Last time our heroes arrived back at Jurai for Sasami's wedding shower, a party that turned out to be a trap for some peeping toms. Meanwhile, Ayeka was forced to deal with the fact that Tenchi and Kodatchi were in love. To make matters worse, The Shadow Riders launched an attack to take the red Stone of Power, which was buried on Jurai all this time. During the battle Morgan killed Stormy. The Phantom Renegade showed up, along with The Galaxy Police. Malaketh and The Shadow Riders were forced to retreat. On with the show!
Chapter 38: No Need For Alliances
"You okay?" asked Stella. "I'm alright," said Bloom, "I wouldn't be if The Phantom Renegade hadn't showed up." Our heroes had clustered around Bloom as if The Phantom Renegade was about to attack.
"Worry not," said The Phantom Renegade; "I've decided that it would be for the greater good if we were to work together." "You're serious," said Ranma, "You're really gonna help us take down the enemy?" "Yes," said the masked man, "Together, we shall defeat The Shadow Riders once and for all."
"Well now that we're working together," said Riven, "How about telling us who you really are." "We're not at that level of trust just yet," said The Phantom Renegade, "Perhaps when the situation is resolved, but not sooner."
The grounds outside the palace had been soaked in the black goo of slain biots and red blood of fallen guards. It would be a long time before the mess would be cleaned up. Yet despite the horrific scene our heroes were in high spirits. The Shadow Riders had been delivered a crushing blow, one they would be hard pressed to recover from.
"What a mess," said Flora. "It could be worse," said Tenchi, "A lot worse." As our heroes made their way to the palace, one of the servants whispered something to Tenchi. "Really," said Tenchi, "Tell Empress Ayeka we'll be there as soon as we can." The servant bowed and ran back to the palace.
"That's that all about?" asked Musa. "One of the Shadow Riders that was captured," said Tenchi, "Turns out he actually surrendered, and he wants to talk."
Deep within the palace our heroes had arrived at a makeshift holding cell. Within that room were several Galaxy Police officers and one warlock. Detective First Class Mihoshi was taking the prisoner's statement.
"Your name for the record," said Mihoshi. "Trabon," said the warlock, "Just Trabon." "Well, Just Trabon," said Mihoshi, "What made you decide to surrender?" "I saw that the battle was turning against us," said Trabon, "And I realized that this was my chance to get away from Malaketh."
"And why do you wish to get away from Malaketh?" asked Mihoshi. "Are you kidding?" asked Trabon, "Do I really need to spell it out for you?" "Just answer the question," said one of The Galaxy Police officers.
"Okay," said Trabon, "First of all, Malaketh is insane. His brother Xallos is insane and his wench Salamei is insane. For over fifty years I've done everything they've told me to do without question, yet I hate them with every fiber in my being. And the one time I questioned them, that lunatic Xallos ripped out my left kidney. I've also lost my eye in service to Malaketh's madness. I can tolerate the loss of an eye, the gods did grant me a spare. But having my kidney ripped out is enough to make anyone lose faith in their masters."
"Now I understand you're willing to offer information as to the location of The Shadow Rider base," said Mihoshi. "True," said Trabon, "But I want assurance from The Galaxy Police as to my protection. I am willing to talk, but Malaketh will never stop hunting for me when he discovers my betrayal."
"I can promise you total security," said Mihoshi, "Once we have the location of The Shadow Rider base." "Very well," said Trabon, "The base is a mansion located on the third moon of Magratheia." He then gave the exact location of the enemy base.
"We appreciate your assistance," said Mihoshi, "And you will receive protection. But why are you doing this? Really, why are you willing to help us?" "I may be evil," said Trabon, "But I'm not insane. I know when I've lost the fight; it's about time that Malaketh realized that his fight is also over."
"If all goes well," said Tenchi to Bloom, "Then The Galaxy Police should be making arrests within the hour." "If only it were that simple," said The Phantom Renegade, "Malaketh and Salamei will have moved from their mansion by now, in pursuit of the final stone."
"How do you know where they're going?" asked Brandon. "I have my sources," said the masked man, "Now here's where we stand: The Shadow Riders have five of the stones; I have three and you have four, which leave one."
"And where is the last Stone of Power?" asked Elise, "Because we're having a hard time locating it." "That's because the last stone is located on planet Salusa Secundus," said The Phantom Renegade, "Your scanners would be hard pressed to locate anything on that world."
