Hello and welcome to chapter 11. So yeah, chapter 10 was pretty gruesome, not just because I brought in Elfen Lied into the mix, but also because of the contrast between it and the lighthearted Cardcaptor Sakura. But as isaid in chapter 9, that's the reason why I changed to rating on this fanfiction from T to M. As you saw, Sakura offered to use herself as bait to lure out Team Dosu, the Sound Five, and the currently villainous Future Avengers who had been kidnapping "gifted" individuals. Now I know some of you are questioning why Natasha, and Maria for that matter, would allow Sakura to put herself in danger like that, especially after learning about Lucy's escape. Well the answer is simple, because that's pretty much what they did in 2 Marvel shows, Marvel Future Avengers and Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers. Yes, those two were a lot more lighthearted than this, but still. Not to mention that both Natasha and Maria saw Sakura's battle with the other Horyus against Xehanort at the end of the first Horyus so they know what she's capable of.
Anyway, this chapter will pick up where the last one left off. Lucy had just killed Toya and now Sakura is pissed and the Diclonius Queen is about to feel the full-vented fury of our favorite Cardcaptor. Now just so you'll know, apart from Sakura, all of the other Horyus had gone through something like this before in their life. It happened to Naruto during his battle with Pain where Pain seemingly killed Hinata, it happened to Aang in his first attempt to master the Avatar State when General Fong burried Katara, it happened to Sora when Kairi's heart was supposedly stolen, it happened to Inuyasha (sort of) during his fights with Goshinki and Gatenmaru when Goshinki broke Tetsusaiga and when Gatenmaru trapped him and Miroku in a poison cocoon, and it even happened to Spiro (I'll let him explain what happened). Now, it's Sakura's turn.
WARNING: Gore...! And if you believed the last chapter was gory, this one takes the cake and you'll see why. Now I must reiterate, if you don't have the stomach to handle this, then you don't have to read this.
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
Chapter 11:
In the Van, Toya, Tomoyo and Meilin were all worried as they saw the telltale signs of a lot of violence going on at the shoreline.
"What's going on over there," Meilin asked.
"Not good," Tomoyo explained while taping the event. "It looks like that Lucy woman Natasha warned us about has shown up and is starting to attack Sakura."
"What, why would she do that," Toya questioned.
Suddenly, Tomoyo noticed something else happening. "Now it looks like Sakura is running away from the fight and Lucy is in hot pursuit…!"
"Damn it," Toya then opened the door. "I'm going after her!"
"Wait a minute, Toya," Tomoyo pleaded.
"If you get involved, you'll just be in the way," Meilin informed him.
But those words fell on deaf ears as Toya replied, "Sakura might just be a friend or a cousin to you, but to me, she's my sister…! As her older brother, I have to protect her…!"
Toya then ran to the battlefield to help his sister. Upon arrival, he saw Syaoran just standing there on the sidewalk while Sakura was pinned down in the sand by Lucy.
(Lilium (saint version) from Elfen Lied starts playing)
Os iusti meditabitur sapientiam,
Sakura trembled in fear.
"Do you enjoy this," Lucy questioned hatefully.
"I'm sorry," Sakura plead. "I didn't mean to hurt you, really…!"
Lucy then brought out one of her vectors and brought both its index finger and middle finger infront of Sakura's eyes. But surprisingly Sakura's eyes reacted to the vectors, focusing her vision on the fingers.
Et lingua eius loquetur iudicium.
"W-What is this," Sakura gasped. "It looks like a hand."
"So, you can see it," Lucy acknowledged, her expression unchanged. "That's interesting."
Beatus vir qui suffert tentationem,
"What am I looking at," Sakura questioned in fear.
"What you are looking at is one of my vectors," Lucy explained coldly. "Hands that are normally invisible to all accept for myself and other Dicloni. With just a simple touch, I can use one of these to kill you."
Sakura gasped in fear.
Quoniam cum probatus fuerit accipiet coronam vitae.
"Now the question is Sakura Kinomoto how do you choose to die," Lucy then took out another vector. "Should I slit your throat, sever your jugulars, cut off your head, squish your brain, crush your skull, remove your heart, or perhaps even rip you into pieces? Your choice."
Sakura then answered, "You can do whatever you want to me. Just please, don't hurt anyone else."
Kyrie, fons bonitatis
Syaoran tried to intervien, his sword in hand. "Sakura…!"
"No Syaoran," Sakura called out.
Kyrie, ignis divine, eleison
Syaoran stopped.
"Don't get involved," Sakura pleaded Syaoran. "Please, just stay away."
O quam sancta, quam serena
Syaoran held still. While he wasn't sure what Sakura was planning to do, he somehow knew that he had to trust her judgement.
"Let her go," Yue tried to fire his Lunar Ice Crystals at Lucy.
quam benigna, quam amoena esse Virgo creditor
"No, Yue," Sakura gasped.
Lucy easily caught the cyrstals and threw them back at Yue, aiming for his wings and forcing the moon guardian to the ground.
"Damn you," Kero tried his Solar Flare Inferno.
O quam sancta, quam serena, quam benigna, quam amoena
Once again, Lucy easily blocked it by making the hand of one of her vectors larger in size.
