Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine stood in his private quarters holding a cup of tea in his hand, sipping it slowly, while looking out of his window at the early morning cityscape before him.
Playing on the holodisk next to him was a number of recordings taken from the ball the previous night. The majority of the 'security' recordings were of no consequence although he did make notes of who certain senators, ambassadors and elite spent most of their time with and he'd paid particular attention to whom his favourite inVader from another dimension - Buffy Summers- danced with. The ambassador from the dreadful desert outer rim planet Abr mo'th had been chasing her round at one point which was quite amusing to watch, that strange fellow been very insistent she danced with him a number of times.
There was also Count Dooku, Palpatines lip curled as he thought of the man, he'd danced with 'his' apprentice twice. It had come as a nasty shock to see Buffy descend the stairs in that man's company and then hear she'd become his apprentice; for a moment when they'd been circling one another he'd been very tempted to pull his lightsaber out of his sleeve and release 'The Red Death' upon the Count. It was lucky Vader intervened before it got to that. Still, it did leave a nasty taste in his mouth to think of her being Dooku's apprentice in any form and maybe even calling him Master. That title should be for him and him alone.
A vision rose before his eyes of Buffy on her knees in front of him, her eyes all green, wide and eager, calling him Master and saying she'd be willing to do anything he asked... The very idea sent him all of a quiver and Palpatine found he needed a sip of tea to stop his knees from trembling at the thought. Better to think of something else...
He'd been watching the Count himself for some time, for manipulation purposes, as it had been obvious he no longer held firm with the Jedi ideals but had been searching for something 'else'. That something else was obviously something only the Dark Force and attempting to become a Sith Lord could provide. He would be a useful man to have around, he already had a certain darker power about him that was quite interesting and of course, once he'd been fully exploited, he could be disposed of.
There was time yet to bend the man to his will and Buffy was bound to find Dooku boring once she'd learnt all she needed to know from him, and as long as she didn't slay him at that point all was not lost.
He much preferred the Count to that vile little boy who was supposed to be the Chosen One. He'd come into his office and dropped a well sucked piece of candy onto the floor then instead of picking it up, had rubbed it into what had been a nice carpet with his foot. That one was very badly brought up and needed some harsh discipline; several months hard labour in an underground prison would no doubt improve his manners. It certainly hadn't done Darth Maul any harm
And then, if that wasn't bad enough from the little horror, he'd spoken to him a few days ago and asked him what his ambition was when he was grown up (expecting him to say something along the lines of power and position) and the horrible child had replied, 'married to Buffy Summers'.
Palpatine gave a little sigh and took another sip of tea.
It seemed every Sith potential in the galaxy was gravitating towards her, and no wonder with her interesting core of alien darkness waiting to be explored by the strongest Sith in the galaxy, which would be him, of course. Ah, yes that core of dark force passion could be used in all sorts of interesting ways.
Palpatine took a quick sip of his tea at that thought and then a second longer drink as he remembered something else. When she'd shown him her new shoes, the long split in her skirts had come open, revealing a black lacy garter with a wooden stake attached to it – he tried not to think about how his eyes had accidentally flashed yellow at that thrill inducing sight.
Forcing his mind away from the incident he thought back once more to Buffy's dance partners.
Buffy had danced once with that irritating, stick-in-the-mud Kenobi, otherwise known as Mr Squeaky Clean. She'd also danced with her stupid apprentice, who's taste in clothing was truly offensive, which had resulted in an argument when he'd stood on her dress and nearly ripped a section off the skirt.
Palpatine had no idea why she'd chose him as an apprentice. Unless it was for his Vengeance Demon summoning ability which would come in useful for a Sith Lord, although his ability seemed to be erratic according to his 'friends' on the Jedi Council. Of course he would have to go, there could only be two at any one time, it was the most important rule of being a Sith. Well, two and a few hundred thousand minions. You couldn't do all the work yourself after all, that would be no fun.
He had to admit he was rather disappointed in Buffy last night. He'd thought she'd have leaped at the chance of marrying him, it was a quick step up the ladder for any aspiring Sith and being a Sith was all about the power.. and the passion. He took another sip of tea at that thought. Maybe it was the babies comment. It could have put her off. Perhaps he should have mentioned owning a shoe factory or a weapons factory instead? Maybe she needed more wooing?
Or, should he start calling round at her apartment for intimate chats? You never knew where or what position an 'intimate chat' might lead to...
Feeling a cackle coming on he quickly took another sip of tea, and stared off in the direction of the Jedi Temple. A smirk came to his face at how she'd craftily inveigled her way in there – what a truly audacious move for a Sith to make – to march up to the front door of the Jedi and ask for 'help'. Then, to claim she'd been hunting for 'vampires', when actually she'd been exploring the Sith Tomb for hidden holocrons to expand her knowledge of the Dark Side. His Vader was so very naughty!
Still, she might find those pesky Jedi could get in the way of her plans, as he'd found out to his own cost a number of times.
Last night he'd watched her eating two slices of Berry Surprise cake and, filled with dark anticipation, chuckled to himself at the thought of what was to come. It hadn't been too difficult to linger around - innocently - in her vicinity, ready to be on hand to whisk her off when her emotions began to get the better of her. Unfortunately, he'd been momentary distracted by a falling Jar Jar Binks who'd crashed into a service droid and made a terrible mess, and then when he looked back round, found she'd disappeared. Palpatine's face soured.
Security tape, later viewed, showed her out on the balcony in a disgusting clinch with Kenobi! It was truly nauseating! Squeaky Clean had apparently polished off all four remaining slices of cake, yet somehow managed to keep himself under control long enough to avoid all others, to hunt down, find and corner Buffy as she took a breath of fresh air.
The only joy he found in watching that fiasco was seeing how she'd quickly fought against the effects of the drug and pulled herself free. Oh, she was a feisty one was his little Vader and he could just imagine her as his dark apprentice causing all sorts of mayhem for him throughout the galaxy, not to mention in his bed.
He chuckled, and drank more tea to calm his rising 'passions'. His first meeting of the day was with Master Yoda and Mace Windu and no doubt they would complain of her to him, he didn't want to start cackling excitedly in front of them. That would never do...
A/N; I hope you like my version of Chancellor Palpatine, 'Sid the Slimy Sith' :)
