A/N: Here is your Jak chapter! I really hope you guys like it. I might have only a few more Jak chapters then I'll have my sequel where I can use him all I want. And I just had two near death experiences on Easter. How great it that? I usually wear dress pants to church, but this was Easter, so I had to wear a skirt. I go to some big church. I don't know what I am. I'm not Catholic, but most of my friends are. I'm just…Christian I guess. Anywho, I was complaining about me wearing a dress to myself like I always do when I trip and fall down all the stairs. I did it a second time at church! I have a few bruises, but I'm okay! My guardian angel must have been like; "This girl is one crazed up fruit loop. How do you trip down the stairs two times in a row on Easter?"

So, here is your chapter. I don't own anything from Jak2. Please R&R. Thanks!

Chapter 28

Jak stood by Nea with a sad and worried expression on his face. A sickness was sweeping through the fort, and three elves had died already. The three Elves planning a perfect escape were delayed by this sickness when Tubal had suddenly gotten it. He now lay on a mat in a tent that was the sickbay.

Jak and Nea were worried sick about poor Tubal, but could do nothing to get him better. To live, Tubal had to be strong and let it pass after a high point, or he would die during the high point. The high point in the sickness was when the person with the sickness started to go out of his/her mind and goes into a coma like state. Something would happen to the mind and you could either live through it or die. Out of the few people sick only one survived. They did not know if Tubal would live.

"Listen," Nea whispered to Jak while nudging him with her elbow. Jak looked up and gave Nea a forced smile to say that he was listening to the General giving them all instructions of what they were to do for the day. Nea gave a nod and looked ahead to the General with the worry not going away from her face.

"You will be testing your strength today," the General said while cracking his whip sharply to get their attention. "See these," he said while pointing to some platforms with metal bars with rope tied at the ends on them. "We will put weight on the ends of the bars, and we will see how strong you are. Now get moving!"

Jak was not thinking about what was going on. Nea let him go first, and he got on one of the tiny platforms. Four other people got on the others and held up their poles other their heads. Jak did the same absentmindedly.

"First round," the General said while cracking his whip to get started. Krimson Guards came up and tied a heavy sack on the ends of the pole. It was too easy for Jak, and he just looked down while thinking about something else.

We have to get out of here, he told himself while biting his lower lip as another round came up and more weight was added to his pole. We came to far to end it here with Tubal's death. He can't die! I have to save him. I know there is a cure to all this.

"Fourth round," the General yelled loudly with another crack of the whip. "One is already down. Four left." Jak was forced out of his thinking at the cheering and looked up. He looked to his sides and realized that he was doing really well with the challenge for the day.

"You're going down, kid," someone said from Jak's other side. With a silent gasp, Jak looked to where the voice came from and glared at Durgen. He was going against this guy. "You can't beat me at my best game," Durgen whispered harshly to Jak. "This takes strength and mind. You have none of those. You might be quick, but you'll never be good at this."

"Sixth round," the General yelled again, and Jak realized that he was carrying more than before. But the sixth sack was starting to make everything heavy. The sun was beating down on his back, and he was already worn out from the morning workout. Sweat started to flow down his forehead, and he gave a sigh to steady himself. He could make it.

In challenges you had to get at least third place to not get whipped by the General. Jak only once did not make it and got whipped. He told himself to never fail again. But if you got first you got to take a break and go back to the tent.

That's it! Jak's mind yelled at him, and his eyes lit up with the idea coming into his head. If I win I go back to the tent. But what if I could get into the fourth section of the fort where Devo is? I know he would have a cure for Tubal in his house. I just have to win!

"Just give up now, kid," Durgen said to Jak with a wicked smile coming to his face. Another sack was added, and Jak shifted under the weight with determination in his blue eyes. He did not look over to Durgen and focused on his own weight. Everyone with weight on his back was not giving up. No one wanted to get whipped. Jak would not settle for anything less than first place in this challenge.

