[FFML] [CCS] Shadow of the Dragon Chapter 4 + omake Sakura's Xiaolin Showdown [Archive]

Lord Archive

27th June 2006, 03:26 PM

A young teen thrashed in her bed. Sweat beaded over her body. Her face
filled with a look of hopeless desperation. Her limbs struggled against then
restraining blankets wrapped around her form, her hands clenched as if
holding a rod.

In her mind's eye, she stood upon a street. Out of control fires casted
distorted shadows all around her. Screams of rage, horror and pain filled
her ears punctuated by repeated explosions. One particular shadow filled her
field of view and with one final scream, her heart froze.

Suddenly she sat upright in her bed; a name dying on her lips that she had
wanted to yell out. Her dilated green eyes shook as she slowly scanned the
room as if the nightmare could still reach out and grab her.

Kero-chan yawned and rubbed its eye. "It was that dream again, wasn't it?"

Sakura relaxed upon seeing the diminutive guardian, but then pouted. "How
would I know? I can never remember it."

The small flying plushy scowled. "That's only because you won't let yourself
remember it. Has the foreboding gotten any worse?"

Sakura closed her eyes and tried to reflect on her jumbled feelings. "Not
really, I guess. I doubt it's going to happen any time soon." She then
sighed. "I just wish the dream wouldn't happen so randomly and actually
warned me of when I'm going to be attacked."

Kero-chan shook its head. "Sakura-chan... the dream is a warning. You know
that. Whether it's a battle with whoever is out to get you or some other
threat... we don't know. You've got to stop blocking out things you don't
like."

Turning off the alarm that was set to ring in five more minutes, the young
teen exited her bed. "Kero-chan, you don't dream about the future. You don't
know what kind of a burden it can be. To know that something bad will happen
and that there's nothing, absolutely nothing, you can do to prevent it."

Kero-chan's black dotted eyes widened. "You remember something from one of
your dreams?"

Sakura shook her head. "I just know that for one person, her dreams will end
soon. One way or the other. And I can't do anything to help her."

Kero-chan nodded. "I see. But Sakura-chan, you have to realize that the
future isn't written in stone. There are things you can change. Your
recurrent nightmare is a warning of things gone bad, but there may be a way
to change it."

Shaking her head violently, Sakura refused, "I can't, Kero-chan! I don't
want to see a future gone bad that I can't change or worse!"

"What can be worse than not being able to change the future?" Kero-chan
questioned, but received only stubborn silence as a response.

-----------------------

Card Captors Sakura: Shadow of the Dragon

Chapter 4: Sakura and the Weekend Gone Wrong - Part 1: The Changing Bet

By: Lord Archive
http://www.lordarchive.com

Cardcaptor Sakura is property of the fine ladies of CLAMP, and are used
without consent nor with intent of profit. All rights reserved.

Author's Warnings:

This series is intended for mature teenagers and older.

This series contains:
Adult situations.
Sexual situations withOUT detailed description of sex nor the naked human
body.
Brief moments of violence, some cases involving people getting severely
injured and possibly death.
Occasional use of vulgar language.
Japanese humor: which include bathroom jokes, panty fetish and shocking
situations.
Depictions of criminal activity committed by fictional characters.
References of homosexuality.

-----------------------

Stuffed animals cascaded from the bed as Chiharu slowly rose. She looked
around blearily for a moment before recognizing her childhood bedroom. While
the girl had taken to living at the Yamazaki household after her marriage to
Takashi, there were times she wanted some distance from him. Especially when
she felt bloated, cramped and ugly, and yet he seemed particularly frisky.

Chiharu went through her morning rituals to prepare for school. She was
pleased to note she was running ahead of schedule, allowing her to try and
finish her homework while she ate breakfast.

"Well, if it isn't the lady of the house."

Chiharu glanced up from her studies. "Morning, Sis."

While Chiharu was practically a clone of her mother, her elder sister,
Natsumi, took after their father in appearance with dark, flat hair and
serious, deep-brown eyes.

"This saves me the trouble of having to call you. Mom's got work tonight and
I have stuff to do," Natsumi informed smugly.

Chiharu flinched. If neither her mother nor big sister were going to be
home, then she had to watch over her father. And that was definitely not a
job she enjoyed. However, she doubted she wanted to be alone with Takashi
currently either. "I'll be here."

Natsumi nodded. "Good."

The younger sister returned to her textbook and frowned at the math problem
she was working on. It still didn't make any sense. "Sis, can you help me
with this?"

Natsumi scowled. "Why do you need any help with school work? It's not like
you're ever going to graduate or have a real job."

Chiharu glared back. "I'll remember you said that when you're off at
university while I'm raising a few kids and working as a waitress to make
ends meet."

Natsumi laughed. "As I said, 'a REAL job.'"

"So, you would've preferred Mom married you off so you could take over the
house and plop out grandkids for her?" Chiharu shot back.

"I wasn't the one spreading her legs for her boyfriend," Natsumi countered
before stomping out of the kitchen.

"I had never wanted to be with Takashi that way," Chiharu whispered.

-----------------------

The entire point of having the students play dodge ball during this gym
period was to help teach them to work in mix gender groups. However, making
Takashi and Chiharu the respective team captains, free to choose their own
teams, had been a mistake for the gym teacher. It quickly became obvious
with the early selections of Naoko and other students typically picked last
that this was going to be the boys verses the girls. With Syaoran absent due
to the flu, there should've been at least one girl on Takashi's team, yet
the last girl was given to Chiharu's team.

The gym teacher might've decided to comment if the last students to be
picked weren't the ones that were the more athletic and elitist of class. It
would be a nice lesson to them that they won't always be first. Not to
mention a self-confidence boost to those normally picked last.

"Man, this will be an easy win," one boy announced proudly.

"Really?" Meilin mocked, scanning the boys. "Without Syaoran, I don't see
any one of you anywhere near myself and Kinomoto's skill."

"Maybe not," Takashi returned. "But the average guy is stronger than the
average girl. After all, it's a fact that a man's duty is to make life easy
for women. And did you know that archaeologist recently discovered evidence
that men used to be able to give birth. In fact, hermaphrodites are a
throwback of these early men. However, to give women more of the share of
work, men lost that ability."

There was no need to tell any single person in the room that this story was
patently false.

And then the game began. Chiharu quickly grabbed one of the balls the gym
teacher had tossed out and whipped it at her husband, beaming him in the
face.

"No head shots," the teacher warned with little heat. The boy deserved it
after his little story.

The game of dodge ball was relatively simple. Players would throw the ball
at the opposing players, trying to hit them. If a player was hit by a ball,
without catching it, and that the ball did not first hit the floor, they
were out of the game.

The boy's team took early advantage targeting the weaker girls. However,
after a vicious throw by one boy that sent Naoko sprawling when she got hit,
Meilin snatched the ball and repaid the boy in kind, slamming the ball into
his chest with impossible force and sending him to the ground.

Two girls came to the forefront of the action as the game wore on. Meilin
was one of them, but Sakura wasn't the other one. Her mind was distracted by
Syaoran being home sick and that she didn't quite have a killer instinct in
sports. As such, she took a glancing blow to her leg after only removing one
boy. The other girl was Ichimai Reiko, who took pleasure in surpassing
Sakura in number of kills, and not just because she was picked dead last.
Reiko wanted to be captain of the cheerleader squad, which both Sakura and
Meilin stood in the way of that goal.

