Part 3: The Scion of Strength
Even the hum of the ships engine was drowned out by the heavy helmet worn by the bounty hunter as her ship streaked through the vastness of space. She looked down at the control console as her perpetually gloved hand tapped at the controls, bringing up her mission specs. A single picture came up on the screen of a man in a white flowing robe with a katana strapped to his side. The text beside the picture gave her all the information she needed. A simple samurai with a sword going for more money than even her one-of-a-kind biomechanical suit was worth.
It was too easy, so much just for one man, and Aku had even sought her out specifically for this job. There was something she didn't know about this guy, there had to be. Nobody paid so much for a known crime-boss let alone a single helpless samurai. Still, it wasn't her place to ask questions. She would just have to keep her guard up. She had no doubt what the outcome would be anyway, nobody had ever escaped Samus Aran.
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The warrior sat alone in the small weapons storage space that was intended to be used only in the event of a crash landing. He had his eyes closed and his legs folded in front of him, his hands resting on his knees. His senses and mind tingles with sensations as he fell into a meditative trance, healing his mind and body after the taxing battle with the Scion of Sight. He was far from healed, but he was moving in the right direction.
"You need a doctor." Keela's voice floated into his consciousness from somewhere outside himself. Her tone of voice was calm and dulcet, as it had been ever since they'd left the station after the confrontation. "You need a doctor, and you need to rest. You won't do anyone any good like this."
"I cannot rest while Aku is still alive..." Jack replied, never opening his eyes. Still, he could see the wisdom in her words. "I will not stop..." He finally opened his eyes and looked up at her standing over him in front of the door. Her eyes pierced into his like daggers, searching for any sign of weakness and finding none in his soul, but his body was fragile.
"I'm not saying you should stop, but you need to bide your time. We had to strike the Scion of Sight quickly so he wouldn't track us down, but the others we can pursue at our own pace. No one will ever see us coming." She kneeled down and put one hand on his shoulder, staring into his face. He stared back with his own piercing gaze.
"What happened to him...?" Jack asked suddenly.
"What? Who?"
"Jonathan... the man who saved you from your enslavement. What happened to him?" Keela stared at the warrior for a few moments in surprise before she averted her gaze down to the deck of the ship, her eyes narrowing in thought. She closed them and sat down beside the warrior, crossing her legs in front of her.
"We ran as far and fast as we could, but they still tracked us down. I was a big moneymaker for them, and they always protected their investments." She spoke softly, never looking up at the samurai. "They caught up with us and... caught us by surprise. I managed to get to the ship but Jonathan was killed within moments of their finding us... I think the only reason I had time to escape was because they wanted me back alive..."
"I... am sorry." Was all the warrior could think to say in consolation.
"That's why I want Aku dead... the traders sold him their services right before I broke away... if I help take down the sorcerer the traders will crumble under the uprising that will result from the demon's hold being broken." Keela said firmly and looked over at the samurai, newfound determination in her eyes. "Do you know what it's like to know the only one you ever loved, the only one who cared about you, died because of YOUR past?"
"Aku's evil has afflicted many, I have seen peaceful peoples turned to war or ravaged like beasts in cages. Good men's hearts have been tainted and manipulated while the unjust grows even stronger. It is these things that I fight to correct, to rid the world of this curse and bring peace back to however many worlds there are." The samurai replied with a sharp gaze.
"I see..." Keela looked down at the floorplates again with a sigh. "I guess my own suffering means nothing in the face of all that..." She stared at the steel floor until she felt a gentle hand touching her shoulder. She looked up to see the warriors' gentle eyes peering into her own.
"It is to right all wrongs that I fight, including those afflicted upon you. As long as I live and we travel together, I swear by this magical sword that the traders will never get near you." He told her with one hand on the hilt of the blade he wore at his side. They stared at each other for a few long moments, something unidentifiable hanging in the air until finally the intercom beeps on the wall.
"Hey, we're coming up on Tarsonis fast, and it looks like there's something going on down on the surface. You may want t'have a look up here." Reggoth's voice came back through the intercom, interrupting them. They looked at each other for a moment more before they both stood to make their way up to the cockpit.
The surface of the planet was covered with huge cities bigger than even the largest that the warrior had seen on Earth, built of diamond and glass that reflected the light of the crimson sun with brilliant intensity and a billion different shades. There were hundreds of people milling about in what looked like a man-made crater of some sort, a coliseum.
"I think we've found the Scion o'Strength." Reggoth commented with an ironic smirk. "Want t'go down now or wait and see what it can do?" He asked the others.
"We should wait, see what he's capable of before we make any moves." Keela replied, keeping her eyes focused intently on the screen in front of her. "This place is built around physical contests, it might make our lives easier if we can study him in action before we confront him." Jack looked over at her and nodded in agreement before he looked back at the small screen that showed a large, multi-armed alien taking the field.
"And now, here comes the reigning champion..." Before the voice could continue the entire ship was flung forward, as though something had slammed into the back of it. The radar on the control panel flashed a warning as another blip streaked toward them.
"What the hell!? Who would b'attacking us up here!? Could Aku have found us!?" Reggoth asked as he strapped himself quickly into the pilots seat, Keela taking copilot. Jack strapped himself into the third seat behind the other two.
"We'll worry about that in a minute, won't matter who it is if we're blown to pieces. Dead is dead." Keela slammed down in the throttle to send the ship streaking across the sky just before another blast could slam into them. Looking down, they could see the blast hitting the coliseum bleachers, punching a hole into them and several dozen spectators before it left their sight.
"Whoever it is, they don't care who they take down t'get t'us d'they?" Reggoth asked rhetorically, dodging another blast.
"Take us around behind them, maybe we can identify them and take them down." Keela said. Reggoth nodded and jerked on the flight stick, sending the reformed fighter into a steep right vertical turn. The ship arced through the air until the engines cut, letting them continue to spin for a moment as their momentum continued to carry them upward. When the engines reactivated they were facing down toward the ground with their attacked clearly in view.
"Holy hell!" Keela's eyes went wide just before the fighter streaked by the bigger, bulkier ship. "That's Samus' ship!" Reggoth looked over at her in surprise for a moment, then remembered to bring them out of their nosedive before they hit the ground.
"Who is that?" Jack shouted above the roar of the engines.
"Samus Aran, one of the best bounty hunters in the galaxy. She's one of the best, but also one of the most expensive, only someone with a lot of resources could hire her..." Keela's eyes bore into Jack's meaningfully despite the rocking of the ship.
"Aku sent her." Jack agreed with a firm nod.
"Can we lose her?" Keela turned to Reggoth now with a questioning glance.
"I don't know, her ship's faster than it looks." Reggoth smirked. "If it is her then she's only after Jack, if he's off the ship then she would stop chasing us around."
"Come on get serious!" Keela demanded, but Jack turned to look back at the missile compartments thoughtfully.
"Do you have any empty missile shells?" The samurai leaned forward to ask.
"Yeah half our compliment is empty, warheads don't come cheap you know. At least with those people think a few more times before taking us on, why?" Keela looked back at him, looking into his eyes. "You have a plan don't you?" Her voice showed with admiration that he could think even in thee circumstances.
"If you drop me inside of one of the shells, I would reach the ground and be able to sneak into the city to find the Scion, and the bounty hunter would leave you two alone." Jack told her.
"That's insane, she'd shoot you out o'the sky a quarter o'the way down." Reggoth shouted back to him.
"Not if we dropped the rest of the compliment with him, she wouldn't know which one he was in." Keela exclaimed. "It could work, we'd just have to set Jack's missile to fire its rocket just before impact to ease the landing, of course it would have to be pointing up for that to work..." Her face darkened a bit. "If it was pointing to the side or down..."
"I will take care of it, let's get to work." Jack unfastened himself and tried to head toward the back, though that proved very difficult with Reggoth still dodging occasional fire from Samus' ship.
"Reggoth, talk to her while we get everything ready, get her to stop firing for a minute!" Keela yelled from halfway toward the back hatch. Reggoth nodded back and hit a few buttons on the control panel, bringing up the screen. Jack didn't have time to listen in on their conversation though. The two of them went into the back weapons compartment where the missile cases were kept.
The ship did level out long enough for Keela to work on the pod Jack would be in. Quickly she grabbed the blankets and pillows from the ground where they slept during their journey and stuffed them in so the ride wouldn't be so horribly bumpy. When she had everything ready she turned to face the samurai with a serious expression on her face.
"Are you sure about this? There's still a chance we could lose her." She said.
"You can come back for me when the bounty hunter has gone, I will be in the capitol where the Scion is." Jack gave her a comforting smile despite his serious demeanor. "Do not worry, nothing working for Aku's evil can defeat me." His assurances did little to help calm her fears however as he climbed into the missile hatch amid the cushioning she'd provided.
"Be careful until we come back for you, good luck." She forced herself to smile back at him as she reached up and closed the missile hatch, pushing the pod into the loading bay. Jack waited in the dark silence of the missile bay for what seemed like forever to his beating heart, but was in truth only a matter of minutes.
He looked down through the dark tinted window to see the hatch opening, the cloud passing by just below him. For a moment he wasn't so sure about this, but it was too late to turn back now. The pod slid down the tube slowly until it plunged down into the empty air around the ship, plummeting down toward the clouds below him. Through the widow he could see a dozen other pods falling alongside him.
He looked up toward the sky to see Samus' ship heading toward the falling pods, firing several shots. Most missed, but two pods were taken out just in the first pass and they weren't even into the cloud cover yet. Somehow Jack didn't think any pods would make it all the way down.
