A/N Hey everyone, looks like I'm on a roll with this story so I hope that I don't burn myself out and if you're wondering why Brad hasn't used his abilities yet, it's because he'll only use them in dire situations like growing into a large size to face a massive enemy or clone himself into an army to face against one, so he'll only use them when it's necessary since he doesn't want to become dependent on them and he'll also learn other magical abilities like Aku's laser eyes and now, without further ado, let's begin.
Jack and I continued traveling to find a way home but we haven't had much luck so far while I learned other things from Jack like astronomy and swordsmanship while also sharpening my martial arts and bow skills during our long journey until we arrived in a town and decided to take a break at the local bar, heading up to the metallic door and it slid open before tough-looking aliens and cyclops men went and stared at us with unfriendly expressions until Jack and I stepped inside.
We passed the thugs that were eyeing us suspiciously during our walk to the bar and approached the bartender, who was busy cleaning a beer mug until he saw us and narrowed his eyes.
"You two want something?" the bartender questioned.
"Hot water and a bottle of beer please," I said before the thugs behind us stood up while making questioning noises.
The bartender stared at us for a little bit before he grabbed a teapot, filled it with water, and heated it up while also handing me an opened bottle of beer until the water in the teapot boiled and the bartender placed it down in front of us, then Jack took the teapot filled with hot water and we walked over to an empty table after paying the bartender.
We sat down and placed our drinks on the table before Jack took his straw hat off and put it on the table while I also removed my hoodie, just before I noticed the other patrons gazing at each other and didn't pay much attention as I started sipping from it and Jack made the tea before pouring it into a small cup and went to calmly sip from it, then a hand slammed down onto our table and the jukebox shut off suddenly while I looked and saw a fishman glaring at us.
"Hey, you assholes have some kind of nerve!" the fishman growled, causing me to sigh as Jack also gazed up at him before we proceeded to ignore him and the fishman didn't appear to like that.
"Hear what I'm saying? Dipshits, I'm talking to you both because you've got some gump coming in here, you know what I mean? Better finish those drinks quick 'cause you dumbasses might not live much longer," the fishman suggested as Jack and I looked back up at him, then the fishman slammed down two electronic wanted posters that had our faces on them.
"Aku's offering two googolplex for your heads...two googolplex, that's a lot of money and we aim to collect it right about now," the fishman stated just as the other patrons stood up from their seats with two large ones blocking the entrance, then the other patrons approached our table menacingly while taking out their own weapons and I simply smiled amusingly at them.
"Wow, Aku put a bounty on our heads? Who would've thought that we became popular enough to be put on his shitlist, but how about you guys put the weapons away and go back to your business before we're forced to defend ourselves and you don't want to pick a fight with us," I warned while sounding pleasant, only my heart was racing and I was trying not to panic as the patrons started laughing.
"I don't think you've noticed, but you and your friend are completely outnumbered so how about you two just sit right there and we'll make it painless," the fishman threatened as the air around us became thick with tension and I motioned at my bottle of beer and Jack's teacup.
"Can we at least finish our drinks first?" I questioned dryly and the fishman gestured for us to go ahead.
"Sure, who are we to deny a man's last request?" the fishman commented, then Jack and I finished off our drinks before we gazed up at the patrons who wanted us dead while Jack was staring at them with a steely look and I used his current teachings to study my potential attackers.
"Thank you," I said before grabbing the bottle by the neck and swinging it into a patron's face, causing the glass bottle to shatter while the patron fell onto his back with a pained yell while clutching his face.
After that, the other patrons attacked us and Jack pulled out his sword while I got ready before stood up, Jack whacking a few with the blunt edge and I hit the rest with fast and destabilizing strikes until we sat back down with the whole thing only taking a few seconds, then the patrons collapsed and started groaning in pain as Jack finished what was left in the teapot and put his hat on while I flipped my hood over my head.
At that moment, the peppy music from the jukebox resumed with a cheery fishwoman continuing her dance with a spiked club as Jack and I left the bar and I spotted a small round furry humanoid waiting for us on the other side of the street while it had a belt with grenades strapped around its torso.
"Samurai Jack and Bradley Chase, this you?" the creature questioned as he held up two more electronic wanted posters, then Jack and I lifted our heads slightly to gaze at him stoically and the creature looked at the wanted posters before he nodded to himself.
"Yeah, looks like you two," the creature muttered before putting away the wanted posters and charging at us with a war cry.
