Axel, Jak and Daxter had not been walking long when Axel spotted a glow pinched between the sky and the sand on the horizon. "What's that?" Axel questioned, "It can't be sunlight. Fiction's too grim for that." Jak glanced at the sky, "That's the 12 hour change of scenery. It affects the desert same as it does the forest, remember?" "Of course." scoffed Axel. Jak had yet to recognize Axel's obsession with memory.

The glow expanded from the pivotal point to consume the entire horizon. The light was an ethereal white, and seemed to be rushed across the desert in a veil which was draped from Heaven and brushed the sands below. The glow had a gentle, aurora-like quality; the sort of colors Axel through the afterlife should have. It at least looks more comfortable than this stupid desert. Thought Axel, who was itching in very uncomfortable places, thanks to the sand which had wormed it's way into his cloak. Jak did not seem to think quite as highly of the light, since he seemed to be slouching over against the approach of the light. Axel raised an eyebrow, watching Jak arch defensively. "Is it really that bad?" he asked.

Though Jak seemed to be attempting to make his body smaller, Jak's eyes getting large with fear, "No." he admitted, "It's what's after."

Before Axel could ask Jak to elaborate, the white light, which had been swiftly eating the expanse of desert, washed over him. For the instant when Axel was immersed in the light, everything seemed to stop and drop away. The sand below his feet was washed away, as were Jak and Daxter. Axel was suspended in the light, alone and silent. He had just enough time to think, I've died again before the band of light continued it's rush onward, dumping him unceremoniously on the ground. Only Axel's catlike balance spared him the indignity of being dumped on his rear.

The inconsistent waves of sand had been replaced by a hard crust of red dirt, threaded by deep cracks. Occasional cacti rammed through the shell; huge fleshy saguaros which appeared to be holding their arms up in surrender. But it was not so much the cacti that captured Axel's attention as the two bus-sized scorpions which were now standing only a few yards ahead of the group. Most ordinary scorpions are tan or brown. These outsized monstrosities were black like new cars; sleek and reflective. The monsters sported huge gems on their foreheads, which Axel first took to be some kind of jewelry, until he noticed they had actually grown into the scorpion's skin. The gems were very unusual; highlighter yellow and opaque, with shots of yellow lightning crawling in their depths.

"Well, there's some unexpected company. Where they Hell did they come from?" asked Axel casually, as though he was discussing something trivial, like the weather. The giant scorpions clicked their engorged front claws with ill temper, and drawing close to the trio, who must have seemed very tasty in their buggy minds. "They must have been hiding under the dunes when they change came." replied Jak whipping out his carbine. Snapping their claws at a rapidly increasing tempo, the scorpions approached the group with malicious intent. Summoning his chakrams, Axel grinned, "I'll take the ugly one." he said, leaping at one of the scorpions.

As he sailed through the air, Axel heard the slight sounds of Jak's gun discharging behind him. Axel's scorpion did not seem concerned by the sounds, though with it's claws held open wide and its scythe-like tail held at the ready, it seemed very interested in Axel. With a swift movement which tested even Axel's ability to dodge, the scorpion thrust it's tail forward. Axel dodged left to avoid the blow, where he was met instantly by a crackling claw. Batting at the offending appendage with a chakram, Axel returned his concentration to the tail, which was back at the ready. The scorpion took aim and jabbed at Axel again, forcing him even closer to the claw.

Gritting his teeth, Axel called on his fires, setting his chakrams ablaze. Deflecting the claw with one chakram, Axel used the other chakram to pound the carapace of the claw. Despite the force of the strike, the chakram only created a chink small enough to trap on of it's spikes. Following through with the movement of his strike, Axel flipped over the scorpion's claw, using the chakram as an axis. Plucking the stuck chakram from the scorpion's shell, Axel dodged under the monster's stomach. Axel had hoped that there would be a soft spot on the scorpion's underbelly where he chakrams could effectively rend exposed flesh. Or whatever giant bugs are made of. Thought Axel as he jammed both chakrams into the shadow mass above him. The spines of his weapons were deflected by tough carapace. "Damn" he hissed, recoiling with pain. The attack had sent waves of pain through his slime wrists.

Above him, the black ceiling lurched backward. Apparently, the scorpion wanted Axel where it could see him...and strike him. Not wanting to re-enter the fight in front of the scorpion, where he could be pinched by giant claws and poked by a poisonous stinger at the same time, Axel ran forward, trying to outstrip the scorpion's movement. Axel would have preferred to pop out along side the scorpion and surprise it, however, the scorpion's legs were moving so quickly that they trapped Axel under the scorpion as effectively as a cage. Finally, Axel outran the scorpion, and for one not so glorious moment, he had a clear view of the scorpion's rear end, with the tail arching in the wrong direction to be a danger. The next instant however, the scorpion was turning, wheeling it's arsenal to face Axel. For a moment, Axel was puzzled as to how the creature had known where he was. Vibrations he realized When I move, it can feel it through the ground. Not waiting for another attack, Axel summoned his fires again, "Hey, bug! Are you fireproof?" he asked, flinging a wall of flame at the creature. Though the scorpion flinched slightly, it did not turn from it's charge. "Guess so." said Axel. However, he sent another blaze hurtling at the scorpion. This time, he jumped after the flames, using them to mask his movement. The fires broke over the scorpion's hard back like a red wave, and soon afterward, Axel landed lightly one the still warm shell.

