The Price of Nami’s Dignity

Nami felt her head spinning as she squinted against the bright light filtering through her long lashes. How the hell did she get here? This wasn’t the boutique she was just in. The last thing she remembered was looking at a pricy new pair of heels when the shopkeep approached her to promo a new fragrance.

“Our island specialty,” she had cooed “soft and citrusy for the woman who has everything.”

Nami remembered the faint smell of mikan as the woman puffed a bit of the perfume into her face, and then nothing else. Now she was here.

Blinking away the sleep from her eyes, Nami found herself in quite the predicament. She was in a barren room, possibly underground. The stone floor scuffed beneath her heels, and she noticed she was standing…well…sort of. Her arms were hoisted above her head, attached to a hook that dangled down from the ceiling. Her wrists were crossed together with rope over the hook, leaving her to sway in the center of the room.

The light in question came from dead ahead, where Nami was startled to find one of the impossibly large transponder snails staring at her vacantly. Snails that large were used for video transmission, something that alarmed Nami. Whatever she has gotten into, it was bad.

“Finally awake, I see.” A voice said. From behind the transponder snail stepped a woman. Squinting into the light, Nami could see it was the woman from the shop.

“Who are you? Why am I here?!” Nami demanded. She wriggled against her bonds, causing her breasts to jiggle in the loose confines of her bikini top. The woman smiled.

“I’m Bidi, and this here is my colleague Essem.” Bidi said. She was no longer a sweet little shopkeep, but cut the figure of an attractive criminal. She wore an all burgundy ensemble that fit her like a catsuit, powerful and intimidating. Essem, by contrast, looked like her goon. He was a large, broad man. He stood with his arms folded, staring at her from the shadows behind the snail. Nami felt a shiver go through her body.

“Whatever you think you’re doing, I wouldn’t do it. You’ll be dead before you can collect a bounty on me.” Nami warned. Bidi did not seem phased. She merely flipped her long brown locks over her shoulder.

“We don’t need your bounty. You’ve made a lot of enemies, Cat Burglar Nami, and some very powerful people have paid us to even the score.”

“I can pay more for their names. I know how this works” Nami retorted. Bidi giggled.

“Think you can pay? The price is your dignity.”

“My…dignity?” Nami said, the words knocking around in her skull. Well that was priceless, and therefore worthless to bargain for. Nami stamped one foot pathetically on the stone floor, realizing just how strung up she was in this situation.

“Let me go. Now.”

Essem moved from his spot, turning to flick on some switches. The dark shadows behind the large snail flickered to life, causing Nami’s blood to run cold. There were two screens behind it. The first was playing a live feed from the transponder snail, featuring Nami tied up in the center of the screen. As she swayed, so did her double, confirming the fact that she was live. The second was a different scene, somewhere outdoors…on this island. A crowd was gathered, all of them looking up expectantly at something just past another snail. Nami knew who it was.

Bidi smiled.

“Who’s ready to see Cat Burglar Nami stripped naked?”