CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

The Demon Knights swarmed all over the festival grounds, destroying everything in sight. Those who were lucky enough to escape on time were unharmed but many who lagged were mercilessly killed. Fujitaka and Sonomi were taken away by Kanaye's security team as the man himself spoke on a hand-held radio.

"Lorca, this is Kanaye! Do you read me?" He said.

"Lorca here." The Spaniard's voice could be heard through the radio.

"Christopher, are you in range?"

"We're already on it."

"Sakura!" Fujitaka looked around. "Where are our children?"

"Relax, Mr. Kinomoto. I'm sure they're already on the scene." Kanaye reassured the man.

"That's what I'm afraid of." Sonomi sighed.

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Lorca and his team were already launching a full assault on the Demon Knights but to no avail. Their guns and missiles supplied by the company were all failing against the dark magic of the skeleton riders.

"Keep at it!" Lorca commanded.

A sudden explosion separated the group and sent them flying across the park. The riders then landed on the ground and dismounted from their demonic steeds as the security team writhed in pain.

"Where is the girl?" The Blue Knight asked one of the men as he grabbed him by the neck.

"I… I don't know…" The man strained under the pain.

"You lie…"

"I swear."

"Very well." Furious, the Blue Knight snapped the man's neck and tossed him away. "Those who serve the girl serve Clow Reed! All will be punished!"

Just then, several bolts of lightning pushed the Knights away as Sakura slowly descended from the skies, fused with the Thunder card. She was wearing a black suit and cape Tomoyo had made for her complete with gloves and pants rather than the usual skirt. Her eyes lit up with the card's magical energy as sparks of electricity swarmed around her body.

"Hi. Remember me?" Sakura grinned.

"You!" The Blue Knight immediately took out his sword as the other Knights armed themselves as well.

The Knight swung his weapon at Sakura as she fused with another card. "Power!" Sakura yelled as her body obtained its superhuman strength.

Using all her might, Sakura threw a massive punch which sent the blue-flamed demon flying into its allies. Sakura then took out another card and summoned the Earth spirit's magic by raising a cage of rock over the four Knights.

"Now, Eriol!" She called out.

Eriol, Li, Tomoyo and Meiling appeared from a cloud of mist, all wearing the same type of black suit but without the cape. Eriol unleashed his staff and held it against the rocky prison Sakura had made for the demons as he began to focus his magic.

"Return to your prison state and never return!" He exclaimed. "Demons of old, descend once more unto the--"

Eriol was interrupted as the hull exploded, sending several bits of rock and dirt into the air. The Demon Knights then charged for battle as the guardians arrived to help Sakura and her team.

"Eriol!" Nakuru said as she helped him up. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine." He brushed off the dust from his suit.

Li summoned his golden sword as Meiling and Tomoyo tied their hair back, readying for battle. Yue and Cerberus exchanged glances and unleashed the first wave of attack against the demon warriors.

"Your return to the human realm is an unwarranted act." Yue calmly said as he unleashed a flurry of magic shards. "Cease this foolish destruction and return to your prison state."

"Never!" The Red Knight swung his scythe, barely missing Yue's neck.

Yue grabbed hold of the weapon and attempted to swing against the flaming red skull until the Green Knight charged into the moon guardian and sent him rolling along the ground.

"You dirty piece of--" Cerberus' pounce was immediately stopped short as the Green Knight grabbed hold of the lion's neck and hurled him over to Yue.

"Foolish creature." The Green Knight said as he raised his axe.

Before he could swing, Ruby Moon lifted the demon and rammed him into a nearby tree. "No, no, no! That's not nice!" She teased.

Meanwhile, Li swung his blade around and deflected every one of the Purple Knight's swings with its mace. Furious, the Knight formed a ball of purple fire and hurled it towards the young boy.

"Oh, shit…" Li said as he ducked.

Sakura saw the fireball coming towards her and raised her hand, unleashing the Shield bubble. "Are you okay, Li?" She asked him.

"Oh, yeah." He said out of breath.

"So what's the plan!?" Meiling asked as she jump-kicked the Blue Knight out of her way and landed next to the two.

"I'll need you guys to keep 'em busy while Eriol and I conjure up a spell to seal them away." Sakura replied as Eriol and Tomoyo ran towards them. "Do you think you can do that?"

"Sounds like fun." Tomoyo winked.

In an instant, Meiling and Tomoyo double-teamed on the Blue Knight while Cerberus, Yue and Ruby Moon hassled the Purple and Red Knights. Li, meanwhile, did battle with the Green Knight and swung his sword around to block off the creature's axe.

