Naruto slowly blinked awake at the sound of gun shots. "Utakata?" He whispered, looking around the broken industrial area of Haven. A small groan escaped him as he looked at Daxter, who was watching Jak clear the area of the scorpion Metal Heads. His blue eyes looked over at the fox teen, smiling.

"You're up! How are you feeling?"

"Like a hippophant ran over my head…"

"Ow…" Daxter sympathized as Jak rejoined them.

"Glad to see you're awake. How ya feeling?" Jak asked, helping Naruto to his feet.

"Hippophant." Naruto said with a semi-forced smile. Jak grimaced, he knew that feeling.

"We should get a move on; this whole place is crawling with Metal Heads." Jak said as Daxter climbed onto Naruto's shoulder. Together the three started moving to the new rich part of Haven. Naruto sighed and looked at all the destruction around them.

"The city is almost completely in shambles…" He whispered as they walked past the white barrier.

"Is that like…Jak? Naruto! Daxter!" Crow yelled. All three of them turned to see Crow, Samos, and Keira inside the barrier. Naruto beamed and rushed over, Jak right next to him.

"Ah Samos…still as green as the stuff between my toes." Daxter cracked, shockingly earning a smile from the wise sage. Naruto placed his hand against the barrier, feeling it ripple but not permitting him through.

"It's like, totally great to see you." Crow said, then turned to Keira. "We like, told you they were totally alive." Keira smiled as she looked from the redhead to the trio.

"My boy, it's good to see you again." Samos said, walking up as close as he could. His soft, fatherly smile fell into a worried frown. "Those passage ways below the palace must be terribly important. The Metal Heads and KG Robots are advancing toward them…"

"As well as like, Veger." Crow added. "He's been like, totally sending out suicide missions to try and claim them. But like, with the number of Metal Heads and Robots and like, the area itself it's like, impossible." Naruto frowned at the unspoken words both Crow and Samos seemed to say. They were failing to keep even the slightest hold in Haven from the two armies.

"The city needs you again." Keira said, rubbing her arms. "Ashlin and Torn are doing the best they can but…"

"Like, Veger has turned on the barriers, keeping us from like, totally joining with the southern base, and like, the KG territory cuts like, right between us." Naruto's eyes narrowed.

"Veger was the one to attack the palace." The fox teen said. Crow's body tensed in anger as Jak nodded.

"He said he was looking for something below…something in the Catacombs." Jak said. Samos sighed and straightened his back.

"We're just going to have to find whatever it is before he does! But first you three need to find another way into this section of the city." Samos said, Keira walking over to him and placing a soothing hand on his shoulder.

"The sewers are like, totally gross but they're like your best bet. It'll like, take you to the port but you'll like have to work your way up. This section like, totally has its own like, private sewers." There was a silent pause before Samos cleared his throat, looking sadly at the ground.

"Jak…we're sorry for what happened…we should have stopped Veger…" Samos said. Naruto's eyes flashed to Jak, who was balling his hands into fist. Angrily, he turned away.

"I'll stop him myself." He growled, walking back the way they came. Naruto frowned, knowing Veger's words must still be in his head. Just as he started walking away Crow's voice stopped him.

"Like, Naruto wait." The fox teen stopped and turned, seeing Keira and Samos walking away from the barrier but Crow remaining there, his hand on the see through wall.

"What is it Crow?" Naruto asked walking back towards him.

"Jewell is like, down at the base. I…Tell her to like, totally be safe and I'll like, totally see her soon." Crow said, looking up at Naruto with pleading hazel eyes. The blond smiled and nodded.

"I will, promise."


Jak grinned as he looked down the pipe, his JET-board already out. "Ready to have some fun?"

"NO! This place reeks!" Daxter yelled holding his nose. "Let's just get through this place…I need a bath already." Naruto chuckled and pulled out his JET-board. He shared a competitive look before jumping on it and racing Jak to the end of the sewage pipe.

"Come on Dax don't be like that." Naruto said as they rested next to a stone and metal slide leading deeper into the sewer.

"No! Every time we're in sewers I smell like…like SEWER for weeks!" The ottsel wailed as Jak reloaded his Beam Reflexor and Vulcan Fury. "I just want to smell nice! And pants…pants would be very nice…" Naruto chuckled and patted Daxter on the head while looking down the slide.