The ship came back around quickly, homing in on his pod in particular. The samurai could only watch as the cannons on the ships front powered up, giving off a small glow. Before they could discharge however a blast from the smaller fight slammed into the hull, tilting the ship and sending the twin beams off to the side, a few feet away from the pods.
Jack gasped as the ship passed through the group of falling missiles, clipping his own and sending him spinning out of control just before he entered the clouds. His head was spinning even faster than the pod was and the clouds made it impossible to tell which way was up and down. An explosion nearby informed him that he was far from free of danger even in the clouds.
He tried to throw himself against the sides of the missile to halt his spin, but the momentum was far too great for him to level it out before it would hit the ground. He stared out of the tinted window as he left the cloud cover, the planet's expanse stretching before him. He was back near the main capitol, they must have tried to bring him as close to it as they could.
He made a mental note of where he was, well as good a one as he could in this spin and resumed trying to right himself. Only half a dozen missile pods remained in the air, and though the fighter kept pestering the much bigger ship Samus seemed intent on taking them all out above all else.
Without warning Jack was jolted and the missile shuddered, the rapid spin slowing somewhat as something invisible seemed to tug at it. He looked up through the window to see the fighter hovering above him, a soft point of light coming from it and shining down onto the missiles. All of the empty pods mostly ceased their random turning and fell in one direction.
"Get out of there!" Jack yelled, though he knew his warning would do no good. Samus' ship came around behind the small fighter and fired both beams directly at it. The bright red flashed of light tore into the ship. The wing erupted into a sheet of flames and it lurched to the side, losing whatever hold it had on the missiles as it lunged down toward the ground, trying to keep aloft.
Jack stared in horror as the fighter flew off into the sky, burning and lurching like it would fall to the ground at any moment. He only looked down in time to see the ground coming up fast, and his missile was still tilted, if not spinning anymore. Two more beams detonated the two missiles beside him as he threw his weight against the sides of the shell, trying to right himself before he hit the ground.
The engines underneath him surged to life and let out a great stream of fire as his missile came within fifty feet of the forest he was coming down onto. He kept his hands on the sides of the missile, making what corrections he was able as the missile rocked back and forth from the force of the flames, slowing rapidly. Finally the engines cut and the pod fell the last ten feet, slamming into the ground hard enough to jar the warrior around.
He forced the door of the missile open and leapt out, staring up at the sky through the trees to see if he could spot anything. There was nothing above him however, no sign of the fighter or his pursuer. For a moment he wasn't sure if he should try to find them or continue his mission, but then he realized he couldn't find them anyway. He had no clue where they were, and while he was here he could try to accomplish his mission.
With a heavy heart he turned to make his way to where he thought the city should lay. He hadn't had much time to survey the area, but his memory was usually pretty accurate. He would find his way there and defeat the scion, then he would find Keela and Reggoth. This, he swore.
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"Be safe Jack..." Keela mumbled under her breath as Reggoth struggled to keep the ship in the air until they could find a suitable place to set down. He looked down at the radar when it began to beep, then swore under his breath.
"Looks like we're gonna b'interrogated..." He grumbled just before something latched onto their ship, holding them in place in mid-air. They waited in silence until the comm. Station in the control flared to life, showing the top half of the armored bounty hunter, who watched them through the thick green visor in her helmet.
When she spoke Samus' voice was distorted by the helmet, making her barely sound human. "The question is simple, and I don't like to waste time. Which missile pod was the samurai known as Jack in?" She demanded.
"I see no reason to tell you anything, you're the one who hunts people down for money aren't you? Hunt him yourself." Keela shot back with a sneer.
"Please be nice, for every wrong or smartass answer I get, I take another piece of your ship with me. What can you fly with? A missing engine? Two missing wings?" The bounty hunter asked rhetorically. Keela growled under her breath, but knew there was little she could do.
"Missile pod five... but it doesn't matter. You won't catch up with him or defeat him." Keela said defiantly.
"Good girl, nice friend too. Didn't even have to persuade you." Samus mocked her, and undoubtedly had a smile on her face under the helmet. Keela and Reggoth looked down at the floor plated as they felt their ship being lowered down onto the ground. "I suggest you leave once your ship is repaired, there will be no one for you to collect at the capitol."
"This isn't over you money grubbing bitch... you won't take Jack so easily." Keela half-spoke and half-growled.
"Farewell, hope you two don't see me again." Samus said before her ship turned in midair to head back out of sight in the direction where the pods had fallen. Keela and Reggoth exchanged a quick worried glance, but there was little they could do about it for the moment. They could only hope Jack could handle not only the Scion, but the bounty hunter as well.
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His sense of direction proved to be as accurate as ever. Jack soon reached the edge of the forest beside the city in a fairly short amount of time, he must have come down closer than he thought. The marble walls extended to either side as far as he could see and there was one archway that led into the city itself. Several men stood just outside of it with laser rifles strapped to their sides. The city must have been put on higher alert after the stray blast had hit the coliseum. That would make his life a lot harder.
He watched the guards with a thoughtful gaze. He didn't think trying to just walk in was a good idea, no doubt any minions of a Scion would know his description and spot him a mile away. He didn't see any other entrances and he couldn't scale the wall, there would be no place for him to hide as he climbed. Still, there might be a chance if he could sail over it...
The warrior turned toward a tree to his right and grabbed into the trunk to scale his way up the rough bark. It bit into his hands painfully, but he ignored it as he made his way up the trunk into the thick foliage overhead. Once he was up he stopped and turned, balancing precariously on one of the large branches near the bottom. Many of these trees were old with long branches, some of which extended halfway across the area between the city wall and the forest.
Jack cast a quick glance down at the guards to make sure they weren't paying attention, then got down in a slight crouch. He took off running over the branch, careful to keep his feet firmly on the thinning piece of wood until he reached about the mid-point, leaping onto it. The branch bowed under his weight before snapping back up again, with the warrior leaping at the same time.
He sailed through the air high above the ground, slamming into the wall just under the top and grabbing onto it. He heaved himself up and jumped on the wall itself, finding a walkway that led all around the perimeter of the city. If there was a path on the wall, that meant there would be guards on it...
"Hold it!" The warrior whirled in a flash, his hand instinctively drawing the magical sword from its scabbard. Two guards stood on the wall in front of him with their rifles pointed at him. "Put down your weapon now!" He demanded. He didn't even wait for a response before he and his partner both opened fire.
The blade cut the air and the blasts of energy that surged toward him as he lunged forward at a run. The guards were taken aback when he leapt into the air over two more blasts, coming down with the blade above his head. A silver streak of light was all anyone could see, followed a moment later by a flash of sparks from two different sources. The guards looked down to find their weapons sliced cleanly in half, falling to the ground.
Already Jack could hear the guards by the gate responding to the patrol's cries, and there were likely other guards strewn about the city who would respond as well. The warrior decided to ignore the two in front of him and took off down the wall toward one of the spires on the corner. Several blasts of energy blew past him, but none came threateningly close before he reached the door and lunged inside.
He ran to the stairs and took them three at a time, running to get to the bottom before the guards came in. Before he reached the floor though he heard the door at the bottom being unlocked. Of course they would bar all entry points during an alert, he should have thought of that.
Without thinking Jack turned and thrust himself through the narrow space between the stairs at the bottom. The space under the stairs was hollow though there was no entrance in the side of the staircase. He hunched down into the deep shadows as the door burst open and several guards poured into the staircase. At the same time several more came down the stairs in a hurry.
"Where did the intruder go?" One of the ones from the top demanded.
"He's got to be around somewhere, keep looking." A guard from the bottom demanded, sending the guards off into different directions. Jack thought about coming out, but he would give them time to fall back into a routine. He would be quickly caught with them combing this specific area for him. He would be patient, and he would choose his time to come out.
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Samus' ship flew low over the forest, scanning it for any sign of the fifth missile pod. In a moment her radar system beeped and she guided her ship over to the indicated spot. She got up from her seat and walked over to the exit pad, waiting patiently for the panel above her to open and the floor to rise, lifting her out of her ship. She leapt from the top of her ship, an electrical whip from the cannon on her left arm holding onto the hull to lower her more slowly.
The whip retracted into her cannon as she approached the empty pod. There were blankets and pillows lining the inside, and the ground looked slightly scorched where the thrusters had burned into it. She reached up and tapped her helmet, activating a heat sensor in her visor. The ground under the pod was still pure white, with a trail of less intense heat leading through the forest.
Jack had gone toward the city, and he hadn't left THAT long ago. She should be able to catch up to him inside the city itself. With a confident smirk she turned away from the pod and pointed her cannon up at the ship. The whip lashed out to grab hold of the metallic hull, pulling her up toward it at it retracted. She was beginning to see why the bounty was so high, she hadn't expected this much trouble.
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The warrior waited patiently while time ticked by at a crawl, taunting him because he couldn't move forward or back. He was stuck for now, but he took comfort in the knowledge that he would move forward again and destroy the Scion soon, then he would be halfway finished with his task in space. Once that was done, he could go after Aku himself.
His eyes narrowed and his hand went to the sword at his side in anticipation. Lately he'd been thinking to himself that maybe he didn't have to go back in time, to his own time. As long as Aku was gone in this time, the evil could be purged without the risk of destroying everything. Who knew what could have happened without Aku? Who was to say some other being wouldn't have taken over?
He stood up with his hand on his sword, staring out between the space in the steps. It as quiet out there, he hadn't heard anything for the past ten minutes. Now was as good a time as any to head out, though he would still have to be careful. He slipped back out between the steps, making as little sound as possible as he stood upright and approached the door. He tested the knob softly to see if it was locked. It turned as it should, they had probably forgotten to lock it in their haste to find him.
