A/N:Some pretty nasty language in this one. Jak and Daxter are not pleased. Also, you can all thank, um...I don't know which of my reviewers this is, but the one with the DeviantArt account RicciG for this next chapter. I was moving on to Full Metal Alchemist, which would gaurantee about a two month lag in the update, but I have been reinspired, and thus have revamped my desktop and music selection. To Jak. W00t! Oh, and there's a shoutout to Halo in one of Dax's lines. I just had to.

Disclaimer: I don't own Jak.

Coming of Age

Chapter 3: To Hell in a Handbasket

-

-

-

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck! Shit, there aren't any KG crates nearby and holy hell do I need some ammo. My hands are starting to bleed; these Metalheads have some tough fucking skin. Dammit-

"I hate Torn, I hate Torn, I Hate Torn!"

"Daxter, shut up!" I hate being so terse with him, but if he doesn't shut it and hunker down, these things are gonna try and take a bite out of him. With his orange fur and loud mouth, he might as well wear a neon sign that says, "I am an appetizer."

Geezus, shit! Their claws fucking hurt! If I can just get enough Dark Eco…I hate changing, but at this point it seems like the only thing I can do now- I don't want us to die. As long as I keep hold just enough to make sure that Dax doesn't get hurt, it should be fine. I'm pretty sure I can clear a relatively good path back to the gate, and by then I can just sit through it on the dock before heading back to HQ. And from there, I will personally slather Torn in some BBQ sauce and introduce him to the hordes over here, that sorry bastard. Why, oh why does he have to have so much confidence in me? Why can't he just send me on the easy missions?

Yeah, yeah, I know why. Because I'm the only one who can do the hard ones. I hate being so damn good sometimes.

"Jak! Will you pay attention?!"

I wish I could have the ability to multitask like some people, so that I can gag Daxter and fight at the same time. Flecks of blood are flying from my hands; I think I might've ripped a couple fingernails off, but I can't be sure because my limbs're flying around so fast, punching, kicking, fighting like a caged animal just to get out-

There. That should be enough Dark Eco. Let's pray to God it is. I can feel all the Metalheads backing up a bit, their instincts making them shrink back from the naturally superior monster; my skin ripples, and a haze descends over my thoughts, pushing me back into a kind of dream-world, but I fight it with all my strength. I have to stay here enough to realize that Daxter isn't an enemy.

What most people don't know is that when I change, transform, whatever they wanna call it, that another consciousness doesn't take over. It's more like my instincts do, and my rational thought is kind of pushed to the wayside. Most of the time I'm aware of what's happening, but when I 'wake up,' I forget all of it and need to have the last whatever minutes recapped by Dax.

However, I had to think of something that would keep me from hurting Daxter. It had to be painfully simple and it hit me, thankfully, the first time I transformed; I just associate the color orange with the feeling of 'good,' and push that association so deep into my mind that every part of it acknowledges it. None of the enemies I fight have any color orange on them, so I can safely tear them apart, but also I can't lose it in populated areas because none of the civilians wear orange. It's too uplifting a color, and I'm sure that if he could Praxis would put a ban on all happy colors. Bastard. Just thinking about the slime makes my blood boil, and as I roughly remind my instincts 'HURT ORANGE EQUALS BAD' I feel my hatred welling up and fueling my strength, not to mention all the little gobs of Dark Eco being sucked in as I rip the Metalheads apart with my claws.

This is weird, really. Hell, I don't even know who I'm talking to. Who the hell are you? Some funky Eco-induced schizophrenic indulgence on my part, I guess. Whatever, no one but you and I are in my head, so it's not like it's going to matter, because I won't tell and you don't exist.

All right, this is getting old. I gotta take care of these shits, because I can feel my juice running low. The nice thing about my special powers is that no matter how low I am, I can still gather up enough Dark Eco to perform these attacks. I mean, sure I pay for it later with major pounding headaches, but fuck that. I wanna live.

Dark Bomb your asses, mother fuckers! Suck on some lethal amounts of Dark Eco, you blood-sucking, shit faced little pricks. How good that feels, just killing th-

-

-Ugh. Geezus, it hurts this time. Assess the damage; lots of bodies, but nothing living nearby. I really did a number on them, I guess. One of these days I should get Daxter to tape me while I'm going Dark, just to see what it's like. I wish I could remember what I do. Maybe I could get some fighting tips or something from…myself. That's an odd concept.

