Chapter LII: The Final Battle, Part II
LES: Chapter 42! And it seems like I've got so much left to do! Will I break the chapter record? I only pray that I will be able to tie up all the loose ends, if not in this story, then in its sequels and prequels.
Muse: What?
LES: Pray for me.
Muse: (crosses self)
LES: Not you! You're probably hoping that this chapter sucks so you can say 'I told you so!'
Muse: I am not! (is lying)
Jak walked up to the smoldering ruins of the Dark Maker Beast. A figure arose from the head, which had been made to withstand such an explosion. "You could have just gotten out of the Beast." Jak said, walking up rather calmly. "It would have been easier."
"You... you FREAK!" Erol roared. "You'll pay for that, I swear it!"
"Someday, I probably will." Jak said.
Erol grinned. "I'll kill you." He said. "And after I kill you... I'll enjoy hunting down and killing all your friends. I'll start with the rat... I'll have plenty of fun with him before I kill him. I'll make that little freak beg for death before I deliver what he wants! Then, after the rat is gone... I'll move on to your beloved Keira. Rape will be nothing compared to the torture I will inflict upon her. I could have loved her, and spared her... but she has chosen you in the end after all..."
During this whole speech, Jak shook with rage and his hands clenched into fists. "You'll never touch Daxter or Keira... not while I still have a single breath left in me!"
"So protective." Erol laughed. "We always were enemies, you and I. Ever since that day, in South Town, long ago, I knew that I would be the one to kill you." Erol paused thoughtfully. "Deep down, I knew that you would survive the Dark Warrior Project, because I was the one destined to kill you, not a case of Dark Eco Poisoning. Can you not feel it too, Number Eleven?"
Jak felt his rage boil over. "I HAVE A NAME!" He roared. "I am Prince Jak Mar, son of the Warrior-King, Damas Mar! I am the Darkness! I am the Light! I am Balance! I am the Destroyer of Dark Sages and Metal-Head Leaders! I am a hero! I am the Precursor's Chosen One and Champion! I AM YOUR DOOM!"
"Impressive titles, Oh Balanced One." Erol said mockingly, summoning two Dark weapons to his hands. "But... do you fight as well as you boast?"
"Let us end this, then." Jak growled, summoning two Light swords. "Only one shall walk away from this. Dax, get off." He added suddenly.
"But..." Daxter began to protest."
"I'll need every ounce of speed and agility I have." Jak said, still keeping his eyes on Erol should the Dark Champion try to attack him. "You'll only be a dangerous distraction and a complication. I'm sorry, Dax, but this is my fight, and my fight alone. I don't want you to get hurt." Daxter slid off Jak's shoulder. "Here, call everyone... for better or worse." Jak tossed Daxter the holographic emitter. Daxter nodded wordlessly and took the device. He ran to a safe distance. Jak touched the scarf on his arm. "Keira... give me strength..." He whispered. He looked back up at Erol.
"Too bad Keira can't be here to cry over your dead body." Erol said.
"Enough talk." Jak hissed, twirling the two blades in his hands. "Let's fight."
"Eager to die, are we?" Erol asked. "Fine, so be it. Show me what Mar's last living descendent can do!"
With that, the two parties leapt at each other and swords clashed. The final confrontation had begun...
From a distance, Daxter used the hologram to contact Freedom HQ and Samos answered. "Daxter? Where are you two? You're supposed to be in the Catacombs!"
"We went there already!" Daxter said hurriedly. "You've got to get everyone out here to Spargus! Jak is fighting Erol!"
"Is it... the Final Battle?" Samos asked.
"Yes, it is!" Daxter yelled.
Samos nodded. "I'll get everyone out there as soon as possible. But... I hope it's not for a funeral..."
Back at the fighting duo, things were pretty evenly matched. Though their blades would just be a blur to those watching, they were able to keep up with each other reasonably well. It was clear that Jak was by far the better swordsman, but he was also tired out by his fight against the Beast. Erol, while he wasn't that good, was still in his prime. It was also clear that Erol had some training with the sword. But what Jak lacked in technique, he made up for with speed and power. But what Erol lacked in speed, he made up for with technique and a power equal to Jak's currently diminished power.
Neither seemed able to land a single blow on the other. Back and forth, they moved through the desert sands... the sun at high noon, just like those old-time duels. So, neither could tell just how much time had passed. The only thing going through the fighter's minds were: Block! Counterattack! Block! Opening! Strike!
