Chapter 33
Once we told Damas of the job well-done and requested our final arena fights, we then proceeded into the arena and decided that Errol would go first, then Kiki, then me, then Jak. However, during my excursion, I noticed that there was another fighter in the ring that I instantly recognized as being the one that I had just rescued from the storm... and he was actively both shooting at me and the different people in the arena, me being shocked as I shot the others and left him and me as the last two remaining.
"Why are you attacking me?! I rescued you, remember?" I asked him with worry as he continued to shoot at me and I had to dodge the reticle or else I'd be killed.
"It's the rule of the arena, miss. Kill or you get killed. I'm sorry, but if we don't kill one or the other, then Damas will kill both of us," the guy said, me frowning at that and sighing as I knew I wouldn't have a choice.
"I'll make it quick and painless, then... sorry..." I said with a heavy heart as I aimed my Vulcan Fury at the guy's forehead while he reloaded and shot one single round right through it, the guy falling to the ground soon after and me feeling like absolute trash. I had just killed someone that I rescued not even a half hour ago. I begrudgingly went to get my final amulet piece and gun upgrade in the form of an upgrade to the Vulcan Fury and simply walked away as Damas was speaking.
"When fully formed it acts as a beacon. If ever you-" Damas kept speaking as he saw I was leaving, him being surprised at that and the Muse actually chasing after me as I went to the wings.
"Hey, what's got you all moody all of a sudden? You should be happy, you're now a Spargus citizen!" Marigold said to me with a smile as I simply sighed and looked at the ground, not even turning around to look at her.
"What good is rescuing someone's life from a tragedy... if you're forced to kill them soon after?" I asked with a sigh as I then continued forward, Marigold following me and being confused as she spoke again.
"What do you mean? Are you talking about that last opponent you killed? Who was he?" she asked.
"I saved him from that large storm not even a half hour ago... and he said that if I didn't kill him, that Damas would've killed both of us... I hate this place now. Officially," I said as I simply took the three amulet pieces in my hand and simply gave them to Marigold with a sigh. "I don't want to be a citizen of a place that has you killing friends and family for citizenship. And I suggest you tell Damas that I'm simply not cut out to be a Wastelander," I said, Marigold gasping and rushing after me, turning into her genie form and trying to hand me the amulet pieces again and me simply holding my hands in fists.
"You really must think this through, Sasha! If you aren't a Wastelander, then Damas will just toss you out into the desert for the Marauders to devour! And if not them, the storms will make short work of you!" Marigold said with worry to me.
"Hmph," I scoffed, knowing that she was right but not liking it regardless. I simply grabbed the beacon from her hand and looked at her with seriousness. "If Jak and Daxter go through the same thing I did, I can guarantee that they're not going to kill their opponent. Jak and Daxter are much less willing to fight friends, even if forced to," I said... and what happened soon after? I saw Damas exiting the arena with not only Jak and Daxter, but SIG AS WELL!
"Sig?! So this is where you've been since leaving Haven all those months ago!" I said to him with a smile... but he simply ignored me and kept moving and Damas looked ticked. It was only then that I realized what was happening. "See what I mean, Marigold? Sig was one of our closest battle partners in Haven during the Metal Head wars. And now, he and Jak refused to fight each other," I said, Marigold looking at them in worry and looking at me.
"So what do you want me to do about it?" Marigold asked.
"Go convince Damas to spare them in some way," I said, Marigold frowning and sighing soon after.
"Fine... I'll go try to talk to him," Marigold said as she then chased after them very quickly, her managing to get onto the elevator soon after and me simply waiting for the elevator to go back down... and after it did, Jak, Sig, and Dax exited and looked at me with a smile.
"So... how did it go?" I asked, them looking at me and giving small smiles.
"After the queen spoke to Damas, he decided to offer us mercy, provided that we go to the Metalpede nest in the base of the giant volcano and destroy all the Metal Head eggs," Jak said, me smiling at him and sighing.
"You're welcome... I convinced the queen to talk to Damas about you guys having mercy... mostly because I was super angry and upset that I had to kill the very person I rescued during that storm," I said with a frown.
"Really? You're tough, cherry. If it'd be you and me fighting, I sure hope you'd have did the same thing Jak did," Sig said, me smiling at him.
"Gonna be honest, Sig, I'd spare your life any day of the week. I still remember our first Wastelander time at the Pumping Station and how good of a team we were," I smiled at him, Sig nodding as he then went to the garage with Jak and I then got a call on my communicator soon after.
"Hello?" I asked, only to hear a familiar voice on the other end.
"Momma Sasha? This is Ashelin... I'm glad you guys are still alive," Ashelin said, me gasping at that.
"Ashelin! Where are you?" I asked in shock.
