Maul charged toward Anakin. His scream was feral, and maddening, it was filled with so much hatred that Cain felt like his mind was almost raddled. The walls around them shook, and Cain noticed it immediately.
That was Force Scream , Cain thought, but he noticed Anakin still moved forward. He showed no signs of being affected.
While maul continued moving like a feral animal in the ruinous cavern. The scrape of his cybernetic lower half was deafening, the echoing of screeching metal claws on stone. Sparks burst as his makeshift limbs skidded over the debris, as he was lunging at Anakin with wild fury.
But Anakin breathed and remained focused, right now in this moment nothing could stop him. As Maul's limbs came down, Anakin shifted to the side, foot sliding on rusted steel. His movements were precise, he was deliberate to not waste one movement. His lightsaber moved with him in precise attack's.
The indigo lightsaber clashed with metal claws and limbs. Maul's strikes were powerful but sloppy. Mere echoes of his former prowess, he was nothing more then a enraged mad beast. Anakin could feel it through the force. While he became the light of the eye of the storm. As he continued to carved an slice away at mauls limbs, nothing maul did could disrupt his flow.
Anakin moved like a leaf dancing in the wind. He was side-stepping Mauls flailing. Sliding under or flipping over his rushes. When Maul began to throw trash at him. Anakin turned each item around with the Force, and redirect back at Maul. Anakin turned every dodge into the perfect position to counterstrike at Maul. Anakin never overpowered Maul, but he persevered through his hate.
He chipped away at Maul slowly. Part of him wanted to make him suffer before killing him, but another part of him didn't know if killing him would make him feel better. Anakin knew it wouldn't bring back Qui-Gon. He was conflicted.
Cain could feel Anakin's internal confliction about Maul, from their connection. In that moment Cain saw Anakin's shatterpoints, slowly begin to form more and more. Cain wanted to reach out in help, so he reached out in the Force, and focused on Anakin.
Using their bond Cain used Force empathy, and through the force sent a calm feeling to help guide and clear Anakin's mind. But more importantly to help him see what his anger wasn't allowing him to see.
Anakin's mind became more clear in moment. It was like he was blind for a moment and now the world was full of color. That's when Anakin noticed it. From what he felt in the Force He wasn't angry Anakin anymore thought to himself "This isn't the same man I feared," he thought. "This isn't the monster I trained to face. This is… a ghost of his former self. I'm not angry at him, I pity him"
Maul roared again, attacking with a spiraling series of wild strikes, one metal claw, then the other, and finally a spring from his spider like legs, aiming to crush Anakin beneath his full weight. Anakin leapt high, flipping backward up a pile of garbage and landing gracefully, his feet settling atop a pile of stone and metal scrapes.
Anakin in the moment though of Qui-Gon, and raised his weapon and took the Ataru stance. In that moment Maul saw the spirit of Qui- Gon behind Anakin.
Maul snarled and roared. "JIN!"
The stance triggered the primal rage in the broken Sith. Maul seeing the image of Qui Gon Jin The stance Jin used. The silhouette Maul saw just before he fell. It twisted in his mind—blending Anakin and Jin into one shadow he couldn't escape.
He charged again. Anakin remembered Cain's voice: "Strike with truth, but move with purpose."
Then Anakin heard a whisper in mind. A voice so familiar he wouldn't forget it anywhere. " Trust and believe in the Force. Like I believe in you Anakin." Anakin's was surprised by what he heard. His eyes narrowed and his mind became clear. Anakin knew what he needed to do in that moment.
That's when Maul leap up and lashed out to Anakin.
Anakin in a split second rotated his body, blade swinging in a tight spiral. Slicing off pieces and limbs of Mauls cybernetic half with calculated precision. He moved and sliced around Maul like a surgical blade, dodging inward and carving a thin diagonal line across Maul's cybernetic back legs. As sparks parts flew. The legs fell off and threw off Mauls balance.
Anakin pressed his advantage. He narrowed his vision a he reached deeper into the force. Then his eyes caught it. He saw how Maul was going to move before he moved. As Anakin parried and moved around Maul, lines began to form on Mauls being. Anakin new the force was telling him these were Mauls weaknesses, and Maul had many of them.
Shatterpoints… Anakin realized this from how Cain described them. Anakin saw it all. The weakness in Maul's right leg. The imbalance in his left side. The weaknesses of the material that made up Mauls lower half.
Anakin moved with great speed and precision. His lightsaber moved with him in an indigo blur.
In three strikes, Anakin carved through Maul's lower mechanical half, disabling him with deadly precision. The strikes were almost mystical, ending with a Force push to Maul's chest that sent him crashing to the wall and, landing hard on the ground, growling, gasping, his body twitching.
Anakin stood above him, his saber humming inches from Maul's face. But Maul didn't flinch, but for the first time… he didn't scream and he fell unconscious. He just stared at the purple blade. His breathing almost silent. Anakin stood still for a moment, his breath steady, and his mind quiet. The cave was quiet now.
He deactivated his saber then turned and walked away.
Up on the ledge, Derren exhaled coming down saying "I didn't event get to use battle meditation."
"Looks like he didn't even need it." Cain, leaning on the steel beam. " But I'm not surprised I new Anakin could win. How he would was up to him and the Force"
Anakin reached them. Derren hopped down and immediately him and Cain raised a hand. Anakin smirked and slapped them. "Thanks for trusting me."
Cain chuckled, stepping forward and placing a hand on Anakin's shoulder. " Anytime Anakin. You moved like a Master." Anakin tilted his head. "I felt it. My anger didn't control me, I guided it Then I saw them. The shatterpoints."
Cain and Derren looked at each other dumfounded by Anakins statement. "Come Anakin. Your the Chosen One, and now you can use Shatterpoint. Leave something for Cain."
Cain only chuckled. "It's fine, not to mention I still have few more tricks up my sleeve. But I'm happy for you Anakin."
Anakin shook his head. "I don't think I have the same touch for it like you do Cain. But I would appreciate it if you can show me how to use it."
Cain nodded. "Of course Anakin, I'd be happy to help."
The three then looked back at Maul, lying on the ground. "He's alive. Which is more then he deserves." Anakin said. " I don't know why you want to help him, but should he ever get back to his former power. I'll fight him again. Then I really defeat him, not this wild beast"
Anakin looked at Cain. "Not because I want revenge. But because I want to prove—to Qui gon, and Obi-wan, and to me, that they were right to believe in me."
Cain's smile deepened. "And that's exactly why you will win."
Anakin thought to himself. The voice he heard back then. It was Qui-Gon, but how was that possible?