Wizard, Empousa and Storming Dragon Style

"Uuuuuuummmmmmaaaiiii~!" Calls of delight and the smacking of cake filled mouths permeated within the circular lounge as Sakura, Tomoyo, Kero and Carter sat around the plain coffee table that was set with all the fixings of a proper tea party. Ceramic cups of warm tea upon circular plates, a steaming kettle of green tea and plates filled with pure white frosting covered cake, which the sweet toothed magician and Clow guardian passionately stuffing their faces full.

"You two might want to slow down." Sakura suggested as the two practically began to inhale the slices of cake right off their forks. Sure enough, just as Sakura said, Carter began to choke on a dangerously proportioned swallow. He immediately downed his tea to make the food go down easier, all the while his familiars hovered around him concerned.

"Kaff! Kaff!" Carter finally managed to take in some air and grinned at his young friends. "Hah, I am just so glad to be out of that hospital!" Carter proclaimed happily. "No more hospital food for me!" Sakura and Tomoyo sweat dropped at the declaration. Apparently the only thing the magician was concerned with while he was at the hospital was that they wouldn't let him eat his favorite sweets.

"So...how did things work out with that gate you guys met yesterday?" Kero asked between his own bites.

"Saki-chan wasn't the gate." Carter reminded the tiny winged lion. "That Phantom, Bugbear, knew that the best way to break the spirit of a young talented physician like Sendo-san was to make it seem like he had failed a patient who had put total trust in him. Luckily, Sendo was smart enough to know when he's getting played and that Phantom was just sloppy enough for him to be caught. Saki-chan may have been the main victim for this outcome, but now that Bugbear can no longer undo any of Sendo's treatments, she should recover at a moderate pace. I also left an anonymous tip at his private practice office stating that he should work on Saki-chan's treatment in another city and that he should lay low so "Shimazu's friends" don't locate him."

"Well, at least they're both out of danger for now." Tomoyo stated, glad that more would be victims were now out of harm's way.

"Those Phantom's really get under my skin though." Kero grumbled as he more fervently bit into his sweets. "Bringing in the non-involved, they're the worst kind of scum!"

Carter poured himself another cup of tea and began to sip lightly, giving the Clow guardian a rye look. "Considering some of the stuff I've heard about your master doing and your Card charges, you sure you want to be saying that so lightly?"

Kero blinked, wearing a shocked expression. "I-uh…that is…"

Carter chuckled and refilled his small friend's cup as well. "I'm only pulling your leg Kero." Carter scratched the blushing Clow Guardian behind the ear to cheer him up. "You have a point, many Phantoms will stoop to the most under-handed tactics in order to force Gates into despair, I've seen this on more than one occasion." Carter's eyes were set in a hard expression as he remembered many of his past battles. "The sooner we clear out the remaining Phantoms the safer this city will be." Sakura and Tomoyo studied his hard face and a knowing look passed between them.

"You mean most of them, right Yu-kun." Sakura asked with a smile. Carter cocked an eyebrow before he caught on to what she meant and looked away, a hint of blush on his cheeks.

"A-ah." He admitted. 'Can't forget about Empousa.' He thought to himself.

"Maybe we can get Empousa-san to help us. She's helped Yu-kun more than once and she doesn't seem to care about harming Gates, so maybe we can ask her to join our side." Sakura suggested, having witnessed the female Phantom's power and skill first hand, she would have felt relieved to have such a powerful ally on their side.

"Not likely." Carter said rather quickly and surely. "That woman has a stubborn pride that can't be tied down. As she said before: 'She'll defeat me in her own way, at her own volition'. We should feel lucky she hasn't suddenly attacked us out in the open, like at school for instance."

"That's right, she saw my face that one time, so she probably figured out I must be at least a middle schooler." Sakura recalled the incident with Gnome and how the Phantom seemed to look at Sakura with some measure of approval, she hadn't thought of how this meant an enemy now knew her face because it seemed Empousa was helping them.

"Besides that, she also knows my face." Carter admitted. His friends curious looks made it clear he had to elaborate. "She saw it several years ago when we first fought after she completely shattered my armor in seconds."

"It sounds like you lost pretty bad." Kero stated. "How come she didn't finish you off all those years ago if she was so strong?"

Carter sighed as he thought back. He remembered well that fight almost 6 years ago. He was well through his training years and was already dispatching Phantoms with an energy only the inexperienced could possess. It was after a particularly simple battle that he saw her marching on him from the shadows, he had thought she was planning on finishing him off after using up his energy from the previous fight, but he made it clear to her he had mana to spare and foolishly charged in. In that one fraction of a second before his blade could reach her, he felt the sting of a dozen cuts just as his remaining mana was stolen from him and his body collapsed in a defeated heap.

He had been sure that she was going to kill him that very minute, but instead she sheathed her sword and turned on him, taking her human appearance as she addressed him. He had been rendered completely speechless by her beauty; to a friend he once described her as the image of a true warrior goddess from myth, the likes of Athena, Diana or Astarte, of course they laughed at him for being a romantic sap afterword.

She had asked him: "Why do you think you lost?"

At the time he said: "Because you're much stronger than I am." To which she laughed and said he was exactly right.

"Child, do you have the liberty to recklessly fight someone stronger than you?"

"Yu-kun?" Sakura's call snapped him back to reality, he had been deep in thought over his rival and his friend's were looking at him curiously.

