As a reflex to having swords brandished at him, Aku moved quickly away from the blade in Azura’s hands. He couldn’t be certain if it would do him actual harm here in the mindscape. Surely his physical being could mend itself but his physical being wasn’t here right now…
As the wicked voices swirled around them, the demon locked eyes with the shadowy figure of Black Hat that loomed behind Azura.
“I refuse to fight my daughter,” he spoke, glaring daggers at the fiend. But as he turned to Azura, his expression softened.
With a bow of his head, he knelt silently before her, surrendering himself to her blade. For a lingering moment, his eyes connected with hers. There was concern in his expression for her but there was also an unwavering confidence, both in her and in the decision he was making.
Then, lowering his head, he closed his eyes and waited.
“Finish him.”
With that order, the sword slowly rose high above her head, its shadow stretching taller, looming before Aku. Azura opened her eyes, taking in the sights of her father figure surrendering so confidently, was he giving up already? No… it couldn’t be.
Despite his odds with Samurai Jack, Azura knew best that Aku was never the type that gave up. He never ever gave up on her before, no matter how many times she had messed up and shown the worst side of her temper. He had a lot of patience for someone like her, a human most of all… someone that wasn’t considered his own kin like Ashi and her siblings.
There was conflict in her eyes. Without a moment’s notice, the sword plunged to strike Aku directly on the middle of his head, but it stopped an inch before the two surfaces met. The sword was smoking, not because it was burning from the heat of the demon’s eyebrows, but something stronger than fire.
And soon the sword crumbled into ash, freeing her hands from the dark substance that held her in place. Black Hat’s eyes narrowed at the sight. No matter. It wasn’t like she was going to be able to escape him anyway. He had gotten this far, he could drag her back with him without any problem.
With her newly freed hands, Azura dug her fingers deep into the goo that covered her head, and pulled. She pulled, and pulled, even though it hurt her to do so, feeling like her head was going to be ripped apart, even as it seemed like Black Hat wasn’t going to let her go so easily.
The girl grunted, yelled and screamed as she tries to best the Hat’s influence, and slowly, the tendrils that was latching onto her head pried off, inch by inch.
“You don’t… own me. You’re not… my master! And I won’t let you… hurt my family ever again!”
With a great, frustrated yell, summoning what’s left of her raw human will, she tore off the tendrils off her head clean off, her eyes suddenly went blank with whiteness. Instead of her blood pouring out, white light was glowing from it, and the mindscape shook as the memories that kept inside her escaped, bursting out of her head in the form of Polaroid photos, handwritten notes and her own charming drawings. Stray pieces flew everywhere, one photo landed on top of Aku’s horns, a fond memory of the two at the party she once threw in her honor.
Azura collapsed to ground, going limp almost immediately.
Soon enough the shadow retreated to its hat shaped home, before it melted away by the intense light with a dark chuckle. Soon it grew into a satisfied laugh that seemed to echo in both of their minds before it faded away.
Had they truly won?
At present, Aku paid little attention to the retreating darkness and its laughter. Azura had done it! She had regained control! The Shogun was quick to pick up his daughter and cradle her in his arms amidst all the fallen images and notes.
“Azura, you’ve done it! Black Hat has retreated!” He held her close as he brushed a hand over her face and cheek, trying to wake her. “You did it. Just as I knew you could all along.”
The demon bent to nuzzle his striped nose to her forehead in his efforts to love her back to herself. But the human remained limp in his arms.
“Azura…?” he whispered, concern creeping into his voice. “Do you hear me, daughter?”
The flinch did not escape his notice but Aku continued to hold and stroke Azura’s tired face. Despite the circumstances, it was so good to see a part of her that was still her true self but Aku knew that time was limited, especially when a tendril began to tighten around her throat.
“Do not worry about that now,” he soothed. “We must free you from his grip before it’s too late.” As the demon spoke, his clawed hands began to pull and tug and tear at the dark binds covering her throat and body.
Azura watched as Aku tore the dark pieces off her, vacant eyes stared as he attempts to free most parts of her body from the hat demon’s grip. Yet the most stubborn part that held onto was her head, oozing like wretched, living oil that seeped directly into her brain. It was how Black Hat was controlling her no doubt, leaving the host limp from how much pain she had to endure in the midst of this hostile takeover. She couldn’t move. She couldn’t think for herself. It was as if Black Hat was trying to erase her mind, freeing up space so he could move over. It was exhausting. Every great evil thought crossed her mind, malicious ideas mixed around her subconscious, and Azura started to wonder if it was his or her own at this point.
