deernet | Accidental Video; un: darkness

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Accidental Video; un: darkness

[CW: There is canon-style violence in the clips linked, which include a fight which ends in an implied beheading (not shown directly on-screen) and a character being impaled on a lightsaber.]

[The memory begins as Savage, Maul, and a purple-eyed man walk into a throne room. Maul, in all his dramatic glory, challenges the leader of Death Watch to a fight to the death, something he knows Pre Vizsla can't refuse. Maul is given his lightsaber, gives out an inhuman roar like a big cat would, and the fight begins.

For a while, it seems like Maul has bitten off more than he can chew. Vizsla is giving him a challenge and he's on the defense for a good portion of the fight. But Maul isn't stupid and this has all been planned out. He refrains from using his Force powers and even switches to his right hand, his non-dominant one several times in the fight, to make it a more even playing field. He's deliberately holding himself back. When the Death Watch leader shoots off tiny blades at hi, he laughs and it's clear Maul is enjoying himself. This fight is a lot of fun for him, and while Pre Vizsla may be a tough opponent, he's no match for the Sith Lord.

When Maul decides enough is enough, he grabs hold of the man's arm and brutally breaks it, making him drop his weapon. Then the Sith Lord brutally beats him down, kicking him so hard at one point that a tooth goes flying, until it's clear Maul is the winner. He calls the Darksaber to him. Vizsla, surprisingly, takes his impending death well. "Like you said, only the strongest shall rule," he says just before Maul slices his head cleanly off. He looks up and sees Savage smiling proudly at him, a rare expression to see from the younger Zabrak.

Half of Death Watch is quick to follow but the other half, lead by Vizsla's second-in-command Bo-Katan refuse. Maul orders them executed and the two sides begin to fight. As for Maul himself, he sits back on the throne. He is in command of Mandalore now, and by extension, his power in the galaxy has grown.

As the memory fades out, Maul's voice in the present can be heard as he talks to his Omen.]

Venge, what is that? What are you doi--

[And then it cuts out again as the second memory starts. Maul's in the same throne room but now it's night. He seems a little distracted. "Hmmm, I sense a presence. A presence I haven't felt since--" Then his eyes grow wide as he realizes who has arrived. "--Master!" There's more fear expressed in that one word than two years of living in Pthumerian-run towns could ever produce in Maul.

Then Darth Sidious strolls on in like he owns the place, casually strangling two Mandalorian guards as he does so. It's tempting for anyone who's heard about Sidious to be a little confused. This is the man who inspires such fear in Maul? This little old man wearing a dark robe who isn't even as tall as his adopted son? Maul immediately starts in about having done everything to make his way back to his master's side, hoping to buy time. Unfortunately, Sidious knows Maul far too well and can tell he's lying.

He starts in by using the Force to pin Maul and Savage to the windows before letting them go. Maul glances at Savage. This is going to be their toughest fight ever and they'll need to do their best if they want to have a hope of surviving it. When the three start dueling, it becomes apparent that Sidious has outclassed Maul and Savage just as much as Maul had outclassed Pre Vizsla in the last clip. He's enjoying this fight, smiling and laughing as he toys around with the brothers like they're a pair of novices.

At one point, Maul gets knocked out of the fight and he loses consciousness for about twenty seconds, the screen going dark before he staggers to his feet, his sight blurry and not quick to come back. Unfortunately, this costs him everything he holds dear. Sidious quickly gains the upper hand and impales Savage through the chest. Maul's face is one of devastation. "Brother...." He ignores Sidious and leaps to his brother's side.

Savage gasps out his last words. "Brother...I am an unworthy apprentice....I'm not like you....I never was...." Some people think Maul is a heartless bastard but that is proven incorrect as he looks like his hearts are breaking when his brother dies. All he can do is hold onto him as he slips away, knowing there's nothing he can do to stop it. He can't even bring himself to say how much his brother means to him, struck dumb by grief.

