The light started to shine further down upon the city at its afternoon peak, and it was there that Hikaru was seen walking her way through the Slums, with a straight face showing for her expression.

"Exactly what the Hell is this gift anyway? That Oracle thing must have been chewing Eco pellets again."

Meanwhile, near the edge of the Slums, Jak was seen heading on the hoverbike out of the Industrial section, steering clear from any incoming traffic in his sight. The path taken by him left Daxter to show a confused expression on his face.

"Jak, why are we going all the way up towards the Pumping Station rather than the nearest exit at the Precursor Mountain Temple?"

"It's almost as if I could sense something in that direction."

Daxter gave off a confused glance. "Was it my deodorant again?"

Jak brought a disgusted look upon his partner, whom just gave out a playful smile while showing out all of his teeth. While that happened, the hoverbike came closer towards a wall in the distance, knocking them into a corner.

The collision sent them off the bike and skidding down the road, near Hikaru, whom just looked down at the pair with widened eyes. Daxter looked up at her, and saw her face, and upon first contact… his fur turned white.

"AIEE, MONSTER!!!!" Daxter squealed at the sight of her.

"I'm sorry, sir!" Hikaru started to panic. "I didn't mean to run into you!"

"Hey, take it easy young girl", Jak smiled at her. "We're sorry for running into YOU!"

Hikaru started to shake, seeing the pair showing a pair of sympathy filled looks upon them. She came even closer, and brought one of her hands towards Jak, which felt warm and sticky to her very touch.

"You… you guys aren't afraid of me?"

All that Jak could do was look on with a confused look, while Daxter's face still remained a pale color. He looked on at the ottsel, and started stroking him down his furry back, leaving him to reclaim his nerves.

"I can probably imagine your rat on your shoulder, but…" she said with a shaky tone, "thanks for understanding my sensitivity, uh…"

"Name's Jak."

"Thanks", she gently beamed back. "I'm Hikaru."

She brought her hands around Jak's shoulders, whom smiled at the touch of them. Then, she released her grip and looked back at the pair. While that happened, Daxter jumped down and looked at her, trying to show more confidence in his act.

"I've never seen you around the city before. What gives?"

"I wanted to blend in with my kind, compared to the mess back at my old home in the North", she frowned.

"Speaking of mess, you haven't seen any Metal Heads around here?" Jak asked her.

"What the heck?" Hikaru said with a confused look.

Daxter looked around and saw a wooden splinter on the ground, and he used it to draw a stick figure of a monster with insanely large teeth, a stone on its head, and Chinese-style eyes. Her eyes widened at the sight of it, before she brought her mouth to a smile.

"Oh, those! I recall seeing an egg not far from here."

"Oh great, just what we need at this moment in time!" Jak said with a fake smile.

"It's THAT important to you? If it is, I'll lead you to it!" she said while showing off a set of white-yellow teeth through smiling. "That's if your rat isn't frightened…!"

"Yeah right!" Daxter shouted while he rolled his eyes. "I can handle it at full throttle! Seeing is believing it, baby!"

Jak looked down at his partner, wondering how he could cope in the scenario ahead of him. The memories of the ambush from the previous hour or so started to creep back into his mind, leaving him to imagine Daxter's next reaction to the beasts.

"Right, follow me", she blinked.

She pointed behind her, and they started heading their way to the Northern walls of the city. It wasn't long until they got there themselves, and bringing themselves out into the open. Across the scene, a set of Metal Head bones were seen around various parts of the sandy shores, and the machinery was still operating in full swing.

"I thought they were meant to be clearing the Pumping Station by now!" Jak said with a curious tone.

"Not exactly. I still see some of the ruins from your previous catastrophe", Hikaru said while looking at the sand dunes around her.

They started walking away from the city wall and towards the machinery, looking further around their viewpoint. Daxter seemed to flinch at the bones around there, while Jak just looked on at her and opened his mouth to speak.

"How did you know about this?"

"I could sense strange happenings from the tops of those mountains over there", Hikaru replied calmly.

