A/N: I know its been over a year since I've updated this story. But I have my resolve. I will finish all my stories including this one. I've updated it as well so expect more chapter in the future. Thanks to those who encourage me to keep writing :)
Last chapter...
"Payment?" Trish demanded, "I found the freak for you, you know!"
The woman turned and blinked, then she seemed to remember.
"Oh yes" the woman smiled, "As promised"
The woman held a black bag and threw it to Trish. Trish grabbed it with her free hand. The bag was heavy. Heavy with money.
"Goodbye" the woman simply said before disappearing in the shadows again.
Trish grinned greedily. She was about to move off when suddenly the bag exploded with no warning. A bomb was in place within the bag instead of money, detonated with a silent timer, it's huge force engulfing the woman and blackening the rooftop.
Viper's clothing caught wind from the explosion but she continued, unaffected, as she boarded the ship. That person had served their purpose and it was time for them to go. That was all there was to it. She was an insignificant pawn in something much greater.
Jak woke groggily to bright lights. He shut his eyes and groaned. He opened them slowly the second time and had more success to adjust to the lighting. Jak rolled over and pushed himself to a sitting position with his arms. He grasped his head as a drug induced sleep left his mind foggy. He groaned again.
His sapphire eyes observed the background. He was in a white padded room. His fears had been fulfilled. Jak stood up abruptly and a wave of dizziness resulted. He leaned against the wall until the dizziness past. As his vision cleared his eyes were focused on his feet. He found them bare. Quickly trailing his eye sight upwards he found he was dressed in white hospital scrubs. All his weaponry and normal clothing were gone. Everything he had… is gone.
Jak felt suddenly breathless. He fought the breathing as his mind repeated the fact of what he feared.
Trapped...
No hope...
Pain...
Suffering...
Emotions from his two year imprisonment tried to resurface again. He thought he had dealt with it. He thought he buried it deep within his mind and yet it now threatened to haunt him all over again. He closed his eyes and fought to quell the panic that was taking over. He forced himself to breathe deeply and think rationally to calm his mind and his heart.
Suddenly the door opened. There appeared the woman that had captured him and brought him here. He glared at her as she approached him with her green bun hair style, thick square speckles, hard orange eyes and dressed in a white lab coat. He got his emotions in control and focused on the woman in front of him. Two large bulky men guarded her on both sides.
"Hello Jak. Welcome to my facility. I hope you find this place comfortable"
"It could use some colour" Jak said dryly, "Maybe a coat of paint or a flower"
She smiled but it wasn't friendly, "You're quite the comedian, I am guessing you get that from your rat friend. Oh which, bye the way, he's dead"
"What? You're lying I saw him escape" Jak smirked, "I already know that trick"
Her smile deepened, "Believe what you like but I always make sure that my business remains my business. In light of this I will sell the media as well as HQ information about your strange disappearance so I may prolong your stay in here "
"What?!" Jak snapped not believing a word that left her lips, "You're kidding!"
"Oh am I?" she gloated before her voice turned dead cold, "I don't make up stories…well sometimes and I don't play games. I am here for one purpose and one purpose only"
Jak glared at her ignoring her icy tone, "Oh? And what's that?"
The woman gave a cold smile, "Finishing what has been started. The completion of the project that was started before the Baron came to power. You are the final ingredient to make this possible, to finally make it all happen and my dream to be realized!"
Jak stared at her coldly as he folded his arms, "You didn't answer my question"
The woman shrugged, "I don't have to. You're just a stepping stone for acquiring ultimate power"
"Cut the melodrama" Jak muttered
Viper glared in response with hatred, "Even if you survive there will be nothing left for you in the outside world! I will make sure of that! In time you will learn that there will be no one to help you, no one will be willing to be your friend or even look at you! There will be no second chance for a life outside, no great escapes and no mercy!"
Jak blinked at her venomous anger towards him as she smiled sadistically, "Everyone will think you're crazy and that you've lost your mind to the Dark Eco. The hailed hero will become the tip of every curse! No one will save you from this asylum, from this hell I created because they will believe you truly belong here. Their great savior corrupted by the past, by the substance he thought he could master. He fell to it like all the others before him"
Jak's face slowly morphed into the expression of hate while she gave a cold laugh with maddening glee.
"Consider this as you completion of your sentence from your initial imprisonment. After all the Dark Warrior Program hasn't vanished but put on hold. You now belong to me. You'll get to understand that in time. I'll shall put you through a few experiments to unlock some of that Dark Eco that you've managed to hide away thanks to the Light Eco you've received. It will be just like old times, strapped to a chair and receiving your daily 'injections'…"
She finished with a satisfied smile.
With that Jak snapped and screamed, "NO!"
