Crossfire: Chapter 5

By: EcoJak/Alisha

Author Note: Oy...meant to put this up 5 DAYS AGO! But, I had a lot of work to do and all that crap.(Including cleaning out a flood in my basement from the rain. Fun.)Yeah, had to change my name. A few people, who shall remain nameless, didn't like the old one. About Torn being the murderer, it's really wierd actually. (I'm gonna spoil my own fic) I originally was gonna use Erol, but lioness of darkness changed my mind. It was sort of unexpected and last minute so...sorry. And as for Jak becoming a lion, well...I thought it was cute! (I was going to do an ottsel as a little joke, but I like lions better. I haven't abonded the idea, though!)

Lioness of Darkness: Great minds think alike, eh? Tankie (Thank you) very much lioness! I was reading your bio; What's wrong with being English? My friend from school is, and he says it's nice over there. Keep sending me ideas and I'll keep updating!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Sunlight was torture for Jak's tired eyes. His head pounded as he laid on the cold, hard ground; trying to get his thoughts in order. He pulled out his arm, claws extended, and scraped the floor in an attempt to get up. His muscles protested as his lifted his furry body off the ground and into a standing position. (Or close enough to it.) It wasn't before his body collapsed, and resumed its place on the temple floor.

He wearily looked up and saw the Precursor spirit standing before him, golden staff still in hand. Its white eyes glared down at the poor Precursor-lion angrily, as if he was the most horrendous thing that ever walked the planet.

"Some hero you are."

Jak felt a low growl escape his throat. Wait...growling? He sure never did that before.

The spirit placed a ghostly hand around the cat's neck, still angry.

"You always think you can save the world, when you cannot even remain on your own feet."

Jak's growl quickly turned into a full-out snarl.

"It was a trick." Jak whispered.

The spirit only laughed vilely. "I had to get you out of my way, somehow."

The lion's strength gradually grew, along with its anger. He got up, his fur stood on end, his pearly white teeth were bared, and his claws were extended.

"Why! What are you planning!" Jak roared (literally)

"You will see...in due time."

"Tell me!"

The spirit floated up a bit.

"No, no...that would ruin the surprise."

The lion's long ears were now furled back.

"You...little..."

Jak charged at the transparent figure with full force. To his surprise, he phased right through and slammed into a nearby wall. The lion muttered, and shook its head in pain. He glared back at his opponent.

"You cannot harm me."

"We'll see about that!"

The cat rushed up to the spirit and tried swiping, biting, even batting it. Every outcome remained the same. The lion slumped back on the ground, panting and gasping. The ghost was unaffected.

"What are you?" Jak gasped.

"None of your damnbusiness, boy."

With that, the spirit floated away; still grinning maliciously. The Precursor-lion wondered why everyone was so hell-bent on killing him...

Daxter wandered through the endless darkness alone until a low growl in the distance stopped him in his tracks. He turned around slowly and found nothing.

"I hope it's not that stupid dog again..." Daxter wavered.

The growl became louder.

As the ottsel stepped back, a twig snapped; causing the monster to shoot out of the bushes and towards the little animal. It pinned him down and smiled.

"Crap!" Daxter shouted as his back hit the wet ground. "Please don't kill me!"

"You're such a baby."

Daxter looked up and saw that the lion was no other than his friend, Jak.

"JAK!" Daxter shouted, more pissed than actually surprised. "What the hell happened to you?"

The Precursor-lion explained to Daxter about the spirit, the Precursor Gem, and everything else. The ottsel's jaw dropped in shock.

"Holy...cray-rap.."

"Yeah, I've been a little busy. Listen, I need to get back to the city and talk to Torn; can you take me there?"

"Sure, sure. But ah..."

Jak sighed. "What?"

"I forget where it is."

Once the lion and ottsel returned to the city, their welcome wasn't nessisarily pleasant. The citizens either ran, badmouthed the two animals, or kicked them away. After a few hours, Jak and Daxter finally reached the Naughty Ottsel where Torn and everyone else was in wait.

"Torn! We need to talk!" Daxter yelled.

The FG leader gave an annoyed sigh. "What is it now, ra-"

He stopped when he saw the large lion walk in.

"What the hell...?"

"Yeah, uh, that's the problem." Daxter whimpered.

"Daxter, how many times do we have to tell you?" Samos stated. "No pets."

"My PET! This is Jak!"

"Jak...? Daxter, are you feeling ok?" Keira asked. "Maybe you need to rest or-"

"He's telling the truth." Jak meant to say, but it came out in roars in growls.

"See!"

"See what, rat?" Torn wasn't in the best of moods.

"Jak! He just told you!"

"You're just crazy."

"I'M crazy? YOU tried to kill me last night!"

Jak growled in agreement.

"Yeah, right." Torn scoffed.

"YOU DID! LOOK!" Daxter showed everyone where the creature nipped him.

"If I did that, and sometimes I wish I could, I would of remembered it."

The ottsel's fur rose with frustration.

"Jak! Show them!"

"I don't think they can understand me, Dax. Try telling them what I told you."

So, the little ottsel re-told the story about what happened to Jak. Still, no-one believed him.

"Daxter, Jak's dead. Maybe you just dreamed it." Keira told the ottsel.

"I didn't! You have to believe me!"

"Not unless you have proof, rat."

Frustrated, Daxter stormed out of the bar, with Jak in tow. He needed to find proof...but how?

Daxter sat at the edge of the port, trying to find a way to prove that the lion was the once the man they knew. Jak walked up and saw his friend, deep in thought. If the Precursor becoming an animal wasn't bad enough, that evil spirit was on the loose. Great. Just great.

The lion slumped down on its side, and tried to come up with a plan. He then thought of something that just might work.

"Dax, I think I thought of a way to kill the ghost." Jak inquired.

"What?" Daxter asked, curious.

"Exorcisim."

"Como-se-wha?"

The lion sighed before answering "Transporting it to another dimention, smart one."

"Well, how are we going to do that?"

At this point, Jak drew out his plan on the metal ground, using his claws. He then explained to Daxter that they needed to lure it into a room with metal walls, and a ring of salt inside. It wont be able to escape until the ring is broken. (Alisha knows a lot about spells and stuff. Me? Nope.)

The ottsel smirked. "So, what are we going to lure it with? A girl?"

Jak nodded.

"Hmm...where would I go if I was a pretty girl?"

The lion and ottsel thought for a moment then perked up with an idea.

"HOT TOPIC!" They said in unison.

"Of course!" Jak added.

A few hours later, Jak and Daxter finally arrived at Hot Topic. They looked around the store and found a few girls; but when they tried to talk to them, the girls almost killed them. No use.

Suddenly, as fate would have it, the scariest girl walked in with a strange smile on her face that instantly got Daxter's attention.The girl had long black-brown hair, wasn't very tall, and sported a black shirt with the word "Zero" on the front.The ottsel walked over casually with a big smile on his face.

"Hey baby, you new here?"

"Awww...how cute! A ferret!"

She picked up the ottsel, and hugged him and squeezed him and never let him go! Jak finally stepped in and pushed the two into a storage room. The lion screamed everything the ottsel needed to tell her.

"So, ah...can ya do it?" Daxter asked.

The girl laughed, then replied "Sure, ummm...pick me up at 7. It'll be fun!"

Just as the girl was about to walk out, Daxter stopped her.

"Hey! We never got your name!"

The girl turned around and smiled.

"Alisha."