Samos was peering at the Dark Eco infected plants through the telescope inside the Blue Sage's hut, a worried and annoyed expression on his face
"Hmm. Still infected." he grumbled. "Where are those buffoons?"
"Relax, dad. They have a lot on their plates at the moment." Keira reminded him. "There's more than just the infected plants in the Precursor Basin. There are those flying Lurkers that stole a Power Cell, along with those strange Eco Rings that appear."
"Yes yes. I am aware. I've read the Blue Sage's notes too, Keira." Samos said before he saw something weave through the infected plants, making them healthy again. "Well, it's about time."
-Precursor Basin-
Jak was driving through the infected plants on the A-Grav Zoomer, his body radiating Green Eco that was being used to heal them with each drive by. When it ran out, he'd drive through the Green Eco Vent to resupply, healing any wounds he and Daxter may have gotten.
"WHOO!" Daxter cheered as he let the Green Eco wash over him while Jak got the last few infected plants. "Hope that old loghead appreciates all this."
"I do appreciate what you've done, you little annoying furball." Samos said through the communicator floating near them. Daxter growled before a large flower appeared from where the Dark Eco infected plants once were, blooming and spitting out a Power Cell. "And it seems the plants appreciate your efforts as well, boys...Now get on with it! You have more to do!" Samos snapped before the communicator disconnected. Daxter grunted before looking at Jak and started acting like Samos whenever he yells at them, making dumb faces and causing Jak to chuckle as they drove through the Basin.
"We cured the infected plants, got the Lightning Moles back underground and beat the time record for that gambler." Daxter listed off before they spotted a flying lurker lazing about on the grass, a Power Cell next to it. "HEY! Didn't Keira say that some flying lurkers stole a Power Cell?" Daxter asked, earning a nod from Jak. "Then let's get it back!" Jak nodded before gunning the Zoomer, the sound alerting the lurker and causing it to grab the Power Cell before flying away.
The Lurker flew in every direction it could to avoid being hit by Jak as the young man doggedly pursued him to get the Power Cell back. The more this went on, the more tired the lurker got and the closer Jak was to smashing into him. "Almost there, Jak!" Daxter called out, the blades of the zoomer practically touching the lurker before it threw the Power Cell up into the air. "HA! He gave up! Free Power Cell, baby!" Daxter yelled with a grin as he held his arms out to catch the falling Power Cell. His grin fell when another flying lurker flew in out of nowhere and caught the Power Cell before joining the one Jak was chasing and two new flying lurkers. The four of them then started to pass the Power Cell to each other before flying off in different directions, with one of them smacking his butt to taunt them. "Why those rotten...urgh!" Daxter grunted in frustration as Jak began his pursuit once more. "I hope Zon's having a better time than we are."
-Lost Precursor City-
"WHO...EVER...DE...SIGNED...THIS...PLACE...SUCKS!" Zon yelled with each jump he made on the floating platforms, making them light up each time. When all of them were lit, a door opened up on the other side, a Power Cell contained within. He grunted as he jumped over and grabbed it before he sat down on the floor, letting himself rest for a bit.
When he had come here, he was initially elated to see the ancient Precursor city. He had always wanted to come out here when he first came to Rock Village with his father years ago, but his father and the Blue Sage had forbidden it, a fact drilled in when the Blue Sage released the pontoons one needed to jump across to even get to the entrance. Luckily, they were all back in the present, allowing him to finally get in.
Despite the fact that the place was crawling with lurkers, Zon was still amazed at the technology surrounding him. However, two things were starting to irk him. One was in the form of a question: Why did this whole place feel like one gigantic puzzle at times?
"Did the Precursors love puzzles or something?" Zon asked himself as he rested, thinking about all the floating platforms and such. "It all feels like it's some kind of...game." he said before he stared off into space, almost as if he was looking at someone. "Argh! This is giving me a headache! I still have to find that chamber and bring it to the surface!" He sighed before he looked at the device on his arm, which was the second thing that had irked him.
Around his arm was a gauntlet that was made of parts of Precursor metal and leather straps. On it were a few gauges and buttons, along with two small ports that looked like something could be plugged into them. On each tip of his fingers were little colored buttons. Blue for the forefinger, green for the middle, red for the ring finger and yellow for the pinky. On his bicep was various vials filled with various Eco, a thin tube leading from each vial to the corresponding type of Eco.
