The Dodon Gym, to those familiar with the inner workings of the 
Street Fighter tournaments it is known as a place where promising young 
fighters come to train as they hone their skills and develop their 
spirits. It was inside this place that Sakura Kasugano chose to shelter 
herself from the world that had suddenly become so much more complicated 
than it had been only a week ago. She casually glanced over at the ring 
to see two of Dan's student's sparring, though her eyes lazily followed 
their movements her mind was far from the fight or any thing else in the 
gym.

	It had been three days since she and Tomoyo had RETURNed to the 
day of Judgment, she had not spoken to or even seen Tomoyo since their 
reappearance in the present. Tomoyo had been absent from class since 
that day and Sakura feared that the entire experience may have been too 
much for Tomoyo to bear. It was Tomoyo's desire to be reunited with 
Sakura Kinomoto that had dictated the RETURN card's actions on that 
fateful day. For a brief moment Tomoyo was given the opportunity to 
prevent the death of her closest friend and set right all the mistakes 
caused by the Judgment. But fate had been unkind to Tomoyo and she was 
forced, for the second time, to watch as her dearest friend was slain. 
As if that in itself had not been painful enough for her she had 
overheard Sakura telling Kero that Sakura Kinomoto was truly dead and 
would never again walk the earth, not even in the form of Sakura 
Kasugano.

	At this point Sakura was flooded by a wave of indecision, during 
the brief time she spent in the past she had made promises to several 
individuals. It was her vow to her own parents to explain to them 
everything that was going on in her life that weighed most prominently 
in her mind today. The Clow cards, Kero, the death of Sakura Kinomoto, 
she did not want to explain all these things to her parents, but, she 
DID make a promise to them.

	And then of course their was Karen Kanzuki. For too long she had 
been such a great nuisance to Sakura she found herself unable to feel 
anything but contempt for the girl. Yet on the day of Judgment she not 
only saved the life of the stubborn brat but made two separate promises 
regarding her, one to her father Gendo Kanzuki and a second one to the 
late Sakura Kinomoto. She knew that eventually she would have to deal 
with this problem but she couldn't bring herself to confront her would-
be rival.

	There were so many things she should be doing right now, but she 
didn't particularly want to do any of them.

	"Sakura."  The voice brought her out of her contemplation. She 
turned to find that the speaker was a boy about her age, his gi 
identified himself as a student of Dan's. "I'm sorry to bother you but I 
was told to deliver this message." The boy handed her a pink envelope. 
Sakura groaned as she clasped the envelope in her hand. There was only 
one person this could be from. With great anxiety she opened the 
envelope and read the message inside:

	Dear hated rival Kasugano,

	OHOHOHOHOH!!

	For too long now your pathetic fighting skills have led others to 
believe that you were the superior fighter between the two of us. But on 
this day I shall finally correct the mistaken ideas that have found 
their way into the minds of those imbeciles and prove to all that I am 
truly the greater fighter and that you are merely a fool who will suffer 
a humbling defeat at the hands of the mighty Karin Kanzuki!! OHOHOHOH!!!

	Today we will settle this rivalry of ours as I defeat you once and 
for all! I will be waiting at the Kanzuki mansion for your arrival, upon 
which the doorman will escort you to the gym where he will introduce you 
to your DOOM BY MY HANDS!!!! 

	OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOOHO!!!!!!!

	Ever your superior,

	Karin Kanzuki

	Sakura let out a groan as she finished reading the letter, her 
worst fears had come true. The student who had handed her the letter 
knew from experience exactly who the letter was from and the nature of 
the message it contained. "Another challenge from Karin." It was more of 
a statement then a question.

	Glumly Sakura nodded as she crumpled the message in her hand. It 
seems that Karin had made this particular decision for her. As she made 
her way to the exit of the gym she promised herself that today she would 
permanently resolve her business with Karin one way or another.


      A crossover Improfanfic
 started by The Eternal Lost Lurker
   Street Fighter and all related
    trademarks belong to Capcom.
 Cardcaptor Sakura and all related
trademarks belong to CLAMP, Kodansha.
      Used without permission.

	Chapter 30: Sakura's broken promise


	Far away in a land where kings still ruled and myths and legends 
were as real as the hand in front of your face, a young man rode his 
faithful stead through the heart of a mighty forest, where few dared to 
tread and none were known to return alive.

	Spotting something on the path up ahead the man called his trusted 
mount to stop, he then leapt off and drew his sword readying himself for 
anything.

	As he approached the abnormality blocking his path he saw that it 
was a man. Emphasis on the "was". The flesh had long since been stripped 
from his bones and he appeared to be covered in, spider webs?

	So focused on the body of this former man the adventurer failed to 
notice an enormous spider, easily twice the size of a man, descending 
from the treetops above him. So silently the spider moved the hero would 
not have noticed him at all, but his faithful mount could see the spider 
perfectly and let out a neigh to alert her master.

