He smiled at Jak and Daxter when he came fully in to the room.

"I have just heard about the commotion you two caused at the market stand earlier", The man started, before Jak or Daxter could say anything.

"I have seen this as an act against the Baron…"

"Who?" Daxter muttered.

"Why, Baron Praxis, our leader of course! Don't you two tell me that you don't know who he is!"

"Look, sir, we're sorry. We've never heard of him." Jak said apologetically.

"Uh…Shadow? These two have been outside for a little too long, um, I don't think they are feeling too well at the moment. It must be all those traffic fumes!" Tess interrupted, laughing nervously.

"Look. It doesn't matter", Samos continued. " What I am implying is that we, the Underground, a secret organisation against Baron Praxis, are constantly looking for strong young men, uh, in your case, boys, to help fight against him."

"What do you mean by boys, huh?" Daxter said, rudely.

"Well, you two don't exactly look old enough…"

"Look, old man!" Daxter started again. "Our Jak, here, has been through more than you could ever imagine! Anyway, you should know, Samos!"

"How did you kno…"

"It's a long story, ok?" Jak said, grinning.

Tess looked gobsmacked.

"I guess I'll be going outside then." She muttered as she turned towards the door.

"Hold on, Tess. I want you to show…show?"

"Jak and Daxter" Daxter said.

"Show Jak and Daxter the ropes. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Sir!" she said, standing up straight.

A:N I am soooooo sorry! I haven't written in ages. I have been on Deviantart. I am also sorry but this chapter may be quite short but I'll try to add extra bits in too.

Thanks go to: thecurlEgurl, Honey Nut Loop, Krin, fluffys-sidesick, Toboe's pup and Mickolie.

Thankyou also for being so patient. I am sorry again!

On with the story!

Chapter 3: The Hip-Hog Saloon

Tess walked over to a three-seated cruiser just outside the entrance to the underground. Jak and Daxter followed behind her closely. Both of them were still gazing at many of the adverts and propaganda that seemed to control the streets of the slums. The dirty, run down houses immediately caught their eyes. They simply couldn't get adjusted to them, as they were so unlike the picturesque little huts that were situated by a warm sea and pristine white beaches.

Their home village of Sandover was such a contrast to the filthy, uneven dwellings of the Slums in Haven City. So far, Jak and Daxter had only learnt that a dangerous, mentally unstable tyrant commanded this booming metropolis: Baron Praxis. The word dictatorship could be the only way to describe the government system in this nonsensically named Haven City.

Tess dumped herself in the front seat of the cruiser and turned the key. The small hover car gave a slight rumble before coming to life. It's vibrant colours seemed to gleam in what little sunshine there was and stood out boldly against the stained buildings that surrounded it. The noise of the starting contraption startled the odd pair.

"Come on! I don't know how much fuel is in this thing!" Tess shouted above the noise of the engine. Jak and Daxter reacted immediately and jumped into the two remaining seats of the small vehicle.

Tess shifted into gear and slammed her foot down on the accelerator causing Daxter to almost fly over the back of the cruiser and onto the path behind. Luckily, Daxter had managed to clasp onto Jak's shoulder before he fell out. The ottsel continued to cling to the young boy for safety.

"Sorry about that", Tess apologised. "It wouldn't have moved otherwise. This thing is so old. The underground stole it so long ago!"

"That's OK", Daxter said, blowing one of Jak's stray locks away from his face. "Just warn us next time, Ok sister?"

"I'll try to remember" Tess said, steering round a sharp turn.

Jak had turned over in his seat and was now kneeling on it, staring up at the continuous bustling traffic above. (Tess was driving at pedestrian level)

"Jak, I wouldn't do that," Tess warned him as an overweight pedestrian, unaware of Tess' car, rolled over the bonnet, nearly knocking Jak out of the car.

"Whoops!" Tess smiled innocently as she looked back at the corpulent man on the ground behind her. He was shaking his fist violently at her.

"Hold tight; I'm gonna switch hover zones" Tess said, pushing a large blue button on the dashboard.

The cruiser jerked slightly and shot up to join the overhead traffic. Daxter's face was going green with the sudden and quick change in height. Jak noticed and hastily dropped Daxter into the seat next to him so that Daxter wouldn't barf all over his blue tunic. It was just like the A-GraV Zoomer back in Sandover. Daxter was never fond of Jak's driving either. Especially when travelling over fiery canyons.

