While I don't -Love- this chapter, I like it, because it gives some insight on Catalyst's enigmatic past :) Enjoy.
The very moment the trio of troublemakers arrived at the entrance of the desert city of Spargas, war was definatly apparent. Sounds of gunfire and death echoed out over the massive dunes, drowning out the howling winds. Explosions of an unmeasurable magnitude shook the very earth as the battle waged on between the invaders and inhabitants of Spargas. Jak removed his gun from its leather holster and cocked it, pushing a few clips into the back of the gun. He watched as his fiancee did the same, but with less vigor and determination. He was getting worried about her, because she hadn't smiled at all in days. His best friend seemed to be thinking deeply on his shoulder, like something was telling him that something was going to go very wrong.
After some preperation, the three hopped from the airtrain as it came to a stop on the ground and the hatch opened. Smoke billowed out from the walls of Spargas, turning the sky black with the smell of death and blood mixing in. They approached the large doors to the city, causing them to open. For but a moment they stood still, as if deep in thought. Jak took the first step, entering the city with such a fire in his eyes.
However, his beloved stood still, the harsh desert winds sending her hair flying about in a dangerous fury. She looked distant, almost lost as her cerulean eyes showed no true emotion. He frowned as he glanced back at her. "Sake, are you sure you're up to this?" Her head shook quickly as the sparkle to her eye returned. He somewhat smiled.
"Yeah, just trying to regain my sanity.." She said, trying her best to laugh. However, it wasn't all that funny. It was indeed a true battle in her head. Three forces were mentally battling to gain utter control. Both Sake and her dark form were losing to the entity known as Catalyst, who seemed to be hiding much more than she had revealed already. Sake had to again bring herself out of another trance within herself, holding her gun close. She noticed her lover and furry friend frowning. "I'm sorry to scare you guys..."
"It's okay, but let's go. This city doesn't have much longer." Jak raised his gun to his shoulder as she approached with a nod, watching her movements which seemed sluggish and uncertain. For but a moment, everything seemed still, almost to the point of not being real.
The second set of doors opened, revealing a battle. It wasn't just a battle however, it was a full on massacre, and the inhabitants of Spargas weren't winning the fight. The opposition in the fight were the strangely demonic entities known as the Dark Makers. Jak took the first time to actually look at one, instead of killing it without a care. The entire body of the hulky creature seemed to be covered in a thin glaze of Dark Eco which shimmered eerily in the sunlight above. Mechanial muscles lined the hard metal frame as organic veins crawled along their lengths. Bolts of Dark Eco pulsed around them, and their eyes glowed a unique purple. Jak took note of the large claw like arm that each of the beasts had. They looked as if they could crush a metal head skull with ease.
"Sake, be careful of those claws..." She gave him a small nod, gun gripped so tightly that her knuckles were turning white. Yet another mental battle had broken out, and Catalyst was trying harder than ever to escape. It was taking every ounce of sanity the elf had to keep the demoness at bay. Jak frowned at her, but was abruptly distracted by a blood curdling scream. He rushed to the source of the sound only to discover that a large Dark Maker had a Spargasian pinned to a wall with its small arm, the other, large arm drawn back for the final strike. Jak knelt down, then raised the barrel of his gun to eye level so he could see through the sniper's scope he had attatched. The crosshairs were lined up on the visible core of the beast and a shot was fired, immediatly destroying the creature. The man graciously thanked him, lifted his own weapon, then headed off to the center of the battle. By the time he turned around, Sake was nowhere to be seen. The only evidence of where she could have gone was a path of very unusual footprints. At first, the shape was that of a normal human wearing a shoe. But steadily, they began to change, becoming more like that of a lizard or metal head. Towards the front were 4 main toes, and out to the back, more to the side, was a 5th, smaller toe.
The blonde and his ottsel friend followed the path of demonic footprints, abhored by what they discovered on the way. Bodies littered the way, limbs cut clean off. Chests had been ripped open of both friend and foe to reveal inner organs. They all seemed to be shrivalled and paled, but the blood made it look even worse. Daxter's stomach churned uneasily as he cupped his mouth. Jak swallowed hard to keep his own stomach from coming straight out of his throat. "Dear god..." he managed to get out before kneeling down.
"D--Did Sake d-do th-this?" The ottsel's legs began to shake uncontrollably. He swallowed again, tail tucked betwen his legs. He simply watched as Jak lifted a bloodied piece of cloth from the stained sand. It was from the shirt Sake had been wearing.
"Unfortunatly, yes. But I don't think she really did this." he commented, sniffing it. His stomach did a flip as he stood and continued on through the path of death. It was as if the deeper he got into the mountainside heading towards the bay, the more bodies there were. Every single one of them had been shrivelled up internally.
Suddenly, A cry for help rang through his elongated ears. He burst into sprint, following the sounds and screams for help. He flew from the cave tunnel, past the entrance to Damas' Palace and out into the open. In the center of the market stood the demoness, chest and legs bathed in blood. Her long silver hair was also stained by the miracle liquid. His eyes widened in shock as he saw her bite down hard onto the neck of the man she clutched in her claws, then pulled away, a trail of strange blue energy flowing from the wound into her body. He then heard her laugh maniacally as she dropped the body.
"Having fun?" She said, turning to face him. He took a step back. "Because I know I am."
"S-Sake, what the hell are you doing?" Jak stood up straight, gun gripped tightly in both hands with a finger on the trigger.
