Chapter 3
"Ok, the first thing we have to do is build a good game plan," Leon explained to the group, "and to do that, we need to have some clue what the hell is going on around here. So far, it's clear that we came back way too far, but we need an exact date. We also need to know the area, because I have no idea how the old city was constructed. Lastly, we need to know where Jak is." Jakie smiled a little at the mention of her father. Truth looked up at her, seemingly a bit confused.
"So then, how are we supposed to do this?" Dawn questioned.
"Well, first things first. We need maps of the city and the general areas around the city. And who better the get them from, than my old man, Torn?"
"Whoa, wait a minute!" Jakie interrupted, "you want to somehow sneak into the Underground and steal his maps? One word, Leon: Impossible."
"Well, not entirely. We can't do that without knowing where Jak is, meaning, if he's in jail or not."
"What does that have to do with stealing Torn's maps?" Dawn asked impatiently.
"Jak did say that he met Torn and Tess outside of the Hideout, didn't he?" Jakie and Dawn stayed quiet for a moment to let that statement sink in. "So, Dawn, you have to honor of going first. Jakie will hot wire a zoomer and drive you over to the Fortress where you'll sneak in and find your way into the prison area. Once there, locate Jak, but do NOT be noticed in anyway. Got that?" Leon narrowed his eyes at here as she nodded. "Good. Once we know where Jak is, we'll be able to go from there. Now get to it."
Jakie handed over her little brother's hand to Leon as she and Dawn headed towards the door. Dawn hopped up on Jakie's shoulder and waited. Leon lightly touched her other shoulder.
"Be careful out there, Jakie, and… try not to put so much strain on your heart this time," he said.
"I'll try to remember," she answered.
"Hey! What about me? I'm the one doing all the work here!" Dawn interrupted. Leon rolled his eyes and took his hand away.
"Good luck," he simply said, then watched as the two left to find a zoomer.
Jakie weaved skillfully through the streets of the city, accidentally hitting minimal civilians in the process. While driving, she remembered how much she loved driving. She loved the feeling of the wind in her hair and the sense of speed she got every time. She became so immersed in these thoughts, however, that she didn't even realize that poor Dawn was hanging onto her shoulder for dear life, trying very hard not to fall off.
Eventually, after taking a few 'shortcuts' to the fortress entrance, Jakie jumped off the zoomer and coolly smoothed out her hair.
"Some ride, huh, Dawn?" that was more of a statement than a question. Dawn, who was still recovering from the wild ride, wearily stood up.
"Yeah, whatever you say, Jakie."
"Well, looks like you're up. Good luck in there, pal." The ottsel leapt off of the zoomer and quickly headed for the fortress door.
"Wait, before I go in there and start getting blasted, um, what exactly will the rest of you be doing?" she asked. Jakie shrugged.
"Eh, I'm sure Leon will come up with something. But just remember that we can't do much of anything until we know where my father is."
"Riiiiight. Fine. I'll see you later." Jakie hopped back on the zoomer and sped away as Dawn reluctantly entered the fortress.
Since Jakie had 'accidentally' crashed into a wall, she had to walk halfway back to the Safe house, where she only ended up stealing another one just to get across the water to the door. She sighed as she walked inside, expecting Leon or Truth to acknowledge her presence. But the strange thing was that both of them was gone. This puzzled her and she wondered where they were, then blew it off, and plopped down on the old couch in the corner. She was oddly tired… it was perfectly normal for her to get tired at random times, since her heart was bad and all, but usually she just needed a few minutes to sit. Now she wanted nothing more than to take a nap. Weird, she thought, then dismissed it and started to nod off…
"Jakie!" Jakie startled awake, finding herself on the couch with Leon lightly shaking her. She looked at him, then at Truth who was standing next to him, then rolled over on her side.
"I was having a good dream…" she mumbled groggily.
"Jakie, sis, come on, you've gotta go get Dawn!" Truth urged. Jakie groaned.
"Do I have to?" she whined.
"You know how important this is to all of us, Jak-o," Leon implied. Again, she groaned in protest.
"Oh… fine, be that way." She picked herself up off the couch and yawned.
"When you get back, you can sleep as much as you want, ok?" he bargained. Jakie just nodded, picked up her belt that she'd taken off before she'd fallen asleep and headed for the door.
"Hey, where did you two go while I was sleeping, anyway?" she suddenly asked.
"We were scouting the area. I was trying to get a feel for the layout of the city so we don't end up lost or something," Leon replied. Jakie looked at the ground for a moment and considered that. It took a while since her mind was still half asleep and not really working properly.
"I see… Do you have a feel for it, then?"
"You could say that. Now stop wasting time and go get the rat, Jakie."
Jakie almost stumbled out to the zoomer. She just sat on it for a while, trying to wake up, then finally started it up and took off toward the fortress again. This time she drove at the higher altitude and skillfully weaved through traffic, occasionally skimming other zoomers and getting yelled at. She soon found this to be a good way of entertaining herself while she drove and was soon laughing so hard that she had to pull over for a moment. With all of this going on, it took her a little while to reach the fortress. When she finally pulled up, Dawn was nowhere to be found.
"Oh great," Jakie thought out loud, "she must've gotten lost or something… I'll be damned if I'm gonna go in there and find her." Jakie sat there, expecting to wait a long time, but was surprised when she heard a familiar voice from above.
"There you are! What took you so long?" Dawn yelled accusingly as she jumped down from her perch above the door.
"Oh, you know… heart problems," Jakie replied.
"Oh…" Dawn answered jumping on the zoomer, "I see. Painful?" Jakie shook her head.
"No, I just got really tired really fast."
"Well, just don't die on us. It's pretty much the last thing we need right now." Jakie grinned broadly.
"I know. Without me, you'd all be stuck here for the rest of eternity." Dawn rolled her eyes.
"Just get us out of here, Jak-o."
"You got it." She slammed her foot down on the accelerator pedal and the zoomer jerked forward, almost throwing Dawn off the back.
"So," Jakie began as they zoomed through the city, "what's the word? Is you-know-who there?" dawn climbed up onto her shoulder.
"Yes. He is. I got a front row seat to him being tortured with dark eco. Let me tell you, it didn't look like he was having a good time in there." Jakie shot her a look that clearly said, 'no shit, Sheirlock' and looked back at the road. "It's definitely been a while too. The baron is getting impatient with him." Jakie laughed.
"That oversized lard bucket is impatient with everything! Any idea when he'll be escaping, by the way?" Dawn shook her head.
"Not really. But Leon will figure something out. He always does."