DC Elseworlds 1. The Strange Visitor

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. They are the property of Lucasfilm Ltd., AOL/Time Warner, Marvel Entertainment, and Paramount. No copyright infringement is intended.  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Tahiri Veila was awoken by a strange humming sound. She jumped out of bed to investigate the noise, instinctively grabbing her lightsaber. The sound seemed to be coming from a dark corner of her room. Using her lightsaber to illuminate the shadows, she saw a small black orb. It was unlike anything she had ever seen before. Tahiri reached down to pick the object up. As her hand touched it, the orb stopped humming and started to glow with an eerie light. "I better take this to Master Luke", Tahiri thought. She was about to do that when she began to feel an odd sensation coursing through her body. Then the orb exploded with a blinding flash and everything went black. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------ Jaina Solo, whose room was next to Tahiri's, heard the explosion. She got dressed quickly and rushed to Tahiri's room to see what had happened. What Jaina saw there shocked and amazed her. Tahiri's room had been completely destroyed, but nothing outside of it had been damaged. Even the door was totally unscathed. The explosion had apparently contained itself within the room. She searched the room for signs of Tahiri. Jaina didn't see Tahiri anywhere but she did find her Jedi robe. It had been incinerated. Jaina reached out with the Force to feel for Tahiri's presence in the Force. Tahiri was gone. But for some reason that she couldn't explain, Jaina sensed that Tahiri wasn't dead. It seemed more like Tahiri had somehow vanished from the universe. She had to tell her uncle Luke. Maybe he would be able to figure out what had happened to Tahiri. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------- When Tahiri woke up, she found herself lying on the ground in a dark alley. She didn't know how she had gotten there. The last thing she remembered was that she had picked up that bizarre object and then there had been an explosion. But she wasn't injured at all. How could that be possible? Had it all been a dream? No. She was certain that she had not been dreaming. Whatever had happened to her was real. But what had happened and where was she now, she wondered. She reached out with the Force attempting to detect the Force presence of her friends. But her search was in vain. She couldn't detect Jaina, Jacen, Master Luke, Mara, Anakin's mother, or anybody else she knew. It was as if they had all vanished from the universe. Where had they all gone? Then Tahiri realized with a shock that it was possible-and perhaps more likely-that she had vanished. Before she had much time to ponder this, she saw a gang of thugs approaching her. There were a half a dozen of them and she didn't need the Force to know that their intentions towards her were very very bad.  
  
Chapter 2  
  
Spider-Man had just finished patrolling the city and was on his way home when he saw, down in an alley below him, a young blonde woman. She appeared to be about eighteen and was extremely underdressed for a cold New York City night. He suspected that might have been what had attracted the attention of that gang that was approaching her. Although a young girl alone in this neighborhood would be likely to become a target regardless of her attire. He was just about to swing down and rescue her when the thug closest to the girl flew backwards as if he had been punched by an invisible fist. Then one of the others pulled out a gun and almost instantly the gun was reduced to scrap metal by a flash of light. It took him a moment to realize that the flash of light was actually a sword. A lightsaber.  
  
He thought, "If she has a lightsaber then she must be a Jedi, but Jedi aren't real. They're fictional like Superman."  
  
But as impossible as it seemed this girl was obviously real so he dropped down to the alley to help her. Once he got closer he noticed something about the girl that he hadn't seen before. She had a unique scar on her forehead.  
  
"I know her!", Spidey thought.  
  
Tahiri Veila. During the few seconds it had taken him to descend to the alley, Tahiri had dispatched the would-be gunman and two more of his companions. Spidey snuck up behind one of the two remaining thugs and tapped him on the shoulder. When he turned around, Spidey said "Say cheese!" and delivered a knockout punch to his jaw. The last thug still standing tried to run away. Spidey did a backflip to land in front of the fleeing criminal.  
  
Spidey: "Going somewhere? I think you need a nap. Say goodnight."  
  
He punched the punk in the face effectively putting him to "sleep". Then Spidey wrapped up all of the gang members in webbing for convenient pickup by the police later. Then he turned to face Tahiri. Spider-Man: "Hello. My name is Spider-Man. But you can call me Spidey."  
  
Tahiri: "That's a funny name."  
  
Spider-Man: "You shouldn't talk. Your name sounds like the name of a diminutive Japanese pro wrestler."  
  
Tahiri got a very puzzled look on her face and was speechless for several moments.  
  
Then she said: "How did you know my name?"  
  
Spider-Man: "Umm.That's a long story, but the short version is I've read about you."  
  
Tahiri: "Oh. So what else do you know about me?"  
  
Spider-Man: "Well I know that you like to do unconventional things like going barefoot. Speaking of that unconventional thing, don't you think you're taking it too far?"  
  
Tahiri: "What do you mean?"  
  
Spider-Man: "Does Master Skywalker approve of you going around in public looking like a Twi'lek dancing girl?"  
  
Tahiri looked down at herself and realized with some embarrassment that she wasn't wearing anything except her underclothes. She blushed and tried to cover herself as best as she could.  
  
Spider-Man: "Stay here and I'll go get you some clothes to wear. Try to stay out of sight. New York City has laws against public indecency."  
  
Spider-Man swung up into the city skyline and headed in the direction of his house. Shortly afterwards, he returned with a black t-shirt and black jeans that he had borrowed from MJ's closet.  
  
Spider-Man: "I figured you'd like black."  
  
Tahiri: "Thanks."  
  
Tahiri quickly put on the borrowed clothes. Then they had a long talk, Spider-Man filling her in as best he could about where she was and how he knew about her.  
  
Chapter 3  
  
Spider-Man: "In the morning, I want to take you to see a friend of mine. He's the smartest person I know. If anybody can figure out how to get you back home, he can."  
  
Tahiri: "Alright. Thanks."  
  
Spider-Man: "But right now we need to discuss sleeping arrangements."  
  
Tahiri gave him a funny look.  
  
Spider-Man: "Don't look at me like that! You've got a dirty mind for a Jedi. Anyway, those aren't the kind of sleeping arrangements I was talking about."  
  
Tahiri grinned and said: "Too bad."  
  
Spider-Man: "What I was trying to say is I've found a place for you to spend the night."  
  
Tahiri: "Where?"  
  
Spider-Man: "At the home of a couple of friends of mine. Peter and Mary Jane Watson Parker. I borrowed those clothes from Mrs. Parker."  
  
Tahiri: "Why can't I just stay with you?"  
  
Spider-Man: "Ummm.because I think you'd be more comfortable at the Parkers' home."  
  
Tahiri looked like she was about to question him further but then she just nodded her agreement.  
  
Spider-Man: "So are you ready to go?"  
  
Tahiri: "Yeah. Are we walking?"  
  
Spider-Man: "No. We're traveling via Friendly Neighborhood Webslinger Weblines. Now, hold on tight."  
  
Spider-Man reached out and wrapped one arm around Tahiri's waist while shooting a webline above them with the other arm. The webline caught a horizontal flagpole about 50 feet directly above them. He pulled them up, and then did a reverse somersault over the flagpole. Then he shot another webline onto the side of an adjacent building and began to swing towards the Parker residence. Once they arrive, Spidey knocks on the front door. When Mary Jane comes to the door, Spidey introduces her and Tahiri and then makes an excuse and quickly leaves so he can sneak into the bedroom from the back and change out of his costume. Then he emerges from the bedroom as Peter Parker and introduces himself to Tahiri. Tahiri senses that she has met this man before but she doesn't know why she feels that way so she decides to ignore it. Afterall, she couldn't possibly have met him before could she.  
  
Chapter 4  
  
Tahiri was awakened by the smell of hot caf. Although she learned that it was called coffee here. MJ had cooked breakfast. Peter had already left for work. MJ said that he was a teacher and had an early morning meeting with a parent. Soon after she had finished eating, Spider-Man arrived to take her to see his friend. He said he was a scientist and an adventurer.  
  
Tahiri: "So where are we going?"  
  
Spider-Man: "The Baxter Building. The home of the Fantastic Four. Reed and Sue Richards, Johnny Storm, and Ben Grimm. By the way, Ben may look like a rock monster but he isn't so don't try to decapitate him or anything."  
  
"I would never assume someone was a monster based on their outward appearance", Tahiri protested.  
  
Spider-Man: "I'm not saying you would. I just wanted you to have an advanced warning before you meet him. Ben is used to people taking one look at him and assuming he's a monster, but as emotionally hurtful as that is those people are generally harmless."  
  
Tahiri: "So is Ben the genius you told me about?"  
  
Spider-Man: "No. Ben is the Muscle of the group. Reed is the Brain."  
  
Tahiri: "What about the other two? What are they?"  
  
Spider-Man: "Well, Sue is the hot blonde invisible chick and Johnny is the hothead blonde flame boy."  
  
Tahiri: "How can she be hot if she's invisible?"  
  
Spider-Man: "Well she's not invisible all the time. But seriously she would be like the Heart and Johnny is the.uh.I don't know what he is. The youthful spirit maybe."  
  
When Spider-Man and Tahiri arrived at the Baxter Building they were met by Ben Grimm aka The Thing.  
  
Ben: "Hey Spidey. Who's the chick?"  
  
Spider-Man: "She's a Jedi Knight. Tahiri Veila meet Ben Grimm."  
  
Ben: "Yeah right! And I'm a Texas Ranger."  
  
Spider-Man: "No seriously. She is a Jedi."  
  
Ben: "Hey Suzie! Ol Webhead is here and he's off his rocker!"  
  
Spider-Man: "I'm not crazy Ben."  
  
Ben: "If she's a Jedi how come she ain't wearing one of them fancy smancy Jedi Robes?"  
  
Tahiri: "Jedi of my era don't always wear robes."  
  
Spider-Man: "Besides she showed up here in her underwear."  
  
Tahiri punched Spider-Man in the arm.  
  
Tahiri: "You don't have to tell everybody that."  
  
Spider-Man: "I haven't told everybody."  
  
Sue: "What haven't you told everybody?"  
  
Ben: "That she's a Jedi named Tahiri Veila and she came to Earth in her underwear."  
  
Sue: "Hello Tahiri. What's this about Spidey?"  
  
Spider-Man: "As I was telling Ben, Tahiri is a Jedi Knight. Somehow she was transported here. I thought Reed might be able to figure out how it happened and how to send her back to her own universe."  
  
Ben: "I told you he was crazy."  
  
Sue: "Hush Ben. Don't mind him Tahiri. He's really got a heart of gold under that rough exterior. I'm sure Reed can help."  
  
Just then Johnny Storm walks in.  
  
Johnny: "Hey Spi-"  
  
He stops when he notices Tahiri.  
  
Johnny: "Who might this be?"  
  
Tahiri: "I'm Tahiri Veila."  
  
Johnny: "Hello Tahiri. I'm Johnny Storm. Pleased to meet you."  
  
He takes her hand and kisses it.  
  
Ben: "Ah. For the love of."  
  
Tahiri: "Spidey, you didn't tell me Johnny was so charming."  
  
Ben: "Him!? Charming?"  
  
Johnny: "You're just jealous."  
  
Ben: "Why you little-"  
  
Sue: "That's enough boys. Let's go find Reed."  
  
Chapter 5  
  
They found Reed in his lab working on one of his many high-tech gadgets. Spidey explained the situation to him.  
  
Reed: "That's fascinating. So you're from the GFFA."  
  
Tahiri: "Yeah. But how did you know about the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances?"  
  
Reed: "I don't. I was referring to the Galaxy Far Far Away."  
  
Tahiri: "The what?"  
  
Reed: "Nevermind. It's not important."  
  
Tahiri: "Can you help me?"  
  
Reed: "I think I can. What we need is an interdimensional interspatial time conveyor."  
  
Ben: "Could ya repeat that in English Stretch?"  
  
Spidey: "He means a time machine that also enables you to travel through space and dimensions."  
  
Ben: "Thanks Webhead. How would you like a full time job as the official Fantastic Four Stretch to English translator?"  
  
Spidey: "No thanks. Fighting supervillains is easier."  
  
Ben, Johnny, and Sue laugh. Reed clears his throat to regain everyone's attention.  
  
Reed: "The good news is I already have such a machine. But the bad news is before we can use the machine to send Tahiri home, we must ascertain the exact location of her home galaxy. Furthermore, we also need to determine precisely when she is from."  
  
Tahiri: "When?"  
  
Spidey: "Reed is referring to the phrase 'A Galaxy Far Far Away Long Ago'"  
  
Johnny: "You've traveled to the future Babe."  
  
Tahiri: "Funny. I would have thought it was the past."  
  
Reed: "Well, technically this isn't your future, but from our frame of reference you are from the distant past."  
  
"So it's hopeless", Tahiri said despondently.  
  
Reed: "No. I didn't say that. I believe I can deduce the required information but it will take time."  
  
Tahiri: "How much time?"  
  
Reed: "I'm not certain. Perhaps as quickly as a few days or it could take much longer."  
  
Tahiri: "So in the meantime, I'm stuck here."  
  
Johnny: "New York City isn't such a bad place to be stuck. I can give you the grand tour."  
  
Tahiri: "Ok."  
  
Johnny and Tahiri leave together. Reed starts working on figuring out the solution to the problem.  
  
Chapter 6  
  
Once they were outside, Johnny flamed on. His entire body except for his hands and arms became flame. When Tahiri witnessed the transformation, she was flabbergasted. She remembered Spider-Man calling Johnny a flameboy but she had thought he was joking.  
  
Johnny: "You look like you just saw a ghost."  
  
Tahiri: "Well I never saw anyone do that before."  
  
Johnny: "Sorry. I would have warned you, but I assumed Spidey told you."  
  
Tahiri: "He did, but I thought he was joking."  
  
Johnny: "So are you ready to take a scenic flight over New York City?"  
  
Tahiri: "I don't know."  
  
Johnny: "It's safe. Trust me."  
  
Tahiri(thinking to herself but saying it outloud): "Anakin's father said you should never trust anyone who says 'trust me'."  
  
Johnny: "Huh? I thought Anakin didn't have a father?"  
  
Tahiri: "Of course he had a father. His father is Han Solo."  
  
Johnny: "Han Solo is Darth Vader's father!?"  
  
Tahiri laughed and said, "No silly. You're thinking of Anakin Skywalker. I'm talking about Anakin Solo."  
  
Johnny: "Sorry. Never heard of him. Who is he?"  
  
Tahiri: "He was the youngest son of Han Solo and Leia Organa Solo. He was also a great hero and my closest friend."  
  
Johnny: "Was?"  
  
Tahiri: "He was killed by the Yuuzhan Vong while on a mission to destroy their Voxyn queen."  
  
Johnny: "I'm sorry. Are you ok?"  
  
Tahiri: "Yes, I am now. I was a horrible mess for a while. The grief literally drove me insane. But I'm better now."  
  
Johnny: "Cool. You ready to go?"  
  
Later, as Johnny and Tahiri are flying over Shea Stadium, Johnny said "This is Shea Stadium. It's where the New York Mets play. They're a professional baseball team. That's a sport."  
  
Tahiri: "Are they good?"  
  
Johnny: "Sometimes, but unfortunately they really suck right now."  
  
Johnny showed Tahiri some more sights and then they headed back to the Baxter Building. When they arrived there, Sue showed Tahiri to the guest room they had prepared for her. They also had some more clothes for her to wear.  
  
Chapter 7  
  
The next morning, Tahiri decided to do some exploring of the city on her own. She took a shower and got dressed. Then she ate a quick breakfast before departing. She didn't really have a destination in mind. She just decided she'd walk around and see where the Force took her. As she walked down the crowded streets, she thought that this place was somewhat like a primitive Coruscant. Except on a much smaller scale of course. She decided to get away from the traffic by turning down a backstreet.  
  
She wasn't looking for Spider-Man but she found him anyway. He was in an alley fighting what at first appeared to her to be a giant scorpion. But she quickly realized that it was actually a man in a scorpion costume. As she got closer she heard the two of them talking. Spider-Man was hurling verbal jabs at the Scorpion while he was dodging the Scorpion's punches. The Scorpion obviously didn't like being mocked and was getting very angry. But the angrier he got the easier it became for Spidey to avoid his attacks. Clearly, Spidey's jokes were part of a strategic plan.  
  
Tahiri sensed with the Force that the Scorpion was about to shoot acid out of his tail. She moved to approach him from behind using the Force to prevent him from detecting her presence. The Scorpion shot his acid at Spidey. Spidey narrowly avoided it and it hit the wall behind him. While the Scorpion was preparing to launch another volley, Tahiri ignited her lightsaber and sliced off the deadly tail. The Scorpion sank to his knees, clutched at the severed tail, and started to sob as if Tahiri had just killed his best friend. While this spectacle was going on, Spidey wrapped up the Scorpion in a bundle of webbing. Then Spidey turned to Tahiri and joked: "You sure know how to make a supervillain cry."  
  
Chapter 8  
  
Jaina Solo was participating in a flight sim against one of the pilots from Wraith Squadron, but she was finding it very hard to concentrate. She couldn't stop thinking about what had happened to Tahiri. Specifically, she was wondering [I]what[/I] exactly had happened. She quickly spun her x- wing in a tight loop to avoid incoming laser fire. That was a close one. She tried to bring her focus back to the battle she was engaged in, but her mind kept wandering back to the events of that night. Suddenly, she was jolted back to the present by a fiery explosion. Her opponent had just vaped her. She silently chastised herself for allowing herself to be distracted. Her opponent was a great pilot but she was better. Jaina climbed out of the simulator and was greeted by the charming, somewhat arrogant Wraith who had just defeated her. Face Loran was grinning at her and looked like he was about to gloat over his victory. But when he saw the look on her face he seemed to stop himself in mid-gloat.  
  
Face: "Are you ok Jaina?"  
  
Jaina: "I'm worried about Tahiri. And very frustrated because I keep trying to figure out what could have happened, but it's like trying to read a blank datapad."  
  
Face: "I'm sure everything will be alright. Let me buy you a drink."  
  
Jaina: "Ok. Now that you mention it I am very thirsty. "  
  
Face: "They have those altha protein drinks you like."  
  
Jaina: "Great."  
  
Luke Skywalker was sitting on the floor of his bedroom meditating on the matter of the strange disappearance of Tahiri Veila when he had a vision. In his vision, he saw Tahiri. There with her were a large rock person, a young blonde man, a young blonde woman, and another man who Luke surmised was a scientist. He thought that because the man looked like a scientist and he was giving a very scientific sounding speech. As the man was speaking he reached across the room for an object. Literally. He stretched his arm 20 feet to retrieve the desired object and then returned his arm to its normal length. Apparently, he had some sort of elastic stretching ability. There was also one other person in the room that Luke had not noticed initially. The reason why Luke had not noticed him before was that he was sitting on the wall. The man--who the others called Spidey- -was sitting on the wall as comfortably as a normal person would sit in a chair. Interesting friends Tahiri had found. A rock man, an elastic scientist, and a wallcrawler. Luke briefly wondered what fantastic abilities or unique attributes the two blonde people might have but he decided that wasn't really important. So instead he focused his attention on what Reed-he had learned that was the scientist's name--was saying. He didn't understand all of it. Parts of Reed's speech sounded totally incoherent to him. He obviously wasn't the only one confused by it. The rock man-who oddly enough shared the same name as his son and his former mentor-asked Reed(who he called Stretcho) to repeat himself in English. Luke was momentarily perplexed by the word English. Then he realized that it must be what these people called Basic. But the wallcrawler translated the important parts into easier to understand terms so everyone present-and Luke-understood. The jist of it was that Tahiri had somehow been transported to a world-called Earth-which was not only in a different galaxy but also a different universe from his own. Tahiri's new friends were trying to help her get home. Reed had a machine that he thought would accomplish that but there were a few technical details that he still had to work out.  
  
Then Luke's vision ended. So now he knew what had happened to Tahiri. He still didn't know how it had happened nor did there seem to be anything he could do about it at the moment but at least he knew where she was. Partial knowledge was better than no knowledge at all. After all, what was that old saying? Knowing is half the battle? Yes that was it. He woke up Mara and told her what he had just seen.  
  
Chapter 9  
  
(Setting: The Baxter Building, Dr. Reed Richard's lab.)  
  
Tahiri: "Is your machine ready, Dr. Richards?"  
  
Reed: "You can call me Reed, Tahiri. But to answer your question, yes. I've determined the correct time and spatial coordinates to send you home."  
  
Tahiri: "That's great. Wait! You said time coordinates. Does that mean that you could send me to any time?"  
  
Reed: "Technically, that would be possible."  
  
Tahiri: "Maybe if you sent me back to before the Yuuzhan Vong invaded my galaxy, I could figure out a way to prevent the invasion from ever happening. We eventually won the war, but only a great cost. In lives and worlds. If it could be prevented-"  
  
Reed: "I'm sorry Tahiri, but one of the first rules of time travel is not to try to change history."  
  
Sue: "Normally I'd agree with you Reed, but maybe this case is an exception. Perhaps Tahiri was sent here for a reason. It seems very unlikely that it was just some cosmic accident."  
  
Ben: "Suzie's right, Stretcho."  
  
Spidey: "I agree with them."  
  
Tahiri: "It's the Will of the Force."  
  
Ben: "Is that anything like the Will o' the Wisp?"  
  
Spidey: "I'll explain it to you later Ben."  
  
Johnny: "Ok, let's just say that my big sis is right. How is one girl-or the six of us if we all go with her-going to stop a galactic invasion?"  
  
Spidey: "Maybe we could stop by the DCU on the way and pick up Superman."  
  
