DNabikiTHC5

Nabiki 1/2

"A Very Scary Thought!"

THE HENTAI CHAPTER

Part Five.

By
Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by the works of Rumiko Takahashi & Others,
with special thanks to those pioneers of Super Heroics,
Siegel and Schuster, without whom my childhood would
have been a lot less interesting, and to Larry Niven for
his own rather astute observations regarding the
likely reproductive habits of Kryptonians.)

(Oh, and screw DC while we're at it)

HENTAI ALERT---YOU ARE ENTERING THE LEMON ZONE
WHERE NORMAL STANDARDS OF RESTRAINT AND DECENCY
DO NOT APPLY!  IF YOU HAVE QUALMS ABOUT SEEING
YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN IN SEXUALLY EXPLICIT SITUATION
CONCERNING BONDAGE, LESBIANISM, NUDITY, SADO-
MASOCHISM, TENTACLE RAPE AND ABUSES OF ORAL HYGIENE,
BOY HAVE YOU COME TO THE WRONG PLACE!
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!





"I can't believe that I sent my own big sister into a lair full of magic!  What 
was I thinking???"

"Aiko-chan," Beatrice calmly replied as she studied her computer, "When it comes 
to doing the thinking in this family unit, yours truly is the one who usually 
handles that part...although, now that you mention it, I should have been a bit 
more alert to the fatal flaw in your timely suggestion of going for assistance."

"In other words you screwed up royale," Keiko sniffed, once more half-clothed as 
no one was in the mood at the moment to try anything kinky, "I could have told 
you that.  If handling supernaturally charged persons like the Mistress were 
such a piece of cake, then your father could have dealt with her a long time 
ago...or---failing that---your mother..."

"Yeah, well...up until a short while ago, I'd never even heard of this Madam Lao 
character," Alison snorted, "I mean, who'd believe in an ex-Amazon martial arts 
Mistress of the Water School Elemental Storm System running around loose on a 
centuries old magically charged Chinese Junk that she uses as a floating 
pleasure palace for bondage and enslavement?  I mean, honestly...a ship where 
the ghosts of people who died there come back to live as Undine elementals that 
serve the will of their captain, and assisted by some kind of Kraken monster 
that also does her bidding?  I mean, c'mon!"

"True enough," Kodachi mused, "When you put it that way, it sounds more like the 
improbable plot of some deranged Manga artist...but Kei-chan and I know that she 
is very much real, and she was---until quite recently---our Mentor, helping me 
to free myself from the effects of a long-term drug addiction."

"But I don't understand," Akane said, "Madam Lao may be powerful, but if your 
sister's even more superhuman than you, then how can she be in any danger?"

"Good question," Ryonami noted, "If she's the American Superhero who used to be 
called Power Woman..."

"That was Power Woman?" Ryoga asked, "I thought maybe she used to be Supergirl 
or..."

"No," Alison corrected, "Supergirl used to be my cousin, Kara Zor-El, 
but...well...she's not around in this timeline any more and...we don't like to 
talk about it."

"Not in this timeline?" Akane looked to the redhead, "What do you mean?  Is 
she...dead or...?"

"Not exactly," Alison said with a tight expression, "It's just...complicated."

"So one would imagine," Kodachi mused.

"Just for the record, though," Ryonami wondered, "Just how many former 
Kryptonians are there living on this planet?"

"At last count?" Alison replied, "About a couple million, but most of those are 
shrunk down to the size of one of Beiko's Nanobots, and they all live in an ant-
colony sized bottled city that Dad keeps in his Fortress of Solitude for safe-
keeping.  The ones who walk around in our world are just a handful, mostly my 
immediate family and a couple of close attachments."

"Your father is a most remarkable man," Beatrice mused, "And not just because of 
his alien heritage.  I believe he first arrived upon our shores in the nineteen-
twenties, when he was found and adopted by your deceased grandparents."

"That's right," Alison replied, "Dad first crash landed in a corn field in 
Nebraska when he was a two-year-old infant.  Right away the folks who found and 
adopted him---the Kents---knew that there was something different about 
him...only they wouldn't know just how different until he was grown up and ready 
to move on to the big city.  Dad turned eighteen just in time to take part in 
the Second World War, and he sort-of became a secret weapon for the allies by 
living a double-life as both a spy and a superhero.  Back then Dad hadn't come 
into his full power...a Kryptonian grows in power over the years, and he 
wouldn't reach his maximum levels until he turned the equivalent of thirty-five, 
not that human age terms really apply all that well in his case.  I mean, Dad's 
around eighty or so nowadays, but you'd never know it to look at him!  Hell, he 
looks more like he could be my younger uncle instead of my father..."

"You mean you get stronger the older you get?" Ryoga asked, "Does that mean that 
you...?"

"I sure hope so," Alison shrugged, "But I'm a special case owing to my having 
Divine blood mixed in with the Kryptonian.  I don't know what my powers will 
really be like when I get to my twenties...I know Martha didn't reach her peak 
until she was twenty-eight...which is about a decade or so in her past..."

"But there's one thing I'm not getting in all of this," Ryonami said, "If your 
father's an alien, then how can he have sex with a human?  I mean...and have 
children..."

"Ah," Beatrice smiled, "The answer to that one is quite simple...Kryptonians are 
human, they're just a different branch of the family tree that's been separated 
from the main stock for around fifty-three thousand years."

"Fifty three thousand years?" Akane blinked, "Are you kidding me?"

"Nope," Alison answered, "Afraid not.  Beiko may be a real kidder sometimes, but 
this one she's gotten straight from the source, namely me.  I know pretty much 
all there is to know about Dad's people...it sort of comes with the family, 
knowing about stuff like our most intimate secrets.  What I didn't share with 
Beiko, she's mostly figured out for herself."

"Indeed," Beatrice remarked, "It may come as no surprise to some of you to learn 
that the history of the human race is...a bit more complicated than what they 
teach you in the textbooks.  Most scholars believe that human civilization began 
around six thousand years ago, with the founding of Babylon, Egypt and 
Sumeria...but I know beyond question that there have been cycles of civilization 
that have risen to great heights and have fallen by the wayside long before the 
end of the last ice age.  The cycle that we are presently in is but the latest 
of many that have come and gone before us, right back to the time of our 
ultimate beginnings well over a million years ago, when our ancestors were 
kidnapped by aliens and experimented upon to produce our earliest recognisable 
forebearers."

"Fascinating," Kodachi mused, "I have heard many theories about how human 
evolution was artificially accelerated, one reason why researchers have been 
unable to uncover enough traces of intermediate stages that would be predicted 
by Darwin's famous model..."

"Yeah, well...the long and the short of it is this," Alison remarked, "Humans 
started out as a virtual slave race working for some galaxy-spanning types who 
called themselves the Ancients, only we proved to be more adaptable over time 
and eventually replaced our masters and became the new high-powered dudes in the 
cosmos."

"Human beings, you see, have latent Psychic potential that is nearly infinite, 
due to the manipulation of our genetic code," Beatrice clarified, "And by 
learning the harness the power of our collective minds we threw off our shackles 
and went on to found our own civilization.  Unfortunately human arrogance was 
the downfall of our first great culture, but we left many traces of ourselves 
upon a thousand, thousand worlds throughout the cosmos.  The stage of humanity 
that arose from the ashes of a great Chaos War were our genetic ancestors, the 
Solnoids, only they were an entirely female-dominant race who reproduced through 
artificial means and got into a calamitous war with a rival power known as the 
Paranoids, a war that in time brought down their entire civilization.  One half 
million years ago they died off---all but for a few residual colonies on 
outlying worlds---and left in their wake a restored humanity due to a science 
experiment that combined Paranoid and Solnoid DNA to recreate the male half of 
our species."

"Less than half a million years later," Alison resumed, "We come to the time of 
Atlantis."

"Ah yes," Beatrice mused, "A renaissance period that briefly seemed to offer the 
potential of restoring humanity to the empire of glory that once was.  They were 
an advanced technological civilization that mastered the harnessing of elemental 
forces through the use of specialized crystals...but then they grew strange and 
perverse in their ideals, abusing their vast powers to begin enslaving worlds, 
and to that end they created a special genetically enhanced breed of warrior to 
form their shock-troop elite.  These were beings whose physical and mental 
attributes were enhanced to the degree of true superhumans...a warrior race 
unlike any other, so perfect in every way that they eventually started to wonder 
about the very people whom they were working for, which lead to a period of 
unrest that ancient records refer to as, 'The Ironstar Rebellion.'"

"Ironstar Rebellion?" Akane repeated.

