Sorry it's been so long. I've had a crapload of things to do and just not
enough time to continue Dark Menace. But now, here you go. The third
chapter of Dark Menace. Enjoy!
Chapter 3
"You did WHAT!!??" Keira shrieked. All eyes were on Jak as he looked around cautiously at the people sitting around him. They were sitting in a small, cramped booth in the Naught Ottsel on the port. Daxter (who owned the bar) was sitting on his girlfriend Tess' lap.
"Jeez, Jak," he said, "I've seen you do some stupid stuff, but THAT just tops it off!...Scratch me there, would ya babe?" Daxter looked up at Tess expectantly.
Tess giggled and began lightly scratching Daxter between the ears.
"Ya could've at least taken me along!" thundered Sig, who was gulping down some thick, blue substance from a purple mug. "I haven't seen any action in a while."
"I know you usually have reasons for some of the things you do, Jak," said Samos wisely, "but, I'm sorry, that was...stupid."
"Look," sighed Jak, "I'm sorry if I scared you all, but I had some weird feeling. I've been having it for a while now. I just felt that I had to make sure if the Metal Heads were getting smarter or if..." Jak trailed off.
"'If' WHAT!?" Keira demanded, pounding a gloved fist on the table.
"If the Metal Heads were...well...working alone," Jak chose his words carefully. He couldn't find the exact words to describe what he felt.
"Jak, in all my years of research in Precurian history, in all their records and data bases that they left behind, they state that the Hora-Quan were a solitary race completely reliant on themselves and their leader."
"Kor," said Daxter lazily, opening one eye halfway as he enjoyed a message.
"But Kor's dead now, isn't he? If they were so reliant on him, don't you think they'd try and find something else to rely on? Something powerful?" asked Jak thoughtfully.
Samos raised a hand and opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it again. He opened and closed his mouth several times, searching for a logical answer to Jak's statement. After about thirty seconds of this routine he sat down again, eyes closed, and took a large sip from the mug in front of him.
"Got ya that time, didn't he, Greeney?" asked Daxter cheerfully, only to find Samo's cane across his head a split second later.
"Makes sense," said Sig as he set down his mug, "But who'd be insane enough to help the Metal Heads?"
"There are a lot of weird people out there, big guy," said Daxter, gingerly touching the large, pink lump that had begun to rise from his head. "Believe me, I know." He gave a sidelong look at Samos, who was still sipping from his mug.
"Look, you guys haven't even let me finish," Jak interrupted impatiently.
"There's more?" asked Keira through gritted teeth. Jak looked nervously at Keira before continuing.
"Well, see I made my way into the center of the Nest. It was weird. The whole way through I didn't even see any sign of recent Metal Head activity. I finally made it to the leader's lair and went in. It was...horrible." Jak remembered the Metal Heads' slaughtered bodies, their black blood covering the ground. He told them about the Metal Heads' bodies and the Dark Eco. However, he did leave out the details of Dark Jak's rebellion. The last thing he needed was for them to worry about him, especially with the concerns about the Metal Heads at hand.
There were a couple moments of silence. Some, like Samos, Sig, and Tess, were looking feverishly down at the table, as if processing what Jak had just told them. Daxter's mouth was simply hanging open. Keira was biting her nails, her bright eyes wide open.
"Jak, my boy," said Samos finally, "I take back what I said whole heartedly. This may be just the most important news we have ever received. Ashelin should know about this immediately." Without another word Samos lifted into the air and was out the door in a green streak.
The remaining people of the group talked for a while after Samos left. The excitement of the conversation was gone. They mostly just asked for small details of the incident, just for something to talk about. They began to slowly depart after a while.
Jak and Keira were the last to leave. As they walked down the sidewalks of the Port they began to talk. Mist hung lazily about the murky waters. Brown ooze dripped from the pipes of the large factories that surrounded the port. The mist was made golden by the light of the rising sun. It was a beautiful sight to behold as the mist glowed, it seemed to have a life of its own. This was the only time that the murky, polluted waters of the Port were covered, and truly seemed to be a beautiful thing.
