Jedi Insurgency 186

(Just Before Beldorion Made His Move)

Corvus was tired. Exhausted. Utterly drained. 

During this conflict, his body had broken, and been fixed dozens of times. Managing his pain with frequent, dozen+ minute long Pauses, he wished he could close his eyes, and fall asleep. 

The Darkside clung to his skin, clogging his pores with infinite potential, yet suffocated him all the same. The Light burned away the Dark, but whilst chasing the coveted Balance, this ‘infinite potential’ was ignited like a fuel. In essence, the Darkside was like oil, whilst the Light was the spark, and his body was the engine. 

Entering this transcendent state, he was able to overcome barriers, and close the gap with Darth Maul. What a statement. Corvus wanted to roll his eyes in derision. Yes, Darth Maul, the loser who lost his legs to a Padawan. The coward who was trapped on a wasteland world, and plotted for decades, only to get one shotted by old man Obi-Wan. That Darth Maul. 

Only the horned Zabrak that Corvus had fought was different. The butterfly effect of current events had snowballed this Sith Lord's trajectory towards a different path, one that included Dathomirian magick. 

Had Corvus met Maul before he became a sorcerer, then the Zabrak would have met a swift end. However, he had persisted to a point where Corvus felt that his body was falling apart. 

The truth of the matter was…Corvus was dying. 

Nearly out of energy, and the supply waning from the boys, it was only a matter of time until he faded into ash & dust. His own Jedi Shadow ability to sap Darkside energy was constantly going, but it just wasn't enough. Maul was quite low on reserves at the moment, and whatever he drew upon for his sorceries wasn't something Corvus could steal. Thus, death seemed inevitable. 

A small part of him was happy to be done with it all. The excruciating pain, the heavy responsibility of carrying the fate of a galaxy on his back. Star Wars was magical, amazing, and exhilarating on so many levels, but was it worth it? 

From within Pause, he looked down at his gloved hands. They were cracked, and bleeding neon ooze. The skyscraper was mid shudder, on the precipice of collapse. Behind him, his students were confronting Beldorion, the muscular slug was barreling down on Jax. Meanwhile, he had just traded blows with Maul, and both of them were regarding one another, panting heavily. 

Corvus recalled all he had done, all he had experienced. The people he had helped…and those he had inadvertently made suffer. 

Was it worth it? 

Un-Pausing, Corvus gasped in an impossible amount of agony, and bit down on his tongue to hold in the scream. Tasting a warm gooey flavor, he staggered in place, holding his lightsabers aloft. 

Maul clutched a nearby piece of wrought iron that was jutting out of the shattered mega structure. His every breath was a labored struggle. The tattoos that he was famous for wriggled across his skin like boa constrictors, pressing his muscles tighter and tighter. 

Corvus bleakly laughed, like the man that knows he is certain to die, and slowly reached up towards his mask. Fingers trembling, he unclasped it, and let it fall. 

The Mask of Revan tumbled in the air, before finally collapsing into a pile of shoot and ash. 

Blinking his eyes, Corvus gave the Zabrak a bloody smile.

“Was it worth it?”

Maul-who had lost all of his arrogance by now-swayed in place. Left arm hanging limp, neck muscle pierced by shadow thread, and blood flowing freely from a missing horn that Corvus had ripped off, the red skinned man mirrored his grin. His yellow eyes searched Corvus’s face, trying to see if there was anything to understand, anything to recognize. 

Struggling to hold his head up straight due to the strain, Maul's chin rested against his chest. Raising his eyes, he let loose with a low, pitiless chuckle. 

“Only if I win.” He said, rasping each syllable, as if they would be his last.

Corvus hung his head low, mirroring Maul. He held up a hand, and rubbed his fingers together. Seeing that they were already starting to turn ash-like, he knew that he wasn't long for this world. 

“Bet.” 

There were no high speed dashes, teleportations, or invisible ambushes. Lightning did not spring forth, nor did a shield sprout around him. 

Mustering all of his willpower, he took one agonizing step forward after another. Each time his boot collided with the durasteel floor, a smoking indent was left behind, like the mark a brand would leave upon a steer's flesh. Bones feeling like jelly, and muscles screaming to be released, Corvus advanced at a snail's pace. 

“I admit. For a Sith, you are crafty. Tricking the Jedi to follow you, raise a rebellion convincing so many to join your banner. I must admit, I admire you, Darth Revan, from one Sith to another.” Maul said between gasps. “However, it is clear your powers have waned, whilst mine have only begun to wax. Submit yourself to me, become my confidant. Save yourself, save your students!” 

Corvus slightly halted in his step, almost disbelieving what he was hearing. Wasn't this his schtick? A wry smile cut through the pain, and his shoulders shook in silent laughter. 

