Bonus Chapter - Maul

Author's Note: Sidious is Sidious, and Maul has no idea how to treat children. =D

Also, this is what happens when you lock up three literal children together. ^-^

~ Tirana Sorki

"You failed." It's a statement, not a question, and Maul knows far too well what that means. Any Sith apprentice does.

"Forgive me, Master," he murmurs, kneeling in front of the hologram of Darth Sidious.

Even so, icy fear claws at him. He knows what's going to happen, what always happens. Yes, he's failed missions in the past, but never, never like this. He knows this is going to be much worse.

Sidious is silent for a long moment, only making his terror mount. "That is not the way of the Sith," he hisses finally, and Maul doesn't have more than a moment to brace himself before the lightning engulfs him.

A strangled scream escapes him as he writhes in agony on the ground, the lightning electrifying every nerve in his body. It feels like he's being burned inside out over and over again, and it seems to drag on for an eternity, like it's never going to end.

Until it finally does, leaving him smoking and struggling to catch his breath on the floor. "Get up," Sidious spits.

Maul complies immediately, forcing his limbs to cooperate as he pushes himself back into a kneeling position in front of the hologram. Uncontrolled terror clenches at him. He knows this isn't over. He can hear it in his master's tone.

"Your performance is simply pathetic," Sidious hisses.

And what can he say to that? It is the truth. This was his most important mission, the first appearance of the Sith in one thousand years, and he failed everything. He didn't even take down either of the Jedi. Not to mention losing the duel with them in the first place because of a mere child.

"You were never worthy of being my apprentice," Sidious growls, "Not worth anything more than an assassin." The words sting, and they make him angry. All his master has done all these years is keep him in the shadows as though he is nothing more than an assassin. As though he doesn't need or want him at all, and the comment only seems to drive home that point further.

Still, he doesn't let himself react visibly, staying silent and not moving from his position. He doesn't need to anger Sidious even more.

"We will discuss this more later," his master says finally. He expected that, of course, but that doesn't stop his ever-growing dread. It only means a punishment much worse in store when they meet in person again, whenever he's called back to Coruscant. "For now, you have another mission. The two children you saw with the Jedi are still at the Naboo palace. I want them. Alive."

**w**

Locating the room of the palace where the twins are staying is easy enough. Even with their natural shielding, they still shine brightly in the Force. More brightly and strongly than anyone Maul's ever felt before. Now that he thinks about it, he had noticed them when he was on Tatooine looking for the Jedi, but he hadn't paid it much attention. It wasn't part of his mission, after all.

Getting them will be easy enough. It's just a matter of getting in and out before the Jedi who are still present figure out what's going on.

He moves easily through the shadows, ducking past any of the guard patrols he encounters along the way. When he was preparing for the battle during the Federation blockade, he'd explored through much of the palace already. He knows his way around, to a point, if it becomes necessary. Climbing the side of the building, he opens the window to their room with the Force and pulls himself inside.

The girl is moving restlessly on the bed as he silently makes his way across the room towards them. She suddenly opens her eyes, gaze promptly falling right on him. He sees and feels the flare of panic that runs through her, and, of course, she promptly tries to scream. He's at her bedside in a flash, clamping a hand over her mouth even as she struggles in vain to free herself.

On the bed only a few feet away, the boy is starting to stir now.

Maul wraps the Force around the girl's mind, throwing the heaviest Force suggestion he can at her. Sleep. She tries to fight it off – surprisingly well for someone with no training – but soon succumbs.

The boy is already waking up, eyes going wide with alarm when he sees him standing there. He instantly tries to roll away – a move admittedly cleverer than the girl's – but Maul catches his arm, yanking him back down and covering his mouth before he can try screaming.

Except he doesn't. He reaches out with the Force instead, and Maul knows he already managed to call a warning to the Jedi before he gives in to the Force suggestion, falling asleep.

The Jedi definitely felt that, and they're going to be coming. He needs to move quickly.

