AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay, so some of you are probably wondering: How fast can Sakura fly now that she got rid of those wings? Let me draw it out for you.
This is the flight trajectory of the world's fastest jet (an SR-71 Blackbird clocked at 2193.16 mph) :
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Here's Sakura's:
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Oh yeah. She's fast, all right.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Li and the team managed to escort the majority of the people away from the park as Sakura dealt with the demonic quartet. Takashi, Chiharu, Naoko and Rika helped carry a weakened Kaho over to them and laid her down on the grass.
"What happened?" Li asked.
"Sakura…" Kaho wiped off some of the blood from her nose as she slowly sat up. "…She needs help."
"But she said--"
"No." The teacher interrupted. "I can sense something else other than the Knights. Something I didn't feel before."
"Like what?" Eriol kneeled before her.
"Something we overlooked."
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Despite the Knights' best efforts to slash Sakura to pieces, they found their weapons useless against Sakura's metallic body as she continually wailed on them with a series of punches and jabs.
"I've had enough of all of you!" She practically screamed.
Unfortunately for her, the Knights quickly learned her every move and managed to pin her down to the floor with all their might. She struggled to break free but the Knights held their ground as the metal surrounding her body faded away.
"What do you want with me!? Let me go!"
"Don't worry, Sakura! We're coming!" Cerberus yelled out as he and Spinel Sun shot down the Knights.
"Is everyone out of the park?"
"Oh yeah! Now we can really focus on these guys!" Spinel glared at the Purple Knight. "You're mine, boy!"
A bolt of dark energy was more than enough to shut the sun guardian up, hurling him into a nearby stage.
"Spinel!" Cerberus cried.
He too was silenced by another magic attack from the Knights as Sakura balled up her fists and charged once more into her opponents for another round.
"Emperor of Thunder, answer my call!" Li yelled as he pinned the creatures down with an electrical attack.
Tomoyo and Meiling then took the opportunity to rush in and pull Sakura away as Ruby Moon and Yue flew above the cornered Knights.
"Now!" Eriol called from behind as he held a spell book in his hand.
The two moon guardians nodded at each other and combined their magic to raise a magnetic bubble to trap in the four skeleton warriors.
"All right…" Eriol then began to read the spell aloud. "Forces of nature! Forces of light! Dispel this evil before you and from your sight!"
Just then, a bolt of blue energy shot towards the magnetic bubble and shrouded it completely. Yue and Ruby took this chance to lower their defenses and descend to the ground, close to their masters.
As the blue energy continued surrounding the Demon Knights, everyone shielded their eyes from the intensity of the light.
After a while, the energy bubble faded away and revealed nothing but a crater in the ground. Sakura and her team cheered for the victory as Eriol sighed from relief.
"Oh, thank God…" He closed the book.
"You did it, Eriol!" Sakura smiled.
Unfortunately for them , however, the victory was short lived. All four of the Knights ascended from the hole in the ground and reignited their flames much to Eriol's frustration.
"Shit!" He yelled as he stomped on the ground. "Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!"
"Is he saying 'shit' or 'ship'?" Meiling asked Tomoyo.
"Shit." She answered.
"Yeah." Meiling nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you're right. Why would he say 'ship'? That doesn't make any sense."
"Why didn't it work?" Sakura asked as she and the other prepared for another fight.
"I don't know." Eriol flipped through the pages some more. "Something's not right here. They should have been cast away into another holding cell."
"They won't listen to you." A familiar voice said.
Everyone turned around to see Christopher Lorca calmly walking towards the group with his right hand concealed within his long, black coat.
"Mr. Lorca?" Sakura started to feel uneasy.
"You see, Sakura, there's only one way to control a Demon Knight." He said with an eerie grin.
The Knights started to head their way with their weapons held firmly in the air until they stopped dead in their tracks. Lorca's left hand was raised slightly as his right remained hidden in the coat.
"I don't understand." Sakura said to him. "How are you…"
Finally, Lorca removed his right hand to reveal a metallic covering laced with a thick red lining. Eriol's face suddenly displayed a terrified look as he stepped forward and pointed out to the man.
"The Sangria Gauntlet!" He cried.
"What!?" Sakura was now puzzled. "But I thought you said it was lost!"
"Of course it wasn't!" Lorca butted in. "When Faust renounced his claim over the Demon Knights, he kept the Gauntlet hidden within the confines of a nearby settlement. That same settlement is where Faust remained hidden from Clow Reed for a period of time. He married, believe it or not, and had several children who shared his beliefs in the futility of mere men. The Gauntlet was passed down from generation to generation for safekeeping in hopes that one day Faust would return to reclaim it."
"But Faust never came looking for it when we fought him." Sakura pointed out. "No one even tried to bring it to him."
"That's because I had it the entire time. And I refused to let him have the power when I could do so much more with it!"
"But how is it that you have the Gauntlet?" Yue asked.
"Isn't it obvious?"
