Chapter 51: The Final Judgement!: A Fight Like No Other!

Although it had been a long and tiring day for Sakura, me, and everyone else, I just knew that things weren't going to get any easier anytime soon. And this was largely due to the fact that earlier in the day, shortly after Sakura and I had captured the Earth card that Kero had then transformed into his true form.

To make matters even more complicated, once Sakura and I made it back to the area where everyone else was after capturing the Earth card, we were then told to seal it as usual with both of our names.

This also wasn't made any less embarrassing due to the fact both me and Sakura were once again dressed up in another one of Madison's card capturing outfit ensembles.

Sakura was dressed up in a pink outfit with yellow accents, while i was dressed up in an outfit that resembled a medieval knight.

However, once Sakura had finished signing her name, that was when things started to really kick off.

Julian who had been knocked out by the Sleep card during Li, Sakura and I's battle with the Earth card began to glow and then angel wings sprouted from his back.

While all the while, Li, Sakura and I stood there in utter disbelief.

Once the glowing had stopped and the angel wings had parted, an entirely different individual stood in Julian's place.

Earlier we were told that like Kero showing his true form that another individual would manifest himself by the name of Yue.

I just knew deep down that this was him and whatever was this Yue had planned and what was about to happen would not be easy.

"It's been a long time Keroberos," Yue said.

"Yes it has," Keroberos said in response.

"You were careless, the Clow Cards should've never escaped," Yue said.

"Perhaps, but you know as well as I do that nothing happens by accident, Yue, I knew that you were close by, waiting, preparing," Keroberos said in response.

"Why didn't Julian tell us?" Sakura asked.

"I don't think he knew," I thought to myself in response.

"Yue kept his true identity hidden from him, he didn't know, without the final card i could only sense your presence," Keroberos said in response.

It was then that Yue decided to interject by flying over to get a closer look at both Sakura and I. "So we finally meet Sakura and Zachary, the first two candidates to be the masters of the clow cards, chosen by Keroberos, and yet, I sense another that has the cards," Yue said referencing to Li.

"There is no point in passing final judgment on those who are unable to capture all the cards themselves," Yue continued.

"Sakura and Zachary both have learned much, I have faith that they will both pass the test," Keroberos said in response.

"You seem confident," Yue said. "By tradition, the final decision belongs to you," Keroberos said in response.

"Then let the Final Judgement begin," Yue said.

"I am Yue, the judge, Final Judgement belongs to me," Yue said to Li who stood opposite him on the other side of the top of the structure facing him.

"You may use all of the cards at your disposal, try and defeat me," Yue said as he conjured up large chunks of crystals from his right hand and began firing them towards Li at astonishing speed.

Only a second or two later, Li was struck in the left side by a crystal and was nearly knocked off the building.

It was at this point that Sakura began to rush towards the fight to try and save Li and was almost immediately stopped by an invisible barrier.

As Sakura continuously pounded on the barrier as I looked on from a couple feet away with a very concerned look on my face.

She constantly begged Keroberos to help, but unfortunately Keroberos said that no one could help him and that it was his fight and his fight alone.

It was at this point that Li decided to use one of his fire element talismans on Yue, "Element, fire, come to my aide," Li chanted as he hit his talisman with the blade of his Jian.

As the fire from his element talisman consumed Yue, Li at first thought that it had worked, but as the flames dissipated and Yue was shown not to have even a scratch on him, it became clear that Li would have to try something else.

"You cannot defeat Yue with just fire alone," Yue said as to which Li promptly pulled out another element talisman.

"Element, wind," he started to chant, to which Yue responded by saying "Its no use, i thought a direct descendant of clow reed would be more of a challenge." Li then decided to pull out the Time card to try and see if that would give him some sort of an advantage.

As the Time card landed near the roof, Li hit the Time card with the tip of his Jian. "Time!" he chanted.

But it was only after he looked up after Time card had frozen everything around him that Yue was not in front of him.

It was then that Yue's voice was heard from behind him. "Time is one of the cards under my protection," to which he then used Time's powers to freeze Li, and then followed up by saying "This is the end," to which the night was then filled by Li yelling.

