Legend of the Jedi Princess 3: Return of the Doresho

Brainstorm Part 1

The Bad Batch rushed to get ready the moment they stepped on the palace grounds. Omega, the horses, and the Heartwoods all rushed in to get ready too.
Teatra also rushed to get the right makeup onto Omega and fix her hair before they landed. Finishing off with a bit of powder, which made Omega sneeze.
"What's that for?"
"Camera flashes." Teatra said. "Helps you not look washed out on camera."
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"Alright, people! Let's get moving!" Caroline shouted, amid everyone running all over the place. "We gotta head out in less than fifteen minutes, so move, move, move!"
"Mistress Caroline," said Threepio. "Might I suggest not stressing yourself out while in such a fragile state? You are currently almost eight months along."
"I know how far my own pregnancy is, Threepio." Caroline said, "and I'd like for everyone to be ready for the twins' graduation ceremony before the baby twins are old enough to graduate eighth grade."
"Threepio does have a point, babe." Carmine said. "The baby's gonna need you to be calm for a healthy birth."
"And what about the party? The twins are only going to graduate eighth grade once, and four years may not be even barely enough time to plan their high school graduation and going away to college parties."
"Caroline, you are a terrific wife, mother, and party planner. And no doubt, inherited your father's perfectionism. But you need to stop putting so much pressure on yourself, for the baby's sake and yours too."
Caroline sighed and realized her husband was right, and then she felt a kick from her pregnant stomach. No doubt, this new baby was going to keep her and Carmine busy. No amount of party planning experience or organization would be enough to avoid the tiredness that came with a new baby.
"Luke, please hold still." Anakin groaned, trying to get Luke into his little suit. But Luke was kicking and giggling about. "Daddy needs to get you dressed."
"Has anyone seen my pink glitter slippers?" Gabby called.
"Have you checked your closet?" Caroline answered.
"Do I really have to wear a tie?" Boba said, Padme trying to get the navy blue neck tie tied around Boba's neck.
"It completes the look, Sweetie."
"Hold still, Wrecker!" Hunter said, spritzing some cologne on Wrecker to make him smell better. But everyone started coughing as the stuff was sprayed.
Goldie and Lamenta rushed to get their hair brushed.
"Has anyone seen my cloak?" Mariposa asked the kids.
"Laundry room, Mom." Goldie said.
Omega also rushed to get into her dress for the big event. Her maternal grandmother Jobal had bought her a beautiful red and yellow ombre dress for her birthday, and she decided to save it for a special occasion. And what better occasion than her graduation to wear it? Now she only struggled to pick a hair accessory to compliment it. But in the end, she decided to go with the sun pin Shmi gave her.
The twins met in the den with the rest of the family, all dressed up and ready for graduation. But before they left, Mariposa decided to present her gift to them early.
"My people have special rituals for many coming of age ceremonies, and around your age, many young doreshos graduate junior butterfly school."
And so, Mariposa presented each of the twins with a special hand stitched butterfly, each of them in a color that matched the kids' outfits. In doresho gypsy traditions, they refered to these gifts as chrysa-blessings. According to Mariposa, they served as a symbol of growth and change, as well as a sign of love and respect from a parental figure, and a promise that no matter how much they grew and changed, they would always be there for them. Mariposa's father passed long before he ever had a chance to give his daughter hers, but she always held the one he'd made and saved. It wasn't often that Mariposa got to practice her traditions, so she took the chance to share them with her family friends.
"Even though I haven't known your family for very long, I can tell two of you have both grown and changed so much. Your family is very lucky to have two caterpillars like you in their lives."
The twins couldn't help feeling touched by this lovely present. It was true, they were growing up and changing a lot too. And three months from now, they would be attending high school, meaning they wouldn't be attending the same school as the little ones anymore, and they would be pursuing a lot of different things. And as they continued to grow, they would no doubt face new challenges, new interests, and new friends too. But they were both smart enough to know that one thing that would never change was their love for their family.
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Meanwhile, at Windy Falls...
"Valedictorian was supposed to be mine!" Madison said angrily, slamming her locker shut.
Madison, the eighth grade drama queen, was what was commonly known as overly competitive. She found it bad enough that Boba got the spot of cheer team captain over her, but she also was a bit of a perfectionist when it came to grades. She had a twenty-five year plan she'd been working on since third grade: Graduate valedictorian from eighth grade, graduate valedictorian from high school, get an internship at a big design company, graduate summa cum laude from a top fashion college, and then open a big fashion empire. Except... that plan, in her eyes, came to a screeching halt when it was announced that Roya Harischandra was the valedictorian.
