A/N: YAY! Double update! Here's the second chapter! -does the (patented… not really) double update dance-

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Disclaimer: If I owned Jak and Daxter, Keira would be a little more like Ashelin coz Ashelin kicks butt. (Well, 'cept for the last scene of Jak 3… -cringe-)

Point being, I don't own Jak and Daxter.

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Why do I even bother including this?

"Dialogue"

'Dark Jak Telepathic Dialogue'

Emphasized Word

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The Rejected

Chapter 10

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Torn crept along through the metallic halls, Sig right behind him. They'd gotten onto the ship along with a lot of Freedom Guard and Wastelander troops, just in case. They'd made offers to Jak, Torn had reasoned, and Jak had declined. And now they were going to rescue Arrah and Dark, the hostages of a might-be war.

He stopped for a second, gazing at a room full of dark, twisted creatures. There were so many. There was no way to get Dark and Arrah out. How would they ever?

Torn turned back around and addressed Sig. "We need someone sneaky to go in and free the hostages."

"What d'ya think? We create a diversion or whatnot?" Sig's eyes glinted.

Torn nodded. Sig smirked, cocking his Peacemaker.

"Well, I can send in a Wastelander to do the job. Hopefully the cell will be open-able."

"Yeah."

"Send your Wastelander in. We start the diversion in five minutes. I'll alert the troops."

"Right-o, cherry."

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The battle raged on inside the ship. Creatures and elves fell alike. It was difficult to see because of the abundance of all the life forms on the ship. 'Chaotic' would be an understatement for both sides.

Torn shouted out and hammered a creature square in the chest with his gun. It toppled over, dead.

Quite suddenly, he heard Sig yelling out. "RETREAT! We've got the hostages! RETREAT!"

Torn turned around and sprinted as fast as his worn body would permit him, rushing through the room towards the hallway that would be the way out. Only one problem: it was blocked.

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There were three beasts guarding the entrance to the hallway that Dark could see. Arrah and some Wastelander that had saved them were with him, peering out at the creatures. Dark frowned, thinking. At last, he came to a solution to the problem:

'I'll go and attack. Cover me and come running right after the creatures are dead.'

Arrah and the other Wastelander nodded.

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Dark rushed towards the creatures, dancing in battle. Arrah observed in silent awe as the warrior hurled sizzling balls of Eco towards the creatures. The warrior was made just to kill. It slightly puzzled her that a thing designed to make war could have a decent personality. But then again, Dark was no 'thing.'

A hoarse shout brought Arrah back to her senses, and she cried out as she saw Dark fall. Going on pure instinct and reflexes, she dashed over to his attacker, pulling out her gun and aiming. She lined the gun with the attacker's head, and placed her hand on the trigger.

She never got to pull it; just as she was about to shoot a creature came behind her and stabbed her in the neck and back. She died instantaneously.

And then there was nothing left but a gun lying on the ground and a corpse covered in blood.

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The remaining troops came pouring out of the ship, running as fast as they might back to the transports that had brought them there. Torn staggered into one and Sig came close behind him.

"We have to get back to Spargus!" exclaimed Sig in a hurry.

"No," Torn fired back, "I have to take my men to Haven!"

Sig grunted. "Just start the thing so we can get out of this with our heads still on!"

Torn fired up the engines and slammed the thing into gear, speeding towards Spargus without a second thought.

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"Alright, good job team!" cheered Keira. They'd just finished building the makeshift fort-city situated closer to Jak's ship than either Spargus or Haven City. Freedom Guard and Wastelander fighters would reside here in case they needed to be called for action in the future if a long war was to break out.

Light smiled. The building had taken three days, and that was very quick, considering the fort was nearly the size of a small city, and might've been mistaken for one.

"What do we call it?" interrogated a Freedom Guard soldier to Keira and Light.

Keira tilted her head in thought. "Why not keep it simple? Does 'Wasteland HQ' sound okay?"

"Sure," commented the Guard. Keira flashed the man a smile.

"Great. We'll have to start posting some troops up soon, both Freedom Guard and Wastelander," stated Light.

Keira nodded. She hoped very much that the forces that would be stationed here would not be needed, but there was always a chance of war that was very real, as declared by Dark after long hours of debating concerning saving Arrah only a few days ago. Were Arrah and Dark all right, anyway? Keira wasn't sure. She couldn't hope they were, for hope wouldn't help her.

Only faith would.

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A/N: Ooh, I like the ending to this one! What do you think?

You know, this might've been a bit rushed… Sorry…

Thanks for reading.

And now cue me to bring out my stack of Harry Potter books. I'm going to try to read them all before The Half-Blood Prince comes out on Saturday. Eep! I love reading! But BEWARE! I AM ARMED!

With what, you ask?

A foot-high stack of hardcover Harry Potter books. BWAHAHAHAHA!