Lead the Way: A Star Wars/She-Ra Story
Chapter 15: Reality
White.
That was all they could see at first.
Just a bright white light.
"Adora!"
Catra asked, "whoa, whoa, whoa! A-Adora! Heh. Since when do you sleep in?"
Adora asked, "where am I? How did I get here?"
Catra asked, "uh, you're in your room. Are you okay?"
"I…. I'm fine. I was just having a weird dream. There was something I needed to fix…." Adora said.
"Of course you dream about work. There's nothing to fix, Adora. Everything's perfect. Now come on, let's go", Catra said.
Adora stood up from her bed and followed Catra.
The two were in the hallway and the Horde Soldiers were staring at Adora in awe.
"Adora…. It's really her! It's Adora!"
"Whoo! Yeah! All right! Yes!"
Adora asked, "what are they all looking at?"
"You! The invasion of Thaymor went perfectly. You're the hero of the hour", Catra said.
"Thaymor", Adora said as she started to have a small flashback of some sort, but she didn't know what it meant.
" Oh…. Yeah! I defeated the rebel insurgents at Thaymor. Yeah. I did that", Adora chuckled.
"Oh, please, you couldn't have done it without me." Catra said.
Adora said,as the two girls laughed, "right…. What would I ever do without you?"
Catra then bumped into a Horde Soldier.
"Hey. Watch where you're going, twerp", the soldier said.
Adora was about to defend her friend, when someone else beat her to it.
"Leave those girls alone."
Adora turned to see who it was.
Standing there was Sam! But…. He looked a little different. His clothes looked more akin to the garb of a Horde Soldier.
The soldier quickly said, "oh! Oh! I'm terribly sorry sir!"
Sam said as he glared, "you better be, how dare you treat young children like that?"
"I'm sorry sir", The soldier said.
"Now don't make me catch you again, or I'll report you to my husband", Sam said.
The soldier then ran off.
Sam asked, "are you two okay?"
"We're okay, thank you", Adora said.
"Thanks", Catra said.
"Lord Sam", Shadow Weaver said.
"Shadow Weaver", Sam said.
Shadow Weaver asked, "how did it go with your honeymoon?"
Adora asked, as she then saw a ring on Sam's finger, "Honeymoon?"
Sam said, "oh, it was wonderful. Hordak certainly knows how to keep me smiling!"
As the others chuckled, Adora saw something for a moment.
She was Sam being cradled by Hordak, but it quickly subsided as Sam asked, "Adora, are you alright?"
Adora said, "I…. I'm not sure…. I think I'm seeing things."
"Well, you go and take a day off", Sam said.
Catra asked, "heading back to Hordak now?"
Sam blushed.
Catra was then knocked down by Hamill.
"Not again", Catra said.
"Hamill, stop", Sam said.
Hamill laughed as he ran back to Sam and jumped on his shoulders.
"Well I better go", Sam said.
As Sam walked away, Adora saw two kids huddled next to her as they looked down at Sam. She shook her head again, making the strange sight vanish.
….
Hordak was in his sanctum reading a book with Imp on his shoulder when….
"Hello my love", Sam said as he entered the room.
Hordak then stood up and walked over to Sam.
Hordak then kissed Sam on the lips.
The kiss was quick as the two broke apart.
Hordak asked, "where were you my love?"
Sam said, "oh, just talking with the others. Adora seems to be having strange headaches of some kind."
"That's what I love about you Sam, you're such a sweet and caring person", Hordak said as he cupped Sam's left cheek.
Sam blushed.
"I've been thinking, Hordak", Sam said.
Hordak asked, "what is it?"
Sam asked, "how are we going to have a child of our own?"
Hordak said, "well, I suppose Shadow Weaver could use her magic to help. Or maybe someone with immense scientific knowledge. Anyway, if we did have kids, What would we name them?"
Sam suddenly heard two names echo in his head.
"Luke! Leia!"
Sam said, "Luke and Leia?"
Hordak said, "oh! I like those names. How did you come up with those?"
Sam said, "I…. I'm not sure…?"
Sam then had flashes of Luke and Leia in his head.
Hordak asked, "Sam, are you okay?"
