CHAPTER 3
The Renegade
Quickly getting back on the Gummi Ship, Sora and Co. went to look for another world to look for clues on the whereabouts of their friends. They decided to go the opposite direction than when they went to Dream Land. It didn't take them long to find another world and land. But what awaited them wasn't pretty.
They were walking in a forest where the trees had faces, and with hungry looks in their eyes. They made sure to stay away from the branches. Exiting out, they spotted what looked like an arena in the distance. Wanting to see if there was anyone there, they started walking in towards the entrance, and soon regretted it when they saw all the bones lying about. They silently agreed to turn around, they were stopped by the sudden appearance of a man with a circular straw hat, wearing a strange outfit. But what was most noticeable was that his eyes were pure white, no irises or pupils to be seen.
"Ah, more warriors for the tournament. Fighters for Earthrealm, I presume?" Sora and the others had no idea what he was talking about, but they had to answer fast. "Uh, no, we, uh, just got here. We don't know anything about a tournament." The strange man took a closer look. "My apologies. I mistook you for someone else. But you must leave. This is no place for children."
"What do you mean kids?!" Toad angrily stepped forward. "I'm an adult! And so's Luigi!"
"It matters not. You obviously have no idea what dangers await you here. Leave now or perish." Sora was now starting to get as annoyed as Toad. True, he had no idea as to what was going on, but he wasn't liking the way that this man was speaking to them. But before he could speak his mind, a loud, booming voice surprised them all.
"I think not."
Sora turned to see a huge, muscular man, wearing what appeared to be a skull for a helmet. "If they want to participate, then I will allow it. They might bring some amusement, unlike the so-called 'warriors' you have brought." Sora and Co. were getting madder and madder at how they were still being looked down upon, but they took the invitation gladly when the huge man stepped to the side to allow them through the door.
They were guided to three different paths, splitting them up. It made sense, since it was a tournament, but they grew a bit worried that they were going be fighting each other. Sora was a little reassured when he noticed how long the corridor he was walking down was. If the other paths were as long, and if they were to face each other, then they wouldn't be doing so for a while.
Sora emerged from the corridor to an arena, to see a man dressed in weird, purple garb, with most of his face covered. "You're my opponent? A child? I don't think you're even worth finishing." Sora really didn't like that comment and instantly got ready for battle. Which was good as he had to suddenly dodge an attack of water. He was confused at first but then noticed that the water was coming from the warrior. Instead of being afraid, he wondered if that could be used against him. He put his focus in the same way he did with the fire, trying to do something with the water. A split-second later, he felt a sudden chill. He looked up to see that the water all around his opponent had frozen solid, rendering him immobile. He toppled over and fell out of the arena stand, flat on his face. Before Sora could start laughing, a voice from behind startled him.
"Finish him."
He turned to see an old man with a white beard and mustache, dressed in some official-looking robes. "I said, finish him."
"Isn't he already finished? I won, didn't I?"
"Yes, know you must finish him. Take your weapon, and destroy him."
"What?! No! Why do I have to?"
"This is the Mortal Kombat Tournament. The end of the battle means the end of the loser. Now finish him!"
"No. I beat him. I don't need to do any more. If you have any objections, then we can go right now."
The old man looked very disappointed, but walked away. "Have it your way, boy. But it will just get more dangerous for you here." Sora grew concerned at his words, and looked around hoping to see his friends and hoping that they were all right.
Luckily, it didn't take long. Toad was fighting someone that had green scales all over his body, and a very long tongue. Which Toad was using to swing him around and slam him into the ground. Sora spotted Luigi soon after, using a vacuum-like thing to defeat a red-clad warrior that had green swirls around him that looked like ghosts. Glad that they were ok, Sora readied himself for his next opponent, not knowing of the danger watching him.
"See? They are dangerous like I have said. Such power from such frail bodies can only be the work of the Gods." Shao was lurking in the shadows, talking to a tall, muscular man with snow-white skin save for a few red marks. "I still do not wish to bring harm to children. If they are under the influence of the Gods then maybe we can save them."
"That won't work. Even if you do what you are meant to do and kill Raiden, they will just retaliate to avenge him. And look at how they fight. They insult their opponents by not giving them a warrior's death. Should such beings be allowed to live and grow into bigger threats?"
