Chapter 13
"We're on equal terms as of now," said Sakura. "We both have no cards in our hands, and we have 3 cards face-down on the field and no monsters."
"Our next moves will decide the game," smiled TK. "You ready? It's your move, Sakura."
She nodded, putting her hand on her next card. "TK, before I make this move…I want to thank you."
This was something obviously unexpected by TK. Sakura was his friend, but she was also his opponent. She wasn't supposed to thank him, especially not in the middle of a duel. "What do you mean?" the boy asked. The card captor smiled.
"For being a worthy duelist," she told him. "And for helping me get into this game. No matter what the outcome is of this game, I'm happy to say that you'll be more than capable of rescuing Kari."
"Sakura…" whispered TK. She reminded him so much of his best friend that it was beginning to scare him. She was very optimistic, and would show compassion for her opponent in the middle of her duel. She never wanted to make enemies, but friends. Always friends…
Nine-year-old TK laughed as he and Kari played in the sandbox at the park together. Their brothers had decided to get together over the weekend to catch up on old times. Matt and Tai had both left to get their younger siblings some ice cream.
"TK, you're sitting on you sandcastle," giggled Kari.
"It's not a castle. It's a chair," laughed TK. "My castles always end up smushed anyway. I like to make piles."
"Piles of sand? That's so boring," Kari told him. "This was so much more fun with Patamon and Gatomon."
"I know," TK agreed. "After we went back and gave up our crests, remember what happened after that?"
"Yeah, the Digital World became so pretty," Kari recalled. "We went to the Beach where Agumon first digivolved into Greymon, and played there for hours."
The two of them sighed, remembering the good times they had with their digimon partners. Just then, a large boy about 10 years old walked up to TK. He was tall for a ten year old, around 5 feet tall to be exact. His hair was brown and messy, and he had a big nose. His t-shirt was a size too small for him, and his pants were a size too big. He walked over to the young blonde boy and picked him up by the collar.
"Gimme your money, you twerp," he demanded. "Or I'll hafta…do stuff to ya. Hey, you're that TK kid in my class!"
"Class?" asked Kari.
"He's been held back a year," TK told her. "Listen, Kane, I don't have money!"
"Sure ya don't," chuckled Kane. "Hand it over or I'll hafta give you a wedgie!"
"Here," Kari told him, handing him a 100 yen bill. (A/N: That's about a dollar, right?)
"Huh?" he asked, taking it from her. "Why'd you give me this?"
"First, I'd like you to put down my best friend," she told him. Kane dropped TK to the ground. "Why do you want this money so badly?"
"I wanted to buy some ice cream," he told her. "What's it to you?"
"If you wanted ice cream, you could have asked," said Kari. TK sat there astonished. His best friend was standing up to the school bully. "My brother is getting some for us. We could have saved you the trouble of trying to take money from other people if you had only asked us." Kane stood there dumbfounded.
"But no one ever wants to give me their money," said Kane.
"You're not used to this 'being nice' business, are you?" giggled Kari. "They won't give you money because you're mean. If you try making friends, then they'll help you out. For example, TK's my best friend, and I'd stand up for him no matter what the circumstance. And I know he'd so the same. He's done it before."
"Gee, I never thought of it that way," Kane told her, scratching his head. "Can you be my friend too?"
"If you stop being mean, I will," she told him, smiling. Kane, for the first time since TK had seen him, actually smiled as well. Kane walked over to TK.
"I'm real sorry about trying to beat you up," Kane told him. He extended an arm out for the nine-year-old. "Let me help you up." TK accepted with a smile.
Later that day, Kari and TK were sitting on the swings. The sun was beginning to set, and Matt and Tai were finishing up their soccer game. "Kari, thanks for standing up for me back there," TK told her.
"You're my best friend, TK," she replied. "I know if I'm in trouble, you'd save me. I'd do the same thing for you. Nothing will ever change that."
TK was touched by his best friend's loyalty. He knew that he would have to be her guardian whenever it comes time, like she was for him that day. He'd protect her, like he promised Tai and Sora.
