1SC: Okay, this is the third time I've had to retype this one chapter. Really getting annoyed.

Disclaimer: I don't own Jak and Daxter or any of it's characters.

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Chapter 24

Flying high, riding low

Raye followed Jak out the door to see he had already climbed onto the Zoomer next to Errol. "Jak, please..."

"I know what I'm doing Raye." He grabbed Daxter off his shoulder. "Watch Daxter for me would you? I don't need any backseat driving this time." Raye opened her mouth to protest, but instead nodded dejectedly and held out her arm so Daxter could climb onto her shoulder. She stepped back as both men revved their engines. The lights built into the dashboard flashed green and both Zoomers sped off.

Daxter looked up at Raye's face to see that she looked incredibly worried. "Don't worry, Raye. Jak's a great driver. He'll beat Errol no problem."

The worry on her face slowly dissipated, leaving her with a calm look. Said look was ruined by the fact her eyes burned with anger... or someone else's anger. "That's not what I'm worried about Daxter." Raye turned around so fast the little Ottsel nearly fell and ran into the alley that led behind the Hip Hog. She stopped suddenly, nearly making Daxter go flying again, and closed her eyes.

"Raye? What are you doing?" Daxter asked. He glanced at the purple lightning crackling around Raye's legs and traveling up the rest of her body as her skin paled to porcelain white.

"We're following Jak. I trust Errol about as far as I can throw Krew." She said, not even opening an eye as the beginnings of horns poked through her forehead and spines ripped more holes in the back of her tank top. 'Note to self, fix that.'

Daxter rapped Raye on the head, being careful to avoid the emerging horns. "Hello, earth to Raye! You can't exactly walk through the streets like this. I'm pretty sure everyone in Haven hasn't gone blind, and you scream 'Eco Demon.' Not very inconspicuous."

Raye opened one blue-darkening-to-black eye. "We aren't walking" She told him, her voice changing to Ambika's harsher one in the middle of the statement. "Now shut up, I'm trying to concentrate."

"Got it." He waited until the transformation was finished, for he quite liked his head firmly attached to his neck, then questioned her again. "Raye, what-"

"It's Ambika."

"Huh?"

She shook her head. "My name. It's Ambika."

"Okay. So, Ra- err... Ambika, what exactly did you mean by 'we're not walking'?"

She merely grinned, showing fangs. "Watch and learn." She leaped about three feet in the air and slammed a set of black talons into the wall, shoving the other five in as far as she could reach above the first.

It suddenly dawned in Daxter's little Ottsel mind what Ambika was planning. "We're going to jump off the roof!"

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't yell in my ear, and yes, we are." After a couple more pulls, Ambika turned and looked down. It wasn't a long fall persay, but it would hurt quite a bit if you tripped off and hit the ground.

"What happened to Raye's fear of heights?" Daxter asked, crouching down on her shoulder.

Ambika grinned at him, a grin that would probably make even the bravest pee their pants. "She got over it." And with that statement, the dark elf jumped off the roof and into a warm updraft, lifting her straight up in the air.

Soon she was high enough to make anyone who saw her think she was a bird, albeit a big one. 'Now if I can just avoid the Palace...'

"Hey! I see them!" Daxter yelled... right into Ambika's ear. "Oops. Sorry."

"I'll let it slide this time." She looked down to see Jak and Errol racing through the Bazaar, neck to neck, neither gaining the lead without the other taking it back. Ambika growled. Even with her heightened vision, she was having trouble seeing them through the regular pollution of the city. 'We have to get closer.'

'What if he senses us? If Jak found out we were following him...' A sudden scene of Dark Jak ripping Raye apart played through Ambika's conscious mind. She shook her head.

'I'd never let him do that.' The dark elf assured her other half. 'Besides, if I even felt that Jak's eco levels were rising, I'd be out before he could lay one talon on you.'

'That's surprisingly sweet of you.'

'Don't start getting all emotional on me. I share this body too, remember? You die, I die. That's it.'

'Oh.' Raye muttered.

