Chapter 3 – The Force of Power
"Dooku?" Angel said as he peaked at Natalie in the doorway, shrugging his shoulders and then wincing in pain.
"Sounds like a demon night club," Gunn suggested, his eyes narrowing at the girl. Gunn was in his old territory when he heard the demon feud. He had been out with Fred in another dimension and destroyed the Lotus, a demon who possesses and takes over human bodies to dine on their energy and later tear them apart. The Lotus demon splits into many small demons. Although they look harmless their bite is poisonous. The demon had taken over Fred and he was lucky to get there on time before Fred was sliced and diced into a million pieces. Fred had circles under her eyes and was leaning into Kate's good side that wasn't torn or painted with different shades of red and purple.
"It's probably another demon that needs a good beating," a young voice called from across the room. The group turned around to see a young man being let in by Lorne.
"Connor, aren't you supposed to be in school?" Angel folded his arms, staring blankly at the boy. Cordy elbowed Angel, which only made him grunt and then laugh softly as he embraced Connor and muffled up his hair.
"Who needs college?" Connor said with a shrug.
"You do," Angel and Wesley said simultaneously.
"Wow, that's scary. You guys almost sound like you're married," Cordy joked as Angel rolled his eyes.
"Why bother learning if I know we're going to be under another attack for our lives? I could help you guys save the world. I'm not afraid," Connor said smugly, folding his arms and staring straight into Angel's eyes as if in competition. Angel finally looked down as Connor laughed.
"You have a chance to have a normal life. I can't afford to have you miss another semester. You're doing so well with Psychology," Angel rubbed his head thoughtfully.
"Don't mean to break up the family reunion, Papa Bear and Baby Bear, but I think we may have a message," Lorne replied pointing to Doyle who was shaking as Gunn and Wesley tried to scoop him up to gently place him on a seat.
"What's up?" Angel asked, moving quickly to Doyle's side. Doyle's face was more white than usual.
"A screeching sound…bright lights hitting each other…alley…shadow envelopes the scene. I can't see…The vision's gone," Doyle said between breaths as his head hit the table.
Cordy scooped up some ice and rolled it in a towel to give to Doyle. Doyle eyed it and then looked at her with pain and anger in his eyes. Each vision was a reminder of the gift she had given back to him. Cordy looked away and sat next to Fred. The tension between them seemed to cut like a knife.
"Why are the Powers hiding the vision from us?" Kate asked, feeling bewildered as her eyebrow curled up in a questioning look.
"It could be a false alarm or they could have already taken care of the problem or perhaps it's a way to distract us from seeing the big picture. Maybe we have to search for signs like a shooting star or a spaceship," Fred mused, as the others looked at her, feeling lost.
"That's pretty silly. Maybe not then," Fred said with a short, uncomfortable laugh as she sat back down onto the stool.
Wesley sighed as he took Fred's hand and patted it. Fred was definitely in the mist of a break down with the Lotus.
"She's not totally wrong. Something is blocking the Powers' message, but who would have that kind of strength or mystical power? The Powers That Be are the most powerful in this World and other dimensions too," Angel said thoughtfully.
"Well it definitely is not here to play board games," Cordy added.
Connor whipped out a cell phone from his pant pocket and started to press buttons.
"Looks like I'm needed here after all. You guys need to get with the times. Here are a few Internet sites with the name Dooku and you can search anything with it and it takes a shorter time to find and it is portable," Connor said with pride, as he wiggled it around as Wesley looked at the phone with awe.
"Wes, you have a little drool on your face," Cordy remarked, pointing to the side of her mouth. Gunn covered his mouth while trying not to laugh as Wesley's eyes followed the phone.
"Looks like we have our hands full gang, so lets get to work and research," Angel muttered as they all sat down and Lorne poured them a night cap.
"Anakin, there's no telling where they went and I won't have you getting us into anymore trouble. You already have the Jedi Council uncomfortable about your strong connection with Natalie. It's just another rule that you tend to ignore and now you have sent her into a different direction. She could be hurt or worse!" Obi-Wan Kenobi complained to his apprentice. "Master, I was only doing that to protect her. Don't worry, we'll find them," Anakin Skywalker replied, calmly.