He pushed the door open and crept outside into the city proper. Buildings lined the street on each side as it wound around a corner, heading straight up to the coliseum in the center. He didn't even wonder where he would find the Scion, he didn't see any other place he would be other than the coliseum itself. Where else would the Scion of Strength want to be?
Deciding against using the main road, he crept alongside one of the rows of buildings, moving silently through the back alleys. He was careful to keep his senses sharp, especially his sense of direction. It wouldn't do to get lost back here and stumble back out where he'd come in. He made his careful way through the alleys without incident, reaching the other side fairly quickly.
Warily he left the shadows of the buildings in the evening suns light and walked up to the steps that led up to the entrance of the coliseum. There were no guards around here, they were probably all guarding the perimeter. After all, there shouldn't be anything in here if they did their jobs.
He leapt back in surprise when a ball about as tall as his legs bounced off the ground in front of him from nowhere, bouncing over his head. He whirled to look behind him at it, only to see a figure standing with a kind of cannon aimed straight at him. The dark green visor glinted in the crimson sunlight as the sun went down behind the mountains.
"I must admit, you're more skilled than I thought. I figured the samurai title was just wishful thinking on your part, after all, who practices such archaic skills in this day and age?" The figures voice was garbled slightly by the helmet she wore, sounding almost more like a machine than human. "You really are though... I'm impressed."
"Samus Aran." Jack gave a slight bow and rested one hand on the hilt of his sword, though he was careful not to move too suddenly. "You've come to take me to Aku for money, I take it." He said.
"Nothing personal of course." Samus nodded. "Now if you'll come with me, I have a vacation I was planning to take with the price on your head."
"I cannot allow you to take me, but I do not wish to hurt you." Jack told her. "Turn away and let me fulfill my destiny."
"Nothing, human or otherwise, has ever escaped me." Samus replied with a determined tone in her voice. "I won't let you be the first."
"Then it would seem I have no choice." Jack closed his eyes and bowed his head in regret, his hand taking hold of the sword at his side more firmly. Samus fired one burst of electrical energy from her cannon, but the silver streak that was Jack's blade cut right through it as the warrior lunged at his pursuer. He struck skillfully, forcing the bounty hunter to dodge with a grace one would not expect from such a large looking figure.
He swung his blade in a wide arc, but Samus leapt over it, folding instantly into a ball to bounce off the ground and over the warriors head. He whirled just in time to see the bounty hunters leg slam into his face, sending him spiraling down the steps of the coliseum painfully. Still he landed on his feet in a cloud of dust, leaping back just as another bolt of energy tore into the ground.
His blade cut through two more blasts as he flew through the air, landing on the ground again in another cloud of dust, skidding a foot or so. He held his magical sword in front of him as he dropped into a fighting stance, facing Samus who still had the cannon aimed right at him.
"Impressive indeed, warrior." Samus said as the cannon on her left arm sprouted three prongs at the front that pulsed with energy. "But I don't have time to mess around with you too long." A surge of energy streaked out from the cannon, slamming into his blade and latching onto it. Jack held onto the hilt as tightly as he could, but the energy still tugged relentlessly.
They played tug-of-war with Jack's sword for a few minutes until Samus finally yanked her arm back, bringing both the warrior and the sword with it. The samurai leapt into the air, using the momentum of the sword to slam his foot into Samus' helmet with enough force to send her stumbling back. Jack lunged forward to capitalize, slamming the hilt of his sword into her helmet, sending her to the ground.
Before either combatant could make another move they heard a single voice cry out from a distance. "Freeze, intruders!" Jack looked back to see half a dozen guards aiming their rifles at them, with dozens more pouring into the clearing in front of the coliseum. Jack let out a small sigh as he lowered the sword to his side, sliding it into his scabbard uselessly.
[So it's true, the samurai has left Earth.] Jack whirled at the sound of a voice in his mind, to see a massive shadow with pulsing red eyes behind him. Its form was that of a giant, muscular and big enough to fill up half of the fairly sized coliseum.
"Wait..." Samus said, lurching to her feet with one hand on her helmet. She looked up at the scion, speaking with authority in her voice. "I have the samurai, I'll take him back to Aku. I've been charged to do this." She said.
[And you've done a good job of making us realize he was here, but that's all you've done. Get out of my sight bounty hunter, before I punish your failure.] The Scion demanded, leaving no question as to what he would do if she didn't comply. Samus stared up at him with her right fist clenched tightly, shaking with anger.
"Nobody stiffs me on a job!" Samus raised her cannon, but instantly two-dozen rifles cocked in her direction, making even her pause to think before she struck.
[Let's get one thing straight bounty hunter, neither I nor Aku give one whit about you or your money.] The Scion of Strength said mockingly. [In fact, for your arrogance, you can share in the samurai's fate.]
"I've heard enough!" Samus streaked forward suddenly in a flash of blue light, startling all the guards. She was upon the scion before any of the guards could even react, her cannon blazing a trail of energy right up the shadows middle. The blasts had no lasting effect but to make the scion irritated. The dark form reached forward with surprising speed, catching her right out of midair.
"Samus!" Jack shouted as the scion brought its palm down onto the ground, causing the Earth to shake from the impact. When it lifted the bounty hunter laid limply on the ground, sparks surging from the suit as it twitched spastically.
[Take them both to the cells until the next tournament tomorrow, maybe we'll have a special one just for them.] The scion mocked the samurai before he turned to head back into the coliseum. Several guards gathered around him, one taking his sword before they nudged him toward the building. Two men picked up the still unconscious bounty hunter to bring her with them. Jack didn't fight back, there were far too many to take on like this. He would just have to wait for his chance...
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"I can't believe this..." Keela grumbled in despair, watching Reggoth try to repair the wing that had been nearly severed in the fight. "Jack's fighting TWO enemies out there on his own and we're stuck here in the middle of the forest with no way to get to him." The frustration was eating her alive from the inside out, starting with her mind and working its way down to her heart and soul.
"Will you shut your trap? Bitchin' ain't doing anybody any good. I'm trying t'repair the ship, and I could use a HAND here if you don't mind." Reggoth retorted acidly.
"Hey don't you snap at me... you're the one who was supposed to be watching for Samus!" Keela shot back. "God I shouldn't have let him go like that, what was I thinking? He's alone in a city full of people who would gut him on sight. How stupid am I?"
"Pretty stupid, s'if you want t'help him anytime this century, you could always help m'with the ship here. It would g'much faster." Reggoth growled this time, glaring up at her from his position under the ship. Keela sighed and hung her head, pushing herself up off the rock she'd been sitting on.
"You're right... if I want to help him I have to do something... I just hope we can get there fast enough." She sighed and kneeled down to help him with the repairs all she could. Still she couldn't stop blaming herself for putting him in that pod, she should have been smarter than that. Well... all she could do was try to make up for her mistake any way she could.
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Jack sat on the floor of his cell with his legs crossed under his robe, his hands placed lightly in his lap and his eyes closed. Every sense was alive, every nerve tingling in a rejuvenating trance. His mind fluttered on the breeze of time like a sail on the sea, carrying his body along for the wide. Now though the wind was calmer, not pushing as hard as it normally did.
His eyes snapped open when he heard the door to his cell being opened. Two of the guards flung a woman into the middle of the room hard. She gasped as her hands and knees scraped against the hard cement. She had black shoulder length hair and her skin was unusually pale. She wore little, simply a black undershirt and a pair of dark black panties that did little or nothing to hide her figure. Obviously she saw very few days outside of her suit...
"Greetings again Samus." Jack ventured a well-educated guess to this new woman's identity. His suspicions were confirmed when she glared back at him. "It would seem yet another wayward soul has been deceived by Aku's evil."
"Don't be so self righteous, samurai..." Samus shot back, leaning against the bars of the cell and nursing her bruised limbs. Without her suit her voice was more human, though hardly pretty. Her face also betrayed the line of work she had become so accustomed to, rendering an otherwise beautiful face hard and cold. "I took a job and it backfired, it's not the first time an employer has tried to off me."
"And yet you continue to work for the highest bidder, when the highest bidder is untrustworthy." Jack mused to himself.
"Everyone's untrustworthy, people are lying, arrogant idiots." Samus snorted. "Why else would I help anyone if not for money?"
"Honor, respect, righteousness." Jack replied. Samus narrowed her eyes, studying the warrior closely for a few moments.
"I took a few jobs simply to help people before... and every time I helped them they took advantage of it to dig themselves even deeper into their own hole until finally I stopped coming to help them..." Her deep green eyes stared into Jack's questioning glance, so she continued.
"A long time ago, one of my earlier jobs. My mission was to go to the planet Zebes, and destroy the Metroid... an alien species whose very body radiated with power. I went there and fought waves upon waves of them, they just kept coming. Finally I thought I had wiped them all out, and I left the planet... only to be called by the same people again to investigate another planet. This time I found a baby Metroid, who followed me back to my ship and the science vessel where the scientists took custody of it."
"Only hours later I got another call from the station... they'd tried to recreate the Metroid and harness its power, but it was too much for them. They tried to play god with the power in its body and they couldn't, they failed. I went back to Zebes and cleared it out as best I could but... the child I found died because of those stupid, arrogant people." Samus' eyes bore into those of the samurai, searching for his opinion, be it approval or understanding or hatred. "Once I was done there, someone else tried to harness the power of the Metroid and it all repeated... only this time I didn't respond."
"I see..." Jack closed his eyes, deep in thought.
"How about you, samurai? What do you fight for huh? Another bunch of people who will only dig themselves back into an even deeper pit?" Samus asked.
"I fight for everyone." Jack opened his eyes and stared back as he began his own story.
