Star Wars: Enter the Real World

Chapter 10: Master Vs. Apprentice

Jason back-flipped and turned towards his former master, striking at him with all the strength and skill he had. Paul, having trained as well since his last sparring match with Jason, was ready for Jason's increased abilities. Every strike, every slash, every move Jason made, Paul was able to block and parry. Jason was surprised at this.

“You've gotten stronger,” Jason said as they got into a saber-lock.

“As have you,” Paul replied. “Surprised?”

“Yes,” Jason said, pushing off and breaking the saber-lock, taking his signature battle stance. “You're surprisingly strong...for a Jedi.” He said this last word with contempt in his voice.

“The Jedi aren't weak, Jason,” Paul said.

“We'll see,” Jason replied, launching once again at his former master.

Jason decided to switch to Ataru like he had with Jessica. He used the Force to increase his speed, but Paul saw this coming and was ready. He went all out Soresu against Jason, not letting him get past his defenses. This really aggravated Jason, because with Jason's increased speed, Paul increased his own as well. Jason eventually ended up using the Force to push Paul into the forest behind his house and used his dark clothing to his advantage, allowing him to hide in the shadows. He deactivated his lightsabers so as not to give his location away.

“You can't hide forever, Jason,” Paul said, looking around, keeping his lightsaber in front of him.

“We'll see about that,” Jason whispered into his comlink so that Paul would only hear it from his own.

Paul walked around cautiously, constantly checking behind him and to his sides, covering every inch of sight he could. He used the Force to try to sense the darkness within Jason, trying to discover his location. Surprisingly to Paul, Jason hid it very well, so he couldn't quite detect where Jason was. He could somewhat sense the general direction that Jason was in, but not the exact location. Jason then struck from the opposite end of where Paul thought he was, but Paul was able to hear the sound of his approach. He blocked Jason's blow as Jason reactivated his lightsabers and struck down. Jason struck a few more times, which Paul blocked, before disappearing just as quickly as he had appeared.

“Don't keep doing this, Jason,” Paul said. “Don't make me have to kill you.”

“You'll never kill me,” Jason whispered into the comlink. “It will be I that kills you.”

“Jason, please, see what you're doing,” Paul said. “You've succumbed to the Dark Side.”

“I know,” Jason replied, “and it feels good. I feel so powerful, so much stronger. Do you honestly think I would give this up for anything?”

Before Paul could reply, Jason struck again. Paul was barely able to block Jason's attack because he was surprised. He once again thought that Jason was in the opposite direction from where he had attacked from.

“How are you doing that?” Paul asked. “How are you able to manipulate the darkness in you and project it into a different direction?”

“'The Dark Side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural',” Jason quoted before disappearing once again.

“Gr,” Paul said.

Paul calmed himself and stopped. He meditated, focusing on Jason's inner feelings, not just his inner darkness, but everything within him. Using this, he was able to detect Jason's true location. Jason was currently circling him, waiting for the perfect chance to strike. Paul purposefully lowered his lightsaber, giving off the appearance of lowering his guard. Jason chose to strike once again, but this time, Paul was ready. He Force Pushed Jason away from him and out of the forest, back into the backyard, since they had barely gone into the forest as it was. Paul ran towards Jason and decided to take the offensive rather than the defensive.

“How did you do that?” Jason asked as he blocked Paul's blows.

“Your feelings gave away your location,” Paul said, striking once more.

They got into a saber-lock shortly after this, in which Jason was holding his own against the strength of both of Paul's arms with just one. Jason tried to slash at Paul with his free lightsaber, but Paul saw this coming, broke the lock, and slashed down, destroying the lightsaber.

“No!” Jason exclaimed, looking down at his now useless weapon. “You're going to pay for that.”

“Just try me,” Paul said, taking his Soresu stance once again.

Jason launched at Paul, now only having one blade to attack with. This gave Paul more time to block, but not much, as Jason was still very fast with his weapon. The two seemed to be in a dance, albeit a deadly one. Neither one gave the other any sort of opening to counter-attack with. They got into a saber-lock once more, but this time, each with one hand. With the other, they both tried to Force Push their adversary, resulting in a battle of Force power. Their hands were mere inches away from each other when they were blasted back. The force of the blast was so powerful that Jason hit the back of the house and Paul hit one of the trees that was on the edge of the forest. Dazed, they both got up, ready for more.

“I have failed you, Jason,” Paul said. “I realize that now.”

“I should have known the Jedi were just using me,” Jason said. “I should have realized they were limiting me.”

“Jason, Nicholas is manipulating you,” Paul said.

“From my point of view, the Jedi were manipulating me,” Jason said.

“Well then you are LOST!” Paul exclaimed.

They walked towards each other, both having their lightsaber blades pointing downwards. They walked until they were a few feet away from each other.

“This is the end for you, my Master,” Jason said.

Paul panted a little bit, raising his lightsaber, ready for Jason to attack. Jason flipped over him, surprising him. Jason then turned around and struck, but Paul blocked his attack just in time. They stood there, not moving their feet, and kept striking at each other, neither one yielding for a fraction of a second. Their lightsabers were moving so fast, they looked like nothing more than red and green blurs to the untrained eye. They got into one last saber-lock, where Paul tried one final time to reason with Jason.

“Jason, please, think about what you're doing,” Paul pleaded.

“I have,” Jason said, “and as I said before, there's nothing I would give this up for.”

“What about Michelle?” Paul asked.

The question struck Jason for a fraction of a second, which Paul saw in his eyes. He used this to his advantage to overpower Jason in the saber-lock, but Jason snapped out of it, and as Paul overpowered him, Jason used Paul's momentum against him, making Paul lose his balance and giving Jason the opportunity to slice Paul's weapon hand off. After doing this, Jason Force Pushed him into the ground.

“Aargh,” Paul yelled as he hit the ground, clutching the spot where his right hand used to be.

Jason merely pointed his lightsaber directly in Paul's face.

“Jason, please,” Paul said, “what would Michelle think of what you're doing? Think about her.”

Jason paused. He knew Paul had a point. What would Michelle think of him going to the Dark Side?

“More importantly,” Paul said, “what about me? I'm your best friend.”

Jason stood there, frozen with anxiety. Paul was right. He was his best friend. How could he kill his best friend? How could he kill the one person he's been able to rely on for so many years? How could he betray him like that?

Paul looked up at Jason with a pleading look, and, unable to kill his best friend, Jason deactivated his lightsaber and walked into his house, closing the door behind him and locking it.