A/N:Well, we're back to Kevin in this chapter. We're getting close to the climax of this fic; only a few more chapters to go plus an epilogue. I might add a one-shot series on taking place after the end of the fic, but if I do it'll be only occasionally updated as I have a couple of other stories on the back burner that I plan to get back to.
Disney owns Star Wars, Marvel, the sun, the moon, the sound of birds on a spring morning, that feeling you get when the first ray of sunshine peeks through the clouds after a long rainstorm...
"Uhnn..."
My head hurt. So did my everything else. It took me a few seconds to recall what had happened, at which point I snapped my eyes open and bolted upright.
"Ah! Master Obi-Wan! Are you... alright..."
Now that my eyes were open, I could see that I was no longer in Saroth Outpost, and that my Master was nowhere to be seen. Instead, I was lying on grass, looking at a chain-link fence; as I was still dizzy from what happened, it took me a few moments to register where I was.
"The abandoned playground... I'm home..."
For a few moments, I considered the possibility that it had all been a dream; that was quickly ruled out by the fact that I still wore my robes and lightsaber. I could still sense the Force as well—I even felt through my Force bond with Master Obi-Wan that he was alive, wherever he was. That's when I hit a bit of a sudden realization.
Wait a sec. The Force shouldn't even exist here!
I decided to stretch out my senses as far as I could to figure out what was going on, and got another surprise; the Force did exist on Earth. Or, more specifically, it existed NOW. The range at which I could sense the Force was currently somewhat limited, extending to a radius of only a couple of miles (I noted briefly the absurdity of thinking that to be a short distance when to most Knights it was an impressive one) before just... stopping. I soon realized that the Force was spreading from a single point—namely, a few feet from where I was currently sitting. Getting to my feet, I looked at the point in question; I didn't SEE anything with my eyes, but I felt a weakness in space-time at the nexus where the Force was leaking through.
I could sense right away that I could get back to the galaxy if I focused the Force on the breach. But I could also sense that it wasn't TIME to do it, yet. Having learned to trust those feelings, I decided to try to figure out my next move; it didn't take long for me to decide on a course of action.
"Home. I have to get home. I have to at least tell Ms. Madison that I'm alright."
I didn't get three steps before I realized that—assuming time passed equally on both sides of the breach—I was almost certainly listed as a "missing child", and my current attire would stand out quite a bit. If I were recognized, there was a chance I would be stuck in a police station or in my room for the foreseeable future, and while I fully intended to visit the orphanage, I knew I couldn't stay there; I opted to take the back streets just to be safe.
It felt a bit strange that I now considered the back streets to be "safe"; this wasn't exactly the best part of town. Bullies were one thing, but compared to the presence of gangs and other crime, Marsh and Tommy had always been the lesser threat by a mile. Now that I had the Force, though, I knew I had nothing to fear from dark places—at least not anymore. A few blocks later, however, danger did indeed rear its ugly head; I sensed that someone nearby was in distress. Getting home may have been a priority, and I may have only been a padawan, but a Jedi doesn't ignore a person in need no matter where they are. Running in the direction of the feeling, I got yet another surprise in the form of a familiar face:
"Look, I told you, I don't HAVE anything more for you guys! You took it all last time—"
"Shut up, Marko! We know you've been holding out on your payments for a while. Cough it up, or we cut it out of you!"
From around a corner, I spotted Tommy Marko, one of my old bullies, surrounded by no less than eight guys who were clearly part of a local gang; most of them had either knives or baseball bats, but the one who had just spoken—obviously the leader by the look of things—held a gun. Tommy may have been a bully, but again, as a Jedi-in-training I had a responsibility to help, and I wasn't about to let these guys hurt or kill him. I took a breath, then stepped around the corner.
"Hold it. Let him go."
All eyes turned to me; for a few seconds, they seemed confused, until Marko clearly recognized me, an expression of shock crossing his face. The gang members had a slightly different reaction.
"Hahahahahahaha! Looks like we got ourselves a little Karate Kid!"
"No, not a Karate Kid, he's a JEDI!"
A chorus of "Oooo" came out of the group as they reacted in mock horror before laughing again.
"Go back to your mommy and your legos, kid," said the guy with the gun. "This is the real world here!"
I couldn't help but smirk at the idea of what their reaction was about to be. I waved my hand, directing the force at their minds. "You don't want to fight me. You want to drop your weapons and leave quietly."
