Sakura wavered. She was so stressed out over everything that was happening. Syaoran
hadn't shown up yet. They were supposed to meet in the park with Meilin and
Madison. The whole situation was out of control.
A shadow fell over Sakura's form. She spun around. Misho smiled at her. "Hey,
Sakura."
"Oh, it's you. Uh, hey, Misho."
"How are you doing?"
"Okay, I guess. Misho, you didn't by chance find a pendant shaped like a key with a
bird's head lying around somewhere, did you?"
"Sorry, Sakura, can't say I did."
Sakura could hear Kero groan from inside her backpack. She groaned too. Now she
couldn't even summon any cards. Li was the only one now. Where was he anyway?
"Well, thanks anyway, Misho."
Madison and Meilin came walking up the path through the park. They stopped next
to Sakura and Misho. Misho smiled. The girls didn't seem to be in a very good mood.
"Where's Syaoran?" asked Meilin fearfully.
"I don't know. I thought he'd be here by now," replied Sakura.
"Let's wait a little longer, Sakura," advised Madison. The others agreed.
Misho stood there with a confused expression. "Uh, what are you guys talking
about?"
"Nothing, Misho," responded Sakura.
Meilin looked around. "Hey, girls, what's going on?"
Sakura and the others didn't follow her. Then they looked around. Nobody was
moving. Everything was silent. The world seemed to be frozen.
"The Time card?" stumbled Sakura as she jumped to her feet.
Kero forced his way out of Sakura's bag and landed on her shoulder. "AHH!!
SAKURA, THERE'S A MONSTER ON YOUR SHOULDER!!" screamed Misho as
he batted at it with his hands. Kero bit him. Misho screamed and fell over.
"Sakura, it isn't the time card, we already have that one. It has to be the Infinity card
using the Time card's abilities."
"Oh! Right. So where is it coming from then?"
"If I were to make a bet, I'd say that skyscraper by the mall."
Misho got slowly to his feet. "Wha... what is that thing?" he asked, backing away and
toward Madison and Meilin.
"This is Kero. I guess there's no use uh, hiding him anymore. Madison, Meilin, come
on!" shouted Sakura as she and the other girls ran down the hill and toward the main
city.
Misho watched them run off into the distance. A smile formed across his lips.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
He picked up the pencil.
"And as the girls, now powerless without the ability to summon cards, rushed toward
their eventual demise, a huge, blackened tower rose from the ashes of the earth,
reaching with its sharp, pointed sides toward the sky. And they were riveted by its
appearance, and then time remained frozen, and they knew that if they were going to
find the card they desired, they would have to enter the tower themselves."
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
"So you lost the pendant?!" said Madison as they rushed toward the mall.
"I didn't mean to! I don't know what happened to it!"
"Does this mean we're running into battle without any sort of weapon to defend
ourselves?" shouted Meilin in question.
"Yes."
A quaking sensation ripped through the ground, throwing the three girls to their feet.
Kero looked around in confusion. A huge, black tower erupted from the ground,
throwing cement and asphalt everywhere. It grew higher, and higher, until it had
become taller than any of the skyscrapers in the city.
"The Create card," said Kero in a frightened tone.
"The Infinity has to be inside that tower. The only way to get to him is to go inside
and take care of him ourselves," Sakura observed through grim vision.
"Then we'll have to be careful," said Madison.
"I don't care! I want to find Syaoran!" shouted Meilin in a protest.
"I have no idea where he could be, Meilin. He's probably frozen with the other
people in the city."
"Yea," started Kero, "that's another thing that bothers me. How is it that we all
weren't frozen? I know the Infinity has some menacing powers, but he's bending the
natural abilities of the cards."
"It makes no sense," answered Sakura.
"Hey! Sakura! Wait up!" yelled Misho as he jogged down the road, coming to a halt
next to her and the others. "Will someone explain what's happening to me?"
"It's too complicated, Misho. I think you should wait out here while we go inside."
"No! I'm not going to let my friend go in without any weapons! I want to help you!"
"Fine," said Sakura. "Follow me."
Sakura approached the door. She looked up. The head of a lion served as a door-knocker. The
door was far too large to be opened by force. Sakura groaned and leaned
on the door. The door suddenly pushed inward, and Sakura fell in, flat on her face.
"Good going, Sakura," remarked Kero. "Now come on, let's go find that card."
Inside, they were met with a long, stone pathway. Ahead was a forest of tall trees.
They touched the blackness of the ceiling, like the pinnacles of great towers of the
past ages of sword and sorcery. Their appearance was almost menacing.
"Kero, what now?" asked Sakura. Before the small, winged guardian could reply,
however, a different voice responded from the shadowed rafters of the citadel.
"Card captor, surely you'd know better than to refer to a weak guardian for
assistance. Why not ask the one who created this himself?" laughed the Infinity card
as he floated down from the ceiling.
"Yo--"
"Now, now, Keroberos, there is no need to speak. It is I who have the floor. You see,
it has been so long since I've walked the earth. I am free from my bonds at long last.
And I intend to have my complete and utter revenge. Unfortunately, Clow Read is
nowhere to be found." He shifted in the pocket of his cloak until he found what he
was looking for.
"My pendant!" shouted Sakura as the Infinity card held out the dangling chain
toward the card captor. "How did you get it?"
"A true master never reveals his sources, Card Captor Sakura. His means lay hidden
within his words. Only the operative that would not double another would be a
wasteful spy."
The winds picked up. Kero flew upward, and into the waiting hands of Infinity, who
used the power of the Lock card to confine Kero. "Now, if you want to see your
friend the guardian again, or to see your little friend Syaoran Li, you'll go through the
obstacles in this tower, and reach me at the top. Then we'll see what happens."
Meilin started to cry. "Give me back my Li!!!"
The Infinity tossed Sakura's pendant to her. "I think you may need this, card captor.
I merely possessed it to keep you from meddling in my affairs until the proper time
came. Now, I wish you good luck, Card Captor Sakura, that you would pass my tests
before they kill you." With those few final words, he disappeared up through the
ceiling.
"Come on, guys!! We can't let him hurt li and Kero!!" shouted Sakura as she headed
toward the dense forest ahead, Meilin and Madison close behind.