"This Eco gauntlet is nice, but it needs some tweaks." he said as he removed it from his arm and tinkered with it. "If I can find a better conductor, it'll be able to channel Eco much more efficiently. Also, I gotta get better straps." he muttered, his mind going back to the pipes from earlier. "Stupid thing sucked the gauntlet up with it along with the Power Cell when I grabbed it. Better not let the others know, or they'll never let me live it down." He fiddled with the gauntlet a bit more before he closed a casing and reattached it to his right arm. "Okay, time for more exploring." he said before he jumped back over the platforms, ran across the platform hovering over the pool of Dark Eco, and towards the opposite direction. "Wait for the water to stop being electrified..." he muttered as he watched the green water before it went back to blue, then quickly swam to the other side before electricity turned back on. When he got to the other side, he noticed two lurkers, with one sitting on the other's shoulders, were quickly approaching him.
"Alright, just as before." he grinned before flexing the ring finger on his right hand, activating the gauntlet and causing it to glow red. "EAT THIS!" he roared as he ran at the lurkers, his fist reared back to strike. With one Red Eco infused punch, both Lurkers were sent flying, leaving Zon alone after their defeat. "Yes!" he silently cheered before grumbling when he looked at the vial of Red Eco, the contents now less than half full. "Definitely need's work." he muttered before looking around the room. "A big button, a Power Cell on the ledge, and what looks to be a long slide that leads deeper into the city." he summarized. After quickly obtaining the Power Cell, and nearly falling in the water as a result, he stood before the long slide.
"Okay." he whispered before taking a deep breath and jumped. "WOOOOHOOOO!" he cheered as he slid down the long tube. "I TAKE IT BACK! WHOEVER MADE THIS PLACE IS AWESOME!" he yelled as he gathered more orbs, swerved past Dark Eco boxes and avoided smacking into electrified tesla coils before reaching the bottom. "Whoo! What a rush!" he exclaimed before calming down and looking around the room. "Let's see-WHOA!" he yelped when a spinning lurker spun his way. He growled before jumping over it and slamming down on it, defeating it before looking around again. A quick glance around showed that he was inside a large room, a chamber in the middle, a hole in the ceiling that was somehow not letting water in, more spinning lurkers, a Blue Eco vent and strange spheres held up in devices. A nod of his head and he was off. First, he got rid of the rest of the lurkers in the room. Then, he examined the spheres. "Hmm...maybe they react to Blue Eco?" he guessed before his gauntlet glowed blue. A second later, Blue Eco was channeling through his body. The sphere then reacted and floated above it's stand, Blue Eco sparking all around it. "Alright!" he exclaimed before he stopped at the vent and placed his right arm into the stream of Blue Eco, channeling it through his body and allowing it to be absorbed through a slot to fill up the Blue Eco vial on the gauntlet. "Full charge! Here we go!" He then ran around the room, passing the spheres and activating them in the process. When the last one was activated, the door on the chamber in the middle of the room opened up. "I wonder if this is the chamber Keira told me about." Zon said to himself as he entered the chamber and jumped onto the large switch on the floor, making the door shut and causing the whole chamber to rise. "Whoa! Going up, I guess!" he said as the chamber rose up and surfaced near a cliff, the door opening and allowing him an exit.
"Zon, the chamber rose up! Was that your doing?" Keira asked over the communicator.
"Guilty." Zon admitted with a grin. "Can you see me with the telescope?"
"Not only can I see you, I can see a Power Cell on top of the chamber. Climb up and grab it." said Keira.
"Right." Zon nodded before he jumped into the, thankfully, shallow water before ascending the cliff and jumping onto the top of the chamber, allowing him to grab the Power Cell. "And that's another one. Alright, I'm gonna head on back down. There's still a little more to explore."
"Oh? Is that all that's left to do?" came Samos's voice. "Are you sure it's not to try and take anything that isn't nailed down? Hehehe...wipe that grin off your face and get back to it!" Samos ordered. Zon gave a deadpan look in the direction of the Blue Sage's hut before turning around, grabbing his pants and-
-Blue Sage's Hut-
"GAAH!" Samos yelled as he jumped away from the telescope.
"What?! What's wrong daddy?!" Keira asked in alarm.
