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Death Battle! Darth Vader vs Esdeath

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Johnny: All right, the combatants are set. Time to see which general will reign supreme.

Kym: it’s time for a DEATH BATTLE!!!

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It was not a good day for the Empire.

It had all begun when a gigantic starship had appeared in the sky above the imperial palace. By guards had noticed it and reported to the generals, it had landed, and its hatches had opened to reveal a hundreds of soldiers dressed in strange white armor, all carrying weirdly shaped guns. They flooded the streets, bursting into houses, driving out the people, and sending them into panic. To make matters worse, they fired off what looked like red lasers that burned away at houses. Houses were burning, people were running about on the streets, and everything was slowly falling into chaos.

The Empire responded accordingly.

The palace doors were thrown open to reveal a legion of soldiers, all dressed in gray uniforms, with gray helmets and glasses pulled over their faces. They marched forward, ready to meet the invasion.

And leading them, walking at the front? The Empire’s strongest herself, General Esdeath. Her cap tilted down to hide her eyes, her long blue hair flying in the breeze, the ice general walked through the ruined streets of the capital city, her army marching behind her.

The stormtrooper’s, in a swarm of black and white, rushed up to meet them. They crouched down into position, and fired. A storm of red lasers streaked towards the army. Many of them lifted their shields to block the oncoming assault…only to drop them again when every single one of the shots missed their mark, crashing into the streets and the houses, rather than the soldiers they were supposed to hit.

Esdeath, at the lead, saw this sight…and sighed.

Pathetic.”

She raised her hand.

Immediately, the air around her seemed to distort, and solidify. A fine mist gathered around, and then divided into many particles. Then they sharpened. Within seconds, about on thousand icicles had formed around the ice general.

The stormtrooper’s stopped their assault to look at the sight before them. Their legs trembled slightly at the sight, but it was too late to do anything. Esdeath thrust out her hand, and the icicles all shot forward, shooting towards the stormtrooper’s like a hail of bullets, ready to cut every last one of them down.

The stormtrooper’s shot lasers at the icicles, but they were too numerous and fast to hit properly. They ones at the front line dropped their guns and raised their arms to protect themselves.

It did nothing to protect them as the icicles plunged into their bodies, sinking in through the gaps in their armor, drawing blood with every mark hit. The stormtrooper’s fell one by one, like dominoes, as they were cut down mercilessly. The ones that were lucky not to lose their limbs turned and ran for dear life.

In less than a minute, the battlefield had become a graveyard for hundreds of stormtroopers. Shards of ice were stuck on the ground, littering the place. Bodies of the galactic empire’s army lay bloodied and bruised, none of them moving.

Esdeath, observing this scene, smiled.

“A battle…” she said, waving her hands again, forming another volley of icicles. “can only hope to be so picturesque…” she looked at the remaining stormtroopers with  an almost hungry look.

The rest of the stormtroopers didn’t know much about the woman standing in front of them, who had just massacred the entire army, but they knew one thing; they were screwed.

Esdeath thrust out her hands once more, and the icicles shot forward, ready to end this short, simple war. The stormtroopers fell back, yelling-!

And then…they all stopped.

What?” Esdeath muttered, looking at what was happening right in front of her eyes.

The icicles that were flung towards the soldiers of the galactic empire were all stopping in midair. Tens, hundreds, and thousands of ice arrows all hovered, unable to move forward an inch.

And then they turned around one-eighty degrees in the air; their sharp tips all pointing towards the imperial army now. All of them were launched, a rain of ice coming to slaughter the army and Esdeath.

The faintest of creases appeared between the general’s brows. She raised her hand, and the ground rumbled. A gigantic wall of ice burst out of the ground, raising itself protectively in front of the army. The icicles all shattered against the shield, and fell away, dissolving into mist.

Esdeath lowered the ice wall, and observed the scene. Behind the ruined street, and the pile of bodies impaled by ice…there was a strangely shaped airship, its doors open. On the doorstep stood a figure, with its hands raised.

So it wasn’t going to be so easy, after all. However, that only suited her better.

She turned to the rest of the army. “Go. Deal with the footsoldiers. I’ll take care of their commander.”

Seeing what had just happened in front of them, the soldiers were not about to disagree. They went off, moving towards the rest of the stormtroopers.

Esdeath meanwhile…walked forwards among the dead bodies, slowly, deliberately. There was no need to hurry; not just yet. First she needed to see what sort of person this commander was. She approached the tie fighter, and she soon began to hear one thing. It was the sound of breathing; distorted, metallic, yet smooth and calm.

Esdeath stepped over a pile of debris, and now stood in front of the enemy commander.

It was a man, dressed from head to foot in black armor. A long cloak fluttered on his back, and he wore a black mask on his face, with lifeless mechanical eyes staring right at Esdeath.

A stormtrooper, his armor cut and broken in multiple places, clunked up to the man. “Lord Vader! We are currently trying to hold off the opposing forces, but their numbers are too-“ he was cut off when an icicle plunged into his neck, drawing a spurt of blood. He teetered for a moment, and then fell on the ground, completely limp.

The man – the galactic terror known as Darth Vader – didn’t even flinch as his soldier fell right in front of him. He simply looked right at Esdeath. For a moment, they both stared each other down, a slight breeze blowing between them.

Vader was the first one to speak. “Quite remarkable, what you did to my army there.” He said quietly.

“And what you did is also quite extraordinary…lord Vader.” Esdeath said, her lip curling. “Stopping all of my icicles…that’s no easy feat. Most men would have been cut down immediately.”

“And your power is impressive…but it will not save you.” Vader replied. “Your resistance is futile.”

