Riddler's Grudge
By: Metal Sonic EX
Disclaimer: Everything is © to their respective owners.
During the night, a toddler poked her head out of the clouds. She looked around, then looked down at Tomeoda. She clapped his hands, pleased. She jumped out of the clouds and landed on his own yellowish cloud and began giggling as it slowly descended on the city.
Episode Seven
Sakura and the Strange Aroma
Sakura and the other where in their cooking class and Daisuke was skillfully mixing cake batter. "You're really, Daisuke." Daisuke smirked and turned to Naoko. "I'm actually not that good at making cakes. I make killer cookies though." Daisuke suddenly stopped and sniffed the air. "What's wrong?" Daisuke resumed stirring, but slower this time. He turned around and looked at the ovens. "Something smells like its' burning."
The others stopped and began sniffing as well. "Hey… I does smell like something's burning. But all of the ovens are off…" Daisuke put the batter down and walked to the window. He looked down, but saw nothing. As he went to turn back around, he stopped and looked into the sky. Sakura followed his gaze to a yellowish cloud. "Wow… A yellow cloud… I wonder what's going on with it…" Chiharu turned to Takashi, half-expecting another tall tale, but lately, he'd been pretty quiet. It was probably because he kept being exposed by Daisuke seconds into the story.
Daisuke turned around and picked up the cake batter again. "It's probably nothing." After the class ended, Daisuke caught up with Sakura and Shaoran in the halls. "That was a Spell Card, wasn't it?" Daisuke raised an eyebrow. "Spell Card?" Sakura nodded. "You were looking out the window." Daisuke made an 'Ah…' motion with his mouth, then smirked. "I was just looking at the sky. We haven't had a clear day in a while." Shaoran exchanged looks with Sakura. "Then, you weren't looking at the yellow cloud." Daisuke started. "Yellow cloud?!" Sakura and Shaoran sweatdropped, making Daisuke raise his eyebrow again. "What?"
That evening, the three met Tomoyo at the gates and Sakura explained the yellow cloud to him. Daisuke simply walked alongside them, thinking about that cloud. "Is it a Spell Card?" Daisuke frowned. "Perhaps, but I won't be able to tell until tomorrow." They came to an intersection and Daisuke bid the others farewell. "The Clow Cards…" Daisuke looked into the sky. "So… It is true… All of the cards… Even this one… They're all homing in on her…" Daisuke lowered his head and smirked. "Looks like my plan's working better than I intended." Daisuke opened his eyes and stopped. "What plan?"
Daisuke turned around and faced Toya, who'd ridden his bike past him at that exact moment. "I need your sister to do a little errand for me." Toya frowned, then started as Daisuke face began to melt. "What the…" Daisuke gave another one of his sly smirks. "The faster she works, the faster I can leave." Toya stumbled off his bike and took a few steps back as nothing was left but his skull. "I'd appreciate it if you never spoke mention of this meeting." Daisuke turned and left as Toya shook his head. He started again as he saw Daisuke's actual face as bright as day. "What in the world…"
That night, as Sakura slept, she had another one of those dreams. In it, she used the Dream card and appeared on a cliffside. What's going on… Daisuke walked up to her, then paused, not even facing her. "I can sense someone's presence here… I can also sense that I'm somehow responsible for it…" Daisuke continued walked to the edge of the cliff. "Be careful, Daisuke! You'll-" Sakura started as Daisuke simply spread his arms. "Please… If there is a God… Free me of this hell called existence…" Sakura used the Dash card and began running up to him, but as she got there, Daisuke had already thrown himself off.
Sakura woke with a start as looked around. She was back in her bed and her alarm was blaring. Kero groaned and rolled over in his bed. "Turn that off, will ya…" Sakura turned her alarm off and looked down. Dream and her wand sat in her lap. Another dream… I wonder what… She paused, then sniffed the air. She gagged and covered her mouth. "Disgusting!" Kero groggily and reluctantly woke up and yawned/ He grabbed his throat and began coughing almost immediately after. "What is that?!" Cupping her hands over her mouth and nose, Sakura made her way downstairs where Toya and her dad were also covering their noses. "What is that?" Toya turned to her. "It smells like rotten eggs." Sakura looked around and started. Inside the living room was a yellowish gas from with faint laughter could be heard.
