Note: Chapter 5 might come the week after next week. Lisa's been busy with some family things, the fact that someone hacked her old email account & she went to her new one, one of her brother's had messed with the internet connection so she doesn't have any kind of help for her story referencing and other projects she's been working on. Just to let you know. And no, it won't take six weeks like it did in our last story. This is a promise that will be kept... or else she will get hit with Michelle's Japanese fan.

Lisa: I'm also getting mad because of having multiple nosebleeds for no reason... okay maybe there's one reason but I'm not alone on this one... -looks at Marielle-

Marielle: I blame myself for becoming a fan of Total Drama Island...

Izzy: Ha! You two are such dorks! It's not even a real reality TV show.

Lisa: It's still awesome, you dick!

Marielle: Yeah! I want Duncan to win!

Lisa and Izzy: ...

Marielle: . what?

Izzy: Nothing... Just let Lisa read the summary...

Wow... we nearly died out there... and looks like I might just meet someone I shouldn't meet... Ode joy... life is just getting a bit too exciting for me...

Chapter 4
Fighting over Fire & Problems on the Second Day

Lisa slowly woke up as she felt herself floating in a pool of... water? She quickly sat up as the pool was only a foot deep, looking around frantically. She noticed that her hair was now drenched and her clothes were replaced with a brown long dress with a hood. Looking behind her, she saw Jak smiling at her while Daxter was talking about how the water was better than the desert, which she agreed silently as she stood up.

Her feet were bare as she felt cold stone under her feet. "I can't believe we're alive," she murmured when she sat across from Jak.

"Believe me, sister," Daxter said as he swam in the water. "If we were dead, you'll have wings on ya."

She gave him a narrowed eye look with a smirk before noticing someone walking toward them. Turning around, she saw an older man who had a strong build. In his right hand, he held a large staff that had a gun mod. "Well, you've come back from the dead have you? And my monks were ready to pray for you," he said as he pointed to himself. "I am Damas, King of Spargus."

Lisa then stood up in the water as she placed her hands together with her left hand in her palm, bowing as she said, "I am Lisa and these are my friends, Jak and Daxter."

Jak nodded as he was about to turn away when something he found odd hit him. "Spargus? Wait, nobody lives outside Haven's walls... not a whole city."

"Ahh yes... we are the forgotten ones," Damas explained as he walked down steps. "Haven City's refuse, thrown out and left to die, just as you were." Jak stood up to stand in front of Lisa as he pushed her behind him. Daxter quickly jumped on his shoulder as he tried to look serious, and not scared. "But now that you have been saved, your life belongs to the people of Spargus. And we will use it well, if it's actually worth anything."

"Hey! That sounds like a bad deal!" Daxter stated as he then looked mad.

"You are in no position to deal," Damas said as he walked away from them. "Out here everything is either useful or dead weight. Prove yourselves worthy, or the desert will be your grave."

He then looked at the girl behind Jak as he pointed at her with the staff. "And that includes you, child."

"You need to work on making a better first impression," Jak snarled as he then added. "She isn't going to fight."

"Ha ha ha!" the king of Spargus laughed. "In the unforgiving Wasteland we value strength and survival above all. We will see where you stand soon enough. Complete your training, then enter the arena. Just the bravest crawl out and are allowed to stay in Spargus. It's quite simple really."

"Or she'll be cast out into the desert and die there," Damas said. "Now either both of you join your comrade in the arena, or only one of you go."

"How come no one includes me in the hard choices," Daxter moaned as he plopped on Jak's shoulder. Jak was about to say something when Lisa stepped to his side and said, "I'll fight for my right to stay here, sir."

"Lisa..." Jak looked at her worried as she turned to look at him. She then smirked as she punched the air before holding her right upper arm and said, "No need to worry about me, Jak. Since then, I've learned some tricks so you wouldn't have to baby sit me like you did last year... or was it two years?"

Daxter laughed nervously as he corrected her. "It has been a year here, toots."

The Filipino laughed nervously as she scratched the back of her head. "Anyways, you don't have to watch out for me so much now. I'll be sure to call for your help when I really need it, I promise."

