Chapter 10

With a roar, the engines of every racer started up and began floating off the ground. On the bridge over the track, a green light at the center flashed, signaling the start of the race. The racers then shot forward with a high-pitched scream.

Except for this time, unlike the movie, Anakin shoot forward with the other racers. He was actually already was one the lead racers, and was gaining quickly on the forerunner.

Letting out a cheer, Cain continued to watch Anakin's progress as he skillfully weaved through the treacherous terrain of the sand planet. As the group of racer entered a cave, the cameras lost sight of them.

"Where's Skywalker?" Jar-Jar asked while tapping the little screen in front of him.

Padmé, Shmi and Qui-Gon watched the screen and looked slightly worried. Cain was completely calm as he waited for the cameras to work again. He knew that without Sebulba's sabotage, Anakin was skilled enough to easily beat everyone.

Padmé and Shmi continued to search the landscape for any sign of the racers, as the cameras were still empty.

Until suddenly the group of racers finally exited the cave with Anakin in the lead.

"Here he comes!" Padmé exclaimed while she and Shmi jumped up in excitement.

Anakin continued to increase his lead as most of his competition was already taken out by the terrain.

Sadly though, Sebulba was still in the race and closing in on Anakin. Luckily because of Cain's threat, Sebulba refrained from actively attacking Anakin but he still didn't completely give up.

For two full circuits, it was mainly Anakin and Sebulba racing neck and neck, and the stragglers were a good distance behind them.

It was an all-out competition between the two pods as they bumped, crashed, and swerved into each other as they fought for the lead.

Until suddenly four Tusken Raiders perched above the racecourse started firing their rifles at the Pods in the canyon below them.

One-shot ricochets off the back of Anakin's Pod as he swerved out of the way.

Gasping in fear, Shmi grabbed onto Padme's hand as they both watched the Raiders continue to fire at the racers.

A lucky shot miraculously hit one of Anakin's main engines caused him to spin out of control. With only one working engine, Anakin was about to crash when suddenly he titled his pod to the side.

Flying sideways, Anakin burst forward and passed the befuddled Sebulba. When Anakin passed Sebulba, one of his engines broke off of his pod and flew towards Sebulba.

Unprepared for this, Sebulba couldn't move as the engine struck his racer causing him to crash into the sand dunes and explode. He slides to a smoking stop and tumbled out of his wrecked racer.

Anakin flew through the explosion as the crowd stood up, cheering. Shmi and Jar-Jar jumped up and down with excitement, and Padmé screamed in joy.

Qui-Gon and Shmi smiled happily as they watched Anakin cross the finish line. As he passed through the gate, Anakin was declared the Champion.

As everyone cheered and grouped around Anakin, Cain suddenly noticed something out of place. In the air, there was a group of black probing droids hovering around the arena.

Thinking the droid was familiar, Cain suddenly realized that those droids belonged to Darth Maul, meaning that he was already on his way.

Seeing that everyone was dispersing, Cain moved towards the betting booth to get his rewards but first put on his robe again.

"I'm here to collect my winnings," Cain said to the banker droid.

"Please hand in your card." The monotonous droid said.

Slipping the card from his inventory, Cain waited for the droid to calculate his winnings.

"You have won a grand total of 1,800,000 Credits." The droid announced the long number and then started to bring out a large briefcase of credits.

After quickly counting all of the credits the droid slid the case to Cain's awaiting hands.

After grabbing the case, he slyly placed the case under his robe and put it into his inventory. Gliding through the crowds, Cain suddenly felt multiple people move quickly behind him.

Already knowing that there would be some thieves bold enough to attack him, Cain walked into a deserted hallway and waited in the shadows.

After a short wait, a group of two Humans and a Rodian came running down the hallway with blasters in their hands.

"I thought you saw him." The Rodian said to his friend.

"And I did. He's here somewhere. When we kill him, we'll split the money and live like kings." The greedy human said as he raised his blaster.