He lunged at her, his survival instinct telling him to destroy her, to kill her if he ever wanted get out of his nightmare and live again. Instantly her two bodyguards grabbed him and forced him on the floor before he knew what happened. The padding cushioned his fall. He fought fiercely against them as he shouted incoherently in protest. Viper just chuckled at his pitiful attempt and stared at him with amusement. He saw her expression and he screwed his eyes shut.
I'll give anything not to go back, not to go back to the pain, the hopelessness, the suffering, the wish you were never born... wishing every breath was your last.
He had to stop her... he had to stop all of this! With two men holding him down he had no chance of escape unless...
Jak opened his screwed eyes and black film appeared behind them. The two men shrank back. In an instant Jak changed to the monster that was born from the program. The two bodyguards were on their feet and keeping their distance from the changed man.
Dark Jak sneered and grinned.
"Please" the woman snorted, "Do you think we're unprepared? After all this hospital is full of your kind"
She held up a small control pad. With a sadistic smile she pressed the button. Before Jak could blink was was on the ground with immense fire through his nerves and he screamed. He felt his dark side retreat back to the depths of his soul.
As soon as it did the pain stopped. He panted as his vision swam. He heard the echo of the woman's voice.
"While you slept we installed our newest, top secret device at the base of your neck. Thanks to micro surgery we connected a Shock Disk to your nerves in your spine, like all the test subjects in this facility. Since you have an actual power we specifically designed it bring your powers under control using a counteragent that is stored in the disk. This type is the first time it's been used, I was hoping to test it out on you and I did. I'm pleased with the results"
Jak's vision cleared up but he felt sick.
"What no comebacks Jak?" she teased, "What dead Ottsel got your tongue?"
She let out a laugh. Jak stubbornly climbed to a sitting position.
"Now do we understand each other?" she asked
Jak just sat there panting as if he ran a marathon. He stared at the ground not meeting her eyes. The woman smiled.
"I think we do" she said in triumph, "Shame. I thought you would put up a good long fight. It would have been more fun"
Jak gave a humourless chuckle before raising his head and directing his sapphire eyes in her orange ones.
"It takes more to defeat me. I survived the first time and I'm going to survive again"
The woman grinned, "That's the spirit! I think we'll enjoy out time together Jak"
With that she left. Her two scrubbed dressed bodyguards left behind her, closing the door. Jak just sat there leaning back against the soft wall. He hoped against all odds that Daxter did survive and that he told the others and also that they would come after him. Even if he had been running away from them in the first place he knew deep down he could rely on them when the crunch came. He had to keep his hopes up or he will die and there are different kinds of dieing in this place.
Daxter entered and ran through narrow pipes within a building structure. Two men dressed in night gear stopped at the entry way knowing only a rodent can ever hope to fit into the pipe.
"Damn rat ran into the pipe!" one exclaimed knowing the chase as at its end
The other man smirked, "Well the boss said we had to kill it didn't she?"
The man raised his gun and shoved the barrel directly into the pipe. With a chuckling smile he pulled the trigger. Blue bullets were released into the pipeline and since the pipe was straight it headed directly for its target. Daxter heard the gunshots echoing within the metal.
Luckily he wasn't hit and he thanked what ever Precursor was watching him until…
"Nah man. You need to hit him hard" One of the men smirked pulling out a round object, "Like a grenade"
"One rat roast coming up" The other bellowed
Daxter nearly shit himself as he heard the word 'grenade' echoing down the pipe line. He ran faster and harder than he ever ran before. He had to get out to save his tail… to save Jak.
The man pulled the pin and threw it as far as he could throw it before both ran out of the way from the inevitable explosion. Daxter heard it clatter around… it sounded a little too loud for his liking.
It was tense silence as Daxter kept running, his mind waiting for the explosion as will as praying for it not to.
Then…
"Ahhhhh!" Daxter screamed as he could feel the intense heat all around him
The force pushed him through the straight pipeline like a cannonball. He saw a circle of light rushing up wondering it he was going to heaven…
The fire was coming up fast and just singed his tail as the little fur ball catapulted out of the pipe and through the air. The explosion echoed a second later wrecking and blackening the pipe.
Extremely thankful for not being fried to a crisp he yelped with glee only to turn into screaming as he suddenly realize he was falling from an incredible high
"AHHHHHHH!!!!"
Suddenly he felt something crash into him then grab him, holding him securely. Daxter felt the heat leave and in a few seconds it was completely gone. His lungs protested at the smoke that found its way into the air sacks and he started to cough.
Daxter slowly opened his eyes. His blurry vision slowly ebbed away to reveal a familiar face. He coughed heavily.
"Easy" the female voice soothed
"Jak" he chocked trying to get the message across to his rescuer
"Did he do this to you?" the voice was alert and worried. Worried?
