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Syaoran's AngelsChapter 25: Rematch
"Lake of balance?" Tomoyo growled in frustration, "Nothing, nothing, nothing and oh look footnotes for nothing! I've searched every site I can think of!"
"No luck here either," Sakura reported looking up from the various thick travelling guides she was looking through, "Lake of balance ain't here."
Meiling sighed.
"Not a single thing," Meiling held up one of the many historical texts she was studying, "Nothing in ancient Asia was named that."
Sakura sighed as she played with the ends of her hair. Lounging on one of the cream-coloured sofas that stood inside the Angel's headquarters, she had been looking through guidebooks trying to discover the location of the mirror following Yue's cryptic clues. At the same time kneeling behind the short coffee table in front of her was Meiling looking through various dusty tomes on the history of Asia whilst Tomoyo was several metres away sitting at her desk facing the computer as she researched on the Internet. It had been a pretty hectic day, just a few short hours ago they had landed back in L.A. after a long flight from London. After dropping off their luggage at Tomoyo's house, they had rushed back to their headquarters and immersed themselves in research.
"Maybe the balance part is symbolic…" Sakura said slowly.
"Symbolic?" Tomoyo asked looking at her a Meiling looked up.
"Yeah maybe the real clue is hidden in the other part…" she quickly studied the photocopy that had made of Nikki's grandfather's diary, "Lake of fire and tides."
"Yay," Meiling drawled sarcastically, "More cryptic clues… how fun."
Tomoyo rolled her eyes as she began typing on the keyboard several seconds later a small bleep could be heard as the computer finished its search.
"No results can be found," she read before letting out a groan of frustration.
"Perhaps fire is also symbolical of something," Sakura suggested.
"Fire…" Meiling murmured, "Fire represents…"
"Heat," Tomoyo said instantly.
"Hell?" Sakura frowned, "Lake of Hell… doesn't sound very nice…"
"Passion?" Meiling glanced at her two friends as they stared at her strangely, "What?!?"
"Seems like you've got something on your mind," Sakura teased with a wicked smile on her face.
"Perhaps a certain someone?" Tomoyo added batting her eyelids innocently…
"Shut. Up," Meiling growled dangerously.
"Oooo…' Sakura smirked, "Touched a nerve?"
Meiling glared at her as Sakura smirked well used to her friend's patented death look. Tomoyo unsuccessfully hid a snigger as she turned back to her computer.
"Fire and tide…" she whispered getting back on track, "Symbols for what?"
Zachary smiled as Chelsea opened the door to their apartment.
"It's great to be home," he announced stepping through the threshold as his wife followed him inside beaming delightedly.
"It's great to have you here," she said simply before leaning over and giving him a small kiss.
Zachary wrapped his arms around and deepened the kiss as Chelsea smiled against his lips.
"Oh, guys please," Diana drawled from the doorway.
The couple sprang about to see their two best friends leaning against either side of the doorway smirking at them.
"Sakura, you're back!" Chelsea said happily.
Sakura smiled and returned her friend's hug as she beamed at Zachary.
"Nice to see you're back to your old self," Sakura said waggling her eyebrows at him.
Zachary laughed as Diana joined them.
"So what's on the menus today?" she asked tossing them an easy smile, "We go out and enjoy Zachary's first day out of hospital or do you and Chelsea have… 'plans'?"
"Okay, mental image," Sakura glared at her, "And can I say 'Ew'?"
"I have no idea what you mean," Diana said innocently widening her eyes.
"Where were you yesterday?" Chelsea asked her curiously, "I called you but you weren't there."
Sakura remained silent for a few seconds mentally debating whether or not she should tell them the truth. Finally her virtuous side won out.
"I was in London," she replied slowly.
"London?!?" Diana looked at her strangely, "Why on earth would you be in… oh. Work?"
Sakura nodded as an uncomfortable silence descended onto the room.
"So," Zachary broke the silence by grinning at them roguishly, "So where to now."
"Movies?" Chelsea suggested.
Everybody stared at her.
"Okay, bad suggestion," she sighed, "Where do you guys want to go?"
"Lunch?" Zachary asked glancing at the clock.
"Oh my god," Chelsea groaned, "It's not even twelve yet! How can you be hungry?"
"Hey!" Zachary shot back, "Try eating nothing by hospital food for a few days and see how you feel!"
Sakura and Diana exchanged exasperated looks as Chelsea and Zachary bickered.
"Hey guys…" Sakura's eyes widened as she stared at Zachary's chest.
To her horror, a tiny dot of red light crept up his shirt slowly moving up to his heart as Diana noticed it too, her eyes widening in shock.
"ZACHARY!" she yelled desperately.
"DOWN!" Sakura roared charging at him.
"BANG!"
Chelsea let out a scream as one of the windows shattered.
"KWISH!"
Shards of broken glass showered onto the hard wood floor as Sakura tackled Zachary to the ground. A speeding bullet too fast for the eye to see zipped through the air and shattered one of the legs of a nearby table as it ripped through the piece of furniture and punched a tiny hole in the hard wood of the floorboards.
"Get down!" Sakura yelled as Diana grabbed the stunned Chelsea and yanked her to the ground.
For a few tense seconds, they pressed their bodies against the hard wood floor waiting anxiously for a second attack.
None came.
Cautiously standing up, Sakura glanced at the shattered window and looked through the broken glass plane and myriad of apartment buildings that stood nearby. The attack could have come from any of the buildings.
With a sigh of frustration, she turned to her stunned friends.
"Everyone okay?" she asked her voice barely above a whisper as adrenaline continued to pump through her veins.
Her three friends remained silent stunned by shock as they slowly climbed to their feet. It was Chelsea who finally broke the tense silence that hung in the air.
"What happened?" she managed to stammer at last.
Sakura looked at her worriedly.
"I don't know," she admitted simply, "I just don't know."
Alicia Ruben frowned as she moved her sniper rifle away from the window. She studied the auburn-haired woman who had rescued Zachary Yamazaki carefully remembering her facial features so she can run a check on her later.
Stepping away from the window and smiling ruefully down at the two bodies lying in pools of congealing blood on the ground, she brushed her hair away from her face remembering how she had charged into the apartment building and ruthlessly murdered its owners before trying to kill Zachary.
"Damn," she said simply to the two bodies, "Missed."
Meiling opened the door to Tomoyo's house glad that she was alone. As soon as she had suggested going back to Tomoyo's house both her friends had suddenly came up with places they had to be whilst smirking at her as Meiling sighed and shook her head knowing full well what her friends were doing.
Not that she was angry with them or anything, she needed some alone time with Marcus and Lily if only to sort out why Lily was calling her 'mommy' all of a sudden. Meiling was slight unnerved for this new development in their relationship and was at lose with what to do.
She sighed, relationships wasn't an area she excelled in.
"Mommy!" a shrill voice cried.
Meiling was abruptly jarred by her thoughts as Lily bounded over to her hugging her Aunty Meiling/Mommy around the knees tightly.
"Where were you?" she asked excitedly blinking up at her with her large blue eyes, "Where did you go? Was it fun? Did you bring anything back to me? What did you do? Where's Aunty 'Kura and 'Moyo?"
