Last time our heroes entered an underground complex, riddled with booby-traps, in search for the next Stone of Power. They found it and barely escaped form the imploding complex. But it was all in vain when The Phantom Renegade showed up and took the white stone. Ranma fought the masked man in order to get the stone back, yet he was defeated easily. Yet all is not lost, the next stone is on Solaria. On with the show!
Chapter 30: No Need For Punishments
Malaketh and The Shadow Riders had gathered in one of the mansion's larger dungeons. Two tables were in the room; a Shadow Rider secured to each table; their arms and legs strapped down with the kneecaps exposed. Icy, Darcy, Stormy and Toro watched as Malaketh took several cleansing breaths, Salamei and Xallos at his sides.
Finally the leader of The Shadow Riders spoke to his minions: "This organization was formed over a-hundred years ago with the promise of eventual victory, that we would one day rule all. We've had our ups and downs since then, and some very deep downs on behalf of The Galaxy Police and The Phantom Renegade. But one thing has remained constant, one fact that guides this group. And that is that failure will not be tolerated."
The two warlocks strapped to the tables sweated and whimpered in fear. "Now," continued Malaketh, "If I were to slay everyone in this group who messed up, we would have run out of members very quickly. I can be forgiving, even merciful, because I know that when someone makes a mistake, they're meant to learn from said mistakes. But there's one thing I cannot, will not forgive, and that is cowardliness."
He gestured towards the two Shadow Riders secured to the tables, "These two ran away from an enemy that they were ordered to destroy on sight. Because they ran, our most hated enemy is in possession of yet another Stone of Power. This cannot be forgiven."
"Master!" pleaded one of the restrained minions, "You weren't there! You didn't see what that demon did!" "He's from Hell!" exclaimed the second minion, "The Phantom Renegade, he's from Hell!"
"Silence!" raged Malaketh, "Or I'll transmute your tongue's into poisonous vipers! You two ran from your assignment. I promise you this; you shall never run away from anything again. Stormy, step forward."
Struggling to control her nervous breathing, Stormy walked towards Malaketh. "I'm guessing you've been wondering why I haven't punished you for failing to control your mind slave," said Malaketh, "That you let Kodatchi escape."
"Yes," said Stormy, "and I am s-s-s, I'm s-s, what I mean to say, I'm so-s-s…" being the witch she is, Stormy found it extremely difficult to say the word 'sorry.' Malaketh held up his hand, "I know what it is you are trying to tell me," he said, "I understand, and I know that you wish to redeem yourself. You are about to get your chance. Parker!"
The butler opened a large cabinet on the wall that held a wide variety of torture devices. Parker retrieved from the cabinet a sledgehammer and handed it to Stormy. The hammer felt rather light in her hands "What am I do with this?" asked Stormy.
"In the many slave-mines out on the outer rim of the galaxy," said Salamei, "There is a method of controlling runaway slaves that were caught. The legs of the slaves are broken at the kneecaps, thereby depriving the slaves of the use of their legs. The rest of them still functions, but the slaves cannot ever run away again. That is what you are going to do today, Stormy; you are going to make sure that these two cowards never run away from anything again."
A look of cold shock fell in Stormy's eyes as she realized what was expected of her. "Well," said Malaketh when he saw Stormy hesitating, "Why are you just standing there?" "Forgive me," said Stormy, "It's not like I don't enjoy inflicting pain on others, I love it. It's just that, I've never done something like this before."
"It's easy," said Xallos, "Just swing the hammer onto the kneecaps of the cowards so they break. This shouldn't be that difficult for you." Yet it was difficult for her. For some unexplained reason, the idea of breaking someone's kneecaps was appalling to Stormy.
"Why isn't she doing it?" whispered Toro to Darcy, "Why doesn't she get it over with?" "I don't know," Darcy whispered back, "This isn't like her."
"Patience is one of my stronger virtues," said Salamei, "But my patience only goes so far. Do it!" "I, I," stammered Stormy, "I don't think I can." "Excuse me," said Salamei in a nasty tone, "But I'm not sure I heard you correctly. I thought I heard you say you didn't think you can do it."
"I did say that," said Stormy, "I don't know why, but I have no stomach for such a thing." "Is that so," said Salamei, her left eyelid twitching in annoyance. Before Stormy could react, Salamei slapped her across the face. "Do you have the stomach for it now?" asked Salamei. Stormy didn't have time to answer before Salamei slapped her again, "How about now? Are you motivated yet?" Again, Stormy didn't get a chance to answer before being slapped again and again.
"Why is she just standing there?" asked Toro. "I think I might know," said Icy, "I hope I'm wrong, because if I'm right, then Stormy is in a world of sh$t."
By now Salamei was hitting Stormy so hard her face was starting to bruise. "Stop it!" exclaimed Darcy, "You're hurting her." Darcy then realized that her outburst was a really bad mistake, but not before Xallos punched her in the face, breaking her nose.
"You bastard!" exclaimed Toro. He prepared to fight, but Stormy intervened. "No! It's alright, I'll do it!" "It's not alright!" exclaimed Darcy as she held her hand at her face to hold back the blood seeping from her nostrils, "He broke my f#ck$ng nose!"
"Well you should have kept your mouth shut," said Stormy. Taking a deep breath, a look of grim determination on her face, she hefted the sledgehammer and swung it onto the left kneecap of the first prisoner. The restrained Shadow Rider howled in agony as his kneecap shattered. Stormy then swung the hammer again and broke the right kneecap.
