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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.

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"CHIMITSUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!"

As my anguished howl tore through the air, I felt a sudden hot surge of power race through my very soul, filling every pore of my being. I let the cauldron of emotions boiling in my chest consume me, feeling everything from sorrow and hatred to one last burst of passionate love for Chimitsu surge through my veins. Yet, as I let go of my emotions and let them fly into the wind, something incredible and strange all at the same time happened.

With this agonized, passionate release of emotion that I had kept buried within the depths of my heart, a spark ignited the power that slept within my soul. A flash of bright light burst from the Star of the Elements and illuminated the room as I began to feel my body relax. I felt my wounds close and my energies restore completely as a warm, almost hot, aura surrounded my body.

The voices of Chimitsu and her four sisters echoed within my soul as the white armor that had appeared upon me in the Light Elemental's castle returned, covering me from head to foot. It no longer felt alien to me as it had the first time I had donned it, but felt incredibly familiar and comfortable, as if it was an extention of myself like my katana. I took in a slow, deep breath, and then let it go as the transformation completed itself, opening my eyes.

Aku stood there in his demon form, watching me with a hardened, hateful look in his eyes at the sight of my new transformation. I stared back at him, feeling a cold resolve to see him destroyed burning in my chest as our eyes met. He had taken everything I cared most about in this world and destroyed it, all for the sake of wearing me down until I broke. I had stubbornly resisted, refusing to feel anything until I was either alone or the demon had been destroyed, but now, Chimitsu's death was more than I could bear and I had snapped, but I was far from broken.

I closed my eyes and tightened my grip on the handle of my katana, thinking about everyone who had been taken from me by this demon Elemental. Mother... Father... Duncan... Deidre... Angus... Maeven...all sacrificed by the demon in order to draw me out and wear down my emotions until I could no longer take it. I thought about Chimitsu and how she always seemed to have a smile on her face, how she could always make me smile, even when I did not feel like I had any reason to smile until I saw her do so first.

Opening my eyes again, I watched as Aku swirled into a pillar of shadow, melting down into his shorter Elemental form. He wore an armor in a similar style to my own, except that it was black and gray colored instead of white, and his floor-length hair was pulled back in its long ponytail. His bisento was not at his side and it was clear that he intended to fight with the dark twin of my katana that Mad Jack had commonly used to fight with.

"I see you have a new form, samurai. Tell me, can you truly control the power of the Star of the Elements or was that little transformation merely a show?" he asked snidely.

"Attack me and find out, Aku."

He moved into a ready position with his katana in front of him, ready to leap at me and strike. I moved into a similar position, holding my katana firmly in my hands, ready to finish this once and for all. I felt my muscles tense as I pulled back, ready to run in and attack first before had a chance to initiate the battle.

I closed my eyes for a brief second and then dashed forward with a roar, thinking of everyone who had given their lives to fight this battle alongside me. I thought of how Chimitsu and I had dug graves for the Scotsman's clan with our own two hands, how they never had a chance to see this day or fight with us. I leapt in towards Aku with my katana raised, determined to fight as hard as I could for the sake of those who had died and those who lived with even the tiniest spark of hope in their hearts...or die trying.

Aku met my charge as I rushed in, swinging left, right, left, right, left right, over and over again as we darted about the room. He roared and brought his katana down hard onto mine, pushing me almost down onto my knees, which only gave me the leverage I needed. I pushed upwards hard with all my strength and shoved him back, knocking him back onto his rear.

Without missing a beat, he flipped back up onto his feet like a cat and lashed out with his left leg, knocking my katana out of my hands. I watched it skitter across the stone and almost over the edge before ducking out of the way of his next strike. I darted about, narrowly avoiding his expert strikes, feeling the breeze pass by me with each strike.

I had to reclaim my katana or I would not be able to send him back to the dark pit from which he had come, but getting over to it would be tricky. He was quick and relentless with centuries of practice fueled by a hateful desire to see me dead and would not willingly give me the chance to get it back. I would not allow myself to give up and would have to patiently wait for the proper opening in which to make my move.

I watched his shoulders carefully, using their movements as a guide to what he was going to do next a split second before he did it so that I could get out of the way. He brought the blade up in an attempt to cut me down, but moved too slowly and I caught his wrist as he brought it down before it could strike me. I twisted his arm around painfully until he dropped the weapon, then spun him around and thrust my hand out into his chest, sending him flying backwards onto the floor.

Not wanting to waste a second, I turned and hurried to reclaim my katana, hearing him pull himself back up onto his feet. I could hear him take pursuit and dove for my blade, skidding across the polished floor, only to slide right over the edge of the cliff. Reflexively, I snapped a hand out and caught ahold of the edge, keeping myself from falling to my death in the pit below.

