LSPurple14 Lum Sum Purple By Jim Robert Bader (Featuring the characters and situations created by Rumiko Takahashi) WARNING---LEMON-LIME ALERT! CONTAINS SCENES OF A SOMEWHAT EXPLICIT NATURE. AVOID IF YOU ARE OFFENDED AT THE THOUGHT OF TWO GORGEOUS BABES GOING AT IT WITH GREAT ENTHUSIASM AND EFFECT, ESPECIALLY WITH FIREWORKS THAT ACCOMPANY THEIR FULFILLMENT. YOU HAVE BEEN DULY WARNED. (Again thanks to DB Sommers and Wade Tritschler for the creation of a few supporting characters who make an appearance in this series...) Chapter Fourteen. Lum Gets Sum (Part Two) Bayankallah Mountain Range, Qing Hi Province, Rural China; Village of the Joketsuzoku Perfume lay back and took it in like an old pro as Benton introduced her to the art of the "Strap-On" vibrator, the Amazon Enforcer being naked and face-up upon the latter's flying bike with legs spread wide and crotch open to full penetration. It was her first time doing it this way, after all, and Perfume's eyes were wide open as she felt a thrill at being dominated by her latest sexual conquest. The Goddess was enjoying the eagerness and receptiveness of the brown-haired warrior as she gently thrust with her hips to project more of the artificial cock that she was wearing into the hungry crotch that devoured it by the centimeter. Benton grinned as she saw the look of wonder and amazement in the other girl turn to astonishment as Perfume arched her back and gasped as she was fully penetrated, the whole length of the nine-inch thing cramming into her despite the frank disbelief of the Enforcer that she could fit such a rod inside her without being torn asunder. Astonishment promptly turned to dismay and glee as Benton switched the vibratory aspect on and felt the familiar hum as it transferred yet new sensations into the other girl's most intimate of recesses. Perfume literally cried out her amazement at how good it felt to be thus stimulated, and that only increased Benton's own eagerness to take things to yet another level. "Oh, you like it, do you?" Benton cooed as she worked her hips to ease the vibrator in against the enforcer's hyper-sensitive crotch, her own hands sliding from Perfume's hips to grasp those bountiful breasts of the other girl that fairly begged to be so fondled. Perfume could only exclaim affirmation through a gentle moan that rose from her very being. The delightful torments being visited upon her body made her swoon with frank amazement that such positive feelings could exist to be discovered. The feel of Benton's hands squeezing her bosom and toying with her nipples was an additional added bonus as there was obvious skill to the Goddess's efforts, as if playing with another girl this way were familiar territory, and a subject in which she excelled with much enthusiasm. "I thought as much," Benton chuckled, "So nice to see I was right about you. A lot of Earth girls tend to be a bit shy about doing this on a second date, but I can see you have no such restraints about sharing yourself with me, so let's just move on to the next stage and I'll give you something to really talk about in the girls' lockers..." Perfume did not exactly know what a "girl's locker" was, but it sounded like someplace she'd very much like visiting to judge from the way her present lover was causing her such sweet sensations. Having her loins be filled by an artificial member (very much like a male penis, but with a beautiful girl attached, which made it infinitely more tolerable than had it been a man trying to pump her with his seed) was giving her such a thrill that she could almost ignore the fact that they were still hovering far above the ground and amid a passing cloudbank, drifting along while the bike helped the flying part out by automatic "cruise control" pilot. Spread out as she was in a completely open state, draped over a machine whose function she barely understood, her divine lover straddling her and looking down with tender affection as she worked her hips to gently drive the rod in and out of the Amazon's tightening snatch, they both were literally on cloud nine of ecstasy (the more so as Benton assured her that the dildo was "double-ended") and so were quite oblivious to events taking place upon the ground as neither one had a mind for anything other than screwing their partner over good and proper... Unfortunately for the Princess Lum and her recently pledged wife, Shampoo, those events were taking a dark and sinister turn for the worse as enemies plotted their fate, taking full advantage of the absence of their nominal defender. Completely unaware that this was the case, however, Lum was presently consoling her "Darling" by assuring Shampoo that she had absolutely nothing to worry about when it came to her adopted cousin, insisting, in her words, that her friend Benton had purely "honorable" intentions. "After all, Darling," Lum remarked as they walked side-by-side together past the rows of houses in the middle of the Amazon village, "It's not like she wants to do any harm to Perfume...she just wants to have sex with her until they're both quite thoroughly exhausted." "Aiyaa," Shampoo murmured softly, trying to imagine what her cousin and the goddess from outer space were up to and failing rather badly at conjuring up a suitable image. "That cousin of yours is sure fickle when it comes to choosing friends," remarked the diminutive Jariten as he hovered in the air at the side of the strolling pair of lovely ladies, "One day it's Oyuki, the next she's hanging out with that Tengu woman, then she takes up with the daughter of Prince Kirin, whose tougher than most guys the way I hear it...and what's a Diesel Dyke anyway, Lum?" "Ten," Lum sounded both shocked and offended, "Where did you ever hear that word used around Benton?" "A couple months back when your dad said something like that when he didn't know I was hearing," Jariten said with a puzzled expression, "He said a lot of other things that I didn't understand at the time, but he seemed to think that Benton was one of the reasons why you wouldn't agree to marry any of the guys he was picking out for you..." "Oh he did, did he?" Lum asked archly, "Well...dad and me are going to have to have a few words on that subject...but it hardly matters now that I'm with you, Darling, and dad even approves of our union." Lum impulsively took Shampoo by the hand as she said this, causing the purple haired Amazon to raise her eyebrows at the gesture, though she made no effort to free her hand from the soft grip of her green haired companion. "Well, anyway," Jariten continued as if oblivious to the exchanges of the two older women, "It seems pretty irresponsible of your cousin to just take off like that when she's supposed to be looking out for the both of you...not that there's that much to do around here since all everybody ever seems to do is train to fight each other...and what's the point if you never go to war against your neighbors or anything like that?" "It is not about training for battle," Shampoo reflexively said in defense of her own culture, "It is about honing the body and sharpening the mind, about preserving our traditions and passing them along to each new successive generation." "Sounds like something your great-grandmother would say," Lum said with an admiring glance at her comely companion, "She really does stress the importance of training...she's even offered to teach me a few useful things since I'm now a part of your family and am entitled to such lessons." "So what kind of training are we talking about here?" Jariten asked, "Something to enhance your physical powers, or maybe make use for your lightning?" "I don't know, Ten," Lum answered, "It's very hard to judge with these Amazon training techniques. They're quite formidable, and each is tailored to the talents and abilities of the warrior in training, and all of the Amazons we have encountered so far are very gifted in the mastery of their skills and...what in the world?" Just then a figure came storming past them with an angry expression upon her lovely features, a young girl with long blonde hair set in a pair of odango-like ponytails who was grumbling aloud, "How dare she take from me my streamers? That Velcro is going to go too far one day and then I will have my retribution---AWP!" The blonde warrior, in her haste to exact her promised vengeance, misjudged the level of the road slightly as she moved to elbow past Shampoo and Lum, and all at once she tripped and fell face-first onto the road, sprawling out in an ungainly heap with her fanny projecting upward as she moaned softly to herself, "Ow...that hurt..." "You were saying?" Jariten asked dryly of his cousin. "Are you all right?" Lum asked of the fallen stranger. "Oh sure...never better," the blonde Amazon complained as she sat upright and felt the bruises on her face before wincing, "Ancestors take whoever designed these roads...I have complained to the elders time and again that they ought to have them leveled so honest people do not trip over them all of the time, but does anyone take the time to listen...?" "Sash," Shampoo said by way of addressing the blonde by name, "What were you doing just now? You