Windu lunged across the floor and struck Cadus hard across the face again.

Cadus didn't move.

He didn't flinch.

He didn't even blink.

"You are still that little arrogant Padawan Dooku always had disdain for..."

Even though Cadus didn't move, Windu took half a step back.

He drew his light-saber, igniting it with a hiss.

The threat and intention were clear.

Cadus viciously pressed his attack, his blade stabbing, slashing, and deflecting so quickly that most of Windu's slashing parries, and looping deflections hit nothing but air. Windu stepped back, and then back again, and again, as Cadus moved faster with each stroke, ever closer to hitting his target.

He stepped to the side, stabbing low for Windu's thigh. Up and diagonal went his purple flame to intercept, but to his horror, Cadus flourished his weapon and brought it back up high and across the other way. Cadus's blade stabbed hard into his left shoulder, and as Windu pressed his attack, Cadus retracted his blade and swiped along its original course, skimming Windu's left leg.

The Korun Master lunged forward, crashing hard against Cadus.

The wind that shrieked through the chamber at once absorbed and distorted the sounds of the clashing light-sabers.

Cadus stabbed straight ahead, intercepting the purple flame once more. Cadus's blade veered from a stab to a slash with a sudden twist of his hips, nearly launching the flame from Windu's grasp. Windu turned back on the older man, roaring and slashing hard.

"No!" Yoda cried.

Cadus stabbed ahead and slashed upward, bypassing the purple flame completely, and focused on the Korun Master's arm, at the elbow.

Half of Windu's arm flew to the side, his hand still gripping the light-saber. Windu didn't drop to the ground, he didn't grab his severed arm in agony, nor did he scream in pain. He merely called his light-saber to his only hand.

Cadus's eyes hardened into stones. "Murderous intent of the dark side...And, so it ends."

Windu struck ferociously and took refuge behind his barrier of blades to evade his pursuing foe. But, Cadus rammed through the dazzling barrier of blades, his light-saber thrashing down like a guillotine, and he flourished it sharply.

Windu staring at the blade was the instant of distraction Cadus needed. As their blades smashed together again, Windu bore down with a seething grunt. At that instant, Cadus's blade slashed upward across Windu's hand.

Windu evaded, but Cadus knew he would.

He snapped his arms towards the direction he'd be.

A storm of pure, hot white bolts of energy surged from his palms and fingers, spearing across the room like a solid force push, smashing upwards into the ceiling, and tore through Windu before he could even raise his blade to block.

He was at once confounded and in agony. He heard of such a power, such a corruption of the force that even Jedi were wary of, let alone wanted to go so far to use. Windu raised his arm which didn't hold his hilt, to deflect the bolts.

For a few seconds he was successful.

The storm surged into the walls.

The storm grew with such speed and power that it coursed over and into him, and he could only convulse in pain.

As solid as any stone wall, a burst of lightning, charged all about the trapped Korun and lifted the Jedi Master like he weighed less than air. Windu managed to hold onto his light-saber as he was hurled up into the air, held there by the ferocious power of Cadus.

Windu flew across the room, crashing into the wall.

Lightning blasted the walls, and lightning sheared out from Cadus's palms, and Windu had no more time to comprehend, he only had a second to slip into Vaapad, and angle his blade, catching the shining arcs of pure power that clawed toward him.

Vaapad was more than a fighting style.

It was a state of mind.

A channel for darkness.

Power passed into him and out again, touching him on the deepest level. Cadus was not a man of hatred, and his lightning wasn't a lightning of hatred, but of pure emotional ferocity. The emotional ferocity that could only come from losing someone who was family.

Beyond that, a ferocious will.

Together they completed the circuit.

Agen Kolar's blood was on both of their hands.

The lightning reflected back and forth. Cadus didn't break his stance, his eyes narrowed, and he ground down his teeth as the ferocious energy that poured from his palms only intensified.

Windu could see spots grasping at his consciousness. He purchased himself beneath the continuing assault of the ferocious lightning. Tormented beyond reason, betaken by a weakness that drained his very essence, but he knew he could not submit.

That weakness, the one overlying to this whole matter that brought so much animosity between himself and Cadus. Sending Agen Kolar to his death, forcing two Jedi Masters to fight...Deep down, and perhaps on a subconscious level, Windu hoped Cadus would end his existence.

