The Hidden Sith Izuku Midoriya
Chapter 22: Training
"Speaking"
"All Might/Vocoder Speaking"
"Thought communication"
'Thinking'
Flash-forward/flashback
Welcome back to another chapter. Been a while, but not as long as that most of the year impromptu hiatus was. You know which one. But I hope to entertain with chapter 22. Side note, I am now using Grammarly free to assist with editing, so if the writing seems a little off, that's why.
MrMateusz: Comment 1; Thank you. Comment 2; Yeah. Comment 3; Yes, Izuku is older than Anakin. Comment 4; Thank you so much for informing me about that inconsistency. It's been a few months between the two chapters, and I've been busy with many different stories.
Wiggleyotter (Great name by the way): Nope! Still here on the hell know as Earth.
keybladelight: Natrula kyber do not exist on the MHA earth. So until he leaves, no bleeding.
The all powerful machine: Comment 1; He's not going to brudally murder them. Kill a few and cripple a couple others, sure. But most of his class will survive. Comment 2; Yes, the look will be glorious but you'll have to wait awhile.
Colossuss Bridger: WHO TOLD YOU THAT?! I mean, that's a secret. It's not like her ability to shift forms or anything won't be useful for assassinations.
Drag7: Based on your two comments, I don't think you're here to enjoy this story, you're here to pick fights. Go somewhere else, I won't entertain you.
Xelaki: True, but this is 200+ years down the line. Who's to say that Japan's system won't shift? Japan did take it's Hero system in universe from the United States.
The door slid open as Darth Ferno stepped into the half-completed workshop of Mei Hatsume. She had requested that he show up so he could try one of her newest inventions. She was light on the details, only saying that it would help with maintaining his secrecy.
"Mei." The Sith muttered. His amber eyes were narrowed at the sheer volume of smoke present. Every time he steps in here, more smoke is present the last time. He sent a metal flick to begin exhausting the air outside, a temporary addition. As the ship was not space ready, having the exhaust saved the filters from needing to be replaced every other week.
"Cough, Yes?" The soot-covered face Mei said. "Wait, why are you here?"
Ferno blinked. "You called me here."
Mei took a moment to think. "…Oh, right! I have a new baby for you. Fully tested out and everything." She grinned. "I know that you're against testing anything for me, so I did it myself. And boy am I woozy."
"Why are you woozy?" Darth Ferno questioned, eye visibly twitching.
"Cause, I been pulling out a lot of blood." She spoke.
At a closer glance, Darth Ferno could note that she seemed less stable on her feet than when he saw her earlier at UA. He had to ask. "Why are you extracting so much blood from your body?"
"Because I just finished a blood extractor." She said pulling out something. It looked like a piece of black ballistics gear.
"That's a blood extractor?" The Sith asked, a bit uneasy.
"YEP! Just strap it to your body like normal ballistics gear, and with the correct toggling phrase, it extracts blood from your body mid-battle." The Sith stared at her, before staring at the device, and again turned back to her.
"Why did you make this?" Surely there was some practical reasoning.
"Well," She started, with a bit of sway in her feet, "That blood clone trick requires you to prepare blood to use no? And you can't predict when you'll be attacked, well you can, it's just not a talent you specifically have to do so on the fly, ya know." Not untrue, some Sith did have that specific talent, but Ferno did not.
"Get to the point." Darth Ferno said in a flat tone.
"You can create blood clones mid-battle, so one of your clones can assume the role of either Darth Ferno or Izuku Midoriya depending on the situation," Mei said. "Whoa, I need to sit down." She plopped to the ground with little fanfare.
The fifteen-year-old Sith blinked. There was an idea. If he was ever caught in a situation where both Izuku and Ferno needed to be present, that would massively help. Of course, the blood clone was half his raw strength in the force, and couldn't use One For All, but most people would be hard-pressed to defeat him at half-strength. He gave a grin. "Well done."
Darth Ferno began to strip his cloak, and shirt, before fastening the extractor to his bare chest. It felt a bit heavy. "Are the needles or whatever you used clean at least?" He asked. Darth Ferno wanted to be sure that he wouldn't contract something from Mei through this.
"YEP! Wiped them down and disinfected them when I was done testing. Side note, the needle is bigger than what you get your shots in. It needed to be as those are single use." Mei said grinning.
"So, blood donation levels? Or larger?"
"Bit larger."
Darth Ferno sighed. "Got it. Where is the button to activate it, and what is the activation sequence?"
Mei pointed to a specific point of her chest, "It's blended in, and the sequence is two button presses, one long hold for two seconds, finishing off with three button presses." A sequence that wouldn't accidentally be triggered.