"A-ah! I can't say for certain why she decided to spare me that day, maybe after such an easy victory she didn't feel threatened enough to bother."

"And yet…you find her 'dreamy'." Kero pointed out, referring to his outburst after Empousa defeated Gnome.

Carter blushed and scratched the side of his head sheepishly. "Feelings born of….deep admiration from passionate rivalry?" Carter tried his best to explain to save himself some face but his friends suddenly started giggling at his awkward confession.

"I think some of us know a little about that." Tomoyo giggled to herself while looking sideways at Sakura.

"Hoe?" The Card mistress blinked in confusion, not getting what her best friend was getting at, but Carter got the gist of what Tomoyo was saying and chuckled as well.

"Aroo roo!" The group of tea party goers suddenly noticed the usually shy Golem had been running back and forth through the lounge to a small back room Carter explained was Golem's "work shop" where he could privately construct the rings he makes for Carter.

"He's been doing that the entire time we've been talking, what got him all worked up?" Kero asked.

"He gets like that when he's really motivated to work." Carter explained. "It's ironic really. He's always so excitable so when he's really full of energy he can barely sit still until he cools off. But he's already done great work, which reminds me." Carter grinned excitedly as he retrieved the stone chest from the corner of the lounge. "His latest creation…" Carter held up a new magic ring!

"Is that?!" Sakura looked on stunned at the new ring. It wasn't just because of the incredible magic power it was giving off, she could tell based off of the design what kind of ring it was. It was very similar to the Flame Dragon ring Golem had made for Carter last time, except now it was outfitted with a brilliant green, triangular emerald as its face.

"I should be able to tap into even more of Dragon's power with this new ring." Carter clarified happily as he pocketed the treasure. "Ever since I got the ring made from the red mahouseki working, Golem's been in high spirits and has been looking through all the stones Eriol-kun supplied us with in order to find ones perfect enough to craft even more rings."

"Then it sounds like those Phantoms won't know what hit them anymore. You might even be able to compare to Sakura soon enough." Kero declared haughtily.

"K-Kero-chan!" Sakura called disapprovingly.

"Ah, please continue to take care of me until then, Sakura-chan. I won't burden you for much longer." Carter smiled playfully and bowed to the blushing Card mistress as if she were his senior in school instead of several years younger than him.

"You guys! You're making fun of me aren't you!?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next day

"Set….GO!"

With the blares of whistles, scraping of sneakers against dirt and the grunts of effort of dozens of Tomoeda Junior High students working themselves into a hardy sweat, Sakura and Tomoyo could only feel mesmerized by the excitement and turnout for their School's latest Sports Meet.

"Looks like even with the School burnt down, the fitness and sports clubs certainly haven't lost their spirit." Tomoyo surmised. She and Sakura had also come for Sakura's Cheer leading practice, which of course Tomoyo planned to film with gusto.

"Well Sakura's gonna need a lot more than spirit if she doesn't want the baton to fall on her head again." Kero giggled from within Sakura's bag, he insisted on coming since lately there was no telling when a Phantom may attack, also he wanted to watch Sakura's performance, whether she succeeded or failed hilariously.

Sakura's expression became an angry pout but she decided to not let Kero's teasing get to her. Gym and all fitness based clubs were her favorite outlets and what she excelled at most in school, she was going to where a grin soon enough. "I won't mess up this time! I'm going to get it right no matter what!"

"Ah!" Tomoyo instantly pulled out her camera and turned to her stunned best friend. "Sakura at 100% energy is 110% cuter!" She cried happily.

"You two are as lively as ever I see." Sakura and Tomoyo suddenly saw Carter walking toward them with his usual jolly grin plastered across his face and wearing his favorite teaching attire, though since he was outside he decided to forego wearing his burgundy jacket and had it slung over his shoulder.

"Yu-kun? Why are you here today?" Sakura asked confused, with classes temporarily suspended Carter had no actual reason to come to school, especially not wearing his formal wear.

"Well…." Carter scratched the back of his head slightly embarrassed. "With classes suspended for now I have to earn a paycheck somehow, so I'm helping with the Football team as a Co-Coach of sorts." Carter paused in thought for a moment. "Sorry, they call it Soccer here don't they? That is gonna be tough to get used to." He sighed in exasperation. "Anyway, I used to play a bit of 'Soccer' when I was in Junior High myself, so I'm hoping I can help the team, even if I'm a bit rusty."

"Well it just means we can all have fun together and you'll finally get to watch Sakura screw up her routine, it'll be hilarious." Kero giggled even more, prompting Sakura to scowl once again before she suddenly remembered…

"I'm gonna be late for practice!" Sakura cried before handing her bag with Kero over to Tomoyo and running off to the edge of the field where her team was already preparing to get started without her.

"Oops, me too!" Carter realized and sped off in the other direction. "We'll meet up later and grab some ice cream, on me!" He called over his shoulder to which Tomoyo nodded and waved goodbye.

"Those two are just a little too similar, don't you think." Kero asked, slightly shocked someone could be as unpunctual as his mistress. Tomoyo giggled in amusement and followed after Sakura, hoping to find the best possible angle to film her friend from. Unbeknownst to the group, one person had been watching and listening in on their conversation with eyes glaring into the retreating back of the older man.

