Author's Note: The next card is in the Jersey Shore. And the weather's unusually hot. But what's come up that could make Cardcaptoring a little harder this time around?


Cards captured so far: Vision


CCS: The American Cards: Part 4


That night, everyone found their way to the bus that would take them to New Jersey. With two- seated rows, Sakura found herself next to Madison while Meilin took the seat next to Li. As much as Sakura would usually object to that arrangement, she had a little business with her best friend at that moment. Not only did she need her phone to check in with Tori, but she also wanted to see the costume Madison made for her. She hoped the costume she had for the next capture was a lot better (or more comfortable) than the last one.

It wasn't until halfway through the trip that Sakura decided to look through her luggage again. Somehow, Sakura could feel that Madison had something else in store for her. She could also tell by the nervous bead of sweat on her forehead when Sakura started reaching for the suitcase.

"Uh…Sakura…what could you possibly be looking for in there?"

Sakura ignored her and opened the suitcase anyway. The first thing she saw was a red baseball cap. It didn't look bad so far. She looked through the rest of it and found…a baseball uniform. It brought back memories for Sakura. It was just like the one she wore when she went after the Dash Card eight years ago. Of course, she never actually used it in battle.

But Sakura had to point one thing out. "Isn't this a little out of season?"

"What do you mean?"

"Baseball season in this country ended two months ago," Sakura grinned.

"Well…maybe it won't matter," Madison tried saying. "I just don't want to waste my best ideas yet. There's still a lot to go, isn't there?"

"Unfortunately," Sakura frowned. "19. They could all be anywhere."

This was so complicated already. A week ago, she was getting ready to enjoy her Christmas break, which was coming next week. Now Sakura found herself halfway around the world trying to find a new book of cards, a set Kero dubbed 'The American Cards'. And already, they had spread beyond Salem, where Sakura first found the book.

Now it was up to her to find them all. Thanks to the help of the Vision Card, she knew where the next one was. The next American Card is in the Jersey Shore.

"So what are we looking for?" Madison asked.

"A place called Belmar Beach in the Jersey Shore," Sakura answered. "I just hope it's not busy this time of year."

Madison looked at her strangely. "Uh…it's December. Who goes to the beach in December?"

Sakura hadn't thought of that. What was she thinking? Was her mind so out of it that she was forgetting her common sense? What made her think she could have a day at the beach at this time of year?

"Is it me, or is it just really hot out here?"

Sakura looked up and saw the blazing sun shine down on Belmar Beach. Meilin was right. It was unusually hot. It had to be about a hundred degrees…in December. By all means, it should have been freezing.

"Well, at least there should be nobody here," Sakura smirked.

She walked onto the beach and began to feel frustrated. It looked like she was off on this one. The beach was full. And with the weather being this hot, she could hardly blame the people. But this that finding the card would be a lot more difficult…or would have to wait.

"I'm thinking we should wait until tonight," Li said, echoing Sakura's thoughts.

"I don't get it, though," Meilin added. "Who goes to the beach in December? Honestly!"

"I…have to agree with Meilin," Madison said frankly. "Even with the weather being this hot, there can't be THIS many people out, can there?"

Just then, another voice sounded from behind them.

"It's really gotten hot out here, and maybe it's a good thing. It's perfect weather for a day on the beach. It's a really good day to be out here, but I think people would be out here either way for such a rare occasion like tonight. Let's see if we can get a word with some of the people here. How about you four?"

Sakura and her three friends suddenly turned around to see a TV camera pointing right at them. A camera crew stood behind the camera. There was also someone in a black shirt and khakis holding a microphone towards them.

No one said anything. It was Li who broke the silence. "Uh…what?"

"You four ready for tonight?" the guy asked.

"Uh…what's tonight?" Sakura asked.

The man looked at them strangely. "You…don't know what tonight is. You haven't heard?"

"Who are you?" Li asked.

The crew behind the cameraman had their mouths drop open at that question. Then they started murmuring amongst themselves. Even the guy, himself, couldn't believe it.

"You…don't know who I am?"

Somehow, Sakura sensed this would be awkward if she didn't say anything. "Uh…we're tourists! We're…not from around here. We're from REALLY far away."

"Oh, that explains it," the guy said with some uncertainty. "Well, I'm Carson Daly and you're on MTV."

The look on Li at that moment was indescribable. He was petrified. He didn't know what to say.

"…MTV? Uh…can we cut the camera off really quick?"

"Well, I'd love to do that," Carson chuckled. "But we're LIVE from the Jersey Shore for this MTV special."

