No one will guess what happens next…

Chapter 32: The Return of the Robot

They arrived in Haven City early in the morning, and while Jak couldn't make out any details, the city just spatterings of light amidst an otherwise endless sea of darkness, he could hear the fighting as Torn landed the Hellcat back in its hangar. The city had been fighting for its life while he had been fighting for his. Now that he was saved, could he do the same for the city? In his condition, it didn't seem likely. While the source of the monsters had been destroyed and the robot damaged, he couldn't help but feel a knot of apprehension in his stomach. What would they try next? It surely wasn't the end, and he knew how the saying went. It'll get worse before it gets better. Then, it'll probably just get worse again.

"I assume you need help gettin' to the hospital," Torn said as he got out of the cruiser, waking Jak from thoughts that had been plaguing him ever since they had left the citadel. "I think I know which one Keira's at. She can get you patched up."

Jak got out, as well, taking care not to step too heavily on his injured foot. The pain had subsided during their flight back to the city, but now that his foot was being moved again, the sharp ache was returning. He did need some medical treatment, but he couldn't bring himself to go to a hospital, where he couldn't be certain what was going on in the war. He just couldn't. And Keira… He needed her here, in the Headquarters with him. There was just a feeling inside him, that this was necessary. That she could fall to great harm if she wasn't. Maybe it was Dark Jak telling him, and as much as he hated to admit it, it often seemed to be right.

"Can Keira come to the Freedom League Headquarters?"

"Why, you afraid of hospitals?" the tattooed man said, leaning one arm on the frame of the cruiser.

"I'd just rather stay here." He had to stay here.

"You're not gonna be much help in the sorry state you're in. And Keira—

"Just contact her, all right?" She needed to be here. It wasn't safe. It…he just needed her here. That was all.

Dark Jak just chuckled.

Torn watched him for a moment, before shrugging. "Fine, suit yourself." He pushed himself away from the cruiser, about ready to leave, before pausing. "You think you can manage gettin' to the HQ yourself then?"

Jak nodded. Just get her here. He would feel much better having her in the HQ with him, in the safest place in the city, where he could see her with his own eyes and know she was all right. But, would it really make anything better? Or would everything he did always end the same way? Why was he rambling back and forth in his head anyway?

So what, he could ramble if he wanted to. He had his reasoning. After a month locked up in that cell, at the mercies of those two monsters, he could be a little illogical right now. They could just shove it!

No, what was he doing? Don't give in to that monster inside you, Jak. Everything's fine. Nothing terrible is looming on the horizon. Is it?

Yes, it is.

Just calm down.

As he limped off in the direction Torn had gone, in such pain-staking slowness that he worried Dark Jak would get out just from pure frustration, Daxter spoke up. "Don't feel bad, Jak. I hate hospitals, too. They smell funny. And those needles are much bigger now that I'm an ottsel. You remember that tetanus shot, doncha, Jak? It was as thick as my arm! At least! Those nurses, though…"

Stop talking! I need to think!

Just get to the Headquarters. Everything is fine now. Well, not fine, but more fine.

And Dark Jak was awake again! It talks even more than Daxter! Can't I ever have any peace?

"You okay, Jak? You look kinda annoyed. It was tattoo-head, wasn't it? I told you he's an instigator," Daxter said. "Hey, I used a big word. Are you proud of me, Jak? 'Cause I am."

He took a deep breath. "I'm fine, Dax." Was that convincing? Because he didn't think it was. But, of course, he wasn't fine. As long as those two were alive, the city was in danger. Everyone he cared about was in danger. But, why'd he have to keep getting these feelings lately, of the impending doom that only he seemed to feel? Maybe it would be better to be oblivious to what was coming. Or was it?

It's not my fault. You keep listening to me.

He finally arrived at the door to the Headquarters, Daxter beginning to snooze on his shoulder. Now that he thought about it, he was exhausted, as well. But, he just couldn't sleep. There was too much on his mind, and it wasn't likely his dark side would allow him to rest anyway, with its constant chattering. Actually, the presence inside him had begun a distant, indistinguishable chanting. Just ignore it. It's nothing.

But, it's always something lately.

As the door slid open, Daxter was awoken from his dream by a high-pitched squeal. "How could I've known she was your sister!" the ottsel said.

Currently running up to Jak was Tess, but she looked none too happy. "Oh, Daxter, how could you leave me in the middle of a war without telling me where you were going! I was worried sick about you!"