Jak did notice in the queues of traffic, several Zoomer look-alikes, which soared past them. He could not help but ask about them as a very good friend had built one very similar to the ones flying near them.

"Are those Zoomers?" Jak asked, inquisitively, his eyes wide open, longing for an answer.

"Yeah. Why? Haven't you seen one of those around either?" Tess replied.

"I have, but, but the one I've seen didn't look exactly like those" said Jak.

"They are the new models. They came out about a month ago. You guys should get out more!" Tess said with a giggle.

Jak just rolled his eyes and leaned back into his seat.

"Anyway, this is Haven City's industrial area. It's a bit of a dump but at least it's a bit cleaner and modernised. People are advised to walk up there, on the walkways. Do you see them?"

"Uh huh" Jak murmured looking at the above pathways, supported by metallic pillars.

"The cars here are supposed to use both hover zones to ease the traffic but the citizens still walk on the ground level. The Baron says that if they get hit or knocked down, it's their own fault. He doesn't care about his people anyway. That's why everyone wants the true leader on the thrown. Well, everyone but a guy named Krew.

He's an arms dealer and a rare artefact collector. He is also quite well known for wrestling but he's still rather repulsive. Krew owns the seedy Hip-Hog Saloon in South Town. It's a bar if you're wondering. That's where I'm taking you now." Tess smiled.

"Wait. You said something about the true leader. Is Baron Praxis not meant to be on the throne?"

"Not at all. He has had many battles with the Metal Heads, nasty creatures outside the city walls. It has left him scarred, inside and out. Some of his body has been replaced with machine. He took the throne of the city by force with the sole purpose of carrying out his own vendetta. Praxis has vowed never to give up the fight against the Metal Heads. Unfortunately for him, he has grown discouraged, as he is unable to persuade the city to fight them. Even with all the propaganda he puts out, it will never be enough. Lately, he has been concocting a final reckless plan to save "his" city by destroying the Metal Heads but he doesn't seem to care who gets caught up in the collateral damage.

The true ruler is a small boy of about two or three years old. Rumour has it, that he is wandering the streets somewhere in this city. The amulet around his neck marks him out as the one true heir to the throne of Haven City."

"Wow. That's some story. Who ruled before Praxis?" Jak asked, now becoming quite interested.

"Mar did. There are legends about him: The Warrior King. He was the valiant founder of Haven City. A massive statue commemorates his mythic status. It's near the port. I'll show it to you some time. You can't miss it. Ahem," Tess cleared her throat. "Many say that the world would have been lost to the Metal Heads along time ago without Mar. Others say that he came from a different time, through a gap in space, only departing once his job was done. The legends also say that Mar was imbued with the power of the Precursors and could even talk to them. Pretty amazing, huh? They say that he carried a sword embossed with a Precursor Stone. When Mar fell in battle, the stone was buried in his tomb to safeguard its powers. Unfortunately, the Baron knows of these powers and he is constantly searching for the tomb so that he can use the Precursor Stone to control the world. The bad thing is that they say the Stone is so powerful, it will destroy the world instead. That is why we have to stop him."

Jak's eyes were wide with interest. He longed to meet Mar someday but Tess said he had fallen in battle long ago. The young boy sighed heavily.

Tess drove into a large open area with water in. The place was really busy. Cargo was being loaded into the place and transported to the industrial area of the city. Crowds of people were everywhere. There were people of all shapes and sizes but were wearing much finer garments than those in the slums. Tess explained that slummers were not often found here because of the city's security systems. Only those with the correct security passes were able to cross into other areas of the city. Each area has a different colour security pass and a different colour checkpoint. The one for the Industrial Zone and Port is red.

"We're here!" Tess exclaimed, pointing to a neon-lit building on the edge of the water. It had a giant figure of a Hip-Hog outside it.

"Hey, Jak!" Daxter shouted. "It looks just like Farthy, doesn't it?"

"Yeah" Jak smiled.

Tess parked the Zoomer by the Port wall, nearly knocking over a pedestrian as she did.

She walked up to the front door of the bar. The doors slid open slowly revealing a smoky and loud atmosphere inside. Jak and Daxter followed her inside.

