A/N: This idea has been brewing around in my head for about a year now, I just had no idea how I was going to do it. Well, I figured it out. Like it says in summary, this story takes place during Jak X (I pity those who haven't played this game of the Jak series, it's really good.) This takes place during the Blue Eco Cup (Razer and Rayn start to race) Whelp, here it is.
Revealed
After continually racing every day for the course of two weeks, working their way forward in the Blue Eco Cup, Jak and his friends were happy to have the weekend off. It was Saturday night and most of the crew was in the living room that the team shared. Ashelin and Torn were sitting on the couch watching TV. Daxter was using the teams' bar to his advantage and Jak was silently doing sit ups near the bar, making sure Daxter didn't get too drunk. They were all minding their own business until Rayn walked in.
"Hi, guys." Rayn said cheerfully. She received no responses. Sighing, she walked over to the couch adjacent of the one that Ashelin and Torn were sitting on and sat down. The silence resumed for about 5 minutes, until Rayn broke it once again.
"So, what's your guys' story?" Rayn asked, interested. Ashelin and Torn's eyes immediately snapped away from the TV, looking directly at her. Jak stopped doing his sit ups and Daxter did a spit take, spewing his beer all over Jak's hair. Jak glared at him for a moment, but then returned his attention to Rayn. Ashelin spoke.
"What do you mean girly?"
"I mean what are your stories? All I know is that all of you knew my father and that you came from Haven City." Rayn explained.
"Yeah, so?" Torn replied roughly.
"So, in order to be a team, we have to know about each other, right? I know nearly nothing about you guys…" Rayn trailed off.
"And we know nothing about you, so how do we know we can trust you?" Ashelin countered.
"How about I go first, since you guys obviously have trust issues." Rayn said. She told them that she was born and raised in Kras City and that she was raised by her mother, who had died when Rayn was 18. She told them that she's always wanted to be a doctor and that she had an absolute hatred for her father, and the only reason she was racing for him was because he had poisoned her, as well as the others.
"And that's about it. See, now that you know about me, why don't you guys tell me about yourselves?" Rayn finished.
"Fine…this is so stupid, but okay. I was born and raised in Haven City, during a war. I met Torn while serving in the Krimzon Guard, pretty much our city's Army. My father was the Baron of the city and his name was Praxis. He died around the time your father did, I suppose. I served in the Krimzon Guard until he died, where I then took over as the leader of Haven City. That was the end of the first war. Six months later, another, much smaller, war broke out and about 7 months later it was finished, with us as the victors." Ashelin explained, giving as little detail as possible.
"Well that's interesting…and I'm sorry about your father…" Rayn trailed off.
"It's fine, we weren't that close." Ashelin explained. Jak had to fake a coughing fit to cover up his laughter at how ironic her statement was.
"Oh… and what about you?" Rayn asked, gesturing towards Torn.
"Well, like Ashelin, born and raised in Haven City. When I was 19, I joined the Krimzon Guard, and I left it when I was 25 due to certain complications. I was a vice president you could say of an organization, The Underground, which tried to over throw Baron Praxis, due to his harsh way of treating the people. Two years later, I met Jak, and he helped us win the war that was also going on. After the first war was over, I was promoted to Commander of the Krimzon Guard. During the second war, I pretty much just commanded the troops to fight the enemy and what not. And now I'm here." Torn told her.
"Wow, that's so interesting. What were you fighting during your wars?" Rayn asked with curiosity.
"The first war was actually a 500 year battle against a type of animal thing called the Metalheads. And then the second was against some robots, the K-G Death Bots, as well as some more Metalheads." Torn explained.
"Oh, that's cool. What about you Jak?" Rayn asked, turning her head to see him. He was sitting backwards on a bar stool, listening intently to the three's conversation.
"Not much to tell really. I lived in the country until I was 17. When I was 17, I moved to Haven City with Dax, Kiera and Samos. I was immediately put in prison for two years for something I did not do. Two years later, having no idea where any of my friends were, I joined the Underground, and then I kicked major butt in both of the wars. Haven City has named me its hero. And now I'm here, racing for my life." Jak said dully.