Darth Ferno followed the sequence and felt the rather large needle stick into his body. Compared to breaking his bones, it felt like an irritating sting of pain at best. Once the needle was done pulling blood, it removed itself, and Ferno healed the wound.
"Now, hold your left hand to your chest and press the button three times," Mei said.
He followed the instructions and after a few moments of waiting, a metallic egg-sized orb slipped out of the gear. Ferno could tell there was blood inside the metal orb.
"How did you get the metal egg to form? I certainly didn't feel in the gear." The sith asked.
Mei blinked, trying to catch up. "Oh! This super genius girl by the name of Melissa Shield created the tech to make folding metal, taking inspiration from her father's attempts at the tech. It was recently introduced at last year's I-Island fair, and is set to go public next year for Hero Gear." Mei yawned. "I had to do a bit of slicing to get the files from behind I-Island's system but I did."
"Daughter of David Shield perhaps? Guess genius runs in that family." Darth Ferno muttered. Mei's slicing skills had improved by leaps and bounds since she joined Darth Alcor and Ferno. However, Ferno had this weird feeling when the female Shield came to mind. He needed to do a background check on her.
"How many times can I use this without needing to reload? The metallic orbs I mean." He asked.
Mei put a finger up to her temple. "Uhh, I believe it's three times before you need to add more folding metal. I made the metal orb thin enough that you could throw it and it would crumple against the ground. You know, to let the blood out."
Darth Ferno frowned. That left the threat of somebody getting some of his blood and identifying him. Although, it would take weeks to scan the hero registry and that would be after scanning the villain and criminal registries. However, if the sample is too small, it would be rendered a moot point. Oh well, he'll just have to make sure that the blood is properly unusable. Maybe a blast of lightning would make it so.
(I-Island.)
Darth Sybil smirked. "Honestly, the thought that I wouldn't notice my server being sliced into was laughable." She muttered looking at her display. On it were GPS coordinates that were of a random forest in Japan. Innocuous by itself. However, the live feed she tapped into showed a different story. To the unobservant or untrained, it simply looked like a random spot. But to her, she could see the falseness of it all. Almost like somebody had layered an illusion over it.
"Found you, Lord Ferno." She grinned, her eyes ablaze. "If you don't show up soon, I'm liable to come knocking down your door. After all, why wouldn't I want to visit my 'Uncle Might'?"
It was a pain to trace them back as they used multiple countries to bounce their signal, and they certainly didn't pay for their internet based on their location. It was more likely they tapped into some private business's connection using a long-distance line of sight antenna and were using that without the business's knowledge. They were clever, but most technology required a GPS signal for full functionality, and her presence on I-Island granted her access to those very satellites.
After all, it wasn't that weird for somebody to have a random GPS signal in the middle of the forest, so who would be suspicious? And anybody but her wouldn't have suspicions. On her desk, a Holocron gave a dim glow.
(UA)
"I AM COMING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!" A definitely not normal person named All Might said, sliding through the door in one of his older costumes. He clearly wanted to put on a show.
The classroom exploded with everybody muttering about how cool he was, all save the quiet few like the teen with animal control, a Koda, and Darth Ferno. "All right! The class you've all been waiting for, BATTLE TRAINING!" All Might's voice boomed.
Those words only made the class more excited. The Pro Hero held up a case with a number on it. "Inside these numbered cases are the costumes that you all requested from the design studio that partners with UA. They match your seating arrangement. Head over to the locker rooms and change into them. When you're done, make your way to Training Ground C, which can be found on the map within the student handbook." All Might finished, zooming out of the class. He probably wanted to preserve as much of his muscle form as possible, so he sped to the Training ground ahead.
Almost all of the students rushed to the front, grabbed their cases, and ran out of the room. Darth Ferno and a couple of others took their time getting their cases. Within the Sith's case was a reimaging of his previous drawings as a kid. It was a black costume with highlights of green, blue, and red. It also had a respirator attachment that would enable him to breathe in low-oxygen environments. Basically, he took the costume his mother made him from the drawings and had some modifications made to it.
It also happened to have a hood with a pair of antennae that looked likely bunny ears. The non-threatening kind at least. Miruko's rabbit ears were as threatening as they come. Once again, Izuku was one the first to emerge from changing, making his way to the training ground All Might had claimed. Right behind him, the earphone jack girl, Kyouka Jiro, and the small midget followed him.
Once they arrived, Izuku knocked on the large door, before opening it, giving All Might a warning to get into shape. And not a moment too soon. He still saw a few wisps of smoke in the area. All Might coughed. "Let us wait a few more minutes for your classmates, shall we?"
