Hey everyone! I decided that since I got this chapter finished I was going to post it. :3 It took me a little while to find some time to start typing up, but I did it. :D I really like this fanfic, and I think I'm pretty sure I know where it's going. Lol. Which I know is a good thing. :D So thank you all for your wonderful reviews and for reading it period. Lol. It really makes me happy that for a dying fandom I'm doing an okay job on my first Jak and Daxter fic. :D :3 Thanks again and please enjoy. :3

Picnic

As the sun fully rose to the sky, I finally had enough energy to move. Getting to my feet, my dark blue eyes caught sight of something that hadn't been there before.

"You fool…" I murmured to myself, looking at a tree's trunk.

A little ways away, there was a fair sized tree with a thick trunk. On the bark and into the wood… were four large, thin claw marks and a smaller one on one side. 'That's not something a Metal Head could do…' I thought rather solemnly. That mark… was mine from my own claw. Yes, it was only a tree… but that tree could have been a person instead.

"If Samos sees this…" I murmured, closing my eyes and hanging my head slightly, "He won't be a very happy Sage."

There was nothing I could do, and I sighed because of it. The only thing I could really so was leave and not say anything. Hopefully the Metal Heads would be to blame. Opening my eyes, I took one last look at the damage before pulling out the jet board and going to leave.

'I'm losing control… I thought I had it, but this addiction is hard to resist…' Things that had once been bright were now tainted. Pure memories were dark… and good things always seemed to turn bad.

"I'm starting to wish I could stop this," I whispered to myself as I placed my palm in my hand.

At this point and time… did I have the right to turn back? I assumed that I didn't. Something like me surely didn't deserve to try to be normal again.

Going up the rocky hill, I made it to the platform that would take me back to the warp gate. 'I wonder what Keira would do if she found out about me doing this willingly… Would she hate me? Would she be scared?' I found myself thinking as I rode the platform up to the higher cliff edge. In those few moments I always found something to think about, even when Daxter was with me.

"You deserve to be alone," I whispered to myself, closing my eyes in thought.

Everyone else may have said otherwise, but that was what I believed. As the platform made it to the higher cliff's ridge, I got off before going towards the warp gate. 'What is there for me to do?' I wondered before jumping through to the other side. I went out the large doors and back into Haven City.

Haven City was mostly the same; except for the Crimson Guard. They were no longer red, but were blue and almost human. They wouldn't attack you unless you attacked them. The Crimson Guard would attack you if you just tapped their shoulder and you weren't their superior. Now they were actually there to protect civilians. Protection was what mattered… not killing. Even when I was still me… I could feel that darkness clutching at my heart. I could feel the hatred for things that had never been present before. Hatred wasn't supposed to matter.

My blue eyes looked out over the small area from the top of the ramp. There were a lot of people walking around and talking. Many of them seemed to smile again since the Baron was no longer in charge. Haven City was more like a city again, and not a prison like it had been.

"No," I murmured to myself as I started to walk down, "You know what prison is."

I could assure many people that this was no prison… but I guess that not too many people had tried to break out of what Baron Praxis had called a city.

As I reached the ground and reached to pull out the jet board, the floating speaker came out of my pocket.

"There you are Jak!" Daxter's voice called through the other side, "Where the heck have you been?"

"Yeah!" came Keira's voice afterwards, "We waited here all night and you never came back!"

No… they shouldn't have worried about me. I was fine… at least as fine as I could be.

"Anyway," Keira's voice continued, "Hurry up and get back here. Dad says that he had something important to tell you."

