Chapter 6: Battle of the Heroes
"Don't tell me what to think
Cause I don't care this time
Don't tell me what you believe
Cause you won't be there
To catch me when I fall
But you'll need me when I'm not here at all
Miss me when I'm gone again, yeah
I'm going down in flames
I'm falling into this again, yeah
I'm going down in flames
I'm falling into this again"
3 Doors Down "Going Down In Flames"
"Ron, listen to me son," Luke said as he circled the chamber his lightsaber held toward the insane former-Jedi. "I know you're still in there, I can feel you through the darkness."
"You're right, I am still here," Demonus tilted his head, before bringing his lightsaber down hard against Luke's. "I've never felt so right in my life!"
Luke blocked the blow and slashed at Demonus a few more times, but it was obvious to the observing Erik what he was doing. "What's the matter, Skywalker?" Erik cackled, grinning at the show. "If you keep holding back he will kill you, you realize?"
Luke ignored the clone's taunts and continued his attempts at disarming his friend. "Ron, stop this madness! Stop it now!" Luke said as he twirled and slashed again. "Remember what Master Rue Fus and I taught you!"
"I do, master," Demonus said as he through a combo at Luke that the Jedi Master was barely able to deflect. "But what good did it do? Tell me, did it save Yori? Did it save the twins? What good did it do?"
"Yori knew what she was doing!" Luke snapped as he kicked Demonus hard sending him tumbling into a far hallway. Luke leapt through the air and brought the saber down beside him. "You'd dishonor her memory by falling to the Dark Side? What would Yori think of that?"
Demonus just stared for a moment before his face twisted in anger and he lunged at Luke again, tackling him through the old glass window and tumbled down the sandy hill of the Korriban temple.
Luke pulled himself to his feet and looked around just in time to block the Demonus' lightsaber as he jumped toward him. "I don't want to fight you," Luke growled as he pushed into the saber lock.
"Then shut up and die …" Demonus shot back, as he shoved Luke hard against a stone pillar.
"When we get back to Yavin," Mara groaned as she ran through the hallway toward where the Wildecat was waiting with Kim, Tim, and Jim's limp bodies floating behind her, "All three of you are going on diets …" She said as she gently sat them down in the shadowy part of the hallway to check out the area before getting on board the Wildecat.
Mara slowly approached the plank of the Corellian freighter when a wing of fighters flew overhead and blasted the ship. "Oh Sith …" Mara groaned before Kim's prized starship exploded violently and sent Mara flying backwards through the air.
Mara drew her blue lightsaber and quickly deflected some laser shots from one of the fighter before glancing at the hulled out freighter. "Oh great … Kim's really going to be tickled pink now …"
Mara ducked down as a blaster shot from behind her and saw a unit of Sith Troopers coming from another entrance. "Oh that's just great," She said as she blocked a blast, and jumped out of the way when a chunk of burning remains of a Sith fighter crashed on her platform. "What the?"
Mara blinked in surprise as Slave I soared overhead blasting at the fighters before coming down knocking the remains of the Wildecat from the platform before lowing its own plank.
"Who asked you to show up?" Mara growled as Boba Fett ran down the path shooting Sith Troopers as he came.
"Shut up, Jedi," Fett snapped, getting back to back with the Jedi Knight. "Kim was injured and Ron had some very strange readings so I came to check it out. Do you have a problem with that?"
"How do you know?" Mara asked deflecting a blaster shot.
"I have them both chipped." Fett said with a hint of humor in his voice.
"You chipped them?" Mara gawked, barely getting her saber up to block a blaster shot.
"Best way to keep those two trouble makers out of trouble," Fett laughed, before firing his repeater. "We're wasting time," Fett said as he and Mara dove and rolled into the hallway. "What in Mandalor's name happened to them?" Fett asked as he looked over the Possibles.
"Darth Fist did that to Tim, Jim went down with him," Mara said before her expression changed to a sad one.
"What about Kim, and where's Ron?" Fett asked as he scooped Kim up in his arms, and pressed a button for two droid stretchers to come scooting down the ramp of Slave I.
"Luke's … handling Ron … and Kim …" Mara said vaguely, ducking to dodge a laser blast.
