(A/N)- *pssssst!*
...
...
...Crowbar chapter.
Warnings for an intense beatdown, and flashbacks to torture (including drugging).
Disclaimer: Ha ha nope. Not me.
Breaking Point
Ezra emerged slowly from a fading nightmare. His face pinched. He fumbled out with his arm, searching for Sabine to pull her closer and let the faint smell of her paint fill his senses and settle his agitated mind again.
His hand met empty air.
Frowning, Ezra stretched further, but he couldn't feel her on the bed. Where was—?
He turned his head and opened his eyes, staring uncomprehendingly at his arm lying across an icy rock floor.
After a long moment... his brain caught up.
Oh, he thought in disappointment, the realization coming over him.
He lay there a while longer, a dull feeling weighing him down. Some niggling voice at the back of his head urged him to get up, but he couldn't push past the heaviness that kept him on the floor where he was.
His mind strained to remember Sabine's scent. If he could recall it for even a moment... It was so irrational but he just wanted something to cling to, some part of home to comfort him.
Nothing, not even phantoms, came to him.
Finally, he forced himself to sit up.
His arms rested on his legs dully.
He was so... tired of this. Tired of waking up from sleeping nightmares to waking ones. Tired of throwing himself at Maul like a wave breaking on rocks, having the older, more experienced fighter indulge his efforts until he got bored of them, tripped Ezra up with a dirty trick or fancy advanced saber move to knock him down again and again. He was tired of this cell, of only being let out to eat, relieve himself, or try dueling for his freedom.
He wasn't even sure anymore how many days had passed since he'd been abducted. They were blurring together. Repetitive. Routine.
He hated all of this so much. He just wanted to lash out with the Force, wrap its fingers around Maul's neck and choke the life out of him.
He knew he had to resist those impulses. Giving in to the Dark Side wouldn't help him. It would just make everything worse.
But it was getting harder and harder every passing day.
Ezra sat numbly, his arms draped over his knees, looking between his feet. He didn't even react when Maul shut off the dampening barrier. Footsteps crunched across the gravel floor and still he didn't move.
A metal toe nudged him.
"Get up, Ezra," Maul urged.
Ezra's arms tightened around himself for a half a second, his mind briefly indulging in the idea of just ignoring Maul, but the next moment he heaved himself up, wearily, pushing past the gravity pulling him down and rising to his feet.
Maul moved out of his way and Ezra trudged out of the alcove.
He hadn't taken more than two steps when he staggered suddenly, something hitting his senses, nearly blowing him over. A sharp roiling nausea swelled in his stomach. His head felt dizzy, the ringing of the kyber crystals sounding in his ears but... distorted. Out of tune.
"What... what did you... do?" he gasped, shaking his head. His eyes darted around, looking for the source of the awful feeling. The cavern was chillier than normal, dank with a sense of dread and foreboding.
"Do?" Maul asked innocently.
Ezra's hands came up to press against the sides of his head. Cold fingers seemed to be squeezing his heart, tightening in his lungs. "The air feels... wrong," he strained, a headache beginning to build in his skull.
He looked around again, feeling vaguely like the cavern was darker than it was supposed to be somehow, and with that notion realized what was different.
He stared at the walls. A dozen of the tiny shards of kyber had darkened and were now glowing a somber, dull red.
Ezra's eyes fixated on them in horror.
He'd bled them.
The fragments of a memory came to his mind, him asking curiously about Ahsoka's white sabers, her giving a truncated explanation about how Dark Side users forced their will upon the kyber, staining it a distinctive red. He could hear the crystals in his mind, broken, screaming about what had been done to them. He could almost feel it as physical pain.
He gulped, glancing up at Maul, who seemed nonchalantly uninterested in Ezra's horrific discovery.
"Wash up, and eat quickly," he instructed, already striding over to the other side of the room, picking up a skewer and inspecting it before stoking the firepit with the end.
Ezra swallowed down the nausea that was moving through him. Shaking, he did as he was told, trying to ignore the creeping feeling of dread from the ruined crystals.
-SWR-
He did poorly for the first portion of their daily duel, the reason for the bled crystals becoming apparent in the horrible distraction it caused him. He couldn't pay attention to his movements while he heard them shrieking in the Force, and Maul used that opportunity to knock him over again and again.
He didn't call a stop to their fight, however, so Ezra used that to his advantage.
Pushing off with his foot, he launched himself in the air, the Force assisting his jump. His saber clashed with Maul's as he deftly flipped overhead, landing behind the man and using the opening to run up the exit tunnel and lead the fight elsewhere, away from the bled crystals and the dissonance they caused in his mind.
Maul seemed to realize his plan, moving to try and block him.