The other students trickled in. All Might gave a big wave. "Well, folks. Many people say that clothes make the hero, and I am in agreement. Look how cool you all are!" He shouted as many of the students looked around. Izuku tasked. Many of the costumes were impracticable at best and dangerous at worst. Like that redhead who wore no shirt at all, even if he had a hardening quirk, that wouldn't do much against rapid temperature shifts.
Or the girl who had too much of her body exposed. He understood that her quirk could create anything so long as she knew how to make it, but she easily could have had some kind of zipper attached to it. A zipper on her front and both her arms would do. Honestly, the design studio was stupid to make these kinds of costumes. And while Ochako's costume was only slightly better, but it was a bit tight, likely to accentuate her assets. Honestly, perverted old men.
Iida held up his hand. "YOU!" All Might said.
"Sir! Are we going to be doing training against the robots again?" The speedster asked.
"NO! We shall be taking two steps ahead." All the students tried to get All Might's attention with questions of their own. Izuku could've sworn he heard somebody ask if All Might would threaten them with expulsion. "Hold your horses! I don't have super hearing."
And then All Might pulled up a note card. Wonderful. "Ahem, now, as the media like to report it, they only do stories about big and flashy crimes. But in truth, more than nine-tenths of criminal activity takes place in closed, isolated buildings. Think of things like drug deals, illegal human experimentation, and underground fight arenas, you get the idea. It's your job as Heroes to work in those constrained environments and deal the least amount of damage to your surroundings while also apprehending the villains in question." He paused. "The situation is as follows, a group of villains have created a bomb, capable of blowing up many blocks of the downtown Tokyo area. Tens of thousands, if not hundreds are in danger. Now, a pair of villains guard the bomb as they await their buyers."
"That is the situation. You'll be paired off in teams of two, heroes vs villains. The Hero team will have ten minutes to get the bomb from the Villain team. Otherwise, the buyers show up and the Heroes are taken down by the many villains. And to qualify as 'getting the bomb' you need only place your full hand on it. Alternatively, the capture tape given to either team can be used to capture the other group. That would also count as a win." All Might explained.
Ochako raised her hand, and All Might pointed at her. "Uh, how are the pairs selected?" She asked.
All Might pulled a pair of boxes from under the command console. "We shall be drawing lots!"
Iida immediately raised his hand. "SIR! Are you sure this is the wisest course of action?"
Izuku shook his head. "It makes sense." He starts, the eyes of the class turning to him. "We don't always choose whom we team up with, as many heroes only have one sidekick at best. We make do with the manpower on hand."
"AHH! Forgive me!" Iida bowed his head in assumed shame. It was hard to see his face with the armor on, and Izuku wasn't risking a probe while in the vacuity of another force sensitive.
All Might tore up a sheet that had all twenty students on it, dumping the papers unceremoniously in one of the boxes. He stuck his hand in and fished out two papers. "Team A, is Katsuki Bakugo and Fumikage Tokoyami." Izuku continued to listen as teams were called out. "Team E will be Izuku Midoriya and Kyouka Jiro."
Izuku turned to his partner, nodding his head. She nodded along. Once All Might had called out the ten teams, he stuck his hand in the second box. "The first battle will be Team A as heroes," Bakugo grinned at this, "And Team E as Villains." The explosion user immediately paled.
"For this exercise, both teams will be given earpieces tuned to their frequency." The Pro Hero handed them to the fourteen. "We shall listen in and learn from your four here in the control room. Now get out there."
The four walked out of the room, going to the building All Might had marked beforehand. "Oh, and one more thing. The Team that destroys the bomb, whether intentional or accidental, will immediately be disqualified."
Izuku gave a small smirk. How ironic. He's a villain, pretending to be a hero pretending to be a villain. Let's hope he doesn't scare too many of them with his 'acting.'
Both Izuku and Jiro had placed the paper-Mache bomb on the fourth floor. A smart move as both of their opponents likely had the ability to climb without issue. Izuku hadn't seen Tokoyami's climbing skills yet.
"Jiro" Izuku starts.
"Midoriya." The punk girl retorted.
"Call me Izuku, I prefer first names."
"K."
"Both of Team A are combat capable." She nodded. "And out of both of us, only I am combat capable. So here is the plan. I keep them grounded, occupied. If one of them slips past, use those speakers in your boots to cause some noise. Distract them and I'll come running." He bent down and whispered into her ear.
"If Bakugo is the one to slip past, insult his dreams of being a hero. Call him something along the lines of an extra or stepping stone. He'll go flying off the rails and might destroy the Bomb by accident. That is a win for us."
Jiro's eyes widened for a moment, before narrowing. "Devious, but how did you know about my boots?"
"We're playing the part of villains; we might as well be devious." He said nonchalantly. "And I'm observant. You flinch at loud noises, yet you have pair of boots that have inbuilt speakers. Good choice with the support gear by the way."
