THE LAIR OF DOOM, Friday afternoon to evening
DOCTOR DOOM
It was time. Doom had spent weeks setting up this base, inventing these machines, and planning to collect his captives. His captives - all the Jedi on the island - were in the next room, a room covered with receptors that would rip their Force power from their bodies and put it into a storage battery attached to Doom's armor.
Doom attached the machine's receptors to his armor and threw the switch.
It had begun.
Anakin Skywalker
Anakin's head jerked up, eyes going wide.
"Luke?" he said shakily.
Luke Skywalker
"I feel it, too," Luke replied. "How is it possible?"
Jolee Bindo
"I've heard of a few cases where a Jedi was stripped of the Force," Jolee noted. "But those were usually due to some form of severe trauma. Nothing like this."
Anakin Skywalker
Anakin didn't try to hide his distress. "Jaina, you okay?"
Jaina Solo
"Fine," Jaina said. She wasn't that great, really, but it would be completely unlike her to admit it. "This is a new one."
Luke Skywalker
"We'll get out of this," Luke said stoutly. "We're four intelligent people even without the Force."
Pause.
"So...any ideas?"
Jaina Solo
"Out of this room is a good start," said Jaina, immediately looking to see what the best way to do that would be, exactly.
Anakin Skywalker
Anakin gave Jaina a smile, suddenly remembering a similar situation. "I don't suppose you have a hairpin handy to jimmy the locks with."
Jaina Solo
She ran a hand through her very straight, very down hair. "That'd be Mom. No. A thin enough piece of metal or something might do the trick."
Luke Skywalker
"I don't suppose you have something handy, Master Bindo?" Luke asked hopefully.
Jolee Bindo
"The only thing I have right now is disdain for people calling me 'Master' even at this point," Jolee said. He took a moment to compose himself and look past the crankiness. "Okay, that's not true. I also have the patience to wait for an opportunity.."
Anakin Skywalker
Anakin shot Jolee a warning glance. "Then we wait. The kid can't be that smart."
DOCTOR DOOM
Doom felt power that he had never felt before. With this Force, he felt he could easily overpower the demon he sought to destroy, make the world declare him its master, and do anything he desired beyond that. It was almost overwhelming. He needed time to process this.
He turned off the electric charges that had been keeping his prisoners at bay. Now that they were powerless, he had no desire to kill them while he took time to meditate and learn how to control the power he now harnessed. And now it was time to do just that. Because even fantastic power meant nothing if you couldn't control it.
Time passed. Doom wasn't sure if it was minutes or hours. He was completely absorbed in experiencing his new power. He could feel more than he ever thought possible. It was as if the whole universe was open to him.
This experience was very distracting, though. So distracting that he wasn't paying attention to what was happening in the next room.
Anakin Skywalker
It's not that Anakin had spent the entire time waiting for the Force to return to him, but he remembered the feeling of being half-blinded by his losses at Mustafar too well not to notice when things began shifting back.
He clenched his hands into fists and gave the other Jedi a smile.
It wasn't a very nice smile.
Jaina Solo
Jaina sort of had been waiting for it to return, because it was that or go stir crazy.
This was much better.
"Does this mean we're done waiting?"
Anakin Skywalker
Anakin nodded. "I'm tired of being tied up," he said, reaching into the Force and yanking at the restraints with a complete lack of care for the electricity jolting through him.
Jolee Bindo
"You'll get a chance to get your frustrations out soon enough," Jolee said. "We can't afford to fight stupid, though. We don't know what's going on out there yet."
Jolee closed his eyes and used the returning Force to feel into the next room. The feeling wasn't clear yet, but he sensed a strong concentration of power and that wasn't a good sign.
Luke Skywalker
"I've got a bad feeling about this," Luke said helpfully.
Jaina Solo
Even knowing they could be walking into something bad, she wanted to get on the other side of the door and hopefully get that much closer to her lightsaber. She really hoped it wasn't still lying in the grass somewhere, but she'd deal with that if she had to.
"Does someone want to do the overdramatic honors?" she asked, figuring someone would.
Jolee Bindo
"I think we all know who that's going to be," Jolee said, glancing to Anakin. His restraints fell off after experiencing some Force Lockpicking, giving him an opportunity to get some feeling back in the old joints before the fight began. "Lead the way, Anakin."
Anakin Skywalker
Anakin straightened his robe, gave the rest of the Jedi a glare, then stalked towards the door separated them from Doom.
And kicked it in.
Overdramatically.
DOCTOR DOOM
The kicking broke both the door and Doom's concentration. It took but a split second for him to realize what had happened. He sensed the Force back in the Jedi. "HOW DID YOU DEFY THE WILL OF DOOM?" he demanded to know. He reached out and one of the captured lightsabers flew across the room and into his hand. When he activated it, a green blade sprung forth from the metal hilt.
Though he would never directly talk about it, he liked that he had randomly chosen a saber that went with his color theme.
Luke Skywalker
"Hey!" Luke said, frowning hard as he came in the room. "That's mine!"
