Jak is spoiled. He gets two chapters in a row. And I finally reveal what Gol had in mind. Promise for sure this time!

Chapter 17: Premonitions

The Dark Eco silos stood before them, now much shorter than when Jak and Daxter had last seen them. Still, these towering structures remained no less ominous despite their decrease in stature. But, that wasn't what bothered them. What was worse, far worse, was the fact that one silo had been opened. Not in the usual method, but blasted open, leaving a ring of jagged walls, twisted and sharp, rising up to slice at a purple sky. The entire top half of the silo, at least, what remained above the sand, had been destroyed, as if by an immensely powerful bomb, and the Dark Eco within had clearly been released. But, the silos were made of Precursor metal. What could possibly have done this?

"Gol," Jak said, a word that came out low, as if he feared what might happen if he gave voice to that name too loudly in this tainted landscape.

Daxter looked over, wide-eyed. "Huh? No way! It can't—"

"It's Gol and Maia! It has to be!" His heartbeat grew faster, thumping in his chest, as he stared at the silo that now stood open despite his best efforts to stop it three hundred years earlier.

"Those two wackos are long dead! Remember, Jak? That was centuries ago!"

Jak's head spun to face his friend, voice raised. "Who else could t be, Dax?"

"I don't know, but—"

"Could it be, Jak?" Sig asked, one hand still resting on the steering wheel. "You and Daxter are some of the only people still alive who've seen 'em. You of all people know what they're capable of."

"I can't imagine who else it could be. And…that's the same silo they were trapped in. I remember it. We fought for our lives up there, Dax and I. But, they were trapped inside. I saw it happen."

"But, if there's one thing us Wastelanders know a thing or two about, it's survival. An old saying goes, 'You can't be sure it's dead unless you killed it yourself. And even then, shoot it again, just to be sure.'"

"Well, we certainly didn't do that," Daxter said, ears back.

"There's been a story," Sig continued, "since long before Spargus was built, that one of the silos contained an ancient evil, no doubt the two you fought. The Wastelanders of long ago believed this area was bad luck and that the evil trapped in the silo would awaken one day. The ancient Wastelanders were a superstitious people, heck, they still are, but their stories always have some truth to them. It seems to me those stories were right. Those two weren't dead, and they've gotten free."

"But, how?" How could they have lived this long? It had been centuries, just like Daxter said. Even Dark Eco Sages shouldn't be able to last that long.

"I couldn't tell you that anymore than I could explain how the ancient Wastelanders survived out here. All I know is something bad is on the loose, and we need to do something about it."

"Yeah, I know." Dark Jak was struggling more than ever. He felt sick. The Light Eco within him was normally enough to hold it back, but not in this place. His dark side could sense the Dark Eco out there. Miles and miles of land corrupted by the stuff. And Dark Jak knew he couldn't resist forever.

"Sig, let's just get out of here," Jak said. He put his hand to his forehead and closed his eyes as Sig turned the vehicle around.

"You okay, Jak?" he heard Daxter say.

"I'm fine, Dax."

Dark Jak finally settled down as they left the tainted landscape, but not completely. Being near all that Dark Eco had awoken a bloodlust inside him, and it didn't want to rest until that hunger was satisfied. It felt like a far-off rage that was not his own, and Jak did whatever he could to ignore it and think of better things. But, all that ran through his mind was what he had seen and the undeniable fact that, whether or not Gol and Maia had returned or if some other evil was on the loose, they were in a great deal of danger.

After what seemed like an eternity, they finally reached the gates of Spargus, some time after nightfall. Sig wished them good luck, and Jak and Daxter boarded the Air Train. As the transport flew back towards Haven City, Jak's nausea started to fade, and he could only feel Dark Jak's distant sulking. His thoughts raced as he wondered what the destroyed silo could mean for the future of Haven City. And the world. If it was Gol and Maia again, the two of them had tried to twist the entire planet with Dark Eco. He couldn't imagine a future bleaker than that. Dark Eco was the vilest substance to have ever existed. People thought they knew how bad it was, but compared to what Jak had experienced, they knew nothing.

