When I Grow Up
By Necralis
- -
Necralis: Well, my peeps, welcome to a new chapter, courtesy of all your...kind reviews. hugs all I'm so glad you like it. Here is your fix! This contains...a rather major event, but it's really short. I guess you have my longest one, and now you have my...second shortest. Yay.
Vader: I can't believe people actually LIKED this. You're all mad. Mad I say!
DISCLAIMER If I owned the Jak and Daxter license, it probably would have failed, since I'm just some lowlife teenager without a job who hasn't even finished school yet. I only own she who is known as Miala, and all the various original plot nuances, gadgets, pedestrians and so forth in this fiction. Don't steal anything or...well...holds up a large scythe Eloquent enough?
- -
The first sun rose into the sky above Haven forest, blazing orange light filtering through the trees to play across the eyelids of the blonde man who was fast asleep near the remains of a campfire. The second, green star wouldn't come up for some hours yet, but it was already staining the eastern sky a strange shade of yellow.
Jak rolled over and batted irritably at the sunlight, but it had already woken him. He got up, stretched his muscles (which were aching from spending the night on the forest floor) and squinted nervously at the now defunct Gate-Lock that led to the smoking remains of a mine, a facility he had blown the smithereens with the help of the girl who was drooling some meters away.
In sleep, Miala looked younger – it was much easier to see that she was only seventeen – as the premature lines of sadness and anger were smoothed away. Even the healing Metal Head scars looked shallower. The intense silver of her eyes was not visible, and for once she was not smiling sardonically.
'Sleep makes everyone look better,' Jak reflected. 'Except maybe Krew.' NOTHING could make that particular lard-pile look better.
As he was trying to decide whether it would be safe to wake her up without risking some parts of him he might want to keep, he spied something odd that was resting a few feet away from her hands. She must have been holding it when she fell asleep. Glancing suspiciously at the green-haired girl, he picked it up and looked it over curiously.
Some called these particular gadgets Xel-cels, or Pixel-cels, simple holograms projected onto a small rectangle of precursor metal. Generally they were used to keep snapshots of times, or people as was in this case. This particular one showed four people, two adults and two children, and after staring at it for a few seconds, Jak realized it must be Miala's family.
The man and the woman – he broad-shouldered and grinning a grin that nearly hid his dark, beady eyes, she more wispy and smiling nervously – had their arms around each other – he figured they must be her parents. Her father bore the familiar intricate Krimzon Guard tattoos, spider-webbed across his face like a set of burn scars.
He had his hand resting on the shoulder of a teenage boy, dark haired, with his father's broad grin and his mother's glittering silver eyes. Her brother. Jak wondered how long it was before he was arrested.
The final occupant of the picture was a chubby young girl, grinning like a lunatic and holding up hands that were covered from elbow downwards in mud. Said mud was also smeared on her face, shoes, hair and clothes.
Jak looked at the real Miala. She didn't look much better, having been slightly singed in the explosion.
Quietly he put the picture down next to her hands. Maybe she looked at it every night before she slept. Maybe it helped comfort her.
More than likely it just made her angrier. That photo was probably all she had left of the family KG Commander Erol had inadvertently ripped apart.
"I'll just have the coffee thanks..." Miala mumbled, then without warning snapped completely awake and glared bleary eyed at a startled Jak.
"What are you staring at, Blondey?"
Jak sighed inwardly. 'Never mind...'
- -
Haven City was infested.
Before you start conjuring up images of insects or fungus, let me clarify.
It was infested with life. With ordinary people, authority-fearing, hardworking Joe's. With low-life's, mercenaries, hookers, morons, assassins, the rich (few of these) and the destitute. With insects, as the shield wall wasn't enough to keep out the all the bloodsuckers in the world. And with Krimzon Guards, marching around muttering about the lack of action or arresting people seemingly at random.
The one thing Haven didn't have an abundance of was fauna. Animals were worth too much on the black market to have wandering about on the streets.
All this life was crammed together in an over-crowded, under-maintained hellhole, polluted beyond all belief by the incredible array of Zoomers and Cruisers flying left and right. The overall effect was one of a nest full of brightly coloured ants.
