The Kanzuki mansion was a place of rich filled wonder and wealthy delight. The mansion itself is filled to the brim with all sorts of wonder, from the taxidermy of the very lion their daughter has single-handedly, to the pictures of Karin and her family legacy that has endured for many generations. Some were heroes in World War II while others were proud warriors who fought during the Sengoku age. The very time in which Oda Nobunaga has made his attack on Feudal Japan, as well as Shigen Takeda rallying his forces against the onslaught of the Tokugawa shogunate. The birds were chirping outside the window of Karin's room. "OOOHOHOHOHOHO!!" Karin proudly laughed as she got up from her bed. "What a wonderful day to finally put Sakura in her place!" She danced around the room then heading straight for the shower. Before she can do that, her servants were doing the usual greeting. "Good morning, Mistress Kanzuki." The servants bowed while Karin responded with, "Good morning to you!" After she finished showering, she was dressed in a very luxurious cotton robe. One of her servants bowed while he said, "The usual, Mistress Kanzuki?" "The usual." Karin smiled as she got her clothes from the servant. she put on her clothes, made certain to buckle the bra on her back, and she wasdressed in her trademarked red school girl outfit. Her golden locks swished all around as she twirled in perfect formation. The servant can only agree that today is going to be a wonderful day. After all, he and a select group of female stylists worked so hard on that golden hair. She walked out the door fully clothed and ready to face the day. "Look out, Sakura Kasugano! Here comes Karin Kanzuki, ready to give you the beating you..." Before she could finish, the sun was blotted out by dark rain clouds, and wind began to thrash violently. "DAMMIT!" Karin swore. "This was supposed to be a pleasant day! This wind is ruining my hair!" The servants can only pout for a brief moment. They worked so hard to get their mistress ready for the day, and what do they get in return? A completely disasterous moment that promises to plague the entire city for days to come. ----- <__< 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. Chapter 31: Eye of the STORM By Ryunson ----- Sakura sat in her room, gazing out the windows at the gathering black clouds hovering above the city. Most days, her sky gazing would only lead her fall soundly asleep.... most of the time in her classroom.... but there was something deeply unsettling about the coming storm. It certainly didn't help that there seemed to be something different about the lightninh, as it struck several places at once. "I've got a bad feeling about this storm. Kero, what do you think?" Kero was, as usual, playing video games in Sakura's room, at the moment, was busy with Soul Caliber III, where he was playing as Voldo against Lizardman. "After I kick this gecko's butt right off the columns!" With a push of a button, Kero had Voldo bend over backwards and grab onto his feet before he rolled into Lizardman not entirely unlike a buzzsaw. The attack took a large prtion of health from the reptile's life bar. "BOO-YEAH! YOU DON'T MESS WITH VOLDO!!" Sakura got out of bed, walked on over, and turned the PS2 off. "WHAT THE?! Kero screamed as he saw the TV go black. "HEY!!" "Would you prefer a roundhouse kick, or a foot smash?" Sakura frowned. "... if that's the most violent thing you're going to do to me all day..." Kero hovered about. "Now, back to the point of discussion, what is causing this storm? I have a feeling that that this thing isn't natural. And it's been going on too long for my liking!" Sakura stomped her foot down. "You think maybe it's a Clow Card?" Kero asked Sakura. "Well if it is, and if we just stay here and do nothing, then Li's going to get it for sure, and laugh in our faces!" Sakura looked to the outside to see it pouring heavily. The winds were starting to her heavier and wilder. She called forth, "SHIELD!!, and went outside with the Key Staff in hand. "I'm going to go look for that Clow Card!" The shield protected her from the rain and the winds that blew violently. "Sakura!" Kero tried to float after her with almost no success thanks to the strong winds. "Wait for me!!" ----- Syaoran Li was also looking for the cause of this storm. He too was wearing a rain jacket, in spite of gale force winds, he held his Derivitor in place. "I'm sure it's a Clow Card that's causing all of these storms. And it's got to be around here somewhere!" He spoke while ventured across the city. Syaoran smiled while he watched the Derivitor begin to point in the right direction. "And to think Sakura is probably busy sleeping through this storm while I get to capture a Clow Card! It is a Card Captor's duty to caputre a Clow Card, no matter the weather! Neither rain, sleet or snow is going to stop me!" Suddenly, another signature appeared on the Derivitor. "What's this?" Li pondered the idea. "Another Clow Card? Today's my lucky day!" Li chose to head off in the direction of the new signal, fighting the winds on his way opposite the eye of the storm. ----- Meanwhile, near the center of town the cause of the storm was walking across the streets. The owner was a muscular man with blonde hair, dressed in a blue and white striped prison suit. His hands are bandaged from numerous fights, and he even wears cuffs attached to his wrists. Even though they were still locked in place, they didn't diminish the deadly power of his hands. "GUUUUYYYYY!" Cody yelled across the way. "Come on out and show me that you haven't been slacking off!" Cody noticed a group of punks hanging out across the street from him. He summoned a tornado to blow away some of the more pathetic looking ones. The others knew it was time to run and quickly did so. "Come on!" The man demanded. "Is there no one strong enough to challenge me and the power of the STORM?" "That's right Cody, keep on barking." The STORM card inside of him spoke to him. She was a curly