A/N: You readers are just too smart for me. Marek is after Merlander, but the reason why will not be clear till a few chapters later on. I have one question to ask you guys. Do you want split chapters like I've been doing, or do you want one chapter focused on the ones in Haven City then the next chapter just on the ones in Spargus? Till I get a clear answer I'll do what I've been doing before. Here is your chapter! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Jak and Daxter. How many times do I have say this?

Chapter 3 The Target

"Does anyone know where this valve is?" Daxter asked Roxie and Jak as they slowly walked toward the doors to the Pumping Station. Daxter's voice sounded like he had gulped down a whole bunch of helium because he was squeezing his nose shut from the rancid smell all around them.

Both Jak and Roxie shrugged in union and Daxter shook his head in frustration. They had just gotten into the Underground and they were clueless like always. Roxie was just grateful that Torn hadn't recognized her, because if he did he would have never let her into the group.

"We had to map out this whole place, Dax," Roxie said with a smile. "We should be able to find it pretty quickly."

"Yeah, but if you remember, you got us lost when fighting some Metal Heads and blew up a whole sand bank by doing so," Daxter said and Roxie smiled proudly at the memory. Jak gave a small chuckle even though he didn't have any idea what they were talking about. "Moddy wasn't too happy with you after that," Daxter added with a small smile.

"He never liked me," Roxie said and Daxter nodded.

"Who's Moddy?" Jak asked them with confusion sweeping over his face.

"His real name is Mod," Roxie explained. "We used to work for him and mapped out places for money. He's always grumpy, but he has a wild side to him. He even let us break into the Palace one time."

"You guys were map makers?" Jak asked both of them with a laugh of disbelief.

"Hey! We were cool map makers!" Roxie said loudly to him. "Don't make fun of us!"

"Oh, sorry," Jak said sarcastically while smiling wickedly at Daxter when the animal avoided all eye contact with his old friend from his embarrassment. "I bet you guys were great at the job," Jak said sarcastically again while he kept watching Daxter on his shoulder.

"Shut up," Daxter muttered finally while scratching the back of his neck. "How 'bout we change the subject? Got any good ones?"

"Oh! How 'bout this one?" Roxie said while raising her hand as if she was in the middle of class. Jak and Daxter exchanged weird glances as they watched the girl hop up and down in the happiness of her bright idea.

"You hung you with her for how long?" Jak asked Daxter. The animal didn't answer. He was looking like an idiot again. When he was with Roxie he had been considered the smart one.

"Sense I'm going to be hanging out with both of you a lot in the future," Roxie said in a rush. "I think that I need to tell Jak a few things about myself."

"Here we go," Daxter muttered and Jak smiled slightly.

"Jak, you already noticed that I'm a green eco freak from that fight a few hours ago," Roxie said. "But did you know that I'm a Mind Speaker?"

Jak stopped in his tracks while starring at the girl. "You…you're the girl in the cell next to me," he said in disbelief. "You're the one who could read my thoughts. I thought the Baron killed you!"

"That was you the whole time?" Roxie asked him with surprise in her voice. "It was almost impossible to read you're mind because of…the dark eco in your body! It never dawned on me till now." They both laughed at the irony of the situation.

Daxter looked back and forth between the two with confusion sweeping over his face. "Okay, you guys knew each other before?" he asked them. "How?"

"Roxie was put into a cell next to mine for a few hours," Jak said.

"And sense he was mute, I talked to him through his thoughts," Roxie added with a smile.

"Freaky," Daxter muttered as they stopped at the big, metal door that lead into the Pumping Station. The thing unlocked a few latches and finally swung open for them to come in the small, empty room. They waited for a few seconds till the next door opened for them. The first thing they heard was a loud scream.

"Get back here, you little twit!" Bo yelled at Flash while running after him with her Bo Staff raised above her head. "You are so prejudice against Humans! Maybe if I whack your head a little bit some sense could be knocked into that brain of yours!"

"Whoa, slow down!" Flash yelled back at her over his shoulder. The two were going around each other on the beach next to the Haven City doors. "I don't even know what prejudice is! I didn't mean to say that." The kid was having trouble staying away from the Human because all his powers were gone for the time being. Sand flew into the air every time one of them switched directions to run or when Bo swung her Staff around to try to hit him.

"Why doesn't the kid just use his blue eco powers?" Daxter asked out loud. "He's going to get hurt from the crazy Human at this rate."

"You know a lot of people in this city, don't you?" Jak asked Daxter. Roxie and Daxter nodded while walking out onto the beach and toward the fight before them. "And how many people in this city had eco powers, Dax?" Jak decided to add at the end.

