Private Ride The Lightning

[Okkeus Dainlei]

I wasn’t sure of what to think of the invitation. The man was still somewhat connected to the dark side of the force. Hell, what am I kidding, so I am. But he really showed it. I tried concealing my past, while he almost embraced it.

The invitation was for a duel. A lightning- based one. I have only heard rumors of the man’s powers, but never seen them up close and personal. As I walked down the hall toward the dueling area, I thought some more about Darlyn’s force alignment. Was he like me, turning dark-sided powers towards the light? Or were they still connected to the sith roots. Guess we will find out.

Continuing down the hallway I finally found the dueling area. The double doors slid open. Looking across the room I saw Darlyn, facing away from me, meditating. He must have sensed I was here since he relaxed his shoulders. He stood up and turned my direction.

Darlyn Excron

 

[Darlyn Excron]

Of course Darlyn had been meditating, the connection he had to the Force demanded it be routinely reinforced, especially before conflict. To walk where he did, without succumbing to the darkness within him, meant mental preparation was invaluable when engaging in practice bouts, though not entirely necessary. In this case, it was more to prepare him mentally for what was to be a more, specific duel. Unlike his opponent, Darlyn had spent decades learning and perfecting his lightning, his control and power, and felt almost slighted when he had noticed all too late a lesson on the power being taught.

A part of him was doing this to test the Jedi who fancied himself seemingly master of the ability, a part of it was to relieve that perceived slight. Though you wouldn't get him to admit that anytime soon.

Eventually he felt the man join him, and he relaxed himself slightly. The man had a light that consumed his inner darkness, quite contrary to how Darlyn situated himself in the Force. As he stood up to greet his sparring partner, he let his presence be felt, the darkness and mastery over it that he never really hid, but suppressed for others' comfort. Of course, there was still a light that could be felt, perhaps the only evidence outwardly of the black robed man's remaining connection to who he had been meant to be.

"Well Mr. Dainlei, it's good to meet you on a more personal level. Do you want to go through the pleasantries while you prepare yourself, or do you want to skip them and get right to the fun part?"

Okkeus Dainlei

 

[Okkeus Dainlei]

"Nice to meet you more personally as well, Mr. Escrow. Let me stretch real quick while the pleasantries are commencing."

Chuckling a little, I began to stretch. Tilting my head to the left and right my neck popped. Oww. Next I stretched out my arms. No pops this time, but a little sore from the last class. I could feel my muscles ache a small amount after each stretch.

Great, now I'm going to be sore for this

Shaking the thought away I then began to squat down, resting on my calfs. Rocking back and forth, this time my knee did make a pop. Laughing a small amount, I decided it was best to get started soon. No need to keep him waiting. One final warmup though. Standing back up, my arms reached outward by my chest. Using the same technique I taught in the static class, the electricity began to flow from my left hand and into my heart. Feeling the little shock once it hit I knew it was working. The flow then continued into my right arm and out of my fingers. Letting the electricity flow, I though about how this duel would go. Would he start right off the bat with a shot of lightning? Or what if he decided to electrify the ground? Literally anything could happen.

Cutting off the flow, the electricity stopped flowing between my fingers. Hopping up and down slightly a few times my legs were now warmed up fully. I felt a little cocky about this, but I know I have to be ready. This won't be a walk in the forest. Smiling a little, I began to converse with Darlyn.

"Anything else before our duel?"

Darlyn Excron

 

[Darlyn Excron]

"Excron, not Escrow."

There was a small smile on his lips, indicating he wasn't actually offended, despite how the sentence may come across. There was also a levity to his voice, as he patiently waited for the boy stretched and prepared himself. As he was wont to do, Darlyn had already confirmed in his mind the end result of this duel, to him there was simply no contest. He had spent his life perfecting his control and expanding his power with Lightning, to the point of mastery. There were, he believed, few who simply outclassed him, and all of their surnames started with a Z. Others may be able to best him, he was humble enough to believe that much, but it was simply...

Inconceivable, that a Jedi would be able to match and surpass him.

Not that he was planning on giving the boy the chance to prove him wrong, already his battle plan was being formulated. Alongside that, the rules of the duel he was concocting. Of course he wanted this to stay true to the intent of the duel, to test their lightning against one another, but he planned to leave certain gaps. Gaps that would be quite useful if he decided to cheat.

"I must say it is odd to see a Jedi using what they call Force Lightning, most of you prefer to use the name 'Electric Judgement' to get around calling it what it is. I'm quite curious if yours is remotely comparable to mine, or if Jedi lightning is... lesser than 'Sith' lightning." He did despise that name, how it implied his belief. But, it got across from where his power originated well, being a former Sith himself.

