Beneath Northwest High Within the newly renamed Project-Sakura (formerly an old Judgment monitoring station) Within the heavily fortified holochamber training room within the complex. Eliza removes her uniform jacket, tossing it onto the chair to the side of the room. The only things "Active" in the holo sim being a pop-up target array set to the far wall, a chair, and a back-barrier (with Crystal Tritanium windows) set across the doorway out just in case somebody entered while she was training. Garbed in the durable cloth of her Alliance uniform, she shakes off her tension and relaxes her muscles as she prepares to move. One hand carefully slides the headpiece into place, one finger pushing one of the buttons as it clicks into her wetware jacks behind her ears. As she waits for it to start, she slowly build starts up power. When she talked about her powers earlier (at the Taste of Tokyo event) she didn't say everything about it. She is a specific type of spell caster. A SpellThrasher. Unlike other magical disciplines, SpellThrashers use music in concert with their spell casting for stronger and more potent effects. The music ranges for each SpellThrasher, by taste and by the situation. For Eliza, nothing else quite works for her when she's in attack mode (or training mode) like hard and loud instrumental heavy/acid metal. No words, just music, because she doesn't like words. They throw her spell casting off. For long seconds nothing, but it slowly begins to build and grow as the music starts. For warm-ups she always uses a slow to start song, something quiet and builds (as she builds power) to get her warmed up. As she powers up she begins casting simple defense spells to prepare for training. Spellcasting for Spell Thrasher & Guardian types come in two varieties. Mental casting which require slight vocalization of spell names and incantations requiring mental imagery of spell effects, and hasty spells which require the quick short hand writing (with an air-writing ring) combined with sharp verbal chants and vocalizations to trigger the rune spell‘s effects. Each had their own advantage and disadvantage in equal amounts. While hasty spells are faster, they also tend to telegraph a caster's intent from a mile away (and the caster needs to be highly literate as written components of the spells often needed to be complex to trigger complex spells). This meant the spell took several seconds to "scratch" out, giving the intended target a chance to dodge or counter the spell (if they were familiar with the runes that were being cast). The harder mental casting takes a few more seconds, and more concentration, but keeps spells hidden and "under the table" so they are less likely to be countered by a rival SpellThrasher with a sharp attention span. Eliza focuses the image of a small sphere inside of herself, and takes a deep breath as she whispers "Novashields." As she exhales, she imagines the bubble expanding about her to form an unbreakable barrier between herself and her targets, which goes up instantly and flawlessly. As the music jacks into high gear, she slams her powers into overdrive creating an "aura burn" (a powerful blast of energy with it's own deflective properties) similar to what one might see in DBZ, for instance. Quickly she scans the target "range" and waits for a target. As one pops up she quickly snaps an arm out and fires off a quick spell shot. Nothing fancy, just a quick shot of energy to snap the target in half. The second, third, fourth and fifth targets also fall just as easily, with very little effort. As the music fills her head and continues to jam and roar about her she becomes more serious, flexing her right hand as she waits for several targets to pop up at once. Quickly raising her hand into the air she focuses her energy into it, forming a disc in the palm of her hand, expanding it as she focuses. "Eviscerator Disc." As she spins about she whirls the disc at one end of the targets, keeping it's trajectory locked into her mind. As it spins to one side she quickly yanks it across the room with her mind (and the guiding focus of her right hand out, at all times aimed at the disc as it moves) slashing the targets apart, shattering as the disc hit's the hard spell-proof wall on the opposite end of the room. As she waits for songs to change and a new song to begin she mildly shoots off a few more shots, getting her timing right and the kinks out. Nina was right. Taking some time every few days to come down here to give her