the worst part of this thread is that. that’s her. that’s not bh acting as her tHAT’S GENUINELY HER BEING AFRAID OF AKU
And Aku thinks it’s BH and he thinks the sword can’t harm the part that’s her because it can’t harm Jack.
“Aku, I told you, it’s not that easy. The toxin could kill Azura, he’s not fully a part of her, nor her of him. The hat cannot be ‘extracted’ by force, that would kill her too. The cultists have a very strict set of rites and rules, I know you want to see your daughter safe, I want to see her safe too.”
Flug let out a soft sigh, trying to get his thoughts in order. “If we have to, we’ll have to blend into the cults sects in disguise, take in every member we can. Perform the rites ourselves, it’s the only way to make him want to let go of her and transfer himself to someone more suitable.”
Flug clinched his fist. “Someone /he/ better deems suitable. Azura was chosen out of desperation, of that I’m sure, we just need to show him there’s a better option. It’s been a long time since Aldo, but we can make it work.”
The demon growled under his breath and turned aside as he considered Flug’s words. He didn’t want to WAIT for a suitable host to be chosen. He wanted that thing off of Azura’s head immediately.
His mind returned to the moment after he’d swatted the hat off the previous host’s head. The mortal that had stood briefly in his place, before turning to dust, had looked like any other mortal. He remembered the expression of confusion on the man’s face, then the expression of panic.
“Young, able-bodied, educated. What else does he want?” He paused, still looking away from the doctor. “Must the host always be mortal?”
“Mr. Aku…?” Came a soft whimper from the girl in her clutches, looking up to him with tears in her eyes, full of fear. The monocle she wore bore his raging reflection, that would’ve been enough to scare any mortal to death. She didn’t fight him, but instead she lay limp in the yokai’s grasp.
“I-I’m scared… Y-you wouldn’t hurt me, would you?”
“Of course not, little one,” Aku feigned a saccharine tone of lament as he played along with the act. However, the grip of his tendrils was unrelenting as they further coiled themselves like snakes around Azura’s limbs and midsection.
Not wasting anymore time trying to pull the hat off her head, Aku raised his free hand and summoned the precise tool he would need for the job. It appeared in his hand out of thin air, silver blade glinting with its divine light in sharp contrast to the murderous glint in Aku’s eyes — the sword of Samurai Jack.
“No, I assure you this will be perfectly painless,” he went on as he drew back his arm to position the sword, “if you just… HOLD STILL.”
He swung the blade down in a diagonal arc aiming for the hat.
Somehow, one part of his words reached the girl’s subconscious, where the Hat was actively trying to influence her, jamming her brain with dark tendrils and thoughts that weren’t her own. The hat was digging its teeth into her flesh, leaving tiny trails of blood down her forehead as she tried to pry it off. The only sign to Aku was that a stray tear went down her cheek, though not in words he knew that somewhere she was still herself in there. But the Hat was stronger than any mortal, than any weak willed human, and soon enough Azura succumbed to the thoughts and the physical pain and she stopped tugging on the hat. The pain wasn’t worth it.
The frenzied laughter soon was mixed with coughing, her throat now sore from it. The girl pulled her hand away and started to hiss at Aku, lashing out at him. Her hoarse voice sounded a bit more similar to Black Hat’s own now, giving Aku a glare and an unsettling grin that resembled her master.
“I was weak. But now I’m not. For he is the one to bestow me such… greatness! I am nothing made SOMETHING! I-I, haha, I’m finally made USEFUL! Lord Black Hat i-is my savior,” the cries went on, “And I will do anything to protect my Master.”
With that she hissed at Aku again and trots off and away from him as fast as her legs could carry her.
If Black Hat thought he could escape that easily, he was wrong. Dead wrong. Before Azura could reach an exit, Aku’s shadowy form streaked over her head to land in front of her, blocking her escape route. Just as quickly, his arm became a mass of snake-like tendrils that lashed out with lightning speed to ensnare her.
Aku was absolutely incensed at the sight of blood trickling down Azura’s forehead and at the vile words she was being forced to speak. The fires of his brow grew more intense and flickered madly with rage and bits of flame spilled out between his bared teeth.
The Shogun of Sorrow 