Last time Bloom watched as Tatewaki swore a blood oath to find Kodatchi and bring her home. Ranma and the others promised to help Tatewaki. While Ranma and co. got ready, Bloom introduced Sky to her adopted parents. On with the show!

Chapter 20: Into Burning Space

Upon returning to the Kuno residence, Bloom and Sky saw that Ranma, Akane, Ryoga, Shampoo, Mousse, Ukyo and Tatewaki were packed and ready to go. Bloom also noticed the different weapons being used by some of them: Akane had a war hammer attacked to a long staff. Shampoo had a Chinese style long sword. "This sword be in Shampoo's family since before building of Great Wall," Shampoo told Bloom.

Tatewaki, who normally had a wooden sword, now carried a real one: a Japanese Katanna sword. "This blade has been passed down the Kuno family since the time of the Shoguns," he said, "With this sword, I shall rescue my sister and bring her home."

"Don't forget about the rest of us," said Ranma, "We're in this together." "It just occurred to me," said Akane, "We're kind of like 'Seven Samurai.'" "Yeah," said Ukyo, "But in the movie, four of the seven died." There was a minute of silence while Ranma and his fellow martial artists pondered the situation: 'four of the seven died.'

"Oh don't think such things," said Stella brightly, "Who said that anyone here has to die?" "She's right," said Tenchi, who also had his bag packed and ready to go, "Besides, with me you've got eight." "Eight," said Mousse, "Yes, I always did prefer the number eight."

"Well whether or not we die," said Tatewaki, "This may be the last time any of us breathe the air of our fair planet. So let us enjoy the moment before we depart." There was another minute of silence before Ranma spoke, "Okay, let's go." "Finally," said Riven as he dialed The Night Rider on his phone, "Beauregard, we're ready to go, and it's about time if you ask me."

With a flash our heroes were transported up to The Night Rider in orbit. "That was trippy," said Ryoga as he and the other martial artists recovered from having their molecules taken apart, beamed up to the ship and then put back together. "You'll get used to it," said Tenchi, "This isn't my first time in space."

"How much longer until the hyper drive is working again?" asked Bloom. "Not much longer," said Lucinda, "Now that Amanda has calmed down, we should be ready to leave orbit any minute now."

"Would you look at that," said Akane as she looked out one of the ship's windows. She, Ranma and the others gazed out the portholes at planet Earth below them. "Oh wow," said Ukyo, "It's beautiful." "The first time one sees their home world from orbit is always the best," said Brandon, "But this is only the beginning."

Everyone then had their bags stowed away in their quarters. Bloom then introduced Ranma and his friends to the rest of hers. She was especially glad to see Flora up and about. "I'm feeling much better," said Flora, "Thanks, Bloom."

"Don't thank me," said Bloom, "Thank Shampoo, it was her Purple Star Lotus that saved you." "Yes," said Shampoo, "But Purple Star Lotus first belonged to Kodatchi." "And you can thank Kodatchi when we find her," said Tatewaki, "She's somewhere out there in the vast cosmos." "We'll find her," said Ranma, "you have my word."

It was at that time that Tatewaki saw Layla. Their eyes met and both were speechless. "Well I'll be a monkey's bare ass uncle," said Ranma, "Kuno met a pretty girl and doesn't have anything to say." "It's a sign of the Apocalypse," said Akane, "Or something bad." "Perhaps it's something good," said Tecna, "We tired to find Layla a boyfriend once, and that didn't turn out so well."

"Yeah," said Morgan, "We ended up having to fight an incubus in her dreams." "Maybe Tatewaki is the one who will bring joy to Layla's heart," said Flora, "We'll just have to wait and see."

"If you people are done talking," said Amanda, "The hyper drive is running again." "Then let's go!" said Beauregard, "Next stop… say, were are we going anyway?" "We're heading back to Jurai to coordinate the search for The Shadow Riders," said Sasami.

"Gee," said Ryoko sarcastically, "Won't Ayeka be happy to see you, Tenchi. Oh, wait, you dumped her." "I did not!" protested Tenchi, "We never really got together, so neither of us dumped each other." "Then there's hope for me after all," said Ryoko happily. "Better not let Ayeka hear you say that," said Sasami, "You know how jealous she gets."

"Okay people," said Beauregard form the bridge, "Setting course for Jurai!" "Better hold onto something," said Tecna to Ranma and his friends, "The first time one experiences the acceleration into hyperspace is quite unpleasant. It's rather like being drunk."

"What's so unpleasant about being drunk?" asked Akane. "Ask a glass of water," said Timmy.

"Here we go!" exclaimed Beauregard, and the ship accelerated into hyperspace. "Oh man," groaned Ryoga, "I've never touched Sake, now I never will." He and the other martial artists were in various states of discomfort. "I told you so," said Tecna.

"So how are we going to find The Shadow Riders?" asked Ranma. "We're working on that," said Timmy, "But until we have more information on them there's not much we can do."

"There is something," said Washu, "I've just finished analyzing that black stone the enemy was after. Apparently it's part of a set of 13 that was once used to run a great multi-system empire long, long ago. The civilization collapsed for some odd reason and the stones were scattered across this galaxy to prevent someone from using them for evil."

"Well I can guarantee that The Shadow Riders will use them for evil," said Sky. "If we can find these stones before the enemy does," said Akane, "We might be able to use them as a bargaining chip to get Kodatchi back." "There's just one small problem with that," said Mousse, "We have no idea where the stones are or how to find them. Also, we have no idea how many stones The Shadow Riders already have."

It was then that a distant look of clarity dawned on Bloom's face. "Stop the ship," she said in a slightly dazed tone. "Why?" asked Lucinda. "Just do it," said Bloom, "Stop the ship."

"Okay," said Lucinda, "Beauregard, stop the ship." "You got it," said Beauregard over the ship's intercom, "I don't know why you want to, but we'll stop." Two seconds later, The Night Rider exited from hyperspace. Ranma and those not used to space travel were slammed against the walls due to the force of deceleration.

"Is there a reason why you told us to stop?" asked Amanda as she emerged from the engine room. "I think I just remembered something from Sparkx," said Bloom, "I think my birth parents might have had one of the stones."

"You're serious?" asked Tatewaki, "Because I am in no mood for a wild goose chase." "I wouldn't have brought it up if I weren't sure," said Bloom, "One of the stones is on Sparkx."

"Then waiting are we waiting for?" said Lucinda, "Beauregard, set a course for Sparks." "Roger that," said Beauregard, "Sparks, here we come!" With that, The Night Rider jumped back into hyperspace for Sparkx.

The end of chapter 20. Next chapter Bloom returns to Sparkx in search of one of the stones. Reviews will be rewarded with cherry pie. See you next time!