CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

There they sat around a campfire as the night sky descended upon them. But from all the smoke, fire and pollution that was there already, they couldn’t tell much of a difference. After the awkward introductions, two Sakuras, two Syaorans and one very disturbed Tomoyo settled in for the night and discussed their current situation.

“So in this reality,” Sakura started. “Your reality… Li won Final Judgment?”

“That’s right.” Her counterpart nodded. “I was the first to face Yue. But he was just too quick for me. When it was Li’s turn, he was trapped in a block of ice, waiting for Yue to erase our memories and shake the balance of our reality. But he fought through it and beat Yue’s spell.”

“It was one of the hardest things I ever did.” He said softly. “But in the end, I won the battle and was proclaimed the master of the Clow cards, which I later converted into Comet Cards.”

There was a brief silence among them. Tomoyo had been given the most dreadful news earlier and thought about it over and over in her head as she poked the bonfire with a stick when suddenly…

“So I’m dead?” Tomoyo asked out of the blue, almost teary-eyed.

“Almost everyone is dead.” Li-2 sighed. “Kaho was killed in an explosion. Terada was driven to madness. He strangled Takashi and killed the rest of our friends.”

“Well he’s bound to do that at some point.” Sakura said with a gleam.

“Then he hung himself.”

“That too. If the alcohol doesn’t get him first.”

“Nakuru and Spinel were atomized by a stray beam of energy from one of the ships.” Sakura-2 added. “Them and a few children they were trying to protect.”

“What about… me?” Tomoyo asked, almost afraid to know.

“You were…” She paused for a moment, unwilling to go on.

“Sakura, please.”

“You found Eriol’s dead body hanging outside one of the ships. He had been mutilated and shot in the head and you grew furious.”

“Oh my God…”

“In a blind rage, you stormed in a carrier tank and shot your way through several of the aliens. Li and I tried to save you in time but you were gunned down brutally just as the ship was crashing into the ravine.”

“…I’m… I’m sorry.”

“What about the others?” Sakura asked. “Tokyo Mew Mew? The army? What--”

“What army, Sakura?” Li-2 looked puzzled.

“My magic army. Maya, Marvin, Pops--”

“I don’t know who you’re talking about.”

“Well what about Tokyo Mew Mew?”

“The girls answered our distress call and helped us out as much as they could. But in the end, they too suffered the same fate as our friends.”

“What about Kero and Yue?” Sakura finally asked, despite her objections toward it.

“We… think they might still be alive.” Her counterpart answered. “They were taken by a couple of tankers during our last battle. I don’t think they’re dead… yet.”

“Then…” Sakura looked over to Li and Tomoyo, who were unsure of what to say. “…We’ll help you.”

“Help us? How?”

“The only way we know how. Crash the gates and start kicking some ass!”

Li-2 thought for a moment and nodded with a grin. “We might have a chance.”

“What?” His Sakura looked up at him with concern. “Li, you’re not serious are you? Tomoyo died storming through security. We can’t take that same risk!”

“But if we don’t, what chance does the fabric of time and space stand of surviving? We have to do something, Sakura.”

“They outnumber us. Several hundred against four.”

“Excuse me.” Tomoyo stood up. “But there’s five of us.”

“No.” She shook her head. “Not after the way I lost my Tomoyo. I’m not going to see you die the same way.”

“Oh don’t worry. I’m pretty sure there’s a chance I’ll be cut open, blown to bits in a chamber or probably even trip over my own feet and fall down the garbage chute.”

“Is that supposed to be some kind of sick joke?”

“Are you laughing?”

“Does it look like I’m laughing?”

“Not really.”

“Then what does that tell you?”

“You should lighten up more?” She then turned to her favorite couple. “Jesus, it’s like over here, Sakura’s the one with a stick up her ass and Li’s the cheery optimist.”

“Anyways…” Li rolled his eyes. “… With our magic combined, we might actually stand a chance against them. But if we’re going to form a raid on the tanker, we need to know its precise location.”

“No problem.” Sakura-2 said. “It should be well beyond this forest, hovering above a swamp.”

“You know…” Sakura paced around, thinking to herself. “…There’s a good chance what we need is on that ship.”

“Those items Aries told you about?” Li walked over to her. “Do you really think so?”

“It’s worth a look.”

“So what do we do?”

The smooth, shiny and black exterior of the Valdorian tank towered above the bubbling swamp in the middle of the dead forest. The armed guardsmen patrolling the area passed the murky river over and over again, occasionally shooting the odd swamp animal out of pure boredom. They remained completely oblivious, however, to the five figures that crept up behind them and brought them down instantly. With a snap of her fingers, Sakura activated the Fire and set two of the guards on fire while Li-2 ran his silver blade through the necks of three others. Sakura-2 and Li followed their lead and immobilized their own set of adversaries while Tomoyo snuck up behind a wandering Valdorian, breaking his neck instantly.

“Wow.” She said. “That was intense.”

“Let’s go…” Sakura led them in.

