Star Wars
A Dark Lord of a Different Kind
Author's note: I wrote this story after much musing upon jut how to craft an Illyana/Star Wars crossover. Just… why would such happen? It was obvious that the Jedi would likely react to her as a Sith, which would lead to a fight and Illyana annoyance. But that's not a plot of any interest to me. So I mused a long time for a reason, and then I recalled Illyana's tale to Emma about her journey in the relaunched New Mutants.
"… I saw many futures on my way to this past. I'll allow you a peek inside my mind if you'd like to see for yourself. Go on."
Illyana's mind shields were usually impermeable. A perfect defense against even the strongest telepath. But now, a pathway opened to an isolated memory, tempting Emma to take a look.
Emma did, she looked and witnessed the horror of a future in ruin, all the X-Men dead as Emma herself strove to strangle Legion as he likewise strove to kill Emma. A nightmarish horror that Emma sensed were somehow but the tip of an endless series of deaths. She hurriedly withdrew from Illyana's mind.
A request from Illyana. "Would you like to see more?"
No… Emma did not wish to see more.
And that was how I came up with this story. By using Force visions I could have Illyana have a reason to do such a crossover. A method for her to learn all the possible paths to find one to reclaim her soul stones and slay the Elder gods. And because Illyana was crazy at this point in her journey, I could write Illyana in her more evil and obsessive state. Which rather sucks for the Star Wars universe as a black hole traversing your neighborhood kinds of wrecks everything in its path without even noticing, or caring.
And Illyana lied to Emma with the truth, yes endless series of deaths, and she had stated she had come back through time to save the X-Men. Which was a lie, she was not here to save the X-Men but instead was here to regain her soul and kill the Elder gods. Everything else was irrelevant to her at that point in her life. After the death of the Elder gods and Illyana regaining her soul (not that there was any observed differences in her behavior other then a certain… calm) Scott had a meeting with Illyana in his office. Behind her were all the heavy hitters in the X-Men to take her down if she did not comply with his orders.
She did comply, in her words, after their talk, "Yes, I see. I see that. As a leader that's the only option you have."
And so she was locked up in a glass cell with a bomb jacket until Scott let her out.
But how did Illyana describe her condition during that talk with Scott? "The necessity defined me. In the sense of a consuming passion." Which I've used in various stories to describe the influence of the Endless upon Illyana as she was their tool for the destruction of the Elder gods as Destruction had abandoned his duties (as described in the series of comic Sandman by Neil Gaiman, one of the best comics ever and yes I own them and almost all of his literary works).
I first introduced Fate in the first chapter of Snowflakes Passage and the Endless in the first chapter of Cat's cradle. The ongoing stories of Pride Prejudice Illyana and Zombies, and Mother of Darkness are also entwined with Fate and the Endless (grin… plug plug plug).
Here is how the Endless are described Illyana from Cat's Cradle.
…
….
Delirium spoke first. "She is one of mine. Mad and lost. She... suffices for the task."
Desire took a puff from her/his cigarette holder and spoke. "She is one of mine. Lost in desire for what she was, for who she wants. She is adequate for the task."
Despair spoke. "She is one of mine. Despair fills her and guides her hand. She is will serve for the task."
Dream spoke. "She is one of mine. From the dreaming she was pulled by another and formed. Now hurt and abused she pursues the dream of being other then she is. She will be a knife for the task, well honed."
Death spoke. "I call none my own for all come to me in the end, but she walks a path of death. She is perfect for the task, poor thing."
Destiny spoke. "She flickers from page to page; always in motion. She will do the task."
Destruction, their absent brother, said nothing as he was not there. However he would have agreed with Death. She was ideal for the task.
Afterwards…
All of the Endless faded away, except for Destiny. He looked at her, standing there frozen within the backwash of power. He gave into temptation, as he often did, and skimmed forward in the book. He stopped after a few pages, what those pages contained and the amount of time represented by those pages was known only to him; but his eyebrows rose in surprise.
He sighed and whispered. "We choose well my siblings. Perchance a bit too well. She will..." He paused and left it at that as he faded away as well.
…
…
Well… the end of this story grows near.
