A/N: I updated quickly, didn't I? Thank you so much for the reviews, it's encouraging to know somebody enjoys this story!
,O,
"Okay," said Torn. They were outside of Keira's apartment door, about to rescue her. "We have to be careful about this. I say we quietly-"
"Well I say we bust in and take that freak out!" Erol interrupted, drawing his gun from its holster. Tess nodded.
"It'll take him by surprise," Tess added. Torn sighed. He knew from experience that if the two agreed with each other (which was rare), then he had no hopes of convincing them otherwise.
Okay," he said again, this time in a resigned voice. "We don't have a moment to lose, so let's go in, in an organized fashion! Look intimidating!" He and Tess pulled out their pistols. Erol rammed his shoulder against the door, which had been left unlocked. He stumbled in ungracefully, regained his composure, and aimed his gun, Torn and Tess behind him. Erol looked at the sight before him. He made a little choking noise. Torn stared. Tess squealed at the rather endearing sight.
What they had been expecting was a half-dead Keira, or a Keira backed up against the wall, paralyzed with fear. What they did not expect was a Keira hugging Jak tightly around his neck, sobbing with joy into his tunic. Torn shook his head. He was so embarrassed. He couldn't imagine the man before him was a demon.
"Who are you?" asked Daxter. "Oh hey, babe!" he said, recognizing Tess. "You guys have timing!"
Jak looked up, and his blue eyes widened with shock. Then he glared icily at the newcomers. He wasn't going to waste dark eco on three people, but he did have his morph gun…
"Erol? Torn? Tess?" Keira stammered. "Wha-what are you doing here?" Torn found his voice again.
"Stay away from him, Keira," he said in an authorative voice. "The man before you is a menace to all Haven City residents. I suggest you-" Jak was about to blow his brains out, when Keira grabbed the gun.
"No Jak!" she yelped, yanking the gun so that it didn't hit Torn. The bullet instead whizzed to the left of Torn, shattering the dusty light bulb hanging from the ceiling instead. Sparks flew, and the light flickered out with a crackling noise.
"Oh $&," exclaimed Erol. Pandemonium ensued. Tess screamed, pushing Erol out of the way. Erol panicked, accidentally shooting his gun. The bullet zoomed through the dark room, embedding itself in Jak's arm. An inhuman roar resounded throughout the tiny room, and crackling purple lightning illuminated the chaotic scene. Keira shrieked and fell over at the changing man's feet. She looked up in horror as horns sprouted from Jak's swiftly whitening hair, and elongated black claws slid from his pale fingertips with the sound of a sword being unsheathed. She fainted when she saw long glistening fangs poke down over Jak's lower lip. The whole thing was a nightmare to her.
"Quick!" yelled Torn. "We have to retreat! Somebody get Keira and let's get out of here!" Erol, who had somehow gotten twisted up in Keira's old green curtain during the chaos, untangled himself and hauled Keira over his shoulder. Tess grabbed his hand and dragged him towards the door. Jak slashed at Torn, missing his stomach by a fraction of an inch. Torn stared into the monster's pitch black eyes for a second, then turned and ran out the door after Erol and Tess. He felt angry with himself for running out on a fight, but he knew that he couldn't stick around. Erol gave Keira to Torn, who placed her in the passenger seat of the Hellkat (sp?). Erol and Tess got onto Erol's one-seater, and they sped off to somewhere away from there.
xXIXx
Dark Jak was in a blind fury. He clawed angrily at his arm, but only succeeded in making it bleed more. He licked the hot blood that poured down his arm. He heard the orange creature making some unimportant comments. Luckily, he was so preoccupied with his licking that he forgot to totally rip up Keira's apartment. He could feel Jak trying to regain control, but he kept him locked away. His long pointy ears picked up the sound of sirens in the distance, and he dashed out the door and ran towards the river. Once he got there, he dived beneath the cold, murky, polluted waters and hid there until the sirens stopped.
xXIXx
Keira awoke on a makeshift cot in the back room of the Hip Hog Saloon. She groggily attempted to sit up, but screamed in agony at the excruciating pain in her left side. Tess hurried over.
"Oh dear," she said worriedly. "When you fell, you landed on the shards of the broken light bulb. We removed the pieces and bandaged you up, but it'll still hurt." The memory of what had happened earlier that day came back to Keira. She remembered the way Jak had paled…and all those horns and claws started appearing…
"Are you alright?" asked Tess anxiously. "I'll go get you some water." Tess hurried out to the bar, and Keira's head throbbed. She groaned. It was all too much! She drifted in and out of sleep for what seemed like hours. Tess came back a few minutes after she had left and gave Keira a glass of water. As Keira drank, Tess filled her in on what had happened.
"It was horrible, just horrible!" she shook her head. "Torn and Erol said that they'd be dropping by soon, okay?" She placed a manicured hand on Keira's forehead. "Yikes, I think you might have a fever also!" Keira sighed and closed her eyes. The door creaked open gently as Erol and Torn walked in quietly.
"Is she doing alright?" whispered Torn.
"She's in a lot of pain, but she'll live," responded Tess in a hushed voice.
'Sheesh,' thought Keira. 'They're acting like I'm dead or something!' "You know, guys," she managed to murmur; "I'm still alive. You can talk normally." Tess smiled. Erol tried to, but his lower face muscles had frozen. Instead, he held her hand and sat down on a pile of cardboard boxes. Unfortunately for him, the boxes were empty, and they caved in with a crash under his weight. Torn grinned as he watched Erol massage his back.
"You must be cursed with the klutz curse," he joked. Keira laughed, but ended up coughing. Tess patted her on the back.
"Tell me," Keira said softly, "what was wrong with…what was wrong with…" She was ready to face what was wrong with her Jak. Tess looked at Torn.
"We were going to tell you earlier, but we missed you. Jak was already at your home," said Torn. He then filled her in on what he could become. "It must be the result of the Baron's Dark Warrior experiment." Keira's eyes brimmed with tears.
"I'm, uh, sure he still loves you though," Tess added nervously. "After all, this wasn't his fault." Keira shook her head and plopped back down on the cot, wincing as a bolt of pain shot through her side. She hated to admit it to herself, but she felt afraid of him now. Erol sensed this, and smiled inwardly. A second later, he felt terribly guilty.
'How could I even think that!' he thought to himself in disgust. 'I'm supposed to be her friend!' He excused himself to the bathroom, lost in conflicting emotions.
xXIXx
"Jaaaaaak….Jaaaaaaaak….JAK! Wake up buddy!"
"Mmmff." Jak shoved a pillow over his head.
"Jak, I wanna go to the Hip Hog and see the cute chick there!" Daxter whined. Jak groaned. He wasn't in the mood to get up. He had been up last night, unable to sleep, thinking of the horrific events of the last day. Daxter thought for a minute.
"Soooo, I guess Keira saw Tall, Dark, and Gruesome, huh?" Jak sighed. Daxter wasn't exactly helping. "Ya' know, some babes go for the dark guys! It turns them on!"
"Look Dax, I want to be left alone right now, okay? Why don't you go yourself?" Daxter frowned. How was he supposed to get there? Jak ditched all the zoomers he hijacked, and since he wasn't getting up, he would just have to walk.
"Okay, bye Jak. See ya'!" The orange ottsel walked out. Jak sighed in relief, then continued his inner angst fest. He was interrupted by a knock at the door. He moaned. Couldn't Daxter just leave him alone for the moment?
Knock knock. Knock knock.
"Jak, are you home? It's Ashelin."
,O,
A/N: Hmmm…I'll have to start thinking about what Ashelin will play in this story.