Authors Note: Woot, chapter four! I already have all the missions divided up so I know exactly what is going into every chapter. For those of you who have played the game, this chapter starts with the 'destroy turret' and ends with the 'win jet board stadium challenge'. And now to my lovely reviewers:
Empty Tranquility: Yay! I'm glad it worked lmao! Yes, I love Dark Jak as well, he's awesome. And I liked that bit to XD You'll have to wait for that since the pairing of this so far is still the slight Keira/Jak of the second game, but you never know what I might throw in X3 Thanks for the review!
Nostalgic Beauty: I'm glad you liked it! And I'm not answering that question just yet! XD Thanks for the review!
Pyro Madz: Lmao, I am glad you like it so much XD Happy you liked how Tera looks, lol, and thank you very much, I'm glad you're enjoying it. Thanks for the review!
Just a note, in total, there will be sixteen chapters. Much longer then Book One, lmao XD Anyways, enjoy the chapter!
Through Another's Eyes: Book Two
Chapter Four: Into the Sewers
Walking into the Hip Hog, Tera flinched automatically when Krew flew down and around them, the three turning to face the obese man.
"Your three are turning out to be quite useful, eh?" Krew sneered, "Mmm, I have another task for you. The Sewers used to be a fabulous smuggling route for me, before the Baron installed security devices."
"And before those late night snack runs kept you from fitting out the front door," Daxter snickered, flatting himself out and walking side ways comically. Tera rolled her eyes at the ottsel, Jak frowning at the floating man.
"I bet you've hatched another 'brilliant' plan in that hungry little brain of yours," he growled, "So… who or what do we have to shake down, knock out, or blow up?"
Krew grinned, "Well, I need someone to go down and shoot every Sentry Gun in the Sewers. I'd give you a sweet weapon upgrade if you succeed."
"Ugh," Tera grunted, "Sewer duty… great."
"Let me guess," Daxter drawled, "Dank, murky water?" Krew nodded," Reeks worse then your breath at an oyster fest?" an ignored glare, "Fuller o' Metal Heads then your plate at a one pass buffet? And of course, weapons more lethal then your 'ever to tightly whiteys'," the ottsel grabbed one of Krew's fat rolls and jiggled it, Tera looking away in disgust, "on a hot summer day?! Look, donut hole, why don't WE float around here looking hot and heavy, and YOU go roto-root the pipes?"
"We're not doing anything until you tell us why Metal Head's are trading with the Baron's forces!" Jak growled, crossing his arms.
"I should have had you all knee-capped, ey?" Krew snapped, floating in close to the blond, "All I know is that the Baron cut a desperate deal with the Metal Head leader. Mmmmm," Krew paused, turning and floating a bit off from the three, "Metal Heads need eco, so the Baron supplies them with regular shipments," he turned back to them, motioning angrily, "In return, the Metal Heads agreed to attack the city just enough to satisfy the Baron's continued rule."
Tera frowned, crossing her own arms, "Yeah, but how long can that deal last?"
"Well, the Baron is running short on eco, 'ey?" Krew grinned, "And the Metal Heads are short on patience. Baron Praxis needs this war to keep in power. Otherwise, the city would put the true ruler on the throne," he paused, then grumbled, "wherever that little brat is."
"We'll clear out your sewers," Jak snapped, a grin spreading across his face, "And, we haven't forgotten about that weapons upgrade you promised in return."
"Bloodsuckers," Krew muttered in reply before floating off towards the bar again, leaving the three Underground operatives to head out towards the sewers.
"Damn," Tera sighed, her nose still wrinkled as they stepped outside, her arms crossed tightly over her chest, "I was hoping to not have to go down into the sewers again any time soon."
"You've been down there I take?" Jak questioned as they walked, looking for a zoomer.
"My first missions in the Underground were all down there," she admitted, then grinned, "till I started arguing with Torn and he finally gave me better missions."
Jak chuckled at this, leaping up and grabbing onto the metal bars of a single zoomer as it passed over head. Knocking the driver off, he lowered it and smirked at Tera again, "Come on slow poke."
Tera scowled, climbing on and wrapping her arms around his torso again, muttering something along the lines of "You'd think you like me clinging on to you for dear life." Before Jak floored the gas and the trio sped off towards the sewers.
