|Metal Head Area|
Valentine let out a low whistle at seeing how the previous trade district of Haven had been transformed by the Metals, after taking a gulp of clean air of course. There was nothing left but dark gray plants and eerie yellowish light shining, along with what looked like their current mission target : tanks filled with Dark Eco. She eyed the containers suspiciously, fully aware of how her body would react if she got anywhere near those things. Not to mention it seemed like the only path there was over some dark vines. "Yeah… this does not look like I'll be any help with accomplishing the mission status." She said slowly, at least feeling happy about being out of the sewers.
"The Board probably won't be able to carry the two of us either way." Jak agreed, looking at the Hover Board appraising. No matter how good he was at using it, carrying Valentine across a chasm of vicious looking goo while being chased by Metals would probably never make the top hundred of great hero ideas. "So, we split up?" he asked her, looking to the sides with a flicker of worry.
Valentine followed his gaze along the sides of the gaping hole in the middle of the district. There were a bunch of small Metal Heads scurrying across the ground, but those were dumb enough to be fooled into thinking that she was a King. The taller ones might be more of a problem though…
"I'll be fine." She said slowly, taking in the surroundings. There was a lot of Eco in the plants, so maybe she would be able to find some use for those? She had already proven she could make Eco do what she wanted when it was inside a metal casing, and the Arena was pretty much her fun zone if Damos let her to what she wanted in there.
"I think I'll be sticking with Jak for this round." Daxter announced, clearly preferring the more safer looking path over a route that would lead him to an almost certain fate as snack food. "Not that I don't trust ya, babe." He added, grinning at Valentine.
She grinned at those words, rolling her shoulders and taking a quick stretch. "I can handle my own, so don't worry about me Dax. I'd be more worried about what Tess will do when you get hurt, so try not to get into trouble." She had two knives in a belt, and two more in her boots, all borrowed from the HQ. It would have been nice if she'd known they would be ending up here though. Then she could have brought over her own equipment instead of having to borrow. Jak was lucky, since he never lost sight of his gun.
With a nod Valentine watched Jak as he blazed away on his Board, before she turned to face the route she would be following. The few Metal Scorpions that dared to come near her received a mental blast that would leave them with some very painful migraines for the few upcoming days, something which she couldn't quite pity them for. They came at her with killer intent after all, even if they were only part of a hive mentality with nobody to effectively pull the strings. She assumed it was different for Meta, who had been cut off from the Hive since she was young. Metal Heads were capable of independent thought, though they just weren't used to it. She wondered how Ma'al dealt with governing his entire hive.
After dealing with a few of the grunts she turned to see how Jak was doing, just in time to see her boyfriend nearly crashing into the ground. "The hell? Jak, are you okay?"
He got up, brushing himself off as he tried to look like he had been totally expecting that. "I'm fine, really. There are these weird air-blowing plants and I wanted to see what would happen if I stepped on one."
She pointed towards one of said plants which was just releasing a burst of air. "You mean one of these?" Leave it to him to think stepping on them was a good idea. A pointed look from Valentine sent some of the Metals scurrying for safety as she gave Jak a quick look-over to see if there was any permanent damage. "At least you're getting into the spirit of science." She said with a shrug. "But if you get yourself killed doing this, I'll make sure you're sorry."
"When I'm dead?" He asked with a grin, already making his way to the next plant. Daxter dropped to the ground, staying behind with her. "Well, if there's someone who can make me feel anything then, it'll probably be you." he added with a chuckle, before being launched to the other side of the chasm.
Valentine placed her hands on her hips, shaking her head. Never mind the enemies like Erol and the Metals, if Jak ever got killed he would probably have himself to thank for it. Talk about a high-risk love interest. Daxter climbed up to her shoulder, sharp nails digging into her skin with every inch he rose up to meet her.
"You worried about our boy?" he asked her, holding on as she slowly made her way towards the exit. She kept a close look on Jak, seeing some Metal Heads who were carrying guns. Never mind where they got those, she didn't like them pointing the barrels at Jak. Her mind followed the flow of Eco through the vines as she started to frown. "Don't be, he can take care of himself."
She flexed her hand as she felt the Eco in her body command the Eco in the vines. Before the Metals could fire their first shot the vines shot from the ground and the wall, wrapping themselves around the helpless victims. A few quick beatings on the ground later and the dark shapes were eerily quiet. Daxter tensed up next to her, clearly frightened. "What the hell! Even the vines are dangerous in this place! I should have stayed home with Tess." He lamented, self-pity so audible it nearly dripped on the ground.
Valentine reached up to pat him on the head when she continued walking, this time keeping a closer eye on the other side of the river. "Chill, that was just me. I told you things changed after I tried the cure, right? I'm still experimenting, but as long as I can connect to the Eco I can influence the container of the eco." She explained, waving her other hand in the air as if that would help her explain. "At least, that's what I think it does. I'm like… ninety percent sure. Maybe eighty-nine."
