Chapter 2: Protector of the Old and the Young

Music: Escape From the Prison Planet by Clutch

"Get out! Eject! Escape from the prison planet!
Get out! Eject! Escape from the prison planet!"
(sorry couldn't think of anything better :P)

Mood: Apathetic
Disclaimer: Writers lie, just like your parents.

Yes! We were free! After Daxter had found us we made our prison break, dodging Krimzon Guards, and fighting our way through the prison until we came to a window and jumped out. I had landed with much more grace than I used to be able to. The vast amounts of Eco had matured me in many ways, changing my mind and body. They were both much older than they should have been.

'Hi!' A voice said in my head. I looked around, shocked. Then I noticed little Jak, he was looking up at me with innocent blue eyes.

'Hi?' I said questioningly.

'You can hear me?' His voice was so innocent, so helpless.

I nodded, remembering how Jak and I used to talk. I missed that now. It had made me feel special. Like I had a connection with him.

That was gone now.

'I've never talked to anyone before.'

'He used to not be able to.' I said, gesturing to Jak. 'But he went through bad experiments, and now he can…"

'Oh.' He said.

Then I noticed that Kor was talking "Hello strangers. My name is Kor. May I help-"He was cut off by Jak.

"You look like a reasonably smart man. I want information! Where the Hell are we?" Charming.

"Ahhhh. Sorry! He's new to the whole conversation thing." If the situation hadn't been so severe I would have laughed. Jak and I were now wanted criminals.

Kor seemed to take no offense and said, "Well, my angry young friend, you are a 'guest' of his 'majesty' Baron Praxis, the ruler of 'glorious' Haven city." I could hear the sarcasm dripping from his voice.

I cut in, "Yeah. We were just guests in the good Baron's prison." I flinched at how harsh my voice was. Then it dawned on me; Jak wasn't the only one who had changed. I had too. I didn't know if it was for good or bad, though.

"Inside a cell or inside the city . . . walls surround us both. We are all his prisoners." Kor responded in a harsh whisper.

All of a sudden I heard the sound of heavy footsteps. Why could I hear it so clearly? I reached up, and felt my ears. They were long. Like Jak's old ears. For some reason, this didn't surprise me. It did make me sad though. I had lost another thing that was making me human. I don't know how I hadn't noticed that before.

Now that I think about it everything sounded clearer, and I could feel the slight bit of extra weight on top of my head from the added length of the ears.

"Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time," Kor said. "I'd move on if I were you."

I looked up and noticed a pack of Krimzon Guard heading straight for us.

Then the lead KG said, "By order of his eminence, the Grand Protector of Haven City, Baron Praxis, everyone in this section is hereby under arrest for suspicion of harboring underground fugitives. Surrender and die!" Wait… surrender AND die?

"Aaah, excuse me sir, don't you mean surrender, OR die!" Daxter said, voicing my thoughts.

"Not in this city! Protect us from these guards and I'll introduce you to someone who can help you." Kor said.

I didn't know how we were going to fight them. I'm sure my fighting skills had dimmed since I'd been in a cell for two years. Even if they hadn't, the KG had guns. We couldn't fight guns with bare hands.

I looked over at Jak and noticed that his eyes were darkening and his skin was paling. Suddenly, he snarled and his eyes blackened. His fingernails lengthened into claws and his hair was grey. He was really scary. He looked completely evil.

Then I felt it coming onto me. I felt the Power Surge, and I knew I was going to change again. Then there was a sudden burning through my body, I felt my skin bubbling, changing. I looked down and noticed my skin, too, was deathly white. My wavy hair had darkened to black; I could see it hanging around my waist, where it hadn't been cut in two years. I felt my eyes changing, as I had before with the yellow eco, but I didn't know what colour.

Then the monster in me took over. I didn't know who I was, or where I was. I only knew that Jak was beside me, killing Krimzon Guard, shooting Dark Eco. I was taking out KG left and right. I was shooting out Eco from my palms, and smacking the KG. Using my Blue Eco stores to run fast, dodge bullets, and hit the KG before they could get me. Jak and I were a good team, evil or not. Soon, they were all gone. We had taken out what felt like hundreds of KG together, both of us beyond the point of evil.

