MistiWhitesun: Okay, that made a lot more sense. And thanks for pointing out the exact place. I'll edit that eventually, but it may take a while. I wrote about half of this months ago. I tend to worry that I will end up fixing things over and over on the parts already written and lose the momentum to keep writing new chapters. My plan is to finish this at some point and then go back to change the weird sentences and so on. I'm kind of iffy on this part, not sure if its too gory or too mild. By the way, are the lines distracting?
The room was as Anakin remembered from his last visit.
Gruesomely bad décor, and worse company, he thought.
Grating laughter followed his entrance, immediately provoking a desire to throw something heavy at its source. Better yet, to toss that source somewhere where it could receive the appreciation it deserved. Somewhere like a reactor shaft, or a heap of blazing wreckage.
The Emperor appeared to be alone, his usual guards nowhere in sight. The reluctant visitor wasn't sure why, but that felt like an ominous sign.
Venomous yellow eyes observed Anakin with amusement.
"Well, Solo. You seem to have inherited Vader's fashion sense if nothing else. It is unfortunate that you have failed to grasp the power you were born into. Such a shame to see that potential wasted. Have you nothing to say for yourself?"
There was a tone of mocking concern and sincerity in Palpatine's voice that made Anakin's still-unfamiliar cybernetic hands clench. Anakin tried to speak, to tell the Sith precisely where he could put his ridiculous manipulations. His mouth seemed to be sealed shut, though.
The pain in his skull had been growing and now suddenly sharpened. Now Anakin could feel that it was not caused by stress at all.
Palpatine was breaking through his shields.
He felt disconnected from the world, as though exhausted. At the same time, he was overwhelmed by a blinding, insatiable flood of rage. The feelings carried him along, drawn as if by cords of steel by the intruding presence. There was an inescapable sensation of malice, like a horrible stench that clung to every corner of his mind. Worse, it felt like it burned whatever it touched, like it was fire.
As Anakin lunged forward, he heard the distinctive humming of an activated lightsaber. There was a flare of crimson light. The small, detached part of his awareness that could still think at all wondered where the lightsaber he held had come from. Had he been carrying it on his way here? Or had it been lying unnoticed somewhere in the shadows of this room?
It didn't matter. He had to obliterate every trace of this creature. The other mind directed him toward it. He couldn't resist, and didn't want to. This was all the Sith's fault. All the terror and pain of the past year. Destroy him, and it would all end.
He slashed at the image before him, oblivious to the fact that it never appeared to be damaged. The noise of the saber connecting with something was audible-- and then everything stopped.
The fury that had been bombarding him from outside suddenly ceased, his own anger draining away into confusion.
The hooded form faded away, and in its place lay two bodies in black trainee uniforms.
Anakin stumbled away, gagging.
"No. No. I can't. No." The strangled whispers and harsh breaths were amplified by the helmet and seemed as loud as screams in the silent room.
A hooded figure emerged from an area that had been obscured by the darkness. Chuckling without humor, Palpatine smiled at him. Then he began to speak, but Anakin did not notice.
First he had been horrified, but now everything felt so surreal that some part of him was sure this must be some sort of hideous dream. The Emperor had disappeared into thin air, and now here he was again. The other vision, which he would not think about, had appeared in what formerly looked like empty space. He would not look at it. It was not real. Nothing here could be real.
"—May yet prove yourself to be a worthy apprentice. You will be transferred to a different training group, of course. Perhaps the same one as your other little friends? I'm sure they will be delighted to see you."
Palpatine handed him a data sheet, which he took automatically. "I assume you can follow the directions without any foolishness, no attempts to leave the building? Excellent. You may leave."
Wandering aimlessly, Anakin didn't consider trying to escape. In fact, he tried not to be aware of anything. If he were to think, he would have to decide what was real.
He eventually recalled the data sheet, and examined it. Figuring he might as well head in a particular direction, he followed the written instructions.
He drifted to the turbolift in Corridor 14D, which was familiar to him. Then he took the turbolift to Level 8, which was not. Once he arrived there he found himself in the middle of a long hallway. He located the second door on the left, entered through it.
Anakin sat down in the first empty chair he spotted, unaware of the stares of the room's occupants. It didn't matter where he was, if none of this was really happening.