A/N: I'm so sorry for not updating in a really long time. I could not think of anything for this chapter. So on my retreat I got some ideas from riding on the bus for three hours there and back. And no one had ideas for a Jak chapter, so you get none of him for this chapter. But the next one will be a full Jak chapter and will not be cut in half. I'll try to answer reviews the best I can. I don't own anything from Jak2. Please R&R!
Red Hawk K'sani: The green eco crystal will revel its secrets in this chapter. Thanks for the review.
Authraw: I'll answer the whole Metal Head nest in the school thing in a few more chapters. But I think more people understand because in the game the leader can look like an Elf. Maybe that kind of answers the question. Thanks for reviewing!
Rob the Hedgehog: Daxter is the star. You will see a lot more of him in the latter chapters. I'm finishing the whole plot with Merlander and some of the others soon. So you will see him more often. And I'm sorry to say that I might have an e-mail address, but that does not mean that I check e-mails. I'm a lazy writer. But I'll try. It should be cool. Thanks for the review!
Shadow666: Ha! I have a reader that is magic! Sweet! And my sister always looks at me like I'm on crack too, so it is no big deal. Sometimes I think it is funny to see her look at me that way. But thanks for reviewing.
WRTD: You crack me up! You are too funny! I loved your review. The eco crystal stuff will be reveled in this chapter. That last chapter was made up just on the spot and I had no idea how it was going to work out. But I'm glad it was funny. Thanks for the review.
Yomiori-Wolfdemon: I don't know how to get pictures or anything along those lines. I did not even know how to update chapters on this site when I first started off. I was that pathetic. But I wish I could see it because your character rocks! Thanks for reviewing!
Chapter 23
Erol walked up to Roxie and Daxter with his pistol aiming at them. He grabbed Daxter and threw him to the Krimson Guards and said, "Put him in the cage." After a lot of loud protesting, Daxter was shoved into a tiny cage and one of the guards locked it shut with an evil chuckle.
"Now for you, princess," Erol said to Roxie while turning her around and shoving her against the crystal. He took out a set of handcuffs and strapped them around her wrists with a smile. He shoved another time and part of the crystal sliced into Roxie's skin. She gave a wince and Erol tightened the cuffs. "Are they too tight?" he asked the girl.
Roxie glared at him and said, "No." She loved the surprise on his face but hated her punishment. He turned her around and shoved his pistol into her side and grabbed her other shoulder to keep her pressed up against the weapon.
Roxie never liked guns. When the cold metal of the pistol touched her skin, her stomach did a flip like it would when ridding a roller coaster. "You're sick, you know that?" she spat out at Erol. She hated to have him so close to her and touch her body.
"You're too kind," Erol said with a wicked smile on his face. "Let's move out!" he said to the Krimson Guards. They walked out of the Metal Head nest and out the closet the two friends had been stuck in for the past hour. "We will come back here to destroy the nest later." The group walked out of the school and started down the steps.
Before they got down the steps, a pole came flying out of the bushes next to the stairs and knocked out one of the Krimson Guards. He collapsed to the ground and rolled down the rest of the steps. Erol stepped back in surprise and yanked Roxie with him. Bo jumped out of the bushes and swung her staff at the other Krimson Guard that held onto the cage with Daxter inside. He ducked just in time and backed up.
"I'll shoot her!" Erol yelled at Bo. The Human glared at him with her icy, blue eyes. She had her long, red hair down, and most of it was covering her face. One side of her face was completely covered by hair, and a long scar was along her cheek with blood slowly dripping down. She glared at Erol with hatred flashing in her eyes, and it made the guy's blood run cold.
A yellow fireball came from behind Erol and hit him on the back. Erol fell forward while still holding onto Roxie. Akki grabbed Roxie before she could fall down the stairs with Erol. They turned to the Krimson Guard that held the cage, and he looked like he had just peed in his pants with fright.
"Watch out!" Daxter yelled while pointing to Erol. The guy had gotten up and was pointing his pistol at Roxie. No one could stop the guy. A big bang echoed around that part of Haven City. Daxter had his eyes closed while Bo was going after Erol. Akki was in the middle of throwing a fireball at the villain.
They all stopped and looked at Roxie with wide eyes. A faint green glow was on their faces as they looked up to the teen. Roxie opened her eyes to see she was not dead at all. All eyes were on her, and all jaws had dropped to the floor.
"She is on green fire!" the Krimson Guard said.
"It must have been the green eco crystal," Daxter said to Roxie. "Just look at yourself!"