"How much father do you think we need to go?" Naruto asked, glancing back at Jak who was about to jump down the water slide with his JET-board.

"I'm guessing we're only half way through. Keep sharp." The green-blond said before jumping onto his JET-board. Naruto grinned and followed after him, Daxter screaming murder as they landed in a massive herd of angered sewer toads and aquatic Metal Heads. Naruto jumped off his JET-board and landed claws first into a Metal Head that was sneaking up behind Jak as he fired off his Vulcan Fury.

"I HATE SEWERS!" Daxter yelled as the two continued forth on their JET-boards, eventually having to get off them to fight some the more terrestrial Metal Heads further on ahead. They had just finished off the last of them when Naruto screamed, his left leg giving out on him as one of the 'fallen' Metal Heads shot at him, the bullet piercing into his leg. Jak snarled and rushed toward the Metal Head, slamming his boot into its skull.

Naruto struggled to sit up, hissing as blood pooled around his leg. "Damnit…" He hissed as he tenderly touched it. Jak knelt next to him, in a flash of light his body took on the heavenly glow of blue and white. Daxter and Naruto watched in awe as Light Jak's hands touched the wound, Light Eco dancing over the skin and in the wound. Naruto gasped in disgust and wonder as the Dark Eco bullet was forced out of his skin and the pale skin was sewn together, any pain he should have felt wasn't.

"There…" Jak said once the Light Eco disappeared from him, looking up at Naruto. The fox teen smiled and slowly stood. The Light Eco healed better and faster than Green.

"Thank you." He said as Daxter climbed onto Jak's shoulder. The green-blond smiled and walked beside Naruto as they continued into the sewer. Luckily, though, there was only a few aerial Metal Heads in the next room and the exit.

The fox teen looked out at the port, remembering that it was near here his adventure began. He looked over as Jak pulled up alongside him on a single person zoomer. "Let's go to the Naughty Ottsel and see if we can locate the southern base." Daxter beamed.

"Let's go let's go!"


"Ah, the Naughty Ottsel…" Daxter sighed as they walked in. "Honey, I'm home!" Naruto chuckled and looked over the Naughty Ottsel. It was messier than before, but this time with boxes of weapons and Eco. The stripper pole that was once in the center was now replaced with a command com-link and the booths lining the walls were being used as make shift sleeping quarters. The door to the back rooms opened and Torn walked out, followed by Jewell.

"Jak, Naruto! Never thought I'd see you again." He said walking over to the command com-link.

"Torn? What have you done to my place?" Daxter yelled as the trio joined Jewell and Torn. Naruto nodded at Jewell, planning to talk to her later about Crow.

"We needed a southern HQ for the war. Plus, I kinda like the sign with the Ottsel Head outside." Torn said. Naruto blinked as Jewell chuckled and Daxter seemed pleased with himself.

"Yeah~ It's cool, huh?" Daxter said, standing on the command com-link, grinning.

"We use it for target practice."

"HEY!" Torn chuckled then went somber as he looked at Jak.

"Listen…I'm sorry we couldn't stop Count Veger. We are all…" Torn said looking at Jewell. Naruto sighed and spoke up.

"We just saw Veger. He's using, or trying to use, Precursor technology for something."

"Figures. That guy was always one monk short of a choir." Torn growled darkly. Jewell cleared her throat, stepping forward.

"Right now Veger is going to have to take a back seat. We have bigger problems right now. After a suicide mission here we got cut off from HQ. He wants use divided, like this there isn't much either side can do. To top it off the KG and Metal Head fronts are squeezing in on both sides." Jewell said, looking all the men in the room dead in the eye. Her experience as a warrior coming through.

"Never fear! The trouble trio is here!" Daxter said, grinning. Jewell smiled and looked down at the maps that were sprawled out. There was a loud blaring sound and everyone's head jerked up.

"Shit, KG Blast Bots are on their way here…there's three of them." Jewell said, grabbing a Vulcan Fury from one of the gun crates. "You boys ready for some trouble?"

"Always." Jak said with a mischievous grin. Naruto mirrored it and pulled out his Scatter gun.

"Let's go." Naruto said running out, with Jak, Daxter, and Jewell right behind him Jak hopped on the zoomer with Daxter and went right as Naruto followed Jewell to the left.

