A New Rival Appears!? The Alien Biker Babe, Benten!
Ranma sighed as he walked back home. You'd think that after the mess that happened yesterday he'd be able to catch a break. You'd be dead wrong.
Poor Ranma had to go through a mourning battle with Mikado, who was raging at our pigtailed hero after being cursed to turn into a girl by the cure gun before Lum destroyed it. Then he had to dodge Kodachi and that crazy Amazon Shampoo, and then he had to deal with Ataru all dang day! Ranma was glad that he didn't have any classes at either dojo today, all he wanted to do was go home, crawl into bed and sleep. Heck, he wouldn't even try to fight off Lum and Kurama this time.
"DIE YOU BASTARD!" Came the voice of Ataru as he tried to strike Ranma with a mallet. Ranma casually stepped aside and when Ataru crashed into the ground, Ranma kicked him in the back of the head.
"Dude, you really need to find some other way to spend your day." Ranma said in a bored voice.
Ranma sighed and walked off to his house. He was about to open the front door when...
"Darling! There you are!" Lum exclaimed as she swung the door open and scaring Ranma a bit. What freaked him out even more was that she was dressed like a gladiator.
"What the heck Lum-chan? Why are you dressed like a gladiatOOORRR!?" Ranma was cut off when Lum grabbed him and dragged him into his room.
"We don't have time to waste! I'm already late!" She said as she opened his closet door.
"Late? Late for wha...What the heck is THAT!?" He cried, seeing a swirling vortex on the other side of his closet door.
"It's an interspace gateway I made. Now come on!" She said as she tried to drag the confused boy through the portal.
"Come where!? What the heck is going on!?" Ranma asked again, trying to fight his girlfriend's surprisingly strong grip.
"You're going to compete in Setsuban with me on my home planet of Oniboshi! Now come on! I'm already late and the festivities can't start without me! Now LET'S GO!" She said as she pulled Ranma through.
"Lum-chan! WwwaaaAAAAAAIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTT!" Came his cries as they both fell through the portal. For Ranma, it was like a psychedelic weed trip all the way until they fell out onto the ground of the alien world.
"Ow...what the heck?" Ranma said as he rubbed his head.
"Ok. Now we just have to...OW!" Lum was cut off when an angry Ranma managed to pinch her arm enough to hurt her.
"OW! Darling! That hurt!" She said, rubbing her sore spot.
"WHAT THE FLIPPING HECK LUM-CHAN!" Ranma shouted, scaring his girlfriend.
"Darling, don't scream at me." Lum said, her earlier excitement gone as she was now on the other end of Ranma's anger.
"I've got plenty of good reason to scream at ya! For starters, where are we and what the sam heck is going on!?" Ranma screamed again.
"You're on Oniboshi, son-in-law." Came a familiar voice. Ranma and Lum looked behind them and saw Lum's father standing behind them, dressed in armor of his own and behind him was an army of Oni similarly dressed.
"Daddy!" Lum said happily.
"Mr. Invader? What's going on? You guys look like you're going to war or something." Ranma said.
"You hit the nail on the head, buddy boy!" The Oni leader said. "You two have finally gotten here. And so, Setsubun can finally begin!"
The Oni all cheered as Ranma was trying to put together what little pieces he had to work with.
"Wait, did you say we're on Oniboshi? I'm in space!?" He said, then another thing came to him.
"Wait, you guys have a Setsubun of your own here?" He asked. Lum nodded.
"Yes, but it's not like the Setsubun you have on Earth Darling. It's a serious match between us and a race that's been our sworn rivals for generations."
"Match? Rivals?" Ranma asked.
Before he could ask for more details, he heard a sound that made him turn his head to see a dust cloud heading their way. As the dust settled, he saw an army of people charging at them. And when he got a good look at them, he made a face of disgust. Why? Because the group of people he saw were not the most handsome bunch.
"HA HA HA! Look what the cat dragged in. A bunch of wimps and a scrawny little bean pole!" One of the ugly thugs said as he pointed at Ranma and laughed along with the rest of his group.
"Scrawny? Bean pole?" Ranma said, starting to get ticked at the ugly looking punks.
"They really think a punk like this can tussle with us? Don't make me laugh!" Said another of the punks.
"You Oni get lamer and lamer every year! You're no match for the Lucky Gods!" Said another of the ugly looking thugs.
"Wait...Lucky Gods? Like the Seven Lucky Gods of Japanese legend?" Ranma asked as he tilted his head to look at the lot who called themselves the Lucky Gods.
"Well they certainly didn't get lucky in the looks department." Ranma said.
"WHAT'D YOU SAY YOU PUNK!" Some of them shouted at Ranma in anger. Ranma was taken aback but recomposed himself.
"Don't let them scare ya, son in law. Their bark is worse than their bite. Mostly 'cause they don't have any bite!" Mr. Invader said with a laugh.
"Um...I'm still confused." Ranma said. "Just what's this all about?"
"Here on Oniboshi, we've had a long-standing rivalry with the Lucky Gods race and once a year we hold a ceremonial match to decide which of our people is the best. And lucky you son in law, this year you get to fight alongside us and you wife to be!"
"Wait, THIS guy's the one who beat Lum!? HAH HAHA HAHAH! Geeze Lum, did you let this pipsqueak beat cha or something?" A female voice called out.
"Pipsqueak!?" Ranma exclaimed, now really getting mad.
"Ya, I called ya a pipsqueak, what of it?" Came the same voice.
Out of the crowd came the owner of the voice. She was a young woman, around Ranma and Lum's age. With red hair that was kind of spikey in the front but was pulled up in the back and held by what looked like a gold chain shaped head and she had green eyes. She had a curvy figure and wore skimpy metal red bikini type armor, a red arm protector sleeve, red boots and had a chain wrapped around her body.
"Hey Benten!" Lum cried out with a smile as she waved at the red head.
"Hey Lum!" The red head, Benten, replied with a wave and smile of her own.
"Wait, you know this girl?" Ranma asked. Lum smiled and nodded.
"Yep. This is my childhood friend Benten." She said, waving a hand to the biker like woman.
"Benten, this is my Darling, Ranma!" She said, waving her hands at Ranma like she was showing him off at a show.
"Wait, I thought these guys were your mortal enemies or something?" Ranma asked.
"No, not enemies just rivals. And me and Benten have been friends since elementary school. But we still get a little competitive around Setsubun." She said as she grinned at her old friend.
