Ask Mirror, Mirror

[Shaw Amaris]

"That... that's actually brilliant." He grinned over at Prani, a little surprised by the sound of Prani giggling so hard. It wasn't an unpleasant sound. He stuffed the torn sleeve into the pocket of his pants for safekeeping before any of Chaz's more devoted fans could spot it. He wouldn't put it past them to mob him and tear the bedazzled jumpsuit fabric from his unconscious hands. Once they got out of this he'd have to put it up on StarBay and watch the bids roll in. Or should he say if they got out of this. He swallowed hard at that. What was his life now?

The teenagers rounded the alleyway behind the Grove and made a beeline for the parking lot. "The doorman said Chaz drove a bright red speeder, right?" he said, brown eyes scanning the parking lot in a hurry. "Shouldn't be too hard to spot. Bro's definitely driving something embarrassingly over the top. He's just got that main character energy." It was a fair assumption given the performer's act and the absurd clothing he wore. And going off his songs, "I peg him for a vintage guy. Probably drives a classic. Something that will get him a lot of attention. There!"

Shaw pointed toward a bright red luxury sports speeder with white stripes and white bench seats. It was in immaculate condition for how old it was. Some red dice hung from the rearview mirror, with Chaz's smiling face staring back at the teenagers instead of pips. If there had been any doubt about whose speeder this was before there wasn't now. "Wouldn't mind taking her for a ride myself," Shaw said admiringly, running a hand over the immaculate red paint. The fact that he didn't have his license and had never even driven a speeder before were irrelevant.

But they weren't here for a joy ride. Shaw scooted around to the back of the old speeder and crouched down. "Got a hair pin?" he asked, looking up at Prani expectantly. If she didn't, he would be forced to improvise even more than he already was, removing one of his earrings. "A lot of these old models don't have electric locks," he explained to Prani as he began to try and pick the lock on the trunk. "Easier to break into that way." He felt for the pin with the most resistance, set it, and then searched for the next. "If you can just set the pins, apply a little pressure to the trunk..." It popped open.

"Got it!" he grinned, standing up. Then he looked at Prani, and his smile faltered a little. "Uhhh don't ask how I know how to do that, okay? Now Chaz will take us to Elyna himself." Shaw started to climb into the trunk to hide, but then he seemed to think better of it. What if Chaz discovered them hiding in his trunk? Ifthis got them killed? What if this got Prani killed? It would be all his fault. His idea, his fault. He couldn't ask her or anyone to take a gamble on one of his ideas. He was woefully out of his league here. "Uhh maybe you ought to go and fill Brebic in on everything we've learned. I'll stick with Chaz and send you guys my coordinates." @Sreeya

 

[Prani Shalrazi]

Prani was genuinely curious to hear Shaw’s brilliant idea. He was hyped and it hyped her up as a result. They found the speeder soon enough, and it was clear it belonged to Chaz. She had a hairpin on her and handed it to the other Padawan. However, when he suggested getting in the trunk, for a moment Prani thought there was more to the idea. She stared at him blankly, her jaw visibly dropping after a moment.

“Th-That’s it? That’s yer idea?” She blurted out, blinking a few times, “Git outta there!” She snapped, grabbing Shaw by the bicep and practically yanking him out of the trunk, “We ain’t splittin’ up and nobody is gettin’ in the trunk of no weirdo,” Prani said sternly. She chewed on the inside of her lip as she tried to think of a solution. While she wasn’t tech savvy, being around so many teenagers caught her up to quite a bit.

“I got it,” Prani said as she took out her EZPhone. It was fully charged, thankfully. She opened up the InstaChat app where she had Shaw added as a friend, putting the device on silent. She turned on location tracking and stuffed her EZPhone in a side panel in the trunk, “Now we can regroup with Brebic and tail Chaz,” She said with a smile as she looked at Shaw, “Good thinkin’ with the speeder.”

Prani looked up as she heard the fans screaming again, “Here he comes!” She whispered, closing the trunk and scrambling away out of sight. They would have to rely on Shaw’s EZPhone to communicate, but he would be able to track the speeder through the app now.

