Chapter 11

After getting the device to conceal Jak's new Metalhead friend from Vin (who had no idea why I was wanting a Metalhead in the city, infant or not), but finally caved in when I said that I'd tell Ashelin to upgrade him to the front lines, that making him immediately hand it over to me.

"You don't play fair at all, you know that?!" he complained at me when he gave me the device. It looked pretty cool and it was also shaped like a collar, so it'd be perfect.

"One last tiny thing I could ask of you, Vinny?" I smiled at him playfully.

"Hmph! What is it?" he asked me in an upset manner.

"Jak and I are going to need to put the collar on the baby Metalhead out of plain sight. Do you possibly think that you could wait outside of the place somewhere so Jak and I can put the collar on the little guy in here? We promise we won't hurt anything," I said with big eyes.

"Fine, I'll give you guys five minutes. I expect you far, far away by the time I get back," Vin said.

"Of course. We're going to go to Krew's after this," I said to him.

"Okay," he grumbled as he then left the place and got in a zoomer. Not five seconds after he left on the elevated pathways, Jak and Dax came from the lower pathways to the elevated ones by double seated Zoomer.

"Took ya long enough. So, heard from Torn that you had to go save Ashelin," I smiled at them.

"Yeah, she's not the kind for talking much," Jak admitted.

"Yeah, she has her mother's looks for sure," I smiled... I didn't want to tell them the part about her being the Baron's daughter because then they'd have to ask me if I was her mom.

"You knew her?" Jak asked.

"Used to... she was banished to the wastelands by Praxis during Ashelin's tenth birthday. I should know... I was part of the team that had to take her to the desert... it still gives me guilt that I did that... I didn't want to, but I didn't dare betray Praxis. If I showed even the slightest bit of kindness if I were in the KG, they'd have left me there with her," I sighed, being truthful in all of my words as we then got into the Power Station and I looked at Jak's bag. The one that Minnie and Sammie gave him.

"Okay, I'll let him out now," I said as I then opened the bag and saw that the Metalhead happened to be an infant Scout. I could tell from its arms being large wings.

"Well, we know that it's a Metalhead Scout now that I can see it for myself. They're mainly used as reconnaissance for the Metalhead armies and are very fast and nimble. And as far as I know, if they encounter a fight, they almost always flee the scene. They're runners, not fighters," I smiled as I got the collar to fit right around the hatchling's neck, its form immediately turning into a normal everyday cat ferret. It had the body of a cat and the head of one, but it had a longer body with a long, skinny tail and short legs.

"So how will we know if this little guy is a regular Metalhead outside of the city if he wants to help in fights?" Jak asked.

"Well, luckily, this collar comes with a special remote that can make the transformation go back to normal and back to disguised with the push of a single button," I smiled as I showed off the remote, our group then going out of the place and me simply picking up the baby Metalhead and it actually cooing in its own language when it saw me... but that wasn't the weird part. The weird part? I actually understood what it was saying!

"Mm... momma..." it said, me gasping when I heard it, Jak doing so too.

"Did you hear that?" I asked him.

"Y-Yeah... did the baby say that?" Jak asked.

"He did... I think I heard it too. He called you his momma," Daxter said, me surprised he heard it too.

"I thought only the Metalhead Leader could speak in human tongue... maybe because it's got you as its parent, it's able to talk like us!" I said with a smile.

"Amazing," Jak said. But it was then that I gasped and I remembered.

"Oh shit! We need to get out of here before Vin comes back! He said 5 minutes and we only have 20 seconds left!" I exclaimed, our group immediately dispersing with me carrying the baby Metalhead in my own bag on my back, him not really weighing too much, which made me smile.

"But what do we name it?... It sounded like it was a female voice, after all," I said, saying the truth about that much.

"Hmm... how about Kiki?" Jak asked, me wondering why he chose that name. "I always wanted to have a girl named Kiki," Jak admitted.