"I'm afraid you will have to fight not together," Damas said, seeing Jak and Daxter stare at him with disbelief.

"You can't be serious," Jak said as Daxter was ready to retaliate when Lisa grabbed the Ottsel's neck.

"I agree to the terms, sir," she said as the king nodded his head and began to walk away. Lisa waited a few seconds before letting go Daxter, the former human breath hard, before asking, "Um, what happens to the ones that don't crawl out?"

Damas stopped in mid step as he turned to look at him and answered, "Then it will be as if we never found you."

Lisa heard Daxter gulp and said, "I was afraid you'll say that." The girl laughed as she patted the Ottsel's head.

"Don't worry, Dax," she said as she stepped on to the stone, some dust lifted as she stepped in the slightly dirt-covered ground. "We'll get out of this. I know we will."

"How can you be so happy when your life is on the line?" Daxter said as he had jumped on her and grabbed the collar of her dress, pulling her foward to make her stare at him as his furry forehead touched hers. She simply and gently pulled him of and set him on the ground.

"We'll just have to get through this and I know we can," the girl said as she looked at Jak. He still had a worried look on his face as she sighed and said, "Trust me, Jak. I'm not that little girl anymore. I've grown up a bit."

She turned around and was headed toward where she assumed the entrance to the arena was when she tripped over an over-layered stone as she fell foward, yelping in surprise. Jak was about to reach out to catch her, but he was already too late as she was laying face flat on the floor. "I'm okay..." she muttered as she quickly got up, dusting the dirt off her dress. "Where are my other clothes?"

Lisa then realized that something else was missing as she glanced around and asked, "Where's Crux?"

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Four hours later...

3rd Day, 12:04 p.m.
Spargus Arena
Waiting Room

Markus sat on a bench as Crux floated near him. She then lowered to look at him as she asked, "Ku?" Looking up, he smiled as he patted the doll's head. "I'm sure she's okay," he answered before hearing the doors opening, seeing his sister and Jak enter. Lisa was wearing the same clothings he had first saw her while Jak looked slightly different. His hair was cut short and was spiked up. His scarf was now flowing in the air and he wore a blue tang top. He wore a brown tunic around his waist that went above his knees and wore white pants that were tucked into his blue boots.

Markus personally hated the new look as he noticed his sister blushing at the close proximity between them. Sighing, he walked over to his sister and pulled her away from Jak. He bent down to be eye level with her as she was still shorter than him, but was now a few inches shorter than Jak.

It was still short in his books though. "I want you to be careful once you step out there, sis," he said.

"Why, Markus," she said, acting offended. "I thought we weren't going to be acting like siblings since you didn't know me too well."

He heard Jak snicker and Daxter laughing loudly, not caring that the former twin was glaring at them. "Look, you might face some trouble so I want you to be careful and ready for what comes. You promise?" he asked as he held out his hand.

Lisa nodded her head as she held his hand before seeing someone enter the room. He had brown hair and green eyes as his hair was short but was slightly covering his left eye. "The girl's up first," he said.

Lisa stood up straight as she inhaled deeply and let it out slowly. Crux floated near her, as if taking her place as the girl's partner. Smiling, she gave a thumbs up to her brother and Jak before running off to the platform which would bring her to the arena.

Once the doors close and the platform began to rise, she noticed that the man was still next to her. After a few long quiet seconds, she then said, "I'm Lisa. What's your name?"

The man was slightly caught by surprise as he looked at her and back up before looking down at her again. Pointing at himself, he soon realized that she was indeed talking to her. "Um... Taiki... why are you asking?"

She then looked foward as she said, "Just asking."

Taiki looked at her oddly as he then looked foward as well. The platform stopped as he urged her forward on to a different platform. Crux stayed with her as she noticed that she was standing in front of the king. She then heard a familiar voice as it said, "Hail all citizens of Spargus! Welcome to the arena of death. Where we get to watch other people wet themselves in fear! These halls will once again test two newcomers, each fighting to prove their worth to stay among us."

Trying to get a better vision, she noticed a bird flapping his wings. "Hey, it's Pecker," Lisa exclaimed as the bird was now perched on the arm rest of the throne. "How are you?"

