A/N: Wow. Everyone felt so sad for Jak. Well, I do too. And some people thought it was one of my best chapters. I feel very loved! This chapter is only Roxie and Daxter and now Merlander is joining their little team for a few chapters.
And oh my gosh! My little sisters rented the game Tak2 and when my mom returned it she put my game Jak2 in the case and gave it to Block Buster! I panicked! I paid for that game and now it was taken away and I would never be able to play it again. Thankfully, my dad called them and just this morning my mom got my Jak2 back.
Anyways, I was getting off the subject. Rated PG-13 for some swearing, action, and a bit of gore. Sorry about not responding to reviews. I don't have much time on computer now. I don't own anything for Jak2. Please R&R. Thanks!
Chapter 13
"We totally got your bird!" Roxie said at the top of her lungs as she jumped through the beads that was made as a door for Mod's tent. Daxter came in right after her with Morph by his side. They both wore proud smiles.
Mod jumped from where he was behind his desk looking closely at one of his old maps. He gave a short gasp and looked up with a frown. Someone next to him in the shadows just gave a smile.
Roxie smiled with triumph and held the cage up to Mod as Daxter jumped up to her shoulder. They did not notice the guy in the shadows. "And we kicked some Krimson Guard butt while we were at it!" Daxter joined in. "And your bird is in primo condition!" Morph gave a series of over dramatic nods while he let out a chirp.
"I see," Mod said stiffly while adjusting his glasses and looking at the bird closely. "What do you think, Mr. Merlander?"
"Huh?" Roxie and Daxter asked in union. They looked at each other with confused expressions on their faces.
"I think it looks fine," Merlander said while stepping out of a dark corner of the tent with his arms crossed in front of him and a sly smile on his face. "The ones who look messed up I think are Roxie and Daxter."
"Wait!" Roxie said while backing up with a bit of panic in her eyes. "I gave you that fruit. You should be out for around two days at the most."
"I gave the fruit to Erol by mistake," Merlander said with a shrug. "So here I am." He spread his arms out and gave the two a wide smile.
Daxter laughed out loud and fell off Roxie's shoulder by mistake. "That is great!" he said in the middle of laughing even though he hurt a little from the fall. "I would have loved to see him pass out! That is so funny!"
Roxie shook her head at Daxter with a chuckle. It took him a while to calm down. Morph turned himself into a mini Daxter and did a high squeaky laugh. Merlander and Roxie laughed with him. Daxter swiped him away with an annoyed glare. He did not like to be mimicked.
"Get lost," Roxie then said to Merlander while giving him a cold glare. She then turned to Mod and said, "Now where is our map? We want to get Jak out of prison today. Here is your stupid bird." She set the cage down on the table and saw that Merlander was still there.
"Why don't you leave?" she asked him with frustration.
"I'm a fly," Merlander said with a smirk. "I never go away." Daxter smiled with him. Roxie had told him what Merlander was into and that he wanted to protect her. She had also went into great detail about how he was like a fly. Daxter knew Roxie kind of liked him but did not want to admit it.
"Just give us our map so we can leave," Roxie hissed to Mod.
"Jak is gone," Merlander said calmly. Roxie and Daxter snapped their heads toward Merlander with shock and he explained. "He has been chosen for the Baron's Dark Warrior 'project'." When he said, "project" he put his hands into the quote symbols while rolling his eyes. "Jak was taken to a fort in the jungle just yesterday."
"You're bluffing!" Daxter said while pointing an index finger at Merlander. Daxter knew it was most likely true, but he did not want to admit it. If Jak were somewhere far away Roxie and him would never be able to free him.
"Don't believe me, ask me," Merlander said sternly while crossing his arms again.
Mod laughed and they all looked to him. "That was a good one, Mr. Merlander," he said with a chuckle. "I like that one very much."
"What does he mean?" Roxie asked with confusion.