@throwitintothefire

 

[Shaw Amaris]

Shaw had it all worked out in his head. He would hide in the trunk, and Prani would go meet up with Brebic and fill him in on everything that had happened. Maybe Brebic would even be able to piece it all together and figure out exactly what was going on. Meanwhile Shaw would be riding across town with Chaz, hopefully unbeknownst to the performer. Then they would come to a stop, and... well Shaw hadn't actually worked that part of the plan out yet.

What actually happened was none of those things. Instead, Prani looked at him like he had lost his mind and yanked him out of the trunk of the luxury speeder before he had a chance to hunker down. "What—what is it?" he started to protest but fell silent when she started to formulate a plan, turning the location tracking feature on on her dataphone and hiding it in the trunk. He scratched his head awkwardly, fingers running over his fade. Now they could track Chaz, and they didn't have to hide in the trunk of his speeder. Why hadn't he thought of that? "Great thinking!"

The teenagers ducked behind a convertible a few rows away from the red speeder and watched as Chaz appeared in the alleyway, strutting toward his speeder as security personnel fended off his admirers. "Goodnight, lovely ladies!" Chaz laughed, running a hand through his hair and eating up every second of the attention. "Share this one amongst you!" He blew them a kiss before climbing into his speeder, revving the engine like the tool he was, and racing out of view.

"We better grab a taxi," Shaw whispered to Prani. Even with location tracking they didn't want Chaz to gain a large head start. Not when he could decide to kill Elyna at any moment. Thanks to the Grove there was no shortage of taxis in the area, and as soon as Prani and Shaw were seated in the back seat Shaw started monitoring Chaz's location and texting back and forth with Brebic to catch the knight up. If Prani happened to look over at the dataphone, she would see a series of rapid fire messages. One of them read,

YOU TRIED TO HIDE WHERE????​

Once Brebic was caught up, Shaw turned to Prani and broke the silence. "Sorry about that. What happened back there in the parking lot. Seemed like a good idea at the time." But there was no denying her idea had been better. He ran a hand along the back of his neck and admitted, "To be straight with you I really don't know what I'm doing." Shaw was in way over his head. Maybe she was too, but if she was she was handling it way better than he was. "So thanks for having my back." He extended a fist for her to bump.

Location tracking led to the docks on the east side of Listehol. They paid the taxi driver with some of the credits Brebic had given them and headed out on foot. "Brebic says he'll be here soon," Shaw told Prani, never looking up from his datapone screen where he was watching Chaz. Well, Prani's picture but Chaz's location. "To narrow the location down but to hold off and not engage until he gets here." The padawans walked and walked, passing the performer's unmistakable red speeder parked and abandoned, until they came to the end of a pier. "Says he's just up ahead..."

Just up ahead? But they were at the end of a pier. Shaw looked out across the calm waters, lit only by the moon's reflection on its surface. There was a light in the distance. White sidelights. "That means..." Chaz had boarded a boat. @Sreeya

 

[Prani Shalrazi]

As Shaw admitted he didn’t know what he was doing, Prani shook her head, “I don’t either, Shaw,” She responded with a faint smile, “We’re both just improvisin’. But we wouldn’t have gotten nowhere without both of us putin’ our noodles together so don’t sell yerself short, y’hear?” She said, giving him a reassuring grin before focusing back on the dataphone that marked where Chaz was.

As they arrived at the pier, Prani was content to wait till the Knight arrived. However, when it became clear that Chaz took a boat, panic began to take over. Brebic was still not here and Chaz was getting away! Prani chewed on her lip, repeatedly checking the time on Shaw’s dataphone, “Okay we can’t keep delayin’. We’ll say sorry to Brebic later.”

With that, she first rushed to Chaz’s speeder to retrieve her EZPhone. Their options were limited when it came to tracking this guy, but Prani spotted a jetski parked nearby. She was a Jedi, so she immediately squashed the thought. However, she kept glancing back at the jet ski.

“Uh Shaw.. any chance you can get that thing goin’ with my hairclip?” She asked hopefully as she pointed at the jetski. It was that or waiting around for a while for Brebic to arrive and watch him also get stumped on a way to cross in time.

