57 Tulpaa Surprise II

[ Flash Back ]

Eva Markus had gotten rid of her brother, she called him pathetic and destroyed his life. She drove him to his death essentially, everything she had done, allowed him to get mixed up in a robbery gone wrong.

It felt like forever ago. After the right the two of them had after the funeral, in front of his very grave, Eva and Maddie knew they would never be able to forgive one another.

They were going to be forced to walk different ways in life and they would never want to lay eyes on one another again. This was all because of Eva, she wanted to have her best friend all to herself. It was all jealousy. A lousy emotion, one that she allowed to control and even dictated her life.

Maddie, Eva and her family had gone to the subway, to take a train in separate directions. This would have been the last time they crossed one another. Yet things never seemed to have gone as planned.

"Isn't that Maddie Wilkson?" A chubby teen called out with a bellowing laugh, a group of boys from their school seemed to have Maddie and Eva surrounded.

Though Eva could easily just press her way out of this, but she didn't. Instead she just glared at the boys and tried to nudge Maddie to come with her. Maddie ignored Eva, going as far as to shove her hand away.

"The freak who declared her freak love-stick innocent?" One of the other boys called out, laughing. It sounded like the typical harassment, but this group of boys all knew Maddie personally. They had all hit on her before, and were known to have been Jealous of how the late Vlad had always been close to her.

An annoyed looking teen growled, "Pft, why don't you go drink some rat poison and join him?" He was upset by merely seeing her presence within the subway.

"Maddie, lets go..." Eva said as she tried to pull her former best friend out of the crowd, but since they were trying to leave, the boys started shoving the girls around.

There were a total of twelve of them. All in a circle shoving them, even going as far as 'accidentally' groping them.

"Hey! Hey!" Eva's father called out trying to get to his daughter, only for three of the boys to break off to distract the older man. "Piss off, brats!" He tried to shove them aside with one arm, he brought one to the ground and had one of the others stumble. However the last one standing punched the old man instinctively with an uppercut. Sending him to the ground after a loud clicking sound from his teeth.

Screaming, Eva's mother went to run for the security.

Maddie seemed to have a dark expression on her face, just as one of the boys went to shove her around in the circle, she grabbed his hand and flung him over her shoulder and onto the ground. Martial arts, she knew it. Her parents wouldn't let her go out without it.

Her adrenaline was rushing, everything seemed to move so slow, and she was moving even faster. When one of the other boys went to restrain her, she grappled his chest and threw him into another boy who attempted to assist. Their heads bashed together and they tumbled to the floor in a daze.

A loud crack was heard, right as she was about to turn around and she felt everything feel extremely light. Her arms and legs could barely coordinate and she found herself in a haze. Her head was hurting, her eyes throbbing.

She brushed her shoulder against one of the pillars in the subway. She could hear a whistle going off. 'Subway Train to F City is now arriving, please stay behind the yellow line until the train comes to a complete stop. Thank you for using The D Subway Express.' She pushed herself off the pillar as she heard the announcement and made her way towards the yellow line at the edge of the platform.

Eva had broken away from the boys and tried to run after her, but was instead tripped by one of the other teens. She found herself barreling right into the back of Maddie, clinging her arms around her and both of them flying off the edge of the platform, almost instantly being pulverized by train before it could stop completely.

...

Maddie stood several meters away from Valad who was standing there with his saber at the ready. They were both faltering, Vaylin was completely out of the loop. Who was this person? Was it something to do with their confidential talk?

Vaylin went to take a step forward, only for Valad to place a hand on her shoulder and shake his head.

"As you wish," The girl said as she took a few steps back, disengaging her saber. Vaylin was going to obey the orders.

The droids in which had entered the hangar earlier had all joined around the main entrance. Guarding it so no one could get by without authorization. This also meant that no one could enter the Hangar from the interior as well unless they decided to toss the droids out of the way.

Maddie closed her eyes as she tried to continue and funnel her negative emotions into the flickering stream of her force saber. Yet, no matter how hard she tried, her negativity was not enough to keep the blade.

So out of frustration, she chucked the blade towards Valad who simply whipped his weapon to the side and bisected the force saber. Permanently deactivating it before it could harm him.

"Why are you here Maddie?" He could recognize the golden hue of her eyes, corruption. His eyes gave a glance to the outside world, explosions and death. His eyes moved back to his long lost lover and he smiled lightly.

Her eyes had widened, she had been addressed as Maddie. He was asking her why she was here. If she didn't still have her memories of the past, she would have been entirely confused at this point. "Vlad...?" She creased her brows more, she seemed at ease, yet confused even more so.

"Why, why are you here?" Valad asked as he took a step forward, he wanted to know why she was here, how she had gotten here. Did she die? He remembered seeing her alive after he was dead. Why was she here?!

Maddie could sense the overwhelming happiness welling up inside of him, yet she could also feel the concern, the guilt, the fear and the surprise. She could hear his heart beating out of his chest.

Another fighter was approaching the hangar, they had their missiles primed and yet it didn't seem as if he was paying them any mind. The missiles wouldn't be able to get through the selective shields protecting the hangar in the first place.

The warheads exploded on impact upon the shields as the enemy fighter pulled up and retreated at an attempt for another run.

Valad continued towards her as he made his saber disappear into his inventory, allowing her to witness his weapon simply vanish from sight. After a few steps, he heard a voice and his came to a halt. His eyes narrowed on the gauntlet which was on Maddie's right hand.