Daxter opened his eyes, wide in shock. He saw a tattooed face staring down at him.
"No... it's all my fault!" he wailed
Ashelin was lucky she had seen the small explosion from the pipeline on the side of the building, otherwise she would have never saw Daxter fall from it. With some quick thinking she jumped onto a Zoomer and grabbed the Ottsel before he was could plummet to his death. She never liked the Ottsel that much but he was part of the team… not matter how irritating he was…
"It's my entire fault! I helped her..." Daxter's expression turned from relief to guilt turning away from the sexy woman
Ashelin frowned as she decided to descend to ground level, "What did you do?"
Daxter wheezed for two breaths, trying to get some fresh air, before answering, "I wanted to find Jak. I contacted an old friend. She captured Jak and handed him over..."
"What? Over? Over to whom?" she asked a bit angry but focusing on the situation at hand
"I don't know. She's a doctor. She knew about Jak's ability to see. She has other Dark Eco test subjects. She's from a nut house" Daxter managed to get out before coughing.
Ashelin's mind gears were turning. She knew where the other test subjects went after her father died. They have no right or authority to go out and capture Jak. If that facility captured him, what could they possibly hope to achieve?
Ashelin parked the Zoomer. Daxter jumped down on the ground dusting himself. His ears drooped and his upbeat nature was gone.
"We'll find him" Ashelin gave a side glance to the Ottsel feeling pity for the rodent, "They had no right to take him and I'll make sure they receive the full force of my fist"
"Do you know who they are?" Daxter looked up at her surprised
Ashelin folded her arms and gave a hard look in another direction, "Unfortunately yes"
Daxter's ears perked up, "You mean we can find him and get him back?"
"No"
"WHAT?" Daxter's jaw dropped
Ashelin looked at the Ottsel, "I don't know what's going on but its not going to be easy as organizing a prison break. I need to call a meeting. We need to discuss this further. Here and now isn't the time"
"How hard is it to understand?" Daxter growled, "A psychotic evil doctor from the loony bin kidnaps Jak! He's not nuts! You can't just leave him in there… with her!"
Ashelin glared at him, "It doesn't matter if he's truly insane or not at this time. What matters is that we get Jak back because I know the person who runs that facility and I know what she is capable of. I thought she retired after my father died but…"
Daxter was going to say something but never got to because a Freedom soldier approached her.
"Status report" she ordered as her attention was drawn to one of her subordinates
"The Firefighters are bringing the fire under control. Bomb Squad arrived and on stand by to investigate the site. We closed off the traffic and directed it out to the Port"
Ashelin nodded, "Thank you soldier"
"Permission to speak freely ma'am?" the soldier asked
Ashelin nodded, "Granted"
"Will Commander Torn be ok?"
Ashelin heard that Torn was here when the bomb went off and heard he was impaled with iron debris. She knew he was in hospital at the moment but she couldn't check up on him until the morning. She gave a nod to the concerned soldier.
"He's tough. He'll pull through" she replied
The soldier nodded before leaving.
Ashelin sighed. She had a long night a head of her.
Daxter woke with a start. Sunlight danced across the ceiling. Then suddenly a face appeared in front of him.
I'm seeing a lot of faces lately, he thought strangely
"Daxter! You're awake!" Tess grinned then dived in giving Daxter a tight hug, "Awwwww I missed you!"
"Yeah I missed you too" he grinned feeling her warm fur against his
"I heard what happened" Tess said full of worried then rubbed his turf of hair, "I almost lost my Daxie"
"There was nothing to be worried about" Daxter said coolly, "I had everything under control! Well sort of. Did you hear the full story?"
Tes shook her head, "No"
"Well its quite a story" Daxter boasted, "I found Jak with Trish"
"What? That slimy 'Daxter stealer'?" Tess asked with an evil glare
"Yeah. And then suddenly appeared twenty big muscle bad men" Daxter sat up
"Oh my" Tess gasped
"They were after Jak! So there I was, facing twenty muscle head goons! So I used my special deadly ninja moves to bring at least ten of them down. While they distracted me they took Jak. Then a woman appeared and she was the brains of the whole operation. She threw a bomb at me. I threw it away and ran. It exploded and I guess it hit Trish but the force threw me over the ledge" Daxter expressed his story with hand movements.
Then Daxter blinked looking around.
"Erm Tess"
"Yes my little Daxie?" she cooed rubbing his turf again
"Why am I in a hospital?"
"Ashelin brought you here. She said you passed out and had a few injuries from an explosion" Tess explained, "And if I find the bitch who hurt you…" She shook her fist viciously
Daxter frowned, he didn't remember passing out but then again he didn't remember how he got here.
