"Life is an awful, ugly place if you don't have your best friend." Sarah Dessen, Someone Like You

Running with the Boys

Chapter II: The Friends

Rider hadn't been home since moving to Haven. He liked the freedom that he gained when he left. He made his own rules, he didn't have to listen to Keira or acknowledge any of the messages she left for him. In the beginning, Keira phoned twice a day, but when her calls and messages went unanswered she only phoned thrice a week. On the other hand, Laney and Wren, left messages as if their lives depended on it. Rider ignored the calls and refused to talk to them; they'd only demand that he call their mother.

Although, living in the metal city reminded him of how much he missed the Wasteland. He missed the way the sand got between his toes and how the cars spun out in the sand. He missed the freedom that he had in the desert. There were no rules to follow or any consequence for things he did. When he did live in Spargus, Rider spent a lot of time in the desert finding treasures for King Sig and the legion of monks that lived on the outskirts. He also spent his time killing Marauders for Wren, although he hadn't done it in a while. Kleiver and Veger sometimes called with an odd job for him, but the idea of hunting down the rare Metal Head gems and Dark Maker skins bored Rider. Sure he got sweet upgrades for the goodies but he wanted something more challenging -and he hadn't found it in Haven. He spent most of the eight months drinking, beating on cage matches, racing and challenging the KG -he also avoided Wren and Laney whenever they were in town.

Jumping off the transporter, Rider took a deep breath of the hot desert air and exhaled loudly. He curled and uncurled his toes, he opened his arms and spun around soaking in the ruthless heat. He stopped spinning to let Bash climb back onto his shoulder, grumbling about how much he hated the Wasteland and the sand.

"You'll never get any colour in Haven," Rider chuckled running to the gates of Spargus. "Too many clouds and rain."

"For your information, I happen to like the rain." Bash snapped. "Where are we going?"

"To see Kleiver."

"Nooo." Bash groaned. "I hate that man. He's basically holding a Precursor hostage!"

"Veger can leave whenever he wants." Rider answered as the doors opened with a great whosh of air. Several cars, including Rider's personal favourite the Sand Shark, sat in a semi-circle in the small garage. To the side were three of Laney's cars, although Wren's car was missing and the wheels of Laney's personal car were gone. Sitting on a stool near the Gila Stomper was Kleiver, a box of tools near his feet and a cane beside him. Rider had hoped that the old man would age gracefully, just like Sig and his grandfather did, but Kleiver, as Daxter normal said, was kicked in the face by father time.

"Well, well, well," Kleiver bellowed. "Look what the kangarats spit up."

"I could say the same thing about you too, old man." Rider glanced around the garage. "When was the last time you cleaned up?"

He chuckled. "Well your mother has kept me very busy lately." Rider glared at the old man and didn't say anything else. "Here for a mission, rugrats?" Rider a sharp nod as Kleiver limped over to the Dune Hopper. "We haven't heard from those useless monks at the temple in the last 3 days, and his highness has ordered me to check on them."

"Let me guess," Bash started. "You're too busy growing in the back of your couch to bother with them?"

"I have other important things to do." Kleiver snapped. "If ya'll go check on those monk boys, I'll give you a couple pretty pennies for your hard work."

"Any chance of a gun upgrade?"

"Kleiver growled. "If you make it back alive and have something of interest with you, I may throw in a scatter and blaster mod."

"I'm holding you to it." Rider remarked and ran to the Dune Hopper. Bash jumped off of Rider's shoulder and into the seat next to him. Revving the engine, the doors opened slowly and Rider floored it out of the garage. He sped over the sandy dunes that stood in front of Spargus and splashed in the small river that divided the city from the Wasteland.

"Marauders! Ten o'clock!" Bash shouted pointing towards the three Marauder vehicles that sped towards them. Rider braked so hard that Bash fell to the floor. "What the Hell man?" Bash shouted. The Marauders spun out in front of them, Rider released a bomb and blew up the car in front of them. Driving forward he collected the power boost, turning to look back, Rider noticed several of the Marauders falling behind. Whenever he came to the desert, the Marauders hunted him with a furious passion and didn't back off even when he entered Spargus. Rider slowed slightly, but reconsidered it and gunned it the rest of the way.

At the entrance to the Precursor Monk Temple, Rider left the Dune Hopper by the waterfall and giant statue of Daxter. "I think my dad may have an ego problem." Bash said looking up at the statue. "Everywhere I go, I see statues erected to him. You'd think someone as popular as he is would remember that trash day is Mondays, and to clean his hair out of the drain after a shower."

Rider shrugged. "At least you have a dad. Jak just left. I don't even really consider him my dad, just a deadbeat with no ambition."

