The wind whispered through the reeds as Jack stood by the riverbank, his wild hair catching the breeze. The sun hung low in the sky, casting long shadows across the water's surface. He stared at the swaying grasses, their movements hypnotic yet unsettling—a reminder of something he could never forget.
"Reeds bend," he murmured under his breath, recalling Ashi's voice. "Then break."
His hand clenched involuntarily at his side. Tears welled up in his eyes, but he blinked them away before they could fall. It wasn't just grief that weighed on him; it was guilt. Guilt for what he had done, for what he had undone. Without Aku…, Ashi would never have existed.
Behind him, villagers approached cautiously. They bowed deeply when they saw him, their faces filled with reverence. "Prince," one of them said softly, "you're back!"
Jack nodded absently, barely registering their words. His mind was elsewhere—lost in echoes of her laughter, her defiance, her final moments. Her last words haunted him like a ghost: "Without Aku... I never would have... existed."
He turned away from the river, forcing himself to focus on the present. The village needed him. That much hadn't changed.
Hooves thundered against the beaten, dust-covered dirt path as a group of rogue ronin goons descended upon the village. Swords gleamed in the fading light as they demanded tribute—rice, gold, anything of value. Villagers scrambled to comply, fear etched onto their faces.
A child tripped while fleeing, tumbling into the dust. As Jack stepped forward, his gaze locked onto the boy's terrified expression. For a moment, he could have sworn he saw Ashi staring back at him—not the warrior she became, but the venomous, yet frightened girl she once was, before almost becoming his wife.
Almost.
But there was no time to dwell on anything about the erased future. He had to get to action. And fast.
His grip tightened on his sword. No more pointless bloodshed. He had sworn it to himself after defeating Aku. But then a scream pierced the air—a woman, cornered by two armed men, their masks sneering at her face, as she frantically handed anything of value she could muster up: trinkets, cutlery, even precious Akoya pearls, supposedly items her family had been storing for decades in their minka huts, presumably as memoirs, heirlooms or just valuable items to trade and barter with.
Something inside Jack snapped.
In an instant, he moved. His blade flashed in the dim light, cutting through the chaos with lethal precision. He dodged a katana strike, parried another blow, and countered with a slash that left his opponent's neck sash in tatters. "Leave. Now," he commanded, his voice calm but laced with fury.
The ronin leader laughed, stepping forward with reckless bravado. "Prince? You're a ghost! Hah. Look at you. A shell of your former self, ever since you lost your bride. What was her name again? Oh yeah. Poor Ashi."
Jack did not bite. He stood there, his gaze low. Underneath the fading light of the setting sun, the toro lamps at the edges of the streets glowed with intensity at the deteriorating situation as the villagers huddled around themselves, watching the lone prince deal with the rogue bandits that had so recklessly decided to invade the prince's domain.
"Your kingdom should have been destroyed long ago." says a ronin.
Jack continues looking down at the ground, the wind whistling, caressing his hair and his gi, as tension continues to congeal within the already tense air air, the villagers, petrified and as still as stone, forming a tight group amongst themselves, their full faith in the prince of the kingdom as he faces off against the barbaric savages in front of him.
"I think we should kill him, don't you think?" like a pack of wolves, the rogue barbarians encircle Jack, as he keeps his gaze low.
"Yes." The leader says, the grimace of the oni-mask on his face, an exact representation of his feelings toward the prince of the kingdom.
"Then... so be it. You have made your choice." Jack utters.
A rogue ronin lunges at Jack, his blade aimed squarely at Jack's heart. Jack jumps to the right, expertly spacing his dodge and his movement to get an opportunity to swing at the barbaric bandit. Another one bears down upon him from the 6 o'clock position, as 3 more, including the leader, rush forward, battle cries echoing across the usually quiet, serene village.
Jack's katana meshes with the 5 others of the vagrants, a blur of clanging metal in the dusky evening, as he ducks, weaves, feints and parries against the punishing onslaught of attacks. The vagrants manage to get close to him at various points in time, their blades managing to slice his hair, parts of his gi, and even his chin.
In an instant, he finds an opening in their expert, yet occasionally clumsy and unrefined swordswork.
"2 of them will slash downwards, then 2 will slash either left or right, then the leader will improvise off that... then rinse and 've rehearsed their attacks a lot." muses Jack internally.
His internal monologue continues as his confidence grows, his eyes focused, calm and steady.
"But I..."