"The sun is getting a bit hotter, isn't it?" Durgen whispered to Jak to try to throw the kid off. Now Jak had ten sacks on his pole, and the weight was almost too heavy for him.

"Stop now," the General said with a smile. "Now we just wait. Let them do whatever they want. This challenge is strength but also mind. You can make deals and mess with each other's minds. This is when the challenge begins."

"Just give up, kid!" Durgen yelled at Jak for everyone to hear now. A few people in the crowd gave snickers. With a defeated cry, another elf dropped the pole and collapsed on the ground. Three more to go. Jak fought the erg to give up now and be done with everything, but the thought of escape pounded into his mind, and he forced it away. He was stronger than this.

"I'll make you a deal, kid," Durgen said to Jak.

Shut up! Jak yelled in his head. He wanted Durgen to stop, but he could say nothing.

"If you give up now," Durgen said. "I'll stop bugging you." Jak rolled his eyes at the so-called "deal". He had to block Durgen out. He was feeling the weight more and more every second, and it was starting to be too much for him.

Jak finally closed his eyes and gave a sigh to clear his head. He focused his whole mind on his balance and the weight. He blocked out the world around him and Durgen. Everywhere around him was his own darkness and nothing else. The Green Sage had taught him to do this when he had any kind of eco in him. The Sage wanted to see how much someone could focus while flowing with eco. Jak had been the test subject.

Jak did not know how long he had been doing his, but he knew he would have to come to reality sometime. He finally opened his eyes and heard the General yell, "And the kid wins!" First there was total shock on Jak's face then he smiled and threw down the pole and jumped down the platform.

"You can go back to your tent now," the General said while nodding to Jak. The General at first hated Jak, but the kid continued to amaze him, and he was getting used to it now. The kid was all right. The General was starting to think that the kid was going to be the best Dark Warrior.

No one watched Jak go. Jak looked behind his shoulder at the group and gave a wink to Nea. She smiled back but had no idea what he was doing. Jak went to the door to the second section of the fort then turned to another door to the fourth section and ran up to it. The Krimson Guard at the door was snoozing next to it with loud snores.

Jak gave a silent chuckle while coming to the door. He creaked it open and slipped into the plantation of Mr. Devo's. The green grass felt cool under Jak's feet as he ran to the porch of the big house. Jak's heart was starting to beat faster as he ran up the few steps and to the door. He reached for the doorknob to see if it was open, but he saw it start to turn.

Jak flattened himself up against the wall where the door would block him from view. The door swung open and smashed into Jak's nose. He swore, but no one could hear him. The door stayed open, and Jak listened to Mr. Devo say to himself, "Lovely day!"

Jak dared to look from behind the door and saw that Devo was looking away. Jak smiled and ran into the house and closed the door behind him. This was perfect! Devo was out of the house and Jak was in it. The teen gave himself a wicked smile while heading for the stairs. He flew to the second floor and told himself not to get lost.

Jak ran down the hall while opening doors and looking for some kind of medicine room. He was not finding anything at this rate and he knew it. Jak turned around to go back the way he came and realized he was lost. He felt stupid for even coming into the house now. He was going to get himself killed for this.

"Hey there!" came a sweet voice from behind Jak.

Jak gave a silent gasp and turned around to find a cute little kid. She had her hands behind her back and was looking up at him with her big blue eyes. She smiled at him and twirled a lock of her long blond hair between her fingers. Her nice dress told him that she had to be related to Devo.

"What's your name?" she asked him.

Jak opened his mouth to say something, but remembered that he was mute and frowned. He cursed himself for being mute and not being able to say anything to the kid. She was sweet and innocent enough to show him a room for the cure.

"I will call you Bob," the girl said with a giggle when she got no answer from Jak.

Bob? Jak thought with a frown. What kind of name is that?

Jak did not know what to do. The little girl kept watching his every move. He started to walk away to try and find the stairs on his own. The little girl gave another giggle and skipped behind him. Jak turned around and gave the girl a glare to get lost, but she never took the hint.

"Bob?" she asked him. "What cha looking for?"

