Last Time: Sakura and Lita bonded over a plate of meatloaf while reflecting on their respective glory days. The Brotherhood of Mutants (as seen in X-Men: Evolution) landed in Japan, searching for the eight crystals on behalf of Magneto, and quickly found themselves face to face with the Speed Cheetah. Toad got his tongue stuck in the wrong place and found himself being dragged downtown. When all the smoke cleared, Toad raised his head out of a dumpster to see a certain Cardcaptor ready to rise to the occasion again.


Hunt For the Crystals: Episode 6


It was quite the coincidence. When Sakura saw her latest costume, she didn't know what to think of it. It was a spotted jungle costume (of course, there weren't any other jungle costumes with a skirt). And it was a coincidence that Sakura found herself facing off against a Cheetah.

"That's the Speed Cheetah," Eriol said. "Be careful, Sakura."

Sakura didn't even have a chance to make her first move, because the Cheetah was off and running. Sakura could make out occasional blurs, because the Cheetah wasn't leaving the area. And she had just the thing to catch up to it.

"Dash Card! Release!"

Sakura took her stance…and dashed off in the blink of an eye, not even waiting for any of her friends. Sakura was the only one who could catch up to the Cheetah and that was because of the Dash Card. She would have to think of some way to slow it down, but for now…

…all she could do was race it and keep up.


~--------------------~


The Brotherhood didn't know what to do. Sure, Toad was never the brightest or most useful member of the team, but he was still a part of the team nonetheless. And the worst thing was, they had no idea where the Cheetah went.

"So what do you think happened to him?" Lance asked.

"He's probably still stuck," The Blob grinned.

Pietro wasn't taking this with such good humor, and he was usually one of the more light-hearted members of the team. He knew that Magneto was counting on them. They couldn't afford to go back to Bayville High as failures. What would Mystique think? What would Magneto think?

At that moment, Pietro spied a blur dashing by them. Then there was another blur that ran passed them. Pietro knew what it had to be.

"It's the Cheetah," Quicksilver said.

"Um…did you see TWO of them?" The Blob asked.

"I thought there was only ONE Speed Crystal," Avalanche pointed out.

"Doesn't matter," Pietro said quickly. "I'm gonna catch it this time!"

Without waiting for Avalanche or The Blob, Quicksilver sped off again. He usually ran without much effort, but this time Pietro was going with all his speed. He was catching up to the Cheetah and soon he found himself right beside it. But he also noticed that second blur.

There was a young girl in a jungle costume and a mask holding up a wand who was also running with amazing speed. She was on the opposite side of the Cheetah and she was shocked to see Pietro.

"Who are you?!" she demanded.

"Who am I?" Pietro shot back. "Who are YOU?!"

It was too bad that Pietro never got an answer. In an instant, both the girl and the Cheetah made a sharp right turn. Quicksilver didn't have enough time to react. He crashed right into a brick wall and was lucky he didn't kill himself on impact.

No, Pietro was all right. He just lost consciousness.


~--------------------~


Expect the unexpected.

The point was always hammered home ever since Sakura was ten. She certainly didn't expect to see a guy running neck and neck with her and the Cheetah. She had no idea who that was. But was he also looking for the Cheetah?

Sakura didn't have time to answer that question. Luckily, the guy crashed and was quickly out of the running. It was down to Sakura and the Speed Cheetah. Suddenly, Sakura realized something. She was familiar with her home town and she recognized where she was going. She was about to cross her friends' paths again. And then she got an idea.

Sure enough, Sakura found her friends patiently waiting where she had left them. The Cheetah kept running…but Sakura stopped.

Li ran up to her. "What happened?"

"I have an idea!" Sakura said triumphantly. "Remember what happened seven years ago? The marathon?"

Li could see exactly what she had in mind. "That'll work! But I still don't understand how we can stop it from running."

"Leave that to me," Sakura smirked.

Everyone stood back and took their places on the sidewalk. Sakura knew she had to act fast if she wanted this idea to work. It was time to try. She took out the Loop Card.

"Loop Card! Create a loop on this street! Loop Card! Release and dispel!"

The first part of Sakura's idea worked. The Cheetah ran by the street once again…and again…and again. It was stuck in a loop. Now came the tricky part. Sakura still didn't know how to stop it.

"Any ideas?" Jupiter asked. "I don't see how we can stop something this fast, especially since it doesn't seem to be getting tired at all."

Sakura couldn't think of anything. She wanted to beat her head against a wall. In thinking about a wall, though, Sakura got her big idea.

"There was someone else running beside us," Sakura began. "Running at the exact same speed as me and the Cheetah. But he couldn't keep up…because he hit a wall. That's it!"