The floating speaker disappeared and I sighed. Did the 'hero' ever get a break for anything? Was there ever any resting time? I wished that there was more; that the Metal Heads would stop attacking the city when Kor was ultimately dead. There was no reason for it all now…

'So Keira wants me to go back to the garage… I wonder what Samos is thinking about now…' The thought made me shake my head as I pulled out the jet board and jumped onto it. It was interesting to watch some of the people run away. They were still scared of so many things… but they had a good reason to be afraid of me. That was one of the things that I hated about my addiction; no one would accept it as me. The only one who seemed to be used to it was Daxter. I assumed that it was only because he was with me ninety-five percent of the time. At least he accepted it…

As I went, thought of being prisoner to the Baron came back vividly in my mind. I could remember clearly the first time I had been strapped and chained to the chair… the amount of pain my body and mind were in…

3 years ago…

I opened my eyes and saw that I was in an unfamiliar place. There was a dark ceiling and… what looked to be some kind of machine. 'Where am I?' I wondered, trying to move my arms. They were chained at my sides and my feet were chained as well. Where was I?

"Oh, so you're finally awake," an unfamiliar male's voice stated with what sounded like amusement.

I lifted my head and I could only see the dark outline of a person standing there. Their hair seemed to be wild and a red colour. 'What… What is this place?' Fear was written on my face; just as it was when we had been found in this strange place. I didn't know what to do… what was there for me to do?

"I could have done this while you were unconscious…" the strange man said as he walked around the chair to the side, "but it just wouldn't be as much fun then, now would it?"

His face was clear to my sight now. I could see the markings on his face and his cold, amused eyes. Putting my head down, I began to struggle against the locks that imprisoned me.

"It's no use," the man stated, smirking slightly, "They are locked there, so there is no escaping unless you are released."

'No... This can't happen this way… What about Daxter? Who's going to look after him now?' I thought, furrowing my eyebrows slightly. 'What about Keira?'

What was going to happen at this point?

"The Baron says that you will be different from the others," the man said as he went to a machine that was to my side, "But we will see if that's really true."

His hand hit a button and my blue eyes watched as something moved to be right above me. I continued to struggle as I closed my eyes. 'I can't get away…'

Something struck my body, and I could feel the chock of it as it flowed into my body; surrounding me. I let out a cry of pain as it continued. My back arched towards the machine as I struggled against the feeling… against the dark feeling creeping up on me. 'What are they doing? What is this stuff? Is it… is it Dark Eco?'

I began to struggle against myself, fighting the dark feeling with full force. I didn't like feeling this way. I didn't want to be controlled by something that wasn't me. I wouldn't be me.

"We'll see just how long you last," I could hear the man's voice through all the darkness and pain.

'Why does it have to be this way? Why?'

Another shock went through me and it felt like the battle started anew. How was there a point to this? I couldn't understand their intentions at all. This Baron… What was he hoping to accomplish by doing this to anyone?

When the pain stopped, I could still feel the dark power pulsing through my body. It drained all the energy that I had, and I was forced to continue the battle mentally. I couldn't stop panting.

"Dark Eco injection cycle complete, bio readings nominal and unchanged," a female robotic voice said as the machine moved away from me.

"That is strange," the man's voice pondered thoughtfully, "So you are different from the others… the Baron should be pleased."

I could head his footsteps going away from me and relaxed a little bit.

"You're be moved to your cell later."

'So I'm a prisoner to someone…' Resting my head back, I allowed myself to relax a little. I still didn't understand…

Present…

The garage wasn't too far away now. I could see the racing stadium and the steps from where I was. 'Not too much longer now… Soon I'll be getting another speech about something.' I thought as I rolled my eyes with a small smile. Even I had to admit that not all of them were bad.

I used the jet board to grind up the bar before putting it away. As I started to walk, I saw something strange. 'What he…' Ashelin was walking with a group of the blue Guard and Veger 'What are they doing?' I had a brow cocked at the sight, and they were coming my way.

"Jak, we have to talk," Ashelin called to me.

"Why?" I questioned with a cocked eyebrow.

Had I done something wrong? Had my other self done something wrong?

"Because you are a threat to the people around you, you Dark Eco freak," the long faced, stuck up Veger stated with an amused smirk.

My eyes narrowed slightly at his words. You have no idea how right you are Veger… I'm not normal at all.'

