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Chapter 33

Sidious stood at the edge of the tallest ledge of his weapon, and his eyes glowed fiercely orange: Sith yellow highlighted by holocron red. He flashed the whites of his teeth.

"Anakin," his voice bellowed, tainted with rage and amusement. "Why do you persist? Can you not see you have already lost?"

Anakin jumped along the rough sides of the tower. Several rocky ledges served as suitable landing places all the way up the weapon. He twirled his lightsaber in his hand before hopping to the next ledge.

Sidious' lips twisted into a feral smile, and he swept a hand into the air. Enormous boulders of obsidian tore from the ground, and Sidious held them in the air over his head. He twitched his fingers, and the boulders careened towards Anakin. Anakin glanced down. If the boulders bounced, they'd crash into the Jedi and troopers battling below.

Anakin grappled the boulders out of the air and shoved them back at Sidious. The massive stones shattered against a shield that covered the Sith Lord. Another boulder flew at Anakin that he didn't have the mind to grab, so he cut through it with his lightsaber. It split and fell away, the halves crashing down into the chasm. Still more boulders came, and Anakin caught and hurled them back.

He crushed one of the boulders en route to Sidious and pushed it with all his strength. Not at Sidious, but at the holocron, to disrupt it or destroy it. The bullets of stone hit yet another shield.

Sidious laughed, and while he hurled boulders at Anakin with one hand, he raised the other. The red-black clouds of Mustafar swirled into a vortex over his head and sank down into a funnel towards him. Purple lightning flickered through the clouds, into the funnel, and into Sidious' hand. He reeled back and hurled at Anakin Force lightning unlike anything seen before.

Anakin flicked away the last few boulders with the Force and threw up his lightsaber and a Force-created shield to stop the lightning. Regardless, the lightning slammed him off his ledge, and he flipped to another. Anakin focused on the lightning and all of the dark energies piecing it together, and it touched his mind the same way currents of energy ran through wires in machines. He caught it, twisted it, and hurled it back. The lightning snaked towards Sidious and hit his shield without effect.

Nothing physical would reach the holocron or the weapon. Anakin would have to use less visible tactics if he wanted to break through.

Sidious' laughter boomed. He hurled bolt after bolt of lightning and several smaller stones towards Anakin. Anakin flipped the rocks over his head and pushed them into the chasm while he absorbed the lightning into his lightsaber. Meanwhile, he dove into the Force and focused on the top of the tower. He grabbed the stone with his mind and pulled on the midsection of the tower. It didn't break, but the force with which he pulled sent Sidious tumbling off his high perch.

Surprise flashed across Sidious' face, and he lunged onto a boulder he swept into the air. He bobbled off the rock, dove at Anakin, and ignited his lightsaber. Anakin jumped and met him in the air, blades flashing in streaks of blue and red. They slammed into each other so hard they spun in the air, careening in opposite directions. Anakin landed and bounced off a falling boulder, and he lunged at Sidious again. Sidious jumped on air.

Their blades clashed and locked, and together Anakin and Sidious fell. Both pushed off and flipped away from each other before hitting the ground. They landed several meters apart on a smooth portion of the plains, two rivers of lava weaving around them.

Sidious used Force abilities near impossible to anyone, even to Anakin, and showed no signs of weakening. Obi-Wan, of course, had been right. Making Sidious use his powers wouldn't cause him to destroy himself. Such a fate was reserved for Anakin. The copper taste of blood touched the back of Anakin's tongue, and his pulse roared in his ears. An ache cut through Anakin's head and wriggled through his veins to the soles of his feet. Reminders that he could not maintain this level of power for long.

Anakin ran at Sidious, lightsaber drawn back, but Sidious waved a hand at him. The ground lurched beneath Anakin and tore apart, one end of it flying upwards and sending Anakin tottering backwards. Lava splashed up as one of the massive stones turned over. Sidious raised his hand, and an entire river of lava lifted and churned over his head.

A jolt of fear went through Anakin as a constant and familiar memory of burning alive jumped into his mind.

"What's the matter, my boy?" Sidious asked with a grin and a feigned voice full of affection. "Unpleasant memories?" He hurled the river at Anakin.

Anakin reverse lunged on the tipping ground, swept up entire chunks of broken obsidian, and created a shield to deflect the attack. Molten yellow liquid splattered over Anakin's makeshift wall and splashed his clothes, but most harmlessly spilled across the plain. Anakin let the shield and stones fall, and Sidious grinned.

"Anakin!" Obi-Wan's voice echoed from behind.

Anakin felt it on instinct. He spun and swung his lightsaber, narrowly deflecting a shining blue blade from cutting off his right arm. At least a dozen Jedi surrounded him, blades flashing in a blur of blues and greens. He twisted to parry every blow, but they pummeled him until he had no choice but to grab them with the Force and hurl them away. More came.

From his brief respite, Anakin caught a glimpse of Obi-Wan fighting his own battle against a small army of Jedi while making his way towards Anakin. Jedi covered Anakin again and forced him to fight back. Pain seized his head in a crushing hold. He had to get away without killing them and get to Sidious. He had a mission to accomplish.

Anakin caught, lifted, and flung the Jedi aside. More and more came.

"This is your true weakness, boy, and the reason why your path is doomed to failure. You must kill them if you hope to reach me," Sidious said. His eyes flashed with twisted pleasure as he watched Anakin struggle. "You can save yourself or you can save the few." He waved at the Jedi, and then he placed a hand at his chest and said, "Or you can kill me and save many. But you cannot save them all." His hand fell, and his eyes glowed. No, his entire body glowed with pure, raw power. "This is your fatal flaw: compassion."

Anakin threw the Jedi aside and took one step towards Sidious before he was inundated again. Overwhelmed, and he hurt. His head throbbed, his muscles screamed in protest, and blood drained down his throat from a nosebleed surely about to start. Out of time. He pushed back and fought forward, and he caught up the Jedi again to hurl them away.

Sidious was gone.

"Anakin!" Obi-Wan screamed from nearby.

Anakin twisted on instinct and spun his blade. Too late. Sidious, in a flare of black cloak, dropped from over his head, lightsaber flashing. A push from the Force slammed Anakin from the side and sent him flying. Not just the Force—Obi-Wan hit him, too. Obi-Wan met and deflected Sidious' blade, but Sidious grinned the whole time.

Planned. It was planned. Something in Anakin's mind screamed as he fell sideways, as he reached with the Force but had no power left at his disposal. He couldn't make a sound.

Sidious landed, flicked his lightsaber into the air behind him, spun, and caught it in his other hand. Through his cloak, out of Obi-Wan's sight, he stabbed it backwards. Anakin's heart stopped.

The blood-red blade impaled Obi-Wan. Sidious withdrew his lightsaber and spun around, and he swung to cut off Obi-Wan's head.