Kylo's POV
Could the Doc take on the Knights? Hopefully. After all she had managed to knock him out at one point. Apart from that, the Knights were relatively weak compared to him. While they were all skilled in combat neither of them could use the Force well.
She nodded and Kylo turned around, grabbing Rey's sleeve to run where Palpatine would be. It wasn't like either had much of a choice in this matter.
Kylo passed the gigantic tanks with Snoke swimming inside and finally entered the arena. The ranks were filled with followers of the Sith Eternal, he himself didn't know much about them. Their currently still quiet chants gave the whole place an eerie atmosphere.
"What a surprise.", Sidious' voice echoed off the walls and the machine pulled him higher up like an ugly puppet on strings, "So you have chosen to betray me."
Kylo didn't reply, he grabbed his lightsaber without igniting it yet. Rey followed his lead.
"My grandchild! Has come home!", he loudly proclaimed, opening his arms in a welcoming gesture, "I never wanted you dead. I wanted you here. Empress Palpatine."
Rey glanced over at Kylo.
"You will take the throne. It is your birthright to rule here. It is in your blood", he stretched his hand out, "Our...blood."
Kylo walked a few meters ahead, tightening the grip on his lightsaber.
"I haven't come to lead the Sith!", Rey shouted, "We will defeat them!"
"We?", Sidious asked and paused briefly before erupting into cold laughter, "Two failed Jedi want to defeat me?", he continued laughing, "The Jedi who trained you both almost killed Kylo because of a bad dream. He did not want to help you because he knew who you are. What...you are."
The chanting of the Sith eternal got louder.
"A Palpatine. MY granddaughter.", the crane moved his body slightly out of the way so the throne was more visible, "You belong here."
"NO!", Rey shouted.
"Strike me down. Take the throne, Rey.", he took a deep breath, "Your hatred. Your anger. You want to kill me. That is what I want.", he spoke louder and moved in front of the throne, "Kill me and my spirit will pass into you as all the Sith live in me! You will be empress. We. Will. Be. One!"
Rey glanced over at Kylo again. He shook his head. He could see Rey falter, unsure of what to do. If she'd kill Palpatine would she really have his spirit within her? She did not want to risk it. She was still more connected to the Light Side of the Force. He hoped that she had enough faith in him to actually go through with it and not...No. She didn't have any other option but to kill him now. What else would she do? Turn around and leave? Knock him unconscious? A permanent coma? There was no other way.
Rey nodded and they ignited their lightsabers simultaneously, storming ahead and towards him. He hoped she had heard what he had wanted to tell her telepathically.
Palpatine moved his body back, Sith guards appeared and started shooting. Kylo reflected one of the blasters and stopped another one midair so it wouldn't hit Rey. She sliced the guard to her right in half and had killed another one before his torso had fallen to the floor.
Kylo turned around, swinging his lightsaber at a guard who barely managed to jump back. As he blocked the next incoming strike he catapulted a stone into another one's chest. With a quick move forward he stabbed the guard and moved to his right to evade a few blaster shots.
Rey deflected more of the incoming shots and moved until she was back to back with Kylo. It didn't take them more than ten seconds to hit the remaining guards with their own fire or throw them so far up that they'd break their necks coming down.
"Stand together. Die together!", Palpatine shouted and lifted them up, catapulting their lightsabers out of their hands.
He moved them closer, bringing them down. The stone flooring tore open Kylo's knees and he felt as if someone had sucked the life right out of him. Sidious gasped and stopped, staring at his withering hands. Kylo wanted to move, but he couldn't. He was stuck, as if someone had paralyzed him.
"The life force of your bond...a dyad in the Force.", Sidious spoke,"A power like life itself. Unseen for generations. And now...", he stopped and opened his arms. The chanting of the Sith eternal got louder and louder, "the power of two restores the one...true...emperor."
