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IIIIIOIIIII
Part Three
Just as the crackling fire world of Mustafar was hell, there was a keeper of it, a demon figure who directed the flow of agony with cold, bloodless fingers.
He wore ebony in a seamless shroud, spilling over his head, down his shoulders, to brush against the volcanic soil.
Obi-Wan experienced a brief, fearful sensation. If Master Yoda's opponent stood before him now, did that mean… But no. He led the thought away from him, into the soothing depths of the Force, where it could not affect him. There was no Master Yoda. There was no Obi-Wan. And, Force willing, there was no Darth Sidious.
A curdled smile stretched across the massacred face. "Master Kenobi."
The Jedi knew that his weapon had been discarded, and was probably reduced to kindling by now. Your weapon is your life. He hoped that wasn't true after all.
"I must say," The creature that had been Palpatine drawled, "This is unexpected."
You're telling me. He felt exposed, robe forgotten on the landing pad, face and hair battered by the heat, while Sidious stood within the black confines of his Imperial robes. In shadows, where he had always been, waiting. Hiding. "Why would that be? I'd think with all the superior abilities of a Sith, you'd have already known."
Sidious laughed, and it was a sharp, wheezing, sour sound. "Come now, Master Kenobi. Even I will admit that you aren't completely brainless. There is no contest here, you must be aware of that." The bleached lip curled with amusement, "Although, Sith are a Jedi's specialty, are they not? Or are you Jedi merely proficient in creating Sith Lords?"
The anger swirled like a fatal tempest in Obi-Wan, but he took a steady breath, and it fled him. "I prefer to kill them." He replied calmly.
The conflagration was blanketed behind Sidious, and when he spoke, the lava streams began to roil, stirred by his words. "Ah, Kenobi, so you have done both. Quite a feat, for someone of your…limited skill." The Dark Lord stepped slowly toward him, "You have hindered my plans for too long." He rasped, bearing the edges of rotten teeth, " Luckily, your Master was able to help me along—he brought Vader out of the anonymity of Tatooine, the blind fool. And then died at the hands of my student. A lovely victory for the Sith.
"But not so lovely as what has been accomplished today. You Jedi, so at ease behind your ivory walls…now, at last, stained with the blood of arrogance." The round, unnaturally molten eyes peered at Obi-Wan, and his voice dwindled to a sharp whisper, "But not yours. I have watched you, Master Kenobi, longer than I have watched Lord Vader. The arrogance that destroyed your compatriots…it does not exist in you. You haven't the confidence of them, and with good reason.
"Everything around you has a way of dying, doesn't it? But you survive, grasping onto the fringes, dangling from cliffs. How long do you think that will sustain you from your fate? It's high time someone pried your fingers from the edge, and let you fall, finally, into darkness."
Obi-Wan stared into the face, sagged and rippled, as though the Chancellor had deflated into the Emperor. If ever there was a symbol of his own life's pain, it was this gray countenance, this soulless surface of a monster. Sidious had orchestrated the slaying of Qui-Gon, the death switch in the legions of clones, the decay of his dear apprentice's moral core. He had done all of this, and more, and now he stood before Obi-Wan wearing a delighted grin.
"There is nowhere for me to fall. The darkness is already here, at rock bottom." Obi-Wan replied softly, "And here is where the darkness will remain."
"The Darkness cannot be contained by any Jedi, Kenobi. Not Qui-Gon Jinn, or Anakin Skywalker, or Yoda. They all fought, and they all lost. Every one of them. And every one of them had more power than you do."
"True," Obi-Wan conceded, "But there is only one Force, from which every being draws its power."
At this, the Sith chuckled. "But there are two facets to the Force, aren't there, Master Kenobi?" Sidious' voice was a chilled ribbon through the scarlet smoke, "There is the Light, and the Dark. You claim to be of goodness, of Light, and yet…you have touched on the wealth of strength that is the Dark Side. You know what it can do, if you stray even slightly from the Light. Think of what you could have, if you embraced it."
Obi-Wan blinked once against the memory of Anakin, spent and sobbing, the murder bleeding out of his eyes. "Your old apprentices have tried to convince me of that, but I have yet to see where this view has merit. The horned beast from Naboo is dead. Dooku is dead."
"And with each death came a better replacement. When I die, Vader will assume my throne, and his child will be the new Sith apprentice. I must say, Master Kenobi, it is tempting to spare your miserable life, so that you may watch my Empire flourish, Vader beside me at the helm."
For the first during the exchange, Obi-Wan smiled. "There is no Darth Vader, oh wise Emperor. You can claim no apprentice this day."
"Such faith you have in those you care for," Sidious snarled, "But you have failed them all. You could not save your Master, or guide your pupil. You are nothing, Obi-Wan Kenobi."
And, of course, Obi-Wan agreed. He was nothing, for he was submerged in the Force, and in it, there was no need for names or identities. He wasn't Obi-Wan Kenobi. He was in the Force…and so he could be nothing…while also being everything. Sidious could talk until his throat bled. The Force would not cower beneath the pounding thunder of his speech.
