Shadow's Odyssey 2: The Chaos Continues
Anakin sat in the cockpit of his ship, thinking. Thinking about the way Luke had looked at him. Was killing that man necessary? Probably not. But it was his own fault! He shouldn't have gotten involved. He shouldn't have stood in his way.
Anakin's thoughts were interrupted by a transmission. He knew there was only one person it could be. He was scared to answer but even more scared of what would happen if he didn't. He answered the call.
But the image that appeared before him was not what he expected. It was not Shadow the hedgehog but instead a teenaged boy. For a moment, Anakin thought it might not actually be Sidious. But those thoughts scattered when he started speaking.
"Lord Vader, I see you have yet to deliver my new apprentice."
"The Jedi got in the way. Bringing him to you is going to be a bit more difficult than I anticipated."
"How unfortunate. I shall send General Grievous to assist you with the Jedi and anything else that might impede your progress."
As Petro watched Rouge take off, he marveled at the fact that she still had the strength to keep going. He felt ready to collapse where he stood. The flight back from Iego had only been a brief respite. And now he had to deal with the stress of Shadow wanting to destroy an entire planet. But Rouge seemed confident that she could stop him.
Bo-Katan had wanted to bring every ship they had and blow the superweapon up, but Tails informed them that the weapon would be able to charge and fire long before the shields were overwhelmed. They had to place all their faith in Rouge now. The best thing he could do right now was get some rest and regain his strength.
Anakin spied at the temple from a distance. Grievous stood behind him, just watching him. Sidious had never bothered to explain to him that this wasn't the real Grievous, but it wasn't necessary. Anakin could tell by the lack of insults thrown his way. In fact, Grievous hadn't spoken to him all since meeting him here.
He just… stared.
That made it increasingly obvious why he was actually here. He didn't need help fighting the Jedi and Sidious knew it. Grievous wasn't there to help, he was there to supervise. Which made it all the more important that he succeed this time.
Anakin turned to Grievous. "This will be a stealth mission. Stay out of sight until I find my son."
Luke was laying awake. He was exhausted but he couldn't sleep. After tossing and turning for a while, he decided to wander the halls. He thought about his father. Petro had said that whether or not he was evil depended on the reasons for his action.
But what were his reasons for killing Chirrut? Did he really believe that was a good thing? How warranted could that belief really be?
Luke pulled the green kyber crystal out of his pocket. It had been so long since he had found it in the cave on Illum that he had forgotten he even had it. At first, he believed the Force guided him to the crystal because it wanted him to become a Jedi. But looking back on it now, it seemed like the Force was trying to keep him away from his father. Did the Force believe his father was evil?
Luke's thoughts were interrupted by a small sound. At first he thought he imagined it. But then he heard it again. And again. He listened closer. It sounded like slow metallic clanking.
Luke followed the sound. He couldn't tell where it was coming from, but it didn't get any louder or softer no matter which way he turned. But then the sound suddenly stopped completely.
Luke decided that he must have been imagining it and he needed sleep more than he thought. He turned around to head back to his room and nearly ran right into Anakin. Luke stumbled backwards.
"It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you."
Luke kept his distance. "What are you doing here?"
"You need to come with me. Now."
"Why?"
"You're not safe here."
"Why should I trust you?"
"Luke you don't understand what you are up against. If you stay with the Jedi, you will die."
"And if I refuse, will kill me like you did Chirrut?"
Anakin was getting frustrated. "Luke, I'm trying to protect you!"
"By killing everyone around me?"
"They're going to die anyway! It's already too late for them. But you still have a chance. Just come with me and everything will be fine." Anakin held out his hand imploringly.
Luke backed away. "I'm not leaving."
A metallic arm reached down from the ceiling and grabbed him. Luke looked up and saw Grievous hanging down from the ceiling. He screamed.
Sonic heard the cry and saw Knuckles jerk awake; the echidna having chosen to stay by Sonic's side since there were no Emeralds to guard.
"Stay here." Knuckles ordered before he ran off to investigate.
Sonic followed this order for a whole two seconds before hopping after him. It was Knuckles who discovered the intruders first, Anakin and Grievous fleeing through the halls with Luke trapped in Grievous's arms.
Knuckles charged for them but was hit with Force Lightning. Sonic stared charging a spin dash, but Anakin hit him Force freeze, leaving him stuck mid spin dash.
Anakin and Grievous continued their escape. Katooni and Gungi came out and blocked the hall.
"Let him go!" Shouted Katooni.
Anakin Force Choked them both. "Go on! I'll meet you at the ship!"
Grievous ran on ahead. Anakin slowly walked over to the Jedi and drew his lightsaber.
"Your resistance is futile. You never had a chance. Luckily for you, I'll make your deaths quick."
Anakin felt the barrel of a blaster pistol poke him in the back of the head.
"Stop it."
Anakin didn't need to turn around to know who it was. "Leia? What are you doing here?"
"What am I doing? What are you doing? What are you doing with the monster that attacked our home?"
"You shouldn't be here."
"I'm here because I need to be here. A madman is taking over the galaxy and you seem to be helping him."
"You can't get involved in this. You need to go into hiding somewhere and stay hidden."
"Why? What is going on here?"
"You can't defeat Sidious. His empire is inevitable. The Jedi are going to die and so will you if you stay with them!"
"I'm not going to leave these people for dead! That goes against everything I've been taught!"
The blaster was pulled from Leia's hands and Anakin turned around. "Then you're coming with me."