Ezra used his smaller size and agility to outmaneuver him, striking defensively, barely let Maul's saber glance off his before moving away, running along the walls sometimes, twisting, sliding, anything he could to keep moving past him, keep driving the fight up towards the chamber with the frozen lake.
The noise from the kyber crystals dimmed and dimmed and Ezra's head became clearer, his strikes more precise, less clumsy.
Now it was truly a match.
Maul slashed a long stroke towards his chest. Ezra blocked, ducking under the follow-up strike. He conserved his momentum, tucking and rolling to the side, coming up and thrusting his saber towards Maul's side.
Sparks flew off their blades as they clashed.
Maul struck out at him with a diagonal slice. Ezra stepped back quickly, letting it pass, kicking into the back of Maul's metal knee.
The limb slid out a bit from its solid stance, forcing Maul to readjust, backtrack to find steady footing.
Ezra rejoiced briefly for the three extra feet of ground he'd gained, but Maul didn't let him enjoy it long, coming at him hard now, trying to drive him back.
He grit his teeth as he blocked, held a saber lock, slowly pushed Maul's blade back. He was not going back down to that red kyber hell.
He disengaged, darting to the side. Maul whirled to follow but Ezra had already outmaneuvered him and was running into the open, emerging into the frozen lake chamber. Ezra planted his feet as Maul came at him, driving both red blades against his defense.
The boy held his saber steady, briefly letting go with one hand, calling the Force to him. Several icicles from the ceiling broke off, pulling down to smash against Maul's back.
The man gave a satisfying grunt of pain. He recovered, brushing bits of ice off his shoulders, gripping the hilt of his lightsaber tighter and pressing his attack.
Once, twice, three times the red blades flashed out, Ezra giving ground as he deflected them. Maul feinted a strike towards his right shoulder; when Ezra moved to block him Maul jabbed the middle of his hilt into Ezra's chin.
Ezra felt it crack thought his jaw, his throat giving a sharp muffled groan that he bit his lip on to keep in. He stumbled but managed to recover, giving way before Maul's renewed onslaught.
There was an ache beginning to build in his arms. Ezra forced himself to ignore it, focusing all his concentration into gathering Force energy in his hand. Maul was trying to drive him against the wall again, and a little bit of anger slipped through into Ezra's focus.
He waited until he saw an opportunity and then released, thrusting his hand palm-out towards Maul.
The strength of the Force Push took even him by surprise, sending Maul flying back into the wall near the exit tunnel, his head slamming into the rock.
The man slumped in place and lay still.
Ezra's eyes widened a fraction as he dropped his hand. He held his breath as he slowly stepped forward, green blade extended carefully.
There was no movement from the Zabrak.
Some odd tingling started in Ezra's heart and he glanced rapidly towards the exit tunnel. His pulse picked up, his heart audibly thumping in his chest.
He waited for a few seconds more, his feet stepping to the side, inching towards the tunnel.
Maul began to stir.
Ezra's whole body jolted with a cold prickle and he rushed for the opening.
A growl from behind warned him a moment before he felt Maul's arms come around his midsection, tackling him before he was more than a few steps down the tunnel.
Ezra's face smacked the floor and he jerked up furiously, twisting and struggling as Maul grabbed his right wrist and pinned it and his saber down, pulled his other arm up painfully behind his back.
"Get off me!" Ezra shouted, anger and desperation running hot in his veins.
Metal legs pinched his sides and Maul tightened his hold.
"You're improving," he complimented, sounding genuinely impressed. "Perhaps you're listening to me after all."
Ezra gnashed his teeth together, holding in a nasty screaming retort. His arms were released, the pressure on his back lessened up and Ezra scrambled to his feet, gasping as Maul hooked a hand tightly around his arm and pulled him back into the chamber.
"What are you doing?!" Ezra cried, stumbling as he was dragged along, blundering a couple awkward steps as Maul released him before straightening up, ramrod stiff. "I won!" he protested indignantly.
Yellow eyes narrowed at him, unamaused. "You did no such thing," Maul said.
"I knocked you out!" he yelled back, his still-ignited saber shaking in his hands as he trembled with anger.
"If I am able to immediately get back up, that does not count as incapacitating me," Maul told him, tone patronizing and flat.
Ezra's free hand slashed with agitated gestures. "That was never part of the victory conditions!" he argued hotly.
Maul shrugged. "It is now."
"You said—"
"We are done talking about this, Ezra," Maul interrupted, a dangerous glint flashing briefly in his eyes, his brows narrowing. "Begin again. We are not through with our fight," he ordered.
Ezra's face twisted, rage and despair competing for attention on his features. "That's not fair! You can't just change the rules like that!" he cried, his voice pitching a bit shrill.