@throwitintothefire

 

[Shaw Amaris]

Disobeying Brebic's orders, stealing a jetski, and racing after Chaz across the high seas was the last suggestion Shaw would expect from Prani. It sounded more like an idea he would come up with, but they really were out of options. If they waited for Brebic to arrive it might be too late. Elyna was counting on them. She didn't know it, but her fate rested in the hands of two teenagers at the moment. Now that he thought about it, it was probably a good thing that she didn't know that. Shaw's success rate so far wouldn't fill the young woman with much hope.

"On it!" Shaw replied, already hopping onto the jet ski to try and get it running. "Keep an eye on that boat. We'll be dead in the water if we lose sight of it." He cringed at that. Poor choice of words given the circumstances, but it was true. Jet skis weren't meant to be operated at night. They didn't come with headlights, so they would have to use the lights on Chaz's boat as their north star.

It took longer than the trunk had, but after a few minutes the engine turned over and the jet ski started up. Sweet. Shaw held out a hand for Prani should she choose to take it and made room for her on the seat. "Hop on!" Once she was on, he would begin to push the throttle. Then a thought would occur to him and he would stop and look over his shoulder. "Uhh you know how to swim, right?" Probably should have asked that earlier. If the answer was yes, the padawans would be off. Luckily Shaw had learned how to swim at one of his buddie's houses as a kid.

There would be no sneaking up on Chaz's boat on this thing. Not unless they could kill the motor and glide over, but Shaw wasn't really confident that he could do that. A direct "attack" was probably there best bet. "Just so you know," Shaw said over the sound of the engine and the waves that lapped at their feet. "I've never actually driven one of these things!" Then, "So what's the plan when we get aboard? Maybe I can distract him while you get Elyna? Or maybe we could just push Chaz overboard?" A tempting idea actually. @Sreeya

 

[Prani Shalrazi]

Prani was pleasantly surprised when Shaw actually managed to get the jet ski working. As he hopped on, she tentatively did the same, wrapping her arms around his waist to hold on. When he asked if she could swim, “Yeah, I’m the nature freak, remember?” She asked with a chuckle, referring to the way the other padawans always teased her. It rolled off her shoulders, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t aware of the gossiping.

When he mentioned he had never driven a jet ski before, Prani simply nodded, “Shaw, at this point I woulda been surprised if you said you had done any of this before,” She said, unable to keep from chuckling, “Come on, let’s git that crook!” She called out, feeling a rebellious streak as they prepared for the chase on the water.

“I’ll improvise when we land!” Prani shouted back when he tried to ask about a plan. Truth be told, none of their plans worked out and she gave up trying. As they streaked through the water, Prani grimaced at the icy water splashing her legs.

Before long, they arrived on the other side where she could see Chaz’s boat docked.

“-I need to know why a couple of fucking teenagers were on my case at the Grove!” Chaz could be heard screaming into his dataphone, “It almost jeopardized everything. I’m going to move her tonight. I can’t have this blowing up.”

Prani looked at Shaw with wide eyes, “He’s going to Elyna!” She whispered, “We gotta keep a low profile,” She said, “Look…don’t barge in, okay?” Prani asked Shaw cautiously, remembering his episode with the roommate.

@throwitintothefire

 

[Shaw Amaris]

Shaw glanced over his shoulder but only briefly. Just long enough to catch a glimpse of Prani's dark hair blowing in the wind. He didn't dare look any longer than he did and risk wrecking the jet ski. "Don't say that," he said, jaw set. It was no secret amongst the padawans that Prani got picked on and sometimes pretty mercilessly.

Getting called names like nature freak was probably pretty tame compared to some of the other stuff that went on. Even Shaw, a fresh faced padawan brand new to the order, had heard about the kind of things they pulled on her. Stealing her stuff and hiding it all over the temple or even worse tossing it into the lake. Apparently Jedi teenagers weren't so different from regular, every day run of the mill teenagers. Shaw had seen first hand how some of them treated his buddy Roanoke that day they had first met. "Just cause they call you that—well, you just shouldn't say it. Not even joking around, you know?"