Picking up the twins, he silently moves back to the window, jumping to the ground, and disappearing into the shadows once more. The twins are surprisingly light... and they seem rather small and skinny for their age. To be fair he doesn't know how old they are, but still.

He leaves them locked in one of the side rooms of the ship when he finally gets back there – thankfully without incident – and slips back to the cockpit to fire up the engines. Time to contact his master.

Sidious should at least be pleased with the news, or so he can hope.

He is.

Except that he also has something of far more major importance to tell him about, that successfully freezes all of Maul's thoughts in place for a few moments as he tries to process what his master just told him. That apparently, he still has a Sith Master, though said master and Sidious are apparently equals now... whatever that even entails with Sith.

He wants to say something, to ask for an explanation, or something but any words die in his throat. Sidious is still furious with him over his failure on the previous mission – he can feel it – and he doesn't want to risk saying anything that might set him off again. He's already in enough trouble as is. (And he's really not looking forward to when he'll be called back to Coruscant. So, he's admittedly almost relieved he's supposed to be taking the twins to Mustafar instead.)

But if Sidious' master is still alive, that means that Sidious is the apprentice. And the apprentice can hardly have an apprentice of his own. Maybe a secret one, but Maul obviously isn't a secret from Sidious' master, which means...

It means that he was never his apprentice at all. Not really.

"You were never worthy of being my apprentice. Not worth anything more than an assassin "

Sidious' biting words ring through his mind again. Did he mean that more literally than Maul thought? Has he really never been anything more than his... weapon?

Always remember you are filth.

Always remember you are nothing.

It's one of the things Sidious' drilled into his head from the start of his apprenticeship. Suddenly the words seem to have an even more literal meaning.

All the things his master told him about his plans for the future... plans that Maul was supposed to help take a part in, was any of that true either? Or was it lie like everything he's ever done?

He doesn't know how to handle this. Was he even trained as a Sith? Everything he's done was under the belief that he was actually Sidious' apprentice, and, of course, that meant that one day he'd be the Sith Master himself. But now... he doesn't know how to react to this. For as much as he despises Sidious, he's always been loyal to him. Apparently, all of it was for nothing.

His thoughts continue to spiral when the call finally disconnects, his spiraling emotions over the betrayal are rapidly turning into a burning rage.

It's no wonder his master always kept him away in the shadows, as though he didn't need him. because he didn't. There can only be two Sith, and he isn't one of them. All the pain he's been through because of Sidious – all the way back to when he first took him from his home on Dathomir – was for nothing. It may have made him strong in the Dark Side, but he was never trained to be a Sith anyway.

His hands move almost robotically as he enters the coordinates for Mustafar into the ship and jumps to hyperspace. Despite everything, he still has a mission to finish, unless he wants to face the consequences.

**w**

Apparently the Sith Masters can rub his worthless position in his face even further, because Plagueis decides that not only does he have to watch over the two children – who have already caused enough problems for him for the day with how they keep trying to take off – but apparently, he's also going to be locked in here with them. The only thing that makes it a little more tolerable is that he's supposed to be training the twins in the ways of the Sith. At least that's a mission that's worth his time, but he doesn't know why Sidious wants that. There can only be two Sith, so why does he want this?

But this also isn't a mission he's even had a chance to think about, and it's nothing like anything he's had to do before. He doesn't know how to teach someone, certainly not a child. It's going to be... awkward. (And if he has to deal with one more ridiculous escape attempt any time soon, he might do something very violent.)

The first day of training Anakin and Aniya goes a lot better than Maul was expecting it to, honestly.

They're a lot more... obedient than he was anticipating.

He doesn't miss how they constantly seem to be gauging his mood and tensing at any slight indication of displeasure. They seem to be constantly expecting violence, and... in a way, it reminds him much of himself when he was younger. Before he learned to fully cover any such indications. It was... especially true after what happened right before Sidious took him from Dathomir, and in the early days when he was Sidious' so-called apprentice. (Or was supposed to have been.)