Maul passed his saber from one hand to the other with nonchalant indifference. "I am changing nothing, merely clarifying what needs to happen for it to be considered your victory," he said calmly. "I will overlook your attempt down the exit tunnel as a misunderstanding, and will not punish you for it." He ignited his saber again, eyes pinning on Ezra. "Now, are you going to accept my generous offer to continue," he emphasized with dripping condescension, "or shall I have to cut this session short?"
Ezra shook, a war raging behind his eyes. His stomach was sinking, his veins were flaring hot, and his fingers gripped around his saber hilt so hard it hurt.
It's not fair. It's not fair, I was so close! rang the thought in his head.
It was followed a second later by a sinking self-revelation.
Maul was never going to honor his end of their bargain.
His shoulders slumped.
"...You don't have any intention of letting me go if I win. You never did," he concluded, the realization making his voice quiet and lifeless. "You're only doing this to wear me down, break my resolve until I give up," he continued. His hand loosened around his saber hilt. "Until I've given myself over to the Dark Side."
Maul said nothing for a long pregnant moment.
Ezra waited for him to speak, a small irrational part of him begging the man to deny it.
Maul shifted ever so slightly.
"...Clever lad," he said.
All the rage left him in a moment. The tension sagged out of Ezra's body and he wilted, hopelessness swelling in his chest and threatening to drown him.
"Maul..." he strained, his voice small, "...please..." His breaths came in soft shudders. "Just let me go," he begged, his expression agonized.
Maul's eyes were as hard and cold on him as ever. "You know what you need to do, Ezra."
Ezra could hear the whisper in his ear, the poisonous thought tempting him.
Use the Dark Side. Just once, and it will free you.
He shook his head, dispelling it. "I can't," he said, a helpless whine in his voice.
"You will never be strong enough to save yourself without the Dark Side. Embrace it. Use it," Maul provoked him, curling a hand into a fist. "You know you must."
Ezra continued shaking his head. "I won't. I won't do that," he denied.
Maul's fist loosened into an open-palmed gesture. "Then here you will remain," Maul pronounced lightly. "And we will do this again. And again." His hand dropped to his saber as he took up a ready position, eyes narrowing and tone dropping harshly. "As many times as necessary," he finished.
Ezra panted softly, the adrenaline from the fight leaving him. Heat burned behind his eyes but tears wouldn't come. All that he felt was a dull gray depression. Dejection solidified in his chest.
He should have known. Why did he ever think Maul would honor his own deal? The Dark Side was lies and manipulation and trickery and he should have known. Maul had broken his word so many times before. Why had he expected anything different?
I'm such an idiot.
Ezra allowed himself one more moment of self-pity. Then he inhaled slowly, steeling himself.
His eyes and expression narrowed stubbornly.
"No."
He switched off his lightsaber, held it out and dropped it. Then he sat down, deliberately and heavily on the floor, crossing his arms around his legs.
There was an immediate subtle flicker of rage across Maul's face. "Ezra, pick up your lightsaber," he ordered, voice terse.
"What's the point?" Ezra asked wearily, extending a hand. "You won't let me go." He tucked his arm back in. "I'm not playing your sick game anymore," he said in disgust.
Maul took a threatening step forward, fist strangling his saber hilt.
"Get. Up," he growled through his teeth.
Ezra glared at him. "Go jump in the frozen lake," he bit. He didn't care if Maul put him in the void again. He wasn't going to be cowed this time.
Maul was vibrating with contained anger.
"If you won't fight for your freedom..." he seethed dangerously, "...then fight for your life!"
The last word swelled in volume as Maul lunged. Eyes widening, Ezra flung himself to the side, out of the way, in time for the red blade to stab into the ground where he'd just been.
Not pausing, Maul whirled his lightsaber and swiped at Ezra again. Ezra flattened himself, covering his head, feeling the blade's heat sweep over his back.
He stuck out a hand and his lightsaber leapt back into his palm, but he didn't have time to ignite it; Maul was slashing at him with a diagonal stoke from the second blade. Ezra rolled left, tucking in, finding his feet and straightening. His blade sprang into existence just in time to block a fourth followup.
Heart in his throat, his lungs tight, Ezra forced himself to remember to breathe as two more heavy strikes clashed against his blade, a power and rage behind each blow that made him nervous.
The red and green locked and Ezra struggled to keep his stance steady, feeling his feet sliding towards the rim of the lake as Maul pressed him forward.
His mouth was dry and his arms trembled but he managed to hold Maul back. "What are you doing?" he asked, horrified. The ferocity and speed of the last several attacks had been on a level much greater than Maul had unleashed on him before. Had he been holding back all this time?
If I couldn't beat him before... he thought nervously.
Maul's expression was even and composed, the anger behind his strikes not reaching his face, only making flickers in the Force. "I have no more patience for your childish rebellion, apprentice," he said.
With a quick motion he broke the blade lock, thrusting, and Ezra gasped sharply and jerked back as he felt the red blade burn on his arm, grazing him.