It was then that Li reappeared on the ground in front of Sakura and I. As he woozily swooned back and forth, he gradually began to speak, "he took...all of my cards," he said.

"What, all of them?" Sakura exclaimed.

"Be careful Sakura, he is very powerful," he then turned to me and said "you too Zachary."

It was shortly after Li had told me and Sakura to be careful that Yue decided to speak "it is now time to call upon the next candidates," to which both Sakura and I immediately felt another presence take over both of us to which we both faded out of view of everyone on the ground.

"Sakura, Zachary!" Madison exclaimed as she witnessed both of us fade out of existence.

(a/n: I would recommend that you listen to the song Bring Me To Life by Evanescence while you read this part of the chapter)

It just seemed to go on forever as I stared off into nothing, waiting for everything around me to materialize again and for Sakura to reappear again beside me.

I just couldn't shake the feeling that something just wasn't right.

"I see we have a new player in the game," a disembodied voice called out from the void. I immediately perked up. "Who are you, show yourself!?" I said in a commanding tone.

"Oh come come now Cardcaptor, you know as well as I do that you don't belong here," the disembodied voice fired back.

"What are you talking about?!" I exclaimed.

"I know all, and I see all, I am everywhere, and also nowhere," The disembodied voice said.

"Oh, so you are basically God, is that what you are saying?" I asked half expecting the voice not to answer.

"Well, not exactly. Lets just say I am the keeper of this dimension and all who pass through it. Do you remember when you filled out that form Cardcaptor?" The disembodied voice asked.

"Vaguely, but yes, I remember," I said in response in a somewhat nervous tone.

"When you filled that form out and wound up in this dimension, you upset the balance between your dimension and this one, and the only way to compensate was to erase any trace of your former life in your dimension," The disembodied voice said with a hint of regret in its tone.

It was then that a look of utter shock and horror found its way onto my face as I fell to my knees.

"You, you can't be serious right!? You have to be lying!" I said with utter disbelief and anger in my voice.

"I'm afraid it's true Cardcaptor, with every choice someone makes there must always be some sort of equal sacrifice. However, there is a way for you to fix this," the disembodied voice said.

It was then that I rose to my feet and stared off into the void once again. "And what would that be?" I asked half expecting not to hear the answer.

"I want you to throw the Final Judgement," The disembodied voice said.

It was at that moment that the feeling of reprieve welled up within me, like i knew that I actually had a chance to go back to my normal life. Every fiber of my being wanted to scream out yes. But then I remembered something, I remembered back to all of the fun I had had on my journey with Sakura and her friends while capturing the clow cards, and how much I would hate it if I let Sakura down if i deliberately didn't try my hardest to help both of us succeed. I then also remembered something else, by my own fruition i am competitive, I used to play a competitive trading card game back in my former life, and I always played in a very aggressive and competitive manner. This went against everything I was as a person in my former life when it came to being a competitive player for a full 16 years, and there was no way that I was going to go against that. There just had to be someway to go get my former life back without throwing the Final Judgement and risk losing everything me and Sakura worked so hard for. I knew I would think of something eventually, but right now I had to deal with the task at hand. It was then that a feeling of anger welled up inside me as then said into the void. "Not going to happen, I don't care who you say you are, but I care enough about the friends I have made in this dimension to protect them and fight to the bitter end. So what if I don't belong here, you will just have to deal with the fact that I am here to stay. However, I will still think on your offer!" "So be it fool, you may have the will to convince everyone else that you belong here, but you will always be an outcast to me!" The disembodied voice said in response. And with that everything got very bright.

(a/n: and you may now stop listening to the song)

"Zachary, Zachary are you there, earth to Zachary," Sakura's voice called out to me as I slowly snapped out of my stupor. "W...what happened?" I exclaimed as my eyesight finally returned to normal. I then placed a free hand on the side of my head to try and take understanding of the current situation, to which I then slowly turned to Sakura with a quizzical look on my face. "You zoned out for a moment there, but be ready, you and I have a test to pass," Sakura said in response. "Oh...right," I said as I once again turned my attention towards Tokyo Tower.

