Disclaimer: You guys know the deal. I don't own.
Okay folks- here we go. The last two chapters. (Note: some bad language ahead. Plus, this story also assumes Ranma knows the way to Nekonron.) The first:
Chapter Ten: Ranma's Dangerous Bargain
Groaning, Jones fell flat on his back on the deck. Ranma stood over him, breathing hard.
"I win, Jones," he said triumphantly.
Jones gave a sickening grin. "So you have, Miss Saotome." He got to his feet. "Congratulations."
"So. Since I beat you, we're free to go. Right?" Ranma asked. "That was the deal."
"You defeated me, Miss Saotome. The victory was yours- yours alone. You are free. The others stay."
"WHAT?!" Ranma bellowed. "The deal was that all of us go free!"
"Humph. Do you honestly think I'd release all of my new crewmembers because one of them defeated me? You're a fool if you believed me, Miss Saotome," Jones laughed. "Feel free to go ashore… the very next time we make port!" Jones turned away, still laughing. The other crew laughed with him.
"You…you son of a bitch!" Ranma snarled, clenching his fists.
"You forget, Miss Saotome. I am truly heartless." Jones said, his voice a mocking sneer. He turned to the crew. "Take her and her friends to the brig, all except the elephant."
Several crewmen seized Ranma and the others, dragging them belowdecks. Jasmine trumpeted to be separated from Lychee yet again.
"You asshole! You won't get away with this!" Ranma yelled as he was yanked toward the brig.
"I already have, Miss Saotome," said Jones with a cruel chuckle.
Hours later, while the others continued to chatter worriedly between each other, Ranma sat staring out the barred door of the brig, thinking.
There's got to be a way to get us all off this ship, he thought. It'll require something drastic. But do I dare..?
He clenched his fists, scowling at them. Do I really have a choice? This may be my only chance to free us all.
Suddenly he stood up and banged on the door. "Hey! Hey, you!" he yelled to the crewman who was guarding them. "Yeah, you!"
Clanker stomped over. "Whaddya want?"
"Let me outta here! I gotta talk to the captain! It's urgent!"
Clanker just laughed. "Sure it is."
"It is! Go tell him I've got a proposition for him!"
Clanker sneered. "Izzat so? Well, then, I'll be back, future crewmate- again." He stomped off, chuckling.
"We'll see about that, barnacle face," Ranma muttered.
Five minutes later, Ranma entered Jones' cabin.
"What now, Miss Saotome?" Jones asked in a low voice. By now he was heartily sick of this self-proclaimed "boy" and her accursed willfulness.
"I'm here because I have a proposition for you," said Ranma. He slowly walked toward Jones' organ. Jones' back was turned to him.
"So I've been told. I'm listening," said Jones.
Ranma walked till he stood beside the organ bench. "I want to make a deal with you for the others' freedom. Listen. You said Kirin owes you a debt, right?"
Jones spun around to stare at him suspiciously. "How do you know of that?"
"I overheard you say so on the day you press-ganged that rich guy into the crew. So, then. Kirin owes you a debt. Yes or no?" Ranma asked calmly. He knew getting angry now would do nothing for his cause.
"Aye. He does. What business is that of yours?"
"Just listen, okay? Kirin owes you a debt, and you want to go to Nekonron to claim it, but you don't know how to get there. Right?"
After a moment Jones shook his head. "No."
"Okay, then. Listen. This is my offer. You want to go to Nekonron, but don't know the way. I do. As you know, we were on our way there before we came here. I know the way to Nekonron. In exchange for setting the others free, I will lead you to Nekonron. The Yangtze flows into an area that's right near Nekonron. I know the route from the river to Nekonron. Sail the Dutchman up the Yangtze, and when we reach the area near Nekonron, I'll lead you there. Wait. How soon can you go ashore?"
"In a week," Jones replied. "So you'll guide me to Nekonron if I free the others."
"Yes."
"Now, why should I believe you? Trust you? You seem willing to say anything to get yourself and your friends off this ship."
"Because, we told you when we got here. We've got business with Kirin, too." said Ranma.
"Aye. You said so. But you never said what kind of business. Does he owe you a debt, as well?"
"No. He kidnapped my fiancée. We were on our way there to get my fiancée back from him."
"Your fiancée?" Jones regarded Ranma with a mirthless smile on his face. "Why would a man kidnap another man?"
Ranma gritted his teeth, controlling his anger. "You know I'm really a guy. My fiancée, Akane. I need to find Kirin to get Akane back from him." he said. "Okay. So that's my proposal. You let the others go, too, and I'll lead you to Nekonron, and we'll both get what we want from Kirin. Deal?"
Jones got to his feet rapidly, and Ranma took a few steps backward.
"You knew from the start we'd be nothing but trouble, and we have been. You don't want us here anymore."
"No. But I still do not fully trust you, Miss Saotome. Therefore I will add a condition to this agreement." He began to walk toward Ranma slowly, backing him toward the wall of the cabin. "You will lead me to Nekonron. But, if I fail to capture Kirin and take him to the ship, you will take his place, and spend the rest you life- all eternity, actually- bound to this ship. Your soul will belong to me. Agreed?"
"B-but you said one soul isn't equal to another!" Ranma protested.
"It can be, if I want it to be. Do you want-"
"But the others will be free?"
"Yes. So-"
"And Akane. Akane's off limits, too, even if she and Kirin are married by the time we get there."
