The Amazon and the Moneylender: Episode 12, Part 1:
The Battles Begin
Note: yes I am going to post 12-2 in a moment...
otherwise I might lose track of where I finished by
paste.
-------------------------------------------------------
"Shampoo," Cologne turned to her daughter as the
younger amazon returned from a delivery. "Have you
seen Mousse or the Kuno girl?"
"No great-grandma," Shampoo answered. "Why you
ask?"
"Nabiki wished to pass a message on to Kodachi,"
Cologne said, watching her granddaughter's reaction.
"What message?" Shampoo asked tightly after a
pause, and checking the clock.
"Apparently, Kodachi's brother has returned,"
Cologne said matter-of-factly. Shampoo breathed a sigh
of relief and her mood brightened again. "The usurer
seemed more like her normal self when she called."
"Nabiki was very happy this morning," Shampoo
confirmed cheerfully, and with obvious relief. Then
she hastily added, "Shampoo see her at breakfast!"
Cologne narrowed her eyes as she made another order of
ramen, which Shampoo promptly delivered to the proper
table.
~I'll wait to confirm my suspicion before acting,~
Cologne thought to herself. ~Nabiki would be a
valuable asset�if I could be certain she wouldn't
interfere with the mission to win the son-in-law from
her sister.~
"Shampoo take next delivery now," her
grand-daughter declared before snatching said delivery
and heading for her bike.
~A test might soon be in order.~
*******************************************************
"What is that thing?" Mousse demanded as the
buildings began to thin around them.
"You're the master of dark magic, don't you know an
oni when you see one?" Kodachi asked.
"It�s a Japanese demon, Koda," Mousse noted. "Why
didn't you recognize it before?"
"They don't look like giggling beach balls in the
plays," then Kodachi blinked. "Did you just call me
'Koda.'"
"Uhh..sorry," Mousse made a sheepish attempt at
apology.
"FOOLISH MORTALS!" the thundering voice shouted
behind them. "YOU CAN RUN BUT YOU'LL ONLY DIE TIRED!"
"Errr�.Pay no mind, now is not the time to be
concerned over such things," Kodachi declared. "What
remains of our options?"
"Well demons are creatures of unbalanced chi,"
Mousse noted. "Can you do any chi tricks?"
"Of course I can do 'chi tricks,'" Kodachi hmphed.
"Any martial artist worth the name has at least one
'chi trick' and the black rose of St. Hebereke IS
worth the name!"
"Anything of significant power?" Mousse asked,
noting that they were entering the woods outside
Nerima.
"Define significant."
"Ranma or Ryouga." Kodachi glanced back at the
pursuing oni, looked at Mousse, and arched an eyebrow.
"I do hope that was some attempt at humor and not a
serious inquiry."
"Didn't think so," Mousse said. "What do you know
about this forest?"
"Really, a lady like me, wandering around a
wilderness like this one."
"HAHAHAHAHA!!!! I'LL PLAY WITH YOUR SOUL THROUGH
ETERNITY LITTLE GIRL!! GIVE UP NOW AND YOU I MIGHT
JUST TAKE YOUR BODY!"
"Hentai!" Kodachi stopped and turned to give a
piece of her mind to the pursuing demon. "Why I would
ever want�Unhand me!" The last was directed at Mousse
who had returned to snatch her up before running on.
"He's talking about possessing you, Kodachi, not
sleeping with you."
"Oh, that's all right then."
"Is that a body of water of there?" Kodachi looked
about, finding it difficult to know which direction
Mousse was talking about considering his hands were
occupied in carrying her. Though she did see a shimmer
of reflected sunlight.
"It�s a satellite dish on some cabin," she said
dryly.
"What's that in front of us?" Kodachi looked in
that direction as Mousse ran between the trees, out
into mid air.
"It appears to be a cliffside," Kodachi said
unnecessarily, as ribbon and chain extended to find
holds, swinging the two martial artists safely to the
ground below. They had managed to find a gully with a
fairly wide stream running through it.
"This is what I was looking for!" Mousse shouted
cheerfully.
"Might I ask why?" Kodachi demanded.
They both looked up as the oni appeared on the
cliff above them, still laughing at their efforts.
"Just run upstream!" Mousse shouted as the oni
slowly began to float down to meet them.
"Running anywhere seems to be nothing more than a
delaying tactic," Kodachi noted before taking off a
little before Mousse.
*******************************************************
Ranma and Akane instantly turned their attention to
Nabiki, who was looking for a place to sit that would
be relatively easy to get up from. The one thing Akane
noticed right off was that Nabiki was mad. The signs
were slight and unnoticeable to anyone that hadn't
lived with her for most of their lives, but they were
there.
"Where is he, Nabiki?" Ranma demanded.
"Who's Kuno?" Ranko asked.
"I haven't the faintest," Nabiki said, irritably as
she spotted an old chair and sat down. "One of my
friends had an encounter with him, there isn't much
more information than that since she was only barely
conscious when found." The girl took a stick and idly
began drawing kanji in the dirt.