The creature went to swipe at us with its claws, causing me and Jack to pull out our swords before our blades and the creature's claws struck each other with loud clangs before we ducked to prevent getting our heads eviscerated as the claws punctured the door behind us, then Jack's hat fell apart into two pieces as we rose up and backed up while blocking the swipes before being shouldered to the ground.
"You're Samurai Jack and Bradley Chase? What a fucking joke so this will be the easiest googolplex I've ever made!" the creature declared before laughing and I glared at him while Jack and I stood up.
"Let me give you a piece of advice, never underestimate us," I said darkly, causing the creature to stop laughing and he started moving his arms up and down a few times while Jack and I got ready.
The creature jumped and lunged at us in mid-air with a yell before Jack and I dropped onto our backs and let the creature land onto our feet, taking him entirely off guard before we kicked him over the stone wall surrounding the town and stood up until we walked out of town and saw the creature looking dazed.
"Googolplex," the creature slurred out dizzily before it passed out and I sighed.
"Well, that was annoying," I mumbled as I brushed myself off and Jack kept staring down at the creature.
"Looks like there will be no money for you, crazy round man," Jack told the unconscious bounty hunter, who remained unresponsive and we were about to leave when my hearing picked up something wooshing at us with Jack looking alerted by the noise.
We jumped out of the way of two metallic arrowheads on metal cords before they hit the ground in front of us, then we looked up to see a humanoid red and white primate with three eyes and metallic gloves glaring down at us while I noticed that the cords with arrowheads were connected to his gloves.
"Samurai Jack and Bradley Chase, you're mine!" the primate shouted as the two cords with arrowheads retracted back into the tips of his two fingers.
The primate hopped up and down on the branch he was perched on while hooting and screeching before he dove down at us and we got ready, then we blocked a few slashes and were kicked back a few feet until the primate fired two tips of his fingers at us and it made Jack and I raise our swords to block, only the cords wrapped around the blades of our swords and yanked them out of our hands before the swords stuck into two branches above us.
Jack and I widened our eyes and started scowling tensely at the primate, who swung his weapons around like whips before shooting them out at us to impale us before Jack and I leaned back until we found ourselves dodging swipes from the primate and I threw a punch at the bounty hunter, only he caught my fist and laughed mockingly until I sent him flying back with a kick to the chin and used the momentum to do a backflip.
The primate crashed into the tree our swords were stuck on and the vibration caused them to become dislodged from the branches and fall down, then we caught them and got into combat stances as the primate left the hole he made and flew at us with a screech, just before Jack and I jumped up to meet him with war cries and swung as we passed him.
Jack and I landed onto the ground with the primate landing right behind us until it exploded into scrap metal, then a large humanoid bear crashed through a couple of trees behind us and roared before my hearing picked up on him lunging at us from behind, causing me and Jack to turn around with our swords out before a giant centipede-looking creature burst out of the ground behind us while I was starting to feel a little peeved.
The centipede grabbed Jack with four legs and I moved before proceeding to stab it and slice the creature in half, showing that it was a robot while Jack was freed as the bear went to attack us until Jack and I sliced at it while it passed by us before the bear slid to a stop and its hat split apart until it roared in utter fury and charged at us again with a look of pure rage.
Suddenly, two halves of the robotic centipede boke away from the middle and formed heads until Jack and I found ourselves dodging and blocking lethal attacks when Jack jumped up to send the bear to the ground with a swift kick to the face before something else came crashing through the trees behind us and we looked back to see an elephant-like creature being ridden by a humanoid lion that was dressed as an Australian hunter.
"Jesus Christ, is everyone on this entire planet trying to fucking kill us?!" I shouted in frustration as the lion aimed a laser cannon at us with a sadistic grin, then the two smaller centipedes burst out of the ground and the bear got up before Jack and I found ourselves surrounded.
The lion fired his cannon at us and Jack blocked the lasers while I sliced the two centipedes apart and one of the lasers Jack blocked went back at the lion before knocking him off the elephant and sending him to the ground as Jack and I slashed at the bear before it ran away while we started looking beyond pissed.
The lion sat up and whistled, prompting the elephant to charge us before Jack and I thrust our blades above us, slicing through the elephant like butter as it ran above us before it fell into two pieces and exploded, then the lion screeched in alarm and fled in a panic before more centipedes showed up and something in me just snapped when Jack and I bellowed in utter fury until we viciously attacked and started killing the robots without mercy.
