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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
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After a few moments of rest, I began to feel rested and noticed that Chimitsu's stomach wound had finally stopped bleeding. She had taken the opportunity to conjure her ruined gown into a modified form, one that showed off her newly healed belly and drew a bit of a blush to my face. For a moment, I wished that this fight was over so we could enjoy ourselves, but I knew that there was no use in getting ahead of ourselves.

There would be plenty of time for celebration later, when everything had been finished here and my quest complete.

Chimitsu stood and walked over to where I was sitting on a large rock, reaching up to take my hand. I gave her a slight smile, but it quickly faded when I noticed how tired she looked. She had not done nearly the amount of fighting I had, but that last wound had drained her reserves badly enough, despite the brief rest we had allowed ourselves.

"Time to go. I know we haven't rested that much, but we can't afford to rest any longer when the others are depending on us to finish what they can't." she murmured solemnly.

I nodded and slid down from my perch upon the rock, following her out of the room into the corridor. This one was lit with torches without any shadows or illusions to give us feelings of anxiety towards facing the last of the Dark Elementals. There was no need for it, of course, not when we had faced the other four to get this far and knew by now that the last one was none other than my dark twin, Mad Jack.

No doubt, he would have been hoping that we would defeat the other four in hopes that he would have a shot at us himself. I knew that he would especially enjoy facing me so that he could finish me with his own hands, although I knew that Aku would deny him such a pleasure. Mad Jack was only a pawn and I doubted that Aku relished having someone in his presence that resembled me, the one who was the bigger thorn in his demonic side.

I did not doubt for a second that Aku was intending on not only using the Dark Elementals to wear us down, but that he hoped that we would do him a favor by ridding him of five useless, expendable servants, especially my dark twin. He did not care about any of his servants, only as pawns and that the one he really cared about was me. He wanted to see me come to him in one piece so he could tear me apart himself and even see Chimitsu's destruction as well.

Chimitsu was right when she said that Aku was getting too big for his Elemental britches and I was slowly beginning to see why she thought so. He was the bearer of a great, destructive power and though he was not supposed to overstep his boundaries, he had done so many times over. He did not care about Elemental Law or his duties to uphold his Element's power or the people of this planet that he held in his demonic deathgrip.

All Aku cared about was obtaining an absolute power that was never meant for him to have.

As we neared the door that would lead us to the next level and the final battle with my dark twin, Chimitsu stopped and turned towards me. I stopped alongside her and looked at her curiously, wondering why she had stopped when we were right outside the door to the last Dark Elemental. She looked more nervous than I felt and I began to get the feeling that she was more frightened of this battle than I was.

"What is it? Why did you stop?" I asked.

"You're sure you don't want to be healed? You might need it."

"I am certain. There is no use in healing me when I am only going to be hurt again. Wait until we are heading in to face Aku, then you may heal me for that. You need time to recover your magic and that can only be done if you stay out of the way here."

"Stay out of the way? I know I can't hurt him, but I can at least distract him. Why do you want me to stay out of the way?"

"I do not mean to hurt you, Chimitsu-chan, but it is something I simply must do. Mad Jack is my very duplicate and it is my duty to fight him to the death, not yours. Stay up out of the way and let yourself recover a few moments longer so you will have enough strength to heal me when this fight is over, all right?"

She sighed softly and reached up, lightly caressing my jaw. I could see in her eyes that she did not like being told to stay out of this fight, but knew that she understood that my fight with Mad Jack was a matter of honor for me. For that, I knew she would respect my wishes and stay out of the way.

"All right, but if it looks like you're in trouble, don't expect me to stand there and let him kill you." she stated firmly.

I nodded and turned back towards the doorway, intending on heading inside to face Mad Jack, only to have her grab my arm and stop me. I glanced back a bit irritatedly, not wanting to be delayed any further when we were running out of time to do this. Without hesitation, Chimitsu pulled me in and kissed me hard, wrapping her arms and wings around me.

Not being one to argue with a beautiful woman, I wrapped my arms around her waist and returned the kiss. I really did want to hold her in my arms like this forever, but we had work to do and I slowly, reluctantly pulled away, gazing into her eyes for a brief moment. She smiled and lightly nuzzled my neck before letting me go.

"For luck, Minamoto-chan." she whispered.

I gave her a reassuring smile before allowing my expression to become serious again, readying myself for this last fight. We continued down the hall and into the room in silence, knowing that we did not have to say anything to know who we were fighting last before facing Aku. It was just us and Mad Jack and the final fight now.