"It's not the end of the world, Madison." said a human girl named Ally. "You're still salutatorian."
"Second best? Really? That's first place for losers. Besides, I'm pretty sure Roya only got valedictorian because she's a princess. Last time I checked, it was my science project that won the science fair. Not to mention I was the only one to get an A on the geometry final. And I wouldn't be surprised if she even used her genie magic to get the right answers."
"Okay, not only is that insane, but there's no way you'd be able to prove that. Even if you could, it's too late to get her disqualified."
Madison was just fuming at this point.
"It's not fair! I already was denied cheer captain thanks to prince waterworks, and Princess Omega nearly blew up the science lab, but she got away scot free and still passed the class! And with that Princess Gabriella, I can never run to be queen of Naboo because she's gonna inherit it! I bet none of them are smart enough to even tie their own shoes."
Madison opened her backpack and pulled out a folder where inside she held what had been her valedictory speech.
"I worked on you for three years, and for what?!"
Madison cried out in dismay as she ripped the paper in anger. But she didn't know who was watching her now.
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"I was beginning to wonder when she would show the necessary signs of motivation for one of my babies," chuckled Mariverde.
She summoned a butterfly to her hand, but she also transformed two more into a couple of hooded figures.
"Fetch the one with the blindfold." Mariverde said. "Make sure to gag her mouth."
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At last, the ceremony was ready to commence.
Mrs. Sumner stepped up to the podium to welcome the parents and families of the graduating class.
"Welcome, parents, family, and esteemed faculty. For the last eighty years, Windy Falls has prided itself on an important motto: "The wind can blow down many things. It can blow down a tree, but it can be pulled up, and no matter how strong the wind blows a mountain, it will never fall." And today, we are honoring a group of young ones who have prevailed many challenges to make it to this day. And this is an exceptionally special, historical year, as this year's eighth grade class included not one, but three royal students, all of whom have worked hard as any other student to be here. Thus, without further ado, please welcome this year's graduating eighth grade class of Windy Falls."
The audience clapped as "Pomp and Circumstance" played, and the graduates walked down the aisle all dressed up in their caps and gowns, looking so grown up.
Boba and Omega looked so nervous as it was going to be their turn to walk, when Omega caught something in the corner of her eye. Madison was looking at something on her phone, and she looked upset. In fact, Omega could swear she saw tears forming in her eyes.
"Madison, are you okay?" Omega asked.
But Madison quickly hid her phone.
"I'm fine! Not that it's any royal business." Madison huffed.
"I'm just worried. Today's a big day for all of us."
"Oh, sure... today's a big day. I'm sure it's just another Wednesday for you. Tomorrow, you're probably attending the grand opening of an orphanage or hosting a Save the Blue Birds campaign or something. Well, guess what, Princess. Most of us actually worked hard to achieve something and didn't need to be born royalty for it!"
Omega froze at that, and she wanted to say something else, but Madison just pushed her out of the way and forced herself to smile as she was called next to walk. Concern drew up in both Omega and her brother.
"What was that about?" Omega said.
"You know Madison. She can be such a drama queen." Boba shrugged.
But Omega had a feeling it was more than that. And soon she had to force herself to smile as it finally came her turn to walk with Boba. The twins walked down the aisle and saw how proud their family looked when they walked up to their seats with their fellow graduates. Before they could receive their diplomas, though, it was time for one of the most inspiring parts of graduation: the valedictorian speech.
"Please welcome, this year's valedictorian, all the way from the kingdom of Maamoh-Yah, Princess Roya Harischandra."
People clapped as Roya took her spot at the podium, a beautiful smile on her face.
"Thank you, Principal Sumner." Roya said. "Thank you, everyone who came today. It's a great honor to have this distinction among my fellow students."
Everyone listened intently as Roya gave her speech... all except Madison, who kept her head down as she held the paper that held her speech on it, more tears coming to her eyes as she did. And that was when a butterfly fluttered into the auditorium and made its way to Madison, amid the glowing on the royal family's bracelets.
"Oh no!" Anakin whispered. "Someone's gonna get clavatized!"