Johnny: "Or the Silver Surfer."  
  
Spidey[laughing]: "Yeah if we want to make the Yuuzhan Vong laugh themselves to death."  
  
Tahiri: "Superman? Silver Surfer? Who are they?"  
  
Spidey: "The Silver Surfer is a shiny silver, bald, dork on a surfboard and Superman is.well he's SUPERMAN."  
  
Sue: "I'm not saying it will be easy but I believe we can do it."  
  
Reed: "Alright. We'll do it. But first we need to come up with a plan."  
  
Ben: "You're the master of prep-time, Stretcho. Got any ideas?"  
  
Reed: "I think so. I'll need Spidey's help. And Tahiri, I'll need you to give me all the info you can on these Vong."  
  
Chapter 10  
  
(Johnny and Tahiri are riding in his red sportscar.)  
  
Tahiri: "What kind of vehicle is this?"  
  
Johnny: "It's a sportscar. Specifically, a Corvette."  
  
Tahiri: "That's strange. We have Corvettes where I come from but they're space-faring ships not land vehicles."  
  
Johnny: "Yeah I know. I thought that was strange too, but I figured it was because George Lucas is a car freak."  
  
Tahiri: "George Luke Aas?"  
  
Johnny: "Nevermind. It's too complicated. I don't think you'd understand."  
  
Tahiri: "Are you trying to say you think I'm dumb?"  
  
Johnny: "No. I just don't think I can explain it properly. Besides, you probably wouldn't believe me anyway."  
  
Tahiri: "Why not?"  
  
Johnny: "Because if you told me my whole universe was dreamed up by some man in a flannel shirt, I wouldn't believe you either."  
  
Tahiri: "What did you say?!"  
  
Johnny: "Um. I-" " ..." "I didn't say anything."  
  
Tahiri: "Yes, you did. You said something about a man in a flannel shirt dreaming up my universe."  
  
Johnny: "That's not what I said. I said 'I had a dream about you and in my dream you were wearing a flannel nightshirt and you looked more beautiful than anything in the universe'."  
  
Tahiri: "You're a terrible liar, but you're cute so I'll overlook it."  
  
Johnny: "Thanks. You're not going to read my mind, are you?"  
  
Tahiri: "No. Whatever the big secret is, I don't think I want to know about it."  
  
(Setting: Manhattan. Central Park Zoo.)  
  
Johnny Storm and Tahiri Veila are standing outside the Penguin habitat.  
  
Tahiri: "They're so cute. They look like they're wearing little tuxedos."  
  
Johnny: "Yeah. I thought you'd like them."  
  
Then they went to the petting zoo.  
  
Tahiri: "What is this place?"  
  
Johnny: "Its formal name is the Tisch Children's Zoo. But it's also known as a petting zoo."  
  
Tahiri: "Why is it called that?"  
  
Johnny: "Because it's an area where children--and those who are young at heart--can pet the animals."  
  
Tahiri: "Cool."  
  
Tahiri petted a few of the animals.  
  
Then she felt herself being petted.  
  
Tahiri: "Johnny, why is your hand on my butt?"  
  
Johnny grinned sheepishly at her.  
  
"Well this is a petting zoo. Do you want me to move it?"  
  
Tahiri smiled back at him: "No, I didn't say that. But you could have asked first."  
  
Johnny: "Well I figured if you didn't like it, you'd let me know by slapping me or something."  
  
Tahiri: "So you decided to just try it and see if I let you get away with it."  
  
Johnny's smile widened.  
  
Johnny: "Do or do not. There is no try."  
  
Tahiri laughed: "I wonder what Master Yoda would think about you quoting him like that."  
  
Johnny: "He'd probably be amused by it. He seemed like a guy with a good sense of humor to me."  
  
Tahiri: "You say that like you've met him. But I'm not going to ask why this time."  
  
She kissed him.  
  
Then she grabbed his hand and led him to the next exhibit.  
  
Chapter 11  
  
Tahiri is sleeping when she is awakened by someone knocking on her door. She reaches out with the force to see who it is. It's Spider-Man. She gets up and goes to answer the door. Then she stops herself just before she reaches the door because she realizes that she isn't dressed.  
  
Tahiri: "Just a minute."  
  
She quickly gets dressed and then opens the door. Spider-Man enters the room.  
  
Spider-Man: "I hope I didn't wake you."  
  
Tahiri: "Actually, you did but that's alright. I'm glad to see you. Do you have news for me.?"  
  
Spider-Man: "Yes. Reed and I have come up with a plan that we think might work."  
  
Tahiri: "Might work?"  
  
Spider-Man: "Well we can't be completely certain."  
  
Tahiri: "So when do we leave?"  
  
Spider-Man: "Well first I have to talk to you about something."  
  
Tahiri: "Alright. What is it?"  
  
Spider-Man: "Reed asked me to discuss with you the possible negative repercussions that altering your universe's past could have. Both on your galaxy in general and specifically your own life."  
  
Tahiri: "Negative repercussions on my life? What could possibly be worse than losing Anakin the way I did?"  
  
Spider-Man: "You may never meet him."  
  
Tahiri: "What?"  
  
Spider-Man: "Reed and I are fairly certain that since we're going to the Yuuzhan Vong's galaxy, any unintended effects on your own galaxy should be negligible but there's no guarantee."  
  
Tahiri: "How could preventing the invasion cause me not to meet Anakin?"  
  
Spider-Man: "It has to do with something called Chaos Theory. It's also called the Butterfly Effect because it suggests that an event as seemingly insignificant as the flapping of a butterfly's wings could have a major effect on the course of larger events."  
  
Tahiri: "So has Dr. Richards changed his mind about helping me change what happened?"  
  
Spider-Man: "No. He just wanted me to explain the situation to you so you can make an informed decision. He's leaving the final decision up to you."  
  
Tahiri: "Why?"  
  
Spider-Man: "Because whatever we do in your past will, for better or worse, affect you personally. You have more to lose than the rest of us do."  
  
Tahiri: "I also have more to gain."  
  
Spider-Man: "That's true. 'If nothing is risked nothing is gained'. It's an Earth saying."  
  
Tahiri: "By doing this I could get Anakin back, but I could also lose even the memories I have of him."  
  
Spider-Man: "Another Earth saying is 'it's better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all'."  
  
Tahiri is silent for a few moments while she ponders the dilemma she is faced with.  
  
Spider-Man: "Believe it or not, I know how you feel."  
  
Tahiri: "How could you possibly know how I feel?"  
  
Spider-Man: "I once loved a girl named Gwen Stacy. You remind me of her in some ways. She was blonde too. Gwen was kidnapped by a villain named the Green Goblin. He took her to the top of a bridge and knocked her off of it. I tried to save her by catching her with a webline but I failed. The jolt of the webline snapping taught broke her neck. She was dead when I reached her.  
  
Not only did I fail to save her life, I thought it might have been my own rescue attempt that killed her. Of course, if I hadn't caught her she would have died from the fall and it's possible that she was already dead before I caught her-in fact the Goblin claimed she was dead before my webbing reached her--but I still blamed myself.  
  
Even though I love someone else now--"  
  
Tahiri: "Mary Jane."  
  
Spider-Man: "Huh? Parker's wife?"  
  
Tahiri: "You can drop the act, Peter. I know Spider-Man and Peter Parker are the same person."  
  
Spider-Man: "Ok. You got me. Figured that since you're a Jedi you'd figure it out eventually.  
  
Anyway I loved Gwen and even though I now realize her death wasn't my fault it still pains me that I wasn't able to save her. But I wouldn't use time travel to try to change what happened."  
  
Tahiri: "So you're saying you don't think I should try it?"  
  
Spider-Man: "No. You have to decide that for yourself. Your situation is a little different from mine.  
  
There are two main reasons why I decided altering my past wouldn't be a good idea. The first one is that if I succeeded it would probably completely change my present life. Although I still wish Gwen hadn't died, I love MJ now and I'm glad I ended up with her. If Gwen hadn't died that probably wouldn't have happened. I'd probably be married to her now. I might be happy with her but not as happy as I am with MJ. MJ and I were meant to be together.  
  
The second reason is that Gwen may have been destined to die a tragic death at a young age and even if I succeeded in preventing her death at that moment she still may have been killed in some other way.  
  
There was this movie--like a holovid-called the Time Machine. Actually, there are two films with that name but the one I'm referring to is a remake of the original one. They're both based on a book. Anyway, in the movie this guy's fiancée is killed because they get mugged and she is shot. He works feverishly-forsaking everything else-to discover a way to time travel. Finally, he figures it out and goes back in time to save her. He succeeds in saving her from the mugger, but then shortly after that while he's in a flower shop buying her some flowers, she gets trampled by a horse."  
  
Tahiri: "That's so sad."  
  
Spider-Man: "Yeah, I know."  
  
Tahiri: "So even if Anakin isn't killed by the Yuuzhan Vong, he still might be killed in some other way."  
  
Spider-Man: "It's possible. So have you decided?"  
  
Tahiri: "Yeah. Let's do it."  
  
Spider-Man: "Alright. We've decided to try to recruit a few people to help us with our mission."  
  
Tahiri" "Who? Superman?"  
  
Spider-Man: "No. Superman is just a fictional character. Of course, I thought you were fictional until I met you but as far as I know Superman isn't real."  
  
Suddenly, a little man appears out of thin air. He is floating in the air in a crossed legged position.  
  
Mr. Mxyzptlk: "That shows what you know Arachnid-Boy. My pal Superman is so real. I bet you thought I wasn't real either."  
  
Chapter 12  
  
Spider-Man: "I doubt Superman would agree about you being his pal."  
  
Mr. Mxyzptlk: "Bah. Supesy and I have a lot of fun together."  
  
Spider-Man: "What one person considers fun, another person may consider harassment."  
  
Mr. Mxyzptlk: "Eh, whatever Spoilsport. I'd rather talk to her anyway."  
  
Mxy snaps his fingers and instantly changes his clothes. He is now dressed in an outfit that looks like a miniature version of something Lando Calrissian would wear. He takes Tahiri's hand and kisses it.  
  
Mr. Mxyzptlk: "Pleased to meet you my dear Tahiri."  
  
Tahiri: "Uh, thanks. Who are you?"  
  
Spider-Man: "He's Mr. Kltpyz.er.Mr. Kltpzym.er-"  
  
Mr. Mxyzptlk: "You won't trick me into saying my name backwards that easily Spider-Man."  
  
Tahiri: "Why would he want you to say your name backwards?"  
  
Mr. Mxyzptlk: "If I said my name backwards I'd have to go back home to the Fifth Dimension. But that's not going to happen. This time I'm not going home until I'm ready."  
  
Tahiri: "I'm curious. How did you know my name?"  
  
Mr. Mxyzptlk: "I know a lot. I even know how you got here."  
  
Tahiri: "You do!?"  
  
Mr. Mxyzptlk: "Do you remember that object you found in your room?"  
  
Tahiri: "Yes. Did you put it there?"  
  
Mr. Mxyzptlk: "Not exactly. I was 'it'."  
  
Tahiri: "So it wasn't the will of the Force?"  
  
Spider-Man: "It sounds more like the will of the Farce."  
  
Mr. Mxyzptlk: "Ha ha ha. That was a good one Wallcrawler. But you can call it the will of the Force if you want to, Tahiri. Although sending you here was my doing it's possible that your Force influenced me in some small way. I had been planning to go to Metropolis to play with Superman but on a whim I decided to go to your universe instead. Then I decided to play a game with you."  
  
Tahiri: "Why did you do it?"  
  
Mr. Mxyzptlk: "Well in spite of the fact that some people have unfairly labeled me as a villain, I'm really not such a bad guy. I try to do good deeds [I]sometimes[/I]. I heard about your personal tragedy. I decided to help. Of course, I could have just brought Anakin back but that would have been too easy. And not much fun. It's better if you have to work for it. So I just got things started by sending you here. I knew the Fantastic Four had technology that they could use to help you. But I didn't actually arrange for you to meet them. I haven't done anything since I dropped you off in that alley. I've just been watching. And I've enjoyed the show so far. But I've decided to give you a little help with your recruitment."  
  
Spider-Man: "What kind of help?"  
  
Mr. Mxyzptlk: "I heard when you joking suggested getting Superman's help. He's always helping people. Maybe if I arrange a meeting with him for you he'll agree to help you with your 'mission'. Of course, he's also a bit of a stick-in-the-mud so he might have a problem with time traveling to alter the past, but maybe if you tell him about that will of the Force stuff you can convince him. Maybe. But that part will be up to you. So what do you say girlie?"  
  
Tahiri: "It's worth a try. Let's go. Are you coming Spider-Man?"  
  
Spider-Man: "No. I'm going to Salem Center. There are some people there I want to try to recruit. Good luck."  
  
Tahiri: "May the Force be with you."  
  
Spider-Man: "You too."  
  
Mr. Mxyzptlk snaps his fingers, and he and Tahiri disappear.  
  
Then Spider-Man exits through the bedroom window and is soon swinging across the New York City skyline on his way to the Xavier School for Higher Learning.  
  
Meanwhile, the Fantastic Four are on a recruitment mission of their own.  
  
Chapter 13  
  
When Spider-Man arrived at the X-mansion, he was greeted by Bobby Drake aka Iceman.  
  
Iceman: "Hey Spidey! What are you doing here?"  
  
Spider-Man: "The Fantastic Four, a Jedi, and myself are going on an interdimensional mission to stop an intergalactic invasion. Wanna come?"  
  
Bobby laughed hysterically until his eyes started to water. When he had finally regained his composure he said "Ok. Real funny. Now what are you really here for?"  
  
Spider-Man: "I'm serious Bobby."  
  
Iceman: "You're not joking?"  
  
Spider-Man tilted his head slightly to the side and said; "Do I look like I'm joking?"  
  
Iceman laughed, "You do realize you're wearing a mask, right?"  
  
Spider-Man: "Yeah, I know. That was a joke."  
  
Iceman: "But you're serious about that stuff?"  
  
Spider-Man: "Yeah."  
  
Iceman: "A jedi? So you're going to a galaxy far far away?"  
  
Spider-Man: "Yep."  
  
Iceman: "So this jedi. Anybody I've heard of? Luke Skywalker?"  
  
Spider-Man: "No, but she's a student of his."  
  
Iceman: "Interesting. I think I might take you up on your offer. I've been bored lately."  
  
Iceman and Spider-Man go inside the mansion.  
  
Chapter 14  
  
(Setting: DC Earth, Metropolis)  
  
Mr. Mxyzptlk and Tahiri appear out of thin air about twenty feet above a rooftop adjacent to the Daily Planet building. Tahiri immediately plummets to the roof but is able to use the Force to land gracefully and cushion the impact of the fall. She stares daggers at the little imp who has now floated down beside her.  
  
Tahiri: "Couldn't you have landed us [i]on[/i] the roof?"  
  
Mxyzptlk: "Sorry."  
  
Tahiri: "You don't sound sorry. Where are we?"  
  
Mxyzptlk: "Metropolis. Home of the big blue spoilsport himself. Or one of the places he calls home anyway."  
  
Tahiri: "Where is he?"  
  
Mxyzptlk: "You mean you didn't see him fly by just now?"  
  
Tahiri: "No, but I don't know what he looks like so-- Wait a minute! Did you say fly? He flies? Under his own power?"  
  
Mxyzptlk: "Yes. And he's extremely fast. That's probably why you didn't see him. I sometimes forget how limited the senses of most of you 3d beings are."  
  
Tahiri: "Let me get this straight. He not only flies under his own power but he can do so at the speed of light? You must be joking."  
  
Mxyzptlk: "No. I'm not joking. And he can fly even faster than that in space."  
  
Tahiri: "Now you're saying he can fly in the vacuum of space!?"  
  
Mxyzptlk: "Yes."  
  
Tahiri: "He can breath in space?"  
  
Mxyzptlk: "No. But he can hold his breath for a very very long time."  
  
Tahiri: "Ok. I find this hard to believe but for now I'll assume you're telling the truth."  
  
"Oh, goody!" Mxyzptlk said sarcastically. Tahiri rolls her eyes.  
  
Tahiri: "So where was he going in such a hurry?"  
  
Mxyzptlk: "Off to save somebody-or something-no doubt. He'll probably be back soon."  
  
Superman returns three minutes later. He spots Mxyzptlk and approaches the pair.  
  
Mxyzptlk: "Let me guess. You were saving a cat stuck in a tree in Germany?"  
  
Superman: "Actually, I was putting out a forest fire in Mongolia. What are you up to this time Mxyzptlk?"  
  
Mxyzptlk: "Tell him girl. I doubt he'd believe me."  
  
Tahiri is awestruck and a little nervous. She swallows hard.  
  
Tahiri: "Hello Superman. My name is Tahiri Veila."  
  
Superman: "Hello Tahiri. What's this about?"  
  
Tahiri explains her situation to Superman and then tells him that they've come to ask for his help.  
  
Superman looks at Mxyzptlk and says "You're actually helping someone instead of just causing trouble?"  
  
Mxyzptlk: "I was bored."  
  
Superman agrees to help. Then Mxyzptlk transports the three of them travel back to Marvel Earth.  
  
Chapter 15  
  
After Mxyzptlk brought Tahiri and Superman to Marvel Earth, he decided to amuse himself by dropping "water balloons" on unsuspecting pedestrians. But his "water balloons" differed from ordinary water balloons in two ways. First, they didn't actually contain water. The substance in Mxy's balloons was one of his own design. It was just like water now but upon impact it would transform into something that could best be described as a cross between a multi-color dye and essence of skunk. The other difference was that he didn't have to fill the balloons. He just conjured them out of thin air and then dropped them on his victims. He had been doing this for a short while when a large blonde man carrying a hammer flew up to the roof where Mxy had positioned himself to confront him.  
  
Thor: "I would have words with thee, foul miscreant."  
  
Mxyzptlk: "Not now, god of blunder."  
  
Suddenly, Thor's enchanted hammer mjolnir was transmuted into a stylish purse, and Mxy yelled "Lookout down below!" as Thor fell to the sidewalk. Mjolnir is what gives Thor the ability to fly so when Mxy transmuted it that had caused Thor to plummet like a 600 pound stone.  
  
Mxyzptlk was still laughing when a tall, dark haired man in a familiar costume appeared behind him. "Ahem", the man said to get Mxy's attention.  
  
Mxy turned around to look at the man. He was wearing an exact duplicate of Superman's costume but he was not Superman.  
  
Mxyzptlk: "Why are you dressed like the big blue boyscout, Q? You're certainly no boyscout."  
  
Instead of answering Mxyzptlk's question Q said "You shouldn't be doing this."  
  
Mxyzptlk: "What? Humiliating that so-called thunder god?"  
  
Q: "No. I'm not talking about what you did to that blonde idiot. I'm talking about how you're helping these people change history. That's a big no-no."  
  
Mxyzptlk: "What about that time you saved the Earth by diverting that asteroid that was going to collide with it?"  
  
Q: "I was tricked!" then under his breath he muttered "Damn Spock."  
  
Mxyzptlk: "He may have tricked you into actually diverting the asteroid but he didn't trick you into going to that Earth's past in the first place." Q: "I went there to prevent him from changing history."  
  
Mxyzptlk: "There wasn't anything he could have done to prevent the disaster. Except of course tricking you into doing it for him. If you had stayed out of it his "warning" would have accomplished nothing other than allowing those people to know they were about to die. It wouldn't have prevented it. You must have known that. Just admit it. You wanted to help."  
  
Q: "Okay. So maybe I did. But since when are you in the business of helping people?"  
  
Mxyzptlk: "Well to be honest I really don't care if they succeed or not. I could care less about the end result. I was just bored and thought this would be a fun game. Wanna play?"  
  
Q: "What do you have in mind?"  
  
Mxyzptlk: "We could collaborate. Work together."  
  
Q: "I know what collaborate means."  
  
Mxyzptlk: "Of course you do. You're a regular wordsmith aren't you."  
  
Q: "Actually, I am."  
  
Mxyzptlk: "So are you in or not?"  
  
Q: "I'll do it."  
  
Mxyzptlk: "Okay. I have an idea for something you can do."  
  
Q: "Alright. I'm listening."  
  
Mxyzptlk: "There is another person from the DC universe I'd like to bring into the game. Now, this person is dead in the 'main' DCU, but there's an alternate DCU where he's still alive. If you think you're up to it, you could go to this alternate DCU and recruit him for the mission."  
  
Q: "I could do that. Who is this person?"  
  
Mxyzptlk tells Q about the person he has in mind and how to find the aforementioned alternate DCU.  
  
Chapter 16  
  
Nobody saw the four travelers from Earth step onto the busy Coruscant street. If anyone had seen them it would have seemed as though they had appeared out of thin air. But the invisibility field that Sue projected around herself and her companions prevented anyone from seeing them. Although some of the aliens nearby had noses that were sensitive enough to detect the smell of humans, there were other humans there so nobody suspected the presence of the invisible foursome. The four moved into an empty alley where Sue removed their cloak of invisibility. They were all wearing disguises to help them blend in. Due to the myriad of alien species occupying the cityplanet blending in was something that Ben found far easier to do here than on Earth. Even though he didn't look like any existing alien species the fact that there were too many in this galaxy for anyone to know them all mean that Ben's appearance wouldn't arouse much suspicion.  
  
Ben: "So what's the plan Stretcho?"  
  
