home sweet home

[Jav]

It was hard to believe that it had already been two weeks since the capitol incident. James tried hard these past weeks to put that event behind him but noone represses a memory like that. A whole city going up with millions of people along with it is just something that sticks with a guy the rest of his life...even a guy as seemingly unshakable as Jav. Jodie sure did give Jav a scare when she pulled that "passing out in his car" stunt. He would never admit it but that did shake him up a little bit at first he thought she had died and that's what drove him to put the pedal to the medal to get her to the hospital in station square. He didn't stick around very long at the hospital just long enough to be sure she was going to be alright. When Her friends showed up he hit the road and other than heading to some town called Jylat north of never lake he had no idea what happened to her from that point on. As for Nail and, who Jav assumes to be his wife, Canma who knows where those two disappeared off to. James' gut was starting to agree with his mind that he was probably never going to see them again which saddened him in a way Nail seemed like a cool guy. The kind of guy Jav could become friends with real fast. Dan man and laurelle...yet another sad mystery.

Jav had spent these last weeks upgrading the Jav seeing as it was "underperforming" by his standards now and watching tv with his new found family.

[Jav]

"...yea it definately sounds like the fuel pump is going bad, or rather, has gone bad on it. How old did you say the vehicle was again?" James said as he stood at the front desk of a shop with a phone to his right ear. "I see...92' Firebird...good car...good year" he chuckled out. 'what a wannabe sports car' he thought to himself with a grin plastered on his face.

Not far away Jordan stood with an especially grumpy expression on his face as he watched James talk on the phone. "you be nice" he mouthed to James earning himself the finger from the former outlaw to which he replied with a finger of his own.

"yes ma'am just give us the address and we'll be over to pick it up and fix it up in a jiffy....alright...take it easy" he said hanging up the phone before he bust out in straight out laughter.

"James what is your problem?" Jordan asked undecided on whether he was mad or confused.

James turned to Jordan "if only you knew how many firebirds I've smoked over the years you'd be giggling too. Those things are crap right down to their LIVE AXLES. Man...that's gotta be the most low tech thing this side of the horse and buggy" he laughed handing the address over to Jordan who grimaced realizing he'd have to take the flatbed to make the pick up.

"A car is a car James"
Jordan turned and walked through a door leading into a six lane garage.

"Old man you wouldnt know a good car if it fell outta the sky, landed on your face, and started to wiggle" James laughed out.

A playful "shaaaatup!" sounded from the garage just before the roar of a large diesel engine erupted from seemingly nowhere and quickly faded away as Jordan drove away.

[Jav]

It had been several hours since Jordan left to make that pick up James, being who he was, was growing extremely bored.

"uuggghhh...I coulda made Radical city n back by now TWICE! What is takin that ole man so long!?!"

James got up and made his way upstairs to the living area's where his little nephew-in-laws Carrie and Danny were playing Midnight Club Los Angeles.

"hey Jav!" they both chimed in unison. "Hey lil' dudes" he responded sitting down next to them and picking up a controller.

"you mean you're not out running around or anything Jav?" Danny asked as he tried to slip his car past James' bike. "first of all it's not Jav it's James, and secondly my car's overhaul isnt finished so it's not ready to roll yet and the Ford's tranny is giving out so I'm weary about using it until I rip that one and out and stick a new one in." James said as a matter of factly.


"oh" the two racoons said in unison earning themselves a smile from James. They were good about doing that...it was sorta creepy.

[Jav]

30 minutes of this and Jav was finished...in more ways than one. Danny and Carrie were masters of the virtual roadways and had repeatedly left the Javster in their dust seeing as he kept ramming his bike into other vehicles. Well...guess ya cant rule on every road.

"*sigh* alrighty little dudes..Im gonna go back downstairs and finish the Jav since your FA-THER has decided he's going to take his good sweet time getting back with that spo...wannabe...sports car"


"awwwww really?" the twin-like racoons chimed in unison again.

Jav gave them an amused look "you two do that on purpose dont you?"

