"There's a reason why our forebears turned their backs on the dark side. As Jedi, we must be mindful of our fear and our anger, and we must temper it if we do not wish to take our first steps on the path toward the dark side of the Force." - Mace Windu, from Collected Wisdom of the Jedi Masters

As Pete's lightsaber clashed with Brendon's, Mikey charged toward them, adrenaline rushing through his veins. He was eager to apply what he'd learned from Pete and Patrick, but there was more to it than that. He would destroy Brendon before he got another chance to make Pete cry. He would make him pay for what he'd done to Patrick. He and Pete would finally get their sweet revenge.

Mikey slashed toward Brendon, but he easily blocked it and counterattacked. However, Mikey knew exactly what to do. He effortlessly parried each of Brendon's attacks, and soon, he had the upper hand. He kept his distance, focusing on defending himself, but when he did attack, he got close to hitting him. He could tell that Brendon couldn't keep this up forever. Soon, Mikey would be victorious. Pete occasionally attempted to attack Brendon as well, but all he really did was disrupt Mikey's laser-like focus.

As Mikey went in for his next attack, Brendon raised one hand in the air and tried to pull Mikey closer using the Force. However, Mikey immediately figured out what he was trying to do, and he used the Force to push Brendon to the ground.

"Nice one," Pete said as Brendon struggled to get up.

"I think you taught me that," Mikey said with a smile.

"No, I'm pretty sure it was Patrick."

All of a sudden, Patrick started to stir.

"Speak of the devil," Pete whispered.

"H-holy smokes," Patrick said as he opened his eyes. "Pete?"

"Patrick!" Pete exclaimed. "You're alive!"

Pete stepped closer to Patrick, but Brendon somersaulted in front of him and blocked him with his lightsaber. "Don't you dare," he said. "If you want him to live, you'll have to get through me." When Pete hesitated, he added, "Or you could just turn to the dark side. Once I get rid of your little sidekick, you'll never be able to beat me anyways."

"No, Pete," Patrick said weakly. "Don't..."

"Don't listen to him!" Brendon shouted. "Pete, the dark side's fun. You can do whatever you want, and you never have to repent. Also, we have cookies."

"What kind of cookies?" Pete asked.

"Seriously, Pete?" Mikey said. All of a sudden, Brendon thrusted his lightsaber toward Mikey, and if he hadn't ducked at just the right moment, Brendon surely would have killed him.

"I was just kidding," Pete said, but Brendon and Mikey were too busy fighting to listen to him. As their lightsabers clashed, Pete snuck around to Patrick's interrogation chair. He sliced through each of his restraints, but when he was done, Patrick yelped in pain as his left hand tumbled to the floor.

"I'm sorry!" Pete exclaimed, panicked. "I didn't mean to..."

"Not again," Patrick mumbled as he stumbled to his feet. He was definitely in bad shape, but he was alive, and that was what mattered.

Meanwhile, Mikey slashed toward Brendon, trying to gain an advantage in the fight. Now that Mikey wasn't repressing his abilities anymore, he felt like he truly understood the power of the Force. He felt it flowing through him, and he used it to sharpen his reflexes, to make his strikes even more precise than they already were. He attacked Brendon again and again, but every time, he parried his blows. Nevertheless, Pete and Patrick looked quite impressed. It had only been a few weeks since Mikey first picked up a lightsaber, but already, he could hold his own in a fight.

Finally, Brendon noticed that Pete had freed Patrick from the interrogation chair. "What do you think you're doing?" he exclaimed as he thrust his red, double-bladed lightsaber toward the two of them.

All of a sudden, Mikey launched himself into the air, flawlessly executed a flying lunge, and landed right in front of Pete and Patrick. "Don't you dare hurt my friends," he said.

They say the devil that you know is better than the devil that you don't, but Mikey wasn't so sure. He knew exactly what Brendon was about to do, and he was more than ready to defend his attack, but he didn't know if that made it any better. Pete and Patrick were still in danger, and unless he could gain the upper hand in this fight, Brendon would surely kill Patrick and convince Pete to turn to the dark side.