Sure enough, three of them did just that, leaving the rest—the ones who weren't weak-minded—looking rather flabbergasted. The leader looked at me with brief astonishment before shaking his head. "Nah, it's some sort of trick. I got something for that!"
Time slowed down as he pointed the gun at me and pulled the trigger; by the time the bullet had left the barrel, I had already grabbed my lightsaber and activated it, intercepting the bullet... and deflecting it right at the guy's shoulder, causing him to drop the gun and fall down, clutching his shoulder and screaming in pain.
"AAAAUGH!"
A light force-push took the other four off their feet, while a subsequent pull tore their weapons from their hands and dropped them on the ground in front of me; I then did my best imitation of Master Obi-Wan and glared in their direction, my voice steady and calm.
"Grab your friend and leave. And while you're at it, go home and rethink your lives."
They didn't need a mind trick to convince them to obey, and within a few moments Tommy and I were alone in the alley. I walked over to him, deactivating my lightsaber and looking him over for injuries.
"Are you alright, Tommy?"
He blinked several times, clearly still stuck in utter disbelief. "What... Caller? That's... that's not possible!"
"That's what I thought at first, too. Turns out truth is stranger than fiction." Satisfied that he wasn't injured, I took his hand and helped him to his feet.
Still clearly in shock, Marko took a few moments before resigning himself to the new reality. "It... it IS you. How? Where did you go? Wait, don't tell me—"
"A Galaxy Far, Far Away," I said with a slight smirk. "That lightning bolt opened some sort of breach that day; long story short, I'm a padawan apprentice. Coming back wasn't intentional, and honestly I didn't think I ever would, or even could. But I'm here now." A few more moments of silence passed as Tommy tried to process my story; before he could speak, I remembered something else.
"Wait, where's Marsh?" I asked, looking around in confusion. "I don't think I remember any time you guys weren't together."
"Marsh... he disappeared not long after you did. He's... he's wanted for murder."
That took me by surprise. "Wait, what? What happened?"
"His dad... he killed his dad, or so they say. Guy's body looked like someone set him on fire." Tommy paused, looking at the ground with a guilty expression. "I think I always knew on some level that he'd been going through some rough times at home; he never talked about it, and whenever I'd ask he'd change the subject. I knew Marsh better than most; he'd never kill anyone. Rough 'em up, maybe, but murder? Not him. Not his style. I never believed it, not for a second."
It took a bit for the whole thing to sink in for me. Somehow, I knew that this was related to the Force; I resolved to try and find out the how, what, and why later, after I'd gotten back to the orphanage. I started to leave, but was stopped by Tommy putting a hand on my shoulder.
"Look, Kevin, about... about the day you disappeared. Ever since then I couldn't stop thinking about what we did to you, how we treated you. Marsh, I think he probably had his reasons, but I didn't have any excuse; I just beat you up for fun, and I know I shouldn't have. I was awful to you for no reason, and you disappearing... for what it's worth, I'm sorry. For everything."
Obi-Wan sat in the infirmary of the Negotiator, still reeling from the events of the day, as well as the revelations gained from Kevin's final actions before the force of the weapon's blast knocked him out. It had been less than an hour since then; sensing danger, Anakin and Ahsoka had come to the rescue to find Kevin gone and Kenobi unconscious. Upon his awakening, his new knowledge hit him like a freighter; it took every fiber of his being to keep it to himself. He may have been in shock, but his tactical mind quickly told him that a patient approach was the best way to avoid the tragedy he now knew was coming.
The clones on Kamino had undergone the procedure that would put Kevin's alterations to Order 66 into effect, but there were plenty of troops still in deployment alongside various Jedi who had yet to be freed from their status as unwitting pawns of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. By the next day, though, the program would be broadcast to frontline medical bases across the galaxy, the clones scheduled to undergo the procedure receiving the key to their freedom and the salvation of both the Jedi and the Republic.
After his brief explanation, Anakin had decided to speak with Palpatine immediately upon their arrival on Coruscant; the thought of his former padawan conversing with the hidden Sith Lord—the man who had orchestrated everything, the one who sought to destroy the Jedi and plunge the galaxy into darkness—frightened him. But the clones were not the only consideration. The catalyst of Anakin's fall was still in play, and Kenobi had no doubt that Sidious had a plan to ensure Anakin's corruption in the event of his premature exposure.