"I now call upon the final candidates," Yue said. But as Sakura and myself prepared ourselves for what lay ahead, I couldn't help but remember what that disembodied voice had said to me in the void. But only time would tell as to whether or not I would do something that I was strongly against.

It had just been only seconds since I had snapped out of my stupor. However, it was only then that an idea had finally come to me that would hopefully not only help Sakura and me win the Final Judgment against Yue, but it would also allow me to get my former life back should I want to ever return home again. I then turned to Sakura and decided to ask her about what she thought of my idea. "If it is at all alright with you, I would prefer it if you took the lead and I follow you," I said in a somewhat confident and yet nervous tone of voice. "Okay sure, but I don't quite understand why you want me to lead Zachary," Sakura responded back to me in a somewhat confused tone of voice. "Oh trust me it will be fine." I said in a semi confident tone of voice. "I just hope for the sake of both of us that it works, for if it doesn't, I don't have a former life to go back to if i choose to return home," I thought to myself. It was only after I had finished my sentence and Sakura had agreed to my idea that Yue once again spoke up, which turned both of our attentions back across the way to Tokyo Tower. "In order for you both to be masters of the cards that you've captured, in order to pass judgement, you must use them, to defeat me," Yue said. It was then that Sakura decided to speak up. "Defeat you, but Julian? No I won't!" To which I almost proceeded to look upon Sakura with a look of what almost said, "you've got to be kidding me right now, this is not the time to be deciding to play passive Sakura," only to be interrupted from doing so by Yue gazing upon us both from afar with glowing blue eyes and saying the words, "come here." Immediately afterwards, both me and Sakura's eyes glowed blue and then our pupils went blank, which was instantly followed by Sakura pulling out the Jump card. Sakura and I then raised our respective staffs and then hit the Jump card with the tips of our respective staffs. To which white wings appeared on the sides of both of our shoes. "We will...come...to you" we both said in a trance-like sounding tone of voice. "Sakura, Zachary!" Keroberos yelled out to us as me and Sakura, whilst still in our trance-like states then began to leap off the building we were on and then proceeded to leap from building to building on our way to Tokyo Tower.

It was only after Sakura and I had landed down on the roof at the mid-base of Tokyo Tower that we were then brought out of our trance-like state, well when i say landed down, I would say that we both landed face down. To which Yue then turned to us and then said, "and now, the Fina; Judgement will begin," However, while me and Sakura were getting back to our feet, Sakura was saying that she was still adamant on not defeating Yue since she was still concerned on hurting Julian. "Forget it, we won't hurt you!" Sakura said in a very distraught sounding tone. To which once I had gotten back to my feet as had Sakura that I then proceeded to say to Sakura that whether Yue was Julian or not, this was something with a lot at stake, but rather than worry her, I decided to keep it to myself until after this was all over and done with. But, all of the sudden, Yue decided to go on the offensive and deliver a upward strike on Sakura, followed swiftly by using the same tactic on me, sending the both of us backwards a good distance and nearly knocking us both off the edge of the tower. Yue then decided to follow up by using the same crystal shard attack that he had used on Li in their battle. But thankfully, right before that attack hit, Sakura and I both got to our feet, Sakura was able to pull out the Fly card, and we both were able to use it to then get away on our now respective winged staffs. But, as we both flew round a corner of the tower and out of sight of Yue, for the moment, Yue then came down from out of nowhere and came to rest on one of the parts of the tower. "You realize you two cannot defeat me, by simply running away," he said. In fact, it took only a few seconds before he then caught up with the both of us, conjured up crystal shards from one of his hands and then blew us both skyward. This was then followed by both me and Sakura getting pummeled upon by several more of Yue's attacks as the pain started to mount on the both of us.

