Chapter 5: Skyler's Past

After arriving on the scene from a high vantage point, Naruto and Skyler saw tons of soldiers clad in white full-body armor and shooting at anyone or anything that moved. Looking for Jak and Daxter, Naruto spotted Jak being dragged to cover by Dark Dax. Seeing this Naruto saw his friend looking hurt.

"Skyler?" asked Naruto looking into the dimmed orange eyes of his friend.

"Go. I need to speak to somebody." replied Skyler and turned his back on the battle. Seeing this he jumped off the building heading for his friends.

A ghostly figure appeared before Skyler after Naruto left.

"Son, why do you seem so upset?" asked the figure.

"Father, this is my fault. This world will be conquered by Megatron, just like almost every other planet. All because I wanted to escape my tortured past!" replied Skyler.

"What's in the past is no more. You have to forget your past to be able to stop Megatron's forces. This is now your life and home. Don't ruin it because of guilt, remember who you are and what you are, remember the friends you have here, those bonds will help you now go…" said the figure as he faded away.

Hearing a scream escape Naruto he jumped off the building landing in the middle of a white soldier platoon.

"Blast him!" yelled a commander and pointed his rifle at Skyler, but soon had his head swiped clean off, flaying blindly the headless body pulled the trigger and shot some of his own men while the rest were incinerated by a fiery blast of fire. Heading towards the location of Naruto, he ripped apart, burned, whacked off heads, impaled, or any other kind of kill move, any soldier that got in his way till he arrived at their location.

"How come I always seem to rescue your sorry hides?" Skyler asked as he lifted a hurt Naruto and Jak over his shoulders and grabbed a now normal Daxter with a tail and put a wall of fire between him and the white soldiers.

Arcing away, he arced towards the vehicle garage where Samos, Tess, and Keira were. Upon arriving he went over to the Griever and opened the doors.

"Everybody in now!" he commanded after putting the injured in the back and put the cloak back on to return to his "regular" height.

"Somebody get on the gun."

"On it!" came Tess' voice as she climbed up into the big turret.

Once everyone was inside he floored the gas and plowed thru the garage door and headed for the city's gate.

"Ugh, I liked teleporting more than this." came Samos' voice as he turned greener.

He heard the overhead mini-gun fire as tanks came after them.

"Tttttthhhhhhis guuuuuuunnnnn hhhhhaaaaaasssss sooome kkkkiiiiiccckkkk tooo ittt!" came Tess' voice as she fired rounds at the tanks each one getting pulverized by the sheer amount of ammo the gun expelled.

Seeing the gate closing he stomped on the gas and fired a salvo of missiles at the gate blowing it wide open for the tank-car to easily get thru it and out into the Wasteland heading for Spargus City.

"Who were those people? Who do they work for? What do they want?" came Keira's concerned voice.

"Storm troopers. Megatron. Take over this world." was all Skyler said as he rolled down his window and took out one of his cigars and light it.

"How do you know?" asked Keira with a bit of suspicion in her voice.

"Because…*sigh*…I used to be on their side." he said with his head hung.

'SLAP!'

Skyler couldn't believe it. Keira had slapped him! He had never been slapped before and now it stung worse than when he got acid on his arm and went straight to the bone.

"How could you?! You gained our trust and now enemy soldiers from your universe are attacking our world?! Why didn't you tell us this earlier?!" yelled Keira with her face completely red.

"Because I was running from my past! You have no idea of the misery I suffered, the friends I lost, the family I lost…" said Skyler as a tear fell from his hung head after thinking about seeing his younger brother sliced in two before his very eyes after betraying Megatron all those years ago. Pressing a button the tank-car headed towards its destination as he went towards the back and curled up and his eyes began to spill over at the thought of that painful memory brought back.

Seeing this Keira knew she had hurt him badly by making him bring up his past, but she also was still mad at him for getting Jak, Naruto, and Daxter hurt so badly.

