Corad: Sorry this is kinda late. I've been sick for the past few days, but I'm basically better now...if anybody actually cares lol. Thanks to those who read the last chapter. Thank you to Some Dude for your numerous reviews for the previous chapters! I'm glad you're back again :D Hehe, I loved that Yugi Motou remark. That was so funny about the umberella and Starfish...I drew a funny pic of Joey cooking sausages on a BBQ, and he's asking Bakura whether he got the shrimp yet. Bakura's saying yes he has whilst holding a large potato sack with the shape of Yugi in it. Lol, I'm gonna color it soon and put it up on fanart...it's so random. Also, Some Dude, you don't have to answer this but what team house were you in at Maleny High? Both Bijoux and I were in Bunya..hehehe...Bunya...we're the loser team of the school now. We were just wondering about it that's all. Also, thankyou to ShalBrenfan for your nice review too! You reminded me what writing is all about, and lifted my spirits up again, so thankyou! Now, on with the fic...hope you enjoy the next chapter my fellow readers!

Sharok: (Grumbling) Corad doesn't own Jak and Daxter, but she owns me...and it ain't pretty...


Chapter 66 – Stadium Under Attack

The commentary voice kept calling up the racing finalists in the next 15 minutes, telling them all to get a move on. It had annoyed Jak slightly that they had to wait for slackers, but remembered he had turned up late a few times by accident. After all he wasn't a hypocrite, so he forced himself to remain calm and think content thoughts. Although it was hard with Trey beside him, murmuring things to another driver about how he'd won numerous races back at his home turf. That angered Jak more, but he kept his cool and waited patiently.

As the last racer finally turned up and mounted his zoomer, the commentator began welcoming the crowds of people and racers to the finale. Jak looked up at all the stands, surprised at just how many people turned up to watch. He couldn't begin to imagine the publicity he'd get if he won, but the voice introducing everyone ended and the crowd fell silent. That meant the race was about to begin. He heard the preliminary numbers count down, and it felt like forever until they finally reached one and were given the signal to start. He forced his zoomer to life, and instantly kicked off the ground, resting his foot down on the footrest.

Other racers sped past him, blocking his path so he was unable to pass for the time being, so he hung back. Ahead the finalists were bashing each other stupid, determined to knock one another off their racer. It was the easiest option to take, eliminating each contestant one by one with force, but Jak felt it better to leave it to the others. They moved out quickly, taking the first corner at a relatively fast pace before he heard a sickening crunch and narrowly dodged a racer who had been thrown from his zoomer.

The poor man landed hard into the concrete track, his zoomer smashing into a nearby wall and exploding. What happened to the racer after that, Jak was unsure, but the next time he'd passed round, he had been moved. By this stage the race was getting fierce. Everyone was desperate to win, to gain the respect they needed. To gain the title of best racer of Haven city. Some men were so desperate they'd happily kill another to achieve it.

"Back off, Blondie!" Jak turned around after hearing a feminine voice, and saw a female racer, dressed in complete black singlet with cargo pants, waving a small chain around her masked head. It was an odd sight to see a lady racer, but realised the attitude of the tournament had changed since Praxis had organised it, and Keira most likely allowed female drivers now. It was good to see, but Jak wished he could have kicked her away. However, something about hurting women just nagged at him. It didn't seem very moral to do so.

"Heeyahhhh!" she screamed, lashing her leg out and connecting it to Jak's kneecap. He felt his leg jolt out of place for a split second, and he hissed out in pain, biting his tongue to hold back screaming. The girl was about to come in for another round, but Trey appeared at her other side, his clenched fist raised and hurling out towards her masked face. With a cracking sound, her mask shattered and flew off, revealing an angry looking girl, her greenish brown eyes flaming in fury.

"Bastard!" she screamed, lashing out at Trey now with her chain. The chain struck the side of his shoulder, tearing his racing suit and leaving a reddened mark on his flesh. And so that fight took place; fighting for dominance and survival. Jak however left them to it, and inched his zoomer forward, weaving in and out of the other racers just to get away. He was currently in fourth position; the first, second and third place goers just meters ahead. His mind kept screaming out to catch up, but once again the girl had returned, fiery eyes locked onto Jak's.

"Now it's your turn!" she shouted, striking the chain towards Jak's head. Daxter leapt up to take the blow, and cringed in pain when it struck his furry arm. "You have your rat to protect you! HAH!"

