Last Time: We discussed certain important superhero issues, such as costumes, names, and of course, where to go on this first night of crime-fighting. In a final attempt to stop the madness, Li got in contact with Yue, but the guardian only agreed to tag along. So whether anybody likes it or not, Sakura (now known as the Cherry Blossom) will be fighting crime for at least one night. But what they don't know is that our favorite sorcerer has something up his mischievous sleeve.


Who Is That Masked Cherry Blossom?: Part 3


Sakura nearly fell asleep. She never pictured her first night of crime-fighting being so…boring. The night was nearly over and absolutely nothing had happened. There was no sign of the cat burglar they were seeking. They hadn't moved from their station atop one of the city's trees all night.

"What are we still doing here, Kero?" Li sighed.

"You have no idea how to tap into the criminal mind, do you, brat?" Kero scoffed. "Every sick criminal mind follows some type of pattern during his sprees. It just so happens that I've figured out our cat burglar's pattern."

"And what might that be?" Yue asked curiously.

"The cat burglar's always stealing from two-story houses in residential neighborhoods. He also steals from people that are particularly well off, and judging from this guy's luxury sedan, he looks pretty well off to me. And the lights are out, which leads me to believe that the people in this house aren't here. You might as well put up a big 'ROB ME' sign on the door."

"You've been reading too many comics," Li scoffed. "That doesn't tell us anything."

Just then, a hook zoomed by at a blinding speed and attached itself to the house's roof. There was a line attached to the roof, from which a hooded figure dressed in all black and a mask rolled down…on a unicycle, skillfully balancing himself on the line. He rolled over to the roof and leapt off his unicycle before it tipped over. Once he was off, he folded up the unicycle and stuffed it in his backpack. Then he lowered a rope and started climbing down the chimney.

"I guess this is where we spring into action," Sakura said nervously. "Guess there's no time like the present."

Li tried to stop her. "Sakura, wait!"

Without thinking ahead, Sakura rushed out of her hiding place and jumped out of the tree.

"Fly!"

With the aid of the Fly Card, Sakura flew over to the house and nearly left everybody behind. And without thinking, Sakura recalled the Fly Card and called another card to help.

"Power Card!"

Sakura called on the Power Card and swung forward with her wand, shattering the front door. It exploded into many pieces. Unfortunately…

…that set off the security system. The very LOUD security system.

Sakura stood frozen. She had never done this sort of thing before and she really didn't know what move to make next. There was a burglar inside the house and she had already unwittingly set off the security system. And she didn't get any more decisive when she heard the sound of a gun being loaded. She slowly turned her head and saw the masked cat burglar pointing his weapon right at her.

"I don't know who you think you are, young lady," he said in an English accent. "But this was NOT a wise move on your part."

Sakura saw her life flash before her eyes when the gun went off. But the bullet only hit a shield. Somebody had come to her aid. She turned around and saw Yue behind her.

The cat burglar tilted his head. "I say, what is this? First, I'm trying to shoot a girl in a costume and now my shot is deflected by a freak with wings?"

"Hey, he's not just a freak with wings," Sakura said indignantly. "He's…uh…" She leaned over and whispered in Yue's ear. "What was your name again?"

Yue sighed. "The Judge."

"Uh…yeah! He's The Judge and I…am the Cherry Blossom, here to stop you from committing anymore acts of treachery and evil!"

The cat burglar sweatdropped. "Did I die and land in a comic book? What exactly are you supposed to be, anyway? Some kind of superhero?"

"For your information, that's EXACTLY what she's supposed to be!"

The cat burglar slowly turned around to see Keroberos, freshly changed into his true form, standing right behind him.

"Uh…allow me to make the proper introductions," Keroberos grinned. "You've met the Cherry Blossom and The Judge. Over there with the camcorder, we have the Fantastic Camera…"

Madison waved cheerfully from the distance as she got this whole exchange on tape.

"…and over to my left, we have the Incredible Wolf."

Li sighed. He was in disbelief that he was having any part of this.

"…and I am…The Beast!"

Madison cleared her throat. "HELLOOOO!! Did somebody say 'LAWSUIT'?!"

Keroberos sweatdropped. "Oh, yeah. I forgot. For copyright purposes, I am known as…the Golden Lion! And YOU must be the cat burglar. As Reedington's newest crime-fighting fellowship, we're here to stop you from robbing this house. Ahem…tell him, Cherry Blossom."

Sakura sweatdropped. "Do I HAVE to?"

"Just like we practiced, Cherry Blossom," Madison chimed in.

Sakura sighed and wielded her wand in a choreographed pose. "I am the mighty Cherry Blossom! And I am here to pick the cherries of justice!"

Li groaned. "We went through this for six hours and THAT'S the best line we could come up with?"

"Back off!" Sakura pouted. "I'm new at this! I'd like to see YOU do any better."

The cat burglar shook his head. "You're all nuts! I'm getting out of here!"

The cat burglar tossed down a smoke ball and the surrounding area filled up with smoke. As everybody coughed and tried to catch their breath, the cat burglar ran through the smoke and started running down the street.