As Okkeus finished preparing, Darlyn removed his heavy black robe, letting it fall behind him as he rolled his neck. He now only wore his back, stitched together tunic, with his blaster pistol hidden within the folds. "The rules are simple. Force Lightning, Force Lightning, and Force lightning are allowed. No lightsabers, no light-pikes, no saber staffs, knives, vibroaxes, vibroswords, or any form of melee weapon. This is a ranged duel. No killing as well. Understood?"

Whether or not Okkeus responded, Darlyn decided to take the initiative. His right hand lifted up, and for a moment the Force surged, before a weakened bolt of purple lightning shot forth from his fingertips. No more than a simple shock, but if that ended the duel already then anything more would be overkill.

Okkeus Dainlei

 

[Okkeus Dainlei]

"No lightsabers, light-pikes, saber staffs, knives, vibroaxes, vibroswords..."

Okkeus casually counted the "no"s on his fingers, somewhat messing around. Darlyn seems very serious about this duel. To him, it was a fun duel with someone who was also skilled in lightning. While he was thinking to himself a purple strike of lighting shot by him. Quickly rolling out of the way he looked up. Darlyn was already starting. No biggy. Guess this was a serious duel.

Smiling, he sprang off of the floor, launching himself into the air. Hoping h caught the man off guard Okkeus began to shoot lighting in quick blaster-shot like strikes. Mid jump he flipped around, Turing his feet toward the ceiling. Using force-static he clung to the wall, waiting for Darlyn's next move.

"Purple lighting, huh? Now that one is new for me."

Joking around, the smile still stayed across my face. At least I was having fun.

Darlyn Excron

Spoiler: OOC

Whoops, sorry for calling you Escrow. Stupid fat fingers

 

[Darlyn Excron]

"The natural evolution of lightning, far superior to my old blue lightning."

The first couple of lightning shots were of no concern, too wild to hit him. The follow ups beyond the first few were harder to predict, though, and as a result Darlyn had to move himself out of harm's way. He pushed back with his foot, sending himself back through the air and away from the majority, leaving only a few threatening shots on the flurry of blows to worry about.

He channeled more lightning, and sent out a fan of bolts from his hand, colliding with the younger jedi's bolts and neutralizing them. Seemed neither of them had opted to go all out in the first blow, considering the duration of each shot they gave meant they would be easily counteracted or avoided. How amusing.

DArlyn landed and dusted his shoulder off casually, looking up at the Jedi with a grin. "Oh I do hope you have something more potent up your sleeve or I'm going to be able to do this with one hand, and that would be quite embarrassing for you. Losing a duel so easily to a politician, not a Jedi Master."

Now he could amp it up a bit. He leveled his hand at Okkeus directly, and this time sent a concentrated stream of bolts at him, intending to follow him and force a more direct contest of power. He still was holding back of course, lest he seriously hurt the kid, but his bolts still would have a kinetic force behind them from the raw power.


Okkeus Dainlei

 

[Okkeus Dainlei]

Still clinging upside down on the ceiling, Okkeus listened to the mans taunts. At the mention of one hand he simply laughed. Darlyn was talking about fighting with one hand? Raising up his left hand, he twindled his fingers. He looked at his hand in awe.

"Wow, I could never imagine fighting with one hand. That must be very difficult."

Smirking, he prepared for the next attack. This time the bolts came at him in rapid fire. He dropped from the ceiling, spinning. The bolts shot between his legs, arms, and one barely missing his right ear. Landing on the ground Okkeus started to charge up the electrons in his legs. Once they were ready he bolted directly at Darlyn. Running at insane speed he slid mere inches before the man. Hooking his left hand around the mans leg, he hoped that he tripped the man. Turning around to fast to see if it actually worked, he shot more bolts at Darlyn. Hopefully one of these collided.

"Dang man, it was like your were standing still!"

He laughed a quick laugh. The duel was heating up fast.

Darlyn Excron

Spoiler: OOC

Hopefully Okkeus trying to trip you is fine. I tried writing it to where you could choose the outcome, but I still "initiated" the move. Let me know if you want an edit

 

[Darlyn Excron]

"Actually when I fight children like you, it's pitifully easy. Almost feels like I should be demanding your lunch money." He chuckled and watched him do far more effort than needed to avoid the contest of strength he had attempted to force. So much spinning, it really looked more like he was trying to dance than fight. The stream of bolts ended, and he watched for a brief moment to see what the lad was trying to do. When he recognized what was going on, it was already too late to stop it, but even without the reflex enhancement of more, concentrated force power, his natural inclinations would do fine enough.

