Summary: This is a Labyrinth/star wars crossover. I know, I know, sounds ridiculous, and I’m sure it will be, but I’m giving it a go anyways. I love Labyrinth and I love Star Wars so it had to happen sooner or later.
Disclaimer: I do not own Boba Fett (he belongs to George Lucas) or any characters from the Labyrinth (They are Henson’s) This story is rated R for later chapters.
A Fair Price
By: Jester
Chapter 1: The Inexplicable
It was a clear night in the Underground. The hulking structure that was the Goblin Castle was silhouetted against the surreal sapphire sky. At night the sleepless fortress was an imposing sight to behold as it loomed like a silent guardian over the Goblin city. A twisted and vast maze surrounded the castle, covering the landscape like an endless blanket. The arcane labyrinth stretched for miles, further than the eye could see. Naught but the ruler of this forgotten land could truthfully say that he had seen every part of the monstrous maze, for it was simply too large to fully explore in one human lifetime. Unlike the unfortunates who occasionally opted to run the colossal labyrinth within a defined time frame in order to win back a loved one, the Goblin King had an abundance of time. So much time that he could afford to sit and contemplate the minutia of his underground existence for hours on end.
If one were bold enough to venture to the foot of the structure and gaze up at the highest spire, they would see one illuminated window, alight with an orange glow, and if they looked hard enough, they would see the sovereign of this nearly forgotten kingdom looking out over his vast domain in quiet contemplation.
The Goblin King was perched on the ledge of the highest window of the tower. He lounged comfortably on the stone shelf, absently tapping the end of his riding crop against his outstretched legs. Upon close inspection one might have surmised two things about him. One, he certainly didn’t possess any fear of heights and two he was either deep in thought, or extremely bored.
In fact, at that very moment the king was both, very bored and very pensive. To be more specific, he was brooding, which had become a common occurrence for him these past few years. Upon his pallid face his stern features were set in a wearisome expression. His mouth formed a thin line of a somber frown, as his dual colored eyes drifted over the expanse of his kingdom.
From this high up everything seemed serene and one might think that all was well. Jareth knew better. All was not well, and all hadn’t been well for quite some time. Depending on the day, this moody King could have recounted dozens of reasons why things were not “quite right”, but on this particular night two things were relentlessly gnawing at him.
The first was something that bothered him often, and that was simply his lot in life. The fact that after all this time, he was still bound to his ill-gotten fate and remained the solitary sovereign of the most unruly and idiotic race of beings in all creation…goblins. How was it that he, a Fae of his intelligence and power, was still stuck here with naught for company but vicious little creatures that could scarcely string more than two words together without drooling? What a tedious existence it was governing such brute stupidity. Life was simply not fair.
And that, ironically enough, brought to mind the other nagging little thought, which lately frequently annoyed him.
Sarah Williams.
The memory of that particular mortal pricked him like a thorn and lingered like a bitter taste in his mouth. He assured himself that the reason she so plagued his thoughts as of late, was sheer timing. The anniversary loomed like a dark cloud in the storm of his thoughts. Tonight it had been ten years exactly, to the day, that she had solved the labyrinth and emerged the victor of his game.
His blood simmered as he was reminded of the agony of losing. To this day he still had no idea how the girl, who was little more than a child at the time, had gotten the best of him. Before his encounter with her he had never known what it meant to lose. In one fell swoop she turned order into chaos, turned the world upside down, and left his mind a tangled mess.
She had said the words. And in so doing, she had banished him from her life and her world, and this was where the brunt of the damage stemmed from. For now he could never rectify the situation. There could be no retribution so long as she was unreachable. He was powerless to bring her back here. And he was powerless to seek her out. The only way that he could appear in her presence was if she summoned him there. If she made that wish and spoke it aloud…but he knew she would never. No, she wouldn’t make that same mistake again.
Her bold declaration laced magic into her words, which kept him from venturing into her domain. His own magic allowed him occasional glimpses of her, but that was all he could manage, and even that was exhausting. So, unless some force other than himself dragged her back into his world, he would never see justice done.
Justice.
Funny that he, a powerful immortal King, who often dealt out judgement and justice with a mere wave of his hand, would be so in need of it now.
He glanced up longingly at the stars, glittering like a thousand scattered jewels in the black canopy of the night sky, silently seeking some relief to the wrongs that plagued him.
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Somewhere in that same fabric of the universe, someone else was about to be seeking answers as well. The massive steel form of a firespray class vessel hurdled silently through space at an impressive velocity. Though the ship appeared to be easily cruising along a controlled course from the outside, havoc began to break loose from within.
The dozing pilot was suddenly startled into action as flashing lights and wailing alarms sliced through the cockpit. Without a moments hesitation he was at the controls, his gloved hands gliding expertly over the bizarre instrumentation as though the ship were merely an extension of himself.
Without warning the ship violently lurched forward nearly causing him to fall back, but he quickly steadied himself at the panel, carrying on as the ship gave a terrible shudder.
Multicolored lights from illuminated buttons and glowing navigational screens were reflected off his dark visor as he quickly checked coordinates, flipped controls, and rapidly punched a series of buttons. Clad head to toe in Mandalorian battle armor, the bounty hunter was a formidable study in calculated precision. Every move he made was executed with deliberate certainty.
After several moments of troubleshooting queries to the navicomputer, the bounty hunter cursed aloud in his native language. In over three decades of piloting this ship, he had never encountered anything so strange. His present location appeared to be entirely uncharted. A stream of new coordinates started to flicker on the screen, however none of them were relative to the system he had been in only moments before. He ran a few commands, asking the computer for the distance to the center of the galaxy. The query was denied, as the warning OUT OF RANGE flashed on the screen. The ship’s computer had also recorded a massive power surge in the moments before the ship suddenly veered off course.
None of this made any sense. There were only two explanations that he could come up with. Either he was no longer in the known galaxy, or anywhere near it (which was highly impossible) or the reported power surge had damaged the ship’s computer…which would be possible if his ship were being attacked by weapon with a tremendous energy blast. But that didn’t make any sense either. The ship couldn’t have been under attack as there hadn’t been any other vessels within range. For the first time in his life, Boba Fett was at a loss.
Then as fast as it happened, the violent tremors suddenly ceased. A rough readout of neighboring stars popped up on the navicomputer screen but much of the information was missing. No star or system names, nor any relative coordinates were available.
Now Boba Fett was familiar with even the most remote parts of the galaxy, but the constellations he was seeing out the view port, were totally alien. The alarms all died down, and to his relief the ship at least appeared to be out of danger. The surge of adrenaline in his system slowly receded. He knew better than anyone that there were much worse things than being lost.
He quickly surveyed the unknown system he found himself in. One, small yellow sun. Nine planets, one with detectable signs of life and civilization. He was already closest to that planet so he quickly set a course for its orbit, and just as a precaution he activated the ship’s cloaking device.
It wasn’t long before the Slave I was orbiting the small blue planet, its commander immersed in the incoming surface readings. He quickly located a moderately temperate region with a considerable concentration of life forms and outward signs of civilization.
He charted his decent as he flew in for a closer look. Opting to avoid what appeared to be larger cities for fear his ship might be detected and targeted, he settled on a region slightly less populated but not terribly far from what looked like a hub of civilization and technology.
He was just locking onto a landing site, when the ship lurched forward and he noticed another strange deviation in his coordinates. Wary of another unexplainable occurrence, he looked out the view port, half expecting to find himself in deep space.
To his relief the planetary surface was still visible, but oddly it looked somehow different. It was too late to retract the ship’s landing decent, as it had already breached the planet’s atmosphere. The ship would land in this area whether he liked it or not. He quickly sat back, strapping himself in as the ship careened closer to the planet’s surface.
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The Goblin King was silently appraising the distant stars when a sudden burst of color attracted his attention. What looked like an orange burst of flame erupted, just before a bright yellow ball streaked across the sky, falling rapidly towards the ground. It was too large to be terribly far away, and he could hear a distant roar as the object fell.
He had heard tales of rocks plummeting down from the heavens, but this thing didn’t look like a rock, and whatever it was, it was big. Very big. His eyes widened as the object slowed, turning on its axis before what looked like flame was forced out of it. To his amazement the object seemed to hover in midair before it lowered smoothly to the ground.
In his reign of over four centuries, Jareth had never seen anything so strange as this. He had no idea what he just witnessed, but he would certainly find out. In one fluid motion he got to his feet and leapt off the window’s ledge. He had only fallen a few feet before he transformed into a white owl and flew off in the direction of strange object.
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Boba Fett unstrapped himself as soon as the Slave I touched ground, and quickly begin to assess the damages to his ship. The violent lurch and vibrations he had experienced when his ship had been inexplicably thrust into this unknown location, had managed to cause a small amount of damage to some of the ship’s less critical systems. Fortunately there were no hull breaches and no damage to the ship’s twin engines.
After checking all the on-line systems the bounty hunter climbed down from the cockpit to personally inspect the rest of his ship. The cargo hold was in a state of total disarray. Several storage crates had become dislodged and some of the contents littered the steel grated floor.
He sidestepped tangled piles of cable and debris to get to the locker where he stored his weapons and munitions. His blasters and explosive devices were all in place and intact, but his jet pack had been shaken from its storage space and had fallen. He hastily picked up the pack and inspected it.
Several of the thermal coolers had been shaken loose and would need to be replaced. Some wires would also have to be re-soldered, but other than that it was intact. He knew he had some extra thermal coolers, so given enough time, he would be able to repair the damages.
Not long after he had finished his thorough assessment of the ship, he returned to the cockpit to see if he could generate any more information regarding his whereabouts or how to get back to his galaxy’s outer rim.
As he settled on his back in his chair he glanced out the view plate noticing a white bird that was settling onto a branch in the very dead looking tree just outside. He paid the animal no mind as he looked to see what his data search would yield.
Strangely, he had learned that the characteristics of the surrounding land mass did not match up with the data he had collected from the planet surface only a few moments before. There were also slight variants in the gaseous atmosphere as well, but fortunately both readings were well within human sustainable limits.
His first impulse was that the data recorder had been damaged, but it checked out fine. According to the information he had gathered, the place he was now, and the area of the planet he had been flying over just before he landed, were two distinct places, quite different in many aspects.
Oddly, they even had different coordinates, when all logic would have suggested that they should have been numerically closer together. Could he have stumbled on a doorway to a separate dimension? That was impossible, and simply not logical, however at this point it was the only explanation that made one bit of sense.
What was more disturbing to Boba Fett than that, was the fact that though he had coordinates to get back to the region just outside the hub of civilization on small blue plant’s surface, those coordinates were not relative at all to his own galaxy. In fact none of the stars or systems he had just seen were at all relative to anyplace that he had ever known. And now he seemed to be somewhere else. Perhaps some sort of sub-dimension of the planet he had been heading for? It was all odd…very odd.
Though it would seem impossible, somehow he had ended up in another galaxy in a system that was completely unknown to him. Worse even, was the fact that he had no idea how far from his own galaxy he had ended up.
Without such information it was entirely impossible to return. With a growl of frustration, Boba Fett slumped back in his chair.
What toxic luck he’d been having lately. Just when he had been certain he was going to secure the largest bounty of his career…This happens. He had been so close to closing in on his quarry.
It would have been so satisfying to blast that waste of skin into oblivion, and the credits…the credits alone would have set him up for the next few years, and even allow him to make many of the upgrades to ship he’d been planning. Hell, he would have made enough to replace all his weapons and equipment, let alone the jetpack.
It really astounded him just how brutally unfair the universe could be at times. In his lifetime he had come across plenty of beings that swore there was some eternal balance to everything. The Jedi called it the Force, but he didn’t buy into that fodder…nor did he believe in that farce called fate. Logic, precision, rationalization, discipline, and justice; those were the things he believed in. No, Fett was quite certain that life was simply what one made of it…nothing more. However, his subconscious warned, something inexplicable seemed to be at work here.
Fett shook his head. No. As unreal as the situation seemed, there had to be a logical explanation. He had to think. Every problem has a solution. Well, there were life readings registering in this place, meaning there had to be someone who would know more about this place than he did. He would just have to leave his ship and track down the information he needed.
He glanced out of the front of the ship. The white bird was gone, but in the distance he noticed an imposing shape that rose out on the dark horizon. It looked like a fortress, or a stronghold of some sort. Something of that magnitude would have to have been built by intelligent creatures.
What caught the bounty hunter’s attention even more than the fortress was the strange landscape that surrounded it. What looked like walls and hedges, twisted endlessly, making up what appeared to be an enormous labyrinth.
He cursed again; that was certainly one obstacle that would slow him down. The fortress in the center however seemed the only structure for as far as his eyes could see. He would make for that place regardless of the obstacles, for one thing was certain; whoever had built that extraordinary maze had to be very clever…or entirely mad. Perhaps he would find his answers there. It was a start, and unfortunately, the only option that he had.
After retrieving his Blas-tech EE3 rifle from the cargo hold, Boba Fett descended the ramp and stepped onto the dusty ground. With a punch of a button on his wristlet the hatch promptly closed and the ship’s security system powered on. He quickly scanned his surroundings and swept the immediate area surrounding the ship.
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The metal object had been strange enough, but as Jareth watched from the nearby tree, he was amazed to detect movement inside the structure. The interior was too dark for him to see clearly inside, but he could tell that something was moving about in there.
He would take no chances. Whatever it was, it could be a threat. He would simply wait it out and see what would emerge. He flew to another tree and perching behind the trunk, he assumed his natural form to wait for whatever it was that was in there.
Suddenly a metal ramp descended from the steel mass and a figure emerged. Jareth narrowed his mismatched eyes, as he got his first good look at the visitor.
It walked upright on two legs, in the basic form of a man, but the creature was seemingly wrapped in steel and technology. Scuffed greenish metal covered his chest, and there were metal coverings on its shoulders, knees, and elbows. The stranger’s wrists were protected by odd-looking gauntlets and as the head turned, Jareth saw that the creature was wearing some sort of metal helmet with a faceless, black, T shaped visor.