"Ironstar was supposed to be some kind of Spartacus-like character in Kryptonian 
legends," Alison clarified, "Supposedly he fought and lost a bid for freedom for 
his people, and as punishment the Atlanteans exiled the surviving Supermen on 
several heavy-gravity worlds in three radically different star systems, colony 
worlds where normal humans could hardly survive like Krypton, Daxam and some 
barren hunk of rock used as a mining facility called Wolframa, wherever the heck 
that is.  Anyway, these three branches of humanity grew up and evolved under the 
harsh conditions that their masters thought would eventually destroy 
them...imagine how surprised they'd be to know how their Uber-races would thrive 
in their new environs."

"Indeed," Beatrice mused, "That is the truly remarkable thing about 
Kryptonians...they evolved on a tectonically unstable world that had been 
terraformed to accommodate their form of life, and every type of creature upon 
that world had been adapted with their genetic advantage...the ability to absorb 
the biosolar energy of cosmic radiation.  They are literally walking solar 
batteries whose cellular structure is charged and fortified with tremendous 
reserves of the life energy that we call Mana, the same raw element that goes 
into the formation of Chi attacks or magic.  A Kryptonian is charged full of 
this energy by the nearest available source of intense Biosolar radiation...star 
energy, if you will...and this energy has been adapted to suit the needs of 
their bodies so that they can call upon it to achieve things that the rest of us 
mere mortals describe as Superhuman."

"I see," Kodachi mused, "In other words your people evolved drawing upon the 
energy of a Red Sun, which dominated the Kryptonian star system..."

"Yeah, that's pretty much it," Alison replied, "Krypton was actually a kind of 
miniature dwarf star that hardened into a planet, circling around a full fledged 
red sun they called Rao, which was why it was chock full of heavy elements that 
originally interested the Atlanteans for mining purposes in the first place.  Of 
course when Atlantis was destroyed their whole civilization collapsed into 
ruins.  A small fragment of the empire remained on Earth and lasted right up 
until the Ice Age ended, which is pretty much why the only evidence that the 
empire even existed is found in musty old libraries and ancient ruins."

"Let me see if I get this straight," Keiko remarked, "Your people evolved under 
a red sun on a dwarf star, subjected to tremendous forces of gravity and 
whatever, but when your dad came to Earth he was subjected to the more intense 
biosolar radiation stuff of Earth's yellow sun, and that's what made him into 
such a superhuman?"

"Pretty much, yeah," Alison replied, "Earth's sun is about ten thousand times 
more intense than Rao was in its Biosolar output levels, which means Dad grew up 
absorbing about a million times the life energy dosage that he would have gotten 
back on Krypton.  Every cell in his body is just plain saturated with the stuff, 
and even when he exhausts himself by using it, he's adapted so much to Earth 
conditions that he can replenish his reserves within seconds.  Of course he 
didn't gain that ability all at once...it took time and all that.  That's why, 
when he was a small boy, the most he could pick up was the back end of a small 
truck, and when he was nine or so a whole Tractor was the most he could lift and 
carry.  By the time he got to be my age, though, he was already juggling tanks 
on his little finger.  Just imagine what the American War Department must have 
made of him when he enlisted!"

"Indeed," Beatrice remarked, "But the truly odd thing was that they did not 
immediately jump at the prospect of using his vast abilities against the Axis.  
There was too much concern back then about the moral effect of a literal 
Superman coming to aid America against the Nazi empire.  More than a few in the 
State Department felt that a victory achieved through the efforts of a single 
individual might cheapen the contributions and sacrifices being made by ordinary 
human beings.  There were also those who were either jealous or suspicious of 
any one man possessing so much vast potential, and the difficulty that might be 
had in controlling him should he prove to be...difficult to manage."

"Human paranoia," Keiko sighed, "Don't you just love it?"

"Of course they changed their minds a bit when they found out about Dad's two 
great weaknesses, Kryptonite and Magic," Alison remarked, "Hitler had possession 
of a powerful spear that could even hurt Dad and weaken him if he got too close 
to it.  It was one of several Nazi talismans that convinced the War Department 
that he could be best used in an undercover role, playing the part of a lowly 
War Correspondent.  That was how Dad wound up working for a major metropolitan 
Newspaper instead of working on a farm to help his mom pay for bills that 
started piling up after his dad had a heart attack.  The government started 
footing those bills while Dad went to work as a fearless Nazi fighter, sometimes 
appearing from out of nowhere to rally the troops, then vanishing back into his 
secret identity in time for the regular grunts to take all of the credit."

"But...wait a minute," Akane said, "Why is your dad so vulnerable to magic?"

"Well...like I said," Alison shrugged, "His body absorbs life energy, mostly 
from the Sun, but he's pretty much open to other forms of psychic and spiritual 
energy, and he can absorb that, too, through the pores in his skin.  Dad never 
got any magic training growing up, so he didn't have any psychic defenses back 
then that could help him resist a magic spell if it's powerful enough to 
overwhelm him.  It wasn't until he started hanging around with Mom that he 
really got a grip over his abilities and gained some partial resistance to the 
stuff."

"Indeed," Beatrice remarked, "Your father had a rather conventional upbringing, 
for all that he was anything but a conventional kind of mortal.  His cells are 
supercharged to the degree that they generate an a near-totally impenetrable 
psychic shield that blocks out kinetic forces on a wide scale, as well as 
reinforcing his molecular structural integrity so that even the force of a major 
explosion can hardly do more than muss his hair up a little.  That field extends 
to anything in which he is in physical contact, which is also why he can pick up 
heavy objects without damaging them.  By extending this power through the 
projection of his will he can also defy gravity, accelerate to superhuman 
speeds, project a devastating force attack through direct line-of-sight 
transmission---which the press has erroneously mislabeled as 'Heat Vision...'"

"Right," Alison sniffed, "I blame it on the pulp novels, comic books and 
fictionalized TV shows that were created about Dad for giving people the wrong 
idea that he's some kind of walking x-ray machine spying on ladies beneath their 
dresses.  Actually all that visual stuff is just some kind of Clairvoyance that 
Dad picked up along the way, and the rest...well...a Kryptonian's ears can hear 
a snowflake falling to earth at a mile's distance.  The only reason that Dad 
can't see through lead is that there's some kind of psychic resistance thing 
that has to do with that particular metal...he sure doesn't have any trouble 
looking past other dense elements..."

"Lead is traditionally the 'Dull Element' associated with the planet Saturn," 
Beatrice remarked, "I would theorize that it has a peculiar grounding effect 
that diminishes a Kryptonian's perceptual ability, much like it can also block 
out the peculiar radiation signature of Kryptonite, regardless of thickness..."

"What is this Kryptonite anyway?" Ryoga asked, having become perversely 
fascinated in the discussion of a history that did not quite "feel right" to him 
for some odd reason...

"Well," Alison shrugged, "When Krypton blew up it caused a chain reaction that 
seems to have turned a lot of the surface into this growing green mass of highly 
charged space junk.  When Dad's spaceship warped out of the Rao star system it 
created a temporary worm hole through which a bunch of Kryptonite got sucked in, 
and gradually they made it all the way to Earth, in spite of Krypton having been 
many light years away from this planet."

"Indeed," Beatrice added, "The current theory is that this Kryptonite, which is 
element 126 upon the current Periodic table, got mingled into an alloy with 
deposits of iron ore during the crystallization process that resulted from the 
planetary explosion.  It emits a low-level radiation that is---mostly---harmless 
to humans but devastating to Kryptonians.  This radiation---which has been 
artificially duplicated in the past---seems to be keyed to the distinctive 
molecular signature of Kryptonians and has the effect of causing the cells in 
their bodies to be 'expunged' of their stores of life-giving mana.  Long-term 
exposure to Kryptonite can be unavoidably fatal, but short doses are less 
damaging than---say---if a human were to be subjected to more toxic forms of 
radiation.  Kryptonite can weaken a Kryptonian to the point where their body 
ceases to function on a normal level.  Of course this only pertains to the 
Verdant portion of the electromagnetic spectrum...and since the source of a 
Kryptonian's superhuman abilities lies within the green portion of the Solar 
Spectrum..."

"I get it," Ryonami said, "Kryptonite cancels out their ability to absorb this 
Solar Chi force, just like Magic can overwhelm their psychic defenses...but does 
the same thing apply to you, Aiko-chan?"

"Naw," Alison smiled, "I'm a little more...unique than that.  Mom's half of my 
make-up is part God, and they eat Magic like it was rice.  I tend to absorb all 
kinds of energy to make me strong and healthy...don't know why I don't have the 
full range of Kryptonian abilities, though.  Mom's been wanting to teach me for 
years how to fly, but all I seem to be able to do is leap an eighth of a mile or 
so...guess maybe I'll gain more abilities when I get older."

