Disclaimer: We own nothing except the plot.

Note: Does not take place in the 90s. Sorry. (Not really. :P)

The Power of Spirit

Chapter 3 ~ Cards

The counter spun, and the numbers swiftly dropped to a clean zero. The victor was a young man who was sporting a dark zip-up hoodie and a matching beanie that successfully hid all but the blond fringe of his hair. His name, according to the amateur roster, was Takashi Takahata. The boy waved over at his opponent, a girl who appeared to be only a little over ten, and shouted over the din of the spectators, a kind smile on his lips, "Good job!" The girl smiled shyly and waved back at him.

That was too easy, rang a very familiar voice in his head.

"That's because you're spoiled," the boy muttered so that no one else could hear.

I'm bored because I'm spoiled? The baritone of a long deceased Egyptian Pharaoh mused. I dare say it's too easy because we've had far too much practice with stronger opponents.

The boy sighed. "I can't say I'm in total disagreement."

Suddenly, the referee scampered over, just as the youth was returning his arm to its natural position. The stripe shirted man was none other than the owner of Gamin' Station, the sponsor of the small tournament. His name was Yamato, at least, that is how he always introduced himself. No one knew if it was his first name or surname, and most really didn't care enough to ask. Those that did never got a straight answer anyway. The elephant of a man grasped the youth's wrist and rose it above his head, effectively lifting his heels from the pavement and forcing him to barely stand on his tip-toes.

"The winner!" he boomed, "Takashi Takahada!"

A cheer rose around the make-shift arena. The youth was amazed that just under a hundred people could create a roar loud enough to put a lion to shame. All the while, the unfortunate victor was hanging midair by his wrist. It wasn't until his arm burned so horribly that he thought his shoulder would pop out. When Yamato released him and reached into the front pocket of his button down shirt and brandished a crisp card in a clear plastic sleeve.

"I present," he announced, "the one, the only, Love Reborn card to our winnar!" Lower, he continued, "Take good care of her, boy."

The youth in question nodded and accepted the card, causing the crowd to cheer again, louder this time. The sound was positively deafening. He resisted the urge to cover his ears to muffle the noise. Instead, he tucked the card into his pocket, carefully keeping his hand around it. Then he ducked his head and moved through the mass of teenagers and children. Most of the bystanders moved for him, but he ran into a few because they couldn't see him.

Before long, he had escaped the aftermath of the tournament and was able to comfortably examine Love Reborn. The picture on the front depicted a clothless female silhouette shrouded in a golden light, and masked by stars and bubbles reminicent of the colors of the sun. She was framed by an ocean blue background that simply made her pop right off the page. She was also a generous level five with adequet attack and defense. "Hey, Yami," the boy questioned, removing his hat to reveal gravity defying hair of the black, violet, and blond spectrum. He read the description below the image. "Who's the Middle East Commander?"

000

That evening, the teenager, who was really the world renowned Yugi Mutou, walked through his empty home, drained. His grandfather was closing up the game shop downstairs and he resisted the urge to collapse on his bed in exhaustion. He had dropped a rather large bomb on him without warning earlier, and had run off to the Gamin' Station tournament immediately after, promising to talk to him when he returned home. A few nights before, a certain guardian of Time popped into his dreams to inform him and the spirit that she had convinced Sakura to help them gather the Serenity cards.

Yugi vividly remembered the second visit from Pluto, seeing as Yami actually pulled him into the conversation this time instead of waiting until a few hours before to tell him of their situation. Pluto had told him and Yami that Sakura had agreed, albeit reluctantly. Yugi wasn't all that surprised, given that she hadn't wanted to be a Cardcaptor at first. Still, he was ecstatic.

Later, as he waited for his computer to boot, Yugi thought about his grandfather. When he explained the situation to the old man, he was clapped on the shoulder once with a nod. "Promise me you'll be careful," he'd said, unshed tears glistening in his eyes. Yugi didn't even need to think, he just promised.

Yugi's desktop had barely finished loading when a blue Skype box popped up inviting him to a group chat. The youth made sure that his mike was plugged in, then he clicked on the green button. Almost immediately, his speakers were blasting an argument between two of his best friends. Yugi turned the volume down and waited for it to simmer down.

"Why is he hiding in a closet?" a female voice demanded. Without looking, Yugi knew that it belonged to Anzu Mazaki, who he'd known for longer than any of his other friends, and just happened to have a major crush on.

"Because he crawled in right after we got to his house!" Jounoichi, a rough and tumble guy with a thick voice, replied, smacking the surface of what Yugi could only assume was a table in the process.

"Then what are you doing on his computer?" Anzu rebuffed.

"Because I walked home with him. Besides, his computer doesn't have a password and Yugi said that he would call," Jonouichi said, sounding as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Speaking of Yugi..." Anzu trailed. "Looks like he finally answered."

"Hey, Yugi!" Jounoichi's voice turned a three sixty as he greeted his friend. "So what was that stuff this morning about moving to a new town? You owe us an explanation, dude," he said, not even bothering to beat around the bush.

Yugi smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head, inwardly cursing when he realized that because of the lack of camera use, they couldn't see him. "Sorry, guys."

"Well..." Anzu prompted softly.

"Oh, right, sorry. Well, to put it simply, I'm moving to Tomoeda."

"We know that," Jounoichi stated. "We wanna know why."

"Well, I have a mission to complete there. Remember those special cards I told you about? The ones that Yami's friend needs us to find? I have to go to Tomoeda to meet up with the person that's going to help me find them. According to Pluto and Yami, it will be easier to track them if we are both in the same town, and her dad and brother won't let her leave to go on a dangerous mission. Especially her brother, he is highly protective of her."

"Sounds like you know her well," Anzu said.

"Yeah," Yugi replied. "We lived on the same street for a while."

"That's all well and good, man, but why are we hearing about this now!?" Jounoichi demanded. Yugi had to resist the urge to lower the volume again.

"Quiet," Anzu fired. They heard her sigh, as if steeling herself. "Yugi, we don't like that you took this long to tell us..."

"Yeah!" Honda wailed from Jounoichi's side of the screen. Apparently he had decided to make his way out of his closet.

Anzu paused long enough for him to get out the extra long word before continuing as if he hadn't spoken at all. "But we will support you the best we can. Right, Jonouichi?" Anzu finished, daring the other boy to disagree with her at the end. Sometimes Yugi wondered if she just liked to argue with the poor boy.

"Right," Jonouichi replied, not bothered by her tone in the least.

000

Meanwhile, Tomoyo Daidouji, lifelong best friend of Sakura Kinomoto sat at her desk, pencil scratching away wildly. Strewn around her were various papers, each depicting an image of Sakura and a faceless male in complementary, outlandish outfits.

Tomoyo smiled as she finished her last one for the night. "Sakura is going to love these new battle costumes."

End of Chapter 3.

Word Count: 1,386

Credits:

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon co. Naoko Takeuchi

Cardcaptor Sakura co. CLAMP

Yu-Gi-Oh co. Kazuki Takahashi

Written By: QueenyLeAcH

Edited By: CrystalKaori, Sockera

Please like our Facebook page for news updates (The Power of Spirit or go to my profile for the link). Thanks for Reading!

- LeAcH & Kaori