"And you are alone in the Darkness." Obi-Wan observed, a sudden wind rustling his tunics and catching strands of hair in its twisting trail, "May it always be this way."
"Oh, I think there is change coming, Master Jedi. Your lightsaber is lost in the fire, and soon, you will be."
"You speak of arrogance," Obi-Wan countered coolly, "Perhaps because you know it so well."
When the first bolts of electric ice shot out from the fingertips, Obi-Wan was ready. He held out his hands, palms facing the Sith, and the azure assault went flying back to those same spindly nails.
Visibly unnerved, Sidious took a half step away from him. "You survive on luck, you worthless excuse for a warrior."
"Call it what you will," Obi-Wan said in turn, smiling faintly, "But the fact of the matter is, I still survive."
"That seems unlikely," The Emperor croaked, and with a broad grin, shot another swarm of lightning.
Obi-Wan grunted, again capturing the deadly deluge in his hands. It came to him, dully and from far away, that he had never been able to do this before. But yesterday was another lifetime, another reality. In this one, he would do what he could. He would push, he would cause his limits to splinter and disintegrate.
There was nothing he could hold back. The Force was swelling, the Force was everywhere…and it most certainly was with him.
The deflected blue flames came barreling at Sidious, and he emitted a low howl that echoed through the hills and volcanoes, snatching the sparks in his grasp before they could claim his skin.
"You think you can defeat me, Master Kenobi?" The voice that bellowed out from the mottled throat was not that of a man's; it was every rasp and tone of evil, the festered cacophony of inhumanity. "You have no idea what I can do to you…what I will do to you!"
Obi-Wan's voice, in turn, was measured, placid—untouched by intimidation. "I thought you would've realized that what is done to me is of no consequence."
"You think that way now, but wait. Wait until I have crushed every last Jedi ideal from your pitiful soul, and you are utterly broken at my feet. You had all the power of the Universe in your hands, Kenobi, and you led him right into mine."
"Then where is he, Sidious?"
"You," The Emperor snorted, "You think you have saved him. But when I have purged the last of your blood, it is Vader I will call upon, to land the killing blow. To silence you forever. He can be turned again. It was so easy the first time. Most assuredly, I will have my apprentice again."
And Obi-Wan heard the words from the venomous mouth, and then heard more words, from mouths that had been sewn by traitorous, brutal death. He heard Mace Windu, and sweet Luminara, and the little children; he heard all the Masters who had taught him, all the initiates he had instructed, the old women and men, the babies. He heard Qui-Gon Jinn.
He heard every soul that had been struck down in the name of the new Empire, for they were gathered now in the Force, welling with Light, making it stronger than it had ever been.
He heard the purity of the Force's call, as he had never heard it in his lifetime.
It told him that Anakin Skywalker was now a father, and that as long as Sidious lived, those children, and their young parents, were in constant danger. It told him that Anakin could still bring balance; if this were done in the name of Anakin Skywalker, the prophecy would be fulfilled.
It told him this, and then, he did exactly as the Force asked.
To Sidious' boast of retrieving Anakin Skywalker from the Light, Obi-Wan Kenobi swallowed and said, "Never."
From the hands of Obi-Wan came not a storm of cerulean fury, but the simple might of the Force, colorless, shapeless. It came from his hands, from his body, leeching everything from him, to create the strength necessary to shove a colossal burst of energy at the Emperor.
The wave was invisible, and yet, its path could somehow be seen, flying towards its target.
Sidious threw up his hands, in a desperate attempt at deflection. He cried out, pushing against the sheer power.
Obi-Wan closed his eyes, and there, in the center of himself, he depleted every last reservoir, emptying it into his hands, coming at the prone form from every possible angle.
The Force soared within him, galvanized by those slain.
This was not vengeance. This was duty.
He persisted, never halting for a sliver of a second, driving more and more at Sidious, all he had, all the Force could offer him.
The Emperor was screaming; his putrid voice muffled beneath the layers, going on into infinity.
When at last the wild discord ebbed, Obi-Wan gradually opened his eyes.
There, a few feet away, lay a crumpled pool of obsidian and gray. With difficulty, he stepped closer, his legs heavy and trembling. Palpatine and Sidious were strewn on the rocks, groaning, barely moving.
Obi-Wan exhaled raggedly, reaching down to unclip the saber from the dark waist.
Which is when the saber abruptly ignited, and a blood-red blade was hurtling at him, held in the splotched white fingers of the severely wounded Emperor. The eyes were opened to watery slits, glaring at him with hatred.
Obi-Wan narrowly escaped the stab, wrenching the hilt from the icy grasp, gasping for air. Unarmed, Sidious tried in vain to rise, but then lay still, a gurgle bubbling up from his throat.
The Jedi stood there a moment, weaving, hoping that what he had given would, for once, be enough.
When he dropped to the ground, he was still holding his enemy's weapon.
IIIIIOIIIII