Author's Notes: I'm actually panicking - I really want to get this done. Tell me I can actually get this done before May 19th! I'm beginning to think that the end of the story keeps moving away from me out of spite… ;)

This chapter could have been better, methinks. But I don't have time to mull over things forever. Credit is due to Jude Watson for a certain recycled line in this chapter from her book, "Darth Maul's Journal", which I confess that I love, and if you haven't read it, do so. It's surprisingly good, especially for a children's book. In fact, it's rather grim for a children's book, if I'm honest… She writes a great Sidious. It's a shame her latest SW books haven't been quite so 'good'; her Dooku was terrible in "Legacy of the Jedi"… or so I think. ;) I think that's half the reason I don't get on with the EU - the authors don't write characters how I see them.

And have you all seen the latest trailer…! WOW! Go Sidious, go Sidious, go!

Padawanmage: My kneecaps are still intact, so either I've published this chapter quick enough for you, or I've tamed mini-Grievous. ;)

Kynstar: Cliff-hangers, the most primitive way of keeping people's attentions. ;) You love them really.

Cmdr. Gabe E.: Wow, how did you manage to write five separate reviews in such a short space of time? You always manage to say useful things, as well - thank you for your time. And of course Palpatine isn't gonna die - that'd be a good way to end my story: 'And the Sith Master went splat and they all lived happily ever after'. ;) LOL.

REV042175: Bloody Hell, another new reviewer! Welcome to my twisted altraverse, and thank you for your comments.

DarkAngel: I wouldn't have waited three months to publish the last chapters if I hadn't had good reason, believe me. :) Don't hurt me…

Scarlet Dragon: We haven't met before either, have we? I'm glad you find my story enjoyable - and you're quite right about our resident Sith Master…

Part 42 - One Apprentice

The blade swung, swung, swung… until CLASH.

The Count drew his lightsabre back into his hand and gathered his resolve - the Chancellor had simply deflected the reckless assault with his own swiftly-drawn blade. There was now a standoff.

"Lord Vader," Palpatine murmured.

The shadows behind the Chancellor suddenly took form again, and the Assassin appeared by Palpatine's side; there was something about this stranger that made him seem to be a mere facet of the darkness, able to merge with it at will.

"Yes, my Master?" the man asked from beneath the swathes that hid all of his visage but his laundry-blue eyes.

"Please take Miss Amidala aside," Palpatine went on, his gaze not leaving Dooku for a moment, "I have 'business' with my old friend here."

Serenn, however, was not about to play along. As soon as he saw the shadowy stranger make a move toward Padmé, he fast took a grip of her arm and pulled her back into his chest, holding his lightsabre across of her. This wasn't a threat to the young Nubian, more of a gesture of protection, and he was determined not to let Vader take her away from him. Padmé didn't struggle against Serenn's hold, either; after the prior 'revelation' session, her mind was simply frothing with irresolution and, right now, between siding with Dooku or siding with the Sith Master, there almost seemed to be no contest; she was simply numb with shock and terror, and thus content to remain where she was.

As the Chancellor watched this show, meanwhile, he laughed and spun his 'sabre about deftly in his hands. A smile, in turn, crept upon 'Lord Vader's' features, for the scenario seemed equally amusing to him. "Come now, Tyranus," Palpatine murmured, opening his hands out in gesture and taking a step in the Count's direction, "We need no more of this."

Serenn still refused to let go of Padmé and held his weapon fast before them both - his mind was a muddle of thoughts and regrets, but he still had some dignity left intact. He could see how everything had worked out, how the Sith Master had aimed to replace him all along (he had guessed that this would be the case for a long time, but he'd never thought that he'd have so much to lose by it, as he did now) and he was determined not to let Lord Sidious, or his 'Lord Vader', have the last laugh.

"It is surprising how things change one, don't you think?" Palpatine drawled on, looking his blade up and down for a moment, "For instance, you are clearly not the same Count Dooku whom I first took under my wing, now, are you?"

