A/N: Oh geez! My last Jak chapter really made me want to write another one really quick, but I know I can't do that. HA! You people have no idea what I'm going to do with Jak! I love doing this to my readers!
Daxter: "Sorry people that she is so hyper. She is running on only three hours of sleep, so she drunk around four cups of Coke. Boy, that stuff sure makes Pix hyper!"
Me: "Yeah, I got Monday off and I slept in till noon. How dumb was that?"
Daxter: "Pretty stupid, Pix. But I'm sure your readers still love you."
Me: "Not if I keep giving them these evil cliffhangers. Mwhaha!"
Daxter: takes a step away from me. "Um…yeah. I'm just here for the disclaimer. Pix owns nothing."
Me: "Stop calling me Pix! It is so annoying!"
Daxter: "You need a nick name. Just call her Pix for now on, readers!"
Me: "I need more Coke."
Daxter: "Reviews answered at the end of chapter. Please read on!"
Chapter 29
"Have any twos?" Merlander asked his red head cousin who sat across from him on the top of a bunk bed in the Underground hideout. It was around two in the morning. Merlander rarely ever went to sleep, so he was staying up with no missions. Ashelin had Krimson Guard duty early in the morning on weekends, so she was staying up with Merlander. Playing an old Human card game was the only way to pass the time.
"Go fish," Ashlen muttered while looking at her cards with a blank stare. She gave a yawn and looked over her cards at Merlander. He did not seem very tiered. He just seemed bored. "Have any fours?" she finally asked while studying him for a few seconds.
"Don't tell me you two are still playing that stupid game again," Torn said while coming into the room with a box in his hands. Tuya's little muse followed close behind him with little meow sounds. Torn completely ignored the animal. Ever since the thing destroyed his desk he hated it. Tuya slept soundly on the bottom bunk next to the one Merlander and Ashelin were on. It did not take long for Tuya's secret about her muse to get out. Now lots of people knew about it.
"It is the only way to pass the time," Ashelin said as Merlander gave her one of his fours.
Torn set the box on his desk, and Mozart jumped up to the desk to hop inside it. Torn caught him by the back of his neck just in time and frowned at the creature. "What is this thing's problem?" he asked to no one really.
"I think it likes you, Torn," Merlander said without looking away from his cards. Torn gave a sigh of frustration and set the muse down on the ground. It sniffed the air as if bored. It gave another meow then climbed up the bunk bed the card players were on. It spotted the cards and started to attack them like they were a sworn enemy.
"Hey!" Ashelin yelled at the animal while backing away. "Get your fuzzy butt off the cards!" she yelled at it. Mozart looked over to her and spotted the cards in her hands. It pounced at her cards, and they flew into the air.
Merlander caught one and looked at it. "I thought you said you did not have any twos," he said with a hint of anger in his voice. "You lied."
"That is the only way to beat the game, Mer," she said while shoving Mozart off her. "Plus, I'm half awake. I don't know what cards I have." Mozart finally backed off. He took a card that was scattered on the bed and jumped off the bed with it in his mouth.
"Come back here with that card," Merlander said while trying to grab the creature before it jumped off the bed. He missed and fell off the bed with a short yell of surprise. Ashelin gave a wince as she heard him land on the hard floor of the hideout.
Mozart seemed to have a smile on his cat-like face as he watched Merlander get off the floor. He chewed on the card in his tiny mouth and started to purr. Merlander looked up at him and muttered, "You got lucky this time." Torn rolled his eyes and went back to his maps of the city.
"Mer?" Ashelin asked her cousin as he sat back on the bed. She had been dreading to say this to him all day. Right now she thought it was the right time, because he was in a goofy mood.
"Yeah?" he asked without even noticing that she was worried.
"I've heard a few things around in the palace," Ashelin began. "Things about you." She waited till he looked over to her. He never did. He looked straight ahead with his face a mystery. "They plan on capturing Black Water real soon. They plan on doing something with you. Merlander, I've watched you lately. You're a mystery to the world. What do they want from you?"
Merlander said nothing for a long time. "Where did you hear this from?" he finally asked while looking over to her. He was avoiding the real question.
"Erol. That guy sure loves to brag," she said with a nod. "And it is hard not to hear things around the palace when you're the Baron's daughter."
Merlander started to fiddle with the end of his sleeve while looking down. Why could the Baron not stop messing with him? Now the Baron wanted him even more. What if he did force everything out of him? What would happen to Black Water? Worry was starting to creep up on him more and more as he thought about it.