As the first game ended, Meilin noted the competition had ceased to be girls
verses boys, but her against Reiko. The Chinese girl was aware of the girl's
ambition, and wasn't about to back down from either this challenge or for
cheerleader squad captaincy. She wished Sakura put up more of a fight in
this contest, but was a distant third for the number of guys taken out.

In all of the games, either Chiharu or Takashi was the first to be
eliminated, each time taken out by the other. Though neither had to wait
long for their spouse to get knocked out by someone else.

Tomoyo nursed a bruised shoulder from where she had been hit by a ball.
There just seemed to be days where it didn't pay to get out of bed. Chiharu
was in an unusually foul mood, and that put Yamazaki on edge. Sakura was
distracted by Li's illness. Not to mention Rika and Naoko were frustrated
with their own life issues. Meilin taking on Reiko's unvoiced challenge
didn't help matters. Can't forget the boys were becoming increasingly
hostile at losing repeatedly to the girls. At the moment, she couldn't think
of how things could get worse. Knowing Sakura and her adventures, it just
might happen even without a random attack.

-----------------------

Chiharu and Takashi walked down the empty hallway. While having gym
scheduled for today as the last class before lunch usually meant being the
last to get lunch, today proved to be an exception.

"I don't see why you're still upset," Takashi commented, rubbing his sore
and abused nose.

Chiharu huffed. "You are completely clueless. That lame story of yours in
gym couldn't have been farther from the truth. Guys have it easy compared to
girls."

"Oh, really?" Takashi returned. "And who is that's supposed to make the
money to put food on the table?"

"And who is it that has to manage said money, take care of the house and
kids, take odd jobs to make ends meet, and deal with stupid husbands?"
Chiharu hissed back.

"I forgot. Men have to deal with whining and nagging, too," Takashi almost
growled. "You just don't know how easy you got it."

Chiharu glared harshly at the boy. "I know of a way to prove that guys have
it better than girls."

"How can you do that?" Takashi questioned.

"Simple, for the next twenty-four hours, you'll have to be me, and I'll be
you," Chiharu explained. "And I mean that literally."

Takashi laughed. "Doubt your dresses would fit me."

Chiharu grinned almost evilly. "Oh, they will, after Sakura-chan is done
with us."

"Wait, you're saying Kinomoto can SWITCH us?!" Takashi cried out in alarm.

Chiharu nodded seriously. "Yes. You'll get FIRST HAND knowledge of what a
girl really goes through."

"You don't really mean that, do you?" Takashi questioned nervously.

"Yes, I do. It's only for a day, Takashi. There's no need to be afraid of
anything, besides me proving you wrong," Chiharu challenged.

Takashi straightened. He wasn't going to back down against his wife, even in
arguments as stupid as this. She needed the lesson that this would teach.
"Fine, but you're the one who'll regret it."

-----------------------

Sakura was still in her gym uniform while she tried to rush her way outside
of school. She came to a screeching halt as she almost literally ran into
her music teacher, who was also the cheerleader coach. "Mizuho-sensei!"

The athletic woman smiled pleasantly as she appraised the girl. "Ah,
Sakura-chan, already out of gym I see."

Sakura shifted nervously while blushing. "Yes."

"That's good. There's something I wanted to ask you. As you know, the
cheerleading team will be electing the team captain today," Mizuho reminded.
"And while I don't have a vote, myself, I can endorse one of you girls."

"I see...," Sakura replied uncertainly.

"Would you like to be team captain?" Mizuho questioned.

Sakura blinked. She heard others talk about it, but hadn't really given it
much thought herself. Slowly she began to shake her head. "I'm afraid not.
Um, I won't be able to attend practice today, and I have certain...
responsibilities that may interfere with being captain."

Mizuho blinked in surprised. "Are you sure?"

Sakura nodded. "Yes."

"I see, who do you think would make a good captain then? Meilin-chan
certainly has the skill, but Reiko-chan has more experience on the team,"
Mizuho questioned.

Sakura pouted. "I hate to say it, but Reiko-chan would probably be better.
Meilin-chan... has similar responsibilities as I do, and I'm not sure how
well she'd do as a leader. We'll be sure to help Reiko-chan, though."

Mizuho nodded in thought. "Would Meilin-chan take captaincy if offered?"

"Probably," Sakura replied. "I really have to be going now. I'm sorry I
won't make practice today. See you later." Without another word, she quickly
rushed off barely shy of running.

The young sorceress looked around cautiously to make sure no one was looking
as she entered a secluded area. Reaching out with her senses, she could
detect no one watching her. She then pulled out her key and chanted, "O Key
which hides the power of the stars, reveal thy true form before me. I,
Sakura, command thee under contract. RELEASE! Bring forth an image of
myself, MIRRROR!"

A large ornate mirror appeared before Sakura, but the reflection was of a
longhaired girl. The girl stepped forward and took the physical shape of the
sorceress, but she was wearing the junior high uniform and had a pair of
lime green ribbons in her now short hair. "What would you like of me,
Mistress?"

"Take my place in the afternoon classes. I need to see how Syaoran-kun is
doing," Sakura informed.

"Yes, Mistress," Mirror replied.

Sakura pouted. "And stop calling me 'Mistress.'"

"As you wish, Mistress Sakura," Mirror returned with a slight smirk.

"Sakura-chan!"

Sakura and Mirror turned to look at the confused faces of Chiharu and
Takashi.

"I need my eyes checked. I'm seeing double," Takashi commented.

Chiharu folded her arms. "I take it you're skipping afternoon classes."

Sakura scratched the back of her head while giggling sheepishly. "Well,
someone has to watch over Syaoran-kun. I've got to go now. You can help
Mirror, right?"

Chiharu nodded. "Sure, but I need to ask you a favor first."

Sakura pouted. She was getting to hate these delays. "What is it?"

"I want you to switch Takashi and me with the Change card," Chiharu informed
firmly.

Sakura blinked a few times. "You're not serious, are you?"

Chiharu and Takashi nodded.

Sakura wanted to argue against the request, but didn't know their reasons
nor considered herself to have the time to deal with it. "Fine. But you do
realize I won't be able to change you back for at least twenty-four hours."

"You will be able to switch us back at any point after that, right?" Takashi
questioned.

"Why wouldn't I be able to? Switching souls is switching souls. Doesn't
matter if I moved your soul before or not," Sakura answered. "Now if you
really want to do this, you'll have to hug each other tightly."

Chiharu didn't exactly like that at the moment, but was the first to move to
an embrace.

Sakura sighed as the two held each other closely. She didn't get to use this
card often, and she could feel it eager to help. "Switch the souls of these
two, CHANGE!"

The young couple glowed briefly. Then they blinked and slowly pulled away
from each other. The boy looked disbelievingly at his hands, while the girl
dropped to the ground clutching her side.

"What the hell?! Why do I feel like I'm being stabbed?" Takashi complained.

Chiharu grinned evilly. "Oh, did I forget to tell you? You're going through
PMS. Enjoy."

Takashi blinked. "You go through this EVERY MONTH?!"

"Yep." Chiharu nodded.

Sakura sighed seeing that her spell had worked, and could now partially
guess why Chiharu insisted on doing this. But she wanted to leave five
minutes ago. She didn't even call out the names of the two cards she threw
into the air. She grew wings and flew off with the image of a bird
disguising her.

"Well, she's in a hurry," Chiharu commented, surprised that he didn't feel
more disorientated by the change. Besides the sudden disappearance of
cramps, it almost felt normal for him to be a guy now. He wondered how much
of that had to do with the magic and with his rather intimate familiarity
with this body.

