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Anakin walked towards the chancellor's office. He'd wanted to see his old friend for a while now, and luckily for him the chancellor had contacted him just when he happened to be visiting the senate. The message was a little strange though.
"Anakkin! We shoud totally scheme together. Come to my office we'll scheme right now."
The typo's were one thing, but the message itself... Anakin approached with caution, ready to grab his lightsaber. He didn't trust the situation one bit.
As he got to the door of Palpatine's office, he noticed commander Fox standing guard outside. He nodded in greeting.
"Everything alright, Commander Fox?" Anakin asked, "I got a strange message from the chancellor, he said he wanted to see me."
"Ah, well..." Fox said slowly, his voice slightly staticy through his helmet. "I'm not sure that's a good idea sir. The Chancellor is.... Not feeling well."
Before Anakin could object, however, the door behind Fox swung open, revealing chancellor Palpatine. He seemed strangely worse for wear. His tunic was hanging crooked off one shoulder, his hair was a bit of a mess, and he was practically hanging onto the door he'd just opened, just to keep standing.
"Aaaaaanakin!" the chancellor called out cheerfully. "Anakin, Anakin Anakin Anakin! Come in, come in, make yourself at home, my boy. Anakin!"
Anakin looked from Palpatine to Fox, raising an eyebrow.
"Fox..." he asked slowly, hesitantly. "Is he...?"
Commander Fox cleared his throat. "It appears our morning caff got swapped by accident, sir."
"Fox..." Anakin uttered, perplexed, "Commander, what was in your caff??"
"That is between me and the finest Florrum blend dealer on Coruscant." he said plainly, as if this statement was entirely normal.
"Fox, this... This is a big problem," Anakin replied, "this could be disastrous!" What if somebody saw the Chancellor in this state?
"You're telling me?" Fox shot back, "I've had nothing but plain caff all morning!"
"Anakiiinnn!" the Chancellor protested. "Don't worry so much! The senators don't matter. They're aaall gonna bow to us anyway soon."
Anakin threw another glance at Commander Fox. "I'll... take care of him," he reassured the commander, stepping into palatine's office.
"Thank the Force..." Fox replied, turning to leave. "I've gotta find my caff dealer."
And with those words, Palpatine closed the door behind them.
As he let go of the door, Palpatine swung his arm instead around Anakin's shoulder. He rested most of his weight on the young Jedi, smiling at him. There was something strange and disconcerting about the smile though, almost sinister. Anakin lead the old chancellor slowly to one of the minimalist sofa's and lowered him onto it, taking care not to knock into the glass caff table on the way.
"Anakin," the chancellor said "Anakin, my young apprentice, why don't we ever talk."
"Ehm, I'm honoured sir, but I'm not your apprentice," Anakin said, looking around the office for something to sober Palpatine up, "and we talk all the time."
"We talk, yes, we talk, but we don't talk Anakin..." the drunk chancellor slurred. "Always plotting and scheming, it's never just... talking, you know. Come on, sit with me, talk with me."
"Well... alright then," Anakin said hesitantly, sitting down next to his old friend. "Just a bit though. We're gonna need to sober you up soon."
"So.... dutiful..." Palpatine mused, as Anakin took place beside him. He put a hand on Anakin's shoulder, leaning more than he intended. "I wish you weren't such a Jedi sometimes, y'know. But you know what I like about you? Your heroicness... And the fact that you don't think anyone believes in you, and that.. that you..." he slurred "that... only i believe in you, that you feel that way Anakin! That's what I like about you, Anakin."
"I'm sorry, what, sir?" Anakin asked? Surely he must've misheard. Did Palpatine just say he was glad nobody believed in him?
"But you-you gotta learn, Anakin, you know" Palpatine said, giving his shoulder a tug for emphasis "you gotta learn to.. to to.. You know, let go a bit! Embrace your emotions, eradicate some enemies. Kill some kids, torture a Togruta."
"I- sir, you're very drunk-" Anakin started, but Palpatine interrupted him.
"Shhhht!" he said, putting a finger on his own lips, like a child warning their friend to keep a secret. "Aaaani ani ani ani ani, you know what else I like about you?" he went on. "You're so... mnplable... Mannnupable. Mannipallabalable..."
"Manipulable?" Anakin suggested, before he even realised what he was saying.
"Yes! Manipubalel!" Palpatine called out triumphantly. He leaned further onto Anakin's shoulder, practically hanging on him. "You an me, Anakin. We'll rule the Galaxy! Me in charge, you kneeling before me, it'll be great! We'll take care of the stupid Jedi, and then I'll be in power, just like it should be!"
"Sir, you're very drunk," Anakin repeated, pulling himself free and getting up. He needed to find something here to help sober Palpatine up, and he needed help. He pulled out his comlink, at the same time starting to pace around the room rummaging through drawers to find something. Water, food- would a healing stim have antitoxins that could fix this?
"Don't be a drag, now," Palpatine complained, sitting a bit crooked on his bench now. "You know, you know who was a drag? Maul. There was aaaaalways something with maul." He tried to put on a low, ominous sounding voice. "Master, I don't want to sleep on the floor, master it hurts when you beat me. Master, when are we gonna kill the Jedi??" Palpatine rolled his eyes, "at least when you complain, it's usually about the Jedi."
Anakin paused midway through searching a drawer for medical supplies. What on earth was Palpatine saying? What was he going on about? None of it made any sense. Unlesss... But no, it couldn't be. Not palpatine.
Suddenly there was a clicking noise, and Anakin looked down. Lost in his thoughts, he hadn't realised he'd started leaning on the open drawer. A normal drawer might've slid out, but this one... Looking at it again, it seemed Anakin had just loosened a secret compartment. A false bottom had slid open just far enough for him to slide his finger in. All else forgotten, Anakin pried the compartment open.
A single object lie inside.
Palpatine's eyes widened.
He might be drunk, or under the influence of whatever Fox usually drank to get through the day, but he was still lucid enough to understand what Anakin had found. He stood up, taking several swaying steps towards the young Jedi.
"Now Anakin, my boy, listen," he said, swaying worse with every step as he approached. But Anakin didn't listen. He was transfixed on the object in front of him The familiar metal emitter.
The lightsaber.
Anakin took it out, and despite his growing apprehension, lit it. Red light flooded the room, illuminating both him and his old and trusted friend. The supreme chancellor of the republic.
Everything Palpatine had said today went through Anakin's mind, leading him tot he only possible conclusion. He pressed a button on his comlink, and with a buzz of static it sprung to life.
"Obi-Wan, you need to come to the chancellor's office."
The chancellor took another swaying step. "Anakin, my boy, my friend, now don't be hasty..."
Again though, Anakin paid him no heed, his attention taken by the lightsaber in his hand, and by the comlink. The connection to his true mentor.
"Obi-Wan, it's Palpatine. He's the Sith we've been looking for."
For a few seconds, Palpatine merely stared at him, eyes vacant as if he could not understand what had just happened. Then, understanding seemed to dawn on him.
He took one final, swaying step towards Anakin, barely keeping his footing anymore. He was looking at Anakin with a mixture of panic, betrayal, but most of all confusion. Then he spoke one last time.
"Snitch." he managed weakly.
And then the Sith Lord collapsed.
The end