|A Few Days Later|
'Are you sure you'll be alright?' Jak asked her, a worried look on her face. Valentine nodded, looking at the Haven Forest portal. Samos had asked her to take out some Metal Head scouts that had been sneaking around there, and she had gladly accepted. It seemed that her emotional state at the moment only made the Dark Eco production in her body worse.
'I'll be fine.' She said, not looking Jak in the eyes. She had been rather unable to do so, after his constant being on the phone with Keira as they were catching up. Today the two of them were going on a date, and even the thought about it made her stomach twist in knots. She didn't have a right to be so upset about it, there was nothing going on between her and Jak after all. Still, Daxter looked at her in an equally worried manner.
'You ain't looking that good, sugar plum. Maybe you should just head home. Jak and I can take over if you'd like.'
'No.' Valentine answered, before Jak could. 'I'll be fine. I… I need this.'
That much of it was true, at least. She was strained to keep from emitting in purple sparks now, and she couldn't put off transforming much longer. She needed to change. She needed to -
-Kill.
Valentine wrapped one arm around her waist, giving Jak a faint push with her other hand.
'Go on then… She'll be waiting for you.'
|The Date|
Jak and Keira sat on opposite ends of a table, drinking something the waitress had called 'Like, the best drink in all of Haven city, yeah'. As it turned out, it was a fizzy bright green soft drink, so sweet Jak thought his taste buds might incinerate from it.
'So…' he finally said, breaking the silence. 'What have you been doing these past two years?'
Keira didn't answer right away, but took a few extra sips. Then she cleared her throat, before she started talking. 'Well, at first I was scared of course, being dropped in the middle of nowhere. But eventually a Lurker found me, and he and his family helped me get started.'
'A Lurker?' Jak asked, not believing it. Lurkers were vicious and aggressive beasts after all.
'Oh, they changed, over time. Now they're mostly merchants, though they say the Baron also uses them as slaves. And Barna – the one that found me – also happened to be able to help me get a license as a mechanic for the palace. I found a small apartment not too far from my work, I ended up getting contacted by the Underground after a few months, and also by Krew. I still can't believe you work for him.' She added the last part with a voice as if she had swallowed something sour.
Jak shrugged, taking another sip of the overly sweet drink. 'Well, he pays good enough. And like Valentine says, it's not because you have to work with someone that you need to like them. She says she only trusts Krew as far as she can throw him.'
Keira's face twisted up. 'Yes well… about Valentine…'
'Yeah?'
'How sure are you that you can trust her?'
Jak couldn't believe his ears. The question stung him, almost as if Keira had questioned how much she could trust him. And yet the look on her face told him that she was completely serious, and was expecting him to answer in kind.
'What do you mean, can I trust her? Of course I can.'
'Yeah? What gives you that idea? She's a wanted criminal, she's been infected by Dark Eco and she runs around the town posing as some kind of pop star while she should be hiding if she was in any real danger. You said that she's one of the smartest people you know, and I can't believe it. She doesn't seem like she's so smart at all.'
Jak tried to say something, but he found his vocal cords strangely lacking. Keira kept looking at him, expecting him to say something.
'I'm infected by Dark Eco too.' He finally said. It seemed like the most logical point to start from. 'And I'm a wanted criminal. If it wasn't for Valentine's work, I wouldn't be able to sit here with you, Keira.' He tried not to yell, but it was surprisingly hard. It was almost as if an attack on Valentine was like an attack on himself. They had been working together for so long now, he felt vaguely awkward not having her sit here as well, looking at him with those blue eyes that gave him the impression they could see right down to his soul.
'Maybe you are. But you're Jak. I know you, and I trust you.'
'I trust Valentine.' Jak said, gruffly. Valentine had been the one taking him in her home, showing him how to control himself.
Keira sighed, but reached out and touched Jak's hand. He didn't pull back. 'I'm sorry I brought this up, Jak. Let's not talk about this anymore, okay? Let's talk about something else.'
Jak nodded, and watched how Keira signaled for the waitress to bring another drink. He watched her, and he remembered all the good times he had had with Keira. And then he thought about Valentine, and how she was doing now.
|Haven Forest|
One of the two scouts lunged at her with his head, teeth snapping shut only inches from her abdomen. Valentine had moved back, using the reflexes the Dark Eco had given her body. Ripples of Dark Energy shook through her body as she took advantage of the creatures lunge, and ripped with elongated fingernails at its eyes. The Metal Head retracted it's long neck, shrieking as hot, dark-colored blood gushed out. The other scout was hovering slightly above her, its long and strangely elegant body moving gracefully as it tried to determine the best way to attack her.
