A/N: Sorry this took me so incredibly long to post! My semester just ended! :) This chapter and the following chapter were actually written at the same time (originally, it was supposed to be one chapter), but it ended up being around 9,000 characters long, so I cut some things and separated this portion into separate parts. Enjoy! Feedback is always appreciated! Also, I'm aware my writing isn't perfect, even though I do try my hardest. Feel free to review or PM me about mistakes, but I'll, most likely, already be aware of them, lol.
She's Worth Defending
Chapter Seven: Tanks and Tantrums, Part One
Borderline 'M'? Some cursing and things get kind of crazy in the Fortress (descriptive fighting, death, and injuries). If you feel that this story should be relocated to the 'M' category, let me know.
Down near the port of Haven City, two people inconspicuously spoke in a crevice between two buildings. They were shadows, hidden only momentarily from Haven, until a lighter's flame lit up both of their faces.
"Oh, 'n I should probably add that tha package is highly flammable." The smoker said nonchalantly, which caused Cara to look at him like he was an idiot.
"Oh," Cara said as she slowly withdrew the package away from the man. "Good to know."
The man fidgeted with the bandana that he was once wearing over his mouth as he exhaled some smoke from his cigar. "Ya new?"
Cara simply blinked, but didn't see the harm in answering truthfully. "Yes?"
The man leaned his head back against the building. "I can tell." He smirked at Cara. His cigar cocked upward when he did, but he obviously had the experience to keep it in place. He simply put his hands in his pockets, oblivious to his offensive comment.
Cara sighed, "Yeah…" She turned to look towards the port. She periodically watched, and was sometimes startled by, the people who abruptly appeared when they walked past their narrow crevice. Cara then looked to the gloomy sky. It was overcast again, as usual; just like Torn said it would be. "I guess I'm out. Thank you for the, uh, package." Cara looked over the 'dangerous' package that was only wrapped in a brown, paper bag, "See you around?"
"Sure thing, doll." The man once again smiled at her. He carelessly nibbled on the end of his cigar as he watched Cara walk out into the open street.
Cara didn't even think to ask the man his name, but if he worked for the Underground, she'd probably see him again.
Jak sprinted down the mountainside that homed the new water depot. He jumped across machinery and leaped over countless cliffs, but something was missing. Actually, someone was missing. Daxter wasn't sitting on Jak's shoulder, but you could sure hear him.
"Jaaak, pleeease…heeelp.." Daxter was stuck in the pipes. Go figure.
Jak jumped down from a one-leveled structure and was quick to turn the wheel to the water pipe that stood at the base of it.
The ottsel's head squeezed through the opening of the pipe, but was then hurled out of it completely. Jak chuckled and bent down near the ottsel that was strewn across the sand.
The ottsel lifted a hand to stop Jak from making any sort of comment, "Don't say it. Don't even chuckle," This caused Jak to stifle even more laughter. "Next time-," the ottsel lifted his head, "-you turn the valve."
Jak stood up and started to walk slowly back to the security wall, leaving Daxter to get up on his own.
"Hey, hey!" Daxter jumped upright and scurried to his friend's side. "I said no mockin' da ottsel, not leave said ottsel behind! Yeesh, are you ever in'a hurry…" Daxter hopped up onto Jak's shoulder.
"I just want to get Torn's errands done. He promised we'd see The Shadow…" Jak said as he continued to walk in long and quick strides.
"Eh, I dun know, big guy. I didn't hear a promise in there anywhere," The ottsel said as he scratched his neck, "But I'll leave it to ya."
Jak slid through the opening security wall, completely frustrated over how slow it opened. He then lifted a leg over 'his' zoomer and turned the ignition on.
"But, speakin' of missions, 'n speakin' of all this Underground business, what's up with you 'n the girl? I mean, with looks like that, she really must'a done somethin' wrong for ya to-.." Daxter began.
"-She's nothing to talk about." Jak interrupted as he continued to dodge zoomers that were going the speed limit.
Daxter awkwardly looked away and gritted his teeth, "Alriiiight then, forget I eva mentioned it."
The journey back was pretty graceful, aside from the whole driving aspect of it, but the mere mention of Cara made his blood boil.
