𝐑𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒 ── ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴀɴᴅᴀʟᴏʀɪᴀɴ ✓

2.3

TWENTY-THREE.
blinded villian

🔹️🔹️🔹️

It was night time when we finally arrived near the Mos Eisley Tower. Mando got off of the dewback as I hopped off my speeder bike. He grabbed his blaster, glancing at Toro's bike that was parked right in front of the facility.

I took out my blaster and held it up next to my head before giving Mando the signal to head inside. He nodded, leading the way into the Mos Eisley Tower with caution. We looked around the place and searched for any sign of Toro.

Suddenly, we heard the pit droids chattering amongst themselves, quickly hiding behind some building equipment. I took a few steps closer to Mando's ship, squinting at the interior.

Just then, a loud but familiar voice called out to us with aggression.. Toro. "Took you guys long enough."

Mando rushed over to me, calmly holding his blaster up towards the direction of the voice. Toro's dark silhouette trudged down the ship's entrance with the older woman next to him; the child in his arms.

"Looks like I'm calling the shots now.. huh, sweetheart?" Toro announced, stopping halfway down the slope. "Drop your blasters and raise 'em."

I glanced at Mando; he stared at me as if he was conflicted. He dropped his blaster, then raised his hands next to his head. I furrowed my eyebrows, looking back at Toro.

He smirked, "You too, sweetheart."

I growled, throwing my blaster onto the ground and raising my hands above my head. Toro pushed the older woman as the child cooed, "Cuff Mando; you can leave the girl."

"Ugh." She groaned in response, walking over to Mando with some cuffs in her hands. She paused for a moment, staring at something that was in Mando's hand. I glanced behind at him and noticed that he was holding.. a flash drive.

"Toro," I warned, facing him. "You don't have to do this--"

"No, you don't understand. Mando's a Guild traitor and so are you apparently," Toro said, aiming his blaster at Mando before turning to face the child. "And I'm willing to bet that this here is the target you both helped escape."

The woman pretended to cuff Mando as she whispered over to him, "You're smarter than you look."

"Fennec was right," Toro smirked, tightening his grasp on the blaster. "Bringing you in won't just make me a member of the Guild, it'll make me legendary.. on top of that, I'll get the girl."

There was a slight pause before I took a step forward with a glare. Toro raised an eyebrow before slightly lowering his blaster to get a better look at me.

I sighed, placing my hands down to my side. "This is wrong."

"Oh, sweetheart, don't look at me like that," Toro rolled his eyes. "Look, I can give you a choice."

I looked Toro right in the eye, taking another step forward. "Shoot."

"You can either end up with the same fate as Mando," He said as I walked up the ship's entrance. "Or you can come with me and be mine. Together we can be.. unstoppable."

I paused for a moment, looking back at Mando as he reassured me. I growled, "Alright, then, I've made up my mind."

I stood up tall, stopping a few inches away from Toro's face. He looked at me with anticipation, waiting for me to continue. I stood on the tip of my toes, leaning over to whisper in his ear.

"You got it all wrong, Toro. I don't need you in order to be powerful."

Just then, Mando activated his flash drive, blinding Toro. I quickly ran over to Mando as he grabbed both our blasters, passing mine over to me. Toro began shooting at nothing as he was blinded by the light.

Mando aimed at Toro and shot, hitting him right in the chest. Toro fell off of the ship's entrance with the child in his arms and landed on the ground, motionless. I pursed my lips as we walked over to Toro's body.

I sighed, "Can't say I didn't warn him."

"Stay back." He said to me, holding a hand out in front of me. Mando turned Toro's body over -- he was dead.

I pulled my gaze away from his body, looking around for the child.. but he was nowhere to be seen.

"Gotta get it," The woman mumbled to herself, panicking as we searched for the child. "Where is it??"

Just then, we heard the child babbling from behind a bunch of mechanical items. He stared up at us with a smile as the woman crouched down to pick him up.

I sighed in relief while she talked to him, placing him in her arms. I turned to look at Mando and saw that he had taken a bag full of money from Toro's pocket.

After Mando took the bag, we walked over to the woman and child. She gently placed the child in my arms as it babbled once again. I smiled, "Thank you for keeping him safe.. for the most part."

"Yeah, be careful with him," She replied as Mando and I stared at the child with soft expressions. She sighed, "So, uh.. I take it you two didn't get paid?"

Mando glanced over at me before emptying the bag full of money into the woman's hands. He turned to face her, "That cover us?"

"Y-Yeah," She stammered, nodding as she looked at all the credits in her hands. "Yes, this is gonna cover you."

The child cooed at the woman as I turned to face her once more, giving her a small smile. Mando looked at her for the last time before walking up the ship's entrance with me.

"Alright, Pit Droids!" The woman exclaimed, waving at them as we disappeared inside the ship's interior; the entrance closing behind us. "Let's drag this thing outta here!"

🔹️🔹️🔹️

"So," I began, walking over to Mando's seat and leaning against the back of it. "Where are we off to next, Mando?"

He glanced at me, "We're gonna visit an old colleague of mine. I already reached out to him."

"Colleague?" I smirked. "You had a colleague?"

"It was a long time ago, but that's where we're headed." He scoffed, shaking his head as he continued to pilot the ship. "Unless you got a better idea, hot shot."

"Nope," I chuckled, smiling at him. "Lead the way, Captain."