The caged Ysalamiri closest to him stuck its tongue out at Ben; as childish as it was, he wanted to stick his tongue out back at the tan lizard. It was the Force-repelling creature's fault he was in this situation: under Hux's orders, the Knights of Ren had traveled to Myrkr in secret to capture five of the lizards, use them to subdue Ben and overthrow him, and give the title of Supreme Leader to Amitage Hux.

Hux had desired the position from the beginning; Ben should've known he would attempt something. But there was no one in the First Order he could've relied on to have kept tabs on the sleazy General. He had always been alone, given the false sense of loyalty, when the Knights of Ren had been answering to him all along.

The betrayal burned Ben's soul.

"What is taking her so long?" Hux asked of the air. He looked at him. "You didn't get a message to your little rebel, did you?"

Ben longed to spit in the former-General's face or, better yet, to torture him with Force Lightning, but the ginger was too far away and the blasted Ysalamiri prevented his Force abilities. The two Knights of Ren flanking him wouldn't allow him to even twitch, so he couldn't beat Hux's face in either. Ben just smirked, hoping it would unnerve the cocky bastard.

Ben knew Rey was here, along with the others who had received reports on how the Resistance's attack was coming along. Even though he wished he could've told her not to come, she would've anyway. Too stubborn and headstrong. With the caged lizards prohibiting all Force use—the Knights of Ren couldn't use it either—perhaps Rey had a chance of standing toe-to-toe with them—he had trained her enough in lightsaber wielding. If only he could get free to assist her...

Sound of the elevator stopping drew all eyes—even the lizards looked, sensing a change in the air. Ben's breath caught in his throat.

Rey appeared when the doors fully opened and she stepped through. Her eyes immediately located him; he gave a small nod to reassure her that he was okay—slightly battered and bruised from fighting the Knights of Ren, but okay. Those sharp hazel eyes swept the Throne Room, taking in the six Knights of Ren dressed in all-black like him and hidden behind different-styled masks, the Ysalamiri locked in cages scattered throughout the room, and the pale and red-headed General Hux—or as he would prefer to be called now, the Supreme Leader of the First Order. Her gaze locked on him on the throne as she walked further in. She looked as beautiful as always, but was undeniably pissed.

Ben held in a chuckle. Hux has gone too far this time and will soon get what is coming for him.

"Thank you for finally joining us, Rey," Hux said.

"So, do I have you to thank for the courteous reception?" she smarted back.

He laughed. "Why, yes! All command truly comes from the Supreme Leader."

Her eyebrows lifted. "Oh, that's what you are! I was under the impression that Ben Solo—sorry, Kylo Ren—was the Supreme Leader, seeing as how he and the previous Leader were Force-users, and you're not."

Hux's jaw tightened—a telltale sign of his anger.

That's it, Rey—get him mad so he'll be reckless, Ben thought.

She put a hand on her hip. "Let me tell you what I see: six Knights of Ren and a bound-Ben Solo, powerless." Her eyes glanced at the Ysalamiri. "I may not know the name of those lizards, but I know they prevent the Force since my access to it was stripped as soon as the elevator opened.

"So, it looks to me like you're afraid of the Force; afraid of it being used on you because you have no defense against it. You wish to be in control, so you took away the only thing you can't manipulate. Some fearsome Supreme Leader you are."

He shot to his feet. "I know you and Kylo Ren have been meeting in secret! He couldn't kill you; he couldn't kill his mother! You have made him weaker!"

Her hand turned white from squeezing the black hilt of her double-bladed lightsaber. "Oh, how wrong you are."

"You say he has grown stronger because of his infatuation with you?" Hux scoffed.

"Yes," Ben stated, then drove his elbow into Alfirk'eeg's stomach to his right; when he doubled over, Ben snatched the lightsaber off his hip, ignited it, and cut off his head.

Purple glowed in the room along with multiple red sabers as Rey ignited her lightsaber and jumped in front of the three Knights of Ren, moving to handle him.

With his hands bound in the handcuffs, holding a lightsaber proved difficult, but Ben managed—he had two Knights of Ren facing him—one with a Force whip and another with dual lightsabers.

