Corad: Hehehe, I'm back again. Thanks to those who have reviewed! Makes me happy to continue on! And to ChristopherC, I've tried to fix up the dialogue for you, coz I don't want to make you annoyed or anything. I hope it's an improvement for you. Thanks for the idea also of putting my pics up on imageshack. I had a look over there, but decided to stick them up on fanart-central instead coz it looked too complicated for me lol. My Sharok pic is currently up over in the Games section, under Jak and Daxter...he's in the original characters. If anyone wants me to put in the address for it, that's fine. I'm known as MidnightChaos over there too if that helps to find him...I'm glad you all enjoyed the last chapter, so on with the next...bout time too...

Don't own them...only Sharok me man...and the plot...


Chapter 29 - Erol's secret and Tess' new creation

Water ran over Jak's hands, washing away the blood that had dried on them. His mind was shaking rapidly, as he stood still, hunched over his bathroom sink. Erol was still downstairs, after he heard Sharok put him into his booth. He felt a nagging within him saying he should go check up on the unconscious elf in the bar. He sighed heavily and turned off the tap, letting the last of the water trickle down the sink. Jak grabbed a hand towel, and dried his hands, before stumbling out of the bathroom and collapsing on his bed.

He closed his eyes tightly, and had the vision of his darker half taking over him again. What made him that mad in the first place had escaped his mind, but he knew Erol had done something. Yawning widely, he rolled over, and let himself be carried into a light, restless sleep. A short while later, he awoke to a loud scream from downstairs. Jak's eyes shot open, and he leapt out of bed, flying down the stairs and into the bar room.

"Ah Jak. Glad you are here." Jak looked over to Erol's booth, to see Ashelin kneeling down on the ground, her hand grasped tightly around Erol's wrist. "I heard you've done quite a lot of damage Jak," she continued, taking hold of a clean bandage in her free hand. She beckoned Jak over, who accepted willfully, knowing he should help wherever he had to.

"Here, take hold of his wrist for me," Ashelin muttered, as Jak took hold of the mangled wrist. She looked through a small, brown leather bag until she pulled out some cleaning ointment, and dabbed some onto the bruised and torn flesh. Erol winced slightly, as Jak realized he was now conscious again. After she had finished, she began to wrap the clean bandage around his wrist tightly.

"What I want to know Jak…how on earth did you manage this?" Ashelin asked suddenly, after a few minutes silence had passed. Jak gazed down at Erol's dazed face, and shrugged. "Well…. however you did it, make sure it doesn't happen again. I'm surprised Erol didn't defend himself," she murmured, standing up and brushing herself down. Jak stood up too, and looked at her, an eyebrow raised.

"But…he did defend himself," he replied, crossing his arms. Ashelin shook her head slightly, and picked up her leather bag. "Jak…he didn't…change, did he?" she asked, brushing some red locks of hair out her eyes. She held a serious look upon her face, which sent a shiver down Jak's spine.

"What do you mean?" he said, taking a glimpse at Erol who had fallen asleep again. Ashelin was quiet for a while, before replying. "Jak…Erol told me something when you first brought him to me. He was granted a second chance at life, as you've heard already…but, as a price, he…when he collided with that dark eco after the race, his body was tainted with the stuff…. Jak, Erol also has a dark side to him now. Why he didn't change into it to defend himself…" Ashelin finished, and looked up at Jak's gawking face.

"Are you serious!" he cried, spinning around to take a glance at Erol, sleeping peacefully. "I don't believe you! How can he be…. how can he have a Dark side?" he whispered, looking back at Ashelin. "Jak…I told you. His body was torn apart. He only got it back for a cost. Surely you remember his cyber form two years back?" she said, bending down and retrieving Sharok's red bandage from the ground.

"Of course I remember…but…. why didn't he…change?" Jak asked, but Ashelin just shrugged in return. "Why not ask him that yourself Jak, when he comes to again," she suggested, before making her way to the entrance door. "Thanks Ashelin…. thanks for fixing him up," he sighed, following her towards the door to see her out.

"Jak, it's no problem. Sharok told me about it, so I came to help. Just promise me to take care of him. Make it up to him Jak. I'll see you later," she muttered, striding out the door and over to her blue cruiser. She waved one last time before disappearing around the corner back into the central part of the city.

Jak let the door close in front of him, before turning back to see Erol's feet poking out the end of the booth. He sighed heavily, and wandered slowly over to him. "Jak…remind me to kill you," Erol muttered, awake once again, and glaring up at Jak. His face was slightly flushed, and his bandaged wrist lay helplessly on his chest. "I'm sorry Erol…" Jak forced out, finding this difficult to say to his rival. Erol smirked slightly at the thought of Jak apologizing.

