LightEcoDragonRider: Here we go again!
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Chapter IV: Shea
Jak, Daxter, and Pyrah walked into the Naughty Ottsel to tumultuous cheering and applause. Daxter immediatly took to bowing, exemplifying his humbleness, or lack thereof. Pyrah and Jak, far more modest, sat at a table with Torn, Sig, and Ashelin. Sig and Ashelin congratulated the two (Daxter was submerged in a nearby crowd, recounting details of his bravery).
Torn merely squinted and said,"How many egg sacks did you take out?"
Jak grimaced. "Three or four," was the sullen reply.
Torn shook his head. "Then there's nothing to be celebrating about. Come to Freedom HQ tomorrow 'round seven. Jinx and a couple other members of the Underground stumbled upon something while they were patrolling the sewers. It's important, so be there." With that, Torn left. closely followed by Ashelin.
Sig turned to Jak now, a huge bottle of rum in his spade-shaped hands. "Jak, I took a hoverbus to Spargus yesterday, like Big Green told me to. Turns out the people of Spargus wanna hear it from you." Sig looked a little hurt as he said this. "Seeing as you're their new king and everything."
Jak nodded, feeling sick. He was a fighter, not a leader, and anyone who knew him would say the same. Nevertheless, he would go. What other choice did he have? He turned to his right to see that Pyrah had left. He glanced at the bar and saw him, sitting near Kiera. He said something funny, and she flung her green hair back. Subconsciously, Jak felt his hand inching towards the new Dark Eco sword he'd acquired.
"Jak?" Jak spared Sig a glance before turning back to Kiera. "What is it?" Jak sharlpy responded.
"No I was just wondering, what is that thing anyway?" Sig motioned toward the long sword.
"Oh, this? It's some sword I got. Something to do with my Dark Eco powers." Without thinking, Jak drew the sword from it's sheath. Momentarily, the entire saloon was cast in an eerie violet light which seemed to stem from the odd dark gem set in the center of the hilt.
Jak hastily put it away before it caused a commotion. Sig nodded in approval as Jak quickly turned back to the Pyrah-Kiera situation. As though to spite him for drawing the sword in the first place, Kiera snuggled closer to Pyrah, who wrapped a protective arm around her.
Jak turned to Sig. "What could she see in him?" Jak whispered angrily to Sig. Sig sighed.
"Well, he is the Krimzon Guard leader. Pretty strong, not much for looks but he's a pretty good guy, and she can't mind the tatooes too much since she has the same kind."
Jak looked at Sig. "Who the hell are you talking about? I'm talking about those two." He inclined his head at Kiera and Pyrah.
Sig stared. "I was talking about Torn and Ashelin. Haven't you seen them? I caught a glimpse of them this afternoon at Headquarters, and let me tell you Cherry, it wasn't pretty."
Jak rose. "Whatever Sig, I've had enough of this crap." He rose and strode over to Kiera, who saw him out of the corner of his eye.
Pyrah raised his glass in greeting. "Hey Jak, this is-" Jak cut him off with a wave of his hand.
"I know who this is. Kiera, could I talk to you over there for a minute?" If Jak had been in a normal mood, he would've seen the word PISSED written in red and stamped on Kiera's forehead. But, as he was suffering from extreme jealousy, he led Kiera to an empty corner.
"What the hell do you want Jak?" Kiera said sharply. Jak faltered, taken aback. Kiera had never talked to him like that before. Jak plowed on.
"Kiera what are you doing?" He asked, nearly yelling. Three nearby tables tuned into the conversation.
"Well, I was enjoying a drink with my new friend Pyrah, and now I'm standing here like an idiot, waiting to see what you have to say!"
"Kiera, I need to tell you that I like you. Maybe even more then that. That kiss, it really meant something. I don't know how you felt about it but..." He stopped as Kiera covered his mouth with her hand.
"Jak, if you felt this way before, you should have said something. We've known each other our whole lives, and you tell me this now?"
Jak glared at angrily. "Our whole lives. Sorry, but don't you think it would've been just a little hard to tell you when I couldn't talk?"
"You could have told me sooner than now!" Kiera flung her arms up in deperation. "Like at the garage for example!"
"Yeah, only I was a little busy saving the fucking planet!" Jak cried. "Twice!" he added.
"What about when you first met me at the garage?" Kiera responded. "Why didn't you tell me then?" By this time, half of the bar was listening to the conversation, snacking on complimentary Yakow Finger Meatballs smothered in Ottsel Sauce, which Daxter and Tess were handing out.
"What, with that little prick Errol running around?" Kiera's eyes widened. Jak had struck a nerve.
"Well if you loved me, even liked me as you claim, then it wouldn't have mattered who was there!" With that, she stalked out of the Naughty Ottsel. The bar goers shook their heads sympathetically as Jak ran after her.
