DNabikiTHCh16 Nabiki 1/2 "A Very Scary Thought!" THE HONEYMOON HENTAI CHAPTERS By Jim Robert Bader (Inspired by the works of Rumiko Takahashi & Others) Part Sixteen. HENTAI ALERT---ROUGH SEAS AHEAD! NOW ENTERING THE LEMON-LIME ZONE, WHERE A KISS IS NOT JUST A KISS, AND A SIGH IS MUCH MORE THAN A SIGH, AND A SMILE IS A WARNING SIGN THAT YOU'D BETTER START RUNNING! EXCESSIVE USE OF PLOT DEVICES CAN LEAD TO DIZZINESS, NAUSEA, STOMACH CRAMPS HEARTBURN, ACHES & PAINS AND THE HEARTBREAK OF PSORIASIS-YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! "All right then," said Lao as she advanced onto the bridge, "I'm here, what's so important that it has intrude of my having fun with our guests?" "My apologies, my lady," Lotus reported, "I was summoned before you to investigate, and Lieutenant N'shalla here has been briefing me for the last fifteen minutes on a problem that has come up rather unexpectedly." "A problem?" Lao turned to the officer of the watch and quirked an eyebrow. "My lady," the lieutenant in question replied, "I am at a loss to explain it, but we appear to have drifted off course and will not be arriving in the Philippines as planned on our abbreviated schedule..." "Off course?" Lao blinked her eyes, "How did that happen?" "There appears to be a problem with the Kraken, Ma'am," replied sonar operator Kelsey, "As you have instructed, it has been assisting us in making better than normal progress, but in the past twelve hours it seems to have acquired the direction sense of a Hibiki. It appears to have been wandering all over this part of the pacific, and it's dragging us with it so that we are further to the east of our projected position, at least if we go by sonar readings of the ocean bottom, astronomical data from the helm and our geostar tracking relay outlet, all three of which agree on the coordinates of latitude nineteen degrees, thirty-seven minutes by longitude one thirty-four-point-six-two..." "We're out in the middle of the open ocean?" Lao quirked the other eyebrow at this revelation. "Hundreds of miles to the east of our intended destination, my lady," Lotus remarked, "Nearing the Mariana Islands and headed in a south-by-south easterly direction." "I see," Lao frowned, "It would seem the Kraken was more affected by those chemicals in Joan Wayne's system than even I imagined. Well...no harm in that, soon enough it will return to normal, and then we can get back on course to our intended destination." "My lady," Lotus paused before saying, "What if the Kraken is not moving in a totally purposeless and random manner? You know what else is far to the south of our position..." "I know," Lao said grimly, her expression entirely sober for the moment, "It could be that it hears the silent call of its own kind, but there is little danger of it becoming that active, unless some fool were to tamper with forces beyond their understanding and awaken that which should remain undisturbed, but I've heard no rumors about that, not since my husband managed to cancel that expedition some fool from Japan was planning for Antarctica. Let us hope that it remains canceled for the sake of all who live on the planet..." "Indeed, my lady," Lotus nodded, "As your husband would say, there are some things that were meant to remain unknown to the general public..." "I just knew someone was going to say that," Lao rolled her eyes, "Remind me to punish you for that later..." "My lady," Lieutenant N'shalla spoke up again, "Perhaps it might be a bad time to bring this up, but when we were in port last we picked up some supplies that proved to be of less than...satisfactory quality. The malefactors who failed to test the quality of the merchandise have been summarily punished in the playroom and are appropriately chagrined for their oversight, but as a consequence we are lacking in certain food supplies and must stock up once again in the pantry...or else the chef says that we will not be able to prepare your...favorite delicacy." "We have to replenish our stores...again?" Lao quirked and eyebrow, "Well...we can't have my people eating food that is less than satisfactory...my favorite delicacy, you say? Hmm...well...I suppose we could put in at some island on the way and send foraging parties inland to find whatever the chef requires. See to it and inform me when we spot the nearest sizeable body of land, will you? I need to return to supervising the induction of our newest houseguests." "Very good, my lady," Lotus nodded, "It will be as you wish." "Good," Lao turned away, "And have my chief surgeon examine the Kraken to test its chemical balance to insure that it really is the presence of those drugs and not...that other thing we've mentioned. I'll be down below if I'm needed, so don't hesitate to call. This delay is a damned nuisance...we have shipping agreements, and we're behind schedule already, and this thing with the Tendo Posse is taking up even more time and energy than I imagined that it would...but then again, I suppose that's what makes them so much fun. If entertaining them were easy, then my job wouldn't be so rewarding." "Indeed, my lady," Lotus nodded, then paused before adding, "And when would you like to schedule my punishment session?" "Maybe shortly before dinner," Lao smiled, "I always work up such an appetite playing with my dinner, and you squirm so nicely when I have you tied down on my platter." Lotus nodded in acknowledgement of her captain's compliment and felt a slight shiver of anticipation, counting away the hours until her...punishment was meted...one of the perks that came with the job and often made serving under her fellow Amazon such an interesting experience, the kind that reminded one overly much of a certain Chinese proverb... "I want to thank you for agreeing to serve as my tour-guide, Keiko-san...I doubt that I could find the way without you." "Hey, nothing to it, Beiko-chan," Keiko replied, "I know this place can seem pretty intimidating on your first time out, but live here for a couple of years and you can basically find your way to anywhere you want to be. I know where the Mistress stores the trainees when they're going through orientation, and it's more than likely that she's put Ranma and Nabiki there for storage while she tends to other business." "I see," Beatrice mused in a thoughtful manner, "Then she really does treat people like cargo, storing them away when they are of no immediate use to her..." "Oh no, that's only with the new inductees," Keiko replied, "Until they prove their worth and are ready to fit in they go through standard slave orientation to weed out the ones who don't have much potential. They get shuttled off to another storage hold for offloading at the next appropriate port. The ones who make the grade go on to the more luxurious accommodations and six weeks on intensive slave training." "And those are the girls who become the true cargo of trade for your mistress?" Beatrice observed. "No, actually, beyond the first initiation they then go on to advanced training," Keiko replied, "It takes a few months to produce a first-rate concubine, and it's a process that you just can't rush, not unless you want damaged goods and an imperfect training regimen..." "You mean full indoctrination protocols?" Beatrice asked. "If you mean brainwashing," Keiko said frostily, "Call it that if you like, but I went through this program myself and I can vouch for it's effectiveness. Just don't expect me to endorse the idea that these girls are all unwilling victims..." "But they did start out that way, did they not?" Beatrice pointed out. "Well duh," Keiko sniffed, "Madam Lao doesn't exactly put an add in the wanted sections of the papers asking if there are willing volunteers who'd like to be full-time submissives. Of course the subject of free will is a pretty iffy one if you know where many of these girls come from. You won't be so quick to pass judgement until you meet some of the real assholes who work these girls over BEFORE they get rescued by the Mistress." "Meaning yourself and the pirates who kidnapped you and separated you from your mother?" Beatrice remarked. "And the Snakeheads who ship desperate people from the Chinese Mainland with promises of fair employment," Keiko noted, "And the pimps who take runaway girls and force them to turn tricks on a drug habit, and, and the parents who treat their kids as little more than slaves, and the girls who have boring lives and dead-end jobs with no families and no futures..." "I notice that you only count the ones whose lot is an improvement," Beatrice observed, "What of the ones who have lives and families, who are not traumatized by life and who will be missed by those who love them?" "Well, I won't say that never happens," Keiko shrugged, "But the Mistress tends to avoid girls like that because of the trouble they tend to attract. If there's even a chance that one of the pickups will be missed or bring down the law or vengeful relatives, she tends to throw them back first chance she gets. If you're talking about a real beauty who doesn't have ties to anyone else, then it's possible...but not every really pretty girl is cut out for this business. Mind you, the Mistress likes a challenge as much as the next dominatrix, but there's no fun in it for her if the party she plays with can only wind up hurt, bruised and basically resentful..." "You mean like Nabiki?" Beatrice noted with a certain arched lilt to her tone. "I don't know