"I don't see how I'm a threat to the people I saved from the Metal Heads and the Baron," I stated darkly, glaring at Veger coldly.

"If you're such a hero then how come the Metal Heads are still attacking the city?" the brown haired man continued.

"At least I put effort into stopping the damn things," I growled, taking a step forward towards him, "Unlike you."

'Don't get too angry Jak… you know that it just sets it off too…'

"That's right, be violent you-"

"That's enough, both of you!" Ashelin yelled with agitation, "Jak there will be a council meeting about what is going on with the Metal Heads. If you know something, then tell me now."

My blue eyes looked hatefully at Veger before coldly at Ashelin.

"I don't know anything about that Metal Head attacks. None of us do," I stated before turning to walk away, "Kor is dead, so maybe they found someone else's orders to follow."

I left with those words. If there had been any more shouting then Veger would be dead and he would have been proven right. I already knew that I was a danger to the people around me… but they didn't.

As I walked into the garage, Samos had that look on his face like it was the end of the world again. 'That's always the case…'

"Jak, the Metal Head attacks are becoming more frequent and are coming from all over the place," the old sage started seriously, "but we think that they're trying to attack mainly the palace."

"…the palace?" I questioned with a cocked brow.

"That's what I said!" Daxter exclaimed, popping up from behind Samos, "Of all the amazing places out there, they choose the palace?!"

I shook my head at Daxter even thought he was right. Of all things, why was the palace the most important? Was it because it was a symbol of power?

"Torn told me that Ashelin said that were might have been come left over Eco where the Baron used to trade it off," the old sage continued, trying to ignore Daxter's comment, "but we don't know for sure."

"Let me guess," I started with a slightly furrowed brow, "You want me to go down there and check, right?"

There was almost sarcasm in my voice. 'I must still be pissed off about Veger…'

"Once you're down there, destroy all the Eco you find before you come back. There might still be Metal Heads lurking around there as well. You better take your guns and a lot of ammo," Samos finished before jumping off his stool.

"It'll be my pleasure," I stated, turning towards the door, "Come on Dax."

"Right behind you buddy."

It didn't take long for us to get to the palace. It was almost afternoon and Daxter held onto my sleeve tightly as he sat.

"You know, I'm really surprised that you didn't put up a fuss this time Dax," I laughed slightly.

"Are you kidding?" she asked with a slight laugh, "Why wouldn't I want to go into a place where there probably aren't any Metal Heads?"

"There probably are Dax," I told him with a small smile, "Hence why we brought the yellow gun."

Daxter's eyes widened slightly at his mistake and I felt him kick his feet slightly.

"Well… at least there won't be any Precursor crap," he stated nervously.

'I'm surprised that he didn't try to make an excuse to leave. Normally he'd say that Metal Heads were too dangerous or that is he died, then he was going to haunt me.' I laughed slightly and the thought. Good old Dax.

As we walked through the door, things on the inside were too quiet. There was usually some sort of machine making noise. Now… there was nothing. 'That's weird…' My blue eyes looked around curiously at the technical room. How were we going to get down there after that machine destroyed the way the very first time we had been in there?

"So did you get Tess her gift yet?" I asked with a slightly cocked brow.

"Yep, I picked her some nice flowers from the forest yesterday," the Ottsel started to explain, causing my eyes to widen slightly, "I looked for you but didn't see you anywhere. So I left before I got attacked by something."

Worry… That was what I didn't want to hear from him. Neither Daxter nor Keira needed to worry about something like me… I wasn't worth the time.

"I'm sure she'll like them Dax," I assured him with a slight nod.

We climbed through all the rubble and Daxter ran ahead because he was smaller. 'I don't need them to worry… One day I might change and not come back…' My eyes were solemn at the thought.

It hadn't been like I had never pondered about the future. I thought about a lot of things when I was alone, just like anyone else did. Sometimes I wondered if I would ever fall in love… or if anything could ever happen between Keira and I. At least I understood her, unlike someone like Daxter.

