The rebuilding of Haven City started before the sun rose the next day. Everyone was on different duties, may it be flushing out the Metal Heads from the city, piping Eco vents into the shield walls, trying to reform the government, burying the dead, attending the wounded, or in Naruto's case helping out the people in prison. It was his job, along with others to clean out the prison, giving the people medical aid, clothe them, and feed them. It was then their job to reunite them with their families, or inform their family that they had passed.
Naruto sighed as he and Duhon when back into the large room that the children of Haven City were waiting to be checked out. The fox teen's ears twitched as he approached a pair of guards. They stopped talking as he got closer.
"Naruto sir, there's still one child in their cell. She won't come out." One of them said, relaying the message from the Krimzon Guards that had swept out the cells.
"Thank you. I'll go check it out." Naruto said with a nod. As he walked his tail swished lazily. It was odd to have the guards that used to chase him call him sir. He looked up as he entered the main prison, noticing a guard trying to get a kid to come out of the cell.
"It's alright. You can come out now. No one is going to-"
"NO!" A young girl yelled, throwing something at the guard. The man grunted as the small piece of cement hit him in the head.
"Oh, Naruto!" He said as the sixteen year old joined him.
"I'll take care of this. Last one?" The guard nodded.
"Yes sir. She's stubborn though." He said before leaving Naruto alone with the girl. The fox teen knelt down in front of the open cell door, smiling as he saw a curtain of brown hair disappear as its owner hid behind the wall.
"Hello. I'm Naruto. What's your name?" He asked, trying to get the girl to talk to him. A pale face poked around the corner, her long brown hair covered in grime giving it a blackened tone. Her warm brown eyes stared at him then went to the top of his head, where Naruto had discovered his fox ears had been growing back. They twitched and the girl giggled, bringing a smile to Naruto's face.
"My name's Sharon." She said softly, stepping out from her cell, her clothing dwarfing her and covered in dirt. Naruto's sapphire eyes went wide as he offered her his hand.
"Sharon, do you know a Peter?" Sharon took his hand and shook her head, allowing the fox teen to lead her to where they had bathed the children. "He's really big and has dark skin. He's also got a tattoo in curly letters that's your name." Hope filled her brown eyes.
"Does he have a scar on his neck?" She asked, using her free hand to show a claw raking from her jaw, around her neck, and to her shoulder. Naruto nodded and a beautiful smile consumed her face. "That's my Daddy!" Sharon said full of excitement. The blond smiled, reflecting her happiness.
Quix was slow in everything she did. Simply walking was a task she couldn't do. All of her energy was drained. More than once someone had to save her from walking right into a parked Zoomer, wall, or even into a group of Metal Heads.
Her sister was alive, Yule was alive. After all this time she told herself that her sister had been killed on a mission for the Baron. But why hadn't Yule ever contacted her?
The silver-blond kicked at the dirty Haven streets. So soon after she found her big sister she was ripped away again. After the Stadium they had to continue fight the Metal Heads, and Quix hadn't seen hide or hair of Yule. The busty woman sighed loudly as she sat down on the bridge in the Port, letting her feet dangle over the black water.
She stared at her reflection, numbly raising her Eco pistol and shooting it at the Metal Head whose reflection was getting to close to hers. She didn't even know where Yule was now after they got split up fighting Metal Heads outside the Stadium. Quix could hear a member of the Underground call her name. Her dark pink eyes looked up at them as they pointed to a large group of Metal Heads around the water attacking guards and members alike.
Quix's eyes narrowed as she stood and broke off into a run towards the battle, the man chasing after her. Now was not the time to worry about her sister. Yule had managed to stay alive under Praxis' rule then she would make it through until they met again.
Ashelin didn't know if she wanted to be the governor of Haven, but the responsibly was shoved upon her before she could say no. Now she was in the Palace, the same one she wanted to escape from for so long, looking over mountains of paperwork. Her com-link had been going off all day with reports and questions.
The redhead rubbed her temples and looked up as the chamber doors opened. Another stack of papers was placed before her. Ashelin sighed, rebuilding Haven and keeping it safe while doing it was going to take a long time.
