Afterlife
A non-canon Sith Academy story--sequel to "Hell"--the lite alternative
by jedimom
anotherjedimom@lycos.com

Special thanks to Red Sith for the beta. I may forgive you beating me to that description of Ben-Wa, but I doubt it.

Thanks to Siubhan and Rose for additional beta suggestions.

The Jedi and the Sith belong to George Lucas, mythmaster. The Sith Academy belongs to Siubhan. Ben-Wa belongs to Endora Platt. Thanks for letting me play too. It's not over yet....

Maul--who was trying to learn to think of himself as Khameir Sarin--lay on the carpet, hands under his head, enjoying the night breeze blowing through the sliding glass door from the balcony. It had rained late in the afternoon, and the cool, moist air was pleasant on his face and bare arms. He felt the door close as Obi-Wan came in.

//Hi Khameir. Sorry I'm late.//

//Trouble at the Academy?// said Maul, sitting up.

//Qui-Gon chewed me out for being insufficiently respectful to an instructor.//

//Bad Jedi. No doughnut.//

Obi-Wan laughed, both vocally and mentally. //I brought dinner. Takeout Corellian. Want to eat on the balcony? It's a nice night.//

//I'd rather not.//

Obi-Wan's sigh echoed in his mind-voice. //Still not ready to face the world?//

//Still not ready to be gawked at.//

//How are you feeling?//

//Bored.// Maul got up and went to close the sliding door. It screeched and he froze. "Obi-Wan," he said aloud.

//What?//

"Say something. Out loud."

"Khameir?"

Maul's voice shook. "I can hear you. I thought at first it was just bone conduction." Dimly, as if underwater, he heard the clatter of food containers being dropped hastily on the counter, and then Obi-Wan swept him up in a fierce embrace and kissed him enthusiastically.

"Khameir! That's fantastic! Both ears?"

"I'm not sure. Keep talking."

"I'd almost given up on the possibility after the medics couldn't figure out what was wrong," Obi-Wan continued as Maul turned his head to one side, then the other. "Well?"

"Both ears. The left is a little better. I'm getting mostly the low frequencies--the consonants are hard to make out." He grimaced. "Ew. I sound like a Mon Calamari."

"Not to me."

//I do from in here.//

"Talk. I miss hearing your voice."

//You talk. I like this way better.//

"Heartless Sith."

//Sentimental twit.//

***

The next day was Friday and Maul was having a beer while waiting for Obi-Wan to return from the Academy. The knock at the door startled him so much that for several seconds he forgot he was supposed to do something about it. Aside from the novelty of being able to hear it at all, he couldn't remember the last time anyone but Obi-Wan had come through the door--oh, yeah, Mary Sue. Belatedly realizing that he should answer the door, or at least find out who was knocking, Maul extended his Force-sense into the hallway.

Qui-Gon. Now what the hell was HE doing here?

Maul opened the door. "Qui-Gon. Come in."

"Thank you," said Qui-Gon. "Obi-Wan told me your hearing was coming back. Congratulations. Is he back from class yet?"

Maul's hearing, though limited, could still catch the overtones of anxiety. "No. What's wrong?"

Qui-Gon shifted uneasily. "I heard a nasty rumor today that I'm hoping he didn't hear. If he comes in before I get back, tell him I said to stay here until he's seen me. Tell him that's an order. Will you do that for me?"

"Yes."

"Does he still have any of that Perkium he was keeping for the hamster?"

This conversation was getting stranger all the time. "I think so."

"May I have it?" //Okay, the Jedi Master has run out of weed and needs a little mood mender...// Maul retrieved the bottle from under the bathroom sink and handed it to Qui-Gon without comment.

Qui-Gon seemed to focus on Maul for the first time, shaking off his distraction for a moment. "Try to contact him if you can. This is not going to be a pleasant evening for any of us." And he was gone.

//Obi-Wan?// There was no reply, no sense of the padawan's presence at all.

Maul took a deep breath, tried again. //Obi-Wan? Where are you?// There was a vague echo, like the subtle wisp of sound he was learning to use to warn him of obstacles in his path. Obi-Wan was shielding from him, and doing it very well. //Obi-Wan!// Nothing. Maul was torn between anger and apprehension. What had been going on while he was hiding in this damned apartment?

He knelt on the floor, centered himself, and drew on the Force once more. Deep within himself he found the bond that linked him to Obi-Wan, far below conscious thought. He drew on it, not trying to reach the padawan's mind this time, but his essence, the strand of the Living Force that was Obi-Wan Kenobi. //Where is he?// He felt an eddy in the Force and followed it. //Ah. But why...?//

***

The doors of the Grey Side of the Force were open, letting bone-rattling music and garish flashes of light out to mingle with the greasy fog that had enveloped the middle levels of Coruscant. Qui-Gon parked several blocks away and began threading his way along the crowded pedestrian corridor. Mace Windu stepped out of a dark doorway to meet him.

