Chapter 8
Stranger No Longer

"Hey, look over there," Daxter said as they walked through the streets. He pointed toward a yellow-colored light-single Zoomer. Jak nodded and jumped onto the vehicle. After a couple moments of fiddling, puffs of smoke popped out of the exhausts as the Zoomer came to life.

Suddenly, a black metal camera-like object with a bright orange lens floated up from the back of Jak's belt and looked at Jak. "Welcome to the city transportation system," an automated female voice greeted him.

Daxter grinned. "Sweet! I didn't know there was a communicator in those clothes!"

Alexander rolled his eyes as he approached the Zoomer. "Convenient."

"You can hover in two zones: low and high," the voice continued to inform them. It moved around Jak and stopped facing a lever on the Zoomer. "Try switching hover zones."

Jak lifted the lever, and the Zoomer very quickly ascended to the level that the other Zoomers were slowly flying at. "Switching hover zones may help you avoid traffic and ground obstacles."

The communicator then moved to the front of the Zoomer and changed shape, expanding into a small disc with a screen. On it was a GPS-style map of their current position, with dots indicating KG patrols and stationary vehicles. On the edge of the map was a symbol like a cutlass. "Follow the icons on the map to reach important destinations."

By that point, Alexander had used a High Jump to steal a passing light-single Zoomer and was then coming to a stop beside Jak and Daxter. Glancing at the map, he sighed and said, "Even more convenient."

"What's wrong with convenient?" Daxter asked as Jak put the Zoomer into motion.

Jak led the way with Alexander close behind, making sharp turns through the asymmetrical streets of the Slums. Both of them were gunning the throttle, weaving through traffic faster than the rest of the crowd. A Krimzon Guard shouted angrily at them as they passed overhead, but no other encounter took place during the flight.

They reached a part where the traffic was clear for a while, so Alex took a look down at the people they were flying over. But then he saw something that shocked him. Walking next to a Krimzon Guard patrol was a group of Armored Knight Heartless.

There were Heartless in Haven City! Alex opened the throttle a little more on the Zoomer he was riding, but if the Heartless even detected him there was no reaction.

Finally, they reached a wide clearing of the Slums near the city wall, and at the other side was the entrance to a small alleyway. Alex came to a stop and dropped to the low hover zone before dismounting his Zoomer, whereas Jak simply jumped off at the top and landed next to him. The Zoomer slowly fell to the ground, smacking loudly against a building before reaching the low hover zone and coming to a stop. The Zoomer was a bit crumpled and smoking.

Alex glared at Jak for his recklessness, but Jak simply smirked and shrugged before leading the way into the back alley.

As they entered the shadows cast by the city lights, a blue-eyed blond woman wearing a revealing green jacket and cut-off jeans stepped into their path rather imposingly. As she regarded the group with a stern gaze, Jak said, "We're lookin' for a guy named Torn. Kor sent us."

The woman gestured with her head at the man now approaching Jak. Alexander recognized him all too well as the ex-KG Commander he'd once considered a superior. In appearance, Torn hadn't changed much at all. He still wore some of his old KG outfit, except with a bit more armor than when he had appeared at Alexander's briefings.

Torn quickly got in Jak's face, studying him with a scowl. Jak lost a bit of the urgent tone in his voice as he said, "Um... Are you... Torn?"

When Torn's scowl was the only reply, Daxter leaned forward and helpfully said, "Maybe this guy's a mute, like... you used to be." Jak rolled his eyes at that.

Torn glared at Daxter, who promptly moved to Jak's back. Looking at Jak again, he poked Jak in the chest and growled, "New faces make me nervous." With a smirk, he continued, "Word is you're out to join the fight for the city."

Alexander rolled his eyes. "Is it?" he couldn't help but ask. "We've been out for barely even five minutes."

Torn dropped his smirk and glared at Alexander, regarding him closely. Alex simply stood still and stone-faced. For a moment, it seemed like something would happen, but Torn stepped back. "News gets around here quickly. Especially big news like you two."

