Title: Speed: Haven City Style
Chapter: 4/6
Disclaimer: Don't own the Jak serious or even Speed. Own the plot though. Ah… yay…?
Keywords: Jak, Keira, a large hole, a dolly
Couples: some Jak/Keira
Chapter Rating: PG-13 for language and slight violence
Genre(s): Action/Drama/slight Romance
Feedback: duh!
Timeline: right after chapter three
Author's Notes: Okay, I know this have, in fact, been posted earlier then the last chapter, but you should know that it was supposed to be up right before the Olympics over in Athens, Greece. I wanted to give it to you before I went there XD I was so excited to be going to Greece and seeing that amazing show of athletic skill that I was too hyper to post this. On another note, we're starting school tomorrow (we start later then everyone else) but, though it's bad news for me, it's good news for you. I've noticed that I have a tendency to update on a more consistent level during the school year which means that my stories will be more frequent. Isn't that good? P
On another note, because keeps on changing its damn criteria for posting chapters this may seem a little sloppy. I'm trying to find paragraph break pattern that doesn't conflict with so please bear with me. Thanks for your patience! You guys rock! :-D
Story notes: fast pace in the beginning, romantic (kinda) in the middle, and dramatic in the end. Ah… what more could you ask for…?
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--Last time on Speed: HavenCity Style--
Jak had almost reached Helen when the explosion rocked him. The SWAT team on the flatbed where sent to their backs and Jak crashed into Keira, causing the bus to serve, and she cried out but more from fear then pain.
Helen's body slipped into the hole on the stairs of the bus created by the bomb.
Jak reached for Helen as she screamed, but it was too late. She fell and Jak fell. Sig reached out and grabbed Jak's collar, hauling him into the bus. As Jak collapsed to his knees in defeat, the bus bumped sickeningly as a testimony to what happened to Helen. Keira's face lost all its color and she lowered her head, though still keeping her eyes on the road.
Jak couldn't move. He stared at the space where Helen had stood… where the stairs had once. He could hear Keira almost hyperventilating.
--This time on Speed: HavenCity Style--
Chapter Four- The Jump
The bus was filled with silence. Most heads were lowered and a few were sobbing. Jak was silent, as was Keira though she was panting pretty hard. There were no tears in her eyes but there was guilt…
Finally Jak jumped to his feet in raw anger and shouted into his walkie talkie, "Samos, get those fucking choppers off my ass!"
Sig noticed that Mrs. Kamino was shivered so hard a gentle breeze could push her over. He walked over to her and placed his coat around her shoulders. Mrs. Kamino pulled it taunt around herself, small tears running down her face.
"Here," he said, trying to give her a small smile.
"Thank you," Mrs. Kamino said, titling her head so she could look up at him with her large eyes. "I'm a little cold…"
Stephens was shaking, trembling and saying to himself in a politely hysterical voice, "Jesus. I can't be here. I can't—this bus is—this is the wrong bus… for me to… I can't… I just can't die here… can I?"
Sig looked over at him in annoyance and snapped, "Hey, shut up, man! I got a wife." His voice creaked, holding a tone of fear.
Stephens barely acknowledged him as he answered in a soft, distance sounding voice, "You do?"
Torn leaned towards Sig. His face was curious but there was also an attitude in his eyes. "So if you got a wife and I don't, does that mean I'm expendable?"
Sig shook his head at Torn and muttered, "What are you talking about? This guy's talkin' crazy! Gets on my nerves, is all."
Stephens glared at Sig and snapped, "I think I have the right to be a little upset after all we've—"
"What are you starin' at everybody for?" Sig returned. "Poking your nose in? Let us die in peace, you—"
"Hey," Erol called form the back, straining against his cuffs. "Let's stop all this bullshit, we're just making more trouble—"
Torn wasn't listening to him as he retorted at Sig, "I'm interested to see how long before the mighty Wastelander comes to the surface and starts throwing rocks at people's heads—"
As the voices grew stronger, Jak turned and faced them angrily. "Hey, can that shit! Jesus, it's like a fucking school bus!" Everyone quieted down at once. Jak turned to Keira then and saw that she was trembling from suppressing her sobs. Her eyes were large and red-rimmed and her face was sheet white. Her knuckles were ghostly pale from where she clutched the wheel and he had no doubt she would have indentation marks from where she had gripped.
