Rail found himself, once again, standing at the steps leading up to the Stadium. He took a deep breath as he started to walk. Too many times he had walked these steps and come away with nothing. That made him mad. He was sick and tired of not getting anything in return. He was tired of doing all the work.. He was sick and tired of all of it.

He knocked again on her door. This time she opened.

"Rail!" she said. For a moment he thought she was happy to see him but that died quickly. "What's wrong? Is it Jak? Is he hurt, oh Mar is he alive."

"Calm down," he said. "Jak's fine."

"Where's Jak," she said. "If he's alive then why isn't he here?"

"Things are getting bad Keria," he said with a stern look on his face. "There's an army marshalling in the Wastelands that'll make the last army seem like nothing. The offical body count of the last attack was 10,000 Metal-Heads."

"How many are there?" asked Keria, afraid of the answer.

"Five million at least."

"Mar..." she wispered. "They'll kill us all."

"No!" said Rail sternly. "You think like that then we're already dead. We have to be strong and face this head on."

Keria got up the tears forming in her eyes and ran into the bedroom. Rail followed.

"Keria," he said holding her close and letting her cry on his shoulder. "It'll be alright, we'll figure it out."

"I... I can't lose both of you again," she sobbed. "When...sniff when Jak and I got seperated I was ready to... just die until I found you."

"You won't lose him," Rail said. "Jak is never going to leave you again."

-

Jak dashed up the palace steps and slid his passkey into the door. They hissed open and he ran over to the receptionist desk.

"Where's Samos?"

"Samos?" the man said. "Oh yes the small green man, he is down in the archives and had asked that no one disturb him."

"Too bad," said Jak. "Give me a passkey down to that level."

"I can't sir and I'm very sorry but..."

"I SAID GIVE ME A PASSKEY!" Jak shouted as sevral bolts of Dark Eco shot from his body.

"Here!" said the frightened man as he threw Jak a blue card. Jak caught it and went to the elevator. He pushed the button that took him to the archives.

He reached the bottom level. It was a poorly lit hallway. Jak flipped on a light switch and the room was illuminated. It was filled with rows and rows of books.

"Samos!" he yelled. He picked up some clomping of tree-stump feet and saw the sage several rows down. Jak ran to him and got in his old mentors face. This time he was getting some answers. He had spent his life wiping up other people's problems and if he didn't get some answers some people were going to have to wipe up his problem.

"What is it, my boy?" asked Samos, though he had a knowing look in his eyes.

"Why didn't you ever tell me?" said Jak. "You never told me that there were phrophecies about me, or legends, or tales."

"I knew this day would come," said Samos solemly. "Follow me." he said and led Jak into the darkness of the stacks.

-

Rail sat down at Keria's kitchen table and made something to drink. He poured her a cup of hot coca and one for himself and took them into the bedroom. She was sitting on the bed with her knees schrunched up to her chest and her eyes were stained from crying. He handed her one of the mugs.

"Here," he said, "Drink up, it's your favorite."

She drank some of it and her eyes lit up. "Thanks." she said.

Rail was never a big fan of hot chocolate but he didn't think that breaking into Jak's liquor cabinet would bode well with him. Rail took a drink and let the warm liquid run down his throat. He hadn't realized how thirsty he was until the liquid touched his lips. He could feel it running down his mouth and into his stomache.

"Rail," said Keria quietly. "I have to tell you something."

"What is it?" he asked.

"I love Jak," she said. "I've had a crush on him since I was a little girl and I wanted to be with him for my whole life and I still do."

"You should," said Rail. "You deserve someone like him, someone strong and good willed and can love you like you deserve to be loved."

"But," she said. " I still love you."

Rail turned to her with disbelief in his eyes. "What?" he said.

"I still love you Rail," she said.

"I heard what you said, I didn't know why though."

"You found me," she said. "You took me in and helped me when I had nowhere to go. You laid everything on the line for me before you even knew my name."

"Jak would've done all of that too," said Rail. "It doesn't mean anything too special."

"No Rail," said Keri, leaning up to him. "It does."

And with that Keria pressed her lips against Rail's.

-

"When we were sent to the future," said Samos. "I knew what you'd be going through and what you'd grow into. I knew the destiny that you would fulfill and the hardships you would face. But I also knew what you still had to do."

"Samos," said Jak. "I've saved the world twice, in the span of, technically, three years. Now just how many more enemies am I going to have to fight?"

"One," said Samos. "Drakken."

"Okay," said Jak. "Who or what is Drakken?"

"He is the god of the Metal-Heads, a diety they worship."

"Okay," said Jak, shaken up. "I'm fighting the god of the Metal-Heads. How do I kill it?"

"I don't know," said Samos. "I can't translate the texts into anything legable."

"Why not?" asked Jak.

"Because I doubt you kill the god of the Metal-Heads with a pink rubber duck named 'Ogga'."

"Let me see the book," he said. Samos slid the book over to Jak. Jak couldn't even make out anything, it was in a language he had never seen. Jak looked on the cover and saw something that scared him. On the cover was him, the Dark him. "Samos," said Jak sliding the book back to him. "Explain."