Shadows of Tomorrow

Chapter 51 - Duel of Fates

Author's Note: Should I apologize for what happens in this chapter? Probably. Will I? Nope. Absolutely not. We tortured ourselves with this as much as we're torturing you. :')

~ Amina Gila

Maul spins his lightsaber in an unnecessarily dramatic flourish as he lunges at them. Theseus instantly brings his blade up to counter the blow. It's satisfying to finally be crossing blades with him again. Finally, he can let out all his suppressed anger and pain over his father's death. He lets himself feel it, using it to fuel him.

Ahsoka jumps forwards, blades clashing with the Sith's. Maul swings for them again, his lightsaber moving in a furious whirlwind of red. Theseus takes a few steps back from the intensity of the strikes, and then swings for him, a move which Maul easily counters before throwing another blow at Ahsoka.

She slashes at him again with both blades, and he blocks her next strike, giving Theseus the opportunity to attack him viciously, slipping more onto the offensive.

He's fought Sith before. This isn't the first time. They can do this. He knows this fight is going to be a test of all their abilities, and at least he has the advantage of armor. It might not be enough to protect him from a lightsaber, but it's definitely enough to protect him from other injuries which could slow him down.

Their blades continue clashing in a blur red, purple, and blue. None of them gaining any ground on the other; they attack him on either side, but he easily keeps up with both of them. Well, at least they aren't losing. Seeing as this Sith was powerful enough to take down Theseus' grandmaster, he thinks that's a plus.

Finally, Maul Force-kicks Ahsoka back, turning his attention solely to Theseus, blade spinning in a near blur as he attacks him with both sides of it. The red blade glances off the side of his armor, but it doesn't cut through. It would take more than that to get through the beskar, thankfully. He finally shoves Maul back a few steps, and they circle around each other slowly as Ahsoka finally comes back over to join them.

"You're lucky Anakin didn't show up," she snips, "The way you're fighting, you wouldn't have lasted long."

The Sith glowers at her. "You have Kenobi's arrogance."

"Don't like facing another of your kind? You're more arrogant than both of them combined," Theseus retorts, and lunges at him again. The battle is still raging outside, and they need to win the one in here. Ahsoka instantly jumps back into the fight.

It hits him suddenly, the biggest advantage that they do have. Maul is arrogant, and they can take advantage of that if they find the opportunity. Maybe he is a better fighter, but that's still a weakness they can exploit. That and Theseus can use his armor against the Sith. If they can make him think he's winning, he might get sloppy. Clumsy. It should – hopefully, because Theseus is not, in fact, arrogant enough to assume they can defeat the Sith. They won't run, though, because they can't. The Republic is counting on this. Anakin is counting on this.

Theseus let's himself slip into a more defensive form of fighting. He can conserve his energy, wait for Maul to wear himself out. And maybe let him think that he's winning before he is. He's not sure Ahsoka has quite the same idea though as she continues attacking the Sith in a blur of blue. Maul easily parries her blows, coming close to nearly scoring a blow past her defenses a couple times.

Their blades briefly clash into a saberlock and Theseus gathers the Force around him, throwing Maul across the room the second their blade spin free of each other. But instead of attacking them again, he promptly turns and jumps through a window, falling out of sight.

Great. This is exactly what they needed to avoid! He supposes he should've kept in mind that maybe Maul wouldn't care about sticking around to try finishing the fight.