"Thank you."
Outside, Bakugo was staring at the building in anger.
"Shouldn't we strategize?" The bird-headed student asked, his living shadow peeking out from under the cloak.
"You do whatever," Katsuki started. "I'm going to con-conf-" Despite his desires, he still shivered in fear when looking at Deku. Seriously, what was wrong with him?! How did he get scared of the whiney crybaby Izuku used to be? But, he needed to push forward, regardless of his fear.
All Might's voice came over the earpieces. "Attention Heroes, the three-minute prep time has passed. You are now on the clock. I shall give a warning when five and two minutes remain."
Both of them ran into the building, Tokoyami on Bakugo's heels. It was on the second floor that they encountered the villain. "Heheheheheh." A dark chuckle resonated throughout the dim hallway.
"What do we have here?" Izuku's voice called out, seemingly bouncing across the walls. "A couple of heroes trying to interrupt our important work?"
Bakugo had frozen at the voice, so Tokoyami took the initiative. "We are here to stop your nefarious deeds." Tokoyami enjoyed a bit of dark cosplay. Although, he felt he would do the role of Villain better.
"And you believe that you're entitled to that? We're just two people making our way in the world." Izuku's voice mocked. "Besides, what makes you so sure you can stop us? Both of you are lowly sidekicks at best. Pebbles on our road to greatness at worst." The words were chosen specifically to rile Katsuki up.
"We'll stop you." Tokoyami's Dark shadow called out, the sentient quirk fully formed.
"How can you?" The echo stopped and the voice came between the two students. "You couldn't even find me." Izuku pivoted on his hands, slamming both of them with eight percent OFA kicks. Both of the heroes were thrown into the walls.
"DARK SHADOW!" Tokoyami called out.
"ON IT!" The living quirk said, throwing a claw at Izuku. But Izuku blurred away with a momentary fifteen percent OFA boost.
"Too slow." He drawled out. He blurred again and delivered a punch to Tokoyami's gut. And blurred again kneeing Katsuki in the chest, who had been getting up from the earlier slam.
Izuku gave a sinister grin, his eyes momentarily flickering amber. "I'm going to enjoy this."
Back in the control room, the students look on in shock at how well Izuku had gotten into the role of the villain. "I don't know whether to call that manly or outright terrifying," Kirishima said.
"I know right?" His best friend agreed. "He's both so cool and yet so brutally effective at playing the villain," Mina muttered.
"Hold on, did his eyes just change for a moment?" The kid dressed up in a martial arts gi asked.
"I didn't see anything," Yaoyorozu said.
"Yeah, neither did I." The invisible girl said.
The others all voiced their agreement with the smartest in the class' words. All but one. Yuga Aoyama saw the eyes and froze, sweat dripping down his face. When he saw those eyes, he got a foreboding feeling in his body. Like he had just encountered the darkest predator he ever would. And he once met All for One. He tried to recall his old acting lessons, to remain calm and be the image of serenity he's been trying to be. But it was hard.
Jiro had one ear jack stabbed into the concrete, while a second was hooked up to her right boot. She could hear everything, albeit a bit muted. But that didn't stop the shivers she felt. It was terrifying how easily Izuku had slipped into the mentality of a villain. And not one of these cartoony villains, or even a simple purse snatcher.
He felt like a genuine supervillain. 'What are you, Izuku Midoriya?' She thought to herself.
All might's voices rang out in the four earpieces. "Five minutes remain." That seemed to snap Bakugo out of his fear. For the past five minutes, Izuku had been wailing on Tokoyami and his Dark Shadow. Primarily. Occasionally he would give a good kick to Katsuki but mostly focused on the birds.
Bakugo hesitantly stood up. Tokoyami was on the ground, moaning in pain. "Deku…" Katsuki's voice called out, causing Izuku to turn and look at him, eyebrow raised.
"Bakugo, or rather Kaachan?" Izuku asked, taunting him. The blonde's breath got caught in his throat. How long had it been since he heard that stupid nickname?
"Deku…Why am I afraid of you?" Bakugo asked. Izuku's narrowed at that but he didn't say anything. "You were the useless one, always trying to follow us before you went to the doctor. So why? How did I begin to fear you?"
Katsuki took a few steps to the side circling Izuku who hadn't moved anything but his eyes. He made sure that Tokoyami was out of the blast range. As it stood, Tokoyami wouldn't be able to dodge his attack, and Katsuki was an asshole and bully, but not a murderer. He raised his right gauntlet, grasping the metallic pin with his left hand. "You remember how my quirk works? Right?" Katuski asked, his voice still filled with fear.