It was one of these flying machines that Jak now piloted, dipping and weaving through the traffic with the ease borne of long practice.
The cool air on his face, the sun shining on his back, the brisk wind ruffling in his hair – all this might have been pleasant if not for the girl clinging to the Zoomer behind him.
Miala screamed loudly in Jak's ear as they rounded a corner, very nearly flipping her out of the Zoomer into the street. Wincing in pain, Jak accelerated just a little bit more than was strictly necessary, nearly slamming into a Hell-Cat Cruiser before switching Hover-zones at the last minute.
People around them were starting to give them funny looks – partly because of Jak's overly reckless driving and partly because Miala screamed at every turn.
"I take you don't ride in Zoomers very much," Jak said, veering to avoid a three-seater with garish paint who's driver beeped and gave them a rude gesture.
"Not with lunatics behind the wheel... no." she croaked. Her grip was cutting off the circulation of Jak's arm. "You're not on the race track, dammit!" She then yelped as they came to a heart-shattering stop behind a tiny bike. "You're just doing that to freak me out, aren't you?"
Jak smirked. "Maybe."
"Where are we going, anyhow?"
Jak twitched the steering, only just managing to avoid hitting a Guard (more out of caution than goodwill). "We're gonna do two things. One, pick up my pay."
"Paid? You were getting paid. And I'm not getting a cent, is that right?"
"Damn right. And two, pick up some...thing."
"Equipment?"
Jak grinned, wondering idly whether or not Daxter would ever try to hit on her. "You could say that."
- -
Jak parked the Zoomer outside the Hip Hog and waited for the trembling girl to relinquish her death grip on his arms. As she got off, he grabbed her arm, pulled her closer and said, "Listen, you wanna be careful in here. Someone like you could bring in a lot of money, and some people in there WOULD be willing to sell you. Stick close, right?"
Miala simply grinned evilly.
As he pushed his way into the Hip Hog Heaven Saloon, dragging a protesting Miala behind him, Jak realized straight off that something weird was going on. For one thing, it was even more over-crowded then usual, and for another, there was a surprisingly large amount of people clustered around the bar at the other end.
As he strolled past the usual collection of drunkards, lowlifes and idiots, he tapped a guy he knew on the shoulder just as a storm of clapping and stamping broke out from the crowd, and asked, "What's going on?"
The man was named Jinx, one of Krew's 'boys' (read: Hired Goons), and he looked contented, happy, and obviously very drunk.
"Hey there, Pretty Boy. 'S not usually crowded as this..." when he was drunk, Jinx had a tendency to state the blindingly obvious. His eyes wandered blearily up to Miala. "Didn't know you had a girlfriend..." he slurred, then brayed with derisive laughter.
"Oh for Pete's sake..." Jak pushed the drunken demolition expert forwards into his drink, then made his way up to the front. Then he saw something that made him almost collapse in relief. Sig was sitting near the front and he looked sober.
"Hey there, rookie." The black elf grinned at him, then like Jinx, his eyes fell on Miala. "Whoa, there, Little Lady. Don't see many like you in the Hip Hog. Didja know that Jak here is taken?"
Jak would have punched him but he didn't particularly feel like breaking his knuckles on the Wastelander's armor. "She's not my girlfriend, you bastard," he snarled, but that only made Sig's grin grow wider as he held up his hands.
"Did I say anything about her being your girlfriend? Nu-uh," he said. The only reply he received was a snarl, which just made him laugh.
"Ok, who the hell is this, why is he laughing at me, and what do you mean, 'taken'?" Miala queried, glancing from Sig to Jak as though begging for some coherent replies.
"He's Jak, I'm Sig, and when I say 'taken' I mean that if Keira sees him with you, he can pretty much kiss his ass goodbye."
"I, however - " he leaned closer to her and gave her what he clearly thought to be a winning smile – "have no such commitments, so if you wanna go out sometime-"
"I'll add you to my list," Miala said seriously, miming writing in mid-air. "One – jackass – for dinner – sometime."
"You wanna be more careful, Sig. It bites." Sig drew away and started grinning again.
Jak grinned too, scanning the crowd as Miala flipped the bird to a sleazy- looking group of men who were hooting at her, then told them to do something you really shouldn't say in a PG-rated fiction.
