Note: There is an au to the original scene in which the Son shows Anakin a vision of his future. (2008 Clone Wars animated series; Season 3, Episode 17.) In his vision, Anakin foresees his wife dying in childbirth, as well as additional traumatic events. The Son, just like Sidious in Episode III, promises that if the Chosen One joins him, he will have the power to save the ones he loves (combined with the vow of ceasing the suffering that he may one day bring).
The violent winds of a gloomy and deadened Mortis howled in the smothering air. Anakin could feel the growing blackness as he descended into the Well of the Dark Side by the instruction of the Force apparition of Master Qui-Gon Jinn. The heat of the lava washed into his face as he flew closer and closer to the large, flat chunk of black stone jutting out from the scorching magma.
Some fiery, unrelenting dread and rage choked at Anakin's lungs, making the young man scowl. The Dark Side was incredibly strong here, even stronger than what had now seized this nexus of the Force- it was almost overwhelming, even to Anakin. Mortis was indeed an extraordinary place, unimaginably immersed in the strange energy that surrounded and bound together the universe. It must have been why Master Qui-Gon had managed to manifest himself, despite the death of the Daughter and the demonic wrath of the Son.
The stone - Anakin's makeshift landing pad - was etched with an intricate pattern near its center; luminous orange markings crossed into what Anakin knew as the symbol for the Dark Side. In all honesty, this was expected. Chambers of magma pooled around, flowing down endlessly from looming towers of obsidian. Lava bubbled and spewed, lapping at the stone edges of the horrid magma lakes. Sparks of fire drifted carelessly in the air.
Anakin's jumpspeeder landed smoothly onto the obsidian. Looking around, he saw the same things as before- lava, stone, the bowel of Mortis violently vomiting magma out from its core. There was nothing out of the ordinary, and a frown of confusion lit upon the Jedi's face as his sharp eyes searched around.
Nothingness... then, a presence of pure darkness.
"Welcome."
Anakin's scowl grew to surprise, then utter disgust. He swiftly turned around, knowing the Son was there to greet him. The wide arms of the Embodiment of Darkness were stretched wide as a (false) show of hospitality as he approached the young, powerful man standing near the center of the stone.
"I believe there has been a misunderstanding." The glowing red eyes of the Son bore into the blue irises of Anakin. Clasping his hands behind his back and letting his broad shoulders sink, the Son continued, "we don't have to be... enemies." A slight smirk dawned on the demon's ashen face as he towered over the supposed Chosen One.
Anakin's brows scrunched in revulsion, while harsh, icy blue eyes glared with accusation at the Son. "You murdered your sister!" A gloved index finger pointed at the Son's black-clad chest, the place which held his cold heart. The young man drew closer, still meeting the demon's gaze. "The Force is out of balance. I have to stop you."
The Son grinned. "Must you?"
A saber was ignited, illuminating the dark, obsidian surroundings with blue light. Anakin shifted his weight into the position of a pounce, ready to strike the Son. Yet when he began to move, the saber was deactivated and drifted away into the waiting hands of the demon. The knight gasped and reached out in panic, though his recovery efforts were useless.
"There is no use for such crude implements here." There was a pause. "I have a gift for you." The Son turned away from the newcomer, the same evil smirk persisting on his face.
"I've had enough of your trickery!" Anakin glowered at the treacherous spawn.
The Son turned his gaze back to Anakin. "Oooh, but you will like this one, I promise." He drew closer to the Chosen One, until Anakin could feel a strange, angry tingling down his spine. Bending down, he whispered into the man's ears:
"What if I could show you... the future?"
As the Son stepped away from Anakin, darkness invaded and protruded past the Jedi Knight's mental defenses and straight into his mind. Dizzy with pain, Anakin clawed at his hair, crying out. "No, stop," he begged, eyes frantic, head bursting with echoes of torture.
"Know yourself. Know what you will become!"
The knight's face twisted in torment.
Growing satisfied with Anakin's reactions, the Son disappeared into a furious storm cloud, leaving his guest trapped inside the wrath of his "gift". Darkness tore at Anakin's mind, taunting him, ripping the Light away until he was exposed fully to what the future held...
