I realized today that I hadn't uploaded this here yet. I have two short fics for you- I'll upload the other sometime this week.

Prompt: In the Custos Universe, why did Anakin kill Palpatine?

Oh boy. This one is actually something I've been thinking about for a while now. Why would Anakin, an Anakin who hasn't been betrayed (well, he thinks it's betrayal in canon) by Obi-Wan and Padmé, an Anakin who hasn't lost everything when he joined Palpatine, an Anakin who still trusts Palpatine, kill his Sith Master?

He'd need a reason, of course. And Palpatine ends up giving it to him. Boy howdy does Palpatine give him a reason.


Darth Vader clenched his fist tight as he stared at the text he'd been studying. He hadn't particularly wanted to study it, but Lord Sidious had said he might find it interesting. He had, though he doubted his Master liked the conclusion he was coming to.

The manuscript- originally written on actual paper, but copied onto non-degradable flimsy long ago- was one on Sith Mind Control Techniques. Anakin Skywalker hadn't liked the Jedi Mind Trick, and he hadn't changed his opinion on mind control since Turning.

But his Master wanted him to learn, so learn he would.

Or… he would have, until he came to this particular technique. He turned to the holocron he'd been given and used the sudden flare of anger to open it up. He had to know for sure. He had to be certain.

"Lord Vader," the holocron's guardian greeted.

"Lady Phobos" Vader replied. "I need to know something. Can you tell me what it feels like in the Force for someone who is under the Mal-ek technique?"

Her eyes widened. "Well. I didn't know that was still in use."

"I'm not sure it is, Lady Phobos."

"But you think it might be, young Sith."

Vader nodded, anger sparking higher. "It might be," he said.

The Mal-ek was, if he was reading it right, a way to permanently change a being's beliefs. A Sith could take the being, and twist their thoughts so they matched the Sith's. It was utterly horrifying to Lord Vader. And completely terrifying, because it was making him think, and think hard.

Think about Padmé, and her stubborn opposition to Palpatine's policies in the last few years of the Republic. Padmé, and her opposition to Palpatine's plans up until two days before Anakin had turned. Padmé, and her sudden change of mind, her sudden desire to throw her support behind Palaptine.

At the time, Anakin had merely thought that Padmé had chosen to be opposition to Palaptine in order to help him along, until the time was right. After all, if one knew where the opposition would be coming from, one could plan for it. But now…

Now, he wondered. And he needed to know.

Lady Phobos smirked, probably at his anger. "Well, that document is a little incomplete, Lord Vader," she said. "There are two ways to break Mal-ek. The first is to kill the one who placed it. If that does not work, and often it doesn't, the second is to kill the one who is controlled by it. In their dying breaths, they will be free."

The denial was instant and instinctive. Lady Phobos blinked. "Well, you don't like that idea," she mused. "Very well, for whoever it is that you think might be under Mal-ek, I can show you how to look."

"Thank you, milady," Vader replied.


Vader returned home, and, just as he always did, stopped in the entryway to let go of his anger. It didn't disappear- it never did- but he had long ago promised himself he'd never be controlled by his anger when he was around his wife and children.

Just as he always did when he arrived home, he thought he caught a hint of Obi-Wan Kenobi's presence. And, just as he always did, he dismissed the thought. Obi-Wan was dead, killed by Jedi in revenge for his former Padawan's actions. If Anakin felt him, it was only because he used Obi-Wan's teachings to calm down from a distressing day. It was the only way to have Obi-Wan with him, and a way to honor the only Jedi worth honoring.

Anakin entered the rest of the apartment. Immediately, he was nearly ran down by two almost three-year-olds. Just like normal. He let their happy chatter rush over him as he picked them both up and settled them on his hips.

Padmé wasn't home yet, so he shut down the nanny droid, and then moved around the apartment, getting the twins calmed down, programming the chef droid to make dinner, all the things he normally did when he got home before Padmé.

"Da?" Leia asked him after he set them down on the couch with some puzzle cubes. "You're all red inside."

Luke nodded in agreement.

Anakin sighed. His children were entirely too perceptive for their age. "I got some upsetting news today," he said. "Don't worry, I won't stay red."

"Like when you say anger is stronger, but too much is bad?" Luke lisped.

Anakin nodded. "Exactly. I'm making sure it's not too much right now."

Luke nodded, and turned his attention to the puzzle cube. Leia eyed him for a moment longer before nodding as well.

Anakin didn't even try to suppress the fond smile. Leia was so much like her mother, it was scary sometimes.

And speaking of, Padmé was home. Anakin knew what he had to do… but it could wait. Tonight, after the twins were asleep, so he wouldn't frighten them if his suspicions were true and he lost his temper.


Vader stormed into the throne room, dispatching the guards with the wave of his hand. "Your rule ends now, Sidious," he growled, focusing on channeling his anger and hate, so he didn't make a stupid mistake and lose this fight.

Sidious stood up from his throne, apparently surprised by his apprentice's actions. "And what, Lord Vader, is the meaning of this?"

"Mal-ek, Lord Sidious," Vader sneered. He drew and lit his lightsaber as he did so.

Sidious didn't even pretend to misunderstand. "So you finally learned the truth, Lord Vader. Are you sure you want to kill me? As she was, Padmé Amidala would never have supported the Empire." He allowed his own lightsaber to fall into his hands and

"And it would have been her choice!" Vader snapped, bringing his lightsaber up to guard his torso.

Sidious laughed, mockingly. "Oh, Vader. Still so hung up on choice."

"Enough," Vader snapped. He wasn't about to let Sidious tie him up with words. He lunged forward.

The fight was brutal and nothing like any other fight in Vader's life. In the end, though, Sidious was dead. Palaptine was dead. Vader took a deep breath as he felt the mantle of Sith Master settle on him, before turning on his comlink. "Padmé, are you alright?" he asked urgently.

Padmé answered, sounding confused. "Yes, of course. Is something wrong, Anakin?"

Vader sighed. "Can you come to the throne room? I need you here." He was certain that it hadn't worked, just from the way she had answered him. He sighed and bowed his head before changing the channel on the comlink.

By the time Padmé made it from her office to the throne room, a small gathering of officials were already waiting for her.

Vader lifted his head as she came in. He'd been right. The Mal-ek was still implanted in her mind. She'd only truly be free of it with her death. "The Emperor summoned me earlier," he said, the story he had planned to tell everyone else. He'd tell Padmé the truth later. "But I arrived, and I could feel a Jedi in the palace. I rushed up here, but I was too late."

He straightened, before stepping down to kneel before his wife. "The Emperor is dead. Long live the Empress."

He'd find some way to free her, somehow. For now, she would be the Empress, and with Sidious dead, her decisions could become more her own. It would have to be enough, until he could remove the Mal-ek, and she could return fully to her own beliefs.


Yeah. I suppose Sidious basically mentally enslaving Padmé would do it.

This got a lot darker than I expected for Custos, but it does solve another problem I've been pondering- why would Padmé be Empress?

Oh, by the way, I completely made up Mal-ek. If there's a Sith Mind Control Technique in canon, I don't know about it. But Mal-ek seems pretty horrifying in and of itself.

(And yes, Anakin did indeed feel Obi-Wan when he arrived home. Obi-Wan has already started guarding Luke and Leia at this point in time, though the galaxy believes he's dead.)