"Where's the entrance, Ter?"
"It's in South town, right by my apartment. Just turn right instead of left once we hit the red section."
Jak followed her instructions, and the three hopped off the zoomer and headed down the ramp shortly after. Stepping through the door as it slid open, they moved onto the metal grate elevator and waited silently as it moved down into the sewers. Jak noticed Tera pull her pistols from their holsters, and pulled his own scatter gun from his back, loading it and preparing for whatever lay ahead of them. When the door opened, the three moved forwards into the metal tunnel, their noses wrinkling at the smell.
Three snorkel tooth's appeared up ahead of them, charging. Jak took two out with his scatter gun while Tera handled the last with her blasters, yellow and red bullets ripping through the creature's skin. When they were gone, Tera shot open the KG crates by the wall and tossed the scatter ammo to Jak, storing the health pack in her pouch for later usage. Continuing on, Jak stepped onto the light switch at the end of the tunnel, activating the lights above them.
Hopping down onto the platform following the right wall, Tera motioned for the two to stop when sudden gun fire rang out, passing the wall just in front of them.
"There's the first turret," flipping her goggles down, she glanced around the corner when the turret was firing the other way, frowning and pulling back, "My pistols will only do minimal damage to that thing. You're going to have to get close enough to use the scatter gun on it, Jak."
Jak nodded, grinning, and jumped out into the tunnel, dashing towards the turret. He jumped over the gun fire when it swept past him, shooting it down when he finally reached it. Tera jogged up after him, giving him a quick thumbs up before continuing onwards. At the end of the tunnel, the three jumping over the metal platforms to get to the other side of the water. Tera yelped and jumped back, almost falling into the water, when a Metal Head rammed into the metal netting, screeching. Jak caught his friend by the wrist and steadied her before shooting the metal head, its skull gem floating into his pack.
"You ok?" he asked, frowning. Tera nodded, taking a deep breath to calm herself.
"It just surprised me, I'm fine," she assured him, "Let's keep going."
Jak nodded, sticking close to the girl's side as they hopped over the next set of platforms, shooting down the goobers and snorkel tooth's that waited in the next corridor. Heading around the next corner, Tera put a hand on Jak's shoulder to stop him again, her ears drooping slightly.
"Look," she whispered, pointing into the darkness just ahead of the light switch. Jak squinted, making out three glowing gems in the darkness. More Metal Heads. Loading his scatter gun, he nodded to Tera before stepping onto the light switch, revealing the three grunts. The Metal Head's growled and charged, but stood no chance against the two's combined gun power, yellow and red bullets making quick work of the beasts.
"Nothing more invigorating then hunting sewer metal heads," Tera quipped, earning a grin from her friends. Continuing on, they shot down the three snorkel tooth's blocking their path and paused at the end of the corridor, hearing the second turret activate itself and start firing. Jak grinned and once more dashed out, jumping over the turrets fire until he was close enough to shoot it, calling back to Tera once it was safe to come out.
Walking down the next corridor, they stopped at the edge of the walkway, staring down at the black abyss below them. Stepping onto the small metal walkway along the right wall, Tera yelped when it suddenly buckled, sending the three crashing down to the ground.
Groaning, Tera sat up, rubbing her bruised back and butt, "Yet another reason why I hate the sewers…"
Jak ignored his friends grumbling, standing and breaking the nearby KG crates. The dark eco blobs flew out and into his body, Jak feeling the demon reappear within his mind as his stores filled up. But this time, he felt as though he had more control over the dark powers.
"Let's go," Tera nodded, following him around the corner. They stopped just short of the light switch, spotting eight glowing gems in the darkness. Swallowing thickly, Tera grabbed her pistols, Jak loading his scatter gun with a frown. This would be messy. Stepping onto the light switch, the metal head grunt's growled and charged as soon as they spotted the three, the two blonds letting out as many shots as their guns could as quickly as they could.
"There's too many!" Daxter screeched, clutching Jak's hair. The blond growled, clenching his teeth. He didn't want to, but he knew a quick way of ending this.