There's no time to mourn, however, for Sidious start taunting him. Maul turns back to his brother's killer and he's shaking with rage. This time when he goes after Sidious, the old man isn't smiling anymore. He's not just toying around as Maul fights him, he's actually having to put forth effort. He's pushed his former apprentice over the edge and this time Maul's determined to make him hurt. Those who know lightsaber forms will realize Maul's style of Jar'Kai, using two lightsabers at once, mirrors of that of Sidious' exactly. It was where he learned it, after all.

But his advantage doesn't last for long as Sidious overwhelms him once again. "Have mercy! Please! Please!" For those who know Maul, they might find it odd he's begging for mercy, his tone like that of a scared child. It's unlike the Sith Lord to ask an opponent to spare him. But that's not what he's asking. The mercy he wants is for Sidious to kill him, for he knows that anything the Sith Lord has planned for him is far worse than the sweet release of death would be. But he doesn't get it as Sidious tells him there is no mercy and continues to torture him with Force Lightning. The memory ends with Maul screaming in terror and pain.

Once again, Maul's voice in the present speaks up. This time, he's more aware of what has happened.]

What. Was. That?! Venge, how did that even happen? What did you do? Turn it off! Turn it--!

[And finally the feed cuts out.]

[OOC: An opening post to get the ball rolling for the player plot going on right now!]

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He is. He ruined my life.

[The words might have been over-the-top and dramatic coming from just about any other person but Maul means them wholeheartedly. From the moment his master had come into his life, his one and sole goal with Maul was the utter ruination of the Zabrak, breaking him apart and molding him into what Sidious had wanted: an assassin as devoid of thoughts, wants, and feelings of his own as the weapon he wielded.]

At least Deerington was fortunate to me in that respect. It was one of the happiest days of my life there when Savage was returned to me.

Yes. It doesn't exonerate her, but it also does not lessen the good that came as a result.

[She settled in with him, opening her own container. Neo wasn't in as much a hurry to eat, but as he started, she joined in. It was as much about the fact that they were together.]

Misery is absolutely meant to be shared.
And if there's one thing I'm good at, maul, it's sharing a bit of misery.

He came to make you suffer, and he clearly enjoyed it.

[Between the two of them, they had stood up against Sidious, but he had always been given the sense that Maul's Master had been playing with them. A shame he hadn't gored the Sith with his horns instead of just knocking him back.]

You were more useful to him alive. I was the spare, a tool to make you hurt until he could get to Mother Talzin.

[At least, that's how he had seemed to him after the telling that Maul had given him about what had happened after he had died.]

Mm.

[Yeah. It was a curious word, wasn't it? Keith mulled that over, chewing his lip slightly.]

Yeah. You'd think, right? It almost never seems like enough. And you know what people mean when they say it to you. And it's like... yeah. You're sorry about the circumstances, because they suck. I get it. But then it's like... when someone says it to you, what do you even say back? 'Thanks'? 'Me, too'? I honestly kinda hate it.

I just... don't know what else to say other than that. It feels like it's expected, almost.

[Spoken like someone who'd been on the receiving end of exactly those kind of 'sorry' comments before.]

[See, Maul was glad Keith got it when Maul talked about how meaningless 'sorry' could be in such a circumstance.]

Yes. I am sure there is some species somewhere in the galaxy who has come up with the perfect word to describe situations such as this horribleness. I shall start using it once I find out what it is.

[But for now he was just going to be depressed and emotionally shattered.]

[He clutched Savage tightly to him again, unwilling to let his brother out of his sight for a moment right now. He needed his brother there to keep him from spiraling into despair and agony. Everything hurt right now in his mind and it was only the knowledge Savage was safe and secure right there that kept him from breaking down entirely again the way he had in the wake of his brother's death.]

Others have seen you as such but you've never been just a spare to me, to be used and discarded. You're irreplaceable to me, brother.

[He felt that needed to be said. Usagi had asked him once if he'd ever told Savage that he loved him. While Maul usually wasn't so blunt with his words, he'd showed his brother a hundred times over that he was the most important person in Maul's life.]

Yes, you've had your own share of suffering and losing the ones you love.

[Thank the Force for a friend like Neo. Maul's not sure where he would be without her at times like this.]

Yes. The pain I'm in would be near unbearable if not for the knowledge my brother lives again. I'd think about killing myself if I were in this world without him.

