Urd blinked as she looked around the devastation.  What had happened?

Wild party?

***Humm.  this is Mara... not beyond possiblity..***

She touched the dried stain cautiously, and shuddered at the torrent
of pain that clung to the blood and the sure knowledge that it was
Mara's.  What could have done this to a Demon First Class?

And might do it to a Goddess Second Class, Limited License?

***Urd?  In Danger?  Nah... It'd never cross her mind.***

Then she passed it off as a trick of the wind.  There was no way Mara
could have said, "I love you."

Now that she's free of her previous entanglements.  If I recall
correctly, Mara was in a real bind and didn't think she had any way out
except dying, if she could.

***You recall correctly.  Last two chapters have been a whirlwind, so I
figured I'd start off with the Goddesses arc, especially since Zhu Shu is
absent this chapter in Hing Kong, doing evn I don't know what.  Yell at
Jenny to finish Curse of the Banshee, so I can find out what's going to
happen. (don't worry, it's not essential that you read COTB, as I will
summarize it in story, but it would be nice if it was even close to done.)

"She does have bigger breasts."  Kyoko added helpfully from where she
was busy massaging Megumi.

Especially in her cursed form.  Real helpful that is.

***It really wasn't supposed to be, not that Kyoko realizes that.***

Akane sauntered over to the smaller girl as Luna nosed back out the
{Dojo : dojo} door.  "Well, it looks like we're stuck with no class
to train.  Care to spar?"

For some values of spar.

***???***

Ranma watched as Akane removed her {Gi :  gi}, admiring the curves
her body was developing, and smiling as Akane's bunny tail came into
view.  Akane noticed her watching and gave her rear a shake.  "So, do
I have a nice tail?"

Yeah, cute and fluffy.

***Yep***

She looked down at the pair of stiletto heels she had bought, and
sighed.  All dressed up and no place to go.  Stepping in front of the
mirror, she examined the deep v front dress she'd bought, the
neckline plunging down so far that she'd had to shave, and the lower
hem barely hiding the fact she'd dispensed with underwear.  The black
nylons accentuated the ensemble, and left her feeling incredibly
sexy.

The neckline is so low she had to shave?  That's pretty low.

***I have a pic of it.  When I'm done colorizing, I send it to Larry for the
Florestica page.***

Kasumi nodded as she wiped her hands on the apron.  "Well, I should
{defiantly : definitely} get dressed before anyone comes in."

Nothing defiant about getting dressed, unless Nabiki asks her not to.

***Damn spellchecker... and me not noticing until after it had been sent.***

Kasumi's apron {landed : sailed} over her head.  "You're terrible.  I
just want you to know that."

***And I think that qualifies as Nabiki asking her not to.  (VEG)***

It was amusing watching some of the antics her Japanese sisters went
through about something as simple as sex.  Sex was a natural
expression of love, whether it was between sisters or mates.  Amazons
kept it simple.  Sex for fun was fine between fertility periods.  Sex
for procreation was for marriage.  She'd been surprised that Zhu Shu
had never been trained to read her {bodies : body's} own signs of
when she was fertile, but she'd remedied that during their two months
hunting Ranma.  Now, judging from Nabiki's comment, it looked like
she would need to educate her new sisters as well.

I'd have thought that bit of knowledge would be essential for a well
trained courtesian.

***Extremely good point.  Thanks.  Of course with Zhu Shu's training with
herbs, she probably controls it in other ways.  If I remember, Mandrake has
been used as a contraceptive.  Humm.  need to re-read my herbology stuff.***

The figure lashed out, a line of explosions crossing the dock to
shatter the crate Tao-Ching had been behind, but he'd already moved.
His last encounter with Herb had taught him the value of not being
seen until he was ready to strike.

So he's studied 'how not to be seen'?

***YAY!  someone got the reference.  Why yes, Tao-Ching hasn't been seen in
many places that Herb blew up.

For those who don't get the reference, I'm a Monty Python fan.***

There was the sound of a metallic click.  "I see you've misunderstood
the situation Herb.  This isn't a fight."

A red pinprick of light touched Herb's temple and she started to turn
as Tao-Ching continued.

"It's an execution."

So Tao-Ching has mastered the ancient art of Ka-Ching-Pow.  That
reminds me of the sceen in, I think, Raiders of the Lost Arc where a
swordsman makes a bunch of fancy passes and is shot by Indy.  But will
she stay dead?

***Yep.  Fancy Martial arts meets heavy firepower.  The ammunition in
Tao-Ching's AK-47 was brought to you courtesy Ghost in the Shell (oav).
It's the same stuff the Uzi was filled with.  I figure if it will tear right
through a garbage truck, and an armored vehical, it would certainly go
through dragon scale.***

Tao-Ching stood on the dock grimly watching as Herb sank, waiting
nearly ten minutes before lowering the weapon and putting the safety
back on.  Finally sure Herb wasn't going to re-surface, he walked
over to the object Herb had dropped, picking up the narrow bucket and
fishing the ladle out from under the boards it had wedged into.  He
held up the bucket and laid the ladle across the handle like Lo Shen
had advised him, and smiled as a beam of light shone off into the
darkness.  With a smile, he took the bucket to his Humvee.  With a
guide like this, there was no way he'd get lost!  He'd have the
Kaisufuu back to the Tendos before morning!