Once the Air Train landed, Jak got out as soon as the back gate lowered far enough down, and he was on his JET-Board, jumping down into the murky, oily waters of the port to shave off any time possible. Once across the water, he went up a ramp back to the city streets and headed straight for New Haven, dodging around anyone that got in his path, earning him a few choice words from those he almost bumped into. He ignored these, but Daxter threw back dialogue of his own.

Once in New Haven, it wasn't long before he arrived outside the headquarters of the Freedom League. If they were to stand a chance in what was to come, he'd need to make sure the city was prepared, even if they didn't know what they needed to be prepared for.

The automatic doors opened for them, and they entered a large room. The person he needed to see most right now was currently leaning over the central console in the middle of the space.

"Ashelin, we need to talk," Jak said, as he made his way to the city's Governess. She had the same red hair as Torn and a similar tattoo adorning her face. And a similar disposition, as well.

"What is it? I'm busy," she said, not bothering to look up.

"It's about the Wasteland. Sig found—"

"It's the Dark Eco silos! One of them's gone ka-plooey!" Daxter said, throwing his arms up into the air.

Ashelin stood up straighter, her eyes finally meeting his. "Is this true?"

"Just like Daxter said, one of the silos has been blasted open, spilling Dark Eco for miles. And this may sound crazy, but we think it might be Gol and Maia."

Daxter bobbed his head up and down in dire agreement.

"Gol and Maia? You mean the two you fought before coming to the future? How is that possible?" A mixture of confusion and concern was plain on her face.

"I…I don't know. But, they seem like the only ones who would do this."

"Yeah. 'Cause they're loons!" Daxter twirled a finger next to his head, in case the extra gesture might shed further light on their predicament.

"Did you see anything else that could help us?" Ashelin said.

Jak shook his head. Unfortunately, all he knew was that something terrible had happened, but nothing else. Maybe Sig would find out more.

"So you're saying that two people you fought three hundred years ago have come back and blown open a Dark Eco silo?"

"I know it sounds crazy, but something obviously happened! I just don't know anything else!"

Ashelin shook her head. "I'm sorry, Jak, but it doesn't make any sense. But, you're right, there's no doubt that whatever happened is serious. I'll send someone out to investigate right away."

"I don't know if we have time for that." For whatever reason, he had this nagging feeling that something was coming, and soon. These thoughts almost seemed to be originating from Dark Jak, as if his dark side had picked up on something in that poisoned environment that he himself had missed.

"You said you didn't see—"

"Just trust me." Had he ever steered them wrong before? They stared into each other's eyes, and as if Ashelin saw reassurance in them, she nodded.

"I'll work to raise the city's defenses and prepare the Freedom League for anything that might happen. I hope it's not as urgent as you think, but," she shook her head, voice growing soft, "that's not likely, is it? Not with Haven City's past track record."

"Thanks, Ashelin."

"There's no need of that. Just go home. It's late. We'll need you for whatever happens."

He nodded, and after watching Ashelin a little longer as she got back to work, he forced himself outside and started heading in the direction of home. His feet felt heavy, though, and unwilling to allow him to reach a place where he could rest. It wasn't likely he'd be able to sleep anyway. All he could hear now was a voice in his head, screaming at him that there wasn't time. He had found out too late. It was a horrible, deranged voice that he had heard a couple times before, at various low points in his life over the last several years. Every time, he tried to tell himself that it was just his own fears taking on that crazed quality, but he could never shake the thought that it was the voice of Dark Jak.

Darn my inability to make chapters long or to find a good image of the Freedom League HQ either on the Internet or in my "Jak 3" guide. Too lazy to put forth further effort (I mean, I suppose Youtube was always an option…), I resigned myself to just going by what I remembered. You guys know what it looks like, anyway. And darn this series for having all these characters. Now I have to hope I wrote for Ashelin okay. For me, she's the hardest of them all to write for, for some reason. Please review.