Daxter started to scramble onto Jak's head, as the man tried at the same time to pull off his new ottsel hat. "Jak, save me!"

"You get down here right now!" she said, pointing to the spot on the floor she intended him to be occupying right now.

"Never!"

Finally succeeding in prying his friend loose, Jak dropped him onto the floor. Maybe Dax had saved him from that cell, but he wasn't getting in the middle of this. This only caused Daxter to run behind him and latch onto his leg, forcing Jak to limp inside with even more effort than before, while Tess followed.

"You don't understand, babe! I did it for you!"

"Did you?" She started to pick up speed, and Daxter released his friend's leg and fled, Jak almost tripping over him. The ottsels proceeded to run about and scream at each other.

"You two shut up this instant, or I'm tossing you back outside to become monster food!" Torn said, and judging by the look on his face, he meant it.

The two ottsels stopped in their tracks. Jak made his way farther into the room, keeping to the wall for support, as a quieter argument ensued.

"I contacted Keira," the other man continued. "There's really no point in you bein' here, though."

"Good to see you're still alive, Jak," Ashelin said. She glanced at the ottsels, and their pointing and muted bickering stopped. Once she looked away, however, it picked right back up again. "Torn told me what happened. So it was those two, after all? At least it sounds like you caused them some trouble while you were there. That should give the city some relief."

Jak stopped and leaned against the wall. "It's not over, though. They'll be coming for us again. The only way to end this for good is to kill them."

Not far away, the ottsels were busy smooching. Apparently, Tess was finally informed of their adventures, as well. And in his version, Daxter likely defeated Maia himself, and then proceeded to carry Jak and Torn to safety. He probably did battle with the robot, too.

"Of course, but until then, we've readied enough firepower to defend against whatever else they throw at us."

Let's hope it's enough, Jak thought.

It wasn't long before Keira showed up, bags under her eyes from lack of sleep, her past frustration at him for going to the Brink without her forgotten, only reminding him how very long ago it had been since they had last spoken. She got to work channeling Green Eco into his wounds, a slow process, but as night became morning, his cuts had stitched themselves back together again, and his bruises and burns had begun to fade. There was only so much she could do for his foot, as bone was a tougher thing to mend, but at least he found that, after some testing, he could walk with a good deal less pain than before, if he was careful. There was nothing, however, that could be done about the worst scars of all, the ones that couldn't be seen. Perhaps another time, Samos could finish what she had started, so at least his physical wounds could be healed. Apparently, she hadn't seen her father in a week, so busy they both were in healing the injured.

Torn had since left, and Ashelin looked ready to fall asleep. Jak half-expected to look up and find her sleeping upright, but whenever she seemed about to doze off, someone would call, bringing her from the verge of sleep once again. They had all been hard at work defending the city, while he had been spending the last several weeks sitting around in what was likely an old storage closet. It wasn't his fault exactly, but how could he have allowed such a thing to happen when he could have been helping those he cared about? He was better than that. At least, he thought he was. Even now, he was useless, sitting in this room, while Keira had fallen asleep next to him, exhausted from her previous night's work, head resting on his shoulder. Daxter and Tess had since gone to sleep, as well, curled up by the wall so as not to be stepped on (probably on purpose by Torn).

But, Jak couldn't sleep. He should. There was nothing else he could do right now, and he would be even less help if he didn't get any rest. But, he couldn't. He was waiting. For what, he didn't know. All he did know was that there was something to wait for.

Jak was woken up from a sleep he didn't even know he was in by the sound of Ashelin's voice and that of a frantic man on the other end of the radio. Groggy from sleep, he only caught snippets of their dialogue, but one thing was certain. His earlier fears were confirmed. More trouble had come for Haven City.

He struggled to his feet, Keira already standing over by Ashelin, fear apparent in her eyes. "What's going on?" she said.

"It's nothing to panic over. Stay calm." Ashelin turned her attention to Jak. "It's the robot. It's back."

"Already?" He knew he didn't destroy it, but he had damaged it. At the very least, their most powerful weapon was gone. How could they have repaired it so much faster this time?

"We are directing all our firepower at it," she continued. "You must have made an impact on it. The shields don't even appear to be functioning."

All the more reason it shouldn't be back already. "Something's not right." Jak started to head for the door as fast as his injured foot would allow, while Ashelin yelled after him.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Jak arrived outside to see the robot gliding over the city, heading towards the center. And it was only early evening. Last time, it had come in the middle of the night. It was like they wanted it to be seen this time. And it wasn't even fighting back, despite being fired upon from all directions, Hellcats and soldiers and turrets alike. Why wasn't it fighting back?

