Barriss's eyes went wide with shock as she clutched at her chest, while Ahsoka doubled over, cradling her head in both hands as waves of pain washed over her.
The two young Padawans looked at each other with expressions of panic and fear clearly visible in their eyes.
Their breathing became labored and heavy, their ears began ringing with a high-pitched whine, and the pounding headaches that had struck them both grew progressively worse with each passing second.
"Wh-what just happened to us?" Barriss asked, her voice filled with worry and confusion.
"I don't know..." Ahsoka started to say, but then stopped as a strangely familiar sensation washed over her. This exact situation had happened before, not too long ago, and she remembered that all the Jedi in the Temple had felt this same overwhelming disturbance in the Force.
"We need to find our masters immediately," Barriss said with urgency. Ahsoka nodded silently in agreement, and the two young women ran off through the Temple corridors to locate their mentors.
Earlier that day, while Barriss and Ahsoka had been engaged in their lightsaber training, Anakin Skywalker had been spending time with Captain Steve Rogers and their recently reunited teammate, Natasha Romanoff.
It had been such a pleasant surprise to be reunited with another one of their long-lost comrades after so much time apart. Now only Wanda and Vision remained unaccounted for, but Anakin was confident that no matter where they might be scattered across the galaxy, they would all find each other again eventually.
Steve and Anakin had just finished explaining the basic situation of their current circumstances to Natasha, helping the former spy better understand exactly where they were and how they'd ended up in this strange galaxy far from home.
In return, as part of their informal arrangement, Steve and Natasha had been telling Anakin fascinating stories about their various adventures and missions back on Earth. The young Jedi had always been intensely curious to hear about their exploits on their home planet, especially since it sounded so different from anything he'd experienced.
"This Hydra organization you've described sounds remarkably similar to the Sith in many ways," Anakin observed thoughtfully. "They both seem obsessed with gaining total control and domination over everyone around them."
Steve considered this comparison for a moment before nodding slowly. "You know, that's actually a pretty accurate comparison to those Sith guys you've told us about."
Anakin noticed that Steve's expression had grown somewhat troubled and asked with concern, "What's wrong? You look worried about something."
Steve sighed heavily before responding. "I'm just constantly worried about Earth, to be honest. So many incredible and dangerous things have happened there over the past three years—most of them were nearly world-ending catastrophes, even though we managed to prevent disaster at the last possible second each time. But now, the Avengers aren't there to protect our world anymore. We're all stuck here dealing with this completely different conflict, and I have no idea what Tony is doing back home or if he's managing okay without the rest of the team."
"Try to relax, Steve," Natasha said in a soothing voice, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "We all know Tony pretty well by now. I'm sure he's been working around the clock to set up new defensive systems while also searching for ways to find us and bring us home."
Steve managed a small, grateful smile but didn't say anything in response, since they all knew that Natasha's words were more hopeful speculation than established fact.
Anakin looked thoughtful as he said, "I have to admit, I've always wondered what Earth must be like, since you all talk about it so much. It must be an amazing place to inspire such loyalty and—"
Anakin suddenly stopped speaking mid-sentence, his face going completely pale as if all the blood had drained from his features.
Without warning, he collapsed to his knees, gasping desperately for air while barely able to register Steve's panicked voice calling out his name.
Anakin struggled to get back to his feet, reaching out to grab Steve's shoulders for support as he tried to stand. His legs were shaking uncontrollably, and he could feel his entire body trembling from whatever had just hit him.
"What the hell just happened?" Steve asked frantically, his voice tight with concern as he helped steady his friend.
"I—I don't know—" Anakin started to say, but then paused as he tried to process what he'd just experienced.
The sensation had been far too familiar and distinctive for him to forget or dismiss. It didn't take him long to piece together what must have happened, and when the realization hit him, he looked at Steve with wide, alarmed eyes before turning the same expression toward Natasha.
"We need to get back to the Jedi Temple right now!" Anakin exclaimed urgently, immediately rushing toward the nearest exit of the Senate building where they'd been meeting.
Steve and Natasha exchanged confused glances, both of them completely bewildered by what had just transpired.
Just moments ago, they'd been having a perfectly normal, relaxed conversation about their respective homes and experiences. Then, in the span of just a few seconds, Anakin had suffered what looked almost like a heart attack—his face had gone deathly pale, he'd collapsed to his knees in apparent agony, and now he was sprinting at full speed toward the Jedi Temple as if his life depended on it.
"Hey, come on, you guys!" Anakin stopped and shouted back at them, his expression showing clear impatience and urgency. "Look, if I'm feeling this disturbance in the Force this strongly, then every other member of the Jedi Order is experiencing the exact same thing. We absolutely have to get back to the Temple immediately!"
"Is this some kind of Force-related emergency?" Steve asked as he and Natasha caught up with Anakin's rapid pace.
Anakin nodded grimly and continued running, with Steve and Natasha following closely behind him through the bustling streets of Coruscant.
Meanwhile, in a completely different part of the galactic capital, a certain Sith Lord was slowly massaging his temples with his fingertips, trying to alleviate the severe headache that had been caused by the massive Force disturbance that every Force-sensitive being in the galaxy had just experienced.
What could have possibly happened to cause such a powerful disruption?
This was definitely not some random coincidence or natural occurrence.
A very similar tremor in the Force had occurred not too long ago, right around the time when those strange Avengers had first arrived in their galaxy. There was absolutely no doubt in the Dark Lord's calculating mind that more of these otherworldly individuals had just arrived.
He had sensed a particularly strong and distinctive presence appearing somewhere not far from his current location on Coruscant.
Darth Sidious now needed to locate this new arrival as quickly as possible, because he could sense through his connection to the dark side of the Force that this newcomer seemed to be connected to the same group as the others—another branch of these mysterious Avengers.
He recalled that every Avenger he had sensed through the Force so far had registered as a strange kind of pulse or disturbance. They possessed no measurable connection to the Force themselves, but the Force seemed to constantly swirl and react around them, indicating that their very existence was somehow completely disconnected from the natural order of things in this galaxy.
But whoever this new person was felt different to his Force-enhanced senses—this individual was definitely another member of the Avengers group, but their Force signature was somehow more pronounced than the others.
Sidious realized that his long-awaited opportunity had finally presented itself. If he could successfully capture this newcomer before anyone else found them, then the variable that the Avengers represented would most likely no longer remain an unknown quantity in his carefully laid plans. This was especially promising since this new arrival had appeared so close to Coruscant, practically on his doorstep.
The only potential complication was that those meddlesome Jedi at the Temple would have undoubtedly sensed the same disturbance he had. This meant he would have to act with exceptional speed and cunning to locate and secure this newcomer before either the Jedi Knights or the other Avengers could reach them first.
Moving with decisive purpose, Chancellor Palpatine quickly donned his concealing Sith robes and activated his private communications device to contact a particular Duros bounty hunter who was known for wearing a distinctively flashy wide-brimmed hat.
It was time to put his contingency plans into motion.
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