what to say about that," Keiko sighed, "She's exactly the wrong sort, the kind who'd never fit into a life on this ship. The Mistress is obviously playing with her, but it's not with the intent of turning her into a concubine for the harem." "Then perhaps her purposes lie somewhere else," Beatrice mused, "I've had my suspicions on that, but without more information I can only manage an imperfect conjecture. I wish to share some of my thoughts with Nabiki, of course, to see if her observations can mesh well with my own..." "Well, guess all you want," Keiko sniffed as they came at last to a chamber door that was barred by a wooden plank, and with a casual effort removed this barrier and swung the door open, "But spare me the pity, I've heard it all already. I'm happy with my life, and what's past is in the past, and if Nabiki can't understand that, then she's even more of a stuck-in-the-mud than I..." She paused as the both of them got a good look at the interior of the small storage room, and then both women stared at the sight with rounded eyes of a sleeping Nabiki-kun cradling a redhead in the crook of one arm, both of them naked and clearly enjoying the exhausted state of the sexually satiated. The sight of the two of them together was at once inspirational and yet---at the same time---disturbing in the eyes of the silver-haired genius and pigtailed kickboxer. "Whoah," Keiko remarked. "My sentiments exactly," Beatrice agreed beside her. "Uh...wha...?" stirred the male form of Kaneda, glancing up to find two familiar faces staring at him in the doorway, "What...what time is it? What are you guys doing here...?" "I believe the latter question is moot," Beatrice remarked, "We are here to find you, but rather it is what the two of you are doing here that seems more germane to the moment." "Uh...well..." Kaneda suddenly took notice of the redhead sleeping peacefully within the nook of her arm. "Yeah," Keiko drawled as she pointed a finger, "Now who is that, and why does she look a lot like me? Is she one of the new recruits or...?" "Ranma," Beatrice arched an eyebrow, "Or should I say...Ranma-chan?" "Huh?" Keiko blinked, "Ranma, but...oh wait! You mean...like that alternate universe guy, the one who had the Jusenkyo curse? Oh...I get it now..." "W-Wha...?" Ranma-chan stirred, hearing her name being mentioned, and after a bleary moment of clearing the fog out of her eyes she yawned and stretched, showing off an excellent---if very petite for all her generous endowments--- profile, "Oh...hi guys...what's shaking..." "Let me take a wild guess and say...you were," Beatrice remarked with a very droll expression. "Huh?' Ranma-chan glanced down, then turned to look at Kaneda, and all at once made a hasty effort to cover herself with her hands, "EEEEPPP!!!" "That's Saotome all right," Keiko sighed, "Relax guy, we've already seen your equipment, and besides, you're talking to the genuine article here. Besides, I'm older and I'm much better built..." "Say what?" Ranma-chan reacted, forgetting her lame attempt at feminine modesty as she half-stood with her arms raised, only to belatedly remember the chains that were encumbering about her wrists and ankles. "Well now," Beatrice mused, "It was not our intent to embarrass you or intrude on your private interlude, but I was hoping to have the chance to talk with the both of you, and since you obviously have been rather busy by yourselves, I was hoping you could spare a moment to chat..." "You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Kaneda growled. "Oh yeah...you bet," Keiko smirked, "Gotta tell you, Saotome, you surprise me more and more all of the time..." "Oh shut up," Ranma-chan growled. "What did you want to talk about, Beiko?" Kaneda asked. "Well, actually," Beatrice winked, "I came to talk about the both of you...and why I suspect that you've been having so much trouble with the captain. Would you care to hear my hypothesis?" "Sure," Kaneda shrugged, "You got a ten yen piece, I'm all ears." "Obviously I left my purse in my other pocket," Beatrice patted her bare hip with meaning, "But you may take it on credit that what I have to say is worth your time, especially if you have an interest in knowing how to best the captain at her own game. Are you curious to hear what I have to say now?" Both Kaneda and Ranma-chan perked up at that, and indeed they did seem VERY interested, so much so that they resolved to let the insinuating blonde live for another hour, conditional on whether or not the information was of use to them, and even then it was looking more and more certain that someone very shortly would be due for a major spanking... Joan yelped as the cricket paddle was applied to her fanny, bent over a padded sawhorse as she was and in no condition to resist the punishment being applied to her by a surprisingly stern Lila. Off to the side Martha watched, not unmoved, as the strawberry blonde Mistress of Magnetism vented some long pent-up frustration issues with her helpless daughter, oddly disturbed and aroused by the image of Joan's bottom being tanned a light pink color at the hands of another woman. Under ordinary circumstances she would have objected vociferously to such abuse of her one and only child, but given all that she had recently learned about Joan's...activities for the National Security Office...she had come to agree that a certain amount of physical duress was indeed called for. Not that she was unsympathetic to Joan's plight, but---as Captain Lao had explained to them---positive and negative reinforcement of behavior was a sure way to insure that there would be no eventual relapses. "...And this is for running up our joint credit account without telling me," Lila said as she gave another "thwack" with the paddle against her lover's lightly tanned asscheeks, "...And this is for the way you acted in front of my parents when they came to pay us a visit...and this is for tying me up and leaving me in that closet when you wanted to go flirt with Tara..." "I'm sorry!" Joan pleaded, "I didn't mean that, Lila-chan...honest...I'll be good...!" "How are we doing?" asked Madam Lao, who just then walked back into the aptly- named playroom, "Are we making any progress?" "Some," Martha replied, "You were right about using corporal punishment to help resolve some long-unsettled issues between Joan and Lila. It's amazing just to listen to their litany...it almost sounds like a regular marriage." "And you find that surprising?" Lao asked with an arched eyebrow. "Frankly...yes..." Martha winced, "I'm still trying to get used to the whole notion about Same-Sex marriages being a good thing. Up until now I thought broadening the very definition of a marriage would be tantamount to weakening the institution..." "How could that possibly be so?" Lao wondered, "Love is love, and marriage is the union of two souls who pledge their hearts as one...or so I believed when I was young and relatively innocent. How can the mere fact that both marriage partners are of the same gender weaken the institution itself?" "You may be right about that," Martha turned a curious look Lao's way, "You sound like quite a cynic when you talk about your first marriage...but you hardly ever mention your second husband..." "That's because we prefer to live apart," Lao replied, "Ours is a marriage as much of convenience as emotion...though I'd be lying to suggest that there was no passion between us. If anything there is a lot of mutual respect that underlies the actual amount of time that we do spend in each others company." "But he doesn't approve of your lifestyle?" Martha asked. "No," Martha folded her arms under her chest, "And if you want the truth, I can't really say I blame him. He's of nobler quality than I am...he was made from the best that is in humanity, and I wouldn't want him any different. There's only room for one black sheep in this family, and if I have to be a villain, I might as well be a good one." "You're a poet," Martha sniffed, "By the way...you lied to me." "Oh?" Lao cocked her other eyebrow, "What about?" "I talked with some of the concubines in your seraglio," Martha frowned, "They said that the average going price for an untrained girl is hardly less than twenty thousand US dollars. For someone with unusual talents they say the price is even higher...closer to a quarter of a million. That means you sold my daughter back to me for only a fraction of her actual price." "Say what???" Joan cried out as Lila paused in the conclusion of her spanking session, "You did WHAT TO ME? Mom---how could you!" "Very easily," Martha replied, "Captain Lao has been gracious enough to work out a business arrangement with me to secure our personal freedom, and only it seems that she was a little too generous in her terms, which does surprise me as I thought you were in this business to make money." "Well, I am," Lao said a bit uneasily, "But I see no profit in antagonizing the family of a great and noble heroic dynasty, especially one who has contributed so much to the defense of the planet..." "Of course," Martha nodded sagely, "But selling my daughter back to me at such a low rate is a bit...insulting. Joan is worth a lot more to me than a paltry five thousand dollars..." "What?" Joan cried again, "You mean I've been...marked down???" "You were damaged goods when you came on board," Lao replied, "I was going to charge for expenses for treating you and putting you through rehabilitation." "What, have