"Oh, you're too kind!" Daxter said, his own smile appearing.

Torn grunted. "You know, picking the wrong side could be... unhealthy." At the last word, Torn moved in real close on Jak.

But if Jak was intimidated by this, it was difficult to tell. "We want to see the Shadow," he said, clearly wanting to cut through all this banter.

This amused Torn. "Not likely. If you want to join something," he added, turning away from them, "why don't you two and your pet go join the circus?"

That comment angered Daxter, but Alexander took the initiative before any further remarks could be made. "I'm hurt, Torn," he said sarcastically. "You don't remember me? You don't remember... this?" And in a dramatic fashion, he slowly lifted his hand up, which was covered in a black aura. When the darkness faded, the Heartless Seal Lockshield was displaying its design proudly to Torn in Alex's hand.

Torn turned back to see this, and his demeanor changed in an instant. Recognition exploded onto his face as he looked between the shield and Alexander, back and forth several times. Then, finally, he stared into Alexander's eyes. "...Alex!" he blurted out.

"Hold the freakin' phone!" Daxter cried out, stomping over to them until he was between Alex and Torn, looking up at them. "Why the heck are you two on a first name basis?"

Alexander had a wide grin on his face. "Oh, we know each other. It's been a while, but..."

"A year!" Torn finished, still shocked by this revelation.

Jak looked confused for a moment, but then stepped forward. "Alright, so this means we can see the Shadow, right?"

"No way," Torn replied, quickly turning away from Alexander. "Joining the fight for the city isn't something to be taken lightly. Alexander here is more than qualified. You two..." Torn smirked. "Well, you're just not."

Jak scowled and took another step toward Torn, but the ex-KG Commander casually drew out the curved knife from his shoulder and said, "Unless you have the fur for a really tough task." Looking up toward the city wall, he said, "Steal the Baron's banner from the top of the Ruined Tower and bring it back to me." With a smirk, he tossed the blade into the air and caught it. "Then, maybe we'll talk."

Daxter jumped onto Jak's shoulder with a frown on his furry face. "Oh, sure. While you two have your sappy reunion, we get a crap mission! Just great..."

Jak still looked angry, but there was now a bit of determination mixed with it. "Fine. You'll get that banner." He looked at Alexander and said, "Later," and then walked back toward the Zoomers.

It caught Alex off guard. "Oh... yeah," he said. "See ya." He internally scolded himself for being so awkward about it, but a motion to his right quickly took his mind off it.

Part of the wall had been spray-painted with the symbol of a hammer breaking the KG emblem. But the wall was moving toward the side, revealing a hidden doorway. "Alex," Torn said, standing near the moving wall. "Come inside."

Alex nodded, dismissed the Lockshield, and started walking toward it. The blond woman that had confronted them earlier walked to Alexander and smiled. "So you're Alex, huh? Nice to meet you. I'm Tess."

She held out a gloved hand to him, and Alex hesitated for a moment. This woman had seemed so imposing just a second before, but now she was being really nice. But he shook her hand and nodded, then walked through the doorway.

There was a small downward flight of steps, followed by another door that opened up vertically as Torn approached it. Alexander followed Torn into the room, with Tess close behind.

It was a large underground hideout. ...Which was fitting, all things considered. As they walked in, there were four sets of wooden bunk beds, two on each side. Then it opened up to the large room, where anti-KG posters were plastered all over the walls. There were broken-down Zoomers at the far sides of the room, along with tables and other various things on them. Torn walked over to the central table, where there were maps of the city and what seemed to be gun parts. To one side there was a metal fireplace helping to light the room, aided by the lamp swinging just a few feet above the central table.

Torn reached the table and turned back to Alexander with a grin on his face. "Good to hear you're back among us, Alexander. You're something of a legend around here."

