Jedi Fallen Order: After All The Years

Chapter 18

Hope's POV:

     "This is even more fun than torturing your little boyfriend." The anger coursing through my veins slows for a moment. Is he talking about Cal?

     "I don't have a boyfriend."  I say stepping away from the trooper.

     "I saw it with my own two eyes, the way he comforted you on Tatooine, or when he fell off the makeshift sand dune sled, and you both burst out laughing. But instead of his laughter all I ever heard was his screams and cries for you to come save him. Never giving up on you." His words of Cal being tortured sickens me, yet I was distracted. How did he know about those times between us, he wasn't there.

     "Who are you really? You shouldn't know of those things. You weren't there." Suddenly his figure changes, morphing into a new figure. The one of the tall and bulky mandilorian who had captured Cal.

    "Your worst nightmare, coming to take your boyfriend back to Ilum. Where he belongs." Ok this defiantly isn't real. It can't be. People don't just change into other people. I take several more steps backwards, separating us by a couple of yards. I lay my lightsaber on the ground. If he really is the mandilorian or the stormtrooper, he will attack.

     The man slowly walks toward me, trying not to scare me, and puts his hands to my head. I close my eyes, and feel relaxed in the persons hands.  The force suddenly rushes through me, binding me to whoever this mystery person is. I open my eyes to find Cal standing with his hands on my head heavily breathing, with a smile of relief on his face. "Cal?" I mutter. Relief and joy wash over me at the sight of him.

     "Impossible!" a booming voice angrily says, with a hologram of a man appearing at his words.

     "Who's the ghost?" I ask pointing to the man, making him sound simple and unimportant.

     "Long story. " Cal replies, immediately hugging me. I catch a glimpse of BD's motionless body of metal latched onto the back of Cal's vest .
     I want to ask Cal what happened to BD but before I can get the words out, the man's hologram speaks again, "This doesn't let you two off the hook. Your my fish in my dudgeon, and you will fight each other even if the girl regained her mind." Cal hastily backs away from the hug, and coughs awkwardly as if the man had caught him doing something he wasn't supposed to do. I feel the same way and look down at the ground.

The man speaks again, "You see my new and improved arena is equipped with lasers that will slice you two into pieces. However, if the two of you fight the winner gets to keep challenging contestants that my bounty hunters bring in. If you don't you both die. Now don't keep my guests waiting."

That bastard! If it's a fight he wants it's a fight he'll get. Cal is about to say something when I suddenly say to him, "Cal don't make anything worse than it already is." But the words don't make it out of my mouth. Cal looks at me in shock. Did I just talk to him telepathically?

He then replies back with out his lips touching once, "What just happened Hope?" We both stare at each other in awe.

"Hey! I just said don't keep my guests waiting or I will have a chat with my friends in the laser lab." I look up at the group of gamblers and the glass separating us catches my eye. I bet anything that man doesn't have lasers rigged up there.

I hatch a plan and share it with Cal telepathically. He replies with a smug smile and a nod. The force smoothly guides my lightsaber to it's holder, "What do ya say Cal, wanna put on a show for the people?"

"I thought you'd never ask," he says with a smirk. I guess that's my que. I use the force to jump up to the specters glass and start to run along it, relying on the force to stay upright. Cal jumps up from the other side of the arena and force pushes me against the glass. I act like I hit the glass put instead put my hands behind my back to force push the glass making a huge dent in it. I land in the dent and pretend to look hurt. Man this glass is really flexible.

"You good?" Cal asks me, in my mind, with concern.

"Yeah all good." But to keep up the act I snarl at him and jump down to where he is standing. Cal takes off, and jumps up to the spectators glass while running across it as well. "Using the same strategy as me Cal. Common I thought you were better than that." I mock still upholding that act.

"Wasn't I the one who taught you this strategy?" He says, confidence evident in his voice. Even when we are acting we both manage to flirt. I smile and look down shaking my head, hiding my blushing face. When he is directly across from the dent I had made merely seconds ago, I jump up and force push him into the glass while he makes a dent with the force.

Now I get why he asked if I was ok. I feel so guilty after doing that. "Are you ok Cal?"

"Aww she's worried," he telepathically teases.

"Yeah yeah, it's time for the finale." I say changing the subject. I jump up towards him and he jumps forward, making it look like we are going to collide. But, we doge each other and each force push the two dents in front of us. The one that I push shatters and not long after landing in the shards of glass, I hear glass shattering across the arena. People scream and the audience of gamblers erupt in chaos.

Now there is only one thing standing in our path to freedom. The bounty hunters...

A/N: Hey soooo how do you guys like this chapter? Anyway this one was kinda confusing. A lot happened, and a lot will be explained in the next chapter. Thanks for reading I hope you liked the chapter!