"Cover me!" Jewell yelled amidst the chaos. Naruto fired off at any KG bots that got too close to the tall blond woman. His eyes widened as the Blast Bot rounded the corner; its laser light pointed at the Freedom League guards. Jewell fell and slid under the Bot, firing off her Vulcan Fury at its weak under armor. "Move!" Jewell yelled as the Blast Bot started smoking and curling in. Naruto barely had time to get away before it exploded.

'Jewell?" Naruto yelled, racing after where he last saw her. The tattooed woman stood, cocking her gun.

"I'm fine…We need to get to the next one." She said, smiling at him. "Just glad I have you covering my back." Naruto nodded and took off in a run towards the next target, Jewell right next to him. The fox teen's eyes widened as the Blast Bot came over the bridge, catching them both off guard. Its blue laser light turned red and Naruto acted on instinct, rushing towards Jewell, grabbing the tall woman and spinning her round. She grunted as the sudden momentum sent her to the ground, the laser now firing rounds into Naruto's back.

Jewell's light blue eye widened as a darker version of Jak seemed to leap of them and slammed his fist into the Blast Bot, sending out a wave of Dark Eco. She rushed forward to catch Naruto as he fell; the KG Robots all fell and exploded. The woman looked over as Jak stood, the dark smoke swirling about him as color returned to his ashen skin. Daxter stood on his shoulder, shaking as Jak calmed down.

Jewell stood, holding Naruto, Jak rushing to her side. "Is he…"

"He's alive, but I need to get him to my grandfather. Go report back to Torn..." She whispered then rushed off to get Naruto to the medical wing.


"I'm fine Jak." Naruto said as he and Jak, along with Daxter, walking into the Naughty Ottsel. He could feel Jak staying as close as possible to him even if the only thing left of the attack was a burn scar. Torn looked up at them, smiling as he pressed on the com-link.

"Ashlin, this is Torn. They're back in the city." He said. Jak's eyes narrowed a little, he wasn't ready to deal with Ashlin again. Her face appeared on the hologram, the head turning to face the trio.

"I knew I could count on you." She said. Torn didn't notice the way Jak crossed his arms and grinned.

"That new KG leader is probably pissing in his-" His face morphed to worry as the image started to face and glitch out. "Wait! Someone's jamming the signal!" The new face appeared and everyone started in horror.

"Errol!" Jak growled darkly at seeing the face that lived in his nightmares.

"I live! Hahahaha." The head turned and looked at Jak, and even though he couldn't see it he could feel Errol was still looking at him with that damnable look. "Still fighting for the weak link, eh Jak? Well, I've had a few 'enhancements' since we last met. Even the Metal Heads have their biological weakness. But me? I'm pure metal. I'd love to meet you again Jak." Naruto's eyes widened and he looked at Jak, who was ridged and tense, shaking slightly as the face disappeared, the northern HQ getting the signal back. Samos's face took over and Naruto moved closer to Jak, taking his hand and squeezing it lightly. He flinched slightly as Jak squeezed back with more force before losing the grip.

"We must unite our forces or we're through! You've got to reach us!" Samos's face was now replaced with a familiar frizz haired woman; Quix.

"We're taking a lot of heat up here and there's only so much my aerial forces and I can do. We have to get together or neither of us will make it through this war. The KG Robots are finding new ways to get at my zoomers' weakness and with the floating War Factory popping out more robots than a pregnant worker rat." Quix said.

"We need to assault the KG front," Torn said. "If we can break through their defenses we may be able to get back to HQ and link up." He paused and grinned at the trio across the command com-link. "Care to make some noise boys?" Jak grinned, glad to have something to take his mind off Errol.

"We're always up for a little rumble, right?"

"Fish in a barrel." Naruto said. Daxter grinned.

"Fish in a barrel baby."

"Good, there's an Eco Missile outside. If you can charge it and blast it into the barrier the KG are hiding behind we can get into their forces." Torn said. The trio nodded and left, walking outside to the Missile.

"I'll handle this!" Daxter said, jumping onto the missile and releasing it. Naruto watched him before turning to Jak.

"Jak?"

"Yeah?" He asked, turning to look at Naruto but keeping Daxter in his site.

"…Are you okay? I mean with what happened in there?" The fox teen asked softly.

"I won't let him get to me. I'll destroy Errol for all he's done." Naruto fell silent and looked back at Daxter, eyes widening at seeing him going straight for one of the mines in the water. He gasped as a large, scaled dark grey-green tail with a dark red bottom grabbed the mine and jerked it under water.

