Author's/Author's friend's Note: Hi everybody! This is Savanna here; I'm posted this story for Regeane cause I lent a hand in its creation. (And cause Reg is lazy, and I'm avoiding my own fics) Poor Reg was complaining that she couldn't write a torture scene and I was dying to try out some twisted ideas so we decided to pair up. ^.^ Just so you know, all the parts from the torturers point of view are mine.

Disclaimer: We own nothing from the Starwars universe, however Alliston and Janiston are *mine*. ^.^ And I've fallen hopelessly in love with my evil characters so I hope to give them there own little story. So please don't use without permission.

The Revenge of Darkness (Chapter 6)

Pain

            All he knew was pain. As he struggled to escape its strangling grasp, the searing pain increased and all around him he heard voices screaming. Out of all this chaos one voice came clear:

            "Help us! Your students are going to die! What is the code?"

            He struggled to find some semblance of peace, but as he did so he felt that all he had to do was cede the code for the pain to end. However, in the back of his pain-ridden mind, that one place untouched by the intrusive voice, he knew he couldn't give up that important piece of information.

*********

            The torturers watched the blonde Jedi writhing as he fought the bonds holding him down.

            Probably too maddened with pain to know, the torturer thought as he ran a pale, slender finger over the deadly sharp ridges of the curved blade in his hand. He took a step forward, his eyes sliding to the side to glance at his partner, seating in a chair against the wall, eyes closed in concentration as he worked his way into the Jedi's mind.

            The pattern was an old one. They had been doing this for many years together. As far back as Alliston could remember they had been partners in this ancient art. He watched for that split second change in expression, and when he saw it he smiled, and dug the curved blade deep into the muscles of the Jedi's upper arms.

            The Jedi arched off the table, a silent scream escaping his lips. With another small smile, Alliston slowly pulled the blade out. The curved ridges caught on the muscle, and dragged the flesh with it.

            This time the scream was heard.

            With a gentle look, so out of place in this scene, Alliston stared at the muscles and skin hanging from the blade. Blood dripped down the handle of the knife, and trailed down the Jedi's torn arm. Pooling on the floor, the dark blood barely showed on the black floor, but it glinted in the light, seeming to still hold life.

            The dripped down Alliston's fingers, and without a thought he brought them to his mouth. Tongue flicking out, he think the think trail from his fingers.

            "Sweet," he said softly, before putting to blade down and reaching for the next.

**********

            He suddenly felt a horrible pain rip through him, and he screamed. Meanwhile that presence that had spoken to him earlier was approaching his weakened mental barriers, but the strength to push it away seemed out of Luke's reach. It easily approached his shielding, and probed in, trying to get into his inner mind.

            In terror, he used his last reserved strength to push the intruding presence away. As he did so he felt as sharp pain and the move drained him, old memories were pulled into his conscious mind. The memories bit deeply only to be shoved aside by an immense electrical shock, so familiar; shaking through his body much like the Emperor's dark energy had. He was almost positive that just as the pain became a fiery burn he heard a voice whisper, "Strong Jedi," but he couldn't be absolutely sure as the pain overwhelmed everything.

**********

            Alliston was reaching for the shockers, when his partner Janiston spat out a vicious curse.

            Alliston's hand froze, and he turned to look over. His emerald green eyes were heavy lidded with pleasure, but aware. "What his it?" he asked quietly, a tinge of concern in his tone.

            "Bastard pushed me out," Janiston spat out in his gravelly voice, his eyes still closed and his body tense.

            "Ahh," Alliston replied, his hand returning to the shockers.

            He leaned over to the Jedi's ear. The Jedi was sweating, pained gasps escaping with each breath. Blood dripped down his mutilated arms.

            "Strong Jedi," Alliston whispered, then pressed the shockers into the Jedi's chest and reveled the screams that burst forth.

            Humming a little, Alliston pressed harder and smiled.