[He'd have gone back to the sea just to be with Savage there. Better to be with his brother as squids than to be here alone with heavy hearts.]

Considering what I saw... yes. I fully believe that. It's a bond that you're able to have only because of this place, and in that? It's a uniquely cheering thing. I hope you two have many happy years to rekindle that as family, I really do.

We both definitely have.
And it doesn't really get easier the more it happens.
But, hey. At least we can both growl and plot revenge.
Kind of a gift I have.

[She was certainly grateful to have Maul at times. He 'got' the part of her that still struggled with wanting to stab some people until they stopped moving.]

[Keith nodded.]

Sounds like a good plan.

[He knew various languages just on Earth had different ways of expressing certain things like that, so who knew? There had to be something, right? Maul's idea was actually a pretty decent one in regards to dealing with crappy situations like that.]

Yes. Revenge is always something to look towards.

[Despite all the growth he's had over the past couple of years, Maul still looks to revenge to sustain him at times when his pain and inner turmoil becomes too great to bear.]

So do I, Vira-Lorr. So do I.

[Ezra stays quiet a moment. He both can relate - grief, as far as he can tell, never truly ends and isn't linear. But he can't say his own pain is unending and never feels a little less.

He's left wondering if, on some level, for good or for ill, Maul simply feels things more deeply than he does.

Eventually, carefully-]

For me, some days are better. Others....not even a little bit.

It can be...exhausting.

[Ezra's on the right line of thinking. Maul feels things very deeply and always has. It's always been something innate, his emotions just held a little closer to his hearts than it seems other people do. In another life, it would have made him a fine Jedi if someone would have allowed it to be cultivated into empathy, compassion, and love.

In this one, it just means that his pain, anger, and hate are much more outsized than they otherwise would have been in another person.]

I've never had the chance to mourn.

[He says quietly.]

Always, there has been something else to do, something else I need to do in the moment that doesn't allow me time.

For now, I will give you some peace and space. We'll speak again later.

[No matter what had happened over the last few years, both of them were apparently souls who could still appreciate the sweet feeling of righteous vengeance. Cooling her heels on it slightly did not mean she'd forgotten.

Really, Cinder was fucking lucky she'd never shown up here.]

Now, if only we could get revenge on a Pthumerian.
That'd be a feat.

[That lifted up Maul's spirits just the tiniest bit.]

Now that would be something. We might have to start smaller, say, getting revenge on that monstrous Deerlona and working our way up to Mother Mercy.

[He's still got a bone to pick with both of them.]

[She smirked and nodded over at him. Yeah, she'd be down with the effort, one way or another.]

First we figure out if they bleed.
Since if it bleeds we can definitely hurt it.

[Maul can understand that perfectly. He's always figured if something bleeds, it can be killed, and so it is with these Pthumerians.]

A project to plot for the future. Julia's tragedy shows the half-Pthumerians at least can be killed, so it is possible their parents can as well.

That's what it was usually like for me, back home.

I've had...a few moments, since I got taken out of the galaxy. Lit some candles. Talked about the people I miss.

I couldn't talk to anyone about my family, not at first. It seemed like weakness to focus on something that brought me nothing but pain, to be vulnerable in my grief. Then once Savage arrived it didn't seem right to try and mourn when he's alive and with me again.

[He understands now all too well that wasn't true, that having his brother back doesn't negate the grief he experienced before.]

[He didn't resist the tight hold, and it was unfortunate that his brother was suffering in such a way. It also felt good as it meant that Maul was protective of him, something that he found that he enjoyed even in these tough situations. It eased the internal fright of dying again, even if he consciously knew that he would just come right back within a few days.]

I know. You and Feral were the only ones to see me as more.

[His arms tightened around Maul in a similar physical response. He knew that Maul cared for him without the need for words; often so much of their communication was non-verbal and it was moments like these that reinforced the deep bond that they had developed as brothers.]

Theoretically they can all die.
Her grandmothers both died, though one was killed by another Pthumerian.
But they're not immortal, just stupidly overpowered.

If it comes down to it you just need the right weapon.

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Accidental Video; un: darkness

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cw: suicidal ideation

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