"L-L-Live?" Li squeaked. He was definitely in an embarrassing situation. He was frozen.

So Meilin raised his arm and started waving it. "Don't just stand there, Li. You're on TV! Say something!"

Li tried to, but he could only get a half-smile and a nervous chuckle. Sakura was glad that none of them were from around here. At least nobody in Japan had to know about this.

She looked up at Carson Daly. "Um…this might be a really dumb question, but…?" She then looked at Li who was still in his trance. "Well, it's not like this hasn't already been embarrassing. So anyway, what's tonight?"

Carson turned around and looked at the camera. "Well, you can learn about it as we remind everyone to tune in tonight at 10, right here on MTV, as No Doubt and The Offspring give a surprise free concert live from the Jersey Shore."

"Free concert?!" Sakura beamed. "Tonight?!"

"That's right," Carson told the camera. "Tonight at 10 live from the Jersey Shore. Will you be there?"

"You bet!" Sakura said cheerfully. "I wouldn't miss it!"

Sakura suddenly heard someone clear his throat from her pocket.

"What was that?" Carson asked.

Sakura thought fast and ran over to Li. "Uh…it's my boyfriend."

Meilin took offense to that. "Your WHAT?"

"You heard me," Sakura scowled. "My boyfriend's…a ventriloquist. Aren't you, Li?"

Li just stood there, still nervous from having a camera staring him in the face.

"Do it again, Li," Sakura said sheepishly. "Tell the millions of people out there we'll be at the concert."

The voice sounded from her pocket again. "We'll see."

Sakura gave a stern look at her pocket. Of course, all the MTV people started looking at Sakura strangely. Madison tried to cover for her.

"Carson…you caught us at a bad time," Madison tried saying. "I'll just say we'll be there tonight…to see No Doubt and The Offspring…tonight at 10." She looked into the camera. "Right here on MTV."

"I'm supposed to say that," Carson whispered. He cleared his throat and looked back at the camera. "So don't miss it, tonight. When we come back, we'll see if we can talk to some of the other people here on the Jersey Shore and Kurt Loder gets an exclusive interview with No Doubt's Gwen Stefani. You'll definitely want to stay tuned for that, and we'll be right back from the Jersey Shore, here on MTV."

"Ok, we're clear…finally! I can't believe out of all the people here, we drew foreigners."

"Hey, I didn't think it was so bad," Carson said. "I think it came out pretty good." He turned to Sakura. "Don't listen to him. He didn't have his cup of coffee today. You came out great!"

"You really think so?" Sakura asked.

"You didn't look any worse than most of the people we pull of the streets," Carson replied.

"That's not saying much, Carson!" someone blurted out.

Carson shook his head. "Come on, I'm trying to make these four feel better. I mean, don't you think they could use it? Look at this guy over here. He's still frozen."

Sakura glanced over to see that Li was still petrified with his half-smile. He must not have heard the cameras were off. She walked over to him.

"Ok, Li," Sakura said dryly. "The cameras are off now. Snap out of it!"

Nothing. He was still motionless looking at the camera.

"I'll leave you two alone," Carson finally said. "I have to go back to doing this special. Enjoy the concert."

As Carson Daly and the camera crew walked out, Sakura waved her arm. "We will!"

"No you won't!"

Sakura's happy expression turned sour when she heard that voice. "Kero! Can't you keep your mouth shut?! That could have been embarrassing!"

"Well, I couldn't help it!" Kero said sternly from Sakura's pocket. "Have you forgotten why we're here, Sakura?"

"I haven't forgotten," Sakura retorted. "It's just that…"

"You can't get distracted, Sakura!" Kero cut her off. "You have to be focused on the task at hand! We didn't come here for a vacation! We came to seal the American Cards!"

"I realize that," Sakura said, with gritted teeth. "But I just want to make the best of a bad situation. As long as I'm here, I might as well take advantage of it."

"You can take advantage of it, AFTER you seal the American Cards!"

"Fine," Sakura huffed. "But we can't do anything right now. So let's just find a hotel room. Let's go, Li. …Li?"

Sakura slapped her head in frustration. Li was still in that stoic trance. She stomped over towards him and slapped him in the back of the head.

"SNAP OUT OF IT!!"

"Are we still live?" Li asked stupidly. He looked around and shed a bead of sweat. "I…wasn't like that the whole time, was I?"

"Oh, you were," Sakura answered. "Now let's get going. I need to cool off in a hotel room for a while. It's still scorching out here."