"So much for sleeping in" a grumpy voice said from behind the curtain
Tess jumped down from the bed to the curtain that separated Daxter's bed from the neighbors and pulled it away. Torn appeared there, in hospital garments under the light blue sheets.
"Hey what are you doing here?" Daxter asked puzzled
"I decided to seriously injure myself so I can have an excuse not to do any paperwork and not be stuck behind a goddamn desk.
"Really?" Daxter blinked
Torn looked at him before continuing sarcastically, "Sure, I happened to be right next to an explosion and some hot piece of metal decided to make a home in my shoulder. Unfortunately I was lucky enough to be near the blast"
"Ouch" Daxter cringed, "All that to get out of work huh?"
Torn looked at him raising an eyebrow wondering if the Ottsel even get that he was being sarcastic.
"Heard that you were almost burnt to a crisp. What a shame. I though you were gone for good" Torn smirked, "It would be a relief"
"What are you talking about squiggle face?" Daxter retorted, "Just because Jak's gone doesn't mean I go either"
Torn winced tiny bit. Daxter saw he struck some kind of nerve. Torn became self aware, "Erh, damn shoulder"
Daxter looked at him doubtfully, "Now he's taken by some wacko woman. Playing a bad cliché of an evil villain doctor or something"
"Yeah I was informed this morning when Ashelin came" Torn muttered, "I won't be clear to leave in a few days"
"How bad is the wound?" Daxter asked
"Why do even care?" Torn snorted
Daxter looked away, laying back on his bed, "Curious"
Torn closed his eyes briefly and grunted, "Real bad. I had to have a shoulder reconstruction. Since the metal was red hot when it impaled me, it cooled and wielded itself to me"
Tess gasped, "What did they do?"
"Just cut the metal out and replaced the cut tissue with biosynthetic muscle" Torn shrugged with his right arm, "No big deal. With some arm exercises and Green Eco, I'll be back on the field" then he added grudgingly, "Or back behind a damn desk"
"I'm glad to see you two up" Ashelin walked in at that point, "And talking"
Looking hot as ever, in her old Krimzon Guard uniform, Ashelin walked in swishing her butt. She stopped and put her left hand on her hip.
"What's going on?" Daxter asked, "What happened last night?"
"Reports confirmed a movement against the Council planted a bomb on the Eco storage tank. The Bomb Squad identified the bomb to be Red Eco explosives, set on a timer"
"Why?" Daxter asked shaking his head
"I don't know" Ashelin shook her head, "The movement is new and their objective is still unclear. They're responsible for triggering riots in the past"
"Great and here I was thinking it was Metal Heads" Daxter muttered, "Pissed off for ruining their breeding ground"
"I never though I'd say this but I wish it was Metal Heads" Ashelin sighed, "It will save a whole lot of political crap"
"Did you get any sleep?" Torn asked
"Just a few hours" Ashelin replied, "I'm fine but I need to put a plan to action, but I can't hold a meeting until I sort this bomb mess out. I'm thinking to hold one in few days"
"What about Jak!" Daxter protested
"Didn't you hear what I just said? I can't do anything while I got this mess to clean up." Ashelin snapped, "And don't you go and do something stupid! I told you that meeting was Top Secret. You promised you won't speak a word. I told you not to tell anyone!"
"I didn't tell her... specify" Daxter pouted, "Anyway it doesn't matter now... she's dead"
Ashelin wasn't listening, instead she shouted, "I had things under control! Then you go open your big mouth to a gangster? You gave the facility leeway to get Jak. Now you put Jak right into their hands because of your stupidity!"
Daxter winced at her loud voice. No one ever seen Ashelin this angry before. She always had a cool attitude. She had to be since her job was under constant pressure but this time she wasn't taking it very well. The fact that they lost Jak…
Ashelin sighed and put her hand to her head massaging her temple.
After a few moments she spoke quietly, "Sorry. I lost my temper"
"No kidding" Daxter breathed
Ashelin collected herself back into her military trained composure, "I'll see you all in a couple of days"
With that she turned and left with a quick stride. Daxter let out a sigh of relief but found the hem of his shorts more interesting at the moment. As a reaction to Ashelin's outburstTorn said nothing, his face showed nothing as he turned his head and looked out the window.
To be continued...
Sorry, I forgot to put in breaklines in the first posting and I also apologize for the way this is written. I promise the next chapter will be better!
Hmmmm... emotions and pressure is getting to Ashelin. Come on! Everyone knows she has feelings for Jak, after all they kissed and stuff. Daxter was yelled at (poor Daxter) and Jak is facing his fears and a facing imprisonment. Hmmm... can Jak hang on for a few days before his only hope can gather themselves and launch a rescue mission? Or is something else going to seal Jak's fate?
Please review! I would like to know what you think!