Here's my take on the next part of the Samurai Jack opening episode. I've had to rate it because I have included something the cartoon could not…wonderful glorious gory bits hehe. It's not that bad really, but I suppose I'd best be careful.
Awakened - Chapter two: The Return of the Demon
The eclipse had caused little panic in the town. There were the endless cries of a man condemned for being mad and that was all. He was chained like an animal in the square to be made an example of. He yelled obscenities in his native Japanese with an increasingly strained voice, speaking rapidly of this dreadful omen.
From his small balcony overlooking the entire town a little boy watched this raving towns person with amusement. His father, the Emperor was pacing along the marble floor pointing at painting inscribed proudly on the walls of the well-lit room. The sunlight, free from the bounds of the moon eclipsing it showered onto the colourful story those walls told, the images leaping to life basking in its golden rays. The boy was only half listening but suddenly at the utter of one dreadful word he turned to face his kind hearted father.
"My son, I thought that would get your attention but worry not for as you can see with the aid of the magical Katana I was able to banish Aku to an eternal imprisonment," said the Emperor placing a comforting hand on the little boys shoulder as he knelt in front of him. The boy stared wide-eyed as his father pointed him to a tall flight of stone stairs in the town centre. Atop the staircase was a glass container magnificently displaying the Katana held aloft by the mouths of two beautifully carved dragons.
"Always be alert my son, for evil is always lurking around the corner. In our minds and our hearts as much as physically placing itself amongst us. It is our legacy to make sure that does not occur," whispered the Emperor, he bowed to his son, who bowed in return and walked towards the back of the room to greet his wife.
The Empress looked with child-like glee at her son. He was very much like his father, sot black hair that would one day flow down his back like a waterfall as it grew and dark eyes that lit up with delight. His heart and courage already matched that of his father, he was small in height now but one day would grow tall, towering as a force of sheer might. His mothers hopes were no where near what reality would cruelly hold.
The boy stabbed at the air with his wooden sword causing his white Kimono to make a quiet swish as he moved gracefully. Both parents were filled with pride as they left the room with wide grins upon their noble faces to be elsewhere in the palace.
It was then that the boy learnt the true meaning of the darkest form of terror. As he fought imaginary demons a large shadow blocked the sunlight, looming over him consuming his entire colour. He turned slightly and leapt backward as a single large drop of human blood fell and stained the balcony floor, smattering along the decorated tiles and slithering towards the boys feet. He dared not to look up, wrestling with his natural desire to do so. Unable to hold curiosity at bay the boy turned fully and strained in the overcast light. A real demon stood threateningly in front of him! It narrowed those horrid flame ringed eyes in an expression of hate. The mouth turned up into a sneer ever more exposing terrible sharp curled teeth. The gleaming white was stained blood red.
The boy was transfixed as the demon raised a blood stained bony arm and released a tormented mass from its claws. A scream lodged in the back of the boys throat as a dismembered bloody body fell inches in front of him with a metallic clank. The mad towns person was no more. With a gurgle the scream of terror managed to escape alerting the parents to their sons distress as they paced half way down the hall.
The Emperor skidded on the pool of blood now seeping across the floor but stopped in time to see the familiar shape of Aku before him, laughing at the boy in his patheticness. The Empress grabbed her son before the beast could grasp him in his awful talons reaching out at the poor boy as he sobbed. She sprinted after her husband who was yelling at the top of his lungs for the army to attack.
From the archways along the ground floor the three royals could see that this evil being had already started a pile of bodies at its base. The poor towns people who had been in the square when it had arrived did not stand a chance. The boy felt even more rotted to the core on the site of such a waste of what had been perfectly happy lives.
The army had arranged itself into neat rows on the ground and all around the towering city walls. They circled Aku from all directions, he rose his arms and semi-clenched his claws in anger, looking misleadingly frustrated at being out numbered.
The first assault were pots of flaming coal boulders catapulted in unison at the beast. Aku was knocked backward as a few hit him but managed to remain upright swaying slightly. He snarled and grasped a passing boulder in his claws before throwing it back towards those who had aimed it at him. The splintering of wood and cracking of human bones rung out as the flaming boulder hit the catapult section. Those who were not crushed set alight and ran dazed as their flesh slowly burned. In panic they slipped on the blood oozing from underneath the boulder; some lucky enough to crack their heads open on the floor for a quicker exit.
Next the archers tried their luck. A shower of arrows, some tipped with fire, rained on the demon. Aku was taken by surprise as some managed to pierce his elbows and chest. Reeling back in pain he stumbled but began to chuckle again. He raised his arms in turn high above his head and sucked the arrows with no pain and little effort deep into his flesh. He picked out the few stuck in his chest and threw them at a loan soldier. Straightening his skinny arms in both directions he cruelly fired the arrows out of his black palms back onto the army. Many fell as the tips tore through their chests. Those on the walls fell over the edge to their death, some were blinded while others were either burning brilliantly or just in so much pain that they fell.
The Emperor felt sick at the site of his army's demise but had to watch one last man fall in the most atrocious way. A brave soul stepped forward in vain and the demon brutally crushed the challengers head against a wall, spilling the contents of his fragile skull in a stream of red against the pure white brick. The Emperor boldly decided to dash for the Katana assuming that Aku was too preoccupied with licking the blood from his spindly fingers.
The demon suddenly stopped as if it were charging up some sort of energy. The eyes glowed hot white and a deadly beam of flame swept along the walls severely wounding many more men. At that moment the Emperor sprinted partway up the stone stairway. Aku turned and growled,
"Not this time!" he hissed reaching out one of his long black arms and wrapping the thin clawed fingers around the vulnerable Emperor. The Emperor screamed as Aku squeezed him making the drawing of breath difficult, he chose his words carefully.
"My sweet wife! Aku has returned do as we have planed!"
The boy was staring in shock, his lower lip trembled as tears began to well up in his widened eyes. He felt so useless and jumped as his mothers arm clamped down on his shoulder. A look of determination crossed her heartbroken face and she ran with all her strength to grasp the magical Katana. Aku was too busy picking up any further challengers and crushing their skulls in his free hand, the ground around him was now dark red, almost black with human blood. He failed to notice her.
Katana in hand, the Empress scooped her son up into her arms and dashed for the nearby harbour leaping over corpses and the dying as if they were hurdles. The smell was unbearable, it curled menacingly into her nostrils making her gag for air but it did not cease her from attempting her goal. The boy looked back over her shoulder one last time at his father and the demon. The Emperor had passed out and was lying limp over the demons knuckles. Aku continued to flame the buildings around him and laughed evilly at his own success.
The Empress placed her trembling lips on her sons pale cheek and handed him over to the Captain of the ship ready to immediately set sail from the harbour. The Captain bellowed the order to set out as soon as his rough fingertips touched the nervous little boy and set him onto the deck. The boy cried as the distance between him and his weeping mother grew larger, the ocean gaping below them. The Captain wrapped a muscular arm of comfort around the boys small frame. The Empress remain on the dock, crying and boldly awaiting her capture.
The ship had begun its long journey, the sky bleeding red as the town behind them burned. There was another crack of thunder as Aku laughed with satisfaction. The boy was just about able to see that the boarders of the town was indeed running red with the blood of man…
I apologise for making it violent and once again not being very original. I just wanted to adapt this scene in my own way…thank you for reading it J .