	Turning, the young adventurer saw the spider as it dropped onto 
him, it's fangs bared and it's legs flailing. Taken by surprise the 
heroic young man was unprepared to deal with such a foe and was quickly 
dispatched by the giant arachnid.

	The man fell to the ground and as the final breath of life escaped 
him a simple message formed on the television screen.

	GAME OVER.

	"Stupid game!!" Kero shouted in disgust as he kicked the 
controller in front of him. An action witch he quickly realized was a 
bad idea as he, in his current "plushy" form, was not much larger than 
the controller itself and his foot was not built as sturdily.

	Hoping on one foot and cursing all things with eight legs Kero 
decided it might be a good idea to play something else for a while.

					* * * * *

	Sakura drug her feet across town on her journey to the Kanzuki 
mansion.  She kept running over the meeting with Karin in her mind and 
dreaded the thought of trying to make up with the girl. She silently 
prayed for something, anything to happen that would prevent her from 
reaching her destination.

	Looking up from the sidewalk Sakura noticed that she was still a 
long ways from the Kanzuki household. She could have taken the subway 
but she thought she could postpone the fateful meeting longer if she 
walked.

	Examining her surroundings Sakura noticed that she was across the 
street from the ice-cream shop where Tomoyo had introduced her to her 
mother.

	Thoughts of Tomoyo began to seep into Sakura's mind as she began 
to wonder if she would ever be able to speak with the girl again. Trying 
to shake away the thought of losing her best friend Sakura refocused her 
attention on dealing with Karin, and promptly came to the conclusion 
that she would much rather be training with the school track team.

	With more than a little apprehension Sakura resumed her journey, 
forcing one foot to move after the other. Suddenly she stopped.
 
	A familiar sensation formed on the edge of her senses, she could 
feel a powerful magical essence nearby. A Clow Card. Sakura found 
herself relieved by this new distraction, anything was better than 
having to deal with Karin Kanzuki.

	She spent a brief moment to pinpoint the location of the card and 
concluded that it wasn't too far away. Thankful to have a reason not to 
continue towards the Kanzuki mansion Sakura rushed off anticipating her 
next capture.
	
	Rei Kasawara stepped out of a local grocery store carrying several 
bags of purchased foodstuffs. Her mood was bright and cheerful, not 
unlike the Spring weather that had descended upon Tokyo this day. As she 
began her trek back home she caught an image out of the corner of her 
eye. Turning to see what it was she witnessed Sakura running down the 
street at a brisk pace. It may have been her imagination but she 
appeared to be in a great hurry. Despite her rather cumbersome burden 
Rei took it upon herself to discover what Sakura was in such a rush to 
do and chased after the Street Fighter.

	Sakura ceased her running as she soon found herself surrounded by 
run down buildings and unkempt sidewalks. She wasn't sure where she was 
exactly, the neighborhood she now found herself in reminded her a little 
bit of the district the Dodon gym was located in, except this place 
seemed even seedier. As she looked around she noticed that the street 
was also completely empty, not a single person could be seen. It 
occurred to Sakura that this place would be perfect for Street Fighting 
territory.

	"Sakura!!!"

	Hearing her name Sakura spun around and quickly dropped into a 
defensive stance poised to counter any attack that might be thrown at 
her. But instead of an attacker Sakura found herself facing a very worn 
out looking Rei Kasawara, who seemed to be struggling to hold up a 
rather large assortment of grocery bags.

	"Rei, it's, um, good to see you." Sakura said rather dumbly, Rei's 
sudden appearance had caught her off guard "uh.. so what are you doing 
here?"

	Rei was breathing heavily, she was even more worn out than Sakura 
had thought. Between breaths Rei managed to spurt, "Sakura... saw you, 
running... chasing, you... nine blocks... groceries, heavy. Need to, 
sit... down." As she finished her last sentence she unceremoniously 
plopped her groceries onto the ground and fell to her knees.

	After letting Rei catch her breath for a while Sakura quickly 
explained how she had sensed a Clow Card and set off to seal it. She 
purposefully left out any mention of her impending visit to the Kanzuki 
mansion. "The fewer people that know, the better." she reasoned.

	Finally Rei regained her composure and stood up, with a new vigor 
she asked for the location of the Clow Card.

	"It should be really close," Sakura explained, "But..." she left 
the thought unfinished.

	"'But' what?" Rei asked, detecting a bit of hesitancy in Sakura's 
voice.

	"I wasn't sure at first, but now that I'm closer, I think it's..." 
she paused.

	"You know what card it is?" Rei guessed.

	Sakura shook her head, "I don't know for sure which card it is. 
But I can tell it's a very powerful one, the aura's really strong."

	For a moment Rei seemed concerned, almost worried but she shook 
away the feeling, "Well I don't care how strong the card is, I know you 
can capture it!"