Suddenly he stopped. The people in front of him had moved apart for a moment, giving him a glimpse of what lay beyond.
"Dear Mar..." he croaked.
The people were watching an orange creature that was dancing up a storm on the bartop. Some moron had put on music, and Daxter was singing despite the fact that he only knew half the words. Tess was smiling adoringly at him. It was almost sad.
"A friend of yours?" smirked Miala, raising an eyebrow.
"Here's a tip, Miala. Shut the hell up." Jak shoved an unfortunate patron into the man next to him and kicked someone behind the knees. He then walked straight up to the drunken ottsel, picked him up and cuffed him around the head.
"Wozza wha-? Jak!" Daxter's face lit up in a very hazy smile. His eyes then fell on Miala, who was staring incredulously at the talking animal. "What the - a girlfriend?!?" Jak started repeatedly hitting himself in the head. A sleazy smile spread across Daxter's face – one that Jak knew only too well. "Hey, chicky babe, I know this great little bar-"
"We're in it, Daxter," Jak said in a deceptively calm voice. He then turned around and said to the people watching, "Show's over people. Dancing Daxter is now closed for business." When several people seemed slightly reluctant to leave, Jak got out his Vulcan, cocked it and said, "Show's over unless you want to be it." A risk in this enclosed space, but hey, Jak was in a hurry. Somehow no one doubted that he would shoot.
As the crowd dispersed, Jak picked up Daxter again and deposited him on his shoulder. "I should have you stuffed."
"I should have YOU stuffed, getting a girlfriend without consulting me..."
"Hang on a sec." Jak walked outside and without hesitation dropped Daxter into the harbor.
As the ottsel came up in a bedraggled, sputtering mess, Jak said, "We sober now?" The ottsel glared daggers at him.
"I hate you."
"Glad to hear it." In response, Daxter tried to fling a handful of water at him but missed, because Jak had turned away. "Didn't know you cared, you bastard!" Daxter shrieked. Miala was standing next to the door of the Hip Hog, giving death-glares to several sleazy-looking men who were grinning at her.
"You have weird friends," she said, giving them the finger and turning to stare at Daxter.
Takes one to know one. Out loud he said, "Daxter, this is Miala. Miala, this is Daxter the pea-brain."
"Nice." Daxter glared at him.
Miala blinked her silver eyes owlishly in surprise. "I must be losing it," she said to Jak. "For a second I thought that that thingy-"
"Talked, yeah. He's an ottsel."
"I am NOT an ottsel! I'm a man! I'm - dare I say it – DA man! I'm the coolest freaking-"
"Idiot," Jak put in. "It's probably easier on you if you ignore him."
"Bastard," Daxter muttered. He paused.
Jak said, "Didja miss me?"
"Does a toe miss a hang-nail?"
Jak grinned at him. He knew Daxter too well to take it seriously. "I missed you too."
Daxter dragged himself out of the water and shook himself dry, spattering Jak with droplets of filthy water. "Yeah right...OY! Jak! What's with the chick? And if you've finally decided t' ditch Keira, can I have her?"
Jak swore inwardly and glared at Miala. He hoped Daxter wouldn't drive her crazier than she already was.
"Met her in the forest."
"Actually, I captured you, if I remember correctly," Miala said smugly.
"CAPTURED?!? Geez, am I glad I didn't...I mean, geez, Jak, if I'D been there, I bet I could have sent her packing, eh? Or distracted her with my...wily charms." Daxter leapt onto Jak's shoulder like the pro he was and struck a pose he clearly thought was heroic.
Jak decided to stop this conversation before Miala stopped being amused and shot the ottsel.
"Hey, Dax, you remember how you broke into the Fortress?"
"I got a memory like an elephant, baby!" the ottsel grinned, wiggling his fingers. "I'm telepathic..."
"Could you lead US through there?"
"Can Krew go through a hundred Glub Burgers in five seconds?"
"I'll take that as a yes...Dax...we gotta rescue her brother."
"I could take you through that hole faster than Sig blasts a...hang on, what? Her brother? Wait a minute! The Prison?"
