It was a few days after Aku’s horrific dream and transformation. The now keshin walked along the streets of his home town and looked down at all the folks who seemed to do nothing but smile up at him despite his new and rather menacing appearance. Yet, they seemed to not be bothered by it in the slightest. They treated him just as he was before. Welcoming him into their places of business and waving to him on their way to where they were coming from and going to. Even the children that always came to greet him didn’t shy away from him. In fact, they saw him now as some kind of great guardian. Even climbing all over him with his new physique now able to handle them with ease as they swung on his arms like he was this massive tree.

Eventually, Aku made his way over to Shadow Tempest’s home to check on her. He knocks on her door a few times before he hears her unlock her door and opens it. She gazes up at him with slightly widened eyes, forgetting a moment about his new change. But, nonetheless, she welcomes him in. He had to lean down a bit with his hand on the upper part of the doorway as he made his way in, then closed the door behind him as he then sat on one of the large pillows at the table, Shadow sitting across from him as she got comfy on her own pillow. They sat there staring at each other for a few minutes, averting their gazes from one another until Aku finally spoke up first.

“So, other than what happened to me a few days ago. How have you been enjoying life here in our little city? Everyone being nice to you? You have everything you need?” asked Aku as he wanted to make sure his soon-to-be subordinate was fitting in nicely to her new surroundings. She gave a light nod and fidgeted with her fingers that she had clasped in front of her on the table “It’s...all so new. I have never been accepted by others like this before. It is...really nice. I realized I never ever got to thank you for giving me this chance. So...thank you, truly.”. Aku smiled warmly to her and closed his eyes in thought for a moment before reopening them “I brought you a little something as a housewarming gift. I know I am a little late, but here you go.”. He reaches into his bag that rested at his side and pulls out a box of homemade chocolates that he had put together himself.

“I made these myself. Some have peanut butter in them while others have caramel and nougat. I hope you enjoy them.” he then slide them over in front of her and gave her a genuine smile as he watched her open the box and take one of the nut filled ones. It didn’t show on her face, but the sound of a thumping and swishing tail was all that he needed to know that she enjoyed it right off the bat. “I..haven’t had chocolate this good since I was a child. You...truly made these?” she asked in amazement. Aku nodded in response “Mhm. It took me quite a few times to master the recipe just right. I had planned to get these to you the day of the accident.”.

All was quiet for a few minutes more before Tempest was the first to engage in conversation next. This had been on her mind for a few days now. And her curiosity was genuine as she had never ever seen anyone like Aku before. “So..you are obviously not from our world. What brought you here? What is your world like?”. Aku rubbed his chin in thought and shrugged his shoulders lightly in response “Honestly, all I remember is a strange voice that sounded both villainous and goofy at the same time. He said he was going to use me to bring vengeance to the two rulers of Equestria. But I want nothing to do with those two or their kingdom. As for the world I came from, it is far more unforgiving than this one to be sure. If you can believe it, I was just a simple cook and a competitive eating contestant. I worked at my family’s ramen restaurant and had my own little home where I did nothing but slept and played video games all day when I wasn’t doing martial arts or working.”.

Tempest listened intently as he spoke about his life in his world. She’d nod as she watched him gesture with his hands about how big the meals he ate usually and how much food he could stomach in one setting. What amazed the mare is how he remained so fit with all the junk food he has consumed throughout his life. ANd for the first time in a long time, she even giggled at how he told her about how chubby he was before he got to junior high school. The two chatted for hours as they learned about one another. The clock hands seemed to spin faster than normal as the conversation got better and better.

“So, you got that scar and shattered horn from a beast as a filly? And your ‘friends’ abandoned you because of how you looked and how your magic acted from the accident? Well, that’s how children are. They fear the unknown and scary things in the world. I can also understand that you were hurt by this. But…” he said before resting his left hand atop of hers “....you are here in a new place now where you can feel warm and safe. And I can’t wait to teach you what I know and what I have learned from my students. While I am their sensei, they have taught me some pretty amazing things themselves. Just as a teacher teaches, so do they also learn.”. He then tightens his grip around her hand a bit more tightly as he gazes into her rainwater blue eyes “All I ask is for your loyalty to me and the rest of the people here. I promise you that I and they will all have your back in return.”.

