She's Worth Defending
Chapter Fifteen: A Nice Shiner
"Sooo," Daxter chimed, causing Jak to look up at him, "Ya gonna say thank you, or what?"
Jak looked somewhat annoyed, "For what?"
"Geez, you dun have ta get all huffy-puffy with me, I was just wonderin'.." Daxter sighed.
Jak watched as Cara walked on top of the platform; now both Sig and Cara were out of sight.
Cara continued to walk behind Sig.
What have I gotten myself into?
Was it because I was around all of that eco in the lab?
No, that's not possible. Erol and Praxis were around Jak and his treatments way more than I was. Unless, they are infected too...
"There's the second target," Sig said as he looked over his shoulder, "Hold them off."
Jak started his way up as he heard the sound of gunfire, but, surprisingly, right as he got there, Sig was already taking out his second target.
"Boom, baby! One less Metalhead to think about!" Sig chanted as he continued onward.
Jak watched as Cara walked quickly with Sig; no sassy comment or expression, nothing. It wasn't that Jak appreciated those gestures, but what was wrong with her? Was she...scared of him? That's the only explanation. Even though Jak noticed, he didn't say anything, but Daxter has always been more sympathetic.
Daxter hopped to Cara's shoulder and whispered, "You alright over here? I dun hear a lot comin' out of you 'n I dun like it."
Cara jumped upon Daxter's impact, but she acknowledged him but sharing a glance, "Yeah, I'm fine," she lied, "I'm just..." Suddenly, a ring of vibration bounced across Cara's body.
Daxter waited for her to finish, "You just what?"
Daxter didn't feel it. Cara looked behind her at Jak, but his expression showed that he didn't feel it either.
Cara turned around and looked forward, "I'm...just..." She squinted into the distance as she tried to find the source of the vibration.
Daxter wait and twirled his hand to gesture her to continue, "Yessss?"
She leaned her head forward as she still squinted and saw a small, purple blob in the distance, "Over there!"
Sig turned to her, "What?"
"This way!" Cara shouted as she ran to Sig's side, "Come on!"
"Uh, alright." Sig looked back at Jak and then began to run alongside Cara, "Take it easy."
Cara looked to the bridge that had yet to be lowered. She looked back at Jak, "Oh, bridge-keeper!"
Jak held a straight face.
Annnnd, she's back.
Jak walked up to Sig and Cara and hopped up to the bridge, grabbing it firmly. It began to lower and when it was in Sig's reach, Sig grabbed it and pulled it down.
The three, technically four, ran across the bridge and Cara immediately looked up, as if she was expecting something.
While out of breath, Cara pointed up to the cliff, "Right there."
Jak and Sig looked up and, sure enough, there was a Metalhead prancing around on the alcove.
Sig put his hands on his hips and looked to Cara, "Well, then, Wastelander, you've successfully tracked a Metal down." He cocked his Peacemaker and gave Cara wink, "That's good huntin' right there. Now, watch my six while I toast this bad boy. The trick is to not hit the pipes." Sig smirked.
Once again, Jak and Cara we left to protect Sig while he fired up his weapon.
Sig looked over his shoulder, "Don't worry about my front! They're comin' from the back!"
Jak and Cara looked over the platform and began to shoot the sea-walkers as they jumped and climbed up.
Cara, suddenly, felt something wet around her ankle and before she could even look, she was yanked to the ground. Cara propped herself up and saw that a sea-walker had its tongue wrapped around her leg. "Get off!" She yelled as she kicked it in the face with her other foot. All it did was make its face wince; it's jaw started to snap viciously.
Thankfully, or more so unfortunately, Jak turned his Scattergun and shot the creature in the stomach, causing half of its body to fall off of the platform. The head, however, remained on the platform, with his tongue limply wrapped around Cara's ankle. Cara grabbed the tongue and yanked it off of her, stumbling to her feet in the process. Cara looked to Jak and charged at him, "Are you fucking crazy? You could of shot my foot off!"
"But, I didn't," Jak said matter-of-factly.
"God," Cara whined as she shoved his shoulder.
"You're welcome," Jak said.
"HAH!" Cara laughed as she pointed at him.
He wants a thank you. PRICELESS.
"Now, now, kiddos, let's simmer it down," Sig said as he lowered his hand, "We're almost done."
After hopping down a few ledges, which brought them back onto the sand, they approached another battle arena.
Sig immediately started firing, "Waste those suckas!"
And waste those suckas they did.
