Chapter 3: Buu's Beautiful Tattoo

Kero, former Guardian Beast of the Book of Clow, found himself now reduced to hiding inside of a toilet.

At least, he thought it was a toilet. This strange world was filled with all sorts of technology that was completely unidentifiable to someone who had been asleep as long as Kero had.

To make matters worse, he could no longer count Yue as an ally. Granted, they'd never really gotten along, but in the long run, their goals had largely been the same, even if the methods used to accomplish them weren't.

Kero knew instinctively that this world was wrong…at least, it was wrong for them to be in it.

But Yue, for some unknown reason, was adapting all too rapidly, as if things were fine. He had formally recognized Lord Frieza as his Master. Kero had to admit, rather grudgingly, that this was Yue's right as The Judge. However, Yue seemed to have conveniently forgotten that Kero was The Elector, and therefore it was HIS right to choose a proper candidate first.

Not that any of this mattered, since Kero had absolutely no desire for Frieza to learn the secrets of Clow Reed. Unfortunately, since Yue might as well have been wearing a sign that labeled him as Frieza's number one flunky, Frieza DID know a great deal more than Kero would've preferred.

Which was why Kero was hiding inside the toilet in the first place. Yue had told Frieza about their transformations, and Frieza was now eager to witness Kero's.

This was a Very Bad Thing, for several reasons.

First, as Kero had been cut off from all of the Clow Cards, and more specifically, The Firey and The Earthy Cards needed for his transformation, he could no more reach his true form than beat Yue into a bloody pulp. And the latter was starting to become a frequent daydream, frankly.

Second, nothing good would come of it even if Kero did transform. Frieza was both very evil and very powerful. He would no doubt put Kero to work destroying something good and pure.

Third, and most frightening of all, Frieza had certain…tastes. Tastes that were apparently very much varied, because if the rumors were true, there was NOTHING that the Changeling couldn't get off on. Kero certainly had no desire to assume a form where Frieza could better…interact with him.

That, fortunately and disturbingly enough, was rumored to be Yue's job…


"Hey, Kinomouto! Order up!"

Suppressing a heavy sigh, Touya quickly made his way to the counter and picked up the waiting tray of ice cream. Being a waiter in an ice cream shop wasn't nearly as interesting as he'd hoped, and it was shaping up to be a very long night. It had even gotten to the point where he would've been glad to see Sakura being dragged in by her blatantly lesbian best friend. Tomoyo may have been way too young for him and not the least bit interested, but she was terribly easy on the eyes and entertaining, if nothing else.

As Touya delivered the ice cream and strongly considered taking his break early, he noticed something…odd. Two kids about Sakura's age were standing in the parking lot. He only noticed because they weren't moving at all, just standing there, staring blankly into space. Both were wearing black school uniforms, but Touya didn't recognize them.

Suddenly, the two began to move towards the ice cream shop. As they got closer, Touya could see that they were a boy and a girl. The boy had short brown hair, and the girl had black hair that flowed down her back in two thick braids. What really got Touya's attention was that the braids didn't move, at all, as she walked.

Touya was very big on first impressions. He could usually tell whether he would like someone within the first ten seconds of meeting them. Supposedly, he'd inherited that from his mother. These two kids seemed to radiate a certain wrongness that made his flesh crawl. Just the sight of them made him want to blow off work and go home. The thought of them walking the same streets as his little sister unnerved him to no end.

The two kids never did make it inside the ice cream shop. Mostly because one of them blew it up first.


"I'm starting to think this was a really bad idea," Sakura whimpered.

Tomoyo had to agree with her friend. After all, she was holding some pretty damning evidence in her very hands: her video camera.

For two whole hours now, they'd watched the strange blue girl in the park beat up anyone who passed by for no particular reason (although Tomoyo thought she'd seen the girl pocket a few wallets). From all indications, the girl was a born fighter and possessed superhuman strength.

Sakura, on the other hand, was armed with some tiny claws that might hurt a bit worse than a pinch.

Needless to say, things weren't looking so good.

Tomoyo didn't mind a catfight getting a bit rough, personally, but she had no desire to see Sakura get seriously hurt.