Serenn remained silent, his eyes constantly flickering in the way of Vader; he was filled with a feeling of foreboding and he knew something was about to give, yet he had no idea from whence the attack would come. Was Sidious going to set this 'Vader', this contender for his position, on him…? It looked likely. Either way, something had to yield within the next few moments - this strained interval couldn't last.

The Count should have kept his mind on the present rather than on the probable, though, for he might then have been prepared for the Chancellor's sudden onslaught: In the blink of an eye, raw lightning sprang from the Chancellor's fingertips and, coursing through Dooku's body, sent the man flying with a jolt across the room!

Serenn eventually hit the far wall with a painful crack, then tumbled onto the floor.

Padmé, meanwhile, shrieked in shock, and turned with her hands raised to her face as she watched this devastating show of power. Her features went pale and she felt as though she were now alone in the void, her only protection gone and leaving her exposed to the terrible malice that clouded this room. Her mind was so fraught with worries and concerns that she was equally unprepared for the move Lord Vader now made: Opening his hand toward her, the mysterious man manipulated the Force and drew her to him, until she fell with a final thud against his chest. And there she was forced to remain, a prisoner in Darth Vader's grasp.

Dooku's vision swam as he tried to get back to his feet. It took him a moment, but he got there in the end, his gangling legs proving to be quite unstable beneath him. He then rose his line of sight to meet Palpatine's and, inhaling deeply, prepared himself for the worst…

Obi-Wan placed his headset over his head as he led the second wave of Republic fighters down toward the planet of Naboo. "All wings report in," he said, grasping the control levers hard and heaving a great sigh; 'here we go again' he thought, as the numerous clone troopers uttered their responses in turn over the comm' unit.

This done, he added, "All right lads, let's make it a clean job," and guided his ship on its way.

Wave One had found that the Federation presence on Naboo was rigid but surprisingly thin on the ground. The Trade Fed' had a fair amount of troops - enough to keep the civilians in order - but no vast Droid Army, at least nothing to rival the scale that was stationed here before and during the Battle of Naboo, ten years ago. The plan, now that Wave One had grabbed the Federation's attention, was to draw out the army from the cities and purge them in the country beyond. This simple plan was theoretically sound but vastly unoriginal, and getting the Federation to actually shift themselves and play along was another thing altogether; they might follow, but then again, they might have a clever day and opt out.

The Second Wave of fighters broke through the planet's atmosphere and made their way to the bright and beautiful surface below. Obi licked his lip as he saw the familiar domes of the Nubian architecture come into view, as well as their grand waterfalls and wide, grassy plains. It was a picturesque but doomed planet.

"Blue Group, break away, come in from the east. Yellow Group, carry on and make a pass at the sentries over Ohta Gunga. Red Group, you're with me. Exactly as we have planned, boys - move out!"

A round of 'Rogers' and what-not drifted General Kenobi's way, and he then set his mind on the task at hand.

Serenn had to call upon the Force to aid him in this contest, for he would have no chance otherwise. Taking a great leap backward, he watched as the Sith Master pounced like a cat, defying both his age and form as he vaulted from the raised dais and landed solidly on the carpet before him. The Chancellor then swung his lightsabre down upon the taller man. Doing all that he could to focus his senses in return, Serenn simply angled his blade up and parried the blow. The two weapons whined and groaned against one-another as they met, and the Count shuddered beneath it.

They glared at each other, daring their opponent to make the next move. It was Dooku who eventually decided to break the deadlock and, with a roar, he threw off Palpatine's blade and sent several cleaving shots flying into the man, each of which the Chancellor parried with gentle, uninterested swings; he just wasn't being pushed. So the Count changed tactic, wheeled about, and came at Sidious from behind with a low sweep at his legs.

The Chancellor again proved himself every bit the acrobat, and flipped over it, landing low and replicating the attack back at Dooku. Serenn in turn cleared the blade with a short leap.