Sam said, "I…. I'm not sure…. I feel like I'm…. Forgetting something…. Or…."
Hordak asked, "someone?"
Hordak then had flashes of Luke and Leia, but he did not know their names…. Yet.
Sam then had flashes of a male Togruta.
"Sam…. Balance must be restored to the Force!"
Sam whispered, "Antauri?"
Hordak asked, "I think we're all seeing things. What's going on?"
Sam said, "I'm not really sure….."
"SAM!"
Sam looked around after hearing the voice.
"HORDAK!"
Hordak did the same.
Both were very confused.
The two asked at the same time, "who said that?"
In front of them, a figure began to take shape! Their features became more clear as they gazed upon them!
Sam asked, "who are you?"
Hordak held his husband in his arms.
The figure said, "you know my voice. You know my face. And you know…. This is not reality!"
Hordak asked, "what do you mean?"
"There is not much time! Reality will soon start to break down…. You and Sam are among one of the few who can restore the real reality", the figure said.
Sam asked, "what're you talking about?!"
The figure said, "the woman of feline nature. She is good, deep down. But her actions have set in motion events that only you can stop! You must save your friends! Your family!"
The figure then started to fade away.
"Wait, don't leave", Sam shouted.
Before the figure vanished, they shouted, "you need to stop it! Wake up from this dream, or nightmares await all of you!"
The ground around them began to rumble rather ominously!
Sam asked, "what's going on!?"
"Ow!"
Hordak shouted, "who's there?"
"Okay, we give up", Scorpia said as she stood up from the table.
"Way to go", Adora said.
Sam asked, "Adora?"
Then the portal was starting to glitch as pink cracks started to appear over the walls.
"Run", Adora shouted.
The words the figure had said rang in Sam's head as he realized what was going on!
Sam, "this isn't our reality!"
Scorpia asked, "what do you mean?"
The cracks then started to get closer.
"Split up!"
Adora and Scorpia went one way, while Hordak and Sam ran in another direction.
Hordak yelled, "what the Hell is going on?!"
Sam said, "I think I'm starting to remember! Catra did the stupidest thing she could have possibly done! And all because she was incredibly pissed off!"
….
In another part of the galaxy.
Luke and Leia could only see white.
"Leia? Wake up!"
"Luke?"
Luke and Leia woke up to see Han solo there.
Leia asked, "where are we?"
Han chuckled and said, "what do you mean? You're home, where else?"
"Oh, right", Luke said.
"Your father sent me to get you two, as he is waiting for you in his throne room", Han Solo said.
Leia asked, "throne room?"
"The one in the Imperial Palace of course, and also later you have to go train with Ahsoka", Han Solo said.
"Now come on, get up", Han Solo said.
The twins got up from their beds and started to get dressed.
The three were now walking in the hallways of the Imperial Palace.
But as they did so, Luke and Leia couldn't shake the odd feeling they both had.
That something was wrong.
Hadn't they just been in the middle of….
"Look, it's the Skywalker Twins", The Seventh sister said.
"It's really them", The Fifth brother said.
Luke asked, "why are they cheering for us?"
Han said, "don't you remember? You and your sister single handedly took down the last of that group on Dantooine! Your father even threw that amazing feast the other night. Luke, how could you forget that dance you shared with Mara?"
Like whispered, "Mara? Who's Mara?"
Leia shrugged as she said, "er…. Oh yeah, heh, silly us. We must have been so exhausted that we forgot."
"Well, we're here", Han said.
The doors opened and sitting on the throne was Darth Vader, without his mask.
Darth Vader smiled when seeing his children.
But to Luke and Leia, his features looked almost blurred. Like, they had never seen his face before?
They were brought out of their confusion as Vader came forward and hugged his two children.
Vader asked, "my children, how are you two doing?"
Luke said, "er…. Great, uh, dad."
Vader smiled and said, "the entire Empire is still celebrating your victory on Dantooine. Ah, to see my children so young, accomplishing so much…."
"Thank you, Dad", Leia said.
"With the Jedi gone, everything is perfect now", Vader said.
Luke asked, "perfect?"
He and Leia started to have flashbacks!
They saw their uncle facing off Vader with his mask.