"Long ago, there was a place where happiness was all that was known, the people there lived their lives in bliss without ever a care, except for one fear. That fear was realized when Aku returned from whatever pit he had been cast into. He enslaved the people and destroyed the city, ravaging even the once bountiful countryside just so they would not have enough food to eat. I was sent away, to hone my skills across the world, outside of the boundaries of Aku's influence that existed then."
"Finally I completed my training and returned to my people. Taking up my family's enchanted sword and going back to my homeland, I faced the wizard in combat. The battle was hard, and his forms were many, but I almost won, I had the sorcerer at my feet. Then, he cast a spell and flung my through a portal in time to now, when there is little I can do against him. His influence taints the hearts of almost everybody and his evil holds dominion." His eyes bore back into hers, perhaps even fiercer than her own had burned moments before. "I fight for my people, for all people... and for my honor. I failed once, but I will not do so again."
"What's the point? They'd probably just destroy themselves anyway." Samus asked.
"Perhaps, but at least they would be free to do SOMETHING." Jack replied, his eyes and voice never wavering from his steady, confident tone. Samus could only stare into his eyes, looking for any sign that he was simply feeding her lies but she couldn't find any. "It seems morning will come soon... we should rest and be ready for whatever comes."
"Yeah... you're right." Samus agreed with a swift nod. She watched him lay down on the hard cement floor since there were no beds or anything for them to lie down on. She gave a soft sigh and lay on the floor as well, huddling herself up into a little ball since it was getting colder and she had very little cover. She would just have to live though, she was a bounty hunter. The cold couldn't hurt her...
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Early the next morning Samus woke with a start, for a moment forgetting where she was. It took her a moment to regain her bearings, but when she did she looked down in surprise to find a white robe carefully draped over her body. She stared at it a moment, then looked over at the samurai who owned it. He sat leaning against the cell bars, wearing even less than she was underneath the robe. He must have been freezing all night but he'd still given her his robe. If she still had doubts he wasn't from this time, they were gone now. Nobody was so chivalrous these days.
The crimson orange hue of late morning shone through the lone window in the cell as she stood up and walked over to him, carefully draping the open robe over the front of the still sleeping samurai's shoulders. With that she stood upright and stretched her arms out above her head, looking around the much brighter cell now that she had sufficient light to see everything.
There wasn't that much to see, outside the small cell there was a walkway to the front and a dead end to the right. The entrance was to the left and the door was shut, not exactly the most imaginative design. Still it seemed to do its job of keeping them here well enough.
She looked over when she felt someone walking up beside her. Jack stood with his robe on now, looking like he had when they met the other day. Neither of them was particularly embarrassed about any extra skin showing, they both knew that sometimes modesty had to take a backseat.
Before either of them could say anything the door that led into the prison opened and a dozen troops walked in with smug expressions. They opened the door and one gestured for them to come out.
"Come on, the scion wants to see you out in the bowl for your execution... I mean battle." He said with a vicious grin on his face. Samus frowned in disgust, but Jack gave no outward sign of emotion as he started forward, following the guards out of the prison. Samus followed after them though the winding hallways of the coliseum until they emerged onto the field where blood permanently stained the ground. The sun was barely risen, casting an almost blood red shine over everything.
"The samurai first." One of the guards roughly shoved Jack forward while the others held Samus back on the sidelines. The warrior stumbled a moment from the shove, then righted himself and strolled confidently out into the stadium. His eyes scanned everything around him for any sign of the Scion of Strength, but he didn't see anything here.
[Samurai Jack.] He whirled to see the dark, massive form of the scion lurching out onto the field. His eyes pulsed blood red, made even brighter by the crimson sun. [It's about time we met, one-on-one. Don't think I'll be as easy as the Scion of Sight, he was an observer, not a fighter.] The scion taunted him, beckoning him closer with his dark fists.
Samus looked around at the guards surrounding her. They were all intent on the field where Jack and the scion were facing off. It was almost like they couldn't look away, nobody was even watching her. So she took her chance and slunk away from the guards, darting into the building itself once she was clear. Silently she wished Jack luck as she moved through the building.
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"No matter what you are, you're still evil." Jack countered the scion's taunt with one of his own, raising his fist above his head. "And like your master you will never prevail over the side of righteousness." He said confidently.
[Then come warrior, show me the power of this righteousness.] The Scion took one lumbering step toward the warrior, who took several steps back. For all his talk he knew very well that without his sword he was defenseless. Desperately he shot a glance over to where he'd come in to look for Samus... but she was nowhere to be seen. Where had she gone? Had she abandoned him?
He looked forward again and had to leap back before the scions huge fist could slam into him. He leapt again as the scion pressed the strike, taking every swing he possibly could while the samurai leapt and bounded away. Desperately he leapt forward to plant a solid kick against the dark forms chest, but he had to leap off again with no effect before the scion crushed him right there. He landed heavily on the ground, backing away from the massive shadow and looking around desperately.
[What's the matter, samurai? Where's the power of righteousness now?] The scion taunted him again, feigning a swing and barking out a short laugh. Before he could move any more a high whine split the air, as though something was streaking toward them. An explosion slammed right into the shadows side, sending it stumbling while Jack leapt out of the way.
"Keela! Reggoth!" Jack exclaimed when he saw the small fighter pass by overhead, the smoke from the missile still hanging in the air over them. The fighter flew out into the sky before it circled back, coming back down toward the scion again with its missiles ready.
[Bah, I hate flies.] The scion grabbed the ground and hefted a chunk of cement bigger than its head. He hurled the chunk at the fighter, but they dodged to the side, though they lost their missile lock and streaked by harmlessly.
"Jack!" The samurai turned back to the bleachers at the sound of a garbled, but vaguely human voice. Samus stood in full armor with his sword held at her side. "Catch!" She wound up and hurled the blade as hard as she could toward the warrior. It arched through the air, spinning at it flew. Jack took off at a run to catch it, leaping in the air and grabbing the hilt before he landed in a fighting stance.
[What... NO!] The scion howled when it saw Jack holding the enchanted blade. [Minions! Kill him!] The guards ran toward the samurai, but a blast of energy erupted in front of them, bringing them to a halt. Samus leapt down from the bleachers, kicking up dust as she landed between the warrior and the guards, facing the enemy.
"You take the scion, I got the grunts covered." Samus said with determination clear in her voice. Jack nodded and turned back to the scion, lifting the magical blade in front of him. Even this small act seemed to make the massive shadow cringe.
"It's just you, me, and righteousness now." Jack turned the sharp part of the blade toward the scion, staring at the shadow as he approached it. The Scion of Strength let out a howl of rage and lunged with surprising speed for something of its size, but it still couldn't match the samurai. Jack leapt back from the blow, swinging the blade so that it sliced right into the dark arm horizontally.
The blade nearly sliced the entire hand right in half, pulling a yell of pain from the scion. Jack pressed his advantage, lunging forward and slashing again and again in expert strokes, slicing shadowy tendrils from the massive Scion until the entire frame was shuddering from the strain. The samurai halted a moment, the blade held before him at the ready.
[You... little fool... even if you kill me, the other scions will not go down so easily...] the Scion of Strength clenched his fist, trying to push himself back up to his feet.
"Maybe not easily, but they will go down." Jack raised the sword above his head and brought it down again, slicing the shadowy head clean in half down the center. The shadow surged and shuddered, screaming like a thousand souls howling in unison as it flowed through the coliseum. Finally the shadows vanished, leaving them bathed in the now golden sunlight and nothing else, pure and simple.
Samus halted her own battle as the guards realized what had happened. They looked at the two intruders, then the spot where their master had stood moments before. Finally they just turned and darted out of the coliseum, leaving them alone in the bowl.
Jack walked up to Samus' side as she turned toward him, reaching up and removing her helmet to hold it in the crook of one arm.
"Well you did it Jack, Scion number two down." Samus said.
"Thanks to you, I do not think I could have taken them all." Jack replied.
"It was my fault you got caught in the first place remember?" Samus reminded him. "It was the least I could do I guess, help get you out of here."
"You know Aku will still have a price on my head, you don't intend to collect?" Jack asked curiously.
"After two scions dead? He'll probably double it once word gets back to him..." Samus said softly.
"So... why are you letting me go?" The samurai asked.
"Because... even if I have lost faith in humanity... it's not my place to take away humanity's only hope." The bounty hunter stared into Jacks eyes for a few long moments until they both heard the engine of Keela's fighter approaching them again. "Looks like your ride is here." Samus reached up and placed her helmet back on her head, completely covering herself again.
"Yes, perhaps we will meet again." Jack looked up at the fighter and waved it down at it neared the bowl.
"Perhaps..." Samus agreed in the mechanically garbled voice that always emanated when she was wearing her helmet. With that she shook her head and turned to head toward the entrance of the coliseum.
"Farewell, bounty hunter." Jack called after her with a friendly smile on his face. Samus didn't turn back, but she did wave back at him just before the left the stadium altogether. The samurai smiled and turned back to the fighter right when Keela was getting off to greet him, grinning from ear to ear.
"Jack, I can't believe you actually did it! You destroyed the scion and drove Samus away!" She exclaimed in wondrous awe.
"Something like that." Jack smiled back and put one hand on her shoulder. "I'm glad to see that you two are alright as well. I had feared you crashed somewhere." He said as he turned to head back into the fighter beside Keela. She replied energetically, happy to have him back and he was relieved to hear her voice again. Still this entire ordeal would leave a mark on his soul, he knew. One so disillusioned humanity became a plague... was it possible to help someone like that? He would figure out the answer eventually, but for now he had another scion to concentrate on. His journey would continue.
