Project A-Ko Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Vampire Hunter (Darkstalkers) Fan Fiction ❯ Nabiki 1/2 (A Very Scary Thought) ❯ Lao versus Nabiki (Round Three)... ( Chapter 67 )

Nabiki 1/2

(A Very Scary Thought)

Written by Jim Robert Bader

Proofread by Shiva Barnwell

Based Upon the Altered Destinies Storyline

Inspired by the works of such fans as

Wade Tritshler

Richard Lawson

James Jones

And Many Others

Standard Disclaimer: This is inspired by the work of Takahashi Rumiko and is not my original creation. All characters belong to her. This is only a fanfictional work, and is not intended to compromise the rights of the original owners, distributors and publishers of the Ranma series. I have no money to spare and would very much appreciate if no one tries to sue me.

<"Now what the heck is going on?"> demanded a frustrated Blossom.

<"How should I know?"> replied Lotus, <"Do I look like an Elder?">

The sky was no longer shooting electric sparks, but there was a fog rolling in around them much more ominously than the shroud that they normally used to disguise their ships movements. Having successfully evaded the Chinese Navy and patrol boats, they were looking to pull into port within a number of hours, only to find their compass direction askew as though the energy fields surrounding their ship were being baffled for some reason. It was getting harder to compensate, and there was even some danger that they could run aground on a reef without their normal means of underwater detection.

<"Someone must be tampering with the Dragon Orb,"> Blossom decided, <"We had better trim sail and reduce our speed until our lady has had time to sort out affairs and restore us to our normal condition.">

<"A good idea,"> Lotus picked up a conch shell and brought it to her lips, <"I'll tell the rowers to slack off a bit. They could use a break after that race against the Chinese ships…">

<"A break?"> Blossom frowned, <"They're dead! They've been rowing for centuries! I really don't think they'd even notice if they stopped rowing altogether. It's not as if the damned pay much attention to the degree of their torment.">

<"How can you be sure of that?"> Lotus asked her, <"Have you ever spent time with the Galley Slaves? I have, and for a bunch of Zombies they seem pretty coherent to me. I think they deserve a break after helping us outrun our pursuers.">

Blossom refrained from arguing with her friend, although in truth, her comment disturbed the ex-Amazon more than she would have liked to have admitted. She knew the history of their vessel well enough, knew what Han Bolo had done to ensnare a permanent crew of galley serfs using former Chinese convicts and was pretty well aware that many a former Captain and crewperson had long since replaced those original rowers. She had always hoped it was a mindless state their souls were trapped in, if souls they had, as she did not like to contemplate what it might be like if she or Lotus should ever wind up chained among their number. It was not quite eternal damnation, but close enough to the real thing that she had to hope that there was an easy escape provision as it was pretty clear that that was where they would all wind up if they fell prey to the ship's curse at some unlucky venture.

People who died on board the POJ were trapped up in the magic of the Dragon Orb and forced into one of three possible destinations: either they were judged light of heart and soul and were released to the Hereafter or whatever heaven they were destined for, or they were found to be earthly carnal beings and restored to life as Undine Warriors to serve the will of the Ships Master. The third possibility was saved only for those whose hearts were dark and weighted with earthly torments. They joined the prisoners of the Galley and served for as long as the ship had a use for their energies. Theoretically they would earn their freedom when they were purged of their grief, remorse or whatever weighted down their conscience, after which it was assumed that they would move on to their natural destination, upstairs or downstairs. It seemed just as likely that there were only a fixed number of spaces for the Galley to hold at one time, so if a new rower were added another would vanish to make room for the new addition.

Whatever the case might be, these rowers were tireless and very powerful, able to row at speeds that human rowers could not sustain for indefinite periods, and Blossom could only marvel at their energy and wonder what a terrible fate it was to be trapped in such a state. She could not honestly imagine hating anyone enough to wish him or her trapped there, not even the Musk. It simply seemed too horrible to contemplate, yet another of the ships odd quirks that it was best not to speculate into for fear of weighting down her conscience.

Their pace did noticeably slacken after Lotus got through blowing on the magic conch. Blossom knew it had something to do with the tone and pitch of the thing, the number of times you blew counting as the speed of the rowing beat, or something like that. It was Lotus's task to maintain such matters and Blossom was more than content to leave it to her able friend's competent handling. Her own list of duties was enough that she need not be too concerned with how Lotus did her job, only that she did it properly and kept their ship on course to their chosen destination.

<"Does it seem to you as if things have maybe gotten too quiet of a sudden?"> Lotus asked after the silence of several tense moments had elapsed.