Again, the Pumping Station echoed gunfire. While Sig was reloading his Peacemaker, a sea-walker jumped onto his back. "Not today, mothafucker," Sig said deeply, throwing the sea-walker off his back and shooting it into another dimension. "Be careful, these sea-walkers are gettin' grabby!" Sig called out.
"Yeah, I hadn't noticed!" Cara yelled back.
Jak grunted as he hit the ground, Daxter being thrown off with a shriek in the process. Jak looked down to see exactly what Cara did before: some snapping jaws and a long, purple tongue.
Just as Cara did, Jak began to kick the sea-walker in the face with the leg that was free. Nothing.
Meanwhile, Daxter sat up casually and began to dust himself off. He then looked to his left and jumped with a shriek. There was a sea-walker right next to him, inspecting him. It let out a guttural growl, in which Daxter returned.
Daxter got on all fours and stuck his tail straight up, "Grrr."
The sea-walker blinked.
"Ya, that's right, brotha! Oooh, I'm diggin' yur orange, buddy! Heh heh, ya know, I was tryin' ta go for more of a burnt orange myself - I heard it's in season-.."
And with a snap, Daxter began to run away with his arms in the air, the sea-walker right behind him. "I'm one of youuuuu!"
What did I say: complete chaos.
At this point, Metalheads have arrived as well, causing Sig to get dangerously low on ammo. "I'm running low!"
Jak, who had his face contorted in exhaustion, pressed his free leg against the sea-walker's top jaw. He grabbed its tongue and began to squeeze tightly, pulling in the process. The sea-walker started to cry, which caused Jak to squeeze it tighter. With a final grunt, Jak leaned back, his teeth gritted, and kicked and squeezed as hard as he could.
With a final wail from the sea-walker, its top jaw snapped and broke; killing it instantly.
Meanwhile...
Daxter, who was hiding behind a rock, turned around when he heard a quiet, cute purr. It was a small, green creature and it just stood there innocently.
"Hey there, little guy," Daxter said, speaking in a baby voice. "Aren't ya just the cutest little-.."
It snapped at him.
"You're bad too?"
The ottsel screamed and ran out from behind the rock, "Waaaaaaaaah!"
The green creature hopped behind him.
Sig took the last Metalhead out and they were finally in the clear. He leaned over, completely out of breath, "It's getting heated out here. We've got to keep moving.."
Cara, who was hunched over, and also out of breath, looked up at him.
Jak, who was breathing heavily, and still laying on the sand, looked up at him.
"No, no, no, no!"
Sig, Jak, and Cara looked over to see Daxter arguing with the green creature from earlier. "No bite!" The creature snapped at him again. "No!" Daxter slapped the little creature, "Bad!" The green, baby sea-walker yelped and ran off. The ottsel dusted his hands off and then looked to the three, "Manners, right? Can ya believe these guys?"
Sig shook his head and then looked to Jak and Cara, "You think you can handle one more? There's a Metalhead up on this cliff; that makes four. We can make it through this."
Cara looked behind her when she heard the crumpling of sand. Jak had stood up and was dusting the sand off of himself.
"I can handle it," Jak said as he walked towards Sig.
"Good," Sig chuckled, "Krew better appreciate this, I tell you what."
Daxter, who was now on Cara's shoulder, brushed a hand carelessly through the air as they passed by, "He won't."
"Take a look up ahead and scout whatever threats you can see. I'll go ahead and take out this Metal," Sig said as he nodded toward the cliff, "I'll be there in a hot minute."
Jak, Daxter, and Cara jumped a few ledges and stopped on the shore. Two Metalheads jumped from the cliffs and down onto the shore.
"Two," Jak said nonchalantly. He cocked his gun and started to walk towards the two, gun raised.
"Wait!" Both Cara and Daxter exclaimed in unison, "It could be a..."
Then, more Metalheads emerged.
Daxter gulped and Cara's eyes widened, "Trap."
Jak continued to shot, cocking his gun as fast as he could, but ended up not being quick enough. He found himself having to use his bare hands to shove them away; to keep them from pouncing on him.
Cara raised her pistols and attempted to take them out, but she wasn't shooting at a quick enough pace.
"Shoot 'em, shoot 'em!" Daxter hollered from her shoulder, "Don't worry, Jak, we'll get ya out of there!"
"I'm trying," Cara mumbled as her pistols aimed shakily, "He's in the way."
Jak groaned as he continued to shove off Metalheads.
Daxter shouted, "He'll live!"