Mirror smirked toward the prone girl clutching her side. "I guess we should
meet up with Daidouji-sama and the others."

The boy nodded. "Let's go, 'Chiharu.'"

The girl looked up. "Don't you have any sympathy?"

"Did you ever give me any?" was the tort reply.

Takashi flinched. "I never thought it was this bad."

Chiharu was tempted to laugh, but was beginning to feel a little guilty
inflicting his husband with the monthly pain. Yet Takashi could certainly
learn that being a girl and periods were not something to joke about. He
helped the girl to stand and lead her and Mirror to the spot their friends
normally ate.

Tomoyo looked over the new arrivals. "Sakura-chan is off to see Li-kun, I
take it."

Rika, Naoko and Meilin looked at Tomoyo in confusion.

Mirror nodded. "Yes. Mistress told me to take her place for the rest of the
day."

Naoko blinked. "So, you're Mirror? How did you know Tomoyo?"

"The hair ribbons and that Sakura-chan ran off without changing back into
her school uniform," Tomoyo replied simply.

Meilin raised an eyebrow. "Is there some deal with the hair ribbons?"

Tomoyo's smile brightened. "They were a present from Touya-san. She has a
bit of a crush on him."

Mirror blushed deeply. "DAIDOUJI-SAMA!"

Meilin poked the embarrassed girl. "If you're going to be Kinomoto, you need
to talk like her."

"And to think she caused so much mischief before Sakura-chan captured her,"
the lone boy of the group commented.

"Yamazaki-kun, since when have you been so formal with Sakura-chan?" Rika
questioned.

The married couple began to laugh nervously, causing Tomoyo to shake her
head sadly and Meilin to palm her forehead.

"What's going on?" Naoko wondered, noting the reactions.

"The Change card," Mirror said simply while motioning to the young couple.

"You mean Chiharu-chan is now Yamazaki-kun, and he's now her?!" Rika
questioned in shock.

The switched duo nodded sheepishly.

"Why?" Meilin groused.

"Well, Mr. Know-It-All thought girls had it easier than guys, so I decided
to prove him wrong," Chiharu informed, folding his arms.

Naoko started laughing. "That's one way to teach him."

Tomoyo sighed. "Chiharu-chan, I suggest you give Yamazaki-kun the TALK. I
doubt 'SHE' knows anything about pads and such."

Takashi looked sick. "I'm going to have to put one of those THINGS inside
me?"

Chiharu grinned. "My dear girl, you already do. Before lunch ends I'll teach
you how to change it."

"Gee, thanks," Takashi muttered.

"Hope you've seen each other naked before," Meilin commented.

Meilin and Mirror then wondered why everyone started laughing.

"What's so funny?" Mirror questioned with a harsh tone. "He hasn't done
things to her before, has he?"

"Let's put it this way: 'Yamazaki-chan' isn't a true nickname, and hasn't
been one for almost a year," Tomoyo informed.

Meilin shrugged. "Figures."

"Ah. Didn't think people married that young in this age," Mirror replied.

Chiharu glared with little heat. "Do keep it quiet. I don't particularly
want it public knowledge as it'd lead to questions I don't want answered."

Meilin suspected there was more to the request than being hounded by others
about the couple's sex life. After all, having two junior high school
students married off hardly seemed to be something that even the Japanese
would consider normal. She glanced at Rika. "Why aren't you married yet?"

Rika pouted. "Well, I need my parents' permission to marry before I'm
sixteen. And I seriously doubt they'd approve of my fiance, considering his
age. Besides, I'll be needed at home more often now..." She let out a long
sigh. "Mother is pregnant."

The group was unsure of how to respond to that. While one would consider
Rika gaining another sibling to be good news, the sadness in her voice
suggested she didn't think it was.

"I think the only way to complete today would be a surprise quiz," Tomoyo
commented dryly.

-----------------------

Glazed eyes watched the television. Syaoran wasn't quite sure what he had,
only that he felt completely drained, soar, and his stomach just wouldn't
settle down. It took all the energy he had just to move into the main room.

The Chinese boy looked closer at the screen as the supposed children's show
had another unnecessary panty-shot. Not that he minded. Though it seemed odd
to the boy that in public the Japanese tended to be bigger prudes than the
British, yet some of the Japanese shows he had seen made 'Benny Hill' look
tame in comparison. These shows were nearly pornographic, unless you counted
bare breasts as being porn, then they were. And these were on public
broadcast.

Syaoran knew that not all Japanese shows had such 'service' to boys. That
some programs went out of their way to keep the sexual situations and
revealing shots out of the show completely. Though it still seemed odd to
him just how many panty-shots he could find even in the cartoons aimed at
little kids. It seemed like Japanese animators all had some collective panty
fetish. He didn't really understand it, but he liked what he saw.

While Syaoran may have been sick, his magical ability wasn't diminished. He
fumbled with the remote control as he felt Sakura approach his apartment. As
the door opened he managed to shut off the television not wanting to explain
why he was watching a juvenile show whose starring female was rubbing her
panty-clad rear after a hard fall.

"Syaoran-kun! You're up!" Sakura cried out happily.

Syaoran moaned out a short nervous laugh. The fact that Sakura was in her
gym uniform of loose T-shirt and skintight shorts only served to continue
his previous thoughts. "Yeah. What are you doing here? You should be in
school."

Sakura huffed. "Mirror is taking care of that."

"Even cheerleading practice?" Syaoran pressed.

Sakura shook her head. "I gave Mizuho-sensei my vote and told her I wouldn't
be able to be make practice nor be captain."

Syaoran grunted as he nodded. He hadn't had a chance to watch her practice
yet, but knew that she stood a chance to be team captain. It was probably
best she didn't become captain, as she had enough to deal with considering
her magical troubles.

"Have you had lunch yet?" Sakura questioned.

Syaoran slowly shook his head. "Not really hungry."

"You need to eat something to get healthy. I'll make something up," Sakura
replied firmly. "Why don't you find something to watch?"

Syaoran twitched nervously. "Nothing on."

"Really?" Sakura picked up the remote and clicked the television on. She
looked at what immediately came on. "Oh, this show isn't bad. Kero-chan
loves it for some reason."

Syaoran flushed as yet another panty-shot flashed on the screen, though he
would blame his fever for the redness of his cheeks. He sat there quietly as
Sakura went to the kitchen to prepare lunch. He paid less attention to the
plot than he did to the cute female character that bore an uncanny
similarity to Sakura save the anime girl was far less modest.

-----------------------

"Thank God that's over!" Takashi cried out, dragging herself down the school
hallways. "I'll be happy to get out of this damn skirt and put on some
pants!"

"The worst is yet to come," Chiharu warned.

"What's worse than cramps, pop quizzes, and boring lectures?" Takashi
returned.

"I'll tell you later," Chiharu promised.

"You better have wrote 'Mihara Chiharu' on your history quiz, it wouldn't do
to have two 'Yamazaki Takashi,'" Takashi commented bitterly.

"Of course I wrote my own name. We discussed that at lunch," Chiharu
groused.

Meilin ignored the married couple. She looked at Mirror. "Are you going to
cheerleader practice?"

"No, I should be returning soon. I think I may be draining too much from
Mistress," Mirror replied.

"Why didn't you fake being sick for the pop quiz?" Tomoyo questioned.

