I do not own Jak and Daxter, that's why I'm here wasting my time when I'm supposed to be doing something productive.
Kate: Oh please, it's not like you have any friends to spend time with.
DEF: I thought I locked you in the closet?
_Jak's POV_
The dreams had gotten worse and sometimes I don't think they are dreams, they seemed so vivid but I'd wake up without blood on my hands, sometimes if I was lucky, the Light Eco has made it better but it's still bad. Even worse than my psychotic dreams were the increased pools of Dark Eco, sure I was glad that Kor and the Dark makers were dead but apparently they'd been using those pools to supply themselves with Eco and no way in Hell did I want them alive again. But the Eco fed my Dark side giving him even more power than he already possessed which scared me a little, that thing didn't need anymore power to kill and destroy, half the time I was fighting him so he didn't kill Daxter. I tried to keep a hold of my humanity but it was slowly slipping my fingers, they had told me that the Light Eco was supposed to help but they'd been wrong. It helped, of course it helped but it only helped me see what I really was, it pulled back a curtain allowing me to finally appreciate the monster I had become and the destruction I caused. I hated that so much, even worse was the fact I used to be glad to have it! So I avoided the Light, I hadn't come in contact with it for almost six months now but the price I had to pay was almost too much.
The Dark Eco made me feel drained, as if I was sleep walking, not really here while my body was left on autopilot, if they gave me a gun I killed, if put in zoomer I drove it to my destination. It was getting to be much worse than when I'd only been contaminated with Dark Eco by itself, now I knew that I was a monster before I'd only heard rumors and Daxter's watered down version of events. Not that anyone gave a damn anymore; all they cared about was that I completed my missions without killing all the bastards in this godforsaken city, who still treated me like shit. Daxter was the only one who actually bothered to talk to me, who cared enough to try to break through to me and sometimes it worked but more often I ignored him. He knew exactly how to calm me down, how to bring me back to the surface just as I was falling off the edge into the abyss of spiraling madness late at night when all the murders I'd committed came back to haunt me. When I saw those eyes staring up at me, accusing, hating, mocking me even in death, all those innocents I'd killed in mad search for revenge, all the blood I'd spilt. He was the only true friend I had left in this damn world, he was the only one who actually came with me to check out reports of Metal Heads in the Forrest. He was by far the bravest person I knew because he knew the monster I was and that I could turn on him but he still came with me, he was much braver than me.
"Jak, you okay, buddy? You seem kinda out of it today," he said jumping down in front of me. I vaguely realized that he had been talking to me for a while now but I had tuned out his babbling, too self-absorbed, as usual, and now he was waiting for an answer.
"Sure, I'm just a little tired," I replied trying to smile but probably came out like a grimace, I hadn't really smiled for almost four years now, strange I didn't really miss it but it was almost disturbing especially compared to how I'd been before all this crap. I looked at him now and saw a hint of worry in his eyes, he had always known when something was bothering me but lately I'd become harder for him to read, it was also possible he couldn't read me because I looked like the living dead.
"You've been having those nightmares again," he accused flatly, the fur on his back bristled with worry. He hadn't phrased it as a sentence but he deserved an answer, especially since he put most of my crap without a word of complaint.
"Yeah, I was up all night and the five before it," I sighed wiping a hand on my face as if I could wipe away the horrors that plagued me. My feet dragged along the ground but I was alert for anything, at the slightest hint of danger I would attack, like some animal on the hunt.
"You shoulda' stayed home and got some sleep, Tattooed Wonder could get someone else to come out here," Daxter griped, I knew he was really worried about me then.
"Don't worry, Dax, you really think something could sneak me?" I asked as the doors hissed open smiling this time, well really the upturning of my lips at the corners but compared to before it was a smile.
_Daxter's POV_
I could tell he was really messed up; he had dark bags under his eyes, eyes that seemed to have sunk into his face, a face that didn't belong on an eighteen year old. He was half falling asleep on himself and his feet dragged along the burnt-looking grass but he was right, nothing could sneak up on us and even then he'd still find a way to save us if something did. Even if I believed that I still couldn't get rid out of this eerie foreboding that seemed to cling onto him, it felt like a knife being flicked in my heart and it hurt.
