Disclaimer: I don't own Jak, Daxter, or any other character that was created by Naughty Dog.

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Chapter 21

Retribution

The guards 'escorted' Sig and Jak to the Palace, where Damas was waiting. He stood as the two of them were shoved in front of his throne. He started down the stairs as he began to speak. "How dare the two of you defile the purity of the arena!" He yelled, his eyes flicking between them before settling on Sig. "Sig, your time in Haven City has poisoned you! And you, newcomer!" He turned to Jak, stepping down in front of him. "You deserve no mercy." Turning he walked back up the steps, stopping just before the top. "I should toss both of you into the jaws of the desert. However," The king turned back around halfway, facing Sig.

"Sig, your years of service as our spy in Haven has earned you a chance to redeem yourself. But only this once!" Damas hissed, his staff inches from Sig's face. All points to Sig, though, who didn't once flinch.

"A spy?" Jak questioned, his gaze suspicious and curious.

Sig elbowed him, a large clue to shut his trap. "Just shut up. I'll tell you later." He muttered back, straightening just as Damas turned began speaking again.

"There is a nest of Metalpedes not too far from here. 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." He smirked at them over his shoulder. "I'd say good luck, but then again, luck won't help you." Damas chuckled, walking past them and taking the elevator down.

"Where's he going?" Daxter asked, finally peeking out from behind Jak.

Sig frowned, then his eye widened. "Is Raye with you?"

"Yeah."

Sig closed his eyes, his frown deepening. "Then he's probably going to see her fight. And 'cause of what just happened, if Raye refuses to fight… well, Damas will probably have her killed."

"What?" Jak asked, alarmed. "Killed?!"

"Yeah. Damas doesn't take defiance too well. I thought for sure we were dead. Though sending us into the Metalpede nest… it's as good as killing us." The elevator rose back up, and Sig motioned for Jak to follow him. "Come on, we'd better get this over with."

--

There were guards everywhere in the arena; Raye could see them posted along the exits, and among the confused crowd in the stands. Sig was their champion, and he'd just refused to kill some new stranger from out of nowhere. But Jak was still alive, and she hoped that was a good sign.

"The second battle will now begin!" Pecker crowed as Damas sat down in his throne.

Raye caught the Vulcan mod he tossed down to her. "Do not disappoint me like your brother did, girl." 'So I'm just 'girl' again, huh?' She thought bitterly.

Raye turned away from Damas without replying and stepped onto the elevator down to the arena. It rose as she leapt off, and she immediately pulled out her Blaster, her eyes scanning the lava pit for signs of her opponent. A scuffle from her right, and Raye flipped around, opening fire on the figure who had been attempting to sneak up on her. They leapt behind one of the metal boxes, luring her into an obvious trap.

Choosing a more subtle option, Raye slunk around the pathway, switching to her newly acquired Vulcan Fury. She circled the box once before realizing that the person no longer occupied the platform. There was a yell from behind her, and Raye turned just in time to see the glint of metal coming down toward her. Dropping her gun, she fell to the ground and her would-be murderer rolled over her back.

'Fuck this; get off the ground!' Ambika yelled. Scrambling up, her Morph Gun forgotten where she'd dropped it, she ran to the other side of the platforms, leaping behind one of the metal boxes. She curled into a ball, rocking back on her heels, making herself as small a target as possible as the transformation started.

It had never been so painful before; Raye let out a scream as the spines tore through her skin, blood pouring down her back as the skin on her shoulder blades was ripped to shreds and the bloody wings unfolded. The warm liquid temporarily blinded it her as it fell from her forehead into her eyes as the dark horns grew from her skull with a painful grinding of bone. Her fingers screamed with pain, threatening to break, as their nails turned into talons capable of slicing through stone. The marks on her palm sizzled beneath her gloves.

'Why did it hurt so much?' Raye moaned in her mind as she uncurled from her position on the ground, crouching like a cat instead, her body still wracking from the change.

'It's HER!' Ambika growled. 'She's trying to "heal" you as the transformations are happening! It's stopping me from using the dark eco properly!'

'I-I'm sorry Raye.' Angeni said meekly. 'I didn't do it on purpose… but you were in pain and I thought- Raye, above you!'

Raye's head jerked back to see her opponent crouching on the box above her. Instinct kicked in, and Raye leapt off the platform, the hot updraft from the lava carrying her up. She hissed in pain as something sliced her calf from knee to ankle, and again as the dark eco healed it. 'Where are they? I can't see anything with all this blood in my eyes!' Raye said, wiping at her eyes furiously.

She let out a shriek as something latched onto her from behind. 'I'd say they were behind u-AAAAGGGHHH!'

Raye let out a scream of pain as something sharp and metallic stabbed into her stomach, ripping apart her insides as the person wielding it twisted, hard. Red exploded in Raye's brain, and she fell to the ground, landing painfully on the metal.

Feet away, she heard the soft clink of her opponent landing. 'Raye, you must pull the dagger out.'

"I… I can't…" She whimpered aloud, her eyes tearing from the combined pain of the dagger, her fall, and reverting back to normal. The footsteps were growing closer.

'Raye, I can heal you, but not with that thing still inside you. If you cannot or will not remove it, I will.' Her hand closed on the knife and pulled, bringing it out with not so much as a sign to anyone, Raye's mouth being firmly covered by her other hand. A warm, soothing feeling spread through her body, and she felt the gash in her stomach seal without so much as a bit of pain.

