Chapter 6: Crossbow!
Music: Seek and Destroy by Metallica
"There is only one thing
On our minds
Don't try running away
Cause you're the one we will find"
Mood:Diffident
Disclaimer: Writers lie, just like your parents
"Greetings young warriors," The Oracle greeted us as we walked in, looking thoroughly snogged. I shook my head to clear it, knowing that this was important. "I sense a dark rage burning in both of you." Dark rage? When did I get mad? "In time it will destroy you with its madness." I looked at Jak, and saw he was already looking at me with an unidentifiable emotion in his eyes. "Only the last power of the precursors can save you. Destroy my enemies, those creatures that you call Metal Heads. Bring me twenty five of their skull gems, and I will teach you how to control these powers.
Suddenly, I felt something rising in me, and both Jak and I spontaneously burst out into our Dark forms. Ooh… Dark Rage…
I ran outside, intent on destruction. I felt my sane self slipping away, and my dark, destructive self coming front and centre.
"Just kill some Krimzon Guards and get it out!" I heard something yell… someone… Dexter… Faxter… Something.
I did take his advice though, and as soon as I could, I began taking out KG's left and right, shooting them with Yellow Eco, punching them with Red, zipping around with Blue.
By the time I felt myself weaning off of the Eco, the guards were still around us. Jak was still in his Dark Stage, and I backed up, hoping his would pass. I had to wait about a minute, as his faded too, and the KG's cleared, clueless as ever.
"You two… Jeez man." Daxter said. "Still, I am never, and let repeat, never pissing either of you two off.
I laughed shakily.
We maneuvered our way through the city until we reached the underground. We entered into the room holding hands, and I still had a warm feeling at the contact. I seriously had missed this. I saw Torn pacing back and forth and Katie sitting on the desk, swinging her legs back and forth with a serious expression on her face.
"The water to the Slums is back on. I'd love to see the heads roll when the Baron finds out," Torn said when he saw us walk in. I saw Katie's eyes shoot to Jak's and my intertwined hands, and a grin light up her face.
"Yeah, I'm sure he's losing lots of sleep over this arm-pit of the city," Jak said stonily.
"We've done what you asked, now when do we get to see the Shadow?" I asked, finishing Jak's thought.
"When I say do, if I say so. But, before I even think about it, I want you to take care of an ammo dump we've I.D'd in the Fortress." He said, circling a part of the map with his finger. Daxter jumped up onto the table, trying to see the map better, "Lots of Krimzon Guards, constant patrols. We know it's vulnerable, and the Underground needs you two to blow up all the ammo you find inside." He said, throwing his hand down, and accidentally knocking Daxter across the table.
"Get all of it, and we'll deal a body blow to the Baron."
"You're sending us in, tough guy? And what's with this 'deal a body blow' stuff?" Daxter asked heatedly.
"That's fine." Jak said, "I want the Baron to know that it's me," He threw his fist down on the table, "who's hurting him."
"And me," I added in.
Jak, Daxter and I flew to a part of the city I hadn't been to in my 'wonderful' stay in the 'glorious' Haven City. We walked in the door, and I honestly couldn't remember where we were going. My memory of the game was fading, my memory of everything that happened before I entered Jak's world was fading, and it was making me sad. I knew that sometime soon, I wouldn't be able to remember my best friends' names.
We walked in the door, and the first thing that we saw was a tank with spiked front. It was huge, and it looked like it could squash us within seconds. It was rumbling, but didn't seem to be moving, so we cautiously approached it. When we saw that there was no one inside of it, and that it was just turned I let out a breath. I didn't know if it was going to start attacking us or what. I had a small bell going off in the back of my head telling me to remember something, something dangerous, but I couldn't remember anything bad. But, I couldn't relay remember what happened next.
I walked to the left of the tank, breaking the boxes that were there; one had a health pack and the others had some Dark Eco specks in them.
I saw Jak jump up behind the machines to see what was behind it, and he said, "Fenced off," When he returned, obviously referring to the blue electricity I could see shooting back and forth, blocking off whatever was in that direction.
It seemed we had no choice but to walk through the double doors that were leading to who knows what. Jak walked in first, grabbing my hand to follow him. They moment we walked through the door, and feminine, mechanical voice said, "Unauthorized use of Fortress Door, activating security tank." As soon as it said that, a red light was focused on me and Jak and the tank shot off after us. I ran, letting go of Jak's hand, and jumping to dodge the multitude of missiles that were being shot at us.
"Split up," Jak yelled. I nodded before diving to the left, the missiles barely missing my head. I jumped, doing a front flip to dodge the light, over the ledge that seemed to drop to nothing, and then over another one. I didn't know where Jak was, but I wasn't worried, because he was Jak.