Soon, it became clear to both fighter that they would not be able to win on the sword alone, so Erol began to play dirty. He leapt backwards and, scooped up some sand, threw it at Jak's eyes with the thought of blinding the elf. Jak stopped the sand from getting in his eyes by blocking the particles with his arm. However, in that small moment, Erol leapt forward and sliced at his arm. The armor stopped his arm from being cut off, but it could not stop Jak from receiving a small cut. A single drop of blood fell for the wound and hit the desert sand before the wound healed.
Erol moved back further, panting with fatigue. "First blood goes to me." He laughed at the sight of the blood on the sand. "So... you do bleed. That means you are still mortal, and I can kill you!"
Jak, too, was gasping for breath. He was tiring quickly. "You are mortal too." Jak said. "There is still an elf in there somewhere. I can hear your heartbeat... and a machine could never have been effected by Light Eco as it affected you."
"I'll kill you before you kill me!" Erol roared.
Without warning, Jak flipped backwards and hit the solid face of a rock formation feet first, then he launched himself at Erol in a desperate attempt to end the fight then and there. The sword caught Erol's... shoulder? Jak had missed.
Jak leapt away from Erol before he could retaliate. Erol roared in pain and pulled the sword out of his shoulder, and crushed it, completely unaffected by the Light Eco.
"Yes, I've got the tolerance too." Erol said. "When your Precursor friend healed me, he gave me the same immunity you do."
"Tiatin!" Jak growled.
"It seems obvious that this contest won't be decided by our skills with a sword, but by the power of our Eco skills."
Jak sneered. "Where I have the natural advantage, considering I'm a natural-born Channeler, and you're nothing but a genetically-altered freak of technology." Jak said, slowly letting his Dark transformation overtake him.
Your turn. Jak thought at Dark. I'm giving you full reign... I need to rest. Kill the bastard, if you can.
'There's no 'if I can' about it.' Dark hissed. 'You get your rest. I'd love to kill him.'
Remember, Dark Eco has no effect on him. You'll have to get him with your claws.
'Which makes it all the more fun!' Dark thought at his host as he took full control and Jak faded down to a small corner of his mind to recharge.
"Are you ready now, Jak?" Erol asked, who had waited patiently for Jak to change.
"I am not Jak!" Dark hissed. "My host calls me Dark. But you may call me Your Death."
"Magnificent weapon." Erol said. "Why fight for such a weak creature?" Erol asked.
"Don't try to convert me!" Dark roared. "My host and I are one and the same. I've felt every pain you've put him through. Even though he is weaker than me, I will fight for him because his death is my death! I feed on his anger and rage, but his pain hurts me also. That's why I fight for him!"
"A pity." Erol said simply.
The two leapt at each other and Dark instantly slipped under Erol's guard catching him in the stomach with his claws. Erol roared in pain and tried to smash Dark's head in, but Dark was already behind him. Dark kicked him in the small of his back and sent his opponent face-first into the sand.
Erol was up in an instant and threw a poorly-aimed punch that caught Dark in the stomach. Though hardly fazed, it gave Erol the split second he needed. He bodily picked up the Demon and threw him into the nearest rock formation, causing the rock to break in half.
Erol stood up straight, believing that he had won. But if getting thrown into a rock was all it took to bring Jak, or his Dark Side, down, surely someone would have done it long ago.
A loud growl sounded from the rock pile and Dark emerged from the rock, bleeding Dark Eco from wounds that would not heal seeing as he had lost that ability long ago. Erol was too much in shock that Dark had survived to notice Dark's next move. Dark ran straight at Erol, raised a clawed fist, and punched Erol in the throat... an attack reminiscent of when Jak had received his voice years ago.
Erol staggered back, coughing and sputtering. He spat up some blood. "That is for the pain my host endured for his voice!" Dark hissed.
Erol suddenly spread his concealed bat-like wings and, before Dark could do anything to stop him, he took to the air.
Dark watched him and growled. 'I can't fly.' He thought to his alter-egos. 'Pussy?'
Light was panting with fatigue. 'I... cannot... I'm so... tired... I'm almost out of... Eco...'
Jak suddenly woke up in the back of his own mind. Then I'll have to finish this myself without your powers.