"Arrogant stripling! Your puerile Vaapad is no match for the unrelenting power of the force, pure willpower in its physical form! You will pay the ultimate price for your transgressions! You posturing Sith!"

It didn't seem possible. Windu didn't think it could get worse. The outpouring of energy from Cadus's palms increased in intensity and magnitude. The sheer ferocity of the sound roared through the room, the surging arcs were overwhelming.

Yoda put himself in front of Windu, and caught the shearing arcs with his hand, but far from easily. "Very powerful you are, proud they must be of you. Just as I am."

Yoda grounded his feet into the floor.

Cadus clenched his teeth. "I am the last of my kind...The last of bygone Jedi, an old generation...Only Dooku and no one...Before the Count...Except for you and I. And, even I am alone for there is no one left from my youth..."

"Different, we were taught. Different, you were taught. Very different, our Masters were. But, change since then, the Jedi Order has. Sad you shouldn't be. Alone, you are not."

More lightning poured forth from Cadus's hands, roaring through the room, but Yoda continued to catch it, and settled into a firm, squatted defensive posture.

"Wise you are, but always sincere and devout you have been. The sting, pain of others, and injustices, yes, taken seriously, taken personally, always you have...These have always strained you. Friendship, bonding, accepting others...These things you have always done, and in your youth, very rebellious you were. A wild youth, you were, but, save many worlds, train many young ones, and meet many people, you did. "

Yoda looked Cadus in the eyes, peering through the blinding forks of lightning.

"As Grand Master of the Jedi Order and Master of the Jedi Order you two have done things that cannot be forgiven. I cannot forgive you. You've endangered the lives of children. They are taken from their homes, their families hope for something better...You two have forgotten this! They will be taken and put in front of a firing squad!"

Windu finally got it.

The key to final victory.

Cadus's shatterpoint. The absolute shatter-point of the Sith. The absolute shatterpoint of the Jedi. The shatterpoint of the dark side itself. The shatter point of the light side itself.

Windu couldn't help but be astonished.

Cadus was a fantasia.

He was a coda and a codetta.

He was also the end point for all shatterpoint.

Yoda moved forward, trudging into the ferocious lightning storm, bending it away so that it surged right into the walls and above him. Cadus didn't stop, instead he increased the lightning bursting from his palms, bending Windu's blade back right into his face.

Cadus's eyes glowed for a brief instant, before they flashed pitch black, the skin around his eyes and turned red.

Windu's eyes snapped wide in caution.

"He is using the dark side, Master Yoda. Destroy him!" Windu clenched his teeth, with no air in his lungs, he began to wilt with strain.

This was beyond Vaapad.

He had no strength left to fight against his own blade.

The pitch black glare from Cadus's pitch black eyes spread outward, forcing his skin to pale slightly.

"I hate those who harm innocence. All who harm innocence. I hate them. I hate those who murder innocence. I hate you!"

The end came quickly.

Rapidly.

It came with swift finality.

Cadus could feel how much it was costing Yoda to bend back his lightning into the cage of energy that enclosed the three of them, the ancient Master was reaching the limits of his strength, and Windu already had.

Cadus released a deluge of power for a mere instant.

Less than half of a second.

Yoda firmed his stance, and took its full power, dispersing some of it. The shock wave, in addition to the actual lightning blasted him backward, and his three long nails purchased the floor as he halted himself from being propelled back and through the wall.

"Grief consume you it will, allow it, you cannot. Even if you or I are the only Jedi, a duty we still have!"

"I hate you both!" Cadus roared, hurling out a wave of monstrous energy he gathered in a split second.

There was nothing subtle about this attack. The massive shock wave shook the very foundations and ziggerauts of the Jedi Temple. The concussive blast had enough power to shatter every bone in Yoda's body and pulverize his body into shreds.

At the last possible instant Yoda threw up a shield to protect himself from the attack and redirect it.

Unfortunately, he wasn't the target, nor could he shield the Temple around him. Windu tried to protect himself from the monstrous blast, throwing up a shield to deflect the incoming wave, but Cadus's attack tore through the pitiful defense, wiping it away as if it hadn't even been there.

