Yay for fast updates! The Class One Race is the only mission of the whole game that gets its own chapter so far! XD Thanks again to everyone who's been reviewing! Enjoy! :)
DISCLAIMER: Only my OCs are mine. Everything else belongs to Naughty Dog.
I was so lost in thought as I walked out of the Power Station and back to the hideout, where I would wait for Jak and Daxter. I was surprised at what Vin had told me: that the air around Kor was wrong as soon as he set foot in the city from wherever he had originally come from. I assumed it was the city he was referring to when he talked about the "killing and devouring" the Metal Heads took part in during their invasion. I shuddered at the thought. It seemed like Kor had been in Haven City for a while, but what was he possibly doing?
Oh well. At least Vin made it clear that he was on my side during all this.
By the time I got back to the hideout, I found Ashelin waiting for me. "Ashelin!" I gasped in surprise, "What's going on?"
She wordlessly handed me a piece of paper, and I realized this was the one that I had written for David and Eileen. Quickly unfolding it, I read the hasty Precursor lettering:
Dear Paige,
We're fine. No life-threatening injuries, except for the fact that Eileen got shot in the stomach during the struggle. We managed to dress the wound as much as possible with our medical supplies, but she needs to see Samos as soon as we get out of here. We say go ahead and race, since you'll be able to get into the Palace anyway. We don't want you getting caught in here with us. We're going to try and escape ourselves, as well as fight our way through the KG guarding us, to make it easier for you. Good luck. Tell Jak to knock 'em dead!
-David
"Thanks, Ashelin," I thanked her, and she was still silent as she walked out of the hideout.
Boom! I suddenly heard an explosion and felt a vibration, and once I got over the initial shock, I realized it was just Jak and Daxter destroying the tower at the Drill Platform. I wondered if my sisters would believe me if I told them I actually went on adventures with their favorite videogame characters.
And then it hit me: the Class One race was tomorrow! I'd have to get ready for it. I guessed I would race alongside Jak. I was nowhere near as good as him, but I just wanted to give it a try. I was tired of being on the sidelines all the time.
I kept my helmet next to my bunk as I slid under the covers to take a nap while I waited for Jak and Daxter, but somehow, I ended up falling asleep for the rest of the the day.
The next afternoon…
"The Class One race starts soon!" Jak announced as we made our way into the garages to speak with Keira beforehand. For some bizarre reason, she really wanted to see us. Well, Jak, anyway.
"I know, I can't believe it," I gasped, "Are you nervous?"
"Not at all, baby!" Daxter said cheerfully. Daxter. His sense of humor had really grown on me since the start of this adventure.
"Are you racing, too?" Jak asked.
"Am I allowed to?" I replied, "I didn't race in the lower class races like you did."
"You're on our team, aren't ya?" Dax replied, "And they're always short on racers."
"But I want to make sure you win," I insisted, since I was getting the feeling that was what would happen in the game timeline, but I wasn't sure.
"We'll win," Jak assured me, smiling and nodding, "Trust me."
I breathed a sigh of relief. "At least you're confident about it," I commented as we finally met up with Keira and the older Samos, who was standing with her. She looked more subdued than ever as she swept her gaze over all of us. I sighed and prayed that he would be over quickly. It was getting too awkward too quickly.
"Hello, Keira," I greeted in a neutral voice.
"Hi," the mechanic replied, facing Jak and Daxter, "I'll show you guys what I've been working on if you promise not to laugh."
Daxter's face lit up. "Ooo, I love surprises!" he exclaimed, "And I love to laugh! Show me, show me!"
Keira pushed the curtains aside and announced, "I've been building a replica of our crashed Rift Rider machine from old artifacts." So that's what she's been doing this whole time, I realized, nodding to myself.
"That's my girl!" Samos exclaimed, beaming.
"But I'm still missing two pieces."
"Figures."
"Vin says I need an artifact called the Time Map and an old energy gem history books call the Heart of Mar. And I've looked in every book on Precursor history I can find. But the Rift Ring seems to have vanished."
Jak crossed his arms, smirked, and replied, "You did all this? I mean, that's useful."
"Oh, will you two stop moping around and make up already?" Daxter snapped, and I chortled in agreement.
Jak prattled on as if he hadn't spoken. "I've seen the Heart of Mar. Krew has it. We'll get those two artifacts, Keira."
Suddenly, a voice announced, "Attention all drivers. The Class One Championship Race is about to begin."
Jak sighed. "Well, here it goes…the race of my life." He turned to go, but Keira stopped him.
"Jak," she began tentatively, "I just wanted you to know…well…you're the best racer I've ever seen." Aww, I thought, That's pretty cute. She seems to have finally snapped out of her Erol obsession.
