The Preposterous Pervert Potion
The Preposterous Pervert Potion
Or: Nerima's in trouble now
Started by Happosai
Happosai was having a great day. he had glomped no less that fifteen girls this morning, had liberated all sorts of silky darlings, and had a wonderful lunch at Ucchans. Ukyou was one of the best chefs he knew.
Just as he was leaving Ucchans, Happi felt that he'd better find someplace to hide pretty soon or Ukyou would notice that he had left without paying.
Happi looked up and noticed Silk's potion shop right across the street. Right where Po Shin's shop was once located. Happi idly wondered what happened to that old pervert he was one of Happi's few friends.
He browsed around the shop a bit, keeping a low profile. It just wouldn't do to have Silk throw him out yet. So for once in his life Happosai was behaving himself around Silk.
That's when he noticed the unmarked bottle among all the potion bottles on the shelf. That one he was sure was one of Master Po Shin's. Silk probably didn't even know what it was.
"Silk-sweetie!" Happosai asked inquisitively, "What's that potion right there?" pointing to the potion in question.
Silk looked up from where she had been attempting to take inventory, her line of mental arithmetic completely broken by the elderly pervert. "What?" she looked at the potion that Happosai was pointing at. Her eyes crossed slightly. "Oh that! nothing really!" she smiled and waved him off, then noticed him reaching for it, leaped in an attempt to get to it first. "Don't touch it, you pervert!" she growled as she attempted to snatch it first, but the wrinkled old lech was closer and came up with it. She tried to grab him by the collar but failed. "Give that back now!" she yelled as he dodged.
Happosai dodged reflexively out of Silk's way. He might not be able to glomp her, but her could sure as hell dodge her. He may not know exactly what the potion could do, but now he was convinced that it did something important.
Happi brought his right hand up to his face and exposed the bottom of his eyelid while sticking his tongue out at Silk. "Nyah you can't catch me!"
Happi jumped to the top of one of Silk's many shelves. Just as he started uncorking the bottle the weak shelf began to give away with his added weight.
"Uh oh!" Happosai fell with the shelf, rolling out of the way of the crashing Pharmaceuticals. Somehow the 'mystery' potion ended up opening and dumping all of it's contents on Happosai. Silk could smell the invisible vapors clinging to Happosai.
Silk groaned inwardly. 'Total Pervert Potion' was something Happosai hardly needed, but this stuff was worse... contagious to anyone susceptible... which would include most of Nerima. "DIE!" she grabbed one of the fallen potion bottles and used it to clock the little lech, then kicked him out the door into the street, where she had enough room to really swing the board [from the shelf he broke] which she used to beat him into the pavement. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?!" she yelled between smites. "YOU DON'T MESS AROUND WITH STUFF LIKE THIS WHEN YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT DOES!!!" Common sense had been violated, and Silk was moderately pissed.
Happosai had two seconds to make a decision, escape or be pounded into paste by Silk. Happi chose the former. Summoning up as much Chi as he could Happi lashed out with a small "Bean Jam Blowout" just enough to knock Silk off her feet and give his little feet time to make tracks.
He ran through the door to Ucchan's "Hi Ukyou, Bye Ukyou" Was all that he could say as he ran in fear of his life from Silk. Happi made it out the back door before Silk could catch him, but every patron of Ucchans was exposed to the PPP potion.
Ukyou Kuonji, spatula girl herself, looked up from the grill and looked after the pervert. "Hey! Hold it!" she yelled, throwing a few spatulas after him, missing. "Ya didn't pay, ya little perv!"
Fortunately, Ucchans was almost empty, so the potion didn't do much damage.
Happosai pretty much ignored Ukyou as he made his way down the alley and back into the street. He was hoping that he'd lost Silk somewhere along the way. He hardly noticed the potion clinging to him, the smell was rather pleasant, like nice cologne.
"well, time for a quick recharge" Happosai whispered to himself, The street wasn't very crowded so Happi was able to pick out a nice target. He noticed a pretty pink-haired girl walking down the street.
Happosai launched the Happi-express right at Perfume's chest. "Ohhhh Baby!!!!" Was Happi's battle cry.
Perfume looked up from the book she was reading while she walked, just in time to see the little hentai latch onto her well-endowed chest.
Of course Perfume reacted the way a normal level-headed amazon would. She screamed at the top of her lungs and beat at the little parasite with the book she was reading.
"GET IT OFF OF ME!!!!!"
After a couple of moments of struggling she finally managed to detach the pervert and punt him well into orbit.
Perfume panted heavily with a horrible sickened look on her face. "What was that thing?" She asked to no one in particular. That's when she noticed all the people on the streets. The potion taking effect on her.
Her eyes lingered on one handsome man after another. She was blushing terribly. "What's going on here?"
Silk ran through Ucchans, but the lech hadn't been in there long enough to have much effect on the patrons. A scream and the sound of a beating brought her outside in time to see Perfume punt Happi into orbit, but the healer's heart sank when she saw the other Amazon ogling the passing crowd of guys. "Perfume!" she yelled as she ran up. "Come with me!" she grabbed the other girl by the wrist and tried to pull her back towards her shop --Please let me find a cure!!-- she pleaded to whatever deity might be listening.
Her mental prayers were interrupted by the fact that Perfume was resisting, straining to get closer to the passing crowd of guys. Half had their shirts off, apparently returning from a basketball pick up game, which wasn't helping. "Come on!" she said, "This isn't like you and you know it."
Deep inside her mind Perfume knew she was acting strange. She had dropped the book she was reading and was totally fascinated by men that she knew she wasn't normally attracted to. What was going on?
She fought against Silk, trying her best to get closer to the athletic young men. "C'mon Silk" the amazon pleaded, "just one touch, one kiss with one of those hard bodied hunks! please!"
Arguments aside, Perfume wasn't struggling against Silk as hard as she could. Somewhere deep down inside she knew that Silk was trying to help her.
Perfume walked with her, but never stopped staring at any man who walked by. She managed to grab the backside of every man who got within arm's reach.
Somewhere in Heaven, a certain god of Chaos was laughing as Alex leapt past Perfume towards Ucchans, to get some lunch. He walked in the door, and asked Ukyou, "Can I get three beef specials, please?"
Perfume was completely fascinated by Alex. She knew she had never seen him look quite so, sexy before. After all he saved her from a band of thugs, she owed him for that.