He knelt down besides her once more and looked at her tenderly, saying in a soothing voice, "Are you okay… Keira?"
Keira shook her head, her hair plastering to her forehead from the sweat on it. "No," she answered without hesitation.
Jak tried to gain her eyes but she wouldn't look at him. "What do you need?" he asked her.
Keira drew in a deep breath, trying to steady herself to talk. Jak took this time to tenderly wipe away the hair on her face, his fingers lingering on her smooth features longer then was necessary.
"When the bomb went off…" Keira began and Jak nodded.
"I know."
Keira shook her head. No he didn't know. "When it blew, I thought that was it, I thought that was the bomb and I was dead, and… when I saw her under the bus, I was…" Keira choked on a sob and couldn't say the rest, but Jak knew what she had wanted to get out.
"You were glad you were still alive," Jak completed for her.
Keira looked at him then, horror in her eyes because it was true. "Oh God… I'm sorry…"
"Don't be," Jak suggested, pressing his palm to her trembling shoulder. "You should be glad. We all are. That doesn't mean you don't care. It means you're a human being."
Small tears finally came down her pale cheeks as she told him, "But she looked so scared…"
"She was scared," Jak agreed, his voice soothing as he ran his free hand through her hair. "She was a nice kind lady who didn't deserve to get killed. But, Keira, if she had gotten off he would have killed us all. He's the asshole, Keira, the guy that put us here. Remember that. Okay?"
Keira nodded shakily, lowering her head so her hair covered her eyes. When she raised it again, a small pink stain was covering her cheeks and she looked over at him with embarrassed features. "Do they teach you how to talk to hysterical hostages in cop school?"
Jak shook his head, a small smile playing across his lips as he answered, "No, it's mostly tying square knots and how to build fires, stuff like that."
Keira smiled a little.
Jak patted her shoulder for extra reassurance as he stood and told her, "We should be okay for a little while."
--&--
As Samos's SWAT team flew down the freeway on the flat bed zoomer, Norwood was talking into his cellular. As soon as whoever was on the other line finished speaking, his face went a dazzling white.
"Oh my God! Are you sure!? How far?" After another beat, Norwood turned and pushed open the back window so he could call to Samos, "Sir, we have a serious problem!"
Samos turned from his view of Jak's bus and faced Norwood in slight anger. "What!? It had better be serious."
Norwood gulped before managing to say, "The freeway isn't finished yet."
"What the hell are you talking about!?" Samos demanded.
"The choppers caught it about three miles up ahead. There's a section missing." He waved his phone around as proof.
Samos ripped open his map of the freeway and scanned the area Norwood was talking about. "But… it's on the map!" He hit the spot on the paper were the missing section was supposed to be. "It's finished on the goddamn map!"
"I guess they fell behind…" Norwood answered with a humorless shrug.
"Fuck!" Samos said, crumpling the piece of paper in his hand in frustration. "You're fired, everybody's fucking fired! How big a section?"
Norwood consulted the pilot on his phone and then answered Samos, "Fifty feet… at least."
Samos cursed again and then snapped to Norwood and the driver, "Get me closer, damnit!" Norwood nodded and they moved closer to Jak's speeding bus.
Jak hurried down the stairs as Samos motioned him to. The doors slid open and Jak leaned forward so he could hear what Samos had to say.
Trying to be calm for Jak's sake, Samos said in a low voice so only Jak could hear, "Jak, there's a gap ahead. It's big."
Jak paled, cursing his luck. "You're kidding."
Samos shook his head. "Fifty feet… it's in the next interchange… somewhere after the next turn…" Jak cursed loudly and Samos nodded in understanding.
"What do we do?" Jak asked him, having ran out of ideas moments before. Samos frowned at him, trying to think but he was almost blinded by panic.
"We gotta get them off somehow," Samos offered, looking at the pale and scared passengers on the bus with what he hoped were calm eyes.
Jak cast his blue eyes to the sky. "You know I can't."
He turned and marched up the steps, his mind whirling. Keira shut the door and knew that something was wrong. Jak's face was heavily guarded, like he had drawn a mask over it to keep what he was thinking from everyone else.
"Is it bad?" she asked, praying that it wasn't, knowing it was.