haired girl with elf ears that wore armor that protected her body from harm. ---- Sakura was trying to brave the heavy gusts of wind that tried to halt her advance towards the cause of the storms. "These winds, TOO STRONG!!" Sakura tried to hold her staff in place. Kero was just trying to hold on as well. "Rose told me you'd be here." A man appeared right before her. It was Guy. "You again." Sakura muttered under her breath. "I don't need your help, ninja!" Sakura shook her fist right at him. "Better me than Syaoran Li." Guy shrugged his shoulders. "That arrogant man has been trying to get all the good cards behind your back so he can be the next card captor instead of you. After trouncing Mad Gear, Libra has shown me that there is more to it than just those hoodlums." "Big deal." Sakura smiled as she looked at Guy. "I'm a better martial artist, plus I have more cards than that loser!" She added. Turning her attention back to Guy she asked, "I don't suppose you know what's causing the storms around here?" "It's the STORM card." Guy answered her. "It's host is just as destructive as the card itself." "Don't tell me Abigail is back in the neighborhood!" Sakura got into a fighting position while she ran alongside Guy. "No, it's not Abigail. If it was him, he'd level this city faster than you can say, Bushin!" Guy ran with her. "It's Cody, and he's busy helping the STORM card wreak havoc all over the town!" "Well what are we waiting for?" Sakura smiled. "Let's find this Cody person and beat the snot out of him!" "You might have an easier time fighting him than with me. We ....we were friends once." Guy lowered his head in shame. "Friends?" Sakura looked at him. ----- Several years ago, long before Guy had heard the name Sakura Kasugano, Guy found Cody working out in one of Metro City's gyms. Cody was dressed in a tanktop with blue jeans on. He was sweating from a round of weight lifting, and he didn't seem to be tired at all. The look on his face was that of stress, and anger... Loads of anger. Guy walked up to him, "You seem troubled, my friend." Cody put down the weights, and looked at Guy. "It's nothing you need to worry about. Why don't you go train with that ninjitsu or whatever it is that you do." "Cody, I'm your friend." Guy helped Cody with the weights. "Besides, part of my code involves fighting evil. If there is anything I can do, just ask." Cody exhaled heavily, got up from the weights and drank some water out of a water bottle. "It's Mad Gear. They kidnapped Jessica." "Jessica?" Guy looked concerned. "Who's Jessica?" "Well, you could kinda say she's my sweetheart, we known each other since we were kids." Cody hung a towel around his shoulders. "Mike Haggar told me to meet him in his office. He can't save Jessica from those Mad Gear psychos all by himself." "Can't the police stop them?" Guy tilted his head. "They can't do nothing about it." Cody frowned. "Remember Edi E, the crazy cop? He's on their side now." "And the military?" Guy wondered again. "Rolento has somehow gotten some of the military under his control, and what's worse, he's on Mad Gear's payroll." "Wait a minute, where are you getting this information from?" Guy asked point blank as he walked with Guy. "When your future father in law's the mayor of a city, you hear things about the various crazies in this town. Besides, Mike Haggar has gotten respect from more than just wrestling fans, he's got some interpol agents who like to help him out from time to time." "Is there a reason why they don't just stop Mad Gear?" Guy continued to question Cody's method of knowledge gathering. "Interpol goes after only international threats." Cody smiled. "All right." Guy continued to walk alongside Cody. "I suppose we may as well do things ourselves then. You willing to save Jessica and put Mad Gear down for the count?" Cody smiled again. "What do you think I was lifting those weights for?" He punched his open hand. "I was getting warmed up for those Mad Gear meatheads! Once we meet up with Mike Haggar, Mad Gear is going down!" ----- "So did you defeat Mad Gear?" Sakura continued running alongside Guy. "Of course." Guy responded. "Wait a minute, BACK UP!" Sakura stopped for a minute, holding Guy back. "If you, Cody and Haggar defeated Mad Gear in Metro City, why did Mad Gear suddenly reform in Tokyo?" "That I can't say." Guy spoke rather coldly. "However, after Mad Gear was beaten in Metro City, Cody missed the thrill of the fight, and he got in numerous brawls in the bar, and even fighting over parking places." "So Cody's in jail, huh?" Sakura continued to fight the strong winds. "He was," Guy replied. "But according to the news, he's broken out." Sakura could see where this was going. "So we have to stop him before he levels the city." "In a way, yes." Guy continued to run. "If you don't take him down, I can only imagine these storms will get worse. In which case, I'll have to end up fighting my best friend." ---- It took some time, but Sakura and Guy finally made it to the eye of the storm, conveniently located in the middle of the park. "At last, we found you!" Sakura declared. "Cody." Guy looked at Cody and looked at his current condition. "I see the news was right about you." "Eh, Metro City got boring, so I thought I'd liven things up and start a few fights." Cody shrugged his shoulders. "Cody!" Guy demanded his attention. "This isn't like you! You're not this man! My friend would never do any of this. LIBRA tells me.... tells me that STORM is goading you into this. Let us help you!" "Help?" Cody countered. "You're just jealous because I got a cool card that can control the very elements themselves. All you got was a stupid lie detector." "Cody..." Guy lowered his head. "Libra has helped me in more ways than one, it's showed me where Mad Gear is located. It helped me cripple their operations once more. It lead me to you. And it can help you seek the truth about what happened to Jessica....and yourself." Guy was about to use the Libra card, then Cody pushed