She began struggling against Silk in earnest trying her best to get away from her and into Alex's arms. She had to have HIM!
Silk's patience was not endless, and her face was already red from Perfume's earlier grabbing attempts, but this was to much. She smacked the pink haired girl hard on the head with an iron fan. "Forget it! That one is mine!" Perfume's struggles were reminding her forcibly of what she'd like to do with Alex at the moment. Any resistance Silk had to the potion was quickly eroding... that was the problem. Once one was infected it was easy to infect others. Like a plague. "Come on, we have to get you back to my shop, NOW!"
Somewhere deep within Perfume's mind she knew that Silk was correct, she simply had to behave and go along with her, but she wanted Alex so badly.
Perfume turned and looked Silk right in the eye the wind blowing the pink haired girl's hair back from her face giving Silk a good look at the scar on her face. For a moment Perfume's intellect showed through the insanity that the potion brought on.
She only managed one Phrase in that moment of sanity. "Help me Silk!"
--I'm trying!-- a voice said in Perfume's mind --Believe me, I'm trying.-- the voice 'sounded' like Silk. --But to tell you the truth, I'm almost as bad off.-- Perfume got a very short mental image of Alex in a swimsuit before the voice went on --Let's get out of here, please?-- the thought entreated her, and Silk tugged at her arm, motioning to the rooftops as a faster and much safer route than through the clogged streets.
Ukyou had tore her eyes off Alex, strange thoughts having entered her mind. Blinking her eyes she started the only thing she knew that would relax her. Cleaning the grill.
Perfume jumped up to the rooftops with Silk. At least Silk never saw her mental image of Alex, they would both kill her. She was just hoping against hope that Silk could help her. Suddenly the image of Konatsu entered her mind, perverted as it was it helped calm her nerves.
Meanwhile high above Nerima, Happosai had just bounced off the orbiting Mir space station and was plummeting back to earth. Wow, that new girl can really hit Nerima just gets more fun every day.
On his way back down, Happi took a look around and calculated his trajectory to the ground. he was going to land right in the Tendo Dojo back yard. What is it about that place that attracts falling martial artists?
Then with one more sickening thought Happi knew that his landing was going to hurt. For the first time since his curse he was going to miss the Koi pond.
**
Ryouga for once wasn't lost! he could see exactly where he was heading whilst jumping along the rooftops and was trying as hard as possible not to let his destination out of his sight... As such he didn't notice Silk and perfume until they landed on him...
"Ooowwww...."
Reality fell in on Perfume for second as she realized they just landing on someone, possibly injuring him. Perfume tugged Silk to a stop. "I think we hurt someone Silk!."
Perfume turned back and helped Ryouga to his feet. "I'm terribly sorry, we didn't see you there."
Ryouga caught a wiff of the strange cologne clinging to Perfume as his eyes met hers. Her eyes were filled with something less that unbridled lust.
"Oh, Ryouga." Silk said softly. "Sorry about that... really! but we have to go, NOW!" she grabbed Perfume around the waist and pulled them both off the roof. Unfortunately, Perfume still had a grip on Ryouga's hand and all three went tumbling over the edge and into a heap right outside Ucchan's front door.
Wonderfully, Silk ended up on bottom... "Damn you Happosai!!" she cursed as she tried without immediate success to extract herself from the pile of bodies. "Damn you to the deepest he-eee..el" she stopped talking as her struggles finally bore fruit... she escaped from beneath Perfume and Ryouga, but lost her balance and landed at the feet of someone attempting to exit the okonomiyaki restraunt. She looked up... today was just not her day.
Alex had come to the door, wondering what the noise he had heard was all about. Then he saw Silk. He walked over to her and lifted her to her feet. "Are you ok?" Then he felt an odd sensation as he got a whiff of the odd smell on her. His hormones were suddenly beginning to go into overtime. "What's going on here?" He found himself barely restraining himself from doing something he shouldn't do in public. Common Sense and Lust were waging war, and Lust was starting to get the upper hand.
Perfume, who had been exposed the longest to the pervert potion was finally starting to succumb to the lustful nature of the potion. It took all of her willpower to make it this long.
She grabbed Alex's arms seductively smiling lustfully at him and then glancing at Silk.
"C'mon Silk" Perfume purred " I know you got a thing for him.. why don't we share him? "
Silk sighed. --I am really tired of having every girl who comes to Nerima hanging all over him, and he doesn't seem to mind one bit.-- Silk growled mentally. --Damn it! he was the one doing most of the chasing... but you live and learn, I guess.--
"We're all being affected by a lust potion. It's contagious and gets stronger the longer you're exposed." Silk announced to Perfume, Ryouga, and Alex. "I might be able to make a cure, but I'd rather not let it spread any further, because people may do things they might regret under its influence." Silk's voice was full of barely contained frustration and hurt as she moved deliberately out of Alex's reach. "So, if you could let me find some way to cure this? Or, if you _prefer_ I could just make it non-contagious and let 'nature' run its course?" she asked sarcastically, not even waiting for an answer but striding rapidly towards her shop, frankly not caring much if the other's followed or not. --Damn it!-- she thought in frustration, --Damn my foolish heart.-- she wished she had something to kick within easy reach...
Somewhere, in the depths of Silk's basement, a bucket shook in terror.
Somewhere deep down inside of Perfume's mind, Silk's words and emotions struck true. It was hard thinking straight with that damn potion running though her body. One thing that she knew to be true was that Silk was her friend and she would be damned if she hurt one of her few friends.
She took off running after Silk hoping to patch things up. "Silk I'm sorry!" She shouted as she ran after her "This Damn potion is making me crazy, I'm trying to resist but it breaks through sometimes, Please I didn't mean to hurt you."
Meanwhile at the Tendo Dojo
Happosai was just picking himself off of the ground and checking for injuries when Kasumi walked out to hang the wash. The first thing she noticed was a slightly injured Grandfather Happosai in a crater. The second thing she noticed was the strange cologne that Grandfather was wearing.
Kasumi walked up to the old master, gently picking him up out of the crater. He did have an odd cologne, one that sort of reminded her of Doctor Tofu in some way, but she quickly discarded those thoughts and gently awoke him.
"Grandfather Happosai, are you okay?"
Happi shook his head to clear the remnants of Perfume’s punch. "I'm okay, Kasumi dear Just a bit of a fall is all." The pervert potion didn't make a noticeable effect on Happosai except lowering his already low inhibitions.
