Chapter XXII: Scardy Vin
LES: Jak is a Fallen Angel and Vin is a scardy cat.
While Jak was getting artifacts for Onin, Torn was busy also. His 'friend,' Ashelin, had stopped by the Underground hideout. "So, our newest recruit saved you." Torn said, it wasn't a question.
"I didn't need saving, Torn." Ashelin said.
"So, what do you think about him?"
"Who?"
"Jak."
Ashelin took some time for her response. "He's very… strange."
"Tell me about it." Torn said, rolling his eyes. "The very first day he got into the Underground, he nothing short of demanded that I remove all the mirrors."
"Really? Well, I didn't run into any 'mirror' problems." Ashelin said. "What I did see was him getting impaled and eaten by Metal-Heads."
"So he's dead?"
"No."
"What?" Torn demanded. "He got impaled and almost eaten and he's not dead? He should be dead!"
"Well, that's where it got weird. He kept asking for Dark Eco, so I helped him over to a pile of Dark Eco, and then…" Ashelin paused. "He began to rub it all over his wounds."
"Then he really should be dead." Torn said.
"He's not." Ashelin said. "In fact, he's completely better. He was somehow able to use the Dark Eco to heal himself. I've never heard of Dark Eco being used this way. I swear to the Precursors that he smeared that stuff all over his wounds and they healed!"
"Dark Eco can't be used to heal. That goes against its very nature. Dark Eco destroys, it doesn't heal." Torn said.
"Did you also know that he happens to have topped the Shadow himself on Haven's Most Wanted List?" Ashelin asked.
"But… Shadow has been Haven's Most Wanted for years! Ever since King…" Torn started, but he was interrupted.
"Well, now this guy's the Most Wanted Man in Haven City." Ashelin said. "As far as I can tell for well of sixty-some murders and prison break. Father wants him really bad. He's never been so obsessed with the capture of a single man."
"Well, sadly for the Baron, Jak doesn't seem the type of guy to go quietly." Torn said.
"Oh, there's something that I should tell you." Ashelin said. "Recently, my father's strip mine has been attacked by the Metal-Heads."
"The Strip Mine? But… isn't…"
"Yes, Vin's out there." Ashelin said. "Vin may have less courage than a two year old child, but he is valuable to your movement."
"Okay… I'll send the newbies when they get back." Torn said.
"But… don't they need sleep?" Ashelin asked.
"I haven't seen Jak sleep since he arrived here." Torn said. "Says he 'doesn't like sleeping'. Another oddity for you."
Ashelin thought for several seconds. "You know, you should use a mirror on him… see what he's so afraid of us finding out. He's going to remain an enigma until you find out what he's hiding." With that, Ashelin walked out of the base. She had been there long enough already.
Soon after, Jak walked into the base. Torn looked up, holding a small, hand-held mirror under that table. "One of the Baron's mining operations is under attack by the Metal-Heads."
"That's not our problem!" Jak hissed.
"It is our problem when the foreman's one of the Underground's informants." Torn hissed right back. "His name's Vin, he's as big a coward as you'll find, but he's just valuable enough to save. Go to the Power Station in South Town and use the Warp Gate to travel out to the Strip Mine and rescues Vin's pathetic hide."
"Hey! Tattooed Wonder! How come we get all the crappy missions?" Daxter demanded.
"Because I don't like you." Torn hissed, pushing Daxter off the table to the ground.
"Fair enough." Daxter said from the ground, giving a thumb's up.
"Whatever deal the Baron made with the Metal-Heads, the City's Eco is almost gone." Torn said gravely. "If we don't get the kid back on the throne soon, there may not be a City left to defend."
"How in the world can a five-year old kid rule a City?" Jak asked, turning away.
Torn saw his chance. Even the rat wasn't looking. Torn wiped out the mirror and aimed it just so he could see Jak's reflection. Torn gasped. Jak wasn't standing there anymore. The green/blonde hair and turned white in the mirror. What he could see of Jak's skin had turned the horribly pale color of death. Just visible from the back was what looked like horns and claw-tipped fingers.
Torn hid the mirror in a flash. Jak, who heard Torn gasp, spun around glaring at Torn accusingly. "So, how can a five-year old kid rule a City?" Jak repeated.
"Uh… well…" Torn shook off his surprise. "The Shadow thinks that the kid is the true heir of Mar, and of the Throne of Haven City. If he is the true ruler, he'll know what to do."
"Well, I think you're all crazy for hanging all your hopes on a little kid who can't be any older than five!" Jak yelled.
"Six." Torn corrected.
