Manga
Part 3
Raiders of the lost shard.
Duke sat across from Gosunkugi in his room and stared the boy down, with
him was Akane, Ukyo, and Ranma. They all waited for him to start
speaking as his mother left them together.
"I was so worried about our son, I didn't think he had any friends at
all." thought the woman as she went down to the living room to continue
watching her television show.
"Uh, Hi." said the boy pathetically as all of his attention was on
Akane. "She came to see me!? This is great!" the thoughts where pushed to
the back of his mind as Duke stood in front of him suddenly and he did
not look happy.
"Alright worm, tell my why you brought me here and how you did it." Duke
forced him to sit down and stay put with one arm.
"I, uh...wasn't trying to get you here at all! I was trying to you know
get out of here myself!" the boy slunk his shoulders. "I thought since
Katria was so nice to everyone she could help me out and take care of me
for a while; and who knows maybe one thing would lead to another and
I'd..."
Duke frowned a little. "She's a nice kid but not that nice."
Ukyo seemed puzzled, "Aren't you a little upset about it? I mean this
pervert was trying to..."
Akane gave her a small kick in the leg and gave her an angry grunt; Ukyo
stood up and looked at her before becoming silent.
"I'm more upset by the fact that he drug me here than anything else; How
did you do it?" Duke relaxed a little and watched the three cautiously,
they where acting a little strange again. "It's obvious Katria is going
to play a pretty big roll in my life, my mother is seeing her father
right now, and she is like a sister too me."
Gosunkugi gulped hard and answered the question while Duke was
distracted by his friends. "I used a piece of magic mirror and put it in
a crystal."
"So it was the Naniban mirror." said Akane with a scowl, she was finding
magic artifacts to be a rather large pain in the butt lately.
"I was doing the incantation I found in this book to figure out how it
worked, but the wind blew and the pages turned and then you just appeared
out of nowhere!" Duke took the book Gosunkugi indicated on top of his
dresser.
It was bright yellow and looked a little like a small phone book. "Magic
incantations for Dummies." Duke smiled as he read the title, the cover
had a chalk board with various magic symbols written on it. He dropped it
into the trash can and turned back to Gosunkugi. "Where is this crystal
with the mirror piece in it?"
"I...don't have it." muttered the boy.
"What?!!" cried the martial artist as the charged for him.
"Don't hit me! It was stolen!" cried the boy as he cowered on the floor;
the others stopped in midstride, but Ukyo bopped him lightly with her
spatula anyway.
"Who took it?" asked Duke as he calmed himself.
"Some crazy lady! She kept laughing and told me how she would use it to
defeat the "Pig tailed Harlot".
"Kodachi." said Ranma and Duke in unison.
"Well, this does complicate things a bit, you three head on back; until
I get some more information we can't do anything." Duke smiled slightly
and leaned against the wall.
"We can beat it out of them!" said Ranma in anger.
"I doubt if the so called 'Noble and Virtuous Tatewaki Kuno' had
anything to do with this, he probably won't be any help at the moment
Ranma; besides, the Kuno mansion is huge; we can't just demand a search.
I think I can get the information, it just might take a while."
"So what are you going to do now?" asked Ranma with a serious look on
his face. "Kodachi is dangerous, but with me you have an advantage."
"I am aware of that Ranma, but I think I can handle this, the fewer
people involved the better." Duke gave a smirk and turned to walk out.
"Besides I have a little shopping to do first."
Nabiki Tendo came to the Clinic the next night and waited impatiently
for Duke to emerge. He was dressed in another of the outfits from the
show, this time it was the treasure explorer outfit. "What are you
supposed to be anyway? Some sort of lion tamer?"
Duke smiled and adjusted the brown fedora that sat atop his head and
hooked the bullwhip onto his belt. "Have you ever heard of a movie called
"Raiders of the Lost Ark?"
Nabiki shook her head and frowned, she hated when she didn't know
something.
"Relax it's an American film from my world, I sorta stole this image;
the main character is an archeologist who finds rare artifacts for a
living, he often has to get by traps, tombs, and even fights Nazi's to
get to them. It's pretty interesting stuff." Duke smirked again and hung
a leather bag at his side before putting on a heavy leather jacket.
He looked quite handsome and Nabiki felt herself blushing in the
darkness. "Well, I found out where it's at, you owe me big Duke Hibiki!
It's in the back of a large maze beneath the house in Kodachi's lab
area."
"Don't flatter yourself Nabiki, all you had to do was trade some
information on the Pigtailed girl or Akane to Sasuke to find out about
it; Didn't cost you a dime, you probably made money on the conversation."