Jak was infuriated now. Nobody hurt Daxter, not even he was allowed. He didn't have a clue what happened to that arrogant Trey, or even knew if he was still racing. But the girl before him just seemed to want him dead. He kept his face on the track ahead, but flicked his eyes occasionally to see her chain miss his neck by mere inches. Risking a full look at her, his eyes fell on her face, scared by obvious battles, and her blonde hair was cut short like a man's with a long lock of hair in the centre of her forehead hairline as a fringe. He even noted red, fragile tattoos plastered on her face, although they were very small and hard to see.

'An Ex Krimzon Guard no doubt,' he thought savagely, risking a kick in her direction. As his leg flew out, the chain she was holding lashed down, wrapping itself tightly around his shin. It stung as it cut into his leg, but he managed to yank the end out of her grip and let it slide off, falling to the track. She yelled at him some more, but he carried on, taking a new corner whilst shutting her vibrant shouts out his head.

He spent the next while tackling the three racers ahead of him after the girl had given up fighting him. She'd moved on to someone else, which he was happy about until Trey reappeared, his lip cut and bleeding down his chin. He had a few bruises on his face, and some of his skin and clothes had been torn in numerous places, probably thanks to that chain whipping into him. However injured he appeared to be, he mustn't have felt any of it, and began attacking Jak. The young racer's fist kept connecting with his shoulder, causing pain to shoot up his neck and down his spine. He tried to fight back, but he needed all his attention set on driving. Daxter was beginning to get tired of Trey and his physical abuse towards his buddy, and decided he needed to do something to help out.

As Trey's fist neared Jak again, the ottsel sunk his teeth deep into his hand, the feeling of warm blood seeping into his mouth for a split second before the hand was yanked away. The racer began shouting and flicking his hand rapidly to numb the pain, eyes locked onto Daxter and vowing for vengeance. He moved in again, raising his arm high to whack Daxter off Jak's shoulder, but never got the chance. Ahead Jak could hear the crowd screaming, not in delight or excitement, but in fear.

"What the hell?" Trey asked out in a loud shout, watching as a pack of wolves descended from the sky and flood out into the stadium, soaring around the stands and some even diving down to the track. Jak could see a wolf flying head on towards them, its dark blue eyes piercing his skull, fangs exposed and bloody. How was he meant to escape out of this?

Panic had already engulfed his body, swallowing up his nerves and courage to continue racing. Thinking of no other option he swerved his zoomer to a halt, leaping off and pulling out his morph gun. Trey hadn't bothered to stop, and flew head on into the wolf, grey fur connecting with elf flesh upon collision. Jak's eyes widened as the young racer was torn from his zoomer forcefully, and landed with a loud thud on the track, the wolf strongly pinning him down by his chest and growling. The impact of collision would have most likely broken a few of the racer's ribs or at least damaged his spine.

"Run Jak!" Daxter shouter, cradling his wounded arm and trying to grip onto Jak's shoulder pad at the same time. Jak however couldn't leave the young man. He'd left many to die, but he vowed to change that after having watched Mizo die. And by leaving Trey to be killed by a wolf before his very eyes, when he could have at least tried to save him, just didn't sit right.

"BACK OFF!" Jak's voice rang around the track, murderous and cold as he aimed his morph gun at the wolf's hide. The wolf bared its fangs in Jak's direction, before dipping its head ready to bite Trey's neck. The bite to end one's life. Taking no time to think, Jak ran forward, shooting at the wolf. Bullets dug deeply into its back and hind legs, but still the wolf stayed on top of the racer, only seeming slightly dazed at the pain it was currently encountering. It kept intimidating the man however even more as each second flew by, its sharp claws digging into Trey's flesh producing fine trickles of crimson to stain his clothes. Shooting wasn't harming it enough, but what about…

Taking hold of his dagger's hilt, he slid it out its sheath attached to his waist and leapt onto the wolf's back, driving the dagger blade hard into the back of its neck. It began to howl in pain as fresh, dark red blood came gushing out the wound and soaking its grey fur a crimson shade. Jak pushed the dagger in further, twisting it painfully around as he felt its writhing body beneath him convulsing. When at last the wolf gave up its life, it fell to the track, crushing Trey in the process.

The elf below gave a weak, strangled cry, feeling his lungs being pushed hard inside his chest. The broken ribs pressed firmly into his lungs too at the beast's heavy weight. At least the wolf was dead, but what about the others? Jak wasn't sure what was going on in the rest of the stadium. The other racers had long been gone, probably evacuated before they had time to finish. But he could hear a distant outcry on loudspeaker, and noticed it to be Torn's voice shouting for an immediate evacuation. So it was serious then.

