Cardcaptor Mei Lin: The Wild Cards.
Episode 2
"What are we going to do tonight, Mei Lin?"
"The same thing we do every night, Sakura. Try to capture more Saotome
Cards!"
Sakura, Syaoran and Mei Lin were discussing card-catching strategies
while walking down the halls of their school. Sakura was quickly
learning that a lot of her own tried and true methods would be
ineffective against these new card. For example: "Trying to maneuver
the card into a position to be sealed won't work. You have to actually
fight the card until it loses all of its energy. And magic sense won't
work either. Only I, and maybe Li, could possibly sense Chi or Ki."
Another reminder from Mei Lin that these new cards were not magical.
Mei Lin understood that she didn't have some of the more powerful
cards, and until she did, she would need Sakura and Li's help. They
were on the topic of coordinating attacks, when a loud cry rang out
from the girls' locker room right in front of them! A boy they had
never seen before came stumbling out, followed by several projectiles
such as combs, bottles of hairspray, and shoes.
The boy himself, was dressed in a girl's Phys Ed uniform, complete with
uncomfortably tight bloomers, and was soaking wet. Li and Sakura both
took out their weapons, ready to deal the pervert some damage.
"Tomoyo, is that you?" Mei Lin asked. The boy numbly nodded, looking
rather shocked. Li and Sakura dropped their offensive stances, and
helped the former girl up. "Since I can sense your not possessed by a
Card, it must have been the Pool of Man Card." Mei Lin mused. "Pool of
what?" Tomoyo asked, before she, or rather, he got a good look himself.
After the requisite gender check, Tomoyo decided to take a nap.
"Hey Mei Lin, how did you know this guy was Tomoyo?" Sakura asked.
"It's quite simple," Mei Lin said smugly, "First, I've been expecting
something like this from the Pool of Man-slash-Pool of Girl card. It
has a sick sense of humor. Second, who else has that sickly pale pallor
that comes from watching videos in a darkened room for days on end?"
Neither Sakura nor Li could dispute that, even if it was insulting.
Please stay tuned after these commercial breaks...
After school, the team had regrouped at Sakura's home, to pick up Kero
and Yue, and try to think of some strategy. "The Pool of Man/Pool of
Girl Card has always disconcerted me." Yue made perfectly clear,
especially with his slight shudder. Kero let out a little snort. "Yeah,
I remember when Ranma used that one on you. You nearly picked up
several boyfriends." For once, Yue was less than unflappable, as he
gave Kero the evil eye.
"What am I going to do? I can't go home like this! What would my mother
say?" Tomoyo, meanwhile, was whining and crying in a way that was
uniquely unmanly. Sakura was comforting him, Li was as distant yet
present as usual. Mei Lin was trying very hard to ignore them. Li had,
very graciously, allowed Tomoyo the use of one of his spare uniforms.
It was a little small on the former girl, much to Li's chagrin.
"You'd better hope Touya doesn't catch you like this. You know how
protective 'Big Brother' is." Mei Lin couldn't help but get a dig in.
She was probably right, though. Touya was hostile enough to Li, but
that might be because of that time when Li was trying to take the Clow
Cards from Sakura. Best not to take too many chances, though.
"All right," Mei Lin started, "Enough playing around. I have a
brilliant plan to draw the Card out of hiding." All eyes were on her
now. "Yeah? what is it?" Li asked suspiciously, considering the looks
he was getting from his tacitly unwanted fiancée. "All we have to do,
is give it an irresistible target. Something it couldn't help but cause
mischief. So this is my plan..."
Please stay tuned after these commercial breaks...
Why? Why did he agree to go along with this? That was what Li Syaoran
wanted to know. The Wedding Bell above chimed merrily. Tomoyo stood at
the pulpit dressed in a priest's robe. Li was looking rather handsome
in his tuxedo. (both suits courtesy of Tomoyo's expansive wardrobe.)
Kero was doing a reasonable impression of a candle-holder. Yue had no
intention of repeating his past experience, so he reverted to his
blissfully oblivious 'borrowed' form.
