.
He could do it, Luke knew. He could kill him now; just maintain this for a little longer- sear flesh from muscle, burn muscle from bone, char bone to black, crumble it to ash. The Sith deserved no more. Let him know what this felt like! Luke had been on the receiving end of Palpatine's fury often enough, had collapsed beneath it, craving unconsciousness as a respite from the pulsing, blistering, burning pain...
Abruptly, he broke off the attack, vivid memories lighting a lucid flare of horrified self-reproach.
No- not like this.
He took two staggering steps back as Palpatine gasped for breath, smoke curling from his singed clothes. Luke turned away, resolve faltering...
.
Still breathless, Palpatine glanced up, expecting to see the incoming blade... but the boy staggered back, pale blue eyes appalled as he curled his hand to a fist, lost in some inner battle.
Seeing him hesitate and realising his opportunity, the Sith lurched up, reaching out with the Force, searching any weapon-
The move was lightening-fast, the boy lost in thought, and Palpatine finally scored the blow he'd sought; the heavy, carved footrest which lay at the foot of his toppled throne yanked forward with incredible speed and power, impacting with a rewarding crack on the back of his opponent's head-
.
Luke didn't know what hit him; he only saw a bright flash then stars exploded in his vision as his legs collapsed beneath him and he dropped to his knees, some distant voice within him chiding his own inattention beneath that burst of undeserved compassion, sight and sound fading to the encroaching blackness;
Don't pass out.... Don't pass out!
His hand went to the floor to steady himself as he sensed Palpatine step grimly forward, reality reduced to a slow loop of nauseating gravity which dragged awareness ever slower-
Don't pass out...
He drew the Force to him, giving him the power to lurch unsteadily up and back as Palpatine rushed in, Luke still staggering from the blow as he brought his sabre up in weak defence, head spinning, vision blurred.
The Emperor's pale hand rose, spindly fingers splayed, and the hasty Force-strike came like a body-blow to the centre of Luke's chest, making him stumble back, breath knocked from his lungs in a scarlet-spattered gasp.
Palpatine brought his sabre up and forward in a lunging stab and Luke barely batted it aside with no retaliation, no reciprocating blow; he only staggered further back, tripping unsteadily over unseen debris, arm out to steady himself as he struggled to recover, the Emperor sidestepping and disappearing from his still-narrowed vision, blade raising high to deliver another blow.
Luke backed up, still dazed, struggling for breath, heart pounding loud in his ears-
The back of his hip bumped against something and he realised he'd backstepped all the way to the raised dais, automatically putting it to his side, aware on some level that to do so would reduce Palpatine's field of play, keep him trapped in Luke's limited line of sight. It cut down his own manoeuvrability but at this point that wasn't even a concern- his main consideration was simply staying upright.
Don't pass out- not now, after all this- after all these years, don't pass your one chance up...
Anger and frustration welled up inside him at that and the Darkness answered, pumping fresh power to trembling limbs, sending blood and oxygen rushing round his body and he clung to it- to the power it gave.
He wouldn't let him win; he wouldn't let the black-hearted Sith steal this. He'd stop him; no matter what the cost - if it was his own life, he'd stop him.
.
He swayed uneasily, chest heaving, giving ground as Palpatine came forward along one side of the dais, aware that he was being backed into one of the tall, heavy, metalwork screens which divided the cavernous space; using the Force he reached out behind him and yanked the massive screen back against its mechanism with a screeching wrench, giving him the clearance to stumble into the room beyond.
As Palpatine closed Luke slammed the massive screen shut, forcing the Sith to take a hasty step back to avoid being hit by the heavy slab of floor-to-ceiling metal. On impulse Luke lunged blindly forward again, sabre before him, the blade cutting effortlessly through the precious-metal screen until the tip of his hilt hit the white-hot surface, and was rewarded with a half-yell from behind the screen.
Knowing better than to remain where he was, Luke dropped down, one hand to the ground, pulling his saber back and rolling away as he did so, mind and vision clearing. An instant later Palpatine's saber blazed through the screen above Luke exactly where he had stood, the scarlet blade cutting a narrow horizontal slash through screen as Palpatine Force-yanked it back a half-second later and lunged forward into the ante-room.
Luke's mind raced, adrenaline giving incredible clarity, the brief moment's respite offering realization- a plan... and it had to be now-
Muscles bunching, he powered up, staggering back to the other screen, reaching out with the Force to get a solid grip and dragging it open as he rushed back through into the main chamber, slamming it shut as Palpatine stalked through the first screen and into the small ante-room, giving Luke valuable seconds unseen in the main chamber.
He set forward to the dais at a half-run, eyes glancing about it as he reached out his hand...
.
Palpatine dragged the second screen aside with a yell, setting purposely forward, his limp pronounced, ochre eyes scanning the massive, debris-littered Throne Room. Skywalker turned about from his run toward the dais, seeking room to manoeuvre, backstepping across the cream marble of the inset floor from the old Jedi Council Chamber so he did so, the shattered remnants of Palpatine's precious Sunburst Throne scattered about the dais, the dying embers of the day bleeding over the beaten golden sun as it lay on the pale cream of the wide circular marble inlay, like twin suns setting...
.
The Sith launched forward at a broken run, Skywalker giving ground against the onslaught, a flurry of bright scarlet blades, a wall of incandescent light weaving through the air, each looking for the advantage, completely focused, unyielding, each blow laid with flawless precision, each counter leading to an attack, the pace implacable now, the intensity decisive, each attack pushing home, forcing a mistake-
It was Skywalker who faltered; stumbled, the momentary lapse bringing his blade up a fraction too late, giving Palpatine the impetus to catch the one-handed blow rather than block it and enabling him to hook Vader's lightsaber away from the boy, sending it clattering back across the Throne Room floor, Skywalker's empty hand still reaching after it as he turned side-on, twisting back, eyes wide, to face his foe empty-handed-
.
"Where are your reflexes now, boy..." Palpatine grinned, voice triumphant as he brought his own blade back one-handed in a wide, open arc to deliver the killing blow-
"Where's your experience... Master?" the boy hissed derisively.
.
The moment- the instant the words left Skywalker's mouth, Palpatine knew what he'd done, recognized his error; that he had been played, encouraged by his opponent's helplessness to make a grand gesture, leaving himself open a fraction too long-
Palpatine twisted his wrist, brought his scarlet blade about and in-
But he wasn't nearly fast enough; Skywalker's arm came from behind his back with devastating speed-
In his hand was his own lightsaber, recovered from the dais where he had abandoned it at the duel's start, the blade still activating as he brought it up with the speed of a whiplash, batting Plpatine's blade back, already inside his defences-
The perfect deception, flawlessly executed, any chance of a hasty defence squandered by Palpatine in the belief that his foe was unarmed.