Most of the time I wondered about my addiction… where that other part of me might take me some day. I wondered what it would be like… Would I just change and then forget about everything? Would I leave and never come back? Out of all the questions I could wonder about, one always came to mind: How many innocent people would get hurt because of me?

"Jak, watch out!" Daxter's voice broke me out of thought immediately.

As I looked ahead of me, I saw a Metal Head running straight for me. I shot it before it got really close and looked at Daxter with an apology written on my face.

"Sorry about that Dax," I apologized before I went to catch up to him.

"Jak!" his voice shouted again as he pointed behind me.

There was a sudden pulse through my body and there was nothing I could do before my addiction took over and everything went dark.

One year ago…

Dark Eco was being pumped into my body for the umpteenth time in two years. Erol was standing by my feet, watching as he always did with a sort of… amusement. The Baron was there as well, watching as he paced back and forth. He had been there since the experiment started, but I was so dazed by the surge of Dark Eco that I couldn't understand what they were talking about. It was nothing but incoherent babbling to me through all the pain.

"Dark Eco injection cycle complete. Bio reading nominal and unchanged," the computer stated as the Dark Eco stopped.

"Nothing," the Baron nearly growled, "I was informed that this one might be different!"

"He's surprisingly resistant to your… 'experiments' Baron Praxis," Erol stated after as watched the Baron with slight boredom.

The Baron continued to pace.

"I fear that the Dark Warrior program has failed."

"Argh! You should at least be dead with all the Dark Eco I've pumped into you!" Praxis hissed at me as he grabbed my hair and lifted my head.

I tried to open my eyes, but everything was blurry… I couldn't keep them open.

"What now? The Metal Head armies are pressing their attacks," Erol questioned as he stood over me and looked at the Baron, "Without a new weapon, my men cannot hold them off forever."

Again I tried to open my eyes, only to fail as Erol made his way around to the Baron.

"I will not be remembered as the man who lost this city to those vile creatures!" Baron Praxis growled again, moving towards the exit, "Move forward with the final plan! And finish off this 'thing' tonight."

"As you wish," Erol stated as the Baron left and he made his way back to me.

His hand grabbed my shirt and lifted me slightly off the table.

"I'll be back later," he mused rather darkly before leaving.

After they were gone, a voice came too.

"Ding, ding… third floor… Body chains, Roach food, Torture devices," the voice joked slightly before jumping onto my stomach, "Hey buddy, see any heroes around here?"

After a few seconds there was surprise.

"WHOA! What'd they do to you?"

No answer.

"Jak!" the voice whined, "It's me… Daxter!"

Lifting my head slightly, I opened my eyes and looked up. I wasn't sure if it was really Daxter. I only saw a lot of orange before dropping my head and closing my eyes.

"That's a fine hello!" the voice said sarcastically, "I've been crawling around in this place, risking my tail; literally…"

They stepped onto my stomach forcefully, sending pain through me.

"to save you. I've been looking for you for two years! say something! Just this once!" the voice pleaded, grabbing at my collar.

Such small hands…

I didn't know what happened… everything went dark and I was angry… I gave into the feeling without noticing.

"I'm gunna kill Praxis!" I growled as I lifted my head as the control slipped.

I wasn't being me anymore. There was anger… complete anger and hate…

A hand covered my mouth to keep me quiet.

"Shh. Right now we gotta get you outta here," the voice stated before jumping off me, "Just let me figure out how to open the security locks for your chair so…"

I lost total control and all I could feel was the Dark Eco as I broke out of the locks. My black eyes looked at my hands rather curiously. What had happened?

"Or ah… you could do it."

I got down and stood on the floor, unsteadily making my way towards the orange.

"Jak? Easy now. Easy buddy. It's, it's your old pal Daxter, remember?"

The small orange creature withdrew… and the name hit my sense like a realization. I faltered as the darkness faded slightly.

