Chapter 29
Each of us others in the group had to complete our arena fights after Jak and Daxter and it was a breeze for all of us. After this, I proceeded to go to an area that looked out towards the ocean and noticed Jak and Daxter were going towards a group of monks that were next to a very dangerous artifact. I went towards them and decided to ask a question.
"What's going on over here?" I asked, one of the monks speaking soon after.
"It is none of your concern, darkened ones," the guy said, me frowning at that.
"Listen, it's not like either of us wanted to get Dark Eco painfully injected into our bloodstream after being arrested for little to no reason at all," I frowned at her in an annoyed manner, the person looking at me and Jak with a frown afterwards.
"You say that you did not ask to be touched by darkness?" the monk asked, me nodding at that.
"We were forcibly injected with the stuff back in Haven City. The pain was like getting a bunch of painful needles pierced into your skin while giving birth in a pool of toxic acid. And no, I am not exaggerating," I frowned, the monk sighing afterwards.
"Regardless, it is able to be seen by my eyes... the darkness destroys all, just as these Precursors destroyed themselves," the monk said as he showed the strange artifact to us and Daxter spoke.
"Doesn't look like any Precursor crap we've seen!" he said.
"These artifacts are abominations. These Precursors demolished their own kind with darkness. One of these fell into the great volcano at the center of the desert, but my monk team that went to investigate never returned... I fear that the end of times is upon us," the monk said, me looking at him with a frown.
"Sorry, sir, but-" I said before they corrected me.
"I'm a female," the monk said, me immediately slapping my face afterwards.
"Miss... I feel I do not understand what's going on. How come this thing is Precursor technology despite it looking like some kind of Dark Eco atrocity?" I asked.
"Because of that," the monk said as she pointed to the sky and I saw something surprising. It was a very bright light that was purple in color. "That is the Day Star, and with it will come nothing but strife, destruction, and turmoil. This planet's final trial is coming..." the monk said as I then decided to poke the machine and I was shocked at how it actually came to life and produced some very odd looking mechanized thing to it. It looked like some kind of heart and I then started to see some bits of Dark Eco proceed towards the heart itself, me deciding to poke them with my fingers through some moving holes, which managed to kill the dark eco as it got absorbed by my fingers. I did this for at least 60 of the little dark eco spheres until the machine then produced some odd-looking crystal.
"I think you got it, mom," Kiki smiled as I saw she appeared as well. I went to reach for it, but the monk halted me.
"Don't touch it! Dark Eco!" she said, me simply ignoring her and grabbing it, Daxter smiling at that.
"Ah, you're impressed now, aren't ya? Go on, give her some props," Daxter smiled as I then put the crystal in my bag.
"Those are solid eco crystals, which contain vast energies," the monk said as I then looked at the strange machine and saw that it was speaking a very old dialect, the monk looking at it with intrigue. "Strange... it speaks some of the earliest Precursor language... it's saying something about reclaiming this unfinished world..." the monk said as I inspected it and gasped.
"Those coordinates... it's directed at Haven City!" I gawked.
"It is picking up a very powerful signal..." the monk said as I motioned everyone to get back. And sure enough, the thing came to life and actually tried to fly in the air, but Kiki quickly dispatched of it with a Red Eco bomb, which blue the machine to kingdom come, the monk looking at our group with a frown.
"I doubt even your group can save us from this, even if you claim to be heroes," the monk frowned.
"Hey, I'm the real hero here! You can call me Orange Lightning! Za-za-zing!" Daxter gloated.
"You may carry the color of our creators, animal, but I fear that your group may not be skilled enough to defeat the Day Star. You must be vigilant and careful. Beware of the darkness overtaking your mindsets. Especially concerning your unique Horaquan," the monk said with a frown, me smirking at how she knew the ancient term for Metal Head.
"Don't worry, miss... we'll be careful, so long as you promise to do the same," I said as I led our group away from them and Jak looked at me with a smile.
"So what do we do now?" Kiki asked as I then noticed that Errol was joining us shortly after.
"Well, this one guy called Kliever said he'd loan us one of his racing vehicles, so let's go check out the garages," Jak suggested, me nodding at that as we then did just that, seeing that Kliever was there already and I saw that he looked pretty repulsive. Very heavy, wearing a diaper and a loincloth, and smelling even worse than Krew somehow.
"I see ya buggers got a few friends with ya," the fat guy named Kliever said as I looked him in the eye.
"Yes, we're allies. We were all banished at the same time, very unfairly I might add," I frowned.
"And you said we could use one of these vehicles, right?" Jak asked.
"I did, didn't I?" Kliever smirked as I noticed that all of the cars looked very rad! They had spikes, machine guns, some even had grenade launchers! "I call dibs on this one!" I smirked as I got in one called the Desert Screamer before Kliever looked at me with animosity.
"Not one of those. Those are for the big boys," Kliever said, me frowning at him.
"Oh really? Buddy, you're talking to a girl who killed a Metal Mammoth with nothing but my bare hands. I'd say I'm classified as being 'big boys' material," I bragged at him, Kliever frowning at that.