Meanwhile on the ground, Li was starting to get restless watching both me and Sakura taking constant punishment from Yue, so much so that at that point, he couldn't bear to watch it any longer. "That's it!" he shouted as he proceeded to charge forward whilst brandishing one of his elemental talismans, only to be stopped by Keroberos. "No don't, if anyone attempts to help them Sakura and Zachary will lose the Final Judgement instantly," Keroberos said trying to stop Li from doing anything he might regret. "I can't just stand here and watch them get hurt," Li responded back in a very pained tone of voice. "Have faith, they are both stronger than they seem," Keroberos said to which he then followed up by saying, "they may soon get through to him yet."

Back atop Tokyo Tower, Yue had finally relented on his attacks against me and Sakura. But it was only after Sakura and I had once again gotten to our feet that Yue, once again, began to speak. "If neither of you are going to try, then the Judgement is already over." It was at that moment that Yue through his own magic, conjured up a blue aura crescent shape that resembled that of a bow. Yue then conjured up a long blue object that resembled what looked like an arrow, to which Yue then used his magic to pull the arrow back on the bow as if he was getting ready to fire it at us. "I've got to...think of something, I need to think of a card that will help us both win this, without hurting Julian," Sakura said with her head down. I then turned to Sakura. "If you have any ideas I am listening, because right now, you're the leader, I am just the one following you in this," I said. It was then that Sakura pulled out the Wood card, to which Sakura and I then raised our respective staffs, "Wood!" we chanted as we hit the Wood card at the same time with the tips of our respective staffs.

It had just been a split second or two after the tips of both Sakura and my respective staffs had hit the Wood card. It was then followed up by Keroberos shouting from the ground "No, not that one!" he shouted. For it was immediately after that the vines of the Wood card spirit began to emerge from the glowing card, shot forward, and almost made it to Yue, but right before they did, Yue fired the arrow that he had drawn back from his bow. The arrow then whizzed through the air before embedding itself in the ground right next to where Sakura and I were standing. A split second after that, the vines of the Wood card spirit retreated and began to make its way towards the both of us. Sakura made an attempt to start running, whilst I tried to take off right after her. But unfortunately before either of us could get more than two steps forward the vines from the Wood card spirit caught both of us by our legs, and then began to entrap us. Once it had encompassed the lower portion of both of our bodies, it then brought us both up off of the ground. Yue then came to rest on one of the many vines of the Wood card spirit "Wood is one of the cards controlled by the Moon, the rightful candidates would've known that" Yue said. "The judgment is over, the Clow Cards require a stronger master than the two of you" Yue continued. "So, we lost, but what will happen to them?" Sakura asked. "Without a master, the cards will be unsealed once again," Yue said. "Please, let us try again, we can do it," I said in a confident tone of voice. "That is impossible," Yue said in response, to which both Sakura and I stared back with very shocked looks on our faces. "It is forbidden for a candidate to take the Final Judgement twice, to ensure that this didn't happen, Clow Reed decreed that anyone having anything to do with the Clow Cards, would forget this chapter in their lives, forever..." Yue said.

Back on the ground, Li decided to chime in. "What is he talking about?" Li asked. "If Sakura and Zachary lose, everyone will forget everything that happened since the seal on the book was broken, even the cards. Clow Reed didn't want anyone to suffer, the bonds we all made would be painful to lose, especially for Sakura, Zachary and the Clow Cards, they care the most for those who sealed them, It will be as if none of this ever existed for any of you," Keroberos said.

"Everyone will forget, even us," I thought to myself. "Neither of us will remember Kero or the cards," Sakura thought to herself. But it was only after both of us thought about it for a second or two that neither one of us was going to let that happen, and we were going to continue to fight. It was then that Sakura and I started to struggle with the vines that bound us. "We can't let that happen," I said, as my right hand holding my staff moved for a moment as I struggled for a moment to try and get free, which immediately caught Yue's attention. "LET...US...GOOOOO!" Sakura yelled as the both of us charged forward with all of our might whilst still very much bound by the vines that entrapped us. "I see you have a determined spirit Sakura and Zachary," Yue said as the vines now started to get tighter and began to further entrap the both of us. "However, I am not as sentimental as Keroberos," Yue continued as the vines still continued to circle and entrap Sakura and I. "The only one I answer to is Clow Reed himself," Yue continued to say.

