"Yee-haw!" Masry yelled. "Do a barrel roll!"

Maske sat behind the controls. "The way AJ drives, you'd think this thing wasn't capable of doing stunts. Let me see . . . this switch should-"

Maske reached up and flipped a green switch on the ceiling above him. Instantly, the ship rolled up side down. Everything crashed to the ceiling, including Maske and Masry, who had neglected to fasten their seatbelts.

"I don't know that much about star ships, but when you do a barrel roll, aren't you supposed to go completely around, not just stop when you're upside down?" Masry asked, climbing to his feet.

Maske didn't answer. He jumped up and grabbed the back rest of the pilot's seat. With great effort, he managed to pull himself into the seat and fasten his seatbelt. He was now hanging upside down by his seatbelt.

"Come on up," Maske said.

Masry jumped up, grabbing Maske's hand. Maske pulled him up. Masry wrestled into his seat and buckled in. "You're an idiot."

"I have no idea what I'm doing. Why did you tell me to do a freaking barrel roll?"

"I didn't know you'd get us stuck upside down."

"What do we do now?"

Masry handed Maske his comlink. "Call AJ, ask him."

"But he's on his honeymoon . . . he's, you know . . . busy . . . . Why don't you call him?"

"Because it's your fault."

Maske sighed and took the comlink.

---

All of a sudden, AJ's comlink chirped. AJ picked it up and flipped it open. "AJ here."

"Uh . . . hey man, its Maske."

" . . . Hi, Maske . . . "

"Uh . . . so . . . how's it going?"

" . . . Pretty good, how're things on your end?"

AJ could here Masry's voice in the background. "Ask him! Ask him!"

"Um . . . everything's fine. There's nothing to be alarmed about. As a matter of fact, I don't think things have ever been better around here . . . "

"That's . . . uh . . . good to hear."

"Yeah, yeah . . . well, bye."

Before AJ could reply, Maske had hung up.

---

"You moron! Now what do we do?" Masry shouted.

"I can't really think right now. All the blood's rushing to my head and I think I might pass out," Maske replied.

Masry shook his head in disbelief. "We're passing Coruscant; put her down there."

"Okay," Maske said, putting his hand to his forehead.

Maske landed on a landing pad in the heart of Coruscant as best he could upside down. Maske and Masry unbuckled their seatbelts and crashed to the ceiling. They climbed to their feet and stumbled around. Maske opened the hatch. The stairs leading from the door were above them, so they had to jump down to the ground.

Once they were on solid ground, the brothers wandered into town.

"So," Masry asked a little while later. "What do you want to do?"

Maske shrugged. "Let's stop at that restaurant over there at the corner."

"It looks expensive," Masry began. "Like one of those places for insanely rich people."

"I know," Maske said, grinning.

Masry was grinning too now. "Might be fun . . . "

"It depends on what you mean by 'fun'."

Masry nodded. The two walked into the restaurant.

---

AJ stretched out on the couch next to Mara. They were watching the news. The reporter was live, on the spot in Coruscant, covering a terrible disaster that took place at a local restaurant.

Apparently, two strange men entered the restaurant and were causing trouble. Not ten minutes later, a band of Trandoshans attacked the restaurant. The two men fended off the entire group of Trandoshans by themselves, but left the entire city block in rubble. Miraculously, no one was reported dead.

AJ couldn't help but laugh.

"What's so funny?" Mara asked.

"Nothing, nothing . . . " AJ replied, still grinning.

---

Maske and Masry finally got around to cleaning up the ship. They managed to get everything in some kind of order.

"It's only been a few days, and we already screwed up the ship, ravaged an entire city block, and nearly killed ourselves," Masry said.

"You sound surprised," Maske commented.

"I know I shouldn't be . . . . Anyway, what's on the agenda for today?"

"I don't know, but I'm sure we'll find something to do."

"Hey, when are we going to see AJ and Mara?" Masry asked.

"Tomorrow, I think," Maske answered.

"Alright."

"Hey, by the way, I found a good-priced bounty the other day. What do you say?"

"Sure. When and where?"