In all that time, the heat hadn't let up. It was still extremely hot for any day of the year, never mind a December day. In fact, it started to give Sakura an idea.

"You finally figured it out?"

"Yes, Li," Sakura sighed. "I think I know what card it is."

The way Li asked her that question made it sound like he knew the whole time. Of course, Sakura wasn't surprised. Even in all the years she had done this, she still knew that Li knew so much more than her.

Sakura was ready to confirm her suspicions as they all made their way back to Belmar Beach. Night had fallen, but the weather was still scorching hot. She knew it couldn't be a natural occurrence. She suspected an American Card.

When the four reached Belmar Beach, they found literally no walking room. The entire beach was packed from the parking lot to the stage set up on the beach. Everyone was here to see the free concert.

"This won't be easy," Li muttered.

"Is anything ever easy?" Sakura pointed out.

"Let's do this quick," Kero piped up. "Somebody use the Lasin Board."

Li took the Lasin Board out. "Force, know my plight! Release the light!"

Unfortunately, the light from the Lasin Board didn't point away from the crowd. Even worse, it pointed far into the crowd. Sakura couldn't see where it led. Kero decided to solve that problem by flying up in the air.

"Won't someone see you?" Sakura asked.

"They'll probably think I'm a balloon or something," Kero scoffed. "From up here, they'll never notice."

Kero flew up in the air and floated above the light, slowly following it until he was beyond sight.

"Where do you think it leads?" Madison asked.

"Into the crowd," Meilin chimed in. "Does it get any worse than that?"

Kero suddenly came back with the answer. "The light leads…right behind the curtain. The card's backstage."

Sakura groaned. "That's just great. I knew this wouldn't be easy. I guess we'll have to use a diversion. Somebody will have to distract security while I go in there."

"Who are you going to get to do that, Avalon?" Meilin asked.

Sakura gave off a mischievous smirk as she looked right at Meilin.

Meilin glared back at her. "You think I'll be able to distract them all by myself?"

"I don't think you can," Li suddenly said. "That's why you'll need some help. I think Madison and I should help you out on this one. You can handle this yourself, right Sakura?"

Sakura felt a little nervous. "I…guess so."

"Eh, don't worry about it," Kero said casually. "You'll still have me."

"Oh that's a confidence booster," Li said dryly.

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that," Kero mumbled. "Let's get going."

Sakura sighed as she braced herself for the tough task of going through the entire crowd. Of course, as inconspicuous as she wanted to be, she knew it wouldn't happen. Like a crowd of people couldn't notice a girl in a baseball uniform, a boy and girl in ceremonial robes, and another girl holding a video camera. What was she thinking?

Sakura didn't exactly avoid everyone like she hoped. There were the occasional stares and the murmuring of the crowd, but at least she got passed it all. Now she was standing by the stage, where there were dozens and dozens of security guards.

"Well, are we ready?" Sakura asked.

"Are you sure this is going to work, Avalon?" Meilin asked. "They wouldn't send ALL of security after us, would they?"

As much as Sakura hated to admit it, she was right. There would still be at least one security guard remaining. They wouldn't send them all after Li, Madison, and Meilin. But unless a miracle happened, then there were no other alternatives.

"Hey…aren't you the four I saw earlier?"

Sakura turned around at the sudden call and found a familiar face. Again, Carson Daly had run into them.

"Yeah…that's us," Sakura said slowly. "I didn't think you'd remember us."

"Well, I was sort of hoping to find you here," Carson said. "I have to make this quick. I still have to go cover the concert, but I wanted to leave you guys something."

Carson took something out of his shirt pocket and handed them to Sakura. She saw that her miracle had happened. They were four backstage passes.

"Thank you," Sakura smiled. "But…why give these to us?"

"I felt kind of bad for earlier," Carson confessed. "I told them we shouldn't have done that sort of thing live, but they didn't listen. To be honest, you guys didn't look as good as I said you did. So I decided to make it up to you."

"Thank you," Sakura said again. "You have no idea how much we've wanted something like this."

"Don't mention it," Carson said. "Actually, I still have a few more pairs to give out. But before I go, can I ask you guys a question?"

"Sure."

"Don't take this the wrong way, but…are you really going to the concert dressed like that?"

Sakura chuckled nervously. "This is…uh…well…I'm going to change later. I wouldn't think of wearing this to the concert."

"Ok, then. Enjoy the concert," Carson said, as he walked off. "Oh, and welcome to America!"

Sakura still had a smile on her face as she turned to Li. "I'm starting to wonder if all the stories we've heard about Americans have been exaggerated."

