Subject: [OTL]: (alt. Betsy/Star Wars) Fanged Butterfly 2: Knightcross 58B/? (PG-15) From: Phil Hartman Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2008 02:02:16 +0000 will1@earthling.net Fanged Butterfly Vol. 2: Knightcross Chapter 58B by Phil Hartman DISCLAIMER: Marvel's are Marvel's. LFL's are LFL's. Any original characters are mine. The rest belong to their owners/creators. No money is being made off of this. Please don't sue. WARNING: Violence, language, themes. ----------------------------------------------------------- 5/9/08: White House: 12:00 hrs EDT: ----------------------------------------------------------- There were some days, President Robert Kelly reflected, that he really, REALLY loved his job. Oh, he was in a nasty re-election fight - the kind that would likely still result in his return to office come November - but he could take a break. He NEEDED a break. And THIS kind of request ... was a good excuse. Besides, if he could handle the idea of thunder gods, synthezoids and a verbose blue cat-man, this wasn't THAT bizarre. Security protocols kept visitors from teleporting into the Oval Office, so there was a sound of displaced air in the hall outside, and a few exchanged greetings - then the door opened, and Kelly stood, nodding as Valerie Cooper preceded their guests ... a middle-aged, fit, woman with graying-black hair in a braid, wearing a white dress, followed by a golden ... well, protocol droid. "President Robert Kelly - Her Royal Highness, Princess Leia Organa-Solo, and her aide, C-3PO," Val said, managing to keep a girlish giggle out of her tone - but the corners of her mouth twitched, and Kelly winked. He could understand her excitement. Hey, it was PRINCESS LEIA. In the Oval Office. With C-3PO. And he got to meet them. OK, he could likely never tell anyone about this meeting, but ... Was this job GREAT, or WHAT? ------------------------------------------------------------ The presidential residence wasn't overwhelming, as Leia had thought it might be. The collonades, light colors and occasional patriotic symbol reminded her of ... well, it was really rather Alderaanian. #Yes, and so was the embassy on Imperial Center, before it was liberated and turned back to Coruscant. Focus,# Leia reminded herself - there was a quiet strength to this place ... the entire point seemed to be a suggestion of power, not a bootheel on the throat of the people. These United States had been founded on a democratic ideal, born in rebellion - but a handful of millionaires and old-money families held the lion's share of power today. The popular vote could clean out offices, though ... and there were no stormtroopers waiting at the ballot boxes. #Checks and balances,# Leia thought, after the blonde girl - Illyana, she'd said her name was - had teleported her, Threepio and Dr. Cooper to the White House. The girl had a ... not precisely dark-side sense to her, but she was very shielded ... and, like a lot of Earth residents Leia had met so far, amused and a little awed by Leia and her family. #Use it, don't abuse it,# Leia reflected - she knew how fine a line there was between accepting praise and twisting it around like a collar around a "commoner's" neck ... The naive, arrogant girl on the Death Star with her hair in buns was a lifetime ago. She'd died with Alderaan. Borsk, Thrawn, the Yevetha, Nom Anor ... they'd all taught her different, little kitling-steps towards practicality in diplomacy, and reminded her that she was NOT that far from what she most hated. "Lady Vader," as Leia was called by her Noghri bodyguards, wasn't just a title. It was a warning. One she heeded every day. And the masculine version of that nightmare had seemed to come horribly true in her eldest son ... #Whom you might never get home to stop unless you pay attention and work with these Americans,# Leia reminded herself, politely nodding to President Kelly as Dr. Cooper introduced Leia to him. "Your Highness, this is a ... most unexpected, but very welcome, honor. If there's anything we can do, please ask - may I show you the Rose Garden, after some tea?" Kelly asked - - and a frustrated man with crewcut red hair in a formal suit stormed in, flanked by Cakhmaim and Meewahl, her Noghri. "Lady Vader, this ... person ... believes you a threat to his charge," Cakhmaim growled - they'd only given up their weapons after a severe debate, and even then, the Noghri had refused to wait in one of the smaller rooms. "Mister President, there are EXTRATERRESTRIALS in the White House! Dear Lord, I can't believe I just said that," Crewcut Man - his