Note from the Author:
Here's to you guys! I was fearing for my life, so I decided to do a quick update to avoid any unpleasant altercations. I didn't realize you guys would like this story so much!
Anyway, I opened up the document, which has laid dormant since my last update, and noticed that there was already a Chapter Twenty in the works. I suspect this gem was the product of a certain dawnsjediwind. I decided to use it anyway. It's bizarre. It's definitely not in the flow of the story. But anything is possible if enough alcohol is thrown into the mix. So here you go!
I actually did very little to write this chapter, but it provided enough of a boost to push me out of my state of writer's block. So, expect a new and MUCH better chapter coming soon!
Are you guys excited?! :D
{trinity6diversia}
Chapter Twenty
Anakin sprinted from the Jedi Temple, racing towards where his speeder was parked. He jumped into the driver's seat, ignoring the vomit still covering his dashboard, and steered it away from the Temple and into traffic. Obi-Wan had given him the tracking device. He would be following at a slightly slower speed than his young protégé. In the meantime, the bounty hunter was making a swift getaway in a speeder of his own, and even Anakin Skywalker found himself hard-pressed to keep him in sights.
Anakin swerved violently through traffic, barely colliding on several occasions, and scratching the paint in one particularly tight pinch. He grimaced when this happened, but the image of Padmé's pale face fired him up more than scratching his beloved speeder. The red fury that someone was trying to kill his wife had been replaced by a cold, calm anger, the type of anger that grows and builds, but that can be kept buried, hidden deep down, if you have the patience. Anakin could see clearly, and his senses were extra sharp. The Force, it seemed, had given him a sudden strong sense of sight and hearing. He followed the bounty hunter through the freeways of Coruscant, keeping close enough to identify his location, but disappearing occasionally so as to make the hunter believe the Jedi were giving up on the chase.
This seems vaguely familiar, Anakin thought. Haven't I chased a bounty hunter through Coruscant before? He grimaced. This is starting to become a habit.
Anakin smiled grimly, slowing his speeder so he could merge into traffic. This annoyed the other speeders behind him, and they cursed and shouted for him to move. He just slowed down even more, resisting the urge to flip them a middle figure—an insult he'd seen Qui-Gon Jinn do once before he died. Anakin did not, though. As the Council had said, he had reputation to keep, and the tabloids would go crazy if they caught a picture of him insulting the common alien.
Catching sight of the bounty hunter turning, Anakin switched into the fastest gear his speeder had—which was not really that fast compared to some Anakin had driven—and quickly followed him into the lower levels of the city-planet.
Anakin followed the bounty hunter into a garage and sped into a nearby parking space. He jumped out, summoning his lightsaber to his hand, for he got the feeling that this chase was going to end in aggressive negations. He slowed to a casual walk, and looked around the milling crowd for the hunter. Anakin saw him into a sleazy bar that not only had drinks, but half-naked entertainment. He frowned, groaning inwardly. He hated going to this places, but a lot had to be sacrificed in times of conflict. He set his shoulders and walked intently in, trying to gently shake off the entertainers and strippers that bombarded him, while also trying to avoid looking at them too closer. He refused to look or think about the strange situation he found himself in. He sincerely hoped there was no one from the tabloids that might see him in here.
Anakin shoved through the crowd to the bar, and settled down on a stool, looking around to inspect his bearings and neighbors. Spice smoke drifted thickly over the crowd, and threatened to knock the Jedi to the ground. Anakin had strong resilience, though. He'd done a bit of the exotic spice at one point in his life. He reached behind the counter and helped himself to a bottle of blue vodka, a drink Obi-Wan was very fond off. He drank it empty and sighed. That's what he needed most right now: a good, stiff drink. He looked at the empty bottle, suddenly regretting his decision on several levels, then put it back. He tabbed the bartender before drifting back into the crowd.
Just as Anakin was starting to look for the bounty hunter whom he had somehow lost in the crowd, he felt a familiar presences, and whirled around. It was Obi-Wan with—Anakin could not believe it—Yoda limping smugly by his side, looking ever so slightly greener, if that was possible.
"What in all the hells, are you doing here?!" Anakin exclaimed.
Yoda jumped down to the floor, steadied himself, then leaned casually upon his staff. He looked up at the young Jedi and said; "Help you, we will. In need, you are." He seemed to wink, but then again… Anakin realized he might be hallucinating.
Anakin looked up at Obi-Wan. " Are you sure he hasn't cracked, Master?"
The older Jedi shrugged. "Master Yoda has a strong sense of things, and he suspected you might need his help on this one."
"But I'm not in trouble!" Yet. With that vodka, who can tell…?
Obi-Wan sighed. "You lost the bounty hunter, didn't you?"
"Er… no—" Anakin stammered, then, seeing Obi-Wan's 'do you think I'm stupid' expression, confessed, "—sort of… yes, I did."