"Kero, stop," Sakura ordered.
Kero did as Sakura told him.
"It would seem that you all wish to protect your friend here," Lucy coldly said. "But if any of you comes anywhere near here, either one of you or she will die. This is your only warning."
O castitatis lilium
"Damn it, what can I do," Syaoran thought. "I can't use my new technique while she has Sakura captive like this. I might hit her instead."
Toya, unable to see Sakura suffer, made the wreckless decition and instinctively ran towards them to help his sister. "Sakura…!"
Sakura and Lucy turned their attention to Toya, Sakura with a worried expression on her face while Lucy's expression remained the same.
"No Toya, get away," Sakura called out.
But it was too late. Once Toya got within a 2 meter range from Sakura and Lucy, Lucy extended one of her vectors and promptly cut off Toya's head.
(Lilium (saint version) from Elfen Lied ends)
Everyone gasped in horror and shock upon seeing Toya getting decapitated by Lucy's vectors. Syaoran couldn't help but feel sorry for Sakura and Yukito as he knew how much he meant to them both. He might not have thought too highly of Toya do to him constantly glaring at him whenever he was around Sakura for one reason or another, but he know how much he meant to Sakura and Yukito. Kero felt exactly the same way. Sure Toya always glared at him with suspicion during the early days, but seeing him die in such a way made him feel sorry for Sakura. Yukito and Yue were heartbroken as Toya was the love of their life and seeing him die like that right in front of their eyes was too much for them to handle. It was so painful that both felt like they were having a heart attack. And then there was Sakura and she felt worst of all. She knew it was her fault and what Mei had warned her about had come back to haunt her.
"You're enemies aren't going leave you alone just because you refuse to fight them. I know that from experience. It's fine that you don't want to fight your enemies, but if you don't even have the will to fight, you or someone you care about will just become another victim."
That last bit echoed in Sakura's mind several times as Toya's body slumped to the ground. His head landed in the sand and rolled like a football until it stopped just inches away from Sakura's face.
"I warned him," Lucy said coldly before turning her attention back to Sakura. "Now, where were we? Huh…?"
Lucy noticed that Sakura's eyes were hidden by a shadow, tears rolling down from them and she gritted her teeth.
"How dare you," Sakura mumbled at first. "How dare you… How dare you…"
Sakura then showed her face, no longer showing fear, but anger and fury. "HOW DARE YOU KILL MY BROTHER…!"
(Vasto Lord Theme from Bleach starts playing)
"WINDY…!"
Sakura activated the Windy Card and created an explosive gust of wind that sent Lucy flying away from her and into one of the boats in the fisherman direct sales office. Using her vectors to soften her landing, Lucy looked up and saw Sakura flying in the air showing nothing by hostility towards her. Syaoran, Kero, and Yue noticed this as well and were all utterly terrified of Sakura. Yue in particular knew for a fact that if he had fought Sakura when she was like this during the Final Judgement, he wouldn't last long against her.
What can you see, in their eyes
"You killed my brother," Sakura uncharacteristically growled at Lucy. "And now I'm going to… MAKE YOU PAY…!"
In defeat, I can see their demise!
Sakura raised her staff. "You will suffer, Lucy…! I promise you that…!"
"FIREY…!"
Even though, not a blow has been struck as they are to
Sakura activated the Firey Card, sending a continuous flamethrower at Lucy similar to what Kero did earlier. Naturally, Lucy blocked the flames with her one of her vectors, keeping herself from being burned.
"WINDY…!"
Fight, like the wind, far too strong, to resist
Sakura followed up by activating the Windy Card to assist Firey, increasing the power of the flamethrower attack. With the increase in power, the flames overwhelmed Lucy's vector, forcing her to use the rest to block the flames. Sadly this wasn't enough as the wind wrapped around her vectors and touched her skin, carrying the flames with them.
"AAAHHH…!"
There is nowhere to hide from the force
"Now take this," Sakura took out another card.
"CLOUD…!"
That will tear them apart, and banish their soul!
Sakura activated the Cloud Card, which sounded redundant since the sky was already cloudy and rain was falling everywhere. But from the Avengers' Tower, it could be seen that the clouds were changing from nimbostratus to cumulonimbus, something that caught the Avengers' attention.
"What's going on over there," Captain America gasped.
"Odin's Beard," Thor gasped.
"Jarvis, tell me what's happening," said Tony.
"It would appear that the clouds over Kamakura are rapidly changing from nimbostratus to cumulonimbus," J.A.R.V.I.S. explained. "The cause of the phenomenon seems to be some sort of energy coming from a singular point, similar in matter to Thor's hammer and Storm's mutant powers."
"But I am right here," Thor pointed out.
"And Storm is still at the X-Mansion," Tony added, but then it hit him. "That leaves only one candidate…! It's Kinomoto…!"
"Sakura Kinomoto," Wasp gasped. "Why is she doing that?"
"I don't know, but we've got to get there before she does anything wreckless," Iron Man told them.
"Right," said Captain America before shouting his famous line to rally the others to head for the Quinjet.
"AVENGERS ASSEMBLE…!"