Buu wasn't much help, either. He kept demonstrating a punch combo that he thought would be very effective, but Sakura was far too scared to pay him much attention.

"Buu, isn't there another way to catch her?" Tomoyo finally asked. "Sakura can't exactly just walk up and start pounding on her; she'd be creamed."

Sakura would've been offended, if she didn't completely agree. "She's right. I've never really had to fight anyone…"

Buu frowned and scratched his head. Then he laughed, as if struck by a stroke of genius, and stuck his gloved thumbs in his mouth. The girls watched in wonder as Buu blew air into his yellow gloves, inflating them until they were slightly bigger than normal boxing gloves. That done, he simply removed the gloves and handed them to Sakura.

Still a bit hesitant, Sakura slipped the gloves on, and nearly shrieked in surprise as they automatically tightened around her hands and began jabbing at the air in front of her. "What's going on? I can't control them!"

"Buu fight!" Buu cheered, waving his hands as the gloves mimicked his movements.

"Oh, I get it," Tomoyo said. "They're his gloves, so they punch when he does. I think. All you have to do is follow their lead…I hope."

"But I'm not as strong as she is!" Sakura insisted.

Buu didn't seem at all worried as he pulled off his boots and began to inflate them as well. "Buu plenty strong! Just do everything like Buu!"

Sakura put the boots on, too, and the instant they tightened around her feet, she began to do an odd little war dance, hopping on one foot and then the other. Before she knew it, she'd hopped out of the bushes and in plain view of the blue girl. "Wait, Buu! I'm not ready yet!" she cried.

The blue girl scowled and charged at Sakura like an enraged bull.

"HELP ME!" Sakura screamed at the top of her lungs as the boots dragged her forward, the gloves spinning her arms like windmills.

"This is going to get ugly," Tomoyo murmured, raising her video camera. "But at least I'll get to nurse her back to health."

Amazingly enough, Buu's gloves seemed to know what they were doing. As the two girls met in the center of the park, the right glove abruptly threw a punch that rocked the blue girl's head to the side. The left glove immediately followed with a huge uppercut that sent the blue girl tumbling to the ground. This was pretty impressive, since no one had landed a hit on her all night.

But it only seemed to injure the blue girl's pride, and make her even angrier as she quickly got up and closed the distance between them. She connected with a solid kick to ribs, and Sakura flew through the air, crashing through a wooden bench several feet away.

"Girl not very good," Buu observed with apparent disappointment as Sakura's whimpers of pain reached them.

"Well, we told you that," Tomoyo pointed out, slightly annoyed and growing more worried by the second.

"Buu fix!" Buu declared confidently. He floated into the air, his floppy pink forelock waving from side to side. It stopped when it was pointing straight at the ruined park bench that Sakura was still trying to free herself from.

Tomoyo watched in horror as Buu fired a large bolt of pink lightning at Sakura, resulting in an explosion that momentarily blinded her. When she could see again, the bench was gone, and Sakura was lying facedown in a crater. "BUU! Why did you zap Sakura!"

"Girl better now," Buu insisted. "Girl win easy now!"

Tomoyo was seconds away from hitting Buu with her video camera when she noticed that her friend was indeed moving again.

Sakura slowly struggled to her feet, probably still suffering from the effects of Buu's 'help' and plowing through a bench. Her face was pale and weary, at least, until something black emerged on her forehead. Her eyes took on a pinkish glow as her mouth twisted into a terrible sneer. With a howl of rage, Sakura threw herself at the blue girl, battering her so mercilessly that Buu's gloves failed to properly channel her attacks, falling away in ragged pieces.

Had anyone asked her, Tomoyo would've said that Sakura didn't have a violent bone in her body. She glared at Buu. "Just what did you do to her? She's practically feral!"

For some reason, Buu seemed just as surprised. He took aim with his forelock again, firing another pink lightning bolt. Instead of exploding on impact, though, this one vanished into Sakura's back, and she dropped to the ground like a stone.

Tomoyo hesitantly emerged from the bushes, glad to see that Sakura had knocked out the blue girl at some point. She carefully turned Sakura on her back, gently brushing the brown hair out of her face. Whatever the black object on her forehead had been, it was gone now.

