Strange Bedfellows
So there I was, skating along my merry way down an old section of the town, being chased by The school bullies on their bikes, when I…..oh I'm sorry, I haven't properly introduced myself to you.
Well! My names Thomas Marvel, fair black hair, reddish yet brownish eyes, yadda yadda and so forth, You'll find out more as we go so best back to my story….wait I suppose I should tell you WHY I was being chased by school bullies shouldn't I? Well it's actually quite simple….
They were insulting me so I flipped them the bird.
Easy as that…..Real easy to peeve a peep off at times isn't it, what with one gesture and all…Best get back to my story yes? Well Finally the worst possible thing happens to me, I hit a bump and go flying helmet-first into…well not into…THROUGH a sign.
Lucky for me the helmet cushioned most of the impact, but I still had to get away from those bullies so I managed to get myself up and look at the sign I had went through. It read as, 'Antique Book Shop, Antique prices.' And of course, to my right, was a shop with a large window with the words, 'Antique Bookshop', with a door swinging open as if it was just waiting for me, which I found a wee bit spooky most definitely.
But WELL! Who was I to look a gift horse in the mouth and hit it over the head with a bale o' hay hm? So I immediately swung a Right through the Shop's door and was greeted with a rather dusty smell, like you'd smell when you would open up an attic that hasn't been looked at in years. I saw rows and rows of shelves filled with, what a surprise, ancient looking books with leather bound covering that was worn out and fraying at places. I ducked down behind the large window as I heard the sound of bike pedals screech toa halt outside the shop. Therein I listened to their conversation.
"Where'd he go?"
"Must've went in the shop!" I heard them try the door, but surprisingly yet fortunately, it sounded like it was locked.
"It's locked!"
"No wonder STUPID! It's CONDEMNED!"
"He Must've turned the corner! Let's go!" As soon as the sound of Pedaling left my ears, I stood up in the darkened and dusty shop, looking around. Now it struck me as ODD that the Door was open for me, yet was locked for them, but I chalked that one up to reasoning that since the door was open when I found it, as soon as I closed it, wham, it locked itself! Fortunate no?
Well, okay, UNFORTUNATE because now I was locked inside!
I reviewed my options. Here I was, trapped in a dusty book store, excuse me, CONDEMNED Book story, Glass window with large Condemned sign on it I had not NOTICED in my haste, and rows and rows of old books.
Well of course my Curiosity went into overload and I went about looking at the books.
Most of the covers were so old and raggedy that the titles had been worn away, ripped off, or just plain didn't have'em. But In the second Row, I found this Red book covered in Golden parts, with clear, golden letters on it. It read as, 'The Clow', which piqued the Curiosity meter to the maximum setting, so naturally I start to slide it out from between two books…
"HEY! GET YOUR HANDS OFF THAT!"
I was so startled I jumped, I mean, alone in a condemned Book store with a bad dusty smell, and something yells, wouldn't you jump?
Anyway I turned around, my hand still on the Book, and I saw the most AMAZING thing!! A Small, rat-like creature with a large, bulbous head with rounded ears, button black eyes…..and a long lion-like tail, but that wasn't the most amazing things, It had WINGS!!!
Well in a cool, collected voice, I naturally responded…
"….THE HELL ARE YOU?!!?" It frowned and fluttered close to my face.
"I just said get your hands off the book man!!! SO get a-steppin' fore I get a-whuppin'!" It snarled. Naturally, I barked out a laugh, not even two feet tall, this thing was threatening me, ME!
"Look, I don't know WHO or even WHAT you are….but I'm pretty sure you're not in any position to threaten ME. So I'm gonna say this once…" I must admit, I put it most Eloquently. "FUCK OFF!"
I swung my hand, the back of it sending the rat thing flying back into an old register, sliding down it onto the floor. I sighed and pulled out the clow book, taking a glance at its cover. It had what looked like a Lions head, minus the mane, on it with a green jewel on its forehead, Angel like wings billowing out on either side of it. Naturally I went to open it, but then I noticed that it had what looked like a golden lock on it, like one of those diaries you can buy.
Now I don't know what it is with me, but Ever since I can remember, I've had a natural attraction to Locked objects and such. I've broken into every lock in my house, every door, every cabinet, EVERYTHING, and I was going to be damned if I couldn't get a lock on a book open.
BUT I'd ALSO be damned to open it with an unconscious Golden rat in a condemned and abandoned book store, so I started to slide it into my backpack when…
"I THOUGHT I SAID TO KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF IT!"
Well there was a noticeable difference between THIS voice and the Rat's voice, this voice was much deeper. I turned and saw not the golden Rat, but a LARGE LION without a mane, a green crystal in its forehead, and laarrggee Wings on it's back. I think I took it pretty well myself.
