Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Jak and Daxter series. The only things I own so far are Renoa and Symera, my OCs.

Verin: Let the hurt begin!

Jak: What the hell are you talking about?

Verin: Noooooothing

Jak: How many times have I heard that before?

Verin: ^^ Enjoy!

Dark Sand

Chapter 1: The New Arrival

Sinfully black hair fell in front of her bright gold eyes as the teenaged mechanic inspected the engine of the Sand Shark, one of the many vehicles available to the Wastelanders living in Spargus. The desert city was her hometown and she did everything she could to make sure that her friends and family who were part of the elite group stayed safe using the vehicles lined up before her.

Sym leaned over the metal frame of the car to get a better look at the engine and immediately felt and hand on her ass through the fine fabric of her cream colored capris that hung snuggly from her hips and didn't cling to her legs before bunching up at her knees.

"Lookin' good there, Symera," a gruff voice said from behind the girl.

Sym sighed and stood up straight before growling under her breath. "Kleiver, you have three seconds to get your hand off my ass before you end up in a coma for the rest of your life," Sym hissed, clenching her fists at her sides.

The balding man chuckled, making his over large belly jiggle disgustingly as he removed his fat, grubby hand. The teenager immediately turned around so that her rear wasn't exposed to the pedophile and gave him a full on glare with her glowing gold eyes. Kleiver smirked, amused, and shrugged before wobbling off towards the city. When he was almost to the large metal doors, they opened and Damas, the ruler of Spargus came into the sandy area.

"Kleiver, Symera, the radar has picked up a beacon in the Wasteland. You two are coming with me to investigate before a storm kicks up," Damas said hurriedly.

Sym and Kleiver nodded and all three moved over to the Gila, the largest of all the sand vehicles. Symera plucked the keys off of her belt loop and hopped into the driver's seat. "Let's go," the teenager growled before the two other men got into the large truck after her. Damas sat in the front seat beside Sym and Kleiver was in the back, manning the gun. As they moved forward, Sym's foot pressing the gas to the floor, the large steel doors that barricaded against the desert's harsh winds opened up to allow passage. Symera flew out of the sandy garage and across the sand dunes that surrounded the city, headed toward the pulsing green dot on the GPS of the truck.

As they neared their target, Symera stopped the car and all three jumped out. They walked calmly, scanning the desert for marauders or metal-heads as they got closer to the pulsing beacon.

"Looks like we found some live ones," Damas said as they approached the three figures on the ground. One was male who looked only two years older than Symera. The other two were an otsel and a monkey bird.

"Barely it seems," Symera muttered as they got closer to the unconscious group.

Damas pushed the blond haired teenager over on his side and they all saw the blinking beacon in his right hand. Damas crouched down and picked the small device up. "This is the beacon we picked up," he commented and picked the blond up by his collar. "Where did you get this?" he questioned the boy, shaking him slightly. All that happened was the blond opened his eyes briefly before they rolled back into his head. Damas let the boy drop and stood up. "We'll take them with us. Hurry!" he said and looked off into the distance, "I smell a storm coming."

"So are you going to go watch the match, Sym?" said the small brunette that leaned against the Sand Shark. This was Renoa, Sym's best friend. The girl wore a short sleeved red shirt that showed midrift and dark gray short shorts along with her knee high leg wrappings that connected to her shoes and kept the sandy winds from biting her skin.

"I guess I could take a break for a while. It'll get me away from Kleiver, too," Sym said from under the Sand Shark. She had tied her hair up and it now lay over her shoulder as she was on her back, working on the breaks for the car. Her booted feet stuck out from under the vehicle as she worked. "What time did Damas say it would be?" Sym asked.

"Sometime around midday," Renoa said, staring at the far wall.

Symera rolled out from underneath the car and got on her feet. Her white tank top that showed her own midrift remained miraculously stain free from working with the undercarriage. The many earrings that pierced her long pointed ears multiple times reflected the sun slightly as she looked at her friend. "Then I guess we'd better get going, eh?" she suggested with a smile.

Renoa smiled and pushed herself away from the Sand Shark as Symera led her away from the garage.

