"This world will burn."
The threat rang in Obi-Wan's ears. The five bodies at Maul's feet provided strong testimony to his sincerity - and madness. There was only one choice. "I have to go."
"Not alone, you're not," Windu said. His dark eyes bore into Obi-Wan. "We'll send a task force with you."
Obi-Wan dropped his hand from his beard. "No. You see what he is capable of. He's a broken, unbalanced monster." Obi-Wan would not have more blood on his hands. Even the 501st would stand no chance against such a creature. "If it truly is Maul, I've dealt with him before. I can do it again."
But how could Maul have survived their last encounter? Severed in half and thrown into the reactor pit…. Maul's death should have been ensured. Regardless, this monster, whoever he really was, could not be allowed to continue to rain destruction upon the galaxy.
Windu raised an eyebrow. "I disagree. This is clearly a trap."
Yoda shuffled forward. "Against my better judgment, agree with Master Kenobi, I do. Finish what he started long ago, Obi-Wan must."
"I am off to Raydonia." But first, he must face Adrina.
Obi-Wan bowed and murmured polite farewells. The Council chamber doors hissed closed behind him.
Obi-Wan raged internally, even as he smiled politely at passing younglings. He'd only just returned from foiling the plot against the Chancellor. His men needed him on the frontlines. Ahsoka needed him. Yet once again, one duty forced him to neglect another duty.
No, he corrected himself. He had a choice. Yet no matter what he chose, someone lost.
Obi-Wan followed his senses to Adrina's quarters. Her door opened at his ring.
"I'm nearly late for a meeting with Padmé. We're strategizing how to reopen the free clinic," Adrina said, but she stepped aside to allow him entrance. "You seem troubled. What's going on?"
"I don't have much time myself," Obi-Wan said. The door closed behind him. "But I promised to come to you."
Adrina's eyes shuttered and her chin lifted.
"The Council has received a disturbing hologram. A message for me. Darth Maul is alive."
Adrina frowned. "But that's not possible. You killed him on Naboo."
Obi-Wan stroked his beard. "Hm, yes. So I thought. But he appears to have returned and is intent on raining destruction upon the galaxy if I do not face him."
Adrina paled. Her hands disappeared in her skirts. "And will you?" Her voice was carefully modulated, neutral, but Obi-Wan knew her too well to be fooled.
"He cannot be allowed to continue murdering innocent lives. I will do what I must."
Adrina ducked her head. "Yes," she murmured. "I suppose you will." He did not need the Force to sense her fear.
"I defeated him before," Obi-Wan said gently. Perhaps, without enough repetition of the statement, he would feel the same confidence he projected.
"You should have aimed a little higher, it seems." Bitterness colored her voice.
Obi-Wan's answering smile was faint, but genuine. "Hmm, yes, so it seems."
Adrina's eyes locked with his and everything else faded away. "Come back," she whispered.
"As much as is in my power, I will always come back to you."
It was a promise he'd made before, a promise he continued to keep. But Obi-Wan could see in her eyes that she knew the truth as much as he did. Yes, he had defeated Maul before, but at great cost and nearly with his own life, as well. Obi-Wan gained experience and skill with age, but Maul…. Maul became unhinged - psychotic, even - and all the more dangerous for it. They both knew his safety was far from guaranteed.
The air thickened. An invisible cord irrevocably tethered him to this beautiful, intelligent, compassionate woman. That cord tugged him forward, but he planted his feet. He knew, beyond a doubt, that if he stepped even an inch closer, he would pull her into his arms and plant his lips on hers with shameful abandon. He would never be able to let her go; his heart broke a little more each time they touched. A kiss would deal a death blow.
And so Obi-Wan turned on his heel and all but ran from Adrina's quarters.
0
An vile mixture of the putrid stench of burning flesh and excrement assaulted Obi-Wan's nose as his feet touched Raydonian soil.