Somehow, everyone seemed to know exactly what Sakura had in mind. Li and Eriol took a few steps back. Suppi perched himself on Eriol's shoulder. Kero perched himself on Sakura's shoulder. Jupiter, not knowing what Sakura had in mind, just stepped back like Li and Eriol. And Madison held out her camera. The Cheetah continued making its passes, but that wouldn't last.

Sakura prepared the one fly in Cheetah's ointment. "Earth Card! Rise from the ground and create a wall! Earth Card! Release and dispel!"

Earth came out and stood on the street. She raised her hands and the ground began to rise, creating a wall. And just as Sakura thought, as the Cheetah came running by again, it crashed right into the wall, knocking itself out. Earth smiled and returned to her card form. Sakura calmly walked up to the fallen Speed Cheetah and confirmed that it was indeed out like a light.

Eriol came up next. "Return to thy form which thou should be…Speed Crystal!"

The Cheetah reverted to its crystal form and fell into Eriol's hand. He, in turn, handed it to Sakura. Sakura looked at the orange crystal. That was the third one. There were still five remaining.

"That was amazing," Jupiter said softly. "Great job, Sakura."

Li smiled. "Pretty smart to remember the marathon. It worked perfectly."

Sakura kept looking at the crystal. "Thanks…"

Madison walked up to her best friend. "Is something wrong, Sakura?"

Sakura blinked. "I'm just trying think about that guy I saw. Who was he?"

"Guy?" Eriol repeated. "Sakura, did you see someone?"

"I saw someone who was running as fast as me," she answered. "And he wanted to know who I was. I think he was chasing the Cheetah, too."

Eriol shook his head. "This isn't good. It's just like I feared. There are others looking for the crystals. What did he look like, Sakura?"

Sakura shrugged. "I'll tell you everything on the way home. But I don't think we'll have to worry about HIM for a while. Last I saw, he ran right into a brick wall."

Of course, in the back of her mind, Sakura couldn't help but think of that guy. What if he was dangerous? What if there were others who were also ruthless looking for the crystals? Even with her friends by her side, Sakura hated to have to handle this herself. All she wanted was to be a normal girl living a normal life.


~--------------------~


When everything cleared, Xander raised his head from inside the trash can. He knew he would have to wash himself when this was all over. Next time, he would find another hiding place, because the trash can had an unbearable stench. Xander was ready to climb out and call his superior again, but someone else came out from inside a nearby dumpster. It was a teenager, but he looked rather…dirty. He had green skin and what looked to be a slimy tongue.

"Guy?" he said to himself. "Fast? Brick wall? Pietro!"

The boy started hopping away in a hurry, like a frog or a toad. Now that there was no one around, Xander finally climbed out of his trash can. It was time to report once again.

So far, this 'Sakura' was doing very well for herself. She had successfully risen to the occasion three times and it didn't seem like she would have any trouble collecting the other five crystals.

And that meant it was almost time for Xander to strike.


~--------------------~


Toad had to have looked all over this dismal town, not finding any sign of his friends. But he started to get a little nervous when he heard that 'Sakura' girl talking about a fast guy who ran into a brick wall. That could only be Quicksilver.

Finally, Toad stumbled onto something. He had found his friend. Pietro was flat on his back, unconscious from what must have been tremendous impact.

"Never were one to wear a seat belt," Toad grinned. Even in the face of something serious, Toad could always sneak in a bad joke. "That's what happens when you don't look where you're going."

Toad was taking full advantage of Quicksilver's unconsciousness. Since he wasn't awake and since Avalanche and The Blob were who-knows-where, that meant…there was no one to talk back to him.

"I don't know who that was, Pietro," Toad continued. "But man, does she have powers. And I'm thinking she ain't no mutant, either. She probably has some kinda magical powers, you know? I know that might sound weird, but I think she does. Kinda puts us at a disadvantage when we're talking about finding crystals."

"Did someone say crystals?"

Toad suddenly felt a metal claw wrap around his neck and pick him up. He could see a man in a green costume, sunglasses, and a bad haircut with four metallic tentacles on his back.

"Hey, are you another one of those crystal things?" Toad asked ignorantly.

"What do you know about the crystals?" the man demanded in his German accent. "Tell me!"

"I-I-I don't know nothin," Toad stuttered. "I just know I was supposed to find them. That don't mean I've seen 'em."

The man growled. "If you know what's good for you, you'll leave the crystal hunting to an expert. If anyone's going to get them, it's going to be ME! So I'd advise you to stay out of my way!"

The tentacle man moved Toad towards a trashcan and dumped him inside head-first. Then he walked away, leaving Toad stuck inside the trashcan.

"Hey, this ain't cool!" Toad screamed. "Pietro! Wake up! Get me out of here!"

It wasn't happening. Pietro was still out like a light and Toad wasn't getting out of that trashcan anytime soon. But Toad had to wonder about one thing. Who was that freak? Was he also looking for the crystals?

If he was…then that 'Sakura' girl Toad saw would be in a lot of trouble.