My consciousness was slowly coming back, but I could tell I wasn't me. I was Dark Maddy, fighting alongside Dark Jak.

I looked around and noticed little Jak again. He was looking at me in complete fear. Like I terrified him. He was scared of me.

Who was I?

'I'm sorry…'

He didn't answer, he just ran behind Kor's legs.

I glanced to the ground near my feet, waiting for the evil spell to lift. It was there that I noticed a puddle, and I could see someone's reflection. They looked truly gruesome, with black eyes to match their long black hair.

I shivered and looked around. There was no one else near me. Who was this? Then it dawned on me; it was me. Me. I was a monster. For trues and for real.

Her black hair – I couldn't stand to say mine – was sticking up around her, as if by static. She had a frightening look on her face, teeth bared and black eyes focused intently. You could see your own soul through those eyes, and she could see yours. Her skin was a deathly white, and her fingernails were long, black, razor-sharp claws.

She had a wild look on her face, and you could tell just by looking at her that she was ready to kill anyone and anything that got in her way.

Her way. My way. I was a killer. No, that wasn't me. That was the result of experiments done to her – me.

But I was a killer. I had almost killed Daxter earlier. I had just killed hundreds of police with guns pointed at us. I was a wanted criminal. Who knew what else I did while I was with Erol. I started hyperventilating. That was me. That is me. What am I? What kind of monster am I? How many people have I killed? How many more will I?

Then it started to go away. My eyes were transfixed on the image in front of me with horror. I couldn't take my eyes off the puddle. I noticed her hair was slowly lowering itself, and turning to a more brownish colour. The fingernails that had so recently been black claws were retracting inwards until they were just fingernails again. Her eyes slightly dimmed in colour, but it didn't go away all the way. My eyes before had been a light gray with a black ring and now they were a very dark grey, almost black. It was scary.

That got me thinking about Jak. His eyes used to be a light, innocent blue, but now they were a dark, sinister indigo.

That was cool! Do it again!" Daxter said, pulling my head from the clouds.

"Something's happening to me… something he did… I can't control it!" Jak said. "Maddy?" He asked, breathing heavily. I just nodded my head, hoping he would get what I meant. I was still too shaken from my realization to care much.

"Very impressive, you two." Kor said.

I growled unthinkingly. I had just remembered what Kor really was. Why was he being so nice?

"Eh, you ok Maddy?" I just nodded again.

"What you just did was very brave," Kor said. "This child is important." Jak and Daxter didn't know how important that kid was. I knew. I knew that that was little Jak. Jak didn't know he was looking at himself.

"This kid?" Daxter asked. "He looks kinda scruffy." He said, running his paw over Little Jak's head. They were about the same height, it was kind of amusing.

Then, a guard flew over our heads, ushering us along, "You are in a restricted zone. Move along." He said before driving away.

"Thank you for your help," He said, nodding to Jak and me. "But I must get this boy to safety."

"Hey!" Daxter protested, "What about us?"

"There is an underground group raging war against Baron Praxis. Its leader, the Shadow, could use fighters like you! Go to the slums. Find a dead-end alley near the city wall. Ask for Torn. He can help you." Kor said before hurrying away.

I looked around, and I had no clue where we were. Even with my vast amounts of knowledge of the game, I hadn't memorized the map of Haven City. It was one thing I hadn't thought I would ever need, having the mini map and all.

"Wait," Kor said, turning around. "Take this! You might need it!" He flipped a small pod into my hand, and when I pressed the button, a holographic map of Haven City popped up, highlighting the entrance to the Underground.

"Thanks!" I yelled, speaking for the first time since being free – well as free as you can get in Haven City.

"How are we going to get there?" Jak asked.

I looked around not sure if I could really do it… ahh whatever – we were wanted criminals now. I waited until a small Zoomer was above my head, and jumped upwards, catching onto the door of the car. I gently shoved the driver out, feeling bad, but we needed it more.

I looked down. "Well, hurry up then."

Jak shrugged and grabbed Daxter and put him on his shoulder before waiting for a Zoomer and grabbing it.

A/N: Bit of a filler, mundane stuff, we're getting to the interesting stuff soon, promise.

xMonster