Jak and Daxter Meet Ratchet and Clank
"Hey, Jak?" asked Daxter. "Um, why are we stopping?"
Jak looked at his furry friend and shrugged. They were heading out to Misty Island on their little boat. Things were going fine until the engine stopped and the boat halted in the water halfway to the island.
Jak turned around and looked in the engine's fuel tank. Daxter leaped onto Jak's shoulder and looked as well.
"I take it we're out of fuel, huh Jak," remarked Daxter. Jak nodded. Fortunately, there were some paddles under the boat seat.
As Jak went to retrieve the paddles, a strange mechanical roar was heard over his head. Jak looked up and saw a rocket ship zooming towards the island. The ship flew into the mist that covered the island and vanish. Seconds later, a crash was heard.
"Whoa! That didn't look good," said Daxter, who ran to the bow of the ship. "Maybe we should check to make sure they're alright."
Jak placed the oars in position and began rowing the boat towards Misty Island with Daxter watching from the front of the boat.
On the island's highest point sat a black rocket ship. The cockpit opened up and a yellow cat-like creature hopped out. A small robot then climbed out of the rocket and landed next to the cat.
"Whoa," said the cat creature. "Where do you think we are, Clank?"
Clank the robot surveyed the island. "I'm not sure, Ratchet. This planet appears to be untouched by Chairman Drek's ship."
"Lucky for it," said Ratchet. "Y'know, I don't think this is the planet we were supposed to travel to next."
"I think you're right," agreed Clank. "You think something is wrong with the ship's navigational system?"
"Maybe. Or...hold it. Do you hear that?" Ratchet crouched low to the ground and brought out his blaster. Clank hid behind Ratchet. Something behind those bushes was heading in their direction.
Without a moment's notice, a purple frog-like creature leaped out of the bushes and began hopping towards the two space travelers. Ratchet fired his blaster at the creature, which was destroyed after three hits. When the creature vanished, six egg-shaped objects appeared in its place. Ratchet walked over to the orbs.
"I wonder what these things are," he said to himself. He reached over and placed the orbs in his vest.
"Ratchet!" called out Clank. Ratchet turned and saw Clank in the cockpit trying to restart the rocket. A little red light was blinking on the control panel. "Ratchet, we don't have anymore fuel left in the rocket, at least, not enough to get us back into space!"
"This is not good," mumbled Ratchet. He watched his robot buddy getting back out of the jet. "We'd better hope this planet has a decent fuel source or we're gonna be stuck here for a while."
Ratchet and Clank looked around. They appeared to be on some sort of island. A large building was standing on one end of the island, but the mist was obscuring the view from up there.
"Well, let's get going," said Ratchet, and the two of them started making their way down the hill.
At this time, Jak and Daxter landed their boat by the dock and got out.
"This place still gives me the creeps," whispered Daxter as the two made their way inland. They
were attacked by several creatures along the way, but they were easy to defeat.
"Hey, look!" shouted Daxter. He pointed to a tall hill in the island. A black spaceship was sitting on the peak of the hill. "That must be where the travelers landed. Come on! Let's go check it out!"
A few minutes later, Jak and Daxter arrived at the ship, after an exhaustive climb up the hill.
"Freaky!" exclaimed Daxter with awe. Him and Jak approached the ship. "I wonder where this craft came from," muttered Daxter as he reached out to touch the spaceship. Jak leaned out to try and stop him, but it was too late.
A high pitched alarm rang out. Jak and Daxter covered their ears. Not too far away, Ratchet and Clank heard the alarm and ran back towards the ship.
"What's that sound?" asked Ratchet as he ran.
"On the last planet, I took the liberty of installing an alarm system on our ship," answered Clank, who hung on Ratchet's back like a backpack.
When they reached the clearing, Clank hopped down and pushed a button on his metal body. The alarm ceased. Him and Ratchet looked to the left and saw two life forms rubbing their ears.
"Sorry!" called out Ratchet. Jak and Daxter looked at the cat creature and robot with surprised expressions. "Really!" continued Ratchet. He pointed at Clank. "It was his fault!"