powers a workout was doing wonders for her. Ever since she started doing it she's felt more energetic, and felt more active. She had been sitting on her powers for too long since she got there, and let them simmer as she watched Sakura do all the work, but this (now that she was giving her powers a working) felt great! She didn't plan to change her policy and try to outdo Sakura in Cardcaptoring, but she liked the idea of giving her powers a bi-weekly workout. It felt liberating in a sense. As the music started again, loud and in her face, she thrust both arms back abit (hands clenched) and began to power up, focusing all her energy into her hands charging them. She clenched her teeth as she focused, aiming dead center of the targets. "GATTICA GUN!!" With that she exhaled, jamming her arms forward to unleash a bright roar of energy. The energy shot forward, slashing through the middle target, obliterating the other targets with the energy backlash as it hit the far wall. Suddenly the energy bounced back, not dispersed like the Eviscerator disc as it hit the anti-magic shell wall. Eliza smiled as it came at her. "REFLECT!" She catches the energy on her shields, adding energy to the shields to bounce the energy back. As it reflects, the shields ripple where the blast hit (like water on a still pond when a rock hit's the surface). The energy bounces off the ceiling, into the far wall and back again. "Better blast it before---" "Eliza!!! Are you blaring that music through your skull ag---" (Nina was walking through the blast doors) "NINA?!?" The shot was powerful. Powerful enough to shatter the back barrier and kill her. Quickly Eliza jumped forward bracing herself as she shot out her energy in one shot to catch the "gunshot" in mid-flight. The two colliding energies detonate and throw Eliza backwards, over the barrier, and into Nina knocking both women out into the hallway. Eliza, weary, sits up shaking her head as she shuts the music off (removing the headset as she does). "Nina? Sorry, I forgot to lock the door again. I know you told me not to do that, and I could have gotten you---" (she stops, face faulting) "---Nina?" "---" (Nina was in no condition to speak, her eyes were spinning and she was sweat dropping while in a half conscious state, the world spinning as she reeled from being bowled over by Eliza.) "Uh boy. Nina? I'm sorry! I--- wanna go to the Medico Bay?" "---" "I'll take that as a yes." (Eliza quickly lugs Nina up on her shoulders, crying as she rushes Nina to the Medico Bay) "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'll put that Do Not Disturb sign like you asked! I'll lock the door (I always forget to do that) next time!" (blushes) "I'll even load that Lesbian Cruise program you always wanted and we'll spend more time playing! Alright?" "Mphtpmaptham." "I'll take that as you being happy--- I hope." (sweat drops). "---hope it‘s a friendly cruise---" * * * * * * Meanwhile, back topside (in Sakura's class) "I heard Mr. Terada got married during Summer break." "Your kidding!" Sakura couldn't believe her ears (obviously) "To who, Chiharu! Who?" Chiharu shook her head, "I don't know. Everyone's hush-hush about it. But he came back a few days ago so he could be here for the first day back so I guess we'll find out soon." Sakura walks over to Tomoyo as they talk about the latest gossip, "Mr. Terada did seem rather occupied during the past semester." Tomoyo noted, "I guess the pending wedding was distracting him. But I'd like to know who he got married to." "I know, Tomoyo, I know! It must be one of the teachers! Maybe the new math teacher?" Tomoyo - "I don't think so. She's already married." Sakura - "Oh. Then who?" Tomoyo - "Guess we'll find out--- oh, hi Rika." "Hi." (Rika, smiling from ear to ear, enters the class) "How was summer break for you two?" "Nice. We saw movies and did shopping and stuff." Sakura beamed, looking over at Rika's smiling face. "You seem happy. Did you have fun during break?" "Is it that obvious? It was heaven. Very beautiful, and it'll only get better each and every day. I know it will." "Phwee? What---" (pointing at ring) "You got a new ring? It's beautiful! Where'd you get it?" "This?" (Rika suddenly blushes as she fingers her new ring) "It's a commitment." "?" (Sakura looks confused) "Commitment?" (blinks then facefaults) "Oh by the way, did you hear about Mr. Terada? He got..." "Morning, everyone! Take your seats please!" (Mr. Terada) As everyone moves to their seats Sakura catches Mr. Terada & Rika exchanging glances, and smiles at each other. ‘Rika must have been the flower girl at Mr. Terada's wedding.' Sakura thinks to herself, turning her attention back to Mr. Terada. ‘Have to ask her who Mr. Terada got married to since she knows all the details.' "Good morning everyone. Hope you had a good break. I have an announcement to make. Today we have a new Student Teacher, she'll be teaching you history while Mr. Tetsuo is on leave." "Strange timing for a leave of absence." Tomoyo remarks as everyone's eyes turns towards the door, and Mr. Terada continues, "So let's all give her a warm welcome as she joins us for the first time today. You can come in now---" As the door opens in walks a tall young woman. She has shoulder length black hair, and a strong yet light build denoting both speed and strength. Her eyes slowly pan the room examining everything, eventually falling on Sakura and focusing on her exclusively, gaze locking in on her. "This is Rebecca Summers. She's a local Tokyo-ite, she'll be teaching history." "Sakura." (Tomoyo) "Is it me or is the new history teacher staring at you?" Sakura - "Y-yeah--- I noticed." Mr. Terada - "Be nice to her, OK? We'll see you later then." "Of course." Rebecca remarks warmly, turning to leave, but not before giving Sakura one last gaze. "I'll treat them all like family." Sakura - "???" Tomoyo only smiled at the attention, "I think the new teacher has a fixation on you, Sakura." If this was meant to comfort Sakura it didn‘t work. "Oh, man." * * * * * * And, as it turns out, Rebecca's class is the last one of the day. Sakura didn't know what was worst, the long lectures or the piercing gazes she got from the teacher at times just because she was who she was (Sakura). "In 1946 the Goddess of Judgments first assembled what we know today as the Kamikaze Corps. The Corps, made entirely of redemption seeking Japanese soldiers and officers when they were alive in the Waking World, became a policing force against Darklings and rogue dreamers. Over time they eventually found peace with themselves and their new world, and began to make lives for themselves here. Mostly single men, they started pairing off and eventually became fathers themselves. This of course eventually lead to the 1975 Kamikaze Run incident in which a former Corps. Lieutenant organized an strike team of old Corps members after his daughter was kidnapped by darklings who sought to reestablish the forbidden "Comfort Women" program. The "program" (as it were) which ran during World War II in the waking world, was banned in the Heavens' Judgment Decrees of 1947 which forged the rules of conduct that later became part of the basis of the Galactic Assassin Guild‘s "Code" of conduct wherein---" (bell) "---and that's it for today." (closes book) "Tomorrow we'll touch on the Comfort Women "program" and it‘s existence in several realities before, during and past WWII, it's significance to the later Guardian Corps. We'll also talk about it's eventual banning, and the subsequent ‘75 Kamikaze Run incident sparked by it's attempted revival for tomorrow's class. That's that so everyone grab their gear and dismissed." (turns to Sakura) "Can I see you outside? I'd like to chat with you." Sakura face faults. * * * * * * "Uuhh--- I was paying attention in class. Really--- ask me any---" Rebecca reaches into her top, pulling it open slightly to reveal a jet black uniform top, "If I didn't have to wear this annoying skirt I'd have my full uniform on..." (as she brushes her hand across a jewel set into her uniform a spark of energy leaps out, and forms into a Glock in her hand. As she draws the gun forward she clicks the hammer into place and points it right at Sakura, "Alright let's make this short and done with." With that the gun flashed and cracked twice, the charges stopping midair as Sakura's water ring sprung to life without warning, blocking the shots with an impenetrable water globe that stopped the slugs short. Just as quickly as it came, the shield dispersed... just leaving enough hints to show that it could just as well reform again if need be. Suddenly, with a slight hiss, she jumps back gun still at the ready. "SO IT'S TRUE! YOU ARE THE ONE! THAT RING... That'd be the Water Ring I suppose, from the reports." Sakura, shellshocked, could only mutter "W-what?!?" as she stood there shaking. Rebecca snarled at her as she glared hatefully, "What did you think!? That you were above the law?? That you could run willy nilly and everything would be forgiven