Jak rolled his eyes while looking down another hall. He finally realized where he was. It was the same hall he went down to see Devo in his office the day Amelia came to take him. He knew where the stairs were now, but he wanted to check the hall out first. He walked down the hall and opened a few doors and looked in them.

Jak finally found the office and smiled to himself. He quietly walked into the room with a sneaky look in his eyes that were scanning the room for anything. Then the little girl came bouncing in with her jump rope and, Jak gave a wince at how loud she was.

"Why don't you talk, Bob?" she asked him while still jumping in the middle of the room. "I mean, I like talking! Some people say I do it too much, but I think they are just crazy. I'm the only sane one in my family. How 'bout you, Bob? Are you sane or insane? Will you tell me? Huh?"

Just…just shut up! Jak pleaded in his head to the girl. Wow, this girl can talk! Why is she following me?

To ignore the girl, Jak started to look through the papers on Devo's desk. The girl kept jump roping next to him with a smile on her face. Then Jak found something that caught his eye. It was his picture attached to a file. It was his file.

Jak opened up the file with a slight hesitation of fear of the unknown. He saw his name, age, height, weight, and a short description of how he looked, but nothing else. They did not know he was from Sandover Village. They knew nothing of him. That thought scared Jak a little.

"You don't look like the kid in the picture, Bob," the girl said while glancing a little at his picture in the front of the file.

Jak raised one of his green eyebrows while glancing over to the little girl. Did he really look that different? Well his hair was a bit longer because he had not had it cut in months. He had to look stronger because of all the training. But did he really look different?

He got his answer when he headed for the door to the office and saw a mirror. He stopped and looked at himself with a bit of surprise. He did look different! His green/blonde hair was a longer and not spiky anymore. It came a little bit into his perfect blue eyes that had not changed at all. He was taller and looked a lot stronger. His skin was very tanned and Jak realized that he would be considered "hot" for a girl. He was not a tiny kid anymore.

Jak swiped his fingers through his hair while shaking his head at himself in the mirror. He looked over to the girl that had now stopped jump roping and stood next to him. She gave "Bob" another smile and waited for him to say something. When he said nothing she had to.

"I'm Emma!" she said loudly. "But you can call me Kay."

Wow! That was totally random! Jak thought while smiling down at the girl. He wished he could say something to her. He now missed Daxter. His best friend had always been his inner voice speaking up for him. Jak liked it better when Daxter turned into an Ottsel by Dark Eco. It meant that Daxter had to be around Jak a lot. After that, the two would never were apart till that day with the rift gate. Jak never went through a day without thinking about his very best friend.

"Stop bugging me about it!" came a voice from outside the room. Jak recognized it to be Mr. Devo's. Panic flashed through the teen's body, and he quickly searched the room for anywhere to hide. The voice was getting louder, so that meant he was heading for his office. Jak backed away from the little girl and ducked just in time behind the desk right when Mr. Devo walked in.

Devo was holding onto a radio with one hand and barking into it. In his other hand was a plastic container that looked like a small pancake that was too thick. The lid was clear, and about twenty tiny pills were in it that were red with small yellow writing on them.

"You scared Bob away," Emma/Kay said while looking up at Devo with those innocent eyes that could make any go "AW!" Anyone but Devo. He walked right past the girl and set the container on his desk, and Jak feared that the man would see him.

"No!" Devo shouted into the radio. "The medicine is only for Krimson Guards, Generals, and anyone who lives in the fourth section. The other people are worthless slaves. They don't need cures. Plus, one of the slaves lived. It can just be a test of their strength. Dark eco injections are much worse than this sickness."

"Uncle Devo!" Emma said sweetly as she pulled on the end of his sleeve to catch at least a second of his attention. "Do I have to take medicine? I don't like medicine. It does not taste good."

"Not now, child!" Devo whispered harshly to Emma while waving her away with his hand. Jak looked up from behind the desk and saw the poor girl's face as she let go of the sleeve and stared up at the man. Her big, cute eyes looked up at Devo with confusion and pain in them. Jak winced as he saw Devo completely ignore her. This man had no kindness in his heart for her. And she was his niece!

