Disclaimer:

After a great deal of espionage work so completely futile that I
decided to skip it altogether, I am proud to present to you the scene
guaranteed not to feature in the next Star Wars prequel, explaining
why Anakin Skywalker turns to the dark side of the Force. Please note
that while I am using Lucas' characters without permission or any
intent to make money or any other form of profit, I _am_ using them
lovingly - if perhaps not very seriously.

Archivist's Note: This was originally posted to the Writer's Cube list, and is archived here with the author's permission.

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YIELDING TO THE DARK SIDE

by Taliesin

The scene: WATTO'S SHOP, in MOS ESPA. WATTO is frantically trying to
shove as many valuables as is possible into a small carrysack; from
the outside we hear the sounds of several blasters shooting, men and
women yelling and screaming, and the deadly hum of a single
lightsaber, its buzzing occasionally punctuated by a scream of agony.

Watto: Oh shit! Oh shit! (desperately rummages through a series of
drawers, emptying the contents of each out on the floor in a hurry.)
Where _is_ that damn thing! (a keycard spills out of an upset book;
Watto pounces on it.) GOTCHA! Come to Watto. Time to go to the escape
ship...

The keycard suddenly flies out of Watto's hand, darting towards the
door. A dark figure enters; we see an about twenty-year-old ANAKIN
SKYWALKER dressed all in black and holding a blazing crimson
lightsaber at the ready.

Anakin: (in James Earl Jones' best Shakespearean voice) It is too late
for you to escape, Watto. Now you shall pay for your crimes. (he
plucks the floating keycard out of the air and simultaneously thrusts
his lightsaber behind him, killing a hapless bounty hunter that was
trying to sneak up on him.)

Watto: (spots the enraged Jedi) Oh, _fuck_. (desperately flies slowly
backwards, away from Anakin.) Er, can we talk about this?

Anakin gestures. We hear an enormous crash from the outside, and the
room's rear exit is suddenly blocked by the hull of a damaged TYDERIAN
SHUTTLE.

Anakin: The time for talk is over, Watto. (the Jedi slowly approaches
the Toydarian)

Watto: (edges to one side, frantically looking for an alternate escape
route) Hey, how come you can speak with a voice like that? You're just
a skinny little kid! I mean...

(He falters as he sees Anakin's expression and dodges just in time to
avoid a barrage of loose parts suddenly shooting at him from some
shelves)

Watto: OK, OK! I get it! You're not in the mood for small talk. But
before you kill me... (he gazes around himself in a panic as he sees
that Anakin has backed him into a corner) ... I have something really,
really, REALLY important to tell you! PLEASE!

Anakin: (has raised his lightsaber, but hesitates for just a moment)

Watto: (realises that this is his chance) You know something? Your
mother never told you the true story about your father. (he tries to
circle around Anakin, but aborts the movement as the lightsaber moves
to cover him)

Anakin: (hesitates again) She said that I _had_ no father. It was
Qui-Gon's thought that I may have been conceived by the Medichlorians.

Watto: (scornfully) Oh come on! And you believed that? They might as
well have told you that the Corellian space stork brought you. No,
trust good old honest Watto, boy, that just isn't true. (pauses
dramatically for a moment, then stares Anakin into the eyes. OMINOUS
MUSIC begins to play as JOHN WILLIAMS and the LONDON SYMPHONY
ORCHESTRA pulls out all the stops.)

Watto: _I_ am your father.

Anakin: (stares at Watto in horrified disbelief) That's not true!
That's not true! ...THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!!!

Watto: (he lowers his voice menacingly, more ominous chords punctuate
his speech) Search your feelings. You _know_ it to be true.

Anakin: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! (his grip on his lightsaber
loosens slightly as his hands begin to shake; tears start to flow from
his eyes)

Watto: (desperate hope appears in his gaze, he starts to edge to one
side) Qui-Gon was wise to hide you from me.

Anakin: (drops to his knees, his lightsaber clatters to the ground and
dies and his tears now flow freely) Qui-Gon. Why didn't you tell me?