Cara held the mysterious package in her hands, gently tilting it back and forth in the hopes that she could figure out what it was without taking a peek inside. She sat on the seat of 'her' zoomer, that was parked at ground level outside of the Underground, and couldn't help but sigh. It was hard to belief how much had changed in a matter of days, even if it was for the better. Cara had gotten used to the routine of being a member of the KG and now she was working for the opposite side; something she never thought she'd ever do. Sure, she was much, much happier, but it was a lot to take in. Cara hopped off of her zoomer and started to walk to the Underground, but her ears perked up as she heard the sound of footsteps behind her. She quickly turned around and concealed the package behind her back, until she noticed it was just her new partner and his pet. Cara composed herself and stepped forward to say something, but Jak only shot a glare her way and continued to stride past her.
Cara placed a hand on her hip as she watched him walk towards the Underground entrance. "You know, you sure have a funny way of saying thanks to people," Cara began as she smirked towards Jak's backside.
Surprisingly, this made Jak stop. Daxter looked down at Jak and then back at Cara: it was obvious that he had no clue about their past, but he wanted to find out. "Funny," Jak almost mumbled, but the alleyway was quiet enough for Cara to pick up on it.
Cara crossed her arms, slightly amused. "What?"
Jak looked over his shoulder at his partner, "You think that I'm thankful." Jak then made his way down the stairs to the Underground. Daxter seemed a bit shocked at Jak's comment and looked as if he wanted to say something to ease the situation, but, for once, he kept his mouth shut.
This almost took Cara by surprise, but she couldn't help but smile when it came to how much of a dick Jak really was. She then made her way down to the Underground as well. She couldn't wait to see what Torn had planned next.
...
Torn, who had been pacing around the Underground, immediately walked back over to his desk upon Jak, Daxter, and Cara's arrival. "The Slum's water is back on. I'd love to see the heads roll when the Baron finds out." Torn seemed overjoyed, which made Cara smile; she loved how loyal Torn was to screwing with the Baron.
"Yeah…I'm sure he's losing lots of sleep over this armpit of the city. We've done what you've asked. Now, when do we see The Shadow?" Jak asked bluntly, causing Cara to look at him completely unamused for a moment.
"When I say so, …if I say so. But, before I even think about it, I want you to take care of an ammo dump we've IDed in the Fortress," Torn said, causing the trio to walk over and join Torn on both sides. "Lots of Krimzon Guards, constant patrols… We know it's vulnerable and the Underground needs you two to blow up all the ammo you can find inside." Torn swung his arm out as a gesture and unintentionally, or maybe intentionally, hit Daxter, who had managed to climb up on the table; causing him to fall over and rub his head. "Get all of it and we'll deal a body blow to the Baron. I'm sending Cara to accompany you. Her time in the Krimzon Guard has proved itself useful; she knows the Fortress like the back of her hand…" Torn looked to Cara and gave her a small nod, where he got a nod from her in return.
"Yeah, I know she does." Jak didn't even make eye contact.
"Hmph," Torn raised an eyebrow before he was interrupted by Daxter, who had surprisingly remained quiet for some time.
Daxter stood up as straight as he could, "You're sendin' us in, tough guy! So, what's wit this we'll deal a body blow stuff?"
"That's fine. I want the Baron to know that it's me who's hurting him." Jak said as he slammed a fist on the desk.
This caused Torn to smirk in approval.
"That's the kind of spirit I like to see." Torn said as regained composure from being hunched over the map. "Get moving, you two," Torn began, but Daxter quickly spoke up.
"Ey!"
"…Three," Torn rolled his eyes.
Daxter hopped back up onto Jak's shoulder as they both started toward the stairs. Cara watched them leave, but she couldn't bring herself to move: she had so many questions.
"Yeah, take your time." Torn said as he slowly walked towards Cara. For a moment, Cara forgot that she wasn't the only one in the Underground. She quickly snapped back to reality; her dream state was herself mentally going over everything that's happened in the last few days.
"Uh, yeah, sorry…" Cara sputtered out nervously as she rubbed the back of her neck, but she couldn't help but turn her anxious frown into a grin when she noticed that Torn wore a smile; he wasn't mad? "I, uh, I just have so many questions. Who is The Shadow?"
Torn chuckled, "I figured you'd ask, eventually." Torn then leaned against a bunk post and crossed his arms. "The Shadow is our leader," he began, but Cara, of course, had to make a comment.
"You mean you're not the leader of the Underground?" Cara asked, but in a manner that suggested that she genuinely was curious.