Cara began to shoot and, thankfully, got a few to back away, but they were quick to figure out where the gunfire was coming from. The Metalheads immediately began to charge at Cara, causing Daxter to scream.
"Wah! Jak, I'd like yur shoulder back now!"
Once again, complete chaos, and Sig still wasn't there. Jak, Daxter, and Cara found themselves stuck in a circle; the Metalheads were closing in on them, despite them firing their weapons at them.
Cara looked over her shoulder, "You know, this would be the perfect moment to get all dark!"
Jak looked over his shoulder, even though they were practically back to back, "Yeah? Well, that's not how it works."
"Oh, yeah? Well, I see a ton of dead bodies that you can paint yourself with!" Cara shouted back.
Before Jak could answer, all of the Metalheads pounced at once.
Cara felt the grabbing on the back of shirt and she knew she was done for.
No, not now.
"Get off of me!" Cara yelled as she threw her elbow back. She felt the bone of her elbow collide with more bone and, surprisingly, it did the trick. There was no more yanking on her shirt and she even heard the body fall to the ground. Cara smirked and whipped around, "HA! OH MY GOD!" She exclaimed as she covered her mouth.
Jak was laying on the ground, face painted in agony, and his hands over his nose.
"Oh, my god, Jak," Cara bent over, but she was instantly swatted away.
Sig, who had seen the whole thing, and had actually been the one to save their lives from the pouncing Metalheads, walked over to the three, "Ooh, doughboy, you alright over there?" Sig couldn't contain himself; he had to chuckle at what he just saw. You know: him blasting the Metals, a Metal grabbing Jak by the shirt, so Jak grabbed Cara by the shirt, and then he got elbowed in the face for it. He wouldn't say it, but it might have been the entertainment for the day.
Daxter looked down over Jak's buddy, "Yeesh, what happened?"
Cara looked to Daxter, "I didn't mean to, I," she then looked to Sig when he approached, "I, just, I panicked and I, uh-.."
Sig closed his eyes and held up a hand, "You're good, I got you." Sig then looked down at Jak, "Now, let's check you out, chili-pepper."
Currently, Jak was looking up at a ring of light with Cara, Sig, and Daxter looking down at him, but, suddenly, he was right side of up. Jak stumbled a bit due to Sig's strength, but the Wastelander grabbed him.
"Woah, woah, I got you, slow down," Sig chimed.
Jak couldn't keep his eyes off of Cara. He had never punched a girl before, but today might be the day.
"Now, look at me," Sig said as gestured his pointer and middle finger at his own eyes.
Jak looked at him, slightly confused, until Sig nodded.
"You're good," Sig said as he smirked and shook Jak by the shoulder. He then looked to Cara, "Gotta be careful," he said as he looked back to Jak, "Almost knocked a brother out."
"I'm sorry," Cara said as she looked at Jak, "Are you okay-?"
"-I'm fine," Jak said firmly, even though he was muzzled by his own hands.
Daxter tried his hardest to contain a laugh, "Ya sure?"
"Take your hands off, let me see what we're workin' with," Sig said. It was obvious that NO ONE took any of this seriously.
"Ya, take your hands off, buddy, it can't be that bad!" Daxter reassured.
Jak sighed and then let his hands dropped down to his sides.
"Oooh," Sig winced.
Cara gasped.
"Pfft! Ha!" Daxter laughed.
Jak stood there with not only a crescent of purple under his eye, halfway down to his nose, but he also had a stream of blood coming out of his right nostril. "It's bad," Jak said.
"No, no, no," Sig said with a chuckle, "Not at all."
Cara nodded, "Yeah, I'd give it a few days and I'm a medical professional," she smiled, "I know it."
Daxter looked at Cara and Sig as if they were mental, "Are you two blind?" Daxter asked, which caused Sig and Cara to look at him in shock.
Jak looked to Daxter, slightly agitated.
"Are you kiddin' me?" Daxter looked to Jak and laughed a little, "You look like a bearcoon that got hit by a truck!"
It was really surprisingly to see that Jak could look more irritated than he already did.
After the group shared a few snickers, not including Jak, of course, Sig hushed everyone, "Alright, alright, play time is over." Sig had to pause for a moment to make sure he was done laughing, "As a matter of fact, our day is almost over! You see that Metal up there?" Sig pointed above, "That's our last one and all you gotta do is let this Wastelander take him out." Sig raised his Peacemaker to shoot the Metalhead, but nothing came out - just the sound of something short circuiting. "Of course, this would be the moment the Peacemaker goes offline."
