The unfortunate part of separating from Maul was that they now had no idea where they were going. Anakin looked up. "Can you point us in the right direction?"

"Which way is the right direction?" Kanan asked, looking around. "What are we after?"

"We have to stand between the Inquisitors and the temple, which means we need to get close to it before they do," Anakin reasoned. With this in consideration, Ahsoka's wind blew past them down a nearby path. They walked silently together, keeping an eye out for movement that might signal that they weren't alone.

Ahsoka's guidance took them to a stone wall with a strange groove in it. It seemed like a dead end. "Now what?" Kanan wondered.

Responding, Ahsoka blew another gust straight at the wall. Anakin reached out to touch it. The stone was woven with the Force, although it was the Dark Side. He concentrated, fighting the stone. It didn't like that a Jedi was trying to use it, but it couldn't resist the power of the Chosen One. The stone glowed red, and the groove in the wall began to rush down. Above them, the others saw that the stone was actually a lift.

"Woah," Ezra said, impressed. When the lift reached the bottom, they stepped on board, but Anakin couldn't activate the lift.

"What's wrong?" Kanan asked, and Anakin pushed harder, digging into the stone. It wasn't a question of power, though.

He sighed, pulling his hand back. "This thing has a maximum capacity. It only wants two to ride at a time. You two go. I'll jump up after you."

Stepping off, Anakin sent the other two Jedi up. Unfortunately, when they were halfway up, he sensed an unwelcome visitor approaching behind him. Maul had followed the Jedi.

Walking with his hands behind his back, Maul peered at Anakin. "I'm sensing that we got off on the wrong foot, Skywalker."

He didn't respond. Unless he had something he needed to say, Anakin didn't intend on speaking to Maul. No need to give him anything to use against him.

Maul got the message. "I intend on going up. As long as you are as well, there's no reason why we can't ride together."

This, Anakin actually didn't mind. The closer he was to Maul, the quicker he could stop him if needed. Unfortunately, that meant Ezra would be closer to him as well, so he refused. Instead, when he sensed that the other Jedi were at the top, he crouched and jumped up, leaving Maul on the ground. Either he would jump too, or he would get left behind. As much as the second option appealed to Anakin, he doubted that would be the case.

When he got to the top, though, things had already started to fall apart. The Eighth Brother had knocked down Kanan and was very close to chopping off Ezra's hand with... a saw? He had actual knives that he could spin with his lightsaber too? Ahsoka, why the spinning lightsaber? Why couldn't it have been anything else?

Maul, of course, was right behind Anakin. "Ezra!" he shouted, and he attacked the Inquisitor. Anakin, sensing that he couldn't help, instead went to check on Kanan. He was fine. He just needed a moment to recover. Maul pushed back the Eighth Brother, forcing him to retreat, and pulled the Padawan up. Kanan and Anakin exchanged glances before standing up.

After watching the Eighth Brother disappear, Kanan glared at Maul. "What do you want now?"

"I am insulted!" he claimed, but he didn't quite sell it. "I am only offering to help you. You are trying to get into the temple, aren't you?"

"To the front door, maybe," Kanan correcting, setting his jaw. "Inside is another story."

"If you continue to travel like this, the Inquisitors will counter your movements," he reasoned, looking at both of the older Jedi. "I recommend that we split up and scale the Pyramid from two sides. They will also have to divide their forces."

Anakin wouldn't have minded staying together. If the Inquisitors kept coming one at a time like this, defeating them long enough to escape wouldn't be a problem. Kanan seemed to be on the same page. "And let me guess: Ezra goes with you? No thanks."

"It is the logical choice."

Ezra spoke up from beside Maul. "I say we split up. Trust me," he said specifically to Kanan. There must have been a conversation between the master and apprentice while they were on the lift because Kanan actually sighed and yielded.

This pleased Maul. "Excellent, excellent. You will find another lift on the far side. We will meet again on the next terrace."

Kanan watched them rise, but Anakin walked past to find the other lift. "He'll be alright," he assured the Knight.

"Yeah? How do you know that?"

"Because you taught him."

That seemed to calm him down. Kanan began to walk behind Anakin, and Ahsoka's wind kicked up again. This way, she was saying.

As they walked, Kanan talked to keep his mind moving. "It's kinda nice having her point us in the right direction."

"I'm almost surprised she can," Anakin told him, stepping onto the lift once they found it and activating the stone. "Most of the time, people who die can't interact with the Living Force again. They're constrained to the Cosmic Force."

"Well, I'm not complaining," he decided, smiling. Or, at least, he was until he heard the clashing of lightsabers and Ezra yelling. "That doesn't sound good."

Unfortunately, they had their own problems to deal with. Another Inquisitor, the Fifth Brother, was waiting for them at the top of the lift. "Look out!" Anakin called, and Kanan ducked in the nick of time.

The lift began to fall again, but the Jedi jumped up to the next floor and stepped into his stance. Anakin kept him busy until Kanan was on his feet, then they took turns deflecting the Brother's strokes.

The Eighth Brother decided to join the party. He kicked Kanan from behind, leaving Anakin to deal with the Fifth Brother. Moving away from the edge, the Jedi took steps backward, ensuring they wouldn't fall over the side. This temple had no railings, after all. The terrace wasn't very wide either, so there wasn't much maneuvering room.

This continued for some time until Maul jumped into the fight out of nowhere. He pushed back both Inquisitors, giving the Jedi room to breathe. With a look at each other, they rushed forward. Whether they liked it or not, it seemed that they were fighting alongside Maul for the moment.

Anakin snuck around the ex-Sith and sliced through the Fifth Brother's lightsaber. He stumbled backward, looking up in fear. Though Anakin would have settled for knocking him unconscious, Maul had other plans. He sliced right through the Fifth Brother's armor across the chest, killing him. It was only then that Anakin noticed the Seventh Sister was nowhere to be seen. She's dead too, isn't she?

