Altered Reality Chapter 22: A Five Step Plan for Blowing Shit Up, a jak and daxter fanfic

1SC: Alright, chapter 22 is up! Some people are probably going to flame me for this chapter, but I don't really give a care. There is a paragraph or two completely about Raye, but you'll see why. If you want to flame me for it, go ahead. There, now I've given you all permission. And if anyone knows what the rest of the Dark Jak powers that you get from the Oracle are in this game, please tell me. I kinda need 'em.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except Raye and Dark Raye.

Guide:

'Blah'-Thinking

'Blah.'-Untransformed Dark Jak/Raye speaking

"Blah"-Regular speaking

"Blah"- Transformed Dark Jak/Raye speech OR The Oracle

Chapter 22

A Five-Step Plan for Blowing Shit Up

As Jak and I walked out of the Sewers, both of us were still mad about Jinx blowing up Mar's statue. "I can't believe he did that." I muttered. "That was probably the last likeness of Mar in the city."

Jak was silent. Dax waved a hand in front of his face. "Anybody home? Hello?"

"Stop that." He ordered.

"Sheesh. Soorrry." I rolled my eyes and ignored them, then walked over to the poster that read Class 2 Races.

"Jak? This poster says these Class 2 Races are today."

He walked over. "What?" He read the poster. "It does. Come on, we'd better get to the Garage."

As we walked into the Garage, we ran into Errol walking out, not literally thank God. "Well, if it isn't the dark eco freaks!"

"What's wrong, Errol? Still mad that a couple of 'dark eco freaks' outsmarted you and escaped the Baron's prison twice?" I asked mockingly. His glare darkened.

Jak hushed me with a look. "Where's Keira?" He demanded.

Errol smirked. "Don't worry, I'm keeping a close eye on her." Jak looked ready to strangle him. Errol didn't give him the chance, for he started circling him like a shark and examining him. "You're the talk of the town, Jak. You give the people hope... how pathetic. I would've enjoyed killing you in prison, but now it'll be so much more fun to take you out on the track, in front of the entire city!" He struck a triumphant pose. "I can hear the roar of the crowd now... as everyone sees their hope die."

Jak started towards him like he was going to punch him or worse. "Sonofa-" He stopped as Keira walked in with Samos.

"It's good to have you back daddy." She smiled down at her father.

Samos nodded. "Yes, it's nice to be free again."

Errol leaned over, close to Jak's ear. "You know, Keira loves a winner. Someday she'll be my mechanic."

Jak glared at him. "Stay away from her."

Errol walked out laughing. Keira sighed as he left. "Errol's the best racer I've ever seen."

"He's not what you think." Jak muttered, turning his face away.

"And you're a good judge of character! HA! Look at you!" Keira didn't see the pained look on Jak's face and continued. "People say you get angry and... change. Besides, the Jak I know wouldn't be working for a guy like Krew!

Jak turned to face her, the pain replaced by anger. "I need Krew's connections to fight the Baron. Without my... you know what? Do it your way, and I'll do it mine!" He stomped out.

Dax looked nervous. "Ah, Jak, buddy? Eh heh... where are you going there, pal? Jak? Jak!"

We all looked up as the announcer's voice came over the speaker. "Attention all drivers. The Class 2 Races will begin soon."

Daxter looked over at Keira. "Now what are we gonna do!"

Keira thought for a moment. "You'll have to drive for the team, Dax. We need this win to qualify for the final championship!"

"Wait, why can't Raye drive?" He asked.

I shook my head. "No, you should drive Dax. You've seen my driving skills. I'd crash in the first lap. You race, I'll go find Jak." I turned and ran out of the Garage, shivering as I went down the steps. The look Keira gave me when Dax suggested I race... I shivered again. I think I would've preferred to take on Dark Jak. Weaponless and drained of eco. I looked around and spotted a flash of green-blonde hair. 'Jak...' I thought, running after him.

"Jak! Jak, will you please stop and listen to me!" I yelled. He stopped and turned around, his arms crossed. "Look, we need to get back to the Stadium. Before you ask why, because of you foolishly walking out 'cause of your damn temper, sorry but it's the truth, Daxter's having to race in your place. The least you could do is go support him."

Jak sighed. "I guess you right. Okay, let's go."