His laughter resonated in Kylo's bones. The last thing he saw was Palpatine stretching out his hands before the world turned into bright, unbearable pain. As if someone had dropped him into freezing cold water, for a brief moment it was simply cold before all that remained was the pain. Time itself passed unbearably slow and whether or not it had been seconds or years stuck in this state he couldn't tell.
Doc's POV
The chanting of whoever was staying in the emperor's room got progressively louder. You sprinted through a doorway and past a few tanks filled with green liquid. As you finally entered Palpatine's 'room' you had to correct yourself. It was much bigger than anticipated. The sheer size probably allowed an entire star destroyer to fit inside without any issues.
The sides were filled with robed people, you assumed, that were still cheering for...Oh hell no.
"The power of two restores the one...true...emperor.", laughter erupted from within the wrinkled old man and he stretched his hands out.
You lifted up your rifle and shot at whatever ugly puppet was currently holding Kylo, and Rey, in his death grip. He screamed out with a voice far more high pitched than you had anticipated and turned the crane holding him to face you.
"Congrats, now he's gonna come for us.", Finn said and all of you dispersed like bugs under a log after someone had lifted it up. Right now you were nothing more than mere insects to Sidious. However, even mosquitoes could annoy an elephant for long enough to make him lose his mind. You only had to be consistent in your pestering.
Jannah ran towards cover, continuously shooting arrows at the big bad. Finn went into the opposite direction, also firing at him.
You stopped in your tracks and stared at what you assumed to be the emperor. He definitely looked the age he was, not a day younger. His skin seemed to straighten out with every passing second, he'd probably fueled his life force with Kylo and Ren's.
"I see...you have brought your friends.", he said, still laughing, "Too bad...for them."
In the corner of your eye you saw Finn flying through the air, then Jannah on the other side. He moved his hand towards you and upwards but you did not even feel a pull, or push. Nothing.
You calmly raised your rifle, put the finger on the trigger and fired. He deflected the blaster. He had stopped laughing, mostly because he didn't know what was going on.
"Sorry!", you shouted and flipped a small lever slightly on the left side of your weapon, "Wrong ammo!"
You pressed the trigger again. The recoil was much stronger than with the other setting, and you had pulled the barrel up slightly thus missing where you had wanted to hit him. But not your target.
He shouted again and stared at his hand that now had a hole in it. Blood was trickling down onto the floor. The wound was already closing itself again, even if it was only slow.
You adjusted your rifle, gripped it tighter this time and fired again. Hitting him straight in the chest. Weren't old fashioned bullets amazing? Much faster than blasters and there was no reflecting them. Through the scope you could see his face turn into a grimace out of anger, pain and frustration.
"Enough is enough!", he shouted and ripped the rifle out of your hand. You tumbled forward onto your knees, the smile not disappearing from your face. You grabbed one of the stones, got up and threw it at him. He easily deflected it and tried to push you out of the way again, "What-"
An arrow hit one of the cables he was hanging on and he was forced to detach himself. You could see Rey move slightly, then her lightsaber flew into her hand. She got up and took a swing at him, a very weak one but the will is what counted, right?
Palpatine, still stumbling from walking for the first time in decades, barely evaded it by throwing her down. Clearly whatever power he had drawn from both Kylo and Rey had given him enough strength to stand. His skin was reforming by the second, wrinkles disappeared and his back straightened. Plastic surgeons couldn't have done it better.
Rey got up again and charged at him. Lightning erupted from the tip of his fingers, but Rey blocked it. Kylo was moving slightly.
You ran to his lightsaber and threw it towards him the moment he got up. He nodded and turned around, assisting Rey.
Finn and Jannah were starting to fire again. It was enough of a distraction for Sidious to stop his endless stream of lightning bolts. He threw the pesky little Resistance fighters around, making sure they wouldn't get up so easily this time. The moment he shifted his focus back to the two Force Users you decided to piss him off. He had thrown your rifle too far away, but his lovely red guards had been using blasters themselves.
