*AN: This story is set just 2 months after the events of Jak 3 and before Jak X. Things are finally returning to normal but you know that normal describes anything but Jak and Daxter. The world is threatened once again by an evil they thought they vanquished. This time Jak has to balance both the fate of the world and him and Keira's developing relationship. The events of the Lost Frontier never happened in my mind, and I would like to forget about that "game". Enjoy the story – NG
Chapter 1
Jak slid over the finish line in his brand new Desert Screamer with Kleiver only 2 seconds behind. He hopped out of the car and pulled his Bandanna down, revealing a small grin on his face. Daxter hopped out of the car and up onto Jak's shoulder just as Kleiver jumped out and faced Jak. "Looks like you need to practice more 'cause I'm catching up to you." Kleiver said smiling and revealing a set of illregular yellow teeth. "You also still need a tooth-brush" said Daxter pinching his nose. Kleiver frowned "I'd watch yer words rat-face, Cause I'm still hungry for some Ottsel soup heh-heh-heh" Kleiver laughed and then got back in his Heat Seeker and drove off presumably back to the garage. "Man Kleiver is still a pain in the ass" Daxter said. "Yeah, but he wasn't lying, he is catching up to me." Jak replied. "Come on Dax, let's do a few more laps and really push her this time" He said. They jumped back into the car and drove off down the track.
Later that evening at about 7 o'clock Jak was chilling in the lounge of his small apartment located near the race track on Spargus City's West-Side. He was wearing his usual get-up, a Blue Tunic with loose white cotton pants. Daxter had gone home to his vacation apartment that he'd gotten with Tess on the East Side nearest the Sea. They stayed there whenever they came to visit Jak from Haven. Jak had just finished listening to Freedom by the Haven Rebel Fighters when a knock sounded on the front door. He got up and opened the front door, fully expecting to see Sig, however Keira was standing there. "Hi Jak" she said greeting him. Keira was also wearing her usual outfit as well, a white mini-top and pink capris, with the exception of a pair of earrings modeled to be little A-Grav Zoomers. "Keira? What are you doing here? I mean – well what I'm trying to say…" "Relax Jak, I know what you meant" she said cutting him off. "Uh… Come in, come in" he said. Jak let her pass him then closed the door after her. "I know it's not impressive but…" he said trailing off. "It's nice" Keira said. "So what are you doing here?" he asked. "I came to talk about us" She replied while sitting down. Jak sat down next to her, "What is it you want to know?" He asked. "Well, we've kind of been just flirting with each other since we've been thirteen and we haven't really done anything…more" she said. "I want to do something more but I'm not really sure what to do." She said. "Look, I want something more as well but I've got The Spargus City Racing Team to train and I've got Warriors' to train for our Militia" he said. "You've got the Haven City Racing Team and your garage to worry about." With both our responsibilities we just don't have the ability to do anything more, as much as I want to." "Jak, I want to be something more to you, not just a friend" She replied. Jak's heart leapt at the thought of this. "I really want this to happen, but since you kissed Ashlein, I'm not sure that you even like me anymore" she said. "Keira, that kiss should've never happened and I pulled away the second I realized what she did" he said. "It was a confusing moment and we both want to forget it happened." "She went back to Torn but before I could I could get my courage up to say anything you disappeared back to Haven" he said. "I really like you a lot and if you want to be something more then I'll quit everything that I'm doing to do this for you. Because I really like you… a lot, I have since we I was 13." Jak said as he moved closer to her. Keira smiled in remembrance of the Firefly Birthday present. "Oh Jak, I'm so sorry. I should've known that you would never intentionally hurt me" she replied. "Do you really mean it when you say that you'll drop everything to be something more with me?" she asked also moving closer. "Yes, I do Keira and I hope that you'll let me" He said. "Oh Jak, I just don't know…" She trialed off. Slowly their faces drifted closer and closer. With their faces nearly touching Jak heard her sharp intake of breath. Suddenly he could notice small details like the fact that Keira's hair smelt like wild strawberries. With their lips nearly touching they hesitated for a second, and that's when the explosion happened.
