Thanks for the reviews! I didn't think this would get that many reviews within the first few days! Thanks!
Anyway, in this chapter Jinx finally comes in and hangs around, I hope you...
Enjoy!
"Come on! Wake up!" the male voice said once more.
After putting up a struggle, Krane managed to open her eyes. There, hanging above her was a blond haired man. A few scars covered his face, but they were light compared to the rest of his skin and making the scars almost invisible. But despite his scars and hair, Krane focused on his bright blue eyes.
She shook her head. "What happened?" she asked, with a groan.
"You got shot!" he answered with a laugh as if it were funny.
The stinging in her arm grew hotter. "Where a-am I?"
"You're back in my hideout."
Krane raised her head until her chin touched her chest to look around the room. Concrete walls surrounded the two of them, and a wooden ceiling hung above their heads. In the right corner of the room stood more boxes, food. Maps covered the wall like wallpaper and reminded her of Torn. She moved her head to the side and saw that she was lying down on a cot with a blanket over her lower half. Around her right shoulder was a pile of bandages and gauze stained with blood that held everything together.
Moved her head away from him and to her right shoulder. "Who are you?"
"Friends call me Jinx," he answered as he began to put the bandages back into the medical box. "You?"
"Krane," she answered, still facing the wall.
"Ya know I found you on the floor surrounded by KG, I think ya owe me somethin'," Jinx said with a playful tone. Krane, however, wasn't in the mood.
"He doesn't remember me," Krane whispered as tears fell from her left eye. "How could he not remember me?"
"Sweetheart?" Jinx said, looking over her shoulder to see her crying. "I found something next to you, is it yours?"
"What?"
Krane turned around to see Jinx holding the CD that Schorn had taken away from Marco. She snatched it from Jinx's hands and brought it up to her face in shock. She flipped it over and saw a large scratch denting the bottom of the sensitive disc.
"Where did you find this again?" she asked in surprise.
"Next to the KG that shot ya." Jinx nodded with a grin. "I didn't know what it was so I snatched it up."
Krane couldn't believe it. Her hands began to shake as she looked at the disc, not believing that it could or would be the exact same disc that had brought her to this world. It was the same type of disc she had always used, with faded handwriting on it that she couldn't make out. A cold feeling ran through her, and she looked away from the disc, and towards Jinx.
"Where can I go to use this?" she asked, trying to control her shaking hands.
"Uh…" Jinx looked up towards the ceiling, thinking. "I guess you could go to the Power Station. But look, I doubt you'll be able to make it there with your arm messed up like dat."
"Please," Krane begged. "Take me to the Power Station! I know I owe you enough already but please!"
Jinx rolled his eyes. "Fine. You owe me somethin' for all of this crap though!"
Jinx led the injured Krane through the downtown part of Haven City and over to the Power Station. He walked into the room with Krane following behind him, and over to Vin who was typing away in front of a large hologram image of Haven City.
"Vin," Krane stepped forward, "can you load this disc in for me?"
Vin looked at the disc. "I can try, do you know what's on it?"
"No." Krane shook her head.
She didn't know if it was the disc with her band's song on it, or the disc with the Jak two game on it. A part of her wondered what would happen if someone loaded a Jak two disc in the Jak two world, but the wanting to know what was on the disc overrode that feeling of wonder.
Vin placed the disc into a small hole sitting in the front of his large control panel. He waited for a few moments before Precursor characters appeared on the blue screen. Vin moved forward and began to read it.
"This disc has opened up another dimension for the Wrap Gate to travel to," Vin explained as the Wrap Gate flashed a red color instead of a blue color.
"I'm going." Krane stepped forward.
"No!" Vin shouted. "We don't know what's on the other side! It's too unstable for you to go!"
"'Sides you're injured!" Jinx protested. "If you get hurt, Torn is gonna have my balls!"
"I'm going," Krane said firmly, ignoring what Jinx had said.
I promised I would find a way home and if this is it, I'm going to drag Schorn back by his hair!! She thought.
"Wait a moment sweetheart!" Jinx walked in front of her. "You're just gonna jump through that hole up there? Without knowing what's on the other side?"
"Yes." Krane rolled her eyes.
Jinx grinned. "You got guts."
"I'm going." Krane repeated as she walked over towards the Warp Gate. "I'll be back in a few moments, try to keep the gate open as long as you can."
"I'll try!" Vin began typing away. "You've got five minutes before you're stuck in that dimension! Hurry up!"
Without a second thought, Krane jumped through the Warp Gate and left the two men in silence.
Once on the other side, Krane landed on her feet, giving her the chance to look around. She was back in the recording room she had left two months ago, but something was wrong, terribly wrong.