"Of course," said Tecna, "Salusa Secundus. You could hide anything on that planet and nobody would be able to find it through magic or science, unless you already knew it was there." "What's so special about Salusa Secundus?" asked Stella.
"Remember your history, Stella," said Musa, "Okay, wrong person to ask."
"I'll tell the story," said Brandon, "A long time ago, Salusa Secundus was a world of diverse cultures, much like Earth. It was a world of trade, music and art. Yet all that changed when the smaller nations of Salusa Secundus were integrated into two rival super powers. These two rival nations tried to resolve their differences, yet all hopes of peace were ruined. The resulting war devastated the planet and annihilated the people. Today, Salusa Secundus is a near lifeless world. It's terrible that the people of that world couldn't set aside their differences for peace."
"What makes Salusa Secundus unique," said Timmy, "Is its magnetic field, which is so strong as to disrupt planetary scanning. Even on the surface our scanners won't be working at full efficiency. We'd have to be right on top of the stone to have any chance of finding it."
"Which means that The Shadow Riders will also have difficulty locating the stone," said Tecna, "So we're on even playing grounds." "It won't be even," said Sky, "If Malaketh gets there before us."
"I'm way ahead of you," said Stella. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed her cousins. "Amanda," said Stella, "How soon can we get back into space?" "Give us fifteen minutes," said Amanda on the other end of the line, "And we'll be ready to go to a black hole if you wish."
"Fifteen minutes," said Stella as he hung up her phone, "I'll go get the others." "I have my own means of transportation," said The Phantom Renegade, "So we shall see each other again on Salusa Secundus."
"Wait," said Tenchi, "At least tell us why you agreed to work with us." "If you must know," said the masked man, "I've been forced to realize that I cannot fight The Shadow Riders on my own, not alone and win that is. Malaketh must be stopped, no matter the cost."
"What will happen if the enemy gets all the stones?" asked Bloom. "If The Shadow Riders get control of all The Stones of Power," said The Phantom Renegade, "Then they can use them to power an illegal device called a Time Bender; a machine capable of altering history to the user's will. I discovered Malaketh's plan months ago, he means to go back in time and change history for his benefit."
"Good Gods!" said Carmen, "The Shadow Riders could change history so that they weren't defeated fifty years ago. Or change any aspect of the past so that they come out on top."
"Of course," said Bloom, "It all makes sense now. That's why you need the stones," she looked towards the masked man, "You need them to power your own Time Bender. You mean to alter history for your own benefit."
"True, Princess of Sparkx," said The Phantom Renegade, "I do wish to change history, but not for my benefit alone. I wish to undo a great wrong."
"And what wrong would that be?" asked Sky. "Why, the desecration of Sparkx, of course," said the masked man, "I intend to go back in time and exterminate the Trix Coven before they even think of attacking Sparkx."
"You can't!" said Tecna, "You can't alter history. There's a reason why Time Benders are illegal; time travel is forbidden. Even the slightest alteration to the time line can have dire consequences for the present and future."
"She's right," said Akane, "I've seen a lot of science fiction shows and movies concerning time travel and most of them don't work out plot wise. If someone were to go back in time to change history for the better, you'd have no idea of how history would change. For all you know by stopping something bad from happening, the change in history could be worse than things were before."
"I agree," said Bloom, "If given the chance to go back in time and stop the Kennedy assassination, or even prevent 9/11, I wouldn't do it. There's no way to know just how things will change."
"That may be your opinion," said The Phantom Renegade, "But I must be allowed to complete my mission; I must undo the sacrilege that had afflicted Sparkx. Not just for you, Bloom, though it would be for the greater good if you were allowed to live your life as it should have, as the true Princess of Sparkx. Nor is it for the people of Sparkx who had their lives destroyed, or for the planet itself. It's for King Oritel and Queen Miriam. I owe them a debt that can only be repaid by changing history."
The masked man's words had a strong affect on Bloom. It is true that Bloom often thought what her life would be like if her home planet wasn't destroyed, if she grew up on Sparkx. For a few seconds Bloom was tempted to give to The Phantom Renegade the stones she and her friends had collected. She was tempted to let him change history.
