(Author's Note: I've had writer's block for some time, but I've gotten over it, thank God. Anyway, remembering an earlier review of yours HG, maybe you should see the Star Wars movies. To anyone who hasn't seen them yet, start with the originals. They are the best! Oh yeah, and saw "Revenge of the Sith" for the second time yesterday. Still awesome. Enough of my pointless ranting, and on with the chapter:D)

Chapter 7

Kyle Katarn, hero and rebel agent, was reduced to this. His mission: Take care of a couple of teenagers. I mean, even if they had superpowers, it was still truly under his capabilities. It wasn't like--in any way—that he didn't care about people in danger. He just didn't really understand why the Rebellion wanted him (of all people) to take care of the two girls. Why not a medic? Hadn't he done enough, rescuing the twins from the Empire and from the near-certain prospect of losing their minds?

Still, he looked down at the one in the tattered pink shirt.

Poor kid. She's sweating like a vornskr…

Her head was damp with sweat and her breathing heavy, like she was having some kind of nightmare. Kyle pulled out a washcloth and pressed it against her forehead, wiping off the sweat.

"Damn Imperials…drugging an innocent little kid with some spice…" he murmured to no one in particular.

At the exact moment he finished that sentence, the girl in pink's eyelids fluttered, then burst open. She literally flew upward through the air and grabbed Kyle by the neck.

"Who…are…you?" Blossom said with a vicious voice, it's anger only matched by her eyes.

"...I…I'm…" he struggled. "…K-Kyle…"

Blossom raised an eyebrow, now curious but still angry.

"Hello Kyle. I'll be your psychopath for today. Tell me what I want to know, and you'll go free. If not, then…well…" She smiled.

"…here to…(he coughed)"

Blossom nodded.

"…helped…save you…"

Blossom immediately let go, her eyes widening.

"You…you're that Kyle I heard when…"

The whole ordeal was a haze, but she remembered a "Kyle", a "Jan", and Tom, naturally.

"Yeah…and that really, really hurt."

"Sorry," Blossom said quietly. "I…don't know what came over me."

"Hey, I'd be pissed too if someone was injecting me with spice in order to brainwash me."

" 'Spice?'"

"Yeah. It's an illegal drug here. It's nasty and can really mess with peoples' heads. They were using it to try to mess you up…bring you to their side."

"The Empire."

Kyle nodded.

"Look, you better just rest. Your sister should be coming to in a couple hours or so."

Blossom raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "Sister? You mean sisters, right?

"…No…I…" It dawned on him, then and there. "Oh shit. They didn't tell me, damnit!"

"What's going on?" Blossom demanded.

"They said that there were only two of you," Kyle admitted at last.

Blossom turned to where she was lying down several minutes ago. Only Buttercup was lying there now.

"Bubbles…" she whispered. "I'm going to find her," she said, her voice rising.

"You…you need your rest. We'll be able to get her back soon enough."

"We better," Blossom said coldly.

Kyle walked out of the room.

Cute kid, but entirely psycho, he thought.

---

It was as if a fog had been lifted from her mind.

Bubbles felt herself being thrown down onto the cold stone floor. The air in the room seemed cold, and there was a definite element of fear in the place. Her head still hurt…

She rose up from the floor. At the sight of the figure her heart beat faster.

The man was wearing a dark cloak, covering all but his hands and the lower half of his face. But it didn't seem like it. The eyes seemed to stare straight through the hood and pierce into her mind.

"Bubbles…" a cold and crooked voice murmured. The voice sounded old and decrepit, but had a powerful and commanding sound to it. "Hello, child."

Bubbles only nodded to acknowledge the fact that her name had been spoken.

"You…miss your sisters. I do apologize…"

Bubbles raised her head. "I do."

"Yes…I sense it. You miss your home…am I correct? Yes, of course I am."

She said nothing.

"You are so young. So full of life. When you get to be my age, of course, you won't be..." the man said. Then he laughed, a mirthless and cold laugh that chilled Bubbles to the bone.

"You are, to be quite frank, lucky to have such great power at such an early age. Am I correct?"

Bubbles considered speaking, but suppressed that urge. It only worked for so long. "These…these powers I have. They're going away."

"I suspected such. At a certain age you were designed to lose the powers. They were only existent to train the new ones that you were supposed to learn with age."

Bubbles wondered of this for several seconds, then vigorously shook her head. "Who are you?" she muttered.

"That is of no importance. But if you wish to name me, know me as…Palpatine."

"Palpatine," Bubbles said, pondering the odd word. Perhaps it meant something on this planet, like in the many science fiction movies she loved so dearly, watching them with her family…which struck a chord. "Where are my sisters?"

Palpatine raised his hood slightly, still covering the forehead, but not the piercing gaze of the eyes.

"They are dead, my dear child. They are dead."

End of Chapter 7