|Haven|
"He's alive, Jak. Damos is okay," Valentine repeated. She didn't dare look away as the hero was morphing in between his normal and dark self. Instead she kept her eyes focused on his, controlling her breathing. Damos' warm hand on her wrist kept her grounded with courage and hope. Her free hand moved up Jak's bare arm, along the blond hair and pulsating veins beneath her touch.
"Veger!" Jak shouted, turning around.
"…Mar," Damos spoke, his voice a feeble whisper just barely reaching above the drizzling rain. Next to him Daxter sat on the ground, observing the scene.
Jak paused once more. His chest moved in quick breaths as he struggled to keep control over his actions. His fingers flexed rhythmically as he stared at the Catacombs. "Veger is getting away."
"We'll get him. First we need to calm down and make sure Damos is alright," Valentine pleaded with him. As long as she held onto his hand he wouldn't be going Dark on them. That's what she told herself at least.
Jak took a few shuddering breaths, his hand twisting so he could grasp Valentine's wrist in turn. Rain gathered in droplets on his face before dripping lazily from his goatee. His breathing quickened, the Eco testing his restraints. His grip around her wrist tightened, bordering on almost too painful. Then he startled, releasing her. "Sorry."
Valentine shook her head quickly before turning back to her King. Damos' breathing was even, the steady movement of his chest much stronger than it had been only a minute earlier. "My King, are you alright?"
"I will be when I get back to Spargus," Damos moaned lowly, flinching when Valentine touched his leg. There was a very good chance it was broken but she was loath to examine it here. The conditions were less than optimal. Damos turned to Jak, motioning the young man to come closer.
Jak shrugged off the rest of the rage with difficulty, resting one knee on the ground next to Damos. The rain drizzled gently on the scene. Valentine knew she should probably give the two some privacy but she didn't want to miss out on the development. Instead she looked around after something she could use to splint Damos' leg.
"So Valentine was right. You are my son." Well, maybe sticking around wasn't the smartest idea after all. Sadly enough both men had now involved her in the situation. With the tips of her ears feeling hot under their scrutiny she tested a thin piece of metal for it's resistance.
"He knew?" Jak asked her, sounding upset.
Valentine bit her tongue in an attempt to avert the sudden nervous feeling. "He knew. I just wanted to make sure Damos would believe us."
"Time travel… it's a hard thing for an old man to swallow," Damos noted, his hand moving for a moment as if he wanted to touch Jak. "Though there were clues, I suppose. You are a man any warrior would proudly call son."
Jak hesitated, eyes flickering between Damos, Valentine and the ground. "This is sudden. Not that I'm angry, I mean, you're impressive. I just thought all my family was dead."
Now Valentine felt the knot of guilt along with the heat of shame. Perhaps there had been better ways to handle this. Instead she straightened out the piece of metal in her hands, careful not to snap it in two. Daxter observed her, keeping his mouth shut for the time being. After ripping a strip of fabric from her shirt she applied the splint to the best of her abilities. "That's all I can do for now. We should get you to Seem."
Damos shook his head. "The two of you put a stop to Veger. You were right, Valentine. Spargus cannot survive on its own."
"But-"
"If you contact Torn he will send someone to me. I can manage until they do so." Her king seemed sure of himself.
"Still-"
"A true leader puts the people above their own desires. You stopped being a Guardian quite some time ago. Now you have to act like a leader," Damos urged her. He glanced to Jak, finally reaching out to take his son's hand. Valentine's heart squeezed painfully in her chest when she saw that.
"Not to mention, I want both of you to look after each other. I need the both of you to return to me, in one piece."
Valentine quickly wiped her eyes, hoping the men would attribute any tears they noticed to the rain. While she alerted Torn about what had happened through the still working radio in the car Jak and Damos talked in hushed whispers. She was happy things had worked out as well as they did. Hell, things probably had gone as good as she could ever have hoped. At least Damos hadn't died. A part of her would have died right along with the man.
"Torn's on his way. Will you be alright?" She asked Damos, glancing in the direction Veger had sped off to. They had lost some valuable time but hopefully not too much.
Damos coughed as he sat up straight, looking every bit the insulted warrior king. His pained smile was an ineffective attempt at putting everyone at ease. "I have been taking care of myself years before the two of you were born. I think I'll manage here."
"We'll make Veger pay," Jak promised.
"That's right, we'll make that sorry excuse of a Count sorry he ever messed with the golden trio!" Daxter shouted, hurrying up towards Jak's shoulder.