**********

            He screamed long and harsh; and that presence crept back. He tried to push it but it pushed back and for one single glorious moment he forgot the pain. But a new burst rolled through him, forcing him to split his focus between the pain and the presence, weakening both fronts. A very bad idea, as the presence rushed forward. The exact moment it hit his shielding the pain doubled and hit his nervous system; destroying what little control he had left.

            He screamed until he couldn't scream any more, but still he tried. The pain wouldn't stop. It went on and on, rolling through him like a wave.

            Again the presence probed at his mind; "Let me help you! Tell me the code and it will stop!"

            Luke tried to speak but a jolt of pain broke his focus once more. He struggled to hole on to the edges. The presence was close, pressuring him. Finding a last bit of strength he mental forced the presence back, "I will never tell you!" That last effort cost him as the pain shook through his body, but he felt the presence flinch back.

            "It will never end. Welcome to the rest of your life!" the presence yelled with malicious glee, and then was gone.

*********

            Alliston pulled back, dropping the shockers on a nearby table and looked over at Janiston. The other man's eyes were open, and he was scowling at the sweaty and bloody form of the Jedi sprawled out on the table, limbs twitching randomly and the last few lingering shocks ran through his body.

            "Bastard," Janiston growled. Alliston glanced down and ran one hand down the mangled arms. A groan escaped the Jedi as a slender finger slid across the open wounds, pulling at the raw tissue.

            "What's wrong?" Alliston asked without looking up.

            "He kept me out. He's stronger than we thought." Janiston leaned back in his chair and let out a tired sigh. His body radiated tension and fatigue. 

            "Perhaps in mind, but I think not in body." Alliston dug his fingers in and watched in silence as the Jedi arched and moaned. Turning, he looked at his spent partner. "Take a break, I'll work on him." He grasped a pair of nerve distorters.

            Janiston stood, but before he left he looked over at Alliston, who was staring down at the prone Jedi. His bloody fingerprints lay on the tools but that didn't bother Janiston, in fact he barely noticed it.

            "Careful," he warned. "He's near the breaking point and he need to get that code." Alliston nodded but didn't look up and with one last scowl at the Jedi, Janiston left.

            "Just us two for a little while, Jedi. Let's see how strong you are."

            Connecting the nerve distorters to the base of the Jedi's neck he smiled slightly.

            "Pain can be very beautiful," he murmured, and pressed down hard.

            The Jedi's body shook. His face was pulled into a grimace of agony. His mouth was open and gasping, but his throat was too raw to let the scream escape. Faint mewls were the only sounds able to make it past his tightened up throat. Everything twitched as his nerves set fire. Tears trickled from his tightly clenched eyes.

            "Beautiful," Alliston whispered.

            The Jedi was nearing the point of no return Alliston could easily see that. When Janiston returned there would be no strength left to stop him from breaching the Jedi's barriers. Of course it was unlikely he would survive long after his inner boundaries were broken but after they had what the needed the Jedi wouldn't matter.

            Alliston felt a moments regret but it was fleeting. The beauty only lasted a little while, Alliston knew that. It needed to be savored while it lasted. Pressing down harder, Alliston watched the expressions flit across the Jedi's face and hummed.

*********

            Luke knew that he was balancing very precariously on the line that separated sanity from insanity. He struggled to stay rational, but all of his reasoning had been shattered by the constant waves of excruciating pain. He was fighting to remember who his friends were, and even, who he was. All of his training was muddled, and confused. Things ran together, and swirled around in his mind, swimming in the pain that engulfed him. He was aware that the hobbits had somehow been separated from him and he hoped that they had managed to escape and hide form the Troopers and the other Force-sensitives of the Empire.

            He was jolted out of even this relative peace by the fiery pain that ran through his nerves like molten lava, searing pathways through his body. He had known that they used pain to achieve their goals but he had never imagined that it would go this far. The balance was tipping and he was losing any grip he had on his rational mind. Perhaps they were over estimating what a Jedi could handle, or maybe they just didn't care. 