He reached into the Force to yank the lightsaber back.
Jolee Bindo
Jolee watched as the saber didn't move from Doom's hand.
"No, son, that's mine," Jolee said with a sigh. "But don't worry, I don't need it. The old man will get by somehow."
Anakin Skywalker
Anakin rolled his eyes. "Suck it up," he said, reaching for his own lightsaber. "Self-pity is so unattractive in a Jedi."
Jaina Solo
Luckily Jaina was too irritated with another party at the moment to say what she thought was the obvious comment. Pulling her own lightsaber to her own hand- and very happy to have it- she shot Doom a tight smile. "You brought it. How thoughtful."
DOCTOR DOOM
"Discovering the secrets of these weapons was to be my next task," Doom admitted. "It no longer matters, though. I have what I wanted I truly wanted from you and I have no desire to kill you all. You are offered the opportunity to leave now as a token of gratitude from Doom."
Luke Skywalker
Luke stared at him, then snorted. "I thought I was naive. You kidnapped us."
DOCTOR DOOM
"And now I offer you the opportunity to have that be the worst that happens to you," Doom said. "If you attempt to achieve vengeance by attacking me, you will die thanks to the new power of Doom. The offer will not be made again. Choose now."
Jaina Solo
Jaina shrugged. "Yeah, not sure I trust you with all that new power. Choice made," she said, igniting her weapon.
DOCTOR DOOM
"Then you have chosen your destruction," Doom said, charging forward with his borrowed lightsaber, striking at Jaina's head.
Jaina Solo
Jaina raised her own lightsaber to meet his, adding a little push with the Force into it so he wouldn't overpower her. Then she turned her blade in order to force his into a less wieldy position.
Anakin Skywalker
Anakin, privately thinking that anyone who lifted a Jedi weapon without being a Jedi deserved the ass-kicking that was coming to him, lifted his lightsaber and aimed it at Doom's other side.
He was testing to see if Doom's mask had some of the same field of vision issues his had.
DOCTOR DOOM
Doom's vision was indeed weak in terms of peripheral vision, but his Force abilities let him feel the attack coming. He held a hand out and gave a strong Force push. Now he knew why War had been such a fan of telekinetic attacks.
Anakin Skywalker
Anakin held out his hand and concentrated, staying exactly where he was, then pushed back.
Hard.
DOCTOR DOOM
"FOOL," Doom said, not moving an inch as he easily matched Anakin's push. "I HAVE HARNESSED THE POWER OF ALL FOUR OF YOU. YOU STAND NO CHANCE IN THIS FIGHT."
To prove this, he pushed at Jaina as well with his saber hand.
Jaina Solo
Having not expected that, Jaina went flying, but managed to turn what could have been a nasty landing into a roll right back to her feet. That had been more power than she was expecting, but she had the feeling he didn't actually know what he was dealing with.
Luke Skywalker
Luke's eyes went wide as Jaina went shooting past him, then he clenched his jaw and moved in. "Raw power doesn't make you a Jedi," he said, moving his lightsaber towards Doom's midsection.
DOCTOR DOOM
"Please," Doom said, parrying Luke's strike casually. "I control my own order of monks. I don't need to be part of another order."
Doom's complete lack of technique probably showed when as he returned a strike to Luke's arm.
Luke Skywalker
Luke definitely noticed and followed up with an immediate strike at Doom's knees.
DOCTOR DOOM
Doom Force jumped over Luke, dodging the strike easily. He raised his weapon and charged Luke, expecting to overtake him with the sheer power of his attack.
Jolee Bindo
Having no lightsaber at the moment, Jolee had been waiting back, looking for an opening. With Doom's back to him, he had his opportunity. He held both hands out and checked his emotions as blue lightning fired from his fingers.
Anakin Skywalker
Anakin let out a gasp. "What are you doing?"
DOCTOR DOOM
"FAILING!" Doom yelled, picking himself up after the initial attack. It was taking a lot of energy to deflect the lightning, but he managed. "NOTHING YOU DO CAN POSSIBLY STOP DOOM'S DESTINY!"
Jaina Solo
...Well the boys didn't really need Jaina's help, now did they?
Her gaze fell on the machine. She wasn't sure whether it was supplying Doom's power or not at the moment, but in any case, she wasn't about to give him the opportunity to do this again.
While everyone else was distracted, she dashed over to it, looking for the controls. And when she found them, she raised her lightsaber to plunge the blade straight into them, frying the circuits.
DOCTOR DOOM
"NOOOOOOOO!" Doom yelled, pushing wildly in all directions to buy himself the space to charge forward with Jedi speed and launch a leaping attack at Jaina.
Jaina Solo
Obviously she was doing something right. Jerking the lightsaber sideways to make sure she was getting everything, Jaina thrust her hand out to meet with a Force push of her own. And she had way more practice with those.
DOCTOR DOOM
Doom pushed back, but with less power than he had used before. Since he was in midair, this telekinesis battle had the end result of throwing him backwards. He activated his boot thrusters to give himself a more controlled landing than he would have managed otherwise.
