DR: Chapter 14 is up. After many chapters, I am going to thank my reviewers. I keep meaning to, then getting in such a rush to post my chapter up, I never do. Yes, yes, I know. Bad me. But anyways, on with the reviewer thanking and question answering.

Random Bystander: Yeah, I know, Dark forms rock. And yeah, the vision was pretty cool.

Anime Dutchess: I have a purpose! Heh heh... sorry, couldn't help it. And I'm glad my story interests you. You and everyone else will probably kill me with flames for the ending, but...

Komdogirl, Silvereyes, and Ashley: Thanks! And I'm trying to get the chapters typed up faster, so don't worry.

And now all of you get to play with Puck until this chapter's over. Lucky you.

Disclaimer: I own Raye and Jessi. That's it.

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Chapter 14

The Race Mechanic

I sighed as we walked into the Industrial Section. This place was already like home to me. Heck, I knew my way around this city better than I did my own town back in the my world. Suddenly, out of everything else to notice, randomly placed poster of Errol that was coming off the wall caught my attention, and I stopped to look at it. Jak noticed my sudden brake and backed up to see what I was looking at so intently. He scowled when he saw it. "Why, in the name of the Precursors, are you looking at that?"

"No reason." I said, not taking my eyes off the poster. He started to walk off. "Wait a sec." I walked over and glared at the poster. 'If I can't do it to you for real, at least I can do it to your picture.' I thought, tearing the poster in half. The noise of paper ripping and the sight of Errol's smirking face being split in two made me tremendously happy. "Okay, we can go now." I said, walking back over. Jak shook his head, grinning, and turned in the direction of the Hip Hog.

"What do you think a Guard would have done if he saw you doing that?" He asked, still grinning. I shrugged.

"I dunno. I'd say that it was an accident, that I tripped or something."

"Or send the city on high alert." Daxter muttered. "Which, by the way, reminds me that you two never thanked me for breaking you both out of prison! And for another thing-" We both ignored him and let him rant on and on as we went to the Saloon. After fifteen minutes of him "lecturing" us, I could literally feel the dark eco levels in my body rising. And by the look on Jak's face, the same was happening to him. It seemed to be a contest to see who would snap and threaten the rodent first. I lost that battle.

"Daxter, shut up or I'll steal a KG zoomer, go back to the Hideout, and bring the damn ductape all the way back her to put it out over your mouth!" I hissed. "Yes, we know that you broke us out of jail, and we thank you for it. Now SHUT UP!" I said as loud as I dared. He gave me a very scared look and nodded quickly. I felt the eco lower and my blood pressure return to normal. I put a hand to my forehead. "Sorry." I muttered. Jak gave me an odd look.

"Raye, are you...?" He reached for my shoulder. I hit it away before he touched me. I didn't need to feel the dark eco in his body as well as mine.

"I'm fine." I told him. He didn't look like he believed me. "Really. I'm fine. I've got it under control." I said, not really lying, but not telling Jak the complete truth. He gave me a doubting look before seeming to accept my answer and continuing to walk.

We finally reached the Hip Hog without any whining from Daxter. When we walked in we saw Krew floating up around the ceiling, looking at a bunch of trophies. "I have a proposition for you Jak. Racing is the biggest sport in the city! Errol is the undisputed grand champion." At that name Jak and I both growled. Krew floated down and circled behind us. "He's crazy and dangerous on the track. Ha ha. My kind of guy."

I scoffed. "Well you got that first part right." I muttered. Apparently Krew heard me, because he glared at me for a short second before zooming up in front of Jak.

"Only a fool would dare race against him, 'ey!" He turned around and flew back up over the bar. Jak waved a hand in front of his face, making me laugh quietly. He stopped as soon as Krew turned back around. "And that's where you three come in." He reached behind the bar and pulled out some paper and yet another security pass. "A client of mine is looking for a fast driver for her racing team. Here's a security pass to get you into the Stadium section." He tossed Jak the pass. "Uh, and your contract, with just a few trifles for me. I've ah already signed your name to save time." He tossed the contract to the side, and Daxter caught it and started reading it aloud.

"We the racers hereby agree to give Krew proceeds from race earnings, endorsement fees, broadcast royalties, syndication residuals, vehicle sponsorships, mall appearance fees, collectable card assets, fast-food tie-ins, use of likeness rights, talk show deals, clothing lines, all print rights, including book, novella, comic, pamphlet, tickertape, neon signs, and bathroom graffiti designs," Here he took a breath, even he was getting winded. And Jak and I were falling asleep. "toy rights, shoe lines, mood rings, game rights," He paused. "GAME RIGHTS! Vitamin endorsements, city kickbacks, movie deals, and of course all death and dismemberment accident insurance claims." That last part woke us up and we glared at Krew.

