Chapire Quatre! Yeah, 2, 3 and 4 in the same day! In case you were really wondering, the time is after Jak II, but before Jak 3. As you'll be able to tell from the chapter, Vin is not dead.

Eventually it sunk into Katie's head that, unless Josh could find a way out, they'd be stuck in Haven City forever. No more PS2, no more Barbies, no more friends or family…

The little girl had been crying for a while, but her eyes were dry now. Josh had convinced her to make the best of it, using her own logic.

"Kate, we're in Haven City. We can ride a zoomer! We can shoot stuff! We can go see Jak!" She smiled when he said this, knowing he was teasing her. "Look up!"

Katie's eyes followed where her brother pointed, and her mouth fell open in astonishment. "Wow!" Looming high above the city was Baron Praxis's mighty palace. "Oh my GAWD! Can we go up there!"

"What? No! Katie, you have to remember, we're not just playing a game! We're really here, so we gotta act like anybody else would."

"Oh yeah…where are we going, anyway?" The pair had been wandering for some time, and were nearly at the port.

"For now, the port. We'll figure out from there where to go." Josh turned to look at Katie only to see her way far behind, sitting on a curb.

"Can we please take a break?" she called from her seat. "Please? I'm tired!"

"No, we're almost there, just deal with it."

"Josh!" she whined. "My feet hurt!"

"Too bad!"

"Gimme a piggyback ride, please?"

"No way!"

"Please?"

"No!"

"Pweez?"

"Never! There's no way I'm giving you a piggyback ride!"

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"I can't believe I'm giving you a piggyback ride." Josh grumbled.

His little sister patted him on the head. "Oh, don't feel bad, Mom says I'm very 'suasive."

"Oh, be quiet."

Katie giggled. "Giddyup!"

"Stoppit!"

"Nice horse, nice Snuffles…"

"Nice what?"

"Snuffles! I played Harvest Moon on Sarah's Gamecube and named my horse Snuffles!"

"Uh…"

"They have an x-box, too."

"I know. I'm jealous."

"Really?"

"Well, not really right now."

She giggled again. "Hey, we should go to the Underground!"

"No, remember what I told you? You don't ever listen!" Josh laughed.

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Vin was in the Underground Headquarters, waiting for Torn to arrive. He had and important message for Vin.

Ever jittery, Vin wasn't exactly looking forward to hearing Torn's news. "W-what if it's bad news? Maybe the Snathi are attacking. Maybe there are metal heads still alive!" Vin liked to talk to himself. He liked to believe it helped calm his nerves, but everyone else knew it usually just made him more nervous. "Or maybe surviving metal heads are teaming up with the Snathi-"

"Vin!"

"Augh!" Vin clutched his chest in shock. "Don't sneak up on me like that, ya could've KILLED me! Oh, my poor nerves…"

"Sorry. I have important news, but I'll give you a minute to calm down. After a moment, Vin's breath slowed to normal. "Okay, you might want to sit down." Before Torn even finished the last word, Vin had found a chair and was seated. "Okay, as you know, the Snathi squirrels are still in control of the city. Our resistance cannot go one minute without a leader."

"Uh-huh."

"Unfortunately, I've been called to one of Haven City's neighbor cities, Rock City, on an important mission."

"What mission?"

"Never mind my mission, I have a mission for you. Obviously we'll need a replacement leader…"

"Oh, you want me to go find a new leader," Vin started, standing up. "I can do that. Maybe Ashelin, or Jak…"

"Vin, no, you don't understand. I want you to be the leader."

Vin immediately fell back into his seat. "Wha…what? I don't understand…"

"I couldn't pick Ashelin, because when I get back I'd never get my position back, Jak is too cocky, Daxter…well, you can figure it out, and Tess favors Daxter too much. All my other agents are either too inexperienced or wouldn't take the job. You're smart, so why not you?"

"Uh…uh…okay…just…uh…Wh-what mission is so important that you have to leave NOW?"

"It's nothing."

"W-well, I won't take the position unless you tell me."

Torn mumbled something.

"What?"

He mumbled louder, but it was still inaudible.

"What? Speak up?"

"My mother. I have to go see my mother."

Vin was speechless.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up."

"No, that's…uh, not what I expected but, er, it's not…that funny."

"Good. So you'll take the job? I have to go get these tattoos removed; Mummy-I mean, my mother, would kill me if she saw them." Torn quickly shook Vin's hand, and headed towards the door. "Oh, one more thing: keep this until I get back." He tossed Vin his dagger. Vin just barely caught.

When Torn was gone, the power expert sat in silence. Only when it fully sank in did he speak. "I'm the leader of the UNDERGROUND!"

If you read my very first notes in chapter one, this shouldn't really come as a surprise. But...still! Vin is cool, and I'm happy.