"Well, I think yours is the most interesting of them all." Rayn commented.
"Yeah…right…" Jak said, uninterested.
"What did you supposedly do that wound you up in prison?" Rayn asked him. Jak opened his mouth to speak, but he was interrupted by an unidentified scream.
"JAAAKKK! HELPPP!" Jak instantly recognized Kiera's voice. She sounded terrified. Why- what….RAZER! Jak thought to himself. Instead acting rationally, Jak let his anger take control of him. In an instant, his skin and hair became deathly white, horns sprouted out of his head, his pupils widened to fill out the entirety of his eye, 5 inch long finger nails sprouted out of his fingertips and Dark Eco was crackling all around his body. He could faintly make out Rayn's scream of terror. With a snarl, he quickly ran out of the living room, knocking over his bar stool, and ran towards the racing garage, where Kiera was.
What felt like seconds later, Jak had arrived in the garage. He quickly did a once over of the room. Kiera's tools were all over the floor. There was a huge dent in the frame of Jak's car. And in the corner of the room was Kiera, along with Razer. Razer had his hand over Kiera's mouth, to keep her from screaming, and he had her in a head lock with the other arm. He was yelling at her, having not seen Jak yet.
"Why did you do that? See, now I'm going to have to hurt you!" Razer said angrily. He removed Kiera from the head lock, his other hand still over her mouth, and from his robe's pocket he brought out a monkey wrench. Before Jak could react, he raised it and hit Kiera in the face with it-hard. Jak could feel her pain from the other side of the room. This has to stop, NOW! Jak thought to himself angrily. He snarled loudly, advancing towards Razer at a fast pace.
"What?! Who's there?!" Razer yelled while turning around. Pure fear immediately became evident on his face. Jak kept snarling, advancing a bit slower.
"W-wh-what? What are you? Wh-who are you?" Razer stuttered, panicked. Jak could swear that Razer was pissing his pants. Jak was finally right in front of Razer. He raised his right hand, ready to strike, but he didn't. He saw Kiera, blood dripping down the left side of her face. This needs to end quickly, she needs help…sadly that means no beating up Razer…crap. I'll get my revenge later Jak thought to himself. With his raised hand, Jak pointed to the door and growled loudly. Razer got the message, and ran out running screaming like a little girl. Jak smirked.
As quickly as his Dark side came out, it left. His horns receded, as did his nails. His pupils shrank and his skin and hair color returned to normal. Dark Eco stopped crackling around him. He stumbled around a bit, that having been his first transformation in about a year. Kiera caught him.
"Are you okay, Jak?" Kiera asked worriedly.
"I think the question is, are you okay?" Jak countered, steadying himself, raising his hand towards Kiera's wound. She winced when he touched it.
"I'm sorry…You should have this looked at. You probably have a concussion." Jak told her. Kiera opened her mouth to speak, but suddenly the garage doors burst open. Jak turned around to see Rayn, Ashelin, Torn and a partially drunk Daxter. Rayn seemed to be losing her mind.
"What the hell was that?!" Rayn yelled, storming up to Jak and Kiera.
"What?" Jak asked, acting stupid.
"You just turned into…into…that THING!" Rayn yelled in Jak's face. Kiera winced, the scream not helping the sudden head ache she had developed. She stumbled forward a bit, and Jak whipped around and caught her, as she had moments before with him.
"Come on, Kiera, you have to sit down." Jak instructed. Looking around, Jak saw no chairs in the garage. Why doesn't she have any chairs in here? Jak wondered. Then his eyes found their way towards his car, nearly intact after his last race. Better than nothing Jak decided. He hoisted Kiera into his arms and carried her over to his car, setting her down in the seat. The others, mainly Rayn, were just beginning to realize that something was wrong with Kiera.
"What's wrong with her?" Daxter asked, scared and angry that someone hurt Kiera.
"She probably has a concussion. Go keep her awake, Daxter. Ask her where the first aid kit is, if you can." Jak ordered.
"Got it." Daxter responded, scurrying over to the car, beginning to talk to Kiera.
"Ashelin, Torn, one of you, both of you, I don't care. Can you call the medics?" Jak asked.