Kari…
"Kari…" TK whispered. Tears began to well up in his eyes. "I wasn't there to protect you when I should have been. I swear that will never happen again. Ever." The Digidestined of Hope looked at the Card Captor with determination in his eyes. "Sakura, your move."
Sakura smiled and drew. "I'm summoning the powerful Gemini Elf in Attack Mode!"
"And I'll flip over one of my face-down cards, Horn of the Unicorn, to power up Gemini Elf's Attack by 700 points! Go Gemini Elf, Attack his Life Points Directly!"
"Activate my Mystical Space Typhoon!" shouted TK. "You used one before, so you know that it'll destroy your magic card!"
"My turn to counter with this, Driving Snow!" shouted Sakura. "I can use it to destroy your Mystical Space Typhoon!"
"Activate my second Waboku!" shouted TK. "Now that I've made you waste your Trap Card, I can now save my Life Points with this card! Are you finished?"
"Yeah, your move," smiled Sakura. TK drew his next card.
"I'll use Graceful Charity to draw 2 cards and discard 1. Now, I'll use the Pot of Greed that I just drew to draw a second 2 cards. Now that that's over, I'm going to reveal my final face-down card, Novox's Prayer, to sacrifice two monsters from my hand, namely my Neo the Magic Swordsman and a Shining Angel from my hand, and summon my powerful Skull Guardian!"
"Now, I'll summon Hoshiningen to the Field in Defense Mode!" Our favorite little star monster appeared on the field next to Skull Guardian. "You know what this means, Sakura," smirked TK. "All Light monsters have their attacks raised by 500 points!"
Hoshiningen – ATK: 1000/DEF: 700
"Finally, my last card is my second Mystical Space Typhoon," said TK. "And I'll use it to wipe out that Horn of the Unicorn!"
"Go, Skull Guardian, destroy her Gemini Elf with Twin Blade Strike!"
Skull Guardian lunged forward and sliced Sakura's Gemini Elf into pieces before the weaker monster disintegrated.
Sakura: 2100
"How's that, Sakura?" asked TK.
'This is the toughest duel I've been in yet,' thought Sakura. 'Not that that's saying much. I've only been in a few others, and TK did make it to the finals. I'm glad. He's really gaining his confidence, but I have my own reasons to win this duel. If the Game Card stays untamed, it'll cause devastation to that Digital World that TK told us about, and maybe even to our world.' Sakura drew her next card. "I'll set one monster face-down in defense mode," said Sakura. "Your move."
"I'm really sorry about this, Sakura," whispered TK, more to himself than anyone else as he drew his next card. "I'll summon my last Hoshiningen to the Field in Attack mode!" said TK.
"I'm really sorry about this, Sakura," whispered TK, more to himself than anyone else. "I'll send one Hoshiningen to Attack your defense monster!" The little star flew over to the Card Captor's defense monster, and destroyed it, but not before it was revealed to be…
"Penguin Soldier!" Sakura shouted proudly. "Thanks to you flipping it over, I can choose up to two of your monsters and send them back to your hand!" (A/N: This is supposed to represent the Jump card, because I figured the best comparative to "Jumping" in Duel Monsters is "Bouncing". ;;)
"Damn," said TK. "I'm guessing you're sending my Skull Guardian and my Hoshiningen that didn't attack back to my hand?"
"On the contrary, TK," Sakura told him. "I'm sending back your two Hoshiningen, thus lowering the attack of your Skull Guardian back to 2050." TK's two Hoshiningen left the field, leaving behind his powerful Skull Guardian.
"Well, then," said TK. "Skull Guardian, Twin Blade Strike!"
"Since I already made a summon this turn, it's your move," TK told her.
'This is the closest I've gotten to losing,' thought Sakura. 'This game depends on my next card. Please, Heart of the Cards, give me what I need…so that I may have the strength to save both worlds…' She drew.
"Sakura, you're 50 life points away from losing. Even the weakest monster could take you down now," TK told her. "This is the point when you should give up."