The two of them snuggled up next to a woman with blonde hair and a sword on her back.
Them playing with a boy with red skin and white hair.
Visions that contradicted what was going on!
Luke and Leia asked, "Adora?"
Han asked, "Adora? Who's that?"
"I'm not sure", Leia said.
Luke looked at his father and asked, "Dad?"
Vader said, "yes, Luke?"
Luke asked, "do we have an Uncle Sam?"
Vader's smile instantly faded as he grew a look filled with confusion and slight anger.
"No, you do not. I'm the only family you have left, after your mother died", Vader said.
Luke and Leia glanced at one another. They could tell that something was…. Off.
They then heard a voice in their heads.
"You need to wake up!"
Luke and Leia looked at one another and said, "Uncle Sam?"
Vader yelled, "I told you, you have no uncle! Solo, I believe my children are having an off day. Maybe they should get some relaxation."
"Okay. I'll take them to Ahsoka", Han said.
"Yes, I believe she will be able to calm them down. The twins have always loved their Aunt Soka", Vader said.
Luke and Leia held confused looks as they were led away by Han.
As they walked down, they heard a voice say, "don't forget these names! Leon, Ani, Adora, Scorpia, Bow, Glimmer, Hamill, Artoo, Threepio, Catra, Hordak, Sam, Antauri!"
"Those names sound familiar….", Leia said.
Luke said, "where have I heard them before?"
"Well, we're here", Han said.
The doors opened and inside was Ahsoka, dressed in the garb of an Inquisitor as she was overseeing the training of said force wielders.
Something about Ahsoka being in that garb just screamed…. Wrong, to Luke and Leia. Like she should have been wearing something more…. Light…?
"Hello there", Ahsoka said.
"Ahsoka", Luke and Leia said.
Ahsoka asked, "what brings you here today?"
"Their father wanted them to spend time with you today", Han said.
Ahsoka said, "oh, well it's always a pleasure to see my best students. Now, is there something you two would like to ask?"
Leia found herself asking, "w-where's Leon?"
Ahsoka's smile fell as she said, "pardon?"
Luke clarified, "Leon? And Ani?"
Ahsoka then had small flashbacks….
She saw herself kissing a man with blonde hair and red eyes.
She saw herself holding a baby with light red skin and white hair.
She saw herself piloting a ship with a man with blue skin and red eyes, garbed in the apparel of a cowboy.
Ahsoka said, "nothing makes sense...this is all wrong right?"
"I agree, nothing here seems to be real", Luke said.
Han asked, "what are you talking about?"
Leia asked, "Han, don't feel that something is off?"
Han looked around and said, "I'm…. Not sure…. W-where's Chewie?"
The world around suddenly began to shake, the same way it had for Sam and Hordak!
Ahsoka asked, "what's going on?"
"I'm not sure, but I bet we will find information in my fathers room", Luke said.
"Hell no! I am not going in there", Han said.
"And if I did this...", Leia asked as she then kissed Han, and then the two started to have flashbacks.
Hand had just started his adventures with Chewbacca aboard the Millennium Falcon at roughly 16, and had been hired by Sam to help in a mission. During said mission, Han and Leia had shared many romantic moments together!
As the kiss ended, they remembered it all.
Han asked, "I remember this reality is not real…. How do we fix it?"
"Let's go to Vader's room", Ahsoka said.
And with that, the group began to sneak through the halls of the building, making their way towards the belly of the beast.
Lord Vader's bedroom.
The group snuck inside the room.
"Look at all of this", Han said.
"These posters are of wanted Jedi", Leia said.
There was a poster for Obi Wan, Luminara, Aayla, Plo Koon and Kit Fisto.
"And they are listed as dead", Luke said.
"This is not right", Ahsoka said.
Han said, "I…. I talked to Kenobi just five days ago. There's no way all of them are dead."
Luke and Leia were shocked to see one of the posters showed their uncle!
Ahsoka gasped as one showed Leon!
Luke said, "none of this is right! This isn't our reality!"
The ground around them began to shake again!
Then pink cracks started to appear.
Han shouted, "what are those?!"
Leia shouted, "no time to talk, run!"
