SC: Ha! I've conquered my grandpa's computer! I snuck the disk with all my fanfic stuff on it up here, so "HA!" to you, Mom. Anyway, I'm going to thank my reviewers for chapter 17 before I start chapter 18. Which reminds me, I need to get this out of my system. (Big breath) I've got over 50 reviews! Yes! Finally! And to my reviewers that got me over fifty, COOKIES! Oh, and I just saw War of the Worlds, which is an awesome movie, even though I will never be able to hear a foghorn without screaming.

Puck: It's best if you don't ask why.

GoodMorningBeautiful2005: I'll update as soon as possible with chapter nineteen.

Rick: You love my story? I am honored. And of course I'll finish it! Otherwise I couldn't have all my loyal reviewers kill me over the ending, which, B.T.W., has two, count 'em, two surprises! Oh, and I think you'll like the last line that Raye says to Daxter.

Yoko Child of the Moon: You changed your name AGAIN! How many names are you going to go through? I have about six things to say to you: 1) Withdrawals are not nice. They are awful. And make me really bored. 2) Amusing I can live with. 3) To what, exactly, are you saying "poor Daxter" too? There are at least three situations in that chapter where you could say that. 4) It is Michigan, not whatchamacallit. And 5) I'll post as soon as I can! Okay, only five. Bite me.

SC: All right, now on with the chapter!

Disclaimer: I own Raye. That's it.

Chap. 18

Let's blow up some shit!

When Jak and Raye walked into the Power Station, Vin was freaking out. "Guys, we've still got trouble at the Strip Mine! I think the Baron set me up! Actually . . .ah, ahh," He ran over to a different computer and glanced at the screens nervously, "I think everybody's trying to kill me!"

Jak blinked. "What are you talking about?"

Vin didn't turn around to answer, just kept typing. "Those eco wells the Baron had us drill? It seems he never intended to pipe them into the city grid! It doesn't make any sense!" He suddenly ducked down behind one of the consoles, glancing around nervously. "You know, open eco wells will attract more Metal Heads." He ran out and grabbed Daxter, shaking him. "You've got to close them off!" He ducked behind another console and reappeared holding a heavy looking box of what looked like basket balls made out of metal. "Now, these plasmite bombs should do the trick." He handed the box to Jak, who stumbled backwards at the weight. "Drop one into each well, heh and the explosion will do the rest." He emphasized that with his hands. Jak stumbled again, and one of the bombs slipped out of the box. Luckily, Daxter caught it. The only reason it was lucky is because if it had hit the floor, it would have immediately blown up. "Hey, be careful with that!"

Daxter looked at the bomb in his paws. "Plasmite, huh? Cool." He shook the bomb several times. "How does it work?" The bomb suddenly started flashing bright red and beeping.

"Like that!" Raye yelled. "Daxter, get rid of it!"

"Agghhh! I believe this is yours!" He cried tossing it to Vin.

"Hey, not my problem any more!" Vin tossed it back.

"No. Really, I insist." Once again it was tossed like a hot potato.

"Hey! You're the hero!"

"No! Jak's the hero!" Daxter tossed the bomb into the box Jak was carrying, causing all the bombs to activate at once. Jak and Raye glared at the Ottsel.

"Great! Now you've armed the whole lot! Don't move!" All three of them froze in place, even Jak, who was staggering still under the intense weight of the bombs. "On second thought, MOVE! Far away! Go through the portal and drop one bomb in each eco well! You only have two minutes!" He called as they ran through the portal.

Once they were through, Raye grabbed three of the bombs and yanked her JET-Board off of her back "You take half, I'll take half." Jak nodded and ran in the other direction, grabbing his board out as well.

"Let's blow up some shit."

45 seconds later

Raye ran up the moving ramps, her JET-Board safely on her back. "Of course." She muttered to herself while running. "I had to get the well that's up here." Jak had finished already and was looking around, trying to find her. She turned her sights back to the moving crates.

'Gotta time this just right.' She thought, using her feet to shove herself off the edge of the platform. She landed cleanly on the crate, and jumped to the next one, then on to the platform on the opposite side. She leaped back onto her board, skated up the ramp, and threw the bomb in. It landed with a quiet "plunk" and she zoomed off the platform so she wasn't caught in the explosion.

As she jumped up next to Jak, the eco wells all blew up, one after another. "Woo. High ya! Whaaaaa!" Jak and Raye plugged their ears as the well closest to them exploded, knocking Daxter flat on his furry ass. Jak and Raye started snickering as he sat up and glared at them. "Can we go back now?"