As Aku grabbed at Tempest’s hand and squeezed it, she felt her heart skip a few beats as her eyes met with his for a moment. What was this new feeling she was feeling? It felt like butterflies were fluttering in her tummy along with her chest pounding hard, but in a good way. She looked up and down between his hand and his eyes before nodded slowly “O-Of course...you showed mercy upon my life when you certainly didn’t have to. And even though it has only been a week and a half, I feel so welcomed here. Like I...belong to a family.”.

Aku chuckled lightly and released her hand before leaning back slightly “You know, that is the world this town is named. Kazoku which means ‘family’ from where I come from. And since then, the name has stuck. So you are indeed right in feeling you belong to a family. Because that is what we all are here.” he said as he got up and made his way to the door. “I must depart for now, Tempest. I have business to tend to. Enjoy the few days of relaxation you have left. Starting next monday, I am going to start training you in our ways. So be prepared.”.

--Later That Evening--

Aku walked through the southern gate of the town and a little ways off the beaten path to a secret underground facility that had been constructed a month back. Once he gets to the hidden metal door. And knocks on it with a ‘Tink tinktinktink tink….tink tink’ as people like him used to do with those silly knocks back in his world. The many locks on the other side could be heard tumbling and unlocking as the door swung open as one of his elite samurai allowed him in. The door closes behind him as he gives the gryphon a nod of approval before he makes his way down the long staired corridor that leads below ground. Once in the facility, it was a massive, dark grey room with pieces sectioned off by lines on the ground.

As the lights came on, there was an attack helicopter which Aku had dubbed ‘ATH-29 Jigabachi’ which he totally didn’t steal from his favorite anime back home. He even copied its full design as best as he could with the research and development department he had been working with. Only think about this version of it though is that it needed a window up front since Cyberization wasn't exactly in the card right now.

In the other lined off square, there were several tables of different firearms and a shooting range that was walled off for safety reasons. On these tables were firearms ranging from handguns all the way up to LMGs. In the third lined off area, there was what appeared to be a large exosuit that was controlled by magic rather than electronics like it would be back in his world. Amazing what his R&D team could whip up with his original ideas and then put a twist upon them to make them work in this world. And finally on the fourth sectioned off square, there stood on display light kevlar body armor for both male and female soldiers and helmets for both ponies and gryphons.

Aku looked around at all the progress being made with a smile of approval. While all this was just prototypes for now, he was amazed at just how hard his R&D team was working to turn this little town into a full fledge nation that will only get bigger and bigger with the more progress they make. Aku stands in the middle of the four squares and claps his hand, applauding at the brilliant mind who had come to work from him both in and out of his town. “You are all doing a wonderfully amazing job here. These prototypes look absolutely perfect so far. Just don’t work yourselves to the point of exhaustion. I need you all in tiptop shape and well rested and well fed.. And make sure to go and see your families and take a rest every now and then. I can’t have my best minds unhappy.”.

As Aku went around examining the current progress of all the prototypes, the firearms leader approached Aku with a toothy smile on his face. The earth pony was a mid long mane and tail and well built stallion. Especially for his age. The best way to describe the old man was as a ‘silver fox’. He leads Aku over to the firearms table and picks up what appears to be a 12 gag SPAS shotgun and offers it up to him “I believe you will like the results of our hard work, sir. While the designs you brought to us were...hard to decipher, we got the jist of it within a week or so and have come up with our own version of what your world has.”. Aku takes the gun and cocks it before making his way over to one of the targets. Since it was a shotgun, it had to be one of the closer ones.

With his new physique, the once two handed shotgun was now merely an automatic sawed off shotgun for him. He then fired accordingly with eight rounds of semi auto trigger pulling. The sound of the gunfire echoing through the facility before he cocks the gun again, expelling the last empty shell and nodding in approval at its performance. “Very well done. I never even thought that there’d be actual gunpowder in this world. I can assume that the rifles and handguns are coming along just as well?”. The stallion nodded as he then handed Aku one of the pistols. It looked like a colt .45, but Aku took to naming it from the anime he had taken the name ‘jigabachi’ from. “Ah, this is the Seburo M-7.” he said as he pulled the slide back and examined the round that was ready in the barrel “A fine work of craftsmanship for a side arm.”.