"How about today. This guy is drug dealer right here on Coruscant."

"C'mon Maske, how much could a lowlife like that be worth?"

"A lot if he happens to be a politician."

"Oh, I see."

"Yup. How'd you like to do a little acting?"

"I'm listening."

---

AJ held Mara tight. "So," he began, "how are you?"

"Good," Mara said, looking into AJ's eyes. "Is something wrong, honey?"

"No, I have everything I could ever want."

"What about your brothers?"

"What about them?"

"You miss them, I can tell."

AJ shrugged. "Things are changing; they aren't going to be around all the time anymore. But I've got you."

"You guys," Mara bit her lip, "you guys don't have to grow apart because of me. . . . "

"It's not you, sweetheart; things are changing, they have to. Everything will be fine; we aren't growing apart."

---

Maske ran through the huge hotel with Masry on his heels. They ran down the hallway and crouched down on either side of a large door. Just then, a small bell boy walked through the door pushing a silver cart with a white sheet draped over it. The cart had several different desserts on top of it. Masry ran across the hallway, grabbing the bell boy and dragging him over to Maske. Maske punched him across the face. The bell boy dropped to the ground, unconscious.

---

"I don't get why I have to be the bell boy," Masry complained.

"I don't fit in the outfit, and you're the one who jumped him," Maske said as he tossed the bound and gagged bell boy into a nearby room. Maske shut and locked the door.

Maske climbed into the bottom of the cart. The sheet made him impossible to see. Masry pushed the cart down the hallway.

"What room was it again?" Masry whispered.

"Two forty-three," Maske whispered back.

Masry looked at the doors as he passed them. Two thirty-nine, two forty-one, two forty-three.

"Here we are," Masry said under his breath.

He knocked on the door. A click was heard, and a tall armed man stood before them.

"Room service," Masry said.

"We didn't order anything," the man said.

"Are you sure?" Masry asked, pushing the cart into the room.

"Positive," the man said.

Maske crawled out of the cart as Masry distracted the man. He crawled behind a couch and laid down.

"Alright then," Masry said with a shrug, pulling the cart out of the room. "If you say so. Anything else you need?"

"We're fine, thanks."

"Call the desk if you change your mind."

"I will," the man said as he shut the door.

Masry pushed the cart down the hall and into the bathroom. He shut and locked the door behind him. He pulled off his bell boy uniform and put his clothes that he was keeping where Maske was hiding back on.

He walked out and back to the room. He crouched down and waited in a dark corner.

---

Maske peeked out from his hiding place. There were at least ten armed guards around the room. He then saw his bounty, Wren Sevarra. He was talking to the guard who had answered the door for Masry. Maske couldn't wait anymore.

He jumped to his feet, drawing two blaster pistols. Maske fired around the room, killing several guards. Sevarra dashed away into a room in the corner.

---

Masry heard gunshots. He jumped from his hiding place and ran to the door of the room and kicked it in. Maske was rolling out of the way of several bolts and firing at the guards. Masry joined in, jumping into the fray. In minutes, Maske and Masry had emptied the room.

They kicked the door in the corner open. Inside, Darth Maul stood, speaking with Sevarra. Maul looked shocked.

"I thought I killed you," Maske said, drawing his mercenary staff.

"I thought AJ killed him," Masry said.

"No, I definitely killed him," Maske replied.

"But AJ said-"

"He's lying," Maske said, waving his hand dismissively.

"Whatever," Masry said, turning his attention toward Maul.

Maul turned around and ran away, diving out of a nearby window.

Maske and Masry ran up to the window. There was no sign of Maul, and it was a long, long way down.

"Well," Masry sighed. "That was anticlimactic."

Maske shrugged.

The brothers apprehended Sevarra and took him out of the room. They dragged Sevarra to an elevator. Maske hacked the door off, exposing the elevator shaft.

"After you," Maske said to Masry, stepping aside.

"Why, thank you," Masry said.

He backed up across the hall and performed a running leap, grabbing on to the elevator cable and sliding down.

Maske grabbed the whimpering Sevarra by the collar and did the same. Once on the ground, Maske began hacking away at the bottom floor elevator door.

