Chapter 57: Running Out Of Time!: Me And Sakura Make A Rash Decision!

Things had once again returned to normal, and both Sakura and I were taking the time to tidy up the yard on the side of the house. And unfortunately, both Sakura and I were still feeling exhausted from the fact that the more clow cards that we seemed to transform into star cards, the more energy we seemed to lose. This became abundantly apparent that as both Sakura and I were sweeping a part of the yard, we both started to waiver slightly, and we would've almost toppled over, had we both not used our respective brooms as leverage to sturdy ourselves. A short time later, Eli stopped by and offered to help. Like before, I was still on edge when it came to him, but yet again i chose to put that aside for the moment. However, while Sakura and I were busy doing other things around the yard after Eli had offered to move Tori's bike, neither of us were able to see Eli place his hand over the seat of Tori's bike and enchant it.

Later that night, with Kero also being in the room, Sakura and I came in and then collapsed on our respective beds. We then decided to take a look at the star and clow cards that were presiding in the transformed clow book that had our respective names on it. However, when Sakura went and touched the clow cards after the star cards had been removed from the book, as did I, we both noticed that they both felt cold and distant. Kero explained that because the star cards were drawing their powers from us, the clow cards as a result were now starting to lose their magic over time. Sakura asked Kero what could happen if the clow cards lost all of their magic. Kero then went on to say that those cards spirits would be set free and would cause all kinds of havoc. Knowing Sakura all too well, I knew that she wasn't going to be taking what Kero had said lightly. "We need to do something before their powers fade completely Zachary!" Sakura said as she turned to me with an expression of despair on her face. "I understand that Sakura, but we can't just go and make rash decisions!" I said in response. Unfortunately, my response to Sakura may as well have fell on deaf ears, as she decided at that very moment to go and hastily pull out her key. And not wanting to challenge her actions, seeing as how I didn't even attempt to do this back when we were capturing the Snow card (a/n: see chapter 40). When Sakura had had her watch, which had been given to her as a present, ripped from her wrist and had gotten very mad as a result. I decided at that point to follow suit, as I too pulled out my respective key. Because, when it came to Sakura, and her wanting to do something, it was very difficult for me to want to challenge her actions if she was this set on really doing something and instead just tell her no. "Key of the star, with power burning bright, reveal the staff, and shine your light, Release!" we chanted in unison. I then with a thought of knowing that this wouldn't end well, threw several of the untransformed clow cards up into the air, to which they then spread out into a circle around me and Sakura. With both of our transformed staffs now in hand, we proceeded to point each of our respective staffs at each of the cards, saying each corresponding name, and transforming them into a star card. However, when we got to the Dash card, both of us had almost exhausted all of our magic, and not only did it not change over to a star card, but it then went rogue, escaped out the window, possessed Tori's bike, and then took off into the night.

A little bit later after the rogue dash card spirit took control over Tori's bike and took off into the night. Kero, Sakura and I had taken off after it, and while on the way, Kero had scolded the both of us for making such a brash decision when it came to transforming all of those clow cards into star cards in rapid succession. Well, he had scolded Sakura for making the decision, and me more for not willing to challenge her actions or the decision to go through with it. It was then that I suggested using the Loop card to trap the rogue Dash card in a continuous loop so that we both could give ourselves a better chance of catching it. Once Sakura agreed to my idea, I pulled out the Loop card, threw it up into the air and then Sakura and I raised our respective staffs, "we call upon the power of our stars, ancient forces near and far, Loop card discard your former might, and draw your power from our light, star card!" we chanted in unison. And once the Loop card stopped spinning, and had taken on the symbol and design like all of the other transformed star cards, a familiar line appeared on the street. And once Tori's bike that had been possessed by the rogue dash card spirit passed over that line, it was trapped in a continuous loop. And after a few more tries, Sakura and I managed to catch it. After the Dash card spirit escaped from Tori's bike and struggled for a few seconds in Sakura's embrace, Sakura and I comforted it, allowing it to calm down. And once that had been done, we transformed it into a star card like the others. And while this had been a long and harrowing chase, deep down, the both of us somehow knew that we still had a long way to go. But, after a discussion with Kero, we decided that we were only going to transform the clow cards into star cards at least one at a time when the time seemed appropriate, rather than making a rash decision like this again.