V S [ World Quest]Jak XI: Grand Theft Auto

Jak

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Reez muttered something under her breath and looked at the ottsel and Jak and the stranger. She crossed her arms, still a little ticked at the three men for fighting but slowly she began to calm down.

She turned at the smaller man who placed his sword away and sighed “So, Jak, who is this guy anyways?”

Daxter shrugged as he looked over at Jak.

Jak sighed and turned “We don’t exactly know, Reez. He’s my business associate and we are on loose terms. But I invited him here to handle the business of helping you with your mob problems out there.

Reez blinked “My mob problems? But how? “

The stranger had decided to introduce himself to Reez as Trez but something didn’t sit right at the moment.

Jak blinked, more than a little annoyed as he turned back, “What exactly got you in such a rage, “Trez”?

The eco warrior and the ottsel specifically wanted to know what had happened on the way out there.

Daxter looked for clues for signs of a scuffle, hurt or anything else.

The ottsel’s eyes looked up and crossed his arms “A minor scuffle? You look like you went through hell, “Trez.”

Jak had this awkward itch that he couldn’t get rid of. “Reez, how bad is the mob here? I’ve had to face two mobs before I came here in the crossroads.”

Daxter’s eyes widened for a second “Yeah, ol’ tub of Butter’s mob, ol Krew and Mizo’s mob, the guy who lied and called himself G.T Blitz our whole adventure..”

Jak winced as he remembered Krew’s daughter, Rayn who had suddenly betrayed them at the last moment.

Reez gasped as she realized Trez went through a mob scuffle during his walk here. She sighed as she walked up to the man “Look, I’m sorry. If there’s anything I can do for you.. “

Jak sighed and turned “You don’t, but I can heal Trez. “It’s the least I can do after what happened out there.”

Daxter turned “You think you are being a little too trustworthy, Jak?”

The eco warrior frowned “Perhaps I am. Perhaps I don’t want to see anyone else die on my watch.”

Daxter tried to describe “After so many betrayals, Jak.. you think this one is going to be different?”

Jak lightly thought back to when he trusted Rayn, Krew’s daughter. She was nothing but a double agent who pretended to be his friend so he could get info out of him and become the new crime lord.

Jak smiled lightly so as to not hurt the man in front of him. “Hold still”. The eco warrior closed his eyes, and a bluish angel reappeared where Jak stood.

“My name is Light, Jak’s other side” My host wants to heal you so I will do so. Light held a hand on Trez’s arm as light eco flowed from the angel's hand onto Trez’s body as his injuries began to fade. If Trez looked close enough, Light’s eyes were bluish- white. Translucent wings were flying from the back of the man’s back.

Reez stepped back lightly, seeing the eco warrior change into someone completely different. “Those forms. I.. saw them on that reality show Dante's Abyss, right?”

The light form slowly turned, looking at Reez “Yes… I was there and so was my other form.”

Reez looked up in interest “So, you are two beings that share the same body as Jak? But you both have your own personality?”

Light just stared for a second to answer Reez’s question “Yes. Me and dark share headspace inside our host.”

Reez nodded “Interesting. But how?”

Light was quiet and turned for a second. “You certainly ask a lot of questions, Reez.”

Daxter looked up “Hey Light, Trez going to be alright, I mean? He was pretty hurt when I checked last.”

Light stood, and pulled Daxter off the ground to sit on his shoulder. “Yeah, Light eco is an indescribable feeling of calmness surrounding it, it should fully heal him.”

The ottsel blinked when Trez looked like he was to the point of staring, mostly looked like he was semi-unconscious.

Light got up and took his hand off Trez “You should be alright now.”

At once, Jak’s unnatural light form faded with just a blink and he was now standing where the angel once stood.

Jak smiled lightly as he gained control of his body again, letting his light form rest easy in his head as much as he could with his dark form around.

Jak nodded gently with no hint of a smile “Of course.”

Daxter looked at his arm “Yeah, we should go. Reez, you drive the car you made up there. We’ll go and win the race for you. Hey Trez, if you see the mob coming for us out there, you gotta keep them off us too.”

Reez blinked “Oh! Yeah, we have got to get going.” The long eared mechanic had already packed some essentials in a bag and looked at the three. “Follow me up to the track.”

Daxter smirked “You heard the lady, let’s go!”

It was when Reez hopped in the F-zero car and the car suddenly lifted about a foot up in the air as the garage opened. Reez turned and out of the garage she went.

Jak hopped on the front of his zoomer and waited for Trez to hop on the back before rushing off with Daxter on his shoulder. Trez hopped on the zoomer and Jak started the semi fast vehicle up and off they went, following Reez past several old flaking off buildings, some ghost towns, a store in the middle of nowhere and places that had clearly seen better days.

11889+954= 12843/20000
 

Shinku

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Things had finally settled down with Reeze calming herself after the two men stopped fighting. It was quite an awkward silence among the four individuals that simply stood in the room seemingly trying to guess what each of them could be thinking at the moment.

The silence was finally broken by Reeze who inquired of the stranger that suddenly arrived. Shinku decided to stay silent as the lady was speaking with the eco warrior anyway, who kind of explained their loose partnership. The assassin simply listened to the details until the eco warrior finally mentioned his part of the deal.

It appears that the assassin’s role is that of a bodyguard, tasked to safeguard their client from some mob as the eco warrior mentioned. After his speech, the eco warrior suddenly faced Shinku for some reason. Judging by his last words, Shinku assumed that the eco warrior was asking him to continue the introductions.

“Oh yes of course, you can call me Trez.” The assassin spouted, throwing some random name to the group. The situation suddenly turned a bit awkward when Reeze and Jak kept their stare at the assassin, seemingly waiting for more words that the latter might add to his introductions. Shinku’s head alternated between Jak and Reeze unsure of what more did they expect him to say.

Another awkward silence was finally cut when Daxter decided to barge in. The little creature inquired of why the assassin suddenly went into rage the moment he popped in.

“Uhmmm well. Travelling here by foot isn’t exactly an easy task while you two ride that thing with that speed. Plus, I kind of got into a minor scuffle.” Shinku responded mundanely, bowing his head in shame of the conduct that he just showed his companions.

The ottsel’s eyes grew wide in disbelief. Shinku’s current condition didn’t seem to show just a minor scuffle. Indeed he wasn’t actually able to fight the gang that he encountered at the slums but his distant travel did show that the assassin went through hell just to get to them.

Reeze did show some concern of Shinku’s condition but what moved the young man was when Jak approached him in an attempt to heal the assassin’s body. Somehow, it touched the young man’s heart when Jak mentioned that he wouldn’t let anyone die on his watch. The feeling of guilt suddenly haunted the assassin of shadows on thinking ill about his companions. Shinku however, kept his poker face as the eco warrior instructed him to stay still.

