REUNION
Ever wonder how being erased from existence feels like?
Jack felt his strength fading and his body went numb. Then the pain on his chest, his past self's pain. How he died started to come to him. The Samurai looked at the screaming entity after he cut its guts out. Strange glowing fluids came out from the entity's deep cut.
The mortal did not find time to check it. He just smiled as he disappeared from existence.
All he can see now was darkness.
Silence.
He cannot feel anything cold or hot. Just nothing.
Jack can hear himself breathing nervously. His heart beating fast. That's all he can hear in the great nothing.
But then... something came.
"My boy."
Someone said his name. It's his mother's voice.
"My son."
Another voice called him but this time, it's his father's.
"Jack."
"Ashi." The samurai instantly remember her.
Then she continued to say "Without Aku-"
"Stop." Jack said.
She continued. "-I would never-"
"I said Stop!" He tried to forget her last words.
"Jack."
"STOP!" The Samurai yelled at the top of his lungs but doing so, water rushed down to his throat. Jack choked as a sudden wave of water overwhelmed him. At first, he was nowhere and next thing he knows, he's at the sea. Jack swam to the surface to catch his breath.
His vision was blurry at first but he saw the seashore just meters away from him. The samurai went for land and as he reached it he lied down on the wet sands and catch his breath. His vision then came back and he looks around.
"Where am I?" Jack lied down again to rest and figure out where he was later.
As the two daughters of Aku venture through the forest seeking for a place to stay, Ashi felt a powerful presence that just entered the world. A familiar presence. Her sister Ami asked her. "Ashi! Are you alright? It's like you were struck by-"
"Samurai!" She said.
"Samurai? There are no samurais here." She looked around the forest and see nothing but bugs, lizards and other small creatures.
"He's here, Ami! Jack's here!" Ashi was certain it was Jack. She can feel his soul nearby. She found a trail to her beloved Samurai.
Ashi went into the deep forest following the trail until she found the samurai lying on the seashore peacefully. It is like he was sleeping there for an entire time. "Jack?"
With her soft voice, the samurai woke up. "Ashi?" He turned and saw her. "By heavens... you're here. You are here! Ashi!"
The two ran towards each other. They embraced each other and then they share a long passionate kiss. A lost lovers kiss. Ashi cried, "I knew you'd come."
Jack cannot say anything for now. He just enjoyed her warm embrace.
Then the robot head Scaramouche commented after hearing the reunion. "Aw... isn't that sweet?"
"Shut up!" Ami yelled.
Jack turned and saw Ashi's sister and the robot assassin Scaramouche. "You two."
Ashi quickly explained. "Don't worry, Jack! She's with me." She looked at the robot. "Except him. He's... our prisoner for now."
The samurai looked around and saw the place was peaceful just like the future he went. But it is not the future. It was Oblitus'. He's now part of the dark entity's future. "I'm sorry, Ashi. It appears we are trap here."
Ashi was saddened to hear her beloved failed. "It's alright. You're here with me. That's good, right?" She gave him her biggest smile. "We can find a way out together."
The samurai noticed she changed. "Being optimistic now?"
"Kinda." She chuckled.
Ami approached the samurai and bowed down asking for forgiveness. "I was just doing what I was told, Samurai. I'm sorry. I'm just- following orders."
The samurai understood and he forgave her. "It's okay. I won't hold any grudges." Then he asked. "So... what's your name?"
"Ami."
"I don't remember you..."
"You slit my throat with my sword."
"Right..." Then Jack remembered. "Sorry about that."
"Eh, it's fine. My anger to you has died out years ago."
"Years?" The samurai was surprised.
Ashi asked. "What's wrong?"
Jack said. "You've been gone for a week now, Ashi." He looked at her. She changed a little. "How many years are you in here?"
"Three."
After she gave him an answer, they heard a loud explosion from the sky. They looked up and saw the sun disappeared but changed into a bright cosmic light. The ground began to shake. Jack held Ashi tight and secure. Ami fell on the wet sand. "Ashi! What is going on?"
Jack looked up and saw the large beam of light heading towards them. "What is that?"
Ashi knew it was Oblitus' doing. "We're in his world now and we are his toys."
The two embraced together as the beam of light struck them from above. The great blast of light was spread and struck Ami as well. They felt the ripples of energy passing through them. Every molecule in their body vibrate, splitting them from the plane of reality.
As the beam of light fades away, the three mortals disappeared as well.
The knight Jack woke up after he took a hard swing from the dark entity. He looked up and noticed the full moon. He has been knocked out for an entire day. His head still hurts. "What was that thing?"