"Tera, get behind me!" he barked, the girl jumping and complying, her expression showing confusion. Putting his gun away, Jak growled as his dark self leached to the surface, horns and claws growing, skin and hair turning horribly pale and eye's deepening to pure ebony. The demon growled, launching himself into the air and slamming down on the ground, sending out a shock wave of dark eco. The wave, surprisingly, didn't even touch Tera, but it completely wiped out the hoard of metal heads, their skull gems bouncing along the ground.
His eco stores depleted, Jak groaned as he reverted back to himself, a hand on his forehead. Glancing back to Tera, his look was easy to read, 'Did I hurt you?'
Tera simply shook her head, giving a small grin and planting her hands on her hips, "Nice moves, Dark boy. Now grab those skull gems and let's get moving, we've got two more turrets to take out."
Nodding, Jak grabbed the eight skull gems and stored them away in his pack, following after Tera as she jumped up a set of slimy steps set into the left wall. Shooting down the goobers there, they stopped at the corner and listened, watching the turret's bullets rip through the air ahead of them. Jak jumped out to head over, but this turret seemed to be faster, and he couldn't seem to get past the first two platforms.
Tera frowned, peaking out from around the corner to assess the situation. Scanning the water, she spotted no enemies and decided to take a chance, jumping out and into the water.
"Ter?!" Daxter screeched, spotting the girl as she swam past the platforms and straight for the sentry gun, the turret unable to aim low enough to hit her. Jak focused on getting closer, managing to make it to the third platform just as the girl climbed up beside the sentry.
"Jak, throw me the scatter gun!" she shouted, catching the weapon when the male tossed it at her. She aimed and fired, the turret exploding into tiny little bits. Smirking, she mock saluted to Jak, holding his gun out, "Who say's girls can't fight?"
"Not me," he laughed, the three following the path and hopping up into the next corridor. Hitting the light switch, they walked around the corner, spotting two grunts ahead of them. Tera cursed when the light suddenly deactivated itself, the grunts charging at them through the dark.
"Shoot shoot!" Jak obliged, the two somehow managing to get both the grunts despite the complete blackness of the tunnel. Grabbing the gems, the three continued, Jak immediately hopping out and making a run for the last turret when it began to fire. He got close and easily took it out with the Scatter gun, Tera rushing up to join him shortly after, high-fiving Daxter.
"Good work my boy!" Krew's voice exclaimed from his com as it popped out of his pack and hovered around the three, "Come back to the Hip Hog and I'll give you that weapons upgrade I promised."
"And, of course, the girl never gets any credit," Tera joked, rolling her eyes. They moved forward, taking down the last Snorkel Tooth's and Metal Head's that waited in the corridor. Hopping down into the water at the end, they swam back to the hall with the exit door and headed back out to the city, Tera taking in a deep breathe once they were back within Haven's walls.
"It's so good to be out of there," she sighed, Jak rolling his eyes and grabbing a nearby zoomer. The three headed back to the Hip Hog as Krew had told them to, jumping off the zoomer and entering once they reached the saloon. Krew sat near the bar end of the building, fanning himself. Krew took a whiff of the air, his nose wrinkling.
"What is that horrible smell?" he questioned, continuing to sniff at the air.
"Oohh, great," Daxter spat, "we do your dirty work in the sewers, and come back smelling worse then a wet hip hog in a warm barn!" Daxter sniffed around himself, hopping to the ropes surrounding the centre of the bar and leaning back towards Jak and Tera, "This could have a serious impact on the lady factor!" this earned him a roll of Jak's eyes and a snicker from Tera.
"Nooo," Krew gagged, as though holding back vomit, "I think it was my lunch, actually."
Tera shuddered, her nose wrinkling, the guys just staring at him in shocked disgust.
"Nice work in the sewers, eh," he changed the subject, turning back to the bar, "I guess you're looking for that weapon upgrade, hmm? Well, there's a blaster mod stashed in some crates at the Port. Find it, and it's yours…" Krew laughed, floating off towards the ceiling again.
"Well, let's go find your mod," Tera quipped, heading out with the guys following. They walked the short distance to the Port, heading inside the Gun Course when they couldn't see any crates outside. Jak bashed through all the crates, the mod falling from the one in the centre of the room. Bending and snatching it, Jak loaded it onto his morph gun, Daxter flashing Tera a peace sign.