To his surprise, Shinku saw the eco warrior’s body turn ethereal, emanating a bluish glowing aura. Threads of light started to sprout from behind Jak, forming into bluish translucent wings. In front of the assassin of shadows is now a somewhat angelic being, far from the frightening dark form of the eco warrior.

A voice, far from Jak’s usual tone, suddenly spoke up, seemingly as a different being, though in the same body as the eco warrior. Shinku can feel a warm energy suddenly surging all throughout his body, the moment the angelic being touched him. It was almost the same feeling as when Birke healed him back in the forest.

Shinku can still hear the exchange of words between the being in Jak’s body and Reez however, he can’t help but be completely lost in daze as he is being filled with an unexplainable warm energy. It felt soothing to the young man, and addictive at the same time, almost causing him to fall into a deep trance, lost into a blinding light. The voices around him suddenly faded into obscure speeches making the young man’s mind finally succumbing into a state of tranquility.

It wasn’t that long when the assassin of shadows finally snapped out of his dreamy state. He felt as if his soul had suddenly been sucked out of his body then placed back in one swooping motion.

Shinku opened his eyes, with the view of Jak’s ethereal form which then gradually turned back into the eco warrior’s original form. “Thanks.” Shinku prevented any hint of a smile to escape his lips. “So shall we get on the deal once and for all?” The assassin of shadows imposed impatiently, fascading his feeling gratefulness at the eco warrior’s kindness.

His companions nonetheless agreed with the young man’s call. The ottsel bid Shinku, or Trez as he introduced himself to the group, to keep the mob off of them. The assassin of shadows responded with a snobbish nod then followed the rest of them who were on their way to their rides. Jak’s gesture made it appear like Shinku is now welcome to join the eco warrior’s ride hence, the assassin of shadows quickly hopped on after his companion took the lead.

12843 + 796 = 13639
 

Jak

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Daxter enjoyed the cool air blowing through his fur as the zoomer flew through the streets of the ghost city, while the fancy car was being navigated up an increasingly upward slope toward the floating islands.

Jak swerved the narrow, twisting paths, sometimes lifting up at the sharp and narrow cliffs. All practice for the main event. The zoomer lifted up in high mode as the annoying part of these roads is they made them annoying and tricky to get up.

As they began to get close, groups of Arcadia elite gathered in very important areas above the arenas with their “Couch” purses and their fancy earrings wearing the latest high and mighty fashions.

Daxter could swear he could hear snickering from above.

“Wow, is that the newcomer race team run by Reez? Heh, never heard of them. Ah well, I’m putting my cash on Captain Falcon.. I heard he’s the best of the best out there..”

Reez was starry eyed, almost misty eyed as she pulled into the Upper racing district and soon the racing arena itself. “Wow, I can’t believe it, I’m.. I’m really here! Her dreams of having a racing team were coming true and it was up to Jak and his ottsel friend, Daxter to prove their mettle on the track.

She looked around at the many garages open with symbols on it, mouth agape trying to remind herself to be serious to find an open racing garage with no symbol on it. It was time to make a name for herself in Erde Nova. She’d show those elitists who didn’t know racing.

“So uh, boys! Did you come up with a symbol for our team yet?”

Daxter turned “What about this? He showed a symbol of a ying yang symbol, dark and light.”

Reez shrugged “Sounds great. Draw it on our garage door. Reez gave Daxter a little paint and marker to make the new symbol.

As Reez got out of the vehicle, Jak looked over at Reez, making sure the car was in good shape before the race.

Reez smiled “You are pretty good with a wrench yourself, Jak. Add that to your resume once you win this race for me.”

Jak popped out from under the car, a little gas on his face “Heh, thanks, Reeze.”

Daxter kept handing tools to the Eco warrior, as Jak kept tinkering with pieces underneath to keep the car running at top shape. “Hey, Reeze. This car’s actually not too different underneath the car to our car tech back home, only difference, it doesn’t fly.”

Reez nodded “You’ll understand it more when you drive it out there.” Reez kept looking through the paperwork to make sure every little detail about her drivers and her team were on there.

Daxter suddenly got an idea and looked up at his team “Reez, Jak.. I just got an idea that could get us a leg up in the competition. What i mean is maybe i can get a few “tips” from others that can help us beat the more “expert” drivers in this competition.

Jak stared back at the ottsel “Dax, we are close to the race, you are a driver and we need you to race with me.”

Daxter frowned “It will be stealthy, mostly fast. I’ll be quick, I promise.” The ottsel placed down his things and quietly moved toward one of the more expert driver’s garages.

“Let’s see what I can find out here..”

The ottsel remained silent as the others in the garage simply chatted about the upcoming race and tips on how their team planned to win the whole thing.

Daxter just silently smirked and moved toward the exit, very quiet and then back toward the ying yang garage.

As the ottsel got back, he looked proud of himself.

Jak smirked “What did you find out ,Dax?”

The creature kept it down low just in case but he pulled Reez into the chat as well.

“Yeah, so the racers said we’d be in a strict survival to the end race. However, some said others play dirty out there. Lots of dangers out there.”

Jak crossed his arms “Down and dirty? I think I’m beginning to like the concept of this kind of race.”
708+13639=14347/20000
 

Shinku

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The gang finally took off, speedingly elevating from the slums of Arcadia. It wasn’t a good sight below, as decrepit structures flood the massive area of the slums, scattered in a disorderly manner. Just as Shinku thought he had seen the worst of the slums, seeing it from above even makes it worse. Mountains of dumps, some even tower above most of the structures gives an even more unpleasant view of this dark part of the city. The air around the slum was polluted by a dark smoke that came from what seemed to be a factory at the end of the district. The assassin of shadows had seen the worst sites of Kirden Wharf but none compared with the slum’s vileness. Never did he expect that such an abomination actually existed in a world that met him with awe and wonder.

Disappointed, Shinku decided to fix his eyes forward as they got nearer the skies of Arcadia. The polluted air has become clearer, the farther they ascend. It took them quite a while before the stinking air of the slums were finally replaced with a more breathable one.

The eco warrior accelerated their ride even more, suddenly causing Shinku’s heart to race in nervousness. The assassin is used to quick travels but being not in control seemed to give him a bit of a challenge especially when the eco warrior started to make sharp turns and even drive between narrow paths. The winding ride caused Shinku to almost nauseate, if not for his trained mind that helped him endure his current discomfort.

