Last Time: Sakura was pitched the idea of becoming the next big superhero. After getting reactions from Li, Madison, and Eriol, Sakura was finally given a chance to give her thoughts. She's ready to give this a shot. But our favorite reincarnation has something in mind.


Who Is That Masked Cherry Blossom?: Part 2


A night later, after letting everything sink in, Sakura now found herself over in Madison's room. She was sitting on Madison's bed, while Kero and Madison were examining the wide wardrobe in the big walk-in closet.

"There are so many. You're telling me you made these last night?"

"Each and every one of them. I couldn't sleep, I was so excited!"

"Which one should we use? They all look so cool and…superhero-like."

"Let's try this one. Sakura!"

Sakura sweatdropped. It sounded like this would be a long night.

"What do you think, Kero?"

"I dunno…I think this one's been done."

Sakura found herself wearing black and green tights with a green mask over her eyes. Kero flew over and examined her whole look.

"This looks a little Green Lantern-ish for my tastes. Madison, we need something a little more original."

Madison looked in her closet. "Original, huh? Let's try…this one!"

Sakura stepped out of the closet to reveal an oversized and puffed up white costume. The sleeves and pants legs were blown up and so were the shoulder pads. It was so Sakura could resemble…

"There you go!" Madison grinned. "NOW you look like a star!"

Kero examined the costume. "No, no, no. This won't work at all. This'll completely reduce her mobility. She needs something else she can work with."

Madison went back to her closet. "Ok, I have another one."

Slowly but surely, the costumes began to take a less superhero-like look and move towards Madison's usual style of bizarre costumes. Sakura found herself in a brown hood and cape, dark blue tank top over a long-sleeved yellow shirt, and a short light blue skirt.

Kero flew over and examined the costume. "Well…it's certainly original."

"You forgot to add 'very cute'," Madison added.

"Eh, but something like this doesn't exactly strike fear in the hearts of evildoers. The cape's a nice touch, but is there anything else we could use?"

Madison looked in her closet again. "Well…there's one more I'd like to try…"

Sakura walked out and found herself wearing pink spandex with a cherry blossom designed in the middle of the top. She also had a dark red mask, boots, and cape.

Kero examined the costume, just like he did all the others. This time, he smiled. "Hey, this one's pretty good. This one just might work."

Madison grinned. "You look cute!"

"Uh…cute? What kind of cute?" Sakura asked.

"Relax, Sakura. You look 'Sakura cute', not 'Powerpuff Girl cute'."

Kero flew over towards the bed. "Ok, we got the costume ready to go. But it's just missing one thing." He reached under the bed and pulled out a yellow belt. "Your very own utility belt!"

That got her curious. Kero handed the utility belt to her and she looked it over. There were pockets all over the belt, and when Sakura opened up each pocket, she found that they were each holding some of the Sakura Cards.

Kero explained the perks. "It's got a place for the Sakura Cards, but there's plenty more. I made sure to add some handy tools to use in a tight spot, just like a Batman would!"

Sakura was intrigued by these features, but as she tried to look in, Kero flew in the way.

"Where would the fun be if you looked right now?" Kero grinned. "Wait until we actually get where the action is."

"It's not too late to back out, Sakura," another voice said.

Sakura, Kero, and Madison looked over at the door to see Li standing there. Sakura had wondered why he didn't come out as soon as she got there, but he was there now. And to say he still had a look of disapproval on his face would be an understatement.

"She's not backing out, brat!" Kero snapped. "If you aren't gonna support us, then just stay out of our way!"

"You sure you aren't giving up this crazy scheme, Kero?" Li asked.

"There's nothing you can say to change our minds!" Kero answered.

"I don't think I'LL have to say anything," Li said calmly. "I'll leave that up to HIM!"

Sakura curiously turned her head and saw someone flying by the window. She couldn't believe she had forgotten to get his opinion on the matter.

Madison gulped. "Uh-oh."

Kero sneered. "Great! When did YOU get here?"

The one at the window, of course, was the guardian, Yue. "Apparently not soon enough. If Li hadn't come to Julian, I would have remained unaware of this whole situation. May I ask what you're thinking, putting the Mistress in this kind of unnecessary danger?"

"It's called an 'experiment'," Kero growled. "It's a work in progress! We want to put the cards to a new use!"

"I highly doubt that this is what Clow Reed had in mind when he created the cards," Yue shot back. "Are you aware of the dangers of this decision?! Sakura could get hurt or worse!"

"She's not gonna get hurt," Kero muttered. "How could she get hurt? I'll be right there! I'll be watching Sakura and Madison!"

Yue blinked and pointed. "The camera girl's going, too?"

"I'm one of her sidekicks," Madison said proudly.

"How could you be so irresponsible, Kero?!" Yue demanded. "You know what I'll have to do!"

"What's that?" Kero grumbled.

Yue looked over at Sakura. "Mistress, are you in favor of this decision?"