"All right, let me see…" Eriol started as he took out a small book from his pocket. "The spell Clow Reed used all those years ago should be in here."

"Yeah but which one is it?" Sakura asked.

"I don't know, I can't remember. Most of these pages are smeared and it's hard to make out what they're saying."

As they tried to figure out the spell, Cerberus found himself pinned down by the Purple Knight. Yue and Ruby were already occupied with the Red Knight and were therefore unable to assist him.

"You shall not live long, sun guardian." The Knight hissed.

"Oh, great…" Cerberus groaned. "Spinel! Get your ass out here and help me!"

Spinel Sun crouched behind a nearby patch of bushes and stuck his head out in pain. "Look, man. I've got my own troubles, all right?"

"Spinel, this is serious!"

"So is this! Have you ever tried passing a few stones before!? I don't think so! So lay off me!"

"Spinel…" He started to choke. "…Help me…"

"Oh fine!" The panther whined as he unleashed an energy blast towards the Knight.

"Now… was that… so hard?" Cerberus breathed heavily.

Eriol and Sakura looked up to see Li, Tomoyo and Meiling get thrown across the field and into a nearby booth. Concerned, Eriol closed the book and rushed to his beloved's side as did Sakura.

"Tomoyo!" Eriol gently lifted her bleeding head as she lied unconscious.

Li and Meiling, however, shook off their weariness as Sakura sighed from relief. "Damn, those guys are tough…" Li confessed.

Tomoyo eventually came around and could feel the blood slowly running down the side of her head as Eriol helped wipe some of it off. As everyone got up, they could see the guardians backing away from their opponents and hovering in the sky. The Demon Knights proudly stood tall and taunted Sakura and her team.

"You foolish girl." Said the Blue Knight. "Did you really think you could defeat us? You can't kill what's already dead."

"I can try." Sakura said with a deadly stare.

"Yes but can you stop us and protect your adoring fans at the same time?"

"Your fight is with me. Not them."

"The rules of war don't apply to us."

"What war!? What do you want with us!?"

"We want you to die!"

With that said, the Demon Knights all rode off on their horses to attack the innocents that were still scurrying about to safety.

"No!" Sakura took out two cards and directed her attention to her teammates. "I've got to stop them."

"All right, well let's go!" Li started to head off but was immediately stopped in his tracks.

"No, Li. I need you and the others to protect the people and get them to safety while I handle the Knights."

"All of them!?"

"All of them."

"Mistress!" Yue called out as he landed next to her. "You cannot handle the Demon Knights on your own. Surely, Cerberus and I should assist you on this matter."

"I appreciate the concern, Yue. But the last thing I need is for all of you to be the next casualties on the Knights' list. I can handle it." Sakura then held out the two cards and called out their names. "Shield! Lock! Combine now!"

At that moment, the cards lit up and fused into their master as everyone watched eagerly. Soon, Sakura's entire head was shrouded with an indestructible organic metal. She pulled up one of her sleeves and noticed her arm was also shrouded, indicating the transfusion worked.

"Sakura?" Li raised an eyebrow.

"Don't worry. It's still me." She said. "I've been wanting to try this out for a long time. I've still got the Power card fused with me, so I'll be all right. You guys just take care of the civilians. Eriol, keep working on that spell. Got it?"

Everyone exchanged glances and nodded. Sakura then soared off into the air, via Fly card and hurried over to the Knights' current location.

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Kaho stood before a cowering Mr. Terada as she created a psychic field to protect him and the students from the Knights' attacks. Takashi, Chiharu, Naoko and Rika all watched in awe, unafraid of the demons' intimidating presence.

"Leave! Now!" Mizuki ordered.

"See ya!" Terada called back as he hauled ass.

The students, however, did not reply and stood their ground. Naoko took out a notepad and jotted down some notes as Rika looked around like a lobotomized tourist.

"Wow!" Exclaimed Rika. "Ms. Mizuki's amazing!"

The four Knights wailed on Kaho's psychic shield with all of their dark magic but the teacher would not budge. Unfortunately she was beginning to feel weary and her telekinetic link was about to give out.

"I don't know why you've returned but you will not harm my students!" She said furiously.

"Then we shall harm you…" The Red Knight chuckled.

Just then, a huge mound of rock knocked all of the Knights down and temporarily immobilized them. Sakura then came running up to her friends as they were all taken aback by the metal coating her flesh.

"Sakura? Is that you?" Kaho asked.

"Yeah. You better get out of here." Sakura turned around and found herself surrounded by all four of the Knights.

"You're going to pay for that, girl." The Green Knight said as he and the others readied for another attack.

"Okay." Sakura said as she balled up a fist. "Let's play."