Hearing enough, Cain decided to put an end to their little scheme. He pulled out his pistol and rush forward while shooting one of the men.

Unprepared for the sudden attack, the thieves scrabbled to attack Cain as he already took down one of their friends.

Jumping in the air, Cain harshly kicked the Rodian in the neck. The Rodian's neck was jerked harshly to the side as a loud break echoed through the hallway.

Dropping his gun in terror the last remaining thief tried to run away but was caught by an invisible force.

Cain had raised his hand and telekinetically pulled the screaming alien towards him.

As the man flew towards him Cain harshly clotheslined him, causing the thief to spin through the air and crash against the wall.

[3x Enemies defeated(+30)]

Seeing that they were all knocked out, Cain completely disregarded anything else to do with them and went to go find Qui-Gon.

Wandering around the stadium, Cain soon found both Qui-Gon and Watto together in a private box.

"....-Bring the parts to the main hangar. I'll come by your shop later so you can release the boy." Qui-Gon said as he glared at the flying bug.

"You can't have him! It wasn't a fair bet!" Watto exclaimed as he shook his head in denial.

"Would you like to discuss it with the Hutts...I'm sure they can settle this," Qui-Gon replied and took a threatening step towards Watto.

"No, no! I want no more of your tricks! Take him!" Watto said while deflating at the mention of the notorious Hutts.

Grumbling as he flew away, Watto hurriedly left the company of Qui-Gon and went back to his own shop.

Stepping into the private box, Cain moved towards Qui-Gon as they overlooked the arena.

"So you bet Anakin's freedom on the race." Cain calmly stated.

"I knew he could win, but I could only free the boy. We don't have the time or resources to free his mother." Qui-Gon said as he stared down at the ground.

"Don't worry about Shmi's freedom, I've already dealt with it," Cain said mysterious, surprising Qui-Gon as he raised an eyebrow.

Smiling to himself, Cain didn't give the Jedi a clear answer but simply said he had the situation handled.

Trusting the strange guard, Qui-Gon made his way towards the main hangar with Cain as they both moved to greet Anakin and the rest of the group.

"...It's so wonderful, Annie. You have brought hope to those who have none. I'm so very proud of you." Shmi said lovingly, as she wrapped Anakin in a hug.

"We owe you everything." Padme praised Anakin for his accomplishment.

"Just feeling this good was worth it." Anakin humbly replied.

As they continued to speak to one another, a droid carrying the parts needed to fix the Naboo ship had arrived. Qui-Gon quickly had the parts harnessed to a means of transport, that could carry all of them.

"Padmé. Jar Jar, let's go, we've got to get these parts back to the ship." Qui-Gon said as he ushered them to the vehicle.

"I'll be back with Qui-Gon soon," Cain said to Shmi as he hopped on the transporter.

The group walked over to the transporters, while sadly saying their goodbyes to Anakin and Shmi.

"I'll return the vehicles by midday," Qui-Gon said to the Watto's droid as they left the hangar.

For awhile the group traveled through the desert until they came to a stop in front of the sleek Naboo spacecraft.

From the ship, Obi-Wan came out to greet them and moved to help load the parts onto the ship.

"Start getting this hyperdrive generator installed. I'm going back...for some unfinished business. I won't be long." Qui-Gon said to Obi-Wan.

"Why do I sense we've picked up another pathetic life form," Obi-Wan said while sneering at Jar-Jar.

"It's the boy who's responsible for getting those parts." Qui-Gon as he turned the transporter around and made his way back towards the settlement.

"I'm coming too." Cain suddenly announced, surprising Obi-Wan.

"Why would you-," Obi-Wan questioned but was interrupted.

"That's fine, we must make haste. We still have other problems to deal with." Qui-Gon said as he and Can rode back to the settlement.

After dropping off the transporter at Watto's, they walked into the shop to see a very angry Watto flying towards them.

"You stole it! You thieves, I'll report you to the Hutts." Watto yelled while shaking his finger at Qui-Gon.