Meiling laughed as Lily continued to fire questions are her not giving her a chance to reply. Picking the tiny girl up and snuggling her, Meiling asked the question that was burning in her mind.
"Where's your father?" she asked.
"Right here," Marcus replied appearing from one of the rooms.
Meiling smiled at him shyly.
"Hey," she said softly.
"Hey," he replied with a huge grin.
"How's the…" Meiling trailed off trying to find the right word, "Wound?"
Marcus nodded.
"It's healing up okay, still a bit sore though," he walked over to her and gave her a quick kiss on the lips before pulling Lily into his own arms, "Had fun?"
Remembering the events of London, Meiling sighed.
"You know," she shrugged, "Same old, same old."
Marcus nodded as Lily spoke up.
"Daddy, what's for lunch?" she asked with a small frown on her face, "I'm hungry!"
Meiling laughed as Marcus sighed.
"You're always hungry," he informed her daughter as Lily beamed up at him, "Fine, we'll get you something to eat."
He looked at Meiling.
"How about you?"
In reply Meiling's stomach gave a loud rumble.
"Starving," she confirmed.
Marcus laughed and they walked into the kitchen together.
Just like a family.
Tomoyo walked down the busy streets of Los Angeles and wondered what she should do with her time. After they had given up on solving Yue's cryptic message for the moment, Meiling had suggested they go back to her house, Tomoyo and Sakura had exchanged knowing grins before coming up with places they had to be.
Sakura had gone off to visit her friends whilst Tomoyo had opted to go out for lunch, pushing past the midday crowd Tomoyo realised she wasn't that hungry at all.
Glancing into the front window of one of her favourite shops and admiring the designer clothes there were on display, Tomoyo stood amidst the bustling street not realising she was being watched.
Oblivious to her danger, the Angel turned away from the window and walked on.
"We have visual confirmation of the target," the man reported into his mobile phone.
'Good, kill her,' Marcus Ruflac commanded, his voice blaring down the line, 'Now.'
The man nodded and closed the line.
"You heard the boss," the man told his team, "It's time."
And with that they attacked.
Tomoyo walked past a silver van parked alongside the street paying more attention to the shop windows than her surroundings.
She was vulnerable and unaware… the perfect target.
"BANG!"
The van door slammed open as Tomoyo whirled around startled and unsure. They burst out of the van as one, guns blazing.
A man who had been walking down the street fell to his knees screaming as a bullet tore into his chest.
Tomoyo leapt to the side hiding behind one of the parked cars lining the streets as the masked men stormed towards her, guns firing bullets tearing into the car that was shielding her.
"Who the hell…" Tomoyo muttered gasping for breath as she studied them, "What on earth…"
The men continued to advance as pedestrians standing in the streets let out screams of horror and cries of help as they backed hurriedly away from the men almost stumbling in their attempts to escape for their lives as the gunmen continued to pin Tomoyo down with gunfire.
Relentlessly they continued to fire, the car's tires exploded as bullets ripped into the rubber. Tomoyo let out a sigh of frustration as she looked around for any avenues of escape or weapons.
There were none.
"Damn it! Who are these guys!" she wailed in frustration and despair.
"AHHHH!!!" suddenly one of the men let out a scream of pain.
Tomoyo blinked in confusion as the sound of semi-automatic rifles being fired stopped as the gunmen whirled around to see what was happening.
The man who had screamed went down a bleeding hole appearing in his chest as Tomoyo peered cautiously through the car's shattered window seeing what was on the other side.
Another men crumpled to his knees blood gushing from a gaping hole in his side.
"Sniper," Tomoyo whispered in shock realising what was happening.
They were panicking now; aiming up at the roofs of the buildings firing wildly with no hope of hitting the hidden assassin as another shot went off.
It was a massacre.
Shot after shot was fired from one of the roofs with silent deadly accuracy and each time another gunmen went down.
Finally there was only one left.
"No, please," he cried speaking for the first time.
He died screaming as a bullet tore through his throat. Tomoyo slowly stood up in stunned horror scanning the roofs for the sniper who had saved her.
She stared at the crumpled bodies of the gunmen.
"What the hell?"
Eriol calmly looked away from his sniper and stood up.
"Nice try, gentlemen," he said calmly.
For a few seconds, he stood there staring longingly at the grey-haired beauty that stood in the streets below searching for him. He shook himself out of his stasis and began packing his sniper away.
"Nice try, Ruflac," he said to himself softly, "But you have to try harder than that."
"What?!?" Lilia gasped in shock, "How?"
Alicia Ruben stared at her calmly.
"Are you sure?" Lilia pressed.
The assassin merely nodded.
"Damn but how, I thought I killed her!"
Lilia mentally cursed wildly as she tried to work out what to do next. Several minutes before, Alicia had appeared at the door of her office telling her that Zachary had someone to protect him.
And that someone had turned out to be that damned redheaded Angel, Lilia thought she had gotten rid off in Santa Barbara.
"Is this going to change our arrangement?" Alicia asked.
Lilia shook her head slowly.
"No," she hissed, "Just kill him. GO!"
The assassin merely nodded before calmly getting up and walking out of her current employer's office.
"Damn how?" Lilia raged standing up and pacing behind her desk, "Lara said she had gotten rid of her…"
Suddenly she stopped, a slow grin appeared on her face. Walking back towards her desk, she punched a number into her phone.
"William," she commanded picking up the receiver and speaking into it, "Patch me through to Ms. Williams."
Tomoyo cautiously walked up to the van the gunmen had burst from. Her body tensed and ready to react at the slightest hint of a threat, she slowly made her way to the vehicle carefully stepping off the bodies of the gunmen lying bleeding and broken on the ground.
Reaching the open door of the car, Tomoyo paused for a few seconds before taking a deep breath and poking her head inside.
A wealth of surveillance cameras and other technological equipment greeted her as Tomoyo ran an expert eye across the set-up considering them carefully.
"Cameras… satellite linked… must work for wealthy people," she noted, "No sound system… must be image only… recordi…"
She stopped mid-sentence as her eyes fell onto a mobile phone lying on the ground near the door.
"Hello…" a slow smile flickered across Tomoyo's face, "This may help."
She picked the phone up and tucked it into her pocket. Quickly giving the inside of the van one last scan, she slammed the door shut.
Before the still-stunned pedestrians could recover from their shock, the Angel had already left the scene intent on her next mission.
Finding out who had tried to kill her.
Meiling flung the door open.
"We've got a problem," Tomoyo told her.
"Who is it?" Marcus called.
He appeared behind the Asian Angel.
"Tomoyo," he said happily before a bubbly five-year-old interrupted him.
"Aunty Tomoyo!" Lily squealed happily.
Even though she was worried for all their safety, Tomoyo couldn't help grinning down at the girl.
"Hey, Lily!" she beamed before turning back to the adults, "Listen we've…"
"Got a problem," Sakura said suddenly appearing beside her, "Big problem."
"What the?" Meiling looked over her friends' shoulders and was taken aback at seeing Sakura's friends getting out of a car behind them.