The Wedding Bell, reacting to some unseen command, started to chime the
wedding march. Down the aisle came Sakura, who had been pressed into
the role of the flower girl, tossing petals this way and that. She
probably wouldn't have complained, if the costume Tomoyo had her
bodyguards bring hadn't been extra-super-cute.
And of course, after Sakura, came Mei Lin herself, in a wedding dress
cut to her size. She looked, quite simply, stunning. Li almost forgot
that he didn't actually want to marry her. Maybe.
Yes, everything one needs for a wedding was set up in one of the
school's assembly halls thanks to the Daidjoudi fortune. It was the
perfect trap for a prankster Card. Absolutely irresistible, or so Mei
Lin contended. "Dearly beloved..." Tomoyo began. The ceremony dragged
on, the two careful not to speak over Tomoyo, as they exchanged such
words as, "Are you sure this is going to work?" And, "Hush! We don't
want to tip the card off." Still, no one was under any illusions that
Mei Lin's motives were suspect. Rings were exchanged, and Li was
getting worried. Hopefully the card would make its move before... "You
may now kiss the bride." Damn. Still he knew he had to follow the plan.
So he went in for the kill... uh, kiss. Slowly.
But Mei Lin was having none of that. No, she did go for the kill,
practically tackling Li and sealing the deal with her lips. Mei Lin was
right, though. That was the moment the Card chose to strike, and
instead of a cute girl in a wedding dress kissing a handsome young man
in a tux, the handsome young man was wearing the dress, and the cute
girl was now in the tux, both inexplicably drenched. Mei Lin stretched
his senses, and almost slapped his own forehead.
Seemingly rushing Tomoyo, Mei Lin instead tossed the pulpit in the air,
exposing... Maybe it was a pretty boy, or a handsome girl, and looking
rather surprised, but then, so was everyone else. As far as Mei Lin was
concerned, it was a Saotome Card, and it was going down!
Quick as can be, she activated the Amazon side of the Amazon/Feline
Card, and became a now familiar violet-haired beauty (Complete with now
too-small and wet wedding dress) Li collapsed in a useless,
nosebleeding heap. Mei Lin tackled the Card's corporeal form, and put
it in a choke-hold. It thrashed around for a minute, before it gave up
the ghost, and dematerialized, returning to the inert form of a Card.
The whole group cheered. Tomoyo and Li approached, grateful that they
could now be returned to their birth forms. "Quick, Mei Lin! Turn us
back!" Tomoyo pleaded. "What Pervert Camera Girl talking about?" She
slung the tuxedo-clad fem-Li over her shoulder. "Mei Lin take wife on
honeymoon! Is proud Amazon tradition!"
Old Souichi the janitor, faithful employee that he was, often contended
that the school was haunted. Tonight would not change his mind. After
all, if the compound wasn't haunted, where did those horrible wails
come from?
Please stay tuned after these commercial breaks...
"So the Pool of man/Pool of Girl Card was based on a magic cursed
spring? I thought you said the Saotome Cards weren't magical?" Sakura
asked out of total ignorance. "They're based on the Pools of Sorrow,
but they don't actually use the same magic. It's amazing what you can
do with Chi. It's not quite as refined as magic, and takes a lot more
force of will to manipulate, too. But Ranma Saotome was a Master." Kero
explained.
"Thanks, Kero. Now I know."
"And knowing is half the battle."
Author's notes: Writing new chapters gets harder and harder as I go
along. Heck, even writing the author's notes is a chore. I'm not going
to let that stop me, though. The Pool of Man/Pool of Girl card was
based on the Naniichuan and Nyaniichuan springs in Jusenkyo Valley, in
the Bayankala Mountains. (The place does NOT exist, though.) Jusenkyo
is dotted with hundreds of springs, all of which are cursed. Whoever
falls in one of these springs takes the form of whatever last drowned
in it. Ranma fell in the Nyaniichuan, and turned into a cute redheaded
girl whenever he was splashed with cold water, and turned back with hot
water. His father, Genma, fell in Shonmaoniichuan, Spring of Drowned
Panda. Yes, Tomoyo could have turned back with hot water, but it's not
like the Saotome Cards come with an owner's manual! Hmm, maybe I should
make one...
