Chapter Nine: The Doctor vs. the Father
The look of absolute horror on Luke's face as he realized that what Vader was saying to him was the truth was what broke the Doctor's hearts the most. Luke looked to the Doctor, Obi-Wan, and Jennara, and the Jedi stared at him with sad eyes, confirming what Vader had told him.
"No," said Luke, shaking his head in disbelief. "No. That's not true! That's impossible!"
"Search your feelings, Luke," urged Vader. "You know it to be true!"
The Doctor could sense Luke trying to find some way to disprove it. But he couldn't. The Doctor knew that Luke could sense the truth in Vader's words. He had wanted to tell Luke, but the Gallifreyan never actually thought it would be like this: Luke missing a hand and Vader telling him as opposed to the Doctor, Obi-Wan, or even Jennara.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" screamed Luke. "NOOOOOOOO!"
The Doctor bowed his head, not even trying to break through Vader's wall anymore. Jennara placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, but it was little use. Luke knew the truth now, and he knew that the Jedi had lied to him.
"Luke," called Vader. "You can destroy the emperor. You can destroy Darth Sidious. He has foreseen this. It is your destiny. Join me, and we can destroy him together and rule the galaxy as father and son!"
Vader held out a beckoning hand, trying to bring Luke back to him. The Doctor felt Vader's mental wall collapse as he focused all of his energy on bringing his son back to him. Luke looked at the Doctor for a second and nodded his head just slightly. The Doctor nodded back, knowing exactly what Luke was about to do.
He's going to jump, the Doctor quickly thought to Obi-Wan and Jennara. Grab him when he does.
Got it, thought Jennara.
It will be done, thought Obi-Wan as the Doctor stepped forward to challenge Vader.
"You there!" he called. "Remember me?"
"How could I forget the man I supposedly killed?" taunted Vader as he turned his lightsaber onto the Doctor.
The Doctor activated his lightsaber, and he held an Ataru stance to Vader's modified Djem So. For a long moment, the Doctor and the father stood, baring their lightsabers on one another, trying very hard to intimidate each other. Neither man budged, and Vader made the first strike.
The Doctor had already analyzed Vader's fighting style three years ago on the Death Star. It was a sort of modified Djem So, and the Doctor remembered having some difficulty countering it. The problem was that Vader was physically a very strong man. His strikes hammered down on the Doctor's parries, and it was all the Doctor could do not to lose his already unstable balance to Vader's powerful blows.
The duelists were matched blow for blow, and the Doctor and Vader were soon locked by the sabers.
"You failed to tell him the truth, Doctor," said Vader. "Now, he knows that you lied to him, and he will join me. At last, I will have a family again."
The Doctor pushed Vader back, surprised at his words. He had said that he would have a family again. "Again" was the key word. It was almost as if he remembered having a family before.
Almost as if he remembered Padme Amidala.
The Doctor was momentarily distracted by this revelation, and Vader used the distraction to his advantage and slashed at the Doctor's chest, almost slicing his bow tie neatly in two. The Doctor managed to back away in time, and he held his bow tie protectively.
"You almost killed the bow tie," he said, doing his best to sound shocked and angry, but secretly cursing himself for getting distracted again.
"I would be doing the galaxy a favor," taunted Vader.
"Oi! Bow ties are cool!" shouted the Doctor as he struck at Vader's head, taking Vader head-on once more.
He could sense that Obi-Wan and Jennara were preparing to catch Luke as he fell. Luke himself was hesitating, fearing that the Jedi wouldn't catch him, that they would just let him fall to his death. The Doctor gave Luke a mental nudge of encouragement.
It's okay, Luke, thought the Doctor. They'll catch you. Don't worry.
Luke gave a mental nudge back, but his was underlined with confusion. The Doctor sensed that he was wondering why the Jedi hadn't told him the truth about his father. It made sense. If the Doctor's father were a Sith, the Doctor would want to know. So why had he not told Luke?
He supposed that he hid the truth from Luke to protect him. Luke's compassion would most likely drive him to try and convert Vader back to the light. The Doctor's tenth self had thought Vader to be beyond redemption, but his current incarnation thought otherwise. Maybe Vader could be saved.
He didn't quite know, and he didn't find out, either. Vader aimed a stab right between the Doctor's hearts, and the Doctor parried it with a side slash, bringing his lightsaber to strike Vader's head and split im down the middle. Vader was quick enough to bring his own lightsaber blade to block the blow, and they were once again locked by their sabers.
"You cannot defeat me, Doctor!" shouted Vader. "I killed you once, and I can do it again!"
"Did it ever occur to you that I let you win to teach a lesson?" asked the Doctor.
Vader grew fearful, and he struck even harder at the Doctor. The Gallifreyan's bones shook from the force of the blows, delivered in rapid succession and without mercy. The Doctor responded in kind by sending out a flurry of fast, Ataru-strengthened attacks. He flipped over the Sith Lord, striking at him at all possible angles. Vader parried every single blow and sent a few of his own the Doctor's way.
The Doctor's movements grew faster and faster, and he could sense Vader struggling to keep up as he barely matched the Doctor's movements with parries of his own. The Doctor flipped back over Vader's head and turned part of his attention to Luke.
Luke, jump, he thought to the young man when he realized that Luke was still hanging on the tower. Jump now. Obi-Wan and Jennara will catch you.
Luke looked down for a brief second longer, then released his grip from the tower. Falling only a few meters, Luke was stopped by an invisible force generated by the collective powers of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Jennara Oswin. The Doctor sensed relief emanating from all three of them as he and Vader continued fighting.
Out of the corner of his eye, the Doctor could see Luke being slowly levitated over to Obi-Wan and Jennara. The two were very careful not to drop him, and the Doctor silently commended them for their success in bringing Luke back to them.
Once Obi-Wan and Jennara had Luke on both of their shoulders, the Doctor decided that it was time to end this little duel between him and Vader.
"Well, Vader, it's been fun," said the Doctor almost tauntingly. "But I really must be going now. Places to be, things to do, people to see. You understand, right?"
The Doctor then aimed a kick squarely at Vader's stomach, hitting his solar plexus right underneath his chestplate with the blinking lights on it. Vader doubled over and fell to the ground, and his lightsaber deactivated. The Doctor deactivated his own lightsaber, clipped it to his belt, and pushed Vader away using the Force.
"Come on, then, before he decides it's time to get up," the Doctor said urgently. Jennara and Obi-Wan, still carrying Luke on their backs, followed the Doctor, leaving Darth Vader wheezing for breath on the ground. The Doctor could sense that he was already recovering, however, and started running back the way they had come. They ended up blasting full-speed right through the carbon-freezing chamber and back into the luxurious tourist section of Cloud City.
"Come on," said the Doctor. "We've got to get back to-"
The Doctor was about to finish that sentence when he remembered something. The Tardis had been destroyed when they landed on Bespin to find Luke in the first place. The Doctor despaired, for he knew what that meant.
Now they had no way of getting off the planet.
Another short one, and another cliffhanger! I love cliffhangers! Even though we all know what happens, it's still fun to write stuff like this.
So, yeah, quick fight scene between Vader and the Doctor. Let me know what you thought of that in a review! I do read all of them!
Also, new Battlefront game! That's a thing that's happening! I remember playing the first two games, and they were both awesome! I can't wait to see what Dice brings to the table with this third installment (which isn't actually called Battlefront III; just Battlefront, but whatever).
Next Friday: The Doctor and crew make a daring escape from the planet Bespin!
And that does it for this author's note. Until the next chapter, my friends!