"I theorize that Aiko's 'God Gene' is a recessive trait that counterbalances her 
Kryptonian half," Beatrice remarked, "Thankfully she is neither vulnerable to 
Kryptonite nor Magic.  Oh, I am convinced that there are certain types of spells 
that might work upon her physiology, but so far I have yet to seriously test 
this theory..."

"What spells?" Alison eyed her domestic partner with suspicion.

"Well, for one thing," Beatrice smiled, "There is Jusenkyo water...I seriously 
doubt it if would be a good idea for you to visit any cursed springs in the near 
future.  I rather like you the way you are...barefoot and pregnant."

"Hmph," Alison scowled, though not in a very convincing manner.

"So, let me see if I have this straight," Keiko spoke up again, "You're worried 
that your half-sister, who is more Kryptonian than you, could wind up falling 
prey to the Mistress?"

"Well, wouldn't you be?" Alison replied, "The thing about Martha is she can be a 
little bit...headstrong, know what I mean?  She thinks that, just because she's 
one of the toughest ladies on the planet, that she doesn't have a whole lot to 
fear from any run-of-the-mill bad guy..."

"But Lao isn't exactly ordinary," Akane realized, "And you think she might not 
realize just how dangerous she can be, huh?"

"Well, don't get me wrong about this," Alison explained, "I know my big Sis can 
be pretty...resourceful when she has to be, but...she's only into this 
Superheroing thing on a part-time basis these days.  She says her private 
identity as the CEO of a Multimedia Publishing Industry takes up way too much 
time for her to be running around the world chasing down bad guys.  I'm afraid 
that she's out of practice and might get a little...sloppy..."

"And if there is one certainty in this world," Kodachi summarized, "It is that 
one should never underestimate an Amazon, especially THIS particular Amazon, who 
has made it abundantly clear in the past that she can resist anything except 
temptation..."

"And boy," Keiko remarked as she thought back to her own first impressions on 
seeing Martha, "That sister of yours makes for a LOT of temptation.  I just hope 
the Mistress doesn't bite off more than she can chew this time..."

"I sure hope not," Alison smacked herself on the forehead, "Why couldn't I have 
thought twice before calling on her?  If only I knew what my other sister, Lyta, 
is doing these days, but she kind of dropped out of sight after getting involved 
in that Infinity Incorporated mess about a decade back..."

"What about your Mother?" Beatrice suggested, "She seems to be far more capable 
of dealing with magical situations."

"You think I want Mom to stick her neck out in some damned Tiger's lair, with 
her history around bondage?" Alison sniffed, "Think again!  Besides...she and 
Martha don't exactly get along too well...it's kind of a messy situation..."

"They don't get along?" Akane blinked, "Why?"

"Because Mom's a Pagan and Martha's a mainstream Christian-type," Alison 
shrugged, "Doesn't really make all that much sense to me.  I mean...Martha knows 
that the ancient Gods of Greece are real and all that, but she tends to be 
suspicious of anything supernatural that doesn't have a cross hanging from it.  
That's why she never let Mom teach her the oriental wisdom of I Ching to help 
her cope with magical stuff, like Dad now does.  Hooboy...Dad!  If he finds out 
about this...if anything happens to Martha...he's gonna hit the ceiling big 
time!"

"Let's hope that it doesn't come down to that," Kodachi averred, "But if does 
come to a crisis situation, well...no offense to your sister, but I would put my 
money with the Mistress..."




A Kryptonian, even a half-breed like Martha herself, had the amazing power of 
oxygen retention that went well beyond the normal biochemical processes of the 
average respiratory system.  It was possible for them to survive on a single 
breath of air for well over an hour without ill effects, which was handy when it 
came to investigating the underwater damages sustained by the vessel currently 
resting in drydock.  It liberated Martha from such encumbrances as having to 
wear a bulky air tank system as she made a close-up inspection of the blast 
damage, attempting to determine if her theory was right as to the nature of 
explosive that could create such a huge rupture. It would take several hours for 
the dock to finish draining once all the bracing was in place, and Martha was in 
a hurry.

Among her various visual enhancements was the ability to "focus" her eyes on 
some microscopic point with the power of a 4000x magnifying lens, a handy thing 
when it came to studying the unique molecular imprint of various chemical 
compounds that she had memorized in her days as a full-time heroine.  Helena had 
always stressed the importance of knowing one substance on sight from another, 
and having the abilities of a human crime lab certainly did come in handy in 
that department.  Given all that, there were enough residual traces of the 
explosive (not yet corroded by seawater) to conclude what type of explosive had 
been used, and from there to deduce the likely means of conveyance, at which 
point she narrowed things down and eliminated her first hypothesis (that it had 
been un unexploded mine from the World War Two era) and settled on her second 
hypothesis...that the explosion was indeed the work of a torpedo.

Given the placement of the blast, and her somewhat extensive knowledge of 
munitions, it was easy to deduce that the torpedo was of Russian manufacture, 
most likely a surplus relic dating from the Cold War, and that it had packed 
sufficient force to more than cripple the liner, though why it had been fired in 
the first place was not so easily determined.  Since only one type of vessel 
tended to use such things, it was logical to deduce that a submarine had been in 
the waters and was the likely perpetrator.  That only left the question of why a 
Russian, Chinese, or possibly North Korean submarine would fire a torpedo in 
anger on a civilian ship.  To answer that question she was going to have to do 
some more investigating, and preferably at the original point where the incident 
had happened.

That being decided, Martha exited the damaged hull and broke the surface of the 
water, emerging out of the drydock as she levitated back to a reasonably dry 
area, pausing only to shake loose the residual moisture that slid off of her 
invulnerable body.  She landed beside the Captain and immediately reported to 
him, "I think I know what caused the explosion, but I'm going to have to ask if 
I can see your log so I can trace things back to the source.  I trust that your 
radioman had the presence of mind to mark your location?"

"Of course, it's standard procedure," the Captain replied as he gave a sad-eyed 
glance at his once-proud ship, now resting within a Taiwanese shipyard, "It's 
the least I can do after the way you brought us here in under two hours.  Such 
an amazing achievement..."

"Not really," Martha shrugged modestly, though privately she thought that her 
father would be proud of her.  Even though he could have covered the same 
distance of ocean in one tenth of the time by carrying the ship to safety, 
Martha's own achievement had been nonetheless quite impressive, achieving as she 
did a velocity of over a hundred and fifty knots easy.  Perhaps her powers had 
not so badly atrophied over the years through periodic disuse.  Her father had 
always said that she would grow stronger as she got older, and now that she was 
in her late thirties...

She broke off that line of thought, not wanting to remind herself of her current 
lifestyle, or lack thereof.  Two more years and she would turn forty, and what 
did she have to show for herself?  One broken marriage and a daughter who had 
gone off to college, and a business that now took much the major portion of her 
life, also a legacy she had inherited from her father.

She was still grumbling over that a few minutes later as she headed back out to 
sea to find the coordinates that had been logged by the ship's radioman when he 
sent out the SOS, complaining bitterly as she went about how dull and uneventful 
her life had become of late, more a routine than a genuine adventure.  Not at 
all like things had been for her in her younger days, when life seemed like one 
gigantic riddle to be solved with so many causes to be championed, back when 
being a Superheroine meant something, back when life really mattered and 
thoughts of finding 'the right man' had been the great obsession of her life.

Well, the 'Right Man' had certainly come along, and she had even married the 
guy, only to have that marriage crumble after only a decade together.  Life 
could really be unfair sometimes, and the men she had dated since her divorce 
had become final were a string of unending disappointments.  Sometimes she had 
even resorted to courting men who were also in 'the business' of Superheroics, 
but they often proved to be an even bigger disappointment than the Mundane types 
she flirted with in her 'secret identity.'  Over time she just found herself 
less and less interested in forcing the issue and had turned instead towards her 
business interests in order to find the fulfillment that her life was otherwise 
lacking.

She had, at first, briefly retired from the trade almost twenty years ago in 
order to give birth to her only daughter, but now her beloved 'baby' girl seemed 
hell-bent and determined to drive her mother crazy through one 'lifestyle 
change' right after another.  If it wasn't dating an Andromedan and winding up 
with a tattoo (and how the heck did one put a tattoo on a Kryptonian, let alone 
all that body piercing!) it was suddenly up and announcing to her mother that 
she had determined that she was a Lesbian, and then began that torrid affair 
with the daughter of Doctor Polaris (frankly, Martha had never seen the 
attraction).  Then it was all those CAUSES that Joan would embrace like they 
were the flavor of the month...in Martha's day a cause at least meant something!  
About the only cause that Joan refused to have anything to do with were the 
Young Republicans (she tended to think of them as a minor league bunch of 
Supervillains) and anything that had anything to do with mainstream religion!  
And then there was that hero-name that Joan had adopted, 'Rad,' that and the 
costume she had chosen to wear, like it came out of an alternative comic book or 
something!  That alone almost gave her mother epileptic fits just thinking about 
it!