Mirror shrugged. "If it had been any other class besides History, I would
have. But I was there during those events, so I knew the answers."

"Ah." Tomoyo nodded. "Wish I did. I didn't exactly study last night."

"Ah, Kinomoto!" a man called out.

"Um, yes, Hiwa-sensei?" Mirror replied.

"I know your father is an archaeologist and while it's nice to see you've
done some extra work, I'm afraid I'll have to mark you down on a few of your
answers. Your answers may be more correct historically, but they do not
follow what's written in your textbook," the thin, bespectacled teacher
explained.

Mirror scowled. "I understand, Hiwa-sensei."

"Still, you've done quite well. And do keep an open mind when studying the
past. 'History is written by the victor,' as such bias often creeps into
historical accounts," Hiwa told her with a cheerful smile.

"Yes, Hiwa-sensei." Mirror nodded and watched him walk down the school
hallway. "'Victor' my ass. The Emperor went into hiding. If it wasn't
for..." She shook her head fiercely. "No need to think of a dead past."

Tomoyo gazed at Mirror, sensing there was much more to this than conflicting
historical views. She then smiled sweetly. "Why don't we check on
Sakura-chan and Li-kun?"

Mirror nodded. She then felt faint and leaned against the wall to support
herself.

"What's wrong?" Tomoyo questioned.

"I'm afraid Mistress really has used up too much of her magic. I doubt
she'll be able to switch you two back for a few days at least," Mirror told
the Yamazaki couple. She then asked, "Daidouji-sama, please return me to my
Mistress." Without a further word, her body shimmered in light and swirled
away until she was a pink card in Tomoyo's hands.

"Huh?! I thought Sakura-chan was supposed to be stronger than this!" Takeshi
cried out.

"Change and Mirror are both high level magic. Then add whatever other magic
she recklessly tossed around and she likely drained herself to the point she
made herself tired and couldn't fight whatever bug Syaoran picked up,"
Meilin commented.

"Just for a day, huh?" Takeshi growled out.

"You'll just get more knowledge of what being a girl is like," Chiharu
returned.

-----------------------

Yukito gazed over Tomoeda as stood at the open hallway in front of Syaoran's
apartment. He held no reaction as a dejected looking stuffed animal flew
over to him and sat on his shoulder. "No luck?"

"Sakura-chan's asleep on the couch and none of the windows are open,"
Kero-chan replied.

"Don't want to wake her," Yukito commented, brushing his platinum hair away
from his glasses.

"Of course not." Kero-chan huffed. "But how can we tend to her if we can't
get in there?"

Yukito smirked. "Yue's thoughts on the matter would likely wake her up, but
it'd certainly open the door."

"Oh, yes. Blowing up the door would get us in, and make Sakura-chan upset,"
Kero-chan groused. "Still, I'm surprised Touya was the one to suggest that
we take care of Sakura-chan HERE."

"Their father does have that presentation on Monday. It wouldn't do for him
to be troubled by having to care for Sakura-chan or get ill for that
matter." Yukito smiled wryly. "Besides, it's not like we could get sick."

Kero-chan folded his stubby arms. "I know that. But still, for Touya to ask
us to help her and that she should stay here until she gets better...."

"And grumbling and cursing while asking us to do it," Yukito added with a
smirk. "He just doesn't want to lose his beloved sister to anyone, even
though he knows that someday she will get married."

"Hello!" Tomoyo greeted with a large smile. "Here to see Sakura-chan?"

"Yes, and she's asleep. Tell me you can get in!" Kero-chan demanded.

Tomoyo looked at the apartment door. "Well, I could rush home to get tools
to pick the lock. You'd be surprised at how many similarities there are to
that and sewing." She tapped her chin in mock thought and then pulled out
the Sakura card she had. "I could slip Mirror under the door and hope she
self-activates to open the door from the inside." The girl then reached into
her pocket. "I suppose I could also use Meilin-chan's keys, however..."
Tomoyo walked over to the front door and opened it without using the keys.
"I doubt Sakura-chan locked the door when she came here."

Yukito and Kero-chan laughed nervously for failing to see something so
obvious.

-----------------------

Naoko chewed on her pen, half-aware of the role-playing game going on next
to her. At the moment she understood quite well why the school barred
students from having a job. The next chapter of her novella was due tomorrow
and she was still on the first page of it. The upcoming test in mathematics
was completely unimportant to her, while keeping her job meant everything.

What could she do to advance her story and yet not give away too much too
soon? Naoko knew how she wanted to reveal the identity of Black Wolf and the
events leading up to it, but the timeline for it left her at dead spot. The
world she had set up would not allow for Detective Eagris to sit on his ass
for a few months until the next major event. A time jump was simply out of
the question.

Give Eagris a case unrelated to Black Wolf to work on? No, that wouldn't
work. The Black Wolf case was such a high priority that it was now the only
one Eagris worked on. Besides, she despised fillers. Introduce a new
character Eagris knew? She wanted to pull her hair out for even thinking
that. While Eagris was decidedly an oddball in how he thinks things through,
he was still very much a loner. Work was his life. And in the two years of
his adventures, two family members and four long-term friends had already
been detailed in the story. He wouldn't have any more friends. Have a Black
Wolf sighting? Why? There's nothing to gain the criminal's interest. Have
Repressa try to advance their relationship? The stupid girl was in too much
denial of her feelings to even try that. Eagris was more likely to start
something, but he'd get pounded into the ground if he tried.

Naoko sighed and glanced over at the game. She smirked slightly at Asaba's
interpretation of who Black Wolf was. Wouldn't he be surprised when he
figured out the violent criminal of her story was already a regular
character, and not to mention that SHE was far from the muscular and
imposing man the boy imagined.

A thought struck her. If these boys were such fans of her series that they
were playing a game based on it, then perhaps they could offer her a
suggestion. "Excuse me, but recently Konagi has been running thin on ideas
and asked me for some help. Perhaps you could offer some thought on the
story?"

"I still don't believe you know her," Asaba growled out.

"Truth can be stranger than fiction," Naoko replied with a grin.

"How about revealing who Black Wolf is," Asaba said firmly.

Tsuda gave a short laugh. "And ruin the mystery? That doesn't work."

"How about introducing Black Wolf's character but don't reveal that it's
him?" Asaba suggested.

Naoko smirked. "Already done."

"WHAT?!" chorused all the boys who were playing the game.

"Black Wolf is already one of the characters," Naoko affirmed.

"Then how about giving readers a clue to that fact?" Asaba questioned.

"Thought that was obvious already." Naoko rubbed her chin. She then hummed
in thought. "It would be possible to start a fight between some of the main
suspects and then show the aftermath suggesting Black Wolf was involved...."
She smiled deviously. "You're a great help, Asaba. I'll go tell Konagi about
this right away!"

"Do you believe she knows Konagi?" Asaba asked the boys.

Tsuda was the only one to reply with something other than a shrug. "I
wouldn't be surprised if she IS Konagi Noa."

That brought a round of laughter and comments of disbelief.

-----------------------

On an open field, two dozen girls were practicing various cheerleading
skills, each one honing what they were weakest at or perfecting a complex
trick. While few considered cheerleading a sport, the girls definitely had
spectators in the form of a gaggle of boys hoping to get a peek under the
short skirts worn.

