I'm not dead! I just took a long time to write it.
Part 11: Teachers
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE QUOTE AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS CHAPTER. I just thought it fit.
This is a long chapter. And I mean LONG.
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"'All right,' Ender gasped. 'You win.'
The man's knee thrust painfully downward. 'Since when,' asked the man, his voice soft and rasping, 'do you have to tell the enemy when he has won?'
Ender remained silent.
'I surprised you once, Ender Wiggin. Why didn't you destroy me immediately afterward? Just because I looked peaceful? You turned your back on me. Stupid. You have learned nothing. You have never had a teacher.'
Ender was angry now, and made no attempt to control or conceal it. 'I've had too many teachers, how was I supposed to know you'd turn out to be a – '
'An enemy, Ender Wiggin,' whispered the old man. 'I am your enemy, the first one you've ever had who was smarter than you. There is no teacher but the enemy. No one but the enemy will tell you what the enemy is going to do. No one but the enemy will ever teach you how to destroy and conquer. Only the enemy shows you where you are weak. Only the enemy tells you where he is strong. And the rules of the game are what you can do to him and what you can stop him from doing to you. I am your enemy from now on. From now on I am your teacher."
From Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card
AN: The italics are when Jak is thinking to himself; the boldface is when Dark Jak is thinking to Jak. Enjoy!
Jak woke instantly from Keira's side when the buzzer sounded at 0545. He pulled open the door to his cell and advanced into the corridor, turning towards the training room that he and Shay had used the day before.
He had not gone for more than a second before he felt a huge weight collide with the side of his head, the unexpected blow knocking him off balance and into the rough rock of the cave tunnel. Once more, Jak found himself being pinned to the wall.
No more. I won't let her do this again.
Before Shay had time to finish trapping her soldier against the wall, he ducked and twisted out of her grip, turning to face her and only just restraining himself from letting the Dark Eco out and pounding her flat.
Oh, my God. What am I doing?
You're learning. The only way to prevent her from attacking you in the future is to injure her badly enough that she won't try again.
Maybe you're right. I'll try next time.
"Why are you doing this to me?" he growled, the Dark Eco rising in him with his anger.
"You need to learn about what we're going to be doing. You need to learn about the enemy. The enemy will not show you any mercy, nor will you give it. The enemy lies, tricks, and cheats to win. The enemy doesn't give a damn about you. And I am your enemy, until you pass your first Assignment." Shay answered the hard, toughened look on her face once more.
"And you're also learning. That was a good first attempt; be ready for next time. But sadly, today, you'll be attempting to break your powers with Payne. Hmm, that means I don't have anyone to throw around today. But it's just as well; you'll be stronger when he lets you out, and therefore be harder to beat up…"
You know, she is right.
About what?
You're learning, as I said before, and the only way for you to do it is to know firsthand the pain and caution.
Whatever you say.
Shay murmured to herself as she walked away, leaving Jak to find his way to Payne's infusion room. The leader himself intercepted Jak before he reached it, and guided the Dark One – in – training to another, smaller space. The two hybrid species sat cross – legged on the sandy floor and began their training.
Payne began to speak. "Part of your training is physical; the other is a more complex study, of Eco. I understand you have specific abilities you can perform?"
Jak nodded and demonstrated his Dark Bomb, Dark Blast, and Dark Strike.
"How exactly did you learn how to perform these?"
"The Precursor Oracle hit me with a bolt of some kind and I…I just knew how to do the Bomb and Blast. I learned how to do my Dark Strike when I destroyed a Dark Eco basin by hand."
"Ah." Payne looked thoughtful. "So…This will be harder than I thought."
The six – foot – tall Metal Head stood and signaled for Jak to return to normal. Jak did so, and then realized he was on eye level with the Metal Head. Hmm…Must've made me taller…or something.
"Before I can demonstrate, I need to get in your head…again. Get used to it; it's the only way I can teach you. So give me your hand."
Oh, no. He's going inside my head again? Jak was understandably reluctant to hold out his hand.