Back on the ground, Li could only look on in shock as the vines of the Wood card continued to entrap Sakura and I. It was then that Li yelled no at the top of his lungs as if that would somehow change what was currently transpiring right in front of him. However nothing would change what was currently now set in motion by the hands of fate.

Back near the top of Tokyo Tower, the vines from the Wood card were just about to completely entrap Sakura and I, but not before Sakura and I had one final thought each. "Julian, its too late, we're all going too...forget!" Sakura said as she blacked out. "I'm sorry Sakura, I'm so sorry, I tried my best, but I guess in the end, it just wasn't enough to protect you. At least I leave this dimension, and am now heading home knowing that I tried my hardest to protect you," I said as a tear welled up from my left eye and started to find its way down the left cheek of my face as I then too blacked out. Or was I?

Once again, as I opened my eyes, I found myself staring off into nothing. But this didn't make any sense, I should've been back in my room back in my dimension just waking up from the previous night. "I've got to admit Cardcaptor you're very clever," an all too familiar disembodied voice once again began to ring out from the dark abyss. "I thought we were done with this already, I did as you asked, I had Sakura lead during the Final Judgement, I only followed her moves, so technically, I wasn't throwing the Final Judgement, and yet at the same time, I was," I said as a smirk found its way onto my face. "I know Cardcaptor, that is why I admitted to you being very clever," the disembodied voice responded back in a semi sarcastic tone. "Oh, okay then...so about me going back home to my dimension..." I began saying. "Yes, what about it?" the disembodied voice asked in a quizzical sounding tone of voice. "If it is alright with you, I would like to head back to Sakura and her friends, I owe it to them to protect Sakura since fate put me as her brother," I said in a somewhat confident tone of voice. "I'm afraid that that is no longer an option, since you lost the Final Judgement, as did she," the disembodied voice said in response.

It was then at that moment, that I heard a noise echo through my head, that sounded like the chiming of a bell. I then saw a vision of a womanly arm holding a familiar metallic object that looked antique in nature. It was not even a second after that, that the world around me once again got very very bright. But not before I said one last thing as did the disembodied voice. "I guess we will have just to see about then won't we?" I said. "Just remember Cardcaptor, there will come a time when you will wish you headed back to your dimension when you had the chance," the disembodied voice said, as my vision blurred and i then blacked out.

Back atop Tokyo Tower, it was only a minute or so after the vines from the Wood card spirit had completely covered and entrapped Sakura and I that the vines then were loosened completely, and then flew out in a circular motion in all directions, leaving the both of us free. "Impossible!" Yue exclaimed as he was taken aback by Sakura and I's sudden escape from entanglement from the Wood card's vines. And once Sakura and I had landed back on the mid-base of Tokyo Tower that the both of us realized exactly why we had been set free. Standing on the mid-base of the tower just in front of us, was Ms. Mackenzie, wielding the exact same metallic antique that I had seen in my vision. "Ms. Mackenzie!" Sakura exclaimed. "Fancy meeting you here," I followed up with. "You two did it, welcome back Sakura and Zachary," Ms. Mackenzie said. Immediately after that the metallic antique like object disappeared. "The Bell!" Sakura exclaimed once it had vanished from view. "It disappeared because it fulfilled its purpose, you two will not be able to begin again," Ms. Mackenzie said.

It was then that I turned to Sakura and decided that it was finally time to finish this. I then turned my attention to Sakura. "Sakura, you still have the lead, so it is your decision on how we proceed here," I said. We both then turned out attention to Yue. "The clow cards brought us all together, neither myself or Zachary are going to let you take that away," Sakura said in a very confident tone of voice. Sakura then turned to me and just said the words, "repeat after me, and do what I do." As she then raised her respective staff above and in front of her, to which I did the same shortly after as we both chanted in unison together, "Oh staff of clow, guide my actions now!" To which both of our respective staffs responded by having their respective eyes shine blindingly bright. So bright in fact that they took everyone on the ground and even Yue by complete surprise. "Okay Sakura and Zachary, raise the seal," Ms. Mackenzie said from behind us. Without having to think about it even once, both Sakura and I raised our respective staffs above our heads, to which they shined even more blindingly bright. Unbeknownst to us, shooting stars, or what looked like them now started to shoot across the sky in rapid succession. "They're returning to them," Yue said. "They've chosen Sakura and Zachary," Ms. Mackenzie said. "RELEASE!" Sakura and I yelled in unison as the light then began to shine even brighter. Once the light had faded, both Sakura and my staffs looked completely different from when the light had first shone. Apart from both still being our respective colors, both now had a ring on top rather than a bird head with a golden star in the middle, a white wing was present on each side of the ring.