In the past Kasumi had always been too sweet and kind to think perverted thoughts about. Not anymore.. Happi jumped up out of control and was just about to glomp Kasumi when he was interrupted by a horrific sight.
Soun's demonic head popped out of no where. "DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH MY LITTLE GIRL!!!" Before Happi could respond or defend himself, Soun had launched him back into orbit.
The Russians were going to hate him today.
****
In the meantime, Alex did the most intelligent think he could think of...dive into the canal and activating his curse. The shock of the transformation, plus the cold water, calmed him down some. "I'll meet you there, Silk. But if don't mind, I'll stay upwind of you guys for the moment. Last thing we need is for me to get a whiff of that stuff while I'm in THIS body." He climbed out on the other side and shook himself dry, then waited to see if Silk had any further instructions.
Silk sighed, ignoring Perfume's declaration, and tossed over her shoulder. "Just don't break the door if you decide to come after all."
Alex nodded and took to the air. But before he left, he said to Perfume, "You're nice and all, but I have a girlfriend. I couldn't betray her like that. Please don't take it personally." With that said, he flew off towards Silk's shop.
Perfume hung her head in shame. Even though the potion was to blame she had hurt her friend, and that was inexcusable. She had been hurt by her friends before in the past, and had no wish to do that to someone else.
Marshalling all of her willpower, She put it all into resisting the potion. All of her thoughts focused on Konatsu, that should keep her from doing anything with anyone else. Of course if Konatsu was here he'd been in trouble.
With that done she walked calmly toward Silk's shop, hoping to avoid shaming herself further.
Ukyou, upon hearing that Alex had left, took away her spatula and surveyed her restaurant.
Ukyou's restaurant seemed to be in good shape, most of the patrons were gone at the moment. Just a she sighed in relief, Something small wrinkled and angry crashed through the roof and landed right on the girl.
Happi jumped off the grill as fast as he could, burned from both reentry and the landing.
"What are you doing? Now you owe me for one okonomiyaki AND the roof!" Ukyou yelled, drawing her monster spatula and beating the pervert into the street.
A very pissed Happosai landed in the street. This was just too much for him today, he was getting beat more than normal.. it was time for a recharge.
Happi glanced down the street and noticed the public bath house down there. "A little visit to the Women's side is all I need." Happi grinned evilly "It's good to be the master."
He took off down the street heading for the bathhouse.
... And hit something solid.
"Oof!" Ryouga grunted at the impact, he had already gotten lost (he got sidetracked whilst following Silk, Perfume and Alex... and promptly got lost) Then with an almost casual backhand swipe knocked the already beaten, battered and severely weakened Happosai towards the bathhouse (Men's side). He then looked up, and strode confidently forward... and got lost...
"Where am I?" he was now in some sort of building... it was dark and cramped, some sort of clothes were hanging from the roof and a large... metal ... spatula... Uh oh... Suddenly Ryouga realized where he must be...
"Oh my god... I'm in Ukyou's wardrobe..."
Ukyou heard something move upstairs. Shaking her head to get rid of those odd thoughts she had had about Alex before and walked up the stairs and located the sound. Her wardrobe? Opening it quickly, she peeked inside, expecting Happosai. But saw a lost, bandannaed boy with a big backpack.
"Ryouga?" Her mind suddenly filled with lots of odd pictures of Ryouga in veeery tight clothes. What was that all about? Wait a sec, the others had been yelling about something that needed a cure... damn.
Ryouga saw Ukyou and the Potion finally kicked in (it had been spending the past few minutes trying to get through his layer of 'denseness' but now it was there, shutting off the nosebleeds and making Ryouga imagine Ukyou in VERY minimilistic clothing...
The question what Ryouga was doing in her wardrobe was drenched by the fact he really WAS in her wardrobe. She blinked a few times, trying to think of something to say. "Uhh, I... I... I..." Ukyou tried to cover her blushing cheeks with her hands. "Nice weather," she blurted out, lost for words.
Ryouga panicked, his usual method of defense for this situation - the nosebleed- was down and he had nothing inspiring to say.
"Uh...Uh..." A tiny voice began to shout orders straight to Ryouga's brain. 'Say she looks really cute!' it shouted, and Ryouga listened...
"You know Ukyou... you look... really... well... I think you look really cute..." 'Did I just say that?!'
Ukyou blinked. He thought WHAT? Ukyou's brain went into the highest gear, trying desperately to find something nice to say. Oddly enough, Truth found the right controls.
"You do? Well, to tell the truth, you're not so bad yourself, especially when you..." What am I saying? "Aheh, heh heh, umm, thanks."
'Did I say what I thought I said? Did she say what I thought I heard?'
Ryouga grinned slightly and stepped out of the wardrobe.
"Aheheh..."
Ukyou laughed nervously, wondering what the *bleep* was wrong with her, she usually wasn't like this. But then again, neither was Ryouga. Who, by the way, would look very good in a pair of tight speedos, Ukyou's mind interjected.
*******
Meanwhile Rinse had arrived at the Tendo Dojo to help Kasumi with some housework. He greeted Soun and Nabiki as he entered the backyard where Kasumi was hanging some clothes. "Nihao Kasumi!" He waved happily. However he noticed something different about Kasumi... She took the ribbon off from her hair, letting it fall down upon her back. Rinse was a bit confused and walked up to her holding out a small gift. "Um.. K-Kasumi look very nice today... um.. here! Great-Grandma Cologne make extra wontons" He offered them as he noticed Kasumi giving him a strange smile.
"Oh my," Kasumi said, a very different intonation than the usual 'oh my'. Not so motherly any more, it seemed. "How nice of you, Rinse-Chan."
From the inside of the house, Soun peek out. His daughter seemed to behave differently today. So his mind reached the only logical idea it would.
"The Oni's back!" he yelled as he began to weep openly. "My daughter is possessed by the Oni again! BWAAAAAAA!"
Everyone in the town of Nerima could hear a blood-curdling scream echo through the town.. Followed closely by a Female scream. The first scream was from Happi landing on the male side of the Bath house and discovering that men are effected by it.. and that some men like other men. The second was after getting splashed with cold water, all the men were chasing after Happi-Chan. It seems that the old Man (young Girl) was getting his 'Just desserts'.
* * *
[back at Ucchans]
Ryouga's brain finally found some words to send to his mouth.
"Uh... Ukyou, would you... be interested in a date?"