The moment we stepped into the room, Chimitsu left my side and hid herself amongst the rocks to keep out of the way while I did the fighting. I could not see or sense my dark twin just yet, but I knew that he was not far away from us. If he was not hiding in the room, then he was approaching and approaching fast.

After a few moments of waiting, we could hear footsteps approaching from the other side where there was a doorway that no doubt led to Aku. Shortly after hearing the footsteps, we could see the silhouette of my dark twin approaching until he stepped into the light. As always, he was dressed from head to foot in leather and wore a self-satisfied, cocky smirk on his face.

"About time you two showed up! I was beginning to think you weren't coming." he snapped.

"I do not see how you could ever have any doubt that I would forget about you, futago. I would not have missed this for the world."

"Good! Then there's no reason to waste any more time talking, eh?"

I did not answer him, but instead drew my katana and held it in front of me, ready for his attack. He gave a nasty smirk and slowly removed his leather jacket before tossing it off to the side near the rocks. Slowly, coolly, he drew his katana from its special holster at his hip, still grinning sadistically.

He was going to enjoy every last minute of this and I knew it.

Without another word, we charged towards each other, our katanas clashing in a shower of white sparks in front of us. Over and over again we struck at each other, equally matched once again. This frustrated me most of all, knowing that Chimitsu could not harm him and that he knew everything I did, making us an equal match.

Despite what I had told Chimitsu earlier, I was not entirely certain that I could beat him and was beginning to wonder if we would both fall here. It was not a thought I wanted to entertain for long and I began to fight back harder, knowing that if I wanted to face Aku, I would have to get through my dark twin first. There just had to be a way to outwit him, there just had to be.

He grinned as I began to fight harder, casually backing up and letting me gain some ground on him. I knew from the look in his eyes and his posture that he was simply toying with me, letting me believe I could win so he could push me down when I had dropped my guard. The moment I paused, he grinned and struck in a flash, backing me up towards the opposite wall.

I could not allow him to trap me or I would die for sure and death was not an option, not just yet. He was not about to let me escape to either side or leap overhead, which meant that I would simply have to find another way. I pushed against him hard as the next blow came down, digging my heels into the dirt as he pushed me back a few inches before I stopped.

A low chuckle escaped his throat as he stared me down, trying to intimidate me into giving way beneath his strength. If he could try to trick me, then I could certainly do the same to him and bent back, pretending to be overtaken by his strength. The moment I saw his guard drop, I shoved forward with all my strength and knocked him onto his back.

He roared as he got back to his feet and took after me, which was exactly what I had in mind. Instead of facing down his charge, I dashed across the stone floor towards the opposite wall, silently praying that this would work down in here. Running at full speed with Mad Jack right behind me, I ran up the wall a few feet and flipped high over his head as he came to a screeching halt just barely a foot away from crashing into the wall.

I only allowed myself a split-second to recover from the landing before I spun around with all my strength, kicking him in the side of his chin as he turned to face me. He slammed hard into the rock wall, but managed to recover more quickly than I would have liked and countered with a hard kick to my chest, sending me sprawling on my back gasping for air. I knew I did not have time to lay there and catch my breath and rolled out of the way a split second before his katana drove into the ground where I had been laying.

Getting to my feet, I stood ready, panting as I struggled to regain my breath and fight back. He dashed in, relentlessly attacking, his katana cutting through the air with blinding speed that drew many bloody scratches across my skin. I had only managed to strike him once so far and I knew that it was not a good sign.

Deep down, I knew I was better than him. He was merely a copy, granted an Elemental copy, but only a copy nonetheless and copies were never as good as the original. He had been tough before only because he was an Elemental and I had not been expecting it, but that should not have mattered now.

I had been readying myself for this moment ever since his return and his Elemental strength should not have been a problem for me now that I had the Star of the Elements at full power around my neck. Then I realized that I had momentarily forgotten about the amulet I wore and that my twin did not know I was wearing it. Chimitsu's sisters said that I was as close to an Elemental as a mortal could possibly be and with the Star in my hands, then I had to have the same amount of strength as a pure Elemental.

With that comforting thought in mind, I began to feel my strength grow and shoved Mad Jack back to give myself some breathing room. There was a flicker of surprise in his eyes a second before I sprang in, slashing with as much speed as I could summon and tearing into him several times. Soon, his shirt and jeans were full of tears revealing slashes that went deep into his skin beneath.

