Chapter Text
Ben watched anxiously as Dr. Binks placed the candy flower petal on Rey’s tongue. She was still unconscious,very stinky and very green - like all the other children in the village.
“Meesa tink da dis no worka,” Dr. Binks said, his brow furrowed with concern.
King Spider snorted from his position in the corner.
“You’ll see,” he muttered. “Then you better remove my loyal subjects from that giant force bubble you have them trapped in.”
Han looked at King Spider sharply. “Listen, your royal spiderness,” he said, jabbing his finger into the soft side of the spider. “Your loyal subjects are the reason why we are all here - and why the village stinks like a sarlacc threw up and then ate a rathtar and then pooped the rathtar and then bathed in happabore water. So until all the kids are turned back to normal, the spiders stay in the bubble.”
King Spider raised his scorpion tail as if to blast the room with his stinky gas. But after Han put his hand in his blaster, and Ben ignited his lightsaber, King Spider seemed to think better of it. He lowered his tail and scuttled back into the corner of the room a little further, making his way over bits of machinery and a diorama of the volcano as he went.
The tension was broken by the sound of Rey coughing and spluttering as she regained consciousness. The horrible green pallor had gone, and her eyes were open.
The room still was stinky, however.
“Bouncing Boba Fett, what happened?” She asked sleepily.
Ben quickly knelt down next to her and smiled. “Hey, little cousin,” he said. “The spiders made you sick, but then I found the king spider and he gave me the antidote to make you better.”
“Oh,” she said quietly, then her eyes suddenly grew wide in panic. “The spiders,” she said, gripping Ben’s arm. “Are they ok?”
“Shhh, yes, they are fine,” Ben said soothingly. “Your father has them suspended in a giant force bubble above the city, until all the children have recovered from the stinky gas.”
She settled back into the bed at the news. “Well, I’m better - can we make the other children better too now… please?”
Ben smiled and looked at Han. “Sure kid,” he said. “Let’s do that.”
The word quickly got around that the Skywalker hut had a candy flower cure, and parents were lined up around the corner to collect a petal to give to their children. In no time at all, all the children in the village were better, and only just a little bit more stinky than usual.
Only after each child had received the petal medicine, did Luke carefully lower the giant force bubble which contained the giant spiders down to the ground.
Once the force bubble had been burst, all the spiders rushed to their spider king, crawling all over him as he gave each of them a kiss and a cuddle. They squealed their story to him, of being trapped in the horrible stinky bubble with all their brothers and sisters. King Spider softly stroked them with his legs, eight spiders at a time, to help them feel better.
By now, Rey was well enough to walk again, and as soon as her father saw her, he scooped her up in a warm embrace, clearly relieved that she was better.
“Dad!” she yelled, part happy and part embarrassed.
King Spider, done with petting his subjects for the time being, scuttled over to Rey to speak to her.
“So, the big guy over here tells me you can fix the volcano problem,” he said, jerking his head towards Ben.
“He did?” Rey said, with a big smile. “I can! I’ve been reading about the power of kyber crystals, and I think, if we mixed them with some magic glitter glue and some force bubble drips that we could block the volcano from erupting!” Rey was finally getting to share her idea, now that it seemed the grown ups would listen.
Luke looked confused. “What are you talking about? Kyber crystals can’t stop volcanoes!”
“Uncle Luke, hear her out - you know Rey knows more about the volcano than anyone,” Ben said in defence of his cousin.
“Kid, how do you know it will work?” asked Han with a smirk.
“Well, the magic glitter glue will make anything it touches turn into a rainbow - but that’s not enough. So we need the force bubble drops to block the volcano from erupting - to keep the salt lava in place. But that’s not enough either!” Rey said excitedly, finally happy someone was listening to her.
Ben’s eyes suddenly lit up as he understood where Rey was headed.
“The kyber crystals…” he said.
“Yes,” said Rey with a big smile. “We need to use the kyber crystals to give the potion energy to go through all the salt in the volcano. I might add in a peanut butter sandwich - in case the volcano is just hungry too.”
“Honey, all the crystals in the village are being used in lightsabers,” Luke asked. “So, we can’t use them to make a potion, unless one of us is willing to give it up.”
Rey, Luke and Ben all put their hands protectively over their holstered weapons - no one wanted to give up their lightsabers.
“Well…..” said Han a little sheepishly. “Maybe not all the kyber crystals.”
“Han!” Luke turned to face his brother in law. “You have a kyber crystal ?” Luke said sharply.
“Don’t ask - just thank me,” said Han firmly with a shake of his head.
Just then, a massive rumble coming from deep in the ground could be felt underneath them. They all looked up at the volcano that was now steaming and spluttering salt high up in the air.
“The volcano is our home,” said King Spider sadly. “If we don’t have the volcano, because it becomes a rainbow salt one, then where will we live?”
The humans all looked at each other, wondering what the solution could be.
“Well…” said Luke. “We could make you a spider village, near this one. It seems that Ben will have some spare time on his hands, because if Rey’s plan works then we won’t need a Head Volcano Temperature Tester anymore, so he could build it for you.”