"Just a handful," Daxter said with a shrug.

"Hey! Bo, what are you doing?" Roxie yelled at the Human and kid sharply. Bo stopped in surprise at the sudden visitors as Flash darted for protection from her. He climbed up onto a rock with a look of panic on his face as he watched Bo carefully from his high point.

"Nothing," Bo said with a sweet smile. She hid the Staff she was holding behind her back before asking, "Who's the new guy?"

"She thinks I'm against Humans!" Flash piped up suddenly while pointing at the girl from above them all. "All I said was that Humans were crazy like what most people say because it's true. Does anyone disagree?"

"I've only known a few Humans in my lifetime," Jak said with a small grin. "They aren't that bad."

"In the country they aren't," Daxter murmured to him. "In the city it's a whole different story." Roxie nodded to back her friend up. Jak gave them another confused look. Being in that Fort for two whole years really threw him out of the loop. He didn't know if he was ever going to be able to get back into the routine of things. So far Roxie and Daxter were good teachers and didn't mind his stupidity of some of the things he asked about.

"Okay, name one thing she has done that is weird or crazy," Jak said to give the Human some support. Bo put away her weapon and folded her hands in front of her with a small frown planted on her face. Her cold stare just dared the two to say anything against her. It would the last thing they would say because she became pretty touchy when someone said something about her race.

"Um…" Daxter and Roxie said in union as they pretended to not be able to come up with anything even though they could go on for days about her weirdness. Roxie looked to the polluted sky while Daxter looked to the sandy ground while scratching his neck. Jak looked at his two friends while shaking his head.

"Cowards!" Flash yelled down at them. "How about when she moves elements by just putting her hands on them? Does that count as one?"

"Oh! Her alchemy!" Daxter said as the memory of the Human doing it a few weeks ago came back into his head. "That's just cool! But it's also kind of crazy."

"Um…Daxter, is that another one of your strange new friends that I haven't met?" Jak asked him while pointing up toward Flash with his eyes wide in fright. "If he is, then I want to protest about this one."

"Huh?" Daxter asked while looking up to Flash with deep confusion on his face. His puzzlement quickly turned into panic while spotting the blood thirsty Metal Head slowly sneaking up on Flash. "Kid! Move!"

Flash turned around and his sparkling, blue eyes widened when seeing the beast. A look of pure fright came to his face as he realized that he still didn't have his powers back, so he was defenseless against the hungry Metal Head coming at him. He wasn't going to be able out run this problem.

- Marek -

The kid was an interesting one. He carried himself in a much mature way than most his age. But he was still a stupid teen that thought they knew so much even though they were barely scratching the surface. As a Human, you never had time for a childhood or teen hood. You're brain was just too advanced for the Elves your age, and there was no other Human around your area you could hang out with. So you went from toddler to adult in only a few years.

But Marek didn't envy any of the Elves. That emotion was useless and non-productive. Instead he kind of pitied all of them. They could look so stupid in the eyes of Humans sometimes. But they ruled the planet the Humans were now on, so the Humans usually didn't make fun of them. Instead they were kind of labeled as crazy and strange. But Marek would have to agree with them. He was odd.

Marek quickly learned a lot about his target. His name was Merlander and he was new to Spargus, but he somehow knew the city already. He must have been in Spargus once before, maybe as a little kid. But what kept Marek at least a little interested in him was why he was banished out here. He was too young to do so much harm in Haven City, and he looked a little innocent because of that age. But maybe he was underestimating his target. Maybe he really was capable of murder if pushed into that direction.

The Human stayed in the shadows of the small city as he followed his target from the point he got off his dun buggy after winning the battle outside of Spargus, all the way till he bumped into what seemed to be an old time rival. But he knew the Elf that was now shoving his target around.

"Kleiver, what are you doing messing with my target?" the Human voiced his question out loud. He gave a small chuckle while shaking his head. He watched as he saw his target take the insults and rough shoving for a while. Marek noticed that the boy took everything in with a small smile on his face, which only made Kleiver madder than a hornet. It almost made the Human laugh at how the older Elf was acting more childish than the teen.

Too bad all good things had to come to an end. Marek blew his last smoke ring then flicked his cigarette away as he slowly walked up to the two with both hands in his pockets and his face emotionless just like he liked it. At first no one noticed that he was there, till the target glanced behind Kleiver with a look of confusion on his face. Kleiver noticed this look and turned around.