"I'm out at the western Oasis. Please come find me. I don't have much time to spend here away from the city," Ashelin said, me nodding at that.
"Got it. I'm going to get Kiki and Errol to join in, since Jak and Dax are busy right now," I said, me then hanging up and calling up the other two to meet up at the garage effective immediately. And once we were all assembled, Kiki flew out in the air and me and Errol grabbed the Dune Hopper to go out, since it had a very good jumping power and that combined with the turbo boost made it the best car for covering long distances!
"Okay, so where did Ashelin say she was at again?" Errol asked as I zoomed us over the large bridge and over to one of the dunes to the southwest.
"The oasis on this side of the desert. Trust me," I said, our group finding Ashelin along with a Hellcat right next to the oasis and us then departing from the vehicle to meet with her.
"Ashelin, what are you doing here?" I asked, her looking at me with a frown.
"I came here to get you guys back to the city... we're losing the fight. Vegar's so drunk with power that he's taken command, even with me trying to prevent him from doing so," Ashelin said with a frown.
"And guess what else? We heard from one of Vegar's monk comrades that he was the one who destroyed the palace in the first place! We overheard them talking in that temple to the south," I said, Ashelin gasping at that and her frown emerging soon after.
"That... That lying asshole! The next I see him, he's done!" Ashelin exclaimed angrily... but that wasn't the best idea. Why? A whole slew of Marauders appeared and looked ready to kill all of us!
"Head's up, guys! We're in for a fight!" I said, me then immediately bringing out my new Vulcan Fury weapon and proceeding to spray it all over the different vehicles the Marauders used. And it was then that I saw that the bullets were actually converted into blue eco electricity that caused the cars to short-circuit and explode after a few seconds of the stream on each of them!
"Hah! Take that!" I exclaimed as Errol and Kiki helped out in killing the other Marauders with their weapons, since Ashelin had a red eco pistol and nothing else. After eliminating 60 different Marauders, the slaughter finally ended and we were given a moment of reprieve.
"Here, Keira wanted me to give these to you guys," Ashelin said as she gave me three different Jet Boards. One was mine, the other was Jak's, and the final one, which was colored red, was Errol's. "Guys, the city needs you... all of us do," Ashelin said, Errol looking ticked as usual.
"The city threw all of us out, remember? They can rot for all I care!" Errol said angrily before Ashelin spoke again.
"The city didn't throw you out, guys," Ashelin said, me gasping at that. "Vegar was so insistant to get you out of the city, he fiddled with the votes. It was actually 20 to 80 to get you banished. As in, 80 percent of the city wanted you to stay," Ashelin said, my smile reforming soon after.
"You hear that, Errol? Yet another reason to fucking hate Cunt Asshole!" I smiled, Errol finally managing to crack a smirk, even if it were for a small moment.
"Unfortunately, I can't get you back there with my Hellcat, since it has limited fuel and can only hold myself for the round trip. If you can find some alternative mode of transport, then use it... from what I overheard from the Freedom Fighters, there should be a path to Haven City hidden somewhere in that temple you talked about earlier. You'll need this to get there, they said," Ashelin said as she handed me Jak's amulet, the one he got from his kid version.
"Got it. You stay safe, Ashelin. And if you see Vegar before us, give him a swift kick in the nards, got it?" Kiki smiled.
"I'll happily oblige," Ashelin smiled as she then started her Hellcat and went into the distance.
"Okay, now we just have to contact Jak and Dax to join us and we're all set," I smiled. Errol was the one to do so and I decided to listen to the dynamic duo with my three-way communicator.
"Errol? What is it?" Jak asked.
"We got a message from Ashelin as well as some presents. Apparently the city didn't throw us out at all and they need us back. The votes were fiddled by Veger and he made them flipped. The city was actually 20 percent in favor of us getting banished, 80 percent to stay, the complete opposite of what Veger said!" Errol said angrily, me smirking at that.
"So what do we do, then?" Jak asked.
"She said we'd need to find an alternate route to the city from that Monk Temple to the south. Kiki will meet up with you and fly you over there, since we currently have the Dune Hopper with us. We also have our finished Jet Boards and we got your amulet back," Errol said.
"Got it," Jak smiled as Kiki then took to the skies and flew towards the city in the distance.
"Now time to get going to the temple. Let's have some fun with this jump feature on the way," I smiled at Errol while we got in the Dune Hopper.
"I swear, if you make this thing flip upside-down during the trip, you're getting punched in the stomach," Errol smiled.
"Okay, so long as you don't mind losing another tooth," I smirked, Errol immediately shutting up at that. I'd already made him lose three different teeth during our scuffles in the past and he hated his smile lately. It was just a reminder that you shouldn't mess with Sasha Nell.