SAMURAI POWERPUFFS

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO – The Sword of Righteousness

With all its anger driving it, Aku formed itself into a gigantic, black vulture. Its beard made it almost resemble a turkey, something Jack had never seen until he came to the place that was once known as America. His laughter only enraged Aku further as it swooped toward the warrior, talons slashing and massive beak snapping.

Jack waited until the shadow was over him, then dodged and swung. He struck one of the outstretched talons and sliced it off. Black ooze shot out and Aku was engulfed in an electrical charge, as if struck by lightning. It screamed with rage and pain and was forced back to its original form. When it faced Jack again, it had shrunk in size.

"Curses! I have allowed my anger to get the best of me!"

Jack stood in the yard of the former Utonium home, looking up. "You are diminished, Aku. Every stroke of my blade diminishes you further."

"Silence, fool! It is you who will be diminished, and destroyed by the very creatures who once healed you!"

The samurai stared at the demon, hovering safely away from the power of his blade.

"Aku knows it is in trouble, yet I sense it is still confident. I fear for the young ones."

* * * * * * *

"Blossom, what have you done?" the professor yelled, horrified.

Her sisters looked at her in shock. "He did it again!" Buttercup shouted. "Aku took her over again!"

She and Bubbles opened up on Blossom with their lasers. Blossom cried out in pain and fell back but didn't return fire.

"No girls," she gasped, "it's him. He wanted to go back and stop Jack from being born."

To her utter amazement, and her sisters' too, the professor simply crossed his arms and said, "Yes, I am Aku."

He held up his hands before they could move. "But I had no intention of going back to destroy the samurai. I cannot do that by myself; I do not have the power. I wanted you to see the truth of what happened in my time. For you see, what the samurai has told you is all lies. He is the true evil. It is true, I am very powerful and can send myself and others into the future, but I cannot return. I needed that time machine and hoped that you would help me."

"Huddle!"

They talked quietly for several moments, Aku/professor watching them curiously. When they broke, Blossom spoke.

"Well, I guess it does make sense."

"Yeah," Buttercup agreed. "How could one guy do all the stuff he says he did?"

"Really!" Bubbles laughed. "An' those magic tears making him all better like that! We've got superpowers but that's a new one on us!"

"Okay." Blossom said. "We'll help you, but there's one thing that confuses me. How are we gonna go back to where he is if you can't go back in time?"

"I cannot once I am in the future, but that is the reason for my splitting, as you saw. My other self can open up the passageway and that is our way back. But doing so weakens us both. I must reform soon. Together, we can defeat the evil warrior and undo the damage he has caused. But we must hurry, for my other self is in battle with the samurai as we speak and needs our help!"

They watched in awe as the professor waved his hand and they were in the sky once again, near the spot where they had first seen their restored Townsville. Aku took its form once more, but appeared much smaller than earlier, and its eyes shone with less brilliance.

"It wasn't kidding." Buttercup whispered to her sisters. "It looks weaker."

"Yeah." Blossom whispered back. "We better hurry up!"

* * * * * * *

Aku wanted to weaken the samurai further before the rejoining but it was not going well. Twice more it was struck with the sword and twice more it was weakened. Things were not going as planned and now it was the warrior that was doing the taunting.

"He is right! However, I sense things are going well. Perhaps it is time to reform."

Aku swung one of its hands and opened a new portal across the sky. Jack was powerless to stop it.

* * * * * * *

"Pounce on the samurai before he can react!" Aku told them. The vortex had closed behind them and the girls could see it opening at the other end of the long tunnel that they were following it through this time.

"Here's what we'll do." Blossom said. "Bubbles, you fly down and bring the samurai to us, so Aku can save its strength until it joins. Aku, Buttercup and I will stay with you until you join your other half, just to be sure the samurai can't attack both of you at the same time."

"A wise plan, young one! Once he is destroyed you will be rewarded!"

"How?"