"No. I'm in charge of the Underground soldiers; I'm in charge of the soldiers who fight against the Baron and the Metal Heads; to battle a ruthless, three-way war. The Shadow is above all; above me." Torn momentarily looked away when he disclosed The Shadow's status.
Cara knew Torn despised working for people, so even if he didn't make his envy obvious, she caught scent of it. The idea that Torn would even agree to work under someone says a lot: was this Shadow someone worthy or respectable? He must be. As she thought, Torn started to head back to his work station, which caused her to quickly follow.
"So, when you told Jak he'd see The Shadow, did you mean it?"
Torn looked back to Cara, "That's not up to me. Even if I did care enough to have Jak see The Shadow, it would be up to The Shadow, himself. He doesn't come around often, given the war and constant jeopardy the Underground is in."
Cara was fidgeting with her fingers as more questions bounced around in her skull. Her next question seemed farfetched, but she figured she'd ask. "Do you think I'll get to meet him?"
Torn smirked, "Take a number and get in line." He then began to walk over to a shelf that homed even more files and paperwork. He began to stack some, but Cara, of course, made him not able to even concentrate for a second.
"No, really, what's he like?" Cara popped up right next to him, causing him to roll his eyes and close a file that comfortable sat in his hand. "Is he strong?" Cara continued, which caused Torn to eventually walk away. "Big?" She kept going and Torn began to sigh. Cara then leaned over the center table, "Handsome?"
Torn couldn't help it. He began to laugh heavily, which confused Cara greatly, but he quickly soothed his fit of laughter. "Get to work and maybe you'll find out."
Then a little, but not so quiet ottsel appeared in the Underground doorway.
"Uh, hey you two, ya, hate ta interrupt 'n all, but I've got'uh tickin' time bomb, that's got'uh really short fuse, up here. Think we could get goin' soon?" He itched under his neck, knowing that between Jak and Torn, he'd most likely be yelled at above and/or below the surface.
Torn couldn't help but narrow his eyebrows at the little animal, but he quickly looked to Cara. "Get to work. I'll see you later." He said as he patted Cara's shoulder.
Cara pulled the sides of her mouth up into a half-assed smile. Her smile? She couldn't but feel some sort of happiness from being taken seriously and appreciated for once. Also, being around an old friend, despite the obstacles they've been through, gave her peace. Cara would never admit it, but Torn as her friend again made her happy. She felt so alone; like she was in a whole, new world: new perspectives, new missions, new people; life in Haven as a civilian. Torn was the only thing she had; he was the only thing familiar. Sure, Jak was also physically familiar, but not the person she knew before. Jak was the reason she wore a half-assed smile. He's been horrible so far and completely unpredictable. Cara refused to believe that her nightmare was just a dream.
"Get going," Torn said, a little more stern.
Cara's eyes fluttered and she quickly looked up, "Yeah," She nodded and presented a half-assed smile once more.
This time, however, Torn saw past it. "Don't be worried: he's just a man with a rat."
Cara responded almost angrily, "I'm not worried about him." She looked away, "I'm worried about…" She kept her glance away, but her eyes traveled to the floor.
"If you can get out once, you can get out again." Torn attempted to reassure her.
He wasn't wrong.
Among the many zoomers that flew slowly, and ungracefully around town, one zoomer in particular zipped by. It caused some townsfolk on the ground to look up towards the sky, wondering what could possibly be going fifty miles-per-hour above their heads. The screaming of a girl also caught their attention.
"Slow down! I'm not trying to die before we even get to HQ!" Cara yelled as she sat very uncomfortably behind her blonde partner and his orange pet. She found herself shifting around and catching herself from falling off too many times to count and, to make matters even worse, they were on a one-seater.
"If you don't want to die, I'd try and refrain from calling that fucked up, torture chamber HQ!" Jak yelled back over the sound of the zoomer's engine and Daxter's obnoxious screams and begs to slow down as well.
Cara looked away for a moment, knowing that calling the Fortress her HQ was an honest, yet horrible mistake. "Yeah, but I'm serious though, slow it down!"
"Or what? Are you going to get off and walk?" Jak glanced over his shoulder, but quickly turned back around, "Fine by me."
Cara was fuming. She held her arms behind Jak's neck, her fingers curled; hands desperately wanting to choke this dude out, but she managed to calm down. Also, the sharp right turn definitely made for a plot twist, for she had to use those hands to catch herself, yet again. "That's it! I'm only going to ask one more time! SLOW THE F-!" Cara was cut off and she had no choice to grab a hold of her partner's shoulders as they went ground level and slid to an abrupt halt.
