Chapter 31 - A Dangerous Mind

Ash was extremely bored. Zuri wouldn’t talk and Xiang was to weak too. She had to wake up Echo. She crawled over to her and shook her by the shoulders. Echo didn’t do anything.
“Come on!” Ash said. “Wake up!! I’m bored to tears!” she said.
She shook her around more but she still didn’t move. Ash even slapped her a couple times.
That got her up.
“Echo! Wake up!”
Echo slowly started to open her eyes. She seemed a little delusional and she started mumbling to herself.
“I…I twied to swave you bwoth,” Echo slurred. The stun bolt was taking a heavy effect on her speech. She was talking like a little kid.
“Echo…calm down. We’re all…still alive,” Ash said.
Echo looked at her and smiled.
“You always twell me to cwalm down and I never do,” Echo said.
“There’s just one thing to remember,” Ash said. “Even though…we faced death…so many times…there’s only one…thing to remember about it. Death is a one…time experience. You’ll never…have to face it…again after that.”
“You’re wight,” Echo said. “But I cwan’t help but worry for Xwiang. He’s not ready for this emowtional twauma. He wuvs me and he knew that if he picked you to dwie I could never weally wuv him again. But I know that he can’t choose me.”
Ash let out a sigh. There was never any reasoning with Echo.
“It’s okay. Just let the Force guide Xiang. He’ll know what to do, and so will you. When the time comes, the answers will follow.”
Echo’s eyes turned away from Ash. Ash pulled her head back to look at her.
“I’m worried about that too,” Ash said. “I don’t want your relationship to fall apart. You should go talk to him,” Ash said, trying to make her sister feel better.
Echo nodded and got up a little clumsily, but gained her balance quickly and walked over to the bars. Ash looked over and saw Zuri shaking Kiro and slapping him, trying to wake him up. Xiang was sitting up in his cot. There was a look of grimace on his face as he slowly turned to face Echo. You could tell his near-death experience had really taken a hit on him.
Echo walked up to bars and starting talking.
“Xiang, you have to pick me to die,” Echo said with no slurring. It must had taken her a lot of concentration to say the words without adding a ‘w’ to them.
“I have a way out of this,” Echo added.
Xiang shook his head violently, the most movement he had done in a long time.
“Not on your life.”
“Xiang, look at me! You have to do this! Please? For Ash? For me?” Echo pleaded.
Xiang sighed. A confused, anxious, disturbed look fell onto his face.
“Echo…I would do anything I could possibly do for you. But those words…,” he paused. “Those words are not humanly possible to come out of my mouth.”
“Just don’t think about it!” Echo said, trying to convince him. “Just say my name. Echo. That’s all you have to do!”
“I can’t!” Xiang almost yelled at her. Ash saw tears falling down his face.
“Xiang, don’t be stupid!” Echo snapped back. “If you don’t do this for me…if you don’t say my name…I…I...,” Echo stuttered. “I will never forgive you.”
Her voice even cut Ash’s heart into pieces. She really meant this. She was willing to lay down her life for her sister. She cared about her that much. Ash crawled up to the bars and stood next to Echo.
Across the room she heard Zuri gasp.
“You would die for me?” Ash asked.
“I would do anything for you,” Echo said. “You’re like my own flesh and blood. If you died and I didn’t do anything to stop that it would be like killing myself.”
Ash’s eyes started to water. She really had no idea her sister cared that much. In the past few years they had seemed detached and Echo didn’t seem to care as much as she use too, but now she proved it all back. Her sister loved her…that was all that mattered…even she did end up dying.
“Do you trust Rahm?” Echo asked suddenly. Ash didn’t know where she was going with this.
“Rahm Kota? Jedi Master, my former master? Do you trust the person that trained me? Echo kept on saying, looking straight into Xiang’s eyes.
“Yes,” Xiang said a little shakily. Ash thought that Echo was scaring him.
“I’m a tad confused,” Ash said behind her.
Zuri walked over to the bars with a smile on her face.
“I think I get what she’s trying to say,” Zuri said.
Suddenly Ash looked up and saw Kiro grunting. He was waking up.
“Ugh…what’s all the commotion for? I think I’m gonna up-chuck,” he said, not feeling too good from the stun bolt.
“Just stay calm Kiro,” Ash said. “We’ve got some sort of plan…I think.”
Kiro tried to pull up a smile but he was to upset to his stomach.
Ash looked over to Echo and found her eyes closed, deep in concentration. When she opened her eyes she looked to Ash.
“That fat, furry goat is coming…again,” Echo said, trying not to slur.
Right on cue, Belk came storming in. His fur rippled when he caught sight of Echo awake.
“That’s a remark I would expect to come from Ash,” he said.
Ash smiled.
“Well, we are twins,” Ash said.
Belk laughed.
“You are so right about that! I’m killing twins, and not only are they twins, their Jedi twins! Count would love this!”
Ash felt Echo’s anger rise. Ash tried to help her control it, but once again there was no stopping Echo. Echo stood up and leaned closer to the bars. She stuck her hand out of the bars and slapped him as hard as she could. Zuri and Xiang gasped in the other cell.