Keira sighed next to Jak. "Jak, look," she said finally, "I'm sorry I yelled earlier on. It's just that I wish you wouldn't do some of the things that you do. I know you have your reasons, but it just confuses me."
"I'm sorry about that, Keira," Jak said slowly. "I've just been having these feelings lately. I don't know, it's just that I've been feeling that something terrible is going to happen soon. And now, seeing the bodies of those Metal Heads, I think that that feeling may have been confirmed."
Keira sighed. She had to remember that Jak had been through things that she never would. He had been tortured for two years, experimented on, injected with Dark Eco almost every day for two years. He had another entity living inside him. The problem was that she would forget that sometimes. But it was so frustrating sometimes, she had a hard time coping with it. "I'm sorry," she said again and wrapped her arms slowly about him. Jak smiled softly and returned the embrace. The held the position for a minute, enjoying each other's company.
They slowly parted after a moment. "I better go back to the race garage," Keira said softly, "the Zoomers need some tuning up for the next big race." She then began to walk off into the distance.
"I'll see you tonight," Jak called after her. Keira looked over her shoulder and waved after him. She slowly faded into the fog of the early morning. Jak began walking in the opposite direction, his hands in his pockets. He was thinking about all different things. His head was abuzz with confusing mixtures of thoughts, where Keira and he may go tonight, visions of the slaughtered Metal Heads, lakes of Dark Eco...Jak hardly noticed were he was walking. His feet seemed to be leading him randomly while his mind wondered somewhere else. By the time he noticed where he was, he found that he was in the Slums.
Jak looked about. The changes were quite evident. No longer were there bums and homeless people burning the contents of garbage cans for warmth, or the endless potholes that littered the streets. The broken windows and oozing pipes were almost all gone. In their place was a much neater, more desirable place to live. Ashelin had done wonders on the Slums since she became Governess, along with the entire city. The Slums were hardly slums anymore. Jak continued walking, not noticing a small, wiry figure cautiously stepping out from under a trench.
The figure was an elf. He wore a torn, stained trench coat, and the beginnings of an unshaven beard were forming on his chin. His eyes were bloodshot, and he had wild, red hair that stuck in all directions on his head. In his hands was a long board with five six-inch-long nails sticking out of the end. The man's mouth was twisted in a savage snarl. His steps became more frequent, less stealthy as he began to catch up to Jak. At last, when he was five feet away, he seemed not to be able to control himself any longer.
"Murderer!!" he shrieked savagely, and swung the board nails-first at Jak's head. Jak ducked in the nick of time as the nails grazed his hears. Jak winced as blood began to steadily drip from the tip. The man screamed again and swung again. Jak strafed the right and aimed a kick for the man's head. The man barely dodged it, and swung the board into Jak's outstretched leg. Jak howled as the nails sunk deep into his thigh.
The crazed elf wrenched the board from Jak's leg and swung again. Blood stained Jak's pants as he rolled under the elf's attack, trying to ignore the pain. The man brought the board down with full force towards Jak's head. Jak sidestepped the attack and grabbed the board. The man screamed and began to wrestle. The two were locked in combat, circling each other. Jak was amazed by the thin man's strength. He seemed to be driven by will alone. But what had he done to upset this man so much?
Jak wrenched the board from the man's hand and railed him in the head with the flat side. The man did a 360-degree spin in midair before falling to the ground, groaning. Jak walked over and grabbed the man by the front of the shirt. The man squealed as he was brought face-to-face with Jak. His face was already beginning to swell from the blow that Jak had dealt.
"Who are you?" Jak spat.
"You killed our families!!" the man roared.
"What?" Jak managed to say before more cries filled the air. Five more bums stepped out from unseen corners.
"Rip him up! Kill him! DIE!!! Murderer! Hate you!" They were all screaming as they charged forth. Jak barely had time to react as they approached. Jak kicked off of one, and flipping over him, railed him with both hands in the head. He staggered, but did not fall.
