Chapter Text
“Stupid Precursor shit.” Daxter mumbled, his head lifting from the ground beneath him. His ears were still ringing with the sound of an ancient precursor device exploding around both him and Jak, sending the Ottsel flying off his trusty perch and into a particularly unforgiving wall. He wasn’t quite sure how long he had been out, but nap time was over. He pushed himself up, leaning heavily against the wall and examining himself. “Well, all the fur is still there. Pants are scorched but still functional.” He patted his head, relaxing as he felt the constant feeling of his leather hat and steel goggles resting on his head. “Alrighty. Now, let’s see how my trusty sidekick is doing. Jak?” He turned around, looking around the Monk Temple. Though it was a maze, per usual, He couldn’t seem to find out where Jak was. He couldn’t hear any breathing or anything. “Jak?” His voice now had a tinge of worry to it, and he leaped through the hallways and kept searching, worry becoming a frantic mess of emotions. “JAK! Jak, this isn’t fucking funny!”
It took him a while, but he finally found him resting in front of the ancient precursor statue. But he was glowing the bright blue hue of the light eco residing inside of him. “Jak, there you are! Gotta tell ya, that’s a HUGE dick move, not responding when I call for you. I was worried, man!” He tapped his foot, but his friend remained unmoving. He tapped it louder, but he still did not respond. When he was about to shout, A blue hand shot out and covered his mouth, as silent and deadly as the night. Daxter flinched wildly and tried to smack the hand away, but it was 100% still and firm. When he lost all the energy to fight back was when the hand slowly removed itself from his mouth. Jak stood up, large wings draped behind him as he turned. He didn’t speak, simply stared at Daxter’s gaping expression. “Does it usually take this long to heal?”
The enigmatic energy in his friend tilted his head, white eyes unblinking. “Not normally.” His voice was quiet, but boomed through the room with subtle power flowing out of every orfice he had. Daxter felt the instinct to shrink back, but did no such thing as… Jak… spoke again. “Jak’s vessel was heavily damaged in the explosion. It will take time to heal from the internal damage. Now tell me, little god…” Jak rested on one knee, placing a hand under Daxter’s chin and pushing it up for their eyes to meet. “Where is the nearest Monk?”
Seem appeared to be delighted at the sudden change of events and the chance to communicate with a being such as Light Jak. Daxter didn’t approve of ‘Mister Shiny’, but it seemed (ha) that it mattered not what he thought to this version of Jak, who spoke in soft words to the Head Monk of his condition. Though his hearing was good, it was not that good, and Daxter grumpily waited outside for backup to arrive.
That backup, as it turns out, was Torn. The leader of the former resistance was the first one to intercept Daxter’s startled radio transmission as Light Jak launched himself through the air to Seem’s home in Spargus. It was garbled and half of it was screaming, but Torn understood that something was wrong. Very wrong. He took on of the hellcats they stole off old KG guards and was there in no time, landing outside the house and shoving the door open. “What the HELL is going on here?” He said, eyes dark and hair mussed with sand. God he hated the desert.
Daxter immediately leaped onto his shoulder, ignoring the growl emitting from the commander. “Oh god, Torn! I mean, oh me. Something happened to Jak. He isn’t right. He’s all… bright and sparkly and stuff. And his wings won’t go away!”
Torn raised his eyebrows in a surprised fashion. Well, as surprised as it can get for him. “Wings? Bright? Sparkly? Sounds like you’ve guzzled a bit too much of your own merchandise, weasel. Jak’s got a shitton of Dark Eco inside of him. Sparkly and bright does not fit the description of one of my best soldiers. Now, let me see.”
Daxter swallowed nervously at the command, but as he tried to say that the commander couldn’t the door opened. Jak stepped out, wings dragging behind him as he walked towards the gaping Torn and uneasy Daxter. “Seem has explained to me all I need to know.” Light Jak said softly, looking at the monk who smiled softly and bowed to him. He turned back to Torn and blinked. “Who are you?”
Torn was not someone who could be easily intimidated. But when that… thing that was supposed to be Jak entered the room, the temperature seemed to drop by ten degrees. This Jak was a cold light, dark in his own way. Still, he stood up straight, fixing his most commanding stare. “Now’s not the time for games, Jak. I’m here to pick you up.”
Jak tilted his head, and his expression did not change. “My question still stands. His brain is still fragile. Who.” He took a step forward. “Are.” Another step forward. “You?” Though the blonde’s head only met his chin, his wings gave him that extra height and intimidation. Torn swallowed quietly, expression never wavering and said in a strong clear voice. “My name is Torn, and you are my comrade. It’s time for us to go see Samos and see how to fix this.”
Light Jak’s wings seemed to relax a little at the mention of his name, and his eyes widened just a fraction. “Torn, you say?” he paused, lips pursed and he stared at the commander until something clicked in his mind. “You must be his… Special one. How sweet.”
Torn blinked. “What? Special one? I’m his- your comrade. I’m not special.”
“And yet you are?” Light Jak slowly stepped around Torn, the commander watching his every move as he left the building. “His last thought before I had to take over was your name. When I recover all of the rest of him, and I will…” He stopped and turned to completely face Torn. “I will do what he has been too cowardly to do.” His wings snapped open and he launched himself into the air, much stronger and faster than normal.
“Seem?” Daxter asked, dumbfounded. “Care to… uh… explain?”
The monk busied herself with cleaning up the dust Light Jak had poofed into her house, seemingly (ha) unaffected and unbothered by the mess. “Jak accidentally stepped in an ancient precursor trap, meant to completely destroy the atomic structure of any living thing.” Daxter swallowed quietly, and Seem chuckled. “No, orange lightning. It would not affect you as you are a god. It only affects us. Jak almost died.
“But luckily, the light eco burning through his veins took over. It saved what it could, and is repairing what it couldn’t. Unfortunately, it also puts the balance of his powers in limbo. The light might completely overtake his body and destroy him, or the Darkness could retaliate and consume him as well. Both the darkness and the light have agendas. Both want to rule their host body. But they can’t like this. They need the regular Jak back in order to have a chance.
“There is a good chance as well,” Seem continued, ushering Torn and Daxter out the front door. “…that you will see Dark Jak make an appearance. Since he is unstable, I suggest 24/7 guarding. Put people he knows on guard. Make him remember who he was before he became Light or Dark. Make him remember Jak.”
And with that, she quietly shut the door with a smile.