The assassin of shadows can only hold his breath and tighten his grip on the metal bar behind the eco warrior’s zoomer, hoping that Jak does know what he was doing. Fortunately enough, in spite of several twists and turns, the group finally came in view of a huge floating island with a massive colosseum at its center. The eco warrior started his descent, hovering over the colosseum, heavily packed with audiences, hailing from different classes of society.

The higher classed audiences were highly noticeable due to their glamorous fashion and jewellery. Their arrogant stench reminded Shinku of skylanders from the City of Hope. Talks about famous teams can be heard among the audiences along with mockeries for the less known ones. It wasn’t that long when the eco warrior finally pulled up at an area of the island, not too far from the racing track.

The eco warrior slowly tailed Reez’s vehicle as Shinku lay his eyes around the island. The view in the island brought back the magic and marvel of Arcadia that first captured the heart of the assassin. Nevertheless, he has to conceal his admiration of the city.

Reeze on the other hand, openly showed her appreciation of the island which was even more heightened the moment they reached the arena itself. A mixture of excitement and tension struck the team as the real quest had finally begun. For a while, Reeze marveled at the gates of the race track before deciding to drive in and locate their post.

Driving past several garages, the team finally stopped in front of a symbolless post where they finally got off their own vehicles and settled their belongings. At Reeze’s request, Jak came up with a Yin and Yang symbol to decorate their door with the assassin simply responding with a nod when asked for his opinion. Moreover, the rest simply went on each having their own tasks.

Shinku can only sit at the corner, observing the others as they go about their own businesses. Jak for instance, has started to inspect and tinker with the parts of the vehicle that he would be using for the race. Daxter on the other hand, paced back and forth to hand tools for Jak, and Reez went on to finish some paperwork.

Bored, the assassin of shadows decided to start his own part by observing the people around them. As he always did, Shinku closed his eyes and went deep into a trance. A massive amount of souls met the assassin as he delved into the shadow realm to observe every spiritual signature around the arena. The place is surely crowded like most of Kirden Wharf’s busy days with most of the crowd concentrated inside the arena.

It didn’t surprise Shinku to see a lot of beings that manifested frightening dark auras as events such as this one were often run by shady mobs. The assassin noted a couple souls he noticed yet with everyone obviously doing their own businesses, he chose not to make a move as of yet.

The assassin was intrigued when he felt Daxter’s presence moving away from their group. Somehow wanting to ascertain his companion’s safety, he focused on tracking the little creature who moved about the other garages around them. He was alarmed when the Daxter suddenly moved closer to a couple of beings that emanated some dark aura. He was about to make a move when the little creature finally passed the group with the mob not taking any kind of action. Shinku can feel Daxters presence moving around the arena, seemingly conversing with a couple of other beings. Carefully, he observed every aura being shown at every spiritual signature he sees that interacts with Daxter. By then, he can make sure that the little creature does not put himself into trouble.

Shinku became more relaxed when the little creature’s presence finally came back to their place. With that settled, he continued to widen his focus, singling out every being he sensed with a more sinister aura.

14347 + 936 = 15283
 

Jak

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After hours of what seemed like adjusting and in general being a grease monkey, the eco warrior smirked, giving everyone a thumbs up. Of course, Jak had taken the coat off and wore the shirt.

“I think we’ve gotten some good progress on your car, Reez and it seems about ready. It also has a weapon on it. So I think me and Daxter got it covered, Reez.”

The silver box sitting up on Reez’s wall was turned on and the team watched various team members laugh and tell one enough about the grand prize and how sweet it would be to win the whole thing.

The newscaster on tv reads off the Team names “Hey, the F-zero teams look absolutely stunning this time of year! We have expert teams such as Team Falcon, Team Yalz, and some others. Oh! We have some newcomers to the race scene this time, including Team Power.

“Hm? Yeah.. uh huh, Oh! We have some unexpected Celebrities racing this year. First, a purple suited man who has been dangerous on the f-zero track named Captain Falcon. The purple suited man laughed into the microphone “That’s right, I’m an expert on the race track! I’ll wipe the floor with the others out there!”

Daxter frowned, looking up at the television set. “Heh, this Captain Falcon has no idea who he’s dealing with out there. He hasn’t faced us in a real race yet yet he’s all big talk.”

“And oh? We have a celebrity of our own here on the newcomer Reez’s team, who participated in Dante’s Abyss, a finalist to boot. We have Jak/ Mar!

How do you like Reez’s team’s chances against the man Captain Falcon out there?”

“Well, the mysterious bounty hunter has a lot at stake plus we don’t know what our newcomers are capable of out on that track. Hahaha, we don’t know yet!”

Daxter blinked, once the microphone was unceremoniously shoved in the eco warrior’s face again. “HEY! I’m the eco warrior’s friend! I deserve some love too! COME ON!”

Reez was a little nervous with the announcer hanging around their garage giving everyone interviews. She turned to the mic in front of her face “Well to be honest, we are a new race team and we have a pair of expert racers here plus a finalist in DA to boot! Don’t underestimate us!”

The announcer turned back to comment on the orange fuzzy thing apparently named Daxter driving with Jak. “So Mr… Daxter, right? You got something to say to the competition!”

The ottsel stepped up “Thank you, Mr. Annoncer, yeah I do! I’m Jak’s best friend! I’m just as important as Jak! Thank you!!!”

The announcer sighed “Thank you for that, uh… Daxter..”

“And now back to our main event!”

Reez looked at her car and stood up “Alright boys, let’s get it moving to the start line!”

Jak and Daxter fistbumped each other as Jak hopped in the car first once the top opened, along with Daxter. “Ready when you are,Reez!”

Jak and Daxter had a speaker on their necks allowing Reez and them to talk during the race, and a comm to speak to Trez if anything goes south. Reez followed the duo out to the starting line as she held a thumb up to the duo to do great out there.

She and Trez headed toward the pit stop after the announcement came for the racers to pull up to the starting line. “So, Trez… you got things handled here? Did you find anything around the garage?”

The electric sign listed 3… 2…1 as Jak and Daxter revved up to begin the race and as the sign said “GO!”, off the duo went. Jak pushed his foot to the floor and the eco warrior began to speed off past the other racers at first, gaining a quick advantage over the mysterious Captain Falcon.

And Oooooh! The newcomers are off to a good start… passing the mysterious Captain Falcon and it appears the others are off to a slow start!”

Daxter held on for dear life as his mouthpiece speaker went off “Trez, what’s going on?”

The ottsel wiped his brow as Jak pressed a button and his weapon began to shoot at the cars in front of him.

“Give them hell, Jak!” The ottsel was holding tight.