There was a strangled cry of pain from Windu as he was flung up from the ground as if he were weightless, along with a roar of pure power. The wall exploded into great chunks of rubble. The archway collapsed in a shower of stone, burying Windu beneath tons of debris.

A second later the rest of the roof caved in, drowning out the man's agonized screams with a deafening rumble.

Cadus watched the grand spectacle of the Temple wall's implosion from his spot in the Council Room, observing the billowing clouds of dust that slowly rolled out from the wreckage and down the stairs and near the turbo-lift that led toward the rest of the Temple.

He simply stood there until he and Yoda were both covered in powder from the wreckage. Eventually he calmed himself, and reached out with the force. He knew Windu was still be alive beneath the mountain of stone.

He felt the man's presence.

Mace Windu-his comrade, one of the few Jedi at the Temple who had ever understood-fell prey to the dark side.

Cadus turned his back to Yoda and the mountain of rubble that kept Windu buried.

The roar finally silenced.

"The Sith have changed. The Sith have grown, they have adapted, and they have invested one thousand years of methodical, thorough study of every aspect of not only the force, but every force organization, including our own Jedi lore and teachings, in preparation for the day that will soon be upon all Jedi in the galaxy."

"What day do you speak of?" Yoda demanded, eyes hard despite the weariness of his form.

"The Sith have remade themselves. The Jedi have spent the last one thousand years training to fight the last war like we're dealing with the Brotherhood of Darkness or the New Sith Empire led by Darth Ruin. The new Sith will not be destroyed with a light-saber. They cannot be burned away by any torch of the force. The brighter one's light, the darker the shadow of the other, and their own shadow. How can one win a war against the dark, when war itself becomes the dark's own weapon?"

Yoda knew in this very instant, that this insight held the hope of the galaxy and the survival of the Jedi Order.

But, if they fell here, that hope would die with them.

Hmmm. Yoda rumpled his brows. A problem this is...

"Your wisdom has destroyed the Jedi Order. You and Windu have polluted the minds of the Younglings and Padawans...You and Windu have led all of the Jedi, even the children, down the path of ruin and extermination."

"Understand, I do not." Yoda rasped.

"That has always been the problem with you. You can't ever see what is right in front of you, right under your nose. You don't have to look to the future anymore, you support Windu..." Cadus's hand gripped his light-saber.

Yoda reverently drew out his light-saber, its green blade humming to life.

Cadus ignited his own gold blade. He surged, a sudden and devastating thrust. With a slight movement, Yoda deflected the thrust. Both went into a wild flurry, crashing and bashing their blades in shock-waves of pure power.

Neither moved. Neither stepped back or to the side, yet their subtle and precise parries kept the other's blade slashing and stabbing into the other, never reaching anywhere near their robes. It went on and on, but the flurry didn't slow, and then Cadus, recognizing an opening, broke his stance, sending his blade cracking hard like a whip in front of him.

With a sudden burst of sheer power, Yoda firmed his own stance, his blade working so mightily that its residual glow was shining at its peak. It barely kept the whiplash away from him, and he had to snap his head back.

Cadus was relentless, though, his gold blade parrying and arcing brilliantly, each stroke backed by the power of the force.

Yoda didn't leap high, he didn't turn and do a somersault, he didn't spin to cartwheel, nor did he perform a corkscrewing attack. He surged forward, thrusting with a shout of power. Cadus stabbed out in front of him, intercepting the blow, reaching more deeply into the force, and channeled it through him so his physical form was a mere conduit for its power.

Their tempo increased dramatically, both pursued, thrusting hard for the other's head. And in their intensity, when their blades smashed together yet again, both angled slashes, moving beyond any means of registration.

Both of their blades caught the other's blow, holding the green and gold fire at bay, locking the two in a contest of strength, physical, mental, emotional, and of the force.

"Fight, we must not...Give victory to the Sith, do we."

"They already have victory."

Both of their light-sabers began to move out, inch by inch, forcing both to push against each other, their feet digging the floor below for purchase.

"Again, it will not happen. This I promise." Yoda urgently argued, realizing the heart of the matter.

"I don't trust you."

Yoda grunted. "More bloodshed only yields more bloodshed."

Cadus paused in his movements, reached into the force, and took hold of the deluge of power roaring through him. He turned his back to Yoda and walked away, pitch black eyes flashing white, for a brief instant, before they returned to their normal shade of brown.