"Yeah, but you must be slipping Lum if you let this little weakling beat you." Benten said, making Ranma grit his teeth.
"Weakling!?" He said, his pride getting the best of him again. Benten decided to egg him on.
"Aw, what's the matter pretty boy? Can't take a little criticism? Or can't take the truth like a man, girly boy? Ha ha ha!"
As Benten and the rest of her people started laughing, Ranma's aura started to turn red with his rising rage. Lum and her father were starting to panic as they knew full well what happens when Ranma started to get this mad.
'When Darling's aura goes red, that's when you should start getting scared.' Lum thought as she shivered from the intensity of her lover's aura.
"That's it. NOW she's dead." Ranma growled as Lum's father started grinning.
"That's my boy! Now, LET'S GET THEM!"
And with that...their game of 'Fill the Bucket atop the Tower' began. Ranma's earlier anger started to fade as he tried to wrap his head around what he was going on.
"I thought this was some kind of fight, not a dumb game." He said.
"IT AINT DUMB!" Mr. Invader shouted as he and his army threw balls towards the basket that Lum was sitting atop of.
"You forget, games like this are how we Oni settle things without going to war. Now shut up and throw!" He said as he threw more balls at the basket.
"OH forget it!" Shouted one of the Lucky Gods that actually didn't look to ugly. "No wimpy little human could ever keep up with us. That punk probably can't do anything except stand around like a human sacrifice!"
"Shut up and keep throwing!" Benten butted in. "Forget the little sex slave and just keep throwing! You wanna win don't ya!?"
THAT was the final straw.
"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME YOU BITCH!" Ranma shouted right in Benten's face. Scaring her and nearly making her fall off her perch atop her own tower basket.
'How the Hell did he get up here!?' She thought to herself.
"That's it. You want to see what I've got? Then you've got it you bitch!" Ranma said as he slapped her across the face.
With that, Ranma backflipped off the basket and as soon as he touched down, he dashed off so fast that he was just a red blur! Ranma dashed across the battlefield and swiped up as many balls as he could and started throwing them towards the Oni's basket. As Ranma dashed around at blinding speed, the Lucky Gods, the Oni and Benten all went wide eyed and open mouthed at Ranma's superhuman speed and agility.
"YEAH DARLING! Show them what you've got baby! YEAH!" Lum shouted as she cheered her boyfriend on.
"Boy...that kid is something else." One Oni said. Lum's father was shocked into stunned silence. But then he started to grin like a mad man as he saw that victory was within his grasp.
"That'a boy son in law! Come on men! You don't want my son-in-law to show us all up do you!? Come on! Forward to victory!" He shouted, rousing the spirits of his people.
Benten was stunned as she saw Lum's boyfriend seemingly start to win the game all by himself. She couldn't understand it. From what she had heard and read about humans; they were supposed to be weaker than aliens like her in every way. When she heard that Lum lost to a human, she assumed that it was because she either let him win, or she got overconfident.
But here was that very human moving like he was a human bullet. And he was jumping around like gravity held little sway over him. She started to growl. This HAD to be a trick. He must be using some kind of gadget or drug that Lum made for him. That was the only explanation.
"COME ON YOU IDIOTS! Do you SERIOUSLY want to lose to a HUMAN!? MOVE IT!" She shouted at her team.
They all got back into the swing of things, but try as they might, Ranma's speed and agility helped him but the Oni's team ahead on points. Way WAY ahead. Ranma jumped into the air and did many flashy acrobatic kicks, sending ball after ball into the basket that Lum was guarding. As each ball landed in the basket, Lum cheered more and more for the man that won her heart.
"Yeah Darling! Yeah Darling! That's the way!" She said. Next thing she knew, Ranma was squatting right next to her, smiling.
"Thanks babe." He said and kissed her cheek. Lum blushed at Ranma's antics.
"Oh Darling." She said with a blush.
After a few more minutes, the game was called to an end. And the Oni's team won by a landslide! As the Oni celebrated their victory, Ranma was being carried off like a hero. Lum flew to her Darling and hugged and kissed him, happy that he had brought them a swift victory. But as the Oni cheered, Benten growled until she her face was as red as her hair. She jumped down and marched over to the cheering Oni.
"HOLD IT!" She shouted at the top of her lungs. "Foul! Foul! I call foul! Cheaters! The lot of ya!"
"Cheaters?" Lum asked as she and Ranma got down to meet the angry red head.
"Admit it Lum! You gave this chump some kind of drug or gadget that made him do all that stuff! Admit it!" Benten all but screamed at her old friend.
"But I didn't." Lum said innocently.
"Yeah, all that running and jumping and flipping I did was all natural." Ranma added.
"Pfft. Yeah right! Everybody knows that humans are a weak and useless species. There is no flipping way that you could have pulled off any of that stuff!" Benten shot back at the pair. Ranma was starting to get annoyed at being called weak and useless because he was human.
"You know lady, you may be my girlfriends' old pal and all, but you are REALLY starting to push it with me." Ranma said, marching right up to Benten and looking her dead in the eye.
"Oh yeah!?" Benten said as she grabbed Ranma by the collar of his shirt. "And what are you going to do about it? Huh tough guy?"
She reared her fist back for a punch, but before she could throw her punch, Ranma just lazily grabbed the hand that was holding him by the collar and twisted it at the wrist.
"Ow ow ow ow ow ow OW OW OW OW OW!" Benten said as she flet the pain caused by Ranma putting her hand in a joint lock. And he made it worse by applying pressure to a pressure point by her elbow, putting the poor girl into a painful Z lock.
"By the way, I forgot to mention, Darling is actually a very skilled fighter and martial artist." Lum said. Benten growled at being humiliated by a scrawny human like this. She grabbed some dirt and threw it at Ranma's face, causing him to let go of the lock and back away to avoid getting dirt in his eyes.
"So, you think you're a tough fighter, eh?" Benten said as she got up and cracked her knuckles. Ranma cracked his neck from side to side.
"I'm one of the best, lady." He said as he started stretching out his arms and legs. Benten grinned.
"Well then, let's see what cha got, mister pretty boy martial artist. I've beaten so called fighters like you before and believe me, you won't be any different." She said as she stretched out her muscles too.
"Oh, I doubt you've ever fought a guy like me before. But if you really want this fight then come and get it, ya hothead." He said as he took up a fighting stance.