"That's the problem," Sakura said grimly.
"Okay let me get this straight," Meiling said slowly standing up from the couch in Tomoyo's living room, "Someone tried to whack Zachary…"
Sakura nodded as Chelsea sitting on the sofa beside her shifted uncomfortably.
"And another bunch of people tried to take you out," Meiling continued directing the comment at Tomoyo.
Tomoyo nodded.
"And I find this in the gunmen's car," Tomoyo took the mobile phone out of her pocket and placed it on the coffee table in front of her, "It may or may not help."
The Angels studied the non-descript black mobile phone for a few seconds, each of them lost in their own thoughts.
"Can you track down the last several calls?" Meiling asked.
Tomoyo nodded.
"Pretty sure I can."
They fell silent again until Diana spoke up.
"Okay not to be selfish or anything…" she trailed of, "But what about us?"
"Yeah, who would want to kill me?" Zachary wondered.
Diana and Sakura fell silent, fidgeting uncomfortably as Meiling and Tomoyo glanced at their fellow Angel.
"What?" Meiling demanded, "What is it?"
"Well… um… you see… umm…" Diana began shooting Zachary an apologetic look knowing she was going to break her friend's heart.
Zachary was devoted to his job at Spinnel Corporation and if he found out about its true nature...
Suffice to say, he would be devastated.
"He works for Spinnel," Sakura finished quietly.
Meiling and Tomoyo's eyes widened in shock.
"Oh…" Meiling said slowly, "Damn."
"But why would Spinnel want to take out its own employee?" Tomoyo asked, pointing out the obvious question, "After Sakura went all terrorist on us and bombed Spinnel Co…"
She trailed off realising what she was saying.
"You're the one who bombed Spinnel?" Chelsea demanded, "You're the one who hurt Zachary?!?"
"Hey! I never meant for him to be injured!" Sakura protested, "Anyway I was kinda not thinking at the time. I mean my dad was being held by the Corporation from Hell! I really didn't think about consequences, I was more interested in getting information. I'm really, really, really, really, really sorry!"
"But…" Chelsea began standing up.
"Stop it," Zachary cut her off calmly.
Everyone stared at him, watching for his reaction.
"I work for, according to you, the Corporation from Hell," Zachary continued still deadly calm, "How do you know this?"
The three Angels exchanged glances.
"Well, it's kinda like this," Tomoyo began.
She began to explain everything Spinnel Corporation had done to them starting from the initial mission that had started all of this to Rika to Hayden's attempt to kill in them Australia. She continued with Fujitaka's capture and Sakura's attack on Spinnel Corporation building, the events of Hong Kong and the spies in the Mongolian archaeological dig. She took a deep breath and concluded her speech.
"So as you can see Spinnel is dangerous and it wants us," she looked up and emphasised, "All of us… dead."
"Oh," the anger seemed to leave Chelsea as she shot Zachary a look, "Why would they want Zachary dead? Like you said, he's an employee, why would they want to kill him."
"Zachary," Tomoyo said gently directing her question at the man who had been sitting silent and pale the whole time, "How was work before you were injured?'
Zachary shrugged.
"It was the same old, same old," Zachary replied his voice barely above a whisper and coming out strangely choked, "I mean it's good, better even. I've been offered a promotion just yesterday…"
"Promotion?" Sakura blinked, "To what position."
"Junior Partner," Zachary replied, "It means I would be working with my ex-supervisor."
"Who's that?" Meiling asked.
"Lilia Faren."
The three Angels stared at him.
"Well that explains it," Sakura said grimly.
"Lilia," Meiling snorted, "Son of a…"
"What's the matter, what's going on?" Marcus asked speaking up for the first time, "Who's Lilia?"
"Yeah, what does she have to do with this?" Diana asked confused.
"Everything," Tomoyo replied, although her voice was the same as before her eyes were steely grey, "She's the one behind Rika coming after us and Hayden's murder."
"Hayden?" Zachary asked, "He's been gone for weeks but we were told he left for another company, and I just found out he's been murdered."
He sighed.
"I find it hard to believe," he frowned, "Lilia is ambitious and ruthless but she won't go as far as… as…"
"Murdering someone?" Meiling asked, "Trust me, she is. She backstabbed Hayden because he was her partner. She wanted completely power to herself, she had it for a short while and then she find out you were getting Hayden's position…"
"What we have is a motive," Tomoyo finished, "She won't rest until you're dead."
"Great," Sakura sighed, "We have Lilia, Tomoyo's mysterious gunmen and Spinnel Corporation to deal with and my doppelganger is still running around! Can life get anymore complicated?"
Lara Williams calmly watched as Lilia continued to pace around her office, ranting with each step.
"I thought you took care of her!" Lilia snapped at her, repeating that phrase for perhaps the thousandth time.
"I thought I did," Lara replied serenely.
Lilia glared at her and opened her mouth to snap at the rouge Angel but Lara cut her off as she raised her hand.
"No matter," Lara continued without batting an eyelid, "I intend to finish this…"
She sent the flustered Spinnel employee a breezy smile.
"On the bright side I can take on all three Angels…" she said brightly.
For the first time, the blonde Angel allowed her true emotions to show. Her lips curled back into an arrogant smirk as malice and cruelty lit up her crystal blue eyes.
"This," she said slowly as her smile broadened, "Should be fun."
Lilia felt a shiver down her back as Lara smirked at her, her blue eyes dancing with wicked mirth.
"Happy?" she asked arching a perfect eyebrow.
Lilia nodded curtly.
"Just get the job done."
Lara sent her one last smile before getting up.
"Then I guess I should get started."
Gracefully she turned around and sashayed out of Lilia's office, sending William a playful smirk as she passed. Her smirk alone was enough to cause the man to flush and stutter incoherently as she exited the building altogether. After the rouge Angel had left, Lilia sighed in relief before plonking herself down onto her expensive leather chair.
Even though she knew that Lara was probably the best person to take care of the Angels, she had to admit to herself she dreaded dealing with the woman.
Lara was evil.
Even more than she was.
And that scared the hell out of her.
Nivaline Sarah Thomas glanced at the dilapidated apartment building standing in front of her; once more she looked down at the piece of wrinkled paper she held in her hands.
"This is it…" she murmured as the busy Hong Kong road behind her unleashed a fresh torrent of honks and Cantonese curses.
Taking a deep breath, the ex-Angel walked up to the battered wooden door and knocked sharply.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
The Elder waited for an answer as she pondered the best way to go about this. However before she could come up with a working plan, the door swung open revealing a dark-haired woman with wary teal eyes that took in her visitor.
"Yes?" the woman, which Nivaline knew was Kiyone Miller said coldly.
"Kiyone Miller?" Nivaline asked cautiously just to make sure.
To the normal person there was no change in Kiyone's body posture but Nivaline's eyes picked up the slightest bit of movement as the woman slowly shifted into a stance that would allow her to spring forwards at the slightest hint of danger.
"You may not know me but I'm Nivaline Sarah Thomas," Nivaline continued.
Kiyone blinked at the familiar name.