The outpouring of energy ceased completely.

Green and gold fire evaporated.

Cadus quickened his strides a little. There was no point in speaking with Yoda or Windu, now, or ever. He would do his duty and move in motion against Palpatine, just as he was asked. What happened after that he couldn't care less.

After all, it would be good to see the true person beneath that mask. Perhaps Palpatine would know a thing or two about Daegen Lok.

One of the original Je'daii to dive into the Chasm and embrace Bogan.

"Cadus!" Saesee Tiin's voice snapped into his ears, cutting his thought. "What is going on? What was that roar?"

Cadus whipped his head towards the Iktotchi's direction, barely able to keep his hand from snapping for his light-saber, enraged at being disturbed on the cusp of achieving total calm. He glared at Jedi Master, as angry at himself for being too engrossed in his own thoughts to sense the Iktotchi's presence as he was at the interruption of his thoughts.

"Master Cadus, are you okay? What happened? Are Master Yoda and Master Windu okay?" Tiin asked, reaching into the force to feel for himself.

He felt a mixture of relief when he realized Yoda and Windu were in the Council Chambers, alone. He had been hoping for one more...Agen Kolar, but nobody knew where the Master had gone.

It was like he just vanished.

Cadus knew Windu didn't tell anyone of his scheme, only Yoda knew, and it seemed neither would both bother telling that to Tiin or anyone else for that matter.

What could Windu say?

What he did went against the Jedi Code, irrefutably.

"Master Tiin."

Tiin gave the older man a critical look. "What happened to Master Windu? It feels like he's been severely wounded."

"What happened to Windu..." Cadus kept walking, thoughtful.

"Master Cadus!"

"Go and see for yourself or ask Master Yoda. I am certain he will love to explain the whole situation."

Shaak Ti could feel him coming long before she could actually see him. The infra and ultrasound-sensitive cavities in the tall, curving montrals to either side of her head gave her a sense quite similar to touch through sensitive hearing.

The texture of his approaching footsteps was crisp like branches snapping in howling winds. As he rounded the corner to the hallway, his breathing felt like a boulder sliding through earth, and his heartbeat was spiking with each passing second.

He didn't look good.

He was deathly pale, and his eyes, nose, and mouth were raw.

"Sir Cadus." She said warmly, voice filling with concern.

"Shaak Ti..." Shaky as he looked, there was nothing unsteady in his voice.

It was deeper than she remembered, more abrasive, and it carried undertones of power and murder that she had heard only a few times. She extended both of her hands forward, offering calming energies through the force.

"Where are you going, Master Cadus? What happened back there?"

"Shaak Ti."

She stepped aside. She had no reason to keep him here against his will. He stepped past her, pausing when he was just behind her.

"If Windu and Yoda are that far gone. Is not your place here, to help with moving the children from harm's way?" Shaak Ti ventured, remaining amicable.

"My place isn't here, it seems." His breathing calmed, and he looked as if the healing energies she offered were doing their job.

"What do you mean?"

"Windu doesn't trust me. Yoda doesn't trust me."

"Why?"

The door slid open.

"I'm a maverick and cut my own path. My true nature can't be changed. I'll do what I've always done..." He looked at her with eyes that were burning, and a spasm of pain and fury flashed through his eyes, bright as any sun.

Shaak Ti reached for him.

He should be in the infirmary, not heading towards his Padawans.

"What happened back there, Cadus? Why won't you speak to me about it?" Shaak Ti reached for him, but he moved away from her hand.

"Ask Yoda and Windu, or one of the other Masters by the Council Chambers...They'll be happy to tell you everything."

And with that, Cadus left.


Hanna's light-saber cracked and hissed as Talisibeth tried to parry with her own.

Beside her, Aola and Deo were in the center of their tornado of blades.

For the first time in a while, Talisibeth was locked in combat, grunting and struggling. Her muscles ached. Sweat drenched her thick tunic. Hanna's tenacity surprised her, but it excited her more than anything. The girl was fighting with everything she had, as though her very life depended on it.

Talisibeth was aware that Hanna was just as afraid of not being chosen as a Jedi apprentice as the rest of them were. She was aware that Hanna was afraid to die in battle, this had always been her greatest fear but, Talisibeth could match Hanna's toughness with her own easily enough.

