Well, hello once again everyone! It's Marka Ragnos629 and DJ Rodriguez back again with another chapter for all of you. You know, I'm kind of disappointed that not all of our questions got answers last chapter, but we won't let that discourage us! For we have a brand new chapter here for your enjoyment!
*We still don't own Digimon or Star Wars: The Clone Wars! All other references in this chapter belong to their original owners!*
Tasks And Comedy And Portals, OH MY!
Barriss stood stiff as a board, confused at where she was now. One minute, she's in the council room watching a bunch of strangers beat down clones and Jedi like it was nothing, next thing she knows, she's standing on a platform that looks similar in design to a computer chip. Needless to say, she's feeling quite nervous. And the Dashade standing next to her wasn't helping her nerves.
"Uh... where are we, and how did we get here?" Barriss asked.
Jhogolt chuckled and placed a calming hand on the young woman's shoulder. Something about her just made him think of her as a younger sister. One who needed his guidance badly.
"Worry not, Barriss. We are merely in the universe that exists between yours and one that exists parallel to it. This parallel universe happens to be where Duskmon and the other Digimon reside." he explained. "But it's not the main reason we're here. The Jedi will be seeing this as well in due time, but I feel you should see this now."
The young Mirialan looked confused by that statement, until she saw a solid gold gate coming into view. Looking through it, she saw Jedi and Sith of all past generations and every species gathered and going about their business. Some were meditating in a prayer pose, some were sparring, others were laughing and telling stories. No doubt stories from when they were alive.
There were even some domestic animals among the sentient being. Animals such as Banthas, Krayt Dragons, dogs and cats. There was even the occasional Komodo Dragon, Crocodile and Alligator.
Khem pointed to the right and Barriss looked to see a small line of Jedi, Sith, and even clones standing in front of what appeared to be a check-in station. Standing in it was a figure with their hood up, obscuring their face from view, but their robes were pure white. And they appeared to be looking in a book as they spoke to the people in line.
"Name, Blur." the hooded figure stated in a distorted voice.
The Clone Trooper in question nodded in affirmative. He was covered in bandages and had cracks and chips in various parts of his armor. Barriss recognized him. He and his platoon went on a mission to Kamino and never came back.
"Cause of decease; ambushed by Separatist Battle Droids and lost." the hooded figure read.
At the clone's nod, the figure opened the gate to the odd place.
"Pass granted."
Blur bowed in thanks and began to walk into the light, his armor replaced by white robes as a pair of pure white eagle wings grew out of his back. The figure turned back to the book as a Jedi Padawan who Barriss had no recollection of, a Kel-Dorian male, walked up. He looked pretty much okay... except for the crack in his head with brain matter leaking out of it.
"Name, Gadoba Voss. Cause of decease; helped your master at the beginning of the war, dying to ensure that he would live to fight another day. Got your skull cracked open like a coconut when a Super Battle Droid whacked you over the head."
The young Padawan nodded, not knowing that this individual understands all the languages of every species in the galaxy. The gate opened for him as well.
"Pass."
The Padawan walked through the gate with the same thing happening to him as it did to Blur. Next was a Sith Lord. A Darth that Barriss knows well from the history books. A young woman with shoulder length blonde hair and fair skin. But her robes looked as though they'd seen better days, but thankfully, still covered most of her body.
"Oh, thank the Force! I thought I'd never get up here!" she said.
"Yes, a lot of people before you have said that. Now, let's see here... Darth Zash." the figure stated.
They silently read the cause of her death before looking up at her with a kind smile. At least, Barriss thought the figure was smiling.
"Oh, so you didn't see Thanaton's Lightsaber coming, did you?"
Zash just scratched the back of her head, an embarrassed look on her face. The hooded figure opened the gate for her as a white light bathed over the Sith Lord.
"Go ahead." they said.
Zash bowed in thanks and walked through, her white robes and wings appearing as well. The figure closed the gate and turned their attention back to the book.
"Muff, Fluff and Puff."
In response to this, there was a splashing sound that made the hooded individual look up before looking in all directions. But they saw nothing. They looked down at the ground and saw a burlap sack that was soaking wet hopping towards the check-in station.