Yet Bloom knew what her life would be like if history was changed, at least how it would differ from her life as it has been: The circumstances of how Bloom would meet Stella and the other girls would be very different. They might not become friends, or not even meet at all. Worse still was that she might not ever meet and fall in love with Sky. But the worse of all was that Bloom wouldn't have been taken to Earth for safety and placed with her foster parents Mike and Vanessa.
Bloom knew she had a choice to make: Either allow The Phantom Renegade to rewrite history, their by making it so that Bloom lived the life she was meant to on Sparkx; or somehow stop The Phantom Renegade and keep things the way they are.
But there was a third option, rather an option to give her more time to think things over. "We'll worry about changing history later," said Bloom, "Right now we have to stop Malaketh from getting the last stone."
"A wise decision," said The Phantom Renegade, "Very well, I shall wait until the enemy is defeated once and for all. Then we shall discuss the pros and cons of altering history. I shall be waiting for you on Salusa Secundus. Until then…" There was a bright flash and the masked man was gone; in his place was yet another blue rose. "I'm starting to dislike it when he does that," said Sky.
Meanwhile…
"Take only what we need for our immediate survival," ordered Malaketh. The servants of the mansion were hurrying about like ants as The Shadow Riders prepared to evacuate their base. "All paper documents must be burned, keep only what's on disk and the charter, that must come with us at all costs."
"Master," said the butler Parker, "All the explosives have been set in place." "Excellent," said Malaketh, "Set the timer for five minutes after we leave, and we'll be leaving as soon as I take care of one last matter.'
Elsewhere in the mansion Icy was on a rampage, freezing anything and anyone that crossed her eyes. "That sow!" she raged as she froze a nearby fern plant, "That stupid, fat cow Morgan Rogers! She killed Stormy!" A flash of movement caught her attention and Icy froze another servant.
"If you keep this up," said Darcy, who was sitting idly, doing her nails, "There won't be much to move." "How can you be so calm and collected?" asked Toro, "Your sister was just murdered."
"I know," said Darcy, "But it's only a temporary death. Remember that little insurance policy I was talking about? The one where we all needed some of our blood to make it work? Well…" Darcy then told Toro and Icy her overall plan.
"Well why didn't I think of that?" asked Icy. "Because you're always obsessing about killing Bloom and gaining more power," said Darcy, "I always make time to plan ahead for such events as what just happened on Jurai. Of course, in order for it to work, we'll need an obscenely large sum of money if we ever want to see Stormy alive again."
"There you are," said Malaketh as he entered the room, "I've got a job for you, Darcy. Thanks to that fiasco in Jurai, The Galaxy Police will no doubt learn the location of our base. We need to leave as soon as possible for the last stone on Salusa Secundus. But before that we need someone who can transfer the organization's funds into a less suspicious account."
"I know where you're going, Malaketh," said Darcy, "You want me to hide The Shadow Rider's money where The Galaxy Police won't look for it before they can take it." "Exactly," said Malaketh, "And I need it done in half an hour."
"I can do it in under fifteen minutes," said Darcy as she conjured up a laptop, "Count on it!" "Good!" said Malaketh eagerly, "We leave in 40 minutes, be ready or be left behind for the explosion."
"That was too easy," said Toro, "I can't believe he just handed The Shadow Rider's financial assets to us." "Correction," said Darcy, "He handed them to me. And I'll do as he asked, The Galaxy Police won't see one red credit, but neither will Malaketh. I've already got a ghost account set up for handling such funds. The name on the account is a person who doesn't exist, except on file."
"One thing worries me about this," said Toro while Darcy began typing madly at the laptop, "If Malaketh finds out what we've done, he'll skin us alive and make us eat our own flesh."
"Oh we won't have to worry about Malaketh, Salamei or any of the Shadow Riders for much longer," said Icy, "Because I've finally figured out Malaketh's plan: He's gonna use the stones to power a Time Bender device. Just think of it; we can go back in time and take the Dragonfire from Bloom when she's weakest. As for Malaketh and The Shadow Riders, I'm convinced they're all going to die on Salusa Secundus, one way or another."
Forty minutes later the mansion was abandoned. The Galaxy Police arrived five minutes after that, only to witness the destruction of the mansion. The Shadow Riders had escaped again.
The End of Chapter 38. Next chapter our heroes arrive at the location of the final Stone of Power. Reviews will be rewarded with cake and/or pie. See you next time!
