Friends or enemies? (Final Part)

A/N: Yes, I know, it's been a while. Just read the story and I'll see you in the Authors Note at the end. Enjoy.

Morty fell with a thump and let out an "Oof!" The wind thoroughly knocked out of him, he just laid there for a few minutes to catch his breath. "Why me?" he muttered, then tried to push himself up, stumbling a few times, but managed to get his knees under him.

"Where the hell am I now?" He looked back where he fell and could only see a shelf of rock a few feet above him. Had he really fallen that far? It felt longer than that.

"Temples tricky. Right..." Getting up he took in his surroundings. He was in a uneven circular room made out of rock and dirt, with only one path forward, a cavern like hallway with vines partially obscuring the entrance. "Right," Morty said, eyes set in determination.

He walked forward and parted the vines. On the other side he face a long hallway, and as he was walking, noticed his footsteps sounding different. Glancing down he was no longer wearing running shoes and his comfortable jeans, he was wearing some sort of combat boots, and grey pajama like pants. "What?" he muttered to himself, but kept walking. At the end of the corridor he came into a room just like the last, only on the far wall, there was a mirror. He walked to it, and looked at himself. He was wearing grey Jedi clothes. A tunic with a belt that held a… lightsaber.

Quickly taking the lightsaber in hand, Morty ignited the blade. The blue beam of superheated plasma sparked to life, and the soft hum filled the cavern and filled Morty with a sense of elation. So this is what it feels like to hold a lightsaber, to feel like a Jedi. "W-whoa," he said, completely starstruck.

Just then a sound like someone kicking a rock came from behind him. Morty turned around, blade held aloft in a defensive position as if he's been trained for years. Coming from the cavern he had just come from, out behind the vines stepped… Darth Vader?
"What?" Morty said to himself. Vader's mechanical breathing added to sound of the lightsaber. "Huh, didn't actually think he existed."

With a flick of his wrist, almost faster than the eye could see, Vader had in his hand his own lightsaber, and ignited the crimson colored blade. Stalking foreword, Vader spoke, "You were foolish to come here, boy. I have killed many Jedi, many Padawans, you will die here, as did your master." Vader struck, but Morty blocked and deflected his blade.

"What do you mean? You couldn't have. Ren is very powerful, more powerful than you!" Morty stuck to Vader's left but he parried, and countered, jabbing at Morty's shoulder, singing him, but not severely injuring him.

"He thought so too," came Vader's response. "But he too, fell like the rest."

The traded more blows, each trying to score a hit, but it's obvious that Vader was just toying with the boy. "Oh man," Morty said. "What do I do Ren? What do I do… Rick?"

Ren PoV

Something is wrong, but I can't put my finger on it.

"Something the matter?" my new guest asked.

"No… No, i don't think so," I said.

"Hmm. Ok, mind if I take off my mask? I can't drink tea through it."

"Um, sure, go ahead," I replied. "What kind of tea do you have?" I asked as I ignited my lightsaber and lit some logs we had set up on fire. We were outside the temple now, and set up a small resting area and built a campfire.

"Some from the Geraldian system, and some from Earth. I particularly enjoy Earth's Jasmine tea." He pulled the hood back, and hit a release on his mask. There was a hiss and the helmet slid off with ease. He looked human. He was about as tall as I am, neatly combed blond hair, that now was a little messed up, tan complexion and freckles. The only thing unsettling about him were his eyes. They were yellow ringed with red, the color of the dark side. "But Geraldia has a fine selection of herbal tea that would make Earth's exotic selections taste like sugar water. Care to try some?"

"Sure," I said, using the Force to pull a nearby log to sit on.

He gets to work filling the tea pot with bottled water and sets it on the fire. "So, I didn't catch your name," I said. "How can I thank you properly?"

The nameless dark sider laughed and said, "Now, that is bold. Names are a dangerous thing. I already know your name, of course, but out of courtesy, I'll ask any way."

"I asked you first," I said, crossing my arms. My fist clenching under my arm, getting ready to summon my lightsaber which I left on the ground at my side.

"Fair enough," he said, shrugging. His irises flecked from yellow to green, an almost hazel color. "But like I said, names are dangerous. So for now, you may call me Rex."

"Rex," I said, testing it out.

"Yes. Rex feels nice."

"Alright. You may call me the New Wave."

Again, he laughed and said, "Fair enough. So tell me, New Wave, why are you here? And why did you leave your apprentice to face the trials alone?"

"As to why I am here, it's none of your business. And for my apprentice, those are his trials, he needs to face them alone, it's his right to."