He reverted to the Soresu technique as he fought Yu-Sien and Dexen—one more defensive than he usually fought with. Whenever Yu-Sien's whip ensnared Ben's lightsaber, he continuously moved around as he tried to jerk his saber free, hoping to make Dexen slice his fellow Knight in mistake. It nearly happened many times; each time, Yu-Sien would jump back, loosening his hold on the whip so Ben could get free.

Ben received quite a few nicks, cuts, and burns. The last time Yu-Sien caught Ben's saber with his whip, Dexen was able to slice Ben's back. The wound burned unbelievably, and every movement caused even more pain.

Even though he was in agony, Ben somehow yanked the whip from Yu-Sien's hands; spinning back around, he drove the lightsaber through Knight's stomach and the red blade poked through his back.

Sheathing the lightsaber so the dead Knight could fall, Ben looked to find Dexen at the caged Ysalamiri, driving one of his short lightsabers in, killing it.

Ysalamiris can only repel the Force to a ten-meter diameter, so, as soon as the animal died, Ben felt the Force come back to him, even though he couldn't use it because of the handcuffs. However, Dexen could.

Whipping around with his hand out, he sent the Force into Ben's chest to knock him flying through the air. He lost the lightsaber when he banged into the wall and dropped to the floor, landing hard.

The hits had knocked him senseless and left him breathless. Shaking his head, Ben struggled to rise. Like a heavy weight, the Force dropped on him, holding him down. He fought to move his head so he could see Dexen walking toward him with a hand out controlling the Force. The Knight of Ren drew back the hand holding a lightsaber to cut off his head.

A blaster-fire went off and Dexen jolted as a hole appeared in his chest. Immediately, the Force lifted off and Ben rolled over to see who had fired the shot. Behind the falling Knight stood Poe Dameron; he lowered the still-smoking blaster.

He hurried over to Ben and kneeled.

"Can't believe I'm doing this," the pilot said as he unlatched the cuffs. "But I'm helping Ben Solo, not Kylo Ren."

Ben nodded. "Right."

As he began to rise, a white-and-orange ball rolled up to him and zapped his leg.

Ben jumped. "Ow! Damn it! I'm already hurt!"

The BB unit launched into a tirade, fussing at him for hurting Poe and interrogating Rey. This must be the droid he had hunted and Rey was so fond of.

"Um, sorry? But I'm not apologizing for the last time; he deserved more for kissing Rey," Ben said as he stood.

BB-8 twittered, asking Poe what he was talking about.

"I'll tell you later."

"Poe, shoot the Knights, not the lizards!" Rey yelled.

"You heard her!" Poe said; dropping back into battle mode, he shot at a Knight of Ren battling Rey as he advanced.

Rey fought against Jett, Nadriandur, and Clifaust, holding her own very well, too. The multiple shots coming from the Resistance hidden in the elevator helped tremendously. Either one would receive a hit from blaster-fire as they focused on combating Rey's attacks, or her lightsaber would cut them if they focused on deflecting enemy fire. Hux had stepped down from the throne, shooting his blaster at Rey. Her clothes had small holes from where he hit her or one of the Knights had stabbed her.

Getting back into the ten-meter diameter, Ben used the Force to pick up Hux and threw him into the three Knights of Ren. As they fell, Ben also pulled his lightsaber off the General's hip and brought it to his hand. He told Rey to join him, so she could use the Force. When she did, she shot Force Lightning at the downed-group; they writhed and jerked under the voltage. Rey didn't torture them for long—she didn't have the heart for such a thing.

"How?" Hux panted as he pushed himself up. "How do you have Dark Side abilities when you're a Jedi?"

"There's not just the Jedi or the Sith," Rey said.

Hux looked at the Knights of Ren. "What is she talking about?"

"A third way of the Force," Rey answered. "A way to use abilities from both the Light and Dark Sides. True balance. The Gray Jedi."

Crimson light glowed when Ben ignited his lightsaber. "And you'face two of them that you've pissed off," he finished.

Hux sneered as he pulled up some small device and pressed the button; explosives hidden inside the Ysalamiris' cages detonated. With the lizards dead, the Force came back to Ben in full-force.

Through the smoke came Hux's voice. "Now, the playing field is even. Kill them."