The Fight for Freedom Never Ends
After swinging the door open and walking straight into the room, Malkus comes to a complete stop. He was not believing what he was seeing before him. Just a couple of feet away was his apprentice, who had his lightsaber ignited and was pointing the tip of it at the Halva's head. Even though he didn't believe that his apprentice could have done it alone, his senses told him that the Halva was unconscious and more than likely that she did not do it to herself.
"Amazing, apprentice! Simply amazing!" The Sith praises his student for being able to take the Halva down, and without his assistance. Malkus needed to know how he did it, since his student had trouble doing it the first time.
"Tell me. How did you take her down?" The Sith Lord's curiosity was growing by the moment. He had to know. He thought that if his student could take down a very powerful Force-sensitive, he had to have some sort of strength or power that he had just found within himself. Maybe he, Malkus himself, could learn to tap into the source as well.
"Well first, I used my abilities to get the two men, I dealt with earlier, to a different floor, but making sure that the Halva stayed on this one." Knowing that Tony and Steve would have to move quietly and slowing behind Malkus, Trent made sure to explain every little thing he did, but thinking through everything that came from his mouth. If anything seemed off in his story, Malkus would know that he was lying and would gain the upper hand on everybody.
While Trent kept all the Malkus's attention on him, Steve quietly moves forward away from the wall. Tony, however, stands in place because of the noise his suit would make if he walked along the floor or tried to quickly fly and tackle the Sith. To make up for it, Tony raises his right hand, keeping it aimed at the back of Malkus's head. If all else failed, at least he would be able to fire a quick pulse from his hand at the Sith.
With each passing moment, Steve was closing the distance between him and the Sith Lord. The super soldier thought out every step he took across the white colored, hard floor. Each step he took was slow but completely silent. In fact, Steve was so silent that he couldn't even hear himself breath. Soon enough he was half way to his target, but he wasn't close enough to take him out. Even though it would have been quicker, Steve knew that throwing his shield wouldn't work for a quick takedown. Not only would it make a metallic vibration as it cut through the air, but it would also be too slow against the foe. He had seen what Trent could to with his own power. Steve knew that Trent's former master could completely stop his shield in mid-throw. The silent takedown was the only option; and Steve was slowly closing in and in just a few more yards, he could knock him out.
After Trent had finishing telling how he had taken down the Halva, Malkus stands there stroking his facial hair while looking down at the unconscious Jedi. Malkus runs Trent's story through his head once more, before giving his apprentice a reply.
"So, you managed to lure the two men to a different floor, while keeping her here. Then, you preceded by concealing yourself from her senses, while sneaking up behind her and knocking her unconscious with the end of your lightsaber hilt."
Keeping his fear hidden deep inside him, Trent replies back without a trace of doubt. "Yes, Master. That's precisely how it happened. However, I suggest we end this here and leave before the two men come back to this floor."
Pulling his own lightsaber from his side, Malkus holds it beside him, gazing blanking into his student's face. Trent knew this look. His fear he had hidden so well was starting to come back to the surface.
Sensing his student's fear, Malkus decided to make things interesting. "You're right, apprentice. We should be going. However, we have unfinished business. Let's change the plan at bit. Instead of pulling knowledge from her.." Malkus outstretches his hand and drops the lightsaber into Trent's open hand, that had been pulled out in front of him by his Master.
Trent glances down at the hilt, then back up at Malkus. "Finish the mission, apprentice. Kill the Halva with my own blade and become more powerful than both of us combined."
Forcing himself to play along just for a few more seconds, Trent grabs the hilt tightly in his right hand and ignites the blade. This makes Steve, who was just out of reach from subduing the Sith Lord, give Trent a cold hard look, that was silently telling him that if he had turned back to Malkus's side, Steve would kill him with no hesitation.
Raising the crimson blade upwards, Trent looks as if he was about to finish Angela off. However, Trent suddenly shifts the blade from a killing blow to a check-mated position, putting the blade near Malkus's neck. Malkus doesn't do anything but raise his right eyebrow at his student.
After putting his own lightsaber on his belt, Trent takes of his metallic mask for the last time and throws it across the room. Without letting his former master get a single word in, Trent tells him how it is and how it is going to be.
"I'm through. I'm threw with you; I'm through with following the Sith codes.; and I'm through with your lies. All of my life, I have been tricked and misled by your teachings." His anger for Malkus intensifies and so does the emotion behind his words. "You..YOU KILLED MY ONLY FRIEND! AND FOR WHAT? WHAT WAS THE PURPOSE BEHIND THAT?! SO THAT I WOULD FALL MORE TO THE DARK SIDE OR THAT MY ANGER TOWARDS THE JEDI WOULD ONLY HIDE...YOUR TRUE GOALS?!"