Closer to the ledge, Kanan had attacked the Eighth Brother. After a few strokes, he managed to hit the Inquisitor's lightsaber. Not enough to break it, but it was sparking. The two Jedi and Maul brandished their weapons.

Rather than fighting all three of them, the Eighth Brother jumped back, using his saber to lift him into the air. Unfortunately, the damage Kanan had done to the saber was too much. It caught on fire and split into two pieces. Gravity took hold and pulled the Eighth Brother down.

Something inside Kanan reached out for him. "Jinx!" he called, but no response came other than the echoing screams of the Eighth Brother.

There was no way to tell if the fall had killed him. The height was surely enough, but Kanan secretly hoped he caught himself with the Force. He didn't want to lose Jinx again, even if it wasn't really him.

He had other things to deal with first, though. "Where's Ezra?" he asked Maul, turning around.

The answer he wanted wasn't given. "You mean... my apprentice?"

Anakin's instincts went on high alert (as if they hadn't been already). The Jedi looked at each other, but that split second made all the difference. Maul whirled around and threw himself at the Jedi, swinging his lightsaber wildly. The last thing Kanan saw was a glowing red light in his face.

"Kanan!" he heard Anakin call, but the sound was muffled by ringing in his head. His face stung, everything was hot, and his face felt like it was on fire.

Maul tried to finish him off, but Anakin stepped in before that happened. He pushed Maul back, keeping him away from the Jedi Knight.

"My apprentice is activating the temple," he told Anakin, "or more precisely, this battle station, which I shall use to exact my revenge on all my enemies!"

Anakin didn't know when the plan changed from 'keep the Inquisitors and Maul out' to 'open it up,' but he didn't have time to worry about that. He had to do the best thing he could at the moment, and right now, that was to keep Maul away from Kanan. "And you wonder why I never trusted you."

"You know, your apprentice told me I wouldn't last for long against you," Maul taunted, twirling his lightsaber about his hands. "I suppose we'll finally see if she was right."

He probably meant to disturb Anakin with that statement, but it just made him smile. If Ahsoka had dueled him and thought that Anakin would defeat him, then he believed her. "I'd be worried if I were you, then. She wasn't wrong very often."

He shuddered, making a disgusted face. "Oh, I see it now. You inherited Kenobi's arrogance and passed it down to her. I should have known."

"It's a Qui-Gon trait," Anakin agreed, launching forward and striking first. "We apprentices all tend to be a little snippy."

As they exchanged strokes, the temple above them pulsated a large amount of bright light. The temple shook, distracting Anakin and Maul. Anakin recovered first, using the Force to push Maul back. He collided violently with the temple wall, but that didn't discourage him any.

"The power will be mine!" he declared, shouting at the Jedi. "Ezra will be mine, and there is nothing you can do to stop me!"

Anakin didn't buy that for one second. He believed in Ezra, no matter what was happening up there. As he swung at Maul, he began analyzing. What had Ahsoka seen in his fighting style that had made her confident that Anakin could beat him?

The answer presented itself quickly: he was too arrogant. Maul's dueling strength came from his rage and experience, and he believed that it made him more skilled than his opponent. Unfortunately for Maul, Anakin had seen more of both before. Maul was talented, but it was nothing Anakin hadn't already been tested against. His pride would be his downfall before long.

As it turned out, though, the fight wouldn't last that long. Anakin looked past Maul and saw Kanan rising to his feet. He had grabbed a mask from a fallen Jedi statue and found his lightsaber again. Jumping up, he flipped back onto the stairs.

"Running away, Master Jedi?" Maul taunted him, but it didn't phase Anakin.

"Just leaving some of you for him," he quipped right back, nodding toward Kanan, who was ready.

From behind the mask, Kanan called to Anakin: "Go get Ezra!"

Anakin nodded, turning and climbing the stairs. They needed to wrap up this fight now.

A blind Knight? This was Skywalker's plan? "I will make this quick," Maul decided.

Kanan activated his lightsaber and turned it half a rotation in his hand, so he held it in the reverse grip, just like Ahsoka had shown him years ago. If he ever needed her faith in him, it was now. "You had your chance."

Distant memories passed through his mind. Lessons with Depa and even some with Ahsoka where Kanan had been taught to fight blindfolded. He had to wear that big, annoying training helmet that didn't fit his head and was really heavy. The mask he wore now wasn't nearly as cumbersome. He could hear Depa's voice in his ear: A Jedi is never truly blind unless they turn away from the Force.

He heard something else too: metal footsteps pacing around him. Kanan didn't pivot to face Maul, but he did adjust his stance by mere centimeters, ready. As long as his head remained forward, Maul wouldn't know that Kanan knew exactly where the ex-Sith was standing. Keep your opponent blindsided, Ahsoka reminded him. Wait until they lower their guard, then take the advantage.

Maul struck first, but Kanan deflected it calmly. He didn't lose focus when he realized Kanan wasn't entirely defenseless, but he made a critical mistake: he thought that something as simple as a punch to the face was enough to defeat him. Kanan caught his wrist and pulled him toward the ledge. Stumbling into a nearby statue, Maul lost his balance and fell screaming.

Kanan 'looked' over the edge, and when he couldn't sense his opponent anymore, he kneeled, catching his breath. It worked. Maul was down. Not many things had gone right today, but this one did.

As he put his lightsaber away, Chopper beeped through his communicator, paging Kanan. "Chopper! Am I glad to hear you," he told the droid, slightly out of breath. They could finally get out of here. "We need a pickup."

Unfortunately, Chopper had news. "A TIE fighter? Are you sure?"