Actually, looking at what I've done…I'd rather not remember what I do.

Okay, checklist. Dax?

Fuzzball on my shoulder. Check. He's shaken up, but he usually is. From what he's told me, I tend to run us both ragged when kicking major ass. He doesn't look hurt though, so I guess I behaved myself well enough. Good boy, me.

Gun?

Check. In my holster. Why didn't- Wait, that's right, I ran out of ammo. That's why I had to go Dark.

My body?

Mmm…little ripped up. That's okay, just a couple of fingernails missing. Nothing a few bandages won't fix. My knuckles are pretty bruised, too; I guess I'd better raid Krew's ammo storage facility, even if he does get pissed. I won't be doing any hand-to-hand for a while, lest I wanna break my fingers, which would make it quite difficult to grip a gun or pretty much do anything. I've got a cut on my face, too, and my shirt's a little shredded and bloody from where some nasty claws nicked me, but again, not that bad. It's stopped bleeding already.

Okay. Back to safety so I can sit down and take a breather, because my legs are shaking like crazy right about now. I think I overdid it this time; even Dax is being quiet, a sure sign that he's worried about something. Or scared for his life. Or mine.

Augh, too much thinking, not enough moving. Run faster, you sissy. Okay, big steel gate, stench of stagnant water…home sweet not-home. I sure hope these rickity planks'll hold up as I fall face-first onto them.

"Jak! Jak buddy, are you okay?" Dax's little paws are on my face, poking me, and I would bite him if I had the energy. However, it doesn't look like he's gonna stop unless I answer him, so I muster what energy I have left and mumble into the wood on my face, with a voice so soft that he has to lean down to hear-

"Fuggin…kill Torn…"

There's a sigh from my upper right, and then a little weight climbs onto my back and curls up, as if to protect me, which is really funny if I think about it. I could be laughing, but the shadows are making things a little muffled and I can't quite tell. Daxter's talking, but then again Daxter is always talking, so I can pretty much assume that what he's really saying is 'blah blah blah I'm better than you blah.' He's such a good pal. Honestly, he is.

-

-

We're staggering, staggering, staggering, and-

We fall. Well, okay, Jak falls, and I jump off and land on the dock so that I don't get squished. He's not fat, we're both pretty skinny, but for the luvuh God, he's four times my size.

Eh, he's not moving. Bad thing, I'm sure. "Jak! Jak buddy, are you okay?" I skuttle my orange ass over to his shoulder and begin to prod his face, trying to wake him up. Stupid heavy sleeper, it always took forever to get his lazy ass up back in Sandover. Wait, he's trying to say something.

"Fuggin…kill Torn…"

Whew! He's okay. Well, since he's not making any effort to move around much, I guess it's up to me to keep us both safe. I'll just have to climb up here –for the height advantage, you see- and curl up, because it's getting a little chilly. I'm still not very used to cold; I mean, it was always hot in Sandover, and Snowy Mountain almost killed me, I swear. Besides, I spent most of the time up there inside Jak's tunic anyways, because when it comes to me surviving those freezing winds, Jak can dance around in the snow all he wants by himself. I'll be nice and cozy, personal bubble be damned. I'm sure if Jak could haved talked back then, he would have chewed me out for staying where it was nice and warm, but what he doesn't know is that I was saving his life. Yes, indeed, without me and my furry self in there insulating us both, he could have very well gotten a chest cold and then pnemonia and then he would have died. But that's okay. I'm used to not getting thanks for my good deeds.

Besides, it's Jak. I'd do anything for him. And since I can see him slipping into unconsciousness, now would be a good time to tell him, especially since he won't be listening to me.

"I'd do anything for you, you know." My voice is really calm for some reason; I always imagined spilling my guts would make me nervous, but then again he isn't listening so why should I care? "Life or death, buddy, I'll stick with you till everything's over. If the Baron ever gets his hands you again, I'll fight and fight until I'm dead. I'm not leaving you again, Jak. I'm with you till we're both dead, and then, I hope we die together so that my last memory can be of you. You're my best friend in the entire world, and nothing can come between us, not money or women or danger or death. Till the end, Jak…and hopefully past that." Aww. He's smiling in his sleep. Keira'd get a kick outta this.