The sack popped open to reveal a trio of kittens, obviously drowned by some cruel kitten hater! The thought of such a thing making Barriss want to wretch. The kittens mewled and ran through the door, the figure allowing them entry. They looked sympathetic for the kittens, disappointed at what their previous owners did to them.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk. What some people won't do." they said in disappointment.
Barriss looked to Khem & Jhogolt and asked, "What is going on? Why the line?".
The Sith Master smiled softly, which was unusual for a Sith to do since it mostly had an ominous feeling that would usually proclaim the victim's demise. Not Jhogolt, who was smiling like a parent would a child. Or a sibling to a younger one, even. He answered, "This is the Plane of Judgement. Those that have been found worthy can enter the Kingdom."
Offee was perplexed and inquired more, "Kingdom? What kingdom?"
Khem answered this one, "One which surpasses ALL kingdoms in the mortal realm; past, present and future."
The former Jedi Padawan turned to see the ones that has passed through by the Book Keeper... for when they ascended, she got a glimpse of truly a magnificent realm that was beyond imagination! It had a splendor and a beauty that surpassed anything she had seen, and an air of tranquility and peace that was truly otherworldly!
A being came before them, and it was DJ with Angewomon! The duo looked a bit banged up, but it was superficial at best. Jhogolt chuckled and inquired, "Got a bit carried away there, eh Rodriguez?"
The Hispanic young man grinned and answered, "A little. You know me and Angewomon when we do the distractions! Like come in, than go out with a bit of flair! Helps that it keeps the fools distracted, as it is the reason after all."
Barriss looked to the Jedi Master, who looked young yet had something that told her he was truly older than he appeared and acted. DJ looked to the green-skinned beauty, bowing playfully like a gentleman would to a lady. He stated, "Welcome, young lady! I see that my friends here have been aiding you, and also that you are having a rare privilege indeed."
The former Jedi fighter inquired, "Privilege? What do you mean?"
Angewomon answered the question, "You are among the very rare of mortals that see this place, especially when the Bookkeeper here reads what is written in the Lamb's Book Of Life." Barriss felt like a child back at the Jedi Academy, where she was very inquisitive back than and looked around in wonder all around her.
DJ stated as he rose back up, "We shall explain more at a later time. This, we all promise. For now, let us walk." He led the away from the Book Keeper and the Gates that held the Kingdom, Jhogolt and the others following as Offee did the same. She felt dizzy, excited, nervous and confused all in one package!
As they walked along the plane of data, Barriss felt as though she was, literally, walking on water. She had no idea how this was happening. It all felt so surreal, so nonsensical, so unreal! Barriss really wasn't sure what to think about this whole thing.
"Okay, I must be hallucinating. Rummaged through the trash and ate some bad tacos. Yeah, that's it. Bad taco dream." Barriss mumbled to herself.
Ashara giggled at her fellow Togruta blaming everything that was currently happening on bad tacos. It seemed like something she would have done when she was still training to be a Jedi. But she is Sith now. And she, like the rest of Jhogolt's crew, have seen the light. The know the truth and have embraced it.
"This ain't no dream, squirt. This is all very real." Xalek said, ruffling Barriss' hair.
This drew an annoyed look and a growl from the shorter girl, not liking being treated like a youngling like this. Jhogolt laughed and clapped a hand on his apprentice's back.
"Come on, Xalek, stop teasing her! You know what'll happen if Vette finds out about that."
The very thought of what might happen made Xalek turn pale from fear. He knows better than to incur the wrath of Vette.
"Vette? Who is Vette?" Barriss asked.
"Right, she couldn't make it to the fight at the temple since she was guarding the ship with Andronikos and 2V-R8." Jhogolt said in realization.
Knowing that his friend would end up a lovestruck mess thinking about Vette, DJ decided to explain who Vette is. But before he does, let's check in on Anakin, Ahsoka, Luminara and the rest of the Jedi High Council.
