Well, this took a little longer than I hoped but it's finished at last. Enjoy! And if you do, or even if you don't, write and tell me of your thoughts of the fic. C&C is, as always, very welcome. The next part might take a while. I'm working on a more serious and longer fic, and real life seems destined to intrude. But it will come out ... eventually. :) Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 belongs to Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan in Japan, and Viz Communications in the US. I'm just borrowing the characters for profit-free entertainment purposes (heh, heh), and fully intend to return them ... at some point in the future. Acknowledgements: Thanks (and blame :) go to HK Miller and RpM whose stories inspired the Babylon 5 overtones in this. If you haven't read 'A Comedy of Errors' by HK Miller or 'The Pursuit of Happiness Act 2: The Kings of Nerima' by RpM, I recommend them both. NABIKI'S WAR Part 3: Signs, portents and shadowy forebodings! Technical difficulties arise! By Kagami The Drama Club's storage room seemed filled to the brim with stage props and costumes. One thing that Nabiki had always liked about plays was the vivid array of costumes. Somehow, the miriad glitter and dazzle of each carefully crafted piece of clothing seemed to appeal to the childish side within her self. Of course, some people were more childish about costuming than others. "Behold the power of evil mistress, Black Queen X!" "Hah, sister! Beware, the Blue Tengu of Justice is here to defeat your evil plans!" Nabiki sighed, and went back to repressing her childish side. *** Hikaru Gosunkugi fidgeted. For the umpteenth time. Nabiki stopped reading and looked up from the master script. "It's good, Gos-kun. Very good indeed. You didn't have any problems with the additions I wanted?" He shook his head. "No problem, Nabiki-san." "Excellent. What do you think of the preliminary casting choices?" "Oh, I think they're great, Nabiki-san." Gosunkugi nodded fiercely. "I couldn't have chosen better." They both smiled. *** Nabiki frowned at her list. She needed more people than she'd thought. A Special Effects Director and a couple of actors. Where would she find them? "Charlotte! Charlotte! Come home with Azusa!" "Let go of me! I told you I'm not Charlotte." Nabiki grinned as she listened to the rapidly approaching voices. "How perfect," she murmured to herself. She called out, "Ryoga and Azusa. Just the people I wanted to see." "Huh?" *** Nabiki stared at the assembled crowd awaiting impatiently in the school gym. Thankfully, Kasumi would be the one riding herd on them. She just had to get them headed in the right direction. It couldn't be that hard. She snorted. If she told herself that a million times over, she might just convince herself. "Right, people. I have your scripted parts here. You can thank Hikaru Gosunkugi for writing the script." Surprised murmurs broke out. Gos-kun looked like he was about to melt into the ground from the concentrated stares. Nabiki continued, "Well, he surprised me too. I think you'll like it. I know I did. But before I hand out the parts, I want to introduce a few people first. Kasumi Tendo will be your director." "Kasumi? But that's not such a ..." Ranma exclaimed loudly before realizing that several dozen pairs of eyes were focussed upon him, most in a rather unfriendly manner. "Uh, then again, it seems like a great idea." "Thanks for the contribution, Ranma," Nabiki drawled, drawing all eyes back onto her. "I will be the producer. Bring all the problems that you have to me. In addition, Kasumi and I will have also be acting in the play. I'll be talking to Ryoga about Special Effects. With luck, we'll be able to iron out any difficulties." Ryoga nodded briefly. Ranma forebore making additional comments. "Akane will be Assistant Director. She'll also have an acting role. The Drama Club has agreed to handle lighting, manage the stage, and act as extras. Azusa Shiratori has insisted on being in charge of the costumes and stage props." Several shudders occured at this statement. "I think that's it for positions. Now for the play and the casting." Nabiki paused dramatically, savoring the moment. "The play is Slayers, people, and Akane Tendo will be playing Lina Inverse." "Yes! Yes! The lead role!" Akane jumped with joy. Gosunkugi looked briefly rapturous at the sight. But, of course, Ranma had to have his say. "Perfect for an uncute tomboy like you, Akane." "RanMA!" "Saotome! How dare you?!" "How dare you say that to Akane-san, Ranma?!" An impending fight was averted by Kasumi's hastily called plea. Nabiki sighed as Akane turned her head away with a sniff of disdain, and Ranma attempted to casually ignore several burning stares that should have turned him into a human torch. Another perfect moment spoiled by an automatic thoughtless remark. "You know, Ranma, it's statements like that one which make you perfect for this role. You will be playing Gourry Gabriev." "Perfect for a brainless idiot like you, Ranma." Akane's biting rejoiner left Ranma seething, several members of the crowd delighted, others angry, and seemed likely to cause a round of wisecracks and perhaps another potential fight. Nabiki decided to hurry on. "Ryoga, you'll play Zelgadis. Azusa Shiratori will play Amelia Sailoon. Kodachi Kuno has the role of Naga the White Serpent. Ukyo