badge read "Gyrich," and his manner in the Force screamed "drone," as Wedge sneeringly called such bureaucrats - barked, sounding ill at the words ... "Mister Gyrich, really! Cakhmaim and Meewahl are two of the most respected, loyal and skilled members of their species and class! They have loyally served Her Highness for many years!" Threepio fussed, and Leia smiled faintly. "Quiet, you - you - prissy walking encyclopedia!" Gyrich snarled - but it was Kelly's cough that stopped him. And probably kept the Noghri from nibbling on him - Leia had seen it happen in other situations where they'd been disarmed. They were almost as lethal as Ewoks. Almost. "Watch it, Henry. Even with Alderaan 40 years gone, Her Highness still has diplomatic immunity," Cooper warned. "What do you MEAN, `diplomatic immunity' ?!" Gyrich yelled. "Henry, do the words `good guys' ever occur to you? Never mind. I keep forgetting whom I'm speaking to," President Kelly said, sighing at his aide. "Healthy paranoia keeps this country safe," Gyrich muttered. "HENRY! It's. Princess. Leia. The smart Skywalker twin?" Kelly said - Leia wasn't quite sure if she should be offended for Luke or not. She loved him, but ... well ... "Mr. President, decorum, please?" Gyrich pleaded. "Decorum. Stiffness. Snooty attitude. A President craves not these things," Kelly said in a disturbingly accurate Yoda-voice. "Oh, my," Threepio moaned, as Leia hid a smile. "I'll be unemployed!" "Thank you, Mr. President, but I can appreciate Mr. Gyrich's concerns. Perhaps he AND my bodyguards can wait together in attendance?" Leia offered - a reasonable compromise. "Hmph. I ... don't see why not," Gyrich snorted. The Noghri chatted quickly in their native language, and Cakhmaim nodded. "This will suffice, Lady Vader," he said. "There! We can all be safe together - tea, Your Highness? We have a variety - Earl Grey, chamomile - and various additives for taste," Kelly said, as a secretary brought a tray in, and Kelly and Leia sat on a couch, Threepio nearby. "I must say, Sir, your hospitality is quite refreshing. For such a distant planet from the Galactic Alliance, your people are quite friendly and kind," Threepio interjected. "Thank you, C-3PO. Your mastery of English is most impressive - but then, six million forms of communication and all that," Kelly said, chuckling - a little nervously? #Well, you WERE fictional to him up until a few hours ago. This'll all probably be swept under some `black ops top secret' classification after you leave ... unless the Alliance ever actually opens diplomatic relations. Tread carefully,# Leia reminded herself, accepting a cup of chamomile tea. "Oh, thank YOU, Mister President. Your language is quite similar to Galactic Basic, actually - not that difficult to translate. The alphabet structure is quite different -" Threepio started, and Leia coughed ... "Threepio - excuse me, please, but we do have business to conduct. Mister President, I'm sure by now you know the circumstances of our arrival here on Earth. We can leave - probably within five of your days or so - but we need an updated astrogation chart for our navicomputer," Leia asked. Kelly nodded, sipping his tea before setting the cup down on the small table by the couch. "Agent Brand told me. But from what I understand, the hyperspatial distortions this far north and west, from your capital world, have made the charts Grand Admiral Thrawn left with my predecessor 50 years ago quite inaccurate," he said, sounding truly sympathetic. He smiled, then, and added, "But we do have a frequent visitor to Earth who should have updated charts - someone you know quite well, I believe ..." And then the door to the garden opened, and Leia - gasped. "Your Highness! What a pleasant surprise!" Gilad Pellaeon - the Grand Admiral of the Imperial Remnant - chuckled ... dressed in a truly awful floral-print shirt, shorts and sandals. --------------------------------------------------------- "HE WORE *WHAT*?!" Jag wheezed - poor boy, he'd never see Pellaeon quite the same way again ... "He was apparently vacationing in - `Hawaii,' I think it's called? - anyhow, the Remnant's treated Earth as a vacation secret for the Moffs for years. Their own private joke," Leia said an hour later as she walked with Jaina and Jag along the shoreline of the X-Men's lake. Jaina couldn't help giggle - it sounded wonderful to Leia - and she slid an arm around Jag's shoulders. "Well, at least now you know the Old Man's as mortal as the rest of us," she teased, and Jag turned several shades of red. "I think I need to be mind-tricked. The