DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything.
This is where is starts getting darker so prepare yourself for torture and whatever else I can think of.
Palpatine stood with his back to his young captive, waiting patiently for Anakin's short temper to snap. He knew that the ex-Jedi hated being helpless and that he would eventually reach for the Force despite his warnings. So he waited patiently, using the dark side of the Force to sense Anakin's movements.
"What do you want with my family?" Anakin demanded.
He was still standing where Palpatine had left him and the Force was gathering around him. Palpatine could feel the strength the Force held but feign ignorance of its occurrence. He wanted Anakin to believe that his attack was going to be a surprise. But with the cuff around his wrist, no use of the Force on Anakin's behalf was to be a surprise to Palpatine anymore. He was in control more than Anakin wanted to believe. And Anakin's attempt at an attack would hurt no one but himself. And Padme.
"You and your children are incredibly strong Force users. With your strength I will rule unchallenged – no one will be able to defy me. Your children were an added bonus and Padme; well she is the perfect leverage over all of you. As long as she is kept safe you will be compliant," Palpatine informed him.
The Sith Lord could feel the anger growing within the ex-Jedi, his helplessness infuriating him almost as much as the threats towards his family. The Force was strengthening around Skywalker as he poured his emotions into it. Palpatine almost smiled.
"My children will defy you," Anakin hissed. His hands were balled into fists at his side.
Palpatine laughed softly, finally turning to look at his captive. "Your children are three years old."
Anakin smirked at the Sith. "My children are Skywalkers."
Palpatine glared at him for a moment.
"Whether they are Skywalkers or not, they will learn their place. Just as you will learn that yours is at my side," he spat.
A chill ran through Anakin at Palpatine's words. "What do you mean, they will learn their place?"
Palpatine sensed the sudden change in the young man's whirlwind of emotions and knew that he had hit a nerve. There was something that Anakin wasn't telling him about his children but for now it didn't matter. All that mattered was weakening his prey.
"That is not your concern at this moment."
Anakin's anger peaked as the desire to protect his children ran rampant through his body. He couldn't stand the fact that Palpatine held all the cards and he couldn't be there for his children or wife. Anakin released his anger, his fear, and his love into the Force and then sent it all hurtling towards the Emperor.
Palpatine grinned evilly as he felt Anakin release the Force.
It happened the instant Anakin unleashed the Force. The bracelet, having sensed the power building up within its wearer, had begun charging itself, syphoning energy from the very Force Anakin was manipulating. The longer Anakin had held onto the power and the more strength he fed it, the stronger and more powerful the electrical charge had become. So in the moment that Anakin released the almighty Force burst, the bracelet released its respective power.
As Palpatine watched in silent glee, Anakin dropped to the ground, writhing in agony. He couldn't open his mouth to scream, his muscles had seized up the moment the intense electrical charge had been released. Even if he could open his mouth, nothing would have come out anyway for the collar had reacted in the same instant as the bracelet. It was tightening viciously around Anakin's throat, constricting his airway and cutting off the circulation to his head. Blue flashes of lightning streaked all over his body and the most Anakin could do was curl into a ball and twitch pathetically as his face slowly turned a dark shade of red. Within minutes he was unconscious.
Everything hurt. His body kept tensing and then shivering as his muscles relaxed again. His wrist, the one wearing the cuff, felt like the skin was burnt but it was his throat that hurt the most. It was painfully dry and every time he swallowed, fresh new pain scraped its way down his throat. Turning his head hurt almost as much. The collar had dug deep into his skin as it tightened leaving behind a dark red ring around his neck. The skin was raw and tight and the collar kept rubbing on it as he moved.
It took a few moments before Anakin felt strong enough to open his eyes and look around. When he did, he found he was no longer in the control room. He had been moved while he was unconscious and was now in a dimly lit dungeon.
There was nothing adorning the large cell except for the manacles that hung from the ceiling in the direct centre of the room. Anakin was lying on the cold steel floor, his right hip flush against the furthest wall from the door. As he shivered again, this time from the cold, he noticed that he was shirtless.
Slowly, against his aching body's protests, Anakin lifted himself up onto his hands and knees and then sat back on his haunches. The thick glove that usually covered his metal arm was nowhere to be seen.
Anakin flexed his metal fingers as he thought. His bionic arm was stronger than his flesh arm – that had been proven many times throughout the Clone Wars. Maybe...
He tried pulling at the cuff around his wrist but no amount of strength seemed to even scratch it. Half-heartedly he tugged at the collar, knowing the results would be the same but needing to try anyway.
Suddenly the door swung open. Anakin's head snapped around in time to see the Emperor and Aayla Secura enter, followed by two clone troupers. The last clone in closed the door behind him before standing on the other side of the door to his comrade. They held their blasters ready, set to stun.