"Better than ever, my darling senorita," he said as he bowed. Lisa laughed as she did a curtsy, even though she wasn't wearing her dress anymore. "I am Damas' new counselor."

"Good for you, Pecker," she congratulated. She then saw Pecker fly up and flap his wings until he was hover in front of her. "I have to warn you. The fights before yours, not so good. So just be careful."

Lisa nodded her head as Pecker announced for the trial to start. She then jumped down to that wooden platforms as she heard Pecker announcing her goal. To no surprise, she had to collect 35 tokens in order to continue.

"This should be easy," Lisa said as she cracked her knuckles and snatched the first token that was in front of her.

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3rd Day, 12:11 p.m.
Haven City
Water Port

"So no one told you life was gonna be this way," Izzy sang out quietly as he looked around. Lucky for him, he had his Ipod with him as he was listening to the Friends' theme song.

"Your jobs a joke, you're broke, your love life's D.O.A," he continued as he then saw the Naughty Ottsel, the devil furry animal statue above the sign in all its glory.

"It's like you're always stuck in second gear," he said as he got close to the door. "And it's been your day, your week, your month, or even your year, but..."

He then opened the door, singly loudly. "I'll be there for you!" Just as he entered, he nearly got hit in the face by a glass cup as it shattered just inches from his head. Looking around, he saw a really drunk man throwing a bottle around.

"Um... excuse me?" Izzy asked as he got closer, but quickly ducked when he was answered by a bottle flinged at him. "Oh my god! Watch it, you drunky!"

"Who are you calling drunk, mate?" the man turned as he was obviously drunk out of his mind. Izzy stared at him questionably until he realized who it was.

"Jack Sparrow?!" The said man turned to look at the boy and stood up slowly, though it was hard since he was nearly drunk out of his mind... as always.

"I see my reputation percieves me," Jack said as he walked around the fighting ring. "but the name's Captain Jack Sparrow, lad."

"But you're just a... I mean... woah!" Izzy said, almost speechless. He had heard about him from Lisa's friend, Vannesa, but he didn't think he would exist here and be drinking the bar's supply of rum.

The man took another swig from the bottle before asking, "So what can I do for you, mate? Daxter didn't come to make you tell me about my tab, did he?"

Izzy shook his head as the man continued to walk past him and looked out the door before turning to look at the Filipino boy. "So, who are you supposed to have such blood connections that will let gain access to this awkward but very nice place that many call home but have very short time due our little squabble over this metal piece of land we call a city?" the pirate asked, pointing at the man.

"Who am I... say what?... Oh! You mean who am I related to?" Izzy said. "Well, I'm just a cousin to Lisa, the girl that got exiled with Jak and Markus."

He was then answered but being spurted on with rum and spit as Jack stared at him with shock. "The ex-twin and anger management boy were kicked out of here?"

Wiping off the liquid from his face, Isaiah stared at him as he added, "And Daxter too, which is why I am here. I'm here to make sure... um... nothing goes wrong."

However, his voice was unaudible due to the techno music that the pirate was now playing while he seemed to be partying by himself. "Oh yeah," he muttered to himself. "This is going to be really fun..."

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3rd Day, 12:54 p.m.
Spargus Arena

"Dude, that chick is fast," Tucker said as he watched from the stands. Church sat with him as they and Sister watched the young girl simply avoid the holographic soldiers while simply nudging them in to the lava.

"Oh yeah! You go, girl! Show what us females can really do!" Sister shouted as her brown highlighted hair flowed as she clapped her hands and jumped for joy. Church was about to add his own comment when the girl grabbed the last token before she dodged a blaster shot, causing the crowd to scream with satisfaction. This caused Sister to upper cut him in the chin as she jumped out of her seat, whooping her lungs out. "That's the way to go, girl!"

Tucker looked over to Church but turned to see the girl going toward Damas.

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"We did," Lisa gasped out in relief, falling to her knees while the doll floated to be level with her. The girl coughed slightly, but she calmed herself from going into a frenzy of them as she looked at Damas.