him back with a deadly breeze. "HAH!" Cody gloated. "So much for him! Now it's your turn," Cody sneered and his voice became deadly serious, "Card Captor!" Sakura later spun her legs into a propeller like attack, as she screamed, "Shippuken!" "How about this?" Cody countered with, "TORNADO UPPERCUT!" Usually this move would be backed up with a weak tornado, but thanks to the STORM card, the tornado was much stronger than normal and it sent Sakura flying. "SAKURA!" Guy screamed as he rushed on over to help her. Even though for a brief moment he was knocked against a tree, his agility allowed him to land feet first into the bark, then leap right onto the ground. "I'm fine!" Sakura growled. "I can handle this windbag myself!" "You're making this too easy!" Cody yelled, frustrated. "HADOKEN!" Sakura screamed as she launched a fire ball at Cody. She didn't notice it but the fireball was slightly larger than usual. Cody leaped up, and screamed out, "Here's another one of STORM's abilities! Lightning Strike!" "What the?" Sakura flipped out of the way, and shouted out, "Geez, just how strong is this card anyways?" "You're the Card Captor, you tell me." Guy retorted as he rushed forward and delivered a few spinning kicks to Cody. After a couple of kicks connected, Cody retaliated by blowing Guy away with a mini tornado. "STORM more likely, was created for control over the weather. THUNDER, WINDY, CLOUDY, SNOW, and RAIN are all more powerful versions of things that STORM could potentially do. The thing about STORM though, is that it is able to access a lesser variation of these powers almost all at once. Also, unlike those other cards, it is limited in where and how it can exist, as well as how it can function." Kero explained the obvious. "We'll have to retreat for now." Sakura proceeded to back away from her opponent and pulled out one of the cards. "MAZE!!" A great green light began to spread from the card surrounding both Guy and Sakura. Soon the light began to take the form of an infinitely complex maze separating themselves from Cody. "The Maze won't affect either of us, but it will affect Cody!" Sakura smiled picturing Cody running into dead ends while he tried to find them. "This isn't funny!" Cody hollered as he created a massive windstorm to blow across the maze. "Have you noticed that some of your cards are running out of power?" Kero frowned as he watched Maze's walls become more liquid by the second. "CRAP!" Sakura swore as she watched the maze walls melt. "We can't get close enough to hurt him as long as that STORM card keeps helping him!" Guy nodded in agreement. "We need to distract him somehow." Suddenly, an idea came to Sakura, turning to Guy, she asked, "Say, you got a picture of Jessica?" Gyu reached into his pocket, and pulled out what looked to be an old photo. Taking a closer look, Sakura could see it was a picture of Guy, Cody, Haggar and Jessica. While Haggar had placed his arms around both Cody and Jessica, Guy just stood off to the right looking cool and detached as usual. "So the big guy in the picture... That's Haggar, right?" Sakura looked at the picture closely. "Yes, and the blonde in there is Jessica." Guy revealed what Jessica would look like after their triumph over Mad Gear in Metro City. "That's perfect!" Sakura smiled while she used the power of, "ILLUSION!" Suddenly an image of Jessica Haggar was created from the book. She was an attractive blond girl wearing a dress. "Let's hope this creation lasts while we figure out a way to defeat the STORM card!" ---- Hoping to locate the Clow card before anyone else Li followed the signals of the Derivitor, eventually being led to a girl who, if he had to guess based on her demeanor, had gotten lost on her way home. She was a slightly tall, red short haired girl who was about Li's age, and sporting some very ocean blue eyes while wearing a checkered dress. Her bust line was not very big, but she was quite a cutie. "Can I help you?" The girl looked at Li. "The Derivitor told me that whatever I was looking for was in this spot." Then, he looked closely at the girl. "Why am I talking to a ghost?" "The terrible storm made it possible." The girl went on. "This destructive magical power has swept across my family and wishes to tear it apart. Now I am all alone." "You lie." Li was frustrated. "I know all about you cards. You're the THROUGH card, Aren't you?" "I do not lie. I only wish for the protection of my family." "I think I've heard enough." Li was through talking. "THROUGH, leave the girl alone." The THROUGH card meekly replied, "I cannot do that. I need her." Li readied his sword to strike the girl, "If you won't come peacefully then I'll have to use force." Li attacked the girl with his sword but the slashes went through her, just like the card's name suggested. "I do not wish to fight you, but I cannot allow you to interfere." The girl suddenly went corporeal and decided to let loose some spin kicks, and some tornado punches on Li. After landing a few hits the girl went back to being incorporeal making it impossible for Li to attack. "Darn it!" Li shouted. "That's your big plan, to wear me down while you phase out every time I try to hit you?" "You are correct. Since you have no way of hurting me you cannot win this fight. Please, leave so that I may complete my task." Li hated to admit it but the card had a point. But what was this task she kept going on about? "What is it that you need to do so badly?" "I have to correct a mistake that was made during the Judgment." The THROUGH card looked at Li with an expression of sorrow in her eyes. "Though the path ahead is a dark one I know it is the only way." And with that, THROUGH and her host went incorporeal and went through a wall in a building. Li thought about what the card had said. Correct a mistake made at Judgment? So then where would she be going now? It only took a moment for Li to arrive at an answer. "Sakura!" ---- Sakura and Guy could only wait as the Maze crumbled around them, placing all their hopes on the fake Jessica to slow Cody down. Only...Sakura got an idea. She pulled out the VOICE card "So, you're going to try and calm Cody down with Jessica?" Guy looked to the horizon. "Are you sure this is going to work?" "It has to!" At least, she hoped so. "What else can we do?" With that, she activated the VOICE card, and sent the illusion forward to intercept Cody. "Cody" Sakura spoke using Jessica’s voice, "It’s me. Jessica Haggar." "Jessica?" Cody looked at her. "What are you doing in Tokyo?" "Never mind that." 