Chaz's boat came into view, docked outside of a little seaside cottage. Cottage was a pretty generous description. It looked like it was held together by a hope and a prayer. A real good wind would probably have knocked it over. Definitely not the sort of place the great performer Chaz would be caught dead in. Much less living in. This had to be where he was keeping Elyna hostage. Shaw killed the motor and let the tide carry them closer to the shore, far enough away from the docks that they hopefully wouldn't be spotted.

"Sounds like he's talking to someone. Maybe now's our chance to—" But Chaz had already hung up and was storming toward the cottage, immaculate hair flopping with every angry step he took. No hope of beating him to Elyna now. A light flipped on inside the dark cottage, and the teenagers would hear muffled voices coming from inside. They needed to get closer. Light poured from a broken dormer window on the roof of the cottage. If they could climb up to the roof, they would be able to listen in on what was going on. Maybe even see what was going on inside. Using some old crates sitting outside of the cottage, they could clamber up to the window broken.

Chaz was too busy inside to notice that he had been followed. He looked stressed out, pacing back and forth in front of Elyna. Occasionally glancing over at her between aggressive sweeps on his hand through his hair. The poor girl was tied to a wooden chair in the middle of the room. A cliché scene from a movie scene in the worst possible way. Head slumped to one side as her tired eyes followed her abductor, she looked miserable and scared out of her mind. Her hair was disheveled and her designer clothes wrinkled. Mascara stained her cheeks where tears had run freely. It looked like she hadn't showered in days.

As for the cottage, it was a disaster. There was trash all over the floor. An old, dirty couch with holes in it where the springs were visible. Dirty dishes. Moving boxes half full of unwanted junk. Around Elyna were TV dinners. What Chaz had been feeding her since had had stolen her from that shopping mall apparently.

"I thought you loved me," Elyna spoke up, voice hoarse from crying and pleading with Chaz.

"Don't be an idiot!" he spat back with venom. Maybe a little too much venom to be believed. "I was just—just using you!"

"You don't mean that," she pressed with a whimper. Whether she actually believed that or if she was trying anything and everything to get free Shaw didn't know. "I know some part of you still has feelings for me... please... please just let me go. I won't tell anyone."

Chaz scoffed, ruffling his hair. "Stop trying to play mind games with me! It's too late for that now." His voice grew softer. Sadder. "Much too late, my little queen..." With a determined step, he wrenched her from her seat and threw open the cottage door. "Come on." Elyna attempted to struggle against his hold but it was no use. She was weak and exhausted. He drug her from the cottage and across the beach.

"Let... me go!" she cried, and in the struggle he dropped her. Begging one more time, "Please! I'll pay you anything you want! Anything! You know my daddy—"

"There's more at stake here than just money!" Chaz growled, leering over her and trying to catch his breath. "Now stop struggling. You're only making this harder on yourself." @Sreeya

 

[Prani Shalrazi]

Prani was caught off guard when Shaw almost sternly told her not to use the term the other padawans used for her. She thought to reassure him that it didn’t bother her or that it didn’t matter, but the words died in her lips. Instead she simply gave him a genuine smile, “All right, Shaw, I won’t,” She said quietly as they approached the shore.

She stayed silent as she heard Chaz and Elyna behind closed doors, preparing to burst in if she heard signs of combat. However, the man emerged soon enough, yanking the screaming girl with him. Both Prani and Shaw’s dataphones were blowing up with texts from Brebic telling them not to act – that he was just across the river and finding a way over.

Prani chewed on her lip as she watched Chaz physically dragging Elyna towards the boat for another escape.

“We gotta stop him..” She muttered as she snuck closer towards the duo. While Chaz was focused on yanking the girl towards the boat, Prani called on the Force for a trick that was her specialty. Within moments, roots from the trees lining the island thrust up from the ground and coiled around Chaz’s legs. He screamed in surprise as he was suddenly entangled and stuck in place, Elyna screaming her head off.

Revealing a Jedi trick was probably not smart, but Prani was desperate. She ran out towards the duo, glaring at Chaz.

“Let her go!” She yelled.

