DR: Wow. Fifteen chapters.
Puck: I'm surprised. Really, I am.
DR: Shut up you. On with the chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything but Raye. Naughty Dog owns everything else.
- - - - - - - - - - -
-Chapter 15-
-Showdown with Praxis!-
Jak and Raye walked into the Power Station to see Vin typing away on one of the many computers in the room. "Vin, buddy. We need a favor." Jak said, walking a few steps ahead of Raye.
"I can't help you with your eco bill." He replied over his shoulder.
"It's not anything like that." Raye told him. "We need you to turn on the maintenance elevator in one of the Palace support towers."
Vin turned around. "Sheessh, that's part of the old B-zone power grid! It hasn't worked in years!"
Jak shrugged and started to walk out. "Well, if you can't do it, we understand." He winked at Raye and Daxter. "Power stuff can be tricky."
Vin huffed insultedly. "Tricky? Hmmmmph!" (a/n: And here we go.) He started walking around the room, punching various buttons and typing on all the computers. "I could route the B-Zone conduit lines through the bypass grid, shunting past the eco rings to connect the inductor tubes in series, then back through the outer wall insulator helix and across the resonant flux routers into the number five compaciter array." He flew over the two elve's heads in his odd little lift thingy. "Assuming the circuits in the GX75B can handle the surge, I could link the phase loop lines into the primary coils and presto, you've got instant lift juice!" He landed in front of them, looking quite pleased with himself.
Jak grinned. "Vin, you're a genius!"
"Ah, actually, Mar was the genius. People say he made most of this long ago-the shield wall system, the eco grid."
"Wow. Mar must've had a lot of free time." Raye commented off-handedly.
"Anyway, to get the elevator moving, you need to find and turn on all the old B-Zone power boxes located in the city. There are five of 'em!" Vin told them.
"Well that doesn't sound to hard." Daxter said.
"No. Except the power boxes are guarded by motion sensing turbo cannons!" Vin yelled. Using his fingers to demonstrate guns. Daxter gulped and shook his head while Jak and Raye grinned evilly. "If you can get to all five of them, destroy the cannons, and turn them on, then I can do the rest. These will show you where the boxes are." He said, handing them both a device that looked a lot like a hand-held. "Just don't tell the Baron I ever saw you!" He called at their retreating backs. Raye gave him a thumbs-up sign over her shoulder as the door opened.
Once they were outside, Raye hit the "on" button for her map. It showed five blinking green dots scattered throughout the city and one blue arrow indicating where she was standing. "We're gonna have to split up." She sighed and looked around. "The first one's just around the corner. The last one's in the Slums! He wasn't lying when he said 'in the city.'" Jak nodded.
"Looks like it." He muttered. "See you in a couple minutes?"
Raye laughed. "Yeah." She jumped off the ramp and grabbed the parked zoomer underneath as Jak copied her, only stealing one from a passing citizen instead. They took off in opposite directions.
When Raye came up to the area of the first cannon, it popped up immediately and started shooting at her. She braked the zoomer and jumped off it... and onto the cannon. She pulled out her Scatter Gun and pointed down, pulling the trigger. The cannon exploded under her, and she fell onto the button. She stood up and shook her head before leaping back onto the zoomer and starting for the next dot on her map. As she was driving and dodging Krimzon Guard bullets, she noticed that another dot had faded off the map. She grinned. Jak was doing his job well.
On the other side of town, Jak was shooting more KGs than he actually should have. Not like he had a choice, though. They were between him, and the stupid cannon he was supposed to shoot. Finally, he shot down most of them and ran towards the cannon, switching to his Scatter Gun. He pulled the trigger before it had time to react, then pressed the button down. It turned bright red to show that it was on. His talk box flew up as he grabbed another zoomer. "Great job!" Vin called. "The only one left is in the Slums, and... Hey! It's on!" There was some rapid typing. "Okay, the elevator's working now." The box flew back into the pouch around Jak's waist. Jak flew into the Slums, towards the elevator.
After driving for about a minute, he realized that he hadn't seen any Guards for a while, and that none were after him anymore. He saw why as he turned a corner, and saw a wrecked zoomer, with several Guards searching through it. "She must've gotten away." One muttered.