because you're the savior who will protect the world from the cards?!?" (Rebecca's face darkened as she stares as Sakura viciously, hand thrusted out) "Fly card! Give it to me! NOW!!" Sakura - "Buw h-how?" Rebecca - "I know all about you already, you and your cards... including the monster that imprisoned my lover! Tortured her! Molested her when she was suffering the most, and nearly destroyed her!" (Rebecca paced, but not enough to waiver her gun's lock on Sakura) "They all thought they knew better than me! BETTER THAN ME! I just didn't have the last bits of info I needed until now. They can't hide you from me anymore, the 5TH JUDGMENT!! You and your perverted monsters are going to PAY for what you did to her! PAY! Now, once again, give me Fly! Now!" Sakura shook her head as she tried to back away from Rebecca, "No. I can't. It's my responsibility to return them to Star cards." PAKT! Rebecca shot again, to insure Sakura didn't try to run. The bullet went wide, but made her point abundantly clear. "And what makes you think someone else can't do that?" Rena challenges, "Your so full of yourself you can't possibly imagine someone else is capable of doing your job, let alone doing it better! But it‘s not like I care, I want that monster your hiding and I want it NOW!!" "Fly is NOT a monster!" Sakura protested, "It was hurt! It didn't understand! It didn't mean to hurt her! If you'd only..." PAKT! (This shot was closer) "STOP TELLING ME WHAT I SHOULD OR SHOULDN'T DO!!" she shrieked in rage, "Such self importance! You really believe all that spiel that's been fed into your head! What arrogance! That thing is a MONSTER and it should be DESTROYED!!" Rebecca quickly moves, grabbing Sakura's wrist hard. "You don't know what your DEALING WITH! I'm the 5th DAMN JUDGEMENT and I want THAT CARD RIGHT NOW!!!" "NO!!" Sakura cried, struggling as she knew Rebecca had just raised the gun over her head, coming close to aiming it point blank at her, "STOP!! DON'T!! PLEASE LET GO!!" Suddenly a blur rushes between them, grabbing by the uniform. "STOP!! LET HER GO!!" Rebecca lashes out, screaming as she knocks her attacker away with her gunhand. As Sakura turns to look, her eyes go wide with shock as she watches Tomoyo hit the ground near her, "TOMO-CHAN!!" "GIVE ME THAT--" Rebecca suddenly stops, her muscles seizing up as someone grabs her neck from behind. With little effort, Keiko pulls Rebecca backwards, freeing Sakura from her grasp. As she falls free, Sakura quickly rushes to Tomoyo's side, crying. "Tomo-chan! Are you hurt? Are you OK? Tomo-chan!" Tomoyo, pulling herself to a sitting position, smiles as she gently gathers Sakura into her strong arms hugging the distraught girl, "I'm alright, Sakura-chan, don't cry..." (pulls the teary-eyed Sakura into her arms) "Just as long as your safe... that's all that matters... please don't cry..." Keiko, however, was angry beyond words as she spun Rebecca around and stared at her only to get the gun shoved into her face in turn. Keiko - "Never EVER touch Sakura or Tomoyo again! NEVER!!" Rebecca - "Bitch!" Rebecca suddenly grabs Keiko's arm, using Keiko's strong grip and steady arm to give herself enough leverage to swing her knee up and into Keiko‘s body, who barely manages to deflect the blow knocking both Judgments apart. As they gather their wits Keiko draw her blade as Rebecca aims again with her gun. "Somebody should have told you not to take a butter knife to a gunfight!" she yelled. Keiko wasn‘t backing down so easily, "I don't know what the hell you think your doing, whore, but I'm going to make you regret crossing me!" Rebecca - "I don't have time for you. Get out of my way, or do you now coddle and support monsters and woman rapers now?!?" Keiko frowned, "What the hell are you ramblin--" "LUNCH!! HEY YOU TWO WE GOT LUNCH!!" (Eve & a strangely familiar elf girl jumps over the fence to meet the two) Keiko - "---Eve?!?" Rebecca facefaults, "Trinny?!?" As both girls step between them the two stare at them oddly. Rebecca - "Trinny I thought you were spending the day with your cousin!" She didn‘t stop for a second, quickly the elf advanced right on Rebecca and slapped her hard, her hand then quickly yanks the gun from her hand and pulls Rebecca in close. Shocked, Rebecca could only stare teary eyed into her lover‘s face. "Don‘t do this." Rebecca‘s body trembled, "S-sh-she hurt you... that..." Trinity shook her head, "I hurt myself. I broke our wedding vows of my own free will." (Rebecca shook her head and cried "no" over and over softly as Trinity spoke, "I went out and slutted around with men like a twobit whore because I was weak. I prostituted myself and shamed myself and..." (shakes Rebecca) "Stop it! Stop making excuses for me! I did that and I can't let you do this because of my weakness!" Rebecca - "It's HER! IT'S HER! SHE DID IT!!" (struggles to break free of Trinity but slowly weakens in her grip) "Stop forgiving her! She did it... she did it..." "No." she said again, "I did it. I did it..." (Rebecca & Trinity both hug each other crying) "Why won‘t you stop holding me on such high regards!! I don‘t deserve it!" For all watching, nothing could be said as they watched silently. * * * * * * Back at the Daidouji estates Tomoyo made herself and Sakura dinner up in Sakura's "lab". It took awhile for them to recover from the incident after school, now they were really hungry after all the lying in bed and hugging and comforting. Sakura - "Did you talk to Nina about the new teacher?" (gulps) "She isn't going to threaten to kill me everyday is she?" Tomoyo - "Keiko promises she'll not do that again, she and her lover had a long talk and they eventually came to an understanding. As for Nina? She didn't pick up. She must be working late and fell asleep." Sakura sighs, "And she has the nerve to call me Snoozer all the time." (picks up a pocky stick and chews on it) "She'll probably remember to call when we're all sleeping." Suddenly Nina, stuffing her face with snacks, walks into the kitchen. "Hey." Sakura - "Hello, sleepy head. Have a good nap?" Nina - "I was working so get off my back Snoozer." "Your Snoozer, Snoozer. And some work too---" Sakura snipped back, relishing in this one chance she got to get on Nina's back and have a good reason for doing so. But that quickly faded as she realized what she wanted to talk about. "DO YOU KNOW A WOMAN NAMED REBECCA SUMMERS?!?" That just about puts Nina on her butt and shaves a few months off her life (from the shock). Nina frowns, dusts herself off, and sits down in a chair (still eating) "What she look like? Describe her." * * * * * * "According to the records she is the 5th Judgement, as stated." Nina remarks as she chews on dinner, "Elfgirl lover who you met, because she was the one imprisoned in Fly when we caught it. Short fuse temper, has been written up several times by the Judgement Corps for excessive force. Instead of using a blade she employs a pair of custom spell-scribed Glocks (the infamous "plastic guns") which have the same invincibility runes scrolled into the metal like Keiko's katana (which makes it unbreakable) while the gun seems to fire an unlimited amount of either normal ArmorBreakers or "SpellAirius" spellbreaker ammo that can harm magical entities (like Fly)." (Nina sighs) "Having her on your enemies list is not a good thing." "Why?" (Tomoyo, speaking up for the first time this conversation as she & Sakura ate) "She's a horribly disfunctional personality according to records. Once she is hellbent on something she doesn't let up. She..." (sighs) "...didn't try anything crazy with you, did she?" Tomoyo - "She tried to put a bullet through Sakura's head. But Keiko said she gotten over that and is going to leave Sakura alone." Nina - "Good luck. She might not be trying to kill Sakura anymore but that won't mean she'll let the topic of Fly go, not by a long shot. She‘s going to find a way to get Fly even if it kills her, you‘ll see." Sakura - "BUT DOES THAT MEAN SHE'S GOING TO DESTROY FLY?!? WHAT DO I DO?? WHAT IF SHE TRIES TO HURT TOMOYO TO GET TO FLY??" Nina blinks, "Your full of punch today, guess I can‘t blame you since somebody tried to blow your non-existant brains out of your empty head." (sighs at the lack of reaction from Sakura) "Tomoyo is safe. Her elfgirl lover will not forgive Rebecca if she murdered in her name so she's going to keep her violence to Fly alone. Tomoyo won't be harmed." Sakura - "R-r-really?" Nina - "Sure. She'll probably just pick your pocket and shove Fly into a paper shredder, or burn it in an incinerator or..." (sighs) "...and from the sad sad face on you I bet I shouldn't have said all that." Nina opens the fridge (having stood up to pace while Tomoyo calmed Sakura down again) "I guess the only thing you can do is appeal to this elfgirl lover of her's, and convince her that Fly is harmless. Once you do that she'll convince Rebecca and problem solved. Rebecca has no desire to alienate her lover, and if her lover is convinced Fly is harmless then Rebecca will be