Chapter 1 - Desperation

Title: Game Over
Title: Game Over

Summary: Ever wonder whathappens when Jak gets killed? Ever wonder how Daxter reacts whenever Jak getsblown up or shot to death by Crimson Guards, or chewed up by Metal Heads orLurkers? Well, here is a series of short, angsty stories that involves somecharacter's deaths in each of them.

Disclaimer:Jakand Daxter and all characters/worlds mentioned in this fic belong to NaughtyDog, not me. There, I said it.

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GameOver

Jak droppedoff the ledge, all the while ignoring the screaming, flailing ottsel on hisshoulder.

Zoomers zoomedoverhead, taking no notice of the steady mayhem below. Red lights flared on thewalls of the buildings, sounds of screams and distant gunfire touching up thescene of utter uprising. Jak's boots landed heavily on the pavement as hecontinued to sprint towards a parked vehicle. He was almost there; almost freeof the six Guards closing in on him from behind.

Krew had set atrap. The slimy ball of fat and grime had decided that Jak was too curious andtoo knowledgeable to stay alive, especially when the young outlaw was so deeplyinvolved in his own plans. Promising big rewards, Krew gave Jak orders to 'pickup' a 'special order' from one of his clients near the stadium. But When Jakand Daxter had arrived at the scene, a series of Crimson uniforms met theminstead.

There weredozens of them. The sheer number of Guards was simply to great for the incidentto have been a coincidence. Krew had sold them out, and now they wereboth in grave trouble.

A red laserskimmed over his shoulder as Jak leapt into the cab of the zoomer. Not wastinga moment to sit down properly, he pounded his foot onto the floor pedal. Thezoomer snapped forward, throwing both of its occupants back.

"Krew setus up, Jak!" Daxter was yelling into the elf's ear.

"Iknow!" growled Jak. He seized the steering pad in both hands and wrenchedit to one side. The ottsel was tossed off his shoulder and landed on the insideof the cab.

"GeezLouise!" Daxter managed to scramble onto Jaks' shoulder again. "Thisdoesn't look good! That cream puff crammer really squealed this time!"

Jak didn'tanswer him. His attention was focused on the hovering line of Crimson zoomersjust ahead, forming a roadblock. At once, he leaned into the front of the caband sent the hovercraft diving towards the ground. The world seemed to drop outfrom below them just before Jak pulled the zoomer back up and sped skillfullybelow the infuriated Guards. A spectacular display of gunfire followed in theirsuit, just nicking the slight wings on the side of their zoomer, sending itrocking back and forth.

"Allright, Jak!" Daxter whooped as they raced on. "One for the DemolitionDuo! Crimson Babies, zero!"

"Don'tcelebrate just yet," said Jak through gritted teeth. "Hang on!"

Jak then sentthe zoomer into another spiraling dive as a Guard approached from dead on. Asplit second after he regained their height, a loud explosion erupted in theirfaces with a bright red flash. Both Jak and Daxter were thrown clear of thewreck that was now their stolen zoomer, flying through the air like thescattered pieces of debris that joined them.

Daxter hadonly just leapt to his feet when a pair of hands grabbed him around his middle.Before he knew it, the ottsel found himself wrapped tightly in Jak's grip asthe elf hurtled down the street in search of a new escape vehicle. Although Jaksaid nothing to him, Daxter knew nothing had to be said. They were not going tomake it. Somehow they knew it, together. There was simply not enough time orgood luck to buy them safety once more.

A Crimson tankroared just above them. Three more Guards appeared around the corner of thenext street, their weapons drawn and triggers readied. The sound of a sirenpierced the air like an arrow, cutting away the last thread of hope that tiedto duo to any chance of freedom.

"Surrendernow!" ordered one of the guards, cocking his rifle and aiming it on knee.He did not offer a second option. "By order of ruler Baron Praxis, you areunder arrest! Put down your weapons and leave the animal with them!"

Daxter feltJak's muscles tense suddenly, and assumed what his best friend was thinking."Oh, no," he said cautiously. "Don't even think about it, Jak!They've got our tails stuffed now for sure!"

Jak acted asif he hadn't heard Daxter. For a painful moment, it seemed as if he were aboutto comply to the Guard's demand. That moment shattered immediately when, fasterthan could even be imagined, he seized his Blaster and prepared to fire it atthe Crimsons.

A streak ofred light dashed across his shoulder. Jak swore in pain and let the rifle dropto the ground, where it clattered uselessly. Daxter yelled in surprise as theshot missed him, but caused him to jolt backwards. The ottsel lost his balanceand tumbled from his perch while relatively unharmed.

This, however,Jak did not know. Jak only knew that the spot where Daxter had been crouchingjust moments ago was empty, and a gaping wound in his flesh was all thatremained. He knew that Daxter had tumbled backwards a moment after the shot hadhappened. Jak was certain the laser had burned a hole right through his friend.

And then Jaklost control.

The powerfulpurple sparks erupted in all directions, throwing his body into a violenttransformation that temporarily confused the Crimson Guards. Just as Jak wasabout to unleash hi most power Dark attack on the Crimsons, though, four unseenguards arrived from behind the unsuspecting hero.

Jak surgedforward, intending to obliterate his enemies with all the power her had. All inone moment, four blasts went off that made time itself run cold.

Four red-hotlasers hit their mark. Jak stopped dead in his tracks just as the Dark malicefaded from his eyes. He stumbled back for a moment, looking down at the holesscarring the back of his torso. For another while, he stood and wavered. Thenhe fell back, his dead weight collapsing on failed limbs.