Ambika was having a hard time admitting it, but she was actually starting to, if nothing else, respect Raye. Trying to not rip the very fabric of reality in two, even if it costed lying to the one closest to you, took a lot. She'd felt the internal struggle Raye faced every time she had seen Kor, watched her fight the urge to kill him, to stop so many things from happening. Not to mention the horrible rage and pure fury that she herself had helped to fuel when they had lost little Jak to Errol. Raye dotted on the kid like he was her own little brother, and when Errol took him... she was going to kill him, storyline or no storyline. Why? That question had been bothering her. She had complete access to Raye's memories anytime she wished, but there were some so tightly locked away that she couldn't even get to them, and she practically was Raye's mind. 'No.' She thought privately. 'Focus on the task at hand.'

She glanced at Daxter. "We're getting closer. Hold on." Why the hell was she being so nice today?She cleared it from her mind as she dove down another three or four feet, blinking as she cleared the lowest layer of the smog over Haven. They had cleared the Bazaar now, and were towards a sharp turn around a corner that would lead into the Main Town area. Jak shot around the turns, overtaking Errol as they flew around the fountain. Daxter cheered from Ambika's shoulder, even though Jak couldn't hear him.

As Jak's Zoomer screamed up the steps, Errol shot up behind him. Jak slowed down, barely, to turn the corner, and Errol sped up, turning sharply and barely hitting the ring, Jak not a second behind him. Dax groaned. "Can one of them hold a place for more than two seconds!"

"Apparently not. Jak just passed Errol again."

Once they had passed the first waterway and had entered the narrow strip leading to the next one, Jak was once again in the lead. He was coming up on a turn fast, and he obviously wasn't slowing down this time.

Errol, whose Zoomer's nose was even with Jak's tail, sped up just as Jak turned, whipped around 90 degrees, and slammed his boot into Jak's ribs. The blonde nearly fell off his speeding ride, slamming into the wall instead. Raye let out a scream of concern mixed with anger in Ambika's mind, and it was the dark elf could do to not fly down to help him. 'Raye, calm down! Jak's fine, see?'

And it was true. Snapping out of his daze, Jak sat back up on his Zoomer and slammed down the accelerator, speeding through the next ring and catching up to Errol, who was up ahead, laughing smugly in his own seemed victory around the next corner. Even Ambika laughed as Jak sped past Errol's Zoomer, his hand up in what could only be a very rude message to Errol. 'Raye, we have to land. I'm running out of energy, and if Jak reaches the end before us...'

'Good point. All right, let's go.' "We're speeding up."

Daxter looked at her startled. "What? Why?"

"One, it will be easier to make up a story if we're already there, and two, I said so." Using some of the eco she had left, Ambika flapped her wings with an increased intensity, surpassing Jak as he hopped over the bridges railing and into the water. 'Try landing on a roof.'

'Oh, and I was just thinking of touching down in the middle of the street and exchanging pleasantries with the nearest Guard.' Ambika replied sarcastically, landing in a tree near the Stadium.

There was a grinding noise as the spines, claws, and horns disappeared back into Raye's body and the wings simply vanished in a flash of eco, which was hidden by the trees surprisingly thick leaves. The fangs however, merely shrunk, so Raye looked a newly fledged vampire.(a/n: no, I don't know what a new vampire looks like. I'm just guessing.) 'More of Ambika's influence no doubt.' She thought as she climbed down to the lowest branch, then jumped to the ground. She felt oncoming tendrils of dark eco heading towards the area she was in, and fast. She ran over to the parked Flyer (the two seaters.) that was conveniently placed there and not more than three seconds later, Jak slammed around the corner and shot into the square, Errol a good five seconds behind him.

They both stopped about a foot away from her, and she ran over. Jak thrust his good arm into the air in a victory sign. "Oh yeah."

Errol glared. "Don't get to cocky, freak. When we race for real, I will win, and your head will be my trophy!" He slammed his mask down and did a quick 180 before speeding off in the direction they came from.

Daxter, who was still perched on my shoulder, called after him, "Ah, blow it out your ear! You were bottle fed, weren't you!"

Raye looked up at him. "Daxter, what does that have to do with anything?" And, before he could answer, she turned to Jak. "You won."