"I will destroy the God like you said, but it will take more to justify the deaths of the children."
Kratos walked away, leaving Shao Khan. "This will not do. In order for our plans to succeed we need the boy gone. If the Spartan won't do it, I have other ways." He turned back to the shadows, walking towards the sound of a deep growl.
_
Sora was sitting with Toad and Luigi, comparing notes while waiting for the next match. A growing unease was coming from them. "Maybe that guy was right. Maybe we should have left."
"Do you think we could-a leave now?"
"I don't think so. With what I've heard in the treatment of losers, I don't want to know the treatment of quitters."
They didn't know what to do, and they weren't given the chance to try further.
"ATTENTION WARRIORS!"
Everyone jumped at the booming voice, turning to see the one that let them participate. "It appears that we have some warriors that do not fully honor the tournament. And yet they are great fighters. I say we should let them prove themselves in a special match against a warrior of my choosing." He directed their attention to the arena where Kratos had already arrived, blades at the ready. Sora and the others didn't know what to do, so they went forward with the match, hoping to find a way out before it was too late.
Kratos charged forward as soon as they stepped into the arena. "I bear you no ill will, but the will of the Gods must be crushed!" They had no idea what he was talking about, and didn't have the time to ask. They were too busy dodging to do so. "How are we supposed to beat this guy? He's too fast!" Sora couldn't answer that due to running for his life. But the range and moment of Kratos's chains made it extremely difficult. Sora was worried that he was going to trip.
Wait, trip? Sora started to come up with an idea. "Luigi! I need you to distract him. Toad, on my mark, charge." Personally, Luigi didn't want to get close to Kratos, but this was no time to argue. "H-h-hey, big guy! Over here!" A few fireballs quickly got Kratos's attention, and long legs quickly got Luigi away.
Thankfully, Sora only needed a few seconds to set everything up. All that was needed was Kratos. Sora aimed the Keyblade, and sent a fireball much bigger than Luigi's at Kratos's head. It didn't do much damage, but Kratos's anger was so intense that you could cut it with a knife. Unfortunately, his anger became his undoing, for as he charged at Sora, he failed to notice the sheet of ice that was set in front of him.
"Toad, now!" Toad ran and jumped with all his might as Kratos slipped on the ice. Successfully knocking him down, Luigi and Sora followed suit to pin him down. Before Kratos could even get angry at being tricked, his arms and legs were already tangled up in the heroes' combined grips. "We just-a won, right?" Luigi's question was unfortunately answered by Kratos throwing the three heroes off of him in one go and getting up, anger radiating from his body.
"You dare resort to petty y chance you had for mercy is over. I will end you now!" There was no stopping him or even a chance to calm him down. His attacks became quicker and more vicious, giving very little space for evasion. Fear overtook Sora and the others, leading to some desperate moves. Namely, throwing the Keyblade. Luckily, it landed a blow, hitting Kratos's leg and knocking him over. It obviously did some damage as Kratos wasn't getting up easily. "You…...will not see…"
SLAM!
Whatever Kratos was about to say was interrupted by a large, scaly foot landing on him. A foot that belonged to a huge, reptilian beast. As it roared, the whole arena shook. "Excellent." Shao Khan looked at the scene, watching the spectators flee in terror. "Togera will destroy them easily. It was worth all the trouble to bring that monster from his world before we claimed it."
Unfortunately, his desired result was not instantaneous. Thanks to the difference in size between Togera and Sora, the towering beast didn't see them. It started to turn to look for prey that it could see, taking his foot off of Kratos. Sora and his friends felt relieved at that until they saw the other foot coming down as Togera turned. "NO!"
KRA-BOOM!
The sky shook as a huge bolt of lightning came down and struck Togera in the side, tilting him for a second and making him land his foot away from Kratos, allowing for escape. Which was what Sora had in mind as he charged forward to pick him up. But someone already beat him to it. It was a young man wearing only pants and a bandana on his forehead. He picked Kratos up easily and ran for the exit. "Come on, we only have this chance! Raiden, you got us covered?" Sora turned to see the strange man from earlier with electricity sparking from his hands. "Yes. Go, save what you can, we'll handle this!" He was joined by a man with metal arms and a woman in a military uniform, launching energy blasts at Togera's legs. Sora and the others wanted to join in as well, but they wanted to see make sure Kratos was ok first.
