"About time." Ukyo barked at Shampoo as the small cat jumped down from a tree branch to join her outside of the Kuno's residence. The transformed Amazon hissed at her. "Only Ranma gets scared by your fluffy ass, sugar."
She mumbled, pouring hot water over the Amazon's head. Shampoo's body changed back to its natural state. Ukyo handed her a towel and a tight swimsuit. Kodachi probably had a bit of a fixation with the Amazon's body. It would explain why she was either naked, or forced to wear that tight black swimsuit. At least Ukyo had been granted the benefit of having some armor on.
Was it because she behaved better? Was she the favored slave? The good slave? Would she end up like Sasuke...? As loyal as a dog? Enduring it all and genuinely grateful at the smallest display of respect and affection...?
Ukyo blinked. Shampoo was still making weird animal noises. She had knelt next to Akane. She hurried to slung her back over her shoulder. The Amazon leaped to her feet, obviously angered, and Ukyo rose an arm to halt her.
"She's for Kodachi. Hurt her, and you'll regret it." A sneer flashed across Shampoo's face. It was so fast that Ukyo wasn't sure if she had just imagined it. Then again, maybe running free around the city, making Ranma wail and slam against stuff, had shaken the Amazon out of her dazed apathetic state. "Come on." She said. "I want this over with."
The dark isolated corridors of the Tatewaki's household seemed to extend endlessly before them. What was going to happen once they reached the end? Was this really their final task? Would Kodachi kill Akane, or turn her into another maddened slave? Was Ranma the real target of her sadistic plan? Would female Ranma end up joining them too? Was Kodachi a lesbian psychopath who yearned for a harem?
Ukyo blinked. She was drugged, wasn't she? All the time...That's why it was all so bitter. It was all drugged. That was a nice thought. So maybe she wasn't to blame...She was another victim. Just like Genma, and Soun, and Ryoga, and Shampoo...and now Akane. Akane, who had stolen Ranma from her...Or just won. Love wasn't a crime...
A sudden terror gripped her heart and she stopped abruptly. She whirled around. Shampoo was at her back. She looked startled, but Ukyo wasn't going to be fooled.
"What did you do to Nabiki?"
"What?"
"Did you kill her? Why didn't you kill Kasumi?"
"Shut up..." Shampoo hissed at her. "Walk!"
Ukyo didn't want to walk. She needed to know what had happened to Nabiki. What may happen to Kasumi. She didn't want Shampoo at her back.
"You walk in front."
"...why?"
"Because I say so, you little monster. Walk in front...!"
"Because I says so…" Shampoo hissed venomously, but walking passed her to take the front. "Yīnwèi biérén zǒng shì zhèyàng shuō…"
"Talk in Japanese. If Kodachi catches you babbling like that, you'll regret it."
That made Shampoo flinch, and effectively shut her up. Ukyo smiled. Good.
After what felt like an eternity, they reached the iron door that hid Kodachi's room from the rest of the world. Shampoo slammed the door open with daring bluntless and strided inside. Ukyo hurried to catch up to her.
Kodachi sat at the iron throne she had forced them to build. An almost diabolic smile spread across her face.
"We captured Tendo Akane as ordered, Kodachi-samma." Shampoo purred.
Ukyo glared at her, and she made a show of throwing their prisoner at Kodachi's feet. She had captured Akane.
"You have done well, my dears. Now, let us enjoy the fruits of our hardships."
Shampoo made a noise. Ukyo assumed that she was giggling. She should be happy too. This was the end, wasn't it? Or just the beginning of something else? Oh, please, just let Kodachi rip Akane apart and order her remains to be dumped at Ranma's feet...Let it be the end...
"Take her to the dwell and tie her to the pulley."
Ukyo obeyed automatically, and moved to drag Akane's limp body over to the dwell.
"The dwell?" Shampoo asked suddenly. "Why not the…uh…the…."
"The Torture Chamber?" Kodachi asked in a mocking tone, walking regally towards them. "Well, dear, that's were you sleep. Akane is not a slave. She is an honored guest, and thus requires special treatment."
"What…?"
"Oh, my dear Shampoo. You're lucky I'm in such a good mood tonight!"
Ukyo stopped tying the last knots of Akane's bondage and looked over at them. She frowned. There it was again. Shampoo cowered under Kodachi's gaze but there was still something different about her tonight. Something dangerous. Something that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up...