TO BE CONTINUED
Even the hum of the ships engine was drowned out by the heavy helmet worn by the bounty hunter as her ship streaked through the vastness of space. She looked down at the control console as her perpetually gloved hand tapped at the controls, bringing up her mission specs. A single picture came up on the screen of a man in a white flowing robe with a katana strapped to his side. The text beside the picture gave her all the information she needed. A simple samurai with a sword going for more money than even her one-of-a-kind biomechanical suit was worth.
It was too easy, so much just for one man, and Aku had even sought her out specifically for this job. There was something she didn't know about this guy, there had to be. Nobody paid so much for a known crime-boss let alone a single helpless samurai. Still, it wasn't her place to ask questions. She would just have to keep her guard up. She had no doubt what the outcome would be anyway, nobody had ever escaped Samus Aran.
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The warrior sat alone in the small weapons storage space that was intended to be used only in the event of a crash landing. He had his eyes closed and his legs folded in front of him, his hands resting on his knees. His senses and mind tingles with sensations as he fell into a meditative trance, healing his mind and body after the taxing battle with the Scion of Sight. He was far from healed, but he was moving in the right direction.
"You need a doctor." Keela's voice floated into his consciousness from somewhere outside himself. Her tone of voice was calm and dulcet, as it had been ever since they'd left the station after the confrontation. "You need a doctor, and you need to rest. You won't do anyone any good like this."
"I cannot rest while Aku is still alive..." Jack replied, never opening his eyes. Still, he could see the wisdom in her words. "I will not stop..." He finally opened his eyes and looked up at her standing over him in front of the door. Her eyes pierced into his like daggers, searching for any sign of weakness and finding none in his soul, but his body was fragile.
"I'm not saying you should stop, but you need to bide your time. We had to strike the Scion of Sight quickly so he wouldn't track us down, but the others we can pursue at our own pace. No one will ever see us coming." She kneeled down and put one hand on his shoulder, staring into his face. He stared back with his own piercing gaze.
"What happened to him...?" Jack asked suddenly.
"What? Who?"
"Jonathan... the man who saved you from your enslavement. What happened to him?" Keela stared at the warrior for a few moments in surprise before she averted her gaze down to the deck of the ship, her eyes narrowing in thought. She closed them and sat down beside the warrior, crossing her legs in front of her.
"We ran as far and fast as we could, but they still tracked us down. I was a big moneymaker for them, and they always protected their investments." She spoke softly, never looking up at the samurai. "They caught up with us and... caught us by surprise. I managed to get to the ship but Jonathan was killed within moments of their finding us... I think the only reason I had time to escape was because they wanted me back alive..."
"I... am sorry." Was all the warrior could think to say in consolation.
"That's why I want Aku dead... the traders sold him their services right before I broke away... if I help take down the sorcerer the traders will crumble under the uprising that will result from the demon's hold being broken." Keela said firmly and looked over at the samurai, newfound determination in her eyes. "Do you know what it's like to know the only one you ever loved, the only one who cared about you, died because of YOUR past?"
"Aku's evil has afflicted many, I have seen peaceful peoples turned to war or ravaged like beasts in cages. Good men's hearts have been tainted and manipulated while the unjust grows even stronger. It is these things that I fight to correct, to rid the world of this curse and bring peace back to however many worlds there are." The samurai replied with a sharp gaze.
"I see..." Keela looked down at the floorplates again with a sigh. "I guess my own suffering means nothing in the face of all that..." She stared at the steel floor until she felt a gentle hand touching her shoulder. She looked up to see the warriors' gentle eyes peering into her own.
"It is to right all wrongs that I fight, including those afflicted upon you. As long as I live and we travel together, I swear by this magical sword that the traders will never get near you." He told her with one hand on the hilt of the blade he wore at his side. They stared at each other for a few long moments, something unidentifiable hanging in the air until finally the intercom beeps on the wall.
"Hey, we're coming up on Tarsonis fast, and it looks like there's something going on down on the surface. You may want t'have a look up here." Reggoth's voice came back through the intercom, interrupting them. They looked at each other for a moment more before they both stood to make their way up to the cockpit.
The surface of the planet was covered with huge cities bigger than even the largest that the warrior had seen on Earth, built of diamond and glass that reflected the light of the crimson sun with brilliant intensity and a billion different shades. There were hundreds of people milling about in what looked like a man-made crater of some sort, a coliseum.
"I think we've found the Scion o'Strength." Reggoth commented with an ironic smirk. "Want t'go down now or wait and see what it can do?" He asked the others.
"We should wait, see what he's capable of before we make any moves." Keela replied, keeping her eyes focused intently on the screen in front of her. "This place is built around physical contests, it might make our lives easier if we can study him in action before we confront him." Jack looked over at her and nodded in agreement before he looked back at the small screen that showed a large, multi-armed alien taking the field.
"And now, here comes the reigning champion..." Before the voice could continue the entire ship was flung forward, as though something had slammed into the back of it. The radar on the control panel flashed a warning as another blip streaked toward them.
"What the hell!? Who would b'attacking us up here!? Could Aku have found us!?" Reggoth asked as he strapped himself quickly into the pilots seat, Keela taking copilot. Jack strapped himself into the third seat behind the other two.
"We'll worry about that in a minute, won't matter who it is if we're blown to pieces. Dead is dead." Keela slammed down in the throttle to send the ship streaking across the sky just before another blast could slam into them. Looking down, they could see the blast hitting the coliseum bleachers, punching a hole into them and several dozen spectators before it left their sight.
"Whoever it is, they don't care who they take down t'get t'us d'they?" Reggoth asked rhetorically, dodging another blast.
"Take us around behind them, maybe we can identify them and take them down." Keela said. Reggoth nodded and jerked on the flight stick, sending the reformed fighter into a steep right vertical turn. The ship arced through the air until the engines cut, letting them continue to spin for a moment as their momentum continued to carry them upward. When the engines reactivated they were facing down toward the ground with their attacked clearly in view.
"Holy hell!" Keela's eyes went wide just before the fighter streaked by the bigger, bulkier ship. "That's Samus' ship!" Reggoth looked over at her in surprise for a moment, then remembered to bring them out of their nosedive before they hit the ground.
"Who is that?" Jack shouted above the roar of the engines.
"Samus Aran, one of the best bounty hunters in the galaxy. She's one of the best, but also one of the most expensive, only someone with a lot of resources could hire her..." Keela's eyes bore into Jack's meaningfully despite the rocking of the ship.
"Aku sent her." Jack agreed with a firm nod.
"Can we lose her?" Keela turned to Reggoth now with a questioning glance.
"I don't know, her ship's faster than it looks." Reggoth smirked. "If it is her then she's only after Jack, if he's off the ship then she would stop chasing us around."
"Come on get serious!" Keela demanded, but Jack turned to look back at the missile compartments thoughtfully.
"Do you have any empty missile shells?" The samurai leaned forward to ask.
"Yeah half our compliment is empty, warheads don't come cheap you know. At least with those people think a few more times before taking us on, why?" Keela looked back at him, looking into his eyes. "You have a plan don't you?" Her voice showed with admiration that he could think even in thee circumstances.
"If you drop me inside of one of the shells, I would reach the ground and be able to sneak into the city to find the Scion, and the bounty hunter would leave you two alone." Jack told her.
"That's insane, she'd shoot you out o'the sky a quarter o'the way down." Reggoth shouted back to him.
"Not if we dropped the rest of the compliment with him, she wouldn't know which one he was in." Keela exclaimed. "It could work, we'd just have to set Jack's missile to fire its rocket just before impact to ease the landing, of course it would have to be pointing up for that to work..." Her face darkened a bit. "If it was pointing to the side or down..."
"I will take care of it, let's get to work." Jack unfastened himself and tried to head toward the back, though that proved very difficult with Reggoth still dodging occasional fire from Samus' ship.
"Reggoth, talk to her while we get everything ready, get her to stop firing for a minute!" Keela yelled from halfway toward the back hatch. Reggoth nodded back and hit a few buttons on the control panel, bringing up the screen. Jack didn't have time to listen in on their conversation though. The two of them went into the back weapons compartment where the missile cases were kept.
The ship did level out long enough for Keela to work on the pod Jack would be in. Quickly she grabbed the blankets and pillows from the ground where they slept during their journey and stuffed them in so the ride wouldn't be so horribly bumpy. When she had everything ready she turned to face the samurai with a serious expression on her face.
"Are you sure about this? There's still a chance we could lose her." She said.
"You can come back for me when the bounty hunter has gone, I will be in the capitol where the Scion is." Jack gave her a comforting smile despite his serious demeanor. "Do not worry, nothing working for Aku's evil can defeat me." His assurances did little to help calm her fears however as he climbed into the missile hatch amid the cushioning she'd provided.
"Be careful until we come back for you, good luck." She forced herself to smile back at him as she reached up and closed the missile hatch, pushing the pod into the loading bay. Jack waited in the dark silence of the missile bay for what seemed like forever to his beating heart, but was in truth only a matter of minutes.
He looked down through the dark tinted window to see the hatch opening, the cloud passing by just below him. For a moment he wasn't so sure about this, but it was too late to turn back now. The pod slid down the tube slowly until it plunged down into the empty air around the ship, plummeting down toward the clouds below him. Through the widow he could see a dozen other pods falling alongside him.
He looked up toward the sky to see Samus' ship heading toward the falling pods, firing several shots. Most missed, but two pods were taken out just in the first pass and they weren't even into the cloud cover yet. Somehow Jack didn't think any pods would make it all the way down.