“It’s hopeless. Hopeless…” She repeated, doing absolutely nothing to even try to break free from the Hat’s grip. “I’m… nothing without him… my existence means… nothing without him…” They may be words that came out of her mouth, but there was no question it didn’t belong to her. It sounded like a broken record, repeating itself.
Once Azura’s body was free, Aku wrapped his arms around her and tried to tug her away from the mass of darkness, but her head was still too stuck and he didn’t want to risk harming her further. It was frustrating, especially when those wretched words kept pouring form her mouth like a ventriloquist’s dummy. Had Azura truly begun to believe such lies?
“Nonsense!” the yokai growled. “If your existence did not matter— If I did not love you, I would not be here!”
Determined to free her from the disgusting slime, Aku coiled part of his body around Azura like a giant tendril and slid higher up to face the monstrosity sprouting from her head. His first inclination was to slice through it but once again, he feared harming the host beneath. Steeling himself, he plunged his hand into the offending substance in some attempt to grab part of it and disrupt its flow into her mind.
Azura flinched slightly at the Shogun’s gentle touch, her face was pale and her eyes were sunken with dark circles. She didn’t look like cheerful self, as if she was left with fatigue and drained of her life’s essense.
“How… did you even get here?” Her breathing was heavy, as if she was doing her best to remain conscious. It was so tempting to fall back to sleep.
“You… you shouldn’t… be here. He’ll know. He’ll…” A tendril slithered to wrap around her throat, slowly cutting her sentence short. The world around them starts to grey out, fading ever so slowly.
“I’m sorry,” she mouthed weakly.
The flinch did not escape his notice but Aku continued to hold and stroke Azura’s tired face. Despite the circumstances, it was so good to see a part of her that was still her true self but Aku knew that time was limited, especially when a tendril began to tighten around her throat.
“Do not worry about that now,” he soothed. “We must free you from his grip before it’s too late.” As the demon spoke, his clawed hands began to pull and tug and tear at the dark binds covering her throat and body.
With Azura looking worse and worse, Aku was growing increasingly frustrated with doing nothing but watch her decline. He needed to speak to her, he needed to see her and not the creature that had possessed her body and threatened to destroy her mind. So as Azura slept between bouts of fighting with the parasitic entity inside her, Aku decided to break his silence as stealthily as possible.
After several long moments of meditation, he entered a trance-like state of mind and began to weave his magic. Dream influence was not something he practiced often as being “subtle” was not one of his finer traits, but perhaps with Azura being held under the hat’s power so forcefully, she would be less likely to wake from the intrusion.
As he ventured into the darkness, the dream yokai began to call out to her, whispering her name in the hopes of finding her. ‘Azura… Azura… Azura…’
The mindscape was vast, littered with cosmic space beyond imagination of a mere human being, galaxies and planets aligned right on top of the scenery. The landscape was filled with gardens with flowers that shone like stars, humming soft music that could lull its owner in a state of calmness. It was beautiful, grandiose, it would’ve been a lovely place to visit if it wasn’t suffocated with the stench of corrupted evil.
As Aku dived deep into the girl’s subconscious, he would find the scenery beginning to be consumed by the sight of a large, dark spider web, tendrils that clung into the trees and oozing with pure, concentrated darkness. It was a mess. Upon closer inspection, the big web looked like a gigantic top hat, with heavy smoke rising from the depths. In the center of it all, Azura was trapped there, her body consumed by the darkness, yet her face was still exposed.
And when she heard a familiar voice calling her out, Azura opened her eyes to see it was.
“Aku…? Is that… really you…?”
So this was Azura’s subconscious mind. Aku was not sure what he’d find here but it was much larger and more vast than he’d expected. Following the corrupted, rotting landscape, Aku came upon an alarming sight. Trying not to be too loud in presence and voice, he approached the captive human carefully.
‘Yes, Azura, I am here,’ he spoke a softly as he was able. The darkness was all over her, consuming her and threatening to creep ever higher. He reached toward her face, the only part of her that still remained uncorrupted, and gently stroked her cheek, letting her know he was really there with her.