Jak and I found seats in the Stadium easily, and the racers were just getting on the line. I saw a flash of orange and pointed. "Look, there's Daxter!"

Jak nodded, a small smile on his lips. "Yeah. He looks kind of nervous."

"Will you just enjoy yourself and support your friend?" I sighed. He just laughed. "I'll take that as a 'maybe.' Look, it's starting."

The robot that controlled the lights flew down. The three starting dings were barely heard over the roar of engines starting up and driver's racing off. "Come on Daxter!" I cheered above the roar of the crowd.

On the last lap of the race, Daxter was neck-to-neck with one of the other racers for first. We were watching him on the screen overhead because he had gone into the tunnel. The other driver had started slamming into Daxter's zoomer, trying to shove him into one of the holes. "Use your turbos, Dax..." Jak muttered next to me.

As if he could hear him, the ottsel hit his turbo boost just as the man tried to ram him again, consequently sending himself into the wall, and Dax far ahead of the competition. He crossed the finish line five seconds before the other racers.

"YEESSSS!" I punched my hand into the air. "That was awesome!"

Jak gave a small smile. "Yeah, he did okay."

I rolled my eyes. "He's one-third your size, and that's just about the time you got. Saying he did 'okay' is putting it lightly. He did great! Let's go congratulate him." I slid through the dispersing crowd to the exit.

As Jak and I walked into the Garage, we heard Daxter's loudmouth. "Hey! When do I get the winner's big kiss?"

I heard Tess laugh. "Maybe later... if you're a good boy." We walked in as she finished scratching Daxter behind the ears.

The furball turned to us. "Hey there." He looked a little nervous. "We, ah, showed those Class 2 losers a thing of two, huh?" He jumped down and walked over to Jak.

Jak knelt down. "I saw. You drifted a little high in the turns a few times, but you hung in there. I'm proud of you Dax."

I nodded. "So am I. You showed that idiot in the last lap not to mess with you! Slammed himself right into the wall. You did an awesome job, Dax."

Daxter's eyes were shining with pride. "Really?"

Jak mussed up his fur. "Yeah. You did great!"

He shook his head. "No, we did great! Right partner?" He jumped up to Jak's shoulder, looking from Jak to Keira. The two elves looked at each other briefly then turned away, and I followed Jak out.

"Bye Tess." I called. She nodded and waved.

By the time we got back to the Port, Jak's disposition hadn't improved much. Daxter had moved to my shoulder, mainly because Jak had threatened to strangle him if he didn't quit bothering him. "I wish he'd cheer up a bit." I muttered. "Being in the same room as Torn isn't this boring."

Daxter stifled a yawn. "Speaking of the Tattooed Wonder, shouldn't we check in at the Underground? Or maybe just take a nap?"

I nodded. "Probably." I jogged up to Jak. "Hey, let's head back to the Underground. We're all bushed."

Jak nodded. "Yeah, okay."

We stole a zoomer from a passing citizen and, after telling Dax he couldn't drive, twice(!), we took off for the Underground.

3rd Person

As they flew through the strangely quiet Industrial Section, Jak got a little suspicious. Mainly because the words 'quiet' and 'Industrial Section' didn't belong in the same sentence. Especially right next to each other. 'There's no one around...' Buzzer's went off in his skull as a portion of the wall slid open and a KG Blast Bot, all new and shiny looking, clomped out loudly, its lasers scanning the area. "What the hell...?" He swerved the zoomer roughly to avoid the robot, throwing off all the passengers, including Jak himself. "Well, now we know why there's no one around." He muttered, shoving himself up.

"We need to blow that up." Daxter stated, staring openmouthed at the gargantuan creature as it slowly stomped off, leaving depressions in the pavement from its weight.

"Thank you, Daxter/Captain Obvious." Both elves said at once. Take a guess who said what.

Jak looked at the Blast Bot. "How do you blow up that...thing?"

"It's a five step plan. Step one: distract it." Raye pulled out her Blaster. "And how do we distract things?"

Jak grinned. This involved shooting things. And he liked to shoot things. (Puck: Now who's Captain Obvious? me: Shut up and keep reading.) He switched to his own Blaster and aimed, pulling the trigger five times in continuous succession. All five hit the body of the Bot, and its head turned around. It paused to consider the two elves before stomping towards them.