"Or burned up in the crash." Another laughed. They all walked off, laughing and talking as they went back to their patrols. Jak parked his zoomer and went over to the remains of the still burning zoomer.
"You... you don't think that they were talking about Raye, do you Jak?" Daxter asked nervously. Jak stared at the pile nervously. "I mean, they couldn't of been talking about Raye, right? Right?"
"Quit worrying, boys. I'm alright." A voice from above them said.
"Raye?" Said elf dropped down unceremoniously from the roof of the hut in front of them. "How did you get up there?"
"I jumped off the zoomer right before it crashed. The blast sent me up high enough to get up there." She grinned. "I think I win in the 'craziest stunt pulled to get away from the KGs' contest."
Jak chuckled. "You win the craziest something award alright. C'mon, we've got a elevator to catch." He said walking over to the door and waiting for the locks to click open. As soon as the door opened, both elves bounded in.
"Going up." Raye smirked as the elevator rose slowly. It soon stopped and the doors opened back up. "Whoa."
"Top floor. Weapons, artillery, and a death defying drop." Daxter gulped. Raye and Jak stepped out of the elevator cautiously.
"Raye?"
"Yes Jak?"
"Whatever you do, don't look down." Raye peeked over the edge anyways, then scooted back to a higher step. Jak gave a sigh. "Raye, this is our only chance to get even with the Baron. I promise I won't let you fall." She nodded and came back down.
"Let's go." They quickly passed over the turning, spiked thing and scooted down the edge onto the yellow-and-blacked striped platforms on the side of the pipe. They did encounter some problems with the bar, though.
"Raye, I told you. I won't let you fall." Jak said. Raye looked down and shook her head "no" firmly. Jak sighed. "Raye, do not make me come back over there and drag you back with me." Raye fell to her knees and gripped the edges of the platform firmly.
"Jak, I told you before. I have a fear of falling down from a great height. I'm scared of really high heights! And this qualifies as really, really high!"
"Raye, you can't do anything else. You can't climb back up, and unless you want to jump to the ground, you have to get over here. I told you, I won't let you fall." Raye stood up shakily and walked to the edge of the platform. She took a deep breath and jumped towards the pole, her fingers barely closing around it in time. She swung back and forth until she got enough momentum to jump over to the platform that Jak was on. One of her feet slid back and Jak grabbed her hand before she fell backwards.
"Thanks." She breathed. He just nodded and climbed up the platforms to get back on top of the path. After more spiked platforms, collapsible platforms, and two machine guns, they made it to the roof of the Palace. They walked over to the skylight to see Praxis talking to a hologram of the Metal Head Leader. Jak made a quiet motion and peered through the glass. Raye settled herself towards the bottom, where she could duck down quickly, but still see and hear everything.
"I told you, I will have more eco by week's end. We'll transport it directly to your nest as promised." Praxis told the hologram.
The hologram smirked at Praxis. "A deal is of no value if you can't deliver my dear Baron." His voice dripped with sarcasm. "I grow impatient with your puny gestures. Give me the agreed upon eco soon, or the deal is off, and your precious city will pay the price!" The head disappeared as the machine shut up.
Errol turned to Praxis. "He's toying with us! Let me lead an assault on the Nest before it's too late! I can take him, I-"
Praxis cut him off, "Patience, commander. No one has ever penetrated the Metal Head Nest. You know that. I've seen what comes of such foolish plans." He touched the part of his face covered by metal. "No. Strength is their weakness... We play helpless, train them to eat from our hands, and then..." He turned to Errol. "Move forward with the plan! And tell Ashelin to up her patrols! I want that tomb found!"
"But your daughter has not been... agreeable." Errol informed Praxis.
The Baron really didn't look pleased with that statement. "Agggg... I'll see to that problem. One way, or another."
Jak looked peeved. "Ashelin is the Baron's daughter?" He hissed, then turned to Raye. "Did you know?" He asked her.
She shook her head. "Swear to God I didn't." She hated lying to him, she did, but she didn't want to be killed because she didn't tell him.
Praxis' voice caught their attention again. "And find that child! If you spent half as much time looking for the little brat as you did flirting with that mechanic girl, we would've pinned his royal ass to the wall long ago!"
