Adult-FanFiction.org : Cartoons

War Of Shadows	By : TurtleNinja Category: +S through Z > Samurai Jack Views: 3353 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Samurai Jack, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 19
- 20
- 21
Slowly, I opened my eyes and groaned, my head throbbing. Not again. This was getting so very old and predictable.

Looking up, I saw that I was in another dungeon within Aku's fortress, once again chained with my arms over my head. I must have been there for some time, for my back and shoulders and wrists ached with the lack of movement. A few strands of hair had fallen out of my topknot, dangling down alongside my cheek past my chin to my throat.

I closed my eyes to shut out the eerie lights and to force down the start of a painful headache, opening them to see Ekirei standing face to face with me. She wore her biker outfit this time, obviously not daring to make another attempt to seduce me. Like her original, she could heal, her nose looking quite whole since the last time we had met.

"Hello, Jack." she said softly, her eyes deceivingly kind.

"Ekirei."

"Indeed. I would like to welcome you to Hell. Once Chimitsu gets here, you're both going to suffer."

"I thought you promised that last time."

"No, that was fun. This time we're skipping the fun and cutting right to the suffering."

"Hmm. I am pretty sure that what went on last time we met was suffering."

She laughed and walked around to my back, where I could feel her eyes roaming up and down, apparently trying to see through my kimono with her eyes. I sighed a little and shifted my weight to ease the pressure on my wrists and shoulders with little relief. Eki chose to take advantage of my discomfort and I felt her hands massaging my shoulders, but not roughly.

"Mm...you're too tense, Minamoto-chan. You need to relax." she said quietly.

"Do not call me that. You do not deserve to say that to me."

She chuckled and tipped my head back by my chin from behind, her nails lightly running along my neck near my jugular.

"I'll call you what I wish, dear one."

"What is it that you want with me this time? More seduction, more playtime?"

She paused and released my head, walking around in front of me, running the backs of her hands down my face. I pulled back a little, but the ache in my shoulders and the shorter chain holding my wrists would not allow me to go very far. Eki leaned in closer to me, almost in another attempt to kiss me, before backing away.

"At one time, perhaps I'd been attracted to you. I would have loved to see your purity destroyed, but you no longer interest me." she said.

"I find that difficult to believe."

"Think what you want, Minamoto-chan. I'd rather see you suffer now than see you in my bed. Besides...I've got someone else to play with."

She took a few steps back towards a shadowy spot between some pillars, revealing my double leaning against one nonchalantly. If she had not gone in his direction, I would not have known he was even there. He straightened at her approach, giving me a satisfied look as she leaned on his shoulder, one hand reaching up to seductively massage his chest.

I simply hung there, not at all surprised or impressed. She was unable to have me, so she was going to have the next best thing in Mad Jack. Quite frankly, they deserved each other. They had the same taste in fun and clothing and similar personalities, after all.

He gave me a wicked grin before turning to tip Eki's chin up and give her a kiss. I would have been disgusted at the display of tongue exchange, but with the two of them, it hardly surprised me. I shifted my weight again and sighed, deciding to ignore them for the moment, rather than be uncomfortable.

#Not interested in watching, futago?#

I looked back at the pair still exchanging tongue, narrowing my eyes at the look Mad Jack gave me from the corner of his eyes. Eki failed to notice, her eyes closed in enjoyment.

#Not particularly. Tell me, are you attempting to choke her over there?#

His response was a loud telepathic laugh.

#You really are just a naive little warrior, aren't you? I'm hardly choking her.#

#Could have fooled me. It looks as if you will kill her if you stick your tongue any further down her throat.#

#Oh, but she likes it like that. I bet your little angel tastes just like her, too.#

#Leave Chimitsu-chan out of this.#

#I think not. I'd just as soon be standing here kissing HER than kissing this little bitch.#

#Very eloquent. I am certain that if Eki was able to hear this, she would take that as a compliment.#

He barked out another loud, telepathic laugh, much to my irritation.

#Do you really think I give a damn what she thinks? She's nothing to me, futago, just a toy, like everything else.#

Panic rose in my chest at his words, realizing that I had woken up here alone, without any sign of Chimitsu. I had not seen her since we had been separated by the crowd in the city and she could very well be anywhere by now. She could even have been in another part of this very dungeon, at the mercy of my double for whatever sick, twisted pleasures he had in mind for her.