Or not. I can never tell with her; she's so complicated. Why is she all antsy over Jak's little quirks? Sure, his whole Dark thing can be a tad scary, but I'd be just as scared if it was her or even Old Greenie tearing through those things like that. It's not like it's just Jak that scares me; it's the fact that anyone could do that. Besides, she doesn't see how he suffers for it, like now. I sure hope we don't spend the night here. I don't have the heart to wake him for his watch, and I'd really like some sleep tonight.

I think I'll just entertain myself with growling at everyone that walks by. Yeah, lady, you get away from the rabid rat.

That's right, fatso, you jiggle off too. We'll get you later.

Ha, this is actually fun. Oh, KGs; fuck, pretend to be asleep.

"What do we have here?"

"Looks like a slummer and his weird…dog-thing. Or is it a cat?"

"Looks like a rat. Big-ass rat."

"Naw, I know what that is. That's one of those ottsel things; y'know, they're really rare and such, don't see 'em here because of the pollution." Dick has the nerve to nudge us with his boot and I can't help up popping up and glaring at him.

"Knock it off, flunkie! Can't you see we're trying to catch some much-needed shut-eye?"

I expected them to laugh at me. So when they didn't, and they only stared down at us both, you can imagine my anxiety. Jeering guards are good things. Absolutely silent, staring-contest guards are not good things. Bad things. Bad bad.

"What's going on here?" Familiar voice followed by familiar face- Ashelin! Thank God, I never thought I'd be happier to see her! Unless she was naked. That definitely would be better than now, with her looking down her nose at us, scorn hopefully all an act. Probably is. She's got the hots for my boy here. "Another bum, huh? What seems to be the problem, they're not all that uncommon."

"His rat just insulted us, ma'am."

I have to hold my tongue not to follow it up with another retort, but Ashelin thankfully does it for me with a smirk in his direction. "His rat. Insulted you."

Big and Stupid doesn't back down, though. "Yes ma'am. And he looks a little familiar. The guy, I mean."

"Well, probably. He's been in jail before."

Wait, what the fuck. Is she turning us in?! That conniving, self-serving bitch of a guard is actually turning us in! She's gonna sell us out, hand Jak over to that lunatic of a Baron for more torture all for her personal gain! Well, she's not laying a finger on Jak while I'm still breathing, I'll bite every fucking one of them off-

"I've had to incarcerate this lech a couple times for disturbing the peace. Nothing big. I'll handle this, I'm familiar with this low-life's tactics. There's a disturbance over in the south quarter, a bit of a robbery. Go back up the others if they need it."

The Big Uglies salute her and trot off, the planks vibrating with their heavy footfalls. They're big people. With lots of heavy armor. And guns. I don't like them.

"What happened?" Ashelin whispers as soon as it's clear, brushing me off of Jak as if I was the one who made him faint. Unfortunately, I can't do anything about it because she has the strength to turn him over onto his back and lift up his shoulders. Instead, I just glare at her and hop back onto his chest; he is my buddy, lady, and I sit where I wanna. I will sit on his face if I think I should.

"Nothing, he's just drained. Just needs a little sleep and he'll be up and angsting soon enough." Hmm, she's examining the scratches on his chest and little longer than necessary. Bad girl, undressing him with your eyes when he's not even awake. "Torn sent us to adjust the water level of the slums and we got jumped by about a jazillion Metalheads. They were camping the valve like newbs."

"Where can we take him?" Ladies and gentlemen, it has been a full three minutes and she has yet to insult me or even sneer in my direction. Of course, that could be because she's clinging to Jak like a fuggin' fangirl, in a professional 'I'm only trying to determine his injuries' kind of way that I can see right through.

"I don't know." Sarcasm is an art. "You think we have a place to live? We usually just sleep wherever we can find cover, or at the Underground barracks if there's room. But some of the vets just came back from some special ops there, so I doubt there's gonna be-"

"I'll make Torn free up a bed." Ooh, fiesty. I like that in a woman. "Try to get him to wake up and get to the Underground. I'll give Torn a call; I'd take him, but that'd be too suspicious. My guards'll be watching me closely, since myfatherhas insisted that I haven't been quite cooperative lately."

"There's that parental care I've been missing from my life." I am very glad she didn't get his looks, because then her ass would not be so pleasantly perky as sunny disposition.

"Just get him moving. And hurry up about it."

-

-

"Torn. You realize that you are dead, right?" I can't help but sneer in his direction, despite clinging very tightly to Stumbly Jak's shoulders. He doesn't even say a word, and only plods off in the direction of the barracks, but I've got some business to take care of, so I hop off. Floor's safer anyways, not as likely to collapse. "I'll be there in a bit, sweet cakes," I call after Jak, and he favors me with a limp wave.