"Okay," Devo said, and it sounded like he was finishing his conversation with whoever on the other end. "Just give me another shipment of the medicine. Thanks. Bye." He hung up and glared down at Emma. "I was on the radio with someone! Don't interrupt me like that again!"

"Sorry," she said while looking to the floor.

Jak had already been thinking about something while this was going on. He bolted from his spot behind the desk and grabbed the container on his way out of the room. Devo looked up and saw Jak's face for two seconds. He gasped while getting out his radio again and barking into it.

"One of the project's test subjects have gotten lose," he yelled into it. "Get him, but don't hurt him. And that is an order!" He patted Emma on the head and ran out of the room while yelling for someone to stop Jak. Some Krimson Guards came up the steps and started to run after Jak.

The teen knew he was insane now. He had the cure, but he was going to die after this. He was sprinting down the narrow hall in the huge house. He was blindly running down every hallway to get away with the container clutched in his dirty hands.

Jak told himself that with this much guts he could make it out and get the cure to Nea. She could take it from there. But that would mean the two would escape, and he would be here stuck in the middle of the jungle still training for something unknown. If he gave up now, Tubal would die and Jak could take a punishment, and then he and Nea could escape. The plan to escape could take two people. It was either Tubal or Jak. Jak had to make up his mind now.

What the hell am I doing! Jak told himself while shaking his head. Tubal has been here for a longer time than I have. He needs to be free! I don't. I would not know where to go once I was free. I could find Daxter and try to find a way back to Sandover Village, but that is pretty much impossible at the moment. I can wait.

Three Krimson Guards came charging out from around a corner, and Jak dodged them with a quick jump to the side. They started to run after him, and Jak could hear them yelling loudly at each other to catch him. One Krimson Guard made the mistake of shooting at Jak. The first shot missed Jak, but the second one Jak was not so lucky.

Jak gave a silent cry as his side burned with intense pain right below his rib cage. A wave of hot acid like pain flashed through his left side, and he clutched it with his right arm. He pulled his hand away and saw that it was covered with his own hot, red blood. Seeing his own blood made Jak's stomach twist, but he kept running away from the Krimson Guards.

"Don't shoot him!" Devo yelled as Jak rounded the corner just a bit slower than what he had been going. "Just get him and bring him to my office." He was fuming now. The kid was getting away. But Devo did not know that the teen had his medicine. He would find out later when it was too late.

Jak yanked a door open, and the room was one he liked. He ran in and a closed the door with a simple kick with his foot. He shoved the container into his mouth while still holding onto his side to keep it from bleeding too much. He was running on pure adrenaline now. Jak locked the door and then grabbed a wooden chair and shoved the back of it under the handle. That would keep the Krimson Guard's out for a few seconds.

Jak was just turning toward the window when he heard a big bang on the door to the small room he was in. The room was a guestroom with a big canopy bed to one side and a desk with a mirror on the other. Jak did not stop to take in his surroundings. He was only here because it had a window that led to the roof outside.

"Jak!" Devo yelled through the door. Jak yanked the big, red curtain down from the window and almost got knocked by the poll holding it as it came crashing down. He ripped a long piece off while glancing to the door of the room. He still had the container in his mouth as he tied the curtain around his waist tightly to stop the bleeding of his wound. He gave another wince while tying the knot and pulling hard on it.

"We don't want to hurt you, Jak," Devo was saying loudly for him to hear. "Now come out now! We need to talk. I don't like it when someone comes in my house without permission." It was like Devo was talking to a scared cat in a tree. Jak rolled his eyes while taking the container out of his dry mouth with a bloody hand. "Don't force me to break the door down, Jak!" Devo yelled after Jak never answered.