Valentine glanced at her companions before shrugging. "Guess that means we're off. Could you try messaging us when you're safe?"
"I will. Now go! You have some serious saving to do!" Damos urged her.
Valentine saluted quickly before following Jak to the remaining Precursor vehicle. Her heart sank upon seeing it before she shook her head. No complaining this time! If her king was brave enough to remain behind in enemy territory then she could stand driving shotgun in this car.
They'd only just gotten underway when Jak asked the dreaded question. "When were you planning on telling me?"
"When I was certain Damos believed me!" Valentine had to shout in order to be heard. The car sped through the darkness, their road leading down. Sometimes they passed the remnants of what had been lighting, other times they only narrowly avoided dying thanks to Jak's fast reflexes. Veger must have been more capable than he looked for making it this far. They had yet to see any smoking wreckage from his vehicle.
"We both know time travel is possible, thanks to you being here. But try telling that to someone who doesn't have our evidence!"
She nearly bit her tongue in an unexpected turn, Daxter screaming loudly all the while. "Besides, you only told me you were Mar after so long for the same reason!"
"I know but-" Jak paused while swerving the vehicle to the left when they came across an unexpected sharp turn. Gravity tugged at the both of them, pushing them flat in their seats. All the while they went lower and lower. A chill pervaded the air.
"He almost died back there, and I would have known nothing!"
"I screwed up, okay!" She hadn't really expected Doomsday to arrive quite so quickly. In movies people were polite enough to give a warning plenty beforehand.
She could understand Jak being angry with her. She had felt pretty conflicted as well when he'd first told her the truth. "Try not to hate me for too long? I'd hate to die with you being angry at me!"
Jak glanced at her, his face directed back at the road at once by a concerned Daxter. "We're not going to die. We're the heroes, remember?"
"Guys, does the whole hero thing count when the road stops?" Daxter asked while his voice rose higher and higher.
Valentine directed her eyes in front of her only to see that the road indeed disappeared in front of them. Jak slammed down on the breaks but it was too late. At a sickening pace they hurled towards the darkness. And kept floating on.
With her heart pounding in her throat Valentine turned left and right. The only indication they were moving was a growing spot of light in front of them. She turned to Jak who shrugged. He didn't seem nearly panicked enough considering they had just had a near-death experience.
Something zoomed past their head, a dim, round shape. Several others moved past them, whipping up a breeze in their path. The increased light soon revealed they were inside something that looked like a huge planetarium or possibly a machine. In front of them a red-eyed Precursor statue loomed.
"That must be it," Valentine whispered.
Jak nodded, staring at the monolith statue with as much intent as she was. When they landed the hero looked around him. "That's the statue… where's Veger?"
"Greetings, great warriors. Before it is too late you must power up the planet's core defense system," The statue directed them in the usual, strangely reverberating voice.
Valentine raised an eyebrow at Jak who pulled a small egg-like thing out of his pocket. "Samos had me pick this up while we were separated. Might as well use it to make sure everything starts working."
As soon as Jak inserted the power core a blue figure appeared in front of them. Valentine leaned back on one foot, prepared to dodge should it attack. Jak seemed less concerned about the appearance, gesturing behind him to calm her down.
"You have proven your worth, great Warriors. We grant you the gift of evolution. The honor of becoming one of us."
Jak and Valentine exchanged a glance. This looked to be a pretty big deal. Daxter bounced up and down on Jak's shoulder in excitement. "What are we waiting for? Let's get this show on the road! Being a Precursor has to be better than being like I am now!"
"Step aside! I will be the one to evolve into a Precursor! The honor should belong to me!" Veger appeared almost out of nowhere, his big strides carrying him more than halfway to the light before his sentence had ended. More troubling was the pistol he had trained upon his foes.
"Be careful what you wish for…" The Precursor chanted ominously, an undertone of glee barely audible.
The gentle light enveloped Veger in what Valentine thought was oddly like when she and Jak had received the Light Ego. She glanced at the Precursor, not believing they'd just granted Veger of all people the honor of becoming like them. Were these guys out of their mind?
Veger glowed brightly, forcing his audience to shield their eyes. When it was safe to look again he looked just the same as ever, arrogant smirk and all. "Don't worry children, I'm assuming this role for the greater good."
"Even now it may be too late. If Erol awakens the cargo of the Dark ship all will be lost," The glowing Precursor piped up.
