Star Wars: Scars

Part 3 - 10

The two flew at each other and met, blades locked for a moment before Creed threw the force ghost off and the man vanished into thin air again. Creed stood straight, panting as he scanned the room carefully. He saw nothing, though, and heard nothing. Growing agitated, he pulled off his helmet and threw it to the floor, the sound echoing through the room.

"Quit hiding in your netherworld like a coward! Fight me!" he yelled, shaking a bit with adrenaline. Red tried to tinge his vision and he shook his head, fighting it back as his eyes flickered to the holocon. This would be the perfect opportunity to take it. He didn't have to fight to the end. 

Taking the chance, he started towards the holocron when all of a sudden it was as if his whole body froze. He tried to move and found it impossible. He tried to look around and saw nothing, but a strange darkness tried to creep onto his vision. He fought it, but it persisted and eventually, he gave in.

"Here, perhaps we can even the playing field," the voice echoed in his head through a murky darkness. Creed managed to get up, looking down at himself. He looked...faded, like the force ghost. He was pretty sure he wasn't dead, but he didn't know where he was or what was going on.

"What do you mean?" he snapped, glancing around at the pervasive darkness that seemed to fill the entire space. What was this place?

"You're a worthy opponent, it would be a shame to kill you without first giving you a real chance," the force ghost said. "Welcome to the netherworld. My arena. You kill me, you live. I kill you, you die." 

Creed scowled but there was little he could do about it. "Alright," he said. He glanced at himself some and found he still had his weapons. Tapping the ignition button of the lightsaber he held it in front of himself again, taking up a fighting stance. 

The force ghost didn't hesitate this time, though, simply launched into his first attack. Creed easily deflected and moved back, shuddering a little. The darkness made him feel weightless, yet some strange gravity kept him grounded. He couldn't explain it. 

Again, the force ghost lunged at him and Creed blocked, ducking beneath the ghosts blade to slip inside his defenses and he tried to bring his saber up inside the man's chest but the force ghost disappeared and reappeared, back several feet. Creed made a running attack, but halfway through hesitated a moment, a thought crossing his mind. He screwed his eyes shut, thinking hard and for a moment he felt everything disappear. There was no weight, no tangibility, only direction. Then he snapped his eyes open and found himself in front of the force ghost. He swung hard, catching the man off guard for the first time. He battled the man back, narrowing his eyes. 

Then another strange sensation overtook his ghostlike form and he paused, shuddering. He looked down at himself, seeing a darkness spreading over his limbs and body. He recognized it, though, as it took on a demonic form. He didn't stop it, though, nor did he fight. He let it take over his body, but not his mind. His mind belonged to him and him alone. 

The force ghost looked back at him, his eyes widening a moment to reveal the hollow pits that they were, then they narrowed once more and he took a running leap, executing a careful somersault to land behind Creed. He brought up his lightsaber, catching Creed off guard as he snagged a slice across his back.

Creed cried out in pain and hissed, snarling as he turned. He could feel coldness settling into the wound, but he didn't let it slow him as he retaliated with a sloppy slash.

"You're a worthy opponent, but you're still no match," the force ghost taunted. 

Creed narrowed his eyes to slits. "Someone else told me that. He used to be immortal," he snarled darkly. "I killed him." 

The force ghost snorted dismissively and prepared to attack, but Creed had gotten a bearing on himself and he took the first move. Using the vanishing technique to blink out of existence for a moment, he rushed forward. He opened his eyes as he slammed full force into the force ghost. The man yelled and staggered back. Creed used that time to prepare to swing, bringing the lightsaber into a downward arc.

The force ghost recovered fast, though, and before Creed could hit him the force ghost had gotten up and shoved his own saber straight through Creed's abdomen. 

Creed recoiled, but finished his swing, nicking the force ghost's shoulder as he staggered back. He jerked back and grabbed at his abdomen, seeing no blood but feeling pain course through his whole body. He felt as if it was ripping him apart from the inside and he wanted to scream, but he knew he didn't have long to finish the force ghost now and he didn't intend to die. Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to recover and ran forward full force. Throwing caution to the wind, he barrelled straight into the force ghost without a care for his own health. 

That was just enough to catch the man unsuspecting and he fumbled to defend against Creed's full frontal attack, giving Creed enough time to heft his saber and expertly driving it through the force ghost's chest. The force ghost yelled and froze up before his form went rigid. Creed stood there, his ghostly blade pulsing through the ghost's chest before the man began to fade. When he had faded completely Creed collapsed, panting in pain. He closed his eyes, groaning softly as he felt a cold chill run through his whole body and darkness descended over him again.

Opening his eyes just a sliver, Creed became aware of the pain racking his body and he could smell the stench of blood. He coughed and struggled to a sitting position, a hand going to his abdomen. He didn't look at the wound for fear of passing out as he slowly stood up and managed to stagger over to the pedestal. He reached for the holocron and snatched it up, dropping it into his belt pocket before staggering back. Nausea washed over him but he stayed on his feet and turned, looking back at the door for a long moment before he started towards it.

He made it to the door and gripped it a moment, panting. He didn't know if he could get out of the temple, but he had to try. He felt dizzy, but he kept moving, pushing forward until he broke out into the open air. He looked up, letting the breeze brush over his face as he simply took a moment to appreciate the fact that he was still alive. 

Dull pain quickly reminded him that he was still bleeding out, though, and he looked around. He didn't remember which way the ship was, so he picked a direction and started staggering that way, reminding himself with every step that he had to make it out alive. He could not die here. 

Stumbling through the trees, Creed lost track of where he was going, but he could make out a faint light through the forest. He kept going towards that until he finally broke out of the trees into a large plain at the edge of what looked like a city. Too dazed to know where he was or what was going on, Creed simply kept going, staggering through alley ways and streets until finally, he could go no further.

Dropping to his knees at the edge of an alleyway he sank down against the wall, dropping his head to his chest. His body ached and throbbed with pain and his head was pounding. Black spots threatened his vision and he physically couldn't feel anything beyond pain. Exhausted and numb, he closed his eyes and just let the darkness consume him. 

"Hey. Hey, wake up," a voice cut murkily through the darkness. Creed winced at it but cracked his eyes painfully, protesting with a moan. 

"Oh good, I thought you were dead for a moment," a woman's voice responded. 

Creed didn't bother to look at her, but he felt her kneel beside him and touch his face, her hands gentle as she seemed to rub some blood from his face. He closed his eyes again, coughing and spitting up some of the blood in his throat. 

"Easy, you look pretty badly wounded," the woman whispered, "I can get you to the hospital, but I can't carry you. I'm gonna need you to walk. Can you do that?"

Creed didn't know if he could or not, and he didn't have the strenth to respond so he simply answered with an incoherent groan, cracking his eyes a bit. She was quiet a moment, then shifted down so she could look in his eyes. 

"It's alright, I'll find a way to get you help," she said, then hesitated a moment and reached back up to touch his face softly. 

"But first...who are you?"