Disclaimer: I don't own Jak and Daxter.

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Chapter 26

The Last Race

Jak and Raye walked through the door of the Power Station to see Vin completely absorbed in whatever he was typing. "Hey sack a nerves! How's the bzzzzzt stuff going?" Daxter asked, making Vin jump around, clutching his chest.

"Aaahh! Oh, it's just you guys."

Raye grinned. "Glad to see you too, Vin. What's up?"

"I've got good news and bad news." He told them, stepping on his little elevator thing.

"Good news first please." Raye said before Jak could say anything.

His elevator zoomed up as he began talking. "The good news is Kor tells me we've got enough power on-line to keep the shield walls up. So for now, the city's safe." He fidgeted and tapped the screen he was examining nervously. "But I don't know how long the system can hold!"

Jak crossed his arms. "And the bad news?"

The elevator shot back down. "We've detected a cluster of Metal Head eggs at the Strip Mine site. Now, you've got to go back there and find a way to destroy those eggs before they turn into a whole new army of creatures!"

"You mean the ones that were in the middle of that dark eco pool?" Raye asked. "How the hell do we destroy those things? When we went there to rescue you, a few of my Blaster bullets hit those and ricocheted right off and five inches into the rock! If they were that strong then, then there's no way we can destroy them with a gun now."

Jak's forehead creased in thought. "I noticed the crane was lifting a large metal container. If we could jump onto the container, we could drop the crate from above."

Daxter gulped nervously. "High? Jump? Drop!" Jak flinched, for his friend's voice was right in his ear. "Why don't I like the sound of that?"

Jak grinned evilly. "Come on, Raye. Let's go."

--

As they went through the Warp Gate, Raye looked at the Metal Head eggs sprouting from the eco pool beside them. They were pulsing bright green light and, if her eyes weren't deceiving her, there were undefined shapes moving around inside. She grimaced. "We'd better hurry."

Jak was eyeing the eggs as well. "Yeah." Both pulled out their JET-boards and zoomed over the eco to the ground behind it.

-(lalalalala, I'm skipping this part...)-

As the two reached the top, they stopped and Raye peered over the edge. "Jak, you realize that if we miss this jump, we're either going to be dissolved in a quick and painful death in the eco pool or get run through by one of those sharp-looking spikes covering the eggs?"

"Yes, Raye, I knew that." He said, one foot on his JET-board. "Which is why you're staying up here."

"Better idea. We both stay up here and snap the rope this way." She pulled out her Vulcan and aimed it at the top of the rope, pulling the trigger. The bullets cut through the rope like a hot knife through yakow butter and the crate smashed the eggs to messy bits.

"Or we could do that." He jumped down onto the crate then to the ground. "Let's head back."

"Do we have to? I thought we could stay here and admire the view." She replied sarcastically, jumping down after him.

"Yeah. Rocks and dark eco. Great view." He muttered as the crate was eaten away by the eco it's bottom was submerged in before he walked into the portal.

-Jak's POV-

Daxter shook on my shoulder as we appeared in the Power Station. "I will never get used to using Warp Gates. It makes my skin tingle and fur stand on.

"Dax, do you have to whine about every..." Her sentence faded away as she stared at something across the room. I followed her gaze to see Kor and the Kid's crocadog, the latter of which looking miserable.

Kor looked angry. "I can't believe it. We were so close. The Baron stole the Precursor Stone right out from under us! And after all of our planning and hard work, Torn has betrayed the cause!"

I crossed my arms. "Torn meant well. He was protecting one of our own."

Kor didn't seem to hear me. "We must get that stone back."

I could feel Lykaios smirk in my mind. 'He sure has a one track mind.'

'Shut up.' "We're working on it." By 'we' I meant Raye and I.

Daxter, who had migrated to the floor, shoved apart my legs. "Yeah, we're working on it!"

Kor sighed. "It seems I've underestimated this Baron, and now it appears he has the boy as well." He gestured to the crocadog. "Think. What will the Baron's next move be?"