Ben grimaced a little, but at least his new job would mean he wouldn’t have to visit the volcano anymore. Plus, he liked to use his hands.
King Spider tipped his head to one side, deep in thought.
“Yes… that might do nicely,” he nodded.
“But,” said Luke seriously. “No stinky gas, keep your spiders fart free - or we will send you back to the volcano and throw you in. Rainbow or no rainbow.”
“Yes, yes, yes,” King Spider nodded. “No farts, ever. Hear that kids?”
The spider children waved their green and purple legs in agreement.
“Good, then its sorted. Rey, get to work on your potion,” Luke instructed. “Han, go get that crystal… and we will talk about that later,” he looked very sternly at Han. Ben was glad that for once he was not the one in trouble. “Then Han and I will protect the village in case the salt lava comes down this way.”
“I’ll go get Muddy and Fluffy ready,” said Ben.
Rey looked at him in surprise. “You mean you are coming with me?”
“Sure, Rey. I couldn’t let my favourite cousin face the volcano without me. Plus, for the next hour or so I’m still the Head Volcano Temperature Tester.”
Rey looked at him, her face scrunched up in displeasure, her hands suddenly on her hips in defiance.
“Fine, fine, fine,” Ben said, he knew he couldn’t win this battle. “You can be the Head Volcano Temperature Tester, I will be Assistant Volcano Temperature Tester.”
This seemed to make her happy. “Good, now everyone - let’s get to work. King Spider, do you want to come too?”
“Yes, I want to get the photo albums and first footprints for all my babies.” King Spider said.
“No, King Spider, that’s at least 8000 footprints and there’s no time. Come and be helpful, or don’t come at all.”
King Spider sniffed. “Young people have no respect for royalty these days,” he muttered, but scuttled along behind Rey nonetheless.
_________
Back in Rey’s room, she made quick work of pulling the potion together, mixing the magic glitter glue and popped force bubble mixture together. She giggled as she made the tiny force bubbles, then popped and caught the mixture in her hands, then let it drop into the large bottle she was using to store the mixture.
She smiled as Han entered the room, a pink kyber crystal in his outstretched hand. Her eyes lit up at the idea of swapping her blue kyber crystal for the pink one, but she also knew that there was no time for her to do it, given the volcano was about to explode at any moment.
The ground was rumbling even more by now, and she knew she had to work fast.
She quickly bashed the pink crystal with the handle of her lightsaber, causing pink sparks to fly all over the room. Han yelped and quickly dove out the door to escape the mini explosions caused by Rey’s banging, but Rey just laughed as the sparks singed her hair. King Spider hid under a pile of clothes, shaking.
Once the pink crystal had been turned into powder, Rey quickly scooped up the powder and let it drop into the mixture. She quickly put the stopper in the bottle and jumped up off the floor.
“Let’s go! C3PO, sandwich me!” she said, bolting out the door, with King Spider hanging onto her backpack. She deftly caught the peanut butter sandwich C3PO had made for her, and stuck it into her pocket. Han picked himself up off the floor in the hallway and followed her.
As Rey entered the stables, she was suddenly bowled over by two thousand pounds of excited pet varactyl.
Muddy wiggled and squirmed in happiness to see her Master. Muddy had been so worried about Rey the whole day, and was overjoyed to see Rey up and about and looking well again.
Rey giggled in delight to see her pet, too. “Muddy!” she squealed, then she caught Ben’s stern gaze. “There will be time for playing later. We need to get up to the volcano quickly,” she said, correcting herself. Now that she was the Head Volcano Temperature Tester, she really needed to show responsibility.
Muddy quieted down at her serious tone, only shaking her butt just a little as Rey hopped into the saddle, placing the potion inside the pocket. Ben was already sitting astride Fluffy, who was also keen to go.
“After you,” said Ben with a smile.
Rey beamed, gave Muddy a small kick with her heels, and they were off, up to the mouth of the volcano, with Ben not far behind.
This time, they weren’t in competition with each other, they were working as a team. Because even though they were both good force users, going up against an angry volcano was still a big task - and they would definitely need to work together.
As they got closer and closer to the volcano, they could see just how angry it was. Orange salt was beginning to spurt from the top and trickle down the rocky sides. Ben and Rey looked at each other nervously. It was going to be more difficult than they thought.
There was no way the varactyls were going to make it up to the top, and they might burn their webbed feet in any case. Therefore, the only way they could get to the top of the volcano was by using a force bubble. Neither of them had tried to lift themselves up that high before.
“Do you think we can make it?” Rey said worriedly as she adjusted her backpack and placed the potion bottle in her other pocket.
“If we do it together we can,” said Ben.
No force user had ever tried to join force bubbles with another force user before, but there was no time to waste.
Rey nodded in agreement, and they both created force bubbles around themselves.
“So, how are we going to do it?” Rey asked.
“Stand still, don’t move,” said Ben.
Rey’s eyes grew wide. “Ben.. what are you thinking?”
“Don’t move,” he warned her again, then with a quick sprint he took a flying leap at Rey’s force bond bubble. The sight of her tree trunk of a cousin coming at her made her want to duck for cover, but she made herself stand still as instructed.
