Author's note: Ohohoho. Don't worry about me suddenly changing the pairing I set up in the prequel to this, I value continuity. 'Sides, they won't have time for romance during this round.

You thought the cliffhangers so far have been bad? Ohohoho… I'm just getting started, my pretties.

Chapter 5, The withered flower

Jak fell. He was going to die.

The heat intensified for every particle of a second, each of them stretching out eternally before him as he plummeted. He tried to call upon his wings, but though the light within him desperately flared it could not save him. The darkness roared, knowing that it was far stronger but still helpless.

He was going to die. Gravity had him in a grip far stronger than any metal head, and within moments his body would be incinerated. His lungs flared, every inch of his skin already screaming in agony from the floating heat which reached up to meet him.

But the precursors had said that he would do something in the future, or past… they had been wrong.

Daxter, Keira, Elda, Sig, Samos, Ashelin, Torn… no! Not here, not now! He still had so much to do!

He was going to die.

The world did not care whether he wanted to live or not. It never had. This was simply the final proof that no matter what he did, fate kept hating him to the bitter – smoldering – end. Took its sweet time tearing every last bit of his soul apart and finally tossed him aside like a broken toy, too. Much like Praxis. It must have been irritated when he had dared to see some light brought back into his life, since it set him up with such a pathetic death.

Not even a warrior's death, he had been prepared for that. Every day waiting for that bullet in his chest or claws ripping through his guts. But this, this had been nothing but his own clumsiness. Pathetic. How pathetic…

But fate was far more cruel than he credited it. One might in fact have thought that Erol was monitoring this set of fate, smirk about to split his skull as he pushed the buttons.

The heat clawed at his skin, tongue about to crack open-

Only one second remained of Jak's life when his vision suddenly filled up with black.

"Agh!"

What… why did death encircle his wrists? Pain ripped through his already tormented arms and shoulders, making him cry out.

A flapping sound filled his ears, and in a confused daze he looked up. At first he only saw his hands in a blurry darkness, but as the heat and knowledge of certain death steadily decreased his brain cleared. A huge bird carried him upwards, its talons clamped around his wrists.

"The hell!" Jak snarled, instinctively trying to wriggle free.

But he was in no position to fully use his strength, and the talons did not buckle.

Only for a brief moment did he feel relieved at being saved from the lava flow – he already knew what his rescuer was. Its reasons eluded him, however he had a strong feeling that he would not like it.

As it felt the movement, the bird bent its neck and gave its quarry a disdainful look. The skull gem on its forehead reflected the fire far below them, even as the flames grew more distant for every flap of the avian metal head's wings.

"Jak!"

He caught a glimpse of furry orange rushing down the ledge from which he had fallen, trying to get away from the hulking metal head that had cut the vine. The beast scurried to a halt and turned its beady eyes towards the captured elf as Jak swept past on his unwilling way upwards. With a snort, the metal head gave up the hunt for Daxter and turned to the wall. Rocks and pebbles rained down as it dug its claws into the stones and began to climb.

Daxter would have felt happier about this if he had not been watching his best friend being taken away by another monster.

"Jak!" he screamed again, less in panic for his own safety this time.

"Get the backup!" Jak shouted back.

He lost sight of Daxter before he had even finished the call. It did not really matter, for he doubted that any help would make it in time. But giving Daxter such a mission would definitely be the best way to keep him safe, at least. For all of his cowardice the ottsel might actually decide to try something stupid in a situation like this.

The bird that had caught Jak was not acting naturally for a metal head – just like those who dug the tunnel and set a trap. Something was instructing them, otherwise the bird would never have done anything to prevent the elf from becoming a few insignificant specks of disappearing ashes in the magma. And now, it was most certainly bringing him to that instructing creature.

Jak gnashed his teeth. He was not afraid – the raw fear that had clutched him as he fell was only a memory now. This was still an unfamiliar situation, but he could see a battle ahead, something he knew. No, not afraid, but aggravated. This fight would be on his enemies' terms; they chose the place, time and had deprived him of his morph gun.

But he still had a few minutes' worth of dark eco to show his gratitude for the flight. He would not make it easy for them.

Higher and higher the bird carried him, rising past ledge after ledge. Metal heads resting or walking around on the platforms looked up and began climbing as soon as they spotted the captured warrior, growling with cruel excitement.

Jak was starting to believe that this might get messier than he had expected. The walls of the volcano was turning blacker than ever with dark bodies.

And then all of a sudden, the highest plateau flashed past. The petrified monk still stood there on his knees, forever staring off into space with a look of frozen horror on his face. Behind him, the strange nest of tentacles laid. Nothing seemed to have changed-

Wait.

Now that he was carried high above it, Jak became more certain that the unpleasant nest below resembled a flower bud, its center pulsating like a heart.

A sickly grey flower bud, something one would normally think a dead plant. Or, in other words, something that would start to wither soon.

Oh crap.

Sadly Jak ended up having little time considering this, because the bird suddenly let go of his wrists.

Ten feet above the plateau.

With a half strangled scream Jak dropped. He managed to somewhat follow the motion as he hit the ground and rolled, but the slam was too hard for him to protect himself from. Snarling in agony he sprawled out on his back, pain clawing through both his legs. Only the stamina that had kept him alive through two years of experiments managed to keep him from losing consciousness. However, it was a stretch, and for a brief moment he was completely out of it before snapping back to the waking world.

Okay, this was getting bad.