"Sure, Jak, we got this." Torn said, he and Ashelin leaving the room to go look for a phone.
"Good." Jak said, still looking for a first aid kit.
"Jak, she says the first aid kit is by the fire hydrant." Daxter told Jak. Jak's eyes scanned for a fire hydrant. Ah Ha! There! Jak mentally exclaimed, achieving a small victory. He picked up the first aid kit and ran to the center of the room. Rayn was standing awkwardly next to the car. Jak opened the first aid kit, but sadly he had no idea what he was looking for.
"Ah! How am I supposed to…wait you said you always wanted to be a doctor, right?" Jak asked Rayn, excitedly. She nodded. Jak thrust the first aid kit into her arms.
"Here, help." Jak commanded.
"Not until you tell me what you were back there." Rayn countered.
"AHH! Look, it's a long story. I'll tell you if you help her!" Jak yelled, pointing to Kiera. Rayn seemed to accept that answer, and immediately got to work. She pulled out a gauze bandage, some medical tape, a bottle of Tylenol and an ice pack. She handed the ice pack to Jak.
"Here, go fill this with ice." Rayn instructed. Jak nodded and ran to the freezer that Kiera kept in the garage for late nights working on the vehicles. He filled the pack with as much ice as it could withstand and then ran back to Rayn.
"Here." Jak said, giving Rayn the ice pack. Jak looked back at Kiera. Rayn had managed to put the bandage on her and she looked really tired. Jak took her hand and smiled.
"Jak, I'm really tired." Kiera said slowly.
"No, she can't sleep, it could cause brain damage." Rayn instructed while getting a water bottle out of the fridge. She walked back over to the car and handed Kiera two Tylenol caplets, as well as a bottle of water.
"Here, swallow these. They'll help with the pain." Rayn informed. Kiera did as she was told and swallowed the pills. 5 minutes later, a medical crew came through the doors, as well as Ashelin, Torn, a police officer and a racing official. The medics looked at Kiera and decided not to take her to the hospital, applying some better bandages. The police officer and the racing official took the rest of the group off to the side of the room.
"What happened here?" the police officer, Officer Pal, asked.
"We, don't know. We weren't here when it happened. But Jak was." Daxter said sassily, still slightly drunk.
"Well then Jak, what happened?" Officer Pal asked Jak.
"Well, we were all talking in the living room, and then I heard Kiera scream-" Jak started.
"What did she scream?" Officer Pal asked, taking notes.
"Jak, help. And so I ran in here, knowing she was in here. All of her tools were on the floor and there was a huge dent in my car. And I look over to that corner," Jak said, pointing to the corner, "and I saw this guy named Razer with his hand over Kiera's mouth and his other arm around her neck, in a head lock."
"What?! Razer did this?!" the racing official, Jimmy Wells, asked incredulously.
"Yes sir, he did… Anyways, before I could react, he pulled a monkey wrench out of his robe's pocket and hit her in the face, because Kiera screamed." Jak continued.
"How do you know he hit her for that reason?" Officer Pal asked.
"He said so. He said…um… 'Why did you do that? Now I'm going to have to hurt you.'" Jak informed the officer.
"Okay, go on." Officer Pal said.
"Okay, then he turned around, and he saw me walking towards him. He got really freaked out I guess, and I kind of glared at him and pointed at the door, and he got the message and left. Then these guys came in, and you know the rest." Jak finished, not telling the officer about Dark Jak.
"Why was Razer in here in the first place? He's not allowed to be in another team's garage." Jimmy Wells asked.
"I'm not sure, but I'd be willing to bet that he wanted Kiera to be his new racing mechanic. After all, his kind of sucks. Kiera will know, though. But she should probably be given some space right now." Jak guessed.
"Either way, Razer is going to be suspended from the league for a good month or two." Jimmy Wells said.
"Good! He deserves it!" Daxter yelled, drunkenly.
"Right…anyways, I'll talk to Kiera tomorrow, when she's feeling a bit better." Officer Pal said. On that note he and Jimmy Wells left. Jak walked back over to the medics and Kiera.
