Lizzy: Hi ya'all, I'm back. ***snickers*** ya'all is my new favourite word! I kinda wish I had a Southern accent though…
Ashlin: ***walks in with a confused look on her face*** Lizzy, have you seen Torn? He's supposed to take me out this evening, but he never showed up. Is he still trying to kill you?
Lizzy: ***looks away innocently*** Torn…? Oh no, I haven't seen him. He gave up chasing me a while ago.
Ashlin: ***looks at Lizzy suspiciously*** are you sure? He seemed
pretty angry that you're making him sing a 'love song' in this chapter. I have
thought that if he wasn't picking me up he was coming after you. ***there is a
loud thump*** what was that?
Lizzy: ***innocent eyes*** hmmm? What? I didn't hear anything. Maybe you're
imagining things… ***kicks both tied up Torn and Jak hidden under desk***
Ashlin: Alright… if you see him tell him I'm looking for him and if you see Jak tell him Keira's on the prowl. ***looks at Lizzy's tightened face*** I'm just going to walk away now…
Lizzy: ***smiles falsely and waves*** bye-bye. Whew, that was close. The last thing I need is crazy psycho lady kicking my ass because I tied up her equally crazy-ass boyfriend. ***glares down at Jak*** now are you going to say the disclaimer or am I going to have to get the rabid fangirls out here?
Jak: ***moans*** anything but that. ***sighs*** okay, okay. Lizzy doesn't own anything, got it? We belong to Naughty Dog Inc. and the lyrics she's forcing us to say belongs to a guy named Joss Whedon.
Lizzy: Oh and thanks to RuneAyame, Robin C, kizna1200, Yamislover, Lexiter Jackson, Shark, fanatic, Crossover Authoress, Miyuki, Necralis, and Azzi Vile for reviewing. You guys ROCK! Keep reviewing And now, on with the chapter!
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Chapter Two- Love and a Duet, TooWhile Samos and Keira went home to do extensive research on 'dancing and/or singing demons' Tess and Daxter had to keep an eye on the town folk of Haven City. Keira had nearly had a heart attack when she had been walking down the street and a man had danced to hard and blown up into a pile of smoke.
"OH MY GOD!" Keira had whispered, trembling in Jak's protective embrace. Jak, for his part, had looked a little uneasy, "He was there and then he wasn't!"
"He's a magician?" Daxter asked, blinking.
"NO, furball!" Samos snapped, looking ready to hit Daxter on his furry head with his wood stick, "Apparently, if people sing to hard or dance for that matter then they'll explode."
Daxter looked around nervously, "Ah, how long do we have to sing in order to explode? We were singing pretty hard back there in my bar." Daxter always liked to emphasize the fact that he now owned Krew's former bar the HepHog
Sig shrugged, "Who knows. Maybe we shouldn't try to find out. But I'll tell you cherries one thing, having people blowing up left and right will be a perfect opportunity for Metal Heads to attack."
"He's right." Jak said, nodding to Sig, "Dax, you and Tess better patrol the city and try to stop anyone who looks like they're singing to hard."
"HEY WAIT!" Daxter shouted, "What about you, buddy? What are you going to be doing?" It was a little scary, Daxter admitted, to think he would be without his partner. It wasn't something he did often and then the few times it happened it never turned out well.
"I'm going to sleep." Jak said and walked out of the newly renamed Naughty Ottsel. Keira watched him go, looking worried.
"Did you ever get the feeling that Jak seems… I dunno… different somehow?" Keira asked, "I mean from the Jak he was before Kor died. The angry one, not the young one."
"We'll have to keep an eye on him." Samos muttered.
"Hey," Daxter said suddenly, noticing that three members of their group were missing, "where are Ashlin and Torn and Brutter?"
"Oh, Ashlin and Torn had some important government thing to do." Sig explained, "Obviously I didn't ask much about it since I don't do the government and Brutter was muttering something about a recipe for ottsel soup."
If he could have, Daxter would've paled. Instead and he jumped onto Tess's shoulder and said, "Let's go, sweet checks. I don't wanna be around here when Brutter comes back."
Tess chucked and they exited the Naughty Ottsel.
