Thank you to everyone once again for reviewing, reading, alerting, and overall supporting this story as it comes to a close! Just two more chapters to go! This, by far, was one of my favorite chapters to write for the whole story. I had a lot of fun with it, and I hope you enjoy it as well! :)
DISCLAIMER: Only my OCs and side plots are mine. Everything else belongs to Naughty Dog.
"Look alive, Jak!" Damas shouted as we began driving through the Palace ruins. Lena and Paige followed closely behind us in the Gila Stomper.
"Dark Precursors!" the King of Spargus yelled just as a horde of Dark Makers appeared in our path. I quickly hopped on the guns and began taking them out as Paige operated the guns on the Gila Stomper.
"You guys okay back there?" I cried.
Paige just smiled and gave us the thumbs-up. "We'll cover you!" Lena exclaimed, "Just get us through these walls!"
"What made you decide to come back to Haven?" I barely heard Paige ask over the noise.
"I decided…I couldn't let Veger win anymore!" was all Lena replied with, for suddenly, we spotted a target on the ground where we were driving.
"Move, move!" Paige screamed, and we all quickly veered to the left as a bomb came very close to striking the side of the Slam Dozer.
"Damn, that was close," I muttered.
"You're doing well, Jak," Damas complimented, "Keep going. I'll accelerate to bring down these bridges." I nodded and continued to shoot while Damas used a turbo boost in order to knock down the bridge in front of us, as well as destroy any barriers that were in our way.
"Don't worry about us!" Paige shouted, "We'll make sure nothing happens to us!" She went back to shooting the Gila Stomper's guns as she said this.
For the next half hour or so, we plowed through the Palace ruins, with Dark Makers converging on us everywhere. As they promised, Lena and Paige helped to cover for us while we drove around and destroyed everything in our path. All we could hear was the sound of gunfire, and it was amazing that we didn't go deaf after both wars.
"Almost there," Damas muttered once we came to a part of the ruins that was open. There were bridges everywhere, and we would have to find alternate paths if we wanted any chance of breaking through the barrier up ahead. Lena parked the Gila Stomper and took out her Eco Pistol while Paige remained on the vehicle's guns. It was clear they were waiting for us to clear this part before we could move on.
Along the way, I glanced over at the King of Spargus as I thought about what Paige had told me about him the previous night. "Damas?" I asked.
"Yes, Jak?" Damas replied as we found ourselves driving up a small hill.
"I was thinking," I said, wondering how I was going to phrase this without appearing too intrusive, "There seems to be some kind of…connection between us."
"Yes," Damas repeated, "I have noticed it, too."
"What do you think of it?" I pressed, curious as to how he would respond.
"It's a most curious connection," Damas answered, "But I cannot say for sure."
"Do I remind you of somebody?" I asked, thinking about Paige's words. I knew this was probably a touchy subject for Damas, but I had to know. I watched as the King of Spargus finished clearing all the bridges before he slammed into the gate in front of us, clearing it out of our way. Lena and Paige got the hint and began to follow us as fast as they could.
"Jak," Damas retorted, "You…are one of my finest warriors. A very curious warrior, but a warrior nonetheless. Once this is over…" He never got to finish his sentence, for suddenly, we heard Paige and Lena scream from behind us.
"Look out!" they both warned, and Damas, Dax, and I glanced up in time to see another bomb sailing right towards us. We tried to swerve to the side, but we didn't make it in time.
With a loud bang, the bomb crashed right into the Slam Dozer. "W-whoa!" Dax gasped as the vehicle turned on its side and kicked up a lot of dust in the process. I felt myself fly out of the car and tumble onto my side.
"Jak! Daxter!" the girls cried from behind us, "Damas!" I could hear the sound of brakes, and I knew Lena was quickly stopping the Gila Stomper before it crashed into us.
"I found them!" Lena shouted, "Jak and Daxter are over here!"
I groaned as I rolled onto my side in time to see the two of them bolting towards me. "Are you okay?" Paige asked worriedly, quickly checking me over to make sure I didn't break anything.