"Now. You knew that the Metalheads were there en mass, didn't you?" Oof, scramble…yes, table. Eye-level, bitch. Eat it. You gotta take pleasure in the small victories in life. "You wanna get us killed."

"Yes," Tattoo-face grunts, scribbling something that he could pass as important that I know isn't onto a piece of wrinkly paper. "Go away, rat. I'm busy."

"Nuh uh, Dred-head. You gotta tell me why you felt like sending me and my sidekick into hell in a handbasket, and maybe I'll leave you in one piece." Yes, I know, that isn't fooling anyone, but point it out to me and I'll make Jak make you regret it. He'll do it, too.

Torn fixes his most intimidating stare, but I don't back down. Fuck you, man. You almost got me killed. Damn that, you almost got Jak killed, and no one messes with my bud without hearing about it from me. And then getting smackdown from Jak. Usually in that order. I guess he noticed that I wasn't gonna scramble away like I usually do, because he sighs and mutters something. "Because Jak's my best, and I couldn't send anyone else out there and expect them to live."

"We are your best. Us. And if you'd stop spending all your time playing with your Magic Markers in the mirror, maybe you'd clear your head of the fumes and understand that if we die, then you ain't got nobody to carry out the dirties for you." I am mad. I don't like being taken advantage of, and I like it even less when Jak is, because let's face it. Jak'd do it, just because he's still a big bleeding heart of gold. Stupid Jak.

"I'll keep it in mind. Now beat it." Deciding not to push my luck, I bound down from the table and drag myself down the hallway to look for Jak.

A/N: Reviews! Yeee! ::fangirl squeal::

EtheralShadow: Whee! ::dances too:: Thank you! I usually don't write fluff or romance, so I'm quite proud that this seems to be doing so well! Plus, for my first Jak fic, too. Yay! I love the part where Jak congratulates Dax too, because it's great when tuff guys get mushy with their buddies or little kids (aka, The Kid).

Whee, brilliance? Happy times!

Whelp! Until next time, indeed!

-

Von: Thank you! Yeah, I think Keira was kinda mean to Jak in Jak II…I didn't especially dislike her in the first Jak and Daxter except for the fact that she was kinda mean to Dax. But then Jak II came along and she was all stupid-girly about who Jak became, and that was it. I was all like, "No. Bitch. New Jak is better."

-

Dragoonknight1: Aww, that is mean. But that's okay, I am Dark Jak and so I am invincible, and thus you cannot kill me. Death threats do not scare me, fu fu fu fu fuuu.

Hmmm…if it's not yaoi or Tess, that kinda narrows it down to two people, unless you're all for Mary Sues. Which no one should ever be.

-

Demyrie: Look at you and your essay-long reviews! I love it!

Yay, I am happy that my story makes you happy! I imagined that Jak and Dax would be dedicated to the bone…I mean, they've been through thick and thin, life and death situations. I don't think anyone could come out of those and not be close. Also, I think that if it came down to it, Jak would dump any girl just to stay with Dax forever. I value their friendship over any romance any day. I didn't see Ashelin or Keira staying with Jak in the desert. Good boy Dax!

Woot! I love me too!

I am also glad that Ashelin is coming alive! I'm trying to keep her as close to character as possible, and it's hard because they don't show much of the little redhead. But I'm doing my best!

Yeah, I'm in a bit of a slump with the descriptive stuff. I'm having difficulty writing my research paper, and the little bastard is taking it out on my stories as well. BAD COLLEGE! BAD!

Yeee, squealdom! I like it! And do not be jealous; I cannot write yaoi, and you obviously can. We all have our different talents! I like Jak/Daxter too. Actually, it's really the most realistic, too. I think Tess just likes Dax as a cute, fluffy thing…despite the ending to Jak3. And Jak likes Ashelin too fast, for being in a snit about her earlier in the game. Dax is the only one to stick with Jak through everything, save his running away when Jak got caught, of course. But they'd have just shot Dax anyways, and then they'd both be dead. And thus no sequel. So I am grateful that Dax is occasionally cowardly.

But love! Thank you so much!!

-

Dude: Thank you, and I shall!

A/N: Thanks again, RicciG, and I suggest you all go see her account, with that adorable JakxAshelin pic. I love it.