Every muscle in Obi-Wan's body coiled as he slowly prowled into the deserted town. A handful of droids lay scattered in pieces across the street. A child had been struck down as they fled into a building, his mother still clutching him even as she shared her son's fate. A dozen other bodies littered the street. Obi-Wan exhaled his rage and focused on the task at hand. At the end of the street, flames devoured a large heap - the source of burning flesh and no doubt the bait for Maul's trap.
Obi-Wan's sense of foreboding grew with each step towards the burning pile of rubble and remains. He halted several feet away.
"Jedi!" Maul, sporting massive rudimentary prosthetic legs, jumped down from the rooftop. "I have been waiting for you."
"I'm not sure I've made your acquaintance." A test.
"I am surprised you could have forgotten me so easily after I killed your master and you left me for dead on Naboo."
Obi-Wan exhaled. It was as he feared. "It is you."
"You may have forgotten me," Maul snarled. "But I will never forget you. You cannot imagine the depths I would go to to stay alive, fueled by my singular hatred for you."
Obi-Wan drew his blade. "That may be so, but I defeated you before, and I can defeat you again." He took his opening stance. Delaying the inevitable served no purpose.
Maul's laughter sent chills down Obi-Wan's spine. "Don't be so certain."
Obi-Wan realized his mistake moments before a second figure dropped down behind him. Obi-Wan whirled around, blades clashing with Savage Opress. "You."
Obi-Wan's stomach dropped. He would be lucky to escape with his life - much less defeat Maul. But against Maul and Opress combined…. Master Windu was correct; this was a trap - and he had walked right into it.
Only one choice remained: fend the pair off until he found an opening of escape. Once he escaped their clutches, he could call for aid. With good fortune, Anakin would answer.
Maul lept to the ground. Opress capitalized on Obi-Wan's distraction, sending a powerful fist flying. Obi-Wan grunted when his body collided with hard dirt. Obi-Wan's lightsaber flew into Maul's waiting hand. Maul sent a ball of Force into Obi-Wan, knocking him backwards into Opress' outstretched arm. His vision swam and head pounded.
This is it. Maul and Opress loomed over his prone body, but Obi-Wan was powerless to defend himself, much less mount a sufficient counter-attack. He needed a new plan.
I can't break my promise.
But darkness engulfed him.
0
Carefully stacked crates crashed to the floor. Obi-Wan tumbled over one as it fell. He had regained consciousness to Maul snarling in his face before being thrown across the cargo hold while Opress, arms folded, observed from the sidelines. Maul hauled Obi-Wan to his feet, landed a solid punch to Obi-Wan's stomach, and sent him careening towards Opress. Obi-Wan allowed himself to be tossed about like a ragdoll. The proven, yet painful, technique allowed Obi-Wan to gather information whilst also lowering Maul's expectations. When the moment was right, Obi-Wan would spring his escape. Escape, for escape was all he would be able to do alone.
"Weak," Maul spat. Obi-Wan concealed a grin. "And they call you 'Master'."
Still, Obi-Wan's body ached and wearied of the abuse. "I should have aimed for your neck." The remark earned him a backslap that sent him careening into the crates behind him.
"Anything more to say?"
"I like your new legs. They make you look taller."
Maul's hand shot out. He lifted Obi-Wan by the neck, bringing them eye-to eye. Obi-Wan grasped at Maul's hand, straining against his hold. Maul brough his lightsaber close and the blade ignited as a barrier between them. "I will make sure you stay awake long enough to feel every last cut. Your death will be beyond excruciating. You will suffer as I have suffered. Then my mission will be complete."
Icy fear gripped Obi-Wan's spine, but he refused to acknowledge it. Maul's blade lingered by Obi-Wan's throat. Obi-Wan sensed Maul's conflict: whether he should have Obi-Wan's head roll across the cargo hold or whether he should prolong Obi-Wan's suffering. And for a terrifying moment, Obi-Wan feared Maul would choose the former. The darkness swirling within Maul cried out for blood.
