Oh...my...God! I'm so sorry for not updating this in months! I hit a serious case of writer's block, and I got caught in between school work, other stories, and all that craziness. Anyway, here's the next chapter for anyone who's still interested in reading this. Thanks to everyone who's been reading it, and once again, I'm so sorry!
DISCLAIMER: Only my OCs and plot lines are mine. Everything else belongs to Naughty Dog.
Damn it, Jak, don't die! I thought, watching as he plowed right towards the edge of the track.
"AHHH!" Daxter screamed, but fortunately, it seemed that Jak had managed to regain control of the vehicle. He spun once before finally facing the right direction and taking off in a thick cloud of dust.
"Wow, what a comeback!" Blitz announced over the loudspeakers, "Looks like Jak will still be in the race, but will it be enough to beat 86? Keep watching to find out!"
"You okay, Jak?" I asked him through the headset I was wearing.
"Yeah, we're okay!" Jak confirmed, "Keep going!" I nodded and continued to drive, veering out of the way of some stray Red Eco mines the others must have laid across the track.
That UR-86 was a real piece of work, wasn't he? Come to think of it, he almost reminded me of Erol with his bloodthirsty nature. I shuddered at the thought of him giving me that neutral look after we had beaten him in the other circuit race. Despite the fact that his face was emotionless, there was still that underlying threat. If I hadn't knocked him off the track, he would have beaten us for sure.
Up ahead, Cutter was trying to hit Sig with a Yellow Eco Missile, but the new King of Spargus deftly avoided it and retaliated with a well-placed Red Eco mine, which successfully knocked Cutter off track. "Nice job, Sig!" I complimented him.
"Thanks, cherry," Sig thanked me. I nodded and then refocused on the track in front of me, thankful that Razer wasn't here trying to sabotage me this time.
Speaking of Razer, I was dying to know how he was reacting to all this. Jak, Sig, and I were way far ahead of UR-86 at this point, and I was sure he wasn't too happy about that little fact. Good, I thought, smiling to myself a little bit.
Unlike the other circuit races, the all the events in the Red Cup Grand Prix were three laps instead of two, and we spent the rest of the time trying to rack up as many points as possible. Whoever obtained the most points by the end of the third event won the Grand Prix. Hopefully, one of us would be able to beat UR 86 by gaining enough points.
There were a few close calls involving UR-86, but fortunately, we managed to avoid his attacks for the most part.
While I continued to race over the next three events, I thought back to David, Keira, and Torn, and I wondered how all three of them were doing. I hadn't seen Keira or Torn in the stands since the revelation last night. I sighed to myself. We had to talk to them again after the Grand Prix was over.
And David. I hoped Blitz wasn't annoying the hell out of him, too. And what was happening with my friend and Pecker? Was the moncaw subtly getting information out of him about Mizo's crime syndicate?
Boom! "AHH!" I screamed, feeling something hit the back of my car. I spun a few times, kicking up some dust just as Shiv passed by me, laughing to himself.
"What's the idea?" I shouted after him. Shiv only chuckled before taking off.
"Asshole," I mumbled to myself, putting the pedal to the floor and continuing on my way.
At the end of the second event, Blitz announced that there would be a short break before the third and final circuit race. In that time, I parked my car off to the side and removed my helmet, glancing up in time to see Jak, Daxter, and Sig huddled together in a corner.
"You're doin' great so far, rookie," Sig was complimenting Jak, "But it's only gonna get worse from here. Just hang in there and you should beat that bucket of bolts with no problem."
I picked up the pace a little bit before finally reaching them. "Hey, guys," I greeted.
"Hi, Paige," Jak replied, "You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," I assured him, "We're almost there. A few more points and we'll have 86 beaten!"
Jak was about to answer when we heard another voice out of the blue.
"Great job, you three!"
We turned in time to see Eileen and David sprinting towards us as David hugged me. I felt a little awkward, but I returned the hug all the same as Jak watched us carefully.
"Wow!" David exclaimed, "This has been one exciting race! I was grinning in the broadcasting room the whole time."
"How's bent beak been treatin' ya?" Dax asked, earning a chuckle from the rest of us.
David chuckled. "The usual," he responded, "Except he's been asking me a lot of questions about Mizo. How the hell am I supposed to have all the answers about him?"
Jak, Daxter, and I subtly traded glances. "Well, you're the only one in our group that was actually born here," I explained, "He probably just thinks you might know more than we do, since we're not natives."