"HOLY HELL!! WHAT THE FLYING FUCK ARE YOU?!?" I didn't get an answer, only a loud growl and a leap from the lion towards me. Well to Keep from getting myself decapitated, I grasped the book tightly and swung with all my might, nailing the Lion UNDER the chin and sending it flying Into a Book shelf, knocking it over. Then Something pretty weird happened…The Book snapped open and immediately I was greeted with a bright swirling light which knocked me over, and then a flurry of brownish yellow cards going EVERYWHERE, knocking me further on my back. Naturally, I panicked and rushed to my feet, running towards the window as cards slammed into my head with surprising force, sending me THROUGH the window. I scrambled to my feet, the light spreading through the store and out towards me, the cards flying through the glass up into the air. I watched them do this…..for about five seconds…then I starts skating as fast as I damn well could back home…
I don't remember getting home and doing my homework and all that. All I remember is going up to my room and plopping down into an oversized bean Bag seat and sitting there for what seemed like hours, the gears in my head trying to register exactly WHAT had happened back at that bookstore. Finally I chalked it up to a hallucination from all the dust in the store, completely unlikely, but hey, was I supposed to think all that crap with the rat turning into a lion and those cards were REAL? HELL no, I was only a fourteen year old kid, having a hard time with bullies at school and homework. So I decided to do the only thing a 14 year old could do in this type of situation….
I sat in my room and started to play Smackdown! For Playstation, for the next three hours before shutting it off and watching a bit of TV, trying to forget that all that crap had taken place.
Reality has a funny way of creeping up on you and Biting you in the ass to remind you what's real and what's fake.
I was just vegging out when I heard the Tapping on my window. I figured it was my Friend Ryder trying to get my attention, so naturally I reluctantly got off my butt and walked over to the window, Opening it up and sticking my head out.
My head was nearly taken off by a golden streak carrying a rectangular object as it whizzed past my head, clipping my ear and causing me to stumble back. I heard a loud WHUMPF on my bed, causing me to turn to see what it was. I didn't believe my eye's at first, so naturally I did a Double take, well, more like a Sextuplet Take. Rounded head, angelic wings, half circle ears, it was that Rat!
We stared at each other for about a minute, before I jumped back and screamed, the sudden noise causing the rat to scream as well. Well, My parent's heard the noise and yelled back up at me.
"THOMAS?? IS SOMETHING WRONG?" I managed to stop screaming, but didn't take my eyes off the rat.
"N-No mom….just..Just the TV!" I called back, stuttering a bit. I inches closer to the rat, kneeling down so I was eye level at the bed.
"No way…no chance in hell…." The Rat stood up, putting it's arms on it's hips.
"That I'm real and that you just made a bonehead mistake?" it answered, in a rather sarcastic voice.
"It was a hallucination….." I mumbled. It snorted in response.
"Said you and like the fifteen OTHER Card Captors When they started!" Here I was, eye level with a one foot tall golden rat, on my bed. Naturally I doubted my eye's.
"I must be dreaming….you can't be real…" I reached out my finger, touching the rats forehead.
It then Decided to Bite my finger. I did the only thing One can do in this type of situation.
I yelped in pain and shook the damn thing off. It landed on my bed, specifically on the book it was carrying.
"Alright…so you are PAINFULLY real…Why are you in my home?" I asked simply, rubbing my sore finger.
"Because of your BONEHEAD mistake!" It cried, standing back up. Now I was a bit befuddled.
"WHAT Mistake?" It pointed down at the broken lock on the cover of the book.
"You opened the Clow!"
"The what…"
"THE CLOW! I guess I better start from the beginning so I don't BLOW a fuse in that brain of yours!" It sat down on the edge of the book, staring directly into my face.
"This all started about a thousand years ago, give or take a few hundred. Magic was everywhere back then, and a few wizards specialized in types of magic. Well, my master, Clow Rei, Made a NEW type of magic, The Clow Cards! Each card contains a different power so…" I held up my hands, still not quite accepting the fact I was talking to a golden rat.
"Power…?"
"YES, POWER. For example, The Sword card! In it's physical form it's a sword that grants the user the knowledge of fencing, sword fighting and what not. Now before I was RUDELY interrupted, He contained the power in the cards so they could be controlled with the Key, then locked the cards in The Clow, the book I'm sitting on, and appointed ME the guardian of it!" Well that didn't make much sense to me really.
"….A Rat….He appoints a golden Rat…."
"This is just my Powered down form!!! When you RELEASED The Cards My Magic went down to that of a two volt BATTERY! That Lion Form You saw was my CEREBERUS form!" Well, okay, that made more sense, I mean, to chose a rat to guard something this powerful….
"So HOW DOES THIS CONNECT TO ME?!?" I cried, getting a wee bit frustrated.
"Simple! Clow Rei put a little….addendum….to the Clow to help protect it…."
"Addendum..? You mean a Stipulation?"
"Yah! See, if all the cards are released, Eventually, A Disaster will destroy the world! So The Stipulation is that, well, basically speaking…He who Opens it, now will Be in charge of finding the lost cards, or the world's gonna end." I stared at him dumbly for a few moments.
"What?" it asked, twitching nervously at my staring.
"The World's gonna end? WHERE'VE YOU BEEN THE LAST HUNDRED YEARS?!?! The Worlds on the verge of collapse anyway!!! We got Wars, we got Poverty, Crime, Rape, Gangs, Ozone Depletion, Rain forest getting destroyed, Corruption in the system, HELL EVEN CROOKED POLITICIANS!!! IN TWENTY OR FIFTY YEARS THE WORLD'S GONNA END AS A CIVILIZATION ANYWAY!!!" I cried. The Rat seemed a bit taken aback, but managed to get a comeback in anyway.
