Jak and Daxter: Children of Eco

by Blackdrag-rose

Renegade: Racing

When Jak and Pinkie arrived at the stadium they discovered that Keira was working on another one of the zoomers that happened to be brought in for fixing all the time, though this one appeared to be one that belonged to the Krimzon Guard. Jak immediately thought about Errol, who was the current champion of the stadium and was the Baron's commander at the moment, which brought a grin to his face. If they could beat Errol in a race, and really piss him off, it would make their campaign against the Baron much easier on all of them, which included the Underground movement as well. Pinkie really didn't care too much about racing, as that was more her brother's thing at the moment, but she was more than willing to watch the races go down whenever it was time to watch her brother clean up the track.

The two of them stood there for a few seconds without Keira noticing that they had arrived, though she did turn around when Daxter accidentally bumped into something, but that was followed by her smiling at them as she set her tools aside and got out from under the zoomer.

"I didn't expect you to get here so fast after receiving my message," Keira admitted, though at the same time she closed a panel of the zoomer she was working on and walked away from it, allowing the others to move as well, "Remember how you mentioned that you wanted to get at the Baron, for everything he's done to you over the years?"

"Yeah, its hard not to," Jak commented, though even as he spoke he was glad that Keira had no idea about Pinkie's true parents, because he already knew that she would be furious when she discovered that the Baron was using them like they were tools and was ready to discard them.

"Well, I just remembered how you can get to him," Keira said, to which she pointed out of the room they were in and turned their attention to the racing posters that were resting all over the city, "You could try to win the Class One Racing Championship. The winner of that big race always gets to meet the Baron in the Palace, but in order to do that you have to qualify by winning the lower class races. There's a Class Three race starting soon, so you can drive for my team. But Jak, we really should think about getting out of here... I don't like this place, and some of the people are just plain creepy."

Before Jak could actually say anything, and agree that some of the people he had met were stranger than the people they knew from Sandover Village, he heard the sound of Krew coming their way, to which they went silent as the fat man, who they were sure never left the saloon unless it was urgent, floated into the room they were in.

"Jak, my boy. I need that Ruby Key you found." Krew commented, though Jak was sure that Keira was raising an eyebrow at them, but there was no way to tell without turning his head back to her, "A 'special client' has requested it."

Instead of saying anything to Krew, and indicating that he must have forgotten to bring the Ruby Key to him, Jak simply pulled the artifact out of where it was being held and handed it over to the fat man, who grinned the moment he had it before he left them alone. Once Krew was gone, and they were sure of it, they heard the intercom go off and announce that the Class 3 race was about to begin, to which Keira wished Jak luck against the other racers. Pinkie and Jak made their way to the entrance of the racing arena, though when they arrived they discovered that the area they had used for practicing with the jetboard had been converted into a race track... and that there was quite a lot of people waiting for the race to begin.

As Pinkie took a seat in the stands Jak climbed onto the racing zoomer, which was a modified version of the original zoomer that allowed the driver to sit in the middle and more accurately control their vehicle, but Pinkie couldn't help but let a small grin appear on her face... because his knowledge of the base zoomer would help him win the race.

When the race started Jak made sure to remain near the back of the pack, as he was studying the actual layout of the racetrack before he did anything else, while at the same time studying the other racers and their reactions to the various twists and turns they encountered. When Jak started the second lap he got much more serious, as he maneuvered his way to the front of the pack, much to the annoyance of the other racers that were trying to beat him. As the third lap started he made sure to pace himself in front of the others, to which he put a good distance between his zoomer and the others that were behind him. Jak could hear the crowd cheering for the 'underdog', which he assumed had to be him, but he smiled as he raced towards the finish line, leaving his competitors in the dust.

Once he crossed the finish line he brought his zoomer to a rest and pulled his goggles up, to which he smiled as he left the race track and waved at the people all around him, because he knew that some of them had to be hoping for Errol to be taken off his pedestal... and that they were hoping that he would be the one to do it.

"So, we just need two more races until we can get into the Palace?" Jak asked the moment he was back in Keria's garage, where he put the trophy he had been given down on the counter Keira was standing near.

"That's correct," Keira commented, though at the same time she crossed her arms, because from what she had heard about their latest adventures she knew that Jak was planning something, "just let me warn you that the other racers, the the next two levels, are going to be much tougher than the ones you just faced."

"I can handle it," Jak said, though at the same time he noticed that they weren't alone, as Ashelin was walking towards the garage they were in, which meant that something had to be happening somewhere in the city.

"I got to say, you are good at racing," Ashelin said, to which she noticed that something was off about Pinkie, based on how she looked and the expression that was on her face, "you gave the people hope, and they have been needing that lately. Speaking of hope, what's happened to Pinkie's cheerful attitude?"

"She found out some reality shattering news from her father." Jak answered, to which he turned towards Pinkie, who was now sitting in a chair and staring at the wall opposite of where they were standing, which meant that she wasn't in the mood to talk, "Apparently the Baron has been using her to rat out the Underground, as when we climbed to the Palace he confirmed as much for us... as well as tell her that she was a tool that had fulfilled it's duties, which was when she learned that he planned on discarding her soon enough."

"I... I cannot believe my father would say such a thing!" Ashelin declared, though when she glanced over at Pinkie, and took in how she was acting, she knew that it had to be the truth, which only annoyed her more, "I'll try to keep what I know a secret and see if I can't find out more from my father... and hopefully figure out how to help Pinkie."

Jak nodded as Ashelin left the garage, to which he and Keira returned to Pinkie's side... as he knew that they could afford to spend some time relaxing before their next big move against the Baron and the Metal Head Leader.

Author's Note:

Short chapter this time around, but the next one will be longer.