	Sakura looked over at Rei appreciatively, "Thanks for the 
support." She turned back down the empty street, "Now let's find that 
card!"

	She began to walk down the length of the street, looking for signs 
of anyone who might posses the card, but the street was completely 
empty. After walking the length of about two houses she saw what 
appeared to be the figure of a man standing right in the middle of the 
road not too far from her. She blinked her eyes in surprise, she was 
certain he wasn't standing there a second ago.

	Cautiously she took several steps toward the stranger. His arms 
were crossed in front of his chest and his back was to Sakura so she was 
unable to see his face, but she was absolutely certain that this 
individual possessed the Clow Card. He was nude from the waist up and 
appeared to have some sort of purple tattoo that snaked around his upper 
body. His pants were purple with yellow colouring on the inside of his 
thighs and around his waist he wore a red sash. His hair blond and done 
in long braid that fell down his back to waist length.

	Sakura grit her teeth and prepared herself for anything this 
stranger might throw her way. Reaching for the Key she wore on her neck 
Sakura initiated the chant.

	"Key which hides
	the powers of the Dark...
	reveal your true form
	before me!
	I, Sakura,
	command you
	under our contract...
	RELEASE!"

	In a flash of light the key extended to it's full length and 
hovered in the air as Sakura grasped it. She began to walk towards the 
man hoping she could remove the card with out him noticing.

	At this point the mysterious figure turned around to face Sakura. 
She let out a gasp under her breath as she saw that the man wore a mask 
which covered the features of his face. This however did not concern her 
nearly as much as the other thing she became painfully aware of. 
Attached to the man's right arm was a cat claw, three long blades that 
extended out from the man's forearm.

	Before she was given the opportunity to fully analyze her 
opponent's weapon Sakura saw the man take off in a mad dash straight 
towards her. Instinctively she held out the staff to block the oncoming 
assault. With a quick jab her attacker caught the staff between two of 
his claws and with a twist to loosen Sakura's grip on the staff, he 
threw in into the air. The event's transpired so quickly that Sakura 
barely had time to register what happened before she found herself on 
the receiving end of two powerful kicks to her midsection.  Staggering 
backwards she put up her guard to block anymore attacks to her torso, 
she was however completely unprepared when her attacker dropped to the 
ground and knocked her clean off her feet with a sweeping kick.

	A second later Sakura found herself on her back looking skyward. 
Against the backdrop of the clear blue sky she watched as her staff made 
it's journey back towards the earth. She followed it's movements until 
it fell out of her line of sight somewhere behind her. Groggily she 
pulled herself to her feet and reassessed the situation. She saw the 
masked man standing back in his original position, as if he hadn't moved 
at all. Sakura bit her lip, "who ever this guy is he's a real pro, and 
that claw doesn't exactly tilt the odds in my favour." Looking over her 
shoulder she saw Rei with a look of anxiety on her face, Rei's martial 
arts skills were on par with her own and Sakura could tell she realized 
exactly how bad the situation was.

	Searching the ground Sakura was unable to see where the staff had 
landed. Worriedly she asked Rei, "where did the staff come down?" With 
an unsteady hand Rei pointed to an old street light that was long since 
broken. Following her friends gesture Sakura saw, with no small degree 
of amazement, the staff, teetering precariously atop the iron structure. 
"Did he do that on purpose? Or did he just get lucky?" She shook her 
head and turned her attention back to her masked assailant who seemed to 
be admiring the craftsmanship of his weapon.

	Sizing up her opponent it occurred to Sakura that she had made a 
grave mistake. She hadn't tracked down the man, he had been using the 
card as bait to lure her into a trap! Gritting her teeth Sakura new she 
would have to fight her way out of this situation.

	Not wishing to invite another attack Sakura rushed the man at top 
speed. Three yards from her target she leapt into the air and thrust her 
foot out trying to plant it on the man's masked face. She was inches 
from connecting with her target when, to her amazement the man casually 
sidestepped out of the way. With nothing to connect with Sakura pulled 
out of her kick and landed already starting her next attack. She 
delivered a series of punches and kicks towards her attacker but he was 
able to dodge each one without any visible effort. Sakura noticed his 
footwork in particular was exquisite, he always remained on balance and 
ready to move at any time. Attempting to knock him off balance Sakura 
dedicated a few kicks to trying to destroy his footing, but she found 
she still could not land any sort of blow. Out of frustration she curled 
her fingers and threw a fist at the masked man's head. Before she made 
contact however the man grasped her arm with both of his hands and threw 
himself backwards. This added to the momentum Sakura already had and 
succeeded in hurtling her through the air.

	Upon landing Sakura became fed up with the entire situation. This 
masked assailant, whoever he was, appeared to be way out of her league. 
Pulling herself to her feet Sakura committed herself to ending this 
fight as quickly as possible. Her eyes wandered to the lamp post where 
the staff had landed on and saw Rei climbing up the side of it. Reaching 
above her she grasped the staff in her fingers and held it above her 
head. "Sakura! Catch!" Rei motioned to throw the staff to its master.

