AN: I'm back with the next chapter! I'm glad to see that I got my first follower on this story, and I hope to get some feedback in the reviews from you guys.

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars or any of its characters.

Now, let's get on with the story!


Rafe followed behind Yuki and Arakan as they walked through the dark alleys of level 1313. He wasn't even restrained in any way. He looked around to see if anyone was watching them. Some merchants occasionally eyed them as they walked by, but were quick to ignore them. He glared at the two Jedi. Do they think I'm that weak, or are they just stupid? I can easily escape from this place.

"Don't even think about escaping, boy," Arakan said, surprising Rafe. He wasn't even looking back to make sure Rafe was still following them. "We had a deal, remember?"

Right, that stupid deal. What the hell was I even thinking? Rafe didn't know what he was thinking. He saw no other way to get out of the situation he was in.

Arakan stopped walking, turning around to face Rafe, as did Yuki. "Why do you still want to escape?"

"Like you would understand," Rafe spat. "You don't know what it's like to claw and fight and scrap just to survive."

Arakan's eyes narrowed, but his actual expression was hidden by the hood of his cloak. "...Don't be so quick to judge others."

Rafe matched the Jedi's stare. Yuki kept looking between them, but Rafe wasn't concerned about her. Arakan on the other hand—

Suddenly, Arakan telekinetically pulled Rafe towards him, and held him at eye level, as if he was trying to prove Rafe's point. "I gave you two options," he said fiercely. "Prison, or the Order. You chose the Order. If you choose to regret it, then that's on you."

"Is there a third option?" Rafe asked.

Arakan looked away from Rafe for a moment, deep in thought, then answered, "Yes. You can stay down here and continue to rot in the Underworld. Although, chances are it won't be long before you're taken to prison for your crimes, and I'll also take that crystal from you. How does all that sound?"

Rafe glared at Arakan. His life may have been shitty down in the Underworld, but he knew how to survive. Now he was being forced to live a life he didn't want to. And I'll have to fight in the Jedi's shitty war.

"Yes, you'll have to fight in the Clone War," Arakan said, shocking Rafe. He just read his mind. How was that even possible? "I'll explain all of this when we get to the Temple. But I need you to make a choice. Will you continue to run away and rot down here, or will you become my apprentice and help win the war?"

"I answer to no one," Rafe said defiantly. "And I don't give a shit about your shitty war, so go to hell."

Arkan shot a distasteful look at Rafe and threw him through a window of a bar.

Rafe flew through the window, glass shattering all around him, and crashed onto a table, breaking it from the force of the impact.

Everyone in the bar was looking at Rafe with surprised and shocked expressions.

Rafe ignored them and walked out of the bar.

"Hey! Stop!"

Rafe halted and slowly turned around, glaring at the Besalisk.

"You're that thief who stole that crystal, aren't you?" the Besalisk asked.

Rafe directed his glare onto Arakan, but was surprised to see that he and Yuki were nowhere to be seen. Tch. Whatever. It's about time they finally gave up. Persistent little pricks. He focused on the situation he was now in. Everyone in the bar had their attention turned to him, and they all looked eager for a fight by the way they stood from their seats and slowly approached him. He realized that he could use this situation as a way to get away from the Jedi. Smirking, he walked away.

The Besalisk put his hand on Rafe's shoulder. "I asked you a question, shorty. Can't you hear me from down there?"

Rafe twitched his thin eyebrow in irritation. "You're mistaken."

The Besalisk looked surprised. "Oh, am I…" He grinned before reaching a hand out to grab the chain around Rafe's neck.

Rafe flicked out his knife and cut the Besalisk's hand, who groaned, holding onto the open wound, covering his hand in blood. Everyone in the bar gasped, seeming to be shocked at the fact that a short teenager could casually and effortlessly harm someone much bigger than him. They slowly approached Rafe, and he waited for them to attack. Bring it on, you rats.

They all charged at Rafe. He was able to hold them back briefly by punching a Trandoshin in the neck, then pulling his arm back and elbowing the Besalisk in the nose, then intercepted a punch by grabbing the human's wrist, and threw him back into the person he just sent flying with a kick behind him.