"Obviously." He winced and put a hand over his ribs.

Raye reached out a hand. "Are you all right?"

"I'll be fine until we reach the hideout. But you should've already known about my side, right Raye?"

"Jak, I'm not psychic."

He raised an eyebrow. "Oh, I know. So then you weren't the huge eco source I sensed tailing me?"

'Busted. Start talking.'

'Shut up, you aren't helping.' Raye snapped back. "Well, it wasn't without reason! I didn't trust that Errol was going to be a good sport and play fair, so I was just making sure he didn't kill you." She crossed her arms, pouting. "Anyway, it was Ambika's idea."

"Who?"

"Ambika. She's my-"

Daxter cut in. "She's her freaky demon thing."

"She isn't a freaky demon thing!"

Jak stopped them with a hand. "Wait. It has a name?"

'I'm not an IT!' "She's not an it. She's a she, and yes, she has a name."

Jak bent close to Raye's face. "Have you forgotten that these things were created to be weapons?"

"They aren't things, Jak. They have personalities. And no, I haven't. Unless you've forgotten, as of a couple days ago, I've gone through more eco treatments than you. I know what Ambika was created for." The tension mounted as both of them stared the other down, scowling. Raye broke eye contact first, climbing into the Flyer. "Come on. You're in no condition to fly a Zoomer, let alone by yourself." Jak climbed off the Zoomer and nearly collapsed. "Need some help?"

"No." He snapped tersely. He walked around to the other seat slowly and pulled himself in, wincing while he did so. Daxter climbed back over to Jak's shoulder as Raye started the ignition and lifted the vehicle up into the second hover zone.

The drive back to the Hideout was silent and uncomfortable, until Daxter decided to, god forbid it, start singing. And not just any song, oh no. It was the most annoying song in the world. "Oooohhhh, I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves, everybody's nerves, everybody's nerves. Oh I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves and this is how it goes!" Insert three claps. Then repeat. Raye, who had been driving slowly as to not injure Jak any further, pushed the poor Flyer's engine to its limits. Jak was now more concerned about the annoying voice screeching in his ear than his side.

As they parked in the alley outside the hideout, Raye jumped out gratefully. "Thank Mar." She breathed. And, without asking whether he wanted it or not, she walked over to the other side of the Flyer and helped Jak out. He didn't protest, but she could tell he obviously resented the fact that he needed help in the first place.

After they went down the steps, Raye sat Jak down on a bed. "What happened?" Torn asked, getting up to get the bandages.

"Errol." Was all Raye said before walking to the back, where the showers were located. (a/n: I keep forgetting to write these scenes. Raye and Jak have both taken showers before this, but I never remember to write it. That would be why Raye knows where the showers are. They each take a shower while the other is asleep, so...)

Torn was suddenly very interested. "What about Errol?"

"Ask Jak." She replied. A door slammed shut and they heard water running. Torn turned to Jak and handed him the bandages.

"What happened?"

Jak glared at Torn as he pulled his shirt off. "Errol challenged me to a race."

Torn chuckled. "This oughta be good."

--

In the bathroom, Raye pulled off her tank top and examined the back. It was practically shredded. Seven or eight ragged holes had been ripped through all down the center and there were two holes that seemed to have been burned into it, right near her shoulders. She tossed it into the trash can and finished undressing, then stepped into the shower.

The water was almost at the level that would've scalded someone to death, but Raye didn't care. She needed the hot water right now. She winced as it ran over old scars and new wounds that hadn't healed yet, seeming to burn hotter as it did. She tilted her head back and let it soak her scalp, wetting the rest of her hair.

After she finished, she wrapped a towel around herself and stepped out. Glancing at the fogged up mirror, she wiped off all of the steam and stared at her reflection.