Yue turned around. "I believe our criminal is attempting to flee."

Sakura started running after him. "I'll stop him!"

It didn't take long for Li to follow. "Sakura, wait for me!"

The cat burglar was a quick one. He was already down the street. But it wasn't as if Sakura wasn't quite the athlete herself. She was quick on her feet too. It didn't take her long to catch up to him, but she didn't realize that he still had a gun in his hand. He turned around to shoot, but he didn't get the chance.

"Element: Wind!"

Sakura stopped in her tracks and Li's wind spell caught the cat burglar and started spinning him around in a furious tornado. Had it come a second later, the cat burglar would have fired. Li had saved her life.

As much as she wanted to reflect on that, Sakura didn't have much time. She quickly reached for a card to end this night of crime-fighting.

"Sleep Card! Release and dispel!"

As Li's wind spell ended, the Sleep Card came out and sprinkled dust all over the cat burglar.

The cat burglar yawned. "I say, this looks like a good place for a nap."

The cat burglar fell over and fell into a deep sleep. The burglar had been stopped. With the danger averted, Sakura reached over and hugged Li.

"Li, you saved my life! You knew he was going to fire his gun and you stopped him just in time!"

Li blinked. "Uh…………yeah………I knew he was going to do that."

Sakura released her hug and gave her boyfriend a quizzical look. "You…DID know he was going to shoot me, right? That's why you used your wind spell."

Li sweatdropped and nodded nervously. "Yeah………of course I did."

Just then, Keroberos, Yue, and Madison all caught up to them and saw the scene of the fallen cat burglar.

"Sakura, you did it!" Madison cheered. "I knew you were a natural at this!"

"See, Yue?" Keroberos grinned. "I told you this was a good idea. The perfect superhero! No trouble at all, right Sakura?"

Sakura hesitated. "Well, he did turn to shoot me, but Li saved me just in time. He saw that move coming a mile away, didn't you, Li?"

Li nodded slowly. "Yes…………saw it coming a mile away."

Li slowly walked off as Sakura was left to wonder what that tone was all about. Sakura walked over to Madison to try and make something out of this.

"Madison…"

Madison just shook her head. "Two words: Dumb…luck."

Sakura's eyes widened. It finally hit her that her life had come dangerously close to coming to an end. If Li had been one second later…

"HOE!!!!"

"What do you mean you quit?!?!"

Little Kero thought the first night of crime-fighting went very well. It didn't take long for police to apprehend the cat burglar and Sakura successfully helped get a criminal off the streets. By all means, this should have been the first step in creating a legacy.

But once they got home, for some reason, Sakura had decided to call it quits. After what should have been considered a huge victory for the forces of good, Sakura wanted to cut her career as a crime- fighter short after one night.

"Kero, do you know how close I came to getting killed tonight?!" Sakura snapped. "If Li had acted a second later, who knows what would have happened? Maybe I'm not cut out for this."

"Sakura, if anything, you've proven that you ARE capable of this," Kero replied. "I've always said that you're capable of anything. You handled that cat burglar like a pro. The way you bravely rushed in, the way you bravely chased that cat burglar, and the way you bravely stared death in the face! It doesn't get any better than that!"

"You think that's GOOD?!" Sakura asked in disbelief. "You're crazy, Kero!"

"Sakura, tonight we made a huge difference. We took a dangerous criminal off the streets. If we hadn't been there, that family would have gotten robbed blind and maybe a whole bunch of homes would have been burglarized in the future. And not only did you stop a real burglar, but you looked good doing it."

Sakura sighed. "You really think so?"

"Of course I do! Sakura, I'm not asking you to do the impossible. If I thought this was really dangerous, then I wouldn't ask you to do it. After all, I really care about you. I wouldn't put you in danger on purpose."

"Are you sure about that?" Sakura asked skeptically.

"Sakura, we're superheroes armed with magical powers taking on burglars and thieves. It's not like we're taking on supervillains or anything. This should be easy for us."

Sakura sighed again. "Well…" Then she grinned. "Can we work on that motto?"

Kero thought about that. "Ok, I'll admit it. The motto needs work. But we've got plenty of time to work on that…and some other surprises."

Sakura blinked. "Surprises? Like what?"

Kero grinned. "Oh…you'll see."

In his lifetime, Eriol Eli Moon had seen many things, not all of them pleasant. But seeing Sakura and her friends trying to become a superhero team was the craziest thing he had ever been witness to. It was something he knew he had to nip in the bud.

And after a night of shopping, he had just what he needed. If this didn't scare Sakura out of the crime-fighting business, he didn't know what would.

"Master, are you sure you want to resort to this?" Ruby asked. "I mean, isn't this a little extreme?"

Eriol chuckled. He knew this was rather harsh, but he saw no other alternative. And besides that, this may also prove to be quite fun. Just thinking about it made him chuckle with mischievous delight.

"Call this 'tough love'."

Next Time: 'Tough love' comes in the form of the Cherry Blossom's newest foe. Who is it? Come back next time and see!


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