Raye glanced at him. "In a moment. First…" She yanked out her Blaster. "Never. Touch. Anything. Like. Those. Mines. Again. Got it?" Daxter gulped and nodded quickly. "All right then. Let's go home." She put her gun away and walked off.

At the Power Station (Raye's POV)

As we walked back through the Warp Gate, we saw an incredibly nervous Vin typing on yet another computer. Daxter rolled his eyes. "What a brain wreck! Vin sure is scared of Metal Heads."

"And for good reason." Kor said, walking through the doors. "I've seen what Metal Heads do when they take a city. The destruction. The killing. The devouring." He emphasized all this with various hand gestures. Dark perked up. 'Was it just me, or did he sound . . . happy as he said that last part?' I shrugged.

'Yeah. He was probably the one doing most of the devouring.' Kor started talking again, so I tried to look like I was paying attention, even though I had memorized this scene by heart from playing it so many times on the Scene Player for Act Two. 'Hey, I've made it all the way to Act Two. Cool!' I thought, mentally laughing. Kor once again broke through my train of thought. "We must replace Praxis before it is to late." Whoops, missed a whole sentence there. Oh well. "I am happy to say that you two and your sidekick are causing quite a stir in our fight against the Baron."

Daxter looked up at Jak. "You hear that Jak? You're the sidekick!" We both rolled our eyes. Let him think what he wishes for the moment. We all knew who was the one hiding in the corner while Jak and I did the fighting. Daxter looked back at Kor as the old man placed his hand over a certain area that seriously caused some pain when you kicked a guy there. Hey, ah, wise and whiskered. You, ah, got something itchin' under your robes? They have ointment for that you know."

There was a barely noticeable pause before Kor replied. "It's just my aching bones." He straightened up. "We have word that the Baron is sending out one of his large tankers to pick up a load of ill-gotten eco. Go out there and knock out that ship!" He ordered in a voice that sounded more like a giant creature of some kind, like a Metal Head, instead of an old man. "The Shadow will send a team from the Underground to pick up the eco later. Keep up the good work. We're counting on you!"

Before we went to through the Warp Gate, again, I paused. "I'm gonna go take that nap now, alright?"

Jak nodded. "Yeah, go ahead. I'll handle this." He hopped through the gate. As I walked out, I noticed Kor giving me an odd look. "What?"

"Nothing. I believe I've met you before, when you were younger." He said thoughtfully.

I faked a sweet grin. "That would be impossible. I only arrived in Haven a little over two years ago." I walked out, the sweet smile replaced by a scowl. 'Bastard.' (a/n: I'm skipping up to where Keira and the guys reunite.)

At the Race Garage

Jak and I walked into the Garage to see that the mechanic was working on her "secret vehicle project" once again. "We destroyed Krew's cargo." Jak said.

"Great. I'll send you a medal. Now if you don't mind, I'm on a deadline, so scram!"

Jak glared at the shadow on the curtain. "Are you always this difficult?"

Daxter jumped down. "Let me handle this, Jak." He said, walking towards the curtain. "Listen lady, we beat your stupid course, and we can outrace anybody in this city. . ."

The figure suddenly looked up. "Wait! That voice . . ."

Daxter, of course, just kept on yakking. "And there are just two things you need to know. One, we don't wanna join your stinkin' race team, and two, you just lost a date with Orange Lightning." He told her before turning around and starting to walk off. "Let's go guys."

The curtain flew open, revealing none other than Keira. "Daxter! It IS you!"

The rodent in question jumped around. "Keira!"

"Oh, I never thought I'd be so happy to see your furry mug! And Jak! You look… different."

Jak looked away. "It's been a rough ride." Keira reached out to touch his shoulder.

"The Baron here pumped our boy full of Dark Eco, and it did something to him." Keira pulled her hand away at the words "dark eco," like they were poison. Okay, well, technically I suppose it is, but it couldn't hurt her as long as it was inside Jak! "Now he's got super moves or something. And a few anger issues as well." Jak swiped at his head, barely missing. Keira finally seemed to notice me.

She frowned. "Who's she?" Oh boy. I knew that tone all to well. Keira was pissed.

Jak blinked. "Oh. Keira, this is Raye. Raye, Keira."

I smiled warmly. "So this is the girl Jak talked about constantly for two years. I'm glad I can finally meet you."