In the split second between the 2 ronins downward slash, and the other two's follow up with a slash to the left or right, with a shrill cry that pierces the tension of the sky, Jack makes a beeline straight for the ronin leader's yodare-kake, and tackles him to the ground, the both of them doing a barrel roll as the goons fly to another direction.
"...deal only in righteous affairs."
"How... this... brute power!" the leader's voice strains, his mask cracks as Jack pins him to the ground, blade near his neck's arteries, his armour digging into the smooth pebbles of the path.
Jack's gaze turns, as he instantly parries another strike from one of the goons who had been quicker on his feet, blocking a lunge from him. The daimyo leader snickers from his position on the ground.
"If I can get up... it'll be my victory...!"
The vagrant leader's eyes widen as he looks to his right, looking at the impending doom before him.
"OOF!" "AGKH!"
Jack leaps away with blistering speed, causing the 4 goons that had lunged at him to crash into the dirt, smothering their leader with the weight of clanking armour, flesh and bones, the impact forces sending them all careening into the gutter. Stagnant drain water splashes on the group of villagers as they recoil in disgust, shock, horror and awe at their prince's quick thinking and combat prowess.
Jack lands back on his feet gracefully in front of a streetlamp, sheathing his sword. The bandits moan in pain, their bodies contorted in unnatural positions inside the gutteras their leader grimaces at Jack, clawing his way out of the gutter. The daimyo commander unsheathes his sword... only to realise it had been bent at an unnatural angle, presumably by the forces of the impacts.
"You... YOU UNCOUTH...!"
The ronin leader charges, fury blazing in his brown irises. However, Jack stood there motionless. In his mind, it was clear who had won the battle.
"This... this isn't right. The ronin leader choked, gasping for air as he knelt in front of the prince. Jack stood over him, his blade pointed squarely at the man's face.
"Go," he repeated, his tone leaving no room for argument.
The leader, knowing he and his gang had been defeated, his attempts to extort the villagers having been thwarted by a simple man in a gi. The leader grunts, the sound akin to that of a boar between a lion's fangs. Without hesitation, he gestures frantically to his goons to rise to their feet… and flees into the dense underbrush of the forest at the edge of the kingdom.
The goons, climbing out of the gutters, fearful for their lives, scattered, the jirushi on their heads tattered and torn, disappearing into the forest as quickly as they had come. The villagers erupted into cheers, crowding around their savior. Jack accepted their gratitude silently, though his thoughts remained distant. -
Later, one of the kids from earlier approached him, accompanied by his father. Both bowed solemnly, their hands dusted with rice grains, their "Thank you, Prince!" the child exclaimed, his big eyes shining with admiration.
Jack froze, struck by the boy's innocent smile. It reminded him too much of Ashi—the way she used to look at him, full of hope despite everything. Her voice echoed in his mind: "Without Aku... I wouldn't have existed."
Villagers knelt before him, murmuring their thanks. "You fight for us still," one of them said. Jack nodded wordlessly, his purpose flickering like a dying flame. He turned and walked away, barely able to keep moving, as the villagers murmured their quiet praises, their solemn admiration for the venerable prince of the land that had just saved them from a vagrant attack. -
Night fell, cloaking the land in darkness. Jack stood alone on a hill overlooking the horizon, his gi fluttering in the cool breeze. The stars above seemed impossibly distant, their light cold and indifferent.
Fifty years in the future. Erased. Undone by his blade when he killed Aku. Jack closed his eyes, imagining the lives that might have been saved—or lost—in the timeline he destroyed. The Scotsman, his wife, their daughters, Da Sa-moo-rai, the woolies, X-49 and his dog… He hoped they were all doing well wherever they were now.
A small smile touched his lips as he envisioned them thriving in a world free from Aku's tyranny. Yet, even as he tried to find solace in that thought, unease crept into his chest.
The air wobbled—a distortion, unseen by the villagers below. Like heat haze, but wrong. Reeds rustled nearby, though there was no wind. Jack's gut twisted as he stared into the distance, sensing something amiss.
- Elsewhere, in her domain's main chamber, the Earth Mother blinked in surprise. The small rat-like creature she had mocked for so long had grown stronger, its form now resembling a demonic capybara. Still, she smirked, lifting the back of her hand to her chin. The continents on her skin glowed brighter, as if amused by the absurdity of it all.
"How cute," she lightly jibed. "The so-called Shogun of Sorrows still sulking in his half-serious attempt to siphon power for himself…"
"Don't you underestimate me," Aku hissed, his green nose wrinkling. "You know yourself that civilization above has started to mistreat you..."