"Next time keep your rage to yourself," he said hoarsely, wriggling around the leather seat to get comfortable. "Why didn't you change?" Jak asked curiously, his gaze burning into the elf before him. "Jak…you don't want to see my dark side. If I had changed, there would have not been a hope for you," he sneered in return, a small smile planting across his face again.

"That's no excuse…you're keeping something from me," Jak snapped angrily, and Erol laughed cruelly. "Maybe I am…. it's those little precursors Jak…they made it quite clear that if I laid even one finger on you, the deal would be off. I'd rather take your punishment than end up dying back in the wasteland again," Erol said, his voice softening. Jak looked away, and strolled over to the bar counter. He sat down heavily on one of the stools, and rested his head in his arms.

"Feeling guilty Jak?" Erol teased, but Jak tensed up, and lifted his head. "Never!" he shot back through gritted teeth. He felt he no longer wanted to stay in the same room as Erol, and leapt off the stool. "Need anything, just shout," Jak shouted, before heading back up the stairs and into his room, where he spent the rest of the afternoon, alone.

Daxter was having a fun time however with Tess down at the gun coarse. Although Tess had been an Ottsel for 18 months, she still had the potential of inventing new guns. At the current moment, she was inventing a new form of gun, which shot out bombs filled with a deadly, suffocating gas. Quite happy with her gun creation, she decided to show Daxter.

"That's a beauty," the orange Ottsel exclaimed, after seeing the gun close up. Tess smiled brightly, and took Daxter into the gun coarse. She handed him a mini gas mask, which he took gratefully and placed it over his face. He watched in awe as Tess rested the gun on her shoulder, and shot out a small bomb shaped missile. The missile flew to the far wall of the gun coarse, before colliding with it, and sending a blackish fog everywhere around it.

"Cool huh?" she said, her voice being muffled by the gas mask. Daxter nodded his head, after witnessing her new weapon of destruction. "It's designed to eliminate enemies in large numbers. Only problem though, the holder must be protected. I'm working on a new face mask to go with it," she said brightly, leading the way out of the gun course.

"I still need to find a reasonable title too," she said, removing her gas mask and laying it down on the ground along with her gun. "If you want to get Jak down here later on to try it out first," she murmured, tossing her blonde hair back and gazing at Daxter. The orange Ottsel's face lit up, before falling again.

"Jak's in no way to come today…he had a fallout with Erol…" Daxter muttered, crossing his arms in disappointment. Tess gasped and put a paw up to her mouth. "Oh no…is he ok?" Tess asked, and Daxter raised an eyebrow.

"Depends on which one you're talking about?" he said in return. "Jak's ok…he's just getting over mental shock. He's been complaining about Erol for the past day or two, but never expected to have this happen. Erol's resting in the bar seeing Jak busted him up pretty bad," Daxter finished. The two fell into an uneasy silence, which indicated to Daxter that it was time to leave. He made his way over to the door, and stepped out into the late afternoon sun. Tess leapt on him before he left, and gave him a tight hug.

"Be careful my wittle Daxie," she cooed, before letting him go. Daxter smiled awkwardly, and turned to leave, ruffling his fur back in place. He heard the gun coarse door shut quietly behind him, and knew Tess had gone back inside. Something in his mind however kept nagging him to get back to Jak. He trusted this 'Nagging', and scurried back to the bar, where he found Jak lying peacefully on his bed. He crawled over to his best friend, and jumped onto the bed next to him.

"You ok Jak?" the Ottsel asked softly, and Jak grunted in return, averting his eyes from his best friend. "Well, better close these curtains before night comes…. which will be soon Jak," Daxter muttered, running over to the small window, and tugging the blue curtains closed. "You know Jak…there's no point in pouting. What's done is done. As long as Erol's fixed up, nothing else should matter," he tried to reassure his friend as he sat back on the bed.

"That's not the point Dax. Ashelin told me he has dark powers now. But, he didn't once use them on me…what's he trying to prove?" Jak asked thoughtfully, stroking his green goatee. Dax shrugged in return, and gazed around the room, spotting Jak's morph gun that lay neatly on the bedside table.

"Hey Jak! Tess has created this new weapon! It kills enemies just like that, by suffocating them all!" And so, the two spent the remainder on the night discussing Tess' new gun, before both fell to a deep sleep.


Sharok: God...why can't I get all the good stuff...I'm so boring...

Corad: Why are you here? Get out! You had your small portion of story line in the last chapter, so get lost! (shoves Sharok off chair and out the door) Thank god he's gone...leave for one minute, and look what happens. I hope you all enjoyed this chappie. There was the answer for Erol's lack of defence in there...he's got a dark side to him now...(sarcastic grunt: How fun...) Any reviews will make me happy, and I'll see you in the next update!