Watto: (continues to edge past Anakin) Well, nice meeting you again,
son, but Dad has lots to do right now, I'm a very busy Toydarian,
catch you later - (makes a mad dive for the doorway Anakin arrived
through)

Anakin (suddenly looks up, hate now contorting his face even further.
He gestures, and Watto comes to a screeching halt as a NUBIAN
HYPERSPACE ENGINE from the store's stock crashes into the doorway,
blocking it.)

Watto: (turns back to Anakin, worry filling his face and voice again)
Er... well, maybe we could talk for a _few_ minutes more before I have
to leave, son, sorry, I didn't mean it like that --

Anakin (slowly stands up again. He reaches towards his dropped
lightsaber and it flies back into his hand. He ignites it anew and
advances menacingly on Watto again.)

Watto: (once more backed into a corner) Son -- son, hold up, _please_!
You can't just kill your own father!

Anakin: And why not? (he continues to advance)

Watto: (desperately) You -- you'll be consumed by the Dark Side if you
do!

Anakin (pauses) If that is my destiny. (curiously) And why would you
care if I should be?

Watto: (blurts) Well, for one thing, _I'll_ be dead... hold on, son!
You can't do this! Think of all the good people who're relying on you!
(wrings his hands)

Anakin: (disdainfully) And who might these be?

Watto: (eyes the tip of Anakin's lightsaber fearfully) Well, there's
your mother --

Anakin: Whom you enslaved for twenty years, and would keep for twenty
years more if you were able to.

Watto: -- your girlfriend --

Anakin: Whom you would have left stranded here while her world died.

Watto: (feverishly) -- that friend of yours who freed you --

Anakin: From _you_. Besides, he is dead. (he raises his lightsaber to
strike)

Watto: (on the verge of tears) Son, son, you can't do this! Think of
all the goodness and happiness in the universe that'll be lost. The
Gungans. Your friend Jar-Jar Binks. The poor Ewoks of Endor --

Anakin: (pauses for a moment. He suddenly seems to stop to think.)

Watto: (encouraged) -- yes, and your protocol droid, at the mercy of
the Dark Side. And think of how much you'll hurt the people who
remember you as a sweet little boy --

Anakin (smiles at Watto, as if he has suddenly remembered or
understood something)

Watto: (immeasurably and tearfully relieved) -- That's my boy!
(reaches out to hug Anakin) -- you can't kill your own father --

Anakin (suddenly spins around in a circle, his lightsaber playing back
and forth in an arc, cutting off Watto's speech and life. The
Toydarian falls to the ground in four pieces.)

(A few moments pass. Anakin extinguishes his lightsaber and turns to
gaze at the Nubian engine, which slides to one side to allow him exit.
He leaves the shop.)

OUTSIDE WATTO'S SHOP, IN THE STREETS OF MOS ESPA. The corpses of dead
bounty hunters and other similar shady characters litter practically
every square yard of the street. We see DARTH SIDIOUS in his hooded
robe, awaiting the fallen Jedi as he leaves Watto's shop. A cruel
smile splits his craggy face as the man who was once Anakin Skywalker
stops to kneel in front of him.

Sidious: My apprentice. Your training has now ended; your journey to
the Dark Side is complete. You are now of the Sith... Darth Vader.

Vader: Yes, my Master.

Sidous: (chuckles cruelly) For a few moments you almost worried me. I
feared that you would not understand the true nature of the force.

Vader: I did not understand until my father explained it to me, my
Master. But then all became clear, and I realised why the war against
the Light Side is necessary.

Sidious: Do not worry, my young friend. You understood in the end. Now
rise, my apprentice. We have much work to do.

Vader: (stands) What is your bidding, my Master?

Sidious: First... we go to Coruscant, and destroy those pitiful Jedi
hiding there.

Vader: Yes, Master.

Sidious: Next... the Gungans, the Ewoks, the Toydarians, and all the
other sickeningly cute so-called 'good' creatures...

Vader: (attentively) What is your will concerning these, my Master?

Sidious: Wipe them out. All of them.

(Fade to black as Darth Sidious laughs in cruel triumph.)

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TO BE CONTINUED