"…and I'll fix that when I get up there," Aku continued, grinning ear to ear in his monstrous form.
Dheghom's brows furrowed, her mouth slightly ajar. "Hm…" —-
In another subarea of her domain, she studied what looked like a corrupted, blackened memory shard. Its gnarled surface singed her skin, causing ruptures and earthquake-like patterns to form on her hands. Her ethereal blue-green eyes widened in confusion—and perhaps a hint of fear, as memories of a timeline long erased started to etch itself into her consciousness against her will, giving her a glimpse of the terror, the pain, the suffering, the exploitation that the one and only Shogun of Sorrows was responsible for.
"Long ago in a distant land, I, Aku, the Shapeshifting Master of Darkness, unleashed an unspeakable evil. But a foolish samurai warrior wielding a magic sword stepped forth to oppose me. Before the final blow was struck, I tore open a portal in time, and flung him into the future where my evil is law. Now the fool seeks to return to the past and undo the future that is Aku."
""You! Thank you!" "But it was your poison arrow and your hocus pocus that set me free!" (To Jack''s father, the emperor of Japan, who tried to kill him with the poison arrow and failed inevitably giving Aku consciousness" "Fool! Nothing of this world can harm me. For I am Aku, the Shogun of Sorrow, the Deliverer of Darkness, your new master. And you will bow to me."
"He… is stronger than I remember. But no matter. For you see, little Samurai, the world is mine! My eyes and ears are everywhere, nothing you do will go unseen! Quest as you may, but we will meet again when I see fit, in a time and place of my choosing! And it is I who shall put an end to the war started in that age long past, Samurai Jack! Bwa-ha-ha-ha!" "Fool!" "Useless bounty hunters! Is there no fighting style that can defeat his?... Yeeeeees. No fighting style can defeat his." "MAAAH! The sword!" "This is not over, Samurai! We shall meet again!" "Who dares to summon... Oh, it is you." "For eons I have terrorized this land. Every miserable creature trembled at the mere mention of my name. The pitiful people fright before my awesome power. But now, I am openly mocked by these measly urchins. Tales of the Samurai's heroics have spread through the world like a virus, but I will cure the world of this plague of hope. I will unleash such evil that even the most innocent soul will be consumed by terror!"
"The spear struck the beast, transforming him into... beef jerky!" "Once upon a time, there was a little girl with an adorable red cape and GREAT FLAMING EYEBROWS, who was beloved by all."
"The wolf attacked Lil Red Hood, not knowing that Lil Red Hood had laser eye beams, great combat skills, and a powerful uppercut that freed Lil Red's grandmother from the evil bowels of the wolf."
"BWAHAHAHA!" "STUPID BOUNTY HUNTERS!" "Do it yourself!? Yesssss."
"Yes. It is I, Samurai Jack. How incredibly observant you are." "Aw, put that thing away, samurai. We all know what's going to happen. You'll swing your sword, I'll fly away, and probably say something like "I'll be back, samurai!", and then I'll flutter off over the horizon and we won't see each other for about a week, and then we'll start the whole thing all over again."
"I'll be back again, Samurai, you'll see! HAHAHAHAHA! See what I mean?"
"I sniff my essence inside this girl. Well there was that one time.."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk. Coulda, shoulda, woulda. It's all part of life's sweet sorrow. You're so lucky, samurai. Most of us have to live with our mistakes, but you get to DIE by yours!"
"These are his memories," she whispered as the twisted montage playing in her mind's eye ended, clutching her face as tendrils of Aku's essence curled around her being. "I can't. I got too curious. Dear me…"
The earth mother clutches her face as she drops the memory shard.
"This... being wasn't from this world... He wasn't.. He was smited down by the three up in the heavens…"
"I have to stabilise myself.".
She breathes a sigh of relief as she sees her hands returning to normal, the storms on her skin subsiding, her internal turmoil settling back down as soon as the memory dump ends.
"My goodness. That power... he holds. If this gets in his hands aga-!"
The memory shard seems to glow with a dark, almost foreboding aura in front of her, as she quickly tries to bubble it once again.
"This... I have to hide it in a new sub-area. That should be the goal.. oh wait."
With a sickening, high-pitched sound, the containment bubble began to distort, its once-perfect sphere now laced with jagged, obsidian cracks. Inside, the memory shard, a coal-black fragment of tormented recollection, pulsed with a malevolent energy, its dark aura distorting the very fabric of the bubble, a silent scream against its celestial confinement.