Author's Note: I feel like I've experienced withdrawal symptoms from not having updated this in the longest time. To clarify, this series doesn't end until the recall of the final card, which won't be for a while. But I just had to clear my head of those other cool ideas I had. Now that I've done that, I can keep going.
Summary: In the midst of a July summer day, Madison waits for Sakura to finish her morning chores at the temple. But Sakura seems to be running a little late, so Madison just keeps waiting at the fountain…alongside Eriol.
Episode 37- Recalling the Big Card, Create Card (YAY!), and Dragons
Madison checked her battery again. The battery on her video camera was fully charged and was ready for another full day. But for practice, Madison pointed it at Eriol.
"So is it safe to show my face at your house again?" Eriol asked dryly.
Madison smiled. "I'd give it a few more days."
Madison was happy to have Eriol back and that night they shared a few nights ago was unforgettable…in more ways than one. Madison couldn't forget the look of shock (and fear) on Eriol's face when that front door flew open to reveal Madison's mother, who caught them making out. Madison took the mandatory lecture that came with being caught in such a position and didn't make any more of it. Eriol, on the other hand, knew it would be best to stay away from Madison's house for a while.
In fact, this was really the best way for them to spend time together. Sakura was due to come out of the temple after a morning of helping Ms. Mackenzie, but she seemed to be running late. The word 'late' and 'Sakura' seemed to be synonymous by now.
"What's taking her so long?"
Madison and Eriol looked up to see that someone else came to wait for Sakura. It was Li.
"She's just taking her time," Madison said cheerfully. "She'll be out soon."
Eriol began to smirk evilly. "In the meantime, why don't you wait with us? Why don't you sit next to me, Li?"
Li sweatdropped. "You're not going to dump me in the fountain, are you?"
"What makes you say that?" Eriol asked innocently.
"Never mind," Li muttered. "I'll stand. Um…what's with your bag?"
Madison and Eriol turned to the small bag to notice a lot of fidgeting coming from inside. Eriol unzipped the bag and saw Suppi moving around. He had a small cap with a light at the tip, using it to give him some necessary light to read.
"Could you try to get a bigger bag next time, Eriol?" Suppi complained.
"I can't exactly afford a bigger bag right now," Eriol said quietly. "Just use what you have!"
"It's hard to read like this!" Suppi persisted.
"Found another book already, Suppi?" Madison asked. Suppi seemed to mow through books the way…Kero mowed through video games. It was quite a sight.
"I found an interesting book on medieval times," Suppi replied. "The times of knights, chivalry, jousting, and dragons."
"Don't talk to us about dragons," Li sighed.
Eriol grinned. "Scared of dragons?"
"No," Li said defensively. "It's just that it reminds me of a missed capture."
Madison grinned also. "Make it TWO missed captures."
"Who asked you?" Li snapped. "I should have had that card. I should have had THOSE cards. But I might have been a little distracted at the time…"
~--------------------~
Flashback: A Lone Street
P.O.V.: Li Shoran
Peering down from the roof of a building, Li could see Sakura and her friend were looking around for that Clow Card. And once again, Sakura was dressed up for the occasion.
"This just looks so weird, Madison," Sakura said from below.
"I like it," Madison persevered. "It's very neo-gladiator."
Li shook his head. There was a Clow Card on the loose and they were busy playing dress up. Li and Meilin, in the meantime, were on the lookout. Li had sensed the card since that morning, but he couldn't pinpoint the card's location. Meilin, though, was sure of 'her man' and called out below.
"Hey! Are you just going to play around all day?!"
Finally, Sakura, Madison, and Kero spotted them. So Li jumped down and so did Meilin. Sakura sweatdropped, Madison got the jump on tape, and Kero…got angry.
"Hey! Why don't you two leave this to the experts?!"
Meilin was defensive. "For your information, WE'RE the experts! Li's sensed this Clow Card since lunchtime."
Li could have let out a cocky smirk at that moment, but the fact was that he didn't know where to go from there. So he just kept quiet.
Kero looked at Sakura. "Well...you did, too...right?"
Sakura grinned sheepishly. "Well...not exactly." Kero fell over anime-style.
Meilin squealed. "HA! I knew it!"
"Yeah! Well, Sakura's just getting started!" Kero shot back. "She knows where the card is RIGHT NOW! Right, Sakura?"
