"The Birth of Evil"
As the Brave 12 lay down for the night, they started to dream. They all shared the same dream. They were at the beginning of the Universe 12 billion years ago when they saw a huge black mass emerge from a star.
"That black mass!" J.D. gasped. "It must be Aku!"
"That very well could be J.D.," Jack agreed.
"So Aku has been around since the Big Bang created the Universe?" Varie wondered.
"That's scary," Lincoln answered.
The Mass soared away, and they saw the mythological deities emerge from a star. They saw Odin, King of the Norse Gods, Ra, God of Egypt, and Vishnu, God of Hindus.
"Those are Odin, Ra, and Vishnu," J.D. identified.
"They're heading for Aku," Varie informed.
The gods prepared their weapons and fought Aku together. Their weapons were pure good, with enough power to harm and burn Aku. As they fought, a fragment of the black mass broke free and drifted away. It drifted across the Universe for billions of years before arriving in our galaxy and Solar System. It arrived on Earth 65 million years ago, during the time of the dinosaurs. It crashed in the mountains of what would become Japan, resulting in the extinction of the dinosaurs in the area.
"Whoa!" shouted J.D. "Aku was responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs in Japan."
"Yeah," Vince agreed.
They noticed tar pits and a large lake of tar.
"This isn't tar," J.D. clarified.
"This is pure evil, and it consumes everything in order to get stronger," Naruto explained.
"Yes," Jack agreed.
A massive explosion was heard, as a cluster of towering spiked trees sprang from the evil.
During the Great Ice Age 500,000 years ago they saw Japan during the times of Prehistoric man. They saw the Emperor of Jack's land's prehistoric ancestor trying to save a friend from the evil. But it wasn't enough, and the evil devoured them.
Over the course of history, the Evil continued to spread over the land like some kind of cancer. Killing all the life around it. By the time Jack's land had grown into a small city, there were evil trees piercing through the houses, the water had dried up, and the land was dying.
They saw Jack's father, the Emperor, about to leave with a large group of his men to destroy the Evil that was spreading.
"I do not understand why it must be you to carry out this task," a woman said, confused.
"My duties are clear," the Emperor replied. "As the emperor, this problem is my responsibility."
"Is that woman he's talking to your mother Jack?" J.D. asked Jack.
"Yes," Jack answered. "And the man is my father. The emperor."
"That's interesting," Sakura commented.
"What about your family?" the woman asked. "Do you not have a higher responsibility to them?"
"Do not speak of such nonsense," the Emperor commanded. "You are the most important person to me. But my people and my land are also my family. I must go."
"So he was going to fight Aku," J.D. concluded.
"He has no idea what they are about to face," Fu added.
"Yes," Jack replied. "But father was ready regardless."
The woman cried.
"I cannot let this evil destroy us all," the Emperor declared.
A man emerged with something in a container. "My lord, the elixir is ready. It is the key to extinguishing this devilry."
The emperor placed the container in his pouch and bid farewell, promising to return.
They got ready and departed. They set out towards the evil forest.
"There they go," whispered J.D.
They arrived in the evil forest and saw that the entire area was covered in those evil trees.
"Wow!" said Naruto. "Look at all of that."
"The whole area is covered in those evil trees," Fu observed.
"Yeah, this is terrible," Lincoln muttered.
"It's like some kind of cancer," Sakura noted.
"And if they don't stop it, it will destroy the world," Jessie worried.
They went into the heart of the Evil Forest, and it somehow knew they were there and began picking them off and devoured the soldiers one by one until the Emperor was left.
"The whole forest is alive," J.D. observed. "It's as though it has its own mind."
"Yeah," Lily agreed.
The Emperor arrived at the heart of the Evil Forest. It was a pool of pitch black evil.
"Wow!" remarked J.D. "Take a look at that."
"That pool is evil in its purest form," Jack commented.
"It's like looking into a gateway from the darkest pits of the Netherworld," Vince explained.
"No kidding," Laney replied. "I can't believe Aku is pure evil. Why can't he be a force for good?"
"Somethings are born the way they are, Laney," J.D. replied.
"Yeah," answered Lily. "Aku's power was forever set in Stone."
"I can't believe Aku has been on Earth since the end of the Age of the Dinosaurs," Jessie added.
"Yeah," Lincoln agreed. "Aku is immortal and has lived for 12 billion years."