Two thingshappened immediately after that. Daxter dashed to his feet in time to see theflashes of red. He did not see their target, nor did he have the moment to rushto Jak's side in defense. For another explosion took place, once much largerand deadlier than anything the Crimson Guards could have created.

Large sectionsof the bridge above and the buildings around them blew into millions of pieces.With their golden crowns glistening, an entire army of Metal Heads chose thatsecond to begin their final and most thorough attack on the city. Theydescended in the hundreds, taking the murderous Guards by surprise and rendingtheir armor ineffective with one swipe of their sharpened claws.

The streetsbecame and instantaneous battlefield. In the short time it took to realize whatwas happening, Daxter began to tremble at the ferocity of the event. Here hewas, alone and exposed, ready to be snatched up in the jaws of any Metal Headhungry enough for Ottsel Filet.

Daxter knewbetter than to remain still. He thought for a brief moment that he saw Jak'sunusually bright hair through the streaming crowd of frightened citizens,Crimson Guards and metal beasts. For that brief moment, his hopes surged withhim as he tore through the chaos to reach his buddy in need.

Only to findthat 'Jak' was nowhere around. Cringing away from the snarling face of a MetalHead, the orange ottsel changed directions and started to run for a post thatlooked tall enough to see above the crowd. He leapt once, twice, and againtowards it, putting every ounce of faith in the possibility that he would spotJak through the crowd, just as eagerly searching for his missing ottsel friendas Daxter was looking for him.

Something tohis left flashed. Daxter was struck roughly and sent flying towards the wall ofa building, where he smacked into it and fell limply to the paved ground. Theworld around him glimmered faintly, and then went black.

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Daxter wokegroggily to the sound of still silence. He moaned irritably and sat up,clutching his sore head when it complained of a brand new goose-egg.

He shivered.As his surroundings came into focus, he realized at once that it was no longerdaytime. Moonlight spilled over him from the midst of a dark sky filled withmillions of tiny stars. The buildings nearby were smeared with blood, scorchmarks and breaks where bodies had been crushed by the force of a Metal Headattack.

The streetswere empty of all that was living. As Daxter blinked in horror at thedrastically altered city that now housed him, the nauseating stench of deathand fear took his quivering ottsel senses by storm. He whimpered a little andcrawled to his feet.

"J-Jak…?"he stammered, laying his ears flat against his head. He gulped and turnedaround in a slow circle.

The corpses ofcivilians, Guards and monsters lie about in every direction. Crashed zoomersburned quietly nearby. The occasional shifting of debris was the only sound tobreak the eerie silence of a fresh field of slaughter. And still, Daxter couldsee no sign or trace of his best friend.

Had Jak givenup looking for him and gone back to headquarters? No, that wasn't something hisbuddy ol' Jak would do, was it? He had to be somewhere nearby. Or, if he hadescaped, he was looking for Daxter right now. The thought brought new hope tothe ottsel instantly.

Daxter took afew cautious steps into the sea of destruction. He peered at the wreckage withround, fearful eyes, hoping that any moment now, Jak's familiar face wouldsuddenly appear, looming way overhead. Another few steps brought him closer tothe awful truth. A few bone-chilling seconds passed before he saw it; the truthsat there in the open, clearer than the lack of daylight this terribly nightserved.

The orangeottsel yelped and bounded over to Jak's frozen figure in a flash. He clamberedonto his best friend's torso and grabbed the elf by the collar. "Hey,Jak!" he blurted fearfully. "C'mon, buddy, rise and shine! We gottago stop the Metal Heads, Jak, remember? Jak?"

Jak's headmoved limply with Daxter's every shake. When Daxter finally released him, hishead sunk back and lolled to one side. There was no color, no life in hischeeks. There was no breath in him.

Jak was dead.

Daxterstumbled backwards and tripped, landing on his behind. Slowly, numbly, heleaned forward to press an ear against Jak's chest. After what seemed to be aneternity of staring into space, waiting for the rhythmetic beating sound, therealization finally hit the ottsel like a charging yakkow.

"JAK!"Daxter leapt forward and planted his tiny hands on the elf's face. He shook himwildly. "Jak! No, Jak, no!"

With noresponse from Jak, Daxter merely slumped and looked into the large, ashen face ofhis best friend. The unbearable silence hung over them again, flickering with acold breeze that the ottsel ignored utterly.

"Jak…"Daxter climbed down from Jak's still chest. He stood, his shoulders and headhunched, at the elf's side. "You weren't supposed to go like this, wereyou? Buddy? Jak, you can't die…you can't die yet, Jak…"

The breezepicked up again, causing Daxter to shiver. It simply picked at him, bitingthrough his fur for the next few minutes as the ottsel tried to cry, but couldnot. There was nothing to do. Nothing could be done about the swelling painthat burned in the back of his throat and in the pit of his chest, where hisheart used to be.

Mercilessly,the wind became so fierce that the cold could no longer go unanswered. Tremblingstill, Daxter crept over to Jak's shoulder, his old perch, and curled himselfinto a tight ball against Jak's icy neck. The ottsel continued to tremble withthe bitter cold and the weighty revelation of his best friend's demise.

This was howTorn discovered them the following morning. There was no false admittance ofhow truly overwhelming the news was for everyone. No one spoke one ill word toDaxter, not even Samos. Keira became unstable in her grief, only finishing hermore audible sentences with words that sounded vaguely like "I loved himso much!"

So did I.

That was theonly thought that made sense to Daxter anymore.

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All right,so hate me. I'm pretty freakin' sad now. I'm going to go relieve some of theseterribly, pent-up tears now all by my lonesome, and contemplate how evilly Ishall kill the next character, given the chance that I receive at least onereview….
 

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