Chapter 2: Not So Much

Paladin (pal-a-din) n. One who is an eminent hero
Hero (he-ro) n. A person of outstanding valor

Example: Jak   

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I don’t want to be here.

I really, REALLY don’t want to be here.

When I first got the invitation I threw it away and never gave it a second thought. Why should I go to the reading of a will for the guy that set me up and got me banished?

Unfortunately, what I didn’t count on was Keira getting an invitation as well. She had already talked Torn and Ashelin into going, saying it would be “polite” and the “right thing to do”.

I thought she didn’t like the guy? Didn’t she chew my ass out for working for him?

I didn’t want to get into another petty argument with her, so I agreed to go, much to Daxter’s dismay. He wasn’t too happy about going, and neither was I, but if it kept things in order…

“Dax put the glass down.” We haven’t been here for five minutes and he’s already getting into stuff.

“What? I wasn’t doing nothin’! Chill out, Jak”, he said, waving me off. I rolled my eyes. Even when he was human he couldn’t sit still for very long.

“Damn it! Who called us here anyway?!” Dax whined.

“Krew’s daughter, Rayn,” said Keira. I turned to her and gave her a disbelieving look.

“Krew had a daughter?”

“Krew…had sex?! Eww!” Daxter shouted, throwing the glass down onto the table. He grabbed his ears and covered his eyes. “Oh, that is so GROSS! Who’d want to be with that?!”

“Enough!” Torn shouted, raising a fist the threaten him. I could tell he wasn’t feeling to well, what with the mental image and all.

“The poor kid,” Dax said. “I bet she was picked last in ALL the dodge ball games!”

“Thank you all for coming.” I turned and saw a young woman walking towards us. She had blue-grey hair up in a fancy bun and looked like an hour-glass. Who the hell was—?

“I’m Rayn.”

Oh.

“Looks like some of you didn’t make it,” she said, setting down a bottle of wine and a clip-board sized projector of some sort.

“Yeah, well it was a little last minute, Princess,” Ashelin growled.

She wasn’t too happy about being here either.

Rayn either didn’t hear her or just ignored her. “I’m glad at least some of you made it here,” she said. “Thank you all, regardless.” As she begun explaining her father’s “last wishes”, Daxter padded his way over to me, a scowl firmly planted on his fuzzy face.

“How long until we can get the hell outa here?” he whispered, climbing onto my shoulder. I shrugged, and I could see Keira frowning at me from the corner of my eye.

“…this special drink just for the occasion,” Rayn continued. “To toast his death.” She poured red wine into six different glasses, and allowed us each to take one. We all held up our drinks as she said, “Here’s to old friends, and to father’s untimely death.” Dax swigged his down immediately. I was a little cautious. There was no way it was gonna be this easy…

Rayne swallowed her drink, and watched me as I finished mine.

“So, without further delay, his message to us,” she said, turning on the projector. I sat down. Here goes nothing…

“/Hello nearly friends, and mostly enemies/,” I shivered. I hated the sound of his voice then and I hate it even more now. “/If you’re listening to this, then I must be dead. Oh, well…/” Leave it to Krew to be so luck-luster about his own death. “/As all of you must know, I loved racing almost as much as I loved weapons. But, alas! I couldn’t achieve my dream of winning the Kras City Grand Championship!/” Daxter, after having curled himself around my shoulders once more, folded his ears flat against his head, and I could feel his little chest vibrate as he growled. He usually didn’t do those kinds of things; growling and purring and such, but when he did he was either very relaxed (or drunk) or he was very pissed.

My guess was he was very pissed.

“/But even in death I will fuel the greatest racing team, and win the biggest event on the planet!/”

“I have a bad feeling about this…” I whispered, more to my self than anyone else.

“/You are the best of the best, and you will race for me!/”

“Never!”

“No way!”

“Forget it!”

Apparently, Torn, Dax, and I had the same idea.

“/If all went as planned, then you just gave a touching toast in my honor/,” the hologram said smugly. My eyes widened and I turned to glare at Rayn, who, in turn, sunk down in her seat.

