A/N: Eh, 57 is close enough. Thank you to everyone who reviewed! Please don't hesitate to do so again. I really enjoy reading them, and they definitely make me write and the e-word faster.
-poplitealqueen
A scream erupted from of the bowels of Obi-Wan's throat, cut short by a Force barrier trapping the sound behind his teeth.
"Struggle as much as you like, Jedi," Palpatine murmured, the corners of his lips crooking up with an easy sort of cruelty as pressed a bloated palm against Obi-Wan's head, twisting into his hair. "I mean to enjoy this."
Cold, clammy fingers dug into Obi-Wan's scalp.
Obi-Wan gasped, his heart beating so quickly that the pulse point in his throat began to ache. Palpatine's toxic presence slid through his mind unhindered- through his memories - riving and ripping his way through them. He laughed at each and every thing that had ever caused Obi-Wan misery, and forced him live through them all once, twice, and over and over and over again.
He laughed as Obi-Wan wailed over a dead Qui-Gon, his last touch on his face like a burning brand.
As he tried desperately to staunch the blood drenching Cerasi with unpracticed hands.
As Siri gripped his hand, and with her last breath told him she would always be with him.
As he was hauled away from Satine's cooling body, unable to comprehend that he hadn't saved her.
As he stared down Anakin on Mustafar.
As he held Anakin close, and told him he loved him back.
Palpatine's cackle seared through Obi-Wan's mind, relentless and unforgiving the Sith Lord sifted through his most intimate thoughts like a tick burrowing through skin.
He finally pulled back for one thankful moment, and Obi-Wan realized that he was weeping, clutching at his heart with shaking fingers. How long had he been trapped in his own worst memories? Minutes? Hours? It felt like a lifetime.
Devastating Fanart by quadrupedum
His teeth were clenched, shallow breaths pushing themselves out from between them.
The Emperor's voice (for when he'd ventured through Obi-Wan's mind, he'd left the title stamped everywhere. Like a signature. It was the only thing Obi-Wan could think ) was like oil sliding through his ears, frigid and slick.
"You may beg me to stop now, Kenobi." he said.
Obi-Wan's tongue laid thick and heavy in his mouth, but he was able to muster a vehement, "Kriff you."
The Emperor smiled toothlessly at him as he prized open his mind once more, plunging back in with a vengeance.
"What would hurt most, I wonder?" the Emperor sighed.
He forced a slurry of Obi-Wan's memories through the Jedi Master's mind, taking his time. When he finally spoke again, Obi-Wan could hear obvious glee in his voice.
"Your brethren died horrible deaths, Kenobi."
A Force-strengthened image flashed through Obi-Wan mind, thrust in deep and fast by the Sith Lord-
Master Fisto, Master Kolar, Master Tiin, all brought down by a Sith-red lightsaber. Obi-Wan could feel the push against his hand as the plasma blade sliced through flesh. It felt like he was the one killing them...it felt good.
He was vaguely aware of a horrible voice, echoing in his ears. His whole body jerked, muscles tense and quaking, neck corded.
"Ah, but the best!" the Sith Lord jeered.
And now he saw-
he saw Master Windu standing above him, his violet lightsaber poised to strike. Out of nowhere, Anakin appeared, bringing his own down upon him. Mace's eyes widen in shock and pain, and Obi-Wan knew how it felt, how it must hurt as Mace's hand and 'saber go careening in the wind. A cackle escaped him, only it was not his voice. Not his mouth nor mirth. He lifted up his hands, fingers splayed wide, and electricity shot from them and into the wounded Jedi. Mace screamed, convulsed, and was propelled straight out of the shattered viewport down into the belting rain below...
Obi-Wan surfaced, but only for a moment. His throat was thick with sobs and-
and Anakin knelt before him, eyes afraid as he inclined his head and pronounced his allegiance to the Sith, and Obi-Wan can hear himself speaking in the Emperor's scratchy drawl,
"Henceforth you shall be known as Darth...Vader"
Anakin raised his head, and his eyes are golden as the sun, and just as painful to look upon. It tears Obi-Wan's heart apart. He should have been there, he should have protected him, he should...
"No more," Obi-Wan pleaded, his entire body shaking. "No more, no more."