#Do us all a favor, futago, and take some notes.#

#Take notes? On what? How to be as rude and disgusting as possible?#

#Noooo...on how to please a woman. Chicks love it when you give them tongue. Don't you know anything?#

#I do know how to respect and treat a lady.#

#Lady? Do you see any ladies in here?#

#Actually, no, but when Chimitsu arrives, there will be one.#

He snorted telepathically, still kissing Ekirei. I began to wonder when the two of them were going to come up for air and stop making my stomach turn.

#I'll bet your little angel doesn't know any more than you do. Tell me, you haven't kissed her yet, hm?#

#That is none of your business.#

There was a moment of silence.

#Well well. Perhaps you're not so naive after all. But you've still got a long way to go to match me.#

#I would rather not.#

#Suit yourself, but you'll regret not taking notes from this.#

He finally broke away from Eki, who gave me a sly grin as she reached up to caress his jaw. I ignored the exchange as she walked over to me, running her hands along my arms, deliberately feeling the muscle. Mad Jack leaned back against the pillar again, disappearing back into the shadows to watch us.

"Did you enjoy that little show, samurai?" she asked.

"I cannot say that I am too impressed with either of you. That sort of disgusting behavior is to be expected from those who do not have a shred of honor within their souls."

"Oh, but that's the fun of it! Tell me, Minamoto-chan...you wish it was you and dear little Chimitsu there kissing like that, don't you?"

I stared at her for a moment, considering this. Did I want to kiss Chimitsu like that? At that very moment, staring down her double, gazing at a face that was identical to hers, I could not be entirely certain.

The kiss that she and MJ had shared, I could hardly stand to watch. They cared nothing for each other, so how could a kiss like that show any sort of emotion besides lust? Chimitsu was hardly like that. She was kind, gentle, like the kiss she had given me in her castle.

The effect of that gentle kiss had not been lost on me in the least. Of course I had enjoyed it, but whether or not I wanted to kiss her so lustfully as Mad Jack had kissed Ekirei remained to be seen. Images of Eki and my twin's exchange from just seconds before resurfaced in my mind as I continued to gaze into Eki's eyes, invoking emotions within my chest that I had never felt before.

Slowly, the images of Ekirei and my double faded, being replaced with myself and Chimitsu as I tried to imagine what it would be like to kiss her like that. Would she want to be kissed like that? Could a kiss like that ever feel as good as the gentle kiss she had given me at her castle?

Instantly, the images dissipated when I realized what I had been thinking. Stupid! How could I have been thinking of such things at a time like this! I could not waste my time thinking of such frivolous things when I was hanging by my wrists in Aku's dungeons.

Eki smirked and lightly chucked me under the chin, her eyes showing that she already knew the answer to her previous question, or at least thought she did.

"Ahh, so I see. You're in love with my original, how quaint. Deny it all you want, but I can tell that you wish it had been you and Chimitsu kissing a few moments ago instead of your double and myself. It's written all over your eyes."

"Think what you will."

"Oh, believe me, I will. Actually, I'm going to enjoy seeing your reaction when she finally gets here."

"And why is that?"

She paused and studied me carefully with her eyes, her expression oddly thoughtful.

"My original didn't tell you what'd happen if she lost her wings entirely, did she?"

"What does her wings have to do with this?"

"Everything, samurai. Do you have any idea what'll happen to her once she arrives?"

"What?"

"She's going to die."

"You cannot possibly be serious. Neither you nor Mad Jack can lay a hand on her to kill her without destroying yourselves."

"Not while she's in Elemental form, that much is correct. But when she's human, she's as much up for grabs as you are."

"Human? Elementals cannot become human."

She laughed shrilly and I caught sight of a smirk on my double's face. They knew something that I did not and I did not much care for where this was heading.

"She didn't tell you."

"What did she fail to tell me?"

"If she loses her wings completely, she'll lose her Elemental powers and become human. Your little angel has fallen and she'll never be anything more than a weak mortal now."

I gasped and took a short step back in shock. Was that why she looked so forlorn at the hotel when her wings disappeared? By the gods...that would certainly explain a great deal. If she lost her power, if she became human, she could not heal me or teleport or do anything to be of much help to me.

I could not help but wonder why indeed it was that she had failed to tell me about this. Was it because she had not wanted to worry me or was she trying to deny her fate to herself? I realized that it may have been a little of both and perhaps even a feeling of failure. Without her power, she could do nothing to face Aku, even with her great martial skill.