"How do you know that?! I didn't make near as much as I would have if
you hadn't made me pull this!" Nabiki wasn't sure if she was impressed or
angry at the moment and it didn't matter because he was already walking
away. "Hey! Where the hell are you going?!" snapped Nabiki in a harsh
whisper.
"Where do you think I'm going sweetheart? I'm gonna get that crystal."
Duke pulled the brim of the hat down a little and stalked into the night.
"Are you nuts? You'll be killed, or worse!" Nabiki ran up next to him
and grabbed his arm.
"I'll be fine, I've done this sort of thing before." Duke turned and
looked at her.
"Kodachi Kuno is insane! She'll kill you if she catches you!" Duke
grabbed Nabiki by her shoulders and kissed her; she struggled for a
moment before settling down and looking at him in shock.
"Trust me." he said before walking away. Nabiki staggered in place for a
moment before running after him. "Now what are you doing?" he sighed.
"I'm going with you, there is no way you'll get in there alone if you
try to break in."
Duke sat across from Tatewaki Kuno and took a sip of the brandy he had
been offered by the boy; he had drunk before of course and it showed, one
of the more pleasant kidnappers had introduced him to it and he had
always made sure to do it moderately; a glass or two on occasion or to be
polite; this situation was the latter.
The Kuno's belief in their nobility status would mean that they hardly
ever drank water, Duke appreciated that fact and accepted the offer for a
drink before talking; Nabiki seemed a little surprised by the two men
acting so chivalrous towards each other and kept back from the
conversation. Duke was manipulating Kuno better than she thought possible
just by the way he was speaking to him and it definitely impressed her.
After some conversation things where explained to Kuno in ways that he
could easily understand.
"So, you say that my sister has obtained a dangerous magical artifact
and intends to use it upon the pigtailed girl in order to catch the heart
of the vile Ranma Saotome?" Kuno seemed very angry at his sister.
"That's right, and it's my job to get it back." Duke leaned forward and
showed Kuno a rough sketch of the crystal he had obtained from talking
with Gosunkugi again.
"I have not seen such an artifact, perhaps you are mistaken." Kuno's
voice had a dangerous edge to his voice.
"She didn't steal this Kuno-sempai, Gosunkugi gave it to her, but he had
no claim to it. I'm just here to get it back to the rightful owners."
Duke leaned back and smirked reassuringly to the boy. He wanted to ensure
that Kuno did not believe he was trying to drag his family through the
mud. "I'd like to be discreet about this."
"I see, and how may I be of assistance?" Kuno seemed skeptical at the
moment.
"I don't need your assistance Kuno, all I need is your permission to
avoid any legal entanglements." Duke took another sip of the bitter
alcohol drink and relaxed again.
"You want my permission to steal from my sister? How amusing." Kuno
seemed surprised.
"If I am not successful your sister will be accused of stealing, I am
simply a way to avoid publicity." Duke was taking a dangerous risk here,
if Kuno called his bluff he would have to deal with the possibility of
police interference and an alert security force.
"You said it was given to her yourself." said Kuno in reply.
"The owners won't see it that way, neither will the police. Kuno I'm
offering you a chance to save your family allot of trouble in the long
run. It's now or never, the Kuno family reputation will suffer if this
becomes public, especially with your sister's condition."
Kuno frowned from his seat and stared at Duke harshly. "What condition
do you mean good sir?"
Duke only smiled, "The one no one will ever find out about if I return
with the crystal."
Kuno looked at Duke coolly and then laughed out loud. "Well played, It
is true, my sister is quite mad. I will allow you access to her domain
beneath these noble halls, but I cannot assist you beyond that."
"And you can assure me no police interference? My employers will be most
displeased if I am arrested as a thief." Duke gave the boy a stern gaze
before finishing his drink.
Kuno emptied his own glass and nodded, "Only if you can assure me no
harm will come to my sister because of this."
"Agreed." said Duke as he stood with Kuno and motioned for Nabiki to
follow.
"You just got Kuno to give us permission to rob him, how did you do
that?" whispered Nabiki behind him.
"You have excellent business instincts Nabiki Tendo, but you have allot
to learn about tact and business etiquette." Duke smiled and Kuno turned
to them after stopping by a large door.
"This door will take you into her lair, the exit is elsewhere in the
catacombs, you will not be able to exit through this door. Nabiki Tendo
are you sure you want to do this, this man seems able, but you are not
ready for such a place."
"Don't worry about me Kuno baby, I live with an evil sorcerer remember?"
Nabiki smiled and stood next to Duke proudly.
"I had no idea you had connections such as this Nabiki Tendo, perhaps I
have underestimated your worth." Kuno watched them enter the door and
fall down the large slick surface of the slide a few feet into the
doorway.