"Darling be careful! Benten was the toughest fighter in our whole school! She beat down whole gangs all by herself! She's also strong! Super strong, like that Ryoga guy. Maybe even stronger!" Lum shouted at her beloved.
"Good. That'll make this more exciting." Ranma said wit a grin as he and Benten began to size each other up.
"Well folks, looks like this year's Setsubun's about to go into a little 'Sudden Death Overtime!' The Lucky Gods own princess and toughest brawler Benten is about to face off in single combat against the sole human of the Oni team. The lover of Princess Lum, Ranma Saotome!" The announcer of the festivities said.
Ranma and Benten grinned at each other as they circled around, looking for an opening to exploit. Ranma saw plenty of openings, but if Benten was as tough and skilled as Lum said, then he'd be a fool to rush in. His new masters had been working on knocking those bad habits out of him. Benten, however, was just expecting this to be an easy fight. She took the first opening she saw and charged in!
(Insert Fight Song: Tough Boy from Fist of the North Star)
Benten rushed at Ranma with a savage haymaker, but Ranma just smirked. A predictable brawler move. Ranma blocked the strike and stuck Benten in the gut before throwing her over his hip to the ground. Benten coughed as she hit the ground hard and then yelped in pain as Ranma twisted her arm into a lock.
Benten managed to bend her arm in time to keep him from finishing the lock and tried to use a sweep kick to take him down. Ranma fell but rolled with the momentum of his fall to roll back to his feet and charged at Benten. Benten growled and lashed out with a few wild punches to try and take Ranma's head off.
But Ranma just bobbed and weaved around her strikes and saw yet another opening to exploit. After another wild punch, Ranma lashed out with a side kick, nailing the red-headed alien in the ribs and then struck her with a spinning back kick.
Ranma then charged but as he got in close, Benten blocked his punch and grabbed him with both hands and threw him at a nearby cliff.
"DARLING!" Lum screamed in panic.
Ranma also screamed, but he managed to right himself in the air and kicked off the cliff wall back into the fight.
"Nice try!" He said.
Benten clicked her teeth and ran at Ranma. She tried her own flying side kick, but Ranma was able to spin in midair and evade it. As he passed her in midair, he did a flip kick that nailed her from below and in the gut.
As she hit the ground and Ranma touched down on his feet, she shook her head, not beleiving what she just saw.
"Are you even human!?" She asked in rage. Ranma chuckled and smirked.
"Yeah. I'm just way tougher than the average human." He said as he eased himself back into his stance.
Benten growled and got back up as she prepared to resume her attack. She ran at Ranma and then slammed her fist into the ground so hard that it cracked the ground in front of her straight at Ranma.
"YIPE!" Ranma said as he jumped into the air to avoid the fissure.
"Sucker!" Benten said as she unwrapped the chain from around her body and threw it at Ranma.
It wrapped itself around Ranma's ankle and she yanked hard on it, pulling the screaming pigtailed boy towards the grinning alien. Ranma tried to turn the momentum to his advantage and launched a falling side kick, but this time, Benten jumped over it and struck Ranma with a savage punch.
Ranma tried to block, but the power behind the punch was so strong that it sent him crashing into the ground hard. Benten tried to stomp on Ranma as she fell to the ground after him, but Ranma managed to roll away in time.
"Oh no you don't!" Benten said as she stomped on the ground as Ranma rolled.
The pigtailed boy barely managed to roll out of the way of each stomp as Benten's feet created cracks in the ground with each stomp. Seeing his chance, Ranma did a spin on the ground and sent out a kick to Benten's stomach. The biker alien bent over from the blow and Ranma did a Capoeira styled crouching round house kick to her head, sending her flying.
Ranma flipped to his feet and went after her again, but Benten wasn't having it. She lashed out with a back kick, but Ranma parried it and used both his and Benten's own momentum against her and sweeped her into a throw. Now it was Benten's turn to roll away from Ranma as he grinned at her.
Benten snarled at the smirking human as she remembered that her chain was still wrapped around his ankle. She smirked as a plan formed in her head. She got up and ran at Ranma, sending a stomping front kick at him, but the smirking martial artist blocked and dodged it and sent a hook punch at Benten's head, but she dodged it and sent an uppercut to Ranma's chest.
Ranma dodged and tried to take her with a inside crescent then a spinning outside crescent kick. Benten backpaddled away and rushed forward with a few punches aimed to knock the pigtailed boy out. But Ranma kept parrying and dodging them like it was nothing. When Ranma saw Benten go for a low kick, he brought up his foot to block it and then surprised the red head by doing a hoping front snap kick that got her in the chest.
Ranma then did a jump spinning side kick that sent her to the ground. Not how she planned that going. She hated to admit it, but this human was NO push over like she had heard about his species. As Ranma came in for a finish, Benten smirked and did anoter sweep kick. Ranma jumped to avoid it and she pulled on her chain, pulling the startled pigtailed boy to the ground.
"Forgot about this didn't you tough guy!" Benten said as started to spin Ranma around and around in a circle.
"Whoa! Whoa! WHOA! WHOA!" He cried as he was spun around and then thrown to the ground yet again by the super strong woman.
"Darling! Benten, stop! He's had enough!" Lum pleaded.
"NO, I HAVEN'T!" Ranma said as he struggled to his feet.
"Good spirit kid! But you're out of your league!" Benten said as she pulled Ranma towards her.
When Ranma was in range, she clotheslined him and was about to stomp on him, but Ranma grinned when, as soon as Benten's foot missed him, he managed to wrap her own chain around her and then slip behind her.
"What!?" The biker babe said as she felt an elbow to the back of her elbow take her down. As she stumbled, she felt the cold metal of her chain wrap around her neck.
"Don't EVER count me out of a fight!" Ranma shouted as he placed his foot on Benten's back and pulled on her chain, threatening to cut off her air flow.
Benten's eyes went wide. This guy not only survived the punishment she dished out but managed to turn the fight back around in his favor! This shouldn't be happening! He was a human! One of the weakest species in the galaxy. How was he beating her!? She was NOT going to let this end like this!
Gritting her teeth, Benten grabbed her chain and used as much of her strength as she could muster and threw Ranma back into the air and unwrapped the chain from around her neck. Ranma flipped in the air and spun with enough momentum to yank the panting alien biker straight into the air.
