All right! Sorry for the long wait in updating, but here's the next chapter! Thanks again for all the reviews, favorites, and alerts! :)
DISCLAIMER: Only my OCs, side plots, and minor alterations to the original gameplay are mine. Everything else belongs to Naughty Dog.
Come on, Paige, I chided myself, Wake up! In my dream, however, I could see the familiar humanoid appearance of the Precursors themselves.
You have disrespected us, Paige, the Precursors reminded me unnecessarily, Now, you must be punished.
I think that lightning bolt trick you pulled back in the desert was punishment enough.
After your next arena battle, you must become one with our monks.
What? Become one with the monks that hate my guts? No way! Besides, I have a job at the watchtower already. With Lena.
You will be released from that job for as long as you need to be with the monks. You should heed our word this time.
I don't like this.
This will teach you to think before you act. Farewell, young one.
With that, my eyes snapped open. How much time had passed since I had fallen asleep? I quickly rolled on my side and glanced out the window to see that it was night time.
Suddenly, I heard the door open and slam shut again. "Jak?" I called out, "Daxter?"
"Yeah, it's us!" Jak replied, and I breathed a sigh of relief as I threw the covers off and went to go greet them.
"How are you feeling?" the renegade asked.
I sighed and wiped my forehead. "Better," I told him, "But apparently, the Precursors want me to befriend the monks."
"I told you they were going to punish you," Jak said, smirking, and I swatted his shoulder.
"I'm only human," I joked, "I make mistakes sometimes, too. So yeah, I have to work with the monks now. I bet Seem will love that."
"Paint Face will be fine," Dax assured me, waving his paw.
"Anyway," I continued, changing the subject so that I wouldn't have to be reminded of my conversation with Veger, "Where have you two been?"
"Beating things," Daxter chirped, and Jak rolled his eyes and smacked the back of his friend's head.
"What?" I laughed.
"Just ignore him," Jak told me, "We beat Kleiver's top score at the turret by the beach, and he gave us this." He held out a Light Eco Crystal for me to see.
"And he said the last arena fight is tomorrow morning!" Dax piped up, and I face-palmed myself.
"Doesn't Damas think we've done enough for this city?" I groaned.
"Well, we have to prove ourselves," Jak reasoned, "We better get to sleep." I nodded and then laid down to go back to sleep, feeling relieved when there were no Precursors this time.
The next morning…
"Thank Mar this is the final arena fight," I sighed as we walked up the stairs. I assumed Lena already knew I had to do this for Damas.
"Good luck," Jak said to me.
"Thank you," I thanked him, nodding, "Good luck to you, too."
Once again, we heard the crowd roar as we entered Spargus Arena. In front of us were two Vulcan Furies, which made me a very happy camper. "Greetings, brave fighters!" Pecker began, "The one, the only, the greatest highness of all highnesses, the magnificent, eminently..."
"Enough!" Damas snapped, "Just get on with it."
"Thank you!" I shouted up to the King of Spargus as Jak and Daxter chuckled.
"Sorry, I got a bit carried away," Pecker apologized, "Did I mention how fabulous your hair looks?"
"Pecker!" Damas growled.
"Yes, right. Another round of games has been called. This is combat to the death. Good luck, and may the bravest man, or in some cases, animal, win."
"Guess I'll go first this time," I decided, checking to make sure the Vulcan Fury was attached to my gun before descending down to the arena itself.
"Good luck, toots!" Dax cried once I was down in the pit. I gave him a thumbs-up just as the first few opponents leaped out of the crates surrounding the arena.
The first time I had ever used a Vulcan Fury was back in Dead Town when Jak and Daxter had used the Titan Suit, and I remembered getting used to the rapid rate of fire. I was a little startled by it now, but gradually got readjusted to it the more I used it. These enemies were much more aggressive than the other two arena fights. Since this was the last time I had to do this, I figured they would be more of a challenge. I glanced down at the long scar that ran down my arm and shook my head. I wasn't going to let that happen again.