The group then started to run through the hallways as the white pink light started to envelop the room.
"What the hell's going on here!? Leia Wait", Han shouted before he was swallowed by the portal and disappeared.
Leia asked, "Han?"
Luke asked, "where did he go?"
Luke and Leia looked around them to see that Ahsoka was gone, and that the world around them was crumbling!
"We have to get our father", Luke shouted.
"Come on, let's find him", Leia shouted.
The two ran through the hallways avoiding the white pink cracks that were appearing.
They soon arrived at the remains of the throne room and saw Vader standing there!
Luke and Leia slowly approached as they avoided the cracks in the ground.
"Father, we have to leave", Luke shouted.
Vader asked, "why?"
"There's something happening to the palace", Leia said.
Vader asked, "what do you mean?"
Luke yelled, "this reality is all a lie! We have to leave!"
As soon as Vader heard that, he yelled, "NO! I WILL NEVER LET YOU LEAVE ME!"
Luke and Leia gasped.
Darth Vader starts to laugh maniacally
"The Jedi always have to ruin things for us, don't they", Darth Vader said as he turned his back to them, before firing a stun blast at twins, who started to dodge the stun blasts.
Leia used her lightsaber to slice the blaster in half, and Luke force pushed Darth Vader.
"Father, look what's happening! Reality is destroying itself", Luke shouted.
"I don't care! I won't let you two leave me! I'd rather see the whole galaxy end, than let you and Leia become Jedi again", Darth Vader said with a crazy look on his face.
He began to approach them, making them back away until they stood right in front of the void of pink the cracks had made.
Leia and Luke looked at one another, and then their father as he said, "come with me! It is the only way!"
Luke and Leia looked at one another, and nodded.
Luke and Leia grabbed hands and the two leaned backwards, then they both fell off….
….
Meanwhile
Sam had been separated from Hordak and Hamill. He was running through the Whispering Woods.
Then he stopped and he saw Adora, Glimmer and Bow.
Sam asked, "Adora?"
Adora asked, "Sam?"
Before Sam could approach her, a massive white pink light appeared through the ground and shot up into the air, preventing Sam from seeing the others.
"Adora! Bow! Glimmer", Sam shouted.
Then Sam saw in front of him…. Mara and a younger Antauri?
Antauri's lekku were a bit shorter.
Sam asked, "Mara? Antauri?"
Antauri said, "you need to escape this place! You need to wake up!"
Mara added, "before it's too late! You can still save everyone!"
Sam yelled, "but how? Catra's misguided actions have threatened all of us! I don't want to lose any of the friends I've made! Adora, Hordak, Bow, Entrapta, Glimmer, Scorpia, Luke, Leia, all of them! How do I save them?!"
"Just believe in the force", Antauri and Mara shouted as the white pink light appeared again, blocking Sam's view.
Sam fell to his knees as he didn't know what he could do, and when he lifted his head, he felt someone place their finger on his forehead.
"Hello, Little Brother", Darth Vader said a bit distorted.
Vafer looked distorted! Half of his face and upper half of shoulder looked corrupted.
Darth Vader then hits Sam in the face as they change locations.
Sam asked, "Vader, what are you doing here!?"
"To make you pay for poisoning my children's head", Vader snarled as he then hit Sam again, now they were in Bright Moon.
Sam tried to stand up, but Vader placed his foot on his back.
"If you hadn't taken them away from me, they would have ruled the galaxy with me", Vader shouted.
"Luke and Leia don't want that! They want to restore the Jedi Order and the Republic", Sam shouted.
Vader laughed as he then used the force to throw Sam across the hall.
Sam was now in the Imperial Palace.
"You and the Jedi made me this way and it's all your fault", Vader shouted.
Vader kept going forward and hitting Sam, changing their location over and over again!
Sam finally caught his arm.
Sam pulled the arm down, glaring at the distorted Vader as the pink light around them illuminated his face.
He crushed Vader's hand before pushing him back with the force!
Sam growled out, "this is not your reality. Nor is it mine. I will return to my home. To my friends. My family. And I will save them all. From this. From each other. From you!"
"Uncle Sam is right!"
Vader was pushed backwards.