"I'm sorry, but I don't have the faintest clue of what you're talking about," Qui-Gon said calmly.

"Yes, you do! You stole my-." Watto yelled but was suddenly interrupted by Cain.

"I took it," Cain said calmly.

"What-?! How dare you! I won't allow it." Watto exclaimed.

"Yes, you will. We're taking both Anakin and Shmi from your care." Cain said with a smile as he moved towards Watto.

"What are you talking about?! Why would I give them to-" Watto harshly questioned, but was completely unprepared when Cain suddenly pulled out his blaster.

"We will be taking both Anakin and Shmi, in exchange I'll give you a generous sum of credits. Is. That. Acceptable?" Cain said while jabbing his blaster into Watto.

"T-that is an acceptable deal. I-I think it's a fine trade, indeed." Watto said quickly as he tried to inch away from Cain.

"Terrific!" Cain exclaimed as he reached into his inventory, and pulled out the credits that he originally stole from Watto.

Accepting the generous offer, Watto then gave Qui-Gon the credits from the bet and quickly ushered them out of his shop.

As the walked towards the Skywalker's hovel, Cain looked up to see Qui-Gon staring at him.

"What?" Cain asked.

"That seemed slightly....extreme. You could have handled that differently." Qui-Gon criticized.

"It's better than letting Shmi stay a slave, while you try to take her son away from her. You may be able to get the Jedi you want from him, but that doesn't mean his mother shouldn't be free as well. So don't try and lecture me, oh Master Jedi." Cain said harshly, making Qui-Gon fall silent.

Walking silently the rest of the way, Qui-Gon and Cain finally found Anakin but he seemed to be in a fight with another boy.

"What's this?" Qui-Gon asked as he separated the two boys.

"He said I cheated." Anakin accused the other kid, as he brushed the sand off his body.

"Did you?" Qui-Gon asked.

"No!" Anakin exclaimed.

"Well, Annie. You know the truth, no reason for you to fight because of someone else's opinion." Qui-Gon said as he lead Anakin back towards his own home.

"You could have taken that kid, easy."

Cain joked with Anakin, causing him to smile and his mood brightened.

Farther down the street as they headed towards the hovel. Qui-Gon suddenly took out a handful of credits from beneath his poncho and gave them to Anakin.

"These are yours. We sold the Pod." Qui-Gon said to the boy

"Yes!" Anakin exclaimed in joy as he ran into his home.

Anakin burst through the door, followed by Qui-Gon and Cain as they saw Shmi sitting at a table.

"Mom, he sold the Pod. Look at all the money we have!" Anakin exclaimed as he gave his mom the bag of coins.

"Oh, my goodness, That's wonderful," Shmi said as she hugged Anakin.

"You and Anakin have been freed." Cain suddenly announced.

"What?!?" Both Shmi and Anakin yelled together.

"Both of you are no longer slaves," Qui-Gon confirmed with a smile.

"Did you hear that, Mom? Was that part of the prize, or what?" Anakin jumped with excitement while asking Qui-Gon a question.

"Let's just say Watto...was persuaded to free you," Qui-Gon said, as he glanced at Cain who looked completely innocent as he smiled brightly.

"Now you can make your dreams come true, Annie. Will you take him with you? Is he to become a Jedi?" Shmi said while asking Qui-Gon about Anakin's future.

"Our meeting was not a coincidence. Nothing happens by accident. He is strong with the Force, but there may be a chance he's not accepted by the Council."

"A Jedi! Mighty blasters, you mean we get to go with you on your starship and everything?!" Anakin asked impatiently.

"Anakin, training to be a Jedi will not be an easy challenge. And if you succeed, it will be a hard life." Qui-Gon said sternly.

"But it's what I want. What I've always dreamed about."

"This path has been placed for you, Annie; the choice to take it is yours alone," Qui-Gon said as he kneeled down to Anakin.

"I want to go," Anakin replied with conviction.

"Then, pack your things. We haven't much time."

"Yipee!!" Anakin shouted as he ran to collect his belongings.