"Stand aside, I'm not here for you," Marek said to him sternly when noticing the bit of fright on the Elf's face. The Elf was getting older and had been in Spargus sense he was just a teen. He knew everyone who lived around him, including the record of everyone Marek had either killed or captured.

"Who would want the pipsqueak?" Kleiver asked Marek while stepping off to the side. The target backed up cautiously with more confusion sweeping over his face. But he quickly got out it.

"Don't tell me Damus put up police guys to make sure there is no pushing or shoving going around in his city," the target said cockily to Kleiver while flashing Marek and the Elf a confident smile.

"You're not going to…" Kleiver started but stopped when seeing the target back up some more because he was catching on to the situation here.

"Not my orders," Marek said. He suddenly pulled out a small can of something from his coat pocket and shoved it into his target's face and sprayed the blue stuff before the boy could protest against it. It was so fast that Kleiver barely had time to see it.

"Uh…what was that stuff?" the target asked them slowly as his body started to react to the chemicals of the spray rather quickly. "This can't be good," the target muttered right before his body was forced into passing out. Marek silently caught the teen with one arm and took out a pistol from his other pocket and aimed it at Kleiver.

"Hey!" Kleiver yelled at him as he put his hands up to defend himself. "I might not like the kid, but Merlander is pretty close to Sig. Sure you want to take him?"

"It could make it more interesting," Marek said emotionlessly. "Just tell our old time friend that I have to deliver the target in 24 hours, and that if I have to, I'll kill anyone who gets in the way." Marek knew these two Elves when he was younger. They were pretty close to being something like friends when he lived in Haven City. But Marek would never say that they were close enough to not kill if he was ordered to. But sometimes when they met they would go out for a drink and talk about what was going on in their lives as if to pretend they were still friends. But Marek would just rather say Kleiver and Sig were only acquaintances. It sounded better in his ears.

"Now put down the gun, Marek," Kleiver said nervously. He knew that the Human wouldn't hesitate to shoot at any time. Marek stared up at him blankly as if the Elf was dumb, which he was in the Human's eyes all the time. "Okay, keep it there if you want to," Kleiver muttered. "I ask you again, who wants the punk?"

"Curiosity killed the cat," Marek said while turning around and looking for a leaper lizard. He found one and threw the limp body of Merlander onto it and swiftly slid into the saddle with the pistol still pointing at the Elf. "Keys," he said sharply.

"But I just bought the vehicle," Kleiver complained. "Why can't you just hot wire one and not force me to give you mine?"

He seemed to forget he was looking down the barrel of a pistol and his brains could be blown out of his skull at the pull of the trigger. Marek tried to prevent himself from rolling his eyes at the stupidity of Kleiver sometimes. Sure, he was big, strong, and very intimidating to most, but sometimes he could just be so dense. It annoyed the Human.

"I don't like being redundant," Marek said down to him, and this seemed to reminded the Elf.

"You can be so cold in assassin mode, Marek," Kleiver muttered to his old friend. He started to search for his keys while saying, "Do you have any morals?"

"I don't care about your needs," Marek said down to him while taking the keys from his out stretched hand. "All I care about is the thrill and the money. This prize is really for the money. Too easy."

"What about woman?" Kleiver asked him with a sly smile coming to his lips.

"What about them?" Marek asked him coldly as his eyes narrowed sharply down at the Elf. This only made Kleiver look like a complete fool. "Love and lust is only a chemical released into the body that has no productive out put, useless."

"You're not humane anymore, Marek," Kleiver told him with some anger in his voice.

"Only when I'm at work," Marek said quietly. He then kicked his animal into gear and rode away without any exchange of goodbyes. He quickly made his way to the room that stored all the dun buggies and found the one that belonged to Kleiver and now belonged to him. He tied his target's legs and wrists together with a rope and put him beside him in the seat next to thedriver's seat. He was then off and blasted into the desert, on his way to the Marauder City.

- Merlander -

He awoke with his head spinning and exploding with a massive migraine. He opened his eyes and gasped in surprise at his surroundings. He shot up into a sitting position with his violet eyes flashing blue with fright. But he had control over most of his eco powers, and the only way you knew he had them was his eye color.

The untamed wind blew softly over his body as he saw that he was out in the open with sand surrounding him and spreading out in all directions. A fire was right in front of him, and the teen could feel the heat waves wash over his cold body. The wasteland at night could get pretty cold. Merlander looked down at his hands and feet and saw that he was tied up. At first there was confusion, but then the past events came to him.