Blossom thought about it before she replied, <"Now that you mention it, it does seem…rather odd. You don't suppose our lady has finished recapturing our guests already?">

<"If she had she would have informed us,"> Lotus ominously replied, <"And I don't mind telling you, that's what has me very worried…">

"So," Lao smiled as she took a step in Nabiki's direction, "It's come down to this, has it? Third time is the charm, they say. You've managed to do well the first two rounds of this fight, now we come--as they also say--to the clincher."

"Whatever turns you on, Lao," Nabiki replied as she held her position, her posture relaxed and her guard up and at the ready.

"I must say," Lao remarked as she gracefully stalked her way past the interval between them, "I am favorably impressed with you, Tendo-san. No one has ever given me quite the workout that you have, and with such persistence. I believe you may almost be as good as I was when I was your age. You have genuine potential."

"Am I supposed to feel flattered?" Nabiki replied, "You'll have to try harder."

Lao's smile was as tigerish as when she was in her cursed form, "So, you think to challenge the Big Bad Pirate Lady in the center of my power. You forget that my will is absolute here. The Orb responds to my thoughts alone, and reality here is mine to play with as it suits me."

Nabiki was aware of something snaking out at her from below and reacted just barely in time to avoid being accosted by a pair of ankle-chains that attempted to snap around her legs before she could get airborne. They continued snapping at her like a pair of spitting cobras as she backed away, trying to keep her attention focused upon Lao, who was continuing to advance during this distraction.

"I must say, you are being stubborn," Lao remarked, "We barely have had time to get to know each other and you're already trying to avoid me. It's not like I want to hurt you…much," she grinned at the last part, "If anything I want to be your friend, if you'd only let me…"

"No thanks," Nabiki replied, "I have enough friends already."

She yanked her arms back just as another pair of chains attempted to ensnare her wrists, then dodged as tendrils shaped like ropes tried to wrap their way around her from behind. Nabiki regained her defensive posture and kept Lao squarely in her focus, though now her senses were extended in all directions, knowing that the real attack would be subtle, less overt. Lao was trying to goad her into becoming careless, so Nabiki had to turn that strategy around and make sure it was Lao who became too cocky.

"Oh," Lao said in a mildly mocking voice, "Now you are hurting my feelings, and after all the trouble I've gone to being nice on account that you're all friends of my dear Kei-chan. You really do me a great disservice if you think that I'm some kind of a monster just because I like to indulge in games of this nature."

"No," Nabiki replied, "I just know that you're some kind of a monster."

"Oh really?" Lao inclined her head as she studied Nabiki, who was easing away from her the more Nabiki started to advance, "And what, prey tell, have I ever done to you that would warrant that comment? Just what is it about me that you find so awful? That I'm a Pirate and a Slaver, that I have a curse that turns me into your second-worst nightmare?"

"Try the fact that you're a murdering beast without a shred of remorse or compassion," Nabiki replied as coolly as though she were discussing the weather.

"Murderer?" that actually seemed to stop Lao in her tracks for half a second and she stared at Nabiki in genuine confusion before saying, "Oh…wait a second. You found the Bone Pit, didn't you?"

"I saw the remains of your former victims, yes," Nabiki continued to back away, keeping Lao at an even distance.

Lao shook her head so that her cyan blue hair moved in wavy lines, "Sorry to disillusion you, but most of those were not mine. There have been a lot of people who have died on this ship in the past six hundred years, Tendo-san. I'm only the current tenant and I've only killed a very few people, and most of those were in my cursed state as a man-eating Tigress."

"Nice try," Nabiki replied, "I saw the tooth marks on some of the carcasses."

"One would be my immediate predecessor," Lao replied, "The former Captain of this vessel. As I informed you before, I won the POJ in a card game, but I failed to mention that he was a pretty sore loser. Not at losing Mastery of the Ship, of course, since that was what he truly wanted. He was angry because the curse still held him to the ship, so in a rage he attacked me, and I was forced to do what I could in self defense. After which--as is too often the case--my cursed form's tigerish instincts took over and I consumed his edible parts. I quite assure you I was sick for three days afterwards as he was not really all that tasty, and despite what you think I am not a cannibal by nature."

"I don't really believe you," Nabiki replied, "But that hardly matters anyway since you have murdered people, including your late husband."

This time Lao's temper flared, "He had it coming! It was not something I wanted to do or even intended on doing, but the fool cursed me with water that was tainted with the bloodlust of the animal that had drowned in that spring, so when he sought to take advantage of me he made a fatal error. I am not happy or even proud of what I did, but it was necessary for me to earn my freedom. I don't like killing, Tendo-san, and for the same reason you don't like it either: it is an admission of weakness. You believe, as I do, that there are always alternatives to killing, and failure to find them means conceding to the beast within us."