Daxter rolled his eyes at that. "Yes, well, just because you and Jak got the creepy superpowers doesn't mean I catch on that quick. Next time you decide to pull a little stunt like that, get me in the know. I don't like being creeped out at all the time. Also, remind me not to ever piss either of you off." He pretended to wipe some sweat from his brow. "The both of ya are enough to make anyone walk on the tips of their toes."
"It's not that bad." Valentine replied, before a bullet hit a Metal Sniper neither of the two had seen. She gave Jak a thumbs up from her side of the chasm, before she continued walking. "And we always have your back Daxter. You're a very dear friend to me after all."
Daxter rubbed the back of his head, almost seeming shy at that comment. "Aw shucks, Valentine. You're going to get me all emotional and stuff, and neither of us wants to see that happening."
"Then I'll try not to say it again." She replied with a grin, throwing a knife at a grunt that though rushing straight for them would be a good idea. As she bent down to pull her knife out of the skull gem she pitched her new idea. "Anyway, I was thinking we could stop by my old place while we're in town. There' some photo albums I wanna pick up before we're going back to Spargus. And maybe there's a chance the Kid's been hiding there without anyone noticing."
If it had been possible to see, Valentine would have noticed Daxter's color fading from his face beneath the fur. "Ah, you're still looking for the little tyke eh?" He let out a nervous chuckle as a rain of bullets from Jak's side took care of several tall Metal Heads.
Valentine's eyes widened when she heard Daxter say that. "Of course I am. I'm supposed to take care of him, aren't I? Who knows what he's doing now. He might be scared out of his mind, while I promised to protect him." Daxter glanced towards Jak, knowing exactly what the person Valentine was worrying about was doing at the moment. "I just need to find him, and then I'll take him back with me to Spargus."
She didn't mention that then Damos would be reunited with his son and she could go back to just being a Guardian instead of the next ruler of the desert city. She was more than happy just making sure the ruler would be safe, especially if that person would be Mar. "So, that's the little side agenda I've got going on here." she admitted, relieved to see the entrance to the harbor appear. "I can count on you, right?"
After Daxter gave a grunt that could have meant anything she decided to dial up Torn to ask for further details. "Say Torn, I can get you wanting us to get rid of the Eco containers – Jak is doing a smashing job actually, and I do mean that literally – but we're at the main gate now. Do you want us to do anything here or should we head back through the sewers. Note how I did not cringe this time when I said sewer."
"I don't know, do I look like the kind of guy that enjoys giving Metal Heads free entrance to our part of the city?" Torn asked her, sarcasm oozing through the speakers. "Of course I don't want you to smash up the gate. Just get your asses dragged through the sewers and report back here."
Valentine opened her mouth to reply when she could see Jak tensing up. She'd seen him smash the last container, but she hadn't thought that he would be overloading. How long had it been since he had transformed anyway? "Crap." She said softly, but not so soft that Torn couldn't hear her.
"Valentine, what's going on over there?" If this had been a situation where she could enjoy the tone of concern in Torn's voice Valentine would have, but sadly enough Jak had just transformed and seemed to be charging up something that looked an awful lot like the Dark Bomb she had used all those years ago. She swallowed, throwing Daxter on the ground before jumping on top of the hairy critter.
Not a second too soon either. As she still bounced a little bit from the impact the Dark Eco screeched towards the gate, smashing it into tiny pieces. The electric wards on the other side couldn't deal with the overload, blasting the entire structure in even more tiny pieces. Three seconds later the booming sounds subsided, but Valentine didn't get up just yet. It would be just something for her to get knocked to the ground by a last remnant of stubborn building scrap.
"Get offa me!" Daxter tried to yell from beneath her stomach. Valentine obliged by lifting up her stomach, still remaining as level to the ground as possible while giving the Ottsel some breathing space. "I can get trying ta save me, but could you do it with a bit more of oxygen next time?" He complained, smoothing out his fur."
"Valentine, report immediately." Torn shouted from the communicator on her wrist. "What the hell was that explosion just now?" he demanded.
She rolled over on her back, not caring about the dust that started to scatter over her clothes and in her hair. The pants were borrowed from the Underground cache anyway, so it wasn't like anyone would mind those getting filthy. "Remember that gate we shouldn't get rid of under any circumstance? What's your plan B on that one?" she informed, trying to sound casual as she heard Jak rushing towards her over rubble.
Ignoring the initial stream of swears that streamed out of the communicator she allowed Jak to help her to her feet. They looked at one another and immediately blurted out the question that was for the moment the most important. "Are you alright?"
After an initial double-take they chuckled, before Valentine recovered the fastest. "No, but I am serious. You just released an insane amount of Dark Eco just now. Are you okay?"
Jak nodded, looking at her as if he expected to find bruises and cuts all over. "What about you? I didn't exactly get a good look, but it looked as if the rubble was bouncing off you before it even got near. Sure nothing hit you?"
Valentine wiggled in place, trying to feel if anything felt more sore than should be expected after some contact with gravity. "I'm okay. Daxter is too, even if he is being a baby about being smothered."