He stumbled backwards out of range, one hand clutching the sizzling gash, wincing at the torn edges of his sleeve and the melted skin underneath.
He gaped up at Maul, fear sounding a low chord through his stomach.
The man inspected his blade casually. "If you refuse to accept my help, perhaps it is time I just got rid of you," he pronounced.
What?!
A cold splinter pierced his gut. Ezra stared in shock.
He doesn't mean that. He doesn't—
Maul's eyes focused back on him and a growl sounded as he spun his blade and struck.
Ezra deflected, his mind racing. Maul was raising his fist for a blow.
"Waitwaitwait—!" he cried, holding out a hand. Maul dove under his defenses, socking him hard in the stomach. Ezra doubled over breathless a moment, holding his midsection and grimacing. "Wait!" he gasped, the word straining through his throat.
Maul just pressed his attack.
Ezra gave ground, using the one opening he got to fling himself away from the edge of the lake. He glanced back towards the exit tunnel a split second before whipping forward again, blocking blow after blow that crashed against his saber. Maul drove him back towards the wall and it was all Ezra could do to keep up.
He was too focused on blocking to see the Force Push coming; he just glimpsed Maul draw his hand back and then felt it bowl into him like a swinging weight, knocking him down, flat onto his back.
Maul pounced and Ezra rolled out of the way of a hammering saber strike, feeling it hit the ground at his back. He got his arms underneath him to push up, but the next second felt searing pain across his shoulders.
Ezra gasped, slipping back down onto his elbows, the shock reverberating through him. The saber cut wasn't deep—just a shallow straight-line gash in his back—but it stung, sharp and intense, incapacitating. Ezra's hands scrabbled for purchase on the ground, panic rattling in his head.
Get up get up get up! he yelled at himself. C'mon, move!
Before he could raise himself off the cavern floor, he felt a familiar grip take hold of his short-cropped hair, iron fingers tangling in the roots, pulling him up.
Ezra grimaced harshly, holding in a whimper, quick, frightened breaths passing through his nose as Maul hauled him to his knees and brought his burning blade level to Ezra's neck.
"I don't know why I thought you could be trained," he was saying, withering disappointment in his tone. "Look at you," he scoffed. "You can't even defend yourself."
Ezra's brows narrowed in anger and he bit his lip, quickly and carefully bringing the tip of his ignited lightsaber into the narrow gap between the red heat and his skin, thrusting up, pushing Maul's blade away from him. He pulled forward with a jerk and wrenched his hair out of Maul's grip, staggering to his feet.
He turned to face Maul, hands shaking a moment before they steadied on his hilt. He didn't wait for Maul to attack, rushing forward. His first cut was deflected, the second rebuffed by a hand pushing his wrist off-course, and then Maul was on him again and Ezra stepped back and back, giving ground. His arms flashed through block position after block position.
There was a pause in the onslaught and Ezra took it, striking out with his leg. He kicked Maul in the stomach, managing to knock him back a pace or two. Maul recovered, spinning his saber, gripping the hilt and leaping at him.
Sparks shot off Ezra's blade as he deflected. As Maul was stepping back to resume position, Ezra turned tail, bolting for the exit tunnel.
It was a flagrant breach of the rules but he didn't care, he couldn't hear the warning bells in his head over the pounding pulse in his ears and the shrill urge to run ringing through him.
But the warning bells screeched louder when an invisible cold claw latched around his torso. His breath stopped for a terrifying moment.
The Force grip yanked him back harshly, spilling him onto the ground.
"Where do you think you're going?!" Maul screamed in outrage, bringing a violent overhead strike down on him.
A dozen curses shrieked through his head, his throat locking with panic as he met the blow and sagged under it, his arms straining on his saber to hold back the crimson blade and the weight Maul was shoving down on him.
Now he was really in trouble.
Maul pressed him almost flat on his back and Ezra pushed back desperately, trying to keep his head off the floor. He kicked out again, hitting Maul's leg, a pitiful little thump that barely made the man flinch.
Ezra squeezed his eyes closed, concentrating, calling the Force to him.
He shoved up with his saber, and finally managed to break the blade lock and push Maul off him, left hand coming off the hilt.
Maul leaned back, his leg flashing out, metal foot slamming into Ezra's side as he was sitting up.
"Ngh!" Ezra cried, clenching his teeth, curling in on himself, his free hand leaping up to clutch his ribs. Pounding pain reverberated through his chest as he turned over, rolling onto his knees.
He heard a saber blade deactivate behind him, a faint swish as something moved through the air.
Crack!
Metal connected with his skin and pain exploded behind his head as Maul clubbed him with his lightsaber hilt.