Any fat she had on her body had vanished, replaced by hard muscle. Her eyes had regained their bright blue color somehow, no longer the dark indigo they had been when she and Jak escaped prison. Her ears were still long and slim, but they had been tapered to a finer point. Her hair, now that it was down, reached past her knees. She was paler than ever, though still nowhere near close to Ambika. What startled her most though, were the scars. She knew how many there were, she could still feel the pain from them in her dreams, but they were a faint violet color now, instead of the pink or pearly white they once were. 'The dark eco is affecting my entire body.' She pulled on the new shirt she had snagged out of one of the rooms, a dark violet tank top with matching gloves that covered from her knuckles to a few inches below her shoulders, and her black pants. She picked up her boots in one hand, she hadn't had the good sense to leave them out front, and walked back out.

"Torn, do you have any scissors?"

He barely glanced up. "Yeah. Second drawer from the top in that desk."

"Thank you." She walked over and, after rummaging through the drawer for a minute, found the scissors and walked back to the bathroom, closed her fist around her hair about five inches her shoulders, and cut it off right above her hand. Tossing the access hair in the trash, she walked back out. "Bathroom's free." She told Jak, who was still shirtless but had bandages around his chest, and he got up and walked past her into the back. She just shook her head and laid down on the nearest cot, asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

(All right, enough about Raye. Over to Jak.)

Jak's shower took more time than Raye's did, mainly because every time he lifted his arms the wrong way, or moved too quickly for that matter, his chest hurt. When he finished, he re-wrapped the bandages very carefully, though Torn and Daxter did still here quite a few pained curses. Eventually, he just got dressed and walked back out, handing the strip of cloth to Daxter. The little Ottsel wrapped up Jak's torso (again) easily, aided by the fact that he could actually walk around his buddy when doing so.

After Dax finished, Jak pulled his tunic back on and laid back on the bed, asleep just as quick as Raye.

--

"Hey, wake up Jakky boy."

Jak sat up immediately. "What the...?" He looked around to see his dark squatting in front of him. He groaned. "I'd like to wake up now."

Dark snorted. "No chance there. You may not have noticed it, but when that statue zapped Raye, it got in our head too."

Jak growled. "First off, it's my head. Second, how?"

Dark covered his eyes in disgust. "It's a bloody Precursor. It just can." He said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "That's how it works. And apparently, it thinks we need to be friends like Raye and Ambika." He made a disgusted face. "Little traitor is what she is."

Jak shook his head. "Why would we need to? You weren't the one who got a new winged demon look. You don't have the power to hold your form for longer than the eco in my blood lets you."

"Our blood. And yes, I know that, don't rub it in." He snapped back. "Be glad that you did get into that Tomb, otherwise I would, and I'm a helluvalot more stubborn than Ambika." Dark grinned. "I wouldn't have let you live."

Jak stood up. "What? Do you want to fight?"

"No." Dark stood as well. "Jakky boy, there's something you need to get. Manifestations of dark eco can't permanently control a physical body like yours. We'd need to much dark eco to remain alive, and that eco eventually give the body we control eco poisoning. Even a channeler's body like yours."

Jak barked out a laugh. "Are you saying you actually want to compromise?"

"Not really. More like an... agreement."

"Isn't that the same thing?"

"Not really, Jakky boy."

"Why are you calling me that?"

"Jakky boy? Well, if you won't call me by an actual name, then I'll return the favor."

Jak groaned. "Well you haven't exactly told me."

Dark paused. "... Lykaios."

"All right. So, what's the agreement, Lykaios?"

--

SC: And because I am evil, I'm stopping here. Sorry if the shower crap sucked, I'm not used to doing those kinds of scenes. And I refused to picture a naked Jak, mainly because every fangirl reading this would have probably gone nuts, drooled all over their computers, and short circuited them. Or got them really wet. Ew. I seriously need some feedback on this chapter so I don't feel like a total and complete failure. Because if I do, I'll go into a depressed slump and you guys won't get anymore chapters. Do you really want that?

I didn't think so. That means, review and give me your honest opinion of the chapter. And by honest, I don't mean a scalding flame that's going to make me actually live out my pen name when I read. I mean constructive criticism. So, R&R people!

Ja ne!

SpontaneousCombustion

P.S: Lykaios is Greek for "wolf-like". I think I picked very fitting names. The goddess of destruction and wolf-like. Don't argue with me.