Author's note: Muchos Gracias to Krazy Jimbo for beta reading.
This story was running along the game, Jak II, before it was made into its own. This chapter is entwining the game, Jak II, with my story but not stopping the progress. If you can't pinpoint the part of the game... its after Samos got the vision of the Baron's plan to make a weapon of mass destruction with the Precursor Stone. Before Jak vs Erol in the Class 1 race.
Warning: There is a little graphical (not gory) scene around the middle of this chapter. It can be a bit disturbing to anyone who has seen or know the experience. If you can't handle it don't read it!
You have been warned. So don't complain if you've ignore my warning. You'll benefit if you heed it.
Thank you please come again. :) Enjoy the story.
Samos passed through the grey halls of the Underground. The old sage spotted his daughter leaning against the wall, standing alone.
"When was the last time you've eaten?" Samos prompted
Keira shrugged. She couldn't remember. She didn't care.
"You're going to make yourself sick Kiera. It's not helping anyone or Jak," Samos said a little more softly
She sniffed wiping a tear from her tear stained face, "I'm sorry... its just that I've seen him go through all this crap only to end up like this... it seems that everything is just a waste. Sometimes I wonder if we should have saved him the pain and suffering"
The old sage put his arm around Keira and hugged her. Samos looked on to his daughter with utter concern and stared at her in memory. She was almost a splitting image of her mother and had the brains and mechanics her mother possessed. Seeing Keira everyday reminded him how much he missed her. But now Keira was loosing that glow in her skin, the body in her aqua hair, her sparkle in her emerald eyes and the cheerful smile and voice he was accustomed to hearing. It was almost like he was loosing her in an emotional battle.
"Keira, don't loose hope. This isn't over yet" Samos said firmly but softly
"It might as well be..."
"As hopeless it may be we can still help Jak"
"How? How can we get him back from... this?"
"I'm not sure but I got word from The Shadow that Onin as prepared the cure"
Keira lightened up a little, "But he'll still remain the same"
"Its a start but Onin requested for a Precursor Rod"
"A Precursor Rod?"
"I don't know what's going on but I've got a sneaking suspicion that the Rod isn't her next potion stirrer"
"You mean she's doing something to help Jak?"
"Onin is a very old and mysterious woman. She knows things that we don't and does things and prepares them when the time is right. I have faith in her that what ever she's doing its going to help Jak"
"So Jak can be returned to normal?"
"Of course. There has always been that possibility"
Keira smiled for the first time in weeks.
"Now lets us go get some food for you to eat. You may be older but it seems you still need parenting"
Keira snorted as they both walked down the hall for something decent to eat.
The Shadow's driving was probably considered decent and well mannered compared to Jak's daredevil style. That's what Daxter came up with anyway. The large Zoomer parked in the dead-end ally and The Shadow and Daxter left the vehicle.
"See you later cherries. Krew called me back to the bar," Sig nodded
"Thank you Sig," The Shadow gave his thanks
"Yeah bye big fella," Daxter waved
The large Zoomer turned and left the ally. The Shadow turned to enter the hideout and Daxter followed. They entered the small room and there was an Underground person that Daxter didn't recognize. He looked young with his gold mop of locks and freckles but his stature screamed experience and confidence. The man gave a nod.
"Shadow, we've got intelligence that the Baron is making some kind of device," the man informed him
"Device?" The Shadow frowned
"Vin has been unavailable to us for the past week, which means the Baron is using him to build something. With Vin's expertise on Precurian Physics we have suspicion it has something to do with the Precursor Stone"
"The Baron plans to crack open the stone," The Shadow said
"I know but we don't know how he's going to do that yet. Spies can't get close enough to the 'top secret' project and with our resources stretched so far with placing spies in the hospital we haven't been able to find out what he's planning"
"I already withdrew the spies from the hospital. If you must, use them to find out what the Baron's doing!"
"Yes sir," the man nodded then glanced at Daxter, "How is Torn?"
"Broken but well," The Shadow replied, "He'll be a sitting duck for a while I'm afraid"
The man finally released the information that Daxter was more interested in.
"Bree won't talk. I've tried but she's stubborn"
"I didn't think she would," Samos replied
"Bree?" Daxter questioned
"She tried to kill Jak for personal gain," The Shadow explained shortly
"I think it's safe to say we should move to plan B," Hadre said
"Plan B?" Daxter piped up for the first time, "What's plan B?"
The man turned to him, "Using a truth serum"
"A truth serum?" Daxter questioned
Samos turned to Daxter, "Its a chemical that basically suppresses the will and alters the brain chemistry a little. It was made illegal, however, because it was used too often and eventually caused brain damage"
"Oh"
"Go ahead Hadre. I think its the best way to get any information from her," The Shadow agreed
Hadre nodded, "I think so too"
"Any news on Jak?" The Shadow asked finally
"No change"
The Shadow nodded, "Before you interrogate Bree can you gather a few men for me. I have the cure for the poison but I don't think Jak will do it willingly"
Hadre nodded, "Fine. I can find someone who has the balls for the job"
Hadre walked passed the table to the boiler. On one side it had 4 pink wheels to turn on and off the pipes. There were two smaller ones at the bottom. Hadre grabbed the left one and turned it. Suddenly the drain in front of the table slid away to reveal steps that descended into darkness. Hadre moved away from the wall and walked down them. Samos followed.