Jak, Daxter, and Cara watched as Sig brutally yanked and slammed his Peacemaker around for what seemed like five minutes.
Cara looked to Jak and noticed that he had put his hands back on his nose and that blood was rolling down his wrist. "Do you want something for that?" Jak looked her way, but didn't say anything. "Maybe a tampon?" Jak shook his head and looked away, "No, really, they work! We used them for nose bleeds all the time in the KG."
"No," Jak said, once again muffled.
"There we go! The Peacemaker is back online!" Sig practically sang as he returned his Peacemaker to the upright position. "Let's go home.." Sig said as he took aim. When Sig pulled the trigger, Cara and Jak began to walk slowly. They knew he was going to hit it. They all watched as the final Metalhead stumbled off of the cliff and into the water. Sig playfully saluted and exclaimed, "Boom! Home team, five, Metalheads nothing! That was the last one. Tell Krew we got 'em all cooked and canned. I'm gonna clean Peacemaker and pick up the trophies." He turned to walk away, but looked back at the trio, "You did good, rookies."
"Will do," Cara nodded with a smile.
"See ya later, big guy!" Daxter said as Cara turned around. Apparently, Cara's shoulder was Daxter's new spot. Or, maybe it was because Jak was already walking towards the security gate.
Sig turned around, "Oh, and Jak!" He hollered, causing Jak to look back. "Put some ice on it," Sig said as he grinned, winked, and pointed his way.
Jak rolled his eyes and lazily waved a hand before continuing to walk away.
Sig let out a hearty laugh and then looked to Cara's backside, "Take it easy on him, alright, homegirl?"
Cara looked over her shoulder and smiled innocently, "I promise."
As the trio walked to the gate, Sig watched from a distance. He let out a happy sigh, "What a day.."
The ride home was goofy, but that was only thanks to Jak's friend and partner.
Daxter stood on the back of the zoomer and held onto Cara's shoulder to keep balance, while Cara sat behind Jak.
Except, Daxter horribly attempted to beatbox and Cara horribly attempted to freestyle.
Daxter laughed, "That was a good one!"
Jak pinched his nose and blew it, causing new and old blood to come out, which isn't the best thing to do when you're driving. He groaned as he wiped blood from up near his eye. Man, were those two getting annoying. Jak looked over his shoulder, "Would you two knock it off?"
"What?" Cara crossed her arms, "I think you're just mad that we haven't made a rap about you."
"Oh, yeah," Jak said sarcastically as he turned back around, "That must be it."
"Okay, ready?" Cara looked to Daxter and the ottsel immediately began beatboxing...horribly. Just to remind you.
"Hey, my name is Jak and I'm actually pretty wack, but the real reason is because I haven't had a snack-"
Jak squinted his eyes in horror over what he was hearing. How fucking stupid.
"UH-HUH." Daxter added.
"The KG came and took me away...for my DN-ey!"
Daxter added, "Ey!"
Cara continued, "DN-ey!"
Daxter yelled, "Preach it!"
Jak nearly wanted to die.
"And they snatched me up, kickin' and screamin', took a sample of my semen 'n now I turn into a demon-"
"WHAT?" Jak asked loudly as he turned to look at them, little did he know that his outburst went with Cara and Daxter's jingle.
Both Cara and Daxter raised their hands up, "AYEEEEE!"
Cara chuckled, "I'm sorry, my rhymes were getting desperate - blood and urine don't rhyme with anything.."
"Okay?" Jak said as he rolled his eyes and tried to shake whatever he just heard out of his memory.
Daxter then crossed his arms and nodded towards Jak's backside, "Word."
Cara laughed at Daxter until she felt a tingling pain in her arm. She winced to herself as she looked down to her wrist inconspicuously; hiding her arm on one side of her body as she rolled her sleeve up. She watched as her veins darkened; what looked like black ink, that was slightly dimmed by her skin, ran up towards her hand.
Daxter shook her by her shoulder, "Did ya hear that one?"
Cara quickly rolled down her sleeve and faked a smile, "No, do it again." She looked forward, the smile completely gone.
Despite what happened when fighting the Metal Heads; that odd, tingling feeling; the ability to see and feel Dark Eco, it was an fun and interesting day. I had almost forgotten about what happened to me today after Jak's bloody nose, hanging out with Sig, and Daxter and I's silly rap battles. Maybe I can pretend to not remember? I didn't have the urge to kill; the hunger for blood, like Jak. I'm safe. I hope. Please.
This can't be.
I'm not one of them.
I'm not one of him.
I'm not a monster.