"All right girls, gather round," Mizuho called out. She waited for the girls
to kneel before her before she continued, "I have tallied the votes. While
Sakura-chan likely appreciates your vote of confidence in her, as I told you
before voting that she does not wish to be captain. Since only three girls
have received any votes, and that the combined votes for Sakura-chan and
Meilin-chan are less than the ones for Reiko-chan... Reiko-chan is our new
captain!"

Reiko basked in praise and congratulations from most of her teammates.

Meilin scowled. She hated losing to anybody for any reason.

After the girls settled down, Mizuho spoke again, "Sakura-chan has already
pledged to assist you, Reiko-chan. And I hope Meilin-chan will be of help to
you as well."

Reiko nodded. "I'll be glad to have their help."

Meilin's scowl deepened, noting how the cheerleading coach had phrased that.
Kinomoto had voted AGAINST her.

-----------------------

"I'm home!" Rika called out, but received no reply to her greeting. Passing
the living room, she sparred a glance at her little brother as he was
engrossed in some video game. She found her mother working on dinner in the
kitchen.

"You really should be walking your little brother home," Mrs. Sasaki
chastised.

Rika frowned, but remained silent. Arguing with her mother got her nowhere.
With the exception of her first day at kindergarten, her mother never walked
her to school. So why her mother expected that her seven-year-old brother
still needed to be watched after eluded her. She had her own clubs and
friends to deal with.

The tangy aroma of vegetables being grilled filled Rika's sense of smell,
making her hungry. Then her mother's face quirked and the woman quickly
turned and vomited into the conveniently placed trash can.

Rika scowled, unsure if she was jealous or angry. Probably both. She wanted
to be with her fiance and have his child, not hold the hand of her mother
who had long been ignoring her presence except when something needed to be
done.

"That reminds me, I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow at two o'clock, so
I won't be able to take Kokkou-chan to his baseball game. You'll need to
take him," Mrs. Sasaki informed.

Rika stared blankly. "Mother, I have a concert to perform tomorrow."

"You'll just have to skip it," Mrs. Sasaki replied off-handedly.

"I can't do that, Mother. If I'm not there, they'll have to cancel the
performance," Rika replied with a slight hiss to her voice.

Mrs. Sasaki merely shook her head. "Certainly someone else can play piano
besides you. Naoko-chan for example."

"Naoko-chan hasn't played in almost three years. And there isn't anyone else
on orchestra who plays piano," Rika explained. "I can't let every down for
this."

"Then it'll have to be canceled. Kokkou can't miss his game," Mrs. Sasaki
ordered.

Rika was about ready to pull out her hair. How her little brother warming
the bench was more important than three dozen people playing in the
orchestra and the hundreds of people planning to attend was beyond her. "How
about I get a babysitter for him? Tomorrow is too important for too many
people!"

"Don't raise your voice to me," Mrs. Sasaki growled. "Kokkou is going to his
game, and that's final."

Rika glared and stomped out of the kitchen. She desperately hoped the baby
her mother carried was a boy. To be ignored by her mother so completely was
a curse she didn't want to see passed on.

It didn't help her family that her father worked overseas all the time. The
only one she could turn to for any help was Yoshiyuki, but she was too young
to marry him yet. Her mother certainly wouldn't agree to a wedding,
especially now with there being so much that was needed be done at home
thanks to the pregnancy. She particularly didn't want to help her mother
with this, especially considering she doubted who the father of the baby
was.

Rika cast an angry gaze toward the kitchen. Her mother probably didn't even
hear her ask about a baby-sister. Still, she hadn't been told not to use
one. Now who to ask?

-----------------------

"Tell me again why I'm cleaning the house?" Takashi hissed quietly.

Chiharu grinned as he laid along the couch. "Simple, 'Chiharu-chan,' it's a
'woman's duty' to tend to the house. How many times have 'I' told you that?"

"Ha ha," Takashi drawled. "Could you at least help a little?"

"Why? It's a 'woman's duty'?" Chiharu affirmed. "You didn't help me before,
so I won't now."

Mrs. Mihara entered the room, dressed in a waitress outfit complete with
nametag. "I'm off to work. Be sure check on your father."

Takashi nodded. "Of course. See you later."

Chiharu gave a short wave.

Mrs. Mihara looked at them for a second before shrugging and leaving for
work.

"So, when does your sister come home?" Takashi asked.

"Not until late tonight," Chiharu replied while scratching himself.

"That looks so wrong," Takashi groused.

"Then don't do it again," Chiharu shot back.

"Don't you think you're laying this all on a little too thick?" Takashi
growled.

"Nope. You've done worse," Chiharu replied.

"I doubt that," Takashi replied.

Chiharu was half tempted to prove the temporary girl wrong again. But that
would involve quite literally fucking herself. There was no way Takashi
wanted sex right now, especially with PMS, and he could push her into sex
just as his spouse had countless times before the switch.

Chiharu tried to stomp down on the growing feelings inside him. The cute ass
waving before him, the tented pants constricting a part of him he would
rather not think about, and the soft flesh he was all too aware existed
beneath the tight clothes....

Takashi looked over as Chiharu quickly stood up and marched to the door.
"Where are you going?" she asked.

"I should be going to your house. No sense sticking around," Chiharu
replied, laughing nervously.

The bulge her spouse was displaying showed the true answer, and it made the
temporary girl sick to her stomach knowing what was going through the boy's
mind. There was NO way she was going to allow THAT! "Yeah, you go home. Be
sure to show Dad the results of yesterday's test."

-----------------------

Sakura's eyes fluttered open, a little startled at what she saw. "This is
starting to become a habit." How did she end up sleeping in his bed?

Syaoran blushed and tried to laugh nervously. "Daidouji's idea. How are you
feeling?"

Sakura paused. "Hot and nauseous." She then pouted. "You got me sick."

"Sorry," Syaoran replied sheepishly.

Sakura curled up closer to her boyfriend, pressing her forehead against his
chest. "I don't mind if I can stay here."

"For as long as you want," Syaoran told her.

Sakura giggled. "Then I'll never leave."

"Now I want to vomit," Meilin groused, standing at the door.

"Um, hi," Sakura greeted. "What time is it?"

"Almost seven o'clock," Meilin replied.

Sakura sat up quickly and then almost fainted back into bed. She wobbled
slightly. "Oh, no. I need to get home and cook dinner for Dad."

"You stay right there," Meilin ordered. "Your brother is handling that. He
already knows you're sick and sent Tsukishiro and the plushy here to watch
over you."

Sakura blinked disbelievingly. "My brother did what?"

"Here's dinner," Yukito announced, entering the room holding a tray with two
steaming bowls. "Careful, it's still hot."

"Why would my brother send you to help me HERE?" Sakura questioned again.

Yukito felt Sakura's forehead. "Because he's worried about you and that your
father has that presentation Monday."

"But HERE?" Sakura pressed. "Is HE okay?"

Yukito laughed a little. "He was muttering and cursing while asking us to
help you."

"Oh, good. He's not possessed," Sakura joked.

"Now, Kinomoto," Meilin barked. "Why did you vote against me as cheerleader
captain?"

Sakura fidgeted. "Well, I wasn't sure if you'd be able to devote enough time
to it, and I wasn't sure if, well, you'd be... organized."

"What do you mean by THAT?" Meilin demanded.

Sakura withered under the girl's glare.

"Face it, Meilin, you don't know how to plan. You see a goal and you go
after it with everything you got, but you don't take the time to think of
the best way to get there," Syaoran told her bluntly.

"I do not!" Meilin protested.