convinced." (waves hand) "Anyway I heard Keiko mention something about Rebecca ranting that you weren't the one for the cardcaptoring thing. Don't listen to her, it's your destiny to reseal those cards. Only you, the one who originally did the deed in the past, can do this job. Nobody else is up to it, and not even the most powerful amongst the Guardian classes can do this job. This is specifically your task, and the cards already have your name on them (twice) so they know you." (points at Cr?me Brulle in her hands) "Just like this piece of food product is a job only I can undertake. Nobody else is up to the task of eating this..." (smiles) "...under penalty of death." Sakura - "I put Tomoyo's name on them too." "What?" Nina's face frowns, "Not on my Cr?me Bru--" (looks) "...oh, wait, you mean the cards don't you..." (sighs) "Do they listen to her too now?" Sakura - "Yes." Nina thinks for a second, "That's not surprising. You two are deeply in love. The cards pick up on that depth of affection and simply "adopted" Tomoyo as their surrogate "mistress" along with yourself, and are willing to obey her as well as you because you two are so close." Tomoyo looks at Sakura in a bit of confusion, "So your saying I can use the Clow cards?" Nina - "Once they're sealed? Yeah. You already helped Sakura use the sealing staff once with Shadow / Fear so it makes sense that you can use the cards. They love Sakura, and she loves you, so it's natural the cards would transfer that chain into their expressing love to you as Sakura (who they love) loves you in turn. You understand?" "----" (Sakura looks perplexed by the ramblings of Nina) "You're the one who said she could use the cards yet look so "deer in headlights"-ish when I try to explain the specifics of it. Never mind." (Nina sits down, Cr?me Brulle in hand) "So how did Rebecca find you anyway?" Sakura - "?!?" (blanks out) "She never said." "Ogh. That's bad." (Nina leans back taking a sip) "It's bad enough when they brag and show their magical wears, but to completely keep her methods silent like that is troublesome. It's not like we filed a ton of reports with your physical address or anything making it easy to hunt you down... she must have used her clout as the 5th Judgement to get into Government records to find your whereabouts (and the fact you were connected to the cards)." Sakura - "But--- the first time the Clow cards were released there was this whole thing about a great disaster. I didn't like how things almost ended the first time because of the cards---" (looks sad) "---it won't happen again, will it? Will--- I DON'T WANT TO THINK ABOUT IT!!" Tomoyo - "Sakura-chan---" Sakura - "I DON'T WANT TO FALL IN LOVE WITH TOMOYO ONLY TO LOSE HER!!" Tomoyo slides up next to Sakura, gently taking the distraught girl into her arms as she rocks her beloved's fears away. "I'm not going anywhere. I'm right here--- I won't leave you." "It's probably nothing like that." Nina remarks, "Events like that only happen once. They're tied directly into situations that happened the first time around, so there won't be a repeat of those things again. Anyway you found your love with Tomoyo at your darkest hour, right? You won't lose it no matter what happens." "Thank god!" (Sakura hugs Tomoyo as both girls pat each other on the backs) "Now---" (intercom goes off) "---what's that?" "Doorbell. Somebody's here." (Tomoyo) "I'll go check it out." Nina stands up and heads out the door. As she walks downstairs to the door Nina's features turn graven, "On the other hand--- if THEY get involved things could be more complicated than any of us could even imagine---" (sighs) "Alright! Alright! I'm here!!" (clicks on security monitor) "Don't get your panties in a bunch! Now let's see---" (looks at image) "Eliza? Sheesh." (opens door) "Eliza! You have the key, why didn't you let yourself in? Come here silly---" Nina gives Eliza a hug. "You had me worried! I thought it was a door-to-door salesman or something! I---" SHRRICCKK! Nina's eyes go wide, her limbs stiffen abit. She leans against Eliza as she looks down, and notices the blade sticking through her side. "----" With a thrust of one hand Eliza throws Nina back, watching the girl slam into the floor, breath escaping as she is knocked senseless. "Nina? Whose down there? Ni---" Sakura stops at the foot of the stairs as Eliza turns on her, sword in hand, Nina lying before her holding onto her side as she slowly bleeds on the floor.
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