Dark Eco program

It had been two years since Jak, Daxter and Jodie arrived at Haven city, a cold place mostly made out of metal. The city was the total opposite of Sandover Village and it would definitely not be easy for the trio to adjust to their new surroundings.

It had been two years since Jak was brutally been taken away from his sister and best friend and taken to the palace of baron Praxis, where he would become one of the many test subject to experiment with the new Dark eco treatments, also known as 'the Dark Warrior program'.

However, his sister and little friend managed to escape the authorities and kept a low profile, until they would find a way to sneak into the palace and save Jak.

After living on the streets of Haven city for two tough years, Jodie and Daxter had finally discovered a weak spot in the walls surrounding the palace and they went inside to safe Jak.

With little effort they avoided the guards and even got lost a few times in the huge building, but eventually entered the cellblocks where criminals were taken to. Jak had to be there as well, no doubt about it.

The duo hid underneath a platform when they arrived at the cellblocks, heart breaking screams and grunts send shivers up their spines as purple electric bolts were flying around the room, and a robotic female voice announced the end of the experiments.

whoever it was up there, even Daxter felt sorry for the guy or gal that had to go through all the suffering.

"Dark eco injection cycle complete. Bio readings nominal and unchanged."

Everything went silent and Daxter was about to speak up when two male voices were heard, and Jodie carefully placed a finger to her lips to warn her little friend.

It wasn't safe yet.

'Well, nothing. I was informed that this one might be different!'

Jodie's eyes widened in surprise when she heard the angry voice of a well known man; it was Baron Praxis, the ruler of Haven city.

In the two years that she and Daxter had been roaming around the new city, she had seen a lot of pictures of the baron, his voice was heard in all parts of the city and she clenched her fists in anger.

'He is surprisingly resistant to your "experiments", baron Praxis. I fear the Dark Warrior program has failed.'

That was the voice of Erol; he was a commander and the second hand of Baron Praxis. He was the one who, together with some Krimzon guards, knocked Jak out and took him away from his friends and family.

Even though he was aiming for Jodie too, she managed to kick her way through the guards, with some help of Daxter and they escaped the Krimzon guards. but Jodie felt horrified and guilty for abandoning her brother.

Tears started to prick behind her eyes when she reminisced that day and a loud growl made her jump a little in surprise.

'You should at least be dead with all that Dark eco I've pumped into you!'

'What now? Metal head armies are pressing their attacks! Without a new weapon, my men cannot hold them off forever!'

Daxter and Jodie glared at each other; what did he mean with 'a new weapon'?

They knew the effects of Dark eco; Daxter changed into an Ottsel when he fell in a pit of Dark eco back in Sandover village, but as far as they could hear from the screams, the guy wasn't changed into a furry beast without a pair of pants just yet.

'I will not be remembered as the man who lost this city to those vile creatures!'

The baron exploded in a fit of anger again before he turned on his heel and Jodie had to pull Daxter back again, who was too impatient to see who they were talking about.

'Move forward with the final plan,'

The baron send a mocking glare towards a young man on the metal chair, hands and feet strapped with steal locks to keep him from attacking or escaping.

'And finish off this, thing, tonight.' he proceeded with a sarcastic tone in his voice.

Daxter rolled his eyes and glanced at Jodie, who was now making an effort to get up to the platform to kick the baron in the face!

She hated Erol to the gut, and did she wished for a day to come when she could punch him out cold!

'As you wish.'

The way Errol spoke towards the baron made the duo underneath the platform gag, his voice was sickening sweet when speaking to the higher rank male and Daxter watched from underneath the platform.

He could see if the coast was clear and he held up a paw to Jodie, mentioning her to stay still for a few more seconds.

'I'll be back later.' Erol hissed at Jak before he too walked out of the cell block, leaving the boy half unconscious on the operating table.

As soon as the door closed, the sign was given for Daxter and Jodie and they quickly took one of those floating elevators and hovered upwards.

Haven city was known for its machinery and technical supplies, even the Zoomers and Hellcats were things you would never see elsewhere.

'Ding ding, third floor. Body change, roach food, torture devices!' Daxter mockingly announced while he threw some clothes onto the platform where the person in the chair was.

Jodie looked around warily as she jumped onto the platform, she shifted her eyes onto the chair and gasped when she recognized the young man.