Whispers of looming darkness... wails of pain...
Obi-Wan's gaze tilting to the ground as he moaned in agony... Padmé... Padmé screaming, begging for help... Some unrecognizable man hidden away in the rolling blackness of the cloud, choking to death...
He clenched his hands into fists as he shouted to himself, "I WILL NOT LOOK!"
Fear… anger… hatred... suffering...
"The Force is strong with you."
A hideous, croaking voice; a shriveled, aged and deformed body, two rows of yellow, decayed teeth. Lightning leaking from the gnarled fingers of some treacherous sorcerer, striking down upon one's body, casting nearly unbearable pain to his heart and spreading throughout his nerves...
The frightful face of an unarmed youngling as his, his gloved hand raised the ignited lightsaber, preparing to kill... The bodies of young Force-sensitive children, tumbling to the floor, the thumping of their tiny, fragile hearts entirely stopped as they joined their peers in eternal rest...
The black cloud constricted Anakin, clutching at his throat, suffocating him with anguish...
Padmé, his angel, pleading him to stop as she was raised in the air, gurgling and clutching at her throat, until there was nothing left but weak whimpers...
Obi-Wan's saber swinging down, cutting into his flesh and his heart...
A distraught and heartbroken howl: "YOU WERE MY BROTHER, ANAKIN!"
Piercing pain, ringing through his ears, into his mind...
False promises spewing out from a rotten mouth: "A powerful Sith, you will become."
The tortured, hoarse voice of a limbless form, three words tumbling out from cracked, ruined lips as he was devoured by a shower of molten rock, fire eating away at his skin, setting it ablaze, flames dancing across his back and into his throat and lungs and heart and burning away his flesh and taking his life away: "I HATE YOU!"
An entire planet, exploding and shattering, until nothing was left but ashes drifting into the black void of space...
Lightsabers, cutting into more flesh, brutally ripping apart the fragile bodies of innocents…
Strangled officers in grey uniform, clutching at their throats in despair, gasping for what precious little air was abandoning their lungs...
Pain... SO MUCH PAIN...
Anakin's knees buckled as sorrow overwhelmed his frail mortal body. The dark clouds pressed onto his skin, collapsing into his heart, casting its shadows with no hesitation...
"No... NO... NOOOOOOO!"
Dark, hysterical cackling, accompanied by a raw, intense burning that set aflame unhealed wounds, aggravating them, making him bleed... Rattling breathlessness, panting for air, pleading for it but then the oxygen would cut apart his lungs and sear him alive and oh Force he couldn't breathe he couldn't breathe where is the air he couldn't breathe-
"Every Jedi will be hunted down and DEFEATED!"
Yellow eyes, rimmed with red; the lethal and indifferent gaze joining the red blade and piercing into the heart of younglings... Sick, cruel smirking as the corpses collapsed and rolled limply, onto the cold, hard ground...
"The Republic shall be reorganized into... the FIRST GALACTIC EMPIRE!"
Thunderous applause as liberty died, sucked into the void, overruled by the black and unyielding power of tyranny...
His limbs were gone, replaced by bulky pieces of metal... knives penetrating his skin... Soundless sobbing and desperate croaks escaping from a functionally useless, entirely scorched throat... Sunken eyes, gruesomely charred flesh, smoking remnants of hair falling away as ashes...
Lightning... blue, terrorizing, torturous lightning, spreading across his body...
Steady mechanical wheezing haunted his head, sending chills of fear and destruction down his spine... Blood-red visors puncturing his shields and glaring straight into his eyes, threatening destruction and death...
A looming figure kneeling before a hunched form, its monstrous and skeletal helmet bowed in obedience. The mechanical knee threatened to tear away the flesh of his remaining organic legs, yet his words were of compliance and unbending loyalty, for he was aloof, depressed, in torment, and the only thing that remained by his side was this immortal figure of looming Darkness...
"Yes, Master. As you wish."
Soldiers screaming for their lives and the now-dispensable lives of their comrades: "OPEN FIRE!"