"Come on, Jedi, let's go!" Fett said as he dashed started toward his ship with Jim and Tim secured on the droid stretchers.
"No not yet," Mara shook her head toward the temple. "Luke's still in there, he's fighting … the Sith Lords. I can't leave him!"
"Luke has faced down Sith before, Jade," Boba Fett said in even tone. "He can face them down now. But right now these kids need help."
"But …" Mara said not taking her eyes off the temple, but finally shook her head and followed the Bounty Hunter onto his ship. "Luke, please be careful …" She whispered through the Force as she sat down in and buckled in beside Kim's cot.
"Your boy toy's the best Jedi there is, Jade," Fett called from the cockpit as Slave I took off. "He'll be fine."
Luke gasped as he hit the ground, and spat saliva and blood onto the sandy soil. "What's the matter, 'Master'?" Demonus asked as he approached him, his lightsaber hissing in the humid air. "You're getting old; Master Skywalker, it's time to retire to the Force like your masters."
"Don't do this, Ron," Luke tried to reach out to him again as he stood up and relit his lightsaber. "This isn't you. Don't do this, please!"
"You know Master," Demonus said, his yellow eyes sparking strangely. "You have a beautiful wife."
Luke's eyes narrowed as Demonus smiled insanely. "After I destroy you, I wonder if my master will allow me to keep her as a prize. She was a servant to the Empire once. And it's obvious with her looks she was more then just an assassin."
Demonus never knew what hit him when the Force lifted him into the air and slammed him through a stone pillar. "I won't allow that to happen …" Luke said through gritted teeth.
"Oh, so now you want to play?" Demonus grinned but only a moment before Luke brought his saber down on him with all his strength making Demonus crouch down on one knee.
Demonus slashed back and back flipped away. "Not bad, but no match for the Dark Side, my old Master."
"You think I don't know the power of the Dark Side?" Luke snarled, as he turned off his lightsaber and began to pull off his glove from his good hand. "Don't play with fire, Ron," he said before firing a barrage of force lightening onto the turned Jedi. "You get burned!"
Demonus cried out in pain as the lightening surged through him. "Give up," Luke said as he dropped his hand. "You can't win."
"Maybe from your point of view," Demonus smirked as he leapt back to his feet and the two warriors locked sabers yet again.
Slash after slash, stab after stab, parry after parry, the two fought for minutes, hours, neither could tell or even care as they continued to fight. "You taught me everything I know about the Lightsaber, Master," Demonus shot as he parried Luke's attack. "This is getting us no where."
"You're wrong about one thing, Demonus …" Luke said, his voice laced with anger and sadness. "I didn't teach you everything I know …"
"What?" Demonus asked, before taking a defensive stance when Luke moved into a high stance he had never seen before. He managed to deflect the first few shots.
"This is for your own good, son …" Luke said before he moved in with a strong strike.
Demonus cried out in pain as Luke's lightsaber came down through Demonus' shoulder, passing on through Demonus' droid prosthetic arm taking it and part of his remaining shoulder to the ground, apart from his body.
Demonus fell to the ground growling in pain as Luke deactivated his saber and placed it on his belt. "You've lost, Ron, I'm going to help you, but you have to let me."
"You've … helped me … enough …" Demonus growled, crawling toward his severed arm, and pulling his lightsaber from its stiff grasp.
"That's the Dark Side poisoning your mind, Ron, it's twisting your vision," Luke coached, "Don't let it control you."
Demonus merely growled and lunged at Luke with his saber lit. He hit a force-barrier and tumbled backwards several feet and fell off the cliff the temple was built upon.
"RON!" Luke gasped, not meaning to hit him that hard, jumped to the cliff and looked down to see the turned Jedi hanging by his elbow on by a large rock stuck out from the Cliffside, the lightsaber still held firmly in his hand. "Ron, drop the lightsaber, and grab my hand!"
"And lose all I have left of my father?" Demonus screamed up, his voice returning to the familiar tone of Ron Stoppable. "What more do you Jedi want to take from me?" He asked his voice dripping with sadness. "It's your fault! All your fault! I lost Kim … Yori … now Tim and probably Jim too … WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT ME TO GIVE YOU?"