"If the governor wants, I could help with the more…trivial matters that these papers have to deal with." The paper deliver asked smoothly, something dark hidden in his tone that seemed to pass by the ex-Krimzon Guard.
"That would be very helpful. Thank you Veger." Ashelin said, missing the sly smirk that passed the elder man's lips.
"Make sure the Metal Head is dead before you turn your back on it." Torn growled, roughly slitting the throat of a Metal Head. The young Krimzon Guard flinched as the leader of the squad stood and pointed the bloodied knife at him. "Because if you don't then they'll get right back up and kill you."
"Y-yes sir." The boy said, shaking at the sight. Torn scoffed and cleaned his knife before sheathing it.
"Continue checking the houses, I want this block Metal Head free in ten minutes." He said, watching as the squad reacted immediately to his words. Torn coal blue eyes looked up at the Palace. His eyes softened a little knowing Ashelin was safe, even if she was pissed at being locked up in the Palace.
"Captain Torn! The block is clear!" An Underground member said.
"Keep going then." Torn said as he followed his squad to the next series of houses.
Mog looked over at Grim and Jinx from the corner of the house in the bazaar they were hiding out in. It was terrifying to see so many Metal Heads inside the city, especially this many in one area of the city. Jinx blew a ring of smoke in the air from his cigar.
"Well boys, it seems were stuck here until the Calvary arrives." The blond said looking out his window at two Metal Heads who were fighting over a piece of clothing. Even though he was trying to look tough it was clear to see that Jinx was shaking in fear.
"We're going to die here." Grim said, flinching at the growling outside the four walls.
"I wish Jak was here…" Mog said as he flipped through a picture book. Jinx's eyebrows furrowed.
"Jakkie-boy ain't here Mog. Who knows were he got off to." He said blowing out another long stream of smoke.
Tess loved children, but seeing them in such conditions was horrible. With one boy she had to wash for an hour straight before the grime started to come off of him. The blond woman sighed as she went to leave. She paused seeing Naruto enter with a little girl.
"Got time for one more?" The fox teen asked as the little brunette hid behind his leg. Tess smiled and knelt down to see brown eyes looking at her.
"I bet there's a princess hiding under all that dirt, what do you say we find her?" She asked. The little girl looked up at Naruto who nodded with a large smile. Slowly, she approached Tess and took the woman's hand. She looked at Tess's beautiful, clean hair in wonder before asking a question.
"Will my hair be as pretty as yours?" The blond woman smiled and stood, leading the girl to the massive metal tub that was full of fresh, warm water.
"Even prettier."
"Dude!" Ximon yelled as he entered his father's new Kritter Ridder Extermination Company building, waving a paper in his hand. Taryn looked up from her seat on the desk as the young man slapped the paper on the desk. Osmo looked up from the picture of his grandfather.
"What is it Ximon?" The elder man asked as Taryn picked up the paper. Her bright teal eyes read over the paper then rolled.
"Seems our friend has started a new profession, and we're invited to the grand opening." She said slipping the paper to Osmo. The old man smiled as he read over the paper.
"I knew the little dude would find his sidekick!" Ximon said, remembering the ottsel.
Sharon decided that she liked Naruto. He was always smiling and would do anything to get her to smile as well. She sat on a stool as the blond woman, Tess, ran a brush through her freshly washed hair.
Her brown eyes lit up seeing the fox teen enter the room with two orange ribbons. The sixteen year old gave her a beaming smile as he handed the ribbons to Tess. He knelt next to her as Tess started to put the ribbons into bows in her hair.
"After we get you to Doctor Duhon and he checks you out to make sure your healthy we'll get something to eat." Naruto said. Sharon pouted; she wanted to see her father.
"Then do I get to see Daddy?" The teen's tail flicked out as he nodded.
"After you eat, but you have to be good and let Tess finish with you hair and be good for Duhon. You also have to eat everything we give you." Naruto said with a beaming smile. Sharon nodded then remembered Tess was doing up her hair and remained perfectly still. The better she behaved the faster she'd get to see her daddy.