"That Hughes man…is dangerous."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Ikaruga-kun, good hussle but slow down a bit when you dribble the ball! It's okay if you leave your opponents behind but if you go too fast and leave the ball behind too, you won't have anything to score with!"

"Hai, Coach Hughes!"

"Tsubaki-kun, being open where no one can stop you is a good plan but if it's too far from your own team too then you're not really helping anyone!"

"Understood sir! Sorry!"

"It's alright, just move a few yards closer and you should be in the best possible position!"

Soccer practice was going well for Carter. The kids in the soccer team were fairly receptive to his instructions and at the moment were running split team drills where Carter called to the team on the offensive on how they could fix their team dynamic and personal styles of playing. The teens responded well to his "You're doing great but fix this or that!" style of coaching and were easily advancing across the field against their opposing teammates on defensive.

Ikaruga had set his pace as Carter had instructed, steadily interchanging the ball from one foot to the other. He was still ahead of those chasing him in hopes of stealing the ball but they were gaining on him and he had lots of grounds between him and the goal.

"Tsubaski!" Ikaruga suddenly passed the ball off to Tsubaki, who had made his way down from the opposite end of the field to a more manageable distance where he could receive the pass with ease.

"Got it!" The teen got the ball on the side of the foot and turned towards the goal, and as he had plenty of space to work with, he got to the goal without any resistance and with a single hook of his leg, sunk the ball past the goalies outstretched hands and into the net.

"Goal!" Carter called out signifying the offensive team had scored a point on the defensive team. "Offense good work out there! Defense take note, always leave one or two people behind to keep attackers away from the goal, make it so the goalie barely has to do his job! But that doesn't mean you get to slack off Kurata-kun!" The teens all laughed, including the goalie getting the good nature behind the joke.

"Ikaruga-san, nice pass!"

"Arigato! Nice shot yourself, Tsubaki-san!"

Carter's heart warmed slightly at the sense of comraderie these kids were showing him. Back home, his old team was made up of a bunch overly competitive jocks that he rarely associated with, being the bookish type after all. And despite his rust from not playing since high school, these kids had a strong ability to learn and followed through with his instructions to perfection. He was starting to think that he might try to work in coaching as well as his regular classes once the school board got things all figured out.

"Excuse me, Yu-sensei." A female student suddenly walked up to Carter. "Some of the teachers are trying to go over the schedule for practice next week and want to know what days you can help out."

"Wagatta! Kids, take a ten minute break! Once I get back we'll switch positions around and do some more drills!"

"Hai!" The team replied in agreement. Carter thanked the female student after she informed him the other teachers could be found inside the gym and sped off in that direction.

"Hello?" He called out, no one responded but what made him even more suspicious was how dark the large gymnasium was. "Anybody here at all? Is this one of those bully the newbie things?!"

"You could say that." Carter heard the door to the gymnasium shut behind him and just as he turned around to see who was behind him, a swift kick came soaring straight for his head!

"Whoa!" He managed to bring up both his arms to block the oncoming strike but he was still sent flying to the side with the incredible force of his attackers kick. 'Damn, a Phantom!' He cursed internally. 'Why didn't I sense it nearby.' His ability to sense Phantom's was limited, but for it to try and sneak up on him should have been within his sense range, he could not fathom how this Phantom was able to sneak up on him when so many others could not.

"I will drive you out, Carter Hughes." The Phantom's words hissed with venom as it spoke his name. Its body was night black and resembled what appeared to be a humanoid horse, except it had large raven like wings. Its body was covered in blue armor with pads on its knees and shoulders, straps covering its chest and a harness like accessory covering its face. The Phantom tapped the front of its hoof against the ground as if it was itching to kick him again. "You are a threat I cannot abide being here."

Carter had no idea how this thing had found him out but he wasn't to be taken down without a fight.

Driver On! Shabadoobie Touch to Henshin! (Times 4 )

"Henshin!" Carter passed his Flame Style Ring over the WizarDriver's scanner and let the flaming magic circle pass over him.

Flame, Please! Hi-hi! Hi-hi-hi!

"Mahousukai!?" The Phantom reeled back in shock. Carter tilted his head to the side in confusion.

'So it didn't know who I was?' Yet another mystery. Unless it had mistook him for a gate he could not fathom why a Phantom would seek him out personally without knowing his identity as Wizard. "Whatever. Looks like you spun the wheel and lost, 'Sugar Cube'. So it's time for me to get to my other day job." Wizard tossed the ends of his coat tails back and held up his ring hand. "Saa, Showtime daa." Wizard broke into a full sprint as he engaged his enemy who had managed to recover from their shock enough to put up a defense. The Phantom swung in with a roundhouse kick to Carter's head but as he was now, those blows were far easier to handle.

"The same move won't work twice!" Wizard caught his opponent's kick into a leg hold and from their he twisted to the side, tossing the Horse-like Phantom through the air so they could fall heavily onto their front. The beast grunted before pulling itself up onto its knees. "Feel like explaining why you attacked me, yet?" Wizard demanded more than asked. The Phantom's response was jumping up into an inverted hand stand and blasting both legs into Carter's face. "Yipes!" The wizard just barely ducked before he got his head kicked off by both of the things hooves.