Now, Daxter and Tess where walking down the farm area of Haven City, soaking up the sun rays. Behind them the voices of many solos, duets, and group songs could be heard but there was no smoke so they figured there was no cause for alarm. If someone seemed to be going all out, then they'd worry.
Daxter looked down from his perch on Tess's shoulder and almost sighed. Tess looked very pretty in the sunlight, he decided. The bright light from their green sun made her silvery blonde hair sparkle and her blues eyes twinkle.
But she'll never see me as more then a pet or a cute cuddly animal, Daxter thought grimly and looked away. On the outside Daxter may have looked like a happy-go-lucky guy but inside was another different story. Inside he burned for love, for happiness. For Tess.
It might have happened to fast, his love for her. It might have originally based on the fact that she was 'blonde and big-breasted' but he came to see the real Tess. The brave, courageous fighter that she was. She was willing to do anything, sacrifice anything for the common good of the people of Haven City.
And here he was. The sidekick. The rodent. The thing on the hero's shoulder. He had been labeled that and he had expected to be that. But then Tess had showed up in his life and had paid attention to him, had smiled at him and laughed with him. He now wanted to be something she could love.
"Daxter?" Tess asked softly and looked up at him with concerned eyes, "You seem really quiet. Not at all your usual talkative self."
Because he felt he song burning in him, Daxter hopped off of Tess's shoulder and looked up at her, "Tess, do you like me?" he asked, looking away for a moment.
Tess smiled down at him and bent down so they were eye level, "What a silly question!" She exclaimed, "You know I like you, Daxter."
But Daxter wasn't breaking into his easy grin as she expected him to. Instead he still looked at her solemnly, "No, I mean like me like me."
"Oh, Daxter—" Tess said softly but Daxter held up his hand because he could no longer hold back his song.
"I lived my life in his shadow, never the glory on my face." He sang grimly and people everywhere stopped to listen to this confession of the heart, "It didn't seem so sad though, I figured that was my place. But now I'm bathed in your light and I know something just isn't right."
Tess sighed softly and looked at Daxter lovingly. She sat down on the grass and watched as Daxter began to move softly, as if driven by the wind.
"I'm under your spell." Daxter sang, not caring that maybe it didn't sound like the 'Daxter' he portrayed himself as. It was what was in his heart and this song was bringing it out, "How else could it be, that anyone would notice me? It's magick, I can tell. How you set me free, brought me out of his shadow so easily."
Around him the people who had once had their own songs now were joining Daxter's song. Soft oh's and la's came forth from their lips as if trying to help Daxter explain his emotions to Tess.
"I saw a world twisted, Lurkers and Metal Heads filled the air. And I always took it for granted, I wasn't the only one there. But your power shown through, brighter then any I've known and made me see I'm unique… I'm me…" The winds rustled the leaves and added an eerily beautiful background music to the song.
"I'm under your spell. Nothing I can do, you just took my soul with you. You worked your charm so well. Finally I knew, everything I dreamed was true. You made me believe…!" Tess jumped to her feet and swayed her body with Daxter's background dancer's. She smiled at him, but he continued.
"The moon to the tide, I can feel you inside! I'm under your spell. Surging like the dark eco, drawn to you so helplessly. I break with every swell. Lost in ecstasy, spread against my Angel Cheeks." Daxter was jumping from shoulder to shoulder of his background singers and dancers. He swayed in time with their bodies.
"You make me complete!" Daxter cried, landing on the shoulder next to Tess's.
"You make him complete!" The background singers agreed.
"You make me complete!" Daxter said and jumped into Tess's awaiting arms. She caught him and cuddled him against her, smiling softly.
"I make you complete." She said in her soft singing voice and continued to smile down at him. The background singers and dancers looked at one another in surprise. Then they slowly back away, trying to pretend what had just happened hadn't really.
Tess smiled down at Daxter, her own heart swelling, and said, "Oh, Daxter, you complete me, too! I love you!" then she kissed him on forehead.
Daxter smiled lovingly, "I know you loved me back, Angel Cheeks. No one can resist the Orange Lightening." He cuddled against her, content for now.
~~**~~
Sunshine shown into the windows of one of the bedrooms of the former baron's palace. The room was large, fit for a princess, and on an equally large bed laid to figures entwined with one another.
