Necralis: hey ho, everyone! Ready for chapter number 4? Wheee!
(readers exchange mystified looks: Necralis is bouncing on her chair, grinning, practically giggling.)
Vader: she's happy because Jak II was released on Tuesday, you should have heard her screeching. (winces) she saw a copy of it in the Electronics Boutique on Saturday as well. (we're Australian, by the way. We ALWAYS get stuff last, it sucks. _)
Necralis: (happily reciting what was on the back of the box) Lost in a mysterious city unable to find the way home.. locked in a cold, dark cell for two years..his body warped by cruel Dark Eco experiments..
Vader: (throws a copy of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix at her, it hits her in the head and knocks her unconscious) SHUT UP! (sighs) her and Kyren are gonna try and buy it next Saturday. (rubs his temples) I better find the Panadol..
**DISCLAIMER** oh, do we even need to say it anymore? Necralis owns Versca, Naughty Dog own Jak (sigh..), Daxter, Gol, Maia.. and well, the whole damn J&D world, really. and Kyren owns most of the other original characters. On with the fic! Oh, yeah. VOO!! AT ONCE!! Well, read the fic first.. oh, do what ever the hell you want, so long as you review and stop laughing at my incoherent babbling!
Chapter 4: The Lost City (ah HA! Fooled you, didn't I Shark? I was right and you were wrong, I'm gonna sing the I-was-right song.. AAH! NOOOO.. (falls into Sharks pool) please, don't eat me, I need to write the fic.. please.. no! (is reduced to sobbing pathetically. Now for fic.)
"WAAAAAAAAGH!"
Ptek yelled as he swung across the purple, sluggish looking water, letting go of the makeshift rope and just missing cracking his skull on one of the hanging lamps. He flew through the air, straight through a stack of crates that had still been standing and landed with a CRASH among the tables and chairs on the other side. He got painfully to his feet, retrieved the end of the rope from behind a pile of splintered wood that had (in Jak's memory) been barrels filled with Green Eco pieces and glared at Vester because he was doubled over with laughter at Ptek's slightly undignified landing.
"I hope you know that I am going to have to kill you all for witnessing that."
Vester grinned crookedly at Ptek. "Oh, don't bother. You've humiliated yourself so many times in sight of other people that it doesn't matter any more." Versca looked pityingly from Vester to Ptek, then gently extricated Trax from the hole the mutt had dug in the grass, apparently searching for bugs. "You guys are so immature. If I didn't know better, I'd say that the oil fumes had affected both your brains. Toss me the rope, Ptek,"
Ptek obliged, accidentally on purpose whacking Versca in the head with the metal ring on the end of it, causing her to swear and scowl heavily. Muttering mutinously, she made sure Trax was tucked securely under her arm and prevented from wriggling and swung out over the water, holding onto the rope with her free hand. She flew across, let go at just the right time and did a graceful somersault in mid-air, ignoring Trax's panicked howling. She landed cat-like in a crouch and grinned cheesliy at Ptek. He scowled ("I hate the circus,") and threw the rope back across the gap.
Karok went next, wincing at the way the rope creaked in protest at having to support his weight. Vester followed, plowing straight into Ptek and knocking him sprawling. Lethra had to be coaxed into swinging across (Apparently, Mir informed Jak, she was morbidly afraid of heights.) Finally, only Jak and Mir were left standing on the ledge.
Mir grinned and bowed. "After you," she said.
But Jak wasn't listening. He was just standing there, not looking at her, staring suspiciously at the purple clouds. It was kind of funny - his long, elfin ears looked pricked up, like Trax's when she was hunting mice. He had thought he heard something.. wait..not heard.. sensed..like - like - the first time he had seen the Eco enhanced Lurker.
His eyes widened. Oh, he thought. Oh, shit..
"What's the problem?" Mir enquired.
It didn't take long for her to find out.
Three Diya (cool word, eh? It's the word for really Eco messed up Lurkers. I'll be quiet now) Lurkers leapt from the ledge above them and started towards them, roaring ferociously. Jak yelled and tried to spin-kick one, achieving nothing but what felt like a broken foot. In the time he wasted hopping up and down and saying things Samos would have hit over the head with his staff for saying, the ones he had not gone for went for the rope, trying to cut off their escape route. The others in the plaza were shouting and screaming incoherently, unable to do anything from their position.