His pleas would have been better suited on deaf ears. They only spurred the Sith Lord on, giddy contempt dripping from his touch as memory after terrible memory was rammed into Obi-Wan unprotected mind-
Yoda, falling before him in the deserted Senate Dome, and the feel of it as the aged Jedi Master's lightsaber is shattered by his own hand
...walking amidst the smoldering ruins of the Jedi Temple, the dead carpeting the ground...
so much death...
"And now you see," the Emperor's relentless onslaught subsided as he ran a knobbly knuckle down Obi-Wan's cheek. The gentle caress made the younger man want to retch, but it was light-years better than having his vile touch in his mind. "The Jedi were weak, and deserving of the kismet the Force granted them."
The Emperor's hand moved down to cup Obi-Wan's chin and force it up. The sickly pale face was but a breath away from Obi-Wan, and half-lidded eyes looked on him with a mocking sympathy.
It was like staring into the very visage of the Dark Side.
"But you survived. I always suspected there to be something...different about you." A thumb rubbed into the hairless space just below his lips.. "You defeated my first apprentice. You had a hand in Dooku's death, albeit a miniscule one. You even killed Grievous, and it was thanks to your negligence that Skywalker fell so easily into my grasp..." he regarded Obi-Wan with an amused look when the younger man bared his teeth at him. "You have such delicious anger within you, Kenobi. Why not give into it? Why not join us?"
Obi-Wan jerked against his grasp.
"I would rather die," he snarled.
The Emperor faked a disappointed sigh, and the grandfatherly facade slid away as easily as water. "Not quite yet, Jedi," his eyes moved up to look over Obi-Wan's shoulder, and his features danced with refined bloodlust. "You may yet prove useful to me. Why," he leaned in close, as if sharing a secret with Obi-Wan. "Now when I take his children from him, my apprentice will have you to love and obsess over."
Obi-Wan eyes widened.
"No..."
"Yes, Jedi. You shall serve me well as a pet to hold over Skywalker's head, until even you will no longer matter to him."
Obi-Wan's fear. His anger and, indeed, his hatred of this man- this thing, boiled over. His mind went blank, and he moved without thinking.
"NO!" he screamed, and began to stand, intending to ram his entire weight into the smaller man. He would kill him, strangle him with his bare hands if he had to.
The Emperor cackled. Obi-Wan wasn't thinking straight, he realized too late, as the Force took hold of him and slammed him back down. His mind was unshielded; his strongest emotions on display for all to see.
And what was more obvious then the pure, unbridled urge to kill?
He heard a scuffle behind him. Was that Anakin? He couldn't tell. He didn't care. All his thoughts were focused on the dark creature before him.
The Emperor grinned as he struggled.
"You would like to kill me, wouldn't you, Kenobi? Good." Obi-Wan felt the pressure holding him down cease, and Palpatine spread his arms wide, still smiling. "Let your hate guide you."
Obi-Wan could already feel a sharp sting as if the skin of his knuckles was cracked, as he heaved himself up to slam his fist into the Emperor's face. The man laughed, his eyes a pale, sulfurous yellow.
"Give into it."
Obi-Wan tightened his fist for the blow, insensible with fury, but something stayed his hand. A quiet urging in the back of his mind told him to stop, and he hesitated. His rage began to fade, and he numbly remembered that acting upon it would gain him nothing.
It still bubbled hotly in his mind. He couldn't release it into the Force, but even without that, he was still a Jedi. The thought gave him strength, but it wasn't apparent in the sob-choked murmur of his voice.
"I won't," he whispered, stumbling back. "You will not make me hurt you."
He tried to think of the reason why again, but his thoughts were congealed and clotted, and concentrating too hard sent a shooting pain through his head. The Emperor hadn't just forced his way into his mind; he'd mangled whatever he'd touched, leaving a path of destruction in his wake.
Because you are a Jedi. You are a Jedi. A Jedi.
His heel hung over the first step down, and he took it.
The Emperor's smile turned into a sneer, rotting teeth bared.
"A weakling's response."
His mind hurt just trying to think of a retort, and Obi-Wan swayed as he stepped back again.
"I will not," he said, voice hitching like a child's.
"Not yet." The Emperor tilted his head, frowning. "Grab him."