Again our blades crossed between us, coming dangerously close to our necks as we stared each other down and waited to see who would give first. We shoved each other apart at the same time and ran towards the wall, springing off back towards the other with our katanas raised high above our heads. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest as we flew through the air towards each other, waiting for the right moment to bring my katana down upon him.

A few seconds later, we landed with our backs to each other and there was a moment of silence before I felt the hot blood trickling down towards my hip from a wound in my side. He had not come away unscathed, either, though, with blood trickling down his arm from where I had struck him near the shoulder. We were still seemingly matched in skill and knowledge, for every move he made, I could counter, and every move I made, he could counter.

All this time, however, I had not felt him use the link between us and wondered if he had chosen not to for the sake of knowing that he could easily predict my moves without it. If that was his plan, then it could possibly be used to my advantage since I had learned a few things since my arrival here in the future. I had no idea what sort of training he might have done before now, but I was not about to let myself worry about it.

We circled each other, waiting for the other to strike first as we tried to calculate what the other was going to do. I chose to leap in first, striking over and over again in a flash, sending sparks flying about the stone cavern we were in. I pushed him back before he growled and returned the attack, striking as quickly as I had, sending even more sparks flying about the room to dance across the stone floor.

I could feel myself tiring even faster now, though he had hardly begun to break a sweat and I knew it could take him awhile before he even came close to tiring. By that time, I would be dust if I did not find a way to finish this soon and that was not a chance I was going to take. He slammed his blade down onto mine, pushing me down almost onto my knees on the floor as he leaned over me with all his weight.

Growing tired of these games with him, I pushed back and lashed out with my right foot, catching him in the chin with a resounding crack that sent him back onto the ground again. His katana fell out of his hands and clattered a few feet away out of his reach and I wasted no time in leaping forward to run him through before he could get to it. However, he was quicker and rolled out of the way, leaving me to drive my katana into the stone floor where it stuck and stuck good.

I tried to pull it out before he could get his katana and finish it in his favor, but apparently he had other plans. A sharp elbow to the side of my face knocked me away from my own weapon and spun me almost into the wall. I caught myself just in time to keep from bashing my face into the stone, but unfortunately, that gave Mad Jack just enough time to rip my blade from the stone and catch me from behind with my arms pinned to my side and my own katana at my neck.

I struggled as best I could, but I knew that if he so wished it, he could finish it in the blink of an eye.

"You just don't know when to give up, do you, futago?" he asked, jerking hard with the arm pinning my arms.

"You would like that, would you not? You would love to take my head while I am down or begging for mercy."

"Of course. Nothing would please me more than to see you reduced to pitiful begging, to see you dishonored before the eyes of your beloved angel."

"I have news for you, futago. I am not going to be giving you such pleasure."

In a flash, I kicked up with my left foot and slammed the ball of my foot into his face. He roared in pain as his nose broke with the force of the kick and I felt his arms drop away. My katana clattered to the ground as he dropped it in favor of holding his nose and I wasted no time in snatching it up before he could recover.

I spun it around in my hand and advanced towards him, watching as he stepped back, still trying to stop the flow of blood. Hatred burned in his eyes as he summoned his katana to his hand and took a blind swipe at me, aiming for my head. I jerked back out of the way, but felt the sharp sting as the tip grazed my cheek, sending a thin trail of blood down towards my jaw.

A sadistic grin spread across his face and at the same time, we swung up with opposite feet, kicking our respective katanas from our hands. His flew into a wall, while mine skittered over near where Chimitsu was hiding, still watching us from behind some rocks. Disarmed for the moment, both Mad Jack and I knew that it was down to barehanded combat now, something we neither one were strangers to.

He did not give me much of a chance to attack first, coming in with fists flying in all directions, forcing me to block until I could get an opening in which to attack through. I caught a punch aimed towards my face and forced it down, blocking the one that followed it and forcing that one down as well, feeling him try to push me away. I held on tightly, pushing back, staring him down once again and seeing the same hatred burning in his eyes.

If I had been able to give it much thought, I would have found it eerie to see my face contorted in such a hateful expression.

We gripped each other's hands with a steel grip, frozen in combat for the moment, both tiring as we tried to get the upper hand on the other. Sweat beaded on my forehead and trailed down my cheeks until it dripped off my chin, stinging in the cut on my face. I had to break away from this death grip before it exhausted me to the point of collapse.