Alex shrugged. "And I wasn't back when we were both in the Guard? But hey, you're right, I'm back out in Haven City." He stepped closer to Torn. "And oh boy, it's changed. Since when are there Heartless working with the KG?"

This caught Torn by surprise. "Heartless?"

Alexander held up his hand and summoned the Heartless Seal Lockshield. He tapped the center of the shield, where the Heartless emblem was.

Torn looked where he pointed and was silent for a moment. "...I did notice that," he said at last.

"Oh, those black things?" Tess said, having walked over to them and quietly listened up until now. "The Baron calls those things Dark Warriors. He says they're the result of some kind of Program he was working on... and it was a breakthrough from Even."

A dark scowl was now set into Alex's expression. Even, the Heartless, the Dark Warrior Program... It was all he could do not to start muttering expletives. "Great... Taking credit for..." His voice trailed off into angry mutterings.

Torn simply looked at Alex. "But you know the truth."

Alex nodded, but then caught himself and looked back up at Torn. There was a certain... understanding he felt from the ex-Commander. "Hold it..."

Torn averted his eyes away from him. "I've spoken with Even. He's become one of the Baron's right-hand men. He confronted me one time, back when I was still personally taking missions." He paused. "He told me everything about you. It was an attempt to demoralize me, and it didn't work, but... I knew that it was the truth."

Alexander clenched his fists. For a year, he'd been the Heartless apprentice's little toy. But now he was finding out that the rest of the world had been toyed with as well. "So..." he said slowly, "I guess the cat's out of the bag." Glancing at Tess, he said, "Who else knows?"

Torn thought about it. "Very few people. Me, Tess, the Shadow... Ashelin. No one else. He might have told Erol and the Baron, but I doubt it. It's just us in the Underground." Torn looked back at Alexander. "So... these Heartless..."

Alex nodded. "Monsters from another world." He took a moment to adjust his footing. "Human life is made up of the body, soul, and heart. And I mean the proverbial heart, which is what holds our deepest values and emotions. When the heart becomes extremely dark in nature, or if it is forcefully ripped out by darkness, a Heartless is formed around that heart. The Heartless specialize in tearing out the hearts of others, and they come in many different varieties. I've fought them many, many, many times before. They're routine for me, but they're always bad news for everyone."

Torn and Tess took in this information, and there was a small silence as they did so. Then Tess piped up with a question. "But why call them Dark Warriors? And what's the Dark Warrior Program?"

A wry smirk came to Alex's face. "That's just a cover-up. Sort of. There was a real Dark Warrior Program before... that is, until the test subjects escaped from the Fortress. Ten minutes ago."

Understanding began to dawn on Torn's face. "And just what was this Program doing?"

Alexander closed his eyes for a moment. He thought back to the pain he underwent... the unending pain he had been forced to endure. Jak had gone through twice as much... He opened his eyes, and looked away from the two of them. "Injecting people with Dark Eco."

Tess gasped. "That's...!"

"That bastard!" Torn growled. "I'll bet Erol was all over that."

"Damn right he was," Alex agreed. "The Baron was thinking that there was a small chance that a person could be forced to channel Dark Eco. Jak, the person you sent away to get the banner, was exactly the kind of person they were looking for. But then I started showing off. Erol figured that since my abilities were generally dark in nature..."

Alex trailed off. The silence was palpable.

Then it was broken by Torn. "Is that why you look like us now?"

Alexander frowned and raised a hand to one of his elongated ears. He didn't like to think about the whole issue. "...More or less."

Torn paused for a moment. "...Hmph. My men told me that a couple of monsters had torn through all those guards. Didn't think for a moment that it was anything like this." Torn paused for a moment. "So this Jak guy is really special, huh?"

"Yeah," Alexander replied, turning back to face Torn. "But it gets even better. He's the protagonist of the game. The events I've come to know all too well are starting to play out here and now. I was originally two years too early, but now the time has come."

Torn's eyes widened ever so slightly. "So, you mean..." As he trailed off, a grin spread on his face. "Good. Very good. Which means that you can start changing things for the better."