"I'll move Black Water to an Underground member's home for a week," Torn said suddenly without looking up from his maps.
"Huh?" Merlander asked while looking at the leader with surprise.
"I'll move your team," Torn said simply. "It is no big deal."
"You'll do that for me?" Merlander asked.
"You don't work for money," Torn said. "You work for the Underground just for the thrill. So instead of money I'll send your team to another members. Take it or leave it."
"Well…thanks," Merlander said with a touch of fake happiness in his voice. Ashelin gave him a reassuring smile, but Merlander did not feel all that great. The Baron was still after him for some reason. Merlander knew his uncle. He would not stop till he got what he wanted.
The Hip Hog Heaven Saloon was almost empty at around seven in the morning. All the drunks had gone home happy and would never remember their night when they woke up later that day. The Saloon never really closed up every night. You could come there at two in the morning and still see other Elves there. But it was most empty in the morning. That was when Torn took Tuya there.
The automatic door swooshed open for the Elf, Human, and muse that followed close behind with his long tail flying behind him like a kite. Torn gave Tess a small smile to say hello. She was whipping down the bar while talking quietly to Sig who sat on one of the barstools. The two looked up at the pair walking in with a bit of surprise.
It was Tuya's first time there, so she was looking around the place to get it all in her head. She knew Tess because the girl worked for the Underground. She was just going undercover to spy on Krew as a bartender. She had never seen Sig, though.
"What is that?" Sig asked Torn while pointing at Mozart that was running around Tuya's legs with his cute little meows.
"A muse," Torn said blankly without glancing down to it. He sat down next to Sig on a stool and motioned for Tuya to do the same. "Where's Krew?"
"He's off on some business," Sig said with a nod.
Torn raised an eyebrow and said, "I thought he stayed here all the time."
"Lately he has been leaving to someplace," Tess said in a whisper as if the big guy was there watching her. "Sig does not even know where he goes."
Torn frowned at the thought. Sig was like Krew's right hand man. If he knew nothing then this might be big. He shrugged the thought off and said, "Well, I brought Tuya here for a reason." Tuya looked up when she heard her name. "Tess, get her a double fudge Sunday. I'm stopping her eating disorder right now." Tess looked a bit surprised, but obeyed the leader and started to make the ice cream.
Sig gave a chuckle while glancing at Tuya. She was frowning at Torn. "I stop myself!" she yelled at him. "No help!" Torn looked over to her with his face serious. "I no pig! Not eat!"
"Oh, you're going to eat, young lady," Torn said. He had no idea what a pig was. Maybe it was some Human animal she was referring to. "I can not train you when you're this pathetic weak thing. You will eat it!"
"No!" she said while looking away and folding her arms in front of her. "Not eat!"
"Here is your order," Tess said while hiding a smile behind her hand. For once someone was denying Torn. It was quite funny. She placed the ice cream in front of Tuya and handed her a spoon. Tuya looked disgusted as she stared at it. The only thing going through her head was the calories, fat, and stuff like that. It did not look good in her eyes at all.
In a flash Mozart took in the smell and had to have it. He jumped from the floor to a barstool. He then dived for the ice cream with a meow of joy. Everyone saw it too late. Splat! The ice cream flew into the air as Mozart landed in it. It splattered all over Torn and Tuya.
"I hate animals," Torn muttered while putting an elbow on the bar and resting his chin on it in defeat. Tuya gave a small giggle then took her spoon and dipped it into the ice cream. She ate it after a bit of hesitation. She could eat a few bites for Torn's sake. Torn gave her a glare, and she gave him a smile with her mouth filled with the ice cream. Mozart licked his cold paws with a sandpaper tongue.
"It looks like you have your hands full," Sig said with a chuckle.
"At least she is eating," Torn said. He turned his head around and came face to face with the muse. He gave a short gasp of surprise. It then started to lick his nose that had a drip of ice cream on it. "Get off me!" he said while pushing it over to Tuya.
"Close the stupid door!" someone said from across the saloon. Everyone looked up at the new arrival.
"It is automatic!" came a familiar voice. "Just step away from it, genius!" It was Merlander and Bo.
"Don't be all sarcastic with me, Merlander!" Bo yelled at him with anger in her voice. "You almost got us killed! Stupid Krimson Guards! Who where they after?"