He has no idea how much longer he's going to be locked in here with them, but it's not quite as bad as he was expecting. And the first day was likely the most challenging, since now they're somewhat accustomed to each other.

Training them was supposed to have been nothing but another mission, and one that he doubted he was going to like very much. But it was actually a lot more... satisfying? perhaps, than he was expecting. It's strange, being able to teach and pass on what he knows to someone, but it's not unwelcome, either.

For a brief time, at least, it gave Maul something to focus on other than Sidious' betrayal. But now that the twins have gone to bed for the night and he's alone in the main room again, it's about all he can dwell on. He didn't realize he could hate anyone more than the Jedi, but it seems he was wrong. Sidious lied to him his entire life.

Sleep comes eventually, but he finds himself waking up again sometime in the middle of the night.

He stands, heading into the next room to the 'fresher, but pauses for a moment, stopping to look over at the twins, who are curled up, side-by-side in the same bed. The boy's arm is wrapped almost protectively around his sister, likely a subconscious gesture since they're both asleep. It's much the way he acts even while awake though, like intentionally positioning himself in front of her, keeping her as far away from 'danger' as he can.

For a fleeting moment, Maul thinks of a time from almost before he can remember. Of when he took care of his own brother, when he was protective of him back then because he was the weaker of the two.

Anakin stirs a little, seeming to unconsciously pull Aniya closer. Maybe because he senses Maul standing to close. (As if he could protect her if Maul wanted to hurt them. Which he doesn't, or at least he currently sees no reason to.)

The twins are... powerful and use the Force far more than they realize. They're going to be very powerful Sith one day, which makes him wonder again, what does his master want with them?

**w**

"Can I see it?" asks Anakin hopefully. Aniya looks equally eager next to him.

What would it hurt? Besides, Maul can't quite find it in himself to refuse anyway when they're both looking at him like that. (The last time someone, not counting his master, looked at him with anything other than hatred or fear was... a very long time ago.)

And so what if he wants to show off a little?

Maul unclips his lightsaber, igniting both ends, and spinning it with an unnecessarily dramatic flourish.

They both brighten instantly, watching with an amusing amount of enthusiasm. It's likely one of the first times they've seen a lightsaber – especially a double-bladed one – so it's not really that surprising.

Aniya moves slightly closer as they watch and gets that "I-have-a-question-but-I'm-not-sure-I-should-ask" look on her face. Or at least it appears to mean something to that affect. They're still extremely wary, even if they seem a little more comfortable actually talking to him now that they seem to have realized that he isn't going to react with violence for everything they do or don't do.

"What is it?" he asks.

Aniya's eyes dart briefly up to his before she quickly averts her gaze. "Can I... hold it?" she asks hesitantly.

Should he let them? They're much too small to handle a weapon that large, but it's not like she's asking to use it. And they better not be stupid enough to ignite it into themselves.

Anakin shifts nervously. "We'll be careful," he promises.

"Fine," Maul concedes as he extinguishes the blade, "But remember it's a dangerous weapon, not a toy."

He moves to kneel on the floor in front of them so they're at eye-level, then holds it out. Anakin moves closer first, reaching out and slowly taking the hilt from him, very carefully turning it over in his hands.

The feeling that runs through him as he watches their enthusiasm is... he doesn't know what to label it, actually. Practically the only emotion he ever feels are anger and hatred and fear, and this is definitely not that. It's... not an emotion he's felt before, and it's admittedly strange.

"Why is yours red?" Anakin wonders curiously after a moment, passing the hilt over to Aniya.

"All Sith have red lightsabers."

"Why?"

They really do have an endless supply of questions, don't they? Although right now at least, he can't say he minds.

**w**

Maul paces back and forth in front of the twins, watching as they practice the moves of the basic lightsaber forms that he already taught them. They picked it up relatively quickly so far. The metal rods that they're using as makeshift lightsabers work well enough. It's not as if they could actually hold his lightsaber anyway. He watches in silence for the most part, except to give occasional instructions.