"Bad idea! The air is MY TURF!" Ranma said as he engaged Benten in a midair melee.
Benten was caught off guard as Ranma dominated her in the air. She had no experience in a midair fight without her bike, and Ranma moved through the air like he was a natural in the sky. Every strike she tried was effortlessly countered by the veteran fighter and Ranma managed to punch and kick at every opening Benten had.
A punch to her face, followed by a knee to the gut, a haymaker to the cheek, a round house to the rib, a kick to the chin and then a barrage of kicks at blinding speed to her exposed torso. And then a front flipping axe kick that sent her to the ground. Ranma rode the momentum of the chain pulling him with her to the ground and was about to end the fight, but Benten managed to roll out of the way.
As Ranma hit the ground and noticed that Benten escaped his attempt at a finisher, he unwrapped the chain from around his ankle and tossed it back to her.
"You're good miss hot shot. But I'm just better." He said to her.
Benten growled and groaned as she got back to her feet and stared Ranma down.
"You cheeky little bastard." She said in between breaths.
"You...you won't win that EASILY!" Benten said as she dug her hands into the ground and pulled a huge boulder sized piece of debris from the ground and threw it at Ranma with all her might.
"WOW!" Ranma said as he dashed away from the incoming projectile.
As he got away, he turned on his heel and charged at Benten.
"Let's finish this!" He said as he closed the distance on the snarling space biker.
"Gladly!" She shouted back as she ran to meet his charge.
They clashed in a flurry of blows. But as they all soon saw, while Benten had experience in close quarters, she was no match for someone like Ranma, who had all but mastered such means of combat. One of her punches was parried and Ranma managed to turn it into a figure 4 lock that was turned into a throw. Benten got up and sent a sloppy kick that Ranma parried sent a high round house kick to the back of her head.
Benten stumbled but spun with a backfist that Ranma blocked and struck her above the elbow and turned it into an armbar throw. She got up and tried another uppercut but Ranma jabbed her in the nose, sending her back before she was hit with a side kick, knocking her down.
"Had enough?" Ranma asked. Benten struggled to her feet and wrapped her chain around her right fist.
"Not on your life." She said as she once again tried to punch Ranma's head off. But he avoided every strike.
As one punch came in, he grabbed her wrist and punched her in the rib before turning her momentum on her and putting her in a lock that turned into another throw.
"Time to end this." Ranma said as his opponent got back up one last time.
Benten rose, but gasped as Ranma got right in front of her and unleashed one new attack that master Bang taught him.
"Katchu Tenshin AMAGURIKEN!" Ranma shouted as his fists flew at speeds that broke the sound barrier.
Benten was caught off guard as the blows rained down on her as if Ranma had dozens of arms, all sending punches at her that she couldn't avoid. She took the blows one after another, all the while trying to figure out how it came to this! Her! One of the best fighters to come out of the Lucky Gods tribe, beaten by a human!
As Ranma ended his assault, he struck with one final punch to Benten's cheek, sending her spinning to the ground for the last time. As she hit the ground, all the Lucky Gods and the Oni all gasped at Ranma's display of marital prowess.
"Yeah Darling! He won!" Lum cheered, before feeling worried about her friend.
"Wait, Benten! Darling I know this was a fight between you two, but did you have to go so far!?" She asked. Ranma huffed and puffed as he turned to look at Lum.
"Oh don't worry. I only knocked her out. I was holding back, but honestly, maybe I should have taken her a little more seriously at first." He said with a smile.
"Wait, you held back?" She asked. But then she thought about it, he really didn't use any of the powerful techniques she had seen him use before.
"Oh my gosh...you really did hold back!" She exclaimed.
"Wait! THAT was him HOLDING BACK!?" Lum's father shouted in shock. He gulped. Had this kid gotten even stronger since he'd last seen him?
'Boy, I do NOT want to get on son-in-law's bad side.' He thought to himself.
As he thought this, all the other Oni cheered at seeing their newfound champion beat the toughest fighter of the Lucky Gods! They all ran at Ranma and lifted him up into the air as they all cheered as they carried him off into the sunset.
"Geez guys! Take it easy will ya?' Ranma said with a smile.
The next day, a groggy Benten opened her eyes as she tried to figure out where she was. She blinked her eyes as she came to her senses. She heard the voices of her gang of biker women and even her father as she finally became fully awake. She tried to sit up, only to wince in pain as she noticed that her torso was covered in bandages.
"Wh-what happened?" She asked.
"Well..." One of her lackies trailed off.
"You lost to that dumb Oni's human son-in-law." Her father said nonchalantly as he smoked his pipe.
"WHAT!?" Benten shouted as she shot up straight before wincing in pain again.
"He BEAT ME!? How the Hell could some dumb human beat me!?" She asked as she tried to think back to the fight she had with her old friends' boyfriend.
"He must have cheated lady Benten!" One of her lackies said.
"Yeah! No way he was really that strong and fast." Said another.
"I bet he wasn't really even human." Said yet another of the biker girls.
"Weather he was human or not, the point is he not only helped those dumb Oni win Setsubun, but he beat you in a fight Benten. Like it or not, we lose this time." Benten's father said in acceptance of his defeat. But Benten was growling in rage.
"DAMN IT ALL TO HELL!" She screamed.
"That cheeky little bastard! I'll get him!" She said...only to lay back down as she remembered the pain in her chest, and her face...and everywhere else.
"As soon...as I start feeling better." She said.
A few days later, Ranma was heading for school with Lum and Kurama flying next to him. As they traveled, Ranma and Lum were telling Kurama about the adventure at Setsubun. And as they did, Kurama was wide eyed at hearing how Ranma faced off against a member of the Lucky Gods and managed to win.
"Wow Ranma-kun! I wish I could've been there to cheer you on. It sounds like that Benten girl was tough." The Tengu princess said. Ranma closed his eyes and blushed at the praise.
"Well, it was tough. It would have been tougher if she actually had trained. But to be honest, it was actually kind of nostalgic." He said as he opened his eyes to look at the road in front of him.
"What do you mean nostalgic Darling?" Lum asked.
"Well," Ranma began. "With that super strength of hers and her brawler fighting style, she kind of reminded me of Ryoga back when I first met him."
"Really?" Both girls asked in mild shock. Ranma nodded.
"Yeah, way back when I was just a kid in middle school." Ranma said as he thought back to those old days. "But seriously, it was a good fight."