Back on the ground, Keroberos stared on in awe at the transformation that both me and Sakura's staffs had just gone through. "The staffs, they changed," he said.

Back atop Tokyo Tower, Sakura knew next what had to be done, Sakura pulled out the Windy card, turned to me, to which I nodded. Sakura then threw the Windy card up into the air. And as it spun end over end, Sakura and I began to chant "Windy card, form a cage and trap Yue, WINDY!" We chanted in unison as we raised our respective newly transformed staffs towards the spinning Windy card, only to have them both stop a single inch from it, causing the card to stop spinning end over end. A split second later, the Windy card spirit shot forward from the card and began making its way towards Yue. Yue then looked upon the Windy card spirit "The Windy card...it could never..." Yue never was able to finish his sentence before the Windy card spirit began to encircle and entrap him and form a protective sphere around him. The sphere then began to make its way toward the mid-base of the tower right to where Sakura and I were standing. It was once the sphere containing Yue had touched down on the mid-base of the tower that Sakura started to speak "We couldn't quit, we'd miss everybody too much, my dad told me that you can keep someone close to your heart forever, as long as you remember," she said as she made her way over to Yue followed a split second later by me. "That's why I couldn't have you have us forget, Sakura and I are no Clow Reed, but we do know how important friends are, and we will give it our best shot," I continued off of Sakura in a somewhat confident and still nervous tone of voice.

It was once we had made our way over to where Yue was that the sphere encapsulating him that vanished completely and I outstretched my hand to Yue, while Sakura did the same. "For you see, we don't want to be your master Yue, we want to be your friend," Sakura continued off of me in a kindhearted tone of voice. It was then that Yue stood up and told the both of us to close our eyes, to which we obliged. Yue then stretched his wings out and said, "The Final Judgement is over, I Yue, recognize Sakura and Zachary, as the new masters." To which the scenery around us faded away and was then replaced by a starry one.

It seemed to last forever as Sakura and I floated in place with our respective staffs at our chests and our eyes closed. It was then that a figure approached us to which Sakura and I then opened our eyes, and floated to the ground. It was when Sakura and I had touched the ground completely and had gazed upon the figure more closely that Sakura immediately realized who it was, I then realized shortly after. "You're..." Sakura started to say. "So we finally meet, I've been watching you both personally, the cards need a strong master, but they also need a person with a strong heart. That is where both of your strengths lie, Keroberos and Yue, have chosen well," the figure said. "You must be...Clow Reed!" I said. "So did you give me and Sakura the new staffs?" I asked. "No you made them all on your own, your staffs are not ruled by the power of the sun or the moon, but by the power of your very own stars, take care of your powers, your stars are tiny lights now, but they burn bright, and they will always light your way," Clow Reed said in response as both Sakura and I once again rose up off the ground and once again closed our eyes. And then everything then went black.

It was only after Sakura and I had touched the ground after everything had gone black that I had just realized what had happened. I had not only become the master of the clow cards, as had Sakura. But upon doing so I had taken away whatever chance I had left of returning to my former life back in my dimension. However, I didn't really see that as such a bad thing. Before I could dwell on that for another second, I heard a familiar voice calling Sakura and my names. It was then that we both turned around to see Li and Madison running towards us from the distance. "We did it!" Sakura yelled. "You bet we did!" I chimed in. But it was as the four of us congregated together that I then felt a bad feeling hit me. But rather than act on it, I pushed it to the side and continued to congratulate Sakura and myself on a job well done. However, that bad feeling I had just felt was only a stepping stone for what was to come.