Chapter One: Old Habits

Bar n. long solid counter serving drinks

Bar-hopper n. adj. an individual who travels from bar to bar consuming drinks

Example: Daxter

"Oh, and, Dax?"

"Yeah, buddy?"

"Don't go out, kay?"

"Mmkay."

Ha! Like I was actually gonna sit on my ass and do nothin' while Jak made goo-goo eyes at Keira? As if!

Hello, ladies! The name's Dax. But you can call me…Orange Lightning! Yes, yes, I know. I'm gorgeous, aren't I? Yeah, I ain't doin' so bad fer an Ottsel. You can look, sweethearts, but ya can't touch, or my gal Tess'll come an' hurt ya a good one…

No, I'm serious. You're laughing? I'm not laughing. My Tess-baby may only be two feet tall, but, man! She can definitely open a can o' whoop-ass!...

Gods, I miss my Tess.

No bar feels right without my Tessy-poo behind the counter. And if a bar don't feel right, then I can't drink my booze!

Booze is good…

Let me explain; about a week ago, Jak got this notice about some meeting that had to do with the reading of Krew's will. Tattooed wonder got one too, and brought the hottie Governess with 'im. Jak brought Keira (of course). I'm surprised she didn't bring ol' log-nog with her…

So, that's why I've been roaming Kras City, lookin' fer a decent bar to stay at. An' not a single one has reached my expectations.

'Cept this one.

Uh, Bloody Hook, I think it's called. 'S got some pretty decent drinks here, but it ain't nothin' like home!...

Still…

"So there we were…wheel to wheel with the nastiest racing cars I've ever seen!"

I'm enjoying myself.

"Razor sharp chrome gleaming in the dark. Weapons bristling under rumbling hoods!"

"Oh, the Kras City welcoming committee," said a guy to my right. I sorta glared at 'im. Bastard interrupted me! He had orange hair, some funky blue flame tattoo on his right arm, and his ears were…cut off near the bottom…

Eek…ouch…

"Have a drink…" he paused, "Friend,"

That didn't sound too good.

"Yeah, well whoever they were they screwed around with the wrong people," I said, snatching the drink, making sure not to spill. "Jak an' I are world famous!" I threw my arms in the air…and spilled my drink.

Damn it.

I saw carrot-top role his eyes at me.

"And we're connected, too!" I shouted, getting in his face. I heard the guy to my left poor s'more booze in my mug. "We've been…" I paused to thank the guy. "Invited to Kras City for the reading of some will…" I smirked. "A RICH guy named Krew!"

"The big gang lord?!" said the guy who poured my drink…Edjie, was it?

Yeah," I scoffed. "I don't think you can get fatter than 'im!" I cleared my throat. Man I was parched! "Jak 'n I were Krew's muscle in Haven City, but ol' tub o' butter kicked the over-sized bucket!" I raised the cup to my furry lips. "Anyway, where was I?...Oh yeah!" I set the cup down without taking a drink. "Slowly the racers surrounded us. The smell of fear hung in the air," I leaned towards Edjie. "And the smell of somethin' else, too! I told Jak 'Lose the suckers'!" I pulled down my goggles and imitated Jak, my paws on an invisible steering wheel. "Jak suggests we hide from 'em and I say 'No way'! I hit the Red Eco weapons' trigger an' drop a mine. Then BAM!! One down, two more to go!"

"My, my," came a thick accented voice. I turned and saw this tall, pale guy with black hair that was sleeked back. He was wearing a long red jacket with the collar turned up all the way.

Whoa.

"Sounds like this city is terribly dangerous," The man lit a cigarette and took a long drag from it. Blowing out the smoke, he said, "Maybe we should get law enforcement to crack down." He laughed, and so did the other two guys.

Okay, that had me worried.

Grabbing my drink and pushing up my goggles, I said in a shaky voice, "Yeah, well, this place don't scare us!" I turned to Edjie after gaining my composure and yelled, "No nasty GANG is gonna get us ta turn tail an' run!"

"Sounds like they had you dead to rights," said the German. "How did you survive?" My ears perked. So this guy wanted to hear my story too.

Cool.