"Bleep-Blurb-Blurb-Beep!" R2D2 squealed, causing Anakin and Obi-Wan to look up. A huge shadow the size of a giant sized crater hung ahead of them with a planet not to far from it.
"I have a bad feeling about this. This thing looks like a planet ready to erupt," Obi-Wan said nervously as they both witnessed the gray mist turn red and begin to shutter in front of them. As they got closer the shadow-like crater bounced them a few feet away, sending them spinning for a few moments.
"You have a bad feeling about everything, Master. Just relax and let me deal with it, you just need to take the wheel for a moment," Anakin suggested as he jumped to the back hatch of the ship to take out a laser gun that hummed sweetly in his hands. He didn't care about the danger of being knocked over. Anakin felt that Natalie was on that planet and he would do anything in his power to have her safe in his arms again and to have Senator Becky safe again on Naboo where he would not let them out of his sight again. "ANAKIN, DON'T SHOOT! Get back here this instant! We're going to be hit," Obi-Wan commanded, but Anakin ignored him. He shot at the force field, which only sent the bullet back at them sending them cruising backwards a few feet and spinning out of control. Anakin hung on the edge of the ship tightly. Anger blazed his vision as he dropped the laser and lost concentration from the tail spin. Gripping tightly to the side, he swung himself back onto the ship and balanced on the back of it next to R2D2.
"What are you going to do now? This is dangerous! Please come back here and we can find another way through this planet," Obi-Wan shouted.
"There is no other way! Can't you feel it? This is a test. Someone is blocking us! The only way to help rescue Natalie and Senator Becky is to shoot our way through this species of some kind. Either you are with me or against me and you know you want to rescue Senator Becky and Natalie as much as I do. Hang onto the wheel while I try to get us in," Anakin insisted. Obi-Wan sighed. His apprentice was way too bold in the face of danger, which could only get other people killed. Anakin let his feelings take over him again. Obi-Wan could tell that Anakin was upset and felt guilty about not being strong enough to see what was going to happen to Natalie.
"Someone is definitely clouding your judgment, my young apprentice. You need to calm down in order to trust your instincts," Obi-Wan insisted.
Anakin tore his face from the force field to look at Obi-Wan with a dark glare and then turned back to the field. Within a blink of an eye Anakin lounged for his lightsaber and reached through the force for Obi-Wan's saber. Obi-Wan shook his head, but Anakin ignored him yet again and threw his lightsaber through the threshold of the force field sending electric shocks blazing off of the field onto the ship, shocking R2D2.
"Good job! You just lost your protection and we still have not gotten in and I think we lost R2," Obi-Wan explained under his seat, as Anakin tore from the ship rocketing into the air to retrieve his lightsaber.
"I think I've weakened it, Master. I believe it's going to open this time," Anakin said with confidence.
"Yes, I do say you weakened something, possibly my heart. Don't do this Anakin. For once in your young life, please listen to me," Obi-Wan pleaded.
Anakin shook his head with determination.
"Trust me, Master. This is it. I think we have it now," Anakin replied with a slow grin. Obi-Wan held his breath. There was one thing he could not get out of Anakin and that was humility and patience. Anakin was always pushy and reckless when it came to going on a mission to save others. Half the time Obi-Wan almost believed they would get killed. What would his Master Qui-Gon do? Obi-Wan thought curiously. But before he could give it another single thought, Anakin jumped from the ship and used the force to grab Obi-Wan's lightsaber. Should have seen that one coming, Obi-Wan thought, shaking his head. Anakin dove for the field and threw both lightsabers in the air like a pair of scissors as the force field exploded apart in purple like electric particles.
Obi-Wan slowly crept from out of his seat after the jolting and everything was silent. They were definitely going to need a good repair job as soon as they landed. Obi-Wan frowned. Something wasn't right. He could sense it. Where was Anakin?