Ezra hit the floor face first, arms collapsing under him, the pain pulsing through his skull, struggling to focus through bleary eyes and a dizzy head. He cried out again as Maul's foot came down pinchingly on his right wrist.
His fingers spasmed, losing hold of his lightsaber.
With a casual flick with his other toe Maul kicked it away, sending it rolling and bouncing along the floor, deactivating.
Cold terror choked Ezra's breath, splinters of it stabbing with the pain through his head.
He felt Maul step off his wrist, sensed him leaning down, passing his saber from left hand to right. Ezra's fingers curled into the ground but before he could move he felt a harsh grip seize him by the ear.
Maul hauled him up—
—only to slam him back down again, smashing his head against the floor.
Ezra felt his forehead split, another stab of pain shooting through him. Dazed, he could barely protest, barely even move, as Maul released his ear, reaching down to grip his collar instead. Ezra's hands grasped weakly at his tattooed arm as he was dragged up, body limp, feet dangling.
Maul reeled back and then flung him away, into the wall, the Force enhancing his throw.
Ezra's back hit the rock; he grunted breathlessly, his hands and arms scratching into the surface to keep himself from collapsing.
His head finally cleared enough for him to steady his feet and he pushed up, pinning himself against the wall.
"Okay okay!" he cried, putting his hands up, eyes wide with abject fear. "I'll try again! I'll do whatever you want! I'm sorry!" he said desperately.
Maul was a menacing tower in front of him, tall and imposing even from across the way. The single still-ignited blade was held at his side, pointed down at the floor, but threatening in the way Maul gripped it.
His eyes were cold embers as he glared down at Ezra.
"Do you think that will save you?" he asked, chillingly.
Horror clamped around his lungs. His raised hands faltered. Dread shrieked through his skull.
"I'm sorry..." he just repeated, whispering fearfully.
There was a horrible notion building in his head. He'd pushed Maul too far this time, he shouldn't have mouthed off, he shouldn't have tried to run because now Maul was truly angry and had stopped holding back and...
Ezra swallowed, his throat so tight the motion hurt.
He's going to kill me, he thought with certainty.
Maul rushed forward, swinging his saber wildly, and all of Ezra's instincts went into survival mode and he was ducking and flinching and covering his head, jerking out of the way as Maul slashed at him again and again, gouging the rock repeatedly, sparks falling from the blade onto Ezra's neck and back as it hit the wall.
Maul tired of his evasion and dodging after a moment, stepping back, positioning his saber in his right hand for a thrust.
Ezra tried to bolt past him. He didn't get three steps before the familiar invisible grip clenched around him, thrusting him back against the wall.
His hands flashed up—he couldn't let Maul pin him to the rock again—and he summoned his own wellspring of energy, exploding it outwards to break Maul's hold.
Maul actually staggered, stumbling back just far enough that Ezra could get by. He pushed off the wall and ran, passing on Maul's right, heading for where his lightsaber had dropped.
Maul was already turning. His hand lunged, his upper body following, and he seized Ezra's right wrist, yanking back.
Ezra gasped in pain as his arm was wrenched backwards, overbalancing, stumbling, twisting around in the hold as the muscles in his shoulder screamed in protest.
Once Maul had pulled him back into range he let go, his left hand darting around behind Ezra's head and grabbing a good chunkful of his hair, angling his head back. Ezra winced, then choked on his fear as Maul brought the burning lightsaber blade down towards his neck.
Both hands scrabbed around Maul's, holding tightly, pushing back against the man's formidable strength, straining to keep the hot blade from sizzling his throat. Closer and closer it drew, the heat off it growing sharper, its humming a loud drone that reverberated in his ears, echoing in his mind as the sound of a floating black droid—
Ezra's panic reaction was immediate; he twisted his head, dipping forward and biting into Maul's hand.
The ex-Sith screamed in rage and no small amount of pain, the saber deactivating as he tried to throw Ezra off, wrench himself away.
He let go of Ezra's hair, his hand leaping up, slapping him across the face.
Ezra grimaced, bracing against the hit, squeezing his eyes closed as the blow rattled through his jaw, but hung on, biting harder.
Maul struck him again, a heavy-handed strike that smashed into his temple. Ezra's head was knocked to the side, breaking his contact, and his hands loosened and dropped as he stumbled and tried to recover.
Maul dropped his saber, flinging it aside, growling in pure venomous anger. He reached up, both hands finding Ezra's neck and closing around him, forcing his head up, squeezing.
Ezra choked, straining breathlessly. He batted at Maul's arms as the man wrestled him down, sitting heavily on his stomach and pinning him to the floor, his chokehold tightening.
Ezra twisted frantically, his fingers raking Maul's wrists, feet scuffing weakly. Fear-filled eyes looked up into Maul's severe-set frown and furiously crunched brows. The man looked eerily calm as he strangled Ezra, a simmering rage behind his eyes as he glared evenly down at him.