I continued to run and shoot just as I heard the usual alarms ring, signaling that some of the floor would disappear. I glanced around to see where the safe points were, and I climbed on the one closest to me as one of the enemies narrowly missed grabbing my ankle. I took a deep breath as I reloaded the Vulcan Fury and heard the crowd cheer. I waited for the next few seconds before I watched the rest of the arena reappear. Leaping down again, I held up the Vulcan Fury and plowed my way through the next set of enemies. Some of them blocked my melee attacks with their swords, but for the most part, I was able to get rid of all of them in order to complete the challenge. There were a few close calls with their swords, but I watched as the same platform I had used to descend down to this level appeared.
"Wait!" Damas suddenly cried, standing up just as I was getting ready to step onto the platform.
"Something wrong?" I called up to him from my level.
"There is a waiting area to your left," Damas explained, pointing, "I want you to wait in there until Jak completes his test."
"What?" I asked, "Why?"
"Just do it!" Deciding that it was better not to argue with the King of Spargus, I hurried away from the arena and into the waiting area, where I found Kleiver waiting for me.
"Kleiver?" I spat, "What are you doing here?"
"Shh," Kleiver shushed me, grinning knowingly about something as Jak and Daxter lowered down to the arena as well.
Jak immediately whipped out his Vulcan Fury as well as he began taking out all his opponents around him, and I found myself cheering him on as he kicked some of them out of the way. At one point, just like in the last battle, one of the bigger men sliced him across the arm, and I gasped from where I was. "Jak!" I cried, but I held my breath as I watched something incredible happen.
Time seemed to stop as Jak suddenly began to glow blue and white. Light Jak! I thought to myself as I watched Jak hover in the air while a humming noise echoed from him. I wonder what's happening, I said to myself once the light was gone. I craned my neck to get a better view, and that was when I saw that the gash on his arm was gone. "Wow," I muttered under my breath.
Once he heard the alarms, Jak rushed over to the closest square to his position, which was on the other side of the arena. At one point, I saw him glance over in my direction, and I gave him a subtle shrug as I wondered why Damas wanted me to wait here.
When the arena returned, Jak continued his fight as he decided to change into Dark Jak at one point. I held my breath as he ran around much faster than before, just hitting all enemies around him without using the Dark Bomb attack or anything like that. While he did that, I gasped as I suddenly felt Kleiver pat my shoulder.
"You had somethin' to do with his dark side, didn't you?" he whispered into my ear, and I withdrew a little bit.
"How'd you know?" I asked in a low voice as I focused my attention on Jak, who was nearly finished now.
"I saw the look on your face when he changed during the first battle," Kleiver replied, "You looked awfully guilty, eh?"
"Do you enjoy making me feel as uncomfortable as possible?" I asked.
Kleiver shrugged. "I was just curious," he said.
"Well, neither of us would prefer to talk about it," I responded harshly.
"Fine with me," Kleiver retorted nonchalantly, "But it looks like his other side likes you more than his regular self." I glared at Damas's right hand man as I glanced around the arena again. Dark Jak was still out as he finished off the rest of the warriors, and he glanced over and smirked at me in victory again as the crowd cheered. For a minute, I couldn't help but wonder if Kleiver was right about Dark Jak. I just shook my head and watched as Jak and Daxter remained on the arena.
"So why is Damas making me wait here?" I asked Kleiver.
"He wants you and Jak to fight against one more opponent, as well as each other," Kleiver explained, unlocking the gate and pushing me back onto the arena, "I told you I'd be able to get you two to fight each other. Damas figured since you two won your separate challenges, he wanted to see who was stronger out of the two of you." He snickered from behind me, and I rolled my eyes as I went to join my friends as Jak reverted back to his regular self.
"Did you hear?" I asked Jak and Daxter once I caught up to them, "Damas wants us to fight an extra warrior."
"Yeah, he told us before we started our fight," Jak informed me, "And we're supposed to fight each other, too."