The butterfly fluttered over to Madison and landed on the paper she was holding.
"Why so down, dear Maddie?" Mariverde said, feigning sympathy. "You worked so hard to achieve your dreams, only for some little princess to swoop in and take it all away from you. You're a very smart young lady, but no one is able to see that the royals clearly are not smart enough to make it on their own."
Madison quickly became seduced by what Mariverde said.
"I worked so hard for it. I should be valedictorian!" Madison exclaimed. That started to grab people's attention.
"Brainstorm, I am Mariverde. For too long, you have been denied the ranks you deserve by those who do not deserve them, and your talents have been ignored as second best. They say knowledge is power, and now you shall have the power to make them as pathetic as they really are. All I ask in return is you bring me the Solaran royal family's crown jewels. Do we have a deal?"
"Consider it dealt!"
And so, Madison was clavatized into the villain Brainstorm, her costume dressing her as a scientist of some kind with round goggles and silver streaked hair like a mad genius. And she held what looked like a certificate of authentication.
"What's happening?!" exclaimed Hera.
"Clavatization!" Omega said.
Madison, or rather, Brainstorm, cackled as a storm brewed within the auditorium.
"You underestimate my brain power! Now you shall see the true power of my mind!"
The royal family immediately started to power up, and so did Roya and her family.
"Madison, we won't fight you!" Roya said. "Mariverde isn't looking out for anyone but herself. You have to reject the mariclava now!"
"What are you gonna do if I don't, Princess? Call your royal guards on me?"
"We don't need anyone to fight our battles for us." Roya's big sister Yasmina said. "We've got powers of our own!"
"Stand down, Madison." Qui-Gon said, stepping up. "Whatever is bothering you, becoming a villain is not the answer."
"The highest ranking of the royals is standing up to me, huh? Not very smart. Then again, why don't we see just how smart you really are?"
That was when Brainstorm held up her paper towards Qui-Gon and shot a spell of some kind at his head. Qui-Gon was struck down and groaning in pain as he held his head.
"GRANDPA!" the royal children cried in dismay.
And Qui-Gon collapsed to the floor.
"Daddy!" Carmine gasped, rushing to his father, his siblings following suite.
"Dad! Speak to me!" Anakin begged, shaking his father's shoulder.
Qui-Gon groaned as he woke up.
"What happened?" said Qui-Gon.
Brainstorm cackled and was eager to choose her next target.
"Which of you to pick next?" She smirked. "Ah! You!"
Brainstorm then aimed her paper at Roya and did whatever she did to Qui-Gon to make him collapse.
"Get the children out of here!" Principal Sumner exclaimed before Brainstorm barely missed striking her with lightning.
Parents immediately grabbed their children and began to flee. This was definitely not how any of them imagined their eighth graders' graduation turning out. Normally, worst case scenario in graduation: the valedictorian can't make it and someone else has to improvise a speech, or someone's cap and/or gown doesn't fit properly. Most graduations did not face a disaster as big as a supervillain attacking.
Once the kids were safely taken out, Mrs. Sumner and her husband began running, only for Brainstorm to land right in front of them with some thundering clouds.
"I'm not through with you, Ms. Principal. I've got a personal score to settle with you."
Brainstorm trapped the principal in a cloud, but she didn't stop aiming her paper at different people, and zapping them in the head. Garrett got hit, and so did Anakin! And then Padme got hit too, and so did some of the eighth graders who hadn't escaped yet. And each time someone got hit, they collapsed to the floor with a massive headache.
Brainstorm struck Carmine.
"Get the kids... to safety!" Carmine managed to get out before collapsing.
Echo quickly scooped up Lamenta as his brothers each grabbed a child.
"Is that all of them?" Hunter asked, carrying Goldie in his arms.
"Uh... One, two, three, four..." Wrecker counted each kid, including Gabby in his arms.
"All seven of the children are accounted for." Tech said, holding Leia, Crosshair holding Luke.
"Let's get out of here!" Hunter said.
The horses rushed to get everyone on their backs and start running, but then Brainstorm hit Tech and made him fall off Teatra.
"Tech!" Gabby exclaimed.
Teatra managed to pick Leia up with her mouth, but Tech had a headache.
"Tech, are you alright?" Boba asked, helping his brother up.
"I'm okay. But my head hurts." Tech said, rubbing his head.
"Let's hurry!"
