Chapter 26:
The exact moment that the guy dropped us off near the gun, Sasha payed him 25 Precursor Orbs and then exchanged numbers with the guy. "I expect you to return here whenever we finish defeating the Metal Head Leader. I'll call you when we've killed him and gained the best trophy of all time," Sasha said, him nodding at that as he counted the Precursor Orbs and smiled at how he had all 25 of them.
"You better believe it, lass! These are the real deal and I always keep my word," the guy said as we then got out of the air train and immediately got jumped by some very fast jumping Metal Heads and some flying spider Metal Heads that were as big as a Hellcat.
"Dammit! Not just the Metal Spiders, but Metal Mantises, too?! I HATE these slippery assholes!" Sasha exclaimed angrily as she then started to do a special attack that made me surprised. She attacked the Metal Mantises with a jumping spin attack like I used, but hers made it so that she shot in all directions while also shooting a stream of bullets at the Metal Spider, killing them all soon after doing the same attack twice more, clearing the way to the gun easily.
"You know you wasted, like, ten bullets, right?" I asked her, Sasha frowning at that.
"Just a few of them. Besides, that's the only surefire way to defeat Metal Mantises in large numbers. They're experts in combat and evasion. No doubt that they're what makes up the most of the defenses here at the nest," Sasha frowned as we then got to the gigantic gun and we then got a call on my communicator.
"There isn't much time left, guys. With the shield walls down, it's only a matter of time until the Metal Heads completely overwhelm us. Jak, you should just go through the Rift Ring to your own time and get the hell out of this horrible place," Ashelin said, Daxter saying it for us.
"Like hell we're doing that! We're gonna take out the leader! If we do that, then the armies will go out of whack shortly after!" Daxter exclaimed, me smirking at that.
"How did you know that, Dax?" Sasha asked him as I put the Precursor Stone into the power source for the gun and it slowly started to rev up.
"Because that's how it was when I defeated the Metal Bug Leader. His name was Kaeden and boy was he tough! He's the last of the Metal Bugs I fought before I got to you and Jak in the prison," Daxter said with a smile, me smirking at that.
"Don't worry, Ashelin. Once Kor is killed, we'll be able to defeat the other Metal Heads easily! Just spread out around the city to save as many innocent civilians as you can, got it?" I said to her.
"Got it. Be safe and be careful. We'll hold out as best we can. Farewell," Ashelin said as the gun then finally started to charge up a shot.
"Precursor Stone... gun... nest!" I smiled widely.
"Light 'em up, hon!" Sasha smirked widely.
"HAHAHA! EAT THIS!" I laughed like a madman as the gun then sent a gigantic blast at the nest, leaving a gigantic hole for us to get into, though it was on a higher alcove that we'd need to fight our way through via an alternate path.
"This is gonna be great! Come on, you two, let's go finish off that overgrown bastard!" Sasha smirked, me nodding at that as we proceeded down the path and ended up defeating numerous more Metal Mantises and Metal Spiders... but then we came across something big. And I do mean BIG!
"Oh my god... that's a Metal Mammoth! Those things are nearly indestructible!... Emphasis on nearly. Watch this," Sasha smiled widely as she rushed to the giant Metal Head's thick hide and then slashed at its head numerous times with her claws, managing to actually decapitate it as its head fell to the ground with a powerful thud!
"This is my trophy! There are many like it but this one is mine!" Sasha smirked widely, obviously boasting.
"Wait until we kill Metal Kor and then whoever gets his trophy can boast," I said, Sasha sticking her tongue out at me as we continued the onslaught through the wastes until we finally entered the nest, us seeing Metal Kor hanging over the egg room and him actually having the prince held in a stasis bubble.
"Ah, I see you've finally decided to join us. And you brought the Precursor Stone! Now the boy will finally be able to play his final part," Kor said angrily as Sasha growled at him angrily.
"If you do anything to that child, it will be the last thing you ever do!" Sasha exclaimed angrily.