"Hey! What about me?" Daxter demanded, gesturing to himself, "I helped get us here!"
"Do you want to drive?" Jak asked.
"Against that crazy loon, Erol? No way! You've got the handle bars, brother!" Daxter quipped, "And you better keep us alive or I will never speak to you again. Obviously."
"Leave 'em in the dust, Jak!" Keira cheered as the duo turned to leave the garage.
"You coming, Paige?" Daxter asked.
I glanced at Keira again, who was staring at me and crossing her arms. "I'll be there in a minute. You guys go ahead." They ran off to claim their Zoomer.
At first, it was awkward with me, Keira, and Samos all standing around in silence, so I decided to break it once Samos was gone. "Look, Keira," I began, "I know things didn't exactly…go very well a few days ago, and I'm sorry I didn't tell you I knew Jak and Daxter. I guess I just wasn't sure what would happen if I said something."
"What did you think would happen?" Keira asked.
I shrugged. "I guess I was so worried about you finding out some unpleasant things about me," I answered truthfully, realizing that I had been a little selfish with my motives.
"I've done things I'm not proud of," I continued, "Jak knows that, and…we're working on it. But you were right in that respect. Maybe I should have said something."
Keira sighed for a minute. "Daddy told me everything," she reported, "About you, Jak, the Dark Warrior Program, and Erol. Everything."
I paled. She knew about my part in the DWP? "Keira," I began, but she cut me off.
"Let me finish," she interrupted, "He also said that you and Jak have been working things out because of it. I'm not going to lie, Paige. I was shocked and angry when I found out you had supplied the Dark Eco, but then my father told me it was unintentional."
"Do you forgive me, then?" I asked, "Can you forgive me for that? We've been friends for too long to just throw it all away in the blink of an eye."
Keira considered it for a minute. "If you and Jak beat Erol in the race today, maybe," she joked with a smirk on her face. Still, I couldn't help but feel like she wouldn't forgive me, which was fine, too.
I had to chuckle to myself. "We'll try," I assured her.
"And I'm sorry for snapping at you and Jak about Erol," Keira apologized.
"Truce?" I asked. There would be time to really talk later.
"Truce," Keira decided, shaking my hand and waving me on. Smiling, I left to go lower myself to the race track. Not all the racers were there yet, so I took my time with getting on the Zoomer, adjusting my helmet, and lowering to the track. Jak and Daxter were already down there, so when I lowered myself down, I landed on their left.
"You made it!" Daxter cried enthusiastically.
"I'm just a placeholder," I reminded them, "Like all these other guys." I gestured to the other racers that were getting ready.
"Don't worry about me," I said, "You can do this!"
"I wonder where Erol is," Jak piped up, looking around.
"Ahh, who cares about him?" Daxter quipped, waving his paws in the air, "He's probably gonna skip the race to check on David and Eileen! He's scared they're gonna run away!"
"Good point," Jak decided, chuckling a little bit.
"Things seem good between you and Keira again," I commented, smiling as Jak looked away for a minute.
"I'm just glad she's over Erol," the renegade replied, but I knew there was more to it than that.
Vroom! Vroom! Suddenly, a loud engine drowned out everything else, and when we all glanced over our shoulders to see Erol making his way to the starting line. "Damn," I hissed under my breath.
Erol quickly braked onto the starting line…conveniently right on the other side of Jak and Daxter. He looked over and glared at us, narrowing his eyes and smoothing back his hair.
"I want more than just to win, Eco Freak!" he snapped angrily at Jak, "I want you!"
Oh…my God, I thought to myself, using God's name for the first time in a long time, Erol's serious about this.
The Commander suddenly glanced over at me, smirked, and waved. What was he thinking? "So you're racing for your jailbird friends?" he asked, "This should be interesting."
"Don't even think about it!" Daxter warned through gritted teeth, but the Commander only shrugged and focused his eyes on the track in front of us.
Suddenly, Baron Praxis hovered over the track in his large Zoomer and announced, "Greetings, racers! Today, your nerve and skill will be tested for our amusement. If any of you should by some small chance beat our grand champion, Erol, you will be awarded a month's supply of eco!" He ostentatiously gestured to a dozen barrels of eco on the side of the track.
"And a short tour of my palace to see how the other half live," he whispered rapidly, even though Jak, Daxter, and I caught every word. Hang on, Eileen and David, I thought, We're coming.
"Good luck!" the Baron boomed, "And die bravely! Ready? Get set?"
Erol smiled wickedly at us as he lowered his racing mask. "Hold on tight," Jak warned Daxter, revving up the engine on his Zoomer. I gulped and began preparing my Zoomer for a turbo boost as well.