"I'm glad you think so, BUDDY!" Came an angry female voice that made all three teens freeze and look to their left. Lo and behold, there was an ANGRY looking Benten, riding her air bike right beside them.
"Oh, hey Benten! Back up and about already?" Lum asked, ignorant at the red-heads rage but just happy to see her old friend again.
"Hey Lum." Benten said with a smile before going back to glaring at Ranma.
"Oh sure, she gets a 'hello' and I get the death glare." Ranma said with an annoyed expression.
"I'll give you more than a death glare mister pretty boy." She said as she revved up her bike like she was getting ready to charge Ranma and run him over.
"HEY! Watch what you say to my boyfriend, you crazy biker lady!" Kurama said as she got right in Benten's face.
"Wait...You're boyfriend?" She asked confused before glaring at Ranma again. "SAY...I thought you were Lum's boyfriend mister tough guy!"
"(Gulp) Well..." Ranma said, rubbing his arm in a slight panic. "It's...uh...complicated."
"Darling's under some dumb law that let's him have multiple lovers and it honestly gets on my nerves! Especially with the third wheel hovering around." Lum said, glaring half-heartedly at Kurama.
"Who are you calling third wheel, Lightning Rod?" She said, returning the glare. Benten grabbed Ranma by the collar and pulled him close.
"So, you're just a pretty faced playboy, huh?" She said. Ranma gave her his own glare and grabbed her hand and put her into the same wrist lock he used the first time they met.
"Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow!" Benten said as she was starting to bow in pain from the lock.
"For the record lady, I never asked to be put under that dumb law. The Emperor put me under it and well...stuff happened. And I'm NOT some womanizer." He said as he let Benten's hand go.
"HOT DAMN! HEY THERE HOT STUFF!" Came the voice of Ataru, charging at the four with his usual perverted grin.
"But HE is." Ranma said, pointing at Ataru. "Or at least he likes to think that he is."
"I see." Benten said with an annoyed look at the charging horndog.
"How's about a..." Ataru was cut off when all four teens kicked him into the stratosphere. They all breathed in and sighed as they got ready to leave. Just then, Benten's eyes went wide as she remembered the reason she came in the first place.
"Hey wait a minute!" She said as she turned to glare at Ranma. "I came here to get my rematch, pretty boy!"
"A rematch?" Ranma asked.
"That's right! You beat me by a stupid fluke and I want my rematch. So put 'em up!" Benten said as she hopped off her bike and got in a fighting stance.
"Now's not a good time." Ranma said holding up a hand.
"What do you mean 'Now's not a good time'?" Benten said.
"I'm on my way to school so I'll have to take a rain check." He said as he turned and started walking off.
"Benten..." Lum started to say to her friend.
"Screw that!" Benten said as she charged at Ranma. "You're mine! We're fighting NOW!"
Ranma side stepped Benten's attempt at a flying side kick and dodged her follow up backhand and haymaker.
"Look lady, I love a good fight, but if I don't get to school my mom'll chew me out." Ranma said to the punch swinging red-head.
"Do I look like I care!" She said as she went for another punch, only for Ranma to counter with a throw that sent her flying back onto her air bike. Ranma walked over to her bike and revved it up.
"See ya later." He said as the bike charged off with Benten screaming as it did.
"Darling, you know she's going be extra mad at you now, right?" Lum asked. Ranma sighed and shrugged his shoulders.
"Yeah. But at this point, I'm used to people wanting to kill me." He said.
Later that day, Ranma was sitting in class, just trying to relax and take notes. All the while, Ataru had been trying to get a rouse out of him for what happened earlier. The whole class was still confused as to what the pervy boy was even talking about. All they managed to get was that he was mad about Ranma supposedly being around a new, red-headed girl.
Speaking of which, just as Ranma was getting ready to head to lunch, the wall of their classroom exploded! From the rubble came none other than Benten herself.
"There you are!" She said as she jumped into the classroom and marched over to Ranma.
"Oh, hey Benten. Back so soon?" Ranma asked like she hadn't just busted through the wall.
"Hey sexy!" Ataru said.
"BUTT OUT JACKASS!" Benten said as she punched Ataru through the another wall.
"Seriously, just who is that guy?" She asked.
"Nobody really. Just some dumb, idiot, pervert who has no real purpose in the story." Ranma said with a sigh and a shrug.
"Ranma, who is this girl?" Shinobu asked.
"Oh, this is Benten. She's one of Lum's alien friends." Ranma answered.
"Who's she? Another one of your girlfriends mister play boy?" Benten asked in an annoyance.
"NO I'M NOT! We're just friends!" Shinobu said, waving her hands.
"Like I care! Listen you! You're not getting out of giving me my rematch!" Benten said, shaking her fist in front of Ranma's face.
"Yo, what does she mean, 'rematch'?" One of the boys in class asked.
"Oh, she's just mad that I beat her in a fight, that's all." Ranma answered.
"HEY YOU! It's not gentalmanly to fight or hit ladies!" Shutaro said as he appeared beside Ranma, hands on his sheathed sword.
"For once I'm with Mendo!" Ataru said, appearing out of nowhere. "No hitting delicate ladies ya jerk!"
"But she started it." Ranma said in an innocent tone.
"WHO CARES!?" Both boys screamed at him.
"Girls aren't meant for fighting! They're meant to be obsereved and idolized. Not for getting hit by guys like you!" Shutaro said.
"Yeah what he said!" Ataru agreed. But to everyone's surprise, Benten herself was getting angered by their words.
"Will you two BACK OFF!" She screamed as she punched both boys into another wall.
"MENDO-KUN!" All the girls in class screamed in a panic.
"Now listen up you jackasses!" Benten cried out. "Don't think that just cus' I'm a girl that I need some idiot guys to protect me! If I want to fight, it's my choice! And if I want to step up and fight with a man, then butt out and just let me! Saying that I can't fight a man is more sexist than saying that he should go easy on me just because I'm a girl!"
"(Whistle) Wow. Talk about feminine empowerment, and gender equality." Ranma said.
"Now back off and let me have my rematch!" Benten finished as she went back to glaring at Ranma.
"Ok, now let's go!" She said.
"Can't I have lunch first?" Ranma asked. Benten growled and tried to smash Ranma over the head, only for the pigtailed martial artist to roll out of his seat and out of the way just in time for Benten's fist to smash his desk and chair to splinters.