"Hello," Sig said with a smile. The two at the door finally realized that they were not the only ones in the saloon and blushed slightly. "Two Humans in just five minutes," Sig said. "This is some weird day."
Bo looked over to Tuya with a bit of surprise to see another one like herself. But something was different with the Human. She could not put her finger on it. Merlander and Bo walked over to the bar, and the others realized that the two were sweating and a bit freaked out. Merlander explained right away.
"We bumped into some Krimson Guards while walking around," he said. "The only place to hide was here. So, where is the big guy himself?"
"Not here," Sig said. "Want me to take a message?" He was only kidding. Merlander smiled at the thought of Sig being secretary. The two new comers sat on the other stools. Merlander sat next to Tuya and eyed her ice cream.
"Not ask," she snapped at him while shoving another spoon in her mouth.
"Bo, this is Tuya," Merlander said while pointing to her. "She knows only a little Elfish because she says she is from Earth itself. You know a lot of Human, don't you?" he asked her.
Bo looked over to Tuya and said in Human, "Guys are so stupid."
"I agree," Tuya said in Human. She then noticed that the girl had spoken her language and smiled at her.
"How is my accent?" Bo asked in Human.
"Okay," Tuya said with a shrug. "But you speak it through your nose." Bo gave her a strange look and Tuya laughed out loud. "I was kidding," she said with a smile. "I thought there was no such things as Humans on this planet," she said after another spoonful of ice cream.
"Because Earth blew up a ton of years ago," Bo answered in perfect Human. The others just stared at the two. "Some really smart Humans came here before the planet exploded. After a lot of years the Humans found out that the air makes us smarter, but also makes us live shorter lives than what we used to. I thought you would know that."
Confusion swept over Tuya's face as she thought about it. "I came through some portal on Earth," she finally said to Bo. "I did not know Earth was going to blow up. It was going just fine till those aliens came."
"Those are the ones who blow Earth up," Bo said. Tuya bit her lower lip while thinking about it. This world was so strange to her. She could not accept that her planet was going to blow up. How could this happen? The two started to talk again in Human about Tuya's old and new planet.
"I never knew Bo knew that much of Human," Merlander said to his fellow Elves. "But one question keeps going around in my head."
"What is that?" Sig asked with interest in his voice.
"How did Krew get out of the door?" Merlander asked in fake deep confusion. Tess and Sig burst out laughing loudly. Torn smiled and shook his head at the thought. Finally Sig got control over himself and asked what really was on Merlander's mind.
"Well, I have a problem with Black Water," Merlander started. "You see, I've been taking care of what is left of it by myself for around three to four months. Over those few months Akki and I have really drifted apart. He finally got into my face two nights ago."
"What did he say?" Tess asked her friend with concern. She knew Merlander well. He had been trying so very hard to keep Black Water going. He loved his team more than anything now. To have one of the members differ from him could make the Elf very worried. He seemed to have a lot of that lately.
"He wants to be leader," Merlander said after taking a deep breath. "He told me I was not trying hard enough for the team. He also told me that he had talked with Simon before we knew him as a traitor. Simon had told Akki that if anything happened to Black Water Akki had to be leader. What do I do? I don't want to break my team apart over this. But if he becomes leader I don't know how well he'll keep it going."
Bizz!
Everyone gasped at the sudden sparks flying all over the place and the random sound. All heads turned toward Mozart. He looked up from licking some ice cream with his big green eyes. It then suddenly made the bizz sound again, and little yellow sparkles flew up around its body. Tuya looked concerned as she took the animal in her hands and petted it.
"Is that thing okay?" Sig asked while pointing at the muse in Tuya's arms.
"I don't know," Torn said with a shrug. It made the sound again, and sparks flew up again. It did not look well. It looked almost sick as it laid down in his owner's arms with a sad expression on its face. Tuya looked up at Torn with worry all over her face. "We have to go see a doctor," he said while quickly getting up from the stool.
"I know someone who loves animals," Merlander said while getting up. "His name is Mod." He had almost said Moddy. Daxter's nickname for him was catchy. "He lives on the other side of the city, though. We can take a zoomer. I'm sure he would know how to cure him."
"Good," Torn said. "Tuya, we're going to see a doctor." She looked up at him with confusion.
"A doctor," Bo said simply in Human. Tuya gave a small smile and got up. She cradled the poor muse in her arms as it made the weird sound again with the sparks coming off its body. They rushed to the door, but Merlander stopped before going out.