The two statuesque Royal Guards suddenly surged forward from either side Sidious' throne, grasping him. Obi-Wan fought back, but he was weak and he knew it. He could barely keep himself from being pulled back onto the dais, and when a punch to the gut sent him sprawling to the ground, he could barely keep himself conscious.
Pain exploded into fireworks behind his eyes as one of the guard's boots came down hard against his sternum, and Obi-Wan felt his heart stutter in his chest from the hit.
"Anakin..." he strained, panic raising bile in his throat."Anakin..!"
"Stop."
A tall, dark form caught the arm of one guard and hauled him away from Obi-Wan, throwing him bodily away with a sharp growl. Anakin stood over Obi-Wan.
The other, the one that had brought his foot down on Obi-Wan, he caught in a Force choke, crushing the sides of his throat until they slumped forward with a gurgle. He flicked the corpse aside like garbage, already leaning down to pull him back up.
One strong arm circled his waist, pulling him tight against Anakin. Obi-Wan made a soft noise of dissent, but his adrenaline was already fading, leaving him feeling hollow and oh, so tired.
He sagged against Anakin as the taller man half-walked, half-carried him back onto the dais. He kept a wide berth from the other Sith Lord.
The Emperor had watched the entire exchange with disinterest. His refulgent eyes didn't even glance at his Royal Guards.
"Bring him to me." he said.
Obi-Wan pressed further into Anakin, mad with fear.
"No, Anakin, no. Please, don't let him near me again. Please...please..."
The Emperor crooked one gnarled finger at them both.
"Bring him, my apprentice."
A familiar curtain threatened to drop and smother him as Anakin yanked their bond back together. The Force ebbed back into him slowly, painfully.
"No. You lied." Anakin growled, even as he began to attempt to soothe Obi-Wan through their bond.
"You risk running afoul of my good graces, Lord Vader. Do not forget who the Master is." The Emperor hissed back, yet there was a jovial look on his scarred face. He was enjoying this; gaining strength from it. "I have not killed him, have I?"
"I should kill you."
"Anakin," the Emperor crooned, softly. "Before you do, I would like to know. Were you aware the man you are protecting knew your wife was going to leave you?"
Their bond narrowed into an apoplectic point. "What?" Anakin snarled.
The Emperor's eyes blazed like burning brass. "I told you he would tear your family apart. Would you like to see?"
Obi-Wan felt Anakin let out a shaky breath, and his chin bobbed against Obi-Wan's neck as he nodded.
Anakin stiffened. Obi-Wan felt the change, as the hands that had only a moment before been attempting to comfort him grabbed hard at his shoulders. Anakin leaned his face into his hair, whispering harshly into Obi-Wan's ear.
"You knew." he said, hurt and fury in the two simple words, and then he was steering Obi-Wan toward the eager Emperor.
"Good, my apprentice," sticking a thin-wristed hand into the folds of his cloak, the Emperor produced what could only be his lightsaber. He ignited it, the blood-red blade bathing his ghastly face in deep crimson shadows. "Good."
The Emperor smirked at Obi-Wan, spittle shining in the corners of his mouth. He brought the edge of his lightsaber to the younger man's neck, just close enough for the superheated plasma to begin to burn the soft skin.
Anakin kept him firmly still against his chest, and Obi-Wan could feel the rapid patter of his heart. He knew his heart couldn't much slower.
"I don't want him dead." Anakin said, his voice firm and cold.
Palpatine kept his blade where it was a moment longer, before clicking it off. The fiery beam blinked off, searing a line across Obi-Wan's throat that immediately began to welt.
"I shall be kind, Lord Vader." The Emperor sneered. "I shall let you decide his fate."
Anakin inclined his head, rage churning in their bond. "Thank you, my Master."
"And you," sighing, the Emperor glided up to Obi-Wan. The Jedi Master turned his face aside, as far away as he could possibly move, but the Emperor moved his face back not ungently with a strong press of the Force.
The razor edges of fear in him dulled to blunt corners of despair, and Obi-Wan looked silently at him, eyes glassed over with fear as he struggled limply against Anakin's hold.
The Emperor's nails brushed lightly down Obi-Wan's face, over his lips."You suffer prettily, Jedi."