She pointed up towards a distant mountain peak within the distance, which started to shine in the bright afternoon sun. The snowy landscapes upon them left them to look on at the giant structures with wonder upon their eyes.

"Is that Snowy Mountain?" Daxter said with widened eyes. "I'm surprised it's still intact after what Baron Praxis did to the world around us before we came here two years ago!"

"Let's just say that his budget was running dry", Hikaru replied with a casual expression. "Not sure if it's true, but it had to be something!"

She gave out a light chuckle, causing Jak to look on at his partner with a raised eye. They then started to make their way around the station, following the footsteps that followed from her. And then, she made a stop near a sandy slope.

"There's where I saw the thing. Right over the-"

She brought her head round to face it, but… upon sight of it, she ended up freezing on the spot. She started to shake with fear upon her, leaving the others to look on at her look with mixed expressions.

"Uh-oh…!" she said with a dropped jaw.

"Now what?" Jak asked her.

"The… the egg! It's broken open!"

The sight of the golden orb that lied upon the scene ended up showing itself broken apart, with light essences of gas starting to float up into the air. The sight of it left the group to look with a pair of shocked eyes at them.

"Could this mean that… the Metal Heads are bouncing back at us?" Jak questioned quietly. "I thought after killing Metal Kor we've annihilated the lot!"

"Doesn't look like it, partner", scowled Daxter. "Looks like you're back to your defensive skills again – unless you want to leave it to the New Krimzon Guard…!"

"I can handle fighting side by side with them", Jak smiled in return. "You can always trust a plan from Governor Ashelin, right Dax?"

Daxter gave off a brief nod, although looking worried at the same time. After all, this IS her first day on the job, following in the footsteps of her father. They quickly left the area, and started following their own footsteps in the sand back towards the city.

Back at the Naughty Ottsel, the outside of it started to show more citizens zooming by it. Inside there, Sig was seen polishing some of the Metal Head trophies, only to see one of them give off a strange vibrating force upon his hand.

"Uh-oh…!"

"Sig, what's the matter?"

From the bar, Tess came through, leaving a set of purple jars upon the desk. She came close towards him, whom started to show a fear-filled look upon his face. All that she could do was roll her eyes at the sight of them.

"I swear that I saw that trophy moving!" he shouted.

"Oh, just get over it. You're probably thirsty again."

"Oh no. I've had enough Precursorcchinos today, Tess. There's no way I'm drinking another!"

Tess gave out a sigh, and looked down upon the ground, where her feet started to tap lightly upon there. But then, the sound of rumbling was heard. She looked up, and it was right in front of her that the Metal Head trophy started to shake on its own.

"Oh great, maybe you ARE right!" she said with her blue eyes becoming paler.

It started to shake even more, with the glow around it starting to become a more bright yellow. A white speck showed up upon its gem, before bringing itself straight on towards her, striking her in the shoulder.

"OUCH!"

"Tess, what's happened to you?"

She held onto her injury, where a deep red throb started to show within the clothing. While that happened, Sig faced the trophy and looked on at its glowing essence that started to surround it.

"Holy mackerel…!"

It then broke off the walls, and started flying across the room, and after that happened, the other trophies started to break free and follow it in a similar fashion. The sight caused him to get out his Peacemaker – a staff based weapon covered in blue metal – and start firing at them.

"Beat it, you silly bugger!" he shouted with rage. "GET OUT OF THE BAR!!!"

He launched as many shots as he can, but no matter what happened, the monsters flew out of the way and started heading outside, going around the city. The sight of it caused Sig to step outside and look on at the skulls flying off into the distance.

"So, I can't believe it", whispered Tess with shaking hands. "The Metal Heads are coming back at us?"

"If that's what they want, then they're going to have to get through me first!"

He aimed his weapon out towards them, and started pacing up and down the streets, trying to shoot them off as they came near him. While that happened, Tess stayed near the doors, and watched him with a hopeless expression starting to form on her.

-end of part 3-