And to think, normal 'Mundane' mothers only had to worry about their children 
taking drugs and joining gangs...as if Martha could ever be so lucky...!

Such were the state of her thoughts as she sought to gain altitude for a little 
'sub-orbital mini-jaunt' that would cut her flight time down to just a couple of 
minutes, that she utterly failed to take notice of an oddly rolling cloud-bank 
that faintly appeared on the horizon.  It was still many hours away from 
reaching the Taiwanese port, but little did Martha suspect that her intended 
quarry was passing by directly below her moving in the opposite direction, 
protected from normal visual observation by a curious quasi-dimensional 
inversion that could only have been penetrated if Martha had been looking 
directly towards it.

That she did not notice that her quarry was headed for the very same port where 
she had dry-docked the passenger vessel was a significant detail that would not 
occur to her until sometime later, but of course this was of no immediate 
relevance at all to Madam Lao, who at that very moment had her own hands full 
just seeing to the needs of slightly less than two thousand unanticipated 'house 
guests,' though if she had chanced to glance skyward she might have sensed a 
propitious omen of what significantly was about to happen...




"There now," Lao said to her latest of many patients, "No problems in your eyes, 
you don't seem to be experiencing a concussion.  Just a few bumps and bruises, 
young lady, nothing that won't fix itself in time with a little rest and care."

"Thank you, Captain-san," the teenaged girl smiled pleasantly, "You are most 
kind.  I was just a little careless in making my descent down those stairs..."

"I'd call getting almost trampled by a panicking mob more than a simple act of 
carelessness," Lao chided, "You're lucky not to have been hurt much worse than 
you are...but I think you'll be fit enough to debark when we reach port in a few 
more hours."

She turned away from the profusely grateful young girl, hiding a predatory smile 
as she contemplated the subliminal suggestion that she had surreptitiously 
implanted in the girl's subconscious.  Lao had made a cursory inspection of the 
girl's thoughts and had determined her suitability to be 'educated' at some 
later time and place, one of fifty-or-so other young women who had been so 
designated by Lao and her minions during the rescuing process.  She was young, 
impressionable, had few dependents, was traveling with her guardian and was of 
an age and temperament where training in the 'Arts' would likely yield great 
promise.  That Lao was not intending to Poach the girl right then and now was a 
minor technicality...the point was that these girls had been 'marked' and could 
be picked up at a later time was all that truly mattered.  Even her formidable 
husband could not fault Lao for using such discretion in selecting her future 
targets.  Girls such as these showed great potential as courtesans, and it would 
be far easier to get away with claiming them if Lao took her time and did not 
try to rush matters in such a way that blame would inevitably fall upon her 
shoulders.

Besides, Lao had already decided that a rescue mission of this magnitude was 
more of an occasion to grain 'Brownie' points in the good deed department of 
public relations.  Sometimes showing off her 'benevolent' side was smarter 
tactically than using expediency to achieve the results that she was after.  The 
girl would have time to put her affairs in order, let everyone know that she was 
expecting to leave her home town 'for a bit,' then quietly vanish into the night 
when Lao or her agents finally came calling.  Best of all, the girl might even 
think it was her own idea for picking up on Lao's 'suggestion,' so this really 
was a win-win scenario to her larcenous way of thinking.

Lao took notice of the fact that her own Quartermaster, Lucy, was standing 
nearby with her ever-present log-books and stylus.  Lao had a fair idea of what 
the woman would say to her but gave her permission anyway with a slightly 
exasperated, "What is it now, Lucy?"

"Mistress," Lucy indicated her open ledgers and said, "I have conducted a quick 
survey of the requirements of our guests and have concluded that these people 
will soon be eating us out of house and home if we don't land them somewhere, 
and quickly."

"Are our food stores so limited?" Lao asked, "I had not been aware of any 
shortages until now..."

"Mistress," Lucy said, "We are low on citrus fruits and numerous vegetables, and 
the medical supplies that we are using up at an alarming rate would constitute 
our yearly supplies under even the most advantageous situations.  We are also 
fast using up our stores of clean blankets and bedding and may soon have to 
house some of these people in the unused holds, which could lead to some 
awkward...questions about what we are doing with those holds currently occupied 
by cargo..."

"I get the point," Lao nodded, "I'm having our people confine these folks to 
just the decks cleared for regular tourists.  When we hit port I'll send some 
people ashore with you to pick up the supplies of whatever we need.  I'll also 
off-load a few slaves to help pay for the costs...might as well make a profit 
while we're visiting the Taiwanese port ahead of or normal schedule..."

"I take it you have already selected the girls whom you are training for your 
clients in Taipei?" Lucy inquired.

"I think you already know the ones who will bring a good price on the market," 
Lao shrugged, "Make the arrangements you need and organize a supply party.  I 
think I'll even grant some shore leave to a few of the girls just to make it 
seem as though we are ordinary merchants just conducting our routine business."

"Very good, Mistress," Lucy nodded, "I will attend to these matters at once."

The Quartermaster turned away to leave just as Nabiki arrived, dressed in a pair 
of cut-off-shorts and a light T-shirt while being escorted by two of Lao's 
Undine servants.  Lao smiled when she saw the younger girl and said, 
"Ah...Tendo-san...or should that be Saotome now?  My servants informed me that 
you wished to see me?"

Nabiki scanned the crowded main deck of the POJ, taking notice of the dozens of 
obviously sick and injured being attended to, then said, "Keeping you busy 
playing Good Samaritan?"

"Busy enough," Lao replied, "And there's not exactly a law against helping 
ordinary people, is there?"

"No," Nabiki replied, "I'm just wondering what you get out of playing hero.  I 
can't say the role really suits you..."

"Aw, I am so very sorry to hear you say that, Nabiki-chan," Lao smiled 
indulgently, "It might surprise you to know that I do have my humanitarian 
impulses.  True, they often tend to get set aside when a matter of business 
should arise, but I was trained in basic healing by my Aunt Comb long before I 
became an exile, and I simply cannot abide seeing an innocent person suffering 
while I can do something to alleviate their suffering..."

"Unless, of course, you're the one who got them that way to begin with," Nabiki 
noted.

"Well, that does go without saying," Lao conceded, "So...what can I do to you?  
Um...I mean...for you, since you're taking time away from your loved ones to be 
here?"

"I just want to know what you plan on doing with us," Nabiki said flatly, "With 
all of us, including these people."

"Well, these people are going to go back on shore just as soon as I can arrange 
it," Lao replied, "But as for you and the others...that is an interesting 
question.  I don't suppose that I could talk you into taking an extended 
pleasure cruise with us as I transport you to your original destination in 
Australia?"

"No," Nabiki dead-panned, "I don't think that would be too prudent."

"Such a pity," Lao sighed, "And here I was so looking forward to spending more 
time visiting with my cousins, especially since we now have so much in common.  
I don't often get to see family with whom I am still on speaking terms, let 
alone such delightful company as Shampoo and Perfume-chan..."

"What do you mean...you have so much in common?" Nabiki frowned, and if she had 
been the thing she feared the most (other than a bill collector) her ears would 
have flattened at that moment.

"Can't you guess?" Lao leered, "We all three have been screwed around by our 
great-grandmother, Cologne, the current Matriarch of our people.  You already 
know what my beef with her is, but the recent revelations concerning the issue 
of Lotion and Cologne's manipulations of the truth in that regard...shocking.  
Added to that are the other secrets that great-grandmother has been hiding all 
this time and...well...you can see what I mean about having so much in common."

"All right," Nabiki growled, "Suppose I buy that.  What guarantee would any of 
us have that you won't revert to type and try and turn the lot of us into more 
of your mindless love-slaves?"

"My women are hardly mindless," Lao sniffed, "Honestly, whatever gave you that 
impression?"

"The fact that you play around with their minds and can manipulate their 
thoughts at your discretion," Nabiki ticked off with one finger, "The fact that 
freedom of choice with you is never really free, and that you treat these people 
like they're your property, to do with as you see fit..."

"All right," Lao conceded, "I suppose, by your lights, that what I do can seem 
harsh, cruel and coercive, but you know that I would never willingly inflict 
genuine harm or suffering to my people, no matter what else you may believe of 
me.  I am not the very devil personified, I'm just a business woman who likes to 
have some fun on the sidelines, and what is the harm in that?"

"The harm," Nabiki said carefully and precisely, "...Is that you're warping 
these young girls into a reflection of your twisted fantasies.  How can I 
believe anything that you say when you treat even those closest to you like they 
were playthings?  In fact, if anything, you remind me of..." she paused.