Jareth also noticed the tattered cape that hung from the creature’s right shoulder and at last his gaze lowered to the large weapon held in the stranger’s grasp. His first thought was that he might be dealing with some sort of machine like the metal monstrocity that guarded the gates to the Goblin City, but changed his opinion when he realized that the creature was not entirely made of metal. No, it walked like a man, and it wore clothing underneath metal pieces. Finally Jareth understood. The stranger was wearing some sort of battle armor.
It was apparent to the Goblin King that whoever it was, it was a warrior of some sort, and certainly someone to be approached with utmost caution. Technology and weapons did not concern Jareth, as he could easily deflect both with his magic, however a keen intellect was always something to be cautious of, and based on the careful way this creature deliberately patrolled the area, he suspected he was dealing with a very cautious and intelligent individual.
Jareth drew his fingers together and formed a perfectly round transparent crystal out of thin air. His defense would be ready in case the creature became startled and attacked.
Silent as a cat, Jareth emerged from his hiding place, leaning his back casually against the tree trunk as he slid into plain sight of the stranger. He maintained a curious but non-threatening expression as the creature caught sight of him.
The bounty hunter turned and promptly leveled his blaster at the stranger, who had suddenly, seemingly just appeared by the dead tree. He hadn’t heard the creature approach, but he had caught sight of him using his 360-degree tactical display.
The newcomer appeared human or at least humanoid. He was dressed strangely, in garments that were unlike anything that he had ever seen. He wore high leather boots over tight black breeches. On his chest appeared to be some sort of armored doublet, exhibiting a strange bone-like pattern. The strangest garment by far was the shimmering midnight blue cape that had a high curving collar giving its wearer a very sinister looking appearance.
The hair was also something new to Boba Fett. The only way to describe it was long and wild, and it was so fair that it was nearly white. It was the features though, that made him wonder if he was dealing with a human or a humanoid. He was fine boned, with sharp features, his eyes by far the most striking, which Fett realized were not the eyes of a human, but something relatively close.
His eyebrows were fine, highly arched with strange coloration, and the eyes themselves were also extraordinary, for Fett noticed right away that they were two different colors. One was a grayish blue, and the other a greenish brown. Presently, Fett also noticed that both were fixed on him, and they were curious and calculating, as if assessing him.
Fett’s attention was immediately drawn to the transparent orb that rested on the creature’s fingertips, as he knew that there was a very good chance it was a weapon of some kind.
For a moment, neither of them moved, as they were simply trying to make heads or tails of one another. One thing was certain, both were prepared for the other, should they attack.
Finally the fair-skinned humanoid tilted his head to the side and spoke, and his accented voice was just as arrogant as the hunter had anticipated, “Now, I know there are a great many creatures in the underground, but I know I have never seen you before…so tell me…who are you and what are you doing in my kingdom?”
The hunter tightened his grip on his rifle as he simply replied in a harsh inhuman voice, “I am Boba Fett. My landing here was not planned.” He raised his blaster slightly and continued, “Now tell me…who are you? And what is this place?”
The corner of his mouth tugged into an arrogant smirk as the transparent orb began dancing over his fingers in the most unnatural way, reminding Fett of some Jedi slight of hand, “I am the Goblin King. My name is Jareth, and you are in the Underground, on the edge of my kingdom.” He pointed to the fortress in the distance.
Fett began, “Then it is you I must speak with…But first, lose the weapon.”
Jareth pursed his lips as the crystal danced from one hand to the other, “You mean this? It’s only a crystal, nothing to be wary of…unless I will it. You are armed as if you anticipate an attack, but I’ll tell you this, I have no wish to be hostile, unless you do.”
Knowing full well that he didn’t need his blaster to kill an opponent at such close range (as his toxic darts and nerve gas would make short work of anyone who threatened him) Fett lowered his blaster.
With a dramatic gesture, Jareth’s crystal vanished, as thoughtful expression replaced his mask of indifference, “Boba…Fett is it? Yes…I suspect that we have much to talk about…but here is hardly the place. Let us go somewhere more…appropriate.”
Before the hunter could even blink he felt as though his body were being pulled in several directions. The disorienting feeling caused him to look down. Strangely, all he saw was blackness.
The feeling passed and then, suddenly there was a burst of orange light as the flame of a nearby candle spontaneously erupted.
They appeared to be in some sort of dark cavern. Fett glanced about, noticing that the Goblin King stood close by, leaning casually against the stone-wall of the cavern.
Fett stood rigidly, not sure how all this was possible. He opened his mouth to ask, “How?” but the words died in his throat. It had to be an illusion, or some sort of mind trick. That was the only solution that made any sense.
Apparently, this Goblin King thought he could distract him with a few flashy tricks. In all his long years hunting down elusive scum in the vast galaxy, there was very little that he hadn’t seen before. The Jedi had their seemingly impressive stash of tricks and Fett had still managed to collect the bounties on their heads, so he didn’t see how some strangely outfitted juggling humanoid on a strange backwater world could be any different.
Deciding not to comment on their strange means of transport, he asked the more obvious and pressing question, “Where are we?”
The Goblin King’s eyes trailed over their surroundings, and with a simple gesture he replied, “This is an Oubliette...one of many under my labyrinth.”
Fett didn’t care for his smug tone. In a harsh voice he demanded, “And just what is an Oubliette?”
The Goblin King tilted his head to the side as he arrogantly offered, “It is a place of forgetting…which is where you shall remain if you refuse to cooperate.”
Straightening the hunter harshly demanded, “What do you mean…cooperate?”
Jareth leveled a gaze at him and imperiously replied, “I mean, unless you answer my questions truthfully, this is where you shall stay…indefinitely.”
Fett’s mouth twisted into a cynical sneer under the helmet. As if this place could contain him. It was nearly humorous.
Still, he recognized that this strange King hadn’t tried to attack. It was possible that by bringing him to a confined location, he was just looking out for the welfare of his domain. Fett could certainly understand his caution. Perhaps there would be an advantage to cooperating. At any rate he might learn something, and if he played his cards right maybe this skinny barve would tell him something of value.
Chapter 2: The King and the Hunter
Jareth straightened, taking a step closer as he added, "It's your choice, you can answer my questions or not, but know this...your refusal to cooperate leaves me no choice but to leave you down here to rot."
Fett saw no harm in the Goblin King's request. He nodded once and flatly replied, "Begin your interrogation."
The Goblin King stalked closer, sizing up the bounty hunter as he demanded, "Who are you, really?"
His answer came as a gruff reply, "I already answered that question. I am Boba Fett."
Jareth's eyes slid over the hunter's armored frame, as he clarified, "No, I mean what are you? Are you mortal...a human?"
The hunter nodded and affirmed, "Yes. I'm human."
Jareth quickly fired his next question, "Where do you come from?...Aboveground?"
Fett's gruff reply was laced with confusion, "Aboveground? Never heard of it. I've come from another system..."
It was apparent by the blank look on the king's face that he didn't understand. Fett evenly supplied, "I'm from another world...another planet."
Jareth's expression was serious as he sharply demanded, "Which world?"
Fett was in no mood to stay down here all night explaining the intricacies of galaxies and space travel to the primitive monarch, especially when there were more pressing matters that concerned him, such as how he could get back. Impatiently he finally retorted, "Kamino...among others." His voice grew more harsh as he added, "Where I am from is in no way relevant."
The Goblin King sternly warned, "You have trespassed into my Kingdom, I'll be the judge of what is relevant. Tell me, this Kamino, is that where your home is?"
Fett's reply was harsh and matter-of-fact, "I was raised there. Nothing more. I do not remain in any one place for long. If I had a place to call home, it would be my ship."
Jareth gestured to the armor and mused, "I see. Tell me, are you some sort of a warrior...a soldier perhaps?"
Fett's laugh was harsh and inhuman, "Wars are for brash young fools. They do not interest me. No. I am no soldier."
With an exasperated tone the Goblin King pressed, "What, pray tell, are you then?"
Fett contemplated the question carefully. He had never lied about his profession out of shame or fear, and he wasn't about to start now. He saw no reason to mislead the Goblin King. He gestured to himself thrusting his thumb to his chest as he boasted in that inhuman voice, "I am a bounty hunter."
Jareth's tone was patronizing as he asked the next obvious question, "And...what is a bounty hunter, exactly?"
Boba Fett leaned forward as he snarled ominously, "I hunt down the elusive...find people others can not and I deliver them...for a price."
Jareth's interest was piqued, and he quickly pressed, "I see. And for whom exactly do you perform this...service?"
His response was harsh and certain, "Anyone who can pay enough."
Jareth nodded, circling the hunter as his scrutiny continued, "So I take it, you get paid a high price for your work?"
"Correct."
Jareth seemed lost in thought for a moment before he arrogantly ventured, "Am I right in assuming that you are very skilled at what you do...this bounty hunting?"
Fett assured the Goblin King in a gravelly inhuman voice, "I always deliver."
Pensively Jareth mused, "Is that so?"
Fett nodded in affirmation and Jareth quickly pressed, "And what exactly are you doing here, bounty hunter? Looking for someone?"
Fett's shoulders lowered as some of the tension left his frame. He considered the question and quickly decided that answering honestly might be the best way to quickly determine if this Goblin King would be of any use to him. Perhaps the odd humanoid would have some reasonable solution to his irritating predicament.
In a tone devoid of any emotion he supplied, "No. I...shouldn't be here. I was heading through the outer rim of my galaxy when something happened. Something I can't explain."
Intrigued the King prodded, "Go on..."
"Something happened to my ship. It veered off course. The alarms alerted me, but when I tried to get my bearings I found I was no longer where I should have been, nor anywhere recognizable. I can't explain what happened. It seems impossible, but somehow I ended up in another galaxy...one that is totally alien."
Jareth was absorbed in the fantastic story and breathed, "Curious...please, continue."
Fett sounded as though he had grown weary of talking as he elaborated, "When my troubleshooting queries resulted in no plausible solutions, I began gathering information about my new surroundings. I found one planet capable of sustaining life. It's signs of civilization and technology seemed encouraging, so I decided to land."
Jareth seemed to be holding his breath, listening with full attention, as the hunter continued his tale. "I had already commenced landing, when suddenly all the planetary surface readings changed. My navigational system was reporting the landscape as being different from what it had been only moments before. I had already initiated the landing cycle, and it was too late to abort. That's when I ended up here."
Jareth pensively remarked, "That is quite a remarkable story. Am I right in assuming that you don't know how to get back to your...galaxy?"
Fett nodded as Jareth quickly asked, "And what of this place, this civilization with technology, you were heading towards...can you not get back there either?"
Fett thought for a moment and ventured, "I ought to be able to return to that location. The coordinates were logged by the ship's navicomputer...in theory I should be able to return...but that is of no help to me, as the coordinates to that location are not relative to the galaxy I came from."
It seemed an eternity before Jareth was breathing again. It seemed that Fett had successfully traversed the border between the underground and the aboveground worlds, and what was more remarkable was the fact that he was saying he might be able to do so again. It appeared that the bounty hunter and his space vessel could be just the solution Jareth was hoping for. It seemed almost too easy. The question was...would it work? And would the bounty hunter cooperate?
The delicate fabric of a newly formulated plan started to coalesce in the Goblin King's mind. He had nothing to lose. It was certainly worth pursuing. Jareth pursed his lips before he remarked, "I believe I may have a solution to your predicament...that is if you are willing to help me..."
The hunter spoke up, "I'm listening."
Jareth's mouth twisted into a smug grin as he announced, "Luck is on your side bounty hunter. You've earned your freedom..." He laughed and the sound was one of sinister satisfaction as he finished, "I have a proposition that you might find agreeable."
Fett was once again overtaken by the strange sensation as he and Jareth disappeared into thin air. They promptly re-appeared in a great hall of some sort.
Fett immediately noticed the room was crawling with strange little creatures, who were raucously engaging in all sorts of mischief. Several were drinking from metal flagons and chortling in vicious laughter.
The bounty hunter had never seen beings quite like these before, though they did vaguely remind him of one of Jabba the Hutt's more repulsive little minions; Salicious Crumb.
The hall was teeming with the strange creatures that seemed to leer from every nook and cranny. The floor was littered with empty goblets, straw, and feathers. A small group of the gangly creatures were mercilessly taunting a plump bird by spitting whatever it was they were drinking at it.
Upon seeing their leader suddenly return, some of the little creatures looked up and quieted down. Many stopped their animated movements long enough to gawk at their King and the odd looking stranger he had in tow.
Undaunted by the presence of the Goblins, Jareth made his way to the morbid dais, sitting upon his throne, as he motioned for Fett to approach. The Goblins watched as the armored visitor approached Jareth. The hiss of hushed Goblin voices broke out from every corner of the room.
Upon noticing the swiftly rising din of Goblin voices, Jareth barked condescendingly, "Shut-up!"
The majority of the goblins immediately fell silent, however there were a few, like those badgering the chicken, that foolishly ignored the warning. With a dramatic gesture the King added with a sinister smirk, "...We have a guest."
The Goblins all momentarily stopped and stared at the bounty hunter. A few of the bolder ones even inched forward to take a closer look.
Fett merely remained still as Jareth ignored his subjects, adjusting one leather glove as he came straight to the point, "As I mentioned...it seems I have a proposition for you."
Fett noticed that one of the strange little creatures was now chasing the bird, which just barely managed to elude capture. The Goblin King cast an irritated glance at the disobedient creature as he continued, "It is my belief that the location you stumbled upon just before you arrived in my kingdom is part of the Aboveground world."
The unphased Goblin continued to barrel after the chicken, which was so terrorized, that it was making an intensely irritating clucking sound. Despite the interruption the Goblin King went on, "Due to reasons beyond my control, I cannot venture into the Aboveground world, but as you previously mentioned...YOU might be able to."
Apparently the Goblin King was used to this sort of disruption, but Fett did not tolerate distractions, of any sort. He barely caught the King's last words, as the small fowl nearly ran into him and the Goblin lumbered after it, "If you were able to successfully transverse the barrier and return...there is a task I might ask of you."