"Heh, to think the designers would actually approve of that function." Izuku grinned. "I remember that storage system I helped you come up with. Your quirk makes you sweat nitro-glycerin-like sweat from your hands, which you ignite with sparks from said hands. The mutated quirk of your mother merged with your father's."
He continued. "However, your quirk also has some side effects. For one thing, you're in a constant state of fight or flight. The chemicals your hands sweat out naturally slow the heart down, so to compensate, your body has to constantly pump adrenaline. It's the exact opposite problem of your mother, whose quirk causes higher levels of stress in her body. She needs to actively keep calm otherwise she endangered her own heart. It's probably why both of you are violent assholes, slaves to your quirks."
Izuku's grin widened. "Now, if you had been fighting, I'd imagine those gauntlets would be chock-full of explosive fluid." Izuku could hear All Might gasp from the earpiece. "However, all you've been doing is laying there in a cold sweat. At best, your explosion would only have a quarter of the potential of your strongest. Even if I were to be hit directly, the worst I would feel would be full-body first-degree burns. A couple months of recovery at most. A full-power blast, however, would be quite effective and would at least leave me with third-degree burns if hit. Sometimes fatal."
Izuku calked his head to the side. "But you don't have that power now. Do you? Kaachan?"
For a single moment, Katsuki let go of his fear and pulled the pin before All Might could stop him. The blast was small and narrow. But it wasn't fast or powerful enough. Izuku simply blurred and wrapped Katsuki in capture tape. "Too bad." He mocked, before moving to Tokoyami and taping him to the ground.
On the speakers, All Might's voice called out. "Izuku Midoriya has captured the hero team with two minutes and five seconds to spare. Villain Team wins."
The four students had rejoined the others. "Now, who can tell me the MVP of this scenario?" All Might asked. Most of the students looked around. Then, a single slim hand raised. "YES! Uhhhh, what's your name?" He asked, pointing at the girl.
"Momo Yaoyorozu, sir. It's clear that Midoriya is the MVP." The creation girl stated.
"Call me Izuku. I prefer first names." The sith in hiding said.
"Correct. And why is that?" All Might asked.
"Well, sir. Mid-Sorry, Izuku recognized the position he in his teammates were in. He recognized that he was capable of direct combat while Jiro wasn't. He also came up with the plan to hold them off, and if he failed to do so, told Jiro what her best bet was. However, it's clear that he could have ended it at any time, instead opting to toy with the Hero team. But, I suppose that is supervillain behavior. If I had to choose a second place, it would be a tie between Tokoyami and Jiro. Jiro followed the plan through, and Tokoyami attempted to collaborate with Bakugo but was rebuffed. He was also the only one to fight back as Bakugo froze up for whatever reason." Yaoyorozu said.
All Might visibly sweated. 'Wow, she's intense. But I suppose that's a good thing for a student.' "Moving on, we'll be heading off to the second battle."
As All Might called out two new teams, the tall multiarmed teen, the Gi-wearing blond, the small midget, and the Redhead durability user all heading to the building Izuku, Jiro, Bakugo, and Tokoyami were just at.
Izuku silently observed until he heard whispering. If it weren't for his force enhanced he would have missed it entirely.
"Hey, Fuummmiiii." The living shadow said, getting the attention of his wielder.
"What is it, Dark Shadow?" The Bird user muttered into his collar. Dark Shadow was hiding in the cloak.
"During that fight, Midoriya gave off this weird aura." The living quirk said.
"Weird aura?"
"Yeah. Like, before he attacked us, he gave off the feeling of light and warmth. And for a moment during that fight, the aura disappeared, before returning. But after it came back it felt, off."
"Off?" Tokoyami questioned.
"Yeah, like it was false, fake. Almost like it was hiding a darkness unmatched." The Living shadow said.
Izuku froze. The living quirk could sense his False Aura of Light, scratch that, it could sense it being a false aura. How?! The running theory Alcor proposed is that Quirks and Force simply aren't compatible with each other like that. Even Izuku can't suddenly combine force energy and quirk energy without using his own body as an intermediary. And it's still difficult to pull off.
He's going to have to discuss this with his master at a later date. And most likely arrange for some kind of accident for Tokoyami if he ever tries to tell others. However, unknown to the Sith Lord, Kyouka Jiro's earphone jacks also heard the conversation. 'What are you, Izuku Midoriya?' Jiro thought. Too many things felt off about the greenette.
Darth Ferno finished his report to Darth Alcor. The Dark Lord hummed to himself in thought. "Well, that certainly throws a wrench in our plans. Or rather your plans." Alcor paused. "I'd love to get my hands on this Tokoyami's body, but maintaining secrecy is key. Listen, and be prepared for any warning the force might give."
"Yes, Master." Darth Ferno said.