Reed: "Sue and I will proceed to the Jedi Temple. You and Johnny look for a merchant that's willing to buy the items we brought so we can get some of those Republic credits they use here just in case we need money while we're here. Then once you're finished doing that head back to this area and wait for us. And try to stay out of trouble guys."  
  
Sue wrapped her invisibility field around herself and Reed, and they then headed in the direction of the Jedi Temple.  
  
*****************************  
  
After Ben and Johnny finished conducting business and had acquired a fair sum of credits they returned to the spot where Reed and Sue had left them.  
  
Ben: "Hey Johnny, I'm hungry. I'm going to go to that diner over there. You coming?"  
  
Johnny: "Reed said to stay here."  
  
Ben: "Stretcho said to stay in this area not this exact spot. The diner is only a block away from where we're standin'."  
  
Johnny: "Okay."  
  
Ben and Johnny walked over to the restaurant known as Dex's Diner. When they entered they were greeted-albeit somewhat brusquely-by a server droid. She handed them menus and said "Someone'll be with you in a minute."  
  
They found a table and sat down. A few minutes later a human waitress came over to their table.  
  
Waitress: "Welcome to Dex's Diner. May I take your order?"  
  
Ben: "I'll have the Ronto steak and a Corellian whiskey."  
  
Johnny: "I'll have a Ronto burger. And I'll have a whiskey too."  
  
Ben: "No you won't. He'll have a blue milk ma'am."  
  
The waitress takes their orders to the kitchen.  
  
Johnny: "How come you get to have a whiskey and I don't?"  
  
Ben: "Because we're working right now. And a single whiskey won't even come close to having any adverse effect on me. You can't say the same."  
  
A short time later a large multi-armed being came out of the kitchen carrying their meals and their drinks. He set the steak and whiskey down in front of Ben and the burger and milk in front of Johnny and then introduced himself.  
  
Dex: "Hello. My name's Dexter. This is my establishment. I just had to come over here and deliver your food personally. Ol' Dex has been all over the galaxy and I never seen nothing like you, Big Fella. If you don't mind my asking what are species are you?"  
  
Ben: "Uh."  
  
Johnny: "He's a Thingagarian."  
  
Dex: "Ah. Never heard of them. But I'm glad to meet ya."  
  
Ben: "Same here buddy."  
  
After Ben and Johnny finished their meals they paid their bill and left. As they were walking out of the diner they saw a Trandoshan mugging a Twi'lek. The Trandoshan didn't notice them. Ben walked up behind the lizard-like alien and thumped him on the head with his little finger knocking the alien unconscious.  
  
Johnny: "Show off."  
  
***********************  
  
Sue and Reed crept through the hallowed halls of the Jedi Temple unseen. Eventually, they came to the entrance of a small room where a diminutive green alien sat meditating with his eyes closed. As they entered the room, he opened his eyes and looked directly at them and said "See you I can't, but know you are there I do."  
  
Sue removed the cloak of invisibility that she had in place around herself and Reed.  
  
Reed: "We apologize for the intrusion Master Yoda. We are travelers from another universe and we wanted to avoid attracting any unnecessary attention to ourselves. We need to speak with you about a matter of great importance. It concerns your galaxy's future."  
  
Yoda: "Your story is preposterous, but believe you I do. If lying you were, sense it I would."  
  
Just then Mace Windu appeared in the doorway.  
  
Yoda: "Welcome, Master Windu. Guests we have. Join us will you?"  
  
Mace eyed the two visitors with curiosity. He sensed that they possessed great power. They were not Jedi and they were human but there was something very special about them.  
  
Mace: "Yes, Master Yoda. I will."  
  
*******************************  
  
Ben wasn't expecting a parade in his honor, but he was still very surprised by the Twi'lek's apparent lack of gratitude.  
  
Aayla Secura: "You shouldn't have interfered."  
  
Ben: "You looked like you needed help so I helped."  
  
Aayla: "I did not need help. I was hoping he'd take me prisoner and take me to his hideout."  
  
Johnny: "Are you crazy?"  
  
Aayla: "No, I'm not crazy. I'm a Jedi Knight. And although that Trandoshan is just a small-time thug, he works for a major crime organization that deals in the blackmarket slavetrade. I was hoping the pea-brained moron would inadvertently lead me right to his boss."  
  
Ben: "Sorry. I didn't know that and no offense but you don't look like a Jedi."  
  
Aayla: "I'm not supposed to. I was acting as bait. Twi'lek slavegirls are highly sought after. But I accept your apology."  
  
Ben: "I understand. So I guess you're taking this guy into custody now. Do you need help transporting him."  
  
Aayla: "Yes, I'd appreciate that. I need to take him back to the Jedi Temple for questioning."  
  
Ben: "Okay. Just give me a sec to call our friends. We were planning to meet here."  
  
Ben called Reed using the communicator device Reed had given him for just such a purpose.  
  
Ben: "Reed."  
  
Reed: "Yes, Ben."  
  
Ben: "Johnny and I have made friends with a Jedi Knight. We're helping her take a prisoner back to her temple."  
  
Reed: "Acknowledged. Sue and I have met with Masters Yoda and Windu and explained our mission to them. They've agreed to help. We'll see you when you get here."  
  
******************************  
  
Aayla secured the Trandoshan's wrists in a pair of binders then Ben picked him up and slung the heavy-yet light to Ben-reptilian over one shoulder. Aayla led the way to where she had parked her speeder. They then got into the speeder and Aayla began flying back to the Jedi Temple. Chapter 17  
  
Spider-Man and Bobby Drake entered the Danger Room-the X-Men's high-tech combat training area-to find James "Logan" Howlett aka Wolverine and Henry "Hank" McCoy aka Beast participating in a simulated combat exercise against multiple robotic foes. That is there had been multiple opponents as evidenced by numerous robot carcasses that littered the floor. As Spidey and Iceman entered Logan and Hank were just finishing off the last few. Wolverine-who up till this point had been fighting with his claws sheathed- extended his adamantium claws with a SNIKT sound and gutted the robot he was facing.  
  
Then Hank leaped into the air and delivered a dropkick to the two robots he was fighting-one foot impacting against the head of each robot-that felled both robots. They were effectively decapitated. Their heads didn't come completely off but they were left dangling by a few wires.  
  
As Logan and Hank turned to face them, Spidey noticed that Logan's face was the proverbial crimson mask. Apparently, one of the robots had possessed a bladed weapon of its own and had managed to slice a deep gash across Logan's face. But the wound from which the blood had flowed was already completely healed.  
  
Logan: "What brings you here, Pa- er Spidey?"  
  
Spidey told them about the Jedi that he had met; explained about the mission that he, the Jedi, and the Fantastic Four were planning to undertake: and finally said that he had come there to ask for their help.  
  
Logan: "Well, I figured that last part, Bub. I doubt you'd come here just to pay us a social call."  
  
Hank: "Speak for yourself, James. While it might be true that he would not choose to see you under other circumstances, it does not necessarily follow that he would not want to pay Bobby or myself a social visit."  
  
Bobby: "Yeah, tell him Hank. Unlike you we're actually likable and fun to be around."  
  
Logan: "Shut up, Drake!"  
  
Hank: "That was rather unkind, Bobby. James can't help it that he has a rather stilted personality."  
  
Bobby: "I guess that's true. Anyway, I think we should help Spidey. But I'm still having a little difficulty believing that Jedis and that other stuff actually exist somewhere."  
  
Hank: "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."  
  
Bobby: "Who's Horatio?"  
  
Logan: "He's quoting Shakespeare."  
  
Hank: "Yes, Hamlet to be precise. I think we should go to the Professor's office and discuss this matter with him."  
  
Then the four left the Danger Room and went to see Professor Charles Xavier.  
  
Chapter 18  
  
Meanwhile back at the Baxter Building, Tahiri Veila was telling Superman all she knew about her home galaxy. Which wasn't all that much but he assured her that any information she could give would be helpful and perhaps more important than she realized. When he asked about planets which orbit around yellow suns, Tatooine-her own home planet-was the first thing that came to her mind. She mentioned that it has two yellow suns that are known as the Twins.  
  
When she asked why he wanted to know, he explained that he draws his power from yellow solar radiation. He used the idea of a solar battery as a simple analogy. He said it was a little more complicated than that but that was basically how the cells of his body worked. Although, he could continue to function normally under a red sun(or other non-yellow sun) for a short time--if he had some reserves of yellow solar radiation built up- the red solar radiation would not recharge his cells and his reserves would begin to deplete. As this happened he would slowly grow weaker and the gradual weakening would continue until he was able to recharge his cells with yellow solar radiation. Eventually, he would lose all of his powers and become as mortal as any human.  
  
As fascinating as the explanation was-and Tahiri did find it fascinating- she got lost somewhere along the way. It wasn't that it was difficult for her to understand. What she heard, she understood just fine. The problem was that as she was listening to Superman speak she has been looking into his cool blue eyes and gotten lost in them. Superman must have noticed that something was wrong because he stopped speaking and looked at her for a moment then glanced down at his arm briefly.  
  
Superman: "Is something wrong, Tahiri?"  
  
The mention of her name startled Tahiri out of her daze. She realized that he was asking her a question but she hadn't actually heard the question. She just heard her name at the end of it.  
  
Tahiri: "Huh?"  
  
Superman: "Is something wrong?"  
  
Tahiri: "Uh. No. Why would you think that something is wrong?"  
  
Superman: "Well you have a spaced out look in your eye, your heart is beating faster than normal, and you drooled on my arm."  
  
Tahiri looked down and saw that she had indeed drooled on his arm. She was so embarrassed that she blushed and her face turned bright red. Although she couldn't see it herself she imagined that her face looked as red as a Sith's lightsaber.  
  
When she had recovered from her embarrassment somewhat, she thought about what Superman had said about her heart beating faster than normal. She wondered how he would know that. She used the Force introspectively to examine herself and found that he was right. Her heartrate was accelerated.  
  
Tahiri: "How did you know my heart was beating faster than normal?"  
  
Superman smiled and said: "Superhearing."  
  
Tahiri: "You're kidding. You can actually hear my heart?"  
  
Superman: "Yes."  
  
Tahiri: "Wow. Next you'll be telling me that you have x-ray vision or something."  
  
Superman laughed.  
  
Tahiri: "What's funny?"  
  
Superman: "I do."  
  
Tahiri: "You do what?"  
  
Superman: "I do have x-ray vision."  
  
Tahiri: "Oh! I was joking. You're serious?"  
  
Superman: "Yes." -----------------------------------  
  
Chapter 19  
  
Q stared out at the vast expanse of space as he stood on the surface of the moon. Then he briefly turned his attention toward Earth. He had learned that the man he had come to this universe to see was on a mission to another planet and would be back soon. He knew this because he had been eavesdropping in the JLA lunar watchtower monitor room earlier. Batman and Firestorm never even knew he was there. He wasn't surprised that Firestorm had not suspected his presence-he had made himself invisible-but he was a little disappointed by Batman. From what Mxyzptlk had told him it seemed that this Batperson's detective skills rivaled those of that Sherlock Holmes character that Picard's android science officer had been so fond of.  
  
Of course, Q realized that even Holmes himself would not have known he was there, but that knowledge did nothing to lessen his disappointment in the great bat detective. He had been thinking about this when Batman and Firestorm received a message from Green Lantern. He was on a distant planet called Mellifera. Q thought that was a strange name for a planet until he heard Green Lantern say that the planet was inhabited by sentient honeybees. The scientific name for honeybees was Apis mellifera. It seemed odd to Q that such a distant planet had received a Latin name that so accurately described it's population. The planet was obviously named by someone from Earth but he doubted the knowledge gathered by Earth's scientists-of this time period at least-would have been sufficient to allow them to name the planet so well. Their space exploratory capabilities wouldn't allow them to travel that far into space. Perhaps Green Lantern had brought them the information. But none of that mattered. Green Lantern was saying that he had successfully saved the planet from whatever crisis had threatened it-he gave his teammates a more detailed explanation but Q didn't bother listening to those details-and he would be returning to Earth soon.  
  
He had learned from Mxyzptlk before he came here that although many considered Hal Jordan to be the best Green Lantern, he was not the only one. Jordan was a member of an intergalactic peace-keeping organization called the Green Lantern corps, and he was assigned to the region of space designated Sector 2814. Earth was one of the planets within that sector.  
  
When Q returned his attention to open space, he saw what appeared to be a green shooting star. This must be Green Lantern now, he thought. Q was amazed at the speed this mortal was able to attain without a ship. He did a rapid calculation-based on the time and distance involved in the Green Lantern's journey-and realized that Jordan was hurtling through space at a speed that was as fast or faster than anything Picard's vaunted Enterprise was capable of achieving.  
  
Mxyzptlk had told him that the Green Lanterns receive their powers from an immortal race of aliens called Oans. The imp had described them as a bunch of crotchety old oversized smurfs. He had not had the faintest idea what a smurf was, but Mxyzptlk had explained that they were little blue creatures from a form of entertainment humans called a cartoon. For some reason it did not surprise Q at all that Myzptlk would watch-and possibly even enjoy- such a diversion. ************************** As Hal Jordan approached Earth, he saw a bizarre sight. What he saw was a man clad in only a red and black uniform floating in the vacuum of space. He was reclining on his back with his arms resting behind his head. When Hal got near the man righted himself-acting as if he was getting out of an invisible bed-and pretended to stifle a fake yawn. Then he said "Hello, Hal. I've been waiting for you for a while. I got bored so I took a nap."  
  
Hal: "Who are you? And how do you know my name?"  
  
Q: "Who am I? I'm the quintessential quasi-human omnipotent being. I'm an exemplar of excellence and a paragon of knowledge. I'm a shiny one-man band. But you can call me Q."  
  
Hal: "A shiny one-man band? If Plasticman were here, he'd probably ask you to play a song. But I'm more interested in finding out why you're here."  
  
Q: "Why is anybody really here?"  
  
Hal: "That's just what I need. An overly philosophical nigh-omnipotent being."  
  
Q: "Nigh-omnipotent? Oh that really hurts. Have I insulted you?"  
  
Hal: "No offense meant, Q."  
  
Q: "Apology accepted."  
  
Hal: "So are you going to tell me the reason for your visit?"  
  
Q: "Yes."  
  
Q told Hal about the mission to the past of another universe that was being planned by some people from still another universe. He explained that the objective of the mission was to prevent the massive amounts of death and destruction caused by a war with invaders from another galaxy. Then finally Q said that the reason why he had come there was to recruit him for this mission. Hal had reservations at first due to the inherent danger of altering the past, but after Q elucidated the situation more fully Hal agreed that the mission had merit and agreed to help. Q snapped his fingers and both of them vanished.  
  
Chapter 20  
  
Aayla Secura parked her speeder on a platform near the Jedi Temple and Senate building. She and her two new companions exited the speeder and began the short trek to the Jedi Temple. Ben was still carrying the Trandoshan. To Aayla, it looked as though the very heavy reptilian felt as light to him as her own lightsaber feels to her. An amusing image of Ben wielding the Trandoshan's body like a club quickly crossed her mind. Johnny Storm noticed the feral grin that had spread across her blue face at the thought.  
  
Johnny: "What's so funny?"  
  
"Oh, nothing", she said as she smiled at him seductively. "What makes you say that?" As she said this she flexed her lekku-the appendages which humans refer to as headtails-in a manner which only another Twi'lek would fully understand.  
  
Johnny: "Ah. No reason, I guess."  
  
The blonde human turned away looking confused and flustered. That would dissuade him from pursuing his the matter. She didn't want anyone- especially someone she had just met-to know that she had allowed her focus to drift to such a trivial thought while on an important mission. She could have attempted to use a jedi mind trick to accomplish the same purpose, but she was reluctant to do that to an ally. Besides when it was utilized on the right type of subject-namely the average humanoid male-this method was often just as effective and more fun. Aayla was almost certain that Johnny had never been flirted with by a Twi'lek jedi knight before. In fact, if she didn't know better she would think that she was the first Twi'lek he had ever met.  
  
As the small band made their way to the Jedi Temple, they were met by a gray-haired man who was wearing black senatorial robes. Ben immediately disliked the man because he instinctively recognized the man as a politician and he generally disliked politicians. However, when Ben realized exactly who the man was the minor dislike he had felt at first transformed into an intense loathing that gave him an almost irrestible urge to shout "It's Clobberin' Time!" and pound the evil man into the ground. But Ben did resist. Reed had warned him and the others repeatedly that they had to be very cautious while in the past and couldn't afford to take any rash actions.  
  
In fact, when Reed had told them of his plan to come to this time period, Ben suggested that perhaps they should take action to prevent Palpatine's rise to power but Reed had explained that as simple and easy as that seemed the intricacies involved in time travel meant that even minor changes to the past could have unexpected and possibly dire consequences. The further back into the past one went the more likely such side effects became. And when major changes were involved that increased the likelihood of those unintended changes to the timeline occurring by tenfold. Although Reed had deemed the risk involved in stopping theYuuzhan Vong invasion-an event that had began only 5 years back down the timeline-to be worth the risk he said that attempting to alter a major past event this far down the timeline-more than 52 years-multiplied the risk by more than a hundredfold.  
  
Then Reed had reminded Ben and the others about a couple of television programs they had seen where well-meaning time travelers had went back in time to try to prevent Adolf Hitler's rise to power. In the first one someone had assassinated an adult Hitler and while he had been successful in stopping Hitler another man had his place and committed the same atrocities. In the second story a young woman from the future had infiltrated the household of Adolf Hitler's father by posing as a nanny. While she had been successful in her mission-killing the baby who she thought would grow up to be a mass murderer-but it turned out that the gypsy baby she had substituted for baby Hitler so Heir Hitler would not know that she had killed his son actually became the man she had meant to kill. So it was possible that if they did attempt to interfere with the rise of the Empire, their well-meaning attempt could be totally ineffectual- in regards to their intended goal-and instead cause changes to the timeline that they did not intend. As an example Reed mentioned that if they were successful in preventing the rise of the Empire that could-and probably would-result in Tahiri's friend Anakin never being born. By altering the past in that way, they may save some lives but they would also negate the very existence of others. Effectively, killing those people before they were even born.  
  
Of course, all of that scientific mumbo jumbo was in addition to the fact that the people here still regarded this guy as a respected politician and the leader of their government. They had no idea who and what he really was. If Ben attacked him here he-not Palpatine-would be seen as the bad guy. And it wasn't just the people in this galaxy. The average person on Earth-who didn't recognize Palpatine from the Star Wars films-would view the situation in the same way. The irony was not lost on Ben. Palpatine was a monster, but Ben looked like a monster.  
  
Chapter 21  
  
Tahiri got tired of waiting for the others to get back so she decided to go to the Parker residence to visit Mary Jane. When Tahiri arrived, MJ was on her way to the bank but said Tahiri could accompany her is she wanted to. Tahiri did.  
  
Just as they arrived in front of the bank something knocked a large hole in the wall. Then a man with four robotic tentacles emerged through the newly made exit. He is using two of his robotic arms to carry several bags of money. Apparently, MJ knew who the man was because she exclaimed "Doctor Octopus!".  
  
Tahiri's lightsaber came to life with a hiss and she leaped in front of the man.  
  
Doctor Octopus: "Get out of my way, girl!"  
  
Tahiri: "I'm a Jedi Knight. And you're not going anywhere."  
  
He was faster than she realized, and he almost landed a solid hit to her face with one of his tentacles. Having seen what he had done to the concrete wall using those same tentacles, she shuddered to think of the effect they would have had on her if she hadn't avoided the blow. She used the force to leap high into the air, and then did a twisting somersault in midair that put her behind her opponent. As he turned and lashed out at her with one of his tentacles, she leaped into the air again and slashed at the attacking tentacle with her lightsaber. Her strike neatly severed that tentacle, but one of his other robotic appendages caught her with a glancing blow that knocked her to the pavement. She landed hard.  
  
She didn't think she was seriously injured but the fall had knocked all of the air out of her lungs and she couldn't move. She looked up and saw the man leering down at her. She briefly wondered if he was actually some kind of human replica droid but that notion was quickly dispelled by the ludicrous bowl haircut he had. No droid manufacturer would design a droid to look like that. He must be a cybernetically enhanced human. She saw her lightsaber lying on the ground several feet away and tried to telekinetically pull it to her. But Doctor Octopus saw what was happening and used one tentacle to slap her weapon much further away.  
  
Then he grabbed her by her shirt using the pinchers of one of his cybernetic tentacles and held her aloft. He said: "I don't know how you managed to cut off one of my adamantium tentacles girl, but I assure you that you will pay dearly for the affront."  
  
Then Tahiri heard another voice. "Put her down now." She recognized the voice. It was Superman.  
  
Instead of complying with the command, Doctor Octopus turned to face Superman and said: "I don't know who you are sir, but you will regret crossing paths with Doctor Otto Octavius."  
  
Superman: "I doubt that. Now spare me the melodrama and do as I asked."  
  
Octavius: "Very well. Here, catch!"  
  
Octavius then callously tossed Tahiri about a hundred feet away. But before she could hit the ground, Tahiri was caught by a red and blue blur. Tahiri-who had closed her eyes-now opened them to find herself in Superman's arms. He set her down gently and turned his attention back to Doctor Octopus. The already pale complexion of Octavius turned even paler. He had a lot of difficulty dealing with Spider-Man's speed. This person made the webslinger seem like a turtle. "Well at least he isn't making jokes like Spider-Man always does," he thought. That drove him out of his mind.  
  
