"In this terrifying world, all we have are the connections we make."
- Bojack H.
Enemy Of My Enemy
Imbecile...
Maul witnessed his one and only chance at liberating himself from the cold chains of his old master disappear into the mist. She was heavily persistent, or just stubborn. He could relate to that.
To think Ahsoka Tano believed she could undo all the years Master Sidious spent transforming the galaxy into his perfect kingdom. And with no more than a bit of persuasion towards Skywalker. Maul was not mistaken when he felt into the Force. Skywalker was a steaming locomotive. Confused, hurt, and betrayed. Maul couldn't help but feel a sense of familiarity. If he wasn't careful, he would have taken a trip back in time when he, too, had experienced such feelings.
There's no need to refer to him as your superior anymore.
He wasn't, he told himself. He was calling the old man "Master" out of respect. Someone who had accomplished all Sidious had deserved that at the very least. It wasn't the entire truth, but Maul decided to cast it aside and continued on to find a replacement ally. He didn't expect Ahsoka to emerge from that confrontation with Skywalker alive.
And though he completely loathed the idea, there was only one ideal who had as much animosity towards Sidious as Maul did. Someone who didn't exactly match the Zabrak in strength, but was even more skilled in the art of combat than Ahsoka. And someone who held a forbidden attachment towards young Skywalker.
"Kenobi..." Maul growled through his teeth with disdain.
The apprentice of one of the greatest and most well-respected Jedi Master doesn't rest while the entirety of his Order is crumbling beneath him. Yet Obi-Wan found himself already in defeat, his face pressed against the ground, while the galaxy seemed to be at its end. He'd never felt fatigue on this level before in his life. Dealing with Anakin's inner conflicts was something he tolerated but never let affect him. And now he was trying to smother a fire after it's already destroyed most of its environment.
Perhaps it would've been best if we hadn't taken him to be trained... thought the Master like it was the first time he'd come to this conclusion.
You shouldn't hold those thoughts in your head, a voice said to him. It was your determination that brought him into the Light.
Obi-Wan lifted his head but saw nothing. There was a brief stillness in the air followed by another explosion and more smoke penetrating the atmosphere. A B1 droid was stomping its way towards him, its weapon already pointed his way.
Obi-Wan turned his head in all directions to find his missing saber. But he froze when he heard the buzzing of another blade driving straight through the droid and splitting it in two.
A red blade.
The horned figure that spat on Obi-Wan's name stood before him, the orange-yellow glow shining in his eyes. His fang-like teeth reared themselves at the Jedi, looking like they wanted to take out a large piece of Obi-Wan's head.
And the once great Sith Lord's presence enacted Obi-Wan to engage in a fight-or-flight response. His brain scrambled to decide which path he would take. But in the split second he took to determine his action, he saw the horned man lift his arm. Obi-Wan watched the handle of his saber fly in his direction and without hesitation he raised his hand and caught it before it had a chance to hit him directly in the forehead.
Maul walked forward from the smoke, his appearance even more demonic with the red shade of the fires reflecting off him. He pointed one end of his red saber towards the Jedi and spoke with an intense animalistic snarl, "Get up, Jedi."
Though he was completely flabbergasted, Obi-Wan rose to his feet carefully, clutching his weapon in his hand. His eyes never left that of his enemy. Even when he was phased, Obi-Wan maintained his focus. Once he was up, Maul lifted his shining red blade up to where the tip was pointing towards Obi-Wan's forehead and he walked closer. "If you wish to keep your life, Kenobi, you will demonstrate to me why you deserve the title of 'Master' against this horde of mechanical trash and your traitor army." Obi-Wan listened as he was frozen in place. "Make no mistake. I will never second-guess killing you if you choose to turn against me."
Obi-Wan couldn't believe what he was hearing. Maul was asking for his help. Pleading, it sounded like. And why wouldn't he? Fear was this Sith's greatest ally, and there was no figure that brought greater fear into his cold heart than his master.
It was the ultimate goal of the Sith - to best their master - and Obi-Wan reminded himself even as he fought the chaotic droids alongside Maul amidst the climax of this war.
"Well, this is an unprecedented turn of events." Obi-Wan spoke into the air.