"Keep them busy, Jak!" Mir shouted. Jak chanced a glance at her - she was fumbling with what looked like a piece of string tied to a stick. He barely had time to think 'What?' before the Lurker he had tried to spin-kick knocked him off his feet for the umpteenth time. He scrambled up, whisked around and, unable to think of any other alternative, leapt onto the Lurker's neck. It roared and thrashed wildly, trying to rip him off while Jak hung on for dear life. Its fellows abandoned the rope and went to help their friend - Jak was yanked off and thrown against the cliff-face and a sickening crack only he could hear went through his ribs. He slid down it looking very dazed.
It was all the time Mir needed. She whipped an arrow out of the quiver on her back - he couldn't believe he hadn't noticed it before - and, with expert aim, shot three arrows, one each into the oncoming Lurker's eyes.
As they roared in pain (they seem to do a lot of roaring, don't they?) Mir quickly helped Jak up and dragged him over to the rope. With a nanosecond of hesitation, she grabbed hold of Jak's waist and swung out over the water. Mir gritted her teeth - Jak was much heavier than she was - and the rope groaned under their combined weight, stretching and stretching..
It snapped.
The shock of the fall jerked Jak out of his daze, and he screamed as the surface of the water rushed up at them, imagining he could see the yellow eyes of the Lurker Sharks below..
And then they were colliding with the pavement, knocking Karok aside, landing with bruising force as the momentum from their swing pushed them onto sweet, dry, safe land, while the Lurkers screeched and hooted with fury on the ledge above them.
"Well, that was fun. Let's never, ever do that again." Mir said. (sorry.. eh, Animorph quote.) "Are you alright, Jak?"
He didn't answer, clutching his chest and groaning with agony.
"Oh. You're not all right. Here, Lethra, do something useful for once, you do have some Eco left, right?"
Lethra nodded wordlessly and knelt at Jak's side, fumbling with something in her pouch. He stared blearily up at her, her bright blue eyes staring into his own as she tipped him gently onto his side and poked the area he was nursing.
"Broken rib," she said, so softly it was drowned out by Jak's cry of pain. Without further ado she pulled out a tiny crystal vial of something that shimmered with green light. Lethra broke the vial in her fist and cupped the green stuff in her hand, then let it sink into the skin around the break. Jak felt it heal instantly, with the soothing coolness that he always felt when he picked up a cluster of Green Eco.
"Here you go, Jak," said Mir, handing him his backpack - she had reattached the ring after staring with utter amazement at the ridiculous amount of Power Cells in it.
"Thanks." He swung it over his shoulder. "Hey - where's Daxter?"
"Who cares?" said Versca, raising an eyebrow.
"I do," said Jak, looking slightly offended - Daxter was his best (and only) friend, and very loyal, if a little annoying. "I know you think he's an idiot, but I was kind of the one who actually turned him into the - the- whatever he is. I was trying to find the Dark Sage so I could turn him back - unfortunately, the Sage was.. well-"
"An utter nutter," interjected Daxter, popping from nowhere. "He was the one who actually made this purple goop cover everything, after Jak here-"
Jak hurriedly clapped his hand over the ottsel's mouth to prevent his loudmouth friend from telling every body whose fault it was that they were being chased by monsters. Daxter made a sort of squeaky noise in protest until Jak stomped on his toe, almost crushing his foot.
"Any way.." he said, turning back to the group, who were all looking at him strangely, "We need to hurry up and get to the city, I seriously doubt that those were the only Lurkers following us," he looked over at the coral reef that led out to the Not-very-lost-anymore Precursor City, which was gleaming through the purple mist, bronze and safe-looking. "Um.. can everyone swim?"
Most of them nodded, still staring, except for Lethra, who was looking determinedly at the floor and, to Jak's surprise, Versca. In response to his enquiring look, she snapped, "I grew up in a circus, remember? The largest body of water I've ever seen up 'til now is this place." To Jak, who had lived most of his life next to the ocean and had learned to swim practically before he could walk, this was unbelievable. "Take a picture, it'll last longer," she snarled, "It's not my fault, and if anyone here starts mocking me for it I'll - I'll -" she faltered, even her almost encyclopedic list of revenges failing her.
