AUTHOR'S NOTE: Oh, thank Buddha! The document manager's working again! I'm REALLY SORRY it took me so long to update this story! The doc manager was acting like a lil' bitch and wouldn't let me upload my chappy! But it's a good thing I tried it one last time before I went to bed. Phew! All right, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

"Welcome to the 59th annual Kibou Festival!" Hiroshi Kanaye greeted his guests. The thousands in attendance all cheered as the festival kicked off with a lightshow in the city park. Several amusement rides, gaming booths, and concession stands were spread amongst the city as a stage stood in the heart of the park.

"And now I'd like to welcome our guest of honor." The businessman continued. "A girl who needs no introduction! Ms. Sakura Kinomoto!"

All of the fanatics, especially the young children, all cheered for their hero as she walked on the stage, wearing a casual outfit. The young girl smiled nervously and waved at the other guests as she spoke into the microphone.

"Uhh…" She started to sweat. "Have… fun?"

They all cheered even louder as the majority of the children all formed in a line, near the stage. Sakura looked over to Kanaye with a confused look.

"What are they doing?" She asked him.

Kanaye then handed Sakura a stack of black and white photos of her and grinned. "Autographs! Have fun indeed, Sakura!"

The music played throughout the city, as everyone enjoyed themselves. Li, Tomoyo, Eriol and Meiling strolled along the thousands of people as they waited for Sakura to finish her celebrity duties.

"Hey, how come they didn't ask us to sign autographs!?" Meiling whined.

"Do you really think that's a good idea?" Eriol asked her.

"Yeah, you're right. Screw it. I have terrible handwriting, anyway."

¬¬¬¬¬

After awhile, Sakura regrouped with her friends as they all headed for a nearby platform, where a crowd was gathering. A contest was about to be taken place and Touya wanted to make sure they would all attend.

"What's this all about, Touya?" Sakura asked her brother.

Touya approached them, almost laughing to death. "You guys gotta see this!"

Everyone turned their attention to the platform as the contest was about to begin. A man in a red and white striped suit stood before a table of five men with trays of hotdogs in front of them.

"Hello and welcome to the Kibou Festival's 3rd annual hotdog eating contest!" The man said through the mike. "These five brave souls are about to gorge themselves with almost 30 pounds of pure weenie goodness! The one to finish the most hot dogs in two minutes will receive the Golden Weenie!" The man held up a gold statue of a hotdog as Touya laughed some more.

"Why are you laughing?" Sakura asked him.

"Because look!" He pointed out to Yukito sitting in the center of the table, wearing a bib.

"Well, I hardly think this seems fair." Li chuckled. "Yuki's an eating machine."

"Precisely…" Touya grinned.

The man in the striped suit continued. "In addition to the Golden Weenie, our winner will receive two tickets to see Barry Manillow live in Shanghai!"

"Don't let me down, Yuki!" Touya shouted.

"All right, gentlemen!" The contest holder pointed out to the clock. "On your marks! Get set… Go!"

With the sound of a bell, Yuki and his four opponents immediately pounced on the steamed weenies as Touya cheered his buddy on. Everyone else watched either in amazement or pure disgust.

"Why am I watching this?" Sakura started to feel sick.

After forty seconds, Yuki reached for a cup of water but Touya snapped his tongue at him. "No water! Weenie! Now!"

"Buh ahm thirsshlee…" Yuki said with the food in his mouth.

"Damn it! I need Manillow tickets! Obey me!"

As the contest went on, Kaho and Nakuru met with the group as Kero and Spinel stuck their heads out of their purses.

"A hotdog eating contest?" Kero's mouth started to water. "Oh, man! Why didn't I sign up!?"

"I'm sorry the mission didn't go as planned." Kaho said to Sakura.

Sakura looked down and tried not to feel too bad about it. "I guess we were in way over our heads."

"We still are." Nakuru added. She then crept up beside Touya, wrapping her arm around his. "So, Touya… If you win those tickets, are you going to go with anyone special?"

"Oh, shit." Touya then called back to Yuki. "Forget it! Barry's not that important! Concede!"

¬¬¬¬¬

Nearby, Terada walked around the park and reached into his pocket. He then pulled out a flask and took a quick swig when Takashi, Chiharu, Naoko and Rika snuck up behind him.

"Heeeeeeeeeeeyyyy, Mr. Terada!" Takashi startled his teacher.

"Damn it, boy! What the hell's wrong with you!?" The teacher scolded. "You never sneak up on a man on the brink of a nervous breakdown!"

"What's with the music? I like the music! It's pretty music! Do you like music? I like music! Music's fun! Music's nice! Music! Music! Music!" Rika said at a rapid-fire pace, irritating the hell out of her teacher.

"Did you know cavemen invented music after the wheel was made?" Takashi started another one of his lies. "They used the bones of their dead prey as instruments and wrote the song 'Baby I Want Your Love Thing' in the process."

Terada started to walk away but his students kept following him everywhere. "Go away." He said but they obviously weren't listening.

"Mr. Terada, would you explain that cirrhosis thing again please?" Chiharu asked. "I didn't quite get it."