Jak grabbed the poll that held the curtain and smashed the window with it. He then leapt out of the window as he heard Devo yell to break the door down because Jak was going out of the window. Jak landed on another part of the roof and slid down it till he got to the gutter. He jumped at the end of the roof and landed on the ground with a few rolls, so he would not hurt his stomach with a normal landing.

The teen left a little red spot on the perfect, green grass as he got up quickly and ran for the wall. He came up to the door and knew he had to be locked down. He ran there anyway. He jumped up on the wooden latch then grabbed the top of the wall. The broken glass cutting into his skin was a minor pain compared to the one on his side. The top of the wall had been covered with broken glass, so people would not want to go over it.

Jak shoved the container into his mouth, so he could put another hand up on the wall to pull himself up. He pushed up with his bare feet and pushed off the wall with his hands. He twisted his body so that he would flip over the wall. His head was only inches away from the glass. The teen hero/thief landed on his back on the hard, dirt floor of the third section of the Fort. He was just thankful that he had not broken any bones as he got up.

Jak's vision was a bit fuzzy as he got up from the dusty ground. His side was a red mess, and he was sweating like mad. His hands had a ton of cuts from the glass on the wall. He was covered with dirt from the fall, and he ached all over. He wanted to give up now, but something inside told him to keep going.

With another wince of pain, Jak made his way across the plantation to a place where the test subjects to the Baron's cruel project were working out. They were on the running course, and Nea was one of them running around the track with graceful and counted steps. She saw Jak at the corner of her eye, and she stopped.

"Kid!" she yelled with total shock in her voice and eyes. Jak made it over to her, and that was when she saw his side. She gasped and grabbed him as he fell to his knees. At this same time, the door to the fourth section burst open, and a flood of Krimson Guards came poring out. They headed toward Jak and Nea.

"What is going on?" she asked him even though she knew he could not answer her with words.

Jak was close to passing out. He had lost a lot of blood, and the fall had hurt him more than what he knew. He sucked it up and forced the pain away for a few seconds. He got to his feet and grabbed Nea's hands. He placed the container in her hands and mouthed out the words, "Save him!" They both shared eye contact, and she saw the pain and suffering in his perfect, blue eyes. He saw the concern and worry in her dark and deep brown ones.

The Krimson Guards grabbed Jak, and he gave a surprised silent yell. They dragged him back to the fourth section while Nea watched them with the container still in her hands. Now she was worried beyond anything. In her mind she told herself that she would wait for him to come back. The first day she was there the General had told them that they did not kill people but only punished them when they did something wrong. She would see Jak again. She just had to have a bit of hope.

Jak stood in front of Mr. Devo's desk with his head spinning. His wound had stopped bleeding finally, but the pain was still the same as before. His hands were tied behind in front of him, and a Krimson Guard stood at both his sides with guns in their hands. He had no where to escape. He had to face his punishment.

Mr. Devo was sitting in his big, soft chair behind his desk with his feet propped up on the desk. In his hands was Jak's folder, and he stared at it while thinking about the test subject standing in front of him. Jak was mute. So how was he going to get anything out of him? He already knew what the punishment was going to be for the teen. He just wanted to know where his medicine was. He had found out it was missing only a few minutes ago, and he was too angry to say anything.

Finally Devo pulled his feet off the desk and looked up from Jak's file to the real Jak standing there with his head down. Devo closed the file while looking up with a frown on his face. "Where is it?" he finally asked to break the ominous silence that had filled the room.

Jak did nothing. He kept his eyes to the red carpet floor. He would never tell the elf where it was. That would mean Nea and Tubal would die, and Jak could not have that happen. There was more silence as Devo stared at Jak for any glimpse of an answer.

"Don't make me repeat myself," Devo said with anger in his voice. "Where is my damn medicine!" (A/N: Okay, I don't like swearing, and I would have never put this into my fic, but it is only for character building and it fits the situation and I want to make it realistic. But trust me, I really don't like saying that word.) He slammed his tight fist on the table as he said this.

