[Episode 167502] [Episode 167502]Nabiki didn't realize it, but with her words, she had started a painful assault on Shampoo's mind.
'Nabiki is right,' Shampoo thought. 'The amazon rules don't care about outsider's wishes - or about the wishes of any male, for that matter. Why are we different from Yevon? Is it really for the good of the tribe? Is Ranma really destined to become my Airen?'
'Of course not,' another, sinister voice echoed in her head. 'You always talked about honor, but in reality, your clan members don't care about honor - they just want to have it their way. That's why they domineer their males, that's where the Kiss of Marriage and the Kiss of Death come from. And look at you: Even without your lack of honor, Ranma would never accept you as a wife. You are disgusting, a monster, a freak of nature.'
'No, no, no, that's not true.' Shampoo grasped her head. 'It's just my curse, it's not my fault...'
'It's not your fault,' the evil voice continued. 'But will that change how he feels? You saw it yourself, he chose Akane. And remember... you always invoked the Neko-ken with your curse, and in Luca... you attacked innocent people!'
Shampoo gasped as suddenly, her memory gates were opened and her mind was flooded with pictures from the blitzball tournament, were she teamed up with fiends to attack the people... fiends like... like herself.
'It's true...' she thought. 'I'm a monster... I'm a monster...'
'Yes, yes you are... give Ranma up... give it all up... drown in your despair... lower your defenses - and let ME take control over your mind again!'
Shampoo threw back her head and loudly shouted: "NOOOOOOOO!!!"
The others turned around in surprise. "Shampoo, what's wrong?" Ranma asked in concern. "Are you okay?"
Shampoo slowly dropped down onto her knees. Then she looked at Ranma, and he froze: These eyes... those were the same eyes she had in Luca. He shuddered: Even without the negative influence of the Neko-ken, the memories of that horrifying event gave him the creeps.
"Shampoo is no longer in control of this body," the evil voice growled. "I am the Alpha Fiend... and you will all die!"
And after saying these words, the Alpha Fiend turned Shampoo's body back to it's four-legged state. At the same time, it transformed back into it's fire form.
"Be careful," Auron shouted and deflected an incoming fireball with his giant blade.
"If this was an ordinary fiend, we should have no problem," Tidus muttered. "But it's Shampoo... we cannot hurt her."
"We have to knock her out at least," Akane shot back. "We can't let this thing take control of her body."
"I really don't know what's going on," Nabiki exclaimed. "But I'm not going to let some nightmarish Shampoo kill us."
She pulled out two dragonscales (Rikku stole them earlier from some aquatic fiends) and combined them into one item. She threw the water-charged scales at Shampoo at watched as she instantly got showered with erupting geysers.
"Futile effort..." the Alpha Fiend snarled. "I was born to kill... you will all die!" It surrounded its body with flames and charged Nabiki. Nabiki braced herself, so she was ready for the Fiend's impact. But she had no idea how to avoid the flames...
Luckily, Yuna reacted in time and surrounded her with a NulBlaze shield, which cancelled the damage of the fire attack.
"You won't defeat us," Yuna said confidently. "And you won't control our friend's body." And while saying that, she summoned Ifrit.
"You fool," the fiend laughed. "This IS my body. Shampoo is just a trapped parasite that will disappear soon enough. This body was modified to be my ideal battle form... able to adapt to EVERY battle situation... you cannot win!"
"Try to adapt to THIS," Yuna shouted and let loose Ifrit. The fiery beast growled and jumped forward. He didn't even try to hit the Alpha Fiend with his fire magic or claws, he just grabbed it with his strong arms and hold it in a mighty grip.
'Try to get out of there,' he growled.
"Please," the fiend snickered. "Is that all you got?" And it turned into its ice form. The sharp ice crystals on its back stung Ifrit painfully, and yelping, he threw his opponent away.
The Alpha Fiend turned around in mid-air and landed safely on its feet. "You don't get it, do you?" it grinned. "You CAN'T beat me!"
That's when a blitzball hit the side of its head, surrounded by a magical aura.
"What... did you... do...?" the fiend murmured while stumbling around dizzily.
Wakka smirked. "Just a lil' sleep attack, ya? You should think the 'most powerful fiend in the world' would be able to resist status effects a little better, right?"
"I... hate you..." the Alpha Fiend managed to mumble before it fell asleep and stumbled onto the ground. In seconds, the body transformed back into Shampoo's furry form.
"Looks like we only have to make it go sleep to get Shampoo back," Nabiki observed. "What now?"
Kimahri picked up the sleeping Shampoo. "We go to Guadosalam," he said. "Guado specialists in working with pyreflies. Maybe are able to help Shampoo."
"Good idea," Wakka nodded, and they hastened towards Guadosalam...
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(Posted Sun, 23 Jul 2006 18:48)
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