"Throw her in." Kodachi chortled. "Kick her in…!"
Ukyo obeyed. Akane cried out in pain as her feet connected to her ribs. Her body rolled and she fell into the deep dwell, landing hard on the hard floor. Her eyes opened, heavy with sleep and clouded by pain. Ukyo's mouth went dry as their gazes met. It would soon be over. She would soon have her revenge. And death would put an end to Akane's agony...even if it took long to get to it.
"The pain you made me feel, Tendo Akane…" Kodachi was saying, now standing at the edge of the dwell. "The pain that smothered my heart, and poisoned my lungs. It was so hard to breathe for so very long. It burnt. You heartless wench cannot understand the anguish...But you will feel its effects. For as long as your wreched body can endure it."
She hit the stone head of one of the grotesque beasts they had attached to the structure. It retched water into the empty dwell. It started filling up.
Ukyo felt her lips curled into a smile. This was wrong, so horrible and so wrong but...It felt good. It was the end. All of her pain to earn this very moment. She looked up, desperate to find reassurance on her companions. Both Kodachi and Shampoo were looking down at Akane with sick smiles plastered across their faces. Their eyes were dead. Ukyo started having problems to breathe. This...felt so much more real than the last few times. There was no denying it anymore...
Akane was screaming for mercy. She couldn't swim. For some reason, her body sank like a rock in water. Boy, did she know this. She had tried to help her. Help her swim. And failed. Poor Akane was not built for the water. It had to be terrifying...
A sudden shudder shook the house. Akane screamed again as the water waved violently around her. Kodachi did not look away, her laughter growing hysterical. Ukyo, however, was suddenly very aware of what was happening around them. The house shook again. There was the sound of something breaking. And an enraged scream…
"Akane!"
"It Luan Ma!" Shampoo screamed. "Kill Akane! Kill now!"
"No!" Kodachi intercepted Shampoo as she tried to jump into the dwell, and shoved her back. The Amazon rolled with the shove and was soon back on her feet, glaring and hissing at the Black Rose. "How dare you! You unrepenting savage wench...!"
Kodachi's hand flashed to her belt and the ribbon curled free of its confinement. It was brought down mercilessly against the Amazon, biting into her face. Shampoo recoiled with a cry, covering the bleeding wound and enduring the onslaught brought down upon her back.
"Ranma...!" Akane wailed.
"Akane!"
Ukyo watched in wide-eyed stupor as Shampoo leaped for Kodachi, letting out a war-cry so ferocious that it pierced even through Kodachi's madness. The Black Rose stopped the lashing and attempted to shield herself. The Amazon had her by the throat in an instant...and was slamming her head against the floor in the next. Time and time again was the Black Rose rammed against the stone. The bones cracked, the flesh ripped...
Shampoo slammed Kodachi one last time against the floor, and then, like a rabid dog, she just jump on her, ripping her appart, kicking and punching, and slamming her around as if she were a rag doll. Ukyo finally staggered back, moaning in horror. She wanted to look away, but she couldn't. It all looked so familiar. Hadn't she done the same...She had. She had done it...twice...Oh, the noise they had made, the smell...
Shampoo threw Kodachi aside and fixed her maddened eyes on her. Ukyo whimpered. She could not fear Shampoo...She was weak. The Amazon had cried and wail like a child when she had been silent and composed. She had crumbled in days with torments that Ukyo had withstood for months….She could not have just killed Kodachi…She could not have just free them both from this nightmare…
Shampoo sneered at her again, and whirled on Akane.
"Now...now you die...!"
"No!"
Ukyo finally found the strength to move. She screamed as she tackled Shampoo off the air. They rolled across the ground and struggled to stay on top of the other. By sheer luck, Ukyo managed to lock her arms around the Amazon's neck and held for dear life, knowing all too well what would happen if she struggled loose.
"S-stop...!" She heaved, muscles burning with the effort, her heart racing painfully fast. "Just stop it!"
The iron door burst open. Ukyo didn't want to look. She knew who was there. But Shampoo did. Her struggles ceased for wonderful seconds. It was over...It was all over...
"Luan Ma!"
Shampoo exploded back into motion, throwing Ukyo off of her. She rushed towards Ranma, but this time, Ukyo didn't try to stop her. It was over. Ranma was here now...It was all over...And that was real. Dazed, feeling as if she had just woken up from a horrible nightmare, Ukyo started laughing. It was all over...!