Chapter 24:
Upon us arriving at the Stadium, we then went into the garage to see that Ashelin, Samos, and Keira were waiting for us with anticipation.
"So what did you want to show us, Keira?" I asked with a smile.
"I'm only going to show it to you if you promise not to laugh," Keira said, me nodding at that.
"I like surprises, and I'll refrain from laughter," Sasha smiled, all of my allies agreeing afterwards. Keira then pulled away the blinds to show a very cool looking machine.
"I've been trying to build a replica of the Rift Rider using scrounged up artifacts," Keira said with a smile, me smirking at the intricate design of the Rift Rider and how cool it looked.
"That's my girl!" Samos smiled.
"But I'm still missing two integral pieces... Vin says I'll need an artifact called the Time Map and an ancient energy crystal known as the Heart of Mar. And I've looked in every single history book of Precursor technology I can find, but the Rift Ring seems to have vanished," Keira said, me frowning at that before Kiki gasped as something happened with her.
"Huh? Kiki, what's wrong?" I asked, her groaning a bit before she then sighed in and out.
"I think I have an idea of where the Rift Ring is... I just looked into the minds of some Metal Heads that are in Dead Town... their memories showed a dilapidated ring of Precursor technology in a very gross-looking room... one that was filled with Metal Head eggs... and Metal Bugs..." Kiki groaned, her then falling on the ground and needing to rest afterwards, me and Sasha looking at each other and thinking the same thing.
"Then that means that the Rift Ring is inside of the Metal Head's nest... it just had to be in the worst place possible, now didn't it?! Ugh!" Sasha groaned.
"And I've seen the Heart of Mar before. Krew has it! We'll get those artifacts, Keira," I said as the computer voice spoke again.
"Attention all citizens. The Class One Championship race is about to begin," the voice said.
"Here it goes. The race of our lives. Keira, you and the others keep watch over Kiki until she wakes up," I said, Keira nodding at that.
"Got it," Keira smiled as Sasha, Dax and I then went to the racing area and got in our respective racing Zoomers, me getting in 5th and her in 8th. And then, who would show up in 6th but Errol himself... only this time, he didn't look like he was raring to go for a race or even to intimidate us... in fact, he looked a little bit stone-cold serious... maybe too much. It weirded me out seeing him with this odd stare in his eyes.
"I think you may have broke him during that last rant, Sasha," I said to her, Sasha smirking at that and Errol frowning.
"Just shut up... I have my own interests in this..." Errol grumbled, that actually confusing me as the Baron then came down from above and he started to speak. Daxter knew to hide in my bag and me and Kiki simply put on some head wear we got from Keira's garage so that he wouldn't recognize us.
"Greetings all racers! Today, you will be pitted against each other for our amusement. If any of you happens to beat our reigning champion, Errol, they'll receive a month's supply of eco!... And a short tour of my palace to see how the other half live... Good luck, and die bravely!" Praxis said, saying that part about the palace tour very quickly and a lower volume, me frowning at that. He was so prideful that he didn't even care if someone beat Errol in a race. And I could see something happen with Errol when he said that. He growled lowly and flipped his face mask down, making him look like a very serious competitor now. "Ready! Get set!... GO!" the Baron exclaimed in time with the green light, me and Sasha then zooming off the starting line and making a bee-line for the shortcut on the right, both of us getting in the lead in a snap and then proceeding through the next part carefully. This track had way more hard turns on it than the last ones, so we had to be careful moving through the tight curves, especially since taking them too wide would make you fall into a lower sectioned area of the track and lose a lot of speed.
I managed to get in the lead for the first three laps, but then Sasha actually got neck and neck with me while Errol was close behind in third place. Sasha then boosted forward on a straightway shortcut and then quickly e-braked into the shortcut, making me smirk at how good she was behind the wheel... or rather, lack of wheels. Sasha then stayed in first place and me in second until the final lap. Errol had actually managed to overtake me, but then he accidentally got into the side part of the track where you lost speed, giving me an opening to move forward. And I did manage to get second, but Sasha managed to get first place regardless.
Sasha then got the Palace access pass and started to wave to the cameras in her helmet while I noticed that... Errol had gone missing from the race lineup. I had no idea where he went to, but I had a feeling he was going to pull a sneaky move.
"Well, the hero has been crowned... And who is this brave warrior? In my world, good men are either bought or broken. So which is it going to be?" Praxis asked as Sasha then did something drastic. She actually took off her helmet in the most brutal way imaginable. She crackled with Dark Eco as she actually made her helmet pop off of her head by going into her Dark Form, the Baron looking shocked at this.