Breathing a momentary sigh of relief, I knew that Aku was not going to waste the opportunity to strike me down while I attempted to climb back up and sheathed my katana so I could do so before he struck. Unfortunately, trying to get a grip on a polished floor was hardly easy and he stood overhead while I was trying vainly to get a proper grip.

A wicked laugh echoed in the room as he watched me trying to keep from falling to my death, obviously amused in seeing me in such a precarious position. I watched helplessly as he raised his katana overhead to strike me down or force me to drop to my death, desperately searching for a way to escape. I could not possibly die like this so quickly, not after fighting so long and hard for this moment.

As the blade began to slice downwards through the air, I felt words forming in my mind and a power welling up within my heart. Immediately, I knew what to do to escape and hardened my expression as I gazed up at him. He either did not notice or did not seem concerned, but that did not matter to me in the least.

I held on with my left hand and thrust my right hand up at him with its palm open, crying out in that odd language that Chimitsu and Maeven had spoken those few scant times in my presence. Instantly, a burst of frost shot from my hand and into his face, startling him back a few feet with his hands rubbing madly at his eyes. Ignoring him and his fallen weapon, I pulled with all my strength and swung my legs back up over the edge of the cliff, first one and then the other.

I backed away from him and redrew my katana while he recovered, snarling and cursing in the same Elemental language I had just spoken as he brushed the freezing cold frost from his eyes. He summoned his katana to his hands again and roared as he charged in again in full force, swinging violently at me over and over again. Sparks flew through the air as the mystical blades scraped against each other, igniting a clash of opposing magical forces.

First one side and then the other he swiped at me, trying to slice me in half or break my katana, whichever came first. I backed up along the stone floor, blocking each violent strike with moves I did not realize I even knew and had never used before. I snarled as his blade bit into my upper arm and took my own swipe at him, cutting deeply into his forearm near the wrist, burning him painfully.

We took a few steps back away from each other and I could feel the pain of the gash in my arm. It did not feel like an ordinary cut, but like I had been struck with a poisoned blade. Now that I was using the full power of the Star of Elements and my own heightened Elemental abilities, it seemed that the clash of essences affected me as well.

Pushing the pain down, I held my katana in a ready position again before we charged at each other, slashing violently at one another. Several times he struck me in quick succession, scratching stinging, poisonous wounds across my skin along my arms and legs. One particularly vicious strike struck the breastplate of my armor just below where the Star itself was set, sending sparks flying and leaving a deep scratch in the white metal.

I growled and ducked his next strike, returning it with one of my own aimed low towards the vulnerable part of his leg. My blade struck him deeply, tearing into the unprotected flesh just above the back of his knee. Shadowy blood coated my blade and splattered on the floor as my blade made its pass, drawing a loud, gutteral snarl from his lips as he stumbled away.

He took a moment to regenerate the wound and I used the opportunity to momentarily catch my breath before we sprang at each other once again. Sweat beaded on my forehead as I slashed at him, sending him backwards across the floor a few feet before he returned the attack. I could sense the wall coming up behind me and knew that I would have to make use of it if I was to break free of him and get a better opening.

His katana came down onto mine again and I blocked before slashing upwards, catching him across the face just barely beneath his eye. Without wasting a second, I turned and dashed towards the wall, leaping up towards it as he slashed down, narrowly missing my back. I pushed off the wall as his katana bit into the stone floor and vaulted myself around to kick him in the side of the head.

I rolled to the ground as he slammed into the floor, springing to my feet and holding my katana ready. He took a moment to shake his head and pull himself up onto his knees before he pulled himself all the way up onto his feet again, still quite stunned from the blow. He took in a shaky breath and then hardened his expression, growling through clenched teeth as he charged at me yet again.

I let him push me back a few feet again before shoving him away, circling a bit before our blades met again. Sparks showered us both as we made our way across the stone floor, stinging on the rare occasion they made contact with our skin. The mixture of magical essences did not recognize either of us and stung us both painfully, leaving tiny scorch marks upon our bare skin.

More cuts scraped their way across our bodies, leaving bloody trails streaked across our skin and dents in our armor. I could feel bruises forming beneath my armor in places where he had struck me hard enough to jar the metal against the bones of my arms and legs. My left wrist was becoming stiff from a painful side strike and I began to wonder whether or not it was broken or merely sprained.

A painful snarl escaped my lips as his katana crashed down onto mine again, jarring my injured wrist until I was certain I heard something snap. I was still able to move it after that, but the sensation was very numb, almost like it was detached from the rest of my body. I knew for certain at that point that it had been broken, but pushed the pain down, pushing him away once again with all my strength.