Buu hovered over the blue girl, taking aim with his forelock yet again. The blue girl was surrounded by a pink glow, and her body began to shrink until it was the size of a cookie. And then it turned INTO a cookie, though it was just as sour-looking as the original had been. Buu promptly opened his mouth wide and swallowed the cookie whole.

"I don't even want to know," Tomoyo decided, sighing loudly. She turned her attention back to Sakura, so she completely missed the sight of Buu nearly doubling in size. "Let's just go home before-"

Sakura's hands suddenly shot up, wrapping around Tomoyo's throat. Her eyes blazed pink as the skin on her forehead darkened to black, forming a bold letter M. A bone-chilling hiss floated from her mouth as she bared her teeth.

Eyes widening in alarm, Buu transformed his body into a giant pink mallet and began to float towards Sakura's head.

Tomoyo coughed and gasped for air as Sakura's fingers dug into her neck. "Sakura-chan," she wheezed, "it's me. Tomoyo!"

The pink glow faded from Sakura's eyes at once, and the M on her forehead disappeared as well. "Tomoyo-chan?" she whispered, her hands falling to Tomoyo's shoulders. "I can't…what happened? Why do I feel so…" Her eyes rolled up into her head, and she collapsed into Tomoyo's arms.

Taking a deep breath, Tomoyo hugged her friend tighter. "Buu," she said slowly, "tell me EXACTLY what you did to her. Now."

"Buu help!" Buu insisted, crossing his thick arms over his chest. "Buu only wake up girl's sleeping power!"

"Yeah, right! You pretty much had Sakura frothing at the mouth!"

Buu shook his head. "Buu don't know how to change people brains. Buu only know how to make people stronger. Buu only build on what already there."

Tomoyo opened her mouth, but then closed it. Buu clearly wasn't going to change his story, and he had seemed surprised by Sakura's reaction. She'd just assumed that something had gone wrong. But if Buu was telling the truth, then apparently something had gone right. Whatever it was, Tomoyo had a bad feeling that what they'd seen today was only the tip of the iceberg.


"The Book is not here, Syaoran. Why did we have to stop?"

Li Syaoran slowly turned his dead gaze onto his cousin. "I told you, Meiling. I sensed magic in this place. Wherever the Majin Book lies, there will be magic users near."

Meiling sighed in frustration, hands on her hips. "Fine. But you find them. I'm sick of digging through this rubble, and I'm bored, too."

Syaoran closed his eyes and sniffed the night air, inhaling the faint but definite scent of magic. He took a few steps forward and stopped, opening his eyes.

There was a hand sticking out of the debris in front of him. Intrigued, Syaoran waved his hand, sending debris flying away in a small tornado. Sure enough, the hand was still attached to an unconscious teenager.

"I have our magic user, Meiling. Not very strong, but he's the first we've come across in a long while. Perhaps this is a sign that we are headed in the right direction."

"Can you use him?"

"No. He is weak, and…pure." Syaoran said the word as if it were a curse. "His magic must have protected him from my attack."

"Then can I break him?" Meiling asked eagerly, cracking her knuckles loudly.

He frowned. "You shouldn't. He may know something useful."

She shrugged. "So I'll break him slowly, and leave his mouth for last."

"Your constant need for amusement isn't healthy, Meiling. We are on a mission."

Meiling pouted. "You're no fun, Syaoran. It's not fair that you get to do damage, and I don't!"

Syaoran rolled his eyes. "Fine. The next time we need to destroy something, I'll let you handle it."

"You swear?" she demanded at once.

Syaoran sighed. "I swear on the sacred blood that runs through both our bodies."

Meiling brightened at once, flinging herself at her cousin and planting a loud kiss on his cheek. "Thank you, Syaoran!"

"Yes, yes," Syaoran muttered, pushing her away. "Pick him up and let's move on."

Meiling obeyed without protest, grabbing the unconscious teen's arm and dragging him along behind her.


"Ow," Sakura moaned softly as Tomoyo's hand brushed a tender spot on her hip.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo apologized, dropping a quick kiss on her friend's forehead.