"Now the other coward," said Malaketh. The screams of pain from the first prisoner ringing through her ears, Stormy then broke the kneecaps of the second one. "There now," said Salamei, a disgustingly-sweet smile on her face, "That wasn't so difficult, was it?"
Later…
"I knew it," said Darcy as she held an icepack to her broken nose, "I knew joining The Shadow Riders was a mistake." "Bull sh$t!" exclaimed Icy, "You were the one who was so eager to join up. You were the one who was all, 'Yes! We're going to be Shadow Riders!'"
"So I made a mistake!" snapped Darcy, "It's not like you haven't made them! And what the f#ck is wrong with Stormy anyway?" Stormy meanwhile was currently throwing up in the bathroom.
"She's got Humane Syndrome," said Icy, "It's a rare condition that affects witches. Every few years a witch experiences random bouts of compassion and other 'positive' emotions. Stormy should be back to normal in a day or so."
"Well she sure picked a rotten time to act all nice and sh$t," said Darcy as Toro attended to her broken nose. He had already set the bones back into place and was putting a bandage on the bride of her nose. "I may be relatively new at magic and space travel," Toro said, "But I know a really bad situation when I'm in it. And this is one of those situations. I suggest we get out while we still can."
"Couldn't agree more," said Icy as she started to take her Shadow Rider ring off, "I'm gonna shove this ring down Malaketh's throat and make him choke on it!" Yet the ring wouldn't budge from her finger. "Oh for f#ck's sake!" exclaimed Icy, "Just come off already!" No matter how hard she pulled at the ring, it wouldn't move.
Darcy and Toro tried to get their rings off as well, yet theirs wouldn't come off either. "It's official," said Toro as he gave up trying to pull his ring off, "We're in a world of sh$t."
"You have no idea how right you are," said Trabon as he emerged from a nearby shadowy corner. "How long have you been listening?" asked Icy. "Long enough," said Trabon, "But I'm on your side. Those rings will never come off, I know, I've been trying to get mine off for fifty years."
Just then Stormy came back from throwing up. "Well, that sucked," said Stormy, "My teeth feel gritty, and I'm gonna lie down for a while." "You might want to hear what I have to say first," said Trabon, "As I told your sisters and Toro, your rings will never come off."
"No way," said Stormy as she tried to get her ring off. Not surprising the ring stayed on. "This is just f#ck$ng great," said Stormy, "First I get Humane Syndrome, then I'm forced to break two pairs of kneecaps, now I can't get my ring off."
"It's worse than you think," said Trabon, "The rings are only part of the problem. By signing The Shadow Rider charter and swearing loyalty to the group, you all but sold yourselves to Malaketh and Salamei. As long as the two of them live, they own you. Even in death you still belong to them for they could raise your corpses."
"Nobody owns me!" snapped Darcy, "As soon as my nose stops hurting, we're leaving this damn place for good." "You won't get far," said Trabon, "The second you leave this mansion without orders from either Salamei or Malaketh, you start to feel unbelievable levels of pain throughout your bodies. The only way to stop the pain is to return to the mansion."
"Why are you telling us this?" asked Toro. "Because I went through the same thing you're going through," said Trabon, "When The Galaxy Police nearly wiped out the group fifty years ago, there were only four survivors to rebuild The Shadow Riders: Malaketh, Salamei, Xallos and myself. Before then we numbered in the hundreds. Malaketh told us that survived that we would return one day, stronger and more powerful than ever. Having seen my comrades slaughtered by The Galaxy Police and The Phantom Renegade, I had had enough. I tired to walk away, but the pain got to me. I was forced to stay with those lunatics. Malaketh did forgive me for trying to leave, but not before Xallos ripped out one of my kidneys."
"No way," said Darcy, "No way you had one of your kidneys ripped out." "Then permit me to prove you wrong," said Trabon. He lifted his shirt to show a large area of scar tissue on the left side of his back where a kidney would be.
"Sh$t!" exclaimed Icy. "F#ck!" said both Toro and Darcy at the same time. "I think I'm going to be sick again," said Stormy as she rushed out of the room to throw up. "Just great," said Darcy, "Just f#ck$ng great. This is worse than when Darkar betrayed us. Now what?"
"First," said Icy, "We're gonna wait for Stormy to finish hurling. Then we're going to figure out just how the Stones of Power work. At the same time we'll continue to act like the 'good' little Shadow Riders Salamei and Malaketh expect us to be. When the time is right, we'll kill Malaketh and Salamei in one swift strike. We'll kill Xallos as well for good measure."
"You can count on my support," said Trabon, "I've been wishing death on those three for fifty years now. Oh, I just remembered why I wanted to talk to you in the first place; we've located the next Stone of Power. It is somewhere on Solaria."
"Really?" asked Icy slyly, "Then perhaps we'll run into Bloom and her pathetic friends." "I can't wait to see the look on Stella's face when we take the stone from her home planet," said Darcy, "Solaria, here we come!"
"Why are we going to Solaria?" asked Stormy as she came back from the bathroom. "The next stone is there," said Icy, "And you should know; we're killing Malaketh, Salamei and Xallos when the time is right."
"Sounds like fun," said Stormy, a nasty smile on her face, "Count me in." "You sound better," said Darcy, "I think you're over your bout of Humane Syndrome." "You're right," said Stormy, "I feel more like myself. So why are we just sitting around here? We've got stones to steal and pathetic pixies to crush!"
The end of chapter 30. Next chapter we arrive on Solaria, where Ranma and the martial artists meet up with a familiar, unpleasant character. See you next time!