"Damn!" Jak hissed, crawling off the wolf's dead body and kneeling beside Trey's head. His eyes were half shut and hazy, and Jak couldn't tell whether he was breathing or not, but took hold of a hand that had been lucky enough to not be under the wolf, and pulled hard. Trey came back to his senses at the sudden jolt of his body, feeling his ribs being pushed so far into his lungs it pained him to breathe.

"Stop! Stop it!" he gasped in pain, before falling breathless. Jak leaned over him, and noticed tears trailing down his cheeks and mixing in with some blood that had been there before.

"Shut up Trey. You should be glad I wasted my time saving you," Jak sneered, pulling the man out again. He heard Trey scream weakly and felt him become rigid, before realising why the other racer had told him to stop pulling. But what was done was done. After pulling him out completely Jak turned to leave, but Trey called him back in a weak, shuddering whisper.

"Jak, you should have… let the wolf… kill me…it would have been a quicker…dea…uh…" Trey's head hit the ground with a sickening thump, and his eyes stared blankly to the sky as blood trickled out his mouth, pooling beside his cheek on the racing track. Jak knew that sight all too well, but he cried out in anger and frustration at the sight of Trey's limp body robbed of his youthful life. He had attempted to save a life, but still he failed. Those broken ribs must have punctured something, suffocating the elf with his own blood. Making a move over to him, he heard Daxter shout at him to leave. Wolves were still flying around the stadium in masses. Jak could now hear guns and grenades going off, and he realised Torn had sent the Freedom fighters in to help defend against the attacking beasts.

Taking one last glance at the dead Trey, Jak turned on his heel and ran the rest of the track, seeing abandoned zoomers lying everywhere with a few dead bodies strewn across the ground. He tried to ignore them, and reached the track lift, taking it up to the stands level. Blue armoured Guards were everywhere, fighting the wolves and some successfully killing a few. He could see Ashelin and Torn fighting side by side; shooting with handguns at a wolf that had began nearing closer to them.

He glanced up at the stands and saw a few citizens lying dead across seats, and was thankful Keira wasn't one of them. He prayed she got out ok, and was safely locked up in her garage. "Jak! Behind you!" Jak spun around in time to see a large wolf leap at him shoving him hard to the ground, but it was thrown off and sent hurling into the pavement a second later. Blood began oozing out its head, and Jak looked up to see his saviour. Sharok stood beside him, holding out a hand to help Jak up. The younger man gladly accepted the help, and watched as Sharok leant down and tore his bloody dagger out of the wolf's head before wiping it clean on its grey fur.

"Quick, follow me! Torn wants us all to go to Freedom HQ! It's an immediate assembly!" Sharok shouted out, his face splattered finely crimson. Jak nodded and grabbed Daxter by the arm, flinging him onto his shoulder in one fluid motion whilst running at a sprinting pace after Sharok. The two ran along the canal region, everywhere citizens were screaming and dashing to hide in nearby buildings. But he couldn't care about them. He didn't care about anybody right now, but those he knew and loved personally.

"EROL! OVER HERE!" Sharok shouted out suddenly, waving a hand quickly at an elf that stood shooting up at the sky at a wolf soaring overhead. The ex commander lowered his gaze and spotted Jak and Sharok, before dashing up to them both. He had a bit of blood staining his clothes and hair, but other than that he looked fine.

"Sharok, they're everywhere! What are we to do!" Erol shouted out, reloading his gun with more ammo and aiming it at the wolf above again. Sharok shook his head hastily and shoved Erol's gun down, before shouting in a hurried voice "To the HQ! Torn will meet us there!"

So the three ran as fast as they could handle through the canals, before reaching the new upgraded section of the Water Slums. As they approached the HQ, the lift door opened up and Jak leapt in first, followed by Erol before Sharok stepped in, panting hard. The doors shut tightly and the lift ascended slowly.

"That was a close call, lads. I wonder why they attacked us just now," Sharok pondered out loud, and Jak eyed him suspiciously. He just didn't understand this man anymore. As the lift came to a gentle halt, the doors opened up and the four wandered out, making their way over to the centre table where they stood waiting for news from Torn.

By the time Torn had arrived back, his face was pale and his breathing was rugged and shallow, but overall he looked unharmed. "Torn! How's everything?" Jak shouted out just as the leader stepped off the lift and began walking up to them. He reached the table and leaned on it for support, eyes shut tightly.