Alexander frowned a little. "Well, not exactly. I gotta be careful."

"No, Alexander," Torn quickly replied, shaking his head and walking over to him. "Whatever's gonna happen next, if you can make it happen quickly, you need to do it. We can't afford to just let these things play out. Not with Even running the show. You need to make as many changes as you can."

Alex was a bit taken aback. This was the exact opposite of everything he'd been told to do. He'd taken it for granted that he needed to be careful of what his actions might change, but he'd never been encouraged in such a way. But the way Torn said it... Alex couldn't find an argument if his life depended on it. Because, in this case, Torn was absolutely right. He needed to truly be an Interference.

Tess nodded and looked over at Alex. "Good luck," she said, turning around and walking toward the hideout's entrance.

"Be careful," Torn warned her as she left. He then looked at Alex and said, "Alright, let's see how our heroes are doing out there."

The Ruined Tower was in the middle of what was now Dead Town, Alexander's last battleground before he'd been captured. The place had really gone under, so to speak, in the year that he'd been gone. The water level was fairly high, leaving only a few patches of land around the buildings intact. And there was power running into the water, which meant that anyone who stepped in it would receive a painful shock. Creatures like Snaggle Teeth, Puffers, and the occasional Metal Head were constantly present all throughout the remains of the old town.

The Ruined Tower itself fit its description perfectly. An old tower of stone that had been hit hard during the attack and was now truly ruined in every sense. Whole sections of the outside of the tower threatened to crumble away if anyone so much as stepped on them.

Alexander and Torn found a spot of land a fair distance away from the Ruined Tower. The sun was high in the sky, and there weren't any monsters nearby.

The two of them watched the tower for a few moments. Even from there, they could see the Baron's banner standing proudly on the highest balcony of the tower, planted on a wooden platform overlooking the rest of Dead Town below.

Finally, they could see a figure walking toward the flag. Alex grinned at the sight. "Can't be anyone else," he remarked.

Jak wrenched the flagpole out of the platform beneath him and slammed it down proudly. But as soon as he did so, loud crumbling sounds could be heard from the entire tower.

"Uh-oh," Torn said.

The entire platform crumbled from beneath the feet of the two heroes, and they were sent plummeting to the water below. Daxter's constant, panicked screams were audible to Alex and Torn.

Fortunately, Jak and Daxter were caught by a shoddy awning that bounced them back up into the air and over a few buildings. From there, Jak managed to land perfectly on a cable which he began to grind along. Daxter landed on the same cable between his legs, pausing his screams for just a moment as he encountered sheer pain in the worst possible place before he was launched back up into the air.

After grinding along the cable for a little while, Jak crouched a little and then bounced off, sailing through the air before landing perfectly in front of Alexander and Torn, still holding the banner. A second later, Daxter bounced onto the ground next to him.

As Daxter groaned in pain, the Ruined Tower behind them finally gave up the ghost. The old stones that comprised it crumbled away in large chunks into the water below. In a few moments, the tower had been completely leveled.

All thanks to Jak and Daxter.

Torn's jaw dropped. "Yeah." Grinning, he said, "I guess you guys are in."

Later, back at the Hideout...

Daxter, completely confident now that they had been allowed into the Hideout, strutted across the room to a large water pipe. "Whew!" he said, making extravagant gestures in his show of pride. "Being a big hero sure makes ya thirsty!" With the biggest grin on his face, he pulled the lever on the water pipe and opened up his mouth.

In any other situation, this would've been fine. Water pipes like that were placed all around the city for public use. Up in North Town, where Alex had lived for a little while, the pipes took the form of actual faucets and sinks. In the Slums it was a lot more crude, but it was still water.

But Alex knew better. And Torn obviously knew better, if the evil grin on his face was any indication.

Alex winced as Daxter found himself swallowing a load of black sludge instead of water. Daxter quickly turned the lever back up and coughed up the black stuff, furiously wiping some off his tongue in order to get rid of the terrible taste of it.

