"The Brave 12 and the Imakandi and the Fight with Demongo the Soul Collector"

On a distant planet far from here, a savannah planet, four lion humanoid people known as the Imakandi were preparing. A shaman used a ritual to beam them to Earth. It worked, and the Imakandi arrived on Earth.

As the Brave 12 were resting for the day, J.D. sensed that the Imakandi were coming.

"Oh no," cried J.D. "We've got problems, guys."

"What is it?" Varie asked.

"Aku has sent the greatest hunters in the Universe to hunt us," J.D. explained.

"Who are they?" Sakura wondered.

"The Imakandi," J.D. said. "They are a race of Lion humanoids who live for the thrill of the hunt. Once they have us in their sights, they won't stop until they have either killed or captured us."

"These guys must be really dangerous," Fu concluded.

"No kidding," Naruto replied.

"No kidding," Naruto replied.

"They're dangerous, and they're good fighters," J.D. added. "Their sense of smell is impressive. They can smell their target from 500 miles away."

"That is a really good sense of smell," Lincoln observed.

"What do they look like?" asked Jack.

J.D. sees four figures coming toward them. "There!"

He pointed to the four figures.

"They must be the hunters Aku sent," Jack concluded.

"The Imakandi," Sakura said.

"Let's get out of here," Fu urged.

J.D. agreed, saying, "Right."

He summoned their horses, and they rode out of the city.

The Imakandi were closing in on them at breakneck speed.

"Wow!" remarked J.D. "Their speed is amazing."

"They can run really fast," Lincoln added.

"Affirmative," Lisa replied. "Their speed is amazing."

The Imakandi were gaining on them as they rode.

"They're catching up to us!" yelled Lily.

"We're about to lose them," J.D. predicted.

He opened a portal to another part of the world, and they entered before the portal closed behind them.

The Imakandi had lost them, but they were not going to give up.

They were in another world, walking through a canyon.

They felt a figure following them.

"If you seek conflict, you've found the wrong people to deal with," J.D. warned.

"You are mistaken. I am the Dealer of Destruction, the Merchant of Doom, and I seek you Samurai Jack."

They took out their swords and prepared to fight.

"Who are you?" Jack asked.

"Aku has sent me to destroy you."

"Aku!?" cried Jack.

"My master tires of your existence. You are all very powerful foes. Perhaps too powerful for my master, but not for me. My name is Demongo."

"Demongo the Soul Collector," J.D. explained.

"Who is he?" Sakura wondered.

"He's one of Aku's most powerful minions," J.D. explained. "He has the ability to steal the souls and essences of the mightiest of warriors and the deadliest of beasts."

"That is correct, J.D. Knudson," Demongo replied. "I've come to capture your Warrior's Essence!"

Demongo reached into his chest, pulled out a skull, and threw it to the floor.

"Merchant of Doom?" Jack asked.

"No, this is just the start," J.D. shot back.

"Yeah," Vince confirmed. "Watch what he can do."

Demongo fired a beam of energy, and it hit the skull and the skull popped and out came a huge monstrosity with 3 glowing blue eyes. It was TITAN, their old foe.

J.D. yelled, "Titan!"

"But we defeated you!" Jack protested.

"Yes, you did, and I control his essence," Demongo responded. "Titan, destroy the Brave 12!"

Titan roared loudly. "RRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWRRRRRRRRRRRR!"

He punched the ground, and they avoided his attack.

J.D. flies up and punches him in the face, sending him crashing into the rock wall.

Titan disintegrated into a black mist, which entered Demongo's chest.

Demongo laughed, threw more skulls, fired four energy beams, and four more warriors emerged. They are warriors, they know.

"We know these warriors," J.D. revealed.

"They, too, were once thorns in Aku's side," Demongo explained. "But now I Demongo control their essence as I shall control yours."

"We fought alongside them and destroyed most of Aku's minions," Laney explained.

"I can't believe you got them, Demongo," Lily remarked.

"Yeah," J.D. agreed. "Vishni, Hardball, Shogun, and Wildcat. I can't believe they are being forced to destroy us."

"Yes," Demongo acknowledged. "Prepare yourself Brave 12 for Annihilation."

Hardball fired a spiked ball on a chain at them, and J.D. caught it and flung it back at him, hitting him and dissolving him into black mist. Lily kicked Wildcat in the face, Laney slashed Shogun, and Naruto slashed Vishni.

Demongo laughed. "You cannot win Brave 12. I am more powerful."

"A power only fueled by the strength and skill of the great warriors whose essence you have stolen, Demongo!" Jack yelled. "You are nothing without it."

Demongo chuckled. "You are wise Samurai. But who cares? Blegh!"

Demongo disappeared and reappeared behind them.

"He's playing games with us," J.D. explained. "Trying to get us all riled up."

"I see that," Jack answered.

"When I have all of your essence, I will be the greatest warrior," Demongo declared.

"Want to bet?" questioned Vince.

Demongo jumped, and they landed on the canyon cliff. Four skulls dropped and were hit by energy blasts. When the smoke cleared, it was the same warriors they had defeated before.