I turned the corner, and thankfully there was a fence blocking off the shots for the moment. I felt a hand grab mine and nearly screamed. "It's me," Jak whispered. "Let's go, try not to get lost." I kept going with a new found determination.
Suddenly, the tank broke through the fence that was blocking off all the shots towards us, and it was coming at us full speed. We didn't have a choice but to let go of each other and run around the thin curving floor with the holes on it. I was wondering if there were going to be Krimzon Guards shooting at us through the grates in the floor.
Out of nowhere, a bunch of red lasers shot across the floor. I could tell Jak wasn't paying attention, and he was about to step on one of the lasers. "Jak," I screamed, "Jump!" He did so without hesitating, looking down and seeing the lasers. He looked over at me, gratitude filling his dark eyes, quickly to be replaced by whatever was usually in them. I shivered at the dark, unidentifiable look, wondering if that's what my eyes looked like too. I hadn't really had time to see myself in the mirror. I had haphazardly chopped off my hair so it was not swinging a little bit longer than shoulder length, but that was it.
I jumped up onto a box, Jak right on my tail, and swung onto a bar, jumping up on a ledge with a small twist. Jak landed behind me milliseconds later. We ran along the holey grate, and got about to the middle of it before hearing a dangerous crash. I paused, and looked down to see the tank burst through the grate on the wall, and go till it was about under us, shooting up through the holey flooring.
I followed Jak to the end of the platform that we were on, and watched him break a few health boxes, and pick up a health pack. He then jumped over to the spinning platform. I jumped up, one platform behind him, and froze, doubled over for a second. Mid-jump, then tank had shot at me, and had hit me square in the stomach. I felt the Green Eco in me starting to heal it, but I knew that could take over 30 seconds, 30 seconds that I did not have.
Jak was looking back at me with concern, and I met his eyes and minutely shook my head, signaling for him to go. I remained hunched over, waiting for the pain to become bearable.
When I did get up, there was still shooting pains in my stomach, but I could move. I got up, ignoring the pain, and jumped over to the closest platform to me, jumping to the next, and to the middle of the second rotating thing. Jak was about to jump in the middle, but when he saw me there; he remained in place, only moving to dodge the red turret that only really seemed to be following him anymore. It seemed to believe that it had gotten me, and wasn't even paying attention to me anymore. I spun, knocking out the blue glass.
I watched as the blue electricity barring off the door got shut off, so we could make our way through. I jumped onto the platform that Jak was on, where he grabbed me in a vice tight hug, and then let go and jumped to the door, the red laser following him.
We walked through the door, where the tank wasn't able to follow us for the moment. I walked over to the wall, sighing in relief when I saw the boxes on the right side. I broke the box open, and grabbed the health pack, my body absorbing it. What was left of the pain faded, and I was good as knew.
"If something interesting doesn't happen, I'm going to start shooting you," We heard a voice say. I peaked around the corner to see two moving platforms, and across from them, two KG's talking to each other. I didn't even know that the Krimzon Guards talked, let alone to each other.
I grinned before jumping over the platforms right behind Jak. The moment that he landed on the other side, the KG's that seemed to have not seen him before, saw him and started shooting. I jumped over and took out the one on the right, while Jak got the one on the left.
I loved fighting with Jak, no matter how violent he was. We knew the others moves and what they were going to do next; one of the benefits of being in each other's heads for a while, even if we weren't now. When he would fight, I would defend, and vice versa, always knowing what the other was going to do.
We ran around the two walls until we saw two more KG's. "Call for back up," One of them said before Jak hit him.
"That's not going to happen," I laughed, right before taking out the other Guard.
One of the guards from the other side shot some sort of blue light right at us that looked dangerous. I made note not to be in the way of that anytime soon. We jumped across to the three Guards on the other side. I took attack as Jak took defense, and soon all the guards in the vicinity were taken out. Torn was right, this place was crawling with KG.
We approached a strip of spikes that were moving up and down with more KG's on the other side. I sighed before jumping over, Jak right next to me. I landed squarely on the Guards shoulder, twisting his neck hard before hearing it crack. He slumped over in a useless heap before disappearing in a puff of purple sparks.
"We're taking heavy fire," the remaining guard yelled, but Jak got him before he could do anything. We were at another strip of spikes, with more KG on the other side. They were everywhere. Jak and I took them out, and the ones behind them. They were too easy; they needed to be more of a challenge. This was just getting tedious, and not fun.
Jak reached the grate in the floor before me, kicking it with his foot, watching it give out. When we jumped down we reached a room with a conveyor belt like thing and another moving platform which we jumped over, and up to the ledge above it. We jumped up and over a few more boxes and another conveyor belt before we finally reached a room. The first thing I saw was a glowing square card on a few barrels to the right of us.