Everyone was watching him, Jak could feel it. He sighed, knowing he had no choice but to tell them the truth. "There's a gap in the road ahead. Couple of miles up."
All at once their faces fell. There were groans, fears, tears. Everyone looked at everyone else, knowing that they would be the last faces that they saw. No one was sure what to say. No one has anything to say. Well, except maybe Sig…
"You can always count on the cops, man…"
Jak turned his head and saw Keira breathing hard again as she tried to figure out a way to keep them alive. "Oh God no… well, what if I, uh, shift to neutral and keep the engine revving high?"
He shook his head slowly, thinking, thinking. "No, he'd have thought of that," he told her and Keira gave a frustrated sigh.
"Well, what then?"
They all stared at him, waiting for an answer, hoping he could save them. Jak didn't have an answer nor did he think he could save them. Frowning, he used everything in him to dig up an answer.
He found a crude one, but an answer nonetheless. "Floor it," he told Keira.
"NO!" Keira cried in disbelief.
"Yes!" Jak countered. "It's an overpass, there might be an incline! We can jump it! Floor it NOW!" Keira growled but pressed her foot harder against the pedal. The speedometer climbed to sixty.
Jak turned and made his way to the back of the bus. The passengers were silent, terrified, as he passed. He made sure he looked at each of their faces as he passed to show them that he was calm. "I want… everyone to hold onto the seat in front of them… or whatever's nearest. Heads down," he paused in his commands as he passed a woman with presents in her lap, "put that stuff under your seat."
As he passed Stephens, he asked, "Is this really going to work?" Jak paused, unsure of how to answer. He wasn't sure if they would make it, but if he said so there would be a panic.
He patted Stephens's shoulder and said, "Definitely."
He made his way over to Erol, who suddenly looked very small and very afraid. He reached down and unhooked the cuffs around his wrists.
"I didn't mean to shot that guy," Erol said softly, eyes downcast.
"Keep hold of the seat in front of you." Jak said in a not unkind voice. It said, for now, apology accepted. Jak looked out the window as he started towards Keira again and saw the signs and barriers approaching. "Everyone hold on!"
People lunged forward, gripping the seat in front of them and placing their heads in their laps. Sig withdrew a cross from beneath his Wastelander uniform and palmed it in reassurance.
--&--
Samos watched as Jak's bus zoomer pulled away from his flat bed and towards the gap. Behind him his men were saying prayers for the passengers.
The gap was getting closer and closer…
--&--
The speedometer had reached sixty eight miles now as Keira pressed her foot against the pedal. Jak came up besides her and leaned against the guardrail, watching the gap as it came into view.
Torn looked over at Erol as he muttered to himself, "I never shot anyone before… Jesus, I hope that guy's gonna be okay…" Torn looked away from him, ready to throw up. Mrs. Kamino began to cry quietly and murmurs of prayer filled the air. Stephens curled himself into the fetal position and clutched his tour guide books like a holy religious relic.
Keira's breathing hitched as they came screaming towards the gap. The speedometer had just passed seventy now and tried to continue its climb. They had barely touched seventy one when they reached the large gap.
She screamed and shut her eyes, horror making her body tremble. Jak yelled as well and pushed her body down, covering her with his own. His hands clasped around her own on the wheel to keep it going straight.
They hit the gap going seventy three. The bus went airborne. For a moment Jak felt the weightlessness of zero gravity as they were thrown into the air. Then the front of the bus started to lean forward. The front two wheels hit the pavement on the other side of the gap hard and everyone was thrown forward.
The tires didn't burst as the bus zoomer landed and it continued to move forward while the back end was still airborne. The back of the bus, the undercarriage, crashed into the concrete hard and there was a terrible sound of scraping metal, but it kept going.
The speedometer dropped fast. It passed fifty eight when the rear wheels finally landed on the road. The passengers near the back were thrown forward and some glass windows shattered. Further up a seat was ripped from its mooring, but the bus kept on rolling.
The speedometer stopped at fifty two and then climbed.
--&--
Samos and his SWAT team whopped as they watched the bus make it across.
--&--
Jak lifted himself off of Keira and looked down into her pale face. "Keira, are you alright?" he asked her, worry in his eyes.
Keira gave him a beautiful smile, color returning to her face as she spoke, "I'm okay. I'm alright." She laughed giddily. "I'm alright!"