“Oh really?” Esdeath said, her smile widening. “I’d like to put that theory to the test.” She drew her rapier in a silver flash. “After all, I’m the one who will be feeding you to my dogs after I had slaughtered you and all your men.”

“You underestimate me.” Vader said quietly.

“Oh, I underestimate nothing.” Esdeath lifted her hand, pointing the tip of her rapier at the man in front of her. “I’ll make you regret ever having set foot on the Empire, lord Vader.”

Vader’s response? He took a metallic cylinder from his belt. A red blade, seemingly make of concentrated fire and light, extended from it. He grasped it in his hands, ready for battle. “We’ll see.”

FIGHT!



Esdeath swept her rapier through the air. As it traveled through the air, it left a stream of ice behind. Soon, it solidified into curving blades of ice. Esdeath swung her rapier six times, sending that many ice blades spinning towards the sith lord.

Vader raised his lightsaber…and in a motion so swift that it looked like he had only twirled it around once, all of the ice blades were shattered – no, melted – by the sizzling blade.

Esdeath, unfazed, this time raised her hands. A hundred icicles formed in the air, just like last time. This time, however, they formed a circle around Vader, and encased him in a spiky dome of ice. They shot forward, coming at him from all directions.

Vader simply raised his hand. A bluish, translucent barrier of what looked like concentrated energy formed around him in a dome. The icicles smashed against it, unable to break through.

Intrigued, Esdeath summoned more and more icicles to launch at Vader. She also shaped more intricate swords and spears, some of them thrice as long as her own body, and also threw them into the mix. More smaller ice particles formed, and sharpened, forming bullets of ice. Finally, she added about ten boulder-sized blocks of ice to the mix. With a wave of the general’s hand, they were all flung at Vader.

As the storm of ice approached him at terminal velocity, Darth Vader remained calm. He strengthened the force barrier around him, gripped his lightsaber. And then the man became just a blur of black and red as he swung his lightsaber around, deflecting ice projectiles and shattering them.

A long spear of ice rocketed towards him. He simply ducked it with ease, and then swiped at it with the lightsaber. The blade burned through it in milliseconds, severing it in two.

A hail of ice bullets came towards him. Vader simply raised his hand. They all stopped in midair, instantly losing all their momentum. Then they were turned around, and launched at a second volley of ice bullets. They collided with each other, shattering to pieces and falling to the ground harmlessly.

Swords of ice spun around him, trying to trap him in a cage. Vader simply spun around, and caught all of them in the grip of the force. They stopped and then smashed into each other, becoming nothing more than shiny dust particles.

A large ice boulder came dropping down on the sith lord from above, casting a huge shadow over him. Vader didn’t even look up, batting away three more ice swords. He raised his lightsaber slightly…

All Esdeath saw was a red blur of light. The ice sphere hung in the air for a moment, and then burst open like a water balloon, the pieces all dropping around the sith lord.

Vader then leapt into the air, his dark cloak flowing around him. He twirled in midair, winging a wide red arc with his lightsaber, and vaporized any remaining icicle that was coming towards him. He landed on his feet on the street, now covered in ice shards.

Needless to say, the ice general was quite surprised. “Interesting. Very interesting…” she muttered to herself.

Darth Vader stepped forward, his boots crushing the ice underneath. “Your power over ice is indeed impressive…” he said in a low voice. “…to the average mortal. But to one in tune with the power of the force?” he then lifted his hands. To Esdeath’s shock, every single one of the ice shards lying on the ground began to levitate, circling around the sith lord.

“It’s mere child’s play.”

And then with a simple flick of his hands, Vader sent every single one of the ice shard rocketing towards Esdeath.

A literal ice rain descended on the general, who quickly raised her hand, batting away any of the ice shards with her ability. Though the ice barrage was relentless, Esdeath was calm; this was her element. If her enemy had expected this to be her demise, he was very much mistaken.

However, that had never been Vader’s intention.

While holding off the ice attack effortlessly, Esdeath caught a glimpse of a red and black blur out of the corner of her eye. It streaked towards her, and she could suddenly feel the heat given off by the red blade.

She quickly leaned as far back as she could, almost lying horizontal to the ground, as the lightsaber swept just over her nose, missing her by inches. She then flipped backwards, avoiding a kick from Darth Vader.

Vader didn’t give his opponent any time to recollect herself, and rushed forward once more.

Esdeath frowned, and neatly sidestepped another potentially deadly blow from Vader. She quickly summoned two more spears of ice and launched them at Vader. The sith lord cut them down in two seconds, but that gave Esdeath all the opening she needed. She dashed forwards, and lashed out with her rapier, aiming for the neck-!

There was a flash of red in front of her, and Esdeath stumbled back. She looked down at her rapier…only to see that there was only the hilt of it left. The rest were broken, its cut edge still steaming.

Esdeath wasn’t fazed though. She had another plan.

“All will freeze before me…” She said, slapping her hand against the ground, and a sheet of ice spread from her fingertips. The ground was soon coated a bluish-white, coming out from Esdeath…and spreading towards Vader. Anything that got caught in the way was frozen solid. Flowers, trees, bodies of stormtroopers, even the running water of a fountain was left in suspended animation as the intense chill came closer and closer to Darth Vader.


Vader, however, wasn’t going to have any of that. He thrust out his hand once more. Esdeath suddenly felt alarm bells going off inside her head as her heightened senses alerted her to danger. But despite trying to dodge, Esdeath was suddenly thrown back as something pushed against her entire body, forcing her back. Her connection to the ground broken, the frost stopped spreading, just a few inches shy of Vader’s feet.

Esdeath, who had been force pushed, managed to turn her tumble across the ground into a graceful roll. She quickly found her footing, landing on one foot and one knee. She grimaced; what had just happened?