"Assuming I were to believe what you say," Nabiki continued to move in counter-flow to Lao's steady advance, "The basic fact is that you are a glorified opportunist taking advantage of those too weak to defend themselves, using means against which they have no adequate defense. Keiko is a case in point, an innocent girl brutalized by circumstances that you took under your wing in order to make her into your personal pet human."

"And why should I feel bad about that?" Lao asked her, "Is being a Slaver worse than being some corporate tycoon or politician from the world that you come from? They exploit people every day and use them in a more dehumanizing and brutal sense than anything that I practice. I merely liberate the inner woman, who has been brutalized and put down by denial of her essential humanity. I free them of the constraints society imposes upon their sexual identity. I don't make them into slaves, Tendo-san, I simply find the slave that is already within them and give them permission to be slaves in mind and body."

"Cheap rationalization," Nabiki replied, backing away while maintaining her defenses.

"It is a fact you cannot dispute," Lao said emphatically, "Look at you! You are hardly all that free as you are. All your life you have been a slave in one sense or the other. Your own father traded you to another House so that he could gain a son in your place. You traveled as the ward to another man for ten long years learning to be what he molded you into. It is true that you modified the terms of your indenturement, but the fact remains that, when you came back, you were then given in pledge of marriage to the son of your erstwhile teacher and were expected to maintain the traditions of your Anything Goes School by bearing his children like a damned Brood Mare!"

Up above, hanging in his cage, Ranma winced at hearing this description of himself and his father. It was hard to deny that what Lao said made a kind of sense, but he knew that there was a lot more to the story than was being stated. He and Nabiki genuinely cared for one another and did not need some stupid promise over family honor to agree to the engagement. He hoped that Nabiki realized this too, as it was certainly a comment meant to goad her into a careless misstep.

In which case it did not seem to be working as Nabiki maintained an icy calm while continuing to back away from Lao, speaking with an unusual evenness as she replied, "Ranchan knows how I feel about him, and I was never that much in thrall to his father. It's true my father traded me for a son, but I know in his clumsy way he still cares about me. You twist the facts to make it sound as though I never had any choice in the matter, and I assure you I am quite culpable for much that has happened."

"Really?" Lao mused, "Does this mean you wanted to be able to turn into a guy?"

For the first time there was the slightest hesitation in Nabiki's tone before she answered, "Well, that was more a case of my being careless and letting Genma talk me into something. I should have known better."

"So you see?" Lao smiled as she pressed her advantage, "You're not really all that free. In fact, both your fathers prove my point, whether you want to see it or not. Mistaken or no, they believe that they have a natural right to control your destiny. Not because they are older or wiser or even smarter, and not because they are better martial artists, but simply because they are MEN and believe that the thing between their legs give them a natural authority over you and all other women."

"You mean like the Musk?" Nabiki challenged.

"YES!" Lao all but shouted, "Exactly the same! Only the Musk do not put on any pretensions about their belief that all women must ultimately serve their aims. They confine their women to perpetual servitude far worse than anything that I practice! They treated me with more tolerance because I was proud and they wanted me to give a son to one of the Musk Houses. I was fool enough to believe the lies of a man who lied too easily, and in doing so I even defied the wisdom of a much-beloved Elder!"

Lao seemed to be increasingly angry, as could be told from the number of traps and snares that sprang up in Nabiki's path, all of which were avoided with ease as Lao's aim had not been all that well centered. Lao hardly seemed to notice the futility of her attacks as she continued to stalk forward, now almost glowing a faint blue in the dim light while Nabiki retreated, not even manifesting a battle aura.

"Oh, how men lie when they want us to serve them!" she all but ranted, "And what fools we are to believe them for the merest token of their favors! I can still remember when he laughed at me while I hung helpless and vulnerable by chains, listening to him torment me with a list of indignities he claimed to have suffered on my account! As if what he were doing to me wasn't a thousand times worse than if he were scourging me with hot knives, telling me what a fool I was to ever believe in him, and all because I wanted a strong man for a husband!"

She stormed forward as Nabiki hastily retreated back, continuing to rant as she came to within striking range, saying, "Men want us to be their pillow, to comfort and support them when they feel lonely, to warm their beds and bear their children, but when it comes to respecting us they are deaf to our pleas, numb to our entreaties! They hear only what is in their interest and consign to irrelevance those matters they discard as only of interest to a woman…"

"They have their shortcomings," Nabiki said as she dodged a powerful attack Lao launched at her, "And their pride, but they don't deliberately mean to ignore us…"

"Speaking from experience?" Lao asked as she launched a kick that missed by a hairswidth, as did the follow-up kick that came even closer, "You know what it's like to be a man, so of course you could take their side if it pleased you. Damned fence-sitter…why don't you stick to one side and be consistent?"