Jak grinned and nodded to her, turning to address the passengers. "Is everyone alright?" he asked them. They looked bruised, dazed, bloody… but whole. Some answered Jak with 'yeah' while others celebrated. They whooped and hugged and high-fived. Those who had been crying where now laughing and shouting with joy. Torn reached over and gave Mrs. Kamino such a fierce hug that she almost suffocated.
"You are the man, Keira, you are the man!" Sig cried, laughing so hard his whole body moved with it. Keira grinned at him and held up one hand as a sign that she was well aware of it.
Torn grinned over at Sig as he whooped for joy. "We are way out of control." He was beaming at the burly man.
"Goddamn yes!" Sig agreed and hugged the person closest to him, Erol. The young man looked surprised, but he was too pleased to be alive to care.
The only person that hadn't moved yet was Stephens. Slowly he removed himself from his fetal position and looked around with a tired smile on his face. "I felt we would make it," he said, but no one really heard.
Jak felt a big smile bloom across his face. He turned to Keira. He noticed a small trickle of blood running down her forehead as she leaned against the chair and drew in deep breaths. He knelt down besides her like he often did, but this time he was beaming with admiration clearly on his face.
"I think you missed your calling," he told her, using his sleeve to wipe at the blood on her forehead. "You should have been a pilot." He stood again and she smiled up at him, charmed. Jak felt his cheeks heat up just slightly as he turned his eyes to the road. Then he noticed where the road led.
"Get off! Now! Get off this!" Jak motioned hastily towards the exit ramp just a few feet away.
"What…?" Keira hesitated a moment to long for Jak's liking. He grabbed the wheel and pulled a hard right, sending the passengers flying. The bus swerved sharply and turned onto an exit ramp.
--&--
Samos hurried over to the police van which Norwood was now driving. They had just gotten word that Jak had gotten off the freeway.
"Where's he going?" Samos asked to which Norwood had no answer.
--&--
As the bus zoomer exited the ramp, a sign which read 'LAX cargo area' rushed passed them as they zoomed along. Keira turned the bus into the airport gate. There the helicopters following them were forced to fly away, away from the air traffic.
"Head here," Jak ordered, pointing to the entrance to the runaway of the airport. Keira moved to obey, but suddenly a police car blocked the entrance she was heading for. She was forced to swerve to avoid it, causing the bus to turn to an exit with tire shredding spikes blocking the way. Keira saw them and turned hard right, throwing everyone to their feet. As she swerved back to the entrance the rear left tire was nicked by one of spikes, but didn't burst.
"Never a dull moment…" Keira muttered to herself as she turned into the runway, "Please God send me a dull moment…"
--&--
A cop leaned forward as Norwood drove the van zoomer to Jak's position. "He's at the airport."
Norwood sent Samos a bemused look. "The airport? There's thousands of people there…" Samos suddenly gripped and slapped Norwood's back, getting what Jak was thinking.
"That's my boy, Jak. He should be able to circle around the runways… buy us some time." Samos slapped the dashboard, amazed by Jak's brilliance.
"We can't fly in there," Norwood pointed out.
"Neither can the news boys," Samos countered and Norwood saw the light. Samos leaned forward and told him. "Back to the exit!"
Their GMC Suburban zoomer pulled up in front of the airport. A fellow SWAT member was reading a map in the backseat. "Jak can go here. There's a road there that circles the freight terminals. Should be perfect."
Samos gave Norwood a look and said without any humor in his voice, "Let's hope they built it."
--&--
Stephens looked out the window as they circled another runway. There was a frown on his face as he watched the pavement whiz past him.
"We're at the airport," he decided unhappily. He looked away from the window with disgust and Torn sent him a look that said he thought Stephens had permanently lost it.
"Yeah, so?"
Stephens shrugged. "I've already seen the airport," he explained, motioning to it. Torn stared at him, mouth agape. Stephens pouted and looked out his window.
Now Torn knew Stephens had gone made.
--&--
Samos's van zoomer followed Jak's bus zoomer into the terminals. Above them the coppers hovered. After realizing they couldn't get into the airport they turned around and flew away.
--&--
Jak's cellular went off and Keira and he both knew who it must be. Jak picked it up. "Hello."