Duke took a flashlight out of one of his pockets and lit the area round
them as he stood from the rather long ride down into the caverns. "We
must be about twenty feet down." said Nabiki.
"No more than ten, the slide turned allot to make it seem like we fell
farther." he dusted his pants off and began to walk down the dusty
corridor.
"So now we find Kodachi's lab?" she asked impatiently, she was beginning
to wish she'd stayed behind.
"No first we find the exit, we might have to leave in a hurry; be
careful and step where I step there are probably traps all over this
place." Duke adjusted his hat again and started down the hall.
They found the exit almost immediately, it was in plain sight as they
turned the corner after a few twists and turns in the wooden hallway, it
lead out into what looked like a field just outside the Kuno mansion's
gates. "Great, we won't have to worry about dogs or guards once we
escape; last chance to reconsider."
Nabiki looked at the door and smiled, she was dirty, she was tired, and
she knew they could be killed at any moment. "This is the best time I've
had in years."
"Just don't get your hopes up, it's probably down hill from here."
muttered Duke as he filled a sack with small rocks and dirt from just
outside the doorway.
"What are you doing?" asked Nabiki.
"This situation is just too familiar for my taste." Duke stood and
tested the bag's weight and frowned. "We're gonna have one hell of a time
getting out of here."
The first obstacle they encountered was a large mass of webs that
covered the walls, Nabiki clung to Duke as they passed through the mess
of dusty fibers, it was obvious Kodachi herself had not used this
entrance for some time. "There must be another way in, either that or
Kuno tricked us."
"Kuno is stupid, but not a liar." said Nabiki weakly. "We can get to
Kodachi's lab this way if he said we can."
"Right." Duke didn't seem entirely convinced of this but he plodded
onward.
A few steps later they found themselves inside of a long hallway with
small windows letting in the moonlight from outside, Nabiki tried to walk
forward and Duke shoved her against the wall. "Too similar." he thought
with a chill.
"What is it?" asked Nabiki after she regained herself, she didn't seem
to happy with the boy at the moment.
"Stay out of the light." said Duke as he realized what was going on with
full certainty, only one final test remained. He stuck his hand out and
the beam of moonlight was broken, out of a large shadowy portion of wall
five spears shot out missing his hand by millimeters.
Nabiki gasped and stepped back in shock, "How did?"
"I've seen this place before, but it doesn't belong here." said Duke as
he trudged forward through the hall hugging the side and avoiding the
moonbeams. Nabiki looked confused for a moment and said nothing as she
followed him blindly. "His companion didn't make it out alive." he
thought as he glanced back at her.
The next place they found was a room with a large hole in the center of
the floor, Duke used the bull whip to swing across the ravine using a
large pole that had been placed in the roof, after they both crossed he
hung the whip in the wall and turned towards Nabiki again. They both
moved forward again and found themselves in a large well lit room with a
black and white marble floor, in the center of the opposite wall was a
pedestal with the crystal sitting on it. Duke was forced to hold Nabiki
back yet again.
"Now what?" she asked nervously.
Duke smiled and picked up a conveniently placed bamboo umbrella and
examined the floor carefully, he pressed gently on one of the black tiles
and it slid down with an audible click, all Nabiki saw was the dart that
flew from the wall and stuck into the umbrella. Duke sighed heavily and
stepped out onto the first white tile.
"You aren't seriously going out there?" said Nabiki as she grabbed him
and pulled back. He shrugged her off and glared at the crystal, "It may
be my only ticket home."
He carefully navigated the steadily smaller tiles and made it to the
pedestal, with a swift motion he pulled out the bag of dirt and rocks and
stared it down. "His mistake was taking sand out of the bag, if I don't
then maybe..." he quickly switched out the bag and the crystal and waited
for the place to start falling apart, nothing happened for almost a
minute and he relaxed and stepped back off the pedestal. "I...I did it!"
his train of thought was broken by a familiar laugh.
Duke whirled around and saw Nabiki looking upwards towards a small
bridge that crossed the room near the ceiling. "Damn! I didn't bother to
look up!"
Kodachi Kuno stood watching the whole drama play out before her, how he
had managed to get this far was a surprise to her. "Oh ho ho ho ho ho!
You are quite an impressive and handsome man Mr. Hibiki." Duke froze, she
knew him? "Well, your little game ends here; no one steals from the Kuno
family, not even you." she whipped at him with her ribbon but he dashed
aside and her strike knocked the bag of dirt away from the pedestal.