"I was an Angel," Nivaline added softly, "The one you were sent to replace. I was… injured."
"Oh," Kiyone stared at her, her voice a ghost of a whisper, "Oh… god."
"So what happens now?" Chelsea wanted to know.
The three Angels stared at each other.
"Syaoran," Tomoyo said suddenly.
Her friends nodded.
"Okay, we'll contact him now," Sakura decided, "He'll help us shift them to a safe house.
The three Angels stood up from their positions on the couch as Chelsea grip Zachary's hand tightly trying to reassure him.
"Okay," Tomoyo sent Sakura's friends an encouraging grin, "You're coming with us."
Meiling sighed and rolled her eyes.
"Man, is one big disaster after another!" she complained, "Don't we ever get time off."
"Save world," Sakura reminded her sending her friend a smirk knowing full well why she was complaining, "Vacation later."
Tomoyo ignored them and turned to Zachary.
"We have to go," she said gently, "Now."
Zachary nodded and stood up as well, still pale and slightly shaking as Sakura sent her friend a worried look but remained silent. Chelsea stood up as Diana followed suit. Tomoyo eyed Diana thoughtfully for a few seconds, realising something they hadn't thought of before.
"Wait," Tomoyo said softly to Diana, "I think you can stay here."
"But… Lilia…" Sakura protested.
"Lilia wants Zachary gone, she has nothing against Diana," Tomoyo reminded her friend, "I think it will be safer it she stays."
Diana was obviously reluctant to leave her friends and remained silent for a few seconds, internally debating her choices as Meiling spoke up.
"It would be easier for us to protect Zachary and Chelsea if there are less of you," she pointed out from a strategic point of view.
That clinched it. Diana nodded her assent as Sakura shot her friend a small smile.
"Thanks," she said gently knowing how hard it was to stay behind.
Diana sent a small nervous smile towards them.
"Be careful," she said softly, "All of you."
Zachary nodded his thanks before Tomoyo gently ushered him out of the door followed by his wife, Sakura and Meiling brought up the rear as Diana watched them go, a worried look marring her beautiful face.
"Don't worry," the man who had been sitting with them said.
Diana turned around and faced the handsome man, she hadn't been formally introduced to him but had heard Sakura called him Marcus a few times.
"How?" she asked faintly.
Marcus sent her a warm smile.
"They'll protect them," he reassured her with all the confidence in the world, "It's what they do."
Psuedo-Sakura sighed as she suddenly materialised on the edges of a dark serene lake.
"Not you again," she growled tapping her feet impatiently, "Hurry up already! I've got places to be, Angels to bash up."
A dot of silver light manifested itself just above the face of the lake, throwing silver light onto the water surface creating a sparkling multitude of glistening ripples in the dark water. The glowing slowly faded as a large figure emerged from the depths of the orb of light.
"My champion," Yue said simply.
"Bite me," Psuedo-Sakura growled.
A cold smile appeared on Yue's face.
"You know I created you and just as easily I can destroy you," Yue said almost conversationally.
Psuedo-Sakura sneered at him.
"But you need me to test the Angels so sorry Yue, not going to bow to your oh-so-holier-than-thou aura," Psuedo-Sakura shot back, "What's up?"
"The Angels have their next clue," Yue continued calmly.
"Duh," Psuedo-Sakura snapped, "Tell me something I don't know."
"You have to try and hinder their process," Yue told her.
"And what else is new around here?" Psuedo-Sakura arched an eyebrow as Yue stared at her calmly with his pale blue eyes.
"This time your target is not the Angels."
"Okay…" Psuedo-Sakura frowned, "Big with the huh?"
"It's these two," Yue held up his left hand as a ball of white light gathered in the air just above his palm as Psuedo-Sakura looked on the shape of the ball warped and twisted slowly changing into a large glowing rectangle. The light shifted and seethed before slowly fading revealing an image in its death.
A young man with greyish-black hair and a woman with dark red chestnut hair braided into two ponytails dominated the rectangle as Psuedo-Sakura stared at him.
"And who are the lucky couple?" she demanded.
"Zachary Yamazaki and his wife, Chelsea," Yue explained, "They're your next targets. You may kidnap them but you may not harm not physically, magically, emotionally or mentally."
"How about sexually?" Psuedo-Sakura smirked.
Yue fixed her with his piercing eyes as the doppelganger shrugged.
"You're the boss," she gave him a small salute.
Yue gestured with his right hand and white light burst from Psuedo-Sakura's body.
"See you in a while!" Psuedo-Sakura said cheerfully before disappearing.
She had a new mission to complete.
Nivaline rearranged her emerald green dress for perhaps the a thousandth time as Kiyone sat across from her staring at the other woman without saying a word.
"Umm… nice…" Nivaline looked around and studied the mould-covered slightly damp walls of the dilapidated room.
She paused searching for a polite term.
"Hole?" Kiyone asked wryly, "Dump? Don't worry. I don't live here, this is a temporary base."
"What are you doing here?" Nivaline asked fixing her with piercing hazel-green eyes.
"Triad," Kiyone said casually, "Bastards whacked this innocent kid's father. I'm here for revenge with a vengeance."
"Aren't you bloodthirsty," Nivaline shot back with a smirk.
Kiyone laughed.
"Why are you here?" she demanded.
Nivaline sighed.
"Lara's resurfaced."
Kiyone stared at her.
"Who?"'
Nivaline stared back at her.
"You don't know?" she demanded.
Kiyone shook her head slowly.
"Don't know what?"
The ex-Angel sighed.
"You better get ready cause I'm going to tell you a little story," and with that Nivaline took a deep breath, "See… this is how Nadeshiko really died…"
'Well, this is a problem…' Syaoran said slowly over the speaker box.
The three Angels exchanged looks. Their boss was usually calm and collected ready to roll with the punches, seldom have they seen him startled by a new revelation.
"Problem?" Meiling snorted, "More like a catastrophe."
Sakura caught a quick glimpse of the panic that flitted across Chelsea's face before she stomped it down and hid it with a mask of icy calm, wishing she could take her friends' pain away, Sakura glared at Meiling.
"Not helping," she hissed.
'Transfer them to the safe house is Los Angeles,' Syaoran commanded them, 'I'll have someone pick them up and relocate them to a safer area. Be quick about it, time is of the essence.'
The three Angels nodded even though their boss couldn't see them.
"Okay," Sakura replied.
'Good luck Angels,' Syaoran said gently.
"Thanks Syaoran!" the three girls chorused before the indicator light on the speaker box went dull.
Standing up, the three Angels turned to Zachary and Chelsea.
"Come on let's go," Sakura urged them, "You never know who might appear next and try to…"
"Oh no," a familiar voice drawled, "You ain't going anywhere, bitch."
Sakura whirled around as her face drained of all colour.
"You…" she whispered, "How…"
Tomoyo, Meiling, Zachary and Chelsea stared at the woman standing at the entrance of the room in confusion. Framed in the doorway, the woman smirked at them, her sapphire eyes dancing with malice.
"Hey, this place never changes," the woman mused, "Brings back so many fond memories… not."