Masry looked up just in time to see Maul's light saber fly out above them. It cut through the elevator cable and returned to Maul's hand, who was standing in the door where they had come from. Maul grinned at Masry. A chill ran up Masry's spine. Maul darted away. Above them, the elevator screeched down the shaft, the emergency brakes causing sparks to fly out as it came down to meet them.

Maske stopped hacking and glanced up. A moment later, Maske returned to hacking the door open, hacking as hard and fast as he possibly could. Sevarra was crying.

Masry ran over and began pounding on the door with his fists relentlessly. The door finally gave way. Maske grabbed Sevarra and the three dived out of the door just as the elevator hit the ground behind them in a shower of sparks and flames.

"Well," Masry said, dusting himself off. "That was fun."

Maske nodded. "Yeah, you and I should do stuff like that more often. You know, just the two of us. AJ can keep the ship running."

"Yeah," Masry said, nodding. "Sounds like fun."

Maske grabbed Sevarra, who had curled up into a ball and was trembling and crying. Maske tossed him over his shoulder and walked with Masry back to the ship.

"Now, where did we park?" Maske asked, thinking.

"Just look for the upside down ship," Masry said with a grin.

Maske smiled. "Shouldn't be too hard to find."

---

AJ woke up with a start, he couldn't sleep. He gently kissed his sleeping wife and walked to the fridge. He pulled out the milk jug and took a swig.

"What's with us?" he said to himself. "It's not hard to get a glass." With that, AJ poured himself a glass of milk and drank it down. "I'm a married man now," he said, "I have to act more civilized."

AJ knew Mara was right, the Ammon brothers were growing apart; things were changing. He had to be the mature one now.

---

After delivering their bounty, Maske and Masry walked into the kitchen. Maske opened the fridge and grabbed the milk. He took a swig and wiped his mouth with his sleeve.

"What a day," Maske said.

Masry grabbed the milk. "This doesn't seem right."

"What?"

"Passing around the milk bottle without AJ," Masry replied.

Maske nodded. "I know, but we have to get used to it. AJ's got his own place now."

Masry thought for a minute. "Maybe not. We bought the house, its more ours than his."

Maske took the milk from Masry. "You may be on to something there. I think AJ's going to miss us, too."

"Right now he probably wants to be alone with Mara."

"Now he does, but he'll come around. After all, we're family."

Masry shrugged. "Well, I'm heading to bed."

"Me, too. Good night," Maske said with a yawn.

"Good night," Masry replied, heading to his room.

---

"Get up, honey."

AJ stirred. Someone shook him. He awoke to see Mara next to him. He leaned over and kissed her.

"Your brothers are coming over today," Mara said, stretching.

"I guess that means its over," AJ said, holding Mara close.

"What do you mean?" Mara asked. "Our honeymoon?"

"Yeah, but I was talking about the tranquility of this place," AJ replied.

Mara smiled and nodded. "Hey, I noticed something weird the other day. I never noticed it before."

"What's that?"

"Look," Mara said, pointing out the window.

She was pointing to a hideous and small house. All the grass around it was dead, all that remained was loosely packed dirt. The house was dirty and dark, the only light flooded in from outside.

"What the hell?" AJ breathed. "Maybe I should go check it out."

"Later. Right now, we have to get the house, and ourselves, ready for company," Mara said.

"It's just Maske and Masry," AJ said.

"Still, I'd like the house to be presentable for our first party."

AJ shrugged. "If you insist."

Mara smiled. She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "I'm going to get a shower."

AJ nodded. "I'll start cleaning up, then we'll switch."

Mara nodded and walked away.

---

The doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!" AJ called.

"Okay," Mara replied from the other room.

AJ opened the door. "Hey guys."

"Hey man," Maske said, stepping in.

Masry walked in behind Maske. "Hey bro."

"Hey," AJ said.

The brothers exchanged hugs. Somehow, Maske and Masry wound up hugging each other. They soon realized and pushed away.

Mara walked into the room. "Hey guys."

"Hey Mara," Masry said.

