Chapter 4

I call this one "Kes' Info chapter". --;; Basically, I needed to cover some stuff before the next chapter, so please bear with me! I promise that the next chapter is longer, and much more... interesting. > Though if there is no chapter six, it is because an irate fangirl shot me. ;;

Now, to follow up from the last chapter's reviews!

To Von (who actually reviews every chapter of Jak and Daxter stuff I write!) Unfortunatly the speed the chapters get put out at depends on when I get them done, sent to my betas, sent back, send it back AGAIN... You get the idea. Though, I do sometimes cheat and go ahead and post it if my betas take too long. ;; Generally I've already finished the next chapter by the time this one gets posted. Think of how long everything would take if I hadn't!!

To Jessica L. Young I know you probably had a really great question you wanted to ask in that last review, but Im not sure exactly what you mean. Does Jak tell Daxter what exactly?

To Karr 'Scarface' Rabid Ottsel... O.O As for Jak's feelings on Daxter, and Daxter's on Jak's, and their eventual future... You'll just have to wait and see won't you. . Wouldn't it be a Goddess of Yaoi?

To dragon child of Awe This isn't actually a review, and I already know about the JakIII game, I have the opening sequence on my computer.

To Eva Kasumi No please, jabber on for ours... I need ego inflating, just ask Demz... > But seriously, one of the things I really worry about is how I depict the characters, I want them to be as close as possible to the originals, which is why I try to keep my pairings and such as accurate as possible. I tend to get kind of irritated by writers who think they can change a character, just so they can write them with someone else... ;; I have entire rants on this topic, so I probably shouldn't say any more. And if you think the plot rocks now... wait 'til the end of the next chapter, and possibly my own death from that same chapter..

To Silika Thanks for the review! And I hope you like this chapter as much!

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Jak sidestepped the headlong charge of the Metalhead, waited for the right moment, then fired a volley of shots into it's vunerable underbelly.

"This is easy," he commented to Daxter as the corpse hit the ground, "I don't know why Torn even needed us for this. He is Commander of the Krimzon Guards, why not just bring enough Guards to clear out the area, instead of paying Wastelanders to do it?"

Daxter shrugged from his post by Jak's ear. "It's good money," he commented, "Money which, I might add, we happen to need."

Jak rolled his eyes. "Things were easier when we were outlaws, people didn't expect us to pay for things then. We could just take what we needed."

"And fight off the Krimzon Guard squads when they came afterward."

"Yeah well, it was easier than having to worry about jobs and working!" Jak said hotly.

Daxter patted his ear soothingly. "Well, we've gotta worry about that stuff now buddy! We have to pay for things like normal people, which means we need to get money like the rest of the City, which means we do jobs like this for Tattooed Wonder. At least it's something you're good at, right?"

Jak had to agree with that, but something about the setup still bothered him. "I still don't see why Torn couldn't have brought more Guards with him. I don't trust most of the Wastelanders here... Not everyone who worked for Krew is like Sig, I get the feeling most of them don't like us... Even Sig seems nervous around some of them. It worries me."

"I'm guessing you clowns ran out of Metalheads the way you're talking." Torn said, approaching the pair for the drop-off point. "But for your information, Jak, not that you need to know, but the Guards are needed inside the city."

Jak stared at him. "More than they are here? What could possibly be more dangerous than the chance of another Metalhead attack?"

Torn rolled his eyes. "Your ignorance is showing Jak. As for something more dangerous? Politics. People and politics don't mix well, specially when there have been as many changes as there have been to Haven's power structure."

"Politics?" Neither Jak nor Daxter had much experiance with the subject, Sandover Village had little need for any political powers, even the Mayor was mainly for show. Life in Haven city was still taking some getting used to for the both of them, occasionally throwing up unexpected surprises.

"Don't play stupid Jak, it suits you too well."

Daxter placed a warning paw on Jak's head. Torn still had to tell them what was going on in Haven, and it wouldn't look too good if the Hero of Haven City killed the Commander of the Krimzon Guards, however you twisted it.

"You and I both know that Ashelin has been making some changes to the way our city is being run. For one, she's allowed the people more freedom when it comes to how they want the city to be run, making herself a Governer, rather than a Baroness. She's also changed a number of other things, such as the powers of the Krimzon Guards, and many of the laws that her father put into place."

"So? All these changes are good! Why would there be a problem?"

"Try to keep up Jak. Not everyone is happy with these changes. There are those who were well-off under the Baron's rule, and have had a rather unsettling change in their lives since Ashelin came to power. They liked what the Baron had going for them, they won't want to lose that so easily. Even some of the 'normal' civilians aren't too happy with the changes, one I can think of in particular."