"That's not any better!" Jak yelled. "There should be an adult running things!"
"Well, unless the kid magically grows up, we'll have to make due." Torn said.
"So… what's this kid's name?" Jak asked, to change the subject. Little did he know, it would drag him into a whole other debate.
"He doesn't have a name." Torn answered.
"What? Someone must know what it is if he's the Prince!" Jak said.
"You really are clueless." Torn said. "Royalty aren't named until they are six, it's tradition. The King and Queen never had the chance to give him a proper name. Royalty below the age of six are known by title and last name only. Prince Mar… Princess Mar… You get the idea…"
"Yeah… I guess." Jak said uncertainly. "It just doesn't seem right to have a child go nameless until they are six."
"Like I said, it's tradition." Torn said.
"Then why can't you guys name him?" Jak asked. "He's six now. That's old enough to get a proper name."
"We would, except no one wants to take the responsibility of naming the child. We don't know if his parents had a name picked out for him, if they had a name picked out at all. Besides, we went to the Oracle on his sixth birthday to try and discover his true name, but it said 'His name shall be revealed in time'." Torn paused, staring at Jak. He could still see the ghostly image of the pale skin and white hair. "What are you waiting around here for? Go out there and rescue Vin's ass!"
Jak nodded before leaving the briefing room. Once he was gone, Torn pulled out his own personal TalkBox and punched in Ashelin's number. "What is it, Torn?" She asked.
"You won't believe what I just saw." Torn said.
"Is this about Jak?" She asked.
"Yes, I looked at his reflection when he wasn't looking." Torn said.
"And…" Ashelin urged.
"I don't think he's entirely Elvin." Torn said.
Outside, Jak commandeered a zoomer from a civilian. "Don't you think that Torn was acting a little odd?" Daxter asked.
Jak ignored Daxter's question. "Imagine… living without a name…"
Daxter scoffed. "Well, it's the kid's fault for being born into a family that doesn't name their kids until they're six!"
"Dax, that kid didn't chose his parents any more than you choose yours or I choose mine." Jak said.
"I thought you didn't remember your parents." Daxter pointed out.
"I don't." Jak said. "But I exist, so my parents must've been around at some point."
"Oh yeah… A person can't really exist unless there are two parents." Daxter paused. "I'm sorry, Jak."
Jak nearly ran into another cruiser, he was so shocked by Daxter's statement. "For what?" He asked when he recovered.
"You never knew your parents." Daxter said simply. "And… well… I knew mine. I'm just sorry."
"It's not your fault." Jak said. "Don't worry about it. I could be better off without them. They might've been abusive or neglectful."
Daxter nodded. But he knew that Jak was only saying that to make himself feel better, just like that old 'Lurker and the Grapes' fable.
"That way, Jak." Daxter pointed down a street instead of pursuing the parent issue. Jak turned down the road. The whole way, he had taken the way he would take to get to the Hip Hog, but the Power Station wasn't at the Hip Hog, but it was reasonably close. He stopped at the base of a ramp that led to the upper walkways.
There was a doorway on the upper level that opened as Jak approached it. Inside was a dimly lit room with computer monitors all over the place, modern Precursorian flashing across the screens. The information displayed, however, did not interest Jak in the slightest. Daxter stared at the floating blue holographic ball floating in the middle of the room.
"Pretty…" Daxter breathed.
"Let's just get this over with. Every task I complete gets me closer to the Baron… I can feel it." Jak said.
"Did you also realize that the more you screw up the Baron's plans… not to mention resist arrest, the more he's gonna come after you?" Daxter asked.
"I was the Baron's ultimate weapon." Jak said. "How could he possibly have something more powerful than me?"
"The Baron probably has nothing more terrifying than you." Daxter said. "But don't be too confident in your abilities. You're strong for an elf, I'll give you that. But the Baron has devices that aren't limited by the weaknesses of flesh. Besides… you're dying…"
"In several months." Jak finished. "In a few months, then I'll start to worry." Jak walked over to the Warp Gate and jumped in.
After a second of experiencing the teleporter tingling sensation, Jak landed on the other side. Daxter landed on the ground beside him. The Dark Elf instantly pulled out the blaster. Torn said the area was under attack by Metal-Heads, so you could never be too careful. Jak scanned the area with the laser sight. There was a large Dark Eco pool to his right with what looked like Metal-Head eggs growing out of it. Jak looked up briefly and noted the large crate that hung over head. In fact, there were cranes lifting up heavy stuff all over the place. Jak examined the rest of the area. It appeared to be a dug-out quarry. There were Eco Wells spread around the area. There was a large cable that spread from one end of the quarry to the other, carrying crates of rocks. There was a building on top of the cliffs and the sign 'Power Room' hung over the door.