(LaMerge Building, Coruscant)
Darth Sidious groaned, opening up his weary eyes. "What happened?" The Nabooian's raspy voice muttered.
"I was hoping you could tell me." A voice filtered through a breathing instrument said. "When you arrived back, you were out cold from the shock of losing your arm."
Sidious's widened to full shock as he turned his head to look at his master in fear. It was near impossible to see Plagueis' emotions. Especially with the mask in place. But, Plagueis' body was tense. And standing right behind him with a shit-eating grin was Alcor.
"Alcor." The human bit out. It was directed at both Plagueis' question, and the sheer audacity of a Holocron of Alcor to act all high and might. And why was Plagueis so willing to allow Alcor freedom of movement?! When they were done with Holocrons, they put them away. Was it because of the soul fragment the Holocron possessed?
And then everything came back. "HOLOCRON! Tell me about the secrets you hold!"
Alcor raised an eyebrow while Plagueis scowled at being ignored. "What are you looking for? Is it perhaps some super weapon? Maybe an ancient Sith artifact? Oh, maybe you want to know how to enter the tomb of Ajanta Pall?" The Ancient Sith mocked.
"IMMORTALITY! And whatever means your original was able to use the light and the dark!" Sidious screamed.
The image of amusement disappeared from Alcor's face. "What did you say about the light and the dark?"
"Your original, utilized the Lightside to heal himself during battle." Sidious pointed out.
Alcor's jaw dropped in shock. "HE DID WHAT?" The soul fragment asked, tone raised for perhaps the first time Sidious has ever seen.
"I said, he used the Lightside to heal himself," Sidious repeated.
"Damn, so I wasn't hearing things." Alcor bit out. "I don't know how he did that. Clearly, it came after I was created. But it doesn't make sense. All research has shown that one cannot wield both the light and the dark at the same time. So how in the galaxy is he doing that?" Alcor got lost muttering to himself about impossibilities and whatnot. Plagueis, however, looked back at his apprentice.
"Tell me everything."
Sidious looked away from his master before he felt an invisible hand grasp his throat tightly. "Just because you now have a cybernetic prosthetic, doesn't mean I still can't discipline you."
Sidious cast an eye at his right arm. It looked real, but on closer inspection, he could feel the metal digging into the stub. This was quite an advanced prosthetic, it even had fake skin and a sense of touch. "Yes, it is." Did Plagueis just read him?! His shields should be stronger than that!
"I did. A side effect of the medicine I administered. If I had any real sense, you would've gone without as punishment. But, I can't have you explaining your actions if you're gritting your teeth in pain." Plagueis said in a cold tone. "And don't go getting that arm destroyed. Compared to mass-market cybernetics, that thing is extremely expensive. More so since it's based on a prototype my late master designed. One capable of channeling force lightning through the limbs. A small amount though. With your proficiency, I would say, maybe a fifth your strongest."
Sidious looked at the arm, got off the cot, and pointed at the wall, letting a drop of lightning erupt from the cybernetics. When he stopped, some black soot could be seen on the otherwise undamaged wall. He scowled; a blast that powerful with his regular arm would leave a hole in the wall. The fact that he lost that much strength in one arm. It's a nuisance. But, he still has it, so that's something.
"Talk." Plagueis threatened, tightening the hand on Sidious' throat.
"O-K." The grip relaxed. Sidious took a breath. "Darth Alcor was present on the planet of Ruusan."
"Really? Is he still there?"
"Doubtful, now that he's been found, he'll likely go to another base on a different planet. I never even saw the insides of that one. But when I arrived at Ruusan, I had the ship placed a moderate distance away, to keep any instruments he had from detecting me." Sidious said. "He was hiding within the Valley of the Jedi."
"How ironic." Sidious got the impression that Plagueis was smirking.
"Regardless, when I touched down, I started in the direction of Alcor. And then those little green things came in. What were they? Bouncers?"
"Perhaps your presence attracted them. They are force sensitive."
Sidious closed his eyes. "Perhaps. But, what the little creatures said was unnerving. They said it was descendants of Laa's rain vs, the student of the Immortal Emperor, the rival of Sadow, and the one who hates the force. I can assume that Alcor is the student of the latter three, perhaps studying their Holocrons, but I have no clue who Laa's Rain or the one who hates the force are."
"Oh, that's simple." Sidious and Plagueis looked at the slightly translucent form of Alcor, who had finished his impromptu panic attack. "Laa's Rain, is Darth Zannah, and the one who hates the force is Darth Traya."
"What?" Sidious questioned.
"Okay, a bit of backstory for the Banite Sith, Zannah had been a Jedi initiate who had been drafted for the war against the Brotherhood. On her home world, they speak of some kind of monster known to eat people, or, kill them. I'm not sure which." He paused, watching the two Banite give him looks of incredulity. "Anyways, the way they ward off this folktale, is everyone goes under a pseudonym. Zannah's was Rain. Fun fact, Zannah is actually her real name."