~--------------------~


"What did he look like, Sakura?"

Sakura and her friends made it back to Madison's front gate by the time Eriol asked that question again. Sakura kept trying to avoid the question while she recalled what this speed demon looked like.

"He was pretty skinny," Sakura began. "Had a weird haircut and a weird costume. And he talked really fast."

"Who could this guy be?" Eriol asked.

"I don't know, but I hope we don't see him again," Kero said. "We have enough on our plate without having to worry about some fast-talking speed demon."

"At least we have three crystals," Eriol pointed out. "I just hope we don't lose those."

A thought suddenly hit Sakura. She looked Li right in the eye and from the look on his face, it was pretty evident that he was thinking the same thing. Sakura then looked over to her best friend, Madison. Sakura called her over to have a private moment. Madison walked over and she went with Sakura behind a bush.

"I need a favor," Sakura said bluntly. "Can you help me?"

"Anything," Madison nodded. "What is it, Sakura?"

Sakura handed Madison the Speed Crystal. "Hold this for me. After seeing that guy, I don't know if anyone might come after me or the crystals. I think we'd be a lot safer if you held at least one of them."

Madison took the crystal, but looked skeptical. "Sakura…are you sure about this?"

Sakura nodded. "I know it'll be safe in your hands, Madison. When I get the next crystal, I'll give it to Li, but until then…just hold this for me. We can't take any chances."

Madison still wasn't sure. She didn't want to be the weakest link and she wasn't sure if she could protect the Speed Crystal. Sakura believed in her, though.

"You can count on me, Sakura," Madison finally said.

Sakura smiled. "Thanks, Madison."

Sakura and Madison came out from behind the bush. There was nothing else to be said. There were no more crystals to chase after on this night. Sakura pulled Li to the side, though. She needed one more confidence booster.

"We can do this, right Li?" Sakura asked him.

Li nodded. "We've been through a lot worse than this. We're a lot wiser than we were before…and we have a Sailor Scout at our side." He gave her a quick kiss. "We CAN do this."

It sure made Sakura feel a lot better. But there was one more thing that Sakura couldn't get off her mind. She had wanted to live a normal life so badly. In the back of her mind, Sakura was thinking about that. In fact…she was starting to think about…a certain scenario…that could come to pass in the near future.

Maybe Sakura could talk about it with someone…later.


~--------------------~


Those nosy young people had gone home. But he couldn't help but notice one thing. The lead girl…the one apparently known as 'Sakura'…had given one of her crystals to one of her friends. One of her friends who lived in this very estate. This was just the opportunity that Doctor Octopus was waiting for.

If Doc Ock wanted the Speed Crystal, he would have to infiltrate this enormous mansion. There had to be guards at every corner. That wouldn't discourage the bad doctor, though. He would do whatever was necessary to take that crystal, for that crystal would be the first step in wishing for world domination.

Using his metallic tentacles, Ock propelled himself over the front gate and hid behind a nearby bush. There were guards patrolling the estate. This girl and the other boy who came must have been important people.

When the guards turned their back, Ock systematically took each one out by smashing them against the wall. He was quiet in his ways, so as to not attract attention. But Ock saw that his task would not get any easier. The mansion was huge. He would probably be searching for the girl the whole night.

Ock looked around to see if any other security guards were approaching. There were none, so he opened the fuse box in front of him and ripped out the wires. With the power out inside the house, Doc Ock would not have to face the wrath of a security system, which would make his task significantly easier. Then he saw something in the distance. One of the windows was being opened and a girl stuck her head out. It was the same girl who was given the Speed Crystal. As soon as she closed her window and stuck her head back in her room, Doctor Octopus sprang into action.

He propelled himself upward with two of his tentacles and used the other two to pry the window open. Ock moved inside the girl's room and found her by the door. And when she saw Doctor Octopus, her face was filled with terror.

"W-Who are you?!" she demanded, not knowing what else to say.

Ock wrapped one of his tentacles around her waist. "You have something I want. You have one of the crystals. Give it to me!"

Before anything else could be said, someone walked through the door.

"Madison, I need…HEY!"

It was one of the boys Doc Ock saw earlier with this pack of misfits. The boy in the green robes.

"Li!" Madison shouted. "Help me!"

The boy, Li, held out a small charm which extended out to create a sharp sword. "Let her go!"

Doctor Octopus was not intimidated by a young man with a sword. "I came here for that crystal. If you want her, you'll have to take her from me!"

And with that…the battle began.


Next Time: It's probably not a good thing that Sakura's not aware of any of this. Will Li get in over his head? Will Doctor Octopus get the Speed Crystal? Will our friends resort to calling on...an old friend (or guardian...wink, wink)? And where is the next crystal?


Any comments? Then mail me at AmericanCaptor@hotmail.com and give me your opinion. You can also give your opinion by reviewing below!