"I'm not backing down, TK," smiled Sakura. "You're not the only one who's determined to win. I have a reason too…and it was reason enough for my deck to throw the right card out for me. I'm playing Change of Heart!"
"Change of Heart?!" gasped TK. "That means…"
"Skull Guardian belongs to me for this turn," Sakura finished for him. The twin bladed Warrior moved to Sakura's side of the field. Tears began to fill Sakura's eyes. "TK…this is the hardest move I ever had to make ever since I started Duel Monsters."
TK nodded, putting on a fake smile. "Sakura…go through with it. Win the tournament..."
The Card Captor smiled at the Chosen of Hope. "You've got what it takes to rescue Kari, TK. You're a great duelist. Skull Guardian, attack his Life Points Directly! TWIN BLADE STRIKE!" TK's monster leapt toward him, ready to win this duel for his opponent.
'I failed, Kari,' he thought to himself. 'But I'm still coming back to find you…I'll duel for you in the Digital World…'
Skull Guardian slashed at his Life Points directly, lowering them to 0.
The winner of the Kaiba Land pre-tournament is Sakura Avalon! the voice over the loudspeaker said. Cheers erupted from the lobby at Sakura's victory.
Sakura, Yugi, and TK were back at the Game Shop. Sakura's prize for winning the tournament was a rare card that she could use if she was entering Battle City.
"Chaos Command Magician," read Yugi. "Wow, it's like the Dark Magician of Light. What a rare card!"
"Congratulations, Sakura," TK told her. "You deserved to win. You're a great duelist."
"You're really good yourself, TK," laughed Sakura. "That duel was not so easily won, you know. Plus, that card you got isn't half bad either."
"Angelic Wing," smiled TK. (A/N: This card is my own creation. I'll write about its abilities later in this fic. )
"No it wasn't," smiled Solomon. "As a reward for you two, I'm letting you both choose a rare card from this box to keep."
"Wow, that's really generous of you, Mr. Motou," smiled Sakura. She picked out a Dark Magician to go with her new Chaos Command Magician. TK peeked in and saw a card that was possibly more powerful than his Wingweaver: It looked like the Black Luster Soldier, but it was a creature of Light. TK shrugged and took it, seeing as how it could really aid him in his duel against the Game Card in the near future.
"You all have had a hard day," smiled Solomon Motou. "I think you two have developed to become fine duelists."
"What do you say, guys?" asked Yugi. "Think we should head back to Tokyo in the morning? I bet we missed some great sightseeing."
"Sure. Our whole point in coming to Domino City was to improve our decks and become better duelists," said Sakura. "We've done what we came for."
TK nodded in agreement.
After Solomon left, TK and Sakura went to the attic to pick up Patamon and Kero, only to find them chasing each other.
"YOU CHEATER! YOU DREW AN EXTRA CARD SO YOU COULD GET THAT AXE OF DESPAIR!" shouted Patamon.
"COME ON! IT'S NOT LIKE THAT THING YOU DID WITH THE SUMMONED SKULL WAS ANY BETTER, MR. 'I'M SUMMONING A LEVEL 6 MONSTER WITHOUT ANY TRIBUTES'!"
"Alright, you two, break it up," laughed TK. "We're heading back to Odaiba tomorrow morning so rest up." Patamon and Kero groaned.
TK was still awake an hour later. He couldn't believe that he had lost, even when playing wholeheartedly. "Maybe the Heart of the Cards isn't real," he sighed. He was truly glad that Sakura won, but he wasn't sure about his deck anymore. Did his cards not come through for a reason? Or was he just not a good enough duelist?
"I still have no choice but to go after Kari," he said to himself. "I'll consider this Heart of the Cards business later." He turned over and slowly fell asleep, in hopes that one day, his Light would return to him.
Oh yea! One of my longest chapters for sure! Hm, this new QuickEdit feature is pretty cool. I'm so happy to see how popular this story is turning out to be, and now that finals are over, I can write again! I finally reached my goal of averaging 10 reviews on each chapter of this story, so I'm not going to post again until this story reaches 140 reviews. Please review!