Chapter Ten: A Different Path
The air within the room Mabel suddenly found herself in was ice cold, like she was standing on the surface of Hoth. It was large darkened room with the minimal lightening coming from the ceiling and a few floor panels. There was large wide set of steps that lead upwards toward single chair that was currently turned to face a massive window that looked outwards into the vast emptiness of space. On occasion, a bright beam of green light came streaking across the other side of the window before racing off into the darkness of the space around it.
As Mabel slowly approached the steps that lead up towards the chair, she suddenly heard the sound of heavy breathing from right side of her. She turned around to see the imposingly large figure of Darth Vader emerging from the shadows, activating his lightsaber as he did. Mabel activated her own lightsaber in defense right before the Sith Lord brought his crimson blade down on her head. While two warriors began to dual one another, the chair facing the giant window slowly started to turn around to face the battle between Mabel and Vader. Mabel could one get a quick glance before turning her attention back to her fight with the dark lord, but she caught a glimpse of a figure dressed in a black hooded robe looking down at them.
Mabel and Vader continued to fight as it began to feel like the whole world was starting to slow down around her. Soon enough, the young Jedi was beginning to gain an upper hand over the Sith Lord and started to beat him back until she found an opening to stab him through the chest, ending his wicked life once and for all. As Mabel watched as Vader slowly fell to the ground in a dying heap, she felt no pity for ending his life. Knowing that she had avenged her great-uncle—though she did not know how she came upon these circumstances in the first place.
"Good, good…" the hooded figure congratulated as he walked down the steps to face the Padawan "You have proven yourself worthy to become a true Sith Lord!"
Mabel's eyes widen in horror by what the hooded figure had just told her, but couldn't force any words out of her mouth. She looked back at her lightsaber and saw that it had suddenly changed from blue to red, making her gasp in shock at the sight. The young Jedi then looked back down to Vader's body; however, instead of the Sith Lord's body lying before her, it was the body of her recently departed great-uncle with a fatal stab wound of her blade through his chest.
The next thing she new, the young Jedi found herself strapped down to and operating table and was now dressed in a more slimmer and feminine version of Vader's armor. Mabel looked up to see the dark lord's helmet slowly coming down from the ceiling and down toward her face. The hooded figure then stepped out of the darkness and stood next to the now panicking Padawan with a devilish smile on his lips.
"It's not so bad, Mabel" he assured in a dark, yet familiar tone as he reached up toward his hood and started to pull it back "The dark side is true power"
The figure pulled back his hood to reveal to Mabel the very scared and broken face of her brother looking at her with mad smile.
"Now you're just like me!" Dipper said with an evil cackle
Mabel cried out in sheer terror just as the mask closed around her head.
Mabel cries of horror followed her out of her nightmare and back into reality. As she wiped the cold sweat off of her forehead, she quickly took note that she was neither dead nor on Endor's moon. She was now lying on a small cot with a thin wool blanket over her body. She threw off the blanket to see that she had been undressed from upper half of her body and was left with only the bandages she had tied around her chest to act as a make-shift bra; she also saw that her wound had been cleaned up and had a pact over it to keep it from reopening again.
The young Jedi then looked around her new surroundings and found herself it what looked like some sort of dimly-lit supply closet filled with food, bottled water and ammunition, as well as a few spare blasters. Mabel's mind began to race with what had happened to her after she had blanked out from her battle with Ren; all she could remember was seeing her twin falling to his death before fading away into darkness.
Like a lightning bolt, the image of seeing her brother's face as he fell into the canyon below flashed in her mind. She had just lost the last member of her family—and it was done by her own hands no less. The pain of her guilt ripped at her like a flurry of blaster bolts shredding into her very soul. Now the young Jedi was left an orphan and homeless and without any idea where she was or how she was going to escape. It was then that Mabel's Jedi training snapped her back from the edge of despair. She was not going to die here in some closet while wallowing in depression—she was going to survive! The time for tears can come another time, now it was the time to honor her master's last wishes and become a true Jedi.
With a renewed vigor, Mabel then got to her feet and began to search around the room for the top half of her Jedi tunic, as well as any clues as to who had taken her. She would've also tried looking for her lightsaber as well had it not been taken by Dipper during their final dual and she doubted that whoever had captured her also brought along her brother's weapon that she had to use to fight him with along with her. Soon enough, she found her tunic laying across some boxes and dressed herself, noticing that the hole where the knife entered the clothing had been stitched up.
Just then, the door to the supply closet suddenly slid open to allow a young blonde haired girl around the Padawan's age to step inside. The girl was dressed in a brown rimmed hat with a brown leather trenchcoat, tan jeans, brown boots and a tan undershirt; she was also carrying a small plate of food in her hands. Without giving it another thought, Mabel used the Force to grab the girl and pin her against one of the small room's walls.