Sakura hesitated. Meanwhile, Meilin glanced at Li.
"You know where the card is, too. Right, Li?"
Both Sakura and Li sweatdropped…nodded…and pointed out into the distance. "Yeah…over there." Unfortunately, they were pointing in opposite directions.
~* HA! She doesn't know what she's doing. I know the Clow Card's over there. At least I think it is. *~
But after they pointed, something started to come out of the shadows…from the direction Sakura was pointing at.
~* Um…maybe not. Lucky guess. *~
But coming out of the shadows seemed to be nothing dangerous.
Sakura realized it. "It's just a cat."
Kero shook his head. "Maybe you take a closer look."
Everyone gasped when they realized that as the cat came closer, it was obvious that this wasn't a normal feline. It was HUGE. As the cat calmly passed by, everyone present sweatdropped. Then the cat turned towards them and everyone panicked.
Sakura immediately went for a plan of sanctuary. "Fly!" She pulled up Madison and both girls were safe from the cat's reach.
The cat then made its move and held Meilin down with its enormous paw. Li knew he had to rescue her. He bravely pulled out his sword.
"Let go of her!"
Li then got nervous as the cat began to lower its head and stare him right in the face. Then the cat…licked him in the face.
"EW! YUCK! Stop it, cat! You're supposed to be afraid of me!"
Li could hear Madison giggling. "Looks like Li found a new friend."
Sakura laughed, too, but then asked the obvious question. "Kero, what could be doing this?"
"This sounds like the work of the Big Card," Kero answered.
"I assume the Big Card makes things bigger?" Madison pointed out dryly.
"I don't just mean big," Kero replied. "I mean gigantic!"
Sakura looked out into the distance. "I sense it coming from over there. Let's go."
~* Huh? Wait! I sense it, too! *~
"Hey, wait!" Li cried out.
Li tried to give chase, but the cat finally took its paw off of Meilin…and pinned down Li with it. He couldn't move and Sakura was getting away. He could feel this capture slipping through his fingers.
Meilin tried to help, but pulling the paw off was a futile task. "Get off, cat! That's Li Shoran you got there!"
~----------~
[Li: Obviously I'm in no position to tell you what happens next.]
[Madison: So I'll do it! While Li played with the cat, Sakura knew just where to find the Clow Card. It was…right in this very fountain…]
~--------------------~
Flashback: The Fountain
P.O.V.: Madison Taylor
Madison couldn't get enough of flying. It was such a rush. But when Sakura landed and recalled Fly, Madison knew it was ShowTime so she pulled out her camera.
They found Big serenely sitting on the fountain and gently tapping anything with her wand. Big tapped a fish and it immediately grew to a titanic size. It was so big that it fell out of the fountain and flopped around on the ground.
"And that's just the beginning," Kero said. "Think of what it could do to millipedes."
Sakura gulped. "I see your point." Then she grew determined and walked up to the Big Card. "It's over, Big Card!" The Big Card grinned at Sakura and Sakura sweatdropped. Not getting psyched out, though, Sakura held up her wand. "Big Card! Return to your power confined! Big Card!"
Before any more disaster could happen, Sakura sealed the Big Card and everything went back to normal size. And Madison got the whole thing on tape.
"Great capture!" Then she noticed the small fish flopping on the ground. She picked it up and gently put it back in the fountain. "Swim on, Mr. Fish."
Kero looked around. "So I guess we call it a night, right?"
Sakura nodded. "I don't see what else could happen."
~----------~
[Eriol: Um…wait…I thought you said there were TWO captures.]
[Madison: I did say that. And that's because as soon as Sakura sealed the Big Card, we found something else…]
~--------------------~
Flashback: The Fountain (A few minutes later)
P.O.V.: Madison Taylor
Everyone was set to leave, but that's when Li and Meilin caught up to them. Li was silently sulking over the missed capture, while Meilin was a little more…vocal.
"I keep telling you that should have been Li's card!"
Kero was smug in victory. "Then why did it go to Sakura?"
"Listen, you…"
"No, YOU listen…"
Just then…silence. Something was heard, and then something jumped out of the bush. Everyone jumped back at the sight of…
"It's a panther!" Sakura yelped.