*With The Jedi…*
The Jedi Masters, Knights and Padawan were still in shock on what had just occurred. Anakin looked at the wrecked room, which was very much well destroyed while the ARC Clone troopers were still gathering their wits. He growled out, "Okay... what in the flaming pits of Tatooine... HAPPENED?!" Normally, the Chosen One would keep his temper in check when in the presence of the Masters such as Mace Windu and Yoda.
However, given the circumstances, his nerves and pride were in tatters due to what occurred.
His mentor and friend Obi-Wan Kenobi answered, "I believe that we all got soundly defeated by beings we thought existed only in legends."
Ahsoka commented, "Not to mention freaky creatures that have strange powers." The exotic beauty Jedi fighter had seen many places, seen many different races, creatures and beings. But the ones she saw just now took the cake! And they probably ate it too!
She was also thinking on that strange being that called himself DJ, and on how he made her look like a complete rookie fresh from the Academy! She simmered with anger on how she was easily defeated, toyed with actually... but a small part of her was also liking on how funny he tried to make himself to be. Until he got all serious with her master Anakin.
One of the ARC Clone soldiers stated, "We tried to glean what we could from surveillance videos that were established in the Cell Room. However... there is something strange."
Mace, who had managed to get his wits back to normal inquired, "And what would that be, soldier?"
The Clone known as Ace Thirty answered, "When we checked the footage just now to see how the intruders took Barriss... we got nothing."
Yoda and the others frowned, the elder green master of the Force asked, "Nothing? By this, what do you mean? Hmmm?"
Ace replied, "Just what I mean; nothing. The footage just shows a circular hole being cut into the door to let loose the prisoner but... that's it. It was as if the invaders were invisible to it completely! We ran the footage through all kinds of spectrums like infrared, x-ray, and so on. But... nothing! Like they weren't able to be caught with an artificial eye."
This indeed troubled the Jedi and clones, for to go completely undetectable to the artificial eyes like cameras and such was truly a problem. They have heard and seen cloaking devices, and beings who could go invisible. But to be completely hidden on any kind of visible spectrum was unheard of!
Anakin inquired, "Did you at least get any kind of info on that portal they just used now? Maybe we can use that to see if we can follow them."
The ARC trooper started to type in rapidly on a tablet that he often carried with him, since he was a technical officer of sort. After a few minutes, he exclaimed, "Yes! I managed to isolate and find the energy frequency of the portal! But it's extremely sensitive and precise!" When Ahsoka asked on what that meant, Ace answered that even a slight miscalculation or movement would cause them to lose said frequency.
Luminara inquired, "Is there any way to follow them?"
One of the Jedi Masters, an alluring female Cathar with white fur, long naturally gray hair tied in a high ponytail, green eyes and stripes like those of a tigress answered, "We do have something... an experimental portal generator that we have been working on for years."
She explained that many scientists and experts in light technology have been trying to come up with a safer way to transport items from planet to planet. However, it was very risky as the portal generator machine was fresh and new... and hadn't been adequately tested in the field yet.
Anakin spoke, "Well, it's going to get a field test now. We need to go to that machine and fire it up, and hope that it can lock onto the energy frequency quick."
The others realized what Skywalker was proposing... and many were starting to think that the Jedi Knight wasn't just reckless... he was plain crazy!
*Later…*
"Uh, I don't know about this, Anakin." Obi-Wan said with great hesitance in his voice.
It took a couple of hours, but the portal machine was now up and running. So far, the portal looked stable enough, but the clones were still trying to keep it fixated on the correct wavelength for where DJ and Jhogolt took Barriss.
Unfortunately, not everyone was able to go through the portal. The machine could, unfortunately, only transport about six people at a time. Since Ahsoka, Luminara and Anakin have some history with Barriss, they were elected to go. While Obi-Wan, Mace Windu and Yoda would come along to try and settle the matter through diplomacy.
And if that didn't work, they could always fight their way through.
"Relax, Obi-Wan, we'll be fine! What's the worst that could happen?" Anakin asked.
"Do you really want us to answer that?" Mace asked in return.
