The Phantom of the Jedi

The Jedi Council room was big enough for about thirty people. It was round and the elders sat with their backs to the walls. The spotlight shone down on a black cat in a grey diplomatic suit in between them.

"Again; I implore the Jedi council for your help. The Malician incursion was unwarranted. Is balance not a thing that you prize? Is there no pity or equity in your hearts?"
"Princess Kitty." The head Jedi official stated, "You have already lost your war. The Great Cat Empire has fallen; it is not a random event but the design of the Living Force of Creation. Even things that happen which seem negative have a purpose, though that purpose is not easy to see."
"My people still live!"
"And may the force be with them."

"Force!" Kitty exclaimed. "I thank the Jedi Council for your time."

Kitty spun around and stormed out.

The council chambers door slid open and Captain Sylvester saluted in his navy uniform, straightening smartly to attention.

Princess Kitty stormed towards him with a scowl on her face. "May the Force be with us indeed!" Kitty scowled at Sylvester in the hall. "They quoted the non-interference directive and send us on our way with nothing more than a good luck wish. I have never met a more insufferable bunch of unfeeling, unsympathetic brain boxes."
"I have." Sylvester offered, "Were any of them Vulcan?"
Princess Kitty frowned at him, "Yes, but that's hardly the point, captain." She turned for the exit.

"What will we do now, my princess, since the Jedi council has refused our request?" Sylvester fell in step behind her. "We can't return to Felixis."
"No; we're outlaws there, Captain Sylvester, you make a resounding point." Kitty answered with the trace of tears in her voice. "No, I will have to think more of how to utilise our resources."

"At this rate a revolt will take years." Sylvester frowned.

Kitty stopped by the door to frown at him. "I do not require your depressing estimations at this time, captain, thank you." Kitty's eyes refocused on something behind Sylvester and he turned to see a furry-grey Jedi in a purple robe and long ears watching them. The expression on the face of the rabbit was inscrutable.

Princess Kitty politely nodded to the Jedi in the room with them. She swung about with a flick of her brushy tail towards the exit. "Come, Captain Sylvester. We have many trials ahead of us."

"I'll say." Sylvester agreed. "The Kitty Hawke's hyper drive needs re-yarning and without a crew it's going to take me around fifteen hours to get the job done."
"Docked for fifteen hours!" Kitty exclaimed, "We cannot afford that kind of exposure. Marcia Malicia's wolves will surely sniff out our berth long before then."

"My princess, if the string unwinds while the hy-." Sylvester closed the door behind them.

Bugs Bunny stepped into the council meeting room and saw the elders getting up from their chairs. "Oh, elder council," he drew their attention, "What gives throwing that poor woman out on her ear? Could nobody else hear her suffering in need of a morsel of guidance?"

"She wishes to call a revolt against the Malician occupation of her home world. She will not let go of her obsessive attachment, and obsession leads to the Dark Side."
Bugs twitched at the Vulcan council member's response. "You realise of course, Elder Solok; that she's going to make that revolt happen with or without our help?"
"It is counterintuitive to interfere with the life force balance on Felixis. Jedi protect the peace. We are warriors of peace, and are not ones to use force to resolve a conflict; it is through peace, understanding and harmony that conflicts resolve."

"While I do agree in so much as the old broken record routine goes; we can't just abandon the dame to the Malician wolves. Are we not Jedi, guardians of peace and justice? Do we not believe in finding peaceful solutions to problems? We should never negotiate out of fear, but also we should never fear to negotiate. We embrace justice, protecting and preserving the fundamental rights of all living creatures. Empathy and compassion are vital to us; it allows us to comprehend the wounds caused by injustice."

"I can sense your mind clouding with feelings for the girl."

"Low ball." Bugs glared back at Solok. "She's lost, alone and crying. She's going to get herself hurt and then it really will disrupt the balance in the Force. We as Jedi believe that love and compassion are central to our lives. We must love each other as we love ourselves; by doing this, we envelope all life in the positive energy of the Force."

"You be her protector then, young Jedi Knight."

The council murmured in consensus.

"Very well I will do it." Bugs answered. In a way, this had been what he'd been after when he'd walked in here just now.