The blond grinned and aimed it as though to take a shot, looking through the targeting eye. Daxter rubbed his hands together in anticipation, the two males grinning at each other sadistically. Tera rolled her eyes at her friends, pushing the button to open the door to the blaster gun course.
"Ready to do some training boys?" she grinned, watching Jak enter the course and immediately start firing away, liking the auto targeting of the blaster mod. Tera followed along behind the two, still grinning. This was the course she had started on when she first began working for the Underground; the blaster was the mod she generally used on her own pistols. Jak breezed through the course easily, once more avoiding the civilian targets and only hitting the metal head ones.
At the end of the course. Tera frowned, pouting and crossing her arms at his score, "Damn, you beat me!"
Jak looked at the name area, seeing that Tera had been pushed to second and his name registered as first. Grinning, he hooked an arm around the girl's shoulders, squeezing her gently.
"Ah, relax Ter, you still beat all the other people who have run this course," he smirked. Tera flushed, shrugging his arm off and not looking at him, her arms still crossed as she waited for her face to cool down.
"C'mon, we should probably head back to the Hip Hog and see if Krew has any other missions for us," she muttered finally, quickly heading back out onto the street, a slightly confused Jak following after her. They entered the saloon once more, Krew floating up near the roof of the bar as they walked over.
"I have a proposition for you, Jak," he grinned, turning to face the trio, "Racing is the biggest sport in the city!" he flew down and circled around them, "Errol is the undisputed grand champion. He's crazy, and dangerous on the track," Krew gave a laugh, "My kind of guy," he spoke in Jak's face, then flew away, the blond waving a hand to clear the stench, "Only a fool would dare race again him, eh! And that's where you two come in," Tera growled quietly at Krew's intentional forgetting of her, though she kept her mouth shut.
Krew floated back behind the bar, "A client of mine is looking for a fast driver for her racing team," he snatched a piece of paper and a pass from the bar, floating back over to the group, "here's a security pass to get you into the stadium section," he tossed Jak the green pass, "Oh, and your contract, with just a few trifles for me. I've ah, already signed your name to save time, mmmmnn."
Daxter caught the contract, immediately reading it all over, "We the racers hereby agree to give Krew all proceeds from the race earnings, endorsement fees, broadcast royalties, syndications residuals, vehicle sponsorships, mall appearance fees, collectible card assets, fast-food tie-ins, use of likeness rights, talk show deals, clothing lines, all print rights including book, novella, comic, pamphlet, tickertape, neon sign and bathroom graffiti designs…"
Tera and Jak yawned, half falling asleep as Daxter continued to read, barely managing to snap themselves out of it.
Daxter took a deep breathe before continuing on with the next page, "Toy rights, shoe lines, mood rings, game rights…" Daxter paused, "GAME RIGHTS?!" then continued again, "Vitamin endorsements, city kickbacks, movie deals, and of course, all death and dismemberment accident insurance claims." Daxter sent Krew a skeptic look, the fat man giving a low chuckle.
"We can work out the tiny details later. If you can get from here to the Race Garage near the stadium in less then three minutes, my client said that she would consider letting you drive for her team," he paused, grinning, "Make me proud, mmm!"
Jak nodded, heading out of the salon with his friends in two. He didn't notice the smirk that had spread across Tera's face, the girl watching the sky for any single zoomer's that she could grab, knowing Jak would be taking the one parked outside.
Spotting one, she grinned, "Hey Jak…?"
The blond stopped just short of getting on the zoomer, looking back at his friend, "Yah?"
"Race yah!" the blond had no time to react as Tera jumped up and grabbed a single zoomer flying overhead, knocking the driver off and immediately taking off in the direction of the race garage. Smirking, Jak hopped onto his own zoomer and took off after her, Daxter screeching from his shoulder. Jak had to admit that his friend had become a good driver, as Tera was better at avoiding people and other zoomer's then he was.
At some point, one of them had hit a KG, so now they also had to deal with the idiots shooting at them. Tera stayed just a bit ahead of Jak the entire time, both watching the clock as their time ticked away. Jak managed to catch up to Tera just as they pulled into the arena area, both zoomer's hitting the spot light that indicated the finish line at the exact same time.