'Jessica' continued speaking. "Why are you causing this storm? Don't you realize innocent lives are in danger because of it?" "No one in this world is truly innocent." Storm whispered in Cody’s ears. "No one in this world is truly innocent." Cody repeated. "Not even you. That life in Metro City...it became dull. I NEED THE EXCITEMENT IN MY LIFE!’ "’So you would rather lead the life of a vagrant, a fighter, a criminal...rather than marry me? Settle down? Become a loving husband and father?" Jessica demanded. "I chose this path! There’s no turning back! I like the fights! I like the feeling I get. It makes me happy. And with STORM, I’ll be more powerful than anyone. Especially anyone that dares use magic to mess around with my mind!" Cody screamed as he summoned a tornado to blow the illusion of Jessica away, revealing Sakura and Guy. "Like you. The Crap Captor!" "’Crap Captor? Like that’s original." Sakura pouted. It actually was the first time she’d been called that. "Do you villains go to the same school of insults for me?" "Umm... our cover is blown." Guy stated the obvious. "Time for plan B.’ Sakura fished in her pockets for the one card she’d promised herself not to use. "FIGHT!" She commanded. She dropped into her usual fighting stance, her enhanced aura shining red and actually evaporating raindrops before they hit her. "If it’s a fight you want, come get it!" "Gladly." Cody smiled while he cracked his knuckles. "Any fight is better than no fight at all! Show me what you got!" It was then that Sakura charged at him. ----- Li ran across the city trying to find Sakura before the THROUGH card got to her first. However, he had continually been impeded by the THROUGH card. The Clow card would appear before Li, they would fight momentarily, then the card would vanish again leaving Li more and more tired every time. Eventually Li refused to take any more. "THROUGH! Why are you doing this? What do you want with Sakura?" "Do not worry Sayoran Li. I have no intentions of harming Sakura. It is another who's interference I must end." The THROUGH card calmly replied. "I wish to bring about the demise of Constellita!" "What do you hope to accomplish by killing this, Constellita?" Li demanded as he prepared to place a few magical charms on his blade. He did study in some Shinto, did he not? "She had tainted the vision of our master Clow Reed by breaking the balance between light and dark." THROUGH spoke with a great tension in her voice. Li thought she might even go so far as to start crying. "There is no guardian of the stars. Only the sun and moon were a part of Clow Reed's plan, not the stars. Constellita is a perversion of Clow Reed's beautiful vision. Once she is gone, balance can return to the Clow. Only Cerberus and Yue will govern Clow Reeds work without any interference." "Guardian of the stars?" Li had no idea what this card was talking about. There were only two guardians of the cards, Cerberus and Yue. There was no guardian of the stars. "Who is this Constellita you keep going on about?" For the first time Li could see a smile begin to crawl on the face of the THROUGH card. "That's nothing you need to worry about. She will be dead soon enough." Moving quickly the THROUGH card charged at Li and was about to deliver her attack when Li he struck the girl with his charmed blade. Even the ghostly powers of THROUGH were no match for the charmed blade. "WHAT?!" "While you were gloating at me, I placed a few charms on the sword, canceling out your ghostly powers! Shinto be proud." Li smiled. "Perhaps I cannot defeat your blade, but then I may not have to. Did you forget the power of STORM's wind abilities?" THROUGH regained her composure. "Those charms will blow right off!" "OH NO!" Li screamed as he saw the charms get blown off his sword by the increasingly strong winds. The storm was getting worse and worse and Li assumed that Sakura was dealing with it at it's source. "They are going to stay gone too, unless you have more charms!" THROUGH let a smile creep onto her face. The THROUGH card turned to leave but Li was not yet finished with it. "Tell me THROUGH. How do you plan on killing this Constellita? If it is a guardian of the cards as you say, what could you hope to do to stop her?" The THROUGH card stopped in place but did not turn around as she spoke. "There is a great power that lies within Sakura." The card explained slowly. "I do not know what it is exactly but I do know that it will give Sakura enough power to defeat Constellita and restore Clow Reed's vision of the cards." A strange unknown power within Sakura? Suddenly Li was reminded of what Ken Masters had told them before. "I DID sense some sort change in Sakura's Ki. It's barely noticeable. Someone who does not practice the Shotokan style and uses Ki would never notice the difference, but while her Ki is still grounded in our style, there's something different about it.""That must be what the card is referring to," Li concluded. Although he definitely did not like the prospect of this unknown power. "Once Sakura's new powers are awakened she will be able to stand against that abomination and restore balance to the cards." THROUGH continued. "Once Sakura becomes aware of Constellita's existence she will realize as I have and know she must bring an end to that false guardian." Li cried out. "You can't just unlock her powers like that! You have no idea what might happen! Someone could get hurt!" "I have heard enough from you Sayoran Li." The