"It is also dangerous," he said, looking genuinely concerned. "I have faced those very same trials, and I barely made it out with my life. This temple is dangerous, so is the game you are playing."

"And what game would that be?" I asked, my mind set on a hair trigger to spring into action.

The whistle on the teapot started to go off. Using the Force, Rex levitated some cups in front of him, and spooned two spoonfuls each of dried tea leaves into the cups, and again levitated the teapot to pour the boiling hot water.

"It's no game in particular. No more a game than life is. No, it's more dangerous than we all face every day. Especially in a galaxy ruled by the Federation. No, it's more like what you plan on doing. What you plan on doing with the boy."

Hairline triggered, I spring up and pull the lightsaber into my hand with the Force and ignite it. The purple blade healed perpendicular to me, my eyes narrowed. "And what plan would that be?" I demanded.

He was nonplussed, quietly stirring one tea in his hands while the other his held aloft. "The one where you rescue Rick Sanchez."

I lowered my blade slightly. "What?"

"You heard me. Your tea is getting cold."

"But I don't have a plan to Rescue Rick. I haven't even entertained the notion."

"Yet," he said. He nudged the cup closer to me in the air. "Tea?"

Finally recalling my blade, I sat down and took it. "Ok, talk. You have my complete undivided attention."

Morty PoV

Wow, even with these new found skills I suddenly have, I am losing terribly. Darth Vader is definitely messing with me. He meets every strike I send at him, he perries every jab and reverses all of my moves, he could have hacked off any one of my limbs or head several times already, but he didn't. He just slid the blade ever so close to my skin that it only lightly burned me. My new clothes look like they've been set on fire repeatedly and had to stop, drop and roll only to have them set on fire again!.

"What's the matter boy!?" Vader taunted. "Can't keep up? Maybe you should have left the fighting to ones more capable."

"I'm trying!" I yelled desperately, blocking yet another strike only for him to singe me with the tip of his blade.

"Trying isn't good enough!" Vader yelled back and made to slice my arm off if I didn't roll out of the way. My lightsaber dropped out of my hand as I did, and rolled behind Vader.

"What else am I supposed to do?" I asked, running out of steam. "If trying isn't good enough, what else can I do?"

"There is nothing you can do," Vader said walking towards me, but what surprised me was that he deactivated his lightsaber. "Nothing, that is, but to give up. I can feel your frustration, I can feel your desperation and fear. Use them. Strike me down with everything you got!"

"W-what?"

"The dark side. Use it. Just give in, and unleash your power on me."

It was tempting, god it was tempting. I wanted so much to just give in and let all my frustrations out but… no. That's not what Ren wanted, that's not what I wanted. That's not something that I wanted to do. But it was something that Rick would do. And I'm not Rick.

I barely thought the thought before I shot out my arm and called my lightsaber. As it reached me I was pushed backwards by a massive Force push from Vader. My back slapped into the mirror cracking it, but he wasn't done. He yanked me back towards him, making me bouncing on the ground in front of him, into the back wall, the ceiling and finally back on the floor just behind him.

"Foolish," Vader said. "You are stubborn, but sadly, a lost cause." He reignited his lightsaber, the red beam casting shadows all over the cavern, and making him look more demonic than he already is. "Goodbye."

He lifted his blade, and made to cleave my head, but as a last ditch effort I raised my hand and caught it with the Force. Neither of us said anything, we were both concentrating on, for me, not dying, and for Vader, making sure I did die. The struggle was so real you could almost see the Force with the naked eye, a shimmering field of energy holding the blade in place while Vader tries, with all his strength and Force mastery to push the blade through and finally kill me.

"I'm not just gonna lay down and let you kill me!" I said, struggling to get to my feet. "I don't care how much stronger you are than me, if the dark side is stronger than the light, I don't even care if you end up killing me anyway! I'm not gonna give up without a fight!" And with that I pulled back my other hand and pictured myself physically gathering up the Force in my right hand and with a massive push I released what I pictured as a tidal wave made out of the Force into Vader pushing him back into the Mirror, which shattered.

Drained, I sank back to my knees. "It's over," I half whispered to myself.

"It is," responded a shooken, but a very much alive Vader. He stood up, brushing some glass off of his shoulder, called and reignited his lightsaber. I had nothing left. "Shame, you have potential. Time to die, young one."

"Ok," I said. He stalked forward, his blade level with my face. "I guess it's time to give up," I closed my eyes and smiled to myself. Time to let go.

…..

…..

But nothing came.

Confused, I opened my eyes to see me… standing up, strangely, and my hand on the fully intact mirror. "What?" I said out loud. Taking my hand off, I turn around to take in my surroundings, because they changed. I was still in a circular room, but it was made of stone, torches were lit on stone pillars that were definitely not there before.