Charging at him directly meant Darlyn simply had to move aside, and move to his left he did, intent on simply casting a bolt back at the boy as he passed. However his reflex to him sliding were slower, and he felt the hand grab onto his right leg. Going for the legs? A few years ago that might have worked, actually. Before Darlyn had focused on training his lightsaber form, bladework and footwork were sorely lacking, now however he had more of a chance. He let his leg go with the hand, lifting it up in as natural a way as possible while shifting his weight to the left foot.

It worked well enough, staggering him was better than knocking him prone, though he still hadn't fully recovered by the time more bolts were sent at him. The first few actually connected, sending a sense of pain into Darlyn that was all too familiar, though notably far lesser than what he had felt before. In response, his body flared up with the Force, as he drew it into himself and bolstered his endurance. That pain all too quickly for Okkeus faded, and he dropped the ability again after it had subsided, the remaining bolts having been avoided entirely or similarly dulled.

"Alright twinkletoes, lets see that again."

He grinned and this time went for more of a trick play. First he shot a wave of bolts at him, angled down so a slide would still risk being hit by the fan of electricity, then quickly lifted his hand and fired a second bolt, this time with a twist. Lightning could, with practice, be used as a sort of extra painful rope. This stream of lightning would, if it managed to connect, immediately wrap around whatever body part it latched onto and begin coursing with more energy. Darlyn would keep it to a tolerable level but, some things wouldn't be able to be helped.

That of course, was if. And a big if, as he assumed the boy would again try to move up to avoid the low-lightning wave.

Okkeus Dainlei

 

[Okkeus Dainlei]

Okkeus was more than happy with the few hits he dealt out. He couldn’t believe that he hit the man. His joy was quickly taken away though.

Many bolts got shoot out from Darlyn’s hands. The first few ran straight across the floor. Jumping over them with ease, he landed back down on the ground. But it wasn’t over. Suddenly, a bolt of lighting struck him. It quickly wrapped around his right arm. Quick pain shot through it. Not harmful, but most definitely not comfortable. Dodging a few more of the upwards bolts, he tried to pat out the bolt.

“Owwwwwch. That didn’t feel too good.”

Finally it went away. Right are now a little numb, he thought about his next attack. Darlyn was a skilled fighter, but he seemed almost...cocky. Hopefully he could use this.

Springing off the ground, Okkeus stuck to the wall behind him. Posting his feet he began to run across the walls very quickly. Hoping to catch the man off guard, he shot out some bolts from the right wall. Quickly running he made it to the left wall, where he shot out more. He continued this for two more laps before some smoke started to appear.

Slowly down he jumped off of the wall. Burn marks could be seen on the ground where the man was standing. He prepared for the next attack as he waited for the smoke to spread out and die.

Darlyn Excron

 

[Darlyn Excron]

He had hoped to take the boy's leg, instead his arm was caught by the lightning lasso for lack of a better term. He made sure to cut it so the boy wouldn't be too injured by it, though hopefully he'd find his arm slightly less responsive at least. The desired disabling of his speed wasn't achieved, but even so he'd landed what seemed to be the most major blow so far. An unsurprising result, even though he was holding himself back significantly. Were he to go all out from the start, he doubted the boy really stood a chance.

Okkeus opted for a flashy series of attacks, running around the room by the walls to shoot at him from all angles. An... understandable tactic, but one with a pattern he could use to minimize its usefulness. Since he only had one way to rotate, he could pivot in a circle, hand outstretched, and retaliate with his own bolts to nullify most of the shots. Some slipped through, the blue bolts striking him and resulting in momentary flares of Body to numb the effects, but he managed to follow him for the most part. Three laps, and smoke caused him to stop in his tracks to recover.

Body was already creating a drain on resources, one that Darlyn could manage but turning it off almost cost more than turning the thing on. Best to show Okkeus that he couldn't rely on those tactics forever now, before he burned something important. "I believe it's my turn then? Lets see you dodge this."

Darlyn lifted his right hand up, and the purple lightning flared to life among his fingertips. Though this variant of Lightning, called Storm, shared a name with a far deadlier power, it was not the same by any means. While Darlyn had indeed created a Storm of darkness once before, this instead was simply Lightning sent at all enemies around him. In this case however, while one stream of lightning was sent at Okkeus directly, a number of other bolts shot out to strike walls or the ceiling or ground, seemingly at random, without him adjusting it at all. He didn't have to point at Okkeus to hit him.