"Smothered is the exact word I was looking for." Daxter exclaimed, resting himself against Jak's leg. "I don't know about you lot, but I could go for a day without anything blowing up with me being in the same freaking city."
"Valentine, I'm still talking to you!" Torn threatened, making Valentine swipe up the communicator with her best 'yikes' face. "Thanks to your royal screw-up you got yourself nominated for some gardening. Samos wants the three of you to head down to the forest and get rid of some Eco plants. This time you are allowed to destroy them, so do your damned jobs while I clean up after the lot of you."
Valentine scrunched up her nose as Torn added some more comments about their possible ancestry. It reminded her of how he would get his boxers in a twist whenever she nearly destroyed the hide-out in her earlier Eco-infected years. "Yikes, let's stay out of his hair for the time being." She suggested, turning off the communicator with a speed that suggested she didn't feel like going near Torn for quite a while.
|The Forest|
Valentine tapped the pillar that had risen up from the remnants of the lake, letting the characteristic hollow thumping sound reverberate through the forest. "You know, Mar might have been this great hero that did all these wondrous things, but it would have been nice if he or one of my own ancestors had thought about adding a manual to all his stuff." She tried to lean against the huge pillar but her hand slipped right off, nearly landing her into the water. "I mean, what's this thing do? I don't see anything that looks like a controlling panel or whatever you want to call it."
Jak let out an exhausted huff, leaning his back on a tree as he took a breather. "Why are you getting all worked up about this? It's just some old junk, who knows if we'll even be able to use it."
Valentine dropped to her knees, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt as she spoke. "Because old junk is interesting." She sat down next to him, looking at him as she leaned her elbow on her knee. "And I don't like not knowing stuff. Like, what's the deal with this Day Star? What's Veger planning on doing? And why did Erol come back as a robot?"
She looked him over as well, her face set unusually grim. "You're keeping something from me as well." She said softly, though she didn't look as upset as she could have. "It's got something to do with Mar, or with Precursor stuff."
He started, raising himself half up in surprise. "I… that's… how did you figure that out?"
One corner of her mouth raised in a smile. "I'm the genius of this group, aren't I? And you got all fidgety when we went through that Mar door back in the temple." She tapped a finger against his forehead, keeping her head to the side as she continued. "I don't mind all that much if you want to keep some secrets, I guess. Everybody has them. but I would like to know what that particular secret is you're keeping."
He started coughing, somehow managed to go brighter red than the scarf around his face. Valentine patted Jak on the back, looking at him quite curiously. What was his secret that he would almost choke when she asked him about it?
"I'll tell you eventually." He promised her when he recovered. "Just… not right now, okay?" he looked at her sideways, more worried than she had ever seen him.
She leaned her head back on her hand, wiggling her nose in wonder. "Sure…" she said slowly, not knowing what she was supposed to think about this. Who would have guessed Jak would be the one person who would manage to keep her wondering? "I'll wait until you're ready to tell me."
Jak let out a sigh of relief before he reached out to take her hand. They sat down in the sun for a moment like that, just enjoying a moment of peace before they had to go out again. "Don't you ever get tired of being a hero?" she asked him as a breeze gently lolled by.
"Sometimes." He answered truthfully. "I could do without all the dirt and blood." He gave her hand a squeeze as he laid back again, looking relaxed. "Though the job has some perks."
She lay down next to him, enjoying a rare moment of peace. "It does?"
"Well…" he said slowly, tracing a finger over the back of her hand. "I did get to meet you."
Yeeees, I'm back! Exams are over, and my battery is getting charged up a little bit again so nothing but good news ^^ Bad news is I have once again a gazillion ideas lined up for other fics while I just really would appreciate my brain to focus on the stuff I already have going on. Pfeh.
About the playlist... I kind of have two options... Either I just use a random stock picture about someone that could be Valentine, or one of my readers is an artistic wonder that would be willing to draw me a picture of Jak and Valentine so I can put the tag 'Jak and Daxter' on the playlist without feeling like some sort of fraud. "But Moon, I can draw for shit." you say? As long as it's slightly more advanced than stick figures I'll be happy honestly speaking. Also, everyone who draws me a picture gets a special reward ^^ And if you've read my story this far, I'm going to guess you'll like it. That or you'll just have to be pleased with an honorary mention.
Dear guest : As always, thank you for the review! You may have guessed, but some pretty exciting stuff will be happening. Well, it'll only be one of the most emotional things to ever happen between Jak and Val, but you catch my drift. I'm just happy people like reading this stuff even if I'm following the game ^^
LadyAmazon : Thanks for wishing me luck, I needed it ^^' Ah, I like language, but I'll never get the hang of advanced grammar. Sob, and it's only like thirty percent of my education so yay.
Sage : Thanks again for helping me clean up the chapter! ^^
M-Angel 05 : Aaaah, there are few things as soothing as imagining Veger getting eaten by a Metal King to be honest. It sends me in a fit of giggles every single time.