"She needs to be woken up every four hours and when she wakes up, give her one of these. Got it?" the medic informed Jak, handing Jak a bottle of pain pills.
"Okay sir, got it." Jak said with a smile. Then the medical team left and only Jak, Kiera, Daxter, Torn, Ashelin and Rayn were in the garage.
"Come on guys, we have four hours to kill until I have to wake Kiera up." Jak told the others while picking Kiera up and carrying her out of the garage.
Once they were all settled in the living room, Jak and a sleeping Kiera on the couch, Daxter on Jak's shoulder, Torn, Rayn and Ashelin on the other couch, Rayn spoke.
"So what was that thing back there that you turned into? And why didn't you tell the cops about it?" Rayn asked agitated.
"Well…some like to call it 'Monster', others call it 'Dark Creature', but me… well I call it Dark Jak." Jak sighed, starting the worst story in the world.
"How did that happen? That transformation?" Rayn asked. Ashelin put her head down, for she felt guilty for what happened to Jak while he was in prison.
"When I was in prison, I was subject to a test called 'The Dark Warrior Program'. For the entirety of the two years I spent there, I was pumped full of Dark Eco, every day. It started out with small doses, enough to kill a small animal. But on the last day of my treatment, it was said that I was being given three times the amount that would cause death in an extremely large rhino. Anyways, I guess the Dark Eco caused a chemical reaction in my body, so whenever I get angry, I change into, well…you know." Jak explained.
"Then why haven't you changed before? You've gotten angry loads of times before, especially on the track." Rayn asked.
"Well normally I can keep it in check, but I guess it was just so…unexpected, and I wasn't thinking about not getting angry, that it just happened." Jak lied, knowing the reason he never changed anymore was because of the Light Eco in his body.
"Well then why didn't you tell the cops the real story?" Rayn asked once again.
"Because…Dark Jak…he's caused some pretty…gruesome…events to happen in Haven City." Jak answered slowly.
"What do you mean?" Rayn asked him. Jak lowered his head in shame, shaking his head no, obviously not ready to answer that question. Torn answered for him instead.
"When Jak first busted out of prison, he killed a whole legion of Krimzon Guard in a matter of minutes… I'm talking 500, 600 highly trained soldiers…dead, in minutes. He made Haven City's most wanted list, #1, in a week, wanted for more than 1,000 counts of murder. He made national news. He was…out of control, his hatred for the Baron so strong… He was the perfect candidate for The Underground. So he joined, and in the end, we won. Because of him." Torn explained. Jak had his head down in shame, not liking that part of his past. He liked remembering stopping Gol and Mia, and playing with the Flut-Flut, and helping with the Rift Gate. Not killing thousands of people in a matter of days.
"That doesn't explain why Jak didn't tell the cops…" Rayn said slowly.
"That's because he's still wanted." Ashelin growled.
"But he's your city's hero. Shouldn't he be forgiven of his crimes?" Rayn questioned.
"No. You see, they don't want Jak. Jak's a hero to them. They want…the Monster. Officials, or anyone else for that matter, still haven't connected the dots the Jak and Dark Jak are the same person. So technically, he's a wanted criminal." Torn explained, treading lightly around the word 'monster'.
"That's not fair…Having to hide part of yourself…" Rayn said sadly. Jak scoffed, which then lead to a small amount of laughter.
"What's so funny?" Rayn asked.
"Oh…you think you know so much about me… you're so clueless!" Jak commented loudly, his body shaking in laughter.
"Jak…that's not nice…" a quiet voice said. Jak looked over to his left and saw that Kiera had her eyes open.
"You're supposed to be sleeping." Jak told her.
"How can I be sleeping when babysitting you is a full time job?" Kiera joked. The others laughed quietly. Jak stuck his tongue out at her.
"Now…apologize to Rayn." Kiera commanded.
"Why should I? You know I'm right. She knows absolutely nothing about me and she's acting like she does, it's annoying." Jak sassed. Kiera rolled her eyes.
"I know things about you." Rayn argued.
"Yeah? Like what?" Jak spat.
