Author's Note: It took me a while to think of this chapter. That's probably why this series came so late. I wanted to do this chapter just right.


Cards captured so far: Vision, Heat, Vine, Bell, Sleep, Wind, Angel, and Sludge


CCS: The American Cards: Part 12


Sakura looked around. She didn't know what to say. She was in the middle of…a stadium. The seats were empty, but filling up rapidly. Then she saw the two locker rooms, in front of her and behind her. Dozens and dozens of big guys began to come out of each locker room. Then she recognized the uniforms. They were football players. She was in the middle of a football game.

Then the vision started to fade. But before it did, Sakura looked up at the scoreboard. She could make out two words.

Adelphia Coliseum

"And that's all you saw?" Kero asked.

"It's all I saw," Sakura nodded. "I've told you that about a million times. I mean…that's why we're on this bus to Nashville."

"But Adelphia Coliseum?" Madison thought. "You're sure it was a football game?"

"Those were definitely football uniforms," Sakura answered. "I know one them had a big 'T' on them. And the other one had a big bird's head."

"But what kind of American Card could hide in a football stadium?" Madison asked.

"I don't think that's all we'll have to worry about," Kero piped up. "If Sakura saw two football teams coming out, then that means the American Card will most likely strike in the middle of the game. And that could be bad news."

"Looks like we'll have to get tickets," Sakura said, glancing at Madison.

"Sakura…" Madison whined. "I'm running out of money. My mom's going to kill me."

"I'll find some way to make this up to you," Sakura replied. "But in the meantime…I need to use your phone again."

"Time to check in on Tori?"

"You know it," Sakura sighed. She took the phone and made the phone call back to Japan. Sakura realized that these calls would take their toll on Madison's phone bill. She only hoped she could think of a good excuse for Tori…or she would end up paying Madison's bill.

As soon as they got to Nashville, Sakura suggested going straight to the box office. It took a while for them to find Adelphia Coliseum on the map, but they found it and took the long walk. When they got to Adelphia Coliseum, Sakura couldn't shake off how familiar it looked. It was just as she saw it when she used the Vision Card.

"It's huge," Meilin noticed.

"This is where you saw the card, Sakura?" Li asked again.

"How many times do I have to tell you? It's here!" Sakura uttered in frustration.

It was definitely strange that there was no one around the box office. Sakura could see the big display for this Sunday's game between the Tennessee Titans and the Baltimore Ravens, so those must have been the two teams she saw coming out of the locker rooms. She could only wonder if this was a big game.

Madison went up to the window. "Four tickets for this Sunday's game, please."

The clerk tried to hold in his laughter, but Sakura could hear him snicker. "You…aren't from around here, are you?"

"Is it that obvious?" Meilin mumbled under her breath.

"Sunday's game has been sold out for weeks," the clerk continued. "It's the AFC Divisional Playoff game between the Titans and the Ravens. There isn't a seat left in the house!"

"You're sure there isn't a seat left?" Sakura pleaded.

"Sorry. Nothing left," the clerk reiterated.

Sakura turned away and moaned softly. She couldn't believe these tickets were sold out.

Li shook his head. "Now what?"

"Um…excuse me…"

Li turned his head to see someone standing behind him, a man in hat and sunglasses and a Hawaiian shirt. Sakura didn't know what to make of this.

"I couldn't help but overhear that you four need tickets to this Sunday's game."

"But they're sold out," Sakura said hopelessly.

"What if I were to tell you I have four tickets?" the man asked.

"I'd ask what's the catch?" Li responded cynically.

The man pulled out four tickets. "These four tickets are in Section 101, Row A, which is right by the end zone. I'd love nothing better to see my Titans run over the Raisins, but I got an important call and I have to go out of town. So I have to sell these tickets. And I'll sell them to you…for $800."

"$800?!" Meilin shouted. "You've got to be kidding me!!"

Sakura quickly put a hand over Meilin's mouth and chuckled nervously. "Um…excuse us."

Sakura dragged Meilin a few feet away and Li and Madison followed. It was time for another team huddle.

"$800?" Meilin asked again. "He's taking advantage of us!"

"I know he is," Sakura agreed. "But at this point, we don't have a choice. We need those tickets."

"Then what are you waiting for?" Kero demanded from Sakura's pocket. "Go get those tickets!"

The huddle broke and Sakura walked back to the scalper. "It's a little steep…but we'll take them. Madison?"