Obi-Wan groaned and rolled his eyes. "I can't believe you sometimes, Anakin. Half of the time, I think you're a half decent young man, and that there's a bit of promise for you. The other half… I don't know what to make of you."
Anakin sighed dramatically. "I know, Obi-Wan. I can be such an asshole sometimes."
Obi-Wan patted his shoulder reassuringly. "You're getting better, Anakin. You're slowly getting better. Now. Let's find that bounty hunter."
"Back room, he is," said Yoda as the three Jedi wandered through the bar, avoiding their gazes from resting on the strippers and pole-dancers that entertained on stages above them. Anakin started to feel sick.
Feeling his nausea through the Force, Obi-Wan shot him a warning glance. Anakin straightened up at once, and concentrated on finding the bounty hunter.
"Ohh, ye'r a handsome fellow," exclaimed a half-naked soiled dove, not young in age, and not small in size. She had emerged in front of Anakin from Force-knows-where. Anakin almost lost all of his stomach contents then and there, but he stood up straighter and smiled sweetly at her. He felt Obi-wan and Yoda stare holes into his hide, and explained through the Force: I might be able to get info from her. Stand by.
"And who is this beautiful diamond in the rock?" Anakin said slyly, edging closer to the soiled dove. Don't look, just don't look, he thought hurriedly. Not that he needed to. The sight of her jiggling blubber repulsed him. The dove flushed, and cooed all over him. Anakin sickened at her touch, but his expression remained convincingly aroused.
"So, who is y'er handsome friend?" the dove cooed, nodding towards Obi-Wan. Yoda was likely too small and alien to be noticeable.
Obi-Wan opened his mouth to speak, but just when he was about to, Yoda limped forward and tapped the dove's leg with his staff. She screamed and jumped away. Anakin laughed; he couldn't help himself. It was almost like she'd seen a spider, and that thought alone made him almost fall to pieces right in the middle of the floor.
"Parasitic, I am," said Yoda. "Sexually transmitted disease, I carry. Get them, you will. But a willing victim, I am. My number, do you require?"
"Ew, ew, get away with it!" screamed the prostitute.
"Yeah, ew!" hissed Anakin under his breath, prodding Yoda back with his foot, almost like he was a dog. The old Jedi Master turned and shook his clad undercarriage in the direction of the soiled dove, who looked like she might be sick.
"His name is Jeff," said Anakin quickly, nodding towards Obi-Wan in an attempt to get the dove's attention off of Yoda. "And I'm… Alex."
"Alex," said the dove slowly. "Ye from around here, or from Corellia?" She sounded a bit too nosey for her own good. Plus the fact that she had been repulsed by Yoda. I mean, seriously; what prostitute would give up that sort of ride?
Shit-Sith, she sounds like a reporter. "Nah, Corellia, just coming down to meet a friend." Hope she's too sloshed to tell I'm a Jedi.
"Ah, and who might that be?" said the dove moving closer. Anakin stepped back, hoping there was nothing between him and escape, if need drove him that far.
Anakin looked around, quickly trying to think up a convincing lie. Obi-Wan looked like he was struggling not to puke, a state Anakin mirrored. Behind him, Yoda was mumbling to himself; "These situations, for Jedi, they are not. Yoda size rubbers, think they have, Obi-Wan?"
Anakin looked back at the waiting dove. "He didn't join us tonight. He, uh, doesn't approve of the underworld affairs. Tell me… do you know where the freshers are?"
The dove leaned in close, her eyes twinkling with an expression Anakin didn't like. "Just follow the stage straight, and ye'll find it. Beside the back rooms, so when y'er finished, don't forget to come back and retrieve me." The dove slunk sexily aside, at least as sexily as her blubber would allow, letting Anakin go. Trust me, I will, he thought, then motioned for Obi-Wan to follow him. His Master practically had to pull Yoda away from the sights of the club.
"I think I'm going to be sick," said Anakin when they had reached the fresher.
Obi-Wan sighed, then they both turned to Yoda. It was Anakin, though, who exploded.
"What the hells was that?!"
"Convincing, you were not," answered the old Jedi Master in a calm tone, very much unlike the one he had adopted only a few moments earlier. "Sincere, we must be."
"Yoda sized rubbers! What is this?!"
"Sincerity, Anakin," sighed Obi-Wan. "That's what it is."
"No, this is Master Yoda."
"Playing better than you, I am," was the calm reply. "Now find a bounty bunter, we must. And unavailable, he is. Sense this, I do. In certain… activities, currently engaged, he is. Disrupt this party, we should."
"Oh, great… just dandy," sighed Anakin, running a hand through his shaggy hair. He procured his lightsaber from where he'd hidden it under his tunic. "Well, I didn't come here with the intention of leaving on good terms. So… shall we?"
And neither Obi-Wan, nor Yoda, objected.