Kounji will be Slyphiel. Kuno-chan, you have the role of Zangulus, who has returned for yet another confrontation with Gourry. Mousse, you'll be Zangulus' new partner. Kasumi will be the good Queen who gets you all involved in the plot and I shall be playing the evil mastermind. Now, have I left anything out?" she asked as she began tossing script folders at the respective actors. "These are your parts. Start learning your lines. The first rehearsal begins tomorrow." Shampoo approached with a glint in her eye. "Mercenary girl no speak of Shampoo's role." Nabiki coughed lightly. "Well, it's a secret. Come with me and we'll talk privately." *** Shampoo fumed as she left the classroom, leaving behind a smug Nabiki. I have a role that would be just perfect for you, she parroted in her mind as she recalled an earlier conversation. She knew she should have read the fine print before signing that contract. Hopefully, Nabiki would prove allergic to cat fur. *** "Let me get this straight. You want me to fire a Shishi Hokodan when Akane calls out her Dragu Slave spell?" Ryoga looked puzzled and bemused, but since he always looked puzzled and bemused except when he looked angry or depressed or lost and bewildered, Nabiki wasn't certain if he hadn't understood her or was merely wearing a customary expression. "Right." "And you want me to do this in silence so people won't realize I'm providing the special effects?" Nabiki nodded. "So, can you do it?" "Nope." "What?! Why not?" "Because ki blasts don't work like that. I have to build up my anger and depression a lot before I can release a blast, and the words act as a focus for me. No way I can just toss one off in silence." "Hmm, so if I were to mention that Akane had found out you were P-chan and she was really upset with you, it wouldn't ... uh, Ryoga, you're glowing ... wait, I was just - NOT indoors!" Nabiki dived for cover behind a nearby desk. "SHI SHI HOKODAN!" Luckily for Nabiki, Ryoga fired straight up. Unluckily, the roof found itself in the way. Debris rained down in various sized pieces. "Okay ... we'll just have to work on the volume control a little bit." *** Most people have great difficulty doing two things at the same time. Ranma Saotome was currently doing three. Specifically, he was shoveling down some of Ukyo's okonomiyaki, reading his script folder, and gulping Shampoo's ramen simultaneously. Technically, that's only two things - eating and reading - but it certainly seemed like three. Kasumi coughed politely behind him. "Oh, Ranma-kun, can I say something?" Ranma paused in his line memorization and turned towards her. "Chu-mpgph-re?" "Hmm, what was it again? Oh, that's right." Kasumi's eyes glazed over in sudden recall. Her tone dropped in pitch as she recited, "Ranma, if you go to Za'hadum, you will die." Ranma choked, turned purple and began hacking as a mess of okonomiyaki and ramen slid down the wrong passage. "Spmhe-ackkk- glarrppf-wwWHAT?!" "Oops. I'm sorry, Ranma-kun, that didn't come out right." Kasumi patted him on the back. "I meant to say that if you keep eating and reading like that, you'll choke." "Uh, right. Thanks, Kasumi." *** "When did you find out about my curse anyway?" "Come on, Ryoga. I've always known." Ryoga looked skeptical, and Nabiki relented a little. "For one thing, I'm not Akane or Kasumi and for another, Father mentioned it to me. Along with specific instructions to make sure you weren't taking advantage of Akane." Well, they had been specific - after a long-winded half-hour of roundabout meandering by the Tendo patriarch. "I would never do such a thing!" "Oh? Seems to me like sleeping in her bed is a pretty big step in that direction." Ryoga flushed bright red, looking cute in the manner which only shy, totally embarassed fools managed. It appealed to some girls. However, fortunately for Ryoga, Nabiki wasn't one of those girls. Much as she enjoyed twitting him though, there were more important things to do. "Relax, Ryoga. Akane doesn't know about the curse and that's the way it's going to stay. Anyway, I need to find out more about your rock-breaking technique." "The Bakusai Tenketsu?" Nabiki nodded. "Can you make the ground explode from a distance?" "Like channeling the explosion?" Ryoga looked thoughtful, an expression that unfortunately was identical to puzzled and bemused look. "I'm not sure. I've never tried anything like that." "Perhaps you could try it out? Experiment a bit?" "What? Here?" "NO!!!" Then, somewhat softer and pointedly ignoring the hole in the roof, "How about outside?" "Oh, hehe." *** "Ah, Heaven," Nabiki murmured as she sank into the furo. The hot water seemed to leech away the various aches and pains brought on by the day. A busy and difficult day, but one which had shown great promise. All in all, things were progressing well. Nabiki smiled and contemplated her eventual reward. --- Author's Note: There is a rather obvious Futaba-kun no Change tribute in this chapter. Kudos to those who spot it. Disclaimer 2: Slayers is copyrighted by Hajime Kanzaka, Rui Araizumi, TV Tokyo, SOFTX and Egg Films. Characters used without permission but hopefully Lina-san won't Dragu Slave me out of existence. :) Acknowledgements: Disclaimer 2 blatantly stolen from Jussi Nikander, who writes the excellent Half A Sorceress - a Ranma/Slayers crossover - series. If you haven't read it, do so.