A massive explosion set the alarms to go off as the small fleet of aliens in black armor hurried down the corridors of the ship with their firearms ready. Once they saw the small group walk past the entrance, already littered with the bodies of dead guardsmen, they opened fire but to no avail. Sakura simply lifted her hand and protected everyone with the magic hull of the Shield as they walked on unaffected. Combining their magic as well as their efforts, Sakura and Card Captor Li used the magic of their cards to strike down the aliens with ease while continuing their walk through the ship’s halls.

As they passed a group of slain Valdorians, a stray one tried to limp his way to safety but Tomoyo met him with a boot to his face. “Take that, you stupid retarded alien!”

“Tomoyo!” Both Sakura’s were surprised at their friend’s attitude.

“What? They killed me! Don’t I deserve to avenge myself?”

“And you taught her how to fight?” Li-2 asked his counterpart.

“A little too well, I think.” He shrugged.

Once they turned one of the damaged corners of the ship, they were startled by a blood-curdling roar that caused them to take one step back. Soon they could hear knocking against the walls and the sound of plasma fire beings shot into the air. Both Sakuras knew exactly who it was.

“Kero.” They said.

Inside the small room, the Valdorians tasered a defenseless Keroberos with their weapons as the guardian beast remained clamped to a table with his wings restrained and mouth muzzled to prevent him from firing on them. His roars managed to break through his tightly closed mouth but sadly, his fiery breath could not. He groaned from the pain and fought back the tears while his alien captors continued to torture him, rioting with laughter.

“Not so tough, are you!?”

“Stupid animal!”

“Humans and their pets!”

“Magical beast? Ha!”

“This one’s about to crack!”

Suddenly, the door exploded and Sakura and her Li stormed into the room, knocking out the alien soldiers while the realm’s two protectors freed their sun guardian. Sakura-2 broke through the alien locks and removed the muzzle from her beloved Kero, wrapping her arms around his thick neck and broke down crying.

“Kero…” She cried with joy. “…Forgive me. I should have arrived sooner.”

“Better late than never…” He purred, a tear rolling down his single eye.

“Kero…” She noticed the black patch over his right eye. “What happened to your eye?”

“They… tortured us… They didn’t even ask for information… they just… kept at it and laughed and laughed and… and Yue.”

“What about Yue?”

“He wouldn’t back down. They kept coming at him and he fought back. He made them mad so they restrained him… they blocked off his powers and they… mutilated him… they ripped his wings apart and they beat him senseless…”

“Oh, God…” She stood up to leave the room.

“Sakura! Don’t!”

“I have to get Yue!”

She ran to the back of the tank and dodged some of the guard’s energy blasts while her Li followed in pursuit, using his cards to thwart them off. She saw the isolation chamber and stood back while Li tore through the door with his sword. When she stepped in, the room was dark and cold with a single light illuminating an arched figure sitting in the corner. Slowly she walked towards him, hoping he was still alive.

“Yue? Is that you?”

“…Sakura?”

“Yes, Yue. It’s me. I’m here to free you…”

“It’s too late for me now. Leave while you still can…”

“No, Yue. I can’t… I need you. I’ve already set Kero free, I can--”

“LEAVE!”

“Yue, I’m not leaving! I can save you!”

“SAVE ME!? LOOK AT ME!”

The lights switched on to reveal Yue sitting on a pile of blood and feathers with shards of bone sticking from his back and scattered along the floor. Sakura gasped at the sight and held onto Li for support as he too witnessed the awful sight before him. Yue’s face was cut and bruised and his hair was messy but he could still see their reaction, looking down in shame and defeat.

“So you see, Sakura? Master Syaoran? I am no longer of any use to you. Leave me to die while there is still time to escape…”

The others arrived and were also taken aback by Yue’s gruesome appearance. Sakura in particular, who had formed a strong bond with the Yue in her realm, was moved to tears by his dreadful condition. Kero-2 slowly stepped in and looked away with a heavy sigh.

“No…” Sakura balled her fist. “…This can’t happen.”

“Sakura?” Li put his hand on her shoulder. “Our Yue’s okay.”

“But what about theirs? He’s… he’s been hurt.” Her sadness immediately turned into rage. “…Kero’s been hurt. And the majority of our friends here are dead.”

“Sakura?” Tomoyo was now worried. “What are you going on about?”

“I’m going to make them pay for what they’ve done.” She said to her counterparts as the remainder of the ship’s crew walked in, readying their weapons. “I’m going to get this Exitir person and rip his heart out.”

She then turned to the armed Valdorians, hiding in their black armor. “And I’m going to start with you!”

The aliens shot her but missed entirely as she walked through the plasma blasts via the Through and reached for their weapons. Using her mental abilities, she shattered the guns and grabbed a Valdorian by the neck, breaking it instantly and tossing him aside. She reached for another alien and set him ablaze using the Fire, watching him burn to death in a raging inferno then unleashed the Shot to blast through the remaining few, finding herself soaked with their purple insides. She stood there amongst the dead aliens, dripping with their mauve colored blood and sighed as her friends looked at her with the utmost horror and surprise.