Corpses... lifeless gazes, staring at blank ceilings and bloodstained walls... Pools of scarlet, massing around the dead bodies of fallen men... A sole survivor frenziedly scrambling away, only to crumple to the ground with the impale of a crimson blade through his chest...
"Vader... it's Vader! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"
Tears leaking from his wife's eyes as the cries of newborns filled the air... A final, desperate plea, "Save me!"
Matted hair falling to her sides, her voice breaking and choking, her wails for salvation unheard and therefore uncared for, and those damn tears, cascading down her beautiful face... Her life force draining away, gorgeous head lifelessly lolling to the side as the babies wailed for their dead mother...
Padmé... Padmé! Angel! PLEASE!
Agony, AGONY, CLAWING AT HIS MIND, SHATTERING HIS SANITY APART LIKE GLASS UNTIL THERE WAS NOTHING LEFT BUT SHARDS AND BROKEN PIECES AND THE DUST DRIFTING LIKE WASTE INTO THE DREADFULLY HUMID BREEZE-
The dark cloud abandoned its constriction and dissipated into the lava of Mortis, leaving Anakin kneeling and panting on the ground, begging for mercy. The Son approached the man, his lightsaber still clutched in hand. Anakin's face was pressed into his palms, his mind drowning in despair.
"I won't do such terrible things," he sputtered, his voiced laced with anguish. He stared at the ground, tears threatening to spill out. He could not look up; he could not confront the images of the future, let them occur, and remain sane. He could not lose his angel, like the way he lost his mother- to leave her fending for herself, to leave her helpless, to leave her to... die. "I won't lose my wife. I can't."
"Yes," the Son murmured. "But it doesn't have to be that way. The choice is still yours to make."
"How?" Anakin questioned, his voice raspy and hesitant, the whispers of fear and suffering still casting shadows in his mind. He rose, though still positioning his back toward the demon. Could he... could he trust this man, this demon, this vile and ruthless manifestation of destruction?
The wide arms of the Son stretched out before his hands joined together to clasp at the lightsaber that he still held. "The Future, by its nature, can be changed!" Striding to Anakin's side, the Son raised a hand into a tight fist. He vowed, his voice filled with power: "Join me, and together we will destroy this emperor you see in your visions, we will save the ones you love, and we shall end war, corruption, and SUFFERING THROUGHOUT THE GALAXY!"
Exhausted, desperate blue eyes bore towards the Son's face. There was one thing he wished more than anything else in the universe; he was tired of fighting, done with the constant battles and the disruptions and lurking darkness that seemed to await around every corner, fatigued of never being there for his angel... "Will we bring... peace?"
"Of course."
A moment's hesitation was brought forth, as Anakin's blue eyes searched the remarkable and pronounced tattoos etched on the Son's ashen face. "...But you are... Sith. How can I trust you?"
The Son's disgust was evident as his lips curled up into a snarl. Red eyes glared down with accusation on his companion. "I am no Sith. Sith are the vile vermin who manipulate the Force instead of making connection to it; I am the Force. I have the ability to save your wife and cease the suffering you may cause, as well as the power to bring peace to the galaxy at large... now, tell me, my friend: will you join?"
And then, there, another vision dawned upon Anakin- him and Padmé in that gorgeous green field on Naboo, the sparkling waterfall's chorus alight behind them, and two beautiful children running circles around their picnic blanket... warm, beautiful sunlight, casting its golden rays to the grass... a mop of precious blonde hair and twinkling blue eyes, a delicate braid of brown and intelligent lips smiling back at him… His eyes lit up in awe and sheer wonder at the contrast between this peace and tranquility and happiness of an alternative future, and the dire scenery that he was granted to see moments ago. He wanted this... a family, a life with no more war, a family in which he could love and protect...
The hand which held Anakin's lightsaber stretched outward, offering the weapon to its owner as a token of trust. Reluctance entirely non-existent, Anakin took back his saber, then stared into the glowing red eyes of the entity which stood before him, tall and grand as ever.
Three firm words escaped from Anakin's mouth.