Having quite enough of the ridiculous interruption, Fett simply raised his blaster and fired with frightening accuracy.
There was a resounding "BRRRRR....GAAAAWK" as the chicken was struck by the blast, leaving naught but a shower of black feathers and a charred mark on the stone floor.
The stunned goblin skidded to a halt, falling onto his behind, as he stared in dumb wonderment at the falling feathers.
Jareth's eyes widened in disbelief as he looked from the pile of charred feathers to the bounty hunter.
Fett lowered his rifle, turning his darkened visor back towards the Goblin King as he gruffly replied in a raspy voice that was all business, "What's in it for me?"
For a moment Jareth was speechless as he regarded Fett. Apparently the bounty hunter had zero tolerance for such mischievous nonsense, and his automatic reaction was nothing short of...well, impressive.
At the very least the little demonstration had made a few things clear. His reflexes and abilities warranted caution...that much was certain. His aim had been perfect, and now Jareth knew what that weapon of his was capable of.
The Goblin King let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding as he warily eyed the bounty hunter. His eyes were fixed on the dark visor as he absently addressed his goblin minions in a tone that was not to be taken lightly, "Leave us...get out of my sight...the lot of you!" There was a frantic rush of activity as Goblins scurried in all directions, fleeing from the room as fast as their little legs could carry them.
Fett watched the commotion with mild interest. Apparently the gangly little creatures had a healthy fear of their King when he spoke in such a manner. It wasn't hard to see why, as the Goblin King towered over even the largest of them. Or quite possibly, they had just never seen a Blas-Tech EE3 rifle in action before. Either way, it pleased Fett to see them go. He detested brutish stupidity.
As the last one of them fled the room, Jareth released an exasperated sigh and muttered, "Imbeciles..." He continued in a tone that was somehow apologetic yet, condescending at the same time, "Forgive my subjects, for they are not nearly perceptive enough to realize they are such a nuisance. Now...where were we? You were saying?"
The hunter inclined his head and gruffly re-iterated, "You said have a task for me...and I asked...what's in it for me?"
A slow calculating smirk spread across the monarch's face as he steepled his slender gloved fingers and coolly replied, "How about this? In exchange for one small favor...I'll give you this." With a dramatic wave of his hand a perfectly round transparent orb formed on his fingertips.
In a no-nonsense tone Fett sharply demanded, "What is it?"
Jareth smiled, glancing at the orb before he taunted menacingly, "Anything you want it to be. It'll show you your dreams...give you anything you wish...simply by willing it."
Fett laughed, and it was a harsh mocking sound, "I think you need to get a new act Goblin King...I'm not easily impressed by simple tricks and hocus-pocus."
Jareth could plainly see that the bounty hunter doubted his power. It wasn't surprising really, considering he was one who obviously relied on calculated methods and technology. In any case, Jareth didn't appreciate being mocked, and so he decided to give the hunter a little lesson about magic.
Jareth leaned forward as he ominously responded, "A demonstration perhaps?"
Fett simply watched as the crystal began to dance over his hands. Jareth leveled his gaze at Fett and continued, "Think of something in your past...let's say an unpleasant memory. Memories are like dreams of the past...or nightmares. What if I told you I could make you relive that unpleasant memory right now."
Fett shrugged and sneered, "I'd say you're out of you skull..."
Jareth's smiled, and it was a sinister expression. He held out the crystal and evenly replied, "Look...see for yourself."
Before he could think better of it, Fett glanced down at the shiny orb. Immediately he felt his insides tighten as the world around him lurched. Suddenly he was no longer the adult imposing hunter that stood before the Goblin King. He was, in fact his 12 year-old self. He recognized the dusty, dry planet immediately.
Geonosis.
He was crouching along the sidelines of an immense arena as a heated battle erupted between the separatist droid armies and the Jedi.
He watched in helpless horror as his father, Jango Fett, fought with the Jedi known as Mace Windu. Before he could even cry out "Dad! Watch out!" The dark skinned Jedi executed the fatal stroke, separating his father's head from his body with his glowing purple saber.
Fear, despair, anger, and hatred mingled into one unpleasant emotion, so suffocating that it almost made him vomit.
He hunched over, his fingers digging into the dusty red ground as all he had known was taken from him. His father's life gone...extinguished before his very eyes.
Then as fast as it had happened, it was over.
Boba fett found himself, his grown, present self, wearing his father's old Mandaorian armor, hunched over the flagstone floor. He recalled where he was, just as the cruel laughter of the Goblin King reached his ears.
Fett felt the familiar rush of adrenaline as he quickly got to his feet, straightening to meet Jareth's amused expression. If he hadn't been biding his time to see if the King could show him a way out of this place, he could have killed him. In fact, at that moment he would have taken pleasure in blasting the goblin king into oblivion. In fact it was nothing but his cold calculated reasoning that stayed his hand from reaching for the trigger of his rifle. Blasting Jareth, as momentarily pleasing as it would have been, would have been a reckless impulse. This Jareth possessed strange powers, way beyond those of any Jedi Fett had ever seen. Such a rash action could prove to be a fatal error. Fett knew he had gotten to be the best, by not acting rashly. One of his greatest strengths was that he didn't let his emotions control his actions. He was calculated and precise, considering his new adversary carefully.
Yes, there was more to this odd humanoid than met the eye. Apparently, mind games were his thing, and based on what he had just seen, he was quite good at them. Fett quickly reasoned that caution was advised, more so here, than with any Jedi he had ever come across.
Jareth eventually managed to reign in his laughter and promptly explained, "Now you see...just how powerful dreams can be. Now...you can imagine, that if I were to give you this, you'd be able to exercise the same power over your dreams. You could, with a mere thought, have anything you want...including safe passage back to your world.
Under the helmet, Fett's jaw set into a frighteningly determined expression as he gave his grim reply, "What do you want me to do?"
Jareth leaned back for a moment on his throne as he regally replied, "Nothing very difficult, a trifle really. I'm sure that for someone of your...stature, the task at hand would hardly prove a challenge."
Fett replied, "What task?"
Jareth smiled showing the tips of his fine pointed teeth, "You said you can hunt down the elusive...and I am willing to pay for your services...providing that you can deliver of course."
Fett nodded and assured him, "I always deliver. Who is it you want found?"
Jareth pushed forward, getting up from the throne as he replied matter-of-factly, "A human girl, from the aboveground world. Her name is Sarah Williams."
Boba Fett nodded, recording the name into the memory of his tactical display as he replied, "I'll need a physical description...and any information you have about her past contacts or whereabouts."
Jareth came to stand in front of the bounty hunter, holding up the crystal as he replied, "Better than that, I can show you. Here...look."
The orb on the Goblin King's fingertips grew cloudy. After a few moments an image slowly came into focus. It was the face of a young woman, with sharp striking features.
Her piercing greenish eyes were captivating, as they seemingly scrutinized whatever it was she was looking down at. Her expression was that of thoughtful determination as she tucked a long strand of chestnut hair behind her ear. Thoughtfully she bit at her full lower lip, lost in deep contemplation.
Fett gave the target an appraising look.
A good, long look.
His first impression was that she was particularly attractive...one might say beautiful even. He mused that though the Goblin King's chosen minions were every bit as strange as his taste in clothing, at least he consorted with females that were easy on the eyes, or at least, this one was.
Slowly the orb seemed to zoom out, showing more of the girl's surroundings. She was in a bright room, which had to be a sleeping chamber of some sort as she was sitting on a bed. Books littered the bed around her, and she was scribbling with some sort of writing implement in the book that was opened in her lap.
Fett read her thoughtful expression, surmising that she was undoubtedly clever as well as attractive. He couldn't help but wonder at the connection between this girl and the Goblin King. She looked up suddenly and smiled, seemingly at someone who was not in the field of view. Her mouth moved, clearly she was speaking to someone, but there was no sound.
The image wavered for a moment before the image became fuzzier and fuzzier. With a sudden abrupt gesture of his hand, Jareth made the crystal disappear.
Fett looked up, noticing that the Goblin King had shut his eyes as he released a heavy sigh. Apparently the act had exhausted him, for his expression was plainly weary.
Jareth took a step back, nearly collapsing onto his throne as he simply stated, "There...you've seen her..."
Fett was intrigued, "That image...was that her as she is now?"
The Goblin King nodded, "Yes, that is her at this very moment. I'd be happy to show you more...but it requires a great deal of energy and concentration."
Fett abruptly nodded, "It is enough...all I require is to know what she looks like. You've accomplished that."
Jareth nodded as he finally managed to catch his breath.
Fett pressed, "Her surroundings...have you seen them before? Or do you have any idea where she might have been?"
Jareth nodded, "Yes. That was her bedchamber in her family's home. She hasn't resided there for several years...but she's there now, and judging by the belongings she had with her...I think it's a fair assumption that she'll be staying there for a while."
Fett remarked, "This family home...do you know where it is located...a city...or province name?"
Jareth produced a small piece of parchment and upon handing it to the bounty hunter he explained, "I'll make it even easier on you than that. That is the exact address."
Fett read the elegant script twice and remarked, "Provided that my ship can return to her planet...this aboveground or whatever you called it...this may well be the easiest capture I've made yet."
Jareth smiled and something about the expression chilled the bounty hunter's blood. In his coolly aloof manner the Goblin King mused, "Yes, well she certainly won't be expecting you, so that will give you a considerable advantage. However...I must warn you. Do not underestimate the girl. Obviously she will be no match for you physically, but do be careful. She can be...dangerously charming and she is undoubtedly remarkably clever. Do not allow her to distract you from your task."
Fett laughed and the sound was unnaturally mechanical, "Distract me? Obviously you have no idea who you are dealing with Goblin King. I don't get distracted."
Jareth smiled, "How very fortunate."
Fett was eager to get going, but there were a few more details to be settled, "Any special instructions before I depart?"
Jareth's brow raised, "Special instructions...What do you mean?"
Fett elaborated, "I am in the habit of delivering my merchandise to specifications...how do you want her? Dead or alive?"
Jareth boldly stepped closer to the bounty hunter. His voice was low and imperious, "For what I have in mind, I require her very much alive. Bring her to me unharmed. Your job is to collect her...nothing more."
Fett nodded, his harsh voice sounding inhuman as he replied, "As you wish."
Jareth thought for a moment and frowned. He circled the bounty hunter slowly, his gaze was fierce as he finished, "I warn you...should she be accosted or assaulted in ANY manner...It shall be your life that is forfeit. I alone will devise and implement her punishment. Is that perfectly understood?"
The bounty hunter stood his ground as he conceded, "It is."
It was Fett's turn to circle the Goblin King as he warned in that mechanical voice, "You hold up your end of the bargain...and you needn't worry about your merchandise. She'll be delivered. Safe and sound. One intact Sarah Williams in exchange for safe passage back to my galaxy."
Something in the hunter's tone chilled the Goblin Kings blood. Still he wasn't about to be intimidated, especially by a stranger in his own castle. He leveled his fierce gaze directly into the hunter's black visor, and remarked, "Excellent. We understand each other."
It mattered little to Fett how the Goblin King preferred the merchandise. Typically, he found that disintegrating the target was less of a hassle, but in this case it hardly mattered. Capturing a young female like Sarah Williams would be unspeakably easy for him, doubly so since he was already armed with her whereabouts and she wouldn't be expecting his arrival.
Under the helmet the bounty hunter smirked as he thought of his young and very attractive quarry. No, this one would be no trouble.
He wondered why this King even needed him in the first place. He said he couldn't venture into the Aboveground world, but if that was true, than how had he even come to know of the girl? Unless...she had ventured here.
He couldn't help but wonder what the Goblin King wanted with her. He mentioned punishment, so she must have wronged him or committed some manner of crime.
As the hunter thought of the quarry, criminal was hardly the word that came to mind. The girl certainly looked harmless. In fact, her appearance was nothing short of wholesome and innocent. The possibility wasn't lost on the bounty hunter that perhaps the Goblin King just wanted her...she was attractive after all.
The idea made him slightly uneasy, as he wasn't in the habit of delivering girls into servitude, where a future of repeated rape and abuse awaited them. That sort of profit didn't interest him, as the quarry was, more often then not, totally innocent. Such tasks were not fitting for a skilled hunter such as himself.
It wasn't that he had a soft spot for females, it was just that all his heinous acts were enacted to execute justice in one form or another. In his opinion, justice was the punishment of the guilty and criminal. Nothing about Sarah Williams appeared guilty or criminal.
Fett believed the rape of an innocent was nothing short of injustice...more than that it was villainy. Unfortunately, it appeared as though he had no choice to find and deliver the girl if he was to ever get back to his own galaxy.
Normally he wouldn't trouble his employers with the specifics of the wanted in question, but in this case Fett felt he needed to know.
He regarded the Goblin King with interest and harshly ventured, "I have one last question."
The Goblin King raised his chin, coolly regarding the hunter with curiosity in a silent gesture for him to continue.
The hunter went on, "What did she do...this girl?...to deserve your punishment?"
Jareth seemed mildly surprised by the question. He considered it carefully, as a calculating smirk slowly spread over his face, "Are bounty hunters usually this concerned about their quarry?"
Fett didn't appreciate the jibe and harshly sneered in reply, "I am not concerned...merely curious. The better I understand my target, the faster I can deliver her."
Jareth inclined his head, "Ah. Well, if you put it that way, I see no harm in telling you."
Carefully he explained, "Not terribly long ago, she visited this world. Through her own selfishness and carelessness she had lost something precious, and I set upon her a challenge so that she might win it back."
Jareth sat back in his throne, his expression becoming very cold as he went on, "I should never have granted her the opportunity." His voice took on a dangerous tone, "That conniving child took advantage of my subjects and wreaked havoc upon my labyrinth. However, as I am generous I might have overlooked it...that is...until...she brazenly defied me."
Jareth leveled a cold gaze at the hunter as he spat, "She made chaos out of order, and she wrongfully took something from me. The girl is selfish and cruel...and she is not to be trusted."
