Chapter Eight: Bella Notte
Jak quickly hijacked a passing zoomer, speeding his way around the track he was going to race tonight or the Haven City Race Track as it had come to be known. Finally reaching the Hip Hog he went in, being the first one to arrive. This only made his stomach do a couple flips more as he waited for the immanent doom to come.
Erol yawned slightly upon awakening, soon after entering the Hip Hog. A slight smile appeared on his lips to see Jak. This being how you would say, a favorite day of being a racer. His enjoyment of being drunk, racing with the guys etc. He chuckled contently inwardly, seating himself directly in front of Jak this time. "Hope you don't mind," he stated.
Jak mumbled something inaudible as Tess walked over and slid two drinks on the table. She was grumbling like she always did when the phones went down. Jak sighed, sipping at his drink with little enthusiasm.
Erol arched a brow, though his eyes hadn't removed themselves from Jak. He took a gulp down before speaking, "What's wrong with you?" he asked.
Jak ignored him, gently scratching at his chin fuzz. His only flicker of hope that Erol would leave him be remained in the hope that Erol didn't like chin fuzz. Jak sighed, chugging the rest of his drink with a sigh.
Though Erol was slightly reluctant by Jak's action, he continued to pester. Erol smirked slightly, once more taking another drink. "Ignoring won't exactly help it..." though his voice seemed to turn sullen, "If I've done something wrong."
"Just... drop it." Jak said as Tess refilled their drinks." At least let me get partly sauced before you try anything I would regret." Jak said firmly, though smirking slightly at his devious offer.
Erol rolled his eyes slightly, muttering something inaudible. 'Like you wouldn't enjoy it,' he thought. He chugged down his drink, enjoying the taste at the moment as he turned his head away. Erol began to ponder; something was different about Jak's behavior earlier.
Jak looked at Erol as he chugged down his third drink for the night. He was about to the point of sauced already, and the atmosphere of the now filling bar made him break the drunken barrier quickly. He hiccupped slightly as his vision blurred, leaving Erol looking like a fire-y blur.
Erol clearly saw Jak's drunkenness. Smirking slightly, he'd have to wait unless Jak didn't surrender himself to his own drink. He continuously quenched himself with the alcoholic flavor.
Jak stared at his empty glass with a renewed curiosity.
"What did Tess put in here? God, that's strong stuff..." Jak trailed off as Tess refilled the glass once more. Jak just shrugged and finished the glass in one gulp, his head spinning. He had stopped thinking so long ago he couldn't remember it.
Erol smirked a content expression. "Now, are you willing to tell me why you're ignoring me?" he asked, drinking down his last drink.
"Just cause… Dono... I really dono anymore..." Jak muttered, leaning his head on his knuckles. He was past the point of drunk, and heading toward Sauced to the Gills.
Erol burped inwardly, gas bubbles filling his stomach. Dreariness and light headedness swirled in his mind. He attempted to shake his head which managed to clear things up a bit. Erol frowned slightly, having a sudden crave to drive at the moment.
Jak blinked, trying to de-blur his vision, to no avail. He took another swig of his drink, before licking his dry lips and wiping the side of his mouth with his sleeve.
Erol soon after stood up, stretching slightly. He cracked his neck before shifting his gaze towards Jak. "Wanna go for a ride around Haven?" he asked, crossing his arms.
"But, isn't there only one zoomer out there? 'Cause I crashed mine and we cant take a car till the races officially start." Jak said, his reasoning even startling himself. He was right, though. He didn't have a zoomer, blowing it up by letting it crash into a wall before he entered.
"Feh whatever, we could share it since it's double seated," Erol informed before heading towards the door. "You could come or not, your choice," he informed.
Jak stood, finishing off his drink, and stumbled to the door to seek out an unused double seater zoomer. He couldn't find one, since they had all been taken away for pre-race touchups. He did find a smaller zoomer with a long seat, big enough for two. He sat on the back with a smile.
Erol seated himself in the front, surprisingly putting his seatbelt on. Though he wasn't thinking straight, especially being drunk. He quickly started the car, relishing the accelerating motor before speeding off.
Jak wrapped his arms around Erol's waste, since he had no seatbelt and would fly off otherwise. He set his head on Erol's shoulder, wanting to see where they were going.