The lessons go relatively smoothly – like they usually do – except for the part where Aniya trips over nothing apparent and faceplants on the floor, nearly landing right on top of his boots in the process. And then scrambles away from him just as quickly, like she's expecting him to bite or something.

He doesn't comment.

Seriously, though, someone with her Force strength ought to be more coordinated. Unless there's something wrong with her. (He knows that can happen to him sometimes after he's been electrocuted, and it makes him wonder... he doesn't know anything about the children's past, after all.)

They finish up those exercises, before moving on to actually learning some more. Neither of them are getting the next moves down quite right, maybe because they aren't holding those rods quite right, either.

Fine.

Maul deactivates his own lightsaber where he was attempting to give them a demonstration, stepping over to Anakin. He reaches for him, and the boy flinches away, ever so slightly. Probably expecting to be hit.

He reaches down instead, adjusting his grip on the rod. "Like this," he instructs, stepping away.

Aniya mimics her brother's move, and things continue a little more smoothly after that.

It's some hours later before they finish up their lightsaber training for the day – Maul's beginning to lose track of how many days it's already been – and they go to eat. As usual, the meal passes in relative silence. The twins don't usually talk much, unless they're asking non-stop questions about things related to their training. He's hardly one to engage in idle chatter most of the time, either.

Anakin finally looks up at him, from his seat on the opposite side of the table. "I... have a question."

"You have but to ask."

"Why are the Sith and Jedi enemies?"

"The Jedi have been hunting the Sith to extinction for centuries, because they wanted to be free."

"Free from what?" Aniya frowns.

"The Jedi believe that the weak form of the Force they use is the only way," Maul replies with no small measure of disgust, "They try to eliminate anyone who does not abide by their beliefs, as they have been doing to the Sith for all this time."

Anakin shifts. "I... don't understand," he mumbles.

An exasperated sigh escapes him. "What do you not understand?"

"How can part of the Force be 'weak'?"

"It is... how they use it," he answers, "They only use the 'Light' side, and pretend they have no emotions, even though they fear the return of the Sith."

"... what are they afraid of?" asks Aniya.

"They are afraid because the Sith are more powerful than them." And because the Sith will destroy the Jedi eventually. He doesn't add that part, because considering the twins' disgusting hero worship of the Jedi when they were talking to Plagueis, he doesn't know how they'd react to that.

"How were the Sith destroyed, if they're more... powerful?" Aniya objects.

He barely suppresses the urge to snap at her for the question. She is just asking. "The Jedi have the advantage of numbers," he says, finally.

"How many Sith are there?" Anakin wonders.

A surge of burning anger and betrayal hits him full force as he promptly thinks about that again, and he stands abruptly, stalking across the room to the window, staring out at the rivers of lava flowing far below.

"Two," he replies, after a moment, turning to look at them again. He can feel their wariness in the Force now, as they watch him. "There can only be two."

"How can we be Sith, then?" Anakin asks hesitantly.

"Because my master says so," Maul replies, stiffly. He's been asking himself the same question this entire time. "The Sith have concealed themselves for a millennium to avoid complete annihilation by the Jedi. But the time finally came for us to reveal ourselves again."

"I don't understand why the Jedi would want to kill the Sith," Aniya frowns.

"They are not the heroes you imagine them to be," Maul retorts.

The twins fall quiet at that, not that he was really expecting an answer, and he turns away, returning his gaze to the rivers of lava, though he's not really looking at it. His mind is back on Sidious' betrayal again.

Yes, there are people he can hate more than the Jedi.

**w**

Giving them physical combat training wasn't exactly the plan, but... there's only so long every day they can do Force training and practice lightsaber moves. Besides, Maul is becoming increasingly restless and irritated with being trapped in the same two rooms for such an extended period of time, with no real action whatsoever.