Unbeknownst to the Avengers however, two eavesdroppers overheard what was going on and snuck onboard.
On Helicarrier Lucky Dragon, Maria Hill also took notice of the cloud formation change and knew that it wasn't natural.
"Director, the clouds over Kamakura are changing from nimbostratus to cumulonimbus," said one of the agents.
"I'm aware of that," said Maria. "The question I want answered is why and how."
"We're trying to figure that out," said the agent.
Suddenly it hit Maria. "Kinomoto…"
What can you see, in their eyes
At Kamakura, Sakura began viciously attacking Lucy with multiple spells while Lucy found herself on the defensive.
"RAIN…!"
In defeat, I can see their demise!
Sakura used the Rain Card to make the rain come down even harder on Lucy, like a litteral shower. This confused Lucy at first until she saw what followed.
Even though, not a blow has been struck as they are to
"WAVE…!"
Using the Wave Card, Sakura created a tsunami and aimed it directly at the Diclonius Queen. Seeing what was coming, Lucy instinctively used her vectors to launch herself into the air in order to avoid the wave.
Fight, like the wind, far too strong, to resist
"OBEY THE COMMAND…! ICE FLOWER, COME FORTH…!"
There is nowhere to hide from the force
Responding to the oncoming wave, Syaoran used a new ice spell to freeze the tsunami into snow before it could even touch the shore.
"WATERY…!"
That will tear them apart, and banish their soul!
Sakura used the Watery Card to take control of the water and snow surrounding the Diclonius Queen before encasing her in an orb of water. Lucy tried to move, but found that no matter how hard she struggled, she could not get free of the orb and it soon became clear as to what the Cardcaptor was doing. She was trying to drown her. Acting fast, Lucy vibrated her vectors rapidly to create extreme heat within the sphere. While also protecting herself with one of her vectors, the other vectors eventually cause the watery sphere to bubble and boil. Seeing this, Sakura responded quickly.
"FREEZE…!"
Sakura then used the Freeze Card to freeze the sphere before Lucy could boil it into evaporation. Unbeknownst to her however, Lucy was hoping for this and used her vectors to break free and then threw the ice shards at the Cardcaptor.
"FIREY…!"
Sakura used the Firey Card once again, this time to evaporate the shards before they could touch her.
Realizing that she was outmatched, Lucy used her vectors to flee inland and Sakura gave chase.
As Sakura chased Lucy, Syaoran returned to the van where Tomoyo and Meilin were waiting for him. He was immediately followed by Kero and Yue.
"Syaoran," Meilin gasped.
"We have to go after Sakura," Syaoran told them.
Natasha and the other agents soon arrived, having left Kouta and the girl to the local police department.
"What's going on," Natasha asked.
"Yeah, Kinomoto's gone mad," said Hawkeye. "She started attacking Lucy viciously and now she's chasing her into the city!"
"It was Toya," Tomoyo explained. "He was decapitated right in front of her."
"Oh god," Flash gasped.
"You guys go on ahead," Mania told them. "Flash and I will secure the body."
Everyone agreed. While Flash and Andi went with a body bag to secure Toya's body and head, the others got into the van. Taking the wheel, Black Widow drove the group into the city to go after Sakura, Kero and Yue reverted to their borrowed forms to recover.
What can you see, in their eyes
In defeat, I can see their demise!
Even though, not a blow has been struck as they are to
Further inland as Lucy fled, she continued to throw things at Sakura with her vectors, mostly small objects such as rocks, pebbles, sticks, twigs, pencils, and pens. Sakura however used her staff to easily deflect the projectiles, either by whacking them away or by spinning her staff rapidly in a circle. Seeing that she needed to hit her with something bigger, Lucy picked up a car with her vectors and threw it at Sakura.
Fight, like the wind, far too strong, to resist
"SWORD…!"
Sakura changed her staff into a sword and sliced the oncoming car in half. The car exploded just seconds after being sliced in half. Sakura then took her "turn" to attack.
There is nowhere to hide from the force
"THUNDER…!"
Using the Thunder Card, Sakura transformed the already created cumulonimbus cloud into a thunder cloud. Lightning flashed with in the cloud multiple times, symbolizing Sakura's wrath toward Lucy.
That will tear them apart, and banish their soul!
In the air, the Quinjet was flying through the stormy weather created by Sakura in her rage against Lucy. Fortunately, the lightning wasn't aimed at the jet, and even if it was, it was protected by an electric-proof shield. Unfortunately, the Quinjet struggled against the strong winds generated by the storm.
"Shit, these winds are strong," said Iron Man.
"Language," said Captain America.
"We're all adults here, Captain," Wasp pointed out.
"I'm going to try and contact Natasha," Tony told the others.
"Black Widow, why," Ant Man asked.
"Last I checked, she was acting as a bodyguard for one of Kinomoto's friends, Ms. Daidouji," Iron Man explained. "If I know her, she'll likely stay by their side during the operation."
"You talk too much, Stark," Hulk remarked.
"And you talk too little, Hulk," Iron Man teased before contacting Natasha. "Black Widow, Black Widow, this is Iron Man. Do you read me, over."
"Yeah, I hear you, Stark," Natasha replied.