"It's okay, Vercky," said Ptek, looking as though all the Dark Eco in the world had suddenly and mysteriously turned into chocolate. "I promise I won't tease you if you promise not to threaten my life again."
Versca's glare was all the answer he needed.
"Hey, hey, settle down," said Karok, before it could erupt into violence. "I think we got enough people trying to kill us without doing it ourselves. And besides-" he pointed at the reef- " the pontoons are still intact, we can stroll right across."
"Wonder why that could be," Mir said darkly. "It's the perfect place to send a bunch of Lurkers, isn't it? A nice, Eco-filled place made of Precursor metal, probably choc-full of Power Cells and Orbs-"
"It's not any more," Daxter said smugly. "We told you, we've been all through it, looking for Cells to power that pile of rubble over there. The only things we have to worry about are the traps."
"And that's much better," Vester said sarcastically. "All we have to worry about is huge pools of Dark Eco and freaky yellow water and being zapped by Blue Eco and- what the-?"
A tiny green animal had crawled out from the remains of crates Ptek had smashed through - it heavily resembled Daxter, except that it had green fur and was wearing a very mournful expression. It wore no goggles - instead it had a very small helmet covering its head. It looked vaguely familiar.
Jak stared at it, his eyes widened. "You're - you're-" he stuttered. "Do I know you?" the green ottsel stared at him with huge, sad looking eyes. "Wait - aren't you that kid that made me put the bridge back together?"
"Er.."
"Yes, I think you are. Didn't you defeat that - creature that was on the cliff?"
Daxter puffed out his chest proudly (and unnecessarily, as it had been Jak who had done the work). "Yeah, we both did."
The green ottsel continued to stare at him for a second, then it's eyes filled with tears. "It should have been me who defeated it!" it wailed. "I, the village warrior, shouldn't have let my own despair stand in the way of protecting the innocent." With a jolt of recognition, Jak realized - this was the warrior that had attempted to defeat the giant Lurker known as 'Klaww'. He and Daxter had paid him 90 Precursor Orbs to fix the village bridge, which he had pulled apart because he'd been afraid that the monster would come down to get him after he'd failed to defeat it. The ottsel that he had become was now sobbing uncontrollably, resisting both Lethra's and Karok's attempts to comfort him. He'd been just like this when Jak had first seen him - engulfed by despair and no use to anyone.
"C'mon," he muttered to Mir. "I've seen this guy, there's no point trying to get him to come with us, we'll just waste time."
"But.. but shouldn't we try to.."
"Believe me, the only thing you'll gain is a deep dislike for fantasy stories. Oh, by the way.." he pointed to the stick-and-string construction she had now slung over her back, "What is that?"
She beamed at him, looking pleased that she had something to explain to him. "It's a bow. These are called arrows," she showed him one of the pointed, feathery things that she had shot at the Lurkers, "see, you put the arrow against the string, like this, and then you pull it back and let it go," she demonstrated, the arrow flying through the air and burying itself into one of the sacks on the other side of the plaza. "I used it mainly for shooting rats, but it helps when you need to hit stuff from a fair way away. I can't believe you haven't seen one before - weren't you ever trained in using weapons?" Jak shook his head.
"Only Eco, Samos was more concerned with hitting Daxter over the head then teaching us about stuff like that. He might have mentioned them once or twice.. but I think Dax was trying to convince me to take a high dive off the top of his hut that day.. so I'm not sure.."
"Hey, guys! I mean.. er.. guy and girl.. oh, you get the freakin' point, we gotta get to that big copper.. thing.. that is where we're trying to get to, right?"
"Yes, Ptek. That big copper thing is where we're trying to get to. Now, look both ways before crossing the lurker infested water, and make sure you knock before entering the thousand-year-old Precursor city."
"Shut up, Versca."
"I will when you do." Ptek threw a folded blanket at her.
