A Samurai Jack Fanfic
By Laura McDaniel
A Pawn in the Game
"Aww, is the wittle samuwai scared?" one of the creatures teased.
Jill got a hold of herself for a moment and said, "N-no. It is just the...cold that makes me shiver. How much farther must you take me?"
"Well, at the moment, Aku's castle is anchored not too far from here. He moves the thing whenever he feels like it," the other creature replied.
Jill nodded and commented, "So I've heard." Looking down, she noticed that they were still on the dirt road leading westward from the village, which was odd, considering it hadn't been that long before. Aku had undoubtedly altered the landscape when he planted his castle because the road's lengthening was not the only change. Though they were once walking past lush, green fields, the grass farther down the road was dry and sparse.
In the end, they reached a desolate clearing where the ground was nothing but red sand. A blood-red sun seemed to hang directly over the spider-like silhouette of Aku's castle. Jill's captors stopped for a moment just to look at the scene, but a violent gust of wind blew sand in their faces and obscured their view.
"Aku certainly knows how to make an entrance," one creature murmured to the other.
"Tell me about it," the other creature replied.
"Come on!" Jill snapped. "I want to get this over with. Just go on in."
"There's no reason for us to listen to you, prisoner!" one of the creatures spat, while the other one kicked her. "But you have a point: the sooner you're off our hands, the sooner you're in Aku's. Let's go."
"I don't see how Aku can be worse than these two idiots!" Jill muttered. Thankfully, her captors didn't hear her.
The creatures tightened their grip on Jill's arms and she cringed when their tiny claws pierced her flesh. Though she tried to face her fate without fear, she found herself trembling again while they walked her nearer to the shadowy castle.
"Um...how does this thing work again?" one creature asked, stopping in front of the bizarre glowing portal that led to Aku's lair.
"Just step into the light, you idiot!" the other snorted.
"Oh...right."
They stepped up to the puddle of light in front of the portal. In an instant, a bolt of electricity hit them and they were zapped inside Aku's lair. They found themselves standing on a sharp cliff that jutted over what appeared to be a lake of fire. From the lake, a voice hissed, "Who dares to summon the great Aku?"
Inch by inch, the demon rose from the pit until he towered over Jill and her captors. He looked down at them, eyebrows flaming rapidly with expectation. Tired of waiting for a reply he barked, "If you are not going to tell me, then it must not be worth it." Aku prepared to lower himself back into the lake when one of the creatures spoke up.
"O, Great Aku, we are but lowly bounty hunters," the creature began, bowing respectfully, "and we have brought you a prize you have long sought after."
"Oh?" Aku asked, sounding intrigued. He lowered himself until just his head looked over the cliff as he examined the bounty hunters and their prize. "Ugh," he said rising slightly, "that does not look like anything I asked for."
"But, of course it is!" the other creature exclaimed, trying to defend himself. "It is Samurai Jack, the warrior who has troubled you for so long, Your Majesty."
Jill said nothing, and stood firmly as the demon carefully looked her over. Once he was completely certain that she was not Jack, he rose above the cliff and bellowed, "How foolish do you think I am? Do you expect me to pay you two googolplex for bringing me some random person who just happens to be dressed like him?"
The bounty hunters were so startled that they both let go of Jill's arms. "But...it really is Jack! He said so himself!" the first one exclaimed.
"Yeah!" the other one agreed. He nudged Jill and pleaded, "Come on, Jack, tell him!"
Not knowing what else to do, Jill took a deep breath and calmly stated, "Surprisingly enough, Aku, you are not as stupid as these bounty hunters are. They are not trying to deceive you, because I have deceived them. In other words, they really do think I am Jack, but, as you properly concluded, I am not he. I am Samurai Jill."