"We lost men Jak. Innocent citizens died today, some of the racers couldn't make it out alive, and Freedom Fighters tried their hardest to beat them back. If it hadn't been for another wolf howling from the Stadium roof, we would never have made it out alive. The beasts departed after that, leaving us alone to dwell in our failure," Torn replied quietly, his voice shaking as he struggled to get the words out.

Jak stayed silent, looking on at Torn in sympathy, before Erol spoke up breaking the heavy silence. "So, what now? Have the wolves gone for good? Where is our governess?"

"Where is my father!" Jak suddenly realised Damas could have been there watching him race. He didn't once stop to think that, but now it seemed likely.

"Your father's fine Jak. He stayed at the Palace organising folders for Ashelin. And to answer your question Erol, the wolves fled out the city and Ashelin is out with a few guards gathering up the dead victims," the Leader replied softly, his knuckles turning white from holding onto the desk too tightly.

The room fell silent again, all struggling to say something. Even Daxter remained quiet, unable to create a joke out of such a serious situation. The time flew by before Ashelin stalked in, her clothes all bloody and ragged from fighting and clearing up bodies. As she approached the desk, she gave everyone a weak smile to tell them it was all under control.

"I have alerted the city Guards, and the city's now on high alert. Citizens have been warned to keep inside unless it's urgent, and as a safety measure, we're increasing our patrols to 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We can't afford to let this happen again," Ashelin clearly stated, her voice keeping strong although Jak knew she would be once again blamed for all this. Such was the way.

"Ash, good job. How many men did we lose today?" Torn whispered, straightening up and turning to the governess beside him. She sighed deeply and lowered her face to the ground, her pinkish locks covering her eyes from view.

"14 Torn. Although there were only 10 wolves or so, we lost 14 men. But with our new patrol duty starting tonight, hopefully we can be prepared next time. Guard ranks will be rearranged and the slight sighting of a wolf in Haven's boundaries shall have the rank move out to destroy it. We can't let them penetrate us inside the walls again," she snapped, eyes narrowing. Torn nodded his head and leaned back onto the table, a dizzy spell beginning to cloud his mind.

"Jak, Erol. I suggest you two take Daxter back to the Bar. Stay there and don't venture out unless completely necessary. From what we've seen today, these wolves are hard to tackle." The two elves and Daxter nodded their heads in reply and began to move towards the lift door, but Jak turned around one last time. Hie eyes fell upon Sharok, surveying the man closely just trying to break through that façade. The older elf stared back at Jak, mouth a thin, tight line and arms crossed over his chest. Deciding not to say anything about his accusation, Jak shrugged it off and followed Erol down the lift.

"Had a brain freeze Jak?" Erol asked in a mocking tone as the lift descended, and Jak glared back at him.

"I found out something about Sharok a couple of weeks ago. But Skytha forbade me to tell anyone, or even meddle with it. I promised her, but looking back it's getting harder and harder to keep from breaking it," Jak growled back, stepping off the lift as the outside door opened up. They cast a gaze around the street and noticed that it was completely deserted, even from Freedom fighters. So the three made their way back to the bar, armed and ready to fire if need be. But Jak kept thinking it all over again. If Sharok was really a werewolf, why had he been fighting alongside the elves? Why had be killed his own with that dagger of his? Was he really the enemy here, or was killing elves in the past just a way to feed his pack? He couldn't grasp the answer, and felt the need to ask Skytha about it when they got back. Maybe she would know why.


Corad: I think we have a loony on our hands (shoots Sharok a glare). Now, I based the female racer in this chapter off an anime/Manga character. If you wanna guess who she is, then by all means go ahead. If not, I'll tell ya in the next chapter. It's pretty obvious is you watch this anime though coz it basically is her...but anyhow, how was that? I felt the need to kill something, and I guess Trey was it. For anyone who cares, Trey was only a young racer too...about 16 or 17. He wasn't that old...like you! (points at unsuspecting Torn passing by) Last chapter I proposed a new idea for a sequel to this fic. Nobody's made any comments about that, so that either means that A) Nobody's interested in reading the next fic B) Nobody has any objections to Japanese mythology in Jak and Daxter or C) Nobody actually bothers to read my authors notes. I personally hope it's option B, but it's probably either A or C...ah well...you can still comment on my new idea is you wish. Only written the prologue and first chapter so far. There are about 8 chapters left for this fic. Most of the remaining chapters are pretty interesting with major things happening and loose ends being tied. Also get to find out who wins the war between wolfish and elfish. Fun stuff lol. Now, thanks to everyone who read this. I hope it was enjoyable for ya, and I'll see you guys in the next update:)