Welcome back, everyone.

Hey, so here's chapter 3!

Your long awaited Guiche vs Vader match is here and i hope you enjoy it.

I enjoyed writing it, so i hope you enjoy reading it.

Anyways, if you haven't noticed I try to update everyday Friday.

I may or may not have one next week, but I'll try.

Anyways, I'll let you read now.

That is enough!" Vader boomed as he stepped in the way of a blonde boy and the servant girl who had prepared his "bed" as Louise called it.

The blonde boy went wide eyed in shock and surprise at his sudden appearance, but soon glared with contempt. Meanwhile, the girl he had chosen to protect gripped his armorweave cape. He felt her fear, and he felt his hate. Both children were radiating with their emotions and he nearly lost himself in their thoughts.

He dragged himself out though, just as the boy started yelling, "How dare you! Do you know who I am?"

"I do not, and I care not."

Just as he spoke that statement, Louise appeared. She came to a halt with a worried look, most of her concern placed on the conflict between her familiar and her classmate. The girl then turned to look at Siesta, the maid she had come in contact with yesterday.

"Vader," she hissed with frustration along with a pleading tone.

"Zero! Learn to teach your familiar manners, or I'll do it for you!" he claimed with an egotistical tone to his voice.

"Highly unlikely," he flatly remarked, bringing on the boy's ire.

His fury was at its peak, it frothed from him like a volcano bursting molten lava. Had he still followed the teachings of the Dark Side, Vader would have been impressed and truly encouraged him to draw on his anger. However, times had changed, and so had he. The seething child was full of rage at the moment, but he knew that it would cause his own downfall. Anger led to violence, and violence was an ambiguous fountain to various ends, one being pride and arrogance.

"That is enough!" he finely cried out, suddenly snapping his arm up with a flower in it. Flower was a rather crude word actually, it was elongated and crooked in its length. A single rose sat at the tip of it. "I challenge you, Zero Louise's familiar to a duel so I might show you respect and continue to preserve this academy's honor!"

People gasped, but a few cheered silently and clapped with smiles on their faces. The face his so-called "master" made was a rather humorous things to behold. While it was showing dramatic horror and concern, he held no fear or hesitance in accepting a challenge to test his combat skills.

"Very well, boy," he accepted, but Louise grabbed his arm. Her delicate hands rubbed against the cloth and leather and armor, trying to grip it as she tugged on his right limb.

Her face was red with anger, just like her emotions, but there was genuine concern interlaced within her countenance. She opened her mouth and shouted, "No! Dueling is against the rules!"

She turned her head to the blonde boy and angrily called, "Guiche! Are you in idiot! We'll get expelled if they see a duel going on!"

"Well then, I guess you should get your familiar to back down then," he pompously spoke and gave a light laugh to which various other children joined in with as they began walking off. "Meet me at Historis Square at before after noon so I may teach you how to properly respect a noble."

The former Dark Lord of the Sith stared in his direction, keeping his eyes tracked through his helmet as the group of spoiled youths disappeared under an archway. He felt the fear behind him dissipate, but concern increase as the maid named Siesta let go of his cape. She came to stand by Louise whom stood with her knuckles on her hips. With her diminutive size, she was a rather adorable being rather than an intimidating one.

"What do you think you're doing! A familiar is supposed to serve their master, not disobey them!"

"I have spoken it once and I shall declare it again," he proclaimed with a mechanical bellow. "I have no master!"

The two girls cringed at his tone and he began marching off, seeking a place to think and mentally prepare.

The sun rose higher for some time as hours passed by, but it did nothing to affect the cyborg Force-user. As various magic students sweated and went inside to cool themselves off, he sat upon the grass within the Familiar Grounds. He meditated with his legs crossed and hands on his knees, breathing in and out through the apparatus attached to his helmet. Other familiars that the students of this institute did not wish to follow them simply meandered around them.

