Words: 1600

Summary: Gol and Maia, surrounded by their fallen enemies, meet an elderly man.

Setting: Sometime after Kor's arrival at the start of Jak II, during the "first" metal head war.

Note: Another piece I wrote for the Jak and Daxter theme week, this time for the theme: metal heads. I wanted to explore an option as to what happened to Gol and Maia, especially since dark eco was such a precious resource.

Squish

Sitting cross-legged in the air, Maia huffed loudly to her brother. Gol returned the look cautiously, floating above the remains of the scattered bug-like legion. Not taking a threat seriously was how they lost last time, and yet she apparently learned nothing from their entrapment and thought little of a Precursor silo being ripped open as well.

For him, at least, it was anything but dull. The hostile welcoming party was an inviting warm up after those years of confinement. Commanding such a great amount of dark eco exonerated his lungs momentarily, letting himself breathe clearly as another blast shot down a wave of enemies.

Once the last creature dropped, a cane followed by footsteps sauntered along the metal base of the citadel, alerting the dark eco sage.

"It seems you, too, have survived the onslaught of this world," the older man said, stepping into the purple light radiating off the siblings. The yellow gem glimmered against the glow, set above a suit of withered, blue robes. "Even the sages had fallen to this scourge, yet you are here unamused by the metal heads that have perished before you."

"The four sages, they are no more?"

"They were weak, dear brother. Much like these things," Maia chuckled, resting her head on a fist. She spun to the voice, now done playing with a dying metal head, raising an eyebrow. "You, on the other hand, are not like these pests. Alive, that is. For now."

Much like his sister, Gol raised an eyebrow. "And you are?"

"I am Kor, an elderly traveler who sought the wisdom of a dark eco sage," the man said, gracefully bowing to humble himself before two beings of such great power. "I came to this citadel looking for answers, but it seems I have ambled onto the Acheron siblings themselves."

"These creatures, you call them—" Gol wheezed, weights swinging recklessly through the air with each passing spasm. It ended as his lungs cleared. "—metal heads. I took them as Hora-Quan, beings responsible for the Precursor's undoing."

"It seems you are quite endowed with knowledge on our indomitable foe," Kor gave a ragged chuckle, impressed with the sage. "We have been waging war with them for quite some time, and the great Mar has prepared a defensive front in a village called Sandover."

A defensive front by a Mar, most likely some warrior too out of his wits. "The village of the green sage?"

"A village turned fortress. I believe it wise you come with me there. There is little time, and this citadel will not protect you from the metal head leader. Legends say it can rip through even the strongest Precursor metal, meaning this threat is no mere—"

"Yet they lay slaughtered at our feet," Maia interrupted, laughing at hearing the old man consider these things a threat. She sent a rogue coil of dark eco at a metal head with some life left, stilling it within an instant. "Dear brother, don't you remember how fast they fell?"

"Yes, dear sister," Gol sighed quietly to himself. The sage gave the older man, who was remorsefully glimpsing around him, a look down before returning to Maia. "This matter is different, and I—"

"Oh, hush. You were always reading your silly books and never were the one for a bout of fun," she said, smirking to Gol. "I do believe I saw a smile coming to when you took out a few of these disgusting pests."

"More of a reflex, dear sister," Gol coughed, both to clear his lungs and show he was finished speaking to Maia, who clearly wasn't taking any of this serious. He now shifted to Kor, the older man raising his head in recognition. "I, too, believe it wise to go, but we are behind on current… events."

"Ah, that must explain everything," Kor said, raising his cane to the large gash in the Precursor silo's base, and the ruined Precursor robot head. "I never took the legends as fact, but this proves them true. Ask what you may, and I shall do my best to answer."

"What exactly are these—" Another hack came from Gol, stronger than last time to where Maia had grasped his shoulder. She gave him a worried look before a nod and a raspy cough returned her to a blithe attitude. "—metal heads. They contain dark eco, but not that of which we can freely channel whilst they live."