Anakin shot the older Jedi a look that clearly said 'shut it', and turned his attention back to the portal. It began to glow green, signaling that it was ready for them to go through.
"Now, we won't bore you with all of the mumbo-jumbo about dimensional travel, but we should be able to drop you off right where those troublemakers were last." explained Clone Captain Rex.
"Alright then, we'll go through on the count of three! Ready..." began Anakin.
The others crouched down, ready to jump at a moment's notice. But they, unfortunately, weren't prepared enough, as Anakin jumped through the portal so fast, he left a trail of smoke in his path.
"THREE!"
"Anakin, wait!" called Obi-Wan as he jumped in after his former Padawan.
"CANNONBALL!" shouted Ahsoka as she did a cannonball into the portal.
"Oh, for the love of...!" muttered Mace.
He, Yoda and Luminara jumped into the portal just in time for the energy maintaining it to go unstable.
It crackled with electricity before imploding in on itself and leaving something in its place. Cautiously, Kit Fisto walked towards the item that was dropped and picked it up. He raised a nonexistent eyebrow at what it was that had been left in place of the portal.
"A comic book...?"
Meanwhile, with Anakin and company, they too had arrived at the mysterious golden gate that Barriss had witnessed before leaving with DJ and company.
"What... IS this place?" Mace Windu asked.
"You can call this the check-in station." replied a distorted voice.
The Jedi jumped in fright at the sudden speaking up of the voice and turned around to see that they were in front of the counter where the Book Keeper was still working. But it looks as though they have this aura of disappointment around them now. But for what, I don't know.
"Jedi masters Mace Windu, Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luminara Unduli. Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and Padawan Learner Ahsoka Tano. Just a minute..." they said.
The Book Keeper flipped through some pages in the book before finding the page they were looking for. But upon reading the file, they were not impressed.
"Hm. Apparently, the four Jedi Masters have a more recent action in sentencing two innocent girl's to fate's that were quite possibly worse than death. Abandoning Ahsoka to a corrupt senate and attempting to sell off Barriss Offee to a life of slavery." they read before adding "Well, with something like that on your records, I can't let you through. I am sorry, Jedi."
The two Jedi Masters, three Knights and single Padawan were stunned that the being before them not only knew they names... but also on what they had just done. Anakin reached for his lightsaber... only to find said weapon not there! In fact, the other Jedi soon saw that their weapons were gone! And they knew for a fact that their trusted weapons were on their being when they entered the portal, so they felt something was off here.
Obi-Wan looked to the Bookkeeper and inquired, "Excuse me, but... who are you? And what is exactly is this place again?"
The unknown-aged keeper of the Lamb's Book of Life answered, "You are at the Check-In Station, others calling this place the Judgement Plane. It is here that those who have passed on are judged to see if they are written in this book, and that they can pass on to the Kingdom."
Ahsoka whispered in fear, "Are... Are we dead?"
The Book Keeper shook his head and answered, "You are not. However, your actions while alive are written here and your current actions have left much to be desired."
Mace put in, "Look sir, we are looking for some individuals who escaped from our custody. Did they land here?" In truth, the bald Jedi Master was still trying to wrap his head around the concept that they were in the celestial realm.
The Bookkeeper answered, "DJ and Jhogolt did pass through here, with their Digimon and apprentices along with a young woman named Barriss Offee. They went off somewhere in that direction." He pointed to his right, which looked to be an endless horizon with a golden gate that seemed to stretch off to eternity.
Luminara said, "Thank you. Those are the beings we seek. We need to bring them back to our world and bring them to justice."
The Book Keeper frowned and spoke, "Mortal justice... it has slipped since the days of ancient past. Do as you wish, but there is one thing I must caution you on."
Anakin was getting impatient and was about to give a sarcastic retort when Ahsoka stepped in. She knew that her master still lacked tact, and in a place like this... getting snarky and such to a being such as the Book Keeper was NOT a good idea. She inquired, "And what is that, if I may ask?"
The Book Keeper answered, "That there are beings here who would gladly, and fiercely, protect those here that have passed on to the Kingdom. And also those that still await their judgement. And also... any kind of mis-step here would be unwise."