almost ran into this one and her Airen." "Sorry about that, Shampoo, but I was in a hurry," Sash replied as she got back to her feet then dusted off her clothing, "Someone stole my streamers just now, and I am very certain it was Velcro. You know how she picks on me whenever I am away and unable to deal her justice..." "This one knows of the feud between your clans," Shampoo replied, "But why would she take from you your streamers?" "Because she knows I cannot fight effectively without them," Sash replied, briefly touching her metal headband, "The only weapon I can use at a range is this and a throwing disk I got as a present from my cousin in Japan...and I would wager she plans on ambushing me with that gang of four losers who hang with her when they ought to be in training." "Well...be more careful next time with where you go and where you put your belongings," Shampoo advised, "It does no good to invite misfortune through a lack of caution..." "I know how to look after myself, Shampoo," Sash assured the other girl, "Now if you will excuse me, I need to find Velcro..." And promptly saying this she turned about and tripped over the hem of her own pantsuit, to once more wind up sprawling in the dirt, only this time she seemed but semi-conscious as she lay there. "Oh yeah...very formidable," Jariten commented with a rude expression. "She...has problems with her balance," Shampoo said almost apologetically for her fellow Amazon, "In battle she is quite formidable, but when not engaged in a fight, or in training..." she sighed, deciding that was as far as she could go without offering Sash a grave insult, the kind that might inspire yet more oaths of "retribution." "You mean she can be a dangerous foe when crossed?" Lum inquired. "Only dangerous if she's on your side," someone else answered, and to their collective surprise they found a cloaked figure standing there glancing down at the blonde laying before her feet as though contemplating whether or not to step upon the body. She was a hooded figure, yet clearly feminine to judge by her voice and what of her features were left showing in the sunlight. She was not very tall...in fact, she barely came up to nose-level for Lum and Shampoo, yet there was something about her...some presence indefinable, that gave her bearing stature far in excess of her physical dimensions. "Who?" Shampoo asked in surprise. "Shame on you, Xian-Pu," the figure replied, reaching up with pale hands to lift back the hood of her cloak, exposing rather attractive features that were nonetheless devoid of an excess of color and pigmentation. Her ruby eyes regarded them with some unearthly quality that made others feel nervous, yet her tone was jibing, mildly sarcastic as she continued, "Has it been so long that you have forgotten this one? I had thought that I was difficult not to remember." "Frost?" Shampoo exclaimed, belatedly recognizing the girl, though it had indeed been some time since last she had seen the albino, for she had been away from Joketsuzoku for some time as a Mage apprentice to her own great-grandmother, Siren the Archmage. "Frost?" Lum asked in curiosity. The white-haired, pale-skinned woman turned to level her ruby eyes upon the green haired Oni princess, "And you must be Shampoo's new Airen, the one I have been hearing so much about of late. I did a scrying spell some few days ago and found your union to be unusually blessed among the heavens." "Really?" Lum brightened. "My scrying never lies," Frost replied, turning back to the purple haired warrior and resuming, "Listen, Shampoo, there is a reason why I came in search of you just now. I did a second reading and got a vague warning of some impending crisis that's going to be upon you this very day, and my readings tell me that you are about to make an important decision that will affect the rest of your life, so...be on guard for trouble, and look closely to your Airen." "Aiyaa?" Shampoo asked, catching the curious look that Lum was turning her way. "Things are not always what they seem within this world," Frost said as if to the purple haired Amazon's unspoken question, "And you should learn to think as much with your heart in such situations as your mind. When you put all your doubts aside the truth becomes plain to your understanding. Now, if you will excuse me...bright sunlight pains my eyes something awful." With that pronouncement said the mysterious albino lifted up her hood and turned about, leaving the trio more puzzled than before, though Lum seemed to recover quickly and with her usual resilient enthusiasm turned to Shampoo and declared, "Darling, did you hear what she said? Our union is going to be a blessed one...that means we have the favor of the heavens. It could also mean children! And wouldn't that be nice?" "Aiyaa?" Shampoo exclaimed as Lum impulsively hugged her, and for once the Amazon would have welcomed being shocked since it would have distracted her from having to think about the logical implications of her Airen's last statement. "I'm a little more worried about that vague warning that Frosty girl was telling us about," Jariten noted as he hovered close nearby without paying much attention to his cousin's antics, "What do you suppose she meant by that? And what did she mean when she referred to it as an 'impending crisis?'" "Who knows, Ten," Lum replied as though her world did not include such passing trifles, cozying up to her beloved Airen as she said in a distracted voice, "I'm sure whatever it is we'll face it together as a team...isn't that right, Darling?" Shampoo considered another "Aiyaa" for her reply, but found it quite unnecessary as the next moment Sash recovered her wits (or what passed for them anyway) and muttered aloud, "Aiyaa...what hit me...?" "The planet?" Jariten helpfully answered. "Do not be silly," Sash insisted, "I am sure it was all a plot by that dratted Velcro to take me unawares. She is tricky that one, be on your guard around her and watch out for her so-called friends. They may not be as much trouble as she is, but they tend to follow her lead when it comes to mischief." "This one will remember," Shampoo said with words that she would shortly regret uttering, "But this one thinks she and others are no great threat to this one. Better if you be careful, and no just because you have grudge against Velcro." "Huh?" Sash replied with a puzzled expression, "What do you mean? Whoops!" She had started to turn around when she got caught on her own hemline and went sprawling on the ground once again, leaving Shampoo and her Oni companions to stare in dismay at the clumsiness of the Amazon with curling rabbit-like twin ponytails. "I see what you mean, Darling," Lum observed rather dryly. "She's definitely more of a menace than any Amazon I've seen so far," Jariten agreed completely. Shampoo was not in the habit of forming a sweat drop, but under the circumstances she made the odd exception. * * * Nerima, Japan---The Present "Sure are a lot of weirdoes in this village of yours," Akane remarked. "Akane-chan," Kasumi softly reprimanded her youngest sister. "Oh, I don't know," Nabiki remarked, "Compared with some of the people we know, these Amazons sound almost quaint." "Yeah, well...they may sound like a weird bunch, but they're like family to me now," Ranma assured, "All except for a few cases...like this Velcro for example, she was a real piece of work, the way I hear tell this story." "You're telling us, Husband?" Lum snorted, folding her arms over her chest and glaring off into the garden, "The way she tricked me while Darling was distracted, all to lure Darling into that ambush..." "Let this one tell that part of the story, Airen," Shampoo urged, "It all begin when Benton's friends show up to cause trouble in our village, which is about time when cousin Perfume is enjoying nice-nice moment with biker-goddess..." * * * Perfume was nearing her climax when she heard a rumbling sound in the heavens, and as distracted as she was with Benton pounding her hard from the rear she could still feel the vibrations signifying that something was about to happen, a sense that Benton shared in spite of the fact that she herself was enjoying the moment and about to share a climax with her all-too-willing earthly companion. The rumbling grew louder even as the twined pair crested over the edge of a mutual orgasm, which same was only intensified by the heavy vibrations that traveled through bone, muscle and sinew and added depth to the effects of the double-ended vibrator which they were sharing. Their cries were drowned out by the sound of high-pitched throbbing engines, very similar to the ones created by the hover-bike that they were sharing, even as a wave of successive shadows passed right over their position, adding to the sense of objects passing directly overhead and at great speed, which same was all the attention that could be spared for the next few crucial seconds, during which time Perfume felt her consciousness briefly pass through a numb white state before reorienting once again with all of her senses growing sharp with the return of normal respiration. Benton had collapsed upon the Amazon's back