I been kidnapped by K-Mart or something?" Joan sounded faintly appalled. "Sounds to me more like Pick and Save," Lila smiled, "But lucky me, I get you back for a bargain." "Just the same," Martha said, "I won't consider anything less than fifty thousand for Joan...and---from what I've gathered from talking with the others-- -your actual bargain price for her should be something closer to five or ten million, at least." "Well..." Lao looked oddly sheepish as she responded, "Far be it from me to argue with a client, especially one who wants to bid up her price..." "Which reminds me," Martha mused, "How much would you accept for me to buy back my own freedom? You never did give me an estimate on what you thought I was worth." "Well..." Lao's smile took on a more sultry undertone, "If I were selling you back...I might consider it a steal to...practically give you away for a mere twenty million..." "Twenty million?" Joan stammered, "Why is she worth so much more than me?" "Experience, kid," Lao replied, "There are a lot of people in this world who'd pay that much for Power Woman...not that I'd even consider selling her to someone who didn't appreciate her actual worth..." "Flatterer," Martha smiled as she stroked a hand against Lao's arm in an entirely friendly manner. Joan stared from where she was bent over then said, "Okay...now I'm officially freaked..." "Oh, it isn't so bad, really," Lila smiled, "Your mother and I have been talking a lot while you were recovering inside the Kraken, Joan-chan. She's really not that bad a sort after all...certainly nothing like the ogre you made out to seem..." "Oho," Martha mused, "An ogre am I? And what else has she called me." "Well..." Lila began slyly. "Don't you dare!" Joan warned. "Don't I dare do what?" Lila smiled, "Do you mean...this?" and with that she stroked some fingers along the space between her lover's ass-cheeks, causing Joan to moan and roll up her eyes as she squirmed helplessly under the caress of those soft fingers. "Better do as she says, Joan-chan," Martha noted, "I'm paying a lot of money for you, and I'm giving you to Lila as a present." "You...did what?" Joan asked between light groans and some moaning. "That's right," Lila grinned broadly, "That means I get to own you as my own personal love-slave, which also means that I get to do this..." And with that she sank to her knees behind Joan's pink-tinged bottom, placing her mouth over the other woman's now-lubricated loins and putting her tongue to work, which had the immediate effect of causing Joan to arch her feet against the floor and roll back her eyes as an involuntary groan escaped her lips. "They do seem to make a lovely couple," Lao mused, "An with a little coaching and training, I think everything will work out all right." "I certainly hope so," Martha averred, turning to glance at the pirate slaver, "There's something I've been meaning to ask you, though..." "Oh?" Lao asked, "Feel free to ask anything you like." "This business of yours...selling women into slavery for a profit," Martha frowned, "Just who exactly are the sort of people who would buy a woman from you at such expensive prices?" "Oh, you would be surprised," Lao nodded, "I suppose you expect that a man who would want to own a woman as his personal sex slave must be some incredibly low form of life, the brutish dregs of human society, knuckle dragging misogynists who exult in lording it over a helpless piece of flesh that they can use and abuse at their leisure..." "Well," Martha asked, "Aren't they?" "Such men do exist," Lao replied, "But I have no dealings with that like. Those are exactly the wrong sort of men to have for my clients. I'm very selective about who I sell a woman too...after all, I put a lot of time and effort into training a courtesan, and I don't do it just so she can be discarded like a used piece of kleenex..." "That wouldn't make very much sense," Martha agreed, and "It doesn't sound at all like you, but I'm trying to get my mind wrapped around the very concept of a decent man wanting to own a woman..." "Perhaps 'decent' is too generous a term," Lao shrugged, "My clients more fall into the category of 'semi-decent,' mainly rich and powerful men who have...a certain problem forming a mature relationship with a woman on a normal one-to- one basis. Surely you must know the type to whom I am referring...men who are not inherently bad creatures on the whole, but who have---for one reason or another---a problem with forging a stable partnership with a member of the opposite sex." "You mean social wallflowers," Martha remarked, "Geeks and Nerds and social jerks who can't get a date if their life depended on it?" "I prefer to think of them as socially underdeveloped in the interpersonal relationship department," Lao replied, "Pity them, if you must...men who have brains and talents that cause them to become a great success in their professional fields...but who fail utterly in the most basic achievement of Male-dominant culture...the ability to attract the female of our species. They are often too shy and too introverted to know how to reach out and connect with another human being...no one taught them how to be warm, charming, witty and clever. They may actually have looks and brains, but when it comes to starting up a decent conversation...they are effectively retarded. They have all the material comforts that they should ever need to be good providers, but they don't know how to attract a mate, and so they live lives of lonely, quiet desperation, often living vicariously through other means, such as cheap porn sites or high-cost hookers." "A hooker would cost considerably less," Martha noted. "But not be half so versatile or accommodating," Lao noted, "Or come with as many...complicating factors." "But what if they're old, ugly as sin and have personalities that match?" Martha asked. "Then I wouldn't be doing business with them in the first place," Lao replied, "I'm very selective about my clientele, and I personally screen the men with whom I do business to insure that they are the sorts who have legitimate needs and who will have a proper appreciation for the type of women that I can provide them." "And so you provide them with their ideal fantasy women made flesh?" Martha concluded. "I do them one better than that," Lao replied, "I provide them with fully skilled and highly accomplished social entertainers...versed in both sex and protocol and knowledgeable in the ways of pleasing a man...not just physically but emotionally. These men have vulnerabilities that can be played with to make them emotionally bonded to their concubines, and once these women have earned their trust they can...help to guide these poor fellows into becoming better human beings..." "Oh really?" Martha arched an eyebrow. "Oh yes," Lao nodded, "Behind a successful man there truly is a woman...unless, of course, he's the type who prefers a man, but you meet all sorts in this business. A concubine is more than just some mindless toy or pliant doll...she is a helpmate and a confidence-builder who can whisper encouragingly in the ear of a man and help him to realize how to become a more successful human being. A concubine has several advantages over a wife, not the least being that she will not leave or dessert him. She does not spend her time belittling or putting her master down, or tearing down his ego while running up his credit. She doesn't make him feel small and insignificant, or tell him that he is worthless and a poor provider, or make him out to be a bad person for all his personal failings. She won't run away with another man, she won't stab him in the back---unless he truly deserves it---she won't sue for divorce and take half of all of his possessions or set him up to take a fall...unless he is the sort who deserves a proper comeuppance." "Which you provide if it turns out that he's a closet sleezebag?" Martha asked. "If a man destroys a Rolls Royce or Lamborghini, that is his prerogative," Lao replied, "If he damages a great work of art, then he is a barbarian who wastes the treasures of civilization and does a gross disservice to humanity. But if that same man so much as lays one rude hand upon a woman who has come from my services and treats her as something less than human...then I will know about it, and he will suffer for it, as surely as the Gods of my homeland are my witness." "But you're providing these men with more than just a high-class escort service, right?" Martha asked. "That is the point of training concubines...to make women into slaves, and to make slaves into something more than a bought and held servant," Lao answered, "I teach them how to manage themselves in situations most people could not even imagine...but I don't aim to turn them into professional victims. These women go on to make what they can of their lot in life, but often they have power far beyond their supposed status. In a great many cases they are like professional councilors and training coaches schooled in teaching their Masters how to become a better class of human being. There is a lot of coaching, wheedling, cajoling and nudging involved, of course, but by turns a concubine can become the voice of reason and the conscience of her Master..." "She can also become the power behind the throne," Martha deduced, "The one who pulls his strings and makes him serve her needs...and through her you could influence kings and princes throughout