483 Debugged - Death of Kai Stormborn

Kai waited, looking out toward the thick trunk of the colossal tree. Like always.

The cup struck the floor.

Kai brought his gaze to his teacher, noticing the trembling of Cersei's fingers and Selene's eyes.

Jack looked at him, and he looked back. "How was it?" asked Kai, his tone unhurried as if the blood pouring out of his body wasn't his own, but someone else'.

The Supreme General of the False Ones licked his lips. Perhaps the taste was still lingering there, somewhere. Then he said, "Excellent."

Cersei's entire body shivered, joy seeping inside her bones. Selene seemed to hold herself from pouncing toward Kai and coiling around her shoulders.

Kai kept quiet, his face old, but steady, like a rock brought to life. "And?"

And? What and? Both Cersei and Selene paused, sensing something amiss.

"Sigh!" Jack sighed, making the girls pale. "I am sorry, kid."

"Kill!" Cersei shouted, lunging at Jack. Selene didn't need a command, already baring her fangs.

Today either they would die, or this abomination.

Suddenly, both the girls paused midair, inches away from Jack.

Kai smiled at them. "No need."

Selene's curses rang in Kai's mind, her hisses mixed with pain, anger, and reluctance. Cersei's hand fell, her eyes losing something which she had been holding onto.

"You don't look surprised," Jack commented, ignoring this impudence. "Did you know? How is that possible?"

"I didn't," Kai answered, pouring a cup for himself. "Not at first… at least."

He downed the cup with his only hand, the fingers trembling, making the tea splash out. Kai tasted it. He only made tea here once, but on Island X, he had done so many times that he had stopped keeping a count ages ago.

He had realized it some 100 years ago, Kai remembered. It had been just a wild, but heart-palpating guess, then.

Now it was the truth. The only one.

"One mistake…" Kai mumbled, almost smiling. "Am… I right?"

Jack regarded him for a moment, then nodded, closing his eyes.

The Tea Room fell into an odd silence.

"Go back," Jack advised, opening his eyes. "Maybe you will find…"

"A way?" Kai cut in, the calmness in his eyes overwhelming all hearts. He shook his head. "It… has never been about Island X, Jack. From… the beginning… it was about this one mistake. 1000 years, 10000 years, or longer… I…"

Kai allowed himself a dry breath. "I… was fated to face this… one mistake."

Something stirred in Jack's eyes. "Then why…"

"I could make the tea… perfect." Kai's claim thundered in the three guest's ears. "This one mistake… I could correct it."

"You… lie." Words left Cersei's dry lips, but even she didn't believe Kai had lied. Not about something like this.

Jack saw the truth in his student's eyes better than Cersei. His mind was still more rational, unclouded by love. "What have you done, son? I didn't expect…"

Kai chuckled. "There are things a man can give up on, Jack," he said, looking at the three; his friends. "There are people he can… forget. Friends, he can lose. Love, he can…" Kai shook his head. "But… there are things he can't give up, too."

Kai pushed himself up, his hand slipping on his congealed blood. The girls had turned stone, forgetting what was happening around them, their eyes never leaving his face, his words booming in their minds.

Jack stood up along with him, his pupils shaking for the first time; a sense of apprehension welling up; a sense he had already forgotten.

"What is a man… without ambition?" Kai mumbled, more to himself than to others. "What is he… without goals? Kill… A man must kill all who stand against him, for… that is, according to a man's heart. Kill… A man must make sure… to not compromise one's principles, for… that is according to a man's beliefs.

Kill… A man must… have a path to tread, Jack, for… that is expected of him. If a man doesn't do all this… then… wouldn't a man become something… like you?"

Jack stumbled back, horrified. Kai's calm eyes penetrated his soul, his memories, his struggles, and his compromises. His sacrifices.

"I am… a demon," Kai stated, his eyes chilling the bones, his spine straight in defiance. "A demon doesn't submit…" he breathed deeply. "A demon… has his own demonic path… principles… and promises. There is no one… above… no one… below. Rest are bugs. All of them. You… the Systems… all are nothing in my eyes.

In this world, there is only one demonic thing…" Kai paused, his smile becoming a grin. "… my Heart!"

"You…" Jack protested.

"This is…" Kai cut in, chuckling, "… my Demonic Attitude. What am I… without it? The Systems… want me to give up on it? They… want me to become a Pawn… I am Kai of House Stormborn! We do NOT submit! Never!"

Kai stumbled. Cersei rushed and held him up. "Take me… to the tree," he said, smiling at her and Selene.

Jack's back was pressed against the wall, Kai's words raging inside his mind. "Is it worth it?" he found himself shouting. "Is it worth dying… for a mere Attitude?"

Kai paused, not his thoughts. If there was one thing that remained the same about him, then it was the fact that he never regretted his decisions. There were no doubts. Once something was done, then so be it. "It is, old friend," he said, without looking back. "It sure is."