*
The city was, as usual, cool and soothing inside, due to the fact that it was kilometres under the water. The pale blue lights that lined the wide, bronze corridors were as bright as always, but for some reason the light looked different.. darker.. this puzzled Jak for a moment, until he remembered that the heavy cloud of Dark Eco obscured the two suns that lit his world.
"Is this it?" Ptek enquired.
Jak looked at him, he was staring in a very unimpressed way at the multi coloured fish swarming behind the glass. He grinned. So did Daxter. "You ain't seen nothin' yet.' Daxter said. Jak, meanwhile, was staring at the fish.
"How come they're not dead?"
Vester looked at him in a patronizing way. "I think the water acts as a solvent for the Dark Eco," he said in a way that made Jak want to hit him. "It dissolves it, so it won't penetrate down here. They won't be able to swim to the surface, but they're really much safer down here." He happily inspected their surroundings. "Kind of like us, really."
Just then a shadow passed across the window they'd been staring at. It was only when it open it's fanged mouth and swallowed every single last one of the smaller fish that they realized it was a Lurker Shark. It glared at them in a hungry sort of way, then swam off.
Which didn't leave them feeling all that safe.
As they marched further into the City, with Jak leading them and having to stop Trax several times from going for a swim in the energized water, Jak became more and more nervous. While the City was well hidden and hard to infiltrate, there wasn't really anywhere they could sleep or hide.
"This is great. Just *great*" said Versca. "Nowhere to sleep, nothing to eat, and nowhere to hide. The perfect headquarters. Trax, what are you *doing*?!?"
Trax was sniffing at the glowing, blue panels that provided the light. Then suddenly, she started scratching at one of them and whining. Mir bent down to look at the panel and noticed a tiny rounded lighting bolt engraved into the metal.
"Hey Jak, do you know what this means?"
"Oh, oh, I do! Pick me, pick me!" Daxter was jumping up and down on Jak's shoulder, holding his paw in the air as though he was the 'know-it-all' in a classroom.
Mir rolled her eyes. "Yes, weasel-boy?"
Daxter bristled, but for once in his life decided not to retort. "It means 'Blue Eco'. It's marked on all the vents and stuff. I remember it because there's one just like it on the bridge posts in the Forbidden Jungle. You remember that, Jak?"
"No, Daxter. I *completely* forgot about the events that resulted in me fighting a giant, carnivorous plant."
Mir sighed. "Never mind that, how're we supposed to get Blue Eco over here?"
Jak tilted his head in confusion. "I'll channel it."
"What?"
"I'll pick some up and I sort of get all powered up and.." (he'd noticed the look of total confusion on the faces of the rest of them.) "You don't know what I'm talking about, do you?"
"Not the foggiest clue, blondey." said Karok cheerfully.
"You can't get powered up with Eco?"
"No more than I can fly over the suns. Are you telling me you can?" Ptek enquired skeptically.
"Yes.. I've been able to all my life."
They all stared at him.
"I told you he had hidden powers." Vester said triumphantly. He turned to Mir. "Didn't I tell you?"
Mir hit him, the looked at Jak. "Well, if you're so Eco-positive, get some over here," she pointed at a convenient cluster, some thirty metres away. "Go on!"
Jak stared at her with an eyebrow raised, then jogged over to the Eco and put his hand in it. Instantly he felt the rush - like a thousand cups of coffee with a thousand bags of icing sugar - and zipped back to the others with incredible speed, crackling with blue energy. It flowed out of him in azure streams, forming cracks in the metal that joined to form a circular opening.
By the time the Eco faded from his body, there was a round hole that opened out into a whole new corridor that he had never seen before.
Grinning smugly at the others (and receiving several glares in return) Jak stepped through the opening. After glancing at each other suspiciously, the rest of the group followed.
~
Kyren: Yay. She did it.
Shalashaska: She sure writes long.
Kyren: Yah. I think the next time she doesn't make her writing a little straighter to the point I'll have to threaten her with pancakes. Anyway thanks to dee peoples who reviewed. I will hug the laptop for you.. ready- *squeeze* ^_^ now I promised a lot of tanku's (thank you's) to you guys so.. tanku tanku tanku tanku tanku tanku tanku tanku tanku tanku. Now be a good little reader and press da purdy button (it has 'Go' on it.). ( Hey, I almost forgot to say..you guessed it..VOO!)