Daxter scratched his head. "Well, if I had the Precursor Stone, with all that power, I'd use it to build a giant palace. A palace with the biggest harem of women the world has ever known, and there'd be a swimming pool filled to the brim with chocolate... slightly minty... yeah, yeah! A massive pool of gooey chocolate! Then the girls and I would jump in together, and-" Raye beat me in smacking Dax upside the head. "What?"

She shook her head and muttered something about 'stupid womanizing rats.' "Jak, I want you to go back out to the Drill Platform. If you can destroy the main control tower there, it should temporarily stop the Baron's use of eco to harm us." I nodded and headed toward the Warp Gate again.

Raye stepped out behind me as I was examining the Titan Suit sitting on the platform. "Looks like you've got to do this by yourself."

I climbed inside the suit. "Yeah. Don't worry, I'll be fine. These things are pretty durable." I had already used one to get to the Life Seed in Samos' old hut, so I simply hit the 'close' button for the glass.

She didn't answer, just jumped back through the Gate and I turned to the opening elevator doors.

-Raye's POV-

I stepped back into the Power Station to see Kor still there, examining Vin's computers. "Where'd Vin go?"

He turned around, not surprised in the slightest. "He had to go to see the Shadow." He smirked. "Did you think that I had done something to him?"

My glare hardened. "Actually, I did Kor." I pulled out my Blaster and focused the laser on his chest. "Or should I say oh great Metal Head Leader?"

He grinned, his giant fangs briefly poking through his illusionary body. "So my assumptions were correct." He took a step towards me and the laser jumped up to his forehead.

"One more step and we'll see if that illusion of your's holds up when your dead." I threatened.

He laughed. "You wouldn't dare to shoot me."

My finger tightened on the trigger. "Why's that?"

He moved faster than any old man should and appeared in front of me when I blinked. "If you wanted me dead, Raye," He grabbed my wrist and twisted it, hard, "You would have killed me already."

I dropped my Morph Gun as he continued twisting. I could hear the bones straining not to break as I tried to, unsuccessfully pry his fingers off and fell to my knees in pain. There was a growl from the other side of the room and the Kid's crocadog leaped at Kor, his teeth sinking into the man's leg and the smell of Metal Head blood filled the room. Trust me, there's a very large difference in what elf blood and Metal Head blood smell like. More dark eco in Metal Heads'. He relinquished his grip on my wrist, which thankfully wasn't broken yet, and I grabbed my weapon off the floor and looked at the bullets. Empty. I growled and holstered it. "Accursed mutt!" He hit the dog across the room with his staff.

By the time he turned back to me, he had a still charging dark eco blast aimed at his head. I fought off the urge to transform fully, Ambika would gleefully rip Kor to shreds without a care, not that I could blame her, and just concentrated the eco in my palm. "I don't know what you did with the Kid, but if you harm him, I'll-"

The door slid open and I forced the eco away from my hand, which gave me the impression I had liquid fire and shards of glass rushing through the veins in my arm, and put it back at my side. Just in time because Vin, as nervous and jumpy as always, walked in. "Oh! You're back."

"Hi Vin. When Jak gets back, tell him I went back to talk to Samos."

"Yeah, okay." He was immediately absorbed with his computers. I shoved past Kor and walked out.

As the door slid shut behind me, I felt a nudge at my ankle. I looked down to see the crocadog had followed me out. I bent down and scratched its ears. It licked my hand reassuringly. "You don't wanna stay in the same room as him either, huh?" It barked. For the first time I noticed it had a collar around its neck. I bent down to read it. "So your name's Zev, huh?" Another bark. "All right Zev. Let's go do something fun." My talk-box flew out. "Or not. What do you want, Krew?"

"Brutter needs some more... assistance from you and Jak, 'ey. Meet him at his stand in the Bazaar." It clicked off.

I sighed. "Well, destroying more Krimzon Guard transports is sort of fun. C'mon Zev, let's go see Brutter."