Two more charged him as he landed. One caught Jak by both arms and held him while the other began punching him in the stomach. Blood dripped from Jak's mouth as the elf continued his relentless attack. Jak raised his knee and blocked the man's next punch, then straightened his leg and hit the man with all his strength in the jaw with his steel-toed boot. The man flew five feet backward head first before hitting the ground. Jak slammed his head back into the one holding his arms' face. The man loosened his grip just enough for Jak to slip away. He unleashed a spin kick and sent the man flying backward into a trench.
Another man charged him from the left. Jak caught his punch, lifted the man clean off of his feet and threw him into three others. Jak wasn't aware of his strength. It pumped from deep within, he didn't notice that Dark Eco was slowly beginning to pump through his veins, the other entity slowly growing slower, overtaking his mind with rage.
Fists were clubbing him from all sides. Wild screams of rage flew about as the hysterical people pulled him down, throwing their weight upon him, beating him savagely to submission. A dark aura began to form under the dog pile, the air thickened, darkness seemed to engulf all the light around them. Purple volts of lightning shocked them. They began to back away, their eyes wide with looks of pure horror. Some simply stood mouths agape, others curled up into little balls and began to sob. And still others turned and fled. Only one was safe, unconscious in a trench. A thunderous roar filled every nook and cranny of the Slums as Jak changed. His clothing creaked and groaned as a pure, deathly black overtook his eyes. His canines lengthened by an inch and became razor sharp. His hair became wild and unkept, an goat-like horns sprouted from his forehead. His skin turned ghost-white, and last his fingernails lengthened to three-inch claws. Dark Jak had won, after a single year of fighting it, Jak had succumbed to the sheer rage that was Dark Jak.
The demon surveyed his surroundings, sniffing the air like a dog. Long strings of saliva dripped from his gaping mouth. His pupil-less eyes looked down upon his attackers. A cry of rage rose from his throat, and without warning, he charged his attackers. Two made valiant efforts to defend themselves. One threw a badly-aimed punch at the demon, only to find his claws digging into his hand. In one fluid motion Dark Jak twisted the man's arm, splintering the bone. The man howled as he was thrown thirty feet into the air, over the building tops.
The other snatched a rusty pipe and swung at Dark Jak. The demon grabbed the pipe in one hand. His muscles tensed as he sent a single surge of dark energy through the pipe and into the man. He screamed unceasingly as the volts of energy coursing through it incinerated his body.
Next Jak walked towards one of the sobbing men, grabbed him by the neck and lifted him off his feet. He felt the bones of his neck crack easily under his hand. Next he rushed another sobbing man, sank his claws into his chest and nimbly threw him into a nearby building. Concrete and rock were splintered as the man's body collided with it. Blood seeped through the rubble. The last of the men charged Dark Jak. The demon swiped one of his clawed hands at him. The man narrowly dodged it and railed the demon in the face.
Dark Jak was taken aback at this new attack. It had been a full year since he had used his abilities. His body was still powering up, re-energizing the Dark Powers that had been gifted to him. The demon landed a swift sweep- kick on the man. The helpless elf fell to his knees as his legs gave way under him. The demon's had was on his face in a heartbeat. In one swift movement the man's skull had imploded upon itself.
Dark Jak then began to run. He searched for more people, for more blood. He ran for a half a mile, people screamed and fled before him. He heard Krimzon Guard sirens in the background. They didn't matter! He would kill them! He would kill them all! He would...
Tears ran down his white face from his glassy blue eyes. His pale skin was gaining color, his hair flattening. The horns shrank back into his skull, and his teeth became normal.
Jak ran and ran. He heard gunshots behind him, heard people fleeing, felt the hot pain of an energy bullet as it grazed his ear. At last he fell to his knees. He couldn't do it. He couldn't live with it anymore. Sobbing, he fell to the ground as he heard the sirens and footsteps approach...
