Star Wars One-Shots

Dooku's Fear

Count Dooku was one of the best swordsmen the galaxy had ever seen, and boy did he know it. In fact, he prided himself on it. Very few would engage in a fight with him, and even fewer would give him any challenge.

He was more than overequipped to handle any adversaries coming his way with his level of experience. Nightsisters? No problem. Ventress? Obi-Wan? They were definitely manageable. Bounty hunters? No issues. Ahsoka? She would stand no chance. He could even hold his own against Yoda himself for a time without struggling too much.

But there was one person who he had recently grown to fear.

Anakin Skywalker.

Anakin... wasn't like anyone else he had fought. Ever.

Although Anakin used to be another unworthy opponent, in recent times he had developed the style Dooku hated and feared: Form 5. Along with this, his physicality had drastically changed. This meant that he was now someone Dooku had to be wary of fighting if he didn't have a good strategy.

Dooku remembered their fight on Naboo. He had been at the dinner table. He had said that defeating Anakin would be an easy task. Well, what famous last words.

Anakin had nearly stabbed his face, and though Dooku had been able to push him into a wall, this only seemed to fuel Anakin, and after he recovered it had taken him only a few seconds to knock Dooku over and strangle him by the neck. Dooku had been taken by surprise. He hadn't realized how strong Anakin was getting - and truthfully, he didn't think Anakin realized how strong he was getting either.

That was a time where Dooku didn't feel ashamed of running. He knew that he needed to change his strategy before he took on Skywalker solo again.

That was the thing - Anakin's aggression luckily seemed to be inhibited whenever Kenobi was with him. Both of them together? Not an issue for Dooku. But when Anakin was on his own, and even worse, angered - then things got really tricky for Dooku.

Not only did Anakin have a level of physical strength that he couldn't match, but he also seemed to have developed unrelenting endurance and extreme levels of pain tolerance that made him a big threat to Dooku.

It didn't matter if Dooku pushed him into a wall. Anakin could tank the hit and then continue. Like that time on Naboo when Dooku electrocuted Anakin and then pushed him into multiple pillars. Anakin had come running to his ship and had fought as if he'd never been injured in the first place. Dooku had managed to Force push him away, and he had felt relieved when it had worked - had Anakin resisted his push, he would have been in a lot of trouble. Being stuck alone in a fight with Anakin was very dangerous.

That was the one Dooku still had left. He had the Force as a failsafe. If Anakin cornered him again, he could electrocute him or choke him. It would give him a little bit of respite.

If he didn't have the energy to use the Force, though? He would be really stuck.

And he hoped that that never happened.