Vader stood amidst the dust, as calm and stoic as ever. “Your theatrics will not save you.” He said.

The ground rumbled.

“How’s this for theatrics?” Esdeath said, a grin forming on her face.

Vader stopped, and looked around in confusion. He looked at Esdeath, whose mouth curved upward ever so slightly…

And then Vader threw himself to the side, into a house, as the entire street erupted.

Paving stones were shattered and thrown haphazardly into the air as icy spikes burst from the ground, soaring upwards. The street was transformed into a twenty feet wall, throwing stormtroopers, imperial soldiers, and any other things that were unlucky enough to get caught in the attack.


Vader avoided getting frozen in the nick of time, ducking into the shell of a destroyed house. He watched in mild surprise as he looked at the wall now looming over him.

Suddenly, cracks started to form in the wall right in front of Vader. Realizing what was coming next, Vader swiftly readied his lightsaber as a huge ice spike broke through the wall and came rocketing at him. He slashed in front of him in quick succession, melting through the ice and breaking it like a piñata.

It wasn’t over though. As Vader cast away the remains of the ice spike, the rest of the ice wall began to crumble. It fell towards Vader, pieces as large as cars aiming to crush the sith lord.

Vader only had to lift his hand and apply a bit of the force. The chunks of ice that were coming towards the sith lord suddenly changed course, heading off in the completely wrong direction. They crashed all around him, bits of ice shards spraying Vader’s armor, clunking harmlessly off it.

And then Esdeath walked out of the wreckage of the wall, bits of ice still falling around her. She held out her hand to the side, and a long, thin sword of ice formed. She gazed at Vader, the tip of her cap hiding her face.


“Don’t count me out of the fight yet, lord Vader. I still have a lot of tricks up my sleeve…” Esdeath’s smile grew wider.

Vader only said one thing. “Show me.”

He then leapt forward, aiming to bring the lightsaber down on Esdeath’s neck. Esdeath quickly brought her makeshift sword up, but it was immediately cut in two under the lightsaber’s ferocious heat. The general’s eyes widened slightly, but she regained her composure in a matter of seconds, and quickly raised an ice shield to block Vader’s oncoming boot. The ice rang from the impact, but held.

Esdeath concentrated. This time, a large platform of ice formed beneath her. It rose off the ground, taking the general along with it. It then rose twenty feet up into the air, hovering over Darth Vader.

“Can you catch me up here?” Esdeath called out tauntingly. With a snap of her fingers, she then formed over two-dozen ice blocks the size of small houses above Vader. They plummeted down, aiming to crush the black-armored man underneath.

Vader looked up at this…and almost seemed to sigh in disappointment. “After all of your confidence, you keep relying on the same attack.” He said, raising both of his hands.

All of the ice blocks stopped just mere inches from hitting their targets, and stayed suspended in midair. Vader then pushed upwards, and the ice blocks obeyed their new master. They shot towards Esdeath’s ice platform.

The ice general’s eyes widened once again, and she quickly moved her platform from side to side, avoiding the oncoming barrage of her own ice blocks. One of them passed by her so close that she felt a gust of cold air brush against her face. Looking annoyed, she summoned more icicles to attack again-

“Enough.” Vader said quietly, moving his hand over to point at the ice platform.

All of a sudden, the ice platform stopped moving. Esdeath frowned, and sent her power flowing through the ice. The platform shuddered very slightly, but didn’t budge from the spot.

“What…” Esdeath was cut off as the platform lurched suddenly. Down on the ground, Vader was moving his hand from left to right, and the ice platform followed its motions, under the grip of the force now. With a flick of his wrist, the platform was turned upside-down, dislodging a surprised Esdeath. Vader then sent it plummeting down to the ground, with the ice general underneath.

Esdeath was fast though, and she quickly kicked off the ice platform, throwing herself out of harm’s way. The platform smashed on the ground, shattering into a million pieces, but Esdeath was clear from the impact point. She readied herself for the landing-

And then her body froze up.

Esdeath’s eye widened in shock. She poured strength into her limbs and her body, and tried to flex them even a fraction of an inch. But she couldn’t. She couldn’t even twitch a finger. She was completely paralyzed, suspended in midair, caught in the grip of the force.

The ice general heard the clunk of Vader’s boots on the icy ground and glanced towards him. He stood there, with a hand outstretched.

“You call yourself the empire’s strongest, ice general…” Vader said as Esdeath hung in midair, helpless. “But now, I will show you what true power looks like. Witness the power…of the force!”

With that, Vader flicked his hand, and Esdeath was sent flying backwards, almost like invisible ropes were dragging her away. She tried to move, but failed, and her back smashed into the brick wall of a house. A grunt of pain escaped her lips.

Vader wasn’t done though. Esdeath felt her invisible bonds tugging once more, and before she knew it, she was flying to the side and smashing into a tree. The impact was so strong that the wood shook from the impact.

The sith lord then proceeded to smack Esdeath all over the place. The ice general found herself crashing headfirst through a wall, tumbling over a wooden table. Before she could even clear the stars out of her vision, she was dragged back outside again and slammed into the ground, some of the bricks actually dislodging from the impact. Esdeath could feel her nose break.

She was then sent head over heels into the wall of another house, drawing a pained gasp from the general. One push with the force, and the she was then shot upwards, smashing through the roof of the house, flying up into the air. Esdeath saw the face of a clock tower speeding towards her, and tried to put her hands in front of her---only to realize they were still pinned in that awkward position.

Esdeath crashed into the clock, and broke through into the room beyond. She was dragged through all the gears and machinery, her head smacking repeatedly against the metal frames, some of the sharper edges cutting into her uniform and flesh. She burst out the other side of the tower, bringing a cloud of dust with her. Then she found herself plummeting down at breakneck speed, the ground rushing up to meet her.