"Hey, Jak, how long do we have to stay out here?" I asked, I hated coming out here despite the fact that it was the closest we could ever get to our old home in Sand Over but if Jak needed me I'd be there with him even when no one else gave a damn about him.
"Just long enough to clear out any Metal Heads that might here," he rasped then twitched as if something was bothering him, that wasn't good it never was.
"Who exactly does Captain Laryngitis think he is? He always gives us the crappy missions and to think I started to believe he liked us," I complained, complaining was the best way to break through to him, through the hard shell he'd built up around himself.
"Jak, Daxter go check out the forest, go destroy the eco dump, clear out the sewers, well you know what? He can take his orders and shove 'em up his ass," I continued. I snuck a glance at the blonde haired hero. Everyone's hero really but most of all my best friend of all time ever since we were little kids back in Sand Over, my hero. He was the one who fought all the evils we'd faced on our adventures without one complaint, he was the one who'd been tortured, he was the one who was in pain, who'd been broken and who was I? I was the one who was always by his side, the one who complained, the one who'd speak for him when he couldn't do it for himself and right now I was the only one he could trust, the only one who could still see the boy from Sand Over in the broken man before me. Everyone still believed he was a soulless monster who loved to kill but they were so very wrong, he hated the fact that he killed sure he'd kill the Metal Heads but every time he killed the innocent it tore away a piece of his soul, his already broken and mutilated soul. Only a select few knew that he'd been gifted with Light Eco and even those who knew still didn't trust him as much as I did, no one could and then for some reason the knife in my heart was being twisted.
"And what about those guards? I thought they were sending some with us. What does he want his best soldier to," I broke off my complaints when I saw what lay if front of us. Jak had stopped and for good reason, hundreds Metal Heads were glaring at us from the trees, it looked as if the bastards were laughing at us too, damn we were in some deep shit.
"Die?" I thought finishing my broken protest.
_Jak's POV_
I heard Daxter's whining come to an abrupt halt when he spotted the Metal Heads, they sneered at us and I could hear their hissing laughter, they knew we were out numbered ten to one. I waited for the first attack which came a second later, their weapons were powered by Dark Eco so they couldn't really damage me but I tried like Hell not to get hit, I didn't want to change.
"Dax, call Torn and have him send in reinforcements," I spat killing five of the beasts in front me, I couldn't stay here with so much Dark Eco without changing.
"Will, do" I heard him say before I dodged another round of bullets, I prayed to God they'd come quick. I could feel little scrapes along my arms and legs, none were serious and the Eco in my blood was already healing them but as soon as they could heal more were made in their place. There were just too many of them and I was slipping, losing my hold on the edge of the abyss, within minutes they had already surrounded me and I was down to my last round of ammo. I started using the butt of the gun to kill them but they were too close and I felt razor sharp claws raking up and down my back. Then I lost my grip and fell, the small light that surrounded me was consumed by the bone chilling darkness. My control crumbled away as he took over, I doubled over in pain grabbing at my head as it exploded in agony, I couldn't see anything, I couldn't hear anything and I all could do was endure that horrible pain. I felt the change as it came, the pain but I loss my sense of self, like slipping into a coma, like dying and for the first time in a long while I didn't fight against it.
_Daxter's POV_
I saw all the Metal Heads surround us and how they slashed at Jak with their razor like claws, blood flowed like water and I knew it was only a matter of time before he snapped. Then it happened, he doubled over in pain and shot me a look that said as clear as day, "Get the Hell out of here", a look that you couldn't ignore. I leapt off his shoulder and scurried off into some bushes but I couldn't get far enough away to not hear those heart wrenching yells of agony. I heard his bones cracking and rearranging themselves and the sudden mind numbing fear that always accompanied his change. I'd heard and seen many frightening things in my life but none of them could ever overshadow the creature that stood in the place of my best friend. The pale white of his skin with the tinge of lilac reminded me of something dead but this creature was alive and would surely kill any and everything that got that got in its way, that's why I always hid myself from it. If it found me, Jak would usually have enough sense to leave me alone but why take that chance? Lightening leaped from his fingers scorching the grass and trees, not to mention the metal heads around him, melting their bones, boiling their blood. Hands that were tipped lethal 16" claws ripped through armor and bone like they were the thinnest paper. I heard the terrified roars of Metal Heads as they died but they couldn't drown out the horrible snarls that came from Jak, they sounded happy in a sickening way, a creature like that did not know true happiness only pain, anger and vengeance.