even as Perfume lay sprawled across the alien device, sucking in wind as Benton had ridden her good and hard to that last conclusion, and with a certainty she would be sore between the legs for the next several hours, at least. With that thought in mind the Amazon Enforcer slowly regained possession of her wits and opened one eye to make out the vague shapes that she sensed were surrounding them both, and by turns came to the realization that there were several strangely women sitting astride hover-bikes similar in design to the one belonging to Benton, and that all six of these strangers were smiling in a knowing way that suggested that they were greatly amused at what they were witnessing for some odd reason. And then her heightened senses informed her of why this was so, for each of these curious females had an aura identical to Benton's, meaning a very strong internal source of Chi, the kind which Perfume now identified as a common trait to all of the so-called Gods who were Benton's otherworldly people. It took Benton herself several more seconds to become aware of this same factor, and then she lifted herself off of Perfume and looked around before saying, "Guys? What are you doing here?" "We'd ask the same thing of you, Benton," one of the divine beauties replied, "Only the answer looks pretty obvious, and small wonder you were so eager to visit Earth this bright and cheery morning." There were numerous giggles and snickers in accompaniment to that observation, then Perfume dared risk a softly murmured inquiry that came in the form of an, "Aiyaa?" "Oh, sorry," Benton apologized to her before waving a hand around, "These are my friends and sister goddesses, and I guess they came here to look me up, not that any of them seem to mind intruding on my personal business." The latter part was spoken as a low growl with Benton glaring at the new arrivals, a most unsubtle hint that was duly ignored by her contemporaries as the lead of the six strangers gave her name to begin proper introductions. "Daitokuten's daughter, Kuro," said a curly red haired girl with a light blue cap atop her head. "Ebisu's daughter, Meguro," announced a girl with dark hair worked into curly braids and who also wore an ochre colored cap. "Bishamonten's daughter, Shala," declared a brown haired beauty whose cap was yellow. "Fukurokujin's daughter, Roku," a capless girl with free-flowing auburn hair revealed. "Jurojin's daughter, Kotabuki," boasted a bald-headed girl wearing a low-cut white outfit. "Hotei's daughter, Teil," the dark haired girl whose hair was styled in a peculiar coif said simply as she completed the set of exotically charming females. "Tail?" Perfume mispronounced (since the association was still fresh in her mind due to her recent exertions), taking in the set with a keen eye towards appraising their charming assets. "Oh wow," the girl named Kuro remarked as her eyes took in Perfume's well-toned naked body, "Are those for real...or are they the work of some enchantment?" "They look big enough to be worth plucking," the one named Meguro observed with obvious appreciation. "Ripe enough too," Shala agreed with a leer, "Wherever did you find this one, Benton...and why haven't you felt like sharing with your bosom companions?" "Don't you recognize her?" Roku remarked in a somewhat more jaded manner, "That's one of the outlander females who took part in the match the other day...the one who went after Benton despite the fact that she came with the Oni." "Doesn't look like any Oni I know," Kutabuki observed matter-of-factly. "All the better," Teil's eyes gleamed with speculation, "And if it's my tail you're after, then you're going to have to ask nicely." "Aiyaa?" Perfume remarked, surprised at the easy, open and accepting tone with which these goddesses were flirting in her direction. "Back off, guys," Benton softly growled, "I saw her first, and if you want a piece you're going to have to take a number." "Now, is that anyway to talk to your best friends, Benton?" Kuro chided, "And wherever did you find her since she's clearly not an Oni." "Her name is Perfume," Benton said with a proprietary hand laid upon Perfume's left shoulder while hooking a thumb with her other hand gesturing over her own right shoulder, "And she comes from a village not too far from here named Joketsuzoku..." "Really?" Meguro asked. "Are there any more like her in that village?" Shala wondered. "A few," Benton shrugged, "But I really didn't stick around long enough to take a census or survey." "Sounds like this place might be worth checking out," Roku speculated. "What a great idea," Shala remarked, "And here I thought this day would be boring." "Yes," Teil agreed, "Another day cruising the mall looking for things to do...but if we're lucky this could prove to be worth a party raid, eh Cousins?" The other goddesses all agreed and revved up their engines in response to the challenge. "Hey, wait a minute..." Benton started to protest, only to watch as her fellow goddesses took off on their hover-bikes, orienting in the direction of the Amazon village, "Oh hell..." "What do they mean to do?" Perfume asked as she craned her neck while attempting to trace the movements of the foreign beauties. "Knowing that bunch like I do?" Benton replied, "Go to town in a big way...and I sure hope your people don't mind having their daughters get snatched up in broad daylight...or their sons, for that matter." Perfume turned her head as far as it would go as she tried to glance back at Benton, "You mean...they will challenge this one's Amazon sisters in search of dates?" "That's one way of putting it," Benton replied while revving up her own engine, "Much as I hate to say this, you'd better put your clothes back on because I mean to burn Nitrogen going after that lot before they cause too much disruption." Perfume understood at once and glanced around for her discarded pantsuit, fetching it from the nearby bush atop which it had rested and hastily pulling it on even as Benton lifted the hover-bike into the air and turned them around back towards Joketsuzoku... * * * "What is it with all these perverts you keep running into?" Akane wondered aloud, "Are you saying even these goddesses are into having sex with other women?" "Why should that seem so unusual to you?" Lum asked in obvious confusion, "You earthlings can be so strange at times, as if there were something to be ashamed about enjoying your own bodies." "Hey, it seemed strange to me too at first, the way you two get along and all that," Ranma shrugged, "But after a while...well, it starts to seem almost normal, especially hanging around that Perfume and the way she goes after almost anything female..." "Yeah, tell me about it," Nabiki said with an ironic expression. "What was that, Imoutochan?" Kasumi inquired. "Uh...nothing," Nabiki replied a bit too hastily, "Go on with your story, especially the bit about this panty raid that your goddess friends staged on the Amazon village." "It was more than just a raid," Shampoo assured them, "To us it seemed more like an invasion, especially when Airen and this one look up in sky and see hover-bikers attacking..." * * * "Aiyaa?" Shampoo asked as she turned her head at the sound of an approaching hover-bike, only to look on in dismay as she found it was someone other than Benton who was steering their way, and that she had several more companions. "What?" Lum gasped, "Benton's gang, the Divas? What are they doing here?" "At a guess?" Jariten hastily answered as the little levitating babe took hasty evasive action, "I'd say they're INCOMING!" No sooner had those words been uttered then six hurtling figures made their presence known to the citizens of the Joketsuzoku, whizzing past so swiftly that they were hardly more than a blur to the eyes of many, yet clearly felt for the wind kicked up in their passing as Shampoo herself discerned their slender forms and placed them immediately as being of the same cast as the goddess Benton. Around and about the village the six hover-bike bestriding junior divinities flew, taking in stock those local citizens who were scampering out of the way and sizing them up at a glance to single out the ones who seemed most worthy of attention. "Damnation...just look at this place!" the goddess named Kuro marveled. "A virtual smorgasbord of delights," Meguro agreed as she eyed several attractive figures in particular, then caught sight of one very special pair and said, "Hey, isn't that Lum over there, standing next to that purple haired cutie?" "Hey, that's the girl who came with her to the games the other day," Shala marveled, "Wasn't she some kind of girlfriend that Lum had taken up with or something?" "I think she declared her to be her wife," Roku mused as they circled around the Oni Princess and her Airen, "That Lum always did have an eye for the cute ones." "Seems a shame, wasting such beauty on the likes of an Oni," Kotabuki remarked in an off-handed manner. "Isn't it though?" Teil grinned, "We ought to do something about it, don't you agree, Cousins?" Some grins were exchanged and a hasty resolution decided upon, and then two of the goddesses promptly put their plan