Ukyou blushed even more now. He had asked her on... "Uh, I... aiyaiyai..." now Ukyou's brains kicked in, "I'd love to, Ryouga."
Ryouga's brain hit mach 7 (NOT literally)
"You.. you would?!"
"Uhh, yeah," Ukyou said, her blush fading somewhat now, "of course I would."
***
Back at Cures & Curses...
Silk and Perfume were just making it to the door, where Alex was camped out in his cursed form and apparently taking a catnap. He awoke at their approach and walked up to Silk, rubbing himself against her lag like a big cat. "Just realized something, Silk. That potion only works on humans. I think I'll be alright, as long as I don't change. He stepped asides so Silk could open the door (seeing that he currently had paws and couldn't.)
perfume kept her eyes focused on the ground. She felt so ashamed for coming on to Alex like that. It hurt her worse that Silk wasn't speaking to her.
That and as she looked at Silk just a little while earlier she realized that she might be attracted to women too. That would explain her strange tastes in men.
Feeling inspired she took off her glasses causing the forms in front of her to blur. "There no more temptation!" she thought to herself after she put her glasses in her pocket.
Then she smacked face first into the doorframe.
"OW!"
Silk opened the door for the griffin, then grabbed the other Amazon's arm and pulled her into the shop and into the back, where she pointed out where the bathroom was, "If you think a cold shower would help. And put your glasses back on, there aren't any boys in here." she told her.
"Erm yeah a cold shower might be just the thing!" perfume said while rubbing the back of her head. She definitely didn't want to tell her the real reason she took her glasses off. As she headed off to the bathroom, the potion kicked in again. " hey do you have one of those massaging showerheads?" Was the last thing Silk heard before she closed the door.
* * *
Outside, in the street, Konatsu skipped towards his job, still singing on a song he had sung at the karaoke bar last night.
"At first I was afraid, I was petrified..." he chirped as he approached Ucchans. Then he stopped in the middle of the street. It was too quiet for Nerima, he thought. I hope Ukyou-Sama is all right, he thought.
The quiet that Konatsu was just contemplating was interrupted quite rudely by a horrified female scream. A very short young redhead was running full speed down the street. She was being pursued by a group of men shouting things like "date with us, petite one!"
As Happi-Chan ran by Konatsu she shouted. 'Help me please! I can't get rid of these guys!" Konatsu could also smell the inciting cologne that the young woman was wearing.
Sensing that his hormones was threatening to go berserk, Konatsu used the ancient kunoichi (female ninja) technique of repressing ones urges. He thought about his step-sisters and step-mother. Okay, so it wasn't so ancient, but it worked better than most other techniques. Konatsu was now totally in control (and totally repulsed by the mental image of his step-family) and decided to help the poor girl out.
"Bar Snack Hail!" he yelled out, making a sweeping gesture with his right arm.
The group of lusty men stopped dead in their tracks as the suddenly was showered by a veritable storm of bar snack from above.
Fleeing, and making mental notes to call the weatherman to ask what kind of freaky low-pressure produced tasty downpour, the men quickly retreated out of sight. Konatsu turned to the small girl.
"So, who are you and why were they following you like that?" he asked in a cheery voice.
"Thanks for the assist, Konatsu!" the young lady beamed. That's when it dawned on her that Konatsu was a man too. "Well, you sorta know me already" Happi-Chan smiled. "you beat the stuffing’s outta me when I attacked you in the bath. " Happi-Chan chuckled at the memory, "As for the reason that they're chasing me, I'm wearing some sort of 'Lust Potion' and I can't get it off!"
"Oh, so you're Happosai..." Konatsu said, still thinking about his step-family. "Have you tried soap and water? And if that doesn't work, I am sure that Silk-San has lots of potions and stuff that will negate the effect." Konatsu then seemed to notice that Happosai now was female. Deciding not to press the issue, he instead focused on other things.
"Ukyou-sama!" he exclaimed. "If she were to get a nosefull of that potion, she'd... I gotta get an antidote!"
With those words, Konatsu ran into Silk's shop.
Silk looked up from where she was stirring her economy sized pot of brew, there being about 3 Gallons of antidote currently stewing. The problem was that the antidote didn't taste particularly nice [it tasted rather bland but had a bitter aftertaste] which was not something she could do anything about, and at least a cup had to be drunk for it to be effective, which meant forcing anyone would be a definite problem. Breaking that train of thought, she noted who the visitor was and blanched. She was glad that Konatsu looked like a girl enough that she wasn't going to be immediately attracted to him, but she didn't want him to catch it from her and spread it further. "Konatsu, I hope you like the smell of this stuff, 'cause you're gonna have to drink some before I can let you leave." she said, motioning for Alex to close the door behind the crossdressing waitperson.
Alex walked over to the door and pulled it shut with his tail. "Silk, you need some help with distributing that? I can get around fast, at least, and I don't think anyone can out-muscle me, once I change back, that is."
Happi-Chan was trying her best to hide in the corner. "I'll help..JUST GET IT OFFA ME FIRST!!" She wailed pitifully.
Perfume walked into the room at that point, Dressed in a bathrobe and drying her hair. She was smiling pleasantly and wearing her glasses. "That really helped." That's when she noticed Konatsu. "Konatsu-Chan...." Whatever control she had gained from the shower was slipping fast.
Back at Ucchans...
"Ah..uh..." Ryouga began. "Uh... aheh..." he continued. At the moment Ryouga and Ukyou were discussing where to go on their 'date' at the moment they were both around the 'Ah... Aheh... umm..' stage.
A minute part of his mind decided to point out that he was still under the effect of some 'pervert' potion that everyone was shouting about it earlier. A second (the more violent) part decided to suggest beating the hell out of anyone that attempted to break this up...
***
"Oh, Hello Perfume-San," Konatsu said. Then he sniffed Silks potion. "Eeew, it smells really bad, Silk-San, do I have to?"
Seeing Silk nod, he shrugged cutely and swallowed the cup he had been given. His face turned green for a short second, then turned back to normal. "Yuck. Big Yuck," he said. "Oh, sorry Silk-San I didn't mean to insult your cooking, but you might want to season it before you give it to the homeless. Now, I came to ask if you had an antidote for that thing Happosai said he had on him?"
Back at Ucchans...
"Umm..." Ukyou said for the fifteenth time. Not that she kept count. "Uhh..." If it was any comfort, Ryouga was just as verbally giften right now. "Movie?" she blurted out, remembering where people on TV went on dates.