"Okay, what about this? PANGEA ALL OVER AGAIN! The Continents will split again and SINK TO THE OCEAN! ENDING LIFE ON EARTH AS WE KNOW IT!!!" He cried. Well, Now I knew how serious it would be anyway.
"So lemme get this straight. You claim I opened the book, releasing these cards and setting a disaster on Earth To happen, and Now I'M supposed to catch these cards….." I reviewed. The Rat nodded.
"With my Help, Kero!" It cried. I guessed Kero was his name, what a funky name.
"Kero is it? Well lemme point something out. I DIDN'T TECHNICALLY OPEN THE BOOK! I CLOCKED YOU IN THE HEAD WITH IT! IT MUST"VE HIT YER JEWEL IN YER FOREHEAD AND BROKEN THE LOCK! SO TECHNICALLY IT'S YOUR DAMN PROBLEM!!" Kero snorted at this.
"Guess what? YOU Swung the book, YOU Hit it on the jewel, YOU broke the lock! So now it's YOUR DAMN PROBLEM!" I admit, he had me there, but I was a bit hesitant to believe him, although it sounded like fun.
"Alright, say I believe your story, even though it's pretty far fetched, HOW would I go about capturing these…CARDS…as you put it?" I asked skeptically. He opened the book, puling out what looked like a Key, with a head that was very strange. It was pine and like a triangle turned sideways, with a red beak with small white wings on either side of it.
"With a keychain? You're plain nuts you know that." Kero Scoffed at my words.
"It just LOOKS like a keychain…to start with.." It explained, holding it up.
"With a magic word or two, it becomes a wand in which you can capture or release cards. Also it's very easy to store since it usually resides in its key state. Plus, when in wand form, you tap it on the ground and it's wings will expand for flight." It explained, showing the key off.
"Gee…Does it come with a 90 day warrantee too?" I mocked, snickering at the small thing. Kero sighed, putting the key on the bed.
"Look, I can SEE that your not really BUYING Any of this.." I rolled my eyes.
"Would YOU in my position?"
"Well…I think I'd be a bit more OPEN THAN YOU ARE!" Kero retorted in a most sarcastic manner.
"Look! I accept the fact that you're a golden rat with wings that can TALK, But Card's with super powers? Magic? WANDS? This is the 21st century, That stuff went out of style in the 20th!" I pointed out.
"Accept it or not, It's YOUR job to collect the cards, Whether you like it or not! If you don't The Human race is gonna be extinct within two years!!" Well, the Golden Rat known as Kero was real, I DID see Those Card's go flying, so could the li'l Rodent be telling the truth about the end of the world?
"ALRIGHT ALRIGHT alright! Say I believe you, Where we start? HOW THE HELL YOU CAPTURE Hundreds of brown cards in a city like this?" Kero just simply sighed.
"Well now that the cards are released, they'll be in different forms…Th' last time the Sword card got released it turned into a Broach that a girl wore and immediately started attacking people with a humongous sword. The Erase Card came in the form of a Mist, Rajah the Lightning beast as out of control Lightning bolts."
"SO lemme get this straight, they appear in different forms?"
"Pretty much yes. When they appear, you have to be on hand to Catch them."
"…..Okay….so these things Strike completely at random?"
"Yes."
"And they are potentially life threatening some of them?"
"Yup."
"And The only thing I can use to catch them is this wand slash keychain?"
"Until you catch more cards yes." Well, what help this Rat brings, eh?
"Oh what FUN, yet it's NO HELP WHATSOEVER! What is this about catching more cards??"
"Well it's quite simple, once you catch a card, you can release and use it's power to capture other cards!"
"Great, so where's the cards that didn't escape?" At this, Kero just scratched behind his neck.
"Well…all the old one's escaped…and the new one's too…"
"….New…One's?" New one's? What he mean by New ones?
"Well, at the turn of each Millennium, about seven more cards are added via a curse put on the book. To Start with, their was the Fiery, The Earth, The Change, The Big, The Arrow, The Fight, The Sword, The Erase, The Light, The Dark, The Windy, The Fly, The Shadow, The Watery, The Wood, The Rain, The Jump, The Illusion, The Silent, The Thunder, The Flower, The Shield, the Float, The Time, The Power, The Mist, The Storm, The Glow, The move, The Loop, the Sleep, The song, The Little, The Mirror, The Twin, The Sand…." Holy crap, and he was still going on….
"WAIT WAIT! HOW MANY TOTAL?!" I interrupted
"Well, there were 56 old ones….with the seven new one's…63.." I think I took this news well, considering my position.
"63?!?! SIXTY FUCKING THREE?!?! OH MY GOD!!! IN A SPAN OF TWO YEARS?!?! ALL WITH THE POWER TO KILL ME!??!"
"No no! Not all of them are LETHAL….I mean the Jump, Float, and Fly card are just things that let you jump real high, float, or fly…" Well that wasn't TOO bad, I'd always dreamed about flying….After all, I WAS a bit of an adrenaline junkie with my friend Ryder on the weekends…
"Alright Alright, what's the ten NEW one's?" I asked, finally starting to believe this little rat, in which he started pacing.
"Lesee…..The Chaos, The Machine, The Disease, The Switch, The Corruption, The Surf……and The Baddest one yet, The Monster." Okay..each of those sounded pretty nasty….And since this rat was not being very HELPFUL…….