"DON'T let it get to your hollow mind, Kenobi." Maul responded via telepathy. "I will always despise you more than I have ever despised any being in this entire galaxy." Maul spun his lightsaber to dodge a rain of fire coming in his direction. "Were I not entirely concerned about my success in this battle, I would sever your head from your body and leave your rotting corpse to decompose in the depths of this forsaken world!"
"Hmm." Obi-Wan nodded. "I'll make sure to keep note of that."
Maul ripped off the head of a battle droid, tossed it straight up in the air, distracting the rest of the army for a second, and Obi-Wan ran through the line of droids, holding his lightsaber outward to cut off all of their heads. Mechanical pieces flung in all directions.
Even with his back turned, Obi-Wan was eyeing the rogue Sith like a hawk. His many years of training taught him to utilize all of his senses to their full capacity. He could feel the vibration of Maul's footsteps against his own, which was much easier now that his legs were replaced with droid parts. Whenever Maul was too close for comfort, Obi-Wan turned to assure himself that Maul's attention was still kept on the droids. He could easily focus his hearing on Maul's voice whenever he moved a few inches closer or nearer.
"Tell me, Kenobi. Does all this chaos and tragedy make you feel pride in your heart at the Jedi's methods of peace-keeping? Does it feel pleasant to know that it was a result of your incompetence that innocent people lay dead? Are you content with yourself knowing that things could have ended differently?"
Obi-Wan refused to take the bait. He wished it was easier to block Maul's vindictive thoughts from entering his mind. But he kept his mind open in hopes that the voice of his master - or what he thought was his master - would reach out to him again.
"'Tis the way of the Jedi, Kenobi. I do not fault you for falling for their conspiracies."
If Obi-Wan had been any other kind of man, he would have butchered Maul as soon as the Sith came into his vision. The cold feeling of Satine's weakened body as her flame slowly died out stuck with him. It was like witnessing a heart rate monitor beeping more rapidly by the second until it eventually flatlined, except within the confines of Obi-Wan's head.
But aside from following the most important rule about never exacting revenge, there was another reasoning behind it that was much more personal.
Obi-Wan could sense the kind of being Maul was without taking the time to fully analyze him. Maul was projecting energies of hastiness, recklessness, impatience, fear, trauma, and above all, betrayal throughout the Force.
He'd been trained since birth to never rely on anyone aside from his master, and when his master casted him aside for another apprentice, Maul's faith in his own Order had faded. But rather than admit that this faction he was heavily invested in had failed him, Maul chose to place all of the blame on the Jedi Master. The one who robbed him of his destiny.
Maul never believed there was anyone else to trust than Sidious, Obi-Wan assumed. And the one he'd found he could trust - Savage - was taken away from him. By the same one that had forced this idea on him since his upbringing.
Anakin had been brought into this world a slave on a crime-filled, poor planet where he was always surrounded by untrustworthy people. The ones that showed him kindness had ulterior motives, or they gave him false hope. The one person he could rely on was tragically taken from him.
With all of these experiences befalling upon him, Anakin might have realized that there could have been a way to prevent the cycle from starting again. Even if it meant turning his back on the Jedi and listening to the words of an evil mastermind who had been puppeteering him from the start.
Obi-Wan knew Maul was too far gone to be brought to the Light, and Obi-Wan was not in a place where he could put effort into changing that. But if Maul could be convinced to side with his greatest archrival - whom Maul was probably plotting the death of as they battled together - then perhaps hope wasn't lost for Anakin.
And this time, Obi-Wan wasn't going to limit himself to the ways of the Jedi to save him.
"Hurry up, Kenobi!" Maul caught the attention of the Master as he sped past a growing junkyard of droid parts.
Obi-Wan stumbled through the shaking foundation of the square, feeling like he was running through a quake. The two were shielding themselves with one of the Temple Spires that was still intact. Maul was ahead of him, looking out through the smoke and fire.
"I don't..." Obi-Wan panted. "... suppose you have a coherent plan for getting us out of this mess?"
Maul fiddled with the communication device on his wrist. "One does not always require a plan for success to take place."
Obi-Wan was not sure how - or if - he would survive this ordeal with Maul by his side, but he was aware of one thing:
He had the worst feeling about this.
AN: Sorry this took so long. I just graduated and got a new job. I won't be publishing chapters for this as frequently as I used to because I'm doing another passion project fanfic, but I'll still be working on this.