"Heh, you say that, but do ya have the proof?" Kliever asked, me then grabbing the picture from my bra that was of me holding the Metal Mammoth head high in the air and showing off the claw marks I made on its neck. "Huh. I guess ya are big boys material! Right then, you can ride these vehicles anytime, same with yer little Metal Head friend. As fer you and the rat, you can have this one," Kliever said, him pointing to a very tiny and very fragile-looking car for Jak and Daxter, me smirking at that.
"Hah! What a runt!" Daxter exclaimed.
"Seems to fit you, eh?" Kliever asked, Errol then frowning at him.
"And what about me, palooka?" Errol asked angrily, since he was always in a mood.
"Ah, right. Yer the biggest in the big smoke, right? Well, how's about this. You can get a vehicle, but only after you can get your second amulet. Sound fair enough, yabber?" Kliever asked, Errol smirking at that offer and simply slapping his hand against Kliever's face, me gasping at that as I had a feeling Kliever would get into a nasty scrape with Errol, but Kliever simply laughed. "Wot? You think that's gonna affect me, pretty boy? I've been a Wastelander me whole life! My body's like a suit of armor, face included! A measly slap ain't gon' do shit," Kliever smirked as I then saw that Errol's hand did look a bit hurt from the blow. "Though I gotta admit, not many are able to actually have the gall to hit me with anythin'. Ya got some fight in ya, that's for sure. Ya can go 'ead an' use the big boy vehicles if ya want," Kliever said, Errol frowning before then smirking at the fatty and grabbing his own car, it being a very big one that had a gattling gun mounted up top and it being a very bulky vehicle altogether.
"An as for you two nippers, you can have that vehicle for as long as ya live. But we'll just see how long that lasts, haha!" Kliever chortled before he then left and Damas came through the door along with the Muse. But I knew who Damas really was. Jak's father.
"Hey, Lord Damas?" I asked, getting his attention.
"Yes? What is it?" he asked me.
"Just out of curiosity... what happened to the former queen?" I asked, Damas simply pointing at the Muse and me being confused.
"I... I don't really understand," I said before the Muse then smirked at me widely.
"Hehe, just watch this," the Muse smirked as she then simply changed her form and I was gobsmacked, as was Jak! Now she looked more like a human!... Only this time, she actually had smaller ears than the rest of us, she was in a scantily clad outfit, and she had hair that actually floated above her head like it was in a storm. "You're probably wondering how this is possible, so I'll tell you. Remember the sculptor, Jak?" the Muse asked, him nodding at that. "Well, he married me one day and I then was able to discover this form soon after. Turns out, I was actually an ancient genie that had been turned into a Muse by Gol and Maia when I first ran away to Misty Island long before we met the first time. And now, I can switch between the forms at any time I wish... and Damas here is my most recent husband," the Muse smiled, me looking at Jak and seeing that he was a bit taken aback. I would be too if I learned that my mother was actually a glowing squirrel/genie woman.
"You think you have good vehicle skills, per chance?" Damas asked our group, me smirking at that.
"Yep, I'd say so. Errol was the champ in the Haven City races for four consecutive years while I got to be the champ almost a year ago with Jak being my racing partner," Sasha smirked.
"And as for me, I'm good at driving, but I prefer flying better," Kiki smiled as she showed off her wings on her back.
"Indeed. Fresh storms churn up the sand and reveal artifacts that have been buried for millennia. If you get to them first, their your's to keep. But fair warning. If you get caught up in the storms, they will tear the flesh from your very bones. So if you see the sand begin to kick up violently around you, that's your cue to get back as fast as you can," Damas said, me nodding at that.
"Got it. Let's race to find the most artifacts, guys! The one who finds the least gets to do the laundry tonight!" I smirked as the doors then slid open and we then zoomed out, all of us rushing to get into the lead on the outside, hunting for artifacts all over the place.
It came as no surprise that Kiki got the most artifacts and that she actually managed to get some cool arm guards that she decided to give one of them to Jak and the other to herself. And the one in last place happened to be Jak and Dax, since their car was much slower compared our cars. But Jak did manage to get some armor for myself during the excursion, namely a piece of shoulder armor and a breastplate, which he gave the breastplate to me since it was for females.
"Alright, that was a successful run, but now you two gotta pay up," I smirked at Jak widely.
"Yeah, we're aware. Laundry tonight, right?" Jak smirked at me coyly.
"Yep. But don't worry, I've only sweated, like, all day today," I giggled, being truthful.
"Same here," Errol said with a frown, as per usual.
"Then that's all of us, huh?" Daxter asked.
"Except for me and you, since we don't wear clothes," Kiki said to Dax, him frowning.
"Yeah, don't remind me. I wish I had pants again," Daxter said with a groan.
"I can imagine. But from what I heard, I think that Tess said she'd be willing to make you a pair one day... at least, if we could get back to Haven City, but that's not happening anytime soon," I said with a frown.
"Yeah, don't remind me," Jak sighed. And I could see that he was still feeling a bit bitter at how the city, which we saved from both Praxis and Metal Kor, decided we were better off dead.
"Let's just go back and see what else we can do," I suggested, the others agreeing and proceeding into the city of Spargus once more.