into action, diving down in a long swoop to flank the Amazon and Oni with a quick fly-by, all the better to provide distraction so that the one named Shala could approach undetected, and then before she knew it Shampoo felt an arm go around her waist and all at once she was yanked from Lum's side with such force that the wind was momentarily driven from her lungs, leaving her helpless to resist as she was carried off into the lofty heavens. "DARLING!" Lum cried out in belated realization of what had just occurred, and then she too took to the air with great haste, intending to pursue the fleeing Shala, only to run smack into the path of two other goddesses who cut her off before her flight was fully committed. "Uh-uh-ah!" chided Roku. "No fair you spoiling our fun this time, Oni," Kotabuki agreed. "You've been hogging the limelight long enough for our tastes," Teil noted as she triggered a device upon her bike and shot a net that ensnared Lum before she had time to brace herself, then all at once she plummeted back towards the earth, to land very rudely on her pert derriere while the goddesses went laughingly on their way in pursuit of other mischief. "Lum...are you all right?" Jariten asked as he hovered over his struggling cousin while Lum fought to free herself from the netting. "Get me out of this thing, Ten!" Lum declared with great heat, "I have to get loose so I can rescue my darling!" "How am I supposed to do that?" Jariten asked, "I'm just a little kid, I..." "One side, Ten!" Benton called out as she vaulted off her own hover-bike, producing a sword from seeming no where and slicing downward to part the netting without harming Lum in the process. The Oni princess was quick to free herself from captivity at that point, but rather than appreciate the gesture she instead rounded upon her longtime friend and snarled, "Benton, what is the meaning of this? Why did you sick your goons on me, and why have them kidnap my Darling?" "Hey!" Benton put away her sword and raised both hands in a warding manner, "I'm not responsible for this, Lum! My girls did this on my own, and I'm terribly sorry about all this, but..." Several cries were suddenly raised from all around them, and then as Benton, Lum and Jariten turned to see their sources they found several more citizens of the Joketsuzoku were taking impromptu sky trips courtesy of the hover-bike bestriding goddesses, both male and females suddenly finding themselves airborne. Including one in particular whose long blonde streamers looked like rabbit ears flapping in the breeze. "Unhand me!" they could hear her weakly protesting, "The justice of the heavens..." and the rest was lost to distance. "Aiyaa," remarked Perfume as she stood up from the rear of Benton's own descending hover-bike surveying the plight of her fellow Nyanchiczu. "Oh bugger," Benton complained with a wince, "If dad finds out about this..." "Why are you just standing here letting them get away with this, Benton?" Lum snapped in her direction, "Do something! You're supposed to be their leader!" "Easier said than done with that lot," Benton grimaced, "I'll have to go and talk them down before they do something we're all going to regret later. You stay here and I'll go fetch your wife..." "I'm coming with you!" Lum insisted. "That wouldn't be a good idea and you know it, Lum," Benton assured her, "Sure we goddesses and you Oni have a nominal truce of sorts, but there's enough bad blood between our peoples that you showing up with me is bound to cause problems. My cousins won't hurt your Airen, and when I catch up with them I fully intend to give them hell over this, so just wait here and let me reassert control over this situation and I'll have everything resolved before you really know it." "But...!" Lum protested. "Lum," Benton looked the Oni princess in the eye and laid a reassuring hand upon her shoulder, "You know me...have I ever failed to fulfill a promise to you? You know I still care enough about you that I'd never want to see you hurt, so believe me when I tell you that I mean what I say about bringing your wife back to you." "But..." Lum said with less force in her tone than before. "Please?" Benton asked more persuasively, putting all of her emotions into her expression as she held Lum's gaze and added, "Trust me like you used to when we were playmates. I know what we had will never be again, but I swear to you that I will do everything in my power to assure your happiness, so please...just wait here. It won't be long, I promise." The energy seemed to go out of Lum as she endured Benton's soft entreaty for several more heartbeats, then at last she glanced down in token surrender and said, "Very well...I will trust you, Benton." The goddess smiled at that, and impulsively leaned forward to kiss Lum on her forehead, "That's my girl. Now just be patient with me for a bit longer and I'll be back before you know it. Bye." With that declaration stated, the goddess turned back to her hover-bike, even as Perfume slipped off of its side and touched her feet to terra firma, then with a leap Benton mounted her mechanical steed and gunned the engine, giving Perfume a quick flashing smile before adding, "Look after Lum and see she stays put until I get back. With any lucky I'll have your cousin back to you in a Jiff!" With that Benton gunned the engine took like a rocket, leaving Perfume behind to stare in wonder and amazement before turning back to Lum and saying, "You are all right...Princess?" "I'm fine," Lum sighed, though her tone clearly stated otherwise, "I just...feel so helpless doing nothing! Benton means well, but those cousins of hers..." she made an incoherent snarl and balled her fists as though intending to strike at something. "Your Airen is strong," Perfume tried to reassure the Oni princess, "Those outsiders will not have their way with her, and if they try they will find out just how formidable this one's cousin can be when cornered." "I suppose you're right, Perfume," Lum sighed once again, only to grit her teeth as she added, "But I keep picturing them doing things with Darling...things they have no business doing with my wife! They have always been like that, those goddesses...so high and mighty, so certain that they have the right to do whatever they want...!" Perfume felt conflicted as she heard those words and felt the agony of the Oni princess, torn with a desire to offer comfort and support to Lum and yet restrained by the knowledge that she belonged to another, and no matter how hard Shampoo might try to deny it, Perfume knew for a certainty that her cousin's feelings for Lum were starting to reciprocate the love the princess clearly felt towards Perfume's cousin. Knowing that she was on dangerous ground the longer she spent time alone with the green haired beauty, Perfume excused herself with a casual nod and said, "Forgive this one, she must report these events to the Elders. Great-grandmother will know what to do about these...um...raiders..." "Yes, of course," Lum nodded tiredly, "You have your other duties to fulfill, and with several of your townspeople being kidnapped like that someone is going to have to explain things to grandmother and the rest of the Elders." Perfume hesitated to take her leave as she caught the sadness in Lum's tone, and so she asked, "What troubles you, Princess? This one senses that it is more than concern for this one's cousin..." "No, you're right about that," Lum replied, giving Perfume a frank nod before glancing away, "It is all about what is between me and my Darling, and...I am starting to worry that she may not like me as much as I want her to. I know I've hurt her several times without intending...and maybe I do get a bit carried away with my lightning...but still..." Perfume understood the pain that Lum was projecting, feeling some measure of the emotional torment within her own breast, yet still managed to say without interruption, "This one's cousin loves you very much, Princess." "Eh?" Lum looked at the Enforcer with confusion. "This one can tell," Perfume assured the green haired beauty, "Though Shampoo may not know it her self, she has come to accept you as a part of her life and will one day admit as much to you in terms that will leave you in no doubt of her intentions." "You think so?" Lum asked in wonder, then clasped her hands together and grinned broadly, "Oh, I hope you're right about that, Perfume, truly I do! I want very much for Darling to love me as I feel the same way about her..." Perfume took her leave of the green-haired Oni princess, little suspecting in doing so that she was leaving Lum wide open to the predatory intentions of a quintet of hostile players. "Now is our chance," Velcro smiled, "Everyone ready to play their part?" "As ready as we can hope to be," said Velvet, "But are you sure that this is wise, Vel? If the Elders find out what we're about to do..." "You want to get back at Shampoo or not?" Foam snapped at her. "She's right," Soap agreed, "This is the best chance we'll ever have to put that arrogant Shampoo in her place." "No time for backing out now," Velcro decided as she started moving forward, "It is in all the way once