Everyone knew how dangerous panthers were. Li pulled out his sword and everyone stepped back again. But everyone began to wonder how a panther got loose in the city. But just then…the panther turned its head to reveal…googly eyes.
"It looks silly," Sakura remarked.
Things got sillier. The panther grew wings…and started flying by them. All five sweatdropped.
"Well…any ideas, Cardcaptors?" Kero asked. "Hello? Anybody?"
Silence. Sweatdrops.
Sakura finally took a guess. "Um…a Clow Card with a sense of humor?"
It wasn't until Kero looked around at all the animals growing wings that he started to get an idea. He saw hippos, pigs, and even fish all growing wings. They were also grinning and were unusually colored.
"This sounds like the Create Card," Kero guessed.
"What…does the Create Card do, Kero?" Madison asked.
"There are two parts to the Create Card," Kero began. "One of them is a blank book. Anything the writer puts in the book comes to life. The other part of the Create Card is…anything created.
"The Create Card isn't too dangerous…as long as the writer doesn't write TOO much. But this writer seems to have a pretty active imagination."
"Is there any way to stop this, Kero?" Sakura asked.
"Well, the Create Card's magic only works at night," Kero answered. "So by morning, this should all be over. We should all be fine as long as the writer knows when to quit…WHOA, BIG WIND!!"
Everyone could feel a powerful gust of wind and everyone was knocked off their feet and into a bush.
~* OW! No…gotta check…my camera! *~
To Madison's relief, her camera was just fine. But everyone looked panicked. Madison looked up and saw what had everyone spooked. It was…
"Is that what I think it is?" Sakura asked.
"You mean a dragon?" Madison added.
It was a gigantic dragon. It looked very fearsome and it finally stopped blowing its tremendous wind. That didn't make things any easier, though. It started to move towards the city.
"It's going to trash the city!" Sakura shouted.
"A huge monster trashing a small Japanese town," Li muttered to himself. "Who'd have ever thought THAT was possible?" Then he tried to take action. "Force, know my plight. Release the light! Lightning!"
Lightning struck the dragon, but it wasn't even fazed. It had no effect.
"It's too big!" Li shouted.
Kero snapped his fingers in recognition of an idea. "Big? Hey, the Big Card!"
Sakura looked at Kero curiously. "Who are you going to get to use the Big Card?" Kero stared at her, making Sakura sweatdrop. "Y-You can't mean m-m-me…can you?"
"Sakura, you're a Cardcaptor," Kero said sternly. "You do what you have to do."
~* She's afraid. I can feel it. But she can do this. I know she can! She just needs…some encouragement. *~
"Just remember that dragons aren't real," Madison advised her friend. "You can do this!"
Sakura smiled. "Thanks, Madison." She reached and pulled out the Big Card. "Big Card! Make me grow! Big Card! Release and dispel!"
Madison could have sworn she was dreaming. Because her best friend was growing enormously before her very eyes. Li and Meilin stood amazed at the sight and Madison felt like her heart was about to leap out of her chest.
"You rule, Sakura!!"
She felt so excited and immediately turned her camera on. This would be unforgettable. Sakura focused on the task at hand and began to walk towards the dragon.
"That's far enough, dragon!" Sakura shouted. "Hey! Get back here!"
Sakura grabbed the dragon by its tail. But who knew the dragon would fight back? The dragon turned and started breathing fire at Sakura. Sakura clumsily dodged each flame and stumbled around, trying not to get fried. Madison's joy faded and she started to realize the true danger her best friend was in.
"This is not working, Kero!" Li pointed out.
Sakura fell to the ground and ducked another flame. "This guy sure feels real to me, Madison!!"
~* She's right. What was I thinking? What did I send her into? Sakura…please…I still believe you can do this. But I don't want you to get hurt. *~
Sakura couldn't back up any more. The dragon was right in her face and was ready to finish her off. Everyone below held their breath collectively, hoping that moment wouldn't come. But just then…the dragon slowly started to fade away.
"Yes!" Kero shouted. "Our writer's called it a night!" He looked up at Sakura. "Quick, Sakura! Seal it!"
Sakura held her wand at the rapidly disappearing dragon. "Create Card! Return to your power confined! Create Card!"
Before it disappeared, the Create Card was sealed. Sakura breathed a sigh of relief…and unknowingly came close to crushing everyone below. Kero went up and helpfully pointed downward. Sakura smiled sheepishly and bent down.
