Lux Bonteri woke up inside a large room where all the doors were locked. If Lux had tried to lean on one of them he would have taken a fatal electric shock. Suddenly a large monitor appeared showing a man with a mask. The man said, "Welcome to my game, Bonteri! You must not know me, but I am the Mystery… one of the most mysterious of all criminals. Funny, no? Okay. I arrested many civilians and put them in a building near where you are... and what do you have to do with it? You ask me, and I answer with great pleasure. If you don't solve my puzzles... I burst the building. Really easy? Hahahaha! Good luck. What is a house without a door and without window, there live two maidens, one white and one yellow?"
Lux didn't know what happened to explain how he got where he was. He was also a bit frustrated about being locked inside a room with none of his guardians present... but as the man asked him the question, Lux knew the answer already. The question was an old one. "An egg, right?"
The Mystery replied, "Good answer, little boy! Do not think that will make it easier for you. 4 + 4 + 4 equals 12. What is another sum of three equal numbers which also results in 12?"
Lux knew basic arithmetic. But this question was indeed harder to answer for him. "Hang on. Can I think about that for a minute or two? Wait." He suddenly thought of a POSSIBLE answer. "Multiply 3 times itself then add the number 3 to the result of that. 3 times 3 is 9 and 9 + 3 is 12. Am I correct?"
This was a good answer… but since math apparently wasn't this crook's favorite subject… it wasn't the answer he had in mind. "Hahahahaha! Easier than you thought. 11 + 1 = 12. The game is over." Suddenly the doors opened. "Continue using your mind and hundreds of lives are saved... off!" The monitor turned off.
"Ooooh." Lux snapped his fingers, but immediately took out his hero's lightsaber, which he won in battle from another criminal years ago, and used it to light the way as he walked through the doors. He felt bad for failing the test, but at least HE was still alive... for now. "But those were three equal DIGITS. Not NUMBERS." He said to himself. "Not that a crook would know the difference, typically."
Although he'd saved his own skin, he had apparently failed to save other lives that were on the line. That wasn't his only problem though. Lux had no idea which planet he was on, now. "Luxie?" Suddenly, a familiar female voice from behind him spoke up. She was hiding behind a boulder but at the moment her head peeked over it. Her young nephew, Galen, would be famous as Darth Starkiller, in the somewhat distant future.
Lux recognized the voice of his old friend from when his daughter, Mariah Bonteri, was only three years old. "Hope Marek?" He smiled a little upon seeing her. "Nice to see a familiar face, after what I've just been through."
"Why are you on this planet? Are you not busy with senator stuff?" She curtsied.
He chuckled a bit. "Well, let's just say I WAS until I was brought here by a mysterious criminal who calls himself 'The Mystery' and he wanted to play a dangerous game of riddles with me. It must've been very fun for him with lives on the line." He shuddered. "I'm not sure which planet I'm on."
"It's the darker sections of Nabboo." She shrugged. "I came for a little vacation and decided to investigate further."
"I see." He rubbed his chin. "I know you've never been TOO involved in my adventures, but you're always welcome to join me on this one... if you want. I seldom do anything without a teammate or two. If not... it's fine. Just tell me what you know about 'The Mystery' if you know anything about him at all."
"Thank you. But… I have my own things to worry about. With all due respect." She bowed.
"Understood." He returned the bow and smiled a bit. "I'm guessing you don't have any useful information either. If that's the case, I'd better be on my way. It was nice seeing you again." He gave her a one arm hug then went along his merry way again. As soon as he was in a zone where his holo communicator had frequency, he contacted his protectors to let them know where he was and what had happened.
Lux's Jedi protector noticed the day after the night of Lux's disappearance that he was gone. He started searching the house for clues as to how and where he went. But upon getting Lux's message, he rushed to Nabboo and investigated the place Lux was originally taken to. Terra Xar… the rogue dark sider who had pledged her life to protecting Lux… split up to look for her friend, while Durbero went inside the ominous building. That was when the old monitor was connected again… showing the mysterious man. He wore a mask and was sitting in a chair. He saw the stranger invading the place where he had fun doing his psychotic plans. "I do not think I asked you to play with me. I hate nosy people." He laughed evilly, locking the doors that led electrical discharge at anyone who tried to escape. Suddenly, the psychopath noted a lightsaber on his invader's belt. "Jedi? Were you not all dead? But... let the game begin!" He asked the first question then gave a warning. "The more I am, less you see me. What can I be? Remembering that I have hostages waiting to be burned, do not fail with them."
The Jedi grimaced upon seeing the man. His investigation had led him into this place. As the crook spoke his riddle, Durbero started to think. Then he remembered another riddle. "It cannot be seen, cannot be felt, cannot be heard, cannot be smelled... It lies between stars and under hills and great halls, it fills. It comes first and follows after, ends life, kills laughter." He paused. "Is the answer to your question... Darkness?"
He laughed evilly. "I like to challenge people who do not have primitive brain. You are right. I wiggle and cannot see, sometimes underground and sometimes on a tree. I really do not want to be on the hook, and I become a person when combined with book. What am I?"
This question was easy to answer. "A worm."
The Mystery then asked the third question. "I am owned by every man, though my length differs. Their wives use me after getting married. What am I?"
Durbero made his best guess based on what he knew about Lux's marriage to a former Jedi named Ahsoka Bonteri… although her name used to be Ahsoka Tano. "A last name?"
"Here is a man with intelligence. You answered all my questions. You are worthy!" He freed the civilians and unlocked the doors, and turned off the monitor. The Jedi walked out happy about saving the civilians but also figured this guy needed to be tracked down and captured somehow.
