Slave Side Effects (On Hiatus)

Chapter 5

   "You ain't going nowhere."

"Ritc-" Mario tried warning, but he was quickly cut off by a glare that the redhead shot him.

"She is a Nar Shaddaa! A Nar Shaddaa! You wouldn't understand Mario! They are the ones responsible for the death of my family! They are cold hearted murderers! Crime lords! I say we give them a taste of their own medicine by taking Bri here, out for good." Ritchie was radiating anger and an unreadable emotion as his pot of self control bubbled over. His voice rose high as he tried to prove his point.

"Calm down dude! MARIO!! Make him calm." The panda man shouted. As always, he was shouting at Mario for some reason or another. Though it was a semi good reason, Michael did not agree with what he had said. Austin should solve his own problems and not just pin it on his friend. But Mario just grumbled to himself for a second before walking closer to Ritchie. Mario tried resting his hand gently on the now red arm of Bri because of Ritchie's tight grip, but it was moved away from his reach quickly by Ritchard. The two men seemed to have a stare down for what felt like an eternity until a small, soft, shaky voice was heard, just loud enough to poke through the loud alarms.

"P-please... guys... it said th-that she was a runaway, r-right?" There was a pause. "Sh-she isn't much diff-different from-"

Ritchie slowly panned around his head to look at the former slave. His piercing blue eyes felt like their own little lightsabers, cutting through everything until they met their mark. Michael stopped as those penetrating eyes met his. He was afraid of the expression the taller man held, but he was not going to back down now. He had been cowardly his entire life, yet now he had had enough. Finally, he gathered the courage to finish what he had started. He looked Ritchie in the eyes and spoke.

"Sh-she isn't much different from you." Michael knew that this was true, yet understood where Ritchie was coming from. He knew that the redhead was just as terrified as himself, yet faced his fright with fight and not flight. Both were, at one time or another in their life, runaways. Both knew the fear of being found out, the fear of being caught, the fear of going back. Here stood someone just like them... running away from the Nar Shaddaa, yet she was running from her own name. Her own heritage. Her own life. Michael felt he had to defend her, for their similarities were overbearing. He simply blinked once while all these thoughts raced through his head and he was soon, for the first time in his own life, talking back with minimal fear while in front of a Narr Shaddar. "Ritchie, she was running away. Look at her eyes. The body language she holds. She is scared of her family just like we are. Just like you are. The only thing different is her last name. She is still a human. Just. Like. You."