It was then the mysterious Captain Falcon came by with a flash of a finger and a wink with a two finger salute.

The eco warrior became annoyed and lined his car straight up against the side of Captain Falcon’s car.

The crowds got louder as the clear favorite of the races was leading so far but the newcomers were keeping pace with the man.

Captain Falcon felt bad for the eco warrior, torn in between winning the race and letting the newcomers race. He still had to beat Shadow man in the race and the only way he could win is by beating his enemy in a race.

But the eco warrior was making this a lot harder to do as he was a pain in the ass.

Daxter blinked as there was a new part of the track he’d never seen before, the introduction of the upside down track which made him nervous. “Be careful Jak, we have a upside down part to deal with!”

Jak kept his eye on the road “Upside down! Oh, Reez told us about that.. These cars contain hovering parts.”

Daxter blinked “Ugh, I’m going to be…”

Jak frowned “NOT IN THE CAR, barf outside!”

The eco warrior held tight to the car’s wheel as the track veered upside down for a short bit and pulled back up. He had a bit of trouble on that edge as a few racers passed him.

The ottsel screamed “SHIT! JAK, LIGHT THEM UP!”

Zero smirked as the newcomers were being passed up, as long as they were losing, he was getting paid.

“OH!!!! Seems like the newcomers are having trouble with a part of the race that most F-zero racers know how to handle…What will they do now?”

Daxter cursed out the announcer “Heh, Zero hadn’t seen nothing yet…”

It was then Lap 1 was over with a snap and Zero spoke with a voice that said “Lap 2 is beginning and Reez’s team has fallen in the rankings!”

Jak cursed under his breath as this shouldn’t be happening to him. He was the best racer in his world. These guys made him look like a newbie.

Daxter yelled “Keep it rolling. These guys can’t pull ahead of you if you distract them.”

As soon as the eco warrior finally made it around the upside down part of the track, they passed Lap 1 and onto Lap 2.

Zero pointed out “Looks like Reez’s duo has some catching up to do in Lap 2, and it’s only going to get more grueling from here, folks!”

Jak’s path to victory was grumbling and more rough on Lap 2, as Jak pulled the stick making the vehicle faster to pass a few others but still behind the Mysterious Captain Falcon and Black Shadow going head to head with each other like superhero and supervillain. They appeared too busy with their scuffle to care about Jak and Daxter passing them out there, leaving the two in the dust.

15283+1124= 16407/20000
 

Shinku

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The roar of the crowd echoed around the arena as the introductions of the racers were being announced. Shinku stayed on his seat, watching a televised view of the announcement back at their garage together with the rest of the team. The assassin of shadows yawned, both uninterested and clueless of what is currently going on. He simply observed as his companions commented on each racers that were being shown on the screen.

It wasn’t that long when the announcer finally came into their garage. The view of the team’s garage was projected on the screen, with the focus being on Jak. Once again, the assassin’s curiosity was piqued the moment he heard about Dante’s abyss. Shinku was urged to ask about the event but deemed it not the time and place for such inquiry.

The short interview between the announcer and most of the team has finally come to an end, signalling the time to line up on the race track. It was then that Jak and Daxter hopped into Reez’s car and slowly drove its way towards the track. With Reez tailing the racer by foot, Shinku decided to stand up and follow after the one he’s supposed to protect.

The cheers of the audience have gone louder as the racers start to assemble at the starting line. After some good luck speeches, Reez started to walk away along with Shinku, or Trez as the name he went by, towards the side of the race track.

“So you know anything about cars?” Reez inquired, in a loose manner perhaps at a mere attempt to strike a conversation with her mysterious bodyguard.

“I’m afraid, I haven’t had time to learn anything about them.” The assassin of shadows responded half heartedly as he is trying to gauge their surroundings for any danger.

“I see. Well.” The lady continued, seemingly lost with words but aiming to construct some more phrases or inquiries that she might still form. “Oh so how did you know Jak?” After a short pause, the lady was able to add to her previous inquiry, this time in a more spirited manner especially upon the mention of the name Jak.

“I actually just bumped with him somewhere, and well, made some random deal.” Still with his stale attitude, Shinku responded somehow creating a sort of awkward ambiance between the two.

“Well…” Her sprightly attitude was short lived as his companion’s mood seemed to have stayed bland. “Oh well. I guess let’s just do our best for this race.” The lady finally gave up, then kept her focus on making her way towards the pit stop.

It was quite a long walk before the two finally arrived on a station just at the side of the racing track. As Shinku observed the other stations that they have passed by, this one seemed to be less manned, or more precisely unmanned except of course the moment they entered the station.

“How come the others have more men in them?” Puzzled, Shinku decided to ask the lady before making his way towards a seat.

“Well, you see...I really don’t have a team of my own. I mean, I really wanted to form a racing team but no one’s interested in an unnamed racer such as myself.” The lady responded in a melancholic tone, as she faced the side of the race track. “That’s why I’m really grateful that you guys accepted my invitation! And well, I really need to win this time because I currently owe a lot of money. And If I don’t pay in time, they’d surely have me…”

“Hey. Well I find nothing suspicious so far.” Before the lady can finish her speech, Shinku’s communicator suddenly rang making the young man revert his attention into answering the device. “Oh and Reez…” Quickly, Shinku faced the lady back in courtesy. “...Well...Don’t mention it.”

The two faced the race track yet again as the signal for the start of the race has been announced. One by one, the hovering cars passed by the pit stop like bullets all fired at different intervals.


“Still nothing. Don’t worry I got this. Just focus on the race.” Shinku answered another call which this time came from Daxter. With Reez now focused on the race, Shinku decided to take a seat and start to enter into a trance. The assassin of shadows focused as his consciousness is quickly pulled into the realm of shadows.

More souls appeared in his senses compared to the tracking he did just some time earlier. Unfortunately enough, most of the additional souls emit malicious aura in them, signifying more people for the assassin of shadows to monitor. Rapid moving souls of the racers appeared on his senses as well, with Shinku singling out at Jak and Daxter who seemed to be a couple of leagues behind the others. Nothing seemed to be amiss but the assassin of shadows can feel the anxiety of his companions.

“Oh no this is not good.” Reez nervously muttered upon seeing Jak and Daxter being left behind by most of the racers. A couple of other racers have already passed the first lap but the duo are still making their way towards an upside down part of the track.

“So this is Reez’s pawns.” From a VIP seat just beside the announcer’s room, lurks a group of shady beings. Their eyes seemed to be fixed at Jax and Daxter who introduced themselves as Reez’s racers.