"Once his evil is undone, so will be what that other creature I witnessed did, the one who sent you here in the first place. He and the samurai have been working together!"

"Yeah, that's what we think, too!" Buttercup said.

They were nearly to the opening now, and as they burst through it, Blossom shouted, "Bubbles, do your stuff!"

Jack saw Bubbles racing straight toward him and the other two hanging back by the reappeared Aku; while the demon's other half raced toward it.

The two voices roared in unison, "It is over, Samurai!"

Bubbles screeched. "It's over!"

She grabbed Jack roughly by the neck, lifting him off the ground, and she sneered savagely skyward. She raced directly toward the half of Aku streaking to meet her sisters.

Whispering to the startled warrior, she said, "It's over all right. For Aku!"

Jack sliced his blade across its arm. Both halves screamed, trying to reach each other, but Buttercup and Blossom had hold of the others' arms and it couldn't move.

"No! You have deceived Aku!"

"Just who'd you think you were dealing with, huh?" Buttercup shouted, blasting it in the face while punching it with her free hand. Blossom was doing the same thing. "Good thing you thought to look for those Slim Jims, Blossom!"

"Which weren't there! They say the devil's in the details but some devil you are! You can't even keep your facts straight!" Blossom laughed at Aku.

"Yeah!" Buttercup scowled. "And if you needed a time machine so bad, why'd you blow up the other one?"

The demon was in too much pain and shock to realize what it had missed.

"No! Must reform! Must escape to another time!"

With Bubbles holding him, Jack sliced Aku again and again. But its oozing life-force reached out its snaking tendrils for its other self, which was holding its own against the two Powerpuffs. It hadn't shrunk at all in size.

"No!" Jack yelled. "Do not allow them to join!"

"We need a sword like yours, Jack!" Buttercup shouted over. "Its too strong!"

Blossom froze, stopping her attack momentarily. Her eyes flew wide. "Girls! We do too have a magic sword! Remember our kitty friend?"

Jack had no idea what they were talking about, but the faces of the other two girls showed that they did.

"Hang on tight, Jack!" Bubbles told him. "You're on your own!"

She took off to join her sisters and they flew out of sight in an instant, leaving Jack to hang onto the wounded and weakening half of Aku. He was able to do what he never could standing on the ground, where the demon had always been able to take to the sky and escape. He plunged the blade into Aku again and again, but its other half was very close. If they were allowed to touch…

Out of nowhere, which was actually outer space where the girls had met and formed up, Jack saw a tri-colored blur like the one he first saw early that day. Incredibly, as it got closer, it began to look exactly like a sword in shape. It dove straight at the stronger half.

Aku saw it coming. "No! It is not possible!"

Jack heard three savage shouts.

"I am the blade of Wisdom!"

"I am the blade of Mercy!"

"I am the blade of Strength!"

"We are the Sword of Righteousness!"

With a scream that seemed to rip apart the sky, they sliced through the heart of the demon. Its ooze spread in all directions as it seemed to implode. Jack saw the three girls emerge from behind it, looking a little dazed from the force of their action. He also saw, as he hung onto the other half of Aku, the two black masses touching.

"No!" he shouted, hanging on, as with its last remaining strength, the rejoined Aku once more threw open a path to escape. It lunged toward the portal. Jack held on with one hand, stabbing it repeatedly.

"Get it, girls, don't let it get away!" Blossom shouted, fully recovered. They tore after the rapidly shrinking mass. It was halfway through the opening, pulling the samurai in with it headfirst.

"Jack!" Bubbles screamed. "Let go!"

"Let go!" they all screamed frantically. They weren't going to reach him in time.

.

Jack turned to face them, a slight smile on his face. "It is my struggle now, girls. Your struggle has only just begun." With one final savage thrust and a horrible shriek from Aku, the portal sealed itself with a force unknown to them. The entire sky seemed to explode in their eyes and when they struck the earth below them, they were not aware of it.

NEXT: Days of Future Passed