"Your speed has earned you your first Battle Amulet," the king said as he tossed some kind of curved tube to her. "If you are victorious in two more arena fights, you will earn your citizenship to Spargus. Here is a gate pass to allow free passage in and out of the city." He tossed another item, an emblem of some kind before Lisa looked up to listen. "But, beware there is no true refuge outside our walls. The desert is less kind than I."

Lisa bowed before she saw a bridge connect the platform she was on to corridor. Upon entering and out of sight from the crowds, she then started to go into a frenzy of coughing as she fell to her knees, holding her throat. "Crux," she gasped out as she turned to the doll who was obviously worried. "Need... water... please..."

The doll nodded and searched the room until she noticed a bucket of water with a ladle, obviously for the warriors that pass through here to refresh. The doll quickly got the bucket and ladle, already sure that it was clean and safe enough to drink, and was about to fly back to the thirsty girl when someone snatched the bucket from her. Looking back, she saw a man with black spiked hair and brown eyes that were glaring at her. "Get your own water, you floating piece of wood," said the man before walking away with the bucket.

Crux quickly flew back to Lisa as she was starting to turn red, the coughs becoming worse as her voice was now hoarse. She was ready to try and carry her when someone knelt beside her and picked up the girl, holding her head as he held a glass of water to her. "She must have taken in too much of the lava fumes," he deducted as the girl drank the water greedily. "Steady, or you might choke."

Finishing the drink and satisfied, Lisa sat up while holding her throat as she turned to see Taiki holding the glass. "Th... thanks..." she let out with a sigh of relief.

"No thanks, neccessary," he said with the same stoic face. "It's just so... odd to find you here."

Lisa then stared at him before standing up and backing into the wall behind her. "Ex... excuse me?" she asked in pure shock. "I don't think we've met before."

Taiki shook his head as he stood up, placed his hands in his pants' pcckets and said, "You really don't recognize me, do you?"

"Well, I have been having memory problems the last time I was in the city," she admitted, but it sounded a bit like a lie for an odd reason. "So, if I should know you, then I'm really sorry."

What the boy did next, she didn't expect him to; he knelt down with his left arm over his bent knee and bowed to her. "I am a servant of the now deceased Aero clan, Taiki. You are indeed Lisa, daughter of Kanji and twin of Sara."

"You're... from that clan?" she muttered out loud as she thought. "But I thought Markus said that he and I were the last of our clan."

The man kept his head down before saying, "I am slightly ashamed that I didn't recognize you on that platform when you spoke to me. I am also ashamed that I shouldn't be in your presence."

"What do you mean?" she asked but didn't get her answer when she heard a loud horn, signaling another battle. She then quickly remembered how the game went at that moment; Jak was to fight some monsters and then he'll...

She turned and ran toward the end of the corridor as the bridge was now gone. Looking downward, she saw Jak and Markus fighting against hordes of holographic warriors who kept coming after they took one down.

Arena Level

"I can't believe this!" Markus exclaimed as he kicked another warrior into the lava. "This is too easy! I don't even need this gun!"

"I wouldn't start getting cocky, Markus!" Jak shouted at him as he shot at a warrior that was coming at him from behind and did a punch that caused the warrior in front of him to disintergrate. He then froze as he looked downward at where the warrior once laid, seeing orbs of... Dark Eco. He didn't have time to get away as his body soon asborbed the eco, the familiar purple lightling sparked around his body.

"Damn it..." he cursed as he tried to control himself before looking at his hands, seeing them turn pale and the nails grew longer and black. He didn't notice the lava coming but Markus was able to grab him and place him on one of the four stone platforms before he became a charred man. "Get... away from... me... Markus," he warned as he felt his grip on himself was loosing.

The former twin looked down at the man, seeing his hair turned silver. He was about to greet Dark when it suddenly hit him; Dark was able to find rest after the ordeal a few months ago. Grabbing Daxter and placing him on his shoulder, Markus quickly jumped toward another platform as he kicked off a warrior into the lava.

"Jak! Don't let the Dark Eco control you!" the Ottsel shouted, but his voice was unheard as Jak screamed in pain, the transformation was complete.

