FalcoLombardiUltimateHD, who owns Max, asked for this one. Here you go, Amigo! Enjoy! :)

Star Wars belongs to Disney. I only own Rachel.

Also, please bear with me. I'm not overly familiar with Star Wars.


A Second Chance From A New Friend

Max was super excited as he walked into the Star Wars part of Disney World, looking around and hoping to meet his favorite character. Rachel, who was with him, smiled. "Do you think he'll be here?" She asked. She wasn't overly familiar with Star Wars, but she was enjoying herself nonetheless.

"I hope so," he said. "Cause he's my favorite Star Wars character." The boy then spotted who he was looking for. "And there he is!"

Rachel smiled. "Why don't you go meet up with him and I'll catch up with you later?" She said.

"Okay, catch you later," Max said before running up to where General Grievous was.

Grievous was looking around and he shrugged, knowing many saw him as a villain and he was hoping for a chance to prove that he didn't want to be one anymore. It was too much stress for him and he had been beaten by the Jedi and other warriors, no matter how many weapons he had when going against them. He was about to walk away when he heard running footsteps and turned to find a young boy running in his direction. Deciding the boy must have seen someone up ahead on the same path he had taken, Grievous moved to the side to allow the young boy to pass, turning down a path that would lead to one of his favorite restaurants.

The footsteps surprisingly followed him and he turned to find the boy behind him and he noted the boy's face lit up when he turned to him. "Can I help you, boy?" He asked, curious as to why the boy had followed him.

The boy smiled. "No, I just wanted to meet you," he said.

The alien blinked in surprise. "What?" He asked, unsure if he had heard the boy right.

"I wanted to meet you, because you're my favorite character from the Star Wars movies," the boy explained.

Grievous wasn't sure what to say as he hadn't had too many young ones come up to him and want to speak with him since he was known to be the villain. He looked at the boy, but couldn't sense an ounce of deception in his voice. "Kid...you are aware of who I am, correct?" He asked.

He nodded. "Yes, I know," he said. "But I still think you're cool."

The alien had to chuckle. "You're certainly not like the ones that usually come up to me," he said. "I was about to grab something to eat. Care to join me?"

The boy nodded excitedly and Grievous led the way to his favorite restaurant. "By the way, what is your name, young one?" The alien asked.

"Max," the boy said. "I'm here with a friend." He glanced around and smiled. "There she is with C-3PO and R2-D2."

Grievous saw how the girl's face was filled with excitement. "She must have a soft spot for droids," he said with a smile.

"How did you know?" Max asked, surprised that the alien had deduced that so quickly.

"Her face is in an expression of excitement," his companion said, chuckling again. "She reminds me of the one that built BB-8. Many creators have soft spots for their droids."

"Rachel loves robots," the boy said with a nod as they entered the restaurant. They were soon seated and ordered their food. Max looked around, awed at how the restaurant looked just like the ones in the movies. "This place is amazing."

"That it is," the alien said before sighing softly.

The boy looked at him. "What's wrong?" He asked in concern.

Grievous smiled gently. "I've just been thinking," he said. "I'm...rather tired of being a villain and wish to be on the side of good, but...it's hard for everyone to trust me because I was evil before."

Max fell into thought. "But you're not evil now," he pointed out.

"True," the alien said. "But...it's hard to convince others that. I must admit I was surprised that you came up to me."

The boy smiled. "It's not everyday a fan like me gets to meet their favorite character," he said.

Grievous chuckled. "That is true," he said. "Nor is it everyday someone like me gets to meet a fan who sees past what I was."

After their order arrived and they began eating, Max fell into deep thought before getting an idea. "I can help you with getting people to see you're a good guy," he said.

The alien looked at him in surprise. "You'd be willing to do that?" He asked.

"Sure!" Max said with a grin. "How hard can it be?"


Two hours later, Max was feeling a bit down-hearted. No matter what he and Grievous tried, nothing seemed to work and finally, the alien gave up. "It's no use, Max," he said sadly.

"Come on. We can't give up now," the boy said.

The alien turned to him, an angry look on his face. "Kid, listen to me! No one is going to change their mind about me, not even with someone like you vouching for me!" He snapped. "This was a dumb idea! You're better off hanging out with the heroes instead of me!"

Max stood there in shock as he watched his favorite character walk away from him, leaving him alone. The boy wasn't sure what to even do. A hand gently rested on his shoulder and he turned to find Rachel beside him and beside her was Han Solo. "You okay, Max?" The girl asked in concern.

The boy sighed. "I just wanted to help Grievous," he admitted. "He wants to be a good guy and prove that he can be, but...nothing worked."

Rachel looked at the boy. "Max, you can't exactly make people accept someone's words based on just words," she said gently. "Ever heard the expression 'Actions speak louder than words'?"