Episode 2
"What are we going to do tonight, Mei Lin?"
"The same thing we do every night, Sakura. Try to capture more Saotome
Cards!"
Sakura, Syaoran and Mei Lin were discussing card-catching strategies
while walking down the halls of their school. Sakura was quickly
learning that a lot of her own tried and true methods would be
ineffective against these new card. For example: "Trying to maneuver
the card into a position to be sealed won't work. You have to actually
fight the card until it loses all of its energy. And magic sense won't
work either. Only I, and maybe Li, could possibly sense Chi or Ki."
Another reminder from Mei Lin that these new cards were not magical.
Mei Lin understood that she didn't have some of the more powerful
cards, and until she did, she would need Sakura and Li's help. They
were on the topic of coordinating attacks, when a loud cry rang out
from the girls' locker room right in front of them! A boy they had
never seen before came stumbling out, followed by several projectiles
such as combs, bottles of hairspray, and shoes.
The boy himself, was dressed in a girl's Phys Ed uniform, complete with
uncomfortably tight bloomers, and was soaking wet. Li and Sakura both
took out their weapons, ready to deal the pervert some damage.
"Tomoyo, is that you?" Mei Lin asked. The boy numbly nodded, looking
rather shocked. Li and Sakura dropped their offensive stances, and
helped the former girl up. "Since I can sense your not possessed by a
Card, it must have been the Pool of Man Card." Mei Lin mused. "Pool of
what?" Tomoyo asked, before she, or rather, he got a good look himself.
After the requisite gender check, Tomoyo decided to take a nap.
"Hey Mei Lin, how did you know this guy was Tomoyo?" Sakura asked.
"It's quite simple," Mei Lin said smugly, "First, I've been expecting
something like this from the Pool of Man-slash-Pool of Girl card. It
has a sick sense of humor. Second, who else has that sickly pale pallor
that comes from watching videos in a darkened room for days on end?"
Neither Sakura nor Li could dispute that, even if it was insulting.
Please stay tuned after these commercial breaks...
After school, the team had regrouped at Sakura's home, to pick up Kero
and Yue, and try to think of some strategy. "The Pool of Man/Pool of
Girl Card has always disconcerted me." Yue made perfectly clear,
especially with his slight shudder. Kero let out a little snort. "Yeah,
I remember when Ranma used that one on you. You nearly picked up
several boyfriends." For once, Yue was less than unflappable, as he
gave Kero the evil eye.
"What am I going to do? I can't go home like this! What would my mother
say?" Tomoyo, meanwhile, was whining and crying in a way that was
uniquely unmanly. Sakura was comforting him, Li was as distant yet
present as usual. Mei Lin was trying very hard to ignore them. Li had,
very graciously, allowed Tomoyo the use of one of his spare uniforms.
It was a little small on the former girl, much to Li's chagrin.
"You'd better hope Touya doesn't catch you like this. You know how
protective 'Big Brother' is." Mei Lin couldn't help but get a dig in.
She was probably right, though. Touya was hostile enough to Li, but
that might be because of that time when Li was trying to take the Clow
Cards from Sakura. Best not to take too many chances, though.
"All right," Mei Lin started, "Enough playing around. I have a
brilliant plan to draw the Card out of hiding." All eyes were on her
now. "Yeah? what is it?" Li asked suspiciously, considering the looks
he was getting from his tacitly unwanted fiancée. "All we have to do,
is give it an irresistible target. Something it couldn't help but cause
mischief. So this is my plan..."
Please stay tuned after these commercial breaks...
Why? Why did he agree to go along with this? That was what Li Syaoran
wanted to know. The Wedding Bell above chimed merrily. Tomoyo stood at
the pulpit dressed in a priest's robe. Li was looking rather handsome
in his tuxedo. (both suits courtesy of Tomoyo's expansive wardrobe.)
Kero was doing a reasonable impression of a candle-holder. Yue had no
intention of repeating his past experience, so he reverted to his
blissfully oblivious 'borrowed' form.