A few came to lay by him, the dragon named Sylphid of the Tabitha girl being the most courageous of these few. The massive, flight-capable lizard sat behind him, falling into a curved position as it slumbered, its tail by his left side and head on his right. The presence he gave off was one of serenity and balance. He was once more at peace with himself as the Force was at one with him.

Rebirthed from the divine womb, he now sat upon the mortal plane again. However, his union with the Force did not permit him invulnerability from imbalance. The Dark Side had taken hold of him multiple times before, nearly pushing him to immediately murder upon his awakening in this world of Halkeginia.

If there was proof that he was still susceptible to the corruption and contortions of anger, greed, and fear then there it was.

Suddenly, he felt a great compulsion from the Force. He awoke from his meditation and raised his head to the sky. The sun had reached its peak and a mass of excited emotions nearby prompted him to rise.

The time had come; he would show this child the power of the Force.

Sylphid awoke at his shifting, raising its head to look at his dark form. His black armored figure began moving towards the amassing crowd, his shoulders raising to enhance the broad sight and he clenched his hands into fists. Dramatic entrances were not a hobby for the Chosen One, but they were an entertaining act to perform every now and then.

He emerged from the shadow of the archway, a tall giant in black them at radiated power. The crowd of students parted for him, a few cowering and others staring in awe. The boy, Guiche stood with an air of pride around him. His arrogance came off of him like stink, the lines almost visible.

"My name is Guiche de Gramont!" he produfully proclaimed a few people cheered and clapped. "I am an Earth mage and the son of General Gramont!"

Vader stared, disappointed at this spoiled child. He believed two titles would win him a contest in respect. While the mention of being a general's son was rather impressive at first, it soon degraded as he smirked, showing off his pompous ego again. Discipline was not instilled in him, and neither was true respect.

"I am... Vader."

His pause drew on their amusement and a few giggles ran through the crowd. Annoyance simmered in him, but compassion for the sudden burst of embarrassment from a pinkette at the front of the mass of students pushed him to fight back. He began exuding power again, sending a pulse of his presence throughout the young children to draw their attention back to him.

"I have commanded fleets and armies the likes of which your world has never known. I have razed whole worlds and subjugated entire nations. Civilizations have bowed to me out of fear, and my soldiers have saluted to me in reverence. I have survived the fires of hell and slain an emperor. I have died and returned from the Force, reborn by its divine will. Now I stand here, your opponent and your superior."

His long winded boast kept the crowd silent, even managing the quiet the blonde boy before him. He raised up his right arm and slightly curled his fingers.

"So then, come forth and face me."

His eyes bulged and a vein seemed to push out from his skull.

The mage-in-training whipped up his right hand, wand gripped in his fingers. A single petal of the rose on its tip fluttered off and landed on the ground. A bright disc of light appeared around it and from it came an armored figure resembling a thin super battle droid.

"I am Guiche the Brass! Therefore, you shall face my Brass Valkyrie!"

He rolled his wrist and whipped his wand, silently ordering his minion to charge forward. The construct immediately rushed Vader, a spear in hand. He watched it, his mind taking the situation strategically. Time slowed and he saw it move its right arm back. The spear's blade was moved away as its left, fist-shaped extremity came forward to strike him.

Vader stared, and the brass golem stopped. People watched, some gasped, but all were completely stunned. Guiche had an incredulous look on his face, completely enraptured in his shock.

"Wh-what! What is my Valkyries doin-"

He was cut off as the armored head that resembled a helm dented. The right hemisphere of its cranium crumpled, a loud crunch echoing out. The frontal love of the left hemispheres dented next. The battle mask it wore over its mouth was crushed into a thin line. Suddenly, it's entire form convulsed and it began crumbling into its center of mass. People gasped eyes cries of surprise and a few stumbled back in fright. Before long, the golem was nothing more than a heavy ball of sharp, crushed brass.

"H-how did you- b-but, you didn't even lift a finger!"