	"Wait just one second Rei," Sakura replied. Rei seemed confused by 
this choice of actions but understood perfectly when she saw her friend 
cup her hands and take up the famous Shinku-Hadoken stance.

	Sakura focused energy into the palms of her hands and a ball of 
blue chi began to form. Lately she had been concerned about overcharging 
her Hadokens with magical energy, but she felt this situation called for 
extreme measures. She opened the flood gates that held her magical 
powers within her spirit and channeled as much as she could into her 
Hadoken. Confident that she had more than enough energy for her attack 
she let the ball fly with the trademark shout. 

	"HADOOOO-KEN!!!" The ball shot forth with incredible speed on a 
collision course with the masked assailant. Sakura let herself enjoy a 
smile as the Hadoken barreled down on it's target, but the smile quickly 
disappeared when she saw what happened next.

	Halfway between Sakura and the man the pavement of the road split 
apart and a large jagged rock thrust itself into the air. Unable to 
alter it's course the Hadoken plowed into it and exploded in a shower of 
dust and smoke.

	Sakura stood dumbfounded. The Card! She had been so worried about 
the attacker's fighting skills that she completely forgot he was 
possessing a card.

	Not just any card though, Sakura thought with a grim realization. 
The air was charged with a magical electricity that only a few cards in 
the deck of Clow Reed could produce. After witnessing the events that 
had just transpired there was no doubt in her mind that she was facing 
off against the EARTHY card.

	"Sakura!"

	Hearing her name she turned to see Rei run towards her with the 
keystaff. "Sakura are you alright?" she asked, concerned.

	"I'll be fine," Sakura muttered. That Hadoken had take a lot out 
of her and she had no idea how much fight was left in her attacker. Rei 
held out the staff in an offering gesture and Sakura gladly took it.

	"How bad is it?"

	"Real bad. Whoever this guy is he's really good, and he's using 
EARTHY, one of the strongest cards." Sakura reached for her deck of 
cards and drew them from her pocket. "But I think I've got it covered."

	Sorting through the deck Sakura finally located the card she 
sought and prepared to summon it. "Surround me with Images! ILLUSION!" 
As she brought the beak of the staff down on the card copies of Sakura 
appeared all around her.  "Let's see him hit me now."

	Fixing her eyes on the spot where her Hadoken had been intercepted 
Sakura tried to make out the figure of the man through the smoke and 
dust. Soon enough she could clearly make out her attacker, standing 
exactly has he had been before she threw her Hadoken.

	The Masked man held out his left hand and Sakura watched in awe as 
a dozen  rocks about 60 cm in diameter exploded through the pavement of 
the street then hovered in the air. A subtle gesture of his hand sent 
them flying towards Sakura and her copies.

	She tried to dodge the oncoming assault but she was worn down and 
unable to move fast enough. One of the stones caught her in the chest 
and she could feel the keystaff slip through her fingers as she was 
carried backwards by the stone's momentum.

	 It was several minutes before Sakura was able to pull herself to 
her feet. Her chest hurt badly and she felt bruises beginning to form 
all over her body. Still she fought against the fatigue and weariness to 
remain on her feet. It took a while before her vision came back into 
focus, and when it did it gave Sakura a shocking sight.

	Rei was fighting valiantly against the masked stranger, she had 
probably jumped into the fray to protect Sakura. Unfortunately she was 
loosing badly. Sakura could see several bad cuts all over her body. A 
thrusting kick sent Rei flying several meters across the street and when 
she landed she wasn't moving. Holding out his left hand the man summoned 
a boulder, large enough to completely flatten Rei. He meticulously 
guided the rock through the air until it was directly above Rei, who by 
this point, had regained her senses enough to realize what was 
happening.

	"That tears it!" Sakura spat. "No one is gonna hurt my friends!!" 
All the pent up frustration this masked assailant had given her sparked 
into a flurry of anger. She cupped her hands once again and let fly 
another Hadoken.

	The bright blue ball of energy hurtled through the air impacting 
on the boulder and shattering it into millions of tiny pieces. Rei held 
up her arm to shield her face from the shrapnel.

	The man turned to face Sakura, his relaxed stance giving the 
impression that he wasn't in any danger of being attacked. It infuriated 
Sakura to be belittled this way, she was the master of the Clow cards, a 
powerful martial artist, she wasn't going to be pushed around by some 
punk wearing a mask.

	As she stared at the expressionless mask he wore Sakura felt her 
anger swell inside of her. She wouldn't let this freak push her around 
anymore. With a savage yell she took off heading straight for the masked 
man.