When the zoomer completely stopped, Jak got off carelessly with a very puffy, wind-burned ottsel, and Cara limply fell off. Her chest was heaving and her eyes were wide, "I…am…never, EVER…riding with you…again."
Jak looked to her and dusted himself off, "I don't remember asking you to ride along with me."
"I didn't." Cara continued to lay there, her body propped up by her elbows.
Jak raised an eyebrow and then looked to the ottsel on his shoulder that shared the same expression.
Cara got to her feet and began to dust herself as well, "Fine, whatever, I did. My zoomer was stolen. What did you expect me to do?"
"You mean the zoomer that you stole was stolen?" That was Jak's answer.
Cara rolled her eyes and walked past the duo. "Let's just get this over with." She said as she looked up at the Fortress.
"Yes, let's. Please." Jak chimed in as he waltzed up as well, obviously a few feet away from Cara.
The three watched as the door slid open. Jak and Cara looked to each other as Daxter squinted his eyes to peer into the darkness.
Jak was about to walk in, but an orange paw slapped him in the face, causing him to stop.
"Laaadies, first!" Daxter said with a flirtatious, and very hopeful, smile. This caused Jak to roll his eyes and not make eye contact with either of them.
"Oh! In that case, go right on ahead." Cara extended an arm towards the door and smiled.
Both Daxter and Jak's ears lowered, but Jak held a glare, while Daxter held a frown.
"Let's just go." Jak said, obviously not amused by Cara's joke, and walked quickly inside.
Cara went to walk in behind him, but couldn't help but take a step back to look back up at the Fortress and its entirety before she went in.
Blue eyes wandered around what looked like the Fortress's motor pool: one section of it, at least.
"Hehehe, yep, I wanna leave now." Daxter said as he shuddered from Jak's shoulder.
Jak couldn't help but jump when the Fortress door slid shut behind them, causing him to turn around and look straight into the eye's of Cara; something he's been trying to avoid.
Cara just looked back, not quite sure what she could have possibly done now.
"This is it," Cara said as they walked deeper into the room.
Daxter hopped down from a wandering Jak's shoulder and started to snoop himself. He slowly scampered around, but stopped near a lone tank that had its ignition going. He held his arms to his tiny chest, lifted his leg, and gasped,"Egh." He then decided it would be best to stay near the others.
Cara, who had been following Jak closely, looked around herself. It was so odd. A place she once thought was home was now causing her heart to bump crazily in her chest. She stopped for a moment, while Jak went onward, to look at some of the machinery. A red light she remembered all too well glistened. "Wait," Cara looked to Jak before she frantically ran over to him, "No, don't-!"
Jak looked back at her confused as he continued his last stride: his foot hitting the ground making a loud crashing noise in Cara's head.
'Unauthorized use of Fortress door. Activating security tank.'
All three pairs of eyes looked to the tank in room. It's cannon turned towards them as it started to move.
"We need to go now!" Cara turned to start running, but noticed that Jak wasn't kicking it into high speed, like he should have been. "Jak, damn it, RUN!" She went to run back to him, but by the time she got to him, he was running past her. It must have been the huge, red, glowing target on him that got him going. Cara watched as the tank rolled around the corner and immediately targeted her. "Ah! No!" Thankfully, by jumping to a nearby ledge, she evaded the tank's fire. Cara happened to catch Jak just completely ditching her by using her peripherals, which she would remember later. She huffed as she hopped to the next ledge.
"Thanks for the help!" Cara yelled to Jak as she continued to run.
The tank then crashed through a barrier, which caused Cara to cower and hold her hands above her head and Jak to turn around. Cara kept running: she could almost feel the spikes from the tank on her heels and the red from the tank's sight reflected on the ground in front of her. Cara continued to run, but covered her eyes as if it would make being blown to smithereens any less gruesome.
To Cara's surprise, though, nothing hit her: she just heard yelling in front of her. She looked up at Jak as she continued to run. Jak was stepping over lasers that horizontally moved across the ground and was…waving his arms over his head?
"Over here!" Jak yelled almost too confidently. His eyes grew double in size when he realized his plan, whether he wanted it to or not, actually worked and he now had a red target right over his face.