Torn chuckled evilly at this, which earned him a glare from the Ottsel. "The Baron turned off all water to the Slums. He's willing to sacrifice innocent lives just to destroy the Underground!" Taking on a thoughtful look, Torn said, "I shouldn't be surprised. I've seen his evil before, while serving in the Krimzon Guard. That's why I quit."

Jak did a take. "You were a Krimzon Guard?!" he exclaimed, completely taken off guard by this. But then the protagonist found himself holding back a laugh. "Heh. Uh, that explains your... charming sense of humor."

Alex chuckled at this, but then let out a sigh and said, "Well, while we're on the subject, I think I should get something out of the way as well..."

Jak caught on quickly. "Both of you!? Working for the Baron?"

"Oh," Daxter cut in with a roll of his eyes, "so that's why Mr. Tough Guy has a soft spot for you."

"Hey," Alex muttered in a warning tone.

Torn took an opportunity to cut that tangent short and get back on track. "My friend in the Guard tells me the valve to turn the water back on is located outside the city, at the Pumping Station."

"Outside the city?" Jak echoed. "What about the security walls?"

"What about the Metal Heads?!" Daxter added. "It ain't a pettin' zoo out there. Peeps be gettin' deep-sixed!"

Alex grimaced. "The security gates aren't a problem. They never, ever are. The KG don't give a damn who goes in and out of those. Personally, I'm more worried about the Heartless."

"Heartless?" Jak repeated questioningly.

"Those black creatures with the KG," Alex replied. "People call them Dark Warriors, but they're really Heartless."

"Unfortunately," Torn interrupted, "that's the kind of thing you have to just deal with if you want to see the Shadow. Find the large drain pipe in the north wall. It'll take you outside the city to the Pumping Station. Get to the main valve and open it. If you survive, the Slums will be indebted to you." With a smirk, he added, "If not, maybe we'll have a touching moment of silence in your honor."

"I'd like to give him a 'touching moment'," Daxter muttered between gritted teeth.

"Just like old times," Alexander found himself saying, also unimpressed with Torn's attitude. This was the same kind of thing he had to deal with when he was in the KG... serving under Torn as well. With a shrug, Alex followed Jak and Daxter out the door.

The trio rode through the city air on Zoomers, headed toward the shambles that was the Water Slums. They rounded a corner in the Slums' streets, and they were presented with a straight path to the failing city section. Dark blue water underscored the old wood that stuck up from it to support the awkwardly bent bridges and shanties.

But the KG were still present, along with the Heartless that patrolled the bridges. It drove Alexander completely up the wall. Every few blocks there was another reminder of the challenges presented to him as the Interference.

There was a time where being the Interference might've been a pretty neat thing for Alexander. But he now considered those times naïve and childish. Being the Interference was truly challenging, especially in a world such as this. The Heartless apprentice Even had taken massive steps to make sure that the odds were raised against the heroes of the normal adventure, and it was Alexander's job to singlehandedly make sure that the odds were leveled again.

Of course, at his consistently rising level of power, Alexander was more than capable of leveling the odds, but-

A sudden stop occurred in both Alexander's thinking and vehicle as he accidentally smashed into the side of a KG Zoomer. The Krimzon Guard riding it was also shaken for a moment, but not long enough for all hell not to break loose.

"Oh, great!" Daxter called out as Jak flew toward the scene. "Good going, bud!"

A siren blared repeatedly over the entire city as the alert went on. "You're under arrest, kid!" the KG officer declared as he pulled his Zoomer back and prepared to fire at him. At the same time, two Crimson Jazz Heartless appeared on either side of the KG Zoomer.

Of course, Alexander was already flying away, with Jak and Daxter close behind him. There was no way he was going to stick around to fight! This was no normal Heartless battle he was facing, where the enemies would stop coming after a while. Here, the forces would be endless! He'd have to commit a genocide in order to rid them of the KG, and then there'd still be more Heartless!