As for Kevin... that would have to wait. No matter how much he worried for his padawan, he could do nothing to save him, at least for now. His only consolation was that, wherever Kevin had gone, he was alive; there was no distance, no barrier that could sever their Force bond.
With no other option, Kenobi began to plan his strategy for the coming storm; one way or the other, the fate of the galaxy would soon be decided.
Kenobi was not the only one strategizing; across the stars, on the bridge of his flagship in orbit of Serenno, Dooku observed the preparations for the final phase of his own master plan, his new apprentice standing by his side. Through the main viewport he could see a sizable droid fleet mustering in anticipation of their cross-dimensional invasion, his own ship undergoing modifications to its hyperdrive core, modifications that would allow it to create a fleet-sized breach, the product of experiments that had been going on since the day he had first learned of Caller's arrival in the Galaxy.
On the subject of that particular individual, Dooku was fully aware that the newly-christened Darth Iudex could potentially be turned from the Dark Side should the padawan somehow intervene; with that in mind, he had taken steps to ensure that Caller would not live long enough to do so. He was certain that Bane and the team comprised of Dooku's own assassins would stand out rather easily in the other world, but considering the impending invasion he was planning, stealth beyond the actual elimination of the boy would be a rather moot point. As for Sidious, his former master would soon be too busy avoiding the increased suspicion by the Jedi that he had planted back during the incident on Alderaan to stop him—that, or the culmination of the hidden Sith Lord's plan would be forced into effect early, creating chaos that would leave the Republic reeling no matter who won that day.
The pieces were in place, the dejariik match almost over... and soon enough, he would have two universes in his grasp.
Anne Madison watched her charges go about their daily routines with a vacant gaze, running her hands through her red hair in mute exasperation; as the head of the Harper Street Orphanage, she normally took to her duties with an unwavering focus, but recent events had left her in a haze of worry. The occupants of the orphanage may not have been her biological children, but they were her kids all the same. When Kevin vanished several months ago, she knew immediately that he had not run away—the boy was as well-behaved and kind-hearted as any of his peers, and the thought of him voluntarily leaving without so much as a note never once crossed her mind. Which left only one possibility: foul play.
There was nothing she would not do for her children, and when the police gave up, she took matters into her own hands; with a taser, a pocket knife, and a can of mace, she immediately went on a personal search for him, dangerous neighborhood and violent thugs be damned. Not that any mugger would dare mess with her considering the mood she had been in at the time. After yet another month with no contact and no sign of him, however, her maternal rage gradually faded, replaced by despair. She held out hope as long as she could, but eventually she forced herself to face the cold, hard truth. That didn't make it any easier; in her mind, even one child lost among all her kids was an unacceptable failure, a failure that still haunted her and would likely continue haunting her for a long time.
She walked towards Kevin's old room, still unoccupied, still exactly as it had been since the day he vanished. As she approached the door, she thought she heard a sound from within—the sound of a window opening and shutting. She shook her head.
I'm starting to hear things. He's gone...
When she opened the door, her heart leaped into her throat, her breath momentarily gone. For standing in plain view was the boy she had given up for dead. After a few seconds that seemed like an eternity, she finally managed to choke out one quiet word.
"Kevin...?"
He nodded, his face an odd mixture of ecstatic relief and quiet joy. "Ms. Madison... I'm home."
A million questions raced through her mind, the first coherent one being 'Where did he go?'
Kevin sighed. "I'll tell you, but you might want to sit down first."
A rather stray thought followed her previous one. Did I say that out loud?
"No, you didn't. Again, you really ought to have a seat, because this explanation is going to take a while."
A pause came between them as she realized that something was happening that was impossible. Finally, she managed to walk over to the bed and sit; her shock only increased when something even more impossible followed as Kevin took a fictional weapon from his belt and turned it on, a green glow from a real blade erupting into existence.
With utter calm, Kevin broke the silence. "It's real. It's all real."
Sorry about the wait! This chapter was an unexpected pain to write; the next few are probably going to make me scream in frustration, too, so the next couple of updates might be equally slow. Just be patient—we're almost at the endgame. Also, I'm 100% aware that in canon, bullets can't be deflected by lightsabers; to be honest, I really despise that because it makes zero sense for reasons too numerous to go into here (and just talking about it risks triggering my nerd rage). Anyway, read and review!