"That's…okay," Sakura whispered, shutting her eyes and trying to go back to sleep. She'd been drifting in and out since first waking up in Tomoyo's bed, but usually only stayed conscious long enough to receive a few kisses and careful hugs before passing out again. Sakura didn't mind being held, even with all her bruises, and had long ago learned to tolerate Tomoyo's frequent kisses. Really, it was only being in Tomoyo's bed that bothered her, but she didn't have much choice in the matter. She feared it was just too suggestive, and given her current weakened state, she didn't want Tomoyo to get any ideas about…well, anything, knowing Tomoyo the way she did.

"Do you need anything?" Tomoyo asked quietly, selecting an unmarked spot on Sakura's arm and stroking it gently.

"Could you…keep talking? I don't…want to…pass out again."

"Okay. Um…do you feel like talking about what happened tonight?"

"It's a little hazy in my mind. I remember…that girl beating me up…then I beat her up…and then I…" Sakura trailed off, her gaze moving to Tomoyo's neck, which still had faint red marks on it.

Tomoyo quickly pulled up her collar and leaned over to kiss Sakura's nose. "Don't think any more about it."

"But, Tomoyo-chan, I could've-"

"But you didn't," Tomoyo reminded her. "I know you weren't in control. I know you'd never hurt me."

Sakura shook her head. "Buu was right, Tomoyo-chan. He woke up something inside of me. I could hear it whispering in my head. It kept saying the same thing, over and over again."

"What?"

"'Destroy.' In this really deep voice." Sakura shut her eyes. "I don't ever want to hear that voice again."

Tomoyo bit her lip. "But there are more of Buu's cards out there, Sakura-chan."

"Well, I can't possibly get them now. I could barely get the one today, and look how that turned out."

"But you know what to expect now."

"No, I don't. Each card is different, and I don't even know when or if I'll flip out again."

"So you're just going to give up?" Tomoyo asked.

"If it means never hurting you again, then yes," Sakura muttered.

Tomoyo sighed. "You know I'd never hold that against you, Sakura-chan. Just forget it."

"I can't, Tomoyo-chan. You're too important to me. I don't know what I'd do if anything really bad ever happened to you."

Tomoyo couldn't help the smile that crossed her face. She carefully stretched out beside Sakura and draped an arm over her. "Whatever you decide, I'll support you. Just know that I love you, and nothing can change that. Nothing."

"I know," Sakura murmured, already half-asleep.

Smiling to herself, Tomoyo waited a few moments until she was sure that her friend was asleep. Then, she moved closer and lightly brushed her lips against Sakura's. "Sweet dreams, Sakura-chan," Tomoyo whispered, laying her head on Sakura's shoulder. "Everything will be better tomorrow."


He awoke with a pained groan. His whole body seemed to be one massive ache.

"Oh, look, Syaoran! He's waking up! Quick, come and watch the hopelessness set in! That's always fun!"

Touya blinked, not at all surprised when the blackish blob in front of him became the strange girl he'd seen at the ice cream shop. Nor was he surprised to see the boy she'd been with step into view a second later.

After a few moments, the girl frowned. "Hey. Why aren't you hopeless yet?"

Touya wasn't listening; his eyes took in the dark surroundings, the finger-shaped bruises on his arm, and the strong dislike in the boy's eyes when their gazes met.

"So what are you two?" he asked calmly. "Fallen angels? Zombies? Or just your standard demons in human form?"

"None of your business!" the girl snapped, clearly still upset that Touya wasn't blubbering yet.

"Well, whatever you are, you're obviously out of practice. Otherwise, you'd know I could do this."

Touya's body slumped lifelessly to the ground, just as the girl's suddenly stiffened.

Syaoran stretched out his hand, a powerful magical attack ready to erupt from his fingers. "Meiling?"

"Damn, I hate possessing girls," Meiling muttered, scowling at her skirt. She turned to Syaoran. "Right. How much do you like this cousin of yours, Li? Not as much as she likes you, I'm guessing. Normally I would've picked you, but I don't like the scent of you, frankly."

"Release Meiling," Syaoran growled.

"Yeah, that's not happening anytime soon," Meiling replied. "Not until me and my body are back home, safe and sound. Now, are you going to cooperate, or do I have to make you two fight each other? And trust me, I wouldn't be taking any damage, if that's what you're thinking."