Get over it, Jak. The dark form continued talking. If you want to get stronger, you have to sacrifice some things, including a little blood.
Grr…Fine. Jak extended his right hand to the Metal Head.
"Be careful," warned Payne. "Watch where I cut your wrist. If you go too high or low, you will bleed to death."
Ahh! What if he misses?
Just trust him. He's done this for fourteen other Dark Ones.
You're right. I'll shut up now.
Payne supported Jak's wrist with one perpetually clawed hand, while the other was carefully drawing one claw across the very, very heel of his hand, right under where the tough flesh of the palms starts.
Jak felt a surprising amount of stinging pain from that one cut hit him.
Wow, he must have something in his claws to make it that painful.
Of course. Watch!
Payne brought a vial out of his belt and caught a little blood in it, quickly corking it and placing it on a tray. He then brought his claws back to the cut, inserting the very tips of the talons in Jak's cut and injecting Dark Eco and another black substance into it before bringing glue to seal up the slash.
"Are you sure it's safe to use glue to close a cut?"
"Certainly. Do you not use it in Haven?" Payne looked genuinely surprised.
"No, we stitch up deep cuts with a needle and thread."
"Interesting." He smiled lightly and began to apply the glue.
Jak? Good, I can hear you, said Payne. Watch carefully.
The leader sat Jak down in a corner and walked out to the middle of the room. Just so you know, the link works both ways. You can sense into my mind as I talk to yours.
Jak tried it, finding Payne's swirling mass of thoughts in about a quarter of the Metal Head's brain, that was not corrupted by Dark Eco.
Sense me as I do this. Jak felt Payne visualize his dark form. Then he did it once more, without lightning. This image took over his entire brain, concentrating every scrap of gray matter he had to visualizing the image. Then, while keeping the image fresh in his mind, Payne turned Dark, the Metal Head plates that were solely for combat purposes sliding out of his skin. Jak noticed only a few plates emerging, and only then realized that Payne had a few plates cemented in his normal form as well.
No lightning was emitted. No sound was made. He simply slid from one form to the other completely noiselessly.
You can try this later. But I must demonstrate a few more things.
The Metal Head leader assumed his normal form once more,
Payne allowed the lightning to escape – but for the Dark Sage, his body released fire instead of electricity. Dark flames licked along his limbs, threatening to devour him at any second. He carefully formed his index fingers and thumbs into a triangle, keeping it at arm's length.
Jak then sensed Payne feeling the depth of his own power, mustering it to his fingers, charging it in one area. When it was enough, he visualized an image for one instant, and then let it loose.
The power made a dark film appear in the triangle for less than an instant before it was ignited by the small breath of flaming air Payne gently blew at it. The membrane turned into a pillar of fire that extended for more than two yards before fading away.
That is a basic skill, and it is what you must do. The power is flexible; you can charge it any way you want to, in any part of your body. You can even change its form, like from electricity to fire, like I have as my default. But that will come later; first try this.
As he stood, Jak felt Payne recede from his mind, and the dark form take his place.
Seems easy enough, don't you think?
I have a feeling this is one of those things that's harder than it seems.
Maybe. Why don't you try?
I guess nothing bad could happen…
"Try only withholding your armor first," suggested Payne. "It will make the next task easier."
Jak visualized a picture of himself without the plates. He concentrated his mind on the image, every bit except that making the transition from light to dark. While he let the dark form take over, he tried to hold on to the image and keep the plates from sliding out: He could feel them pushing outwards against his skin, trying to escape from the confines of his body. Jak kept thinking of the image and fiercely struggling with his body, while repeating one thought:
No plates. No plates. No plates. No plates…
After five minutes of this struggle, Dark Jak finally emerged with no armor.
Ahh, that feels so much better. Do you have *any* idea how heavy those things are?
No. Do you?
Actually, I don't either. That was meant to be a rhetorical question…
"Good. I know you are tired, but we have yet to finish this training session." Payne rose from his seat in the corner and walked to the previously unnoticed weapons rack on the wall.