Silence followed his exclamation; no one was willing to to utter a word. Only the armored giant's labored, mechanical breathing was heard. It echoed and helped spread the sense of dread that began spreading from him.

"The power of the Force is infinite," Vader claimed out of the blue, his statement followed by a frustrated glare from Guiche.

"Ah! Take this!" The boy cried out and summoned four more Brass Valkyries to attack.

They came at him quickly, faster than the others before. The sudden acceleration would cause more momentum, thereby doing more damage. Guiche de Gramont now sought to wound him instead of simply bruise.

Two came from his right, the other flanked from his left. He looked to his left and the duo of golem stopped were blasted away by an unseen force. He raised his right arm and the invisible Force took hold of both Brass Valkyries. He clenched his open hand into a fist, the leather squeezing as the two constructs crumpled up.

Guiche's eyes widened and he summoned six next. These ones came at him in one single charge. He nudged his head down and they were forced to crash into the dirt. Their armor broke and bent, rending and tearing as they were obliterated. Looking back up, he saw over ten more appear and rush around him, surrounding him completely.

"Ha! Take that!"

His arrogance had reached a level that compared to his concerns. Fear was exuding from him the same as pride. Each of the droid-like beings did stood like statues, their spear's down and ready to impale him once they reached his armored figure.

"Good my valkyries! Show him the power of a noble!" he shouted with confidence, prompting several other students to cheer him on.

They surged forth, their gray armor gleaming and shining in the light. The former Dark Lord looked from his right to his left, and then raised his arms up to his chest. People started to laugh, seeing how the man began to curl up, arms crossed across his torso as he keeled forward. However, he snapped up and threw his arms out in an instant.

A loud pulsing sound erupted from him and the brass golem stopped were blasted away, their front sides partially melted or burning. People close to the circumference of the blast were sent back wars into the people behind them, threatening to topple them over. Guiche himself felt a rush of hot air whip at him and nearly tear his uniform's cloak off.

"No! How can you do that!"

Vader gave no answer this time, but instead stood still. His breathing had stopped inducing fear into the crowd as the excitement and buzzing of gossip had rendered it mute background sound. In the mass of students, Louise and Siesta watched with unadulterated awe and wonder. Kirche Zerbst locked her lips in anticipation of meeting this familiar as Tabitha, for once did not read her book and instead observed intently.

"Let's see if you can handle this!" Guiche yelled and whipped his wand up, a flurry of petals flying from the rose at its tip to swirl in a small tornado on the ground.

A larger circle of light illuminated the tornado and a far more prodigious Brass Valkyrie rose out of it. It gleamed in the sunlight as its unmoving gaze met Vader's own stalwart stare. It charged forward, flying with a fitness as it swung around it spear to strike him. In an instant, the fallen pieces of brass from the various opponent's he had crushed without touching them flew up. They floated around him and suddenly shot towards the large golem.

They tore into it, shredding through its metal body and ripping it apart. Shrapnel and debris utterly ripped the golem's body asunder and left it creaking; groaning as it hovered for a moment. It swayed right, and then left befo de first ally collapsing in a heap of twisted brass.

"Ah!" the Gramont cried out in rage and whipped his wand around. It glowed and as it remained in an ethereal state, transformed. Soon he was holding a sword, brandishing it in an offensive pose. "Come! Have at the, monster!"

Hmph, monster. Foolish boy.

"You have no idea what you dare face up against," he warned, half excited for battle and half concerned that he might accidentally kill the boy.

Guiche de Gramont did nothing to respond besides give a battle cry and run at him. The students on his side cheered and told him to win. The rest watched silently or made small bets on who would win. Most were on the Force-user's side.

In an instant, the magic student had raised his blade and swept around to strike him from the side. He aimed for the side of his ribcage, trying to slash or even impale him.

Vader simply caught the blade in his hand.

