Time for another chapter of Jak. This'll be an interesting one. We're going to go over everyone's reactions to Dark Jak. So yay! Now let's go.
Oh and I know I called Sig his uncle in the last chapter, I meant like a family friend. Like, close to Damas almost like a brother. Because of that, Sig insisted the little boy call him uncle, Damas agreed.
Disclaimer: I don't own Jak and Daxter. If I did then I would get the limited edition Jak 2 figure for freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! (Bonus points to anyone who got that reference, I think if someone messages or reviews it right then I'll allow them to ask one question about this story, members only though)
Jak
Chapter 5:
Exposure
~Jak~
5. Kiera, Daxter and Samos were always there for him, even after being exposed to his dark form.
~Jak~
"My, my what are you doing there?" The man before him asked. He was a short chubby man, who had black eyes hidden behind round glasses. He had a short white beard along with a moustache that covered his mouth. He wore a plain orange shirt along with green shorts. The most peculiar thing about the man was what looked like a large rock with a log running through the middle of it on top of his head.
The young Mar was found all alone next to a trash can, it wasn't the first time that the man had seen abandoned children on the streets of Haven and he'd usually just take them to go under the care of the foster homes, even if the baron didn't exactly provide for them it was at least reasonable care for these children.
However this child before him he knew was different. It was quite obvious by the pendant on his chest.
He was the true heir to the throne, the son of Damas who had only been overthrown just three years before. Samos knew that the Baron was looking for the young Mar, Ashelin had made sure to inform Samos of all the Baron's concerns.
The young boy looked up at the young Samos Hagaii in wonder. Who is this man? Is he dangerous?
Samos smiled at the boy as he scooped him up. The man held Mar comfortingly. It wasn't harsh or aggressive like other adults who he had come into contact with like Count Veager, Errol, Baron Praxis or others who had tossed him around after his father's fall from power. It was comforting, as if the man didn't want any harm to be done to him, he'd only ever received that from Sig and his own father, other than that no one ever really held him. This was definitely a nice feeling, to be held and not smacked or beaten in any sort of way.
This man didn't seem to want to do any harm to him, so maybe the small child would give him a chance.
Maybe…
~Jak~
"The child has clearly been through a lot." Samos sighed as he cradled the sleeping four year old in his arms.
Torn looked at the young boy bearing the Seal of Mar and shrugged. "That's great Samos, you found the true heir to the throne, but he's too young. I understand that it's important but why do you want me to watch him?"
"The boy has been through a lot, Torn." Samos told him. "I feel that since you currently don't have assignments that you should be the one to do so."
"But what about my sector?" Torn asked him. "I mean yes, I don't have anything to do right now but that's because I'm waiting for our soldiers to return from spying on whatever project the Baron has been keeping so top secret recently."
"I understand that." Samos nodded. "But we need someone to keep the true heir to the throne safe."
"Perhaps I could be of assistance?" A voice asked.
Both men turned to see the man in question, he wore a blue robe and was much older than the both of them combined.
"You, Kor?" Torn asked. "You're a failed healer? How could you possibly take care of a child."
"Just trust me," The man said. "You Samos, should know that the elderly are far more capable than the youth I would be perfect for this task."
Samos looked down at the child. Samos wasn't exactly all for the idea of giving the child to Kor. He was always a shifty looking character; he was a failed healer like Torn had said; he had insisted on helping the underground but when the time came he seemed to have vanished; Samos couldn't help but notice the man's fascination with metal heads, he always seemed to seem pleased whenever he talked negatively of the vile creatures and of course the man didn't have a background, Samos had had Ashelin check but had come up with nothing. The man couldn't possibly be trusted with the child!
"Isn't there anyone else who is free?" Samos asked Torn.
Torn shook his head. "No one competent enough for this task."
"Are you quite sure?" The Shadow begged.
Torn nodded. "Ashelin wouldn't be able to handle it, she's not exactly good with kids; I'm way too busy overseeing all missions; Tess is busy trying to get a job at the Hip Hog so we can spy on Krew, if she succeeds then it probably isn't the best idea to have a child around a bar –or Krew for that matter; every other soldier is just busy."
Samos sighed, he knew he was going to regret this. "Alright Kor, you may take care of the child."
"A wise decision, Samos." Kor smirked.
Samos narrowed his eyes at the older man. "However, you must make sure that the boy doesn't have so much as a scratch on him!"
Kor gave a dark grin. "Don't worry, I promise not to lay a finger on him…"
It was things like that, which made him distrust Kor. What exactly that Kor was hiding though, Samos would never know.