"Sakura," Tomoyo said calmly, "Who is this?"
"Lara Williams."
Marcus Ruflac laughed as one of his employees reported the events of this morning's assassination attempt to him.
"Oh how sweet," the Russian mob leader drawled, "The ruthless Eriol Hiragizawa protecting an Angel… tell me, do you think he's in love with one of them?"
His employee shrugged as Ruflac continued to muse.
"I wondered how it happened?" he thought out loud, "Did she seduce him… no, no… these 'Angels' are too pure to do that… maybe Eriol is a desperate love-sick fool who'll bed the first thing that comes wearing a dress… yes, yes that's it."
Ruflac sighed.
"Guess I'll have to do this by myself," Ruflac paused, "Who should I take out first? The Angels or Eriol?"
His employee shrugged again as Ruflac thought for a few seconds.
"Maybe I should let fate decide," the mob leader reached into his pockets and pulled out a coin, "So… Angel for heads and Eriol for tails?"
Not giving his employee a chance to reply, Marcus Ruflac flipped the coin. Snagging the coin in the midair, he flipped it over and slapped it onto the back of his wrist.
"Well, well," he grinned from ear-to-ear, "Heads, Angels it is. Tell my man to get geared it, we've got some killing to do."
His employee bowed respectfully to him before turning around and preparing to leave his boss's temporary office.
"Wait," Marcus Ruflac called.
The man turned around.
"I'll tell them myself," Ruflac calmly pulled out a gun from his jacket pocket and fired it.
His employee had no time to react as the bullet tore through his head, blood sprayed onto the walls as he collapsed to the ground into a bloody heap. Ruflac smiled with icy malice as he put his gun away.
"I hate failures," he told the dead corpse before standing up from behind his desk and making his way to the door of his office.
Leaving the body behind, Ruflac went to rally his troops.
Kiyone stared at her as Nivaline finished her story.
"Where is she?" Kiyone demanded obviously furious.
"U.S.," Nivaline said calmly, "My contacts has being keeping an eye on her.
As if on cue, a cheerful ring tone filled the air as both ex-Angels jumped. Kiyone smiled as she recognised the tune.
"The theme to 'the Little Mermaid'?" she asked with an arched eyebrow.
Nivaline blushed as she hastened to answer her mobile. Pulling the vibrating phone out of her pocket, she hit the call button and put it to her ear.
"Yes, it's me," she paused as she listened to something, "What?!? Are you sure?!? Absolutely? Oh damn… yeah, keep watching her. Yes! I'll be straight there!"
Nivaline hung up and instantly stood up.
"Crap," she swore loudly.
"What's wrong?" Kiyone demanded jumping up as well, "Who was that?"
"One of my contacts, she was keeping an eye on Lara," Nivaline took a deep breath before dropping the bombshell, "Lara's in L.A., she at the office."
Kiyone stared at her.
"As in the Angels office?" she asked incredulously.
"Yep."
"Damn."
There was a shocked silence before both ex-Angels leapt into action.
"We need to get to L.A.," Kiyone sighed in frustration, "NOW!"
"Come on then!" Nivaline raced for the door, "I've got a plan!"
Running as fast as they could, the Angels dashed out the doors with one intent in their minds: crushing Lara Williams.
Eriol watched calmly as Marcus Ruflac exited the opulent mansion, which he had made his headquarters.
Little did the Russian mob leader knew Eriol was tailing him, watching his every move if Ruflac even dared to try and go after Tomoyo again…
The cold-blooded assassin smiled humourlessly.
"He would have to die," he whispered to himself calmly.
Ringed by a variable army of bodyguards, Ruflac opened the door to a black limousine with tinted windows and entered it before slamming the door shut firmly. His guards quickly got into several black Jeeps and after a few more seconds, two Jeeps sped off with the limousine trailing behind it, another two Jeeps serving as a rearguard.
=Looks like Ruflac is on the move= Eriol mused before starting the engine to his car and began tailing the entourage careful to keep out of sight.
The hunter had just become the hunted.
"The one and only," Lara smirked.
The rogue Angel was wearing a thick fur coat that seemed to be made off lynx fur judging by the pattern of the fabric, Lara slowly shrugged the coat off as she began talking.
"Now imagine how amazed and incredibly furious I was at learning Nadeshiko's daughter was still alive," Lara casually tossed the coat away to the side revealing her slinky black silk shirt and pants, "Congratulations darling, you're the first person to escape from me alive."
Lara slowly shifted into a battle stance as she tossed Sakura a smirk.
"But don't think it'll happen twice," she growled.
"Get Zachary and Chelsea out of here," Sakura commanded, "I'll handle this."
"But…" Meiling began.
"GO!" Sakura cut her off.
Tomoyo and Meiling traded looks before grabbing Zachary and Chelsea's arm and dragging off through another doorway as Lara grinned at Sakura, malevolence burning in her brilliant blue eyes.
"Guess it's you and me," Lara sneered before leaping at her.
Sakura blocked her first punch and delivered a shot snap-kick to Lara's chest. The rogue Angel stumbled backwards and quickly recovered throwing a haymaker at Sakura. The blow caught her in the ribs as Sakura winced but recovered quickly spin-kicking Lara in the gut.
There was a slight truce as both of them broke off their fight and began circling each other slowly.
"So tell me honey," Lara drawled, "Is this your lucky day?"
"It is now,' Sakura snapped back.
She leapt into a flying kick that hit Lara in the face.
"Bitch!" the rogue Angel roared, "My face!"
"Correction," Sakura smirked at her, "You leg!"
She snap kicked the woman in the knee causing another howl of pain from the rogue Angel before dancing out of Lara's reach.
"You'll pay for that!" Lara yelled.
She charged forwards and before Sakura could react grabbed her in an iron-hard bear tackle, lifting the Angel clear off her feet Lara charged forwards.
"Oof!"
The wind was driven from Sakura's gut as Lara slammed her into the desk sending the speaker box flying backwards. Lifting up the battered Angel again, Lara hurled her onto the desk surface and pinning her there with one arm began punching her over and over again with the other.
"How does it feel now?" Lara roared in her face as she punched Sakura in the face.
Sakura gathered up all her strength and jerked herself to the left as Lara tried to punch her again instead her fist crashed onto the desktop. Taking advantage of the rogue Angel's pain, Sakura threw Lara off her and leapt up standing still on top of the desk as Lara hit the ground with immense force.
"See Lara things are different now," Sakura smirked, "I've learnt so new tricks."
"You'll need more than a rabbit out of a hat to beat me," Lara growled back flipping up back onto her feet.
"Oh… I think you'll love this," Sakura ripped the Clow key and chain off her neck as confusion flickered across Lara's face.
"Real nice jewellery and all," Lara faked a yawn, "But boring!"
"Key of Stars with powers burning bright! Reveal the staff and shine your light!"
Lara gasped in shock as the key glowed and lengthened as an unnatural wind swirled around the young Angel. Gold light burst from the key before fading and revealing the Star Wand.
"SHOT CARD!" the card almost seemed to magically appear in Sakura's hands as she hurled the card into the air in her front of her, "ATTACK LARA! RELEASE AND DISPEL!"