Jak finally looked up, and his eyes cut right into Devo with so much hatred it kind of scared the man. That was Jak's only answer. In his eyes it said everything. Devo finally found his strength again and told himself he would not take no for answer from the kid.

"I want to know where you put it, kid," Devo said while coming up from behind the desk. He walked over to Jak and bent down so the two were face to face. Jak's face changed a little. He was unsure of himself now. The teen bit his lower lip as he stared into the enemy's eyes with boldness.

"That medicine is a lot of money," Devo said in a harsh whisper. "I need it! Now tell me where it is!" Jak shook his head to say no. "ARGE!" Devo yelled while getting up in a huff. He turned around and looked at his desk to think of some way to get the information out of Jak. He turned back around to face Jak, and he knew he could maybe force it out of Jak with pain.

A/N: Readers. For people who are a bit squeamish this part might not be for you. It is not that bad, but I just know some people who might not like this part. I'm just saying this to warn people. But I don't think it is that bad. Please go on reading.

Devo slipped a hand into his pocket and took out a pocketknife. He flipped it open and saw Jak tense up. Jak's eyes were on the cold metal in front of him. He prepared his body for the worst. Devo gave a smile as he saw Jak squirm a little as he lightly put the tip of the blade to Jak's throat.

Devo then grabbed the red curtain tied to Jak's waist and cut it off. The lazer had cut into Jak's left side right below his rib cage. The kid had been lucky, but it still looked like it hurt real badly. The blood had dried up already, but the wound was still fresh. Devo poked it a little with the tip of the knife and saw Jak look away with a little wince.

"Studies show that through pain some mute Humans were able to talk," Devo said with a wicked smile. "I wonder what would happen to an Elf. You can tell me now, or do you think you can take a little pain?" Jak gave a sigh and knew he had to take the pain. Devo nodded and slowly dragged the blade across Jak's wound to make the blood flow again. Jak closed his eyes as the new pain flowed through his body.

"Just tell me where the medicine is, Jak," Devo said while watching Jak closely. "It is that simple." Jak said or did nothing. Devo frowned and pushed his knife deeper into Jak's side. Jak opened his mouth as if to yell, but nothing came out because he was mute. Devo dug in deeper with that same wicked smile on his face, and Jak suddenly yelled loudly in pain. It was the first sound Devo had ever heard out of him.

"How did that feel?" Devo said with a laugh at finally hearing something out of Jak.

Jak wished he could still say something, but he knew he could cry out sometimes under extreme pain. It had happened a few months back when the Baron had injected Dark Eco in him. But he could still not talk. If he could talk a whole lot of colorful words would have been said.

"Why don't you answer!" Devo yelled loudly at Jak. He grabbed Jak's chin and forced the teen to look at him. "You stupid waste of crap!" he yelled at Jak while shoving the knife deep into Jak's side. He saw Jak yell a silent stop as he squirmed in pain. "Tell me where the medicine is!" he demanded loudly. Jak slammed his heel down on Devo's foot to stop him.

Devo gave a short yell as his toes stung with pain. He pulled the knife away, and Jak felt like he was not going to stay awake much longer. Jak's vision started to get fuzzy again with the sides black. The Krimson Guards holding onto him had to keep him on his feet. Jak looked up at Devo and shook his head no before passing out in the Krimson Guards' arms.

"Take him to his cell," Devo said. "And get someone to heal his side. If the Baron had not said to me personally to keep him alive, he would be dead by now. He'll make a perfect Dark Worrier after we change his attitude. The kid needs to learn to obey. I'll force everything out of him."

The guards nodded and drug Jak's body away. Jak was just thankful that he was out now. He almost wished he would never wake up. He dreaded it.

A/N: I'll leave you there. I love cliffhangers! HAHA! I'll make you guys beg for another Jak chapter. Sorry it took a long time for the chapter to come out. I've been busy with school and I went to work with my dad this weekend because I need money. But while working I banged my head really hard on his blue machine that my dad is making. He wanted me to get in it to help him, don't ask why. Boy, was I a mess when I got back home. But please give a review! Thanks!