Part 10a: The House of Fate
Fate was grumpy. Which was a very rare occurrence. Normally Fate was stoic, the three of them just doing their job, which was creating and crafting the great tapestry of existence. Although crafting might be a bit of a stretch as Verdande would always complain that the weave had a mind of its own.
Just who or what is Fate you ask?
Urd, a young woman - Maker of the threads
Verdande, middle aged - Weaver of the threads
Skuld, aged crone - Cutter of the threads.
Most days, not that Fate really experienced existence as days, were much like any other day. Fate was resigned about such things as Fate was fated to be Fate and they had long learned that they had no choice in the matter. So… craft, weave, cut; that was the fate of Fate. That and answer the occasional three questions of those lucky, or unlucky, enough to find their way to Fate's door.
But today was not like most days. Things were off, out of sorts, in short, think of it as Fate having a bad hair day. Why you ask? Assuming you are unlucky enough to actually see Fate having a bad day, which usually resulted in a bad time for any such observer. It was the weave…
Part of it had unraveled.
Threads everywhere.
The prior pattern undone and now lost.
Verdande was direct as to the cause. "The two of you should never have answered the daughter of no woman's question!"
Skuld was not in agreement. "I don't recall you keeping your big fat chattering mouth shut!"
Urd did not bother to answer, instead she just threw a spindle of thread at Verdande's head that narrowly missed.
The three glared at each other before finally simultaneously sighing. It was Skuld who gave answer to the true cause of their vexation.
"There's nothing we can do sisters of myself. She is on the path she has chosen, regardless of the harm it will cause her."
Veredande wiped away a tear. "I know, it's just that… "
Urd finished. "For once I wish we could help."
Skuld angrily snipped her scissors upon empty air. "We all do dearie… we all do. Curse'd rules."
"The Endless and their plans…" Groused Urd. "Unwilling to do the deed themselves." Then with the insight that Fate possesses. "They choose well, but closer to the mark then they dared dream of as she is a true child of destruction."
"Destruction is gone." Injected Verdande. "Abandoned his duties but did not let another rise to be the new Destruction. Hence their use of her. Why, she even has the same sigil." Meaning Illyana's soul sword, which did look very much like Destruction's sword.
"She is good at breaking things." Mused Urd with a tone of some pride as to the behaviors of the Darkchilde. "She would have made an excellent Destruction." Note, the purpose of Destruction was to sweep away the old to make way for the new.
"Good for her that Destruction chose not to pass, sparing her such a fate." Spoke Skuld.
Nods from all three. Then long sighs. Fate was not used to caring, long long ago they had stopped that particular behavior. To care was agony if you were Fate, so best not to engage in behavior that resulted in nothing but pain.
Well… back to work as Fate confronted the frightful mess of threads from part of the tapestry. It was time to reweave the threads into a new pattern. Why new you ask? Because Fate never repeats herself. So many loose threads, and out of order as some now needed to be cut short where as others needed more length spliced in. And some… some were no longer part of the pattern at all as the events that were to have led to their creation were now gone.
Like one black thread that Urd was about to toss but paused because… well Fate cared… and this thread could serve as a warning about choices and obsessions. So… Urd tossed the thread at the disposal bin, but the thread somehow caught a tiny breath of wind and landed in the ongoing weave by Verdande who 'accidently' overlooked it. Which is understandable if you consider that the weave was all of reality, little bits of things were sometimes incorporated into the weave by mistake. And Skuld? Well she likewise 'accidently' cut it without removing it from the pattern.
Subtle can be the ways of Fate.
Part 10b: Sins of the Father
Darth Vader… in all his malevolent glory and power. The Dark side of the Force flowing from him for the Force was with him. He had but recently been disturbed by strange visions then a swirling darkness had claimed him, only to leave him here.
Vader knew not how he was here…
He knew not where here was…
But he knew who was here…
And that his darkest dreams had somehow come true...
"IGNORANT WHELP." Was his deep voiced snarl. His left hand rose as the Force dragged the hurt and wounded Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, Dooku, and lastly Anakin. With a voom sound the red lightsaber extinguished and flew from his right hand to clip itself at his side. With a clench of his right fist Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, and Dooku rose into the air as they clawed at their throats. But Anakin was raised into the air, not by the Force, but by the left hand of Vader around his throat.