However, a few seconds later he found himself wishing that he was dealing with the wallcrawler and his one-liners. This feeling was brought on by the fact that the stranger had turned his adamantium tentacles into a makeshift adamantium straightjacket by wrapping them around him and then tying them into knots. He was completely immobilized and when the police started to take him into custody there was nothing he could do about it. "Yes this is far worse than having to endure those infuriating insults and one-liners", he thought.  
  
Tahiri-who had sat down on the hood of a car because she was still having difficulty breathing-got up and walked over to Superman to thank him. But just as she reached him, she felt dizzy and her vision clouded. "I guess I was hurt worse than I thought", she thought just before she passed out and fell into Superman's arms. He did a quick scan using his x-ray vision and saw that she had sustained three cracked ribs and a minor concussion. She regained consciousness a few minutes later and he suggested that she should go to a hospital and offered to take her there. But she said that wasn't necessary and she just needed to go into a jedi healing trance. So they returned to the Baxter Building-with a short stopover at the Parker residence to drop MJ off there--and Tahiri went to her bedroom. She laid down and put herself into a healing trance.  
  
Chapter 22  
  
A short time later, Mr. Mxyzptlk appeared.  
  
Mxyzptlk: "Hello, Superman."  
  
Superman: "Hello, Mxyzptlk."  
  
Mxyzptlk: "Are you going to ask me why I'm here?"  
  
Superman: "I'm sure you'll tell me whether I ask or not."  
  
Mxyzptlk: "That's true, but I think you'll want to know about this."  
  
Superman: "About what?"  
  
Mxyzptlk: "One of your friends is coming here. One I'm sure you'll be surprised to see."  
  
Superman: "Who?"  
  
Mxyzptlk: "Hal Jordan."  
  
Superman: "The Spectre is getting involved in this?"  
  
Mxyzptlk: "Did I say 'The Spectre'? Casper has nothing to do with this."  
  
Superman: "Hal Jordan is the Spectre now."  
  
Mxyzptlk: "In your reality he is. This Hal Jordan is from an alternate reality. A lot of things happened differently there. The Coast City disaster still occurred but his reaction to the destruction of his hometown was far more consistent with the man you had known. He didn't suddenly start acting like he was a different person. He didn't 'go to the darkside' and become Parallax. He didn't singlehandedly destroy the Green Lantern Corps nor destroy the Guardians of the Universe-although technically the Hal you know didn't destroy the Guardians either. The wimpy little wet blankets just laid down and died. If you ask me they deserved what happened to them. But I digress. Obviously, since he didn't become Parallax he also didn't attempt to remake the universe. Finally, he didn't die reigniting the sun. So since he didn't die, he never became the human host for Ol' Casper and he's still Green Lantern."  
  
Superman: "Ok. I understand."  
  
Mxyzptlk: "Good. Oh.there is one other thing I should tell you." Superman: "What's that?"  
  
Mxyzptlk: "Remember when you 'died' fighting Doomsday?"  
  
Superman: "Of course. How could I forget?"  
  
Mxyzptlk: "Um.well in that reality you didn't come back. So he'll be as surprised to find out you're alive as you are to find out he's alive. But my associate-who is bringing Hal here-will tell him about that."  
  
Superman: "Your associate? Another Fifth Dimensional imp?"  
  
Mxyzptlk: "No, but he has similar abilities. He calls himself Q."  
  
Superman: "So this Q is bringing Hal here to help with this mission you told me about?"  
  
Mxyzptlk: "Yes, but there's more to it than that. That is all I had in mind when I suggested it to Q, but after I told him certain things about your universe and that other universe, Q got an idea for a grand endeavor. His words. He's real big on doing 'grand' things. Personally, I think he overuses that word, but I will admit that what he plans to do truly is a grand endeavor."  
  
Superman: "What is he planning?"  
  
Mxyzptlk: "I'm not going to tell you that. If you want to know you can ask him. But I will say that what he's planning is something you'd consider good. Although his motives are selfish for the most part."  
  
Superman: "For the most part?"  
  
Mxyzptlk: "Well, he'll claim that he's just doing it for the thrill of doing it. And he may even quote that saying about the guy who climbed a mountain just because it was there. That's mostly true but it isn't totally accurate."  
  
Superman: "What do you mean?"  
  
Mxyzptlk: "He likes humans far more than he'll admit."  
  
Chapter 23  
  
When Spider-Man, Iceman, Beast, and Wolverine got to Professor X's office he was waiting for them. He had mentally overheard part of their conversation earlier. Spider-Man explained things more fully for everyone.  
  
Prof. X: "That is fascinating. I would very much like to meet this jedi. I feel this mission would be a great opportunity for me to visit a new and interesting galaxy. Unfortunately, I must pass on that opportunity. I'm needed here by my students. I can and will however take the time to go to the Baxter Building and meet our jedi visitor. But I'm sure some of the others will be eager to participate in this mission. Right, Logan?"  
  
Logan: "You read my mind Professor."  
  
Prof. X: "Actually, I didn't have to. I just know you too well."  
  
Iceman: "You can count me in too."  
  
Beast: "As well as myself. This is one journey I will be glad to undertake."  
  
Iceman: "What he said."  
  
Logan: "I'm ready to gut some alien scum."  
  
Spider-Man: "How nice. Thanks for sharing."  
  
Superman had decided to go to the Fantastic Four's library and use one of their computers to research this 'Star Wars universe'. If the real version of that universe was identical to the fictional one-and everything seemed to indicate it was-that information could be very useful. He was doing that when Hal and Q arrived.  
  
Superman: "Hello, Hal."  
  
Hal: "It's good to see you again Kal. It's been a long time."  
  
Superman: "Yes, it has."  
  
He had actually seen Hal not too long before as the Spectre, but it had been a long time since he had seen Hal alive. He noticed that Hal looked younger than he remembered him. Then he realized that it was just the lack of gray hair that made him appear younger. Otherwise he seemed to be about the same age. The Hal Jordan of his universe had went prematurely gray around his temples. Either this Hal dyed his hair-which knowing Hal seemed very unlikely-or he simply hadn't went gray early. Perhaps due to worrying about stuff less.  
  
Then Superman looked at Q and said: "You must be Q."  
  
Q: "Yes, I am. You've heard of me?"  
  
Superman: "Yes. Mxyzptlk mentioned you."  
  
Q: "He did?"  
  
Superman: "Yes."  
  
Q: "He hasn't been saying bad things about me behind my back, has he?"  
  
Superman: "No, not really. But he did say you were planning some 'grand endeavor'"  
  
Q: "Never trust an imp to keep a secret."  
  
Superman: "What are you planning?"  
  
Q: "Uh-uh-uh, Kal-El. That's for me to know and you to find out. I will tell you eventually. But not now. Ta ta."  
  
Then Q disappeared.  
  
Spider-Man and the small group of X-Men took one of the X-jets to the Baxter Building and landed on the roof. They were met there by a dark haired man in a red and black uniform.  
  
Spider-Man: "Who are you?"  
  
Q: "The name's Q. Nice to meet you."  
  
Then Q looked at Professor X and said: "You look familiar. Have we met?"  
  
Professor X: "No, I don't believe we have sir."  
  
Q: "Why so formal? And are you completely sure? I could swear that I've seen your face somewhere before."  
  
"Perhaps I have a double somewhere", Professor X joked.  
  
Q: "Perhaps. Or maybe it was a descendent of yours. Time travel is as routine to me as using the subway is to you New Yorkers."  
  
With that Q vanished.  
  
Chapter 24  
  
When Aayla, Ben, and Johnny arrived at the Jedi Temple she took her prisoner directly to the council chamber. She had contacted Master Windu in route and he had told her to hand the Trandoshan criminal over to Ki-Adi-Mundi and the other council members that would be waiting for her there, and then to come see himself and Master Yoda in Yoda's quarters. He also said to bring her new friends with her. She thought that seemed strange because she had not told him about them. And Master Windu even mentioned them by name. "How had he known?", she thought.  
  
While Ben and Johnny were waiting outside the Jedi council chamber, Ben saw a familiar looking young man walking down the corridor. It was Anakin Skywalker. Impulsively, Ben decided to go talk to him.  
  
Ben: "Hey kid, can I talk to ya for a minute?"  
  
Anakin: "Do I know you?"  
  
Ben: "No. I'm here with Aayla Secura."  
  
Anakin: "What did you want to talk to me about?"  
  
Ben: "I think you should go home to visit your mother."  
  
Anakin: "I want to, but they won't let me."  
  
Ben: "So what. Don't let their rules stop ya. Just do it."  
  
Anakin: "I'll think about what you said."  
  
Anakin walked away.  
  
Johnny: "Uh Ben.you know if he takes your advice that could have a major effect on their history."  
  
Ben: "Yeah, I know. But it was the right thing to do."  
  
Johnny: "I guess you're right."  
  
After Aayla was dismissed by Master Ki-Adi-Mundi, she joined the others outside the council chamber and led the way to Master Yoda's quarters. Chapter 25  
  
A short time later Aayla, Ben, and Johnny arrived at Yoda's quarters. As she had  
  
expected Master Yoda and Master Windu were there, but two other people-whom she did not know-were also present. They were both human. A young blonde woman and a slightly older man with brown hair except for patches of gray on his temples. She thought the blonde woman resembled Johnny. That thought was quickly confirmed.  
  
Mace Windu: "Aayla, this is Dr. Reed Richards and his wife Sue Richards. And I believe you've already met their friend Ben and Sue's brother Johnny."  
  
Aayla: "Yes Master, I have."  
  
So this was why Master Windu had known about Ben and Johnny, she thought.  
  
Mace: "Doctor Richards and his family call themselves the Fantastic Four. They say they are adventurers from another universe-specifically from a planet called Earth."  
  
Aayla: "Another universe, Master!?"  
  
Mace: "Yes. I'll let Dr. Richards explain it."  
  
Reed: "Our two universes are separated from each other by a dimensional barrier."  
  
Aayla: "If there's a dimensional barrier between the two universes, shouldn't it be impossible to travel between them?"  
  
Ben: "Honey, doing the impossible is Stretcho's specialty."  
  
Aayla pauses at being addressed as "Honey" and stares at Ben for a moment before turning her attention back to Reed.  
  
Aayla: "You practice magic?"  
  
Reed: "No, never touch the stuff. I'm a scientist."  
  
Johnny: "'A scientist', he says. He's the most brilliant scientist on our entire planet."  
  
Aayla: "I see. Why does Ben call you Stretcho?"  
  
Ben: "That's simple. He stretches."  
  
Aayla: "He stretches?"  
  
Yoda: "Very rubberlike, he is."  
  
To himself, Johnny said: "That's ironic. A muppet is calling somebody else rubberlike." He didn't realize that he had said that out loud until Ben whispered to him: "Hush, boy." "Did I say that out loud", Johnny whispered back. Ben: "Yeah, but I don't think anybody else heard you."  
  
Mace: "I asked you to come here because the Fantastic Four have come here to tell us about a war that they say will begin approximately 47 years from now. It is a war of aggression by an extragalactic alien race. They say that they seek to stop this war."  
  
Aayla: "But if this happens almost 50 years into the future, how do they know about it?"  
  
Yoda: "From the future, they say they are."  
  
Mace: "And they learned about the war from a Jedi Knight from that time period who was transported to their universe."  
  
Reed: "We don't know. At first I was just trying to help her get back home. Then when she realized that the machine I was going to use to send her home can be used for traveling through time as well as space she proposed the idea of going back in time to stop the war that left many of the worlds of your galaxy in ruins. She argued that it was the will of your force. I don't know what that's supposed to mean, but she eventually convinced me that in this case changing the past was warranted."  
  
Mace: "I think she could be right about that."  
  
Aayla: "What do you ask of me, Master Windu?"  
  
Mace: "I am going on this mission. I ask that you accompany me."  
  
Aayla: "Gladly."  
  
Yoda: "Would it cause a problem if they were to meet their future selves?"  
  
Reed: "It might if that were possible."  
  
Mace: "I assume that means we have both died by that time. Correct?"  
  
Sue: "Yes."  
  
Mace: "Why do you look so sad, Sue? Fifty years is a long time. I am not a young man now and even young Aayla would be old by then. It's really not that surprising that we have passed on by then." Yoda: "Knows something of our fate, she does."  
  
Johnny: "Yousa might be sayin' that."  
  
Sue slapped Johnny on the back of his head hard.  
  
Johnny: "Ow!"  
  
Ben laughed. Aayla tried not to laugh but was only partially successful.  
  
Ben: "Well Reed, we tried to be discreet but since the proverbial cat's outta the bag I say we tell 'em what we know and let the chips fall where they may."  
  
Reed: "I wouldn't phrase it like that Ben but you do have a point. As hesitant as I am to so directly interfere with the distant past it seems to be the best alternative in this case."  
  
The Fantastic Four proceeded to tell the Jedi everything they knew. When they were finished, Mace asked them to wait outside while he, Yoda, and Aayla discussed what they had just told them.  
  
Yoda: "So the hidden Sith Lord, Palpatine is."  
  
Mace: "Assuming that what they say is true. They also said Count Dooku has become his new Sith apprentice. I find that very hard to believe."  
  
Yoda: "My own padawan, Dooku was. Reluctant am I to believe this report about him, but I sense no deception in them. Afford to ignore this warning, we can not."  
  
Windu: "I agree, but I don't think we should we should just take their word for it."  
  
Yoda: "Believe their story you do not?"  
  
Windu: "I have my doubts but it's not just that. Before we take action we must be absolutely certain that this is true. Also we will need evidence if they are going to convince the Senate. Aayla and I will go with them and investigate. If what they say is true then we will see for ourselves that it is so."  
  
Yoda: "Investigate the matter on this end, I will."  
  
Mace: "Also I will send Obi-Wan and Anakin to Tatooine to help Anakin's mother. If what they said about his descent to the darkside is true then the tragic death of his mother was a contributing cause. Perhaps if her death can be prevented his fall can be prevented as well."  
  
Yoda: "Agree, I do. Thinking of sending them to investigate this cloning facility I was, but I will send Quinlan Vos instead." Mace: "You know it's possible that the Senate may not listen no matter what evidence we present to them. They highly revere Palpatine."  
  
Yoda: "And if listen they will not?"  
  
Mace: "Then we may be forced to take independent action. If Palpatine is a Sith Lord, he must be stopped."  
  
Chapter 26  
  
Later when Tahiri awoke from her healing trance, she felt that she was mostly recovered from her injuries. Her neck was sore but otherwise she felt okay. Her body ached but that was just the kind dull ache that resulted from a long period of inactivity. She sensed the presence of several individuals in the library. Using the force to focus she was able to recognize two of the individuals as Spider-Man and Superman, but the others were unfamiliar to her. Apparently, the Fantastic Four had not yet returned but some other people had arrived. She decided to get up and join them.  
  
When she walked into the library she saw Spider-Man, Superman, and five others seated at a large round table. To Superman's left there was a brown-haired man dressed in green-including a green domino mask. Spider-Man sat a couple of chairs over to his left. Sitting on the other side of Spidey were a young man wearing dark sunglasses, an older bald man, a dour and rough looking man with wild unkempt hair, and finally-and most unusual in appearance-a person whose entire body was covered in blue fur. Despite his catlike appearance Tahiri sensed that he was human.  
  
Strangely they had all been looking toward the door as if they had known she was coming just then. How, she wondered. She had just told herself that Superman had probably heard her or maybe seen her through the walls, when a voice in her head said: "That's true my dear, but I also heard your thoughts and told the others that you were on your way here."  
  
She realized that the mental communication was coming from the bald man. She sensed that he was a very powerful telepath. And she also suspected that he had helped to guide her to this room. She had known exactly where it was even though she had never been to this part of the building.  
  
Xavier: "Hello, Tahiri. My name is Charles Xavier and the gentlemen with me are known as Iceman, Wolverine, and Beast."  
  
Tahiri: "Hello."  
  
Wolverine: "Gentleman!? Hah! I ain't no gentleman."  
  
Iceman: "You got that right."  
  
Wolverine: "Shut up, Drake."  
  
Beast: "I'm pleased to make your acquaintance, Tahiri. And please call me Hank."  
  
Tahiri: "It's nice to meet you Hank."  
  
Tahiri walked over and sat down between Spider-Man and the masked man. Superman introduced the masked man by saying: "This is a friend of mine. Green Lantern." Green Lantern shook her hand and said: "You can call me Hal. Pleased to meet you." "The pleasure is mine", Tahiri said.  
  
Spider-Man: "So Tahiri did you have a nice nap?"  
  
Tahiri: "Yeah. How long was I out?"  
  
Superman: "A little over 24 hours. You feel better?"  
  
Tahiri: "Mostly. My neck is a little sore. I wish I had a neck brace."  
  
A moment later Tahiri was wearing a neck brace. A green one that had seemingly appeared out of thin air.  
  
Tahiri: "Where did this come from? Did I say some kind of magic word?"  
  
Hal: "No, but you wish for a neck brace."  
  
Tahiri: "I know, but where did it come from?"  
  
Superman: "Hal did it."  
  
Tahiri: "How?"  
  
Hal showed her the ring on his right hand. "That neck brace an energy construct produced by my power ring."  
  
A few minutes later Superman said: "The Fantastic Four have returned. They've brought two others with them. A bald black man and a blue-skinned female alien with snakelike head appendages. They're both wearing robes."  
  
Wolverine: "How do you know what they look like?"  
  
Superman: "I see them."  
  
Wolverine: "How can you possibly see them from here, bub?"  
  
Superman: "X-ray vision."  
  
Tahiri: "That alien you described sounds like a Twi'lek."  
  
Beast: "What is that?"  
  
Tahiri: "They're humanoid aliens that are native to a planet on my galaxy's Outer Rim."  
  
Xavier: "I did a quick surface scan of their minds. Their names are Mace Windu and Aayla Secura."  
  
Tahiri: "I've heard of Mace Windu. He was a legendary Jedi Master."  
  
Beast: "You said you've heard of him. Am I correct in assuming that means you've never met him?"  
  
Tahiri: "Yeah. He died 3 decades before I was born. He was killed during the jedi purge that happened almost 50 years ago. I don't understand how he could be here."  
  
Spider-Man: "They went to the past. Reed said they were going back to sometime before the start of the Clone Wars."  
  
Xavier: "I'm thinking Dr. Richards a telepathic message to let him know we're waiting in here."  
  
Chapter 27  
  
A few moments later the Fantastic Four walked into the library followed by the two new Jedi arrivals. Ben takes one look at Wolverine and says: "Alright, who brought in the riffraff?"  
  
Spider-Man: "Guilty."  
  
Wolverine just sat there and muttered something unintelligible under his breath. More introductions were made. There weren't any more chairs in the room so Ben was about to go get some more from another room. But Hal stopped him and said that wasn't necessary. Six green chairs appeared.  
  
Ben: "Hey, that's a neat trick."  
  
Hal: "Thanks. Spider-Man tells me you're a pilot."  
  
Ben: "Yeah. At least I wuz. Don't get to do as much pilotin' nowadays."  
  
Hal: "I know what you mean. I was a test pilot before I became a Green Lantern. Still am in my civilian identity, but I don't have as much time for that kind of flying now."  
  
Meanwhile, Mace approached Tahiri.  
  
Mace: "So you are the Jedi from the future?"  
  
Tahiri: "Well I think of myself as being from the present but yeah I guess that's true from a certain point of view."  
  
Mace smiled and said: "That sounds like something Obi-Wan Kenobi would say."  
  
Tahiri: "Well, he was one of my master's masters."  
  
Mace: "Who is your master?"  
  
Tahiri: "I've had more than one, but I was referring to Luke Skywalker. He founded the New Jedi Order."  
  
Mace: "So what I was told about Anakin's fall and the destruction of the Jedi Order is true."  
  
Tahiri: "Yes."  
  
Mace: "And it was Anakin's own son who defeated him and Palpatine, and then started a new order of Jedi?"  
  
Tahiri: "No."  
  
Mace: "No? But you just said that he reestablished the Jedi."  
  
Tahiri: "He did. I meant the part about him defeating Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine. According to Master Luke it was Vader himself that defeated Emperor Palpatine. He says that Palpatine would have killed him if his father hadn't intervened and killed the Emperor."  
  
Mace: "I see. So the prophecy of the Chosen One was fulfilled in spite of Anakin's fall."  
  
Tahiri: "Uh.I don't really know what that is but if you say so." 


	2. Gathering of the Heroes

Aayla walked over to Mace and Tahiri.  
  
Mace: "Aayla Secura, this is Tahiri Veila.  
  
Aayla: "Hello."  
  
Tahiri: "Hi." Mace: "By the way Tahiri, my name is Mace Windu. I think I forgot to introduce myself before."  
  
Tahiri: "That's okay. I recognized you from pictures I've seen. The Empire destroyed most jedi related historical records but Master Luke was able to find some."  
  
Aayla: "Are there any records of me?"  
  
Tahiri: "Not that I've seen, but I'm far from being a historian so it's possible that some exist."  
  
Mace: "I couldn't help noticing that you're barefoot. Is this a common practice among the jedi of your era?"  
  
Tahiri: "No, it's just me. My parents were killed by Tusken Raiders in the desert when I was four. A Tusken named Sliven adopted me and took me into their tribe. They raised me until I was nine. Then Master Luke found me and took me to his Jedi Academy on Yavin 4."  
  
Aayla: "You were adopted by the same tribe that killed your parents?"  
  
Tahiri: "Yes, but it was really an accident. My parents had helped Sliven. So he adopted me when they were killed."  
  