"Bo, can you stay here with Sig and Tess?" he asked. He could not have her going around the city with the leader of the Underground and another teen that was just as wanted by the Baron. She gave a shrug. "Thanks!" he called while running out of the door and into the port area.
"I have a three seat zoomer here," Torn said while pointing to a zoomer. They walked over to it quickly. Tuya got on the third seat that was seated a little behind the two seats in the front. "You drive," Torn said to Merlander. "You're better than I am." Merlander smiled at the thought and jumped in while turning the keys.
"Hang on to your butts," he said while turning the hovercraft around in the right direction. "This might be a little fast." Torn took the warning and held onto his seat with one hand. Tuya wrapped her legs around the bottom of her seat because her hands were busy holding her sick pet. It looked worse than before. She just hoped it would not be too late.
Merlander slammed down on the gas with a sly smile on his face. The zoomer zipped forward, and Tuya almost fell off. She was still getting used the new hovering car. Merlander was going at tremendous speed through the city. He made a few sharp turns with Torn yelling at him to warn them.
"Why don't you kill us now?" Torn yelled over to Merlander. The teen gave the leader a sheepish smile. Torn looked back to Tuya to see if she was okay, and Merlander saw the concern in his eyes for her. When had that developed? Merlander never knew that Torn could have a soft spot for anyone.
Hey, Mer! Miss me? Came Roxie's voice in Merlander's head. She had finally caught the guy off guard, so she could get into his mind now. She had to be somewhere close by. He knew it would be rude to block her out, so he just responded back.
Having fun? He thought to her. Are you training more with the orange fuzz ball? Or are you blowing more stuff up for the heck of it?
Was, Roxie thought back. But stupid Krimson Guards cut in on all the fun. Where are you going really fast on the zoomer?
Can you see me? Merlander thought while looking around for her.
No, she thought. I can just hear a few of your second thoughts of speeding on the zoomer. Why the rush?
Tuya's pet muse, Mozart, is sick, he thought while turning a corner. He had to stop thinking of Roxie and focus for a few seconds to drive right. I'm going to Moddy's to see if he can cure him.
Sweet, he heard in his head. Crap! My zoomer is about to explode! Look for a big boom. Two seconds after he heard her in his head he saw a big explosion up ahead. They were in the Slums now, so the buildings were really low. He saw Roxie jump to the top of one building and an orange fuzz ball fly up next to her. The eco girl landed gracefully on the roof while Daxter landed on his back next to her feet.
"Merlander!" Torn yelled to the teen over the wind brushing past them because of the speed they were going. "We have two KG zoomers behind us. Think you can lose them?"
"No problem," Merlander said then thought over to Roxie, Can you get the two zoomers behind us off our tail? We are the zoomer going really fast.
Funny, Roxie thought back, and he flew right past her on his zoomer. She stuck her tongue at him, and he gave her a two-finger salute. It was their strange form of saying hello to each other. Daxter had been just getting up and brushing the dust off his fur when the zoomer flew past them.
"AH!" he yelled while loosing balance and falling off the building. Roxie spotted him falling and quickly stuck her hand out at his body. He glowed green right before hitting the ground, and he landed without any scratches. "Thanks!" he called back up to her. Her green eco was stronger now and she could make other people have it for a few seconds.
"Get back up her, fuzzy!" she demanded. "Things are going to get a little hot." She pulled out her dice and threw them at one of the zoomers following behind Merlander. It exploded into a big ball of fire, and Roxie laughed insanely. She just loved blowing things up.
"Please," Daxter said while crawling up a drainpipe. "Don't do that. It scares me." Roxie rolled her glowing green eyes and threw more dice at the Krimson Guards down below. She stuck her other hand's palm out, and some dice flew up into it. She blew up the other zoomer easily as the first, and hoped Merlander would come back to thank her. Just seeing his face made her stomach get the butterflies.
Merlander saw Mod's purple tent come up suddenly, and the teen slammed on the brakes to stop the speeding zoomer. It swerved to one side and did a few turns till it stopped right in front of the guy's tent. Merlander gave Torn a sly smile, and the guy just glared at the teen with his ice-cold, blue eyes. Tuya looked a bit dazed, but in good shape.
"This is it?" Torn asked Merlander with distrust in his voice. "Who is this guy?"
"Mod!" Merlander yelled loud enough for the guy inside the tent to hear him loud and clear. They all hopped off the zoomer and walked over to the tent. Merlander went in first followed by Torn and Tuya with the muse still in her arms. The poor thing looked worse now. It kept making the strange sound and sparking up.
