Duncan McLeod moved carefully through the hallways of an abandoned office building. He was covered in wounds and blood, some of it dry, some of it still dripping. His clothes were torn, and he was on guard.
When he entered one room, he felt it before it came, the sword slashing toward his head. He brought up his guard and blocked. There was a brief exchange of blows, and the Immortal retreated through another door.
Duncan, instead of pursuing him, tried to jump out the window, but as he moved toward it, he saw another Immortal, a different Immortal.
He had been fighting for hours. One Immortal after another had appeared. He had been lured into this place, facing an old enemy of his. However, when he entered, he discovered that his enemy could not be found.
Instead, he found a different Immortal there. After a brief fight, the Immortal ran away. He went through another door and was met by yet another Immortal. So far, he had come across eleven different Immortals.
He had been trying to find a way out, but every time he tried to escape, his path was blocked. Hit-and-run tactics had left him exhausted, and he didn't know how much longer he could hold on.
"Cyrus, why are we here?" Amanda asked her son.
"Duncan is here," he said.
"How do you know that?" she asked.
"I can feel him."
"You can feel Duncan?" she asked. "Is your Immortal sense so powerful that you can identify other Immortals?"
"No. When we went to Duncan's house, and he wasn't there, I had a premonition that he was here."
"A premonition?" Amanda looked at her son.
He had just become an Immortal two days ago. She had brought him here to America to see Duncan and ask him to take Cyrus on as his pupil. But when they arrived, Duncan wasn't home. Amanda wanted to wait, but then her son got a strange look on his face and said they had to hurry.
It was the middle of the night when they arrived at the warehouse office complex, long abandoned. It was run-down and old, but it was clear that someone had done a little bit of repair work on it. When they got within a certain distance, both Cyrus and Amanda felt it, another Immortal.
"That must be Duncan," Amanda said.
"It's Duncan, and others," Cyrus said.
"Others? What do you mean?" she asked.
"There are multiple Immortals here. At least a dozen, maybe more. They're hunting Duncan."
"You mean Immortals are hunting Duncan?" she asked.
"Yes."
"What do we do?"
"You stay here," he said to his mother.
"And what are you going to do?" she asked.
"I'm going to save Duncan," he replied.
Before she could object, Cyrus waved his hands. She heard a slight rumbling and turned to look. Suddenly, several spheres rolled forward.
Once they got near her, they stopped and sprang to life. They were robots of some sort. She noticed that each arm had some kind of weapon and was pointing outward, though they seemed to be oriented toward Cyrus.
"Protect her. Don't let anything happen to my mother," he said to the droids. They acknowledged.
"What are these?" Amanda asked.
"These are your protectors, something I was able to come up with, I suppose. I'll be back in a little bit. You'll be safe."
"But you can't take on a dozen Immortals!" she shouted.
"It might be hard with a sword," he said, "but doable with a saber."
He gave his mother his sword, and with another wave of his hand, a cylindrical object appeared out of nowhere, silver and shiny.
"What's that?" she asked.
"It's my saber."
He flipped the switch, and a blue beam appeared.
Before he left the Star Wars universe, he had made a new lightsaber for himself. He had placed it into a crate of kyber crystals and retrieved it before they came to see Duncan. He left the R2 units at home, not telling Amanda, not yet, at least, and let them get to work setting up the other equipment in the basement. This freed him from having to carry his lightsaber in his inventory. He was glad he had the foresight to bring it.
Amanda was astonished by the glowing weapon. She had never seen anything like it—some kind of energy sword. She was worried, but her son seemed so confident.
Cyrus allowed the Force to flow through him, sensing his environment. The first thing he did was force-leap up to the second floor, maneuvering up from the outside. He sensed it before it arrived, deflecting the sword that came at him. He got through it immediately, decapitating the Immortal.
The Quickening struck him, but he did not stop. The energy infused itself within him, but he continued forward. It was hard, like walking with cement shoes. But Duncan needed to be saved, and he couldn't wait. He used his knowledge of the Force to allow the Quickening to flow through him without inhibiting him too much.
Another Immortal attacked. He decapitated him quickly. The Quickening happened again. This time, he couldn't move forward as easily, so he stopped. When the first Quickening ended, he continued upward. He decided he might need to put some distance between himself and the Quickenings.
The next Immortal he Force-pushed off the building.
Amanda, seeing this, rushed over to the downed Immortal and took his head, receiving a Quickening herself. While she was undergoing it, another Immortal came around, clearly intent on taking her head. Before the Quickening was fully over, the droids rolled in front of her and began blasting him apart, blowing off his head and granting Amanda a second Quickening.
The droids relentlessly shot and destroyed most of the Immortal's body. The final blast took his head; that was all it took.
Amanda couldn't think about what all of this meant, or how her son had these powerful robots. She couldn't consider where he got that sword. But it was obvious that her son was not weak.
By the time Cyrus took his third head, the Immortals finally understood they had a formidable enemy to face, and they withdrew.
When he finally entered the building, he found Duncan gasping for breath, watching as another Immortal fled. Cyrus wasn't going to let him get away so easily. He threw his lightsaber, which spun through the air, took off the Immortal's head, and spun back into his hand.
Duncan was shocked. Suddenly, a young man was standing before him, clearly an Immortal. The Quickening flowed into Cyrus once more.
Duncan collapsed to the ground, recovering.
Finally, Amanda appeared. She came over and sat next to Duncan, concern written all over her face.
"Are you okay, Duncan?" she asked.
"Amanda?" Duncan said. "Why are you here? And who's this guy?"
"That's my son," she said.
"What is he doing here? And where did he get an energy sword?" Duncan asked.
Amanda shook her head. "I'm just as surprised. It just appeared out of nowhere."
"So your son finally experienced his first death?" Duncan asked.
"Yes," Amanda confirmed. "Two nights ago. Someone came to our place, I think he was looking for him. When I arrived, he was dying on the ground. I thought I could take the Immortal, but he was too strong for me. Just as he was about to take my head, Cyrus stopped him. He had his first Quickening right there."
She smiled proudly.
"And now he's had about four Quickenings trying to save you. I've had two myself."
The last Quickening faded, and Cyrus felt the exhaustion hit him fully. He joined Duncan and Amanda on the ground.
"So," he said to Duncan, "my mother says you can train me as an Immortal."
Duncan laughed. "Do you really need training?"
"He's brand new," Amanda said. "Of course, he needs training. Even if he has… other powers."
"I'd like to improve my skills," Cyrus said. "And according to Amanda, you're one of the most skilled fighters she knows, even if you're more than half her age."
Duncan smiled. "That's a good attitude. It'll keep you alive longer."
"Yeah," Cyrus said. "That's what I was thinking."
"Fine," Duncan said. "Stick with me. But first, I've got to deal with these Harvesters."
"Harvesters?" Amanda asked.
"That's what they call themselves. The Harvest."
"I don't think I'll be able to rest until they're dealt with," Cyrus said.
"In that case," Cyrus continued, "why don't we make this a family outing?"
Duncan stared at him. "What do you mean, family outing?"
"Mom said you were like my Dad. Suppose we hunt down these evil Immortals together. Consider it a family outing."
Duncan raised an eyebrow and looked at Amanda.
"Well," Amanda said, "I didn't put it exactly like that. But yes. I tried to raise him the way I think you would have, before, you know, you had someone else at the time. He's a good kid. He's got my scheming, but he's also got your heart. Your sense of justice."
Duncan looked at Cyrus. "I don't know about being your father," he said. "But I can certainly be your teacher."
He paused.
"And I suppose I could use the help."