THOUGH card began to fade from sight. "My mistress will know what must be done and she will prevail." By the time she finished talking there was no trace left of the card. "I have to find Sakura, now! Before that card does something drastic." Li rushed ahead as he continued his search for Sakura. --- Sakura just began her battle with Cody as the schoolgirl went on a punching assault. Cody countered with a tornado uppercut, sending Sakura far from him, until Sakura did a back flip. She kicked him while she was in the air. Cody was knocked back while he also continued to strike with various kicks. Sakura flipped up again, and shouted out, "HADOKEN!" While she was on the ground. However, that was quickly countered by Cody's tornado uppercut. "My turn!" Cody smiled while he picked up some nearby rocks and tossed them up in the air, like a gambler tossing up some coins. He later then decided it was okay to throw them at Sakura. "DAMN YOU!" Sakura growled. "I thought it was going to be a fist fight!" "Hey, you used some magical attacks, that's no fun!" Cody laughed. "But enough silly magical girl antics, it's time to turn it up a notch!" Cody later picked up a knife, and tossed it up and down in his hand. "Watch out Sakura!" Guy warned Sakura. "If there's anything Cody's better at than fighting is his ability to wield a knife! He's quite the master of it!" "Oh no, you wouldn't!" Sakura demanded as she saw Cody with the knife in hand. Li arrived in time to see the knife wielder try to throw the knife at Sakura. 'Oh no...' Li thought about this. 'If that knife hits her, she's as good as dead! Our card captor careers would be all for nothing!" Cody laughed and tossed the knife right at Sakura. The knife itself is headed straight for Sakura's head. However, the Card Captor was prepared for such a predigement. "SHIELD!!" Screamed the captor as the knife bounced off the shield that appeared. "Impossible!" Cody screamed. "No one survives the knife!" "And now..." Suddenly, she came to a dead stop. Something didn't feel right. She found she was completely unable to move, stranger still it felt as though something was trying to reach inside of her. She was more correct than she knew, for though she couldn't see it Li had a clear view of the THROUGH card appearing behind Sakura and reaching into her backside with both hands. This turn of event did not go unnoticed by Guy either. "What card is that and what is it doing to Sakura?" "The THROUGH card," Li muttered in response. "It's looking for something inside of Sakura." A smile found it's way onto the THROUGH card's face and in a eerie sing-song voice said, "I've found it." In instant later a flash surrounded Sakura and the card as a dark purple aura began to spew forth from the card captor. Her eyes seemed to darken and the expression on her face quickly became one of bliss, whatever was going on inside of her Sakura seemed to be enjoying it. Pulling her arms out of Sakura and becoming solid once more, the THROUGH card spoke to the altered captor. "Sakura, you must listen to what I say to you. Clow Reed's vision for the fate of the cards has become tainted by another. There lives a being by the name of Constellita who would presume to alter the path he has set down for the deck and call herself a guardian of the cards. As the future master of the cards it is your duty to seek out and destroy this abomination for the good of us all." "THROUGH." Sakura muttered quietly, she sounded as though she were half asleep. "Yes Cardcaptor?" THROUGH asked anxiously. "You talk too much." Before the THROUGH card could react Sakura had spun around and delivered a powerful roundhouse kick to the card. So surprised was the card it did not even have enough time to become incorporeal and took the full force of the kick in her midsection. The force from the blow was enough to send the card flying across the street and to the ground. "I was afraid of this!" Li ran up to Guy. "We gotta stop her!" "You're right." Guy responded. "Whatever is happening to Sakura is... I don't like it. Something feels terribly wrong." "If we don't stop Sakura there's no telling what she might do. In this condition she might even try and kill Cody!" Li reasoned. "Hey, what's goin on here?" Cody demanded. "What's up with the crap captor?" A sadistic grin crept onto the face of Sakura. "Crap Captor? It wasn't funny the first time, it wasn't funny this time and I promise you won't live long enough to say it a third time." "I don't know what's going on, but we have to talk some sense into her!" Guy called out to the card captor. "Face us, Sakura!" "Mm. More lambs to the slaughter." Sakura smiled while still in her Dark trance. "Well whichever of you wants to die first fell free to step forward." "Li, you distract Sakura, I'll try to resolve some differences between Cody and I." Guy ordered before rushing off in Cody's direction. "As long as Tomoyo doesn't know about this, I'll be happy to oblige your request." Li smiled as he faced Sakura. "Sakura, listen to me, you don't have to do this!" "No, but I really WANT to." Sakura commanded. "Even though I'm not at full power yet, I can still kick your pretty boy ass all across town!" Sakura made the first attack with, "SHORYUKEN!!" "RAIJIN SLASH!!" countered with a strike from his sword. Unfortunately for him, Sakura dodged the attack with a back flip and began to charge a HADOUKEN as soon as her feet hit the ground. 