'You can't! You're spent!' Dark protested.
Yes, I am tired. If we can't stop this soon... I'm afraid I won't be able to carry on. Jak paused thoughtfully. Wait! That's it! I'll lure him in by making it seem like I'm finished! Dark, let me take control.
'I hope you know what you are doing.' Dark thought at him, and then he let go of his control on Jak's body.
Jak slowly resurfaced. Almost as soon as he was back to normal. He fell to the sands like he was completely exhausted.
Daxter saw this from a distance. "Jak!" He cried, but he knew that he was helpless to help his best buddy.
"Has this fight taken a bit too much out of you?" Erol asked. "Fine! Allow me to put you out of your misery! Good-bye, Son of Mar!" Erol conjured a Longsword and folded his wings into a dive.
Jak watched his enemy though a slit in his eyes. He watched as Erol came closer and closer... just as he planned. Suddenly, at the last second, Jak rolled out of the Erol's way, was instantly on his feet. And before Erol could recover from his mistake, Jak conjured a Dark Eco sword and sliced one of Erol's wings off.
Erol cried out as the severed wing hit the ground, along with his body, face first in the sand. Jak was on him in an instant, pinning Erol to the ground. Jak had, in all effects, won the fight.
Daxter cheered from his hiding place. The sly old crocadog! Jak had been faking weakness to draw Erol in closer. He was, however, confused as to why Jak didn't just kill Erol. His only explanation was that Jak was not aiming to kill... not yet, at least.
Jak crouched on Erol's back to stop him from getting up, and Jak pressed the Dark Eco blade to the back of his fallen enemy's neck. "I win, cousin." Jak said coldly. "But, before I kill you, I still want the revenge I thirsted for during the torture you put me through. But, I don't just want my revenge... I'm going to avenge all those people who died at your hands in prison." Jak then carefully, almost surgically, drew a long gash across Erol's back with the tip of the Dark sword. Erol cried out as Jak dug deep enough to draw blood. "Number One, Zeb." Jak said. The weapon flashed again, and a second gash appeared. "Number Two, Cutter."
Jak was naming each and every one of the fourteen other men who had died in the Dark Warrior Project, calling each man by his number and name. Each of the dead Warriors received a cut on Erol's back, and a cry from Erol's lips. Jak slowly worked his way through the list. Some names he barely remembered, and some he didn't remember at all. But, still, they were mentioned as 'unknowns'. Jak also skipped over his own number, Eleven, and went straight to twelve. His own revenge would come later.
And then Jak made it to Thirteen. Tears well up in his eyes, despite himself, as he swung the sword back and brought it down in the deepest cut yet, bring the loudest cry from Erol. Jak just hoped that it would be enough to warrant the forgiveness of Sorus' spirit when Jak had killed him with is own hands. "Number Thirteen, Sorus." And, so he continued with the last two losses, avenging the fourteen men who had died in prison.
Now, it was time for the vengeance of the one who had lived through the two years of torture and Dark Eco Poisoning. Jak conjured another sword in his left hand. "And, last of all, me... Number Eleven."
He descended on Erol's back with a flurry, the two weapons a blur as he attacked his enemy. Finally, Jak stopped when Erol's back looked like someone had taken a cheese-grater to it.
"I carry your scars, and you carry mine." Jak said. "My revenge is complete."
Erol would have been in tears if his mechanical body still allowed tears. "What are you going to do now?"
"What do you think I'm going to do? I'm going to kill you now, Erol." Jak said coldly. 'If I don't, our children's children will be dragged into this war. There might be someone out there willing to sing over your dead body... just know that I won't. Good-bye, cousin."
Jak tossed aside one of the Dark Swords and conjured a Light Sword in its place. With an extremely short flourish, Jak stabbed the two contrasting weapons into Erol's heart. Erol let out a shuttering gasp as the swords entered his body. It took several seconds where Jak could practically hear Erol's body try to compensate for the injury. But it was too late... Erol was going to die with an injury like that. It took a few seconds, then Jak heard Erol's breathing stop and his heart come to a shuttering stop. Erol was dead, Jak was sure of it.
Jak pulled to two blades out of Erol's body and let them drop to the sands. "It is done."
LES: Well... the Chapter is done... and the Climax is done. But the story is far from finished! If I fin'ed it right here, I'd likely be killed in my sleep!