She could push even harder because she had endured more than the older girl.

Hanna's blade hummed as it angled toward Talisibeth's throat, if it did connect, it would signal a killing blow, and she would ultimately lose to Hanna.

A cry rose up from the crowd seated at the tables and those surrounding the makeshift battle arena. All of the students, old and young had gathered to watch the fight. Talisibeth could not see them, she could barely hear their shouts of encouragement or disapproval.

"Foolish little girl! You should have never agreed to fight with me again in front of everyone in our classes, you can't possibly beat me this time!"

Deo yelled so that others could hear him above the cheering. His two toned hair was left to sway freely to his shoulders, and as sweat streamed down his forehead, he clenched his sharp teeth-giving him a feral appearance.

The odor of burned flesh and singed hair hung heavily in the air. All of the Padawans had managed to hit one another, but the strikes had not been precise, firm strikes. Around the cafeteria, many of the younger initiates stood on their chairs or tables cheering, calling out encouragement to one of the four.

All of them had heard of the fight between Deo and Aola that had taken place before.

Deo's face was close, and he glared at Aola with hate. The moment stretched on, extending for an eternity. In Deo's eyes Aola saw past foes charging at her with murderous intent, bloodshot eyes, a vicious and heartbreaking cry as they lost their lives...

A future in which anger ruled her and she began to hate all who opposed her.

Talisibeth could feel that same hate. She could feel the anger from Hanna's glaring eyes. Each moment was a snippet of an eternity. She could see every dark intention, every hateful impulse, a future in which she was ruled by these baseless feelings, and she lashed out with venom.

She reached out for the force.

She could feel it flow around her, but she could not fully grasp it, nor focus on it like she wanted to. Here were the two Jedi hopefuls who stood between Aola's and her own dream, who mocked them, who tricked them, and did everything they could to make their life complicated.

Aola slammed into Deo and saw the surprise in the boy's eyes as he slid backward, crashing into a table a few feet away.

Several Padawans jumped out of the way just in time.

Pressing ahead, Aola took advantage of Deo's lack of response and arced a hissing attack right for the center of his face. The taller apprentice ducked and rolled, watching as Aola's blade slammed into the table, her form nor body neither swaying or giving from the hard strike.

He made a hasty slash at her feet.

Aola cartwheeled high in the air. As a child, Aola had learned by sparring with her Master and fighting older students predominately. She would avoid flashy attacks that wasted energy. Instead, she had been trained to fight with channeled fury and agility, to swipe blows with small movements, or to avoid them with a simple movement.

As Talisibeth parried Hanna's sequence of moves, moving faster with each repetition of movement to strike on the opening, she felt Cadus's eyes on her. The Jedi was always a rebel, a maverick, and could be a loner, and she wanted to be seen as a Maverick, too.

She wanted to carve her own path.

Instead of waiting to gauge Hanna's attack strategy, Talisibeth rushed her swiftly and furiously unleashed, Hanna weaved and threaded her blade, blocking the first and second series of attacks, but Talisibeth's strikes were packed with stinging power.

Hanna rotated to far on a block, hissing as her wrist jammed backwards, forcing her to nearly drop her weapon.

Talisibeth swiped her light-saber across her line of vision, swinging with nothing short of brutality.

Hanna didn't even attempt to block, instead she lunged backwards, sprawling for just a second before she regrouped and found her balance. Her light-saber switched off and went skittering across the floor. Talisibeth raced forward, slamming down another strike-the decisive blow that should have won the bout, if Hanna hadn't managed to flip aside and grab her light-saber.

She could only switch it on and moved into a hasty block before Talisibeth's light-saber came rushing like a battering ram once more. This time, there was no blocking the blow. Hanna's light-saber smashed right into her shoulder, and Talisibeth caught her right between the eyes, scorching her skin.

Hanna, Aola, and Deo cried out in pain as blades burned them.

"Enough, the four of you! Hanna Ding and Sisseri Deo! Aola and Talisibeth!"

All around the cafeteria, the initiates and Padawans silenced themselves. Aola backed away from Deo, and he returned the favor, both of them panting. Sweat ran down her arms and face, her muscles ached from exertion, and her legs felt like they were going to give.