	Had she been less focused on her attack Sakura might have noticed 
that, as she charged towards her opponent her feet were not touching the 
ground. By this point however Sakura was too angry to care. As she 
closed in on her target Sakura crossed her arms and leapt head first 
toward the masked man. Then in an action dictated by pure instinct she 
began to twist her torso in a movement that sent her entire body into a 
spiral. As she spun a sizzling aura began to form around her and 
surrounded her in an impenetrable shell.

	The masked assailant seemed only mildly surprised by this turn of 
events, it was almost as if he was expecting this to happen, or perhaps 
he had seen a similar attack performed so many times it was simply 
commonplace to him. Regardless of how he perceived Sakura's attack he 
was unable to move quickly enough to dodge it and Sakura plowed into him 
head first with enough momentum to knock him off his feet and send him 
flying down the length of the street. He came to a landing about 3 
houses down from where he took off and for the first time since the 
fight began he showed signs of fatigue.

	Sakura looked on at the wounded man as he brought himself to his 
feet. "That was for hurting Rei!!" She screamed in a fit of rage. Then 
she immediately dropped back into her Shinku-Hadoken stance and began to 
conjure yet another Hadoken. She was surprised how much energy she had 
left inside of her, she would have thought almost all of her power had 
been depleted from the fighting, but there still seemed to be plenty 
left to draw from. She merrily charged her Hadoken with her spiritual 
life force as well as her magical energy picturing how much it would 
hurt when it hit it's target.

	As she was channeling energy Sakura realized that her magical 
powers really were quite depleted, as she had thought earlier. But she 
could still feel something else, there was another source present inside 
of her, one she hadn't noticed before. She wasn't sure exactly what it 
was but it felt powerful, raw and unbridled. After only a split second 
of hesitation she reached out to it and channeled it into her Hadoken 
with impressive results. The Hadoken she held between her palms more 
that tripled in size and she was barely able to contain it any longer.

	Sakura set her eyes upon her attacker and in an unnaturally cold 
tone she whispered. "And this is for me." Then she released her Hadoken 
and watched with what can only be described as glee as her creation shot 
towards the man who possessed the EARTHY card. In less time than it 
takes to bat an eyelash the Hadoken had covered the distance between the 
two combatants and exploded with a satisfying amount of noise and black 
smoke.

	Examining her handiwork Sakura felt a strange sense of pride, 
whoever that freak was he certainly wouldn't be bothering her again. 
Sakura fought to suppress a giggle as she pictured the expression behind 
the mask when the man saw the Hadoken coming straight for him. For some 
strange reason Sakura was downright giddy at the thought.

	Rei however was not quite as joyful about Sakura's victory, in 
fact she felt a little frightened at how easily her friend dispatched of 
the man. Her uneasiness more than doubled when she saw the masked man 
appear behind Sakura, coming out of the cement as if he were exiting a 
swimming pool. "Sakura!!! Look behind you!!"

	Following Rei's instruction's Sakura turned around and watched as 
the masked man delivered three roundhouse kicks to her face before she 
blacked out.

					* * * * *

	Once more a heroic youth rode through the depths of the perilous 
forest that had only a short time ago been the means of his demise. But 
that was in the past and this time he wasn't going to be ambushed by 
some giant spider.

	The ringing of a telephone pulled Kero out of the forest and set 
him back in front of the controller in Sakura's bedroom. After hearing a 
second ring a grumbling Kero got up and went to answer the phone

	Neither of Sakura's parent's were home at the moment and Kero had 
a pretty good feeling that the party on the other end of the phone line 
would turn out to be Sakura, most likely asking him about something Clow 
Card related.

	After picking up the receiver with both hands and setting it on 
the counter Kero cleared his throat and spoke into the bottom part of 
the phone.

	"Kasugano residence. May I ask who's calling?" Pause. "Rei? Calm 
down, you're talking too fast." Pause. "What? A Clow Card? Which card 
was it?" Pause. "Oh, this isn't good, EARTHY is one of the four 
elemental cards and they're some of the most powerful cards in the 
entire deck." Pause. " What about the guy possessing it." Pause. "He 
wore a mask and fought with a cat claw? Hmm, Now why does that sound 
familiar?" Pause. "What do you mean it gets worse? Is Sakura Okay?" 
Pause. "You mean he just knocked her unconscious and then left? That's 
strange, why would he go to all that trouble to knock her out and then 
just leave?" Pause. "Is there anything else?" Pause. "Acting strangely? 
What was she doing that was so strange?" Pause "SHE DID WHAT!?!" Pause. 
"HAPPY! WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE LOOKED HAPPY!!" Pause. "That doesn't sound 
good at all." Pause. "Look when Sakura comes to have her come home right 
away." Pause. "Thanks a million Rei."

	Kero hung up the phone and folded his arms across his chest. There 
was only one thing he could think of to explain Sakura's strange 
behavior, and it wasn't a scenario he particularly wished to think 
about. And that mysterious attacker. Who was he? It seemed he knew 
something about the Clow Cards, and there was something about the 
description Rei gave... A man wearing a mask, fighting with cat claws... 
He knew he had heard of someone like that before. But where? If he would 
just take a moment to pause and think about it he was sure the answer 
would...