Daxter gulped. "I think we ah... 'distracted' it. What's step two?"

"Step two? Stay out of its way. Three is to pump that thing full of eco bullets." She switched to the Vulcan Fury. Triggers were pulled and two streams of bullets ate away at the metal plating covering the walking death machine.

"It's not stooppping!" Daxter yelled, dragging out the last word as Jak rolled to the side and dodged an incoming set of electricity powered lasers.

"We can see that!" They both yelled at him.

Suddenly, the Blast Bot stopped and started starting tossing out bombs. "Step four?" Jak questioned, pointing at the bomb spewing bot.

Raye nodded. "Kick those bombs back at it." Actually, it was more of a throwing thing than a kicking thing, because the bombs were heavy. Which figures, because the KG's made everything heavier than it needed to be. Jak and Raye were staring at a prime example.

After the bombs were gone, because they had just exploded on the Blast Bot that they had been shot out of, said robot was smoking and its metal plating was dented and falling off. Jak looked over at Raye as its knees bent and it started beeping. "Raye, what's step five?"

She stepped back hesitantly. "Step five would be to run away and try not to get hit by the explosion.(a/n: Wow, it was actually five steps. I was expecting to need another one or two.)"

Daxter shrunk down on Jak's shoulder. "You know, I think I like this step the best."

"How long does it usually take for something this big to explode?" Jak asked, taking two steps back.

"If it was built by the Krimzon Guard, not long." Raye replied, turning and running for the nearest cover, which was the parked zoomer. Jak leaped behind it not soon after, barely missing the blast.

"Those things had to be targeted at something." Daxter gasped, peeking over the zoomer at the wreckage.

Jak leaned back against the zoomer. "The hideout. They had to be going there."

Raye dropped her head to her chest. "Perfect. Just freaking perfect. There's no way we can get there in time. We don't even know where..." She cut off as Jak's talkbox flew up.

It was the Shadow."Jak, Raye, the Baron has manufactured some new Blast Bots and-"

"We know, we just ran into one." Jak muttered.

"You WHAT!" That was Samos. The other Samos. The sagely one. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I think so." Raye said, standing and checking for injuries. "I'm good."

"So am I." Jak added after doing the same. "How many of these things did he make?"

Raye's talkbox flew out as the question left his lips. "Four. Three, now that one of them is destroyed." Vin said. (a/n: I'm really sorry if I got the number wrong, but I can't remember how many Blast Bots there were.)

"Vin, you have really good timing. Where are they?"

"All over the place!" He cried. "I'll put their locations in your maps."

"Please and thank you." Raye chirped. The maps started blipping loudly. "Anyway you can-" The beeping stopped. "Okay, see, now you're just showing off."

"Am not."

Jak stopped the coming response from the girl. "Argue later, kill robots now."

"Right." Raye got up and headed towards the one of the blips. "See ya' back at headquarters!"

Daxter sighed as Jak took off in the opposite direction. "Whatever happened to saying goodbye like normal people?"

Jak wiped his forehead off as he surveyed the damage of the explosion of the last Blast Bot he had just destroyed. Killing them was a lot harder when you didn't have two people to distract it. His talkbox flew up. "Jak, I may need your help." Raye's voice was barely heard above the sound of shooting in the background and the usual static of the talkboxes.

"Raye, what's going on?"

"Umm... I don't really have the time to explain. But there was one more Blast Bot than Vin's scan found and-" There was a yelp. "Just get down here! I'm back in the Industrial Section."

Jak looked over at Daxter, who sighed. "I have a bad feeling about this, but... Let's go save Raye."

As Jak looked neared the Industrial Section, he heard the familiar sounds of gunfire. Luckily, it wasn't Krimzon Guard gunfire. He ran towards the sound to see a horrific battle scene.

The area was completely destroyed, bullet holes and burn marks littering the structures and the ground around them. Chunks of the cement were missing everywhere, only to be found in the form of rubble elsewhere. And in the middle of all of this was the most gargantuan Blast Bot Jak had ever seen. It was three times as big as the others, with just as much armor and weapons packed on it. He looked around frantically for Raye and saw her crouched down on one of the pathways.

He edged up it carefully, making sure he didn't draw the bot's attention to him. He kneeled down next to the raven haired elf. "Raye, what the hell is that?"