Lord Vader snuffed from across the room at this whilst he gently began to rub Padmé's shoulders. She exhaled shakily in response, the caress serving to do everything but soothe her, and she had to close her eyes as a trickle of the old coldness made its way into her veins. 'Force, not again' she prayed.

Dooku leapt back and back once more, his long legs hindering his movements rather than aiding them. This had always been a combat weakness for him, but rarely had it become such a problem before; the Chancellor was putting him to the ultimate test and, because Palpatine had trained the Count in some of the ways of the Sith, the man obviously knew many of his old protégé's weaknesses… something which didn't help Dooku in the slightest.

Padmé watched warily as the two elder men fought before her; Dooku was fighting as well as usual, but he just couldn't seem to throw off the smaller, more agile Palpatine, and was now being forced to back-step across the office in retreat. Something about the whole thing was unreal, though - it was shocking. Here before her were not two young men, in their prime, but two elder men, and to see two elderly men fight one another was almost horrific. Yet they didn't have the aura of old men - their bodies had defied their ages, and they were as fit as any person half their age, if not younger. The Force it seemed could be a great gift, as well as a curse…

As the two combatants moved across the chamber, Vader made sure to keep out of their way, watching as the fight moved from the back to the front, before then grounding itself for some time on the dais around the Chancellor's desk. Dooku tried to use the table to his advantage, but it was of no use - he leapt upon it to gain some height, but this meant that, as Palpatine sent him down to the floor with a powerful Force-push, he had to fall twice as far, and it hurt twice as much.

Before the Chancellor's blade could then come down on his body, Dooku hurled himself back onto his feet with a fluid acrobatic flip, and took a renewed hold of his lightsabre just in time to parry the next great volley of attacks that were laid upon him.

Despite Serenn's skill, it wasn't long before his fatigue really began to show through - after many weeks of eating a poor diet on an isolated world, where every day had posed a new challenge, one could only expect that he was far from in top physical condition. And the Chancellor took advantage of this. He made Dooku move again and again into the defensive, and threw every possible move at him that would serve to tire the Count only the more rapidly. And when, after a tirade of attacks, he gave the man a moment's breathing space, he thrust his hand out toward him.

The Force rumbled like the vast clouds of a thunderstorm and Padmé could tell, as a shiver ran down her back, that the result was going to be harsh.

There was a split-second moment, where Serenn and Palpatine's eyes held one-another, before, as if yanked back by a rope, the Count flew backwards through the window, his body and limbs spinning out of control as he tumbled through the glass and out onto the ledge beyond…

Serenn groaned as his vision came back to him. As he pushed himself back to his feet, fragments of glass tinkled across the permacrete, dropping from his clothes and hair, and he felt further sharp shards cut into his hands and knees from below. Once he stood fully erect he looked about himself - there was a fairly wide ledge here, outside of the long windows, but it was not wide enough to be a comfortable duelling platform under any circumstances. And it was a long way down… Everyone knew how high the buildings on Coruscant were, the ones surrounding the senate and temple more so than anywhere else.

It then struck Serenn that he had lost his lightsabre. He patted all over his body, searching vainly across his belt before he then took to looking across the ledge for the lost weapon. In the process of this, he suddenly felt something hit him hard on the back. Freezing, Serenn listened as the offending article then dropped to the floor with an inelegant 'clunk'.

He swallowed.

With great reluctance, he turned to see Lord Sidious stood there, looking completely unruffled and with a fine smirk imprinted upon his visage. Dooku gave him a lingering, jaded gaze before he then turned is eyes down and saw his trusty 'sabre hilt lying there. Opening his hand, the weapon flew straight up into his bloodied palm, and he then held it back out before him, waiting for act two of the show.

"Shall we continue?" Sidious goaded, before his face turned sour and he whirled into his next attack.