SKYLER'S NIGHTMARE

"Mike, where are you?" called Skyler looking for his little brother. His house was trashed and the auto-door busted wide open. He suddenly stepped in something slimy and looked to see his father sliced in two backing away he heard a loud scream and rushed towards the sound. Upon arriving he saw a Death Trooper holding his brother with a energy sword to his throat.

"B-brother, help me…" squeaked Mike.

Suddenly the sword swept thru his brother's throat smearing him in his brother's blood…

END NIGHTMARE

"NO! MIKE!" screamed Skyler shooting up and looked around to see he was still in the tank-car and got up to leave. Upon exiting, his brother's ghost appeared before him.

"Big brother. Why did you let the big meanie kill me? I looked up to you." said his brother.

"Because…because…I wasn't fast enough…to save you, Mike." said Skyler as he dropped to his knees and hands and tears came from his eyes.

"So…many…years of this pain…I'm sorry Mike…I never should have…listened…to Megatron's lies…I never should have…left you behind…in my misery…" said Skyler as he continued to let the pain out and took out a 200 year old photo of his brother. Looking at it, he realized that his brother had bright blue eyes, which he never noticed before and smiled even though his brother was dead he still saw life in his face. Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder and saw it was Keira.

"I'm sorry…about what happened…to your family. He looks like you." she said trying to cheer him up.

"He always was looking up to me, but I wasn't there when he or my father needed me…My father died trying to protect him, I just stood there helplessly watching the soldier slice his…" he broke off before he could finish his sentence because he let more of his suffering out as Keira tried to comfort him with a hug in which he allowed her to pull back the hood to reveal his true face, it still looked 24, but he looked human with the black dreadlocks and the usually orange eyes now a peaceful blue, his usually rigid face was now more relaxed, and even with the scars he was handsome. Pulling gently away from the hug, he walked towards the beach with his head hung low and began to think about what to do.

2 HOURS LATER

The three had woken up after a fair amount of medical treatment and everybody seemed to be nervous about something. Seeing the tall figure standing on the rocks they approached him, but instead of the usual orange eyes they saw, blue eyes and were shocked to see his face.

"Is…this what you really look like?" asked Daxter puzzled as the usually fierce looking friend, now looked more human.

"Yes, Daxter its me." he said looking at the picture of his brother again. Daxter jumped onto his shoulder and looked at the photo.

"Who's the little guy that looks like you? And how come you seem so…easy-going in the picture?" Daxter asked after looking at it and looked back at Skyler.

"That was my brother and I wasn't always the hot-head I am now. Megatron took my father and brother from me because I betrayed him. I'll kill him till they're avenged, but I do have one thing that will make it easier for me." replied Skyler and pulled out a small lock of bluish-orange hair from one of the many pockets his cloak held and approached a small even spot in the sand, drew a circle around it and then brought out a Light Eco Crystal and put it into the circle near the lock hair. Stepping back, his symbol on his right hand started to glow and white-blue energy went from his hand to the crystal to the hair and in a bright flash there stood his younger brother.

"Big Brother, where am I?" asked his little brother.

"Your new home and a new life, Mike." replied Skyler as he hugged his little brother.

"Uh, sorry to ruin this, but doesn't that mean he's a z-o-m-b-i-e?" asked Daxter trying not to scare the little kid.

"No, only Dark Eco does that. Light Eco brings a being back fully alive." said Skyler as he lifted his 6-year old brother onto his shoulder.

"Brother, what happened to your face?" asked Mike while feeling the scars on his older brother's face.

"Nothing to worry your little head about." said Skyler as he put his brother down into the sand. Suddenly Naruto felt his tails being petted and looked to see the kid petting them and he fell backwards as the calming feeling overtook him and the kid landed on top of Naruto as he continued to pet the tails.

"Mike, stay with Naruto a minute okay?" asked Skyler while ruffling his brother's hair.

"Okay, Big Brother." Mike said with a smile.

Pulling Jak to the side a ways he let out a sigh.