Miala nodded, still staring at Daxter with the faintest hint of disbelief in her eyes. "Your buddy here promised me he'd help."
"WE are NOT going back to that damn prison!" Daxter announced with futility, glaring at Jak as though this were all his fault.
"Yes we are."
"What's in it for me, huh? HUH?"
"Dax, I promised her. You know I don't like people who go back on their word," Jak said, trying to appeal to the ottsel's decency. Daxter may have been stupid, annoying, useless, loud-mouthed, arrogant and clumsy, but one thing he definitely was not was a liar. Despite his smart-ass comments, he was supposed to be a decent guy deep down – and he always kept his promises. Always.
Daxter knew this, and thoroughly hated Jak for knowing it too.
The ottsel shuffled his paws, ground his teeth, grumbled and griped, but finally gave in to his nagging conscience and muttered, "okay, okay...I'll show you the damn entrance."
Miala's face radiated honest joy, and she actually gave Daxter a bone- crushing hug that left him looking slightly dazed.
Of course it didn't take long for him to recover and start boasting that no female could resist his animal magnetism – but not before Jak said quietly, "I'm sorry about ditching you."
And Daxter muttered, "I missed you too, Jak."
Then he said, "Hey, I was the one who ditched YOU, big guy! I'm the brains of this outfit!"
Jak almost smiled.
It was good to have him back.
- -
Necralis: It's...so short...only nine pages? Gee, I guess that other writing streak didn't last long. Um. Ok. I hope you liked this, and I hope you REVIEW.
Vader: Just a stupid transition chapter! Pfft.
Necralis: angry Hey! I tried to put humour in it! And there's still two or three chapters to go to the...oh my god, we're getting so close to the end. Will it happen? Will I finally finish a fic?
Vader: No.
Necralis: SHUDDUP! kicks him Now. I thank all my loyal reviewers. hug You people keep me going. I would NEVER have gotten this far without you lot...hope you keep up your habits! And Kokono – Jhonen is a genius. I love his stuff. Zim and Nny...are...BRILLIANT! WHOO!
Vader: Review so she'll stop working me so hard.
This is kinda their equivalent of a photo.
By Necralis
- -
Necralis: Well, my peeps, welcome to a new chapter, courtesy of all your...kind reviews. hugs all I'm so glad you like it. Here is your fix! This contains...a rather major event, but it's really short. I guess you have my longest one, and now you have my...second shortest. Yay.
Vader: I can't believe people actually LIKED this. You're all mad. Mad I say!
DISCLAIMER If I owned the Jak and Daxter license, it probably would have failed, since I'm just some lowlife teenager without a job who hasn't even finished school yet. I only own she who is known as Miala, and all the various original plot nuances, gadgets, pedestrians and so forth in this fiction. Don't steal anything or...well...holds up a large scythe Eloquent enough?
- -
The first sun rose into the sky above Haven forest, blazing orange light filtering through the trees to play across the eyelids of the blonde man who was fast asleep near the remains of a campfire. The second, green star wouldn't come up for some hours yet, but it was already staining the eastern sky a strange shade of yellow.
Jak rolled over and batted irritably at the sunlight, but it had already woken him. He got up, stretched his muscles (which were aching from spending the night on the forest floor) and squinted nervously at the now defunct Gate-Lock that led to the smoking remains of a mine, a facility he had blown the smithereens with the help of the girl who was drooling some meters away.
In sleep, Miala looked younger – it was much easier to see that she was only seventeen – as the premature lines of sadness and anger were smoothed away. Even the healing Metal Head scars looked shallower. The intense silver of her eyes was not visible, and for once she was not smiling sardonically.
'Sleep makes everyone look better,' Jak reflected. 'Except maybe Krew.' NOTHING could make that particular lard-pile look better.
As he was trying to decide whether it would be safe to wake her up without risking some parts of him he might want to keep, he spied something odd that was resting a few feet away from her hands. She must have been holding it when she fell asleep. Glancing suspiciously at the green-haired girl, he picked it up and looked it over curiously.
Some called these particular gadgets Xel-cels, or Pixel-cels, simple holograms projected onto a small rectangle of precursor metal. Generally they were used to keep snapshots of times, or people as was in this case. This particular one showed four people, two adults and two children, and after staring at it for a few seconds, Jak realized it must be Miala's family.