It was him; her brother Jak was still alive!

She saw her brother and swallowed hard; he had changed so much in the two years that he was separated from her and once again, she felt her eyes getting watery and she quickly shook her head to get rid of the childish tears.

She was startled when Daxter all of a sudden leapt onto Jak's stomach, getting her attention without even noticing.

'Hey buddy, you seen any heroes around here?'

'Daxter, that's Jak! Get off of him!'

Jodie was about to smack him against the head, but Daxter dodged it with ease, since he was used to getting slapped by her.

He moved his brows up and down with a big grin on his furry smug and this time, it was Jodie's turn to roll her eyes.

'Just don't okay? I'm so happy to see him again and I don't need you to ruin my mood!' she grumbled towards the smirking Ottsel and he rolled also rolled his eyes in response.

Jodie ignored the following chatter of Daxter and looked at her brother with sad eyes; she couldn't believe that she had finally returned to his side!

His green blonde hair had grown a bit past his shoulders, he also got a green goatee which made her giggle and he had gotten taller.
She smiled and let her fingers slide through his blonde locks while Daxter kept on rambling, slightly panicked.

'After two whole years of searching for him, he doesn't even give us a fancy greeting? That's great, just great.' the orange Ottsel grumbled and Jodie send him an icy glare.

'Can you blame him? You heard what the baron said, they injected so much Dark eco into his veins that he almost passed out.' she snapped, her cool blue eyes shooting daggers at the orange fur ball and Daxter was silent for a moment.

He stared at the now fifteen year old girl, going back to the time she was just thirteen back in Sandover village.

Daxter was always hitting on every girl in the village, but somehow he managed to not only to become best friends with Jak and his younger sister Jodie as well, he got to know her better then anybody else and even in the two years they had spend together, Daxter started to respect the girl even more and maybe, another feeling had emerged inside his little body.

She was just like her brother, green blonde hair that she had pulled back in to a high ponytail and two smaller locks of hair framing both sides of her face.

Her blue eyes however, always had a more daring and challenging look and Jodie got herself in quite some trouble throughout the past two years.

Jodie could be a stubborn, feisty girl when facing Krimzon guards, Metal Heads and people with bad intentions, but when she was sitting alone waiting for Daxter to return from his new job as a bug exterminator, she would cry and expose her weak side to only him.

Now that they found Jak, things would certainly get better and she sighed softly.

'We have been looking for you for two years!' Daxter cried out while grabbing Jak by his shirt, tugging it desperately.

Jodie had to blink a couple of times to figure out what was happening; apparently, Daxter had returned to his previous waking method and this time, Jodie let him be.

'Say something, just this once!'

'Dax, I don't think that's gonna work.'

'Well we've got to try something!'

Suddenly, Jak's blue eyes flashed open, his pupils dilated and the evil look in his eyes made Jodie back up a little. Daxter, however didn't noticed her and was surprised by the sudden reaction of Jak.

The look in his eyes was unfamiliar, he never had any meanings for hatred or revenge, but this time it was not the case. Daxter frowned and Jodie opened her mouth to speak, but her voice simply left her for seconds

'I'm gonna kill Praxis!' Jak yelled in anger, his voice was different from the last time they heard him, he actually spoke and Daxter quickly muted the sound by covering Jak's mouth with his paw.

'Right now we gotta get you out of here!' Daxter hissed in reply and he was about to check the locks that held Jak down.

Jak's breathing became more rapid and that's when Jodie knew for sure that her brother was not the same, he didn't act like himself anymore and she ran to Daxter's side.

'This isn't right, something is wrong with him.'

At the same time Jodie spoke, Jak roared and Jodie snatched Daxter from the chair, just in time before Jak broke free and turned into a monster.

He became a real monster.

His skin went pale, his eyes turned into eerie black pools of evil and his nails became dark purple claws, ready to slash everything and everyone who got in his way.

Purple lightning seemed to sparkle off of his body as he got up, staring wickedly to the girl in front of him who released the orange ball of fur that she held in her hands seconds before.

Daxter stayed close to Jodie and his little paws held on to her pants tightly.

Her mouth dropped and her eyes went big; was this thing really her brother?

'What have they done to you?' she whispered softly, hoping that the sound of her voice would remember him who she was.

But Jak didn't return to his old self; instead, he came closer with a nasty grin on his pale face and his claws stiffened, ready to strike.