we commit ourselves to this endeavor." "Right," Velvet reluctantly nodded, and so the five conspirators moved out to execute their planned retaliation... Lum was unaware of these exchanges taking place almost literally behind her back, but Jariten was in a less distracted state when he saw the Amazon approaching them and called his cousin's attention to this fact with an uneasy murmur, "Uh oh...don't look now, Lum, but I think we've got new problems." "Hmm?" Lum turned around and saw a warrior whom she vaguely recognized from someplace in the background to many of their more recent troubles and said, "Can I help you?" "Princess," Velcro began by adopting the formal speech patterns much favored by Shampoo and Perfume, "The elders wish to speak with you on a matter of some urgency concerning what you know about these raiders." "Oh," Lum started to relax, adopting a more contrite expression than was typical for her normally haughty manner, "You mean the Divas? That's Benton's gang, and they took my Darling with them! Benton's promised that she'll get her back, but I worry that Darling won't be able to defend herself against all of them, and from the way that lot carries on..." Lum found herself unable to continue as she balled her fists, imagining all sorts of unspeakable depravity being conducted with her wife beyond Lum's knowing, approval or active participation. Velcro had to fight to hide the smile that similar such images called up, but she dismissed the scenario as unlikely since the more probable outcome was that these high-tech foreigners were about to learn that they had bitten off a great deal more than could be chewed, let alone swallowed. Instead she directed the princess to follow her lead, waving a hand towards a certain narrow street and said, "This way, we will save time and reach the council within minutes." "Yes, of course," Lum replied, not bothering to add that she could fly there on her own power in a matter of minutes, but the dilemma concerning her wife was leaving her in too depressed a state to feel much exuberance for normal levitation. Jariten was more on edge since his instincts were warning him that something was not kosher concerning this particular Amazon warrior, and so in a cautious tone he hovered near to Lum's ear and said, "I don't like this, Lum...why send this lady instead of the Enforcer?" "Perfume just left our company a moment ago and obviously has not had time enough to reach the side of grandmother," Lum easily replied, "Don't worry so much, Ten...this is now our village too, remember?" "Yeah," Jariten replied as they started to round a corner, "But still..." and that was when the net went around his tiny body and he suddenly found himself weighted down to the earth beyond his means of levitation. Lum's own warrior instincts came to the fore as she snapped out of her depressed state in time to appreciate her danger, but not before she felt the looping coils of some sort of ribbon-like streamers wrapping around her body, pinning her arms to her sides and arresting further movement. She tried to break free but found the bands were as strong as steel for all their apparent silkiness, but when she attempted to use her lightning to bolster her efforts she discovered to her dismay that the bands were actually lined with metal, which absorbed her efforts and conveyed them to a metal rod that was sticking into the Earth, thus grounding her energies and reducing her efforts to a big effective nothing. "Now, Cousin!" Velcro snapped. Lum started to turn towards her betrayer when a shadowy figure detached itself from concealment and flew towards her like an ethereal shadow. Lum had a vague impression of a nearly transparent figure floating past her like a mist, only then something assaulted her senses and caused her mind to reel as if she had breathed deeply of something narcotic, and then she collapsed to the ground, fully unconscious, to sleep the sleep of the clueless while her assailants reveled in their moment of triumph. "It worked," Soap declared, almost sounding surprised upon the subject. "Smooth as a silk screen," Foam agreed as she held up the struggling Jariten, who was beating his tiny fists impotently against the gauze-like netting that currently held him. Velvet materialized over her nominal victim and said, "I guess I was right about her metabolism being similar to our own. I almost didn't expect that brew to be this effective." "Who cares as long as it worked," Tablet said while bending down to check for a pulse, "She's out all right, and I doubt she'll recover within the hour. She's strong but no Amazon, and she clearly lacks for Elder training." "Gather her up and be sure to tie her tightly," Velcro ordered, "We have to get away before the Enforcer picks up on our scent. Fortunately there is only one witness to worry about, and he is going no where at the moment." "The heck you say, lady!" Jariten snapped, and promptly spat fire, intending to use his breath to burn his way loose from the netting. Much to his dismay, however, the fire was contained within the confined space that he was occupying, so instead of incinerating his net he found himself being roasted by his own primary weapon. "As I said," Velcro smiled, "You are not going anywhere at the moment, little Hot-Breath." "Fire retardant netting," Foam smiled, "Specially made to let air pass but nothing else to get through these finely woven fibers." "Gak..." Jariten exclaimed, puffing out a breath of smoke and seeming more than a bit charred around his edges. Soap wove a cord between her hands then aimed it for a roof tile and hooked it there, then with Foam's help attached the netting to the other end so that the little Oni was left dangling in the shadows while Velcro bent down and lifted the unconscious Lum before slinging her over one shoulder to carry her in the manner of a sack of loose potatoes. "And when you recover and help finds you," Velcro resumed, "You may tell Shampoo that we will be waiting for her by the rocks near Thunderfalls cavern. She is to come alone and face us with no support from the Enforcer...and do not involve the Elders in any way or we may grow desperate enough to take drastic measures...and if she values her Airen's sweet hide she will do nothing to provoke us." "Let's go, Vel," Velvet murmured uneasily, "The longer we wait..." "Not to worry," Tablet declared as she set an object down on the ground and lit one end as though it were an incense candle, then she straightened up and declared, "That will eliminate any smell that Perfume might use to identify us. They won't know which of us is responsible for the kidnapping, and if they look for clues later all they'll find is Sash's incriminating streamers." "Didn't she get carried away along with those others?" Soap wondered. "So she has a good alibi, so what?" Foam shrugged, snickering to herself as she added, "From what I could see of those outlanders, I'd say she and Shampoo have a lot more to worry about besides dealing with false accusations..." * * * "And where were you while all of this was happening?" Nabiki asked of Shampoo in the present. "Probably out doing perverted stuff," Akane muttered, only to react to the looks turned towards her with a defensive, "What?" "Man, you really got a hang-up on the word pervert," Ranma shook his head in low dismay at the younger girl's persistence. "Please go on with your story, Shampoo-san," Kasumi urged, "How did you get away from those other goddesses, and did you rescue Lum-san from those bad women?" "Obviously so or this one's story end very badly," Shampoo replied, with a nod, "Is fortunate, though, that space-born goddesses no Amazons, even though they very powerful...this one was very, very angry..." * * * Shampoo had only just begun to recover her wind when she became conscious of a sense of peculiar urgency that gripped her heart for some inexplicable reason. Without knowing why she felt as if her Airen were in some sort of mortal peril, which added strength to her desire to escape from her present circumstances. As it was she had been conscious of flying through the air while laying prone across the back end of the same model of Outlander contraption that she had seen Benton operate before, the same one that had carried the goddess off with Perfume as a passenger, yet whose basic design was very much similar to that of a motorcycle, such as the one her father rode in his off-hours when his duties as village handyman called for him to travel farther than a day's walk from Joketsuzoku. Indeed, Shampoo's fondest memories of her father revolved around the time she spent with him when he was operating on his favorite machine, and she recalled the many trips he would take her on when she was very little, before beginning her intense training sessions with her great-grandmother. Every now and then, when Cologne permitted Shampoo to spend time with her father and mother, she would alternate between lessons in her mother's Healing skills with time spent studying how to repair and operate the motorcycle, and before too long she started testing her legs astride the bike (in spite of her great-grandmother's rather