Fett could hardly believe what the King was telling him, however his tone was that of grave sincerity. Fett knew first hand just how strong willed some women could be. He never would have guessed that a gentlewoman like Leia Organa, the princess of Alderan, could, almost single handedly lead a fierce rebellion against the largest and most powerful empire in the history of the galaxy (but then again she had managed to slay that vile gangster Jabba the Hutt with naught but her bare hands).
Perhaps this Sarah Williams was equally willful. Obviously she had to have done something to drive this seemingly indifferent King to such measures. Yes, it seemed there was more to the girl than met the eye. He would keep that in mind as he captured her.
Chapter 3: A Girl With a Price on her Head
Fett nodded his approval and gruffly addressed the Goblin King, "Very well. I'll find the girl."
Jareth's smug smirk informed the hunter he was satisfied as he ventured, "How soon before you can be ready to travel."
Fett harshly replied, "I will leave at once. The sooner I can deliver her and leave this place the better..." Fett shrugged indifferently and finished, "Nothing personal...Just unfinished business."
Jareth arched a fine brow and agreed, "I sympathize with your haste and I agree, nothing is more irritating than business left unfinished. In order to speed you on your way, I shall escort you back to your ship...what was it you called it?"
Fett smirked under his helmet as he supplied, "Slave I"
Jareth couldn't help but muse to himself "how appropriate." He hated to admit it but he was starting to like the hunter's efficient, no nonsense attitude. Fett was so unlike the incompetents he was used to dealing with, or he seemed that way at least. Only time would tell how efficient the hunter would be. Eager to send the hunter on his way he offered, "Come, I will escort you back to your Slave I, but first there is one thing I must show you." Fett nodded as another crystal materialized on his fingertips.
Chapter 3: A Girl With a Price on her Head.
Fett nodded, gruffly addressing the Goblin King as he concluded, "I'll find the girl."
Jareth's smug smirk informed the hunter of his satisfaction as he ventured, "How soon before you can depart?"
Fett's rough reply was matter-of-fact, "I will leave immediately. The sooner I can deliver her and leave this place the better..." Fett cocked his head to the side and added indifferently, "Nothing personal...unfinished business."
Jareth arched a fine brow and concurred, "I sympathize with your haste. Nothing is more irritating than business left unfinished. I shall speed you on your way by escorting you back to your ship...what was it you called it?"
"Slave One"
Jareth couldn't help but muse to himself "how appropriate." He hated to admit it, but he was starting to like the hunter's predatory, no nonsense attitude. Fett was so unlike the legions of incompetents he was used to dealing with, or he seemed that way at least. Only time would tell how efficient he would be.
Eager to send the hunter on his way, the Goblin King offered, "Come, I will transport you back to your Slave I, but first there is one thing I must show you." The dark visor followed the King's movements as another crystal materialized on his fingertips.
A moment later, Fett found himself standing with the King on a high stone balcony overlooking the immense labyrinth. Fett shook his head to clear it of the disorientation of being transported...yet another thing that made him wary of the strange humanoid. There was no rational explanation for the powers he seemed to possess.
Jareth extended his arm, pointing towards the horizon as he remarked, "There. You see that part of the Labyrinth, where the stone walls turn to forest?"
Fett's tactical display on the inside of his visor zoomed in on the location and he replied, "Yes."
Jareth continued, "And there, to the left of those trees, do you see...there is a wide meadow."
Fett nodded and bluntly replied, "I see it."
The Goblin King lowered his arm and instructed, "Land there when you return with the girl. Look to the tree line, you will see a cleared road. Follow it. She must be brought to the castle. That road will lead you directly into the Goblin City."
Fett nodded and briskly questioned, "Why there?"
Jareth simply replied, "Your Slave I is a rather large craft. There is simply no closer site, that is clear and large enough for you to land."
The hunter's gaze turned back to the meadow as Jareth finished, "Sarah must be brought to the castle. I assure you, it's not that far."
Fett judged the distance and conceded, "The distance is of no concern. But, why not just come and collect the girl at the landing site yourself?"
Jareth frowned, "It's not that simple. There are rules here that even I must abide by. She must be brought before me in my castle to face the charges for the wrongs she has committed. That is the way it is done here."
Fett could care less about how things were done. He'd just as soon be done with this place. However, it struck him as odd that Jareth wasn't willing to come and take the girl off his hands at the first opportunity, since, despite his feigned indifference, it was obvious that he was quite impatient to have her in custody.
Though Fett was mystified by Jareth's reasoning, it remained inconsequential. Fett would capture the girl nonetheless, and he would bring her before the King. He would, however, only hand her over when Jareth made good on his promise.
If the Goblin King failed to produce a way to send him home, his highness could just forget about Sarah Williams, because she wouldn't be falling into his grasp anytime soon. A satisfied smirk tugged at the corner of Fett's mouth under the helmet. The Goblin King may be used to having things his way, but he appeared to be a novice when it came to dealing with free-lance mercenaries. He would learn quickly, that much was certain.
Jareth stood nearby, his arms crossed over his chest impatiently, as Fett continued to scan the horizon. Pensively the hunter conceded, "I will collect Sarah Williams and deliver her here."
Jareth seemed to contemplate his answer as he took a menacing step closer and sternly cautioned, "You'd better stay alert and keep two eyes on her at all times. She is clever, and will no doubt attempt to escape..." Jareth looked away to the horizon as he added under his breath, "...especially if she finds out where you are taking her." As if suddenly remembering himself he arrogantly tilted his head to the side and warned, "I advise you not to engage in too much conversation with her."
It was with a hint of distaste that the Goblin King looked away and finished, "She'll try to charm her way into your good graces. And...she will attempt to rally you to her cause, the first chance she gets."
Fett flatly replied, "I'm not one for conversation."
Jareth raised a finely arched eyebrow and smoothly countered, "Be that as it may, it won't stop her from trying." He pursed his lips and warned, "Just remain alert, and don't believe anything she tells you, especially anything about me. I know her. She is devious and would no doubt tell you anything to get you to sympathize with her plight. She'll try to pollute your judgment. Don't let her distract you."
Slowly the darkened visor turned to meet the gaze of the waiting Goblin King. The harsh inhuman voice assured with ominous finality, "She will reach the castle."
Jareth nodded, turning his dual colored gaze towards the horizon as he murmured, "I sincerely hope so." He remained still and silent for a moment longer before he abruptly turned and announced, "Come, your ship awaits."
In a matter of minutes, Fett was piloting the Slave I back through the unfamiliar heavens. Just like he had anticipated, he had taken off from the Underground and upon plotting the coordinates, he had successfully traversed the border between the world of the Goblin King and the world of his latest quarry, Sarah Williams.
Now that he was back behind the controls of the Slave I, he was free to do things his way. He had every intention of collecting the girl, if he really was indeed stuck in this galaxy, but first there was one last option to try.
He proceeded along the same trajectory he had followed when he first came to this place, only this time he was moving in the opposite direction. Maybe, just maybe, he would end up back where he started from.
To his dismay, he didn't. After nearly five hours of drifting through just more unfamiliar cosmos, after trying every preposterous idea that popped into his mind, he turned his ship around.
He had no choice. The only remaining option was to collect the girl and hope that the Goblin King did indeed possess the power to send him back. Fett was by no means one to be lead on a fool's paradise.
He knew full well that the Goblin King could be using him with no real intention of sending him back. Hell, who knew if that flamboyant barve even possessed that sort of power?
Though Fett had seen the Goblin King do many things he couldn't explain, that didn't necessarily mean he could send him back to another galaxy with the snap of a finger. Even if he could...that didn't mean he would.
There was at least one thing Fett could do to ensure he had the upper hand when it came to the Goblin King. Capture Sarah Williams. Jareth wanted her...clearly quite badly. Fett knew that so long as he had the girl in hand, he would be the one calling the shots.
Fett had managed easily enough to begin his orbit of the blue planet, and it wasn't long before his on-board computers were able to pick up on the planet's various information networks.
His computer systems did most of the work, shuffling through lifetimes of data as though the information were no more cryptic than a simple deck of Sabaac cards.
Soon, Fett had gathered the information he needed to pinpoint the exact location of the address the Goblin King had given him. It was only another moment before he had every recorded piece of intelligence regarding Sarah A. Williams archived in the on board computer's memory.
As Fett approached his destination, he located a suitable place to land. There was a clearing in a wooded area not far from the Williams residence that would be an ideal place to conceal his ship.
As he breached the planet's atmosphere, he was pleased to see that the sun had already set. It would be advantageous to operate under the cover of darkness. Fett made a perfectly orchestrated landing and set his ship's security system to alert him if anyone or anything came into the immediate area. He exited his ship and trudged through the forest in the direction of the residence where Sarah Williams was staying.
Fett easily navigated his way through the wooded area. It had been a few hours since the sun had gone down, and the moon had begun to rise, yellow and full.
The moon shed some light on the darkening suburban neighborhood, not that Fett needed it. His helmet was equipped with an infrared sensor that made total darkness seem bright as the day. As impressive as his visual sensor were, they were nothing compared to his audio capabilities. Under the right conditions, he could detect and record whispered conversations up to two klicks away.
Breaking out of the forest, the bounty hunter methodically crept from house to house, keeping to the shadows, to ensure that he would remain unseen. The element of surprise was a powerful advantage, one that he wasn't about to forfeit.
He passed from house to house, noting the numbers displayed at each entrance. Six, eight, ten...twelve.
Flattening his body against the side of the yellow Victorian dwelling, he slid towards the back of the residence. Twelve Maple Drive. According to Jareth, this was the place Sarah Williams would be. Fett surveyed his surroundings, he just needed to find a suitable place to listen and wait.
************************************************************************
Having felt that she had pushed her peas around her plate long enough, Sarah rose from the table and brought her plate to the sink. The blond eleven-year-old that had been sitting beside her started to do the same when his mother chastised, "You're not going anywhere young man...not until you finish your dinner."
The boy stared incredulously at his mother and whined, "But Sarah didn't finish her peas and she gets to get up!"
The blue-eyed woman sternly replied, "Sarah is an adult and she ate everything but her peas. You've barely touched any of your food."
The boy glanced over his mother's shoulder at his older sister who was pouring herself a second glass of milk. She put down the carton as she looked at him, contorting her face into a ridiculous grimace, and stuck out her tongue, taunting the boy by flaunting her independence.
He narrowed his eyes at her and muttered, "I want to get going over to Kevin's ...it's not fair!"
Sarah's face went rigid at her brother's words. A distant mocking voice buried deep in the recesses of her memory added, "No it isn't...but that's the way it is."
Sarah broke her self induced moment of contemplation and put the milk back in the fridge just as she heard her stepmother huff, "Toby, don't start. You can go to Kevin's as soon as you finish your dinner."
Sarah suddenly lowered her glass of milk and interjected, "He's going to Kevin's? I thought I had to stay home and watch him?!"
Karen looked to her step-daughter and replied, "I spoke with Kevin's mother, some of the boys are sleeping over. I talked it over with your father and he said it was alright, so you don't have to watch Toby after all."
Sarah drained the rest of her milk and muttered, "How is it that I am the last one to know everything?"
Karen sighed, "I'm sorry Sarah. I've been so preoccupied with fixing dinner before your father and I have to leave, I just forgot."
Sarah waved her hand in dismissal, "Doesn't matter. I should study anyway."
Sarah's father strode into the kitchen, still unsuccessfully trying to straighten his tie. He gave his daughter a proud wink as he remarked, "That's my girl. I'm so glad you are taking your graduate studies seriously."
Toby piped up, "Where are you two going all dressed up like that anyway?"
Karen started clearing the table as Robert answered, "My firm is having a cocktail party at the Parkview hotel, so your mother and I have to go hobnob with the snobs."
Toby rolled his eyes as he shoveled a forkful of mashed potatoes into his mouth. With his mouth full of food he muttered, "Glad I'm going to Kevin's then..."
Robert pointed to the full plate of food and warned, "Better clean your plate, then, or you will stay home with Sarah." Toby glowered at his peas, but proceeded to shovel the remainder of them into his mouth.
Sarah helped Karen with the dishes as Toby dashed up to his room only to return moments later with his Transformers knapsack. He lingered in the doorway for a minute before he announced, "Mom, I finished my dinner...I'm going."
Karen confirmed that his plate was empty before she absently replied, "Alright. You call Sarah if you need anything, your father and I will be home late..." Toby was making a mad dash for the front door when she called after him, "And you better behave yourself, because I will call Mrs. Hargrove in the morning young man..."
Having finished the dishes Sarah plodded up the stairs to her room. Ruefully she pondered the fact that she would be spending a perfectly good Saturday night alone at her parent's house. She flipped on the light to her room and sighed. Perhaps it was for the best. She really could use some serious study time, especially with finals coming up. At least she'd have the house to herself, with no one to distract her.
No sooner had she gotten out her books, did she hear her father call up the stairs, "Sarah, we're leaving. We'll be home late, so don't wait up for us."
Sarah called down, "Okay, have a good time."
Karen called back, "Don't stay up too late Sarah, Bye, we'll see you in the morning."
Sarah yelled, "Bye."
Robert answered, "Bye sweetheart."
Sarah rolled her eyes at the nickname as the front door finally closed.
************************************************************************
Fett peered around the corner from the darker side of the house as Robert and Karen Williams got into their car and drove away. When the vehicle turned out of sight Fett made his way to the West side of the house. The audio transmission he had listened in on indicated that Sarah had gone into an upstairs room on this side of the house. He also knew...she was alone in the house.
Fett inclined his head as he looked up at the nearly empty house. The moon's reflection glinted on the shiny surface of his black visor.
Soft light spilled from one window. Fett glanced around and noticed the large oak tree that rose from the ground, it's large outstretched branches only feet away from the illuminated window.
He would have a marked advantage if he were able to survey the interior of Sarah's domicile before he made his entrance.
With the press of a button on his metal gauntlet, he fired a line up into the tree. The tiny grappling hook penetrated deep into the wood of a broad branch, and held fast as the hunter gave the line a sharp tug. Another button caused sharp treads to pop out of his wristlets and his armored shoes. With the aid of the cord line and the sharp treads, Fett stealthily managed to scale the trunk of the tree.