Malkus's mouth slowly turns into a smile, causing Trent's anger to boil over and clouding his mind. Quickly drawing Malkus's lightsaber back while igniting his own blade, Trent moves to finish Malkus with one swift saber stroke. "You son of a..."
Malkus quickly brushes his left hand in front of him, causing a swift gust of wind to hit Trent, making him drop Malkus's lightsaber on the floor and causing him to fly backwards across the room and crash onto the cold, hard floor.
Even though on the merge of unconsciousness, Angela suddenly senses a rise in Trent's power. She felt his anger growing within him, then felt him quickly disappear from her senses. She had to regain complete consciousness and fast. Focusing with the little bit of consciousness she had left, Angela slowly gains her energy and makes her way out of her state. However, when she used all of her focus on regaining her consciousness, Tony and Steve lost their cover. They were no longer hidden within the Force. They no longer had an advantage.
"Foolish boy. Perhaps, I should have killed you instead of Dravin..." Suddenly, Malkus feels someone about to contact him from behind. Spinning to his left, Malkus sees the man come into his view, about to punch him with his right hand. Before the guy could, Malkus already had blocked the punch with his left arm and had grabbed him by the neck while slowly lifting his feet off the floor. Steve tries to pry the Sith's hands from his neck, but it to no avail. Quickly swing his right arm upwards, his shield makes a direct hit with both of Malkus's underarms. The Sith's armor slightly cracks, but before Steve could land another hit, the Sith lets go of his neck and uses the Dark Side, instead, to hold him in the air and slightly out of striking distance. Using his left hand, Malkus calls his lightsaber from the floor and into his hand, igniting the blade and raising it towards Steve.
Moving out from behind Steve, Tony walks towards Malkus while firing his hand repulsor directly at his face. Letting go of Steve, Malkus twirls the lightsaber blade just in time for the blade to contact the beam and absorb it into the lightsaber blade.
Stopping next to Steve, Tony helps him up off the ground, since Malkus nearly suffocated him to death. Keeping his free hand aimed at the Sith, Tony asks Steve if he is alright. "You still with me?"
Taking in a quick, deep breath he answers back quietly, "Yeah, just barely." Steve stands straight, while getting his shield ready for a throw. Tony activates a higher charge on his armored hand. However, Malkus relaxes himself and talks to the two men calmly, as if he had already won.
"Gentlemen." Malkus deactivates the lightsaber and puts it back onto his belt. "Surely you must know how this will end."
Tony opens his faceplate on his Mark 42 suit and, once more, makes up a comeback on the spot. "Yeah, I know how it's going to end." He points his finger towards Malkus, but his eyes were looking past the Sith. " She's going to mess you up."
Malkus suddenly remembers who was behind him, besides Trent. Spinning on his heels, Malkus turns to see the Halva standing straight ahead. She had regain consciousness, but she was still lacking a lot of her strength and energy. Standing on her right side was Trent with his blade ignited and pointing at Malkus.
Seeing an opportunity for an attack, Steve slings his shield from his right hand and Tony fires another blast from his hand. However, Malkus already was in motion. He dodges the repulsor blast and Force pushes Tony and Steve against the wall. Steve's shield loses its momentum from the blast of air and flies backwards, embedding its edge into the wall and just out of Steve's reach. Malkus didn't want them to interrupt the battle he was about to have with his former apprentice and the Halva.
Keeping a small fraction of his mind focused on keeping Tony and Steve pinned against the wall, Malkus quickly reaches again for his lightsaber hilt and switches it on. The blade comes out in an instance, along with its usual, humming sound. Angela decides to finally to grab onto one of her hilts on her belt and switches it on. Her blade also comes out quickly with its own low pitched, humming sound. This provoked Malkus to ask Angela a question. "Tell me, Halva. How come you didn't take the other lightsaber off your belt and ignite it as well?"
Angela decides to give him an answer that Tony, himself, would have used. "I don't need both to fight an old man."
Malkus wasn't amused with Angela's remark. Gripping his hilt tightly, he twirls the blade a few times, trying to intimidate both of his opponents, but both show no sign of any change in their emotions.
Meanwhile, Tony and Steve were still stuck against the wall. They both try everything possible. Steve tries to move anyway he can, but to no success. Tony tries to move from the wall. It doesn't work. He tries to fly upwards, using the repulsors on his armored boots; However, it only manages to move the air underneath him. Trying to make the situation a bit better, Tony tells Steve, "At least, we can be flies on the wall."