"Ron … we didn't take them from you, I didn't take them from you." Luke said reaching out to him. "You didn't have to lose Kim, we didn't take her away from you … you pushed her away."
"No …" Ron shook his head, "That's not true! If you hadn't brought me to Yavin in the first place … made me a Jedi … I wouldn't have lost her!"
"Ron, listen …" Luke tried to reason, as his fingers finally stretched down far enough to touch the cloth of his blowing robes. "RON!" Luke screamed as Demonus tried to move away from him and pulled the rock he was hanging by lose.
Luke tried to reach out with the force to catch him as he fell, but Demonus was falling too fast and used his remaining strength to block him. "RON!" He yelled, realizing that even if he survived … Ron Stoppable was gone.
far below the edge of the cliff, Erik, Darth Sidious approached a small rocky area and gave a small smile at the broken, one armed body laying among the jagged rocks. Demonus laid covered in cuts and bruises and both legs and his remaining arm was both obviously broken in several places.
"Don't worry, Lord Demonus," Sidious smiled down at the injured young man, "I've got you, my friend, and I'll have best people work on you. You'll be better then ever ... I promise."
"Kim ... Master Luke ..." Demonus asked, his pained chocolate brown eyes turning to the Sith Lord. "What happened ... is Kim ok ..."
"Lord Demonus, Ms. Possible and the Jedi betrayed you," Sidious said comfortingly, "They felt you a threat ..."
"That's not true ..." Ron breathed painfully.
"Then explain the lightsaber cut where your arm once was?" Sidious asked, and Ron said nothing but closed his eyes as he blacked out from the pain.
The small interior of Slave I was very silent as they flew through hyperspace toward Yavin IV. Mara Jade-Skywalker slowly climbed back toward the small cockpit and sat down in the co-pilot's seat. "How are they?" Boba asked quietly, the star-lines reflecting in the T-Shaped visor of his helmet.
"Kim and Jim are resting comfortably," Mara stated, watching the stars fly past. "Tim's another story … he's in bad shape."
"You never told me what happened to Ron," Boba Fett spoke up.
Mara opened her mouth to answer when the com system came on line. "It's Luke." Mara said typing in a few keystrokes. "Luke, are you ok?"
"Yeah … yeah … as well as expected …" came Luke's static-laced reply. "The Sith didn't last long after the fight, seemed to evaced during it."
"Palpatine get away?" Mara asked, earning a shock look from Fett.
"Yeah, he got away," Luke sighed.
"Ron, what happened to Ron?" Mara asked, feeling a lump form in her throat.
"Demonus survived …" Luke breathed, after a moment of silence he spoke again. "We'll talk more on Yavin. Luke out."
Fett shook his head, "Never a dull moment … looks like we have a sleeping beauty coming around," he said turning his attention to his monitors. "It's Kim, you're a bit more familiar of a face."
"Right, be right back …" Mara said, climbing up and moving back toward the rear chamber.
"Hey," Mara whispered, stroking the younger girl's golden red hair as she slowly wiggled in her cot.
"Ron?" Kim whispered as she slowly opened her eyes to gaze at the face hovering above her. "Mom?" She took in a deep breath.
"Not as far as I know, Kimmie," Mara gave a sheepish smile.
"Mara? Sorry … you just … really looked like my mom there …" Kim spoke in a hoarse voice. "Ron!" Kim sat up quickly as her memory returned in full force.
"Where is he? Is he ok, what happened?" Kim looked around franticly, "I know Erik did something to him … what happened to him? Where is he?"
"Kim calm down, ok, take some deep breaths." Mara said rubbing the girl's trembling shoulders.
"No, tell me what happened to Ron, where is he!" Kim stared into Mara's eyes demandingly.
"Kim …" Mara breathed, gripping Kim's shoulders as a brace. "Ron's … he's fallen to the Dark Side …"
Kim looked at the elder redhead in confusion for a moment before shaking her head slowly. "No, Ron would never do that. Ron's a great Jedi, the best. He'd never do that … never. He's not evil, he's not …"
"I know, Kim, it's hard to accept, I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it myself," Mara said stroking Kim's arms comfortingly. "But its true … I'm sorry."