"What about our parents?" Goldie said.
"Right now, we have orders to get you to safety." Crosshair said. "Maybelle, hyah!"
Maybelle whinnied and rushed to get her rider and the kids to safety.
They rushed through the school and scattered to avoid being captured by Brainstorm like many of the grownups had been, but they all agreed on a spot to meet. Carousella and Crescent, being professional guards, took the babies, and Mariposa managed to grab Caroline to help her get to safety, while the older kids went with the batch. But when Tech and Teatra came to a door, Tech fell right off his horse's back!
"Ow! I think I hurt my arm." Tech whined like a child.
"Since when is Tech so whiny?" Banjo looked at his rider.
"No idea."
"Get up, Tech!" Echo said, helping Tech up. "We gotta hurry to meet the others."
"This looks like the quickest way." Lamenta said.
"Race ya!" Tech exclaimed, except he rammed right into the door, and he did this three more times, much to the confusion of the two horses, Lamenta, and Echo. "Ow! I think brainstorm put a spell on the path."
"Um... that's a door, Tech." Teatra said, pressing the button with her hoof.
"I knew that." Tech said, not so confidently.
Lamenta and Echo looked at each other; neither of them was sure what to make of what just happened. Either Tech was losing his mind... or Brainstorm did something to his mind.
"Uh... Tech?" Lamenta said. "Can you tell me how much twelve times eight is?"
"Huh?" Tech looked confused.
"How many fingers am I holding up?" Echo said, holding up five fingers, and Tech looked like he was trying to count, only to get a headache all over again.
"I don't know!" Tech groaned, holding his head.
"Uh oh." Lamenta said. "Brainstorm took Tech's intelligence!"
"Do ya think that's what happened to everyone else who got hit?" Banjo asked.
Echo thought, and he had a plan.
"Teatra, you and Tech head to safety and call for help, we're gonna try and find out how to beat Brainstorm and what she's after."
"What exactly are we doing?" Tech said.
"Play Hide and Seek, Tech." Lamenta said. "You know how to play that?"
"Yes."
"Then here's the game. Don't let Brainstorm find you, and Teatra is going to get someone to help."
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Teatra carried Tech with her magic, not currently trusting him to have the smarts not to run off, given what Brainstorm did, and they met the others except for Echo at a community center, where the doors happened to be open.
"Um... Teatra?" Gabby said. "Where are Echo and Lamenta?"
"They stayed back at the school." Teatra said. "And bad news, Tech's broken."
"What do you mean 'broken'?" Wrecker said, seeing his brother. "He looks fine to me."
Teatra dropped Tech, and the latter spotted a flower in a plant, which he picked and started to munch on.
"Tech, no!" Teatra exclaimed, making him spit it out. "Flowers are not for eating. Well, not for people anyway."
But then Tech started running about, touching everything and playing with whatever looked like a toy of some kind.
"No, Tech! Put that down!" Hunter said, taking a pot away from Tech.
"What's this thing?" Tech picked up a blaster and shot the wall.
"Not a toy!" Crosshair said, snatching the blaster from Tech.
Wrecker laughed at Tech's little antics, finding it hilarious that the usually super smart brainiac was acting like a little kid or something.
"How did this happen?" Pinto asked, also laughing.
"Brainstorm." Teatra said. "And I've got a hunch that the same thing's happened to the others too."
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Echo, Lamenta, and Banjo couldn't believe their eyes when they saw how everyone Brainstorm hit was affected.
"Give it to me!" cried one woman in a Tug-of-War with Padme over a scarf.
"I want it!" Padme said. "It's mine!"
"Mine!"
Everywhere, all the grownups, and even a few of the graduates were acting like they had the brain of a three-year-old. They were all doing reckless, crazy, and totally out-of-control goofy stuff that did not look smart.
"Ooh! A ball!" Anakin picked up a ball he found and threw it at Qui-Gon's head, making him fall down.
"Ouch! You're going down, Anakin!" Qui-Gon charged, only to crash into the wall and leave a human-shaped hole.
"Na, na, miss me!" Anakin blew a raspberry at his father.
"Look at me, I'm a ghost." Carmine played around with one of the graduation gowns on his head.
"Okay, this is just weird." Lamenta said. "I know the grownups have sometimes said they wished they could be kids again, but I don't think this is what they meant."
"We gotta get everyone out of here before someone kills himself."