Duhon smiled at the young girl before him. It was clear she was Peter's daughter. Her warm brown eyes were perfect replicas of his and her brown hair was just like her mother's. Sharon kicked her legs back in forth, her blue dress moving with it.
"You're very strong and healthy. You may go sweetie." Duhon said, watching in amusement as her orange bows bounced as she jumped off the table. Sharon embraced his legs and grinned up at him.
"Thank you Mister Doctor Duhon." The elderly man chuckled and pushed her gently along towards the door were Naruto was waiting for her. Once gone he let out a tired sigh. All day he had checked on children, prisoners, innocent people put in jail for crimes they didn't commit, Underground members, Krimzon Guards, civilians, and those who suffered from Dark Eco Experiments.
He shuttered at the memory of them. So many had died before he could help them, others would be forever poisoned by the twisted Eco, unable to live normally and labeled mentally unstable. Duhon washed his hands as he thought of the one person to survive such experiments.
Jak. It must have been a blessing from the Precursors he lived, but also a curse. To always have Dark Eco inside of you, tearing you apart and becoming such a...monster when it became too much. Silently, the doctor sent a prayer to the Precursors for the once pure hero.
Samos thought of himself as a wise man but even he didn't have knowledge of everything. The Green Eco Sage sighed as he closed yet another book off the royal library. There was nothing here on any beasts.
Jak had told him of the Baron's final words and yet none of these books held any information of what Naruto could be. Even the Precursor legends he knew never spoke of any nine beasts. The Sage sat down in an old chair, his bird landing on a worn, red leather bound book with a clasp forcing the thin volume close.
"What have you found my little friend?" Samos asked as he reached over and picked up the book. The bird flew off and landed on Samos' log. Softly, he undid the clasp and opened the book.
The Precursors are not bound to one planet and on their long travels between worlds they came upon a world in war with the Hora-Quan. The dominate race of this world was dieing off as were their guardians. Their guardians were nine massive tailed beasts of extreme power, said to surpass that of the Precursors.
The Precursors took in these nine beasts and tried to keep them alive, but slowly, one by one they started to die. Before their death the Precursors would stop by a world and an orphan child was brought before them. With their last dieing breath these beasts would breathe upon that child and give them all of their power.
These children would inherit, not only the beast power, but physically have parts of the beasts.
The first child was given up by his own father. The second was left on a door step by her parents. The third was the last heir to his people. The fourth was last survivor of the Hora-Quan attack on his world. The fifth was found forgotten in his world. The sixth was taken from his teacher. The seventh was cast aside by her people. The eight was given to them by his dieing brother. The ninth was the son of heroes.
Their power is grand and if provoked into insanity from pain they can destroy worlds with a flick of their tails. These children of both man and beast are known as the Precursor Beasts.
Jak didn't like being responsible for so many lives. He cast a look over his shoulder at the squad that he was leading. They were all looking at him for orders. The green-blond rolled his shoulders, wishing that Daxter was here to help him but no one had seen the ottsel since yesterday.
"Alright. We have reports that a group of Metal Heads are being herded this way, and we're going to cut them off. They're quick so be alert." Jak said, earning nods as the Underground members and Krimzon Guards checked their guns. He turned his back to them as they formed a barrier against the upcoming Metal Heads. His hand clutched the Seal of Mar under his shirt.
Just because Metal Kor was gone didn't mean the city was safe. There was still a lot of work that needed to be done. The quicker they dispatched the large groups of Metal Heads in Haven the quicker he could meet up with Naruto and find Daxter.
Keira wiped the sweat from her brow as she repaired one of the numerous Zoomers demanding her skilful hands. She looked over at the three trophies of this year's races. Her mind flickered to Jak and she felt her heart clench painfully.
She had feelings for Jak, but that was before she saw how he changed. He would never be the innocent bright eyed boy from Sandover. Keira remembered how harshly she treated Jak when she saw him after two years. The mechanic played with her grease rag as guilt wielded up in her stomach.