It's a little irritating, though, that he has to be careful to avoid accidentally seriously injuring them. He has to hold back – something he never has to do when he's fighting – and it's more than a little aggravating. Especially when all he wants is a good fight right now. Obviously, that won't be happening for a while.

They're surprisingly fast, but it's still hardly a challenge for him. He finally catches ahold of Aniya, pinning her down.

"Yield," he advises them both, pretending as though he couldn't have won this forever ago if he was actually trying. She huffs out a quiet breath, which he takes to be a surrender, and let's go of her, letting her step out of their "fight".

Anakin rolls out of the way in response instead, or tries to, because Maul promptly catches him by the ankles and stands up, holding him upside down a short distance above the ground. The boy lets out a half-startled, half-panicked yelp, squirming around his grasp, to no avail.

"What about now?" Maul asks smugly, and maybe he shouldn't find this so comical.

"That is not fair!" Anakin protests, torn between sounding amused and almost scared, as though as he isn't quite sure how he should react.

"Sith don't play fair."

"Put me down, please," he requests, squirming around again.

He chuckles quietly, but does as asked, setting him back on the floor. Anakin hastily pushes himself into a sitting position, and Aniya darts over to him.

"Sith don't say 'please'," Maul comments as an afterthought. (He resolutely ignores all the times in the past he's said that to Sidious, in the desperate and foolish hope that it will make him stop.) "They take what is rightfully theirs."

"Isn't it like... just polite," Aniya mumbles

"It is a sign of weakness." Sidious did drill things about that into his head over and over again.

The twins exchange one of their unreadable-but-definitely-silent-communication-of-some-kind glances, but neither of them speaks.

Maul glances at the chrono on the wall. "It is time that we meditate." He takes a seat on the floor, and they immediately move to sit across from him, side by side as always. He reaches into the Force, the Dark Side responding to his call instantly. He can feel the twins trying to do likewise, though they're still having some difficulty properly connecting with the Force.

It's not something he really knows how to help them with, but he quickly figured out being impatient was only making it harder. It's not as if he can ask his master's advice either, because that would imply that he's not competent enough to carry out the mission on his own which is ridiculous. They blocked themselves off to the Force for whatever reason so... they need to get past that.

**w**

Maul doesn't usually aimlessly scroll around on the Holonet like this, but he isn't usually locked in tiny quarters with nothing to do but train two children either. Even having nothing to do but hunt rathtars was better than this.

The warnings on the holomovie say it's for an adult audience and still considered horror even for them, as if whatever exactly it is could bother him. Maul is not particularly concerned by the fact that the twins are right there with him. They'll never be Sith if their minds are that... fragile.

Besides, if they really want to leave, it's not like they can't. He already gave them permission to leave for the evening since their lessons for the day are done, but they're still lingering out here of their own choice.

He debates another moment before finally turning on the holomovie. Why not? He doesn't have anything else of importance to be doing that night anyway. (And he'd rather not spend it thinking about when he'll be called back to Coruscant, and what happens then. Or dwelling on Sidious' betrayal.)

After a moment, Anakin and Aniya come over to join him.

The plot is... interesting enough, though he's almost glad when the main characters lose and get killed at the end by the villain monster because they spent half the time on-screen being so pathetic it was frankly disgusting.

He's pretty sure the twins don't share quite the same assessment though, since they seem a little shaken up from it.

Maul closes out of the holomovie as it finishes, going back to the main screen with a list of other ones. He glances down at the twins. "Do you want to pick one?"

They both look equally startled at the unexpected question, and their gazes dart almost nervously between him, the screen, and each other. "We... uh, can't really..." Anakin trails off.

"Understand the titles?" Aniya offers, finishing her brother's sentence.

It takes him a moment to realize what they're saying. "You can't read?"

"Um, only a little," Anakin mumbles, shifting uncomfortably.

No one taught them how to read? To be fair, he thinks they were slaves from what Plagueis said, so it shouldn't be that surprising, but it never occurred to him before that they might not know. Well, this is something he needs to correct.