Daxter started sniffing as Errol started talking again. "As you wish." Daxter was now rearing back like he was going to sneeze. Jak noticed and tried to stop him. He stopped and waved Jak off. "I'm sure with enough persuasion, our spy will-" Daxter sneezed, cutting Errol off. Jak clamped his hand over his mouth and rolled to the side where he couldn't be seen, while Raye ducked down at the bottom. Errol pointed his pistol at the skylight. "What was that!" When he saw nothing, he put it away, then walked out after saluting Praxis.
Both elves crept away from the window silently. "Well that was interesting." Jak said.
Raye nodded. "I'm soaked through now, but at least we know that the Baron is bribing the Metal Heads with eco. I wish we'd been able to find out more, though." She glared at Daxter, who shrugged sheepishly.
"Hey, we found out enough to tell Torn. Maybe we'll finally get to see the Shadow." Jak interrupted, sliding down the slanted tile. "Let's get out of here, I'd rather not stay here any longer than we have to. We can deal with the Baron later."
Raye forced a grin. Jak didn't know what was coming up as soon as he stepped a little further forward. "Ah, yeah. Let's go." She slid down after him, soaking herself even more when she landed in a puddle. "Not a word out of either of you." She growled getting up and wringing out her clothes a little bit, a pointless task since it was still raining. Jak chuckled quietly and walked forward, and the sound of an engine caught their attention. "What was that?"
Praxis' robot flew up. "So, we have a rat in our walls do we? A rat and his owners it seems. Back for a few more Dark Eco Treatments? Well allow me to put you both out of your misery!" He said, guns going off and bullets raining towards them. They jumped in either direction. Jak pulled out his blaster and aimed at Praxis, firing uselessly. Praxis laughed. "You can't get through my shield. You're doomed!"
Raye looked around and spotted a small junction box on the wall. Her eyes lit up and she aimed at it with her blaster. Praxis saw her and turned away from Jak and zoomed towards her. She jumped out of the way. "Jak, hit the box!"
He nodded and shot the box, causing Praxis' shield to fade away. She raised her gun and pulled the trigger, sending Praxis spinning into the next area. "Raye, come on! And be careful on the platforms, they're slippery!" Jak called, jumping to the next area. She nodded and followed after him.
As soon as they landed, Raye looked for the next junction box. She spotted it, but Praxis was blocking it. She growled. "Jak, keep him busy." She muttered when the thunder boomed. Jak nodded and ran towards the edge.
"Hey, Praxis! Look over here, you idiot!" Jak yelled. While Praxis was looking at Jak, Raye ran towards the box. Then, of course, Praxis turned around as Raye pulled the trigger. Jak hit the robot with another round from his Blaster.
"NO!" He yelled as his robot went spinning into the final area. Jak and Raye chased after him once again.
"This oughta finish him!" Raye yelled, brushing wet hair out of her eyes. Jak nodded. They looked around.
"Where is he?" Jak muttered. Raye turned around and gasped.
"Jak? Look behind you." Jak turned around and barely moved in time to avoid Praxis' tornados of death.
"You can't avoid them forever, Jak! Why don't you and Raye just give it up?" The Baron laughed.
"Never!" Raye yelled, rolling out of a tornado's path. "Jak, I can't find the junction box!"
"Keep looking!" Was the blonde's response. Raye nodded and climbed up the path to the door. She saw a well camouflaged box on the wall in front of her. She grinned and pulled out her Blaster, which was yanked from her hands by a robotic claw.
"Not this time! Prepare to die!" Praxis yelled, throwing her gun to the side. Raye turned back to the box and ran towards it. 'Gotta get to that bo-' Her thoughts were cut off by a metal clamp going around her ankle and twisting. She let out a pained yelp. "You can't beat me."
Raye laughed. "You seem to have forgotten that I'm not the only one up here! Jak, now!" Jak leapt from his hiding place and pulled the trigger. Everything seemed to slow down. Praxis threw Raye across the arena into a wall and lunged for Jak. Jak was slammed against antoher wall by the claw. "Jak!"
Praxis laughed. "Wait your turn, Raye. You get to watch as I squeeze the life out of your comrade, then I'll put you out of your misery." He didn't seem to notice as the force field surrounding his robot fell down completely.
A low growl rose in her throat. "No... you... won't!" Two bursts of eco shot from her outstretched hand, one breaking through the arm holding Jak, the other hitting the robot with a loud "bang."