"Marvelous creatures, aren't they?" Kor started, walking down the hollow corridor at the base of the citadel. "They work with a hive mind, controlled by a single leader with unfathomable power. Separate from dark eco, yet without it, they cannot live and grow. That, I assume, is why they targeted your citadel. These silos hold an insurmountable amount of eco that very well could allow them to dominate this world."

As Gol floated cautiously behind, Maia rolled her eyes and followed close to her brother. There weren't any metal heads left hiding in the shadows anyhow, much to her disappointment after winning so easily without even as much of a fight. She hadn't even tested out her true powers yet.

"These silos, our only source of eco," the sage said haggardly, coughing early to stop too much buildup as he spoke on. "Truly, it would be devastating to allow our years of work to fall into the hands of such a being."

Nodding, Kor agreed. "Mar's resistance cannot hold without this either, but now you have waned out the threat and he may be able to reclaim it."

"Who said this Mar was allowed to have himself with our precious dark eco?" Maia questioned. "If anything, this Hora-whatever leader and that Mar are too laughably pathetic to even control it. Anyhow, we need it for that stupid boy. The one with the rat. Dear brother, what was his name? Jake? Jack?"

"The boy's name was Jak, dear sister. The ottsel's was Daxter," Gol answered. Scratching and tapping echoed from the center of the citadel, a distance away from the trio. He turned, only to see a dark violet hue surrounding Maia. "And they're called Hora-Quan."

"That's what I said. Jak. And I know a rat when I see one," Maia said frustratedly, letting out an aggressive sigh at her brother. "Now, take us to that Mar, old man. I am decades late on patience, and that nuisance back there shortened it. We may as well squash that leader of theirs and end it all now."

"Squash their leader?" Kor chuckled as he continued to pace before them. A light shake came from him, agitating his cane to tap on the floor. "I have heard he is something of a god. Even the strongest have fallen before him."

"Dear sister…"

"You heard me," Maia said arrogantly, placing her knuckles on her hips. "Nobody cares what the opinion of a fly is on their purpose in this world. God of the bugs or not, even they know it is to lay under our heel. To be squished."

"My, I was warned that you were disagreeable, but this is something else," Kor laughed, a ridged smile painted on his face. Maia slightly dropped her previous demeanor as the old man shook violently, skin molting. "You say my children are little more than nuisances?"

The scratching grew louder as two iridescent wings shot from Kor's back, a smaller pair followed suit, ripping through him. Hooked legs broke free from beneath, a large tail covered in membranous sacs lashed out as the rest of his body flushed from the facade. "Come, show them how wrong they are!"

Gol fired off a wary look to Maia, who was yawning at the transformation. She knew this Kor wasn't who he seemed, even without reading ancient texts describing the Hora-Quan's transformative abilities. That, or she hadn't bothered to think past a strange old man walking into their citadel, surrounded by metal heads, and their missing leader that saved them from captivity by ripping open the silo. What was he to do with her?

"You make such a mocking expression at us? We have destroyed countless worlds, diminished entire races, and tore timelines out of existence!" Metal Kor bundled backward with a blaring roar, the gem on his forehead beginning to shine a bright yellow. "This is but one planet that will be crushed under my power, as the Precursors had so long ago! My children shall know no pain brought upon them by the likes of such inferior beings of dark eco as you!"

"Inferior...?"

"Dear sister," Gol said, floating closer to the center of the tunnel. He took Maia by the arm as the crawling caught up, pulling her close to him. Thousands of yellow eyes mirrored through both ends of the corridors. "I think it is time you take our situation seriously."

Throwing herself into a maniacal fit, Maia cackled. She held herself with her free hand, helping to not double over from laughter. "You, an insignificant, pathetic insect, dare call us inferior?"

Tendrils of dark eco spun from her fingertips, sending violet streaks of lightning viciously sparking. a devilish smirk illustrated in the form of a strengthening aura emanated from her skin. Gol felt fear, not for himself, but for the mass of metal heads and their leader that angered his sister.

"That boy will have to wait, dear brother," Maia grinned, throwing her hair back. She grabbed hold of Gol, watching Kor charge the gem on his forehead. "It seems we'll have our fun after all."