"It appears we have more lessons to deal with, then," he decides, and they both brighten at that. "But we can deal with that in the morning. It's getting late." It's already long past their bedtime, actually.

He flips off the holoprojector, which was practically the only light in the room at this point, plunging the room into mostly darkness. The only light is the faint glow of the lava coming in the window.

The twins take a step towards their room, then stop and exchange almost nervous glances. What?

"Don't tell me you're scared of that holofilm monster," he says flatly.

"No!" they both deny, maybe a bit too quickly, before they scamper away into the bedroom. Well, he'll take that as a yes.

And... he'll deal with how exactly he's going to teach them how to read in the morning. He didn't really think about it before offering and it's not something he even knows how to do. But... nor are a lot of the things he's been doing lately, and they've all worked out fine. This should too, and at least it will them something else to do.

**w**

"I'm tired of being stuck here," Aniya whines.

"Next time, just don't try escaping," Maul advises, a hint of amusement slipping into his voice. They wouldn't be stuck here in the first place if not for that. Well, probably. Though the fact that they were clever enough to get as far as they did is admittedly impressive. (Even if he wasn't very impressed at the time, and still isn't happy that he's locked in here because of it.)

"Well, aren't we stuck in here together?" Anakin objects, looking up at him, "You're practically a prisoner here also." Is that really what he thinks?

"I am not," he insists, "I am only here to keep an eye on you. And train you."

"But you can't leave even if you wanted to, right?" Aniya presses.

"Which kind of makes you a prisoner as much as we are," Anakin continues.

Maul ignores the nagging voice in the back of his mind about how they do have a point. He can't leave if he wanted to. And he's not Sidious' apprentice – anger burns in him again as he thinks about it – so what exactly does that make him?

"What are you getting at?" he demands, crossing his arms. Because they're definitely aiming for something.

His suspicion is especially confirmed when the twins exchange one of their unreadable glances. "We don't need to stay locked up in here. If you helped us, we could all escape together," Anakin offers brightly, a naively hopeful note in his voice.

They really think he could agree to that? "I don't think so," he says flatly.

"Why not?" the boy asks, fixing him with a stare, "Are you scared?"

Scared? He's not scared of anything. Except Sidious. "I will not betray my master."

He already betrayed you,his mind unhelpfully reminds him.

"But he wouldn't hesitate to betray you, would he?" Aniya just has to ask, because sometimes they really don't know when it's a good idea to shut up, "If he thought he found someone better to take your place?"

The words are an echo of his own thoughts only moments before, and he has to wonder how true it is. Is that what the twins are for? To take his place as Sidious'... well, not apprentices, but prized weapons.

"He probably –" begins Anakin.

"Enough!" Maul snaps, abruptly standing, effectively silencing both of them, "Get these foolish notions out of your head. You won't be going anywhere until my master says otherwise." He turns on his heel, stalking out of the room into the twins' bedroom, since he doesn't have anywhere else to go.

He needs a moment to think. The conversation with the twins reminded him of the betrayal. But he still can't disobey Sidious, even now.

"... makes you a prisoner as much we are."

Anakin isn't entirely wrong, and that's what infuriates him so much. He has nothing to stay here with his master for, not anymore, but he can't leave either. If he tried, Sidious would find him eventually, and if his master only killed him, it would be a mercy.

His thoughts are interrupted when he suddenly senses Plagueis approaching. What now? Is Sidious coming, or...?

Maul steps back out into the main room, as the door to the small quarters opens, the Muun himself appearing in the doorway, telling him to come. Why? What does he want?

His apprehension instantly skyrockets. Is Sidious coming? Is he going back to Coruscant? Of course, he knew it would happen eventually, but he didn't expect it was going to be this soon. He's not ready to face him yet, even if putting it off won't make what happens any better.

"The Jedi are coming," Plagueis tells him, and his fear instantly turns into determination and anticipation.