"NO!" Praxis yelled as the body of his robot exploded. There was what might of been the beginning of a cheer, but it was cut off as Jak, Raye, and Daxter saw the pod Praxis was in was basically unharmed by the explosion. It turned to face them. "The dark powers I gave you can't protect you forever! Since I made you, I can destroy you as well! We'll meet again soon!" He flew down somewhere.
The threesome walked over to the edge and looked down, Daxter waving. "Yeah, whatever! Buh-bye!"
Raye looked down at her hand, which was still smoking from the eco blasts. "Well, I don't know about forever, but these powers sure work now." She reached down and rubbed her ankle.
"You gonna be okay?"
"Yeah, I've had worst." She turned and walked towards the exit. "Torn isn't going to be happy with us when we get back." She murmured.
"What did you say Raye?" Jak asked.
"Nothing!"
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Jak and Raye walked into the Underground hideout to see Torn talking to Kor. He looked up as soon as the door opened. "The city's on high alert. What the hell did you three do!"
Daxter jumped on to the table, looking fakely innocent. "Who? Us?... Nothing. We've been... ah... sightseeing, right Jak? Raye?"
Torn scoffed. "Oh really? Then why are the Krimzon Guard looking for 'A dangerous young man with light hair, blue tunic, and a rabid orange RAT'" The kid pointed at Daxter when Torn said this. "'On his shoulder, Accompanied by an equally dangerous young woman with black hair, red tank top, and a scarred hand?'"
Daxter shoved the kid's hand away. "Ahh... Could be anyone. Orange is the new black this season!" He struck an incredibly stupid pose.
Jak interrupted, "Look, we climbed up to the Palace and... we tripped a few alarms."
"Oh right... that too." Daxter said.
Torn slammed his hand on the table. "What! I didn't authorize a strike on the...!"
Raye cut him off. "Hey, we kicked the Baron's ass, Tattooed wonder! Unfortunately, he got away." She admitted.
Daxter butted in before Torn could reply. "AND we overheard a secret meeting with the Metal Head Leader!"
Kor looked surprised. "You saw the Metal Head leader?" Raye glared at him as the kid hid behind Kor's robe. 'You should know we didn't, you bastard.' She thought bitterly.
Jak shook his head. "No, he was on some communicator, but we heard him talking with Praxis."
"We were right, though. The Baron is bribing the Metal Heads with eco." Raye commented.
Kor "hmmph"-ed. "It will never be enough."
Daxter laughed. "But the Baron's plannin' on double crossing 'em!"
Kor looked interested now. "Is that so? Well our 'good' Baron's 'wonderful charms' must have angered someone, because there's word from the Wasteland that Metal Head armies are on the move again!"
Jak turned to Torn. "Why didn't you tell us that Ashelin was Praxis' daughter? What's your connection to her?" He pressed.
Torn turned a light shade of pink that was hardly noticeable. "That's none of your concern! Since you've stirred up the wumpbee's nest, you two and whiskers here get to move four of our people to new safe houses. Shuttle each agent to a location they specify. Move all of them without any casualties. Don't screw this up, Jak!"
"I won't." He replied coldly. "Come on, Raye."
- - - - - - - - - - -(I'm skipping this mission. We all know what happens, so I'm skipping it.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Raye growled as she walked back into the hideout. "I didn't know that it was possible to blow three different vehicles up on one mission."
"It isn't my fault that the Krimzon Guard members are suicidal!" Jak yelled. "No offense Torn."
Torn rolled his eyes and motioned them over. Daxter was to busy twirling around on the bed posts to care. "Scouts report movement in Dead Town. Creatures moving to the Sacred Site, just as before."
Daxter hopped off the beds and peered up onto the table. "What happened... ah, before?"
Torn didn't look happy with that question. "Metal Heads broke through the old city wall. We fought them, but then the Baron pulled back, leaving everyone outside the 'new barrier' to die. Only the Shadow stayed and somehow stopped the attack.
Jak figured out what he wanted them to do. "And now you expect us to go out there again?"
"You catch on fast! If you prevent the Metal Heads from reaching the Sacred Site, the Shadow will be... most grateful. He might even ask to see you." The elves turned to walk out. "Hey..." They stopped. "I'm probably wasting these, but here's a couple of Vulcan Barrels for those pea shooters of yours." He slid the Gun Mods over the table. "Believe me, you're gonna need it." Jak stuck it on, flipping his gun around to switch it into the heavier Vulcan Fury.
