Jak stole the nearest zoomer he could find and sped back to hideout, he had to figure out where Torn was. The man he saw, it was like nothing he had ever seen before. Or he had seen people teleport like that, Mia and Gol, years ago back in his old home. They were Dark Eco Sages. Could it be that this stranger was a sage as well? He certainly looked like a Dark Eco Sage, he looked like he could hide in the shadows and never be seen. His armor was black and with the quick glimpse Jak got of his face it was a sickly pale face. It defiantly seemed like dark eco could be at work here.

He arrived at the hideout in record time and opened the door and walked down to the main room. He threw his things off onto one of the beds and walked over to the table. He leaned over it with his head down and sighed. Why would a Dark Eco Sage be interested in Torn?

"Hey, man, Tattooed Wonder's tough, he'll get out of it." Jak looked up at the sound of Daxter's voice; he must have been able to tell this was really eating him up.

"Yeah, yeah, he will..." Jak said and looked at all the maps. "Dax, did you see his face? Did you feel it around him?"

"Who's Face? Feel what?"

"The man, the dark eco? Could you feel it? It was like it was radiating off of him, and he looked like a sage."

"What'd'ya mean? Like Grandpa Green?" Daxter asked hopping up on the table.

"Yeah, but dark eco, I've only seen people do that once before and they were Dark Eco Sages." Jak explained to the Ottsel.

Daxter thought about it for a moment before responding. "But, Jak, why would a Dark Eco Mage have any interest in Torn? Unless it wasn't a mage, just some guy who... knows how to teleport..." Daxter finished slowly. "Yeah, I see your point."

"If there's a Dark Eco Mage somewhere out there then what has he been doing through all this? When we faced Gol and Mia the dark eco made then evil, does this mean that we have an evil mage on our hands too?"

He shuddered. "Oh, I hope not! I hate dark eco." Daxter said.

Jak smirked. "Heh, I know you do, Dax, but think about it, it makes sense. The teleporting without a teleportation ring, the armor he wore, his face, his manor... But why Torn? You'd think he would go after me."

"Unless he knew he couldn't get ya with Orange Lightening around!" Daxter showed off a few of his 'moves'.

Jak thought for a moment and a thought dawned upon him. "Wait, wait, Dax, what if that's it?"

"What's it?"

"Ransom! What if he was after me but knew he couldn't get to me!?" Jak exclaimed.

"Then why Torn? I mean, no offence, but you're a lot closer to other people then him. Like me! Or Keira, or... me!" Daxter said.

Jak nodded and his adrenaline rush leaving as he saw the downfall of his theory. "Yeah... I get it... maybe he couldn't get to them, ya know Keira's probably down at the stadium and with Errol hanging all over her..." Rage built up through Jak as he thought abut Errol with Keira.

"Hey, Jak, don't think about it, there's no way she'd go for such an ego hungry bastard." Daxter consoled seeing the anger build up in Jak's eyes.

"So she's go with a dark eco freak instead?" Jak asked turning away from the table and pacing behind it like he had seen Torn do so many times. Dax stepped forward to try and calm him but he stopped himself and resulted in sitting down on the table and playing with the tearing edge of a map. "Okay... so where could this guy have taken him?"

"Well he needs dark eco to keep all his powery things, so who has the largest supply of dark eco here?" Daxter asked.

"The Baron... he's always trading with the metal heads... he must have dark eco... so that means this guy must have connections with the Baron." Jak said. "But we also don't know if that's just where he goes or if he has some other place."

"My bet is some other place." Daxter said. "If he did take Torn for ransom then that means that he probably wouldn't take him to the palace, the Baron would want to keep Torn there, not exchange him for anything."

"Wait! What if that's it! Torn used to be a Krimzon Guard, he was real high rank! He was never caught, what if the Baron wanted him!"

"C'mon, man, why now?" Daxter asked. "He probably left years ago."

"You're right... damn this is gonna be harder then I thought..." Jak mumbled and leaned over the table with his head in his hands.