All right, so that last part was a lie, but David didn't need to know that.
"It's just weird, that's all." The Freedom League Guard shrugged.
Jak glanced away from us and then pointed out, "Hey, look, it's 86."
We all turned and stared at 86 stood on the other side of the track, watching us before facing the wall and punching it. It produced a loud sound as a little bit of the wall crumbled from the impact.
"Shit," I cursed under my breath, "I hope he doesn't kill us during the third event."
"Ahh, he's no match for the Daxtinator," Daxter reassured me, making me chuckle a little bit.
"Always the confident one, eh?" Eileen teased, "Well, we better get going before Blitz bites our heads off."
"More like mine," David said to her, "I'm supposed to be broadcasting this with him and Pecker. If he makes one more crack about you guys…" He trailed off there.
"Never mind. Good luck out there!"
A harrowing third event later…
My nerves were shot by the time the final lap began. I glanced up ahead through my goggles and noticed that UR-86 and Jak were driving right next to each other, each one trying to run the other off the road. I would have bitten my fingernails, but I had to hold onto the steering wheel or else I'd crash again! I bet Razer will love that, I thought sarcastically as I rolled my eyes, Anything that'll piss off his brother.
By the time the Red Cup Grand Prix was finished, Jak, Sig, UR-86, and I had managed to gain the most points, with Jak in the lead and 86 close behind him. What made it even more harrowing was that Jak was two points ahead of the robot!
As for me, I was in shock when I crossed the finish line and glanced up at the screens that were broadcasting Jak's face everywhere. Fireworks went off, and the crowd was roaring at the top of its lungs.
Off in the distance, I could have sworn I saw UR-86 pounding the dashboard in frustration as he continuously gave Jak supposed death stares. I ignored the sinking sensation in my stomach for the time being as I raced over to congratulate my friend.
Even now, a big crowd was growing around him, and I had to push my way through everyone to get to the big group minus Torn and Keira. "Congratulations, my boy!" Samos was saying, patting Jak on the back.
"Yes, nice work, Jak!" Rayn agreed, "Good work to all of you!" She glanced at me and Sig as she said this, realizing she couldn't forget our efforts as well.
"You did good, chili pepper," Sig added, patting Jak as well once Samos was finished.
"Great work!" I piped up with a big grin on my face. Suddenly, we heard something click, and we all glanced up at the screen as Blitz, Pecker, and David made their appearance. Blitz looked stunned while David was trying to hide his satisfied smile.
"That was a big win for the newcomer, my fine feathered friend," Blitz mused, "We're gonna have to pay more attention to this boy."
"Told you he'd win," David added, not bothering to hide the smile anymore, "He always does."
Blitz scowled at him before flashing another smile into the camera.
Meanwhile, Pecker hovered for a bit before landing on David's shoulder.
"David and I have done some digging, G. baby," Pecker announced, "And we've uncovered more information about the rumors of that big underworld bet. Someone is manipulating the sport!"
We all gasped. So someone had been fixing these races? Was that was Pecker was trying to say? No wonder Razer had tried to sabotage my Freeze Rally!
"I knew something was wrong with Razer and his goons," Ashelin hissed under her breath, "It's them. It's gotta be!"
"Mizo," Rayn added, shaking her head and sighing sadly.
We all looked up again as Blitz chuckled half-heartedly. "You know," he said through gritted teeth, "I've been covering this sport for decades. Do you two honestly think you can come onto my *beep* show and make me look like a *beep* fool? Well, *beep* you! *beeeeeep*!" David and Pecker looked horrified and quickly leaped out of the way as Blitz lunged for them, knocking the camera aside and causing it to cut out due to technical difficulties.
"Oh, shit, come on!" Jak cried, gesturing to me and Daxter.
"We'll meet you back at the hotel!" Jak said to the others as the three of us hurried along.
"Well, somebody's mouth needs to be washed out with a bar of soap!" Daxter commented.
"That's the truth," I agreed, "I wonder what that was all about."
By the time we arrived at the building where Blitz had made his broadcast, we found Pecker flying around outside the room. "Pecker!" I shouted, "Are you okay?"
"I am," Pecker confirmed, "But I don't think David is. He's still in there with GT." We peered inside just in time to catch Blitz cornering David until he had him backed against the wall, and Jak moved in front of me, extending his long ears so that he could hear what they were saying.
"Where do you and Pecker get the gall to humiliate me on my own show?" Blitz demanded, "Reporting things like that?"