~Jak~
Kor had gone and done it, he had went and gotten the child shot. Kor had immediately brought the boy to the Underground. Samos knew he should've been the one to look over the child.
Samos looked over the child's wounds, tuning out Torn's furious shouts at the old man. The little boy who he had pulled out of the garbage only several months before was now lying in front of him in a bloody heap. However the boy's chest slightly moved up and down, he was alive! Barley.
The boy was clearly going to die and there wasn't anything they could do about it. There was only one way they could possibly save him and that was by applying green eco directly on the boy. That in itself was risky. People were very reactive to eco treatments and something like this would take A LOT of eco. Such a procedure could kill a man in perfect health. But on a child? He was sure to die if they tried.
"What's the verdict, Samos?" Torn asked, snapping him out of his daze.
Samos sighed and looked at the boy one more time. "His wounds are too bad, I'm afraid we have no choice but to administer green eco on him."
"Isn't that dangerous?" Kor asked trying to hide his malicious grin but couldn't help but hide his bloodlust in that last word. Finally he would be able to see "the pure gift" at work. However covering up his apparent interest, he added. "Think about what could happen to the child if we were to use green eco on him."
Samos looked at the child one more time; it wasn't going to be very long until the boy's body gave up on him. "I'm afraid we have no choice." The rebellion leader confirmed.
Torn looked between the two before sighing. "Do what you can Samos. Just make sure we don't lose him! If word gets out that the heir to the throne died, I'm almost positive Damas will come here to kill us all."
"Right." Samos nodded. He then turned to Kor, "Please go get me the green eco cartridges."
"We only have five left Samos," Torn informed him. "And we're not expecting another shipment for at least another week."
Samos nodded. "This however, is worth it. We'll only need three of them. If we're lucky, two."
Kor nodded and got the three metal boxes that had some of the purest green eco currently in existence. That was what most of the green eco left in existence was used for.
Samos held the energy in his hands, the eco as usual felt so natural to him compared to others who couldn't stand it when they made contact with any form of eco. He almost felt one with the life energy but something like that was crazy, there were very few channelers and no eco sages. He couldn't possibly let the wrong people know about this otherwise he'd end up with a bullet in his brain or worse, as part of that horrible dark warrior program he had heard about.
Putting that aside Samos went to work on the child.
The young Mar's eyes opened. All the pain that was in his body had suddenly gone away. He looked up at Samos, the green energy flowed off the man that had saved him all that time ago. He smiled at the man, who had his eyes closed in order to concentrate. The warmth of the energy being pumped into him felt so nice. He didn't even seem to notice that his wounds were closing up, it just felt nice.
The change ended all too quickly, it was too bad. But now it was over.
Little did he know, Samos saved him, it's too bad he would never remember it.
~Jak~
Jak was sad. Iris had just died and Jak had lost his mother. He never really remembered having a mother before and now that he's finally had her, he's lost her. It left the boy sulking for some time.
"I know it's hard, Jak." Samos sighed. He patted the boy on the back who only nodded. "But you've got to lift your spirits, look to the future, move on. It's what she would've wanted."
Jak sighed, he knew it was true, but it was hard. He missed her so much.
"You know she loved you, Jak." Samos explained. "She loved you just as much as she'd loved Kiera and I. She treated you as her own child; you were her son, Jak."
Tears welled in the boy's eyes Samos wasn't exactly making things easier.
Samos actually knelt down and hugged the child. Getting affection from Samos was a very rare occurrence.
Samos hugged him. "Death is a natural occurrence, Jak. We all go through it at some point or another and although it doesn't get any easier, the best thing to do is to just learn to move on."
Tears began to spill from Jak's eyes and Samos pulled the boy out of the embrace so that he could look at him.
"You don't have to do it alone either," Samos added. "I'm here for you, do you understand?"
Between tears Jak nodded.
Samos was always there for him though, he always did follow up on these things.
~Jak~
"You're a freak, you know that?" The red sage's son, Adan had asked a seven year old Jak.
Jak looked down sadly.
The boy continued. "I mean nobody knows where you came from and you don't even talk. What good are you to an eco sage if you can't talk?"
Adan was a boy a bit older than Jak by about three years, he had short silky blonde hair and wore a red tunic that went into a small breast plate and dark red pants.
Although the yellow and blue sages didn't have children of their own the red sage did. Samos and the Red Sage didn't see the need for Jak, Kiera, Daxter and Adan to interact though and because of that they left it alone.