So they started flying. Along the way to the drain pipe they were looking for, several Air Pirate Heartless appeared in their path in a blockade attempt, but Alexander simply switched to the low hover zone and flew under the wooden bridges. Jak and Daxter did a similar maneuver, but quickly moved back up to the high zone.

Finally, the large drain pipe Torn described was in sight. They dropped down to the wooden bridge connected to it and dismounted the Zoomers. There was a small security door in the middle of the pipe, which slowly began to unlock as they approached. But three Armored Knight Heartless warped into the area behind them as they waited for the door.

The fighters were quick to react. Jak rushed toward one of the Heartless on the side and slammed a fist into it, sending it staggering back. He followed up with a pirouette spinning kick, knocking the Armored Knight into the side of the pipe, before finally punching it in the head and defeating it. It faded away into darkness, leaving a couple of small orbs of Dark Eco that flew into Jak's body.

During all this, the other two Heartless attempted to swing their sword-arms at Jak, but Alexander rushed in with the Time Fracture Lockshield and blocked the strikes. Using his shield he forced the blades to the side, sending the two Heartless staggering on their stilts. With a quick Slash technique, Alexander sliced through them again and then followed up with a sweeping attack with the Lockshield's face that sent them out into the water. A few moments later, several small orbs of Dark Eco rose up from the water and flew into Alexander's body.

Alex scowled at the phenomenon. Apparently anything with life energy would drop Eco, even if it wasn't necessarily defined as a living creature.

The security door was open, and the trio ran through it. The siren behind them still blared out for a little while, but soon came to a halt. Daxter seemed partly impressed by this, and not fazed at all by having ridden on Jak's shoulder during the pirouette. The little Ottsel apparently possessed a strong stomach.

"So if we just run in here, we can turn off the alert?" Daxter asked curiously. The tone in Daxter's voice accentuated the strangeness of the concept.

Alexander chuckled as the security door behind them closed while the one ahead of them began to open. "More or less. Just losing them in the city works too, but this is a bit quicker. Can't fight 'em, though." But he forgot his mirth as he remembered the Heartless. "Good job back there," he congratulated Jak with a more serious tone.

Jak shrugged. "It's nothing I can't handle."

Daxter grinned at Alex. "Yeah, we've saved the world," he said in a mockingly casual tone. "Nothin' big."

But Jak seemed to come to a peculiar epiphany as he regarded Alex. "You don't seem to be a rookie, either," he said, his tone slightly accusative.

Alexander's normal practice would be to set aside their suspicions nonchalantly, but a part of him decided to just have fun with these two. "Okay, so I've saved a few worlds in my own time. So what?"

Silence.

"Wait, what?" Daxter finally said. "Just who the heck are you?!"

Finally, the security door in front of them cracked open, revealing the Pumping Station area ahead of them. Grinning, Alexander replied, "One of the few people the Heartless fear," and started walking forward.

Jak quickly kept the pace as the two of them approached the large structure. It was a maze of metal platforms, water tanks, suction pumps, and pipes of various shapes and sizes. The whole structure took up a wide square of land and stretched high into the higher cliffs of the shallow island it was settled on.

Daxter tilted his head to the side. "We're supposed to find one valve in all that?"

"There's only one valve worth worrying about," Alex assured him. "Don't worry, we'll know it when we see it."

Daxter looked forward and let out a cry. "Ack! There's a Metal Head!"

Sure enough, standing just in front of a few alternating pumps was a Metal Head Grunt. Jak grinned and slammed his fist into his other open palm. "Time for us to get to work."

So they fought and climbed. Puffers, Snaggle Teeth, and a few Metal Heads stood in their way, but they all fell quickly to Jak and Alexander. All of them dropped some portion of Dark Eco, and they found even more in some Krimzon Guard crates lying around.

Then, all of a sudden...