Ekobean: (sighs) well there you go. Sorry it took so long, my internet service has been on the blink lately. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. More are yet to come. Let's see what happens, shall we?
Chapter 3
"You did WHAT!!??" Keira shrieked. All eyes were on Jak as he looked around cautiously at the people sitting around him. They were sitting in a small, cramped booth in the Naught Ottsel on the port. Daxter (who owned the bar) was sitting on his girlfriend Tess' lap.
"Jeez, Jak," he said, "I've seen you do some stupid stuff, but THAT just tops it off!...Scratch me there, would ya babe?" Daxter looked up at Tess expectantly.
Tess giggled and began lightly scratching Daxter between the ears.
"Ya could've at least taken me along!" thundered Sig, who was gulping down some thick, blue substance from a purple mug. "I haven't seen any action in a while."
"I know you usually have reasons for some of the things you do, Jak," said Samos wisely, "but, I'm sorry, that was...stupid."
"Look," sighed Jak, "I'm sorry if I scared you all, but I had some weird feeling. I've been having it for a while now. I just felt that I had to make sure if the Metal Heads were getting smarter or if..." Jak trailed off.
"'If' WHAT!?" Keira demanded, pounding a gloved fist on the table.
"If the Metal Heads were...well...working alone," Jak chose his words carefully. He couldn't find the exact words to describe what he felt.
"Jak, in all my years of research in Precurian history, in all their records and data bases that they left behind, they state that the Hora-Quan were a solitary race completely reliant on themselves and their leader."
"Kor," said Daxter lazily, opening one eye halfway as he enjoyed a message.
"But Kor's dead now, isn't he? If they were so reliant on him, don't you think they'd try and find something else to rely on? Something powerful?" asked Jak thoughtfully.
Samos raised a hand and opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it again. He opened and closed his mouth several times, searching for a logical answer to Jak's statement. After about thirty seconds of this routine he sat down again, eyes closed, and took a large sip from the mug in front of him.
"Got ya that time, didn't he, Greeney?" asked Daxter cheerfully, only to find Samo's cane across his head a split second later.
"Makes sense," said Sig as he set down his mug, "But who'd be insane enough to help the Metal Heads?"
"There are a lot of weird people out there, big guy," said Daxter, gingerly touching the large, pink lump that had begun to rise from his head. "Believe me, I know." He gave a sidelong look at Samos, who was still sipping from his mug.
"Look, you guys haven't even let me finish," Jak interrupted impatiently.
"There's more?" asked Keira through gritted teeth. Jak looked nervously at Keira before continuing.
"Well, see I made my way into the center of the Nest. It was weird. The whole way through I didn't even see any sign of recent Metal Head activity. I finally made it to the leader's lair and went in. It was...horrible." Jak remembered the Metal Heads' slaughtered bodies, their black blood covering the ground. He told them about the Metal Heads' bodies and the Dark Eco. However, he did leave out the details of Dark Jak's rebellion. The last thing he needed was for them to worry about him, especially with the concerns about the Metal Heads at hand.
There were a couple moments of silence. Some, like Samos, Sig, and Tess, were looking feverishly down at the table, as if processing what Jak had just told them. Daxter's mouth was simply hanging open. Keira was biting her nails, her bright eyes wide open.
"Jak, my boy," said Samos finally, "I take back what I said whole heartedly. This may be just the most important news we have ever received. Ashelin should know about this immediately." Without another word Samos lifted into the air and was out the door in a green streak.
The remaining people of the group talked for a while after Samos left. The excitement of the conversation was gone. They mostly just asked for small details of the incident, just for something to talk about. They began to slowly depart after a while.
Jak and Keira were the last to leave. As they walked down the sidewalks of the Port they began to talk. Mist hung lazily about the murky waters. Brown ooze dripped from the pipes of the large factories that surrounded the port. The mist was made golden by the light of the rising sun. It was a beautiful sight to behold as the mist glowed, it seemed to have a life of its own. This was the only time that the murky, polluted waters of the Port were covered, and truly seemed to be a beautiful thing.
