Danik and Denali's hearts both stopped at the same time and their eyes found each other, then turned to face the direction the screaming was coming from. The inhumane sounds and shattering glass seemed to erupt from both the opposite end of the hallway and the room Danik had just escaped from, and it didn't take long for the both of them to come to the same conclusion. The clones were free. And they weren't in a merciful mood.

Almost as soon as it started, the screaming stopped and was replaced with an eerie silence, leaving the pounding of their hearts to rattle in their ears as they waited for whatever was about to happen next. Wet footsteps slapped against the tile in Danik's holding room, and soft whimpering slowly echoed from around the corner down the hall. Danik and Denali both took a step back.

A bald, gray skull gradually leaned out of the doorway, and two glimmering eyes glared at the duo like a predator eyeing its prey. It was feminine and sickly, and its eyes were too familiar for Denali's comfort. A mouth not entirely developed spread into a horrifying lip-less smile, and a dark blue liquid dripped from the edge of the opening on its face, pooling at the ground below it. Down the hallway, another more masculine version did the same and sent chills down Danik's spine. Then another head appeared at the doorway, and another down the hall. And another. And another.

"Truce?" Denali whispered as the number of unformed copies continued to grow, watching them, waiting for the two to make the first move. Danik gulped.

"Truce." He whispered back.

Their ear-drums exploded after they turned around and ran and the screaming erupted once more behind them. As they sprinted, Denali cradling her broken hand and Danik awkwardly running with his cuffed hands out in front of him, a thought occurred to the woman that she hadn't considered before. 

Where was everyone else?

She and Danik couldn't have been the only ones in the facility, there had to have been other people, other Kaminoans in charge who must've been frantically trying to fix the situation at hand. There should've been red lights blinking in alert, workers shouting orders at each other, some sort of sign that said 'Hey, we screwed up but we're trying to fix it'. But there was nothing. Where had everyone gone? 

Were they planning on this to happen?

Before the idea could register in her mind, Denali was shoved to the side and into an open doorway she hadn't noticed before. Danik quickly followed her into the room and slammed his hands against the control panel next to the door, causing it to slide shut and the green button on the panel to turn red. The door was locked, and although the fists of their clones battered mercilessly against the other side of the barrier, there was no way for their attackers to get in. Or for them to get out.

"What the hell have they done?" Danik muttered under his breath, his words barely audible over the sound of the angry semi-formed beings trying to break in. Denali pressed her back against the wall and slid to the floor. "Have they lost their minds? I mean, I'm flattered that they'd want an entire army of me, I'm quite an attractive man. But of you, too? Two armies? And both force-sensitive? How did they think they were going to be able to control that? Let alone actually perfect the process?"

The room was dull, just like all the others. Same white walls. Same tiled floors. The only difference being the fact that there was no window, only two casket-looking devices placed against the farthest wall. Denali noticed them and raised an eyebrow, got to her feet, and stepped over to investigate while Danik continued to talk to himself.

"Does my master know about this? If he did, he wouldn't have let this happen. This is madness, even for him. He may be power-hungry, but he's not this reckless. This is just suicidal."

Denali wasn't listening to his rambling, he was just background noise while her attention fell to something more important. The casket-looking devices were made of a weird silver material and gave off an unusual glow, which wasn't uncommon when it came to Kaminoan technology. They always made things very shiny for some reason. They were both around the same length, one being a few inches shorter than the other, and both had a small assortment of buttons along the side. 

"Hey, Danik," Denali interrupted his babbling. "Want to press some buttons for me?"

"Why can't you do it? You've got two hands." He snarked. She glared at him.

"Don't be an ass. We have a truce, remember? Now press the damn buttons." With a roll of his eyes, the man approached the two silver objects and suspiciously examined them both for himself before obliging in his sister's request. With his wrists still cuffed, he activated both caskets. They opened with a strange hiss and clouds of white fog pooled onto the floor, settling around their feet and revealing what lay inside.

In one casket was Denali, and the other, Danik.

**********

For the most part, Maris did an amazing job addressing the Council for a girl her age. The beginning was a little rough; she stumbled over her words and her shyness caused her to freeze up at times. But after a minute or two of explaining her visions, and the man in them, it was easier for her to talk and her confidence slowly began to grow.

Anakin was proud of her, he remembered what it was like the first time he had to stand before the Council. It was terrifying to have the attention of multiple powerful individuals on nothing and no one but yourself, especially when the reason for it is so dark and troubling. But Maris handled it like a champ, and Anakin gave her props for that.

When the youngling was finished speaking, the Council was not pleased. Their discomfort or scorn was not directed at her, it was at the information they'd just been given. Obi-Wan turning traitor, and threatening a youngling? They had to admit, he'd been through a lot, but he must've been on the brink of insanity to drop to a level so low.

"Find him, we must." Master Yoda stated after Maris was excused from the room. "A powerful ally, he once was. But look past that now, we must."

"We already have enough problems as it is," Master Luminara began. "With Chancellor Palpatine's narrow escape from Grievous thanks to the help of Master Fisto, the Separatists will start becoming desperate for a better grip on the war. They've already lost two major battles in the last four weeks and five different planets in their systems have started rioting against them. They're going to try something insane soon if we don't stop them first. We don't have time to deal with Obi-Wan's mental break downs."

"With all due respect, Master Luminara," Anakin spoke. "A threat to a youngling," It pained him to say this. "Especially by someone as powerful as Obi-Wan, is something we shouldn't push to the side. I agree with what you say about our enemies growing desperate, but the matter with Obi-Wan should be addressed as well."

"Are you volunteering for the task?" Master Shaak Ti questioned from her seat across the room. Anakin didn't want to. He didn't want to have to bring his old master in, restrained like a criminal, insane over the loss of the woman he loved. He didn't want to have to see him broken, fighting a mental battle against a darkness a couldn't defeat. But he didn't trust anyone else to do it, not after what happened with Windu and Denali in the first place.

"I guess I am."

That night, he meditated over the ordeal and found what he was looking for.

He left the Temple the next day.