"I-I'm fine," I choked, coughing as I got to my feet.
"Where's Damas?" Daxter asked, looking around in the clearing dust. Another cough grabbed our attention, and we all glanced over to where the Slam Dozer was laying on its side. And pinned right underneath it was Damas.
"Damas!" I yelled, pushing past the others to run over to him. Paige, Lena, and Dax followed suit, and we all knelt down next to the former king of Haven City. All around us, the sky went dark as it began to rain.
"Damas!" I cried again, "Are you okay?"
Damas coughed again and opened his eyes as he smiled weakly. "Not bad, kid," he complimented, "It was a good fight, and a good day to die. I'm very proud to have been by your side in the end. The world is not yet out of heroes." He coughed again and a little bit of blood began to spread across his chest.
"We did well together," I replied, "Don't move. I'll…"
But Damas stopped me. "Please promise me one thing," he croaked, "Promise me you'll find my son, Mar. You'll know him when you see this." He held up a very familiar looking pink amulet, the same one the Kid-well, the younger version of me-had worn back in Haven City! Paige, Lena, and Dax gasped from behind me, and I could tell we were all making the same connection at the same time.
"He's wearing an amulet just like it," Damas whispered, "A symbol of our lineage with the great House of Mar. Save the people, Jak. They need you." And with that, Damas closed his eyes for the last time and entered a permanent sleep.
No, I thought, No, NO! "Damas!" I cried, shaking his shoulder, "Damas!"
"No…" Paige sobbed from behind me. She and Lena moved to crouch down next to me, and Paige wrapped her arms around me while Lena patted my hand. Dax crawled up on my shoulder.
It was then that I found myself uttering the connection between me and Damas. Something I had suspected, but didn't think could be true. Until that very moment.
"Father," I whispered, clutching the amulet in my hand and feeling tears prick my eyes. The father I had never known. And would never know.
"Jak," Dax whispered in a solemn voice I had never heard from him before, "I'm so sorry." Paige hugged me even tighter as she began to cry as well. I just hugged her back as Dax patted my shoulder and Lena sighed sadly.
"If you need anything, just let us know," Paige whispered, "I'm so sorry, too, Jak."
"Yeah, we've got your back," Lena assured me.
Had Damas suspected I was his son, too? Was that what he meant when he had said that to Paige? I glanced up for a minute as I watched Lena shrug off her jacket and place it over Damas' body. I just took her and Paige's hands in mine and squeezed them while Dax kept murmuring that it would be okay.
"Yes," a familiar voice spoke up, breaking the silence, and we all glanced up as Count Veger emerged through the dust.
"You were that child," he explained, "I took you from Damas, hoping to harness your eco powers for my experiments. Then, I lost you to the Underground. Lena remembers that all too well. Don't you, Lena?" Suddenly, my sadness over Damas turned to rage. A rage I hadn't felt in a long time. Veger seemed to have a penchant for kidnapping people, didn't he?
"You son of a bitch," Lena growled at the Count, "How could I forget catching you in the middle of hurting him with those experiments? I didn't know who he was, but I knew you were doing wrong by that child." She spit at him, and he just smirked, facing me as I glared at him and felt Dark Eco crackle from my skin. Next to me, both Dax and Paige shook with the same anger.
"You seem upset," Veger taunted, "Did I tell you too late? You were the son of the great warrior, Damas. Oh, and he never knew. How delightful."
That was it. Now he was asking for it! "AHHHH!" I roared, jumping up from the ground and transforming, "VEGER!"
"Show some respect, you asshole!" Paige also snapped, leaping up as well.
Veger only continued to smile in that infuriating manner. "Thank you for opening the door to the Precursors," he thanked us, "Don't worry. I'll be back to put you all out of your misery." With that, he made a move to jump in one of the rail cars.
"Get back here, you bastard!" Paige thundered, running after him and jumping into the car with him as he took off.
"After him, Jak!" Dax also shouted as he, Lena, and I watched them go.
"You're willing to go down there?" I asked him in surprise, "Without a fuss this time?"