"Yes?" Lao arched an eyebrow, "You were about to compare me to my great-
grandmother, correct?"

"H-Hai," Nabiki responded, surprised at being so anticipated.

"It may surprise you to know this, but I do not actually hate my great-
grandmother," Lao replied, "I am very much aware that some of my actions come 
perilously close to being like those of an Elder, but that is the nature of the 
Tribe that I have created here on my ship, a sort of  'Amazons in Exile' kind of 
deal with myself, Blossom and Lotus forming its center.  They are my two closest 
friends, the ones who willingly followed me into exile after helping me to 
rescue my son, Breeze, from the Musk Dynasty fortress that once had been my 
prison.  I love them very much, bumbling and well-intentioned as they may be, 
and one could hardly ask for companions half so loyal.  Yes, I do subject them 
to my own perverse whims and intentions, but you won't find either of them 
complaining about it, and I assure you that this is NOT because either one of 
them is brainwashed.  Is it really so surprising to you to conceive that anyone 
might willingly be a part of my crew because the actually WANT to be here?"

"Ah...well..." it was Nabiki's turn to falter. "Yes."

"I think I see what your problem is," Lao mused, "You are a very paranoid and 
self-possessed individual who believes that she must always be in control, that 
surrendering this control will make you less of a person, possibly even a 
victim.  You find it difficult, if not impossible, to understand the mentality 
of a submissive, one who willingly submits herself to the will of another."

"Well..." Nabiki actually thought about it for a moment. "Yes."

"Do you think that a person who voluntarily submits to the will of another is 
any less a person than one who demands to always have her own way?" Lao 
persisted, "Now who is limited in their thinking?"

"Look," Nabiki frowned, "Like I said before, I'm not here to argue the merits or 
lack thereof of your business, but I want to make it clear that my family and I 
are strictly off-limits..."

"Are you so certain that this is what you want?" Lao asked, "Would it be at all 
possible for me to challenge you into putting your resolve to the ultimate 
test?"

"What?  Challenge?" Nabiki blinked.

"Simply put," Lao smiled, "You willingly submit yourself to me for a week and 
allow me to work my will upon you, and if---at the end of the week---you have 
not willingly given in nor accepted me as your Mistress, then you will be free 
to go without constraint nor hesitation."

"Are you crazy?" Nabiki all but blurted, earning curious looks from the various 
people being treated on the main deck, "No, scratch that!  You are crazy!  I'd 
never willingly submit myself to you..."

"Is that a counter-challenge I hear you offering?" Lao mused coyly, "Be mindful, 
we have a truce between us that lasts for as long as you and your people do not 
attempt to cause me any trouble.  I will abide by this truce because it is the 
will of my husband, who wants you treated fairly and returned to your home in 
good order.  I am not asking that you trust me completely and without 
reservations, only that you put your resolve to the test since you seem to think 
that I am some kind of a monster.  In truth my husband is THE Monster, but you 
will never find a man more honorable nor---ahem---upright."

"I just don't get you," Nabiki shook her head from side to side, "You're 
challenging me to let you torture me for a week, and you actually think that 
isn't a truce violation?"

"Not at all," Lao replied, "I won't even use my most coercive methods, and I'll 
abstain completely from using any and all of my mind-tricks to---as you would 
put it---brainwash you.  I will only use soft methods of calculated 
persuasion...YOU will do the rest for yourself, little girl, and learn to 
appreciate what I offer, and---what is more---you will LIKE it.  No, more than 
that, you will even thank me for your lessons when this is over."

"Not a chance," Nabiki snorted.

"Suit yourself," Lao made a waving gesture, "But the offer is open any time you 
wish to take it.  I am only seeking to impress on you that I really not such a 
bad person, when you get to know me."

"Yeah, right," Nabiki dismissed, "I'll believe that when I believe in Elvis 
sightings..."

"By the way," Lao gracefully changed the subject, "I've been meaning to ask 
you...how does that darling husband of yours truly feel about you always seeking 
to one-up him?  I've noticed that he's been more willing of late to demand co-
equal billing, though I confess that I never imagined that he would go as far as 
he did in attempting to please you..."

Nabiki furiously tried not to blush at the suggestive hint in that comment, but 
her mind immediately flashed back to when Ranma had rear-mounted her in her male 
aspect, a gesture as wholly unexpected as it was surprisingly...pleasant...

"That's...none of your business!" Nabiki flared and started to turn around when 
Lao stopped her once again with an even more casual comment.

"By the way," the Pirate Queen said, "The shorts and shirt are a loan, but I 
expect you will discard them when you return to the Harem.  I really must insist 
upon maintaining the dress code.  You understand why, don't you?"

"Because you like getting your cheap thrills by watching us parade ourselves in 
the all-together?" Nabiki snapped.

"Well, there is that," Lao admitted slyly, "But the real reason is simple...all 
my women are equal in status.  There can be only one Mistress in my Harem, but 
by removing all physical obstacles, save for chains of pleasure, I remind 
everyone that they sisters of one skin, one flesh.  I am first among equals 
within my own Seraglio...and perhaps you will understand that one day when you 
settle down with your own harem.  It's so nice to relax in an environment of 
comity without any impediment to physical cohabitation."

Nabiki offered no response to that, but she scowled mightily as the Undine 
escorted her back into the hold of the ship.

"Ah...Tendo-chan," Lao mused to herself with naked lust in her expression, "You 
have no idea what fun awaits you.  Ah, to be young and naïve like that once 
again..."

"Mistress?" Lotus asked, having taken that moment to approach her captain.

"Ah," Lao acknowledged her pink-haired Second Officer with a smile, "Just 
reminiscing.  There are time when Nabiki-chan reminds me so much of what I was 
like when I was her age...if I had only known what life held in store for me 
back then..." she shook her head in rue.

Lotus thought back to what her current Mistress had been like ten years ago, 
back when all three of them---Lao, Lotus and Blossom---had been prisoners held 
in bondage by the then-owner of the POJ, a cruel and cunning man who had used 
them poorly, right up until he saw the chance at offering Lao what he termed as 
'her freedom' by playing him a card game with the POJ as the ultimate prize for 
the winner.  To even Lao's own surprise she won, and promptly gained possession 
as the new owner of a cursed Junk whose ghosts were still quite living.  Of 
course the former owner's sense of joy at being 'liberated' had come to a bad 
end---as had the man himself, and rightfully so---but it still served to remind 
Lotus how much her friend and now-Captain had changed over the years since 
gaining this vessel.

The Lao who was had been young, naïve and idealistic, not at all the seasoned 
and cynical leader that she was today, and beyond question it would have 
appalled the 'Lao who Was' to see what she would become after ten years as the 
POJ's undisputed Mistress.  Most likely the two of them would have come to blows 
over the slave issue, which did indeed remind Lotus very much of some of those 
same noble traits that were in evidence around Nabiki.

Aloud what she said was, "I fear there may be trouble, Mistress.  Tendo-san does 
not hide the fact that she is plotting your downfall."

"I know that she is thinking about giving my presence away to the authorities," 
Lao replied, "But she will not act so long as there is even the potential of 
collateral harm befalling her loved ones.  I hold their safety no less high than 
my own welfare, but if Nabiki acts improperly, no matter what her reasons, then 
I will be prepared to respond accordingly, exactly as the situation dictates."

"I see," Lotus replied, "So...should we be making preparations just in case 
Tendo-san and her family will be making an extended stay?"

"I'd say be ready...just in case it becomes necessary," Lao said slyly, "But let 
the first move be hers to make.  No one will hold me to blame if the first one 
to fire a shot is Nabiki instead of myself, and besides...there is something 
else I seek to learn from them before we allow them to depart our fair company."

"And...this is?" Lotus hesitated, knowing that she was being overbold to even 
ask the question.

"Saotome Ranma," Lao smiled a tigerish smile, "He holds the secret of a new 
technique that I am very much interested in learning.  This Kamasenken of 
his...I see in it great potential..."

"Potential for mischief, Mistress?" Lotus asked.

"Is there any other kind around here?" Lao replied, and chuckled softly at her 
own private humor...




Now this was passing odd, thought Martha to herself as she surveyed the blue 
ocean far below her, scanning the area until she took note of a peculiar dark 
shape resting on the bottom of said ocean, clear enough for her vision to make 
out distinctive details that more than fit the bill for her submarine thesis.  
The submarine had North Korean markings and a distinctive shape that suggested 
its Russian origins, of a type and size that was unmistakably cold war era 
attack boat, listed by NATO as 'Whiskey' class, but certainly not intended for 
depths lower than a mile, which was where it was presently resting.