--

As I neared Brutter's stand, I saw his back was turned to me. "Hey Brutter."

He turned around. "It's sister Raye and her new little pal! Thank the Totem I sees you. You help Lurkers one time, you help us twos?"

"Brutter, I've got my own problems to deal with right now, not to mention five other peoples'."

"But you know big-to-do ruckus Jak cause at Dig? I know all caves like back of claw, and Mar's Tomb no where there! Now Metal Heads find hidden Lurker village in cave! They bit and hurt village real bad, and me Lurker brothers trapped like animals!"

I sat leaned against the supports of the stall. "Well, they kind of are animals..."

"We no longer evil lurking bad-to-bones. We good now. Metal Headers are bad. They is the enemies."

I smirked. "Yeah, I guess we're all in the same boat now."

He nodded energetically "Please, save six Lurker brothers quick and Brutter will kiss you foots!"

"How about I just save them and we leave the foot kissing out of it?" I asked. He nodded again and I walked off with Zev.

-Skipping this mission...-

I walked into the Underground, Zev still trailing behind me. "Never again am I working for Krew." I muttered, collapsing onto a cot. I let out a small 'oof' as Zev jumped onto my stomach.

"What happened?" Torn asked, probably with a smirk on his face.

"Nothing. I just had to go rescue six Lurkers so Krew could get paid." I looked over at him. "Remind me again why I'm doing this?"

"Because you want Praxis dead?"

"Oh. Yeah. Why did I ever think this was a fun game?" I asked myself under my breath.

"What?"

"Uh, nothing. Where's Samos?"

He didn't even look um from his work. "He went down to the Stadium."

"By himself?" I shoved Zev off me.

"No. Jak came back before he left and went down with him."

I stood up and headed back towards the door. "See ya'. Zev, stay." The crocadog laid back down on the bed, whining. "Don't give me that look, I'll come back."

-3rd Person-

Raye walked into the Garage to hear Keira talking. "... But I'm still missing two pieces." She stopped and stood just outside the door.

I heard Samos 'hmph.' "Figures."

"Vin says I need an artifact called the Time Map and an old energy gem the history books called the Heart of Mar. And I've checked every book on Precursor history I can find, but the Rift Ring seems to have vanished!"

"You did all this?" Jak asked. "I mean... that's useful."

Daxter groaned. "Oh, will you two stop moping and make up already?"

I heard a thump that could only be Jak hitting or kicking Dax. "I've seen the Heart of Mar. Krew has it!" Raye could almost see Keira frowning at the mention of the floating tub of lard's name. "We'll get those two artifacts, Keira."

The speakers overhead crackled in to life. "Attention all drivers, the Class 1 Championship Race is about to begin." The computerized voice announced.

"Well, here goes. The race of my life!" He turned to walk out but stopped when Keira put her hand on his shoulder.

"Jak... I just want you to know... well, you're the best racer I've ever seen." She said, blushing slightly.

Jak's eyes lit up, but Daxter, being Daxter, ruined the moment. "Hey! What about me! I helped us get here!"

Jak glared at Daxter. "Do you want to drive?"

"Against that crazy loon Errol? No way! You've got the handlebars this time, brother. And you'd better keep us alive, or I will never speak to you again! Obviously."

Keira grinned. "Leave 'em in the dust, Jak!"

As Jak's footsteps neared Raye, she walked off towards the onlookers' entrance. No need to ruin his good mood.

--

As Jak pulled his Zoomer up to the starting line, Errol pulled up beside him. He glared at Jak and shoved his mask down. Jak's attention, however, was drawn away by Praxis' platform floating down to rest in front of the racers and crowd. "Greetings, racers! Today your nerve and skill will be tested for our amusement. If any of you should, by some small chance, beat our grand champion Errol, then you will be rewarded a month's supply of eco, and a short tour of my palace to see how the other half live." He added under his breath. "Good luck, and die bravely! Ready? Get set... go!" All the racers flew off the starting line, slamming into each other as they tried to get a lead.