"I'll bet this 'Vin' guy is in there." Jak said, pointing at the door. "But where are the Metal-Heads? This doesn't seem right."
"Nothing seems right in this screwed up world." Daxter spat. "Remember what happened the last time we didn't see any Metal-Heads?"
"Yeah, I got attacked by a whole mob of them and almost got killed and eaten." Jak said. "Let's not do that again."
"For once, I agree with you." Daxter said. He looked over at the Dark Eco pool. "Hey, how are you on Dark Eco?"
Jak could feel the Dark Eco running though his veins, slowly but surely destroying him as it had so many others. However, Jak pushed that thought out of his mind (it made him sick just to think about it) and answered the question at hand. "About half of what I can hold. Why?"
"Well, that pool has a lot of Dark Eco, why not take a swim? Get your tanks full?"
"No." Jak answered instantly.
"Why not?" Daxter asked.
"Look at that pool. There must be millions of Eco-Units in there. My Dark Eco immunity is the best in the world, but it's not perfect because it's still going to kill me." Jak paused. "I am not immune."
"Oh." Daxter said, finally seeing Jak's point. Jak sighed, raised the blaster slightly so it was in a more 'battle-ready' position and started off into the Strip Mine.
He had only taken a few steps when he was assaulted by a breed of Metal-Head he had never seen before. Unlike the Metal-Heads he had seen previously these were on the small side. Resembling armor-plated scorpions, these small armored creatures carried huge sharp stingers on their tails and they hid underground. They would pop up and attack an enemy before they even realized what happened.
Thankfully for Jak, his reflexes were slightly faster than that of a normal elf. Jak jumped out of the way just as the huge tail embedded itself in the ground where Jak had stood milliseconds earlier.
The Metal-Head pulled its tail out of the hard dirt and went for Jak again.
However, this time, Jak was more prepared for it. In a flash, the Blaster was lowered at the creature and fired. Although he didn't have a lot of time to aim properly, the creature didn't have a lot of armor to begin with. The shot hit the Metal-Head in the area that can only be described as the stomach. It hissed savagely as green blood poured out on the sand and then it died.
As soon as it was over, Jak suddenly fell to his knees, almost as if he didn't have the strength to stand up right.
"Whoa!" Daxter cried out as he lost his footing and fell to the ground beside his friend. Daxter stared over at Jak, who was slowly getting back on his feet. "Jak? Are you alright?" Daxter asked.
"I'm fine." Jak said stubbornly, getting back his balance.
Daxter had been by Jak's side since they were both kids, and Daxter had, as a result, developed a sixth sense to tell if Jak wasn't being entirely truthful. Right now, all those old alarms were going off. Jak was lying. "Are you sure?"
Jak, having regained his balance, picked up his dropped Blaster. "I'm sure. I just… tripped on something." He finished lamely.
Daxter shook his head sadly. Since when had it come to this? Since when could Jak not admit that something was obviously wrong?
Jak shook his own head. Holy crap! What the hell was that? It felt like, just for a second, that every ounce of his strength left him. But he pushed those thoughts out of his mind. He had a mission to finish' rescue this 'Vin' guy. And he couldn't afford to lose his focus. However… if that strange weakness ever happened in the middle of a fight… he'd probably get ripped to pieces. Better hope that never happens again. Jak thought to himself.
He looked up at the self-proclaimed 'Power Room'. It was way up high on a cliff, impossible for even Jak to climb. So that ruled out the 'climb up the cliff face' option. There had to be a better way.
The line of carts moving toward the room caught his eye. He followed the cable to its place of origin. The carts came from another platform high on the cliff face; however, there were stairs that lead to it.
"Bingo." Jak said.
"Was his name-o!"
"Shut up!"
"Sorry."
"I doubt there was only one Metal-Head attacking this place." Jak said, walking closer to the stairs. "Otherwise, they wouldn't have made a big deal over it. I'll admit that the Metal-Heads are formidable and the Krimzon Guards couldn't shot fish in a barrel… but they should be able to handle one lousy Metal-Head."
Daxter then happened to look up the sides of the small dirt mounds that were on either side of them. "Handle one yes. But… how about dozens?"
Jak followed Daxter's gaze. There were at least three to four dozen Metal-Head Grunts, drooling, dumb beasts. But one was considerably different from its companions.
Instead of a large, bulky mass that the Grunts used to over-power their prey, this creature was long and lanky. It stood on its hind legs and stood over seven feet tall. The Grunts all seemed to be waiting for something, staring at the strange Metal-Head. It occurred to Jak that this one was a Metal-Head of high rank or authority.