"Like how you sold me out to be a Dark Warrior after murdering thousands of innocent civilians through torture worse than the experience of child birth?! And how you stole the Precursor Stone so you can crack it open and destroy the entire fucking universe?! And let's not forget leaving your highest-grade commander for dead in the tomb in order to get that stone! You, Baron, are the true enemy of this war!" Sasha exclaimed, Baron growling at her angrily as she continued to speak. "When I married you all those years ago, I thought you were the best man in the world! But now, after living as a lowly civilian for so long, I can safely say with dignity that the name Praxis is even worse than the Metal Head Leader! And seriously, trading the city's eco to bribe the Metal Heads into fighting you is one of the absolute stupidest fucking things I've ever heard in my entire life!" Sasha exclaimed, Praxis growling at her angrily. But the fans looked a bit baffled by all of the words she had just spoken. And it was on camera too, for the entire city to see!
"Don't you get it?! It's over, Sasha! The heroes died off long ago and only survival remains! This city is mine! These lives are mine! This WAR is mine! AND IN WAR PEOPLE DIE! Kill them!" Baron exclaimed angrily... but just before the KG could fire at us, something amazing happened. Out of the sky, right from the top of the stadium, was Errol, riding in the racing Zoomer before he then detached his floating chair from it and... it collided directly into the Dark Eco barrels that Praxis had, which actually managed to knock him and his guards off of the pedestal in shock. And the poor guards were melted away completely from the Dark Eco the moment it invaded their suits! Me and Sasha immediately booked it after that, wondering just what the hell happened back there! And then, right out of the Stadium, a slew of guards appeared and began shooting at us with everything they had! That is, until some person from before came in with a Hellcat and motioned us in it.
"COME ON! WE DON'T HAVE ALL DAY!" exclaimed Errol! Why in the hell was he doing this?! But we didn't dare think to backtalk him and joined him in the Hellcat, him managing to drive us away from the place and out of the city limits!
"Errol, what the fuck is going on?!" Sasha asked in absolute shock and dismay.
"Everything you said was true, Sasha! And I'd rather not get into specifics right now!" Errol growled angrily.
"Where are you taking us?" Daxter asked in shock.
"To the Baron's weapon factory. He's planning to crack open the Precursor Stone there with help from Krew from a new type of bomb!" Errol said, me being shocked at that.
"Why are you helping us all of a sudden, Errol?" I asked him with animosity.
"Because I learned everything about what the Baron has been doing. And I now finally see what Sasha was talking about. Being a commander didn't do me any good! It just made everyone in the city hate me! The townies hate me, my own guards betrayed me, and even Baron Praxis hates me! You said it yourself, he left me for dead in that tomb after Sasha came in and wiped the floor with everyone! And now, I feel that I have a life debt to be repaid. But not to Praxis. To Sasha Nell," Errol said, his anger still there as we actually got to the factory and Errol had us go to the top of it and he then drove off before Krew could give chase. But when Krew saw us, he looked at us with a very wide grin on his flabby face.
"I always knew you were special, Jak... and Sasha, dear... look at how far we've come to get to this point, eh? It feels me with such pleasure..." Krew smiled, Sasha frowning at that as she simply activated her Dark Form right on the spot, Krew looking at her with confusion. "Am I missing something here? Oh, that's right. Take these gun upgrades and forget what you saw here, okay?" Krew said as he gave me and Sasha a gun upgrade each... and I then inserted it into my gun and then aimed right at Krew's chair with the Peacemaker! I then fired a shot and Krew gasped as the chair actually spun out of control and landed on the ground right by the base of the giant bomb, the Heart of Mar falling out of his fat rolls in the process. I didn't dare pick it up, but Sasha did.
"That was for selling out the city to the Metal Heads! And this?" Sasha smiled as she brought out her claws. "This is for betting against us in that race!" she exclaimed as she then slashed Krew across the face, the blood pouring out being a bit shocking to me as I then saw that Sasha's slash also managed to slice apart one of the supporters for the bomb. And it looked like it was starting to short-circuit.
"Uh-oh. We gotta get going... just about now!" Daxter exclaimed as Errol then pulled the Hellcat over to us and we immediately hopped in. He then got us out of the range of the explosion and we could actually feel the wind rushing past us after the large blast! Errol then let us down in the port area of Haven and looked at Sasha with a frown. "I'll take the Heart of Mar to Keira. Just tell her that I'm on your side now. got it?" Errol asked, Sasha looking a bit conflicted, but looking at him in the eyes beforehand.
"If you do anything else with this gem other than what you just said, consider your hours numbered. Yes, hours. Not days," Sasha said, Errol nodding at that as Sasha gave him the gem and Errol then zoomed off directly to the north, leaving all of us a bit stumped as to how to proceed.
"Damn... I guess your epic rants of venom actually managed to get through to his thick skull, Sasha," Daxter smiled at her, Sasha sighing afterwards.
"I think it's more along the lines of the way I beat him to a quivering pulp numerous times, and how I nearly beat him to death in the tomb. That added with the venomous rants must've finally made him realize the truth... at least I hope. I really fucking hope," Sasha frowned. We then got a call from Tess shortly after.
"Hey, guys? I need you to come over to the Saloon. I think I may have something to share with you," Tess said, Dax smirking at that as we then went to the Saloon via our jet boards and went inside, wondering what would happen next.