Asia..." "You catch on quick," Lao winked, "And by turns the philosophy that I impart on my women can find its way into more common dissemination." "A philosophy where women serve men but also control them?" Martha deduced. "Women have been doing that since the dawn of time," Lao replied, "I just teach them to be better at it than most." "You could also become a power behind the power behind the throne by controlling these men through your women," Martha continued, "Some might even see this as an attempt at world domination." Lao actually laughed out loud at that, a light-hearted gesture lacking any trace of sarcasm or condescension, "What would I do if I had the power to rule the world? Do you think I have that sort of an ego that I could presume to dictate the affairs of millions of people? I would like to see the world change and be made into a better place, make no mistake about that, but actually force it to change according to my standards? That would be the ultimate folly!" "But still...you do have influence that goes well beyond this ship," Martha noted. "I do at that, but not control, and certainly not real power," Lao sighed, "There are many things that sadden me about this lovely world of ours...the arrogance of those who have wealth and power, their contempt for the poor and the weak, the disdain they show to the environment and the rapacious greed that squanders the limited resources of this planet. Most Asian cultures have a truly appalling view of womanhood, China no less than any other. Men in the Asian world almost habitually despise girl children and rate their own wives very lightly. A woman is a second-class human being by definition in their eyes, valued only for her fertility and the comfort that she sometimes provides. That is the way things have been for countless generations, a condition I loathe utterly, just like the petty, provincial mindset of the semi-civilized tribes that call themselves nations with their mercantile feudal lords vying for influence and mindless profit. Daughters are sold like chattel, wives are little better than slaves, and labor is cheap with wages well below the level of subsistence..." "And you seek to change all that by subverting the system from within?" Martha wondered. "The men I cater to control the lives of countless others," Lao said in a flat, no-nonsense manner, "I may not be able to control their actions, but if I can have even a slight effect in changing their behavior, then you had better believe that I will do what is necessary to achieve this. If I must break a few eggs to achieve my goal, then so be it...just so long as I make certain who is the victim and who is the true servant of change and progress." "So you actually have benevolent goals, but your means are those of a slaver," Martha inclined her head and studied the profile of the Pirate-queen, "You are a very complex person, Captain." "Look whose talking," Lao smiled, "Well met indeed, Lady Chairman." The sound of Joan giving vent to an orgasm filled the air and brought a momentary pause to their conversation. When at last they could speak again Martha said, "Yes, I think they are making real progress..." "That Lila is very talented for one who's had no prior training as a dominatrix," Lao mused. "I think it comes more from living out unrealized fantasies," Martha mused, "The young are very adaptable, or so I've noticed." "Indeed," Lao agreed, "So I've noticed. By the way, can I interest you in sharing a drink?" "Just a drink?" Martha arched her other eyebrow, then rattled her chains in a meaningful manner, "After all, I've got a few days until the time when you've agreed to release me, and this is a place of training, is it not?" "Very good," Lao nodded with a smile that was lascivious and inviting, "You are learning." "I pride myself on being adaptable too," Martha smiled back, "Besides...I still want to know more about this...operation of yours...and to judge for myself if it really is a good or a bad thing." "Depends on how you define the word, 'Bad,'" Lao mused, reaching out a finger and slipping it through the ring on Martha's collar, then pulling her closer so that she could peer down into Martha's eyes and add, "And I can be very 'bad,' when I want to be...Slave." And for some strange reason Martha found herself warming up to the idea, even as she felt a shiver run down her spine as she bargained herself into a very long and exhaustive "fact-finding" session... Ryoga was in a quandary, and not for the usual reason that plagued his otherwise quite contented existence. He was trying to sort out his feelings about Akane...or---to be more precise---what he felt about Akane and her relationship with her two best friends, Kodachi and Keiko. Perhaps it would be even more exact to say that he was trying to sort out his own feelings about both girls, and why the four of them seemed to be spending so much time having sex when a simpler arrangement would have sufficed him just as grandly. Well, make no mistake...he did like the sex part, and he knew that he was enjoying something most boys his age did not even dare to dream about, namely having sex with three very hot and desirable girls who seemed intent on pleasing him every much as they did enjoy pleasing one another. In truth he had no complaint about that either...how could he object to such generosity of body and spirit? No, he had no qualms about their willingness to share their bodies with him, nor did he protest innocence in desiring them in an equal measure... ...It was just... He really wanted to spend more time with Akane doing other things beside having sex...like talking and holding hands and enjoying sweet pauses in which absolutely nothing was said and yet great volumes of meaning could be divined in a single shared glance. Walking along a beach enjoying the sand beneath their feet would also be very nice, or sitting side-by-side under a full moon with only the stars as their witness as they whiled away the hour doing nothing in particular but enjoy their time spent just being with each other. That romantic image clashed rather rudely with the actuality of his present existence, finding his waking hours a simple question of which girl would be riding him this time...Akane, Kodachi or Keiko-chan. In truth he liked being ridden by each of them in turn, and of having a girl sit on his face while another girl gave him a blow job and a third teased and played with his chest. That and the marmalade sauce that sometimes got spread over him and licked away with hungry devotion...he could no longer even look at an innocent can of whipped cream or hot fudge without having memories of **other** ways that they could be used beside topping ice cream. He now had a very intimate idea of what alternate uses could be found for a clothespin, and what reams of nylon cord could do in the hands of a girl who could teach a sailor new ways of tying down a ship...and never mind what his manhood thought for itself when presented with a ring to hold it hard and proper! He could close his eyes and recite the various positions that he had seen a girl tied into and know intimately what it felt like to have your body compressed in such a position. In truth his imagination was fairly exhausted with all the ways he had sought to keep his girlfriends entertained, and that did not even carry over to Lao's minions, who seemed to think of him as their personal sex machine, being the only "man" that they had been allowed to play with in many a long moon. What else did they want from him after they milked him dry and sucked him off like a siphon? It was all that he could do to keep a cool head when his other head was rock-hard and frosty, and all because he did not know how to say "no" to a girl, especially when she asked him so nicely! And to think...at one time he had even doubted that women could ever like him, when all he had was his martial arts and a lousy sense of direction. Now here he was getting more than he had ever imagined possible and it was making him feel the pressure to deliver more to these raging sex machines than he knew how to summon up. Logically, therefore, he knew that he should have put his foot down and set some basic ground rules that would govern how relationships should blossom between his designated iinazuke and her more sexually liberated friends. Akane used to be fairly straight-laced and shy about her own sexual appeal, but...of late...she had become like a religious convert, more open and adventuresome, more sexually aggressive, and even a little bit---no---make that DOWNRIGHT SCARY! It was not that she intimidated him, oh no! She was still a very sweet, considerate, thoughtful girl who could be remarkably kind-hearted and warmly compassionate to others. She did have a bit of a temper, he admitted, and was quick to anger when she did not always get her way. Though not as clever or domestically gifted as her two sisters, she had everything that he wanted in a future wife, and he was honored beyond measure that she had even consented to accept him as her future husband...but... Well...there were times when she seemed to be just a little bit too obsessed with trying out new things, with taking Kodachi or Keiko's lead and just plain running away with it! To her sex was like a soccer ball that she was intent on kicking down the field to the ultimate goal of YET ANOTHER ORGASM, like the mere discovery that women could feel such things and not feel