"Then I'd be no better than you," Nabiki replied as she moved her head just a fraction beyond the next kick that might have sent her into dreamland, "Choosing one side while ignoring the other. Men have their biological agenda, and so do we…"

"Oh yes," Lao laughed bitterly as she swung three rapid punches in succession that nearly blurred into one, though somehow Nabiki managed to avoid even this, "They have to plant their seed in us to fulfill their purpose, while we seek to find a strong provider to care and nurture us during pregnancy. Men are not tied down by sex as we are, not that you'll ever have to worry about pregnancy with your curse, that is."

"I'm not giving up on that just yet," Nabiki replied, when all of a sudden she sensed a new attack and backflipped away, only to find that it was not aimed at her but at Lao instead.

The Pirate Queen reacted just in time to evade the double-row of knives that struck the floor to either side of her, and then the chains that attempted to wrap themselves around her as though someone were turning Lao's own tricks against her. Instead it was a white-clad form that appeared, swinging from one cage to the next as he continue hurtling weapons at the Slaver.

"Lao!" Mousse shouted his outrage, "You will pay for what you have done with my Perfume!"

"Mousse, you idiot!" Nabiki cried out in frustration. This was the last thing she needed, and right when she was moving Lao closer to the center of the spiral…

Lao caught one of the chains and jerked sharply, then back-fisted Mousse when he went sailing towards her, grabbing him by his shirt as she held him at arms length and smiled.

"Back off, Monkey boy," she leered, "Go play with yourself in the corner, I'm busy."

She hurled Mousse to one side like so much yesterday's laundry, then turned back and said, "Now, where were we? Oh yes, I was winning…"

"Mousse may not be much of a man," Nabiki said coldly, "But even he deserved better than that from the likes of you!"

"Sticks and stones," Lao smiled, "I must congratulate you. You really had me going there. I almost lost control over myself, but now I realize that you are trying to trick me. Very clever."

"You think you know what I'm about?" Nabiki felt a faint wisp of hope begin to crumble and regretted what she had just said about Mousse deserving better.

"I should have guessed it at once," Lao nodded towards the area they had just covered, then glanced up to show a swirl of energies above them, "The two boys each mastered at least one Amazon technique, it figures that Cologne would teach you one as well, you being her favorite star pupil. This has all the earmarks of the Dragons Ascension Punch, one of the most powerful techniques of the Amazons and perfect to employ against a superior opponent. You are trying to turn my own advantage against me, but it won't work now that I am onto you. I refuse to be provoked any further, and without my cooperation the Ascension Wave is useless."

"Think so, huh?" Nabiki heaved a deep sigh, then her resolve grew firm, "Very well, I didn't want to have to do this, I really didn't want to have to resort to these drastic means, but you've forced me into it, so…prepared yourself for my ultimate strategy."

"Talking me to death?" Lao folded her arms over her chest and looked smug, "Or is this that thing you do while running?"

"No," Nabiki undid her shirt and made a great production in removing it, then cast it aside to stand fully nude before Madam Lao, striking a Martial pose that showed her body off to full advantage.

"What is this?" Lao frowned in obvious confusion.

"My special attack," Nabiki smiled smugly, "Don't you like it?"

"Flashing me with your body isn't an attack, Tendo-san," Lao said uncertainly, "Although I have to admit that it is novel…"

"You haven't seen the whole thing yet," Nabiki raised her head and half-lidded her eyes then began to move sensuously, very slowly to one side, making undulating motions with her arms while thrusting her chest out and backing away in a suggestive manner.

"What…?" Lao pondered as she found herself leaning forward without having so intended.

"What's the matter?" Nabiki flashed a winning smile as she coyly lifted one shoulder, "Don't you like me this way? Or would you rather I was in guy form?"

Lao took a step forward, hesitated, then took another, "I really don't see what this will accomplish…"

"What is Nab-chan doing?" Ranma hissed from his cage.

"Playing at being an exhibitionist, I think," Hinako replied, similarly puzzled as she stared down from beside him.

"Hush you two," Cologne hissed from one side, "Don't distract her! She must use every ounce of her concentration to get these motions just right."

"What?" Blanka looked down at the ancient woman beside him, "You mean this really is an attack kata? I thought it looked a bit like Capoera…"

"Very similar to the dancing/fighting arts of your people," Cologne replied, "But very different in basic intention."