mental imagery is ... GAAAHHHH ... he's a Grand Admiral! There are protocols to be observed!" Jag insisted, but Leia laughed at that and looked her son-in-law up and down. He blushed even more and admitted, "All right, the Vader-pants, leather duster and three-day beard are nonstandard ..." "So's the sawed-off blaster carbine, three holdout blaster pistols, and the vibroblade spring-loaded wrist sheaths?" Jaina teased again, and Jag whispered something back to her that made HER blush ... Leia just stopped, marveling at them - how HAPPY they were, even thousands of light-years from civilized space - and Jaina looked at her in amused confusion. "I'm just so glad you two found each other again, after the Vong War and the Dark Nest fiasco. I've - I'm glad someone in this family is living life," Leia said, and Jaina hugged her. "You and Dad didn't exactly stop, either. But thanks. And if I haven't said it already - thanks for putting up with me, through ... everything," Jaina said, bringing a laugh to Leia's lips. "You're your father's daughter. And mine - in your own way. I'm just glad - I'd never want you to not be you, Jaina," Leia promised, and her daughter nodded, understanding. Jaina had never been the princess she would have chafed against being had Alderaan lived - but then, she wouldn't likely have been the Jaina Leia loved so much, probably not a Solo child. #Appreciate your children while you have them ...# Leia reminded herself, looking at the lake ... and remembering ... "Mom. If it comes to it - Jacen has to be my responsibility." Leia looked at Jaina - the utter seriousness of the Sword of the Jedi, no matter how un-Jedi Jaina had been these past five years (but perhaps a better person for it? Leia thought so), etched on her daughter's face ... "I closed off my end of the twin-bond, let him hide ... whatever he's been hiding. *I* should've been Ben's Master, or maybe Betsy - I could've taken my duty, my FIRST duty, as Jacen's twin, seriously, instead of running away. Being a bounty hunter isn't a bad life, but it's not what I should've done first after Thrago. I should've finished what I started on Ossus," Jaina said, and Leia's heart clenched - Jaina had almost KILLED Jacen on Ossus, five years ago, after he'd betrayed her and started the war between the Chiss and the Killiks - Jaina looked at her mother and relaxed a bit. "Not killed. I agree. He could've been reached then - maybe it would've taken some ugly, nasty methods, but if I'd trusted my gut instinct, Ben wouldn't have ended up in GAG, and Jacen wouldn't be amassing the power he has," she said. In a lower, colder voice, she added, "He wouldn't be Sith." "From what I understand of it - admittedly, not that much - being Sith requires a sacrifice of someone close to you, yes? We're all still here," Jag tried to comfort Jaina, in his own way, and Leia smiled at him as he rubbed Jaina's shoulders. "WE are, but there are people who matter as much to Jacen as Mom and Dad and Ani and I - Lowie could be in danger, Lusa, Tenel Ka - even Winter!" Jaina blurted, frustration obvious in her voice and Force aura. "And we have Ben's word only - I trust him too, but Jacen's astral form having Sith eyes, and Jacen actually being Sith, ARE two different things. Even with Jacen's shielding skills, I think we'd know. The dark side leaves marks, no matter how well one hides it," Leia reminded her daughter. But there was something more ... something driving Jacen besides his paranoia over those Skrulls, and the Corellian insurrection (Rebellion? Leia figured - she was technically part of it) ... "Come on. Let's go review that datachip the Admiral gave me," she told the "kids" - might as well do what they could. If it weren't for Jacen's devotion - fanaticism - to the Force, and his almost parent-like protectiveness toward Ben ... Leia could've sworn he was killing Skrulls to protect ... ----------------------------------------------------------- THWACK Well, it was a better noise than the LAST time Ben'd heard that ... He shook himself clear of the horrible memory of Ailyn Vel's death, and tried to smile - this "catch" wasn't a bad game. "This," his cousin Jake - 24 standard years, he'd said - described as he changed how he held the baseball, "is a curveball" - and he tossed the ball at Dad ... THWACK The ball landed neatly in Dad's glove - it wasn't easy for him to run, wearing borrowed jeans and a T-shirt when he was used to robes, but ... Luke Skywalker was learning how to play baseball. Without the Force. And he wasn't bad, as he tossed the ball to Jake. "Here, Dad!" Chase, Jake's