David looked up and glared at him. "Because people need to know the truth!" he replied, "And I think it's time it was brought into the light."
Blitz backed off and seemed to consider what the younger man was saying. "I see," he said, "Well, in that case, I should tell you right now that I've done some digging of my own, David. And I've found a few things that make you pretty spotlight worthy."
We all gave each other another look as David scoffed. "Like what?" he asked in disbelief.
"The night you left for Haven City."
My friend's eyes widened and his mouth dropped open in shock for a second before he regained his composure. "Fine," he huffed, "I see how it is. I'll just back off from this whole thing. I won't talk to you, Pecker, or anyone else about what we announced earlier today."
Blitz grinned. "That's better," he said, patting my friend on the shoulder, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go and apologize for my beastly behavior on the screen. Wouldn't want the ratings to go down because of that." He laughed and exited the room.
"Don't worry, I'll keep everything on the down low!" David called out after him, watching as Blitz shut the door behind him.
As soon as the racing commissioner was gone, we heard the Freedom League guard mutter under his breath, "Over my dead body."
A little while later…
"Good news!" Rayn announced as she visited us back at the hotel, "Because we won the Red Cup Grand Prix, we're now qualified to race in the Green Cup!"
"Well, at least we're one cup closer to getting the cure for the poison," Jak mused, "It's a start. If we could beat 86, then we should be able to handle whatever else is thrown at us."
"Now you're talking, chili pepper," Sig spoke up as he took a sip of water.
Suddenly, the door to the room opened, and to our surprise, Keira and Torn walked in. "Hey, guys," Eileen greeted cautiously, "Great news! We won the Grand Prix!"
"We saw," Torn retorted in his traditional raspy voice, "We were watching from the Bloody Hook. Good job." Keira just folded her arms and looked down at the ground.
"Keira?" I asked cautiously, afraid she was going to snap at me.
"Yeah, nice work, everyone," she replied in a neutral tone of voice. There was an awkward silence for a few minutes before Torn cleared his throat.
"Well, we're gonna go get some sleep. Good night, everyone."
And before we could say another word, the two of them disappeared from the main room into their respective bedrooms.
"Man, the spit really hit the fan here," Sig commented.
"Got that right," I mumbled, "And Jak, Dax, and I caught Blitz blackmailing David earlier. He did something he's obviously not proud of. But what could it be?"
"I can name a few," Jak answered in a slightly harsh tone, "He was one of the guards in the…you know…"
I sighed. I knew what he was referring to. The Dark Warrior Program, I thought to myself.
The Dark Warrior Program was horrible in itself; I knew that firsthand. Despite the fact that I still regretted being a part of that heinous program to this day, it hadn't made me ever feel like I needed to leave Haven.
So what could David have possibly done that made him leave Kras City?
The Bloody Hook was alive with gossip about the new kid who had won the Red Cup Grand Prix earlier that day. Every television in the damn bar was replaying various parts of the three circuit races that had allowed Jak to earn enough points to beat UR-86. Not only that, but GT Blitz's colorful broadcast following the Grand Prix was also replayed for everyone to see.
David raised another drink to his lips as he tried to avoid the glances from some of the other patrons sitting around him. It was bad enough that Razer already hated his guts, and now he had the elephant that was Blitz's blackmail hanging over his head. What was I thinking? David thought to himself, Trying to act all tough around GT Blitz? I can't tell him how to run his show! But then again, I can't let him continue to badger my friends like this!
He drank a little more as he watched the television switch from broadcasting the Grand Prix to an infomercial on where to find good racing cars. Fuck racing, David thought to himself, slamming his fist on the bar, Fuck Razer, Blitz, and Kras City in general!
"You look upset."
David looked up as a hooded guest sat down at the bar next to him. Judging from the voice, he realized it was a woman underneath the hood.
"I'm not upset," he insisted, "Just stressed out over this racing season, that's all."
"Well, I know how you feel," the woman replied, "I've been thrown away by my friends, too. You just can't trust anyone anymore."
David blinked. "I'm sorry," he apologized, "But why are you telling me this?"
The woman balled her hands into fists and sighed.
"Because I want you to help me get back at a few people. Well, someone specific."
"Who?"
What David saw next shocked him. The woman sighed as she removed her hood, exposing her pale face, blond hair, and blue eyes. That wasn't what sent the Freedom League guard into a tail spin. No. It was the fact that her ears were short, unlike everyone else's in this universe. Well, except for one other person…
"Paige Smith."