"Okay…. seeing as your being NO help whatsoever…I say I enlist some help! I know a guy that'd love this, find this whole thing a big old challenge."
"I don't see why not, I mean, the Card Captors always DID enlist help in their PREVIOUS endeavors…..Who is the guy?" Kero asked, still pacing.
"A Guy named Josh, Josh Ryder."
Now I'm gonna explain something about my pal Josh, he's about my height, blonde hair, He's my best friend, you can't GET a better best friend than Josh. He's got the same interests as me, loves Skating, works out, and absolutely loves getting me into trouble. My Partner in crime, he is, and he's got one very abnormal thing about him, he loves to videotape everything with this digital camcorder, whether it's something for the School, just to bug me, or point out blunders in my skating skills. Naturally, He plans to go into the recording biz when he grows up…but I'll tell you, while he may grow up physically, I have no doubt that he'll remain mentally disturbed.
SO I strapped on my skates, stuffed Kero into my backpack, much to his chagrin, along with the book, and headed on over. I skated over there in record time, faster than I'd gotten there in the last month or so, and started knocking on the door immediately, before I could even catch my breath. I knew he was home in an instant, since he threw open the door and dragged me inside.
"Dude!! The hell man! You only have to knock ONCE!!" he chided me. I just stood there a few moments, catching my breath as he tried to ask me something.
"So why you come over without calling first? For you know I might have a honey over!" Oh yeah, like THAT will ever happen.
"You ain't had a honey over here EVER. I think we should go up to your room to discuss this…" I said calmly, motioning up his stairs.
"Discuss WHAT?" I just grabbed his arm and dragged him up to his room, collapsing onto his bed to take off my skates. Then I realized my backpack was still on my back, and Kero was IN the backpack..
"AAAOOOWW!" came a muffled cry from my backpack. Josh turned his head, hearing it clearly.
"The hell was that?" He asked. I sighed, quickly sitting up and taking off my backpack. I unzipped it and turned it over, dumping Kero and the Book out of it.
"GEEZ! Watch what your doing kid!" Kero said, rubbing the back of his neck. I turned to see Josh's reaction, which was instant. He stared, his eye's growing wider within moments before opening his mouth to cry out. I got up quickly, slapping ym hand over his mouth.
"Don't scream, We don't want your mom an' Dad in here asking questions about a golden rat with wings. Josh Ryder, meet Kero, Kero the Golden Rat, meet Josh Ryder." I introduced. Kero fluttered up to Ryder, holding out a hand.
"Nice to meet you….OW!" The last part was when Josh jumped back and swatted Kero. I removed my hand from his mouth, Now I regret that.
"HOLY SHIYAT MAN! IT'S A FLYING RAT!! A FLYING GOLDEN RAT!!!" He cried, pointing at Kero.
"Yes…we've settled that…And this rat comes with an interesting tale…Kero…please tell him what you told me." I asked politely enough. So, Kero started retelling the story of the Cards, the Captors, and all that jazz for the next twenty minutes, Josh hanging onto every word. I saw a little twinkle in Josh's eyes when the Rat told'em about me having to capture the cards. Well! After the quaint story telling session, Josh slowly turned to me.
"So….YOU have to catch these cards this Rat is talking about?"
"Apparently so…."
"You know what?" I had a bad feeling right there…
"…..No What?" It turned out it was perfectly justified.
"This will make a GREAT Recording opportunity!" I sighed, rolling my eye's.
"So take advantage of MY misery!!! That's what you're going to do?"
"Yeah pretty much." He shrugged at this….no surprise….
"Well Guess what? You follow me around with that camcorder o' yers, you might get a more HANDS ON OPPORTUNITY!!"
"I ain't mad at that."
"Might be dangerous…"
"Adds to the thrill…" I saw a perfect opportunity….
"So I guess you wanna HELP then?"
"HELL YES! The adventure of a lifetime! It's got everything! Thrill! Drama! Tragedy! Possible Earth threats!" Well, I guess enthusiasm counts for something…
"Well! You got yer help Kid, so now can we get on with capturin' the cards?" Kero asked, holding up the so-called Keychain wand.
"….Okay….first off….how the hell you turn this sunuva bitch into a wand?" I asked, taking the keychain from the rat.
"Simple, tap it twice on the red part." Kero said matter-of-factly. So I did. It shot up, the key part of it turning into a long staff end and the head of it growing to match it's now increased size. Bright Pink red at the end, with those little white wings, it was Really an eye sore.
"MAN that thing can't get any uglier can it?" Josh stated, looking it up and down.
"Well it was built to capture cards not go with color schemes!" Kero said crossly.
"Point taken, now how's it work? I go, 'hocus pocus diddly locus'?" I asked sarcastically.
"NO. You say the card's name, then swings the staff at it and say Return to your power, CONFINE!" ….What a strange little rodent…That's all their was to it?
"..So lemme get this straight…All I do is swing the wand thing at the supposed card, then say that thing you said…..that's it?"
"Yah that's it…"
"YOU COULD HAVE A FIVE YEAR OLD KID DO THIS JOB!!!" I cried.
"Yeah but a five year old kid didn't open it, a kid with a five year old intellect did!" Kero spat back. I knew right then, this was going to be a strenuous quest….