Madison pulled the $800 out and handed them to the ticket scalper. The scalper then handed the tickets to Sakura. She looked at them closely to make sure they weren't fakes, but these tickets were definitely authentic.

"Thank you, sir."

"No, thank YOU."

The scalper walked out and Sakura turned around to see Li shaking his head.

"We got ripped off. The things we have to do to seal these cards."

"Well, let's just go back to the hotel room," Sakura suggested. "We have a lot of time to kill. The game isn't until Sunday."

"Maybe in the meantime we can find out what we're seeing," Meilin added. "Do any of us even know these teams?"

"Here's a better question," Li continued. "Have any of us…ever even seen a football game?"

Sakura…hadn't thought of that. She had heard so much about the sport of football. She saw a game once, but she didn't understand the rules. She was curious, though. Sakura was always the athletic type and she was always into sports. Maybe it was time for her to find out about the sport of football. At least it would give her something to do until Sunday.

Sunday was here. Everyone took their seats and Sakura looked out onto the field. The field was empty, but Adelphia Coliseum wasn't. It was packed with die-hard Tennessee Titans fans. Sakura knew she was here for a purpose…but she was still pumped about this game. She spent the last few days learning about the game of football and even watching clips of the Wildcard games in the hotel room. While some of it still seemed fuzzy, Sakura was starting to get familiar with the game of football.

Then, just as she had seen with Vision, the locker rooms emptied out. The team with the big 'T' on their jerseys, the Tennessee Titans, took the field, as did the team with the big bird's head on their jerseys, the Baltimore Ravens. She wished she could get a better look, but Meilin was holding onto the binoculars.

"Do you see anything?" Kero asked.

"Not yet," Sakura answered. "I'll let you know if I see anything. Just…eat your hot dog."

Kero calmed himself and kept on eating. He was enjoying expanding his horizons and finding new foods to satisfy his palette. Sakura took comfort in knowing if she needed to calm Kero down, she could always buy some peanuts.

If this American Card was around, it wasn't doing anything yet. There were no changes in the atmosphere and Sakura couldn't sense it nearby. Things stayed calm through the coin toss and through the opening kickoff. The game commenced through the first few minutes with nobody scoring. It was hard for Sakura to focus on hunting for the next card, since she was paying a little more attention to the game. Then she saw the Titans driving towards her side of the end zone. At the two-yard line, the ball was handed off to the running back, who ran the ball in for a touchdown as Adelphia Coliseum came alive.

Touchdown! Ball carried by #27 Eddie George!

Sakura looked on as Eddie George celebrated giving his team the early 7-0 lead. He even walked over to Sakura's section…and handed her the ball. She couldn't believe it. Neither could her friends.

"Wow!" Madison exclaimed. "I wish I had my camera here! That's so cool!"

"An official ball," Li noticed. "I guess it'll be something to take back to Japan, won't it, Sakura?"

"I can't believe he gave this to me," Sakura said in awe. "What was his name again?"

"The program says Eddie George," Meilin answered. "I can't believe you, Avalon. Why are you always getting so lucky?"

Sakura still held the ball in her hand as the Titans set up to kick the ball. Sakura looked back to the game as soon as the Ravens' Jermaine Lewis got ready to receive the next kickoff. The ball was in the air…

…then it happened.

Jermaine Lewis caught the ball…but then another ball fell…and another…and another…and another. The field was literally becoming littered with footballs. Jermaine Lewis dropped the ball and stood there, confused. Both teams stopped moving and looked around in bewilderment. The referees came onto the field and asked each other what was happening. The footballs didn't stop falling onto the field. It was practically raining footballs.

"Kero, are you seeing this?" Sakura asked.

Kero peeked out of Sakura's pocket and looked onto the field. The footballs had stopped raining down, but there were hundreds of them on the field. And they had all appeared out of nowhere. One of the referees then threw his hat into the air in frustration…but then more hats began to fall to the ground. Just like before, one was thrown into the sky, but hundreds more fell to the ground.

"This is weird," Madison uttered.

"This isn't what I think it is, is it?" Sakura groaned.

Li nodded. "It's the Multiple Card. It takes one thing and multiplies it into hundreds, maybe thousands." He looked over to Meilin. "Do you see anything?"

"It would help if I knew what to look for," Meilin said. Then she gasped. "Then again, maybe it's up there!"