"The marathon. All those burnt cakes. Swimming Honk Kong bay. Challenging
that dojo. Science projects. Advanced martial-"

"I GET THE PICTURE!" Meilin screamed, before running out the room and
slamming her bedroom door.

Sakura frowned. "Syaoran-kun, that wasn't nice."

Yukito sighed sadly. "The worst criticism to take is the one that is true."

-----------------------

"Takashi, what is this?" Mr. Yamazaki demanded of his son.

Chiharu stood dumbly at the anger the man displayed. The test score was
ninety-four and tenth in the school. Why would that be bad?

Mr. Yamazaki set the paper down as if it was vile garbage. "Takashi, more
than anyone else in your school, you NEED to get into a good college. You're
already married and, by the way you're going at it, may be a father soon.
You're not competing with just your classmates, but all of Japan! You know
this already!"

Chiharu took a step back. Never before had she seen Takashi's father so
upset.

"How the hell can you support your family if you go to some shit college and
get some crappy job?" Mr. Yamazaki hissed. "You need to be better than
anyone else for Chiharu-chan's sake. Think of her when you don't even rank
in the top thousand students. Think of how you'll feed your children without
a decent job.

"Go to your room and study. Maybe a little hunger can motivate you."

Chiharu walked to the bedroom in a daze, not even noticing Mrs. Yamazaki
studiously making dinner as he passed the kitchen. Was this the kind of
pressure Takashi was under? As a girl, no one cared what grades appeared on
the tests. Being a housewife and eventually a mother made school practically
pointless. She knew Takashi spent a lot of time studying, but was he really
thinking about their future already?

-----------------------

The room looked more like it belonged in a hospital rather than in a
suburban home. And the frail man laying on bed almost appeared to be a
corpse if not for the shallow raspy breath that echoed gloomily in the room.
It was hard to believe that the man was only forty. A price paid for
ignoring symptoms of cancer until it had spread throughout his body. The
doctors were surprised he had lived this long.

"Hello, Dad," Takashi greeted cautiously. "How are you feeling?"

"Same as usual," Mr. Mihara wheezed out.

"That's good, I guess," Takashi replied. "Is there anything I can do for
you?"

"Sit with me for a minute," Mr. Mihara requested.

"Certainly." Takashi sat down at the chair next to the bed. She felt uneasy
under the man's gaze. "Is there something you wanted to talk about?"

"You're not Chiharu," Mr. Mihara said.

Takashi was taken aback. "Dad..."

"My daughter busies herself tending only to my physical needs. She no longer
talks to me," Mr. Mihara commented.

"Dad... I'm sorry... I...," Takashi fumbled.

"You don't talk like her either," Mr. Mihara added.

"Do you believe in magic?" Takashi questioned.

Mr. Mihara had a ghost of a smile. "I remember the days when I first met my
wife. Things were so simple and wonderful then."

"Would you believe I'm really Takashi?" the girl asked.

The man nodded faintly. "You sound like him."

"A friend of Chiharu's is apparently an incredibly powerful practitioner of
real magic." Takashi sighed. "And after a stupid argument with Chiharu...
she convinced the magic-user to switch our souls. It's only for the weekend
or so, but I'm learning all to well that I took what Chiharu goes through
far too lightly."

Mr. Mihara laughed. "That certainly sounds like something Takashi would
say."

Takashi smiled slightly. "I could tell you all sorts of unbelievable things.
Many of which I've learned are actually true." She then pouted. "I'm afraid
to say that Kinomoto's power doesn't extend to healing. She's sick with the
flu right now."

"Ah, Kinomoto. It's been a while since I heard that name. Any relation to
Fujitaka or Nadeshiko?" Mr. Mihara questioned.

"Their daughter, Kinomoto Sakura," Takashi answered.

Mr. Mihara coughed up a laugh. "Little Sakura-chan is a witch and is that
dirty-teacher's daughter. Amazing what you miss when you bury yourself into
work. Takashi, do Chiharu a favor and never, ever take her for granted. Work
became my life. It was only when I learned I had cancer that I finally took
the time to appreciate what I had."

Takashi nodded. "I promise."

"Now, Takashi..." The man shifted slightly. "Let's hear some of those true
stories."

Takashi smiled gently. "Of course. I'll start with the one that freaked out
Kinomoto and lead me to learn she could use magic. You see, magical girls
first appeared in ancient Egypt...."

-----------------------

Author's Notes:

I had intended the entire weekend to be a single chapter, but topping over
eighteen pages and being only half done I decided to make it two chapters
instead.

How did Mr. Mihara figure out that wasn't his daughter? A few things: First,
Japanese speech is gender specific. For example, girls use a different word
for I, often watashi, than boys do, usually boku or ore. (There are more
words that can mean I and it can get rather complicated.) Second, being
close to death, he wants to appreciate the life he still has and is more
keenly aware of his daughter's current mannerisms than most people would be.
Third, those who know their death is coming soon are often thought to be
more open to the super-natural, whether it's death opening them to it or
that the person is less likely to deny what they feel and sense.

This time around, the omake isn't part of this universe. Just something...
strange I typed up:

Sakura's Xiaolin Showdown

This is set sometime around Chase Young's first appearance.

-----------------------

Jack raised his iron fist above the prone and unconscious bald boy. "I'm
going to put you out of my misery once and for all, Omi. FIST OF TEBIGON!"

"POWER!"

Jack blinked and found the unstoppable Shen-Gong-Wu being held back by an
overly cute Japanese girl. "Who are you?!"

The floating ghost of the ancient sorceress, Wuya, immediately moved in
front of the girl's face.

The girl's emerald eyes crossed. "G-g-g-g-g-g-GHOST!" She promptly tried to
pound the offending spirit with the nearest object at hand, which happened
to be Jack.

"That won't work on me, child," the ghost sneered. "But I must ask, was that
a Clow Card you just used?"

"S-S-Sakura c-c-card," the girl stuttered, still fearful of the spirit. "I-I
made it from the Clow Cards."

"You. MADE. IT?!" Wuya demanded.

Sakura nodded. Her hand was shaking as she reached for another card.

Jack shook his head and rubbed his arm after waking from being used as a
hammer. "That wasn't a nice thing to do."

"Jack, run," Wuya advised quietly, her eyes unnaturally wide.

"Huh?" Jack questioned.

"Run, you fool! She possesses more power than all the Shen-Gong-Wu put
together!" Wuya warned before disappearing into a puff of smoke.

Jack blinked dumbly at where the ghost had been, then at the girl. He
couldn't believe Wuya's warning, but who was he to judge? "Laters!" He
summoned his hover jet, hopped on, and bolted for the horizon.

Sakura continued to tremble. "G-g-g-g-ghost." Besides trembling, she didn't
move as three young teens dress in red and white douji arrived with a small
green dragon.

"Hey, Omi! Wake up!" The Brazilian boy, Raimundo, slapped the still
out-of-it Chinese boy.

Omi groaned. "Anyone get the phone number of that Shen-Gong-Wu?"

Raimundo dropped the boy. "He's fine."

"Hey, you okay?" the newly arrived, raven-haired, Japanese girl, Kimiko,
questioned, waving her hand in front of the stuttering girl, but didn't get
a reply except 'ghost.'

"I take it Jack got the Shen-Gong-Wu," the Texan teen, Clay, commented.

"I guess so." Omi wobbled as he stood up. "He suckered punched me before I
could find it."

The green dragon scratched his back. "Nope, my itch says it hasn't been
found yet."