Tomoyo was seen jotting down notes on a yellow pad when she froze in place. "Uhh… no?"
With a sigh, Lorca explained. "I am the direct descendent of Johann Georg Faust! And therefore, the rightful heir to the Sangria Gauntlet!"
Kero, now back in his doll form, flew up to Sakura. "Sakura, do you have any idea what this means!?"
Sakura panicked. "No! What!?"
"He's part German!"
"Oh, Kero!" She flicked him away. "This is serious!"
"But how are you controlling them?" Eriol asked. "You don't have their gems in place!"
Lorca chuckled. "I can't believe you don't remember, young Eriol."
"Remember? Remember what?"
"The Sangria Gauntlet was built with a power gem inside. A black power gem." The Spaniard then lifted his sleeve to reveal a glowing black gem placed at the forearm of the metallic glove.
Lorca chuckled some more. "And with this black gem, the wielder of the Gauntlet will--"
"Will possess within him the powers and abilities of the dreaded… Black Knight. Leader of all the Demon Knights." Eriol finished the sentence in horror. "Oh, dear God. How could I have forgotten?"
In no time at all, Lorca slashed through thin air with the Gauntlet and unleashed a portal gleaming with dark magic. The winds started to pick up as the Spaniard laughed maniacally when all of a sudden…
---------- I N T E R M I S S I O N ----------
---------- Grab a snack!
----------Enjoy a refreshing soft drink!
----------Pop in a CD!
----------Elect your local politican for another term!
----------Have fun, go mad! And now... back to the story!
… A swarm of multicolored, scaly demons with various wing sizes flew out of the swirling vortex and began attacking everything in sight.
"He's opened the demon realm!" Eriol warned.
"Attack!" Lorca commanded as the flesh from his head started to burn off.
After a moment, a mere skull was left but the man was still alive and as crazy as ever. A black and gray blaze then enshrouded the skull as a deep and sinister cackle escaped its mouth.
"Okay, wait a minute!" Li said as he walked towards the newly transformed Black Knight. "Why are you trying to kill us!? Where's the beef, huh!?"
"Silence from you!" Lorca screeched as he smacked the boy away with the backend of the Gauntlet.
"Li! Are you all right!?" Tomoyo asked as she helped him up.
"I don't know…" He looked around in a daze. "Did I just get bitch-slapped?"
"These demons must be dealt with!" Yue shouted as he and Ruby flew into the air, shooting many of them down.
"What reason do you have to do this, Lorca!?" Sakura demanded an answer from him.
"I need no reason!" His distorted voice growled through the blackened flames. He then held out his hand and unleashed a deadly scimitar, razor sharp and ready for killing.
"My Demon Knights!" He called. "Unleash your fury and avenge yourselves upon this weakling!"
More and more swarms of demonic beings flew out of the portal, engaging in battle with Sakura and her team.
"Oh, great…" Tomoyo rolled her eyes. "Things just got worse."
"Worse?" Sakura started to worry.
"This is Miranda Veracruz de la Jolla Cardinal and I'm here in downtown Tomoeda as a massive battle is taking place during the annual Kibou Festival!" The Latin reporter said as several news helicopters and other vehicles from various stations arrived on the scene.
"They're only going to get in the way!" Sakura growled as she hacked off a demon's head with the Sword. "Yue! Can you do something about it!?"
"I will try!" The moon guardian said as he approached the news teams.
"Mr. Angel, sir!" One reporter said. "Can you explain what's going on at this moment?"
"You are all in grave danger! Vacate the premises at once!" He commanded but to no avail.
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In one of Kanaye's private helicopters, the billionaire industrialist along with Sonomi and Fujitaka observed the battle from the skies. Hiroshi was startled to find his partner, Christopher Lorca, acting as the ringleader of all the chaos.
"Pilot!" He called. "Is that Lorca!?"
"Yes, sir." The pilot nodded. "I'm afraid it is."
"What!?" Fujitaka stood up and looked down on the surface in horror. "Lorca is responsible!?"
Kanaye sadly nodded. "It would appear so."
"But I don't understand! Why!?"
"I don't know but I assure you, I intend to find out."
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The Black Knight angrily swung his massive blade but Sakura was able to block it off with the Sword as she kept backing away in the nick of time.
"I don't understand…" She said to herself. "Why now?"
Another swing and Sakura went rolling along the grass and over to Eriol and Li, who were finishing off their demonic opponents.
"Sakura…" Eriol started. "You must be careful. The more Lorca is under the influence of the Black Knight, the more powerful he gets. Unfortunately that also means his mind will deteriorate and become 1-dimensional."
"Meaning what exactly!?"
"He'll become a mindless killing machine who won't stop unless someone forces him to."
"You mean me…"
"Sakura, no!" Li protested. "You can't be serious! It was bad enough for you to take on all 4 of the Demon Knights but the Black Knight!? That's suicide!"