The vice around his throat was crushing, bruising, and Ezra struggled for just a sliver of breath. His head was starting to feel light.
The boy's hand fumbled along the ground, searching for a weapon. His land lit upon a loose rock; his fingers tightened around it and he whipped it up and smashed it against the side of Maul's head.
Maul gave a loud grunt, reeling back, hands loosing, coming off.
Ezra inhaled sharply, flailing up, wriggling out of the hold and turning onto his stomach. His hands clutched at the ground as he dragged himself out from under the man, hurriedly crawling away, towards the smooth surface of the lake.
Maul was on him again in moments, a furious growl sounding behind him and then hands in his hair and on his neck, pinching tightly, drawing him back.
Crick!
Maul slammed him face first into the ice. Ezra yelped, clutching at the hand tangled in his hair, his cheek stinging.
Crick!
The ex-Sith banged his head against the cold surface again.
An ominous crack sounded and Ezra blinked frantically to clear his vision and noticed with pulsing worry the hairline fractures and spots of red from his split forehead on the ice as he was pulled back up.
He braced himself as his head descended towards the frozen mirror.
CRACK!
This time his head broke the surface.
The ice cold water slapped his face like a thousand tiny buzzard stings. Ezra jerked his head up, gasping, only to feel Maul position his hands behind Ezra's neck and shoulders and push him back down, plunging his face and head into the freezing water and holding him there.
Panic spiked shrilly through him.
No no no no not again! he thought, mind flashing back to his near-drowning a couple days ago, the horrible way the water burned down his lungs, the numbness in his fingers as his nails scratched uselessly at solid ice. Please not again, no, stop, stop!
Maul sat on his back and pressed on him, giving him no leverage, one hand moving to the back of his head, the other staying locked on his neck. Ezra could hear the dull splashing of his arms as they whipped in and out of the water, grabbing hysterically at Maul's hands, scratching, pulling.
His lips pressed tight, resisting the urge to open his mouth even as his lungs slowly tightened and tightened, running out of air. The water dimmed his vision and hearing, and the cold sank into his skin, stealing feeling from his face. He thrashed, kicked, shifted underneath the man's weight but he couldn't free himself.
The urge to breathe was overwhelming and blaringly frantic now. He tried to focus his senses, but could only feel his blind panic, and Maul's cold presence above him, the frayed Force bond they shared fluttering behind his head.
In desperation he reached through it, calling out, opening his mind a fraction to him.
Stop stop stop stop, please! he begged. Please, I don't want to die!
For a terrifying few seconds nothing changed. Water slipped into his mouth and he squeezed his eyes closed, terrified.
Then the pressure on him vanished.
Ezra gasped heavily as Maul dragged him up out of the water, burning lungs screaming their relief as air finally penetrated them. Maul dangled him threateningly over the lake edge, left hand holding him tightly by the hair, right thumb pinching against the bones of his upper spine as if challenging Ezra to give him a reason to dunk him again.
Water dripped down his face, soaking into his collar, mingling with the blood from his cut. Ezra was close to hyperventilating. Abject fear still pulsed in his mind. He was utterly paralyzed with it.
"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm sorry, Master, please."
The word slipped out, unconsciously, a desperate, pitiful attempt at appeasement. Alarms rang in his head, silently pleading for everything to just stop.
The fingers tightened in his hair.
"Pathetic," Maul spit.
Ezra cried out weakly as he was hauled up, then flung off to the side. He curled up, arms crossing over his chest, breath shaking.
His throat squeezed at the sound of Maul's approaching footsteps.
"Don't tell me this is how you faced the Imperials," he intoned scornfully, each metal footstep sending pounding doom into Ezra's heart.
He flinched as he felt Maul's shadow fall across him.
"Crying."
Maul kicked him hard in the stomach, making him yelp pitifully, rolling him across the cold ground.
"Begging for mercy."
Invisible fingers locked around Ezra's neck and collar, dragging him up off the ground, hanging him in midair. Ezra didn't even have the strength to kick.
A forceful push and he flew across the chamber, crashing into the wall, collapsing down onto his hands and knees and staying there.
Quiet, dry sobbing shuddered through him. His mind was darkening with hopeless thoughts.
This wasn't going to stop. Maul was going to drag this out as long as he could, before killing him.
His back stung. He could feel blood clotting on his forehead. His shoulder ached dully. Everything hurt.
He choked on a large lump of terror in his throat, trembling as Maul's metal feet encroached on the edge of his vision.
His whole body shook helplessly as he felt Maul lean down. Cold claws gripped around his chin, tilting his head up, so Ezra was made to look face to face with his captor, his eyes wide and filled with terror.
Maul sneered at him, not a hint of sympathy in his own narrowed, blazing eyes.