Since he was able to turn his head, Steve looks over to the left, at Tony. "Flies on the wall?"
"Yeah. It means watching what's happening, but it usually goes along with the people not knowing that we are here." He looks to where the three sword-wielders were standing, and then starts thinking of a way to throw Malkus off guard or even knock him out. Thinking through several strategies at once with his very productive, thought processing mind, he suddenly comes up with a plan. Focusing in on Malkus, Tony reassures Steve. "I got a plan. Hopefully, I get a chance to do it."
Steve doesn't ask what the plan is. He merely replies back, "I hope so, too."
After a short stare down, Malkus makes the first move. He swings from right to left, trying to take out both of his opponents in one swing. Fortunately for Angela, she moves her body along with the swing of her lightsaber from her right side, stopping Malkus's crimson blade. This leaves the Sith Lord's left side open for attack. Trent lurches the tip of his red blade forward, trying to stab the lightsaber into Malkus's side. He fails in his endeavor by Malkus pushing Trent's blade aside after pushing Angela a few feet away from him. Once he does this, Malkus quickly releases a pulse of pure Dark Side energy from his left hand, causing Trent to lose balance and stumble backwards.
It was the perfect opportunity to teach Trent the important lesson of what happens when someone betrays Darth Malkus. Building up the energy quickly, Malkus creates lightning on the tips of his gloved fingers; and then releases the arcs of electrified light towards Trent.
Luckily for Trent, the lightning is stopped before it ever gets to him by Angela's blue bladed lightsaber. Using the Force, she guides every arc of lightning onto the blade, so that it absorbs into the blade and looses its electrical power.
Knowing that his lightning wouldn't have any more effect at the moment, he stops sending lightning at Angela and instead raises his lightsaber and charges at the Jedi. She does the same, causing the two blades two collide intensely. This only lasts a moment as Malkus pushes the blade sharply to his right, which makes Angela move along with the blade as well.
The fight continues back and forth between both sides. Unfortunately, Angela and Trent were in the prime of their lives. Malkus, however, was old. He had been through several battles. Time was taking its toll on the old man; and in the battle between his two opponents, his strength was waning. Even though he was more skilled than Trent, he was dealing with the skilled lightsaber tactics of the Halva. Every clash, every contacting motion, every hit made the Sith lose power and energy, even though he was using the Dark Side's power continuously. While continuing to keep his opponents from landing a direct on him, his heart was telling him to continue the battle, not to run away from a challenge. However, his mind was whispering to him, telling him to leave the fight and recollect himself. Both plans continue to tell him what he should do, while he continues keeping Trent and Angela from landed a blow on him. After a few minutes, though, Malkus decides to agree with his mind. Condensing as much energy as he muster, Malkus brings the waves of energy as close to his body as he could, then quickly releases it, causing a massive wave of energy to hit Angela and Trent. Both of them fly backwards. Trent hits one of the clear-topped tables on the left side of the room as Angela slams into Mark 4's glass case.
Since he had Steve and Tony pinned against the wall; and Trent and Angela had been throw backwards by the Sith Lord, Malkus sees his opportunity to run to the far side of the room. He takes his first step in the direction he starts to run. Then, out of nowhere, a surge of energy hits his lower back, causing him to fall onto the floor. This causes him to lose all focus on what he was thinking, including the energy he was using to hold Tony and Steve against the wall.
After firing the unibeam from his Mark 42 suit, Tony and Steve suddenly drop feet first onto the floor. They were freed from the wall. Acting quickly, Steve turns to his right and carefully grips his embedded shield with both of his hands. Even though it was jammed tightly into the wall, Steve is able to quickly jerk on it, causing the shield to become free from where it had hit. Just as Steve got his shield back, Tony was told by Jarvis that is battery power was at 86% since he used the unibeam. Tony shrugs it off and focuses his sights on Malkus, who was just standing up from the floor.
However, before Tony could fire another shot at the running Sith Lord, Steve's shield streaks past him and makes direct contact with the Sith's upper back. This impact causes Malkus to be pushed forward by the shield; but, instead of Malkus falling once more onto the floor, the Sith crashes through one of the huge glass windows on the far side of the room. As Malkus falls out the building, the shield returns to Steve. He catches it with ease as he runs over to where Angela had been pushed into one of the glass cabinets.
When he makes it over to Angela, Steve asks, "Are you alright?"
Rubbing the back of her head, where she had made contact with the glass, Angela nods and replies, "Yeah, yeah. How's Trent?"
Both of them glance over to where Trent had landed. Immediately after spotting him sitting upright on the floor, they see Tony fly past in Mark 42 and fly through the shattered glass window.
