Face Off
Oblitus transported the Samurai to his destination where he will encounter the Knight shortly. The dark entity said to the mortal man. "I hope you know what you are doing."
"I know." The Samurai stepped on the large temple where the Aztec gods dwell. He encountered those beings and with his presence, they knew what's going to happen.
One of the gods exclaimed, "I know you. You are the one who vanquished the dark god Aku." Tezcatlipoca, the Aztec god of time and Lord of the North, approached the mortal man and wondered. "I've heard the other gods have fallen. Can you stop the god killer from slaughtering us?"
The Samurai reassured. "I can try. But I have a plan." He looked at the gods and they were shaking in fear. "But I need your full cooperation."
"We can do anything you want just to stop this mad man."
Ashi slept on the warm summer grass for an hour until she woke up from a creature that was licking her cheek. It was a dog. Primitive. Appears to have no sign of intelligence. It patted and ran around her like its happy to see her awake. "Hey, buddy." She patted the dog's head and rubs its back. "What are you doing here?"
Suddenly, her sister Ami approached her and then apologized. "I'm sorry for what I did back there. I know it's a big stab at the back but-"
A dagger pierced her throat quickly and Ami fell down to the ground bleeding.
Ashi threw it and watched her sister bleed to death. "Now we are even." She smiled at her and her sister smiled back.
Minutes later, Ami's body began to glow and then restored her fixed form. Her wound was repaired. "So you forgive me?"
"Of course."
Ami smiled at the fact that her eldest sister still forgives. She sat down next to her and watched the sun setting. "What are we going to do now?"
Ashi answered, "For now, we pray that Jack finds a way to get us out of here."
"Does he know you still exist?"
"I know he knows. I can feel him. His words." Ashi said.
Her sister asked her, "Do you really love him?"
The former assassin chuckled at the fact that she and Jack were together for a year now. "Dearly. I loved him so much. I can't explain it."
However, they were interrupted by an explosion from a far away town. The two girls ran towards it to investigate. The people there were being mercilessly slaughtered by an unknown man. When the dust settled, they found the culprit.
He saw the two women and expressed his first thoughts. "Yeah, baby! Two strong women trying to face me. Man, I'm lucky today!"
"Who are you?" Ashi questioned the android.
"Be-bee-ba-boo-bo-da... I'm Scaramouche the Merciless! The Pied-Piper of Ruination, the Crooner of Carnage, the Ambassador of Annihilation, the Eradicator of All, baby!"
Ami commented, "Never heard of you."
Scaramouche expressed his disappointment. "Seriously? I'm Aku's favorite assassin. Ring any bells, babe?"
The two girls shook their heads. They have no clue about his identity.
The android grunted but then kept his cool. "Anyway, I'm here to wreck havoc to bring the Samurai and fight me. It is best for you to die first before he gets here." He pulled out his flute and started playing his music. Large rocks from the ruins of the town began to levitate and flew straight to the two women.
Ashi and Ami dodged all of it at ease. "What's the plan?" Ami asked her sister.
"Take out his flute!"
Ami picked up a stone and aimed it at the android's flute. When she got a good shot of it, she threw the stone with her might. It traveled so fast that it flew like a bullet. She got the flute and destroy it.
"Hey!" Scaramouche exclaimed. "Do you know how expensive that is?"
But without any hesitation once her sister took out the flute, Ashi attacked the android and delivered a powerful kick to his metal face. Unfortunately, the kick was not strong enough. The android grinned at Ashi. "You can't hurt me, baby. No one can!" He grabbed her leg and threw her back to her sister.
Ami caught her but then did not expect the android to attack them at the same time. She took a kick to the face. Both of them went down. They tried to evaluate their next move. "We have to take him seriously. Take him out if we have to."
"But if we kill him" Ami said. "That entity will bring him back."
"If we die, we will be back as well." Ashi said "It is a try-and-die situation."
"You mean Die Trying."
"You get what I mean."
The android flexed his fingers and prepared himself. "Alright! Alright! I'm going to go easy on you two, baby."
Ami responded, "Don't bother." Then they attacked the android at the same time.
The Knight had arrived and looked at the great Aztec temple. But he felt something's off. Horatius asked his knight. "What's wrong, mortal?"
"It feels abandoned."
"Use the eye."
Before the knight could use the gem, he was interrupted by Xiuhtecuhtli. He who claimed to be also a god of time struck the knight with an orb of time, restricting him for time-travel or looking at the future. Then the attack continued by Tezcatlipoca, Tlazolteotl and Xochiquetzal.
The Samurai watched as the gods tried their powers against the knight. Unfortunately, they were not strong enough to contain him. But they did their part.
Distraction.
Oblitus watched the samurai warrior unsheathed the celestial sword, preparing for a strike.
The Knight used the red power from his sword and struck the Aztec gods with its crimson might. "You are ready for me, eh? Bring it on then! Show me what you got!" He leaped towards Tezcatlipoca and thrust his burning sword through the god's heart.
As one god died, the samurai strikes. With his mighty swing, he abled to landed a blow to knight's arm hoping to disarm him. His blade pierced through the armor but not the man's skin. It has been covered by the red gem's energy. Quickly, the samurai attacks again but this time to the neck, thinking of finishing him off already.