"Marco!" she called out.
She left the recording room and ran into the hallway only to see that the hallway was a bright yellow color. Ignoring that fact, she ran into the break room to see her band standing there in the same positions she remembered them in: Marco sat in front of the TV, playing his Playstation 2 while the other members sat around him with beers in their hands.
Krane ran over to Marco and grabbed his frozen shoulders. "Marco!" she said, shaking him. "Marco come on! Come back to normal!"
They were all just holding still…just frozen. They weren't even breathing. She looked around the room to see that the PS2 that they had been playing still on and the character on the screen holding still.
"This is my dimension," Krane whispered. "This is where I'm supposed to be but why is the game still going? Didn't Schorn take the game away from Marco?"
Krane backed away from the group as she tried to figure everything out. She just couldn't understand what was going on or how she could have gotten into the game that Marco was playing. It just didn't make any sense to her.
"Why is nothing moving?" Krane ran out into the hallway and towards the door that would allow her outside in the real world but it wouldn't open.
Growing scared, she backed away from the door and kicked it, trying to knock it down but it would budge. She kicked it once more but the result of the door stayed the same. Krane fell to her knees and slammed her left fist down onto the floor.
"Dammit! What the hell is going on here?!" she screamed. "How is this happening?! How can I fix this!?"
"Krane!" Vin's voice called. "You gotta come back now! Stay any longer and you'll be there forever!"
"Shit."
Krane got off of her knees and ran into the recording room once more. Without a second thought, she jumped through the Warp Gate, and arrived in the Power Station. The gate's red color disappeared, the disc she had given Vin came out from the computer board.
Krane dropped to her knees in pain and grabbed her right shoulder. Her breathing became labored from all of the actions she had taken in 'her world' and from the pain in her right shoulder.
"Vin," Krane moved her head in his direction, "do you know anything about other dimensions or time travel?"
Vin shook his head. "All I know is this computer stuff. Mar is the one who set everything up."
"Mar?" Krane held her injured shoulder. "Where can I find him?"
"He's been dead for a long time sweetie," Jinx said, coming back into the conversation.
"Shit." She gripped her right shoulder.
"But it is possible that he might have written something down about it," Vin said, trying to make her feel a bit better. "His documents might be hard to find but there's a good chance he could have written something down."
"Then I'll look through all his papers." Krane gritted her teeth together. "I'll go through every piece of paper he left behind, and I'll research everything I can. I have to get home."
"Home?" Jinx and Vin asked together.
"Aren't you home right now?" Jinx asked with a confused look on his face.
Such a simple, yet difficult question. The place where she had come from was ruined somehow and a part of her didn't want to return to a place like that but she knew that was where she belonged. Something had gone wrong with her world and she was going to fix it, no matter what.
"No." She shook her head. "It's a long story…I just don't know where to start with his damn search for Mar."
Jinx snapped his fingers as an idea came to him. "I got it. Come with me."
Before Krane could consider left with Jinx, she walked over to Vin, thanked him once more and took the disc from the computer. She stuck it into a pocket on her hip and moved it around to make sure nothing bad would happen to it. The disc was the last thing she had that could connect her back to her own world, and there wasn't anything in the world that would take it away from her.
Jinx led Krane down to the port once more, and into the Hip Hog Heaven. As they walked in, Jinx gently placed his arm on her good shoulder.
"Don't worry 'bout nothin'," he whispered. "This guy knows a lot so if you're workin' for him, you might learn a few things."
"Thanks again," she whispered back. "I don't know how I can repay you."
Jinx grinned. "I'll talk to you later about it."
Krane just took that as an answer, not knowing what she had just gotten herself into and looked away from him. As she and Jinx walked farther into the bar, a strange, large, to say the least, floating man came down from what seemed like the sky and floated in front of her.
"Who's this Jinx? Another one of your toys 'ey?" the man asked, looking over Krane.
"Nah." Jinx moved his right hand, dismissing him. "Not this time, I've brought you a new worker just like I promised."
"Worker?" Krew floated around Krane. "She's a bit scrawny isn't she?"
Krane twitched. She knew that she had lost weight since being in Haven City and being under constant stress but she didn't think anyone else had to point it out. Getting over what he said, Krane toughened herself up.
"I'm not a fighter, I can be an undercover agent for you," she said with confidence. "Undercover work is my specialty."
"Really 'ey?" Krew laughed. "Well my last informant got into a fatal 'accident' not too long ago and I am looking for a few one. I think you'd fit the bill right. Go down and finish some gun courses with Jinx here and you've got the job."