We'll meet again if you manage to survive this! Ho ho ho ho ho!" she
disappeared into one of the doorways on the bridge, Duke could have
easily followed her but the walls where crumbling around him and Nabiki
only stared in silent terror at the carnage that surrounded him as it
moved towards her.
"Bloody hell! Start running darlin or we're gonna have one hell of a
walk home!" he dashed across the tiles ignoring the darts as he ran
towards Nabiki and grabbed her as he passed and led her into the hallway
just as the roof fell in behind them. The two of them dashed into the
room and Nabiki grabbed the bull whip and swung across the hole; the
support they had used to cross faltered and Nabiki hit the ground hard
and lay there unmoving. Duke cursed and kicked at the dirt, just then the
wall started to close right over Nabiki's passed out body. He rushed
forward and jumped, his foot caught a rock and he tumbled barely catching
the other side of the chasm and struggled for a moment grasping at a weed
that somehow managed to hold his weight, it almost gave out as it slipped
from the ground several times before he managed to pull himself up all
the way. The wall was closing fast though and he rolled pulling Nabiki
and his whip out of the way just in time to prevent them from being
crushed.
"Nabiki wake up!" he whispered as she started to stir.
"Ow, my head hurts." muttered the girl.
"We have to leave now!" Duke was growing impatient in his need to leave,
the walls where no longer collapsing on them; but they where still in
allot of danger, especially if Kodachi had something else up her sleeve.
Almost in answer to that a small hiss filled the room and some sort of
green looking gas escaped the cracks in the walls. Duke rushed forward
while sticking to the side of the wall and avoiding the light beams while
towing a barely conscious Nabiki behind him; then he noticed the wall on
the other side closing in as well ready to trap them both. Duke rushed
forward and lifted Nabiki up on his shoulder rushing through the last few
light beams and setting the traps immediately behind him. He dove for the
closing wall and barely managed to slide beneath it with Nabiki. She was
now wide awake as she roughly rolled across the floor in front of him. "
"What, are we all right?" stammered Nabiki in shock as she stood and
dusted herself off.
"For now," Duke took a step forward and suddenly remembered something,
"No, it would be too much, even for Kodachi; I hope." yet again he was
wrong; A low rumbling filled the room and Nabiki stopped cold in her
tracks.
"What's that?" she said quietly.
"RUN!" Duke dashed for the doorway grabbing Nabiki as he passed her and
didn't dare look back. He vaguely remembered Nabiki's scream later on,
but it didn't matter, he knew an oversized smoothed boulder was tearing
down the hallway from the ceiling for them and the doorway was just
beyond those cobwebs.
Duke shouted and dove for the opening just as the boulder closed in on
them and shot a cloud of dust from behind as they landed roughly on the
ground after flying through a small crevice in the side of a hill just
outside the gates to the mansion. Nabiki was shaking with terror as she
looked at the now blocked off doorway with enormous eyes, "Are we alive?"
Duke adjusted his hat again and stood up glaring forward. "Yea, and we
got company."
Kuno was standing before them with a large smile on his face and Sasuke
at his side; the diminutive ninja had a bow pointed directly at Duke and
Nabiki. "If you would be so Kind as to return the property of the Kuno
family to me, I shall use it to thwart the vile sorcerer Saotome myself."
"Kuno you back stabber!" cried Nabiki.
"I only said I would allow you to retrieve it, I said nothing about
letting you keep it. It was a gift to my sister and it will remain in the
possession of the Kuno family." Kuno smiled and Sasuke pulled the arrow
notched in the bow back.
"There is no way you can use honor to justify this Kuno, it's a
dishonorable act." Nabiki stepped back as the arrow was pointed in her
direction.
"Perhaps, but sometimes one must be dishonorable to protect the family
honor; now the artifact if you please Mr. Hibiki." the man did not seem
surprised that Kuno knew him.
Duke growled and reached into his pocket and retrieved the crystal, he
placed it in Kuno's waiting hand, Tatewaki froze as the crystal clicked
before he could relieve Duke of it; in fact it didn't feel like crystal
at all.
Duke raised the gun and leveled it on Kuno's face. "It seems we have an
advantage here Mr. Kuno, order your ninja to give her the bow or I will
blow your head off." Sasuke pulled back on the bow string and Kuno glared
at him. "I can get off seven shots before you can pull another arrow from
your back Ninja, you have lost this time."
Sasuke looked unsure and finally cast his eyes down to the ground. He
handed the bow and arrow to Nabiki and she took them away immediately.
"Master." said the man quietly.
"Silence Sasuke, there will be another time." Kuno seemed to stare
daggers into Duke's face but remained motionless.