Keira sighed next to Jak. "Jak, look," she said finally, "I'm sorry I yelled earlier on. It's just that I wish you wouldn't do some of the things that you do. I know you have your reasons, but it just confuses me."
"I'm sorry about that, Keira," Jak said slowly. "I've just been having these feelings lately. I don't know, it's just that I've been feeling that something terrible is going to happen soon. And now, seeing the bodies of those Metal Heads, I think that that feeling may have been confirmed."
Keira sighed. She had to remember that Jak had been through things that she never would. He had been tortured for two years, experimented on, injected with Dark Eco almost every day for two years. He had another entity living inside him. The problem was that she would forget that sometimes. But it was so frustrating sometimes, she had a hard time coping with it. "I'm sorry," she said again and wrapped her arms slowly about him. Jak smiled softly and returned the embrace. The held the position for a minute, enjoying each other's company.
They slowly parted after a moment. "I better go back to the race garage," Keira said softly, "the Zoomers need some tuning up for the next big race." She then began to walk off into the distance.
"I'll see you tonight," Jak called after her. Keira looked over her shoulder and waved after him. She slowly faded into the fog of the early morning. Jak began walking in the opposite direction, his hands in his pockets. He was thinking about all different things. His head was abuzz with confusing mixtures of thoughts, where Keira and he may go tonight, visions of the slaughtered Metal Heads, lakes of Dark Eco...Jak hardly noticed were he was walking. His feet seemed to be leading him randomly while his mind wondered somewhere else. By the time he noticed where he was, he found that he was in the Slums.
Jak looked about. The changes were quite evident. No longer were there bums and homeless people burning the contents of garbage cans for warmth, or the endless potholes that littered the streets. The broken windows and oozing pipes were almost all gone. In their place was a much neater, more desirable place to live. Ashelin had done wonders on the Slums since she became Governess, along with the entire city. The Slums were hardly slums anymore. Jak continued walking, not noticing a small, wiry figure cautiously stepping out from under a trench.
The figure was an elf. He wore a torn, stained trench coat, and the beginnings of an unshaven beard were forming on his chin. His eyes were bloodshot, and he had wild, red hair that stuck in all directions on his head. In his hands was a long board with five six-inch-long nails sticking out of the end. The man's mouth was twisted in a savage snarl. His steps became more frequent, less stealthy as he began to catch up to Jak. At last, when he was five feet away, he seemed not to be able to control himself any longer.
"Murderer!!" he shrieked savagely, and swung the board nails-first at Jak's head. Jak ducked in the nick of time as the nails grazed his hears. Jak winced as blood began to steadily drip from the tip. The man screamed again and swung again. Jak strafed the right and aimed a kick for the man's head. The man barely dodged it, and swung the board into Jak's outstretched leg. Jak howled as the nails sunk deep into his thigh.
The crazed elf wrenched the board from Jak's leg and swung again. Blood stained Jak's pants as he rolled under the elf's attack, trying to ignore the pain. The man brought the board down with full force towards Jak's head. Jak sidestepped the attack and grabbed the board. The man screamed and began to wrestle. The two were locked in combat, circling each other. Jak was amazed by the thin man's strength. He seemed to be driven by will alone. But what had he done to upset this man so much?
Jak wrenched the board from the man's hand and railed him in the head with the flat side. The man did a 360-degree spin in midair before falling to the ground, groaning. Jak walked over and grabbed the man by the front of the shirt. The man squealed as he was brought face-to-face with Jak. His face was already beginning to swell from the blow that Jak had dealt.
"Who are you?" Jak spat.
"You killed our families!!" the man roared.
"What?" Jak managed to say before more cries filled the air. Five more bums stepped out from unseen corners.
"Rip him up! Kill him! DIE!!! Murderer! Hate you!" They were all screaming as they charged forth. Jak barely had time to react as they approached. Jak kicked off of one, and flipping over him, railed him with both hands in the head. He staggered, but did not fall.