With a huge crash, Esdeath smashed into the street right in front of Vader. Bricks flew everywhere, dust rose up, and when it cleared, it revealed a large crater in the middle of the street.

Esdeath lay in the middle of it, groaning. Her body was covered in cuts and bruises, her uniform was ripped in places and splattered with blood, and her face was contorted in pain. Blood was running down her face from her head and nose. Worst of all, she still couldn’t move, thanks to Vader having her in the grip of the force.

Esdeath opened her eyes, her vision blurring slightly. She coughed, a few droplets of red coming out of her mouth. She saw Vader standing at the edge of the crater, his hand outstretched. He turned his fingers slightly. Esdeath’s body was lifted off the ground like a puppet on strings. She hung in midair, forced to look right at Vader’s emotionless mask.

Despite all the pain coursing through her body, Esdeath still managed a slight smirk. “Interesting. Very interesting…” she said, a bit of blood trickling out of her smiling mouth.

“Now you know the difference in our power, general.” Vader said. “And you will feel it even more strongly when I strike you down.”

Esdeath’s grin grew wider. “Don’t be so sure, lord Vader-” She was cut off with a pained gasp as she was dragged forward, rocketing towards Vader…and his lightsaber, which was drawn back for the strongest blow he could give. Vader leveled it at the oncoming body, ready to end this-!

And then suddenly, Vader felt that something was amiss. He felt the slight chill in the air behind him. Heard the whoosh of the air as something hurtled at him from behind.

Vader leapt into the air, just in time as an ice spear passed by underneath him. A few seconds too late, and it would have impaled him.

However, this few second’s move meant that his grip on Esdeath had loosened. Seizing her chance, Esdeath summoned more icicles, and flung them at Vader. As Vader fended off the attacks, the ice general felt her invisible bonds disappear as Vader’s concentration drifted elsewhere. In one swift move, Esdeath broke free from the grip of the force. She immediately leapt back, not wanting to be in closer range with this man.

Esdeath landed on the ground, a bit unsteadily due to her wounds. She coughed up some blood again, but now was not the time to grovel in pain. She needed a new plan of attack.

Suddenly, a glint of black from the far end of the street caught her attention. She lifted her head and saw Vader’s TIE fighter sitting on the ground.

That gave her an idea. She lifted her hands, just as Vader cut down the last icicle, and started making his way over to Esdeath. She then swept them through the air. They left a glittering trail of frost, which soon thickened and solidified. The frost spread around Esdeath, forming a sphere of ice. Then, two wings jutted out from the sides, widening. A chair of ice grew inside the sphere.

Within seconds, Esdeath was standing inside an exact replica of Vader’s TIE fighter, made completely out of ice. She walked over to the chair inside it, and sat down, looking at Vader through the ice.

Vader stopped about thirty feet away from the TIE…um, ICE fighter, and tilted his head slightly. “You still choose to fight? Give up now, general. You cannot win.”

Esdeath leaned back on the ice chair and smirked. “We’ll see about that.”


The ICE fighter then rose into the air, clearing rooftops and treetops in a matter of seconds. Before Vader could do anything about it, two cannons made of ice extended from the body of the ship. It then started firing razor sharp icicles at lightning speed!

Vader redirected them with the force, sending them careening off course. Some of them he cut down with the lightsaber, and some he ducked entirely. He then reached out behind him with the force, and telekinetically lifted a bunch of rubble from a house. With a push of his mind, they were all sent flying towards Esdeath’s ICE fighter.

Esdeath saw them coming, and aimed her guns their way. Icicles were fired, and the bricks were riddled with holes. Under a constant barrage of ice, the rubble was reduced into pebbles in a matter of seconds.

But Vader’s intentions were elsewhere. The rubble was only a distraction.

Esdeath finished shooting down the rest of the rubble and looked down, only to see that Vader was running, and had reached his own TIE fighter! Before Esdeath could do anything, the ship’s doors had closed, with Vader inside the cockpit now. There was a hum of machinery, and the TIE fighter lifted off.

“Oh?” Esdeath said, adjusting a bruised shoulder. “This just keeps getting better and better…”

The ICE fighter then rushed forwards, firing a barrage of icicles and ice swords. The TIE fighter quickly turned around and took off, with Esdeath in hot pursuit.

The two ships, one black and grey metal, the other one clear blue ice, soared into the sky. Esdeath fired off more and more icicles at the TIE fighter, hoping to cut it down. However, the TIE fighter expertly maneuvered through the attack, swerving and rolling in the air, the icicles always missing it just by a few inches.

Esdeath then summoned two more cannons of ice out of thin air. This time, however, they were much larger, and when they fired, the projectiles were not icicles, but ice shaped into missiles.

The ICE fighter fired eight of those ice missiles in total. They all streaked towards Vader’s ship. It only did a sharp turn to the right, and then a steep dive downwards, letting the missiles fly harmlessly past the ship, leaving a trail of glittering frost in midair.

Or so he thought. As the missiles passed, Esdeath grinned inside the cockpit of her own ship…and thrust out her hand.

All of a sudden, the missiles turned around, and changed their course, heading towards the TIE fighter again. Vader saw this and quickly moved the ship upwards, heading straight towards the sky. The missiles streaked after it, and Vader moved the ship left and right, trying to shake off the projectiles.

Esdeath added more icicles to the mix, just to fire things up, or, um…cool things down. In response, Vader climbed higher into the sky, a large cloud coming straight at him.

However, Esdeath saw this, and grinned wolfishly. “Gotcha~” she said.