"He's right, Sakura." Eriol added. "The Black Knight is the most powerful of them all and therefore the most unstoppable. He's a killing machine."
"I don't care." Sakura said as she refused with the Power card. "I have to stop him now before more people get hurt."
Meiling and Tomoyo flipped away from battle and cornered themselves near the group as all four of the guardians did battle with the Demon Knights.
"Sakura, please don't tell me you're planning something stupid!" Meiling pleaded.
"Oh, you know…" Sakura said as she cut through a nearby demon. "…Just the usual saving-the-day kind of stuff. Nothing too big, I hope!"
"God of Fire, answer my call!" Li chanted as a wall of fire separated the group from the demon armies.
"Li, I want you and the others to keep the demons busy while I try to take the Gauntlet away from Lorca." Sakura commanded. "Yue, Kero, Spinel and Ruby are already taking care of the Demon Knights so just lay low and try not to complicate things."
Li nodded. "All right…" His look then became sincere as he grabbed Sakura by the hands and stared deep into her eyes. "Sakura…"
"What?"
"I was going to ask your father for his approval first but…"
"But what, Li?" She started to worry.
"Sakura, will you marry me?"
"Oh!" Tomoyo and Meiling hugged each other with joy.
Sakura then gave him a strange look. "Well… do you really think this is the best time!?"
"I know we're still young but I mean eventually! When we get older and--"
"No, I mean do you think now's the time to be asking me this!?"
Li paused for a moment and couldn't help but chuckle. "I guess you're right…"
"As for your proposal?" She grinned as she gave him a quick kiss on the lips. "Consider it done."
As the firewall died down, Sakura merged with the Fly card and charged right into the Black Knight. As Li followed the others into battle, he looked down and sighed heavily.
"Be careful..." He whispered. "…My love."
Sakura threw a heavy set of punches against the flaming black skull and kneed him in the chest as its flesh started to deteriorate. Sakura then grabbed Lorca by the Gauntlet and attempted to pull it off, only to be smacked across the burning fields.
"Stupid girl…" The skull growled. "Faust was a fool to have been beaten by a weakling like you."
"Maybe…" Sakura said as she spat out some blood. "…But at least he knew how to throw a punch."
"Is that so?" The man in black cackled as a set of thick, sharp bones protruded from the remainder of the man's skin.
"Oh, shit." Sakura said as she slowly backed away. "That looks painful…"
A smaller set of bony claws then peered through the man's left knuckles as he slashed them across Sakura's face, knocking her into a nearby stand.
"How the…" Sakura looked at all the blood that started dripping from her face and onto her hand as she slowly felt the pain running through her body.
Another punch in the stomach sent the young girl flying towards the carousel. She coughed some more and found herself being lifted up by an angry Lorca.
"Die…" His voice hissed.
"Oh, this is gonna hurt…" Sakura winced.
The Black Knight grabbed hold of one of the carousel's porcelain horses and spun the entire ride around, forcing Sakura's head into the middle of it all. Her entire cranium was beaten non-stop by the many porcelain and steel objects within the ride as it kept spinning round and round.
After the ride had stopped, Lorca pulled a bloodied Sakura out and slammed her into the ground with a massive punch. The violence didn't end there, however, as Lorca began to stomp on her over and over again, creating a large crater in the process.
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News coverage of the attack could be seen on the television inside Kaho's room from the hospital she was staying at. She awoke to find Takashi, Chiharu, Naoko and Rika at her bedside as the violent images were being broadcast throughout Tomoeda.
"How… How did I get here?" Kaho whispered.
"We brought you, Ms. Mizuki." Rika placed a hand on hers. "You saved us from those things."
"Sakura's trying to fight the black one." Takashi said with a concerned voice. "And I don't think she's winning."
"The black one?" Kaho tried to regain her consciousness. "… The Black Knight?"
"Ms. Mizuki?" Chiharu got up. "Are you all right?"
The teacher didn't reply as she went back into her slumber, still weakened from her earlier encounter. The four students then redirected their attention to the television set and watched helplessly as their friends fought for their lives.
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The fight had gotten so out of control, it started heading for the city streets of Tomoeda. The park was almost nonexistent and soon crowds and crowds of onlookers joined by several news crews huddled around the area as the demonic beings battled it out with the city's handful of heroes.
"Thunder!" Li cried as he set off a chain reaction, destroying several enemies at once.
Sakura, meanwhile, was still taking a beating from the Black Knight. Her suit was now starting to tear and her face was practically covered with blood but she refused to back down. She grabbed hold of the creature's shoulders and held her ground, trying to push him away from the streets with all her might.
"It is useless to resist me, Sakura." He scoffed. "Your town is finished and so are you."
"No!" She screamed. "I won't let you go any further! Tomoeda is where I hold the line!"
Why is Lorca doing really bad things!? Why the hell did Li propose NOW!? What will become of Spinel & his bladder problem!? All of these questions answered… later.