“What the hell did you do, you freak?”

Prani winced at the word, having heard enough of it from other padawans, “LET HER GO,” She told him again, the vines tightening around Chaz’s legs.

“Okay okay!” He gasped as he released Elyna. The girl was bawling her eyes out as she ran towards the Jedi.

Force use roll: 13/20

@throwitintothefire

 

[Shaw Amaris]

Shaw was trying to come up with a plan to stop Chaz from getting Elyna to the boat. Since he hadn't mastered telekinesis or force push or anything like that yet and he didn't have any weapons on him, his options were limited. He was about to just jump off the roof of the broken down cottage and tackle the performer to the ground when Prani came up with a better idea. Roots shot up out of the ground, just like on Shili that first day the padawans had met, and snaked around Chaz's legs—holding him in place against his will.

"Thank the gods!" Elyna cried, throwing her arms around Prani's neck as soon as the padawans emerged from the shadows. She clung to the teenager for dear life with adrenaline fueled strength, shaking from head to toe as she wept into Prani's neck. "I thought he was going to kill me! Did—did my daddy send you?? I knew he would! I knew he would!"

Shaw gathered the loose rope that had bound Elyna before Prani had so masterfully taken control of the situation and approached Chaz. No better time to tie him up than while he was already restrained! "And you would've gotten away with it too if it hadn't been for those meddling—" Shaw started to goad him, but Chaz lashed out.

"Shut up! You little brats think you're so clever, but this isn't over." Chaz was sweating bullets, but there was something in his eyes that made Shaw realize it wasn't over. Sure, they had rescued Elyna. The most important part of this whole assignment. But they still hadn't put the pieces of the puzzle together.

The mysterious voice back at the Grove that had been giving Chaz orders. The person on the other end of that phone call minutes ago that seemed to be in cahoots with Chaz. A dead judge. Accidents surrounding the beauty contest. Somehow it all had to fit together. Shaw would've tried to ask Chaz some questions, but he could already tell that Chaz wasn't going to tell him anything. His lips were sealed. Shaw just wished they had been sealed back at the Grove during that performance too.

Now that Chaz was tied up, Shaw dug around in his pockets and then looked over at Prani. "Whaddya say we take his boat back across? Meet up with Brebic? Maybe Brebic can get him talking." He grinned. "This time we don't have to hot wire anything." He held up Chaz's keys to the boat. @Sreeya

 

[Prani Shalrazi]

Prani blinked in surprise when Elyna almost tackle hugged her. She returned the hug reassuringly, “It’s all right! You’re all right now!” She said with a smile before stepping back. The Padawan glanced over to spot Shaw tying up Chaz, “Good work, Shaw!” She said cheerfully as they returned to the boat. Prani even took the time to use a rope to tie the jetski to the boat to return it back to the proper owner.

“Yeah, definitely hand this off to Brebic,” She said, “We were in way over our heads,” Prani said quietly so Elyna couldn’t hear.

They were across soon enough and thankfully without incident. Chaz complained the entire time and Prani finally put some duct tape over his mouth while apologizing the entire time. When they made it across, Brebic was waiting with the Duke himself and the Baron who looked mortified.

“DADDY!” Elyna practically leapt to shore and threw herself into her father’s arms bawling.

“You’ve rescued her!” Brebic exclaimed in surprise, “Good work, padawans,” He said while beaming.

“Y-You ain’t mad at us for…” She quickly stopped talking, deciding it was dumb to ruin a good thing.

“I’m so glad you’re okay, Elli,” The Duke said with a content sigh, checking over his daughter. He glared at Chaz tied up and silenced on the boat.

“Ah hmm yes..this is great that it was solved,” The Baron mumbled, “Let us hand the culprit over to authorities-”

“Hang on, there’s a lot left to solve!” Prani said as she drew up Chaz’s dataphone, “Chaz called someone while we were on the island,” She said.

“Yes well, I think this all needs to be handed to the proper authorities-” The Baron began.

Prani’s eyes narrowed as she pressed the last dialed number. A moment later, the Baron’s EZPhone began to ring. He turned pale, pretending as if he didn’t hear it. It was the Duke that snatched the phone out, “What is the meaning of this, Wolbrau?”