(readers exchange mystified looks: Necralis is bouncing on her chair, grinning, practically giggling.)
Vader: she's happy because Jak II was released on Tuesday, you should have heard her screeching. (winces) she saw a copy of it in the Electronics Boutique on Saturday as well. (we're Australian, by the way. We ALWAYS get stuff last, it sucks. _)
Necralis: (happily reciting what was on the back of the box) Lost in a mysterious city unable to find the way home.. locked in a cold, dark cell for two years..his body warped by cruel Dark Eco experiments..
Vader: (throws a copy of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix at her, it hits her in the head and knocks her unconscious) SHUT UP! (sighs) her and Kyren are gonna try and buy it next Saturday. (rubs his temples) I better find the Panadol..
**DISCLAIMER** oh, do we even need to say it anymore? Necralis owns Versca, Naughty Dog own Jak (sigh..), Daxter, Gol, Maia.. and well, the whole damn J&D world, really. and Kyren owns most of the other original characters. On with the fic! Oh, yeah. VOO!! AT ONCE!! Well, read the fic first.. oh, do what ever the hell you want, so long as you review and stop laughing at my incoherent babbling!
Chapter 4: The Lost City (ah HA! Fooled you, didn't I Shark? I was right and you were wrong, I'm gonna sing the I-was-right song.. AAH! NOOOO.. (falls into Sharks pool) please, don't eat me, I need to write the fic.. please.. no! (is reduced to sobbing pathetically. Now for fic.)
"WAAAAAAAAGH!"
Ptek yelled as he swung across the purple, sluggish looking water, letting go of the makeshift rope and just missing cracking his skull on one of the hanging lamps. He flew through the air, straight through a stack of crates that had still been standing and landed with a CRASH among the tables and chairs on the other side. He got painfully to his feet, retrieved the end of the rope from behind a pile of splintered wood that had (in Jak's memory) been barrels filled with Green Eco pieces and glared at Vester because he was doubled over with laughter at Ptek's slightly undignified landing.
"I hope you know that I am going to have to kill you all for witnessing that."
Vester grinned crookedly at Ptek. "Oh, don't bother. You've humiliated yourself so many times in sight of other people that it doesn't matter any more." Versca looked pityingly from Vester to Ptek, then gently extricated Trax from the hole the mutt had dug in the grass, apparently searching for bugs. "You guys are so immature. If I didn't know better, I'd say that the oil fumes had affected both your brains. Toss me the rope, Ptek,"
Ptek obliged, accidentally on purpose whacking Versca in the head with the metal ring on the end of it, causing her to swear and scowl heavily. Muttering mutinously, she made sure Trax was tucked securely under her arm and prevented from wriggling and swung out over the water, holding onto the rope with her free hand. She flew across, let go at just the right time and did a graceful somersault in mid-air, ignoring Trax's panicked howling. She landed cat-like in a crouch and grinned cheesliy at Ptek. He scowled ("I hate the circus,") and threw the rope back across the gap.
Karok went next, wincing at the way the rope creaked in protest at having to support his weight. Vester followed, plowing straight into Ptek and knocking him sprawling. Lethra had to be coaxed into swinging across (Apparently, Mir informed Jak, she was morbidly afraid of heights.) Finally, only Jak and Mir were left standing on the ledge.
Mir grinned and bowed. "After you," she said.
But Jak wasn't listening. He was just standing there, not looking at her, staring suspiciously at the purple clouds. It was kind of funny - his long, elfin ears looked pricked up, like Trax's when she was hunting mice. He had thought he heard something.. wait..not heard.. sensed..like - like - the first time he had seen the Eco enhanced Lurker.
His eyes widened. Oh, he thought. Oh, shit..
"What's the problem?" Mir enquired.
It didn't take long for her to find out.
Three Diya (cool word, eh? It's the word for really Eco messed up Lurkers. I'll be quiet now) Lurkers leapt from the ledge above them and started towards them, roaring ferociously. Jak yelled and tried to spin-kick one, achieving nothing but what felt like a broken foot. In the time he wasted hopping up and down and saying things Samos would have hit over the head with his staff for saying, the ones he had not gone for went for the rope, trying to cut off their escape route. The others in the plaza were shouting and screaming incoherently, unable to do anything from their position.