Daxter must have screamed for both of them because, man, the scream that followed should have even stopped the tank dead in its tracks. Jak ducked just in time and almost missed his window of opportunity to hop over a red laser. There was just way too much going on in here.
Now, Cara, Jak, and Daxter were all near each other: hopping over red lasers, ducking under red lasers, and still trying to avoid fire from the tank. To create a visual, it looked like a screwed up, fatal version of dodgeball.
"Over there!" Cara yelled as she pointed to an area that led to another room.
Once again, Jak left right away, leaving Cara behind. Cara expelled a sigh that could have been mistaken for an angry yell, but hey, maybe it was.
When Cara made her way to the separate room, the tank still trailing behind her, she saw Jak climbing up on some supply boxes.
She mumbled to herself, completely out of breath, "What?" Cara looked to the gate and noticed it was down and locked. Oh.
She wasn't as scared for her life anymore; she was just pissed. She could have died back there and Jak was just going to take off again? That was it.
"Not uh!" Cara said as she grabbed Jak by the back of the shirt and attempted to pull him down from the boxes.
"What the fuck are you doing?!" Jak yelled down at her while still managing to keep hold.
"You are not leaving me again!" Cara yelled back before starting to climb up Jak to get on top of the boxes.
"Get off!" Jak ducked his head as his partner literally used his body as a ladder. He grunted in annoyance after Cara decided to use his shoulder as a stepping stool. She must have tried to make that as painful as possible.
Daxter, who was already at the top ledge, looked down to the two. "Stop screwin' around! That thing is comin'!"
Both Jak and Cara looked back towards the entrance and, sure enough, the tank was fully in the room and was back to picking up targets.
"Go! Move!" Jak climbed up on top of the box, nearly shoving Cara off, and jumped to a bar that jutted out of the wall. Cara jumped to the bar when Jak had managed to get up to Daxter and took a leap of faith towards the ledge, grabbing it with one hand. The tank was right beneath her, its cannon frantically spinning in different directions in order to find them.
Daxter grunted, and nearly threw out his back, trying to pull Cara up, but it did no good. Cara grasped the ledge with her other hand and pulled herself up with a groan. Her eyes immediately locked to the sight of a pair of boots. She looked up to see Jak just standing there, not helping, of course.
"Are you done? Can we go?" Jak asked, immediately turning to continue on his way.
Cara brought herself to her feet, "Yeah," she said in the rudest way possible, "Lead the way. Although it would be great if you didn't trigger anything else."
Jak whipped around and pointed to himself, "I triggered it?" He said rudely.
"Yeah, you did." Cara retorted.
"Seeing that you should know this place like the back of your hand, you should have known." Jak argued back.
"I did, that's why I told you." Cara debated in a drawn out tone.
Daxter had both of his pointer fingers plugging up his ears. When did his blonde, fellow adventurer get so sassy?
They all turned the corner and, lo and behold, a set of generators. If that already didn't make things difficult, the tank decided to crash through the gate.
"Ahh, God!" Daxter whined, "It's still followin' us!"
As Cara babbled possible suggestions and as Daxter was kneeling and praying for a better best friend, Jak's eyes shifted from generator to generator. He didn't see them as generators, though: he saw them as circular, moving platforms.
"I have an idea," Jak said, causing Cara and Daxter to stop what they were doing and look at him. "You're going to have to jump."
"What?" Cara asked with squinted eyes.
"See those flat spaces? Jump to those. Wait for the opportunity to jump and then jump to the next one, got it?" Jak explained most of it as he stared at the generators, but was generous enough to look Cara's way for a short duration of his instructions.
"Uh," was the only thing Cara could muster. Did he not just see her struggle to jump and catch herself?
"Oh, gawd, no, pleeease, anything but that! My little ottsel legs can't take that kinda intensity," Daxter sighed, "I may hav'ta sit this one out."
Jak's eyes squinted in confusion and Cara looked down at the ottsel. Was this orange ball of fur serious right now?
Jak turned to begin the task of getting across, but Cara stopped him.
"Wait! I don't know about this." Cara began, but Jak quickly turned around and got in her face.
"Then don't bother. If you want to stick around in your nice, cozy home and be wiped out by your own tank, then that's on you. Daxter and I are getting out of here, with or without you!" Jak then slowly turned away, but not without starring cold daggers deep into Cara's soul.