_
"Hey, he's waking up!" Sora and Toad rushed to Luigi as Kratos regained consciousness. The sounds of Togera's rampage were still in the background, but they had other things on their minds. "Uuuuuh…..What…"
"Thank goodness you're alright." Kratos turned to the man that carried him out. "I'm Liu Kang. A fellow fighter in the tournament. I carried you out when the monster stepped on you. Though I'm surprised that you didn't die from that."
"It will take a lot more than that to put me down. Although, why did you save me? Are you not a servant of that god?"
"Yes, I am here with Raiden, but he and I fight for the freedom of Earthrealm from Shao Khan's tyranny. Whatever Shao Khan told you was a lie. It was even Raiden who made sure the monster would not crush you again."
"...I will determine if your words are truth or not. But for now, the monster must be destroyed - errrrrr!"
Liu Kang stopped Kratos from moving. It was obvious that he took damage than he was implying. "You stay here and recover. We'll handle this!" Sora started off when a hand grabbed his shoulder. "Woah kid, I don't think you should do this. The only reason you were fighting was to provide amusement for Shao Khan. You're not warriors, you can't go in there." Sora just knocked his hand off. "I don't care. There are people who need help, and I won't stand by." He quickly ran off after that, with Toad and Luigi behind him. Liu Kang just stood there dumbfounded as Kratos began to see them in a new light.
_
"Is Jax ok, Sonya?" Sonya was picking her ally up, who was needing obvious repairs on his arms. "He'll live, but he's out of this fight. This isn't looking good." The spectators were gone out of harm's way, but it was unknown how long that would last. If Raiden and the others lost control of the situation, Togera can easily break through the walls and rampage wherever he wanted.
And it seemed like he would, until a fireball hit him in the ankle. Turning in anger, he looked down to see a scrawny kid running towards him. Though lacking pride, his instincts didn't like the idea of pests getting the better of him. Especially pests he can squish in an instant. "Ok, we got his attention! You get out while we take care of him!"
Raiden didn't want to leave them, but his friends' safety came first, and Sora's actions in the tournament led to Raiden seeing potential in the boy. Helping Sonya carry out Jax, he planned to come back to watch and see how they will do.
"So, what do we do-a now? Do we actually have a plan to attack?" Sora didn't exactly know how to answer that. He was mostly just annoyed at everyone looking down on him. Luckily, an idea quickly formed in his head. "Remember the trick we did to Kratos? Well, the bigger they are, the harder they fall!"
Toad looked at him like he was crazy while Luigi had a "We're gonna die" face. But they admitted it was better than nothing. "Luigi! You're the best when it comes to jumping and avoiding attacks! Distract him as if you were a fly!"
"But what if he squishes me like one?!" Toad had no patience for Luigi's stalling as he threw him on Togera's leg. Luigi reacted instantly, running for dear life avoiding the titanic claws coming at him. "Wasn't that kind of mean?"
"If he's still screaming, he's still alive. Let's keep it that way and start making ice!" Sora could only follow his lead as they froze the ground. With two people, it was done much faster, a good thing when dealing with a big foot. Within a few minutes, there was more than enough ice to make said foot's destination slick. The towering lizard found himself tipping over as he fell to the side, his head hitting the stands, knocking himself out from the impact.
"All right! We did it!"
"Thank-a goodness. I was about to die from-a fright."
"You always say that."
"Then allow me to say something different."
The three of them turned in surprise to Raiden standing behind them. "Watching you take down that beast, I realize I was wrong about you. You do have what it takes to be warriors, and you can continue to prove yourselves in the tournament. But we will have to wait a while, while we try to undo the damage the monster has done."
Glad for the break, Sora and the others decided to head to other worlds to try and look for their friends, but silently promised to come back as they knew that Shao Khan had to be stopped. On the way back to the Gummi Ship they bumped into Kratos, who wished to talk. "So, Raiden is not evil, and neither are you."
"Um, no. Why did you think that?"