The wind billowed up heavily from the cityscape below, thrusting the folds of their clothes aside and moulding them into their bodies as they fought. Their hair, too, rose in protest, like the hackles on a dog's back, whilst their eyes glowed like those of fierce cats. They battled viciously, throwing their weight behind each and every assault, yet they still somehow maintained an aura of finesse about them, of grace and refinement.

Their fight could almost have been choreographed for they moved so swiftly and smoothly, as if they had known long before of exactly where they were to move and to parry in this fight. One foot wrong would have ended it all.

Padmé inhaled, short on breath, as she continued to watch the contest from within the room; what she saw was nothing but a dance of death, for no fight like this could possibly ever leave both protagonists alive at the end. She felt Vader's fingers rub her shoulder again in a terribly gentle way, despite the fact he still held her with an unresisting rigidity… She did her best to ignore it.

The battle moved across the outer ledge, the ratio between the duellists being not unlike that of Maul to Qui-Gon years before, with Sidious clearly being the faster fighter. He just pounced, dodged and somersaulted around Dooku's increasingly slower, yet steadier moves, and did this all with such ease that it was terrifying. In fact Padmé was loathe to admit that Palpatine's style actually reminded her of a larger version of Yoda, which was of little comfort.

Serenn had always been a strong duellist, but right now he was not strong enough. His eyes were burning with concentration and rage, but physical exhaustion and mental anguish were eating him away from within. Sweat poured down his brow as he took Sidious's lightsabre against his, again and again, each time throwing it off and having to move back a little more to ward off the next attack, but his strength only ebbed with every move. It didn't help matters that, all the time, Palpatine's eyes simply served to taunt him and constantly gave him that look of 'surely you can do better!'. And then, with a thunderous blow - one which shook Serenn's every limb - Sidious finally drove Dooku down onto his knees…

Padmé swallowed hard; this was agonising to watch; it was the way the Count dropped, with his shoulders sagging and his poise oozing of defeat, that reminded her of what had happened earlier, when, as the Chancellor had taunted him, Serenn had given off that impression of utter remorse. It was almost heartbreaking… a man once so noble now so broken. But surely he couldn't just give up?

And yet it looked likely. He hung there, on his knees, eyes looking up to Palpatine as the other man swung his lightsabre lazily in a line over the Count's head.

Padmé struggled in Vader's grasp, thrusting her shoulders here and there in an attempt to loosen that iron grip, but to no avail; "Serenn!" she shouted.

It took him a moment to respond, but the Count eventually turned his gaze on her, his chest heaving with exhaustion and his eyes heavy. As he looked at her through an unbroken portion of the window, he saw her face, pallid through the glass, but fixed in an expression of utter desperation. Her eyes pleaded with him to get up, and silently entreated for him to carry on. And then, having taken all this into account, he saw a lone tear roll down her cheek - just one small tear, but something that meant so much to him.

Looking back up to Sidious as the Sith Master loomed over him, Dooku then tore himself back onto his feet and slung his lightsabre up with a renewed strength and vigour. Yes, he could fight on! but it would only be for her.

Padmé allowed herself a faint smile as she saw this, and because of that, she subsequently felt Vader's wrath as he dug his fingers painfully into her shoulder. She cringed, silently rebuked, but would not allow Vader the pleasure of gaining an easy victory, so she endured it all in silence.

On the Count now ploughed into Darth Sidious, his red blade crossing and clashing with the Sith Master's with a renewed, ferocious intensity, sizzling, crackling and sparking. But Sidious was far from phased; a great grin lit up his features and his eyes almost seemed to glow. "Come on, Tyranus!" he goaded, drawing him further back along the permacrete ledge.

Dooku knew it was a provocation, but he was too far beyond the line of rationality to even care; and so on he came, blinded by a rage that was so complete it penetrated his every nerve, bone and sinew.

"That's it!" Sidious laughed, continuing to thrust Dooku's every strike aside. "Kill me if you dare. Strike me down!"

And the Count's eyes said he would do it if he could, if the opportunity arose. And yet the Sith Master just did not seem to be tiring like he was.

