Chapter 2 – Attack of the Old Man

Ben stopped to take a breath once he reached his room. The walls inside contradicted the rest of the house as, while the interior of the house was mostly cream, his walls were a dark grey. This was the only thing he remembered from the pictures - one of the only reasons why he agreed to move here.

He set down his box of things onto his bed and began taking out small sentimental objects and placing them around the room. The movers had already placed the bulk of the furniture but there was still a truck of smaller possessions due to arrive in a few days. His parents had allowed him to bring a box of things he couldn't live without with them in the car. It mainly consisted of clothes, old toys and books that reminded him of his childhood and one of his most treasured possessions: his Grandfather's mask. He knew little about it as his parents didn't like to talk about his Grandfather's past. The only thing he knew was that he used to be involved in some major crime organisation and this mask was what he used to conceal himself when he partook in certain schemes.

Thankfully, his Grandfather's dark days were over, he'd served some time and redeemed himself. Still, his parents felt slightly uncomfortable about leaving himself and Anakin alone. They didn't want him following in his footsteps but they let him keep the mask.

He placed the mask on a shelf along with other trinkets then continued to unpack. After finishing arranging them he decided to take a nap, it had been a long journey and he had some time to kill before his parents came home.

"Ben!" His Father called from down the stairs. Ben grunted as he sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"What?" He called back, annoyed. After no response he stood up and marched down the stairs making extra noise so his parents realised his displeasure. "What?" He asked again as he reached the kitchen. Leia was unpacking saucepans and other utensils into the kitchen cupboards while Han was attempting to get the TV to work.

"You need to run to the store and get some milk and bread," Han requested whilst fumbling with a few wires. Ben crossed his arms and rolled his eyes.

"Why can't you go?" He retorted.

"Because I'm busy," Han replied and continued working on the TV. Leia stopped unpacking and brought out her purse. She tossed him some money and then went back to unpacking.

"The store is just down the road, we passed it on the way here," She spoke calmly. Ben realised that it was no use arguing with them. He stuffed the money into his pocket and proceeded to leave.

The sun had passed behind a cloud which made the air much cooler. He heard laughter coming from his Grandparent's house – they must still have people round. He started to kick a stone along the ground as he reached the end of the street.

"Boy!" Ben heard a voice causing him to jump. He looked around and stopped walking. The old man they had passed on their way here was shouting at him again. "You must help me… I am in grave danger" The old man cried in distress. Half of him felt like he ought to see what the matter was but the other half felt downright terrified. Deciding against the latter, he called back.

"What's wrong?" He asked taking a few steps towards his makeshift home. The man was wearing what looked to be like an old black robe and had a face full of scars. He was sat, cross legged, on the ground next to his box and a sign.

"It's my apprentice! He turned against me… You must help me take my revenge," He explained quickly in a panicked voice. Ben felt the urge to keep walking and ignore this man's crazed speech. Instead, he took pity on him and decided to hear him out.

"Who turned against you?" Ben asked, curious now.

"Darth Vader… He tried to kill me but I managed to escape see? Now I'm here but I know he's gonna come for me… He's scared of me, they all are," The man went on and grabbed Ben's leg. "You have to save me!" was the old man crying? His eyes were certainly red.

Before Ben could attempt to pry him off he heard another voice coming from behind him.

"Hey! You leave Kylo alone you old creep," It was Rey; Ben recognised the sound of her voice. She stomped over to them and pulled Ben backwards causing the man to release him from his grasp. She continued pulling his arm away a few metres before turning to him. "Are you alright?" she asked seeming genuinely concerned.

"Yeah I was fine really," He stuttered feeling nervous all of a sudden. "I would've got him off me," Rey smiled and let go of his arm.

"That was Palpatine… He's been there for a while. He's just an old crazy guy really, don't listen to what he says. The council has tried to move him but he refuses to go… says this is his home and keeps babbling on about how he needs to keep an eye on his apprentice. A bunch of lies if you ask me," She explained and Ben nodded. "Where were you off to, if you don't mind me asking," She changed the subject.

"My parents sent me out to pick up a few things from the store," He answered.

"Do you know where it is? I could show you," Rey suggested, her eyes lighting up.

"Sure that'll be great," he laughed awkwardly as she began to lead him further away from Palpatine who was still eyeing them suspiciously.