Jak happened to be in the room when Samos had been talking to the Red Sage and Adan. Samos and the Red Sage had left using the teleport ring to see the Blue Sage leaving Jak and Artur alone. Quickly getting bored the boy fell to picking on Jak as a source of entertainment.
"Hey you listening mum boy?" The boy asked Jak.
Jak sighed but nodded.
Adan laughed. "Don't even make a sound. But obviously you can't!"
Jak looked away from the boy.
"Maybe you can't talk because you're so dumb!" Artur laughed.
"What was that?" A new voice asked.
"Who are you?" Adan asked.
The familiar red headed boy walked into the hut. "I'm Daxter, I'm Jak's best friend."
"Clearly you have bad tastes." The boy laughed.
Jak didn't dare make a move.
"Maybe it's you who has bad tastes." The seven year old spat at him. "Picking on a kid so much younger than you? That's pretty bad if you as me."
"Are you gonna talk to me like that, pipsqueak?" Adan glowered at Daxter.
"Yeah, I am!" Daxter snapped back the boy. "And I wouldn't lay a finger on me if I were you. Old greeny may not like me all that much but you think Papa Red is gonna like it if he finds out he's not gonna be happy."
Adan growled and tried to give a response, but fell short.
Daxter strutted over to Jak, "Come on Jak, let's get outta here and leave Little Red Riding Hood to think about it; if he's even smart enough to come up with anything that is."
Jak smiled and walked out of the room with Daxter.
Adan was left speechless.
There were very few times where Jak was weak but in the few times that he actually was it was a good thing Daxter was always there for him. He never actually did thank Daxter for this day, but then again he didn't actually need to, Daxter knew he appreciated it.
~Jak~
"You know Jak, he's not exactly wrong." Keira said to Jak.
Jak huffed, he knew Keira was right for saying Samos was right but that didn't mean he wasn't mad.
Keira huffed. "I know it's hard but that's just the truth Jak."
Jak sighed, he looked away from her.
Samos had just told him that in order for Jak to truly embrace his true potential that he's going to have to distance himself from Daxter and Kiera for some time and learn to channel eco with him. Needless to say the distancing from his friends didn't exactly thrill Jak and that's what caused him to storm off.
Kiera put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "It's nice that you don't want to spend some time away from us, Jak. But at the same time I think this'll be good for you."
Jak looked at her skeptically.
"Come on, Jak!" Keira insisted. "It would be so cool if you became a professional channeler! Don't let Daxter and I get in the way of that."
Jak shrugged.
"You know that I'll stand by you no matter what, Jak." Keira said. "You know that, right?"
Jak nodded.
"Good, now you know you don't have to do this today. It could be tomorrow, it could be next month or it could be years from now but at some point you know that you totally should." Keira explained
Jak smiled.
"That's what I like to see." Keira smiled back.
It wasn't another two years until Jak had actually gone on that trip with Samos.
~Jak~
A nine year old Jak was in his Uncle's hut looking at himself in the makeshift mirror with Daxter sitting on the bed behind him. He looked at his blonde hair that had been growing upwards. But what began to worry him was that there was a slight green tint developing at the roots.
"Well that's a little funky." Daxter said looking at the boy's hair. He got off the bed and stood next to his friend. "It's kinda weird. But whoever said you were normal, Jak?"
This made the boy smile at his redheaded friend.
"Besides," Daxter continued. "It looks really good on you."
Jak smiled at Daxter who smirked. "Besides the Sage said that when you would start to channel the colorful eco stuff that you would experience some sort of physical change, looks like it's the green tint in your hair."
Jak nodded in understanding. Though eco had given him a slight mutation his friend was able to look past that and actually made him feel good about it.
"Let's go Jak!" Daxter called from the door. "I'm hungry and your Uncle's making cookies."
Although it annoyed his Uncle that Daxter called his crumpets cookies it amused Jak. Daxter knew when to help when needed. Jak smiled at this and followed his friend out the door.
~Jak~
Jak shoved the plant away from him, it was the third time that he had failed in healing with green eco that day.
Samos patted the boy on the back. "It's okay Jak, learning these things takes time. I remember when I had first learned to channel eco; I had had the most trouble with yellow eco. Everybody who channels eco has trouble with at least one of the colors."
Jak nodded.
Samas gave the boy a sad smile. "I know I've been hard on you with these things, Jak. And I'm really sorry for that; it's just that I know that you can be a great eco channeler."
Jak nodded, it made him feel good when Samos said that he believed in him.
Samos of course had meant every word of what he said. He knew that Jak would actually become one of the best channelers there ever was only to lose that to the darkness that would come into his future.