"When did that happen?" Akane demanded. Nabiki
paused in her bored doodling and checked her watch.
"Who's Kuno?"
"About fifteen minutes ago," she said, before
returning to her doodling. She leaned over, narrowed
her eyes and then smoothed out the dirt again, before
drawing more kanji. "He'll have to pass by here on the
way to the dojo."
"Who? Is. Kuno."
"He's beating up on regular kids now?" Ranma
blinked, then shook his head. Nabiki arched an eyebrow
as she regarded him, pausing in her drawing.
"You can't really be surprised, can you?"
"Does Kodachi know about this?" Akane asked. Nabiki
shrugged, irritably smoothing out the dirt again.
"She is being sought," Nabiki assured them as she
stuck the stick again into the dirt and started
drawing.
"WHO?! IS! KUNO!!!" The other three stared blankly
at the huffing Ranko.
"Impatient aren't we?" Nabiki asked.
"Ah, tis a piteous sight, that the fair pig-tailed
goddess is so deep in the clutches of the evil Ranma's
spells that the memory of my manliness has been driven
from her lovely head." The glares leveled at Kuno left
no doubt as to each individual's oh so low opinions of
the would-be samurai. Only Ranko was limited to
expression of irritation. "And you even turn your
brutish attentions towards the defenseless�" Before he
could complete the thought, his eternal nemesis was
moving in a blur towards him.
"Do you ever shut up!" Ranma shouted as his fist
buried itself into Kuno's abdomen, another flash of
movement and a knee slammed into Kuno's face. Ranma
failed to notice, as he prepared for another attack,
the small dark-clothed figure appearing from the
bushes. The other three weren't quite so distracted.
"Hey, Saotome!" Nabiki shouted. "Look out behind
you!" Akane and Ranko moved almost at the same-time,
moving to intercept Sasuke.
"Oh no, you don't!" Akane shouted. Ranko wasn't
sure what was going on, but she knew that little rat
was about to interfere with the fight, and THAT she
was sure was unacceptable.
"I'll save you master!" Sasuke cried, leaping
towards the embattled martial artists. Nabiki saw him
draw a packet from inside his night suit, and jerked
to her feet, forgetting her sprained ankle and
falling. Then several things happened, Ranma propelled
Kuno against a wall with what appeared to be barely a
motion. Akane and Ranko collided with Sasuke, who
ripped open the packet in his hands.
Nabiki worked up to her feet as the dust cloud
encompassed four of the five combatants. As the dust
cleared, and Kuno pulled himself to his feet, Nabiki
looked to her sister and the Saotome's. All three, and
the toad-like ninja, were suffering from the effects
of what appeared to be one of Kodachi's paralysis
powders.
*******************************************************
"Could you have found a more humid gully to trap us
in?" Kodachi demanded, wiping away another sheen of
sweat.
"That would have been nice," Mousse said, Kodachi
blinked. "But this is the only one I know about."
"DO YOU THINK THIS WILL SAVE YOU MORTALS?" The oni
shouted behind them. "THIS IS NOTHING." Kodachi looked
behind her confused. The oni sounded as loud as ever,
but now it sounded like it was tiring.
"The steam does something to that monster?"
"Well if it were a Yang demon it wouldn't bother to
try to possess any body and would just be going around
burning things."
"Excuse my confusion, but what does that have to do
with why the oni started getting tired as we hit the
steam?" Mousse smiled, but she couldn't see that.
"Yin demon, Yang chi flow." Kodachi arched an
eyebrow. "Hey, what's that in front of us?"
"I can see naught but an ever thickening cloud of
steam," Kodachi answered, shortly before tripping over
a tree root and landing in pool of hot water. She
quickly set her feet down on the bottom of the pool
and launched upward through the water. She landed on
the bank of the pool, facing a sheer rock wall.
"Hey Kodachi, how'd you get so wet?"
"If we survive remind me to introduce you to Mr.
Turtle." Mousse swallowed at the mention of an
introduction to Kodachi's alligator.
"Come, mortals," the oni called from beyond the
veil of the steam mists. "Come and meet your dooms,
show me a little bravery and I'll make your deaths
quick."
"Afraid to come after us puny mortals?" Mousse
asked, Kodachi stared at him in open shock. The oni
growled in irritation. The oni considered the waves of
yang chi that whipped to and fro among the steam and
hot-springs of the cul de sac he had cornered them in,
and it considered the prize it sought.
"Can you hold me off long enough mortals?" the oni
smiled hideously. It stepped forward into the mists, a
discordant aura surrounded the beast as it appeared
through the mists
"Are you ready?" Mousse asked. Kodachi chuckled and
brandished her ribbon.
*******************************************************
"Ah, my faithful Sasuke," Kuno shook his head
disapprovingly. "I applaud your bravery, but you
should not have interfered with my honorable battle
with the vile Saotome. Now, I must sully my victory
with the defeat of a helpless foe." He walked towards
Ranma, practically ignoring Nabiki, and lifted his
bokken to strike.