He then pointed towards something that laid a distance from them, and got the Jedi's eyes to widen. In the distance was a lake of fire, an inferno that would put any kind of mortal volcanic pit to shame! Something about it made their very souls shiver in fear, even Anakin! The Jedi Masters and Knights have seen and felt some morbid things in their duties as keepers of the peace... but this particular pit was in a whole other league of itself.
As they felt that a nightmare, the likes unimaginable, was lying there in wait in that lake.
The Book Keeper stated, "Now, if you all just step aside so that I may continue with my duty…" The living ones automatically stepped to the side, and were surprised to see so many faces within the long line. Clones, Jedi apprentices and friends, even Siths were there in the line!
Yoda put in, "Hmmm... in over our very souls, I fear we are."
The Jedi were about to walk off when they were stopped by the Book Keeper.
"Oh, but before you go, know that there is still much time left before any of you pass on. If, by the time miss Offee is finished with her assignment, you have met the requirements written on these Celestial Pages of Redemption,"
The Book Keeper handed each Jedi one such page, but right now, all they saw was that it seemed like a blank sheet of paper... that had a golden aura? Including Ahsoka. However, hers seemed like it'd have the least amount of tasks to complete.
"You will be permitted to pass when you die. But if you fail... it's this."
He had the Jedi turn their attention to a screen and they saw just what was IN that fiery pit they saw earlier. As the screen glew with a red light, they could hear endless wailing of pain and suffering, the gnashing of teeth, and saw fire and brimstone as far as the eye could see!
And in the center of it all was a hooded individual in a black cloak with flames licking the bottom of it, and a pair of glowing red eyes peeking out of the hood. The figure was laughing with such evil and malice, his sharp teeth glinting in the fire light, it made the likes of Darth Sidious seem like a saint in comparison.
"AAAAHHH HA HA HA HA HA! GIVE THEM TO ME! SEND THEM DOWN! THEY CANNOT ESCAPE THEIR ETERNAL DAMNATION, AND YOU KNOW IT! THEY'LL FAIL LIKE SO MANY OTHER JEDI BEFORE THEM! GIVE THEM TO ME! BWA-HA HA HA HA HA!"
Needless to say, the Jedi had reactions that were not so great. Yoda had paled to a much lighter shade of green and looked like he was going to have a heart attack. Obi-Wan' eyes were bugging out so much they looked like they'd pop out of his skull. Even Mace Windu had a visible reaction! His eyes turned big and white like what you see in Japanese anime, his mouth was hanging open, and he was sweating literal waterfalls!
Anakin too had paled drastically and his hair was standing up so much, he looked almost like he'd electrocuted himself. Luminara covered her mouth with both hands and her hair actually stood up in a way that it almost made her look like the Bride of Frankenstein and caused her cowl to fall off. Ahsoka was hyperventilating so much, she might pass out. And she also looked like she was gonna wet herself out of fear.
As the screen turned off, they all looked back to the Book Keeper who said only one thing in response.
"They went that way." they said, pointing in the direction where Barriss and company went. "If you leave now, you can still catch them."
Not needing to be told twice, the six Jedi booked it as fast as their legs could carry them to try and catch up with Barriss. Luminara didn't even care that she left her cowl behind. Turning back to the book, the Book Keeper called forth the next person in line.
"Jedi Knight Pong Krell."
*With Barriss And Company…*
Meanwhile far in the distance, DJ had finished explaining to Barriss on who Vette was & her connection to Jhogolt. Needless to say, the former Jedi was stunned to hear it. The Hispanic young man said, "And that is about it. I can't blame my companion for falling in love with her, since she is a beauty and a unique one at that."
He wasn't talking just about species, since Vette was a special woman that had a feisty heart and an attitude to match it. Yet only had a soft side that only Jhogolt was allowed to see.
Barriss inquired, "So... where do we go from here? I mean, what is next?"
Xalek answered, "Now, we go to the Digital World. We want you to find your Digimon partner." Miss Offee was still puzzled on the concept of a digital world... heck, she was still trying to wrap her mind around the fact that she was in the Afterlife world now!
