Last time our heroes learned that The Phantom Renegade or Jake Avatar is in fact from Sparkx. Apparently there were survivors besides Bloom; several adults and 100 children, including Carmen. Both Jake and Carmen swore loyalty to Bloom. On with the show!
Chapter 42: No Need for an Ending
The wedding of Roderick of Solaria to Sasami of Jurai went without any interruptions from diabolical organizations, warlocks, dark witches or anything evil. It was as close as perfect a wedding as could be. Well, unless you don't count a random series of events that lead to Ranma turning female during the bride and groom's first dance. Other than that the whole event went without a hitch.
When it came time for Sasami to toss the bouquet, there was a brief struggle among the girls as they jostled for position to catch the flowers. As Sasami tossed the flowers into the air, Stella reached out with all her might to grab them, her eyes sparkling as the bouquet came within an inch of her fingers. Yet her fantasy was shattered when Akane grabbed the flowers instead.
Later on, back at Magix, Tatewaki stunned everyone, especially Kodatchi and Ranma, when he said that he wasn't going back to Earth. "I have decided to enroll at Red Fountain as a part-time student," said Tatewaki, "I feel that my skills as a swordsman, while greatly above average, could be taken further."
"What brought this on?" asked Akane. "Partly the need to better myself," said Tatewaki, "But mostly because I doth wish to be near Miss Layla." "And I couldn't agree more," said Layla.
"If you're staying here," said Kodatchi, "Then so am I. Someone needs to keep an eye on you." "No, sister," said Tatewaki, "Your place isn't with me. It is with the one thou truly loves."
"He means me," said Tenchi, "And if he wants to stay, if it'll make him happy, let him. Me, I think I've had enough of trouncing around the galaxy for a while. For now I just want to go home." "You know what," said Kodatchi, "So do I."
"The two of you are welcome to each other," said Ryoko, "I think you'd do well together. As for me I need to get back to Jurai. I'm still Sasami's bodyguard."
"Well we're going home to Japan," said Ranma, "Unless anyone else wants to stay." "I'm staying," said Ryoga, "I asked Beauregard and Lucinda if I could join their crew on The Night Rider. There's an entire galaxy out there for me to get lost in; I want to see as much of it as I can."
With that our heroes began to go their separate ways. Ryoko and the transformed Ryo-Ohki headed for Jurai. Bloom and the others bid farewell to Ranma, Tenchi and the other fighters as The Night Rider took off for Earth. But before they left, Bloom saw something that she would remember for the rest of her life. Ranma and Tatewaki were saying their farewells. "This is goodbye, Saotome," said Tatewaki, "But we still have unresolved issues between us. Someday, I hope we can decide who is the better warrior."
"I'm looking forward to that," said Ranma, "You just focus on being the best swordsman you can be and I'll keep pushing myself to be the best fighter I can be." "Fair enough," said Tatewaki. They shook hands and Ranma headed for the ship.
Just before boarding The Night Rider, Ranma turned around, "Hey Kuno!" he then bowed to Tatewaki in respect. Tatewaki was slightly stunned for a second before bowing in return. Bloom would later learn that Ranma had never done such a thing with any of his many rivals.
"I have this strange feeling that we haven't seen the last of them," said Brandon as the ship blasted off for space, "Like I know we're all gonna come together again someday for some reason." "Let's just hope it isn't so we can fight another evil organization bent on taking over the universe," said Stella, "I've had enough of that for a while."
"I think we all have," said Bloom, "But right now we've got another task ahead of us." "Yeah," said Musa, "Making up for all the schoolwork we've missed." "That," said Elise, "And helping Bloom, Carmen and Jake find the other survivors of Sparkx."
One week later Bloom received news from Earth that Ranma and Akane had eloped the second they got home and were now married. All our heroes would indeed meet again, while Bloom would one day find all the survivors of her home planet and would eventually restore Sparkx to it's former glory. But those are other stories…
The e…
Hold on, it's not over yet. There are still one or two more things that need to be told, so hang in there…
Somewhere on one of the many moons of Eraklyon was Diaspro, sitting in front of a complicated computer terminal, plotting something foul. "Soon, Sky," she said in a slightly insane tone, "Soon you and your precious Bloom shall experience suffering like you've never experienced. Soon revenge shall be mine!"
Elsewhere…
"Clones," said Toro, "Your insurance policy was to clone us." "More or less," said Darcy as she and Toro gazed at two large glass tanks filled with bluish fluid. Within each tank was a human embryo.
"You see," said Darcy, "I had no idea at the time when or if any of us would wind up dead. I also didn't know where I would get the money for this endeavor. Human cloning has been outlawed for many years, so I had to find the right rouge scientist who could be bribed. Fortunately, Stormy knew this total nerd from middle school who wound up as a geneticist."
"Let me guess," said Toro, "Stormy pretended to like the nerd so he could do her homework for her." "Exactly," said Darcy, "When I told him that Stormy would be ever so grateful for bringing her back to life, he nearly popped his pimples out of excitement."
"And when Malaketh asked you to launder The Shadow Rider's financial assets," said Toro, "It must have seemed like divine intervention, that the gods were smiling on you." "I haven't really thought about it like that," said Darcy, "But yes, it does seem like fate is on our sides."
"So how long until your sisters are back to their full selves?" asked Toro. "It'll be at least two years before the embryos mature to where Icy and Stormy were physically," answered Darcy, "Followed by another year or so before their memories return. When that happens they'll remember everything that happened to them up until I took the blood samples. We'll have to fill in the rest for them."
"At least three years," said Toro, "Will they be safe here? Will we be safe until then?" "As long as the two of us stay out of plain sight and don't do anything to draw attention," said Darcy, "We'll be fine. As far as the universe is concerned, Icy and Stormy are dead. Even if they suspect what I did, The Galaxy Police or anyone will never find them here."
"True," said Toro, "I would never suspect anyone would hide anything in The Asteroid Belt of The Sol System. But if we can't do anything that would draw attention, what will we do until your sisters are back to normal?"
"I don't know," said Darcy, "But we'll do something. The universe is vast; I'm sure there's a place for people like us; people who value personal freedom, people who won't submit to authority."
The witch looked into the eyes of the martial artists and he looked back. "I don't know if it was fate or something else that drew us together," said Darcy, "But from the second I saw you on Earth, I knew you were the man for me."
"And when you gave me my new name," said Toro, "I knew I was meant for you. I don't claim to know the future, but I do know this: Come what may, for better or worse, we'll always have each other." "Yes," said Darcy, "Always and never."
Now it's over. I hope you've enjoyed reading this story as much as I have enjoyed writing it. If you like this story, you'll love the sequel: 'The Madness of Diaspro,' coming soon. As usual reviews will be rewarded with cake and pie. See you later!
The End!