"Kill them. Ensure the children do not escape," he orders.

"Yes, my Lord," Maul intones. He smirks viciously. Finally, a worthwhile mission. The Jedi will regret coming here. He won't fail like he did back on Naboo. He's been itching for a fight for days now, and now, he finally has his chance.

For a moment, though, he wonders what will happen to Anakin and Aniya after this battle is over. Will Plagueis send him back to keep training them, or is that going to change now? Will he want to train them himself? Or is Sidious going to want to train them?

He knows Sidious will call him back to Coruscant eventually. Training the twins here was definitely only a temporary thing, because the Sith Masters will want them loyal to only them, he's certain. Having Maul continue to train them would totally defeat the purpose, since they would never owe their loyalty to Sidious.

He knows how Sidious will train the twins, and... Something twists uncomfortably inside of him. He doesn't want them to have to be go through the things he did. It's not... necessary, to being a Sith. If he's being perfectly honest, and at least in the privacy of his own mind, he'll admit that he does want to train them himself.

He... wants to keep the twins as his apprentices, if that's what they are. It isn't exactly, but it's close enough. They feel like his, and he doesn't want to let them go.

He doesn't know exactly how Sith apprentices are normally trained, or if it's always the way Sidious treated him, but... The twins already have much anger in them. They only need to learn to use it. He doesn't have to torture or hurt them the way Sidious always did to him. There's no reason that they have to hate him the way he hates Sidious.

But in the end, it doesn't really matter. He must obey Sidious still, above all else, and his master could care less if he wants to keep training the twins. The very thought of Sidious allowing that long-term is ludicrous. Sidious will want them for himself, likely even to replace Maul once they get older.

His hatred surges, and he draws on it, letting it fuel him. He can feel the Jedi's disgustingly Light presences approaching already. Plagueis leaves him there alone without another word, which is hardly a surprise. If he's one of the Sith Masters, he wouldn't want the Jedi to be able to recognize him. It's not as if Maul needs his help anyway.

Still, something about his sudden disappearance leaves Maul feeling unsettled, though he can't explain why. Something... isn't right.

He doesn't have any longer to ponder it though before the Jedi themselves run into the room where he's waiting. There's three of them. Kenobi and Jinn from back on Naboo, and another much older man with white hair.

Two Jedi Masters and a padawan.

Well, he could have defeated two of them back on Naboo if not for Aniya, so this shouldn't be more than he can handle. Not if he can keep them separate.

He throws back his hood, activating his lightsaber and lunging at them. They attack him, and he spins his blade in a blur to block their green and blue ones. He finally has his chance to kill another Jedi – and prove himself to Sidious again although it's not as if that would make a difference – and he won't fail this time.

Together, though, the Jedi are strong. Stronger than he was anticipating. It's far harder to fight them than it was back on Naboo, considering that there's three of them, two of whom are obviously Jedi Masters. The oldest is an extremely good duelist.

Something is nagging at the edge of Maul's senses, though. Something unrelated to the fight, but he can't take the time to figure out what it is when he's focused on fending off all the Jedi. They're forcing him onto the defensive now, and it infuriates him.

The floor trembles beneath him, danger distantly flaring through the Force, and suddenly he has a sinking feeling that he knows what's happening. Maul backs off a few more steps and Kenobi lunges at him again, only for Maul to kick him across the room, turning his attention back to the other two. The other two Jedi are coming far too close to making it past his defenses for his liking.

"Stay where you are," he hears Kenobi saying, and spares a brief glance his direction to see Anakin and Aniya watching the fight, mostly concealed behind the door. A flare of irritation runs through him. Of course, they'd promptly try to take off the moment he was gone. He should have expected as much from their persistence before. Well, he'll deal with them later.

Jinn is momentarily distracted at the sight of the twins as well, and Maul uses the opportunity to Force-throw him aside and run into one of the next rooms, taking a moment to recollect himself. He needs to find a way to split them up.