Erol hid his smirk as they continued driving, deciding to take a small stroll around the city. He gripped against the handle despite having a blurred vision and nearing headache. Erol continued, wishing to waste time until it was time to go to the stadium.
Jak smiled.
"I know this road! Vin lives this way!" Jak pointed to the little silo like thing that Vin called home. Then he looked up and gasped, letting go of Erol and literally falling off the bike with a hard thump and a crack. He had gasped because he saw the moon for the first time in his life. Haven was so smog covered that she rarely showed her face.
"What...is... that?" Jak asked.
Erol immediately stopped the bike just as he saw Jak fall off. "What the hell did-" he stopped until seeing what Jak was staring at. He felt his mouth gape open in both surprise and shock, moonlight filtering down to the pavement of Haven. "It's... the moon," he muttered, quite dumfounded.
"Wow..." Jak muttered, staring at it like when a child sees it for the first time.
"I gotta tell Vin..." Jak then stood and ran up the walkway, knocking on a hidden door.
"VIN YOU GOTTA SEE THIS! IT'S THE MOON!" Jak said to the door with eagerness that even a curious child's would pale in comparison to. Only a moment later a very surprised Vin poked his head out, almost falling at the sight. "O-oh my..." Vin stuttered, actually stepping outside completely. His jaw dropped at the fullness and brightness of it, before he began to mutter something. And with a smile he disappeared into his 'home' once more, muttering something along the lines of 'How in the world is this happening! It hasn't happened since the time of the precursors, if I'm correct..." And he was gone, leaving Jak standing there with a giant grin plastered onto his face.
Erol smiled slightly before tilting his head towards Jak. "Don't you think it's time we head towards the stadium? Unless of course, you want to miss the race," he insisted, sitting back down on the bike. Erol fastened his seatbelt, feeling his light headed and dizziness tune down.
Jak held up a finger and tapped lightly on Vin's door once more. It opened for a split second, tossing out something round and metal before closing again. Jak picked it up and pushed something, making it hover slightly off the ground when he set it down.
"To the stadium! AWAY!" Jak cried, jumping on the hoverboard and soaring off towards the stadium, taking the same route they would race that night.
Erol rolled his eyes, though chuckled slightly. He turned on the engine before following after Jak. His eyes plastered themselves against the road, glancing once in a while towards the nearing stadium. A smirk curved onto his lips as he pressed against the pedal slightly further, feeling anticipation well up in him.
Jak made his board do a flip, landing on the end and being thrown off, head hitting road with a sickening crack.
Erol's eyes widened slightly as he pressed against the brake, skidding to a halt. "Jak!" he shouted, jumping off his zoomer before running back.
Jak's head was bleeding slightly from the fall. The boy moaned and opened an eye slightly before closing it again and trying to sit up.
Erol's eyes widened to see him beginning to bleed. His gaze shifted in the direction of the hospital, knowing it was quite far from here and that they were less then a mile from the stadium. Erol placed Jak's arm around his shoulder as he heaved him onto the zoomer.
"Don't move as much," he informed before once more igniting the engine and skidding off towards the stadium, knowing they had an infirmary. Erol kept a firm grip on Jak, making sure of him not to fall off.
Jak began to mumble obsinities in a constant stream, one word hanging onto the end of the other like a train. For the only time he ever WANTED to think, he had no way to. It hurt to bad. But the cut had already started to heal, bleeding less and growing less serious by the minute.
Once arriving at the stadium, he slowly dismounted. Erol glanced towards Jak, helping him sit up. He examined his wound, arching a brow as it seemed slightly better then before. "How are you feeling?" Erol questioned.
"Whoo...that hurt..." Jak said, rubbing the now barely bleeding cut on the back of his head. Then he smiled a wide grin.
"Let's do it again."
Erol looked at him oddly, "What the hell?" A dumbfounded look plastered against his face as he eyed Jak as if he had two heads. He shook his head, "The race is about to start soon if you're willing to," Erol stated, still puzzled at Jak's sudden cured head wound.
Jak grinned even wider.
"Let's GO!" And with a bound he ran off into the stadium like a kid to a candy shop. He had no idea how he healed so quickly, but it started after he got some Precursor tattoos on his stomach and he figured it had something to do with that. Not like he cared, but it was still strange.
Erol glanced around the stadium, noticing several others sitting to watch them start off. He crossed his arms slightly, fixating his gaze towards the already prepared zoomers. A glint of anxiousness appeared in his eyes as they neared them, though first he began to prepare himself.