"Now that you know I'm here, I have a new reason to kill you, does that suffice?" From its inverted position the Phantom shifted its weight forwards, tipping forward until its legs hit the gym floor where it easily pulled back up into a standing position. It turned on its heel in order to face Carter again and began bouncing on the balls of its feet. (Try to imagine all that for horse hooves I guess.)

'This one's a real combatant.' Carter felt this on pure gut instinct. Not a brute fighter like Minotaur or Phoenix. A skilled warrior more akin to outmaneuvering their opponent with technique and speed. 'Just like Empousa.' Carter grinned under his mask and set in his feet. "You're name?"

"…Phantom… Pegasus."

In an instant the two charged one another. Pegasus twisted on its heel, swinging around in a far faster and sharper round house kick. Carter dived in, thrusting his foot forward in a side kick. Both kicks collided midway and the two combatants broke apart once again. Carter was still in the midst of recovering from landing his flying kick and Pegasus was already on top of him, leaping into the air and coming down with both hooves leading. Thinking fast, Carter passed a ring over his buckle.

Extend, please!

Wizard's hand shot outward, stretching beyond its limits to grasp onto the bleachers and then retract to pull him along and out of the way of Pegasus's crashing blow.

"Got to tie this thing down!" Carter then passed another ring over the scanner.

Bind, please!

At the wizard's command, a series of red magic portals surrounded the confused Phantom and groups of snaking steel chains sprang forth to entangle the beast's body. Pegasus, however, was too quick and immediately spread its raven wings, ascending into the air and avoiding the twisting chains.

"Tch! This one's really good." Wizard observed, switching his Flame ring for Hurricane.

Hurricane, please! Fu-fu! Fu-fu-fu-fu!

The now emerald armored Wizard leaped into the air along with his winged foe, carried aloft by a personal gale of green hued winds. He charged ahead, utilizing his wind field to beat down his foe who had to work extra hard to stay aloft under such intense gust. "Much as I hate to clip those legendary wings of yours, I'm going to need you to stay grounded."

Connect, please!

Carter let loose with his newly summoned Sword-gun, showering the struggling Pegasus with biting silver bullets that forced it to the ground in order use its wings as a shield against Wizards assault.

Hurricane! Shooting Strike! Fu-fu-fu!

A green magic circle appeared at the tip of the sword-gun's barrel as Carter leveled his weapon downward. "Now then, Finale." With a swift click of the trigger, a twister exploded from the barrel of the gun and raced down upon the pinned Pegasus.

"I…cannot be beaten here!"

Pegasus suddenly raced forward, further into the path of the crashing winds. Its eyes were dead set on an object just beneath the winds path, an old gymnastics beam. It leaped for the hanging pole, grasping it with both hands and began flipping end over end on the beam, gaining speed with each turn.

"What is it…?" Carter watched with confusion at this Phantom's odd behavior all the while pouring more mana into the attack, the blast was just on top of Pegasus, which the Phantom seemed aware of as it seemed to reach an axis to its last turn and let go, curling up into a ball rushing head long into the tunnel of hurricane force gusts. Its black wings suddenly snapped open as it began to soar straight through Carter's attack. "No way!" Carter realized too late that the Phantom had twisted over the beam in order to gain momentum to propel its self forward through his attack and fly directly at him. He had only enough time to reflexively switch to his sword and block the man-sized missile as a devastating double punch blasted him back. "Gah!"

Wizard crashed into the back wall and slid down onto the floor with a bang! Pegasus hovered over head preparing to land a finishing blow. But then…

"Bakemono! Get the kids out of here!"

Shouts and scrambling could be heard from outside and the unmistakable grunting and growling of Ghouls.

"What's going on?" The Phantom exclaimed in confusion. "I didn't summon any Ghouls." The Phantom looked over its still stunned foe with a conumdrum clear in its mind. "I should finish him off, but this distraction may be beneficial." The Phantom gripped its shoulder as if in pain. "I didn't ride through that storm without taking some damage and that other magician could be around as well. I'll retreat for now." And with that, the Phantom zoomed out of the Gymnasium through one of the windows on the ceiling, leaving the battle and its crumbled opponent behind.

Wizard sat prone for a few seconds before finally letting out a breath he was holding in. "Damn that hurts!" Carter used the wall as support to pull himself up to a standing position and leaned to the side while holding his chest as if it pained him. "If I hadn't blocked that…"

"Yu-kun?" Carter suddenly noticed Sakura and Tomoyo staring at him from the gym's doorway. He quickly straightened his back and took a more relaxed stance. "Yo! How'd practice go?" The last thing they needed was to worry about him getting another serious wound, best to suck it up and reassure them.

"A bunch of Ghouls just came out of nowhere and started causing commotion, Kero-chan's holding them back for right now." Sakura explained though a look of concern still shown in her eyes. "What happened in here?" She inquired, staring up at him.

Carter shrugged and retrieved his Sword-Gun off the ground. "Had a run in with a new Phantom. Little bugger was tough but I sent him packing, took an aerial exit out it seems." Carter pointed up, referring to the broken ceiling window. "Well then, we can't keep Kereberos waiting can we?" He ruffled Sakura's hair and stepped out when he noticed that Sakura was still in her cheer leading uniform. "Apologies, seems you're not dressed for the bash yet, love."

"I have her Piffle costume here!" Tomoyo interjected, retrieving the colorful costume components from her bag. "Sakura needs to get changed so please go ahead, Yu-kun."