Meanwhile, a few houses away, Snoke settled down onto his aged sofa. He hit the button on the TV remote and leant back to watch his favourite show – 'Dancing with the stars'. The interior of his house was much different from Han and Leia's. Although every house on the street had the same basic design each one's inside was very different. His walls were painted grey and bits of paint had begun chipping away at the walls. He seemed to take little pride in his house as the ground was littered with food packets and crumbs.
His viewing session was uninterrupted until he heard loud knocking noises coming from next door. After several knocks he stood up, annoyed, he knew instantly who the culprit was. Snoke turned off the TV and marched outside into his back garden. He moved a garden stool over to the fence and used to grow an extra few inches so he could see over the fence.

Surely enough, Trump was outside his house also with a hammer and several bricks. For some reason, unknown to Snoke, he was using a hammer to lay bricks down along the side of his fence. He appeared to be building a wall.

"You know that's not how you lay bricks right Trump?" Snoke hissed at him loudly however, Trump could not hear him over the sound of his building work. "Trump!" He yelled at him again getting increasingly angry with each breath. That time Trump did hear him and he stopped hammering and glared up at him.

"What?" he replied in his thick accent. Snoke swallowed once before answering, he needed to compose himself before he did something regrettable.

"You know that's not how you lay bricks… There's no hammering involved. You're going to break the brick," Snoke tried to speak calmly but anger still seeped through his words. Trump looked confused.

"Oh," He finished and put the hammer down. He picked up a trowel instead. Snoke sighed in relief as he stepped down from the stool to leave Trump to build his wall. Just as he opened the door to return to his sofa he flinched as a horrible loud screeching noise filled his ears. It sounded like metal being dragged across a whiteboard. He ran back over to the stool and jumped onto it to see what on Earth Trump was doing.

Trump was dragging the trowel obnoxiously across the bricks.

"Trump! Could you make any more noise?" Snoke said sarcastically. The orange man stopped and glared at Snoke with piercing eyes.

"Sorry but I need to make my wall," Trump replied as he continued to scrape alongside the bricks.

"What possible reason could you need a wall for, you have a fence," Snoke growled at him. Trump chuckled to himself as he realised Snoke looked like he was part of a coconut shy stand with just his head peaking over to fence. He imagined throwing a ball at his face and watching it tumble down. Shaking his head slightly, he returned to reality.

"I need a wall to keep out nosey neighbours like you," Trump sneered back. Snoke's cheeks deepened to a red as anger consumed him.

"I'll be writing to the council about this," Snoke replied and stepped down from the stool.

"Go ahead! It's only the seventh time this month," Trump shouted from behind the fence. As much as he hated to admit it, Trump was right. The council seemed to care little about their quarrels. The most they'd done was suggest they take it to court but Snoke didn't have the time or money for that. Instead he would have to suffer with annoying neighbours.

Snoke slammed the door upon returning to his house. He switched the TV on and put it on full volume. Then he went over to his radio and blasted loud classical music through the house. Trump needed to know that two could play at this game.

Next door Leia and Han grew increasingly aware of their neighbour problem. They first thought it funny and entertaining listening to their argument but their attitude towards it changed after Snoke decided to join in on the noise.

"We should say something to him," Han suggested. "Tell him to turn it down," He began to walk towards the door.

"Like that's going to happen. You heard the argument, they're both doing it out of spite," Leia pointed out and sat down on a chair.

"Good point," Han answered as he joined her at the table. "Where's Ben gone off to? It shouldn't take that long to grab some food,"

"Maybe he's made some friends," Leia said, smiling to herself. Han huffed and laughed quietly.

"Yeah… right," He laughed. Leia shoved him gently.

"Don't be so mean. He's your son you should want him to be happy," She remarked and straightened on her chair. At that moment, the front door opened and Ben came in with a bag of shopping. He seemed to be in a good mood which was odd for him.

"Ben, what took you so long? You've been gone for more than half an hour," Han demanded as he stood up from his chair. Ben placed the bag on the kitchen counter and began walking upstairs to his room.

"It's Kylo now and I met up with a friend," He replied as he shut the door. Han looked at Leia in surprise. Leia smirked and gave him the 'I told you so' look while she started to unpack the shopping.