Jak stood by Erol, bouncing on the balls of his feet, quite eager.
"ALRIGHT PEOPLE, LISTEN UP!" Came Tess' voice from somewhere." FIND A PARTNER! WE'RE GONNA WORK THIS A BIT DIFFRENTLY THIS TIME AROUND! YOU'RE GONNA RACE AS PARTENERS TILL WE DUN GOT ENOUGH PEOPLE TO FILL A FULL RACE! SO GET COMFY, 'CAUSE THIS COULD LAST A WHILE!"
Erol crossed his arms, glancing towards Jak. He signaled within his gaze of them being a partner. He paid slight attention to the last of Tess' sayings, 'Need more people?' he thought, glancing towards the partly crowded seats.
Jak giggled with glee.
"She did this before. You race till someone is KOed or Killed; make three more laps around the track, and then finish. The last people in and the people KOed or Killed are out. And if you lose your partner, you're out. This is gonna be fun!" Jak chimed climbing on the front of a smaller zoomer.
Erol kept his gaze on Jak before sighing inwardly. He mounted on the separate zoomer given, cracking his knuckles to loosen his hands grip for the moment. Erol gripped onto the handles, though he remained relaxed at the moment as they remained on the starting. He felt the form of his scatter gun in his pocket, wondering if it was allowed or not though didn't take it out.
Jak smirked at Erol, flipping his small pistol in the air and catching it his teeth for the heck of doing so.
"Stick together Erol. This could get ugly." Jak said, twirling his pistol on his finger and then slipping the trigger hole around the handle.
He returned his smirk, igniting the zoomer's engine. Erol rested one foot against the ground for support. Keeping his pocket open for an easy grasp, his gaze shifted to Tess waiting for her announcement.
Jak watched Tess tensely. She always pulled some kind of trick. When she said GO, you could start.
"Alrighty... On yer marks... Get set... GORILLA!" She began to laugh as all those who falsely started had to back up a few feet past the line.
"Thought I was gonna say GO, huh?" Tess laughed. Jak was off the moment she finished saying Go. He looked back to see many a startled face.
Erol laughed inwardly as he saw Jak sped off. Immediately, he pressed against the gas pedal as others regained their stunned and dumbfounded postures. He felt himself lean forward in both tension though contentment. The breeze whipped against his fiery colored hair, eyes glancing once in a while towards those behind him.
Jak threw up his hands in glorious triumph, him being the only person who had caught that. He allowed himself to kick back and relax some as he came into a straightaway. He would need to let Erol catch him quickly, since there was a heavily guarded area up ahead, and Jak had the mind to challenge Erol to who could off more KGs; Himself or Erol.
Erol eyed Jak; a smirk remained plastered against his lips as he reached into his pocket. He grasped the handle, keeping his weapon low while eyeing the area. Spotting the figures ahead as he was less then a yard away from Jak, he held up his gun. Squinting an eye he directed to gun to a KG, straight towards the neck.
Jak called." EROL GET YOUR ASS UP HERE! I HAVE TO SHOW YA SOMETHING!" Jak called, watching the road for a certain land mark, marking a shortcut that would not only give them a hoard of eaisly offable KGs but also cuts out half of the course.
At that command, he'd normally grow into a cursing spree. Though Jak was different. Coming up to retain the same speed as him, he noticed the path that was veered away from the original race path. A glint appeared within his eyes, knowing it was a shortcut as Jak probably ment.
"Follow me! And make sure you have your scatter gun to get the KGs I don't." Jak laughed, heading down a narrow tunnel, with barely any room between the zoomers and the wall. It was only just enough to fit a squished to the wall KG, which was easy to shoot as you passed. Jak laughed as they hit a wall of the KGs, him splattering most of them with the blades of his zoomer, leaving only a few for Erol.
Erol frowned slightly, pouting a bit to not exterminate several KG's except a few. He still managed to kill all the remaining ones. He glanced behind himself, making sure others didn't follow.
Jak grimaced at the sudden light as they left the tunnel and crossed the finish all in one swift move.
Erol half closed his eyes as he followed Jak in pursuit. He kept a steady pace, lowering his gun for the time being.
Jak stopped his zoomer and cheered, falling back on the ground with a loud thud.