She moved out of the way when it dove down, and it crashed down in a tree, lying in a crumpled up heap. It seemed to be slightly dazed from the blow. She moved closer, to slash open its throat. The first scout moved for her again, its claws grazing her skin, pulling three long marks on her hip.
Pain. It was strangely soothing, joining in with the pain already in her body. She accepted it, and growled at the Metal Head.
Valentine was, in the end, nothing more than a passenger when the Eco took over. She watched how she lunged out, just as the creature flew up. That had been a mistake. Instead of clawing at its throat as she had intended, her nails now drew a long and bloody line across its tender belly. Guts started to stream out as the creature wailed and fell down. Valentine was gushed under by a shower of blood and intestines. It didn't matter, she was victorious. She ended the other scout's life quickly, letting the blood spray away from her as she cut open its long and delicate neck. Though she felt sickened, there was also the rush that only dark and piping hot Metal blood could bring forth.
And then there was a whimper, sounding from behind her back. When she turned around, her now black irises focused on a little, moving shape. It was dark green and brown, not the brighter colors the older Metal Heads had been. When Valentine got up, blood dripped from her hair onto the ground. The thing on the ground whimpered even louder when she got nearer, but didn't move. Her Dark Form could smell the fear it emitted, as it tried to somehow seem even smaller. Her heart started to pump faster with the prospect of a kill. It didn't seem like it would put up a fight, but it deserved to die.
'Does it?' she asked herself. To her surprise her body stopped walking, as if it was surprised by her questioning of motives. She could feel the Eco in her body balling together, as if tried to focus. This was new to her. It had never tried to communicate before. Then again, she had never tried to resist it either, only assuming that she couldn't help herself.
In her mind visions of Metal Heads killing people swam up, colored through a dark purple mist. Valentine realized that this was the Eco's answer, it's way of letting her know that she was doing the right thing.
'It's only a baby.' She answered back.
A new image, of Metal Heads attacking children and pregnant women. They did not hesitate to kill. They didn't mind it either, but enjoyed it. She would enjoy it too.
'I'm not like that.' She replied.
Now the Eco played for her her last two kills. She hadn't objected to those, now had she? Nor had she objected to the Metal Heads she had killed before that. And didn't she want to kill Praxis as well? When she was thinking about how she could kill him, she didn't imagine the most peaceful ways to do it either.
'This is different. Praxis deserves it.'
This thing would deserve it eventually. Shouldn't she take advantage and save some lives while she had the chance? It was such a dark and evil thing, there would come a time in its life when it did deserve to die. Just one quick stroke across the neck, and its heart would do the rest of the work.
Her body started to move again. The little Metal Head rocked back and forth, flapping it's little wings in an attempt to lift off. It didn't work, the wings were too small to carry its weight. Valentine watched in horror. If this really did happen, she would truly be a monster. No matter who, it didn't deserve to die right now.
'No. No. NO!'
She forced herself back in control. The change in command caused her to fall back, right on her behind. Her nails returned to their normal length, the dark purple sparks disappeared and her heightened senses were gone. She suddenly felt blind and deaf when that happened, but also relieved. She hadn't killed the little thing. She had won back control. A tingling pain ran through her spine, but she didn't pay attention to it. Minor pains were nothing right now. She just kept sitting there, her hands placed on both sides as she was recovering.
The blood on her clothes and in her hair started to clot. She didn't know how long she had been sitting there, and only a while after the whimpering had stopped did she realize she couldn't hear it anymore. Looking in front of her, she could see the little Metal Head looked at her, the bright yellow stone in its forehead sparkling softly. It didn't make any sounds anymore, but shrank back when her blue eyes focused on it.
'It's okay now.' She said softly. 'I won this time. I won't hurt you. I'm not that much of a monster.'
The creature sat on its haunches looking at her curiously. It probably understood her, Metal Heads weren't so stupid as people believed. They had a hive mind though, meaning they took risks for others of their kind her own species wouldn't.
Rain started to drizzle down. Valentine was grateful for it, as it drew long streaks on her blood-stained skin. Pink drops of water fell from her body and hair. Valentine suddenly felt sad as she looked at the two scouts she had killed. There were more bodies in the valley, and soon they would start to decompose and turn into food for the trees. She wasn't sorry for what she had done, but she did feel sorry for all the life she had taken. And she felt guilty for the part inside her that enjoyed it all as well.