Ashara saw the look of confusion on her face and decided to alleviate it. She said, "I am sure the others explained it to you earlier, but let me refresh your memory. The Digital world is a place where digital information, such as numbers and codes you type in a computer, take a life of their own. It's quite a unique world, and the beings inhabiting the place are called Digimon which is short for digital monsters."
The green-skinned beauty turned to see Duskmon, and also Angewomon who walked close beside DJ. Barriss looked to her new acquaintance and asked, "But... if they are digital, how can they come to the real world?"
Jhogolt answered, "It's a bit complicated to explain, but let me assure you this at least. They are very real despite being data. Trust me, what they are & also what they do is as real as can be."
"WAIT! WAIIIIT!" shouted a familiar voice.
The group perked up and looked back to see a cloud of smoking rushing towards them at inhuman speeds. And from the looks of it, it wasn't about to stop anytime soon.
"Unidentified smoke cloud off the hindquarters!" Khem quipped.
Ashara squinted her eyes as she peered out over the horizon. Something about that smoke cloud put the Togruta beauty on edge as she unconsciously scooted closer to her Kaleesh boyfriend.
"It looks like... Jedi! But how?!" she gasped.
"Uh, guys? They seem to be coming in a wee bit too fast." Barriss said warily.
Everyone took a closer look and noticed that Barriss was right. The Jedi must've been running too fast and were now digging their heels into the ground to try and stop in time. But as they seemed to have momentarily lost their connection to the Force, they couldn't use it to slow themselves down enough to not crash into anything... or anyone.
"WE CAN'T STOP! GET OUT OF THE WAY!" screamed Anakin.
"MOVE IT! MOVE!" added Mace.
"AND HURRY IT UP! I DON'T HAVE HEALTH INSURANCE!" Ahsoka finished with a quip.
Thrusting his hand out, Jhogolt called upon the power of the Force and used it to drastically stop their movement. Unfortunately for Anakin and his entourage, this resulted in them splatting against the invisible wall of the Force in a cartoony fashion. One that would have drawn laughter from anyone else.
They groaned in pain as they slid down the invisible wall and into a tangled pile of limbs. Each of them was panting hard from running so fast for so long, and they all had anime swirly eyes from how dizzy they felt. And Yoda's leg seemed to be twitching a little bit.
"*Pant... pant…* Well... At least we caught up... to them..." gasped Obi-Wan.
Luminara wiped some sweat from her brow and raised her hand tiredly.
"Can I get a glass of water?" she asked.
Reaching into his cloak, Xalek pulled out several bottles of cold water that would certainly quench a thirst.
"Sparkling, or regular?" he offered.
*To Be Continued…*
Marka Ragnos629: Well, everyone, it certainly looks like the Jedi are about to get in over their heads here, doesn't it? But I did enjoy writing this chapter with DJ, because I got to make so many references to Tom and Jerry, my favorite old cartoon! And now, I'm gonna turn it over to DJ to sign us off.
DJ Rodriguez: And... cut! That is it for this part, ladies and gentlemen! The humor, action and drama are starting of just fine, and believe me... more is still to come!
Anakin and the others are now on the Other Side, in the Heavenly Realm where they meet many familiar faces... and also have been given the tasks to right their wrong against Barriss. Or else... something much more terrifying than death itself awaits them! What will happen next?!
And now for the questions! Here is some on my part! I will post my three, and my friend here with post his own. Ahem...
1.) What would you do if you saw a familiar face in the Judgement Plane?
2.) What did you think of Anakin and the Jedi Council's decision in following the intruders and Barriss?
3.) What kind of Digimon should be suitable for Barriss to bond with? And why?
Marka Ragnos629's Questions...
1.) What would you guys ask if you found yourselves at the Judgement Station?
2.) What sort of tasks would you have the Jedi accomplish on their Celestial Forms of Redemption?
3.) Should the Jedi and Barriss build new Lightsabers while in the Digital World? If so, what kind should they build and from what materials? (Please include the color of their crystals and whether the blades are unstable or not.)