"I know that when you have trouble with green eco, I get really mad." Samos admitted. "It's just that I really like you, my boy. You're like a son to me and because of that, I want to see the best in you. When you first started to channel eco it excited me and I was hoping that you'd be a natural when it came to green."
Jak smiled, it was nice to hear this from Samos.
"Don't worry, though." Samos insisted. "No matter what I know you'll be able to do it, and I'll be with you every step of the way to make sure you become the best channeler you can be."
The eleven year old beamed at this and with that the two got back to work making an effort to master the healing eco.
~Jak~
Thirteen year olds Jak and Keira were out on the roof of Samos' hut looking at the stars once again,
"You ever think we're gonna grow up and leave Sandover?" Keira asked him.
Jak looked at her surprised.
Keira just shrugged. "You know Jak, going out and see the world just me, you, daddy and Daxter out having an adventure."
Jak smiled, it would be pretty fun to have an adventure with the people he cared most about in life. He would have a blast. The mere thought of it made Jak itch with excitement.
"There's that smile." Keira smirked as she snuck a glance at the boy.
Jak chuckled, Keira always did try to make sure that he was happy. It'd always been something so natural between them for Keira to look out for him in that way. There were times when the young boy's happiness seemed to be the upmost importance to the girl.
"The four of us would be able to handle anything the world could throw at us!" Keira explained.
Jak eagerly nodded from where he lay.
Keira sat up and looked at Jak. Jak sat up in response.
"I just hope that no matter what, we always stay together; that we'll always be there for each other no matter what." Keira said. "That's all I want Jak."
Jak nodded and looked back up at the stars. Somehow he knew he was always gonna be with his friends.
~Jak~
"That was cool!" Daxter exclaimed, the biggest grin on his face as he took in what just happened. He then turned to Jak and insisted that he 'do it again.'
"Something's happening to me…" Jak panted as he reverted back to his original form. His body was on the verge of collapsing as it violently shook in an attempt to keep from literally falling apart. His eyes also sporadically flashed between their full blue and empty obsidian as the dark form eagerly wished to show its face once more. "Something he did…"
His body finally stopped shaking and his eyes managed to sustain its blue color as he clenched a fist in frustration before he turned to Daxter and sighed. "I can't control it…"
Kor smirked, this is definitely something I can use, he thought to himself before addressing the young man before him. "Very impressive."
Daxter finally got out of his excitement and turned to his friend. Jak still had his eyes closed in hopes of reaching a self reassurance that the beast he had turned into was no longer present. "You okay, Jak?"
Jak turned to answer Daxter only for Kor to interrupt.
"What you just did was very brave!" Kor complimented the resent escapee. "This child is important!"
"This kid?" Daxter chuckled as he poked the kid in the stomach only for him to flinch. "He looks kinda scruffy."
A Krimzon Guard then flew by on a Hellcat Cruiser. "You are in a restricted zone, move along." The guard instructed them before flying away.
"Thank you for your help!" Kor exclaimed. "But I must get this boy to safety."
As Kor was speaking the child nudged Jak's leg only for him to shoo the boy away.
"Hey!" Daxter shouted. "What about us?"
Kor gave a small smile before he continued. "There is an underground group waging war against Baron Praxis. Its leader: The Shadow could use fighters like you. Go to the slums, find a dead end in the alley near the wall. Ask for Torn, he can help you."
"Let's go, Dax." Jak said, waving the ottsle forward.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm comin'" The ottsle rolled his eyes before climbing up his friend's body and onto his shoulder.
Jak still shuddered a bit at the ottsle's first touch, but quickly got used to it and felt natural once again. He hated that Baron made the ottsle's initial touch on his body feel like a threat but at least it didn't last all that long.
After commandeering a ride for themselves Jak and Daxter began to fly towards the slums using the zoomer's built in map of the city, that Daxter was able to explain to Jak how to use.
After a bit of silence Daxter finally spoke up. "So Jak, what was that big dark scary guy that you turned into back there with those guards?"
Jak sighed. He knew the conversation was coming but he was hoping that he wouldn't have to talk about it for a while. "To be honest, I don't really know Dax."
"What do you mean, Jak?" The ottsle asked him.
Jak shook his head. "When the Baron imprisoned me over the past few years he had used me and had started using dark eco on me. He had injected it straight into my body for the past two years."
"The Dark Warrior Program." Daxter stated.
Jak looked at Daxter surprised.
"A guy I meet, some big official that's close with the Baron had mentioned it." Daxter explained.
Jak nodded, trying to focus on the upper hover zone of Haven City as he tried not to let the past two years flash before his eyes again.
