Disclaimer: Everything wonderfully belongs to George Lucas.
A/N: Sorry for that long update but our computer crashed and it took weeks to get a new one. I wrote out though the next few chapters; now all I have to do is type it up. We're almost reaching the end, so brace for the action and angst.
Chapter 25: The fight take two
Mace stood in the doorway, trying to remain collected. The scared girl was gathering up her things. Before him, Xanatos was revealing hints of frustration as Obi-Wan seemed to be enjoying the sight.
"Look, I didn't come here for trouble. I just want to know where Qui-Gon is," began Mace, his tone carrying a conversational tone but with a deadly edge.
Xanatos pouted. Obi-Wan smirked. And Nyree sighed. Standing up on her two feet, the priestess turned to the younger man with ginger hair.
"Excuse me, but my ship is leaving in an hour."
Obi-Wan stepped forward, his cockiness gone, "How long will you be gone?"
"Not long, just have to take care of a few things at home."
There was an eerie silence falling in the lobby. Mace and Xanatos just watched as Nyree and Obi-Wan spoke volumes in unspoken words, their obvious feelings towards each other evident to everyone in the lobby except the pair.
Mace took a step forward. He needed to find Qui-Gon, a growing warning echoing in his mind pressing him. Xanatos raised a hand to stop the Master from advancing any further. The dark skinned master shifted his eyes, following to where Xanatos' ice-blue eyes focused on. Obi-Wan's gaze was still on Nyree but they were withdrawn, as if seeing something far off in the distance. Xanatos leaned forward a bit, which seemed enough to bring the boy back into the present.
Obi-Wan's lips thinned, a determined, stubborn look encompassing his face. "Xan."
Xanatos welcomed the bond usage, "Yes?"
"Go with Nyree. She needs you more than I at the moment."
"You've had a vision."
"Yes."
"And what about Mace?" Xanatos felt something that was not right, but Obi-Wan didn't pause in his answers. Nothing hinted to his little quirks whenever the boy tried to lie.
The voice of a tired Saturine replied, "I'll deal with him. Now go, Nyree is bolting out the back door."
Xanatos spun around just in time to catch the tail end of Nyree's coat sneaking through the back door. With a sneer, he ran after her, catching in the corner of his eyes, Mace bolting towards him. But in a flicker of an eye, the Jedi froze, suspended in the air.
"Protect her Xan, despite what she says and I'll see you two on Corescant." Obi-Wan's last command silenced their bond. Xanatos wanted to watch Obi-Wan fight Mace but he felt the boy's concern and the image of the girl in the council chambers flickered into his mind once more.
Obi-Wan released his hold on Mace. The Jedi dropped on the floor, dislike at his move glittering in the dark eyes.
The boy smiled. "Qui-Gon is on his way to Tatootine to find a new recruit for the Temple."
"Is that so," sneered Mace.
Obi-Wan sighed, an ancient look shadowing his young face, "He will be crucial. Hopefully…"
Mace fidgeted, "Hopefully? You've gone mad, Kenobi. You can't control the future." Having no more to say, he turned to leave.
"No you can't, but you can change it."
Something in the boy's voice halted Mace. The Force screamed in his mind. Spinning around, purple clashed with blue.
"What are you doing?" strained Mace.
"Changing the future," sneered Obi-Wan.
Pushing against Mace's blade, the boy created enough space for him to spin-kick at his opponent's side. Mace jumped backwards. Adjusting his grip on the saber, he watched as Obi-Wan twirled his saber in an all too familiar move. The two ran at each other, swinging low at the midsections. Mace fell into defensive mode, blocking each hard blow Obi-Wan swung at him. Teeth gritted from the shock, Mace took in the style of Obi-Wan. The ex-Jedi did not forget or slack off on his training. If anything else, the boy honed his skills to most of the lightsaber forms. The boy flipped and rolled trying to find a way into Mace's barrier.
The Force swirled around the two. Then Mace saw an opening. Obi-Wan seemed to be tiring; the boy drew too fast on his power. Typical that the student learned the same mistakes of the master. Mace shifted his footing and jabbed at Obi-Wan's left side. But Obi-Wan dodged to the side, avoiding the strike all together. He sent a powerful swing at Mace's own right side. The Jedi Master's eyes widened for a split second as he barely dodged the fatal cut. Instead of a ripped gut, a long tear was visible in his tunics.
"That was close! He moved so fast," whispered Mace's mind above the whirl of the Force. Then it hit him. "It was a trap."
Obi-Wan skidded to a halt before flipping the saber into his other hand and began another attack, this time consisting of precise moves to wound and kill Mace. Mace immersed himself deeper into the Force to keep up with the blinding blur of the boy's saber. Obi-Wan had become cunning and Mace wanted to make sure that he didn't fall into anymore traps. Where had the boy learned all this? Xanatos clearly did not have the skills to fight at such a caliber. Few Jedi had because it was not stressed that one should take fighting to the heights of tricking your enemy. Sure there were the fake swings, but to deliberately fight a certain sequence of moves to ensure that your enemy would reveal their weaknesses was taking a huge leap of faith. That and shifting from fluid moves to all-out aggressive strikes was a large change. Obi-Wan swiped at Mace's feet, making the older man flip into the air.