"Jak?" He looked up, that voice defiantly did not belong to Daxter, and if it did he would be worried.

"Ashelin?" He asked.

"Yeah, it's me," the red haired woman said walking down the stairs and into the hideout. "I just heard about the battle, glad you got away, I heard they took someone." She said.

"They did, they took Torn." Jak replied.

"What?" She asked. "Why would they take Torn? Wait, what was he there?" She asked baffled.

"I called for help, they were overpowering me, Torn showed up he helped me out. But then this guy came and he like, he teleported away with him." Jak explained.

"Teleported?" Ashelin asked looking away thinking. "Well the only person I can think of who can do that is Darol."

"Darol?" Daxter asked. "What kinda name is that?"

"What kind of name is Daxter?" She replied smugly. "But Darol is a man who, I guess you could say works for my father or my father works for him I don't know, but he helps him with his dark eco collecting, if someone doesn't pay their taxes or owes the city money he's the one that's sent out. I've heard he's quite the bastard."

"What'd'ya mean with the whole workin' thing?" Daxter asked.

"Well, he collects the eco and he keeps some gives some to my father, he has all these different connections with everybody and he does some things for some people they gives him things in return." She said. "You never know who he's working for when you see him around."

"And this guy is the guy who took Torn..." Jak sighed.

"He has to be working for someone." Ashelin said.

"Question is who." Daxter said.


In the Barons palace not far away Torn was breathing hard and lying on a cold hard metal table. The pain he felt coursing through his body was unbearable, it felt like his veins were on fire and rest to burst through his skin. His insides were ready to explode and he wanted with every fiber in his being to move and try to free himself of the pain but the restraints holding him down prevented him from doing so.

His first dark eco treatment was completed.

"Well, well, you're not dead." Torn struggled to turn his head and stay conscious as he saw the Baron walked up to him. "That's a good sign, the more treatments you survive the more likely to survive the rest."

Torn didn't respond he stared off into the blackness of the ceiling above him trying not to concentrate on the pain.

"No answer? Torn, I'm sorry to say you've changed, back in the day you were tough, you were a man, now look at you, you're weak, you're nothing. One treatment and already you're broken. No wonder you were so easy to capture." The Baron spat.

Torn gather up his breath and looked at the Baron, his voice was strangled and weak but it still held his threatening manor. "You son of a bitch..." he growled. "I... may... not be at my strongest point now... but when I get off this thing... I will kill you... I will kill you slowly... and painfully... and I will make you wish you were never born."

Before Torn knew it the Baron had his chin firmly in his hand making Torn look at him. "Don't talk to me like that, boy, I was fighting in wars since before you were born. I could just kill you now, but instead I'm giving you a chance to be something worth while."

"It'd be... a nice... getaway." Torn said making the Barons fist come in contact with his already bruising face. Torn felt his mouth fill with warm blood and turned his head to spit it out.

"Shut your mouth, boy." He yelled glaring at him.

"And we were... just having... such a meaningful... conversation."

"Don't talk back to me if you wish to live!" The Baron snapped. "Take him to his cell, no food today or tomorrow for punishment! And make his next dark eco treatment double!"

Rough hands undid the shackles on his wrists and ankles and pulled him off. If Torn were stronger and not weakened by the dark eco he could have fought back and tried to escape. But at the moment, Torn couldn't even feel his legs, it was like they didn't even exist, and his arms were in so much pain the forcefulness of the men grabbing him.

He was vaguely aware of him being dragged away and then thrown into a cold hard cell. That was the last thing he remembered was a cell shutting heavily across form him before he welcomed unconsciousness with open arms.


AN: It looks short... hm... but since this isn't on my account yet I don't see the pretty word count. Well thanks for reading that first chapter, hopefully I'll get more for this one, cuz ya know that'd be real great. Hehe... yeah...

Pairings it took me a while to decide what was gonna be goin' on in that department. Jak/Keira and Dax/Tess, that'll probably be it, Ashelin is great but I hate her with Torn. He's my man... ANYWAY! Hope ya liked, review.