The Emperor dismounted, took the elixir from its container, chanted a spell, then dipped an arrow into it. He fired it into the sky, and the sun ignited it, sending it into the black pool of evil. Some of the Evil Trees returned to it. The Emperor thought it worked. But it completely backfired, and a massive tree exploded out of the black pool, mutating into the creature they were about to destroy: AKU!
"AKU!" everyone gasped.
Aku stretched out his body and used magic to block out the Sun. He saw the Emperor.
"Oh," Aku said. "You! Thank you!"
"No!" screamed the Emperor."My intention was to destroy you!"
Aku was amused by this. "Oh?" He laughs. "But it was your poison arrow and your hocus-pocus that freed me free." He began to laugh once more.
The Emperor shot more arrows at Aku, who sensed them coming and absorbed them.
"Fool!" yelled Aku. "Nothing in this world can harm me, for I am Aku, the Shogun of Sorrow, the Deliverer of Darkness, and your new master. And you will bow to me."
The Emperor slashed Aku with his sword, which then disintegrated.
"Whoa!" shouted J.D. "Not even normal weapons can kill Aku."
Aku laughs evilly. "Human fool. I see that I must show your world who is master."
Aku sucked the Emperor into the pool of black, which transformed into a gnarled tree with the Emperor chained to it.
"Now gaze your eyes upon the full wrath of the mighty Aku," Aku commanded.
Aku then went to the Emperor's land, and the Emperor watched in sheer horror as Aku was destroying his land.
The Emperor screamed, "NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
The Emperor was completely helpless as he watched in sheer horror and helplessness as Aku was decimating his entire kingdom.
"Aku you monster!" yelled J.D. in rage.
He punched a tree, knocking it down. "I will kill you for this, Aku! I will destroy you 1,000 times over and make you pay for your crimes against the universe!"
He breaks down crying, knowing that he can't do anything until they get back to the past.
"It's not your fault, my friend," Jack emphasized. "We will destroy Aku and make him pay for everything he has done."
I know!" J.D. cried out. "I hate you, Aku! I HATE YOU!"
"Calm down, honey," Varie soothed. "Calm down. This is not your fault. It's all Aku's fault. He will pay for all this."
"Yeah bro," Naruto agreed. "Aku will pay for this."
"We will help you and Jack destroy him no matter what," Vince pledged.
Suddenly a white cloud came and it was Odin's horse, Sleipnir. He got the Emperor down and carried him to the highest mountain. Once there they saw the Emperor go into a temple and he saw three monks before him.
The area became the vast emptiness of space and he was standing before Odin, Ra and Vishnu.
"You have been chosen," Odin declared. "A force of Ultimate Evil has resurrected itself on thy world."
"This evil must be destroyed," Ra urged.
"Only through the strength of the Human Spirit and the virtue of human righteousness can this evil be vanquished," Vishnu added in Indian Accent.
Odin, Ra, and Vishnu launched light beams at the Emperor, resulting in a ball of pure white light. The monks pounded away at the light with powerful crafting hammers, and Odin, Ra, and Vishnu poured their strength and power into it, forming it into the sword that Jack now wields. The Brave 12 were feeling incredible power from this process.
When it was finished, the Sword was created. It floated in front of the Emperor.
"This blade was forged from the Righteous Energy within thee," Odin explained.
"It possesses the power to destroy this evil force," Ra continued.
"But be warned: this evil is not of the human world," Vishnu cautioned. "It has magic beyond your understanding. Trust not what you see, but what you feel.
"So that's how your father got the sword, Jack," J.D. noted.
"The three gods of Norse, Egypt, and Hindu created it from his righteousness," Laney continued.
"That's a very interesting conclusion," Lisa added. "Even though I am a girl of science, I find all of this very interesting."
"Yeah," Jessie agreed.
The Emperor took the sword and he now had a powerful armor on. The temple vanished and he was on a floating cloud and he went back toward his kingdom to Aku.
He arrived and Aku saw him.
"What is this?" asked Aku. "What kind of bug is this?" He laughs. "It's you."
"Yes, Aku," answered the Emperor. "Your evil cannot abolish the power of righteousness. Your evil grasp on my land and its people ends now."
Aku laughs. "Have you learned nothing? Your fatal blade cannot touch me."
The Emperor slashed Aku, causing him to cry in pain.