"My life has become about nothing more than ending the Gods, as they cannot be trusted. Shao Khan brought me here to destroy Raiden. He said he was trying to conquer other worlds, and everyone fighting with him was his ally. I see now that I was tricked, and yet I still find it hard to believe that not all Gods are untrustworthy. I will continue to stay here to judge for myself, and destroy Shao Khan for his treachery. Since you saved me, I will not harm you, but only if you stay out of my way." As Kratos walked off, Sora still had something to say. "Hey maybe we can meet again in the tournament, and have a fair match this time!"
"If it took all three of you to just trip me, you are not my match."
Luigi and Toad were now more than ready to leave, but Sora had a strangely-timed smile on his face. He really was hoping that their return will be sooner than later. He contacted Otacon to make sure he kept them updated on any news of the tournament. As they boarded the Gummi Ship, there was an unexpected face watching the scene.
"If only Kratos had finished those brats, my plan would succeed and Earthrealm would be mine! I must stop Raiden before they come back, so I can enjoy their looks of despair before I crush them…...why are you here? I told you to stay away from my affairs." The grey-haired man stepped out of the shadows, keeping his composure despite some slight annoyance. "Very well, continue to play your pointless games, mortal. At least try to remember that we have minions from the darkness." Shao Khan walked away, hating the man's arrogance more and more.
_
Nothing much was going on. The travel was going smoothly, and there was nothing new coming from Octacon or Ratchet. Things were looking like a dead end until another world was coming into view. "It's nothing special, let's move on." Luigi was a bit surprised to hear that, but not as much as Sora. "What do you mean? Our friends could be down there!"
"Unlikely, if they were, there would be something worth mentioning by our contacts. Besides, that looks like a place that no one would be caught in."
"I don't care, we should check it out anyway. And what if there are Heartless? We can't leave innocent people to get hurt!"
"Tough! I'm driving!"
"Not anymore!"
"Hey! Get off of me!"
"Hey-a guys, stop it! We're-a gonna crash!"
_
"OOF!"
Sora slowly got up, a pounding headache threatening to split his skull. Looking around, he noticed that he was in an abandoned hut of some kind, having fallen in through the roof. Has he got his bearings, he discovered that he was separated from his friends. As he called out for them, he didn't immediately notice the incoming danger. A strange, metal-like insect came falling down on him, nearly as big as he was. Sora quickly dodged and readied for battle, wanting to take care of this quickly.
The spar went for several minutes. Sora was able to block and parry easily, but his foe had the advantage in terms of speed and agility. And Sora didn't dare to try his spells, as he feared it would bring the hut down on them. Preparing to block again, he wasn't fully prepared for the angle the blow was coming from, and was knocked down to the floor. The creature, seeing a chance, leaping up to deal the final blow.
But just inches from Sora's face, a small boom was heard, making the creature explode. He looked up to see a man standing there, with pointed ears and green hair. He was holding a strange-looking gun, but what was even more strange looking was the orange-furred creature on his shoulder. "You ok, kid?"
Getting up, Sora nodded. "Thanks, I owe you one. My name's Sora, by the way. Any chance you may have seen my friends? I got separated from them."
"Maybe. What are their names?"
"There names are T-" Sora stopped himself, as he realized that he wasn't in the mood to see Toad right now. "Riku and Kairi."
"Who and what? Those are some weird sounding names if I ever heard them." Sora was taken off guard by the strange creature suddenly talking, then taken off guard even more by a sudden image of Kairi appearing behind the two strangers. Before he could say anything, the image disappeared, leaving him dumbfounded.
"You ok, Sora? You spaced out there for a moment."
"What? Oh, yeah, I'm fine."
"Ok, but as for your friends, I don't know. But maybe someone in the city has seen them. We'll take you."
"Thanks, uh…."
"Jak. And this Daxter."
"The hero of the tale."
"Right. Anyway, we were here to get something for our friend when we found you. We also found these strange balls. Don't know what they are though, never seen anything like them."
"Wait, can I see those?"
Receiving the balls, Sora took out his Pokedex to examine them. "Let's see eecko…...Trevenant…...and Aipom. The Professor will like to have these back!" Sending them to the P.C., Sora turned back to Jak and Daxter. "A friend of mine is looking for balls like that, so you just helped me some more. Thanks!"