Vader looked up in surprise as the cloud that was in front of him suddenly froze over completely, its fine mist like composition hardening and replaced by fine blue crystals. Now, a huge slab of ice, as big as the cloud that had been in front of Vader, was above the TIE fighter, blocking its path…with the icy projectiles coming up behind it.

Esdeath had her foe cornered-

There was a burst of red light in front of the ship. Esdeath’s eyes widened as the ice slab suddenly grew cracks in it, and then shattered, the pieces flying everywhere. The black airship then swiveled around in midair. Two cannons, mirroring Esdeath’s own, extended from its body, and started firing off rapid shots of red lasers.

They collided with the icicles and ice missiles coming towards the ship. Each one of them met in midair with a burst of red light and clear blue mist, almost like fireworks. A few seconds was all it took to completely neutralize all of Esdeath attacks.

Vader then switched to the offensive, firing straight at the ICE fighter itself.

Esdeath’s eyes widened inside the cockpit. The lasers grazed her ship. One of them passed by the side of the cockpit, and the icy wall melted slightly from the heat. Two more clipped her wings. Scowling, Esdeath regenerated the broken parts with her power, and then turned her ship around.

Now Esdeath was the one being chased around in the sky, red lasers shooting all around her. She turned around the cannons of her ICE fighter, and fires icicles in quick succession, intercepting some of the lasers. However, more and more were coming, and she was force to do several barrel rolls to avoid them.

Then Vader decided to up the ante. He typed in a few commands to the control board, and the hum of machinery inside the ship grew louder. All of a sudden, the TIE fighter picked up speed, going faster and faster, until-

A massive BOOM and an outwards explosion of air sent Esdeath’s ICE fighter careening sideways. Quickly getting back in course, Esdeath looked up…only to see the TIE fighter fill her vision. A white mach cone formed around its tip as Vader’s spaceship broke the sound barrier, and caught up to the ICE fighter in a matter of seconds.

Esdeath only had time to reach out to a cloud and freeze it in front of her for a makeshift shield before Vader attacked.

A hail of red lasers demolished the ice shield in a matter of seconds. Esdeath tried to fly away in that time, but Vader’s ship was too fast. It quickly cut off her escape once more, and prepared to attack.

Esdeath swept her hand around, and the clouds around then suddenly turned into ice. They all curled in towards the TIE fighter, trying to cage it in ice.

Vader only shifted the cannons, and the oncoming tendrils of ice were obliterated. Before Esdeath could do anything else, a rain of lasers descended on the ICE fighter. The ice melted instantly under the heat, and the wings were snapped off. Esdeath quickly leapt off her ice chair, wincing in pain as she did so. Not a moment later, a red laser burst through the cockpit and shattered it.

Within seconds, the ICE fighter was riddled with holes and more than three-quarters of it was destroyed completely. In the battered shell of a cockpit was Esdeath, standing relatively coolly despite the situation.

Vader then fired three more laser shots, ready to end this. All three of them hit the ice under Esdeath’s feet, shattering it and sending the general plummeting down to the ground several hundred feet below.

Or so he thought, before he saw frost gathering around the ice general’s ankles and wrists. They solidified into cuffs of ice. And then, miraculously, Esdeath stopped in mid-fall, and hovered in the air. Good thing she could always fly with ice blocks around her hands and feet.

She wasn’t out of the woods quite yet though, as Vader realized his opponent was still airborne, and started firing away again. This time, however, the ice general was much more prepared. She summoned more ice spikes from midair, launching them at the TIE fighter. The spaceship rolled to the side in the air to avoid them, and then rushed at Esdeath.

However, being a much smaller target now, Esdeath nimbly moved to the side, the TIE fighter’s wings missing her just by a few inches as it barreled past. She then seized the opportunity and summoned and entire barrage of icicles to shoot at the TIE fighter. It barely avoided it, doing mad dives and turns to let each one of them sail by. And then, just as the remaining projectiles were about to crash into the TIE fighter, the ship rocketed upwards, letting all of the spikes, clatter harmlessly against each other, with the ship in the clear. It soared high into the heavens…before swiveling in the air, facing right at Esdeath.

Esdeath grinned “Come, then.” She leaned forwards, and shot straight towards the TIE fighter.

In response, the ship also dived down, headed right at Esdeath. It kept on firing its lasers, aiming right at the ice general. She dodged them with ease, swerving and ducking, sometimes letting them pass close enough to feel the heat upon her skin. Some of them she summoned ice shields to block, and some of them she sent icicles to counter them in midair.

A whole host of firework-like explosions of heat, light, and icy dust occurred in midair, lighting the sky up into blue and red colors. Amidst of all that, the two generals shot towards each other, Esdeath rocketing up, and the TIE fighter diving down, ready to turn her into skykill.


And then, just as the TIE fighter was about to slam its front into the ice general, she suddenly swerved to the right, letting the ship pass by her once more!

However, this time it was different. The whole charging at the TIE fighter had been a trick on Esdeath’s part – a diversion while she readied her real attack.

Vader quickly turned around the TIE fighter…only for a huge shadow to fall over him. He looked up inside the cockpit, and saw a truly gigantic ball of ice, ten times as bigger than the TIE fighter itself, just a few feet away from the ship. And it was too close to dodge or obliterate.

Esdeath flew up to the ice ball and snapped her fingers, sending it plummeting down to the TIE fighter.


C-C-CRASH!

The ship sent out a barrage of lasers, which blew away a bit of the massive ice block. However, it had countered a bit too late. The ice smashed into the cockpit, and upon impact, its surface grew spiky, maximizing the damage. It pierced through the glass and shards of ice flew in, sending Vader reeling.

The TIE fighter, caught underneath the icy meteor, was crushed mercilessly, its wings twisting and its cockpit crumbling under the weight. The glass shattered entirely, and the entire contraption was destroyed like a tin can.

