Shogun of Sorrow

'''This is an Samurai Jack/Animal Jam crossover. Basically it's just a fan-written episode of Samurai Jack, but in a universe of Animal Jam.'''

The red-crowned crane stood at the end of the fiery rock ledge... He held a shimmering, razor sharp blade of light, as the silk robes he donned fluttered around in the heated wind. He glared right into evil's eyes, with fury, determination, and most importantly, a will to make things right.

The black formation lifted his magnificent, flaming eyebrows, and glanced down at the crane. Both were unimpressed with the other.

"Hmm? You again? You think that you can defeat me? After you have tried and tried and failed and failed sooo maaany tiiimes?

"It's not like you actually want to defeat me, right? If you really wanted to do so, Samurai, you would've won by now!"

Aku threw back his head and laughed sharply.

"You have no honor or respect," shouted the Crane. His voice echoed throughout the magma-strewn cave, interrupting Aku's hearty cackle. "If you took pride in yourself, you would've won by now!"

Aku glared down at the crane. "Hmmmm... Samurai, I know you like to convict me of these so called flaws 'flaws.' But I do take pride in myself, thank you very much..."

An orange, spiky throne was summoned behind Aku, who fell backwards, and then slouched into a lazy, but unmistakably evil position.

"Of the many things I put effort into, Samurai, one of them is my spectacular facial hair. Now, look at yourself. Your face is bald, Samurai!"

Aku pointed at Jack's face, with a pointy, black, tree-like finger, as he stroked his beard with the other hand. "And another thing I take pride in is my ability to say terrible things about you!"

Jack sighed and shook his head.

"I have the best roasts, don't I?" said Aku. One of his skeletal minions whispered a vague answer into Aku's ear. Aku frowned, as the minion thought he was talking about roast beef...

"So anyways, Samurai, are you going to attack me? Fight me? Hmmmm?"

"Yes, Aku, I am going to defeat you once and for all! I am tired of debating with you over trivial things. You have committed many atrocities on many people-- and I will undo this terrible future you've created!"

"Oh reeeeaally?" mumbled Aku, who was now eating some roast beef off of a plate (courtesy of his underlings). "We've gone over this before. Just before you kill me, I'll escape to distant lands. It's a written law at this point, Samurai! Don't you remember laaast time we met?"

"Well then, Aku. If I don't kill you know, I'll try again next week. Then the next, then the next, then the next... I will try every chance I get, even if it takes me 50 years!"

The two had an intense stare down.

"So, you gonna kill me or what?" groaned Aku.

"I was waiting for you," said Jack.

The two had a slightly more intense stare down.

Aku then suddenly pulled a level to the side of his chair, activating a special, built-in evil floor portal that transferred Jack far out to a small village hundreds of miles away... Aku stared smugly out his window, thinking of what other evil things he could accomplish next.

"That was the same trick he used last month!" yelled Jack, who was now covered in mud and trash. "But I must keep my word. Maybe I can find a caravan in this village that can take me back to Aku..."

Jack sheathed his sword and began to wander into the village.

"Hello?" he said to one of the robots. They were all bipedal, and their heads resembled animals more than machines, which was unusual. They also wanted nothing to do with Jack.

"Hello?" he asked again, to a different droid. It quickly ran indoors, and locked the entrance, all while avoiding any eye contact.

"Something is strange here," murmured Jack, nervously. "Why would they be so frightened?"

"I can tell you," said a robot, who sat alone in the middle of the dirt road. He was different from the villagers, as he preferred to meditate outdoors, alone, floating gently above the ground. Jack did not trust this robot at first, but because no one trusted Jack either, he figured it was worth the time.

"You want to know, then?" mumbled the robot. He sounded kind of old, and only barely functioning.

"Of course," said Jack, concerned. He sat next to the hovering robot, and prepared to listen.

"The people here fear any living animals, even a hero such as you, and now I will begin why. You have probably heard similar tales to the one I am about to tell...

"40 years ago, we were promised fortune by Aku if we were to destroy any living creatures who resided in one of the nearby villages. As we ourselves were weak, we built machines of destruction to finish the job instead..."

Jack felt a wave of sadness, but at the same time, he knew there was nothing he could've done to help. He had only lived in the future for much less than 40 years.

"Before the village was wiped out, a rebellion destroyed all the machines, and Aku killed some of us as punishment... And after that, we were never the same. The villagers fear anyone who may be connected to either the rebellion, or Aku... They believe both sides are against them now..."

Jack sat up, and started to walk away with hidden emotions. "I am sorry to hear that. If I could help, I would. But I must get back to Aku."

The robot looked down to the ground, solemnly.