"Don't mention it, but we need to get out of here now, before more Metalheads show up."
Sora figured out that a Metalhead must have been what that thing was, and silently followed Jak, not wanting to see more of those things.
_
"W-where are we?" Luigi stammered, getting up off of the city floors. "Yuck, where did Sora go? Toad?" Backing up, Luigi nearly tripped, letting out a yelp. Looking at what he nearly tripped on, he saw the red polka dotted head, which belonged to Toad. "Toad, thank goodness you're here!"
Helping the mushroom character onto his feet, Luigi kept shivering. "Yeah, of course I'm here," Toad then noticed some kind of building, and headed in its direction. "Let's take a look in there, we'll probably get some answers as to where we are!" He exclaimed, skipping over to it.
"B-but what about Sora? Aren't you worried about him being alright?" Luigi asked.
"Nah, who needs him?" Toad spat, still remembering what had happened earlier. "We can find Mario ourselves, now c'mon!"
Upset to see Toad acting this way, Luigi didn't notice right away that something was smelling his shoes. Glancing down, he was startled to see a dog-like creature with reptilian features sniffing him. The dog stared right back up at him, equally surprised and dropping the block that was in its mouth.
"WAAAAH!" Luigi shouted, making the dog start barking and whining in panic. It zipped straight into the station that Toad was heading inside, the door opening on its own as the dog came through. Toad followed it out of sheer curiosity, but stopped in his tracks once he saw a man before him.
He appeared to be an elderly gentleman with grey hair, wearing a blue robe of some kind. He carried a walking stick in his hand, indicating that he had trouble moving easily due to his age. The older man just stared at Luigi and Toad, startled by their sudden appearance. Luigi gulped, while Toad tried to give a friendly wave.
_
"So what exactly are you two doing, if you don't mind me asking?" Sora questioned, following the duo closely.
"We're taking this Life Seed to someone we know," Jak explained, as they made their way up to a giant tree, "his younger self, to be more precise. You'll understand a bit more once we actually bring it to him in this forest."
Just like in Dream Land, Sora found himself awed by the scenery that was around him. It wasn't strangely colorful like Orange Ocean and Rainbow Resort, but all the plant life was calming. Birds were chirping, butterflies surrounded flowers. Jak didn't understand what Sora was so entranced by.
Approaching a short, older man that was meditating, Sora had to take a moment to process what he looked like. He had long ears and green skin, wore peculiar glasses and had an afro that had a log sticking through it. Yup, these characters were getting weirder and weirder so far.
"Samos told me to," Jak then corrected himself, "I mean, you told me to… or well, your older version, uh, whatever. We heard you needed the Life Seed." Handing the Life Seed over to the older man, Sora became even more confused as to what was going on, but found his attention grabbed by what was going on in the sky.
"Yes, its power will help me speak to the plants." The shorter man, known as Samos said, taking it.
"Uh, guys?" Sora said, noticing something flying towards them. "I think something is headed our way!"
Panicking, Samos got up. "Jak, protect me from these guards! I must ask the plants some vital questions about our future!"
"Krimzon Guards again? No problem." Readying his blaster, Jak turned around, only to see something else coming down instead, which surprised just about everyone. "What in the…!?"
Emblem Heartless, a Soldier kind, much like Sora had encountered before. Only difference was that these ones had wings, wore an aviator cap that had a propeller on the top, along with some goggles.
"Whoa, those are not Krimzon Guards!" Daxter exclaimed, backing away. Sora was irritated at the fact that once again, the Heartless had followed him, but he was told that this would happen and should expect it by now.
Taking out his Keyblade, Sora looked determined to protect Samos, even if he knew nothing about what was going on. The Air Soldier was a bit out of reach, which while not a problem for Jak, who had a long-ranged weapon, Sora had to strategize on what he should do to get the Heartless to come down. Perhaps some fire magic would do the trick. Doing just that, Sora knocked one of the Heartless out of the air and onto the ground, then proceeded to finish it off.
As both Jak and Sora began disposing of the Heartless using their own methods, Daxter cheered them on, and Samos focused on his newly gained powers. Before long, all of the Heartless around them were disposed of, no longer coming down to fight Sora.