A gasp burst from the mass of onlookers. The man had caught Guiche the Brass's sword, and it seemed that Guiche could not even pull it free from his grasp. The blonde boy was trying desperately with a terrified countenance to try and reclaim his sword's blade, but the cyborg kept a firm grip on it.

Of course, it was not actually his hand holding it as the blade would most likely cut through the leather and perhaps damage his mechanical hand. The Force was his ally, and it was protecting his extremity from being damaged in the struggle to claim the weapon.

Growing tired of the restless of this futile "tug-of-war", Vader decided to end it. In one swift movement of his arm, he snapped the blade off the hilt and Guiche was sent stumbling into his opponent. Thrusting his left hand up, the former Dark Lord of the Sith used the Force to propel him across their "arena".

The other students and learners of the institute parted as Guiche landed on the grass, sliding across the blades of grass. He groaned in pain and tried to roll over to get up, but his opponent would have none of it. Guiche's right leg was jerked out and he let out a yelp in slight pain and surprise as the Force-user reached out. His gloved, prosthetic extremity moved towards the boy and be gripped his leg from afar.

Pulling, the son of General Gramont was dragged across the ground with his right leg pulled up. He screamed with a girlish pitchas he slid past Vader whom twisted around and raised the elevation of his hand and sent the boy flying once more, this time higher. He managed to land on a larger student, getting cushioned from the impact, but not by much.

The magic student was quick to push him off and scurry away as the labored, mechanical breaths of the tall warrior drew nearer and louder. Guiche rolled and groaned, moaning in agony at his body as it burst with fire from within. The blonde boy stank with pain and humiliation as he lay there, crying.

"P-please, no more," he conceded with a whimper and the students around him silenced.

Vader stared with an observant gaze. His body was not broken, thankfully as such a thing would cause more distrust against him. His mask helped to keep his appearance blank and emotionless as it did create an aura of terror. His mechanical hands clenched and unclenched as he thought before he spoke to the beaten noble.

"Learn from this," he ordered. "Pride, fear, hate, and uncontrolled rage can lead to the Dark Side. Temper your emotions in the future or submit to the your own doom."

With this words, Vader turned and left. His black cape trailed behind him as his mechanical limbs crushed pieces of still degrading brass beneath him. The sea of students parted and a few ogled at him. Awe and fear exuded from the populace of learners, but he could care less at this moment.

Right now, he needed somewhere to rest and think.

The sky was painted red and orange and blue when Professor Colbert approached him. He sat where he had before, meditating in a lotus position within the Familiar Grounds. None had dared to approach him save the familiar's since the duel. Only the summoned, alien creatures around him had stayed at a close distance.

Any and every single one of these Halkeginian Humans had chosen to meander away from him. A few pointed and stared, gossiping in his presence if they were bolder enough. More than once, Louise would come down from her dormitory and try to approach him. However, each time she would stop short of the edge of shadows that she would come out from.

He sensed her approach, and he felt her hesitance. The fear that came off of her was amusing and guilt striking as he thought upon his current circumstances. He had not wished to terrorize this place, but a challenge was a challenge. The boy would end up becoming an ignorant fool if he did not step in, which of course was a gamble on if the defeat would actually change the course of his destiny. The cyborg's attempt at disciplining him had a truly fifty-fifty chance at making Guiche a better man, or a vengeful man.

However, whispers of that duel and what he had spoken to the Gramont boy seemed to spread like wildfire. The thoughts of the student populace ran rampant around the institute and he could pick at each one. The Force allowed him to stretch out his mental hand and grasp one of these "noble's" simple minds. He looked into them, going only as far as viewing the conscious, public thoughts rather than invading their privacy.

It had done him no good the other day with Colbert, and he was sure that it would do him no good then.

Returning to the present situation though, Vader turned his attention to the approaching teacher. The evening sun cast an orange hue across the grey and green environment. The ground was darkened and the walls were darkened, but the sky became colorful. The man in dark, pale blue robes came forth with cautious strides.