"Jak, get back inside!" came Keira's voice from behind him.

He looked back to see Ashelin in the doorway, a worried Keira standing behind her.

"I have to do something! Something's wrong!" Something was horribly wrong.

"You can't face it like that!" Ashelin said, as Daxter ran by her to catch up with his friend.

"Jak, you sure this is a good idea?" the ottsel said.

"Get back here! You're not leaving me again!" Tess said, running after Daxter with her arms outstretched.

"Sorry, my cinnamon bun, can't leave Jak unsupervised," the ottsel said as he took his rightful place upon Jak's shoulder.

"Don't be a fool!" Ashelin said. "We already have the situation under control. The robot is damaged, and our soldiers and cannons are working to finish it off. And in your state, there's not much you can do anyway."

"But, doesn't something seem off? Why are the shields not up? I didn't damage it that badly."

"But, my handsome, orange knight did, didn't he?" Tess asked.

"Uh, yeah, sure," Daxter said.

"Just look at it," Jak continued, gesturing to the floating behemoth now hovering over the center of the city. "You can't say it's acting normal." If anything about such a thing could be considered normal. "I…I have to get a closer look at it!" He couldn't say how much good that would do, but he had to do something! Anything! The robot…it was going to do something. He just knew it, and he had to find a way to stop whatever that was. And why was Dark Jak's chanting growing louder?

Before they could argue further against the obvious flaws in his plan, he began to run off in the direction of the huge machine, Ashelin and Keira yelling after him, while Tess wished them good luck. As he moved through the crowded streets, soldiers (and…were those Wastelanders?) continued to either fight the Dark Eco monsters or run in the direction of the robot. The city was still just as overrun with those things as the day he had first seen them. Maybe more so.

Finally, he started to get close to the robot. It was clearly battered, dents visible in its armor and burns on its surface from the heat of the shots bombarding it, and it was only a matter of time before, before what? He spotted a familiar face in the crowd.

He ran towards Torn, the man busy with directing the soldiers to give it their all against the giant machine, and grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. "Torn, there's something wrong! How is the robot back already?"

The man pushed him away. "How should I know?"

Jak looked up. What was that smell? Spots of purple and black were appearing on the robot's frame, a line of it making its way down from a crack that had formed from the additional damage done by the solders' firepower, more oozing out of tanks set around it that he, now that he thought about it, didn't remember seeing before…. Why was…Dark Eco leaking out of the robot?

"We gotta get out of here!" Something…something was going to happen. They had to get away from that thing. More Dark Eco began to leak out. It almost seemed like it was filled with the stuff. Jak's eyes widened as it dawned on him just how they were able to fix the robot so quickly. Or why they didn't even bother to repair it in the first place. "It's a bomb!" He knew they'd try something desperate, but this…

You can't stop it this time!

Torn's gaze shot to Jak in response to his outburst, then directed his attention to the soldiers around them. "Get moving! You heard him; get away from that thing!" It was a few moments longer before his words sank in, the soldiers continuing their assault on the robot until Torn yelled to them again, and then they began to run, some quicker to it than others, reflexes clumsy with the suddenness of it all. Jak began to run, as well, faster than he thought he had ever run before in his life, while wondering if there was any possible way he could get away in time. If any of them could. There was a creaking from behind, while Torn yelled out one final warning.

We win.

They say that during such disasters, time has a way of slowing down. Maybe this was true. The creaking built up until it was unbearable, a loud groan of anguish from the taxed machine, crying out before it breathed its final breath. And then it happened. A loud roar as the robot exploded, sending Jak and everyone else flying. Daxter tried to hold on to Jak's hair and ear, but he was thrown clear, sent head over heels just before Jak hit the ground with a force that knocked the air out of him and felt like he had just been hit by a zoomer. He lay on his face, silence except for a ringing, death bells, in his ears. Was he dead? No, it wasn't him. Slowly, the ringing subsided as another sound replaced it. Screaming. While a familiar smell hung in the air.

Jak lay there for some time, but finally, he stood, head spinning, numb, but on the inside only, as hot pain flared up from the splotches of Dark Eco that had landed on him, though it was a miracle it wasn't more. It ate at his flesh and tried to burn through his clothing, and he wiped it away as quickly as he could, while Dark Jak rose up inside him, though its presence was forgotten once he looked up from his efforts to rid himself of the burning substance on his body and saw the state of the city.