"It was a joke," Merlander said dryly. "Don't believe me, ask me. Get it now?"
"Oh!" Roxie and Daxter said at the same time. They finally got it. Everyone in the tent except Mod rolled his or her eyes with heavy sighs. Even Morph joined them even though he did not know what it was all about.
"So do you still want a map?" Mod asked with a smile. Roxie looked at him with a deathly glare that made the smile on his face vanish. "Just asking," he said in his defense.
"Just give us a job," Roxie said while thinking. "Then we are even."
"Pardon, miss Roxie," Mod said while messing with one of his long ears. "I thought you said to give you a job."
"She did," Daxter said while putting his hands on his hips. Merlander nodded to back him up.
"Well...um," Mod stumbled on his words. "I don't think so."
"Why not?" Merlander asked for Roxie. "I've seen her in action and she is great. She might seem like some little kid, but she is a lot smarter than what she seems."
"Thanks," Roxie said while giving him a glare. "So now you're saying I look dumb. I feel very loved."
"I'm serious," Merlander said. "When you fell from that tree to get the bird I was thinking you were an idiot. But the moment you hit the ground you were thinking of a plan and giving me the fruit. If I was hungry your plan would have worked perfectly. Give yourself some credit."
Roxie looked away and folded her arms in front of her. Daxter nodded and a slight smile crossed his face. "So what is your answer now?" he asked Mod.
"Fine," Mod said with a sigh.
"Really?" Roxie asked with surprise. "Yes!" She bounced up and down like a little kid she was on the inside and hugged Mod with a giant bear hug like one of Bruter's. She let him go and turned to Merlander and Daxter.
"Pass!" Merlander and Daxter said at the same time while backing away with weak smiles. What Merlander and Daxter both had was that a voice in their head kept repeating, "Yes!" But it was not their thought. They did not dwell on it, though.
Roxie regained her posture and cleared her throat before saying, "I mean thanks. I'll swing by here tomorrow at around 12:30." She shook Mod's hand and skipped out of the tent with Merlander and Daxter right behind her. Morph stayed with Mod in the tent even though he wanted to join them.
"Now I need a whole new outfit," Roxie said while spreading her arms out to look herself over. Mud stains were all over her clothes and a big one on her butt. She looked at it then looked up to see Merlander and Daxter chuckling while looking at her. "Shut up," she said with a frown.
"Whatever you say," Merlander said while walking past her with a smile. "I need to change too. My shift as Krimson Guard is done so I have lots of free time. My mom owns a clothes shop. We can stop by there."
"What do you mean when you say 'stop by'?" Daxter asked while cocking his head to the side.
"I want you to visit Black Water," Merlander said while stopping and turning around to face them. "Just a quick visit. You need to know where it is in case something happens and you don't know where to go. You don't have to go if you really don't want to."
"I'll go," Roxie said while walking past him. "I've never seen a tree hugger village before. This should be fun." Merlander gave a heavy sigh and let it go.
"Okay," Merlander said while stopping right outside a store. "Before we go in you got to stay mum about me being in Black Water. They are really for the Baron because my mom and him are brother and sister."
"So that means your uncle is the Baron?" Daxter asked while standing up on Roxie's shoulder and crossing his arms in front of him. "When were you going to tell us this?"
"Right now," Merlander said with a sheepish smile. "Just tell me you'll keep everything about Black Water hush."
"I don't care," Roxie said. "Only if you get me some numbers knocked off some prices of clothes because this place is for people with lots of dough."
"Done," Merlander said and they both nodded to each other.
"Let's go," Roxie said with a funny seriousness to her voice. Daxter jumped off her shoulder and walked beside her with Merlander. They pushed the door open and the sound of music quickly filed their ears. Bright lights were flashing everywhere and all the clothes were mostly for teens.
The carpet was all kinds of funky colors. A disco ball on the ceiling cast little spots of light around the walls. A glass counter was in the back of the store with a lady behind it reading a teen magazine. She chewed some pink bubble gum and the way she chewed on the thing reminded Daxter of a yakcow.