"You did, didn't you?" he accused.
The fingers tightened, curling up towards his ears.
"You were weak!" he spat.
He slammed Ezra's head back against the wall.
BAM!
Ezra winced and clamped up on a whimper, shots of fear moving through him, shaking his head weakly.
"No..." he croaked.
He reached up to grasp at Maul's arm. Maul seized his wrist harshly and pinned it to the wall next to his head, trapping him.
"You let it happen!" he shouted.
Hot tears threatened on the edges of Ezra's eyes, a flicker of anger passing through the fear and panic. "No!" he yelled in denial, hands fisting, twisting.
"Prove me wrong!" Maul bellowed in his face. His voice was at a fever pitch now. "Show me, Ezra!" He released Ezra's wrist, holding his hand above Ezra's face. "Show me everything."
A hideous pressure began to build in his head, pulsing between his eyes. Ezra felt an ice-cold knife digging in.
He gasped.
"Stop... please..." he pleaded, breathless, wrestling against the presence, desperately holding it back.
Maul dug his mind probe harder against Ezra's shields, scraping his way into the boy's mind.
"Let... me... in!" he growled.
Ezra felt dark shadows worming their way under his walls, trying to slither through the cracks. He fought back, straining desperately, but the pressure and weight on him grew heavier and heavier and Maul had found the opening in their bond and was forcing his way in.
He held out for one more heartbeat, trembling.
Then, something gave.
Ezra's eyes shot wide open and he gasped sharply. Maul was inside his head. He was inside his—
His jaw was still stinging, the feel of the needle pinprick still fresh, as Pryce turned casually away from him. He felt a vague, dull warmth spreading underneath his gums, slowly, slowly encompassing his head and it felt faintly... nice, actually.
He blinked hard, trying to concentrate.
Pryce called up to the window to Thrawn and his monotone voice piped in on the intercom. He needed to brace himself. Whatever was coming, it wasn't—
The shock hit him, painful static stabbing into every inch of his skin, searing and tearing his nerves.
Ezra screamed, coming to himself briefly before Maul plunged him back into the memory.
The electrodes rattled near his ears, buzzing and popping sharply as they sent tendrils of rippling pain across his body.
He shrieked helplessly until he could no longer feel it, until his body was left numb and disconnected.
"Where is the Rebel base?" Pryce asked.
He hung forward in the restraints, blurry eyes seeing nothing but the floor. He shook his head, but the fog rolling around in his mind wouldn't clear.
"Bridger."
He moaned.
"Bridger, look at me."
He refused.
The pain came again.
And again.
And again.
The memories played faster as Maul forced him to relieve them.
A syringe with a thick tube of orange liquid. Whimpering and flinching back, pressing himself against the cold metal table as Pryce brought it over.
No, not more of that, he thought.
Thin sharp metal poking into his arm, emptying a burning fluid into his veins.
The sound of his pitiful squealing turning into a long high-pitched screech as the shocks came again.
Screaming. Gibbering. Panting. Muttering. Pryce leaning forward, trying to hear him, and his head cracking on her nose, earning him a slug to the stomach and another round of torture.
Tube after tube emptying into his arms, stacking on the tray. Sedatives and truth serums and Force knew what else, pumping in endless waves through his body, followed by piercing electricity that scorched him inside and out until all he could perceive was this horrible, endless moment.
He was swelling. Gasping thinly. His throat was closing up.
Bleeding. It dripped down his face in small drops.
Bruising. Pryce's catty backhand snapped through his cheek.
He wanted it to end. He could feel words trying to pull from him, his voice mumbling and muted in his own ears. Don't give in, he told himself. Don't... don't give...
The next shock pummeled through him, making him forget everything except trying to make this all stop.
See? a voice sneered into the midst of his living hell. You are weak. Useless. A pathetic child.
The words repeated, louder and louder, mixing with Pryce's shouts and the horrible ratcheting of the electrodes.
They were charging again.
Sparks tickled the corners of his vision.
He was weak.
Useless. Worthless. Stupid. Nothing. Weak. Weak. WEAK!
"NO!" Ezra screamed, forcing Maul's presence out of his head with a rush of cold anger that flooded his body, pushing outwards, striking back.
Maul was blown back and Ezra was already surging to his feet, his lightsaber sailing to him, igniting in a flash.
He flung himself at the Zabrak with a furious shriek. The green blade became a violent whirlwind as Ezra attacked. His saber crashed against Maul's again and again.
The cold pounded in his head, a deep wellspring of rage and hate that coursed through him like lightning. Ezra's face was twisted with an expression of absolute venom.
How dare he. How dare he! He had no right!