"How do you know?" Jack asked, raging. His entire existence, his entire beliefs, his entire reasonings were on the brink of shattering. It all depended on Kai's answer.

"How… am I sure of it, you ask?" Kai's words echoed, ricocheting off the Hut's thin walls. "Well, I am sure of it because… I have already died once, you fool."

Kai, Cersei, and Selene left Jack rooted to the Hut's floor and arrived at the foot of the wall-like tree.

There, Kai slumped down, with Cersei and Selene on his sides.

No one said anything. No one expected one to say something.

Kai's shadow rippled and Murasame flew out, resting on his lap. Sounga and his arm also came to rest on his knees. Rest, finally.

Kai looked into the distance, the world blurring in his eyes. He could see something. Who was it? What was it?

Who was calling him?

Not that bad, I guess, Kai wondered, the odd calling fading in and out of his mind. I tried. I failed.

Someone grabbed him tightly, latching onto him. Someone kissed his chin.

The calling became stronger.

"Who is it?" Kai asked, his mouth gasping for breath in reality. "Who are you?"

And then she arrived.

She was thin, her face was pale, and the dark patches under her eyes told a tale of great tiredness. Despite these features, she looked extremely beautiful somehow. Her face shared the enchanting characteristics of Kai's, and her pupils were hazel as well, just a tinge darker.

Long, light blond hair fell over her shoulder like sunlight, a golden shimmer dancing over them as she reached for his face.

"Mother…" Kai saw her smiling at him. "How?"

Edith Stormborn looked at her son, her eyes full of pain. "Son," she said, caressing his face. "I've failed you."

Tears welled up in Kai's eyes, and he nodded at those words, despite wishing against it. "I tried… I tried so hard…"

"I know," Edith smiled, the corners of her eyes misting. "Let's go. Come with me. You have suffered enough."

Kai nodded.

Edith stood up and held out her hand for him.

Kai lifted his hand, put his hand over hers, and stood up. Gone was the age. The pain. The worries and questions.

The 11-year-old Kai stepped near his mother, his eyes never leaving her face.

Edith's smile widened, tears streaming down her face. "Come," she said. "Let me tell you all of my adventures."

"Hmm," the child nodded, his hazel eyes beaming strongly.

And, for the first time in ages, the child smiled, his fingers tightening around his mother's.

Step by step they went, both laughing, fading into the distance.

*

*

Jack walked out of the Samurai's Hut, his eyes lost. Had he been wrong all this time? Was what his student said true? Had he failed all of them?

Had he failed his father?

Jack walked, not knowing where he was going, but his feet brought him to the tree, this behemoth.

His student… had gone. The girl by his side looked at Kai, kissed him, and blurred away as well.

The serpent was different a breed. The moment it saw him, it lunged at him, baring its fangs. But without Kai, it was fated to disappear as well.

All his items were bound to vanish, like a mirage.

Jack sat down beside his student, noticing the smile on his old, dead face.

Had he found it? Jack asked himself. Had he found what he had been looking for all his life at this moment of death? Would he smile like Kai when his time comes as well?

What is a man without ambition? What is he without goals? Kill. A man must kill all who stand against him, for that is, according to a man's heart. Kill. A man must make sure to not compromise one's principles, for that is according to a man's beliefs. Kill. A man must have a path to tread, Jack, for that is expected of him. If a man doesn't do all this, then wouldn't a man become something like…

"Like me…" Jack said, smiling. "Wisdom doesn't come because of age; it comes to those who seek it. Was this what you were trying to say, my friend? What a bold man you were, Kai Stormborn. A demon, indeed."

Something changed. Something that hadn't been in countless years.

The shimmering swirl in the sky paused as if someone had put a stop to it. And then, with an alarming speed, it roared, becoming a black maelstrom.

Jack stood up, Murasame disappearing near his feet.

50 million years have passed, but I do not age…

Jack put his hand on the tree's trunk, his dark eyes falling on the changing sky.

Time has lost its effect on me. Yet the suffering continues…

The entire tree shrunk, becoming a pristine white katana. Jack looked at it, and at the body beyond it. Pain. Loss.

Aku's grasp chokes the past, present, and future. Hope is lost…

Jack's legs bent, and then, with a silent boom, he shot toward the sky, tearing space.

Got to get back…

The entire sky became a teleportation vortex.

Back to the past…

A world, thousands of times vaster than Island X, appeared behind that vortex.

Samurai Jack.

The man vanished in the maelstrom, heralding the doom of an entire world.

On the island, once again, the black, rhythmic flashes of an onyx ring went unnoticed.

And then it disappeared as well, leaving no mark of its presence.

***************

AN: Hello! You can access up to 21 chapters ahead of WN on Patr-eon and Ko-Fi to support the fanfic. Links are in Synopsis. Please check it out. Thank you and Enjoy!!!

Also, how was the Third Tournament of Worth? We still have a lot to cover, but Island X itself... is gone.