Three red lights flashed in front of us, and as the green light signaled for us to begin, Baron Praxis shouted, "Go!" We all took off in a thick cloud of dust with Erol already leaving all of us behind.
"Winning already!" I snapped at the others, "This sucks!" Jak spotted a shortcut just after the starting line and cut through there, which put the duo in first place.
"Yes!" I shouted in victory from my Zoomer as I took the long way around in my Zoomer along with the other placeholder racers.
As we all rounded the sharp corner, Jak and Daxter crashed into Erol, who knocked them into an abyss to their left and laughed. "Bye, freaks!" he taunted them as he took off. Feeling my cheeks burn, I revved up my Zoomer engine even more as I sped towards the demolition duo. They seemed to recover pretty quickly, though.
"Pick up one of those boosts!" Daxter shouted, and as the Zoomer passed through the purple circle ahead of them, they picked up the boost. They continued to drive until they reached a sharp turn. Jak quickly slowed down, turned, and then used the boost to accelerate. Daxter screamed and squeezed Jak's shoulder even tighter as they sped through the track and up the next shortcut. He glanced over her shoulder and smirked when he saw the shock on Erol's face that they had managed to get in front of him, and from where I was watching the entire thing, I smirked as well.
"See ya!" Daxter called to him. Jak grinned as they crossed the starting line and began their second lap. I was still on my first, and one of the other racers repeatedly tried to rear-end me, and I fumbled before knocking him out of the way and continuing on with my business. Erol crossed the starting line, and I followed suit.
Unfortunately, Erol quickly learned about Jak and Daxter's shortcuts. "Whoa!" Jak gasped as he nearly crashed into the wall to his side. Erol chuckled from his Zoomer as he repeatedly crashed into the back of Jak's Zoomer.
"Hey!" I shouted, speeding up and rear-ending Erol. He glanced over his shoulder at me and narrowed his eyes as I approached him on his right.
"Out of my way!" he shouted, bumping into me and sending me flying dangerously close to the ceiling. For a second, I felt dizzy as I spun around.
"You're lucky I was wearing my helmet, asshole!" I snapped, shaking a fist at him as he just laughed to himself. Huffing, I righted my Zoomer and took off after them to keep my eye on Jak and Daxter.
Middle of the third lap…
"Hold on, Dax!" I shouted to my friend as he clung to my shoulder for dear life. The wind whipped my hair behind me as I increased my speed after picking up another turbo boost. I was still in first place, and Daxter kept a lookout for Erol. I had seen him try to push Paige off the track a few times, but she recovered pretty quickly. As long as he didn't try the same thing on us again.
"Move over!" Erol snapped as he bumped into us from the side.
"Hey!" Daxter shouted, "Watch where you're driving!" Erol smirked as he moved into first place.
"No!" I cried, using another turbo boost to speed in front of him.
"Right on!" I said to Daxter as we rounded the corner and used the second shortcut right by the starting line.
Once the fourth lap began, I heard another voice. "Jak! Daxter!"
"Paige!" Daxter yelled as she rounded the corner, having chosen not to take the shortcut, "How are you holding up?"
"Erol tried to knock me off track a few times," Paige sighed, "But I'm still hanging in there."
"We're winning!" I cried to her over the wind as I put on a burst of speed. She smiled and gave us a thumbs-up.
"Not this time!" Erol suddenly piped up from behind us, knocking into Paige again to try and reach us.
"I told you you wouldn't stand a chance, Paige!" he taunted her, "Don't stand in my way." He pushed her into one of the lower levels and was soon flying right next to us.
"Stop cheating, ya loon!" Daxter hissed from my shoulder. From behind us, other racers were exploding as they crashed into the walls around us. Thank the Precursors that wasn't happening to me or Paige.
As we rounded another sharp corner, I bumped into Erol's Zoomer, sending him flying a little bit. "Oh yeah!" Daxter cheered, "Not he's hurting!"
Laughing to myself, I steered the Zoomer as we crossed the starting line for the fifth and final lap. "Last lap!" I cried to Dax and Paige as I saw Paige fly behind us close to Erol again.
Fifth and final lap…
"Last lap!" I heard Jak shout as he crossed the starting line. This was it. I had to beat him right now, or else I would lose my title. I wouldn't let that happen.
Up ahead, the Eco Freak turned by the shortcut, so I followed him while Paige followed me. Nothing was going to get in the way of me and my title. Picking up some speed, I rear-ended Jak. "Learn to drive!" that rodent-Daxter, was it?-snapped at me.
"Learn to listen to me!" I shouted in response.
"Stop obsessing over Keira and Paige!"