Jack began trekking through the scrubland and desert, all part of the devastated wastelands. Small, venomous creatures would swirl through the sand like serpents, and vulture-like monsters circled above. After many days of hiking, Jack came to a partially buried piece of metal in the ground. He tried to lift it from the red sand, but it would not budge!

To his surprise, the metal began rising from the ground... And soon, a gigantic piece of machinery stood before him. It was heavily damaged, but it could still have a chance of being dangerous-- in response, Jack drew his sword. But the machine did not respond-- instead, it began walking off in the other direction.

"Where is it going?" mumbled Jack to himself.

Eventually, Jack began "following" the thing throughout the desert. Of course, he had no other option, as it was heading the same direction Jack was-- to the city.

"Stop!" said Jack.

The machine halted, and spun around to face him. It had no facial features-- only armor and artillery. But it did not shoot.

"Where are you going?" said Jack, sternly.

The machine did not reply, instead, it turned around and once again continued the march.

Jack was concerned-- this could very well be one of the machines the monk had told about. If it reached the city before Jack did, it could destroy hundreds of innocent people... But if it did not want to hurt him, would it hurt anyone else?

Another day passed, and Jack had already become accustomed to the machine. in fact, it provided shade and shelter for him along the walk, and sometimes, Jack swore it was actively trying not to step on him.

In the afternoon, the crane spotted something headed towards then on the horizon, that looked like vehicles. Five of them, to be exact. The machine stopped, turned towards the cars, and locked up. Jack drew his sword, and watched as the car's silhouettes grew and grew, and the dust clouds gathered behind each one.

Soon, the cars were close. They were decked out with spikes, guns, and even the skulls of rhinos, extra-terrestrial creatures, lions, and even cranes like Jack. The cars circled around Jack and the machine, and drifted into a parking position on the sand.

Cyborg animals, all wearing real-leather jackets, hopped from the cars and held Jack at gunpoint. The machine did not respond.

"What are you doing out here with that old piece of scrap, huh Samurai? Aku's still after you, you know! And I bet he'd love to add that junk to his collection, too!"

Jack leapt behind the machine's legs just as the bandits opened fire. Its bullet proof armor protected him from almost every angle, and allowed him to dispatch a few of the aggressors. However, the machine did nothing.

Jack watched in horror as a fox emerged from a vehicle's roof, and raised a rocket launcher above his shoulder. There's no way the machine could survive such an impact--

The machine launched its own explosive rocket, right into the car, sending the fox, car, and all into the air. The rest of the bandits packed up their items in a terrified manner, and drove off as fast as they could.

As the dust cleared, the machine began walking once again. And of course, Jack followed.

As Jack looked to the sky, he saw a familiar shadow... It was Aku watching from above.

"Aku!" he shouted. "You were the one who sent those mercenaries!"

Aku was busy clipping his fingernails, not paying attention to Jack at all...

"Aku, I know you're listening!" yelled Jack.

"Oh, hmm?" said Aku, as he finally finished clipping his right hand. "Sorry about that, I'm just taking pride in my personal hygiene... What is that thing you have there, hmm?"

Aku bent over, with his shadow pointing right to the machine.

"It is a machine," said Jack.

"Obviously..." mumbled Aku. "I saw what it did to those pirates. Sheesh..."

Jack stood unmoving, with his wings folded up and his expression no less friendly.

"You know Samurai, I wonder what it could do to you!"

Aku sent a stream of energy from his hand, which entangled around the machine-- Jack lunged back to avoid being affected by the black mist. He watched as the machine came to a halt, unable to fight against Aku...

The machine turned around, and started stomping over to Jack, each and every gun ready to fire. Jack leaped to the side, just narrowly dodging a spray of machine gun fire, and after that, he barely survived the cannon's bombshells.

Aku's shadow cackled and howled in enjoyment, as he saw Jack struggle to fight the machine.

"Machines don't have feelings, Samurai! It never cared about you, and it never will!" said Aku, as he dissolved into a cloud-like form. Jack saw Aku dart back to his dominion from the corner of his eye... What a coward!

Jack clambered to the top of the machine, scraping just past death. It couldn't shoot him if he stood on top...

He precisely cut the bullet-proof armor from the side, and plunged his sword into the machine, causing it to short circuit... It stumbled, tipped, then finally crashed into the sands. Jack limped away from the corpse, as oil leaked onto the sand.

He sheathed his sword, and stared down to the remains of the machine. "I'm sorry," he said, softly. "It wasn't your fault."

Jack looked to the horizon with not a single tear in his eye, and saw the smog and haze from the city faintly in the distance. He tried to tell himself that he did it for the greater good.

After all, if he could successfully defeat Aku in the past, none of this would've even happened.

He shook the sand from his sandals, and began the rest of the journey.