Have you noticed that there aren't very many firearms here? All I see are swords and the Metal Head built-in launchers.
Hmmm, you're right. Maybe we'll see more of this now.
The rack had standard-issue Freedom League Tri-guns, portable Dark Eco sidearms meant to be clipped on to the wrist and fired, large shields, and two-foot-long, razor-sharp curved swords. The one weapon that truly caught Jak's eye, however, was the magnificent blade that sat on top of the rack.
The edge alone was almost four feet long. A six-inch portion directly above the hilt, on the left side, had been meticulously sharpened into ripping spikes. On the right, a foot from the tip, the edge flared outward a few inches to form a broader point on one side. Instead of a disk-shaped hilt, like the other short swords, the cross-hilt was formed of a double-pointed spike, with the sword-blade thrust through it. A smooth, perfectly straight handle extended outward, long enough for Jak to fit both his large hands on it with a good six inches to spare.
My God, it's…
Powerful. Can you feel the Eco in it?
You're right.
It could simply have been a well-made sword for a collector in Haven City, if not for the luster…or lack of luster. Darkness seemed to emanate from within, gobbling up the light around it and resembling a shadow. Now, Jak also felt the throbbing of Dark energy inside it, a reservoir of power even larger than Shay's as he had felt it the day before.
"She's beautiful, is she not?" inquired Payne. It took Jak a moment to realize he was referring to the sword.
"This is Shadow. I made her myself before my acceptance test into the inner clan of the Metal Heads."
"Anyway, I want you to see the strength of your plates. Turn Dark for me," ordered Payne.
Jak quickly let the dark energy and attached Metal Head plates cover him, then stood at the far end of the room while Payne focused the scope of a sniper rifle on a chest plate.
Crack! The gun's report sounded around the room as the energy bolt struck Jak. He barely felt the impact through the layers of armor.
Efficient, commented Dark. This will make me more efficient. You ought to thank Payne for giving you those grafts.
Why don't you do it yourself, O high and mighty?
Because I still, after no less than three and a half years after I was conceived, haven't figured out how to use those vocal cords of yours.
The Metal Head leader advanced towards Jak and the weapons.
"There is nothing to fear from Freedom Guards and Wastelanders on the field of battle, unless they have a Peacemaker." He twisted his face in an odd look. "Sig is the one factor we need to disable before the attack on Spargus can begin. That gun of his is extremely deadly. But anyway, time for another demonstration."
Payne took a few Gun Course targets that had been behind the rack and set them around the room. "Stand back," he instructed Jak.
He tensed his legs, balanced Shadow in his hand, and suddenly leaped to the first target, about three meters away. It was vaporized with a single stroke of the blade while Payne was still in the air. He used the momentum to leap off of one foot to the next target, which he batted in the air with the flat of the blade before summoning a Dark ray from the sword's pool of energy and blasting the steel-coated plywood to bits.
Payne did not jump or run to the next target; he summoned a myriad of dark hands from his own to pull the target towards him. It came, but apparently not fast enough for his liking: He lunged towards it and sliced it into thirty-two parts in a dizzyingly fast whirlwind of strokes (Jak thought he looked rather like the Tasmanian Devil).
Payne finally lowered his sword and looked to Jak. "Your next lesson is with Shay; she will be teaching you the ways of the army and improving your physical performance. I will, from now on, be your mentor in the ways of Dark Eco. Go now; she is waiting."
Jak left the Dark training room to the sound of more targets being sliced up by Payne.
Wow. He really knows what he's doing, doesn't he?
It's good that he does; otherwise, all that energy in the wrong place could kill even a Dark One, like me or him!
Yeah. Come on; maybe we'll learn how to be more efficient, like him!
You are so naїve. He's your role model now?
You're the naїve one; you don't recognize the power!
I've had enough with power struggles and Haven. This is the new way to go!
The split personality of Jak walked leisurely to Shay's quarters, the halves chatting amicably to each other, their eternal feud forgotten – for the moment.