"Then where'd Jack and Wuya go?" Clay questioned.

"G-g-g-ghost!" Sakura stuttered out loudly.

Raimundo thumbed toward the girl. "Obviously they were here."

Dojo took a close look at the wand in the frightened girl's hand. "That
feels familiar somehow."

"Is that the Shen-Gong-Wu?" Kimiko asked.

"Nope. But it certainly holds a LOT of magic," Dojo replied.

"SAKURA!"

The four teens and the dragon looked to the sky as a winged mountain lion
flew down and landed in front of the trembling girl. It waved a paw in front
of the girl, but all she could was utter 'ghost.'

"Why do I have the feeling we've stepped into the Twilight Zone or some
stupid crossover?" Raimundo groused.

"Cerberus! It's been a Dark Age!" the dragon called out.

"Eh?! Dojo! LONG time no see!" Cerberus returned. "You wouldn't happen ta
know why Sakura's like this?"

"Spent some time in Kansai, I hear." Dojo let out a short chuckle. "Best
guess is she met Wuya."

"Didn't Dashi kill her?" Cerberus asked.

"He trapped her spirit in a puzzle box, making her a ghost," Dojo explained.

Sakura trembled more.

"I see. I see." Cerberus nodded. "But what to do to wake her? Her boyfriend
is in Hong Kong, and I'd rather not deal with her brother."

"What about Clow Reed?" Dojo asked.

Cerberus frowned. "Died some centuries ago."

Dojo nodded sadly. "That's too bad."

Cerberus then paused as an old memory struck. He then scowled at the dragon.
"Hey, you still owe me for that desert you swiped!"

Dojo blinked and looked confused for a moment before glaring. "That was MY
desert. You had no claim over it!"

"Clow made it for me!" Cerberus pressed.

"No, Dashi made it for me!" Dojo countered, his forehead pushed up against
the lion's.

Kimiko shook her head as the two mythical beasts' argument degraded into
continued pronouncements of 'For me!'

"There's a battle of wits even Omi could when," Raimundo said dryly.

"Yeah." Omi nodded, then blinked. "Hey!"

While the battle of wills continued, Sakura's trembling changed in tempo.
Her face went from frightened to a scowl. "KERO-CHAN!"

Immediately the mountain lion froze into a statue.

Dojo blinked repeatedly. "She's your master?"

Cerberus nodded nervously. "At least she's awake now."

"So she has the Clow Cards?" Dojo questioned.

"She converted them all to Sakura Cards," Cerberus replied.

Sakura's confusion at the situation was increased as the green dragon
suddenly bowed at her feet. "Oh, goddess of the cards, please spare this
humble creature. Taking Cerberus's desert was just a joke. Honest!"

"A JOKE?!" Cerberus howled.

"Kero-chan!" Sakura said firmly.

The lion cringed.

"Mind filling us in?" Raimundo questioned.

"What is going on?" Sakura asked as well.

"Guess I'll have to be the one to explain." Dojo sighed. "Well, as
insufferable and annoying Dashi could be at times, if there was ever a
bigger goodhearted asshole, it was his cousin, Clow Reed."

"HEY! Don't talk about Clow Reed like that!" Cerberus yelled. He then
muttered, "Even though it's true."

"Weird name. Doesn't sound Asian at all," Kimiko commented.

"That's because Dashi's aunt married a fairly powerful European warlock. By
the age of fourteen, Clow had already mastered all the Western AND Eastern
magic his parents could teach him. If it wasn't for Dashi's affinity with
the Shen-Gong-Wu, he would've never held a candle to his cousin's power.
Clow Reed was so powerful he could've defeated Wuya by himself," Dojo
explained.

"Why didn't he?" Clay questioned.

"Because he knew it wasn't his task, or so he told us." Dojo shook his head.
"He did bail Dashi out of a few tight spots, like when Wuya sent Mala Mala
Jong after him."

"That's all very interesting, but why did you call her 'goddess of the
cards?'" Omi asked.

Dojo rubbed his chin. "Since Wuya wasn't his opponent, Clow Reed got a bit
bored. He began to study the Shen-Gong-Wu and combined what he learned from
them and other obscure and strange magics to produce the all-powerful Clow
Cards. A single card holds more power than any single Shen-Gong-Wu. The
complete twenty-six card deck rivals ALL the Shen-Gong-Wu put together."

"Fifty-three cards," Sakura interrupted.

"Eh?" Dojo emitted.

"Clow made fifty-three cards," Cerberus repeated. "Though there are a couple
cards that aren't quite as powerful as some of the Shen-Gong-Wu."

Dojo let out a short chuckle. "At least that's good to know. But still...
fifty-three cards. To do that she'd have to have more power than Clow Reed
did. Especially if she managed to convert Light and Dark."

Sakura fidgeted. "Those were easy compared to Void."

"Void?" Dojo questioned.

"Think of it like a joker card," Cerberus suggested. "It could cancel out
ANY other Clow Card and completely destroy ANYthing. Damn near erased
Tomoeda off the map if Sakura hadn't over transformed it, turning it into
Hope."

"There's ONE card that EQUALS the other fifty-two in power! That one card
would exceed all the Shen-Gong-Wu put together!" Dojo cried out. "She could
wipe out Wuya easily!"

Cerberus nodded. "Probably."

The Xiaolin Dragons looked at each other.

Raimundo walked up to Sakura, extending his hand. "How would you like to be
the Xiaolin Dragon of Magic? We could REALLY use your help."

Sakura blinked. "Xiaolin Dragon?"

Kimiko nodded. "Yep. We search the world for the hidden Shen-Gong-Wu,
magical artifacts that give the user immense power. We have to find them to
make sure they don't get misused."

Sakura closed her eyes. "You mean like your star pendant, his sash, his
sword, his orb, and the shield over there?" In each case she pointed at a
Shen-Gong-Wu.

The Xiaolin Dragons all looked at ground where the girl was now pointing,
but only saw a hint of metal poking up from the ground.

"Nice trick." Raimundo was even more impressed with the girl. She could even
sense where the Shen-Gong-Wu were better than the cowardly dragon. He then
frowned. "Great, it's buried. It'll take a while to dig it up."

Clay stepped forward. "No problem I...."

"Earthy!" Sakura called out. A magical glowing circle filled with complex
runes appeared beneath her as a card spun in the air above her staff.

The Texan stared along with the others as the ground split open and the
shield lifted out of its resting-place by a pillar of rock.

Omi cautiously grabbed the shield. Then the pillar fell back into the Earth
as the ground came back together as if it had never been touched.

----------------------

"This is no good. No good at all," Wuya groused as she paced back and forth.

"Would you quit that?!" Jack growled. "You're wearing a rut in the air."

"Jack, this is no time for joking around. If that... girl joins the Xiaolin
Dragons, we have lost," Wuya complained.

"And why should I care about this girl?" Jack retorted. "You certainly
seemed frightened of her. Give me one reason I don't invite her here? We
aren't partners anymore, remember?"

"Back when I battled Dashi, he was sometimes aided by his insufferable,
egotistical, smart-assed, asshole of a cousin," Wuya began.

"What? Was he your ex-boyfriend too?" Jack questioned with an evil tone.

Wuya growled angrily and tried in vain to rip the boy's tongue and throat
out. "NO! By all that is unholy, NO! NEVER! I only slept with him because of
that one accursed Shen-Gong-Wu!"

"So he was your boyfriend," Jack 'observed' and then had to put up with the
cold chill the ghost's presence generated.