"Bah, a tie," Tera grinned, flipping her goggles back up and hopping off the zoomer, "I almost beat you though."
"Almost, Ter," Jak chuckled, getting off his own zoomer and heading into the race garage, Tera following close behind. They entered the specified garage, looking around at the seemingly empty space.
"Uh… hello?" Jak called, walking in, "Krew said someone was looking for a race driver?" he put a hand on one of the metal platforms in the garage, Daxter hopping up onto the surface. Tera moved up beside Jak, also glancing around.
"I'm busy right now," a female voice said, the trio looking around for the source, "you must be Krew's new errand boys."
Jak frowned, focusing on the green curtain ahead of them, the three spotting the silhouette of a girl behind it, "Look, I don't mean to be rube, you did get here fast, but I'm not interested in any new drivers right now, and I've got work to do."
"Is there, anything we can do?" Jak asked, smirking at the woman's silhouette, Tera and Daxter rolling their eyes at their friend.
"No!" the woman exclaimed, "I'm… ah… working on a secret… ah… ah… 'vehicle project'." The girls shadows had moved in front of whatever it was she was working on behind the curtain.
"Okay, sorry," Jak muttered, looking back to the shadow when she spoke again.
"Listen, if you think you've got the guts to race in this town, try taking my prototype Jet-board out on the Stadium course," Jak and Daxter shared a grin, "beat the Stadium challenge, and maybe I'll consider you for my team."
The girl had taken a seat on whatever it was she was working on, and Jak seemed hypnotized, staring with his mouth wide open. Daxter waved a hand in front of his friends face, he and Tera rolling their eyes at the blond. The girl took her friends wrist and pulled him out of the garage, down towards the stadium. Jak eventually snapped out of it and followed silently, heading into the jet board arena.
When they reached it, he smirked and grabbed the Jet board, hopping on and doing the practice moves that the mechanic, through a communicator, told him to do. Tera watched the entire time, rolling her eyes when her friend did a silly move just to piss of the mechanic. Eventually, he surfed down into the actual arena and took the challenge, pulling off a variety of stunts and managing to get gold.
Surfing back into the practice area, Jak hopped off the jet board and moved to put it away, blinking when Tera snatched it from him.
"My turn," she said simply, jumping on and taking off into the stadium. Jak watched with a grin, his friend managing to pull off the majority of the moves that he himself had done. When time was up, she surfed back over to them, grinning as she had managed to get silver in the challenge.
"Let's go tell the bitch we beat her challenge," she smirked, Jak nodding and leading the way back to the garage. Walking back into the garage, Jak smirked at the hidden woman.
"We beat the Stadium challenge."
"Great," the mechanic sounded less then impressed, continuing to work on her project, "People do get lucky. Listen, don't you have someone to collect money from, or beat up, or something?"
"You don't like us do you?" Jak questioned, crossing his arms.
"You work for that slime ball Krew," she bit back, "what's not to like?"
Jak glanced to the side of the curtain, spotting the many trophies that sat there, "Looks like you've won a few races," he looked back at the curtain, "Isn't it true the city champion gets to tour the palace?"
"Yeah," the mechanic paused, "why?"
"Could you get me into the palace?"
"A friendly visit, I gather," the mechanic muttered, going back to her work. Tera frowned to herself; something about this woman seemed familiar.
"Yeah. I'm a real fan of the Baron," Jak growled.
"Okay, I'll help you out if you stop bothering me," Jak rolled his eyes in Tera's direction, the blond grinning, "I saw an old maintenance elevator at the base of one of the palace support towers. That old lift might take you up to the palace, IF you can find a way to turn on the elevator's power."
"Right, thanks," Jak grunted, turning back towards the exit, "Let's go guys."
Daxter hopped onto Jak's shoulder, Tera silently following after him. She couldn't get rid of the nagging feeling that she had seen that woman before, but she just couldn't figure out where…
A beeping coming from her comm., she pulled it out and motioned to Jak, "Torn's calling us again; ready for another crappy mission?"
Jak grinned, "Bring it on."