bad about it had opened some kind of floodgate in her mind and had inspired her to try just about anything that promised to give her one, no matter how kinky, bizarre or outlandish the lengths she had to perform in order to get to that cherished place. It was the performance itself that obsessed her, and all Kodachi had to do was to hint that something had a pleasurable outcome and Akane would leap at the thing and try it out, trusting implicitly in her best friend's assurances that the thing was worthwhile, and Akane would accept this. Take for example what she was having him do for her at the moment. Kodachi had introduced Akane to the Pillory, a western medieval torture device that was originally intended to induce pain and humiliation to whatever party was subjected to its embrace. Here the nominal "victim" bent down at the waist to place their head and wrists in a folding frame, which was then closed over them to hold them in a bent-over position that left their posterior exposed to all kinds of "possibilities," as Kodachi had put it. Akane had barely even hesitated to put herself into the thing and was now reaping the "benefits" of having her bottom thrust outward so that Kodachi could **play** with it at her discretion. Akane was trapped and helpless, unable to defend herself and totally exposed as the Black Rose did as she liked with the rear end of her body, alternately fingering, caressing, licking, spanking, squeezing and finally flogging her with a velvety laced implement that caused Akane to yelp in pain and yet somehow also begin to shiver with anticipation. Before too long Akane was begging for mercy, which came only AFTER Kodachi had switched to a bamboo switch and had painted several pinkish lines across her already reddened ass- cheeks. "Mercy" came when Kodachi switched from torture to cunnalingus, and before too long she had Akane gasping, moaning, groaning and pleading for more, absolutely delirious with the delights Kodachi was inflicting upon her, even sobbing with joy at her eventual climax. During all of this Ryoga had stood riveted like a statue---albeit a statue with a raging hard-on that would simply not go away no matter what else he tried to think about, even finding memories of his mother and pet dog, Shirokuro, was no great help in curing him of his condition. Ryoga---when fully erect---was not as long endowed as either Ranma or even Kaneda (not that he spent time looking and comparing himself to other boys...oh no, no way, not him!), but for a good six inches his manhood was noticeably wider and thicker..."heavier" was the way one of the concubines had put it...thick enough to give some girls a "jawlock" when they tried to suck him. Oddly enough, Akane had no difficulty fitting him into...either opening (he blushed when he thought about this) and had even affectionately nick-named it "Trunks," (that she thought to give his penis a pet name was-he thought---vaguely disturbing in itself) which he supposed was better than being called "Stumpy." (His ego still smarted from the single time that Ranma had called him that, before Ryoga got in a lucky punch that sent him soaring across deck) Just the same, despite his qualms and moral objections, when Kodachi stood up and urged him forward, Ryoga had responded with almost robotic movements, complying with her wishes as she insisted that he put his **thing** inside of Akane's now-well lubricated opening...and that was how he had come (no pun intended) to be pumping away at her rear opening while Kodachi took position on the other end and had Akane busy plying her tongue into some wholesome cunnalingus. Ryoga's raging hard-on demanded that he give his iinazuke his all, riding a grunting and groaning Akane for all that she was worth, and all that he was worth as well, all the time wondering at himself and just when he had become such a "stud" around his fiancée. It was times such as these when Ryoga wondered whether or not Kodachi was a "good" or a "bad" influence on Akane. The Black Rose---a recovering drug addict---had made sex into her principle addiction of choice and had used her friendship with Akane to convince her to share in this addiction (and---by osmosis---this had included Ryoga into the sphere of their mutual "addiction"). It was as much to Kodachi as the redheaded Keiko that Akane now owed her singular...fascination...and that meant that Ryoga had little choice but to play along and do as they bid him with the promise that they would "make it worth his while" for his troubles. Kodachi was the one who initiated the ideas that Akane now took as gospel, and because she was best friends with Akane there was no taboo subject between them, no point at which Akane would balk or turn away or declare that she "just would not do this." Kodachi made everything seem like magic to Akane, and she trusted her implicitly, even when it meant a painful session such as this. There was no question but that it was Kodachi who called the shots here, and Akane was putty in her hands, hers to mold and shape into the affectionate "little slave girl" whom the Black Rose had taken to calling her "apprentice." That disturbed Ryoga for several reasons, not least of which that it meant that Kodachi was the dominant sex partner here. Some masculine portion of Ryoga's brain refused to accept the idea of a woman being in the driver's seat, leading everyone along and even making Keiko happily jump through her hoops. Kodachi--- who made no secret about the fact that she looked up to Madam Lao as a role model---was clearly intent on turning Akane---and even Ryoga himself---into her personal pet possession. The degree of influence that she had over Akane was alarming, even more so because Akane seemed to be allowing it to happen, even willing herself to be at Kodachi's "tender mercies." Ryoga wondered if this was because they really were such **very close friends,** or was it possible that Kodachi and Akane were in love with one another, which meant---technically at least---that Kodachi was his primary rival? Only...how could one be a rival to a girl who let you share in their sexual adventures...or who was just as welling to submit her ass to Ryoga's dick as she was Akane's? Ryoga wondered about his actual feelings towards the beautiful "Black Rose" of the Kuno family. True he found her exciting company, pretty, nicely built, very athletic in frame and wonderfully compact with a body that could bend easily into all sorts of **interesting** positions. She had long, slender legs, well- shaped feet and a nicely rounded posterior that you could literally bounce an egg off of, and nicely shaped breasts that were neither too big nor too small but just about "right" in size (certainly larger than Akane's). Every square centimeter of Kodachi was desirably feminine, and he certainly had no complaints about her as a sexual partner. There was a warm and giving nature to her lovely features that contrasted sharply with the haughty noblewoman she had originally struck him as being. Kodachi was generous and affectionate, a good and loyal friend who could be a fearless defender of what and whom she valued, and not so overly proud or condescending as she might once have appeared to be. Since her recovery from her addiction, Kodachi had gone to great lengths to attempt to repair damaged fences and strained relationships, especially with her fellow teammates on the gymnastics team of her former high school. In fact there was a great deal about her that a man could admire, and were it not that he was already committed to Akane, Ryoga would have considered her as a possible "alternate" girlfriend. That Kodachi had a kinky and semi-sadistic streak was just a curious part of the otherwise contradictory package that she represented. Her "Sado-Masochistic" urges were quite apart from the sweet and considerate person that she would appear to be when dealing with non-sexual situations. Kodachi was witty, insightful, smart, a good advisor, had sound judgement in most things and even very sardonic...to a point where she seemed to overlap traits with Nabiki, with whom she was at least cordial, if not a warmly friendly on other matters. There was little about Kodachi per-se with which Ryoga could object, but...well...how exactly did he **feel** about the "other woman" in Akane's life? For that matter, how did Ryoga feel about Kodachi's relationship with Arigami Keiko? Well...Keiko was his friend from childhood...he knew her pretty well, never had any complaints about her, nor did he ever think twice about her overt lesbianism. That Keiko would also accept him in a sexual situation was...surprising...given that Ryoga knew that she had no interest in sex with men and did not find him as personally attractive as either Kodachi or Akane. Keiko made no secret that she would have sex with him as a favor to both him and her two (genuine) lovers, but even so Keiko did her level best to bring him off, plying her considerable skill as a courtesan to turn the "simple" act of making love into something truly mind-blowing. Ryoga was no where near conceited enough to think that she was turned on to his virility, but when Keiko was going to work on him she could make him feel as though she genuinely cared about him as a lover. Weird...and yet in a nice sort of way...at least Keiko never bruised his ego or rubbed his nose in the fact that she was also Akane's lover. To her making out was just an expression of