It made a mockery of joy, twisting it into sickening forms that would terrify even the most battle worn soldier of Spargus and it sure as Hell frightened me, just a little Ottsel cowering in bush. I peered out from behind the branches of the bush I was hiding in and saw him behead the closest thing he could reach then open its maw filled with dagger like teeth and laugh, cynical and cruel just like him, like the devil himself come to earth. Another one tried to attack him but he dodged it easily, killing it with one swift punch to the chest, his fist bursting through the creature's skin and bones to the other side. After that what followed was more of a massacre than anything else, bodies lay bleeding and broken their blood soaking into the earth and making it look as if the earth itself was bleeding, maybe it was. I watched from my bush as if paralyzed, I didn't even move when the dark lightening he created sparked inches away from me, best not to attract attention. It was all strangely beautiful in a horrible way but still terrifying the only thing that made it the least bit bearable was that I knew the Metalheads deserved to be killed if they survived, they'd kill everything in their path but even they didn't deserve to die like this.
I realized I had my eyes closed and opened them immediately, rule one when dealing with Jak when he was like this was never let him out of your sight . I saw him standing in the middle of the blood washed trees looking like the devil himself come to earth with his pale hair and skin like a corpse. I shuddered wondering what it would be like to have the last thing you saw were those eyes blacker than night so much like deep, dark pits that sucked at your soul before feeling the pain of claws and teeth ripping through you. I looked up again and saw that he had stacked all the bodies in a pile much taller than himself; it looked as if he was talking to them but then he kicked the nearest body into the river making its water run red. I sighed and turned my back to him, the only thing I could do now was wait it out, wait until he ran out of Eco then call Torn to tell him we were coming back into the city, I was used to it. Strange, no not strange, sick, how could I be used to these killing sprees of his? How could I justify any of this? It didn't matter that he hadn't asked for this, what mattered was what he was doing now that he had some power to resist but he was my best friend, that's why I was used to it. He was my best friend and I could forgive anything he did so no matter how horrible his actions, I was used to it.
"And that's just wrong," I whispered to myself, smiling a little.
"Just sick."
_Jak's POV_
I saw a small, cold, blue light in front of me and I knew if I just followed it I'd wake up but I didn't want to, it wasn't worth it, life wasn't worth it anymore.
"You don't have the guts, you're too weak otherwise you would've done it long ago," he sneered at me; I could see him laughing me, a cold laughter without joy but full disgust. Sometimes I feared him but other times I welcomed him, I gave him free reign to destroy those we both hated.
"You're wrong," I heard someone else whisper, they sounded so weak, "it's not weakness, it's love for someone besides myself." I jumped, that voice was me but how could it be, I didn't say anything, did I?
"Well, how's that working out for you? I don't see anyone besides the rat here, where are your supposed friends?" he asked in that voice like steel, just as hard and chilling. The light was getting brighter and I felt control coming back to me, he was too weak to keep this up much longer.
"They're safe because I'm here," I said grabbing the threads of light that appeared around my hands and letting them pull me to the surface but I could still hear him.
"Yes, but what if they turn on you, they did it before, you know they would, without a second thought" he rasped as he faded away into the darkness. I opened my eyes and shied away from the sight that met me, the smell was enough to make me want to vomit up my guts, the poor bastards nothing deserved to be killed like that.
"Dax, where are you?" I called, my throat hurt like I'd swallowed blades but I knew it was because of him.
"Hey, you okay?" he asked climbing back onto my shoulder, I realized he was shaking and I knew it was because of what I'd done.
"Yeah, at least no one got hurt, well no people at least," he said as I walked back to the entrance, I shrugged I wouldn't let him know how much it hurt to kill anything in that ruthless way.
