Disclaimer – all original Samurai Jack characters in this fanfic (excluding my OC's) are the property of Gendy Tartakovsky and Cartoon Network.
Chapter 1. A Darkness in The Bright Future.
Six months have passed since Jack managed to return from the future thanks to Ashi's new found powers and defeated Aku, the Shogun of Sorrow. While the great darkness was no more, Jack learned that despite his victory, Aku managed to hurt him one last time even after the young samurai destroyed him for good.
Since Aku in the past was defeated and could no longer become the biological father of Ashi in the future, the young girl suddenly collapsed during her procession to the altar shortly before she and Jack were about to be wed. Ashi faded away in Jack's arms, leaving behind her empty bridal kimono.
Jack mourned the loss of his loved one alone in the forest, but when he spotted a ladybug, which landed on his finger, it reminded him of Ashi. Despite his great loss, Jack was at peace, knowing that there was hope for love and realized that without her sacrifice, he would have never saved the universe from Aku.
He let the ladybug fly away and smiled as the clouds parted, revealing the beautiful forest that would never again be decimated by Aku, showing that the future would be bright.
The young samurai didn't know that Aku in the future managed to do one thing immediately after Jack and Ashi returned to the past and before his past self was destroyed. A simple thing which would affect time and the whole world as he knew it, for better or worse.
Japan, Toshira City.
Toshira, the city closes to the palace of the emperor, was a place filled with merchants, the local ones and those from other lands. Aside from dozens of stands, some areas were filled with small podiums on which many locals presented theatrical acts for the passing folk. Some even stopped and watched the performances, tossing money on the stage and applauding cheerfully.
The streets, which were covered by the rays of the midday sun, were filled with residents of the city as well as visitors, who wanted to visit Japan and explore its culture, but no one expected to see the members of the royal family. The emperor and the prince slowly rode the street of Toshira city on their white horses.
Clad in royal kimonos, which were made from black silk; dark-blue haori with their family crest engraved on them; and with white-black hakama, the emperor and his son looked grandly as befitted the members of the royal family.
The people respectfully made way for them and bowed their heads as they passed by. Some even smiled, and even young children waved to Jack, who smiled sincerely and waved back.
"Do you think your mother would be surprised with a gift?" the emperor asked his son, glancing from one stand to another.
"You're giving her gifts every time we visit Toshira father," Jack looked at his father and replied with an amused smile. "I don't think you can surprise her any more."
"You're probably right," the emperor agreed and sighed.
"But that doesn't mean we can't get her something nice," Jack added reassuringly. "I'm sure she'll like it."
As they rode the streets of Toshira, the emperor noticed beautiful figurines and masks on a stand, that belonged to a foreigner merchant. Curious, he stooped his horse, dismounted it and approached the stand, pulling his animal companion by the reins.
Jack did the same thing, and both men approached the dark-skinned man dressed in a yellowish tunic.
"Ahhh... the emperor and the young prince," the man bowed his head with a wide smile. "It's an honour. Please, feel free to look at my merchandise."
Jack always found it amusing when anyone mentioned him being young. True, his body was still the same as when he was sent to the future by Aku because it stopped aging, but in reality, he was over seventy-years-old. This meant, he was technically older than his father.
While the emperor looked at the figurines, Jack's eye rested on the hanging carnival masks. One mask specifically drew his attention and brought back memories. The mask was white with black horns and very similar to the one Ashi and her sisters wore.
His father noticed this and placed a hand on Jack's shoulder. "You miss her," he said sympathetically.
"Every day," Jack lowered his head and closed his eyes. "But I know her sacrifice was not in vain."
A light smile appeared on the emperor's face. "She will always remain in your heart, my son," he consoled.
Jack looked at his father with a grateful smile. "I know," he replied.
A burst of young laughter was heard not far by the two of them, and Jack noticed a group of children, which stood in front of a small stage. "You should join them," suggested the emperor, knowing from experience that a person could succumb to the emotions and moods of other people. "A cheerful company would do you good."
Jack agreed and walked towards the stage. He recognized that it was a puppet theatre called Bunraku. The colourful and very detailed puppets were made to appear and then leave the stage through the small black curtains. Just above the small curtains, Jack noticed blinded screens, which had special blinds made from bamboo so that the audience could not see inside.
He left his horse with the father's one and approached the stage. The children laughed, cheered and didn't even paid attention to the well-known samurai, who stooped behind them. Jack raised his eyebrows and smiled when he spotted a puppet that resembled him. The puppet representing Jack fought against a black puppet of Aku and was currently winning. It filled him with joy seeing that no one feared the once powerful and evil creature.