Aayla: "She seems very young to be a Jedi Knight, Master Windu."  
  
Mace: "Yes, she is very young. No more than eighteen I'd say. In our own time she would almost certainly still be a padawan learner, but she is from a very different time and a product of a different order. Also times of war often lead to quick promotions. She may have earned her knighthood in battle similar to how Obi-Wan Kenobi earned his knigthood by defeating the Sith warrior that killed Qui-Gon Jinn."  
  
Superman: "Hal, does your ring function differently now?"  
  
Hal: "Yes. How did you know?"  
  
Superman: "Well before you always had to recharge it every 24 hours and unless I'm mistaken you didn't bring your power battery with you."  
  
Hal: "You're right. The Guardians extended the time limit on the ring's charge. I still have to recharge it occasionally but only once about every six months. And they got rid of that silly yellow weakness."  
  
Johnny: "Uh Spidey, I'm dying to find out how you brought Superman here. I thought you were joking."  
  
Spidey: "I was joking and I didn't do it. I shoot webs and stick to stuff. Traveling between universes is a little beyond the range of my abilities. It's not as if I can swing from universe to universe in the same way I swing from building to building."  
  
Johnny: "Ok, ok. I get it. You didn't do it. Couldn't you have just said something like 'It wasn't me.'?"  
  
Spidey: "Sure, but what fun would that be?"  
  
Johnny: "You know, I'm surprised the supervillains you fight don't suffer brain aneurisms."  
  
Spidey: "Yeah, me too."  
  
Johnny: "So we've established that you didn't do it. Who did?"  
  
Spidey: "Mxyzptlk."  
  
Johnny: "Excuse me?"  
  
Spidey: "Mr. Mxyzptlk."  
  
Johnny: "Who is that?"  
  
Spidey: "A funny little imp from the fifth dimension."  
  
Johnny: "Fine. Then don't tell me." 


	3. Identity of the Murderer

Chapter 28  
  
Aayla walked over to Mace and Tahiri.  
  
Mace: "Aayla Secura, this is Tahiri Veila.  
  
Aayla: "Hello."  
  
Tahiri: "Hi." Mace: "By the way Tahiri, my name is Mace Windu. I think I forgot to introduce myself before."  
  
Tahiri: "That's okay. I recognized you from pictures I've seen. The Empire destroyed most jedi related historical records but Master Luke was able to find some."  
  
Aayla: "Are there any records of me?"  
  
Tahiri: "Not that I've seen, but I'm far from being a historian so it's possible that some exist."  
  
Mace: "I couldn't help noticing that you're barefoot. Is this a common practice among the jedi of your era?"  
  
Tahiri: "No, it's just me. My parents were killed by Tusken Raiders in the desert when I was four. A Tusken named Sliven adopted me and took me into their tribe. They raised me until I was nine. Then Master Luke found me and took me to his Jedi Academy on Yavin 4."  
  
Aayla: "You were adopted by the same tribe that killed your parents?"  
  
Tahiri: "Yes, but it was really an accident. My parents had helped Sliven. So he adopted me when they were killed."  
  
Aayla: "She seems very young to be a Jedi Knight, Master Windu."  
  
Mace: "Yes, she is very young. No more than eighteen I'd say. In our own time she would almost certainly still be a padawan learner, but she is from a very different time and a product of a different order. Also times of war often lead to quick promotions. She may have earned her knighthood in battle similar to how Obi-Wan Kenobi earned his knigthood by defeating the Sith warrior that killed Qui-Gon Jinn."  
  
Superman: "Hal, does your ring function differently now?"  
  
Hal: "Yes. How did you know?"  
  
Superman: "Well before you always had to recharge it every 24 hours and unless I'm mistaken you didn't bring your power battery with you."  
  
Hal: "You're right. The Guardians extended the time limit on the ring's charge. I still have to recharge it occasionally but only once about every six months. And they got rid of that silly yellow weakness."  
  
Johnny: "Uh Spidey, I'm dying to find out how you brought Superman here. I thought you were joking."  
  
Spidey: "I was joking and I didn't do it. I shoot webs and stick to stuff. Traveling between universes is a little beyond the range of my abilities. It's not as if I can swing from universe to universe in the same way I swing from building to building."  
  
Johnny: "Ok, ok. I get it. You didn't do it. Couldn't you have just said something like 'It wasn't me.'?"  
  
Spidey: "Sure, but what fun would that be?"  
  
Johnny: "You know, I'm surprised the supervillains you fight don't suffer brain aneurisms."  
  
Spidey: "Yeah, me too."  
  
Johnny: "So we've established that you didn't do it. Who did?"  
  
Spidey: "Mxyzptlk."  
  
Johnny: "Excuse me?"  
  
Spidey: "Mr. Mxyzptlk."  
  
Johnny: "Who is that?"  
  
Spidey: "A funny little imp from the fifth dimension."  
  
Johnny: "Fine. Then don't tell me."  
  
Chapter 29  
  
Obi-Wan had to shield his eyes as he and Anakin's ship approached Tatooine. The blazing twin suns of the Tatooine system shone brightly onto the desert world producing a tremendous glare as their light reflected off of the planet's sand covered surface. The mysterious strangers who visited the Jedi temple had told Master Yoda and Master Windu that Shmi Skywalker had been freed and married by a moisture farmer named Cliegg Lars. She now lived with him and his son on their farm. Mr. Fantastic had given Master Windu the coordinates of this farm.  
  
When Obi-Wan had first heard that name-Mr. Fantastic-he had wondered who could be so arrogant as to give himself a nickname like Mr. Fantastic. He had later found out that Dr. Richards didn't give himself that name. But as Obi-Wan piloted their ship down to the surface, he thought-not for the first time-that his young padawan may indeed be that arrogant. He worried about that kid.  
  
Of course, Anakin's excessive pride wasn't the only thing that troubled Obi-Wan. Anakin was also far too trusting, especially in regards to Palpatine. He seemed to look up to the Chancellor like a father figure. That alone could be cause for concern, but Obi-Wan found it particularly disconcerting because he had a feeling that there was something very wrong about the Chancellor. However, he didn't know what it was about the man that made him feel that way and he certainly had no evidence to support his feeling. In fact, he wasn't even sure if his sense of the Chancellor's wrongness was a perception he was getting through the force or if it was merely his own instinct.  
  
Chapter 30  
  
The Gran bounty hunter trembled as he faced the holographic image of his employer. The man had an uncanny ability to send chills up and down his spine in spite of the vast distance and numerous star systems that currently separated them. The ominous figure was speaking to him now.  
  
"Did you complete the task I gave you?"  
  
Marz Hak: "Yes, Lord Sidious. The human woman is dead."  
  
Sidious: "Are you sure of this?"  
  
Marz Hak: "Yes, Lord Sidious."  
  
Sidious: "For your sake, she had better be. If I find that you have failed me, I will have each of your three eyes gouged out. And that will merely be the beginning of your suffering." "NOOOOOOO!!!"  
  
Obi-Wan heard-as well as felt through the force-Anakin's exclamation. Anakin rushed into the cockpit.  
  
Anakin: "Something terrible has happened!"  
  
Obi-Wan: "What is it, Anakin?"  
  
Anakin: "I don't know exactly. Suddenly-through the force-I felt a flash of tremendous pain. Coming from my mother. Then her force presence vanished. Completely. Is she dead, Master?"  
  
While he was speaking, tears had begun to flow down Anakin's face.  
  
Obi-Wan thought he knew the answer to that question-and suspected that Anakin did as well-but he hoped that they were both wrong.  
  
**********************************  
  
Obi-Wan landed their ship on the outskirts of the Lars moisture farm. They landed in the midst of a small dust storm. As soon as the ship touched ground, Anakin was rushing down the landing ramp. Anakin pulled the hood of his jedi robe over his head and covered his face with his sleeve as he waded through the storm. At any other time, he would have been thinking about how much he hated sand, but he gave no thought to that now. When Anakin emerged through the cloud of dust and sand, he saw a familiar humanoid droid staring at him.  
  
Anakin: "Threepio! What has happened to my mother?"  
  
C3PO's golden eyes blinked twice.  
  
Threepio: "Master Anakin? Is that you?"  
  
Anakin: "Yes. What happened?"  
  
Threepio: "Oh, dear. I think I should let Master Lars tell you."  
  
A rough looking middle-aged man walked up to where C3PO and Anakin stood. He looked at Anakin with an appraising eye.  
  
Cliegg Lars: "You're Shmi's son, aren't you?"  
  
Cliegg Lars invited Anakin and Obi-Wan into his home. The first thing Anakin did was rush into the master bedroom. Shmi was still lying on the bed. But it was too late. He sank to his knees by the bed, and sobbed uncontrollably. After some time-he wasn't sure how long-Anakin got up and joined the others in the kitchen.  
  
While his future daughter-in-law Beru served everyone glasses of cold blue milk, Cliegg and his son Owen told them the tragic story.  
  
Cliegg: "A Gran sneaked onto the farm in the middle of the night."  
  
Owen: "Gran can see in the infrared spectrum."  
  
Cliegg: "They can see as well in the dark as we can in the light."  
  
Owen: "He came into the house while we were all asleep."  
  
Cliegg: "He found our bedroom. I had happened to wake up just then so I saw him. He pulled out his blaster and shot Shmi in the throat. He could have easily gunned me down too, but he didn't. It's like the monster came into my home specifically to murder my wife."  
  
Then Cliegg finally lost the composure he had been struggling to maintain for the sake of the kids, and began to sob quietly.  
  
----------------------  
  
Chapter 31  
  
Anakin: "I'll kill him!"  
  
Obi-Wan: "I know how you feel Anakin, but Jedi do not seek vengeance."  
  
Anakin: "How could you possibly know how I feel!?"  
  
Obi-Wan: "Qui-Gon was like a father to me."  
  
Anakin: "And you killed his killer."  
  
Obi-Wan: "Sometimes killing is the only option. But it must never be our first choice. Jedi seek justice not vengeance. Vengeance is of the dark side. And once you start down that path, it may be impossible to turn back."  
  
Anakin: "So we just do nothing!?"  
  
Obi-Wan: "No, I didn't say that. We will find the killer and take him back to Coruscant to stand trial."  
  
Tahiri Veila, Spider-Man, Superman, Green Lantern, Mace Windu, Aayla Secura, Wolverine, Beast, Iceman, Professor Charles Xavier, and the Fantastic Four were gathered in the Fantastic Four's planning room. Reed Richards had just finished the mission briefing when Prof. Xavier received a telepathic message from Scott Summers aka Cyclops. The X-mansion had been attacked, and some of the students had been kidnapped. Xavier quickly relayed the message to Logan, Hank, and Bobby.  
  
Xavier: "I'm sorry gentlemen-and ladies-but we're going to have to excuse ourselves. We have another matter to attend to."  
  
The X-men got up and left. Then the Fantastic Four and the others got ready to leave themselves. Everyone boarded the Fantastic Four's spaceship. Ben and Hal- the two most experienced pilots among them-took the pilot and co- pilot seats, and began the pre-flight preparations. Reed opened the roof of the hangar using a remote control that he had installed into the ship's control panel. Then they lifted off and soared up into the New York skyline. Reed touched the hangar remote one more time to close the roof behind them. Once they had exited the atmosphere and entered the vacuum of space, Reed activated another device that opened a transdimensional temporal portal directly in front of the ship.  
  
Spider-Man: "Cool."  
  
Tahiri: "Wow!"  
  
Mace: "Very impressive."  
  
Hal piloted the ship through the portal, and the group of heroes took a very short journey to a galaxy far far away.  
  
Chapter 32  
  
Obi-Wan and Anakin borrowed the Lars' landspeeder, and went into Mos Eisley. They park the speeder and go into a drinking establishment to ask questions. There is a myriad of aliens in the cantina but no Gran. All of their questions go unanswered as well. Either nobody here knows anything or they are unwilling to talk. The two jedi decided that they'd be able to cover more ground if they split up. So Obi-Wan entered another dive to question the denizens there, and Anakin walked down the street in the opposite direction.  
  
************************  
  
After he had been walking for about a half hour, Anakin saw a Gran walking down the street. A consuming fire of hatred burned in Anakin's heart. Without thinking, he leapt into action. He ran towards the Gran without bothering to reach for his lightsaber. The Gran saw the furious jedi running towards him and screamed for help. Anakin, using telekinesis struck the Gran down with a vicious blow to the throat, crushing his windpipe and silencing him forever.  
  
A human woman who had witnessed the attack, came running out of a nearby hovel and knelt over the fallen Gran.  
  
Woman: "What have you done?!"  
  
Anakin: "He murdered my mother."  
  
Now a crowd had gathered in the street near the slain Gran. One of the onlookers, a male Ithorian, stepped forward to confront Anakin.  
  
Ithorian: "Liar! Dr. Tnek would not harm anyone. You're the murderer!"  
  
Now several members of the crowd began to chant "Murderer" at Anakin.  
  
Anakin: ".uh. A Gran murdered my mother. He's a Gran so-"  
  
A female Shistavanen-a canine biped species often called Shistavanen Wolfmen-interrupted Anakin now.  
  
Shistavanen: "So you just assumed he was the same Gran and killed him in cold blood. What kind of jedi are you?"  
  
Anakin stood there speechless. The murderer chant was getting to him. It infuriated him and he wanted to deny it, but he was beginning to realize that it was true. That incensed him even more. Finally, after several long moments that seemed to Anakin like hours, he turned and walked away without saying another word. The crowd parted before him. None of them was eager to tangle with the angry young jedi.  
  
***************************  
  
Athan Veila was one of the many patrons in the pub that Obi-Wan Kenobi had entered. He was sitting alone in a corner booth, and dining on a meager serving of ghoba rice and a very tough piece of bantha steak. Veila observed the bearded jedi milling through the crowd. The jedi seemed to be asking questions. Athan wondered what could have brought a jedi to Tatooine. Whatever it was, he was sure it must be a matter of great import. But he was equally sure that it didn't concern him so he went back to eating his meal.  
  
Obi-Wan was beginning to get frustrated. So far his search for the murderous Gran had been fruitless. None of the people he had questioned had been able to give him any useful information. And he sensed that they genuinely did not know anything. One thing was obvious. This Gran had not been bragging about his deed. Gran criminals-at least the exiled ones-were almost always insane. This was due to their dependence on having the company of other members of their species. Left alone Gran usually either went insane or died of loneliness. Gran also like to converse. The fact that this one was being so tight- lipped about his recent activity indicated to Obi-Wan that he might be working for someone else. Someone that the Gran feared so much that his fear of his employer kept him silent. Regardless, it was apparent that he wasn't going to accomplish anything here.  
  
Obi-Wan started to head for the exit. But just then he noticed a young man who was choking. A piece of the man's bantha steak was lodged in his windpipe, cutting off his supply of air. The man was gasping for air and franticly gesturing for help. None of the people near him seemed to notice or they just didn't care. And Obi-Wan doubted whether he could make his way through the throng quickly enough to render assistance by conventional means. So instead he used the force to gently levitate the potentially lethal morsel out of the man's trachea. With the chunk of food removed, the man began to breath normally again. "Well" Obi-Wan thought while scratching his beard contemplatively, "at least I accomplished something worthwhile here". 


	4. A New Fate

**Chapter 33**

**Meanwhile, Marz Hak-the slayer of Shmi Skywalker-had fled to Corellia. Marz thought that he had successfully eluded the authorities. In fact, he had done so for a time and may have continued to do so indefinitely if he had not been betrayed. A sometimes employer of his-a Hutt named Jabba-had not only told the Jedi that Marz was the Gran that they were looking for but he had also them exactly where he could be found. Making a profit off the information was not Jabba's primary objective. Although he did charge the Jedi a fee for the information, his fee was less than the cost of cabfare on Coruscant. Obviously, the Hutt was displeased with Hak. Displeasing a Hutt was a very dangerous thing to do. Oddly enough, Jabba had always been pleased with the Gran criminal's work as a bounty hunter/thug/bodyguard. However, Marz fancied himself as a writer. He managed to convince the Hutt that he was a good one, and Jabba hired him to write a story for him. That had been grievous error on Hak's part. Jabba was not pleased with the story Marz wrote and demanded his money back. But Hak had already squandered it all. Jabba had been gracious enough to allow Marz to pay him back by working for him for free, but when Hak left Tatooine with his permission Jabba decided to sell the Gran's whereabouts to the Jedi for a very modest fee. Unfortunately for Marz, the Jedi were not the only ones who received this information. Jabba had also sold the information to a very high ranking Republic official.**

**When Yoda learned that Marz Hak was hiding out on Corellia, he contacted Nejaa Halcyon-a Corellian Jedi Knight-and asked him to find Hak and bring him back to Coruscant. Halcyon was a close friend of Corellian Security Force Inspector Rostek Horn. Halcyon and Horn teamed up to find the Gran killer. It didn't take them long to find the apartment that Marz Hak had been staying in. But when they arrived, the Gran criminal was already dead. And he had been killed by a Sith. A very powerful one. Marz Hak's entire body was covered with force lightning burns. His right arm had been severed at the elbow. The bloodless cauterization of the wound clearly indicated that a lightsaber had inflicted the damage. Hak's left hand and one of his eyestalks had also been severed. The irony of the situation was not lost on Halcyon. He wondered if the Sith who had hacked the Gran criminal to pieces had known his last name.**

**Chapter 34**

**The Fantastic Four's ship emerged through the portal and entered another universe. Looking at the stars around them, the occupants of the vessel had widely different thoughts. To Tahiri, Mace, and Aayla; the stars looked very familiar and they felt at home. As they should since this was their own galaxy. To Hal, Superman, and the Fantastic Four; the surroundings were far less familiar but they were relatively unfazed. All of them-especially Hal-had considerable experience with traveling through the great vastness of space. Spider-Man, however, was not nearly as used to space. In fact, it made him a little nervous. So of course he covered by making jokes, more of them than usual. **

**All of his companions noticed this behavior. Their reactions to it varied. The Fantastic Four were all used to his antics and while they understood the reason behind it none of them laughed, although Ben did crack a smile a couple of times. Hal was amused and laughed a few times. Spidey reminded Hal of a rookie Green Lantern he had trained a while back, a young artist from New York named Kyle Rayner. But Spider-Man was much funnier than Kyle. **

**Superman also laughed. This surprised Spider-Man a little. What Peter didn't realize was that-despite outward appearances-Superman was still a farmboy at heart. You can take the boy off the farm but you can never completely take the farm out of the boy. Ironically, Tahiri Veila did realize this. When Tahiri had been talking to Superman before, she had told him about Luke Skywalker. She mentioned that Master Luke had grown up on a farm and Superman had told her that he had grown up on a farm also. **

**Finally, there was the other two Jedi, Mace Windu and Aayla Secura. **

**Aayla: "Master Windu, does this Spider-Man not grasp the seriousness of the situation?"**

**Mace: "Don't be deceived, Aayla. I think he understands the seriousness of the situation as much as any of us. I believe his jocular behavior is a defense mechanism."**

**Chapter 35**

**Benjamin J. Grimm piloted the Fantasticship down to the surface of a frozen world which Tahiri identified as Hoth. It had been the closest world to where they had emerged from the dimensional portal. **

**Ben: "This is a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live here."**

**Johnny: "I would agree with you, Ben. Except for the nice place to visit part that is."**

**Ben: "What's th' matter, bic-head? Too cold for ya here?"**

**Johnny: "As if you had to ask. I'm getting cold just from looking out the viewport."**

**Ben: "Well, close your eyes then."**

**Here the fellowship of heroes from different universes splits three ways. Superman, wearing only a breath mask, flies off on his own power to the Outer Rim planet known as Sernpidal to prevent its destruction by the Yuuzhan Vong. **

**Hal Jordan uses his power ring to create a sleek starship. He, Spider-Man, and Tahiri Veila board the ship; and then head towards the galaxy's rim near Helska. According to Tahiri, this was where the Yuuzhan Vong worldship that was the advance ship in their invasion of her galaxy entered the galaxy. **

**The Fantastic Four, Mace Windu, and Aayla Secura remain on the Fantasticship. Ben, with the help of the two Jedi, sets a course for Rhommamool. There they plan to capture the Yuuzhan Vong infiltrator Nom Anor and thus put an end to his role as the leader of the Rhommamoolians, preventing him from starting the full-scale war between Rhommamool and Osarian, which he began in the original timeline. They also know that Mara Jade Skywalker will be there and hope to provide her with a cure to the disease that, unbeknownst to her, Nom Anor infected her with some time before. Dr. Richards is working on a serum that he believes will cure the strange disease.**

**Chapter 36**

**The Fantasticship was suddenly jerked out of hyperspace-or more precisely its equivalent of hyperspace. **

**Ben: "What the-"**

**Mace Windu, who was seated in the passenger seat behind Ben, saw a large cruiser looming in front of them. He estimated the cruiser to be 600 meters long. He realized that it must be the cause of their sudden stop.**

**Mace: "It's some kind of interdictor. But I've never seen one so large."**

**Ben: "What's an interdictor?"**

**Aayla Secura: "It's a ship which carries mass-simulating gravity-well projectors."**

**Mace: "They prevent spacecraft from entering hyperspace. Or they can forcibly bring ships out of hyperspace. That's what just happened to us."**

**The cruiser was hailing them. Sue, who was seated in the co-pilot chair, activated the communication console and started to open a line to receive the cruiser's transmission. **