"No way," I whispered under my breath, "Let's see about this new warrior, and then we'll figure out what to do after that." Jak nodded tersely, and we readied our weapons as we prepared to face another opponent. We crept around the side of one of the safety boxes, and when we got a good look at our opponent, we were all shocked.
"Sig?" Jak and I gasped, glancing at each other and instantly lowering our weapons.
"Jak? Daxter?" Sig replied, "Paige?"
"Sig!" Dax cried happily.
"Well, don't you three look sorrier than ever!" Sig growled, and I wondered why he wasn't being as friendly as he had been back in Haven City.
"What are you doing here?" Jak asked.
"Honing my skills," Sig said as he simply raised his Peacemaker and pointed it at us, "Let's finish this."
"Wait, time out!" I gasped, jumping a little bit at the sight of the Peacemaker.
"Whoa, come on, Sig," Jak added from next to me, "We're not going to fight you."
"And I'm not going to fight you either, Jak," I assured him as I put my weapon away.
"If we don't fight each other, he'll kill all of us," Sig explained, "The rule of the arena. Sorry, nothing personal." He raised the Peacemaker again and looked like he was about to shoot it.
"Uh oh," Dax stammered from Jak's shoulder as he gulped. I closed my eyes for a minute and grabbed onto Jak's other shoulder as I waited for Sig to finish us off. Please don't do this, Sig, I prayed to myself.
However, the longer Sig waited, the less he looked like he would go through with it. I opened one eye, and then the other as Sig finally backed off, dropping the Peacemaker in the process. I found myself involuntarily breathing a sigh of relief.
"Blasphemy!" Damas roared from his seat, "One must destroy the other two! Complete the test or face worse pain!" I felt my heart beat as I became more anxious. Damas was even more intimidating than before, and I wondered what worse pain he was referring to. Maybe Lena was wrong about him. Maybe he wasn't as merciful as I had originally thought. I instantly remembered how Jak and I had fought together in the first arena challenge. That time, Damas hadn't commanded us to fight each other, but now that he had, things were different.
"No, Damas," I replied back as firmly as possible.
"I just know I'm going to regret this," Sig growled as he shook his head.
We all glanced up at Damas again, who was leaping to his feet in fury, making my heart zoom up to my throat. "Seize them!" he commanded, and before we could move even a quarter of an inch, half the Spargus army was already leaping down to the arena as most of them grabbed us by the arms and marched us out of the pit.
"Take them back to the Palace!" Damas boomed, and the army hurried us along as we traveled through the city. Many of the other citizens stared at us, and along the way, I spotted Lena.
"Paige!" she cried, rushing over to us, "What happened?"
I shook my head. "Not now," I whispered, "I'll tell you later." She nodded, but then widened her eyes when she caught a glimpse of Sig.
"Sig's back?" she also whispered. I nodded and watched as one of the soldiers approached Lena.
"Stay back!" he ordered, and Lena backed up a few feet before shooting me a sympathetic stare. She nodded and then walked away just as our large group finally made it to the Palace.
"Damas wants you to stay here!" one of the soldiers informed us, "Do not leave the Palace! Got it?"
We all nodded as the army left, and once they were gone, we sat in silence once again. What could we say after that little incident? I sighed as I folded my hands and glanced down at my lap.
Not even Daxter could come up with one of his usual witty comments, and when he was quiet, we all knew the situation was serious. It felt like an eternity as we waited for Damas to get back, and I couldn't help but feel nervous about what he was going to do to us. I don't know who's scarier, I thought, Damas or Praxis? I guess we'll find out.
Fifteen agonizing minutes later, we heard the familiar creaking of the elevator in the corner, and we all looked up as Damas entered the Throne Room. He glared at us to the point where if looks could kill, we would have been dead already. I supposed nothing like this had ever happened in the arena before. I gulped and began to shake a little bit where I stood as Damas stood in front of his throne and slammed his staff onto the ground.
"How dare you three defile the purity of the arena?" Damas snapped, "Sig, your time in Haven City has poisoned you!" Sig looked down, and I briefly wondered what that was all about.
