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// Kras: Kleiver's Ploy 
// Story: Jak and Daxter: Heirs of Mar 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
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The next morning, after the officials went over what happened the previous day and what their plans for the future were, Rayn returned to the garage with news on the events Jak and his sisters, along with the rest of the team, would be facing first, as they would be heading to Waterfront Loop for a Freeze Rally, though after that she claimed they would be meeting the newest member of Mizo's team, which was Kleiver based on what Sig had told them, meaning he likely had something to say before he started to race against them. As such the siblings and Keira got ready for a new challenge as they boarded the transport and headed over to the next location in question, where they found that the track in question was a combination of the Kras City track and the Loading Docks, an odd decision for sure, though it didn't take them long to climb into their vehicles and move over to where the starting line was resting, nor did it take long for the announcers to start the event for the six of them. What Jak found to be funny was that Midnight and Keira seemed to be facing off against each other, why he had no idea and he wasn't about to question it since they were causing their rankings to go up and overcome what Mizo's team was resting at, though like the previous events of this type they formed a path in their minds while striking all of the tokens that were in front of them, allowing them to slow down their clocks while racing against each other, even though all of them were trying to overcome the time limit to get the gold for this event. One thing all of them agreed on was that not having to deal with Mizo's team during some of the events, as in they refused to show up and try to stop them from gaining more points to participate in the Qualifying Events and Grand Prixs, made things nice and easy, though with how bad they had been trashed so far Jak was surprised that Shiv's group was still in the running, but they would make sure to deal with Mizo's team when the time came.

After some time Jak, his sisters, Midnight, and Keira finished the Freeze Rally and won the gold metal with no problems, as without enemies it was rather easy for them to win, as when Shiv's group was present all of them had to be on their toes, in a manner of speaking, though upon their return to the garage, so Keira could make sure everything was fine before the next event started, Rayn walked in and tapped Jak's shoulder, beckoning to the doorway and the large figure that was on the other side of it.

"Hello again, ankle biters!" Kleiver stated, appearing to have reverted back to how he was when they first encountered him after their first Arena fight in Spargus, to an annoying and arrogant person that next to no one liked, even though he had changed his tune upon discovering what they and their Ottsels were capable of, but they knew that he was putting on an act for the most part, just so Mizo and everyone else had no idea that he was actually working for Jak and his sisters, so all of them could take down the other team, "That pony show, Gee-Whizz Blitz, told me I could find the lot of you here. Listen up, yabbers, you embarrassed me on the track before, but this time I aim to even the score and take you down and this is the perfect time to teach you a lesson."

"Good luck, Kleiver... you're going to need it." Keira remarked, speaking before Jak or his sisters could say anything, which showed that she was determined to aid the siblings in taking all three of the remaining trophies, while at the same time her statement surprised Rayn, since she wasn't expecting their mechanic to have such a personality or drive, though the fat Wastelander turned around after grinning at them and departed from their garage, though given what Sig had said not that long ago they knew that he was going to rain destruction on Mizo's team.

With Kleiver gone with, for the time being, Rayn revealed that they had been awarded another vehicle, showing them that they were doing well in the grand scheme of the sport, a more tank-like buggy that was called the 'Firebat', though since most of them didn't care about changing up their vehicles for a new one, especially after everything Midnight did to make hers and what Keira had put into the one she drove, it was just added to the collection in case another racer decided to join their group in the future. After that they regrouped and used the transport to return to the Clifftop Battlefield, as there was a Sport Hunt event going on, though Alvin and his brothers were surprised to find that that targets were some of the Tainted, as there were supposed to be a few pockets of Metal Heads who hadn't been freed from Kor and hadn't died after Errol's death, pockets that were dying out at a rapid pace and the brothers were always late to find them, though based on the dark mist emitting from their eyes the brothers knew that all of the Raptors involved in the Sport Hunt were tainted by those who had fallen. Sure enough Kleiver was present in the event as well, with Shiv's group joining him to try and take Jak and his sisters down, both for Mizo and for his own good, though that was when they found that none of Mizo's racers would work, despite everything their mechanic had done to them earlier, meaning their fat friend must have done a bit of work without being seen, or at least they hoped so since he wasn't the most stealthy person in the world, though it didn't seem Blitz cared, save for the flash of pure rage on his face that Rayn caught, allowing them to tackle the event while their opponents worked on their vehicles. At it turned out there were about sixty targets scattered around this part of Haven, so while Jak earned the most points overall his sisters and Keira were able to score good points as well, with none of Mizo's team getting any points at all, which was just wonderful for their team since the city was supporting them and were giving no support to the criminal aspect of the city.