Daxter's ears drooped, for once he wasn't as lively as he usually was. "I'm really sorry, Jak. It must've been terrible for you."
It really meant a lot to him that Daxter had said that but he just didn't know how to respond. He just sighed as he moved the zoomer back into the lower hover zone and parked the vehicle.
"Come on Dax," Jak said darkly. "We're here."
And like that Jak hopped off the zoomer and into a street corner that he would soon become a frequent place of visit.
Daxter wanted to say something but decided to stay quiet.
~Jak~
"I'm not the guy you knew before, Daxter." Jak huffed.
Dark Jak had come out again and the unlucky few happened to be a group of Metal Heads in the Pumping Station. He violently shook as he stood in the pool of blood and dark eco; he was utterly terrified at what he had just done.
"Come on, Jak." Daxter insisted. "You don't mean that."
"I do." Jak sighed. "This thing inside of me, it's changed me in ways I can't even explain. It's tearing me apart from both the inside and out."
Daxter shook his head, "Come on buddy, you don't mean that. So the big guy went a little far this time? He always does, it's nothing new."
Jak shook his head. The purple electricity slightly crackling at his finger tips. He stared at it in fear. "It just keeps getting worse and worse. I may just loose myself to this and soon, you may get hurt or Torn or someone else in the Underground."
"That won't happen, Jak." Daxter reassured his friend. "If I know one thing about you Jak, I know that you're a tough guy. I know some stupid little dark thing inside of you is not going to change that. You're going to beat this thing and I'll be with you every step of the way."
"No, you should run Dax." Jak insisted. "This thing is going to hurt you one day or worse."
Daxter shook his head. "I'm not leaving no matter what, Jak. I'm stayin' right here and you're not gonna change that."
"Change," Jak laughed. "That's all that's gonna keep happening to me."
Daxter laughed. "You're still the same guy Jak! What I see in you today in Haven isn't all that different from what I saw in you back when we were kids in Sandover."
Jak looked at Daxter skeptically.
"You could start farting rainbows as a sparkling yackow and I'd still like ya' Jak." Daxter said. "Ya' know nothin's gonna change that."
Jak gave Daxter a small smile.
"So come on Jak, let's get outta here." Daxter insisted.
Jak gave Daxter a smile, the first real one Daxter had actually seen from Jak. The smile mirrored the ones that Daxter was familiar with in its wideness and fearlessness but at the same time there was the new bravery and maturity in it as well.
And this was the first time that Jak really realized that Daxter would always be by his side. No matter what, he'll always be there even with this thing inside of him.
~Jak~
Despite everything that happened with the Tomb of Mar fiasco, Jak was happy to have his Samos back. It's true that the man's first reaction to him wasn't great.
Samos saw it immediately. That shouldn't have surprised Jak as much as it did, neither the bluntness of it or the fact that he was able to figure it out.
"Great yackow bones, what happened to you Jak?!" The man had asked with just one look at him.
Jak knew that Samos could sense his dark form. He didn't know what to make of that fact. But they were able to talk as if nothing had changed, Jak never tried to bring up his dark form. Samos had tried to converse with Jak about it but Jak had always found a way to divert the conversation to another topic or leave all together.
But now Samos had seen Dark Jak in action. Now he knew he couldn't avoid the inevitable discussion.
"Now Jak," Samos started. "It's about time we discuss your dark form."
Jak sighed. "Samos I-"
"No Jak," Samos shook his head. "We both know that this is something we've needed to talk about this for a while now. I only didn't talk about it with you because I knew you weren't yet comfortable enough to discuss it. I understood it was a vulnerable topic for you. But now that I've seen what this thing can do, what it did to those guards! I know now that we have to talk whether you're ready or not, Jak."
"I know you hate it," Jak sighed, "But there's nothing I can do about it. No matter how hard I try I can't control it."
"I am well aware of that." Samos stated. "Dark Eco is often able to corrupt even the purest of hearts. Look at what it did to Gol and Maia, the two of them were probably some of the most caring people I had ever meet and Gol was so devoted to his science over anything else. But too much of it made them want to destroy the planet!"
"So?" Jak asked him.
"What I'm trying to tell you is that, I understand that you cannot control this being inside of you." Samos explained. "I am very well aware of the experimenting that had been done on you, Jak. It's such an extreme that after hearing about it, even I was shocked that you hadn't died and I know full well of your channeling abilities."
Jak rolled his eyes. "I'm lucky. You're not the only one who's said that to me. Hell, even Praxis and Errol have said it."
"I see." Samos huffed. "Frankly speaking, those animals are terrible for doing this to you!"