stern objections). Shampoo had been an avid student of her father's automechanics and could take the machine apart and put it together again with her eyes blindfolded, so she was uncommonly familiar with such devices for one who had spent nearly her entire life in a low-tech country village. So it was less disconcerting for her than it might be for her Amazon sisters to find herself being carried aloft on an aerial version of a motorcycle, a fact that allowed her to control her initial panic about finding herself so high above the ground with the wind whipping past her face with a disconcerting ferocity. This gave her the ability to concentrate upon the operator of the vehicle, and---more specifically---to take notice of the way in which the goddess was working the controls, which did indeed seem to be patterned after a motorcycle's likeness. Once she felt confident enough to be operating on familiar ground she rallied herself to cease playing passive observer and straightened out behind the goddess named Shala and struck without warning to disable the woman, attacking certain nerves that---on a human---would induce paralysis and unconsciousness within an instant...yet which seemed to take several seconds longer than normal before she felt them to be effective. Once the goddess slumped in her seat, however, Shampoo wasted no time lunging past her assailant to grip the controls before the hover-bike could veer from its present course. She then aimed the thing into a steep power dive that would allow her to descend at a rapid course before the other goddesses could be any the wiser of what had happened. Controlling the dive was difficult, especially considering the weight of the body in front of her, yet Shampoo managed to pull out only a few hundred meters from the ground, and no sooner had she done this when a tall tree veered up into her path, threatening to bring an abrupt end to her travels. With lightning reflexes at her disposal, however, Shampoo contrived to dump her unwanted passenger over the side (and noted with satisfaction how Shala wound up entangled among the branches), which greatly lightened her load and allowed her to pull up more abruptly as she took the thing back into the sky, aiming for the five distant figures she saw flying in a rude type of formation. The other goddesses continued on, blissfully unaware of what had just befallen their companion (and their attention largely focused upon their own struggling captives), so they failed to sense the predator slowly creeping up on them from below as Shampoo slowly glided up beneath them, using some low-hanging clouds to provide needed cover. Roku, for one, was unaware of the impending danger as her own captive was proving more than a bit of a handful, so she complained, "Careful, yellow-hair...you want us both to crash into your planet?" "Unhand me, you interloper!" Sash protested against the arm the gripped her tightly around her middle, leaving her arms and legs to dangle over empty space, "In the name of the Moon and justice, I demand that you release me!" "Suit yourself," Roku smiled, and promptly released her prisoner, waiting for the expected yelp before angling her hover-bike down to stage an emergency interception. Shampoo saw her fellow Amazon's dire situation as Sash's screams filled the air, yet she also saw that Roku's intentions were less than homicidal, and judging that the goddess intended a rescue, Shampoo quickly dismissed her and took advantage of her absence to focus her efforts upon the others. Those worthies were sharing a private bit of amusement at the illustrative lesson that had just been dealt to their own captives, and---sure enough---the remaining Amazons were properly chastened and ceased their struggles under the certain knowledge that they were dependant on their captors to prevent them from experiencing a similar such downfall. One of those Amazons in question---the sole male representative among the group---whose name was Sling, took stock of the situation that he and his fellow Amazons currently found themselves in and took a moment to really study the woman who had snatched him up without warning. She was fair to look upon, but he was more than accustomed to such beauty and did not find her appearance by itself all that exceptional...yet he could sense within her a rather potent amount of chi and suspected that she might be a dangerous person when crossed, and considering how high up he was (and his lack of bik4ing skills to match those of Shampoo), he decided that discretion 7would make for the better part of wisdom. At least for the moment, but the minute he got some solid ground beneath his feet he intended to raise some stern objections to the treatment he had so far been receiving. After all, despite his name, he was a farmer, not a warrior, and thus not subject to challenge matches by outsider females, and the last thing he needed was to have his daily routines be interrupted when he had gone to barter for some things his mother needed, and no doubt she would be missing him terribly if he did not return in time...and the last thing anyone wanted to see was his mother when she was angry. Meanwhile Sash's rude descent was hastily arrested when a slender arm snatched her back out of the sky once again, and then Roku gunned the engine of her machine to pull out of the steep dive that she had taken, gripping her captive tightly as she fought the pull of gravity and inertia in order to right them both and get some comfortable altitude back beneath her them. Sash was too stunned by her abrupt rescue to think coherent thoughts for over a minute, but her gratitude was short lived since Roku had been the cause of her near-fatal encounter with the ground, and so she glared at her captor and said, "That was not very nice..." "Sorry," Roku replied, surprising the Amazon as the last thing she had expected to hear was an apology, even casually given, "But you did ask me to release you." "When we are on the ground," Sash said stiffly, kicking her own heels for illustration. "Fair enough," Roku conceded, "Then why don't we land now and you can 'punish' me, if that's the way you really want it..." Intending to catch up with the rest of her gang much later, Roku descended towards a promising looking meadow, and so failed to glance upwards in order to make out the slight shadow tailing her fellow Divas as the latter were not themselves yet aware of their impending peril, but shortly were to discover the hard way... Shampoo was discovering how different it was from riding a motorcycle to piloting these strange sky-born hover-bikes. For one thing it took a different feel to command the artificial steed between her legs, as well as an expanded awareness of three dimensions rather than the two of conventional land travel. The controls were different enough from what she was familiar so that she had to take a moment to get re-acquainted with their functions, yet once she had the basics down the rest became much easier, and she started to get a hang over the device even as she started to close the distance between herself and her four main remaining objectives. One advantage in her corner was her knowledge of the land and the significant surface features that would give her a tactical advantage in this mountainous terrain that she called her homeland, and---sure enough---a bend between two peaks loomed up like a virtual invitation for her next course of action... For the warrior named Ho-Ni the experience of clinging to her kidnapper while sitting astride of some demon nightmare device that was flying past jagged rock and the tops of very tall trees at an incredibly fast velocity was a terrifying experience, one that well exceeded her skill level. She was a mid-level adept of intermediate ranking of a family that had honor but not much distinction, and at no point in her training had her elders ever prepared her for such a moment. In point of fact nothing in her young life had given her the background for coping with such an utterly bizarre situation. In fact she was recounting the number of techniques that she had mastered, going over them one-by-one in her mind and trying to figure out if there were some weapon in her arsenal that could cope with being kidnapped by flying madwomen. Unfortunately her Jo-stick weapons mastery and unarmed combat skills did not cover such a contingency, and as such she felt paralyzed by the certain knowledge that she could fall off her captor's strange mount if not for the good graces of the outsider female who had kidnapped her in the first place. For Meguro, on the other hand, the redheaded Chinese girl was a bountiful prize to claim for her own amusement...not that she was intending the girl harm, other than to indulge in some harmless amusement, but when a captive as pretty, well-endowed and athletic as this came across her path...well, the young goddess could only hope for a little tribute to be paid for her attention. Getting the girl in the right mood would take some effort on her part, but Meguro felt confident that she could win her over for an afternoon's diversion. In fact, so intent was she on thinking up a