Once it was over, Sora and Jak turned their attention back to Samos, who gazed deeply into the seed that was in his hands. "The Life Seed gave me a terrible vision," Samos muttered, "the Baron is planning to destroy the Precursor Stone! He aims to crack it open somehow! If he does this, the energy released will be beyond comprehension." He then took a moment to pause, as if he was unsettled by something else. "Black creatures… they are trying to enter a hole of some kind. The plants cry out for protection from both sides, as the world could be—"
"Whoa, hold it, I understood what you said about Baron Praxis, but… black things? As in, those things we just fought?" Jak asked. Samos nodded in response. "Oh great. First the Krimzon Guard, then Metal Heads, now these black creatures? This can't get any worse."
Samos then turned his attention to Sora. "Young man, are you here to help stop those black creatures?" Sora flinched as he mentioned it, trying to not reveal anything. "Jak, the plants are telling me that you must bring this young man to his friends. He shall be of great aid to you in stopping those creatures and the baron. You three must stop this, however you can!"
"Gimme a break," Jak sighed, knowing that this was only going to get a lot stressful from here on out. "Sora, was it? C'mon, we're gonna head back to the power station. It's right in Haven City. Stick close to us, okay?"
Nodding, Sora did exactly that. "Who exactly is this baron, if I may ask?"
"Baron Praxis is the dictator that rules Haven City," Jak spat, irritated by the very thought of Praxis. "Let's just say that the guy kept me locked up for a while, and I'm not too happy about what he did to me," Jak grumbled, clenching his fist. "The guy thinks he's some kind of savior by doing whatever it takes to get rid of the Metal Heads. But he's a power hungry—"
"Hey now, careful Jak, watch your language in front of the kiddo!" Daxter exclaimed. "Yeah, he's a bad dude. Injected my buddy Jak with some Dark Eco for some kind of weapon project. Thankfully, I broke him out before it could get any worse."
"Wow, that… sounds pretty bad." Sora replied, now understanding why Jak seemed a bit irritable. He would be in a bad mood also if he was locked up and used as a test subject. However, Sora could only wonder how this Praxis character would react around the Heartless. Would he fight back, like he was with the Metal Heads as Jak stated?
Sora was starting to worry about Toad and Luigi— well, mainly Luigi, since he was still a bit upset at how hasty Toad was earlier. Luigi would probably be terrified if he saw one of those Metal Heads, especially if he was on his own.
Once Sora and Jak cleared some Heartless that were just outside of the power station, they entered. Jak had expected to see Vin upon walking inside, but instead, was met with Kor, the Crocadog, and two characters he had never seen before.
"Sora!" Luigi cried out.
"Toad! Luigi!" Sora exclaimed, approaching the two. Toad and Sora prepared to happily shake hands, but then recalled the earlier event, and turned away from each other, pouting, much to Luigi's dismay.
"Well this suddenly turned into a party," Daxter said, "Kor, mind telling us what's been happening?"
"The baron," the older man spoke in a distressed tone, "he stole the Precursor Stone right out from under us, after all of our planning and hard work, Torn ended up betraying the cause!… We must get that stone back!"
"We'll work on it," Jak replied, "I just gotta ask, who are these two, and where did they come from?"
"The mutt found them after the boy had been taken away. I have informed them of Baron Praxis and his plots, and have decided to join us in our cause. We are trying to think of what the baron's next move may be."
"If I had this stone and all its power, I would use it to find my brother," Luigi mumbled to himself.
"You four," Kor, the older man spoke, "you must stop the baron, no matter what it takes."
"I think I already got an idea," Jak said with a smirk, "c'mon you three, we're gonna meet up with a friend. We're going to get into the Haven Palace, where hopefully, we can find a way to keep the baron from destroying the Precursor Stone. Best case scenario, those black creatures don't show up again."
With that, they all departed, only Kor and the Crocadog remaining. Kor just stood there, pondering the last thing that Jak had mentioned. "Black creatures?" He murmured, curious as to what he was talking about.
"Oh, by the way Sora, look at what I found in here!" Luigi chirped, handing over some more Pokéballs.
Floatzel, Sneasel, Dewott, and a Gummi block of some kind. It was good to know that unlike Toad, Luigi still had Sora's back on everything. Sora could even hear Toad grumbling in disapproval at what Luigi was doing.