She had short blond hair that was like Roxie's, but just a big longer. She was tall and skinny. She wore a pink shirt and white shorts. All down her arms were silver bracelets that had gone out of style two years ago. And with all the makeup she wore Daxter had a hard time determining if it was Merlander's mother or not.
"Mer!" she exclaimed as she looked up and saw them. "Where have you been for the last hour?" She said this as if when she just now saw him she remembered him and just wanted to say something. She looked over to Roxie and asked, "Who is the girl?"
"She is a friend, mom," Merlander said while giving her a weak smile. "Do you think you can give her a discount on an outfit?"
"Sure," his mom said. "What is that awful smell?"
"Her...uh...her pet, mom," Merlander said quickly while pointing to Daxter on the ground beside him. "He got a bit messy."
"I see," his mom said while giving Daxter a cold glare and he returned it quickly with a growl. Roxie nudged him with her leg and he stopped. "Please pick something out quickly because I can't stand the smell of it."
"Okay," Merlander said in between a sigh. Roxie went right away to picking some clothes out and went into the dressing room to try stuff on.
"This might take a while," Daxter whispered to Merlander. He was already used to the guy. Daxter felt safe with Merlander. He was a normal guy who just wanted to help. So striking up a conversation with him was okay. "She took forever the last time she did this."
"Yep," Merlander said. "When my mom goes to the palace it takes her an hour just to pick out the right dress."
"Girls," they both said at the same time while shaking their heads.
After a few minutes Roxie opened up the door and asked, "What do you two think?"
Her whole outfit was a mix and match. And some stuff did not even match for the girl. She wore a tight red sleeveless shirt under a loose white sleeveless shirt that was unbuttoned. She had on a black and white tie that sat loosely around her neck.
Her pants were black jeans and her shoes were white sneakers with red and black stripe shoelaces on them. She slipped on a red belt with metal studs around it and put the pack on with her stuff in it. And for her final piece of clothing was her prized three-cornered pirate hat. She also kept the gloves and that ended the whole mix and match outfit.
"I like it," Daxter said with a smile. "It is odd, but strangely enough, it is you."
"I hope you like it," Merlander said. "And what is with the pirate hat?"
Roxie looked like he had just said the sky was falling. "It is the greatest hat of all time. And it is awesomely awesome!" Daxter laughed and jumped onto her shoulder. He then flicked the hat off her head with an evil smile on his face.
"Hey!" she cried while catching it before it hit the ground. "You over grown rat! Did you wake up today and made it your goal to be evil, or did Merlander just tell you to do that?"
"Just testing you," Daxter said. Roxie started to hit him with her hat and he crawled down her by going in circles around her body. He got the floor and gave her a glare.
"You walk," she said to him while shoving the three cornered hat back on her head and giving him a nod. Merlander could not help but laugh. Daxter stuck out his tongue at her and she returned it.
"Okay, do I have to separate you two?" Merlander asked while stepping in between them sternly. "Stop acting like babies and get real."
"He started it," Roxie said while pointing to Daxter. "And I'm not acting like a baby!"
"Says the girl who sticks out her tongue when she is mad," Merlander said while rolling his eyes. Roxie then stuck out her tongue at Merlander and Daxter laughed.
"You got lucky this time," she said while pointing at Daxter with a warning finger.
"Let's go," Merlander said with a sigh. He was beginning to realize that Roxie was part teen and part kid. She was now really showing her kid side. Daxter tagged along behind them a bit mad that he had to walk. He wondered where Black Water was. He would soon find out.
A/N: You will see more of Merlander's family in later chapters. And they get kind of scary and Merlander is nothing like them. Next chapter you get to visit Black Water! And some other stuff is going to be reviled to you in the next chapter too. After that I'll try to add more of Jak. Please give a review!