Chapter Four: When We Met

"Pick up the pace Tiffany!" I didn't understand why we couldn't just drive to the other side of the city. It was so unfair! Daxter got to ride on Jak's shoulder. Why couldn't I ride on her's? Ugh, she's so impossible these days. "Why can't we drive?" I blurted. "Walking on these little stubs-for-legs is makin' me tired!"

"No! Jak and Daxter didn't always drive, you know. Besides, we don't have a cruiser..."

"That didn't stop you three years ago." Jordan froze. Aw, crap! "Oh, sorry."

"No, you're right. Come on, that one over there seems pretty nice..." Now that's the Jordan I know! We hopped into a two man cruiser with two steering wheels at each seat, just in case one of us became tired. Once it was excited, she looked around for its owner. Nobody. "Let's take care of business..." Okay, she's starting to scare me now! "YAAAAAHH!" I wasn't an expert on the laws, well, I was supposed to be, but this had to be speeding.

When we arrived at the city gates, my fur stood on end. "I hate fur, it's more work than normal hair!" Jordan just shook her head and opened the door with just a push of a button. As the gates opened, I could hear foosteps from behind. "Jordan! My squirrely senses are tingling! Stop!" She spun around and flipped out the Morph Gun. Switching it to Blaster Mode, she peeked around the corner from where I heard the person last. It was him...

He stood with an awful smirk. It made me sick. "I heard you were looking for the Sacred Pearl," he said in a low, husky tone. "I was wondering if I could tag along." The teen wasn't armed, but I could tell that he was definetly up to something.

"Fine."

"WHAT!"

"Come on, Tiff," she said as she cuffed him. "If he gets in our way, we'll leave him." I looked back up at the suspicious criminal. He still didn't look worried. "I say we take him straight to jail!"

"Let's go," he said as he stepped out into the desert, Jordan following close behind. "Remember, any funny business..."

"I know, I know, you'll leave me behind..."


"Move it!" Things were going slow as we made our way across the desert sand. Once or twice I was blown back by a gust of wind, which only made things slower.. By now I had begun to wish that we were back at home watching TV with the babies enjoying late night snacks without permission while the parents were away. Stupid...boy. "Say, what's your name anyway?"

"Me? I'm Jordan."

"What a coincidence! Her name is-" Jordan smacked her hand over my mouth. "My name's Elizabeth." I didn't know why she was lying about her name, but by the tone of her voice, I could tell that she wasn't happy with using her middle name. Jordan and Jordan would not get along, that's for sure. "So Elizabeth..." She flinched. "Why do you want the Sacred Pearl?"

"It's none of your concern." She picked me up and put me on her shoulder. "Why do you want it?"

"I have to go...visit someone. That's all I can tell you." Jordan shook her head and trudged on. "Nice name you've got. Reminds me of somebody I know."

"Who?"

"You'll see when I think you're ready and trustworthy enough."

"You don't like me do you?"

"You turned my best friend into a squirrel, what's not to like?" Oh, good one Jordi!

"So that's why you want the pearl!" Leave us alone!

"If you must know, yes. That's why we want the pearl. How did you know its name?" Yeah, how did you know its name?

"I've been around these parts once or twice. Trust me."

"Why should I trust you?"

"I haven't shot you yet..." Even with his cuffs on, he stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out a small pistol. Indeed, if he wanted to, he could've shot either one of us. "Trust me now?" Jordan, or should I say Elizabeth, glared daggers with her eyes. "Gimme' the gun." She held out her hand and he placed his pistol into it. "I still don't know..."


"I'm hungry!" I shouted. We'd been out here for two days and there was no sign of any temple. "J-...Elizabeth! Why didn't you bring any food?"

"I'm sorry! We'll find something, don't worry."

"Do you see any food shops around here? Face it, we're dead!" Jordan bowed his head. "I have to agree with the rat. This might be it..."

"Shut up! Both of you!" Oh no, anger! Sparks of Dark Eco sparked from her eyes. "Don't tell me when we're gonna' die and how we're gonna' die!" Claws sprang from the tips of her fingers. "If you two don't stop whining..." Tattoos wound around her arms and legs. "Then I'm going to kill you if famine doesn't!" Finally, horns appeared on her head and tail whipped around madly as Dark Jordan was set free. "Take it easy, pal! We didn't mean it!"

"Grrrrr..." Slowly she faded back to normal. "Wow, I feel better!" Her eyes lightened back to the emerald green of the thirteen year-old that I missed so much. "Soooo, all that time, it was Dark J-Elizabeth that was making you so irratable?"

"I guess so! Come on! We've got a pearl to get!" Hm, I think Torn has a dark side, too... My new friend Elizabeth began to skip! She even started to whistle! Neat, I didn't know she could whistle. While the cheerful Elizabeth pranced along the sand, Jordan stood with his mouth hanging wide open. "Wh-what was that!"

"Oh, I guess I should explain. You see, we're not originally from here. There's another world out there that we used to live in. My friend Jak came for me one night and took me to Haven where I was captured. They tested me with Dark Eco and every time I got mad I would go beserk! Now, I can change back and forth from a monster to a normal teenager. And I guess if I keep Dark...Elizabeth locked up for too long, she'll get pretty damn mad..." Jordan nodded. "I get it. I have something to tell you, but I guess I'll wait since you're in a good mood."

"Oh, yes. Please don't ruin it! I haven't seenJ-Elizabeth so happy since Michael was born!" He frowned. "Michael? Is Jak his father?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Mmmm, nevermind. I'll tell you later." Elizabeth shrugged. "Let's go already!" She tugged on his cuffs roughly and he flinched. "Oops, sorry!" To my surprize, she unlocked the cuffs and threw them behind a nearby rock. "There ya' go!" Once Elizabeth skipped out of hearing range, Jordan picked me up and put me on his shoulder. I wish people would stop picking me up without asking. He leaned over in my ear and whispered. "Is she always like this?"

"Nope. I think everybody needs a dark side to turn into, then there would be more morning people!"

"Ugh, I hate morning people!"

"So does Elizabeth!" Yes! I got it right! "Um, just out of curiosity, do you like her?" He stopped, letting Elizabeth skip even further away. "Can you keep it a secret?"

"Sure thing. That is, if you pay well..." Jordan pushed me off of his shoulder with his pointer finger. "Well, I know she wasn't falling in love with me that day. It's...it's something I have to tell her about first."

"That's no fun! I always know stuff before Elizabeth..." He laughed and ran to catch up with our so called Elizabeth...