Author's Note: Now that Sakura has her memory back, she has to break the news to Madison about her boyfriend. How will she take it?
Cards captured so far: Fly, Windy, Hole, Water, Replay, Light, Oil, Thief, Ice, Fog, Lightning, Iron, Nightmare, Magnet, Invisible, Acid, Sonic, Pie, Power, Mirage, Laser, Rubber, and Bomb
The Book of the 2nd Cards: Part 25
Something didn't feel right. Usually, Tommy would be thrilled to see Madison. Maybe it was the unusual scenario of meeting Madison outside the ruins of the park. It still hasn't been repaired since the strike of the Lightning Card.
But that wasn't it. Tommy knew what it was. He couldn't get what he did off his mind. With each passing moment, he regretted releasing the 2nd Cards more and more. Ultimately, releasing them got him nowhere. All it did was make him into a monster…a monster that desperately tried to cover his tracks. He covered his tracks by erasing Sakura Avalon's memory. He covered his tracks by attacking Li Shoran with the Bomb Card. He felt pathetic.
That's why he severed all ties with the remaining 2nd Cards. What could the Bomb Card and the Psychic Card do for him anyway? Now that he's finally rid of the 2nd Cards, he can focus on…
"Hi, Tommy."
…Madison. Tommy was so happy to see her. But something didn't seem right. Madison had a somber expression on her face.
"Madison, is something wrong?"
Madison sighed. "We…haven't kept any secrets from each other, have we?"
"Secrets? No…I think we've both been very honest with each other."
Madison suddenly changed the subject. "Have you seen Sakura today?"
Why would she bring up Sakura? "I haven't seen her all day. Why do you ask?"
"I haven't seen her since we got back," Madison answered. "I was hoping to see her today, but I heard she got a letter from Li. Except…"
"What is it?"
"I talked to Li earlier," Madison frowned. "He told me he never sent a letter to Sakura. Of course, Li told me he last saw her…with you…out in the forest."
Tommy started sweating. This couldn't be happening. She couldn't have found out about him. He had no idea Shoran was watching everything go down in the forest. But that didn't make sense. If he was watching everything, then why didn't he stop the Psychic Card?
"He…saw her with me?" was all Tommy could ask. "He…didn't see anything, did he?"
"You aren't hiding anything from me, are you?" Madison asked.
"I guess…I was in the forest with Sakura…"
"But you told me you haven't seen her!" Madison interrupted. "Did you just lie to me?"
Tommy was starting to suspect the worst. "You…seem a bit jumpy today, Madison. Are you feeling ok?"
"I'm fine," Madison said somberly. "I'm sure you're not hiding anything else from me. Nothing like…a book?"
"What book?" Tommy asked nervously. Then the worst thing that could happen at that moment happened. The Book of the 2nd Cards fell out from under his jacket.
Madison didn't need to see anymore. She slapped Tommy across the face. It hurt pretty bad…but it hurt Tommy a lot worse inside.
"I didn't want to believe her," Madison said. "But it's all true, isn't it? You were the one who released the 2nd Cards and you were the one who was behind all this."
"Madison, please," Tommy pleaded. He had to stick up for himself. "I'm past that. I've gotten rid of the 2nd Cards."
Madison didn't believe him. "You're just lying to me again, aren't you? Why should I believe anything you have to say? All you've done is lie."
"Come on, Madison. Why won't you believe me?"
"Because she knows what kind of liar you really are!!"
Tommy turned around. He was surprised, but he shouldn't have been. How else could Madison have found out about him? Standing there, glaring a hole right into him, was Sakura Avalon.
Sakura just stood there with her sealing wand in her hand staring a hole right into Tommy. She felt so much contempt for him. This guy couldn't take responsibility for his actions. Instead he unleashed the Psychic Card on her. He didn't care if she lost her memory. He didn't care if she had to live the rest of her life without remembering anything. The sight of him sickened Sakura.
"I'm only going to ask you once," Sakura muttered angrily. "Where is it? Where's the Psychic Card?"
"I don't know."
"DON'T LIE TO ME!!" Sakura shouted. "We're sick and tired of you lying to us all the time."
Just then, Sakura heard a rustling in the bushes. The next one to come out of the bushes was Li and he held his sword pointed at Tommy.
"I didn't know what to expect when I came looking for the book," Li said. "I didn't expect it to be in your hands. And I certainly didn't think you'd be the one controlling the 2nd Cards. But now that you've been exposed, it's time for you to give up. Where's the Psychic Card?"
"I don't know," Tommy said again. "I haven't seen the Psychic Card since this morning."
"You're lying," Sakura growled. "It's all you can do, isn't it? You've lied about everything. And I thought you actually felt something for Madison, but that was a lie too, wasn't it?"
"NO!" Tommy snapped. He looked at Madison. "I may have lied about everything, I admit that. But Madison, please believe when I say that I really do care about you."
"I don't know if I can believe you," Madison said hurtfully.