"Have you seen him yet?" asked Qui-Gon.

"Not yet. But the boy's good enough not to be seen if he doesn't want to."

"True. Is everything ready?"

"As it'll ever be."

"Here. You might need these." Qui-Gon handed Mace a bottle that appeared to be half-full of yellow Skittles. The two of them drifted through the crowds and around the corner to the service entrance.

A few minutes later, Obi-Wan Kenobi stepped through the main doors. After pausing a few seconds for his eyes and ears to adjust to the fitfully-lit cacophony inside, he began working his way around the edge of the crowd to the bar. The patrons' outfits appeared to be about evenly divided between kilts, padawan uniforms, black leather, and red-and-black face-paint.

When he was halfway to the bar there was a pause in the music and a spot was trained on the stage. A blond figure in a white straitjacket, its sleeves hanging loose, bounced into the light. His long ponytail ended in a perky curl. He grabbed the microphone off its stand.

"Hi everybody, and welcome to Obi and Maul Nite at the Grey Side of the Force! I'm your host, Ben-Wa, and this is my counterpart, winner of the Maul's New Look contest, Sedurra the Hutt!" He kissed his hand--or rather, his overlong sleeve--to stage left as a Hutt, blindfolded and painted in red-and-black swirls, crawled out onto the stage. The crowd whooped with approval. Obi-Wan's face was white and set.

"I'd like to dedicate this next song to the Grey Side's two favorite patrons--gosh, don't you miss them?" gushed Ben-Wa. Enthusiastic applause answered him as Siouxsie and the Banshees' "Slowdive" began pounding from the speakers. Ben-Wa and the Hutt danced together with an exaggerated lewdness that drew more hoots from the audience. Obi-Wan stood frozen for a moment. Then he began a slow advance on the stage. The crowd, even in their current state of intoxication, seemed to sense that the imaginary corridor between the two Kenobis was not a healthy place to be, and they melted away before Obi-Wan. Ben-Wa saw the movement and turned with a smirk to watch his brother approach. Obi-Wan waved a hand negligently and the sound system sputtered into silence.

"Why, if it isn't my dear brother," crooned Ben-Wa. "What do you think of our little tribute, Obi?"

Obi-Wan's only reply was to unhook his lightsaber from his belt and toss it across the room. The suddenly quiet patrons dodged out of its way.

"Did you bring your roomie with you? I understand he doesn't get out much nowadays."

Obi-Wan vaulted easily onto the stage, still silent.

"I have such fond memories of our last visit...too bad those days are gone forever, isn't it, bro?"

"Ben-Wa," Obi-Wan said quietly, "shut up." His right hand lashed out, too fast to follow, and took Ben-Wa by the throat.

"Padawan, NO!" snapped a voice nearby. Obi-Wan turned his head in a leisurely fashion. His ice-blue stare met his Master's with no sign of emotion. His hand tightened. Ben-Wa began to gasp and pry at Obi-Wan's fingers, to no avail. Sedurra pulled off the blindfold. The Hutt's large eyes widened, but he made no move to intervene.

"Let him go. That's an order," said Qui-Gon.

"I think perhaps I've taken enough orders from you, Qui-Gon," said Obi-Wan.

"Don't do this, Obi-Wan."

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill this shite bastard where he stands," Obi-Wan said softly.

"I'll give you two," said a warm voice, husky with disuse. Maul detached himself from the wall where he'd been observing the proceedings and slipped through the crowd, resplendent in Obi-Wan's black leather trench. "One, he's not worth soiling your hands on. Two, I could use the practice." He grinned, a slow, predatory grin that suggested he might be considering Ben-Wa as a light snack.

Obi-Wan released his grip, ignoring his brother, who fell to his hands and knees, wheezing. //Khameir, I--//

// Save it,// Maul thought wryly. //Come down.// Aloud he said, "Qui-Gon, would you mind asking my cab to wait? This shouldn't take long." He took Obi-Wan's place on the stage, shucking off the trench and tossing it to Obi-Wan. Beneath it he wore a black tank top, black jeans and black boots. The Hutt hitched forward to block Maul's path to Ben-Wa. A Toydarian bookie in the crowd began taking odds on the match as Ben-Wa got up and pushed up the sleeves of the straitjacket. The crowd began catcalling and tossing debris onto the stage.

Maul glided forward slowly as Ben-Wa backpedaled, keeping Sedurra's bulk between himself and Maul. They had completed half a circle when Ben-Wa bolted, heading for the audience.

Abruptly Maul's unhurried motion turned into a high flip over Sedurra's head. He landed in front of the Hutt and grabbed for Ben-Wa, but his foot encountered some greasy bit of refuse and he slipped and fell. Sedurra grabbed Maul's upper arm. Maul butted backwards with his head but Sedurra, unimpressed, grabbed the other arm. //Shit. No horns,// thought Maul.