"Anybody want a ride?"
~----------~
[Madison: That's still one of my favorite videos. Just seeing Sakura so…massive…it was so exciting!]
[Eriol: So that was it, but there's still one more question I have.]
[Li: What's that?]
[Eriol: Who wrote all that, anyway?]
[Madison: Oh…well, Sakura and I didn't find out…until the next day when we both learned something very interesting…]
~--------------------~
Flashback: Reedington Elementary (The next day)
P.O.V.: Madison Taylor
Madison cheerfully waved as Sakura arrived on campus. "Hey, Sakura!"
Sakura waved back as she took off her roller skates. "Hi, Madison!"
"I just made copies of that tape from last night," Madison said.
Sakura looked suspicious. "How many?"
"Only ten."
"TEN?!"
Madison sweatdropped. "Well…what if I lose one? And…you should have seen yourself, Sakura. You were so…BIG. It was so cute! I…oh…I can't contain myself." Then her expression grew somber. "Look, Sakura...I'm sorry about last night. I should have known better than to push you into a fight with a real dragon. I know I didn't help much by telling you that dragons weren't real. Do you forgive me?"
Sakura looked at Madison strangely. "What are you apologizing for? I should be thankful I have a friend like you. You helped relieve my tension when I was feeling scared. And besides...it's like Kero said. I'm a Cardcaptor. I do what I have to do."
"Well...I guess that's true," Madison muttered. "But still...do you feel ok? I know that must have been scary, but..."
Madison stopped. She suddenly noticed Sakura was a little distracted. She saw why. Nikki had just arrived, but she looked…sad. So Sakura and Madison walked over to her.
"Nikki…what's wrong?" Sakura asked.
Nikki looked around. "It's the weirdest thing. I just bought that book last night where I fill in my own ending. I put everything I thought of in there. Winged animals, big winds, and a huge dragon. But when I woke up this morning, the book was gone."
Madison blinked. This had to be a coincidence. Then she glanced at Sakura who had a mortified expression on her face.
~* So…the Create Card…Nikki had it that whole time? She was the one who wrote all that? That girl…has one active imagination. But I hope Sakura can hold all this in. I wouldn't want her to blow her secret. *~
"Is…something wrong, Sakura?" Nikki asked.
"She's just…shocked," Madison tried saying. "We know how much that book meant to you, Nikki. Right, Sakura?"
Sakura hesitated…and then nodded. "Y-Yeah. We're sorry, Nikki. I wish there was something we could do. But I don't think you'll ever find it."
Nikki hung her head down. "I think you're right, because I looked everywhere. Well, thanks anyway. I'll see you guys in class."
Nikki walked out and Sakura still had that shocked expression on her face. Madison glanced at her again.
"Wow…what are the odds?"
Sakura sighed. "She's a good friend…but sometimes her imagination runs away with her." Then she frowned. "And it almost got me KILLED!"
With those words, Sakura and Madison walked into class, putting the Create Card adventure behind them.
~--------------------~
Madison dug through the bag and found Sakura's scrapbook, which she left at Madison's house the other night. That's where she found the picture that still made her heart skip a beat. It was Sakura on that night seven years ago…when she grew into the world's cutest giant.
Eriol looked at Madison suspiciously. "Are you sure you're still not obsessed with her?"
"Of course I am," Madison giggled. Then she kissed Eriol. "It's just that these days, I'm obsessed with you a little more."
"Hey, is that Sakura?" Li asked.
Madison looked out into the distance and saw her best friend having a few last words with Ms. Mackenzie, so it was time to go. She closed up the scrapbook and carried it with her. Eriol was at her side, but she noticed he was smirking evilly again.
"Oh, Li," he said innocently. "Could you get my bag? I forgot it by the fountain."
"Oh, sure," Li said, not seeing the setup. Li walked over to the fountain to get the bag, but…
**SPLASH**
…Eriol pushed him in. Li raised his head and he was soaking wet.
Li scowled. "I…hate…you…"
Eriol grinned. "Oh, you have no idea how I missed having moments like this."
Madison giggled and shook her head. Then she just walked towards Sakura.
Any comments? Yes, this series rolls on (at least until another idea hits me), so tell me what you think by reviewing below or mailing me at AmericanCaptor@hotmail.com. I want to know what you think!