Markus muttered a curse as he jumped to yet another platform when Jak jumped toward him, his claws bearing no mercy. The lava then lowered, letting Markus stand on the lower level of the arena.

"Jak!"

The twin looked up to the source of the voice, seeing his blood sister watching from a corridor with another person. He was about to shout for them to leave when he was hit in the back by one of the warriors. Turning around on his back, Daxter was now on his chest, telling him to get up. Before he could, he came face to face with a gun barrel in his face.

Markus could do nothing but laugh quietly. "So, this is how I'm going to finally die?" he questioned but looked surprised when Jak came out of nowhere and sliced at the warrior, making him disappear and taking the Dark Eco that appeared.

The former twin was ready to fight when he noticed something familiar; the black hair and the cocky look. "Oh god no..." he muttered.

Daxter looked with an open mouth as he said, "No freaking way!"

The man cut down another warrior as he exclaimed, "Oh yeah, baby! Dark is back and here to stay!"

Markus just gawked as Dark kept on knocking out any warrior that got close and taking the Dark Eco. "It just feels good to be back!" he exclaimed. He then notice that the lava was rising again as he grabbed Markus by the back of his collar and Daxter by his tail, bringing them both up to the higher platforms.

Back up at Lisa's view, she shook her head as she recognized the black hair and the obvious cocky rantings as she said, "I hope the others are doing okay back at Haven."

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"I told you not to flip the table!" Neko shouted as she and Michelle were running toward Main Town with a large group of KG bots.

"God damn it!" Michelle snapped back her. "Scold me one more time and I'll knock the puberty outta ya!"

The African girl shook her head until they reached a large grassy area, typically they have reached Main Town. Michelle noticed this as she turned around, took out her guns, and fired at the KG bots. Although the bullets hit their mark, it didn't do much more than make a scratch on the metal armor. Cursing to herself, she then ran out of bullets as she threw the guns at the KG bots and running to catch up with Neko.

"So what now?" Michelle asked. Neko wasn't sure how to answer until she noticed something happening ahead of them. There was a group of Freedom League soldiers fighting against a large Metal Head and a bunch of small hatchlings.

"Lead them over there!" Neko ran over to one of the soldiers as she then jumped on him and quickly pushed off before summoning her Keyblade. The large Metal Head looked at her before getting klonked hard on the head by the metal blade. Michelle skidded under the monster as she continued running when she was behind it. Neko ran over the creature and followed, leaving the KG bots, the soldiers, and the Metal Heads to fight each other.

"Do you think Torn would know what we did?" Neko asked as MIchelle shrugged her shoulders.

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Freedom League HQ
Control Room

"What are those girls doing? They should be fighting, not doing acrobatical manuvers!" Torn shouted as Jhenifer began to clean out her ear, suspecting that she had gone deaf due to the volume of the man's voice.

"Sir, I think we should fall back," Jhenifer suggested. Torn was ready to snap at her when she hastily pointed out that a group of KG bots were near the grids. The tattoed general cursed as he left the control room after saying to Jhenifer, "Stay here! I need someone to relay orders just in case I get cut off from here."

Once he left the door, Jhenifer just stood there as she hopelessly looked at the reader. "We are so going to lose because of me," she said as she then turned on the communications, hearing a bunch of chatter and screams. "Why did I have to be one in charge of Markus' position?"

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3rd Day, 1:49 p.m.
Spargus Arena

"You guys did it!" Lisa cheered as she hugged Jak, her arms linked around his neck as she laughed in relief.

"Yeah, thanks to me," Daxter said as he inspected his nails. Markus and Jak had just entered the corridor right after getting the same speech that Lisa recieved when she finished her trial. "And it's obvious that you passed too, princess."

The Filipino laughed as Markus patted her head. She then noticed that Taiki was still standing off from the group as she let go of Jak and stood with Taiki. "Markus, do you know this guy?" she asked as she pushed Taiki more in to the light. Taiki stared at Markus and vice versa. There was a sudden dark vibe passing between the two as Taiki looked slightly nervous while Markus stared down at him.

Lisa was caught be surprise when Markus pulled her away from Taiki and into Jak's arms. "What are you doing here, henshu?" he demanded as he stepped forward while Taiki stepped back.