Bracing his chest against Maul's back, the Hutt began pulling outward and backward on Maul's arms. Maul grimaced. The Hutt's leverage was considerable and Maul's arms and chest were still far weaker than they had been before his injuries. There was a good chance his shoulders would be dislocated if this went on much longer.

The Hutt gave a jolly chuckle and Ben-Wa added a snicker. Maul threw his weight backward and kicked out at Ben-Wa with both feet, but missed.

"What's the matter, Maul? Forget your cane?"

"Don't need it," Maul said matter-of-factly. Guided by Ben-Wa's voice, Maul's foot lashed out in a high arc, hitting Ben-Wa solidly on the side of the head. Ben-Wa fell flat on his face.

"Try to control your desire to worship me," purred Maul. "It upsets Jabba's Witnesses." Sedurra rumbled with displeasure and put more pressure on Maul's arms.

Ben-Wa rolled sideways and regained his feet. Maul's blind, scarred face was remote, concentrating, slicked with sweat as he resisted the Hutt's leverage on his arms.

From the clutter at the edge of the stage, Ben-Wa picked up a beer bottle and broke the bottom off it. He advanced slowly on Maul. Obi-Wan blanched and made a move towards the stage, but Qui-Gon intercepted him. "Don't. He can handle it," he said quietly.

"How does it feel to be a eunuch, Maul?" asked Ben-Wa. "Does it put you in touch with your nurturing side? I can just picture you in a frilly apron, baking cookies for my brother."

Maul felt Obi-Wan's spike of fear and Ben-Wa's sudden surge of confidence. //Just keep talking, you little asshole,// he thought. His arms were beginning to tremble.

To Maul's force-sense, Ben-Wa's injured cheek shone like a beacon, but it was hard to judge distances. He lashed out with another kick, but missed. He drew on the bloodlust and excitement of the crowd to strengthen his Force-sense. There. The attack would be made--now. He jerked sideways in the Hutt's grasp as Ben-Wa slashed with the broken bottle, but the attack still opened a gash on his right shoulder. Maul hissed, a quick intake of breath, then snapped his head around and focused the Force on the Hutt's spine. Sedurra gave a gargling roar as a disk ruptured. Maul broke free.

Before Ben-Wa could move Maul had slapped the beer bottle from his hand and gripped him in a headlock. Following the sound of the rolling bottle, he swept his foot sideways until he found it. Then he flung Ben-Wa to the floor hard enough to knock the breath out of him and casually picked up the bottle.

"You know, Ben-Wa," he said conversationally, "If you're going to be doing much hand-to-hand, you should consider getting rid of the ponytail. It makes a very convenient handle." He grasped Ben-Wa's ponytail, pulling his head back, gently laying the edge of the broken glass against the soft throat. "I'm not trying to criticize, you understand; just offering advice as a friend of the family." Ben-Wa didn't move. Maul could feel the Dark Side energy welling up from the crowd, eager for blood. He felt Ben-Wa's panicked pulse against the heel of his hand. He smiled.

He shifted the bottle to the back of Ben-Wa's head, sheared off the ponytail with a few light strokes and tucked it into the pocket of his jeans. "Damn," he said quietly. "I guess I am in touch with my nurturing side." He got to his feet, dropped the bottle and stamped it into slivers. Finding the edge of the stage with his foot, he jumped lightly down to the dance floor.

//You all right?// asked Obi-Wan. Maul could feel his triumph.

//Yeah, except now I smell like Guinness,// said Maul. //Ew. I wish it had been Pete's.//

Mace Windu was up on the stage helping the stunned Ben-Wa to his feet. The Grey Side's techies seemed to be discussing how to move a crippled Hutt off the stage Obi-Wan had grabbed a bar towel and was using it to stanch the bleeding from Maul's shoulder when Qui-Gon appeared at his back.

"Here's your lightsaber," he said quietly. "We're leaving. Now."

Obi-Wan opened his mouth to say something, but Qui-Gon cut him off.

"This place is about to be raided and the Jedi Vice Squad is about to find a baggie of Perkium in your brother's pocket. Not to mention various other controlled substances on just about everyone here. The Happy Farm is going to be doing good business for a while."

"How--"

"My entire stash, Mace's entire stash, and your hamster's stash," said Qui-Gon. "We can discuss what you owe us later. Get in the speeder."

"Yes, Master." They slipped out the doors.

"Oh, and you left this at my place," Qui-Gon continued outside. He pulled out a black silk scarf adorned with small triangular horns and tied it around Obi-Wan's upper arm. Obi-Wan grinned and guided Maul's uninjured arm over to show him.

//Here's another souvenir for you,// said Maul, handing him the ponytail.

//I'll treasure it always,// said Obi-Wan.

END

(10/14/99)

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