*******
Perfume stood before the group speechless for a
moment. Seeing that she had been under the influence
of the potion and fighting it every step of the way,
her control was going to slip here and there. She was
completely mesmerized by Canasta’s beauty.
She touched Konatsu's right arm gingerly. She
wanted so bad to tell him how she felt, but everyone
would just think it was the potion talking.
She wrapped both her arms around him from behind
and rested her head on his shoulder.
Silk frowned, "That was the cure, Konatsu, and I
can't do anything about the taste without compromising
the effectiveness, as is it'll take about 15 minutes
for it to have full effect. Now Perfume." she once
again pulled the other Amazon bodily out of reach of
all males despite her protests and struggles, keeping
a good grip on her waist and using her height to
literally lift the other girl off her feet. No one
goes far without traction. She held a cup of the
antidote to the other girl's lips. "Drink it." she
said firmly. "I already took mine, it's your turn."
Perfume stared forlornly at Konatsu, desperately
wanting to be next to him. She idly hoped that he
noticed she was only wearing a robe. She brought the
smelly concoction to her face wincing noticeably at
the smell.
Her last thought before downing the potion was
"Konatsu, I love you, I wished you could see it." She
then drank the foul contents of the cup.
"EWWWWW" gasping in disgust "That's a LITTLE
strong, Silk!"
Silk sighed. "As I said, I can't do anything
about that. I would if a I could, but you only have to
take it once." the healer turned to Happi-Chan, "Your
turn." she held out the cup imperiously.
Happi didn't need to be told twice. She grabbed
the cup quickly and strongly. She downed the entire
antidote without a wince or grimace, like it was the
finest wine she had ever tasted. "That was wonderful,
Silk, Thank you!"
Konatsu, now being able to move his joints after
the ambush-hug he had received, began to look around
discreetly for more cups, whilst thinking about his
step-family intently, hoping that he could keep such a
hideous thought up for 15 minutes.
Perfume finally recovered from the horrible
antidote and managed to smile at Konatsu. Somewhere in
her gasping her robe became loose and was exposing a
BIT too much of her ample cleavage.
She rushed over to Konatsu's side. "It's so good
to see you again, Konatsu-Chan" running her fingers
down the inside of his arm. "I just wish it could have
been under better circumstances."
Konatsu found it harder and harder to concentrate
on his step-family as
Perfume fingered his arm. Turning to face her,
his eyes grew in size and tried desperately to keep
away from the girls cleavage, not having much luck.
"Ahahaha," he laughed nervously, "Perfume-San,
why what on Earth are you doing here of all places? I
mean, it's nice to see so much of, nice to see you,
see you."
Alex, currently in his cursed form, walked up to
Silk. "I'll take my dose now, I guess. Then I'll
change back. Should help me absorb it faster." He took
his serving from a bowl and downed it quickly.
--Gawds, that's bad,--he thought to himself. He then
walked into Silk's bathroom, and came out a moment
later human and clothed. "Your orders, Silk?"
Perfume smiled seductively, she liked seeing
Konatsu so nervous. It meant that he at least found
her attractive. "Why silly, I live here of course."
She pulled him a little closer "I have missed you so
much."
"You have? But I only work and live across the
street and... and... andandandandandandand" Konatsu
found it even harder to think about his ugly
stepfamily now, with the presence of a female body so
close to him.
Perfume managed to get even closer to Konatsu,
their faces mere centimeters apart. "I always miss you
when your not around." She whispered as she began to
close the distance between the two of them.
Alex looked the couple, and sighed. --As much as
I hate to player-hate...-- Alex walked over and slid
his hand in their line of sight. "Um, sorry about
this, but you're still under the influence of that
potion. I think you need to cease and desist." Seeing
that he had successfully broken the mood, he went back
over to Silk, and waited for her to finish, while
keeping an iron control over his hormones. But Silk
still saw a quick image of herself in a rather daring
bikini. --Down, boy.--
Part of Konatsu was happy that Alex had
interrupted Perfume and him, while another part
screamed bloody murder, it was just getting
interesting, damnit. He again began concentrating on
his stepfamily, the most effective turn-off known to
man.
Perfume for her part was pretty upset at Alex's
intervention. Every part of her screamed to be closer
to Konatsu. A small area in the back of her mind
reminded her to pound Alex in their next sparring
match.
She glanced over at Konatu and smiled, Blushing
the entire time.
Konatsu swallowed, feeling not unlike the
proverbial deer caught in the proverbial headlights.
"So, Silk-San," he said, hoping to divert the
attention, "can I help handing out the antidote?"
Silk capped the last bottle and set it into the
box with the other twenty-four she had made. Each
bottle was enough for one person to be completely
cured. "So, shall we split up or go as one group?
Alone we might cover more ground, but as a group we'd
have more persuasive power for those reluctant to
imbibe this vile concoction."
Happi- Chan intervened at that point. "I think we
should move as a group, it's safer from Perverts."
Happi grinned at the irony. "that and I'm the only one
who knows who was exposed. We'll need more than 24."
Silk sighed. "I was hoping..." She looked at
Alex, "You know where the bottles are downstairs?
Could you bring up another box or two?" she turned and
started pouring in some more components until the
kettle was full again and stewing the same foul smell
as the first batch. "I hate the delay, but I think we
should do them all at once..."
"Umm" Happi-Chan interrupted again "there has to
be a better way than feeding the antidote to someone.
I infected 100 people in the bath house alone. This
will take forever to find all of them!"
A box of bottles came floating from the basement
in response to Silk's request. "Got your bottles,
Silk. What else do we need?"
"Another cold shower!" perfume mumbled.
Silk stirred the vile brew and sniffed it. It
didn't smell the same as the last batch, though she
could have sworn it had the same ingredients... then
she noticed a small black bottle lying on end on the
edge of the counter and read the label... What she
thought was rose hips turned out to be extract of
lotus... the last potion hadn't deadened the effects
of the lust potion, but increased them... She felt the
fire in her blood increase and winced. And we're all
in a small little shop, contained and in such close
proximity...
"Kuso." she cursed silently, then blanched as
someone came trailing down the stairs in the back
room. Someone as devastatingly handsome as Alex, yet
remained innocent in his intentions most of the time.
And as Proven with Perfume, the less perverted one
normally is, the worse the potion would effect you.
"Scarf? I thought you were out today." she almost
squeaked.