Syaoran hesitated. Meiling wouldn't mind a few bruises in the name of saving her, but she was bound to take being burned, electrocuted, or having limbs broken personally. That severely limited his options.

"You think it over. I'll be going home now." Meiling walked over to Touya's body and carefully picked it up with one hand. "Okay, maybe this body has some good points…"

"Why didn't I sense this power in you earlier?" Syaoran asked quietly.

"Unlike you, I don't go around showing off. There's something to be said for subtlety. I mean, if I'd told you I could do this up front…and that's assuming you HADN'T blown up my job, so I even COULD tell you…would you have let me live?"

They both knew the answer, so neither bothered with saying it.

"Anyway, come on," Meiling sighed.

"What?" Syaoran asked blankly.

Meiling rolled her eyes. "Your cousin's scared. She'd really appreciate it if you came along. For some reason, she doesn't trust me."

"I wonder why."


Kinomouto Fujitaka was, quite honestly, an exceptional parent. He had exceptional children, and as such, he expected exceptional things from them.

This was the first night that both had managed to be late for dinner, and without calling first, no less.

A less than exceptional parent might have been angry, or at least concerned, but not Fujitaka. No, he was much more open-minded, considering how rare such occurrences were. Touya was perfectly capable of looking out for himself, and had been since he was seven years old. Sakura…well, her friends were somewhat capable of looking out for her in most instances, and she was rarely ever without at least one. Fujitaka liked to think of them as the smarter girls in bad horror movies. The ones that ran away screaming at the slightest signs of trouble. As opposed to the ones that got curious and ventured directly into danger, or the ones that were constantly tripping and sealing their own fates, anyway. Honestly, it was about the best he could expect from them, all things considered.

Suddenly, the phone rang. Probably Sakura, full of apologies for being late with the call. Touya would probably walk in while she was still on the phone.

Fujitaka picked up the phone and got a slight surprise. "Kinomouto resi-

"Dad? Sorry I'm late. Some punk kids blew up the ice cream shop, and I had to…ah, hold on…"

The unfamiliar female voice was interrupted by what seemed to be quite a bit of scuffling.

"Touya?" Fujitaka ventured.

"Yeah, it's me. I had to body snatch one of them. Anyway, I'm gonna be late. Oh, and I'm bringing a, um…super special guest."

"Ah. I'll prep the guest room, then."

"Thanks. Sakura made it home yet? The freaks are out in full force tonight, it seems."

"No, actually," Fujitaka responded.

"Huh. Weird. You check Tomoyo's house yet?"

"Was just about to, actually."

"Probably another impromptu sleepover she forget to call you about," Touya…rather, Touya in someone else's body, reasoned.

"Probably," Fujitaka agreed calmly.

"It'll be another thirty minutes before I get back, give or take a few."

"That's fine. We'll talk more then."

Fujitaka hung up the phone, a thoughtful frown on his face. Sakura was probably fine. There was no real need to worry. She never got into trouble, not even Tomoyo had managed that yet.

And yet…Fujitaka didn't want to sit there and wait for her call. He felt the need to do…something. He would never admit it aloud, but Sakura held his heart in her hands, and he just had to know for sure that nothing had happened to her.

Anyway, it was the perfect excuse to call his wife.

Fujitaka went upstairs and entered the master bedroom. He stood before the mirror on the wall, staring into its depths with reverence and a hint of disgust. Raising his index finger to his mouth, he bit down hard enough to draw blood. Slowly, he trailed the finger along the mirror's border, ancient runes becoming visible in its wake. He murmured the old words of summoning, and waited patiently.

The surface of the mirror was filled with blinding light, and he turned his head away until the light faded. When he looked back, he was staring into the face of his late wife.

"Darling," he murmured, brushing his fingers over the cool surface, wishing it were her actual face.

She repeated the gesture, her smile warm and inviting. "Beloved." Her hand slowly lowered, full lips forming a playful smirk. "It's ten fifteen, Fujitaka. Do you know where our children are?"

He chuckled awkwardly and rubbed the back of his head. "Actually, I was hoping you could help me with that…"


Next Chapter: Home Sweet Home

Sakura goes home, only to find her father wants to have "The Talk" with her. Only, it's not the one she's expecting…