To make matters worse, the ice meteor was carrying the ship down…right onto the imperial palace itself.

It hit the tower, and the entire thing collapsed underneath it like a stack of toy blocks. The tower broke in half, and shattered under the weight, turning into great chunks of rubble. The pieces and then icy meteor then crashed down on the palace itself. The ice broke into multiple chunks, adding extra damage into the mix. More towers collapsed, intricate domes imploded, crushing anything that was underneath. A great cloud of dust rose up as each roar of destruction brought about the next.

Esdeath floated slowly down as the dust cloud cleared. In front of her was the wreckage of the palace. Rubble rolled about everywhere, with extra layers of ice added to them. In the very center of the destruction, there was a great pile of ice, stone, and twisted scraps of the TIE fighter.

“The emperor won’t be happy about this.” Esdeath said nonchalantly. “Oh well. Collateral damage, I suppose.”

She slowly stalked forwards, creating another rapier of ice in her hands. She was almost certain that her foe wouldn’t be able to survive in such a wreck, but she had to make sure. Raising the rapier, she slowly ran her hand down its length as she neared the rubble.

Nothing moved. The rest of the dust remaining settled.

Esdeath looked at the center of the rubble, where she could see bits and pieces of the TIE fighter, crushed and crumpled like paper. There was no movement from them.

She turned on her heels, confident that this battle was over. Now she just had to tend to her wounds-

She heard something shift behind her. At the same time, an immense killing aura struck her, nearly staggering her. Relying on her instincts, she leapt to the side…just as the crumpled remains of the TIE fighter’s wing crashed into the ground next to her.

Esdeath whirled around. The rubble had been forced apart. Standing right on top of it was Darth Vader. His cloak was ripped in places, his armor had several cracks in them, but he was still very well, and angry now as well.

The Ice general sighed. Of course it wouldn’t be that easy.

Vader lifted his hands into the air. The rubble shifted once more, rumbled, and then rose into the air. As Esdeath looked on in surprise, blocks of stone, steel frames of the TIE fighter, and the remains of the domed roofs of the palace all lifted up into the air, hovering over Vader. Even the remains of the tower lifted up, dust dropping from it.

The sith lord them simply thrust his hands forward, and every single piece of rubble in the room all streaked towards Esdeath! They converged upon her, ready to crush her into a pulp.

The general’s response? She crossed her arms in front of her…and then the air around her sparkled. The great dome of ice solidified around her, enclosing her in a protective shell as thick as the palace walls.

The rubble crashed into the icy dome, and the entire grounds shook from the impact. Esdeath, inside the icy dome, felt every pound of the stone and steel projectiles being thrown at her.

A crack suddenly ran down the side of the dome. The crack spread, and soon the entire wall of the ice dome was shuddering, about to collapse. She gritted her teeth. If her opponent had expected her to go down like this, he was very much mistaken!

Another quick gesture, and a new wall of ice formed beneath the collapsing one, fortifying it. Her defense held firm as Vader pounded on it again and again with the rubble. Stone blocks were crushed into pebbles against the ice. Metal frames sunk into it, but were soon expelled. Esdeath held firm, replacing one icy layer with another, continuing to protect against the attack.

And then, after about a full minute of pounding, the attacks suddenly ceased.

Esdeath looked up, slightly confused as to why Vader would suddenly call off her attack.

A part of the wall steamed suddenly. There was a flash of red outside, and before Esdeath could do anything, a section of the wall had a clean hole cut in it. From it burst in Darth Vader, his lightsaber in his hands. He dashed right up to Esdeath and swung it, intending to take off the ice general’s head.

Esdeath ducked under the blow just in time, and she actually felt some of her hair rustling as the fiery blade passed above her. She then leapt back, opening a door in the icy wall behind her for her escape. At the same time, she snapped her fingers, and the entire ice dome shuddered. It then collapsed, intending to crush Vader in a tomb of ice.

Vader stopped and looked up as the walls suddenly fell in on him. Esdeath leapt out of the danger zone, grinning as she watched the chunks of ice fall and crush her opponent-

And then, Esdeath was sent flying head over heels through the air, as there was an outward explosion of force from its center, Darth Vader himself. The collapsing pieces of the dome were sent flying outwards, shattering against the ground, and any rubble that was near the area of effect was also thrown away.

Esdeath quickly regained her composure in midair, using the ice cuffs around her hands to maintain equilibrium. She came to a stop in midair, hovering.

Vader stood in the center of rubble, ice, and twisted steel fragments. He leveled his gaze at the ice general, his lightsaber humming ominously.

“You have impressed me. Truly. Your power is even more immense than I had imagined.” Vader said in a low voice, completely calm even after all the carnage. “Unfortunately, you are still not the strongest there is, general. The ability to manipulate ice is insignificant…next to the power of the force.” He raised hand, gripping it in a fist.

To this, Esdeath only scoffed. “I appreciate your compliments, lord Vader.” She said. “But you think this…force can best me? Ha! It will truly be a cold day in hell before I lose to such an assine concept.” She leveled her icy rapier at Vader, a predatory grin forming on her face.

Vader remained calm. “Then I shall allow you to test that with another cold feeling. The icy sting of death.”

Both stared each other down, as rubble and ice lay around them. At that moment, nothing else mattered to these two.

To general Esdeath, this war was –

To Darth Vader, this battlefield was –

A place where there was only purpose. The purpose of bringing down the enemy that was in front of them.

Now, Esdeath only saw Vader, and Vader only saw Esdeath.

It was time to end this.


Esdeath was the first one to move, Darting forward, with her icy rapier outstretched. She closed in on Vader in a matter of seconds, before stabbing forward.

Vader only had to swing his lightsaber once to break the ice blade in two.