As she studied the layout of the wreckage it had become obvious that the sub had 
neither exploded nor suffered from depth crush, though it clearly had been 
crushed as though a pair of massive hands had gripped it and applied 
unbelievable pressure to the hull.  An explosion would have spread things 
outward, and the metal was clearly twisted in an inward manner, much like a tube 
that had been twisted in the hands of a giant.  Given the state of the wreckage, 
and the obvious lack of rust or decay, it appeared to have taken place fairly 
recently, such as within the last few hours.

She debated giving the sub a closer inspection but decided that she had taken 
enough swimming lessons for one afternoon.  Her mission was to find out where 
the passengers had gotten off to, and to discover the whereabouts of that 
phantom ship that looked like a Chinese Junk from the pre-Han era.  To do that 
she needed to remain airborne in order to select a likely direction that the 
ship might have taken.

And there hung the problem that was presently facing her...which way to look for 
a mysterious 'ghost ship' that could appear and disappear like a phantom?  
Especially one large enough to house seventeen hundred passengers and less 
essential crewmen?  More to the point, which direction to turn before she ran 
out of air and had to return to a glide orbit that would carry her back into the 
atmosphere?  From where she currently floated there were hundreds of possible 
directions from which to choose...so, which one would be the likeliest to head 
follow?

Oh well, as her friend Helena was wont to say, the best detectives always 
followed their hunches, and while she was no where near in the class of her 
fellow superhero turned District Attorney, Martha had learned the value of going 
with her hunches.

Now, where did one find a 'Flying Dutchman of the Orient' like this ship was 
described as being?  According to the rumors that she had gathered from the 
crew, such a vessel had been seen plying its trade along the travel routes of 
both the Sea of Japan and China, though this most recent sighting was said to be 
a bit south of its normal routes.  The problem was that this ship was alleged to 
be some type of modern day pirate vessel, and who believed in pirates of that 
sort in this day and age?  (Of course several previous encounters with self-
described pirates did spring to mind, but those cases had been solved ages ago, 
or so Martha had preferred to believe until the present.)  And the rumor that 
this pirate could barely be seen as more than a cloud of fog traveling over the 
surface of the water...

Huh?

A cloud of fog?  A sudden flash of memory drew her mind back by a quarter of the 
hour to when she had been gaining altitude with the ocean vanishing below her.  
There had been a shadow on the surface of the water that had been logged by her 
subconscious, and having the power of total recall at her disposal allowed her 
to replay those memories now, a cloud that was moving against the wind and the 
direction of the water as though possessed of a mind of its own.  Such 
suspicious things were the sort of anomaly that a superhero was supposed to keep 
an eye out for, and she mentally kicked herself for not noticing it in the first 
place.

Well, no harm done, and she still had enough air in her lungs to sustain her on 
a leisurely glide back into the atmosphere, and since that meant angling her 
descent to move against the Earth's rotation, that would save her a lot of the 
fuss and the bother.  With any luck she could catch up with the ship while it 
was at sea in another ten minutes, and then she'd find out just what sort of a 
phantom she was dealing with, and maybe have some answers, one way or another...




"Ah, what a day," Lao mused as she returned to the bridge, "So many interesting 
challenges yet to face, and it's not even past four thirty.  How soon until we 
reach Taipei, Galena?"

"Four more hours at our present course and speed, Mistress," the officer of the 
watch replied, "With assist from the Kraken we are making good progress, and at 
our present rate of progress we will arrive just after sunset, when the twilight 
gleam will dim our image profile to near invisibility, as you have commanded."

"Excellent," Lao smiled, "There will be enough questions to have to answer just 
delivering our guests to port, and bribing the customs officers is bound to be 
expensive.  I don't think I can rely too heavily on my political ties to cover 
our tracks for an operation this huge.  Seventeen hundred people being 
successfully transported to shore is the sort of thing that could draw unwanted 
publicity...but if I wanted to leave a quiet, safe life, I'd still be living in 
a hut back in China."

"As you say, Mistress," the Helmswoman responded, "By the way, you have a call 
on line one...she's been waiting for the past several minutes, and it is a 
collect call, so..."

"A collect call?" Lao smacked herself on the forehead with the back of one hand, 
"Oh no!  Kei-chan, I completely forgot!  You should have told me about it at 
once that she had called again..."

"Our apologies, Mistress," the Helmswoman bowed, "We had trouble locating you, 
but when we heard that you were returning to the bridge we asked Keiko-san to 
hold her call until we could inform you."

"I'll discipline you for this later," Lao replied as she picked up the phone 
that was near to her command chair, "Mushi-Mushi...Keiko-chan, are you there?"

"Mistress?" the familiar voice of the redhead replied, "Thank the Kami!  
Listen...if Nabiki and the others are there, are they all right?  What the hell 
happened to her ocean liner?  Who was in that sub that fired on them?  And...not 
to criticize or anything...but...what are your plans for them, Mistress?"

"Slow down, Kei-chan," Lao smiled affectionately, "You don't need to call me 
Mistress anymore, Kodachi-chan is your new owner.  Just call me 'My Lady,' 
so...in answer to your questions, yes, Nabiki and her loved ones are all safe 
and happy on my ship, along with the excess crew that survived the blast, which 
was caused by a torpedo...but...how did you know that a sub fired on them and 
not me?"

"Please Mis...um...My lady," Keiko stumbled over the change in terms, which 
brought another smile to her former 'Mistress,' "I know for a fact that you'd 
never fire on civilians without cause.  You are many things, but you're no mass 
murderer, and you do have enemies that more than easily fit the bill..."

"Thank you for the vote of confidence, darling," Lao replied, "But why don't you 
tell me the real reason that you know about the submarine?"

"Um...well..." Keiko hesitated, "It's just...I have this friend of mine...and we 
were sort of spying on Nabiki and the others..."

"A friend...who can spy on a cruise ship while it's out to sea?" Lao raised a 
pale blue eyebrow.

"That and she was sort of recording things when the ship got hit," Keiko added, 
"In fact, she's right here and I've told her all about you and...oh...here, she 
wants to speak with you herself, my lady."

"Well, put her on," Lao smiled, "Someone who can spy on a ship from wherever it 
is you are now is someone I'd like to one day meet in person."

"That can be arranged," a sultry feminine voice---very different from Keiko's 
own---replied in answer to that statement, "May I assume that I have the honor 
of speaking to one Lao Khan, former Amazon and mistress of the ship known as the 
Floating Piece of Junk, or POJ for short?"

"Indeed," Lao replied, "And who have I the curious honor of addressing?"

"That is not material for now," the speaker replied, "But know that I presently 
bear you no ill intentions.  I am merely concerned, as are the others gathered 
with me, to know what fate has befallen our comrades, to say nothing of 
seventeen hundred of innocent people?"

"I see," Lao smiled, "Well, you don't need to worry yourselves.  I'm planning on 
delivering them to the nearest safe port so that they can be about their 
business, which was so rudely interrupted, though through no ill intentions on 
my part.  As for Nabiki and the others...well...I have made room for them within 
my Harem but have imposed few restrictions and am treating them as my guests.  
There is no need to be concerned for their immediate welfare...in fact, I've 
even helped in the safe delivery of Kuonji Ukyo's brand new daughter."

"Ukyo-chan had her daughter...already?" another voice that Lao placed 
immediately as Akane interrupted, demonstrating to Lao that the parties with 
whom she was in contact were on a speaker phone system of some type, "How is 
she?  Did they name the baby yet?"

"Not that I've heard so far," Lao replied, "But we have been a bit busy helping 
out survivors from the liner.  Things have been a bit hectic, but my people will 
inform me if there are any complications..."

"Complications?" said a male voice, one Lao believed that she recognized as 
belonging to the boy named Ryoga, "What complications?"

"I'm just speaking metaphorically," Lao assured them, "I've no reason to expect 
any problems.  By the way...do I take it that you were spying on Nabiki and the 
others while they were engaged in some rather...personal activities?"

"You may assume that, Mistress Lao," replied Kodachi, "But then again, the same 
could be implied about your rather prompt arrival on the scene, ne?"

"Quick witted as always, Kuno-chan," Lao smiled, "I guess then we've all been 
naughty in one sense or another..."

"Cut the crap," someone unfamiliar cut in, "Listen...Lao is it?  We've got a 
real situation on our hands, so you'd better listen up or there's gonna be 
trouble."

"I'm listening," Lao sharpened her tone by a fraction, "That almost sounded like 
a threat.  Are you also a friend of Nabiki's?"

"You could put it like that, yeah," the speaker responded, "But the thing 
is...we've got somebody coming out to meet with you who doesn't know about you 
on first sight, but I think it would be a really good idea if you treat her 
nicely and don't give her any good reasons to get angry."

"To get angry?" Lao replied, "Why?  Is she someone important whom I ought to 
respect?"