Aku was more than displeased as he watched Jack and Brad slaughtering the robots and badly injured the bounty hunters through his mirror, the being of darkness scowling at how things were not going his way while he groaned in distaste.
"Ugh, useless bounty hunters! Is there no fighting style that can defeat theirs?" Aku growled irritably until an idea came to him and he widened his eyes in realization, then he started grinning slyly as the perfect plan came to him.
"Yes, no fighting style can defeat theirs," Aku said sadistically before he let out a twisted laugh and started to put his next plan into action.
Jack and I kept screaming ferociously as we sliced through robots non-stop with enraged looks on our faces before we eventually killed them all and I let out menacing snarls while my eyes were glowing red and my body bubbled again.
"Who else wants some?!" Jack screamed with his head thrown back until he breathed heavily and I managed to calm down with my eyes turning back to normal and my body stopped bubbling while I scowled at nothing in particular.
"Okay, I've just about had enough of this shit," I growled darkly as Jack composed himself and we holstered our swords, then we went to leave the area filled with robot corpses when the straps on Jack's right sandal broke with a loud snap.
Jack halted and widened his eyes before looking down at his broken sandal, then he growled in frustration and picked up the broken sandal with a furious look that started to scare me before he seethed hatefully at two electronic wanted posters of us that were on two trees, then he threw his sandal at his wanted poster and the object bounced off it before I started backing up warily to prevent myself from being a target since it was frightening to see the normally composed samurai look so enraged.
"Jack, calm down because Aku is trying to screw with our heads, so we can't let that bastard win," I reasoned gently and cautiously, then Jack seemed to snap out of it and sighed before he looked at me regretfully.
"Forgive me, I should not have acted in such a manner," Jack told me, and I walked over to pat him on the shoulder.
"You don't need to apologize, god knows how many people are going to try and kill us now thanks to the bounty Aku put out on us, and this whole journey is starting to wear on us so it's not surprising that you lashed out like that," I assured before our wanted posters started sparking and creating currents of electricity.
I recoiled at that and Jack's eyes widened as the currents of electricity shot at his sandal before the straps were repaired, then the sandal was engulfed by the current before the electricity started forming into two figures while I tensed up, then the figures gained solidity and definition as they became two familiar people before my jaw dropped at what they became once the current ended.
What I saw was two replicas of me and Jack, only the replica of Jack had on a black gi with red in it and had red eyes that had bags under them while my replica was wearing black clothes that were the same as mine as his eyes were glowing red, only it was the twisted grins on their faces that put me on edge since it looked like they wanted to kill us slowly while enjoying it before I looked at Jack and saw that he was appearing completely stunned by this unexpected development.
"What sorcery is this and who are you two?" Jack questioned in disbelief while his replica started glaring at him.
"Don't be such a fool, I'm you and he's Brad," Mad Jack snapped irritably while my replica looked annoyed by the stupid question.
"If you are me, then who am I?" Jack asked rather stupidly, making me facepalm at how naive he was being right now while Mad Jack growled in frustration and Dark Brad rolled his eyes.
"Ugh, you are such a fucking dumbass because you are you also," Dark Brad grumbled and I cleared my throat to get his attention.
"Alright, what the hell is going on here and who are you guys? You two look like us but I can see that you're both pure evil so how is this possible?" I questioned sternly, then the replicas smirked arrogantly.
"We are the sons of Aku's magic, where the Shogun of Sorrow has looked deep within you both and has spawned us from your own burning hatred. We are your dark sides and possess all the powers that you two wield while we also have only one purpose in our existence, and that is to kill you both," Mad Jack explained before he pulled out his sword and jumped up to slice Jack in half while Dark Brad formed his arms into blades and charged at me in a shocking speed.
I was forced to back up while pulling out my sword to block the slashes that struck against my sword until I dodged a few attacks while backpedaling from how quick and strong he was, then he suddenly moved like a blur and I was unable to dodge it when one of his bladed arms grazed my side and I let out a shout of pain as I started gripping it before I glared at Dark Brad, who was grinning sadistically before he elongated his arms and legs and the blades formed into scythes until he scurried at me on all fours in an alarming speed.
My eyes widened and I formed my arm into a shield before blocking the slashes, only one got through and I yelled in agony as Dark Brad sent me a twisted grin.
