I felt a small vibration against my hip. I ignored it at first. I was just so comfortable where I was lying I didn't want to move. After a moment, I thought it wouldn't happen again, but it did. Argh… stupid buzzing thing… leave me alone… it vibrated a third time. Holy CRAP! What would it take for that damn thing to leave me alone!
That was when I groggily opened my eyes. Everything was blurry for a moment, and then came into focus. I yawned, and that stupid thing vibrated again. Then reality hit me like a ton of bricks. Oh no! I'd gone to the lake to clean up a little after the hole Jakie Mar vs. the Krimzon Guard and fallen asleep again! Oh crap… Uncle Torn was going to kill me! I quickly snatched the annoying vibrating thing, which just happened to be my communicator. I switched it on, and Uncle Torn's voice came up.
"Jakie, where the hell are you this time?" he demanded.
"Does it really matter?" I asked. I just didn't want to tell him where my secret place was.
"Jakie, we've got a problem over here, concerning you. So hurry up and get over here NOW!" Ok, jeeze. You don't have to shout…
"Alright. I'm on my way." And I turned it off. Wow, I wonder what Uncle Torn was so frantic about… must be really serious for him to be so uppity about it. Well, better get going.
I gather up my stuff and headed back to the hideout. Of course, Uncle Torn jumped down my throat about being so lazy, but I just ignored him. Dad and Daxter were there, along with Ashelin and Dawn.
"So… what's so incredibly important to wake me up in the middle of a good dream?" I asked, sort of joking.
"This," Ashelin answered, and put a folded up note in my hand. What the…?
"Jak found it in his pocket a little while ago," Dawn informed me. I looked at dad, and he just shrugged.
"I have no idea how it got there, or why I had it," he explained. I half smiled, then unfolded it and read it.
Jakie,
I have a few things you might be interested to hear. Come to the South Port on the far side tonight. Alone.
I looked back up at everyone else. Every one of them was giving me that look that said 'this-is-all-your-fault-and-you-bloody-well-know-it'. I slightly gulped and didn't say anything.
"Do, what's your next move?" Ashelin asked me. I thought about it for a minute. Maybe who ever this guy was could help me out a little… well; it's worth a shot.
"I'll go," I answered. There was an unsettling silence in the room.
"Are you sure?" dad asked suddenly. I nodded.
"Yeah, could be some guy waiting to kill you," Daxter added. I sighed.
"I just hacked my way through about a hundred Krimzon Guards. I'm sure I can handle whatever this guy tried to throw at me," I countered.
"Yeah, like when the Baron got his hands on you?" Uncle Torn interjected.
"That was because I was in a confined space and way outnumbered, with very little room to do anything," I argued. I shook my head. "Look, I don't know what to expect either, but how bad could it be? If it is an ambush, then all I have to do is call you guys, right?" I wanted to add that I thought I specialized more in massacres, rather then just killing one person. But I kept my mouth shut about that.
"Well…" dad started, "As long as you're careful." I smiled.
"We'll have our communicators on incase you have any trouble," Ashelin added. Alright! Now THIS is more like it!
"Well, tonight is still a ways away. So I might as well spend it preparing for whatever could happen," I said, trying to sound as determined as I could. But deep down, I was as nervous as I could get. I had no idea what was going to happen tonight. And I was afraid that something bad might happen…
The rest of the day was spent tuning up my gun mods, discussing escape plans with Uncle Torn, sparing with my dad, and other things like that. I wasn't sure what to expect tonight, so I had to be ready for anything. By the time the day ended, I was pretty sure that whatever happened, I had a good counter attack for. I was pretty confident, considering what I'd just pulled off no more than a few hours ago. The Town Square Massacre, as the slums had dubbed it. That was definitely something to be proud of in my humble opinion.
When the time came, I bid my family goodbye, hijacked a zoomer and sped off through the city for the Port. When I got there a bit later, I parked it (I didn't feel like blowing it up tonight) and looked around. The area was practically deserted; a couple of KG's were on patrol… Wow, it sure was quiet. Then I saw someone off on the distance. Must've been him. I walked towards who ever it was, slowly at first, but I sped up my pace. When I was within earshot he spoke.
"So you made it in one piece after all," he said, and then turned around. My jaw nearly dropped.
Erol!