Raye and Torn both rolled their eyes. "Come on, showoff. You can play with the new gun later."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
At the beginning of Dead Town, Raye looked around, shocked. The place had gone to the dogs. The old Palace collapsing had trashed the place. 'Oops. Our bad.' She thought, pulling out her Blaster and shooting the nearby Stingers. They walked up to the thin pathway that hadn't been demolished in the crash. The Grunt welcoming party was disposed of quickly, and they took care of the next one on the stones as well. Of course, as soon as Jak saw the next Metal Head, the first Sling Blaster, he targeted it. Raye shoved his gun down. "What are you doing!" He hissed.
She sighed. "That," She gestured to the creature Jak was about to shoot, "Is a Sling Blaster. That thing can hurl projectiles even to way over here. And trust me, they will hurt. You need something a bit... faster to take it down."
"Fine then Mrs. Know-It-All. You show us how it's done." Daxter gestured to the Sling Blaster.
Raye shrugged. "Alright then, I will. Watch and learn, boys." She pulled out her Vulcan Fury and took aim. "Eat lead." She muttered, pushing her finger down on the trigger and not letting go. After a few shots, she released it, and the Metal Head fell to the ground, dead. "And that is how to use a Vulcan Fury."
"Whatever." Daxter muttered as Jak jumped from island to island. Raye laughed and followed him before she got left behind.
When they got to the next row of floating, wooden platforms, they saw another pair of Sling Blasters. "Shall we?" Raye asked. Jak smirked and switched out to his Vulcan. "Ready, aim, fire!" Two sets of high-speed bullets hit the Metal Heads in the chest, raising them in the air. After a few seconds, the bullets stopped and the Metal Heads fell and died. Jak and Raye leaped across and disposed of the Stingers rising from the ground before taking care of the Grunts in their way on the path.
"This is becoming tedious."
"I am sick and tired of Grunts." Raye muttered, rubbing the three claw marks on her shoulder. "And their claws." She walked up the platform, shot the Grunt Gunner, and kept going. Jak and Daxter looked at each other and silently decided not to interrupt Raye. There was a thump from up ahead, and the sound of a Blaster going off. "Oi! Are you to coming or not!" Jak climbed up the platform to see that all the Metal Heads that had been there were now piles of dark eco.
"Woah. Remind me not to get you mad, Raye." Daxter said. Raye growled and leaned against the nearest wall.
"Ah, shuddup. I'm beat. Can we please get this finished and go back without the Ottsel commentary?" She asked, walking out the exit, then cursing loudly. "GAAH! Damned Stingers! Die!" There was a Scatter Gun shot and then Raye walked back. "Let's get going."
"You know, a good therapist could help with those anger issues." Daxter commented. Raye glared at him. He shut up and hid behind Jak's head. As the elves turned the corner, Jak and Daxter's jaws dropped. Daxter shook his head. "Is that... Is that... No it couldn't be... that's not..." He stuttered.
"It's Samos' hut." Jak said, obviously shocked.
Daxter was still searching for words. "But... What! How! When! Where! Why!"
Jak shook his head. "We're in the future, Dax. This... horrible place... is... our world!"
Raye stepped forward. "Wait a sec. This," She gestured to the crumbling ruins. "Used to be your home? That's impossible! This place must be, what, over five hundred years old? You don't look much older than eighteen!"
Jak shook his head again. "I don't know how to explain it. I'm confused myself."
Raye put her hands on her hips. "Then I say we get back to the hideout, meet this Shadow guy, and ask him!" She walked over so she was behind Jak, put her hands on his shoulders, and pushed him in the direction of the exit.
"Aye, aye, mon capiton!" Daxter saluted her from Jak's shoulder. Raye laughed as Daxter started marching in place.
"C'mon, Rat Commando. Let's go."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
DR: I've finally finished this stupid chapter. If I don't get at least five reviews on this, I will get seriously pissed off.
Puck: (Sarcastically) I'm sure that they are all very scared.
DR: Well if they aren't, you should be.
Puck: Why?
DR: Because if I don't get at least five reviews, you don't get any more tuna because you are obviously not doing your job.
Puck: GAAAH! Review people!