"So uh... where are we going?" Daxter asked as he started to go down the stairs
"To the Underground Headquarters," Hadre replied, "And if you utter a word to anyone you're mince meat"
Daxter gulped. Were all Underground men such hardasses?
The trap door above slid automatically shut cloaking them in darkness. But with all dark tunnels there was a light at the end. Soon the gloomy stairs brightened and the diagonal tunnel led to a larger room. Daxter couldn't believe his eyes. The room wasn't it's poor earthen type like the one upstairs. It was metallic and modern looking, with computers buzzing around the walls. A large table was in the middle with a giant map of the whole city and surrounding wasteland.
In the room was filled with Undergound men, some civilian while others ex-Krimzon Guard. It was a real hustle and bustle as the room seemed constantly in motion. An ex-Krimzon soldier looked up from the map on the large table and nodded to The Shadow.
"Shadow, Hadre," he acknowledged
"Moloc. Hadre has already informed me of what is happening with the Baron," Samos nodded
Daxter stared at the man. He was just as bulky as Sig, his muscles seemed to ripple underneath the uniform, his face was in a swirl of tattoos and his eyes were a deathly brown. His hair was short military issue and also brown. This seemed like another hardass.
"We got word just now that Kol, our best spy, was discovered and is now in prison, awaiting the death penalty for Treason. What ever the hell the Baron's doing its too goddamn secure. We can't get our spies in there! We need outside information"
"Have you tried to contact Ashelin?"
"No. She's unavailable. She seemed to stop contacting us and cut off all ties. I think the Baron's got to her"
The Shadow sighed, "Then there is nothing much we can do for now. The spies have to be careful if they dare to infiltrate. I have another urgent matter to attend to, I'll be back in a few hours to discuss a proper course of action"
Moloc nodded, "Fine"
The Shadow passed the table to the opposite side of the room. There was a closed door that swished open at Samos's presence. Daxter followed behind him. He was eager to see what Jak was like, he hadn't seen him for 6 days. Though he sorely missed Jak he knew that he wasn't going to meet the Jak that he had come to know and appreciate. Yet he was still eager to see his friend.
He seemed to follow the young sage through the grey halls forever but the man finally stopped in front of another swish door. Daxter followed the man into a small room that had a large window looking into another room.
"Good Grief!" The Shadow gasped
He turned and left the room. Confused Daxter wondered what just happened. Daxter stood there puzzled for a minute before shrugging the odd behavior off and turned to his observation. It was a small room and it had an observation window to the other room. It seemed a little high so Daxter could directly see what was on the other side. Beside the window was a large thick metallic door that looked like it could withstand a few missiles and a Care Bear hug. In front of the window was a few stools.
"Let's see what's behind door number one?" Daxter quipped as he jumped up on the stool to have a look
He gasped and almost heaved then and there.
He imagined his first sight of Jak would be a little on the bright side... but nothing this morbid.
Jak sat in the far corner of his cell. His face was a picture of calm and his eyes were an abyss of nothingness. On his right hand index finger was a purple 'Dark Jak' claw but the rest of him was his normal physical self. He had his left wrist exposed and with his clawed finger he drew blood. Slash after slash he mindlessly cut his skin on his left wrist. Dark purple-crimson blood trickled and stained his white pants and tunic. He seemed to have been doing it for a while since blood has already made a trail to the small drain in the middle.
This wasn't what he had in mind in seeing Jak for the first time in 6 days. How could one bite from a 'mythical' Metal Head could cause this outcome? How did the hell this happen!
Samos burst into the cell via another large thick metallic door with two other Underground men. Their faces were stoic but you could see the horror mirrored in their eyes.
"Jak?" Samos's pale green face had gone paler
Jak ignored him and continued his task mindlessly.
"Jak!"
Jak stopped and looked up to see the young sage's concerned face. Eyes were the window of the soul and it was screaming emptiness and sadness. An eerie silence filled the room.
Jak looked down at his wounds and simply said, "I needed to see blood"
This echoic voice sent shivers down Daxter's spine. He'd never heard Jak talk in that way before and the only man before him that he had heard him talk like that was the Dark Eco sage Gol.
Suddenly the Underground man on Samos's right lifted up a gun and pulled the trigger. A clicking sound emitted from the gun and a dart found it's way on Jak's chest. Jak looked at it calmly and pulled it out before crushing it in his hand. Glass shards cut into his palm. His face had gone from sad and empty to angry and resentful.