"What a surprise!" Asajj Ventress' voice startled Obi-Wan and his captors alike. How long had it been since he'd last seen Dooku's old assassin? Obi-Wan had nearly forgotten about her. "My former apprentice, still an animal. And you have a friend now! How quaint."
"My brother," Opress snarled.
Ventress put a hand to her heart. "Brother? Looks like he's half the man you are, Savage. How unfortunate. I was looking for a challenge, not the wretched castoffs from the Nightbrothers clan. What a disappointment." Ventress faded into the shadows, her last words lingering in the air. Her cackles echoed off the walls, obscuring her location.
Obi-Wan almost smiled, but he wasn't entirely sure he was any safer now than before Ventress' arrival. Still, the enemy of his enemy might prove to be his temporary ally.
"Who is this, brother?" Maul asked Opress quietly.
"A Dathomir witch. She betrayed me."
"She knows too much. Kill her." Maul punctuated his sentence with yet another punch to Obi-Wan's jaw and darkness again consumed him.
Obi-Wan suspected he was only unconscious for a few moments, but he opened his eyes to Ventress' glare.
"It looks like I'm here to rescue you," Ventress said. She hauled Obi-Wan to his feet. They fell into old, familiar banter as they assessed the cargo hold.
"When did you become the good guy?" Obi-Wan rubbed his temples, but dropped all pretense of being the weak Jedi Maul believed him to be.
Ventress rolled her eyes. "Don't insult me."
"You were quite the sight to wake up to."
Ventress eyed him distatefully. "You've never been much to look at yourself, especially now."
"The witch and the Jedi." Opress' sneer drew their attention.
"Here for our taking." Maul materialized in the opposite corner.
It was smart, Obi-Wan admitted, leaving as a ploy to draw Ventress from her hiding place and corral both opponents in the open.
Ventress didn't take her eyes from Maul as she handed Obi-Wan one of the lightsabers from her belt. "I want it back," she said.
"Don't worry. Red isn't my color."
Twin red blades ignited. Obi-Wan and Ventress stood back to back, poised to attack and defend. And wasn't that just the funny thing about war? Two old enemies unified against an older enemy. Ventress was no Anakin, but Obi-Wan knew her style well after all their run-ins over the years. Even together, it was anyone's guess who would win this battle, but for the moment, Obi-Wan gratefully welcomed the glimmer of opportunity to escape with his life.
Back and forth, the four combatants struck. Blow for blow, parry for parry, dodge for dodge, they performed their deadly dance over every surface in the cargo hold.
Maul separated Obi-Wan from Ventress and purred, "Your master, Qui-Gon Jinn, I gutted him while you stood helpless and watched. How did that make you feel, Obi-Wan?"
Rationally, Obi-Wan knew that Maul's taunt was merely a ploy to enrage Obi-Wan, to make him reckless. To his shame, Obi-Wan allowed his anger more allowance than was helpful. Maul landed a kick to Obi-Wan's chest and he collided with the wall.
"Your rage has unbalanced you," Maul taunted. "That's not the Jedi way, is it?"
Through the red haze clouding his mind, he saw Adrina's concerned brown eyes. I will always come back to you. Obi-Wan gathered his strength and pride and rose from the ground. He lifted his lightsaber, ready for Maul's offensive. He couldn't afford to be baited.
Obi-Wan led Maul on a chase through the hold before finally landing beside Ventress. "We're outmatched," he hissed to her.
"You want to run?"
"I learned from watching you."
"Funny."
After brief maneuvering, Obi-Wan and Ventress fled into the cockpit and sealed the door behind them. Obi-Wan's fingers flew over the controls and the cockpit separated from the rest of the ship and they jettisoned away.
Ventress stalked over to Obi-Wan. "That was cutting it a little close, don't you think?"
"You do know this isn't over. They'll be after us both now."
"I know."
Obi-Wan settled into the pilot's seat. He stroked his beard. Ventress, too, seemed content with silence. Neither possessed the strength to banter.
And Obi-Wan knew the fight against Maul had only just begun.