"Hey! You know they might make me pay for that!" Ranma said form the other side of the room.
"How the?" Benten said as she growled and charged at Ranma again.
"I'll make you pay with your life pal!" She said as she took a few swings at Ranma.
Ranma narrowed his eyes at Benten and dodged her wild swings. After dodging a few more of the alien woman's wild swings, Ranma did an outside parry and grabbed Benten by the wrist and elbow, and moving with the momentum, brought her to the ground and sat his knee on her elbow, pinning her down.
"Now are ya ganna chill out?" Ranma asked the trapped girl. Benten growled.
"I'll chill out when you're on the ground at my feet pal." She said as she fougth with all her strength to force Ranma off her elbow and toss him towards the hole in the wall that she originally came in from.
"Sheesh. Well if ya really want a fight that badly, come and get me hot stuff." Ranma said as he jumped out the window.
"Get back here!" Benten shouted as she charged after Ranma.
"Soooo, who's going to explain this to the teacher, huh?" One of the other students asked.
Meanwhile back with Ranma, our hero was bounding away from the school so as to find a spot that would have the least amount of people so he could deal with Benten. As he jumped from one rooftop to another, Benten rode up next to him on her air bike.
"What's wrong? One win and you get cold feet?" She asked in a mocking tone, trying to get under his skin.
"Haven't you ever heard of minimizing collateral damage?" Ranma asked as he flipped onto another building a rooftop.
"I have. And honestly, I never really cared." She answered as she tried to swipe at Ranma with her chain.
Ranma easily dodged her chain strikes and dashed around so fast that Benten almost thought she was seeing three or six of him at the same time. She shook her head and made a mad dash at Ranma on her bike. Ranma flipped over the raging red-head and landed on the edge of the roof.
"Here I am slow poke!" He said, making faces at Benten. She turned and charged at him agian.
"Who are you calling a slow poke you punk!" She said as she dived after Ranma as he jumped down to street level.
Benten chased after the pigtailed boy for a few minutes, following him through every twist and turn he took. She revved her engine as she closed in on him, only for Ranma to back flip over her head as she flew right past him.
"HUH!?" She said as Ranma landed behind her and dashed off.
"SUCKER!" He said.
"OOOOHHHH! Why that little..." She was cut off when she crashed into a wall. Thankfully, her bike was made from strong metals from space and didn't suffer damage, but the wall sure did.
But Benten didn't care for that. She pulled her bike free and charged after Ranma down the road where she last saw him. But to her dismay, the pigtailed boy was nowhere to be found.
"Darn it! Where'd he go?" She said as she went to a higher altitude to look for Ranma. Little did she know, the man she was looking for was sitting right behind her, munching on an apple.
"Eh...what's up doc?" Ranma asked as he took another bite from his apple.
"I'm looking for a no good, dead beat, smart mouthed human with braided black hair." Benten said in annoyance.
"No kidding?" Ranma said as he swallowed. "Say, what's he look like?"
"Well he looks..." Benten trailed off, putting a finger to her chin. But as she did, she saw just who she was talking to out of the corner of her eye.
"HE'S A DEAD MAN JUST LIKE YOU!" She said, turning and grabbing Ranma by his collar.
"Do tell. Do tell." He said.
"Now I've got ya." She said with a vicious grin. Ranma grinned back at her.
"Oh yeah?" He said, and then started tickling her armpits.
"Gouchi Goochi Gooo!"
Benten started laughing as she lost her grip on Ranma and tried to get his hands away from her.
"STOP! HA HA HA HA HA! STOP PLEASE! HA HA HA HAHA HAHAHA! THAT TICKLES! STOP YA CREEP! HA HA HA HA HAHAHA!" Benten said as she laughed her head off.
"Ok." Ranma said as he jumped off the air bike and back to the ground and took off. Benten managed to calm down and then glared at the retreating boy.
"OOOOOHHHHH!" She growled as she charged after him again.
"When I get my hands on you!" She shouted at the laughing pigtailed boy.
"You and what army? Little miss biker babe from Mars." Ranma shouted over his shoulder.
"And stop calling me that! I'm not from Mars ya stupid human!" She shouted back at him.
"Sorry. I don't really know where you're from." Ranma said.
"And you won't live long enough to find out!" Benten said as she started to pull up beside Ranma.
She tried to punch him, but he leaned away to avoid it and blew a rasberry at her.
"Beep beep!" Ranma said with a smile, doing his best Road Runner impression before dashing off.
"Oh no you don't!" Benten said as she took her chain and tried to use it like a lasso to catch Ranma. Unfortunately for our pigtailed hero, this time she managed to catch him.
"Uh oh! AGGHH!" Ranma said as he was pulled back by Benten.
"What now smart guy!?" She said with a devious grin. Ranma thought fast to figure a way out of this mess.
As he was yanked towards the charging air bike, he twisted himself in the air, kicked off the hood of the bike and flew away to a lamp post and wrapped his legs around it. Holding on for dear life, Ranma ended up spinning the air bike riding alien around in a circle.
"Whoa WHOA WHOA!" Benten screamed as she was spun around and around.
Unfortunately, Ranma's legs gave out and slipped off the lamp post, sending both him and Benten into a crumpled-up heap at the base of one of the buildings. The two teens shook their heads as they tried to get their bearing back. Ranma shook his head and turned to see an angry Benten glaring daggers at him.
"Uhhhhh heh heh heh...YIPE!" Ranma said as he took off in a mad dash. But Benten was right on his tail.
Ranma looked around and saw an open manhole and dived into it. Benten skid next to it and stuck her hand down after him.
"AHA! I've got him!" She said with a mad grin.
"On the contrary...I've got you." Ranma said. Benten tried to pull her arm out...only to be pulled back down.
"What the?" She said. She tried to pull up again, only for Ranma to yank her back down again.
"Eep." Was all Benten could say before she was yanked down into the sewer.
Ranma crawled out of the manhole and looked down into the darkness of the sewer.
"Benten?" Ranma called down into the darkness. "Say Benten, where are ya!?"
"...Here I am..." Came the voice of the biker girl from space.
"Too bad." He said as he covered up the man hole.
"Gosh, ain't I a stinker?" He said with a laugh.
"And so, after disposing of the Alien Biker Babe from space, exit our hero stage right." Ranma said as he headed off...only to bump into an angry Benten.