He grabbed a wooden chair and threw it at the Besalisk. He was the biggest out of the group, so Rafe knew he had to take him out first. The Besalisk covered his body with the two arms on his side, shattering the chair. He ducked, avoiding a punch, and turned on the ball of his foot, kicking one of the humans, knocking him on his back.

When he turned around, the Trandoshin punched him in the left eye, then the stomach, making him gasp for breath. The other human slammed glass onto his back, forcing him onto the floor face-first.

Rafe was picked up by one of the humans and was then beaten repeatedly by the grinning Besalisk. The Besalisk knocked him onto the floor with a punch from both of his arms to his already bloody left eye, then grabbed the chain around his neck, pulling him to him.

"Any last words?" the Besalisk asked with a grin.

Rafe looked up at the Besalisk with an impassive expression. "Go to hell."

Before the Besalisk could do anything, he was pushed into the wall at the back of the bar. Arakan and Yuki suddenly appeared, easily knocking out one of the humans and the Trandoshin. Rafe took his knife and thrust it into the human's thigh.

"My leg!" the human yelled, releasing his hold on Rafe. He was then thrown into the wooden table behind him, breaking it in half upon impact.

Rafe glared at the two Jedi. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"It looks to me that we saved your life," Arakan said.

"Are you okay?" Yuki asked, sounding concerned.

"Don't act like you care, softy," Rafe scoffed.

Arakan walked past Rafe without a word, followed by Yuki.

"That's it? You save my ass and then leave without an explanation."

"I expect you to come with us," Arakan said as he kept walking.

"Why do you want me to join the Order so badly?" Rafe asked, getting frustrated.

Arakan stopped walking, turning around to look at Rafe. "Because… you're skilled in combat, and you've seen things no other Jedi has seen."

"And what's that?"

"Cruelty."

"And why would that make me a good Jedi?"

"Because it goes against our Code," Arakan explained. "And that's exactly why we need you. Not just for your unique crystal, but for your understanding of both the light and the dark, the good and the bad. These are qualities the Jedi lack."

Rafe looked at the ground, which was covered in shattered wood, glass, and blood. He assumed if any Jedi were to walk in, they would be mortified at the sight. But Arakan and Yuki helped me, even though it was that bastard's fault for putting me in that situation. Still… this might be my only chance out of here. That's all he wanted in life. To escape from the Underworld, and here was his chance. He looked up at Arakan, fighting back a glare. "Fine, I'll come with you."

Arakan nodded, seeming to be satisfied. "Good." He turned around, leading them out of the bar, and eventually out of the Underworld.


"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Yuki asked, sounding uncertain.

"If you want to take a long ass walk to wherever the hell your temple is, and risk getting kidnapped or killed, be my guest," Rafe said offhandedly.

Yuki looked at the ground with downcast eyes, probably hurt by what Rafe just said.

"No need to take it so personally, softy," Rafe added, trying to cheer her up, despite the fact that he didn't like her much.

"Okay," she whispered. "And my name's Yuki."

"Whatever."

"I see you two are getting along," Arakan said amusedly.

"Shut up."

They entered a repair shop on the side of an Underworld portal, which had a landing platform that jutted out into the shaft. The shop was mostly filled with several tables and shelves that were littered with tools.

What caught Rafe's eye, however, was the YT-2000 freighter that was in the center of the shop. "Do any of you know how to fly?" he asked the Jedi.

"Why would I take you to a place that might have a flyable vehicle if I didn't know how to fly?" Arakan asked irritably.

Rafe clenched his fist, fighting back the urge to punch Arakan in that smartass mouth of his. He refused to be made a fool of. He whirled his head to his right when someone grabbed his wrist.

"Rafe, calm down," Yuki said calmly. "That's just the way Master Arakan speaks. He didn't intend to make a fool of you."

Rafe wanted to glare at her, to tell her that she was full of bantha crap, but he couldn't find a reason to be angry at her. She never did anything to him. "Whatever you say, softy," he said, not bothering to hide the annoyance in his tone. "Let's just get the hell out of here." He walked toward the freighter, but stopped when Arakan called after him.