"Yeah, well, don't get used to it!" Dax snapped, "It's just that nobody hurts my best friend and lives to brag about it! Let's get him!"
"Go get him, boys!" Lena cheered fiercely as the two of us took the other car and chased after Veger and Paige.
"You…are…a…disgusting…human…being!" I fumed as I tried to knock Veger out of the car and onto the rails below us.
"Really?" Veger sneered, "I could say the same about you." I felt him grab me by my crop jacket collar as he tried to throw me out of the car, too, but I wouldn't be deterred.
"Taking pleasure in watching someone's father die is terrible and you know it! And I'm here to kill you for it! AHHHH!" I screamed and scratched Veger on the arm, making him lose control of the vehicle.
"And what you did during the war last year was saintly?" Veger replied, regaining control over the car, "What about the fact that you handled Dark Eco for that failure of a weapons program? You allowed it all to happen! You, Paige Smith, created a monster!"
"Don't throw the past at me, Veger!" I growled, "This isn't about me! It's about Jak, who is not a monster, and what you did to him!" I raised my hands up to the Count's neck and began to choke him. He overpowered me once again, getting me to let go of him.
Suddenly, we slowly cruised through the darkness and into the catacombs, where Veger quickly leaped out to avoid my Peacemaker. I caught up to him as he approached the massive Precursor technology all around us.
"Beautiful," he whispered, "This…is…magnificent." I, too, had to admit that seeing this in person was really something. It was real. It was all real.
"This was worth watching Damas die over?" I asked, bitterness creeping into my voice, "This is why you made our lives miserable? So you could selfishly give yourself more power?"
"All for a greater cause, Paige," the Count answered smoothly, "And I'm glad you jumped in that car after me." He reached for an Eco Pistol that had been strapped to his leg and pointed it at me, jamming it into the side of my head.
"Use your knowledge about the Precursors and open the Oracle for me," he ordered in a low voice, keeping his finger on the trigger. It was one thing for me to point a gun at someone else, but when it was the other way around…I didn't know what to make of it.
"Did you hear me?" Veger asked impatiently, "Open the Oracle." The Precursor Oracle remained shut. Would Veger just shoot me if nothing happened in another minute or so?
"Open it!" he commanded angrily, but I didn't flinch. I just stayed where I was as I fixed my gaze on the Oracle, not moving.
And then, something finally began to dawn on Count Veger.
Lowering the Eco Pistol for a minute, he widened his eyes as he considered me. "You don't have any knowledge about the Precursors," he realized, "Do you?"
Finally, he got it, I thought viciously to myself. I still didn't speak, but I was sure the way I wasn't answering did all the talking.
Growling in frustration, Veger spun me around to face him, and with a startling violence I had never seen before, he raised his hand and slapped me square across the face. "You lied to me!" he yelled, "You led me on this whole time!"
"I never lied," I hissed in an equally angry tone, "You just didn't want to believe me, since you were so paranoid. Hit me again, Veger. Go on. I dare you to lay a hand on me again."
"The Precursors do not reward liars, Paige," Veger chided, "And now, you will pay for committing this heinous crime." He pointed his pistol at me again, and I was getting ready to reach for the Peacemaker as we suddenly heard the sound of another car.
"Get behind here!" Veger ordered, grabbing me and hiding behind a pillar, "And don't say a word." He pressed the pistol deep into my back. We watched as Jak and Daxter stepped out of their car and stood in front of the same Oracle. I glanced at Veger, who raised his fingers to his lips to tell me to be quiet.
"Greetings, great warrior," it greeted, "Before it is too late, you must power up the planet's defense system." Jak approached the slot and placed the Eco sphere into it, and I was dying to alert him of our presence.
"The Eco sphere has begun its energy conversion. It will take some time for the weapon to fully charge." As the machine charged, a glowing, white Precursor emerged in front of them. Wow, I thought with wide eyes.
"You have proven your worth, warrior," it commented, "We grant you the gift of evolution…the honor of becoming one of us." A shaft of light appeared in front of them, and Jak closed his eyes as he prepared himself to accept the honor.