Nothing major happened after the event was over, save for Rayn revealing that the next event would be a Deathmatch in the Desert Arena of Spargus, so while Jak and his sisters felt it was odd for the officials to have the same event twice in a row, given that the Sport Hunt and Deathmatch events were basically identical, so their team headed to the area that the next event was in and, once more, discovered that none of Mizo's team even wanted to be here with them, no doubt Shiv and the others had convinced Kleiver not to mess with them. As such Jak ended up scoring the ten points needed to earn the gold in no time, with Keira and Midnight scoring nine each, Twilight hit eight, and Starlight and Cozy ended up with a total of seven, meaning they definitely walked away with the win and whatever came with it, not that anything seemed to come from winning this event, save for more events and points to qualify for the Qualifying Event. After that was done Jak discovered that there happened to be another event in Spargus, a Rush Hour one, and it was being held in the Canyon Run track, so while the majority of his sisters and team stood down Midnight got in her vehicle and tackled it for them, as she seemed to enjoy smashing her way through all sorts of drones and gathering points like no one's business, putting on a show on her own that caused the watchers to cheer for her. Thanks to her own driving skills, and her Eco powers that made it impossible for the red drones to actually do any lasting harm to the vehicle she was using right now, Midnight was able to overcome the event's three hundred and forty score requirement to get the gold medal, though she knew Mizo had to be watching and was likely thinking of a way to take them down, any method that would allow his team to win the upcoming events, even if he would fail in due time, just like everyone else that dared to face Jak and his sisters over all of their adventures.

Once that was done Jak, his sisters, and their team discovered that the next event that Rayn discovered, as it looked like the officials had decided to only inform everyone of what was next by going one step at a time, so they only knew what the next or current event was and everything that was after that happened to be a mystery, where it happened to be held in Haven City, the City Outskirts track for a Circuit Race, to which they made sure to get everything ready before heading out to see what Mizo's team did this time around.

What was interesting this time around was that Shiv's group decided to try getting back at Jak, his sisters, and the rest of their team, only for them to get in the way of Kleiver as the fat Wastelander opened fire on them, so instead of tearing the tires of their vehicles apart he actually tore into the wheels of Mizo's team, causing him to curse at Shiv and the others for getting in his way. As they continued down the track Jak knew what was going on without having to be told, Kleiver was doing everything in his power to sabotage Mizo's team and it appeared that he likely didn't fire until he had one of Shiv's group in his sights, even if Mizo's people had no idea that such a thing had happened and likely assumed that they were the ones at fault for ruining his chances of taking the enemy team down. It was an interesting plan, one that could easily backfire if someone assumed the new driver was actually on the opposing side and was sabotaging the team he had been hired to help, hence why Jak was a little worried about Kleiver, who wasn't really suited for these types of missions, but he guessed that it was part of what made him successful at doing his job, as most would assume he would be a terrible spy, due to his size and whatnot, but the reality was that it made things perfect for him. No one would expect him of ruining the chances of Mizo's team winning the events, not with how he was acting and everything, though Jak knew that the fat Wastelander had to be careful, because sooner or later they were going to figure out that something was up, or not since Shiv's group didn't seem to be very smart and UR-86 didn't seem to care about the rest of his team, though he knew that time would tell and he was eager to see what happened in the future.