"Looks to me like a stripper act," Bison noted, "'Course I've never seen an Exotic Dancer with her kind of moves…she could sure wow them in Vegas."

"P-perfume…" said a painful voice from directly beneath Ukyo and Perfume's cage, startling both women from their entranced gaze at Nabiki.

"Mousse?" Ukyo asked, "What are you doing down there?"

"I've come to save Perfume," Mousse said with greater determination, climbing up the chain that they now saw was attached by a grapple to the bars of their cage.

"Like I need rescue from you," Perfume faintly snorted.

"I have the key," Mousse croaked as he held it up, "I took it off Lao before she threw me…"

"Really?" Ukyo fell to her knees and tried to look at him past the bars of the cage, "Would you be so kind as to toss it up to us, pretty please?"

"Don't bother with the act, Daughter-in-law," Cologne replied, "These bars are a mere illusion given form by Lao's will. As such they are only as solid as you believe them to be. You can free yourselves at any time simply by believing that you are strong enough to break them."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Guile asked, seizing the bars to his own cage as he grunted, "We can get free if we just concentrate…"

Keiko and Kodachi exchanged looks, then together they combined their efforts to help Guile in pulling the bars apart with arm and leg power.

"Hear that, fool?" Bison turned to Honda, "These things ain't real, so why don't you and me team up to break 'em?"

"Sounds like a plan to me," Honda agreed as they each took a bar in their hands while bracing themselves against one another.

Cammy eyed Chun-Li then hesitantly said, "Well…if we can work together this one time…"

"I'm all for a truce if you are," Chun-Li noted, grabbing two bars with her hands while Cammy gripped one of the bars with both hands and braced her feet against one another.

Ryoga turned to Akane and said, "I'm going to try something…hold onto me, Akane."

"Of course," Akane agreed as she put her arms around his neck to steady herself, then Ryoga looked at the bars and concentrated, slowly moving his finger forward.

Honda was about to try his own luck when Cologne tapped his arm and said, "Not just yet…wait until the battle further progresses, then we can escape. Right now we are in the safest place that we can be when the moment is upon us."

"What moment?" Honda asked, turning to see that Lao was continuing to stalk Nabiki, who managed incredibly to keep just out of reach of the lady pirate.

Lao was finding it increasingly difficult to resist the invisible pull that was drawing her ever closer to Nabiki. It was not as if she had never seen a pretty girl dance naked for her before, or even that Nabiki's style was superior to the hundreds of dancer she had personally trained for resale to special clients, or even as if her movements were all that lewd or suggestive. It was more like a magnetism from inside Nabiki that were reaching out to her, drawing Lao in with the subtle hint of some magical enchantment. It was powerfully vexing, but the more Lao gazed at the young Japanese girl the stronger she felt the urge to reach out and possess her.

"What are you doing to me?" Lao gasped after she had stalked Nabiki half way around the chamber.

"You have your curse," Nabiki replied, batting her eyelashes, "I have mine. A cute girl like me learns a lot of tricks if she wants to stay one step ahead of the big, nasty slavers and men who drool over women."

"You're comparing me to them?" Lao asked incredulously, all the more incredulous as she found the term aptly described her fascination.

"Not favorably, I assure you," Nabiki jiggled her body in such a way that Lao's eyes were naturally distracted, "A hormone-crazed obsessive is only obeying the lure of his biology, like you say. Men are designed to carry sperm and deliver it so that he can replicate himself into the next generation. Women are the ones who select which man will father their babies. It's always been that way, regardless of society and the rules imposed to make us soft and compliant. Women choose to become mothers--or even fathers in my case--because we seek the fulfillment of our own biological imperative. We want strong, healthy babies, so naturally we seek out strong men who can father them and protect us."

Lao could not resist her urge any longer, she had to reach out and grasp Nabiki as the fever in her loins demanded satisfaction. At the same time her rational mind spoke through her, "We don't need a man for everything…"

"Certainly not," Nabiki replied, "But biology tricks us into believing otherwise, or else we would all live like you, surrounded by the company of our own sex, with whom we have so much in common. We romanticize our urges, but ultimately we want to be nurtured, just as men want us to nurture them back. The trick of biology is that it is meant to insure procreation, not to make us happy."

"I agree," Lao reached out again but Nabiki once more evaded her. In growing frustration Lao began to attack her in earnest, "Stand still!"

"I'm not that easy," Nabiki taunted sweetly, "You want to dominate me, you had better prove yourself worthy. C'mon Lao, let's see if you're really up to a genuine challenge. You want to have me as your latest conquest? You have to prove to me that you're woman enough to take me!"