Perfume drooped her head lower. The effects of
the booster starting to kick in. All she needed now
was another man in the room. She glanced at Konatsu
out of the corner of her eye. She was going to lose
control pretty soon.
"No, I decided to sleep late." Scarf said. Then he yawned deeply and
in doing so took a very deep breath in. He then looked around the room until
his eyes landed upon Silk. "How are you today?" he said with an odd smile on
his face.
Silk winced slightly at the look on Scarf's face, then felt her much
empowered hormones lurch as he took a step towards her. He was way the hell
to good looking. "Happosai broke that bottle of Lust potion I told you
about, and managed to infect half the town... then I botched the antidote,
so now it's worse than it was, at least in here. I'm trying to make some
sort of spray on antidote, but it's slow going."
That stopped Scarf's advance. "In here?" he asked? "Lust potion? So
that would mean you're infected?" His fear beat back his raging hormones.
His eyes started shifting between Perfume and Silk. He then started backing
away. "Just stay away." Even though he was backing up each step was getting
smaller.
Silk laughed, "You've already got it, Scarf-kun. As soon as you
stepped into the room. And you can fight it... but eventually it wears
everybody down... And by then neither person... is in any condition to...
resist..." her voice was low, and throaty. Then she seemed to realize what
she was saying and stirred the pot vigorously. "You see... what I mean?"
"A lust potion? And it's contagious?" Everyone was so distracted by the
effects of the potion that they hadn't noticed Brush entering the shop,
looking for Alex. Her eyes suddenly locked onto Alex, and she began to walk
towards him, with a predatory gleam in her eyes. She said in a husky voice,
"Oh Alex? I think you need to come with me. Now. Silk, we can share. It's
not like there's not enough of him to go around." Her tone was indication
enough of what she had planned.
And the Kami were rolling with laughter.
"WHAT!" Scarf exclaimed. By this point he had stopped walking
backwards. His eyes had stopped shifting and had come to rest on Silk.
Meanwhile two thoughts were in Scarf's mind. First a picture of Silk in a
very small bikini. Second there was a tiny voice commenting on how Silk had
never called him Scarf-kun, she occasionally called him Scarf-San, but never
Scarf-kun.
Silk looked at Brush, and it was like getting hit with a bucket of
cold water... at least momentarily, "And then there are those, who don't
even _try_ to resist." She looked from Brush to Alex to Konatsu and Perfume,
lingering for a moment on Scarf, then she noticed Happosai again. "This is
all your fault." she told him, but her accusation was halfhearted. The urge
to just give in was very strong.
Suddenly all the hormones that had held under control broke free and
Scarf jumped foreword and glomped onto Silk. "Oh Silk-Chan" He said and then
kissed her lustfully.
Konatsu looked from Brush to Perfume, Silk to Scarf. This was turning out to
be some sort of convention.
"Silk-San, the antidohisee..." he said as he turned and found Silk being
besieged by Scarf and his lipful lustings. "Oh." Konatsu tore his eyes away
from the pair, letting them have their privacy.
Happosai took the better part of Valor and retreated into the bathroom in
search of hot water. There was no way he was going to be at a lust
convention as a woman.
Silk blinked as she felt herself being glomped and kissed. Part of her
wanted it, another part of her said no, this isn't right... "Scarf..." she
said softly.
Alex was less than pleased at this particular development. Scarf found
himself being hoisted into the air by the larger Alex, who was glaring at him. "I understand that your under the effects of a lust potion at the moment, and I understand that you're not in your right mind. But lips off Silk, Scarf. Go find your own girlfriend." Alex set him down, a good distance from Silk, then said, "Why don't you go back to your room and try to sleep it off, man?" The look Alex was giving was clearly saying: Back off, or you're in for a world of hurt.
Scarf, after getting up, somersaulted over Alex, and landed next to Silk, who he promptly glomped onto. Then he sighed.
Looking back and forth between Scarf and Alex, she could tell that a fight was about to happen. Not wanting to get in the middle of it, Perfume grabbed Konatsu's arm and began to retreat them both out of the room.
"C'mon Konatsu-Chan, we don't want to be in the middle of this." Just as the couple cleared the room, Perfume's resolve was crumbling. She wanted to tell Konatsu how she really felt, but she didn't want to do it under the influence. She could only resist the urge for so long.
Looking right into Konatsu's eyes she finally lost it. " Wo ai ni." Before Konatsu could resist Perfume had him locked in a passionate kiss.
Konatsu's eyes grew to the size of saucers as the Chinese girl glued her lips to his. He found it increasingly hard to think about his stepfamily, some other thoughts appearing in his head in stead. His arms, at first flailing about, now began to slowly move as to embrace Perfume.
Alex was rapidly moving from 'annoyed' to 'REALLY pissed.' "Scarf, last chance, man. BACK OFF." Seeing Scarf was contentedly glomping, Alex decided to put a stop to this, quickly. The door to Silk's opened, as Alex picked up the smaller man and with a quick spin, tossed him out the door into the canal. "That ought to cool down your raging hormones, old man!" Alex wiped his palms together, feeling satisfied that he had at least slowed the problem down. "No self-control at all."
What Alex didn't realize was that Scarf was so tightly glomped onto Silk's arm that when he threw Scarf, Silk went with him. He jumped out of the water with Silk held over his head. "Are you..." he began to ask before there was a scream.
"THERE HE IS!" A crowd of girls cried. This sight scared Scarf, even with the potion, enough to make him run in fear...with Silk, still held above him.
Alex bigsweated. "Man, why can't ANYTHING AROUND HERE BE SIMPLE?!?!?!" He took off flying out the door, and grabbed Scarf by the collar, and put Silk on his back. "Need a lift?" Alex did a quick turn and dropped Silk back at the door of the shop. "Sorry about that?" Silk was glaring at him, and he winced as he grabbed some water and changed. "Kill me later, if you like. But I need to get those girls away from here BEFORE they get infected." Alex, now in his other form, ran between Scarf's legs and took off at high speed, the girls following on the ground.
Silk was moderately pissed. She was soaking wet, tossed into the canal by her supposed boyfriend, then left standing at the door of her shop while a mob of girls chased her roommate turned suitor and that same boyfriend. Nothing was going right today. Time for a little nonlethal stress relief. "Wolf's howl!" a chi created blast of compressed sound energy overtook the mob of girls and tossed them in all directions, not hurting them, just sending them flying out of harm's way. "Get your cute and contagious rear ends back in here! both of you!" she yelled at the flying pair, then slapped a hand over her mouth and blushed. "Just get in here before you spread it further!" she concluded, then walked back into the shop.