Symera leaned against one of the stone pillars of a balcony close to Damas' throne as she watched the match. Renoa leaned against the banister as she watched the match intently. The kid was taking out the course quickly and Symera knew that Damas would put him in a match right after he finished the minuscule training.

When he was done, the blond boy jumped up on the stand in front of Damas and waited for his next task.

"The candidates have won the challenge!"The colorful monkey bird said.

"That's right! We bad! Haven't forgotten what I taught you, Jak," the orange otsel said from the blonde's shoulder.

"Anyone can make a few measly jumps!" Damas declared. "Now let's see how you fair against the living," Damas said as he tossed a morph gun to the blond. "Adjust the metaformers! Prepare the arena for full combat!"

"Prepare the arena for full combat!" the bird said.

"I just said that," Damas said glaring at the colorful seed eater.

"I know…I was just doing as you know…" the bird cleared his throat at the glare Damas gave him. "Anyways…prepare the warriors!"

"Y-You mean we have to fight against a-actual people? W-with actual weapons? W-who actually want to hurt us?" the otsel said as he began to chew on his fingers.

"That's fine," the blond said, cool and confident as he loaded the gun, "Bring 'em on."

"Alright! That's it!" the otsel said, jumping down from the blonde's shoulder. "I wanna be on his shoulder!" he said pointing up at Damas.

"C'mon, Dax," the teenager said and grabbed the otsel before they jumped down to the arena. He waited patiently until the marauders began to jump from their cells. He began to fire his blaster gun, occasionally punching or kicking them into the lava surrounding them. Towards the end, a change began to spark in him and his skin turned ash pale along with his hair. Horns sprouted from his head and his nails extended into black claws. The last thing to be seen before he went wild and destroyed the rest of his enemies, were the black eyes and streams of purple electricity following him.

Sym heard Renoa gasp in fright as he changed into the monster before them.

"Symera, you recognize that don't you?" said a voice from behind the two girls.

Symera didn't need to look over her shoulder to see who was there. She knew right away. "Hello, cousin," the black haired girl said.

Seem stepped up beside the mechanic and stared down into the arena as the beast finished off the last marauder. "He's the same as you, Symera," the young monk said.

"Yea, but he's lost all control. I've never done that," Sym said without taking her eyes off the boy turned beast. He began to go up the steps to get to Damas' throne. When he got there he reverted back to his normal form. He ran his hands over his face before his head jerked up and he looked in Symera's and Seem's direction. A frown was on both of their faces.

"Something you're not telling us, animal man?" Damas started, pulling his attention away from the cousins.

"He has been touched with Dark Eco, my Liege," the bird brain said.

"Our boy here gets all mean and nasty when you piss him off, so don't piss him off!" the otsel said and moved his left hand to the right side of his mouth. "Word to the wise," he added.

"Ah…then he is dangerous and that could be useful," Damas said thoughtfully. "Your bravery has earned you your first battle amulet. If you are victorious to two more arena fights, you will earn your citizenship to Spargus. Here is a free gate pass to allow passage in and out of the city. But be warned, there is no true refuge outside our walls. The desert is less kind than I. And for your victory, a gun mod is your prize," Damas said.

"Ah Yeah! Now we're talkin'!" the orange otsel exclaimed as he made a go for the gun mod. Before he could lay hands on it though, the blond took it from under his nose and walked away. "Hey! What do I get?" the otsel said then turned his head down in defeat. "Nothing! As usual!"

The blond attached the gun mod and looked back up to where the cousins had been. Only one of the two was still there and she gave him a golden eyed look before closing her eyes, smirking and leading the short brunette with her away.

Verin: OMG!!! I rock! 2 hours!

Jak: Calm down!

Verin: No! Shut-up, Blondie!

Jak: O.o You're a red-head! What the hell?

Verin: Red-heads are smart. Definitely smarter than men with green goatees!

Jak: Why you lil…. (growl growl)

Verin: Eek! (hides behind Jinx) Jinx! Protect me and I'll buy you some gunpowder and cigars!

Jinx: Ok! (protects Verin)

After war…

Verin: I love you, Jinx! You're my hero! (glomps)

Jinx: Lawl