Bright light burst from the card as the wand made contact with its surface, Sakura smirked as a jagged ball of yellow energy burst from the card as Lara stared at in shock.
"What the…" the rogue Angel had no time to react as a huge burst of yellow energy blasted out from the Clow spirit and hit her in the chest.
Energy crackled furiously as it wrapped itself around her body throwing Lara backwards flying through the air. She crashed into the wall with enough force to do some structural damage to the wall.
Sakura performed a perfect front flip as she leapt off the desk and landed gracefully onto the polished wooden floor despite the bruises that marred her body.
"What's wrong Lara?" Sakura questioned, "Get handle little old me?"
"No."
To Sakura's amazement Lara sprang lightly onto her feet as though she had been shoved through a wall with enough force to put a hole in the plaster. Sakura's eyes widened in shock as she saw that Lara's normally blue eyes were now pitch ebony black. Even her voice had changed; it became more guttural… less human.
Even as Sakura watched the woman's golden tresses soon became darker as strands of black hair appeared.
"I think the question is do you think you can handle me!" Lara roared as she exploded forwards and punched Sakura in the gut.
It felt like getting by a truck, Sakura was clearly lifted up in the air and sent flying backwards in an almost perfect arc before hitting the ceiling with devastating force, the Star wand flying out of her hands. Gravity told hold of her body and yanked the Angel down onto the ground smashing her against the hard surface as broken plaster from the ruined ceiling above rained down on her.
Lara laughed as her voice become more and more rough.
"Didn't think so," she smirked as she sashayed over to Sakura's prone body, "Sorry honey, but time's up for you."
And with that Lara calmly grabbed Sakura's neck and began choking the life out of the American Angel.
"Who was that?" Chelsea demanded as Tomoyo navigated the busy L.A. streets.
"Lara Williams," Meiling said grimly from her position riding shotgun with Tomoyo.
Driving the Yamazakis to the safe house whilst her friend was battling the monster who had killed her mother was not an experience Meiling ever hoped to repeat. Her stress level was way up and she wished somehow she could help her friend.
Quickly turning into a quiet inner street devoid of all cars, Tomoyo glanced at her friend.
"Don't worry, she'll be fine," Tomoyo reassured her, "She's a good fighter and she's got the cards…"
Meiling's eyes lit up.
"That's it!" she said happily, "Cards! I'll send one of them over to hel…"
Tomoyo's eyes widened in shock as she spotted a familiar-looking figure standing in the middle of the road blocking them off.
"Or you better keep them with you," she said grimly.
Meiling followed her friend's gaze and looked out the windshield, standing in the middle of the road was…
"Psuedo-Sakura," she hissed.
The doppelganger smiled back at them.
"Hey!" she said giving them a little wave.
In response Tomoyo gunned the engine and sped up. The car shot forwards straight at the doppelganger as Meiling watched carefully knowing full well what was going to happen.
White light enveloped the doppelganger as Meiling gripped the tiny butterfly bracelet that was around her wrist tightly ready to summon the Clow sword at the slightest hint of danger.
"Boo," a familiar voice said behind her wickedly.
Meiling twisted in her seat as white light suddenly emerged from thin air right over the empty seat inside the car. The light faded as Psuedo-Sakura smirked at her from between Chelsea and Zachary.
"Oh…" Tomoyo swore loudly as she stared at the doppelganger's reflection in the rear-view mirror.
"That wasn't nice," Psuedo-Sakura noted.
Meiling lunged forwards as best as she could and punched the doppelganger in the face as Chelsea screamed trying to get as far away as possible from the freaky copy of her friend that sat next to her. Zachary elbowed Psuedo-Sakura in the side of the face as Meiling punched her again.
"Ow!" Psuedo-Sakura growled annoyed directing her question towards Zachary, "You're so lucky Yue made me promise not to hurt you or…"
To prove her point she rammed her fist through the window Zachary was sitting next to, glass shattered as Tomoyo swore again.
"Hang on!" she yelled speeding up the car as fast as it would go.
"Stop it!" Psuedo-Sakura growled annoyed as Meiling hit her again.
Meiling swung at her for another blow but Sakura's counterpart grabbed her fist and punched the Asian Angel in the face with enough force to make her vision go grey.
The car's engine roared and the car shook as the speedometer went in excess of 120km/h, suddenly with no warning at all Tomoyo hit the brakes.
The car jerked forwards as its occupants were flung forwards.
Zachary and Chelsea's head slammed into the relatively soft fabric of the front two seats' headrests but Meiling and Tomoyo were not so lucky.
Tomoyo cracked her head against the steering wheel before her seatbelt jerked her backwards slamming her back into the seat. Meiling, who had turned in her seat to attack Psuedo-Sakura was flung backwards her left shoulder slamming into the windshield creating a series of small cracks as the Asian Angel grimaced in pain before her seatbelt pulled her back into her seat.
Psuedo-Sakura learnt the hard way about the advantages of wearing seatbelts in a car, the sudden stopping of the car flung her forwards her inertia carrying her frontward with surprising speed as she cursed loudly.
"Oh dam…" she had enough time to say before she was flung straight through the windshield of car, shattered glass tearing into her body.
Her body sailed through the air and landed in a bloody heap onto the road as Meiling turned around gritting her teeth as her shoulder began bleeding.
"You okay?" she asked.
Zachary nodded, his face pale as Chelsea whimpered gently.
"Gun it," Meiling commanded.
Tomoyo nodded ignoring the throbbing headache she had as she gunned the engine. The car jerked in action shooting forwards running Psuedo-Sakura over in the process as they sped away.
Lying battered and broken on the road, Psuedo-Sakura's hand twitched ever so slightly.
"Owwww…" she moaned slowly staggered to her feet, her wounds already healing themselves.
She looked down at her ruined clothes and swore loudly.
"Okay," she growled her dark emerald eyes sparkling with rage, "Now I'm annoyed."
In a burst of white light, the doppelganger disappeared.
Deep inside the labyrinth of corridors and offices that made up Spinnel Corporation Headquarters, Mr. Noir, the mysterious and notorious boss of the corrupted company sat inside his darkened office his concentration focused solely on what thing.
Black candles threw eerie shadows onto the few patches of wall their dim light lit up. The smell of burnt herbs hung heavily in the air as a mysterious wind from an unknown source rustled the thick, heavy drapes that covered the windows.
"Dark forces," he whispered, his voice guttural and almost sounding like the growling of a savage animal, "Grant my vessel strength, endurance and invulnerability. She shall triumph whilst others fall. She shall defeat all. She shall be all mighty, all powerful."
He held up something to the large black candle that dominated his desk, a photo of a young woman with long blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes… Lara Williams.
"Let her be strong and wrathful. Let her wield the darkest powers known to man," Mr. Noir continued, "Until this day ends and night reign supreme, my vessel Lara Williams…"
He held the photo up to the candle flame and watched as it burned, blue and black smoke pouring into the air. One by one, the candle flames dotting the room blew out as a strong gust of wind swept through the room.