"Maybe. Or maybe it's just him."

"Can we talk about the kindness of strangers later?" Kero growled from under Sakura's cap. "Let's just go!"

Sakura tried hold her cap on as she flashed her backstage pass. Once everyone was inside, she tried to sense where the card was. But it was harder than it looked. There were about 30 other people with backstage passes.

"I guess we weren't the only ones he got to," Meilin muttered.

Sakura knew that they couldn't risk using the Lasin Board in front of this many people. But Sakura saw she didn't have to. She looked up through the grated vent on the ceiling and saw something in there. She tapped Li on the shoulder and pointed at the giant golden chicken in the vents.

Li recognized it. "The Heat Card."

"I think I know how I can get it," Sakura said. "Come with me." She looked at Madison and Meilin. "You two…enjoy the backstage area. We'll be right back. This won't take long."

"We'll be waiting for you, Sakura," Madison smiled.

Meilin gave Sakura a stern gaze. "Don't get any ideas, Avalon. Just because you're alone with Li, doesn't mean I won't find out if anything happens."

Sakura shook her head and walked towards the bathroom and thought to herself, 'When is she going to get it?'

Then she saw what she was looking for. There were the two public restrooms. Since these two bathrooms had a maximum occupancy of one, this should work perfectly.

When Li got there, Sakura began her explanation. "We'll each go into these bathrooms and crawl through the vents, looking for the Heat Card. I figure if we come from each side, we'll be able to trap it."

"Sounds good," Li admitted. "Let's go."

Li went into the men's room, while Sakura went into the ladies' room. Sakura stood on the toilet and loosened the tile on the ceiling. Before doing anything, she took out her key.

"Key of Clow. Power of Magic. Power of Light. Surrender the wand. The force ignite. Release!"

After doing that, she climbed into the vent with her wand in hand. But much to her dismay, she didn't see Li up there with her. She crawled over to the point where she could see the men's room below. She saw Li was still there.

"Sakura, I think there's something we didn't think about," Li said grimly.

"What's that?" Sakura asked.

"I'm too heavy. I don't fit inside the vent."

Sakura groaned. "Then I'll have to do this myself." She took out the Vision Card.

"Vision Card! Show me the Heat Card's location! Release and dispel! Vision!"

Sakura then saw what effect the Vision Card was having. She could literally see through the walls at that moment. Not only could she see where the Heat Card was, but she also saw another path through the vents she could take so she could surprise it from behind. Sakura crawled through that path until she was right behind the Heat Card. It didn't see her coming. It didn't have any idea Sakura was there…until she raised her wand.

"BUCK-CAW!!!"

Sakura started to hear a sizzling sound. The Heat Card tried to burn its way through the vent below it. Sakura knew she had to seal it fast.

"Return to your power confined! Heat Card!"

Before it could escape, the Heat Card was sealed. Sakura was ready to take it and leave, but she began to feel a creaking noise underneath her.

"That…doesn't sound good," she heard Kero say from under her hat.

Sakura concurred. She quickly crawled away from the creaking vent before it could fall apart. She was able to get out of there and go back to the ladies room. Now having sealed the Heat Card, she calmly walked out of the ladies room and met with Li.

"Should we get to the concert?" Sakura asked cheerfully.

Li smiled, something he didn't do much. "Let's go."

Holding hands, Sakura and Li walked back to the backstage area, but Sakura noticed that as she walked under the area she sealed the Heat Card, she could still hear that creaking sound. Then the vent gave way. The vent split apart and the two pieces fell to the ground. Everyone started murmuring amongst themselves as to how that could have happened.

Sakura gulped nervously. "Maybe…we should leave."

It was an hour since the concert ended, but Sakura felt like she was an ice cube. As soon as Sakura sealed the Heat Card, the weather went back to normal, and that meant rain. Despite the rain, the concert wasn't cancelled. No Doubt and The Offspring performed as scheduled. But Sakura wasn't dressed for cold weather that night. So when she got back to the hotel room, she took a hot shower, and then went to bed.

Of course, as everyone was downstairs finding something to eat, Sakura got to her feet. She knew she had to do one more thing before she went to sleep. She reached for her key.

"You're not doing that now, are you, Sakura?" Kero asked. "You should get some sleep."

"Well, I do need to find out where we're going next," Sakura replied.

She had to find out, and she preferred to do that before this night was over. To find out where she was going next, Sakura would have to use the Vision Card again.


Any comments? Then mail me at AmericanCaptor@hotmail.com and don't forget to review below.