Kitty and Sylvester were in their rented hover car when Sylvester looked in his rear vision camera screens.

"My princess, we've got a tail."
Kitty straightened in the back seat. "Ship to ship COM link!"

"The deposed Kitty Walker of the Great Cat Empire. You're supposed to be dead!"
"We're going to make it happen."

"On second thoughts I don't want to talk to them. Turn it off." Kitty gulped. "Step on it, Captain!"

Sylvester flew the ship chaotically trying to shake the Malician wolves and avoid their disruptor bolts. Kitty clung desperately to her seatbelt. "We're not getting out of this!" She exclaimed and opened the compartment, jamming the parachute on her back. "Come on, Captain Sylvester, it's time to bail out!"

Kitty and Sylvester landed in the street underbelly of the capital city. "They're going to come back!" Sylvester fretted, fighting his parachute back into its pack.
As her parachute neatly retracted, Kitty looked around at the street frontage . "Look, there's an underground entrance!" She exclaimed at the dark gap between two bars. "Let's go."

They quickly scatted through the gap and discovered themselves in a tunnel system.

"I wonder what this is for." Kitty said quietly as she and Sylvester began their exploration. "It seems abandoned at any rate."
"There's just enough light for us. I only wonder how long until the Malicians sniff us out and corner us down here." Sylvester added.

"Wait, princess, can you hear that?"

They listened to the distant harmonic strains.

"Music." Kitty decided. "Someone is singing opera. How do we get rid of those wolves?"
"Oh." Sylvester frowned. "I thought it sounded like lunch."
Kitty listened again. "I think we're beneath some sort of amphitheatre. Let's see if we can't make some use of this."

"Some protector I am." Bugs Bunny followed the two Malician wolves from the twisted steaming wreckage. They seemed to have a better idea as to where to start looking than he did right now. "If I get her out of this I'll be sure to lock my senses onto her Force effect."

"Hello." Bugs' ears pricked, even as the Malicians beat up the bouncer and opened the door to the theatre. He tiptoed after them.

"Past the point of no return, no backward glances
Our games of make-believe are at an end
Past all hope of cries for help, no point resisting
We're past the point of no return."

Bugs silently tailed the two wolves. 'What are you nuts?' He watched in amazement as they disregarded the 'it's a trap' signs and headed up to the stage. 'She's clearly baiting you, meaning she's rigged it meaning-.'

Sandbags fell and the two wolves went down under them. Bugs hopped over the pile-up and got up onto the stage.

"Too late for turning back!
Too late for prayers and useless pity!"

Kitty grabbed Sylvester from off the ladder in the stage wing. "Come, Sylvester."

"Down once more to the dungeons
Of our dark despair
Down we plunge to the misery below.
That what once we had is now no more
So down to the dark we'll go."

Kitty's voice carried the words. She was obviously having a meltdown and no thanks to Elder Solok. Bugs dived in through the trap door after them.

After a moment, Kitty spun around and seized upon Bugs.

"What's up, Princess?"
"I demand to know why you are following me!"
Bugs shrugged. "I have to tell you: That outfit simply does not go with these walls. If you're going to stay down here you really should go for a brown or black robe."

Kitty glanced down at her light grey delegate dress and scowled at him.

"Hounded out by everyone!
Met with hatred everywhere!
No kind words from anyone!
No compassion anywhere!
Jedi, why? Why?"

Bugs shook his head and smiled gently at her.

"No more talk of darkness
Let me be your light
I'm here, with you, beside you
To guard you and to guide you"

She gazed at him, suddenly seeing him for the first time.

"All I want is freedom
A world with no more night
And you, always beside me
To guide me and to hide me."

"Then say you'll share with me each fight, each trial
Say the word and I will follow you
Say you need me with you here, beside you
Anywhere you go, let me go too
Princess, that's all I ask of you."

"Share each day with me, each fight, and each trial"

"Say you need me"

"You know I do.
Help me, that's all I ask of you."

She gazed at him. "Thank you, Jedi Knight. Might I know your name, or shall I always address you by your title?"
Bugs cocked an ear at her. "Bugs Bunny."

Sylvester cleared his throat. "Princess, forgive my interruption but we'd better leave before those two hairballs wake up."