“Ohhhh…burn!” Zuri said, getting excited.
Belk looked surprised at both Echo and Zuri’s reaction, but he didn’t let that affect his posture. He wrenched out and grabbed Echo’s arm and twisted it behind her. It twisted Echo up against the bars and she screamed as Belk twisted her arm. Ash tried to get up to stop him, but she didn’t get that close. Belk raised a hand in a pinching form and Ash stopped in her tracks. She couldn’t breath. Belk was finally showing some of his Force talents. He was Force chocking her.
Right when Ash felt like she would black out again because of lack of oxygen, Belk twisted his hand and Ash went flying to the other side of the room. When she hit the wall she felt air fly out of her lungs.
“ASH!” both Zuri and Kiro yelled. They both knew that she probably wouldn’t be able to have the strength to keep herself breathing.
But Ash was going to prove them wrong. She had to help Echo. If Belk kept twisting he would probably break her arm.
She had learned something from Aero that she had never shown anyone and had only used it once herself. Hopefully she would be able to do it again. It would take her overtaking her emotions, but she had to do it.
She reached deep in the Force, relying on her anger towards Belk and he past hatred for him. She moved a shaky hand in front of her face and let out her true power in the form of Force lightning. The lightning shook through the metal bars and onto Belk. Ash didn’t have enough control or power to make a lasting shock, but it was enough to make his fur sizzle and for him to let go of Echo.
Echo dropped to the ground and looked at Ash, a shocked and almost disappointed look on her face. The same look was on Xiang, Kiro, and Zuri’s face.
There was silence for a moment as Ash considered what she had just did. She had just tapped into the dark side, a bad trait that she had inherited from Aero.
Belk shook off the lightning and growled.
“Guards! You know what to do!” he yelled.
They nodded and came in and grabbed Echo and Ash by the shoulders and took them across the room to the other cell. Ash was breathing heavy now how both the lightning and from having the wind knocked out of her. Echo leaned her head over to Ash.
“You’ll have to explain what just happened later,” she whispered and look back to the cell.
Ash felt bad inside. In a way, she felt like she had betrayed her friends, but all she was trying to do was save them. Still, it was no excuse. She should’ve controlled herself. Although she still wondered how she was able to tap into that power. She had only used it once and that was under Aero’s mind control device. She didn’t think she actually had learned how to use it.
Belk walked up behind them and banged on the bars.
“Kiro! Bring Xiang over here!” Belk snapped.
Kiro mad a sick, but yet angry face and didn’t move.
“Does it look like I’m going to answer to you?” Kiro said.
Suddenly the guards brought 2 blasters up to Echo and Ash’s head.
“Do it now or they will both die!” he yelled. “I’m not a very patient person, and my employer would rather have one of them live!”
Kiro’s eyes widened and he got up to his feet quickly.
“As you wish…sir,” he said sarcastically and with a disgusted look on his face. He almost spat the word ‘sir’. Either he was really not feeling good, or just really mad at Belk. Probably both.
Kiro walked over slowly to Xiang bed and help him up. He pulled Xiang’s arm around his neck for more support and almost drug Xiang to the bars. Xiang was still pretty limp.
“Pick now! Echo or Ash?” Belk yelled.
There was an awkward silence as Xiang realized what was finally going to happen. His mouth opened but no word came out. Ash knew that he wouldn’t pick. But if Ash and Echo died together, that was better than apart.
“NOW!” Belk demanded.
Ash felt Echo’s frustration rise. She finally burst.
“Do NOT yell at him!” Echo demanded. Ash thought she had been itching towards the dark side, but apparently Echo had a problem with it too.
“He wants to pick me! Just leave him alone! He means nothing to you! Just…please,” Echo said, her voice getting softer and softer.
Belk’s eyebrows rose and he looked to Xiang.
“Is this true?”
Xiang reluctantly nodded. Ash watched his eyes get shinier, knowing that he was holding in the tears. He turned his head away and laid it on Kiro’s shoulder and cried. To him, he had just agreed to kill his love. Even Kiro was getting teary eyed. Over the years, Ash could tell that Echo and Kiro were getting closer.
Zuri ran up behind them and hugged Xiang. She only came up to his med-section.
“Don’t cry for me guys,” Echo said slowly. “It’ll be alright.”
In the back of her mind, Ash heard Echo’s voice. She was trying to call out to everyone.
Someone is coming to save us. I have it all handled. I will not die and neither will Ash. There’s no need to ever worry about us. We always survive.
Ash smiled. Echo did have a plan all laid out. She almost felt bad for not feeling bad for her sister, but now she knew why she didn’t. As a twin, she must had already sensed that Echo wasn’t worried at all. If she didn’t have complete trust in her plan, she would’ve been crying her eyes out right now.
But then she looked to Kiro, Xiang, and Zuri. Ash didn’t think they had gotten the message. They all looked extremely upset. They must’ve all been to delusional to comprehend her message.

You are not authorized to comment here. Your must be registered and logged in to comment