As Jack watched the puppet theatre something caught his attention and made him stop smiling. A figure stood not far from the stage, watching the show as well. The person was clad in black samurai gi and wore a large black-painted, traditional hat called: jingasa, that covered his face. Jack immediately took a glance at the person's weapon at his left side and was able to tell by its shape, and the way the sharpened edge of the sheath faced up, that it was a katana.
With the colourful background and the cheerful children, the silent person really stood out and could frighten someone during the night. Jack felt something strange coming from that person, a distinctive, somewhat sinister aura. It was the reason other people just ignored him and took a glance at him when they passed by, while Jack focused on the stranger. The black-clothed person slowly turned his head towards Jack, who arched his eyebrow in a curious expression.
"Son, what do you think?" the emperor, who approached Jack suddenly asked. The young prince looked at his father, who held a beautiful figurine of a woman holding a diamond-shaped vase, but immediately looked back at the mysterious figure.
The person in the black gi walked towards them at a slow pace. When he was close, the young samurai was able to notice that the sinister aura didn't come from him, but the katana. From up close, Jack spotted the red symbols engraved on the sheath and the hilt. The emperor felt a similar aura from the weapon as well.
Stopping right beside them, the person slowly turned his head towards the two men, who eyed him up suspiciously. With the large black-painted hat enabling to see his face, the two remained on their guard. Jack had a katana at his side just like his father. The magical sword, which helped him defeat Aku, was placed inside the restored palace, but any standard weapon in his or his father's hands was enough to fend off thugs and bandits.
Standing sideways to them, the person reached out with a gloved, closed fist towards Jack and opened it. The young samurai spotted a small ladybug, which remained still for a few moments until it flew away into the sky. Jack frowned and wanted to break the silence between them, but then, the stranger lifted his jingasa with his other hand so that his face was now partially visible.
Jack's eyes widened as he recognized the same mask that Ashi and her sisters wore but only without the headdress that resembled Aku's horns. Without a word, the figure continued to walk down the street and turned into an alley.
The mask and the ladybug were not mere coincidences. "Either this man knows about my past and is mocking me," Jack thought to himself. "Or..."
"Father, please return to mother," Jack said to the emperor while his gaze was glued on the direction.
"Did you felt it as well?" the emperor asked. "The cold and the smell of blood coming from the sword."
"Yes," Jack replied. "I need to get to the bottom of this."
The emperor looked at his son and knew the true reason why he wanted to pursue the stranger. He also noticed the mask and remembered the adventures of which his son told him. "Don't lose focus and don't let your emotions to be used against you," he warned Jack. "He could be just a random thug who knows a few magic tricks, but one can never be too careful."
Jack exhaled, closing his eyes. "I know," he assured. "All be careful."
With these words, Jack opened his eyes and ran after the stranger, while his father looked at his son.
Jack ran into the alley and reached its end very quickly, jumping over wooden boxes on his way with minimal effort. It was a maze of alleys, but luckily for him, it was the middle of the day so everything was bright and he could see everything thanks to the sunlight. Turning his head left and right, he spotted the stranger on his right, who seemed to head somewhere. "Stop!" Jack called out and pursued. If the stranger heard him, he didn't comply.
Jack followed him turning the corners a few times until he spotted the exit from the alleys and reached a large backyard. Two houses faced the entrance to the alley with a large grassy field between them.
A young girl played on the grass with a doll near a Japanese cherry tree, while her mother sat on a bench under it and watched her. The black-haired woman looked at Jack with a curious expression, and after a few seconds, she turned her head to look at someone else.
Jack followed her gaze and spotted the stranger, who stood with his head raised high towards the sky. The young samurai arched his eyebrow and began to walk towards him. When he was close enough, he stopped and asked with a demanding tone. "Who are you?"
"Save the questions after the fight," the stranger replied for the first time and kept looking at the sky. Jack frowned and rested his hand on the hilt of his katana, but didn't draw the blade just yet. As he waited for an attack, a shining, yellow symbol appeared on the blue sky just above the two.
Every resident and merchant in the city could see the beautiful symbol, which began to spark with black bolts like a sinister omen. The yellow symbol darkened until it became completely black.