"Then we gotta round 'em up." Banjo said.
"How exactly do we get a bunch of toddler brained grownups to follow us?"
"How did your parents get you to do things when you were three?"
"I don't remember." Lamenta shrugged.
But, Echo did have an idea.
"I remember when Gabriella was three, she usually learned stuff by having it made into a game."
"Then that's what we're gonna do." Banjo declared. "Hey, everybody!"
Banjo galloped about and got everyone's attention.
"Who wants to play Cowboys?"
"I wanna ride the horsie!" Carmine said, grabbing the reins.
"No fair, I wanna ride first!" Garrett, grabbing the rein.
"Whoa, boys. I ain't the last slice of pizza." Banjo said. "If one of ya wants to ride, ya'll gotta do one thing first. Garrett, Carmine, you two follow me. Padme, Anakin, Qui-Gon. Ya'll follow me too. Quick, march."
Banjo rounded up the members of the royal family, while Echo and Lamenta gathered the others to get them all to a safe place. But on the way, Lamenta found a phone that was lost on the floor. And when she picked it up, she found that it didn't need a pass code to be unlocked.
"Not very smart to forget a pass code." Lamenta said, but then that was when she noticed a text message on it, and the screensaver was a picture of Madison at a cheer meet. This had to be Madison's phone. And when she looked at what the message said, she was shocked.
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The kids and the Batch gathered at the palace with the royal victims of Brainstorm, including Roya's family. But they had to create a special kind of playpen for the victims to keep them running off and breaking something.
They ran some tests with a few simple math problems and easy words to read and spell. Except, everyone who'd been hit had forgotten how to read, count, and they'd forgotten so many facts and even common knowledge. It was as though their brains were regressed to preschool baby knowledge. They even needed to give them sippy cups so they wouldn't spill juice all over themselves.
"I've heard of immaturity, but this is ridiculous." Mariposa said in total disbelief that her husband was acting like a toddler as well.
"Okay, here's what we know so far." Omega said. "We know Madison was upset about something, I saw her looking upset about something just before we walked down the aisle. But I don't know what."
"But the mariclava has to be in that paper she kept aiming at everyone," said Boba.
"Only question is what made her so upset?" Goldie asked.
"And how are we supposed to reverse the effects?" Gabby said. "Obviously most of our parents aren't gonna be much help, and neither will Tech."
"That too."
"I think I might have an idea." Lamenta said, holding up Madison's phone. "I found this just before we left the school."
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Meanwhile, Brainstorm had Mrs. Sumner chained to a chair surrounded by what looked like a wall of dark thundering clouds, which sprouted powerful bursts of electricity if you touched them.
Brainstorm marched around the chair as though interrogating the principal, which... she was.
"So, what did Roya's parents offer you in exchange for her being valedictorian?" Brainstorm asked. "Gold? Jewels? Immunity?"
"They didn't offer me anything!" Mrs. Sumber struggled in the chains she was wrapped in.
"Then explain one thing to me. Choosing a princess over me for valedictorian? Not very smart of you."
"That's what all this fuss is about? Roya earned that spot as valedictorian."
"How exactly? I won the science fair, I'm the best female cheerleader on the squad, I got an A on every single final, not to mention won the all-school spelling bee, and I helped so many sports teams make it to the finals."
"And that is very impressive, Madison. But Roya did more than just get good grades. She's organized many fundraisers from the school, knows how to read in twenty different languages, and even contributed to improvements on the school's annual Heritage Day festival. She earned the valedictory honor, and your behavior now is making me question why we allowed you to be salutatorian despite you being the closest to meeting her efforts."
Brainstorm thundered and held Mrs. Sumner's husband with two more clouds keeping his arms and legs held back.
"Here's what's gonna happen." Brainstorm said. "You're gonna tell everyone you made a mistake... that I am the rightful valedictorian. Or your husband here gets it."
"Committing a crime won't help you get into a good college, Madison." Mrs. Sumner said. "They'll know you only got it by force, rather than earning it."
"Hmm... you do present a good point. Very well, then let's see who earns it."
Brainstorm got out a paper and a pen and wrote a note, which she gave to Mr. Sumner.
"Take this note to Roya. Tell her that if she is truly smart, she will prove she earned the valedictory honor."
And she threw him out with the note to deliver.
Mr. Sumner, however, immediately rushed to get help for his wife.