"Stings, doesn't it?" Dark Brad taunted and I gritted my teeth.
"Not as much as this is going to hurt you," I growled darkly before I holstered my sword, and tentacles with sharp ends shot out of me before attempting to skewer Dark Brad.
My replica melted into black goo and flowed towards me while dodging the stabs before I rolled out of the way to avoid the black arrows that shot out of the thick mass until the goo rose up and formed into a large snake that slithered at me until I grew larger with my clothes melding into my body, tail altering into a bigger fluffier one with eight more sprouting out, then my canine head morphed into a vulpine one with my ears growing longer until I had changed into a black smaller Kurama from the Naruto series that I loved to watch.
My tails lashed out and swiped at Dark Brad, who moved like lightning and lunged until he bit down on my shoulder, causing me to let out a roar of agony and I retaliated by snatching his body and also biting down hard before he was forced to let go and let out a screech until I flung him through a few trees as I melted and flowed into the shape of a bull.
I scraped my hoof against the ground a few times until I charged at Dark Brad, who changed into a stag and also charged at me when we collided against each other with nasty headbutts and struggled to push each other back while we snorted ferociously.
I suddenly changed into a kangaroo and proceeded to hop up into the air before kicking Dark Brad in the face many times until I swung my tail and knocked him into the ground, then Dark Brad changed back into his jackal form while he looked utterly livid.
"I'm going to fucking kill you!" Dark Brad snarled viciously before he exploded into a giant mass with tentacles coming out while Jack and Mad Jack kept fighting with sparks from their swords striking each other landing onto the trees and causing a forest fire to start.
The black mass surged forward with tentacles about to grab me, causing me to flee as I avoided getting either grabbed or swiped at while I morphed into a cheetah to keep my distance from my dark half that wanted me dead.
Eventually, my dark half and I were now back to our jackal forms and held up swords as we glared at one another after slashing and injuring each other more than a few times, the flickering shadows from the flames making us look eerie with our glowing red eyes and dark forms rippling like thick tar as we stared each other down, then we screamed harshly as we charged at each other and started slashing with our blades clashing against one another.
Pretty soon, we locked our blades together and growled as we fought for dominance until I saw my feral expression through the reflection of my blade until it hit me that we were evenly matched and there was no way for me to win through brute strength since my dark half knew all my moves and abilities, not to mention that I looked like the monster I was terrified of becoming and pure horror hit me until I jumped back and lowered my sword, holstering it and making Dark Brad look at me like I had two heads.
"What the fuck are you doing?!" Dark Brad exclaimed in shock while I closed my eyes and followed Jack's teachings by letting out slow and calming breaths as the sound of the fire died out and I opened my eyes to see that a fire a never broken out in the first place.
"It's over, you've lost," I stated with a steely glare and Dark Brad widened his eyes at that.
"What?!" Dark Brad shouted in disbelief.
"You are the darkest part of myself that had been born from my hatred of Aku and the atrocities he has committed, but now that hatred no longer exists so now you no longer exist," I said calmly before Dark Brad gritted his teeth and pointed at me.
"Dumbass, I am real and always will be as long as you keep holding that hatred inside yourself, now die!" Dark Brad snarled as he charged with a feral roar and went to slice through me, then my eyes hardened and I held up a hand as he reached me before a bright light erupted until Dark Brad screamed in pain and disintegrated into nothing until there was nothing but silence after that as Jack met up with me not long after.
"Bradley, are you well?" Jack asked me, and I nodded while I had noticed a few small tears in his gi before we looked up at the sky with hard expressions.
"We know you are watching and these tricks are starting to annoy us," Jack said to no one in particular, but I knew he was talking to Aku who was no doubt watching us and most likely pissed that his latest plan against us failed.
Jack and I started walking and I became lost in thought, recalling what my dark half said before he was disintegrated and it troubled me that such a monster lurked inside me and could take over at any time, proving that your worst enemy was yourself and I could only pray that I never become that monster as Jack and I continued our journey more cautiously now that bounty hunters were after us.
A/N Looks like Brad faced his inner darkness and was able to beat it back for now, but how long is the question so only time will tell and I just wanted to say that I enjoyed typing down Brad fighting against his dark half as they used their shapeshifting to gain an edge against each other and Brad becoming Kurama from the Naruto series shows that Brad can become people or creatures from fiction as well, not just reality so that'll make things interesting for sure.
Well, let me know what you think and stay tuned.