"Who are you?!" the Padawan demanded "And where am I?!"
"I'm the girl who's starting to regret saving your ass!" the stranger shot back "Now let me go!"
Mabel released her hold on the girl, but kept her guard up. Though she no longer had her lightsaber with her, the Force was always with her.
"Alright…so I'm guessing by that little magic trick you're not exactly normal" the girl said as she straightened herself out "Who and what are you?"
"I asked you first" Mabel replied firmly
"Ok, fair enough" the girl answered "My name's Pacifica Northwest, and your on board my ship The Everfree. My crew and I were following a little creep to Endor's moon when we learned there was something on the moon he wanted. I went down there to find him, but I found you dying on the ground instead. So I brought you back here and fixed you up"
"This 'little creep' wouldn't happen to be short blonde Inquisitor, would he?" Mabel mentioned
"Yep, that's the one" the blonde replied "What happened to him?"
"My brother killed him…" the Padawan explained with tinge of sadness as she remembered the violent act her twin had done
"Well that sucks. I wanted to blow his brains out after he beat the snot out of me a few weeks ago" the other girl mentioned before getting back on track "Well you got my story, now what's yours?"
"I'm Mabel, Mabel Pines" the young Jedi began
"Mabel?" Pacifica repeated her name with a snicker "That sounds like an old person's name"
"Yeah, because Pacifica is such a normal name, right?" Mabel rebottled with her arms crossed
"Touché" the blonde deadpanned before getting back on track "You still haven't answered my other question by the way: what are you?"
There was apart of Mabel that didn't want to tell this women what she truly was, but she had unfortunately shown her powers to this stranger and she had a feeling that Pacifica was smart enough to know that she wasn't psychic. So against her better judgment, the Padawan decided to tell her.
"I'm…a Jedi" she finally admitted
The look on Pacifica's face when she heard those words was that of a mix of surprise and disbelief. She had heard stories of the Jedi when she younger from her servants when she lived with her family. She was enthralled by the tales of their heroism and powers and secretly wished always meet one in person. Now she was standing before the very thing she idolized in her childhood and she couldn't form words to say anything. It was then in the bounty hunter's mind that she pieced together that this girl was in fact the thing Vader and the Inquisitor wanted, but now she had to ask herself: was she really willing to give this girl who had lost enough as it is to the Empire?
The answer was no.
"I was living on Endor's moon with my brother Ren. We were being trained by our great-uncle Stanford to become Jedi masters" the Padawan continued before her voice became more somber "Before Vader came…"
Pacifica didn't need to be told more; she could already out what had transpired on the moon before she arrived.
"I'm…sorry" the young bounty hunter consoled gently
Mabel didn't want to tell this girl the truth as to what really happened between her and her brother before she blacked out, those last moments would belong to only her. It was then that Pacifica then reached into her trenchcoat—making Mabel tense up in the process—before pulling out a small familiar object and holding it out to her: a lightsaber hilt.
"I found this lying next to you when I found you" she said "here, it's yours after all"
In truth it was not Mabel's lightsaber, but her brother's. It was with this very weapon that she used to kill her last remaining family member. Mabel tentatively reached out and took hold of the hilt and held it close to her chest, as if somehow this act could not only bring back Dipper, but restore him to original self as well.
"It was my brother's" Mabel informed Pacifica softly before looking back at other girl "thank you"
"Uh, no problem" Pacifica replied, unsure what to do next
Just then, a green skinned Twi'lek and a heavy-set Torgurta entered the already cramped supply closet with blasters at the ready. Mabel quickly got into a battle stance and prepared to activate her weapon, but Pacifica put herself in-between her crew and the Jedi.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Take it easy girls—put the blasters down!" she ordered her friends
The two aliens compiled with her order and lowered their weapons, allowing Mabel to do the same.
"Sorry boss, but when you didn't come out of the room after ten minutes, we thought you where in trouble" Greta apologized
"Or trying to get in the girl's pants" Candi added on
"What?" Mabel asked, clearly taking aback by that remark
An embarrassed laugh escaped Pacifica's lips as a way of avoiding answering that question. The bounty hunter then shot her two friends a quick glower, silently ordering them to leave the room. It goes without saying that the two aliens got the message and departed from the room with haste.
"What did she mean by—"the young Jedi tried to ask
"Anyway!" Pacifica cut her off a bit too quickly "So as you can see you've got your own room now. It's sad I know, but we're cramped enough as it is in here, and your more then welcome to stay with us as long as you wish"
"Thank you, but I can't stay" Mabel said "Is there any way you can take me to Bespin? My great-uncle told me that there was a man there I'm supposed to meet in Cloud City"
"I don't know, Bespin's pretty far away" the young bounty hunter reasoned in an unsure tone "And I'm not exactly well liked in Cloud City to begin with"
"Why's that?" Mabel inquired
"Let's just say their leader and I don't exactly see eye to eye" Pacifica replied "The last time I tried to collect a bounty there I almost—"
Pacifica stopped her words right there, but it was too late. She had inadvertently revealed her true profession to the Jedi and judging by the sudden vexed look in Mabel's eyes, she was really in for it.
"You're a bounty hunter!" the Padawan shouted
"Hey, it's a legitimate business!" the blonde defended sharper then she meant it to be
"Killing people for credits is not a legitimate business!" Mabel shot back "I bet you were going to sell me off to the Empire, weren't you?"
"No, no, no…" Pacifica assured gently before pausing for a few seconds then adding on "Well, yeah—but I swear that plan's out then window now!"
"Oh you bet it is!" the Jedi snarled as she ignited her weapon "and your going with it!"
Mabel grabbed hold of Pacifica's throat and once again pinned her against the wall. She held her green blade a level with the girl's chest, ready to strike her down with one move. Then the images of the nightmare raced in her head yet again, reminding her of what she could become if she did this. With a weary and frustrated sigh, Mabel released her hold on the bounty hunter's neck and deactivated her lightsaber. She then noticed that Pacifica had drawn a blaster out of her coat and had pressed it against her torso during the brief skirmish.
"Don't ever do that again" the bounty hunter sneered as she put away her gun "I really hate it when someone pulls a weapon on me when I'm trying to be nice to them"
"Can you take me to Bespin or not?" Mabel questioned sharply, ignoring her words
"Yeah, I can take you there" the blonde answered "But we go there on my terms, got it?"
Mabel gave the girl a hard gaze as she nodded in response, obviously not happy with the travel arrangements. A part of the young Jedi wanted to apologize to Pacifica for her rash actions, but she remembered the stories her great-uncle had told her of the bounty hunters he had encountered during the Clone Wars and how manipulative they could be to fulfill their selfish goals of earning their ill-gotten credits. So while the blonde-haired girl had rescued her from certain death, Mabel chose to keep her guard up as long as she stayed aboard her ship. Pacifica said nothing else as she departed from the supply closet, clearly angered by how she was just now treated for her kindness.
"That ungrateful bitch!" Pacifica thought to herself after she had exited the room "If she wasn't a Jedi—and cute—I'd shoot her out of the trash disposal unit!"
While she was angry with the Jedi, the young bounty hunter couldn't help but feel sympatric toward her. The girl just had her whole life ripped away from her in less then a day and now she was alone in the galaxy, and while Pacifica wanted nothing more then to stay as far away from her parents as possible, she knew that not everyone had such a cruel family as she did. The least the young rouge could do is take her Bespin like she requested—granted it would after they collected a few bounties to make up for Pacifica's pity.
Soon the leader of the bounty hunting trio walked back to the large cockpit of The Everfree, where Candi and Greta where currently flying the ship through the stars.
"So are we sticking to the whole 'giving her to the Empire' plan?" the Twi'Lek asked
"Unfortunately, no" her leader replied with a frustrated sigh "My conscious is getting the better of me on this one. I can't just let this girl be taken by Vader, not after what she's been through"
"So what do we do with her?" Greta questioned
"We're going to take her to Bespin. She says there's someone there she's supposed to meet" Pacifica answered "But we take her there only after we've recoup our loss on this score"
"Which might take awhile" Candi mentioned "But for what it's worth boss, I think you're doing the right thing"
"Ugh, don't remind me" her leader grumbled "Just go get me some of the what Sullastan ale so I can try to forget that I just blew our big break"
Candi then got up from her chair and went to go search her leader's alcohol of choice, allowing Pacifica to sit down and take the wheel of her ship for a short time.
"So our new guest…" she suddenly spoke up "what do you think Greta—a girl like her and girl like me?"
The Torgurta gave her human friend's question a thought for a few seconds before answering.
"I don't know, maybe?"
After the bounty hunter had left, Mabel had turned her silent attention toward the lightsaber in her hand as memories of her brother back when he was pure danced through her mind. She almost wanted to throw the weapon away since it was with this very saber she had used to kill her sibling with, but the love she once had for her brother kept her from doing such a thing. Instead, she made a silent vow that she would use this lightsaber in the name of everything Dipper once was and honor both his and her master's memory by using it as a true Jedi would.
Mabel knew she was on a different path now; the very galaxy was open to her now and she could learn so much from it. She swore that she would find whoever this Stanly person was and with his help, she would become a true Jedi Knight. And then she would one day find a way to create a new Jedi Order, one that would fight against the tyranny of the Empire and bring peace to the galaxy.
But for now, that destiny had to wait. For now, she would have to train on her own for the time being and hope that the bounty hunter would keep her word—which she still doubted. So she merely sat crossed-legged on the floor and began to meditate, opening herself up to the Force both within and around her body.