"What?" Roxie asked while looking over her body. She was covered with green flames, and it was scary but still awesome at the same time. "Sweet!" she said while her eyes lit up with delight.
Before anyone got his or her head together, Bo was already taking action. She advanced toward Erol. He jumped onto his zoomer and flew off before the Human took his head off. Bo knew she could not knock the living crap out of the wimp, so she turned toward the Krimson Guard. She then came after him. He did not take any chances and just dropped Daxter's cage and ran like a girly man would.
"Get back here, you blood thirsty group of savages!" Bo screamed at him with disgust in her voice as she watched him run. "I'll kill you! I'll kill you all!" She was pissed. They all just stared at her with shock.
"What has gotten into her?" Roxie whispered to Akki who was beside her.
"Black Water was found," Akki said with a faraway look in his yellow eyes. "Merlander got out of there just in time with Flash and Rose. They are hiding somewhere in the city, but we don't know if they are okay because Merlander is still hurt from Erol hitting him."
Akki folded his arms in front of his chest as Bo walked up the steps with the cage in one hand and her staff in the other. She gave the cage with Daxter in it to Roxie and twirled her staff around. It clicked back into a shorter version than before, and the Human put it into her belt.
"I really hope they are okay," Akki said with sadness and worry in his voice.
"Um," came a voice from the cage. "Can someone please get me out of this stupid cage?" The three looked down to Daxter with a bit of surprise. He gave them a smile and said, "Got any ideas?"
"We need a place to hide," Bo said with an icy tone to her voice. "I can't open that cage. That light saber would work, though. But until we get that, Dax, you're stuck in there." Daxter gave a grown and rolled his eyes. He sat down in the cage and waited for something to happen.
"We can go to my house," Roxie finally said. "It is on the opposite side of the city, though. Might take us a while to get there."
"Are you forgetting something, kid?" Daxter asked. "You're parents don't know you are an eco freak! How do you think they will react when a truck load of eco freaks come walking into their home?"
"It is worth a try, and stop calling us eco freaks," Roxie said while leading the way down the steps. "Maybe we can find Merlander and the rest along the way. What happened to all the other Black Water people?"
"Dead," was Bo's answer. It started to rain again and the Elves, Human, and Osttel started to get soaked. Bo's hair fell in front of her face, and she did not care to push it out of the way as she said, "We were out looking for you, and when we came back dead bodies were laying all over the floors and just left there to die. We found Merlander's note and quickly left to find you and them. I'm afraid that Simon got captured because we could not find his body."
"Here comes more Krimson Guards," Akki said quickly, and the group quickly hid behind a fruit stand as they past them. When they were gone, the group went back to walking to Roxie's house. They made slow business because of so many Krimson Guards looking for them. They finally made it to the Slums, and by then no Krimson Guards were looking for them.
"We should get there soon," Roxie said behind her shoulder. "Great. Here come more Krimson Guards. Where do we hide?" The rain started to clear up and the puddles started to sparkle with the little light from the sun peaking through the rain clouds.
"Behind this building," Akki quickly said as he pressed his body against the wall. The rest did the same and they held their breath.
"Get him!" came a Krimson Guard voice. "Fire!" Lasers started to fly by the building the group was hiding behind. Merlander came running by the building with about five Krimson Guards behind him. A blue flash zipped around one Krimson Guard, and the dude tripped and fell on his face in a funny manner, but sad to say, this was not a time to laugh.
"That's Flash!" Akki yelled while coming out of hiding. "And that is Merlander! We got to help them." Bo grabbed her Bo Staff and ran out to fight. Akki threw a tiny fireball to get the Krimson Guard's attention. Roxie stood there with the cage in her hands and feeling stupid for some reason.
"We can be cheerleaders," Daxter said flatly when he caught onto Roxie's mood. When you were a Mind Speaker it was hard not to send vibes of your feelings. Roxie gave a sigh and drummed her fingers on the top of the cage as she watched the Black Water team take down the Krimson Guards.
"Come and get it!" Bo yelled as she threw herself into the group of Krimson Guards at full force. She hit one of them and jumped out of the way as one tried to hit her with his gun. She knocked it out of his hands and quickly tripped him with her Staff. Akki was throwing fireballs this whole time and knocked out a few other guards. In just a few minuets the group of KG's were down.
"You guys came just in time," Merlander said as he ran up to his friends. Rose was strapped to his back and was quiet. Flash suddenly appeared next to Roxie, and she let out a little gasp of surprise. He gave her a quick smile and started to switch back to different feet, half out of nervousness and half of because he was full of blue eco and had to keep moving.
