This place did not feel right, it had the look of the room where the statue was, but there was some familiarity to it that made me question if reality. Everything in the room looked and felt normal, but there was something else that kept bugging him about this place. The only thing that was different was that there was another person in the room with him. Looking around, Armad came to the conclusion that this room hadn’t really changed, but when he tried to expand his senses beyond this room something blocked him.
That had to be it, some kind of test to prove that I am worthy or able to wield or know the knowledge contained within this statute. A test of character maybe, or something more.
Still standing motionless, the other person mimicked Armad and was stock still as well. Taking a step forward, Armad saw that the other person did the same. But instead of stopping when he did, the other jumped into a dead run straight towards the Warrior. Sticking the statue in an inside pocket of his overcoat, Armad pulled and ignited his lightsaber with bare moments to spare, raising it high to block a forceful downward strike. The other person had jumped the last ten feet and had come down with a power strike intended to cleave him in two. The force of the blow threatened to knock him over if he hadn’t of dropped to one knee to help absorb the impact. Expecting another slashing attack from the lightsaber, Armad was caught unawares as he was kicked in the chest, knocking him backwards onto his back. Armad the able to salvage that mistake by turning the fall into a backward somersault that ended with him back on one knee, but with his lightsaber pointed directly at his opponent, keeping him at bay to give him some time to recover.
When he was able to catch his breath, Armad was finally able to focus on his opponent and see who or what it was he was to face. What he saw, he was not ready for, but wasn’t completely surprised by what he saw. Himself, Armad was looking at himself, well it looked like him, but this one’s skin was closer to ashen white than the light blue hue of his own skin. The eyes he was looking into were very close to a yellowish tint to them. But that was where the differences stopped. This shadow-self appeared as if he had never learned restraint or had found someone to teach him to control his abilities, and the dark side had completely consumed him.
“Weakling.” the shadow Umbaran stated with contempt in his voice. “You could be so much more if you’d just let loose and not hold yourself back.” Just before he finished talking, the shadow-self darted forward, swatting away Armad’s lightsaber with an inside sweep of his own lightsaber, and started with a follow up backhand slash that was meant to sever his head. Using the moment of lightsaber contact, Armad lunged forward to strike at the other him’s right knee, with the intent of buckling it back into a locked position or to hyper-extend it. Causing him to kick his leg backward, throwing him off balance. Both Armad and his shadow-self used the brief second to reset themselves, both now facing each other.
“Weak? No, just more powerful.” Armad responded to the earlier accusation. “You are just the unrestrained beast with only death and mayhem as your primary forte.” Spreading his arms out to his sides in a show of cockiness, “I am what comes from control and discipline. And because of that, I have learned things that someone like you would never have learned without patience.” Armad finished, keeping his arms out to his side just taunting the shadow to attack, and not to disappoint, he did. Armad could see the fury building with each word that he spoke, and at the last word, the shadow-self roared in anger and rushed.
Smirking as the other advanced on him, Armad pivoted on his right foot, bringing his lightsaber to point forwards, and his left foot behind him in a proper Makashi stance. The uncontrolled attacks of the shadow-self were wild and powerful, meant to strike killing blows each time, attacks that easily blocked or redirected with minimal effort and precise lightsaber parries. With each deflection and failed attack, Armad could see that his opponent was getting more and more frustrated, fueling its anger to the point where it was going to make a mistake. Patience was a good thing in most instances, but Armad was tiring of toying with this brute of himself. Armad waited until it started a power diagonal slash and stepped back just enough to give him room to bat the other’s lightsaber downward, over balancing it. Not wasting the advantage, Armad lunged forward, spinning to roll over and across his shadow-self’s back. Landing on his feet, Armad used that spinning momentum to slash through meat and bone, severing its back leg.
Gathering the Force, Armad hammered his shadow-self’s lightsaber from his hand during its brief moment of surprise and pain. Calling the loose lightsaber to his hand, Armad walked forward to slash him across its gut, opening him up. Standing over his shadow-self, Armad looked down and the fuming Umbaran. “See, without learning what I had, I might never have been able to defeat you,” Armad stated matter-of-factly. The Warrior could feel his opponent pulling on the Force, just as it pointed his hands at him and unleashed a torrent of lightning from its fingers. Crossing the lightsabers, Armad easily caught the lightning on the blades and flung it back at the sender. As it writhed in agony, Armad gave it his final words. “That is why I am better, you are just an uncontrolled brute who has no concept of accumulating power. You just want to destroy and kill indiscriminately, and while I do enjoy destruction and death, I like to take my time and savor the pain and agony that it brings.” With that said, Armad sliced through its neck, ending the conversation.
Everything shifted again, and Armad could feel the presence of others in the room and beyond. Heaving a sigh of relief, Armad pocketed the statue and continued to search the room with the others.