Esdeath quickly stopped the moment her blade was cut, and now sidestepped as Vader swung at her with his own blade. Three icicles formed around her, and they all shot at Vader. They were obliterated as easily as before.

Esdeath waved her hands, and a slab of ice erupted from the ground. Three more then joined, forming all around Vader. Esdeath then dropped a massive ice bock on top of it, forming an icy prison for the sith lord.

It lasted a whole three seconds. There was a flash of red from the inside, and the icy prison fell apart. They were then caught in the grip of the force, and Vader hurled them forward.

Esdeath leapt up into the air, almost fifteen feet, and dodged the oncoming projectiles. She then was forced to quickly land back on the ground as another block of the palace was thrown at her, courtesy of the force. She then saw about thirty steel beams being lifted up into the air. They all tilted downward, aimed at her.

The ice general did a series of backflips as the steel beams stabbed into the ground right in front of her. She leapt back, twirled, and ducked every single one. She then manifested twin katanas of ice in her hand, and spun around. Esdeath became a spinning storm of ice and steel as the blades cut through the steel beams with incredible speed, slicing them up into ribbons. She stomped on the ground, and a wall of ice erupted from the ground, blocking the rest of the projectiles.

She then slammed her hand to the ground. The ground started to freeze once more as Esdeath sent her power flowing through the ground once more. Rubble froze over as the line of ice made its way towards Vader again.

“Enough.”

Esdeath suddenly lurched back, her eyes widening. She grabbed for her throat, gasping. She couldn’t breathe. Her windpipe was constricting. She felt herself being lifted off the ground as she thrashed, trying to draw a breath.

Vader stood in front of her, his hand outstretched. He was going to end this with a simple force choke...


Esdeath gasped for breath, sweat dropping off her brow. Her head was starting to go light, and she weakly grasped for her throat. Her struggles were beginning to lessen, and it looked like the ice general was finally done for.

However, even in that moment, Esdeath looked at Vader…and smirked.

Before Vader had time to wonder what in the world was going through his opponent’s mind, pain struck his wrist. He drew back as if stung, clutching his hand…which was only a sparking stump now with electrical wires sticking out of it.

This whole time, Esdeath had prepared to cut off Vader’s hand, or more specifically, the fiery sword the man was holding. The hand and the lightsaber fell to the ground, smoking. The red blade went out.

Esdeath also dropped to the ground as Vader’s concentration broke. She collapsed to her knees, gasping and drawing in great gulps of air.

Vader stood hunched in pain. He saw his severed hand, and couldn’t help but feel a bit of a déjà vu. But there was no time for that. He still had to defeat this opponent.

A chuckling sound made Vader lift his head. Esdeath was sprawled on the ground, bruised and battered. And yet, there was a wide grin on her face, and her body was heaving from laughter.

“Interesting…very interesting!” she chuckled. “Easily worth all these wounds to fight such an opponent. I haven’t had a fight like this in a long, long time!”

“Your thirst for blood is going to be your demise.” Vader said in a slightly pained voice.

“Not before you meet yours.” Esdeath replied, slowly getting herself back up.

Vader wordlessly raised his other hand. The air began to hum. Electricity began to crackle around his hand. The currents grew stronger and stronger. A ball of lightning formed in Vader’s hand, sizzling and steaming. Vader then hurled the Kinetite at Esdeath.

Esdeath quickly put up an icy shield in front of her to take the attack. However, the Kinetite was much stronger than she had anticipated. It shattered from the impact, and Esdeath was sent flying back, tumbling across the floor. She didn’t have any time to recover though, as Vader, despite his pain, regained his concentration. He lifted the rubble around him once more, and sent them towards Esdeath. They circled around her, aiming to crush.

Esdeath, despite her pain and exhaustion, was on her feet in a flash. As the first block of rubble shot forward, she put up a barrier of ice.

Another stone block fell from her from above. An ice spike shattered it.

The remains of the TIE fighter’s cockpit were flung at her. She raised her hand, and a barrage of icicles killed its momentum, riddling it with holes and sending it crashing to the ground.

Three steel beams shot at her. She reached out, touched one of them, and it instantly froze over. She then willed it to swing and crash into the other two, knocking them out of the palace itself.

But the barrage of rubble was relentless. It kept on coming from all sides, forcing Esdeath to constantly be on the defensive. And while it wouldn’t have been a problem for the ice general in her full condition, it was much harder now that she was worn down from the hard battle with Vader.

And as Esdeath blocked the other wing of the TIE fighter with another ice wall, she felt something shooting towards her from behind. She whirled around, but in her battered condition, she was a tad bit too slow. A large block of stone smashed into her, sending her flying forwards with a cry of pain.

Even before she hit the ground though, she felt the invisible force grip her body again. Once more, she couldn’t move, save under the whim of its new master, Darth Vader.

With a push of Vader’s mind, Esdeath was flung into the rubble, crashing into it and sending stone and ice flying. She collapsed on the ground, coughing up blood. She raised her head weakly as Vader slowly approached, still upright and strong despite having his hand cut off.

“You are beaten. It is pointless to resist. Nothing can save you now.” Vader said. He raised his hand, and a large section of the rubble rose up, right over Esdeath. He then dropped it down, aiming to crush the general underneath.

And Esdeath, lying bruised on the ground, seemingly defeated, with a crushing death falling down on her from above…smiled. “I beg to differ…” she muttered.

She then let out a soft whisper.

Mahapadma.


And then – everything stopped. The entire world ceased to move as everything took on a deep blue tinge, as time itself ground to a halt.

In this world, nothing could move…except Esdeath herself.

The ice general slowly raised herself off the ground, wincing in pain. She rose to her feet, and walked over to Darth Vader, who was also motionless like the rest of the world.

