Chapter 64
Luke thought that he had made a good entrance until Kestis just tilted his head in confusion and said, "Er… No offense, but I'm not too terrified to find out that I'm being hunted by a kid about… I'd say about 15 years younger than me."
Luke's eyes narrowed in anger and he growled out, "Your body will never be found down here, Cal Kestis. These tunnels can either take you anywhere on the planet, or maybe you'll just be lost down here for the rest of your days."
To Luke's surprise, Cal just rolled his eyes and spun his lightsaber as he activated another green blade from the other end. "Yeah, yeah, ancient architecture and puzzles, I've been through all that before," Kestis said, almost seeming bored.
Kenobi turned to his apprentice and simply said, "Leia?" She nodded and replied, "Got it."
The next thing Luke knew, his sister had tackled him through one of the doorways which apparently immediately dropped down in a steep slope, and they began to fall and slide down.
As they fell, Luke fought with his hands to extricate himself from Leia's grasp, but her grip seemed unbreakable. She only released him when they finally arrived at flat ground, both of them rolling to a stop in different directions. Luke pulled himself to his feet and dusted himself off before looking at Leia.
"Really?" he asked in exasperation. She just smirked at him and nodded cheekily.
Luke shook his head and began to slowly try to crawl back up the long, steep hill that would lead back to the central room.
Just as he began to make progress, he felt himself slowly start to slide back down. He looked around in anger and saw Leia holding out her hand as she used the Force to pull him down, still wearing that infuriating smile on her face.
"Why do you always try to get out of our sibling bonding sessions?" Leia joked.
Luke clenched his teeth before he got to his feet and used the hill as leverage to jump off the wall and over Leia's head as he drew his lightsaber.
"I don't know, I guess I just don't like these situations to be forced!" Luke yelled back in annoyance.
Leia drew her own weapon and engaged him in a saber lock before leaning in and saying, "Oh, but you only listen when it's forced!"
As she yelled the last word, Leia thrust out her hand and used the Force to push Luke away from her. He did a backflip in midair to land on his feet before smiling at her, "Cute wordplay."
"I couldn't agree more," came a voice from behind them, and suddenly Leia was pulled upwards by an unseen power, dropping her lightsaber and clutching at her throat soundlessly, "but it's time for this to end."
Luke watched as Maul slowly approached his vulnerable sister and asked forcefully, "Maul, why are you here? The Emperor wouldn't have sent you to aid me."
"Nobody sends me anywhere, child," Maul growled at Luke as he clenched his fist more, tightening his grip on Leia's throat.
"Be that as it may, you serve the Empire," Luke said. "As such, you will obey your superior. Release her and leave. This is my mission."
Maul glared at Luke and said, "I have no superiors either, Scion, or whatever your real name is. And you do not command me. Now, this girl needs to learn a lesson for using the name Kenobi, and Kenobi himself will suffer for her pain."
Luke pointed his lightsaber at Maul and said, "I command who I please. Now, by Emperor Vader's authority, I hereby arrest you for-"
Luke was cut off by Maul gesturing with his free hand, sending him flying into a wall.
Maul walked over to Luke and grabbed him by the hair before painfully pulling the boy's head up so that Luke could look him in the eye.
"You know," Maul said, "your Master has caused me pain as well. Perhaps he will learn a lesson as well when he loses his precious apprentice."
"Not likely," came Leia's voice from behind Maul, and Maul quickly spun around only to be sent flying by Leia's Force-push. She then reached down and pulled Luke to his feet. Luke looked at his sister in shock, but then his gaze hardened and they nodded at each other, an unspoken understanding passing between them. They both used the Force to call their weapons back to their hands and held them up defensively as they faced Maul.
Maul growled as he pulled himself to his feet and grabbed his own lightsaber off his belt. "It seems your Masters never taught you not to get in over your head," Maul commented. "Yet, if you wish to die together… so be it."