He tried to get up, but the mere attempt to put weight back onto his legs sent black spots dancing before his eyes. Unable to stifle a scream of pain he fell back, and two strained looks down did not make him feel any better. From his limited viewpoint his right leg looked fine even if it hurt like hell, but the lower part of the left one was bent in a place it definitely should not be. The sight of it sent an acid taste of bile up his throat, but he fought it back down by pinching his eyes shut and looking away.

Not good. Not good at all.

Claws scraped against rock and he looked up, through the diminishing dark specks seeing the first metal heads starting to clamber onto the plateau.

It was only getting worse.

Even as Dark Jak, if he could not move he would still be chewed up alive within minutes – and that was at best.

Cursing all the world to hell Jak tore the communicator from his pocket and slammed his hand down on the square and one buttons the moment they appeared. A static crackling arose from the speakers and the tiny screen flickered.

"Ja- sss -ir?" a voice broken by the static came over the line.

Shit. Not Torn, just some Blue Guard. More wasted, precious moments. It had been too much to hope for, but-

"This is Jak!" the blonde snarled at the small machine, "emergency on top of the volcano, requesting immediate aid! Immediate! Oh fuck…!"

One metal head had made it over the edge and dashed towards him, claws bared and fangs hungrily dripping.

Jak did not think, he just transformed. Clutching his head he growled in agony as the violent trembling of his body disturbed his wounded legs, but when the dark eco took over all sensations, including the pain turned into nothing but fuel for his rage.

The metal head staggered back, howling in pain and clutching its cut face. Greenish blood dripped from Dark Jak's claws and his lips drew back from his fangs in a manic grin.

Come and get me, if you dare!

They dared. More and more got onto the platform, even as the first one recovered and raised its paws for another attempt.

"Jak? Jak!"

He vaguely registered the shouting from the metallic thing on the floor. Somebody he knew… that voice…

No time.

Hissing at the beasts he held up his hands and focused a supply of energy at his palms. A sparkling orb of tiny lightning bolts immediately formed in his grip. Jak threw out his right hand, sending half of the dark blast straight at the nearest metal head. The force flung it backwards and into two more of its kind, sending them all over the edge. Falling over onto his back Jak sent the remaining energy at another group in mid-dash. The pain was excruciating, but the dark eco dulled it.

Too weak!

Even with his mind clouded by the animalistic power of his darker self, Jak knew that using his long range attacks only sapped his precious reserves quicker. But what else could he do?

"We're on our way, Jak! Stay alive, that's an order!"

That tattooed man again… irritating…

Something came from behind his head and landed on his left arm, pinning it to the ground. Jak snarled and tore at the small, red-skinned metal head with his free hand, but even when skin and blood filled the air around it the beast did not buckle. It must have felt pain, but it still growled triumphantly at the monster-like elf.

Get off me!

Jak sent his claws towards the metal head's throat, but a heavy paw on his upper arm smashed even that down. A huge, black beast hovered above him, grinning as it closed its grip around his flesh.

Down in the tunnel, Torn froze dead as he due to a Blue Guard's gasp looked back at the display and saw Jak crushed against the ground, writhing and snarling as he fought to free himself. Behind him, dozens of metal heads closed in.

"Raaargh!"

A roar ripped through the volcano and the static line, and an explosion of dark lightning tore into the space above the plateau. The metal heads screeched in rage and agony as they were flung back through the air, away from their thought victim.

The dark light died down as soon as it had come and left was only Jak, still on his back and gasping for air like a fish on land. His hair was blond and green, his skin a normal elf hue. No horns, fangs or claws. The explosion had drained him completely.

And there were still living metal heads. The sound of their growling and claws scraping against the rock grated on all listening elves' ears.

"Idiot…!" Torn croaked.

The picture he watched flickered dangerously. It was a wonder that the communicator had not broken completely, but it was obviously damaged. Not that it would matter much longer.

Jak closed his eyes, hearing the snarling and rasping sounds. It was a challenge just to keep breathing. This time it was truly over.

'I… guess I was rash again…' he sluggishly thought, ' I'm sorry, father…'

But there was some other sound, one he could not place. A soft hissing, like something smooth sliding across the ground.

Now what?

Jak opened his eyes again, some hidden seventh sense screaming at him that he would regret it. Something moved in the center of the tentacles, the movement causing Jak to turn his head to look.

His eye bulged.

Grudgingly, Torn ripped his stare away from the screen. His throat was dry as the desert outside, but somehow he managed to speak.

"We're going in!" he snarled.

"Yessir!" the Blue Guards called and saluted.

They all lined up to march up the entrance to the volcano, except four who had earlier been assigned to stay behind and guard the equipment in a situation like this.

Torn hurried past the small army, gritting his teeth. If they were lucky they might find enough remains of Jak to hold a funeral later, but all of them knew that there was no way they could make it all the way up to save him in time.

"Commander! Sir!"

He spun around with a growl, glaring daggers at the Blue Guard who had dared to try holding him back for a moment. But as he saw that the man who had spoken was the one by the display, a wild hope flared up in the commander. Did something…

But then Jak's broken voice crackled through the speakers. His choice of words should not be put on print, and they most definitely did not carry any good news.

Something black slammed down between the blond elf and the communicator, and the big screen flared up with white dots.

For a moment, all of the elves stood silent in shock.

Finally Torn found his voice again.

"What the hell happened!" he demanded.

The Blue Guard who had been watching it all gulped.

"I… think he found the new metal head leader, Sir…"