It no longer mattered what sort of combat we chose, whether it was empty handed or with weapons, I knew that I would soon tire out and could ill afford to allow that. He was toying with me, trying to wear me down when he knew that I was tired from the last four fights with his fellow Dark Elementals. He did not care that he had lost Eki or the others, they were merely a means of wearing me down so he could kill me himself if Aku would allow it.

My muscles burned with fatigue and I could feel my legs start to give way beneath his powerful grip, though I struggled to stay upright. I would have to make my move and make it now before it was too late. I pulled my head back and slammed my forehead into his broken nose, forcing him to let go of me to deal with a double dose of pain while I broke free.

I did not give him a chance to recover again and leapt into the air over his head as he staggered back holding his nose. Without hesitation, I snapped out my left leg into the back of his head, sending him sprawling facedown on the pavement. He lay there for a few seconds, stunned, but I did not pause to catch my breath or let him recover, dashing immediately to reclaim my fallen katana.

I could hear him pull himself to his feet behind me and run towards where his katana was stuck in the wall, ripping it violently from the stone. He was not going to waste any time in cutting me down if he was able to catch me with my back turned and I knew it. Everything seemed to slow down until it was moving in slow motion as I dashed towards my katana where it lay on the stone floor.

Slowly, my hand closed around the handle and I gripped it tight, hearing my double's thundering footsteps as he ran towards me. The sound pounded in my ears along with my heartbeat and I listened closely, calculating the distance between him in my head as I slowly lifted my katana from the ground. Soon, all I could feel was the adrenaline burning in my veins and felt the sweat slowly trickle down my face as I closed both hands around the handle of my katana.

I could hear him behind me, only a few feet away now and changed the grip on my blade, switching it from right to left. He was right there behind me now and I could almost see in my mind his furious expression as he raised his katana high above his head to cut me down. His anger blinded him and he had made a mistake that would cost him everything.

In a flash, I spun around, striking lefthandedly to the side with all the strength I had left in me. For a moment, I thought I had missed somehow and all I could hear was the thundering sound of my pulse in my ears. Both of us were frozen there in time for a few seconds before Mad Jack's expression changed to one of utter surprise and shock and I realized that I had managed to wound him fatally.

A split-second after that, he turned to dust and the dark duplicate of my katana clattered to the ground, seeming to lose some of its power with the loss of its owner. With the loss of my double, I felt as if something slammed into my soul, something I did not realize until now had ever been missing from me and I fell to my knees, letting my own katana slip from my hand. I ached all over and every breath I took burned in my lungs as I struggled to catch my breath.

Chimitsu-chan was out of her hiding spot and at my side in a hurry, kneeling down beside me to support me.

"Minamoto-chan, are you all right?!" she cried.

"I...I will be. I...am...just...a bit tired."

She wrapped her arms around me and let me lean against her shoulder before wrapping her wings around me as well. I was too tired to protest when I felt her tear the top half of my kimono off and her healing magic begin to take effect, closing my wounds. I felt relieved now that my dark twin was gone, feeling the connection gone and my spirit whole once again.

I did not move as Chimitsu did her work, allowing myself to relax for a few minutes there in her arms while she healed me. We could afford such a luxury now that the five Dark Elementals had been destroyed, but only one last thing remained for us now. Yes, Aku was that last thing, the only being remaining between us and the completion of our quest now.

Slowly, I opened my eyes and peeked over her right wing, feeling more than a little relaxed within the comforting field of her healing energies. The moment I opened them, I saw the last of Chimitsu's sisters standing there in spirit form, free from the spell that bound her essence to mine in the recreation of my dark twin. Hirame smiled and scratched the ears of her white tiger companion behind its ears, causing it to flick its tail and lean into it.

I returned the smile as she gave a bow and disappeared, knowing that the four of them could now be reborn the moment Aku had been destroyed at my hands. A strange kind of excitement filled my chest at the thought of finally completing this quest and restoring things to order for Chimitsu and her sisters. Yet a part of me felt oddly bittersweet inside, knowing just how many had given their lives to see the two of us come all this way.

I could not let them down or I could never forgive myself, knowing that they died in vain because I could not do my duty.

I stared at the spot where Hirame had been standing and sighed a little, closing my eyes again under Chimitsu's gentle healing touch.

Be free, Hirame, and join your sisters in rebirth...
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War Of Shadows