"What the hell is happening?"

"You passed your trial, that's w-whaaaaa-ut."

Rick came in from the cavern that is completely clear of vines now. "R-Rick? What's going on here?"

"You do know that I'm not actually Rick, right?" He said, stopping in front of me.

"Yeah, I know. But wh-what else am I gonna c-call you? T-temple?"

"Huh? F-aaaaair point," he took his flask form his pocket and took a swig from it.

"Um, R-Rick? What did you m-m-mean when you said I p-passed?"

"Exactly as I said," he put his flask away. "Y-oooo-u passed. You passed your trial of Awakening."

"B-but I already thought I p-passed."

"You both started, and passed it when Ren said. There is no definite start or end to this trial. You start it when your ready to start it, and you pass it the same way. By realization."

"Realization of what?"

Rick smiled and put a hand on my shoulder. The real Rick wouldn't have done it unless he was gonna hurt me or butter me up. "Realization of yourself. Of how the Force works and how we work for the Force. The first step is letting go. Which you did."

"Yeah, when it was clear that Vader wasn't gonna let me live, and I exhausted myself."

"Still, it was an important lesson you had to learn. Even if you fight so hard, throw everything you have into any situation, when you realized that too much is too much, and enough will never be enough, there is no shame in letting it go."

"But I was gonna die!"

"And you put up a valiant fight." Rick reached into his other pocket and brought out a spherical looking chunk of diamond with… something blue in the center. "Morty, the past of a Jedi is not easy. It takes the deepest commitment. The most serious of minds. If you take this, it will start your next trial. Refuse it, and well, you won't be excommunicated, but you'll have to take the next step on your own to start it. With this, you may yet become a Jedi."

Without even thinking of it, I snatch the orb from his hands. "What do you take me for Rick?" I say, looking at it. It's the size of a baseball. Clear crystal, almost like glass, with something blue in the center. "I'm in this to the end R-" I stop, because when I look up, I'm back at the temple entrance. The door was open, Ren is nowhere to be seen, but I get the faint impression of a smile. Like a ghost in the wind.

Ren PoV

"That is the most ridiculous, and the most crazy and nonsensical plan I have ever heard. And I rolled around with Rick Sanchez for over 20 years," I told Rex when he was done explaining his ludicrous plan for getting Rick out of the most maximum security prison in the entirety of the Federation. It was stupid, in a word.

"Oh come on, I told you, this was a premonition. It may seem stupid now, " was his response. "But given time, all will be clear."

"Hmm. We'll see," I said, draining the rest of my tea. "And I'll be sure to pick up some more of this tea on my way back home. It's actually good."

"That's wonderful to hear," he said, picking up his helmet and putting it back on. Once it snapped into place the voice modulator picked up his next words. "But not everything is set in stone. I have meditated and delved deep into the dark side for months to pick up a single moment out of millions. For now, just live your lives, continue on day to day. Make love, I don't care. You'll know when the time comes. And when it does, I'll be there. Your apprentice comes, I'll see you around."

I turned around in surprise to see Morty coming out of the temple. Getting up I go over to him. "How you doing buddy?"

"Ok, I guess," he said, looking a little shaken, but is smiling. "Some messed up shit happened, but, I'm ok. I passed my trial," he held up an orb of diamond and what looked like… a kyber crystal in the center!

"Morty," I said, gently taking the orb from his hand. "Do you know what this is?"

"Something to start my next trial?"

"Actually, yes. Huh, your instincts are getting better and better. In the center of this, is a kyber crystal. It's what powers a lightsaber. Your next trial is the Trial of the Mind. You will construct your lightsaber at the end of it, but it doesn't end there. This trial takes your entire life to master, and even before you get your lightsaber it takes a lot of concentration and dedication."

"Wow… my own lightsaber… just, wow." He had stars in his eyes.

I chuckled, "Heh heh, yeah. Wow indeed. Maybe my new friend can-" I turned around but Rex was nowhere in site. "Huh?"

"What is it Ren?"

"Nothing," I said, feeling deeply troubled. "But, for some reason, I can't seem to recall his face."

End CHapter 7

A/N: So… it's been a while… Sorry. Life got… real. Like, really real. I've lost homes, I've lost friends, I've almost died a couple of times and was homeless for a spell. Now I'm going back to school, gonna be a Nurse. So, as a new years resolution, I'm gonna get back to my writing, which means, I'm finally gonna finish some stories before I actually start a new one. So, I'll see you in the next one. This has been Bigmike, signing off *Boop!*