"What is this?!" surprised, Jack looked at the sky and spotted a humanoid-sized being coming out of the portal and descending towards the ground. Clad from head to toe in gold, shining armour and armed with two sharpened crookes, also known as heka in Egyptian, the being wore a helmet in the shape of a falcon. After his adventures in the future, more specifically Egypt when he faced the three minions of Set, Jack guessed this being must've been a servant or a minion of Ra.
Shocked at this encounter, the young samurai took a few steps back as the tall, armoured being landed before the stranger. Being twice as tall as an ordinary man, the minion looked down at him and then at Jack silently. In his mind, Jack thought the stranger did a terrible thing to bring upon himself the wrath of the Egyptian deity.
The woman on the bench quickly got up and ran up to her daughter, grabbing her and running towards one of the houses. She didn't know what was going on, but she was worried for her and her daughter's safety too much to wait for anything to happen.
The armoured being turned its falcon helmet towards the woman with the child in her arms and without any words, it jumped towards them.
"What's going on?!" Jack asked confused as the being landed on the ground blocking the woman's way. If anything, he expected the minion of Ra to fight the stranger not pursue random, defenseless people.
The young woman stopped in her tracks before the creature, who raised one of the crooks and swung it down to land a death blow. She turned around and covered her child with her own body. Before the weapon could end their lives, Jack jumped between them and blocked the crook with his katana. The blow was immensely powerful and the blade of Jack's katana began to bend.
"What are you doing?!" he asked perplexed, pushing the katana against the strength of the being. "You're a minion of Ra! This is an innocent woman and a child! Stop this!"
The being wordlessly raised the second crook and was ready to swing at Jack. The samurai realized he could not dodge because the woman and the child were still behind him and they would be struck down. This time, however, the stranger was the one who reacted.
With the blade still inside the black-red sheath, the stranger hit the falcon-shaped helmet with the hilt. Black sparks appeared in the moment of the impact and Jack had a hunch it was some kind of dark magic. It was enough to off-balance the being and force it to took a few steps back, thus breaking the blade-lock with Jack.
He noticed that the spot on the gold helmet slightly lost its glow when it was struck by the hilt. Without wasting any more time, Jack turned on his heel and grabbed the woman with the child, taking them to a safe distance.
The being roared in a mix of a high-pitched screech and a low-pitched growl as if two creatures were inside the armour. It lunged at the stranger with its two crooks raised overhead and swung downwards. The man dodged to the side as the weapons were driven into the ground and he immediately attacked, hitting the being with the hilt in the same spot once again. This time a small crack appeared on the same spot on the helmet.
With a furious roar, the being let go one of its crooks, which was rammed into the ground, and grabbed the stranger's leg before he could move to a safe distance and hurled him towards the cherry tree.
"Ghh!" the man hit the tree hard and landed in a crouched position. The pain in his back was intense but he endured. The impact caused the tree to shook. The cherry blossom leaves covered the grass under the tree and the man's jingasa. As he raised his head, the being was already close and swung his crook horizontally.
In the last second, the man ducked, almost going prone. The weapon hit the tree cutting it and stopped in the middle of the trunk. The man immediately attacked and once again hit the spot on the helmet with the hilt. This time, a small piece of the armour fell off, revealing darkness.
With an inhuman roar, the being leg off the crook and backhanded the man, who was send flying to the side. It placed its hand on the helmet, taking a few steps back. A black goo began to spurt from the whole. At first, Jack felt a chill coming down his spine because it was very similar to the black substance Aku was made and the young samurai thought that the demonic sorcerer returned. However, the goo bubbled and moved on its own without taking any shape, soaking into the grass and the earth. Everything it touched began to root and decay with terrifying speed, becoming more black goo in the process.
The gold armour felt into pieces as the whole remaining goo spurt from the wound.
"What kind of corruption is this?!" Jack asked out loud as he watched the horror with his own eyes. At that moment, he wished he has his magical sword with him.
"What's going on?" asked an old lady, who left one of the houses to see what was the reason for the ruckus. The goo spread around and moved closer and closer towards the houses, almost reaching the porch where the old lady stood calmly.
"Run away, quick!" Jack shouted to the old lady. He knew that she would not move away in time and wanted to save her, but it was the stranger who got to her first.
The man managed to get up and dashed towards the lady. Avoiding the goo, he jumped over the deadly black puddle and landed on the porch of the house. He moved between the lady and the goo and reached into his kimono, pulling out a shiny, black orb.