their mutual friendship, and she often spoke encouragingly to bolster Ryoga's flagging self-esteem, making him feel important, and---even more---that he was attractive and desirable to women. The lonely hermit that he had been for much of his life warmed brightly when he thought about the kindness Keiko had displayed towards him, even before they had taken to sharing a bed with Akane and Kodachi. He knew he could trust Keiko implicitly, that she would also be supportive and never demean him for his shortcomings. She might lightly tease about his direction sense but she never failed to come through with assistance when he had to get someplace and was in need of her guidance. Heck, she was smart and pretty too, and he could really go for her in a way that overlooked her "girls-only" leanings and... Ryoga shook himself out of his daze, coming back to reality as the need to "cum" took over, forcing him to focus on the "here and now" when Akane expected him to deliver...and deliver the "goods" he most certainly did, firing off a load inside her that helped Akane to come over the edge herself as she quivered and moaned, sending gentle vibrations through her mouth into Kodachi, who also seemed to experience a climax in a kind of "love-chain-reaction." Moments later Ryoga felt his strength begin to flag and had to eased off in order to catch his breath, even as Kodachi sagged to her knees and Akane remained where she was, panting fiercely. For a moment there was only the sound of heavy breathing in the air, but at length Kodachi leaned forward and kissed Akane's face, her cheeks her forehead and finally her mouth, where the two of them lingered for a bit, obviously exchanging tongues, though Ryoga was too pooped to be more than stoically interested at the moment. Then---once they broke their lip-lock---Akane said to Kodachi, "Wow...I've never cum that hard before! You were right, this was terrific!" "Didn't I tell you it would be, my sweet?" Kodachi purred affectionately as she caressed Akane's chin with her fingers, then turned her violet eyes past her lover's shoulder and said, "And was it good for you too, Ryoga-kun?" He could only nod his head in reply, privately finding the way she had spoken his name to be oddly...satisfying for some peculiar reason... "Too bad Keiko-chan wasn't here," Akane mused in a semi-exhausted-yet- deliriously-happy tone of voice, "I could have stood having someone suckle my breasts while I'm like this...it would have made things even more perfect." "Perhaps the next time," Kodachi promised, "My darling pet had to attend to other...duties. But when she gets back, why don't we give her some of this same fun? Will you be up to doing this again with Keiko-chan in the pillory, Ryoga- kun, in---say---another hour?" "Another hour?" Ryoga almost squeaked, finding it difficult to even remain upright. He weakly smiled at this (in a fairly appalled kind of way) and thought to himself that he was either the luckiest guy in the world at that moment...or surely the one most doomed to die of exhaustion before he turned twenty! Which reminded him...where was Ranma at, or Nabiki for that matter, and what kind of "special business" did Keiko have with Beatrice, who for once had left the side of her pregnant sex-partner that had called the both of them away in such an inexplicable manner...? "...The problem is a fairly simple one, if you try to look at it objectively for a moment," Beatrice began, "The two of you both lost to captain Lao despite combining your best moves and efforts...in fact, she defeated you with such apparent ease that one must wonder why you bothered to challenge her in the first place." "Maybe because I wanted to see how good she really was," Kaneda frowned, "I've only fought her once before, but I've improved a lot since then..." "Not enough," Keiko sniffed, "And I told you so before you got so snitty about it." "Look," Kaneda sighed, "I'm sorry about what I said back there...but you have to understand something, Kei-chan...I'm worried about you...I'm worried about all of us. Lao has such a stranglehold over everybody living here, I had to do something to break that hold before it tightened too much around all of our necks." "And of course you think I'm just her brainwashed little pawn who can't be trusted to know her own mind around my lady?" Keiko glared down her nose at Kaneda as if daring her to contradict this. "Well," Ranma-chan started to say, "You've gotta admit...you do come across acting like you think she can walk on water or something..." "She CAN walk on water, you twit," Keiko snapped, "But that's got nothing to do with how I feel about my former Mistress." "Kei-chan," Kaneda said, "Try and look at it from our perspective...you're a smart, intelligent person, the kind who shouldn't take shit from anybody, and you're too strong to let anybody put you down. I've never seen you back down from either a challenge or a fight, and you've got very strong opinions that you're not afraid of expressing in front of anyone, even your parents. Yet how someone so independent minded can be so willing to submit themselves to bondage and servitude..." "You don't think I do it because I want to?" Keiko asked. "Kei-chan," Kaneda shook his head, "All Lao has to do is crook her little finger and you turn into her personal lap-dog. Try telling me that she hasn't put some kind of mental compulsion on you..." "You just don't get it, do you?" Keiko shook her head, almost sadly, "Brainwashing a person doesn't work like you think it does. You can't hypnotize someone to do something that's against their personal nature. Lao couldn't make me love a man if my life depended on it, but she taught me how to enjoy sex for its own sake and not quibble about the gender of my partner..." "You see?" Kaneda asked, "And you don't call that brainwashing?" "No," Keiko replied, "I don't. Conditioning is a whole different order of magnitude from the kind of mental domination that you're talking about. The human mind is a very complex organ, it operates from a combination of learned reflexes and hard-wired programming. My sex-preference is hard-wired into me, it's a part of my genetics. I can learn to work around it but I can't undo it...there just is a different sort of biochemical reaction that I feel when I'm in the presence of testosterone, so I can't be compelled to do something that is so anathema to my fundamental nature." "But what about the way the girls on this ship all live like some big lesbian commune?" Ranma-chan pointed out. "That's different," Keiko replied, "There's no hard-wired gene that makes a woman incapable of loving other women...wishful thinking on the part of chauvinists notwithstanding. Women, by our very nature, were meant to live in social groups, and often in hunting societies that meant that we had to share warmth and cooperate together. If there were such a thing as an anti-woman gene, then such groups would have fragmented and civilization itself would never have gotten started. Even in the animal world you can see evidence of this, how females copulate with other females, and males copulate with other males. Most people are Bisexual because it's nature's way of getting us to cooperate. If all of our biology were turned to competition and jealous rivalry, then we'd never have formed social groups or learned to work together as a species." "Fascinating," Beatrice mused, "And here I thought our bisexuality was due to the Solenoid influence in our distant ancestry..." "But how do you know that your behavior isn't directly controlled by Lao?" Kaneda asked, "For Kami's sake...you SOLD yourself to Kodachi!" "And you could have been my owner, but you missed your chance," Keiko replied, "Nabiki...you just don't seem to get the point of what I'm telling you...I may seem independent-minded to you, but in my heart of hearts, I WANT TO BE OWNED BY ANOTHER WOMAN, especially one who cares about me, like Kodachi! I'm a submissive...I enjoy taking orders from my lover and doing what she tells me. I may seem like a kick-butt martial artist to you, but once I discovered this fact about myself, I knew that I could never be happy in an ordinary relationship where I wasn't being led on a leash and tormented with affection by someone who cares enough to buy me and treat me like a possession." "Uh...don't get me wrong, but...ARE YOU NUTS OR SOMETHING???" Ranma-chan blurted out, "Owning people and doing stuff like that to them..." "What's the matter, Saotome?" Keiko smiled, "Jealous? Or are you going to tell me that the thought of having Nabchan on a leash begging you for attention doesn't appeal to you on some deep, perversely dark level?" "Huh...?" Ranma-chan blinked, then noticed the way that "Kaneda" was glancing towards her with a cocked eyebrow and a look of deep suspicion. Reflexively she swallowed... "Maybe I wouldn't be like this if it weren't for Madam Lao," Keiko resumed, "And maybe I have absorbed her outlook on sexual matters, but it's not because she brainwashed me into thinking her way was the best. The fact is that I AGREE with her that certain types of women are best served by wearing chains and a collar. I LIKE BEING CHAINED UP AND TORMENTED! It's something that gives me a deep, personal thrill and a great deal of satisfaction. Kinky stuff to me is like food and drink...it spices up the sex and makes it possible to enjoy it on a level that goes well beyond a simple Rim job..." "Oh yeah?" Kaneda