"You'll know as soon as you see her," the voice on the other end replied, "Just 
watch what you say, and no cracks about her hips.  She's kind of touchy about 
that..."

"I see," Lao said, "So do I take it that you're the younger sister of whoever it 
is who is coming to pay me a visit?"

"Huh?" the voice on the other end replied, "How could you know that?"

"Because you sound like a younger sister," Lao replied, "And only a little 
sister would make cracks about her big sister's waistline.  By the way, your 
voice seems somehow familiar...didn't we meet a while ago at the hospital when 
my cousin Shampoo was having her baby?"

There were some tittering noises in the background, and obviously the friends of 
the speaker did not mind having a little fun at her expense, but then everyone 
sobered and Lao said in a calmer and more rational tone of voice, "Alison Kane 
Managi, is it not?  That was the name I remember hearing back at the 
hospital...and I take it the other speaker is Beatrice Kane Daitokuji?"

"So you found us out," Alison replied, "Then you ought to be smart enough to 
realize what you'll be up against as soon as my big sister comes calling."

"Your big sister, eh?" Lao mused, "Yes...I think I have some idea what I would 
be up against, and I thank you for the timely warning.  I'll try and be polite 
to your Oneechan when she pays me a visit...and don't worry...I'd never let a 
friend of Keiko's down...at least if it can be avoided."

"Just be careful, lady," Alison replied, "You don't know my sister like I 
do...she can pretty opinionated sometimes, but she means well, mostly."

"I think I understand you," Lao smiled, "She sounds like someone I might 
actually like to meet.  Well...at any rate, I'll go and prepare an extra space 
at my dinner table."

"Madam Lao," Beatrice remarked, "I most certainly hope that you are not 
intending any mischief."

"I'll get back to you on that," Lao said, "Call me back in an hour and I'll try 
and give you an answer.  Just try to stay calm while I go see to preparing my 
welcome.  Lao out."

She set down her phone then turned to the officer on duty, "Stay on course until 
further notice.  I'm expecting company at any minute."

"Very good Mistress," the officer replied, "All will be as you command it."

"Yes," Lao mused, "Which is how it ought to be...but it seems that I must take 
special precautions to insure our guest does mind her manners."

"I see," the officer nodded, "Then shall we inform the chef that you will be 
receiving extra dinner guests at the table tonight, Mistress?"

"Don't bother," Lao said slyly, "I've already taken measures to insure that my 
other guests will be...sufficiently entertained...while I tend to this new bit 
of business..." and the devious gleam in her now-golden eyes made those who 
witnessed it share a collective shudder of anticipation, knowing that whatever 
their Captain  had cooked up was bound to be deliciously wicked...




Nabiki was still grumbling to herself after returning the "loaned" T-shirt and 
shorts to a waiting attendant, sullenly resolving to one day make Lao pay for 
the indignity of having to traipse around in her ship in the all-together.  
Though not officially a prisoner, she certainly felt like one having armed 
escorts who followed her at a somewhat discreet distance.  The Undines were 
polite and deferential companions, but they looked heavily armed and ready for 
trouble, and---having fought with their kind before---Nabiki knew it was futile 
to attempt to physically overpower them.  When struck by a fist they tended to 
dissolve into water and could immobilize a foe by swarming in all around them.

Besides, she was rather fond of her female shape and had no great urgent need to 
return to her male aspect.  It was diabolical to think that the lady pirate's 
control over the element of water could be so absolute that she could sex-change 
Nabiki at a single moment's notice.  About the only way for her to combat these 
water-based attacks was to refer to her Chi-based powers, and some of those 
moves tended to be pretty spectacular ones, not the sort of thing you would 
prefer to unleash while on board a sailing vessel, even one as resilient as the 
POJ.  The last time she had done so, everyone on board had briefly gone 
swimming.

And that was the real reason that Nabiki was reluctant to start anything on 
board Lao's vessel...the children might get caught in the crossfire.  Lao's 
assurances that babies took to water with a natural instinct borne of months in 
the womb notwithstanding, the last thing Nabiki wanted to do was test out that 
theory on her own infant daughter, and she doubted that Ukyo would appreciate it 
any better if they all had to make a sudden scramble for a life-raft.  Try as 
she might there was no getting around the fact that Lao had them all 
collectively by the short hairs, and as long as the situation remained this way 
there was nothing to be done but to trust to the renegade Amazon to keep her 
word and not stir up any more trouble.

Even so, Nabiki did fume a bit at the implications that Lao had made about 
testing her in some perverse kind of 'challenge' that came right out of a 
bondage manga.  Nabiki had already seen a sample of what Lao referred to as 
'training,' and one did not have to look far to find other such examples as she 
was lead through one particular chamber in which a dozen naked women were left 
hanging from the ceiling in various (and rather uncomfortable) positions.  The 
amount of rope being used to suspend these nude beauties would have been 
sufficient to moor the POJ to a pier, and the fact that these women were very 
much conscious of their situations left Nabiki with a faint shudder of dismay, 
imagining herself in such a position and swallowing at the implications.  Beyond 
that, there was no telling if these women were being punished or rewarded, it 
all being the same thing to Madam Lao's discretion.

Once back at the Harem her two guards fell into previously assumed positions by 
the door and allowed her to wander freely in the seraglio as though she had 
every right to be there.  Once again Nabiki was struck by the oddly stylish 
contrast of beautiful wall hangings and silk tapestries framed by translucent 
handing curtains that petitioned the room into various sections.  There were 
plenty of adornments decorating that part of the chamber that she was in, no 
doubt the plundered hoard of some long ago raid, either by Lao or one of the 
ship's previous owners.  The atmosphere was warm, casual and relaxed (and 
relatively dry, considering how many parts of the ship were humid), and the 
people occupying the room were entirely at ease about their business (said 
business being anything from reading a book to casually screwing their nearest 
partner).  One naked beauty was playing a harp while her companions accompanied 
her with the flute and violin, providing background music that pleasantly 
flavored the air like the warm, heady perfume of incense mixed with feminine 
arousal.

That was the thing that struck Nabiki immediately upon returning to the 
harem...how matter-of-fact everyone was about this whole situation, from the 
girl working a loom to one side, weaving out a silk tapestry of incredible 
beauty and intricacy, to the nude dancers performing a slow ballet together that 
was openly seductive and shamelessly flirtatious.  There in one corner a blonde 
cutie was spreading her legs wide while a redhead was busy tonguing her clean 
shaven sex (and for a moment Nabiki had a flashback image in mind of Alison and 
Beatrice engaged in such vigorous pastimes) while off on a divan two other 
girls---another redhead and a dark haired brunette---sat together with the 
mouths meshing sensitively while their hands were busy playing with each others 
breasts, and no one even giving them a casual side-glance.  It was plain that 
these women took the act of making love seriously to heart, and yet it was 
equally clear that sex was as common as a handshake in this fancy love-nest-cum-
floating-brothel.  What an amazing contrast to the way normal Japanese society 
tended to react to the merest gesture of affection between two people of the 
same sex, and yet here it was considered the norm, there being no men allowed  
to lay hands upon the women of this horny henhouse.

And yet for all of that they were SLAVES, property, owned and toyed with at the 
discretion of their self-described owner.  Lao could claim any one of them on a 
whim and do whatever she found pleasing with their minds and bodies, and yet---
to go by the testimony of those whom Nabiki had spoken with earlier---these 
women would not even complain nor raise a fuss at the treatment they were 
receiving.

Nabiki knew enough from that briefly conducted interview at the birthing pool 
that these women were---for the most part---highly intelligent and reasonably 
articulate about their servile status.  These were not weak-willed and timid 
souls who were easily cowed into obeying the whims of a powerful overlord, these 
were women who honestly believed that they had made a voluntary choice to submit 
to Lao's authority, and some had even been willing to show Nabiki the 'Ownership 
Papers' that they had signed in their own handwriting, contracts bestowing upon 
Lao complete and total possession of their bodies.  They had even seemed proud 
of the fact that they had signed away their individual freedoms, and the mere 
fact that such contracts were not legally binding in any official sense bothered 
them not in the slightest.  It was as if the question of the legitimacy these 
contracts were a dead issue that none seemed willing to contest in any way.  If 
anything, they professed to be perfectly happy serving out the rest of their 
natural lives in Lao's employment, and mention of the word 'freedom' usually 
brought either laughter or scorn to their otherwise contented features.

And that disturbed Nabiki as much as anything, having been reared to prize 
freedom as among a person's highest virtues.  She did not need to prance around 
in chains to feel 'sexually liberated,' nor did she feel inclined to join these 
(extremely) comely girls in their free-flowing sexual antics.  Just watching one 
concubine submitting to a spanking at the hands of another made Nabiki wince in 
sympathetic reflex, even if she still remembered experiencing the same things at 
Ranma's hands during the earlier part of the day.  If anything these women were 
much TOO casual about their sexuality, and yet in no sense of the word could one 
honestly find them as dehumanized or degraded in their self-professed 'lifestyle 
preference.'