"Wow!" shouted Daxter, who ran up to Ratchet. "You look like the kind of guy who flies those things for a living!" Daxter pointed at the rocket.
"Nah," replied Ratchet. "We-..."
"We are on our way," interrupted Clank. "...to a flagship commissioned by a Chairman Drek. He is destroying entire planets and me and my accomplice are going to stop him."
"Whoa!" said Daxter. "Sounds a bit too extreme for us, huh Jak?" Jak nodded in agreement.
"So, I take it you two are natives here, right?" asked Ratchet. Jak and Daxter agreed. "Do either of you happen to know what's in that building?" Ratchet pointed to the building on the island.
"There's not much there now!" said Daxter. "Jak and I took care of everything inside."
"Well, do know if there are any fuel sources around here?" asked Clank.
"Fuel? You mean for your ship?" questioned Daxter. "Well, little metal guy, we've got plenty of it here! We got your blue eco, green eco, yellow eco, red eco, and dark eco....although I think you'd better keep away from the dark eco. I mean, look what it did to me!"
Ratchet and Clank looked at Jak to see if he knew what Daxter meant. Of course, Jak knew, but he only shrugged and said nothing.
"Well, which of these 'eco' fuel sources would you recommend?" asked Clank.
Jak tapped Daxter's shoulder and pointed towards the building. In the distance, a blue eco vent was spewing blue eco up out of the ground. Daxter got the hint and said, "That one's the closest. Blue eco gives you the power to move really fast for a short period of time."
Jak looked at Daxter, who read the expression on Jak's face. Daxter slapped his forehead. "Yeesh. I sounded like one of the Sages just then!"
"C'mon! Let's go!" cried Ratchet. He had already taken a long fuel hose from the rocket and attached one end of it to the ship's fuel entrance portal. Now he was carrying the other end of the hose and heading for the vent.
"Hey, wait for us!" shouted Clank. Jak and Daxter followed.
On the way, Ratchet showed Jak and Daxter the glowing egg that he confiscated. Daxter explained that it was a precursor orb, which was used as currency around here. Daxter also showed the visitors a power cell, which impressed Ratchet and Clank. Ratchet wanted to take one with him, but Jak and Daxter wisely declined.
When they arrived at the vent, Clank wanted to get a closer look. Clank stuck his metal hand into the erupting eco to test it's energy level, when suddenly, there was a "whooshing zap" sound. For a moment, Clank looked like he was being electrocuted! Then, Ratchet began laughing as Clank began running around wildly like an out-of-control, wind-up toy. He was also bathed in a blue glow. After a moment, Clank suddenly returned to normal.
"Powerful stuff, isn't it?" called out Daxter.
Clank was too exhausted to say anything. He returned to Ratchet's back. Ratchet, who finally stopped laughing, said, "That was hilarious! Do that again!"
When it became apparent that Clank was not going to do it again, the four characters thought about getting to work on refueling the ship. At that moment, however, Daxter said, "Hey, look!" He was pointing to an alcove in the wall of the building, which was way over everyone's heads. "We missed a few orbs!"
"Don't worry. I'll get them," said Ratchet. He put on his Magnet-o-boots, and began scaling the wall. He retrieved the orbs and impressed Jak and Daxter with his boots.
"Here you go," said Ratchet, as he handed the orbs to Jak. "Now, let's get to work on the ship."
The process took much shorter time than was expected. In a few minutes, the tank was full, and Ratchet and Clank were just about to start the engine.
"Cross your fingers," said Ratchet, as he turned on the ignition.
After a brief moment of nothing, a roar of flames erupted from the back of the ship. At the same time, the ship was illuminated in a blue aura, just like Clank had been moments ago.
"Awesome!" shouted Clank. He had never said that word before.
Ratchet quirked an eyebrow at Clank. "You're getting there."
"Bye, now!" shouted Daxter, as the ship lifted into the air. Ratchet and Clank waved back and soon the ship zoomed into the atmosphere and disappeared.
"You think the Green Sage will believe this?" asked Daxter. Jak just shook his head.
"C'mon, let's get back on the mainland." Daxter hopped up onto Jak's shoulder. "I hope Greenie isn't feeling too grumpy."
Dne Eht