The creature smiled down at Jak… or bared its fangs at him; Jak couldn't tell which. Suddenly, Jak received quite a surprise. The creature opened its mouth, revealing several layers of needle-like teeth, and laughed. Everything froze as the creature laughed. Then, just as quickly as it had started, it stopped.
The monster pointed right at them and said in a perfectly understandable language. "Kill them."
"What? It spoke our language?" Daxter demanded, but Jak couldn't care less at the moment.
The monsters were coming down the slope toward him. Jak figured that if he was fast, extremely accurate, and had a lot of dumb luck, he could take out ten of them before they reached him.
Well… he didn't have a better plan yet. He raised the Blaster until the laser centered on the fore-most Metal-Head's head. Before the creature's head had exploded properly, two more were gunned down. Jak continued to shoot at the fore-most Metal-Heads as his mind raced to come up with a better plan.
Suddenly, a hard voice filled his head. 'How many times must I tell you, Jak? Use the environment! Use the environment! You see a rock, use it! You see a stick, use it! You see a cliff, use it!' Jak recognized the voice instantly, though it seemed a millennia ago when he last heard it. It was the voice of the old, grumpy man who taught him how to fight… once upon a time…
Jak took a single glance around and a pipe sticking out of the ground caught his eye. Jak grinned. Quickly forfeiting the gun idea, Jak leapt forward, pulled the pipe out of the ground, and held it in front of him like a spear.
Before the first Metal-Head knew what had happened, it had impaled itself on the pipe, which conveniently had a sharp end. The rest of the Metal-Heads slowed to a stop as they watched a bloody pipe burst from their comrade's back. Jak, realizing the value of this makeshift weapon, pulled it out of the dead Metal-Head.
"You fools!" The leader hissed from on top of the mound. "It is nothing more than a sharpened pipe! Kill him!" Jak brandished the pipe at the monsters rushed forward, eager to obey their officer.
The first Metal-Head met the same fate as its brother, the sharp pipe piecing its stomach. At the same time, Jak used the blunt end to hit another Metal-Head full on the face, the action ripping the sharp end out of the other Metal-Head, which fell to the ground and died. He spun around swiftly, building up speed, and slamming the Metal-Head across the face, breaking its jaw. Jak continued the momentum of the pipe and used it to break another Metal-Head's leg.
And so the fight continued with Jak stabbing, whacking, and downright beating the crap out of the Metal-Heads. Finally, the last living Grunt was lying wounded on the ground. Jak walked past it calmly stabbing it in the heart with the pipe as he walked past, leaving the bloodstained pipe in the Metal-Head's carcass. He stopped just below the leader.
"You speak my language, so I expect you to understand me." Jak said up to the Metal-Head. "It does not do to underestimate your opponent, any great warrior knows this."
The creature hissed. "You fight well, Metal-less One. But you know nothing of being a warrior!" Jak didn't need to know the details of Metal-Head culture to realize that the 'Metal-less' comment was an insult.
"Well, it seems to me that I have destroyed your comrades." Jak said, looking around at the bodies. "And while they were getting slaughtered, you stood up there, watching the show. Not very good leadership, if you ask me."
"Jak! Don't provoke it!" Daxter whispered.
But the Metal-Head apparently heard him. "The Little One speaks wisely. I am not a creature that takes kindly to being provoked."
"Nor am I." Jak said. "Why don't you come down and get me, you piece of slime."
"Are you really worth my time?" The Metal-Head wondered out loud. "You are exceptionally young. I do not usually waste my time fighting infants."
Jak growled, the Metal-Head had just crossed the holy line. In a flash the Blaster was out and aimed at the Metal-Head's chest. Before any normal person would've had time to blink, a single shot was fired at the Metal-Head.
What happened next almost happened too fast for Jak to see. Mostly all he saw was a flash of blue-light. Suddenly, a blue shield that was generated from a machine on the creature's left arm protected the creature. The shield deflected the bullet with ease. Jak blinked in surprise.
"Whoa! Where'd that come from?" Daxter asked.
"Standard issue to Commanders of the Metal-Head army." The Metal-Head commander laughed from behind its shield. "Your weapon is useless here."
"This only makes killing you more interesting." Jak said, tossing the gun aside.
"Not interesting." The Metal-Head said, leaping down from the hilltop and landing six feet in front of Jak. The monster grinned as it pulled out its own weapon, a gun attached to its right arm. "Impossible." It wasted no time in launching itself bodily at Jak.