********
On his way to Ucchan's, Ranma spotted the group of shrieking adolescents chasing a small quick object. 'Happosai.' he thought. Hungry as he was, Ranma was pretty much conditioned to give Happosai a quick boot to the head whenever he saw him on a panty raid, and now seemed a good time as any. Jumping onto the ground from a low roof, Ranma got close enough to see who the girls were actually chasing.
Surprised, he was just about to shout at Alex when a blast of energy
scattered the horde in all directions. Narrowly avoiding the blast, Ranma recognized Silk's voice over the chorus of moans and groans coming from the girls. "Spread WHAT any further?"
Back inside Curse and Cures, Perfume and Konatsu were still locked in their passionate kiss. The couple were completely oblivious to what was going on around them. Perfume pulled him closer to her as her thin robe began to become loose.
Of course Silk sending out a chi blast was enough to catch their attentions. Assuring herself that Konatsu was alright she looked toward the door.
"I wonder what that was?"
Alex heard Silk's call, and turned around. But with Silk still in the
doorway, Alex had to apply the air brakes to keep from plowing into her. This of course, sent Scarf flying from his back, into Perfume and Konatsu. Alex wrapped his tail around Silk's wrist and pulled her inside the shop, then closed the door and changed back. He then got up and snapped her a salute as he said, "Orders carried out." Then Alex reach over, despite himself to embrace Silk, and kissed her. He tried to break the kiss, but his logical part was having problems overriding his hormones. --Down boy, down!-- He started trying to think of something to kill his hormones, but was failing miserably.
Brush decided to help things along by giving Silk a quick boot to the body. "Lips off, sister. You make that antidote, I'll keep Alex busy." She then begin to kiss Alex passionately, and began to run her hands along his back.
The naturally inquisitive person that he was, Ranma ran up to the entrance of Curses and Cures, and opened the door. Stepping inside, he was shocked enough to not even notice the smell emanating from the cauldron. His eyes trailed over to Konatsu and Perfume, the latter falling out of her robe, and then to Brush and Alex, not quite that far but getting there. He took a step backward and started to stammer, progressing by varying degrees back towards the door.
Perfume gently shoved Scarf off of her and Konatsu. She got to her feet and then helped Konatsu up. She smiled Ranma who was carefully backing out of the door.
She then smiled coyly at Konatsu. "we'll never get time to ourselves with all these fighting and flying amazons. What do you say we 'retire' to my room?"
Silk hesitated. Her hormones were waging desperate battle against the Soul of Ice training she'd undergone, but the outcome was still in doubt. One thing she knew: At the current rate, the antidote was never going to get made... but part of her said perhaps that wasn't a bad thing. Part of her was screaming that it needed to be made NOW!!
That screaming voice was louder at the moment, so she ignored Brush and Alex, Konatsu and Perfume, and tried to salvage the overbrewed potion in the cauldron. The fumes it was letting off were permeating the air, but she couldn't say if it was increasing or decreasing the effect. Hopefully decreasing... she couldn't really tell. this wasn't something she'd encountered before.
Then Scarf glomped and kissed her again and she had other things on her mind.
Alex, through a supreme effort of will, managed to get himself partly free from Brush's glomp, and pulled a quick switch of places with Scarf. Now with Scarf glomped onto Brush, hopefully they wouldn't notice for a while. Afterwards, he dropped out of the picture and let Zuberi take over the body. He broke the kiss and said to Silk, "I think you need to get back to work dear, as much as you may like kissing Alex here. I don't know how long I'll be protected form that potion as long as I'm in his body."
Happosai came out of the bathroom in his normal form. taking a look around he noticed all the kissing going on. An honorable Martial arts master would put a stop to this and find the cure.
Luckily, Happi wasn't one.. he grabbed a bowl of popcorn and a soda and sat down to watch the show.
Silk looked at the guy who had been kissing her and realized that it wasn't Alex's personality in control, but Zuberi, his Griffin cursed form, and felt like a jet of icy water had just cleared her mind of all perverted thoughts. She kicked him in the jaw, knocking him back into Brush and Scarf, making both of them realize what had happened and break apart as if they'd been burned.
"Jerk." Silk said softly, "Insensitive jerk. You don't have to kiss me if you don't want to, but don't hide and leave your cursed form to do it... it's not your cursed form I wanted..." she trailed off, turning away from all of them before she started crying.
Silk turned and grabbed the spectating Happosai by the back of the neck. "You helped start this, now you'll help finish it.", she told the stunted martial arts master, plucking three hairs from his head and dropping them into a prepared brew of Antithesis. "Anti-Essence of Pervert should pull the trick, don't you think?" she shook the premix potion in it's seltzer bottle [for easy dosing] and once it was mixed, turned and hosed down everyone in the place. The effect was instant, and startling.
Alex was sulking in the back of his mind, upset that he had to do what was probably best for everyone instead of following through. Upset to the point that he was broadcasting it mentally without being aware of it. --Man, sometimes trying to do what's right is a ROYAL pain. Why can't I seem to get anything right? Silk's mad at me and I hurt her feelings because I couldn't control my own hormones. I'm such a baka.-- Then Alex felt the his hormones returning back to controllable levels. He took control again, and shook his head to clear it. "I guess this means we're ready to start spreading the cure." He rubbed his jaw as he said to himself, "She's got a nice kick."
***********
Back outside....
Ryouga was lost... no, not literally. He was lost in a generalized cloud of bliss as he walked side-by-side with Ukyou. They had finally decided on a movie and were on their way when they saw the chaos around Silk's shop.
"Wonder what's going on?" Ukyou said, hearing the sounds from inside the outcast amazons shop. "On second thought, no I don't. Let's go, Ryou-chan."
******
Back inside....
Perfume almost had Konatsu to the door to her room. Her silk robe barely staying closed. Once she was splashed by the antidote, her raging hormones finally came back under control. She Blushed six shades of crimson.
Quickly closing her robe, tightly. She looked into Konatsu's eyes. " What were we about to do? " Perfume's eyes had lost the look of lust, but Love was still there.
Konatsu swallowed as the thoughts of what might have happened if not the cure had splashed them hit his brain.
******
Back outside...
Ryouga stepped up to the door of Silks shop, suddenly he sensed danger and dived backwards, narrowly missing being hit by a generous amount of potion cure.
