Author's
Introduction
By Laura McDaniel
For a while now, I've been following the story a man known only as Samurai
Jack. From what I've gathered, Jack fought Aku in the past, but the demon
sent him ahead in time. (As for how I got to this time: I wrote myself
in!) Now, Jack is trying to get back to his own time to undo the damage
Aku has done.
On his journey, Jack has met many different foes. Among them are bounty
hunters intent on collecting the two googolplex Aku has placed on his head.
Most of these hunters act independently, but I'd heard that some of them
report directly to Aku himself. I really know little more about these individuals,
and for the longest time, I didn't want to. However, morbid curiosity
made me wonder more about those people: What drives them? Is the money
or something deeper?
That curiosity finally took over me the other night. I dressed myself
in a hooded black cloak and went to one of the local bars where such shady
characters sometimes hang out, hoping that one of them would talk to me.
Of course, not everyone there had malicious intent, so I had to do my best
to appear objective.
I sat at the bar for a couple of hours but, much to the disappointment
of the bartender, I drank nothing but water. I nodded a greeting to just about
every one who came in, but nobody responded or seemed to acknowledge me in
the least. I was beginning to think I should just get up and leave because
the smoke that filled the room was starting to irritate my eyes, but then
she arrived.
The woman was tall and fierce looking. She had short black hair that was
marked with blood-red streaks and there was a red flame-shaped marking around
each eye. In addition, her top lip was also deep red while the bottom was
painted black. Her clothes were tight-fitting, which revealed that her figure
was somewhat muscular, yet still undoubtedly feminine. She wore a red, short-sleeved
shirt and her pants were red with thin black vertical stripes on the outside
of her legs and solid black on the inside. On her feet, she wore a pair
of shiny black boots. Judging by her appearance and the fact that she had
an impressive artillery attached to the black belt she wore around her waist,
I assumed she was a bounty hunter that was very loyal to Aku, but
I decided not to say anything. She returned my nod and sat next to me but
said nothing to me. She just pulled off the black gloves she was wearing
and went on to order a drink.
I noticed that most of the woman's exposed flesh was covered with scratches
and bruises of all sizes. Some of them even looked fresh. When she noticed
me looking at her wounds, she smirked and then proceeded to tell me a bit
about herself, not even asking who I was. She said that her name is Leiko
Mouko and that she's been a bounty hunter for Aku for several years (but
she wouldn't let me know her exact age).
Though I still cannot bring myself to condone her actions or her chosen
line of work, I thoroughly enjoyed finally hearing a bounty hunter's insights.
Knowing that others would enjoy hearing about her adventures, I decided
I would record what she told me that night and that I would find her again
in the future to see what other stories she has to tell. Unless otherwise
noted, the writing following this introduction is Leiko's exact words.
--LM