"Mister Vader," he acknowledged, taking a stiff stance as he stood before the sitting cyborg. "May I please have a word with you?"

"You may."

"You fourth in a duel today."

"And I won."

"That boy is in the infirmary," Colbert stated firmly, his countenance solemn and hard as stone. "He's lucky that his bones weren't broken."

Vader only stared and breathed, observing the man. He was hesitant to reach into his mind again, reminded of previous events.

"I ensured that, that disgusting not occur."

"That doesn't matter!" the mage snapped, angered and frustrated. "These are my students! I will not have you threatening their health and safety!"

His barks aand declarations fell on listening ears. Vader felt a pang of guilt over the man's outburst of rage and fury. He knew these feelings all to well, his mind taking him decades back.

His blue blade cut down a Tusken Raider, and then another. His mother lay dead within the tent, killed by those savages. He slew and slaughtered, massacre ingredients them all. They were animals and- and-

He stopped and thought, remembering to what had happened next. Padme, his beautiful Padme had comforted him. The pain that throbbed, the rage that had boiled subsided in her embrace.

The former Dark Lord pulled himself back from his thoughts. There stood Professor Jean Colbert, the man with a past and a with a new life. His duty was to teach and protect, much as it had once been the duty of the former Jedi Knight.

"I... apologize."

The nearly bald man began to calm down, but his anger still remained within him.

"Apologies cannot fix dead children," he firmly responded, but the reaction he hoped to gain was far different than one he had expected.

Vader let out a choked sob, the sound ripping gust of breath that sounded so pitiful and pathetic that it only drew the man's compassion. The Force-user bowed forward and began to remember. Guilt was gone and replaced by dread and pain as the screams of the young links rang in his ears. The hatred was to much, he had fallen too far.

"I, er-"

Colbert cut himself off as Vader began rising, struggling to stand upright. He staggered as his mind weighed heavily upon his shoulders; seemingly taking physical form. Regaining his bearings, he straightened and his composure was revived, but the state of his being after that comment was burned into Colbert's mind.

"I do not wish to harm your students, professor," he started and paused. "The boy was threatening harm to the girl, I could not stand by."

"And he challenged you, as several eye-witnesses claimed."

"Did they tell you that the Gramont boy admitted defeat?"

"I, er- no, actually."

Vader raised his head and the chin of his mask elevated itself.

"I... believe that I require more information on this."

"I defeated the child and he promptly conceded. I proceeded to give him my words of wisdom, and then left."

The nearly bald teacher raised his own head and held it up for several seconds. He then lowered it in a slow nod, his face holding a solemn expression.

"I see."

With that, he turned and left, wishing to evaporate the tension between them. Vader looked back at the the small girl, Tabitha's dragon, Sylphid, but he decided against meditating once more. His mechanical legs carried him to Louise's dormitory, and then to her dorm room. There, Louise was working on her studies.

His entrance brought her attention to him. Her eyes widened, but narrowed as he moved to sit upon the flattened hay next to her bed.

"I'm trying to study," she spoke with a tone of annoyance.

He turned his head to stare at her, but said nothing. His arm moved and his hand waved in front of him.

"Um, Miss Vallière?"

Siesta knocked on the door again, trying to gain the noble's attention. A moment passed by and no one answered the door. The Dark haired girl put her hand on the doorknob and found it unlocked. She turned it and slowly pushed open the barrier to find Louise at her table, nose in a large book.

"Louise?"

The girl gave no reply as she diligently pulled one page over to view the next two. Siesta took cautious steps forward, but froze as she recognized a labored inhalation. Her head turned with a frightful look on it, finding Vader meditating there. Her gaze drew his and he looked up from staring forward without direction.

"I, um," she stammered fearfully as he rose up.

His dark form, donned in black armor and cloth towered over her as it did about everyone in the academy; perhaps even everyone. His feet began to move, creating loud thugs as they struck the ground with each footfall. She flinched at the first several few, but came to fear his approach towards her more.

