Multiverse Part 3: Collision Of Three Worlds

Chapter 9: Death Of A Legend

(Author's Warning: At full brightness, the picture may hurt your eyes. Don't say I didn't warn you.)

Yamcha ran into the reactor room, breathing fast and hard. He found himself standing next to Finn and Rey, with Jason and Piper standing on the deck right below them along with Chewbacca. Han stood on a bridge, near Kylo Ren, and Yamcha's eyes widened. "Han Solo." said Kylo, "I've been waiting for this day for a long time." "Take off that mask. You don't need it. Not here. Not with me." Han said. "What do you think you'll see if I remove it?" Kylo questioned. "The face of my son." Han answered. 

Yamcha inhaled sharply. Kylo Ren was Han's son? Kylo removed the mask and looked at his father. "Your son is gone. He was weak and foolish, like his father. So I destroyed him." Han shook his head. "That's what Snoke wants you to believe, but it's not true. My son is alive." Kylo scowled. "No. The Supreme Leader is wise. He sees you for what you really are, Han Solo." Han took another step towards Kylo- towards his son. 

"Snoke is using you for your power. When he gets what he wants, he'll crush you. You know that it's true." Han insisted. Kylo paused, then replied "It's too late." Han's expression became a little softer. "It's never too late. Come home. Leave with me." He held out his hand. "We miss you." Kylo stared at his father's hand, his mouth twitching. He had never felt this conflicted in his life. Right now, part of him wanted nothing more than to go with his father, to reject the darkness inside, to have a real family, a real life. But the other part of him, the darkness in him, had ruled him for so long that he was too suspicious to agree. He blinked several times. "I- I'm being torn apart. I want- I want to be free of this pain. I know what I have to do, but I don't know if I have the strength to do it." He looked up at his father, at his very own flesh and blood. "Will you help me?" 

Han took one last step towards his son, and Yamcha's eyes widened. "No." he whispered. "No, no, no..." "Yes. Anything." Han replied to Kylo. Then, the son removed his lightsaber from his belt and held it out towards his father, within a foot of Han's chest. Han gently grasped the lightsaber in his hands- and the last beams of sunlight vanished from the room.

Kylo ignited the lightsaber.

A red beam of energy erupted from Han's back. 

Kylo's eyes widened a little, and he flinched, looking down. He was holding the weapon in both hands. The weapon that was now going through his father's chest and back. Kylo's gaze slowly made its way up until he met Han's eyes. "Thank you." 

In his very last moments, Han Solo felt a fierce pain in his chest. A red glow illuminated his son's face. And this time, Han knew that Chewie couldn't save him. Not from this impossible situation. With his final thoughts, Han remembered. He remembered an old man and a young farm boy meeting him in a cantina. He remembered infiltrating the Death Star to save a princess, who he would come to marry. He remembered being frozen in carbonite by a monster in obsidian-black armor, and being rescued by Chewie, the farm boy, the princess, an old friend, and two droids. He thought of a forest moon. Of watching the second Death Star explode. And he thought of his friends. Of his family. The farm boy. The princess. Chewie. All of the rest, too, but mostly the three of them. 

But in the end, all he saw was his son, with nothing but darkness in his offspring's eyes. And with his last action, he caressed his son's face. He tried to speak. He tried to apologize. He tried to tell his son I love you. But his lungs wouldn't work. And so, Han simply thought. And he forgave his son for what he had done. And as he fell off the bridge and into the fog down below, Han hoped that one day, his son would forgive him in return.

Yamcha fell to his knees and let out a yell that he never thought his vocal chords would be capable of producing. But he didn't hear it. He did hear the roar of an anguished Wookiee that came close to breaking his eardrums, though, and the sound of sizzling flesh. Chewbacca had fired a bowcaster shot into Kylo Ren's hip. Kylo fell to his knees. Piper sobbed into Jason's shoulder, and Rey fired at the stormtroopers who had been firing at them with a viciousness Yamcha had never seen. Finn had to drag her away, and Jason, Piper, and Chewbacca rushed out of the facility. "Yamcha! Come on!" Finn shouted. And Yamcha did the logical thing- he turned and sprinted away at top speed after Finn and Rey.