"It cannot be," Jack exclaimed. "How is this possible? We just defeated them."

"Yes, you all did," Demongo confirmed. "But they are essence. You cannot defeat essence."

"He's right, guys," J.D. said. "We can't kill spirits. It's impossible."

"You may defeat them again and again, but I command the essence of thousands of such powerful warriors," Demongo warned. "Even a team as powerful as yours cannot defeat them all."

"We'll see about that," Fu replied.

Demongo then summoned Titan once more, and this time he was falling on them. They ran and jumped out of the way as he crashed into the cliff.

The four warriors pursued them, and their swords clashed with their attacks, sending sparks flying. The entire landscape was engulfed in flames. They slashed all five of them apart, and they disintegrated into black mist and returned to Demongo.

Demongo was amused and then giggled. "You still think you can win. How commendable."

They were unmoved.

"How futile," Demongo commented.

Demongo then unleashed hundreds of skulls, and they knew what was coming. Demongo launched energy blasts at the skulls, causing hundreds of warriors to materialize. They ran down the canyon, pursued by warriors and creatures.

"There are so many of them!" J.D. shouted.

"How can Demongo have this many warriors under his control?" Naruto wondered.

"I don't know, but this is insane!" Lily screamed.

They hid in a cave, and they went past them. There were literally hundreds of warriors. Some, they all remember.

A creature tried to do a sneak attack, and they destroyed him and his essence went back into Demongo.

Demongo screamed. "There you fools! There! Destroy! Destroy the Brave 12! I want their essence!"

"Let's get them!" shouted J.D.

They jump to their feet and slash the machine gun warrior. Lily slashed a big warrior. A Mummy warrior threw ninja stars at them, which Fu grabbed and threw back, destroying him.

They ran and slashed as many warriors as they could. It was a fierce battle. They destroyed lots of warriors at a rapid level.

"Yes!" Demongo yelled. "Yes! Fight! Fight!" He then began laughing evilly.

They were getting nowhere fast because they just kept coming. The odds were stacked against them. But they were persistent.

"Geez, there's just no end to these guys!" J.D. cried.

"Yeah!" Fu responded.

"They just keep on coming!" Lincoln yelled.

"I know what Demongo is trying to do," J.D. replied. "He's trying to wear us down to the point of exhaustion by having us fight hundreds of warriors all at once."

"He sure is clever," Laney noted.

"Yes," Jack answered.

"We can't let Demongo do this anymore," Jessie added.

"Yeah," Laney agreed. "But how do we stop him?"

"We have to free the essence!" J.D. declared.

"Trapped Essence!" Jack cried. "Without essence, Demongo has no power."

"We have to free it somehow," J.D. concluded.

"But how?" Lily wondered.

They saw the essence go in him.

"From within," Jack clarified. "How do we go inside?"

Wildcat tried to attack and Jack slashed him and Wildcat dissolved.

Jack grabbed the essence and went towards Demongo.

"Wha?" questioned Demongo when he saw this. "Impossible!"

Jack entered Demongo and found himself in a pocket dimension. It was a dimension full of the essence of the warriors Demongo had stolen throughout the years, and they all made him stronger. The warriors were trapped in a ring of blue fire.

Jack saw thousands of warriors imprisoned by Demongo. He noticed Shogun and turned to face him.

"And I free your essence!" Jack yelled, his voice echoing.

Jack slashed the blue fire ring, Demongo's influence over Shogun was severed. He destroyed all the fire rings, and on the outside, beams of light burst from Demongo's chest, and all the warriors rushed out of him like wildfire. Demongo was now a smoldering husk of his former self, and he collapsed to the ground.

"Way to go, Jack!" J.D. yelled.

Demongo collapsed to the ground, seeing them and the warriors ready to pulverize him into oblivion.

"It's over Demongo!" J.D. shouted, cracking his knuckles.

"Start praying!" Sakura yelled.

"This is going to be good," Vince predicted.

"NNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Demongo screamed.

Demongo was no more.

The warriors left in peace and vanished.

J.D. senses something. "And just in time, too."

"What is it?" Varie asked.

"The Imakandi found us," J.D. explained.

"They just don't give up," Naruto added.

"And they never will, from the looks of it," Lincoln observed.

"We need to run some more," Jack suggested.

"No, I'm done running," J.D. declared.

"Me too," Vince agreed. "It's time to fight."

They charged after the Imakandi and entangled them in an unbreakable chain.

"Aku sent you to hunt us, right?" J.D. asked.

"Yes," Imakandi answered. "And you all have made this the greatest hunt we've ever had."

"I believe it," remarked J.D.

"It is the way of the Imakandi," Imakandi explained. "We live for the thrill of the hunt, and whenever we come upon a prey that has eluded us for a long time, we consider that prey as a worthy opponent and let that prey go."

"We appreciate that," Vince responded.

The Imakandi then vanished, returning to their Homeworld.

"Well guys, let's continue on our quest," J.D. said.

They all agreed.

Continues in part 16