"Boy, you can't just take that freighter," the cloaked Jedi scolded.

Rafe turned around and looked up at Arakan, who had a look of disapproval in his eyes. "Do you honestly think they're just going to let us have it if we ask nicely?"

"Not everything has to end up in a fight. It's wise to weigh out your options before acting recklessly."

"I don't know if you've noticed or not, but down here, everything ends up in a fight. That's how you get what you want, and how you survive."

"It's also wise to have connections," Arakan said.

Rafe was surprised, not only by what Arakan pointed out, but by the way he spoke to him. Ever since he first met him, Arakan spoke down to him without a care. But now he was actually giving him advice instead of scolding him every chance he could get. He looked at Yuki, who was looking around the shop, intrigued.

"That's… true," he said, refusing to look up at Arakan. He didn't want to see the look on the old bastard's face when it took everything he had to swallow his pride and agree with a slick prick like him.

"So, we'll do things my way," Arakan said with finality, "and if things go south, we'll do things your way."

Rafe hesitantly met his gaze. "Fine."

Arakan walked passed Rafe and approached a human at the far corner of the shop. "Excuse me."

The human turned around, scowling at Arakan, clearly annoyed.

Well, this isn't gonna go as planned… Rafe chose to watch things play out, looking around the shop to see if anyone else was with them. He noticed that there was a

balcony above them, and several stacks of crates in the darkest parts of the shop,

where no light hit. An ideal place to hide if you plan on ambushing someone…

"The hell do you want?" the blonde-haired human asked.

"I was wondering if we could pay you off for that freighter over there," Arakan said, sounding surprisingly polite.

"Sure, if you've got 45,000 credits."

"I'm afraid I don't have that much. We just need to get out of the Underworld."

"Well, looks like you're stuck down here," the human said, turning back to his work.

Rafe was taking too much time. He approached Yuki, who smiled shyly. "There are five people who are hiding. Three on each end of the balcony, and two behind those stacks of crates. I need you to your space magic or telepathy or whatever and keep an eye on them."

She looked a little scared, but seemed to calm herself. "You're right. There are five people hiding. I'll look out for them."

Rafe nodded his thanks, then approached the human. "Hey."

The human looked down at Rafe. "The hell do you want, boy?"

"Do you even use that shitty freighter of yours, or is it just for decoration to make it look like you're richer than you actually are?" Rafe asked.

"Don't provoke him, idiot," Arakan muttered.

"Why don't you just take the elevators?" the human suggested.

"Sure, if you wanna get caught by the Police, or get captured or killed," Rafe said. "Now let us use your freighter." He was only answered with a glare. "...Please."

"The answer's no, now get the hell outta my shop."

Arakan sighed. "Very well." He turned around slowly and snaked his hand around the hilt of his lightsaber.

Rafe widened his eyes, knowing what Arakan was going to do. That fucking idiot. Before they could get into any more trouble, he slammed the human's face against the table, bloodying his nose. "Give us your damn freighter!"

Before any of them could do anything else, they were suddenly shot at. Arakan telekinetically pushed Rafe and Yuki to the far corner at the entrance of the shop, out of the line of fire, and ran towards them while deflecting the blaster bolts with his green lightsaber.

"We need to get out of here!" Yuki shouted over the blaster shots.

"Not without that freighter!" Rafe said. "If we run off now, everyone will be after us, and we'll be back in this shitty situation."

"Do you know how to fly that thing?" Arakan asked Rafe.

Rafe looked at the freighter. He learned to operate vehicles on a basic level, the kinds that get you to places of a short distance, but nothing fancy like an actual ship. "It shouldn't be too difficult," he told the Jedi.

"Then get it started. Yuki and I will take out the shooters."

Rafe looked at where each shot was being fired at, then made a break for the

freighter when he saw an opening.

Arakan and Yuki ran after him, deflecting blaster fire with their lightsabers, but some of the shots ricocheted off of the walls and close to them.

Rafe jumped in the freighter and looked at the controls in the cockpit. "Okay, let's get this thing started." He looked at the switches in front of him and pressed one to his left. It didn't seem to break anything, so he pressed the rest of the switches in the same row, but only managed to turn on the lights. He looked around, saw a navigation screen on his left side, and pressed the buttons below it, powering up the freighter.