Oh gods...that would explain why she was so weak as of late. Her power was fading away to nothing and when she was usually so much stronger than a normal human, she was not used to not having such strength. I began to doubt that she would be able to lift her nodachi to fight or do little else to fight.

No wonder she had failed to summon a wind when the crowd in the city had surrounded us. She had no power in which to do so with. She had to rely on what little fighting skill she had left in her and without her Elemental strength, she could do little against so many. Even I had difficulty, but it seemed that was why she was able to do less than I had been able to do against the crowd.

I watched Ekirei walk back over to my double, one arm snaking around his waist. Both looked quite satisfied in the revelation and having made me feel a fear I had not felt in quite some time. She was no longer an Elemental and that meant they could kill her now easily without being bound by Elemental Law and that honor might go directly to Aku himself.

Aku...

Oh hell! I recalled how battered her wings had looked when we had first met, how it looked like a giant claw had tried to rip them off. She had been fleeing from Aku and that had been the most serious of her injuries. So that was what he had been attempting to do!

He could not kill her directly when she was an Elemental, so he had tried to tear her wings off and turn her human!

I hung my head in sorrow and frustration, knowing that we were both doomed now. I was caught, had been disarmed, and now Chimitsu was human. She had lost her power and as far as I knew, could do little to fight. Did it also mean that we had lost our chance to use the Star of the Elements?

"I see you've finally figured it out, Minamoto-chan." she said.

"Heartless bitch...that was your plan all along. You two could not touch her so you drove her to lose her wings and then set a trap to bring her to you and her death."

"Can't take all the credit...it was actually Lord Aku's plan, but we had a big hand in it."

"Then it is finished. Do what you will with me."

I had failed. All this time, all this fighting, and ultimately, I had still failed. So many people let down by this, so much honor lost and for what? If I had been within reach of my katana or free enough to find another way, I would have instantly committed seppuku.

But even death was denied me so that all I could do was face my dishonor.

"Enjoy your final moments, futago." Mad Jack said quietly as they left.

I could not even lift my head to watch them go, feeling so utterly defeated and lost. The room began to darken and I could see shadows moving in, snaking their way up my legs. I closed my eyes and did not fight, letting them encircle my body completely.

Slowly, I could feel them seep into my mind, seeking out the darkest corners until they had found them, feeding off of them. I did not want the images to come, but I did not fight them either, knowing that I deserved what I was beginning to see. Shameful tears began to fall as the reality of my defeat set in and I could do nothing else.

Memories flooded back of that fateful day when my youthful innocence had been lost. Aku's shadow darkened my vision and the fear I had felt as a young child rose in my chest. My father's palace began to crumble down around me, flames rising up hotly to consume everything beautiful, turning it to ash.

I rolled out of the way as a heavy, flaming pillar crashed down, shattering on the floor, sending sparks up all around. I could see my parents huddled over by the broken stand that had once held my father's katana, which was missing. A shadowy hand swept down towards them and I sprang forward over the broken pillar without hesitation.

Too late....

When I had cleared the flames, I saw that they were gone and that the palace was quickly crumbling. I looked around frantically for a way out, knowing that if I stayed, I would be killed. I took my chances with a flimsy outer wall, dashing forward and throwing myself through the thin rice paper and wood.

I rolled down the roof and lashed out with my hand to catch its edge, only to find that it had disappeared with the rest of the palace. My heart pounded wildly in my chest as I realized that I was going to fall to my death. The flaming orange sky shifted until it had taken on an appearance similar to the prison mines like where I had found my father.

The landing jolted me hard and I crumpled painfully to the ground, but had thankfully not broken my legs. What sort of hellish world had I ended up in this time? I slowly rose and brushed myself off, looking around.

Instantly, I recognized this place, seeing the gigantic mill where they had kept my father. But it was silent now, a single figure lying still on the walking platform. I quietly approached and knelt down, rolling them onto their back to see who it was and whether or not they were alive.

Otousan!

I took a step back at seeing his still form, my heart pounding in my ears. Impossible! If I was still in the future, then he was long dead as Chimitsu had told me. In horror, I watched as his body disintegrated into dust that blew away on the wind. By the gods...

I heard a rumbling behind me and turned to see large pillars and mills and chunks of the walls and ceiling start to fall. It felt like an earthquake and I was not about to stay and let myself be crushed. Again I took off running, looking for a way out, but the entrance that I remembered had been blocked off by a cave in.