Now he was going too far. With that, I smashed into the Zoomer, sending them flying a little bit. "Bye bye!" I taunted, flying around them and reclaiming first place. This race was in the bag now.
After some more flying through the track, I could see the finishing line up ahead. This race was mine now. The Eco Freak was nowhere to be seen. Neither was Paige. I was going to win, and they were going to be…dealt with accordingly.
Suddenly, a voice began to shout out of nowhere. "See ya!" Jak cried as he appeared out of nowhere and sped past me, crossing the finishing line right before my eyes as I braked in a mere second place. The crowd was roaring from the bleachers above us, and I just stayed put where I was for a minute. I was in shock. I…had just lost my title for good. Jak was the new grand champion now. This wasn't happening. I had lost to the Eco Freak. Again.
"Pretty close race, Erol," I heard Paige taunt as she finished in third place right behind me, "But not close enough. Looks like you're not the best anymore. Too bad."
"You bitch," I hissed at her as she smiled and flew away. Well, she was right about one thing: it looked like the Paige from two years ago was really gone for good.
I continued to listen to the crowd all around me, and I wanted them to shut up. They weren't cheering for me. Not even close. Jak, I thought angrily, deciding to take another drive around the track. He was really going to get it now!
"We did it!" I heard Daxter shout as Jak took the pass into the Palace into his hands and waved at the crowd. Behind them, the month's supply of eco was lowered onto the track.
"Jak! Daxter!" I cried as I ran over to them, "You won! That was badass!"
"Thank you!" Daxter thanked me and the crowd as he bowed, "Thank you very much! Ahh, I love my public!"
"Great work, guys," I complimented them again as we began to leave the track. I glanced around for a minute. Where had Erol gone off to? Maybe what I said to him was unnecessary, but I brushed it off anyway.
"Ahh, a brave man of the people," Praxis began as Daxter grew wise to the Baron's presence and jumped down from Jak's shoulder, "And who is this worthy opponent? In my world, good men are either bought or broken! So, which is it going to be?" Did you forget your description of Jak, Praxis? I thought scathingly to myself as I realized this was the first time I was coming face to face with the Baron since being "kidnapped" by the Underground.
"Surprise!" Jak said as he turned around to face Praxis, who looked none too pleased.
"What?" he growled as I smirked to myself.
"Just a little closer," Jak replied, gesturing with his finger, "We need to talk."
"You're done this time, Praxis!" I snapped as well.
"Fools!" Praxis boomed, "Don't you get it? It's over, Jak! All the heroes died long ago! Only survival remains by whatever means!" He slammed his fist as Jak, Daxter, and I all scowled at each other.
"This city is mine," Praxis continued, "These lives are mine! This war is mine! And in war, people die! Kill them!" The Krimzon Guards surrounding him all pointed their pistols at us.
"This is wrong!" I yelled in response, "You're wrong!"
"Shut up, traitor!" Praxis ordered, "You're no better than Jak! And you shall be dealt with accordingly."
"Look out!" one of the guards suddenly shouted out of nowhere, and we all whirled around to greet a horrifying sight: Erol speeding down the track right towards us! His face was red with fury, and he was fixated on us the whole time. No, Jak!
"Precursors!" I gasped, "Watch out!"
"I win, Jak!" Erol declared as he got closer with the Zoomer. If Jak didn't do something soon, he was going to get run down! Praxis was already calmly moving out of the way, and at the last minute, I felt Jak grab me by the arm and lift me up as he jumped into the air. Down below, Erol was still speeding, and the only thing in his way was the month's supply of eco! Shit, shit, shit! I thought to myself, This is not gonna end well.
Boom! Before he could slow down or swerve out of the way, Erol crashed into the barrels, igniting an explosion of purple and black smoke, which made everyone realize it was a month's supply of eco, which looked like Dark Eco from the explosion. The crowd in the bleachers roared, just like Erol had said they would, only it wasn't for Jak's demise. The Commander's racing mask flew off of his head and landed on the side of the track. But the worst part of watching it all was his scream. Oh, Precursors, the screaming was awful!
From where we stood, I screamed as I watched Erol disappear into the purple and black smoke right in front of my eyes, and I saw his racing mask fly helplessly to the side. Repeating images of him driving into the barrels of Dark Eco played themselves over and over again in my mind, and I had to cover my eyes and look away, even though the damage was done. At first, Jak, Daxter, and I couldn't move due to our shock at what we had just witnessed, but as the Baron turned his angry gaze back to us, Jak snapped out of it, grabbed my hand, and shouted, "Come on! We've got to go!" Daxter and I ran after our friend.
"After them!" Baron Praxis commanded from behind us, and soon, we found ourselves running away from a swarm of guards.