son and Ben's first cousin once removed - he thought, Threepio was the geneaologist - cheered, and the little boy laughed as Jake gave him a slow pitch. "Here, Ben, you try," Chase said, and Ben thanked the almost 5-year-old as he tossed Ben the ball - Ben grinned at Dad and wound up the pitch - the "sinking slider" ALMOST landed in Dad's glove, but it bounced off his fingertips, and Dad fell backwards - laughing. "I'm OK - Force, that was ridiculous, but FUN," Dad said, and Ben helped him up - this WAS fun. And ... ordinary. And it felt really, really good. "You sure you're OK?" Ben asked, hoping he didn't sound like he was asking about more than ... well, Dad WAS almost 60. Dad patted the spot on the side of Ben's head where Ben had cut away his Padawan braid - he WAS still a Padawan, just not trying to be Old Republic - and smiled. "Yeah, son. I am," he said, and Ben smiled back. It was just so ... NOT Jedi. Not at all what most people expected of Luke and Ben Skywalker ... but maybe it was what real fathers and sons did. Ben grinned - #Let's see the old man handle a change-up ...# ------------------------------------------------------------ Mara wiped her eyes - Ben and Luke were so - COMFORTABLE around each other again, for the first time in ... too long. She smiled as she watched the "baseball" practice going on outside Scott and Jean's window, and thanked her sister for the sandwich - something like sliced nerf, with a tangy yellow sauce and some kind of cheese, as well as white (!) milk. "I'd have let Rachel, Joe and Gail stay home and spend time with Ben, but they have finals soon - and Franklin ... well, he was in college courses even before he enrolled here, so he's off on his own studies ..." Jean sighed, sitting near Mara and smiling happily as she watched the game. "I've never even thanked you - I mean, here we are, a bunch of fictional characters to you, and you accept us, without any real questions," Mara asked between bites of the sandwich. "Well, blood tells. And you did bring Betsy back here, too - we owe you at least as much thanks, for accepting her. The bond we X-Men have ... it's not a `normal family,' but what is?" Jean said, shaking her head. "Says the woman who had the courage to have seven kids," Mara tried to joke - how Jean balanced the six who were at home ... Jean almost laughed - but she caught Mara's flicker of ... wistfulness ... and - shavit, she was SO insightful ... this was what having a sister must be like, Mara realized - Leia was one thing, but as close as she and Mara were, she wasn't blood. "Marrissa told me what kinds of difficulties you had, giving birth to Ben. You don't lack for courage in the motherhood department, Mara," Jean assured her, but Mara sighed. She looked at Ben - he looked OK, felt better in the Force, wasn't sullen or holding a grudge over how she and Luke had trusted Jacen with him ... "I have to disagree, Jean. I trusted my crazy nephew with my baby, and he tried to twist Ben into ... you don't know. I know your entertainment docudramas show how ... sick ... Palpatine was, but it's the tip of a Kaminoan iceberg ... the dark side is so ... and the worst part?" Mara snarled. "If I follow my instincts, and do what comes naturally - kill to protect my kid - I risk becoming Sith." "Mara Jade-Grey-Skywalker, that's the biggest load I've ever heard," they heard, and Mara turned a doubting eye toward where Jean's clone, Madelyne, was teleporting in ... Like Mara, Madelyne wore a black leather bodysuit that left her arms bare - and looked damn GOOD in it. Of course, "Maddie" had been genegineered to be a bit younger than Jean, so she only seemed 30-something to Jean's 44 years. But it was the feral ease with which Maddie carried herself that made Mara so comfortable with her - even after having a son, Scotty, almost seven years earlier, Maddie was a bad grrl, and LIKED it. And it was natural, not at odds with her being Scotty's mother ... Madelyne was like MARA, just younger and more sure of herself. Maddie sat on the edge of the kitchen table, grinning, and drank some of Jean's milk - the template didn't bat an eye, just held Maddie's gaze until they both smirked ... they'd fought their battles long ago, and were friends now. Sisters. "Big sis, you've lost your edge. From what `Riss told us, you used to kick ass from here to the Outer Rim - OK, not HERE, but you get the point. You would've killed that asspunk Solo for messing with Ben - so what happened?" Maddie asked. Mara recognized it as a challenge ... and didn't like the answer. "Even Force-bonded to