"Alright." She sighed.
It seemed like she wasn't going to get anywhere with this. She wanted to finish her mission and go home already but things just kept piling up in front of her. The more and more she thought about it, the more and more it seemed as if she was supposed to stay here in this world.
"Get out 'ey! I've got other business to handle!" Krew floated away, and Jinx led Krane out back to the port.
"Can't he see that I'm injured?" Krane asked out loud, not really expecting an answer.
"We're gonna take care of that." Jinx grinned.
Instead of heading to the range, Jinx took Krane to the Underground's HQ. Krane looked at Jinx with a cocked eyebrow but went back to looking at Torn as they walked in. Even though she was busy thinking about Jinx, she took time to notice the Shadow speaking openly with Torn. This red flag made Krane's hair stand on end but she tried her best to act as if nothing were going on.
"Is something going on?" Krane asked, walking away from Jinx.
"I've found your comrade," the Shadow said, turning to Krane. "I'm sorry to report though…his memory of you has seemed to have been erased."
Her heart slammed against her chest once but never again for she knew this already. Schorn would have never though of causing her injury before and yet he had pointed a gun at her and fired no more then hours before. Schorn…he didn't seem to exist in this world no matter how much Krane wished for him to be.
She sighed and looked away. "I know. I met up with him on the street." She grabbed her injured arm.
Tears were burning the back of her left eye but she didn't want to cry. No she was stronger then that, instead of crying, Krane would focus all of her energy and emotion towards saving Schorn. She wasn't going to sit around and mope about it; she was going to go out and save him.
"Is there anything I can do?" she asked.
"I don't know." The Shadow sighed. "I don't know if his mind has been erased by choice or by the Baron. We'll just have to try to capture him and see what he has to say."
"Alright." Krane nodded as blood began to seep through her gauze wrapping.
"What the hell happened there?" Torn hissed, noticing the blood as well. "What did you do?"
"Nothing." She shook her head. "Schorn shot me and tried to arrest me. I have a warrant out, for what I don't know."
"I brought her down here for some Green Eco treatments," Jinx said, changing the subject. "She and I are going to be spies for the Underground."
"You're a spy?" Krane turned to Jinx who grinned.
Jinx grinned and placed a cigar between his teeth. "Pretty good ain't I baby?"
Krane turned back to Torn. "I'll work as a spy for the Underground, but in the meantime I have something of my own to do. I'm looking for a man called Jak, and a man's papers whose name is Mar."
"You'll find your way home Krane, I'm sure of it," the Shadow said gently. "Now," he walked over to her and gently touched her shoulder, "do what you have to do to gain Krew's trust. Come back to us and tell us anything new."
"I will." Krane nodded. "I have to go to the gun range to train first."
"Good." Torn began to walk away, back towards the fire that burned in the back. "Be back when you're done, I've got a little errand I need you to run for me."
Krane nodded. "Fine."
"Come on," Jinx tugged on her left shoulder, "we've got training to do."
Jinx and Krane walked out of the Underground together and were now in the downtown part of Haven City. It was strange to think that Krane had set something up for herself, and now she knew that she had a mission to complete. She would find Jak and look through Mar's papers, all in order to save Schorn and return home.
"You got a gun?" Jinx asked, looking over towards Krane.
"Yes." She handed him the handgun she had kept from the Strip Mine.
He looked over it for a minute. "This is a KG gun. Where'd ya get it?"
"Found it."
"Huh." Jinx gave it back to her. "Once we've cleaned it up it should be good as new! By the way, I want you to met my crew!"
She blinked, and then glared up towards him. "You're being too nice for someone who lives in Haven City. What do you want?"
Jinx grinned his normal, sly grin. "You owe me somethin' remember?"
"Yes. What does that have to do with anything?"
"Ya owe me a date."
Krane's face flushed a bright red color. "A date?"
"Yeah." He walked through the open doors of the gun range, leaving her outside. "Tomorrow night."
Krane stopped for a moment. She didn't want to get attached to anything here because it would only get in her way of trying to get home. What if she got too attached to him and wanted to stay? As she thought it over, she remembered the dates she had been on back home, and giggled a bit.
Maybe my bad luck streak will keep going. Krane thought. I do need him to train me, and he helped me a lot. I'll just go out with him once.
"Are you coming?" Jinx yelled back. "Come on!"
Krane walked into the gun range, ready to train as hard as she could in order to get back home. Nothing was going to get in her way of helping Schorn, and getting them back home. She wouldn't allow herself to get attached to anyone or anything, she would just get by, and when it was time to go home, she would pack her things and leave. Leaving would be just as easy as coming.
R&R please!