Ashlin's eyes fluttered open and she smiled. For a moment or two, she could be just a woman and her lover besides her could be just a man. She sighed contently and burrowed into the warm Torn's body gave off.
She felt Torn intake a breath and knew it was time for her to become the governor of Haven City and for him to be come the head commander for the Krimzon Guard. The woman and the man disappeared as duty took over.
But that didn't they weren't lovers. Ashlin sat up and threw her legs over the side of her bed. She glanced at Torn over her bare shoulder and saw him appreciating her well-toned body. He looked up and they smiled at one another.
Then Ashlin's face fell as she felt the song coming on. She looked at Torn apologetically, knowing full well he didn't like to sing, and said, "Oh no."
"This is the man I plan to entangle, isn't he fine? My claim to fame was to main and mangle, vengeance on my father was mine! But I'm out of that biz, the name I made I'll trade for his. The only problem is…" She looked back over at Torn's annoyed face and sighed, "I'll never tell."
"No. No. No." Torn said as he tried to fight the song burning in him. He would not sing! The head commander for the Krimzon Guard did not sing! On Ashlin's bed, he propped himself up on one elbow and watched as she slid a black robe over her gorgeous body. He smiled and allowed his guard to drop.
"Damnit!" He hissed moments before, "She is the one, she's such wonderful fun, such passion and grace! Warm in the night when I'm right in her tight… ah… embrace! Tight embrace! I'll never let her go. The love we've known can only grow. There's just one thing that…" As he spoke those lines, Ashlin turned and gave him a sexy smile, "no! I'll never tell!"
As Torn stood from the bed and moved for his cloths, Ashlin came up back his side and looked into his eyes. Torn groaned but didn't see that there was any way to stop it.
"Cuz there's nothing to tell!" They sang in duel harmony. Then Torn and Ashlin parted and exited her bedroom once they were dressed. They made their way to Ashlin's own private kitchen and went about setting up breakfast.
As Ashlin reached for her yakow milk she said, "He snores."
"She wheezes." Torn shot back as he reached for the bacon.
"Say house work and he freezes!" Ashlin complained, her eyes narrowing with the mood of the song.
"She eats these skeezy cheeses that I can't describe." Torn retorted, eyes already narrowed.
"I talk, he breezes!"
"She doesn't know what pleases!"
Running out of complaints, Ashlin dug deep, "His penis got diseases from a Lurker Tribe!"
They looked at one another and nodded in agreement, "The vibe gets kinda scary."
Torn reached for his morning report about any important going-ons in the city and hide his face behind it, "Likes she thinks I'm ordinary."
"Like it's all just temporary." Ashlin said on a sigh.
"Like her toes are kinda hairy." Torn muttered from behind his report.
Ashlin looked away and at the same time they sang without looking at one another, "But it's all very well. Cuz God knows I'll tell!"
She turned her head back towards him, saw he still wasn't looking and said angrily, "When things get rough, he just hides behind his hard-ass features. Now look, he's gettin' huffy." Ashlin sang, noticing that Torn was now glaring at her, "Cuz he knows that I know."
"She clings, she's needy," Torn sang back with annoyance, "she's also really greedy. She never—"
"His eyes are beady!" Ashlin jumped in, stopping Torn from continuing his montage of insults.
Torn slammed the report onto the table and looked at her directly, "This is my verse, hello? I don't do this often, you know! She—"
"Look at me I'm dancing crazy!" Doing just that, Ashlin jumped onto the table and spun around, ruining whatever insults Torn was going to throw.
Torn growled and grabbed her hand, making Ashlin jump off from the table. They looked deep into each other's eyes.
"You know…" they said at the same time
"You're quite the charmer." Torn pointed out, smiling.
"My guard in armor!" Ashlin proclaimed.
"You're the cutest of the Guards, with your lips as red as rubies. And your firm yet supple tight embrace!"
Ashlin smiled, "He's swell."
"She's sweller." Torn said, taking her hands.
"He'll always be my feller." Ashlin swore and kissed him on the cheek.
Wearily, Torn pulled away and looked away from her in nervousness, "That's why I'll never tell her I'm petrified."
"I've read this tale. First the wedding then betrayal." She looked back at him in fear, "I know there'll come the day when I'll want to run and hide."