_
As Sora and his two friends followed where Jak may have headed to in Haven City, they found themselves inside of a garage. Jak was not present, and neither was Daxter, but a girl with blue-green hair and pointed ears was standing there, along with what appeared to be an older version of Samos, the man Sora had met earlier.
"Excuse me, uh," Sora hesitated, finding this girl's presence to be… rather strange, if not almost familiar. It made him partly remember that one weird dream he had, even though these things should not have been connected at all. "Are you a friend of Jak's? Do you know where he went just now?" Sora asked.
Turning to face him, the girl smiled. "You just missed him. Jak and Daxter are entering the Class 1 Race right now. You three must be the tag-alongs that Jak had mentioned." Sora wasn't sure if Jak meant that in a bad way or not, but didn't have time to think it over as the girl held out her hand. "Name's Keira! You must be Sora, right? Who are your two other friends here?"
"Luigi and Toad," Sora answered, "Keira, did you ever meet anyone my age by chance? A boy and a girl, Riku and Kairi?" Toad once again, grunted in annoyance, which Sora tried to ignore.
"Nope, can't say I have, sorry." Keira replied, "Are you going to be helping Jak retrieve the Heart of Mar, so I can finish building this Rift Rider?" She directed Sora's attention to the machine behind her, which appeared to be a strange vehicle of some sort.
"I uh, suppose we are, yeah. I don't see why not!" The truth was that Sora had no idea what this Rift Rider was, or what it did, but he was willing to help out if it meant he would eventually find the keyhole to this world and close it. "You said Jak was in a race, do you know where we could catch up with him?"
"Just make your way down through to the Mar Memorial Stadium, you'll find where the race is starting! But be careful though," Keira advised, "for some reason the Haven citizens have gotten more frightened recently. I asked Jak if he was scaring them with his Morph Gun, but it doesn't seem to be the case."
Heartless? That was probably what was going on. Sora had to hurry, otherwise the Heartless could potentially ruin the Class 1 Race. "Thanks, I'll be careful. C'mon guys!"
_
It took slaying more of those Air Soldier Heartless, but the path was clear enough for Sora, Luigi, and Toad. He ran to the stadium where the Class 1 Race was taking place, pushing through a crowd of people in the audience, just to get a good look at what was going on.
Sora saw Jak and Daxter race past an irritated man, who had orange hair and tattoos covering parts of his face. The man, in fury, tried to catch up to them on his Air Racer, but to no avail. Jak found himself boosting far away from the man, hitting each sharp turn perfectly, Jak didn't slow down for a minute. He was on the final lap already, and there was no stopping him. Sora could feel how intense it was, even though he wasn't even participating.
Once Jak crossed the checkered line, it was all over. He jumped out of the Air Racer along with Daxter, his eyes on the prize than came down. A thick device of some kind, which Sora couldn't really get a good look at. Looking up, Jak waved to Sora and his friends in the crowd, noticing they were there. "Thank you," Daxter shouted, "thank you very much! I just love the public!"
Sora snickered, but then found his attention drawn to a platforming, hovering down to Jak and Daxter. "Behind you!" Sora yelled, getting Jak's attention.
"A brave man of the people," the muscular man on the platform spoke. His mere presence immediately made Jak's blood start to boil, which Sora noticed just by the look in Jak's eyes. "Who is this worthy opponent? In my world, good men are either bought, or broken." The man then smiled, his words making Jak grind his teeth together. "So which is it going to be?"
Finally, Jak turned around, while Sora and his friends jumped out of the audience, keeping a safe distance in case anything happened. "Surprise, Baron Praxis. Good to see you again." Jak said, glaring at the man.
"What?" The baron exclaimed, startled at who was before him.
"Just come a little closer." Jak beckoned, hints of venom in his voice. "We need to talk."
"You fool… you don't get it, do you? It's over, Jak!" The baron shouted. During all of this, Sora heard a noise from afar on the race tracks. It was a bit of a distance, but Sora could see that it was the man from before, still pursuing Jak, even though he had lost. "This war is mine, and in war, people die!" The two were practically staring each other down, until the baron finally gave orders to the two Krimzon Guards standing next to him. "Kill him!"