good angle to win the charms of her reluctant companion that Meguro failed to sense the danger that was creeping up on her with relentless persistence, or that Shampoo's growing familiarity with the strange mode of aerial transport would allow her to strike without warning at precisely the right time to take the goddess unaware as Shampoo snatched Honey out of her seat before the other girl had time to yelp in dismay. No sooner did her arms leave Meguro's waist, causing the goddess to turn her head around to see what had happened, then Shampoo kicked forward with her free leg and dislodged the dark haired girl from her mount, sending Meguro tumbling into the side of the peak that they had been passing, her hover-bike itself continuing on without her as its mistress went careening down the side of the mountain, buffeted and battered all the way from one rocky outcrop to another. Honey felt her heart pounding in her mouth as she found herself astride a different hover-bike with a familiar mane of purple hair flowing in her face, partially obscuring her vision. She almost panicked in her excited state but for the familiar scent of a fellow warrior triggering her belated instincts, causing her to recognize Shampoo instead of thrash in a blind attempt to escape, which might well have ended in mutual disaster. Instead she gasped above the rush of the wind, "Sh-Shampoo? But..." "No time to talk," Shampoo called back at her, "Get ready to land...this one is not stopping." "What do you mean by...?" Honey began to ask, only to yelp in dismay as Shampoo brought her down to a fairly level patch of ground then pushed her off the hover-bike so that she went landing in a roll, stopping just short of going over the edge of this relatively small area of goat-tended meadow. Shampoo accelerated forward the moment that she sensed that her fellow warrior was out of danger, but Honey was able to straighten out and stare in amazement at her rescuer, unable to comprehend what had just happened, let alone the fact that it was Shampoo who had rescued her, a girl who would normally look down her nose at a low-ranking fighter hardly worthy of her serious attention. It was almost as if one of the Gods in their heavenly perch had reached down a hand to pluck Honey out of danger, and it was enough to make the redhead seriously question a lot of the things that she had always believed about their young tribal champion, things said by jealous warriors who were used to the proud and haughty Shampoo of the time before her marriage... Shampoo was not concerned about her reputation as she stole up upon the three remaining bikers, briefly considering Kuro---the girl who had the farmer, Sling, as her prize captive---then deciding that she could wait until Shampoo dealt with the more immediate (and closer proximity) target, Kotabuki, whose own captive was attempting to escape even as Shampoo stole up from behind them. She recognized Dart, a young girl of fifteen summers, who was attempting to locate a means of leaping from the hover-bike to safety and had obviously spotted a group of trees that might suit her purpose, but as she managed to leap free of the bald goddess she instead found Shampoo positioned under her to snatch the girl out of mid-fall even as the goddess above them turned her head and spotted them both, becoming immediately aware that the one astride the hover-bike was not a fellow goddess. Having no time to be subtle, Shampoo aimed and threw the girl named Dart---almost like her namesake---and saw her land upon the branch that she had spotted without coming to any harm in passing. Even as she did this the purple haired Amazon angled her stolen bike in a steep climb that would carry her on an intercept course with Kotabuki, squaring her shoulders and using her own back as a ram as she shoved the bike with both of her shoulders, ducking her head as her own momentum against its underside sent the hover-bike into a bucking leap that tossed its rider out of her saddle. The sound of collision alerted the other two goddesses in time for them to prepare for Shampoo's approach even as the Amazon shook off the effects of her mid-air collision. Shampoo saw the one named Teil reaching towards her side as if to draw a weapon and did not spare a moment to see what the nature of attack would be. Instead Shampoo gathered her legs underneath her and used the seat of her stolen bike as a vaulting platform, sending her hurtling across empty space towards the goddess and her own captive before the former had time to recover from surprise at the unexpected maneuver. Both Teil and her passenger, Rosebud, were knocked backwards as Shampoo's fists collided with the chin of her primary target. All three of them began to tumble, only Shampoo recovered in time to snatch the hover-bike with one hand while reaching out and grabbing her fellow Amazon with the other. Employing a degree of acrobatic strength and skill far surpassing an Olympic-style athlete, she managed to arrest their fall just long enough to aim their landing towards a softer spot than where Teil struck a moment later. It was a rough landing to be certain, and for Rosebud more than a bit jarring, yet they recovered well enough with all body parts intact, and for that favor alone Shampoo felt like thanking her Ancestors. Only the knowledge that one opponent remained, however, kept her from completely relaxing. Kuro, meanwhile, was dismayed to find herself the sole remaining goddess who still sat astride her hover-bike, but---more to the point---that the one who had attacked them was none other than a mere human, and apparently a native. The sheer effrontery against her kind was enough to make her consider utilizing some of the onboard weapons her hover-bike contained, but even as she began to swoop towards the purple haired upstart with the intent of unleashing a deadly salvo, she felt a hand grip her shoulder tightly and a male voice declare very firmly, "No." "No?" Kuro asked in surprise. "That is Shampoo, our tribal champion," Sling explained, "She is doing what honor demands of her, but if you attack her then she will be forced to retaliate, and someone will be either killed or injured." "That is the point of battle, isn't it?" Kuro replied as she maintained her position, not yet committed on her planned dive-bomb of the purple haired interloper. "Do not underestimate her," Sling urged, "She is the best warrior of her generation. I am not a warrior myself, and I do not feel the urgency for bloodshed. I would rather this did not end with someone's blood being spilled, not even your own, so...I ask you to let it go for now..." "But she attacked us," Kuro said, "She has to be punished for her insolence." "Another time then," Sling insisted, then made an important decision as he squared his shoulders and said, "If you will put this off for now, then I...I will come with you willingly, and I will raise no objections after." "You what?" Kuro was surprised at the mortal's offer, even more astonished that he made it sound as though he were sacrificing his virtue, a fact that sufficiently intrigued her that she turned her head to half regard him. "It is the best offer that I can make," he said simply, looking her as much in the eye as he could manage at that angle, "Will you accept it?" Kuro considered the question, then turned her focus elsewhere and seemed momentarily distracted, then finally she nodded, "All right, we have a bargain. But I expect you to honor your end of it." "You have my word," Sling replied, adding almost as an afterthought, "Even though it is only the word of a farmer." "I think you set great store by that all the same," Kuro mused, "Very well...then we will return later and I will confront your champion directly...after we have established a few ground rules..." To Shampoo's considerable surprise and amazement the last remaining goddess turned her hover-bike around and sped off towards the distant mountains, leaving her behind to wonder why the expected attack had never happened. Her first impulse was to accuse the goddess of cowardice, but that made no sense as Roku clearly had the advantage and could have easily pressed it, which was why Shampoo had been preparing her defenses. Instead she straightened out even as Rosebud did likewise, hugging one side as though she had been partially winded, then the other girl complained, "Could you have possibly done that more gently, Shampoo...and why did you come to this one's aid? You were under no clan obligations." Shampoo had to concede that this was a very good question. Why had she intervened on the behalf of her fellow Joketsuzoku? It certainly was not expected for rival warriors of different clans to act in the defense of one another when not called to do so during a season of War Time. But still it had seemed to be the right thing to do at the time, so she just shrugged her shoulders and said, "This one did not like being kidnapped...this one like it even less to see Amazons treated like cabbage." Rosebud was just attempting to figure that out when yet another figure arrived on the scene, but even as the Amazons tensed up in anticipation of renewed