Luke, I should've been able to keep my own identity, not play Mrs. Skywalker. Kriffit - some people want to blame Farmboy for mindkriffing the order, but ..." Mara whispered ... She'd been the smart one - the instinctual, fiery, passionate one, too. Luke was the conscience, the common sense, of the relationship ... but they'd both given Ben to Jacen. Well, Ben was BACK where he belonged. And ... "And I bought into peace, when I -" Mara realized - Why was JAINA the "Sword," when Mara had been the one to never know peace - and to be HAPPY with THAT? She'd danced with the dark for years before Skywalker, and never fallen. Then she'd blinded HERSELF with the light ... "Shavit. I mindkriffed MYSELF," Mara groaned. "Look, you two - what kind of rapid telepathic training can you give me?" Mara asked ... and her little sisters grinned. "Oh, we can come up with something," Maddie chuckled. --------------------------------------------------------- "Captain Solo?" "OW! - yeah, kid? You're that Franklin, Betsy's friend, right?" Han asked - he'd wondered why the damn maintenance tubing aboard the Falcon was so narrow ... or maybe he was getting old. #Stop that. Jacen only got the drop on you - what, once?# Han reminded himself. "Frewwoo vrwoot?" Artoo asked, from translating the Falcon's three-droid-brain gibberish into something Han's datapad could process, as Han climbed out of the drive well and looked at the tall blond boy whom Chewie had let aboard. "Yessir. I wanted to offer some help - these HERBIE units can be slaved to Artoo's CPU, or the Falcon's droid-brains, to help speed up your work," the kid said, as three floating droids - fat bodies, narrow necks, square heads with real old-style photoreceptors - floated behind him. "Look, Franklin, the offer's nice. But we - HEY!" Han yelled, as one of the capacitors fluxed - DAMNIT, the wiring - ! Chewie bellowed, and Han grumbled ... "Fine. Artoo, get these floating hydrospanners the specs - thanks, kid. Damn Phoenix surge cooked more wiring than I'd like ... not Ben's fault, or Mara's, but ..." Han sighed ... Not for the first time, he felt out of place. Maybe he'd failed Jacen after all ... maybe even failed - "Jaina and Anakin would disagree, I think - sorry, sir, but your thoughts are like a neon sign to a psi as powerful as me," Franklin apologized, and Han snorted at him. "You're both a mutant and a Force-user, right? Double insight into the great energy field? So tell me - what's a guy like me got that a bunch of Jedi really needs? Besides good looks, a fast ship and a co-pilot who's almost as bright as I am?" Han quipped. Franklin smiled and said, "Humanity. They have it, they just risk losing it - believe me, I make even Master Skywalker look weak, and that's not bragging. I have to fight to stay sane, and if it weren't for my family ... you're vital to them, Captain Solo." He left, and Han raised an eyebrow. "Human," he muttered ... "HAH! Take that, Jacen - OW! Damn wire - CHEWIE!" Muffled Wookie laughter - and Han grinned. Even HE needed grounding. --------------------------------------------------------------- Chez Helix, downtown Salem Center: 19:00 hrs EDT: --------------------------------------------------------------- It didn't matter how old they were - and nobody would've asked, or dared to ask: The eight women who walked into the trendy, mostly-mutant bar owned the night from the instant they walked in the door. Some wore costumes - the X-Men were public, now, totally legal and totally paparazzo-bait, if the camera-wielders wanted to risk mutant brushoffs - some wore the latest fashions ... and two wore leather. Oh, they wore leather. Goddesses with Celtic bodies behind the veneer of dominion - light wrapped in dark. The blonde didn't have shoes, but nobody risked asking her why. She seemed to be the youngest ... but between the forehead scars and the green glint in her eyes and her wild, welcoming-yet-feral grin, she seemed the deadliest. Maybe the most overtly so, anyhow. All were lethal if pushed. Men melted, women muttered jealously or cursed or even pined ... Earth was seeing a once-in-a-vergence night. Salem Center would be talking about THIS one for a LONG time. ---------------------------------------------------------------- "KARAOKE?! We have guests from the GFFA, and you want to sing KARAOKE!?" Jean groaned ... "It is my treat, is it not?" Ororo insisted, blushing a little - OK, so she'd chosen "It's Raining Men." Again - there she went ... Betsy just giggled, enjoying her Bloody Mary, and toasted Mara - her nascent shields were now far stronger than