So there I was, skating along my merry way down an old section of the town, being chased by The school bullies on their bikes, when I…..oh I'm sorry, I haven't properly introduced myself to you.
Well! My names Thomas Marvel, fair black hair, reddish yet brownish eyes, yadda yadda and so forth, You'll find out more as we go so best back to my story….wait I suppose I should tell you WHY I was being chased by school bullies shouldn't I? Well it's actually quite simple….
They were insulting me so I flipped them the bird.
Easy as that…..Real easy to peeve a peep off at times isn't it, what with one gesture and all…Best get back to my story yes? Well Finally the worst possible thing happens to me, I hit a bump and go flying helmet-first into…well not into…THROUGH a sign.
Lucky for me the helmet cushioned most of the impact, but I still had to get away from those bullies so I managed to get myself up and look at the sign I had went through. It read as, 'Antique Book Shop, Antique prices.' And of course, to my right, was a shop with a large window with the words, 'Antique Bookshop', with a door swinging open as if it was just waiting for me, which I found a wee bit spooky most definitely.
But WELL! Who was I to look a gift horse in the mouth and hit it over the head with a bale o' hay hm? So I immediately swung a Right through the Shop's door and was greeted with a rather dusty smell, like you'd smell when you would open up an attic that hasn't been looked at in years. I saw rows and rows of shelves filled with, what a surprise, ancient looking books with leather bound covering that was worn out and fraying at places. I ducked down behind the large window as I heard the sound of bike pedals screech toa halt outside the shop. Therein I listened to their conversation.
"Where'd he go?"
"Must've went in the shop!" I heard them try the door, but surprisingly yet fortunately, it sounded like it was locked.
"It's locked!"
"No wonder STUPID! It's CONDEMNED!"
"He Must've turned the corner! Let's go!" As soon as the sound of Pedaling left my ears, I stood up in the darkened and dusty shop, looking around. Now it struck me as ODD that the Door was open for me, yet was locked for them, but I chalked that one up to reasoning that since the door was open when I found it, as soon as I closed it, wham, it locked itself! Fortunate no?
Well, okay, UNFORTUNATE because now I was locked inside!
I reviewed my options. Here I was, trapped in a dusty book store, excuse me, CONDEMNED Book story, Glass window with large Condemned sign on it I had not NOTICED in my haste, and rows and rows of old books.
Well of course my Curiosity went into overload and I went about looking at the books.
Most of the covers were so old and raggedy that the titles had been worn away, ripped off, or just plain didn't have'em. But In the second Row, I found this Red book covered in Golden parts, with clear, golden letters on it. It read as, 'The Clow', which piqued the Curiosity meter to the maximum setting, so naturally I start to slide it out from between two books…
"HEY! GET YOUR HANDS OFF THAT!"
I was so startled I jumped, I mean, alone in a condemned Book store with a bad dusty smell, and something yells, wouldn't you jump?
Anyway I turned around, my hand still on the Book, and I saw the most AMAZING thing!! A Small, rat-like creature with a large, bulbous head with rounded ears, button black eyes…..and a long lion-like tail, but that wasn't the most amazing things, It had WINGS!!!
Well in a cool, collected voice, I naturally responded…
"….THE HELL ARE YOU?!!?" It frowned and fluttered close to my face.
"I just said get your hands off the book man!!! SO get a-steppin' fore I get a-whuppin'!" It snarled. Naturally, I barked out a laugh, not even two feet tall, this thing was threatening me, ME!
"Look, I don't know WHO or even WHAT you are….but I'm pretty sure you're not in any position to threaten ME. So I'm gonna say this once…" I must admit, I put it most Eloquently. "FUCK OFF!"
I swung my hand, the back of it sending the rat thing flying back into an old register, sliding down it onto the floor. I sighed and pulled out the clow book, taking a glance at its cover. It had what looked like a Lions head, minus the mane, on it with a green jewel on its forehead, Angel like wings billowing out on either side of it. Naturally I went to open it, but then I noticed that it had what looked like a golden lock on it, like one of those diaries you can buy.
Now I don't know what it is with me, but Ever since I can remember, I've had a natural attraction to Locked objects and such. I've broken into every lock in my house, every door, every cabinet, EVERYTHING, and I was going to be damned if I couldn't get a lock on a book open.
BUT I'd ALSO be damned to open it with an unconscious Golden rat in a condemned and abandoned book store, so I started to slide it into my backpack when…
"I THOUGHT I SAID TO KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF IT!"
Well there was a noticeable difference between THIS voice and the Rat's voice, this voice was much deeper. I turned and saw not the golden Rat, but a LARGE LION without a mane, a green crystal in its forehead, and laarrggee Wings on it's back. I think I took it pretty well myself.