The ship came back around quickly, homing in on his pod in particular. The samurai could only watch as the cannons on the ships front powered up, giving off a small glow. Before they could discharge however a blast from the smaller fight slammed into the hull, tilting the ship and sending the twin beams off to the side, a few feet away from the pods.
Jack gasped as the ship passed through the group of falling missiles, clipping his own and sending him spinning out of control just before he entered the clouds. His head was spinning even faster than the pod was and the clouds made it impossible to tell which way was up and down. An explosion nearby informed him that he was far from free of danger even in the clouds.
He tried to throw himself against the sides of the missile to halt his spin, but the momentum was far too great for him to level it out before it would hit the ground. He stared out of the tinted window as he left the cloud cover, the planet's expanse stretching before him. He was back near the main capitol, they must have tried to bring him as close to it as they could.
He made a mental note of where he was, well as good a one as he could in this spin and resumed trying to right himself. Only half a dozen missile pods remained in the air, and though the fighter kept pestering the much bigger ship Samus seemed intent on taking them all out above all else.
Without warning Jack was jolted and the missile shuddered, the rapid spin slowing somewhat as something invisible seemed to tug at it. He looked up through the window to see the fighter hovering above him, a soft point of light coming from it and shining down onto the missiles. All of the empty pods mostly ceased their random turning and fell in one direction.
"Get out of there!" Jack yelled, though he knew his warning would do no good. Samus' ship came around behind the small fighter and fired both beams directly at it. The bright red flashed of light tore into the ship. The wing erupted into a sheet of flames and it lurched to the side, losing whatever hold it had on the missiles as it lunged down toward the ground, trying to keep aloft.
Jack stared in horror as the fighter flew off into the sky, burning and lurching like it would fall to the ground at any moment. He only looked down in time to see the ground coming up fast, and his missile was still tilted, if not spinning anymore. Two more beams detonated the two missiles beside him as he threw his weight against the sides of the shell, trying to right himself before he hit the ground.
The engines underneath him surged to life and let out a great stream of fire as his missile came within fifty feet of the forest he was coming down onto. He kept his hands on the sides of the missile, making what corrections he was able as the missile rocked back and forth from the force of the flames, slowing rapidly. Finally the engines cut and the pod fell the last ten feet, slamming into the ground hard enough to jar the warrior around.
He forced the door of the missile open and leapt out, staring up at the sky through the trees to see if he could spot anything. There was nothing above him however, no sign of the fighter or his pursuer. For a moment he wasn't sure if he should try to find them or continue his mission, but then he realized he couldn't find them anyway. He had no clue where they were, and while he was here he could try to accomplish his mission.
With a heavy heart he turned to make his way to where he thought the city should lay. He hadn't had much time to survey the area, but his memory was usually pretty accurate. He would find his way there and defeat the scion, then he would find Keela and Reggoth. This, he swore.
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"Be safe Jack..." Keela mumbled under her breath as Reggoth struggled to keep the ship in the air until they could find a suitable place to set down. He looked down at the radar when it began to beep, then swore under his breath.
"Looks like we're gonna b'interrogated..." He grumbled just before something latched onto their ship, holding them in place in mid-air. They waited in silence until the comm. Station in the control flared to life, showing the top half of the armored bounty hunter, who watched them through the thick green visor in her helmet.
When she spoke Samus' voice was distorted by the helmet, making her barely sound human. "The question is simple, and I don't like to waste time. Which missile pod was the samurai known as Jack in?" She demanded.
"I see no reason to tell you anything, you're the one who hunts people down for money aren't you? Hunt him yourself." Keela shot back with a sneer.
"Please be nice, for every wrong or smartass answer I get, I take another piece of your ship with me. What can you fly with? A missing engine? Two missing wings?" The bounty hunter asked rhetorically. Keela growled under her breath, but knew there was little she could do.
"Missile pod five... but it doesn't matter. You won't catch up with him or defeat him." Keela said defiantly.
"Good girl, nice friend too. Didn't even have to persuade you." Samus mocked her, and undoubtedly had a smile on her face under the helmet. Keela and Reggoth looked down at the floor plated as they felt their ship being lowered down onto the ground. "I suggest you leave once your ship is repaired, there will be no one for you to collect at the capitol."
"This isn't over you money grubbing bitch... you won't take Jack so easily." Keela half-spoke and half-growled.
"Farewell, hope you two don't see me again." Samus said before her ship turned in midair to head back out of sight in the direction where the pods had fallen. Keela and Reggoth exchanged a quick worried glance, but there was little they could do about it for the moment. They could only hope Jack could handle not only the Scion, but the bounty hunter as well.
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His sense of direction proved to be as accurate as ever. Jack soon reached the edge of the forest beside the city in a fairly short amount of time, he must have come down closer than he thought. The marble walls extended to either side as far as he could see and there was one archway that led into the city itself. Several men stood just outside of it with laser rifles strapped to their sides. The city must have been put on higher alert after the stray blast had hit the coliseum. That would make his life a lot harder.
He watched the guards with a thoughtful gaze. He didn't think trying to just walk in was a good idea, no doubt any minions of a Scion would know his description and spot him a mile away. He didn't see any other entrances and he couldn't scale the wall, there would be no place for him to hide as he climbed. Still, there might be a chance if he could sail over it...
The warrior turned toward a tree to his right and grabbed into the trunk to scale his way up the rough bark. It bit into his hands painfully, but he ignored it as he made his way up the trunk into the thick foliage overhead. Once he was up he stopped and turned, balancing precariously on one of the large branches near the bottom. Many of these trees were old with long branches, some of which extended halfway across the area between the city wall and the forest.
Jack cast a quick glance down at the guards to make sure they weren't paying attention, then got down in a slight crouch. He took off running over the branch, careful to keep his feet firmly on the thinning piece of wood until he reached about the mid-point, leaping onto it. The branch bowed under his weight before snapping back up again, with the warrior leaping at the same time.
He sailed through the air high above the ground, slamming into the wall just under the top and grabbing onto it. He heaved himself up and jumped on the wall itself, finding a walkway that led all around the perimeter of the city. If there was a path on the wall, that meant there would be guards on it...
"Hold it!" The warrior whirled in a flash, his hand instinctively drawing the magical sword from its scabbard. Two guards stood on the wall in front of him with their rifles pointed at him. "Put down your weapon now!" He demanded. He didn't even wait for a response before he and his partner both opened fire.
The blade cut the air and the blasts of energy that surged toward him as he lunged forward at a run. The guards were taken aback when he leapt into the air over two more blasts, coming down with the blade above his head. A silver streak of light was all anyone could see, followed a moment later by a flash of sparks from two different sources. The guards looked down to find their weapons sliced cleanly in half, falling to the ground.
Already Jack could hear the guards by the gate responding to the patrol's cries, and there were likely other guards strewn about the city who would respond as well. The warrior decided to ignore the two in front of him and took off down the wall toward one of the spires on the corner. Several blasts of energy blew past him, but none came threateningly close before he reached the door and lunged inside.
He ran to the stairs and took them three at a time, running to get to the bottom before the guards came in. Before he reached the floor though he heard the door at the bottom being unlocked. Of course they would bar all entry points during an alert, he should have thought of that.
Without thinking Jack turned and thrust himself through the narrow space between the stairs at the bottom. The space under the stairs was hollow though there was no entrance in the side of the staircase. He hunched down into the deep shadows as the door burst open and several guards poured into the staircase. At the same time several more came down the stairs in a hurry.
"Where did the intruder go?" One of the ones from the top demanded.
"He's got to be around somewhere, keep looking." A guard from the bottom demanded, sending the guards off into different directions. Jack thought about coming out, but he would give them time to fall back into a routine. He would be quickly caught with them combing this specific area for him. He would be patient, and he would choose his time to come out.
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Samus' ship flew low over the forest, scanning it for any sign of the fifth missile pod. In a moment her radar system beeped and she guided her ship over to the indicated spot. She got up from her seat and walked over to the exit pad, waiting patiently for the panel above her to open and the floor to rise, lifting her out of her ship. She leapt from the top of her ship, an electrical whip from the cannon on her left arm holding onto the hull to lower her more slowly.
The whip retracted into her cannon as she approached the empty pod. There were blankets and pillows lining the inside, and the ground looked slightly scorched where the thrusters had burned into it. She reached up and tapped her helmet, activating a heat sensor in her visor. The ground under the pod was still pure white, with a trail of less intense heat leading through the forest.
Jack had gone toward the city, and he hadn't left THAT long ago. She should be able to catch up to him inside the city itself. With a confident smirk she turned away from the pod and pointed her cannon up at the ship. The whip lashed out to grab hold of the metallic hull, pulling her up toward it at it retracted. She was beginning to see why the bounty was so high, she hadn't expected this much trouble.
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The warrior waited patiently while time ticked by at a crawl, taunting him because he couldn't move forward or back. He was stuck for now, but he took comfort in the knowledge that he would move forward again and destroy the Scion soon, then he would be halfway finished with his task in space. Once that was done, he could go after Aku himself.
His eyes narrowed and his hand went to the sword at his side in anticipation. Lately he'd been thinking to himself that maybe he didn't have to go back in time, to his own time. As long as Aku was gone in this time, the evil could be purged without the risk of destroying everything. Who knew what could have happened without Aku? Who was to say some other being wouldn't have taken over?
He stood up with his hand on his sword, staring out between the space in the steps. It as quiet out there, he hadn't heard anything for the past ten minutes. Now was as good a time as any to head out, though he would still have to be careful. He slipped back out between the steps, making as little sound as possible as he stood upright and approached the door. He tested the knob softly to see if it was locked. It turned as it should, they had probably forgotten to lock it in their haste to find him.
