And there, with that incensed accusation, came to Palpatine the abrupt comprehension of what he had truly done. The act which he thought would be so containable - a punishment for disobeying his command, the guarantee that it could never be breached again...
In removing Vader, he had unwittingly removed every restraint.
In his confidence, Palpatine had never looked for ulterior motives, sure that his possession of the boy was absolute. He'd believed that it was his influence alone that had held sway- and perhaps for a time, when he'd first converted the boy, it had been. But the truth was that underlying Palpatine's control, limiting the boy's responses and shaping his actions, was that one fact; that his father was alive - and what was necessary to keep him so.
All control which the Emperor had held of Skywalker had been unknowingly dependant on that single fact... and now, he'd effectively removed that one overriding constraint.
"If you cut me down, you will make me more powerful than you could possibly imagine..."
Abruptly the Sith realised Vader's cryptic words when he'd acknowledged his own fate earlier that day; that he'd known - had chosen to die. To give his son this freedom, this impetus, this driving need to finally act.
The need to act- to bring down Palpatine, as Palpatine had once brought his own Master down. Still panting from the last burst of exertion, the Sith gritted wasted teeth against the injustice of this situation - that Vader had finally out-manoeuvred his Master; had ultimately found the strength to break the bonds which had held him to grudging servitude for decades - and in doing so poisoned Palpatine's protégé against him.
The dog which had cringed so long at its Master's feet had finally found its teeth - and now the wolf smelled blood.
.
"You're running out of time." Skywalker stated, dropping his blade low in an invitation to attack, goading his opponent on.
Palpatine narrowed yellow eyes, unsure what the boy meant, and Skywalker smiled, the tip of his ruby blade weaving as he set in a slow circle about his old Master, remaining just out of range.
"Minutes- that's what you taught, Master; experience versus endurance- a veteran duellist has just minutes to bring a duel with a younger opponent to an end, because if he can't bring his challenger down quickly his advantage becomes his weakness. All those years of experience simply become all those years... you're tiring and your opponent hasn't even broken a sweat yet." Luke grinned in open provocation; "Isn't that what you said - the strongest wolf will lead the pack."
"I said experience overcomes strength." he corrected.
But the boy wouldn't be intimidated; "And yet I'm still here - and you're getting tired. So what do you need to beat experience and strength, Master? Because you have one minute left to find it."
Palpatine gritted his teeth against the outrageous incitement, aware on some level that it was the truth; he knew he no longer had the boy's speed or dexterity, so that after that first flurry of blows, a large portion of his attack had been aimed at avoiding a direct confrontation, looking instead for alternative means to bring the duel to a quick, decisive end.
Again the boy stopped, spinning his sabre one-handed so that the cowl of the hilt was against the heel of his hand and bringing it in tight to his back, the scarlet blade upright behind his body in an open invitation to attack. Palpatine hesitated, knowing the boy's reflexes now; that he was not nearly as vulnerable as he appeared, his feet carefully placed, his shoulders already turned to give power to the imminent underhand strike; this was one of his favourite moves, to lure in and then lash out, his reflexes and dexterity equal to the task.
So Palpatine remained still, no counter to the invitation... and the boy grinned in provocation, his empty hand out before him, palm up, raising his eyebrows in unspoken question; afraid?
Palpatine bridled at that; almost set forward- almost walked in to the trap anyway, so incensed was he at the inference. But he caught himself; experience held him back, despite the blatant incitement.
Oh, he saw so much of himself in the boy....
And the boy had allowed it, he realized; encouraged it because it served his own ends- convinced Palpatine to see that connection with himself to the exclusion of any others... even Vader.
"You manipulative little creature." he growled, incensed.
Skywalker only smiled, unoffended; "I learned from the best."
The Emperor came forward at that, blade high, and the boy caught the blow, his blade travelling downward to his opponent's hands. At the last second, Palpatine stepped forward, twisting his blade up and to the side as he did so, robbing Skywalker's counter of any momentum and forcing him to backstep and disengage or allow the Sith inside his defences.
Palpatine pulled back grey lips in a half-smile, half-sneer, "The wise Master never teaches all that he knows."
Skywalker grinned, unimpressed, "The wise pupil knows he should look further afield to complete his knowledge."
"It won't be enough to save you child, not now; not from me. It never was. You don't have the power to stand against a Sith Master. I brought down a thousand Jedi at the height of their power- you think one more will test me? Or do you believe all those Jedi Masters who came before were lesser men than you, with lesser resolve? Do you truly think yourself above them all? What could you possibly have that they- "
"Don't waste your breath." Luke bit out contemptuously, "These are old lessons long since learned. You've used them too often already, Master. Half the fight is in the head, isn't that what you taught? If I'm committed to win - if I believe I will bring you down - then I'm half way there already. I know what I want and I know what I'm capable of. What you say - what you think - is immaterial; my wolves are gone, Master. The only thing which stands in my shadow now is you. Your wolf is right here- what did you call it... Darkness and destiny."
"Oh, I know what you're capable of," Palpatine hissed, "Betrayal and lies. I know what you want- my power; my title... my Empire.
Skywalker shook his head, setting subtly forward again, hiding the advance behind a slow circling of his opponent. "You're wrong - I don't want your Empire Master; only you. But I'll take it, because that's the only thing you ever valued so that's what will hurt you most. I really don't care about your precious Empire... I simply want to hurt you. If you'd left me alone, I'd probably still be farming dust on that dried-up desolate little planet, but you couldn't bear the thought that there might be someone out there with the potential to stop you. You came after me."
"Vader pursued you-" Palpatine said, but the boy wasn't willing to listen; to allow his convictions to be divided.
"You did this. You created me, not my father- You! You created your wolf- you fulfilled the vision. You made your own killer."
"Liar! You want power."
"No- I just want to take it from you. And when I do, when I hold your power and your position, I'll dedicate it to one thing, Master. Because it's not enough just to kill you. You destroyed my life - you cut it away slice after pitiless slice until Luke Skywalker was dead and gone - and I'm what's left. I'm everything that you made me. Luke Skywalker would have killed you, but that's not enough for me, not anymore- you taught me that. So when I take your power I'm going to dedicate it to removing every single trace that you ever existed. Every record, every image, every document, every statue. Everything. Within a decade you'll be gone, like you never existed. And then I'll take your ashes and I'll scatter them to the winds........ All that work, all your ambitions, your power, your precious Sith dynasty- all reduced to nothing. Dust in the wind. That's what I want- " he loosed a feral grin, mismatched eyes like ice and fire beneath long twists of wild hair. "Stop me if you can."