"Yeah, at least the guards didn't come," I commented although I knew he hadn't even called for help, last time he had, what was left of the guards could be carried home in a glass. I shook my head as if that could get rid of the memories; I'd promised myself long ago that I would never dwell on those things.
"Right, so how about a drink at the bar?" he asked, I noticed how he refused to look me in the eye.
"Sure, and Dax it's okay," I said, I wished he wouldn't look so relived, I could never get mad with him and if I did it never lasted long, he was my best friend after all.
"Thanks buddy, so what do tell Tattooed Wonder?" he asked, we always had to be careful with what we told them, of course they knew I had problems controlling myself but they didn't know how much trouble I had.
"We tell them that they need to do another sweep of the entire for-" my words were cut off by the searing pain down my back, then another through my heart.
"Shit, you forgot one," I thought, falling forward into the pool my blood had already made, my mind spiraling.
"Jak!" I heard Daxter yell then I heard a gun shot and something large falling to the ground beside me.
"Dax, go back to the city, you'll be safe there," I managed to choke out, strange how my voice sounded so strong when my heart felt like it was being ripped out and burned by Hell Fire at the same time.
"Hell no, I am not leaving you out here," he shouted, I felt him reach into my bag and pull out the communicator. I didn't hear him call for back up but then I remembered that the thing was broken, it was probably better this way. I fell again but this time I didn't lose control to him. It was different from falling into the abyss like slowly sinking to the bottom of a pool but still the same and I knew something was wrong because I could hear him laughing at me.
_Daxter's POV_
"Jak! Oh Precursors please tell me you're okay," I begged falling onto my knees, I couldn't believe it, this was all my fault I knew that after he changed he'd be out of it, I should've been watching for anymore of them.
"Torn, come in, Jak's been hurt, send in back up, help whatever the Hell you have to get him!" I shouted into the communicator but all I heard was static, the damn thing was broken.
"Shit, the firckin' thing runs on Eco for Precursor's! How could it break?" I yelled, but it must have happened a while now and Jak never carried it to be fixed. But I should've known he wouldn't care, he always thought it was better to do things by himself that way no one else would get hurt but he never once stopped to think about what could happen to himself, always did even before we came here. There was just so much blood and I had no way of knowing whether or not his heart had been pierced but at least I could stop the blood flow by using some green Eco. Good thing Old Green Stuff always kept crates of it in the forest.
"Damn, that's bad," I muttered as I drenched the wound with Eco, I thought I'd gotten used to having to patch up his broken body, from a few scrapes to bullet wounds but this was much worse, the hole in his chest had started turning purple and I swear I could hear a soft sizzling sound.
"Jak, come on I know you're tougher than this, you gotta pull through," I begged but I knew this wasn't something that anyone could recover from. A normal person would have died on the spot but Jak wasn't a normal person, he had Eco in his veins that would heal him or at the very least keep him alive until help came.
"Poison," he whispered. I was so stupid! I should have known there would be poison in the claws, Torn had warned us about something like that, at least that explained why his chest was turning purple and blackening at the same time.
"It's all my fault, I should'a remembered to bring some anti-venom!" I thought cursing softly. I had to get help but I couldn't just leave him here, what if more of them came back? Who knew how these got here in the first place without anyone noticing them.
"Daxter, you have to go back to the city," he urged actually lifting his hand to push me towards the exit; it must have really hurt for him to do that because his face was suddenly scrunched up in pain.
"I know it hurts but I can't leave to get help because there might be more of them, they'd kill you for sure," I explained, wincing at the agony in his eyes. He stared at me and groaned but it wasn't one of pain, it was one I'd heard it many times before, he sounded fed up with me as if I didn't understand which I most definitely did not.
"Dax, you'll get killed if they come back, I'm probably already dead so just go," he rasped rolling his eyes. Did he mean for me to leave him here by himself where he'd probably die?
"No, Frickin' Way!" I shouted, making sure to look him in the eye.
"Get this through you thick skull, I'm. Not. Going. Anywhere." I looked down at his face and saw him staring at me again but this time with something more like gratitude and the barest hint of respect.