"Hold it Kuno-baby," Nabiki snapped, Kuno regarded
her curiously. She smirked, ruthlessly burying the
urge to try a more physically active defense of her
family. She'd already been shown quiet well that
physical confrontation was not her strong point. "You
don't want to do that."
"And why pray-tell, is that?" Kuno demanded. "If I
destroy Saotome here and now, then the evil magic is
gone and Akane and the pig-tailed goddess will once
again recognize me as their one true love."
"You don't know much about magic," Nabiki noted.
"Killing Ranma now would be a tremendous mistake."
"I fail to see why I should wait," Kuno noted. "But
shall listen for the moment, obviously you know much
about these matters of the mystical arts. I have seen
your prowess already in the summoning of that sweet
nymph who has sheltered me all this time." He took a
moment to preen.
"I assume you mean Mura?" Nabiki narrowed her eyes.
"Yes, such a lovely creature, poor spirit could not
restrain herself in my great presence," Tatewaki
laughed arrogantly. Nabiki noted that it was the
second time that he had referred to Mura as a spirit.
"But enough of her, why should I restrain myself from
killing the foul sorcerer this very moment."
"Think about it Kuno," Nabiki said, watching him
closely. "Ranma knows you seek to defeat him and break
the spell, so of course he must have altered the
spell. Defeat him and your loves will only hate you
ten fold more than they do already." She edged closer
to the paralyzed combatants, as Kuno seemed to
considered her words.
"Ah, such a vile knave is Saotome," he declared,
relaxing his bokken. "To chain my loves even to beyond
his death. How then shall I defeat his black magic?"
~Kuno, you're dead,~ Ranma thought as he glared up
at the swordsman.
~I hate being paralyzed,~ Ranko was stuck glaring
at the ninja, who was watching her nervously.
~Keep him talking Nabiki,~ Akane thought. ~Damn
this is uncomfortable.~
"You'll have to get that from him," Nabiki laughed.
"But he can't talk now, can he, so you'll have to wait
for the powder to wear off."
"Yes, and then I can have my honorable duel with
the evil Saotome," Kuno's eyes glazed over. "I can
repay him for enspelling my loves and turning my own
sister against me and not stain my honor, and then I
shall discuss matters with his apprentice, Hibiki."
~Ryouga wouldn't stop at hospitalizing you if you
managed it,~ Nabiki thought. "Exactly."
"Fine than I shall lay a formal challenge before
you Saotome," Kuno looked down at him. "Come the
strike of noon a week from now you shall lie groveling
at my feet here in the dirt, and to ensure that you
can practice no evils upon them I shall bring Akane
and the�"
"NO!" Nabiki snapped, then cursed under her breath.
~Damn it, that was a mistake.~
"Why should I not shelter my loves from the vile
Saotome's influences?" he asked narrowly, Nabiki could
almost see the paranoid fancies working through his
mind.
"I can protect them," Nabiki insisted. "This is
magic we're talking about, will you cut the spell with
your sword?" This was coming quite a bit too close to
certain truths for comfort, but she had to play along
with Kuno's madness for now. She doubted anybody would
think she really knew what she was talking about
afterword.
"You are obviously incapable of defending them,"
Kuno noted, indicating her injured foot. "If you wish
then you can come with us and bend your mystical arts
toward a cure."
~I'll be damned if any of us go with you,~ Nabiki
declared inwardly. "If you take us to your house then
Ranma can have you arrested for kidnapping, do wish
that?"
"It is no matter, when the authorities hear the
truth they shall bend their forces to aid me in
defeating the dark one," Kuno declared. "And I will
have your testimony at my side, unless perhaps you do
not wish to see your sister and the pig-tailed one
freed."
"I don't wish to have our honors impugned by the
whispers that would travel should we stay with you,"
Nabiki corrected, taking a cautious step back. She was
losing him, and she knew it, but if she stalled than
maybe the paralysis would wear off. The last was an
empty hope, if they had raided Kodachi's supplies than
the powder would last much longer than she had.
"Woman! How dare you imply that Tatewaki Kuno would
sink to the level of common banditry!?" he brandished
his bokken in anger, and Nabiki sweatdropped. She
should have kept up the art, she could think of
several things within her power that would be useful
at the moment. The problem was that the quickest of
the lot would take time that she didn't have. Contrary
to popular belief there was no such thing as a combat
spell, such chi manipulations were the province of
martial artists.
"I didn't say you would Kuno," she insisted calmly.
"I suggested that there would gossip."
"Silence! No one could suggest such a thing about
the Blue Thunder who was not a black hearted
scoundrel!" Nabiki saw him tense and braced for the
attack, closing her eyes as the sound of a bicycle
bell rang through the scene.
*CRASH*
"Umph!" Nabiki cracked open her eyes to stare at
Shampoo riding her bicycle atop a flattened Kuno.
=====
"Caffeinated Kender? What's that, a berserk spell?" -
Tribble, Kender Warrior of the Celestial Kingdom
Signed
He of Too Many Names (Thrythlind/Thryth/Luke/Hyperbole/Pika/Pooka)
http://members.aol.com/thrythlind/snake.html
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