Carter sighed and then retrieved a ring from his chain. "I think I can speed this up a bit. Hand me the clothes, please." Carter held out his hands and gestured for Tomoyo to hurry. The two girls looked to each other unsure of his intentions but complied.

Connect, please!

Carter tossed the garments into the newly summoned portal, to which Sakura and Tomoyo looked stunned. "And for my next trick…" Carter pulled out one more ring but this time held out his hand to Sakura. Again she looked unsure but still trusted her eccentric friend enough to offer her hand, which the magician slipped his ring onto and lowered her hand to his buckle so the ring caught in the scanners light.

Dress up, please!

"And spin!" Sakura blinked in confusion but then looked up and saw a yellow magic circle was now hovering over her head. As he promised, Wizard gripped Sakura's hand tight and lifted her arm above her head only to quickly flick his wrist and send the teen girl spinning like a dancer under his descending magic circle. "Dujaaaaann~!" The wizard crowed as Sakura was engulfed in golden light particles. The light quickly subsided, revealing Sakura in her full Piffle Costume, cape, mask and all. "Pretty convenient right. This'll cut your changing time by quite a bit. Spin optional of course."

"Oh!" Tomoyo seemed to start pouting. "It was if Sakura had a 'Transformation' of her own, I wish you had given me a chance to catch this moment on camera." She held her video camera to the side dejectedly.

"What is taking you guys so long!?" They all suddenly heard Kero call for them from outside and from his tone of voice, he required help.

"You heard him… let's get to it!" Carter quickly pushed the gym door wide open and dashed out, Sakura right behind him and Tomoyo right behind her, not willing to miss any more chances to film the battle.

They all quickly came upon the battle where they saw that Kero was busy with a squad of Ghouls who, unlike their previous comrades, were now equipped with artillery in the form of flame spouting arm cannons that Kero was having a wild time diving and dodging from midair.

Carter cracked his knuckles expectantly and equipped himself with his Sword-Gun in blade mode and also passed his blue ring over the WizarDriver.

Water, please! Sui-sui-sui-sui!

"Saa…" Carter nudged Sakura to get her attention and nodded to her confidently. The card mistress hesitated for a second but nodded back, leveling her wand at the suddenly alert Ghouls just as Carter raised his ringed hand.

"Saa, Showtime daa/desu!"

The two charged the stone monsters as one, Carter taking the lead as the Ghouls loosed fire ball after fireball upon the charging duo.

Defend!

The wall of water suddenly rose up, absorbing the fire bombs and snuffing them out immediately. Sakura took this opportunity to throw up one of her cards.

"Freeze!"

The image of a Koi fish composed of ice and with a gem in its head began to swim up the magically created wave, freezing it in place instantly. The frozen body of water now stood as a towering wall of ice that still served its purpose as a shield as the fire blast could still not penetrate it, but it also had another purpose.

Big, please!

"Haaa!" Carter reeled back his kick as the magic circle appeared between him and the wall of ice. With a step and thrust he put all his power behind it, the armored boot passed through the circle and came back out the other side at ten times the size. The gigantic kick impacted against the ice wall, shattering it into a hundred flying chunks that sailed at the foolishly unwavering Ghouls and rained down upon them as a hail made up of ice chunks as large as they were.

The ghouls were pulverized by the avalanche of ice and exploded simultaneously into rubble themselves.

"That was glorious!" Tomoyo, having popped up from her hiding spot behind the bleachers, came to congratulate her friends while holding up her camera lovingly, Kero also lighted back down to join his friend and mistress in sweat dropping at Tomoyo's display. "That was incredible footage of you two's wonderful combination. It was a show I don't even know if I'm worthy of watching." She seemed close to fainting again.

"Tomoyo-chan, I didn't really do that much." Ever humble, Sakura tried to explain that her role in that attack was minor but Wizard placed a hand on her shoulder and wagged his finger at her disapprovingly.

"Your power was crucial to that attack as it has been in many of our fights up to now. I would have never been able to do alone what I can do with you supporting me. Try to think more highly of yourself." Sakura blushed under her friends praise and looked down at her own feet sheepishly.

"Such praise for your comrade, are you not the one who has lost faith in your own power, child?"

Carter stiffened, he knew that voice anywhere and so he tightened his grip on his sword.

"Empousa-san!" Sakura called out shocked as the violet armor clad Phantom sauntered towards them, her posture relaxed despite having witnessed that battle first hand. She seemed to chuckle when she looked to Sakura.

"Ah! Apologies I too have borne witness to your ability, young lady. And I find myself awed." She placed a hand to her heart and bowed to Sakura, causing her to blush more. "Perhaps the day may come when you and I will duel could be close at hand."

Carter placed an arm protectively before Sakura and turned to his rival. "I hope you have not grown bored of me already, Empousa-chan. I honestly would hate to be forgotten so easily." Despite his banter, he refused to move from his protective position in front of Sakura. Even if he held some delusions of Empousa's eccentric honor code setting her apart from other Phantoms, he could not mistake her love of battle as less than what it was, she lived to fight. And better him than his precious student and friend be on the end of her mana greedy fangs.

