Kat Warrior
All characters are © Naughty Dog.
RE-UPLOADED 11/36/05 WITH SOME GRAMMAR/SPELLING CORRECTIONS
A/N: Written not terribly long after Jak 2 came out, as that was when I played it. Since that was the last of the Jak games I played, it won't line up with the other two games. Also, I'm not even sure I had finished the game when this was written, so there's my excuse for any and all inacuracies. Please just ignore those and enjoy this relatively short read. )
The race was over and Jak was the victor. Erol hopped off his zoomer, his eyes flashing with anger. Jak smirked in triumph. He'd beaten Erol in a street race, fair and square. They had gotten into an argument about Keira while at Hip Hog Heaven Saloon when Erol had challenged Jak to a race for her. Erol was not at all pleased with Jak winning.
"You and me, fist fight – now!" he spouted in Jak's face, grabbing him by the shirt collar.
"You're on," Jak replied, still confident. He knew that he could beat Erol in hand-to-hand combat as well. After all, he had battled it out with lurkers and metal heads. Why should Erol be any more difficult?
Daxter was excited and so perched himself on one of the parked zoomers for a front-row seat. He loved to watch a good brawl. He cheered for Jak as the two combatants removed their shirts and boots, so it would be easier for them to move about.
Erol made the first move, taking a leap at Jak, intent on grabbing him by the neck and strangling him. But Jak side-stepped Erol, and the older elf landed face-down on the pavement. His body hurt, but not as much as his pride. Being in favor of fair fighting, Jak allowed him to stand up before attacking.
In a few minutes, Keira showed up. She had heard about a crazy street-race taking place and had wanted to investigate. She was quite surprised to find Jak and Erol wrestling when she arrived. She asked Daxter what was going on.
"Erol's a sore loser!" he declared, "He lost the street race to Jak, so he challenged him to a fist-fight instead." The orange ottsel laughed. "He's in for a real butt-whooping! Jak's the man when it comes to wrestling!"
Keira didn't need to ask what Erol and Jak were fighting over. She was well aware of the fact that they were rivals partly because of her. She thought that their fighting was immature, but she also realized that they were boys and this was probably the only way either of them was willing to settle things.
"She's mine, Eco-freak!" Erol hissed into Jak's ear as he finally got him into a headlock.
"You're not good enough for her!" Jak grunted in reply as he tried to pry Erol's arm off his neck, "She deserves far better than you or I could ever give her! Even if she doesn't think I'm acceptable anymore, I can't let you have her! She shouldn't be around the likes of you." By this time, Jak had freed himself. He socked Erol in the jaw and knocked him flat on his back.
"Even if the feeling isn't mutual," Jak panted as he glared at the fallen Erol, "I love her, and I can't let her suffer with you."
"Jak!" Keira called out. His words had really touched her heart, and she realized that she had been wrong all along. She hurried to him, her arms open wide.
Jak was quite startled to see Keira, and started to blush heavily when he realized that she'd heard what he had said. Just the same, he opened his arms too, and allowed her to come to him. Daxter grinned and jumped off the zoomer, trying to think of a witty way to tease the reunited couple. He was actually rather pleased to see them happy.
But as the ottsel approached them, Erol caught his eye. He was fiddling around with his belt, trying to pull something out. Daxter caught the glint of metal in the sunlight and called a warning out to Jak.
Jak released Keira and turned to face Erol, who was armed with a dagger. Erol came at him like a wild animal. He caught Erol's wrists and held him at bay as his mind raced. Now what? He could only hold Erol off for so long before his arms would get tired. He was so busy thinking that he didn't notice what Erol was doing with his feet until it was too late.
Erol's left foot lashed out and took Jak's legs out from under him. Jak grunted as he hit the ground. Erol was coming at him again, his dagger raised in the air. Jak rolled away, which was a mistake.
Just as Daxter was about to bite Erol's ankle, he heard Jak cry out sharply. He dared a peek at Jak to see the blond elf on his hands and knees, blood dripping from a slash that went from his right shoulder blade, across his back, and to the left side of his lower-back. Erol smirked as he stood over the younger elf.
"Who's the winner now, Eco-freak? That's one of the many things that make me better than you. I think big. You're not good enough for Keira, but I am. I'll make her happier than you ever could, Loser."
Erol was quite shocked when he felt a hand collide – hard – with his cheek. Keira was glaring daggers at him as she crouched beside Jak, trying to help him stand. Daxter was with her, looking over his friend with concern,
"We're through, Erol!" Keira all but shrieked, "I feel so stupid for not seeing you for what you are earlier! You're a coward and a creep, that's what! Jak's really the noble one. He's got more humility and love than you'll ever have."
Erol was actually quiet, trying to decide on what he could say to defend himself. He stepped forward, his hand held out to Keira.
"Get out of my sight," she hissed, "I never want to see your ugly mug again!" Daxter nodded his agreement and started to throw insults of his own, but Erol stomped off in a huff. Keira ignored him from there and turned her attention back to Jak.
"Come on, Jak," Keira whispered, "We'll get on my hover car and take you back to my workshop. My father and I will take care of you there."
"But... Jak protested feebly, "I didn't finish... the fight..."
"Erol lost," Daxter insisted, "He's always been a loser. You got Keira back, so that makes you victor, buddy!" He patted Jak on the shoulder, being careful not to aggravate his wound.
Jak leaned forward in his seat. His head was between his knees, partly to keep him from passing out and partly to keep his back from making contact with his seat. Daxter and Keira had grabbed Jak's shirt and boots before Keira started the hover car and drove back to her workshop.
The trip was long and painful for Jak. He wasn't sure if he'd lost consciousness or not during the drip, but he was glad that he wasn't prone to car sickness. He would have likely thrown up on the floor if he had been. He felt relieved when the car finally stopped and he heard Samos and Keira talking with some input from Daxter.
With a great deal of effort, Keira and her father helped Jak out of the car. Keira guided him to a bench and had him sit down. He sat on the edge and leaned forward with his elbows resting firmly on his knees. Keira seated herself behind him and started cleaning the wound on his back. Jak flinched with the sting, but didn't make a sound.
Keira blushed as she wiped the blood off of Jak's bare back. She tried to hide her face, hoping that Daxter wouldn't see and tease her.
"I'm sorry," she whispered to Jak, "I should never have doubted you, or let myself even like Erol. I guess I was just desperate for someone... But that's not a good excuse. I'm so sorry Jak. It's all my fault you got hurt." She was surprised and blushed even more when Jak reached his right hand around his back and put it over hers as she cleaned the blood off his left side. His actions spoke for him, as they had since he was a child. She knew that she was forgiven. "I love you too, Jak," she whispered.
A/N: Also, I removed the link to the pic that was here. Why? It was old and sucked (as someone pointed out). I may do a newer, better one, but I may not. You can't put links in fanfics now, anyway. But yes, just to inform you, I have come a long way since drawing it, so those who saw it don't assume that's the extent of my abilities. (You can see my DA page via a link on my userpage). And, allow me to say again that Erol lost because I like Jak more. And Jak did win, anyway.
Kat