Doom didn't like the fact that he needed to use his boot thrusters. It meant that he was expending Force power far too quickly.
Anakin Skywalker
"New lesson," Anakin growled, aiming his lightsaber at Doom's hand. "Don't screw with powers you don't understand and aren't for you."
DOCTOR DOOM
Eager for a new advantage, Doom activated his force field and batted the blow away. "Any power that Doom can possess is his by right!" he said, turning the field off to fire finger lasers at Anakin.
Luke Skywalker
Luke's time practicing with the remotes really showed its usefulness as he stepped in front of his father and deflected the blasts into the ceiling.
DOCTOR DOOM
Doom was enraged now. His pawns were too good. Once again he was unprepared for the challenge that he faced. First the demon bested him. He would not allow the Jedi to do the same.
So when he reached deep into his Force reserves, mentally ripped down the wall that had separated his quarters from the room his Jedi prisoners had spent the past week in, and threw it at Luke, he meant it.
Luke Skywalker
Luke only had time to throw his hands and push as hard with the Force as he could before the wall came crashing down on him.
It wasn't enough.
Typical, Luke thought just before he passed out.
Jaina Solo
Even without paying too much attention to anything but her demolition project, Jaina sensed that. Her first reaction was to come to his aid, but she didn't get more than a step before remembering Anakin was still out there, and she really didn't want to be in the middle of that.
Jolee Bindo
Jolee could see this turning very bad very quickly. The last thing anyone needed was for Anakin to kill a student in a rage. Well, anyone except the idiot child in the armor. He probably needed that very badly. Fortunately, he sensed how weak Doom was in the Force after that stunt.
He took the stillness of the moment as an opportunity to Force pull his lightsaber away from Doom.
DOCTOR DOOM
Doom had been watching Anakin intently, waiting for him to move. This trickery caught him by surprise and he wasn't strong enough anymore to resist the pull.
With little Force power left and no lightsaber, Doom realized that he was now in trouble.
Jaina Solo
Jaina found herself thinking Don't, realizing that now not only was Doom outnumbered and bordering on powerless, but he was weaponless, too. She still wanted to beat on him, but now this was the wrong time and place.
She shut down her lightsaber, leaving the still-smoking and occasionally-sparking machine to start uncovering Luke.
Jolee Bindo
"This is over," Jolee said, hoping that Anakin would follow his lead. Just in case, though, his saber remained on. He wasn't sure yet if he might need it to attack or defend, but he was ready for anything. "You didn't understand the power you were dealing with. It's a common mistake. I could tell you many boring stories about other idiots who made exactly the same mistake. At the end of that you might wish you had died here."
Anakin Skywalker
"Oh, he'll absolutely wish he had died here," Anakin said in a quiet, deadly voice, using the Force to hold Doom in place as he stalked closer. "Most people do, when they hurt my family."
He moved closer and dropped his voice so that only Doom could hear. "Don't mistake my one moment of mercy for weakness. You have no second chances. I hear a whisper of a plot with you in the center of it and there is nothing you can invent that will save you from me. I've killed trillions with less reason. I won't even remember your name."
DOCTOR DOOM
Doom was silently filled with rage. Once again Anakin Skywalker was underestimating him. He had lost this battle, but he now understood many things better.
But letting any of that out at the moment would be a fool's move.
He nodded slightly, accepting Anakin's terms for the time being. "I have one question before we walk away from this. How did you recover so quickly?"
Anakin Skywalker
Anakin gave him a tight smile and channeled Obi-Wan at his most vague and irritating. "Jedi secret. You don't get to know."
DOCTOR DOOM
Doom took a moment to bury his rage before speaking. "This lair is at the bottom of the duck pond in the park. Leave through the pressure door and swim straight up. The pond isn't deep so it isn't far. Leave as soon as you've collected all of your group."
With that, Doom turned dramatically, his cape swishing in spite of his defeat as he strode towards the pressure door so he could leave them be.
Jaina Solo
"So nice of him to give us orders on his way out," Jaina grumbled.
When she'd gotten the wall off her uncle- and that's something people didn't often get to say- she hefted him up the best she could. "He should be okay to move," she reported. "Just a little... uncooperative."
Anakin Skywalker
"My cape was so much cooler," Anakin muttered, glaring after Doom before turning his attention to much more pressing matters. "Off to the clinic," he said, taking some of Luke's weight from Jaina, "just to be sure."
Jolee Bindo
"If you have everything in hand, I'm off to my own bed," Jolee said. "I've been in there all week. And I'm old. I need a good night's sleep."
More than that, he wanted to avoid any questions about his use of certain abilities.
Anakin Skywalker
"I'll be seeing you soon," Anakin promised, voice going a little icy. "Let's go, Jaina."
Jaina Solo
Jaina nodded, and as they started moving to the exit, she made a point to remember how to get back here. If only to make sure that machine made its way to the junkyard.
[OOC: Preplayed with the fantastic sith_happened and trickster_twin. NFB and NFI due to being underwater.]