"Oph! Uh oh." Ranma said.
"What for you burry me in the cold cold ground?" Benten asked with a scowl.
"Well...YIPE AGAIN!" Ranma said as he dashed off again.
"Get back here!" Benten said as she took off after him.
"This is getting ridiculous." Ranma said to himself. He had to find a way to end this farce and fast, he was getting hungry.
"Stop running you little coward! What, you're not man enough to face me, you little chicken!" Benten shouted at Ranma.
That was the straw that broke his back. Ranma spun on his heel and close lined Benten as she came charging in. As the alien beauty tried to get back up, she was met with a foot to the face, curtesy of the pigtailed fighter.
"No one," He said, ice in his voice. "No one calls me a coward and lives, little miss hot shot."
"Oh yeah?" Benten said as she got up and readied herself for another attack.
"Let's see you back that up!"
And with that, the alien red head charged at Ranma, only to meet a barrage of strikes that to her, looked like a blur of fists. When it was over, Benten fell to the ground, beaten once again by the pigtailed martial artist.
"If you weren't Lum-chan's friend I wouldn't have taken it so easy on ya."
After dusting off his hands, Ranma picked up the unconcious alien biker and strode over to her air bike. All the while, Ranma couldn't help but notice that Benten was actually a really beautiful looking young girl. He blushed a little when he started to notice her large breasts and bashfully turned his head to the side.
'You know, if I wasn't dating Lum-chan and Kurama-chan...' Ranma thought to himself with a smile. He snapped back to reality when he heard the sound of Benten waking up.
"Ugghh...What happened?" She asked.
"You lost to me. Again." Ranma said bluntly but honestly. Benten blinked her eyes a few times to bring herself back to reality and saw that Ranma was carrying her bridal style.
"H-HEY! W-what do you think you're doing!? Put me down!" She said as she tried to wiggle her way out of Ranma's grasp.
"Hey calm down, will ya!? I'm just taking you back to your bike and then I'll put ya down, ya crazy biker babe." Ranma said as he closed in on Benten's bike. Benten turned her head so that he couldn't see the slight blush on her face.
"Yeah well, I could've walked back by myself ya know?" She said.
"Yeah, I know." Ranma answered. "But it wouldn't sit right with me as a man just leaving a pretty girl out on the streets while she's out cold. Especially when she's one of my girlfriends friends."
Benten blushed a little more at being indirectly called pretty.
"Y-yeah well...thanks." She said as Ranma put the girl back on her feet in front of her air bike.
"Your welcome." He said with a sigh as he turned on his heel and started to walk off.
"Say?" Benten said, stopping him. "Do...do you really think I'm...pretty?"
Ranma stopped and turned on his head to look at the girl who a moment ago, was trying to kill him.
"Well...yeah. I mean, who wouldn't think you're pretty? Heck, I think you're kind of hot to be honest." Ranma said. Benten felt the heat rising in her cheeks.
"Yo-You're just saying that." She said, hiding her face.
"No I mean it. In fact, heck, I was just thinking that if I was single, I might try asking you out." Ranma said with a wink. Now Benten was REALLY blushing.
"Tch. You really are a play boy, ya know that?" She said with a smile.
"No I'm not. I'm just a guy who says what he's thinking." He said back. "And ya know what? You're actually a lot cuter when ya smile like that."
"Duh!? You big dummy!" Benten said as she 'playfully' slapped Ranma on the back...and into the ground.
"Ow..." He said. Benten noticed what she just did and panicked a bit.
"Uh...sorry." She said.
"I'll forgive ya if you give me a lift back to school." He said as he pried himself off the ground.
A few minutes later, Ranma was hoping back into his classroom and brushing himself off from his little adventure.
"Thanks." He said.
"Sure." Benten said as she got ready to go, only for one last question to pop into her head.
"Say, just how did you get to be so fast and strong anyway?" Benten asked. Ranma turned to her and smiled.
"I train in martial arts. I'm only as good as I am because I've got good teachers to help me push my limits."
That, for some reason, made Benten feel a little appreciation for the man who bested her not once but twice. She revved up her bike and gave Ranma one last smile.
"I'll see ya later, mister martial artist." She said with a wink and flew off. Ranma felt a strange urge to smile as she flew off. Not a cocky, 'I won again' smile like usual, but...he wasn't really sure.
"Alright kids, time for your next class." Came the voice of one of the teachers who just walked into the classroom.
"WHAT!?" Ranma shouted as a horrible realization dawned on him...he spent his whole lunch hour running from Benten.
"What the hell happened to the wall!?" Cried the teacher.
Later that day when school let out, Ranma was dragging himself back to his house. It took all his reserves of strength to get through the rest of school and deal with Mendo and Ataru and even Mikado when he showed up later. Now all he wanted to do was go home and get something to eat and just relax.
"Welcome home Darling!" Cried Lum as she tackled Ranma to the ground after he opened the door.
"Hey Lum-chan..." He said exhaustedly. Lum looked worriedly at her Darling.
"Darling, what's wrong? Are you sick?" She asked.
"No. I'm hungry! I didn't get to eat lunch because your dumb friend Benten chased me all over town!" He said.
"Yeah, sorry about that." Came the familiar voice of the biker babe herself.
"What are you doing here!?" Ranma said, shooting back up.
"I decided to pay Lum a visit." She said as she sipped her cup of tea.
"She also said she wanted to see you when you got back from school so I decided to let her in." Nodoka said as she sipped her own tea.
"I voted against it but I was out voted." Kurama said as she sipped her tea. Ranma moaned and hung his head.
"I don't even care. I just want some food." He said weakly.
Later, after filling his belly with food, Ranma asked the question that was on his mind.
"What did you want to see me for Benten? Another rematch?" He asked.
"No." She said. "Just this."
And without any warning, she grabbed Ranma and kissed him right on the mouth in front of everybody!
"HUH!?" Nodoka and the two other aliens cried out in shock. Ranma's eyes went wide as saucers as Benten ended her kiss with a loud 'pop'.
"BENTEN! WHAT THE HECK!?" Lum shouted, her hair changing colors as an aura of lightning arced off her body.
"Sorry, but you know I've always wanted a man who could kick my ass." The red head said. "And to be fair, you were right. He IS a good kisser!"
As she said this, she went into a cutesy act with her hands on her face as she blushed slightly.
