A CCS Fanfic By Card Captor Schlueter (aka Syaoran-kun)
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Chapter One: Li Syaoran And The New Clow
I've seen some strange, arcane, and occasionally downright weird things in my life but what I was seeing at this very moment outdid them all.
Two Keros.
This was bad. Very bad. Bad beyond all normal realms of possible badness and then some.
So, as you can guess, I wasn't entirely happy about this development. If there was someone who was more displeased with the situation at hand then me it was Kero-Chan himself.
"All right, you imposter!" he screamed "Who do you think you are?!"
The other Kero blinked. "Ne? Who are you?"
"Who am I?" yelled Kero "I'm Cerberus. Guardian of the seal of the Clow book."
"No, you're not! I am!"
"Something very strange is going on here..." began Tomoyo.
"What was your first clue?" I asked.
"Okay, this is no time to argue." began Sakura, always the voice of reason. "Kero, could there be any explanation for two identical Clow books?"
"Well..." Kero-Chan began "There's this whole temporal theory behind magic. That there are hundreds of universes based on different timelines. In theory, that means that there's a set of Clow cards for each possible timeline. No doubt in a few of those timelines the Clow book was destined to be opened by Syaoran instead of you. This Clow book must be from one of those alternate realities. That makes this Clow book, and it's guardian, just as legitimate as the one you found, Sakura."
"But what could have caused it to shift realities like this?" asked Tomoyo.
"There are two possibilities," said Kero-Chan "The first is that there was some kind of temporal glitch. If that's the case than the book will probably return to it's own reality after Li captures all the cards. The other is that the book arrived here because something very bad is coming in this reality. Something that requires two Card Captors with full sets of cards to fight."
"Those possibilities are both very bad." I said.
"What do you mean, Li-kun?" asked Sakura "We'll both have a set of Clow cards. It works out perfectly."
"No, it doesn't, Sakura-Chan." I replied. "If it's just a fluke, the book will be gone and I'll be back where I started from. If it's not.... Correct me if I'm wrong, Kero, but a deliberate shift in a temporal reality requires a threat that could destroy all realities. That's a pretty high price to pay for a second set of Clow cards."
"Unfortunately," began Kero-Chan "There's no way to be certain until all the cards are captured."
"Ahem!" The other Kero was looking kind of ticked off. He had just arrived and was already being ignored. "If the four of you are done, I have a Card Captor I have to deal with."
"By the way..." Tomoyo began. "What do we call him? We're going to need someway of telling them apart. After all we can't call them both `Kero-Chan', can we?"
"That's a good point." I said. "How about we call this one `Kero-Ni'?"
"Kero Number Two... That's pretty good, Li-kun." said Sakura.
After several minutes of sorting out the details of everything that had happened with the first Clow book to Kero-Ni, he finally got his chance to make a speech. He floated around Sakura's head for a minute.
"So... This is the Card Captor in this timeline, ne?" Kero-Ni seemed unimpressed. "No wonder you need another one."
"Hey!" shouted Kero-Chan. "Sakura was the chosen Card Captor and she proved herself by capturing all the cards."
"Must be a second rate set of Clow cards." Kero-Ni replied. "To go with it's second rate guardian beast."
I let out a low sigh. This reminded me of listening to Meiling argue with Kero-Chan.
"You know..." said Tomoyo "I couldn't help but notice that there were still some Clow cards left in the book."
"That's right." I replied. I took the few remaining cards from the book and looked at them carefully. "These are all the cards I already have. The ones I caught from Sakura's deck."
"Well, that means that you'll start capturing with those same cards." said Kero-Ni. "No sense starting with a handicap, ne? The only catch is that you'll have to return the cards from Sakura's deck."
I took my share of the Clow cards from my desk drawer. I was still somewhat suspicious about this whole thing.
As if reading my mind, Sakura spoke up. "Don't worry, Li-kun." she said "If the book disappears when you're done I can always give them back." Well, if there was anyone I could trust it was Sakura-Chan. I reluctantly handed over the cards to her.
"Okay. Now that that's out of the way..." Kero-Ni began "You'll be needing this." He handed me the Clow key. It looked exactly like Sakura's key only with blue and green instead of red and pink.
"I'm not going to have to use that stupid wand, am I?" I asked.
"Nah." Kero-Ni replied. "The Key will act as sort of a magic cipher system for that sword of yours. It'll make sealing the cards easier and you won't be burning up as much magic either."
"This could take a while." said Sakura. "Maybe I should go make some tea." With that Sakura headed into the kitchen and Kero-Ni continued his lecture. I wasn't really listening. I knew everything he was going to say. I found myself thinking about Sakura again.
Maybe... maybe someday I'll be able to tell her... Maybe this whole thing will turn out to be the perfect opportunity. Maybe...
"Li-kun?" Sakura's voice snapped me out of my daydream.
"What is it, Sakura-Chan?" I asked.
"It's the kitchen faucet. It won't turn off." she replied.
I rushed into the kitchen. The sink was starting to fill up fast. "I don't get it." I said. "The landlord fixed it just last week." Just then, I sensed something. "Sakura! It's a Clow card. I turned out to be right as the water started to take on a life of it's own. "It's `The Watery' card!"
Tomoyo rushed in with my sword. "Li-kun! Here!" I took the sword and just managed to dodge Watery's first attack. It turned to attack again. I had to use a card and I had to be quick about it.
"Freeze card! Turn `Watery' to ice!" The Freeze card filled the room with a bitter chill. The Watery quickly froze under the Freeze card's power. "Watery card! Return to your power confined!" The ice melted away and pulled together leaving only a single Clow card hanging in the air. The card floated over and landed in my hand.
"See. What'd I tell you?" boasted Kero-Ni "He's a natural." Kero-Chan just sniffed with contempt.
"There's still an awful mess to clean up." said Tomoyo. "There's water all over the floor."
I was about to let out a sigh of relief when a tree began growing out of the floor. Within seconds the kitchen was starting to fill will plant life.
"Li-kun! Look out!" shouted Sakura.
This was completely insane. `The Wood' card was hiding in my floor! I started to hack through the foliage that was rapidly filling my kitchen. At the center of it all was a strangely feminine tree. "Wood Card!" I shouted. "Return to your power confined!" The plants and trees were quickly sucked up into another card. The card floated over and once again dropped into my hand.
I finally allowed myself a sigh of relief. Sakura and Tomoyo sighed as well. Crisis averted. Suddenly, Tomoyo started to brighten.
"You know this would look great on tape." she began.
"What?" I said flatly.
"But you know, Li-kun, you always wear those same robes." Tomoyo was getting ideas. This was bad. "I know what would look perfect on you..."
I sweatdropped. "Oh no... No way, Tomoyo-Chan!"
"I can see it all now!"
Somehow I knew this wasn't going to lead to anything good.
Next: The Card Capturing has just begun for Syaoran when he finds that everyone in class is asleep and not from Terada's lecture either. Then he finds himself involved in an elaborate game of hide and seek with the kawaii and always playful `Rain' card. But that's nothing when Rika decides to play a game of `Tag' with poor old Li while under the control of `The Sword' card.
All this and more in "Chapter Two: When It Rains, It Pours."
Notes: Okay, now that the set-up is finished I can feel free to have some real fun with this story. Obviously, it would make the story too long and drawn out if I had Li capture all the cards. I'm limiting it to about twenty or so of the most interesting ones.