"Yagura?" Naruto whispered under his breath, having no idea how he linked the name from a memory he had long ago with this thing.


Daxter beamed and ran at the busty blond in the gun range. Tess's face lit up brightly at seeing him and knelt, opening her arms for him to run into. "Daxter! You're back!" She cooed, standing with him in her arms. "Ooooo…did that mean old desert burn your itty bitty paws?" She cooed even more. Daxter, though was loving the attention of being squished into her well developed breasts, did need to breath.

"Hey Tess baby! Don't crusha-the-merchandise!" He said jumping out of her arms. "How's biz?"

"I'm designing new guns to help out the war effort!" Tess said, proudly pointing out all the prototypes.

"You make guns now?" Naruto asked, looking at a small gun mod on the wall.

"Yeah…I just finished this new gun!" She said, picking up a gun with a new mod attached to it. "It sports a mutli-port, large bore, gyro-burst launcher," She pointed it at an invisible enemy. "With blowback breech assist, using full-jacket Eco depleted, armor piercing slugs, and a continuous kill zone scanner for tight groupings and a high-cycle rate of fire." She said, cocking the gun with a deadly look. Tess then giggled cutely and looked over at the three, who were staring at her with confused faces. "It's a hobby!"

Jak grinned and reached for the gun, only to have Tess pull it back. "Not so fast. First you have to prove you can protect my little shnookums in the new gun course." She said, winking at Daxter who made a kissing motion at her.

"Oh brother." Jak said, pulling out his Beam Reflexor mod and heading in, leaving Daxter, Tess and Naruto alone.

"How have you been Naruto?" Tess asked as she rubbed Daxter's ears.

"Fine, just…surviving."

"I understand. Things have been rough here…I feel for a lot of people here, most of us were chosen I think to get us away from those we love." A sad look entered her eyes. "Rucah and Jewell have been split from Quix and Crow…" She nuzzled the top of Daxter's head. "It's hard, knowing that someone you care deeply about is a war away…" She looked up at Jak walked out, looking up at the score and grinning. She put Daxter down and grabbed the gun mod.

"Not bad shooting Jak…for a guy. Now I want you to protect my little baby with this," Tess passed the gun to Jak and then got in his face, that deadly look back. "Or else I'll hunt you down and hurt you REAL bad…Okay?" She asked with a giggle at the end.

"Wow!" Daxter said. "I didn't know you had so much…rrrawwr!" The ottsel said, clawing the air, looking extremely pleased.

"Why don't you boys come down to mine and Jewell's place in a few hours? We'll have a big dinner." Naruto smiled and nodded.

"I think we'd all like that."


Jak leaned back in his chair. The house was quiet small; it was one of the houses jutting out over the port, which boasted a great view but very tight living space. The only people here was himself, Daxter, Naruto, Tess, Torn, Rucah, Duhon, Jewell, Jinx (which was quite surprising), and a new face called Eika. The dinner though, was wonderful, steamed vegetables and Yakow steak.

His eyes slid over to Naruto, who was curled up in a chair with a glass of warm Yakow milk. He was talking happily with Rucah, though the man seemed very hesitant around the fox teen. Jewell and Tess were cleaning the table and kitchen, talking in small whispers and a few giggles. Torn was in the chair next to him, silent but enjoying the company. Duhon was asleep in his own chair, Daxter curled up and sleeping too with a full belly. Jinx had excused himself to go outside to smoke after getting hit by Jewell for trying to smoke with her grandfather in the room.

A smile twitched Jak's lips as he glanced out the window at the port. His eyes went impossibly wide as there was a child-like face looking into the window. Messy light-grey hair sat on his head and pupiless pink eyes was watching the room. A stitch-like scar ran from under his left eye all the way down his cheek. Jak's eyes followed the strange teen's, landing right on the laughing Naruto.

His blue eyes flashed back to the window, darker to black now. A strangled gasp was caught in his throat as the teen was now looking at him. His placed a finger to his lips and water surrounded him then fell, leaving the black of night where he once was.

"Jak?" Torn asked, at seeing Jak's pale face go white.

"I'm fine…It's just late."

"Yeah. We should all rest before tomorrow comes." Jak nodded and looked back at the window. Who was that teen?