asked, "You didn't seem to enjoy it too much when I found you in Chu Wan Phat's arena." "That's different," Keiko sniffed, "Chu Wan Phat was my owner only because he forced my Mistress to sell me to him in order to avoid real trouble. Lao never deals with his type on a regular business level...he was a competitor backing a rival fighter in an arena, and I won feet down in that Kickboxing tournament. The bastard then used strong-arm tactics to force her to relinquish her ownership of me, and I never would have consented unless I knew the alternative could have been harmful to my Mistress." "But you suffered in captivity under him," Kaneda pointed out, "And you didn't even try to escape until I showed up to help you..." "That was because I didn't think I could get away if I tried leaving his cage," Keiko pointed out, "I was tough enough even then that I didn't fear him or his men...I could killed the lot of them and never even worked up a sweat...but then I'd have been a marked woman throughout the slums of Hong Kong, a fugitive in a very real sense. I only agreed to leave because it would have meant you staying behind in my place if I didn't. You convinced me that the two of us together could put that bastard in his place, and we did...and then you ran off and left me alone...thanks to that damned 'Uncle" of yours..." "Yes, but the point is...you stayed and let yourself be raped and humiliated by that animal," Kaneda insisted, "And when you lost to me it sounded like he was going to kill you." "Oh, he had something planned for me that was a LOT more unpleasant than simple killing," Keiko winced, "You don't know the underworld there, what they do to people, what they find amusing. It would have been...bad...no doubt about that...and yet I've seen it happen to other girls who displeased their masters. Trust me when I say this, I was NOT looking forward to hanging around afterwards and winding up...barbecued...and served to my Master like a suckling pig..." "SAY WHAT???" Ranma-chan blurted, looking ill. "You are joking about this?" Beatrice marveled. "Hey," Keiko said grimly, "There are more perverse things in human existence than are dreamt of in your imaginations, guys...and count yourself lucky about that." Kaneda sat there round-eyed and just stared in disbelief, then said, "And...you'd have let him do this to you???" "Hey, I was at loose ends, damaged good in my own eyes," Keiko shrugged, "Death would have been a release at that point, but you showed me a better way, and for that I'm grateful." "But...he wouldn't have really...?" Ranma-chan swallowed, "That's sick!" "It is...not without precedence," Beatrice said with a disquieted expression, "In my travels I have...heard about such things..." "Keiko!" Kaneda half-rose to his manacled feet, "Doesn't that mean anything to you, that you could have meant to little to a man who claimed to be your Master that he'd be willing to...to...to..." "Eat me?" Keiko replied without flinching, "I've seen worse fates...like girls being fed to sharks and alligators, or even piranhas, just so their owners can watch them get eaten. I've seen torture and beheadings that would turn the stomach of a Holy Roman Inquisitor, and yeah...I've seen even worse things, like a girl being tossed into a vat of acid, or forced to deliberately eat poison that caused a hideous and prolonged death, so yeah...I've seen the dregs and the pits of hell and lived to tell about it, so what has this got to do with Madam Lao and her ways?" "But they're the same thing!" Kaneda insisted, "Maybe not by degree, but by the same sick mentality of one person believing that they can be owned by another..." "They're not the same thing," Keiko shook her head, "You just think that being a Slave means being a prisoner without rights and privileges, you think it means being a victim. It's not the same thing, Nabiki...Phat was a ruthless coward, a conniving back-stabber, a hideous boil on the toe of society who thought his money and influence gave him real power over others. He liked to remind the people around him that he was the Lord and Master of their fate, and people like that inevitably bring themselves down with the resentments they breed in others. He may have owned me and was---for a time---my Master, but he was never truly my MASTER where it counted. Lao taught me to see the difference between a man who has to use force to earn respect, and a man who earns respect because he demonstrates real power." "How can you say that?" Kaneda asked, "Phat's just a more extreme version of Lao..." "DON'T SAY THAT!" Keiko snarled, suddenly in his face, "DON'T EVER COMPARE MADAM LAO TO PHAT IN FRONT OF ME EVER AGAIN! You may be my friend, Nabiki, but you don't have the right to even think something like that in my face, and if you say it again I'll go up the side of your head and do a tap-dance on your skull to beat some sense into that thick---!" "AHEM," Beatrice intervened, causing a momentary distraction in the growing altercation, "To your corners, ladies...times out and all that. Let me see if I can frame the argument that you are making here, Arigami-san...you are saying that being a Slave is not a simple matter of being brutalized into submission?" "Of course I'm saying that," Keiko replied, "Mindless brutality can whip a helpless person into submission, but it can't make them genuinely like their captor." "And you, Nabiki-kun, are saying that you believe that her attitudes are the result of subliminal brainwashing?" Beatrice asked of Kaneda. "What other explanation can there be?" Kaneda asked. "Then you reject the premise that there is such a thing as a submissive personality trait...or is it that you regard such a thing as a pathology?" Beatrice wondered, "In which case you believe that Keiko-san here is a pathologically driven person?" "Uh...well...no..." Kaneda hesitated, only to hear Keiko snort in derision. "You are aware, are you not, that the International Psychological Association does not define Submissiveness as a pathology," Beatrice continued, "Although having a submissive personality disorder can be defined as a special category. Most research on the subject has shown that those who engage in games of dominance and submission are---remarkably enough---quite stable and sociable, having reasonably well-adjusted personalities in spite of their tendency towards a certain...fetish. If anything, having an outlet for interpersonal tensions would appear to help these people to remain stable and well adjusted...no doubt because they can compartmentalize their emotions in a more systematic manner, reserving time for their aggressions---and for sex---apart from their daily lives and routine pursuits. Putting on the chains or taking up the whip is like a game they play on a part-time basis...pleasant enough while it lasts, and then they remove those chains and go back about their regular business." "I don't get it," Ranma-chan said, "How can something like that be healthy? It sounds more like a Jeckle-and-Hyde thing..." "Doctor Jeckle and Mister Hyde---to go by that famous Victor Hugo novel," Beatrice explained, "Were two sides to the same personality made manifest. Doctor Jeckle starts out fretting that he lives an apparent double-life as both a well-respected pillar of society and as a man who visits the lower quarters to engage in revelry and debauchery quite apart from the Victorian standard. He decides to separate his light and dark halves into two people, the Virtuous Doctor and the dastardly Hyde, only to see his darker half go out of control, not restrained by his humanity and former benevolence. In the end the two parts wind up in a destructive pursuit to reverse the process. I believe it may have been an allegorical story about cocaine addiction, but that's really not relevant to the subject at hand." "Right," Keiko nodded, having calmed down considerably while this clinical explanation was being given, "Only I'm not divided about what I want...there's no separation between my light and dark elements. I'm perfectly balanced between the two, which is a major part of what I'm getting at here. Lao puts us in closer touch with our hidden side, our inner sexual being, and she helps us to bring what's hidden to the surface and make us enjoy it. Yeah, it seems kind of heavy on the fetish stuff, but that's what it means to be uninhibited about sex...to unleash my inner slave personality and allow me to indulge myself in a free and casual manner." "And Chu Wan Phat?" Kaneda asked. "Couldn't care less about whether we enjoyed ourselves or not," Keiko replied, "If anything he enjoyed it even more when we DIDN'T like doing his bidding. The girls in his employ were victims, pure and simple, and I had to go along with stuff that even I'm ashamed about doing. Good thing for me he prized me for my combat skills, so he never did anything that would have left me permanently crippled. I would have been 'damaged goods' if he'd been as rough about it as it was with the other women who came and went through his service. Believe me, if I'd had a real chance at getting away with it, I would have broken him like a twig and eviscerated his insides and never shed a tear about it. I would have done that, too, if you hadn't talked me out of it at the last second." "Yeah...silly me..." Kaneda swallowed, looking very ill at the moment. "There's a big difference between being a Pleasure Girl and being that kind of a slave, Nabiki," Keiko