            As the pain ran rampant through his body, his mind slowly began to darken and he feared that this was the end. There was nothing that could be done to keep his will from being beaten down by the pain, and the tormentive presence, that had thankfully not returned yet. He had been beaten by the brutality of those who held him captive.

            He just wanted peace.

            Luke's mind cried out for help, even through he knew none could here him. And all of the sudden a women's voice whispered in his mind: "Luke! Do not give up."

            He saw a woman dressed in some type of battle outfit appear before him and hold out her hands to him. "Come to me my son. You must be strong as I was for so long."

            Luke looked at this strange women, fearing yet another trap. Yet a faint memory made him think that perhaps it was not. A smell trickled across his senses and he breathed it in, it smelled like safety; like home. A different home than the sandy deserts of Tatootine.

            "Son?"

            The woman simply smiled. "You must remember the name Padme Neberrie."

            Again came that faint sense of recognition, like a memory from so long ago it had faded into little but feelings.

            Luke stretched his hands out to her and she took them. Her hands were warm and callused but gentle. They too stirred those faint memories/feelings.

            Abruptly the scene changed from dark and deep to one of beauty. Luke stared about him; this felt like home.

            "This is a representation of my homeworld, a place of peace."

            Luke stared about him. A beautiful city rose, greenery covering it, and water falling enhanced its aspects. Then everything faded away, returning to darkness and pain. But the peace and light the beautiful city had brought lingered with Luke. He turned seeking the young women, but she was gone.

            "Remember. Padme Neberrie of Theed," her voice rang out clear and pure in the dark, before faded away completely, leaving Luke calmer and more focused.

            The pain rolled over him once more, but he didn't sink any lower. Aided by the memory stirred by the visit of the women, his mother he realized. Vision or memory, Luke couldn't tell, but it gave him the strength he needed to fight for his sanity.

            Then that presence was back. It seemed stronger and more rested than it had been before. Luke tried frantically to repair his damaged mental shields with a bit of his new found strength, when, suddenly, a fiery burst of pain shredded at his concentration. He screamed in both pain and anger as he felt that presence move in with deadly accuracy, rip through his weakened shields and tear the code from his mind.

            The pain suddenly stopped, the absence so sudden Luke felt his whole body shudder. He was tense, waiting fro the next strike. Yet it didn't come.

            Luke struggled to open his eyes, tears of pain gluing them shut. With blurry vision he saw the hobbits standing in the doorway, blasters in hand. Relief washed through him, sweeping away some of the lingering pain. Trying to open his mouth to speak he found his voice gone from strain, and new pain scratched at him for his attempt to use his abused throat muscles. Knowing that there was one thing he had to do, he gathered the last bit of his strength and reached out to touch the minds of his torturers. He found them unconscious; knocked out cleanly with the force.

            That last important knowledge in mind, his eyes flicked to Frodo, seeing the faraway look in his eyes. His body shook as he saw the horrified and sickened looks in the other's eyes as they stared at him.

            He couldn't take any more. His safety insured with the unconsciousness of his torturers and the presence of his friends, he allowed himself to tumble into unconsciousness and a healing darkness, unable to impart that last important bit of information about the code, but needed to be released form the pain.

            His last thought was that he wished he had the strength to warn his students. Then everything was gone.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Hehehehe, that's all folks, I hope you've enjoyed it, I don't think it was all that dark personally. I have to say that Alliston and Janiston have really caught my attention. In fact I've already created a whole background for the two of them and Reg is bugging me like mad to write it up, so that's what I've been doing.

So if any of you care ^.^ Alliston and Janiston will soon be staring in their own little series, of course Alliston isn't going to be quite so creepy in this new series, the whole creepiest factor was just to see how many times I could make Reg shudder. ^.^ Boy, did that work well.

Anyway, if you want to send feedback to me, I can be found under Savanna here at FF.net or you can email me at sara13@sympatico.ca.

Now let's hope Reg won't be so lazy with the next chapter. Of course I already know what's going to happen but you won't get me to whisper a word of it. *grin* Bye, bye. Please review, after all there are two authors you have to feed now.