No way he'd get lost?  That's just asking for it.

***Pretty much.  I didn't bother to detail the retrieval, since other than
the fight with the the monkeys (which aren't going to bother a smilodon any
more than they did a tiger, a dragon, and a wolf) all Ranma's difficulties
recovering the Kaisufuu stemmed from Herb.  It was increadably boring, other
than Tao-Ching getting lost of course.***

Under the dock, tossed carelessly by the tide, was a naked girl.
Blood was clotted from a bruised cut on her temple, a long line that
creased her skull just above her ear.  Another obvious bullet wound
pieced her left shoulder blade, the wound far cleaner than any the
men had ever seen.  She was pale from blood loss, and unconscious,
but didn't seem to be in danger of dying immediately.  The first
scavenger grinned.  "Well. This is a pretty happenstance."

Tao-Ching should have been more careful.  There's a lot to be said for
the method of dealing with vampires, stake, behead, and fill mouth with
garlic; then your really sure it's dead.

***I believe the line goes, "You could cut off his head and drop it in the
ocean and send all of his other body parts to the artic, and he'd still come
back from the dead."  And did anyone really think I was done with Herb any
more than I'm done with Happy?***

"{Truely :  Truly}.  But we certainly can't deliver her untested can
we?"  The first said as he used his foot to roll the girl over and
spread her legs to reveal her virginity.

They're so dead.

***Hehehe.  Wait and see.***

Several days passed {with out : without} word from Tao-Ching, and
Nabiki was starting to get worried.  And even hornier.  Despite
teasing her, Kasumi had so far been unbeddable, and she was getting
enormously frustrated, and was even contemplating seducing Kuno.
Tao-Ching needed to show up before she lost total control of herself!

Kuno?  That's really out of control!

***That's sort of the point.***

It had become obvious that Kasumi's theory about her animal instincts
getting worse as she came closer and closer to her period was
correct, but it didn't make it easier to deal with.  She had a week
to go before her period, and already the drive to mate was getting
unbearable.  Her reputation as an Ice Queen was already in peril with
Tao-Ching chasing her, but if he didn't get back soon, she'd end up
with a reputation as a slut worse than Ai!

Actually, wouldn't the mating urge be strongest a little before her
period?

***Yes.  But humans are unusual in that they will mate anytime.  Add the
uncontrolable urge to mate to normal human hormones, and it's easy to see
why it's so bad.  Compared to what it will be when she's 'in heat', this is
mild, but for Nabiki, the queen of control and manipulation, it's
unbearable.  Kasumi has it just as bad, but she's got better self control
because she's more used to keeping her calm.  Akane has Ranma to take her
frustrations out on.

In other words, Nabiki's not used to being a slave to her hormones.***

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?"  Nabiki yelled.  "Oh never mind where you've
been!  Are you ever going to actually ask me out officially?  Are you
going to be my boyfriend?  And if the answers yes, DO YOU HAVE A
CONDOM?"

She doesn't?  I'd expect her to plan ahead that far and have a couple
cases on hand.

***Probably, up in her room.  What makes you think she's going to wait that
long?  It's remarkable she remembered it at all.***

A cleared throat caught their attentions and they both looked to the
house.  Soun was standing there with his arms crossed, Kasumi peeking
over his shoulder.  Soun took in the fact that his daughter was
straddling the older bay and raised his eyebrow.  "Well, young man.
I think I need to ask what your intentions are towards my daughter,
since it seems she's made her intentions towards you rather clear."

Well put.

***Thank you.***

"I see."  He took a long drag on his cigarette.  "Very well, I
approve the engagement.  It's a suitable one for Nabiki, as you come
from a fine family, and Akane has accepted her familial duties to the
School."  He took Tao-Ching's hand and pumped it.  "Welcome to the
family, {son : Son}."

"Yes, {daughter : Daughter}?"

"You can't just engage me like this!"

She'd have a stronger case if she hadn't just been trying to ravish
him.

***Soun's point exactly.***

"Nabiki, you asked him if he had a condom.  That certainly tells me
you wanted to marry him.  And at least I'm certain that one of my
daughters will be in something approaching a normal relationship.
Now kiss him for pity's sake and drag him upstairs.  I'm not getting
any younger you know."

That says nothing about marriage, she just wanted raw animal sex.

***To a father of three girls?  Sex=Marriage.  Reality has nothing to do
with it.***

Then she did a double take.

*Shan Pu's* curse?

All the pieces are available, now she just has to put them together.

***Hehehe.  Not just yet.***

Thanks for the commentary, and your usual, wonderful editing.

LSMcGill

             .---Anime/Manga Fanfiction Mailing List----.
             | Administrators - ffml-admins@anifics.com |
             | Unsubscribing - ffml-request@anifics.com |
             |     Put 'unsubscribe' in the subject     |
             `---- http://ffml.anifics.com/faq.txt -----'