"I'll do just that," Lao replied as she continued to stalk forward, hardly aware that Nabiki was ever-so-slightly tightening the circle.

Nabiki continued to taunt the lady pirate while avoiding Lao's attempts to grab her. It was almost too easy, playing the mouse to this cat, encouraging Lao's predatory instincts to come to the full while using little tricks and turns of her body to keep her interest level heightened. She was calling upon the inward manifestation of her curse, the masculine perspective it gave her, to play up on those aspects she knew instinctively appealed to both men and women. There was an aspect to her curse that she had long suspected but could never prove, that it contained a powerful charm that affected women when she was in her male form as Kaneda. By utilizing Kaneda while remaining in female shape she was doubling the effect of her charm, and playing upon Lao's obvious fondness for her own sex to create a compelling fantasy lure from which the Pirate Queen could not easily turn aside.

Had Lao truly been paying attention she would have noticed that Nabiki was deliberately suppressing her battle aura, using the energy to fuel the compulsion in her non-cursed form while retaining an icy calm that was deliberate and preternatural. Nabiki was pure Ice Queen on the surface, inside she was a raging fire of boiling passion waiting to explode. All she had to do was continue to shrink the spiral she was walking as Lao created all the effect that was needed for the moment.

Lao seemed to be on fire…the plan was definitely working!

"Run all you can, little rabbit!" Lao cried as she suddenly lurched forward with a burst of speed that was unexpected, and this time Nabiki was not fast enough to avoid her as one hand gripped her by the shoulder with the other drew back for a Leopard's Paw strike that would send her into next new years, "You will pay the price for teasing your Mistress!"

No chance to avoid it, Nabiki instinctively brought her own free hand forward, twisting it as she moved while allowing an icy calm to travel up through her body. At nearly the last instant she saw the recognition in Lao's eyes and knew who had whom by the tail of the tiger.

The punch went home with the force of a hurricane as Nabiki cried out, "HIRYU SHOTEN HA!!!" unleashing a force that was aimed straight at heaven.

The resulting blast was awesome, more intense than the last time that she had used this technique on her Master Happosai at Cologne's instigation. It literally blew Lao up and through the ceiling, tearing the illusion surrounding them to shreds, and--not incidentally--dispersing the cages containing her people.

"WHOAH!" Guile cried as he found himself cast like a leaf in the wind, along with his daughter and Kodachi.

"Sonufa---!" Bison started to howl before he and Honda were blown like straws in a hurricane.

"Hang on, Akane!" Ryoga gasped as he threw his arms around her and was hugged back with equal fierceness. Unseen by anyone, Cammy and Chun-Li did the same thing from sheer instinct.

"Something's wrong!" Ranma cried, instinctively arcing his body to ride with the currents as he and the others were picked up in the maelstrom, "It wasn't this bad the last time…"

"Last time your iinazuke did not have this much power to contend with," Cologne managed to call back as she used her staff to help guide her body, unwittingly resembling a wicked witch on her broomstick as she did so, "She made Lao hot with lust for her body and unwittingly thus drew energy from the ship itself, whose reserves are near limitless."

"I don't like this!" Blanka called out as he rolled himself into a ball and tried to ride out the storm all around them.

Hinako managed to draw a coin and used it to absorb some of the energy swirling around her, thus lessening her drift as she tried to ride with the currents the same as Ranma.

"What are we going to do?" Hinako asked, "There is enough force here to tear the ship apart!"

"I fear you are right," Cologne replied, "In fact it is already too late…the Junk is tearing itself apart like some badly constructed paper mache model."

Sure enough they could hear the groans and creaks of ages-old wood being strained beyond its tolerance. They could even hear the sounds of screams as voices cried out in dismay at the ensuing havoc.

"The children!" Hinako cried, and without thinking dove into the winds and seemed to vanish.

"Hinako-san!" Blanka called out and arced his body, managing somehow to drift in the same direction before he, too, vanished from sight.

"Charlie!" Guile cried out, twisting his body as he also cried, "Keiko! Where are you!"

"Father!" Keiko called out, just before everyone found a shiny blue surface come rushing up at them with great force as one-by-one they fell out of the cyclone and landed in the ocean.

It took many long agonizing moments before Ranma broke the surface, looking around at a scene of total devastation. Everywhere he looked there was debris strewn across the ocean with more bits dropping down out of the sky like meteors from the heavens.

"Nabiki!" he cried out, looking around wildly for any possible survivors.

He found them right enough, heads bobbing up from the water as more and more people broke the surface until the ocean was not only strewn with the wreckage of the ship but virtually the entire human crew as well. With very little effort he began to locate familiar faces.