Toya followed her gaze and bent his head to look into the living room as well. The two turned to each other and nodded. "I'm going to get dressed and see if Tomoyo's place is the same way." Sakura ran upstairs as Toya stood up. "I'll go with her." His dad turned around and looked at him, concerned, but Toya simply turned away. "We'll be fine." His dad slowly nodded as Toya walked up to his room. When Sakura came back down with Kero, Toya was already waiting outside. "I called the others and told them to met us at Penguin Park." Toya nodded and they all took off.
"Though it can be sweet,
This card's still a wench.
So we must hurry and beat
This unbearable Stench.
Wind works quite nice
For then, she is bound,
But we'll have to do it twice
And then, she'll be downed."
Tomoyo, Shaoran, Sakura, Kero, Yue, and Toya all stood in the park with their hands over their mouths and noses. Daisuke had joined them, but he simply stood there. Sometime shortly after Sakura had waken up, the entire city had been covered in a yellowish cloud. The smell was so nauseating that school had been canceled for the day, allowing Sakura and the others to try and hunt down Stench. "How can you stand this?!" Daisuke snorted. "I've built up an immunity over the years I guess."
Sakura tilted her head slightly as the yellowish cloud slowly lifted. "What the…" Without warning, Tomoyo grabbed Sakura's wrist and dragged her away. Daisuke chuckled and turned in the direction in which they'd left. "Sometimes I worry about Tomoyo's sanity." When they returned moments later, Sakura wore a pink, sleeveless suit (of some sort) and had a white bow tied around her waist. She also wore a pink skirt, white gloves that almost reached her elbow, and a white hat with a pink stripe across it.
Toya sweatdropped as Sakura simply summoned her wand. Daisuke, who'd dressed in casual clothing for a change, summoned his claws. "Stench is revealing itself. Prepare to hurl." Everyone turned to him as he looked amongst them. "What? Stench gets pretty bad. At least one of you is going to hurl. I can guarantee it." Just then, a small yellowish cloud appeared. A small toddler poked her head out of it and giggled. "Now!" Sakura used Windy and it wrapped around Stench. She inhaled and blew out a yellowish gas. Kero jumped away, but was still hit by it. He cried out and held his paws to his nose. "Oh God! I don't even know what this is! It's like rotten eggs, skunk spray, and month-old gym socks all in one!!"
Stench giggled as she inhaled and broke through her binds. "Again!" Daisuke thrust forward and slashed Stench, who spiraled backwards. "Windy!" Windy reappeared and wrapped around her again. This time, she was held in place as her little cloud vanished. "Return to the guise in which you were meant, Spell Card!!" Stench struggled against it, but was still reverted to card form. Sakura caught the card and looked at it. It was a simple illustrations of the toddler sitting on her yellowish cloud with her hands at her side, her eyes closed, and her head slightly bowed.
Just then, the sound of someone throwing up was heard. Everyone turned to the source and saw Kero stumbling as he walked. "So… nasty…" He fainted as Daisuke began laughing. "Told you so!" Kero groaned weakly and reverted to his smaller form. "And Stench makes seven." Sakura handed the card to Daisuke, who pocketed it. "What now?" Daisuke turned and leapt to the top of a nearby tree. "Now, we look for the rest!" Daisuke leapt out of view as both Toya and Yue watched him leave.
That night, Daisuke roared with anger and punched a hole in the wall of his room as his mother entered. "You shouldn't do that, Daisuke. You know this place isn't sturdy." Daisuke sighed. "I know, but this is ridiculous. Even with Sakura and Shaoran, I've got only seven cards in about two months! It's almost March for Pete's sake!" His mother sighed and sat down next to him. "You'll get those cards, Daisuke. I know you will." Daisuke shook his head. "You know only what I've made you know. You don't even exist." His mother started, then simply faded into nothing. "I have no mother… Not anymore…"
Kero: No!! I was playing my game, but then a power outage took place and wiped out the whole city! Daisuke, being paranoid as ever, immediately suspects a Spell Card. It could be one, but there have been a lot of storms lately. Tune in to Episode Eight: Sakura and the Power Outage. And I was so close to winning…