"What do you need?" Mod asked the teen with a hint of anger in his voice. He had a frown on his face and his hands on his hips while watching Merlander come in. "Don't scare me like that again, do you hear me?"
"Yeah," Merlander said in a rush. "But my friend's pet muse is sick. Can you help it?" Tuya came forward with the cute thing and held it up to Mod. Mod's eyes went wide as he saw the creature. He had heard from Roxie that someone she knew had a pet muse, but he had never believed it. They had been wiped out years ago because of their soft fur. But now the rare muse, maybe the last on the planet, was there in front of him.
"Place him on the table," Mod ordered the Human girl while rushing to his bookcase. Merlander patted the table to tell her to put it on there. Tuya did so, and Mod was already there with a book in his hands. "It says here that the muse is…ha!"
"What?" Merlander asked him with confusion.
"It is a baby muse," Mod said while closing the book with one hand. "It is just going through its growing up process. The noise and sparking is just to warn off enemies. Baby ones just don't know how to control it. He is fine, just a late bloomer."
"What about it looking like it is going to die?" Merlander asked still all serious.
Mod shrugged his shoulders and said, "The wrong food. It will go away in a few minutes." Torn and Merlander looked at each other. The ice cream, was the thing going through both minds. Baby muses were not the most smartest things.
"Thanks for the help," Merlander said after a small laugh of relief.
"I think I should keep him, though," Mod said while taking the muse into his arms. "A small Human girl can't raise a muse. This might be the last on the planet. She already gave it the wrong food. She can't keep him."
"No!" Tuya finally spoke up. "Mozart mine!" She was about to grab her pet, but Torn put a hand on her shoulder to hold her back. "Mine!" she said while pointing to Mozart and looking up at Torn. Her eyes were pleading to keep him.
Torn walked over to Mod and took the muse out of his hands and said in his rough voice, "I'm afraid that it really belongs to the Human. She found it, she keeps it."
"Fine," Mod said in simple defeat. "But please take the book on it. It would be a shame if the thing was mistreated. I love animals as much as she does."
"I beg to differ," Merlander muttered under his breath from a corner of the tent.
"What was that?" Mod asked the teen.
"Nothing," Merlander said with a shrug. The teen knew Tuya was the biggest animal lover in the world. She would die for that muse.
Torn gave Mozart back to Tuya. She smiled widely while hugging the muse close to her. She then smiled at Torn and hugged him. Torn took a step back with surprise in weird silence till she let go. Merlander hid a smile under his hand. The leader did have a soft spot.
A/N: AW! Torn has a soft spot. It made me laugh. And the muse is so CUTE! I don't know if you remember from the first Jak and Daxter, but a muse was in it. It was that thing you had to catch on Misty Island for the sculpture guy who wanted it. I kind of forget what it looked like, so I just filled in different things. All I remember was that the thing was called a muse and it had big ears, green eyes, and sparkles flew around it when it moved. Maybe I should play the game again to get all the details.
Okay, I'll answer reviews now. I have not done that in a long time, and I'm sorry for that. I forget a lot easily. Please forgive me.
Yomiori-Wolfdemon: Thanks for the review! I'll try really hard to read your fic soon and review. I've read half of the last chapter. And thanks for reviewing every chapter. You're so sweet!
Light-Eco-Sage: My last Jak chapter made me have an idea for my next one. I really want to type that one out, so maybe in two more chapters of Daxter I'll give you another Jak chapter. Thanks for reviewing!
WRTD: NO! Not Beast Boy doing The Face! Anything but that! It gets me every time! Okay, next chapter of Jak will be out soon. Just stop making BB be so cute! I did not want this much begging. But with that evil cliffhanger I guess I had what was coming to me. But you have no idea what will happen to Jak, Nea, and Tubal. I'll give you a bit of information, though, because BB is just too dang funny. Someone in this fic is going to die. I just will not tell you who. But thanks for the review.
Authraw: Heehee! I was wondering if anyone was going to get that typo. I was quickly scanning for any spelling mistakes and saw that I did not want Jak's hands to be in front of him because he could hit Devo easily that way, so I changed it quickly to behind him. I guess too quickly, because I read it over once I put it on line and saw the mistake. Opps. It does make me laugh, though. I'll try to read your fic if I have time. And thanks for reviewing!