"I'll join you."
Obi-Wan piloted his jumpspeeder across the deadened lands of Mortis until it spiraled down the monstrous sunken hole in the ground that was the absolute Hell of this planet. The Jedi Master gracefully landed, stepping off his speeder to discover Anakin's vehicle close by, but not catching his presence.
The bearded face searched with a frantic calmness for his former padawan. There were footsteps from behind, and a dark, menacing, terribly pained presence... Startled, a hand moved towards his lightsaber, but with a quick realization of the man's identity, no damaging action was taken.
Obi-Wan turned around to find his brother, expecting (or, hoping for) a casual smirk and sarcastic remark for his master's panic, but receiving the sight of gleaming yellow eyes and a ring of black and bloody corruption around his ghastly eyes.
"Anakin! Are you alright?" Extreme concern and caution were evident in the man's voice.
The young knight glared at him. "There has been... a change of plan." A slight, rather nonchalant wave of his hand caused Obi-Wan's jumpspeeder to flip over and tumble into the lava. Plop. The burning red liquid gulped it down, hungry as ever. "Sorry." Anakin turned away from Obi-Wan's gaze for a moment, voice suddenly filled with despair and torment.
"You will not understand what I have to do to end the Clone War."
The yellow Sith gaze drew back onto Obi-Wan, an index finger pointing with accusation at his chest, hatred bleeding from a raised voice. "You will try to stop me."
And then, with no warning, red lightning struck his body, searing through his flesh, sending waves of agony to his brain. Some invisible dark magic picked him up and callously threw his smoking body to the side, onto the ground, near the edge between the lake of lava and the safety of the solid stone.
The Son.
"Ahh!" Slowly rising, he clutched at his chest for a moment, panting for breath. "Anakin... WHY!?"
For a moment, Anakin's eyes were filled with remorse. "I'm sorry... but I have seen that it is the Jedi who will stand in the way of peace." Then, as if distraught and deeply desiring to escape, he hopped onto the remaining jumpspeeder and quickly flew away.
Tears prickled at the corners of his grey-blue eyes as he gathered his strength and pulled himself into a feeble standing position. No... no... no... What has the Son done to him!?
The Son turned to him, a pleased smirk on the hideously thin face. "He's mine now." The humanoid body abruptly shifted into the form of an ugly grey gargoyle and leapt up, shooting into the cold Mortis air with a great flap of large wings. Obi-Wan watched helplessly as the Son faded into the black background, attempting to formulate a plan to escape from this dreadful place. Wicked laughter echoed down the tunnel, making Obi-Wan's surroundings feel a few degrees colder.
Ahsoka had just finished repairing the shuttle when Obi-Wan's comm came in. The padawan picked it up immediately, expecting urgent news.
She was correct; Obi-Wan's eyes were shining in worry.
The Jedi Master was about to order her to disable the shuttle (he hadn't even begun describing the situation yet, though she had noticed a certain franticness radiating in her Grandmaster's voice) when the young Padawan sensed an alarmingly familiar presence outside, yet now alight with a fiery, passionate darkness...
Tearing off her goggles and quickly ending the comm, she disappeared into a hiding place.
Anakin Skywalker's jumpspeeder skidded to a halt right before the entrance of the shuttle. Bright yellow eyes gleamed with fury as heavy boots marched up the ramp, directly entering the small cockpit. Anger made him oblivious to his apprentice, who was hanging on the ceiling directly above the short gangway, body as close to the metal roof as possible, patiently awaiting to pounce down and approach Anakin.
Beside him, the abandoned comm beeped. Soft feet landed onto the hard floor; finally, Anakin heard and turned around. Instinctively his right hand moved towards his lightsaber; however, he realized that for now, the weapon may not be of use.
"Ahsoka."
Treacherous, startlingly bright yellow (...Sith!?, Ahsoka thought with unease) eyes gazed down into her green irises. Her master's expression was serious, unlike the typical casual grin that he tended to greet her with (though of course, Mortis was an exception for all the absurdity and haunting events that had occurred and stressed the trio), and the thinned lips even depicted a trace of rage.