Suddenly, Veger moved the pistol away from me and emerged from hiding. "No, don't!" I cried, trying to grab him, but he ignored me.
"Step aside!" Count Veger commanded, pulling out his Eco pistol and approaching the demolition duo, "I will be the one who evolves into a Precursor! The right is mine!"
"Jak! Dax!" I cried, pushing past Veger and running over to them.
"You okay?" Jak asked quietly, "What happened there?" He pointed to the red mark on my cheek where Veger had slapped me.
"He finally realized I was telling the truth," I whispered.
"Be careful what you wish for," the Precursor Oracle warned, and suddenly, the same shaft of white light surrounded Veger and slowly lifted him into the air. The three of us watched in awe as he underwent the transformation into a Precursor. Once the process was complete, Veger returned to the ground and sighed.
"It is done," he announced, smiling at us, "Don't worry, Jak. It is for the greater good that I assume this role." He proceeded to try to shoot us when the Precursor Oracle interrupted again.
"Even now, it may be too late," the Oracle cautioned, "If Erol awakens the dark ship's cargo, all will be lost."
"Listen, glow boy!" Daxter snapped, "We've been doing all your dirty work while you slept in the stars, so stuff it!"
"Inefficient!" the Oracle spat, "I told you we needed a backup hero. We should have gone with Plan B." We all suddenly glanced at each other in confusion as to where the conversation was turning.
"Ow! Hey! Cut it out!" the Precursor cried, moving back and forth violently, confusing us even more. The Precursor suddenly disappeared and a white light blinded all of us. I had to shield my eyes as it sounded like a door was opening.
"What's going on?" I asked the others.
"We are unhappy with your performance," the Oracle said, "If you had been a true hero, you would have stopped Erol by now!"
But the four of us were not listening to it; instead, we were staring at what was behind the door with looks of pure shock on our faces. Three ottsels were sitting inside the contraption and one of them was speaking into a microphone. The ottsels seemed to realize what had happened as well, because they suddenly turned around and widened their eyes in horror.
Veger's mouth hung open and he dropped his staff as Jak petitioned, "Oh…my…God!"
"Am I seeing things?" Dax asked, grabbing onto Jak's shoulder, "Please tell me I'm not dreaming this!"
"Th-th-th-they're ottsels?" I gasped, "I got punished by a bunch of ottsels?" I knew it was rude of me to ask that, but I was in shock. I actually had to blink my eyes to make sure I wasn't imagining things. Nope. I definitely wasn't.
"Yes…well…umm…now we are even more angry," the Ottsel Leader stammered, trying to rectify the situation, "And…ahh…we order you to avert your eyes or we will…umm…oh bother!" He threw away the microphone and sighed. Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain, I couldn't help but think to myself.
"They look like…me?" Daxter asked, staring up at the ottsels.
"Not what you expected?" the Ottsel Leader asked knowingly.
"Yeah, we, like, get that a lot!" another Precursor that sounded like a surfer added. Jak face-palmed himself.
"Can you believe it?" I whispered to him.
"Don't look so upset," the Ottsel Leader continued, "If you knew we Precursors were a bunch of little fuzzy rats, would you worship us? Could we run the universe?"
"Not possible, buddy!" the Ottsel Surfer chimed in.
"So we…fluff up the myth…a bit."
"Then we get the respect we deserve!" the third Precursor, the Ottsel Dummy, explained.
"A bit?" I echoed skeptically, "I'd say you blew this one up a lot!"
"You idiots!" Veger suddenly snapped, pointing his pistol at the Precursors now, "Get down from there and stop defiling that glorious machine!"
Bad move, Veger, I thought to myself. The Ottsel Leader blasted Veger and encased him in a red bubble. I smirked to myself as he tried to get out of his prison.
"Do not let our size fool you," he warned, "We are the most powerful beings in the universe."
"We are?" the Ottsel Dummy asked, but the others quickly shushed him. Hmm, I thought.
"Why does Daxter look like…?" Jak started, but the Precursors answered over him.