"Very well, her name is now Kiki," I smiled at that. We then finally arrived at the Hip Hog Heaven saloon and I kept little Kiki in the bag as we approached the bar and Daxter started to flirt with the bartender, me recognizing her as the female when we first met Torn.

"Hey there, sweetie. You new here? Well what you got that's hot.. and..." Dax said before he the wheels in his brain recognized her. "Wait, I've seen ya before. You're with the Underg-" Dax was about to say before the girl shushed him with two fingers to his mouth.

"Shh! I'm Tess. Torn sent me to spy on Krew," she said, me noticing that Daxter was looking at her cleavage and her eyes at the same time. Maybe she was the one? "Play along, and I'll be able to get my hands on a few of Krew's secrets," she smiled quietly.

"Ooh, I love 'undercover' work, baby. But two can work better than one. Lemme help ya out," Daxter smirked as he hopped behind the bar, Tess giggling at that as he started to chug the different bottles of liquor, me smiling as he started to slowly and slowly get drunker and drunker.

"Jak... I need you and the talking rat to go around town and make a few collections for me," Krew said to Jak, me smiling at him wondering if I could do a job too, Daxter then getting on the counter with a wasted face.

"Hey there, five chins... how's crimes?" he asked with a hiccup, me smiling at that.

"What's his problem, ey?" Krew asked.

"Nothin'. I'm just fine.. hic! Mine yer own bizness," Dax said as he then landed on his back and started to sing a drunken song, me smirking at him and Tess looking to be entertained as well.

"Listen to me, I'm expecting a client of mine to make a few money drops around the town. Your job is to find the 10 moneybags they leave on the ground, and take care of any guards who get curious, hmm? Get to a bag too late, and some townie may pick it up," Krew said, Daxter then sitting up to say some words.

"Ya know what's da trouba wid you, Krew? You got no vizion... Dis place could be a real swingin' joint. Hop Heg Hiven with more drinkin'... more mackin'... more women! Jak knows what I'm talkin' about," Daxter said in his drunken state of mind as Krew began to talk again.

"Just collect all 14 moneybags before they disappear. And if you miss even 1 bag, then DON'T COME BACK, EH?!" he exclaimed, Daxter trying to kiss Jak's hand before I then grabbed onto him by the tail.

"Listen, you go ahead and do that job, I'll handle getting Drunky McOttsel sobered up," I smiled at Jak.

"Sounds fair to me," Jak smiled as he got outside and hopped onto a Zoomer, me looking at Tess with a smile and her already having brewed some coffee.

"Here, Dax. You need some of this," I said to him, forcing his mouth open and making him drink the coffee, him sobering up slightly from the taste.

"Whew... what happened?" Daxter asked.

"Well, you drank a ton of booze and you got wasted, sung a drunken song, started giving suggestions to Krew about how to improve the saloon, and then you tried to kiss Jak," I smiled at him.

"What?! Like I'd ever do that," Daxter frowned.

"I was a witness," Krew said, me smirking as Tess then started to laugh out loud, me giggling as well.

"Never again," Dax frowned.

"Here here," I smiled back at him as I felt Kiki moving a bit in my backpack.

"Looks like someone wants some food... it is nearing dinnertime I guess. Hey Krew? You serve any food in this saloon? Or just booze?" I asked him with a smile as I fished Kiki out of the bag with a smile.

"Is that really a cat ferret? Because it has a special collar on it," Krew asked me.

"Kiki hungee," the baby Metalhead said, me smiling at that.

"Well, Kiki here is actually a baby Metalhead that thinks Jak and I are its parents. She wants some food I guess," I smiled.

"That much I can handle. Besides, a loyal Metalhead warrior could be good for business," Krew smiled.

"Sadly, not Kiki. Metalhead Scouts, which is what she is, are lovers, not fighters. They just do recon work and don't fight at all," I said.

"Still, when it grows to maturity, it could probably fly you pretty far if it wanted to," Krew smiled.

"Yeah, that could work," I smiled.

"No way am I flying on her back. No wings, no flya-da-Ottsel," Daxter frowned.

"Good to have you back, Dax," I smirked at him.