Kat: Am I really that predictable? :(
"I didn't know you were married!" Daxter exclaimed.
"There's a lot you don't know about me," Veger snarled bitterly.
"What happened? She figure out you were a nutcase and dump you?" Daxter remarked. "Hope she brought the kid with her."
Daxter looked over at Veger, expecting him to look pissed. Instead, his ears were drooping and he'd stopped trying to break the cage's lock. He was hunched over, staring at the ground. Daxter thought he saw a dark spot appear on the floor. When Veger finally spoke, his voice was quiet and sorrowful. "She did… when she went to the next world…"
"Oh… Oh! Er, um, I, I didn't… I mean…" Daxter shuffled his feet awkwardly, his hands stuffed in his pockets, wishing he'd kept his big mouth shut for once. Enemy or not, what he'd said was way out of line. He sighed softly. "I'm sorry."
Veger wiped his eyes before looking at his cellmate. He turned around and sat down. His eyes focused on the floor of the cage again. "I just wish I could've protected them…"
Rain battered Haven City. The more affluent members of the community were lucky; the roofs over their heads didn't leak. Veger, barely thirty years old, was one of them. Instead of spending his time finding containers for the water dripping into his home, like those who lived in the nearby slums, he was enjoying a movie with his family.
The count looked at the woman setting next to him on the sofa. She was cradling their half-asleep son in her arms. His third birthday was next week, and boy, was he excited! They were going to have all his favorite foods for breakfast, lunch and dinner, but what he was really looking forward to was the dessert: devil's food cake!
Veger slipped his arm around his wife and kissed her cheek. "It's late; let's tuck Dalsten in and go to bed ourselves."
"Yeah, I'm sure you're real tired," his wife replied, rolling her eyes. However, she must have had the same idea, because she removed a hand from their son, grabbed the television remote, and turned it off.
"Ah wuh wachin dat…" their little boy mumbled sleepily into his mother's blouse.
"We'll finish it tomorrow, sweetie," she said. "Right now you can barely stay awake."
"Mmkay…"
The couple stood up and started down the corridor towards their bedroom. Suddenly Veger stopped and looked out a nearby window.
"What's wrong?" his wife asked.
"I thought I heard something…" Veger walked over to the window and pulled the curtain back. Just then, a Metal Head slammed into the window. Veger yelled in surprise and stumbled back. "Let's go!" He grabbed his wife's hand and they hurried down the rest of the hall. The Metal Head burst through the window and began to chase them through their house.
They ran up the stairs, the creature hot on their heels. Veger let go of his wife's hand and pulled out his pistol. He turned and fired a few rounds into the Metal Head. It faltered a little bit, giving them just enough time to make it to the sanctuary of their bedroom. Veger locked the door as his wife set their son on the bed, and the two then pushed the dresser in front of the door.
"That won't hold it for very long," Veger stated.
"Mama? Daddy?" Dalsten, now very awake, said fearfully from the bed. "Whus goin' on?"
"N-Now, stay calm, sweetie," his mother said as she tried to hide her own terror, "w-we've just got an unwelcome visitor, that's all."
"The phone's dead!" Veger cursed to himself as he slammed the receiver down. "I can't get in contact with Damas!"
"There are Metal Heads in the city; I'm sure the Guards are on their way," his wife said.
"Metal Heads?" Dalsten squeaked.
The growling on the other side of the door grew louder as more Metal Heads joined their comrade. The door began to crack under the pressure. Veger's wife scooped up their son and they escaped onto their second-story bedroom balcony.
It seemed the Metal Heads had broken through the city wall on the opposite side of the district, because much of this section of the city was already in ruins. Guards and Metal Heads fought in the streets as civilians ran through the battlefield in terror. Veger helped his wife climb over the balcony's railing and start her climb down the ivy-covered lattice, little Dalsten clutching his mother's shirt with all his strength. Soon the Metal Heads broke into the bedroom and ran for the door leading to the balcony. Veger vaulted himself over the railing and landed on the ground with a thud.
His wife hurried to his side. "Are you alright?"
"Y-yeah, I'm fine. Let's go!" Veger grabbed his wife's hand and they hurried through the streets. He didn't know where to go, but all he knew was that they had to get away from the fighting, to escape the district and get to safety!
Suddenly an ungodly pain unlike any Veger had experienced before concentrated itself on his back, before his entire body went numb and he hit the ground. The world, now sideways, faded to black, and the last sounds he heard were his wife screaming in pain, his son crying out in terror, and the growling of the Metal Heads…
"…It's all a blur after that," Veger said, finishing his narration. "I think you can guess what happened, though…"
Daxter looked down at the locket again. That must have been what happened "before" at Dead Town. Daxter recalled what Torn had told him a couple years prior. "The Baron pulled back, leaving everyone outside the 'new barrier' to die…" Did Veger even realize that Praxis had betrayed him?