Jak nodded. "I know that and I want revenge."
Samos shook his head disapprovingly. "That's not the way to go about this Jak. You should leave them alone. The Precursors have ways of dealing with the bad men and women of this world."
"The Precursors." Jak laughed. "Come on, Samos. Look at Praxis, if we don't do something to him then he's going to continue living the way he does while the city rots. The Precursors left us to fend for ourselves a long time ago and you know that!"
"First of all, do not question the creators of this universe!" Samos shouted. "Though they vanished long ago they are still closely watching over this planet and all the others! Besides, I meant that you should not have a personal vendetta against the man! Do you really think that I wouldn't go after him, because clearly I would. The man you know as The Shadow proves that what I'm telling you is crucial for you cannot let your hate for this man consume you."
Jak sighed, Samos was right but that didn't make it any easier for him to take in.
"But back to the matter at hand, I am able to accept your dark form." Samos admitted. "I understand that the baron had done those terrible things to you and I understand what you're going through. Though not to this extreme, I have seen it happen several times before and to be honest I'm less afraid of that thing than I am of loosing you to it."
Jak nodded.
Samos took off his glasses and sighed. "I've seen terrible things happen to people who have been in too much contact with Dark Eco. It's a terribly frightening thing to witness and with some of the monsters that I've seen people become, it's quite concerning to see this happen to you."
Jak huffed, Samos definitely was scaring him. Was he suggesting that they would put him down if Dark Jak went too far? By what Samos was saying it's not like the old man hadn't done it before.
"But I know you're strong Jak." The old man smiled. "All I ask is that you be careful and try and think about the things you do. Make sure to keep your anger in check! But also know that, I will always be by your side Jak."
Jak gave the man a small smile. "Thank you Samos."
"Any time." The old man returned the boy's smile.
~Jak~
"People say you get angry and change…"
Those words that Keira had said to him had been running through his mind quite often as of recent. Although the stung when she had first said them, he thought he had gotten over it.
He was wrong.
She had said those words over a month ago and although at first it didn't bother him all that much it did now. It sucked. With all that was going on: his dark form eating at him from the inside; the war waging against Baron Praxis; the seemingly random tasks that Torn, Krew and various others gave him whenever they felt like. With all the things on Jak's plate it just seemed like way too much for him to handle.
"You okay Jak?" Daxter asked as they flew through the city on a Zoomer.
Jak shook his head. "Just tired."
Daxter rolled his eyes. "Come on Jak, you know I can tell when you're lyin'."
Jak sighed, he knew he couldn't fool Daxter. "It's getting to me again."
"Could ya' be a little more specific?" Daxter asked. Jak gave him a confused look before Daxter added. "Sorry man, but ya' just got a lot a' issues."
Jak raised an eyebrow as Daxter who chuckled. "What Keira said about me changing." Jak confirmed.
"That again?" Daxter asked. "Come on Jak, that was more than a month ago!"
"I know." Jak sighed. "Lots of people call me a freak and it doesn't bother me. I don't understand why this is getting to me."
"Maybe because it's her?" Daxter suggested.
Jak shook his head. "Don't be ridiculous. Keira and I are just good friends."
Daxter laughed. "Really buddy? Ya' sure that's true."
"Yes." Jak huffed. "Besides she's with Errol now. I wouldn't want to get in the way of their happiness."
Jak's dark form was coming out, his gaze darkened as he stared ahead and his skin slightly paling.
"Easy buddy…" Daxter attempted to soothe the warrior. "Errol and Keira are just friends, remember? Keira told us."
Jak rolled his eyes. "Did you really believe that?"
"I trust her." Daxter insisted. "Don't you?"
"Of course I do." Jak said. "It's just this Errol thing and her being afraid of it –being afraid of me, it's scary."
"You can't possibly believe that." Daxter gaped at his friend. "You know Keira would never be afraid of you. After all those years together, come on Jak…"
"I-"
"HELP!" A voice cried out.
Jak immediately recognized it. "Keira!?"
"It came from outside the wall!" Daxter said. "In Deadtown!"
Jak jumped off the zoomer and landed right in front of the gate leading to the ruins.
"Come on, come on, come on…" Daxter stammered as if repeating those two words would make it go any faster.
Finally it opened and they were inside Dead Town.
"KEIRA!" Jak shouted.
The girl screamed in response.
Jak ran after the screams, making sure to take out the jetboard to increase his speed.
Eventually he came to the source of the screams and it wasn't pretty.
Keira was on top of a structure she had managed to climb up, the structure was surrounded by four metal heads. All of them jumping and snapping towards their prey.