As soon as it felt Axel's landing on it's back, the scorpion brought it's tail down. Axel parried the strike with a chakram, and watched as the tail raised above him like the curling neck of a sea serpent, poised for another attack. Digging one of his chakrams into the scorpion's shell, Axel braced himself for the next attack. As the scorpion's tail descended on him again, Axel swung away from the sharp barb, again using his chakram as an axial. As the point of the tail glazed off the scorpion's own shell, Axel gave a triumphant "hunh!" and drove his free chakram between two segments of the tail. The chakram itself penetrated through half of the tissues and sinews which bound the tail to execute the scorpion's will. The chakram's fires took care of what remained. The severed tail rolled over Axel's back and onto the desert floor below.

The scorpion, apparently enraged by it's loss, began to buck and snap it's claws wildly. Using his chakrams as grappling hooks, Axel clung to the scorpion's shell. However, there was nothing for him to brace his feet against, so his body was flung around like a ribbon in the wind, occasionally impacting painfully with the hard carapace. Using one particularly large shake for momentum, Axel dislodged his chakrams and leapt into the air above the scorpion. Executing a mid-air flip, Axel re-oriented himself, so he was facing down at the scorpion's back.

Using tongues of flame, Axel softened his intended target, then angled his super-heated chakrams downward. Now Axel was plummeting headfirst toward the scorpion, gravity lending magnitude to his attack. A confident grin on his face, Axel struck the scorpion's back with all the force of fire behind him.

At first, it seemed as though the scorpion had shattered like glass, becoming nothing more than obsidian shards. From his unique perspective, Axel saw the event as it actually happened: the force of his attack had indeed splintered the shell of the scorpion, which was a painful but not fatal blow. The kill came when the heat of Axel's chakrams and his downward momentum burnt a whole through the center of the scorpion.

Emerging below the creature, Axel rolled away as quickly as possible. He had no desire to win the fight, only to be crushed by his enemy's still warm corpse. The scorpion staggered, tail-less and mortally wounded. It's legs scrabbled the tough desert floor, folding in on themselves even as the scorpion tired to wheel about and attack Axel again. Finally, the scorpion fell, clapping it's claws feebly, as though it was trying to ward off death. Flicking some scorpion innards from his sleeve, Axel turned away dispassionately as the scorpion gave one last shudder and died.

Jak was just finished up his scorpion, pumping more rounds into it's flinching frame. It appeared that 'strategically' placed bullets over every inch of the scorpion's body had finally done their office. Examining the scorpions from a distance, Axel realized that they were really very different from regular scorpions. They were stream lined, with their heads fused to their bodies in such a way that their elegant curvature was not interrupted. Scorpions version 2.o thought Axel.

"Looks like you've got second place." said Axel, smirking as Jak walked over to him. Jak grunted, giving Axel grudging recognition. Axel sidled over, gloating in triumph. Kicking Jak's dead scorpion, he asked, "What's the story with these things? Originals or FC? Or are they native?" he asked.

Jak glared at the hulking carcasses, "Fan Characters, probably from a story about me. They are based off of creatures called Metalheads, which are native to my Media. But these are a lot bigger than they were back at home. Ordinarily, scorpion style Metalheads didn't get to be more than a foot or two long. Somebody probably thought it would be cute to have giant Metalheads chasing me in their story. A real grand concept."

Axel heard something fall behind. Thinking the Metalhead was not quite as dead as first anticipated, he spun around, chakrams at the ready. However, the noise was not a result of sudden reanimation, rather, the yellow gem had fallen from the Metalhead's forehead, leaving a wide black hole in the skull.

"You'll want that." said Jak, pointing at the gem, "They're pretty valuable. Particularly large ones. The rats will even trade manufactured goods for them." Axel walked over carefully, and snatched the gem, then darted away from the corpse as little faster than fearlessness allowed. He wasn't taking any chances with the creature, alive or dead. Jak was busily propping up the front of his Metalhead, and collecting the fallen gem from underneath.

Once he was at a comfortable distance from the scorpion, Axel began to examine the gem curiously. The thing was at least two feet long, and unusually light considering it's size. Lightning still danced in it's depths, giving off a faint glimmer. Larxene would have loved this. Thought Axel. The surface of the gem was cold and smooth, somewhat like glass, thought Axel had the impression it was much more durable then that. After a few more seconds of admiring the gem, Axel shrugged and dumped it to the ground.

"What the Hell?" Jak shouted, "Didn't you hear me? That thing is really valuable! Why are you throwing it away, dumbass?"

Axel's emerald eyes flared with annoyance. "A valuable pain in the ass! It's huge! How am I supposed to carry it around?" to Axel's surprise, Jak gave a condescending laugh of amusement. "Guess I'll have to carry it for you." he said, digging for something in a pouch clipped to his belt. The item he sought turned out to be a small bag, made out of a strange, light leather with a pattern suspiciously similar to the wrinkles of human skin.

Jak pried the little bag ope; it's mouth seemed to stretch beyond it's reasonable physical limits. In a grotesque distortion of space, Jak shoved his entire Metalhead gem into the tiny, shallow bag. "Here, give me yours. I'll hold on to it for you." he said.

Axel's eye brows jumped into twin arcs of surprise. "What is that thing, anyway?" he asked, indicating the bag.

"I got it off of some dead wizard. You can fit pretty much anything in there. Probably the most valuable thing I've found in Fiction so far. The rats would sell the skin off their backs to get this."

Eying the bag with suspicion, Axel edged towards it, poking it with his Metalhead gem. Carefully, he slipped the gem into the bag's black depths, and was surprised to see that, true to Jak's claim, the entire thing fit.

After the gems were safely stored in the bag, Jak closed it and carefully slipped it into his pouch. "Pretty handy." he commented.

Axel thought it was just plain creepy.