Maul ignited both blades of his lightsaber and jumped at them, spinning his dual red blades dangerously with a ferocious yell. The sheer speed of this attack could've instantly killed them both, but unfortunately Leia remembered this particular attack from when he had attempted to use it against herself and Obi-Wan, and she employed the same evasive maneuver.
She immediately pushed Luke to one side as she dodged to the other, causing Maul to fly right between them. They then turned around and were immediately on the defensive. Neither of them had ever fought an enemy as quick or brutal as Maul, and it was all they could do to keep up with his spinning blades.
Leia had a slight advantage because Obi-Wan had told her about how dangerous Maul was. Luke, on the other hand, was at a disadvantage as Vader had only told him that Maul was essentially a brainless tool of conquest. Put simply, Luke hadn't expected Maul to possess this much power. He had underestimated his opponent, and now he was paying the price.
Maul managed to effortlessly counter everything they threw at him while still managing to stay on the offense the whole time. It was only when Luke and Leia struck at the same time that Maul seemed to have trouble, needing to use both of his blades to block their attacks. However, even combined, they were still no match for him.
Maul used the Force to push Leia away, then managed to make a small cut on Luke's leg, distracting him for a moment. That moment was all Maul needed to hit Luke under the chin with the hilt of his lightsaber, then moved to stab Luke through the chest with one of his blades.
Time slowed down as the blade approached Luke's chest, and he mentally said, Father. I'm sorry.
At the last moment, Maul's blade was hit away from Luke's chest by a blue blade. Luke looked over, expecting to find Leia, but was shocked to instead find Obi-Wan glaring at Maul with a dangerous look in his eyes.
Why? Luke wondered. Why would Obi-Wan Kenobi save me? Luke didn't understand it, but he didn't even hesitate to obey when Obi-Wan looked at him and gestured with his head for Luke to get out of the way.
As Luke moved to stand next to Leia, Obi-Wan and Maul began to circle each other.
"I'd hoped to kill your precious apprentice before you, Kenobi," Maul growled out, but Obi-Wan didn't take the bait. He simply responded, "It's time that we mended this old wound, Maul. This ends here."
Just then, Cal quickly ran down from the slope at the end of the room, and when he saw Obi-Wan facing Maul, he moved to join in the fight, but on instinct Leia held up a hand to hold him back. She had a feeling that this fight needed to be between only the two old rivals.
Maul held out his lightsaber hilt and ignited the dual blades, one after the other. Obi-Wan took up his Form VIII stance, causing Maul to narrow his eyes, but then Obi-Wan quickly switched back to his old Form III stance.
Maul relaxed slightly, but then, to Leia's surprise, Obi-Wan changed his stance once more, this time to Form IV. What worried Leia was that Luke had been using that same stance when Maul had almost killed him, and Maul seemed to relax even more at the sight of this stance.
The two enemies continued to glare at each other in silence for a moment. No one made a sound. Finally, Maul yelled in hatred and jumped at Obi-Wan moving quicker than ever. Obi-Wan blocked once, twice, and then Maul went to hit Obi-Wan in the chin with his hilt, just as he had with Luke, and Leia yelped slightly in fright.
However, Obi-Wan was ready for the trick and did a quick overhead swing that slashed right through the center of Maul's lightsaber and then through his chest.
Maul continued to glare for a moment until his eyes widened as he seemed to realize what had happened. His arms fell to his sides and the broken halves of his lightsaber fell next to him.
Then, to the continued surprise of the other Force-wielders in the room, Obi-Wan dropped his own lightsaber and fell to one knee to catch Maul's collapsing body.
Maul looked at Obi-Wan one last time and asked, "Tell me. Will the Sith be stopped?"
Luke felt like an outsider, but Obi-Wan didn't look at him. He simply held Maul and softly replied, "They will. I'll ensure it myself."
Maul looked at Kenobi with a new respect and firmly whispered, "You will avenge us!" Obi-Wan nodded in acceptance and Maul fell back limply. Obi-Wan stared at him sadly and used his fingers to gently pull Maul's eyes closed. The legend of Darth Maul had ended.