Fear tingled in his head, lingering panic from the images flashing behind his eyes, the metal restraints and gleaming needles, Pryce's face blurring in and out, scalpels slicing at his face, the IT-O droid hovering and extending its pinchers, and he channeled it into the whirlwind inside him, letting it join the storm.
He pressed Maul back, rapidly gaining ground, a vicious light in his eyes as he forced his way forward. Maul seemed unconcerned, but that wouldn't last long, Ezra thought, throwing more strength into his swings, more power. He'd make the man pay. The Force was a dissonant, feverish pitch around him.
It was heady. It was thrilling. It was—
...Exactly what Maul wanted.
Ezra blinked out of it with a gasp, his eyes widening.
Several frozen seconds passed.
His eyes rolled up and fluttered as the shock of the energy leaving him so suddenly tilted him off his feet.
His lightsaber dropped and the icy ground rose up softly to meet him.
-SWR-
Ezra's mind slowly crept out of a deep darkness, his eyes blinking open. The dull gray ground gradually came into focus.
The familiar sticky cold clinging to his insides and the hollow wrongness filling his chest made his lungs tighten and his stomach sink with horror.
"No..." he whispered hoarsely.
I used it, the thought rang in his head. I... I used it...
He turned his head into the ground in shame.
I'm sorry, Kanan. I'm so, so...
A soft hand on his shoulder made his breath hitch and he looked up.
Maul's expression was gleaming with pride.
"I knew you had it in you," he said, fondly. He knelt down by the boy, metal legs crouching. "That was perfect, Ezra," he said.
Ezra's heart stuttered and stopped.
"Wh—what?" he gasped, his face pinching in distress.
The hand left his shoulder, fingers gently sliding under his chin, tilting his head up.
"You were never in any real danger, Ezra," Maul said, his voice and expression sickeningly comforting, gilded with a soothing tone. "All that was just a little... push..." he said, eyes drifting off briefly, "...to help you tap into the power I know you're capable of."
The breath strangled on its way out of Ezra's throat and his shoulders crunched, curling inwards.
"You..." he stammered. "You..."
Maul withdrew, picking up Ezra's fallen lightsaber, standing and beginning to pace away casually.
"You lost focus," he observed, tone neutral. His hand clasped his wrist behind his back. "But you remember all the basics. We'll have to build your control back up," he mused.
He glanced back at Ezra over his shoulder, briefly.
"Don't worry, your performance has spared you any further punishment for your little tantrum earlier," he assured the boy.
Ezra wanted to puke at the almost cheerful sincerity in the words. As if not beating him to a pulp was a favor to him somehow! He felt sick, the Dark Side still curling in whispers around him.
He's insane, Ezra thought, shaking his head. He's insane. He honestly thought forcing Ezra to relive his torture, pushing and pushing him until he lashed out with the Dark Side—something he'd sworn never to touch again after the holocrons were destroyed—was progress.
He'd deliberately hurt Ezra and considered it a kindness.
Ezra choked on his breath, shuddering, trying not to break down into gasping sobs.
Oblivious, Maul continued, talking at the wall now more than at Ezra.
"I know what you've been through," he was saying. "Truly, I do. My master... familiarized me with many of the interrogation techniques the Empire now uses, as part of my own training." He chuckled darkly. "You are lucky he is not teaching you. He would never have tolerated your backtalking."
Ezra was no longer listening, his eyes fixated on the exit tunnel.
He carefully sat up, moving silently. He crouched close to the ground for the first few cautious steps.
Then he kicked up, pushing up to his feet, and ran.
"Once, I questioned his—" Maul broke off, whipping his head around just in time to see Ezra disappearing through the opening.
Ezra heard his furious shout echo from behind him.
"EZRA!"
He didn't look back, mind numb to everything except his pounding feet.
(A/N)- WELL THAT WAS A RIDE WASN'T IT? Lol.
Lotta notes this chapter, I'll just get to them.
1. It occurred to me reading back over a few chapters that most of the Sabezra shiptease thus far had been on Sabine's end, primarily, so I added the nice little scene where Ezra wakes up from yet more bad dreams and groggily tries to pull her in for a snuggle. He misses her too. :)
2. We know what was up with the kyber crystals now! I actually really like New Canon's explanation for how Sith get their distinctive red lightsabers, I think it's way more interesting than just "They use synthetic crystals".
3. Maul is the absolute worst rat bastard I hate him so much.
4. The beatdown was choreographed before I actually wrote the chapter. It made filling in the descriptions a whole lot easier, lemme tell you. Did not have to make things up on the fly.
5. Was it Maul's voice taunting Ezra for being weak or was it Ezra's own internal thoughts and self-blame? We may never know.
6. It bears repeating but Maul is the Actual Worst. Only eclipsed by Sidious, who is also the Actual Worst.
Ezra nopes out of the whole situation, let's see how far he gets next chapter mwah-ha-ha.