"You fools may treat me as an animal but soon you'll all bow down before my power and regret to have ever ill- treated my existence..."
Jak's eyes suddenly rolled back and he slumped against the wall. Samos ordered for the man's wrist to be bandaged as he moved closer to Jak. The other Underground man hesitantly went inside the cell but eventually cleaned and bandaged Jak's self inflicted wounds. Once done he dashed out of the room as quickly as he could.
Samos popped the cork out of the glass container that held the precious cure. He opened Jak's mouth and poured some of the liquid in. The man's tongue reflex the contents down the throat and Samos stepped back. He turned to the tranquilizer gun man.
"I want Jak out of those clothes, this place scrubbed clean and some retrains put on him. I don't want to ever see that ever again" the young sage's usually calm voice was in an angry roar, "I don't care how it's done but I want it done!"
The Underground man nodded grimly, "Yes sir"
Daxter pitied him and anyone who had that task. Daxter looked away wishing he'd never had saw what he'd seen. He knew that picture would haunt him in and out of the dream world and he ever wondered if he could look at Jak the same way again.
Hours crawled by as Daxter wandered the halls. Jak was taken to the small infirmary in the Underground and Mar knows what's going to happen to him. Daxter couldn't get the gruesome imagery out his mind. It was like it was forever set in stone... Technicolor stone, tattooed into his brain and repeating in a weird continuous loop.
And he'd only witnessed this incident through the looking glass.
Daxter investigated most rooms and halls of the Headquarters. He was looking for a distraction but he was finding none. He just couldn't get over what he'd seen, what had become of his best friend and how they were going to over come it.
He wondered what time it was. I think its about time I invested in a watch, He thought. Being underground with no windows made you lose a sense of time. Funny how he'd mentioned time. Time is what got him and his friends here in the first place, time is what Jak was fighting and now still fighting against, time is what they didn't have.
Daxter's musings stopped when he passed a room with the door slightly ajar. He peeked inside and saw a familiar face. It was Keira. She looked lost and empty like the Grinch just stole Christmas. He'd seen that look before and he'd shivered. It was the look of hopelessness. He decided to go and cheer her up. Maybe seeing her would distract him and her from the real problem they were facing.
He pushed the door open and walked causally in. Keira looked and saw him. Her face lit up like a Christmas tree.
"Daxter," Keira knelt down and gave Daxter a rough rub on top of his furry head, "You made it!"
"Hey Keira," Daxter greeted
"I heard you got the cure," Keira said
"Yep. It wasn't easy. That black Metal Head was lurking around again but I gave him a few rounds of lead" Daxter patted Jak's morph gun, "Oh and I took on all his Metal Head buddies as well, saved Torn's hard ass and single-handedly found the Jolba plant. For the sake of the trip I let Torn and Sig tag along. They care about Jak in different ways"
Daxter half-lied his story a little to twist it to his own purposes. Keira shook her head as she straightened up. She knew Daxter well enough not to believe half if not all the stuff he says. She'll ask for a full story later.
The door to the bedroom quarters opened and in came her old father. She looked to him for answers.
"Wow," Daxter exclaimed, "Hey old greenie! Something's different about you. Hmmm I know you lost weight and you've shrunk! Oh that beard is looking a little longer oh and those wrinkles..."
"Daaaxter," Samos growled feeling the need to get rid of the annoyance, "This room is a mess, clean it up"
Daxter looked around. It was spotless, "Um I think you need new glasses too"
"NOW!"
Daxter jumped, "I'm on it! But you'll be hearing from my lawyer!"
Once Daxter rushed off Samos moved closer to Keira.
"How is he?" Keira asked
"The poison is gone and has stopped the process of Dark Eco replacing cells... but we don't know how we're going to reverse the damage already done"
Daxter who was wandering around listening sighed.
Daxter turned and came back to them, "Come on ol' greenie there has to be more than that! With all the technology in this city this Underground movement must have come up with something better than that! I've seen what this show can do!"
Samos growled, "I was getting to that!"
"Well hurry up! Us young people don't move as slow as you oldies do!"
Samos glared at Daxter but continued, "We rendered Jak unconscious and took that advantage to run him though the BSX scanner"
Samos hesitated. Daxter felt his stomach do a summersault.
"What's wrong?" Keira asked fearing the worst
She wasn't disappointed
Samos sighed, "I'm afraid that Jak has a tumor in his brain"
(Dun, Dun, Dun!) Continue to chapter 15
BSX is my own creation but its a more sophisticated form of brain scanners that exist in our world, since the game is advanced in technology
I know all but I may not always tell. Answers you must wait but the truth you must seek. Ah whatever... just keep an open mind, anything could happen (grins evilly)
Reviews anyone? Write constructively if you like it or stick it in the fire and flame it if you hate it! So choose I don't mind... I'm open to all opinions! It makes this world young, free and... conflictive