"Oh, I have not forgotten you at all, child." Empousa lowered her demonic hand to her side, prompting flames to jump to her finger tips as her saber took its place in her grip. "In fact considering how much I've wished to cross swords with you again, I believe I've been more than patient enough." She took a two handed grip on her sword as her armor began to hum to life. "I will be going at you at full throttle from the start. I hope you do me the same honor. Show it to me, that power that defeated Phoenix!"

Carter wrenched the red gemmed ring from his belt and looked back to his friend's worried faces. "Don't worry, this is the fight I've waited for since I came to Tomoeda. I'll definitely win!" He threw them a thumbs-up and even though they couldn't see it, they knew he was smiling at them from beneath his mask.

Flame…Dragon! Bou-bou! Bou-bou-bou!

"Reppu Gari!"

Empousa's armor flew away in a gust of violent wind as the image of Dragon passed over Wizard and enveloped him in flames. Empousa now stood in her lighter attire, her feet set to spring upon her now red, dragon based armored foe. The two leveled their swords and instead of charging began to inch ever closer to each other. Slowly…their feet scraping the dirt as they locked eyes, knowing full well, that the one to strike first, will be the first to set the pace of the fight. Now only inches separated the two and they took firm grips on their weapons. One flinch is all it would take, to set off twin bursts of extreme movement.

Shing!

Both combatants swiped their blades across instantly, the resulting movements sending up sparks and flashes of light as steel struck steel.

"Gahh!" Carter was the first to react as he gripped his left shoulder where a smoldering gash remained where Empousa's blade had cut into him in a blink of an eye. Empousa snickered and she ran a hand up her blade lovingly.

"It seems I am still the faster, Wizard." She gloated, running a hand through her hair to toss it back only to find that a section of it was now missing and now lying in a thin bundle on the ground at her feet.

"Yep, you're definitely faster." Carter agreed, swinging his sword to the side in order to remove the strands still caught on its blade.

Empousa stood motionless for several seconds as she stared down at her hair which her opponent had so skillfully sacrificed his speed in order to focus accurately on hitting a single spot. "Hmm hmm…" The female Phantom suddenly broke out in a fit of giggles, vainly holding a hand to her mouth to stifle her laughter.

"Heehahhaaha! Such…cheek, to willingly allow yourself to be injured just to prove your skill to an opponent!" The Phantom was doing her best to reel in her laughter all the while, Sakura, Kero and Tomoyo watched on dumbstruck.

"What are those two doing?!" Kero shouted in clear confusion of the two fighters actions. "He doesn't even try to hit her and now she's just standing there giggling!

Tomoyo quickly moved to cover the Clow Guardian's mouth; she had once again pulled out her camera in order to film this battle that she expected to be especially spectacular. "Hush, Kero-chan. This fight, it's clear how much the two of them had been looking forward to it. Our role here is to only bare witness and let them play it out their way.

"We just need to have faith." Sakura added. "Faith that Yu-kun know's exactly what he's doing and will surely win!"

"Now that we've gotten the warm up out of the way…" Carter opened the hand print scanner of his Sword-Gun and slipped a ring across it.

Copy, please!

A second Sword-Gun suddenly materialized in his free hand, Wizard experimentally swung both blades around him before crossing them in front of him in defense. "Let's start the Finale, shall we?"

"Hmph!" Empousa snapped with her gold gauntlet covered hand, prompting violet flames to sprout from their tips. The flames soon dispersed, prompting a small dagger like weapon to appear in midair that the Phantom caught with her own free hand. The dagger had a wicked edge to it as its blade was curved with a wickedly sharp serrated point half way up the blade. The hilt was also colored a deep red, was made up ivory and shaped to resemble bone. Empousa skillfully twirled the hilt between her fingers and positioned the blade reverse handed in her grip. "I wonder how this new mana of yours shall taste."

Carter tensed up immediately, he had enough experience to know that knife was bad news. One scratch and his mana would pour from the wounds it would create, even through his armor. He had to fight smart and make sure that blade stayed as far away from him as possible.

"Here I come!" Empousa charged first, her speed practically making her float as if unhindered by gravity. Her rapier led, stabbing ahead. Carter quickly moved his blades to defend, stepping to the side and holding them up vertically in order to keep the thin sword back, but then came that avaricious knife, swiping forward, hungry for mana. Carter, quickly turned his blades aside, pushing Empousa's saber back and swinging both out horizontally in order to push the spry woman back.

'Remember her style!' He commanded himself. 'The sword is a distraction so that she can bring the knife in while you're defenseless.' Carter held both his swords out beside him, spinning them between his fingers cowboy style. 'You have two swords now too. So use them!'

"Haaaa!" Carter leaped forward, swiping one of his swords down. Empousa easily stepped back from the obvious falling slash and prepared to move in while Wizard was crouching but she had to instead dodge to the side again as his other blade stabbed upward, almost scraping across her exposed abdomen. Carter pressed his offense, springing up and landing a pair of kicks straight into Empousa's chest, sending her reeling back even further.

"I've got to thank you, Empousa-chan." Carter admitted as he switched his swords to gun mode, crossed both his arms out in front of him and let loose with a barrage of silver bullets. "Your words from way back then helped me understand something."

"Child, do you have the liberty to recklessly fight someone stronger than you?"

"I have the power to make sure that my fate is never repeated for anymore Gates targeted by your brethren. And if I don't become stronger, I won't even be able to protect myself, let alone others. That defeat at your hands forced me to become stronger and I will continue to do so, even if it brings me closer to falling into the abyss!"