Ahsoka's eyes widened, and for a moment, she was too disturbed to answer. She was completely unprepared for this ghastly appearance- an appalling complexion around his eyes that took on the shade of decomposition, a murderous glint in those alarmingly yellow eyes, that darkness that boiled around his skin, trying to suffocate her alive... Did- did the Son- the Son's deception-
The unanswered comm beeped once more- an urgent message from General Kenobi. Skywalker called the intricate machine into his robotic hand, then, without any effort, crumpled the thing into a worthless piece of scrap metal.
"Master! What-"
"All communications with that monster will now cease. Do you understand?" The deep voice was flooded with anger, the Sith eyes glowering down upon her in distrust and unrelenting outrage. His teeth were clenched as he seethed.
"What happened to you!?"
The rage suddenly died down; a hesitant, weary sigh was emitted. "The Son offered me the power to change the future, to... to stop the suffering I will cause."
I knew it! "Master, his promises are lies!" She shot a hand out, urgently squeezing his arm, relieved her master did not flinch. Inhaling, she pleaded, "Please, don't trust him, don't let him lead you astray... I know you're in there, I know you know the truth! He's using you, manipulating you to make himself-"
"SILENCE!"
The shriek echoed around their small enclosure; the arm was withdrawn from Ahsoka's grasp.
"You don't know what I have seen!" The bellowing voice suddenly went quiet as the pupils dilated in fear. "...Countless people dying, wailing as loved ones are torn away from them... red blood stains on the floors, men drenched in blood, their clothes shaded with the stench of rot... younglings mercilessly stabbed to death... howls of agony... innocents screaming useless prayers, desperate to survive but ultimately realizing their entities are failing... So much... pain... I can hear their cries..."
His voice was no more than a blubber as the tall frame subsided upon itself. Unstably, he had slumped into a chair, eyes hollow and unfocused, staring blankly at air.
Although quite shaken by the rather vivid description, Ahsoka knew she could not waste this opportunity. Gloved hands reached out again and gently clasped around Anakin's fingers as a means of comfort. "The Son showed this vision to you, right? And he showed you pain, then a way to make it better?" She inquired, keeping her voice soft.
Slowly, as if being drawn back to reality, Anakin nodded. Ahsoka continued, "See, Anakin? This is all a part of the Son's plan, to manipulate you to his cause. Deceit is of the Dark Side."
A tense silence ran between the two as Ahsoka waited for a response. Yet instead of subduing Anakin like she had hoped to, what followed was an outburst. Once more, Anakin drew himself away from Ahsoka's touch.
"How can you not understand!? I can stop the Clone Wars, I can save people from dying, I can bring peace!" His voice cracked near the end, and he huffed a little, trying to catch his breath.
"Master... please. Listen to me." Desperation bled out from her attempted calm tone.
"NO!" The cry was firm and definite as the golden eyes shone, more luminous than ever.
"Mast-"
Anakin's cybernetic hand moved towards the weapon attached on his belt, and effortlessly plucked the familiar weight off his waist. His metal thumb hovered just a bit away from the activation button. "If you will not listen to me, then I will do what I must."
There was no more mercy and compassion in those blazing eyes, now- perhaps even the recklessness had become a thing of the past. All that was left was a haunting hatred and hopelessness, reigned by the control of the embodiment of Darkness.
"Please, Master. It doesn't have to come down to a fight." Her voice was so sincere, and there was so much hurt in it that Anakin almost retreated, but... he had to... and he would destroy every blockade to his goal...
"Master, don't do this. I beg you."
For a moment, she swore there was the subtlest bit of regret and shame in those lifeless yet flaming eyes. Hope exploded in her chest, then-
"I'm sorry, Ahsoka." He closed his eyes and breathed, just once.
A brilliant saber hummed to life, illuminating the dark cabin around them with an icy blue.
Two sabers, yellow and green, soon joined into the glow. "Master, I had hoped we would never come to this... but perhaps this has become inevitable." She bit back the tears that threatened to well at the corners of her eyes; she could not weep, not now; nor could she bear to hurt him, in her regained sanity...