A little while after making his call, Lux found himself on the outskirts of a small town on Nabboo. Here, he would wait for his companions. Terra landed her chrome shuttle that resembled a Naboo ship, so not to be questioned or look suspicious. She saw her friend and quickly opened the hatch, she cut the engine and made sure her sabers were still on her belt before walking out to meet him. "I got your call. What's going on? Are you alright?"
He gave her a smile upon sight of her. "I'm fine. Yeah. It's the people of Nabboo, and possibly other planets too, that I'm worried about." He then told her what happened to him, earlier.
She pondered with a finger on her chin. "This isn't good. Do you know where to find this… Mystery?"
He shook his head. "No. I found no clues where he took me, either. Maybe we should ask the people in surrounding areas if they know anything about him. Since he had a base on this planet, he MIGHT not be far off."
"Let's get going, then." She smiled a bit. Lux smiled back and started to head into the town. Shortly afterwards, Durbero called to let them know he'd apparently freed the Mystery's hostages. But he too had found no clues as to the man's whereabouts.
Lux and Terra were still searching around in the streets of the small town on Nabboo, when night fell. It was a bit cloudy, that night. Not many stars could be seen. Almost nobody else was out and about that night. But suddenly, Lux spotted someone moving into a dark alley. A man with black jacket and a mask had killed a politician and left him thrown in the alley. The victim had cut marks on the neck and a note: I warned you! The question is: I'm white and I have many legs, a disgusting appearance, and I live in a swampy planet... What am I? Lux motioned for Terra to sneak up onto the roof while he kept the Mystery distracted. He yelled up at the man, "Is it a knobbly white spider from the Dagobah system?"
"Exactly! A spider!" Suddenly, a ship landed. The rear compartment opened and a giant white spider walked up to Lux. "Bonteri, take good care of my little friend."
Lux drew his blasters and started firing at the giant arachnid. "Holy eight-legs, Terra! That thing's hideous!" The Mystery laughed from on top of the roof of the building above.
"Dang it!" Terra ignited her sabers and jumped down from the roof and onto the spider. She stabbed her blades into its head, then jumped off and aimed to start striking at each of its legs. Lux watched Terra fight that spider. Her loyalty did him almost as proudly as Ahsoka's did, back in the day. When she had cut off part of each of its legs, causing it to fall to the ground, she stabbed her sabers into its head once more, killing it. She retracted her blades and put her hilts on her belt and turned, flicking her hair behind her shoulder.
The Mystery laughed clapping. "A great show! Excellent! I've never had so much fun! Now I run..." He jumped to the other building and started running, jumping from building to building. Lux knew there was no time for him to catch up with the guy on foot. So he rushed to a nearby speeder and 'borrowed' it. The chase was on! The crook kept running until he stopped and hid behind some boxes that were at the top of the building. Lux was able to keep him in his sights just long enough to see that happen and catch up to him. He dismounted the vehicle and looked behind the boxes with his blaster ready. All the while, Terra had been running and jumping the rooftops after him, and once he went behind the boxes, she halted and ignited her blades once more, prepared. Suddenly, just a lotho kitten came out from behind the box. He had used one of his dirty tricks. He came running and jumped at Lux from behind with a knife! "BOO!"
Lux was caught off guard, but he swerved out of the way of the knife JUST ON TIME. "Whoa!" He did a roundhouse kick towards the Mystery after he missed him by an inch.
The Mystery got kicked in the face but then recovered surprisingly fast. "You've been a bad boy. You do not know how to play with your friends, Bonteri! Need the help of a woman? Why not face me alone?" He ran and pushed Lux against the wall hanging him with his own hands and giving a knee kick in his stomach.
"I've got news for you." Terra grabbed the Mystery by his shoulder and threw him off of Lux. She kicked him in the stomach and caught him in a Force choke hold. "If you want to get to Lux..." She threw the Mystery back down, hard. "You'll have to get through this woman, first."
"Come and get me, little girl!" Suddenly a ship appeared behind him, and started shooting at them. Lux threw a homing beacon onto the ship before taking cover. Terra ran to the edge of the building and grabbed Lux's hand before jumping off and using the Force to make sure they got down safely. The roof of the building erupting with flames as the ship fired at it. The Mystery jumped off the building, falling on a pile of garbage bags. He was weakened. "I hate when my plans fail miserably," he said.
A little while later, Lux's homing beacon had traced the Mystery's ship to the crook's hideout. Lux sent his living troops to infiltrate it and take the man alive… and so they did. A little while later, he was sitting in an interrogation room. He had been captured by well-trained troops under the command of one of Lux's allies. He was without mask and wearing prison clothes. His hands were cuffed. He had a short red hair, pale skin, and appeared to be 19 years old. Lux walked in upon hearing he was caught. "Well." He turned to the soldiers. "Good job. You're sure he won't escape, right?"
"We will carry him to a much better prison tomorrow, and he has no more tricks. Why not go in there and teach a lesson to this _?"
Lux nodded his head and walked over to him. Then he looked him in the eyes and said, "Out of all the things in the galaxy you could have chosen to be... you chose to be a murderous criminal." He sighed. "All I'm going to say is... I hope you can start living a better life if you ever get released." Then he turned around and left him to rot in his cell without another word.
The caught criminal replied, "Beautiful words, Senator. That speech made me horny! Let me go so I can applaud. You know, you harm me, but supported a corrupt order as the Republic. They were corrupted. You know what I'm being? Myself! Your plaything of the government… I do not plan to hurt you, I like you! Come visit me more times!"
But Lux ignored him and went home, knowing this particular job was finished.
THE END.