"I didn't leave you in prison, the wasteland and I'm here now so just deal with it," I said in a huff sitting down next to his head, "I'll never leave you by yourself, not since what happened last time." We both knew I was referring to when we'd just landed in this place and I'd run off, when I'd found him again he'd become some kind of monster but he was still my best friend. It had never even crossed my mind to leave him in there, I thought we could find some way to change him back but I guess somewhere in the back of my mind I knew he could never be the same kid who'd lived I Sand Over even if we had been able to change him back so I just promised to never leave him again. I'd almost broken it when he got banished but I managed to tag along, as usual, the unwanted, forever complaining, story telling best friend.
"Thanks, Dax," he whispered, turning to me to give me the thing he called smile but I could see his eyes and I knew he really was glad I was there.
"No prob, besides you'll be fine when we get some Light Eco in you," I said, grinning at him but we both knew it wouldn't work. Well guy could hope, couldn't he?
_Jak's POV_
I stared at him, he knew that nothing could save me now but it wasn't in his nature to be pessimistic, that was me, the one who calculated everything and knew who would survive. I suppose I was like this when Damas died in my arms, in denial and wishing that everything my senses were telling me was wrong. I felt the poison burn my heart, creeping through my veins, infecting me, destroying me from the inside out and eventually killing me causing excruciating pain all the while. Strange, that's how the Dark Eco was supposed to kill me, how ironic but since the poison had been laced with Dark Eco and something else, I was sure to die.
"Dax, promise me on thing," I muttered moving until I could see him, trying to keep back the screams that were locked up inside me.
"Anything, buddy," he replied, giving me a sad smile but refusing to look me I the eye.
"Promise me you'll keep yourself out of trouble," I demanded making him look me in the eye this time, I could see tears swimming in those deep blues.
"I will," he promised, wiping a paw across his face streaking it with dirt and blood, mine. I gasped in agony as my body started to spasm and new lacerations appeared along my chest weeping blood but suddenly the pain started to lessen until it was no less noticeable than one of the many scars that covered my body that had healed long ago. It was still there but it had been reduced to a slight throbbing that was easily ignored and compared to what it had been, disregarded. Then I couldn't see the trees or even Daxter anymore, instead I saw Gol, Maia, Errol, Praxis, Kor everyone who had ever tried to kill me. I saw Keira, Ashelin, Torn, Tess, Samos, Pecker, Onin, Vin, Sig, Seem, all my friends the people I cared for, all except Daxter, he was somewhere else. They stood on opposite sides with me in the no-man's land, my Dark side stood next to me grinning maliciously and snarling only to be overshadowed by my light side He took the Dark's place and nodded to me while smiling sadly, I didn't acknowledge him and he seemed to understand. But they all disappeared only to me replaced by Damas standing in front of me and smiling. I smiled back, a real one for the first time in years.
"It's time for you to leave, brave warrior," he announced, gesturing me to come with him.
"Bye, Dax," I whispered, sighing as the last traces of pain faded away and pure light filled me washing away everything.
_Daxter's POV_
"Bye, Dax," he breathed, his last, and I could see the light leave his Sapphire blues which for just a second looked like the innocent Aquamarines they used to be. One last smile rested on his lips, a real smile the way he used to smile before all this crap happened to us, he truly was my best friend in those last moments. The boy that everyone thought had died in the Baron's prison made one last appearance before leaving this world for good.
"Bye Jak, see yuh on the other side," I muttered passing a paw over his eyes closing them as his once lively gaze became glassy and flat. I climbed onto his chest and curled my tail around myself, crying into the crude material of his blood soaked shirt. That's how they found me hours later, crying on his cold dead body while he smiled up at them, always the stronger one.
The Hero. The Savior. The Warrior. The Devil. A God. Prince Mar. He had been called many things in his life but only one person had ever gotten to truly call him their best friend.
That one was me, to me he was just Jak and he always would be, just Jak.
DEF: So what do you think? Was it good, bad, horrible? Tell me by reviewing.
Kate: I'd say horrible and I thought you weren't allowed on the computer?
DEF: Yeah, but you're not allowed to play the game but look! Is that Jak on the T.V?