	PAUSE? He forgot to pause his game before he answered the phone! 
In a mad dash Kero ran back to Sakura's room to discover a rather full 
looking spider climb back up into the treetops while the screen faded 
out to be replaced with the two words Kero hated most.

	GAME OVER.

					* * * * *

	Fog. It was the only thing Sakura could make out. Thick layers of 
fog obscured everything around her to the point where she couldn't see 
anything at all.

	"Hello?" she called out hoping someone would answer. She was more 
than a little surprised when the answer she received came in the form of 
a deep-throated belly-laugh. "Who's there?" she demanded. Turning to 
face the source of the voice Sakura could barely make out a figure 
through the fog.

	She couldn't see his face but the silhouette he produced seemed 
huge. The image gave off the appearance of a hulking man with large 
muscles on his arms and legs. Instinctively Sakura knew she had seen 
this man before. "What do you want?" Sakura demanded.

	"Nothing at the moment. I just thought I'd check up on you and see 
how you're... developing."

	Sakura took a defensive stance. "You'd better not come any closer 
if you know what's good for you."

	There was that laugh again. "Oh but I do know what's 'good' for 
me. In fact you're the *best* thing that's happened to me in years."

	"What are you talking about!?"

	"Don't you see? You belong to me now. Hahahahahah!"

	"Sakura? Sakura wake up."

	Groggily Sakura shook the cloudy image from her head and sat up. 
Opening her eyes she saw Rei looking at her with oceans of concern in 
her eyes.

	Shakily and with support from Rei, Sakura got to her feet. Looking 
around she saw she was on the lawn in front of one of the houses on the 
same street where that masked man ambushed her.

	"Are you okay?" Rei asked with more than a little anxiety in her 
voice. Wearily Sakura nodded an affirmative. "Who was that guy?"

	Sakura thought for a moment, "I have no idea. He's really good 
with a cat claw though." she observed some of the cuts Rei had acquired 
as souvenirs of her fight.

	"Oh don't worry about me. These look much worse than they are."

	Sakura grinned. "You got off lucky. I've heard stories of people 
doing some nasty things with a cat..." She stopped abruptly.

	"Sakura. What's wrong?"

	Sakura swallowed hard. She had suddenly become very pale and was 
barely able to squeak out her next word.

	"Vega."

	"Vega?" Rei repeated quizzically.

	Sakura slowly nodded. "I've heard stories of a masked man from 
Spain who fights cage matches armed with a cat claw like the one that 
man was using."

	"Is he good?"

	"Most of the people who go into the cage with him, don't come out 
alive."

	"Oh." Rei replied meekly.

	A look of panic overtook Sakura's features as she spun around 
looking around the street. "Where is he!?"

	"He left after he knocked you unconscious." Rei answered.

	"He left?" Sakura couldnÕt believe what she was hearing. "Are you 
sure?" Rei nodded. "That doesn't make any sense at all, why would he go 
to all the trouble of luring me into a trap and then just leave?"

	Rei's eyes began to dart back and forth in a nervous fashion. 
"Well he didn't JUST leave. HeÉ kind ofÉ did a few things before he 
left."

	Sakura gasped. "The cards! He came to steal the cards!"

	"No, no, no. The cards are fine, he never touched them."

	Sakura thought for a moment longer. "Did he make off with the 
key?"

	"No the key's right here." Rei held up the miniature sized key in 
the palm of her hand. Apparently it had returned to its more compact 
form when Sakura had lost consciousness.

	Sakura was at a loss. "Well what did he take?"

	Rei nervously shifted from one foot to the other. "He didn't 
exactly take anythingÉ"

	Sakura was reaching the end of her patience. "Well then what did 
he do!?" she shouted.

	Nervously Rei looked up and down the street as if she were making 
certain they were alone. Then she leaned over and whispered something in 
Sakura's ear.

	"HE DID WHAT!?!!" Sakura shouted aloud. "That pervert!! The next 
time I see him I'm gonnaÉ I can't believe he actuallyÉ of all the nerve! 
I thought he was supposed to be a serial killer not a, aÉ masked Hentai!

	Rei watched as Sakura ranted and considered asking her about the 
'strange behavior' she had exhibited during the fight, but thought it 
would be better to leave the topic alone.

	"Wait a minute!" Sakura stopped in mid rant. Turning to Rei with 
an accusing look she fired off a verbal assault, "Why didn't you stop 
him!? You were there, you could have done something! But instead you 
just sat there and watched himÉ" she shuddered at the imagery.

	Turning her face down towards the ground Rei murmured regretfully. 
"I wanted to do something, I really did. I was just, afraid. I thought 
that if I tried to stop him he mightÉ" she shuddered "he might finish 
what he started with that rock."

