Last time Bloom and the others returned to Alfea to stop the Witches from trashing the school. As they fought, Sasami was nearly crushed by falling building parts. This really got Ryoko mad. She took on Icy, Darcy and Stormy all by herself. She was winning until Darcy messed with her equilibrium. The witches left with the stone they were looking for. On with the show!
Chapter 7: No Need for Murder Plotting
"That space pirate bitch nearly killed us," said Stormy as she, Icy and Darcy returned to the headquarters of The Shadow Riders, "And all for a stone. A lousy, sh$tty stone." "This stone," said Icy, "gets us one step closer to having ultimate power." "Are you suggesting that we take the power for ourselves?" asked Darcy, "After we swore loyalty to The Shadow Riders?"
"Since when have you ever been concerned about keeping your word, Darcy?" asked Stormy. "We'll talk later," said Icy as she and her sisters entered the meeting chamber where Malaketh and the other Shadow Riders were waiting.
"Well now," said Malaketh, "Have you three lovely ladies returned with what I asked for?" "We had to burn a few books to get it," said Icy as she retrieved the indigo colored stone from her pocket, "And we suffered some bruises and scrapes in the process, but we got it." She handed the indigo colored stone to Malaketh, who held it up to the rest of the Shadow Riders, "The third Stone of Power is ours!" he exclaimed. The other Shadow Riders clapped and cheered.
"You three have done well for your first assignment," said Salamei to Icy, Darcy and Stormy, "You shall be rewarded. Parker, prepare a hot bath for the young ladies, with the usual comforts." "Yes, my lady," said the butler Parker.
Just then another of the mansion's servants whispered something to Malaketh. "I'd wait for a few minutes before you three take your leave to be pampered. My brother Xallos has returned from Antos V with the fourth stone!"
Just then two men entered the chamber. The first was slightly taller than Malaketh and had a lot more muscle on his body. He had the same color eyes as Malaketh and very short black hair. The second man was completely bald and very black eyes. He carried a metal crossbow that Darcy guessed would shoot energy bolts.
"Well Xallos," said Malaketh to the tall man, "Have you returned with the fourth Stone of Power?" "I have not, brother," said Xallos as he went straight to a nearby liquor cabinet and began to fix himself a strong drink. "I'm not sure I heard you correctly, my brother," said Malaketh as he strained to remain calm, "But I believe you said that you didn't return with the stone."
"You heard me correctly, Malaketh," said Xallos as she gulped down his drink and began to fix another. Meanwhile, Icy had noticed that the man who came in with Xallos was shaking either from cold, fear or a mixture of the two. "Be so kind as to explain, Xallos," said Malaketh, "Why have you and Trujon failed with the stone."
"We did find it," said Xallos as she gulped down his second drink and started to make a third, but was stopped by the warlock Trabon. "I think you've had enough," said Trabon, "Now what happened on Antos V?" "As I said," said Xallos, "Trujon and I found the stone. I held the bronze Stone of Power in my hands, then 'he' showed up."
At the mention of the word 'he' the room filled with sharp whispers. "The Phantom Renegade was there?" asked Malaketh whose rage was threatening to boil over. "Indeed," said Xallos, "That masked bastard wiped out every biot we brought with us as if they were made of paper."
"He's not a man," spoke Trujon for the first time, "The Phantom Renegade. He's from Hell. That creature is the devil incarnate." "Bull sh$t!" exclaimed Salamei, "I've seen The Phantom Renegade with my own two eyes, he's a man, and a mortal man at that."
"What happened after he destroyed your biots?" asked Malaketh. "Luck was not with me on Antos V, brother," said Xallos; "He hit me with a paralyzing ray of some sort. That bastard laughed at me and took the stone out of my hand. He told me that he knew what we were doing and that he'd beat us to it. I was just about to shrug off the paralyses when he teleported out. Forgive me, brother, I've failed you and The Shadow Riders."
"Is that all that happened?" asked Malaketh. "There's one more thing," said Xallos, "The Phantom Renegade was standing with his back turned to Trujon, yet Trujon did nothing. He had a perfect shot all lined up for the enemy with his energy crossbow, yet he did nothing, he just stood there as that bastard mocked me."