"Excuse me?" her eyebrows lowered in anger as the began to stalk towards him, claws glinting in the light. Jak knew she wasn't happy anymore. "Don't... EVER call me that again..." before he could even blink, she had him pinned to a wall, his ottsel friend knocked from his shoulder and unconcious on the sand. Jak could feel her warm breath on his neck, fearing that she would do the same to him as she did to the other man. However, he felt no pain in his neck. "I'm not going to bite you, so stop worrying. Personally, I wouldn't bite you even if you were the last source of life energy on the planet." Jak was angry by now, his darker side demanding to be released. It wasn't going to put up with anything like this. Finally, it broke free, entire body changing to a darker version.
"You're not Sake, so I get to hurt you all I want." Was all he said before he pulled his head back to ram it into hers. She hissed as his forehead collided with her nose, causing her to drop her prey. He stood, laughing with claws extended. Luckily, his light form was hiding in his conciousness to protect his brethren. Catalyst was infuriated now.
"How dare you..." Dark was far too slow to respond to her next attack which hit him like a ton of bricks when her fist connected with his chest. It somewhat burned thanks to the Dark Eco flames that engulfed her fists. He coughed, struggling to stand. She couldn't help but laugh at his incompetance. Quickly, another strike was made by the demoness, sending Dark for a loop as he collided with the wall. By now, he was feeling every bit of pain she was causing.
Elsewhere, a well known ottsel was just opening his dreary eyes. "Oh Mar my aching head..." he groaned, sitting up. His vision was slightly blurred, but soon cleared. He saw his best friend and the demoness fighting, and the dead bodies littering the ground. He felt helpless and undefended as he glanced around for some means of personal defense. There were no pipes, or pieces of wood. However, there was a turret; A bit big for him, but a weapon none-the-less. As he stared into the sky at something falling from it, he knew he was going to need it. Egg-like objects were beggining to fall from the clouds, landing in the ocean. One emerged from the waters, followed by another. They had large heads, supported by two large legs. Tentacles extended from the back of the large head which contained the core.
Quickly, the ottsel went into a mad dash for the ladder leading to the turret. He jumped into the seat and put his hands on the central handle. His furry thumbs fingered the trigger as he turned the device towards the first of his targets. Pressing tightly, he opened the barrels full bore, letting round after round of metal enter the metallic hide of the beasts. His tongue hung from the side of his mouth, then licked his dry lips; arms shaking as his thumbs began to burn. His ears were layed back in anger and determination.
Bullet after bullet ate away at the beasts, one by one going down. It was slow and tedious as he also tried to defend the city and turret from attack bye he creature. His dirtied orange fur glistened over with a shean of sweat. Down below, the battle was also raging on.
Dark stood still, panting heavily. Several cuts all over his body were bleeding. He was just no match for the ancient demoness who was laughing insanely. She grabbed him around the neck and pinned him to a wall; feet dangling. "I HATE YOU!" She yelled angrily after she stopped smiling. She began repeating this to his face. Then all at once, she stopped, releasing him. He hit the sand, exhausted. She put her foot on the back of his head, pushing hard. "You caused my mother more pain than you could ever imagine." Dark was curious now, lifting his head despite the foot.
"W-What do you m-" She pushed his face back down.
"My mother, known as Rioka, was a very intellegant person, but she was always in pain; Thanks to you and your beloved fiancee." Dark was still curious. "Rioka Onisai, your daughter." he gasped slightly, feeling her press her claws against his skull. "But I'm going to kill you, so that she can never be hurt. It may mean that I will never be born, but at least you can't hurt her." Dark coughed a few times, sand getting into his throat.
"Sake.. I know you can hear me. Fight it, don't let this.. this demon beat you." Indeed, Sake had been fighting, but losing. Mentally she teamed with her dark form, increasing her power. Catalyst removed her foot from Dark's head, backing away as she brought her hands to her head.
"No, I'm not going to lose control now... Not when I'M SO CLOSE!" She tossed her head back, a scream loud enough to send any person into a heart attack erupting from her as she flailed about. Thanks to the mental war, her body was emiiting so much energy, the light generated was blinding everyone nearby. Gusts of more than 100 miles per hour whipped about, mixing with the storm of Dark Eco bolts which were connecting to anything close to her.
Dark stood, sheilding his eyes as he struggled to approach her, feet slipping in the sand. He could barely even stand up because the the wind was pounding him with an incredible force. However, he managed to stay on the ground, which was quaking from the power Sake was generating. His body ached, the Dark Eco colliding with him. It felt like he was being assaulted by millions of razers which slashed at his skin, but he ignored it to the best of his ability.
"Help me!" he heard her yell. Soon, he felt her arm, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. The moment he made contact with her, the ground stopped shaking and the wind slowed to nothing. He soon able to see again when the light faded. The ground around him had been completely blasted; every grain of sand either blown away of up against a building. Every Dark Maker which had been in the area at the time had been utterly obliterated. Small shards of their bodies lay strewn about the area. Not a body could be seen.
Jak glanced down at his beloved who was unconcious in his arms. Every now and then, a volt of Dark Eco would make its way to the surface but it didn't do very much. Jak's entire body was now covered in small cuts which all bled. Each one felt like a thousand papar cuts at once, so it obviously stung more than the blond would have liked. He inspected Sake's body, which had reverted back to normal. Catalyst was 'unconcious', unable to do much damage since all the energy she had stored just got blown away in the wind. She would need time to recooperate before trying another stunt like that. Luckily, his fiancee wasn't in that bad of shape. She had numerous cuts and bruised, but was otherwise okay. Rest would be needed.