	Sakura felt ashamed. How could she have turned on her friend so 
suddenly? "Look Rei, I'm sorry. I'm sure if you would have done 
something if you could have."

	Rei turned to face the battered street fighter. "I was going to 
stop him, really I was. But by the time I had mustered enough courage he 
was already gone." Her face flushed red with embarrassment. "He was, umÉ 
really quick with his hands."

	Several minutes past before Sakura had calmed down enough to 
become coherent again. "The next time I run into that freak I'll make 
him regret ever setting foot in the same COUNTRY as me!" She took a deep 
breath and tried to let out as much anger as she could. "In the mean 
time, I'd better get back home. Kero's gonna wanna hear ALL about this."

	"Actually, I already told him." Rei informed her. "I had to run 
back to the grocery store to find a pay phone but I told him all about 
it." Catching Sakura's deadly glare she added. "No. I didn't mention 
that. I just told him everything else. I figured it was really 
important."

	Sakura digested this new piece of information. "You mean you left 
me unconscious in the middle of the street with a dangerous assassin 
just so you could tell Kero about it!?"

	"Sakura! I would never do that!" Rei said taken aback. "I didn't 
leave until AFTER the assassin."

	Sakura facefaulted.

					* * * * *

	It was a few hours later when Sakura finally arrived home. 
Completely exhausted from the activities of the day she was barely able 
to drag herself up the stairs and into her room. The only thought on her 
mind was sleep.

	Kero however had other ideas.

	"Sakura!" The plushy flew straight up to Sakura's face upon her 
entering the room."

	"Not now Kero," the girl was barely able to mutter.

	"Listen Sakura, I know you're tired but listen. I figured out who 
your attacker is." The plushy spouted.

	"Kero I already... Is that a slide projector?" Sakura said 
pointing to the strange object on her desk.

	Kero happily nodded. "After Rei-chan called I thought I'd do some 
research." In a lighting quick motion Kero flew over to the door, shut 
it, flipped off the lights and turned on the projector.

	"Kero..." Sakura began but was cut off.

	"Listen I've got it ALL figured out so just pay attention okay?" 
Kero took a deep breath and flipped to the first slide.

	"THIS is Vercci. According to legend he was a 16th century weapons 
merchant feared across the seven seas as the 'merchant of death.' He 
spent his entire life collecting all kinds of treasures from all over 
the world. He kept them in a secret location known as..."

	Next slide

	"...The money pit, a deep underground labyrinth filled with 
hundreds of booby traps. Now in order to keep thieves out Vercci sent 
his most loyal servant to remain inside. The man's name was Voldo and he 
spent years in the money pit protecting his master's treasure. For 
decades he waited deep underground, never seeing the light of day. 
People say he first lost his vision, then lost his mind, he became an 
insane blind man who's only goal in life was to protect his master's 
treasure. There are rumors that even after death his corpse still guards 
the treasure."

	"Kero."

	"Besides being a blind crazy guy Voldo was famous for wielding a 
pair of deadly katars BUT, he was also known to use a set of cat claws 
from time to time. He also wore a large gold plated mask on occasion. It 
didn't have any eye holes of course cause he didn't need to see."

	"Kero!"

	"Anyway my theory is that just a few years ago the money pit was 
infiltrated by..."

	Next slide

	"...a ninja! He snuck into the money pit and stole some valuable 
treasures. Voldo, being the obsessive single-minded guy he is, followed 
him back to Japan to retrieve them."

	"Kero!!"

	"So this ninja, let's call him Steve, decides to sell his stolen 
treasure on the black market in an attempt to gain enough money to 
purchase..."

	Next slide

	"... An exact scale-replica of the ZGMF-X10A Freedom: General 
Unilateral Neuro-link Dispersive Autonomic Maneuver unit (as seen on 
Gundam SEED.)"

	(Warning: This product may not be exactly as seen on television 
and may or may not actually operate under the circumstances displayed on 
this or any other program. This product constitutes a severe choking 
hazard and should not be used without adult supervision. The makers of 
this product are not responsible for any property damage caused by any 
person or persons operating this equipment during a Kaijuu battle with 
any other giant fighting robots and/or giant radioactive lizards.
Weapons and equipment each sold separately, batteries not included, some 
assembly required.)

	"Kero!!!"

	"Now while Steve is busy saving up for his new toy Voldo tracks 
him to Tokyo but stumbles upon a secret government conspiracy to 
covertly acquire the Clow Cards and use them to locate..."

	Next slide

	"...The Ark of the Covenant!! Naturally Voldo concocts a plan to 
steal the cards for himself so he can obtain the Ark and bring it back 
to the money pit to appease his long dead master."

	"And THAT, my dear Sakura, is why he attacked you. However once he 
learned that you didn't yet posses ALL the Clow Cards he left you alone 
so you'd capture the rest, then he could return later and take them all 
at once." Kero finished.