"INSIPID FOOL." Growled the dark voice of Vader as he shook Anakin like a rat in the teeth of a terrier. Then Anakin's face was brought close to his expressionless black mask as Vader continued.
"ALL YOUR FAULT."
YOU… YOU DID IT."
YOU BROUGHT ABOUT THE EMPIRE."
YOUR CHILDISH VANITY AND PRIDE REDUCED ME TO…THIS."
"AND YOU… YOU… TOOK AWAY… EVERYTHING THAT MATTERED."
Choking sounds from Anakin as Vader continued, but now his dark voice had a tremor.
"PADME… PADME... PADME!"
"YOU… YOU TOOK HER FROM ME."
"BUT NOW…"
"A CHANCE TO SAVE HER… FROM YOU."
A gesture with the clenched right fist brought the three others to float, likewise choking, behind Anakin.
"NOW… NOW… THE OPPORTUNITY TO CHANGE THINGS."
"KILL THE EMPOROR BEFORE HIS ASCENSION."
"SAVE PADME…"
A growl of evil. "AND DESTORY THE JEDI YET AGAIN."
Tones of harsh gloating as the dark voice filled with evil satisfaction.
"I NEVER REALLY… SAVORED THEIR DESTRUCTION."
"BUT NOW… NOW… I SHALL RELISH THE DEED."
"THEIR PAIN…"
"THEIR SUFFERING…"
"AND MY VENGENCE…"
A snarl of rage from Vader as the mask shifted to the other three.
"OBI-WAN… I… KILLED YOU BEFORE… AND WILL AGAIN."
"AHSOKA… YOU LEFT… ME. AND NOW YOU FINALLY SHALL PAY."
"DOOKU, OLD FOOL. PLAYED BY PALPATINE. AS I WAS PLAYED."
Vader's gaze returned to Anakin.
"A CHANCE TO SAVE PADME…"
"TO KILL THE JEDI AGAIN…"
"EVEN THE YOUNGLINGS… I WILL ENJOY THAT ALMOST AS MUCH AS KILLING…"
A flash of light behind Vader as a burning white sword emerged from Vader's chest, a thrust that also nicked Anakin as the other three dropped to the ground like puppets with their strings cut as a female voice snarls with rage behind Vader in an unknown tongue.
"Есть место только для одного бездушного демона!"
Vader fell to his knees in a grunt of pain, dragging Anakin down with him. Behind him the blonde was revealed. Human, healed, wearing that tight blue and yellow spandex costume, still wearing the Kyber crystal crown, and she had thrust the burning white sword that she had wielded when in the Jedi Library, no longer using her prior lightsabers.
A jerk of the blade pulled it free as Vader cried out. "AGGHHHHHHHH!" Leaving a bleeding gash on Anakin's chest as Vader's left hand fell from Anakin's throat.
A glare at all present from the blonde, then a puzzled look as she gazed upon Vader and Anakin, their auras were… the same. They had the same… soul. The black armored figure was twisted by darkness, the man less so, but… they were the same.
The three behind Anakin flailed about taking desperate breaths as Vader's right hand lashed out, latched onto Anakin's shirt, dragged the gasping Anakin close to Vader's mask.
A wheezing electronic gasp from Vader.
A last exercise of the Force as he used the Force he removed his mask.
Leaving Anakin to confront the horror within the armor.
The ruin of a man.
The ruin of himself.
A creature that knew only pain, rage and hate.
And the desire to share that which he had been reduced to.
Or… did he?
With the mask gone, the weeping face of Vader was shown.
"Please…" Whispered the weeping ruin of the man that Anakin had become. Weeping as Vader spoke of that which mattered most to him as he fell forward against Anakin, then sliding down to end up laying face up upon Anakin's lap as Vader's left hand fell from Anakin's throat.
"Don't… "
"Please don't… kill Padme..."
"Not this time… don't…"
"Don't be…
A final whispered "Me…" as Vader expired in the arms of Anakin, left arm raised upward as if trying to grasp, or touch, something only he could see. Died as Illyana watched. Then once he was dead Illyana vanished in a light disk.
Vanished with a puzzled expression.
Vanished as a significant part of the ceiling collapsed and buried everybody.