The man and the woman – he broad-shouldered and grinning a grin that nearly hid his dark, beady eyes, she more wispy and smiling nervously – had their arms around each other – he figured they must be her parents. Her father bore the familiar intricate Krimzon Guard tattoos, spider-webbed across his face like a set of burn scars.
He had his hand resting on the shoulder of a teenage boy, dark haired, with his father's broad grin and his mother's glittering silver eyes. Her brother. Jak wondered how long it was before he was arrested.
The final occupant of the picture was a chubby young girl, grinning like a lunatic and holding up hands that were covered from elbow downwards in mud. Said mud was also smeared on her face, shoes, hair and clothes.
Jak looked at the real Miala. She didn't look much better, having been slightly singed in the explosion.
Quietly he put the picture down next to her hands. Maybe she looked at it every night before she slept. Maybe it helped comfort her.
More than likely it just made her angrier. That photo was probably all she had left of the family KG Commander Erol had inadvertently ripped apart.
"I'll just have the coffee thanks..." Miala mumbled, then without warning snapped completely awake and glared bleary eyed at a startled Jak.
"What are you staring at, Blondey?"
Jak sighed inwardly. 'Never mind...'
- -
Haven City was infested.
Before you start conjuring up images of insects or fungus, let me clarify.
It was infested with life. With ordinary people, authority-fearing, hardworking Joe's. With low-life's, mercenaries, hookers, morons, assassins, the rich (few of these) and the destitute. With insects, as the shield wall wasn't enough to keep out the all the bloodsuckers in the world. And with Krimzon Guards, marching around muttering about the lack of action or arresting people seemingly at random.
The one thing Haven didn't have an abundance of was fauna. Animals were worth too much on the black market to have wandering about on the streets.
All this life was crammed together in an over-crowded, under-maintained hellhole, polluted beyond all belief by the incredible array of Zoomers and Cruisers flying left and right. The overall effect was one of a nest full of brightly coloured ants.
It was one of these flying machines that Jak now piloted, dipping and weaving through the traffic with the ease borne of long practice.
The cool air on his face, the sun shining on his back, the brisk wind ruffling in his hair – all this might have been pleasant if not for the girl clinging to the Zoomer behind him.
Miala screamed loudly in Jak's ear as they rounded a corner, very nearly flipping her out of the Zoomer into the street. Wincing in pain, Jak accelerated just a little bit more than was strictly necessary, nearly slamming into a Hell-Cat Cruiser before switching Hover-zones at the last minute.
People around them were starting to give them funny looks – partly because of Jak's overly reckless driving and partly because Miala screamed at every turn.
"I take you don't ride in Zoomers very much," Jak said, veering to avoid a three-seater with garish paint who's driver beeped and gave them a rude gesture.
"Not with lunatics behind the wheel... no." she croaked. Her grip was cutting off the circulation of Jak's arm. "You're not on the race track, dammit!" She then yelped as they came to a heart-shattering stop behind a tiny bike. "You're just doing that to freak me out, aren't you?"
Jak smirked. "Maybe."
"Where are we going, anyhow?"
Jak twitched the steering, only just managing to avoid hitting a Guard (more out of caution than goodwill). "We're gonna do two things. One, pick up my pay."
"Paid? You were getting paid. And I'm not getting a cent, is that right?"
"Damn right. And two, pick up some...thing."
"Equipment?"
Jak grinned, wondering idly whether or not Daxter would ever try to hit on her. "You could say that."
- -
Jak parked the Zoomer outside the Hip Hog and waited for the trembling girl to relinquish her death grip on his arms. As she got off, he grabbed her arm, pulled her closer and said, "Listen, you wanna be careful in here. Someone like you could bring in a lot of money, and some people in there WOULD be willing to sell you. Stick close, right?"
Miala simply grinned evilly.
As he pushed his way into the Hip Hog Heaven Saloon, dragging a protesting Miala behind him, Jak realized straight off that something weird was going on. For one thing, it was even more over-crowded then usual, and for another, there was a surprisingly large amount of people clustered around the bar at the other end.