Sakura took the binoculars and looked up at the top of the scoreboard. There was something up there. It was a five-headed orange toad. That had to be the Multiple Card. Sakura then handed the binoculars to Li, who also saw the same thing.

"It's time to go," Li said solemnly.

Sakura, Li, Madison, and Meilin got up from their seats and started heading out. They would have to lure the Multiple Card from the top of the scoreboard.

The four stood outside of Adelphia Coliseum, in the parking lot, and looked up at the scoreboard high above them. The Multiple Card was still standing there looking onto the field. Sakura's first instinct was to use the Angel Card. But she still didn't know how to use it too well. And it wouldn't be a good thing for the capacity crowd to see her flying near the scoreboard. She would have to find another way.

As he took out his sword from Sakura's duffel bag, Li made a quick suggestion. "Windy?"

"I don't think we have much choice," Sakura conceded. She took out her key. "Key of Clow. Power of magic. Power of light. Surrender the wand. The force ignite. Release!"

"We'd better step back," Madison said. She and Meilin took a few steps backwards.

Sakura took out the Wind Card. "Windy! Bring down the Multiple Card! Windy! Release and dispel!"

The Wind Card, in its eagle form, started flying up towards the scoreboard. It wrapped up the Multiple Card in a ribbon and dragged it towards the edge of the scoreboard. Then the Wind Card knocked the Multiple Card off the scoreboard and it fell to the ground below. It landed right between Sakura and Li.

Before anything else could happen, the Multiple Card rolled backwards. It picked up a small rock and threw it forward. But the one rock soon became a lot of rocks. Sakura and Li were getting pelted with rocks as they didn't stop multiplying. What made things worse, were that the rocks began pelting the cars in the parking lot. Something had to be done to stop this. Then Sakura glanced at Li. Li nodded back. She had a plan and Li knew it. Sakura took out the Sludge Card.

"Sludge Card! Release!"

The Sludge Card, in its spider form, leaped over the Multiple Card and drenched it in sludge, but more importantly, flammable sludge. Li realized that.

"Force, know my plight! Release the light! Fire!"

Li's sword shot out a big flame that ignited the sludge and engulfed the Multiple Card in flames. Then the Multiple Card tried to get smart. It saw one of the cars and began to hop towards it. If it got there, then it could blow up the parking lot. Knowing the potential damage it could cause, Sakura took out the Vine Card.

"Vine Card! Stop it! Release and dispel!"

Two vines rose out of the card and wrapped themselves around the Multiple Card's legs and tripped it up. Before it could get loose, Sakura ran up to it.

"Multiple Card! Return to your power confined! Multiple Card!"

Before it could escape, the Multiple Card was sealed. Just as Sakura sealed it, she heard groans from the crowd in Adelphia Coliseum.

"What…do you think that was?" Sakura asked curiously.

"You make a big capture, and that's all you can think about?" Kero asked. "You did great, Sakura."

"But what was that?" Sakura asked again.

Sakura found out what it was. She was nervous that someone in Adelphia Coliseum had seen her sealing the Multiple Card. But the people weren't groaning because of that. They were groaning because the Ravens had scored, and the Ravens went on to win the game. Now Sakura was just sitting in the hotel room, with the football in her hand. She was alone with Madison, as Li and Meilin were in the room next to theirs.

"It's too bad they lost," Sakura said.

"But you got something out of it," Madison said comfortingly. "I can't believe you're going back to Japan with an actual game ball."

"And it's too bad I got to miss the rest of the game," Sakura sighed. "I was just starting to get into it, too. Madison, do you think anybody knows what's happened?"

"At the game? I hope not?"

"Chances are, nobody knows," Kero added. "They might have told a few friends, but other than that, the people of Nashville have no idea of this little incident."

As if on cue, Madison turned on the TV, which was on ESPN's Sportscenter. It was the top of the hour and the first set of highlights were from the Tennessee-Baltimore game. And sure enough, there were clips of the hundreds of footballs falling from the sky.

Sakura was ready to panic. "They…won't know, right, Kero?"

"They'll ask questions, but they can't trace that back to you," Kero assured her. "No one saw you battling the Multiple Card in the parking lot. That's the important thing."

"Just relax, Sakura," Madison said gently. "You did fine. And I'm sure nobody saw you. Trust me. It's still our secret."

Sakura tried to put this behind her. She tried not to worry. Instead, she just sat in her room and saw one more highlight:

She saw Eddie George…handing her the game ball after scoring the opening touchdown.


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