loop stays with me." "Deal." Sakura immediately replied, much to the chagrin of Li and Kero. "We need Loop's power," she explained to the pair before they could get off a sentence, "and if this is the price, then I'll pay it." Moments later, and a capture and bonding afterwards, Sakura stood in front of Rei Kasawara. "Rei, I understand you wouldn't want Illusion, nor do I think it wants you, honestly," Sakura said, rubbing the back of her neck, "but I can't let you risk your life out there for Cards I should have captured, so I'll offer you Flower, Mirror, and Fight. Any one of them could be useful." "Flower, Mirror, or Fight." Rei repeated. She glanced at the three cards present in Sakura's hands before taking a small breath and answering with one word: "Flower." Sakura cocked an eyebrow but didn't say anything as she returned the other two cards into her pocket. "Then would you please stand here..." __***___***___***___***___***___***___***___***___***___***___***___*** [T - 3:00] "Kero, has Li left yet?" Sakura asked as she staggered along the walls. "Sakura!" Kero exclaimed. "Are you alright?!" "I'll be fine." Sakura replied. "The others already left, and I'm just a bit dizzy, that's all." Kero floated in front of Sakura and put a paw on her head. A small glow appeared around his body and into Sakura's forehead. "SAKURA!" He exclaimed. "You're low on magical powers! You were draining yourself when you bonded each card to the others, haven't you? Hey... there's also something..." "Kero!" Sakura yelled as she flinched back. "They needed the Clow Card's help! And we should head towards the coast now, since it will take us maybe an hour to reach the place." She turned and ran towards the stairs to the top floor, where there was a large balcony that allowed for her departure. "Don't try to change the subject!" Kero yelled as he follow Sakura, who was already wearing a close fitting raincoat. "You need to rest, or else you might burn yourself out!" "I'm sure I'll be fine, Kero!" Sakura explained as she grabbed the floating yellow pushie and placed him within her bosom. "Don't you dare do anything perverted, or else..." she threatened. "Ara..." Kero replied. ___***___***___***___***___***___***___***___***___***___***___***___***___*** [T - 0:30] It was surprisingly easy to get above the clouds and rain to head towards to coastline. Sakura didn't know if it was some sort of emotion from her past life or not, but she found flying an extremely pleasurable experience. They soon arrived at the estimated area where the tidal wave was going it hit. Seeing that they still have what they guessed to be half an hour before the tidal wave hits the coast, they searched through the area for the person Wave was possessing, but soon abandoned the idea since neither of them could sense the card. "Where could the card be, Kero?" Sakura frustrated asked. "If it's keeping that wave up, then it must be somewhere!" Kero floated worriedly around as he extended his senses further. Then, suddenly, it hit him like a sack of unmade pudding. "Sakura! Wave is BEHIND the tidal wave!" He shouted as he pointed towards the column of water. "OF COURSE!" Sakura yelled as she brought out the Fly card again. As the power of the Fly card took hold, Sakura glanced down at the incoming tidal wave, and wondered how one card could have so much power. Many thoughts flashed through her mind as she flew. Thoughts, ideas, or just knowledge ran free as she nearly daydreamed while flying. "Maybe there's something in common about those card..." Sakura wondered just before she felt it. A Clow Card. [T - 0:10] "THERE!" Kero yelled and pointed to a small boat that seemed to float on a smaller and calmer wave. "We don't have much time! You HAVE to stop it quickly!" Sakura didn't answer but looked speculatively at her height, and at the boat. Her eyes narrowed. "Kero, get off and stay here." Sakura instructed as she took a card out from one of her pockets. "Sakura, what are..." Kero started before he saw what card she was holding. "Sakura! You can't do that while you use Fly!" "I know Kero." Sakura calmed answered as she tried to make out how many people were on the boat. "What I'm doing violates a lot of the things a martial artist shouldn't do either, but if I don't stop Wave, there may not be a Japan left!" [T - 0:05] Reluctantly, Kero let go of Sakura and floated in mid-air. "I wish you luck, Sakura." Sakura turned to Kero and grinned. "I don't need luck." With that, she dispelled Fly, and started plummeting downwards towards the Ocean. Kero flew downwards with her, but made no movement to stop her. Concentrating, and ignoring the falling sensation, Sakura held the card in front of her and invoked it. "THUNDER! BLAST THAT BOAT DOWN THERE SO WAVE WILL HAVE TO REVEAL ITSELF!" [T - 0:04] From the card, a spirit wolf made of lightning emerged and flew downwards towards the boat. It's occupant didn't seem to notice Thunder streaming down its way until it was nearly above the person. By then, however, it was too late. [T - 0:02] The boat exploded in a brilliant fireball as the person, a man, she now could make out, flew upwards towards Sakura because of the shockwave created. Tired, yet focused on her task, she brought her staff above her head, part of her idly noticing that the tidal wave had suddenly stopped short of the coast and was just splashing onto the face of the ocean. "Return to the guise that you were meant to be in! CLOW CARD!" She yelled as she swung her staff down, hitting the man straight in the center of his heart. A sudden burst of energy shot out from the man and formed into the Wave card, and landing in Sakura's waiting hands. "KERO! CATCH THAT MAN!!!" She managed before falling into the ocean, her last sight was Kero yanking onto the man, and pulling him towards part of the shattered boat before her strength finally left