"HOLY HELL!! WHAT THE FLYING FUCK ARE YOU?!?" I didn't get an answer, only a loud growl and a leap from the lion towards me. Well to Keep from getting myself decapitated, I grasped the book tightly and swung with all my might, nailing the Lion UNDER the chin and sending it flying Into a Book shelf, knocking it over. Then Something pretty weird happened…The Book snapped open and immediately I was greeted with a bright swirling light which knocked me over, and then a flurry of brownish yellow cards going EVERYWHERE, knocking me further on my back. Naturally, I panicked and rushed to my feet, running towards the window as cards slammed into my head with surprising force, sending me THROUGH the window. I scrambled to my feet, the light spreading through the store and out towards me, the cards flying through the glass up into the air. I watched them do this…..for about five seconds…then I starts skating as fast as I damn well could back home…
I don't remember getting home and doing my homework and all that. All I remember is going up to my room and plopping down into an oversized bean Bag seat and sitting there for what seemed like hours, the gears in my head trying to register exactly WHAT had happened back at that bookstore. Finally I chalked it up to a hallucination from all the dust in the store, completely unlikely, but hey, was I supposed to think all that crap with the rat turning into a lion and those cards were REAL? HELL no, I was only a fourteen year old kid, having a hard time with bullies at school and homework. So I decided to do the only thing a 14 year old could do in this type of situation….
I sat in my room and started to play Smackdown! For Playstation, for the next three hours before shutting it off and watching a bit of TV, trying to forget that all that crap had taken place.
Reality has a funny way of creeping up on you and Biting you in the ass to remind you what's real and what's fake.
I was just vegging out when I heard the Tapping on my window. I figured it was my Friend Ryder trying to get my attention, so naturally I reluctantly got off my butt and walked over to the window, Opening it up and sticking my head out.
My head was nearly taken off by a golden streak carrying a rectangular object as it whizzed past my head, clipping my ear and causing me to stumble back. I heard a loud WHUMPF on my bed, causing me to turn to see what it was. I didn't believe my eye's at first, so naturally I did a Double take, well, more like a Sextuplet Take. Rounded head, angelic wings, half circle ears, it was that Rat!
We stared at each other for about a minute, before I jumped back and screamed, the sudden noise causing the rat to scream as well. Well, My parent's heard the noise and yelled back up at me.
"THOMAS?? IS SOMETHING WRONG?" I managed to stop screaming, but didn't take my eyes off the rat.
"N-No mom….just..Just the TV!" I called back, stuttering a bit. I inches closer to the rat, kneeling down so I was eye level at the bed.
"No way…no chance in hell…." The Rat stood up, putting it's arms on it's hips.
"That I'm real and that you just made a bonehead mistake?" it answered, in a rather sarcastic voice.
"It was a hallucination….." I mumbled. It snorted in response.
"Said you and like the fifteen OTHER Card Captors When they started!" Here I was, eye level with a one foot tall golden rat, on my bed. Naturally I doubted my eye's.
"I must be dreaming….you can't be real…" I reached out my finger, touching the rats forehead.
It then Decided to Bite my finger. I did the only thing One can do in this type of situation.
I yelped in pain and shook the damn thing off. It landed on my bed, specifically on the book it was carrying.
"Alright…so you are PAINFULLY real…Why are you in my home?" I asked simply, rubbing my sore finger.
"Because of your BONEHEAD mistake!" It cried, standing back up. Now I was a bit befuddled.
"WHAT Mistake?" It pointed down at the broken lock on the cover of the book.
"You opened the Clow!"
"The what…"
"THE CLOW! I guess I better start from the beginning so I don't BLOW a fuse in that brain of yours!" It sat down on the edge of the book, staring directly into my face.
"This all started about a thousand years ago, give or take a few hundred. Magic was everywhere back then, and a few wizards specialized in types of magic. Well, my master, Clow Rei, Made a NEW type of magic, The Clow Cards! Each card contains a different power so…" I held up my hands, still not quite accepting the fact I was talking to a golden rat.
"Power…?"
"YES, POWER. For example, The Sword card! In it's physical form it's a sword that grants the user the knowledge of fencing, sword fighting and what not. Now before I was RUDELY interrupted, He contained the power in the cards so they could be controlled with the Key, then locked the cards in The Clow, the book I'm sitting on, and appointed ME the guardian of it!" Well that didn't make much sense to me really.
"….A Rat….He appoints a golden Rat…."
"This is just my Powered down form!!! When you RELEASED The Cards My Magic went down to that of a two volt BATTERY! That Lion Form You saw was my CEREBERUS form!" Well, okay, that made more sense, I mean, to chose a rat to guard something this powerful….
"So HOW DOES THIS CONNECT TO ME?!?" I cried, getting a wee bit frustrated.
"Simple! Clow Rei put a little….addendum….to the Clow to help protect it…."
"Addendum..? You mean a Stipulation?"
"Yah! See, if all the cards are released, Eventually, A Disaster will destroy the world! So The Stipulation is that, well, basically speaking…He who Opens it, now will Be in charge of finding the lost cards, or the world's gonna end." I stared at him dumbly for a few moments.
"What?" it asked, twitching nervously at my staring.
"The World's gonna end? WHERE'VE YOU BEEN THE LAST HUNDRED YEARS?!?! The Worlds on the verge of collapse anyway!!! We got Wars, we got Poverty, Crime, Rape, Gangs, Ozone Depletion, Rain forest getting destroyed, Corruption in the system, HELL EVEN CROOKED POLITICIANS!!! IN TWENTY OR FIFTY YEARS THE WORLD'S GONNA END AS A CIVILIZATION ANYWAY!!!" I cried. The Rat seemed a bit taken aback, but managed to get a comeback in anyway.