As he strolled past the usual collection of drunkards, lowlifes and idiots, he tapped a guy he knew on the shoulder just as a storm of clapping and stamping broke out from the crowd, and asked, "What's going on?"
The man was named Jinx, one of Krew's 'boys' (read: Hired Goons), and he looked contented, happy, and obviously very drunk.
"Hey there, Pretty Boy. 'S not usually crowded as this..." when he was drunk, Jinx had a tendency to state the blindingly obvious. His eyes wandered blearily up to Miala. "Didn't know you had a girlfriend..." he slurred, then brayed with derisive laughter.
"Oh for Pete's sake..." Jak pushed the drunken demolition expert forwards into his drink, then made his way up to the front. Then he saw something that made him almost collapse in relief. Sig was sitting near the front and he looked sober.
"Hey there, rookie." The black elf grinned at him, then like Jinx, his eyes fell on Miala. "Whoa, there, Little Lady. Don't see many like you in the Hip Hog. Didja know that Jak here is taken?"
Jak would have punched him but he didn't particularly feel like breaking his knuckles on the Wastelander's armor. "She's not my girlfriend, you bastard," he snarled, but that only made Sig's grin grow wider as he held up his hands.
"Did I say anything about her being your girlfriend? Nu-uh," he said. The only reply he received was a snarl, which just made him laugh.
"Ok, who the hell is this, why is he laughing at me, and what do you mean, 'taken'?" Miala queried, glancing from Sig to Jak as though begging for some coherent replies.
"He's Jak, I'm Sig, and when I say 'taken' I mean that if Keira sees him with you, he can pretty much kiss his ass goodbye."
"I, however - " he leaned closer to her and gave her what he clearly thought to be a winning smile – "have no such commitments, so if you wanna go out sometime-"
"I'll add you to my list," Miala said seriously, miming writing in mid-air. "One – jackass – for dinner – sometime."
"You wanna be more careful, Sig. It bites." Sig drew away and started grinning again.
Jak grinned too, scanning the crowd as Miala flipped the bird to a sleazy- looking group of men who were hooting at her, then told them to do something you really shouldn't say in a PG-rated fiction.
Suddenly he stopped. The people in front of him had moved apart for a moment, giving him a glimpse of what lay beyond.
"Dear Mar..." he croaked.
The people were watching an orange creature that was dancing up a storm on the bartop. Some moron had put on music, and Daxter was singing despite the fact that he only knew half the words. Tess was smiling adoringly at him. It was almost sad.
"A friend of yours?" smirked Miala, raising an eyebrow.
"Here's a tip, Miala. Shut the hell up." Jak shoved an unfortunate patron into the man next to him and kicked someone behind the knees. He then walked straight up to the drunken ottsel, picked him up and cuffed him around the head.
"Wozza wha-? Jak!" Daxter's face lit up in a very hazy smile. His eyes then fell on Miala, who was staring incredulously at the talking animal. "What the - a girlfriend?!?" Jak started repeatedly hitting himself in the head. A sleazy smile spread across Daxter's face – one that Jak knew only too well. "Hey, chicky babe, I know this great little bar-"
"We're in it, Daxter," Jak said in a deceptively calm voice. He then turned around and said to the people watching, "Show's over people. Dancing Daxter is now closed for business." When several people seemed slightly reluctant to leave, Jak got out his Vulcan, cocked it and said, "Show's over unless you want to be it." A risk in this enclosed space, but hey, Jak was in a hurry. Somehow no one doubted that he would shoot.
As the crowd dispersed, Jak picked up Daxter again and deposited him on his shoulder. "I should have you stuffed."
"I should have YOU stuffed, getting a girlfriend without consulting me..."
"Hang on a sec." Jak walked outside and without hesitation dropped Daxter into the harbor.
As the ottsel came up in a bedraggled, sputtering mess, Jak said, "We sober now?" The ottsel glared daggers at him.
"I hate you."
"Glad to hear it." In response, Daxter tried to fling a handful of water at him but missed, because Jak had turned away. "Didn't know you cared, you bastard!" Daxter shrieked. Miala was standing next to the door of the Hip Hog, giving death-glares to several sleazy-looking men who were grinning at her.