She shook her head. "I'm not sure. It looks like an upgraded model of the littler ones we fought. I've fired everything I've got at it and it didn't leave a scratch."

Daxter gulped. "Is that what all the bullet holes are from?"

She nodded. "The armor deflects all of it. Nothing's working. And I'm not stupid enough to get in range for the Scatter Gun to work." Her frown deepened. "But that isn't even the worst part. I don't think this one is after the hideout. I think this one was programmed to go after us."

Jak groaned. "Perfect. This is just what I needed today."

"Oh, but wait. It gets better."

"Joy."

"I tried blasting that thing with some dark eco. It was for a second, but then it just started shooting again. Praxis is testing us."

Jak growled. "I never was very good at tests. There's got to be another way to take this thing down."

Raye gestured to the robot, which was scanning the area for them still. "You wanna try shooting that thing? Go right on ahead. I'll be up here with an 'I told you so' waiting for you when you get back."

"Very funny. Well, we might as well get it over with." He stood up and closed his eyes.

"Don't sound so excite-" Raye cut off, doubling over. Jak's transformation stopped.

"Raye what's wrong?"

Her pupil's expanded, consuming her eyes with black. "Get... back. Something's... wrong." Raye's skin paled along with her hair as horns sprouted from her head and claws from her fingers. But it wasn't over. Purple lightning continued crackling around her body as another pair of horns, only an inch or two long, grew outside the longer ones. The claws grew out another two inches before stopping, the edges gleaming. There were several small pops as a row of spines rose from the base of her neck to her tail-bone, and the sound of bones shifting as two bat-like wings unfolded from her shoulders.

Jak and Daxter stared in shock. "Raye? Are you alright?" Dax asked hesitantly.

Raye stared at her hands numbly. "I... I don't know..." As the words left her mouth, her alter-ego's persona took over, and an evil grin, revealing lengthened canines. "Actually... I don't think I've ever been better."

Jak, who finally broke out of his shock, finished transforming. It was mainly in case Dark Raye went berserk and decided to test her new found strength on him. "Just because you look different doesn't mean you're better then you were."

She shrugged. "We can test that theory out later. I suggest that we destroy that thing now. No doubt it can lock on to dark eco."

As she said that, the Blast Bot turned around and something that resembled a shrunken down turret gun rose from its head. "Oh, so it has toys. I figured it would just bore us to death."

"Cut the sarcasm and get moving." Dark Raye snapped, flapping once and gliding over to hover above the Bot's head. The gun swivelled wildly trying to locate her. "Haha, it can't look up." The gun paused for a moment and, shifting its gears, pointed up. "Perhaps I spoke to soon..." She dived out of the way, behind the gun, and dug her claws into it, ripping it out. "Mind hurrying up? I doubt this is the only weapon it had."

Dark Jak leaped to the ground, running full speed at the giant legs. "Quit whining." He sent a shot of eco from his palm and cut through one of the legs. The bot fell to the ground, the remaining three legs thrashing wildly. Raye landed next to him.

"Mind not trying to impale me on one of those things next time?"

Jak smirked. "Try getting out of the way faster."

Daxter shook his head. 'They're like siblings, only worse because they have the ability to kill each other.' He jumped off Jak's shoulder, where he'd been cowering for the past few minutes, and scrambled through the hole Raye had made. Seconds later, the bot stopped moving. "You two should probably blow that thing up so the Baron doesn't haul it back to the Palace and fix it."

The two creatures looked at each other. "Maybe we should let him fix it." Jak suggested. "See if it can actually give us a challenge."

Daxter jumped up onto Jak's shoulder. "No. Bad idea. He fixes it, he'll make it eco proof. I found a camera connection in there. He was watching the entire time."

"Is it still running?" Raye asked.

"No. Why?"

"I was going to flip him off. Oh well. Let's just blow it up." A ball of eco appeared in her hand as well as Jak's.

"Say bye-bye to your robot, Praxis." Jak cackled, throwing the eco.

Back at the Palace, Praxis watched the tape with anger. Daxter was right, the camera had been broken, but another camera was still running. "Errol, did you see that?"

His commander looked over at him. "What, sir?"

"That creature... the eco treatments simply made it stronger!" He slammed his fist down on the arm of his throne.