The blue blade struck down, and Ahsoka brought forth her duel blades to counter the offensive. She decided she would not attack, but only defend, for it was the Jedi way to be merciful and forgiving and save the fallen, and that she never wanted them to fight-
The blades clashed once more, and her master let out a mighty roar of frustration. Yellow eyes gleamed with blood-thirst and some twisted need for vengeance (which she hoped, as she clung on with all she had, wasn't directed at her). Ferocious swipes hailed down upon her nimble body, but with her master's teachings, every block was successful.
With the Dark Side erupting around him, Anakin struck blow after blow, growling and screeching. When he landed his lightsaber once more onto a cross made from her two, his apprentice managed to seize the opportunity of pushing the weight of his offensive backwards, then flipping out of the shuttle and landing elegantly on her feet, like some Corellian sand panther.
"Argh!" Anakin jumped out, following her, though his movements were not as agile as that of Ahsoka's. As soon as he came close enough, the blue blade came down again, slamming down on her defense, harder and harder with each attack...
Gritting her teeth, Ahsoka was barely managing to fend off her master's wrath. She closed her eyes, attempting to draw on the Light Side only to remember that it was gone on this planet...
Suddenly there was a hand on her right wrist, gripping with inhuman power and twisting the hand sideways into an unnatural position, forcefully wrenching her saber away. She tried to hold on, her knuckles turning bright white, but her master's strength proved too much, and as the pain coursed into her upper limb, her weapon collided with the ground.
With shock, Ahsoka realized she could not hold her defensive anymore, not if she wanted to get out of this alive. This wasn't Anakin... a demon had replaced him. Her master's eyes were alight with murderous glee.
Skillful with Djem So, Ahsoka began pressing her attacks (though still careful to never cause any physical damage), yet her master easily blocked her blades, bringing forth an onslaught of parries. The glowing eyes glimmered as some savage smirk thrived upon his lips. His blade rushed forward, blocked from harm to Ahsoka by her remaining blade. Anakin pressed harshly, and his apprentice struggled to resist.
Ahsoka backflipped, momentarily escaping from her master's lightsaber. Yet before Ahsoka's re-position was complete, Anakin had leapt towards her, not aiming for her head but her weapon-
With a quick swipe, her green blade was sliced in half and thus, she was deemed disarmed. The glow vanished into the Mortis night, as Anakin raised his blue blade and prepared to strike the final blow-
"Master, don't do this!" She wailed, fear penetrating her voice.
There was a pause as Anakin realized what he was about to do. The blade shut off, and Ahsoka let out a sigh of relief, before Anakin snarled and reached out with his free hand.
"You will not stop me!"
No.
She was lifted into the air, the remaining stump of a blade tossed to the ground as she desperately clawed at her gurgling throat. Eyes wide, she begged once more while air escaped from her lungs, "Mast-... please-..."
He stepped closer as his fingers pinched, squeezing callously, watching with pleasure as oxygen was sucked out from her body. The monster was going for the kill. The smirk grew wider as he envisioned a future of a cleansed galaxy, without scum like her, without cowards who value pity and mercy-
Her corpse, lying lifeless on the cold, hard soil...
Then, the realization that he could not do this, that he could not end his sister's life.
The choke lessened ever so slightly as he gently tapped a finger to her forehead, rendering her unconscious. Head falling backward, her limp body collapsed to the ground. Her head lolled to the side in a deep sleep.
He knelt down beside her and softly whispered: "I don't want to hurt you anymore, Ahsoka. When I return, the galaxy will be a better place. I promise."
The yellow tint in his eyes faded just a bit as he walked away, up the ramp of the shuttle and to the piloting seat. The Son was already waiting, cold-blooded and satisfied smirk ever existent as he viewed the scenery outside the transparisteel screen of the shuttle.
"I assume you are ready, my friend?"
Anakin nodded, hands gripping on the controls as he stared straight ahead.
The shuttle flew into dark, starless Mortis sky, leaving the Father, Obi-wan and Ahsoka behind.