"Very exciting, Jak," Praxis said on the other line, a chuckle in his voice. "A few close calls, but you've done all right for yourself."
"What do you want?" Jak snapped, not wanting to deal with Praxis's games right now.
"Money, Jak." Praxis's shrugged on the other end. "I wish I had some loftier purpose, but in the end I'm just like you and everyone else. I'd like large nonsequential bills in two plastic bags. Unmarked. Can you remember all that?"
"What are you telling me for?" Jak wondered.
"I want you to help me get it before it's too late," Praxis answered. "I don't like negotiators, Jak. They talk like they're your best friends, and they don't know you. Why do they mess with me, do they think I'm doing this for fun?"
"Aren't you?"
"Now, that isn't fair, Jak. You don't know how I feel about this. You don't know anything about me. They don't know anything about me," Praxis said.
"I'll tell you what they think about you. They think your some crazy ass fucker," Jak snapped, his temper rising but his voice low.
There was a long pause. "They don't think that."
"You want this money? Show me your commitment," Jak persuaded, his voice raised. "Let me get on the ground. Just me. That isn't against the rules."
"I'd like you back in ten minutes or less," Praxis said, his voice clearly showing it was an order, not a request.
"Fine."
"Nothing tricky now, Jak. You know I'm on top of your every movement. Do not attempt to grow a brain." Praxis ended the conversation.
As he stuffed his phone into his pocket, Samos's GMC Suburban zoomer pulled up alongside the bus. Keira looked at them and then at Jak. She had heard enough of the conversation to put two and two together.
"So there's a plan now, right?" she asked.
Jak nodded to her. "Could be." Then he turned and faced the group of bus passengers. "Everyone sit tight. I'm getting off for a minute."
There was some consternation. Torn stood and looked at Jak harshly. "What for?" he asked.
Over him, Mrs. Kamino spoke, "Do you think that's a good idea?"
"Are you just gonna leave us here!?" Stephens asked in horror.
"I would…" Sig muttered to himself.
"Don't worry… I won't go far," Jak answered with a humorless smile on his face. He turned to Keira and addressed her, "Just keep circling. You'll be fine."
Keira looked up into his eyes and nodded. She knew there was a good chance she would never see him again, but she was going to try to be brave. A little weakly she said, "Don't forget about us, okay?"
They looked at one another for a long moment. Jak smiled softly and tenderly brushed aside her locks of blue/green hair. He'd never forget about her. He turned towards the doorway and motioned for the zoomer to come in close.
He jumped onto the truck and it moved away from the bus. Everyone on the bus was silent for a moment. Most faces are covered with fear or doubt as the silence dragged. No one spoke for many, many moments.
The host had left the party.
--&--
Jak stood on the Suburban zoomer as they chased the bus. He wished he was back on the zoomer with Keira. That why he knew if something was going wrong.
Samos came up besides him as they zoomed past news vans and other zoomers. "The choppers are gone now, Jak. Let's dump the passengers."
"No way," Jak dismissed the plan with a shake of his head. "He's ready for that." Somehow, he could not wipe the image of Keira's small, lithe body being consumed in flames. He fought a shudder.
"But how is he—" Samos began.
"I don't know how. I just know he is. He's always one step ahead of me. If we unload he'll take them out, I guarantee it." Jak saw Keira burning again and wouldn't allow anyone to think about unloading passengers until the bomb had been deactivated. Samos got the idea then.
"Where does that put us?" Samos wondered, allowing Jak to make the plan since he had none.
"I'm going to try to dismantle the bomb," was all Jak offered.
Samos actually went pale. "That's not an option," he snapped. "That's just crazy… impossible."
"What would you do if the bus was standing still?" Jak asked him, his hard eyes never leaving the bus moving ahead of them.
"Jak, it's not standing still," Samos pointed out.
--&--
In the back of the bus, Torn had approached Erol with a look of curiosity written on his face. "So what'dya do, man?"
"What!?" Erol snapped.
"Why'd ya go apeshit before?" Torn repeated, more slowly then before as if Erol might be a bit mentally challenged. "What did ya do?"
"Nothing, man. Leave me alone," Erol said more calmly this time, looking away from Torn and out the window.
"Come on!" Torn pressed. "Was it a gang thing? What?"
