Ekobean: Well, a lot has happened in a little time. Thank you for all the wonderful reviews. I hope that you like reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Shadowsister, hey babe, you said you like graphic things. Trust me, I didn't greatly enjoy writing that, but 'twill all play out in the end.

Jak had definitely looked better in his lifetime in his life. Almost his entire tunic was shredded and gone, there were specks of what appeared to be blood littering his blonde-green hair, and he had several deep, bloody gashes along his face and torso.

"Jak! Daddy!" Keira cried, immediately running to the two. She quickly embraced Jak, who winced and hung his limp arm around her hips. She gave him a quick kiss then ran to her father. "Where have you been?" she asked, "we didn't know what to think."

"I have been on the surface," replied Samos, "I was the only person whom Brutter told about Jak's idea. I was on the lookout for the Lurkers."

"Well, why didn't you tell us?"

"So the people of this city would not get too hopeful. Remember, Lurkers and elves are not exactly on good terms. Shortly after I entered the Tomb I found Jak crawling out of a hole in the corner of the entrance hall. I healed most of his wounds, but some will take too long, even for me."

"What happened?" Keira asked Jak worriedly.

"I'll tell you later," Jak wheezed.

"Isn't this touching?" whispered Maia as she slowly floated out of the hole she had been shot into, "you caught me by surprise, boy. I see my brother did not kill you like he claimed to have done. How typical, yet not surprising."

"Hey Maia," Jak interrupted, cocking his gun, "where is your brother anyway? We have some unfinished business."

"Why don't you ask anybody here? They will tell you."

"Jak, Gol is dead," said Shady, "that..." she shot a venomous glance at Maia "...thing up there killed him. Just like she killed Ax and his men."

"You killed Gol?" Jak rasped, "you killed your own brother?"

"Like I was telling your companions just before you, ahem, interrupted me, he did not truly understand Dark Eco. He" –

"Yeah, yeah," said Daxter, "look Jak, Gol didn't 'understand' Dark Eco so she killed him. Can you just shoot her now?"

"That last shot was my last bit of ammo, Dax."

"Great," whimpered the Ottsel, burying his head in his arms.

"Think, you've just come this far only to die," cackled the sage, "your Eco Springs will serve as power to my minions. No one will stand a remote chance against Dark Hora-Quan powered with Yellow and Red Eco! But for now," and she turned her gaze to Jak, "I will get my sole revenge on you."

"You can try," said Jak, clenching his hands into fists.

"Oh, but I am going to kill you last. You see, I find that if you are truly going to avenge yourself, you must first destroy your enemy from the inside out."

"What do you mean?"

"All whom you hold dear to you shall die at your hands."

"How do you expect to have me kill my friends?"

"Boy, you do not truly think that I have not sensed it in you? Deep within your bloodstream, dormant in your simple, pathetic mind? That creature who always is threatening to rear its head, to use your body as its tool to destroy all within its grasp. Yes, the perfect tool for my revenge!" without another word Maia raised her gloved hand. There was a flash of brilliant purple light that shot out from Maia's palm. Seconds later Jak was kneeling on the ground screaming with his hands over his head. His skin was rapidly changing from pale then back to tan. His pupils dilated and grew.

Keira instinctively began to run to him, but an enormous hand stopped her in her tracks. "Don't go near him," Sig warned.

"I have to help him!"

"I'm afraid he's beyond any of our help, Keira."

"Daddy, can't you do something?"

"I'm afraid things have been set into motion that cannot be undone."

"What?"

"The prophecy..." he whispered.

Jak was tumbling downward. Black, angry mists were twirling about him, screams of anger and fear, all one confusing mass of dark energy. Jak landed on what appeared to be a solid floor of black marble. Someone whispered behind Jak. "Give it to me..." it whispered. Jak spun around to face the owner of the voice, only to find empty space. "I want it..." This one came from the side! Jak blindly threw a punch sideways, only to hit air. "Your body!" It was Maia, she was inside his head, trying to weaken him! He had to fight it, he had to stay focused. He was inside his own mind.

There was another whisper, but this one was different. It felt warm, almost welcoming. And suddenly he recognized the voice, it was the voice of the Oracle. "Oracle..." he murmured.

"Warrior. It is time, time to use the Dark Power I gave you."

"Dark Twin?" he asked.

"Yes," came the reply.

"How?"

"You will know, as with all your other Dark Powers your instincts will tell you. All the events in your past have lead up to this moment. Now is the time to fulfill the ancient Precursor prophecy and claim your destiny. But be warned, great warrior, once you initiate Dark Twin, you will fight an enemy whom knows you all too well." The voice and the presence faded from Jak's mind.

An enemy he knew all too well? Well duh, of course he would face Maia.

Jak concentrated hard and long deep inside his mind. He felt something dormant, something he had never touched before. That must have been the Dark Twin power. He forced it to emerge, to make itself known. His body tingled with a strange sensation.

He regained consciousness in the real world. A great hole where a burning rage had once been was now empty. He no longer heard whispers in the back of his head, nor felt the presence in the back of his mind. Dark Twin had eschewed Dark Jak from his body! He was free, and there was no way for Maia to control him. He turned happily to the rest of the army, only to find them staring in a look of pure horror. He looked over at Maia, only to find a wide grin over her face. Her right hand was glowing with an eerie purple light. Jak's ears twitched and he heard something, barely audible. A sort of muffled breathing, almost like the panting of a dog, and it was coming from right behind him.

Jak turned around to see a crumpled heap behind him, and as it slowly rose, he gasped in pure horror. "An enemy whom knows you all too well." That is what the Oracle had meant. And he wasn't talking about Maia. There, standing next to him, was Dark Jak. And as he looked at him with his pure black eyes, Jak noticed a grin exactly identical to Maia's. She was controlling a creature of pure Dark Eco.

Ekobean: Well that's it. Another chapter will be coming soon with a desperate fight between Jak and Dark Jak. What will happen? You'll just have to find out.