A special note for today. PurpleArmadillo has been kind enough to start doing fan art for my story. I am so honored that someone liked my story enough to make artwork for it, and if you want to see it, the link to her deviantart account (bagasuit091) can be found on her profile (and a link to her profile can be found in this story's reviews). I really like what she's doing so far, so you must go see. (The current picture is entitled "Jak and Daxter: BHDP Prologue Concept".) Thank you so much, PurpleArmadillo!

Chapter 19: Voices

Jak lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. A quick look to the side told him it had just turned 5, and he could see the first light of day peeking through the blinds. He didn't remember how much he had slept last night. Most of the time, he lay awake, thinking about what was coming while trying to ignore the voice in his head. Sometimes he woke up without being sure if he had really even slept at all.

He got out of bed and got dressed and shuffled out into the hallway, past Daxter's room. It seemed a bit strange to some that they lived together, but they were best buddies, after all, and it wasn't too easy for an ottsel to live alone in the big city. With nothing better to do, he made coffee and sat on the worn, blue couch. He envied Daxter sometimes. To be so carefree, or just plain oblivious, that he could sleep soundly when something terrible was looming in the future. As insane as the voice in his head sounded, he had a feeling it was right. Something was almost here. He didn't know how it knew, but it did.

The Dark Eco told me.

Jak shook his head. No, it was just his imagination. His dark side didn't know anything. It was just a made-up voice, and such a thing certainly couldn't know what was going to happen. He was just on-edge.

The young man leaned forward, cooling cup of coffee, hardly a drop touched, held in one hand on his lap, the other hand on his forehead. He was startled when something jumped onto the couch beside him.

"Got a headache, Jak?" Daxter asked.

"What are you doing up so early, Dax?" Did he always have to be so loud?

"I heard the coffee maker gurglin', then, I figured you musta been out here brooding about somethin'."

The ottsel jumped down and headed to the kitchen, where he used the handles on the cabinets to climb onto the counter. Jak got up and went to join him as Daxter struggled to pour himself some coffee.

"We really oughtta look into some ottsel-sized cups, y'know," Daxter said, before sticking his head into the coffee mug.

Jak leaned his elbows on the counter. "I tried, but you didn't like the thimbles I got you."

"Yeah, and I bet you thought you were real funny. And the shot glasses made me afraid I'd turn into Tattoo Man."

There was silence, a rare thing with the ottsel around, broken only by the sound of Daxter's slurping. Which was welcome. Anything to help him ignore the voice in his head.

After a bit, Daxter wiped coffee from his chin. "So whatcha plannin' on doin' today? Or are you just gonna spend all day lookin' groggy?"

Jak stood up straighter and walked towards the living room again, cup of coffee left forgotten on the counter. "I…don't know yet." Keira didn't seem to want to see him lately. And he didn't know how much help he'd be to Ashelin right now.

He turned around at the sound of a crash from behind him. Daxter had pushed his coffee mug, drink now finished, into the sink. Seeing the surprise on his friend's face, the ottsel grinned. "Scared ya, Jak? Don't worry, the cup's fine. Not a crack on it. That chip, it was there already."

He was lost to sight when he jumped off the counter. Jak needed that kind of energy right now. That's why he had made the coffee, but then he wasn't in much of a mood for drinking it.

The ottsel reappeared as he strolled out from behind the counter. "You know what you need?"

"What?"

"To shoot something!" Daxter mimicked firing a machine gun. "You know, chassis."

"You mean catharsis?"

"Yeah, that, too. What do you say we go kill some Metal Heads?"

"I don't know. I don't think I'm really in the mood for that right now, Dax." He didn't need to see more death. Wait, more?

So you are listening to me.

Stop!

A little birdie told me what's coming.

I said be quiet!

Don't tell me you're not curious….

Just shut up!

Jackie-boy.

"Stop talking to me!"

"Jak, what's the matter?"

Jak opened his eyes to see Daxter staring up at him, ears hanging back. He lowered his hands. Hands that had been clutching his head. And he was breathing heavily.

"I'm fine, Dax."

"Nuh-uh. Suddenly you were grabbing your head and actin' all funny like you do when you turn into Dark Jak. You've been actin'…"

"Dax."

"…weird ever since we got back from seein' Sig." The ottsel crossed his arms, his worried look now replaced by a stern frown.

"It's nothing. I-I don't want to talk about it." He turned away.

"Jak, I'm your best buddy," came the voice from behind him. "You can tell me anything, I mean, not like about if you have a weird rash or anything, but…"

"I know, Dax."