"Think again," J.D. said.
Aku growls. "How can this be?"
"This sword was forged from the strength and power of the Human Spirit," the Emperor explained. "It represents all that is good. It's purpose is to destroy you."
"Bah!" said Aku.
Aku shot lasers towards the emperor, but he blocked them. The emperor blocked all of his shots, regardless of how many he fired. He even dodged them all. The emperor slashed Aku yet again.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHH!" screamed Aku.
"That had to hurt," Sakura commented.
"Yeah," Naruto agreed.
Aku turned into a dragon and chased the Emperor. The emperor cut off Aku's head, causing him to fall and transform into a huge hairy spider.
"I'm glad Leni isn't here to see this," Lincoln added.
"Me, too," Lily admitted.
Aku pursued the Emperor, who slashed and blocked Aku's strikes. Then Aku jumped into the air, dispersed, and entered the armor suits. He transformed into hundreds of warriors, and they all laughed with insanity.
"Boy, he can laugh a lot," J.D. noted.
"Somebody shut him up," Naruto pleaded.
"Yeah," Jessie agreed.
Aku then launched an attack, and the Emperor was doing well against them.
The Emperor slashed apart some spearmen Aku.
The Emperor blocked a few spears. "Yah!" Spears hit him. "AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"
The attacks kept coming, and they didn't stop.
Archer Akus was shooting arrows, and while the emperor blocked some, others hit him.
The Emperor screamed. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
"Whoa!" shouted J.D. "Now he's mad."
"Come on, father," Jack urged.
As the fight came to a close, a thunderstorm raged. There was only one Aku warrior left. He tried to run away.
"You will not escape!" shouted the Emperor.
The Emperor flung the sword, which struck Aku and sucked him into the blade. The blade had turned black, and all that could be seen were Aku's eyes.
The Emperor took up his sword. "Let the sword forever drive away this evil abomination."
He stabbed the ground, and Aku fell into it.
Aku declared, "I WILL RETTUUUUURRRRNNNNN!"
Aku promised to return and finish what he started one day. Then a huge gnarled tree sprung from the ground.
"That was it," J.D. declared.
A baby's crying was heard, and the Emperor found his wife and other women safe, as well as a baby in his wife's arms. It was little Jack.
"Jack, you were adorable as a baby," J.D. commented.
"I sure was," Jack agreed. "I can't believe I was born on the day Aku attacked. This is a shocking revelation."
"That's very coincidental," Naruto replied. "I was born on October 10th, the day the 9-Tailed Fox destroyed my village."
"You told me about that Naruto," Jack said. "That must've been a very shocking time for you."
"I don't remember what happened that night because I was only a baby," Naruto confessed. "But that was a horrible event."
"Yeah," Sakura agreed. "Since that day, Naruto has been treated as an outcast."
"I heard about that," Jack mentioned. "I'm sorry that happened to you, Naruto."
"Thank you, Jack," Naruto replied.
From the ruins of his castle, the Emperor, his wife, and little Jack looked on.
"We must learn from this day," the Emperor said. "We must be prepared should this evil ever return. We must have a plan."
The whole landscape was gnarled and twisted and Aku's tree was there waiting.
"And after that horrible day, the events that transpired were set in motion," J.D. recounted.
"Yes," Jack agreed. "Aku returned ten years after I was born, and I had to undergo an intense training plan for 15 years before I could fight Aku."
They saw everything Jack had done during his 15-year training. He trained in Saudi Arabia, Africa, Egypt, Greece, England, Russia, Norway, Tibet, and other places. It turns out they miscalculated. Jack was born in the year 1,000 A.D. and was teleported 9,000 years into the future 25 years later. They awoke and resumed their quest.
"That was a strange dream," Jack commented.
"That wasn't a dream, Jack," J.D. replied. "It was a vision from the past. We saw everything that happened throughout history and how Aku's reign of terror came to be. We also saw your training and how hard you worked to get where you are."
"Yeah," Varie agreed. "We also saw how hard you trained to get the Sword."
"Yes," Jack confirmed. "I had to work hard as part of a plan devised by my father."
"It was quite fruitful," J.D. noted. "It made you strong and the man you are now."
"That's true," Jack responded.
"So, where are we heading now?" Lily asked.
"Who knows," J.D. replied. "But we'll find out soon."
They continued on their quest.
Continues in part 20.