“You find this amusing?” Maul curled an eyebrow, and said in a pitying tone. “You of all people should understand the importance of survival. Eons spent in silence, only to appear now. Surely your story does not end here? You need only take my hand, and together, we can reform the Order of the Sith!” Maul spoke slowly at first, but the more words that flowed out of his mouth, the more confident he became. 

“Look me in the eye, Maul, and tell me you would trust me not to gut you in the back like the scheming vermin you are.” Corvus deadpanned as he drew ever closer. 

“An arrangement could be made…do not be so hasty to so recklessly throw your life away.” Maul stroked his bone necklace, and said meaningfully. 

Truth. 

Corvus sensed that what the red skinned man said held no falsehoods. 

“Ambitious, aren't you? Should I bind my soul to you, I fear I would soon be short a body. With me as your teacher, I imagine you would finally feel confident to face your old Master. For one so powerful, your education has always been lacking.” Corvus taunted, declining the invitation. 

“Pity.” Maul dropped the smiling facade, and shook his head in disappointment. “No matter, if you won't come willingly, then your soul shall fuel my recovery!” Maul declared, and ignited his saber staff. 

Corvus suddenly felt a boost of energy that was quite unexpected, and different from anything he had experienced before. A type of healing was affecting him from the Darkside. After a quick look around in Pause, he discovered the source of this phenomenon, and silently thanked his students. 

At this very moment, his body was breaking apart. No matter how many times he used [Heal], there simply was no way to permanently fix the damage that had been done to him. It was as if he was cursed, and despite the incredible buff of the shadow state, he constantly took damage over time. Now, this new type of healing wasn't curing him. However, there was some serious potential! If he could balance out the two restorative energies, then maybe there was a way out of this predicament! 

Suddenly, all that moping fell to the wayside, and a burning desire to live ignited once more in his heart. For the first time in a long time, he experienced something that he had been accustomed to gifting others: 

Hope. 

Un-Pausing, he glanced at Maul, who was less than eight feet away, and grinned. 

Maul sensed the change in him immediately, and tried to lunge forward, yet found himself in a stumbling lurch instead. 

“No.” Maul squeaked out, as his tattoos squeezed him ever tighter, empowering him a notch further. 

The cyborg legs were powerful, but Maul was already at his limit, and any buff at this point was about as effective as painting flames of an airplane, expecting it to fly faster. Unfortunately for the son of Dathomir, he was too slow! 

“What was it you said, again?” Corvus spoke without coughing, as his face started to regain color. 

“No.” Maul snarled, jabbing the tip of his blade at Corvus's exposed face. 

“Oh, that's right. Only if I win.” Corvus smirked, as the neon blood completely dried up, and disappeared as if they had never existed. 

The Mask of Revan-which was on the ground-rose up, and met the red hot blade of death, blocking the strike. Constructed from Beskar, it easily tanked the damage. 

Slowly stepping forward, Corvus perfectly interposed his face inside the mask, and felt it hiss into place. Several straps telekinetically wound themselves tight, and the Jedi Shadow stared down the red blade that was centimeters from his eyes in amusement. 

“NoooooahauoOOOHH!!!” Maul's screech took on a disbelieving, melodramatic flair as he withdrew his weapon, and aimed at the same spot with a high jump power slice. 

Beskar was highly energy resistant, but was not impervious to lightsabers. Any place struck in the same place repeatedly-especially in quick succession-was sure to come apart. As a result of the first strike, Corvus's mask had a brutal white line marking it down the side. 

As the oncoming slice came down, Corvus breathed in fresh air for the first time since this fight broke out. Although he was still incredibly low on energy, the Darkside healing he had received also supplied him with just enough to do a few things. 

Ordinarily, Maul would be able to resist some of Corvus's techniques. Especially since he was at a ‘higher level.’ However, considering how much the Zabrak had overdrafted himself, there wasn't much of a defense to speak of! Necklace glowing dim, Maul likely was out of trump cards! Meaning Corvus had something diabolical cooked up for the Sith. 

Falling down at a decently fast pace, Maul performed a twist midair, dodging Corvus's potential counter attack with his lightsabers, and struck the mask once more. Corvus could feel the heat on his skin with that one! Another hit like that, and his head would be pierced by a lightsaber! There would be no recovery from such a serious blow. 

However, for that brief second whilst Maul was inside his guard, and had performed those amazing acrobatic feats, he had exposed himself. Even if the talented duelist was already a hair's breath outside the reach of Corvus's lightsabers, he was still within his range! 

Extending a hand, he swapped out a lightsaber for a sonic blaster, and opened fire. The wisps of a green magick shield sprang to life once more, only this time, it flickered, before ultimately shattering! Prepared for such a result, Corvus had already launched the skill [Slow], microseconds after the barrier broke. 

The red orb traveled less than seven feet before colliding with the Sith's torso. 

“What. Did. You.” Maul spoke haltingly, as if each word were slow, like molasses. 

Corvus slowly flourished his blades, and worked his shoulders as he approached. 

“Was it worth it?”