"We are heading for Roxie's house," Akki said as the group started to walk some more with Roxie in the lead with the cage in her hands. Bo and Flash was in the middle and keeping a look out for more Krimson Guards. Akki and Merlander brought up the rear and Merlander kept looking behind his shoulder to see if anyone was following them.
They finally made it to the house, and Roxie paused at the door and gave a sigh. She shook her head to clear it and opened the door and let her Black Water friends in one by one. She set a hand on Merlander's shoulder when he passed her, and she looked into his deep, violet eyes. She realized that she could hear all his thoughts and feel all his moods.
All his thoughts and feelings came to her like a lightning bolt. Worry, confusion, anger, sadness, gratefulness, and a hint of love that she only caught for less than a second. She quickly looked away because his feelings were too overwhelming. She wanted to cry. Everything was falling apart.
"Hey," Merlander said to her in a whisper. "It will be okay. At least they don't have us."
"I hate to cut into this lovely talk between you two," Daxter said with boredom in his voice. "But it would be nice to get out of this freaking cage!" Merlander rolled his eyes and walked into the kitchen. Roxie frowned and glared at Daxter. "What?" he asked. "How come I never know when I upset girls? You girls are always so picky."
"Roxie!" came a harsh voice from the kitchen. It was her mother. Roxie walked into the room and was beginning to sweat. She wondered what her mother would think. "Where is Roxie?" Meg demanded, as she looked at all the new faces around her. "You said Roxie was with you!" she said to Bo.
"Mom, don't get mad at them!" Roxie said in a rush. "They are only staying here till they find someplace to stay that is safe."
"Who are you?" Meg asked Roxie while putting her hands on her hips and looking sternly at her daughter. "I demand to know what is going on!"
"I'm Roxie!" Roxie said then bit her lower lip and prepared for her mom to freak out. Her mom just looked at her for a long time in disbelieve. "How can I prove that I'm Roxie?" Roxie said to herself. An idea came to her, and she took a chance. If the green eco crystal could make her powers triple then what if she tried going into little form again? She had to try it.
In a flash of white with green sparkles, the teen changed into her tiny form. Everyone gasped and stared at her. Meg ran up to Roxie and threw the cage over her shoulder to hug her little girl. Merlander caught the cage and smiled at Daxter who just frowned and rubbed his head from being banged around.
"What happened to you, my little Roxie?" Meg asked her kid as she hugged her. Roxie turned into her teen form and looked like she was about to choke. Flash started to laugh, and Akki hit him on the back of his head to make the kid shut up.
"Mom!" Roxie gasped out. "Air!"
"Oh! Sorry!" Meg said while whipping tears from her eyes. "Look at you! How long have you been doing that?"
"I'll tell you everything after we all sit down," Roxie said with a smile. She was so happy that her mother still loved her. She just wondered what her dad would think. That was not a happy thought.
The group sat down, and Meg made them a quick snack, and the Black Water team ate quickly like they had not eaten in a long time. They were all worn out from running around the city being chased by Krimson Guards. Roxie told her mother everything while Bo used her light saber to get Daxter out of the cage. After Roxie was done, Merlander picked up after that and told Meg about Black Water. Bo then finished it with the Baron finding them and killing everyone.
"It would be selfish if I said no to guys staying here," Meg said to them when they were done talking. "You can stay here till everything dies down. I just don't have enough money to feed you all."
"We have no money too," Merlander said while messing with Rose's hair. "I did not have enough time to grab any when I left. What are we going to do?"
Rose and Flash yawned at the same time. Bo saw this and said, "We are all worn out. I for sure am. I've not had this much adventure in a long time. You know how Humans are. All they do is invent things. I'm ready for bed. We can talk about the money thing in the morning. Right now Rose and Flash needs sleep."
"No I don't!" Flash said with a big yawn at the end.
Meg laughed and said to him, "I used to tell Roxie a bunch of bed time stories. I bet I could tell you one. Let's go into the other room." Flash nodded with a small smile. Merlander handed Rose over to the mom, and she took the two into Roxie's room.
"I'll go with you, mom!" Roxie said after a pause. She got up and ran to her room to be with her mom. What she really wanted was to hear one of her mom's stories. She was a kid in a teen's body.
Daxter laughed and started after Roxie. "My bed is in her dresser," he said, and the three just smiled at him. He got the hint that the Black Water team wanted some alone time. "Maybe I should just stick around here and eat some more," he said with a sly smile.