“/Sorry to say, but I put poison in that ‘special beverage’! Quite unsporting of my, really…/”

“Father!” Rayn shouted, leaping to her seat. I felt Dax slip off my shoulders and heard him landing on the floor with a dull “thump”. I went to grab him, but Keira grasped my other had, her head on the table.

“Oh, no…” I heard her whisper.

“/This is most-likely the part where Rayn gets upset. Sorry, Sweetheart. It’s a slow poison/,” he smirked, “/or you’d already be dead!/” I glared at the holographic man, hoping to the Gods that he was burning in a boiling pot of oil in Hell…

What? I’m not allowed to think dark thoughts?

“/My associate will provide you all with an antidote at the end of the race, but only if you win! If you don’t, well…/” he chuckled darkly. “/I don’t need to tell you what will happen./” I shook my head in disbelief. This was NOT how I wanted to spend my time here.

Ashelin practically leaped from her seat when the hologram blipped off, and pinned Rayn down in her seat while pointing a gun to her head, shouting “What the hell did you do to us?!” I stood up quickly, getting ready to help Torn hold Ashelin back if she got too out of control.

And she can get REALLY out of control.

“Please!” Rayn begged. “I-I didn’t know; I drank it too! Father never did play favorites…”

“Oh, yeah? Well, your father’s crazy!” Torn shouted, sounding almost as angry as Ashelin.

“We’re all crazy for coming here!” Keira screeched, standing next to me. I looked to my right, past Keira, and Saw Dax slowly sitting up. Hopefully he didn’t hurt himself too bad…

“/Well, it’s been one minute/,” I almost jumped out of my skin when the hologram popped up and started talking again. “/So, I’m guessing you’re all arguing about how to get yourselves out of this mess/,” I felt Dax slowly climb up my leg and onto my shoulders, wrapping himself around my neck again. “/My advice is trust no one, win the race, and save yourselves!/” The hologram turned off once again, apparently the end of Krew’s “will”.

“Jak,” Daxter mumbled, “Next time you’re invited to another party, remind me NOT to go!”

“We can do this, guys!” I said. “We can all race, and we can win!”

“My father bought us the best racing equipment money could buy,” Rayn said, standing up and dusting herself off. “And each of you has a racing car waiting. We’re in this together, so let’s get to it!”

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Jak and Daxter were lazing about in their hotel room, Daxter curled in a ball under Jak’s jacket while Jak himself was taking a shower. As the water rained down on him, the green-blond hero’s mind was swirling at 100 miles a minute with questions. Was Krew telling the truth? Were they really poisoned? What would happen if they didn’t win? What if this “associate” of his doesn’t have the antidote? And then his main concern;

What about Daxter?

The dosage for the poison (he assumed) was measured for a full grown human, not a two-foot-ten Ottsel. Would Dax be able to make it to the last race? Jak didn’t know what he’d do if he lost him; Dax. Daxter. Orange Lighting. His first friend. His best friend. The one who saved his life.

Sighing, Jak turned off the water, it having turned cold long ago, dried off, and got dressed. He was way too tired to deal with this crap.

Walking out of the bathroom, Jak couldn’t help but chuckle. Daxter had pretty much tangled himself in the hero’s jacket, still curled in a ball. He regretted having to wake him, but he was in the middle of the twin-sized bed which didn’t leave much room for Jak.

“Hey, Dax,” Jak whispered, softly patting the top of his head. “C’mon, buddy, you gotta move over a bit.” Daxter stretched, extending his claws, before opening his eyes.

“Mmm? Wazzit?” he yawned, rubbing his eyes childishly. Jake carefully crawled over the drowsy Ottsel, and slid him out of the jacket and up to his chest.

“I said scoot over so I don’t squish you.” Daxter hummed in acknowledgment. Jak smiled and laid a large hand over a tiny body.

Daxter was back to sleep in an instant, purring contently as Jak rubbed his back.

‘Where would I be without you, Dax?’ Jak thought. He visibly blanched when a dark cackle rang through his subconscious.

‘You’d be dead.’

And it was right.

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