'Damn, I gotta use my brain here to defeat her, without getting either of us killed.' Li thought about this while he held his sword in a defensive pose. "HADOUKEN!" Sakura shot out her fireball at Li just as he placed more charms on the sword. "TWIN!" Li screamed as the magic of the card split him in two. The fireball sailed right between his two halves. "Now you'll have to deal with both of us!" "It doesn't matter what you do, I'm going to destroy you all the same!" Sakura charged at the two Lis. The Li standing on the left readied himself for an attack and soon found himself blocking Sakura's Shunpuukyaku, a rapid succession of kicks delivered by the girl while she spun through the air. Li noted that he was barely able to maintain his guard against the crushing hits and it became fairly obvious that Sakura's strength has increased a good deal. Soon enough however gravity pulled Sakura back to the ground and Li slashed at her with his sword, which Sakura avoided by leaping backwards. "You're pathetic!" Sakura shouted to her opponent. At that moment however the second Li TWIN had approached the captor from behind and thrust his sword out in an attempt to strike while she was unaware. Things didn't go as smoothly as Li had hoped however as Sakura sidestepped the blade and without looking buried her elbow in Li's gut as his momentum carried him forward. Taking full advantage of this opportunity Sakura delivered a powerful Shoryuken to her opponent, the result sending Li airborne."SHADOW!" The other Li TWIN shouted as he selected the card and released it's power. The SHADOW card took form and darted towards Sakura then as it approached the girl it spread out and began to surround her. A moment before the card enveloped her Sakura leapt high in the air and out of reach of the card.Now That she was above the SHADOW card Sakura had a clear view of Sayoran Li and decided the best way to deal with him would be with a Hadoken. Cupping her hands Sakura began to focus her energy into one more fireball. The Li TWIN that Sakura was aiming at knew he was in trouble and panicked. For a moment he let his instincts take over and threw his sword straight towards Sakura.Seeing the spinning blade hurtling towards her the Cardcaptor fired her Hadoken at it hoping to blow it off course. Fortunately she was successful as the Hadoken exploded on impact with the sword and sent it spinning off in another direction. With that threat out of the way Sakura dropped to the ground and was about to continue here assault on Li when the SHADOW card began to wrap itself around her arms and legs, soon she was barely able to move. "That's a nice trick," she mused halfheartedly, "but it's still not nearly enough." Focusing her Ki the dark aura around her began to increase rapidly and began distorting the shape of the SHADOW card.Just as she was about to break free of the card Sakura felt a powerful force strike her from behind. The SHADOW card loosened it's grip on her and Sakura did manage to break free but whatever struck her had winded her and she staggered forward a few steps before turning around to determine the source of the attack.After turning Sakura was able to make out the second Li TWIN, the one she had struck with her Shoryuken earlier, standing directly in front of her. No doubt he had attacked with some sort of magical charm when she wasn't looking.Before Sakura could begin another attack however she found herself in a rather firm choke hold initiated by the OTHER Li TWIN who had apparently snuck up behind her after she had turned around.Seeing his opportunity the Li TWIN that still possessed his sword drew the ERASE card. "ERASE!" He shouted casting it's magic on Sakura. He hoped the card would be able to wipe out Sakura's memories of the past few minutes and with a little luck perhaps undo whatever damage may have been done by the THROUGH card. --- Guy and Cody continued battling it out with kicks, punches, and the like while storm based attacks flew left and right. Guy did a spin kick while Cody countered with a tornado uppercut. Cody threw some punches in Guy's directionwhile Guy blocked. Guy then spun around Cody in a ninja form while he deliveredsome kicks and punches to him. "You're still as fast as ever I see!" Cody smiled. "I'm just getting warmed up!" Guy smiled back, he used the powers of Libra to enter Cody's mind. "Do you enjoy the life of a fighter? Are you contempt at this lifestyle?" "As long as evil continues to walk the streets, I'll always find someone to test my strength against!" Cody smiled. "He speaks the truth." Guy muttered. He was hoping he might be able to persuade Cody to stop the fight but that didn't look particularly likely at the moment. Cody laughed. "Hey, as soon as we are finished, why don't you give that card to one of the Captors? They need it more than you do." "You're right." Guy smiled. "I'm sure they could make better use of your STORM card as well." Cody sneered at this. "A good fights all I really ever wanted. Give me one and I won't need the card anymore." "Fine then. It's a deal." Guy said as he launched another attack. ----- ERASE finished casting it's spell on Sakura and returned to the confines of it's card. The Cardcaptor seemed to faint dead way in the arms of the Li TWIN who had been holding her. For a moment neither Li moved as they waited for Sakura to regain consciousness, which she did soon enough. "Oh, my head." The captor moaned as she returned to the world of the waking. Slowly she sat up and opened her eyes. "Li? What are you doing here?" She looked around and observed two separate Li's. "And why are there two of you?" "That's not important." One of the Li's said rather harshly. "Tell me Sakura what's the last thing you remember?" The captor paused for a moment and thought. "Well, I was fighting against Cody, then he pulled a knife on me, the big creep. The next thing I know I'm lying here in front of you two." Both Lis let out a sigh of relief, apparently the ERASE card had been able to wipe out any memory Sakura had of her transformation. Hopefully it had also managed to ERASE any damage done by the THROUGH card as well. Suddenly and without warning Sakura sat bolt upright. "Cody! That's right, I have to seal the STORM card before he does any more damage." "Relax, Guy has things under control," one of the Li's said to Sakura pointing to the two combatants. "There's another card you have to seal first though," The other Li said. "Fine, but could you pull yourself together first? You're starting to give me a headache." A moment later the magic of the TWIN card had left Li returning him to one person. He then led Sakura to the THROUGH card. The card lay on the ground barely moving. At first Sakura thought it was seriously hurt but on closer inspection she could see the card was crying. "My, master has forsaken me," she sobbed. Li bent down and offered his hand to the card. "Now do you see what happens when you meddle with powers you don't understand?" For a moment the card did nothing, then it took Li's hand and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet. Turning to Sakura she bowed humbly. "I am sorry for the pain I have caused you. Please forgive me." Sakura stared at the card blankly having no idea what it was talking about. Before she could say as much however Li interrupted. "Sakura, I think you had better seal the card." Sakura paused for a moment looking at the card. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen someone look so sad. "I forgive you," She said, "for whatever it is you have done." The THROUGH card then looked up at the captor and smiled. Sakura then took the Keystaff, and shouted out the words, "Return to the guise that you are meant to be, CLOW CARD!" With that, she plunged the staff into the bosom of the card. With a flash of light the THROUGH card was soon within the seal, and it floated straight to Li's hand. As the light dissipated the form of a small girl appeared where the card had been moments before. Once the light was gone she began to fall over but Li was fast enough to catch her before she hit the ground. Li posed as he got the newest card to his collection. "Clow Cards, meet the next useful card in my arsenal, THROUGH!" "Now with that out of the way, I'm going to stop STORM!" Sakura declared. "You take care of the girl, I'm going to put an end to this fight." With that the card captor ran off in the direction where Guy and Cody were fighting. Li looked at the girl. "I know Tomoyo would be jealous about this, but I want you back... Please?" Slowly the girl regained consciousness and looked at Li. "Are you the one who saved me from that ghost?" Ghost? Li thought about it for a moment and realized the kid wasn't actually that far from being right "Yes, the ghost is gone now." Li looked at her, glad to see she was unharmed. "I'm Naru Shoshka. It's a pleasure to meet you." Li somewhat smiled. Hopefully he can return her to the family and get this thing overwith. ----- Guy and Cody were currently tuckered out from all the fighting. "So, this is the last one." Guy breathed in and out. "Sakura will seal our cards, and we will never use them again." Cody agreed with Guy. Sakura arrived on the scene with her keystaff, and shouted out, "CODY! Are you ready for the sealing?" Cody laughed and laughed. "Anytime. That was the best fight I ever had! As a reward, I'm letting you keep the STORM card!" Sakura stopped for a moment, she was expecting to have to fight with Cody, now she was surprised to learn that he was willing to give his card to her. At any rate she got into her stance, and rammed her Keystaff within Cody. "Return to the Guise that you are meant to be, CLOW CARD!" Cody screamed for a bit, then the card came out of him, and right into Sakura's hands. She power posed while her panties showed up in the wind. "I got STORM!" As Sakura captured the STORM card, all of the storms that had been created stopped and the clouds above were soon replaced by clear skies and the sun shining in everyone's faces. ---- Meanwhile, at the Kanzuki Mansion, Karin was still in her school girl clothes while waiting patiently for the storms to die down. Within an instant, the winds stopped blowing, and the rain ceased to pour, and the skies begin to clear up. "Now that's more like it!" Karin jumped to her feet. Her locks of hair and chest bounced up while she landed. "Now I'll give Sakura the beating she deserves!" "Not so fast!" There was a voice deep within Karin as she was suddenly stopped by the card that possessed her. "Are you addressing me, SHOT?" Karin turned around. "As a matter of fact, I am." SHOT appeared right through Karin. "You're not going head first into Kasugano's grasp, are you?" "So what if I am?" Karin bent over. Her hair and breasts wobbled when she did. "Well obviously, Sakura has more powers than you can imagine, and even so, I fear for my comrades that we are weakening. So I strongly suggest you lure Li and Sakura into a trap. I heard that one of your colleagues has acquired the SONG card." Karin mused it over. Then she realized something. "So far, the one called Rainbow Mika is an associate of mine. I did sponsor her career, did I not? Even though it was a tie against that upstart Kasugano, she did have a fighting spirit kindred of hers. They were equally matched." "Then we will lure Kasugano and Li into a trap. Even though we will be separated by her duties as a captor, you will have the chance to crush Kasugano once and for all!" SHOT laughed while she twirled around. "Hmmmm." Karin thought about this. "A clever idea, but first we'll see if she's even available. Then we'll lure in someone who thought he could be useless, but very useful with the right amount of rewards." "Kero." SHOT smiled even more. "He will be the perfect bait for luring them into your trap. With your luxury treats, and his gullibility, we will sure to make him sell out his friends!" "Now the question remains..." Karin looked to the sky as she pondered this.... "How to get the little rodent's attention?" ---- As the skies were sunny again, Guy, Sakura, Cody, Li and Naru looked to the skies, and pondered for a bit. "Just like old times, eh?" Cody asked Guy as he stood next to the ninja. "Yeah." Guy smiled a bit as he agreed with Cody. Although he rarely smiled, Guy can figure out that the destructive storms have ceased. "Well it's been fun." Li talked to the two men. "But I gotta take Naru home. Maybe she knows where her family is." "Well good luck." Sakura waved to Li as the man decided to take Naru home to her family. Before Sakura could leave