"Yeah?" Max asked.

"Well, maybe stop trying to tell people and instead, show them."

"Your friend's right," said Han. "I've actually been keeping an eye on Grievous and noticed he seemed quieter than usual."

"He just wants to change," Max said before lifting his head up. "And I'm going to keep helping him, even if I'm the only one who believes in him."

"That the Max I know," Rachel said with a smile. "Now go show Grievous that 'quitting' isn't part of your vocabulary."

The boy took off, making both of them smile. "I think that boy just might be able to do it," he said.

"He's certainly determined," said C-3PO, coming up to them.

"He's one who doesn't abandon his friends, even when a situation seems impossible to overcome," Rachel said proudly.


Meanwhile...

Grievous didn't know and didn't care where he was going, but as he was walking away, his mind drifted to Max, remembering how the boy had lit up and offered to help him. He hung his head. "He was only trying to help," he said to himself, feeling bad about snapping at the boy. As he was walking, he didn't see the ice that he had just walked on and suddenly slipped, trying to keep his balance as he slid along the slick, smooth surface, slipping into an icy cavern. Feeling himself losing his balance, he flailed his arms and tried to correct himself, but that didn't last long and he fell down with a grunt.

After he stopped moving, he tried to get up, but couldn't get his footing, no matter what he tried. He even tried using his claws and other arms, but that didn't work either as he slipped and fell down again, landing on his stomach. He let out a sigh. "Well, this is peachy," he said to himself.

"Grievous!" A voice called out and he looked up to see Max was coming into the cavern and was actually keeping his balance very well on the ice. The boy skated up to him. "What happened?"

The alien huffed a little. "I slipped," he said in a deadpan voice.

Max managed to hide his grin. "Well, yeah, but why haven't you gotten up?" He asked.

"I can't," Grievous said, trying and failing again.

The boy looked curious. "Haven't you ever ice skated before?" He asked.

The alien shook his head. "When you're on missions to kill all the Jedi, you don't exactly have time to learn about...what did you call it?"

"Ice skating," the boy said. "Here, I'll show you."

With that, he helped the alien up, but it was a bit tough for Grievous as he fell down again, to which Max tried to put all the alien's body parts correctly on the ice to help him up, but Grievous slipped and fell again, this time making the boy fall onto his chest. "Oof!" He grunted in surprise.

Max grunted a bit in surprise too before giggling a little. "Guess we got some work to do," he said before getting up and finally succeeding in helping his friend up as the alien managed to finally find his balance and stay upright on the ice.

"Now what?" The alien asked curiously.

"Now we skate," the boy said, demonstrating before turning to his friend and helping him. As he learned, Grievous found his rhythm and balance, to which he was able to skate very well after a few minutes. Max smiled as he watched and skated beside him. Suddenly, the alien scooped up the boy and placed him on his back.

"Hold on," he said before picking up speed.

Max held on as his friend skated, cheering as the alien kept his balance very well before the alien decided to be playful and gently tossed the boy into a snowbank.

"Hey!" The boy said, sitting up in the soft snow that had cushioned his fall. "Oh, it's on!"

With that, he jumped at the alien, who caught him and spun around before falling backwards into the same snowbank, having tripped over his own feet. Both laughed as they sat up and brushed the snow off themselves. Grievous then looked at the boy. "Max, I owe you an apology," he said. "I'm sorry I snapped at you. You were just trying to help. I'm sorry I hurt you with my words."

Max smiled and hugged him. "I forgive you, Grievous," he said sincerely. "And don't worry. We'll find a way to show everyone that you're a good guy. I promise."

The alien hugged him back with all of his arms, grateful to the boy. Suddenly, he felt curious fingers on his sides and he yelped, trying to gently push the boy away, but Max tightened his hug, a smirk on his face. "No way. My favorite character is ticklish?" He asked.

"Now, Max," the alien began, but didn't get to finish as the boy tickled him again, making him laugh as his sides and many underarms were 'attacked' by the boy's wiggling fingers. Even his stomach wasn't spared and he guffawed with laughter, making the boy laugh too before Max let him up, grinning.

"Feel better?" He asked.

"That's a rather cheeky question," Grievous said without heat as he ruffled the boy's hair, chuckling.

The boy got up and helped his friend up before they headed out of the cavern, but just as they did, they heard screams and looked up to see a giant, evil robot was attacking innocent people, who were running for dear life as the laser shots were eating up the road rapidly and parents had snatched up crying children to escape. "We've got to help!" Max cried out.

"And fast," the alien said. "First off, get everyone out of harm's way."