In a moment's time, the bounty hunter was crouched on a large branch, with one arm wrapped securely around another strong branch that continued upward. He was well concealed by the cover of the dense leaves as he peered directly through the clear glass into the lit room.
The dark haired girl was reclining on her bed, a large book lay open on her thighs. She appeared to be absorbed in whatever it was that she was reading.
Sarah paused in her reading to glance down at her class notes that were open beside her. She flipped through her binder to the outlined syllabus for the course. She scanned the page, looking for the reading assignments that the final exam would cover. Chapters 12-22.
She had done a reasonable job keeping up with the reading material in the beginning of the course, but as she had increased the hours of her part time job, her study of the readings had suffered.
Sarah quickly leafed through the chapters of the text she had already covered and found that she still had another five rather lengthy chapters to go.
She exhaled loudly. This was supposed to be vacation, and it looked as though she would have to spend the entire week catching up on her studies.
Life really wasn't fair.
She caught herself as the words reverberated through her thoughts. No, life wasn't fair... and she had been forced to accept that fact many years ago.
Almost instinctively, her eyes drifted to the statuette atop her vanity. The plastic likeness of the Goblin King stood frozen, keeping vigil over her childhood room; a silent reminder of an unbelievable quest she had completed ten years ago.
The realization struck her suddenly. It had been ten years ago. Ten years exactly, to the day. Her eyes widened slightly as she glanced at the clock. 7:12. It must have been very close to this time a decade ago that she said the words.
A strange feeling washed over her. It was an overwhelming mixture of déjà vu, uneasiness, and regret. In the years since her journey through the underground she had tried not to dwell too much on the adventure that still haunted her.
To this day, she still wasn't absolutely certain if the whole thing had actually happened or if it has been some very realistic manner of a dream. Though her heart told her it had all been very real from the talking worm to the gates of the goblin city to the grand celebration in her very bedroom, her head insisted that such things could only have a place in her imagination.
The morning after her quest, she had awoken still fully dressed, lying atop the covers of her bed. In dazed confusion she glanced around looking for any evidence that the party the night before had been real. She found nothing. Not one streamer, nor one speck of confetti.
Her room was in perfect order, not one toy or game out of place. She recalled how countless times she tried in vain to call upon her friends, but no answer came from her mirror, nothing but her own reflection, sadly staring back at her.
As time passed she thought about her adventure through the underground less and less, but every now and then, the memory still returned to haunt her.
She occasionally thought of the things she had seen and done, or she thought of the loyal companions that accompanied her until the very end.
Then there were other times, on nights like tonight when her thoughts were clouded by the very vivid and tangible memories of the underground's ruler. Try as she might she just couldn't bring herself to completely forget the King of the Goblins.
It was funny...normally over time, you tend to forget the little details about people; what they look like, how they sound...but strangely, it wasn't that way with Goblin King.
Sometimes she felt as though the sight and sound of him had been permanently burned into her memory. His features were sharp in her mind's eye, and his crisp accented voice still seemed to ring in her ears.
Sarah sighed wearily, tapping her pencil against her textbook. It wouldn't do to dwell on such thoughts. Heaving her textbook onto the bed beside her, she stretched. She needed something to calm the storm of troubled thoughts that swirled through her head.
She rose from the bed, deciding she may as well ready herself for bed, since she wouldn't be going anywhere tonight and, she knew sooner or later she'd end up face down, sleeping on that textbook. It was, without a doubt, the most monotonous text she had ever been forced to read...but that was grad school for you.
She slid her feet out of her sneakers and kicked them into her closet as she flipped on her stereo.
Strange electronic music touched Fett's ears, filling his helmet just as it filled Sarah's room. Though he wasn't a music connoisseur, he still enjoyed a good piece of music every now and then. He could honestly say he hadn't ever heard anything quite like this.
It boasted a fast pulsing beat, and a rather heavy bass. He would have deemed it only mildly interesting, that was until the breathy female voice cut in with her husky provocative singing.
Sarah, satisfied with the music selection, set her stereo remote on her nightstand. She approached her vanity, not even bothering to pull her shade, as there were no houses nearby with a clear view of her bedroom. Picking up her brush with one hand she quickly combed through her long dark locks.
Fett watched motionlessly. He scanned the interior of her room, noting there was but one entrance, save for the window. Her bedroom door was open just a crack. He also noticed there were no visible weapons in the room, nor any security devices. He would wait for her to occupy herself once again, and then he would go in after her.
He watched as she rummaged through a canvas bag and withdrew what looked to be various articles of clothing.
Sarah sauntered across the room, stopping beside her bed as she crossed her arms and pulled her turtleneck sweater off over her head.
Fett watched with interest as the hunter green sweater was discarded on the floor. The girl was facing away from him, but it didn't prevent him from seeing a fair amount of her fair flesh.
Her hands went to her throat as she picked up the delicate metal chain and started to work at the clasp that kept the delicate adornment fastened about her neck. She worked the chain free, turning to face the window as she placed it in a box on her nightstand.
For a moment the bounty hunter was captivated by the sight of the scant black lacy garment that covered her breasts. To his astonishment she didn't move away from the window as she reached for the fastening of her pants.
Sarah was not looking out the window as she unbuttoned her jeans and lowered the zipper. Her gaze drifted to her collection of stuffed animals. One bear was missing just as it should be.
Lancelot belonged to Toby now. Sarah lowered her eyes to her bed as she quickly tried to get her mind off anything and everything that reminded her of her adventure through the underground.
Fett watched, silent and unmoving, from the darkened cover of dense branches. He was stoic in his determination to keep perfectly still as he studied his unsuspecting prey up close.
Even as Sarah slid her jeans down over her hips, revealing her meager black undergarments, the hunter didn't move. In fact, he was scarcely breathing as he took her in.
Clad in only her lacy black bra and panties Sarah Williams was a breathtaking example of the female form. Upon seeing such a specimen up close a less careful onlooker of the male persuasion might have slipped, making a clumsy sudden movement, but not Fett.
He remained frozen, unmoving in his hidden perch, like a seasoned predator waiting for the prefect moment to make his kill.
Though his body remained rigid in it's position, it didn't mean he was unaffected by his prey's exposed state. He would have to be dead not to be affected by the sight of the nearly naked woman in front of him. Though Fett was not one to seek pleasure in the company of women, as that would be grossly negligent in his line of work, that didn't mean he didn't appreciate the sight of an appealing woman, quite the contrary in fact.
He took advantage of the opportunity to look Sarah Williams over. From behind the black visor he let his eyes wander over her form. Her long chestnut colored hair cascaded over her creamy shoulders and he wondered what was softer, her skin or her hair?
His eyes darted over her supple generous breasts, which were barely contained by the black lacy garment. Down his gaze drifted, trailing along her flat stomach, her pale skin sharply contrasting with the dark fabric of her underpants.
She slid her jeans down her legs, stooping to pick them up, as Fett's undetected gaze wandered down her long slender legs. She suddenly turned her back towards the window, looking down as she fiddled with the lace garment.
Fett watched with interest as the shoulder straps went slack and she lowered them, shrugging out of the strange garment.
Sarah dropped her bra on the floor, unaware that she was being watched. The hunter's lingering gaze that swept across her exposed back, went undetected.
Fett licked his dry lips to moisten them, as it seemed his mouth had suddenly gone dry.
Sarah pulled on a short black camisole as she settled back on her bed. Fett kept watch as she stretched out atop her bed linens, wearing nothing but her black camisole and panties, lying on her side, her cheek resting on her hand as she once again started reading.
Fett readied himself to climb down the tree.
It was time to make his move.
Sarah heard nothing as the unseen hunter picked the lock on the back door and slipped quietly into the dark kitchen.
She continued reading unaware of the intruder that stealthily crept up the stairs.
Still there was no sound to alert her as he armed his wristlets in the dark upstairs hallway.
A sliver of light spilling forth from her cracked bedroom door fell upon the shiny black visor, outlined in battered red and green metal. He needed only a fraction of a second to sweep the room, to confirm that she was still lying atop the bed.
She was.
Things could not have gone more perfectly.
Without further ado he stepped in front of the door, giving it a sharp kick as he burst into the girl's room.
Sarah's eyes were beginning to grow tired when the sudden sound of her door being forced open caused her to look up with a start.
Fett strode into the bright room with purpose, extending his forearm as he simultaneously aimed his wristlet and his blaster at the girl on the bed.
Sarah was caught completely off guard as the stranger burst into the room. Panic surged within her as she caught sight of what it was that had so suddenly intruded.
Her eyes darted over the mechanical looking figure, that stood as tall as a man.
It advanced with purpose, like some soldier of the future, wrapped in battered steel and technology, a barrage of unrecognizable weapons pointing directly at her. Her startled gaze traveled up its imposing frame, halting at the black, faceless visor.
Cold fear rose within her, drowning her like icy water as she noticed that the business end of some sort of massive gun was aimed in her general direction, as was what looked like some sort of armed wrist gauntlet.
She struggled to a sitting position, squirming back uselessly on the bed, her heart pounding wildly, as a frightened scream began to rise in her throat.
Her scream of terror was cut short as a bullet-like dart, fired from Fett's wristlet struck her throat.
The sedative that was pumped in through the three tiny barbs was quite potent, exploding forcefully into her bloodstream, taking effect immediately.
Her startled shout ended abruptly and her eyes rolled back in her head as she slumped over. The unconsciousness that claimed her was swift and heavy. Mercifully warm blackness lulled her into a deep and dreamless sleep.
Fett lowered his armored gauntlet as the girl collapsed. He knew that the powerful sedative, even at such a minute dose would render her unconscious for at least an hour. After that it would be cleared from her system and she would awaken as naturally as she would from sleep.
Fett had chosen the particular sedative as it was mild on the human body and it wasn't known to cause any ill effects.
The Goblin King had specified that he wanted the girl unharmed, and that was precisely how he would deliver her.
It was a fair assumption that the girl, like practically every other bounty he had collected would be afraid, and fear often causes people to act rashly.
It would have been easy enough for him to physically overpower the girl and simply drag her to his ship but she undoubtedly would have put up a struggle and there was always the possibility that she might injure herself in the process. No, it was less risky this way, even though it was disappointingly easy.
Though Fett enjoyed the challenge of opposition when it came to his prey, it was more of a priority to deliver the merchandise just the way the client wanted it.
That was why he had the reputation he did. Not only did he always deliver...he delivered to exact specifications. Fett slowly approached the bed, taking a moment to notice the girl's surroundings.
It seemed to be an ordinary sleeping chamber, though he found that many of her belongings looked more like things a child might possess rather than an adult. He kicked aside her open duffel bag and reminded himself that this wasn't the girl's permanent residence.
This was her parent's home. She had only been visiting.
As Fett glanced around the bright room he realized that this must have been the room where Sarah Williams had been raised. It was then he noticed the mirror, where many colored images were displayed. Fett leaned closer noticing a image depicting a younger version of the girl with her younger sibling.
Fett was just about to turn his back on the vanity and collect the girl when something caught his attention. There was a plastic figure atop the vanity, and it was the perfect likeness of the Goblin King. Fett snatched the statuette from the vanity and inspected it. Every detail was accurate, from the imposing high collared cape, to the tiny crystal orb held in the figure's hand.
Now that was interesting.
Why would the girl have such an item, especially if she and Jareth were at odds with one another?
At the very least it confirmed that the girl knew of the Goblin King. Fett pensively set the figure back down. He couldn't help but wonder what sort of past they shared.
Jareth had provided one explanation, but who could say if it was accurate assessment of the situation. Not that it mattered to Fett. His role in this was merely business, and regardless of the truth of the matter, he would do what he had to do to return to his home galaxy and the prospects that awaited him.
Still...his analytical nature prompted him to ponder what bizarre sort of circumstances surrounded their involvement with one another. He abruptly turned his back on the statue and purposefully approached the unconscious girl. No doubt some answers would come soon enough, but for the time being, he had a job to do.
The bounty hunter slid his arms under the girl's sleeping form and lifted her off the bed. He had no trouble lifting her and she offered no resistance as she was as limp as a rag doll. In one effortless motion Fett shifted the body in his arms. He hoisted her up and tossed her over his shoulder as though she were no more heavy than a sack of grain. He descended the stairs with one arm curled about her waist, to secure her. He slipped out the back door, unseen and unheard.
He walked briskly to the edge of the wooded area, keeping to the shadows. The moon still shone brightly, and as he glanced over his shoulder to make sure that no one was following, he noticed that the girl's breath was billowing in grayish tufts in the cool night air.
He hurried forward, glancing down to notice that tiny bumps had begun to form on the back of her naked thigh.
She was cold.
He broke through the trees, making quickly for his ship. He didn't want to delay getting her inside. She hadn't been wearing proper clothing for the climate, but that wasn't his main concern, his job was to bring the girl unharmed...nothing more. If the Goblin King wanted her fully clothed he should have specified. It didn't matter anyway, the Slave I was in sight and it's interior was climate controlled.
Fett hit the control on his wristlet, disarming the security system as the main hatch opened. He rushed up the ramp depositing the girl in a solitary holding cell before he took his seat in the cockpit and took off from Sarah's homeworld.
He carefully plotted his course, and lounged back in his chair.
There was always something more satisfying about a takeoff with an occupied holding cell. Newly acquired merchandise aboard the ship somehow made space travel more pleasant.
Chapter 4: Underground Bound
The Firespray class twin-engine vessel turned on its axis as it slowed and descended toward the grassy meadow below. Fett brought the ship down carefully, his deliberate movements seeming automatic, as if the ship were merely and extension of himself and not a separate entity.
As the Slave I touched down on the grassy terrain, Fett killed the engines and initiated a quick systems check. In his opinion his present hunt could not have gone any smoother. With satisfaction he rose from the pilot's seat.
It was time to deliver his newly acquired merchandise.