trouble, Benton called out to them, "Are you all right? What in my father's name just happened?" Shampoo turned to see the dark haired goddess and was amazed to find that Honey and Dart were with her, bunched up on the seat behind the goddess without the sense of urgency that had been there when they were captives. Benton brought her hover-bike down to a soft landing then allowed her passengers to disembark before dismounting herself in order to confront Shampoo on level terrain, and then looked the purple haired warrior up and down thoroughly before addressing her again with even more respect in her tone and expression. "I don't believe it," Benton remarked, only to smile as she continued, "Lum was right about you...there's more to you than I'd expect...in a mere human." "This one only do what seem right," Shampoo said defensively, "You have problem with way she do it?" "Not me," Benton shook her head dismissively, "Truth is I was coming to rescue you, only it looks like you weren't the one who needed rescue." "She saved us," Dart said aloud as though compelled to state the obvious since it was also quite unexpected. "Yes, but she could have been a lot more gentle about it," Rosebud winced as she felt along her ribcage. "We are on the ground again," Honey exclaimed as though her own surprise at what had just occurred were not plainly astounding, "What other miracles do you ask for?" "I'm so sorry about what happened," Benton said by way of addressing all four Amazons, "My girls got a bit out of control...they're not normally like this, but sometimes...they get a little wild. If they'd given me half a chance to call them off then I would have acted to prevent this." "Tell this one...where is her cousin?" Shampoo demanded as she eyed the goddess with lingering suspicion. "Perfume?" Benton smile lopsidedly, "She's good...better than good, in fact, and I left her safe and sound back at your village." "You do not mind that Shampoo attacked your friends?" Honey asked. "Are you kidding me?" Benton sniffed, "They got what was coming to them. Besides, we're tougher than we look, and just because you caught them napping doesn't mean you could seriously injure them with just a little fall off the side of a mountain." Shampoo raised an eyebrow to this, realizing from the casual way it was stated that Benton meant what she was saying, which implied that her people really were much tougher than they had appeared to be as she was fairly certain that anything human would have suffered greatly from some of the landings that she had induced upon the rest of the girl bikers. Just then a motion caught her attention, even as she felt a prickling along her nape hairs, and then she turned around in time to see Perfume appear in the company of Perfume's grandmother, Siren the Archmage. "Cousin!" Perfume rushed to her side then said, "You are well? That is good...but...this one has bad news for you. Your Airen has been kidnapped." "What?" Shampoo and Benton said together, and then the goddess added, "But I'd swear all my people are accounted for...well, sort of..." "Not your goddess buddies," Siren announced as she nodded towards Benton then gave Shampoo her full attention, "It was Amazons who did the kidnapping...a party of five renegades, to be exact, and we have an eyewitness...but he's in no condition to give a good description." "Airen?" Shampoo repeated, turning from the mage to her adopted cousin. "It is true," Perfume replied, "This one was reporting to great-grandmother when five warriors attacked the Princess and took her hostage. They used a foul smelling incense candle to mask their scent, but we think we have some idea of whom they are and where they may be keeping the Princess..." "Mere suspicion really," Siren elaborated, "Nothing to go on unless we have more proof. The thing is...they want you to appear at Thunder cavern within the hour or they threaten to hurt your Airen, and if it's who I think it is who's behind this..." "Airen is in danger?" Shampoo said as she felt something cold get knotted within her belly. "Somebody was sharp enough to capture Lum?" Benton glared, "When I get my hands on them they'll..." "No," Shampoo was more surprised than anyone else to hear the hard tone of her own voice as she declared, "She is this one's Airen. This one will go and get her back." "You need this one's help?" Perfume asked. "No," Shampoo said firmly again, "This one must do alone...what honor demands of this one." "They demanded that you come alone," Siren warned, "You know it's a trap..." "Yes," Shampoo said as she balled her fists and felt her blood rising in her veins, "But she is this one's Airen." "I'd help you even if you say no," Benton declared, "She's my friend too...but...you do what you have to." "What this one has to do," Shampoo found the words flow forcefully from her lips, "Is find ones who took this one's Airen...and make them sorry they mess with this one's Airen." Perfume was surprised to hear the flint in Shampoo's tone but she nodded slowly in the affirmative, then said to Siren, "Grandmother...take us to see elders." "I thought you'd never ask," Siren replied, already making the complex finger and hand motions needed to part the distance between one place and another...and then like that she and her fellow Amazons flowed through the temporal gates and arrived back at Joketsuzoku... * * * "And?" Akane asked impatiently. "And what?" Lum asked with a puzzled expression. "What became of those other two girls, the ones who still had the warrior and the farmer?" Kasumi clarified, clearly as concerned on that point as her youngest sister. "Gotta agree with you there, Sis," Nabiki added in, "From what you've said so far about these so-called goddesses they sound little better than a bunch of hooligans, not to mention how wimpy they sound getting taken down in such an off-handed manner." "Oh, they were not down for very long," Shampoo assured them, "Goddesses much, much tougher than how this one has so far described them, but they no relevant to story here since this one's concern was centered on getting back her Airen." "Their mistake was underestimating Darling," Lum smiled as she fondly regarded her lavender haired wife, "Had Benton's gang been more alert they would not have been taken down so easily...but as Darling has just said they were not immediately as important as freeing me from those renegade Nyanchiczu." "Of course that left your buddies Sash and Sling in the wringer," Ranma pointed out, "With Roku and Kuno aiming to carry out their planned seductions." "But of course the guy was just a man and not all that important to you Amazons, right?" Nabiki fathomed. "Did we give you that impression?" Lum remarked with a sniff, "I can assure you that men are very much important to the Joketsuzoku, especially since they are rarer than the women since many youths tend to flee the country seeking jobs in the big cities of coastal China." "Men are important to the Nyanchiczu," Shampoo insisted, "How else you think we have husbands and make babies? But this one is getting to what happen to Sash and Sling in due course...is much more important to story to tell how this one get back her Airen and then deal with too-smug goddess bikers." "I confess that I am amazed to learned that you know to pilot a flying motorcycle, Shampoo-san," Kasumi openly marveled, trying to imagine what it would be like to fly in such a manner. "Heh, you think Shampoo's just some ignorant hick from the country?" Ranma scoffed, "Her Pop's the village handyman and mechanic. He taught her how to take his motor bike apart and put it together even blindfolded, and don't even get her started trying to explain how the parts work together," he rolled his eyes and made a sound of mild exasperation. "Wow," Nabiki marveled, "I'd never have taken you for a Motorhead, Shampoo-san. Guess there really is more to you than you get on first impressions." "There is more to Darling than any of you could possibly suspect," Lum boasted proudly, "I didn't just choose her to be my wife because of her great looks. I knew that she had a brain to go with that heart of gold of hers, and when she came to my rescue...that was when I truly knew that we were meant to be together." "Not bad for a 'mere' human, huh?" Akane scoffed, "And what's wrong with being human? Or a mortal, or whatever you call us?" "Simmer down," Ranma urged, turning back to Shampoo and saying, "Mind continuing where you off, Sham-chan? Even I ain't heard all the details about this part of the story." "Is for...good reason, Airen," Shampoo smiled enigmatically, turning to the others as she added, "Once back in the village this one waste no time consulting with great-grandmother, and then she set out in search of those who kidnap Airen...but this is no to say that she forget all about fellow Amazons who no be rescued..." Continued. Comments/Criticisms/Consummation of Marriage Ties: shadowmane@msn.com What did become of Sash and Sling, and were the "evil" ambitions of the goddesses to be thwarted in a timely manner? Find out the answer to this and the rest in: "XXX-rated" or, "The Slings and Sashes of Outrageous Fortune..." Be there!