"RAAGH!" "GRAAAH!" One after the other, the two fighters suddenly transformed into Dark Jak and Anti Alexander, tearing through the creatures with frightening speed, power, and ferocity.

But they didn't know that. They didn't see anything they did. For them, there was simply a rush of power that left as quickly as it came.

Alexander opened his eyes as the darkness faded from him, thoroughly shocked by the ordeal. "What the... What in the world was that!?" Alex demanded, standing on shaking legs and staring at his hands.

Jak took a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself down. "I... I don't know. It was like... there wasn't any..."

"...control," Alex finished out of nowhere. They'd gone into their Dark Eco-enhanced forms automatically. The last time it had been induced by pure rage. But this time it had been caused by the Dark Eco they'd absorbed. Much like in the game, they had reached a cap on the amount of Dark Eco they could absorb. But, unlike the game, they had no choice but to enter their dark forms when that happened.

Daxter didn't seem to be in the mood for sarcasm now, clearly more concerned about his friend right now. "...How are we gonna keep going like this? If you guys keep on transforming randomly, who knows what'll happen!"

Alex scowled. Daxter was completely right. Unlike the game, they had absolutely no control over their forms when the Dark Eco took over. It was a completely... feral process. No sophisticated cognition whatsoever. And Even would have no problem taking out an animal.

"Dammit," Alexander muttered. Even had strengthened them and weakened them at the same time. They were truly monsters now.

Having no choice but to put the ordeal behind them, they pressed onward. At long last, they reached a dead end, where a big pipe rested with a big round valve wheel sticking out.

Daxter jumped off and regarded the control. "Ah. The valve," he said, putting on a grin and his best suave voice. As Jak reached for it, Daxter held up a hand and said, "Allow me." The wheel was just his height, so he grabbed it on the side and lifted.

And went nowhere. He grabbed it with both hands from the front and turned. Still nothing. Groaning, he tried lifting from the side, using his feet and putting all of his scrawny little muscle into it.

Jak grinned and slammed down on the pipe, which shook the wheel just enough for it to start moving. And move it did, sending Daxter spinning around and around it with frightening speed. At the same time, the lid of a pipe above them popped open, sucking in air as the flow within it started moving again.

With the force from the wheel, Daxter was launched up into the pipe with a cry. Alex was almost content to watch, but as he followed Daxter's groans and cries as he traveled through the pipes, Alex remembered that he wasn't going to have a camera to follow Daxter's antics. "Come on!" he shouted as he started running back down.

Meanwhile, Daxter slammed painfully into every corner and junction as he was sucked through the pipe's path at high speed. So it continued for a few seconds, and by this point Daxter had taken quite a beating. Finally, near the front of the Pumping Station, Daxter came to a stop just before another smaller valve. Which was closed.

Daxter groaned, with pressure forcing him into a closed exit. "Jak... Help..." he let out in a strained, high-pitched voice, the pipe muffling his cry. "Jak... Help... Jak... please... help...!"

Finally, Alexander reached the valve control higher up the pipe and twisted it open. Daxter's head popped out of the pipe, though his body stopped his progress. He pulled forward again, and his chest and arms popped out. Daxter took in a deep breath, braced himself, and pushed on the sides of the pipe. The next thing he knew, he'd been violently thrown out of the pipe with rushing air following after him.

Alex closed the valve, and Jak knelt down toward Daxter's sprawled form. Jak grinned and opened his mouth to speak, but Daxter held up a hand.

"Don't say it," the Ottsel growled. "Don't even chuckle. Next time..." Daxter propped himself up and glared at Jak. "...you turn the valve." And, with that, he collapsed again.

Disclaimer: Alexander, Joumae, the Lockshield, the overall concept of The Interference, and related concepts and characters are the intellectual property of Newbie-Spud. Kingdom Hearts, Fullmetal Alchemist, and Chrono Trigger and their characters and concepts belong to Square-Enix and its business partners. Jak and Daxter and related concepts and characters are the property of Naughty Dog, Inc.