There was Dark Eco everywhere. It covered nearly every bit of the streets, the walls, surely the rooftops. It attempted to eat through armor, while soldiers and Wastelanders tried to rid themselves of the substance wherever it touched exposed flesh. Though, even the sheer amount of Dark Eco was unable to hide the obvious damage done from the explosion itself. Jak could only imagine the state of the buildings beyond the dilapidated ones that stood before him, but he could see smoke beginning to meander its way up above the battered rooftops.

His breath felt like it was caught in his throat, his heart trying to escape from his chest. The city was a changed landscape. It was like the Wasteland, around the silo. So much Dark Eco. Haven City... How could they fix this? What could they possibly do?

You can't deny me now, Jackie-boy. Your kind has no place here. It's my territory now. Mine, all mine. I'll kill all of you, I'll rip all you fools to—

Daxter padded over in a stupor, thankfully unharmed, his small size likely making him a harder target for the Dark Eco to hit, surveying his surroundings in slow motion like he was moving through water, an expression that said he didn't know what he was looking at or didn't believe it, for once at a loss for words. He bumped into Jak's leg, only now taking notice of his friend, and he climbed back up onto the man's shoulder with less finesse than usual, not bothering to correct himself when he climbed onto the wrong one, and hunkered down close.

As the man tried to tear his thoughts away from Dark Jak as its ranting began to pick up again, an image came into his mind that managed to push his dark side's voice aside. "Keira…" he said. Was she okay? Had something happened to her? He turned to Torn. "Torn, we gotta…"

Torn was staring off at what remained of the city, while wiping off whatever bits of Dark Eco had touched him, though none of the substance was visible on his clothing any longer aside from the burns they had left behind, and with his attention directed elsewhere, it was more than possible he wasn't even aware he was still continuing the gesture.

"Torn," Jak repeated, and the man looked over, with the same blank expression the ottsel had had just now, before an urgency filled his face that caused him to turn and begin running in what Jak could only assume was the direction of the Freedom League Headquarters. Jak followed, almost knocking Daxter off his shoulder with the jolt of the sudden movement, thoughts focusing on Keira in an effort to keep Dark Jak at bay, even as it tried to work around the edges of his consciousness.

They ran through the city streets as best they could while navigating amongst the puddles and sometimes lakes of Dark Eco, ignoring the monsters that prowled it once again now that the initial shock of what had just happened had worn off, unharmed by the substance they were composed of, while soldiers tried to fight back or simply stood there, the ones that could stand, that is. Somehow, the city had never felt so big or so foreign. And while Dark Jak tried with all its might to force its way back into his mind, Jak's focus sharpened when he saw the familiar faces of Ashelin, Keira, and Tess coming towards them.

"I wish I could still carry a gun," Tess said, crossing her arms, and Daxter dropped down to see her.

"Keira, are you okay?" Jak ran to her, grabbing her by the arms. He could hold her. Hold her and never let go.

"I'm fine," Keira said as she looked up at him and tried to smile, a smile that didn't touch her eyes and quickly disappeared. She turned her attention to Ashelin when the Governess spoke.

"I spoke to Sig over the radio. He and Samos are on the other side of the city. Samos is going to work on clearing a path, and Sig is going to lead everyone out. We have no choice but to evacuate the city and head for Spargus."

No, no. He was too late. If he got back sooner… If they didn't lock him up…

Yes. Yes!

"But, the city. We have to stay behind and defend it," Torn said.

"There's not much worth defending right now. I'm not saying we abandon it, but we have to regroup. All this Dark Eco exposure is not healthy."

I like it just fine.

No, how could he let this happen? It was just some cruel dream! What he would give to wake up in that cell again, if only the city was still safe!

"Come on. I know a place where we can go," Ashelin said.

It was the destroyed silo all over again. Haven City was dead. Lost. No, it was still here. But, how could they ever bring it back?

"Jak, you comin'?"

He turned his head to see Daxter looking up at him, holding Tess's hand in his own. "You mind givin' us a ride?"

Both ottsels crowded onto Jak's shoulder armor, and he followed the others as they made their way through the flooded city streets, while gunshots echoed in the distance. But, the sound from within him came in above all else.

I'm coming, Jak.

No, you're not. You're not!

Wanna bet?

While the monsters continued their attack around them, a much different battle raged in Jak's head. One that he was losing.

I had this scene in my head for a long time, and it needed a huge amount of editing before I could get it right. Please review.