It wasn't long until Jak, Daxter, Hikaru and Jona managed to make their way through towards the slums section, where from behind one of the huts a larger Metal Head was seen coming around the building, with several smaller ones coming around it.
"Aiee, not another one!!!" Daxter started to panic.
"That's it, we're gonna have to be careful if we need to get out of the city alive!" Jona sighed.
Jona rooted in his pockets, and pulled out a few bladed discs. That left all four of them around the monster, firing guns, pulling its feet, using a whip to cause scars or tossing the discs at them. It wasn't until a few seconds later when the beast lifted up one of its feet, ready to stomp right in top of Hikaru.
"Steady there, Hikaru!" Jak screamed out to her.
"I'm trying, but he's getting too tough!"
And then the foot was lowered, leaving her to roll right underneath it and escaping brutal damage. At the same time, Jak ended up running low on his bullets, and with the monster showing no sign of weaknesses, he gave out a sigh and took a hold onto the gun mod.
"That's it! I'm gonna have to send this baby into action!" Jak shouted with determination.
"Jak, no!" Jona shouted with a shake of the head. "It already possessed Hikaru, and I'm worried about what it'll do next!"
It was already too late – the mod was switched over to the new mod, leaving the spirits to escape from the gun all in one go. They looked on at the beast, with mixed emotions of determination and fear.
"Is this the next target?" Praxis asked with a shocked expression.
Erol gave out a light sigh. "Of course, what do you think it is, BIGFOOT?!?"
Praxis ended up with an anime sweat drop down his face at the response, while at the same time Vin started to back away from it. That left Jak to blink on at them with a widened expression.
"Whatever happens, I am SO not going in!" Vin sulked while folding his arms.
"Dad, be careful!!!"
Vin's eyes were widened slightly, leaving him to look down below and see Jona smiling at him. He gave off a light blink, and brought them into silence for a while… but that was until the monster gave out a growl and broke the emptiness.
"Come on, let's show 'em what we're made of!" Daxter said while jumping up and down on the spot.
They all gave out brief nods filled with determination, and started attacking the beast at their own individual viewpoints, with the spirits at the top and Jak's group at the bottom. Down at the monster's feet, Daxter was seen trying to reach the beast's tail with a tight grip upon his hands.
"Daxter, not too far!" Jak shouted towards him. "You almost got squashed!!!"
While that happened, the tail of the beast almost knocked Daxter straight down on the floor… had it not been for Praxis making his way towards the head of the beast and leering it towards the other side of the opening. All that the ottsel could do was look in with widened eyes.
"Erol, I need backup!" ordered Praxis. "He's almost cornered me!"
The Baron looked behind him and saw a dead end formed from houses within the sector, allowing him to end up being stuck between that and the beast. He looked around, and barely saw any sight of any of the other spirits nearby.
"Erol? EROL?!?!?"
The beast brought its head closer towards him, ready to inflict damage onto him. Meanwhile, at the same time, Erol finally showed up on the top of a huge stone wall overlooking the city, tugging Vin as he ran.
"Listen, smarty!" Erol scowled over at him. "The deal was that you fight the Metal Heads in return for our peace!"
"No, please, put me down!!!"
Before anything else could be done, he lifted Vin off the ground, and hovered higher up into the air, before hurling him towards the beast in a faster-than-a-speeding-bullet fashion, leaving Vin's face to turn whiter than it was.
"AIEEEEEEE!!!"
And it was there that Vin collided with the back of the beast's head, leaving them to tumble to the right slightly. In the background, Erol jumped up with an excited expression upon his face.
"Steeeeerike!!!"
"Yeah, very funny, partner", said Jona in a bitter tone. "You almost shattered him for a second!"
Jona pointed over at Vin with a more angered look upon him, whom he himself was seen holding onto one of Praxis's hands and guiding him away from the dead end. It wasn't long until they all came back together, looking on at the beast from their angle… which was seen taking footsteps backwards.
"Well, no matter what kind of expenses we ended up in, it seems like the monster's starting to retreat!" Hikaru started to cackle.