	"So am I right or am I right?" He gloated.

	Sakura's response to this question was a roundhouse kick which 
connected firmly with the Guardian of the Cards. The force of impact 
knocked the living plushy clean across the room and into a wall.

	"Like I was trying to say. I already know who attacked me." Sakura 
stated. "Though I don't know why." She added grimly. "Or why he would 
suddenly leave when he had the chance to..." she decided against 
finishing that thought."

	As he slid down the length of the wall to the floor Kero noted 
that:
	1. He had been unsuccessful in lightening Sakura's mood, and
	2. Sakura's roundhouse kicks were definitely improving.

	Sakura walked over to the slide projector and turned it off. She 
then walked over to the bed and gladly collapsed on top of it. Kero 
struggled to his feet and hovered over Sakura.

	"Are you okay? Rei said he beat you up pretty bad."

	Sakura nodded, "I'll be fine. I'm just a little shaken up."

	"Is that all?"

	"Well there is one other thing," she admitted.

	"Oh?"

	"It's nothing major. I just have this funny feeling that there was 
something I forgot to do today."

					* * * * *

	Meanwhile inside the Kanzuki mansion:

	"I can't believe that little bitch didn't show up! I spent all day 
waiting for that useless turd to come here so I could finally beat the 
snot out of her and she has the gall to stand me up!!! The next time I 
see that little worm I'm gonna rearrange her internal organs!! She won't 
know what hit her! I, the great Karin Kanzuki swear I will have my 
revenge!!! Even if it's the last thing I do!!!"



	Leave it to Kero-Chan!

	A mysterious figure in a dark blue trench coat walks onstage. He 
has an air of mystery about him and stranger still, he has no face.

	"Greetings and salutations to all. Please allow me to introduce 
myself. Some of you may know me as 'The Question' from the popular 
television show 'Justice League Unlimited.'

	It has recently been brought to my attention that one Kero Beros, 
known to some as Cerebrus, has recently acquired several copies of some 
very sensitive data that I have been investigating. This data is of a 
very confidential nature divulging the truth behind an insidious plot 
involving American boy bands, the assassination of Jonathan Fitzgerald 
Kennedy, the girl guides and dental floss.

	Unfortunately before I could act the party in question posted 
parts of said classified information into Part 30 of the Improfanfic 
Blossoms in the Spring. This leak of information could set off a chain 
reaction resulting in the end of the world as we know it.

	Therefore until such a time as all copies of this data is 
retrieved and/or destroyed, 'Leave it to Kero-Chan' will on an extended 
hiatus."

	"Oh no you don't!" Kero comes flying on set carrying a baseball 
bat and proceeds to strike The Question with said object. "I've had 
enough layabouts trying to take over my segment for one lifetime!" 
WHAP!!! "So listen up everyone! The next person who tries to commandeer 
'Leave it to Kero-Chan' in any way, shape or form will have to deal with 
me and my brand new personal bodyguard, Voldo!"

	"Hissssssss"

	"Now why don't you give Mr. Question here a demonstration of your 
talents."

	"Hger-hurk-urk"

	The Question grabs the camera and holds it up for a close-up of 
his face. Er, wait a minute...

	"Listen to me! The little plastic tips at the end of shoelaces are 
called aglets. Their true purpose is sinister!!"

	"Kur-snarl!!"

	"Aghhh!" *GLITCH!!!*

	"Thata boy Voldo! Show him what a blind, mute, mentally 
handicapped, sadistic psychopath can do."

	"Gnarnsssssskk...."

	Suddenly the image disappears and is replaced by a message.

	"Please bare with us as we sort out a few technical difficulties."
		-Thank You,
			The Management



	Author's Notes

	This piece marks my first submission to Improfanfic, hopefully it 
will not be my last. I'd like to thank JonB for all his pre-reading, 
Ardweden for being such a considerate administrator and all the people 
on the message board who encouraged my to submit this piece in the late 
stages of this project.

	I would also like to thank Voldo for taking time out of his busy 
schedule to make an appearance. We all know how busy you are working on 
Soul Caliber 3.

	 Vega; an enigma wrapped in a mystery coated in a sugary taffy. 
What are his intentions? What motivates his attack on Sakura? Is he the 
victim of a vengeful Clow Card out to seek retribution against its 
former master? Or perhaps his appearance today is a foreshadowing of 
events to come. Perhaps this heralds the return of the mighty MOFF 
BISON!!!!

	 . . . Uh, I mean M. Bison. Drat! I've been watching too much "Super 
Console Wars." Thanks for ruining a perfectly good dramatic moment Nate!

	Regarding the Vega/Sakura post fight scene; I would like to take 
this opportunity to accept full responsibility for creating what may 
become a controversial display. But I'm a coward, so instead I'm going 
to do some good old fashioned scape-goating. It was all JonB's idea!!