"Okay look, what's going on down there," Tony questioned.
"Sakura's gone berserk," Natasha explained. "Apparently, Lucy killed her brother right in front of her and now she's chasing her through the city in a fit of rage. We're trying to track her down, but so many civilians are getting caught in the crossfire."
"Alright, we'll take care of it," said Tony. "You focus on finding them. Iron Man out."
After that, Captain America took his turn. "Alright Avengers, it looks like we've got a mess to keep under control. Iron Man, send in the Iron Legion to keep the civilians away from the battlefield. Ant Man, Wasp, do a search of the area and rescue as many trap civilians as you can. Thor, try and stop this storm. I'll go and help Black Widow. And Hulk…"
Hulk looked at Captain America.
"Smash," Captain America told him.
"Very funny, Cap," Hulk smiled.
On the ground, the Frightful Four had taken shelter within a grove of trees, but Trapster was complaining. "Why the hell did we run. We could have taken those bastards out no problem."
"You don't get it, Trapster," said Medusa. "One of those "bastards" was Lucy, the Diclonius Queen."
"So," said Trapster.
"So she could have easily ripped you apart, literally," Medusa explained. "If either of us had fought her, we'd all be dead."
"What do you know about the Dicloni," Wizard questioned.
"They're somewhat similar to both Mutants and Inhumans like myself," Medusa explained. "They're a race of hominids that have a common special trait that makes them dangerous in many ways. But unlike mutants and inhumans where the traits tend to very depending on the individual, dicloni all have horns shaped like cat ears and a set of invisible hands known as vectors. These can be used to infect other humans with a virus which turns their children, if they have any, into dicloni themselves, though this only happens to those who haven't been born yet. Dicloni also use their vectors to kill others either through beheading, dismemberment, or other horrific ways to terrible to describe."
"Dang," Trapster gasped. "How exactly does this virus work?"
"It works by," Medusa started before being interrupted by a lightning flash.
"What was that," said Klaw.
Medusa then looked out and saw the destruction caused by Sakura and Lucy's battle.
"Kinomoto is causing a lot of damage to the city," Medusa explained.
Meanwhile, Sakura pointed her staff at Lucy, directing the lightning to strike her. But Lucy was quick to react and dodged the lightning bolts by using her vectors to moving either to the left or to the right. While Lucy managed to dodge the lightning, the bolts struck everything else such as cars, trees, lamp posts, even houses, either setting a lot of them on fire or destroying them as a result. The water covering everything didn't help as it only helped to spread the rang of the lightning strike. Anyone caught nearby was injured or even killed, either by Lucy's vectors or the objects she threw or by Sakura's lightning attacks.
What can you see, in their eyes
"You're not getting away that easily," Sakura shouted while taking out another card.
In defeat, I can see their demise!
"Neither are you," Lucy threw another car at Sakura.
"STORM…!"
Even though, not a blow has been struck as they are to
Activating the Storm Card, Sakura created a land spout tornado that either sucked in or blew away everything that came across its path.
"Oh crap," Lucy gasped upon seeing this as she realized that this was something she couldn't dodge.
Fight, like the wind, far too strong, to resist
The tornado soon caught up to Lucy and trapped her within it's cyclone along with everything else it sucked in.
There is nowhere to hide from the force
While that was going on, the Iron Legion flew in and did its best to keep the other civilians away from the fight.
"This quadrant is unsafe, please back away, we're here to help," they said.
That will tear them apart, and banish their soul!
Iron Man, upon seeing the tornado radioed, "Thor, you better hurry up."
"I'm already on it, Stark," Thor flew into the cloud and swung Mjölnir around.
His goal was to stop the storm before anyone else could get hurt.
On the ground, Ant Man and Wasp worked their butts off getting trapped civilians out of their predicaments. Both shrunk themselves to get into tight spots and then shrunk the civilians to get them out. Ant Man also had some of the local Japanese ants help out with the operation. At the same time, Captain America drove his motorcycle through the city until he found the van Black Widow and Hawkeye were driving in.
"Captain," Black Widow greeted.
"What's the situation," Captain America questioned.
"Take a guess, Captain," Hawkeye pointed towards the tornado.
"Where's Sakura," Captain America asked.
"I can answer that," said Iron Man on the communicator. "She's flying up to the top of that cyclone. Lucy is in the middle of it. I hope Thor can stop that thing before it destroys too much of the city."
"That's bad," said Captain America.
Syaoran then showed himself and said, "Get me closer to Sakura! I'd reach her!"
Inside the cyclone, Lucy was spinning around and around with the winds, doing her best to escape. "Damn it, I can't get out…!"
Suddenly, Sakura reached th top of the tornado and flew down towards Lucy. Activating the Sword Card, she struck Lucy in the gut with it before she could react to the oncoming attack.
"Ga…!"
Sakura then activated the Thunder Card once more, striking Lucy with a bolt of lightning, shocking her to her system. Moments later, the tornado stopped and Lucy slid off of the sword and fell to the ground, right in the middle of the Jouju-in Cemetery.