Daxter swallowed and tried his best to calm Jak down.

'Jak, easy now, easy buddy. I-It's your old pal Daxter, remember?'

The Ottsel desperately screamed from behind Jodie's legs and when it was clear that Jak was completely oblivious to Daxter's cries, Jodie took a deep breath, stepped forward and stared at him angrily.

'Snap out of it Jak! We came back for you, after two years we finally came to get you out of here and you give us this attitude? We're Jodie and Daxter, remember?'

Jak blinked a few times in surprise, but he didn't seem to recognize them at all!

Daxter closed his eyes and waited for his end to come, Jak was about to slash Jodie into a million pieces when all of a sudden, just when his sharp claws stopped inches away from her face, Jak seemed to remember something.

'Jodie? Daxter?'

His voice returned to its normal state and Jodie felt her heart skip a beat from happiness!

She saw her brother transforming, slowly he turned back to his normal self and she caught him when he was about to lose his balance.

Still drowsy from what happened, Jak looked at the two figures in front of him and Daxter sighed with relief.

'You're back!'

Jodie let out a loud shriek and threw her arms around her brother's neck, she had missed him so much and she nuzzled her nose against his shoulder.

Jak, a little confused, slowly brought his arms up and hugged her back; it had been too long ago that they hugged like that and they stayed in that position until Daxter loudly interrupted.

'What the heck was that? Sheesh!'

The siblings broke their embrace and both stared down at Daxter, who was obviously not happy with the freaky change Jak had just made.

'Remind me not to piss you off!'

'Give him a break, will ya?' Jodie grumbled with a warning glare and Daxter jumped onto Jak's shoulder, with a big grin on his face.

'Come on, tall, dark and gruesome, we're out of here.' he said, watching Jodie mockingly as she shook her head.

'What? You knew that was coming!'

After Jak got dressed with the clothes they brought him, the trio managed to break out of the palace rather violently and they were back in Haven city.

'We're free Jak! Thanks to me!'

'Excuse me?'

'I mean, thanks to us!'

Jodie chuckled after Daxter's correction and she watched as Jak took one of his first breaths of fresh air since two years.

'Nice to breathe some fresh air, huh?'

Jak nodded solemnly, being locked up in a prison and receiving painful injections for two long years didn't made him any more talkative and he looked at his sister, asking her what to do next with a short glance.

Jodie couldn't help but smile and she took hold of his arm, hugging it tightly as she took in his scent one more time.

'Don't worry, I know it's frightening to start over new, but I won't let them take you again.' she reassured him, she felt his arms release some of the tension and he gave a little nod.

'We'll get that Praxis guy alright! You can count on that, buddy!'

Daxter gave a small wink and Jak returned the favor with a little smile, it was gone within a second though and the trio headed deeper into the city.

After fifteen minutes of walking around the city without any sense of direction, Jak became agitated and Daxter even jumped onto Jodie's shoulder, uncomfortable with the annoyed aura that started to roam the young man.

They entered an alley where an old man seemed to wait for someone; he was looking around warily until he saw the youngsters and approached them, but Jak ignored him and almost walked past by him.

Jodie let go of her brothers' arm and watched as he went to meet the older man. Daxter let out a sigh and Jodie chuckled softly at that.

'Hello strangers, my name is Kor. May I help-'

'You look like a reasonably smart man.'

Jak grabbed the man by his collar and Jodie already opened her mouth to stop him.

'I want information. Where the hell am I?'

He roughly let go of the old man and Jodie sighed in relieve; she could only hope that he wouldn't do that to everybody!

Meanwhile, she noticed two small figures standing behind Kor; a boy who couldn't be older then four years of age and a little girl, who had to be around two years old, holding onto the old man's robes tightly and a little nervous because of the strangers.

'Hi there, no need to be scared. He doesn't always act like this, you know.' Jodie said sarcastically and Daxter jumped down to the ground, making the children stare at him in astonishment.

The kids' eyes grew larger when seeing the orange talking fuzz ball and they came a little closer, curious but on their guard nevertheless.

The children both had blond hair mixed with faint green streaks and their eyes were dark blue, almost the same colour as the clear night sky.

The boy had a brown cap on his head which made a stubborn lock of his hair jump out from underneath it and he was wearing a red medallion around his neck. It shimmered beautifully and he wore a blue overall and a white shirt.