earlier in the day, telepathic uploads from sisters were so convenient ... "And, I've picked up a nasty little trick from the Phoenix - Jaina, got a charuto?" Mara asked, and Jaina complied - she'd dressed in jeans and a belly-shirt, a Lila! concert leather jacket thrown over that - smiling when Mara ignited the foul-smelling thing with flame from her fingertips. "Thank the Force this place isn't smoke-free yet - what? I KNOW it's a bad idea, but I hung out with `bad' influences when I was younger. Blame Lando," Jaina snorted, taking a draw on the charuto and giving the frowning bartender a purely Han coin-toss ... Betsy laughed; she'd missed this. OH, how she'd missed this. "First thing I shove down Farmboy's throat - NO sick jokes, you! - when we reorganize the Jedi Code: All Masters are required to get stinking not-Jedi at least once a week. Drinking and other toxins optional; but they need to LIVE, damnit - YOU! Barboy! Hit me again!" Mara yelled at the bartender, as he slid her another Harvey Wallbanger. She downed it in one shot, wheezed, and snorted, "No Whyren's Reserve, but damn. This rock has SOME decent booze." "Hey! Everyone! They have WHACK-A-GOKOB!" Tahiri cheered - OK, it was Whack-A-Mole, but still ... Betsy had always wondered how the little bastards would do against someone with both Jedi and Vong reflexes, and she gave Tahiri a role of quarters, beaming at the girl's excitement as she ran off to the gaming table. #She should have fun more often. Anakin does his best, but - well, they're both still kids at heart,# Betsy thought, watching Tahiri madly hammer at the "mole," as a pack of college boys cheered her on. It wasn't a Jedi night at all, and that made it so bloody wonderful ... Betsy let the alcohol fray her shields a little, relaxing ... ~... damn frails makin' a scene ...~ NO - not tonight, of all nights, not ... HIM. Betsy set her drink down, pulling her lightsaber from the purse over her bare left shoulder, adjusting her little black dress ... "Betsy?" Jean asked, as Betsy swept the club ... "HIM. I swore I `heard' -" Betsy muttered, psi-warning the others - Tahiri collected her bets from the easy marks among the frat boys, breaking their hearts as she left them and came back to the table ... "HIM? *HERE*? He wouldn't be that stupid - we've rooted out all of Sinister's bases, and the pasty-faced bastard's gone to ground, so his pet furball doesn't have a place to run," Maddie spat. "Since when has he needed to run? Arrogant killer's never had a lick of common sense, Essex holding his damn hand or not," Jean growled - she might be a den mother, but scratch the surface, and she was a bad mama, no doubt ... "So? Eight against one, five of whom are Jedi?" Tahiri asked. Mara gave her a berating look, assessing the club, and replied, "You know better, Veila. Betsy didn't have nightmares about the scumkriffer for no reason ..." And then one of the waitresses screamed, and a booth in the back erupted in a shower of blood - the Force shuddered - and the poor girl stumbled back, fortunately just scratched. Unfortunately, Victor Creed was snarling, "I ORDERED a gin an' -" Then he sniffed the air, slowly smiling ... almost awestruck ... and called, "Braddock? BRADDOCK? You're BACK?" "Right here, Sabretooth," Betsy called - no sense in endangering civilians, and wisely, the crowd parted, clearing the floor between her party and the psychotic killer feral. Creed looked at Betsy, then - laughed - oh, the idiot. He was UNDERESTIMATING her ... "You got OLD, Betts! DAMN! Still smokin', though - an' Jeannie, Madds, Ororo - an' a few new friends. Ladies night, huh? You wanna a round for ol' times sake?" Creed sneered. Betsy glanced at the others, and they all smiled ... wickedly. "Victor, I've been dreaming of this moment for YEARS - the look on your face when I did ... THIS," Betsy taunted back - and she lit her lightsaber. And Victor Creed ... Sabretooth ... went pale. Four more SNAP-HISSes followed - Leia, Jaina, Tahiri, Mara - and each time, Victor got a little more ashen. "Come on. What's the big, bad puddy tat afwaid of?" Betsy called. "We're just five bad, beautiful ladies with really big `sabers." "I ain't stupid, Braddock. Crazy, but not stupid," Creed snorted - and with that, he dove out a window, as Tahiri pouted. "I wanted a nexu-skin rug to wrap Ani in!" she complained. "Win a few more tickets at Whack-a-Gokob," Mara suggested, and Betsy paid the damages, smiling as the regulars cheered. #Now THIS kind of Jedi, I like being ...# ------------------------------------------------------------- tbc ... ;)