Extending his hand, he directed the orb towards the goo. The object began to siphon the moving mass like a small black hole. After a couple of seconds, the whole goo was absorbed inside the orb, but everything that was covered with it earlier was eradicated into nothingness. Greenery and even a large portion of the earth were gone, leaving only a hole in the ground in the shape of a puddle.
The empty armour and the weapons, that belonged to the minion of Ra, turned into dust, which was blown away by the wind. Jack only stared in disbelief and confusion while the stranger hid the orb inside his kimono. "Is everything okay?" the stranger asked, turning to face the old lady.
"I-I think so," the old lady answered, confused by the whole situation. When an older man entered the porch, the stranger gestured towards her and spoke. "Take your wife inside, she needs to relax."
The older man witnessed everything through the window and complied without any protest or questions. Gently, he grabbed his wife by the arm and took her inside the house.
The stranger turned around and moved further from the house. He looked up at the black symbol on the sky and grabbed the hilt of his katana. With one quick motion, he pulled out the blade for the first time and pointed at the portal with it.
Jack noticed red sparks on the blade and a sudden bolt of crimson energy came out from the tip of the blade and towards the portal. When it touched it, the portal began to get smaller until it completely vanished from the sky.
The stranger sheathed his katana and looked at Jack, who kept his eyes on the sky. "I'll meet you in your home," he announced. "Your questions will be answered there."
Jack looked at the stranger, who turned around, jumped over the whole and entered the alley, leaving the backyard. He never expected this day to be so crazy. Turning his head to look at the woman, Jack helped her up. "Are you two alright?" he asked concernedly.
"Y-Yes," she replied with a shaky voice, even more confused and shocked than Jack. "T-Thank you a hundred times."
"Please, go home and rest," Jack told her gently, to which she nodded and walked away, clutching her daughter and trembling. The young samurai turned his head towards the entrance to the alley and narrowed his eyes. If that was only a one-time occurrence, then it was okay, but if such a situation could happen again, he had to act. Jack needed to return to the palace and get his answers.
Sometime later – The Emperor's Palace.
Jack made haste towards his palace. He wanted to be there first before the mysterious person could arrive, and any more strange things would happen. Immediately after arrival, he told his father, who returned home, what happened and the emperor was shocked when he heard about the dangerous black goo inside the divine armour, which represented Ra, the God of the sun.
Now just like Jack, the emperor wanted answers. If anything threatened the people of his land, it was his sacred duty to protect them. Not to mention the black goo was really familiar to the one Aku was made of which made the situation even more menacing.
The stranger appeared as promised and was immediately brought by the guards to see the emperor and his son. After a walk through a large corridor with stone floor and tall columns, the stranger was led upstairs.
The guards stooped before the sliding shōji doors and opened them, revealing a large room with orange tatami flooring. The stranger spotted the emperor and his son, who sat in traditional seiza positions on the traditional zabuton cushions before a low table. The Emperor had a separate armrest on his right side. On the wall behind them, rested the magical and famous katana, which Jack used to defeat Aku.
Taking off his black-colored geta and entering the room barefooted, the stranger approached the low table. Taking off his jingesa but leaving the mask on, he bowed his head with respect.
"We welcome you stranger," the emperor said politely and gestured towards the cushion. "I heard from my son what happened in Toshira city and I thank you for your actions and bravery."
"There's no need for that," the stranger replied and sat down on the cushion before the two members of the royal family. "I only wanted to get rid of that abomination and have your son witness the corruption. I was sure that leaving a lot of questions in his mind would compel him to get answers and follow me. I knew that without the divine katana he would be at a disadvantage but I assure you, I didn't want to put him in harm's way despite my deep hatred towards him."
Jack slightly narrowed his eyebrows. "For what reason you hate me?" he asked. "I don't recall meeting you in the past. If I offended or caused you any harm, I'll be sure to make amends."
"Let's just say your fight with Aku was the reason I'm forced to fight your battles," replied the stranger. "If you'd killed Aku before he sent you to the future Jack, I would not be here right now."
Jack's eyes widened when he heard his 'name' been spoken by the stranger. "Who are you, and how do you know me?" he asked.
The stranger reached for his mask and took it off, revealing a young human face with black hair and blue eyes. While he was young, both Jack and his father noticed under eye circles on his face, which clearly indicated lack of sleep. "My name is Kyou, and you need to help me," replied the young man. "The gods that forged your magic sword are being corrupted by a great darkness that threatens the world as we know it."
"You mean by Aku?!" the emperor asked.
"No," Kyou shook his head. "By something much much worse."
Please R&R ;)