Daxter jumped down, having had enough of it. He went as far as ignoring the gun Veger was pointing at the group once more. "I've had it with you guys! We've been doing all of your dirty work like running around in the desert,-"
"Sewers," Valentine added helpfully.
"Giant robots," Jak noted.
"-and worse," Daxter concluded for them. "So why don't you go and fight the big baddies for once while we kick back with a margarita?"
For a moment the glowing figure paused in the air, putting its hands on its hips. It stared at a vacant spot in the air.
"I told you this was a horrible plan. We never should have mixed plan A and plan B. It doesn't suddenly make a plan C." The Precursor babbled against itself before getting knocked around in the air.
"I think we broke the Precursor. Seem is going to kill us," Valentine blurted when she saw it, wondering what the monks if she ever mentioned it. Her train of thought was rudely interrupted when the glowing figure disappeared, revealing two doors sliding open behind it. Maybe she was dreaming. There was a chance she'd actually gotten a concussion earlier. Right now she was probably laying in the mud and rain underneath a car because there was no way this was happening.
"Oh my god," Jak said, sounding every bit as unbelieving as she was. Veger dropped his staff on the ground with an audible thunk. For a moment everybody just… stared. There was no mistaking the orange fur, not after having seen Daxter for several years. Three Ottsels were pushing buttons and handling levers, looking at their audience rather panicked.
"Yes… well… now we're even more displeased. Close the doors now. Avert your eyes," the Ottsel in the middle commanded the others.
Valentine knelt to the ground, adding her palm as contact between her and the doors in front of them. She stopped the flow of Eco that would have hidden the Ottsels from view. "You have got to be kidding me."
"Oh bother," the obvious leader threw away his microphone, the other two stopping their work to face their believers.
Daxter trotted closer to them, glancing between his friends and the Precursors. "I'm not suffering from a hangover residue am I? They look like me, right?"
Daxter and Valentine nodded in sync while Veger shook his head slowly. Valentine thought her brain might overload from this sudden information. This had to be an elaborate joke.
"We actually get this a lot, y'know?" One of the other Ottsels said as they floated closer on small platforms. He didn't look concerned about the situation at all, unlike the older Ottsel in the middle.
"Don't look so upset. Would you worship us if you knew the Precursors were a bunch of fuzzy rats?" The leader added, doing his utmost to seem cordial. He made a fair point. Nobody would have pegged someone who looked like Daxter to be godly material.
What would Seem say about this? How would anyone on the planet react? The creators of the world were orange fuzzballs. Valentine decided to sit on the ground, her knees suddenly too weak to support her weight. They had to be joking. She started to rub her temples in little circles.
"You idiots!" Well, at least it looked like Veger finally agreed with them on something. Disbelief caused the man to point his gun straight at the Ottsels. "Stop defiling this holy place!"
In the blink of an eye Veger was suspended in the air. The Ottsel-cursors looked quite smug with that feat. "Don't let our size fool you. We are some of the most powerful beings you'll ever encounter."
Valentine glanced at Daxter, curious to know if he knew to do that. It would have saved them a few tight situations in the past. But first- "Wait a second. You were going to turn us into you? We were going to be Ottsels? Because I do not have the hips for a tail."
Her question was answered when Veger popped - there was no other word for that sound - and became shorted and indefinitely more fluffy. Curiously enough his cuddle factor didn't increase along with it. While the count screamed she shook her head. "If we save the world, I don't want the reward to be Precursorhood, okay?"
"If you are going to save the world, you have to stop Erol from waking the Dark Makers." The Ottsel leader told them, gesturing vaguely up to indicate what he was talking about.
"You can't just announce the Precursors are Ottsels and then send us on our way!" Valentine protested, placing her hands on her knees. What the hell were they thinking anyway? "I don't care if you're the most powerful creatures on the planet, why do we have to go up there and deal with the Dark Makers? The only one I'm interested in is Erol."
"Normally we would love to take our time to explain everything to you, but right now you have to make sure not more Dark Makers try to take over the planet. They will do anything to corrupt it," The Ottsel leader told them in a very even tone of voice.
"And Erol's on the ship right now, waking more of 'em up as we're speaking. Gotta go with the vibes, lil' lady,"
"We already fought Dark Makers. They're tough, but we can handle them," Jak said, placing a hand on his hip. The way he kept glancing around suggested he hoped something more impressive would show up to claim the title of god.