Cara didn't even know what to say. Honestly, that scared the shit out of her. She didn't say a word, but just watched as Jak and Daxter hopped onto a platform.
Fuck him.
Jak jumped to the last generator, but then noticed that a blue, electrical path blocked them from getting to the next room. "Damn it!" He slammed his fist down on the generator and unintentionally broke a bulb that sat in it. It took both him and Daxter by surprise and if Jak wasn't the manly man that he was, he would have squealed when he noticed that the electrical gate got dimmer.
"Break those tubes in tha center!" Daxter yelled behind Jak, which caused Jak to whip his head around to see who Daxter was yelling at. Cara attempted to balance on the first generator, horribly, I may add, and yelled back to Daxter, "What?"
"That! Break it!" Daxter nearly screamed.
Cara looked down at the bulb, hesitated, but then crashed her fist down on it. It worked, but it wasn't painless. She felt a small jolt, but that wasn't the worst of it: she felt as if a shard of glass possibly impaled her. She withdrew her hand to her chest, but didn't have time to check.
"Let's go!" Daxter yelled to her from the new area.
With some hops, jumps, and almost fails, Cara made her way across the generators and to the other side. The trio couldn't get out of there fast enough.
The following area was quiet. Cara leaned against a nearby wall and exhaled sharply. If they weren't in danger, or on a mission, she would have just slunk down to the floor and passed out.
Jak, who was also somewhat out of breath, continued to walk.
Daxter hung loosely over Jak's shoulder, "Man, that sucked. Can we agree, ya know, if we even get outta here alive, that we neva come back here again?"
Jak hurriedly brought a finger to his lips and shushed everyone.
"Never trust a civilian."
"Never trust anyone."
Cara and Daxter got as quiet as they could and only looked around with their eyes.
Jak smiled, which made Cara nervous. It was almost eerie.
Jak looked around the corner and saw exactly what he thought he heard.
Guards.
Jak picked Daxter off his shoulder and set him on the ground, "Wait here. I'll be right back."
"Uh," Daxter said as he lifted a finger; a gesture to speak.
Cara knew exactly what he was going to do, and honestly, she couldn't blame him. "Let him." Cara said as she looked down to the baffled Daxter, mouth open and all.
It was almost too perfect: two guards with their backs to him. Quietly, Jak made his way across a couple moving platforms that separated him from the guards. Meanwhile, Cara and Daxter watched from around the corner.
"Have you seen anything?"
"Nah."
"Keep your eyes peeled."
Jak was now on the same platform as the guards. Even though his heart was beating fast and his palms were sweaty, he was still overly excited about taking some revenge out on some unsuspecting guards. Jak stuck a foot between the guard to the right's foot and kicked it to the side, causing the guard to fall to the ground with a yell. Jak fell to the ground with him and grabbed the guard's weapon. Without any hesitation, he blew a hole through the chest of the guard to left.
This made Cara shiver. Absolutely no hesitation is what she saw. Ruthlessness.
One guard down, one to go. The living guard was attempting to grab his walkie-talkie on his belt, but Jak simple unsnapped it and threw it across the floor, along with the rifle that was used seconds prior.
"You'll die! I'll kill you!" The guard protested as Jak had him pinned to the ground on his backside. Jak had wrapped his legs around the guards forearms, since his constant thrashing started to piss him off.
"I'm sure," Jak calmly said as he wrapped his right arm underneath the guard's neck. He grabbed his right wrist with his left hand and started to squeeze, but not to hard at first; just enough for the guard to truly panic.
"Ya, choke 'em out, Jak!" Daxter yelled across the way.
Cara quickly turned to him and shushed him.
Daxter chuckled, "Oh, eh, sorry," he then whispered, "Choke 'em out, Jak."
By now the guard was panicking and Jak was loving every second of it. Jak decided to let the KG member's arms free, since seeing him desperately trying to grab on to something was pretty rewarding.
"You disgusting, eco, mother fucker," The guard said, attempting to still sound threatening, but Jak didn't buy it for a second.
Actually, Jak was getting quite bored, so he tightened the grip. Completely.
The guard desperately tried to regain any oxygen he had left. His heaves were music to Jak's ears, which made him only want to squeeze harder. The guard grabbed onto Jak's shirt and started to tug, like 'taping out' would work. Jak waited, still keeping a firm grip, until the guard let out his last exhale and his body went limp.