"Jak…?"

"I just want to be alone right now. Okay?"

After a moment, Daxter responded, "Fine. I'm gonna go see Tess. It's kinda early, but she'll wake up for her Orange Lightning, won't she? Anyway, you know where to find me if you need me."

The ottsel walked by, giving Jak another worried look, then, headed to the door. He jumped up to reach the knob, turned it in a manner that showed he had plenty of experience in this area, and opened the door. Jak watched as his friend left, and the door closed behind him.

Jak took a few steps forward and fell back to sit on the couch, holding his head in his hands. "Get out of my head." His voice was a low growl. "You're not taking over again!"

He couldn't let the anger get the best of him. That was the worst way to win a battle with his dark side. He sat up straight and took deep breaths. He closed his eyes, then, promptly opened them. He was already hearing things. What if he started seeing things, as well?

Jak did whatever he could to keep himself busy. He attempted to watch the NYFE races on TV. He went through Daxter's comic books (Daxter always had the best things in his room, mainly because all of Jak's stuff eventually ended up there, never to return). After perusing through these for some time, he came upon a different kind of magazine that he quickly put away, one that he hadn't meant to see. And then he paced. He did a lot of that. He wanted to go outside, but he didn't know what might happen, and it was best to stay away from people as much as possible. But, what if Daxter came back, and… No, Dark Jak was not coming out. Why didn't the Light Eco inside him stop it, though? Whatever Dark Jak knew, this information must have caused it to get pretty worked up. But, Dark Jak couldn't know anything. It wasn't possible. It was simply his dark side. It couldn't know what he didn't.

After a whole day of this, Dark Jak wasn't settling down. And it was getting late, and Daxter was bound to be coming home soon. Thank the Precursors he hadn't yet. He needed to talk to Samos. Maybe he would know something. But, then, he'd have to go outside. He couldn't stay indoors forever, though. And why wouldn't Dark Jak just shut up already!

He stopped pacing. "It's close. Something's almost here."

He then headed for the door and went outside, walking in the direction of the Green Sage's lab as fast as he could. There were still so many people out! Why don't they go home already! What was wrong with them! Didn't they know they were in danger? No, they never did. They always just wandered around, like rats, stupid rats, and expected him to save them, the…!

Samos would help him. He had to. Focus on that.

They were nothing but stupid animals! They all deserved to die!

Samos would know what to do. Good, old Samos. He would help him. He would…

How was it getting dark so fast? Why did that worry him? He wasn't afraid of the dark. He had been out at night plenty of times. No problem. The sun was just going down. It was natural. It happened everyday.

Stupid morons! There's nothing in their empty, thoughtless brains! I bet they wouldn't even notice if I tore their heads right off!

Was Samos' place always so far away? Was he lost? He had seen that building before. Was he going in circles? All the buildings looked the same, though. How could he lose his way here, anyway? He had been in this city for years.

The sky was black now. Completely black. Black. There wasn't even any moon tonight. Where was it? Was the world ending?

So what? There is no moon.

But, why not? Why tonight?

Jak.

Where was he? He didn't recognize this section of the city.

Jackie.

Why was everyone looking at him that way? He wanted to rip their…

Jackie-boy.

He stopped, breathing heavily, sweat on his forehead. People were keeping clear of him, watching him. One, no, two, no, how many? Freedom League guards. They were keeping a close eye on him, as well. Why so… Ashelin. She had more patrolling the streets. Yes. Everything was fine. She had everything under control. Jak forced a smile, and then a laugh. It was good. Okay.

Just then, people started screaming, and sirens started to blare out a warning. Was it him? He wasn't changing, was… No. There was another sound.

Told you so.

There was a banging. Banging on the city walls. Like something was hitting them. Or a million smaller somethings. What were the Metal Heads…

His breath caught in his throat. Another sound. A rumbling, low. And the creaking and whirring of machinery. He had heard that sound before.

Jak turned his head just as a dark mass started to rise up from behind the wall. It moved slowly, floating upward, as if to observe them. Spotlights flickered on from the walls and rolled about to land on the shape, but the object was so dark, it still seemed to fade into the night, a starless shape in the sky, with patches of Precursor metal catching the light and reflecting a dull, bronze glow. Jak's eyes widened. A Precursor robot. And this time it wasn't Veger.

Oh, how fun to write this chapter was. A rather bad day for poor Jak, but a good day for me. Please review.