Merlander suddenly felt a presence beside him and looked up to see his kidnapper standing there watching him with cold, emotionless eyes. The teen shifted in the sand under him at this stare and finally looked back to the fire with a frustrated sigh. Someone just had to be against him.

The kidnapper bent down and silently gave Merlander a bowl of some soup he had made. He then stood by the fire with his eyes still pinned on the boy. It was nerve racking for Merlander. He shifted one more time while looking at his food. Finally he couldn't take it anymore.

"Who are you?" he asked the man sharply. It was at this time that he noticed that the man was a Human, just like Bo. He was dealing with someone whose intelligence level was ten times above his own. So whoever sent this guy to kidnap him had meant business.

"Just eat," the man said.

"How can I when you keep staring at me like that?" Merlander asked him with his eyes narrowed. "It's going to creep me out!"

"Do you know why you're in this predicament, child?" the man asked him suddenly with sharpness in his voice.

Merlander looked down and mumbled, "Not exactly. I bet you know more about that matter than what I do." This guy kind of reminded him of Simon. One word could describe the dude, creepy. The teen shrugged off the unwanted feeling and took a long sip from his soup. It tasted wonderful, as strange as it sounded.

The man chose to stay silent, but he kept staring at Merlander with wonder in his eyes. Merlander noticed this and asked, "Is there something on my face or what? What are you looking at?"

"Does your mom have violet eyes as well?" the mystery man asked randomly.

"No," Merlander answered hesitantly. "I guess my dad did, but I never knew him. Is this a trick question?"

"Interesting," the man said while now navigating his stare to the fire crackling before him.

Merlander gulped down the rest of his soup while keeping his eyes on the man. When he was finished, he flung the bowl over his head and then threw it at the Human with no warning whatsoever. His body burst into yellow flames as he thought of any angry memory just like Simon had taught him a few months back. Did he miss his old teacher? Hell no!

The man ducked, and the bowl soared over his head. He turned around to see Merlander use his eco power with a small smile spreading across his face. The teen held one big fireball in both hands and was ready to throw it at the Human when the time came.

"Impressive," the man said with a nod. He swiftly took out a knife and said, "This should be amusing."

"Where do these weapons come from?" Merlander asked him then threw the fireball at him. He threw three more because he expected the guy to dodge the first. But the Human easily ducked and jumped out of the way of all of them and advanced toward Merlander at surprising speed.

Merlander thought of anything scary and was suddenly zipping around the camp site in an out of control manner. He hadn't really used blue eco a lot and wasn't too used to it. He always wondered how Flash could live with it all the time. He finally gave up on the eco power and stopped a few yards away from the man.

The teen gave a sharp yell right when stopping as a dagger barely missed his head. The Human was on him in seconds with a speed and skill that almost none could master. Merlander quickly found himself pinned down in the sand with a knife at his throat and the man on his back.

"That wasn't too productive," Merlander muttered after he was done with the shock. "All I did was make myself look like an idiot."

"I'll second that," the kidnapper said smugly from where he sat on top of he boy. "Now, I think I'll lay down the rules right now, seeing as you're paying more attention." Merlander glared up at him and started to struggle in his painful hold. He stopped when feeling the cool blade touch his neck. This man meant business.

"Great, rules!" Merlander said sarcastically. "I was paying enough attention before I attacked, though."

"One, enough with the pathetic, sarcastic comments about everything," the man said sternly down to him. "Two, I had orders not to kill you, but that doesn't mean I have to go by them. Three, you do what I say when I say it with no questions. And lastly, no complaining."

"What's the punishment if I break one of these?" Merlander asked him with a grunt as the weight of the man on top of him was now crushing his chest.

"I could knock you out, or you could end up with a one way ticket to heaven or hell, it depends on my mood," the man said with a small smile. He was kind of enjoying himself. He started to press the flat part of his blade against the teen's exposed neck and saw Merlander give a small shiver as he glared up at him to make him stop.

"Yeah, welcome to the Wasteland," Merlander muttered with a sigh.

"You just broke rule one and two," the Human stated emotionlessly to the Elf. "Time to learn how serious I can be." Before Merlander could comprehend his mistake, the man had brought down the butt of his blade onto the teen's head violently. In one blow, the teen was out cold.

A/N: Sorry for the short chapter. And I do know that I said it would be out on the first of January, but I kind of got writer's block and just that night I typed for two whole hours to get it done and out of the way. The first part must have sucked, but I had to pass through my writer's block sometime. Hoped you liked it. And you guys are all free to yell at me in a review for not making my due date. Go ahead and give me your worst. But please give a review! Thanks! You readers are awesome.