"That was last week's lesson! We're on digestive tracks now!" He then tried to shoo her away. "Why are you kids following me!? It's Saturday! Go bother your friends! I'm trying to get shit-faced here!"

"What's shit-faced mean?" Naoko asked as she took out a book to try and find a meaning. "I don't see it anywhere in here. Is it good?"

"Hey, I want to be shit-faced!" Rika exclaimed.

"Yeah, me too!" Chiharu added in.

"Come on, everybody! We're all gonna get shit-faced and Mr. Terada's gonna help us!" Takashi blurted out as several parents overheard the exclamation.

"Yamazaki, you little--" Terada attempted to strangle the boy when he was suddenly stopped by a parent.

"Hey! What kind of teacher are you, giving alcohol to kids?" The man shoved Terada.

"Listen, you don't understand! Those aren't kids! They're monsters! I should know! I've spent almost 3 years with them!"

"You're drunk right now, aren't you!?" The man could smell the liquor in Terada's breath.

Takashi, Chiharu, Naoko and Rika all shook their heads in shame as they watched their teacher get the crap kicked out of him.

"I told him not to do it, sir!" Takashi said.

¬¬¬¬¬

"The winner!" The man in the striped suit announced as he raised Yuki's arm in the air. Everyone cheered for the young man, especially Touya, as he wobbled around in a daze.

"Yes! That's the way to do it, Yuki!" Touya clapped immensely.

"Hey, he doesn't look to good." Tomoyo pointed out to Yukito as he was handed the trophy.

Sakura and her friends all helped Yuki down the stairs from the stage as he started to groan in pain. Touya, however, snatched the concert tickets away and snuggled with them close as a 3 year old would to its teddy bear.

"Are you okay, Yuki?" Sakura asked her friend.

"Ohh…" He burped. "… Sakura… I'm… I'm…"

"Pregnant?" Li asked as he noticed Yuki's bulging belly.

"Damn it, Yuki! You overdid it again!" Touya snapped.

¬¬¬¬¬

As everyone enjoyed the festival, Kanaye remained on the stage when he was suddenly approached by his assistant. Sonomi and Fujitaka were close behind.

"Yes, Tochigi? What is it?" The man asked.

"Sir, a Ms. Sonomi Daidouji and Mr. Fujitaka Kinomoto. The girl's father." The young assistant introduced them.

"Mr. Kinomoto. It's an honor to meet you at last." Kanaye said as he shook the man's hand. "Lorca's told me some interesting stories about you."

Fujitaka smiled. "I'm sure he has. Where is Christopher, anyway?"

"Oh, he's around the park somewhere. He's working with security. Of course, with your daughter here, we have all the security we'll need." Kanaye winked as he shook Sonomi's hand.

"Nice to meet you, sir." Sonomi said.

"You must be Tomoyo's mother."

"Yes."

"She's a brave girl, you know. It takes a lot of courage to face the odds without any magical ability to rely on."

"She had a good trainer."

"Li Syaoran, am I correct?"

Sonomi nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Well…" Fujitaka started again. "… It seems like we're all just one big happy family."

"Big? Yes." Kanaye chuckled. "Happy? That's an understatement."

¬¬¬¬¬

Just then, the clouds around the city started to darken and move in together as a loud thundering noise could be heard. The winds then picked up as everyone took shelter for the oncoming storm.

Sakura looked up and could feel an alarming presence as she started to walk away from the group. Li, Tomoyo and the others followed close behind, trying to figure out what was wrong.

"Sakura?" Li called out to her. "Are you all right?"

Sakura's gaze remained on the storm clouds as she pointed out to a bulge forming in the center. "Over there."

"I see it." Eriol said. "And I don't quite like it."

Tomoyo wrapped her arms around Eriol's. "Eriol, I'm scared. What's going on?"

Several cackles of lightning then formed within the clouds as four skeletal riders on their dead horses rode along the dark, windy skies. The Blue Knight's flames ignited as he took out his sword as the Red Knight's flames initiated via his scythe. The Green Knight lit up with the use of his battle axe while the fourth knight swung his chain mace around.

"Looks like old blue brought along some friends." Li said.

The fourth knight revealed his glowing purple flames as he and his comrades continued riding along the skies. Everyone in the park then fled the scene, afraid of the oncoming danger that awaited Sakura and her team.

"Sakura?" Kaho started. "Do you have a plan?"

"Do we ever!?" Spinel pointed out the obvious.

Just then, a bolt of energy shot towards the ground and demolished a nearby concession booth. Sakura and her friends shielded themselves from the debris as Kero's eyes watered.

"They… they destroyed all the funnel cakes!" Kero cried. "You bastards!"

As more and more energy blasts rained down on the park, the citizens of Tomoeda fled at the request of Kanaye. Sakura and her team eventually hid inside a nearby tent as the rain started to pour.

"Okay, so he brought help. So what?" Sakura said as she tried to catch her breath. "We still outnumber them."

"Back to the usual, Sakura?" Li asked.

She nodded with a smile. "Back to business."

ANOTHER NOTE: I updated my profile page for those of you wondering who's behind the MASC. Hehehe… sorry. That was stupid. I think you might find something rather surprising. Or not. It's pretty hard to gauge.