He deflected the shots, which was a bit of a problem, but it would have to do. He catapulted Rey and Kylo back and took a step forward in your direction. Alright, you had his attention. Now what? Another step forward. In the corner of your eye you could see a boulder moving towards you. Fuck. Even if you created a void the momentum from getting thrown wouldn't stop it. You ducked away but the boulder never reached you. It hovered in the air. Rey was holding her arm up, then moved it sideways to launch it at Sidious himself.
He cracked the boulder in two and dragged Rey towards him, close enough so he could try to fry her with his lightning again. She held up her lightsaber, absorbing most of it. Her screaming echoed through the entire arena. You started shooting again but not for long. Something hit you from behind and you fell face forward onto the stone.
"Get off of me!", you swore and tried to push away the corpses of the guards that Sidious had thrown onto you. Needless to say the poor, and dead, guys didn't intend to move on their own. You rolled sideways, less pushing them off and more distributing their weight to different areas so you could free yourself.
You quickly got up again. Kylo and Rey were now both absorbing the impact of the bolts with their sabers. Rey was a bit closer to Sidious. She took a step forward, Kylo one back. She'd now have most of the attack's power on herself.
Rey took another step forward. She screamed, holding tightly onto her lightsaber. It flickered and you guessed that she wouldn't be able to take it much longer.
"Fool.", Sidious laughed.
You shot a few blaster rounds into Sidious' direction. More watching out that you wouldn't friendly fire than that you'd actually hit him. An arrow came flying his way.
Kylo took his chance and jumped upwards, past Rey and directly at Palpatine. With one swinging motion he had cut off his hands. Landed on his feet and cut diagonally upwards. Palpatine fell forward, and backwards.
The impact of the two body halves hitting the floor was the only thing you could hear. The crackling of the lightning bolts had stopped. His unbearable laughter. Even the chanting of the cloaked figures sitting on the ranks.
Palpatine stretched his arm out, trying to grab Kylo's boot. He couldn't scream or say anything, his lungs had been severed. Black blood was flowing out of his aorta and vena cava, while the lightsaber had cauterized all of the small arteries, it hadn't managed to do so with the bigger ones. The black liquid built up into a small puddle and eventually disappeared into the cracks of stones.
Kylo took a step back and watched the pathetic, withered old man in front of him. He turned his lightsaber around, lifted it up and impaled Sidious' head. The head stayed in place for a few more seconds before sliding down the blade and hitting the floor.
He closed his lightsaber as Rey collapsed on her knees, visibly exhausted from the fight. You stared at the lifeless body of the 'one true emperor' before you, carefully taking a few steps forward, still unsure whether or not it was true. But he didn't move, as much as you expected him to...he didn't.
His personal cult started chanting again. You stopped in your tracks and watched them. It didn't sound like grief. On the contrary...
Similar to Rey before Kylo fell forward on his knees. It wasn't exactly the same though, it wasn't because he was exhausted. You sprinted towards him, jumping over a few more dead guards and kneeled down at his side. His breathing was heavy and his whole body started to tremble.
It didn't feel like Kylo. Something was off. Sidious' overwhelming presence hadn't vanished, instead it had gotten stronger. You placed a hand on Kylo's back and closed your eyes. Palpatine had tainted Kylo's being much like he had done it with the Knights earlier. It was worse in his case. Not just part of the Emperor, no the Emperor was now invading his mind. Or soul, rather. Whatever it was.
You didn't cut Ren off but severely limited his connection, keeping most of Palpatine away, only allowing small parts to enter. Kylo's trembling didn't get any better. His back muscles were so tense they'd cramp soon.
"What's happening?", Rey asked, also placing her hand on yours, "You're freezing!"
You shook your head, "He's fighting Palpatine. I'm...", you took a sharp breath as the temperature suddenly dropped, "helping."