"Cool," Daxter said. "That's a security pass!" Jak looked over at him and grinned a wicked grin that sent shivers down my spine. "We need those to get through city check points." Suddenly we heard a crash from somewhere, and Jak let his grin fall, and dropped into a protective stance before looking over and 'Shh'ing us.
We walked over to a grate in the floor that we could see through, dropping to our stomachs, listening to what they were saying. What I saw shocked me, there were two KG's and two Metal Heads, and they weren't fighting. "These are the latest shipment of Eco. The Baron said take them and get out." One of the Krimzon Guards growled. Both Metal Heads growled at him, but he cocked his gun at them and they backed off.
"Metal Heads in the City?" Jak asked.
"Why are the guards giving them Eco?" I asked, finishing his thought. It still confused me on how I could do that. Our minds weren't connected anymore, at least not from my end, so how did I know what he was going to say? It was a kind of subconscious thing, and I didn't even realize it until I said it.
Suddenly, I heard a sound behind us, and froze knowing what it was. I nudged Jak, and we got up just in time to see the Tank aim its gun at us.
We ran towards a bunch of ammo in the middle of the room. "That must be the ammo that Torn wants us to blow up!"
"How are we supposed to blow it up? There's no lever or anything."
"Have the tank shoot them," Jak said. "Just stand in front of it and it will shoot it. Just make sure you move out of the way in time," he finished with a smirk.
We followed Jak's plan, and it worked. The whole lot was blown up in a matter of seconds. "Missile systems at critical overload," The female voice said. As the last ammo barrel was blown up, the voice said, "Warning, Danger. Evacuating building."
We ran out of the building as quickly as possible, but it felt like it was in slow motion, Jak grabbed my hand right before we jumped, and squeezed it just as the ammo blew up. We were shot 20 yards out of the window, landing on a ledge before bouncing off and following down to the streets of the city. As my body hit the ground, my vision started to fade, and I felt myself black out.
"Maddy, Maddy, Wake up!" I heard a rough voice say.
"Whaaaa?" I asked partially, shaking my head to come back to a clear conscience.
"Whoa, this place has too much excitement," Daxter said, wiping his brow, "We need to move back to the country."
We reached the Underground again, and I was still slightly dizzy, but that would be the Green Eco working its way throughout my body again. Before we had left, I had pushed both my hands down on Jak's chest, intent on healing him with my Eco. I tried to ignore the way his heart sped up when I touched him, but I couldn't help but grin. I emitted Eco from my hands watching as he momentarily lit up with the Eco. He had shaken his head and asked, "Whoa, that's how you feel whenever you get hurt? That's… pleasant?" I had laughed as he shuddered.
"The Demolition Trio has returned!" Daxter yelled, drawing me from the memory. One barbequed ammo dump, served up hot!" I saw Torn roll his eyes and sigh.
"We saw something odd while torching that ammo. The Baron's guards were giving barrels filled with eco to a group of Metal Heads!" Jak said. Torn whipped his head around to look at us, and Katie had her head in her hands as if she were concentrating really hard.
"Really?" Torn asked, "The Shadow will be interested to hear that."
"You know, so far your gigs have been easier than stealin' grass from a sleeping yakow!" Daxter said. Jak crossed his arm and started shaking his head, and I had to stifle a laugh.
Torn, apparently, didn't stifle his, chuckling menacingly before saying, "If you, the girl, and the rodent want to start proving yourselves? One of our 'suppliers' needs his payment delivered - a bag of Eco ore. Take the Zoomers parked out back and drive it to the Hip Hog Heaven saloon in South Town. Ask for Krew - he'll be there. And don't let the Baron's patrols stop you. By the way, when you get there, pump Krew for information. He's wired into the city and may know what the Baron is up to."
"You can count on us!" Daxter said, and Jak smirked. I had kept my head down this encounter, not wanting my sharp tongue and witty logic to piss them off. Also, I was paying attention to Katie. I observed people, and she was interesting. She had like two different personalities, one happy and peppy, and the other sad and depressing.
Since we needed to get to Krew quickly, I hopped on the Zoomer that Jak was driving. He drove like the speed demon he was, zipping through the slums until we got to a new area. There was a screen of red over it, and we couldn't get through.
"Jak, the security pass!" I said. He tossed it to me, and I inserted it into the slot, and the red screen went away, letting us through. I jumped back on the Zoomer, and Jak took off again.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, I heard a gun cock. I whipped my head around to see one of the machine gun turrets pointed at us. "Heads," I yelled, nudging Jak in the right direction. He looked over and saw the gun, nodding, and speeding up more.