"Oh, but this kid is such a big part of all of this. Such a part of your boyfriend. Don't you recognize him? THE KID IS YOU, JAK!" Metal Kor exclaimed, us gasping at that as Kor then smirked widely. "And this is where you began. In the future!"
"How the hell is that possible?!" I asked in shock.
"The boy was sent to the past with the hopes that you would gain the skills to face me today. But Onin was wrong! Now that you've been infected with Dark Eco, the stone would never open for you, Jak! But your child self still has the pure gift. And soon, I will feast on the Precursor Stone and the Precursor entity that lays within!" Kor said, me gasping at that.
"This stone is a Precursor?" I asked.
"The last Precursor Egg! Mar was clever. He hid his tracks well through time, hiding his last egg from me. He built this city and the shield wall systems to defend it. And now I will finally feast on the last remains of the Precursors!" Metal Kor exclaimed as Daxter then pulled out his gun and smiled.
"Oh is that right?! Eat this instead!" Daxter exclaimed as he then sent his lasers at the giant Kor, him actually managing to slice of the giant Kor's numerous different tethers that he used to hang in the air! And while Kor was shocked by this and tried to get up, Daxter then sent a blast directly across Kor's head from side-to-side! And the result? HE WAS BEHEADED! I gawked at this, since Daxter had just killed the Metal Head Leader all on his own!
"You just became a true hero, Dax! Great job, partner!" I smiled at him, Daxter smirking at that as we then hopped down to the ground and I saw the kid version of me wake up from his comatose state. I then gave him the stone and, out of it came a Precursor!
"Oh my! A Precursor!" Sasha gasped as she then knelt to it out of respect.
"It is finished. Our ancient foe is no more. Take heed, great heroes, for the darkness within you is now balanced by a glorious light. Now I must return to times past... we will meet again, heroes... farewell," the Precursor said as he then went into the Rift Ring and I saw that it was starting to collapse, just in time for Keira and the others to arrive in the Lurker balloon and Keira looked at the giant decapitated Metal Kor in awe.
"Okay, we don't have much time. I've set the coordinates for us to go back home. Come on, Jak," Keira said before I smiled at her.
"But we are home," I smiled, Keira looking at me in confusion.
"You see, Keira, we must send the kid Jak here to the past so that he can gain the skills and experience to become the hero he is today," Samos said.
"Wait a minute... it's you... er, me! I have to go back and take care of him, don't I?" the Shadow asked, me smirking and nodding at that. "Aw, grass grubs! Talk about being in the wrong time at the right place!" he said as he then went into the Rift Rider and I looked at the kid with a smile.
"Take care, kid. Oh, and trust me on this one. Stay away from ANY Wumpbee nests on your 9th birthday, got it?" I smiled at him, the kid nodding as he then gave me the amulet, me smirking at it as I wore it around my neck with a smile.
"I sure hope I managed to get all the details right," Keira frowned.
"Don't worry, Keira. This is the very machine that we found... or will find later," Samos smiled.
"But I just built this off of memory! It's based on what I remember from-" Keira was about to say before Sasha shushed her.
"Hon, the more you think about it, the more it won't make any semblance of sense. It's best to just accept it and be done with it," she smiled as the Shadow then activated the Rift Rider and went through the portal.
"I'll take care of the child! And don't worry! I'll be back in time for the celebration!" he said before he disappeared into the rift and I smiled at the old log.
"Thanks, Samos," I smiled at him as he then frowned at the ring.
"It's funny... the boy won't remember any of this," Samos frowned.
"No... I do remember the light," I smirked as I remembered... the light of the Precursor. That's what I was able to remember. I had a feeling I'd remember more along the way.
"Do you realize what this means, Jak?" Sasha asked, me looking at her in confusion. "This means that you are the true heir to Haven City! You were the prince!" Sasha said, me looking at her with a smile. She was technically right, but I didn't really feel like a prince.