With Azura looking worse and worse, Aku was growing increasingly frustrated with doing nothing but watch her decline. He needed to speak to her, he needed to see her and not the creature that had possessed her body and threatened to destroy her mind. So as Azura slept between bouts of fighting with the parasitic entity inside her, Aku decided to break his silence as stealthily as possible.
After several long moments of meditation, he entered a trance-like state of mind and began to weave his magic. Dream influence was not something he practiced often as being “subtle” was not one of his finer traits, but perhaps with Azura being held under the hat’s power so forcefully, she would be less likely to wake from the intrusion.
As he ventured into the darkness, the dream yokai began to call out to her, whispering her name in the hopes of finding her. ‘Azura… Azura… Azura…’
‘I know, he’s pushing the change at a faster rate. It’s mostly out of spite, possibly also to punish Flug for this plan. If not all of us. We have to find someone quick, or at least ease him more to our way of thinking.’ Casper answered, keeping her eyes on the road.
‘The effects will overtake her until she is nothing but a shell. Acting quickly is the only thing we can do, unless you have a better plan.’ A new and better host was the best way to coax him, but he was the sort to act out of spite if Azura’s changes were anything to go by.
‘I supposed he would kill her before a final switch was made,’ his words filtered into her mind as their thoughts mingled. After all, being that petty was something Aku could relate to and likely what he would have done if he was Black Hat. Certainly, they weren’t all that different.
‘Flug possesses a toxin with the ability to incapacitate creatures such as myself and Black Hat, but he is convinced this will kill Azura…’ But at this rate, it appeared as if death was closing in on her either way.
Aku didn’t like the way Azura was looking and sounding. Her graying skin and sharp teeth had him especially concerned. However, speaking up about it would most certainly give away his position. There had to be another way to communicate without being overheard by Black Hat.
Casper, with her ability to see and speak to creatures of darkness, was his best bet for being heard. So Aku began to concentrate on making his unspoken thoughts as loud as possible and focused on “pushing” them into the head upon which he sat, which happened to be Casper’s.
‘Casper,’ he thought as loudly as he could. ‘She is doing poorly. Respond if you can hear me.’
Casper, startled, had swerved a bit before righting the van’s path on the road. “Shit!”
“What the hell was-”
“Nothing! I thought I saw a squirrel.” She lied flawlessly, relaxing again. The van once more going silent.
‘I can hear you, that scared me!’
Aku’s sounds of frustration translated clearly through what he now knew was a shared connection.
‘FOCUS!’ he chided, his thought-voice sounding just as rough and irate as his spoken voice. However, he couldn’t help being pleased with this small victory. At least she could hear him.
‘You are not someone I thought would scare so easily.’ This was the closest thing she was going to get in terms of an apology from him. Aku’s thoughts went on, ‘As I was saying, Azura’s condition is growing worse. Her skin has grayed and there are changes in her features.’
Aku didn’t like the way Azura was looking and sounding. Her graying skin and sharp teeth had him especially concerned. However, speaking up about it would most certainly give away his position. There had to be another way to communicate without being overheard by Black Hat.
Casper, with her ability to see and speak to creatures of darkness, was his best bet for being heard. So Aku began to concentrate on making his unspoken thoughts as loud as possible and focused on “pushing” them into the head upon which he sat, which happened to be Casper’s.
‘Casper,’ he thought as loudly as he could. ‘She is doing poorly. Respond if you can hear me.’
“And when we do, I’ll buy her some new clothes, treat her to coffee, and take her to the park to play on the swings.” Because lets face it, she needs the down time. And this was his way of being romantic.
Under better circumstances Aku might have had something to say about that. But he was currently distracted by other thoughts. Truth be told, he’d never felt so worried before. It felt like a piece of him had been torn out and taken away.
After all, had he not been the one to severe Black Hat from his former host, they wouldn’t be in this situation. Had he slain the creature when it was still powerless instead of take joy in its suffering, this wouldn’t be happening. It was like he was cursed to always make the wrong choices.
Aku’s stony expression softened as hints of the worry he felt began to show.
“In the brief moments before his body turned to dust, I saw the previous host. He was not a sane man,” Aku recounted. “Assuming Black Hat will discard Azura in favor of a new host, how confident are you that she will… return to her former self?”
“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.
The Shogun of Sorrow 