He pushed the door open and crept outside into the city proper. Buildings lined the street on each side as it wound around a corner, heading straight up to the coliseum in the center. He didn't even wonder where he would find the Scion, he didn't see any other place he would be other than the coliseum itself. Where else would the Scion of Strength want to be?
Deciding against using the main road, he crept alongside one of the rows of buildings, moving silently through the back alleys. He was careful to keep his senses sharp, especially his sense of direction. It wouldn't do to get lost back here and stumble back out where he'd come in. He made his careful way through the alleys without incident, reaching the other side fairly quickly.
Warily he left the shadows of the buildings in the evening suns light and walked up to the steps that led up to the entrance of the coliseum. There were no guards around here, they were probably all guarding the perimeter. After all, there shouldn't be anything in here if they did their jobs.
He leapt back in surprise when a ball about as tall as his legs bounced off the ground in front of him from nowhere, bouncing over his head. He whirled to look behind him at it, only to see a figure standing with a kind of cannon aimed straight at him. The dark green visor glinted in the crimson sunlight as the sun went down behind the mountains.
"I must admit, you're more skilled than I thought. I figured the samurai title was just wishful thinking on your part, after all, who practices such archaic skills in this day and age?" The figures voice was garbled slightly by the helmet she wore, sounding almost more like a machine than human. "You really are though... I'm impressed."
"Samus Aran." Jack gave a slight bow and rested one hand on the hilt of his sword, though he was careful not to move too suddenly. "You've come to take me to Aku for money, I take it." He said.
"Nothing personal of course." Samus nodded. "Now if you'll come with me, I have a vacation I was planning to take with the price on your head."
"I cannot allow you to take me, but I do not wish to hurt you." Jack told her. "Turn away and let me fulfill my destiny."
"Nothing, human or otherwise, has ever escaped me." Samus replied with a determined tone in her voice. "I won't let you be the first."
"Then it would seem I have no choice." Jack closed his eyes and bowed his head in regret, his hand taking hold of the sword at his side more firmly. Samus fired one burst of electrical energy from her cannon, but the silver streak that was Jack's blade cut right through it as the warrior lunged at his pursuer. He struck skillfully, forcing the bounty hunter to dodge with a grace one would not expect from such a large looking figure.
He swung his blade in a wide arc, but Samus leapt over it, folding instantly into a ball to bounce off the ground and over the warriors head. He whirled just in time to see the bounty hunters leg slam into his face, sending him spiraling down the steps of the coliseum painfully. Still he landed on his feet in a cloud of dust, leaping back just as another bolt of energy tore into the ground.
His blade cut through two more blasts as he flew through the air, landing on the ground again in another cloud of dust, skidding a foot or so. He held his magical sword in front of him as he dropped into a fighting stance, facing Samus who still had the cannon aimed right at him.
"Impressive indeed, warrior." Samus said as the cannon on her left arm sprouted three prongs at the front that pulsed with energy. "But I don't have time to mess around with you too long." A surge of energy streaked out from the cannon, slamming into his blade and latching onto it. Jack held onto the hilt as tightly as he could, but the energy still tugged relentlessly.
They played tug-of-war with Jack's sword for a few minutes until Samus finally yanked her arm back, bringing both the warrior and the sword with it. The samurai leapt into the air, using the momentum of the sword to slam his foot into Samus' helmet with enough force to send her stumbling back. Jack lunged forward to capitalize, slamming the hilt of his sword into her helmet, sending her to the ground.
Before either combatant could make another move they heard a single voice cry out from a distance. "Freeze, intruders!" Jack looked back to see half a dozen guards aiming their rifles at them, with dozens more pouring into the clearing in front of the coliseum. Jack let out a small sigh as he lowered the sword to his side, sliding it into his scabbard uselessly.
[So it's true, the samurai has left Earth.] Jack whirled at the sound of a voice in his mind, to see a massive shadow with pulsing red eyes behind him. Its form was that of a giant, muscular and big enough to fill up half of the fairly sized coliseum.
"Wait..." Samus said, lurching to her feet with one hand on her helmet. She looked up at the scion, speaking with authority in her voice. "I have the samurai, I'll take him back to Aku. I've been charged to do this." She said.
[And you've done a good job of making us realize he was here, but that's all you've done. Get out of my sight bounty hunter, before I punish your failure.] The Scion demanded, leaving no question as to what he would do if she didn't comply. Samus stared up at him with her right fist clenched tightly, shaking with anger.
"Nobody stiffs me on a job!" Samus raised her cannon, but instantly two-dozen rifles cocked in her direction, making even her pause to think before she struck.
[Let's get one thing straight bounty hunter, neither I nor Aku give one whit about you or your money.] The Scion of Strength said mockingly. [In fact, for your arrogance, you can share in the samurai's fate.]
"I've heard enough!" Samus streaked forward suddenly in a flash of blue light, startling all the guards. She was upon the scion before any of the guards could even react, her cannon blazing a trail of energy right up the shadows middle. The blasts had no lasting effect but to make the scion irritated. The dark form reached forward with surprising speed, catching her right out of midair.
"Samus!" Jack shouted as the scion brought its palm down onto the ground, causing the Earth to shake from the impact. When it lifted the bounty hunter laid limply on the ground, sparks surging from the suit as it twitched spastically.
[Take them both to the cells until the next tournament tomorrow, maybe we'll have a special one just for them.] The scion mocked the samurai before he turned to head back into the coliseum. Several guards gathered around him, one taking his sword before they nudged him toward the building. Two men picked up the still unconscious bounty hunter to bring her with them. Jack didn't fight back, there were far too many to take on like this. He would just have to wait for his chance...
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"I can't believe this..." Keela grumbled in despair, watching Reggoth try to repair the wing that had been nearly severed in the fight. "Jack's fighting TWO enemies out there on his own and we're stuck here in the middle of the forest with no way to get to him." The frustration was eating her alive from the inside out, starting with her mind and working its way down to her heart and soul.
"Will you shut your trap? Bitchin' ain't doing anybody any good. I'm trying t'repair the ship, and I could use a HAND here if you don't mind." Reggoth retorted acidly.
"Hey don't you snap at me... you're the one who was supposed to be watching for Samus!" Keela shot back. "God I shouldn't have let him go like that, what was I thinking? He's alone in a city full of people who would gut him on sight. How stupid am I?"
"Pretty stupid, s'if you want t'help him anytime this century, you could always help m'with the ship here. It would g'much faster." Reggoth growled this time, glaring up at her from his position under the ship. Keela sighed and hung her head, pushing herself up off the rock she'd been sitting on.
"You're right... if I want to help him I have to do something... I just hope we can get there fast enough." She sighed and kneeled down to help him with the repairs all she could. Still she couldn't stop blaming herself for putting him in that pod, she should have been smarter than that. Well... all she could do was try to make up for her mistake any way she could.
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Jack sat on the floor of his cell with his legs crossed under his robe, his hands placed lightly in his lap and his eyes closed. Every sense was alive, every nerve tingling in a rejuvenating trance. His mind fluttered on the breeze of time like a sail on the sea, carrying his body along for the wide. Now though the wind was calmer, not pushing as hard as it normally did.
His eyes snapped open when he heard the door to his cell being opened. Two of the guards flung a woman into the middle of the room hard. She gasped as her hands and knees scraped against the hard cement. She had black shoulder length hair and her skin was unusually pale. She wore little, simply a black undershirt and a pair of dark black panties that did little or nothing to hide her figure. Obviously she saw very few days outside of her suit...
"Greetings again Samus." Jack ventured a well-educated guess to this new woman's identity. His suspicions were confirmed when she glared back at him. "It would seem yet another wayward soul has been deceived by Aku's evil."
"Don't be so self righteous, samurai..." Samus shot back, leaning against the bars of the cell and nursing her bruised limbs. Without her suit her voice was more human, though hardly pretty. Her face also betrayed the line of work she had become so accustomed to, rendering an otherwise beautiful face hard and cold. "I took a job and it backfired, it's not the first time an employer has tried to off me."
"And yet you continue to work for the highest bidder, when the highest bidder is untrustworthy." Jack mused to himself.
"Everyone's untrustworthy, people are lying, arrogant idiots." Samus snorted. "Why else would I help anyone if not for money?"
"Honor, respect, righteousness." Jack replied. Samus narrowed her eyes, studying the warrior closely for a few moments.
"I took a few jobs simply to help people before... and every time I helped them they took advantage of it to dig themselves even deeper into their own hole until finally I stopped coming to help them..." Her deep green eyes stared into Jack's questioning glance, so she continued.
"A long time ago, one of my earlier jobs. My mission was to go to the planet Zebes, and destroy the Metroid... an alien species whose very body radiated with power. I went there and fought waves upon waves of them, they just kept coming. Finally I thought I had wiped them all out, and I left the planet... only to be called by the same people again to investigate another planet. This time I found a baby Metroid, who followed me back to my ship and the science vessel where the scientists took custody of it."
"Only hours later I got another call from the station... they'd tried to recreate the Metroid and harness its power, but it was too much for them. They tried to play god with the power in its body and they couldn't, they failed. I went back to Zebes and cleared it out as best I could but... the child I found died because of those stupid, arrogant people." Samus' eyes bore into those of the samurai, searching for his opinion, be it approval or understanding or hatred. "Once I was done there, someone else tried to harness the power of the Metroid and it all repeated... only this time I didn't respond."
"I see..." Jack closed his eyes, deep in thought.
"How about you, samurai? What do you fight for huh? Another bunch of people who will only dig themselves back into an even deeper pit?" Samus asked.
"I fight for everyone." Jack opened his eyes and stared back as he began his own story.