"I think I'd rather have you and Ashelin have the lead of the city instead, to be quite honest. I'm not cut out for that line of work," I said, Sasha smirking at me and kissing me on the lips.
"Let's get going back home, hon," she smiled at me as we then proceeded back to the Air Train and she called the guy up, him arriving while the Lurker Balloon went back with Keira, Samos, and Daxter riding on it. He did want to ride in the balloon, after all. And the moment we got back to Haven, we saw that all of our friends were getting the Metal Head armies under control. A ton of Metal Heads were littering the streets, all of them dead, and even some of the townies were helping in killing the stragglers and cleaning up the mess of Metal Head body parts.
"Mommy! Daddy!" I heard Kiki exclaim as she rushed over to us and I saw that she had actually grew a bit again, this time to look like a 16 year old. Her chest had gotten a bit bigger and her hair had gotten a bit longer, though it was now half black and half blonde. "I grew some more after eating some of the Metal Heads' bodies. Apparently their blood is just like Dark Eco," she smiled, Sasha smirking at her happily.
"You did a good job, Kiki, hon. And look at the prizes we got," Sasha smirked as she showed off the heads of the Metal Mammoth and Metal Kor, Kiki smiling widely at them.
"Those are big heads! Who are they?" Kiki asked.
"This is a Metal Mammoth, a very durable Metal Head that attacks with electricity. And this? This is Daxter's trophy, the head of Metal Kor," Sasha smirked, Kiki giggling at that.
"Where is he, anyways? A bunch of the others were saying that, according to the altered contract that Keira had from Krew, Daxter gets to inherit the Hip Hog Heaven Saloon after Krew died, which he is dead, right?" Kiki asked, me smiling widely at that and deciding to contact Keira.
"Hey, Keira? Can you put Daxter on the line? I got big news for him," I smiled widely.
After nearly three days of cleaning up the city free of Metal Head bodies, it was decided by Ashelin, the new governess of Haven City, that all of the members of the Underground would be freed of any previous charges brought against them and that everyone would be able to get food, drink, and a place to live so long as they had a job. Everyone was super happy about that and it finally allowed for the slums to actually have some kind of leg to stand on as opposed to before where they lived in depression. Brutter was made the captain of the airships and Haven's naval force, which I found to be a bit surprising until Daxter mentioned that Brutter was the one flying the balloon all by himself.
Meanwhile, Daxter had turned the Hip Hog Heaven Saloon into a new bar that he called the Naughty Ottsel, complete with the sign outside now having the image of Daxter with a pitchfork and devil horns, which looked pretty badass all things considered. And today was his grand opening and all of us were there, minus a few like Sig, Torn, and Ashelin. The latter two were busy with planning the rebuilding of the city while the former was killed in the Underport by a gigantic Metalpede.
"Welcome to the Naughty Ottsel! The hippest, hottest, hoppinist joint in town! And check out the new decor!" Daxter smiled at Tess as he showed off the head of Metal Kor hung over the bar and him looking pretty cool as a trophy.
"Whoa! Look at the size of it!" Tess smiled at it.
"As if size matters? I bagged that bad boy myself, baby!" Daxter gloated.
"Onin says, she doesn't know who has a bigger head. Him or you!" Pecker smirked, us all having a good laugh at that as I then noticed that Minnie and Sammie were talking with Keira and Sasha looked to be watching them with Kiki.
"Um... listen, Keira... me and my sis have been thinking... well... okay, how do I say this without embarrassing all three of us? We like you... romantically," Sammie said, Keira gasping at that and blushing, me being the only one who overheard along with Sasha, who then went to Keira's ear and poked her, sending a chill down her spine.
"I think you should go for it, Keira. Besides, double the heads means double the kisses," Sasha smirked, Keira giving her a glare and me chuckling at that as Keira then breathed in and out before then walking up to the two-headed sisters and kissing both of them on the lips for 3 seconds each, the duo gasping at that and them then combining their faces to kiss Keira at the same time on the face, me smiling at that.