The footsteps stopped beside Raye, and she pretended to still be injured. Hesitantly, a hand grasped her shoulder and turned her over. Raye lashed out with her fist, the one holding the knife, the blade ramming through the person's throat. "Nothing personal." Raye whispered as she pulled the blade back out, her opponent- now a corpse- falling on the metal beside her.

Gradually, a cheering spread throughout the room, eventually growing so large that it echoed off every crevice and seemed to multiply the occupants times ten.

Raye grimaced. She was covered with blood, had received what would've been a normally fatal wound, and had just killed a person in cold blood, and they cheered for her. She remembered her time back in Haven, where becoming a Wastelander like big ol' tough guy Sig was a goal she aspired to. Now she just wished that she could back to the days where the only things she had to kill were Metal Heads and Krimzon Guard Death Bots.

Slowly, she walked over and retrieved her Morph Gun, sliding it back into the holster on her back. Stepping on the elevator, Raye had never been angrier to have stand before Damas. Apparently literally this time around, as he was standing on the platform to greet her instead of sitting on his throne.

He looked down at her proudly. "I must say that I am impressed with you, Raye." 'What happened to "girl"?' Raye wondered traitorously, realizing that she preferred the derogatory term to hearing her actual name. "You have earned your right to become a citizen of Spargus." He handed her a fully completed Battle Amulet, which she took and held tightly in her fist.

Damas began to walk off, but Raye stopped him. "Wait." She said quietly. Damas turned around. She held out the dagger. "What do you want me to do with this?"

He paused to consider the question. "Consider it your trophy." He told her with a smirk. Raye nodded, obviously shaken by his flippant response, and walked off.

--

"So, where have you and Raye been stayin'?" Sig asked Jak as they left the garage.

"With the woman who took care of Raye while she was unconscious." Jak told him. "Her name's Lyla."

Sig blinked, looking startled. "Lyla?"

A door opened near them. "Oh, good, Jak. You're back." Lyla said with a relieved sigh. Then, "Sig!" Jak did a double take as Lyla appeared from seemingly nowhere and threw her arms around the much bigger elf. Her embrace didn't even encompass the elf's chest.

He chuckled and hugged her back. "Hey sis."

"SIS?!" Daxter yelped.

Lyla stepped away from Sig and nodded. "Yep. You'd never guess it, me being related to Mr. Muscle Head over here." She said, elbowing her brother in the gut. "But Sig's my big bro."

"Lyla, why did you say it was good that I was back? And where's Raye?"

She turned to Jak, suddenly serious. "She's inside. But… she's… well, you should probably see for yourself." Jak turned and ran inside.

"Raye?" He asked as he pushed her door open. A first scan didn't show him anything, but as he stepped into the room, he saw her sitting in a corner, her knees drawn to her chest. Clutched in her fist was a gleaming curved dagger, much like Torn's, only the edges were serrated like a saw. "Where did you get that?"

"From my fight." She said, her voice venomous. "Damas said to keep it as my trophy." Raye spat the king's name out like it tasted bad.

Jak knelt down next to her, touching her shoulder lightly. The dagger fell to the floor with a clatter as Raye threw her arms around Jak's neck and sobbed, even though no tears would come. "Jak, I saw his face- the person I had to k-kill." She hiccupped. "H-he w-wasn't even as- as old as us…"

--

"Raye fought Alexei?" Sig questioned. "But he was only fifteen!"

"AND one of the best warriors we have." Lyla reminded him. "You taught him yourself, remember?"

Sig looked away. "Yeah, I remember Lyla. You think Damas was actually trying to kill Raye with that stunt?"

"After that little number you and Jak pulled, I wouldn't put it past him." Both of them looked up as Jak and Raye walked out from the back hall.

Raye smiled. "Hey Sig. Heard you and Jak got to take out some big'n'nasties."

Sig smirked. "Some of the nastiest. Now come here and give me a hug." Raye laughed and walked over, becoming quickly enveloped in the bigger elf's grasp. He pushed her away and looked her up and down, then noticed the amulet still clutched in her hand. "Well, lookit you. You're a real Wastelander now."

Raye looked away, her expression falling. "Yeah. Lucky me." She muttered.

"Hey, we all had to do it Raye. No one's gonna judge you for doing what you had to do." Sig told her comfortingly. Raye smiled up at him and nodded.

Lyla poked Sig in the arm. "But you, big brother, are going to be the laughingstock of Spargus. Letting yourself get trounced by a stranger. I'm ashamed of you." She smacked his chest.

"'Trounced?'" Sig asked incredulously. "I don't know what fight you were watching, Lyls, but Jak and I both got dragged out of that arena."

Lyla smirked at him and left the room for the second. "Yes, but Jak wasn't the idiot who threw down his 'precious baby,' now was he?" She asked, returning with Sig's Peace Maker in her hands.

Sig smiled at her sheepishly and took the weapon. "Thanks sis."

"Oh, that reminds me." Raye said suddenly, turning and slugging Sig in the arm. "Why didn't you ever tell us you had a sister?"

Everyone laughed.

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SC: Ugh, why does the hammer of inspiration seem to deem it necessary to strike at- holy shit- FOUR IN THE MORNING?!

Puck: (whistles innocently and kicks hammer off-screen)

SC: Oh well, whatever. Review please! I'm off to go get some much needed sleep…

Ja ne

SC (SC: Zzzzzz…)