Sure enough the efforts of Shiv's group didn't matter in the grand scheme of things, as Jak scored first place, second and third were claimed by two of his sisters, and the others followed after him, giving no points to Mizo's team once more, no doubt causing them to be angry with each other for a time, especially since Kleiver was angry with his supposed allies as he marched away from all of them, though Jak found that Mizo's team was self destructing and soon they might not even be part of the sport, maybe cutting their ties with their boss and leaving him with nothing, which would be interesting to see if such a thing happened. With that done they returned to the Kras City track for another Death Race, something that was swiftly followed by Jak breaking the two hundred and forty score needed to get the gold medal, his sisters being ten points behind him with Keira bringing up the rear this time around, though with that event done they regrouped in their private bar and rested for a time, allowing everyone to go over everything that had happened lately and see if Blitz's show had any interesting news to add to what they had discovered so far.

I love this sport. Last year alone, racing brought in more cash than Kras City's entire yearly budget. Blitz stated, as if that was news to anyone at this point in time, as everyone knew that the man was a fan of the sport since he dedicated his life to covering all of the races and events that happened, but Jak didn't trust him, not after what they had seen so far and the fact that he seemed to dislike them, Now that's big. Believe it or not, it can get even bigger! I mean, with the right imagination. I'd like to see laws passed forcing the sport to be shown on multiple channels, maybe broadcast it in school for the kiddies.

"I know everyone has a stake in this sport, but the way Blitz talks makes me think there is more to him than what we are currently seeing," Cozy remarked, something that her siblings were thinking about right now, as while they knew that Blitz had a stake in the KGC, he was the announcer after all and his show was still popular, despite his interactions with Pecker, it was hard to tell if it was just because of his job or if there was something hidden below the surface, "One would almost think that, based on how money hungry Blitz is, that he might be Mizo in disguise."

"That would explain his reactions to Mizo's team being utterly wrecked," Rayn commented, where she pulled out the small recorder she had been carrying and showed them what she had seen during some of the previous events, which allowed Jak and his sisters to see Blitz being overly angry whenever Mizo's team were beaten in all of the races and events that had happened recently, even though that lead to them grinning for a moment, as they spotted something that she had missed when she was recording the man.

"Indeed it does... we just have to move forward and pretend we don't know what we know," Twilight said, though this was a good piece of information to obtain, that Blitz's reactions were far more than what a professional should have for a sport like this, and if Rayn was able to convince the other leaders of Kras about everything she had discovered they might be able to trap Mizo by the time the KGC was over, or at least force Blitz to apologize for his totally unprofessional behavior while everyone was racing, if he wasn't Mizo.

With that information in hand Jak, his sisters, and their team headed out for Haven once more, as there was a Circuit Race in the Forbidden Jungle for them to partake in for some time, and sure enough they noticed that Mizo's team was, for the most part, worried about their chances of success, where they found that Kleiver was using the same tactics in a different manner while they raced, making it so that Shiv's group always took the blame for getting in his way while he was trying to take down those who disgraced him in the past. Starlight had to admit that using the tactic a few times should have been a warning to Mizo and his employees, that something was off about Kleiver and his actions, yet it seemed like no one, save for their team, even realized the danger Mizo's team was in, that the fat Wastelander was actually on their side and that he was purposely gunning down Shiv's group whenever the opportunity presented itself. It even played into the placements in the Circuit Races, as Kleiver was literally right behind whoever was the last one in their group to cross the finish line, as it was either Torn or Ashelin, sometimes even Sig when he wanted to test Kleiver's abilities, and yet the crowd ate it up and chanted for more, showing them that the downfall of Mizo's team had inspired more people to cheer for them and what was going on right now. Such a thing was rather interesting and displayed just how they were changing this event just by being here, that no one seemed to notice the things that were clearly in front of them and meant they should be able to keep Mizo from figuring things out until Jak was ready to spring a trap on him, though with that done the announcers did call for a break and it meant they were likely going to be tackling more events tomorrow, since they had a system that was to ensure they didn't get tired out from racing too much.

As such Jak and his siblings returned to their garage with their team, knowing that when the next day started they might either have to do one more event or go right into the Qualifying Event for the Cup they were working through, where both options would be great since it would allow them to progress further in the KGC and would bring them one step closer to bringing down Mizo, plus stop his attempts to take over the criminal aspect of Kras City and prevent him from doing whatever he wanted with that sort of power.