"We couldn't have predicted that, sir. Dark eco is a very... unpredictable substance."

He turned to glare at the redhead. "Don't you think I know that? I knew it would have some effect on the girl's body, but I never imagined it would make her strong enough to beat my upgraded Blast Bot. Did any of them reach the Underground?"

Errol grimaced. Why did he always have to be the bearer of bad news? "No sir. They were all destroyed before reaching their destination."

"I see." Errol blinked. No explosion? That was unusual. "Any civilian casualties?"

"No sir. All were evacuated into Upper Haven." (a/n: That's what I'm calling the fancier part of Haven City. You know, the part with the tomb in it. Yeah, that part. If anyone's got a better name, or knows the real one, I'm open to suggestions.) Errol said.

"Good. Inform the citizens that the Dark eco creatures have been spotted again, and that they are working for the Underground."

Now Errol was downright confused. "Sir, what good will that do?"

Praxis grinned. "The people are terrified from the stories that have been spread. If they find out that the Underground is harboring two very dangerous eco freaks, they'll turn against it."

Errol grinned. "I see. Very good thinking, Baron Praxis."

As the last of the eco drained out of him, Dark Jak changed back to normal. He looked over at Raye, who had a strained look on her face. "Raye, it's over. Change back."

"I... I can't. I'm trying but my body won't let me!" It was very weird to hear Raye's voice coming out of Dark Raye's mouth, but Jak wasn't exactly focused on that.

"What do you mean you can't change back?"

"What do you think I mean! I mean I can't get back to normal!"

Daxter coughed slightly, making them both look at him. "Maybe we should go see the Oracle."

Raye blinked. "Dax that is... actually a good idea."

"Thank yo- HEY!"

Jak crossed his arms. "How are we going to get there without being noticed? You aren't very inconspicuous."

"Simple. You take a zoomer, I fly." She pointed to the wings on her back. "These have to be good for something, right?"

Jak arrived at the Oracle's hut as Raye landed. "I love flying. It's so much fun. By the way, even if we had walked here, no one would've seen us. They're all sitting up near the Stadium. Must've been an evacuation we didn't hear about."

"The guards must have done it after the race. Or during it. No one inside the Stadium would have been able to hear it."

Daxter rapped them both on the head, being careful to avoid Raye's horns. "Can we just get demon girl changed back to normal before discussing how we didn't hear about this?"

Both elves nodded and walked inside of the hut.

SC: I really shouldn't end it here, seeing as cliffies are evil, so... I'm not going to! On with the story!

Puck: You can be a real ama sometimes.

As they walked through the door, the Oracle awoke. "Greetings, Dark Ones."

Jak spoke up first. "Uh, we have a bit of a problem."

"Yes. You cannot revert to your true form, can you child?"

Raye shook her head. "No, I can't. I think it's because my Dark side got more powerful. I don't think I can control it anymore."

"It is not control that you need, but a compromise. You must speak with your other self and make peace with it."

"How? The only time I've ever hear her is when she's about to come out." She paused. "Well, and two other times. The first time was when we first came hear, and the second was at the Pumping Station when we met Ashelin."

"I will make it so you can speak to her. Are you prepared?"

There was a moment of silence. "If it'll get me back to normal, sure." The Oracle's eyes glowed brighter, and Raye collapsed to the ground. The horns, spikes, and claws retracted back into her body as the wings disappeared in a flash of eco.

"Dark One, take her body somewhere that she will be safe until she awakens. I do not know how long it will take for her and her darkness to be at peace with each other, and until then, she will be at risk not only from outside forces, but from her own mind as well." Jak nodded and picked Raye up, carrying her out.

SC: Okay, this time the chapter's done for real. I'd really like some feedback on the new Dark Raye. And before anyone asks, she just went through more eco treatments. If Jak had gone through one more as well, his Dark would look like that in my story too. But he was in a stinky old tomb, so he didn't. Also, I'd like to know if I did okay on the section with Praxis and Errol. I really don't know why I put them in there...

Puck: (Clears throat)

SC: Oh yeah. And yes, Dark Jak and Dark Raye can talk. Don't ask why, but I felt like making them be able to talk. It made the battle with the giant Blast Bot more fun. Anyway, Read and Review. Ja ne!