Jak had done so much for her and she treated him so cruelly. Keira fell to her knees as the reaction to what she said and how she treated him after their conversation hit her. Tears fell down her dirty cheeks, leaving clean trails in their wake. She needed to talk to him as soon as she could.
It had been exhausting, trying to track him down after all this time but there he stood, yelling at elves that were carrying large crates of Precursors knows what. He jumped up to the orange ottsel, mindful of the passing feet. A soft 'tick!' sound escaped him drawing the attention of Daxter from the workers. His blue eyes lit up at seeing the flea with a purple glow to him.
"Tik! You're alive!" The ottsel yelled carefully picking up the long lost sidekick. "You're just in time for the celebration! My place is almost done!" There were no words to express how happy Tik was to be reunited with his friend after all this time.
Crow sighed loudly as he walked the halls of the Palace, trying his hardest to drown out the whispers swimming in the air.
"Isn't he one of the guards that staid loyal to Damas?"
"I hear he talks in a very silly way."
"There's no way his hair is that red! It's a darker red than Ashelin's!"
"Isn't odd to have such long limbs with such a short body?"
He hated all the members of the counsel and the richer side of Haven who had gathered in the Palace at this time. Crow played with the numerous silver objects in his pockets as they continued to whisper about him. So what if he was different? So what if he loved silver and his name happened to be Crow? So what his he was loyal to Damas?
The redhead pushed open the doors to Ashelin's study. Crow smiled fondly as he remembered when he used to bring Damas food and drinks into the study when his wife was too busy to do so herself. His smiled quickly fell at seeing Veger in the room. The chairman smiled, as if seeing Crow actually brought him joy.
"Crow, so nice to see you again."
"Like, the feeling isn't like, mutual. Where's Ashelin?" Crow asked seeing the governor absent. Veger walked up to him, causing the redhead to tense and his hand to twitch to his Eco pistol.
"She's taking a break. Tell me, Crow, how's it feel to be back in the Palace? Going to cry again?" Crow ground his teeth together harshly as he looked the elder man in the eye.
"Fuck you." Veger chuckled.
"No likes or totallys?" He asked mockingly. The ex-Krimzon Guard member balled his hands into fist. Crow held his head proudly as he turned and walked away from the chairman. How dare he bring up the past! He clenched his hazel eyes shut as tears burned them.
"Oh, you're crying." Veger's voice stated as he looked down at the young Krimzon Guard. Crow glared harshly through his tears, his gun raised to Veger as the Transport ship with Sig, Jewell, Eika, Damas, and the pregnant Lina took off. "Sad that you're being left behind? Now tell me, who was on that ship." Crow remained silent. "Silly boy. I'll find out whose on that transport and I'll kill them."
"Shut up!" Crow yelled, his finger itching to pull the trigger. Veger laughed and smiled coldly.
"No likes or totallys?"
Jewell didn't like thinking about the past but as she ran her fingers over the door frame that lead into what was once Damas and Lina's chambers she couldn't help but remember the royal couple. Her hand went to face and traced her scar and the forever closed eye.
She had lost her eye soon after meeting them and joining the guard. Jewell sighed and shook off the memory as she let her hand fall from the frame. The blond woman turned and walked away from the door. It didn't belong to the House of Mar anymore, it was the Baron's…no it was Ashelin's now. Her single blue eye blinked as she watched Crow storm down the hall, tears falling from his hazel eyes.
"Crow…" She said softly as she approached her friend. Jewell softly placed her hand on the shorter man's shoulder, making him freeze in his steps.
"Veger's like, a total bastard." He said under his breath as he turned to face her. The tall woman's eye narrowed harshly at the chairman's name. That man was still around? Wordlessly, she wrapped her arms around Crow, who returned the hug gratefully.
Yule sighed as she stared at her bruised body. A small gasp of shock escaped her as cold hands and the even colder medicine was placed on her back, rubbing the numbing solution into her back. This medic had no mercy, rubbing it in almost violently.