"No, you're wrong, you have to be!" Kim denied as tears began to fall down her cheeks.
"Kim, you know that we'll do everything in our power to save him." Mara said sadly, "But … if it comes to it … we may have to … stop him, Kim …"
Kim dropped her head, letting her golden red bangs hide her teary eyes. The two women were silent for a moment before Kim finally spoke up in the most timid voice she had ever used. "What can I do?"
"Have faith in the Force … and in Ron," Mara whispered pulling Kim into a motherly hug. "And hope."
Hours have passed since the Sith left Korriban. The Sith Flagship the Leviathan approached a large fleet of red gigantic moon-shaped battle stations. "I don't see what the big secret is," Grand Admiral Thawn asked from the command bridge, as he glanced at the Sith Lord Darth Shego.
"That's not my place to tell you, Admiral." Shego said shortly.
"You're the commander of the fleet are you not?" Thrawn asked, with a hint of humor in his voice.
"She is no longer," Darth Sidious stated as he exited the elevator, dressed in his trademark black robe.
"My Lord, forgive my impudence …" Thrawn bowed almost sincerely humble.
"It matters not," Sidious growled, before turning toward the elevator. "Allow me to introduce you to your new commander, Admiral. You will report to him and in turn he will report to me."
Thrawn turned to the figure stepping out of the elevator and the breath caught in his throat. "Vader?" but on closer look the Sith Lord's full body armor did resemble Darth Vader's suit, it was different.
Where as Vader's bodysuit was an armored chest plate over cloth garments, this Sith was covered in shimmering, jet black full body armor with a long flowing cloak thrown over his shoulders and head waving behind him as he stepped. And his armored face piece was a smooth reflective face plate only marked with a long glowing red V-shaped visor piece.
"You will obey Darth Demonus without question," Sidious growled, ignoring Shego's eyes flashing jealously. "Anything you'd like to add, Lord Demonus?"
"New Republic forces are yours for the taking, Admiral," Demonus spoke with a deep, synthetic voice. "But the Jedi are mine. If you or any of your men harms one without my permission, there will be punishment... by me personally."
"With all due respect, My Lord, this is a war and …" Thrawn stopped suddenly and began to choke and gasp, and gripped his own throat. "It will be as you say, sir …" Thrawn forced out.
"I knew you would see it in my perspective, Admiral." Demonus said, then turned his back, "Now if you will excuse me, I'll be in my chambers …"
"I do not think that is a wise course of action, my Apprentice," Sidious frowned, causing the newest Sith to stop in mid step.
"I do not recall asking your opinion, Lord Sidious?" Demonus looked over his shoulder at the cloned Palpatine.
"Do not test my patience, Apprentice," Sidious shot, Shego, Thrawn and the bridge crew watching the events play out with wide eyes.
"I will test what I wish to test," Demonus said, his back still to the eldest of the Sith Lords.
"I do not think you know whom you are dealing with …" Sidious growled.
"I do know, Master," Demonus replied turning back to face him, "How many times have you faced the Jedi, Sidious? And how many of those times did you succeed flawlessly?" Sidious opened his mouth to reply but Demonus cut him off. "Each of your attempts has ended in you failing miserably. And with each failing you cheat death to come back to fail yet again. And with all due respect, My Master, I will not let you screw up this campaign."
"You insufferable worm …" Sidious growled lifting his fingers toward the calm Sith Lord, "I should have left you to die of your wounds at the base of that cliff!" He yelled as he fired a wave of force-lightening at the armored Sith, but as soon as it struck the armor it reflected right back at him, sending the robed Sith flying backwards into Thrawn's command chair sending it flying.
"I will serve you as a military leader, My Lord," Demonus said at the tumbled disheveled Erik. "But I will not be your apprentice." With that the Dark Lord of the Sith turned his back and walked to the Elevator, closing the doors behind him.
"What are you looking at?" Sidious growled as he glared at his smirking daughter. Who quickly dropped her face to a serious expression and helped the Sith Lord to his feet.
'You will be humbled, Lord Demonus …' Sidious thought as he stared at the elevator door. 'You will be humbled …'
To Be Continued …