Two more charged him as he landed. One caught Jak by both arms and held him while the other began punching him in the stomach. Blood dripped from Jak's mouth as the elf continued his relentless attack. Jak raised his knee and blocked the man's next punch, then straightened his leg and hit the man with all his strength in the jaw with his steel-toed boot. The man flew five feet backward head first before hitting the ground. Jak slammed his head back into the one holding his arms' face. The man loosened his grip just enough for Jak to slip away. He unleashed a spin kick and sent the man flying backward into a trench.
Another man charged him from the left. Jak caught his punch, lifted the man clean off of his feet and threw him into three others. Jak wasn't aware of his strength. It pumped from deep within, he didn't notice that Dark Eco was slowly beginning to pump through his veins, the other entity slowly growing slower, overtaking his mind with rage.
Fists were clubbing him from all sides. Wild screams of rage flew about as the hysterical people pulled him down, throwing their weight upon him, beating him savagely to submission. A dark aura began to form under the dog pile, the air thickened, darkness seemed to engulf all the light around them. Purple volts of lightning shocked them. They began to back away, their eyes wide with looks of pure horror. Some simply stood mouths agape, others curled up into little balls and began to sob. And still others turned and fled. Only one was safe, unconscious in a trench. A thunderous roar filled every nook and cranny of the Slums as Jak changed. His clothing creaked and groaned as a pure, deathly black overtook his eyes. His canines lengthened by an inch and became razor sharp. His hair became wild and unkept, an goat-like horns sprouted from his forehead. His skin turned ghost-white, and last his fingernails lengthened to three-inch claws. Dark Jak had won, after a single year of fighting it, Jak had succumbed to the sheer rage that was Dark Jak.
The demon surveyed his surroundings, sniffing the air like a dog. Long strings of saliva dripped from his gaping mouth. His pupil-less eyes looked down upon his attackers. A cry of rage rose from his throat, and without warning, he charged his attackers. Two made valiant efforts to defend themselves. One threw a badly-aimed punch at the demon, only to find his claws digging into his hand. In one fluid motion Dark Jak twisted the man's arm, splintering the bone. The man howled as he was thrown thirty feet into the air, over the building tops.
The other snatched a rusty pipe and swung at Dark Jak. The demon grabbed the pipe in one hand. His muscles tensed as he sent a single surge of dark energy through the pipe and into the man. He screamed unceasingly as the volts of energy coursing through it incinerated his body.
Next Jak walked towards one of the sobbing men, grabbed him by the neck and lifted him off his feet. He felt the bones of his neck crack easily under his hand. Next he rushed another sobbing man, sank his claws into his chest and nimbly threw him into a nearby building. Concrete and rock were splintered as the man's body collided with it. Blood seeped through the rubble. The last of the men charged Dark Jak. The demon swiped one of his clawed hands at him. The man narrowly dodged it and railed the demon in the face.
Dark Jak was taken aback at this new attack. It had been a full year since he had used his abilities. His body was still powering up, re-energizing the Dark Powers that had been gifted to him. The demon landed a swift sweep- kick on the man. The helpless elf fell to his knees as his legs gave way under him. The demon's had was on his face in a heartbeat. In one swift movement the man's skull had imploded upon itself.
Dark Jak then began to run. He searched for more people, for more blood. He ran for a half a mile, people screamed and fled before him. He heard Krimzon Guard sirens in the background. They didn't matter! He would kill them! He would kill them all! He would...
Tears ran down his white face from his glassy blue eyes. His pale skin was gaining color, his hair flattening. The horns shrank back into his skull, and his teeth became normal.
Jak ran and ran. He heard gunshots behind him, heard people fleeing, felt the hot pain of an energy bullet as it grazed his ear. At last he fell to his knees. He couldn't do it. He couldn't live with it anymore. Sobbing, he fell to the ground as he heard the sirens and footsteps approach...
Ekobean: (sighs) well there you go. Sorry it took so long, my internet service has been on the blink lately. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. More are yet to come. Let's see what happens, shall we?