Once he passes through the broken window, Tony flies straight down and lands in the ally next to his tower. Quickly glancing in a complete circle around him, Tony tells Jarvis to scan the area for any trace of Malkus. Jarvis does this immediately and comes up with a strange result.
"Sir, after scanning the area, I have found no traces of the Sith Lord."
Tony becomes confused at Jarvis's results. "What? Jarvis, that's impossible. He had to have landed here. He HAS to be near here. Nobody can vanish and quick and like that, not even a Sith Lord."
"Apparently, he can. I have used every type of sensor and tracer. He just vanished." Even though Jarvis's voice sounded the same as he would giving Tony an everyday statement, Tony knew Jarvis tried his best and reassured him.
"It's okay, Jarvis. I know you tried everything." After saying this, Tony remembers that Angela and Trent might need some help, after being thrown several feet into hard, sharp surfaces. Actiavting the repulsors, Tony flies back up to the very top floor of the building and enters back into the room through the broken window.
Just as Steve and Angela help Trent to his feet, Tony lands next to them and gives them the news, after making sure Trent's fine.
"Well, I went down to the alley that he would have landed on, but I didn't see him and Jarvis couldn't pick him up on any of the scanners. It's like he vanished into thin air."
Angela nods as soon as Tony finishes his report. "Yeah, I can't sense him anywhere in the Force."
Trent agrees with her. "Yeah, I can't sense him, either." Anger slowly starts to build up in him. "Can't believe he got away." He feels Angela's hand on his shoulder, but doesn't look at her.
Sensing his anger, Angela brings him back down to a neutral feeling. "He may have gotten away, but he isn't through yet."
"He'll either hide on this planet or go back to the ship.." A sudden realization hits Trent hard, causing him to scratch the back of his head. "The ship...I...it was..."
Steve tries to stimulate Trent's memory. "The ship is where, Trent?"
His eyes shift as he comes to the conclusion he didn't want to accept. "I can't remember where we landed...the ship."
Even though this would allow Malkus to make a complete getaway, Angela knows that he would be back. "It's alright, Trent. He won't get away the next time he comes back."
Steve's mind suddenly realizes that if Malkus left Earth, he would be back and he would bring re-enforcements. "When he comes back, he won't be alone."
"Yeah. He will be back with what is left of his droid army." Trent looks at Angela. "Hopefully, the Jedi and the New Republic Army have taken out most of the droids."
"Well, if I know Skywalker, he will probably shoot down every droid fighter and take out a few of the battle cruisers while he is at it." Angela smirks at the thought of Luke keeping track of how many fighters he shoots down to tell her later. That is, if he believes I'm still alive.
"Whoa, wait. The other Jedi flying next to you was THE Luke Skywalker?!" Trent's eyes widen at the sheer thought.
"Yeah?"
"...Malkus's army doesn't stand a chance." Suddenly, the room is full of laughter from everybody, including Steve, who didn't quite know about the Star Wars Universe, but got the meaning of what Trent said, anyways.
Coming to a nice conclusion about Trent, Steve offers him his right hand. "No hard feelings?" Trent instantly grabs his hand and shakes it firmly. "Yeah, no hard feelings."
While the four heroes talk amongst each and end their day with only a few small scrapes and cuts, one villain continues to conceal himself from the world. Walking below the streets of New York, Malkus treads through the sewers non-stop, traveling on foot, on back roads, through forests, until he reaches the Tie-Fighter hidden away in the woods. Switching on the engine, the Sith takes off and leaves Earth's atmosphere.
The old man smiles to himself. He couldn't be followed no matter what kind of technology the planet had to offer. Before he released the energy that threw Trent and Angela several feet into hard, sharp objects, Malkus had reached into Trent's thoughts and had not only permanently erased where they had landed the Tie-Fighter, but he had also erased the coordinates for the navi-computer that had the exact route that connected his universe with the planet Earth. He thought himself to be a genius, as he pulls the switch, activating the hyperdrive and causing the Tie-fighter to leave Earth and go back to his own universe.
(Freaks out at the fact that this is the last chapter!) IT'S DONE! THAT WAS THE LAST CHAPTER GUYS AND GIRLS! There won't be an epilogue since the last few paragraphs were like one. Since this is the last chapter, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW! I want to know what you think about this book and also whether or not you'll follow the next story!
UPDATE! The sequel to this story (The Avengers 2: Rising Darkness) is up! FOLLOW AND FAVORITE THE STORY TO STAY ALERT TO NEW POSTS!
Thanks for all the support on this series. It means a lot to me to know that people actually want to read stuff that I came up with. :)
~TheJediAvenger~
~TheJediAvenger~