Chapter 11: Shell Game
Alex crouched down and clutched his head. A nearby Black employee noticed and walked over. "Is everything ok sir?" Alex waved away the question as the feeling passed, he didn't know what happened but he felt a disturbance in the Force. Recovering quickly Alex stood up and ran across the rafter. He was stopped by a familiar sensation. The one he'd been having ever since the Hyper Portal had shown him that vision.
"I told you," The doors behind Alex opened and Thrawn appeared. Dressed in white, blue skin and red eyes. "This night would not be possible." The Chiss smirked. "If it wasn't for you." He saw Alex reach for his weapon, but Thrawn had the advantage, he raised his arms in a polite gesture, "if you want to reach for that. Then,by all means."
Unsure of himself, hands shaking nervously Alex reached for his Lightsaber and ignited it, the bright blue glow echoed of the blackness of the area. "Why?" Arms still raised Thrawn smiled and walked closer to examine the young Avatar. Young yes, but experienced. An anomaly that shouldn't exist. So much could be learned from him. So much history could finally be uncovered. Culture and most important of all. Art. Long thought lost, but now found.
And it was all here, in this young man's mind. The answers to questions long since lost to history. The lost knowledge of the ancient race known as The Time Lords. "How are you even here?" Thrawn asked curiously which caught Alex off guard. "I'm sorry," Thrawn chuckled. "I thought I'd never witness this moment."
"What moment?" Alex said nervously. The way Thrawn was studying him gave him the creeps, especially those crimson eyes. He hadn't been this nervous since The Evil Queen tried to rip his heart out. Long story don't ask. It was then he discovered a secret about his true origin. One that had been kept hidden all this time. Alex discovered that he not only had one heart but also possessed a second. He was not human. He was something else, someone else.
"History." Thrawn said simply. "Ancient art long forgotten." He lowered his hands and produced a hologram. It showed a Planet that Alex hadn't seen before. But he felt like he should have recognised it. There was no text to say what the Planet was called, but he got a feeling that he should know the name.
"That Planet. What's it called?"
Thrawn didn't answer and put the Hologram away. "That can be saved for later." He chuckled and reached out for another hologram. "It appears." The hologram enlarged to a bigger screen which showed Charlotte chaining up an unconscious Ahsoka. "You put your trust in the wrong person."
"No." Alex gasped as he watched Ahsoka awake only to find herself trapped. He then growled angrily and raised his weapon towards Thrawn. "What did you do?" Thrawn smiled this question and laughed.
"Now you see." He raised his arms in mock surrender. "You assume it was me who planned all this." He looked towards the screen and towards Charlotte. The girl was outliving her usefulness. So it would seem for the moment. "Partly true, but As I said before, you put your trust in the wrong person."
"Ahsoka." Alex whispered softly, he brought out the Star Shaped Necklace as he watched his girlfriend be tortured. He clutched the Necklace tight in his hands. "No." He growled as he heard Ahsoka's screams. "Not again."
"You'd best save her." Thrawn said smirking. Alex hated that. He had unwillinglybacked himself into a shell game. "After all, the Avatar always saves Ahsoka Tano." Those words stung, after the hell he'd gone through to save Ahsoka the last time, he was going to loose her again? Well not if Alex had anything to say about it. However what Thrawn said next shook him to his very core. "But wait, if you save Ahsoka, you'll never get the chance to find out where you came from. What you are." Thrawn laughed and said. "Who you are."
Alex stopped in his tracks, he was going in the direction that he'd left before. He never should have trusted Charlotte. Something was off about her from the start. He was just about to reach the door to the Hyper chamber when Thrawn said these words. He let go of the handle and turned slowly to face the smirking Chiss. "What did you say?"
Thrawn was still smiling he took out the hologram of the unknown Planet again. "Would you like to know?" The boy might as well know his origin before his death. Alex still heard the screams of Ahsoka, he looked back towards the door eager to rescue her. But he wanted to know what he was so desperately.
He needed the answers and whether he liked it or not. Thrawn had them, right in his finger tips. Quite literally. "What will it be?" A smirking Thrawn asked. "Save the girl, or find out who you are?" Taking a deep breath, knowing he would regret it. Alex stared down at Thrawn.
"Show me." He sighed unfortunately Alex never got a chance to find out as he was shot and knocked unconscious by a stun blast, from Thrawn's blaster. The lightsaber clattered to the ground as the Avatar fell.
"When will you learn?" Thrawn whispers into the unconscious Avatar. He picked the boy up and was ready to enact the next phase of his plan. "I'm bringing the Avatar to you." Thrawn said into a com link.
"Excellent." The delighted voice of Charlotte said. "Now we can begin the next phase of our plan." Keep thinking that girl, because when Thrawn was through she would begin to regret the part she would eventually play. They would all regret it.