“Well, it appears that Dante’s Abyss finalist isn’t fit being a racer after all. But just to make sure, I’ve already arranged for a special deal to ensure the victory of your bet. Another ton of fortune for us, and a reason to make those pathetic fools take the life of Reez without you having to dirty your own hands.” Another being smirked, ending in a maniacal laugh as the situation on the race track was starting to heat up.
“Hey Boss, do you think that Reez would be able to win with that Jak racer and pay us her debt? Things don't seem to be going well for them right now.” From among the commoner’s box, another stalker of Reez’s team seemed to be closely monitoring the race.

“They better be. Or I’ll crush that ant into pieces!” A huge being responded in wrath, crushing a soda can with his bare hand.

The first lap ended with Jak and Daxter completing the circuit at last place. This drew contrasting reactions of anxiety, anger, and triumph from different mobs and Reez who are closely observing how Jak would fare at the tournament.

16407 + 1102 = 17509
 

Jak

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The first turn was a crazy one as Daxter cursed out the fact they were last place on the track during the first lap. The ottsel turned “This can’t be possible, we never have this much trouble out there.. There must be something wrong.. I can’t place it.”

Jak pulled the stick and said while driving “We are getting death threats because we are with Reez, you know this already.”

Daxter said “Can’t we just drive away and go-”

Jak smirked, pulling forward “NOT A CHANCE!”

Daxter muttered “JAKKKKKKKK!”

Jak kept at it, shooting another vehicle out of his way, which fell off the track which was “retired” from the race. At least they weren’t in last place for now but they still had a really long way before pushing their way up to the front.

Zero winced “Ohhhhh, we got our first retired racer of the day who was knocked off the course by none other than… Jak and Daxter? But near the worst part of the track, we still have your hero, Captain Falcon and the dangerous Black Shadow trailing behind him!”


Jak was coming up on his least favorite part of the track, the upside down part and Daxter held on again as they sped upside down and right side up toward the ending of Lap 2 to the beginning of Lap 3.

Lap 3 and the stakes were getting higher with every pass of the track. Jak was finally getting the hang of the F-zero track even though it was more of a pesky thing.

As Jak’s car began to start slowing down, the eco warrior realized it was time to pull in the pit stop where Reez would be waiting to fix her car. He pulled in and stopped, letting Reez do the work.

Daxter was angry as one racer tried to take a swipe at the eco warrior’s car, as the ottsel threw a “Fuck” at the other car.

Jak passed the first loop of the 8 track and got ready to make the upside down turn of the 3rd lap.

Orange Lightning still wasn’t used to the whole upside down thing and his body felt exactly the same way.

The 3rd lap seemed to be going Jak’s way, oddly enough. So much was going for him to win right now but this lap just seemed way too easy for the eco warrior.

Daxter blinked “Jak, why is this too easy? I feel uneasy about the situation right now.”

Just as Jak passed the last loop moving toward the finish line on the third lap, it’s when his ranking began to move up toward 3rd place, enough to make Captain Falcon and Black Shadow start paying more attention to the newcomers themselves.

Shadow heard the message from his payees “Hm? Gladly bosses.” The black suited super villain was specifically good at his job after taking on Captain Falcon several times. Now he just wanted to figure out who this “Jak and Daxter person is”

“Uh huh, yeah. Bluish coat, yellowish green hair, orange creature near him with goggles on in third place? Gotcha. I can mess them up real bad.”

It’s when the eco warrior passed the Black shadow’s car just like that and looked back, getting an uneasy feeling coming.

Daxter jumped for a second, also getting that uneasy feeling as well as Jak. It’s when Daxter received a comm from Trez “What?! Are you serious? Th- AHHHHHHH!”

Black shadow grabbed the orange creature and covered his mouth “You’ll be my new minion, strange orange rat!”

The ottsel’s screams only came out as muffles as Black Shadow replied darkly in the ottsel’s speaker radio. (Which he had no idea was connected to Jak, Reez and Trez)

The evil villain smirked and talked slowly “If you want your precious pet back, Jak, I’d advise you mess up right here and now. If not, the ottsel gets to become a personal minion of mine and hope your car is flameproof. Ha.. Haha.. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

Jak sighed, he’d heard too many evil villains laugh their way out of something they can’t seem to win. But this time it was a scary threat. With the threat of his best friend missing and going to be turned into a minion since Black Shadow grabbed him somehow.

Jak was now pissed beyond belief, it was a very real threat. Jak wins this race and risks his friends' life, or gives up here and still loses Daxter.

Black shadow grabbed the ottsel and shoved him into the seat next to him “You’ll do as a bargaining chip.”

The ottsel yelled back at Black shadow, trying to don the ottsel’s speaker. “Fuck you, ugly batman ripoff!”

Black shadow yelled out something as suddenly the eco warrior’s car slammed against the batman rip-off’s car. “Heh, not even the threat of your friend becoming my minion scares you.”

Black Shadow seemed more wanting to use Daxter as a bargaining chip to bring out Jak and Captain Falcon, his arch enemy.

836+17509=18345
 

Shinku

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Tension among the audience as well as with the racers started to rise upon the second lap of the race. Jak and Daxter were still way behind the others, causing a nervous Reez to tremble in fear.

Shinku could feel the terror that emanated from Reez heart but what disturbed the assassin of shadows more, were killing intents that started to spark up from different parts of the arena. It wasn’t clear where each of the intents were directed to but following the lady’s story earlier, at least one of those might be leaned towards his client.

The noise of the crowd has gotten louder with a mixture of cheers and jeers, all thrown at the racers. The crowd went even crazier upon their witness of the race’s first casualty. One of the cars hurled out of the arena upon being blasted off by Jak.

“The kid ain’t all bad after all.” A husky voice, who mentioned arranging a shady deal earlier, remarked upon seeing how Jak managed to retire one of the racers from the tournament. “Shall we make our move now?”

“It’s still too early for that. Let’s see how they can get past the others who are way ahead of them.” A deep voice responded still from the VIP room, calmly watching the scene of the race like a mere movie at the theatre screen.

Meanwhile, at the audience area, the other mob seemed to hold a conversation of their own. “Ah they blasted one off the race. This Jak does have talent on this.” The lesser one uttered, getting more hooked at the race.

“They’re still way behind from the others. Drats! They better improve their ranking or say goodbye to their princess.” The fat one interjected, in a loud voice attracting quite a number of attention from around him.

“Please Jak. You’ve got to win this.” Back at the pit top, Reez continued to shake in fear as she saw her racer still way behind most of the other racers. Her hands clasped tightly with each other, hoping for her team to make their way towards first place.