Jones let out a growl. He raised his claw and clamped it around Ranma's throat. Ranma, caught by surprise, gasped quietly and fell silent. Jones' pale blue eyes bored into Ranma's blue girl-type eyes.
"Do you want your friends to be released?"
"Y-yeah, that's why I-"
A squeeze from Jones' claw quieted him again.
"So, then, Miss Saotome. Do we have an agreement?" Jones asked intensely.
Ranma closed his eyes, thinking. Jones released his throat but did not back away.
This is the only way I can get them freed, Ranma thought, clenching his fists. I might end up Jones' slave for the rest of my life, but… if the others will be free and safe… and I do want Kirin to pay… well, for everyone's sake… better just me than everyone else, right?
Ranma sighed loudly and unclenched his hands. Eyes downcast, he said just one word:
"Done."
Suddenly he felt something grab his right hand. Looking down, he saw his hand clutched in Jones' own slimy, tentacled hand, the long pointer finger wound up around Ranma's wrist. He could not conceal a shudder of revulsion.
With a yank, Jones pulled his hand free.
Ranma held up his hand. Slime dripped off of it. "Ew," Ranma said softly. Then, to his horror, a big black spot appeared on the palm of his hand. "What the-?" he yelled. "What'd you do to me?!"
"Until you keep your end of the bargain, you will be marked. If you try to escape the ship before then, I will send the Kraken after you, and it'll be the Locker for all of you. Once I have either you or Kirin on the crew, Kirin being the preferred, I will remove the black spot. Now, get out of my sight." said Jones, shoving Ranma toward the cabin door.
"You'll get rid of this thing once you have Kirin?"
"Only I can remove the Black Spot. If you escape before your end of the bargain is fulfilled, you will never be able to take to sea again. If you do, I will hunt you down until you are either dead, part of the crew- again, or in the Locker. Now get out." Jones replied.
"You monster," Ranma muttered.
Jones, his beard tentacles purple with anger, strode forward, grabbed Ranma's arm, and dragged him back to the brig, tossing him in and locking the door behind him before returning to the deck.
"Set course for the Yangtze River! We're going to collect on a debt!" Ranma heard Jones yell.
"Ranma! You back!" Shampoo cried, crawling over. "Ai-ya! Ranma, what is happen your hand?"
"I made a deal with Jones. To ensure your freedom, yours plus Akane's," Ranma replied solemnly.
"You what?! You made a deal with Jones?" Soun demanded. "Are you mad? You just won your freedom!"
"It was the only way. I wasn't gonna leave you guys behind. I said I'd lead him to Nekonron, and he'd set you free in return." said Ranma. He looked away.
"There's something else, isn't there?" Ryoga asked. "What happened? I thought you were free."
"I was, until I made this bargain. All I have to do is lead him to Nekonron to get you guys freed, but if Kirin gets away, I take his place. If he escapes, I'm the one bound to the Dutchman."
"What?!" everyone yelled.
"I know, I know, but I didn't put in that last bit. That was Jones. I agreed to it, because I won't let anything happen to you guys, or Akane. Even if you guys piss me off." Ranma said. "I can't believe I did that, either."
"Seems Jones is determined to get a crewmember out of this." Mousse growled. "No matter which one it is. Even if he hates one of them."
"Yeah. I don't get it, either. I thought he hated me, too. I wonder why he'd want me back on the crew again." Ranma said.
"Probably to punish you for the grief you've given him these past two weeks," Ryoga chuckled.
"Shut up, P-chan. This is serious." Ranma growled.
"But what about your hand? What happened there, boy?" Genma asked.
"Jones marked me with the Black Spot. So I couldn't get away until I fulfilled my end of the bargain. If I try to escape before then, he'll send the Kraken after me and throw us all in the Locker."
"But Kraken is water-bound. It no can pursue you on land." said Lychee.
"Yeah, but the Dutchman can't make port. The only way to escape is by sea." Ranma said.
"…" Everyone was silent for a second.
"So, since none of us had any money for plane tickets, we'll never get back to Japan, since the sea route would be far too dangerous." Happosai spoke up.
"That's gotta be the most intelligent thing you've said this whole trip, old man," Ranma sneered. "But he's right. We'd never be able to go to sea again. We'd be effectively marooned in China. And I'd hate to be trapped in that country without passports."
"We could always go south into Vietnam, or north into Russia-" Mousse spoke up.
"Without passports?" Ranma put in. "How would that be better?"
Mousse fell silent.
"I guess we have no choice, then," said Kuno. "Do we, Pigtailed Girl?"
"No. It's done. The deal's made. But it doesn't matter, 'cause I've got something to settle with Kirin, too, so I don't mind taking Jones with us."
"Oh, what a noble sacrifice, Pigtailed Girl," Kuno cried gushingly, seizing Ranma in a tight embrace.
Ranma gave him an elbow to the head. "Will you cut that out, you moron?! Now is not the time for that crap! Listen. We're sailing up the Yangtze, headed for Nekonron. Don't worry, guys. We'll all be free soon enough. Just hang in there."
Hang on, Akane, Ranma thought. We're coming. Just hang on.
Next Up: The Finale!!!
Okay- Chapter ten! This was actually the first chapter I wrote for this story. That's why it may seem to be a little different from the others. Anyways, the next chapter is the final chapter in the story! See you there! R&R!!