All right! So I've been wanting to write a story like this for a while, and now that I've finished some of my other stories, I thought I'd get started on it! Yes, this is a "sucked into Jak 2" story, but I promise it'll be different. No "girl magically growing long ears, getting put in the Dark Warrior Program, falling in love with Jak, or gaining Dark Powers". Yeah, none of that, although I've read some stories like this that have turned out to be good. I want to try and prove that these type of stories can be more than just a shameless self-insert. With that in mind, I hope you enjoy this first chapter! Reviews are always appreciated, whether they be praise or constructive criticism (but no flames!).

DISCLAIMER: Only my OCs are mine. Everyone else belongs to Naughty Dog.

Italics- Announcements

If there was one thing I was not expecting after school one day, it was getting swept up into a completely random adventure.

Me? I wasn't one to seek adventure. I preferred to keep to myself. But little did I know that one small event in my otherwise ordinary day would end up changing the course of my life.

It all started when my friends invited me to go to a party with them that weekend. I was surprised they still attempted to ask me at that point; I had said no every single time.

"But Paige!" my best friend, Anna, replied when I had declined, "It'll be fun! You don't know what you're missing out on!"

"Sorry, Anna," I apologized, "But I just get uncomfortable at those sort of events. You know…with drinking and partying and stuff."

"You've never even been to a party!" Anna pointed out, "How can you say that?"

I hesitated in answering. "Umm…" I began, but she cut me off.

"That's what I thought," Anna quipped, "But seriously, you should consider it this time."

I sighed. "All right," I decided, nodding, "I'll think it over today and let you know this evening."

"All right!" Anna cheered, "I'll be waiting for your call!" And before I could say anything else, she was already taking off down the hallway. Sighing again, I closed my locker and began the long walk home. I wasn't going to go to this party if it was the last thing I did. I just didn't like feeling so awkward around everyone.

I had to admit I was curious about that part of life, but I would never tell anyone that. For now, I would just keep to myself. I had my reasons for doing so that not even Anna knew, and that was a big deal; I usually told her everything.

As soon as I got home, I found my living room in chaos. "What the hell?" I muttered to myself as I watched my two little sisters run around with a videogame in their hands, "What's going on?"

"Tracy won't give me Jak 2!" my fourteen-year-old sister, Alana, whined as twelve-year-old Tracy hogged the game.

"You had your turn with it!" Tracy reasoned, "Now, it's my turn!"

"No, it's mine!"

"It's mine!"

"STOP!" I hollered, clapping my hands together, and both of them turned to face me.

"Give me the game," I said, holding one of my hands out, "And I'll decide who gets to play it now."

"Oh, you're no fun, Paige!" Tracy whined, "You never are!"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"You never want to do anything with us! You just want to scold us like Mom does! I thought older sisters were supposed to be fun!"

I frowned for a minute. I wasn't going to listen to this. "I don't have time for this," I told them, "I'm keeping the game for now until I can decide who earns it."

"Paige!" both of them cried, but I continued to walk away. I felt bad, but I also couldn't believe they thought that about me! Their own sister!

What is the big deal with this game, anyway? I asked myself as I shut the door to my bedroom and studied the front cover. The blond boy, Jak, looked like a bad boy, with a gun in his hands and a frown on his face. Strike one already.

I glanced over at the Playstation 2 hooked up to my television, and I shook my head. I liked to play videogames every now and then, but the Jak and Daxter series had just never appealed to me until now. Maybe I would just play for a little bit and then stop. Enough to get my mind off of other matters at hand.

However, something began to feel strange. Just after I made my way through the opening screen, I clicked on "New Game", and after that, everything began to fade to black around me.

When I finally felt myself come around a while later, I instantly knew something was wrong.

The first thing I noticed when I woke up were a bunch of tall trees surrounding me on all sides. "What the hell?" I muttered to myself, "Where am I?" I definitely wasn't in Kansas anymore, that was for sure. Everything was quiet around me, save for the sound of a waterfall in the corner, as well as birds singing in the early morning. I figured it was early morning.

This forest wasn't like any other forest I had seen, and despite the fact that I was confused as hell, I still loved this place. I had to find out more about it, as well as how I ended up here in the first place.

Suddenly, I heard a soft rustling in the bushes behind me. Pausing for a minute, I frowned as I slowly turned my head to glance behind me. As soon as I did, the rustling stopped. Hmm, I thought, It was probably nothing.

However, when I took another step, I heard the rustling again, and I stopped and clenched my fist as my heart began to pound in my chest. It was definitely not my imagination. Something was in those bushes. But what?

This was probably going to be a stupid idea, but I decided to slowly approach the bushes, making sure that whatever was there turned out to be nothing.

Advancing cautiously, I reached a hand out, and as soon as I gently pushed away some of the leaves, I suddenly felt a searing pain across my chest.