It brought its shield up in an upper-cut-like movement, which Jak barely had time to dodge. He could feel the wind as it swept by, a mere inch from his face. The Commander forfeited the uppercut strategy and went for the more direct approach, namely slamming the shield in Jak's face.
The direct attack caught Jak off-guard and his mistake was rewarded by getting hit full in the face.
Hardly fazed, Jak leapt backwards to avoid the next attack: a crippling, underhanded, dirty kick that thankfully missed its target. If it had hit, no matter how tough Jak was, he would have been brought down.
The act of jumping back to avoid the extremely painful attack put Jak's back against some sort of control panel. Once again, the voice of his old trainer echoed in his mind. 'Use the environment!' A quick glance revealed that the computer console was connected to a crane that was holding a large slab of rock. Jak also happened to notice that the slab was hanging directly over the Metal-Head. How 'convenient.'
The Metal-Head raised its blaster weapon until it centered over Jak's heart. "You haven't even been a challenge! Say 'good-bye'!" The Metal-Head ordered.
"Good-bye." Jak said. Suddenly, he spun around and hit the button clearly labeled 'Drop'.
The Metal-Head looked up just in time to see the slab of rock falling towards it. "NOOO!" The Metal-Head cried as the slab fell on top of it, effectively turning it into Metal-Head pancake.
"Yes, waiter," Daxter began. "I'd like some squashed Metal-Head with fries on the side." Daxter laughed at his own joke. However, he was the only one that was laughing.
"Shut up, Dax!" Jak hissed. "There could be more."
"Doubt it." Daxter said. "Any Metal-Head within a mile of here would've heard the commotion and come running. Besides, you just killed one of the Metal-Head Commanders."
"If only another Commander would die as easily." Jak said, entertaining the idea of Erol being smashed under a huge rock. The idea had merit, but Jak felt the death would occur too quickly for him to fully enjoy.
Jak snapped himself back to reality. There would be a time when he would have to decide exactly how the Baron and Erol should die for their deeds, but this was not now. The fight put them closer to the stairs, so Jak climbed them.
Once at the top, they hitched a ride in one of the rock filled crates and made it safely to the other side with no sightings of Metal-Heads. However, Jak could bring himself to admit that Daxter had been right and he had been wrong. Besides, he just wanted to get out of there as he suddenly wasn't feeling very well. A large headache was attacking him, and Jak couldn't figure out why.
Jak walked up to the door, ignoring the pounding in his head, and pressed the access button. The door opened, giving Jak a split second view of a mess of computers before a bullet shot past his ear. Jak realized he was under fire from inside the booth and jumped to the safety of the doorway.
"AUGH! Stay back!" A voice yelled form inside the booth. Gunshots still rang out of the booth in random directions. Jak instantly learned two things. One: This guy couldn't shot and two: he was in a blind panic, making his shooting even worse.
"Do something, Jak!" Daxter's shrill voice cut into Jak's headache like a hot knife. "This guy's crazy!"
"Hey, you Vin?" Jak called into the booth.
"Stay back!"
"We're here to help you! Torn sent us!"
"I'm warning you!" The man fired off three more shots.
The gunshots were hurting Jak's head terribly. For a second, he wondered if he had somehow gotten drunk and this was some kind of sick idea of a hangover. But Jak couldn't remember ever touching any sort of alcohol. In desperation Jak called out. "Look, if we had been sent you kill you, you wouldn't be talking right now!"
The gunshots stopped and Jak breathed a sigh of relief. "Ah! Friendliness!" An old man around seventy leaned against a sort of barrier that he had made in front of the door. "So… ah…" He looked to Jak, who was massaging his temples, to Daxter, then back to Jak. "Where's the army?"
"Ah… we're it." Daxter said.
"What? Just you two?" Vin paused, thinking. "What do they think I'm worth?"
Jak growled in annoyance. "I'm beginning to wonder that myself. If you want you can stay here and be metal meat. But Daxter and I are leaving before those monsters get back."
"Yes…" Vin said. "There's a Warp Gate over there. He pointed, and Jak saw the Warp Gate was not five feet from the door.
"You couldn't run five feet and jump though the door?" Daxter asked.
Vin look offended. "They were guarding the door!"
But Jak didn't care. He suddenly felt like he was going to be sick. "Let's just get out of here." Jak walked around and jumped into the warp gate without even waiting for Daxter or Vin.
LES: Something I always wanted to see or write. Jak kicking Metal-Head ass with a pole… or in this case, a pipe. And what the heck is wrong with Jak? Find out in the next installment of…
"Back To You"!