They both began doing this, seeing other people helping out too. One little girl had gotten separated from her mother and was standing in the middle of the road, tears running down her face as she cried while the robot was still advancing. Grievous quickly moved and snatched up the young girl moments before a laser shot hit the very spot she had been standing and he heard a cry as a woman was trying to fight against the crowd, her face a look of fear. Deducing this had to be the little one's mother, he quickly moved, getting the woman out of the crowd and to safety before handing her the child. "Is she yours?" He asked.

"Yes," the young woman said, hugging her daughter. "Thank you."

He nodded. "Get out of here quickly," he said, directing her to where the exit was.

Max ran up to him. "Most everyone's out of the way, but the robot's still attacking," he said.

"I'll handle this," the alien said.

"I'll help," the boy said.

Grievous was about to tell him to find a safe spot, but he saw the boy looked determined. "Two's better than one against a giant robot, right?" Max asked.

"Can't argue that," the alien said.

But the robot proved to be harder to defeat and Grievous was wondering what to do until he remembered the ice cavern. "Max, get to the cavern and make a trap for our foe," he said. "I'll hold him off to buy you some time."

"Okay," the boy said. "Be careful, Grievous."

"You too, young one."

The battle was getting more intense and everyone was watching from a safe distance before Grievous decided it was now or never. He turned and ran with the robot following him. Curious, the crowd followed, wondering what was going to happen, some pulling out cell phones to record.

Max watched as Grievous ran into the cavern with the robot chasing him. Quickly, the boy spread oil onto the ice, making it extra slippery as the oil coated the surface. Moments later, both Grievous and the giant robot slipped in the oil, the giant robot losing control, but the alien succeeded in keeping his balance and skating correctly thanks to the ice skating lesson from the boy.

The giant robot fell down and hit an explosive ice barrel, something that made Grievous' eyes widen. "Max! We've got to go!" He cried out.

"What happened?" The boy called out as he headed down to where his friend was.

"The robot hit an explosive ice barrel," the alien explained. "It will transform all who stay in here into an ice statue." He quickly picked up the boy and put him on his back. "Hold on tight. We'll have to go very fast."

With that, he began skating rapidly, hearing the barrel start beeping faster. Skating faster now with the boy clinging to him, Grievous made it to the exit, but slipped at the end and fell forward on his chest with his left leg crossing over his right leg, successfully becoming entangled as Max fell a bit on the alien's back, but they had made it out.

And just in time as the barrel exploded, encasing everything inside in ice, including the giant robot.

As a haze of ice and mist filled the air, Grievous tried to get up, but couldn't as he was stuck and couldn't uncross his legs. "Max, I'm stuck," he said.

The boy looked and giggled at seeing his friend's legs were crossed over each other with the left leg to the right and the right leg to the left. "Here, I'll help you," he said, grabbing the alien's left foot before getting an idea. "Actually, I've got a better idea."

"What?" Grievous asked.

Max grinned. "This is for revenge for hurting me earlier with your words," he said.

Before the alien could ask, the boy skated around him, uncrossing the alien's legs, but also making him spin around very fast. "Whoa! Max!" Grievous cried out as he was spun into a dizzying circle.

The boy laughed as he made his friend spin very fast on the ice before hopping onto his back and pushing off with one foot, whooped in excitement as the alien slid down some packed snow like a bobsled. "Whoa!" The alien cried out in surprise before hearing Max laughing as they continued sledding for a bit before coming to a stop.

The young boy laughed as he got off of his friend's back and Grievous smirked, getting up and gently grabbing the boy. "Now you're going to get it," he said playfully before tickling the boy with all of his hands, fingers wiggling into the boy's stomach, sides, underarms, and ribs all at once.

Max giggled and laughed harder, squirming to get away, but his friend had him in a secure hold, even picking him and and playfully holding him upside down with one arm while his free hands continued tickling the boy's ticklish spots, stopping after he saw the boy's face turning red from laughing so much. He then set the boy down on his feet, hugging him. "Are you alright, Max?" He asked.

The boy nodded. "You?" He asked.

"Yes," the alien replied.

Just then, cheering and clapping was heard and they looked up to see everyone was looking at them while the cheering and clapping both became louder. "That was amazing!" Someone said.

"Grievous saved everyone from that giant robot!" Another person said.

The alien looked a bit surprised before smiling as people gathered around. "I didn't do it alone," he said before looking at Max. "My new friend here helped me."

With that, he lifted the boy up onto his shoulders as everyone began cheering again.

Rachel was standing off to the side with Yoda beside her and both were smiling. "I knew Max would be able to show everyone that Grievous is a good guy now," the girl said.

"It seems that Grievous just needed the right person to help him out," the green alien said with a smile.

They both smiled again as the crowd continued cheering, now seeing and believing that Grievous was truly a good guy.


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GoldGuardian2418