Then he saw two of the gems lying on the ground.
Without any hesitation, the knight took it and placed it somewhere safe. However, there's one gem missing. The orange one. "Where is it?" Then he saw trails of strange fluid spread on the ground.
It's still wet.
It's glowing.
It's alive.
Jack kept his hands away from it. "Where is that damn game?" Then he found something more valuable.
The golden gauntlet.
The knight looked around and wondered where the samurai went or what happened to him. "I'll be taking that." He puts it on and placed the two gems on it. He
"There's no need of it." Horatius appeared from the shadows.
Jack noticed something changed. "What do you mean? After what I did for you... you then start to change your plans?"
Horatius explained. "I made a deal with the dark entity."
"Dark entity? The one that easily hit me with one swing? That creature? What kind of deal?"
"Let me explain."
Jack did not give him the time to explain. "What happened to the plans for that Eternal Inferno? That so-called power that need to save my beloved queen breaking her out from her frozen prison. What happened to that?"
"We have now the full control of Time." Horatius said. "Time is on our side now. We can change the past."
"Time cannot help her. Not when an entity still lives inside her!" The knight yelled. "I killed gods just to get this power! This Eternal Inferno! How can I save my queen when that creature doesn't get affected by the changes of Time?"
Horatius understood the situation and the knight need some explanation. "Are you talking about the shadow man inside her?"
"Yes. The Man of Death."
"I know." Horatius said. "This shadow man works with the dark entity Oblitus."
The knight was shocked to know the connection. "Is that the dark entity that you made deal with?"
"Yes. But don't worry. He has the full control of Time now. He can change it. He can command the Man of Death to leave your beloved queen alone and you can have her safe and sound."
With that fact, Jack could not bear the deed he did. "I killed gods."
"Gods who doesn't care about mortals."
The knight remembered the gods and goddess who did not fight back but plead for mercy. "I killed them all."
"Not all of them." Horatius said. "That is why I still need you. Use the remaining gems to kill all of the gods. They might interrupt with Oblitus' plans."
"No."
The cloaked man felt a sudden change of heart inside the mortal. He prepared his scythe on his back. "What do you mean by that?"
The knight answered. "I cannot walk this path anymore. I have spilled blood on my hands that I cannot- I don't want to do this anymore."
"What are you going to do?"
"I'm going home." The knight used the purple gem and opened a portal back to his home.
"I can't let you leave." Horatius said.
"Why not?"
"I still need them." The cloaked man pointed at the gems.
The knight looked down and saw the blade of the scythe behind the cloaked man. Now he knows who his enemy is. "You are working with the dark entity now. Then you are now my enemy."
"Don't make me do it, mortal." Horatius warned him.
Jack did not hesitate. He leaped towards the portal and ditched the cloaked man behind.
Horatius was not fast enough to stop him. He spent most of his energy fighting Oblitus. "Damn it all." He said.
At the great Void, just above of the River of Time, there was the Great Guardian of Time. Its radiant body and illuminating halo lights up the great void. Its powerful eye looked down at the cosmic river and watch the events that happened and going to happen. Then his dark twin Oblitus approached him from behind.
"Hello, brother." The dark entity said.
The illuminating entity turned around to face his twin. "Hello, brother. What brings you here?"
Oblitus showed him the Time Gem, his second eye. "I have this."
The light entity asked, "What are you going to do with it?"
The dark entity chuckled. "I'm taking over now." His mighty hand crushed the second eye and released a powerful orange light that spread across the great Void and caused dangerous ripples on the River of Time. "TIME IS MINE!" Those orange energies went to the Guardian of Time and chained him up far away from the cosmic river. "Now you stay there while I do some changes."
As he was incapacitated, the Guardian of Time noticed his dark twin has a tear on his gut and he caught glimpse of a mortal warrior inside. "A samurai."
Oblitus heard him. "Did you say something?"
"One of my favorite characters in Time. The samurai warrior who vowed to vanquish the great evil. He's inside of you."
"You know what that means, brother?" The dark entity laughed. "He's part of me now."
"No." The guardian said. "He's still part of the River." He raised his hand and formed a great light spear and with his strength, he threw it towards Oblitus' scar. It was a direct hit. The spear pierced through the dark entity and it flew towards the River of Time.
Oblitus felt the cosmic pain. He looked at his gut and found a large hole on it. "What did you do?"
"I just simply return them where them should be." The hopeful entity did not show sign of defeat to his dark twin but his own excitement. "I can't wait to see what this mortal will do next."
It was not Oblitus who struck the samurai.
It was the Guardian of Time, giving him a second chance to fight back.
=X=