Sarah lie in the bowels of the ship, on her side on the metal alloy floor of the holding cell. Her body remained curled in the fetal position, as the metal flooring was cool against her skin. The powerful sedative was being cleared from her system and the effects were beginning to wear off.
The bounty hunter appeared before the bars of the holding cell with a pair of binders in hand. He stood rigidly for a moment and appraised his quarry. She drew her knees in closer to her chest for warmth as her brow knitted. Even as she clung to sleep her mind was rebelling against the drug and she murmured incoherently.
She would no doubt awaken soon and he wanted to make sure she would be properly restrained for her transport to the Goblin Castle. His visor remained fixed on her form as he activated the control on his wrist gauntlet. With a hiss the metallic barred door slid open.
Fett stepped into the cell and crouched by the sleeping human. The thermal display transmitted in the interior of his visor confirmed that her body temperature was normal. He could tell by the even rise and fall of her chest that she was still sleeping.
Fett leaned closer as he set down the binders and carefully removed one of his utility gloves. He reached down, deliberately grasping the girl's wrist as he felt for her pulse. After a moment he set her hand back down on the sterile metal floor, satisfied to discover that her pulse was regular and strong. The dose of sedative he had given should be wearing off soon, but unfortunately there was no way to predict exactly how long she would be out. Different people responded differently to this type of sedative.
He carefully drew her hands together, arranging her arms in the appropriate position as he fastened the binders securely about her wrists. Now at least her hands were properly restrained in case she woke and decided to fight him.
At this point he had several options. He could wait for her to wake and make her walk alongside him into the Goblin City, or he could just carry her part of the way, until she woke up. Then there was the third option. He could administer a mild cocktail that would counteract the sedative, and rouse her enough, so that she might walk on her own but she would be kept sufficiently drowsy and relaxed so that she wouldn't put up much of a fight.
Fett deliberated for a moment. The cocktail was harmless, but it would make her sluggish, and he wondered if she might slow him down so much that he'd do better carrying her. Then there were his own two legs to think of. He wasn't as young as he used to be, and his knees still bothered him from time to time after long periods of exertion.
There was no telling exactly how long she might continue to sleep for, and it certainly wouldn't be worth straining himself. Injury would only slow him down further. Making up his mind, he pulled a bullet-sized vial from his utility belt and flicked the contents.
Kneeling on one knee beside her, he carefully positioned her arm so that he could see the bluish vein just under the skin at the crook of her elbow. He brought the small vial before his visor and used his thumb to activate the device. There was a metallic click as a needle appeared at the top of the vial. With a low hiss the vial expelled the air automatically, making the liquid contents of the vial ready for administration.
He held her arm in place with one hand as he lowered the bullet-like syringe to her skin. Suddenly she stirred and quickly pulled her arm out of his grasp. Clearly startled, she struggled backwards, sliding away from the stranger in the battered armor.
Her frightened eyes darted up, taking in the imposing bounty hunter as he loomed before her, like some futuristic nightmare, a being made into a veritable arsenal of weapons.
Very slowly he pocketed the syringe vial and held up his hands in an abstract non-threatening gesture.
Her wide eyes traveled up his frame, halting at the shiny black visor, as she continued to back up uselessly. Through the fog of panic, she wondered if a pair of eyes were looking back out at her, or if the inhuman metallic helmet was indeed its face. Was it human or machine?
She had no idea.
Her train of thought was squashed as she glanced around wildly, finding to her horror that she was no longer in her parents' home. No, this place was beyond anything she had ever seen, all metal, the strange hardware indicating that her surroundings were totally alien.
Then she glimpsed the barred door over the being's shoulder. This was no dwelling, but a cell to keep its inhabitants confined. Her eyes darted to the massive weapon slung at his side before they once again met the black empty visor. Her voice wavered, sounding far too frightened to be recognizable as her own, "Wha...What do you want?!"
The helmet tilted a bit to one side, seemingly gauging her reaction. Silently the hunter considered his new acquisition.
She was terrified.
If her capture hadn't been so easy, the idea might have made him smile. Even though he had no personal vendetta against this one, nor was he even positive that she deserved the punishment that awaited her, it was still satisfying that even this far away from his galaxy, where no reputation preceded him, he could still have this sort of effect on his targets.
There was no recognition in the girl's eyes. Undoubtedly she had never even heard the name Boba Fett whispered in the dark places of her world, but still...there it was.
Fear.
Even this young girl from this seemingly simple world could recognize unnamed danger when she encountered it, and clearly she regarded it with a healthy amount of caution. It was true, though bounty hunting wasn't what it used to be, it was the little things, like this, that still made it worthwhile.
He had already gotten to his feet and was now leaning over her. He bent down, bringing his visor level with her eyes. There was mortal terror reflected in them and he noticed the fine sheen of perspiration that coated her nose and forehead.
Her eyes frantically searched the visor for some shred of humanity. Her face was close enough that she should have been able to see through the dark visor. She searched for a pair of eyes but all she saw was her own distorted refection glinting off the shiny black view-plate. Its closeness was unnerving, frightening her further.
She was suddenly intensely aware of her unclothed state, the metal flooring feeling cold and hard beneath her. What did it want? Her mind buzzed with all of the terrible possibilities as her body started to tremble...Oh God...what if it intended to...No. She wouldn't even allow the thought to form in her mind. Instead she concentrated on reasoning with it. Had it even understood her? She had to at least try again.
It was an effort to make the words come, as fear had made her throat go extremely dry. Her voice was little more than a choked whisper as she tried again, "What do you want with me?"
The helmet inclined a bit, as if it were considering the question. Perhaps it had understood after all. The harsh amplified voice replied, "I want nothing with you. Do exactly as I say and we shall get along fine."
His hands closed on her arms, pulling her to her feet as he finished, "Now, you will come with me."
His answer only left her more perplexed, and as she got awkwardly to her feet, she searched the visor again and demanded, "Where?"
"Wherever I tell you...now move." His gruff reply told her that the subject was not up for debate as did the cold barrel of the blaster that he shoved against her lower back to prod her forward.
She walked forward obediently, only turning her head a little as she asked, "Are you going to shoot me?" He gave her another hard shove and answered gruffly, "Only if you give me a reason to."
She walked straight ahead and replied frantically, "Ok...Ok I'm going...see."
Fett followed close behind, his blaster never leaving her back he ushered her to the door to the ship. When they reached the hatch he halted her. "Don't move."
Sarah stood perfectly still as he withdrew what sounded like some sort of metal chain from a utility pack. He moved in close behind her and the amplified inhuman voice warned, "These are to dissuade you from trying to run. Even without them, know this. Escape is not an option. Don't give me a reason to fire."
She remained frozen as he stooped to secure the chains to her ankles, which connected to another set that encircled her waist where they were attached to the binders securing her wrists. There was enough length to the chain between her ankles to allow her to walk, but it would certainly make running a challenge. Out of the corner of her eye she notice that her captor was securing one end of the chain to his utility belt.
When he was finished he stepped in close to her and activated a control on his wristlet, which commenced the lowering of the ramp. As the hatch began to open he ominously reminded her, "You won't get away alive...If you're smart you'll do exactly as I tell you."
She glanced down, glimpsing him just behind her shoulder, his weapon slung at his side, to be used at a moment's notice. Apprehension as well as disbelief was evident in her voice as she softly demanded, "Who are you?"
He wasn't obligated to tell her anything, however he saw no harm in it. His answer was matter of fact, "My name is Boba Fett."
The grinding sound of the pistons ceased as the ramp touched down. Again she felt the cold barrel of the blaster against her lower back as the harsh voice urged, "Let's go. That direction."
Accepting the fact that escape seemed hopeless she obediently descended the ramp, the lush grass of the meadow tickling her bare feet. It was a bit of a relief to be out in the open, though little could ease her mind when she was tethered to a dangerous stranger with an enormous gun jammed against her spine.
A warm wind whipped over the meadow, beating against her, making her more aware of her unclothed state. She felt intensely exposed and she could sense the stranger's eyes upon her. She wanted to cover herself, but it was not an option as her hands were bound. It would have been a fruitless gesture anyway, as he had already gotten quite an eyeful.
The warm perfumed breeze continued to assault her as she walked and she breathed deeply trying to calm herself. Then something occurred to her. There was something strangely familiar about the scent on the air but she couldn't put her finger on it. She kept her eyes forward as she walked, afraid to make any sudden movements. Cautiously she ventured in a small voice, "Am I allowed to speak?"
A flat voice replied simply, "If you weren't, you would be gagged."
Despite her attempt to sound brave, her voice broke, "Please...Where are you taking me?"
He picked up the pace, coming up alongside her. The faceless visor turned to regard her before he extended his arm, his gloved hand pointing to something just peaking through the very tops of the trees. "There."
She glanced up at it. She had to squint to make out the structure in the bright sunlight. It appeared to be the very top of a great fortress, or...
A castle.
A castle that she had seen once before. The sight of it stole her very breath away as she halted, frozen to the spot where she stood. Her eyes widened as she stared. She blinked once, twice, as though she were willing the fortress not to really be there.
But it was. It loomed before her like a great shadow, tall and forbidding, just as she remembered it, and it was just real as could be.
The castle beyond the Goblin City. That's where they were going.
Anxiety and disbelief welled up inside her. There was no way this could really be happening. She had to be dreaming. But she had just woken up! The grass beneath her feet was real. She felt the wind on her face, and the cold unforgiving barrel of the blaster, that was certainly real. She couldn't be dreaming. Somehow, she had ended up back Underground...but how could that be? Her mind frantically churned as she tried to make sense of this madness.
She had been at home. She remembered thinking of the Labyrinth, and then she had been kidnapped, taken by force from her home by some armored mercenary, like something straight out of a Sci-fi movie. She swallowed with trepidation as she stared up at the hulking form of the Goblin Castle. She was going back there again, and this time she was not going in the champion of the labyrinth on a quest for her baby brother. This time she was going in as a prisoner.
As Fett watched her stare at the top of the Goblin castle, he saw the color drain from her face as she froze. He was sure it was a mixture of recognition and apprehension that washed over her face as she stared up in disbelief. So she had been here before. At least it appeared that the Goblin King wasn't lying about that.
Fett was at her side in an instant, in case she tried anything stupid. But instead of bolting, she lowered her eyes. She didn't dare look at him as she weakly protested, "I...I didn't say the words. Why am I..." She broke off suddenly as things suddenly clicked into place.
She clenched her jaw and finished with soft conviction, "He asked you to bring me here didn't he?"
Fett inclined his helmet, as though he were about to ask to whom she was referring, but she beat him to it, her voice raising an octave, "The Goblin King. It's him you are working for isn't it?!" Her statement was accusatory.
Fett wasn't about to let his new acquisition get away with speaking to him in such a way. He stepped dangerously close to her, his harsh voice echoing in her ears as he assured her, "I work only for myself. I am a free lance mercenary...a bounty hunter. The Goblin King has requested your presence, that much is true, but it is I who decided to capture you."
She swallowed, realizing she had momentarily forgotten herself under the circumstances. It was hard not to when she was so taken aback and outraged. Her eyes were cold as they met his, her voice icy but low, "And now you are...What? Selling me to the Goblin King?"
His gravelly voice answered simply, "You have a price on your head. If I hadn't found you then someone else might have. When something is wanted bad enough, the manner in which it is obtained is trivial. The Goblin King must have really wanted you, as he hardly haggled for a better price..." She couldn't see the smug grin under the helmet, but she sensed his satisfaction as he remarked, "I'm just glad I got to you first..."
She turned her face away abruptly as if something in his words had stung.
She was silent for a long time and it was Fett that finally broke the heavy silence between them, "We've wasted enough time. Now, get moving."
She glared at him and snapped, "Why should I even bother, now that I know where you are taking me?"
His answer was matter of fact, "You'll bother because you value your life, and if you don't bother I will blast you into oblivion."
She caustically retorted, "That may not be a bad alternative...though...I don't think you'd shoot me."
The visor turned in her direction as he pointedly replied, "Try me."
She tipped her head towards the castle and supplied, "He wants me alive. That much I'm sure of. If he wanted you to kill me you would have done so already" She liked her dry lips, grimly adding, "....And besides if he wants me dead, I'm sure he'd much rather do it himself."
"How perceptive. But you will arrive at the castle, even if I have to immobilize you and carry you...so you might as well start walking."
Chapter 5: Before a King
Sarah stood her ground, wondering if the bounty hunter was bluffing or not.
He regarded her calmly and when she didn’t move, he removed a clip of darts from his utility belt and clicked it into the port on his gauntlet, promptly leveling the firing end of the wristlet at her throat.
The inhuman voice was cold as he remarked, “The drug in these darts will render you incapable of any movement. If I fire, you will only be able to move at my command, condemning you to do everything that I tell you to do.” His tone was matter-of-fact as he added, “It lasts several hours. I hadn’t planned on using it, as it is nearly irreplaceable, but you leave me little choice…”
As he aimed the poison dart at her throat she cried out in alarm, “Wait!” Her attempt to stand up to the bounty hunter had been impulsive and foolish. Her voice broke as she cried in defeat, “You…You don’t have to use that…I…I’ll walk...”
Slowly she started forward, and only when she began moving did Fett lower his wrist weapon.
Trudging forward, she felt fine sand under her bare feet instead of grass, and as she scanned the trees ahead, she noticed a narrow path disappearing into the shade. So, it appeared this crude road would lead them right to the castle.
As she walked, her eyes kept darting from the road to the fortress that loomed like a sinister beacon just beyond the trees of the forest. A heavy feeling of dread overcame her as she was reminded that she was about to return to the castle, and more than likely be brought face to face with none other than the Goblin King. A wave of nervous anxiety tore through her as she pondered what such a meeting might bring. Her mouth had gone dry as she swallowed in trepidation.
Surely, after all that had happened the last time she’d been here, she couldn’t expect a warm welcome. Her thoughts strayed to the last moment she had seen the Goblin King, the moment when she had said the words.
You have no power over me.
No matter how hard she had tried, she had never managed to forget the look on his face then.
He had to be angry, if not furious.