As he flew through the air, their force bubbles collided, merging into one, with Ben deftly falling next to Rey in the bubble. She let go a big sigh of relief as it looked like his plan had worked.
“Let’s float!” Ben shouted, as the bubble began to rise up the side of the volcano. It seemed much faster and sturdier, using a force bubble than a varactyl, but not quite as much fun.
They soon found themselves floating up high above the volcano, the force bubble protecting them from the orange salt lava that was erupting from it. Luckily, the force bubble also protected them from the radiant heat as well.
There was just one problem, they needed the force bubble to remain up in the air, but in order to spread the potion, they would have to remove the force bubble. Ben chewed his lip deep in thought over how they could solve the problem.
“I don’t know how we are going to do this,” said Rey. “If we lose the force bubble we will surely fall to our doom!”
“I know,” agreed Ben. He was stuck for ideas as well.
“Might I make a suggestion?” came another voice from Rey’s backpack. In all the commotion, they had both forgotten that King Spider was still gripping onto her bag for dear life.
“It may have slipped your mind that I am, in fact, a spider. A spider who makes very lovely, very big webs that are proven to have withstood the toughest salt lava for hundreds of years. Perhaps we could pop this bubble, and then I could quickly spin a web to catch us?”
“But I haven’t seen any spider webs down in the tunnels ever.” Ben was confused. The idea seemed like a good one, but he still wasn’t sure of it could work.
Rey was the same. “King Spider, Ben’s right - where is the proof?”
“We may be arachnids, but we certainly do not go around leaving our webs laying around willy nilly, they were deeper into the tunnel system. Look, the lava is getting higher!” King Spider shrieked. “Just trust me!”
Ben and Rey looked at each other, and there didn’t seem to be any other alternative.
“I’ll shake the bottle across the lava, you pop the force bubble.” Rey said.
“Good thinking,” Ben agreed. “On the count of three. One, two, three!”
She already had the peanut butter clenched into her hand, and Rey ripped off the lid of the potion bottle at the same time that Ben popped the force bubble. King Spider sent a rainbow coloured web jetting out of his scorpion tail. The sandwich was quickly eaten up by the lava, and as soon as the potion touched the salty swell, it suddenly transformed into a beautiful smooth candy shell, that was ribboned with rainbow colours that glittered in the light of the sun. All the heat immediately disappeared, and the three of them knew that the village and themselves were safe from the volcano once again.
King Spider’s web formed a gigantic trampoline, which cushioned them so they didn’t hurt their butts on the hardened candy lava. The three of them began to bounce high up in the air, laughing for joy - both from the relief of having saved the village and from the fun of bouncing on a gigantic spider web trampoline that was positioned above a candy rainbow volcano.
Their bouncing began to subside, and the three of them finally came to rest on the makeshift net.
“We did it!” cried Ben and Rey as they gave each other a hug.
“I did it too! Your brains would be rainbow jelly if it wasn’t for me!” said King Spider, more than just a little miffed that he hadn’t been included in the cuddle too.
“Come here, Your Majesty,” laughed Ben, as he grabbed the spider’s leg to drag him into the embrace. King Spider was right, if it wasn’t for him, they would have been able to save the village, but they would not have been able to save themselves.
________________
Back at the village, a crowd had gathered to welcome Ben, Rey and King Spider home. Fluffy and Muddy pranced proudly as they entered the village square, thinking perhaps the fanfare was for them.
Everyone cheered, especially when Luke used the force to lift the three of them up into the air.
Ben and Rey felt so proud of what they had done. They had faced their fears, saved the village, made friends with a bunch of spiders and turned scary orange salt lava into lovely rainbow candy - plus worked out that they made a fantastic team.
Even the village council seemed happy, which was very rare, and something that not even Luke could remember having happened in his lifetime.
The village celebrated into the weekend with a big party, with cheezels, balloons, bubble wands and a huge rainbow ice cream cake.
On Monday, Ben and Rey started to build the spider village, as promised. After a vote, it was decided that the spider village would be painted into rainbow colours, to match the volcano and the spiders themselves, who were really very colourful.
The villagers did have to plant a field of candy flowers, though. Because while the spiders did their best not to be stinky, the village children however could not be trusted, and they liked to frighten the spiders to make their friends pass out, or to blame them for farting.
Muddy eventually forgave the spiders for making Rey sick, even going so far as to give the little baby spiders horsey rides on her back. So - she became very popular.
Rey also had lots of fun with the spiders too, although she was never able to win at tickle fights, or juggling competitions. But it was still lots of fun all the same. She also loved force bubbling her way up to the top of the volcano, to slip and slide on the shiny candy surface like it was a delicious sugary ice skating rink. She was sad that she never got to use the pink kyber crystal in her lightsaber, but at the same time, the new and improved volcano was lots of fun too.
As for Ben, well, he no longer had his (not so) boring job as Head Volcano Temperature Tester. So, now he had all the time in the world to hang down the river with his friends, watch the Holonet, ride Fluffy up into the hills and practice lightsaber duels with Rey. He and King Spider would play cards sometimes too - although the spider usually liked to cheat.
It made Ben very very happy.