“I-I…” The Baron fumbled over his words.

“Is this why you wanted me, the Knight, to stay behind and pose as a judge? So I couldn’t intervene?” Brebic asked suddenly, his eyes widening.

“You had the Knight stay behind?”

The Baron was cornered. By then, authorities were pulling up as flashing lights arrived behind them. Within seconds, sector rangers were on the scene.

“Officers!” The Duke called out, “Detain this man for obstruction of justice! He is an accomplice to a plot!”

“NO!” The Baron growled as his hands were bound behind his back while he was dragged away along with Chaz. He glared at the Jedi, “I would have gotten away with it too if not for those MEDDLING KIDS!” He cried out as he glared at the Padawans.

The Duke turned to Brebic and the padawans, "I cannot thank you enough for everything you have done. This plot goes deeper and I want more Jedi presence on the planet. Consider us as staunch supporters of your Order. Please have more Jedi here to dig into this," He turned to the teenagers, smiling, "You have done the Jedi proud today. You have risked yourselves to protect my daughter and I will never forget that. If you are the future of the Jedi, then I am proud to call Listehol an ally."


@throwitintothefire

 

[Shaw Amaris]

As soon as Prani hit the call button and the Baron's ringtone began to play, the familiar lyrics to one of Chaz's hit singles echoing across the surface of the water, the baron got a dumbfounded look on his face that clearly said whoops. Shaw couldn't help but cringe a little on the inside. Bruh. Could that ringtone be any more on the nose?

When both of the kidnappers realized that the game was up and that the sector rangers were closing in on them by order of the Duke of Listehol himself, Chaz shot Baron Wolbrau a look that just as distinctly said can you be any more stupid? "Really, Wolbrau?"

"What?!" the baron reeled. "It's catchy!" It was obvious that Wolbrau had never not gotten his way a day in his life as the sector rangers drug the little man off toward their patrol speeder. It had never occurred to him that he might get caught. Chaz had tried to cover his tracks, but Wolbrau had been sloppy. Careless. Arrogant. But there was a dangerous look in his eyes as he glared at the padawans. "I have the best lawyers money can buy! Connections you wouldn't believe! I'll be out of jail by the morning, mark my—" Thump. The patrol door shut, and the baron's voice was drowned out by the sounds of the ocean.

There was a different look in Chaz's dark eyes. Something Shaw couldn't quite place his finger on. "With these hands I'll cuff you..." the arresting sector ranger sung quietly to himself as he cuffed Chaz and pulled him toward a second patrol speeder. The song really did stick in your head.

Chaz looked between three Jedi—from Prani to Shaw to Brebic and then back again. "You have no idea what you've gotten yourselves mixed up in, Jedi. This isn't over." It wasn't like the frightened, out of control ramblings of the baron. Yet it could hardly be called a threat. It felt more like a promise. Maybe even a warning. Shaw looked over at Prani and swallowed.

Now that the baron and Listehol's heartthrob were in custody, it was just the Jedi and the Duke and his daughter left standing on the docks by the ocean. Sector rangers lingered in the background. Gaining Listehol's support had always been the ultimate goal, and Brebic couldn't have been more pleased with the outcome. The look on his face said it all. His first solo assignment had been a success, and the padawans had proved a help rather than a hinderance.

"I can do more than that, your grace," Brebic replied, "I will remain on Listehol and look into this matter myself. Personally. You have my word as a Jedi that I will not rest until everything pertaining to this matter is brought to light. Until you and your daughter can rest easily at night knowing that justice has been carried out."

The Duke looked very impressed, going so far as to extend a hand to Brebic to shake. "Then I expect to be working closely with you in the future," he said with an appraising look, before adding to the padawans, "And I hope our paths will cross again. I am indebted to you." His other hand remained wrapped around his daughter. He tugged her gently toward the sector rangers. Toward home. "Come, Elli... you have a pageant to prepare for." Over his shoulder he would address the Jedi one last time. "Tell your council welcome to Listehol." @Sreeya