Jak, by some small measure of luck, spotted the shortcut that ran through the wall and turned into it sharply. He came out the other side just as the other racers, with Errol in the lead, came around the turn. He flew straight through a turbo boost and activated it, sending him flying ahead. Jak smirked. This was gonna be fun.

--

Up in the stands, Keira and Samos were watching as the race heated up. Errol had caught up with Jak and was trying to ram him into a wall. Finally, Jak braked, letting Errol, as well as two other racers, pass him before hitting the accelerator again and catching up. Keira cheered loudly as Jak passed up Errol again, crossing the line to enter the last lap.

The aqua haired girl looked around to see Raye a few rows ahead of them to their left, in the front row, her expression quickly turning from excited to worried. Jak was winning, what did she have to worry about? Unless... Keira turned back around to see Errol on Jak's tail and... pulling out a pistol! "Oh no! Jak!"

--

Errol grabbed his pistol out of its holder. He was going to win this race, and he was going to take down Jak.

Jak, who was blissfully unaware of the added danger he was now in, was focused on driving. Just two more turns and a short stretch, and he won! So why was there this annoying little buzzing sensation that something was wrong? "Jak, MOVE!" Raye's voice rang through his skull, as clear as if she were next to him. In surprise, Jak jerked the handlebars of his Zoomer, moving as Errol's bullet flew past him, nicking his ear. "What the-!" He glanced over his shoulder for less than a half-second, just enough time to let him see the gleam of the pistol in Errol's hand. 'Damn it.'

He looked down at his dashboard to see that he had one single turbo left. Using it around a corner was risky, but... he slammed his hand down on the button, satisfied with the cry of fury and pain he heard from Errol, who just got a face full of the Zoomer's burning hot boosters. As the KG commander slammed into the wall, his vehicle didn't explode unfortunately, hands covering his face, Jak flew across the finish line, braking before he got to far.

There was a moment of silence, then the Stadium exploded with cheers. Jak climbed off his Zoomer and looked around, surprised to see that almost, if not all, the people in the stands were cheering for him. Daxter was waving from his shoulder. "Thank you, thank you very much! I love my public!" Jak rolled his eyes and grabbed the castle access pass that floated down in front of him. His ears twitched as he heard Praxis' platform float down behind him.

"Ah, a brave man of the people. And who is this worthy opponent?" Praxis lowered his voice. "In my world, good men are either bought, or broken. So, which is it going to be?"

Jak, grinning evilly, turned around. "Surprise."

"What!" Jak took great pleasure at the look of shock on the Baron's face.

He gestured for Praxis to come forward. "Just a little closer. We need to talk."

Praxis slammed his hand down on the rim of the platform. "Fool! Don't you get it! It's over, Jak! All the heroes died long ago! Only survival remains... by whatever means! This city is mine. These lives are mine! This war is mine!" A gasp went through the crowd. Praxis seemed to forget that he needed to keep his voice down. "And in war, people DIE! Kill him."

One of the guards looked up. "Look out!" Jak and Praxis both turned around to see Errol zooming around the track, aiming straight for our favorite hero.

The commander laughed madly. "I win Jak." Many things happened in this moment.

Jak jumped to the side and Praxis' platform flew up, out of the way, leaving Errol heading straight for the eco barrels.

In the stands, Keira saw Raye jump out of her seat and shove through the crowd down to the front, right next to the eco shield that blocked people from falling down onto the track, with something held in her hand. Something that looked oddly like a gun. Suddenly, the shield exploded, sending everyone running out of the stands in a panic. But Raye just stood there, like nothing had happened.

She vaguely felt her father tugging her arm to get her out of the Stadium. Raye turned around slowly, and her eyes caught Keira's. A single word was in her gaze. Run. Keira snapped out of her trance and finally followed her father out, back into the Garage.