Their lightsabers clashed a few more times, and as Brendon swung his lightsaber away from him in an attempt to stab his opponent in the back, Mikey saw his opportunity. He swung his lightsaber toward the double-bladed lightsaber's hilt, cracking it into two pieces. Brendon was so surprised that he dropped the weapon, and with that, his opponent was completely disarmed.

He'd won the fight, but it wasn't enough. He wanted more. He wanted revenge.

Mikey kept on spinning his lightsaber toward Brendon until he was backed into a corner, helpless. "Please," Brendon said as Mikey held his lightsaber in front of him, ready for one last downward slash. "I'm far too young to die."

"You tried to kill all my friends. You betrayed Pete and tried to turn him to your side. You took Patrick and tortured him. You deserve this, Brendon. I'm taking back the life you stole."

Just as Mikey was about to stab him with his lightsaber, he heard Pete shout, "No, Mikey! Don't do it!"

Mikey froze and turned back toward Pete and Patrick. "Why not?" he asked.

"It's...it's not the Jedi way," Patrick said.

"But I'm not a Jedi."

Mikey turned back to Brendon, but he couldn't stop thinking about what Pete and Patrick had said. He stood in place, unsure what to do, but in the end, he couldn't do it. He couldn't shake the feeling that if he killed Brendon, he would be taking the first step toward becoming him.

All of a sudden, Brendon raised his hand in an attempt to Force choke his enemies. Pete grabbed Patrick's hand and sprinted out the door, and Mikey quickly ran after them. Once they were far enough away from Brendon, Mikey handed the blue-green lightsaber back to Patrick.

"Thanks, Mikey," Patrick said softly as he took the lightsaber, switched it off, and attached it to his belt. "You both did an amazing job out there, by the way."

"Anything for you, Lunchbox," Pete said.

The three of them ran back the way they came, and eventually, they made it back into the Horseshoe Crab, where Joe was waiting for them. "Patrick!" he exclaimed as he gave him a quick hug. "It's good to see you again."

"It's good to see you too," Patrick said.

"What happened to your hand?"

"It was Pete's fault. I was strapped to an interrogation chair, and he accidentally chopped off my hand when he was freeing me. At least it was my robotic hand and not my real one." He sighed and said, "I can't believe we made it out of there alive."

"Me neither," Pete said as he searched around the ship for some food. All of that fighting had made him strangely hungry.

Mikey remained stone faced as he sat next to Joe, still unable to believe everything that had happened. The fight with Brendon was like something out of one of his brother's comic books. It still didn't feel quite real to him.

He was terrified that Brendon might come back someday, but as usual, Pete was right. Killing him would have only made things worse. Mikey tried his best to breathe, to relax, to temper the darkness with him, but nevertheless, his anxieties remained.

"Where are we going next?" Mikey asked as Joe steered the Y-wing away from the Star Destroyer.

"That's a good question," Pete said.

"I don't know," Joe said. "Let me check which planets are nearby."

As Joe turned on the ship's radar, Mikey realized just how much he missed Gerard. He'd enjoyed traveling across the galaxy with his friends, but he wondered when he'd get to see his big brother again. More than anything, he hoped Ray, Frank, and Gerard were okay, wherever they were.

"That's weird," Joe said suddenly.

"What is it?" Patrick asked.

"There are a whole bunch of Imperial ships headed for Tatooine," he said.

"Tatooine?" Mikey said, confused. If there was a bright center to the universe, Tatooine was the planet it was farthest from.

"Maybe we should see what's going on," Patrick suggested.

"Or maybe you should get a new hand first," Pete said. "You can't fight like that, Trick."

"I can at least try."

Pete smiled and wrapped his arms around Patrick. "I don't think you realize just how amazing you are," he said.

"Oh, come on. You were the one who was brave enough to rescue me."

"Mikey helped too!"

Mikey sat back and relaxed - it seemed like everything had gone back to normal at last. He had no idea where the Horseshoe Crab was going next, when he'd see his brother again, or if the Rebellion would ever defeat the Empire, but he knew he'd go wherever life took him. The Force would show him the way.