He stumbled back for a moment before charging at me, his katana raised up and to the right side. I tensed and waited for him to draw close, then dropped onto my back as he struck, his katana hitting nothing but air. With his body off balance, he could do little to stop his forward momentum and toppled forwards.

I brought my feet up and caught him before he fell on top of me and then kicked up, throwing him backwards over my head. The moment he began to sail through the air, I flipped back onto my feet and turned to watch him bounce a few times along the polished floor. He came to a stop laying on his left side, his katana lying on the floor just beside him a few feet away.

"Is that all you got, demon?" I snarled.

Slowly, he began to stir and pulled himself onto his knees, using his katana as a support to bring himself back up onto his feet. I could feel the sweat stinging in the many cuts that crisscrossed my body, but refused to allow myself to feel the pain until this was all over. I watched him carefully, waiting for him to make his next move, knowing that he was wearing down as quickly as I was by now.

A low chuckle escaped his throat before he thrust out his left hand, firing off a hellish, blood red magical orb at me. I swung at it with my katana and effectively sliced it in two with a shower of sparks as it vaporized into nothingness. Clearly, I had surprised him by not taking it directly in the chest as he had hoped, but I had Hirame's quick warrior reflexes to thank for that.

"Come on, Aku. We both know that you can do better than that. If you do not fight with all your worth, then you have already lost." I admonished him warningly.

An unearthly roar echoed throughout the cavern loud enough to rattle a few pebbles down from the ceiling as he began to fire off more of the red orbs in quick succession. One by one I sliced them in two, finding the demon to be so very slow in throwing them, blinded by his hatred and anger. Sparks flew through the air like a hellish fireworks display as my blade sliced into them until he grew frustrated and stopped the attack.

Both of us were tired and panting, but neither one of us were willing to be the first to give up, knowing that to give up this time was certain death and that was not an option for either of us. I slowly sheathed my katana at my side and waited for him to throw another magical attack my way. I could feel the Elemental power burning in my veins, just waiting to be released from my fingertips.

We circled each other carefully, watching the other's eyes and shoulders for any sign of attack. I had already accessed the power twice, once while I was dangling from the edge of the pit and the second in the form of an increase in my fighting skill. Hirame was the Metal Elemental and embodiment of the principle of Defensive War, which explained why I was able to use techniques I had never seen before in my life, much less knew I possessed.

It was so easy for me to feel the power in my veins now, as natural to me as breathing, even though I had never spoken the Elemental language before in my life. Indeed, I had not been able to understand it the few times I had heard Chimitsu and Maeven speak it prior to attuning the Star of the Elements to my unique power. It seemed that it harmonized with my heart itself, being released with my anguish upon Chimitsu-chan's death and releasing the blast of frost when I had wished to keep Aku away from me long enough to pull myself back up over the edge of the cliff.

Now I understood what the Light Elemental had meant when she said that I would know how to use it when the time finally came for me to do so. In facing Aku in this final fight, the only thing that could possibly help me win was my harmony with the Star's power to awaken my full Elemental potential. It had transformed me into this new form that was as close to a pure Elemental as a mortal like myself could ever get with powers necessary to match those a true Elemental.

Without such immense power, I would not be able to hold him back, let alone defeat him.

Another red-hot orb shot from his hand and rocketed towards me with speed that would have been too much for any mortal to follow. Yet, it seemed incredibly slow to me and I had plenty of time to react, depending on which power I wanted to use. As it closed in, I remembered what the Light Elemental had told me in warning about using like powers on like powers and knew that a Fire power would do nothing to stop it.

If these powers were anything like how Elemental forces worked in everyday life, then a Wind power would do nothing but make it worse. That meant that I would have to use a Water power to cancel it out or Earth to smother it in midair. I chose Water, throwing out a hand and flinging a jet of water at the incoming orb, turning it into a blast of steam that disappeared in a wisp of wind.

Aku snarled in frustration and rapidly fired off one orb after another in quick succession, first Fire, then Ice or Water. I followed the Elemental powers easily, returning the attacks with their proper opposite Element, sending steam billowing into the air. He tried again with vicious ferocity and speed, only to find that I was able to easily match him and cancel out each attack with their opposing Element.

I waited patiently the moment he halted the fire and ice attacks, watching him circle me, studying me and the amulet that was set into the breastplate of my armor. His brow was creased with frustration, trying to figure out how I could have learned to use the Star so quickly and what attack he could use to get past my defenses with. So far, using Water and Ice or Fire had proved useless since I could call upon one or the other to cancel out the attack, depending on which he used.

He could still use Earth, Air, or Metal attacks, but no doubt he knew that I would be able to figure out how to cancel those out as well.