Several blaster shots suddenly hit the freighter, but no damage was done.

"What are they doing out there?" Rafe looked out of the ship, only to see Arakan and Yuki standing in the center of the repair shop, deflecting blaster bolts. "Those damn idiots. We'll never get out of here if they just stand there." He climbed into the gunner's cockpit and started firing, destroying everything in the shop. He looked in the directions of where each shot was being fired from and proceeded to shoot in each of those directions.

The high stacks of wooden crates exploded, catching on fire, burning the humans who were hiding behind them. Yuki looked horrified at the sight, and ended up getting shot in the shoulder. She dropped onto a knee, managing to continue deflecting blaster fire.

Rafe tried to fire at the shooters up on the balcony, but couldn't reach them at the angle he was at. He climbed down from the gunner's cockpit and ran to the freighter's entrance. He suddenly stopped, realizing that he might be throwing away his only chance at escaping the Underworld. Were two Jedi really worth his freedom; his survival?

"Oh, what the hell…" Having made his decision, Rafe ran out of the freighter, making a beeline toward the burning crates.

"Boy, what do you think you're doing?!" Arakan demanded.

Rafe jumped onto a crate that hasn't fully caught fire yet, then jumped off, using his momentum to kick off of another crate and onto the railing of the balcony.

The shooter noticed him, turning in his direction with his blaster aimed.

Rafe took a deep breath, then charged for the human. He used his short height to his advantage and stayed low, avoiding blaster fire. Not yet… He rotated his body to the side without even thinking, barely dodging a blaster bolt. He didn't know what he was doing, or how he was even dodging every single shot, but he still kept moving.

He rolled to the side when another blaster bolt was fired at him, kicking himself off of the wall and towards the human. Now! He flicked out his knife and threw it at the blaster, right before the human could fire off another shot.

"What the hell?" he said, looking at Rafe with a shocked expression.

Rafe kicked the gun out of his hand, then jabbed his elbow into his throat. The human coughed out some blood and was then flipped over Rafe's shoulder and knocked

unconscious with a kick to his face.

He looked around to see Arakan holding a human by the throat, who then dropped him when he lost consciousness. Yuki deflected a blaster bolt back onto the human's blaster, making it useless. She telekinetically pulled him to her and knocked him on the head with the hilt of her lightsaber. All three of them jumped down from the balcony.

"You're telling me you could've just done that this entire time?" Rafe asked. He was frustrated that they could've stopped the fighting before it even began. He wasted so much time for nothing.

"Yes, we could have," Arakan said, "but we decided to focus on protecting you."

"Don't you think you could've done a better job of that if you finished them off earlier?"

"Yes, we could have. But…"

Rafe looked at Arakan curiously.

"I also wanted to see what you were capable of," Arakan finished.

Rafe was confused. "What?"

Arakan sighed, seeming to be annoyed at Rafe's questioning. "I wanted to see how things went if we did them your way. I wanted to see how you would handle the situation. All I can say is, you got through it without dying."

"You were testing me?!" Rafe asked furiously. Not only was he furious for being used, but he also didn't take lightly to Arakan's lack of praise. "You bastard."

"I needed to know if you had the capabilities of a Jedi," Arakan clarified. "A Jedi must remain calm and in control at all times. They must be able to think quickly and make tough decisions. You exemplified such qualities by taking charge when things didn't go our way. You took things into your own hands and took our assailants out, although two of them died."

"I wasn't trying to kill anyone," Rafe said defensively. "And it was a shootout, so what did you expect to happen?"

"That's exactly what I expect to happen in situations like this, which is why I try to keep the number of casualties to a minimum."

Rafe glared at Arakan. He couldn't believe he had the nerve to capture him, force him into a life he didn't want, and then use him as a tool.

"You can despise me all you want, but that won't change the fact that you're now under my care, and it's my responsibility to protect you," Arakan said. "If you don't like that, then you'll have to kill me."