"I'm sorry, sir," Taiki quickly said as he fell to his knees, bowing in front of the former twin. "I know I shouldn't have given my presence to her. I should have stayed anonymous."

"Markus," Lisa said as she slowly stepped closer to her blood brother. "What's going on?"

Markus let out a frustrated sigh before saying, "I don't want you to go near this man. He's not one of us anymore." He then grabbed her arm and pulled her passed Taiki, Jak followed with Daxter looking from his shoulder. As they continued out of the corridor, they soon entered the city of Spargus. Looking around, it seemed kind of like a desert village that Lisa had seen a lot in the RPG games she used to play when she was younger. As she stepped forward, she was stopped by a spear that landed right at her feet. In surprise she fell back as her butt landed in the sandy dirt.

Looking up, she saw a rather large man with a beard along with the boy from earlier that had nearly killed her. "Sorry about that, kid," the black haired boy said as he picked up the spear. "Didn't see you there."

Although it was obvious that he was aiming for her, Daxter lept to stand on the girl's head as he said, "Hey, watch it buddy!"

"Or what?" the black haired man inquired as he held the pointed end of the spear in the Ottsel's face. Daxter gulped as he said, "Nothing!"

He then went back to Jak as the blonde helped Lisa up and pushed her behind him with Markus. "Who are you?" Markus asked, but it sounded more like he was demanding.

"The name's Kleiver, and I'm the one running these parts," said the large man as he stepped foward while the other stepped back. "And this is Kojima, my apprentice."

"Hmph... I thought Damas was the king," Markus stated sarcastically while Lisa giggled.

"Hey! You better watch what you say, outsider," said Kojima as he glared at the former twin. "You have no say whatsoever in these parts!"

Jak then whispered to Daxter. "Boy, someone's very touchy." Apparently, Jak said a bit too loud as Kojima was now fuming with anger before storming off.

"Better be careful who you anger in this city," Kleiver warned. "Or you might end up dead in the Wasteland."

The two then left, leaving the four to stand in the street with no clue what to do next.

"Hey, look over there!" Daxter exclaimed as he pulled Jak's scarf to make him look at a large area where there seemed to be a large purple machine in the middle. As they walked toward it, Lisa held on to Markus's arm as she looked back, seeing Taiki watching them from the corridor.

I wonder... what did that boy do to make Markus so angry with him?

To be Continued...

Lisa: Okay! So we shall start off with the review replies. Who wants to do them?

Izzy: Oh! Me! Me! I want to do them! Ahem!

NightmareAngel365: LOL... that was Lisa's reaction when she first saw that cutscene when we first played the game. XD good times... good times...

GamerGirl1993: OMFG... dude, that is just like the time when Lisa was nearly chased down by these blue wearing gang. I guess because she was wearing red... anyways, hope this chapter cheers you up too... even though it seems a bit fast paced from where I'm standing.

Paradise Eco: -sees butterfly- wow... pretty... -shakes head- WTF?! Well... thanks for the review and yeah for them not dying in the desert! It would have sucked!

newhi: ROFL! Lisa! Michelle! There's another person who knows about the 24 hour tag! ROFL! Awesome! I loved the picture show punishment. It was hilarious! They ran for no reason!!

Lisa: ... um... okay... well time for preview! Take it away, Lucan-sensei!

Lucan: -shrugs- Whatever...

Thankfully alive and well, Lisa, Jak, Markus, and Daxter tour the city of Spargus while also getting used to their new sleeping quarters. Oddly enough, Lisa seems to be a bit distant with Jak as she seems to be not wanting help from anyone when she gets into trouble with Kojima. Why is she being stubborn? And back at the city, Isaiah and Jack Sparrow find Torn a bit torn up from trying to get past the grid. Now cut off from main headquarters, Torn turns the Naughty Ottsel into the temporary HQ which brings a few complaints from some soldiers. And lastly... where the hell am I?!

Next time on Jak 3: Life in the Wasteland and New Haven...

Chapter 5: No Help & No Rum

Lisa: See you guys two weeks from now! Now time to work on the internet so we can Youtube videos again!

Izzy: Onward!!