"Okay, what about this? PANGEA ALL OVER AGAIN! The Continents will split again and SINK TO THE OCEAN! ENDING LIFE ON EARTH AS WE KNOW IT!!!" He cried. Well, Now I knew how serious it would be anyway.
"So lemme get this straight. You claim I opened the book, releasing these cards and setting a disaster on Earth To happen, and Now I'M supposed to catch these cards….." I reviewed. The Rat nodded.
"With my Help, Kero!" It cried. I guessed Kero was his name, what a funky name.
"Kero is it? Well lemme point something out. I DIDN'T TECHNICALLY OPEN THE BOOK! I CLOCKED YOU IN THE HEAD WITH IT! IT MUST"VE HIT YER JEWEL IN YER FOREHEAD AND BROKEN THE LOCK! SO TECHNICALLY IT'S YOUR DAMN PROBLEM!!" Kero snorted at this.
"Guess what? YOU Swung the book, YOU Hit it on the jewel, YOU broke the lock! So now it's YOUR DAMN PROBLEM!" I admit, he had me there, but I was a bit hesitant to believe him, although it sounded like fun.
"Alright, say I believe your story, even though it's pretty far fetched, HOW would I go about capturing these…CARDS…as you put it?" I asked skeptically. He opened the book, puling out what looked like a Key, with a head that was very strange. It was pine and like a triangle turned sideways, with a red beak with small white wings on either side of it.
"With a keychain? You're plain nuts you know that." Kero Scoffed at my words.
"It just LOOKS like a keychain…to start with.." It explained, holding it up.
"With a magic word or two, it becomes a wand in which you can capture or release cards. Also it's very easy to store since it usually resides in its key state. Plus, when in wand form, you tap it on the ground and it's wings will expand for flight." It explained, showing the key off.
"Gee…Does it come with a 90 day warrantee too?" I mocked, snickering at the small thing. Kero sighed, putting the key on the bed.
"Look, I can SEE that your not really BUYING Any of this.." I rolled my eyes.
"Would YOU in my position?"
"Well…I think I'd be a bit more OPEN THAN YOU ARE!" Kero retorted in a most sarcastic manner.
"Look! I accept the fact that you're a golden rat with wings that can TALK, But Card's with super powers? Magic? WANDS? This is the 21st century, That stuff went out of style in the 20th!" I pointed out.
"Accept it or not, It's YOUR job to collect the cards, Whether you like it or not! If you don't The Human race is gonna be extinct within two years!!" Well, the Golden Rat known as Kero was real, I DID see Those Card's go flying, so could the li'l Rodent be telling the truth about the end of the world?
"ALRIGHT ALRIGHT alright! Say I believe you, Where we start? HOW THE HELL YOU CAPTURE Hundreds of brown cards in a city like this?" Kero just simply sighed.
"Well now that the cards are released, they'll be in different forms…Th' last time the Sword card got released it turned into a Broach that a girl wore and immediately started attacking people with a humongous sword. The Erase Card came in the form of a Mist, Rajah the Lightning beast as out of control Lightning bolts."
"SO lemme get this straight, they appear in different forms?"
"Pretty much yes. When they appear, you have to be on hand to Catch them."
"…..Okay….so these things Strike completely at random?"
"Yes."
"And they are potentially life threatening some of them?"
"Yup."
"And The only thing I can use to catch them is this wand slash keychain?"
"Until you catch more cards yes." Well, what help this Rat brings, eh?
"Oh what FUN, yet it's NO HELP WHATSOEVER! What is this about catching more cards??"
"Well it's quite simple, once you catch a card, you can release and use it's power to capture other cards!"
"Great, so where's the cards that didn't escape?" At this, Kero just scratched behind his neck.
"Well…all the old one's escaped…and the new one's too…"
"….New…One's?" New one's? What he mean by New ones?
"Well, at the turn of each Millennium, about seven more cards are added via a curse put on the book. To Start with, their was the Fiery, The Earth, The Change, The Big, The Arrow, The Fight, The Sword, The Erase, The Light, The Dark, The Windy, The Fly, The Shadow, The Watery, The Wood, The Rain, The Jump, The Illusion, The Silent, The Thunder, The Flower, The Shield, the Float, The Time, The Power, The Mist, The Storm, The Glow, The move, The Loop, the Sleep, The song, The Little, The Mirror, The Twin, The Sand…." Holy crap, and he was still going on….
"WAIT WAIT! HOW MANY TOTAL?!" I interrupted
"Well, there were 56 old ones….with the seven new one's…63.." I think I took this news well, considering my position.
"63?!?! SIXTY FUCKING THREE?!?! OH MY GOD!!! IN A SPAN OF TWO YEARS?!?! ALL WITH THE POWER TO KILL ME!??!"
"No no! Not all of them are LETHAL….I mean the Jump, Float, and Fly card are just things that let you jump real high, float, or fly…" Well that wasn't TOO bad, I'd always dreamed about flying….After all, I WAS a bit of an adrenaline junkie with my friend Ryder on the weekends…
"Alright Alright, what's the ten NEW one's?" I asked, finally starting to believe this little rat, in which he started pacing.
"Lesee…..The Chaos, The Machine, The Disease, The Switch, The Corruption, The Surf……and The Baddest one yet, The Monster." Okay..each of those sounded pretty nasty….And since this rat was not being very HELPFUL…….