Jak turned back to Keira. "Raye's a friend who I helped escape the Baron's prison."

Keira glared at me. "What did you do to get put in there?"

Okay, that crossed the line. I glared straight back at her. "I didn't do anything. I got snatched off the streets, just like Jak did." I snapped.

She glared at me one last time before turning back to the boys. "I've been looking for you two forever! And planning a way to get us back home. Somehow that rift sent us far in to the future. I've calculated the time displacement and…"

Jak cut her off. "We found your father… well, sort of."

Daxter jumped in to help. "Working with the Underground. But he's ahh…"

"What?" Keira asked, getting confused.

"You need to see him." Jak told her. "And I need to get to the Baron."

Keira thought a moment before answering. "You could try to win the Class One Racing Championships. The winner of that big race always gets to meet the Baron at the Palace. But you have to qualify by winning the lower class races. There's a Class Three Race starting soon. You could drive for my team!" She lowered her voice. "But Jak, we really should think about getting out of here. I don't like this place. And some of the people are creepy…"

And to prove that point, Krew came floating into the Garage. How he got out of the Saloon, I couldn't tell you. "Jak, my boy. I need that Ruby Key you found, 'ey. A 'special client' has requested it."

Jak scratched the back of his head in an "oops, my bad" manner. "Sorry about that, Krew. Heh heh… I must've forgotten." He pulled the key out of his bag and Krew snatched it out of his hand quickly.

"Right." He said, looking at the key and grinning evilly. He flew out as soon as that was over and a voice came over the speakers.

"Attention drivers. The Class Three Qualifying Races are starting soon." The female computer voice that I found oh-so-annoying announced. I turned to Jak.

"Get going. You've got a race to win. I'll be cheering you on from the stands." He shook his head, smiling, and walked off. I started to follow, but Keira grabbed my arm.

"Listen up, I don't know what you think you're doing with Jak, but-"

I cut her off. "Look, you can have Jak. He's all yours, all right?" I shoved her hand off my arm, a little harder than I probably needed to. "We have the same goal, that's it." I walked off, leaving her with a startled look on her face.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Jak set the bronze Class Three Champion trophy down on Keira's worktable. "When is this city gonna provide some challenge, huh?" Daxter bragged.

I rolled my eyes. "Uh, hello? Earth to Daxter, Jak's the one who did the racing, not you."

"Yeah, but I was telling him what to do."

I rolled my eyes as Ashelin walked in. "Hey, I watched you race today. You were pretty amazing out there." She told him.

If Jak had the ability to blush, he would have. "Oh… thanks… ah, Keira, this is Ashelin. She's just…"

Keira glared at the redhead. "Everyone knows who she is."

Jak blinked before turning back to Ashelin. "And Keira's a…"

Keira laid her hand on Jak's arm. "A friend. A very good friend."

Ashelin seemed to ignore to her and turned to me. "Thanks for helping out with, Raye. You saved a lot of lives." She started to walk out, but stopped at the door. "I'm not my father, you know. Ever since I was a little girl. I've looked down at the city streets from that ridiculous Palace, and thought of a better place." Her sentimental confession was cut short by two KGs walking by. She looked back at us over her shoulder, her usual harsh look on her face. "By the way, they're hunting for you. I'd watch out for Errol. I can't protect from him." And with that subtle warning, she left.

As soon as she was out of earshot, Daxter let out a whistle. "Whew, she's a betty! And she likes you, Jak. Not that I can account for her tastes. Bet you'd like to pin some medals on her chest, huh? Heh heh heh." Keira looked hurt at that last sentence and turned on her heel and left. Daxter looked surprised. "What? What'd I say? What'd you say, Jak?"

I hit upside the head. "He didn't say anything! You did! You made Keira think that Jak likes Ashelin more than her!"

"Let it go, Raye." Jak said, walking out.

I jumped down from my perch on the counter. "Jak? Jak, wait up!"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

SC: Okay, Chapter 18's over. I'm skipping up to where the seal gets completed next chapter, because I really don't like the "chase down the three seal pieces" missions. I really hate the one where you have to get Brutter's piece from the Water Slums. The KGs just don't stop coming!

Puck: Excuse her, she's still thinking about the Tripods popping up from under the ground and vaporizing people.

SC: So… much… vaporizing…

Torn: Is she going to be okay?

Puck: Err... I think so. Just let her get a good night's sleep. She'll be fine. And since she can't say it, R&R people!