Rey opened her mouth to ask but was interrupted by Kylo screaming in pain. The sound almost tore your heart out. You wanted to help him, you couldn't leave him like this! He fell forward, barely managing to stop himself from hitting the floor and was abruptly pulled backwards into the air.
You watched him, suspended by an invisible power but closed your eyes again quickly. Sidious's entire being was swarming him like sharks would a dead carcass. It wasn't only Palpatine however, there were more than just one Sith. You shielded Kylo, wrapping him into a bubble of nothingness with only a tiny tunnel to the Force.
You heard him fall down onto the floor, but didn't move. Rey was already by his side. The pressure from every single Sith being released was getting unbearable. Your thorax was essentially unable to expand, making breathing almost impossible. What did a human need oxygen for any way? It was too complicated, who understood that? In med school you had successfully avoided ever studying this specific topic.
You counted the seconds, desperately trying to focus on not skipping any. If you were lucky you could hold this up for three minutes. It was more likely it'd be something closer to one, maybe one and a half. Concentrating without being able to breathe in properly wasn't something the brain was made for, after all.
One by one the Sith entered your bubble and with each disappearing you felt the pressure lifting. As the last one finally entered you opened your eyes, watching Kylo's body relax. You carefully 'unwrapped' him, allowing him more room to breathe. His skin was ashen, all colour had drained from him. Rey didn't look much better, she'd been sitting in the same void. Hers came back a lot quicker though than it did for him.
He...he didn't feel like Kylo did. You didn't move closer, watching him from a few meters away. Something had changed. If you probed him, stuck part of your void tendrils into where he was you could still feel the others. They hadn't disappeared. He hadn't defeated them. Had they taken over? Infected him to the point where he was no longer who he used to be? If he'd talk now, would you hear his voice or...or would you hear Sidious'?
You slowly got up without making any attempts to get closer to him. Palpatine was in that mix, if you'd search a bit longer you could probably find him. But where was Kylo? Where was the specific part that felt just like him? The one you knew. The one you needed.
Rey moved back as Kylo exhaled. His breath was crystalizing in the air as he slowly got up on his feet. Her lightsaber was immediately in her hand and you raised your hand up, signaling her to not attack him.
"Ben?", she asked and you shook your head. Wrong name, sweetie. He for sure wasn't a 'Ben' anymore, you just hoped he was still a 'Kylo' and hadn't turned into a 'Sheev'.
You tilted your head, observing him. His breath was still visible, then again...so was yours. You took a quick look at your hands. The nails had turned an unhealthy...grey? It wasn't even blue or purple. It was just grey. Your fingers were white, not ashen because there wasn't any colour...not there wasn't much blood in them. Of course they'd be white.
Kylo's breath was slow and shallow from what you could tell, standing a few meters away. You stretched out your invisible tendrils again, running them through his Force presence.
The realization of what had happened hit you like your bullet had hit Sidious earlier.
You walked up to him, he turned his head to look at you. A smile appeared on your face as you finally understood.
He hadn't defeated them. He had merged with them. You could still feel their seperate beings but they were all embedded in his. He was still fighting with them internally. Making sure that even though they were slowly dissolving they wouldn't completely taint his being and replacing him.
He stretched his hand out and removed a strand of hair from your face before turning towards Rey. That was all the proof you needed. He was still present, weak...but he was here. That was all that mattered.
"Ben?", she repeated, "Are you...?"
"I'm still myself.", Kylo spoke and turned towards the throne. He took your hand, walking towards it. You took the first few steps, then let him go so he could take his rightful seat on top of it. Only now did you realize the smile that had snuck its way onto your face. This is what he had wanted. This is what he had been fighting for all this time...and now he finally had it. It wasn't just in his reach anymore, no...it was his.
He had defeated the Emperor. He had claimed his throne and he had ascended. He wasn't a dark side user anymore. He was a Sith. No, he was the Sith. He had become the one true Emperor. And as much as the throne and title was his...he was yours.