They both smiled in unison as well sending a chill up James' spine. "okay then, I'm outta here" James said leaving the room and making his way downstairs to the garage area.

"whooooooo man..." he said idly as he opened a panel between the third and fourth garage doors and pressed a small green button inside. The floor of the garage opened up to a dark hole beneath. A hydraulic lift could be heard growing closer from somewhere in the depths of the hole until suddenly it arrived. The Jav "new and improved".....well...almost. It still needed tuning and a few of the new systems he had installed still needed installation but that was an easy job for James to perform. It'd take him maybe just an hour or so to have it up and running.
"better do this quick before ole man gets back and gets pissed cuz I have out"

He hurried over to the car and began his work.

[Jav]

"...Like a true nature's child we were born born to be wild we can fly so high I nevah..wanna diiieeeee...boorrrrrrnnn tooo beee willllldddd" Jav sang away as he lay underneath the Jav, which was up on Jacks, doing the final nuts and bolts of the Jav's upgrades.

"YEHAAAAAAAAAAAA" he cried out pushing himself out from under the car. "IT IS COMPLETED WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA".

"Jav...we meet at last" a voice from behind him said suddenly.

James fell silent and froze in place instantly. Only very few people knew who James really was. Was this a GUN agent, federal police maybe?...."how do you know that name?" James asked with his back still turned while slowly pulling out a pistol he had stuffed down the front of his pants.

"I know everything about you Jav. Nothing you do has escaped my eye for quite some time" the voice said.

James quickly spun around and raised the pistol surprisingly enough to the head of an old woman in a white and tan cloak. James cocked an eyebrow. "alright ole hag...who are ya...and whatya want?" he said firmly.

"To warn you...the war is begun...the sea demon brings the pieces together...the day of days is nearly upon us all." she said.

"wow...just wow...look I don't know what to tell ya other than get off the crack and while you're at it get off my property" James said lowering his gun to his side.

"James...a war is brewing...*sigh* what's the use you're a thickheaded child...I see we are going to have to do this the hard way" she spat lifting her hands into the air.

James jumped back training his pistol on the old woman "look ole hag..Im givin you to the count of three to get steppin or im gonna feed ya some lea.." he was abruptly cut off by a force jerking the gun from his hands and crushing it into a unrecognizable hunk of steel.

"what in the he..." he was again cut off by a similar force pulling him from the floor and slamming him against the back wall of the garage. "arrrge...whattya doin!?!" James exclaimed already looking for a way out of this.

The woman began chanting something under her breath in a language Jav didn't recognize and as she did a green aura erupted from thin air and engulfed her. "now I will make you see...the day of days" she said pointing her hand towards James sending a beam of green energy into his eyes.

James convulsed and shivered as the energy snaked it's way through the deepest recesses of his mind. Images of a post apocalyptic station square, desert wastelands, a blackened sky, a demonic ruler, and millions of suffering people including those he cared most for flashed through his head at breakneck speed. This scene continued for a few moments until she finally let him fall to the ground to recover.

"wha...wha..what was that....all that I... please...no more...no more" he pleaded as he tried to push himself away from her. Tears rolled down his cheeks. For the second time in years and years James was genuinely frightened.

The woman's green aura faded into thin air as she approached him. "what you saw is what will be if you do not act quickly...are you willing to listen to what I have to say now?"

James didn't say anything, he simply nodded while whipping the tears from his eyes.

"Even now as we speak here in this place the pieces are coming together. the world you just witnessed is coming to pass even now. But it isn't too late James...you still have time...but You must act now if you are to succeed"

"What...*clears his throat*what do I have to do?" he asked quietly with a submissive tone.

"Make your way to the lands where the brightest star meets the waters of the trapped sea but once a year. Fate will guide you from there James. You must collect the talismans...you must keep them from her..the sea demon. She is the gate keeper of the world you could soon be. If she brings these artifacts together..an eternal darkness will gobble up this whole world. Go now.. time is not on your side...go now..while there's still a chance for this world." she finished coldly before leaving the garage area and disappearing back onto the streets leaving a shook up James in her wake.