"Don't taunt me," Rafe growled, reaching for his knife. He widened his eyes when he realized that he was weaponless since he used it to disarm one of the humans. This bastard…

"Guys…" Yuki said uneasily. She was looking at the human they were trying to negotiate with, who was running for the freighter.

Rafe ran after him, but stopped when the human was lifted into the air. He looked behind him to see Arakan with his hand outstretched. The Jedi pulled the human towards him.

"Tell me, why is everyone after that crystal the boy has?" the Jedi asked.

"Money," the human responded. "That's the only reason anyone wants it. No one even knows what's so special about it."

Arakan looked at Rafe curiously. "How did you end up with it?"

Rafe held the crystal in his hand, remembering how he got it. "I stole it when they were auctioning it." He remembered it like it happened yesterday. The huge crowd in front of the podium; the enthusiastic bidding; and Rafe used all of that to his advantage. But every day he remembered that stealing something so valuable cost him his freedom.

"You stole that crystal?" Arakan asked, sounding surprised.

"No shit," Rafe said. "Why do you think everyone's after me?"

"So, why didn't you just sell it if it was worth so much money?"

"That's what I intended on doing, but after realizing how valuable it was, I decided to keep it," Rafe explained.

Arakan sighed, turning around and walking to the entrance of the shop. As he was walking he took his lightsaber and threw it at the freighter, slicing it in several places. It eventually broke down, and was now unflyable.

"No!" the human, who was laying on the ground having been thrown there by Arakan, cried. "You Jedi are pathetic! You hear me?! Pathetic!"

"We all are, you retched pig," Rafe said, glancing down at him with disgusted eyes. He followed Arakan out of the shop, followed by Yuki.

They walked through the streets of level 1313, heading for the elevators.


Rafe couldn't believe how much trouble they'd run into just to get out of the Underworld. All they had to do was get to the elevators that led to the upper levels, but that seemed impossible when everyone was chasing after them at every corner you turned.

He looked at Yuki, who kept her head down, her bluish-black hair covering her face. "Why are you so scared?"

She glanced up at him. "I've just… never been in such a dark place like this."

"Don't the Jedi fight all the time?" Rafe asked.

"Yeah, but it's mostly about politics, and when we're on the battlefield we're mostly fighting droids," Yuki explained.

"Well, I hate to break it to you, but this is life. Not everyone is as fortunate as the Jedi. There are a lot of people like me who have to fight just to make it through another day. And the worst thing about it is that the galaxy forgets about us, leaving us to rot."

Yuki seemed to have gotten smaller as she looked at Rafe with sympathetic eyes. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Don't pity me," Rafe scoffed. "There's nothing to feel sorry for. I'm still here, aren't I?"

"Yeah…" Yuki smiled. "I'm glad."

Rafe was surprised to hear her say that. His entire life, nobody thought of him. He had to do everything on his own. And when somebody did need him, they only wanted to use him. But she did nothing but help him out. She, a Jedi, helped him, a rat from the Underworld, a thief, out, and she barely knew him. She was glad he was alive.

"Why?" he eventually asked.

"I guess I'm just… grateful for all that you've done for me," she said, looking away from Rafe.

"I barely did anything for you."

"You helped me survive this place. You put my life over yours. Not that many people do that…"

"What about the Jedi?" Rafe inquired.

"They—"

"We're here," Arakan informed, cutting Yuki off.

They stood in front of two bright blue doors, which opened as they approached them, allowing them to walk into the elevator. Arakan pressed a button, and the elevator started rising up.

Rafe couldn't believe it. He was finally out of level 1313. He's been stuck down there for his entire life, and he was finally getting out. What will I do now? He didn't dwell on the question. He just cared about getting out of the hellhole he's been forced to call home for fifteen years.

The elevator continued rising, but it felt like it wasn't going much higher. Rafe still felt stuck in the Underworld. All of that was erased when they finally reached the top, and the elevator doors opened.

He was finally out of the Underworld.


To be continued


AN: And that's Chapter 2. I know it could be considered a filler chapter since there wasn't much progression, but I wanted to show what life was like for Rafe before he finally got out of the Underworld. I hope all of the action was able to make up for it.

If you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a review. I'd love to hear your guys' thoughts and ideas.

See you in the next chapter!