(Vasto Lord Theme from Bleach ends)
Sakura flew down into the cemetery about ten meters away from Lucy who was paralyzed from the waist down through only temporarily. It was a miracle that she wasn't dead or fried to a crisp, especially with all the water covering her body thanks to the rain. It was a wonder that Sakura herself didn't get shocked considering that she was in contact with Lucy when the lightning bolt struck her.
Lucy, despite being paralyzed, managed to look up and see Sakura with that menacing look on her face. Do to what happened earlier, the very sight of that face was enough to make the Diclonius Queen tremble in fear.
"Prepare yourself, Lucy," Sakura said with hostility. "This is where you die."
"Then be done with it already," Lucy shut her eyes.
Sakura then raised her staff, but before she could use any of her cards, Syaoran arrived and got in between them.
"SAKURA, STOP…!"
Sakura did as she was told and halted her attack while Lucy opened her eyes to see what was going on.
"Syaoran," Sakura gasped before shouting, "Why are you protecting her?! She killed Toya…! You saw for yourself…!"
"But this isn't the answer," Syaoran argued.
"Syaoran, get out of the way," Sakura ordered.
"No," Syaoran shouted. "This is wrong…! This isn't like you, Sakura…! You're not a killer…!"
Sakura was confused while Lucy watched with confusion.
"Look around you," Syaoran gestured towards the destruction done to Kamakura. "This is where the path of vengeance has brought you…! Is this what you want to be?!"
Sakura looked around and saw the damage that was caused during her grudge match against Lucy. All around her, she saw buildings damaged or destroyed, homes and cars burning, and, worst of all, people either injured or killed. Everything that Maria Hill had warned her and her teammates about at the Prime Minister's Office was actualized. Her words even echoed through her head upon seeing this.
"One day, one of you will mess up. One day, you'll fail and people will be hurt. And on that day, S.H.I.E.L.D. will come after all of you."
As the reality of what she had done sank in, Sakura got on her knees, looked at her hands and started to cry.
"What have I done," Sakura sobbed.
As she cried, Syaoran walked up to her and hugged her to help calm her down. "It's okay, Sakura. You didn't know what you were doing. I'm here, I'm here."
But the moment was short lived as Lucy regained her movement and told them, "Not for long, you won't be…!"
Both boyfriend and girlfriend looked and saw Lucy get back up and prepare for another attack. Now it was Lucy who had a menacing look on her face and Sakura knew that she had to do something in order to stop her.
"Lucy," Syaoran gasped.
"You tried to kill me," Lucy spat at Sakura. "And now it's my turn to make you pay…!"
"Syaoran, get out of here," Sakura told her boyfriend.
"Sakura," Syaoran tried to argue.
"Don't argue with me, just go," Sakura activated the Move Card and teleported Syaoran away from the cemetery.
"Smart move, sending your boyfriend away like that," Lucy told Sakura as she lifted herself off the ground with her vectors. "And now it's just you and me."
A voice called out, "Stop right there..!"
Captain America, Iron Man, Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Mockingbird showed up. But before they could get too close, Sakura activated the Shield Card, creating a barrier around the cemetery, preventing herself and Lucy from exiting and anyone else from entering.
"Sakura," Natasha tried to get through, but was too late. "What is she doing?"
"She's created some sort of force field," Iron Man acknowledged.
"Isn't there a way for us to break through it," Mockingbird asked.
"Not unless we have some sort of anti-magic object or something, which I don't," Hawkeye pointed out.
"That was the stupidest thing you could have done," Lucy told Sakura.
"Stop this, Lucy," said Sakura. "There's been enough destruction for one night."
"I won't do that," Lucy told her. "You've pushed me too far and now you're going to pay the price."
"It doesn't have to be this way," Sakura argued.
"I have no choice," Lucy argued back. "You and your friends are an even bigger danger to my home world than I am, and I intend to remove you from the equation."
"But you don't understand," Sakura tried to explain.
"Oh I understand alright," Lucy shouted. "I understand that you're a bigger monster than I am…! All of the destruction you caused to this city tonight proves it…! And now you're going to pay."
Lucy then launched her vectors at Sakura. Acting on her feet, Sakura ran to the right, evading the attack and narrowly escaping death. But Lucy was not deterred as she picked up several hedge stones and threw them at Sakura. The Cardcaptor narrowly evaded the stones, but she knew she couldn't avoid and evade forever.
"ILLUSION…!"
Using the Illusion Card, Sakura created several projections of herself to keep Lucy distracted while she hid behind a tree.
Outside the barrier, Syaoran reappeared, followed by Tomoyo and Meilin. "Sakura…!"
"Don't come any closer," Natasha called out.
Tomoyo and Meilin both obliged, but Syaoran continued until he hit the barrier.
"What, the Shield Card," Syaoran gasped upon hitting the barrier.
"She must be using it to keep everyone else from getting involved," Meilin correctly deduced.
"We've got to find a way in there," said Natasha.
Suddenly Hulk arrived on the scene. "How about I smash the barrier?"
"Wait a minute Hulk," said Iron Man. "We've got to find a weak spot in the barrier before we break through."
"No wait," said Cap., catching their attention. "Lucy the Diclonius Queen is inside of that force field. If we break through it without a real plan, she'll kill us all in a heartbeat."