"Care to explain yourself, Trujon?" asked Salamei as she and the others glared at him. "My masters," said Trujon, his hands shaking even more than when he came in, "how does one go about shooting the devil in the back?" he held up his shaking hands, "What if you miss?"
"You reload and shoot him again you moron!" exclaimed Malaketh, "This is the third time you've failed me, Trujon, and this organization will not tolerate multiple failure." He aimed his right hand at Trujon and blasted his head into dust. Trujon's lifeless body then fell to the carpet.
"Parker," said Malaketh, "Have this mess cleaned up." "Yes sir," said Parker as he motioned at two servants to remove the body. "As for you, Xallos," said Malaketh, "You are my only living blood relative, and therefore I can be slightly more forgiving. But if you fail The Shadow Riders and myself one more time, I promise you I won't hold back. Now go."
"Thank you, brother," said Xallos. He bowed to Malaketh, then to Salamei and left. "What was that all about?" asked Icy. "Nothing you three should concern yourselves about at this time," said Salamei, "Now I believe you each have a date with a hot bath and a massage."
Later…
"This Phantom Renegade," said Icy as she, Darcy and Stormy were enjoying the mansion's massage parlor, "Who is he as to cause The Shadow Riders such angst?" "I've heard rumors about a man in a black suit with matching cape and a top hat," said Darcy as enchanted gloves massaged her back, "A man who wears a mask that covers his entire face. His trademark is a blue rose. A little to the left," she directed to the enchanted gloves, "Now down a bit, that's it! Anyway, this guy is some sort of vigilante who first appeared about 200 years ago. He moves from planet to planet, destroying anyone he deems evil."
"I've heard urban legends that say The Phantom Renegade can't die," said Stormy as another pair of enchanted gloves rubbed her feet, "I've heard that he'd been shot and stabbed many times on several occasions, yet he always comes back. He'd been hanged at least twice, yet the body disappears shortly after, only to be seen alive on another planet. Some say The Phantom Renegade is immortal, but there are those who say he's the devil himself." "Well devil or no devil," said Icy, "This Phantom Renegade better stay out of our way, or we'll witch him up good."
Just then Salamei entered the massage parlor. "I hope you girls are enjoying the more pleasurable benefits of being part of the organization?" "We sure are," moaned Darcy as the enchanted gloves hit a rather pleasant spot on her back. "Well as soon as you three are finished here," said Salamei, "I've got another assignment for you."
"Another Stone of Power?" asked Icy eagerly. "No," said Salamei, "As it turns out, our method of locating the stones is rather slow, it'll be a while before we find the next one. No, your next assignment is a mission of death. What do you three know of the fairy known as Bloom?" "More than we'd like to," said Icy through gritted teeth, "That f#ck$ng pixy and her pathetic friends have ruined our plans for over two years now."
"Am I to assume that Bloom is the one who has the Dragonfire?" asked Salamei. "You got that right," said Stormy, "Bloom has it. We took the Dragonfire from her once, but that bitch got it back. If she's the one you want us to kill, we'd gladly do it." "My question is why you want Bloom dead," said Darcy.
"It's simple really," said Salamei, "Malaketh has determined Bloom of Sparkx a threat to the organization. It would be best to eliminate such a threat to The Shadow Riders before it becomes an even greater threat." "I'd like nothing more than to get rid of that little bitch once and for all," said Icy, "We'll do it."
"Excellent!" said Salamei, "Proceed when you're ready, whatever resources you need will be made available to you, but Malaketh and I want Bloom dead, and we'll want proof of her death." "We'll bring you her head on a silver platter if you'd like that," said Darcy. "I knew I could count on you girls," said Salamei as she left the parlor.
"So how are we gonna kill Bloom?" asked Stormy. "I don't know yet," said Icy, "I'm working on it." "Well we can't attack her at Alfea or anywhere on Magicx," said Darcy, "Not anytime soon anyway. They'd be on the lookout for us." "So we'll wait until the heat dies down," said Icy, "Or until she goes off planet."
"I like where you're going with this," said Darcy, "We'll wait until she's alone and most vulnerable." "We'll destroy her and bring her head back to The Shadow Riders," said Stormy, "and there'll be nothing to stop us."
The end of chapter 7. Next chapter, our heroes head out to Sasami's home planet of Jurai so she can introduce Roderick to Ayeka, Empress of Jurai. Please review most graciously, and I'll see you next time!
