Vader doing his creepy thing [OPEN]

[sin-and-misery.livejournal.com]

[OOC: Time is an illusion, and also very bendy]

Vader, upon his return to Stacy, has found the Sensoriums.

He's been absorbed in them for the better part of an hour- first fighting numerous lightsaber duels with a holographic Obi-Wan Kenobi, ending each duel with a triumphant and increasingly violent killing stroke, then simply dismembering the hologram through various means. He was currently on Mustafar, kneeling by a river of lava and shoving Obi-Wan's face in and out of the flow, pausing to evaluate the various shrieks and gurgles of the simulated man.

It was beginning to bore him. It was not nearly as satisfying as he knew the real thing would be.

Comments

[ladyofthesands.livejournal.com]

Arha found him during one of those Obi-Wan-meets-lava-flow passes and stood just inside the Sensorium door, her arms crossed beneath her breasts, just watching. This was better than having him killed outside these doors, but it still made her heart clench. Instead of reacting, she let him continue, her expression blank.

She did not say a word to Vader.

[sin-and-misery.livejournal.com]

Vader finally stood, holding Kenobi's smoking ruin of a face loosely in one hand.

"I came here for privacy."

[ladyofthesands.livejournal.com]

Arha said nothing, not even a word, just locked eyes with the Sith Lord, her expression not revealing anything. This was a sensorium, there was no privacy, no lock, no shield to keep anyone out. She studied Obi-Wan's head for a moment, but not with the eyes of a Jed-Eye, nor with the eyes of a former lover, but with those of an ancient Bene Gesserit.

Revenge against one's enemies never did much to purge the need to murder them. It only strengthened that need until the moment where madness overcame reasonable thought and inaction became action. Arha had not worn her lightsaber and never did so around Vader, but she extended her hand and let a replica build itself until it was solid in her hand.

It ignited and she tilted her chin slightly as she moved into the Ataru opening stance. Arha stared Darth Vader down, deeply calm within the Force.

[sithhavecooties.livejournal.com]

Chopping up Obi-Wan? Not so great. Ben figured that just about anything was better for his grandfather, in the "let's wean you off the Dark Side thing and try to have awesome family time" scheme of things, than repeatedly hacking down a Jedi Master, and starting up a conversation was a pretty easy alternative to present.

"So, how about that shore leave?"

[sin-and-misery.livejournal.com]

Vader grunted.

"Unsatisfactory. Waste of time. Numerous annoying interlopers."

There was a ghastly sound as Kenobi's arm came free from its socket. It sizzled when Vader threw it in the lava, frustrated.

[sin-and-misery.livejournal.com]

Vader's mouth curled in a cruel smile as he drew his own lightsaber. Without thinking he built his old armor around him, finding a comfort in its confines.

"You will be bested, as were all the Jedi before you," he rumbled in the ominous bass tones familiar to all who lived in his Galaxy.

[sithhavecooties.livejournal.com]

Ben winced. "Great food, though," he said gamely.

[sin-and-misery.livejournal.com]

Vader flung down his holographic victim, causing Obi-Wan to vanish before he hit the ground.

"Do you want something from me? You know perfectly well I do not eat as you do."

[restoresbalance.livejournal.com]

Luke came in silently--as silently as he could, anyway, with his newly-gotten boots crunching on the cooled lava rock--and sat on a large stone, watching Vader at work.

He could have been angry; Obi-Wan had been Luke's first mentor in the Force, the one to set his feet on the path he had walked since leaving Tatooine many years ago. He'd had enough of an impact on Luke for the Jedi Master to give the name to his son. And since waking up here, Luke and Obi-Wan had been co-workers and friends. Luke had a great respect for the other man, so anger at seeing his father causing bodily harm would have been a reaction any person would have completely understood.

But Luke, instead, felt sad. This was what Vader thought he had to do--hurt the man who Luke respected. And how to help resolve this was one of the many things that had been on Luke's mind since getting back on the ship.