Nabiki had chalked up part of this behavior to a case of classic 'Stockholm 
Syndrome,' the tendency of prisoners to sometimes identify with their captors, 
even to come to semi-love or worship those who subjected them to constant 
humiliation and abuse.  Lao obviously did exert a considerable degree of mind-
control over the emotional responses of her people, and the extent of her 
perfidy in this area alone was enough to make Nabiki shudder with aversion.  By 
forcing these women to live in the enclosed world of a seraglio, where the 
alternative to obedience was punishment of an extreme and cunning nature, she 
had the ideal 'carrot and stick' approach for encouraging compliance, especially 
since the reward was to live the life of a pampered sex-toy whose pleasures 
could be unimaginable, even as their punishment for disobedience would no doubt 
be equally demanding.

Looked at realistically, there was no reason why these women should have 
complaints about their treatment.  Lao obviously lavished a great deal of time 
and attention on her girls, showering them with every conceivable jewel and 
bauble that could appeal to a woman's sense of aesthetics.  They were fed and 
sheltered, pleasured and pampered with their every whim attended to in some 
manner, and all that they had being owed to their nominal owner.  What's more 
they had a kind of 'fellowship' that formed a communal bond, like a village 
within a village, and even the benefits of a marriage were not denied them, 
including children.  (That last part made Nabiki gasp a little, realizing as she 
did that Lao had voluntarily used Jusenkyo-styled magics to transform her sex in 
order to impregnate other women...but how had she done this when she already had 
the Jusenkyo curse of the Wild Tiger?

It was while thinking on this that Nabiki passed around one curtained tapestry, 
intending to rejoin her loved ones in the chamber that had been assigned to 
them, but all at once she found her way blocked by a young girl aged no more 
than ten or eleven (at most), and who was scowling up at Nabiki with a somewhat 
furious expression.

"Oh," Nabiki took stock of the girl's blue hair coloration and said, 
"Ah...Breeze, isn't it?  You're Lao's...son?" she hesitated, having all but 
forgotten that Lao had given her son the Jusenkyo curse of Nyanniichuan before 
leaving China.

"I won't let you do it," the young girl replied in flawless Japanese.

"Ah...do what?" Nabiki faltered, not expecting such an intensely hostile 
reaction.

"I won't let you hurt my mother," the girl named Breeze replied.

"Um...well..." Nabiki wondered how to handle this situation, faced with a mere 
slip of a girl the top of whose head barely came level with her own breastbone.

"I remember you from last time," the girl replied, "You almost hurt my mother.  
I won't let you do it this time."

"Ahm...kid?" Nabiki stammered, "There seems to be some confusion here.  I'm not 
the one who..."

"Don't lie to me," Breeze replied, "I know Mom rescued you at sea, but you think 
she did it to force you people to stay with us.  Well, you're wrong...Mom isn't 
like that.  She may do stuff that's bad sometimes, but she'd never give you a 
place in here if she didn't think you were worthy.  I'm just telling you that 
you'd better not do anything to make Mom regret being so generous with you, 
lady."

"Um...right," Nabiki said, "Consider me sufficiently warned.  Now try telling 
your Mom not to push the issue."

"I'll bet you don't think I can do too much to you," the young girl said 
belligerently, "But Mom's been teaching me how to fight, and I'll bet I could 
give even you a good scrap if you give us any trouble..."

Nabiki had no doubt that the young girl was talented, but she also had no 
intention of being drawn into a fight with someone who was only two thirds of 
her own age and half her belt size, but before she could think of anything to 
say to deflect the child's anger, one of the blue skinned attendants fell from 
the ceiling and reformed in the space beside them, and then said in a casual 
tone of voice, "Breeze-san...your mother has requested your presence on the main 
deck.  She asks that you join her in greeting a new guest, and she wants you to 
bring her a present...the jeweled box on the shelf beside the Blue Bed that 
bears the mark of the emerald dragon.  You know the one in question?"

"That box with the green rock in it?" the young girl replied, "Sure...but why 
does Mom want it?"

"The Mistress did not say," the Undine replied, "But she did request that you be 
prompt about it.  She wishes you to be on the upper deck in no more than the 
next fifteen minutes."

"All right, I'll go," Breeze replied, "Tell Mom I'll be there in a jiffy," she 
turned and glared one final time at Nabiki, "You got lucky...next time I won't 
be so busy."

Nabiki stood where she was with lifted eyebrows giving her an almost comical 
expression, then she shook her head once the young girl had left her side and 
said, "This day just keeps getting better and better..."

She continued on until she reached the room assigned to herself and her family 
unit, but once she stepped past the hanging partition she was greeted by a 
curious aroma that was mildly arousing and caused a peculiar tingling sensations 
all along her nerve endings.  Accompanied with this, however, was a sight that 
was altogether unexpected, given the current circumstances under which she and 
her loved ones were currently living.

Or---given that this was Lao's dominion after all---perhaps this was not such a 
strange sight to witness after all...it was just amazing to see Ranma with his 
face buried deep between Shampoo's thighs while Ukyo was sitting on Perfume's 
face and writhing about how good it felt to be getting another tongue lashing.  
All four of Nabiki's 'unit' were acting as if it were perfectly natural to be 
screwing in the middle of the day in the belly of a (technically) hostile 
vessel, and yet to judge by the profuse groans both Shampoo and Ukyo were making 
they had clearly been at this sort of thing for more than the past several 
minutes.

A glance to the side confirmed that both babies were resting together in a large 
double-sized bassinet that was canopied to protect these children from the odd 
phosphorescent lighting.  Lylac and her newly born 'cousin-sister' were sleeping 
like (literal) babies and seemed content in the warmth that they shared together 
just being so near to one another.  Only the diaper worn by Lylac (who did seem 
large next to the other baby) constituted any form of dress for either infant, 
though they were swaddled in blankets to each side in such a way as to limit the 
amount of rolling around that either one could do.  It fairly amazed Nabiki to 
take note of the fact that the new child---barely two hours old---had a healthy 
complexion by now and did not look so ruddy and hairless as she had appeared to 
be in the bathing pool.

The fact that Ukyo was screwing around with Perfume instead of keeping a 
watchful eye upon her, however, did faintly alarm Nabiki, enough so that she 
made her presence known by saying, "What the heck are you people doing?"

"Hmm?" Ranma looked up from where he had been busy giving Shampoo 'the business' 
and said, "Nabiki?  Good, you're back!  I thought you'd never get back here!"

"Get back here?" Nabiki blinked, "I've only been gone for about a half an hour!  
Why are you...?"

"I don't know," Ranma said as he stood up and took Nabiki by the arm with 
gentle-yet-firm insistence, "But now that you're here, we can really get 
started."

"Get started?" Nabiki asked, "But..."

"Airen..." Shampoo moved to sit up (albeit somewhat unsteadily) then also 
reached out a hand to take firm grip of Nabiki's forearm, "We no want get 
started without you...but you no want keep Shampoo waiting.  Shampoo very happy 
you come to her...now Shampoo make you cum while Ranma-husband give us both 
much, much pleasures, yes?"

"W-what?" Nabiki blinked her eyes, only to find Ranma wrapping an arm around her 
waist compelling her to turn round eyes in his direction.

"Shampoo has the right idea...it's time I stop neglecting the both of you and 
get down to this dutiful husband business," he said, "You both want it as much 
as me, right?"

"Huh?" Nabiki found her eyes were mesmerized by the obvious lust in her new 
husband's expression, and before she could think to protest she found herself 
being drawn into a hot and passionate kiss, even as Shampoo fell to her knees 
and began licking the exposed space between her Airen's thighs, and all at once 
Nabiki forgot everything she was about to say as raging hormones took over and 
did all of her further thinking for the next several hours yet to come...and cum 
indeed she would, and quite gladly, all thoughts of Madam Lao and her perverse 
offer falling away as she gave way to the natural ardor she felt for her loved 
ones, who would skillfully set about to keep her good and thoroughly 
distracted...

Exactly as intended by..."The Mistress..."



Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Kryptonian Sex Secrets: shadowmane@ridgenet.net

Sorry for the delays of the plot, but the Hentai now resumes with a vengeance 
while Lao entertains a new potential 'client,' and we learn first hand why 
people with superpowers are often so damned horny and frustrated!  Be with us 
for: "Martha's Tentacle Vineyard" or "How to Lay a Superheroine in 10 easy 
Lessons!"  Be there!