The girls' hair was tied up in a high ponytail, resembling a little palm tree popped on her head and Jodie noticed that the girl was not wearing a medallion. She wore white shorts and a pink shirt and she held the boys' hand tightly.

'Sorry, he's new to the whole, conversation thing.'

She gave Daxter a little pat on the head, using enough force to shut him up but not too much to cause any permanent damage.

'Yeah, and you are new to the 'conversation thing' with little kids!'

Daxter and Jodie got into a little staring contest when Kor explained to Jak where they were.

'Well, my angry young friend, you are a guest of his majesty, Baron Praxis! The ruler of glorious Haven City!'

'I was just a 'guest' in the good Barons prison!' Jak growled annoyed as he looked down at the small children for a second.

'Inside a cell or inside the city, walls surround us both. We are all his prisoners.'

Suddenly Jodie rose to her feet, stepped forward and locked angry eyes with Kor; if looks could kill, he would've died over a hundred times already!

'I do not agree with that! The Baron kept him as his guinea pig for his stupid experiments and for what? Why did he choose to use Jak instead of picking somebody of his own city, his own prisoners if it's true what you're saying?'

Jodie was breathing fast because of her outburst and she calmed down a little when she felt her brothers' hand on her shoulder.

Daxter tilted his head a little and he made funny faces to the kids to keep them entertained. It worked, the boy and the girl giggled at his weird smug and that was his motivation to keep it up until they were laughing out loud.

'Unfortunately, I don't have an answer to that. I don't know what our Baron keeps for secrets inside his palace, and I am sorry for what he may have done to your...'

Kor watched them closely, guessing for the right answer but Jodie beat him to it.

'He's my brother, the baron can rot for all I care and we certainly don't need your pity. We just want to get out of this place, fast.'

Kor was about to speak when heavy footsteps caught their attention, everyone held their breath when they saw Krimzon guards coming their way.

'Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time.'

The boy and the girl, who hadn't said a word looked up at the old man and he gently motioned them aside.

As on cue, Daxter placed his paws on his hips and send the guards an irritated glare.

'I-I'd move on if I were you.' Kor whispered when he got the children out of danger.

Jak watched the three of them move out of the way and felt his blood boil when he saw the guards approaching them; he remembered them very well from his time in prison!

'By order of his eminence, the Grand Protector of Haven City, Baron Praxis. Everyone in this section is hereby under arrest for suspicion of harboring underground fugitives.' one of the Krimzon guards began to explain, his voice reminded Jak of a computer voice because of his mask.

'Surrender and die!' he finished his sentence and Daxter, like always, daringly stepped in front of the Krimzon guard.

'Ah, excuse me sir but, don't you mean surrender, or die?' he yelled while gesturing with his little paws and when the Krimzon guard lowered himself to face him, the Ottsel felt intimidated and with a sarcastic grin, he backed away to climb back to Jak's shoulder.

'Not in this city! Protect us from these guards, and I'll introduce you to someone who can help you!' Kor cried out, spreading his arms in front of the young children to protect them.

Jak's eyes began to glow with anger as he looked back at his sister.

'Stay here. I don't want you to get hurt.' Jak said softly, the tone in his voice made it very clear he was concerned about her and she hesitantly nodded.

As soon as she stepped back to Kor, it was time for Jak to let out all the frustration he had to hold inside his body when he was in prison.

This time though, he wouldn't back away anymore for he was reunited with his friends and family again, and he would not let them be taken as well!

When the guards closed in on the dynamic duo, Jodie gasped and stood in front of the two children who knew what was going on very well and they clasped their hands around Jodie and Kor's legs, obviously scared by all the sudden commotion.

Jodie placed her hand on the little girls head, big dark blue teary eyes stared up at her and she couldn't help but smile reassuringly. The little boy held his eyes on Jak while he kept his hold on her pants, fascinated and anxious to see what came next.

'Don't worry, my brother is very strong and he will protect us from these stupid guards!' she whispered and the girl sniffled, but nothing more.

Krimzon guards came rushing to the scene and pointed their guns at Jak and Daxter.

Jak began to growl like an animal, his skin and hair changed colour again and he transformed into the monster that the baron had created.

Purple sparks hit the ground and some of the guards hesitated, but as soon as Jak let out a hateful scream, the fight was on.