Jak stared. "What?! Why the hell would they want the Baron's rule?!"

"Well, for one thing, Ashelin has granted the Lurker people full citizenship, meaning they have all the rights of you and me, and can no longer be kept as slaves. This doesn't go down too well with your average guy who suddenly finds his owning of a Lurker slave is illegal. Some of the people think that the Lurkers are nothing more than animals, and want to change the new rules. There have been riots of late... and attacks."

"I didn't know..." Jak said quietly.

Daxter looked a little nervous. "We'll, uhhh, be alright, won't we? No one's coming after us are they?"

Torn looked at him. "Not as far as I know of."

"We'll be alright Dax," Jak said. "I don't think anyone will try anything." 'Not when they think I might go insane and kill everyone...'

Torn stretched a little. "Well, now that we've finished our little lesson in politics, how about you two quit slacking off and check out the inside of the nest." he lowered his voice a little. "You're the only two I can trust to tell me exactly what you find there."

"Right." Jak said. He checked over the MorphGun and looked at Daxter. "Let's go revisit some memories."

"I can hardly wait." came the sarcastic reply.

-----

Jak scanned the huge cavern from his position inside the entrance tunnel before entering. Who knew if there were any Metalheads around or not. A huge skeleton dominated the centre of the chamber, headless and picked clean of any remaining flesh, leaving only bits of metal casing and bone; all that remained of the Metalhead leader.

Jak thought it was a little strange; he'd been lead to belive that once MetalKor was dead, the remainder of the Metalheads would die too. Only, that had not been the case. He was, quite frankly, curious.

"Torn?" Jak flipped open the communicator he'd been issued. "If Kor's dead, then why are there still Metalheads around?"

Torn's voice growled at him from the unit. "Is that all you wanted to know?!" A few bursts of gunfire interrupted. "I'm in the middle of something..." A few more bursts, then the dying screech of a Metalhead. "Fine, as it seems like I only came here to fill your bite-sized skull with information. Vin had a theory that the Metalhead Leader wasn't the be-all end-all of the Metalheads. Even if you took it out, there would still be Metalheads around. His theory was that the Metalhead Leader was able to channel the conciousness of other Metalheads, thereby directing them in battle more efficently. Taking out the Leader would only break up the attacking forces, not kill them entirely. Fortunaly, that was all we needed to save Haven."

"So you're saying that killing MetalKor only distracted them?!"

"For a moment. While MetalKor was dealing with you, the attack on the city faultered a little. Many Metalheads retreated, fought amoungst themselves, or reverted to normal behaviour. Killing him caused the few he was still controlling to do the same. It was enough for our Guards to turn the tide of battle."

Jak thought about this. "So even though it wasn't what I thought would happen, it was still enough..."

"The Metalheads fought themselves?!" Daxter put in, "Why?! What kind of stupid idea is that?"

Jak could tell Torn was getting exasperated with the Ottsel, even through the communicator. "The Metalheads are like any other race of animals, they don't all get along. Once Kor's hold on them dissipitated, some of them fought others. Now if that's all, get back to WORK!!"

Jak glanced at Daxter, "Sounds like we was pretty annoyed. Still, the information was useful. Now we've just got to check out this area."

"Is there even anything here?" Daxter said, "It looks pretty empty to me buddy."

Jak glanced around the room, and was forced to agree with Daxter. Other than Kor's remains, some broken Metalhead eggs, and the hole in the centre of the room; the place was empty.

The hole in the centre of the room....

"Hey Dax, what do you think is down here?" Jak asked, walking to the edge of the seemingly bottemless drop. "Looks like a long way down..."

"Uhhh, Jak? Are you sure this is such a good idea? I mean, we can't just jump down there! It's suicide!!" Daxter was leaning away from the hole, part of him wondering if he could pull Jak backwards by will power alone.

"Don't worry Dax," Jak said. He winked at his best friend. "I wasn't going to jump..."

"Whew.."

"...without a rope."

"WHAT!! Are you CRAZY?! Even with a rope we have no idea of how far it goes down! What if it's filled to the brim with Metalheads?! Do I have to remind you what we were fighting earlier?! What if there is another Metalhead Leader down there?! What if you die?!" Daxter paused to draw breath, and Jak quickly butted in.

"If there was another Metalhead Leader, we'd know by this. If there were Metalheads down there, they've probably left long since, and I'm going to climb down the rope until we get to the bottom, not jump. And I don't plan on dying any time soon." He smirked at his companion. "Any other complaints?"

Daxter looked helplessly into Jak's eyes, wanting to tell him how he felt about him, wanting to scream at him not to do anything stupid that might get him hurt, might die and leave Daxter alone...