Plagueis looked at him with interest. "How do you know of this?" The Muun asked.
"I made this Holocron a short while after I fought Bane and Zannah. I did a bit of background research on both. But, if you want a more complete picture, I suggest speaking to Zannah herself." Alcor suggested.
"How?" Sidious questioned. "Her Holocron is just that, an ordinary Holocron. I doubt that it possesses any of her history."
Alcor raised an eyebrow. "Wow. You two are that oblivious? Then again, she was or rather still is a Sith sorceress." You could practically see the questions. "Let me put it simply. Her Holocron has a piece of her soul. Like my own! I noticed the first time I was opened by a Banite." Both of the Banite widened in shock.
"What?!" They both asked in tandem.
Alcor facepalmed. "Again, neither of you even noticed. She's been playing dumb anytime you open the Holocron." The Alcorian Sith said. "Although, you should be careful."
Plagueis narrowed his eyes. "Why is that?" The Banite Dark Lord questioned.
Alcor gave an uncomfortable look. "Well, I suspect that Zannah created the Holocron, not as something to live on, but as a trash bin. Specifically, for any kind of regrets."
Both of the younger Sith looked at Alcor incredulously. Alcor scoffed. "Oh come on, by now both of you should have learned that finding somebody who is pure genuine evil is one in a trillion chance. In fact, neither of you are pure evil. You," Alcor pointed at Plagueis, "still loved your mother until her death, and you," He pointed at Sidious, "Still loved your younger sister until her death, where Plagueis manipulated and twisted your mind until you killed her."
Sidious and Plagueis hissed. "How do you know about either of them?" They both asked.
Alcor smiled. "Neither of you are as good at protecting your minds as you might think, at least against somebody of my experience. But back to my point, it's just that rare to find somebody pure evil. The only being I would ever classify as pure evil is Darth Vitiate, who like Sidious here killed his entire family at thirteen. The only difference was that he was in full control of his mental facilities and felt no regret in their deaths. And no, Nihilus is not pure evil, he was more like an animal enslaved to his instincts."
"Darth Traya?" Sidious asked. He wanted to know more about Alcor's mentality.
"She wished to kill the force itself so that free will could be guaranteed to all. And evil action with a noble end goal. It's why she's the one who hates the force." Alcor pointed out.
"But that would-" Plagueis was interrupted by Alcor.
"Yes, it would lead to around ninety-five percent of all life dying in the galaxy, as well as beyond. But, she believed that was a worthy sacrifice, as force-immunes would be left alive and would have true free will in her eyes. She believed that the force, both the light and dark, simply toys with people's lives like little game pieces. And she desired to make it so that the Force could never use people's lives as playthings again. An insane goal, but noble in its roots." Alcor could tell both were struck by that. "It's also why she targeted wounds in the force, three of them to be exact. Both of you likely know that Darth Nihilus was a living wound in the force, but so was Darth Sion, and the Jedi exile Meetra Surik. Sion was different than what she needed, so she hoped that either Nihilus or Surik would fulfill her goals. But in the end, Nihilus only wanted to feed his hunger and Surik refused to follow her guidance, instead dying in a fight between Revan and Darth Vitiate."
Alcor waved his hands. "Anyways, continue where you left off Lord Sidious. I want to know what happened between you, and my original self."
Sidious looked rather angry at the nonchalant at the sudden topic change. "Hold on, you don't get to simply come in and shift topics like that. I still have more questions for you."
Alcor gave him a stare. "Ask me after you're done explain what you did, now get to it. What. Happened?"
Sidious grit his teeth in anger. "Continue with the events that transpired, apprentice." Sidious turned and looked at Plagueis in shock. He was expecting his master to take his side. But Sidious relented.
"Fine, when I arrived at where Alcor had been stationed, he was giving off some kind of farewell hug to a male Togruta teen. He then looked directly at me, despite my efforts to hide myself and my signature. Until the teen left and Alcor broke eye contact. I questioned him about the child, and he stated that it was simply him finding children to adopt every so often." Sidious paused. "Lord Alcor, what do you know about force-sensitive drones?"
Alcor grinned, eyes bright in excitement. "You mean he completed them?"
"He had me fight two of them, modeled after Jedi Grandmasters, Satele Shan, and Fae Coven."
"Yes!" Alcor cheered pumping his fists.
"You seem rather excited, Lord Alcor," Plagueis said. It was hard to tell, but Plagueis seemed to also give off some excitement.