I smirked. "Well, I'll tell you one thing; Jak sure wasn't havin' any fun!" I picked up my drink, noticing that it was only half full (or was it half empty?). "Jak wanted us ta go back, but I was all, 'As if! We take these losers down an' out, baby!' Jak was barely able to keep himself together, but with my help we took out every single one!" I struck a pose, spilling some of my drink. "Until only one last, unlucky racer was left!" I jumped in the air, spilling even more of my drink.

"Really?" asked the smoker. I nodded. He tapped his ashes onto the floor while taking a few steps toward me. "You know, people in this city have a way of getting themselves in over their heads," He took a few more steps toward me. "Like at the bottom of the ocean,"

Oh, boy…this wasn't good.

"Hey, easy, guys," I said as the German flicked away his cigarette. I had a fleeting thought of looking to see if it landed on someone.

That'd be funnier than hell.

"Uh, heh, easy, buddies. M-my story's almost over!"

"Yes, it is!" He grinned, pulling out a really, REALLY sharp knife. Edjie and Shiv were walking towards me too, and they didn't look very friendly.

Did it just get REALLY bright in here?

"No, just wait a minute! It gets better, really!" At that's when I heard a roaring engine.

Right after Jak drove his car through the window/aquarium behind me.

"Dax, get in the car!" demanded my sidekick. I fumed and threw the remains of my drink on the floor.

"Jak, what the hell are you doing!?" I yelled, jumping off the counter and onto the floor, making sure I didn't step in the remains of my drink. "I was in the middle of a story and then you just had to come driving thro—"

"Get in the car, NOW!" I was about to protest once again when a knife was imbedded in the side of the counter, right next to my head. 'Live now argue later!' I thought as I leapt towards Jak and his car. "What the hell are you waiting for, a green light?!" I shouted as I jumped onto his shoulder. "Move it, Dark boy!" Jak floored it as some of the gang members started shooting at us. We drove threw the window again (poor fish…) and landed harshly onto the road.

Seeing as how nobody seemed to have been following us and we were well enough away from the bar, Jak decided it was time for a little Q and A.

"What the hell were you thinking!?" he shouted. 'That's an easy question…' I thought. "We've been getting death threats, and you choose to wander through this city ALONE!?"

Sometimes, I liked it better when he couldn't talk…

"Hey, I'm a big boy, Jak! I can take care of myself!" I yelled back. I hate it when he does this. He acts more like a parent sometimes than a best friend. Doesn't he remember that I'm 19 too?

"You're two feet tall—"

"Two feet and ten inches," I corrected. He glared at me. "It doesn't matter, Dax! You had no way of defending yourself at all!" I looked away. 'Ten inches sure as hell matters to ME,' I thought. "I had it under control!" I all but screamed into his ear.

"Going around and getting into drunken bar fights is not 'under control'!"

"I wasn't drunk, and you damn well know I wasn't picking fights with anybody!"

"You know what I mean, Dax!" Jak shouted over the roaring engine and the rushing wind. I met his gaze and glared just as harshly. He looked back at the road, swerving to avoid pedestrians and the occasional building. I stopped glaring at him when he didn't turn back. I looked over at one of the many parts of the car that wasn't dangerous for me to perch myself on. Jak knew that if I was particularly miffed I wouldn't sit on his shoulder, sometimes just for a few hours, or sometimes for a few days. One of us would eventually crack and beg for forgiveness, and we'd always accept. 'Cause that's what best friends do; they forgive each other.

As I positioned my self to jump onto the bar, I could barley make it out when Jak said, "Something could've happened to you…"

Damn it.

Cheater…

I sighed and wrapped my small body over the back of Jak's neck, a sort of "I'm sorry/I forgive you" move. I could literally FEEL his muscles relax from their previous tense condition.

"You are one tightly wound up Eco Hero, my fine friend." I said matter-of-factly. Jak chuckled. "Whatever,"

"It's true! We gotta do somethin' here—just the two of us!"

"Dax, ninety percent of the time it's just the two of us," he said. I could HEAR him smirk. I frowned (not that he had eyes on the back of his head or nothin'—I checked). "I mean we gotta do something fun! None of this business-y crap or Hero stuff; we'd just be Jak and Daxter! Er, Daxter and Jak!" I heard Jak laugh out loud, a real laugh, and only I can make him laugh like that.

"Alright Dax, we'll have it your way. One of these days while we're here we'll go somewhere and just hang out," he said. I grinned.

"Promise?"

"Promise,"

I guess today wasn't so bad after all.