"Keira!" Jak shouted groggily. No answer. Jak looked around with just a slight blur in his eyes. He could make out his apartment to be officially in ruins with the outside wall blown out and crumbled. The same was true for the inside wall leading into the complex hallway on the third floor of the building. Jak strained to get a large piece of concrete off of him that fell on him during the chaos, but he was still too weak from the explosion. "Jak! Jak! What happened here?" a voice called. Jak heard among a slight ringing sound in his ears, someone trying to get over to him. He looked up and saw Torn just reaching him. "Jak! What the hell happened here?" Torn asked. "I don't know! Can you please get this thing off of me?" Jak said gesturing to the concrete. "Oh yeah, okay" Torn gripped the concrete close to Jak's legs. "Lift on three. One, Two, Three!" together with some grunting and straining they moved the piece just enough to let Jak wiggle through. Torn helped Jak up and then indicated to the mess. "Can you tell me what happened?" He asked. "Because all I saw was a huge explosion" he said. "I don't know what happened any better than you do buddy" Jak replied. "Why are you here anyway?" Jak asked. Torn hesitated before answering. "We've got a big problem in Haven buddy, somebody stole…" "Look out!" Jak shouted pushing Torn out of the way and then rolling into a backwards summersault to the counter which was still partially standing. What they had just narrowly avoided was a Scatter Gun blast sent by a Masked Marauder. Jak Immediately looked up onto the counter and grabbed his Morph Gun quickly switching it to the Blaster Mod and fired a single shot downing the Marauder. "We can talk about this later!" Jak shouted to Torn. "Help me find Keira!" He asked. "Jak!" came a voice from somewhere near the refrigerator which was amazingly the only thing not affected by the blast. Jak rushed over and helped Keira up to her feet. She looked just fine, with no noticeable injuries, except a slight tear in her shirt just above her right shoulder. "Are you okay Keira?" Jak asked. "I'm fine" she replied. "Okay, come on we've got to get to Sig" Jak said. They started walking down the narrow hallway towards the only staircase that happened to be half collapsed. "Hey Torn" Keira said. "Hi Keira" Torn replied. They were both too focused on getting to safety to really acknowledge each other's presence. They made it to the staircase and started down very carefully. Keira was at the end of the non- broken piece of staircase when it collapsed and she fell landing with a sharp cry of pain. "Are you okay?" Jak shouted. "I think I twisted my ankle but otherwise I'm fine" she replied. Torn was the next one down and he helped Keira stand up. Jak jumped down last but when he hit the ground he tripped and the gun left his hands and slid over to Keira. As Jak stood up she picked up the gun and fired towards him. A Marauder fell to the ground next to Jak. "Thanks" he said grabbing the gun. "Torn can you help Keira out of the building?" Jak asked. "Yeah" replied Torn. "Good" said Jak. Jak walked in front of Keira and Torn checking to see if there were any more Marauders. They made it down to the front entrance without incident. When they stepped outside people were screaming and hurt. Other's just laid in the street obviously affected by the blast. There was rubble everywhere from the explosion. The giant windmill located in front of the Stadium was now located on the Stadium Steps, in pieces. They walked purposefully towards the Palace where Sig would be. When they got to the fork in the road that led to the palace and the East Side, they encountered 3 more Marauders coming in from the East Side. Torn and Keira stepped behind a building while Jak quickly switched to the Scatter Gun Mod and dispatched the small group. He heard footsteps coming from behind him towards where Torn and Keira were and he quickly spun around already firing. Daxter, even though he is shorter than Jak's fire range, still jumped out of the way. "Whoa Jak!" Daxter shouted. "You almost defaced this beautiful mug, and I this beautiful mug" He said. "Daxter? What are you doing here?" Jak asked. "Marauders were coming in from the Sea on the East Side so I brought Tess to Sig and then went to find you guys when the explosion happened" Daxter explained. "I couldn't find you guys and so I was coming back to Sig when you almost killed me!" Daxter snapped. "Sorry" Jak said. "Yeah well don't do it again or I'll be forced to kick your ass, Daxter style. Hyahhh!" Daxter said. Jak shook his head. "Whatever, let's go meet Sig" He said.