"The Jedi didn't make you do anything", Luke shouted.
Vader then ran towards the Twins and Sam grabbed his arm.
"You chose to succumb to your fear, when you could have asked for help", Sam shouted as he threw Vader over his shoulder, making him fall to the ground.
"We have made our decision, father! We are Jedi! We will bring back the Republic", Leia said.
"And restore the Jedi Order", Luke shouted.
"But no matter how many times we tell you, you won't listen, our decision is final", Leia shouted.
Vader growled as he ran towards them.
"Now accept it", Sam shouted as he punched Vader in the face knocking him down to the ground and leaving Vader knocked out.
Sam looked to his niece and nephew and said, "let's get outta here."
The twins nodded at their uncle's words.
It was time to fix this mistake.
But then Luke and Leia started to fade away.
"No", Sam shouted.
"You got this Uncle", Luke said.
"We believe in you", Leia said.
The two then faded away.
Sam then started to cry and he turned around to see Vader's body disappear.
Sam then felt the ground crumble and he was about to fall, when someone grabbed his hand.
Sam looked up to see…. Hordak!
"Sam hang on", Hordak shouted as he then pulled Sam back up for safety.
Sam hugged Hordak.
"They're gone", Sam cried.
Hordak lifted Sam's face to look at him and said, "they live. But not for much longer. You need to wake up."
Sam said, "how do I stop this?"
Hordak whispered, "it's simple. Wake. Up."
Sam looked down, before he closed his eyes, and felt the world around him changing, as he slowly woke up to his own reality!
...
Luke and Leia were next Bow and Glimmer.
Shadow Weaver was near Hordak.
Catra was near the Portal.
Sam was hugging Hordak without even realizing it.
The portal machine powers up and She-Ra walks through the portal machine.
She-Ra let out a shout as she used her sword to destroy the machine.
"We have to go, now", Catra said.
Hordak hesitated for a moment, before he grabbed Sam's hand and took off running.
"Uncle Sam, wait", Luke and Leia shouted.
Sam turned to look at them with a look that said; 'I am sorry.'
"Come on, Sam", Hordak said.
Sam and Hordak continued to run with Hamill behind them.
"See? We told you, you could do it", Glimmer said to She-Ra.
"Woo-hoo! Yes, we did it. We did it", Frosta said.
"Touching as this is, we need to go. Now", Shadow Weaver said.
Shadow Weaver then used her magic to teleport the group back to Bright Moon castle.
As they all landed there, Luke and Leia broke down, still not being able to get their uncle out of that place!
"Don't cry", Adora said as she hugged the twins.
Glimmer said, "we'll rescue your uncle eventually, we promise."
Bow added, "yeah. I mean, those visions did predict that they'll all end up on our side eventually. All we gotta do is reach that point."
Luke asked, "but we have seen how close our uncle is to Hordak, could they be…. In a relationship?"
Shadow Weaver said, "I saw their memories. Your uncle and Lord Hordak are indeed, as you would call them, boyfriends."
Leia said, "that explains why he was so conflicted to follow us."
Adora muttered, "great. Sam is literally sleeping with the enemy. Well, in any case, I think convincing Catra to join us will be harder than Hordak now."
The others nodded in agreement.
"Speaking of which, I guess I should go find my mom. Maybe she'll be so happy to see me that she'll forget about grounding me", Glimmer said.
Adora then got a sad look on her face.
Glimmer asked, "Adora? What is it?"
Adora hugs Glimmer as she starts crying.
"Angella, she stayed behind. She…. She….", Adora said.
Glimmer then started to sob.
"She saved us", Adora said.
Glimmer felt Luke, Leia and Bow join the hug.
The others all held sorrowful looks. Things just seemed to keep going from bad to worse...
….
Reviews:
SuperSentai199: thanks. I'm glad you enjoyed those moments.
Narrator: sigh, fine, may I please take your order?
….
Just a heads up; I'm working on another story that retells a good chunk of the Clone Wars cartoon. But I can't find any good transcripts of the show. There used to be some, but they've all just... VANISHED!
If anyone can find any transcripts, (not just scripts, TRANSCRIPTS), I'd be most grateful.)