"Nothing!" Erol snapped before sighing a moment later. "I stole the gun, man. You know. From my cousin in Main Town."
"What for?" Torn wondered, blinking at him.
Erol gave him a sidelong glance, either being defensive or lying. "Home protection," he admitted and Torn gave him the strangest look.
In the front of the bus, Stephens and Sig were standing next to Keira as she drove. Sig leaned next to Keira, worry on his face.
"I'm telling ya, Keira, that guy's jerking off somewhere," he told the young woman and got a glare in return.
"He didn't have to get on in the first place, Sig. And… and get your ass behind the yellow line!" Sig looked down and saw that he was standing on the yellow line that said DO NOT CROSS. He backed up as Keira continued, "I have faith in him."
To herself she muttered for reassurance, "I have faith." Suddenly Stephens made a choking noise and pointed in front of them.
"What's that?" He questioned and they all looked in front of themselves. Something was pulling up in front of them. That something made their eyes grow wide.
"Oh my God!" Keira gasped, watching with an unwavering gaze. "He is insane!" A truck zoomer had pulled in front of them. Attached to its back was a low wooden dolly. Jak was standing on the truck with his SWAT gear on as well as a headset and a bunch of tools.
He was crazy.
--&--
"We're not going to be able to keep this steady for long," Samos pointed out as Jak lowered himself onto the dolly.
"I just need a few minutes. If I can't do it by then I can't do it at all," Jak explained as he made last minute adjustments to his headset.
"All right," Samos replied reluctantly.
Into his headset Jak called to his partner, "You ready, Dax?"
"All the way, buddy." Daxter replied through the headset (A/N: there you are Daxter!).
"Okay, this is it," Samos told Jak, giving him a fatherly pat on the shoulder as he began to lower himself onto the dolly. "Don't get dead." Jak give him a smile as the dolly started to move him towards the bus.
--&--/
Keira was almost panicking as she watched Jak wheel himself under the bus. "This is a really bad plan," she said out loud, her heart pounding.
"Have faith, sister," Stephens muttered, though he himself looked a little out of faith with his pale face and wide eyes.
As Jak neared he smiled at Keira, gave her the thumbs up. Keira rolled her eyes at him, her heart pounding harder then ever before.
"Oh Christ," she muttered.
"Just keep it steady." Sig suggested.
Keira grinded her teeth and lowered head. "Gee, thanks for the tip," she retorted unhappily, totally against the plan but not able to do a thing about it.
The truck slowed down as the dolly inched closer to the bus. Jak laid flat on his back as the bus approached. As he started to disappear under the bus, Keira squinted with concentration. Samos looked on, concerned. Jak looked straight up, trying to be as calm as possible as the bus covered him.
As Jak inched closer to the bomb under the bus he said into his headset, "Okay, tell them to hold here." The dolly stopped inching along.
Jak could see the bomb now. Wires were running from the timer to various detonators. There were also a few covered wires of different colors sticking in one end of the timer and out the other.
Through his headset Daxter spoke softly, "What do you see?"
"It's pretty standard." Jak described it as best as his frazzled mind could at the moment. "Timer's looped to the remote, then feeds out."
On the other end, Daxter nodded as he visualized it. "Then we gotta try to bypass the remote current with the battery. Can you find the trip wire for the remote?"
"I dunno," Jak answered, eyeing the multicolored wires. "I got several choices to choose from."
"Black and red?" Daxter guessed.
"And green." Jak added.
"Okay." Daxter said, "Listen. I'm guessing he's not going to use the standard copper for the remote. Too weak. I'd use fiber alloy. I need you to look at the wire."
"It's covered."
"I know. You need to cut the sheath off. But be careful not to cut the wire," Daxter warned, rubbing his temple with two figures, sweat pouring down his forehead openly.
"Right."
"Start with the green," Daxter suggested.
Jak had no choice but to work very slowly. He was so close to the bus that he couldn't look down at his tools. That would cause him to scarp his scalp. Instead, he was forced to feel around for the right one. He found the exacto and pulled it into his palm. Slowly, very slowly, he started to scarp away at the green wire.
As he worked, the bus hit a small bump. Jak slipped and went still as sweat dripped down his face. He looked at the knife. It went halfway through the wire. Very, very, very slowly he pulled it out. He scraped more at the sheath, revealing a silverfish wire: not copper.