"But what about Sakura," Syaoran pointed out. "She's trapped inside with her…!"
"The kid's right," Natasha agreed. "Her brother was killed earlier and I didn't do anything to stop it…! Keeping these children safe is my responsibility…! What if Sakura gets killed by that monster?!"
"We'll just have to trust that she has a plan in mind," Captain America pointed out.
"Sakura," Tomoyo had her video camera with her, recording what was going on inside the barrier, but worried for her cousin nonetheless.
Back inside while Lucy was attacking the illusions, Sakura hid behind the tree. Realizing that Lucy wasn't going to listen to reason right now, she knew she had to calm her down somehow.
"What can I do," Sakura whispered as Lucy struck at the projections one by one. "I need a way to stop Lucy and make her see that killing her opponents isn't the answer."
Sakura pondered for a bit while Lucy wiped out the projections until it hit her. Taking out the cards she needed, she activated them and then came out from behind the tree.
"It's over Lucy," Sakura declared. "This ends now…!"
"I couldn't agree more," Lucy told her.
Sakura then rushed right at Lucy and took out one of her cards. But before she could activate it, Lucy extended a vector and cut off her right arm which held her staff. Blood gushed out of Sakura's arm moments after it was severed and Sakura screamed in pain.
"AAAHHH…!"
Everyone outside the barrier saw this and were shocked.
"Sakura," Syaoran gasped.
"Oh no," Meilin gasped.
Tomoyo was speechless.
"We've got to get in there," Natasha tried to break the barrier, but to no avail.
Sakura was about to cover her wound with her left hand when Lucy cut off her left leg, causing her to fall down to the ground.
"Oh, it hurts," Sakura whimpered in pain. "It hurts…! My staff…!"
Sakura tried to reach for her staff with her left arm, but Lucy cut it off as well along with her right leg. Sakura, now limbless, just lied there face up as the Diclonius Queen hovered over her, ready to deliver the final blow.
"Are you suffering," Lucy questioned her. "Does it hurt yet? Don't worry, I'll put you out of your misery."
Lucy then used her vector one more time and decapitated Sakura. Her head rolled to the side as Sakura was now lifeless.
Everyone outside gasped in horror once gain. Naturally, Rogers, Stark, Barton, Hulk, and Morse were horrified by this, watching a comrade die. However, it was nothing compared to how Romanoff, Tomoyo and Meilin felt, and Syaoran was worst of all.
"SAKURA…!"
But then something strange happened. Sakura came out from behind the tree unharmed.
"It's over Lucy," Sakura declared. "This ends now…!"
"I couldn't agree more," Lucy told her.
"What the hell," Clint gasped, upon seeing this.
"What's going on," Stark asked.
Sakura then rushed right at Lucy and took out one of her cards. But before she could activate it, Lucy extended a vector and cut off both of her hands. Blood gushed out of Sakura's arms after her hands were severed and Sakura screamed in pain. Lucy then cut off both of Sakura's legs, but before she could fall, the Diclonius Queen grabbed the Cardcaptor by her head and lifted her up so that they could see eye to eye. Sakura was whimpering in pain and looked at Lucy in fear while Lucy maintained her menacing expression.
"Are you suffering," Lucy questioned her. "Does it hurt yet? Don't worry, I'll put you out of your misery."
Lucy then used her vector to twist off Sakrua's head, decapitating her. Her body fell to the ground and was soon joined by her head. Her head rolled to the side as Sakura was now lifeless. However Lucy realized something.
"Wait, that's odd," Lucy thought. "Didn't I kill her already?"
Then it happened again. Sakura came out from behind the tree unharmed.
"It's over Lucy," Sakura declared. "This ends now…!"
"You," Lucy called out. "What is going on here? I killed you two times already…!"
"Well, they do say third time's the charm," Sakura suggested.
Lucy then extended her vector and decapitated Sakura, not even bothering letting her suffer again like she did the first two times.
"That should do it," Lucy told herself.
It happened again. Sakura came out from behind the tree unharmed.
"It's over Lucy," Sakura declared. "This ends now…!"
"How are you still alive," Lucy gasped. "Are you another illusion?!"
"No, I'm the real thing," Sakura told her.
"Good to hear," Lucy then used her vector to crush Sakura like a bug.
"What's happening in there," Mockingbird questioned.
"I wish I knew," Natasha admitted.
It happened again. Sakura came out from behind the tree unharmed.
"It's over Lucy," Sakura declared. "This ends now…!"
"Again," Lucy gasped. "What's happening?"
"You have your powers and I have mine," Sakura told her. "What you're witnessing right now is time, endless looped time."
"Time," Lucy gasped before realizing what she meant. "Oh god, you've trapped us in a timeloop…!"
"Exactly," Sakura confirmed.
"Of course," Syaoran gasped upon realizing his girlfriend's plan.
"What is it," Natasha questioned.
"Sakura's using the Time Card on Lucy," Syaoran explained. "It has the ability to repeat recent events. And I'll bet she's also using the Loop Card to maintain the loop."
"So that's why she's using the Shield Card," Meilin deduced. "Only the time inside the barrier is being affected. Good thinking Miss Kinomoto."