The little Metal Head started to creep closer, until it could touch her feet. It slowly stretched one little paw forward, touching her leg. The warmth from its paw reached through her pants. It looked at her and let out a pitiable growl. The rain on its body seemed to light up the dark green as it moved. It growled again, with more urgency. A growling sound followed, and Valentine tensed up before she realized it was coming from its stomach. Astounded she realized it was asking her for food. She realized there were several options, and took the one that although not the most convenient, the best for her ease of mind.
|Valentine's Home|
'You're going to what now?' Jak asked. When he had gotten home he didn't have time to just fall onto the sofa like had become his habit. When the doors had zoomed open he was welcomed in something he thought was the after-effect of the sugar bomb he had been drinking. How else could he have explained the Kid being chased by what seemed to be a baby Metal Head? Before he had had time to pull out his gun, Valentine had jumped him, protecting both of the… little ones.
'You can't raise a Metal Head in the city!' he told her, pointing at said Metal Head, who was being carried by Valentine's protégé.
'Why not? This is a great opportunity to do research. And look how happy it's made the kid. It even gets along with his Crocodog.' Valentine replied, sounding dangerously motherly.
Jak threw a glance to the side. The mute child seemed to be busy teaching the two animals how to sit. The dog fared better than the Metal, who only cocked its head to the side every time the Kid moved his hand down, signaling the sit command.
'It's still a bad idea. We're both wanted, the Kid's wanted, the damn Crocodog is probably wanted. Do we really need to add a Metal Head to the mix?'
'What are they going to do, execute us two times?' Valentine retorted, frowning at Jak.
'Look Jak, I need this. I… you should know how it feels when the darkness takes over. I had almost killed it. Instead I let it live, and that wouldn't have been much mercy if I had just left it to fend for itself in the forest. I mean, look at it! It doesn't even have any teeth. How is it supposed to hunt?'
'Well, I'm happy it's unable to hunt for now. Can you imagine how much damage it would do?'
'Jak… it's only for a little while. Just until it has grown enough to fend for itself. I can't send it away now.'
'Aaaaah!' Daxter screeched, trying to get the Metal Head away from him. Apparently the little critter had mistaken the Otsell's tail for a chewing toy. 'Get my tail out of your slimy mouth, you little- woah!'
The darkly colored creature jumped up the sofa, carrying Daxter to Valentine, wagging its tail. The wings flapped helplessly to its sides, as if it were again trying to take flight. It made soft sounds, in between a growl and a whine, to get her attention. When she looked at it, it dropped Daxter to the floor, looking oddly triumphant. When Daxter tried to walk away, it growled at him. Daxter stopped moving at once, and took a step back to where it had dropped him. When you were his size, even something like a baby Metal Head was a pretty big threat.
'I think the Kid's been teaching it how to fetch.' Daxter said, looking at Valentine in a grumpy way. Valentine shrugged, picking up Daxter and running a hand past the baby's head. It made funny noises again, before it slipped off to play with the Crocodog.
'I'm sorry Daxter.' She added with a sigh. 'I'll try to teach it manners. The thing is, we know very little about Metal Heads so this could prove to be an invaluable learning experience. More importantly, these creatures thrive on Dark Eco. If I research how Meta's body breaks it down, I might be able to find a cure for me and Jak.'
'A cure?' Jak asked. For a moment he forgot quite how to breathe. A stop to the constant pain, the constant urge to let loose the beast. The chance for a normal life. It was more than he had dare to hope for. 'You think examining… Meta might give us a chance.'
'I can't be sure. I'm not making any promises, but it's better than waiting around for the day when we might not be able to change back. I'm two years ahead of you in this Jak. I've had this in my body for four years now, and trust me, it does get worse. I almost lost it today. You learn from it, but as you learn it consumes you, twists your mind. It gets to know you, and why you do things. And it twists your reasoning around, so you might do what it wants. If there's even the slightest chance of me finding the beginning of a cure by keeping Meta in the house for a time, I'm more than willing to do it. You?'
Jak looked to the little playing creature. It seemed to be harmless enough. It didn't even have teeth, and the claws were sharp but so tiny. It was unlikely it would be able to tear through skin like that. He thought about Keira, and what she had said about the taint. And he thought about Valentine. He had Keira. She might accept the taint one day, he had a chance with her. But Valentine… the day would come when he would spend more and more time together with Keira. Valentine wouldn't be part of that.
She would be alone once again, trapped in a world where pain and anger were all-consuming. Who would take the time to know her if they knew about the Eco? If she kept the Eco a secret and only told about it later, the person would also be offended by her keeping a secret. Samos and Torn were there for her, but they didn't understand. If Jak left her…
She had managed all these years. She would again, if necessary. But if he did have to leave her, he would rather it be in a body and mind that didn't make her hurt so badly.
'Keep it then. Finding a cure would be just what we need.'
|Moon's note : Anonymous reviews are now also enabled. Remember, criticism is always welcomed, but let's keep it civil. All people with an account are of course also welcome to leave a review. Have a nice day!|
