Riddler's Grudge

By: Metal Sonic EX

Disclaimer: Everything is © to their respective owners.


Everyone simply stood around him as Daisuke kept his emotionless expression. "W-What do you mean?" Daisuke turned to Sakura. "Just as I said." Sakura looked hurt, but Daisuke simply looked away. "You two have wondered why I reek of Reed's presence, right?" Kero and Yue slowly nodded. "The explanation is rather simply." The two leaned forward slightly. "I've personally met Clow Reed."

Episode Nine

Sakura, Daisuke, and the Mirror Maze


"Liar!!" Kero and Yue both stepped forward, obviously offended. "Do you know how old you'd have to be to have actually met him?!" Daisuke just stared them down. "I assure you, I'm that old. If not, older." Daisuke closed his eyes, clenched his hand, and shook his head. "This way." Daisuke began walking away, forcing the others to follow him. "We're stuck in here for a while, so I might as well explain myself." Kero snorted. "Please do." Daisuke ignored him and continued. "I was born in the time of Clow Reed. Growing up, my intelligence surprised many and attracted others. I was somewhat of a celebrity." Daisuke smiled faintly as he thought back to that time.

"I was six when I first saw them. The classic battle of good versus evil. Clow Reed and his antithesis, Voydigan. Voydigan was jealous of Reed's magic and constantly challenged him to 'deathmatches' as he called them. They were pretty equal until the Clow Cards were created. From then on, Voydigan never stood a chance. I researched as much as I could about magic in the two years that followed. On my eighth birthday, I approached Voydigan and demanded to become his apprentice. Surprisingly, he put up little resistance. In the two weeks that followed, I learned why he'd gained the nickname 'The Riddler'. He never gave a straight answer. He always screw with your mind and he enjoyed doing it.

However, this was around the time when Clow Reed announced that he was about to die. Voydigan experienced a personality reversal. At first, he was caring to say the least. When Clow Reed was dying, he began deranged. To say the least, he became insane. When I finally had had enough, I told him that I was leaving. It was then that my life changed." Daisuke paused and glanced at Sakura out of the corner of his eye. "Thirty in all. Thirty there aren't. Thirty you need or forever you walk." Sakura started as Daisuke began walking again. "When I came to, the entire village had been burnt to the ground and Reed was dead. I did the only thing that I could and I continued learning about magic. A week later, I learned of the Spell Cards, Voydigan's answer to the Clow Cards.

I finally found out what Voydigan said about two months later. In all, there were thirty cards. Something would happen when I got all thirty cards, but I didn't know what. My feet didn't hurt, yet I felt that something was wrong. Three months after the destruction of my village, I began capturing the cards. It took several months, but I finally got all but one. I was tired, so I fell asleep, planning on getting the last one in the morning. But, when I woke up, the cards had vanished without a trace. It was then that I realized the truth." Daisuke paused and stared absently at the ceiling. "I hadn't aged a day since Reed's death. On top of that, no matter how I was injured, I hadn't so much as bled. I finally understood what Voydigan had said to me. I couldn't be hurt. I couldn't stop collecting the cards. In actually… I could not die…"


Everyone remained silent as Daisuke clenched his fist again. "Months turned into years and years turned into decades. On the day of my eighteenth birthday, I'd had enough. Five times I've found the cards and five times, I'd gotten the same result. Twenty-nine cards and no thirtieth. When the cards vanished again, I made a decision that I'd been thinking about for years. It was time to do myself in. Jumping off cliffs. Being crushed. Being impaled. Being shot. I tried it all. Like before, I didn't even bleed. No matter what I did nor how I did it, nothing worked."

Daisuke stopped at a dead end and Sakura started as she noticed Daisuke beginning to cry. "People talk of the Fountain of Youth as if it the world's greatest mystery. More so than Atlantis, the Bermuda Triangle, or Bigfoot. They talk as if its' an opening to God's greatest gift to humanity. I'm telling you here and now. Immortality is nothing but a curse. At first, you're like, 'Hey! This is great!', but as the years roll on, you learn that you've seen it all and your life is as complete as can be. The only thing you want to see then is Death, but you can't die. You're forced to lived a doomed life in this hell called existence."

Daisuke turned around and Sakura nearly cried as she saw him crying worse than anyone she'd ever seen. "You don't know what it feels like. To know that your entire family died centuries before. To know that you should have died with them. To know that you as a person are dead and you are nothing but a hallow body that won't be allowed to die. The only thing I want in life now is to feel the sweet touch of Death, for Death to come to me and rid me of this accursed life." A small top passed through the wall and Daisuke brushed his arm across his face and turned around. The top went back through the wall and Sakura went for it, but Daisuke held up his arm.

"Do not follow

That faux object

For then the room will swallow

And you'll be a victim of Project.

The same was with Shimmer

As it is with this.

But it's deadly glimmer

Will be its' own wish."

Daisuke summoned a claw and slashed through the wall on his left. The wall vanished and another top fell onto its' side. "Return to the guise in which you were meant, Spell Card!!" The top reverted to its' card form and Sakura approached Daisuke to look at the card. The top was at the bottom of the card and a holographic woman floated a few centimeters above it. She wore a crimson gown and she stood with her head bowed and her arms, covered by the long sleeves of the gown, were held together in the middle of her chest.

'Another notch in my life…" Daisuke looked at the card sadly before pocketing it. The illusions vanished and Daisuke walked forward and out of the hall of mirrors. "I'm leaving…" Sakura ran to his side. "Are you sure you'll be okay?" Daisuke nodded. Tomoyo started as she remembered something. "Who was that woman you're living with?" Sakura turned to her as Daisuke scoffed. "An illusion created through my magic, the same as my house." Sakura tilted her head and turned to him again. Daisuke simply turned and walked off. "See you later…" Sakura watched as he walked off and both Kero and Yue exchanging frowns.

That night, Sakura sat in her bed, curled in a ball. Toya opened her door and peeked in. "You're not sleeping yet?" Toya frowned when he saw the Sakura cards scattered over her bed and Sakura's eyes, which where sore from crying. He sighed and opened the door a little more. "Don't worry. I'm sure the brat will figure it out somehow." He close the door and left Sakura in his bed. Still… Why would Voydigan do such a thing… She sighed and gathered the cards and put them back on her desk. She turned off the lights, crawled into bed, and soon fell asleep. As soon as she did, the Sakura Cards all glimmered at once.


Kero: What's going on?! Sakura's become Daisuke and Daisuke's become Sakura! This is no doubt the work of a Spell Card, but how do we get it to appear?! Tune into Episode Ten: Sakura's Opposite Day! Man, this is almost as bad as Change…