The two bounty hunters gasped and exchanged confused glances. Aku, on the other hand, roared with laughter. "Samurai Jill? Oh, that is a good one." He lowered himself again and looked right at Jill, who, despite her chained hands, reached for her sword. The demon laughed even more at that and sneered, "Oh, I'm so frightened! Samurai Jill has a wooden sword!" Jill ignored him and firmly grasped her weapon. Even though the blade was merely wooden, she stood prepared for battle. "You could not hurt a fly with that thing!" Aku cackled. He quickly transformed into a fly and buzzed into Jill's ears, "Hehe!" Jill aimed her sword to smite the pesky insect, but Aku had returned to his normal state before she got the chance to hit him. "See? What did I tell you?" He laughed once again as he lowered himself to look Jill right in the eyes. "So tell me, 'Jill,' you are clearly not Jack, but have you come in contact with him?"
Realizing that answering Aku's question might put Jack in danger, she replied, "I do not wish to answer that."
"I will take that as a yes." Aku turned himself into a bat and hovered over the bounty hunters' heads. "Well, this isn't quite what I asked for, but I believe I can use this girl to my advantage. However, because you are both incredibly foolish, I will give you only one googolplex for her."
"One googolplex?" one of the creatures lamented. "But, we were each planning on keeping one googolplex a piece!"
"Silence!" Aku roared, turning into a lion. "Take what I offered you, or else leave empty handed."
"Um...we'll take it," the other bounty hunter replied, looking uneasily at the lion.
"Good," Aku replied, returning to normal. He rose above the group again and waved a hand, which caused a bag of money to appear in the air. It floated down to the creatures and the demon growled, "Now, unchain the girl, take the money, and get out of here before I change my mind!"
Obediently, one of the creatures took out a key and removed Jill's handcuffs, while the other picked up the bag of money. Then, the two of them turned and ran from the lair.
Jill was alone with Aku. She looked up into the demon's eyes and tried not to think about the first time she saw him. She felt so helpless then, and now she had nothing more than a wooden sword to defend herself with.
"I have plans for you," Aku hissed.
Trying to hide all signs of fear, Jill asked, "And what would those be?"
"Well, I've got a transformation I have been practicing and..."
Jill interrupted him with a laugh. "You have to practice your transformations? How pathetic!"
Though he appeared irritated at the girl, Aku calmly replied, "Well, not most of them. It is just that I have a complicated one I have been saving for a special occasion and I think this is special enough." He smiled toothily and added, "Something tells me that Jack will come looking for you, and when he comes, I will finally be ready to put an end to him!"
"No form will save you from Jack. He fears none of them."
"True," Aku replied. "The form alone will not lead to Jack's defeat. You will also play an important role."
Jill cringed at Aku's words. "I don't see how even your most devious plan could lead to Jack's downfall. However, that does not change the fact that I want no part of this. Isn't there something else you could do to me? I'd rather be tossed into the Pit of Hate than this!" Even though she still didn't know what the Pit of Hate was, but she preferred to suffer alone than cause harm to Jack.
"Oh, no," Aku said as he eyed her carefully, "I would gain nothing if I did that. I reserve the Pit of Hate for those that need to be taught to respect me. While you are certainly disrespectful, I have decided that putting up with it will be more profitable in the long run than trying to fix it. Of course, since you have shown interest in the Pit of Hate, I might cast you in there later." He extended one of his stick-like hands and picked up Jill. He looked into her eyes and sneered, "You're in my hands now!" As she squirmed to free herself, Aku laughed evilly, the sound echoing throughout the lair.
Much to Jill's surprise, Aku's flesh was cold, quite the opposite of his flaming eyebrows. It was so cold, in fact, that it slowed Jill's movement and she stopped trying to free herself.
"That is being a good girl," Aku teased. Then, he turned his hand into a long tail and transformed himself into quadruped with a serpent like head.
"Is that it, Aku?" Jill managed to say.
"No, it is not," Aku laughed. Suddenly, he sprouted four more heads that looked exactly like the first, followed by another four.
He moved his tail forward so Jill could look straight into the eyes of his new heads.
"Is this good enough for you?" one head laughed.
"Now do you see why I had to practice this form?" another asked.
Jill cringed at the sight but managed to say, "Interesting. How do you manage to control all those heads?"
"You see, that is the difficult part," the center head answered. "This is the original head, but I tend to get a bit...confused."
"Now," a different head hissed, "we go outside and wait for Jack. There's no room in here for a battle as large as I expect." All of the heads laughed in unison as Aku lumbered out the lair.