And as if all this wasn't enough, strange things then began to happen: The Count's ears suddenly filled with pressure and the very fabric of time slowed before his eyes. Everything faded almost to grey, as if he were taking a back-seat to the present. There was a small, tingling sound in the pits of his ears - he could barely make it out - so he tried to ignore it, and continued to parry Palpatine's attacks, almost without thinking…

But it only got worse. He lunged at Sidious, was shoved aside, evaded the Sith Master's next shot, but was now struggling for sheer control of his senses. Everything was coming to him in echoes, slurring and unnatural. He shook his head and attempted to carry on once more, changing his tact and swinging around, before throwing his weight behind a risky cleaving shot.

Sidious blocked this with a callous chortle, which might have enraged Dooku further if he wasn't so distracted…

The tingling in Serenn's ears just grew louder and louder - it was becoming a clamour - yet the Count still tried to remain focused and carry on.

The Sith Master parried Serenn's next savage attack, as Dooku slung his blade down over his head; "Well, done old friend," he cackled, "Excellent!"

Dooku was clumsy in his next assault, however, by now far too distracted by the sensations in his head to be of any use in battle, and he merely reproduced his prior attack, thus allowing the Sith Master to guess what was coming. Sidious turned this gift to his advantage and trapped the Count's blade down against the floor, before he then swept Dooku's weapon aside and hurled a solid kick into his abdomen.

The lofty man doubled over, winded, and stumbled a little - but he hardly even registered what Sidious had done, for the clamour - which had now become deafening - was taking up all his thoughts. He cringed, flailed, and closed his eyes, staggering backward…

Sidious meanwhile quickly took this opportunity to vault over the Count's head, before taking up position behind him.

Padmé was still watching, filled with intrigue - she could tell that something was wrong with Serenn, yet she had no idea what.

Palpatine was now equally captivated by the Count's behaviour - though he was oblivious to the experience Dooku was having, he was still more than aware that the Force was somehow tightening and accumulating about Dooku's person. For a moment, the Sith Master paused in his tracks, and watched as the Count dropped his lightsabre and put his hands to his ears.

Padmé shook her head - what was wrong with him? Why was he stopping? Had he lost his mind?

The din just continued to increase in Serenn's ears - he gasped and cringed, tears filling his eyes as a dark pain manifested itself in his heart, sending his senses awry. "Stop it," he gasped, "Stop it!"

Then, it did stop, only to explode a second later in the biggest tumult of agony he had ever heard - hundreds and hundreds of cries and yells tore through his body and sent vicious icicles cutting through his veins. His head flew back as though knocked with an immense blow, and he felt a sweat rise all over his skin…

/…voices cried out in terror… suddenly silenced/

…and he screamed in pain.

Obi-Wan was in the middle of a complex flying manoeuvre, swerving over a triplet of Federation tanks, as they all took aim at him and prepared to fire, when he too felt a great horror fill his ears and eat up his heart.

He gasped in shock, as though the very chill of death had passed through him. Losing track of his manoeuvre, he recovered his mind just in time to pull up and prevent himself from crashing, like a kamikaze pilot, into the Trade Federation vehicles below.

Suddenly, he knew where he needed to be. And it wasn't here.

"Red Two, take command," he said hoarsely, his hands shaking, along with the rest of his body; his complexion had paled to a lifeless white and he was also covered in a feverish sweat; "Take over, commander," he repeated, "I have to go."

Red Two didn't question the General. The Militia might, of course, but right now, Obi-Wan didn't care. He had to get back to Coruscant…

Sidious left no more time - if one had an opportunity to be the victor, they should take it - so he swept his foot at Serenn's ankles and made the man's weary limbs collapse beneath him.

Dooku opened his eyes as he fell, things still seeming to be unreal, even once the inexplicable and terrible sensation had passed. The wind made his sweat-brimmed body feel cool and clammy, and on top of this, he was soon reminded about how tired he truly was, having almost forgotten that it was the Force alone that loaned him the strength to carry on.