"Keep them busy, Jak!" Mir shouted. Jak chanced a glance at her - she was fumbling with what looked like a piece of string tied to a stick. He barely had time to think 'What?' before the Lurker he had tried to spin-kick knocked him off his feet for the umpteenth time. He scrambled up, whisked around and, unable to think of any other alternative, leapt onto the Lurker's neck. It roared and thrashed wildly, trying to rip him off while Jak hung on for dear life. Its fellows abandoned the rope and went to help their friend - Jak was yanked off and thrown against the cliff-face and a sickening crack only he could hear went through his ribs. He slid down it looking very dazed.
It was all the time Mir needed. She whipped an arrow out of the quiver on her back - he couldn't believe he hadn't noticed it before - and, with expert aim, shot three arrows, one each into the oncoming Lurker's eyes.
As they roared in pain (they seem to do a lot of roaring, don't they?) Mir quickly helped Jak up and dragged him over to the rope. With a nanosecond of hesitation, she grabbed hold of Jak's waist and swung out over the water. Mir gritted her teeth - Jak was much heavier than she was - and the rope groaned under their combined weight, stretching and stretching..
It snapped.
The shock of the fall jerked Jak out of his daze, and he screamed as the surface of the water rushed up at them, imagining he could see the yellow eyes of the Lurker Sharks below..
And then they were colliding with the pavement, knocking Karok aside, landing with bruising force as the momentum from their swing pushed them onto sweet, dry, safe land, while the Lurkers screeched and hooted with fury on the ledge above them.
"Well, that was fun. Let's never, ever do that again." Mir said. (sorry.. eh, Animorph quote.) "Are you alright, Jak?"
He didn't answer, clutching his chest and groaning with agony.
"Oh. You're not all right. Here, Lethra, do something useful for once, you do have some Eco left, right?"
Lethra nodded wordlessly and knelt at Jak's side, fumbling with something in her pouch. He stared blearily up at her, her bright blue eyes staring into his own as she tipped him gently onto his side and poked the area he was nursing.
"Broken rib," she said, so softly it was drowned out by Jak's cry of pain. Without further ado she pulled out a tiny crystal vial of something that shimmered with green light. Lethra broke the vial in her fist and cupped the green stuff in her hand, then let it sink into the skin around the break. Jak felt it heal instantly, with the soothing coolness that he always felt when he picked up a cluster of Green Eco.
"Here you go, Jak," said Mir, handing him his backpack - she had reattached the ring after staring with utter amazement at the ridiculous amount of Power Cells in it.
"Thanks." He swung it over his shoulder. "Hey - where's Daxter?"
"Who cares?" said Versca, raising an eyebrow.
"I do," said Jak, looking slightly offended - Daxter was his best (and only) friend, and very loyal, if a little annoying. "I know you think he's an idiot, but I was kind of the one who actually turned him into the - the- whatever he is. I was trying to find the Dark Sage so I could turn him back - unfortunately, the Sage was.. well-"
"An utter nutter," interjected Daxter, popping from nowhere. "He was the one who actually made this purple goop cover everything, after Jak here-"
Jak hurriedly clapped his hand over the ottsel's mouth to prevent his loudmouth friend from telling every body whose fault it was that they were being chased by monsters. Daxter made a sort of squeaky noise in protest until Jak stomped on his toe, almost crushing his foot.
"Any way.." he said, turning back to the group, who were all looking at him strangely, "We need to hurry up and get to the city, I seriously doubt that those were the only Lurkers following us," he looked over at the coral reef that led out to the Not-very-lost-anymore Precursor City, which was gleaming through the purple mist, bronze and safe-looking. "Um.. can everyone swim?"
Most of them nodded, still staring, except for Lethra, who was looking determinedly at the floor and, to Jak's surprise, Versca. In response to his enquiring look, she snapped, "I grew up in a circus, remember? The largest body of water I've ever seen up 'til now is this place." To Jak, who had lived most of his life next to the ocean and had learned to swim practically before he could walk, this was unbelievable. "Take a picture, it'll last longer," she snarled, "It's not my fault, and if anyone here starts mocking me for it I'll - I'll -" she faltered, even her almost encyclopedic list of revenges failing her.