Murderous intent are still all over the place, forcing Shinku to single out his focus towards each of the beings that exude them. Each appeared to be static as of the moment, but the build up of their malignant aura can’t make the assassin of shadows relax. He could pinpoint each of the beings but as to when they were going to make their move and to whom, were still puzzles for Shinku.

All the racers had completed the second lap with Jak still at final place among those that were still inside the circuit but had gotten really close into the other racers.

Being in the third lap, most of the racers had now entered each of their pit stops one by one to renew their vehicles. Those with better crew gave them the advantage of being able to leave the pit stop quickly but the others which unfortunately had their crew at a lesser standard, caused them some delay.

Shinku can feel his companions slowing down, but knowing nothing to add as a contribution, he kept observing the movements with his shadow senses, especially those with malicious intent within the arena. It took Reez a few minutes of tinkering at her car before she was able to make Jak back into the race track again.

“Yes that’s it. I knew you could make it boys!” Things seemed to have settled down a bit when Jak started to gain more speed and overtook a couple of other racers. Shinku can now sense a more relaxed overall ambience especially from Reez and with the disappearance of some murderous intent around the track. A few remained, but it made Shinku breathe more easily upon the sudden dwindling of their numbers.

“Atta boy! Maybe Reez would be able to pay us after all, boss!” The lesser mob at the audience remarked with excitement, after witnessing how things are gradually going in favor of Jak. The fat being remained silent, with his eyes fixed at the rankings board which showed Jak rising up towards the third rank.

“Ok so shall we deal with him now?” The man with the husky voice inquired, suddenly in a serious tone after seeing the result of the third lap.

“Get on with it.” The other one replied calmly yet authoritatively.

“My pleasure.” The inquirer smirked, pulling up a communication device from his side pocket. “Alright Shadow, time to swat the fly down.” A few more conversations went on but it all ended up with an agreement between the shady guy and another person on the other line.

With things settling down to a better tone, the assassin of shadows was able to glance his way towards the racers with his shadow senses. His companions appeared to be among the top rankers based on their position at the racing track.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly until Shinku felt a sudden malignant intent on the soul of the racer, that Jak just passed by. Disturbed, Shinku decided to snap out of his trance and call Daxter with the comms device.

“Hey! I feel a dark intent from that racer behind you. Get away from him quickly!” Shinku implored with urgency, hoping to save his companions from an impending misfortune. To his horror however, all he could hear on the other line was a frightening scream which ended up with a muffled screech that was obviously from Daxter.

Quickly, Shinku decided to get back to his trance to check what just happened. Both his companions appeared to be conscious except that Daxter’s spiritual signature was closer to a stranger than with Jak. He can feel a sudden disarray at Jak’s spirit, obviously signifying that things are starting to go south. He was expecting for Jak to race in an attempt to rescue the ottsel however, his gradual deceleration made it appear that the eco warrior can’t do something about the situation. A couple of other spiritual signatures passed by the eco warrior, signifying him losing the current lap, which also threw Reez into a sense of fright.

Shinku wanted to traverse the shadows to reach the ottsel however, the sudden rise of more murderous intent made him think twice of making an impulsive move.

“Damn what is that brat doing! Gah! That’s it! That racer is good for nothing to start with! If I can’t have my money then I’ll have the prize on Reez’ head instead! Signal the boys to get that filthy rat!” The fat gangster among the audience yelled in fury causing most of the people around him to finally leave their seats. The person left beside him which appeared to be his minion however, decided to pull a comms device from inside his shirt and issue some commands over the line.

Most of the people with murderous intent started to move which forced the assassin of shadows to focus his tracking on them. He could only trust that his companions would be able to get by on their own for he had a fight that he needed to handle on his own. Judging by the common direction of their movements, Shinku judged that they are after their location.

Not wanting to risk more time, the assassin of shadows decided to snap out of his trance and traverse the path of the shadows to reach his targets one by one.

“Uhmmm Trez, hey where have you gone!” With her fear getting out of control, Reez decided to turn around to at least find comfort at his companion, only to find out that she was alone at the pit stop.

Shinku reemerged out of the shadow realm, behind an unsuspecting victim. Appearing behind a lone slender man, Shinku quickly drew his sword to stab his target from behind, through his victim’s heart. The assassin then pulled the sword and disappeared into his shadow in one clean move. It wasn’t that hard to deal with most of his targets however, Shinku seemed to share a common fate with his companions the moment he was met with a sudden explosion upon leaving the shadow realm to one of his targets.

Shinku’s back slammed on the wall behind him, making him suffer an excruciating pain along with a few burns on his skin.

“So I’ve met you at last shadow walker. Did you really think all your deeds would go unnoticed?” Blurred vision of a sinister figure approached the assassin of shadows who can only wince in pain, unable to move his body. Shinku laid against the wall motionless, unable to do anything about the danger that slithered towards him.

1449 + 18345 = 19794
 

Jak

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The first turn was a crazy one as Daxter cursed out the fact they were last place on the track during the first lap. The ottsel turned “This can’t be possible, we never have this much trouble out there.. There must be something wrong.. I can’t place it.”

Jak pulled the stick and said while driving “We are getting death threats because we are with Reez, you know this already.”

Daxter said “Can’t we just drive away and go-”

Jak smirked, pulling forward “NOT A CHANCE!”

Daxter muttered “JAKKKKKKKK!”

Jak kept at it, shooting another vehicle out of his way, which fell off the track which was “retired” from the race. At least they weren’t in last place for now but they still had a really long way before pushing their way up to the front.

Zero winced “Ohhhhh, we got our first retired racer of the day who was knocked off the course by none other than… Jak and Daxter? But near the worst part of the track, we still have your hero, Captain Falcon and the dangerous Black Shadow trailing behind him!”


Jak was coming up on his least favorite part of the track, the upside down part and Daxter held on again as they sped upside down and right side up toward the ending of Lap 2 to the beginning of Lap 3.

Lap 3 and the stakes were getting higher with every pass of the track. Jak was finally getting the hang of the F-zero track even though it was more of a pesky thing.

As Jak’s car began to start slowing down, the eco warrior realized it was time to pull in the pit stop where Reez would be waiting to fix her car. He pulled in and stopped, letting Reez do the work.

Daxter was angry as one racer tried to take a swipe at the eco warrior’s car, as the ottsel threw a “Fuck” at the other car.

Jak passed the first loop of the 8 track and got ready to make the upside down turn of the 3rd lap.

Orange Lightning still wasn’t used to the whole upside down thing and his body felt exactly the same way.

The 3rd lap seemed to be going Jak’s way, oddly enough. So much was going for him to win right now but this lap just seemed way too easy for the eco warrior.

Daxter blinked “Jak, why is this too easy? I feel uneasy about the situation right now.”