"Akane?" Ranma saw her face as she was still clinging to Ryoga, who was padding with one hand towards a wooden beam. Ranma swam to catch up with them, then helped Ryoga heave Akane up onto the thick, buoyant object.

They began to search for other survivors and found them on a larger section of the ship that still remained afloat. Ukyo was holding Perfume-the-cat with one hand while the monkey that was Mousse clung nearby, looking thoroughly wet and miserable without his glasses. As they watched, a vulture broke the surface of the water clutching a ferret in her claws, and these, too, sought out the sanctuary of the floating section. The menagerie nearly accounted for, they next turned to the obvious question.

"Where's Nabiki?" Ryoga asked Ranma.

Ranma's expression was stricken as the unthinkable occurred to him, but almost at once he rejected the idea and said resolutely, "She made it--she's got to! She was in the eye of the storm when the whole thing happened so there's no way anything could have happened to her…"

"Unless she decided to enter the cyclone to try and reach us," said Ukyo, ever the practical one in their group.

There was a moment of tense silence before Akane called out, "Oneechan! Where are you!"

"Right here," a male voice sputtered as a head broke the water, then Nabiki/Kaneda appeared, moving resolutely to the makeshift life-raft now occupied by Ukyo and the other curse-victims. Nabiki ignored Ranma's relieved entreaties and heaved himself up onto the raft, then reached down and pulled the soggy tiger that was Lao Kane from the waters and dragged her onto the raft, taking a moment to regather his breath before standing up and hauling the transformed Amazon into a position from whence to administer a head-lock.

"All right you…Pervert!" Nabiki cried as he seemed ready to snap the motionless tiger in his brawny arms, "This is where it's time for a little payback!"

To everyone's considerable surprise the Tiger began to change spontaneously until she collapsed back to human form, then Lao smiled slightly as she slipped easily out of Nabiki's startled grasp, evidently quite tired from her ordeal but at least semi-lucid.

"Well played, Tendo-san," she replied, "I must concede the match. You played your hand very well this time and I acknowledge you the victor."

"Don't give me that," Nabiki reached out to grip Lao by her shirt, shaking her slightly, "This isn't some game we're playing here! Give me one good reason why I shouldn't finish you off here and now! Just one good reason!"

"I'm trying," Lao said tiredly, "But…at the moment I can't seem to think of any good reasons. Go ahead, if you think you have it in you."

Everyone watched tensely as Nabiki shook with anger, drawing back a fist and looking ready to kill as he said, "You tortured me and my friends, you have raped and murdered and forced me to do things I cannot forgive! If I strike now it will be in full justice…"

"It would also be the wrong thing to do," said Cologne very softly from where she stood perched upon her staff, "In your heart you know this."

Nabiki remained where he was, fist still poised to deliver a smashing blow that Lao probably could not evade even has she wanted to. Nabiki drew one tense breath then said, "I'm still waiting to hear a reason."

"If you kill me," Lao replied softly, "You follow in my footsteps. You inherit my curse and all that goes with it."

"Hah!" Nabiki scoffed, "Look around you! I've beaten you, Lao, and I've broken your curse! Your ship of horrors is wasted and your crew is scattered. You have no power to resist me now, and I could break you in half without even trying!"

"If you believe that, then go right ahead," Lao quietly replied, "I won't even try and stop you. You'll even be doing me a favor."

Nabiki held himself rigid for another long minute then slowly lowered his arm and said, "You're not worth getting my hands dirty. You'll pay for your crimes in a court of law, and with any luck they'll probably hang you."

Lao sat back as Nabiki released her and calmly folded her arms over her chest before smiled, "You're being awfully harsh at the moment, aren't you, Tendo-san? If you really find me that repulsive, why is your flag at half-mast?"

"Huh?" Nabiki looked down out of reflex and Lao took the opportunity to rise to her feet and step back beyond the transformed girl's reach, once more looking cocky.

Of course in doing so she came up against a brick wall…or so it felt like. She turned her head up and saw an unsmiling Guile looking back down at her before she murmured, "Uh oh…"

Guile laid one ham-fist on either side of her head from behind and said, "Any last words before I snap your neck, lady?"

"Akiko," Lao replied, "I'm you only hope of finding her. You need me alive."

"True," Guile replied, lowering his hands to seize her by the wrists and twist them so that the Pirate was driven to her knees, "Then I suppose I'll have to make you cooperative, won't I?"

"Big man," Lao grunted, "Fine role model for your daughter over there, aren't you?"

