Dicing with Darkness

Chapter 17 - Rekishi

Leo awakens abruptly, feeling his insides twisting and turning in his orange prisoner jumpsuit; unable to make out the dark robed figure a few feet in front of him. He wails in pain from the rude violation his body is experiencing. His senses are completely out of tune, his eyes flicker uncontrollably making it hard of him to focus. Muscles expand and contract almost to the point of coming off the bone, but as his ears begin to re-adjust to the pain he begins to register ominous heavy breathing.

He tries to break free of the straps constricting him from freedom, fighting the pain only for a moment until he succumbs to its tyrannical rule. The figure steps forward into the fixed single beam of light – providing dim illumination - revealing Darth Vader with his right arm extended out inflicting unnatural pains throughout his body thought to be impossible by Leo until now.

"You are very resilient to have survived this long," Vader praises, seeming to be testing Leo rather than interrogating, "Many Jedi who have suffered this pain usually die within mere seconds."

Leo, unable to respond to the comment from the excruciating pain, struggles to take a breath while enduring the feeling of his lungs being squashed. Working up the strength, he slowly gestures his middle and index fingers towards Vader sending a jolt of Force lightning at him.

Vader - startled by the lightning - stumbles to his knees, screaming in pain as his suit momentarily shuts down and reboots. "You're very talented in techniques Jedi aren't supposed to dabble in," Vader sets his verbal lure. "Yoda has fallen that far now he needs to teach his student the power of the darkside," He says as a side note, musing to himself.

Leo feels the pain subsiding, and takes the opportunity to compose himself with a deep breath to ease his body. In. Out. In. Out. His chest starts to rise and fall more rhythmically as his heart starts to slow. He raises his head slowly to Vader masking a smirk under his long orange strands from hearing Vader's wild conspiracy theory.

"I didn't learn it from Yoda," Leo mockingly mumbles, feeling his lips haven't fully recovered.

Vader regains his footing, letting a little grin appear on his charred face hide under his helmet. Joyous in his successful capture of information.

"So, Sidious was correct about you," Vader proceeds to further his catching spree.

"Hope so, cause I'd hate to be wasting your time," Leo spits, signalling his rebellion.

Vader turns to face Leo again, "Sidious felt a great disturbance in the Force two years ago, mere days after the Jedi temple fell. When I entered his office, I had never seen him so scared, he said to me that the light and darkside of the Force had imbedded parts of itself into someone and he felt it come from Ibn La Ahad."

The tomb, Leo thinks to himself, reminiscing back to when he first met Nelani. The tomb that must be it, His eyes widened, eyebrows raised, jaw dropped, he begins connecting the dots as to how he got Force lightning.

"You know, don't you?! How did you acquire this power!?" Vader barks, raising his voice and extends his arm, shaping his hand into a cup choking Leo with the Force. "Tell me, now!"

"You know? Don't you?" Vader demands, deepening his robotic voice. "How did you acquire this power?!" He extends his right arm, making a cupping gesture he begins to choke Leo with the Force. "Tell me, How!" He barks.

Leo hurls Force lightning through Vader. As he stumbles to his knees, Leo uses the Force to grab Vader's lightsabre from his belt. When it reaches his grasp, the snap-hiss pulse of the blade igniting pierces Leo's ear drums, making him wince. He recovers and cuts his right hand free.