Let us be clear on this matter. Jak rarely had need to curse. But today was a notable exception. Krew had sent him on a simple little mission; deliver a small, hand crated Lurker statuette to a 'friend' of his that lived in the slums. Following Krew's directions to the drop-off point, however, led directly do a blank, dead end wall. Nothing. Not even a window.
"Dax... pass the commu..." Jak swore again. Daxter had runoff on some pretence earlier on in the day, probably to see Tess again. Jak shook his head as he reached into his backpack and pulled out his communicator.
"Listen, Mister, I ain't touching that stinking Precursor thing without some sort of proof it works! Besides, Jak's the one who handles this sort of crap, I just deal with the Metal Heads, the women... the important stuff!"
Vin ran around to the side of the gently hissing Precursor device, checking various arcane dials and reading on the small control slate he carried in one nervous hand.
"I.... I can't help him with this! But this might just undo the damage done to you with the Dark Eco bath you had," said the Eco engineer in his usual manner, almost like he had to get the words out before it was too late, now hurry up and get in, I can only siphon off the power for this once, it'll burn out the Sub-station 32s transformer and probably do irreversible damage to the conductor vanes on the main southern relay, not to mention what it'll do to the..."
"Vin," Daxter interrupted, holding up one small, orange hand, "Spare me the details and do it. I cannot
to be young and beautiful once more!"
"Krew"
"Ah.. Jak," an obscene slobbering, "You caught me just on lunch...What's so important it couldn't wait, eh?"
"You're always eating, Krew. And your instructions are wrong. There's nothing and nobody here."
"Patience, Jak... He'll be there. Brutter was very specific, eh... And your pay depends on this!"
Jak rolled his eyes skywards and put the communicator away, remembering that Dax wasn't here this time to put it away. As he turned to survey the crowd milling about he noticed an oddity, a gathering of people watching something as faint cries began to drift through the early morning light.
Daxter screamed as the eco forced its way unnaturally through his small body. The currents of eco began to warp his frame; bones snapping, muscles tearing and skin stretching as Daxter's body twisted back into a shape it remembered. Two years had passed, however, and even as an Ottsel, Daxter had changed, grown...
It was a Lurker, Jak saw. Its plaintive cries rang out over the street, louder by far than the yells and catcalls of the three Krimson guard beating it with their Suppression Mauls. Jak had fought those beasts once, back on Sandover island, back when they were a menace, a monster to be feared and despised. This wasn't a monster, however. This was another living creature.
Jak locked eyes with the beaten slave.
Daxter stumbled out of the Precursor device and fell to the floor with a loud crunch as he tried to support himself on the forelegs he used to have. Sprawled out on the ground, he went to open his mouth to say something, but froze as he saw his hands. His perfectly formed, perfectly human hands.
Daxter's eyes moved across the room, past the uncharacteristically silent Vin, to the full length mirror he had demanded had been set up. And saw what he had been dreaming of for more than two long years.
The first Krimson guard went down pretty easily as Jak hit him hard in the back of the head with the butt of his Morph gun. The second slammed back into the wall as a foot was planted square in the middle of his chest. The third guard jumped backwards, narrowly avoiding a jab to his throat. As Jak darted forwards to bring the butt of the Blaster up under the chin of the guard, the second was heard calling for reinforcements. It didn't take long for them to arrive.
Daxter ran a trembling hand over his face.
"It... worked? It actually worked?"
Vin walked forwards, "We lost three relays and there's..."
"It WORKED! Vin! I love you!" Daxter cried as he threw his arms around Vin and planted a sloppy kiss on the old engineers face, "It worked! I'm me again! And I'm..." he paused to look at his reflection in the mirror, "hot!"
Two years of running and eating little had an effect on Daxter. He was barely recognisable as the short, chubby, bucktoothed runt that he remembered. He was tall and slender, with delicate features and flaming red hear that touched off his deep blue eyes.
Tess was going to faint.
Daxter grinned...
The first round fired by the Krimson elite punched through Jak's upper arm. Panic registered in the young man's mind for seconds before something else took over. Something angry.
As claws burst through the ruins of Jak's gloves, Dark Jak span, claws ripping through the abdominal armour and flesh of the stunned guard. As the disembowelled guard dropped to his knees, desperately holding in the loops of intestines that threatened to spill out onto the city street, Dark Jak lifted his head and howled.
...a grin that faded as he heard the roar that echoed across the city, a roar of hatred and rage he knew all to well...
"Jak..."
Daxter pulled on a set of pants held out by a frightened looking Vin as he ran from the power station and ran along the pedestrian walk way towards the slums. He couldn't help but notice the number of Krimson guards running that way as well...
Dark Jak snarled as he punched his hands through the chest of another guard. Already half a dozen lay dying or dead, unable to stop the monstrous dervish that danced through the street. Another guard, Suppression Maul extended advanced on Dark Jak who dashed under the defence of the guard, grabbed the Maul and stabbed it through the Krimson guard's leg and through the concrete below, pinning him to the street. Another ran up yelling...
"Jak! Snap out of it! They're dead! They're all already de.."
Daxter looked down at the claws jutting through his perfect human body, felt his life spilling out on the potholed road. Wordlessly, without a sound, he slumped to the floor...
Jak looked out of Dark Jak's eyes. That last attacker had almost looked like someone he once knew...