"Go!" they all said together to beat it through Daxter's head.
"Okay!" Daxter said while putting his hands up in defeat. "I get the point! I'm going." He started to leave then turned around to say something else. Before he got to say anything, Merlander stood up with a wooden spoon in his hands and was glaring daggers at the animal. "Going!" he said then ran to the other room in a hurry.
Merlander sat back down with a smile. "That should keep him away for at least a hour," he said. "Where do we start? We are the only Black Water members left. I call a meeting." Akki and Bo answered with little laughs and looked to the floor.
"I can't get that picture of people that I knew all my life dead on the floor in front of me," Bo whispered to no one. Merlander opened his mouth to say something, but she did not let him speak. "Why? I can't see anyone mean enough to kill so many people at once. I just fell so weak and pathetic. Why did he have to do that?" By this time the strong Human girl was crying.
Akki kept his eyes to the ground. A few small tears slowly fell down his face as he listened to Bo. Merlander gave a sigh then sat next to Bo. She looked at him, and his heart went out for her. She always had this cover that was strong and independent. He now saw her true colors. She was scared and needed someone to comfort her.
"Hey," he whispered to her. "It will all work out. You have friends still that love you. We just got to keep a little bit of hope in our hearts." Bo smiled, and for the first time, she looked like her real age to Akki's and Merlander's eyes. She then buried her face into Merlander's shoulder and gave small sobs. For two seconds Merlander did not know what to do. He was too surprised. He then hugged the little teen Human that was only 13. He glanced over to Akki and ruffed his hair to get a smile to come to his lips.
"Let's get to sleep," Merlander whispered to them. "We all need it." He was the oldest there. This was now his team. He had never felt at home anywhere, not even Black Water. The only place he knew that he trusted was the Wastelanders that he and Sig were spying for. He finally found a place to call his own. Its name was Black Water.
"What the heck!" Daxter whispered loudly to Roxie as he tripped over Akki's sleeping body. "I can't see a single thing in the dark!"
"I thought otters or weasels could see in the dark," Roxie said while grabbing her dad's leather backpack from the kitchen counter. "And keep quiet. You might wake them."
"How did you're dad handle everything, kid?" Daxter asked while noticing that Merlander was nowhere to be seen in the bunch lying on the floor of Roxie's kitchen. "And I'm sorry to say that I don't see well in the dark. Maybe I did not get that gene or something."
"My dad took it well, I think," Roxie said while her door swooshed open. "Get your fuzzy butt over here, Dax! We need to get going. It takes some time to get to the palace." Daxter came running up to her with Bo's small light saber in his hands.
"I thought that we might need this," Daxter said as they stepped out into the night air. He jumped up to her shoulder then gave her the gadget. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"
"You were the one who wanted to do it when I told you about it," Roxie said with a laugh. "If you don't like it then you can go back. But I'm doing it." A small breeze flew over them, and Roxie shivered. The only thing giving light to the two was the bright moon and green light in the dark sky.
Roxie looked up and said to Daxter, "I never noticed that we had so many stars."
"Oh no," Daxter said sarcastically. "Roxie is noticing things. I don't feel safe riding on your shoulder anymore. Let's go to a doctor."
"Cut it out, fuzzy," Roxie said to her friend. "We should stop by Mod's place to see if we can take Morph along with us. He could be of some help."
"Yeah. Another absent minded thing to tag along with this tiny crew," Daxter said. "You always say that he could come in handy when the only thing that blob does is look at something shiny and gets off track. He kind of reminds me of someone."
"Hey!" Roxie snapped back. "Shiny things are cool! Don't diss them! And I'll make sure he does not get into any trouble."
"You said that last time," Daxter said flatly. "Remember? When we were mapping out the bazaar just a week ago? He saw a Jewry stand and flew off with a diamond necklace. We chased that air head blob for two whole hours!"
"I'll take care of it," Roxie said while rolling her eyes at Daxter. "Just keep your tail on. And we need one of Mod's maps of the palace."
"We can pick the lock to his glass case," Daxter said slowly and sarcastically.
"Funny," Roxie said flatly. "Don't joke like that. That closet was hell. I will have nightmares of that place for the rest of my life."
"Yeah," Daxter said. "I will forever hate moths and will have scars for forever." The two looked at each other then cracked up. The funny memory lifted the nervousness from their minds. Then they saw Mod's tent come up.
A/N: Next chapter will be of Jak. I have everything planned out for that chapter, so it will be out soon. I bet you readers are wondering what the two sneaky friends plan to do. You will find out soon. Please give a review!