Of course, his left hand hadn't been introduced to the fight yet, perhaps if he did any more he would.

Okkeus Dainlei

 

[Okkeus Dainlei]

Okkeus wasn’t ready for the next attack.

The bolts seemed to shoot out of Darlyn’s hand at random. He tried shot his own bolts at his attacker’s, counteracting then. A few successfully collided, making them disperse out and die. But a few luck shots hit him. One his his left shoulder while the other hit his right leg. The quick pain and numbness occurred, leaving him vulnerable to another attack.

Both of them had taken hits form the lighting, yet neither of them were backing down. Okkeus didn’t know about Darlyn, but he wasn’t going to give up easily.

Once he was somewhat recovered he clapped both of his hands together. Rubbing them quickly against each other, some lightning appeared. After a few seconds he let out a big, concentrated blast of lightning.

Hoping that would the man occupied for a few seconds, he sprang into the air. Aim downward he shot out another blast of lighting. Hopefully this one would catch the man off guard. Darlyn was definitely more skilled with lightning, so he would have to outmaneuver and outsmart him if he want to win.

But, this all laid upon these bolts hitting the man. If so, this could be big for Okkeus.

Darlyn Excron

 

[Darlyn Excron]

So the boy wanted to expend more energy in one glorious burst? Well far be it from him to deny him a defeat he was all but begging for. He let his power course from his core into his outstretched hand like a raging rapids, the darkness building up as the sparks jumped between his fingers violently. He wasn't using the Force in nearly the same way it seemed, as he wasn't sensing Okkeus using it as he was. Perhaps Okkeus was really using something... different, in a more fundamental way. It was curious but, truthfully he didn't care enough to ask about it.

Because he was going to crush him.

The purple lightning finally released, catching the blast from Okkeus and pushing against it. Had they stood still, the two would've been locked in a struggle of sorts, the bright lights flashing and filling the room with light as he steadily would do everything to let him realize his position, and surrender before they risked full power lightning. But very quickly, without a flow of support, his purple lightning would push the blast back, away, until it struck the wall and began to create burn marks from the intensity. Okkeus was gone.

Moments later, Darlyn felt the younger man up above, and the bolts striking down onto him. Pain coursed into him, and he felt, he felt angry. He wanted to play hardball like that? Hit him a second time like he really was going to win? Then Darlyn was going to play hardball.

Darlyn lifted his second hand up, and caught the remaining lightning in his hand as he surged forth with purple lightning a second time, the sheer intensity of the bolts lashing out to catch everything, allowing him the few precious moments to breathe. He took the time, letting heavy, somewhat labored breaths to come free. He could go force Body, take it all, but deep down he still felt that this child was undeserving of him taking it as seriously as a Zambrano.

The boy would land somewhere, the ground, and he would make sure he wouldn't be able to keep the fight going long. Still using one hand to now push back against Okkeus, the purple and blue were mixing in an angry, violent clash, he used his second hand to again create a multitude of bolts arcing from his hand, though instead of completely randomizing it he focused it in the direction in which Okkeus should land. Smoke began to curl off his fingertips after a few moments..

Okkeus Dainlei

 

[Okkeus Dainlei]

It had worked. His downward shot collided with Darlyn, buying Okkeus some time. But not too much. The man recovered quickly as he directed his purple lightning at his own blue bolts. When they collided bright light shown off of them, and cracks of the collisions could be heard. He wonder if it could be heard through the walls. Probably.

Landing back on the ground he contiued his steady stream of bolts, like the man was doing. The lighting was even brighter and louder now, each one greater than the previous. While he wasn't paying attention Darlyn had shot bolts out of his other hand, all in a concentrated blast. He tried to dodge them but it was too much. Many bolts of lighting struck him in all different parts of his body. The pain was intense. Without enough energy to keep his flow of lightning continuing and make sure he wasn't getting injured, his flow broke off. He fell to one knee as more bolts hit him.

Hunched over and still on his knee he looked up at the man. The was a very strong opponent, that should be known. But that wouldn't stop Okkeus. It wasn't over till the fat Gungan sang. A faint smirk slowly began to appear on his face.

"Alright, my turn."

Slamming both of his hands into the ground he sent the power into the floor. He watched as the bolts of lightning raced across the floor, quickly approaching the man. Hopefully this works, becuase he was running out of tricks.

Darlyn Excron