In perfect harmony, looking into each other's eyes, the words fell from their lips, "I've lied, I said it's easy. I've tried, but there's these fears I can't quell."
"Is she looking for a pot-of-gold?" Torn wondered.
"Will I look good when I'm old?" she pondered in horror.
"Will our lives become stressful if I'm never that successful with this city?"
"When I get so worn and wrinkly that I look like David Brinkley?" Ashlin placed her hands on her face and blinked, stepping away from her song, "Who is Davis Brinkley?"
Torn shrugged and continued, "Am I crazy?"
"I am dreamin'?"
"I am marrying a demon?" Torn asked as Ashlin moved towards him and he took her hands and they smiled at one another. They loved it each other and they would make it work. The worries didn't matter.
"We could really raise the beam in making marriage a Hell. So thank God I'll never tell." They nodded to on another to confirm it, "I swear that I'll never tell."
They pulled their hands away and then stood back to back, facing the window and the sun and the day. Their faces were set with determination. They were going to make it work.
"My lips are seal!" Torn assured the world.
"I take the fifth!" Ashlin cried.
"Nothin' to see. Move along!" Torn said and shook his fist.
"I'll never tell!" Ashlin cried one last time and both she and Torn fell onto a soft chair laughing. Then they looked at one another in horror. Ashlin had just sung and Torn had just sung.
This was so wrong.
~~**~~
"It was horrible!" Ashlin cried later that day, "We were arguing and then we were rhyming!" She shuddered.
She and Torn were walking down the streets with Samos leading the way. Right after they had stopped laughing and realized they had done a duet they had decided to immediately seek out Samos and demand he fix the problem fast. Ashlin and Torn did not sing!
"You have to do something!" Torn said, "I don't like singing and what will it do for my image as the tough leader of the Krimzon Guard?"
"Well, I'm sorry, you two!" Samos said, rolling his eyes, "But Keira and I have been working our tails off to find out what's causing this but we're both stuck. You'll just have to wait. We'll try to fix everything as soon as we can."
As they continued onward they passed a young woman with her hover car in low hover zone, and a Krimzon Guard writing on a white slip of paper, shaking his head.
"I've been having a bad, bad day. Come on, won't you put that pad away?" The young woman pleaded, her hands clasped in a prayer as the Krimzon Guard continued to write his ticket, "I'm asking you please, no! It isn't right, it isn't fair! There's no parking anywhere! I think that hydrant wasn't there! Why can't you let it go? I've paid more then my share!"
Ashlin, Torn and Samos looked at one another and then they quickened their pace.
"We better find out how to stop this quick before my solo comes up." Samos said testily, and Ashlin and Torn looked at one another and gulped. He was right.
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Lizzy: ***grins*** well, how did you like Ashlin and Torn's duet? How about Daxter's love song to Tess? I know, it seems I'm making both Jak and Daxter sing the female parts of songs but it was necessary. It fit the bill, but don't worry Jak's solo (Rest in Peace originally song by Spike in the series) is coming up in the next chapter. Oh, and how do you like the whole Tess/Daxter romance going on there? From what I've seen that is one of the very few pro-Tess stories out there. Maybe I like her so much because we're both blondes but I don't think Tess is annoying at all. In fact, she's one of my new favourite characters.
Torn: YOU MADE ME SING A DUET!!! I'LL KILL YOU!!! ***tries to get free from bonds***
Lizzy: how did you get your gag out? ***replaces it*** Torn, you were wonderful! When I finish writing, ready to run far away and untie you, I'll let Ashlin have you. ***Torn quiets down*** that worked, didn't it? And Jak, you and Keira get your big moment in the next chapter.
Jak: If I do anything embarrassing… ***bares teeth***
Lizzy: Of course you don't do
anything embarrassing I would never do that to you! All you do is do a sexy bump and grind and dance on a hover
car in the dark with Keira watching. Is that so embarrassing?
Jak: ***Outraged*** YOU'RE DEAD! DEAD LIZZY!
Lizzy: ***backs away from desk*** I can tell you two need to cool off. I'll let you stay the night to cool your jets. See ya tomorrow boys. And to all you wonderful people, you know who you are, REVIEW! ***flicks off light and shut door***
Jak and Torn: LIZZY!