Empousa danced and dodged her way through the rain of silver projectiles and all the while, she was smiling. 'He has improved, exponentially so.' She thought, a measure of pride welling up inside as she remembered back to that day as well.

Long before she decided to confront him, she had watched the young wizard from afar. She stayed back in the shadows, her curiosity growing as she witnessed his many fights. His fighting style was energetic and youthful, childishly showy at times and filled with wasted movements, but also skillful and filled with such grace that brought on a feeling of nostalgia for the female Phantom.

Their fight itself… was a disappointment. She immediately saw and utilized every hole in his defense he provided her and his yet undeveloped magic had faded almost instantly under her greedy blade's bite. She almost thought she had imagined the talent she saw. But, seeing him there, defenseless and beaten, her instincts went on high alert for some reason, almost like he was beast waiting to pounce the moment she let her guard down. And though her common sense told her to put the beast down while it wasn't a threat, her curiosity and perhaps…compassion, wanted to see what this adolescent beast may mature into. She had yet to be disappointed.

"If you keep talking, you may bite your tongue, Wizard!" Empousa suddenly began to rotate her wrist at high speeds, sending her rapier spinning through the air like a wind mill and slicing the oncoming bullets that dared to wander into her path. "You cannot expect this silvery drizzle to be enough to slow me down, can you?!" She then slid to the side at high speed and from her path, after images began to appear one after another until Carter was fully encircled by a ring of Empousa's. "Not once have you ever been able to defeat this technique, show me how you stack up!"

Carter smirked and passed the Copy ring over his scanner and began re-scanning it over again. "If it's this technique, I already have the counter measure for it." On cue, a series of red magic circles appeared in a mid air around Wizard as well. The circles began to split into two separate sections, one going down and one going up, and in their path streams of light began to merge and fuse into a very familiar shape.

"You didn't think I could just copy my sword did you? These aren't after images either." Wizard quipped as he was flanked on all sides by several exact copies of Kamen Rider Wizard Flame Dragon Style. Carter raised his Sword-gun in challenge to the circle of Empousa after images as his copies mirrored his movements exactly. "Dodge this!"

Flame! Shooting Strike! Hi-hi-hi!

The barrels of the Wizard copies ignited as one and fire exploded from their weapons in a wide circle of indiscriminately aimed fire. The Empousa after images disappeared instantly under the intense fire power and only the real Empousa remained to soar over the flames and land within the circle of Kamen Rider Wizards.

"A good try, but it needs fine tuning." Empousa proceeded to hack apart the Wizard copies which instantly dispersed from wounds from her knife to their mana created bodies. The knife hummed in joy as the mana from the dopplegangers flowed into the knife's blade turning it a bright golden color as it fed happily. "Seems you're out of tricks." Empousa tutted as she raised her blade to the actual Wizard. She sprang forward with both her blades aiming for his abdomen.

"Not quite." Wizard said, spinning to the side, prompting a remaining clone to spin in time with him and move into Empousa's path, catching her blades between his arms. Carter stood back to back with his clone and used this chance to switch out rings. The scanner hummed to life just as the last clone dispersed.

Hurricane…Dragon! Byu-byu! Byu-byu-byu-byu!

(Bgm: Blessed Wind by Rider Chips)

Green hued hurricane force winds sent Empousa tumbling back as the projection of Dragon rose up once more, this time as a shining emerald color. Wizard was lifted off the ground by a pair of dragon wings crafted of the very winds that carried him up as Dragon passed over him once more. The winds died down and Wizard landed. He tossed back his new green coat tails and equipped himself with his twin swords once again, now reverse handing them.

"Now I can keep up with you." He proclaimed and charged forward, carried by the winds. His blades clashed against Empousa's and the female Phantom now found herself being pressed back as the winds had yet to cease pushing her foe forward. Wizard finally broke the lock of swords as he spun on the balls of his feet, using one blade to swipe upward and knock away Empousa's guard and the other to finally slice into the Phantom's exposed abdomen. Empousa had to step back quickly, she held her wounded abdomen tightly. That had been the first time he had hurt her over the entire fight and the sting from the cut carried incredible weight.

'This was it. This was what I saw all those years ago.' Empousa finally dropped her mana hungry knife, letting it fade into flame once more. 'It was not talent I saw that time. It was the unlimited potential for great talent. He has grown, from a beast crawling upon the ground defeated, into a full-fledged dragon, rising into the sky.' She took a firm hold of her rapier as it was cast in bright violet flames.

"Wizard, what is your name. The name of my rival?" She respectfully asked. She knew that this was going to be the last exchange and she was going to put all her speed and skill into this last attack.

Wizard hesitated for a few seconds but readied his last ring and scanned it across the WizarDriver.

Cho-ine! Kick Strike! Saikooo!

"My name is, Carter Hughes."

Empousa's grip tightened as she set her feet apart, preparing to charge. "This is goodbye then, Carter, my dear rival."

Wizard leaped into the air as Empousa charged after him, a pack of after images twisting to and fro at her back. Carter twisted around in a flying side kick as he was propelled downward by a gale of emerald winds. Violet flames and green gusts collided, causing a great gust of air to explode outward from their clash and knock the three onlookers on their backs.