Finally, he lashed out with his right hand, firing off a silvery attack that I tried to counter with a fireball. Unfortunately, the attack was not Ice or Water of any kind, but Metal, taking the form of razor sharp shuriken that sailed through my fireball with ease. I hissed as they tore across my arms, legs, and face, narrowly missing my eyes and throat although one managed to imbed itself in my left arm near the elbow.

With a growl, I tore it out and tossed it aside, ignoring his sadistic grin as I waited for the next attack. Again he fired off a round of deadly shuriken, only this time, I was ready for it and sent an attack of small stones instead of a fireball to counter. Sparks flew as the metal shuriken collided with the stone and shattered into little more than metal crumbs upon the floor.

Over and over again, Aku rapidly fired off the attack, alternating the metal shuriken with sharpened stone formations of his own. I matched him as easily as I had with the Fire and Ice attacks, watching the sparks ignite in midair as the opposing forces collided. No matter how hard or fast he threw his attacks, I was able to block before any of them touched me.

Both of us were wearing down, completely exhausted from the exertion and magical energy drain, but stubbornly refusing to give up for anything. We were going to fight until one of us had been killed or we collapsed from exhaustion and spiritual drainage. Even his centuries of experience could not help him now.

With another roar, he fired off an alternating round of all four Elements, yet even this was easy enough for me to match. Sparks and steam danced in the air, sending drops of sweat rolling down my back beneath the armor. I could tell that his frustration was getting the better of him and knew that desperation could be dangerous, especially where one like Aku had everything to lose by letting one like me survive this encounter.

Finally, he stopped and I took the opportunity to send another fireball his way while he was gathering his wits for another attack. Although slow in his own attacks, he was quick to defend, bouncing it back at me with a wall of stone. Surprised at what had happened when he used Earth instead of Water, I tried to think of what to do to cancel out my own attack.

He took advantage of this momentary surprise on my part and threw his own fireball into my own, even though they were the same Element. The moment the two fireballs collided, they exploded in a blast with enough force to rip the right hip plate off and the left shoulder plate, taking a great deal of my skin with it. I had barely saved my face and torso with a wall of water so that the most the blast did there was heat my skin a painful red shade, but thankfully did not blister.

I fell hard on my back with a groan, feeling almost sick from the sharp, dizzying ache that radiated through my body. This time, I felt my collarbone snap and from the way each breath burned in my chest, I knew that some of my ribs had to be cracked or broken as well. I was beginning to painfully understand why the Light Elemental had warned to not use like Elemental powers on an incoming attack and knew that I had to get up before Aku finished me off.

A loud roar cut the air, followed by the sound of a katana being unsheathed and heavy running footsteps coming in my direction. I rolled onto my back and could see Aku running towards me with his katana drawn and raised overhead, a twisted spark of triumph shining in his eyes. My own katana had been torn off my hip in the blast and now lay beside me, just barely within reach.

Slowly, I reached out and closed my left hand around the handle, pulling it from its scorched and blackened scabbard.

"SHI-NEEEEEEEEEE!"[1] Aku roared, leaping in towards me.

The moment he launched himself into the air, I thrust my katana up between us at him, holding onto the handle with both hands. His eyes widened in disbelief as he realized that he could not stop himself now and had made one last fatal mistake. I grunted in pain as my blade pierced him all the way through the chest until he had slid over halfway down and I gave it a sharp twist to the left to make sure it was finished.

"You first." I snarled as his katana slipped from his hand and clattered on the floor.

A thin trickle of shadowy blood escaped one corner of his mouth and his eyes slowly went dark as his lifeforce slipped away from him. Even the Darkness Elemental could not heal around a blade, much less one laced with Metal and Light Elemental magic. With his reserves drained and the blade burning him, it had killed him almost instantly.

I gave another groan and closed my eyes as I attempted to catch my breath, feeling the ache of my wounds seep past the dulling heat of the adrenaline burning in my veins. It only took a second for my katana to feel warm, almost hot, and I opened my eyes again, wondering what could possibly be causing such a reaction with Aku dead. The moment I opened my eyes, a flash of light tore through my room in a delayed explosion of one final clash of essences, the force of which was enough to rocket through the mountain fortress like an exploding star.

Being so close to the magical explosion as I was, my body shot backwards across the floor with such speed and force that I thought for certain I would be torn apart. Debris of all shapes and sizes from the crumbling fortress battered my already battle-worn body as we flew through the air, sending me tumbling head over heels dizzily without any way to stop myself. I collided with the ground with such force that it jarred every last bone in my body and forced the air from my lungs so painfully that all I could do was let myself be tossed about.

Somewhere along the way, I slammed into something cold and hard and after such a heavy fight, I could not handle the impact and was abruptly jolted into a dark oblivion.
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[1]"SHI-NEEEEEEEEEE!" - "DIIIIIIIIIE!"
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War Of Shadows