"And he was my first kiss too." She said.
"...Huh..." Was all Ranma could say.
"HEY! I thought you wanted to kill him not kiss him!?" Kurama shouted at the biker girl.
"NO! I didn't want to kill him. I'm just a sore loser." She said with a wave of her hand. "And Lum, you know I always wanted a strong guy who thought I was pretty. And you said yourself that this guy can have more than one lover, so why can't I date him too?"
"BECAUSE I DON'T WANT TO SHAAAAAARRRRRRREEEEEE!" Lum shouted to the Heavens as she chased after Benten and tried to fry her with lightning."
"Save some for me Lum!" Kurama said as she flew after the two other aliens. Nodoka blinked and walked over to the stunned Ranma.
"Well son, looks like you have another suitor. And another alien too. (Giggle) I'm starting to think that extra terrestrials may be your type."
But Ranma just sat there blinking. And blinking. And blinking.
"Huh?" Was all he could say.
"Ranma?" Nodoka asked as she waved her hand in front of his face.
"I'm going to my room." He said as he marched up to his only safe haven.
Not too long later, Benten and the other two aliens opened up the door to Ranma's room and found her doing push ups while watching an anime on his TV. And he was shirtless too.
"Whoa..." Benten said with wide eyes as she saw Ranma's abs glistening with sweat.
"Come to mama." Kurama muttered.
"Oh, hey girls." Ranma said as he toweled off and put his shirt back on. "So, are ya done trying to kill each other yet?"
"Probably not." Benten said.
"Why did you kiss me like that?" Ranma asked as he sat on his bed and the others came in.
"Sorry. It's just...I'm jealous." She said as she sat down. Ranma tilted his head.
"Guilty?"
"Of Lum." She said with a sigh. "Ya see, at first I thought you were just some pretty boy like Lum's ex. That's why I gave ya such a hard time. But then I saw how much ya cared for her and what a good fighter you are and...well.." She trailed off.
"Benten's never really been popular with boys." Lum said.
"Really?" Ranma asked in shock. "I can't see why."
"It's because I'm too strong." Benten said.
"All my life, I've been getting in fights because it's how the Lucky Gods tribe lives. I've gotten into so many fights that every guy I met thought I was just a fight happy brute. I mean, they weren't wrong but, no one every treated me like a girl." She took a deep breath as she continued.
"Lum, our friends Oyuki and Ran, they were the pretty girly ones. Me, all I was good for was fighting. No man would go near me to ask me out because they were afraid of me. All I wanted was a man who was stronger than me and treated me like a cute girl like they did to the others. But no one ever fit that bill. That is...until I met you." She said turning to Ranma and tried to hide a growing blush.
"Me? Oh come on. There must have been some guys who told ya you were beautiful." He said. Benten shook her head.
"Nope. A nice piece of ass, big boobed biker babe, hot monster, but no, never pretty or beautiful. Not only that, but no one was ever able to beat me, and I only wanted a man who was stronger than me. Funny, the first one that was and not only do I get mad at him and think he's just a pretty boy womanizer like Lum's ex, but when I find out he's not, he's spoken for."
"And...you thought that because of that dumb law you might have a chance?" Ranma asked. Benten sighed and laughed a little.
"Yeah. Dumb me, right? I guess I got carried away."
"Whoa Benten, I never knew you could be a romantic." Lum said.
"Me neither." She said.
"You know," Ranma butted in. "I'm not really in the habit of taking advantage of that law. But...um...what I mean to say is...well...Lum-chan was my first and...well...she has final say most of the time."
"Huh?" Benten asked. Ranma turned his head and blushed.
"W-what I mean to say is...if you wanted to try asking me out...you should have asked her and me first instead of kissing me out of the blue like that. We had a bad incident with that already." He said, thinking back to how Shampoo tried to kiss him and then the accidental kisses with Asuka and Ryuunosuke.
"Well..." Lum trailed off.
"Hold on! You're not actually thinking about letting this girl into this crazy harem thing are you!?" Kurama asked her friend/rival and her lover.
"I'm all for it." Nodoka said from the doorway.
"SCRAM MOM/MOTHER-IN-LAW!" Ranma, Lum and Kurama shouted at the snooping woman.
"Well," Lum continued. "I guess...But no more trying to force yourself on MY DARLING!"
Benten looked as if she were on the verge of tears and hugged her old friend.
"Thanks Lum." She said and Lum smiled and hugged her friend back.
"Will I ever get a say around here?" Kurama asked nobody in particular. Ranma smiiled and shook his head.
"Whenever I get one." He said jokingly. Their moment was cut off when Benten noticed what Ranma was watching on TV.
"Whoa! That guy just made that other guy explode, what the heck are we watching?" She said as she leaned in closer to the TV. Ranma smirked.
"It's an old anime from the 1980s. Fist of the North Star." He said. As he said this, the main character, Kenshiro, made more bad guys explode.
"EEK!" Lum said.
"Eesh! That's brutal." Kurama said.
"COOL!" Benten said. Then she looked at Ranma.
"Say, can you do that?" She asked. Ranma scratched the back of his head and chuckled.
"No. That's all just fictional. But it's fun to watch." He said.
"To some people I guess." Lum said.
"You two girlies can leave if you want, I'm liking this crap. WHAT!? It's over already!?" Benten said in disappointment as the ending credits to the episode rolled.
"Sadly, yes." Ranma said. Benten looked at him with pleading eyes.
"Please tell me there's more?" She begged. Ranma smiled.
"Yeah, I'm watching a DVD so there's another episode come up in a sec." He said.
"Can we watch it? PLEASE!?" Benten begged, doing her best puppy dog eyes. Ranma couldn't help but think that, for a woman that didn't think she was feminine, she had the puppy dog eye technique down pat.
"Sure. You girls want to watch too?" He asked his first two girlfriends.
"No thanks Darling. This...isn't my type of show." Lum said.
"Me neither. But have fun I guess. But not TOO much fun." She warned Benten, who chuckled sheepishly. And with that, Ranma gained yet another alien girlfriend. How he STILL had no idea.
Meanwhile, unknown to our heroes, a plane was flying over the Nerima district and a strange package fell out of it and plummeted towards the ground. As ti came close to the ground, it exploded open, revealing a small, shadowy figure with a walking stick larger than itself.
"Now, where's Shampoo with my new son-in-law?"