"Daxter?" I questioned, changing back.

I lost my balance and felt almost… drained of something.

"What the heck was that?! Shesh! Remind me not to piss you off!" Daxter shouted at me before walking towards the exit, "Some on tall dark and gruesome. We're outta here."

Present

There was a voice calling my name and everything was blurry as I tried to open my eyes.

"What… w-what happened?" I asked with confusion and a slightly cocked brow.

I was lying on the ground on my back; my heart pounding in my chest. 'Why did that happen? How… how much happened?'

"Jak!" Keira's voice called.

My eyes widened and I sat up immediately. Where was I? why was Keira here?

"Are you okay?" she asked from right beside me.

'Why am I back in the forest?' I wondered, raising a hand to my forehead. Had the thing with Veger pushed too far? Did the control just break because of my distractions? Why did this happen?

"Yeah…" I murmured, gripping my forehead, "What happened?"

'Where is Dax?' My eyes widened again at the thought. I didn't know what would have happened if I had lost Daxter because of my… wrong addiction.

"Daxter said that you were attacked by Metal Heads and that… thing came out and went on a rampage," she explained, looking to the side slightly, "He said that you destroyed every Metal Head you found before nearly blowing the place up. Then he said that you left to go somewhere and he couldn't stop you so he came to us."

I could feel my heart ache slightly at Keira's words. I attacked everything I could find and was only lucky that nothing was Daxter. 'I'm not safe to be around anymore… I better not go on that picnic…'

"Are you okay Jak?" Keira asked again as I dropped my hand into my lap, "You've been acting kind of strange lately… with all your leaving and not coming back for days on end. I'm getting worried."

My eyes locked with hers at her words. Why did everything end up being as I didn't want it? Why did anyone have to worry at all? If they just stopping caring then I could have become my addiction… my other self. I enjoyed being that way, but I hated what it did to everyone else. I hated almost everything that it caused and around it all… Everyone hated it.

"Jak?"

"I'm fine Keira, don't waste your time worrying about it," I murmured, narrowing my eyes slightly.

'Please stop being troubled by me…'

"You came to the forest, Jak, and you don't even remember," she stated with a rather agitated tone, "You think that's alright?"

"I can't help it, Keira," I told her as I got to my feet, "It's not like I could ever control Dark Eco, let alone when it was coursing through my body."

Keira gave me a look that had slight surprise in it. Then she furrowed her brows as a question came to mind.

"If you could become normal again," she started almost cautiously, "Would you?"

'Become normal again? Would that even be possible?'

"You know that it's not possible," I stated.

"Just answer the question Jak," she stated again, putting a hand on her hip.

I paused for a moment as I thought about it. Would I give up my addiction to be normal person again? 'No… I wouldn't give it up if I had the choice to. I would join it; become it… but how would I ever tell Keira that?'

"I don't know Keira," I told her almost coldly, "You don't understand."

Keira was about to retort something, but I cut her off.

"Never mind," I mumbled, "Call Samos and Daxter and Tess. Let's have this picnic now."

'Yeah… before anything else goes way out of control…'

"You think you can handle being along for a little while before rampaging away?" she asked sarcastically.

"I've been alone for two years in a torture chamber and prison," I ground out with slightly clenched fists, "Don't even ask if I can control myself when I had no one else around."

"Whatever," Keira blew me off, walking towards the platform to leave, "Sorry that I decided to care."

Then she left and I was alone. 'Yeah… I'm sorry that I will never be good enough for you.'

End of Chapter 2

Hey again! So, how was it? Did you all like it? I did. Lol. :D It's longer than my first chapter which makes me happy. Lol. So yeah, I can see where this one is going, so hopefully it won't take me too long to get it done. Lol. Like it's taken me a long time to do some things that aren't even done yet. Lol. My bad.

Anyway, thanks again for reading, I appreciate it. So long as you all like it then I'm a happy author. :D Thanks again! Please R&R and I'll try to update soon. :D :3