**Ben: "Better make that audio only, Sue. My ugly mug might scare 'em."**

**Cruiser: "Unidentified vessel, identify yourselves."**

**Ben: "Uh...who are you?"**

**Cruiser: "This is the Sentry. I am Captain Kir Be. I repeat, identify yourselves."**

**Ben(to his companions): "Well, I don't think telling him the truth would be a very good idea. He probably wouldn't believe me anyway."**

**Johnny: "Tell him he can't handle the truth."**

**Sue: "Hush, Johnny."**

**(to Ben): "Make something up."**

**Ben(muttering under his breath): "Make something up, she says."**

**Sue: "Did you say something, Ben?"**

**Ben: "Nothing, Susie."**

**Sue: "I'll go tell Reed what's going on. I'm sure he can come up with something to get us out of this."**

**Johnny: "Tell him to hurry."**

**Ben(to Sentry): "This is the S.S. Fantastic. Captain Thomas Fulton speaking. How may I help you?"**

**Captain Kir Be: "What is your business in this sector?"**

**Ben: "Excuse me, could you repeat that?"**

**Captain Kir Be: "What are you doing here?"**

**Ben: "You yanked us out of hyperspace, remember?"**

**Sue: "Ben, Reed managed to remotely deactivate their gravity-well projectors. Let's get out of here before they notice."**

**Ben: "You got it, Susie Q!"**

**(to Capt. Kir Be): "Sorry Jack, I have to go. Been nice chatting wit' ya."**

**The Fantasticship disappears into hyperspace.**

**Chapter 37**

**There were two seats in the passenger area of Hal's ring construct spaceship, but only one of those two seats is occupied. Spider-Man is hanging upside down from the ceiling just above his seat using a webline. He has his legs folded into an Indian style sitting position. Tahiri Veila is buckled into her seat, which is directly across from Spidey's empty chair. **

**Tahiri: "Do you have to hang from the ceiling like that?"**

**Spider-Man: "Have to? No. Like to? Yes. Why, does it bother you?"**

**Tahiri: "Yes. A little."**

**Spider-Man: "Hal, does this bother you?"**

**Hal had just put the ship into autopilot and joined the others in the passenger area. He looks at Spider-Man, who appears to be hanging from a thin yet obviously very strong thread. **

**Hal: "No."**

**Tahiri: "What!? Do you think that's normal?"**

**Hal: "I think it's probably normal for him."**

**Spider-Man: "Thanks, Hal. I think."**

**Tahiri: "But he's hanging upside down like a spider!"**

**Spider-Man: "Hello..."**

**(points to himself)**

"**SPIDER-Man."**

****

**Chapter 38**

**When Superman reached Sernpidal, the planet was suffering massive earthquakes and seemed to be on the verge of literally crumbling to pieces. One of its two moons-the smaller one which Superman estimated to be about 20 kilometers in diameter-was "falling" towards the planet. Some type of gravitational device was pulling the moon towards the planet. If the moon wasn't returned to its natural orbit soon, there would be a catastrophic collision that would result in the destruction of the planet. In fact, that had already happened once-in the original timeline. He was here to prevent it from happening.**

**A saucer shaped freighter was lifting off from the planet's surface. Using his x-ray vision, Superman saw that the freighter was filled with evacuees. **

"**That must be the Millenium Falcon", he thought. Tahiri had described it to him. She had also told him about how her friend Chewbacca had died on this world when he was crushed by the falling moon. Superman saw the Wookiee now. Chewbacca was looking up at the oncoming satellite and roaring defiantly. **

**Superman flew to the side of the moon that was facing the planet and began to push it back into orbit. Due to the relatively small size of the moon, its weight alone presented no real challenge for Superman. However, this task was made much more difficult by the gravitational force being exerted by the Yuuzhan Vong technology known as a dovin basal, which was the root cause of the problem. As Superman pushed the moon away from the planet, the dovin basal continued to push the moon towards the planet. So Superman was forced to struggle against not only the weight of the moon itself but also the tremendous force which was pushing against it. It was a monumental struggle but slowly the moon began to move away from the planet.**

**From the cockpit of the Millenium Falcon, Anakin Solo sees an astonishing sight. He sees the wayward moon being pushed back into orbit by a man. The man is clad in a colorful blue, red, and yellow costume which includes a red cape which is billowing in the wind. At first Anakin is certain that he must be hallucinating, but when he closes his eyes and focuses using the Force he realizes that what he saw is real. At the same time he realizes that Chewbacca is alive and safe. Anakin wonders who the stranger is. Whoever he is, the young Jedi thinks, he must have powers far beyond those of mortal men.**

**Anakin: "Uh...Dad there's something you should see."**

**Han, still angry with his son for lifting off the seemingly doomed planet and leaving his best friend on the ground-although deep down he realizes that Anakin had no choice-does not respond at first.**

**Anakin: "A man is pushing the moon back into orbit!"**

**Han: "You're cracking up, kid."**

**Anakin: "He saved Chewie! Look!"**

**Finally, Han turned and looked out the viewport. He saw the same image that Anakin had seen moments before, but he also doesn't believe his eyes.**

**Han: "Now, I'm seeing things."**

**Anakin: "No, it's real Dad. I can sense Chewie. He's as bewildered as we are, but he's safe."**

**Eventually Superman had returned the moon to its proper orbit. **

**But he realized that merely putting the moon back into orbit wouldn't be enough. If the dovin basal wasn't neutralized, it would just drag the moon back down again. He quickly spotted where the dovin basal was located. The Yuuzhan Vong had placed it in the center of Sernpidal City. The dovin basal was about 3 meters in diameter and resembled a large, dark red heart with deep blue spikes surrounding it's body.**

**Due to the briefing he had received, Superman knew that the Yuuzhan Vong technology was actually bio-technology. Therefore the dovin basal was actually alive. Like an animal which, through no fault of its own, was being used for a devastating purpose by its masters. So Superman didn't want to destroy the dovin basal if it was possible to avoid doing so. **

**So using superspeed, Superman swooped down to the planet's surface and grabbed the dovin basal. Then he reversed direction and rocketed back into space. He carried the dovin basal into deep space, and deposited it on an uninhabited planet which had no moon. **

**All Han and Anakin saw was a red and blue blur.**

**Chapter 39**

**The Fantasticship emerged out of hyperspace above Rhommamool and Osarian. Rhommamool was an** **inhospitable world populated mostly by the descendants of criminals exiled to work in the mines. This planet orbitted its star in an ellipse that brought it very close to Osarian every ten years. Osarian was a pleasant, temperate planet which present close proximity served to highlight the harsh conditions of Rhommamool. The natives of Osarian managed the mines on Rhommamool, keeping watch on the exiles and reaping the profits of their labors. Nom Anor had rallied the Rhommamoolians to declare their independence from Osarian rule, and to denounce the New Republic. In the original timeline, a full-scale war between the two planets had broken out after the departing Nom Anor had fired a series of missiles at the city of Osa-Prime. **

**Ben: "Well folks, we're here."**

**Johnny: "Where is here?"**

**Ben: "Don't ask me, Bichead."**

**Mace: "Here, is Rhommamool and Osarian."**

**Reed: "I'm picking up a Yuuzhan Vong bio-sign aboard that departing ship."**

**Aayla: "Has he attacked Osa-Prime, yet?"**

**Reed: "Not yet. We still have time to stop him."**

**Ben: "Say no more. I'm gonna head him off at the pass."**

**Johnny: "Leave it to Ben to make this sound like a cowboy movie."**

**Aayla: "What is a cowboy movie?"**

**Chapter 40**

**Nom Anor was surprised when another vessel suddenly appeared before his forward viewscreen.**

**It appeared to be trying to intercept his own ship, Anor was not concerned. The other ship was **

**smaller than his, and appeared to be lightly armed--if it was armed at all. He felt confident that he**

**could destroy it with relative ease. Nom Anor casually flipped a switch to fire a missile at the **

**oncoming ship.**

**So there were no words to express Nom Anor's dismay when the deadly missile was just as casually**

**was bounced off of the small ship's shields. It was impossible, he thought. He briefly wondered if living**

**among the infidels for so long had finally caused him to lose his sanity. Perhaps he had hallucinated the **

**entire incident.**

****

**Meanwhile, on board the Fantasticship.**

**Ben: "He shot at me!"**

**Johnny: "What did you think he was going to do? Send you flowers?"**

**Ben: "It's Clobberin' Time!!!"**

****

**In the next instant, Nom Anor's ship was shook violently as it was hit by a powerful blast from**

**the small vessel. But instead of being destroyed as Anor had expected, his ship was simply **

**rendered powerless. A wave of despair washed over the Yuuzhan Vong agent as he felt his**

**ship gripped in a powerful tractor beam. He had failed in his mission. He prayed that the infidels**

**would execute him. Better that than to return home in disgrace.**

**Chapter 41**

**After setting Sernpidal's moon back into orbit, Superman had plotted a course for Osarian to rendezvous with the Fantastic Four. Aayla Secura had brought along a datapad which contained a map of the galaxy. Superman had memorized that map before leaving the Fantasticship. The same map had also been downloaded into the Fantasticship's computer, and Hal had downloaded it into his ring--which had its own artificial intelligence. Superman had found it to be very useful so far. It made transgalactic travel much easier.**

****

**Andi Eystar was jolted out of her bed as the luxury cruiser came to an sudden stop. The emergency alarm was echoing throughout the ship. The light hurt her eyes. The lights in her room must have come on automatically when the alarm sounded. She was wondering what was happening when she heard Captain Ashbee's voice come over the intercom. He was saying that the ship was under attack by pirates. The pirates had pulled them out of hyperspace using an interdictor cruiser.**

**The situation reminded Andi of a holodrama that she had starred in. **

**"Damn", she thought, "If her real life had to imitate one of her holos, why couldn't it be one of those dumb romantic comedies? At least the people in those usually didn't get killed."**

**Andi quickly put on her clothes and tied her long blonde hair back into a ponytail. Then she grabbed the small personal blaster that her agent had convinced her to buy several months before. She had never really thought that she'd need it, but fortunately she had decided to learn to use it just in case. Then she decided to venture into the corridor outside her room. Several people were franticly running down the corridor in both directions. Looking out a nearby viewport, Andi saw that the pirates had two ships. The Interdictor Cruiser which had yanked them out of hyperspace and a Dreadnaught.**

**She briefly wished that her former costar, Ben Afterburner, was there. Then she remembered that in real life, he was the polar opposite of the characters that he plays in his action holos. He'd be totally useless in this situation. Plus he's such a jerk that she'd probably be tempted to shoot him herself. **

**Chapter 42**

**Andi heard a loud clanging noise as the pirates' Dreadnaught attached itself to the hull of the luxury cruiser. They were about to be boarded. **

****

**Andi saw two of the pirates approaching. She fired her blaster twice, hitting one in the chest--a killing shot--and the other one in the right shoulder. The pirate who she hit in the shoulder stayed on his feet, but he dropped his weapon. So Andi took the opportunity to fire again, and this time she hit him in the abdomen. He crumpled to the floor in agony. **

**"Don't get cocky", she told herself. She knew that her initial success was more due to luck than skill. She saw three more pirates coming so she turned and sprinted down the corridor in the opposite direction. **

**When Andi thought that she had ran far enough to gain a lead on the pirates, she stopped and jumped up to grab onto a low hanging girder. She then pulled herself up into a crawlspace in the ceiling. She felt that her chances would be better if she could ambush the pirates. She was expecting the pirates to be coming her way in just a few minutes. But thirty minutes later she was still waiting.**

**When Andi had first climbed up into her hiding place, she could hear the sound of blasterfire coming from other parts of the ship. But during the thirty minutes that she had been hiding those sounds had gradually subsided. Now the ship seemed eerily silent. All blasterfire had stopped. Andi wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but she feared that it was bad. **

**Had the shooting stopped because all of her fellow passengers and the crew--or at least the ones who had weapons--were dead? For some unknown reason, she was more frightened by the idea that she might be all alone--except for the pirates of course--than she had been in her initial encounter with the pirates. **

**"Don't be silly", she said to herself. "You don't even know for sure that the others are dead. And regardless you're alone right now anyway."**

**"Great", she said, "Now I'm talking to myself."**

**"They say it's alright to talk to yourself as long as you don't start answering yourself", said a tall dark haired man who was standing in the corridor below her.**

**Andi had been so immersed in her own thoughts that she had not noticed him until he spoke. She was so startled that she dropped her gun. Now she was defenseless. But despite her fear, she couldn't help noticing the unusual clothes that this man was wearing. **

**"Aren't you dressed a little strangely for a pirate?", she said.**

**"I'm not a pirate", he said.**

**"Then who are you?", Andi said.**

**"Some people call me Superman", he said. "But my friends call me Kal."**

****

**Chapter 43**

**Once they had received permission to land, Ben piloted the Fantasticship down to the planet's surface. Nom Anor was incarcerated and charged with plotting against the Osarian government. Then after the Fantastic Four informed former New Republic senator Leia Organa Solo of Nom Anor's true origins and purpose, the New Republic added a few other charges including intergalactic espionage.**

****

**Meanwhile Hal Jordan, Spider-Man, and Tahiri Veila were traversing the intergalactic void(the void which separated the Yuuzhan Vong's galaxy from the GFFA). They planned to intercept the Yuuzhan Vong's main fleet. Tahiri was looking out a viewport.**

**Tahiri: "Wow! It's completely dark out there."**

**Spider-Man(in deadpan voice): "Yeah. I imagine that's why they call it a void."**

**Tahiri: "Are you making fun of me?"**

**Spider-Man: "Stop!"**

**Tahiri: "What?"**

**Spider-Man: "You quoted Natalie Portman. Don't do that."**

**Tahiri: "Who is that?"**

**Spider-Man: "An actress."**

**Hal: "And apparently one that Spider-Man isn't very fond of."**

**Spider-Man: "Well, I think she's a good actress. But she seems to be a bit of a snob. Dont'cha think, Hal?"**

**Hal: "Well, I've never met her--"**

**Spider-Man: "Lucky you."**

**Tahiri: "That was harsh."**

**Hal: "But from what I've read, she does seem to be a little mean sometimes."**

**Spider-Man(joking): "So you're saying that she's a meangirl?"**

**Hal chuckled lightly. While Tahiri, who didn't get the joke, fixed Spidey and Hal with a puzzled look.**

**Spider-Man: "But anyway, that's not really the point. It's that Tahiri quoting her just seems really weird."**

**Chapter 44**

**Mara Jade is lying on her bed resting with her eyes open. She isn't particularly sleepy, but she is very tired. She's been feeling chronically fatigued lately, and she isn't sure why. Even more troubling is the fact that so far her attempts to reinvigorate herself using force meditation have only been mildly successful.**

**Mara hears the main door of her and Leia's suite opening. Then she hears several voices in the main room. Mara recognizes one of those voices as Leia's. So Leia is back and they have company, Mara thinks to herself. With considerable effort, Mara is able to will herself to get up and go into the living area.**

**Standing in the entranceway of the living area, Mara takes a moment to size up their guests. There are three humans wearing form fitting blue uniforms and a shirtless rocky-hided alien wearing a pair of blue pants identical to the pants worn by the other three. **

**Mara doesn't recognize the alien's species. But she doesn't give that much thought. It's a big galaxy. There are bound to be some alien species that she hasn't encountered before. She's more surprised by what she senses she reaches out with the force, doing so more out of habit than for any actual reason. Her forcesense detects four human lifeforms--not counting Leia and herself--in the room. The only nonhuman presences that she senses are Leia's two Noghri bodyguards.**

**As Mara walks into the room, Leia introduces their guests to her.**

**Leia: "Mara. Did we wake you?"**

**Mara: "No, I was just resting."**

**Leia(pointing in the direction of the dark haired man and the blonde woman): "This is Reed and Sue Richards."**

**(then pointing to the blonde man): "This is Sue's brother, Johnny Storm."**

**(finally pointing to the large orange alien): "And this is Ben Grimm."**

**Mara shakes hands with Reed, Sue, and Johnny. But when she reaches out to shake Ben's hand, he grabs her hand--in a surprisingly gentle grip--and bows, kissing the back of her hand as he does so.**

**"Great", Mara thinks to herself, "A supersized Lando Calrissian."**

**Ben: "Pleased to meet you."**

**Mara: "Uh...thank you. Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?"**

**Ben: "Yes, I am single. But I don't date married women. Sorry."**

**Mara is momentarily speechless.**

**Mara: "Uh...that wasn't the question I was going to ask."**

**Ben: "Okay, shoot. Well, don't literally shoot."**

**Mara: "I apologize if this sounds rude, but I'm curious. I've never seen one of your kind before. What are you?"**

**Ben: "I'm one of a kind, babe. You're looking at the Ever-Loving Blue-Eyed Thing."**

**Johnny: "Oh, brother."**

**Mara: "Huh?"**

**Sue: "Ben's appearance is deceiving. He's human."**

**Reed: "Technically speaking Ben, Johnny, Sue, and myself are all cosmically enhanced humans."**

**Ben: "Enhanced he says. Easy for him to say."**

**Mara: "What do you mean?"**

**Ben: "What Stretch here calls enhancement, I call a curse. I didn't always look like this, ya know."**

**Johnny: "I don't know, Ben. Most people would consider becoming as strong as you are to be quite an enhancement." **

**Ben: "I didn't say it was all bad."**

****

**A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door. Leia and the Fantastic Four--Mara had learned that they called themselves that when she asked what the 4 on the uniforms stood for--had gone into the dining area. Mara was still in the living area so she went to answer the door. When Mara opens the door, she thinks that she's seeing a ghost. Her jaw drops open and she stares blankly for several seconds. Then she decides that the person she's looking at--whoever he may be--is too solid to be a ghost.**

**Mara: "I'm sorry. It's just that you look amazingly like Mace Windu. For a moment, I thought I was seeing a ghost."**

**Mace: "Your initial reaction isn't too far from the truth. I am indeed Mace Windu."**

**At first, Mara thinks that the stranger is lying or joking. But then realizes that what he is saying--however impossible it seems--is true. Her forcesense confirms it. Still, she doesn't undertand how he could be standing before her now.**

**Mara: "But...Mace Windu died almost fifty years ago." **

**Mace: "From a certain point of view, that is true."**

**Mara: "So Kenobi got that certain point of view stuff from you." **

**Mace: "I'm not sure what you mean."**

**Mara: "Nevermind."**

**Mace: "From your point of view, I died 44 years ago. But the Fantastic Four brought Aayla and myself back from the past."**

**For the first time, Mara noticed the Twi'lek standing next to Windu. Mara wondered how she could have not seen her there before. Had she been standing there the entire time or had she walked up while Mara had been engaged in talking to Master Windu?**

**Aayla: "Hello, Master Jade Skywalker. I'm Aayla Secura."**


	5. The Monster Strikes Back

**Chapter 45**

**Q appears behind Superman. He is wearing the white uniform of an Imperial Grand Admiral. Andi sees him appear out of thin air and a startled gasp escapes her lips. Superman turns around to face Q.**

**Q(applauding): "Bravo, Kal. But I think it's time for you to go home now." **

**Superman: "What do you mean?"**

**Q: "You've meddled with the history of this universe quite enough. When you saved the Wookiee that was one thing. But then you had to go and save her." (points at Andi)**

**"Do you realize how many more bad holovids she's going to make now?"**

**Andi: "Hey!"**

**Superman: "You expect me to just stand by and allow someone to be killed because you don't like their films?"**

**Q: "Films. Such an archaic term. And I was just kidding about that. But I really must insist that you depart this universe now. Besides I think you're urgently needed back in Metropolis."**

**Superman: "What's happening in Metropolis?"**

**Q: "An old foe of yours is on a rampage."**

**Superman: "Who?"**

**Q: "A very large, equally ugly monster with bony spikes. His name escapes me at the moment."**

**Superman: "Doomsday."**

**Q: "Yes, that's it. I'm sure you'll want to return home so I'll send you on your way."**

**Q claps his hands once and Superman vanishes.**

**Andi: "Who are you?"**

**Q: "I'm Q of the Q Continuum."**

**Andi: "The what?"**

**Q: "Nevermind. BTW, I got rid of those pirates for you. Sent them back to their ships and sent their ships back to their base."**

**Andi: "Thanks."**

**Q: "No problem. Just don't think I'm going to make a habit of it."**

**Q disappears.**

**Chapter 46**

**Jaina Solo is visiting her parents. Her mother and Threepio are in the kitchen preparing dinner. Jaina is in the living area with her father and Chewbacca. Han and Chewie are telling a story that they've told many times over the last several years. **

**Jaina: "Dad, do you really believe that a man can fly?"**

**Han: "I know what I saw, sweetheart."**

**Chewie: "Rrrhhhggg!"**

**Jaina: "Don't get so excited. I was just asking. I wish I had seen it."**

**On board Green Lantern's energy construct starship, Tahiri Veila is experiencing a strange mental phenomenon. She feels like she now has two sets of memories. Her original memories and some alternate memories. She realizes that Superman must have succeeded in saving Chewbacca because while she still remembers him having been killed by the falling moon, she also remembers him not being killed. She tries to search this alternate set of memories to decipher if what they've done so far has had an effect on Anakin Solo's fate, but it's unclear.**

**When Superman misses his scheduled rendezvous with the Fantastic Four, they begin to wonder about his whereabouts. Mr. Fantastic tries to contact him using the communication system onboard the Fantasticship. He had given Superman a communicator so they could contact him. All Reed gets when attempting to contact Superman is static. So then Sue suggests that they try to contact Green Lantern.**