"It's okay, Vercky," said Ptek, looking as though all the Dark Eco in the world had suddenly and mysteriously turned into chocolate. "I promise I won't tease you if you promise not to threaten my life again."
Versca's glare was all the answer he needed.
"Hey, hey, settle down," said Karok, before it could erupt into violence. "I think we got enough people trying to kill us without doing it ourselves. And besides-" he pointed at the reef- " the pontoons are still intact, we can stroll right across."
"Wonder why that could be," Mir said darkly. "It's the perfect place to send a bunch of Lurkers, isn't it? A nice, Eco-filled place made of Precursor metal, probably choc-full of Power Cells and Orbs-"
"It's not any more," Daxter said smugly. "We told you, we've been all through it, looking for Cells to power that pile of rubble over there. The only things we have to worry about are the traps."
"And that's much better," Vester said sarcastically. "All we have to worry about is huge pools of Dark Eco and freaky yellow water and being zapped by Blue Eco and- what the-?"
A tiny green animal had crawled out from the remains of crates Ptek had smashed through - it heavily resembled Daxter, except that it had green fur and was wearing a very mournful expression. It wore no goggles - instead it had a very small helmet covering its head. It looked vaguely familiar.
Jak stared at it, his eyes widened. "You're - you're-" he stuttered. "Do I know you?" the green ottsel stared at him with huge, sad looking eyes. "Wait - aren't you that kid that made me put the bridge back together?"
"Er.."
"Yes, I think you are. Didn't you defeat that - creature that was on the cliff?"
Daxter puffed out his chest proudly (and unnecessarily, as it had been Jak who had done the work). "Yeah, we both did."
The green ottsel continued to stare at him for a second, then it's eyes filled with tears. "It should have been me who defeated it!" it wailed. "I, the village warrior, shouldn't have let my own despair stand in the way of protecting the innocent." With a jolt of recognition, Jak realized - this was the warrior that had attempted to defeat the giant Lurker known as 'Klaww'. He and Daxter had paid him 90 Precursor Orbs to fix the village bridge, which he had pulled apart because he'd been afraid that the monster would come down to get him after he'd failed to defeat it. The ottsel that he had become was now sobbing uncontrollably, resisting both Lethra's and Karok's attempts to comfort him. He'd been just like this when Jak had first seen him - engulfed by despair and no use to anyone.
"C'mon," he muttered to Mir. "I've seen this guy, there's no point trying to get him to come with us, we'll just waste time."
"But.. but shouldn't we try to.."
"Believe me, the only thing you'll gain is a deep dislike for fantasy stories. Oh, by the way.." he pointed to the stick-and-string construction she had now slung over her back, "What is that?"
She beamed at him, looking pleased that she had something to explain to him. "It's a bow. These are called arrows," she showed him one of the pointed, feathery things that she had shot at the Lurkers, "see, you put the arrow against the string, like this, and then you pull it back and let it go," she demonstrated, the arrow flying through the air and burying itself into one of the sacks on the other side of the plaza. "I used it mainly for shooting rats, but it helps when you need to hit stuff from a fair way away. I can't believe you haven't seen one before - weren't you ever trained in using weapons?" Jak shook his head.
"Only Eco, Samos was more concerned with hitting Daxter over the head then teaching us about stuff like that. He might have mentioned them once or twice.. but I think Dax was trying to convince me to take a high dive off the top of his hut that day.. so I'm not sure.."
"Hey, guys! I mean.. er.. guy and girl.. oh, you get the freakin' point, we gotta get to that big copper.. thing.. that is where we're trying to get to, right?"
"Yes, Ptek. That big copper thing is where we're trying to get to. Now, look both ways before crossing the lurker infested water, and make sure you knock before entering the thousand-year-old Precursor city."
"Shut up, Versca."
"I will when you do." Ptek threw a folded blanket at her.
*
The city was, as usual, cool and soothing inside, due to the fact that it was kilometres under the water. The pale blue lights that lined the wide, bronze corridors were as bright as always, but for some reason the light looked different.. darker.. this puzzled Jak for a moment, until he remembered that the heavy cloud of Dark Eco obscured the two suns that lit his world.