Landing hard on his feet, Mace's hard voice sounded over the crackling of the two sabers, "Don't push me Kenobi."
Obi-Wan smiled, "Why not? Aren't you curious to fight a Saterine, Master Windu?" A spark entered his sea eyes, "Isn't about time we ended this warm-up and begin the real fight."
The boy broke his attack and took a couple steps backwards. Mace knew what the boy wanted. The child wanted to fight against Vaapad. He was crazy…suicidal.
As if reading his mind, Obi-Wan chuckled. "If you want me to return to the Temple, I want to fight you with everything you got."
Mace tightened his grip.Falling into himself, Mace watched himself lash out at Obi-Wan. He saw Obi-wan's shatter point gleam before him. Then he felt it. The Force shifted. Obi-Wan was clear as crystal and the next became a gray fog. The dark skinned master raised his purple blade and sent it crashing at the boy's shoulder. Obi-Wan twisted underneath Mace, shifting most of the pressure off of his saber. With a flick of his wrist, Mace sent his blade sliding down and cut off the top part of Obi-Wan's saber.
The blue blade winked out of existence. Mace swept at Obi-Wan's chest. The ginger-haired child did a black-flip, tossing his useless saber to the side. A flash of gold streaked in his eyes and Mace found himself halting—a cold shiver running down his spine. Gathering the Force, Obi-Wan focused it on his hands and feet. Jumping into the air, he kicked out at Mace. The Jedi Master raised his blade, ready to cut off the boy's leg. But to his amazement, Obi-Wan twisted at the last moment, his kick landing on Mace's saber. For a brief moment, the purple blade flickered from the shock. Twisting again, Obi-Wan landed on the ground in a cat-like pose.
This time instead of looking on a face of an 18 year-old, Mace saw a cold face masked with an ancient anger of betrayal and pity. From Yoda, he had heard that though the Saterines were as skilled as the Jedi with a lightsaber, most preferred the mastery of hand to hand combat, enhancing the power of the strike with the Force. Hence, why his purple blade fizzled at the contact of Obi-Wan's kick.
Mace gathered the Force into a powerful whirlwind. Across, Obi-Wan drew upon the light to sense Mace's attacks, but with also from the power of the Dark Side to land painful punches and kicks. The Force was crackling, the marble floor showing dents and cracks. By then, the servants had long ago left at the beginning of the fight, heeding Xanatos' warning that if they stayed only death would great them. Someone had made Obi-Wan mad and every servant had heard stories of what happened to people who made the young master mad or was near the person who did the awful deed.
The lobby quickly became too small as the fight intensified. Sweat stung at Mace's eyes and his breaths were becoming shallow. He bit back a yelp as Obi-Wan sent his palm hitting his funny bone. This wasn't right! A Jedi Master fighting in Vaapad with a lightsaber was getting beaten by an unarmed 18 year-old Dark Jedi. It seemed that the more he tired, Obi-Wan was becoming stronger. Staggering backwards, Mace knew that he had to end the fight now.
Gathering the Force into his right hand, Mace thrust forward, sending the powerful blast directly at Obi-Wan. The teenager flew through the front door and skidded onto the gravel road. Mace walked slowly out, watching Obi-Wan rise painfully. Blood oozed from a gash where a piece of the door had caught him. It seemed that the once thought immortals were not so superior after all. Shaking his head clear, Obi-Wan prepared to brace himself from another Force push, waiting for opportunity to knock on his door when Mace reached his lowest.
But just as Mace was about to send the next and last wave, a scream of joy broke through an abandoned gate. Qui-Gon's essence flooded Obi-Wan's mind. The maverick was ecstatic. His thankfulness had broken the autopilot Obi-Wan created over Jinn's body. Now that he was wide awake, Qui-Gon poured all his thanks towards a boy he still considered to be a Jedi. Obi-Wan didn't have enough time to even growl in frustration as the Force push slammed him into the duracrete fountain. Pain blossomed in his mind from his head and back. He tried to stand up but the push did not ease. Restrictions from outside and distractions from within, Obi-Wan could not fight the darkness that began to claw at his vision. But, he began to smile in the darkness. Xanatos did not raise no fool. From all he had learned, Obi-Wan took to heart Xanatos' most important lesson. Always have a back door. And with Obi-Wan's own spin to that lesson, the Jedi would never know what would hit them.
Mace staggered up to Obi-Wan. The boy was losing consciousness. The fight was over for now. Mace was not a person to believe in luck, but in this instance he did. If it wasn't for Qui-Gon distracting Obi-Wan, he was sure that the teenager would have won in the end. Collapsing on the ground, he sensed Jinn's joy turn to worry. His friend was coming back, meaning that at least one thing that Mace set out to do when arriving to the mansion was accomplished. Finally things were turning around for the better.
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A/N: I hope you all love the fight. I had a blast writing it. Till next time!