"Long ago, there was a place where happiness was all that was known, the people there lived their lives in bliss without ever a care, except for one fear. That fear was realized when Aku returned from whatever pit he had been cast into. He enslaved the people and destroyed the city, ravaging even the once bountiful countryside just so they would not have enough food to eat. I was sent away, to hone my skills across the world, outside of the boundaries of Aku's influence that existed then."
"Finally I completed my training and returned to my people. Taking up my family's enchanted sword and going back to my homeland, I faced the wizard in combat. The battle was hard, and his forms were many, but I almost won, I had the sorcerer at my feet. Then, he cast a spell and flung my through a portal in time to now, when there is little I can do against him. His influence taints the hearts of almost everybody and his evil holds dominion." His eyes bore back into hers, perhaps even fiercer than her own had burned moments before. "I fight for my people, for all people... and for my honor. I failed once, but I will not do so again."
"What's the point? They'd probably just destroy themselves anyway." Samus asked.
"Perhaps, but at least they would be free to do SOMETHING." Jack replied, his eyes and voice never wavering from his steady, confident tone. Samus could only stare into his eyes, looking for any sign that he was simply feeding her lies but she couldn't find any. "It seems morning will come soon... we should rest and be ready for whatever comes."
"Yeah... you're right." Samus agreed with a swift nod. She watched him lay down on the hard cement floor since there were no beds or anything for them to lie down on. She gave a soft sigh and lay on the floor as well, huddling herself up into a little ball since it was getting colder and she had very little cover. She would just have to live though, she was a bounty hunter. The cold couldn't hurt her...
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Early the next morning Samus woke with a start, for a moment forgetting where she was. It took her a moment to regain her bearings, but when she did she looked down in surprise to find a white robe carefully draped over her body. She stared at it a moment, then looked over at the samurai who owned it. He sat leaning against the cell bars, wearing even less than she was underneath the robe. He must have been freezing all night but he'd still given her his robe. If she still had doubts he wasn't from this time, they were gone now. Nobody was so chivalrous these days.
The crimson orange hue of late morning shone through the lone window in the cell as she stood up and walked over to him, carefully draping the open robe over the front of the still sleeping samurai's shoulders. With that she stood upright and stretched her arms out above her head, looking around the much brighter cell now that she had sufficient light to see everything.
There wasn't that much to see, outside the small cell there was a walkway to the front and a dead end to the right. The entrance was to the left and the door was shut, not exactly the most imaginative design. Still it seemed to do its job of keeping them here well enough.
She looked over when she felt someone walking up beside her. Jack stood with his robe on now, looking like he had when they met the other day. Neither of them was particularly embarrassed about any extra skin showing, they both knew that sometimes modesty had to take a backseat.
Before either of them could say anything the door that led into the prison opened and a dozen troops walked in with smug expressions. They opened the door and one gestured for them to come out.
"Come on, the scion wants to see you out in the bowl for your execution... I mean battle." He said with a vicious grin on his face. Samus frowned in disgust, but Jack gave no outward sign of emotion as he started forward, following the guards out of the prison. Samus followed after them though the winding hallways of the coliseum until they emerged onto the field where blood permanently stained the ground. The sun was barely risen, casting an almost blood red shine over everything.
"The samurai first." One of the guards roughly shoved Jack forward while the others held Samus back on the sidelines. The warrior stumbled a moment from the shove, then righted himself and strolled confidently out into the stadium. His eyes scanned everything around him for any sign of the Scion of Strength, but he didn't see anything here.
[Samurai Jack.] He whirled to see the dark, massive form of the scion lurching out onto the field. His eyes pulsed blood red, made even brighter by the crimson sun. [It's about time we met, one-on-one. Don't think I'll be as easy as the Scion of Sight, he was an observer, not a fighter.] The scion taunted him, beckoning him closer with his dark fists.
Samus looked around at the guards surrounding her. They were all intent on the field where Jack and the scion were facing off. It was almost like they couldn't look away, nobody was even watching her. So she took her chance and slunk away from the guards, darting into the building itself once she was clear. Silently she wished Jack luck as she moved through the building.
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"No matter what you are, you're still evil." Jack countered the scion's taunt with one of his own, raising his fist above his head. "And like your master you will never prevail over the side of righteousness." He said confidently.
[Then come warrior, show me the power of this righteousness.] The Scion took one lumbering step toward the warrior, who took several steps back. For all his talk he knew very well that without his sword he was defenseless. Desperately he shot a glance over to where he'd come in to look for Samus... but she was nowhere to be seen. Where had she gone? Had she abandoned him?
He looked forward again and had to leap back before the scions huge fist could slam into him. He leapt again as the scion pressed the strike, taking every swing he possibly could while the samurai leapt and bounded away. Desperately he leapt forward to plant a solid kick against the dark forms chest, but he had to leap off again with no effect before the scion crushed him right there. He landed heavily on the ground, backing away from the massive shadow and looking around desperately.
[What's the matter, samurai? Where's the power of righteousness now?] The scion taunted him again, feigning a swing and barking out a short laugh. Before he could move any more a high whine split the air, as though something was streaking toward them. An explosion slammed right into the shadows side, sending it stumbling while Jack leapt out of the way.
"Keela! Reggoth!" Jack exclaimed when he saw the small fighter pass by overhead, the smoke from the missile still hanging in the air over them. The fighter flew out into the sky before it circled back, coming back down toward the scion again with its missiles ready.
[Bah, I hate flies.] The scion grabbed the ground and hefted a chunk of cement bigger than its head. He hurled the chunk at the fighter, but they dodged to the side, though they lost their missile lock and streaked by harmlessly.
"Jack!" The samurai turned back to the bleachers at the sound of a garbled, but vaguely human voice. Samus stood in full armor with his sword held at her side. "Catch!" She wound up and hurled the blade as hard as she could toward the warrior. It arched through the air, spinning at it flew. Jack took off at a run to catch it, leaping in the air and grabbing the hilt before he landed in a fighting stance.
[What... NO!] The scion howled when it saw Jack holding the enchanted blade. [Minions! Kill him!] The guards ran toward the samurai, but a blast of energy erupted in front of them, bringing them to a halt. Samus leapt down from the bleachers, kicking up dust as she landed between the warrior and the guards, facing the enemy.
"You take the scion, I got the grunts covered." Samus said with determination clear in her voice. Jack nodded and turned back to the scion, lifting the magical blade in front of him. Even this small act seemed to make the massive shadow cringe.
"It's just you, me, and righteousness now." Jack turned the sharp part of the blade toward the scion, staring at the shadow as he approached it. The Scion of Strength let out a howl of rage and lunged with surprising speed for something of its size, but it still couldn't match the samurai. Jack leapt back from the blow, swinging the blade so that it sliced right into the dark arm horizontally.
The blade nearly sliced the entire hand right in half, pulling a yell of pain from the scion. Jack pressed his advantage, lunging forward and slashing again and again in expert strokes, slicing shadowy tendrils from the massive Scion until the entire frame was shuddering from the strain. The samurai halted a moment, the blade held before him at the ready.
[You... little fool... even if you kill me, the other scions will not go down so easily...] the Scion of Strength clenched his fist, trying to push himself back up to his feet.
"Maybe not easily, but they will go down." Jack raised the sword above his head and brought it down again, slicing the shadowy head clean in half down the center. The shadow surged and shuddered, screaming like a thousand souls howling in unison as it flowed through the coliseum. Finally the shadows vanished, leaving them bathed in the now golden sunlight and nothing else, pure and simple.
Samus halted her own battle as the guards realized what had happened. They looked at the two intruders, then the spot where their master had stood moments before. Finally they just turned and darted out of the coliseum, leaving them alone in the bowl.
Jack walked up to Samus' side as she turned toward him, reaching up and removing her helmet to hold it in the crook of one arm.
"Well you did it Jack, Scion number two down." Samus said.
"Thanks to you, I do not think I could have taken them all." Jack replied.
"It was my fault you got caught in the first place remember?" Samus reminded him. "It was the least I could do I guess, help get you out of here."
"You know Aku will still have a price on my head, you don't intend to collect?" Jack asked curiously.
"After two scions dead? He'll probably double it once word gets back to him..." Samus said softly.
"So... why are you letting me go?" The samurai asked.
"Because... even if I have lost faith in humanity... it's not my place to take away humanity's only hope." The bounty hunter stared into Jacks eyes for a few long moments until they both heard the engine of Keela's fighter approaching them again. "Looks like your ride is here." Samus reached up and placed her helmet back on her head, completely covering herself again.
"Yes, perhaps we will meet again." Jack looked up at the fighter and waved it down at it neared the bowl.
"Perhaps..." Samus agreed in the mechanically garbled voice that always emanated when she was wearing her helmet. With that she shook her head and turned to head toward the entrance of the coliseum.
"Farewell, bounty hunter." Jack called after her with a friendly smile on his face. Samus didn't turn back, but she did wave back at him just before the left the stadium altogether. The samurai smiled and turned back to the fighter right when Keela was getting off to greet him, grinning from ear to ear.
"Jack, I can't believe you actually did it! You destroyed the scion and drove Samus away!" She exclaimed in wondrous awe.
"Something like that." Jack smiled back and put one hand on her shoulder. "I'm glad to see that you two are alright as well. I had feared you crashed somewhere." He said as he turned to head back into the fighter beside Keela. She replied energetically, happy to have him back and he was relieved to hear her voice again. Still this entire ordeal would leave a mark on his soul, he knew. One so disillusioned humanity became a plague... was it possible to help someone like that? He would figure out the answer eventually, but for now he had another scion to concentrate on. His journey would continue.
TO BE CONTINUED