**They succeed in contacting Green Lantern without any difficulty. Reed tells Hal that they have been unable to contact Superman. Hal wills his ring to find Superman and give him a visual. A few minutes later, an image appears in Hal's ring. Hal wills the ring to project the image so he, Spider-Man, and Tahiri can view it more easily. Then he wills the ring to duplicate the image onto the Fantasticship's communications video screen. **

**At first, all that they can see is a gray blur and a red/blue blur against a white background. Hal wills his ring to slow the image down so they're viewing it in slow motion. Then they see that Superman is engaged in a brutal fight against a savage creature in an arctic environment. Presumably, Antarctica. Hal identifies the creature as an alien monster called Doomsday, which had been created a quarter of a million years ago by Kryptonian scientists. Doomsday stands about 7 foot tall and weighs approximately 600 pounds. He has red eyes, gray skin, white hair, and white bonelike spikes on his face, arms, and back.**

**Chapter 47**

**(initial setting: Antarctica)**

**Superman and Doomsday are battering each other with powerful punches. They are fighting at such a high speed that each punch causes a sonic boom. They fight like this for several minutes. Neither combatant is able to knock the other off his feet.**

**Suddenly, Superman wraps Doomsday in a bear hug, temporarily pinning the monster's arms at his side. Due to the enormous pressure he must apply in order to keep Doomsday's arms pinned, he lacerates his own arms. First Doomsdays bonelike spikes shred the sleeves of Superman's costume, and then they tear into his flesh. **

**Superman flies straight up until he has left Earth's atmosphere. Then traveling at multiples of the speed of light, he flies to an uninhabited, rocky planet located in an adjacent solar system. When he lands on the planet's surface, Superman releases Doomsday from the bearhug.**

**Doomsday then connects with a punch to Superman's jaw which knocks him back 200 feet. Superman crashes into the side of a mountain. The resulting impact causes the mountain to crumble on top of him. When Superman emerges from the rubble, he lifts a large chunk of the mountain and throws it at Doomsday. The immense rock knocks Doomsday down, but he immediately gets back up.**

**Next Superman attacks Doomsday with a fiery blast of heat vision. To most of those watching the fight--except Hal Jordan who knew how resilient Doomsday was--it seemed that the monster would be incinerated. But when the smoke and flame cleared, Doomsday was still standing. He was charred black in a few places but otherwise appeared to be unscathed. **

**Superman flies towards Doomsday at superspeed and hits him in the midsection with a flying dropkick. Doomsday is sent flying backwards 150 feet and lands on his back. Superman flies up into the sky until he's a mile directly above Doomsday's prone body and then flies down at the speed of light driving his knee into Doomsday's chest. The impact creates a impact crater that is 55 miles in diameter. **

**Superman stands up and starts to fly away. Doomsday grabs his ankle and hitches a ride out of the crater. Superman tries to kick him off, but Doomsday holds on and Superman eventually crashes to the ground. Doomsday manages to land on his feet. Superman starts to get up. Doomsday grabs Superman by the throat and lifts him above his head. Then he slams Superman to the ground. Doomsday roars.**

**Superman slowly starts to get up again. Doomsday throws a punch aimed at Superman's left temple. Superman raises his left hand and catches Doomsday's fist. Then with his right hand, Superman punches Doomsday under his chin. The powerful uppercut sends Doomsday flying through the air. Doomsday lands on the summit of an active volcano, at the lip of the crater. **

**Superman flies over there. When Superman lands at the lip of the crater, Doomsday is already halfway up to his feet. Doomsday smashes his right fist into Superman's sternum. Superman gasps for air as the wind is knocked out of him. Then, using the same arm, Doomsday elbows Superman in the face. The jagged stalactite of Doomsday's elbow cuts Superman's face. Superman's face was already badly bruised, but--with the exception of when Superman had lacerated his own arms while restraining Doomsday--this was the first blood drawn in the fight. **

**The momentum of the blow staggers Superman and he struggles to maintain his balance at the edge of the crater. Doomsday reaches back with his left arm and hits Superman in the side of his head. This shatters Superman's right eardrum and causes him to fall into the volcano, landing in the lava below. **


	6. Return of the Kryptonian

**Chapter 48**

**A lone tear falls down Tahiri Veila's cheek.**

**Tahiri: "It killed Superman!"**

**Hal: "I don't believe he's dead."**

**Tahiri puts an arm around Hal's shoulders and says: **

**"I know how tough it is to watch a friend be killed and not be able to do anything about it."**

**Hal turns to look at Tahiri, and wipes the tear off her face.**

**Hal: "You don't understand, Tahiri. I meant that I believe he'll survive that."**

**Spider-Man: "I think you're being overly optimistic, Hal."**

**Hal: "Just watch."**

**Spider-Man: "I'd like to believe that you're right, but--"**

**Spider-Man stops in mid-sentence because he sees Superman flying out of the volcano.**

**When Superman flies out of the volcano, Doomsday has left the area. Superman uses his telescopic vision to look for Doomsday. He spots Doomsday 20 miles away. He's destroying everything in his path. Superman scans the planet for any lifeforms besides himself and Doomsday. There are none. Even Doomsday can't do any real damage here. So Superman decides to fly back to Earth and leave Doomsday stranded.**

**Chapter 49**

**A few hours later Leia Organa Solo, Mara Jade Skywalker, Mace Windu, Aayla Secura, and the Fantastic Four left Osarian and journeyed to Coruscant. After Reed had explained to Leia and Mara why they were there and told them about the disease that the Yuuzhan Vong had infected Mara with, Leia suggested that they go the to the New Republic's capital world. Master Windu had seconded that suggestion and everyone else had agreed. Luke Skywalker was contacted and he left Yavin for Coruscant immediately.**

**Reed Richards is working hard trying to cure Mara Jade Skywalker's illness, but isn't having much success. Mace Windu and Aayla Secura have attempted to assist by using jedi healing techniques but neither of them specialize in the jedi healing arts. The Mon Calamari jedi healer Cilghal arrived shortly after Luke did. She was the most experienced healer of Luke's new order of jedi. The efforts of Cilghal, Mace, and Aayla had helped somewhat to alleviate--but not cure--the symptons that Mara was suffering from. But her illness was getting progressively worse. Reed was trying to formulate a serum that could cure the disease. That was proving to be a very difficult task. This Yuuzhan Vong virus was very resilient.**

**When Leia got back to her apartment on Coruscant, Han was already there. He greeted her with a hug and a kiss. She was about to introduce Han to Aayla Secura, who had come there with her, when he started telling her a crazy story about a flying man who had lifted a falling moon back into orbit. **

**Leia: "Han, how much Corellian whiskey have you had tonight?" **

**Aayla: "Leia, I think your husband encountered one of the other members of my party."**

**Han(to Leia): "See, she believes me!" (to Aayla): "Who are you?"**

**Aayla: "My name is Aayla Secura."**

**Han: "That's funny. There was an Old Republic era jedi by that same name."**

**Aayla: "I'm pleased that you have heard of me."**

**Han does a doubletake. Then he says: "Are you trying to tell me that you're that Aayla Secura?"**

**Aayla: "Yes."**

**Han: "I don't think so. She's dead and you're very much alive. Besides you look much too young to be that old."**

**Aayla: "I came forward in time. From what you think of as the past. My present."**

**Han: "Really? You came back to the future?"**

**Aayla: "Yes. That is correct."**

**Han(sarcastically): "Was time traveling a common ability among jedi of your era?"**

**Aayla: "No. It is not. I know the concept of time travel seems far fetched. Before I experienced it firsthand, I did not believe it to be possible either. But is it really any more unbelieveable than what you witnessed at Sernpidal?"**

**Han: "You have a point. What's going on?"**

**Leia: "I'll explain everything, Han."**

**Aayla: "It was nice meeting you, Captain Solo." (to Leia): "I enjoyed meeting you also, Leia. It's amazing how much you remind me of Anakin."**

**Aayla realizes immediately that she has said something wrong. She apologizes and excuses herself.**


	7. The Alien Armada

**Chapter 50**

**Tahiri Veila looks out the forward viewport of Green Lantern's starship. What she sees causes her eyes to widen and her jaw to drop. She is looking at the Yuuzhan Vong invasion fleet. She is shocked because what she sees before her is a massive invading armada. The Yuuzhan Vong didn't arrive like that in the original timeline.**

**Tahiri: "Sithspawn!"**

**Her curse causes Hal and Spider-Man to turn and look at her. Spidey's mask hides his facial expression, but Hal is smiling. **

**Tahiri: "What the Mustafar are you smiling about?"**

**Hal: "I'm sorry."**

**Tahiri: "Apology accepted. But that's not what I meant. How can you be smiling at a time like this? We're outnumbered by at least 1000 to 1."**

**Hal: "Never tell me the odds."**

**Spider-Man laughs. Tahiri is rendered speechless for a moment. **

**Tahiri(to Spider-Man): "You told him to say that, didn't you?"**

**Spider-Man: "I didn't. I swear."**

**Even though Spider-Man's mask hides his face completely, she can tell that his fear is equal to her own. He tries to hide his fear by joking around, but she can sense it through the force. Then she looks at Hal. The man known as Green Lantern wears a mask also, but it is a much smaller mask which only hides the area surrounding his eyes. She sees no fear there. Her forcesense confirms it. This man is without fear.**

**Tahiri(to Hal): "You're crazier than Han Solo!"**

**Hal: "Who?"**

**Tahiri: "Nevermind."**

**She looks at the Yuuzhan Vong fleet again.**

**Tahiri: "They act like they don't see us."**

**Hal: "They don't."**

**Tahiri: "How is that possible? We're well within their sensor and visual range."**

**Spider-Man(joking): "No ship this small has a cloaking device!"**

**Tahiri stares daggers at Spider-Man.**

**Spider-Man(to Tahiri): "What?"**

**Hal: "We're invisible."**

**Tahiri: "Well, that's good because something is wrong."**

**Hal: "What do you mean?"**

**Tahiri: "In the original timeline, the Yuuzhan Vong grew most of their fleet after they arrived in my galaxy. They used a divide and conquer strategy. This is a massive invasion armada. Something must have happened to change history on their side."**

**Hal: "Mr. Mxyzptlk or Q may have visited them."**

**Tahiri: "Why?"**

**Hal: "Well I don't know much about Q, but Mxyzptlk likes to play games."**

**Tahiri: "So to him, we're like pawns on a giant chess board?"**

**Hal: "You could say that."**

**Then Tahiri reaches out with the force and notices something odd about the biotechnological invasion fleet. **

**Tahiri: "They're all paralyzed!"**

**Hal: "Yes. You're right."**

**Tahiri: "But they weren't paralyzed when we first got here. They were still moving forward then."**

**Hal(smiling): "I know."**

**Tahiri looked at Hal in bewilderment.**

**Tahiri: "You did it?"**

**Hal: "Yes."**

**Tahiri: "Why didn't you tell me?"**

**Hal: "I was about to tell you when you noticed it on your own."**

**Tahiri: "Okay. So what do we do now?"**

**Hal: "We fly alongside their flagship and teleport inside."**

**Tahiri: "Cool."**

**Spider-Man(chomping on a makeshift cigar made out of webbing in an imitation of The A-Team's 'Hannibal' Smith): "I love it when a plan comes together."**


	8. Snap of the Fingers

**Chapter 51**

**Ben Grimm and Johnny Storm arrive at the Solo apartment. Johnny presses the door chime. Leia Organa Solo answers the door. **

**Leia: "Hello. Come in."**

**Han, Chewbacca, and Jaina are in the living area. Leia introduces Ben and Johnny to Han, Chewie, and Jaina. Then Ben explains the purpose of his and Johnny's visit there. Reed asked them to deliver a communicator that can be used to contact them. Johnny hands Leia the device. **

**Jaina(to Ben & Johnny): "Well, it was nice meeting you guys. (to her parents): "I'm going to go get something to eat."**

**As she walks out the door, Johnny steps in beside her and puts an arm around her shoulders. **

**Johnny: "I'll join you. I'm starved."**

**Jaina looks at the young blonde man in mild surprise. Leia can sense Han's concern. She puts a hand on his arm.**

**Leia(whispering): "Your daughter can take care of herself."**

**Han(whispering): "She's 16."**

**Leia(whispering): "She's a jedi."**

**Jaina: "Okay. You can come with me."**

**Johnny smiles. Then Jaina latches onto his wrist and removes his arm from around her shoulders.**

**Jaina: "But keep your hands to yourself."**

**Johnny: "Yes, ma'am."**

**Ben laughs and mutters to himself, "Girl has spunk. I like her".**

**Leia(to Han): "See, I told you."**

**Chapter 52**

**When Aayla Secura arrives at the Skywalker's apartment, Mace Windu is already there. Mara answers the door and invites her in. Luke is seated on the couch and Master Windu is seated in a chair across from him. Mara sits on the couch beside Luke and Aayla sits in a chair next to Master Windu. **

**Luke(to Windu): "So these Yuuzhan Vong are like a void in the force and we can use that to uncover their disguises?"**

**Mace: "That is correct."**

**Aayla is staring at Luke. When he turns to look at her, their eyes meet and she realizes that she has been caught staring. **

**Aayla: "I'm sorry."**

**Luke: "That's alright. Is there something wrong? Do I have a piece of flatbread stuck in my teeth?"**

**Aayla laughs.**

**Aayla: "No. It's just that you look so much like Anakin. I hope that doesn't offend you."**

**Luke: "Not at all. He was your friend. And I've forgiven him for the things that he did as Darth Vader."**

**Aayla: "I'm glad. I made the mistake of mentioning the same thing to your sister earlier. She was quite visibly upset by it."**

**Luke: "Well, forgiveness of our father comes much harder for Leia. She remembers him as a grim visage in black armor and a flowing black cape. I remember him that way also, but since I was with him when he died, I remember him the way he was just before he died. And shortly after that, I saw his ghost so I also remember him as he was before he fell to the darkside. Leia knows that our father was redeemed before he died. She knows that he saved my life and killed Palpatine, but since she wasn't present, that reality isn't as concrete for her as when he had her tortured and stood by while her home planet was destroyed."**

**Windu: "Her home planet was destroyed? Which planet was that?"**

**Luke: "Alderaan. She had been adopted by Bail Organa."**

**Aayla: "Bail perished when the planet was destroyed?"**

**Luke: "Yes."**

**Windu: "It must be tough for her knowing that her father was involved in the death of her adopted father and her adopted homeworld."**

**Aayla: "I still have difficulty believing that the Anakin that I know will do all of those things."**

**Windu: "Perhaps he won't."**

**Mara: "What do you mean? He already did."**

**Windu: "From your perspective, that's true. But from my perspective, all those events are still in the future."**

**Luke: "Our past is still your future."**

**Windu: "Yes. Perhaps, when Aayla and I return to the past, we may be able to use the knowledge of the future we now possess to alter those events."**

**"Perhaps. Per chance. It is to dream."**

**The voice comes from the kitchen. Luke and the other jedi turn their heads and see a man standing there chomping on a pilfered piece of fruit. None of them recognize the man, but Luka and Mara instantly recognize his attire. He is wearing Darth Vader's black armor and cape sans the helmet. The jedi stand and ignite their lightsabers nearly simultaneously.**

**Q: "Please don't get up on my account."**

**Luke: "Who are you?"**

**Q: "I am Q of the Q Continuum. And you are Luke Skywalker. May I have your autograph?"**

**Luke: "You broke into my apartment to get my autograph?"**

**Q: "No. First, I didn't break in. I popped in. I'm an omnipotent being. I don't have to break and enter. I simply enter.**

**And no I didn't come here for your autograph. But since I'm here, I thought--"**

**Windu: "Why are you here?"**

**Q: "I intend to prevent you from changing history. And I won't be tricked this time. Damn Spock."**

**Mara: "Did you say damn spot?"**

**Q: "No, I said Spock. Are you deaf?"**

**Mara: "No, but my hearing is slightly impaired right now."**

**Q: "Oh yeah. You have that awful Yuuzhan Vong disease. My bad."**

**Windu: "But isn't your mere presence here at this moment potentially changing history?"**

**Q(puzzled expression): "I don't follow."**

**Windu: "If you are truly omnipotent then you are also omnipresent. Existing in all places and at all times at once. From your perspective this very moment would also be the past. So although you say that you have come here to prevent us(gestures towards Aayla and himself) from changing their(gestures to Luke and Mara) past, by appearing here you may change their future."**

**Q: "Well that may be true Mr. Smartypants, but I am I and you are you."**

**Windu: "Meaning what?"**

**Q: "The rules don't apply to me."**

**Windu: "According to who?"**

**Q: "According to me. That's who. You're as bad as Spock."**

**Q snaps his fingers. Mace Windu and Aayla Secura vanish. **

**Luke: "What happened to them?"**

**Q: "I sent them back."**

**Mara: "How will sending them back prevent them from trying to change history?"**

**Q: "I also edited their memories. They won't remember any of their illicit knowledge of the future."**

**Luke: "What about Master Yoda? According to Windu, the Fantastic Four told Master Yoda about the future also."**

**Q: "You mean Kermit? I edited his memories seconds after Windu left him."**

**Q snaps his fingers again and disappears.**


	9. Light of the Lantern

_**Chapter 53**_

**Jaina and Johnny have just finished eating breakfast and are walking back to the Solo apartment when a Trandoshan bumps into Johnny. **

**Trandoshan: "Watch where you're going, Human!"**

**Johnny: "You bumped into me, Lizard Man."**

**Jaina: "Let's go, Johnny. Trandoshans never make good company and this one is drunk."**

**Jaina turns to leave, hoping that Johnny will follow. As she does so, the Trandoshan grabs her shoulder. His claws press into Jaina's flesh. She turns and looks into the Trandoshan's red eyes.**

**Jaina: "Let go."**

**Trandoshan: "Who's gonna make me? You or your wimpy little boyfriend?"**

**Johnny: "The lady said let go."**

**Johnny transforms his right hand to flame and places the fiery hand on the Trandoshan's upper arm as he says this. The Trandoshan releases Jaina and howls in agony. Then he draws his blaster. In a flash, Jaina ignites her lightsaber and severs the reptilian's arm at the elbow. The blaster falls to the ground. Johnny incinerates it with a wave of his hand. The wounded Trandoshan, realizing that even a Trandoshan can't regenerate from ashes, beats a hasty retreat. **

**Jaina and Johnny walk away. When they get back to her parents' apartment, Leia notices that the shoulder of Jaina's blouse is stained with blood. **

**Leia: "What happened?"**

**Jaina: "We had a minor confrontation with a Trandoshan."**

**Chewie: "Rrrrhhh!"**

**Han: "A trandoshan?"**

**Leia starts to push up Jaina's sleeve to examine the wound. **

**Jaina: "It's not serious, Mom. It already stopped bleeding."**

**Chewie: "Rrhhg?"**

**Han: "Yeah, what happened?"**

**Jaina: "The Trandoshan bumped into Johnny and tried to pick a fight."**

**Johnny: "When Jaina and I started to walk away, the Trandoshan grabbed her shoulder."**

**Jaina: "And when he refused to let go, Johnny burned his arm."**

**Johnny: "When he went for his blaster, Jaina cut off his arm."**

**Jaina: "Then Johnny incinerated the blaster, and the Trandoshan got scared and ran away."**

**Chewie laughs loudly at the thought of a Trandoshan running away from a fight. To say that there is no love lost between Wookiees and Trandoshans would be a vast understatement.**

**Leia(to Jaina): "It sounds like you two make a good team."**

**Chewie: "Rrrhhgg?"**

**Han: "I'm curious about that too."**

**Han and Chewie are looking at Johnny. Johnny can tell that they are waiting for him to answer but he doesn't know what the question is.**

**Johnny: "I'm sorry. I don't understand Wookiee."**

**C3PO: "Master Chewbacca wishes to know details regarding how you burned the Trandoshan."**

**Chewie: "Rrrhh!"**

**C3PO: "And how you incinerated his blaster."**

**Johnny: "Oh. I just used my hand."**

**Han: "Your hand?"**

**Jaina: "Show them, Johnny."**

**Johnny demonstrates his power by transforming both of his hands into flame. Then he turns them off.**

**Leia: "So you can turn your hands into flame?"**

**Johnny: "My entire body, actually."**

**Chewie: "Rrrhhh!"**

**C3PO: "Master Chewbacca is impressed."**

**Johnny: "Uh...convey my thanks."**

**Han: "Chewie understands you, Kid. You just can't understand him."**

**Johnny: "Yeah. I knew that. Just forgot for a second. Uh...did Ben leave already?"**

**Leia: "Yes. He left just before you and Jaina got back."**

**Johnny: "Okay. I better go."**

**Jaina: "It was nice meeting you, Johnny."**

**Johnny(smiling): "Yeah. You too, Kid."**

**Jaina: "Hmmph! I am not a kid."**

**Johnny: "Hey, I didn't mean anything by it. I'm older than you and I get called Kid all the time."**

_**Johnny leaves.**_

_**Chapter 54**_

**When Hal Jordan, Spider-Man, and Tahiri Veila enter the Yuuzhan Vong flagship, they are met by ten Yuuzhan Vong warriors. Hal knocks them all out with a single blast from his ring. Then Hal goes off on his own, cutting a swatch through oncoming warriors on his way. **