He was unprepared for the samurai's appearance. He did not expect him to be there. That is why there was something off as he arrived. The samurai was invisible in time. He wonder how was that possible.
Knowing he can't escape death with time-travel this time, the knight used the purple gem and transported himself away from the samurai, opening a portal to escape.
"He's escaping!" cried the Aztec gods. "We scared him off!"
Without any hesitation, the samurai followed the fleeing knight into the unknown.
The two descended through the cosmic tunnel travelling at the speed of light. The Samurai can feel his body stretching as he reached his hand on to the knight. It is like free falling but the space begins to bend as you fall too fast.
The knight noticed his foe followed him through the portal. He knew he will not stop. "GET AWAY!"
The samurai reached down to his opponent. He grabbed the man's steel boot and pulled him slowly.
Death lingers and it made the knight's spine crawl. Quickly, he used his sword to cut the cosmic tunnel which ended their travel in a sudden halt. The two men dropped at one of the rivers of Japan.
The samurai made it out alright but the knight did not resurface. With his heavy armor, he's sinking down fast. The Samurai wanted to save him but the entity advised him not to. "It's better to leave him there. It's his grave." The entity asked. "Do you still have the gauntlet?"
"It's still here." He raised his left hand and showed him the metal glove. "What do you want me to-" Suddenly, a burst of red light was shot to the samurai, sending him to the shore.
The knight emerged from the boiling water and landed at the shore. He's no longer afraid. He's frustrated. "Stop meddling my quest!" He yelled.
The samurai responded. "Your quest for total annihilation ends here!"
"It's not annihilation! It's rebirth!" The knight explained his motives. The entity doesn't like what he wants to hear from the armored man. "There are too many gods in this world! Too many gods of war. Too many gods of time. Too many goddess of love. TOO DAMN MANY!"
"Why do you want to-" But the samurai was interrupted by Oblitus who advised to stop asking.
"It's pointless, samurai. He will not change his mind."
The knight was telepathically contacted by the cloaked man Horatius. "Stop telling him about our motive. Don't be like the others." The knight understood and so he kept his mouth shut.
They looked at each other like warriors preparing for a single strike waiting for someone to attack first.
Samurai Jack waited for the knight to move first.
Sir Jack waited for the samurai to move first.
Two remained still, waiting for one of them to attack.
Hands sweating.
Legs shaking.
Eyes focusing at the enemy.
Both breathe and waited patiently.
Oblitus then commented, "This is going to take a while." The entity moved and dropped a small rock on the ground which caused a sudden sound. It startled the knight, lost his focus. Immediately, the samurai attack in great speed. It seemed to be one-sided fight at first but the knight managed to block the attack. The red gem reacted.
It protected the wielder.
The samurai attacked again but he was repelled by the knight's blazing flames. Fortunately, the samurai has the gauntlet with him. It's protecting him from harm. The mortal soon realized the function of the glove. He waited for the knight to stop and once he did, the samurai leaped forward and threw a punch with the gauntlet at the armored man.
That single blow sent the knight flying to the other side of the river.
It did not killed him but it broke his helmet. The knight removed it and noticed the large crack. "That's impossible." He wondered how did the samurai manage to land a powerful hit on him when the red stone was with him. Then Horatius answered his question. "It's gauntlet. It negates the gem's abilities."
"How is that possible? I thought these things have infinity power!"
"The queen is the most powerful piece in the board. She can go almost any direction. But there are certain blocks that she cannot go. She's not like the Knight."
Sir Jack hated chess metaphors. "Just shut up and tell him how to defeat him."
Horatius took a closer look at the samurai, squinted his eyes. "I'll be right back. Just keep him busy." The cloaked man disappeared.
Samurai Jack noticed something off about the knight. "He's like talking to himself."
Oblitus said. "It's someone. And I think I know who." The entity then said. "Keep him busy. I'll be right back."
The samurai looked at the white-haired knight. He can tell that the gems have done something to him. He began to theorized that the gems were very dangerous for a mortals to carry unless they have the gauntlet. He took a look at it and saw something he did not spot before.
There were six compartments... for the six stones.
And one of the compartments have a slither of the red stone.
With that little detail, the samurai realized that the gauntlet did not just negate the power of the red stone. It absorbed it. Now he knows why Oblitus wanted him to have the glove. Its function is not just to hold the stone together but to absorb them. It is like a magnet to the stones. With that speculation, the samurai wanted to try it out.
He raised the gauntlet and tried to use its power to absorb the stone from the knight.
But then the dark entity came back. "That don't work like that."
"Then tell me what to do."
The Knight noticed his opponent was talking to himself. "Or it could be someone else." He knew his opponent was not alone. Suspected that the samurai was talking to him leaving him open. The man took that opportunity to strike. With the purple gem, he dashed towards the samurai and landed a swift blow. However, he did not expect what happened next.
The samurai managed to block his sword. He then said to the armored man. "It's unwise to strike me like that."
"And why is that?" The knight moved back from his foe.
The Japanese warrior showed him one of the compartment of the gauntlet having a small purple fragment. The gauntlet absorbed the purple stone's power.
The knight realized his mistake. "Well, I'll be damned."
=X=