Chapter 9 : Final Exam
I just thought about this boy that I really disliked when I was writing the title. I almost named this chapter "The Jerk." Stupid me.
"It's useless, Card Captor!" Sound shrieked with laughter. "Physical attacks can't work against me!"
"That's cruel of you, Clow card!" Tomoyo seethed. "I'll free my friend, even if I have to kill you to do it!"
Everything from my dream is coming true, Tomoyo thought. If only it had told me how to defeat the cards!
Sakura shivered; never had she seen her friend this angry.
"Tomoyo-" Sakura began.
"That big mouth is ours." Meilin threw her cards into the air.
"No, Meilin. The Sound is mine."
For a moment, Meilin stared at her fellow card captor in surprise. Then, she nodded in agreement.
"Go for it, girl." She winked.
"Fight! Dash! Power!"
Meilin leapt up to the ledge and began attacking Eriol with strong, lightning-fast blows. Eriol dodged every one of them with ease, then knocked Meilin off her feet with a swipe of his staff.
"Not good enough, Meilin Li." Sound taunted.
"Say my name again and you're toast!"
Meilin somersaulted backwards, revealing that Syaoran was standing right behind her on the ledge.
"I've got a score to settle with you, Clow card!" Syaoran growled. "Shadow! Find the card!"
"Dream on, descendant." Possess said in Eriol's voice.
Before either of them had time to react, a chair appeared beside Eriol and wrapped itself around Syaoran and Meilin, tying their arms to their sides.
"Good work, Chain." Sound smirked. "Now throw them down!"
Chain swung the two card captors around and released them a few seconds later, throwing them both into space.
"Smoke!" Syaoran threw out his first Golden card. "Break our fall!"
Syaoran had acted just in time. Just when they were inches from the ground, a bed of smoke appeared under him and Meilin. Chain made an angry whipping sound and dove towards the two, twisting itself into a giant serpent as it fell.
"I'll divert it!" Sakura offered.
"Thanks!" Syaoran leapt up to the ledge once more and stood up to face his nemesis. Just then, Sakura screamed.
"Ahhhhh! Help!"
Sakura had been caught in the leg by Chain, who was now happily spinning her around. Chain released her a second later, sending her crashing into Syaoran, who nearly impaled her with his sword. The two fell on top of each other, and at the mercy of the Golden Clow.
Chain wrapped itself around Syaoran's neck, trying to strangle him. At the same time, Sound threw another wave of sound at the duo.
"Silent!" Tomoyo stopped the sound wave just before it reached its mark.
Meanwhile, Sakura had gotten up and was busy fending off Chain's attack.
"Sword!"
Before Chain could react, Sakura had sliced it into pieces.
"Back to your true form, Clow-Ahh!"
Sakura was cut off in mid-chant as Eriol grabbed her by the neck. Syaoran tried to help Sakura, but found himself assailed by Chain once more.
"Stop bothering me! Back to your true form, Clow Card!" Syaoran caught Chain as it transformed into a card, then aimed it at Eriol.
"Chain!"
A chain wrapped itself around the sorcerer, binding his arms to his side. He let go of Sakura and gave Syaoran a glare colder than ice.
"Sound, go after Tomoyo," Possess commanded. The card shrugged, and the chains that bound him disintegrated in an instant.
Tomoyo fought harder than she ever had before. With Tomoyo physically wearing it down and Eriol telepathically, Sound knew that it was fighting a losing battle. Its patience at end, Sound released a final, earth-shattering shriek. This time, Tomoyo was ready.
"Silent!"
Sound froze, the scream dying in its throat.
"Back to your true form!" Tomoyo shouted.
Eriol swung his staff at Syaoran, using the rays at the end as blades. Syaoran barely had his sword up in time. The two began a swordfight so fierce that the other two Card Captors had to step aside to avoid getting hit. A few blows, Eriol caught Syaoran in the side with a kick and stabbed him with the sharp end of his staff. Syaoran cried out in pain as Eriol raised his staff for a final blow.
"Get away from him!"
Meilin kicked Eriol in the stomach while infused with Power, causing him to gasp in pain. At the same time, Sakura reached out and grabbed Syaoran back.
"Sakura..." Syaoran gasped, clutching his bleeding side. "Meilin's in danger!"
"Explode!" Meilin cried. Part of the ledge burst into flames, but it was not enough to stop Possess.
"Arrow!"
"It's useless." Eriol burst through the attack and tried to zap Meilin with his staff. "The card can't be stopped in this way."
"Excuse me for doing this, then, Eriol." Meilin said grimly. "Towards the card, I'm not sorry at all."
With all her strength and Power, Fight, and Dash, Meilin kicked Eriol in the chest, hard. At the same time, he blasted her with a beam of light. Meilin fell to the ground with a cry of pain. She didn't get back up.
"No! Meilin!" Sakura cried.
Eriol stood over her fallen friend, about to deal a final blow.
"No! Eriol! Stop!" Tomoyo screamed, her voice amplified by Sound.
Eriol stopped his staff an inch above Meilin's head.
"Sakura ..." Eriol whispered. "Strike the card! Now!"
Sakura shook her head.
"I can't hold the card for long." Eriol warned. "It's too powerful, even for me."
Syaoran and Sakura looked at each other, then at Eriol, in surprise.
"All right." The two agreed.
"Firey! Sword! Nothing! Light!" Sakura shouted.
"Shadow! Dark! Storm! Shot!" Syaoran said at the same time.
The combined energy of the eight cards struck Eriol in the chest, setting off a tremendous explosion. The Card Captors were thrown to the ground and caught by Tomoyo with the Float. Meilin woke up just in time to see the ledge go up in flames.
"What's happened?" she cried.
To be continued...