Then again it was a very sour Underground member healing a Krimzon Guard. Yule closed her light pink eyes and her sister's image filled her mind. The Baron had forbidden her to contact her sister and seeing her again after so many years, it was the best feeling in the world and the worse.
She could have accidentally killed her, or some other guard could have seeing as she was a member of the Underground rebellion. Or, Quix could have killed her since she was a Krimzon Guard. The whole thing was terrifying.
But, seeing Quix all grown up and being the, either lucky or unlucky, one of them to inherit their mother's large bust. Yule chuckled to herself at that thought then gasped as the medic pushed roughly on a dark black and green bruise on her side. She glared at them, wanting to punch that smug look off their face.
Even if the Underground and KG were working together it didn't mean all the wrinkles between them had been smoothed out. Though, if Quix was one of them Yule could show some restraint. She smiled to herself at the pained gasp that escaped the medic as the brunette rammed her sharp elbow in his gut.
Rucah paced the floor of the garage in the Underground base. His mind went over thousands of different ways to talk to him, all ending in the blond clawing him to bits. Maybe he deserved that? It seemed his subconscious was telling him that if that was the scenario he kept returning to.
The blue-black haired man sat on the Interceptor's wing. He made sure that his weight wouldn't damage the thin looking wing. Carefully, Rucah fingered the item in his pocket. Even if he wasn't ready to tell the blond it was the other's right to know the truth.
Peter felt his heart sink deeper and deeper into his stomach the more he waited. People with clipboards were going around and telling families their loved ones were gone and others were helping families find their children or friends reunite with friends. All day he waited and still no sight of Sharon.
Tess had walked out not too long ago and other members of the staff that were helping with the prison were now leaving. Peter rubbed harshly at the sole tear that escaped his eyes. Had Sharon died? Was he never going to see his baby girl ever again?
He gasped painfully as Duhon exited the fortress. She was gone. Peter sank to his knees in despair. Just as he was about to loose himself a familiar laugh caused his head to jolt up.
Behind Duhon was Naruto and in his arms was the brightest light in the world. Her smile was large and full of warmth and her long brown hair shining in the poorly lit setting sun. Two orange ribbons stood out in her dark hair. Her warm brown eyes met his.
"Daddy!" Sharon yelled as she wiggled in Naruto's arms. The fox teen smiled and set her on the ground, watching as her blue dress whipped around her as she raced to Peter. Her small, pale arms wrapped around his neck and his large, tanned, muscular arms wrapped around her body protectively. "I was so scared Daddy. I tried my hardest to be brave." Peter felt tears fall from his eyes as he buried his face in his daughter's neck. Her body trembled as she spoke, warm tears hitting Peter's neck.
"It's okay, my baby girl. Oh, my baby girl." Peter said his voice choked with emotion as he held Sharon tighter. She was okay, she was in his arms. He wasn't ever going to let anyone or anything take his girl from him again.
Naruto smiled warmly at seeing Peter and Sharon reunited. His fox ears twitched at the sound of someone approaching him. Fingers laced with his and the blond turned to see Jak. The green-blond offered the fox teen a smile.
"Hey Jak. We've cleared out the prison." Naruto said, his sapphire eyes looking back to Peter and Sharon.
"That's good. The larger groups of Metal Heads have been dealt with. All that's left is a few stranglers. Naruto?" Jak asked gaining the blond's attention. "Have you seen Daxter?" Naruto shook his head.
"No but Jak I need to tell yo-"
"HEY! Everyone needs to come by the place that used to be the Hip Hog Haven! I've got an awesome surprise for you all! So kick into high gear! Tonight we party big city style!" Daxter's voice said through their com-links. Jak chuckled, missing Naruto's slightly annoyed look. He wanted to talk to Jak without people interrupting him every time.
"We better go see what he wants." Jak said as the sun fully faded from the sky. Naruto nodded, smiling to hide his irritation even though he really wanted to see the surprise now.
One more chapter to go. And for my one reviewer, sadly I can't reply to your review but (and this to all wondering this) I will be not only writing one for Jak 3 but one for Jak X as well.