"I accept," Keira said with a giggle afterwards as Sasha then went to me and stroked my shoulder with her finger.
"You know, Jak... now that the city's safe, how about you and I get some private time together? Just you and me?" Sasha asked with a flirtatious smirk and I smiled at her.
"I'd like that, Nelly," I smiled at her as she then went in to kiss me while Daxter exclaimed something at Onin, her kissing me regardless and me smiling at that.
"Hey! You're havin' too much, old girl. I'm cuttin' ya off!" Dax said to Onin, who zapped him away with a blast of magic shortly after.
"Trust me, she gets really mean when she's like this," Pecker said as Onin then started to sign again and Daxter frowned.
"What'd she say?"
"Something about rubber tubing and certain parts of your mother! You don't wanna know," Pecker groaned, me smirking at that as the door then opened and we saw something appear from it. It was the face of the Metalpede that attacked me and Sig in the Underport! And the one holding onto it?
"SIG! You're okay!" I smiled at him, Sig smirking widely at me.
"What? You didn't think some nasty-breath oversize lizard was gonna keep me from the biggest party in town, did ya?" Sig smiled widely, Daxter smirking at him as well.
"I knew you were too tough for 'em, big guy!" Daxter smiled widely at him as we then went outside and I spoke to Sasha as we watched the fireworks start to go off in the distance.
"So... you wanna tell me what your big plans are now, prince?" Sasha asked, me smirking at her calling me that. She refused to stop calling me that from time to time, even though it felt very odd to be called a prince.
"Well, I'm thinking we should help the city rebuild, maybe find some kind of way to have Eco again for the city, but not for a shield wall," I said, Sasha smiling at that.
"Another option... we could get married, you know?" Sasha smirked, me smirking at her offer.
"Maybe. But do you have a dress to wear for the occasion?" I asked, her smirking at that.
"I can always find one. Besides, Tess is very good at making clothes," Sasha smiled at me as we then nuzzled our cheeks together and I had to wonder... what would the future hold for us, especially after I found out that this was actually my original home? Would I be able to see my father or mother? I then had to cut the nuzzling short when Errol came out of the bar next, having upgraded his floating chair so that it could help him learn how to walk again, since he did get some health from Samos after he helped us out those couple of times.
"Hello, Errol," Sasha said, me and her still feeling animosity towards him.
"Listen, I know you still don't like me, and quite frankly, I don't care. I still have a lifelong debt to repay you and I intend to do so from here on out. Just as me for help whenever you need it, and I'll be there," Errol said, me frowning at that and eyeing him face-to-face.
"One thing you can do is apologize to both myself and Sasha. Me especially, since I was arrested by you for literally no reason," I said, Errol sighing at that and frowning.
"I don't even know if I can even remotely make up for that kind of pain I made you two suffer... I feel that a simple sorry would just be denied," Errol said, him averting his gaze at us while doing so.
"If you had to endure that kind of pain for that long, you'd be just like we are, Errol. But if you really are serious about this life debt thing, then you really have to fucking commit. Because if we're going to work together for anything, you're going to need to prove that you can change," Sasha said.
"What do I do first?" Errol asked.
"For now, you can go and continue the celebrations with the others. Get to know the people who helped save the city from the Metal Heads. And starting tomorrow, you help to make this place be the best it's ever been. Be nice to the citizens, help out with others' problems, help rebuild the parts of the city that were damaged by the Metal Heads. Do the things that the KG would never have done under Baron Praxis's rule," Sasha listed, Errol nodding at that.
"Very well..." Errol frowned as he then gave me something. It was the Ruby Key that I got from Krew. "You'll need that if you want to close up the shield walls again," Errol said, me smirking at that.
"Thanks, but we'd rather leave them down for now. Besides, the Metal Heads only attacked this city because of Kor. They won't bother us again in that big an army ever again," I smirked, learning that much from Sasha.