"Hey," Maske said.

"Come on in, make yourselves at home," Mara said, waving her hand out across the room.

"Thank you," Maske replied.

Maske and Masry sat down on the couch. AJ sat down between them and Mara sat on AJ's lap.

"So," AJ began. "I know you guys have been keeping busy."

"How'd you know that?" Maske asked.

AJ grinned. "I watch the news."

Maske laughed. "I guess we have done a few newsworthy things in the past couple of days."

Mara rolled her eyes. "I can't believe you guys."

A documentary about bounty hunters was playing on the television. Someone was describing the nature of bounty hunters: "Bounty hunters are solemn, and take their jobs very seriously. They're solitary, and care little about others. The thought of bounty hunters working in teams is mind boggling."

Masry nodded. "That's so true."

The man in the television continued. "Bounty hunters never risk open confrontation. In fact, most bounty hunters only carry one weapon, usually something with a long range. Bounty hunters are in and out of places, and no one is the wiser."

AJ nodded. "That's us."

Mara rolled her eyes.

Maske nodded. "These people really did their homework."

"I know," Masry agreed.

Mara shook her head, but said nothing.

All of a sudden, the doorbell rang.

AJ answered the door. It was none other than Paul.

"Howdy, neighbor," Paul said.

"Neighbor?" AJ prompted. "You mean that pathetic excuse for a house is yours?"

Paul nodded. "'Ats m'pride 'n' joy 'ere, Ad'Jas."

AJ shook his head in disbelief.

Paul glanced over and saw the others on the couch.

"Well, well, the gang's all here. Howdy, li'l curly boy, and biggun, and pretty lady."

"H-hi Paul," Mara said uncomfortably.

"I's just wonderin' if y'all got any sugar 'round 'ese parts," Paul said, glancing around.

AJ headed to the kitchen. "How much?" AJ asked from the other room.

"Jus' a teaspoon."

"A teaspoon?" AJ asked as he walked back in. "What the hell are you going to cook with a teaspoon sugar?"

"Cook?" Paul prompted, taking the spoon and eating the sugar. He handed the spoon back to AJ. "Thank ya, later y'all!"

"Bye Paul," AJ said, shutting the door.

"You said I would never have to see him again after the wedding," Mara said, crossing her arms.

"Well," AJ sighed. "Just give him a chance; you may find that you like him."

Mara shook her head.

"Hey, AJ, you'll never guess who me and Masry ran into yesterday," Maske said.

"Who?" AJ asked.

"Darth Maul," Maske replied.

"No kidding; I thought I killed him."

"I thought I killed him."

"Are you crazy? I shot him."

"So did I!"

"That's a bold faced lie!" AJ said as he climbed to his feet.

"I'll beat you like a red-headed stepchild," Maske shouted, standing up and grabbing AJ by the lapels.

"You don't even know what book that's from!" AJ yelled, knocking Maske's hands away.

"Neither do you," Maske said.

Just then Paul opened the door and peeked his head into the room. "That'd be from David Copperfield."

AJ's jaw dropped. Paul began to walk away. AJ held up his finger and dashed after Paul.

"Paul! How'd you know that?" AJ asked.

"I read it coupla times. Good book, athough Dickens's plot seems a li'l flawed," Paul replied. "Truth b'told, I much prefer a good story by Twain, or Thornton."

"Paul, you can read?"

"Yessiree."

"I can read too!"

"I figgered . . . "

"I mean, I do read. Good God, I have someone to discuss literature with!"

"What about them?" Paul asked pointing to the others through the window.

"Look at them."

Paul nodded. "I sees."

"I'm so happy," AJ said, wrapping his arms around Paul.

"Hey, hey, hey. You isn't one o' those loopy folks is ya?"

"I'm married, Paul."

"Yeah I know, You jus' make sure you ain't gettin' too happy, m'boy."

AJ smiled and patted Paul on the back. "I don't think you have anything to worry about there," AJ said.

AJ turned and walked back inside. He had two great brothers, a wonderful wife, and a friendly neighbor to talk to. His life was just beginning, his married life.

To be continued . . .