Taking a deep breath, Mr. Noir finished the last words to his dark spell.
"… shall be invincible."
He watched as candle flame suddenly flared devouring the whole photo as thunder rumbled outside. Suddenly the candle died out plunging the room into darkness.
"So mote it be."
The door to the Angel's office burst open as an army of heavily armed thugs charged in, their combat boots pounding against the hard wooden floor.
Lara turned around as a ring of armed men surrounded her, each of their weapons trained on the rogue Angel.
"Do you mind?" Lara demanded her voice thick with rage, "I'm busy!"
"Back off," a commanding voice told her, "She's mine."
Lara turned to look at the man standing in front of her, dressed in a black suit Marcus Ruflac eyed the obviously deranged woman curiously rather than with fear. Wondering who she was, he spoke up again.
"She's mine," he repeated.
"Grab a ticket and join the queue," Lara's eyes lit up as she realised who she was speaking to, "Ahhh… Marcus Ruflac… Russian mob leader formally a KGB agent… so how is Mother Russia?"
"Doing fine," Marcus Ruflac snapped, "And who are you?"
Lara smirked at her.
"Death," she hissed.
Before anyone could react, Lara exploded forwards acting with incredible speed and reflexes a ring of bodyguards immediately surrounded Marcus Ruflac guns blazing. Lara laughed insanely as she charged through the wall of bullets not caring they were ripping into her body, she grabbed the first gunmen around the neck and with a flick of her wrist broke it.
Dumping the body on the ground, she kicked out at three others crushing their ribcages with the force of her kick.
It was a slaughter, no matter how many bullets they fired at her Lara ploughed straight them. Every blow she landed was a deathblow, Ruflac's guards dropped like flies as Lara laughed enjoying the sudden power she felt.
"I don't know how I got this power but…" Lara laughed, "I don't care! I'm feeling on top of the world baby!"
She backhanded the last bodyguard with enough force to break his neck, kicking the body away Lara sashayed over to Ruflac.
"Hey baby," she drawled, "What's hanging?"
Ruflac was pale and trembling as he stared in terror at the woman who had torn through his bodyguards without breaking a sweat.
"Hmmm…" Lara stopped right in front of him, "Not bad."
She walked around his body, studying him.
"Not bad at all," Lara purred, "Guess what honey? It's your lucky day."
Before Ruflac could react Lara leaned forwards and kissed him on the lips. Gripping his face with her two perfectly manicured hands, she pressed her body against him as black energy erupted from her skin.
Marcus Ruflac's body jerked as the energy touched his skin, wrapping itself around him like a living serpent before turning into a black mist and seeping into his skin. Lara broke the kiss and took a step back.
"You're going to be my lucky helper," Lara purred as Marcus Ruflac's eyes snapped open, his eyes as dark as hers.
"Yes," his voice raspy and sounding like the hiss of a deadly cobra, "I am yours, my liege."
Lara laughed and kissed him again. Ruflac grabbed her and pressed her body against his as they deepened their dark kiss power thrumming in the air around them. Caught up in the lust roaring through their bodies they were unaware that Sakura was slowly coming to her senses.
"Owww…" she groaned, her voice sore, "What…"
Her eyes widened in shock as she saw the corpse that lay on the ground around her, looking up she saw…
"Marcus Ruflac?" she gasped, "What…"
Her eyes widened in shock seeing Lara and him kiss, the air around them crackling with dark energy. Quickly she looked around desperately for her wand, knowing she was helpless without it. Spotting it laying amongst the rubble several metres away she raced towards it and scooped it up as she kept a wary eye on the kissing duo all the while planning her next move.
"Hey honey," Lara broke off the kiss and turned around smirking at Sakura, "She's awake."
"Not for long," Marcus Ruflac held out his hand, energy crackling between his fingers.
Sakura's eyes widened in shock as a bolt of dark energy blasted forwards. Throwing herself to the right, she barely managed to miss the air as it slammed into the wall and exploded creating a giant burning crater.
"SHIELD CARD! RELEASE AND DISPEL!" Sakura yelled as Marcus Ruflac fired another bolt of energy.
A sparkling dome of blue energy appeared around her as the dark energy slammed into it before being deflected away straight back at the dark duo. Lara laughed as she gestured with her hand, the energy disappeared as Sakura gasped in shock.
"Damn…" Sakura quickly chose another card, "MOVE! GET ME OUT OF HERE! RELEASE AND DISPEL!"
Before Lara and Ruflac could react, bright light consumed Sakura's body and she disappeared.
"She got away," Lara pouted turning to Ruflac.
Ruflac smirked at her.
"Not for long."
Tendrils of crackling black energy burst from his fingertips and wrapped themselves around the couple, embracing them in a sphere of black energy. A clap of thunder split the air as with a huge plume of black smoke, the two disappeared.
Emerging from his hiding spot behind door, Eriol looked around at all the dead bodies on the ground and the destruction Lara and Ruflac had caused.
"Damn," he said calmly, "We're not going to live through this."
And with that he walked away trying to come up with a new plan to stop the now all-powerful Ruflac.
There had to be a way.
"This is your plan!?!" Kiyone demanded shocked.
Nivaline nodded.
"A temple hidden in the middle of a metropolitan disguised as a run down apartment?" Kiyone demanded again, her eyes bulging, "What the hell are you doing?!?"
"Chill," Nivaline told her as an old man wearing a dark orange robe entered the dimly light room.
The scent of burning incense hung in the air sweetening the air with its fragrance as Kiyone looked around staring at the many religious symbols scattered around the room. Religious symbols of all kind was placed around the room, symbols used by Christians, Jewish, Hindus, Buddhists, Catholics, Muslims and some that Kiyone didn't even know existed were all proudly displayed with none being more important than the other.
"Harmony…" Kiyone whispered looking around in awe, "God… this is…"
"Beautiful?" Nivaline nodded looking around as well, "This is a place of beautiful where all races and religions are respected. If only the world could do the same…"
"I have made the necessary arrangements, Elder," the old man said respectfully bowing towards Nivaline, "Please come with me."
"So what has this got to do with getting to L.A.?" Kiyone asked following the man down a series of dark corridors.
"You'll see," Nivaline said serenely.
The man pushed open a wooden door as he stepped aside allowing them to enter. As the two women walked through the doorway, he came in after them closing the door behind him.
Men and women of all different races sat in a circle around the room, each of them dressed in the same dark orange as the man who had led them here. Nivaline walked into the centre of the circle as Kiyone followed suit looking at the ring of people warily.
The man who had been their guide through the 'temple' sat down onto the ground, cross-legged like all the men and women closing off the ring.
"Just keep calm," Nivaline whispered calmly.
"Why?" Kiyone asked curiously staring at her.
"Just do it."
Suddenly Kiyone was aware of the fact that the men and women had begun chanting. Their words were foreign to her but were beautiful in a way she couldn't describe, it sounded like an ancient language somehow drawing forth images of crashing waterfalls and lush emerald forest from Kiyone's mind as it became louder and louder. Suddenly the smell of burning incense floated into her nose as a bright light poured into the circle.
