Juvenile Experiment

Chapter 6

"Father..." Luke trailed off.

"Son," Vader's soothing voice startled him. "so, you have accepted the truth."

Luke flinched at the statement and took a defensive stance. Then he reminded himself his father was evil, manipulative and worst of all he was a mass murderer.

But you know you can save him from the Dark side, Luke's thoughts pleaded with him.

Vader flourished his weapon one-handed in a swift circling motion as if inviting the challenge, while Luke held his lightsaber with both hands, pointing upward and ready to defend should Vader choose to attack him.

"I know Anakin Skywalker is still in there somewhere–" Luke paused, feeling Vader's anger increase.

He felt his own face constrict with a deep, pained look, "He is the man that is my father." Luke whispered quietly.

"That name no longer has any meaning to me," Vader grumbled before straightening and reaching out his left hand.

"Luke, come with me. Obi-Wan is no more. He lied to you about your father, about me, so why do you still resist?"

No, Luke thought immediately. He shook his head and called out, "Father, come with me. It doesn't have to be this way. I know there's good in you."

If Luke had expected Vader to nod his head and walk casually over to the Light side... Luke would be disappointed to see his plea fall on deaf ears. However it was no surprise the Dark Lord would not sway from his goal; one that did not involve turning his back on the Empire, and instead, his father brought up his mechanical hand and Force pushed Luke against the wall.

Gasping, Luke glared at the towering Sith Lord.

"It is too late for me, son. The Light side died along with the man that was once Anakin Skywalker."

"I don't believe that," as Luke crawled back on his feet, his lightsaber was ripped from his hand and soared right into that of his father.

Luke shared him a look of astonishment before he extended his hand and reached out through the Force trying to retain his weapon.

Vader however, held Luke's lightsaber tightly in his hand, and he could only watch helplessly as his father approached him with slow steps.

Though he realized he had to calm down and think rationally, Luke could not help but feel his pounding heart, which resulted in him mimicking Vader into Force pushing him away.

However, the attempt failed; it had hurt, it had sickened him to the core and it made him hiss and bent over as another bitter realization washed over him.

It had to be the effects of the serum; seeping deeper into his internal organs and tainting them. 

Itleft him shuddering from where he stood, and he felt his body temperature godown ten degrees. Oh, this couldn't be happening. Not now. Biting his lips, Luke could only hope the unpleasant feeling was momentarily andwould not start de-aging him in the presence of the Dark Lord. Because of all the people he could be with when the de-aging procedure would start, Darth Vader was among the names the lowest on the list. 

One name above the Emperor perhaps.

He never heard the heavy footsteps of his father over the loud drumming in his head, "Luke, I felt a disturbance. What happened?"

Utterly confounded with the way his body was reacting to the serum, Luke shook his head furiously and took a step back, "Get away from me–"

"No, I will not make the same mistake this time," Vader replied full of determination. "You will come with me, my son. Even if I have to force you."

As soon as the episode stopped, the loud drumming in his head ran-down as well leaving him exhausted, confused, and tightly pressed against the wall from where he could only glare at his father.

Whatever the serum had done to his body prompted his Force senses to spin out of control and when he tried to control it, he felt he was too weak to touch upon it; leaving him blocked and unable to reach out through the Force.

"You are in no position to fight me, son. Let me help you."

His heart wrenched painfully in response. But Luke knew he could not go with his father.

"I can't, you don't understand–" Luke trailed off, shaking his head dismissively.

"Make me understand." Vader's voice dropped to a near-whisper. "There is undeniably something wrong with you. Your Force-signature has gone haywire."

"I... I don't feel the Force," Luke replied bitterly.

This seemed to have stirred something within the Sith Lord, "How is that possible?"

Luke wasn't sure what, or how it happened. He wasn't even sure when it happened or whether it was Vader or the serum that had done it. But before his eyes flickered dancing black spots while he fought to quickly squash a burgeoning headache but failed terribly. He felt wrung out as if he was being squeezed of every drop of life until he felt himself fall to the ground.