"You moved to Haven City when you were 17. You were in jail for 2 years. You were tortured. You're a hero. You're a great racer. You're a wanted man. When you get angry, it's hard for you to control yourself. You-" Rayn was cut off.
"Now just hold on, why do you say that I have a hard time controlling my anger?" Jak questioned, angry.
"You said so. You said normally you can keep your anger in check, but tonight you couldn't keep it in check." Rayn said, recalling earlier in the conversation.
"Nope, that's not true." Jak said, popping the 'p'.
"Then you're a liar." Rayn accused.
"No… I just have a…guardian angel that keeps me from going ape-shit out on the race track, and in life." Jak said simply.
"That's complete and utter bullshit." Rayn said simply.
"Really?" Jak challenged.
"Yeah." Rayn said.
"What if I could prove you wrong?" Jak said, smiling a devilish smile.
"How on Earth could you prove me wrong? What you said was complete bullshit." Rayn assured him.
"Like this." Jak stood up slowly and closed his eyes. He lifted his head towards the ceiling and took a deep breath. Suddenly, a bright light shined down on him, almost like a spot light. Jak began to lift off of the ground, inching towards the ceiling. His legs pulled up towards his stomach, as well as his arms- in other words, he was in the fetal position. Then, the light faded, and Jak dropped back down to the ground. But it wasn't Jak, at least not entirely. His whole body was blue, outlined in the purest of whites. He had wings sprouting out of his back.
"Jak's….Jak's an angel…?" Rayn questioned quietly, amazed. Jak stood there, just blinking. Then, slowly, the light around him faded and he reverted back to his normal self. He was smiling. Daxter wasn't impressed, Ashelin and Torn stood together in the doorway, amused expressions on their faces, Kiera rolled her eyes but smiled anyways, and Rayn…Rayn had her mouth hanging wide open.
"See…you know nothing about me." Jak said, smiling. And that ended that conversation.
Four hours later, it was midnight, and Jak was in the living room, alone with Kiera. It was time to wake her up and give her her meds.
"Kiera…Kiera…You got to wake up now…" Jak said quietly, shaking her arm. He repeated this for a while until Kiera finally woke up.
"Uh…?" Kiera said, disoriented.
"Hey…You have to take your pain pills now." Jak said smiling.
"Okay…" she said, slowly sitting up. Jak grabbed the pills and a water bottle from the table behind him and then gave them to her. She swallowed them and almost instantly fell asleep again.
Four more hours later, Jak had to wake Kiera up again.
"Kiera…wake up…its pill time." Jak said, kneeling next to her. She woke up faster this time.
"What time is it Jak?" Kiera asked him, groggily.
"About 4 in the morning." Jak told her, handing her the pills.
"Ugh." Kiera groaned, swallowing the pills. They sat in silence, watching the TV together, Kiera with her head on Jak's shoulder. Suddenly Kiera spoke.
"Thank you for saving me, Jak" Kiera whispered.
"Kiera, you know that I will always save you." Jak said, smiling.
"Even when you can't save yourself?" Kiera said, not meeting Jak's eyes. That had shocked Jak for sure. But he knew the answer.
"Yes…I will always do anything, no matter what, to save you. Even if I can't save myself." Jak told her slowly. Kiera nodded her head, telling Jak she understood. They continued to watch TV until Kiera grappled onto Jak tighter, shivering. Jak noticed this and asked, "Are you cold?" Kiera nodded her head yes. Trying not to move too much, Jak carefully shimmied his jacket off and he put it around Kiera's shoulders. She then put the jacket on properly and hugged it to her body, absorbing its warmth.
"Thanks Jak." Kiera mumbled from Jak's shoulder.
"You're welcome Kiera. Now come on, get some sleep." Jak said. He turned to look at her and he realized that she was already asleep. Yawn, I'm pooped…in four hours it's 8 in the morning…she'll be fine by then Jak thought to himself as he closed his eyes and drifted off into sleep. The next morning, the rest of the crew, including Samos, found the two sleeping still sleeping, but decided not to wake them seeing as they both had an impossibly long the night before and they were both going to need their strength for the next race. The slept until 10 'o' clock, when Daxter decided it would be funny to jump up and down on Jak's stomach.