"Bull's-eye," Jak muttered in triumph into the headset.
"Great," Daxter said in a voice as equally as triumphant as Jak's was, maybe more so. "Now clip on the battery and run it to the lead wire."
Jak palmed the battery, clipped one end to the silver wire with the alligator clip. Now he had to search for the lead wire. He found it, but when he did a cloud of frustration crossed his features.
"I can't bypass it. It'll fire."
"Collapsible circuit," Daxter muttered.
"Yeah. Shit!" Jak's face twisted as he fought the urge to kick something. Under this bus, it wasn't a good idea. "This thing is airtight."
--&--
As Daxter tried to think of a way to deactivate the bomb, Ashlin strode into his room. She slapped a picture of a very familiar man on his desk.
"Howard Praxis, Slums P.D., bomb squad, retired to the Bazaar District in 1989 when a small charge left him without an eye and half a face." She grinned.
Daxter reached down and picked up the picture. The man who had held a bomb detonator to his face stared back up at him in Krimzon Guard uniform.
Daxter held the picture up in the air like it was a prized trophy. "That's out scumbag!" Into his headset he called to Jak, "Jak, we found him!"
"We can be there inside of fifteen minutes," Ashlin said, handing Daxter's his flak jacket. She already had her own on and looked ready to take on the world.
As Daxter put on the jacket he said into the headset, "Jak, get out of there and sit tight. We're gonna go after the source. We'll have this case closed by noon!"
"Be careful, Dax." Jak warned, but Daxter had already turned off his headset and followed Ashlin out the door.
--&--
"Samos, pull me out!" Jak called into his headset once Daxter had ended their conversation. He was glad to be getting out from under the bus.
"Roger that, kid," Samos's voice filtered through the headset. "Hang on."
As Jak waited to be pulled out from under the bus, the tire that had been scraped by the spikes earlier lost a piece of its outer rubber. It was sent flying into the dolly's wheel which was caught and stopped. Jak screamed as the dolly was almost pulled out from underneath him.
The cable of the dolly rushed past him, scuttled over the pavement, sparked, whipped around. It headed for the rear wheel. Jak knew that if the cable was sucked under the tire it would be over for him.
He reached for the cable to pull it back, but it was too late. The cabled hit the tire and was sucked under it in a flash. Jak didn't even have time to scream.
Jak and the dolly were sent careening towards the tire…
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Author's Notes: Oh, a cliffhanger. So what's gonna happen to Jak? How about Daxter? He's going after Praxis… alone. Guess we'll have to wait won't we? Promise the next chapter will be out sooner.
Next Chapter: In which Keira is anxious, Jak is pissed, Daxter is in trouble, and Praxis calls all the shots… or so he thinks.
Reviews
Specter Van Baron: Thanks, man. And hey, don't give up on Jak IV. Since Jak III (the official one) is coming our in November I might do a Jak IV fic based on the events that take place in the game. If it inspires me, that is.
Snowy Fox: Greatest Jak parody? beams Are there many? I think the Speed 2: Cruise Control sucked. Though I did like the one line Sandra Bullock said about Jack in there. "You know what he gave me for our anniversary? Pepper spray. I thought it was perfume. I was the hospital for a week!" It creaked me. So Jack and Annie, you know?
Glorfindel Silverleaf: I knew your name sounded familiar! I couldn't help but think LotR. Thanks for the compliment and support!
Monkeypants Thank ya kindly. I'm glad that I got you to see Speed. It was a great movie that was unappreciated by those damn critics. Much like Van Helsing, which was a stupendous movie. I'm buying it as soon as it comes out.
Krimzon-Yakkow026: XD Glad you're enjoying it so much. Truthful, one of my worries was that some of the Jak II characters wouldn't fit their Speed roles. I had this horrible fear that it would seem like I was tweaking their personalities to fit the roles I cast them for. Glad to see it's not a problem! P
Kizna 1200: pokes back why hello! Thanks for reading my story! You should definitely rent Speed and check it out! Maybe if enough people start watching it over again that'll be enough incentive for that French director dude to make a Speed 3? Fat chance I know, but don't ruin the dream!
"Very occasionally, if you really pay attention, life doesn't suck." –Joss Whedon
-Lizzy Rebel