her. ___***___***___***___***___***___***___***___***___***___***___***___***___*** Underwater. Drowning. Unable to breath. It seems so familiar... Watery? No, but a connection. What started this? The Book. The Book! Her! But She left, didn't she? Yes. No. She was gone already. I did not win, but only because She had already lost. I cannot lose. I will not lose. I have Cards to find, people to save. What would Ryu-sama do? Look deep into himself. Is that what I should do? I will. So tired... So blank... So dark... Wait, what's that? A faraway light, a small Star! Blocked! No, Shielded! Shield! __***___***___***___***___***___***___***___***___***___***___***___*** Sakura's eyes suddenly opened and with all her might, she brought her staff down to her heart, thinking the words taught to her by Kero so long ago. A sudden whirling of energy that created a pocket in the water told her that she succeeded and the Shield card floated to her hands, only to be invoked immediately to block off the sea water, inches from her head. As the water was the only thing blocked, oxygen flowed into Sakura's lungs and she greedily inhaled it. As she finally managed to calm down, she swam back towards the surface, a sudden sense of d‚j… vu filling her. For some reason, swimming back to the top of a large body of water just seemed to have reminded her of something... Breaking the surface, she quickly found that Kero hand placed the man onto a piece of driftwood and together, they quickly headed towards shore. __***___***___***___***___***___***___***___***___***___***___***___*** At a peaceful home in Tokyo, a pair of sisters were bored out of their minds. The younger was currently doing her homework, while the sister was playing around with two large rectangular cards with strange markings. Suddenly, the sister seemed to glow and she staggered off her seat, the cards falling out of her hands and onto the floor. "Are you alright?" The younger sister quickly tried to help her shivering sister. Hitomi only muttered, "It has begun..." to a curious younger sister. __***___***___***___***___***___***___***___***___***___***___***___*** [T + 0:10] When they reached the shores, they found an interesting surprise waiting for them. Two figures, one male and one female were waiting for them, and Sakura was too tired to hide the fact that she was using magic. Surprisingly, Sakura identified the male as Toya, and the other... A sudden flash of memory with the Tokyo Tower as a background: Brown hair flowing, a shadow, and the moon... "I know you, don't I?" Sakura asked the woman with brown hair and holding a crescent shaped bell. "You knew me, and I knew you, but we are different people now." She replied. "However, this still belongs with you." The bell chimed once and Sakura walked over to receive it, holding it parallel with her staff. "What's your name?" Sakura asks as she brought the bell and staff closer together. The woman smiled. "I am Mizuki Kaho." An explosion of energy flashes in front of Sakura as her staff and bell touched each other and merged together. It glowed brightly for a moment before it settled back into its original shape; the only thing different is that a silver moon was inscribed along the shaft of the rod, and that a small yellow star was added to the bottom of the staff. "And thus I have fulfilled my duty." Kaho explains as takes her coat off and covers the wet Sakura with it. "Come, I'm sure you would like to dry off before traveling again." Sakura nodded and headed off to a resting trailer that waited for their them. To Be Continued... -----======----- LEAVE IT TO KERO-CHAN! -----======----- Konya nyatchiwa! I'm sure that some of you may have noticed that Sakura had supposedly removed the card that was within her very early on, but we found that the Shield card had RETURNED to Sakura after she left the room! Nobody noticed it because Tomoyo and I were still in the room and Sakura was NOT feeling well then, you know, having thought that her skills came from the Fight card and all. It fits her personality and strengths perfectly, and I would have noticed it if it wasn't for the other cards or Sakura actively trying to avoid me! Mizuki Kaho was a teacher for the old Sakura and had a mystical bell that could even defeat the Maze Card! Now that Sakura received the Bell, she's now twice as powerful, but still weaker than she was at Judgement. What Sakura tried with the Track Team was very risky, and both the Card and the person MUST be completely willing for it to work. Otherwise, it might harm both the magic of the Card and the person trying it! Well, things will continue on, and we'll see how the others did in their own quests to fight the other Cards! Let's hope Sakura could make it to seal the Cards in time! Keep it up, Sakura! We'll see you all next time! __***___***___***___***___***___***___***___***___***___***___***___*** Author's Note: I don't believe I let Smlee drag me into this. But then again, that's the problem I keep facing: Getting dragged into things by him. The [T - #:##] thing is for other authors to keep track of story time. Everything dealing with these Cards should starts from [T - 3:00], and the stories afterwards dealing with this *should* be labeled as appropriate. It's just for convenience sake, though. Kaho was pretty much an one-shot character. I didn't intend for her to do anything other than bring Toya back into the story and to hand the bell to Sakura, which should have happened if Sakura did not die at Judgement. Oh, go where you like the Sisters, but I was thinking something along the lines of Yukito with a family. Thanks to Smlee, Jexer, Ryunson (no way I'm calling you Lord! ^_^) for reading through this. I'm completely in debt to all of you! (Except you, Smlee, who got me into this in the first place!) Anyone I missed, sorry, but this is more or less a rush-job! Whoever's next has got a lot of work cut out for them!