“Truly…you are a magnificent warrior.” Esdeath said, and she meant it. “You have managed to force me into using my trump card, something very few souls in the world had made me do. You should take pride it that…and take it to your grave.” She smirked, and manifested a rapier of ice in her hands. She stabbed the blade forward, and it sank into the chestplate of Vader’s armor, piercing the strange panel of lights.

And with that, time resumed. Everything continued its motion, with the rubble falling down, the dust rising up, and pebbled clattering away.

But Vader and Esdeath still remained motionless.

Then Vader let out a gasp of surprise as the chest panel started beeping. He looked down at the icy blade sticking out of his chest, and then looked up to see Esdeath’s smiling face.

“I must thank you for everything. You have given me a better duel than any soldier, any other general, or even any other members of the Night Raid gave me.” She said, twisting the blade in Vader’s chest. “But now…it’s time for you to accept defeat.” She ripped the sword out of Vader’s chest, and he stumbled forward in pain. He moaned underneath the mask.

“Shhh…” Esdeath leaned forward and put a finger on Vader’s wound. “Freeze…” frost spread from her fingertip, spreading over Vader’s chest, encasing his legs, and trapping his neck and arms. It then spread over his helmet, completely encasing the sith lord in ice.

Esdeath sighed, and stood to her full height. It was done. She had finally won.

She turned around to go back out into the streets, to take care of the rest of the enemy forces.

K-k-k-k-k…

The ice general stopped. She looked back incredulously at the frozen form of Vader.

The part around his arms were cracked.

K-k-k-k-krrraaaaaaccckkkkk!

And then, before Esdeath could react, the ice around Vader shattered as the sith lord leapt forward with a roar of rage. Esdeath put up her hands, an ice spike manifesting in her hands-

But Vader was faster. He grabbed her hands in a vise grip. He then increased pressure, twisting it around until-

SNAP!

Esdeath screamed, as her hands were broken under the merciless grip of Vader’s own. She didn’t have time to remain in pain though, as Vader raised his hand, catching her in the grip of the force yet again.

Esdeath, opened her eyes through a haze of pain to see Vader in front of her. He was breathing heavily, frost still sticking to his cloak, but he was still alive. And more ready than ever to kill her. Esdeath found herself slammed on the ground, and she let out another cry of pain.

“No more tricks.” Vader growled, lifting a pained Esdeath up once more. “I will end this.”

He then reached out with the force behind him, searching through the rubble until he found his severed hand…and his lightsaber. It lifted off the ground and shot towards him, the red blade extending once more. Esdeath’s eyes widened as she saw the sword coming, and couldn’t do anything about it-

The lightsaber plunged into her chest. Esdeath coughed out blood, her eyes widening as she looked down at the burning blade stuck in her body. It twisted around in her, and her body writhed in pain once more. In a daze, she looked up into Vader’s face.

“Know the difference in our power.” Vader said quietly. “You had lost the moment you engaged.”

Esdeath’s body wracked with pain as the lightsaber dug deeper, destroying more and more of her insides. Yet even in this moment, the corners of Esdeath’s mouth tilted up, and she smiled, blood running down her chin. “Well…a loss is a loss.” She sighed. “You are truly a great warrior…lord Vader.” She said, and this time, there was no sarcasm in those words.

Vader was silent for a moment. Then he inclined his head a fraction of an inch.

The red lightsaber suddenly wriggled, and it ripped free from Esdeath’s body, leaving a small burning hole behind. The ice general’s body grew limp, and something in the depths of those cold eyes seemed to vanish, leaving behind an empty shell. She slumped, lifeless, to the floor.

Vader stood over his conquest, his head bowed in a silent show of respect.

He then turned around. One general had fallen today. Now, it was time for the empire to follow her footsteps.

K.O!

Kym: All hail Star Wars! The ice b*tch is dead, YES!

Johnny: Let’s not sugar-coat things, Esdeath was at a disadvantage right from the start. Vader dominated (not in that way though) in nearly every category. With his cybernetic enhancements, he was far stronger and more durable than Esdeath could be. His force-enhanced speed was enough to keep up with the ice general, and the his senses, sharpened with the force, could keep up with Esdeath’s own battle instincts.

Kym: As for their powers, well…it’s true that Esdeath’s ice powers were powerful. However, when you look at what the force can do, the ability to control ice truly becomes insignificant. Telekinesis, force push, barriers…all of those provided a far more versatile and powerful moveset than Esdeath could ever have.

Johnny: There was just one thing though; the Mahapadma. Vader had absolutely no counters to it, and then he would be left vulnerable to Esdeath’s attacks. However, the real question here was not whether the Mahapadma would work on Vader, but rather, if Esdeath could kill Vader within that twenty-ish seconds the time stop gives her.

Kym: Against any other opponent, the answer would be yes. However, against Vader…there was the fact that Esdeath had to get through the suit first. And even then, Vader has shrugged off worse hits before, like getting buried alive, or getting impaled by his own lightsaber!

Johnny: And besides, with Vader’s superior physicality and his versatile uses of the force, by the time Esdeath realized she needed to use her trump card, it would already be too late. She would be too damaged to land in a decent blow on Vader. And when even her trump card won’t kill Vader, the results are pretty straightforward.

Kym: Looks like Esdeath felt the chill of death…and she also got the cold shoulder, so that sucks…but hey, at least it was a cool win for Vader, so how about that?

Johnny: F*CK THE ICE PUNS. The winner is Darth Vader.


Well, this was a blast for me to write! I'm actually quite proud of this one, and I hope you like it as much as I do! Constructive criticism is always appreciated!
© 2015 - 2024 jamesbreaker15
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