I turned around and headed for a pit, intending on throwing myself into it. I had a chance of not surviving, but I would rather have taken my own life than allowed myself to be killed. With a great leap, I sprang forward, intending on either catching the other side or falling to my death, whichever came first. I fell for some time before I finally caught ahold of something solid and stonily cold.

I hung there for a few moments before pulling myself up, realizing that the quake had stopped and I would not meet my end today. When I had caught my breath and looked up, I received a shock to find that this was no longer the slave mines, but somewhere deep inside Aku's castle fortress.

It seemed quiet enough, but that did not mean that Aku or one of his minions were not lurking about nearby. I stayed to the more silent corridors, bypassing any that seemed to have signs of life in them. There was something wrong about the atmosphere here. It almost seemed eerie, like a pall of death had settled about.

There was a rustling behind me and I whirled around to see a young maid dash right past me, carrying a load of white linens.

"Sumimasen..."[1] I said.

She ignored me, hurrying on her way. I furrowed my brow and turned around as another came my way. Again, my inquiries were ignored and she passed me quickly. Odd. Had they not seen me or were they simply being rude?

I hurried to follow them, heading deep within the fortress to a less opulently decorated section, which turned out to be the maid's quarters. What on earth was I doing here? I watched quietly through the gap in the sliding doors, watching them bustle about a bed. Had somebody died?

Finally, they moved aside for a brief moment and I caught a glimpse of the person lying pale and still on the bed.

Okaasan!

Oh gods! Why this? This was not the future, but the past, yet I had never seen this before. According to Chimitsu, by the time my parents had died, I had long-since been cast into the future by Aku. This had to be some sort of trickery.

I closed my eyes and took a few steps back, hoping that I would regain my senses and find myself back in the dungeon. But when I opened them, I was greeted with nothing but darkness. What sort of hell was this?

I turned around and immediately took a step back, seeing the ghostly forms of my parents looking at me with disapproval. This did not make any sense. My parents were dead. Had I somehow died as well? Did those shadows grant me peace at last?

Somehow, I doubted that Aku would let me go quite that easily.

"Your fault..." they said.

I took a step back, not at all liking this.

"What? What is my fault?"

"It is all your fault. Because of you, we suffered. Because of you, we wasted our lives."

"No! it was because of Aku! I did my best to send him back to the pits that he came from!"

"It was not enough! Because of your failure, we were imprisoned and became slaves. Because of you, our people will be forever lost to history."

"No..."

"Because of you...we died..."

I shook my head in disbelief at what I was hearing, looking to my mother for some sort of reassurance. But she could not even raise her head to look at me, keeping her eyes away from me. I closed my eyes and backed up away from them, not wanting to believe that this was what my parents had been thinking of when they had perished.

Opening my eyes, I found that they had disappeared, just like before. My pulse raced and my head spun dizzily as I attempted to figure out what was going on here. None of this made sense or even felt right. Even in failure, it was hard to believe that either of them would be so painfully harsh with me.

A cold chill ran down my spine and I whirled around to see a man standing there, dressed in a heavy black formal kimono embroidered in greys and silvers with a crest similar to my father's all over, including one large one in white on the back when he turned towards me. It was not my father, but he looked oddly familiar. I did not like the aura I was feeling from him. It felt so cold, so empty, like death.

Instead of a traditional topknot, a long, heavy braid trailed down his back almost to the floor, partially covering the large crest on the back of his kimono. His eyes were a smoldering gray, cold and emotionless. In his hands was my father's missing katana, the one that should have been in my hands.

I tensed, feeling a cold fear rising in my chest. I did not recognize him, but that aura felt so familiar. He said nothing, his young face wearing an expression of cold, ruthless hatred. He could not have been much older than myself, perhaps by a few years, but no more.

In an instant, he struck, springing forward in my direction and slashing with the katana in one single strike like a flash of lightning. I had not even seen the blade coming or felt it strike me until after I felt the burning pain in my chest, looking down to see the blood soaking the front of my kimono. I looked back in his direction as I heard the soft snap of the katana returning to its sheath, seeing cold revenge in his eyes. Only one being had ever shown me such ancient hatred and lust for revenge before, but that was impossible for that creature and this man to be one and the same.

Aku....
--------------- [1]sumimasen= excuse me
- 19
- 20
- 21
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

War Of Shadows