"Well, uhh... Where's that rope?"

-----

Torn growled again as his communicator beeped. Could those two do nothing without help? He was beginning to regret sending them in there.

"What is it?" he snapped. "This had better be good, or I'm gonna..." But he was cut off by Jak's excited cry, and Daxter's random yelling in the background.

"Torn! It's filled with Eco!!!"

-----

Jak remembered being told that Metalheads needed Eco. He wasn't sure what for, but at the time, he'd thought it meant they needed Dark Eco, seeing as it seemed to be the only type avalible in Haven City.

It turned out he was wrong.

Metalheads obviously needed Eco. All types of Eco. Jak had been curious as, when they were decending the rope into this hidden treasure trove, he had noticed rainbows of light dancing across the walls, shimmering across his face.

He soon found out why.

The room was filled with more Eco then Jak had ever seen in one place before. True, Dark Eco amounts seemed to out-weight the other types almost ten to one, but the amount of other types of Eco was still mind-blowing.

"We could probably run Haven on this for a year!" Jak exclaimed to Daxter as they wandered the huge cavern.

"Well, Samos will never have to bother us about looking for Green Eco for him again." Daxter commented, as the passed a mini lake of Green Eco.

Jak himself was sorely tempted to 'borrow' some of the Eco for himself. Relive the feeling of power, speed or the ability to shoot flames from his hands...

But the Eco could probably be put to a better use elsewhere. Who knew how rare the different types were now, Jak was used to finding vents in Sandover, but Haven didn't appear to have any, so chances were that the other Eco types were pretty rare now. Still...

"I think we should take some samples back to Samos," Jak said, "I'm not sure if Torn or Ashelin will let him get some after they've stored it."

"Hey, if it keeps Old Green Stuff off our backs for a while, I'm in!" Daxter replied. "You did bring some containers, right?"

"Sure thing. You never know what you're gonna need here."

Daxter watched Jak carefully. He wasn't normally the planning ahead type, so if he had brought containers to store Eco in, then chances were that Jak expected to find Eco here.

"I wonder what the Metalheads needed it for anyway," Daxter commented as Jak carefully scooped portions of Eco into containers. "I mean, it didn't do them any good, did it?"

"I guess we'll never know." Jak replied, carefully securing the containers in his backpack. "We'd better get back over to the opening before Torn shows up and gets pissy."

Daxter blinked a little. "Jak? Old Green Stuff doesn't need that much Eco does he? I mean, that's a lot!"

Jak shrugged, "I'd rather get more than we need, than have to come back down here later." he said by way of explaination.

"Well, I guess it sounds ok..."

"Anyway, what does it matter? A little extra Eco for us might be helpful, unless you want to pay Torn and Ashelin for it..."

Daxter thought about this. A little Eco in reserve would be useful, and he didn't see why Torn and Ashelin should have first claim to it. 'Finder Keepers' was his motto... But it bothered him a little that Jak was thinking this way as well. Normally it would be him suggesting that they take a little something for themselves, and Jak would give him that look, the one that always managed to make Daxter feel guilty about what he was planning, then they'd go and confess... And Daxter would generally end up doing some sort of punishment for stealing. He sighed. Though he hadn't liked the results, Jak had always been the one with the morals, and he'd always been more than happy to go along with Jak, no matter how much he complained, if it meant that Jak would smile...

'Jak should have his smiles banned as an illegal drug.' Daxter thought to himself. 'After one, you just can't stop trying to get another...'

"Dax? Hello? Are you still awake?" Jak said, shrugging his shoulder and jolting the ottsel back to reality. "Is everything ok? You seem really preoccupied today..." It was probably last night's Zoomer incident, Jak thought. He hadn't realized that it had affected Daxter so deeply... He mentally cursed himself for bringing Daxter along.

'Some time alone would have been better for him. Time to let him realize he doesn't have to be with me all the time. Time to realize what he might lose if he is with me all the time...' Jak quickly shoved the thoughts and accompaning emotions into the back of his mind. Damn, he'd been so preoccupied, he'd missed Daxter's responce.

"We'd better see if Torn's here yet." Jak said by way of an excuse for not responding to Daxter's reply.

"Uhh... sure thing buddy." Daxter said. Now Jak was acting strange. Did Eco do something to your mind if there was a lot of it around at once? Should he be worried about Jak? Come to think of it, would Jak be able to channel other types of Eco as well, now that his body had been effected by Dark Eco?

Too many questions that he didn't know the answers to, best to leave them alone until later, Daxter decided. They had to face Torn and any remaining Metalheads first...