[Jav]

Jav layed there in an oil puddle leaning his right cheek against the cool skin of the Jav. He contemplated the events he had seen in his head. A world of fear and darkness...none of it made sense...what kind of force could do such of a horrible thing? The things he had seen brought even the seemingly fearless Jav to tears. It was simply horrific on a whole new level.

He shook the images from his head and slowly got to his feet."where the brightest star meets the sea but once a year?" he repeated his mind searching for a possible answere. He made his way slowly back up stairs to his room. "where the brightest star meets the sea but once a year....once a year." he repeated over and over again. He opened his closet and pushed aside his clothes to reveal his AR15 he had aquired in capitol city a couple weeks back. He began collecting the weapon and ammo when it finally struck him.

"never lake"

That was his destination he realized as he loaded up ammo and his firearms. He made his way quickly back downstairs and piled it into the trunk of his car and then ran back upstairs to grab the twins.

"come on you guys we gotta roll!" he exclaimed running into the room and yanking them up in his arms.

"wha wait we didnt save it" Danny yelped as Jav snatched him and his sister up. "no time..it'll be there when you get back" Jav responded as he zipped back down stairs to the Jav.

"get in" he said setting them down at the passenger side door before sliding across the hood bow duke style and snagging the drivers seat.

"come on come on hurry we gotta move!" Jav repeated semi-yelling now as Danny and Carrie scrambled into the car. Jav barely waited for them to even get their seat belts on as he laid that hammer down sending the three bolting from the autoparts garage and into the busy streets.

[to cross country]

[Jav]

It was well after midnight when James and the kids arrived home from their little misadventure. The sky was already beginning to brighten up marking the approach of dawn. James pulled into the garage onto his special hydraulic panel he used to hide the Jav under the concrete floor. Carrie and Danny weren't asleep but kind of somewhere inbetween being awake and being asleep. "come on you guys" he said reaching into the backseat, scooping them into his arms, and vacating the vehicle. He pushed a green button on the wall behind a false panel between the third and fourth garage doors and the 73' Javelin disappeared into the floor with a hydraulic whine.

James took the two racoons upstairs to their beds before making his way back downstairs to his make shift room in a large storage room. He sprawled out on his waterbed and quickly drifted off to sleep for a few hours.

[Jav]

"James....JAMES...wake up!" A voice shouted shoving James out of his bed and onto the hard cement floor.
".....ouch...what is it" James asked from the floor still unsure who had thrown him out of bed. "F4 is at it again. It's all over the news." A voice he recognized as belonging to Jordan said. Upon hearing this James jerked up off the floor and onto his feet within the blink of an eye. "what? what's this now? What about F4" James asked as he stalked over to Jordan feeling old emotions beginning to boil anew in his chest.

"they're on the tv.. appearantly they've taken an oil tanker hostage. I knew they'd attacked you in capitol city a few weeks ago and thought that you might...". "want revenge?" James interupted "you bet dude, anything to cause them some headaches for what they put me through in capitol!" he exclaimed with a cheerful smile. "come I gotta get some stuff together...fill me in on what exactly is goin on" James instructed as they both vacated the room.

[hours later]

James was packing his weapons and equiptment into a 30ft fishing trawler they had rented out for the day. "you're sure you know how to pilot one of these things?" James asked Jordan as they loaded the rest of the stuff into a compartment below the deck. "Sure I can, besides it's too late to get cold feet now I've already signed the insurance forms for this thing" Jordan said laughing. "*sigh* alright" James said unsure about all of this. "well I guess lets get goin" Jordan said. "DANNY, CARRIE GET OVER HERE" James yelled across the docks to the two dark forms of Carrie and Danny sword fighting with peices of drift wood in the early morning twilight. They turned towards James, their ears standing at attention, before running on all fours to the boat.
"well lets get a move on aint none us gettin any younger" James laughed.

[to cross country]