The floor trembles violently beneath him again, right as Kenobi and the oldest Jedi charge in after, attacking him again. "The shields are down on the building!" he can barely make out Anakin desperately telling Jinn.

"And it's gonna fall into the lava. We need to get out of here!" Aniya adds frantically.

Well, that explains it. But that doesn't make sense. The shields on the building wouldn't be down unless someone turned them off, which means...

There's only one person who would have.

The currently, very suspiciously missing Sith Master.

He doesn't have the time to let the implications of it catch up though as blue blade swings for his head, while the other cuts downwards, singing the side of his robes since he isn't able to block it quite in time.

He can hear the sound of metal ripping apart, and then Jinn sprints into the room. The twins appear right in the doorway, Aniya clinging to Anakin's arm.

The Jedi continue attacking him relentlessly, forcing him a few more steps back. They're running out of time here. He can tell that much. Maybe he can use that to his advantage, though. "We need to leave, now!" Jinn calls to the others, then heads back for the entrance he came through, the twins close behind.

The floor suddenly shakes violently, and a suspiciously obvious fracture appears in the floor between them and the door. Maul blocks the Jedi's slashes, taking a few steps back, since he doesn't have a way to get to the entrance right now. The crack in the floor is rapidly starting to widen, before it abruptly tears apart.

A glowing orange light floods the room, from the lava rivers running beneath the building. That instantly sets the others into motion, and they leap across the steadily growing gap, racing for the exit.

The Force suddenly screams in warning right before the floor gives out from beneath him. The last thing he sees is Kenobi disappearing out the entrance after the other before he's falling down right towards the river of lava far below the building. Debris from it is collapsing all around, falling into the river below already. It won't be long before the entire building will be gone into the lava, with him along with it.

Maul Force-jumps off the falling beam, desperately catching onto something – he doesn't know or care what – from the structure that hasn't fully collapsed yet. He pulls himself up, climbing up the side of the still falling part of the building, finally jumping up onto the roof of the building.

The last of the building is giving out now. He sprints across the top, leaping from there onto what's left of the landing platform.

He pauses to catch his breath, turning to watch what's left of the building disappearing into the lava river. Now that the fight and everything is over with, it gives him a moment to think about what happened. Plagueis tried to kill him. For he has no doubt that he was intended to die there, because if not, why did the Sith Master take off and disappear? And he's not stupid enough to believe that Plagueis would have done it without Sidious' knowledge and approval.

First Sidious lies to him about everything, claims that he's his apprentice only to for him to find out that it was nothing but a lie, and then this.

His anger burns as furiously as the lava river below as he thinks about it, about everything. Sidious will pay for what he's done, him and his master both. He will kill them for this betrayal. Sidious only took him in the chance he might need an assassin where neither of the "true" Sith could appear and cast Maul aside the moment he decided he didn't need him anymore.

The least he can do in revenge is destroy everything Sidious has worked for, the same way his master did to him.

For a moment, Maul's mind drifts back to Anakin and Aniya. They're already gone now, taken by the Jedi. There's nothing he can do about that anymore. Not that it matters, since Maul isn't going back to Sidious and his demands anyway.

Still, he was the one training the twins, and he can't deny that he did, in fact, come to care about them, in a way. Taking them as his own apprentices would be... It's something he's willing to consider, but it's too late for now. They're gone and he knows there's no way he can get them back from the Jedi.

Still, the chance might come day. But if nothing else, he'll be able to find them again when they're older.

But he knows that if he's going to go after Sidious and his master, he's going to need help. And what would be better than getting the twins' assistance? They're the most powerful Force sensitives that he's ever met, and once they're older they should be able to help him. Of course, now they're likely going to be corrupted by the Jedi, but someday maybe, he should be able to find them. He taught them before; he should be able to convince them to help him and use the Dark Side again.

For now, it's time to find a way off the planet. Time to leave Mustafar behind, preferably forever.

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