Crystal snuggled closer to her boyfriend. She gazed into his stormy gray eyes with the sparkling green ones she had inherited from her late grandmother. "What are you looking at?" he asked her. "The moon." she sighed. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" "Yep. So are you, Crys." She blushed. "Thanks, Logan." He kissed her. Crystal's 11 year old sister, Gwen, and Logan's 11 year old sister, Chelsea, were playing chess on a stone table behind them. "Ew, They sooo need to get a room." said Jade shaking her head. "Totally," agreed Chelsea. Sitting on the table next to them was a small stuffed looking golden animal that looked like a teddy bear with wings. Suddenly, the ground around the peaceful scene began to rumble and quake. "Oh, not here, not now..." sighed Crystal. It was odd she hadn't sensed it coming. She sensed something now. "Look out!" she screamed and pushed Logan off the bench towards Jade and Chelsea. Logan gave a yelp of suprise and toppled, uust as a huge mountian of Earth shot out of the ground where he had been sitting. It was at least 40 feet high and 15 feet thick. The small animal that had been sitting on the chess board jumped up and zipped around the dirt mound with its tiny wings. "Crystal!" he called out. "This is the second to last card! It's also an element so it's VERY powerful. Use your magic." "I KNOW Kero. Should I use the sleep card?" "Yah, unless you want to show people a REALLY cool show." Crystal took of a key shaped necklace and held it in front of her. "Force of Darkness, Force of light, Force of magic, know my plight." A golden rune shined in a broad circle below her. "RELEASE!" she commanded in a routine she had grown used to in the past months. A long black wand about the size and shape of a baton appeared in front of her. There was a green and black bird head on the top of it. She pulled a long, narrow, pink card out of her backpack. "Star card, release and dispel! Sleep!" A blueish fairy like create materialized in front of her. It took off and began sprinkling shiny gold dust on everyone it could find. People began collapsing as the dust fell on them. "Good thing it's night, there aren't that many people around." She replaced the sleep card and pulled out a different card. "Star card!" she yelled, the golden circle once again appearing beneath her. "Release and dispel! Fly!" Two huge feathery wings grew out of her staff. She jumped on it and took to the air. The wind whipped through her hair. "Ahh..." she thought happily. "I will never get tired of this feeling..." Kero popped up in the air beside her, his little wings fluttering furiously. "You have to solve this one yourself. Good luck, Crystal." Kero flew back down to Earth. "It IS a beautiful night," sighed Crystal. "Too bad theres a 6 inch piece of paper poking holes in my town..." Crystal looped around and flew over the park. There were mounds of dirt everywhere, and more were popping up every second. "Alright...every card has a weakness. So, let's see...Windy wouldn't do much, Firey? No dirt smothers fire. Watery? Oh, mud wouldn't help much... So- what has this card not destroyed? Houses, concrete, steel..." She landed on a rooftop and glanced around. "OOOH!" She yelled suddenly. "Trees!" Suddenly, a creature made out of dirt that looked like a huge spiny earthworm with teeth dove out onto the street. "Right..." Crystal stared at the monsterous animal. "Maybe if I stomp on it and throw some seed on it I'll be able to seal it in say...30 years?" She smacked herself in the forehead. "What am I thinking? Duh. STAR CARD! RELEASE AND DISPEL! WOOD!!!!" A glowing spirit that looked like a woman materialized from the card and began wrapping thick vines over the dirt monster. "Alright, Earthy, you are soooo sealed. Return, your power confined. EARTHY!!" She slammed her wand down into the air in front of her. The earthworm was sucked up until it was once again a card, then it float slowly into her hand. Kero raced towards her as fast as his wings could take him. "Yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes" he whispered under his breath. Crystal whirled around and began dancing, waving the last card high above her head. "YES! THIS IS SOOOO SHWAY!!! I GOT--ALMOST ALL THE CARDS!" She caught sight of Kero and stopped dancing. He seemed to be glowing. "Are you alright, Kero?" she asked. Kero didn't respond. His wings suddenly grew and enveloped him a huge cucoon. There was a golden rune below him. "Uh, Kero? Is that supposed to happen...?" She asked, slowly backing away. "Kero?" The huge wings parted revealing a huge golden animal adorned with jewels. "Whoah, that is so shway! Is that your true form?" "Yes." responded Kero in a deep voice. "You look...kind of noble. Awesome." "The Firey and Earthy cards are ruled by the Sun, where I draw my power from. You captured them, so here I am. Cool, eh?" "Yep." responded Crystal cheerfully. "Now what? Should I wake up Logan? Do I need to write my name on this card? You know what I want? A BIG ice cream sundae. Really big. HUGE! What's wrong, Kero?" Kero was staring away distractedly. "I'm afraid it's not that simple. You must first capture the last card. And then face the Final Judgement." He added under his breath. "Final what? Judgement? That's not good. One more card and I'm done, right? Last card? Done?" "If the Judge has not assumed a material form, we will need to retrieve the book. If he taken a form, he will awaken as soon as the canidate signs the last card." "What?" wailed Crystal. "Kero, are you even listening to me? I don't want to be judged, I'm not a canidate or whatever, after I get the last card, I'm done!" "You must capture the last card. Once you sign the it, the Judgement will begin. Then you can fulfill your destiny." "Oh joy. I'm still going for ice cream. If the last card is that important, I'll find it." Kero reverted back to his small form in a quick flurry of feathers. Crystal's wand turned back into a key. She held out her backpack and motioned to Kero. "C'mon Kero. I'll give you the cherry off my sundae." She walked over to her sleeping companions and shook Logan gently. "Hey are you alright? That earthquake nearly gave you a concussion. Do want to go to a diner of something? I REALLY want a sundae." Logan stood up and rubbed his head. "Su-Sure. I'll get the car. Come on." Crystal grabbed Chelsea and Jade's hands and followed Logan. Just an ordinary day in the life of Crystal Talbot...

Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away:
Two guys carefully lowered themselves into the Gotham museum. They were dressed in clown outfits, a sick tribute to the long dead criminal the Joker. On the opposite side of the museum, two young girls who where also dressed as clowns were vicously yanking wires from a metal box. One of them reached for a cellphone shaped like a clown face and pushes down on its nose. "You guys are all clear," she hissed. "The system is down." Someone else was croutching in the shadows. Unlike the clowns, he was dressed in a jet black bodysuit with a large red bat emblem pictured on his chest. He touched his earpice. "Jokers," he said in a dark voice. "Are you getting this Wayne?" An old man was sitting in front of a computer screen in the basement of his large mansion on the outskirts of town. "Yes. Watch yourself, McGinness." He was a hard old man. His parents had left his world long ago, leaving him with a great fortune and a deep hatred towards criminals like the man who had taken his family from him at such a young age. "Try taking them now, before they get in, McGinness." Bruce suggested. "You got it." Batman raised his arm. A bat shaped razor blade popped out of his wrist, and he quckly hurled it at the rope the Jokers were sliding down. They landed in a heap on the floor, extremly angry and confused. "Hey boys, it's a school night." taunted Batman as he rocketed towards them. One of the Jokers picked up his cracked cell phone. "God damn it, it's the Batman!" he screamed. "Get in here!" The two female Jokers rushed in, but it was only a matter of minutes before police sirens were shrieking away and Batman was soaring silently back into the night. Just an ordinary day in the life of Terry McGiness...