Lucy then screamed in rage and used a vector to slam Sakura into a cliff, crushing her against the rocky wall.
It happened again. Sakura came out from behind the tree unharmed.
"It's over Lucy," Sakura declared. "This ends now…!"
"Shut up," Lucy yelled in frustration. "You can't keep this up forever…!"
"I don't need to," Sakura told her. "And you can't keep killing me forever…!"
"Well, I can try," Lucy then used a vector to slice Sakura in half right down the middle from the crown of her head to her crotch.
It happened again. Sakura came out from behind the tree unharmed.
"It's over Lucy," Sakura declared. "This ends now…!"
"Stop saying that," Lucy snapped. "You can't win…!"
"I've already won," Sakura told her. "As long as we're in this loop, you can continue to kill me as many times as you wish, but you can never leave until I break the loop, and that makes you my prisoner."
"Then you can spend an eternity dying over and over again," Lucy extended her vector and grabbed a hold of Sakura. "Prepare yourself…!"
Lucy then squeezed Sakura with all her might until her body was crushed and blood burst out like a waterballoon popping.
"You can try all you want, Lucy," Syaoran thought while smirking. "But no matter how many times you hurt Sakura, it's only a matter of time before you lose your sanity and your strength."
Sakura continued to come from behind the tree and Lucy continued to attack and kill her, each time using a different method. Over and over, Sakura was decapitated, dismembered, crushed, ripped to shreds, had her heart ripped out, had her brain dissolved, had her jugulars severed, beaten to a bloody pulp, blown to bits, even vaporized. Each event triggered the next in a never ending cycle, first Sakura appeared from behind the tree with her declaration, then Lucy killed her, then time went backwards, rinse and repeat. Thanks to her experience killing people, Lucy had no problem killing Sakura each and every time she appeared from behind that tree, but it didn't matter because she was trapped. What was worse, each time it happened, Lucy became more and more frustrated and began to grow weaker and weaker.
"This isn't working," Lucy thought. "I need to approach this from a different angle and I think I know how to do it."
It happened again. Sakura came out from behind the tree unharmed.
"It's over Lucy," Sakura declared. "This ends now…!"
"Alright, you win," Lucy told her. "I can't do this anymore. I admit defeat."
Sakura then approached Lucy with her staff in hand.
"You can break the loop now," Lucy told her.
"And I will," Sakura took out a card.
"RELEASE…!"
Sakura dispelled the magic, but then Lucy did something.
"Got you," Lucy struck Sakura with her vectors, dismembering her, killing her in the process. "Foolish girl."
It happened again. Sakura came out from behind the tree unharmed.
"It's over Lucy," Sakura declared. "This ends now…!"
"WHAT," Lucy gasped. "But how's that possible?! You canceled out your spell…!"
"What I dispelled was my Illusion Card," Sakura told her. "I knew you trying to trick me so I decided to play along."
"Libra," Syaoran thought. "Good thinking Sakura, you fooled her, you fooled us, you even fooled me."
"You dare," Lucy attacked Sakura again in frustration, killing her once more only to cause continue the cycle.
The cycle continued over and over again until eventually, Lucy, having killed Sakura who knows how many times, finally fell to her knees, too exhausted physically, mentally, and emotionally to go any further.
"That's enough," Lucy panted. "That's enough… THAT'S ENOUGH…!"
It happened again. Sakura came out from behind the tree unharmed.
"It's over Lucy," Sakura declared. "This ends now…!"
Lucy screamed at the top of her lungs, "STOP…!"
Sakura just stood there as Lucy collapsed onto her arms and knees, panting. Lucy then showed her face, showing nothing by sadness and fatigue, tears rolling down her face.
"No more," Lucy genuinely begged. "Please… No more…"
Lucy started to cry, having released all of that anger and pain she had been holding onto for years, exposing her as the sad lonely child she really was underneath.
Thanks to the Libra Card, Sakura could tell that Lucy was being genuine with her words this time. Breaking the loop, Sakura walked over to Lucy. She then brought herself to Lucy's level, catching her attention. As the Diclonius Queen looked at the Cardcaptor, she saw only empathy in her face, something that surprised her. Neither of them noticing that the rain had stopped thanks to Thor. The others watched carefully as Sakura talked to Lucy, ready to attack in case Lucy tried something.
"Are you alright," Sakura asked.
Lucy answered, "I just went through an endless cycle of killing you over and over again, one that you trapped me in; what do you think?"
"It's okay," Sakura told her.
"No it's not," Lucy argued. "I did a lot of horrible things in my life, so many horrible things I can't even count them. There's only one way I can repent for it."
Sakura was silent.
"Sakura Kinomoto," said Lucy with a tearful smile. "Please kill me. It's only in death that I can repent for my sins."
But Sakura answered, "I'm not going to do that."
This surprised Lucy.
"Look around you, don't you think there's been enough death and destruction for one night already," Sakura pointed out. "I'm not a killer. I'm sparing your life."
"But why," Lucy questioned. "Why would you do that? I killed your brother."
Sakura then started to cry a bit. "There's no way I can forgive you for that. But even if I were to kill you and got revenge, it wouldn't bring Toya back."