"KEIRA!" Jak shouted.
Keira looked towards the warrior. "Jak, help!" She pleaded.
Jak looked at the creatures: it would take too long to shoot them down, she may just fall during that time; good old fashioned fisticuffs wouldn't do it, Jak would be too focused on one or two creatures while the others could attempt to get at her. The best option seemed like his dark form, but what would be the consequences of doing so? She didn't like his dark form all that much, she said it scared her. Not only that, but what would happen if it decided to take her out.
He had no choice, he was going to have to use his dark form. It was the best way out of the situation and he just had to hope that he would be able to regain his consciousness once he saved her.
Jak called forward the darkness within him. Immediately he gained a lot more muscle tone. His skin paled to a sickly grey and all the color drained from his eyes leaving them soulless obsidian that was devoid of any pupils. His hair lightened into a silvery color and his nails lengthened into long, razor sharp claws. Topping off the transformation, just crowning through his long silver hair were long horns not to dissimilar to the ones of a yackow.
"THWA!" The beast snarled.
Keira's eyes widened in surprise. "Jak…" The girl gaped.
Dark Jak immediately lunged towards one of the first metal heads. He stuck his claws into the creatures stomach causing its eyes to widen and a yelp to escape from the monster's mouth.
The dark warrior then pulled his claws out of the monster. He then went and slammed the monster on the head, a bit of eco escaping from his fist as it connected. The Metal Head fell to the ground and exploded into dark eco when its skull cracked open as soon as it hit the crumbling ground.
Jak then turned and glared down the other three monsters as they still attempted to reach Keira.
Keira was watching all of this in complete shock.
Dark Jak then went to two of the monsters and slammed their heads against each other.
The Metal Heads let out their own shrieks of pain but Dark Jak ignored them as he continued to repeatedly slam the heads of the two beast's heads together until their skulls collapsed into each other and dissolved into dark eco. The eco dripped off his claws as he gave a malicious, sharp toothed grin.
Keira gasped at this, she'd never ever seen Jak like this before. It was terrifying.
She didn't have time to contemplate it any more as the structure she was standing on crumbled beneath her. She fell to the ground and faced the metal head in front of her.
"Jaaaaak!" She called out to the warrior.
The dark warrior turned and saw the metal head approaching the girl.
He let out a war cry and charged towards the creature, he grabbed the lizard like creature by the tail and flung it towards the murky waters.
The creature was able to get up and attempted to charge towards Jak. Jak however didn't give it the chance as he lunged for the creature and grabbed it by the neck. He shoved the creatures neck into the water and squeezed tightly as he enjoyed the creature's suffocation. It eventually dissolved into dark eco which Dark Jak took pleasure in collectiong.
Dark Jak panted as he tried to regain his bearings. Jak had tried to return to control but his dark form was too strong.
So much carnage…Dark Jak stated. I must have more!
Get out of here! Jak shouted at the creature from within his mind. You've gotten your fill and now you should be satisfied.
The creature laughed. Are you kidding me? Why leave when it's just getting interesting!
"Jak?" Keira called out.
Dark Jak turned to her. His eyes slightly softened but at the same time the same malevolent grin continued to plaster itself on his face.
Perhaps I should take out my anger on another life form. Your precious Keira for example!
Dark Jak began marching towards the girl. She looked wide eyed in fear.
"Jak…?" Daxter tried to call out to his friend. "Come on buddy, you can turn back now."
Don't you touch her! Jak shouted at the creature.
Jak marched towards Keira. The girl shivered in fear.
"Jak, what's happened?" She asked him.
Jak wordlessly walked towards her.
"Jak, stop!" Daxter shouted.
Jak reared back his claws.
Jak desperately tried to regain control. In one last mental force he shouted at Dark Jak. Leave-
His skin tanned and the claws and horns retreated back inside his head and hand respectively.
"HER ALONE!" He shouted just stopping his hand inches away from her face.
Daxter hopped off his friend's shoulder so he could get a good look at him. Daxter sighed in relief when he saw Jak was really back.
"You okay buddy?" Daxter asked. "Cut things a little close there that time."
Keira reached out to Jak. "Jak-"
Jak didn't answer he just turned away from her and ran. After what he'd done to those metal heads, what he'd almost done to her. He knew that she would hate her forever.
Keira held back a few tears. "You saved me…"
"Jak, where ya' goin?" Daxter shouted. "You're my ride around this city, where am I supposed ta' go!"
~Jak~
"What were you doing out there in Dead Town?" Jak asked her. It was a couple of days after the incident. Daxter had insisted that he talk to Keira while he hung out at the Naughty Ottsle with Tess. Jak –although begrudgingly- agreed.