"Ahh, yes. All eco contains the source of our essence. Our code, so to speak. When Daxter touched the dark eco, he was actually blessed when he thought he was cursed."
Daxter grinned and cheered, "Wahoo! I'm a Precursor!" He started dancing in his place, and despite everything that had happened, I chuckled into my hand.
"I'm a Precursor, I'm a Precursor!" he singsonged, "Hey, wait a minute! They have pants!"
"These creatures are the great Precursors?" Veger shrieked from his bubble, "And I wanted to evolve into…NO! AHHHH!" A red light surrounded him, and he soon transformed into an ottsel. He looked down at his new tail and sighed.
"A little drafty, isn't it?" Daxter asked him as the Count glowered at him.
"I think the new look suits you, Veger," I teased, and Veger bared his teeth at me as I smiled. As an ottsel, he was no longer a threat to any of us. We smirked before turning serious again as we faced the Precursors.
"The only way to ensure that Erol will not awaken the ship's cargo is to go there yourself and stop him," the Ottsel Leader explained, "We will send you there from here."
"But the weapon," Jak started.
"Chill out, buddy," the Ottsel Surfer replied, "You and your friends should have mondo minutes to go there and get back here pronto. Way before…"
"Hopefully before…"
"Baboom! Oh, yeah!" the Ottsel Dummy replied.
"Let's move!" Jak cried, and turned to go when the Ottsel Leader said one last thing.
"Oh, and Paige," he began. I faced him, somehow knowing that I wouldn't get off scot-free.
"Yes, we are the ones who punished you for defiling our Oracle," he confirmed.
I bowed my head in shame. "I'm sorry," I apologized, "I shouldn't have mocked you like that. Either then or now."
"There is nothing to be sorry for," the Ottsel Leader assured me, "You've already taken your punishment and completed it. Now, there is no time to lose. You must get to the ship."
Nodding, Jak, Daxter and I jumped through the gate behind us, tumbling through a vortex of light until we arrived in another area entirely.
Everything was gray, and Dark Makers populated the room. "This must be the Dark Maker Ship," I whispered to Daxter.
"Yeah," Jak confirmed, "I remember this from…from Haven Forest. The Astro-Viewer."
"Can you believe the Precursors?" Dax cried as Jak and I took out our weapons and defeated all the Dark Makers in the room, opening the door in the corner.
"Not at all," I answered, "So I guess the Precursor Stone was a myth? Or some sort of hologram?"
"It could be any of those," Jak sighed. Dax and I just glanced at each other.
"So…you okay, buddy?" Dax asked cautiously.
Jak glanced up again as we began to slide down another path into the next room. "Honestly," he began, "I don't know how to feel."
"Do you want to talk about it?" I added, "We're here for you."
Jak shook his head. "Not right now," he insisted, "We have to stop Erol."
"But Jak," Dax piped up, but Jak interrupted him.
"Not now, Dax," he growled. He pushed past us and continued on his way while we tagged along behind him.
"He'll come around," Dax whispered to me, and I nodded. It was better for Jak to handle his emotions the way he wanted to. I couldn't believe what had happened either, though. Damas was Jak's father, Veger had kidnapped Jak as a child, Lena had caught the Count in the middle of his experiments, and Jak was not just some random renegade, but the legendary Mar. It was so much to take in at once. How was Jak Mar? I guessed we would find out in due time.
We remained silent as we continued to infiltrate the Dark Maker Ship, opening passageways by killing more Dark Makers. At one point, we encountered some large gaps not unlike the ones in the Stadium ruins, and just like before, Jak transformed into Light Jak, grabbed me by the waist, and proceeded to take us across the abyss. We had to stop at a few platforms in the middle before gliding once again.
Once we were finished with that, Jak refilled on his Light Eco and returned to his usual self as we fought to open one more door. I wondered if the weapon was finished charging yet.
"Whoa!" Daxter suddenly gasped once we arrived in a room with a bunch of Dark Makers. They were huge, and after reading the Precursor lettering on the side of one of them, I saw they were Terraformers.