They opened fire and Jak was able to dodge some of them, attacking the guards with powerful punches and he even used the dark sparks to create an energy field around him, which send them flying into the air.

Another Krimzon Hellcat flew in, but they were no match for the new dark form of Jak.

It scared Jodie a little when she saw her brother fighting uncontrollably, Daxter had to cling onto his shoulder guard to prevent himself from flying off and she felt the urge to help them, but she stayed with Kor and the kids.

If she did went to help them, her brother would definitely scold her for disobeying him and she didn't want to see her brother angry. On the other side, he has always been overprotective of her and she was without his protection for two years.

She would show him that she could take care of herself in a while, but for now she let her brother do his thing.

After what seemed like hours, the fight was over.

The Krimzon guards were all over the place, running away in fear and some of them could barely stand on their feet.

Jodie took a deep breath, she had unconsciously stopped breathing when the last Krimzon Hellcat joined the fight and she rushed to her brother and Daxter.

Jak changed back into his old self again, holding his head in agony as the transformation slowly faded and he looked her in the eyes.

'That was cool! Do it again!' Daxter exclaimed excited but Jak seemed to be in pain when he returned to his old self.

'Something's happening to me.' he said, gritting his teeth and clenching his fists in his lasting fury.

'Something he did! I can't control it!'

He opened his hands and looked at them with slight disgust, as if he was always a monster even without the sharp claws and Dark eco sparking off of him.

It almost seemed like he would change again, but luckily he kept his dark side at bay and Kor joined them.

'Very impressive.' Kor said mostly to himself, but the children questionably looked up at him.

'Eh, you okay Jak?'

Jak nodded once to assure his best friend that he was okay, he felt better now that his dark side was gone and he looked at his sister, worried that she might've been hurt after all during the fight.

Jodie quickly raised her hands to reassure him and she gave him a soft smile.

'I'm fine, I'm fine! How do you think I've managed for the past two years?'

She smirked and he replied with a small grin, Daxter rolled his eyes and shook his head in confusion.

'What you just did was very brave, these children are important.'

'These kids?'

Daxter tried to poke the boy and the toddler flinched, his sister quickly grabbed his arm and send an angry glare at Daxter.

'They look kinda scruffy.'

Suddenly, a Krimzon Hellcat closed in and Jodie held her breath; what did they want now?

The fight must've attracted the baron and other Krimzon guards, but she was not in the mood to see her brother risk his life again.

'You are in a restricted zone. Move along!' the Krimzon guard snapped as he dashed off again.

Jak grumbled something, Jodie was happy she didn't hear it clearly enough and she noticed the little kids didn't like the guards as well.

They stared with angry looks in their eyes to where the Hellcat flew away; they would be able to look after themselves just fine!

'Thank you for your help, but I must get these children to safety.' Kor spoke with calm voice and Daxter was not too happy with that.

'Hey! What about us?' he yelled, clearly irritated that the old man would not keep his promise.

'There's an underground group, raging war against Baron Praxis. Its leader, the Shadow, could use fighters like you. Go to the slums, find a dead-end ally near the city wall.'

Kor turned around, the children were happy to get out of there as they wobbled away, holding each others hand and babbling in their own toddler language only they could understand.

'Ask for Torn, he can help you.'

With that said, the old man strolled after the children, limping slightly and Jodie let out a sigh.

'I don't like this at all, Jak! But, knowing you, it's likely we will end up in that ally after all!' Daxter cried out and Jodie didn't even try to give a response; she was tired and she didn't know what was best to do.

'You want to give this a try, Jodie?'

Jak saw that his sister was hesitating, not sure if they could trust this Shadow or the underground, but they had nowhere else to go.

This was their only motivation at the moment.

After a moment of thinking, Jodie nodded at him with a smile and Jak was happy to see that.

'I'm sure that this is the best thing to do. We have nowhere else to go and until we figure out how to get back home, we might as well help the underground to fight the baron, right?' he explained and Jodie chuckled softly.

'I know, I know! Alright, we'll head towards the slums. Daxter and I know where that is, we had two years to discover this city!' she remarked with a sneaky grin on her face and Daxter sarcastically giggled with his eyebrows.

'Follow Orange Lightening, my friends! This way please.' he said cheerfully, and the trio went to the slums, searching for the underground and a man, called Torn.