The Emperor stopped in front of the door, between the manacles and clones. Aayla walked over to Anakin, her sickly yellow eyes blazing in triumph. She had her lightsaber clipped to her belt but she didn't make a move to keep it from him. Anakin's eyes threw it only one glance before returning to the painfully familiar face, his mind working furiously on a way to escape.
Aayla dropped down in front of him, her eyes maintaining contact the whole time. She smiled evilly. Her hand dropped to her lightsaber, gently caressing its hilt. Then she unclipped it and held it out to him on her open palm.
"Go ahead Skywalker," she motioned with her head at it. "Take it. Use it."
She was taunting him, he knew. He didn't even look at it. Anakin was no fool. He remembered the pain from when he last used the Force and he wasn't going to repeat that any time soon. His stoic gaze didn't faze Aayla. She just laughed and fastened her lightsaber back to her belt.
"He can be taught!" she said.
She turned away from him and nodded to the clone troupers. They slung their weapons over their shoulders and walked over to Anakin. They grabbed him under the armpits and hauled him to his feet. He suppressed a groan as his body screamed in protest.
The clones dragged the weakly struggling Anakin into the middle of the room where they proceeded to raise his arms over his head and clip the manacles around his wrists. When he was secured there they both stepped back and returned to their posts beside the entrance.
Aayla pulled a remote out from her cloak, her grin growing. She pressed a button and the chains began to retract into the ceiling, forcing Anakin onto his toes and then higher still. When Aayla finally released the button and the chains stopped moving, Anakin was a good foot from the ground. His shoulders screamed in protest as they were forced to take his whole weight. The ex-Jedi gritted his teeth as he struggled to ignore his pain-wracked body.
"We have a few months before we return to Coruscant so we're going to start your training now," Palpatine announced. He walked around his prisoner, who dangled helplessly before him.
Months? Anakin thought. No hyper speed then.
A sudden sharp biting pain bought Anakin back to his predicament. He cried out before gritting his teeth again, breathing deeply through his nose. The pain had come from a neuronic whip as it struck his back. The whip was designed as a torture device, the likes of which Anakin hadn't seen before. It had sent a sharp electrical pulse through his nerves, momentarily paralysing them, while at the same time opening up a deep gash on his skin.
Anakin could feel the blood running down his back, soaking into the hem of his pants.
"From now on you are going to be working for me," Palpatine announced, walking back in front of Anakin. He held the whip in his hand – nothing special, just a standard handle although a little bulky with a thick flexible cable at the end. Anakin kept his eyes on it, already disliking it. The pain it had shocked him with was almost as bad as the cuff and collar combination.
Palpatine walked right up to Anakin so he was only a couple of centimetres from his face before continuing.
"I'm going to enjoy breaking you boy. I'm going to break your spirit and crush your hopes until everything that once made you the Hero with No Fear is no more. When I am finished with you, pleasing me will be the only thing you want to do," the Emperor promised.
Anakin glared at him, hatred darkening his cobalt eyes. The Force started to gather around him again, reacting to his powerful emotions. Palpatine noticed this and humour lit up his eyes.
"Oh please do my pet," he hissed. "Unleash the Force on me again. I enjoy seeing you in pain."
With great effort Anakin allowed the Force to dissipate around him. He was not going to play the Emperor's games. Nor was he keen to feel the agony of the cuff again. He glanced over at Aayla and noticed she was enjoying every moment of Anakin's plight.
Palpatine walked over to his young Sith Lord and handed her the neuronic whip.
"I'll leave you two to become reacquainted," he said before exiting the room.
Aayla's grin widened as she activated the whip. Electricity pulsed down its length as she walked around Anakin. Her free hand gently ran along his torso as she circled him once. Anakin did his best to follow her with his eyes but he couldn't see past his suspended arms on either side. When she disappeared behind him, he tensed; waiting for the moment the whip would connect with his skin and send him into sheer agony.
For a whole minute nothing happened. Warily, Anakin tried to turn his head around to see what she was waiting for. His shoulders, which were slowing going numb, flared up and he groaned.
That was when Aayla struck.
The whip sent pulses of electricity into his nerves, alternatively lighting them with pain before it got too much for them and numbing them to everything. He could feel a new cut open up and more blood ran down his back as he cried out.
For hours Aayla seemed content to continue thrashing him, opening many more cuts before deepening those she'd already made. When she finally stopped, Anakin could barely think he was in so much pain.
Aayla walked back around him and stood where he could see her. Then she pressed another button on the chains remote and his manacles released him.
Anakin fell to the floor and lay there, unmoving. His back was a raging fire of pain and he couldn't move his shoulders. His breathing was heavy as he watched Aayla deactivate the whip and usher the clones out in front of her. When the door was closed and he was alone again, Anakin finally closed his eyes and let out a small, pain laced groan.
He didn't want to admit it just yet but he could already feel the despair setting in. He didn't know how he was going to get out of this one.