Startled Kiyone looked around searching for the source and was astonished to find it was from the ring of men and women. Their skin seemed to glow with white light as their dark orange robes disappeared amongst the lustre.
"What…" Kiyone's voice was abruptly cut off as with a huge flash of white light, the world around her segued and seethed.
Her vision went black as Kiyone had the strangest feeling she was falling forwards but she never hit the ground instead she stumbled through time and space falling forever and ever and ever and…
"BANG!"
Her head snapped backwards as light flooded into her eyes.
"AHHH!" she yelped in pain as she blinked trying to clear her vision.
"It's a bit disorientating at first," Nivaline said calmly, "But you get use to it."
Kiyone blinked a few more times before looking around in astonishment. They were standing in the middle of what looked like a demolished office building, bodies lay on the ground as flames danced up the length of one wall, which had a gaping black crater in it.
"Where are we?" she demanded.
"Why the City of Angels of course."
"WHAT?!?"
In the misty realms of the limbo, the Beast of Seal Kerberos was freaking out.
"OH MY GOD!!!!"
"What is it?" Nadeshiko demanded looking around in panic, "What's going on?"
"The Void card… it's powers…" Kerberos gasped as he sensed the dark energy conveying onto the mortal world.
"What about the Void card… it's Sakura okay?" Nadeshiko demanded, "Kerberos, what's wrong?"
"It's…. the power… it's being channelled," Kerberos paled as he realised what was happening, "The Void card's energy and power is being channelled into a vessel!"
"Who? Who's the vessel?"
Kerberos looked up at her in horror.
"Lara Williams."
"Holy…" Kiyone looked around, "What the hell happened here?"
"Wait," Nivaline stopped, "I told the monks to send us to the Angel's office…"
There was a small pause as the two women stared at each other realisation sinking in.
"What the hell happened?" Kiyone demanded.
Nivaline looked around.
"I don't know," she admitted.
"What? You can magically teleport us to L.A. all the way from Hong Kong but you can't figure this out?!?" Kiyone was getting really worked up, "FIGURE IT OUT!"
Nivaline rolled her eyes and ignored her as she poked around in the rubble.
"Wait…" she stopped as she looked around, "I can feel it…"
Nivaline gasped as she concentrated.
"The dark powers…" she keeled over as though she was in pain, "It's here… it's so strong…"
"Nivaline?" Kiyone asked tentatively as Nivaline gasped again.
"It was here!" she yelled suddenly, "Oh god! How? How? How?"
"Nivaline!" Kiyone grabbed the woman gently and shook her, "What's wrong?"
"The Void card," Nivaline stared at her with wide horrified eyes, "It was here… I can feel it."
"The Void card?"
Tomoyo parked in front of the safe house as she clutched her head trying to soothe her headache.
"Ow…" she moaned.
Meiling glanced worriedly at her.
"I'm fine!" Tomoyo protested, "Hurry up! Get them inside."
Meiling nodded and opened her door as Zachary and Chelsea followed suit. Meiling quickly herded the couple into building as Tomoyo slowly got out of hers.
"Ow…" she wobbled unsteadily on her feet as she staggered towards the door of the building, her vision spinning crazily.
Meiling opened the door and directed Zachary and Chelsea inside as she waited for Tomoyo to follow her. Tomoyo sent her friend a small smile of reassurance before staggering inside.
Familiar with the layout of the safe house, Tomoyo made it to the 'living room' of the building before collapsing into one of the chairs.
"Ow…" she moaned gently touching the bump on her head.
"So what happens next?" Zachary asked quietly, the first time he had spoken in a long time.
Glancing worriedly at the obviously worn out man, Meiling thought for a few seconds.
"Usually we would leave you here and Syaoran would arrange your travel plans but since Psuedo-Sakura and Lara was running around, I guess we're staying here with you."
Chelsea nodded, grateful for the extra protection. Opening her mouth to ask a question, Chelsea was cut off as a ball of white light appeared from thin air.
Meiling and Tomoyo froze as the ball of white light expanded in size before fading away revealing a familiar figure.
"Sakura?" Chelsea asked astonished.
Sakura coughed weakly and collapsed onto the floor as Meiling rushed forwards to help her onto her feet.
Obviously badly injured, Meiling directed her friend towards a chair and made her seat down.
"What happened?" Zachary asked worried, "Are you okay?"
Sakura nodded as she massaged her bruised throat.
"I'm fine," she said hoarsely, "Lara managed to hurt me but I got away…"
"Good," Tomoyo sighed, "We've lost Lara."
"I don't think so," Sakura looked up at them.
Meiling and Tomoyo stared recognising the look in Sakura's eyes: fear. It was fear that caused her eyes to darken; it was fear that caused her battered body to tremble slightly.
"What's wrong?" Meiling demanded.
"Lara… she's…" Sakura searched for the right time, "Powerful. She threw a punch and it knocked me across the room. Her eyes and hair are all black… it's like she's been possessed and when Ruflac showed up…"
"RUFLAC?!?" Tomoyo gasped, "Oh god, how many people are coming back for revenge?"
"Ruflac's bodyguards… I think were all killed… by her and they had guns with them," Sakura paused to allow them to digest this piece of information, "They were dead… their necks broken… and she and Ruflac kissed and it was like he was possessed as well. He tried to kill me with a blast of dark energy, I dodged it but it took a good chunk out of the wall."
Zachary, Chelsea, Meiling and Tomoyo stared at Sakura.
"Are you sure?" Tomoyo asked gently.
Sakura smiled wryly.
"I've got the wounds to prove it."
"Oh god," Chelsea whispered, "But how?"
"Isn't that the million dollar question?" Meiling muttered.
"How do we deal with them?" Zachary demanded, "What…"
Before he could continue, the door to the safe house swung open as everybody froze. Sakura clutched her Star wand tightly as the sound of footsteps floated to their ears.
Meiling jumped up out of her seat as she shifted into a battle stance ready to attack, the footsteps faded as someone appeared at the doorway of the living room.
The Angels eyes widened in shock.
Sakura gasped as she stared at the familiar face.
"Xiaolang?" she choked.
CLIFFHANGER!!!!!
Next chapter:
As Xiaolang helps the Angels defeat the awesome might of Void-possessed Marcus Ruflac, Eriol meets a mysterious woman who claims that he is Clow Reed and offers her help in destroy Ruflac. At the same time, Psuedo-Sakura and Alicia Rueben go head-on-head as they try to go after Zachary at the same time. But Lara is never lurking far and when she mistakes Psuedo-Sakura for the real one, the fight of century is about to begin… find out what happens next in Dark Things.
A/Note:
Sorry about the massive delay but exams… (sigh). I really should be studying but instead I'm writing this but who's complaining?
Anyway, this chapter is a bit shorter than the one before but that's probably to do with the whole exam/stress thing, sorry! But I think the next chapter will be fairly long.
And for those who have been asking, another CCS character is about to appear as for Yukio/Julian and Tori/Touya… well they won't appear in this story but will appear in the sequel…
And I will repeat again, I will finish this story by in about 31 chapters, meaning that there is around 5-6 chapters left!!!!