persisted, "Being a trained courtesan means that I have just as much control over the situation as my Mistress or Master. I can do things that allow me to get the upper hand so that my owner is doing what I want them to do to me, but there is a certain amount of thrill to being helpless and at someone else's mercy..." "Fascinating," Beatrice nodded, "But this does tend to drag us off the subject. I came here to talk about why you lost to Madam Lao, and why I believe she is putting you through all of these paces. Would you care now to hear my theory?" "Go ahead," Kaneda nodded, "I'm all ears." "First off," Beatrice said, "It should be painfully obvious to anyone that the two of you are not being groomed to be sex-slaves, though I could see a certain...appeal you both might have to potential buyers." Ranma-chan colored pinkly and tried not to look as ill-at-ease as she felt at the concept of someone wanting to own her, while Kaneda just frowned darkly and said, "Do go on." "Indeed," Beatrice nodded, "It would seem to me that Lao has been giving you only a mere taste of what sort of things she does to...persuade her women to submit to her influence...but it would seem more likely that she is testing you both to see how far you can go in resisting her efforts. She isn't really forcing the matter...beyond the stage of a certain token gesture..." Kaneda had an image of his female self bent over a sawhorse while being worked over by both Lao and her two minions, Lotus and Blossom, and of being hung up with ropes while that selfsame twosome took liberties with her naked body, and abruptly it was Kaneda's turn to blush crimson, while scowling in obvious displeasure. "...What if the aim is to inspire you to fight back in earnest against her efforts?" Beatrice replied, "Perhaps it is the fighter within both of you who most intrigue our goodly captain and is the source of her real interest. What if she were pushing you in order to provoke you into pushing back, and that scene in the harem...followed by your humiliation in battle...were but a calculated part of a larger scheme to motivate you into improving yourselves as fighters?" "She wants us to keep fighting her?" Ranma asked. "Think about it," Beatrice urged, "She said it herself...a captain has absolute power over her own vessel. Well...never could this be more the truth than on this particular vessel, where the very wood that it is made from obeys her wishes, and where she can draw upon the resources of the ultimate terror weapon in her employ...the Kraken?" "Yes, I see what you're getting at," Kaneda nodded, "Lao once told me that her powers on land are considerably less than they are while she is on this ship. She able to tap into the lei-lines and manna concentrations here to make herself a much stronger fighter." "And yet she can still be beaten," Beatrice mused, "Doctor Steinberg was able to best her within her own stronghold, and so decisively that Madam Lao always refers to him---with affection---as her husband. Clearly she was in awe of him when they met at the hospital, and---surprisingly enough---when he told her to stay in one place, she obeyed him." "She was probably more worried that he could hunt her down if she tried to run..." Ranma suggested. "I do not think that is likely to be the case," Beatrice replied, "In her tiger form she is as fast as a small car, and it isn't that many miles from Nerima to the harbor. What if the real reason she obeyed him is because she herself is a submissive?" "Say WHAT?" Nabiki looked boggle-eyed at the naked silver-haired genius. "Think about it some more," Beatrice smiled, "Isn't it often said that a Bondage Queen secretly wants to be dominated by someone who is much stronger? Everything that I've heard so far about her would seem to support this...that beneath her veneer of indomitable pride, the Mistress of this ship is looking to find herself a proper Master." "You mean...me?" Kaneda blanched, "But that's crazy!" "Why?" Keiko asked, "Didn't you already dominate her once already when you went Neko a while ago?" "What?" Ranma-chan blinked, glancing at Nabiki, "What did THAT happen?" "Uh..." Kaneda said dubiously, clearly hesitating to give an answer. "So you see...deep down Lao is hoping to make you dominate her in earnest, by urging you to revert to your own dominant personality traits," Beatrice noted, "An alternative to this would be to urge Ranma here to consider her as a likely potential conquest. We can use this to our advantage, use it as leverage to work on Lao's perverse nature to perhaps lower her guard and make it possible for you to actually defeat her." "By...seducing her?" Kaneda's voice quavered by an octave, "Oh mou..." "Nothing that crude, I assume," Beatrice paused to consider the point, "Though it is an idea worth keeping in reserve should all else fail. The point is...Lao wants the both of you to do better...she will be more than willing to concede you every advantage that you may need in order to get the upper hand with her. She would even consent to train you in methods that would improve your martial arts. Think of how she has mastered her Storm School of Tsunami Martial Arts...and then think of an effective counter, much as she seemed to know how to counter Saotome's Senken maneuvers." "Yeah, I've been wondering about that," Ranma-chan frowned, "When I used the Fierce Tiger Gate blow, she seemed to have sensed that one coming in advance and blocked the attack before I even had time to execute it." "She used the 'Surf Collides with Reef' maneuver to counter it," Keiko explained, "It was like you hitting a coral rock and having the force of your attack be dispersed against it." "But what can we use that will make us good enough to fight Lao on a one-to-one basis?" Kaneda frowned, "I don't trust Lao enough to take her on as a teacher...I've got enough of a problem with the Old Woman back home as it is..." "Maybe she's leaving you clues and hoping you will take the hint and figure that one out for yourself," Beatrice remarked, "I have noticed that---with Madam Lao- --things are never as obvious as they might appear to be at first glance. Take those chains, for example....how serious do you think they can hold the pair of you if you sought to free yourself from them?" Kaneda glanced down at his shackles, "I don't know...they feel pretty tough. I might be able to break them with a good hammer blow or..." "Force isn't always the answer, Nabchan," Keiko replied, "You've got to learn to think even more tricky than you've been doing for the last three days." "You mean...?" Ranma-chan glanced down, holding up her wrists for closer examination, and then staring at her manacles with a peculiar fascination before moving one hand to the catch about the other and playing with it for a moment. An audible click later and the manacle fell away, leaving her just as surprised as Kaneda. "How did you...?" Kaneda gasped. "I...don't know," Ranma-chan replied, "It just...seemed to make sense all of a sudden," she unsnapped the other manacle and let her cuffs fall to the floor, then bent down and went to work on her ankle chains, removing them with as much ease as the others. "See what I mean?" Keiko smiled smugly, "Never take anything my lady does at face value." "You mean...we've been able to free ourselves the whole time?" Kaneda asked in astonishment. "Of course," Beatrice smiled, "It makes perfect sense. Lao is trying to impress on you the essence of her philosophy...that one cannot be made a slave without their full cooperation!" "Bingo!" Keiko smiled in triumph as Ranma-chan finished undoing Kaneda's cuffs, then unhitched her own collar. The taller redhead then nodded down at Kaneda and added, "By the way, you'd better do something about that before you go wandering around this ship without a loincloth. The ladies here are usually polite about it, but with your natural charisma and that piece of man-meat hanging on the outside, it'd be like waving a red tablecloth at a herd of horny cattle." "Er..." Kaneda glanced at his semi-erect member and said, "Good point..." "In the meantime," Beatrice said drolly, "If you two are done in here, perhaps we might continue this conversation back in the seraglio. I left Alison in a bit of a state, and I want to get back to her before things progress too far without me." "Progress?" Ranma-chan asked, "Something happen to A-chan?" "Something is right," Keiko replied, "She started having labor pangs a few minutes before we came to look for your guys. The midwives say that it'll be a while before we know for certain but..." "Alison is going into labor," Beatrice explained, "The captain has offered to assist in the delivery, but...well...you can understand my urgent desire to return to Aiko-chan's side at once?" "Of course," Kaneda nodded, "Lead the way, Kei-chan." "I just love it when you start giving the orders, Boss lady," Keiko smirked as she turned around, leaving Kaneda to study her lovely backside with a MOST dubious expression... Continued. Comments/Criticisms/Semi-Coherent Rationalizations: shadowmane@ridgenet.net Strange and bizarre things are in the offing for Nabiki and her crew as Lao helps deliver yet another baby, and Ranma makes a new friend, but what about that floating island that's just off the port bow? Could it be that even Lao is unprepared for an unscheduled stop along the way to Hentai Heaven? Be here next time for: "Not Now, my Concubine," or "Nihao my Hentai!" Be there!