Sakura then slumped into Lucy's lap and cried her eyes out. Lucy attempted to comfort her, but Sakura rejected the gesture.
"I hate you," Sakura cried. "I hate you…! I hate you…!"
Sakura then burried her head in Lucy's lap and sobbed with Lucy joining her almost immediately afterwards. Neither even bothered to notice all of the people observing them outside of the barrier as it was brought down.
"Well, that ended rather dramatically," Iron Man remarked.
"But why didn't Lucy just attack the barrier itself," Hawkeye questioned.
"She was probably in the heat of the moment of killing Sakura and even notice how time outside the barrier wasn't affected by the loop," Captain America pointed out.
"At least it's over," Tomoyo sighed in relief. "If I saw Sakura getting killed in such gruesome ways one more time, I don't know if I could handle it."
"And yet you still recorded the entire event," Meilin pointed out.
"Alright, that's enough," Natasha told them. "I'm escorting you back to the van where you'll be safe."
"Of course, Natasha," Tomoyo agreed.
"Well, if you say so," Meilin agreed.
Natasha then escorted the two girls back to the van.
"You should go with them," Steve Rogers told Syaoran.
"Thanks for the suggestion, Captain," said Syaoran with respect. "But Sakura needs me, so with respect, I'll stick around."
Before Captain America could say anything else, something came in and attacked them. "Look out…!"
From out of nowhere, a trio of ogre-like creatures landed and made themselves known to the Avengers. One wore a dark green full-body suit, its hair covered its entire head and face, and it wielded a giant studded metal club. One was shirtless, bald, had scars on its head, wore dark pants and a blindfold, and had claw-like weapons seemingly tied to its arms. And lastly, one had its upper body completely covered in bandages, wore brown pants, stood backwards with its head constantly titled to the sky, and had several needles protruding from its head. While each was different in appearance, they were all very large and muscular, and all had a purple rope belt tied in an inverted bow around their waists.
"What the hell are these things," Hawkeye gasped.
"Dummies, ready to be smashed," Hulk punched his hand.
"Keep your guard up, Hulk," said Iron Man. "We don't know what these things are capable of."
Suddenly, the three monsters went into the cemetery and attempted to surround Sakura and Lucy.
"Oh no, you don't," said Captain America. "Hulk, smash them…!"
"With pleasure," Hulk charged at the monsters and punched the shirtless one, sending it flying into the trees nearby.
The one with the club then counter attacked, using its club to strike the Hulk. The one in bandages also attacked the Hulk. Hulk managed to block both, only to be hit in the face by the reappearance of the shirtless one. Luckily for Hulk, this was nothing new and he smiled and got back to the business of fighting them.
While Hulk was dealing with the monsters, Iron Man's armor picked up something.
"Sir, I'm picking up a strange melody coming from the trees surrounding the cemetery," J.A.R.V.I.S. informed Tony. "I believe the source is that of a flute."
"A flute," Tony questioned. "Who would want to bring a musical instrument to a battlefield?"
"Tony, look out," Hawkeye intercepted an incoming arrow with his own arrow.
Suddenly, a giant black spider with orange stripes going down the back of its abdomen came in and spun and equally large web. Once that was done, the spider produced a sack of spider eggs. As that happened, the Sound Five appeared atop the spider's abdomen, Tayuya was still playing her flute. They were immediately followed by Makoto, Chloe, Adi, and Bruno and quickly summoned Team Dosu, with Kin were carrying Tatsuki Arisawa on her back and Zaku carrying Keigo Asano on his back.
"Who are you guys," Mockingbird questioned.
"The ones who will be taking possession of Sakura Kinomoto and Lucy," Kimimaro answered.
And that was chapter 11 and the kidnappers have finally shown their faces to our heroes. So yeah as you can see, Sakura defeated Lucy using a combination of the Loop, Time, and Libra cards. The Time Card was used to create a timeloop, the Loop Card was used in conjunction with the Time Card to maintain the loop, and the Libra Card was used to make sure Sakura knew if Lucy was telling the truth just in case she pulled a fast one on her, which she did. For those of you who haven't guessed, this is basically the same strategy Doctor Strange used to defeat Dormamu in his debut movie with some elements of Yugi's strategy to defeat Slifer the Sky Dragon during the Battle City Arc of Yu-Gi-Oh! Dual Monsters. Now I'll admit, perhaps this was too gruesome for some of you and if so then I'm sorry. But as I said in chapter 9, if you don't have the stomach for this, then you don't have to read.
One thing I forgot to note upon was the appearance of Flash Thompson and Andi Benton, aka Agent Venom and Agent Mania. Just so you'll know, these version of Flash and Andi are the very same versions of the characters that appear in one of my other stories, Flash Thompson: The New Super Soldier, so if you want to know how they became Agent Venom and Agent Mania, you should check out that story. Please note that as of the time I'm posting this chapter, I haven't finished working on Flash Thompson: The New Super Soldier yet.
Anyway, the Sound Five, Team Dosu, and the currently villainous Future Avengers have arrived on the scene right after Sakura and Lucy's battle concluded, which means the Avengers are going to have to fight them.
Chapter 12: Syaoran's Decision