In the centre of the room stood a thick pole with a wrestling arena around it. In the arena were several thugs fighting each other. Some were completely drunk and others unconscious on the floor. The room was full of neon signs that read: HIP HOG in large bright letters. The bar counter was at the far end of the room. Sat at it on small barstools were three tough-looking men. One of them was sipping a large mug of beer and waving a cigar around as he spoke.

"Jak, I'd like you to meet Jinx. He goes to fetch rare artefacts for Krew."

"Hey, Tess, who's the newbie?" Jinx said, waving his cigar in Jak's face. Jak screwed up his nose at the new smell.

"Jinx, this is Jak. He's new around these parts."

"New? I'll bet. Just look at his threads!" Jinx pointed out, rudely.

"We'll get him new ones then and you can pay for them!" Tess teased.

"No way! Just leave me outta this one, lady!" Jinx backed off and went to watch the wrestling.

"Don't worry about him. He's only unfriendly because he's been on the booze!" Tess giggled.

"Booze?" Jak questioned, a little embarrassed.

"Oh Mar! You've never heard of that either? Tess laughed. Jak looked at his feet, his ears going slightly pink on the tips.

"Booze!" Daxter cried out. "Jakkie doesn't know what booze is? Well booze is…. um, booze is………well……um….BOOZE!" And with that Daxter ran away into the back room, attempting to cover up the fact that he too did not have the slightest clue to what booze was.

"You need a lot of explaining to" Tess said with a yawn. "But I'm too tired at the moment. There's like so much you guys have gotta learn but until then, let's get some shuteye. There are a couple of bunks out back. It's time to shut up the Saloon for the night. I'll join ya in a few!" Tess smiled before shooing all of the thugs out of the bar. There were loud groans and a few cusses but eventually, they all left.

Jak and Daxter found the bunk beds in an unlit corner of the room. The bed sheets were of a dark red and were in need of a thorough wash. Jak dumped himself heavily on a lower bunk and lay down. He yawned and stretched before rolling onto his side.

"Yuck! And Samos always said that his place was a mess. This looks as though a group of lurkers have been sleeping here for a month. What a tip!" Daxter shouted.

Jak grinned as he watched Daxter impersonate a lurker.

"Hey guys!" Tess called as she walked into the room. In her hands she held a small tray, piled with food.

"I thought you'd be hungry so I got you a takeaway. Bon appetite!" She placed the tray on Jak's bed and grinned. Daxter stood up from the floor and hopped onto the bed next to Jak.

Both of them stared at the food. It wasn't like the ordinary food back in Sandover. On the tray were two huge portions of meat sandwiched between two pieces of bread with a packet of greasy yellow objects. Daxter prodded the bread.

Tess sighed and said, "that's what we call a burger and the bread is referred to as the bun. Those yellow things are called fries. They're good. Try 'em!"

Jak picked up one of the small fries and bit the end off it. It was unlike anything he'd had back at home. He looked down at his fingers and found a light covering of grease on them.

"That's what the napkin is for" Tess said, pointing to a small cloth on the side of the tray. "So, what do you think? There's lots of this food in Haven City. Its called fast food."

Jak nodded approvingly. "Yeah, I like it" he said, before turning to Daxter who was already half way through the burger. Jak and Tess laughed.

Jak and Daxter tucked into the food while Tess went back into the main room to wipe down the bar counter of all the spilt alcohol.

"Wow this is great!" Daxter spat, his mouth full of food. Jak nodded in agreement and smiled before taking another bite of his burger. Haven City didn't seem so bad; hospitality, friendly people and, of course, plenty of fast food!

After the meal, Jak lay back on the bed. He yawned and turned to look at Daxter who was raiding though all of Tess' draws and pulling out several different under garments.

"Wooo! Check out the cups on this bra, Jak! I told you this girl had nice boobs!" Daxter exclaimed, a broad grin appearing on his furry mug. Jak couldn't help but smile. Daxter could be quite amusing at times. The young boy laughed gently but his quite giggles soon ceased when he heard very heavy footsteps coming towards them from down the corridor.

A:NYay! It was longer than my other chapters. I really enjoyed writing this one though. Please review me!

I'll give you three guesses as to who is coming down the corridor but you'll probably guess first time! Oh and just to let you know, I hate fast food! Yuck!

Bye for now!