Chapter XIX: Trouble In The Arena

LES: This is the chapter where I got Jak REALLY pissed at me when I told him what he had to do. Remember when I made him relive the Wumpbee incident and almost get eaten? Well, it was nothing compared to his anger now!

Jak: (is in his Dark form) I swear on the Precursors, I'm going to kill you some day!

LES: Hey, Jakkie-Boy, no 'hard' feelings!

Dark Jak: (tries to tackle LES)

LES: (dodges Dark Jak's attack) Okay, so if the lustiness in the first chapter bothered you, you'd do well to skip the first part of this chapter.


Since it was several hours before he was due in the arena, Jak lay quietly on his bed, staring up at the ceiling, trying to fall asleep, but it just wasn't happening.

Daxter was around somewhere, but Jak neither knew nor cared where that was.

He continued to think about the conversation he and Daxter had about Keira. Marry her? He could think of a hundred reasons why he shouldn't, and one reason why they should. Was Daxter right? Was love enough? And another thing… what if he fell out of love with her, heaven forbid! He had seen Daxter fall in and out of love with more women than he could count.

'Why do you think of this woman all the time?' Light's curious voice asked inside his head.

'Because he loves her.' Dark replied with a bit of venom in his voice. 'Ha! There's no such thing!'

'Of course there is love, Dark One.' Light replied. 'There is love just as there is hate.'

Jak shut out the voices, allowing them to argue about the existence of love alone. The two argued and disagreed constantly. Jak had the feeling that even if Light thought that Dark was the most dangerous being on the planet, Dark would disagree out of pure spite.

Finally, he felt sleep begin to take him. And with no complaint, Jak let himself fall asleep.


(Dream State)

Jak opened his eyes and found that he was in his old room in Haven. Surprised, Jak sat up. "What am I doing here?" He asked, looking around the familiar room.

"Hello, Jak." Said a familiar and welcome voice. Jak looked around, Keira was standing in the corner of the room, smiling at him.

"Keira?" Jak asked, suddenly very aware that he didn't have a shirt on. "What are you doing here?"

Keira laughed, like she was in on some joke that Jak was missing. "You invited me here, silly."

"Did I?" Jak asked, confused.

Without another word, Keira jumped onto the bed, tackling the surprised elf and pressed her lips against his. But he wasn't surprised for long, as he began to kiss her back. When they pulled away, Jak spoke. "This is a dream." He said simply. "I'm still back in Spargus, and you are in Haven."

Keira laughed. "Then, don't you think this is a good dream?"

"Yes." Jak said, and he kissed her again. How he had missed her, even if this was a dream.

Suddenly, Keira pulled away slightly earlier than he would have liked. "I love you, Jak." She whispered.

Jak smiled. "I love you too… for so long…" Jak moved to kiss her again, but she stopped him.

"No, Jak, before that, I have to tell you something." She took a breath and continued. "Do you remember that day… in Carla's house when we talked alone in the room? You asked me what I thought we'd be doing if you weren't dying…"

"Yes." Jak nodded.

"I… knew the answer then… I was just too scared to say it." Keira said. "I didn't think I was ready to take that step… even with you." Keira paused, blushing slightly. "But… I've realized… I'm ready."

Jak's mouth hung open. His dreams were coming true… in a dream. "Are you serious?" He asked. Keira nodded. Jak no longer cared that this wasn't a dream. "Oh, Keira, you have no idea how long I've waited for this." He pulled the she-elf into a passionate kiss.

The couple kissed for several passionate minutes before the elf's hands developed a mind of their own. He attacked Keira's top in an effort to get it off. Keira pulled away and assisted him in pulling her shirt off, and then her bra. Jak, ever the male, couldn't help but stare. Keira grinned sheepishly and pressed herself up against him. It turned out there was a secondary motive behind this move besides the wondrous feeling of flesh-on-flesh. She was now attacking his pants with the same zeal that he did her shirt.

Jak, wanting this as much as she did, helped her ripping off the fabric like a mad person. The lust that he felt for the she-elf overrode his thoughts, all that was left was emotions. So, while Jak finished removing his clothes, so did Keira.

Once they were both completely naked, Keira crawled up next to Jak on the bed where he immediately attacked her with his lips. After a few minutes of making out, Jak rolled over so that he now hovered over Keira's yielding frame.

She gazed up at him, her eyes full of love and trust, when…

"Jak! Wake up!"