"Is this it?" Ptek enquired.
Jak looked at him, he was staring in a very unimpressed way at the multi coloured fish swarming behind the glass. He grinned. So did Daxter. "You ain't seen nothin' yet.' Daxter said. Jak, meanwhile, was staring at the fish.
"How come they're not dead?"
Vester looked at him in a patronizing way. "I think the water acts as a solvent for the Dark Eco," he said in a way that made Jak want to hit him. "It dissolves it, so it won't penetrate down here. They won't be able to swim to the surface, but they're really much safer down here." He happily inspected their surroundings. "Kind of like us, really."
Just then a shadow passed across the window they'd been staring at. It was only when it open it's fanged mouth and swallowed every single last one of the smaller fish that they realized it was a Lurker Shark. It glared at them in a hungry sort of way, then swam off.
Which didn't leave them feeling all that safe.
As they marched further into the City, with Jak leading them and having to stop Trax several times from going for a swim in the energized water, Jak became more and more nervous. While the City was well hidden and hard to infiltrate, there wasn't really anywhere they could sleep or hide.
"This is great. Just *great*" said Versca. "Nowhere to sleep, nothing to eat, and nowhere to hide. The perfect headquarters. Trax, what are you *doing*?!?"
Trax was sniffing at the glowing, blue panels that provided the light. Then suddenly, she started scratching at one of them and whining. Mir bent down to look at the panel and noticed a tiny rounded lighting bolt engraved into the metal.
"Hey Jak, do you know what this means?"
"Oh, oh, I do! Pick me, pick me!" Daxter was jumping up and down on Jak's shoulder, holding his paw in the air as though he was the 'know-it-all' in a classroom.
Mir rolled her eyes. "Yes, weasel-boy?"
Daxter bristled, but for once in his life decided not to retort. "It means 'Blue Eco'. It's marked on all the vents and stuff. I remember it because there's one just like it on the bridge posts in the Forbidden Jungle. You remember that, Jak?"
"No, Daxter. I *completely* forgot about the events that resulted in me fighting a giant, carnivorous plant."
Mir sighed. "Never mind that, how're we supposed to get Blue Eco over here?"
Jak tilted his head in confusion. "I'll channel it."
"What?"
"I'll pick some up and I sort of get all powered up and.." (he'd noticed the look of total confusion on the faces of the rest of them.) "You don't know what I'm talking about, do you?"
"Not the foggiest clue, blondey." said Karok cheerfully.
"You can't get powered up with Eco?"
"No more than I can fly over the suns. Are you telling me you can?" Ptek enquired skeptically.
"Yes.. I've been able to all my life."
They all stared at him.
"I told you he had hidden powers." Vester said triumphantly. He turned to Mir. "Didn't I tell you?"
Mir hit him, the looked at Jak. "Well, if you're so Eco-positive, get some over here," she pointed at a convenient cluster, some thirty metres away. "Go on!"
Jak stared at her with an eyebrow raised, then jogged over to the Eco and put his hand in it. Instantly he felt the rush - like a thousand cups of coffee with a thousand bags of icing sugar - and zipped back to the others with incredible speed, crackling with blue energy. It flowed out of him in azure streams, forming cracks in the metal that joined to form a circular opening.
By the time the Eco faded from his body, there was a round hole that opened out into a whole new corridor that he had never seen before.
Grinning smugly at the others (and receiving several glares in return) Jak stepped through the opening. After glancing at each other suspiciously, the rest of the group followed.
~
Kyren: Yay. She did it.
Shalashaska: She sure writes long.
Kyren: Yah. I think the next time she doesn't make her writing a little straighter to the point I'll have to threaten her with pancakes. Anyway thanks to dee peoples who reviewed. I will hug the laptop for you.. ready- *squeeze* ^_^ now I promised a lot of tanku's (thank you's) to you guys so.. tanku tanku tanku tanku tanku tanku tanku tanku tanku tanku. Now be a good little reader and press da purdy button (it has 'Go' on it.). ( Hey, I almost forgot to say..you guessed it..VOO!)