His fighting spirit began to filter out in the wake of his delusion, and he faced the truth as he lay there, breathing deeply, that he couldn't win. His poor old limbs diminished back into the realm of reality, and cried out to him in pain and fatigue, begging him to let them have some respite…

Dooku turned about stiffly to face Sidious, face still covered in beads of perspiration, but only found himself on the end of the Sith Master's boot, which slung up beneath his chin and sent his jaws cracking together. He then collapsed backward onto the ledge, vision blurring in-and-out of focus.

"And so it ends…" Sidious mused, again swinging his lightsabre around between his palms.

Serenn tried to haul himself up, but as soon as he made a move, the Sith Master stepped forward and kicked his chest. The Count exhaled and fell prostrate across the ledge once more, defeat crawling through his entire, wearied body.

Padmé watched with a fluttering heart; "Get up," she muttered to herself.

And again, Serenn tried in vain to get to his feet, but another, harsher kick to his ribs sent him sprawling back down with an inconsolable groan.

"Pathetic," Sidious hissed.

Sharing in his Master's triumph, Vader now laughed as he watched the Count waylaid like a vulnerable worm at Sidious's feet. In his grasp, Padmé still hung onto a tiny ray of hope; "Get up," she whispered time and again, "Please get up."

With a slight raise of his head, Sidious conjured up the Force and sent Serenn skidding to the very periphery of the permacrete projection. He then made his way across to the crushed warrior and continued to swing his lightsabre between his hands.

Serenn gasped for breath and looked about for his lost lightsabre. As his eyes caught sight of the hilt, laid not far away, behind Palpatine, he opened his aching hand toward it and drew it back into his clutches. He then, with his final ounce of strength, launched himself into one final uppercut…

Sidious's eyes sparkled in surprise, but even this could not overcome him - stepping back, the Sith Master rapidly swung his lightsabre up and sent it tearing through Serenn's elbow!

Dooku was aware of his arm dropping to the floor before it registered with the rest of his body. Everything was surreal, everything didn't feel as though it were happening, so his cry of pain came belatedly, as reality finally registered with his senses. At the same time, he heard Padmé cry out after him, as she, from a distance, witnessed everything that he was almost insensible to.

His knees collapsed for one last time and he fell to the floor.

As Palpatine took up Dooku's lightsabre, it then truly hit the Count that his right arm was severed at the elbow. 'Oh Force' his mind cried out, 'My arm! My arm!' Panic began to take hold of him as his broken nerves screamed out, unable to connect with the appendage they wished to operate; a useless ghost of a memory only existed where that flaming stump now smouldered.

Sidious simply laughed again; "Oh, poetic justice," he tittered, "An eye for an eye, don't they say?"

'Just let me die' was the first thought that then came to Serenn's mind, 'Kill me already'. But his heart almost rebuked such a curse when he turned his weary eyes back onto Padmé, her image coming to him like a grey ghost through the windows. He could see her deep, wide eyes and could almost feel the incessant aura of horror and grief about her person. And then he remembered his own words:

"I have at least one more thing I need to do before I die."

And he would not forget it.

"If there can be only one apprentice," the Sith Master now went on, his lightsabre hovering idly above Dooku's chest, "Then one of you must die." He hooked Dooku's 'sabre hilt to his belt and raised his own behind his head. "Who do you think I have chosen to die, Tyranus?"

Palpatine's eyes almost glowed - Serenn could feel the cold wrath, the terrible glee, emitting from them. And then, in but a fraction of a second, the Sith Master swung his blade down

Padmé turned away, eyes closed.

But Sidious's blade did not meet flesh. As his weapon came down, the Count rolled backward, before he flung himself off the edge of the building and gave himself up to the fall beyond.

Palpatine watched the darkness as Dooku's body disappeared into the depths of Coruscant; "Then so be it…" he muttered, swinging his blade round once more in his hand before it fizzled out into nothingness and he returned into the chamber.

TBC…