"Hee hee hee... we can work out the tiny details later." He turned to Jak. "If you can get from here to the Race Garage near the Stadium in less than three minutes, my client said she'd consider letting you drive for her team. Make me proud, mmmm!" He shooed us out.

-Jak's POV-

As soon as we left the Hip Hog, Raye gave a frustrated sigh. "I can't stand him!"

I laughed. "Calm down, Raye. Besides, how hard can it be to get to some stupid Stadium?" She gave me a look.

"You have no idea." She sighed. "Anyways, we better get going. That zoomer's the one you need to use." She said, walking over to the zoomer. "It's got a timer built into the dashboard. Once you start it up, the three minute countdown will begin."

I laughed, "How do you know?"

She shrugged, "It wasn't that hard to figure out." She looked around. "You go ahead. I'll follow you after I get a zoomer."

"You sure you'll be able to keep up?"

"With the way you drive? Of course. I'll probably end up beating you there."

I jumped onto the zoomer. "I doubt that. See ya'!" I called, taking off.

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I parked the zoomer at the stadium and looked at the timer. Thirty seconds to spare. I grinned and looked around for Raye. Where was she? It couldn't be that hard to get something to follow me in. Then, of course, she shot up next to me in a nearly wrecked zoomer. "What took you so long?"

"Some KG trouble." She responded tiredly. "Took me a couple minutes to get rid of 'em. I'm fine now. My zoomer isn't in the best of shape, though." She hopped off. "Alright, let's go!"

-Raye's POV-

"Ah... hello? Krew said someone was looking for a race driver?" Jak called as we walked into the Garage.

"I'm busy right now." A female voice from behind the curtain in front of us said. "You must be Krew's new errand boys. Look, I don't mean to be rude, you did get here fast, but I'm not interested in any new drivers right now, and I've got work to do." She leaned on the vehicle, showing off certain curves.

Jak leaned on the table next to us. "Is there anything we can do?" He asked in a tone that showed he was quite obviously trying to flirt. Daxter and I gave each other a disgusted look behind Jak's back.

"No! I'm... ah... working on a secret ah, ah... 'vehicle project.'" She said, futilely attempting to hide the large shadow behind her.

"Okay. Sorry..." Jak said, his tone changing from a flirting one to an annoyed one.

The shadow turned to face us. "Look, if you think you've got the guts to race in this town, try taking my prototype JET-Board out on the Stadium Course." Jak and Daxter looked at each other and mouthed "JET-Board" to each other, grinning. "Beat the Stadium Challenge, and maybe I'll consider you for my team." She said, sitting on a bar. Jak's jaw had dropped and Daxter was waving his hand in front of his face.

I shook my head and tapped him on the shoulder. "Listen, I'll go find a seat in the stands while you go have fun, alright?" He nodded, still agape. I sighed and walked off. Let him snap out of it himself. (a/n: I'm skipping the Stadium challenge. I have no idea how to write this.)

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Jak and I walked back into the Garage, Jak grinning triumphantly. "We beat the Stadium Challenge."

"Great. People do get lucky." The mechanic said. "Listen, don't you have someone to collect money from, or beat up, or something?"

"You don't like us do you?" Jak asked.

I 'tch'-ed. "Ya think?" I muttered.

"You work for that slime ball Krew. What's not to like?"

I stepped forward. "Just 'cause we work for him doesn't mean we're like him."

"Looks like you've won a few races." Jak commented, changing the subject quickly. "Isn't it true that the city champion gets to tour the palace?"

She looked up from what she was working on, "Yeah... why?"

"Could you get us into the Palace?"

She scoffed. "A friendly visit I gather."

Jak smirked. "Yeah, we're real fans of the Baron." He grinned over his shoulder at me. I laughed.

"Yeah, big fans."

There was a frankly frustrated sigh. "Okay, I'll help you out, if you stop bothering me. I saw an old maintenance elevator in one of the Palace support towers. That old lift might take you up to the Palace, IF you can find a way to turn on the elevator's power."

"Thanks." I said, pulling Jak outside. "Vin."

"What?"

"Vin. We need to go see him. If anyone will know how to get that elevator working, it's him." I explained. Of course at that moment, the talk-box flew out of Jak's pack.

"Jak, I have another mission for you and Raye." Krew said. "Get to the Hip Hog." I glared at the box as it disappeared.

"He has really bad timing." I sighed. "C'mon we'd better go."

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"He'd better have a good reason for this." I muttered as Daxter hopped onto the bar. It didn't take me long to notice that he was eyeing Krew's new barkeeper, i.e. Tess.