"Jak, he'll be safe here right? I lost him over 200 years ago and I don't want to lose him again. Aside from that I don't want him to see what I've become." said Skyler with sadness in his voice.

"Yeah, he'll be safe here, but he's your brother besides he certainly likes Naruto." replied Jak pointing back at the kid who already had Naruto buried up to his neck in sand and Naruto was giving a beaming smile even with his fangs which didn't bother the kid at all.

"Maybe you're right. I'll show him." said Skyler and he approached his younger brother.

"Mike, I have a surprise for you, but its about me." said Skyler looking his brother in the eyes and putting the hood back up.

Looking up he saw his brother grow and his feet changed into clawed feet and the gloves he had on ripped to shreds as they became serrated claws and saw three tails with metal-tips appear and then his brother removed the cloak and saw his face along with the teeth and the burning orange eyes.

"Big brother, I had something to show you before the mean man came." and with those words the little kid's back sprouted porcupine quills and a wolf tail.

"Heh, and I thought my little brother was the only normal one in the family. You're becoming a porcu-wolf." said Skyler while chuckling at this discovery.

"Hey if you're a Fox Dragon and he's a Porcupine-Wolf, what was your father?" asked Daxter at seeing this.

"A Crocadog. Fully grown." said Skyler while chuckling.

The three's mouths dropped at this, his family was made of animal-hybrids.

3 HOURS LATER

Four figures were approaching a small enemy camp to destroy the number of enemy forces on the planet.

"You sure this'll work?" asked Daxter.

"Yeah, let me trick them, they fall for it every time. *snickers*" replied Skyler wearing the cloak and changing his appearance to that of an old man with a really big walking cane.

"Would you young whippersnappers mind pointing me to the nearest city, so I may rest my tired old bones?" he said while sounding and looking old.

They watched as the troopers began to surround him, but jumped when they heard a really loud 'CRACK!' and saw a trooper go flying with his helmet smashed into his face.

"You people need to learn respect for your elders." said Skyler as he removed the cloak to reveal a heavily armored body with a weird looking mask on and pulled out a small metal object causing the nearest soldier to laugh.

"What are you gonna do with that?! Beat us to death-*gurgle*" said the guard as the small object turned into a wickedly sharp double-bladed plasma scythe that cut clean thru his throat.

"No, I'm gonna hurt you all so bad…" he replied with a wicked smile behind the mask and charged them.

The three stood back in awe as how easily Skyler twirled the scythe as he decapitated, or amputated limbs from the soldiers, even those with heavy armor couldn't survive the blade and they watched as each blade strike sent torrents of the victims' blood spilling out and none seemed to touch him as he swiftly cut down every single soldier in as little as one to two strikes.

Soon every single one of them was dead, except one who had survived and now had his sights set on him, but…

'THUNK, THUNK, THUNK, THUNK!'

The soldier fell over with quills sticking out of his back and the three saw Mike step out of the shadows and Skyler remove the mask and pick him up.

"Well…That was fun." said Skyler as he walked away with his little brother sitting on his shoulder with quills sticking out of his back.

The three looked back with their mouths dropped and then the base's buildings collapsed on themselves and ignited into purple flames, which startled them even more.

3 HOURS LATER

"I can't believe how he was able to move that thing! I mean the scythe was huge, but he twirled it like it was a stick! How can he have so many weapons?" yelled a still surprised Daxter as Naruto and Jak laughed at Daxter's shock.

"Maybe its because I have a ton of weapons." said Skyler looking out to sea with the hood back and leaning on a wall.

"I still can't believe your little brother's quills killed that soldier. And he's only 6 years old, while you're 224! And I don't think I'll get used to you not looking reptilian." said Daxter.

"I trained him how to defend himself a little, but only for melee fights, but that still wasn't enough for him to defend himself the first time…Not again…" he said as he heard a scream and before any of them blinked he was gone.

Arriving at his brother's room, he saw the same Death Trooper with the sword to his brother's throat.