"Until we meet again." said Duke as he walked away facing the pair until
they where well out of sight; he idly twirled the gun around his finger
as he pulled it away from Kuno's face.
"You had a gun?" asked Nabiki in shock. "She seemed almost disgusted at
the mere thought."
"Nabiki, it's not loaded; it doesn't even have a clip." he raised the
gun up to show her.
"What? It doesn't matter! You shouldn't have guns in Japan!" she felt
almost violated.
"What's wrong with you, I wouldn't have shot Kuno; If I didn't think I
had them I would have given them the crystal in an instant." Duke didn't
understand why she was upset.
"Where did you get that awful thing and how could you afford it?!" she
gasped.
"I stole it from a mugger about a week ago." Duke snorted and placed the
gun back in it's holster behind his back; Nabiki didn't notice him slide
the clip back into the gun.
"Nabiki, this isn't a martial arts tournament, we could have been
killed! Martial arts are great for fighting people who aren't armed with
guns! I wasn't sure what to expect here tonight." Duke was being
remarkably easy going about this.
"I knew you used one in the show, but never against someone who didn't
have a gun too. You never had one with you in Japan!" She seemed a bit
unnerved by the whole experience.
"Nabiki relax, I don't usually have one in Japan because you don't
really need one here. This was different, If Sasuke didn't pull that bow
on you, I'd never have pulled it out. Up until that point I was really
going to give it back to him." Nabiki noticed in his hands was the cloth
wrapping that had the crystal inside it, he'd been holding it since the
attack.
"Your a good liar you know that?" said Nabiki with a smirk.
"The best." replied Duke.
"You made a new enemy tonight, you know that right?" Nabiki's grin
widened.
"Of course!" said Duke as he stopped and grabbed Nabiki around the
waist, they kissed for a moment.
"Are you always like this?" she asked.
"Only when I'm feeling adventurous." replied Duke.
"Which is?"
"Most of the time..." Duke stopped and the two realized they where
standing on a hill overlooking Nerima, the wind blew and they stared into
the amazing view for a long moment.
"I think I could get to like having you around Mr. Hibiki." Nabiki took
his hat off and put it on her head before leading him down toward home.
Inside the Nerima Police department two men sat around the phone
laughing heartily. "Let me get this straight Miss Kuno, Duke Hibiki; star
of Japan's number one Animated series, broke into your house and stole
your magic crystal; then he held your brother by gunpoint after making a
daring escape from your lair of traps?" The largest officer was on the
floor red faced and holding his belly in laughter. "I gotta put you on
hold, the chief will want to hear this one." The two men's laughter
lasted long into the night.
Kasumi gasped as Nabiki came stumbling into the house the next morning.
"Nabiki where did you go last night! You didn't come home and father was
so worried!" the older girl rushed out and led her into the living room
where her father sat looking tired and crying softly to himself.
"Ranma and Akane looked for you for hours and they couldn't find you!
Where have you been young lady!" scolded Soun. The two just nodded a
greeting to Nabiki and continued to eat breakfast.
"I was at Kuno's house most of last night, Kodachi tried to kill us
again that's all." Nabiki waved her father off and neglected to mention
why she hadn't returned until morning. She flicked the brim of her dirty
brown fedora up a little and winked at Akane. Her younger sister noticed
a coiled mass of leather that hung at her side as well; Nabiki was
unusually cheerful for the rest of the day.
Duke arrived at Tofu's home around the same time as Nabiki, he took off
his coat and changed back into one of the black dogis. Tofu noticed he
moved a little stiffly and avoided leaning back as he sat down before the
work day started. "You where out late last night."
"I had a long night that's all, it did me a world of good." Duke
smirked.
"Really, why is that?" asked Tofu, he didn't seem all that interested in
the question.
"This crystal mostly, I think I can use it to get home, I'll have to
talk with Cologne about it tomorrow." Duke smiled and leaned back; only
to sit straight up immediately.
"Your acting like you've been whipped, is your back alright?" Tofu
looked concerned and jumped up.
"I'm fine, just trying to get out of that habit that's all." Duke smiled
again and Tofu seemed convinced.
"Good luck, I suppose getting whipped is good therapy then." Tofu
continued to drink his coffee as if nothing unusual had happened.
TBC....
Philistines! You all know you've dreamed about what I've written here!
Nabiki Tendo, she is so...frigid. I find it arousing. Despite that fact
the next chapter should still be read, cause I'm switching gears again.
This was originally written as a test run for "Raiders of the lost stone"
My R.5/Tomb Raider cross over.
________________________________________________________________
YOU'RE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THE INTERNET!
Juno now offers FREE Internet Access!
Try it today - there's no risk! For your FREE software, visit:
http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj.