Luke glanced at the Doctor, hoping he'd know what these strange aliens were. The Doctor didn't seem too shocked, Luke imagined he'd must've seen far stranger on his adventures. Suddenly, a pink-skinned girl ran towards the group. "Oh Finn, you found them!".
The girl ran to Finn and gave him a hug, he replied"It was no problem, PB, it's just, man, I can't believe it, real, live humans, like me!".
The girl shifted her gaze towards Luke, assuming he must have been the leader of the group "Princess Bubblegum of the Candy Kingdom" she said, bowing.
"Luke Skywalker, of the, uh...Jedi?" Luke replied, quickly bowing in response.
Princess Bubblegum led the group into her castle, for introductions, and to discuss some "business".
The group all sat around a large dining table, going through introductions. "So, there I was, trapped between the Master and the Time Lords-" the Doctor said, telling the group of one of his adventures.
Once the Doctor finished telling everyone of the time "Gallifrey returned", it was Aang's turn to tell his story. He, Zuko, and Katara all took part in the tale, about how Katara had found Aang frozen in an iceberg along with her brother, Sokka, how Zuko had wanted to capture Aang at first, wishing to return to his home as a war hero, how all hope seemed lost when the great Ba Sing Se fell, and how hope was restored when Aang finally defeated Zuko's father, a man named Fire Lord Ozai. Finally, it was Luke's turn to tell his life story. He shifted his gaze all around the table, "Well, I'd say it all started when my Uncle and I bought two droids from a couple of Jawas-"
Luke wove an epic tale, full of action, humor, hardship, and triumph. He spoke of the wise Jedi who set him on his destiny, Ben Kenobi, the wise old master that trained him in the ways of the Force, Master Yoda. He spoke of that old rough on the outside, kind on the inside smuggler, Han, and his big, lovable, and above all loyal friend, Chewbacca. He spoke of his sister, Leia, the one who helped lead the Rebellion, contributing more than anything to it, how it was her leadership that kept him, Han, and Chewie in line. He spoke of the evil of the Galactic Empire, led by a cruel, sadistic man, named Emperor Palpatine. But most of all, he spoke of a broken and confused man, a man that tried so hard to do the right thing, he lost his way in the process, a proud and noble Jedi knight, but also a dangerous and formidable foe, his father, Anakin Skywalker. He spoke of how his father, in the last moment, gave his life to save the Galaxy, turning his back on Darth Vader and the evils associated with him, spoke of how he was crushed when he learned what he'd become, but never gave up on him, spoke of how his willingness to believe in his father saved everyone...
As Luke concluded his tale, Princess Bubblegum eventually took on a more serious expression, glancing towards Luke. She opened her mouth to speak "So. Luke, on to that business I said we needed to discuss...".
Luke looked at her with a straight face and nodded slowly.
Princess Bubblegum sighed before she began to speak, closing her eyes and bowing her head, before looking up and slowly opening them again. "About three weeks ago, before you arrived...a comet fell from the sky and into the nearby forest...at least, we believed it was a comet...I sent some scouts to search at the area, they haven't returned...".
Luke furrowed his brows, wondering what it could be, before reaching the obvious answer "Imperials...", he replied.
Princess Bubblegum winced at the thought "If that is indeed true...based on what you've told me about these 'Imperials', Candy Kingdom may be in extreme danger, possibly even the whole world".
Luke looked around at his group "And I'm guessing you want us to check it out?".
Princess Bubblegum nodded in reply "Please, I'm begging you, if what you said is true, then-".
"Don't worry...we'll scout out the area for you...".
Princess Bubblegum smiled in thanks, a false smile, she was shaken by the implications she was now faced with.
Finn looked around the room, somewhat worried, before grinning widely, "OH YEAH, HERO TIME!".
"So, Doctor, you're staying with the TARDIS, I take it?".
"Yes, just signal me if things get too rough", the Doctor said, replying to Luke's question.
As Luke prepared to walk away, the Doctor held out his arm and shook Luke's hand, before walking into the TARDIS. Luke looked back at his scouting team, a reasonably sized team, consisting of himself, Aang, Harry, Finn and Jake, and some Candy Warriors. Luke waved one last time to the Doctor before leading the group into the woods.
As the group walked through the woods, they came upon many strange things, collapsed trees, trampled grass, the smell of burnt wood. As the group walked on in the same direction, they noted that the ground seemed charred, apparently, they were getting close to the crash site.
The crash site lie just above the next hilltop, and, upon reaching it, they found the crashed ship at the bottom of the incline, in the center of a collection if burnt, fallen trees, and charred grass and leaves. The group walked closer to it, and, upon closer inspection, Luke clearly saw the insignia. "Yup, this shuttle belonged to the Empire...".
The group looked around each other, apprehension gripping their faces. Finn was the first to talk "B-but how, how did they find out about us, how did they get here?".
In an instant Finn pointed his sword towards Luke, "It was you, you led them here?" He accused.
Luke waved his arm in protest, wishing not to fight the boy. Before Luke could explain himself, Aang began talking "The same way they found my world. They scan for places with large power sources and send some scouts there. I'm guessing they found you and just sent a shuttle...".
"The question is...why send only one, why only one shuttle?" Harry added, glancing around at the group.
As Luke watched Finn calm down in acceptance of Aang's explanation, he began to ponder upon Harry's question, "Why only an advance scout? They've been sending full invasion forces, everywhere else...".
Suddenly, Luke began to notice the smell, a strange smell, like rotting flesh. "Hey, guys, might wanna look at this, aw man", it was Jake's voice.
The group walked towards Jake to see a man lying on the grass behind the shuttle. He'd been rotting for at least two weeks, he had died in a struggle, apparently trying to get away from the shuttle. That wasn't the strangest part about him, however. The truly strange detail was the his chest seemed to have been torn open...from the inside. Luke felt as nervous as he did queazy. He began to analyze the situation, trying to come up with the best course of action. He arranged them into two groups, one consisting of himself, Finn, Jake, and three Candy Soldiers, the other consisting of Harry, Aang, and the other three soldiers. They decided to do a quick survey of the area, and to return to the crash site in twenty minutes.
Harry walked through the forest, a dark and foreboding place, it reminded him of another dark forest he knew well. As the wood thickened, the trees gradually blotted out the Sun, making it darker and darker, and harder to see. He looked to see Aang form a flame in his palm to guide the way, though the light wasn't much, so Harry figured he'd assist him. He pulled out his wand, and said quietly " Lumos", creating another light source with the flick of his wand.
Upon doing this, he immediately noticed a strange object on the ground. He kneeled to get a closer look at it, it looked similar to a snake skin, white and dead.
Harry glanced up again, and gestured towards Aang to keep walking.
Luke held his lightsaber his, using it's bright beam to light the thickening wood. He walked towards some bushes he'd noticed to see another strange sight within them, a dead body, this one an animal, with it's chest seemingly burst open, just like the man... Suddenly, Luke remembered the time, he looked back to tell his group to begin heading back towards the crash sited, when he saw that all but Finn and Jake had disappeared. Sensing danger, he angled his saber into a defensive position, causing both Finn and Jake to assume fighting stances as well. "Who, or whatever you are, show yourself!" Luke shouted.
Luke neither heard, nor saw anything, the wood completely still. Suddenly, the sound of crackling leaves caused him to spin around, swinging behind himself, only to slash a tree. All went silent yet again. "Ugh" Luke heard Finn say, as he began to wipe something off his hat "Wow, looks like some kind of slime" he said to Jake.
A moment after this, leaves began to fall from the trees, with rustling coming from above. Luke looked up to see nothing but darkness...accept, it was coming closer. It wasn't darkness, something was leaping down at his. He prepared his saber to attack it, but it leapt for Finn instead, knocking the boy down. Finn struck it with his sword, only for the sword to begin dissolving. Using the Force, Luke through the thing away from Luke, towards a tree, its blood appearing to burn through it. Luke suddenly heard more creatures rushing at him, spinning to attack only to slash into the tree again. Then, he finally saw his enemy, but, before he could end it, the tree he'd so graciously injured came apart, knocking into Luke as it did. Luke spun onto the ground, looking at one of the creatures approach him as his world turned black...
Harry, Aang, and the soldiers formed into a defensive circle, having heard Luke's short fight. At first, all was silent, and then Aang began to hear what sounded like faint hissing, hissing that eventually devolved into a panting sound. Suddenly, out of the shadows, a monster leapt at him. Aang immediately used earthbending to chuck a boulder towards it, knocking the creature back. It let out a horrifying scream as it fell, and Aang finally looked at its form. It had a dark frame, like a mix between a human, a lizard, and some bug, along with some other parts. He swallowed hard after witnessing the creature's grotesque form, not noticing as it reared up to attack again. The creature leapt at Aang, before being blocked by a soldier, his spear sliding through its gut, cracking as it did. Injured, blood spurted out of the alien's abdomen, splashing all over the soldier and his weapon. Aang looked on in horror as both the soldier and his spear began dissolving into nothing.
The group didn't have time to grieve, however, as their attackers were still coming. Harry pointed his wand towards one of them "DEPRIMO!" he shouted, knocking it back.
As the creature spun on its back to attack Harry again, a column of earth shot around it, closing on it and holding it in place. Harry's small victory celebration was cut short when he looked up to see more creatures descending from the trees...
Dragging, that's what Luke felt, dragging. Things pulling and snagging on his clothes, his head occasionally bumping into whatever lie on the floor. In his mind he saw the phantom of his dreams looming over him, its glowing eyes gleaming in pleasure, getting to see Luke die. Luke opened his eyes to see some strange ceiling above him, both biological and mechanical in appearance, like some kind of hive. Feeling that he had not dropped his weapon after falling unconscious, Luke activated the blade and sliced through his kidnapper. Before standing up to more accurately review his surroundings. It was dark, hot, and smelly, and above all, looked like some sort of colony. "Hmm, well, no time to speculate" he thought "if these things know their buddie's dead, they'll come for me soon enough. Still, have to find Finn and Jake".
Luke fumbled around the hive in the dark, anxiety building within him. Before giving into fear, Luke went back to his jedi training. He focused his mind, and sensed Finn and Jake's life forces, as well as one of the soldiers. They were all fine, but their signal was faint. As Luke began towards the area his senses told him to look, he was startled by another attack from above. As the alien leapt down at him, he used the Force to catch it, midair, before spinning it's levitating body and tossing it down in front of him. He spun his lightsaber in hand and positioned for the killing strike, running through the creature quickly. Having finished that business, he continued in the direction he'd sensed Finn and Jake.
After much walking and climbing, Luke finally found Finn and Jake. They were plastered to a wall in a rather spacious room. "Hey, what happened, where's that other candy soldier?" Luke asked.
Finn just shrugged "Why we're here? I don't know. Looks like we got outnumbered and knocked out...as to the soldier, one of the monsters took him away".
Luke simply nodded upon hearing this, before noticing the rather large creature covered in some sort of secretions, elevated in the room.
"What's this massive thing?" he asked.
Jake answered "Well, see, me and Finn have been thinking..what if, it's like, a queen or something, you know like ants?".
Luke chuckled at the thought of this, before using the Force to undue the resin that kept Finn and Jake glued to the wall. As he began to turn of the exit, he failed to notice the giant beast stirring. It shrieked behind the trio, rising its arm, and striking Luke towards a wall. Its next attack was directed at Jake, it swerved its tail towards him, trying to impale Jake on its sickle-tip. Luke flung his lightsaber at it, detaching the tail from the oversized stinger. "Oh no, more monsters!" Finn shouted.
Luke turned to face the new aliens flooding into the hive. One of them ran towards him, claws out splayed, ready to feed on him. Before it could truly attack, it burst into flames, proceeded by the word "Inciendo", whatever that meant. While Aang and the others battle the drone, Luke battled the queen. He dashed at it, assaulting it with vicious force pushes, pushing it back toward its "throne room". The creature dashed at Luke with a vengeance, a second mouth sliding out of the first. In a short step, Luke cut that mouth out. Thinking his victory was assumed was a mistake. The alien's tail smacked Obito onto the wall, as it began sizing up Aang. As the creature rushed to Aang, Aang burned it down with a well-timed fore turret, blasting it with flames. Luke continuously slammed it into the wall with the Force, before telling Aang to continue working his way towards the exit. "HARRY" he shouted at the boy wizard "GOT ANY COMBAT ATTACKS IN THAT THING!?". Harry glanced at Luke, before pointing his wand towards the beast, simply uttering "Expulso"...
TO BE CONTINUED
Author's Note: Hey, everyone, just wanted to apologize for being so late on this chapter, school just reopened, and the past two days have been real hectic, so, I apologize. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, peace.