Jak let out a small shout of surprise as he sat up in bed. He was back in Spargus and Keira was not there. Daxter was standing outside the closed door, yelling at him to get up.

Jak sighed angrily. So it was just a dream. And then he looked down and gasped. It seemed he had a rather large problem. He shouldn't have been surprised, though, considering his dream…

"Jak? Are you all right?" Daxter began to open the door. In a flash, Jak grabbed a pillow and set it on his lap to cover the incriminating evidence of his dream. Daxter came in. "Jak? What happened? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Jak said hurriedly. "What is it?"

"Well, your fight's in an hour." Daxter said. He paused, noting Jak's pale face. "Are… are you sure you're all right?"

"Positive." Jak put on a fake reassuring smile. "Just… uh… leave me alone for a few minutes."

Daxter didn't say anything at first, and then: "All right, whatever you say." And then he left.

Jak put his face in his hands. He had been having lots of fantasies about Keira and being with her ever since the Metal-Head Leader was destroyed, but never before had those fantasies affected his body. But then again, he had never got that close with Keira, whether in a dream or real life. Jak shook his head. "I can't even be with her in my dreams."

He sighed and took care of himself. Once the evidence of his arousal was gone, Jak got up, and composed himself. Still, this was a highly embarrassing, this was something that he'd never even tell Keira. This was a secret he would take to his grave.

'What happened to us?' Light asked. 'Why do I feel like… I don't know…'

'I'm wondering that myself.' Dark grumbled.

Shut up! Both of you! Jak thought at them.

'And, by the way, pussy, that feeling… its called lust and arousal. See, what he wants to do is…'

Shut up! Jak yelled silently. What I want to do is none of your business!

'Why not?' Dark asked. 'We live in your mind! I was born of your anger and Pussy here was born of your… goodness… crap. We are you! Only I'm much cooler…'

…I'd kill you if I could. Jak grumbled.

'But you can't, so HA!' Dark laughed.

Jak shut off the rest of the conversation. He swore, he would kill them if it didn't mean killing himself. He got up, put on his armor. Once the armor was on correctly, he walked out.

Daxter was waiting for him. "Are you sure that you're all right."

"Sure, Dax." Jak said. "I'm perfectly fine." A downright lie.


(Throne Room)

Damas sat on the Throne, speaking to one of his oldest friends, a man who had been by his side since the beginning. "So, have you found him?"

The man sighed from the shadows. "I'm sorry, Damas. I looked all over that City, but I've nothing."

"Not even…?"

"Not even your wife, sire." The man said. "I'm sorry, but I've looked everywhere, and I couldn't just go asking around." Damas sighed, and stood up from the throne, walking a short distance away. The man spoke up again. "You know I cared for that boy and your wife almost as much as you do…"

"No, it's all right. I understand." Damas said. "But I can't give up. I have to believe he's still alive out there… somewhere. If he's not… then I have no more reason to live. I was so stupid. I risked my life, and destroyed my family just for the sake of ending a war…" He paused. "What if she never forgave me for that?"

"It wasn't your fault, sire." The man said. "No one could have predicted your own general would…"

"Enough of that man!" Damas ordered. "I'll have no mention of him in this City! However… we must begin to make plans in the event that he's never found." Damas paused, thinking. "Can I trust you to run this City in the event of my death and the boy is not found?"

"Of course, your Highness." The man said.

Damas straightened up, looking like a King again. "Well, I should be off. I've got a trial to preside over."

"Which trial?"

"The Last One."

"Really? How 'bout I go down and be the 'Hunter'?" The man asked.

"You know the rules. Either you die or the rookie must die." Damas said. "I can't do that. I need you to run this City after the expected eventuality of my death."

"This is a rookie we're talking about, right? Should be no problem."

"This is no ordinary rookie we're talking about here." Damas said. "You must know him… his name is…"

"It doesn't matter." The man said. "I can handle myself, you know that, Damas. You wouldn't turn the City over to me if you thought I was a helpless fighter."

Damas faced his friend. "Thank you for your work in Haven, my friend. I appreciate it."

"No problem, your Majesty. I would have stayed even longer for you." The man said as they walked out of the Throne Room together.


Jak walked into the arena and walked over to the platform that was under Damas' platform. Damas stood up from his Throne. "Welcome to your final trial, warrior. You have proven your agility, strength, and prowess on the battlefield. But you've been fighting animals so far. The beast is not an intelligent animal at all, and the Marauders are only a little better. It is time for you to prove that you can outsmart a warrior, one that can think for himself and use trickery to accomplish his goals." Damas paused. "Make the Hunted the Hunter. Find your Hunter and take him out before he takes you out."