"The moon's out early!" he answered while furiously rubbing his eyes, all while Zon's laughter came over the communicator.
-Lost Precursor City-
Zon slid down another tube before coming to a stop inside another room. Up above were walkways that circled the room. In front of him was a platform that had a Power Cell floating above it, a Blue Eco vent and Blue Eco Jump Pad on the other side. And below...Dark Eco.
"Something tells me that I should've just stayed up on the surface." Zon grumbled before shrugging. "Oh well. Free Power Cell!" he said before jumping over towards the platform...only to be stuck in mid air. "Hey! What gives?!" he yelled before he noticed a faint purple mist surrounding him.
"Hmhmhm. Look what I've caught."
Zon's eyes widened before he looked up to see Maia floating above him, a smile on her face as she kept a finger pointed at Zon.
"Maia?! What are you doing here?!" Zon snapped in anger.
"Oh, calm yourself. I'm not here to fight." Maia dismissed.
"Then why are you here?" Zon asked with a frown.
"To see this ancient city." she answered as she looked upwards, a wistful look on her face.
"Uh huh. And what would you say if I said I don't believe you?" Zon asked in an unamused tone. Maia simply chuckled before she grabbed the Power Cell. "Hey! That's mine!"
"I don't see your name on it." she said as she held it in her hand.
"Did you follow me just to steal any Power Cells I came upon?" Zon asked.
"Maybe. Maybe not." Maia answered, making Zon grunt in frustration.
"Why don't you go back to your citadel and play with your Dark Eco pets?" Zon asked. "I bet Gol would love to spend time with his baby sister."
"Hahahaha!" Maia laughed, confusing Zon.
"What's so funny?" Zon asked.
"I love how you keep thinking that. I guess Samos never told you." she said through her chuckles.
"Told me what?" Zon asked. Maia simply floated over towards Zon, a big smile on her face as she spoke.
"I'm Gol's older sister."
If you'd listen carefully, you'd have heard the needle fly off the record in Zon's mind.
"...HUH?!" Zon finally said after a moment.
"I'm. Gol's. Older. Sister." Maia repeated. Zon blinked a few times before he slowly looked over her body, taking in her young features from head to toe, then again before looking back at her face.
"I repeat...HUH?!" Zon asked before shaking his head. "You're the older sibling?!"
"That's right." Maia said with a nod.
"But that doesn't make sense! Last I saw Gol, he was already as old as dirt!" Zon exclaimed. "But if he's the younger of you two, how in the world do you look like...this?!" he asked while gesturing towards her. Maia smirked as she put the Power Cell away before bringing her free back hand up, a deep purple fog surrounding it. "Dark Eco?" Zon asked.
"Use too much, it warps and corrupts." she said before the fog thinned to a light mist. "But use just enough the right way, and it can do wonders for the body."
"Like hide how old you really are?" Zon asked before he paled when he realized what he said. Maia simply smiled at him with a small chuckle.
"And to think I was going to give you back your Power Cell. Shame." she said with a sigh before perking up. "Well, I've had my fill of this city. I've got things to do. Now, what were you doing again? Oh, right!" she said before letting him drop onto the platform, making it sink a little and triggering the trap. Zon saw the door behind him shut and the Dark Eco in the room begin to rise. "You were running for your life."
"Oh. You. Bitch." Zon cursed as Maia waved goodbye before disappearing, leaving Zon to jump over to the Blue Eco vent before jumping off the Eco Pad. "Next time I see her, I'm gonna mess her up so bad that no amount of Dark Eco will fix!" Zon promised as he ran up the walkways, jumping and climbing higher while knocking any lurkers he encountered away. "MOVE IT, YOU FUZZY ANIMALS!" he roared as he encountered the next Eco Vent and Jump Pad. "And UP!" he yelled as he jumped to the next set of spiraling walkways. "I TAKE BACK WHAT I SAID AGAIN!" he yelled after running and jumping some more before getting to the final Jump Pad. "WHOEVER DESIGNED THIS PLACE IS A TOTAL ASSHOOOOOLE!" he roared as he jumped up out of the room.
A/N: Basically, this was mostly about Zon being on his own, using his gauntlet and having a solo encounter with Maia. Still, hope you all enjoyed. And also, shocking as it is, Maia is indeed the older sibling.