"Hey sugarplum. You new here? Well whatcha got that's uh, hot and... Wait." His tone changed. "I've seen you before. You're with the Underground." Tess got a nervous look and glanced around to make sure Krew didn't hear Daxter.

She put two fingers over Daxter's lips. "Ssshh! I'm Tess. Torn sent me here to spy on Krew. Play along, and I may be able to get my hands on a few of Krew's secrets." I rolled my eyes and groaned silently as Daxter's face lit up and his eyes moved away from Tess' face and down to her chest. I fought the urge to hit him off the bar.

"Oooohh... I love 'undercover' work baby! But ah, two can work better than one. Lemme help you out." He jumped down behind the bar and started throwing bottles everywhere. "Wow! There sure are a lot of bottles back here!"

I shook my head. "Well, it is a bar, Dax."

"Gee, thanks Raye." He said sarcastically and continued digging around behind the bar. Suddenly bottles stopped flying and there was a "glug" noise. "Ooh, that's, Oh that, that goes down ahh... Ooh boy..." Jak and I were laughing silently as Daxter uncorked more drinks and made the contents disappear. "Gee, ya 'spose that's real gold floatin' in there? How about this purple stuff?" More gluging noises. "WHEW!..." Daxter continued muttering incoherently to himself as Krew floated up.

"Jak, I need you and Raye to go around and make a few collections for me." He was cut off by a very drunk Daxter popping up from behind the bar.

"Hey five chins... how's crimes?" He asked, hiccuping. I put my head down on the bar, my sides shaking from laughter.

"What's his problem, 'ey!" Krew asked Jak. Neither of us had a chance to answer, for Daxter pulled himself onto the bar and opened his drunken mouth yet again.

"Nothin'... I'm just fine... mind your own business..." He fell onto his back. "I sometimes feel so very..."

Krew pulled our attention away from the singing rat. "Listen, I have six clients around town who are about to make money drops for me. I need you to collect each money bag as fast as you can and 'take care' of any guards who get curious, mmmmm. Get a moneybag to late and some townie may pick it up." He was interrupted again by Daxter, who had miraculously sat himself up.

"Feeling so DRRYYY!... Ya know what's da trouble with you Krew? You got no vision... This place could be a real swingn' joint... Hop Heg Hiven with more dancin', more mac'n, more WOMEN!" He gestured to me and Tess. I glared at him as Krew started talking to us again.

"Just collect all the bags before they disappear and bring them to back here. If you lose even one bag, then don't come back, 'ey!" While he was saying this, Dax was trying to kiss Jak through his hand. Finally, he made a smacking noise and draped himself over Jak's shoulder, saying "I love you man!"

This was the last straw for me. I burst out laughing. "Jak you go collect Krew's moneybags, I'll sober up Daxter." He nodded and walked out. I turned to Tess. "Tess, could you get me some ice water?"

- - - - - - - - -Normal POV - - - - - - - - - -

When Jak returned, the first thing he saw was a soaked, shivering Daxter. He set the moneybags down on the counter. "Raye, what'd you do?"

She shrugged. "Dumped some ice water on him." Daxter sneezed to emphasize this point. "I said sorry, but we didn't need him trying to make-out with something else. Or someone." She glared at him. Daxter grinned sheepishly.

"It was an accident!" He cried defensively. "It was the alcohol, I swear!"

"Yeah, sure. Blame it on the beer." She rolled her eyes.

"Quite the money collector, 'ey?" Krew laughed, floating down behind Jak. "Here's two Gun Upgrades. Now get out! I need my beauty nap." Jak and Raye covered their mouths, trying not to laugh.

Daxter jumped back on to Jak's shoulder. "Trust me brother. There aren't enough hours in the day." Krew growled at him and Daxter hid behind Jak's head.

"We'll be going now." Jak said, scooting by Krew and out the door with Raye behind him. Once outside, Raye tossed Jak his upgrade.

"These should help with our Scatter Guns." She said, putting it on her gun, then putting the gun up. She sighed. "Alright, now we can go see Vin about that elevator."

Jak nodded. "Yeah. The faster the better. I want to pay the Baron a little visit." He punched his palm.

"Save the hostility for the Baron." She laughed. "C'mon, let's go."

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DR: Hee hee. Next chapter's gonna be extra long, 'cause I'm gonna put the "shoot the turbo cannons" mission and the showdown with Baron Ass- I mean Praxis-

Puck: Liar. No you don't.

DR/Hissing/ Shut up/Normal voice/ Anyways, I'm putting those two missions together, not to mention that incredibly long and extremely difficult to get down on paper speech by Vin, and the wonderful trip to get into the Palace across that really, really high pathway. So it should be pretty long. Read and Review people!