however, Guy confronted her. "Can I help you?" Guy offered Sakura the LIBRA card, saying, "you need this more than I do." "Guy!" Sakura protested. "Don't I have to defeat you first? You know, through street fighting and magic." Guy knelt before her. "You know, there are several ways to win a battle, and fighting isn't the only way to solve a problem." He presented her with the LIBRA card. "You have shown us that you are worthy of LIBRA's power, and with it, only you and Li can figure out what the cards are planning." Sakura smiled brightly. "All right, I'll do it!" Sakura raised her Keystaff, and slammed it right into Guy's chest. "Return to the guise that you are meant to be, CLOW CARD!" The LIBRA card suddenly appears right into Sakura's hands. "With the card, you are able to see if the person is telling the truth or not." Guy stood while lecturing Sakura. "It should prove useful to you in your upcoming battles." Then, Guy suddenly pulled something from his clothing and threw it to the ground. Upon impact the object exploded into a pillar of smoke that completely covered Guys' form. A moment later the smoke had cleared, but there was no sign of Guy. "What's with him?" Sakura looked at Cody while he laughed. "Guy just can't resist showing of his bag of ninja tricks." Cody then glanced at Sakura. "Just remember, if you need to improve your fighting skills, you know who to call! Just name the time and place, and I'll be there!" "How could a prisoner be called upon in a time like this?" Sakura wondered while looking at Cody. "Well, I travel a lot and, HOLY CRAP!!" Then, Cody ran away, knowing that someone is behind him. "YOU GET BACK HERE!" It was a large, obese man in a police uniform with a frizzy brown beard and some crazy eyes. He was carrying a billy club, and a pistol. "I DIDN'T COME TO JAPAN TO BE OUTSMARTED BY SOMEONE LIKE YOU!! HEY!!" It was Edi E., the craziest cop in Metro City. He always had it for Cody ever since he busted him for fighting. Sakura could only laugh at this hilarious rivalry while Cody was chased into the sunset. -----LEAVE IT TO KERO-CHAN!!----- (Kero arrives dressed in a aristocrat tuxedo suit with a hat, and a cane.) KONYA NATCHIWA! Kero: You are probably wondering why I am dressed up in a tuxedo, like I'm going to some fancy party. Well, since Sakura is being a total jerk lately, I'm not doing any Kero-Checks on her. No, I brought her ever so elegant rival, Karin Kanzuki! Karin: OOOHOHOHOHOHOHO! After all, our family motto is, "To be the best at everything!" (Poses) Or was that, "All you need is victory?" (She ponders this.) Capcom can be so confusing. Kero: Now, on with the check! -----KERO-CHAN CHECK!---- Kero: Notice how elegant her dress is. Sure it's copied from Ken Masters fashion sense, but it was pretty good fashion sense. Karin: Red as a rose.(Karin poses) Kero: Next, we have her equally elegant legs. They help her standupright, and deliver destructive kicks! And her fists, they even floored a lion once! Just make sure that lion isn't me! Karin: We'll see, little teddy bear, we'll see. Kero: And look at her bosom! Not only it is several inches larger than Sakura's, but she even has golden locks to match her value! Karin: OOOHOHOHOHOHO! Now you're getting personal. Kero: Before we continue this segment, I would like to get serious for a moment. Karin: (Peering in) Serious? What are you blabbering about? Kero: Sakura's been a real jerk lately. Kicking me around, yelling at me... To her, I've been useless because I'm 'running out of power,' and worst of all... SHE TURNED OFF MY PLAYSTATION 2 GAME SOUL CALIBER III!! OR WAS THAT II, I DON'T KNOW!! ALL IN THE WHILE OF PLAYING WITH VOLDO!!!! WHY SAKURA, WHHYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!! Karin: (Squats down, and talks to Kero) There there, I know how to make it all better. Kero: (Beams) You do? Tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me TELL ME!! Karin: If you do this one little favor for sweet little Karin, I will reward you with... LOBSTER!! Kero: (Dreams for a bit.) Lobster.... Karin: And not just any lobster, it is the biggest, freshest lobster money can buy! Kero: (Drools) Karin: And it can be yours if you promise, not to tell Sakura or Li about this, little favor of mine, until the right moment. Kero: (Looks at Karin) So what's the favor? Karin: (Pats him on the head) Well I can't tell you everything here, now can I? (Stands up) Just remember, you promised. (Leaves.) Kero: What a girl. Ahem, we will be ending this segment and return you to, whatever it is you are doing. Geez, I miss Voldo... ----SYANORA, AND SEE YOU NEXT TIME!!---- Author's notes: Wow, what a rush. Hopefully this is truly the last time we will be seeing any Final Fight characters in this fic. Hey, it's not my fault for introducing some of the charactersfrom that game into the universe... It was Capcom's idea! Well, not for BitS. That was my idea based on Capcom's view of the Street Fighter Universe, and how Final Fight merges in nicely with the Street Fighter universe. The characters in the games are: Guy, Sodom, Rolento, Cody (With Edi E chasing him in a victory pose) and Hugo (Also known as Andore, accompanied by Poison.). Despite my vast encyclopedic knowledge on Final Fight and it's characters, Will Keaton didn't particularly enjoy it. I had a perfectly planned out way to be off with them until JonB decided to move in. Even though it's not what I intended at first, but at least Sakura got MIST and SWORD all the same. Oh, and the Kanzuki Trap plotline? I was hoping someone would get SHOT and SONG out of the way to conclude that little adventure. Maybe I'll let Smlee write it, or JonB, or even Sze. Heck, just about any author (Besides myself) that still care about BitS can sign up. As for the Cards that were caught this episode, the Cards are: STORM: Sakura from Cody THROUGH: Li from Naru Shoshka LIBRA: Sakura again, from Guy. Now to update that list, and wait for the next author to sign up. Ryunson (lordryansen@yahoo.com) ---