Bash frowned and lowered his ears. "Sorry Rider, I didn't mean-"

"Whatever," Rider interrupted. "Come on, let's check on Seem and the monks so we can get back. Maybe find a treasure from the Dark Days?" Rider bent down slight so Bash could jump on his shoulder, his friend hesitated for a second before leaping on his shoulder.

The great stone door slid open, grinding against the floor and making Rider's skin crawl. He waited a second before walking in, glancing up at the random balconies placed along the wall. Once he considered climbing it but thought better of it and went on with his mission -which was to steal a Dark Maker totem by the doors for Kleiver. The next set of doors opened easily and Rider walked in without any troubles.

"Why do these places have an extraorindary amount of stairs?" Bash asked as the boys walked down the polished stone. "Don't they ever consider putting in an elevator or maybe, I don't know, less stairs?"

"That's what makes them creepy and myterious." Rider grumbled hopping over a small crack in the stairs were water flowed freely. "Would you really want to come to a place that had an elevator to the catacombs?"

"It would've saved us a couple minutes of wandering around."

Rider paused on the fourth step from a landing, in the middle was a vent. Purple fog rose from it's depths, spilling over the stone. Rider stepped down the next step, waiting for something to happen. He hopped down the rest of the way, standing almost on the vent but, like Dark Eco normally did for him, it parted like a crossroads and spilled about around him. Wren told him once that Dark Eco was like a cold fire, burning your bones with an icy thrill that took over your very being. Rider wondered if Jak was disapointed when he found out his son couldn't use Eco, that the very essence of their being, pushed away from the young boy and collected somewhere else -no wonder Jak left, he was a horrible son.

Shrugging off the thought and running into a main chamber. He took the easiest hallway, the one that wasn't flooded. Running down the hallway he came to another room filled with gates and bars, Rider ran past the bars and headed towards the hollowed halls of the temple. He spotted Seem, and his monks, crouched in front of the Precursor Oracle.

"Hey!" Rider called out running up to them. "Sig sent me to check on you guys, he's getting worried because..." He paused and stopped running. "Hey," He asked in a worried tone. "Are you guys okay?" He reached out to touch one of the monks but the monk crumbled under his touch. His limbs fell off his torso and hit the ground in a loud splat. Rider jumped back as the monk's head fell off his head and rolled on the ground, hitting the next monk who collasped into a pile of blood and Dark Eco. At the front of the group, Seem crouched on the platform in front of the statue. Rider ran through the monks, ignoring the wet splats and the gross wetness he felt in his boots. He stopped behind Seem and stepped up the three steps slowly. "Seem...?" He stepped around the monk and gasped.

While Seem wasn't the friend that he wanted as a child, Seem had taught him a lot since he was a kid. He taught him about the Precursor legends, the Metal and Dark wars, and the old leaders of the city. He learned how Rayn and Vidia Krew came to power in Kras, and what that meant for Spargus. Seem taught him about the greatest hero alive, and Rider's personal hero, Mar. Seem taught him that Mar would return one day -Rider hoped it was in his life time. For Seem, though, it was over. Rider hoped to met Mar with Seem by his side but now the monk was reduced to a pile of bloody limbs. Twisted into odd angles, Seem's spine had been twisted three or four times and the monk's shoulders were snapped downwards. A bone stuck out of his neck and blood still dripped from his neck. His eyes were scooped out too, leaving a dark holes that spilled Dark Eco. His mouth opened into an eretnal O that also spilled Dark Eco. Rider backed up, all the monks, every last one of them... dead.

"Greeting young heroes." A voice said behind them, Rider turned quickly to see that the eyes of the oracle were glowing a bluish white. "You're arrival reminds us that there is hope, no matter how young, for this planet. Our hope used to lie with the Legendary Ones but now we turn to the two of you, their Legacies." Rider glanced to Bash before glancing back to the oracle.

"I think you've got the wrong duo," Rider commented. "Our fathers are nothing more than a deadbeat and a bar monkey."

"But there are several Legacies, all with different fates and ideas of unity. Protect the one that lives in beautiful glory and bloody gore. Unite the cities, fix the families and believe in the Legendary Ones."

Rider snorted. "Crazy Precursor junk, see anything we can slavage?"

"Not at the moment," Bash answered glancing around. Why can't warning from anicent beings be more helpful? Like, don't eat that chicken at the bar and invest in some kind of new techologny?"

Rider chuckled. "What about, stay away from that crazy bar maid named Jesse?"

"Dude that was one time!" Bash shouted.

"If I remember correctly," Rider turned around and walked past the monks. "You went back for seconds... after finding out Jesse had a penis."

"I did not! He had a huge bar tab, Dad wanted that money or it'd come out of my pay!"

"I bet he did have something huge for you."

"I hate you." Bash grumbled.

TBC...