Chapter Text
It was a boring day for Aku, much like any other day. Managing the earth, sentencing worthless mortals to the slave pits, and other mundane overlord things. He was bored, that much was incredibly clear to him. His work for the day completed, Aku was left with nothing else to do. Tapping his claws upon his throne, he let his mind wander. Things had become quite bland lately, the dull repetitive nature of ruling, and an uncharacteristic lack of Jack.
Ah, yes that was what he was missing, why things had become so boring recently. It was quite odd.. where had the foolish samurai gone? Usually Aku would hear of his nemesis at least once a week, another people freed, another bounty hunter downed, countless of his robots destroyed..
He sighed, and called upon his mirror. He would often spy upon Jack like this, when things were quiet. He would not admit it of course, but he does enjoy watching Jack. There was just something about the way the Samurai behaved that drew him in, how he wields that sword, his unending kindness. Something so foreign and unknown to him, yet seemingly natural for the man. And, truthfully he was somewhat concerned. No action from or sight of Jack was unusual, and Aku knew him well enough to know, the man would not just vanish. Which meant, of course, he was either hurt, or planning something..
The mirror, having found Jack, crackled to life. Aku lent forward to peer at the man who occupied his mind at the moment. His eyes narrowed in frustration.
Bah, the Samurai was fine, and here he had been worried!
Well, it wouldn’t hurt to continue watching. Aku leant back, relaxing into his throne as he watched Jack. He was, shopping it seemed. Aku furrowed his brow and continued to watch. What a mundane thing for the samurai to do. He watched as Jack went from store to store, looking for something, or someone? How odd. It didn’t take the Samurai long to find who he was looking for and he tugged on the arm of a shopkeep. Aku watched as Jack was led round the back and through a hidden door. Well, that certainly piqued his interest! What had the foolish Samurai gotten himself involved in? Aku‘s eyebrows flickered, curiosity leading him as he continued to watch.
Oh! Well that’s something! Aku let out a low whistle, Jack had been led to a room covered in weapons. Every surface glittered with the metal of well maintained guns, swords, axes, and all manner of small sharp things. Jack was certainly not in any need of new weapons, his magical sword tight by his side. This was strange.. Aku's brow furrowed. He watched as Jack surveyed the room, counting the weapons and examining the quality. Then after a while, Jack, who seemed to be satisfied with the weaponry, called the one who had led him over and began to bargain.
An uneasy feeling settled over Aku, it certainly seemed as if Jack was planning something, had he been gathering weapons like this the whole time he had been quiet? Aku sighed, he would not have expected Jack of all people to get involved in things like weapon trading. There must be something deeper than that to this, the Samurai wasn’t one to be motivated by greed. Was he possibly gathering weapons to go against him? Aku scowled. They both knew well enough that no mortal weapons would harm him, only the divine. So that wasn’t it. He continued to watch Jack finish his barter, and pay the shopkeep who then began to usher Jack back outside. A brief exchange, Jack passing the other a slip of paper, and then it was over. The samurai walked away as if he had not just purchased an exorbitant amount of weapons.
Aku felt strange, perhaps worried? He shook his head and turned off his mirror. The samurai was definitely up to something, and watching him had only brought him confusion. What on Earth had the man gotten himself involved in? He sighed, and buried his face in his hand. Perhaps he should go follow the Samurai in secret? He felt uncomfortable just watching, unsure of what he was doing. He groaned and stood up. Yes, he will go and follow him, figure out what was happening. It would certainly be a nice change of pace, and some part of him wanted to see the fool too. He had grown used to his presence in his life. And certainly, something was wrong. Not that had anything to do with this small feeling of worry that was settling over him. He was just. Concerned. Yes concerned… about the samurai. Grimacing, Aku did his best to push that feeling down and out of his mind. It was unlike him to feel anything for anyone.
It had not taken long to arrange things for his absence, a few signatures, promotions, and well timed glares had left Aku with two months of free time. He grinned, how long had it been since he last had a break? He would still be working of course, he had told everyone, The samurai was technically work. He had his reasons, and thankfully no one was brave or stupid enough to argue. After all that nonsense, Aku was faced with the challenge of picking a disguise. He spent his time thinking, and shape shifting as he went. Hm, he paused on an old form, a familiar green woman. As fun as Ikra had been, he knew Jack would not trust again and allow himself to have another companion, perhaps he should not be a person at all? The Samurai had seen through his disguise as the hermit.. Aku paused, his form condensing into something far far smaller than usual. Perhaps this would do? Where he had once stood, now sat a small semi fluffy black cat with a few red splotches, a green nose, paw pads, and somewhat messy ear fur. He took in his new appearance, yes. Quite cute if he would say so himself. If you squint, perhaps someone would see a resemblance to his horns within his ear fur, but other than looking like a stray, he certainly looked like a normal cat.
Well then, this would be his form to follow Jack in. He nodded to himself, and magicked up a portal to the town Jack was in. Small paws carrying him forward, he hopped in, popping out quietly in an alleyway. Perfect. Now all he had to do was find that Samurai.