"Ouch!" I gasped, leaping backwards and falling to the ground just as something flew above my head. What the hell was that?

Grrr! Glancing up again, I gasped at the sight in front of me: a reptilian-type monster with metal armor, a yellow skull gem in the middle of its head, and a Beam Weapon in its hands. What was that thing? It was so hideous!

Whatever it was, it wasn't friendly, and I was quick to realize that as soon as it started charging towards me again with the Beam Weapon. "Holy crap!" I cried as I backed up and began to run away, for in that moment, more of those creatures began to pop out of the bushes. There was no way I was going to be able to outrun these monsters. There were too many of them!

Tripping and falling over myself, I glanced around back and forth for any possible escape route, and was surprised when there wasn't one in sight. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see another beam sail right next to me and barely graze my hip. I had already taken quite a bit of damage, and I didn't need any more. I had to find out what was going on around here if it was the last thing I did.

Fortunately, I managed to spot a platform right in front of me, and not wasting any time, I scrambled onto it just as one of those metal creatures swiped at my foot. As the platform began to float away, I watched as the monsters stopped and stared at me. One even fell into the abyss below me.

Whew, I thought, wiping my forehead, That was close. Now that I was safe again, I looked ahead of me as I floated back up to another platform, where the entrance to a temple was situated to my left. I briefly wondered what was there, but upon noticing the platform sliding back and forth in front of it, I knew that was a no go. I sighed wistfully to myself. Why couldn't anything go right today?

I continued to walk, and as soon as I reached the edge of the cliff in front of me, I gasped at the view. My God! It was amazing! Over in the horizon was a large city, where there would, without a doubt, be someone who could help me. But how would I get over there?

Looking to my left, I spotted a circular gate in front of me. I guessed I would have to jump through that, though I didn't know where it would take me. After quickly checking to make sure nobody was watching, I jumped through the gate, feeling lightheaded as I did so.

When I arrived on the other side, I had to hold on to the tree next to the other gate for a minute as I closed and opened my eyes repeatedly. Now it was time to start getting answers.

In front of me, the large gate opened with a squeal and a hiss, and once I was on the other side, I watched as the second gate opened.

"Reentering Haven City," a robotic, female voice announced, and I flinched for a minute, as I wasn't expecting that. Haven City? This was Haven City? Where exactly was Haven City located?

As I slowly descended down the ramp, I continued to look around at the gardens around me. It was a beautiful day, and the temperatures were not too warm or too cold, but right in the middle. Comfortable.

People were strolling back and forth on the small paths, and as I walked by, everyone began to give me funny stares. Why were they looking at me like that?

The first thing I noticed about everyone around me was that they all had long, elf-like ears that stuck out like a sore thumb. Out of instinct, as well as a feeling of dread creep through my stomach, I reached up and patted my ears…only to realize that they were still the same as they were in my world. And that was when I realized exactly what had happened.

"AHHHHHH!" I screamed, eliciting startled stares from the Havenites around me as I collapsed to the ground and curled up in the cool grass.

A little while later…

This wasn't happening. This wasn't happening. This wasn't happening! I couldn't have gotten pulled into Jak 2. It was impossible!

No, no, no, I thought. By now, everyone was crowding around me as I cradled myself on the grass and tried to stop myself from hyperventilating. "Miss?" one of them asked, but I continued to take deep breaths as I fanned myself.

"Who is she?" one of them asked.

"What's up with her ears?" another questioned.

There it went again; my insecurity about my ears suddenly returned, and I closed my eyes again.

"This is just a dream," I muttered to myself, "This is only a dream, and then I'll wake up." I screamed again and more people crowded around me as they noticed my significantly shorter ears.

"What's going on here?" another, unfamiliar voice began out of nowhere, and when I took a break from my panic attack, I looked up to see a few men in red jumpsuits approaching me, their boots clicking on the pavement and their rather scary-looking guns gleaming in the sunlight. I gulped at the sight. This must have been the police force of Haven City.

"Who are you?" one of the guards asked, "Why are you causing a commotion?"

Leaping up from the ground, I began to stammer as I spoke. I had never been questioned by the police, and that was one of my biggest fears. "I don't know how I got here!" I explained, "I woke up in the forest this morning, and then I ended up here when I came through that gate! Please! Can you help me? I don't know what to do!"

The two guards glanced at each other, and when they didn't move forward to help me, I began to get the feeling that something was wrong.

I watched as they moved forward, whipped out a pair of handcuffs, and slapped them across my wrists.

"Whoa, wait a minute!" I protested, "What are you doing?"

"You're under arrest for breaching the city's gates!" they announced, hauling me away, "By order of Baron Praxis."

"Wait!" I hollered, "Who's Baron Praxis?"

But my protests fell on deaf ears as I found myself being thrown into the back of a cruiser. What an entrance into a game that I didn't know how to play.