"Just like it was 200 years ago, hmm?" said the soldier, but suddenly found sharp pains entering his chest to see quills sticking out of his chest and released the kid and a spear suddenly went thru his stomach.

"COME HERE! *grabs trooper by throat* You will pay for what you did 200 years ago!" yelled Skyler as he threw the guy through the wall and the guy went flying to the beach along with Skyler who grabbed him by the leg and started to slam him to the ground.

Trying to crawl away everyone in the beach area of the city saw the battle, Skyler being savage and making the soldier fight (even though a Death Trooper is more for stealth) and each blow put a noticeable dent in the armor until the soldier fell backwards.

"YOU…WON'T…TAKE…HIM…AWAY…FROM…ME…AGAIN!" yelled Skyler as he began to pound the downed soldier's face in through the helmet which soon shattered with the amount of force he was delivering with each blow.

Soon the soldier's face was no longer recognizable even though Skyler kept beating the guy's face, which soon resulted in blood spraying onto Skyler as he kept pounding on the guy until sunset which made it even more grisly. Standing up he saw how many people had seen him pound the soldier till his face and parts of his chest were nothing but bloody pudding and saw his little brother with eyes that showed fear and buried his face in Naruto's leg, seeing this he hung his head and arced away.

Looking in the mirror he saw how much blood he had gotten on himself and began to wash it off. He was in a location that only he know and it was a natural cave spring in the Wasteland, but soon found out that somebody else had managed to find it.

"Alright kit. I know you somehow followed me, come out." said Skyler without looking up from cleaning off his hands.

"Why did you kill that soldier with so much brutality?" asked Naruto.

"He took my father and little brother once. I didn't want to see his head sliced off again…the soldier deserved it…even with that helmet on I could see a cold, heartless, smile. Once the helmet broke I knew what he was. A hired mercenary turned soldier that liked to torture his targets any way he could…I gave him a taste of his own medicine…" replied Skyler with malice and sadness in his voice.

"Did my brother say he was afraid of me? He never wanted to see my face again? I'm a cold-blooded killer? I'm like that soldier? No heart or emotions?" asked Skyler with is voice breaking.

"No…He was shocked at what you did to the soldier and just wanted you back. I'll be heading back, a massive sandstorm is coming." replied Naruto as he climbed into the Dune Hopper and he left for Spargus.

Walking towards the gate he entered and removed the hood and went walking towards the house that the three had built during their Wasteland adventure and went inside and sat down on the couch with his face in his hands and soon found himself tackled to the floor.

"Hi big brother!" said Mike after tackling his brother to the floor.

"I still can't stop you from tackling me can I?" said Skyler with a noticeably large smile on his face and began to wrestle his brother.

Suddenly Skyler's communicator went off.

"Sorry, Mike. I've got to leave a bit. Stay here. Don't open the door without looking thru the hidden hole first okay?" said Skyler looking at his brother.

"Yes, big brother." replied Mike.

Arriving at the rendezvous point, Skyler looked for Jak, Daxter, and Naruto who snuck up on him and he didn't look too happy about it. Advancing towards their target they came across a heavily guarded area. Approaching the guards they stop Skyler.

"Now boys you don't want to hurt me…" he said as his Shattered Eye transfixed them into a hypnotic state.

"We don't want to hurt you…" they replied and impaled themselves with their own electro staffs and the four advanced not realizing they tripped a silent alarm.

Arriving at the base's reactor core, the four were about to place (600 kilo) explosives at various key points but were stopped by SWAT Troopers.

"Oh, uh…" said Daxter as laser sights appeared on all of them.

"This won't end well…" said Skyler closing his eyes.

End Chapter

Like I said in the last chapter, blood and gore. Sure not a whole lot, but I plan to maybe take it down a bit, but any way hope you enjoyed this chapter revealing a little of Skyler's past and some other stuff. Please write a review and if you have suggestions PM me, I may take them in.

By the way, every character, unit, or weapon, belongs to their respectful owner. I only own the design for Skyler and Scorpio.