She wondered what horrible punishment awaited her. She shivered. It had to be dread indeed, if he had taken the trouble to hire a cold-blooded mercenary, like this Fett, to devise a way to bring her in. Judging by what little she already knew of the bounty hunter, she guessed that his services wouldn’t come cheap. She wondered what Jareth had promised in return.
How much was she worth to him?
Fett hadn’t specified, but he had alluded to the fact that agreed upon price had been high. What was it that the Goblin King wanted with her? Reason would suggest that he would at the very least attempt to even the score.
Revenge.
That was what she could expect. But in what form would it come? Would he kill her? Make her spend the rest of eternity wandering the labyrinth? Endless confinement in a dark oubliette?
These were all bad possibilities, but even darker ones occurred to her. She imagined the castle contained a dungeon. Perhaps lifelong imprisonment and torture awaited her. Jareth had mentioned that he could be cruel, and she didn’t doubt it. His cold manner had all but confirmed it.
She continued to be assaulted by the endless barrage of possibilities and she quickly realized that not knowing made the terrible anxiety so much worse. She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. At the pace they were moving, she would find out soon enough.
It would be no more than an hour before she was brought face to face with Jareth. Her mind stalled at the thought.
Face to face with Jareth.
It was as if she suddenly remembered her state. Bound, chained to the bounty hunter. In her camisole and panties…without her clothes, or her shoes even.
Without any dignity at all.
The thought of the humiliation alone made her cheeks and the very tips of her ears burn. Facing his highness again was going to be horrendous enough, but the thought of facing him like this, in her underwear, well that was plain unbearable. Unthinkable even.
Her strength failed her as hot tears of desperation suddenly blurred her vision. Without warning she stumbled and fell hard onto her hands and knees in the dust. The chain had been long enough so that she hadn’t pulled Fett down with her.
In fact as she fell, the hunter merely halted, the very picture of control as she lost her last shred of composure.
Her fingers dug into the dusty ground she lowered her head in defeat. Her shoulders began to shake as the tears came. And to her horror she could do nothing to stop them. The hopelessness of the situation overwhelmed her. Her body shook with her ugly sobs and through her tears the words came, distorted and nearly indiscernible.
“I…I…can’t…do…this…”
The bounty hunter merely waited in patient silence, as if he were waiting for her to finish, as if he’d known this emotional outburst was coming.
In fact he had anticipated her actions. He had seen it so many times that it was, for him, part of the standard procedure.
There came a point with every bounty, that after learning what was to become of them, they broke down. Some held out longer than others, but eventually they all realized that escape was impossible and their strength invariably wavered as they were faced with the reality of their situation.
Most lost it when they simply realized it was truly over for them. There was something different about this outburst though.
Sarah hadn’t been informed what awaited her.
For truly, he himself hadn’t even a clue what the Goblin King intended to do with her, nor did he care. However, simply faced with the knowledge that she was to be brought to the King of the Goblins had been enough to cause her to break down.
It was just as well. Better to get the hysterics over with early on. He found that usually after this sort of outburst came a quiet, hopeless sort of acceptance, as if they were already dead. And that was just fine with him. The dead were always less trouble than the living.
As her fingers dug deeper into the dry dirt, the dust rose and clung to her tears as she cried. She wasn’t sure how long her despairing cries carried on for. It felt like an eternity that her body was wracked with sobs and the tears just wouldn’t stop no matter how hard she willed them to.
Her life as she had known it, was, in essence, over. And she grieved for all that she was leaving behind.
Her family. Her friends.
There was no telling if she’d ever see them again. Even being a stubborn optimist, she was forced to admit to herself, Things looked very grim.
Whether the Goblin King killed her or not, things would never be the same. She’d never be able to get away from Fett, that much was obvious. It was only a matter of time before she was Jareth’s prisoner.
At Jareth’s mercy.
The mere thought stole her breath away, and she was filled with despair.
Strong hands suddenly lifted her. Mercifully they helped her back onto her feet. She swallowed the terrible lump in her throat, finally reigning in her sobs as the unfeeling voice informed her, “He wants you alive. You should consider yourself lucky. Usually those I deliver, arrive in a bag, not chains.”
She sniffed miserably, hastily wiping away her remaining tears, the dust causing ugly dirty streak marks, which marred her reddened face. Her voice shook terribly as she choked on the barely audible words, “What does he want with me?”
Fett considered the question and replied matter-of-factly, “I don’t know…” Then sharply he added as an afterthought, “It’s not my concern.”
She went on as if she hadn’t even heard him, “Will he kill me?” Fett exhaled heavily as he prodded her forward. In these situations he found that it was invariably better to be up front with the target. For some reason they always seemed more cooperative and passive when they knew what fate awaited them, and they understood that it was unavoidable.
Flatly, he replied, “He said for what he had in mind, he needed you very much alive.”
Her head snapped around as she stared at him in surprise, her voice wavering, “He…He said that?”
The hunter gave a sharp nod, actually wondering as well, just what the Goblin King had meant to do with her. Of course it didn’t really matter, what he would do with her, but he couldn’t help wondering. It still was a mystery, what exactly this girl had done to anger the king so thoroughly. He didn’t doubt, by the way this one felt the need to talk, that he’d probably find out by the time they reached the castle.
A new wave of alarm rushed over Sarah as she considered the Goblin King’s words
…need her very much alive.
She continued walking with Fett close at her back. She didn’t even turn her head as she tentatively ventured, “Wha…what did he mean by that?”
The clipped response was simple and unfeeling, “I didn’t ask.”
“Oh.” She nearly sounded disappointed.
Sarah frowned, surely the bounty hunter had to know something. Perhaps, if she could just ask the right questions, the ones that he would have nothing to lose by answering, she might learn something. She glanced down, again being reminded of her unclothed state. It was positively humiliating that she was going to be paraded into the castle this way. The idea struck her like lightening, nearly stealing her breath away.
Humiliation.
It had to be part of his plan. She thought of the Goblin King sitting smugly on his throne, and a flicker of anger sparked deep within her. This had to be his doing. He probably instructed Fett that her capture was to be a degrading as possible. Perhaps Jareth didn’t mean to kill her. After all, humiliation seemed to be much more his style…or…
She glanced down at her body again, the very tips of her ears burning as she swallowed at the completion of the thought.
…or perhaps he meant to do something else entirely.
Her knees went weak and her very insides knotted at the thought, her face suddenly feeling as though it were on fire.
Her voice shook as she posed the desperate question to her captor, “Did he tell you to…take me…like this?”
His reply was little more than a harsh growl, “Like what?”
She took a shaky breath and clarified, gesturing to her body, “Like this. Without my…clothes?” She winced as she finished, as though dreading his answer.
By this time, the bounty hunter had begun to surmise just what she was insinuating. His voice was cold as he flatly replied, a little defensively, “I took you as you were.” He paused for a moment, thinking over her accusatory question regarding the Goblin King, wondering for himself, if her apparent concern was valid.
Of course he knew that Jareth hadn’t requested anything that gave away any illicit intentions he might have to take advantage of the girl. However, from what he knew of the Goblin King, it was a fair assumption that he had something up his sleeve.
Yes, Jareth was a cold, conniving, barve, for sure. It was certainly possible that Jareth may have forseen his lack of cooperation, if he had disclosed that his intentions included anything so heinous as rape, and may have purposefully been secretive about what he had in store for Sarah Williams.
In any event, the Goblin King’s intentions toward the girl were irrelevant. It had been necessary to capture the girl, regardless of what awaited her. He was stuck in a foreign galaxy without a way to return, and for the time being, delivery of the girl was the closest thing he had to a one-way ticket home. Well, she was a bargaining chip at the very least. He just had to remind himself that whatever happened to her when he turned her over was none of his concern.
Though he didn’t know of the Goblin King’s intentions, he still felt the need to separate his role in all this. He may have been her captor, and the cold and unfeeling mercenary…but still…he never actively partook in the indecent proceedings of some of his more reprehensible clients. Rape was an act that was simply beyond him.
Gruffly he reminded her, “You removed you clothes yourself. I had no hand in it.”
Now engaged, she boldly accused, “Well…why didn’t you put them back on me? I mean you could have dressed me after you shot me full of drugs….or you could have at least grabbed some of my clothing and taken it with us…”
He cut her off, matter-of-factly informing her, “A waste of time.” He leaned forward and sneered, “The matter of your clothing wasn’t a specification of your capture.”
Caustically she countered, “Were there any specifications in my capture?”
Again she felt the cold barrel of the blaster digging into her back as he leaned closer, the unfeeling voice was artificially amplified close to her ear, “Just one.”
She turned her head slightly to the side, just enough to see the metallic visor over her shoulder, very close, too close. She opened her mouth for clarification, to ask him to go on, but no sound came. She was stricken by the fact that he was intruding on her personal space.
She didn’t have to speak. He knew that she was very interested in what he had to say. He could see it in her large liquid green eyes. It was all there. The need to know. Her apprehension. And as she failed to speak, her fear.
He leaned in a little closer, and she could almost see through the visor. His voice dropped, and it was raspy in her ear as if stripped raw. It seemed out of place for him, such an eerie gesture of intimacy between he the hunter and her, his prey. It made the tiny hairs on the back of her neck stand on end as he admitted,
“Only that you weren’t to be abused.”
“Oh.”
Her voice lacked all the boldness it had possessed only moments before, as she was suddenly stricken by the thought that her capture may have gone very differently if Jareth hadn’t made such a request.
Nervously she turned her head, once again facing forward. A sudden chill had set into her bones, and she could no longer stand looking into that inhuman visor. Just the very look of it, and that empty, unfeeling voice, filled her with dread.
Even as she looked away, quickening her pace, so he was a safer distance behind her, her uneasiness didn’t subside. She could almost feel his eyes on her, and the fact that she couldn’t see his face, to even read his expression, unnerved her even more.
Her mind continued to churn with disconcerting thoughts. What if Jareth hadn’t told him that she wasn’t to be abused? What then? What would this dangerous and unpredictable bounty hunter have done? The endless array of possibilities petrified her.
And though, somewhere in the back of her brain she was somewhat grateful that Jareth had made such a request, yet a flicker of fear lingered, that there was always the possibility that Fett could, if he so desired, choose ignore the order at any time. The frantic part of her brain that tended to over-worry imagined for a second, what that could mean.
Though Fett couldn’t have been more than four or five inches taller than her, she didn’t doubt that he was immensely strong. Even without his weapons, he would have made a formidable opponent. With the weapons…well she didn’t even want to think about all those deadly devices, and what they could do.
Despite the fact that his identity was well hidden, she could tell from the size of his bicep alone that he was a powerful, well-built man. She imagined that he could easily toss her to the ground, and subdue her with a tremendous strength.
No, it would take very little effort on his part to force her onto her back…and her camisole was so thin. There was no doubt that he’d be able to tear the slight garment clear off her with one swift movement. She tried to shake the thought from her mind as goose-bumps started to rise on her arms and legs.
If she hadn’t been bound she would have hugged her own body in response to the invading chill that such thoughts had caused, and to cover herself from the veiled eyes that watched her from the anonymity of the helmet.
As if he had read her very thoughts, the gruff voice came from behind “I’m not going to touch you…if that’s what you think…”
Caught entirely off guard, her face flushed as she stammered, “Oh, I…no…”
Flatly he supplied without a trace of emotion, “Rape is immoral. I have no taste for it.”
Her ears were burning again, and she suddenly found she couldn’t speak. She managed a small nod as he went on, “Sex is a distraction. Immoral and useless...” His voice went lower, a bit softer as he finished, “Remain cooperative Sarah Williams, and you’ve nothing to fear from me.”
It was the way he’d said it. Grave and almost…sincere. He said it with such conviction, that she knew he was being truthful. Though everything else about him screamed danger, this part was authentic. She had no choice but to believe him.
It was an odd thing that passed between them then. She was suddenly intrigued, totally mystified that she had found one ray of light in her seemingly dark captor. He seemed then more mysterious than menacing. Like his identity, his character was now also something of an enigma.
For the first time she found herself wondering, out of sheer curiosity, just who Boba Fett was. She couldn’t rid herself of the nagging question.
What was he like under there?
Now that she really thought about it, she couldn’t even make a guess at his age. What did he look like? Was he human like her, or something else? Was he light skinned or dark? A plethora of questions ran through her mind, however dwelling on them brought her no peace, as with every step, they got nearer and nearer to the Goblin Castle.
They had ventured quite far into the dense forest by this time. The thick branches blotting out much of the sunlight, but still the fortress loomed ahead, larger and larger through the tops of the trees.
Suddenly, off to their right, came the sound of a twig being snapped in two. Sarah’s head turned sharply in the direction of the noise, her eyes narrowing as she peered into the shady forest. Fett hadn’t so much as glanced in the direction of the sound, instead he prodded Sarah forward. Sarah immediately started walking again but not without demanding in a hiss of a whisper, “What was that?”
Fett kept walking as he simply replied, “Goblins.”
Sarah glanced back at the hunter, her eyes widening, but he merely shoved her forward. In a voice that nearly sounded bored he informed her, “They’ve been following us since we entered the forest.”
Sarah continued to glance around with wide eyes as she asked, “What do you think they want?”
He answered simply, “To keep watch. They are Jareth’s eyes and ears, are they not?”
Sarah was still looking about warily as she remarked, “I suppose they are…” She sighed deeply and whispered, “It’s a good bet that he knows we’re here.”
Fett mused, “Of course he does. He knew the moment we landed.”
Sarah frowned at the thought and reluctantly admitted, “I don’t doubt it.”
At that very moment a tall thin goblin dressed in oversized armor scampered up a long spiral staircase in the castle. Upon reaching the top he took a sharp right and barreled onward to the immense heavy oak door. He pounded three times with his fist on the door, trying in vain to catch his breath.
The door swung open, groaning on its hinges as the cool voice from within instructed, “Enter.”
The goblin darted inside, squinting to see in the dim light of the room. He approached the large gothic desk, where the king was seated, leaning far back in his chair, his black leather boots crossed at the ankle as he rested his feet on the giant desk of solid carved mahogany, his face hidden behind a monstrous volume of a leather bound book.