As Errol hit the barrels, filled with dark eco, they exploded. To protect himself from the blast, Jak freed the eco demon inside him, letting Lykaios absorb the blast. Errol's mask skidded to his feet, and he picked it up in his claws, examining it. Then he realized Praxis was still sending his guards after him. He growled and got ready to smash their skulls in, but a ball of electrically charged eco bullets flew past him, hitting the first guard square in the chest. The electricity leaped from one body to another, hitting all of the guards in turn.

"Lykaios!" He turned around to see Raye, Peacemaker in hand, gesturing for him to get over there. He growled, upset that he was deprived of killing anyone, but ran over anyway. "Come on!"

He glared. "What do you want me to do? I can't fly."

She leaned over the edge a little more. "Just jump. I'll grab your hand and pull you up."

"This isn't going to work..." He muttered, crouching down. He leapt away from the ground, his hand outstretched. Raye dropped her gun and grabbed his wrist with both hands, wincing as Lykaios' claws cut into her skin. Alarms blared through the air, making it hard to concentrate. "Raye, pay attention!"

She blinked, realizing her grip on his wrists had been slipping. "I'm trying! I can't pull you up!"

Lykaios looked down at the track below him. "You might not be able to, but Ambika can." The eco from the barrels had spread below him, eating away at the guards armor. One or two writhed and screamed, trying to get away. Apparently, Raye's blast hadn't killed them.

"If I try to change, you'll slip!" Raye was on the brink of a breakdown. If she dropped Lykaios now, the raw eco would eat away at him, and therefore Jak, and probably kill them both.

'Jak, a little help here.'

'Let me take over.' Lykaios growled but agreed, his concious slipping away as he relinquished control to Jak. "Raye, listen. Let Ambika take control." As creepy as it was to hear Jak's voice in Lykaios' mouth, Raye stopped freaking out for a moment.

But the moment passed. "But I'll drop you!"

Lykaios' dark black eyes locked with Raye's, and for a brief second she swore she saw a flash of Jak's baby blues. "Raye, I trust you."

Raye closed her eyes and laid her head on her still taut arms. Taking a deep breath, she raised her head back up. "Just give me your other hand." Her eyes were quickly turning black, and her skin was paling. Random sparks of eco traveled over her body, mainly in her arms. Jak clasped his other hand, 'Lykaios' hand,' he mentally corrected himself, around Raye's wrist as she started to pull him up. She ignored the pain in her arms as five more claws dug into her wrists, letting blood trickle down them.

Slowly, Jak slid over the rim of the now shattered barrier, hoisting himself up as soon as he could reach. Unfortunately, there wasn't any time to take a break and change back, for Krimzon Guard Hellcats and Zoomers had started to fly in. Raye and Lykaios ran out, Raye still half transformed into Ambika. "Any bright ideas now?"

Raye's eyes focused on the Zoomer sitting at the bottom of the stairs. "Come on." Her voice was switching between her regular voice and Ambika's. Not a pretty sound.

She leaped onto the front, Lykaios climbing on behind her. "Raye, unless you haven't noticed, there's no where we can hide."

She smirked. "Maybe not in the city there isn't."

In that one moment, Lykaios became very worried about what was going through Raye's head. He didn't, however, have much time to worry, because half a second later, Raye slammed her foot on the accelerator and flew off.

--

SC: There it is. All seven pages and 3820 words. Doesn't seem like much, really. Oh well. And yes, I do realize that I didn't mention Daxter at all in this last part, but he was cowering on Jak's shoulder, 'kay? Next chapter, Jak and Raye have to sneak into the castle. Easy enough, right?

Puck: Ah, NO! Come here so I can smack you.

SC: (Covers Puck's mouth) As I was saying, easy enough, right? Sure, if you count avoiding being seen by every guard in Haven City. Which isn't all that hard. Normally. After the last little incident at the Stadium, Praxis has nearly TRIPLED the KG's force around the city. Yeah. This is where having the Underground as friends comes in real handy. OW! You little (censored)! You bit me!

Puck: (runs away, laughing madly)

SC: That's it! No tuna for you!

Ja ne.

SC