Just as Jak passed the last loop moving toward the finish line on the third lap, it’s when his ranking began to move up toward 3rd place, enough to make Captain Falcon and Black Shadow start paying more attention to the newcomers themselves.

Shadow heard the message from his payees “Hm? Gladly bosses.” The black suited super villain was specifically good at his job after taking on Captain Falcon several times. Now he just wanted to figure out who this “Jak and Daxter person is”

“Uh huh, yeah. Bluish coat, yellowish green hair, orange creature near him with goggles on in third place? Gotcha. I can mess them up real bad.”

It’s when the eco warrior passed the Black shadow’s car just like that and looked back, getting an uneasy feeling coming.

Daxter jumped for a second, also getting that uneasy feeling as well as Jak. It’s when Daxter received a comm from Trez “What?! Are you serious? Th- AHHHHHHH!”

Black shadow grabbed the orange creature and covered his mouth “You’ll be my new minion, strange orange rat!”

The ottsel’s screams only came out as muffles as Black Shadow replied darkly in the ottsel’s speaker radio. (Which he had no idea was connected to Jak, Reez and Trez)

The evil villain smirked and talked slowly “If you want your precious pet back, Jak, I’d advise you mess up right here and now. If not, the ottsel gets to become a personal minion of mine and hope your car is flameproof. Ha.. Haha.. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

Jak sighed, he’d heard too many evil villains laugh their way out of something they can’t seem to win. But this time it was a scary threat. With the threat of his best friend missing and going to be turned into a minion since Black Shadow grabbed him somehow.

Jak was now pissed beyond belief, it was a very real threat. Jak wins this race and risks his friends' life, or gives up here and still loses Daxter.

Black shadow grabbed the ottsel and shoved him into the seat next to him “You’ll do as a bargaining chip.”

The ottsel yelled back at Black shadow, trying to don the ottsel’s speaker. “Fuck you, ugly batman ripoff!”

Black shadow yelled out something as suddenly the eco warrior’s car slammed against the batman rip-off’s car. “Heh, not even the threat of your friend becoming my minion scares you.”

Black Shadow seemed more wanting to use Daxter as a bargaining chip to bring out Jak and Captain Falcon, his arch enemy.

It’s when a lone warrior’s Blue Falcon stopped, and worried about the current chaos happening in the middle of the track. The purple suited man made flashy symbols which made Jak a bit annoyed at first, until he stopped and asked what was wrong..

Daxter struggled in Black Shadow's grasp, trying to bite the man in black spandex.

Captain Falcon couldn’t help but worry for the long eared stranger and looked over at Jak, almost silent “Black Shadow tried to run you out of the race?”

Jak frowned, crossing his arms “Yeah, he’s somehow got my friend. But why should I trust you to help save Daxter? I heard you are a bounty hunter.”

Captain Falcon shook his head “Only on villains. I’ll help you out for now. Consider this a light partnership on the track.”

Black shadow saw Captain Falcon and got mad at him, angry at his attempts to stop the eco warrior from finishing the race. It’s when he grabbed the ottsel and held him out.

“HAHAHAHHA, Captain Falcon you’ll never defeat me!” Black shadow snickers as Jak turns Dark and Captain Falcon lets out his fearsome “Falcon Punch”. A dark eco ball and Falcon’s fearsome punch turns into a fireworks show as they both hit the dark villain as he screams and both went flying into the sky.

“OH, Looks like we get a combo attack here today with Captain Falcon and the newcomer teaming up for a combo of legends! And with that the evil Black Shadowman is out of the race! ”

It’s when Captain Falcon smirks and Jak turns normal “It’s nice working with you, new ally but I say we have a race to finish, isn’t that right, Eco warrior?!”

Daxter landed in Jak’s arms and fistbumped Captain Falcon “He’s kind of goofy you know, Jak? But damn, cool combo move! Now we have a race to win!”

Jak hopped in the car with Daxter and with a two finger salute Captain Falcon started again with Jak next to him.

With a renewed confidence, the eco warrior and the ottsel sped off toward the end of the 4th better and full of confidence. The 5th lap was it. This was for all the marbles. Jak finally sped up, passing racer after racer with a smirk on his face. Captain Falcon kept behind him, seeing the eco warrior had that glint in his eyes saying it was Jak’s time to shine.

Daxter smirked “TURN IT UP, JAK! FULL POWER!”

Jak did what Daxter said and cranked the car as fast as he could. Car after car fell behind the eco warrior now shocked as the man was, Jak felt in his zone now. He felt like the best racer on the track, not some nobody that couldn’t even race. Not even a F-zero race could beat him.

The eco warrior and Captain Falcon were about toe in toe in the battle for the finish line but it was almost too close to catch on video.

“Oh my, it appears Captain Falcon won the race, but wait… I checked the camera and the newcomers crossed first. And the winner is REEZ’S TEAM!”

Jak’s car stopped and both the eco warrior and Daxter took a breath and stood up.

“It was striking as the eco warrior’s mouth fell open as confetti fell upon the racing team and the racers.

Daxter’s mouth was agape when he saw the cash in front of him “Holy shit, that’s a lot of coin.”

Reez wiped the tears off her face as she walked back to her team, sans one member.

Jak looked up “What happened, Reez?”

Trez, he protected you… me from the mobs out there.. He got hurt, injured and he’s unconscious..”

The eco warrior would make good on his words “Nobody dies on my watch.” and eventually go visit the hurt Trez.

But for now, the glory of winning his first F-zero Grand Prix as he got the champion’s giddies as he held up the big Trophy first as the crowd cheered and called out his name “Jak, Jak, Jak, Jak, Jak, Daxter Daxter Daxter, Reez, Reez, He than handed it to Daxter as he lifted it as well. “Here’s to Reez’s team! Daxter handed the trophy over to Reez, who looked like she was going to cry again, holding her first big trophy from the F-zero races.”

Jak frowned then and him and Daxter closed his eyes “This win wasn’t possible without one of our team members out there, His name is Trez. He deserves every part of the win as we do. He couldn’t be there right now because he stood against Arcadia’s mobs and won.”

After all the crowds and cheering had died down for the day, Jak and the others took the trophy to go visit Shinku, the missing teammate that couldn’t celebrate with them.

Once Jak made it there, there was a surprise guest also in Shiku’s room. The Mysterious Captain Falcon.

Daxter hopped on Shinku’s body lightly and handed him the trophy for him to hold “This is for all of us including you, Trez.”

With that, the mysterious Captain Falcon bent down and offered an autograph to the team that beat him in combat and helped Jak out on the track.