After having sampled all the firearms, Aku makes his way over to the jigabachi helicopter. This was the piece of hardware that he was most excited to examine. As he looked inside the cockpit, he could see that all the controls and buttons were done to the exact specifications. Though, like everything else, the machine ran on magic power for its fuel source. It was a good thing that the engineering team worked on the airships that Tempest and her former master had so foolishly brought to their ever growing city. “This looks excellent. I can’t wait to learn how to fly one of these things when it is ready. If this one is a success, we need to continue on with the transporter helicopters as well. Maybe down the road we can finally work on the fighter jets I told you about as well. But this is truly a step forward. A big one.”

After examining all the other prototypes that Aku had his R&D team working on, he makes he way back up the corridor after commending his team for a job well done thus far. He couldn’t be any more prouder of them than he had ever been about anything like this. His little town was soon going to become a nation. And with this new military power, other nations will think twice about invading his home once again. Once Aku makes his way back outside of the hidden entrance, he makes his way back into the town and heads directly for his home. On his way there however, he feels eyes upon him before he makes his way through the entrance and swings around to spot a cloaked figure emerging from the shadows.

Watching the figure carefully, he places a hand upon the hilt of his sword before calling out to the figure in a commanding tone “Show yourself! You aren’t one of my ninja nor my samurai! I will cut you down where you stand immediately if you are here to cause trouble!”. The figure let out a frightened ‘eep!’ before waving their hands frantically and falling backwards “N-Nonono! I am not here to cause any trouble, I promise! I have actually come to speak with the leader of this town on behalf of my clan! We are the hippogryphs who sent a letter a few weeks ago to possibly find a new home here!”. The immediately pulled down their hood to reveal a sky blue and white fathered mane that was long and slightly wild. From what he could tell by their slime and soft facial features, this hippogryph was female wIth a grey beak and emerald eyes that stared at Aku with fright. Aku had remembered Iron Heart speaking about that in one of the meetings they had recently had back at the city hall.

Aku sighed lightly and took his hand from his sword and bowed his head slightly in apology “Please forgive me. We had just suffered an invasion recently and my army is a bit on high alert still. Is it just you who came to see us for the moment?” Aku asked before relaxing a bit more. The hippogryph shook her head as she looked back at the trees behind her. Aku’s eyes widened slightly as other hippogryphs of different sizes and ages came out from behind them. It seemed like a group of at least thirty, maybe even more. “Ah, so you are the ones who escaped the Storm King’s clutches then? Come, we will get you all settled in.”. He then puts his fingers to his lips and lets out a loud whistle. Within moments, many samurai rushed the entrance which caused the hippogryphs to tense up and nearly run away from what they were seeing. “Make sure our guests are taken to the hotel. And treat them properly. The are potential new residents of our town. Make sure they have what they need..” he commanded as he looked back at the female who he had spoken with before “Are you the one representing the group?”. She nodded in response “Yes, my name is Skyberry. And these other hippogryphs are my clan and a few others that escaped.”. A clan? That’s a term that Aku hasn’t heard in a long time

“Very well. I will come find you tomorrow morning. For now, get some rest and make sure to get some food in your stomachs. The hotel you will all be staying at has been told of your arrival and have been ready for the past couple of days. By the way, my name is Aku. I am the Oni General of this little nation. I hope that you will fit in nicely with our family.”. With that, he bows his head before taking his leave and makes his way home. Soon, this little town will become a full nation with its newfound military power and ever growing land. A nation that will be respected and if necessary, feared.

Author's Note

Fun fact about the jigabachi helicopter for those of you who haven't watched any of the Ghost In The Shell anime. The design is meant to be like a wasp since the tanks in the anime are rather spider like. Which is why one of the episodes in the second season is called 'Natural Enemy'. I though that was pretty damn cool.

May the darkness grant you peace.