"Of course. I came up with the project a couple of decades prior to making my Holocron. The idea is simple in principle, but neigh impossible in execution. But imagine it like this, I find a non-sentient animal species where every single member is force sensitive. I find myself the one strongest in the force and breed it with the strongest of the opposite gender and repeat a few generations to increase potency in the force. I then pick apart their brains and find which part correlates to manipulating the force. I stick some electrodes into the brain of said animal, and with the correct sequences of electrical pulses, a drone could now use the force. The more combat-oriented side at least. I don't think the drones could scry the future, for example." Alcor explained.
Plagueis' eyes widened in shock. Such an invention was as close to Tenebrous' dream of replacing the force with technology as one could get. And Alcor did it. He wanted that tech, so very badly. Not just as a Sith, but as a banker who saw a fortune to be had. But, Plagueis calmed himself. This Alcor clearly didn't know how the project fully worked, only the starting phase of it. And it's entirely possible that it took literal decades if not centuries to get it right.
Sidious took the silence as his cue to continue. "Well, when I finally took care of his two drones, he finally fought me, pulling out these two lightsabers that emitted pure black blades."
Alcor and Plagueis blinked. "Black blades?" Alcor questioned.
Sidious turned to Plagueis. "Master, certainly you found it on my body, a lightsaber I did not construct."
The Muun's eyes widened, as he pulled out a lightsaber from within his cloak. "I was weary of this, in case of any traps. Am I to understand this is one of the two lightsabers?"
Alcor looked intently at it as Sidious nodded. "Yes, that is one of the two Lord Alcor used.
"Well," Alcor started, "It's certainly my design, but, something seems off about it. May I see it?"
Plagueis narrowed his eyes for a moment, before deciding the potential rewards of information is worth the risk of giving Alcor his weapon. He tossed the deactivated blade. Alcor became partly physical and turned the hilt over in his hand. "Definitely my design, but there's something wrong." Alcor's voice was quiet. He didn't like this gut feeling he had like he was missing something big. He ignited the blade.
The three Sith stared at the pure black blade. It was as enchanting as it was powerful. "In the many thousands of years I was alive, I've made many different lightsabers. Experimented with the Synthetic khyber crystal process to see varied results. But, I've never gotten a black blade." Alcor said, shutting off the blade. He held it in an open palm and closed his eyes. He then probed the kyber within. If he had lungs, he would have gasped in shock.
(Alcor PoV)
"Lord _ I need to borrow two of your lightsabers." I looked up from my book to see, myself? And, what was that name I just heard? I couldn't make it out.
"Why do you need my blades specifically, why not go to Lord _? Or even better make a new set yourself." I asked, or at least thought I did. What was wrong with my voice? It sounded like mine, but more, sadistic.
"A joint project." The other me said. "One between me, and Sixth General. I need black lightsabers as bait for somebody specific."
"Let me guess," I(?) started. "Lord Sidious? No matter what _, he's always like that. Fine, you can have them. I'll just make new ones."
"Excellent." That voice, was that a third me? I, or whoever I was, turned my head. That's, not me. He has spiky white hair and red eyes. And that grin. There was a special kind of insanity behind it. Who is he? And yet, why does he feel familiar?
"It was my pleasure sixth general." I nodded my head with a smirk. "To the _!"
Both of them nodded. Sixth general turned towards the vision me. "Well, Fourth general? Shall we get moving? We have a _ to setup."
"Yes, let's." The vision me nodded.
(No One's PoV)
Alcor's eyes snapped open as the lightsaber clattered to the ground, a result of his forgetting to keep his hand solid. He shook his lightly translucent head. "What was that?" Alcor asked himself.
"Lord Alcor." It took Alcor a few minutes to register. He looked at Plagueis who seemed startled.
"Uhhh, you two continue discussing things. I'm going to think." Alcor then collapsed into red smoke and vapor retreating to his Holocron.
Sidious and Plagueis looked at each other in surprise. "What was that about?" The Nabooian asked.
"I don't know," Plagueis said.
I don't know if any of you noticed, aside from one commenter, but one of my previous chapters is missing a segment. I deleted it after accidentally making two different versions. I liked the second one better. But don't worry, all the key points from the segment were reintroduced in this chapter. So no, you aren't tripping balls.
Anyways, I've successfully created the first draft of an Isekai Light Novel. A politician's new world. I want to potentially get a few beta readers to look over the third draft, after I edit the first draft, and run the second draft through my father's Grammarly pro account. Be warned, I do not wish it shared with the public until I publish it, and I am considering making a legally binding contract for the book. My mother's a contract lawyer, so I know I can get her to give said contract a glance over to make sure I'm not missing anything. However, I am willing to send physical, limited edition copies, with a signature if you so wish, should I ever get around to making physical copies rather than digital ones.