Deep in the Carribean...

  Ranma had barely touched upon the wooden planks of the dock when he was
accosted by Nabiki.
  "Hey!  It's a good thing you showed up," she said, easily crossing whatever
space there had been between them.  "Ten people have offered to buy this baby
off me while I've been standing here waiting for you."
  Ranma stole a glance at the `baby'.  Admittedly, it was an impressive ship.
That is, it was impressive it was still afloat.  Some time ago, this ship
might have been the pride of a fleet.  Some time in the Bronze age, judging
by the scars.
  Nabiki continued her spiel without making a show of noticing.  "But I said,
`NO WAY.  I know a guy who's in love with this ship, and it would break his
heart to lose it.'"
  She smiled.  "Am I right?"
  Ranma hesitated.  Giving Nabiki just the gap she needed.  "Of course I am,"
she continued, smoothly cutting off any second thoughts that were passing
between Ranma's mind and his mouth.  "I mean, just look at her!"
  An arm around his back turned him to face his recently acquired purchase.
Nabiki continued her patter, seemingly unaware that the sale had already been
made.  "Sleek," she said, extolling what few virtues it had, "aerodynamic...
...a buoyant, barnacle-covered beauty."
  In reality, it was a ship.  It floated.  The sign over Nabiki's office said
`Nabiki's Previously Owned Vessels'.  Even excluding the `as is' clause,
there was no way Nabiki could be touched for any of her transactions; even
with something like this.
  However, at that moment, a shooting star arced across the heavens, casting
an ethereal light over the vessel in the harbour.  It shone under the glow,
shedding what mediocrity or downright shabbiness it had, and instead radiated
a beauty that few ships would ever attain.  Even Nabiki was impressed by this
short display.
  "I think we're having a real moment here," she said, eyes shining.  The
sale was as good as done.  There was no way the fool was going to back off
now.  Not after that...  She paused, the display sparking an unfamiliar
thought.
  "I've changed my mind," she snapped.  Ranma spun to face her, incredulous.
"I can't give her up.  You can have your money back."
  She ignored the pleading looks that Ranma was giving her.  For Ranma's
part, it wasn't the ship itself he was worrying about.  It had been the
cheapest he could afford, even after stripping away all the extras, and
skillfully bargaining Nabiki (or so he thought) down to an amount that was
within his price range.  And he needed a ship, badly.  It was the only way to
get to Monkey Island, where Akane had been taken.  Not that he was in love
with her, or worried about her, oh no.  That was an absurd thought.  It was
just, well... a matter of honour.  That was it.  It was a matter of honour.
The Ghost Pirate Kuno had laid down a letter of challange to all the pirates
of Mˆl‚e Island.  And after passing the three trials, Ranma was now a fully
fledged pirate.  Well, there was that little matter of the initiating with
the grog, but that was just details.  Besides, all the other pirates were
either too scared to attempt a rescue, or too busy looting the mansion with
the Governor gone.
  But all that was besides the point.  He needed a ship, and having Nabiki
default on him was just not something he wanted to deal with.  He opened his
mouth to say something along those lines to her.
  "How could I sell something so dear?" said Nabiki, once again artfully
cutting off Ranma in his attempts to make himself heard.  She looked over the
bay, gazing on the ship as it lay there, still basking in the magical light.
Ranma sighed and joined her in taking in its newfound beauty.

  There was an onimous crack as the foremast broke at the base, and toppled
not quite so majestically into the water.

  "Then again, a deal's a deal, right?" said Nabiki quickly, cutting off
Ranma for a third time.
  "Right.  Catch you later.  Good luck.  Enjoy.  I'm outta here," she reeled
off, pumping Ranma's hand, and quickly making her getaway before anything
about quality assurance could be mentioned.  Not that Nabiki didn't have
covers there, but that would be far too time consuming.
  The dock was empty, except Ranma and his ship.  He drew a breath, a comment
that summed his whole situation up coming to mind, ready to be said...
  "Whoops!"  Ranma almost jumped as Nabiki performed her reappearing trick
again.  All smiles, she dug at a pocket at random and pulled out a few scraps
of paper.  They turned out to be pamphlets.
  "I almost forgot to give you this free..." - she hesitated for a moment,
glancing at the titles - "...seafaring literature."  She forced them into
Ranma's hands, who was not in the best condition to resist.  "My gift to you.
Just remember where you got it."
  "NABIKI'S!!!" she cried, her face inches from Ranma's, with a smile on her
face that would have made a certain Cheshire cat jealous had he even existed
in this reality.
  And with that last gesture, she stalked off, leaving Ranma to recover from
his experience.
  He looked out back over the bay, to the still-floating near-wreck that he
now owned.
  It was funny, but now there was no one to interrupt him, he couldn't think
of a word to say.
  Now all he needed was a crew.  All three of them.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Coming soon....
     "The Curse of Monkey Island"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------




Well, I'm gonna keep on writing these until it does come.  "The Curse of
Monkey Island" that is.  I'm going to try to write a few key (and not quite
so key) scenes from what I see as "The Curse of Monkey Island", and try to
maintain a regular post.  Just for a hobby, you understand.

And if you don't know what "The Secret of Monkey Island" is, (the game that
this story is based on,) then go out and buy it for crying out loud.  It's
on budget now, so it's not that expensive, and it's being blowing other
adventure games out of the water for well over five years now.

Anyway, that's my weekend's worth of work.  Ciao,

                         Terence Fergusson
                      -- Stranded in an Anime-free College

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"Excuse me Guybrush... but does the word 'keelhaul'
mean anything to you?"
                      - Meathook
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