"Ack!" was about all he could say.
Ukyou, jumping out of harms way, looked at the water on the ground cautiously. "What is that? Some sort of poison?"
*****
Back inside
Perfume was ashamed at having come onto Konatsu so brazenly. She loved him with all her heart she just hoped against hope that she hadn't screwed up everything.
"I'm sorry Konatsu, I hope I didn't scare you." she was unsure of what to say. " What I said was true however."
Happosai got very quiet and watched the exchange. Contrary to popular belief he wasn't heartless and it warmed his heart to watch young couples in Love.
Brush looked at Scarf and blushed. --I never knew Alex could move that fast, or that Scarf would be that good of a kisser.-- She got up and brushed herself off. "Sorry about that Scarf. I didn't mean to kiss you." She turned to Alex, and bopped him on the head. "And what were YOU thinking, Alex?"
Alex shook his head, annoyed. "I was thinking everyone had lost it. I almost lost it myself. But now that we've got a cure, shouldn't we get to work spreading it? After all we've got a lot more people running around infected."
Silk looked up from where she and Happosai had been having a hushed conference, "Actually, no. It should have worn off the people outside about 45 minutes ago. it's a two hour potion. The only reason it persisted in here is because I botched the antidote the first time, making the effect stronger and longer lasting by accident." She held up her seltzer bottle, dumping the last few cups worth onto herself. "I didn't think to use the premix antithesis until later. I'm sorry about that." the healer's face was bright red with embarrassment. "I screwed up big time."
Happosai interjected at that point. "Don't let it get ya down Silk-Sweetie, Po Shin's pervert potion was made differently that the rest. I think He might of designed it so the normal cure would act as a booster. That sounds like his sort of Prank!"
Scarf picked himself off the ground after being un-glomped by Brush. He then looked around and when he saw Silk, his eyes became as big as plates. --OHMIGOD!!!-- Scarf thought. Quickly looking away he met eyes with Brush, "Um, that's alright."
Happosai smiled broadly at that point. "Now that we're past the crisis, is everyone's virtue in tact?!"
"Depends on what you consider to be your virtue." Silk said softly, looking at Alex meaningfully before leveling her gaze at Scarf. "Well?" she asked in the same soft, almost hesitant tone.
Rinse entered the room, his hair slightly messed up with several lip stick marks on his face... "Um.. something weird happened with Kasumi..." he said in a clumsy sort of way, then fainted on the floor with a content smile.
Perfume face-faulted momentarily as she saw Rinse pass out after his Kasumi encounter. She rushed over to make sure that the younger Amazon was alright.
Once she was certain that Rinse was okay, she glanced up at the group. "I'm sorry I acted like a Jack ass, even if it was the potion I should have better control than that." She blushed deep crimson and looked back at Konatsu, "I'm sorry If almost made you do something you may not have wanted to do."
She turned to leave the shop. "I'm going to make sure the rest of the damage this potion caused is contained. I'll be back soon." She took her Naginata and walked quietly out of the shop.
Scarf looked at the ground. "Well...Um" he stuttered, trying to think of some reason why he would behave so strongly compared to everyone else. Suddenly the major difference between him and everyone else appeared to him. He looked up his normal composure returning, "I can explain. Everyone here over the last few years has either been in, are in a relationship, or have had a been in love. I on the other hand have, for the last 7 years, have kept those types of thoughts out of my mind. What you all just viewed was 7 years of pent-up passion all released at one time."
Happosai become thoughtful for a moment. What Scarf said seemed to make a lot of sense. " I guess that explains why I was hardly affected."
Silk laughed despite herself, "It most certainly does." She looked around at the red faced and damp people around her, the broken shelves where this whole mess had started, then down at her sopping wet clothes, lifting a hand to feel her bangs plastered to her forehead. The end of her braid hung over her shoulder, swinging slightly every time a drip of canal water mixed with antithesis fell to the floor. She took the end of her braid and wrung it out, spilling yet more water over the already soaked hardwood. As soon as she let go of the end, the plait began dripping again, and she started laughing. "That explains so much!" her smile was far from forced as she grabbed Happosai by the back of the neck and shook him. "No thanks to you!" she walked over to the door and tossed him out, then held the door open. "Now that the crisis seems past, those of you so inclined can try for some damage control... I just ask that unless you live here, to go now. Please."
Konatsu bowed deeply. "I am ever so sorry for the inconvenience I have caused," he said, still not standing straight. "I shall leave as quickly as I can, Silk-San."
Making a dramatic gesture, Konatsu disappeared in a cloud of white smoke that quickly evaporated and left Silks home Konatsu-less. Instead he was sitting on the roof of Ucchan's, worrying about Ukyou-sama's wellbeing.
"hey" Happosai shouted indignantly from where he landed. " It wasn't all my fault! But you gotta admit that it was fun!"
Brush walked out of the shop, and snapped her fingers. --Darn, almost had him! Well, better luck next time.-- She shrugged and left for home.
The only ones left in the shop now were the healer, Scarf, and Alex. Alex was looking at her questioningly, and she didn't need to use any telepathy to know what he was thinking: 'Do you want me to leave?' and hoping her answer was no. It wasn't. "Please, Alex, I need some time to think. Some time to sort some things out in my head. Can we talk tomorrow, please?" She nodded at the door slightly. "Please?"
Alex nodded, before fading out, to reappear at in mid-air heading home.
Scarf looked at Silk and said "I know I said I would work today, but this whole situation has gotten me really shaken up, I just need to go for a walk and be alone. You mind?"
Silk waved him off, "It's alright. We're closing for today, until I get the shelf fixed and the place cleaned up." she looked at him thoughtfully. "Just come back, ok? I don't want to lose you."
Nodding, he said, "I'll be back, don't worry." With saying that he walked out of the shop with a thoughtful look on his face.
Silk watched him go with an unreadable expression. She knew that Herself and Scarf weren't the only ones who needed to figure some things out. It was odd, how in one afternoon, so many things can change. She walked over to the door and glanced out at the now clam street, saw Ukyou and Ryouga holding hands and making moon eyes at each other. She grinned despite herself, "It's about time those two got together." Who knew how many other new and changed relationships this day would bring. Turning away from the sunny street, she surveyed the soaked and messy shop with a sigh, then turned and flipped over the sign, as if to bring some conclusion to the odd and trying day. "Sorry, we're Closed."