Keira sighed. "You'd told me about daddy's hut in dead town. I wanted to get a look for myself."
"It's too dangerous out there." Jak chastised the girl. "You could've gotten hurt."
Keira rolled her eyes. "Daddy already lectured me about it earlier Jak, so save your breath."
Jak growled. "Keira, this is serious, don't you know how dangerous it is out there? It's already bad enough here in the city with all the Krimzon Guards around but out there!? In the Pumping Station and other areas outside the city you're going to get hurt."
"Well you go outside all the time!" Keira shouted at him. "What makes it so bad for me?"
Jak sighed. "It's different for me."
"Yeah, well if we all had some weird thing living inside of us we'd all be able to get out!" Keira yelled at him.
"DON'T TALK ABOUT HIM!" Jak yelled at the girl, his clenched fists trying to get the dark eco to stop sparkling with the dark energy. Finally once they did, he turned away from Keira and huffed. "He has nothing to do with this."
Keira's eyes softened. "But it does, Jak."
She tentatively put a hand on the young man's shoulder that he immediately shook off.
"No, it doesn't." Jak scowled. "Besides, you don't actually care. You're just scared of him, anyways. You're scared of me!"
"No I'm not!" Keira insisted. "I had heard things. I didn't know what to think!"
Jak gave a dark chuckle. "And when you actually saw him in action?"
"I was scared." Keira admitted. "When you had become that thing, I saw you as one in the same. I thought you had turned into a monster."
"Exactly!" Jak shouted. "You and everyone else in this city think I'm a freak."
"No, I don't." Keira stated. "When that thing was ready to attack me I was so afraid. But then you came out, you shouted those words."
"So?" Jak asked.
"When you shouted those words, it was almost as if you were brought out of a conversation with someone." Keira explained. "Daxter talked to me about it and after some thinking I soon realized that you and this thing are two entirely different things."
Jak turned back to her slightly surprised by that. Keira was smart but he hadn't expected her to make the correct conclusion about Dark Jak. No one else had except for Samos.
Keira gave her friend a sad smile. "I know that this thing has some sort of control over you. But you're stronger than it. You proved that when you came out before that horrible monster could do something to hurt me."
Jak sighed. "I-"
"No, let me finish." Keira insisted.
Jak nodded and allowed her to finish.
"I'm sorry I didn't see that before, Jak." Keira sighed. "I know you have a serious problem with this thing but no matter what, I'm here for you every step of the way."
Jak hugged the girl.
"Thank you." He added.
Keira smiled. "Of course, you're my best friend."
"Well seems like you two lovebirds are back together!" That same irritably annoying voice quipped.
Daxter and Tess walked into the garage both with knowing grins on their faces.
Jak and Keira quickly got off of each other.
Jak rubbed the back of his head. "We were just…"
"I was…" Keira added.
Daxter laughed. "Calm down guys, I know what's goin' on."
Jak glared at the ottsle but he only kept that same grin on his face. Oh Daxter…
"Anywho…" Daxter continued. "Jak, we've gotta go. Krew's got another stupid mission for us and I don't wanna get old tub of butter pissed off."
Jak smirked. "Alright, let's go Dax."
Jak left with a smile that day. Even Keira was able to acknowledge that his dark form wasn't his fault. On that day, their friendship blossomed into what it once was before. They were finally able to make amends. It was wonderful.
~Jak~
Daxter.
Samos.
Keira.
The people that had always been by his side. The people that had always cared about him. While others simply rejected him for his dark form or made some sort of use of it, they had accepted it.
They were still able to be his friend and he appreciated that.
He appreciated Daxter for always standing by his side –well on his shoulder- no matter what.
He appreciated Keira for always looking out for him and always caring about his well being.
He appreciated Samos for caring for him as if he was his own son.
They would always be there for Jak and he would be able to return the favor on countless occasions.
Even in the lowest point of his life his friends were still able to love him and for that he loved them.
Another chapter of Jak done. I'm quite satisfied with this one. Sorry it took so long, but I am in High School so I'm busy. Yes it's summer but I was in school because the school system I'm in has me in school in the months of June, July and August. But enough about that, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I can't wait to get on the next one. Next time we face the villains of Jak and Daxter, that I'm excited for! And now we're at a point where this chapter and the next three chapters follow Dark Jak. Guess that means we're officially transitioning into Jak 2 focused parts which means I'm actually going to have to get all the cutscenes of the game. But let's not worry about that for now, until next time everyone!
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