"No problem." Jak said.

"Remember, if you win this one, you'll become a true Wastelander." Damas said. "Now go."

Jak turned around and looked at the arena format, which was now set up into a maze, perfect for hiding and seeking. The platform Jak stood on lowered into the maze and Jak was instantly on high alert. He was used to tracking Metal-Heads, but this wasn't a Metal-Head. This was an unknown Elvin warrior. As such, he would have to be weary of sneak attacks and back-stabbings.

A broadsword materialized out of nowhere and the Dark Elf began to move down the path, constantly on alert.

He came to the first fork in the path and he looked around the corner. He saw nothing. He listened for any telltale sounds, but heard nothing. He learned long ago the value of his enhanced senses. Whoever this warrior was, he knew how to stalk his prey. Jak's predator instincts kicked in and he moved swiftly down the right path, weapon always at the ready.

Jak knew one thing about mazes. What you were looking for tends to be in the center. He continued this strategy for a while, always checking a path before venturing onto it. Suddenly…

Something shot right past Jak's ear, and he knew instantly that he was under fire. He jumped into a nearby alcove.

"Well, we've found the Hunter." Jak whispered.

"Great, now take him out before he has the chance to take US out!" Daxter hissed.

"Shhh." Jak said, and Daxter fell quiet. He listened as the sound of heavy booted feet moved down the path. He carefully timed the steps, waiting for them to get within striking distance. Jak's grip tightened on the hilt of the Dark Weapon as he waited. Then, it was time. Jak jumped out of the alcove and raised the sword to strike. The Hunter raised his gun, a PeaceMaker. Then… Jak saw who was holding the weapon. "Sig?"

It was Sig, indeed. Jak lowered the Dark Weapon. Sig lowered his weapon in surprise. "Jak? Daxter?" He asked.

"Sig!" Daxter exclaimed.

"Well, don't you two look sorrier than ever?" Sig commented.

"What are you doing here?" Jak asked.

"Honing my skills." Sig said.

"What's going on?" Damas suddenly roared, staring down on them. "You two know the rules of the arena, now fight!"

Sig looked up at Damas, nodded, and then looked at Jak, his eyes narrowed. "Let's finish this."

"Jak backed away, dropping the sword. "Whoa, come on, Sig. I'm not going to fight you. I don't kill my friends anymore."

"One or the other has to die." Sig said. "If we don't fight, Damas'll kill us both. It's the rules of the arena. The only merciful opinion left is to fight." Sig waited for Jak to pick up the dropped weapon or to get another one. Jak looked down at the weapon and it disintegrated into nothing.

Pecker was beside himself. "It seems that the Great Warrior, Jak, is refusing to fight!" He yelled to the audience so they could know what was going on. "Now, this something I never thought I'd see!"

Sig sighed and raised the PeaceMaker. It was clear to see that he didn't like the idea of shooting an unarmed man. It was murder. He aimed the PeaceMaker right at Jak. "Sorry, cherries, nothing personal."

Jak did not move, though he knew full well that he would never survive a direct blast from a PeaceMaker. Healing powers could only do so much.

"Oh-oh…" Daxter said when he saw that Jak had no intention of moving out of the way of the blast.

Sig's eyes narrowed and time slowed to a crawl. Years seemed to pass as the PeaceMaker's laser sight centered on Jak's chest. Suddenly, Sig's face softened and he let the PeaceMaker drop to the ground. "I can't do it." He said.

Jak barely had time to register the fact that Sig wasn't going to kill him when a voice sounded through the arena, one that filled him with dread it was so angry. "Treachery!" Damas stood up from the Throne angrily. "One must destroy the other! Complete the test, or face worse pain!"

Jak and Sig didn't move. Sig merely shook his head. "I just know I'm gonna regret this…"

'You idiot!' Dark roared in his head, causing Jak to flinch. 'You could kill him easily, even without my help!'

I can't kill a friend… not again. Jak thought. If I do, I'll become just as terrible as the people I fought to destroy.

'You and your honor code! It makes me sick!' Dark grumbled.

'I support your decision.' Light said helpfully.

Great. But I doubt we're going to live through this one. Jak thought.

Damas pointed at the trio in the maze. "Seize them!"