Talisibeth's head swam. She had never felt such sweet triumph. She realized that she won. She beat Hanna Ding, an apprentice older and better adept than her.

A thrill rose within her.

It wasn't by a fluke either, it was soundly

The silence rang in everyone's ears as Cadus stepped further into the large refectory, moving towards the two young women.

He was a tall, muscular, powerful man, but his footsteps were soundless.

"I will pretend I never seen this. As long as you four promise right now to stay quiet and not bother each other until the tournament. You are welcome to settle your differences then if you must. All of you who seen will return the favor and not speak a word of it." Cadus said, tone sharp.

His gaze caught everyone present. The four apprentices nodded, all having the decency to express some shame. Everyone else nodded as well, knowing with how tense things were there was no need to blow it out of proportion and involve the more strict masters, which would lead to severe punishments.

Cadus gestured for Talisibeth and Aola to follow him. It wasn't proper etiquette for him to correct them in front of others nor was it proper for them to have tantrums because of it in front of others.

"Why were you two fighting Deo and Hanna? Aola, who taught you to fight like that? Cadus asked once they were alone.

His expression and eyes were sensitive and observing.

"They threw fruit at us and kept pushing it." Talisibeth answered.

Aola played with her fingers. "They got juice all over me."

"Kyobuna believed in questionable aspects, according to some on the Council then and now. Students in the Temple rarely attack so viciously. They learn to defend, to wear one another down. They conserve their strength. Yet you fought with channeled aggression. You left yourself open to attack time and time again with your footwork in certain transitions, you got too close, you moved too much...You relied on Deo to backpedal."

"I wanted to end it quickly with a thrust. I had to take extra steps so he'd react with the awkward Djem So footwork. The force willed it." Aola replied.

Cadus studied Talisibeth. "You fought aggressively as well. Reckless, even. You decided to take the offensive with basic Djem So sequences. Soresu isn't an offensive style. It was dangerous to press an attack, hoping Hanna would stay on the defensive."

"I knew she was going to go on defense. Once she couldn't get past the first few exchanges I knew she would try to distance herself and lunge. I used that to my advantage." Talisibeth said, refusing to concede.

Cadus studied them both for a long moment.

"You cannot always rely on your enemy to take the defensive stance, by doing so you are overestimating your own offense which is the first and last mistake you can make in an actual battle. You are both too certain of yourselves and your abilities. Your fighting styles become dangerous when you are both pushed."

"You will teach me better. You will teach me to have more control." Talisibeth said evenly.

Cadus observed them both carefully. "Perhaps I am able. You were both angry with Hanna and Deo. I sensed anger in both of you. I sensed anger in them as well, but they are not my Padawans."

"That is not why I fought." Aola held Cadus's gaze steadily, letting him know that she had fought because she was provoked.

Cadus watched both intently for a long moment, staring at them, staring through them...Seeing past the barriers they had set up to protect themselves.

"In future fights, you must control your anger. You must learn emotional intensity and emotional content. You must never exhaust yourselves when battling a stronger opponent, never expect an enemy to miss an opportunity to do you harm, for you are both Jedi and every single attack coming at you is designed to kill."

Aola stood still, confused. Cadus wasn't lecturing them about the fight. He was merely giving out advice when it came to combat. Aola didn't want to get a lecture about it later. She didn't want Deo or Hanna to be babies about the confrontation.

"If I was wrong in fighting, it only means Hanna and Deo were also in the same loop."

Cadus eyed the young woman, deep in thought.

"They are the ones that started it. They are the ones that threw the fruit, they wanted us to fight them. They had to use the force to throw fruit at us. It is not my fault solely or Aola's." Talisibeth seconded.

Cadus's expression turned a little sad. "Training boys and girls to become Knights is dangerous if they possess much anger. Jedi Masters argue there is the risk of turning to the dark side. I argue that everyone has a choice to make, regardless of who or what is going on around them."

Aola and Talisibeth both held their heads high, speaking with the utmost conviction.

"I won't turn."

Cadus observed them both for a long moment, shaking his head.

He neither slowed his stride nor turned back.

"Both of you gather your belongings and meet me at the entrance. Bring Arto with you Aola."

A moment later he was gone, as quickly and silently as he had appeared.

For a long minute, both girls could only stare at the empty air in shock.