Captain Falcon nodded and gave a two finger salute as the team stood together with him and got a picture autographed for all of them to remember.

Jak turned to Trez and nodded, digging for the extra com and set it near Trez. “You still owe me your real name. Also don’t worry, I never go back on my word.”

The eco warrior sighed and said “The extra com has our numbers on it, just in case anything pops up. I’ll be around after an important issue is resolved.”

Daxter blinked, still confused “Wait, Trez isn’t Trez, but Shiku?!!! Jak! Did you know this all along?”

Jak raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms “So it’s Shinku, for a while, you had me going with “Trez” for a long time.”

Reez blinked “Wait, what? Your name is Shiku?”

Reez sighed “We didn’t expect it would go this far. Thank you… all of you for making this a day worth remembering for the rest of our lives.”

Jak turned “Well, it was great winning it all. Our first big race in the crossroads as a team, turned out to be the best day of all our lives.”

“Oh right, uh… Jak signs a picture of him and Daxter together and gives it to Shiku as an autograph. “Just a little token of our appreciation.”

With that, the team all went their separate ways as Reez sat with Shiku until he recovered.

19794+1955= 21788/20000+
 
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Shinku

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Shinku tried to fight for his consciousness, threatened by the view of an unknown figure that slowly approached him. His vision was too blurred to make out an exact description of who or whatever was in front of him, but his instinct told him that this being spelled grave danger.

Out of his desperation to live, Shinku mustered the last of his strength to traverse the shadow realm and escape his frightening foe.

“Oh. All I wanted was for you to stop by and talk. Oh well I guess we can talk some other time.” The mysterious figure disappeared just a few moments after the assassin of shadows escaped through the shadow realm.

A bloody Shinku appeared back at the pit stop, throwing the then confused Reez into a more panicked state.

“Tttttrez? What happened?” Reez stuttered, upon the sudden reappearance of her bodyguard, bathing in his own blood.

“Run...go to the other teams, wherever you think it’s safe. Ttthey’re after you!” Shinku winced in pain, falling to his knees as he tried to keep himself conscious.

“Bbbut….hey where’d you go again?” Confused, Reez tried to make her bodyguard explain what exactly happened, only to witness another disappearance of the young man.

A succession of screams can be heard from Reez upon the emergence of several men with swords from the back entrance of their pitstop. Seven men came into the scene with the last one suddenly stabbed from behind by the assassin of shadows who showed himself among the men, throwing them into sudden disarray.

Finally getting their attention, Shinku decided to conceal himself yet again and then carefully made his way towards another victim. Ignoring his pain, the bloody assassin struck his blade through the heart of another man, then dived into the shadow realm. Before Shinku could delve into the shadows, one of the men was able to impale a sword at his shoulder. The pain of his previous wounds proved detrimental at his current fighting skills, that his actions became slower as they used to. He could only hope that sheer determination could get him through five more opponents.

Reeze could only stand frozen at the scene of his bodyguard’s slaughter. She wanted to scream and ask for help but she can’t muster a single voice to release from her lips. It was a good thing that Shinku was able to throw Reez’s assassins into confusion that the lady seemed out of the picture at the moment for the bloodthirsty men.

Coming from behind, Shinku struck his sword again through another victim, leaving four more opponents alive. Quickly, he swung his sword to defend himself from a sudden attack from his side. With another attack from the other side, Shinku decided to hop backwards then concealed himself again.

It was only by sheer determination that Shinku was still able to manifest his shadow skills. And if not for his stealthy skills, Shinku’s survival might have been a lot lower at this rate. At his disappearance, his opponents rushed towards where they last saw him, then blindly waved their swords in his direction. The act forced the assassin of shadows to traverse the shadow realm yet again and appeared behind the men, quickly slashing down two more opponents. With the final act of desperation, he used the energy in his ring to make him able to move more agilely, then struck down his last foes to the ground. Satisfied, Shinku finally let himself succumb into unconsciousness, upon acting towards the limitation of his own strength.

“Trez…” He can only hear his made up name slipping out of the lips of Reeze before everything around him disappeared into nothingness. With her assassins now down, Reeze was finally able to snap out of her terror and call for help. Almost immediately, a couple of medics rushed their way towards the team’s pit stop and carried an unconscious Shinku towards the floating island’s hospital.

Shinku woke up, with another unfamiliar scenery. A room, painted in all white met his vision with a lady similarly dressed in a white uniform standing beside him.

“You’re finally awake!” The lady greeted with such a tranquil smile, after checking on Shinku.

“Where am I?” A still dreamy Shinku inquired, his voice barely bearing a small hint of strength.

“You're in Falcon Hospital. You came here in a really bad shape.” The lady responded in a similar tranquil tone. Immediately after the response though, the door suddenly opened with the arrival of Reeze and the others who came to visit Shinku.

Shinku was able to recognize most of them except for a stranger who was clad with a purple suit, a yellow scarf and red mask. It wasn’t that long though when he was able to finally recall the stranger as one of the racers back at the tournament.

Somehow, it warmed the assassin of shadows up, who greatly appreciated their visit. He still kept it concealed in his face but he can’t deny how much this current team now meant to him. He felt the warmth of Daxter’s fuzzy feet the moment the ottsel hopped onto his chest and showed him the trophy. He tried to keep his smile to the simplest he could manage as the rest of the team sent their regards.

It was an unforgettable moment, almost the same as the final days of their clan which unfortunately ended in tragedy. He smiled, upon the team’s request for a group photoshoot inside the hospital which served as a memento of their victory at the race track.

“Uhmmm...Thanks everyone. But Jak, I uhhh...still expect you to fulfill your end of the bargain.” Shinku remarked still with his strength barely starting to come back at him.

Shinku was relieved of Jak’s confirmation of fulfilling their deal and on letting him keep the comms device but was surprised by the eco warrior’s mention that he still owes the team his real name. “Of course. It’s Shinku. I think I can trust you anyway so might as well let you have that.” The assassin of shadows responded decisively, finally opening up somehow about himself.

The assassin of shadows could only smile at his perplexed companions upon learning of his real name. “I know, my apologies if I hadn’t trusted you enough. I originally thought I’d only have you guys for our deal but I never expected you to be real friends.”

As they said, all’s well that ends well. Shinku was given a signed photo of Jak and Daxter as a memento, which he accepted with gratitude. Shinku was left at the hospital with Reez who later arranged for his return to the inn at the heart of Arcadia.

Would Shinku finally have his first set of friends at the crossroads to keep? Only fate could tell. For at the moment, an impending doom looms beyond the worlds of the crossroads.

1146 + 21788 = 22934/20000+
 
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