Sora could see the Air Racer coming close, and made his move, even if it seemed like Jak was already doomed from the Krimzon Guards aiming at him. "Jak, watch out!" He yelled, running towards the two, startling Baron Praxis further.
"What? Whose brat is this? What is he doing?" Baron Praxis was prepared to order fire on Sora as well, until he saw the Krimzon Guard Commander; Erol, headed straight in their direction.
"I win, Jak!" Erol grunted, preparing to run Jak down with his Air Racer.
Acting as fast as he could, Sora pushed Jak away from the race course, allowing Erol to zip right past him. "Luigi, Toad, hurry up and let's get out of here!" Sora called out to them, making the two jump out of the audience and start running.
Erol didn't have time to look back as he crashed into several barrels of Dark Eco, exploding into a foggy mess on impact. Sora and the others used this distraction to get away from the baron. Jak assumed that Baron Praxis would have commanded the Krimzon Guard to go after them, but so far, it seemed like a clean getaway.
"We need to hurry! If Praxis cracks open the Percursor Stone, everything and everyone will be destroyed!" Sora and the others didn't like the sound of that. They were to hoof it double-time when a gun was suddenly pointed at them. "What are you doing? My father is trying to stop the Metalheads once and for all!"
A woman in a Krimzon Guard uniform was the one holding the gun, and she didn't look happy. But that wasn't the biggest shock.
"Father?!"
"Later. Ashelin, if your father cracks the Stone, we all die!"
"Not so hard, huh? Even I can figure this one out!"
"Don't move. Come in, Vin?"
"Yeah?"
Ashelin pulled out a communicator, contacting someone who sounded a bit scared.
"You know all about the Percursor Stone, right? What would happen if it was cracked open?"
"Well, let's see…...It would destroy everything."
"Everything?!"
"Yeah, everything, now if you don't mind, I'm going to throw up."
Ashelin turned off the communicator and turned back to Jak. "My father was working with Krew to build a weapon that can crack open the Stone. Here is my security pass to the weapons factory. And this conversation didn't happen." As Ashelin walked off, Jak and Daxter started to head towards the factory. Sora turned to Luigi and Toad. "We have to help them."
"Why? This isn't our problem. ANd it's your fault we're in this mess. So why should we even listen to you?"
"Because it's the right thing to do, and they don't know how to deal with the Heartless, but we do. We can help, and maybe find more clues to find our friends. Come on!" Sora ran after Jak before Toad could say any more. That was when Luigi spoke up. "Y-y-y-you know, 'everything' being destroyed could-a mean us too." Toad just grumbled as he followed Sora.
_
The way to the factory was fairly easy. Jak took care of the Krimzon Guards while Sora and co. took care of the Heartless. When they finally reached where the weapon was stored, a rather strange sight greeted them. "I knew you were special when I first saw you Jak, and I commend you on getting this far." A really fat man in a hoverchair came floating down, a slight rasp in his voice. Sora thought that this must be Krew.
"I just love weapons, Jak. How they look, how the feel, even how they smell."
"You need some serious help."
"My favorite was the one Mar built to destroy the Metalheads, but he died before he could use it. But I have a new favorite now, this bomb that is my masterpiece, and is powerful enough to crack open the Percursor Stone! When Baron Praxis arrives with the Stone, we'll hide it in a shipment of Eco for the Metalheads, ending them all! Now take this gun upgrade, and forget what you saw here."
"Not this time, I'm through being your hired gun!"
"So it's war, eh? So be it!"
"Oh come on, how tough can a fat guy who can't even walk be?"
Toad got his answer when Krew started firing lasers at him. Toad didn't have time to think until he felt himself getting pushed out of the way. He looked up in surprise to see that Sora saved him, but then realized that talking would have to wait we he saw what got everyone's attention. "Oh? My new friend, yes. He's a joy to have around, especially when crushing my enemies."
Appearing next to Krew was a giant Heartless that resembled a chameleon, fading in and out of sight. Sora looked over at Jak, with uncertainty in his eyes on what to do against that thing, and Daxter, who looked like he was about to faint. Sora got into a battle stance, knowing this was going to be one of their toughest battles yet.