"You have weird friends," she said, giving them the finger and turning to stare at Daxter.
Takes one to know one. Out loud he said, "Daxter, this is Miala. Miala, this is Daxter the pea-brain."
"Nice." Daxter glared at him.
Miala blinked her silver eyes owlishly in surprise. "I must be losing it," she said to Jak. "For a second I thought that that thingy-"
"Talked, yeah. He's an ottsel."
"I am NOT an ottsel! I'm a man! I'm - dare I say it – DA man! I'm the coolest freaking-"
"Idiot," Jak put in. "It's probably easier on you if you ignore him."
"Bastard," Daxter muttered. He paused.
Jak said, "Didja miss me?"
"Does a toe miss a hang-nail?"
Jak grinned at him. He knew Daxter too well to take it seriously. "I missed you too."
Daxter dragged himself out of the water and shook himself dry, spattering Jak with droplets of filthy water. "Yeah right...OY! Jak! What's with the chick? And if you've finally decided t' ditch Keira, can I have her?"
Jak swore inwardly and glared at Miala. He hoped Daxter wouldn't drive her crazier than she already was.
"Met her in the forest."
"Actually, I captured you, if I remember correctly," Miala said smugly.
"CAPTURED?!? Geez, am I glad I didn't...I mean, geez, Jak, if I'D been there, I bet I could have sent her packing, eh? Or distracted her with my...wily charms." Daxter leapt onto Jak's shoulder like the pro he was and struck a pose he clearly thought was heroic.
Jak decided to stop this conversation before Miala stopped being amused and shot the ottsel.
"Hey, Dax, you remember how you broke into the Fortress?"
"I got a memory like an elephant, baby!" the ottsel grinned, wiggling his fingers. "I'm telepathic..."
"Could you lead US through there?"
"Can Krew go through a hundred Glub Burgers in five seconds?"
"I'll take that as a yes...Dax...we gotta rescue her brother."
"I could take you through that hole faster than Sig blasts a...hang on, what? Her brother? Wait a minute! The Prison?"
Miala nodded, still staring at Daxter with the faintest hint of disbelief in her eyes. "Your buddy here promised me he'd help."
"WE are NOT going back to that damn prison!" Daxter announced with futility, glaring at Jak as though this were all his fault.
"Yes we are."
"What's in it for me, huh? HUH?"
"Dax, I promised her. You know I don't like people who go back on their word," Jak said, trying to appeal to the ottsel's decency. Daxter may have been stupid, annoying, useless, loud-mouthed, arrogant and clumsy, but one thing he definitely was not was a liar. Despite his smart-ass comments, he was supposed to be a decent guy deep down – and he always kept his promises. Always.
Daxter knew this, and thoroughly hated Jak for knowing it too.
The ottsel shuffled his paws, ground his teeth, grumbled and griped, but finally gave in to his nagging conscience and muttered, "okay, okay...I'll show you the damn entrance."
Miala's face radiated honest joy, and she actually gave Daxter a bone- crushing hug that left him looking slightly dazed.
Of course it didn't take long for him to recover and start boasting that no female could resist his animal magnetism – but not before Jak said quietly, "I'm sorry about ditching you."
And Daxter muttered, "I missed you too, Jak."
Then he said, "Hey, I was the one who ditched YOU, big guy! I'm the brains of this outfit!"
Jak almost smiled.
It was good to have him back.
- -
Necralis: It's...so short...only nine pages? Gee, I guess that other writing streak didn't last long. Um. Ok. I hope you liked this, and I hope you REVIEW.
Vader: Just a stupid transition chapter! Pfft.
Necralis: angry Hey! I tried to put humour in it! And there's still two or three chapters to go to the...oh my god, we're getting so close to the end. Will it happen? Will I finally finish a fic?
Vader: No.
Necralis: SHUDDUP! kicks him Now. I thank all my loyal reviewers. hug You people keep me going. I would NEVER have gotten this far without you lot...hope you keep up your habits! And Kokono – Jhonen is a genius. I love his stuff. Zim and Nny...are...BRILLIANT! WHOO!
Vader: Review so she'll stop working me so hard.
This is kinda their equivalent of a photo.