"What happened, who won?!" Sakura exclaimed as she had to shield her eyes from the dust cloud being shot up from the force of the collision and could not see the condition of the two combatants.

"I can just barely make them out…" Kero replied, he moved between his mistress and Tomoyo so that his wings could block the remaining dust filled winds. The winds soon began to die down and the dust settle as the two combatants were revealed, both stood prone opposite each other and with their backs turned to one another, Carter crouched after having landed his kick and Empousa still mid thrust posture.

"Hnng!" Carter had to bend a knee as his dragon armor suddenly faded, leaving him in his regular Hurricane form. He grasped the side of his face as wisp of smoke could still be seen stemming from the shattered mask, one of his blue eyes stared out from the hole in his helmet and blood was running down from a wound above his brow.

Empousa suddenly pulled back to a standing position, spinning her sword through her fingers and bringing it to her waist where it was sheathed once more in violet fire. She was still for several more seconds before she let out a quiet snicker.

"It was…a fight worth waiting this second lifetime for."

Green crackles of energy started shooting off her body as she began to convulse painfully. She began to fall forward but Wizard was at her side instantly, pulling her into his arms as he lowered his knees to let her sit comfortably on the ground. He had a firm grasp on her hand as she sat, resting against his chest.

"So gallant, even to a defeated enemy." Empousa complimented, running a hand down his cheek affectionately.

"Empousa-chan." Cater started but she shook her head and pulled away from him. She shakily rose to her feet and held her arms out acceptingly.

"I have been defeated but not vanquished. It is your duty to put my life to an end."

Carter stared up at her from the ground, his sword nearby and waiting. He understood what she wanted from him. Her warrior mentally demanded that as the true loser she be killed by his hands.

"Yu-kun…" Sakura could say nothing, Carter had said before that the possibility of making Empousa ally with them was nearly impossible and this pride, that demanded that a loss be met with death, was the cause of it. But, there was also the fact of Carter's feelings, how he had spent his adult life chasing after the back of this foe who was as much a mentor in spirit as she was a rival. The Card Mistress could not understand their way of life, of fighting day in day out, and how many times and ways this could have happened for either of them. But at this moment, all eyes were on Carter and waiting for him to make his choice.

The magician sat, unmoving for several more seconds before finally, he chuckled as well.

Error!

The WizarDriver started to crackle as the form of Kamen Rider Wizard fell away, the armor dispersing as tiny particles of light. Carter fell back on his haunches and sighed as if he had been holding the deepest breath possible. "Gomen Empousa-chan. But I can barely lift my arms anymore, let alone lift my sword." He explained, scratching the back of his head with an almost embarrassed look.

"EHHHHH!?" Sakura, Tomoyo and Kero all stared dumbfounded at the sight of the seemingly triumphant Carter now apologizing to his enemy and not looking the least bit distressed by it. Empousa merely let her arms fall to her side limply. All tension had been completely blown away from the scene as if carried off by the wind.

"Say we call this a tie for once?" Carter joked but Empousa was then at his side, her hands now reaching for the Sword-Gun Carter hadn't retrieved.

"Oh no! Yu-kun habbanai!" Sakura cried, dashing to her friend's assistance while trying to pull out a card.

Thump!

"Ow!"

Sakura stopped in her tracks instantly as she saw Carter grasping his forehead in pain. Instead of turning Carter's own weapon on him as Sakura assumed, the female Phantom abstained by flicking the magician in the forehead.

"Still a child at heart." She reprimanded, pulling back as her body began to melt into her human appearance. This was the first time Sakura had ever seen the Phantom's female form. The woman standing before her was, in a word, gorgeous! Pale skin with long black hair, a slim feminine figure and piercing black eyes. The now human Empousa reverse handed Carter's sword and held it up to her face. She reviewed the side of her hair that Carter had previously sliced off and then began turning the blade against the other end, causing strands of black hair to fall to the ground. She worked to make both sides match as much as possible and finally nodded when everything was acceptable. Her hair was now medium length and framing her face perfectly. She held out the sword to Carter who sat mesmerized by her transformation, both before and after.

"Indeed, still a child." Empousa sighed, she bent down at Carter side and to everyone's shock including his, kissed the top of his forehead where she had previously wounded him. She set the Sword-Gun at Carter's side and pulled away once more, now turning to leave at last. "At least you have the appearance of a man." She called over her shoulder, and then vanished in a flash of demonic fire.

Carter still sat stunned, feeling his head where Empousa had kissed him. He lifted his hand away to find no more blood flowing out, in fact it felt like the wound was gone altogether.

"Haah!" Carter sighed as he fell back onto the soft grass. His friends came to his side immediately and saw that he was now smiling proudly with a deep red blush on his cheeks. "Finally scored some points!" He proclaimed triumphantly into the sky. His friends had no idea whether they were tallies of wins and losses or his chances with the enigmatic Phantom. The magician only grinned happily to himself.

Done! Bout time I showed you all what a fight with Empousa was like right? Will Carter ever have a chance with Emousa? Hopefully, considering how I want to stave off as many ideas of CarterXSakura as possible (and don't tell me none of you were thinking it.). Will these fluffy chapters be a recurring thing? Probably considering I'll be introducing a much demanded character soon enough. All I have left to say is: "You all knew what you were in for"!

I don't own Kamen Rider, Cardcaptor Sakura or the song Blessed Wind.