"I'm coming Maddie!" It was a voice, with a familiar tone. It sounded like someone on a high self-made pedestal. They were ego-driven, narcissistic, became jealous easily. A socialite capable of dooming others.

His eyes narrowed on the fighter coming towards the hangar, his eyes piercing through the canopy.

Vaylin and Maddie's eyes stared vacantly at the sudden shift of negativity which poured from Valad like a water spout. A dark aura surrounding him, but despite bathing in it, he wasn't being corrupted.

[ Force Technique Dark Aura acquired. Depending on the negative emotions focused into this aura, it will have varying effects on individuals nearby and within the effective range of the aura. Fear makes enemies and opponents feel fear towards you, and bolsters your allies confidence. Anger suppresses the movement of your opponents and increases your overall output of force energy, but puts you at risk for corruption. Hatred focuses your bloodlust, turns your skills and techniques into scalpels for precision use, your enemies will never see you coming. ]

His shout started like a ghost's whisper, turning onto a ghoul's shrill. "Eeevvvvaaaa!"

"Wh-who the fuck is that?" The person on the comlink called out in horror, as if she already had a guess in mind. The fighter went to increase its speed, but right as it entered the shielding that separated the hangar from the vacuum of space. It found itself stopped in mid-air. Struggling to make an inch further or even land.

Valad's hand was outstretched, the outer hull of the fighter began to crumple like aluminium foil. He was using the force to crush it, primarily the canopy.

Vaylin stood there, not knowing what to do. She had never gotten this far into the darkness before. She had never been given the chance to even give into her anger or hatred.

Maddie looked on almost helpless. Compared to Valad who had been here for only a handful of months, Maddie had started an entirely new life. Time had moved differently. Even though she may have 'died' yesterday, she had been in this universe for fifteen years of her life.

She was reborn here, she was raised like cattle by the Rakata and forced to fight in gladiator battles until she survived long enough to be owned. She was then discarded and given to a hangar to be used as a fighter pilot. Her red-gold eyes gazed over him, then over towards the fighter.

Suddenly the canopy was thrown off the top of the fighter and a petite female came jumping out. Valad quickly wirled his wrist around and turned redirected the fighter so it would fly right back out of the hangar without a pilot.

His eyes narrowed on the blond goddess who landed on the hangar grounds. His lower brow lid raised on the left and his right brow raised, while his left brow creased down.

The blondie then pulled out her force saber and began charging towards him. Letting out a warcry. Her weapon had an orange blade, its hilt was sloppily made compared to Maddie's.

"You make a horrible Force Hound Sis," this line startled the charging female, only enough for Valad to use the force and grasp Vaylin's pike. Sending it flying right into the blond's unprotected abdomen. he then recalled it after she flew back to the ground and her weapon clattered to the ground.

Maddie stood there, further conflicted. In a sense the two of them had made up in this life. They let bygones be bygones. They had around ten years to get through that.

Yet she just watched the love of her life, kill the woman who lead him to his death and ruined his last life. She just stared, not knowing whether or not to run to her friends side, or remain on the side. Her eyes moved towards Vaylin for a few moments, recognition flushed over her.

She recalled the cinematics of Vaylin for the Old Republic, she knew how strong she was. Yet why was she so young? Since when was she on a ship? Her eyes moved to the Command Shuttle and pursed her lips. Was this that one ship that Kylo Ren used in The Last Jedi during that one battle on the salt plains?

First the Predators, then the Shuttle? This ship wasn't even canon from what she saw on the outside. It even had a cloaking system!

Her mind focused back on her friend who was on the ground gasping, reaching up for the ceiling as the fluorescent lights blinded her.

"I..." A voice whined, "I don't... Want to die again..." Eva lifted her head to look at the person who claimed to be her brother. Who not only insulted her, but literally sent a blow into her stomach. "Don't... kill... me..."

She felt her body being dragged along the polished floor. The blade had already burnt the wound shut, but it was still fatal as the insides were burnt too.

Valad stood over her within a few moments, his eyes were murky and dark. They remained their steady unique shade of green. "You'll only get in my way, like you always do."

Eva's body took on a clammy complexion, his gaze ripping right though her. "I... don't...want... to die..." She was saying in a dazed tone, crying as she did so.

"Vaylin, prep her for carbonization." The dark aura began to vanish from him as he looked over at Maddie who had fallen to her knees.

Was he showing her mercy? Being placed in Carbonite put both the body and mind in a hibernating state. Which meant not even a force user could access the use of the force.

Vaylin nodded her head before collecting her weapon and walking over to Eva and grabbing her by the foot. She began to drag her through the corridors after leaving the hangar and went for the carbonization chamber. At the same time a droid was following after them, injecting Eva with enhanced bacta concoctions.

Valad walked over to the girl whom was on her knees, her head following him as he approached. He smiled down at her as he placed a hand on the top of her head. Resting them on top of the horns upon her head.

"You've changed..." She muttered with a half smile, her eyes glossed over.

"People don't change. They just intensify and alternate what sides they show." With a slow, cat-like, wink he would kneel down in front of her. "It seems I'm never going to lose you."

Maddie closed her eyes as she felt his hand move from the top of her head and to her cheek. Gracefully caressing her facial features, exploring them. She was half tempted to lean forward and kiss him, yet she was also wanting to give him a big fat headbutt. She thought against it, the headbutt, since that would probably be rather lethal considering the horns.

"You're still an idiot..." Maddie huffed aloud, shaking her head and grabbing his wrist.