After a few minutes of venting her impotent rage, Wuya continued with,
"Anyway...," which sounded more like 'Go to hell.' "Clow Reed never bothered
to use Shen-Gong-Wu. His power rivaled my own when he was but a snot-nosed
teenager. Then he got stronger. His crowning achievement was the creation of
magical cards that are each more powerful than any Shen-Gong-Wu. He even
made his own pair of mythical beasts, similar to Dojo, to act as guardians
over these cards due to the immense power they possessed."

"That's great." Jack grinned. "I'll just go and steal those cards from her
and I'll be invincible."

"Get a brain," Wuya spat. "If it was that simple, I would've told you to do
that while she was scared of me. Those cards are attached to her magic,
meaning only she can use them. All she has to do is will the card to be in
her hand, and it's there. The ONLY way to use her cards is to kill her
first, and good fucking luck trying to do THAT!"

Jack pointed at the ghost. "Which brings the question of why we ran from her
if she's scared of you?"

"Because, you simpleton, she was about to pull out the Light card. With it
she could utterly destroy my existence in this world!" Wuya countered.

"Okay, explains why YOU need to be afraid. But what else can she do?" Jack
questioned.

"Name a Shen-Gong-Wu, ANY one of them, and she can duplicate it's effects,"
Wuya answered harshly. "Stop time and strip you naked? Time. Make a Jack
flambe? Firey. Drown your tin soldiers? Watery. There is nothing she can't
do if she really wants to."

"Bring back the dead," Jack stated as a challenge.

"She could even do that as a different application of the Light card.
However, there is a price. Someone else who is full of life would have to
surrender their life to the Dark card," Wuya explained. "Clow did it once by
exchanging the life of a murderer to bring back the victim's life."

"Can the Shen-Gong-Wu even do that?" Jack questioned.

Wuya paused. "Possibly, but not easily. And probably with a similar cost in
life."

Jack pondered the situation, then a device on his workbench began to blink.
"Booya! A new Shen-Gong-Wu!"

Wuya allowed her senses to grasp which mystical item it was and then
shuddered in horror. "Jack, leave that Shen-Gong-Wu alone."

"Why? Is it like that Sapphire Dragon one?" Jack questioned, still prepping
to go after the artifact.

"No, worse. MUCH worse. It's Long Dong, a horrid, horrid Shen-Gong-Wu. It
must never be activated." Wuya spasmed in disgust. "It's better in the
Xiaolin hands than elsewhere."

Jack glared. "And why is that?"

"Let's just put it this way," Wuya replied. "If it gets activated, Kimiko
will get a LOT of unwanted attention from her fellow dragons."

Jack blinked in confusion. "Unwanted attention? What do you mean by..." His
eyes widened as he figured it out. "Oh..."

Wuya nodded, then grinned wickedly. "And if that girl with the cards is with
them, she'd certainly leave the team after they rape her repeatedly all day
long."

"That's the Shen-Gong-Wu that had you screw that Clow fellow?" Jack asked.

"Yes. A thousand years in the abyss of Hades would be preferable to getting
analled repeatedly by that fag." Wuya shuddered and then paused. "Wonder
what happened to the brat that spawned from that horrid day."

"YOU had a kid?!" Jack cried out in surprise.

"I AM a woman, you know," Wuya shot back. "Last I heard was Clow found his
kid and named him Li something-or-other. I certainly didn't want the brat.
He didn't have nearly enough power to interest me. Wasn't even worth the
time to sacrifice him for some ritual."

"Mother of the year, you are not," Jack groused.

Wuya glared. "Oh, shut up."

----------------------

Kimiko guided Sakura back to the main courtyard of the Xiaolin temple. "Will
you join us?"

"It kind of sounds like fun, but I really can't leave Tomoeda yet," Sakura
informed her new friends. "I'm needed there for now. Maybe I can help out
after I marry Li Syaoran-kun."

Kimiko blinked. "You're already engaged?"

Sakura smirked. "Not YET." She tapped her chin. "Right. He'll propose this
Christmas on top of a Ferris wheel." She then pouted. "Precognition sucks at
times. I'll have to pretend to be surprised."

Kimiko could only nod slowly in response.

Raimundo stood off to the side with the rest of the Xiaolin Dragons. "Here I
thought we were pretty hot stuff. Then here comes
Miss-Mary-Sue-Kick-Your-Ass. We're not even in her league."

Clay adjusted his hat. "At least she's technically on our side. If Wuya ever
becomes human again, we could get Sakura's help to put the kibosh on her."

"And probably kiss where ever they fought no more," Omi added.

"That's 'kiss it goodbye,'" Raimundo corrected, wondering why he bothered.

"That too!" Omi grinned sheepishly.

"Well, I better get going before my brother notices I'm gone. He's likely to
send death threats to Syaoran-kun thinking I snuck off to Hong Kong...
again." Sakura smiled as she waved. Wings then formed on her back before she
flew off into the distance at an impressive speed.

"Good news, guys! A new Shen-Gong-Wu!" Dojo announced. He then looked
around. "Where's our new Xiaolin Dragon?"

"Flying home." Raimundo thumbed toward the sky. "She can't help us. Not yet
anyway. Says it's not her time to leave home."

"Ah. Got to hate precognition." Dojo nodded. "Anyway. It's time to go
hunting!"

"Ahem!" An elderly monk made his presence known, his face unusually red.
"For this Shen-Gong-Wu, perhaps it would be best if Kimiko remains behind."

"Why is that, Master Fung?" Omi questioned.

"It's a Shen-Gong-Wu that if activated, ahem, well, let's just say it's more
of a marital art aid, than a martial art aid," the old monk fidgeted.

Kimiko's eyes crossed at the implication. "You don't mean...."

"It would cause the nearest two people of opposite sex to engage in...
unseemly behavior. Neither are in control of their actions. Though accounts
had it the guy enjoyed it more than Wuya did. Particularly as she had a
child as a result," Master Fung explained.

"Right." Kimiko stepped forward. "I'm going ALONE."

"That would put you at risk to be with a stranger if it accidentally
activates," Master Fung warned.

"That's a risk I have to take," Kimiko stated firmly.

"Why don't you take one of us in case something does happen?" Raimundo
asked. "Better someone you know and trust...."

Kimiko was in his face. "Right now I'm not sure I CAN trust ANY of you.
THAT's the problem. Especially with this."

"Are you sure about that?" Clay questioned.

"Yes!" Kimiko snapped. "Old monks and you three guys, with no other girl for
kilometers around? There's no way in hell I'm allowing that thing anywhere
near HERE. I'm going to pitch it somewhere that it'll NEVER see the light of
day EVER again."

----------------------

The sun had set and raised high into the sky twice before Kimiko returned,
as promised, empty-handed.

"Welcome back," Clay greeted.

"Why'd it take you so long?" Raimundo questioned.

"Don't. Ask," Kimiko growled in a venomous voice.

A short time later, Dojo followed behind her with the biggest grin
imaginable. "I had a GREAT time."

Raimundo and Clay exchanged confused looks, and then chorused, "They
couldn't have.... Could they?"

Omi approached his fellow dragons, having overheard everything. "Wonder what
the kid would have looked like?"

Raimundo and Clay looked at him in shock.

"What?" Omi questioned. "The scroll refers to Long Dong as a fertility aid.
Thankfully we don't have to worry about any babies."

"Oh, SHIT!" Raimundo and Clay cried out.

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