"No dude, what you saw were the foot soldiers. The really big, nasty ones are still sleeping. So if you don't want this world to become a cosmic pile of goo you should head straight to the ship and stop him," One of the Ottsels explained to them, using exaggerated hand gestures to stress his point.
Valentine glanced at the charging weapon in the middle of the room. "Wait a second, isn't the gun going to blow them up? Why do we have to there if the ship's going to be destroyed in a few minutes?"
"If even one of those things awakens the planet will be-"
"Wokka wokka wokka!" The third Ottsel impersonated a popular yellow video game character with a preference for cherries.
"For real, if you let Erol do what he wants," the second Ottsel assured them.
"Well this is just great. Who doesn't want to go up to an alien ship that can be blown up any second? I say we make it a pic-nic and HOW ABOUT NO?" Daxter shouted.
Jak looked up, even though the sky couldn't possibly be seen from this place. "We've come this far. We might as well see it through to the end."
"But I don't want the end to be like, our end," Valentine objected. "We promised Damos we'd be back in one piece. This sounds more like we'll end up being a puzzle box by the time we get back."
"I just found out I'm a Precursor. You can't expect me to just die after this revelation. I need to tell Tess she's dating a god. And where did you guys get those pants?"
Jak waved a hand towards the weapon. "We're the heroes of this story! Together we can take down a ship of Dark Makers. Me and Daxter saved this world countless of times, and now there's you too, Val. We got this!"
Valentine looked between her lover and the Precursors, nearly stepping on Daxter's tail in the process. Veger hung in the air, not in the mood to talk. This was a horrible idea. Number one on the list of ways to get killed. A trip in the sewers would be more fun. But one look at Jak and she felt her stomach twist. "Count me in."
"Val, no! We're the voice of reason in this thing!" Daxter argued.
"But Jak's right. If we don't do it, who will? And judging from how things have been they'll zap us up there whether we like it or not," She added the last part with a fell swoop of her arm towards the Ottsels who nodded more or less sagely.
"I vote team Hero."
Jak nodded. "That's two of us. Dax?"
Daxter groaned, putting his hands in front of his face. When he finished lamenting his fate he ran over to Valentine, deciding she was still the safer option when it came to a shoulder to lean on. "Fine, but we need a different team title. How about 'Team Orange Lightning'? That has a nice ring to it."
Jak nodded towards the Ottsels who snapped their fingers. Something in the air shifted, air condensed to press their limbs together. For a moment none of them could breathe. When Valentine opened her eyes again everything was pitch black. Not to far from them high-pitched screeches and gutteral warbling could be heard.
Could someone say Really Bad Idea?
Exams are finished, which should be celebrated with a new chapter! As Sage pointed out, the dialogue between the Precursors and the others is a bit wonky, though for me it's mostly because the pacing in that part of the game is really weird? Like, here have this huge existential crisis, we're only going to dwell on it for thirty seconds before sending you to space. I'll get around to redoing that in the future though.
That being said, the two first chapters have gotten a little update. As in, I got rid of a lot of bad writing in those two. I'll redo the whole story, which is mostly going to reduce word count.
For the people whose reviews I answered to, do you mind if I delete my answer in the earlier chapters? It'll give a more accurate word count ^^
Clueless1229 : Yes, that would be awesome to have in the end, though right now they're probably still adapting to the whole 'my family is still alive' feeling. I'm happy I could keep Damos alive though, I always resented how they killed him in the game
M-Angel 05 : I have the get the family resemblance somewhere, right? xD And Veger has the beginning of his punishment in this chapter. I might have some fun with him in the epilogue...
Dear Guest : I love you too, anonymous. I wish I could post gifs in the story but you'll have to do it with my implied gratitude ^^
Oblique : Thank you as always ^^ I'm hoping I'll be able to straighten it out when I get to that chapter in the rewrite. Editing is more fun that I thought... Though I don't like crying at how immature I was back then xD
ayylmao : Hehheh, glad you liked it, and yeah, I didn't like those moments much either in the game. There's a comic con on sunday near where I live, I'm going to see if I can get some Deadpool comics there as research material ^^ I like reading up on characters before I write about them.
Time Materia : That is one of the most enthusiastic embraces of Valentine I've seen in a while xD I'm happy you like the story, thank you for the support ^^
Fluffy Two Face : Thanks for the reviews and I'm very happy you're taking some time to space out reading the story. I always get worried when people read the entire thing in one go for some reason. Sleep is important too, my dear readers!