Warriors instantly ran into the maze and converged on the two warriors and the Ottsel. "Don't fight them." Sig said to Jak. "It will only make the situation worse."

"How can it get worse?" Jak wondered out loud, but he didn't fight. It took all his will power not to fight back. He had not fought Sig because he was a friend, one of the few friends that Jak had. But he didn't know these warriors at all, so he could easily kill them without any guilt trips.

However, as much as Jak hated it, he allowed the warriors to put him in a nelson. The warriors knew that if Jak didn't want to give in, and he wanted to fight, they would have all died.

They led both the warriors away without a word to them.


They were led straight to Damas' Throne Room where the powerful King began to grill them. "How dare you two defile the purity of the arena!" Damas rounded on Sig, who lowered his eyes. "Sig, I thought better of you, but your time in Haven City has obviously poisoned you!" Damas then rounded on Jak. "And you, newcomer, you deserve no mercy! I should toss you both into the jaws of the desert!" Damas paused, looking between the two guilty parties. Jak didn't let any emotion show on his face, but he honestly did not look forward to being tossed back out into the desert. Dying of dehydration was not very high on the list of ways he wanted to die. "However…" Damas said, turning back to Sig. "Sig, your years of service as our spy in Haven City…" Jak stared at Sig. "…Has earned you a chance to redeem yourself, but only this once!"

"A spy?" Jak asked Sig quietly.

"Just shut up! I'll tell you later." Sig hissed back.

Damas then turned to Jak. "And you… I won't deny that a fighter of your skills isn't useful out here in the desert. But you are not getting off that easily either. There's a mountain the Metal-Heads have taken over as a Nest not too far from here. There are eggs there, but they will not have hatched yet. I want you to drive into the heart of the Nest and take out every egg inside. The Metal-Heads will have these eggs well protected, so watch out. I won't pretend that this is going to be easy, and there's little chance that you two will be coming back in one piece. I'd say 'good luck', but then luck won't help you."

Sig bowed respectfully as he backed away, and Jak awkwardly followed his actions. They walked out of the Throne Room.

"Whew!" Daxter breathed. "That was close! Hey, Jak, did you hear how he went on about that arena? 'Defiling the purity' and all… you'd think we defiled a virgin or something…"

Jak growled loudly and Daxter instantly shut up.

"So, Damas picked you two up after you were banished?" Sig asked. "Quite a lucky break, huh?"

"I guess." Jak said. "I almost died out there."

"The heat or dehydration?" Sig asked.

"A bit of both." Jak said.

"How long were you out there?"

"They told me several hours."

"H—hours?" Sig demanded. "Wow… that's practically unheard of for a Havener like you to survive the desert for even an hour. Even seasoned Spargains can't stay out there for more than a few hours! It's hard to believe that you really are a Havener, you could be a native-born Wastelander. But… that's not possible unless you were a Marauder before you showed up in Haven."

"I assure you, I'm not a Marauder." Jak said.

"I guess your right…" Sig said, staring hard at Jak as though trying to see through him. "You don't have the look of a Marauder. Marauders are tough as steel, for they are born into a tough life." Sig paused. "You have the look of who had an easy childhood, and then something happened… forcing you to grow up."

Jak stared at Sig. "Oh my God…"

"Wow!" Daxter exclaimed. "That's Jak's life story! That's amazing, how did you know that?"

But Jak didn't let Sig answer, because words started to slip out of his mouth like they had been dying to be told to someone… anyone. "I grew up in a place with no Metal-Heads." He said. "It was a simple village, not a complicated life. And then I was thrown into prison…" Jak trailed off, he rarely spoke out loud about his prison days. They were simply too painful to remember or to think about.

Everyone realized they had touched a sore subject, so they didn't question Jak any further about his past. The elf shook his head. No use wallowing in the past, right? What's done is done, and there was nothing Jak could do about it. The only thing he could do was to make his future worth living. Not that he had much of a future if he failed this test.

"Let's do this!" Jak said, his old spark was back.

"Hey! There's the Jak we all know!" Sig said brightly. "Let's make those Metal-Heads wish they never laid eggs here in the Wasteland!"

"Oh… no!" Daxter said. "Whenever you two get stuck together, you just know there's gonna be trouble!"

"Come on, Dax, how many times have you been put into mortal danger because of me?" Jak asked.

"Do you really want to know?" Daxter asked. "Possible a thousand times!"

