Chapter One

"JAAAAK! Aren't you ready YET!" Daxter moaned, standing in the garage, his slight arms crossed and his fuzzy foot beating against the dusty floor. "Calm down, Dax. It's only around the block," Jak called from inside the hanger. They were getting ready to go to a party, to celebrate qualifying for the tournament. It wasn't a big surprise to them that they qualified, but there was a good handful of new racers in the tournament this year. "C'mooon, Jak! I gotta be there to get the party started, you know!" Jak just laughed and shook his head as he walked into the garage and sat in his blue Street Grinder.

Soon enough, you could hear them turning a corner and tearing down the street like madmen. Jak punched on the brakes and screeched to a halt in front of the Bloody Hook, the local pub. Loud, pounding music could be heard from outside, and it was obvious there was a lot of people already there due to the number of vehicles also parked in front of the building. "Guess you were too late to start the action, " Jak said, and Daxter said with an attitude, "Well, MAYBE if you hadn't been fussin' with hair gel so much we'd have been able to get here sooner!"

As they walked into the Bloody Hook, the first person that spotted them was, of course, Keira. "Jak!" she said happily as she ran up to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. Daxter slouched his shoulders and stuck his tongue out in disgust as the two kissed for a few moments, then Keira held him by the hand and said, "What took you guys so long? For a while there I thought you weren't coming." Daxter said annoyingly, "Jak was too busy getting hair products all over the bathroom sink." Jak rolled his eyes, then looked around the room. A lot of people he knew were there – Ashelin, Torn, Sig… even Kleiver was there, strangely enough. But in the back of the room, in a corner…

…there stood the girl that was on the television earlier that day. She was just standing there, leaning against the wall, staring at the floor, her multi-toned hair falling in her face. "Hey, Jak, let's go get some drinks," Keira said, tugging on his arm, "All drinks are on the house tonight!" Jak kept staring at the lone girl. He couldn't help but feel bad for her – she was extremely new in the racing world, and she probably barely knew anyone. "Ehh… in a minute. You just go sit down, I'll be over in a bit," Jak said, gently pulling away from Keira. Keira stared as he walked away, then shrugged and went over to the bar.

"Hey," Jak said kindly, and held out his hand in greeting. The girl stared at his hand for a moment, then smiled brightly and took his hand, shaking it. "I'm-" Jak started, but the girl finished for him. "…Jak. I know, I've seen you on television a lot." "Same about you. Aerin, right?" Jak replied, and the girl, Aerin, nodded. "You won the Tournament last year? Wow, you are so awesome," she said happily, blushing a bit. Jak grinned. "Thanks. Would you like to come sit with me and my friends? I could introduce you." "…Are you sure? I mean, would they mind?" "Of course not."

"Hey, you're the chic that knocked out feather boy with that hard right! S'up!" Daxter said as Aerin sat at the bar next to Jak. Dax was standing on the bar counter, holding a glass of ale, and he had been interpreting some of his escapades with everyone else. Aerin's cheeks and nose went red as she laughed, "Yeah. He deserved it!" Daxter leaned in front of her face and said in a smooth tone, "He sure did! Nice to meetcha… I'm Daxter… but you can call me whatever you want. Preferably… Orange Lightning!" Aerin choked a giggle, and Jak sighed. Why was Daxter like that with all women? It's like he was constantly on the prowl for something cute to play with. Jak shook his head, and asked the bartender for a drink.

"Jak…" Keira said, Jak suddenly noticing that she had been sitting on the other side of him the whole time. "What's wrong? You look a little ticked off." "Nothing," Jak said, then leaned back so Keira could see Aerin. "Oh, yeah, Aerin. This is Keira," Jak said, trying to introduce the two. Aerin waved nicely and said, "Nice to meet you, Keira." "…Yeah. You too…" Keira replied, giving the new girl an odd look. Aerin noticed the tone in Keira's eyes, raised her eyebrows, and shrugged.

"Heeey, why don'tcha have a drink?" Daxter asked Aerin, waving the bartender back over. Aerin put her hands in front of her and shook her head. "Ah, no, please. I don't drink," she replied embarrassingly. Daxter's eyes flickered. "Don't drink, eh? Ooooh, looks like we got a Daddy's girl on our hands!" Everyone at the counter began to laugh a little. …That is, everyone except for Aerin. Her eyes seemed to lose their bright disposition, and she stared silently at the polished countertop. A moment later she turned on her stool and hopped off, heading for the door. "H-Hey, angel, whereya goin'…?" Daxter asked. Aerin turned back to them. "I've… just gotta get… going… somewhere…" She reached for the door, and began to push it open. A cool breeze drifted in, and she shivered. Before she walked out into the night air, Jak called, "…It was nice meeting you, Aerin…!" Aerin looked over her slight shoulder, stared a moment, then the corner of mouth turned upwards a bit. "You too," she replied, softly but loud enough for them to hear. Jak watched as she shoved the heavy door, slinked outside, then the door swung and closed shut.

"Gee, what was wrong with her? She sure did seem to leave in a hurry," Daxter said, and Jak nodded, still staring over his shoulder at the door. A moment later you could hear Sig's deep voice from the other end of the counter. "Aerin Riegota… she's the daughter of the late Norman Riegota, from what I recall." "'Late'?" Jak questioned. Sig stood up and walked over to the bunch. "Norman was a legendary racer, pretty famous. A good man, he was," Sig said as he put his broad hand over his heart. Daxter asked, "That's nice, but what about that 'LATE' bit! You're not being too clear, ya know!" Sig cleared his throat.

"…Norman… was murdered a few years back."

The group went silent. After a few seconds, Jak said solemnly, "…I know how that feels." "Not exactly," Sig replied, putting his hand on Jak's shoulder. "Hate to bring it up, but you only knew Damas for a short period of time. That girl had been at her father's side practically all of her life." He sighed. "That's pretty much all I know about her. Although I've figured out she's just as good of a racer as her bloodline suggests."

Jak glared at Daxter. "…Whaaaaat? As if I knew… gee, don't go all angry on me," Daxter said, putting his hands up defensively.

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