The Wedding Bell, reacting to some unseen command, started to chime the
wedding march. Down the aisle came Sakura, who had been pressed into
the role of the flower girl, tossing petals this way and that. She
probably wouldn't have complained, if the costume Tomoyo had her
bodyguards bring hadn't been extra-super-cute.
And of course, after Sakura, came Mei Lin herself, in a wedding dress
cut to her size. She looked, quite simply, stunning. Li almost forgot
that he didn't actually want to marry her. Maybe.
Yes, everything one needs for a wedding was set up in one of the
school's assembly halls thanks to the Daidjoudi fortune. It was the
perfect trap for a prankster Card. Absolutely irresistible, or so Mei
Lin contended. "Dearly beloved..." Tomoyo began. The ceremony dragged
on, the two careful not to speak over Tomoyo, as they exchanged such
words as, "Are you sure this is going to work?" And, "Hush! We don't
want to tip the card off." Still, no one was under any illusions that
Mei Lin's motives were suspect. Rings were exchanged, and Li was
getting worried. Hopefully the card would make its move before... "You
may now kiss the bride." Damn. Still he knew he had to follow the plan.
So he went in for the kill... uh, kiss. Slowly.
But Mei Lin was having none of that. No, she did go for the kill,
practically tackling Li and sealing the deal with her lips. Mei Lin was
right, though. That was the moment the Card chose to strike, and
instead of a cute girl in a wedding dress kissing a handsome young man
in a tux, the handsome young man was wearing the dress, and the cute
girl was now in the tux, both inexplicably drenched. Mei Lin stretched
his senses, and almost slapped his own forehead.
Seemingly rushing Tomoyo, Mei Lin instead tossed the pulpit in the air,
exposing... Maybe it was a pretty boy, or a handsome girl, and looking
rather surprised, but then, so was everyone else. As far as Mei Lin was
concerned, it was a Saotome Card, and it was going down!
Quick as can be, she activated the Amazon side of the Amazon/Feline
Card, and became a now familiar violet-haired beauty (Complete with now
too-small and wet wedding dress) Li collapsed in a useless,
nosebleeding heap. Mei Lin tackled the Card's corporeal form, and put
it in a choke-hold. It thrashed around for a minute, before it gave up
the ghost, and dematerialized, returning to the inert form of a Card.
The whole group cheered. Tomoyo and Li approached, grateful that they
could now be returned to their birth forms. "Quick, Mei Lin! Turn us
back!" Tomoyo pleaded. "What Pervert Camera Girl talking about?" She
slung the tuxedo-clad fem-Li over her shoulder. "Mei Lin take wife on
honeymoon! Is proud Amazon tradition!"
Old Souichi the janitor, faithful employee that he was, often contended
that the school was haunted. Tonight would not change his mind. After
all, if the compound wasn't haunted, where did those horrible wails
come from?
Please stay tuned after these commercial breaks...
"So the Pool of man/Pool of Girl Card was based on a magic cursed
spring? I thought you said the Saotome Cards weren't magical?" Sakura
asked out of total ignorance. "They're based on the Pools of Sorrow,
but they don't actually use the same magic. It's amazing what you can
do with Chi. It's not quite as refined as magic, and takes a lot more
force of will to manipulate, too. But Ranma Saotome was a Master." Kero
explained.
"Thanks, Kero. Now I know."
"And knowing is half the battle."
Author's notes: Writing new chapters gets harder and harder as I go
along. Heck, even writing the author's notes is a chore. I'm not going
to let that stop me, though. The Pool of Man/Pool of Girl card was
based on the Naniichuan and Nyaniichuan springs in Jusenkyo Valley, in
the Bayankala Mountains. (The place does NOT exist, though.) Jusenkyo
is dotted with hundreds of springs, all of which are cursed. Whoever
falls in one of these springs takes the form of whatever last drowned
in it. Ranma fell in the Nyaniichuan, and turned into a cute redheaded
girl whenever he was splashed with cold water, and turned back with hot
water. His father, Genma, fell in Shonmaoniichuan, Spring of Drowned
Panda. Yes, Tomoyo could have turned back with hot water, but it's not
like the Saotome Cards come with an owner's manual! Hmm, maybe I should
make one...