So he folded his hands and closed his eyes, meditating quietly while he waited for Vader to be done with his simulated killing.

[sithhavecooties.livejournal.com]

Oh, right.

"Want to go do something else?"

[sin-and-misery.livejournal.com]

"Kenobi is not invincible," Vader said, without turning around. Another crack, and he turned to face Luke, unaware of the spray of blood down his front. "He can be bested. I will not let him manipulate you any more. You do not have to submit to the reign of the Jedi."

He scowled, and Mustafar vanished. "But you are not interested in hearing any of this."

[sin-and-misery.livejournal.com]

"It is impossible to leave this ship. I do not wish to return to the medical wing, if that is what you are insinuating." Vader replied.

[ladyofthesands.livejournal.com]

Arha was silent, only the birdlike tilt any indication that she had heard him. She was ready for him and this would give him something to do to distract him from the senseless maiming of her Master, even if he was not real. She found his distorted voice no more fearsome than his normal one, and waited for him to do more than talk.

She had invited him, after all.

Vader was rage, Arha was calm. She would not win the fight, but he could hammer away at her if he wished. It was a strange therapy of sorts. He was frustrated by his inability to do anything but play this Sensorium induced parade, he had to be.

"Come, then," she murmured. "Fight something real, if you must fight."

[sithhavecooties.livejournal.com]

"There's the Observation Deck," he offered. "Or Hydroponics. Or something else in the Sensorium."

[sin-and-misery.livejournal.com]

Vader studied Ben.

"You are able to go anywhere here, achieve your greatest desire. What is that?"

[sin-and-misery.livejournal.com]

Vader stood perfectly still-- and then became a sudden flurry of strikes, one after the other, his red blade flashing and shrieking through the air. He advanced slowly, one long stride after another, not bothering to pull a single one of his blows.

[sithhavecooties.livejournal.com]

"A blumfruit smoothie and a medium-rare nerfsteak," he said glibly, which was a fantastic way to not answer the question honestly at all.

[sin-and-misery.livejournal.com]

"The Jedi are not allowed true desires," Vader said, with a hint of smugness. "They would remove all drive from you so that you may best serve their Order."

[sithhavecooties.livejournal.com]

"I don't know, there's a pretty good smoothie place a few blocks from the Temple."

[sin-and-misery.livejournal.com]

"I am willing to teach you the price of insolence, since you seem so keen to learn," Vader threatened, and in the distance several of Mustafar's volcanoes roared with renewed fury.

[restoresbalance.livejournal.com]

From his mind, Luke conjured up Ossus, where he had lived with his family for several years after the Vong war. The Jedi Academy there was a calm place he knew well, and when the scenery changed, Luke was still sitting on a rock, but it was covered in moss and surrounded by grass. Vader was standing by a running stream. Obi-Wan's body wasn't anywhere in sight.

"Nobody is invincible," Luke said. "I know that one very well. But you're right, that's not what I came here to talk about."

He collected his thoughts briefly, and took what he thought to be a fairly innocuous track. "Did you enjoy being off the ship?"

[sithhavecooties.livejournal.com]

"I'm fine," he said quickly, taking an involuntary step back. "Really."

[ladyofthesands.livejournal.com]

Arha would have teased him mercilessly had he pulled his blows and fought her properly. She stood in her ready position, studying his movements as she slowed her perception down to watch how he handled the blade and what he did as he wielded it. He was very skilled, something which she did not doubt in the least even before she had begun this.

She was here to learn as much as she was here so that he could vent.

There was no fear in her, not a shred, as he advanced. Arha was quiet, waiting, calculating, and studying.

[sin-and-misery.livejournal.com]

"Too much like Jade by half," Vader muttered.

[sin-and-misery.livejournal.com]

Vader considered. Everyone else who had asked this question had received and immediate and definite 'no'.

"Of all the worlds to be stranded on, it was almost tolerable," he said. "I met many...crewmates."

"What world is this?"