"Okay…. seeing as your being NO help whatsoever…I say I enlist some help! I know a guy that'd love this, find this whole thing a big old challenge."
"I don't see why not, I mean, the Card Captors always DID enlist help in their PREVIOUS endeavors…..Who is the guy?" Kero asked, still pacing.
"A Guy named Josh, Josh Ryder."
Now I'm gonna explain something about my pal Josh, he's about my height, blonde hair, He's my best friend, you can't GET a better best friend than Josh. He's got the same interests as me, loves Skating, works out, and absolutely loves getting me into trouble. My Partner in crime, he is, and he's got one very abnormal thing about him, he loves to videotape everything with this digital camcorder, whether it's something for the School, just to bug me, or point out blunders in my skating skills. Naturally, He plans to go into the recording biz when he grows up…but I'll tell you, while he may grow up physically, I have no doubt that he'll remain mentally disturbed.
SO I strapped on my skates, stuffed Kero into my backpack, much to his chagrin, along with the book, and headed on over. I skated over there in record time, faster than I'd gotten there in the last month or so, and started knocking on the door immediately, before I could even catch my breath. I knew he was home in an instant, since he threw open the door and dragged me inside.
"Dude!! The hell man! You only have to knock ONCE!!" he chided me. I just stood there a few moments, catching my breath as he tried to ask me something.
"So why you come over without calling first? For you know I might have a honey over!" Oh yeah, like THAT will ever happen.
"You ain't had a honey over here EVER. I think we should go up to your room to discuss this…" I said calmly, motioning up his stairs.
"Discuss WHAT?" I just grabbed his arm and dragged him up to his room, collapsing onto his bed to take off my skates. Then I realized my backpack was still on my back, and Kero was IN the backpack..
"AAAOOOWW!" came a muffled cry from my backpack. Josh turned his head, hearing it clearly.
"The hell was that?" He asked. I sighed, quickly sitting up and taking off my backpack. I unzipped it and turned it over, dumping Kero and the Book out of it.
"GEEZ! Watch what your doing kid!" Kero said, rubbing the back of his neck. I turned to see Josh's reaction, which was instant. He stared, his eye's growing wider within moments before opening his mouth to cry out. I got up quickly, slapping ym hand over his mouth.
"Don't scream, We don't want your mom an' Dad in here asking questions about a golden rat with wings. Josh Ryder, meet Kero, Kero the Golden Rat, meet Josh Ryder." I introduced. Kero fluttered up to Ryder, holding out a hand.
"Nice to meet you….OW!" The last part was when Josh jumped back and swatted Kero. I removed my hand from his mouth, Now I regret that.
"HOLY SHIYAT MAN! IT'S A FLYING RAT!! A FLYING GOLDEN RAT!!!" He cried, pointing at Kero.
"Yes…we've settled that…And this rat comes with an interesting tale…Kero…please tell him what you told me." I asked politely enough. So, Kero started retelling the story of the Cards, the Captors, and all that jazz for the next twenty minutes, Josh hanging onto every word. I saw a little twinkle in Josh's eyes when the Rat told'em about me having to capture the cards. Well! After the quaint story telling session, Josh slowly turned to me.
"So….YOU have to catch these cards this Rat is talking about?"
"Apparently so…."
"You know what?" I had a bad feeling right there…
"…..No What?" It turned out it was perfectly justified.
"This will make a GREAT Recording opportunity!" I sighed, rolling my eye's.
"So take advantage of MY misery!!! That's what you're going to do?"
"Yeah pretty much." He shrugged at this….no surprise….
"Well Guess what? You follow me around with that camcorder o' yers, you might get a more HANDS ON OPPORTUNITY!!"
"I ain't mad at that."
"Might be dangerous…"
"Adds to the thrill…" I saw a perfect opportunity….
"So I guess you wanna HELP then?"
"HELL YES! The adventure of a lifetime! It's got everything! Thrill! Drama! Tragedy! Possible Earth threats!" Well, I guess enthusiasm counts for something…
"Well! You got yer help Kid, so now can we get on with capturin' the cards?" Kero asked, holding up the so-called Keychain wand.
"….Okay….first off….how the hell you turn this sunuva bitch into a wand?" I asked, taking the keychain from the rat.
"Simple, tap it twice on the red part." Kero said matter-of-factly. So I did. It shot up, the key part of it turning into a long staff end and the head of it growing to match it's now increased size. Bright Pink red at the end, with those little white wings, it was Really an eye sore.
"MAN that thing can't get any uglier can it?" Josh stated, looking it up and down.
"Well it was built to capture cards not go with color schemes!" Kero said crossly.
"Point taken, now how's it work? I go, 'hocus pocus diddly locus'?" I asked sarcastically.
"NO. You say the card's name, then swings the staff at it and say Return to your power, CONFINE!" ….What a strange little rodent…That's all their was to it?
"..So lemme get this straight…All I do is swing the wand thing at the supposed card, then say that thing you said…..that's it?"
"Yah that's it…"
"YOU COULD HAVE A FIVE YEAR OLD KID DO THIS JOB!!!" I cried.
"Yeah but a five year old kid didn't open it, a kid with a five year old intellect did!" Kero spat back. I knew right then, this was going to be a strenuous quest….