Jack entered the Cathedral carefully. The massive entranceway was covered in hardwood floors and the Cathedral was actually well-lit. He walked to the center of the crucifix formed building. A strange melody, a dancing tune that resembled some of the music he had heard in the courts of Europe, filled the air. As his eyes adjusted to the mellow light, it was then that he realized someone was waiting for him at the altar.

Standing in front of him was a woman with long jet black hair and emerald eyes. She wore a simple wedding dress, except it was completely black, with red ribbons tied around her. She held roses in her hand. On her chest was a large black scar.

She slowly walked down the pulpit and into the aisle, approaching the area where Jack stood. Jack's right hand moved instinctively to his sword, but hesitated. He couldn't understand this strange feeling in his mind – that he had seen this woman somewhere before.

Before Jack could change his mind, she was standing right in front of him. She held out her hand as if to ask him to dance.

"Do-do I know you?" he said to her.

She nodded her head, then smiled a goofy little smile. Approaching very close to Jack, she leaned forward and gave him a small kiss on his cheek.

Jack's mind flashed back to the days of his childhood: hunting for grasshoppers in the meadow, fishing in the river, playing ball – and that one girl, his dearest friend, his first kiss; his first love.

"It's you. But how…?"

Another voice filled the cathedral, the voice of a seductive woman.

"How selfish, samurai. You couldn't even give her one dance. Even after she's waited for you for centuries."

From Jack's left, a long, sultry leg stepped out from behind one of the pillars. The leg connected to the body of a very curvaceous woman wearing a form-fitting black dress that looked like it was part of her body, the perfect woman in every way – except that her skin was green.

"Your gender-bending trick does not fool me, Aku," Jack spoke to her, "or have you decided to live as Ikra?"

Aku/Ikra chuckled. "Well samurai, I see you finally gained a sense of humor! Now you can't say your trip to the future was a total waste."

"Enough!" Jack roared. "What is your plan this time? What is your plan?"

Ikra walked behind the girl and wrapped her arms around the girl's shoulders, rubbing her head in the girl's raven-hair.

"She's my little Angel of Death, samurai." Ikra brushed her hand against the girl's cheek. "Death doesn't seem so bad when it has such a pretty face."

Samurai Jack's face tightened in anger. The Angel's face, once vibrant and alive, now looked vacant and submissive, more like a doll than a human being.

"It's quite simple really," Ikra continued, "You were trained to kill me, so I trained her to kill you. Not just as a warrior, but as a cunning leader. It took me centuries to accomplish, BUT I DID IT! You should have seen her, Samurai. Just like a mother, she took the world and its people upon her bosom, protected them, and nurtured them, unaware that she was preparing them for sacrifice to me."

"She would never-"

Ikra interrupted. "You didn't let me finish. She was so cunning, she even fooled me. At the moment of my victory, she turned against me…and failed. I could not let this go unpunished."

One of Ikra's fingers extended into a long blade. With a swish, she cut down the length of Angel's dress, slashing it so that it could no longer hold on. The dress fell to the ground, leaving the angel naked. Jack of course covered his eyes, his cheeks flushed red.

"Oh don't be so modest samurai. You can look."

Jack dropped his hand from his gaze. Ikra had turned Angel so her back was to Jack and her modesty was covered with a black robe. However, Jack was horrified at what he saw.

Her back was covered with scars, scars from blades, bullets, burns, and others from sources that Jack could only describe as supernatural.

"Monster…"

Ikra began rubbing Angel's back.

"She is quite beautiful. I didn't want to damage her too much and disrupt your pleasure."

"What?"

Ikra pushed her forward into Jack's arms.

"Go ahead. She's all yours."

Jack pushed her away.

"Stop your games!"

"What's wrong?" Ikra's smile stretched from ear to ear. Her face began morphing, her lips grew wider and greener, and her eyes started to blaze like fires. "You are a man, aren't you? And all men have certain needs. I'm just fulfilling yours."

Jack needed no more words. He drew his sword.

"Die Monster."

Ikra's face now morphed completely into a much more familiar one – Aku. "Know this – I could have had you killed at any time. Why do you think I let you live? Because I wanted you. I wanted your strength, your power. But most of all, I want a child. Imagine it: my greatest enemy and my Angel of Death, united as one. It would be my herald, the creature that would bring about the end of all."

"YAHHHH!" Jack charged forward at his enemy and swung it with the intent of destroying him once and for all.

CLANG!

Jack's sword was blocked by the Angel. Her own sword was long and every equivalent to Jack's own sword. Now, Jack saw that the scar on her chest wasn't simply a scar. It was jet black and in the shape of Aku. From the scar poured out the same liquid that made up Aku. It wrapped around her body, creating a black Oriental dress that ended at the shoulders and cut at the waist with a long loincloth that dipped low. At the point of the scar, a teardrop formed in the dress.

Jack pushed off Angel and dropped back into a defensive position.

"You're going to fight me now?"

She nodded.

"Then show me no quarter, for I'll show you none."