"And you, newcomers!" the angry King continued to rant as he turned his attention to me and Jak, "You two deserve no mercy! I should toss you all into the jaws of the desert! However, Sig, your years of service as our spy in Haven have earned you a chance to redeem yourself. But only this once!" Sig? I thought, A spy? No way!
"A spy?" Jak and I echoed in unison.
"Just shut up," Sig hissed, "I'll tell you two later."
"There is a nest of Metal-Pedes not too far from here," Damas explained, "They have been harassing our artifact carriers for some time. I want you to drive into the heart of the nest and take out all the creatures you find inside. I'd say good luck... but then luck won't help you." I just folded my arms in annoyance.
"You and Jak will go on that mission," Damas decided, pointing at them before facing me, "You're going to be doing something else, Paige."
"Good luck," we whispered to each other out of Damas's earshot. As Jak, Daxter, and Sig walked out of the Throne Room, I wondered if Sig remembered Lena from sometime before the first war. If we didn't get banished, I knew I would have to ask him about that.
"As for you, Paige," Damas piped up, folding his hands behind his back as he faced me next, "My monks have some business to take care of in the Oasis. I want you to accompany them."
I could have laughed. Joining the monks was exactly what the Precursors wanted me to do. "Is it me or does everyone seem so gung ho about pushing me towards the monks?" I asked.
"Consider this to be your punishment," Damas said, "Now go. They are ready."
Sighing, I wiped my forehead as I exited the Palace.
Sig? A spy?
Dax and I couldn't believe it, even as we drove a new vehicle, the Gila Stomper, through the nest of Metal Pedes. We had come too far to be banished now, and we hoped that Damas would change his mind about tossing us out. What was Paige doing as a punishment?
"Keep going, cherries!" Sig shouted as more flying Metal Heads soared over our heads and disappeared into the ground. I lifted my head in time to see a few green eggs that we needed to destroy. There were five of them we needed to take out, and even though this vehicle was good with the guns, it was very slow.
By the time we got to the fifth one, the whole nest began to fill up with green gas. "Let's get out of here!" Dax cried as I turned the Gila Stomper around and tried to navigate my way out of the nest. The gas was getting thicker every second, and Sig began to cough. This was a time I wished I had turbo boosts.
"AHH!" Sig cried as we crashed into a wall to our side.
"I've got it!" I shouted, and we eventually made it back to the entrance of the nest when Damas contacted us.
"You are still with us," he said, "I'm impressed. And you've destroyed the Metal Head eggs. I suppose mercy is in order, and it is granted, but next time, I will not be so lenient! Never again defile the arena!"
"Looks like he means business," I commented, "I wonder what her punishment is."
The others shrugged as we finally pulled into the garage. "Sig?" a voice asked, and we all looked up to see Lena standing by the Sand Shark.
"Lena?" Sig gasped.
"It's so good to see you again!" Lena cried, rushing over to Sig and shaking his hand, "When did you get back?"
"The other day," Sig explained, "We just got punished for defiling the arena."
Lena sighed, and I couldn't help but feel confused. How did Lena and Sig know each other?
"Hey!" Dax piped up, "What's going on here?"
"I knew Sig from before the war in Haven City," Lena explained, "I was banished, but he managed to stay in the city."
"You still keeping watch at the tower?" Sig asked.
"Uh huh," Lena replied, nodding, "How's Haven City been? Not that I care, but I'm curious."
"It's bad," Sig told her, "Real bad."
Lena smirked. "You don't like Haven, do you?" I asked.
"Nope," Lena confirmed, shaking her head, "Anyway, the less time you have to spend in that city, Sig, the better. I knew it was going to hell eventually."
I couldn't help but feel the same way at this point. Paige and I had saved the city and were banished. They clearly didn't need us anymore, and besides, I liked it better out here. It was much less claustrophobic. I wondered what happened to cause Lena to hate Haven City, other than being banished.
"Let's go back to the apartment," Dax suggested, and after leaving Sig and Lena alone so that they could catch up, we returned to our apartment as we waited for Paige to get back.