Still a bit winded from the long climb up the stairs the goblin cleared his throat, tentatively interrupting, “Your Majesty?”
Jareth forcefully closed the book, causing a cloud of dust to rise from the ancient pages. Setting the book atop the desk, he glanced pointedly at the goblin and replied, “Yes, what is it?”
Knowing that his sovereign didn’t like to wait, the lanky goblin promptly reported, “The hunter and the girl are almost out of the forest. They will enter the Goblin city any minute.”
Jareth reclined regally in his chair and coolly replied, “Excellent. See to it that they have a clear path through the city. No one is to get in Fett’s way. Alert me at once if anything changes.”
The goblin bowed low and humbly replied, “Yes, your majesty.” The Goblin turned and departed the way he had come in.
Jareth, growing agitated with the books and papers that littered the desk, stretched in his chair, before he rose and paced the length of the room. Fett had returned with Sarah, and with every passing moment, he brought her closer to the castle.
Of course his goblin soldiers had been watching them every step of the way, and they kept him well informed of their progress. He would have much preferred to use his crystals to watch their approach with his own eyes, but watching Sarah after their final confrontation came with a heavy price.
It completely exhausted him.
He was still not totally clear on the reason why that was, but through his study of all the ancient texts, he found that it had something to do with her final incantation, which somehow managed to block his magic, and simultaneously allowed her to return to her world with her baby brother.
Fortunately, Jareth was a Fae of considerable power and his magic was not a force to be taken lightly. It was this advantage that allowed him some leeway in the use of his magic where the mortal girl was concerned. For, if he had been a weaker individual, he wouldn’t have been able to use his powers to see Sarah at all. As it was, he could summon her image occasionally for very short periods of time, which had allowed him to more or less keep an eye on her so long as she remained at a distance, safely in her own world.
But now she had crossed the barrier to the underground, and her close proximity made it impossible for him to see her in his crystals. When he first tried, it weakened him terribly, causing an excruciating pain in his head, as the crystal nearly burned his hands. It seemed, to the best of his knowledge, that somehow her close presence sapped his magic.
It appeared that the closer her proximity, the more diminished his powers became. But it was more focused and specific than that. It seemed, thankfully, that only the forces directed towards her were affected. His power over the labyrinth and over his minions had not wavered at all.
In fact he could feel that power surging through his system just as strongly as it ever had. He suspected that even if Sarah were sitting in his very lap, he could still cast some idiotic goblin into the bog of eternal stench with a mere flick of his wrist. The line of his mouth curved slightly into a crooked grin at the thought.
Fett and Sarah reached the entrance to the goblin city, to find the immense gate open in silent invitation. The two goblin guards on either side of the immense heavy gate gave the bounty hunter a sharp nod as they gestured with their spears for them to proceed through.
The barren city was eerily quiet as they approached the castle. Not a single Goblin was to be seen or heard as they marched past the small thatched houses towards the steps of the castle’s entrance. Sarah eyes darted nervously back and forth over the deserted alleyways and dark empty windows. Though she couldn’t see a single thing stirring, she was filled with the uneasiness at the distinct feeling of being watched. Fett too was silent, however the persistent pressure of the barrel of his blaster against her back was proof enough that he was still with her.
Finally they reached the bottom of the stairs and Sarah’s eyes lifted from the dusty ground. Up she looked, the sinister goblin castle seeming to rise forever as though it would touch the sky. The sight filled her with a sudden wave of vertigo, and she quickly lowered her eyes to the immense gothic doors.
How she had dreaded this moment. The sickening despairing feeling made her feet feel impossibly heavy and her mouth had suddenly gone so dry. She would have bolted, if she hadn’t been chained to the bounty hunter with his impressive weapon jammed in her back.
He stood close now, as if sensing her desire to run, like a steel garrison, or some mythical unwavering sentinel sent to escort her to her demise. She was nearly overcome with urgency, which almost made her drop to her knees and plead with the bounty hunter to not force her to go through with this.
She had only to lose her resolve for a moment and she would have sunk to her knees, sobbing and clinging to his frame, begging for his mercy. She might have offered him anything…yes anything…if he might let her go.
Anything would have been better than the horror of not knowing what awaited her once she passed through those doors. She would have done it, too, if she thought it would do her any good, but she knew better. There was no bargaining with Fett. She simply didn’t have anything that he could possibly want.
Fett stepped in close, now along side her, his blaster now digging into her side instead of her back. He gathered up the chain, shortening it so that she would be kept much closer. His helmet turned slightly towards her, the artificially amplified voice echoing in her ear, “Keep quiet. No matter what happens, do exactly as I say.”
She turned her head, her eyes fixed on the T shaped visor as though she were studying it. Her eyes narrowing slightly as she quietly asked, “You don’t trust him do you?”
The visor once again faced forward as he looked up at the castle and the low gruff voice answered, “I don’t trust anyone.”
He caught her by the arm and moved her swiftly up the steps. As they reached the top, the doors to the castle parted ominously on their own as if by magic.
Then it all happened so fast. Her anxiety was so overwhelming that everything seemed a blur. Sarah could not have recalled what happened in those few moments it took Fett to drag her to the entrance to the throne room, as she was so preoccupied with what would happen when she was brought before Jareth. They passed some corridors dimly lit by the firelight cast by the sconces, there may have been some stairs, but her surroundings were the last thing on her mind.
Before she knew what was happening, she and the bounty hunter were standing before a pair of ornately carved doors. The doors swung open to reveal the same throne room She had dashed through on the way to save her brother ten years before, only this time it was not empty.
The room was swarming with Goblins, and in the midst of the chaos, the Goblin king lounged on his throne, merely waiting in serene anticipation, sharply contrasting with the flurry of raucous goblin antics that surrounded him.
The calm in the middle of a storm.
As they entered, Jareth looked up. He didn’t even give the bounty hunter so much as a cursory glance. His eyes settled immediately on Sarah.
Sarah froze, her eyes locking momentarily with those of the Goblin King. She was jarred by the jolt of nervous anxiety, and hastily looked away. Her face and ears were smoldering as she cast her eyes to the floor, the tiny thought pushing its way into the back of her mind.
He looked exactly the same.
Ten years hadn’t changed him at all, as he hadn’t aged a day. His appearance was precisely as she remembered it. Cold and mocking, sinister, but above all, strangely enticing. His flaws only seemed to enhance his devastating appeal.
Being older and considerably more mature, she was better able to recognize the affect his presence had on her. He terrified her on a whole variety of levels, yet there was no mistaking that his inherent darkness appealed to her. Deep down she knew that the warmth that was overtaking her body had to do with more than her own humiliation.
During her brief appraisal of him she noted that he was similarly outfitted in a sinister looking high collared vermillion cape slung carelessly over a partially open white poet shirt tucked neatly into obscenely tight black breeches. His long slender legs had been stretched out before him, encased in finely polished knee length black field boots. His hands, both elegantly gloved in black leather gripped either end of a rather ornate riding crop.
She felt as though her ears and cheeks were on fire and she felt very unsteady on her feet as her mind screamed…This can’t be happening. Fett seemed to sense that her resolve was crumbling and he was immediately there at her side to steady her.
It seemed to happen in slow motion, that he dragged her forward, and she may have been a ragdoll, for she felt as though she had no control over her own limbs. The bounty hunters grip tightened on her, and for a moment his stoic presence seemed a blessing. As he brought her before the Goblin King’s throne she was thankful that he was keeping her so close. His solid frame was something to lean against, and she could at least rest assured that his tight grip would keep her from falling. Her knees were so weak. The combination of fear, anxiety, and physical exhaustion was debilitating, and she knew if it hadn’t been for the bounty hunter she might have already collapsed.
Slowly Jareth got to his feet, taking in the sight before him. Their eyes had met briefly before she dropped her gaze to the floor. He noted that her face had flushed as she looked away, and it was no wonder why. His eyes trailed slowly down her frame, taking in the sight of her scant clothing. She was chained helplessly to the bounty hunter, covered merely by a thin-strapped black camisole. His eyes raked over her chest, lingering as he noticed that she wore nothing underneath. His gaze fell to her skimpy black underpants, and drifted over her long tan legs. Barely aware of the fact that he had stepped closer to the hunter and his captive, he stared at the girl a little longer than he had intended to, but he was taken aback by her unexpected appearance.
He suddenly realized that the room had gone dead quiet, and remembering himself he dismissed his nosy minions, “All of you…leave us.” For a moment the Goblins merely blinked in surprise. He ordered more forcefully, “Out…now!” The mischievous creatures scattered, hastily scampering out of the room.
Jareth circled the pair, his eyes lingering on Sarah, who despite her mounting curiosity, had kept her eyes trained on the floor. As he rounded them, he leveled his mismatched gaze on the visor of the bounty hunter, his crisp accented voice, arrogant and accusatory, “Where…are her clothes?”
The visor turned slightly towards the girl as the harsh even voice responded, “I captured her as I fount her…that was the arrangement.”
Coldly, Jareth replied, “Really? Well…we shall see.” Abruptly he turned toward the girl stalking closer as he drawled, “So, at last we meet again Sarah…” She didn’t answer. Remaining still as stone, her eyes remained fixed on the flagstone floor.
A pensive expression touched his face as he began to circle her. His eyes never left her frame as he studied his captive mortal from all sides. He brought a gloved finger to his lips in a gesture of contemplation as he questioned her, “Tell me…has Fett here accosted you…in any manner?” As an afterthought he added, “Did he remove your clothing?”
Her cheeks grew hotter, if that was even possible, and she shifted uncomfortably, feeling the Goblin Kings eyes on her body. She was aware that the chain that held her fastened to the bounty hunter tightened ever so slightly as the Goblin King came closer. Her mind swam in confusion. Was she supposed to answer? Fett had specifically told her not to say a word.
By this time Jareth had grown impatient and stepped dangerously close. At the same time Fett gruffly barked under his breath, “Answer him.”
She shook her head from side to side, with just the slightest movement of her head. Jareth shifted, his stance and tone becoming impatient and imperious, “I admit, I hadn’t expected you to be overjoyed at the prospect of being here…However, I would expect that you could show me the small courtesy of looking at me when I’m speaking to you.”
Sarah let out a long slow breath and she suddenly felt the cool leather tip of his riding crop slip under her chin. He tilted her chin up and reluctantly she raised her eyes to meet his.
His face settled back into that smug condescending expression as he gazed upon her upturned face. Her eyes widened at his audacity.
It had been ten years since he last looked into those eyes, he had almost forgotten their fierce green depth…almost, but not quite.
His voice was silky as he remarked, “That’s better…now what were you saying?”
Defiantly she held his gaze, her eyes flashing with anger as she snapped, “No, he hasn’t.”
There was something dangerous in his mocking smirk as he taunted, “There…now that wasn’t so hard.”
Fett watched as Jareth used the crop to lift her chin higher. The Goblin King was standing very close to her now, and he lowered his gaze, his eyes carefully scanning her body from head to toe. To the untrained eye it might have seemed as though he was merely taking a leisurely look at her young body, but Fett knew he was doing much more than that.
Keeping her chin raised he began to circle, his eyes again drifting over her from all sides. He was inspecting her body for bruises and other signs of abuse.
Fett straightened, knowing full well that Jareth wasn’t going to find a mark on her. Jareth took his time though, checking every inch of his newly aquired captive. His meticulousness didn’t surprise the bounty hunter, as he had been adamant that the girl was not to be harmed.
Sarah stiffened at his scrutiny, but it seemed even she was able to surmise his intentions, as she cooperated by remaining still.
Finally it seemed he was satisfied and again he came face to face with his prisoner. Absently he remarked, “Good work Fett, it appears you’ve delivered after all…”
Fett merely nodded, his attention drawn to their exchange. Sarah continued to avoid looking at him, her eyes rolling along the ceiling as he kept her chin high. Triumphantly Jareth drawled, “We have unfinished business…haven’t we Sarah?”
She bit her tongue, her angry eyes momentarily flashing towards Fett.
Undaunted Jareth went on, “Your hasty departure made for a rather rude farewell…” Fett caught the sinister glint in his eye as he leaned in and remarked huskily, “No matter, this time we have all the time in the world…” he smirked dangerously, running the tip of the crop over her jawline as he finished, “…and no amount of magic words will save you.”
Angrily she jerked her face away from the crop, for the first time defiantly shouting, “Let me go!”
Her anger only seemed to inflame him more, and he taunted, “What, so that you can run off and pretend that the underground doesn’t exist…that I don’t exist.” His voice suddenly went softer as he added, “You never forgot the others…your loyal dwarf, the brave night, and your endearing beast…but in ten years you never spoke my name…you never called on me…” He pursed his lips in contemplation before he leaned in and icily mused, “Or could it just be…that you never called my name out loud.”
Her eyes suddenly darted to meet his. They were wide with open astonishment. So it seemed that he had shocked her. And was he just imagining it, or had her face suddenly flushed a deeper shade?
It seemed quickly she caught herself and looked away, her mouth tight with rage. He could see that her anger was building, but he thought ruefully, tormenting her was such fun.
Silkily he ventured, “Could it be that you haven’t forgotten me afterall?” His mouth slowly stretched, forming a wicked smirk as he ran the tip of the crop down her neck and drawled in a teasing tone, “…Have you missed me Sarah?”
Her eyes fiercely locked with his, narrowing dangerously as she lunged and caustically spat, “What do you want with me Jareth?!” The chain was now tight, tugging mercilessly on her wrist binders as Fett pulled her back.
Jareth had foreseen her outburst and had quickly backed off. He was still wearing that damn satisfied smirk, and Sarah wished with all her being that she had a free hand to smack that smug smile clear off his face.
Jareth adjusted one fine leather glove as he ventured, “Careful Sarah, that temper of yours could land you in hot water, or dare I say…the bog of eternal stench perhaps. Besides, I wouldn’t want to ruin the suspense so soon. Now if you don’t mind, Fett and I have a matter to discuss, don’t we Fett?”