Suddenly, he stopped and placed a hand on Louise's pink hair covered head.

"My master," he mockingly spoke, "you have a visitor."

In an instant, the Vallière girl jerked and snapped up. She let out a squeak and jumped in fright, landing in the chair after being suspended for a split second at an elevation of an inch off her chair. When she came back down into reality, he first saw Siesta, but then felt her familiar's hand on her head. Quickly and instinctively, she brushed his mechanical prosthetic off her pink locks and got off the chair, standing up at , at least half his height, if not less.

"What's going on?" she demanded to know and he gestured at the door.

She turned and her eyes widened slightly at seeing Siesta standing there.

"Uh, Miss Vallière, you missed dinner."

"I what!"

Vader stared, and amused expression hidden behind his mask.

"I- I can still go eat, right?"

"I don't think so, miss. The hall is closed and the kitchen is getting rid of the leftovers."

The sight of Louise's defeated and depressed face brought Siesta to suggest a solution. She shifted and realigned her body to stand perpendicular to the door's width.

"Maybe I can convince Marteuf to cook you a meal," she meekly suggested, awkwardly sliding her feet several centimeters across the wooden floor.

A hopeful brightness lit across Louise's face and Siesta smiled back in response. The pinkette followed the servant girl out of the dorm room as Vader remained, watching through the Force. He sensed joy and happiness, the foundations of a new friendship. However, he also sensed fear and pain across the academy, but also self-loathing. The blonde Gramont boy, Guiche was healing in the institute's infirmary and he could sense his own pain, both in his spirit and his body.

His defeat was a blow to all aspects of his being, and it amused Vader. Although, his own pain was overridden by a new one in another dorm of the same building he sat in. He reached out and felt the tendrils of agony that stretched out from a small body. It thrashed in its bed and cried out, whimpers echoing like ripples.

"Tabitha," he breathed and solemnly looked up at the ceiling where her room lay several floors above.

He reached out with a calming hand through the spiritual plane and touched her heart. The Force was her ally then and he watched the area within his mind change, shifting to an elegant ballroom.

A small, blue haired girl giggled nearby and he looked over. Various attendees of the ongoing party passed through his vision, obscuring the view of the young, energetic Tabitha. She stood cheerfully next to a tall, long haired woman of the same hair hue. A man walked up as her mother looked away and offered her a small glass of liquid.

His eyes widened immediately as malice radiated off the "waiter" as he snuck away with a smirk. Tabitha's mother noticed as he did and snatched the glass away. As she raised it, he knew immediately her reasoning for doing so. Drinking it would spare her daughter of physical pain, but the mental backlash...

His hand thrust out and he changed the dream, drawing the glass towards him. The crunch of glass was loud and he watched as an older Tabitha gasped, shocked at his sudden appearance.

Vader opened his eyes and stared through the glowing red of his mask. The table and chair and candle that had floated during his meditation set themselves back down violently. Wax splattered as the three objects struck the ground, landing unceremoniously. However, the case was not the same for the owner of Sylphid whom rested peacefully now.

His breathing, sharp and short earlier returned to its usual long and labored takes. Her pain had subsided and given way to serenity, a different kind of tranquility of mind as compared to her stoic nature.

Vader was pleased with himself then and so decided it to be time to rest and awaken the next day.

Hopefully his child master would not wake him prior to then.

And that's it.

Truly hope you enjoyed the fight.

It was more of a show of power rather than a full duel, that's how I wanted to portray it. Sorry to all you Lightsaber fans, but I wanted Vader to save the red blade action for later.

Also, regarding questions on if Vader will have his original Anakin appearance or if he'll still retains his damaged, post-RotS body, he is in fact still scarred. However, things will change later, don't worry.

And about his suit, I've got plans for that.

So, I bid you all ado, and a Merry Fresh Annual!

Lord Revan Flame, signing off.