A bunch of Krimzon Guard Zoomers came at us, and stated attacking us. Jak dodged around them all, and I started punching and kicking all the Zoomers and guards that got near us, sending them spinning away. You would think that that would be hard, but it wasn't. I had so much strength, I didn't know what to do with it – besides punch cars obviously.
Jak kept going, and I didn't really know where he was going, or how he knew where he was going, until I saw water. I knew exactly where we were. He started to go left up at the corner, and I knew that was the wrong way, and that that would throw us off.
"Go right!" I screamed desperately. He was already turning left though, and instead of slowing down to turn around, Jak headed the Zoomer into the water, pulling it right. The move seemed to confuse the KG, throwing them off when they all went reeling into the water.
He stayed in the water, taking a short cut across it to get to the blinking saloon. When he did get there, he pulled the Zoomer to a short stop, and jumped off. He then turned around and helped me off, and I laughed at his chivalry.
"That was… fun," Said a very windswept Daxter. If he looked like that, I couldn't imagine what I looked like.
We ran inside, realizing that the KG were still after us, and the minute we stepped foot inside, they stopped coming after us; all the ones that were at the door meandered away.
"Clueless as can be," I laughed.
Jak grabbed the package from my hands and walked inside, grinning. The first think I saw when I walked in was Sig, and wow… Wow. Swoon. But I had Jak, who was much more swoon-worthy. I grabbed his hand and squeezed it in mine.
Daxter, oblivious as ever, said, "Let me handle this. Watch my finesse and style." I snorted; I doubted he even knew what the word finesse meant.
"Don't forget to ask about…" Jak started, but Daxter cut him off.
"Everything's cool, nobody panic," Daxter said, pushing his way between my legs to get in front. "Hey, big guy!" As soon as he said that, Krew flew towards him, all fat and chunky and in his floating-thing. I laughed at the irony. "You Krew?" he asked, pointing at the fat man. "Well, we shook the heat, and your shipment is in primo condition."
"That's good 'ey," Said Krew, breathing heavily, "because cargo of rare eco ore is worth more than ten of your lives." He shoved his face into Jak's, then mine. "Mmm, and of course, I'd be forced to collect… ahh… slowly." He said, looking me up and down. I shuddered, and Jak wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling my slightly behind him protectively. "Heh heh, the Underground will take anyone with a pulse these days," He studied Jak before turning to me again, "This one is definitely ok, more than ok actually, this one, I could just…" He paused, licking his lips and leering at me. "ahh. Torn chooses well sometimes," His breathing got heavier, and I shuddered again, shivers going down my spine. I wasn't going to show fear in front of this man, no matter how creepy he was.
Jak glared at Krew, pulling my behind him all the way, fixing has stance protectively in front of me. Daxter was on the ground, glaring at him, before hopping up onto Jak's shoulder, drawing his attention.
"And what do we have here? The Shadow's mascot of the month?" He stroked under Daxter's chin, running his hand over his face. Daxter retched as Krew said, "Hmm, soft… Sig, this fur would go good with my silk suits, ey?"
"Listen, uhh, 'Tons of Fun' anyone can see that you, uh, and I have the real juice in this burg," Daxter said. Jak looked up at him with an astonished look on his face. "We're both players, right? We're both looking for a piece of the action, right? I think we can do business, right?" Daxter said. Jak shoved his face in his hands, shaking his head.
"We did you a favour!" Jak said suddenly, surprising me. "Now it's our turn; why is the Baron giving Eco to the Metal Heads?" he asked harshly.
"Questions like that could get a person killed, 'ey." Krew said, shoving his face back into Jak's. "Sig, pay 'el Capitan,' his sexy girl, and his friend a bonus!" Jak scowled, shoving me further behind him, and raising his fists as Sig walked up. He shoved two Scatter Guns at Jak, and I shuddered knowing one was for me. I hated guns.
"If you want to see what that baby can do, try the Gun Course outside. Show me some skill with that hardware, and I'll hire you for a job or two 'ey" Krew finished.
Jak threw one of the guns at me, and I caught it, holding it at a length away from me in unsteady fingers. "I'm not much of a gun person, myself." I said quietly.
"Not much of a gun person," Krew mocked. "Fine, I've got something just for you then, sexy lady. Sig" he signaled. Sig walked to the back of his shop, and pulled out a heavy black cross-bow. I grinned; I could do that.
"This is a new test, so you're the lucky first." Sig said, tossing it to me where I caught it and the quiver of bows. "Blaster arrows." Is all Sig said.
My grin widened. I could definitely do that.
A/N: My way of asking for forgiveness is through a rather long chapter?
xMonster