"Erol's really gone insane, hasn't he?" I whispered.
"There he is!" Jak cried, pointing at Erol in the distance, "Let's go!" With that, we nearly fell all over each other as we tried to run to stop him.
"If these nasty things ever wake up, the planet's finished!" Dax gasped.
"Let's hope that doesn't happen," I panted as we rounded the corner and caught Erol staring at one of them.
"All these Dark Makers at my command," he was saying to himself, "Just think what I could do!" How about not? I thought.
"You're through, Erol!" Jak shouted, drawing the cyborg's attention to us, "Even if we all die!"
"Not you!" Erol hissed, glancing at all three of us, "Not now!"
"AHHHH!" Jak screamed as he charged towards the redhead.
"NO!" Erol roared, pushing Jak towards the ledge and falling off as well.
"Damn it!" I cursed as Dax and I rushed over to the edge of the ledge, where Jak was still tumbling and Erol was turning on a jet pack on his back.
"Jak?" Daxter asked, "Jak!"
"No, no, no!" I stammered, "Jak!"
"Can you see him?" the ottsel questioned worriedly.
"No," I choked.
Boom! "What was that?" I asked.
"Look, toots!" Dax yelled, "Over there!"
Suddenly, a beam pierced right through the hull of the Dark Maker Ship. The weapon from the catacombs! I thought. "We've got to go!" I shouted, grabbing Daxter, "Now!"
"I'm not leaving without Jak!" Daxter cried.
"Don't worry!" I assured him, "We'll think of something!" Dax looked like he was about to cry, and it broke my heart.
Picking ourselves up, we began running towards the exit just as Erol flew back up to our level and climbed into one of the Terraformers. "Damn it!" I echoed from before, "He took one of those Terraformers!"
We continued to run as Erol made his escape, but the wind blowing on us was making it difficult to move. Suddenly, we both heard the sound of flapping wings, and turning around, we watched as Light Jak made his way back up to our level. "Jak!" we both cried happily. Thank the Precursors he was okay.
He quickly changed back as he caught up to us. "Let's go, guys!" he shouted, and without wasting another minute, we fought the wind, dust, and disintegrating platforms as we dashed towards the warp gate up ahead.
"Watch your step!" Jak warned as I nearly fell with one of the blocks that crumbled under my feet.
"AHH!" I screamed as I grabbed onto his shoulders to steady myself. Once that was over, we continued on our way.
"Almost there!" Daxter announced just as we hopped across one last unstable block and made it to solid ground.
"No time to celebrate!" Jak exclaimed, "Jump!" One by one, we jumped through the warp gate just as the Dark Maker Ship began to explode.
Another vortex of light blinded me, and I tried shielding my eyes, even though it didn't do any good.
After another minute of feeling like I was falling, I finally felt myself face plant into a pile of sand. Sand! I thought, The Wasteland! Spargus!
"Jak! Daxter!" I cried, noticing my friends also lying in the sand next to me. They groaned as they moved to sit up as well, and as soon as Dax was standing up, he began to do a victory dance.
"We did it!" he cheered, "Wahoo!"
Zoom! Suddenly, we gaze up at the sky as a ball of fire crashed in the distance. "Not yet," Jak mumbled.
Where the fire had crashed, the Terraformer stood up, and we could just catch a glimpse of Erol in the main seat. "You will all die at my hand!" he declared as he turned the machine around and began marching it through the Wasteland.
"This guy just won't quit!" Dax gasped, his mouth hanging open in shock.
"It's headed for the city!" Jak mused, "We've got to defend it…for Damas." He looked sad again, and I patted his shoulder.
"The last charge of the dark and light brigade!" Dax declared, "Let's do it, partner!"
"To the end," Jak replied, raising his scarf and climbing into the Sand Shark next to us.
"Are you coming, Paige?" the renegade asked.
I glanced from him to the Terraformer and back to him as I made my decision.
"Let's go get this bastard," I decided, climbing into the passenger seat of the Sand Shark as Jak put the pedal to the floor and sped off into the desert.