"She doesn't!" Sakura shouted. "Now quit stalling and tell us where the Psychic Card is!"
"I told you I don't know!" Tommy said angrily.
Sakura was getting frustrated. She wasn't getting anywhere, but that's when she felt a strong pain rush into her head. It felt familiar. As Sakura held her head, she knew it had to be…
"Li! It's the Psychic Card!"
Li rushed over behind another bush and uncovered the Psychic Card. Upon being seen, it jumped out of the way. The pain in Sakura's head suddenly went away. She looked angrily at Tommy.
"YOU! You KNEW it was here!"
Sakura had never been so angry. She could see it on the faces of Li and Madison. This was a side of Sakura they hadn't seen.
"Sakura! Calm down!"
That was Kero. He finally flew out of Sakura's pocket and flew right in front of her face.
"I won't calm down!" Sakura shouted. "I…AAAAHHHHH!!!"
The pain in her head came back again. The Psychic Card was standing right behind her. Li tried to save her, but he fell to his knees also. The Psychic Card had an evil grip on Li's mind too. This looked like the end. The Psychic Card wasn't even breaking a sweat and had Sakura and Li on their knees. It glowered as it prepared to crush their minds.
"STOP!!"
The grip on Sakura's mind finally loosened. She couldn't get to her feet though. The attack on her psyche left her weak and she saw that Li wasn't getting up either. Then she saw who saved them. It was Tommy. He was boldly standing in front of the Psychic Card.
"I've had enough," Tommy said. "You cards have brought me nothing but grief and it ends now! Remember who your master is. I'm your master and I say it all ends. You're going back into the book."
The Psychic Card wouldn't have any of it. It extended its arm out and launched a mental assault on Tommy's mind. Tommy fell to the ground.
"No…I'm…your…master," Tommy moaned. "You're…supposed…to…obey…me."
Kero seemed to realize what was going on. "Uh…you didn't REALLY get rid of the 2nd Cards, did you?"
"I…may have told them…to leave me alone," Tommy struggled. "I may have…told them…I don't…want to be…their master…anymore."
Kero threw his arms in frustration. "Messages like that are always taken literally. The Psychic Card's beyond your control now."
"You mean it won't listen to him?" Madison asked.
"It's out of control!" Kero replied. "Sakura! Li! You've got to get up!"
Sakura couldn't get to her feet. The residual pain in her head was too fierce and she couldn't get to her feet. There was only one thing she could do. She pulled out the Ice Card.
"Ice Card! Freeze the enemy! Release and dispel! Ice Card!"
An ice beam shot out towards the Psychic Card, but it saw the beam coming. The Psychic Card mentally changed the beam's trajectory. The ice beam was sent towards…Li. The ice beam hit and left Li frozen solid.
Sakura let out a soft whimper. "NO!!!!!!!"
This was the worst thing that could happen to Sakura. To see Li get frozen solid broke her heart in more ways than one. Not only did it hurt her to see Li like this, but also she had to think of the other major consequence. Now she was on her own against the Psychic Card. Sakura got ready to pull out another card, but Kero quickly stopped her.
"Sakura, you can't forget what else we have to do," Kero pointed out. "We have to put the rest of the 2nd Cards back in the book before you seal the Psychic Card."
"Well, where is the book?" Sakura asked weakly.
"I've got it!" Madison called out. She must've picked it up after Tommy dropped it.
Sakura tried to get to her feet to get the book, but the Psychic Card tried striking first. It mentally tried to pull the book away from Madison. Madison tried holding on for dear life. She started sliding towards the Psychic Card. Sakura had to intervene. She pulled out the Iron Card.
"Iron Card! Create a buffer! Release and dispel! Iron Card!"
An iron wall rose up between Madison and the Psychic Card. The Psychic Card couldn't bring the book towards it, so it focused on trying to bring down the iron wall. Sakura knew this was Madison's chance.
"Madison, run!!"
Madison tried running, but she didn't get far. The Psychic Card started ignoring the iron wall and mentally lifted Madison into the sky. She soon found herself running on air. The Psychic Card moved her up to a tall tree and laid her on one of its branches. After it put Madison down, it mentally removed the Book of the 2nd Cards from her hands.
Sakura tried to get up, but it was to no avail. The pain in her head was still too strong. By the time she got to her feet, she saw it was nearly too late. The Book of the 2nd Cards was floating right into the lake.
With a tremendous splash, the book hit the lake and started sinking to the bottom. Sakura couldn't believe it. If she didn't get the other 2nd Cards into that book, she couldn't seal the last card. But she wasn't thinking about that at that moment…
…Because the Psychic Card was ready to resume its attack on Sakura's mind.
Author's Note: As a reader, I've always hated cliffhangers. But I feel it is time I use that which I hate. Because it leaves plenty of room for the conclusion on Friday. Come back tomorrow to read the final installment.
Any comments? Then mail me at AmericanCaptor@hotmail.com and don't forget to review below.