"Daughter?" Guile turned his head to look and saw the Vulture that had perched close beside him on an upthrust section of wood, looking at him with an almost plaintive expression, "K-Kei-chan?"

The vulture screened, then hopped over to land on Guile's shoulder, positioning itself so that it could look at him once more with that almost human expression. Guile released Lao's wrists without another word of explanation.

Lao got back to her feet more slowly as she massaged her aching wrists, then sighed, "Well, this was certainly fun, but a bit more than I bargained on. I wasn't counting on the Dragon's Blast having that much of an effect. You used the power of the ship against itself…a very effective strategy, Tendo-san."

"Have you had enough yet?" Cologne said testily, "I for one have. You did everything possible to provoke this situation, Granddaughter. What were you trying to do here, get yourself killed so that your curse could pass itself along to Tendo Nabiki?"

"That was one possible scenario," Lao replied, "And I'll admit it was a bit of a gamble, but I suppose you'll just have to chalk it up to me being betrayed by my baser instincts. I'm not always sure why I do the things I do, Great Grandmother, I only know it helps me pass the time and break the monotony of my existence. Ten years at sea will do that to you, and my predecessor had twenty before he went mad and provoked me to kill him."

"Colonel!" a voice hailed out from a passing raft that had Cammy, Chun-Li, Bison and Honda clinging to it. Cammy called out again, "Have you seen where Blanka and Ken got off to?"

"Charlie?" Guile shook his head reluctantly, trying not to upset the vulture on his shoulder, "Last I saw he went after the Hinako woman. As for Ken, well…"

"Oh my god," Bison suddenly cried, "They killed Kenny!"

"The bastards," Honda growled.

"I heard that!" a familiar voice called out as yet another large section of the boat drifted by, this one loaded full of beautiful women with Ken lounging in the middle of the action and a much-confused pair of Amazons peering out from what had at one time been the command deck.

"Bloody figures," Cammy grumbled.

"Some guys have all the luck," Bison agreed.

"Of course, you realize that this has some blackmail potential," Chun-Li murmured in conspiratorial tones, earning a group of smiles from her immediate companions.

"My lady?" Blossom came out and looked at the ruins all around them, "What happened to the ship?"

"Never mind," Lao said, "A temporary inconvenience. Have the survivors gathered up and ready. We're going to be hitting the coastline shortly and I want everyone to be ready."

"What?" Nabiki said as he stood with his hands covering his privates, "Are you serious? As things stand we'll be lucky to drift with the currents!"

"On the contrary," Lao replied, "Now that the crisis is past the situation is well in hand. Even as we speak my elemental soldiers are rescuing those who were trapped below deck, and in good time you will find that we have not lost anyone in the disaster, not even your Hinako-Sensei and the good Senor Blanka."

"You mean to say you still have one ace left to play?" Ukyo asked suspiciously.

"Not just an ace," Lao replied, "A full house, as I will demonstrate thusly."

Even as she nodded her head they became aware that something was happening underneath them. A white mass rose up and lifted their flotsam rafts as though they were at the end of the movie Abyss. To everyone's incredulous expression (save Lao and her people) they found themselves hoist aboard the translucent form of a massive creature the size of a supertanker.

"He is called The Kraken," Lao explained for their benefit, "At the simplest explanation he is what you might call a Super-sized Elemental being and the guardian of the Dragon Orb. He also serves my bidding as the Master of the Orb. He will get us to shore in record time and find the missing members of our party."

"But what about your people who aren't here?" Ranma asked, "There has to be more than this…?"

"My dear boy," Lao smiled indulgently, "You're still thinking as if the Piece of Junk were a conventional ship on the water when, in fact, it is a magical construction. The rules inside do not necessarily apply to any standards with which you are familiar. Just because the parts you see have been damaged does not mean the ship itself is entirely totaled. Many compartments are not only watertight but dimensionally sealed to protect them against flooding. My Undines servants will take care of the ones who were not so protected in the ordeal. As for the Nursery and my children…I would know if they were harmed. As it is I am quite assured that we have all survived, regardless of whether this fact makes logical sense to you. The Orb has a way of making the odds work in my favor."

"Impressive," Cologne remarked, "And you have achieved this level of mastery in less than ten years time?"

Lao turned to regard her former teacher, "You didn't raise me to be incompetent, Elder. I am a very good student of magic. However, the fact remains that I was fairly beaten by a worthy foe, so I will make a new proposal with you, Tendo Nabiki, in exchange for my freedom and the lives of all my people."

Nabiki glanced around before he answered, aware that all eyes were turned in his direction, "What have you got in mind?"

"A simple alliance," Lao smiled tigerishly, "Only this time let it be between full equals…"

Continued

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