But Kiera was quick. She had started her zoomer and turned on the igniton as Jak came running out of the Naughty Ottsel. He grabbed the tail of the zoomer as it moved it forward.
"Jak, let go!" Kiera yelled as she accelerated. They began to move, slowly at first, but then faster. Jak was clinging on for dear life. As Kiera sped up over the water that led to the Pumping Station, she braked suddenly. Jak was flung off the zoomer and he plummeted into the frigid water.
Freedom HQ
The room was packed with people. Torn had assumed his usual position in front of a holo-map, but someone else was talking. A beautiful woman with dark brown hair and glittering green eyes commanded everyone's attention. Her name was Shea. She was seated next to Torn, pointing to different points on the map.
"Well we came in through her, and killed about seventeen Metal Heads just west of there. And then Jinx and Zereth left, but I saw another Metal Head and thought I'd finish it off." She paused to show everyone where she had gone.
"What happened then?" Torn asked. Jak craned his head to get a glimpse of the map.
"Well I went over in that direction, and I would have shot it, but I saw it going in a particular direction and decided to follow. Good thing I did, because then I saw a whole group of them, at first count I'd say two-hundred plus. They were gathered around something, and I caught a glimpse of it before they found me. It was like a giant bowl of Dark Eco with a glass dome over it. The dome had three tubes that connected it. My guess was that they led out into the city streets."
There was a heavy silence after her words. The same question was in everyone's mind. Where had the Metal Heads gotten access to the technology that enabled them to manipulate Dark Eco. The nests were one thing, because it was a natural method and Metal Heads are born with that knowledge. To use Dark Eco for something was unfathomable. Even the monks of Spargus hadn't managed to do it.
Torn had risen, and he looked rather menacing. "Jak!" he spat. This has something to do with those Metal Heads, let's call them Kor-Clones for lack of a better word. Metal Heads could never do this kind of stuff before. Now I want you and Daxter to get your asses over to the sewers tonight and find out what the hell is going on. Got it?"
Jak was slightly embarrased. Torn was talking to him as though he were Jak's father, or boss. 'I suppose he is my boss though.' The thought had suddenly occured to him. Jak nodded, and everyone started talking at once. About different things, though. Some recounted the latest stadium races, while others talked about the problems at hand. Daxter and Tess were present. Tess passed around different Yakow products, while Daxter stood on a table.
"You can make basically anything out of Yakow meat. Sausage, steak, meatballs, chops, bacon, just from one animal. Mix in a bit of my patented Ottsel Sauce (here her produced a bottle) and it's a match! Tess is passing around some around, but they're flyin' like Flut-Flut's in the winter so get'm while they're hot!"
Jak wasn't interested in stadium races or Yakow products, and he went to the door. As he leaned against a Hellcat Cruiser, waiting for Ashelin to give him a lift, Kiera approached.
"Jak, I'm sorry. I guess I was a bit harsh yesterday. What I meant to say was you were too little too late Jak.Pyrah and I are going to- can I help you?" She said brusquely.
Shea stood watching the too with a smile on her face. It was impossible to tell if she was genuinely amused or otherwise. "No nothing, I just wanted to talk to Jak, that's all."
"Well you'll have to wait. Now, as I was saying Jak, Pyrah and I are going to dinner tomorrow night. I'm trying to move on, and I think you should too."
Jak was tempted to say that there was nothing to move on from, but instead he nodded. Kiera smiled and left, and Shea turned to Jak with her peculiar smile.
"Hi Jak, or should I say Mar? I just wanted to say that it's an honor to finally meet you. I've heard all these stories about what you've done for this city. You killed the Baron, took out the Metal Head leader, saved the planet..."
"Aparrently she's not interested in any of that though." Jak's thoughts were still on Kiera, a fact which seemed to annoy Shea.
"Forget about Kiera!" She siezed his head and turned it to face her. Once caught in her green stare, Jak couldn't look away.
"Wouldn't you like to go out sometime?" Shea asked.
Slowly Jak nodded. What better way to make Kiera jealous? Suddenly, the honest boy from Sandover siezed control.
"Sorry, but I couldn't. If I went out with you it would just be to get back at Kiera. I mean, that's not fair to you."
Far from upsetting Shea, this seemed to make her even more eager. "What do you think she's doing to you? Do you think she really sees anything in that Pyrah? He seems so dull! Besides, you can use me, I don't mind." With that, she leaned forward and kissed him before getting on a zoomer of her own and driving off.
LightEcoDragonRider: Oooooooh! What an interesting chapter? What do you guys think Jak will do? Will he use Shea to get back at Kiera? And why would a beautiful woman like Shea want to be used as a ploy for revenge anyway?
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