"Come on…" Jak began.

"That's not even counting the times you put my life in danger by exposing me to Dark Eco!"

"But you seem to have a pretty good immunity to it." Jak said. "Possibly even better than mine before the Precursor."

"But you brag all the time about having the best Dark Eco immunity in the world." Daxter said.

"Now I do." Jak said. "I could drink Dark Eco without hurting myself… not that I'd want to drink it… it tastes nasty…"

"Since when did you drink Dark Eco?" Daxter asked.

"Okay, so maybe I didn't drink it… just the opposite." Jak said, shuttering.

"Eating it?"

"Vomiting it."

"God, now you've brought back unwanted memories!" Daxter said, shaking his head to get rid of the 'unwanted memories'. "Let's just get this over with!"

They walked into the Garage and Sig led them to a large, heavily armored buggy. "This here's the Gila Stomper." Sig said. "This thing has a powerful auto-turret gun that will tear through even Metal-Pedes like nobody's business! Those eggs won't stand a chance!"

"Sounds great." Jak said, jumping into the vehicle, and starting to get situated in the driver's seat.

Suddenly… "Move over, cherries." Sig was climbing into the vehicle.

Jak's jaw dropped. "But… Sig!" He glared at the passenger seat. "I can drive it too!"

"Yeah, I've heard of your so-called 'driving'." Sig said. "You take the gun, I'll drive."

"You're not my father!" Jak grumbled, but he moved over to the passenger seat.

Daxter elbowed Jak. "Technically, you don't know that."

Jak stared at Daxter. "What?" And then he turned to Sig. "Have you ever fought the Metal-Head Leader before in your life?"

Sig laughed. "I wish. Man, it tears me up inside that you got to kick the Metal-Head Leader's ass while I was trying to escape the Underport Labyrinth."

Jak gave Daxter a significant look. "Okay, so you were right and I was wrong."

The only clue Jak had of his father's identity was that he once fought the Metal-Head Leader. So, Sig was definitely out, which was a good thing because the thought of Sig being his father was just plain… scary.

Sig turned on the Gila Stomper and drove out of the Garage and into the Wasteland.


Finally, the last Metal-Head egg was destroyed and Sig turned the vehicle around and began to head out of the Nest and head back to Spargus. He turned on the radio. "Sig and Jak to King Damas." He said. "Mission accomplished."

"Good job Sig… and you too, Jak." Damas' voice said over the radio. "I promised you mercy. Mercy is earned, and it is granted. But, I'm warning you now, never defile the purity of the arena again!" He disconnected.

Jak sighed with relief. "Well, looks like we live to fight another day, huh Sig?"

"That was too close for my liking." Sig said.

"Do you think I'll get another chance at getting my last War Amulet?" Jak asked.

"Eventually." Sig said. "You kinda blew it for a while. I doubt the people back in Haven would believe that you actually refused to fight someone."

"Hey, I don't kill my friends… not anymore." Jak said, thinking of Sorus. "Although, if I do say so myself, I could have beaten you easily."

"Great, now I'm really regretting letting you go." Sig said. "A good ass-kicking is exactly what you need to deflate your ego."

"Hey! I've never said I could do anything that I couldn't do!" Jak hissed. He seemed to wait for something, but what he was waiting for wasn't coming. "Fine, as Daxter would say right now 'Jak walks the walk, and he talks the talk'!"

"Oops, did I miss a joke opportunity?" Daxter asked.

"You just said something right now. That you can kick my ass." Sig said.

"Easily." Jak said. "Even without my Dark Powers."

"Sorry, but Jak's not kidding here." Daxter said sensibly.

Sig simply grumbled something about teaching the elf a lesson someday that he won't forget. But Jak ignored him. He was unbeatable!


LES: Wow, I have a lot to say about this chapter. If that line that Jak says about him taking Daxter's line about walking the walk and talking the talk sounds weird, forgive me. It was originally written to be an 'All Jak' line. But then I thought it sounded weird. But I still wanted Jak to say it, so I had him like he was taking Daxter's line. There was also a huge mistake when I first wrote this chapter. All the Metal-Head eggs were Metal-Pedes, which don't come till later! Oh, and my mother has finally discovered that I use swear words in my stories. She looked over my shoulder while I was writing and read out loud "You just said something right now. That you could kick my ass." Well, she almost went into shock, but she's okay now. It's a good thing she didn't read about Jak's dream earlier. O.o