**Hal is seeking out the Yuuzhan Vong leaders. Their Supreme Overlord Shimrra and his apparently meek servant Onimi. Tahiri informed Hal that although the Yuuzhan Vong shamed one played the part of a jester in Shimrra's court, Onimi was really a Dark Jedi. Or the Yuuzhan Vong version of one anyway. The Yuuzhan Vong, as a race, had been cut off from the force completely. But Onimi had performed shaping experiments on himself that had inadvertently granted him access to the force. He had used his new abilities to manipulate Shimrra. Onimi was secretly the Yuuzhan Vong's true leader.**

**Another squad of warriors arrives to confront Tahiri and Spider-Man. Spider-Man makes a shield out of his webbing to protect himself from the thud bugs that the warriors are throwing at him and Tahiri. Tahiri deflects or dodges most of the bugs, but one gets by her defenses and hits her in the shoulder. She grits her teeth against the pain.**

**Spider-Man is facing off against six warriors when another one attempts to sneak up behind him. Spidey's spider sense warns him. As the Yuuzhan Vong warrior swings his amphistaff at Spider-Man, he turns around and catches the body of the serpentine staff. The end of the staff morphs into the head of a snake and tries to bite Spider-Man. Spidey quickly flings it away. Then he picks up the warrior and uses him like a club against the other warriors. Some of the warriors try to defend themselves by raising their amphistaffs and attempting to block the attack. The unfortunate warrior receives several bites from the deadly staffs. **

**Three more squads of warriors arrive just in time to see this. The display causes the Yuuzhan Vong lieutenant who is leading the new arrivals to send two of the squads to confront the masked infidel while he and one squad of warriors engage the female. **

**Spidey: "I guess this is the downside to being popular."**

**Spidey grabs the nearest two warriors and cracks their heads together. Then he leaps straight up, sticking to the ceiling. He shoots two quick bursts of webbing, blinding one of the warriors. The warrior struggles to remove the webbing from his face. Three of the warriors, working in unison, hurl their amphistaffs up at Spider-Man like spears. Spidey catches two of the amphistaffs but the third pierces his side.**

**Spidey: "Ahhh!"**

**Spidey leaps down. He discards the alien weapons. One of the warriors uses his amphistaff like a whip to lash at Spider-Man. The amphistaff coils around Spidey's arm. Spidey uses the whip to pull the warrior into his fist. The warrior is knocked out. Spidey removes the amphistaff from his arm and tosses it to the floor. Two more warriors rush at Spider-Man, swinging their amphistaffs at his head. He ducks and punches each warrior in the midsection, sending them flying across the corridor. **

**Another warrior swings his amphistaff low aiming for Spider-Man's legs. Spider-Man jumps up and kicks the warrior in the face. But as he does so, another warrior swings his amphistaff at Spider-Man's knee. It is a glancing blow, but the incredibly sharp blade severs Spider-Man's patella tendon. When Spider-Man lands, his right leg buckles under him and he collapses to the floor.**

_**Chapter 55**_

**Tahiri has already fought and defeated several warriors. She is beginning to tire. One of the remaining two warriors-the lieutenant- charges at her. Tahiri leaps and kicks him in the face. She hears and feels his nose break as her bare foot crashes into it. The warrior lets loose a loud cry that is a combination of pain and rage.**

**As Tahiri lands, the second warrior swings his amphistaff at her head. She raises her lightsaber and blocks his attack. Then, tapping into the Force for added strength, she sidekicks him in the kneecap. His leg snaps and he falls to the ground.**

**Tahiri turns around. She jumps back just in time to dodge the lieutenant's amphistaff. The blade slashes the front of her shirt. He strikes again. She blocks his amphistaff with her lightsaber. She parries and strikes downward. He blocks her attack. Then he kicks her in the stomach. Tahiri falls to the ground and drops her lightsaber. Deactivated, the jedi's weapon skids across the floor.**

**The Yuuzhan Vong warrior tries to stab her while she's on the ground. She rolls out of the way. Tahiri pulls a dagger out of a holster on her belt. She throws the dagger at the warrior and it goes deep into his shoulder. He screams in pain. Then the other warrior, whose leg Tahiri broke, grabs her by the throat.**

**One of the warriors kicks Spider-Man's wounded side while another warrior rips off his mask. The warrior at Spider-Man's side goes to kick his side again and the warrior who ripped off his mask starts to stomp the bridge of his nose. With his left hand, Spidey catches the foot of the warrior who is attempting to kick his side. With his right, he catches the foot of the warrior who is trying to stomp his nose. Then he effortlessly throws both warriors. The warrior at his head is thrown straight up. He slams into the ceiling and then crashes to the floor unconscious. The other warrior is thrown to the side and collides with two more warriors. The impact knocks all three unconscious. **

**Using his good leg, Spider-Man kicks up to a standing position. Standing on one leg, he faces the remaining nine warriors.**

**Spidey: "You guys are a real pain."**

**Yuuzhan Vong Warrior(in Yuuzhan Vong): Die, infidel!**

**Spidey: "Gesundheit."**

**An amphistaff spits venom into Spider-Man's eyes. He is instantly blinded. **

**As Hal makes his way to the throneroom, many more Yuuzhan Vong warriors attempt to stop him. Hal briefly stops and points his ring at them. The warriors are shocked when their amphistaffs revert to their snakelike forms and coil themselves around their own masters. Hal continues on his way. **

**When Hal reaches a door which he believes to be the entrance to the throneroom, he is confronted by a lone warrior. The warrior is speaking in his native language. Hal uses his power ring as a universal translator so he can understand the warrior. **

**The warrior identifies himself as Warmaster Tsavong Lah and challenges Hal to a duel. Lah brandishes his amphistaff and performs some fancy moves with it. Obviously meant to intimidate. The display reminds Hal of that scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark where Indiana Jones shot the swordsman. Unable to resist the urge to imitate the scene, Hal uses his ring to create a gun construct and shoots the Warmaster in the chest. Fortunately for Tsavong Lah, the emerald energy blast only knocks him out. **

_**Chapter 56**_

**Spidey is able to use his Spider sense somewhat similar to radar so while he can't see with his eyes, he can still "see" in a way. On his left, he senses an amphistaff being whipped at him. On his right, he senses a staff being swung at his throat. He catches both amphistaffs. He tugs on the whip and pulls the warrior holding it into his fist. He throws the spear and the warrior holding onto it into a wall. But while this is happening two more warriors attack from behind. One spears Spider-Man's left shoulder blade. The other lashes Spider-Man in the back. **

**Spidey leaps up to the ceiling. Crouching upside down on the ceiling, he pulls the staff out of his shoulder and webs it to the ceiling. The amphistaff venom begins to take a heavier toll on Spider-Man. He began feeling the venom's effect immediately after he was stabbed in the side, but with some effort he was able to ignore its effects. Mostly. It did slow him down quite a bit. After receiving two more doses of the venom, he's finding it much harder to resist the effects of the poison. **

**Spidey senses an amphistaff being thrown at him. He catches it and webs it to the ceiling. While he's doing that he senses another amphistaff flying towards him. He dodges and it imbeds itself into the ceiling. Spidey jumps down. He senses one of the warriors trying to punch him in the face. Spidey catches the warrior's fist. Then he grabs him and jumps back up to the ceiling. Spider-Man webs the captured warrior the ceiling. He catches another thrown amphistaff. He webs it to the ceiling. He hears one of the warriors shouting at the others in their native language.**

**Warrior: Stop throwing your amphistaffs at him!**

**Spider-Man jumps down again. He senses three warriors in front of him. Two are behind him and one more is to his left. Spidey fires three quick bursts of webbing, blinding the three warriors in front of him. The warrior to the left swings his amphistaff at Spider-Man's good leg. Spidey jumps over the amphistaff and backhands that warrior. **

**One of the warriors behind Spider-Man punches him in the back. Spidey reaches back and snap mares the warrior to the ground. Spidey loses his balance and falls on top of the warrior. Another warrior attempts to spear Spider-Man in the back. Spidey senses the attack and moves out of the way. The fallen warrior is stabbed through the stomach by the amphistaff meant for Spider-Man. Spidey grabs the warrior who just impaled his fellow and leaps back up to the ceiling. He webs the warrior to the ceiling. **

**Hal blasts open the doors to the throneroom. He sees two Yuuzhan Vong inside. Remembering Tahiri's descriptions, he recognizes the large one as Supreme Overlord Shimrra and the other one as Onimi. Onimi is pretending to cower behind the throne. The Yuuzhan Vong Supreme Overlord confronts the Green Lantern. Shimrra is shouting a challenge in his native language. Realizing that Onimi is the real threat, Hal conjures a Wookiee construct to fight Shimrra while he concentrates on Onimi. The green Wookiee charges at the startled Supreme Overlord and strangles him into unconsciousness. Its work done, the Wookiee vanishes.**

**Hal looks at Onimi. The Yuuzhan Vong Dark Jedi blinks in shock several times. Then his expression switches from shock to rage. Onimi begins to use his telekinesis to hurl objects at Hal. Hal puts up a dome shaped forcefield around Onimi and himself. All of the levitated objects bounce harmlessly off the forcefield. This enrages Onimi further. **

_**Chapter 57**_

**Spider-Man crouches on the ceiling for a moment, trying to catch his breath. He is finding it increasingly difficult to breathe. His muscles feel numb, but he keeps moving through sheer force of will. He jumps down, hitting a warrior on the head with a double axehandle blow. Then Spider-Man feels a painful sting on his neck as he is whipped by an amphistaff. **

**Spidey: "Ahhh!"**

**The three remaining warriors, who had been blinded, have finally managed to remove the webbing from their eyes. Spider-Man senses a warrior to his right. He grabs the warrior by the face and throws him into a wall. The warrior's face was slick with what Spider-Man presumed to be blood. He deduces that the warrior had cut the webbing off his face. **

**Spider-Man senses another warrior approaching from behind. Spidey jumps up and spin kicks the warrior in the face. Amazingly, Spider-Man lands on his feet. But he collapses when his injured knee buckles. The remaining warrior lashes Spider-Man in the back with his amphistaff. Spider-Man struggles to remain conscious. He rolls onto his back. The warrior hardens his amphistaff into a spear and gets ready to finish off Spider-Man. Spider-Man catches the body of the spear, stopping the blade just inches from his throat. Then he snatches the spear out of the hands of the warrior. The warrior reaches down trying to take the amphistaff back. Spidey thumps the warrior on the forehead, knocking him out. The unconscious warrior falls onto Spider-Man. Spidey throws him off and then tosses away the amphistaff. **

**"I think I'm just going to lay here for a few minutes", Spidey jokes to himself. **

**Then he begins to realize that he may not be getting up at all. He tries to get up and finds that he can't move. The amphistaff venom has now completely paralyzed his muscles. It occurs to him that if he doesn't make it home, he'll never see Aunt May and MJ again. He starts to think of all the things that he would like to say to MJ. Then he blacks out. **

**Tahiri reaches out and uses the Force to draw her lightsaber to her hand. Then she chops off the injured warrior's head. Next, she kicks up to her feet. The remaining warrior, who has pulled the knife out of his shoulder, charges at Tahiri. She blocks and parries. He extends the index finger of his left hand and a poison dart hits Tahiri in the neck. She coughs violently. The warrior punches her in the face and she falls onto her back.**

**The Yuuzhan Vong lieutenant plunges his amphistaff into the young jedi's shoulder. Tahiri begins to feel the paralyzing effects of the amphistaff venom immediately. Thinking that she is defeated, the warrior turns his back on her. He looks to see if his fellow warriors have dispatched the masked infidel. He is shocked to see that all of his warriors are unconscious. Then he notices that the other infidel, who is now unmasked, is also unconscious.**

**Drawing heavily on the Force, Tahiri slowly rises to her feet. She picks up her deactivated lightsaber and runs at the warrior. She leaps into the air and shouts a battle cry. The warrior turns around. She hits him in the left temple with the end of her lightsaber's handle while simultaneously pressing the activation switch. The lightsaber's blue blade goes through the warrior's temple, killing him instantly. **

**Tahiri looks around and sees Spider-Man lying unconscious on the floor about twenty meters away. She staggers over to him and collapses. Just before losing consciousness, Tahiri attempts to mentally contact Green Lantern.**

**Just then Hal receives a mental cry for help from Tahiri and is distracted. Onimi blasts the Green Lantern with force lightning. Hal is caught off guard and the blue energy knocks him to the ground. Hal's auto shielding protects him from any serious damage so he is just momentarily stunned. Before Onimi can unleash another lightning attack, Hal strikes back with an energy blast which renders the Dark Jedi unconscious. Hal uses his ring to devolve Onimi, undoing the shaping experiments which gave him the ability to use the force and effectively stripping him of his powers. Then Hal goes back to help Tahiri and Spider-Man.**


	10. A New Home

**Chapter 58**

**Green Lantern found Spider-Man and Tahiri lying on the floor near the place where the three of them had teleported into the alien ship. They were both unconscious. Spider-Man was missing his mask. Hal saw it lying on the floor several feet away. **

**Hal checked Spider-Man's pulse. He had a pulse, but it was very weak. Then Green Lantern scanned Spidey with his ring, and instructed his ring to give him a damage assessment. The ring quickly reported that Spider-Man had a couple of broken ribs, a severed patella tendon, and was suffering from the effects of a highly toxic serpentine venom. The ring added that the Spidey's body had already began to heal the concussion and broken ribs, but it concluded that without immediate assistance the venom would be fatal. The Wallcrawler's body was working to remove the toxin, but he had received a massive dose. Hal quickly pointed his power ring at Spider-Man and willed his ring to remove all of the venom from his body and assist with the healing of his injuries. **

**Then Hal kneels beside Tahiri. He checks her pulse. She has no pulse.****And she isn't breathing. Hal uses his ring to detoxify her bloodstream, ridding her body of the paralyzing venom. Then he uses the ring to restart her heart and her breathing. When Tahiri opens her eyes, she looks up at Hal and smiles. **

**Tahiri: "Now you show up, after we did all the work."**

**Hal: "How do you feel?"**

**Tahiri: "Like I got run over by a herd of banthas. But I'm not paralyzed anymore."**

**Spidey: "Is anyone going to ask me how I feel?"**

**Tahiri: "Spidey! You're alive!"**

**Spidey(checking his own pulse on his wrist): "Yeah. Seems so."**

**

* * *

**

**Hal teleports himself and the others back to his ship. **

**Tahiri: "What about the Yuuzhan Vong?"**

**Hal: "We're taking them to Zenoma Sekot. Now that their warmonger leaders have been taken out, they should settle down peacefully."**

**Tahiri: "You found Sekot?"**

**Hal: "My ring did. I just instructed the ring to search for a sentient planet."**

**Tahiri: "And it found Sekot just like that? It took Master Luke months to find it."**

**Hal: "Well, first the ring started telling me about Mogo."**

**Tahiri: "Mogo?"**

**Hal: "Mogo is a sentient planet that exists in my universe. He's also a Green Lantern so the ring has a report about him in its database."**

**Tahiri: "Oh." **

**Hal: "So I told the ring that I was looking for a different sentient planet that exists in this universe. A few minutes later, the ring had found Sekot."**

**

* * *

**

**(Later after they have dropped the Yuuzhan Vong off on Zenoma Sekot.)**

**Spidey: "Hey, Hal."**

**Hal: "Yeah?"**

**Spidey: "There's something I've been wondering about."**

**Hal: "What's that?" **

**Spidey: "Why did your counterpart in the other DCU timeline go crazy and you didn't?"**

**Tahiri: "I was wondering about that too." **

**Hal: "Oh, Superman and I figured that out before we left New York. In the reality that Superman came from—I guess you could call it the mainstream DCU—my counterpart was possessed by a fear entity called Parallax. The Guardians had imprisoned Parallax in the Central Power Battery on Oa."**

**Spidey: "Fear entity?"**

**Tahiri: "Well, fear is the path to the darkside."**

**Hal: "It was awoken by my archenemy Sinestro when the Guardians imprisoned Sinestro in the Central Power Battery. Then after Parallax awoke, it possessed my counterpart. It needed help to escape its prison. The key difference between our two realities is that in my home reality the Guardians didn't imprison Sinestro inside the Central Power Battery so therefore Parallax wasn't awoken."**


	11. The Spider Jumps In

**Chapter 59**

**Mr. Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, and the Thing arrive at the Coruscant apartment of Luke and Mara Jade Skywalker an hour after sunset. The Skywalkers and Lando Calrissian have just finished eating dinner. Mara has went into the bedroom to lie down. Luke and Lando are talking in the living area. Luke answers the door and invites Reed, Sue, and Ben in. Artoo makes a welcoming chirping sound. Sue reaches down and pats the droid's dome. **

**Sue: "Hello."**

**Then Lando approaches Sue. He takes her hand in his. He kisses her hand and says "I'm Lando Calrissian, at your service. Tell me Sue, is there anything in your universe as beautiful as you?" **

**Ben laughs.**

**Lando(to Ben): "Excuse me. Did I say something funny?"**

**Ben Grimm: "Yeah. Ya said your name was Lando Calrissian."**

**Lando(muttering under his breath): "I'm being mocked by a talking rock."**

**Mara, who has now entered the room, laughs. She looks at Luke and they share a grin. **

**Mara(to Luke silently through their force connection): "I wonder how long he's been waiting to use that line."**

**Luke(responding to Mara in the same fashion): "I've heard him use that one before. He just substituted universe for planet."**

**

* * *

**

**Green Lantern, Spider-Man, and Tahiri Veila arrive in orbit around Coruscant. Hal teleports Spider-Man onto the Fantasticship. Johnny Storm is there. He's watching the ship while Reed, Sue, and Ben are at the Skywalker apartment.**

**Johnny turns around and sees Spidey. **

**Johnny: "Where'd you come from?"**

**Spidey: "Me? I've been here the whole time."**

**Johnny: "You have not."**

**Spidey: "Have too."**

**Johnny: "Have not!"**

**Spidey: "Have too."**

**Johnny: "Have not!"**

**Spidey: "Have not!"**

**Johnny: "Have too!"**

**Spidey: "Okay. If you say so."**

**Johnny: "..."**

"**Are you Spider-Man or Bugs Bunny?"**

**Spidey: "I guess that would make you Hoppy, the Marvel Bunny."**

**Johnny: "Hoppy the what?"**

**Johnny: "..."**

**Johnny: "You've been reading your Aunt May's old Captain Marvel comics again, haven't you?"**


	12. Return of the Tatooinean

**Chapter 60**

**Dr. Richards gave Mara Jade Skywalker a serum which cured the Yuuzhan Vong disease that she had been suffering from. Then Mr. Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, and the Thing left the Skywalker apartment and returned to the Fantasticship. There they found the Human Torch and—to their surprise—Spider-Man. Reed used a remote device to open a portal back to their home universe and returned to their Earth.**

**

* * *

**

**Hal opens a portal to Tahiri's time. They step through together. They appear in Tahiri's room just seconds after she had left it. Then Hal creates another portal to transport himself back to his universe. Jaina Solo, who had heard the orb's explosion, bursts into the room. **

**Jaina: "Tahiri! What happened?"**

**Jaina catches a glimpse of Green Lantern just before he vanishes. Jaina wonders if she is hallucinating.**

**Then Jaina looks at the strange clothes that Tahiri is wearing.**

**Jaina: "Tahiri, what are you wearing?"**

**Hal, who has made himself and the interdimensional portal invisible, transforms Tahiri's jeans and t-shirt into a set of jedi robes. Then Hal steps through the portal. **

**Jaina shakes her head in astonishment. **

**Jaina: "I'm going to go back to bed. I must not be feeling well." **

**As Jaina is turning to leave the room, she bumps into her younger brother Anakin Solo in the doorway.**

**Anakin Solo: "Could you girls keep the noise down? I'm trying to sleep."**

**Tahiri runs across the room and hugs Anakin tightly.**

**Tahiri: "You're alive!"**

**Anakin Solo(grinnng): "Yeah. Last I checked."**

**

* * *

**

**The next day Peter Parker returned to his day job, as a teacher at a New York City public high school. On his way to his classroom, he was stopped in the hallway by the new Assistant Principal, Mrs. Taylor. She had noticed the bruises on his face and was concerned.**

**Mrs. Taylor: "Hi, Peter."**

**Peter Parker: "Hello, Mrs. Taylor."**

**Mrs. Taylor: "Please call me Kelly."**

**Peter Parker: "Ok."**

**Mrs. Taylor: "Peter, are you alright?"**

**Peter Parker: "Yes."**

**Mrs. Taylor: "What happened to your face?"**

**Peter Parker: "..."**

"**I was kicked in the face by a cheerleader."**

**Mrs. Taylor: "Really?"**

**Peter Parker: "No, not really."**

**Mrs. Taylor: "So what really happened?"**

**Peter Parker: "Would you believe I was attacked by aliens?"**

**Mrs. Taylor: "No, Peter."**

**Peter Parker: "Alright. You remember my wife, MJ?"**

**Mrs. Taylor: "Yes. You're not going to tell me she beat you up, are you?"**

**Peter Parker: "No. MJ and I went to a pro wrestling show. While we were there, this wrestler called Edge tried to hit on MJ. She shot him down of course, but he didn't take rejection well. He got aggressive, I tried to fight him, and he beat me up."**

**Mrs. Taylor: "Oh my!"**

**Peter Parker: "Fortunately, security broke up the fight quickly but not before he hit me in the face a few times."**

**Mrs. Taylor: "Well, are you sure you're alright? Do you want to take a sick day?" **

**Peter Parker: "No, thank you. I'm okay."**

**THE END **


End file.

DC Elseworlds, Adventure