Sakura thought about that. "My decision is that I'm going to give this a try. I'll give it a chance and I'll decide from there whether I want to continue this."

"Then there's only one thing I can do," Yue sighed.

Li smirked. He knew that Yue would be on his side. Kero scowled, knowing that Yue would be against him. And Madison just prepped her camera, as if nothing were happening at all.

"I'll have to accompany you."

Li and Kero's eyes widened. "WHAT?!"

"My purpose is to protect the Mistress from any danger," Yue explained. "And since this sounds like a dangerous endeavor, I feel that I will be needed."

Li was in disbelief. By his expression, he knew that his plan had backfired. He was obviously hoping Yue would talk Sakura out of this, not tag along. And Kero…obviously didn't want the pessimistic judge along for the ride.

"Great," Kero muttered. "I can actually see the fun getting sucked out of this."

Madison suddenly thought of something. "Kero? Just where ARE we going?"

Kero perked up again. "I'm glad you asked me that, Madison!" He flew under the bed and came up with the front page of the newspaper. "Tonight, we bring a criminal to justice!"

Sakura read the headline on the front page:

CAT BURGLAR STRIKES AGAIN

It was the serial cat burglar who had robbed several homes blind. It looked like something simple enough. But there was a line that caught her attention.

"Kero, this says the cat burglar's armed and dangerous!"

"He's not the only one who can be considered dangerous!" Kero said confidently. "That burglar's never met up with someone like you before. He'll be sorry he ever turned to a life of crime!"

"You really think I can take him?" Sakura asked.

"Absolutely!" Kero grinned. "Nobody stands a chance against…uh…um…we don't have a name for you yet, do we?"

Li scoffed. "You made all these plans and you don't even have a name for Sakura yet?"

Kero ignored Li and just scratched his chin. He looked around for inspiration and then looked at Sakura's costume. He saw the symbol in the middle of the chest.

"The Cherry Blossom!!"

Sakura sweatdropped. "The Cherry Blossom?"

"I love it!!" Madison squealed.

Li sweatdropped, too. "Doesn't exactly strike terror into the hearts of criminals."

"But the Cherry Blossom is so…so…so…Sakura! You know something, now that I look at it…we've got a whole team going here! We definitely have an 'Avengers' vibe going here. This might work out, after all.

"Sakura Avalon is the Cherry Blossom, with the mystic power of the Sakura Cards! Madison Taylor is…uh…the Fantastic Camera, with the power to hold her video camera through any situation! Yue, over there, is…uh…The Judge! That's right, The Judge with his dark personality and powers of the moon! And I, Kero, will be The Beast!"

"I think that name's taken," Madison pointed out.

"It is? Then I'll take the next best thing. Uh…I'll be the Golden Lion with my fire powers and powers of the sun! We're all gonna make such a cool team!"

Li cleared his throat. "I think you're forgetting someone."

"No I'm not," Kero said casually.

"Yes you are. You're forgetting about me."

A vein popped out of his head. "Huh?! YOU?!"

"I thought you were against the idea, Li," Sakura said.

"I AM! But I can't let you do this alone. I love you and I'm not going to let you take this risk without me."

Kero begrudgingly sighed. "Fine then. You can be…the Incredible Wolf! Fits your personality well, brat."

"Incredible Wolf?" Madison repeated. "Aren't we treading into dangerous territory in terms of copyrights?"

"That's a chance we're willing to take. Although lawyers can be more dangerous than any criminal we encounter. So is this it? Are we ready to go?"

Sakura looked out the window. Reedington wasn't exactly a crime-infested town. Maybe this would only last one night. Of course, she remembered what she had heard before. One night is all it takes. But she definitely had protectors by her side. Maybe this wouldn't be as difficult as she thought.

Sakura nodded. "Ready!"

"NO!" Madison cried.

Everyone looked at Madison, who had her arms crossed.

"I'd have to make a costume for Li first!"

Kero sweatdropped. "Good point."

Sakura sighed. This night just kept on going. And she could feel that it would be a LONG night, indeed.

Eriol walked out into the front yard. Ruby and Spinner followed right behind him, curious as to what their master had in mind. But he had a plan in mind. Something that would hopefully discourage this whole 'superhero' thing once and for all.

"What are we doing, Master?" Ruby asked.

Eriol smirked. "Let's head out to the toy store. I'm in the mood for a little shopping."

"I never pictured you as the type to play with toys before," Spinner thought.

"Let's just say that the events of the past few days have kindled an interest," Eriol chuckled. "And by the end of the week…we'll be playing with more than just toys."

After the shock of the last few days, Eriol knew he had to resort to something extreme to bring Sakura to her senses. And this would do nicely. It would also bring Kero back down to Earth. But Eriol had to admit one thing: life had gotten boring.

That would soon change.


Next Time: The Cherry Blossom and her team go hunting for a cat burglar. How does the first night go? And what does our favorite reincarnation have in mind? Find out next time!


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