Jak looked on at it with widened eyes. "You think it could take us through to the stone and the new Nest?"
They all looked at each other, looking curious about the possibilities. But… their silence was soon broken after a growl from the beast, which turned around and started storming its way straight through the slums.
"AFTER THAT THING!!!" Daxter said while pointing his hand forward.
And with that shout, they all started chasing the beast together, hoping to take a hold onto him. A few turns in the path left them to keep running up towards a fork… where it took a sharp left and headed its way towards the water part of the slums.
"He's going to the Pumping Station?" Hikaru asked with a straight face.
"If not, then who knows where it could take us!" Jak shouted back.
Hikaru's face started to show more hesitation at the thought of it. At the same time, the group started to edge closer towards the beast, and it wasn't there that Praxis started to hesitate by jumping up onto the tail, only to have it swinging him back and forth like a pendulum.
"Erol, I can't hang on any longer!!!" the Baron shouted with panic.
"Master, I'll try and bring you down!"
Within the crowd, Erol brought himself forwards, and tried to reach for the Baron, whom at the same time brought out his blade and attempted to cause a scratch within the skin of the monster. But… at the same time, the beast stormed its way through the city walls, leaving the gap between the pair of them to be extended.
"WHOA!!!"
"I say, champ!" Jona shrieked from the sidelines. "Just keep your footing with that thing!"
Erol gave out a hesitant nod, while at the same time both parties started to climb up the machinery around the station. That gave Praxis room to drop back down upon the floor and join the others in following the beast… but that was until it jumped across a huge gap leading towards a rocky valley, leaving their faces to show surprise.
"Talk about a huge gorge…!" Jona said with a blink.
"Well, that's nothing as long as I'm here!"
Jak gave out a smirk, as he brought out a golden board upon his back – a hoverboard – and rode it to the edge. Over there, he jumped up and started making his way towards the gap… but he started to fall short, leaving the spirits to start heading their way forwards one by one.
"Jak, watch out!!!" Praxis cried out towards him.
They all left the cliffsides, and started heading down, gradually forming themselves in a line formation, with Vin leading the pack. And it wasn't long until they reached Jak, and caught him in a white essence.
"Vin?" Jak looked on at him with widened eyes.
"You needed it, partner! Come on, we're almost there!"
With determination, they lifted him up towards the nearby Cliffside, looking relieved with the crossing. While they settled down, a yellow glow went around Erol's fists, as he punched down a nearby tree, leaving the top of it to land on the other side of the gorge and allowing Daxter, Hikaru and Jona to cross over to the other side. As soon as they got there, they looked up, and saw the monster climbing up the rocky valley ahead of them.
"Where is he going?" Jak asked the group.
"Not sure, although the path we're taking looks almost too familiar", sighed Hikaru.
Most of the group looked on at Hikaru with curious looks, whom she herself started to get a shaky expression upon her. And it wasn't long until they started to walk right inside the valley together.
A couple of hours passed, and it was there that the valley gradually started to turn darker and darker. A few ashes can be seen upon the ground, starting to rub against their feet. But… they soon ended up near a bunch of caves.
"Hold it!" bossed Jona.
They all came to a stop together, looking on at the junction. Some of the caves lead to empty rooms, while there was a longer one on their right leading towards a darker cave filled with stalactites and dark eco crystals.
"So I take this must be their stop, eh?" Jak pondered.
Daxter pointed his nose in the air and started sniffing. "Yep, it definitely smells like boiling yakkow blood in there."
Daxter gave off a twitch of the ear, before taking a light footstep forward. Meanwhile, from behind him, Hikaru started to show an expression filled with fear, causing the others to look on at her.
"Hikaru, what's wrong?" Jak asked her.
"This place… Spider Cave...!"
Jak's eyes widened upon her expression, leaving him to take a closer look upon the caverns, where the place started to plunge deeper and deeper into darkness. Daxter, however, just walked up to the nearest dark eco crystal there was, being careful not to touch it.
"Yeah, I remember this place from the past. This was filled with eco and spiders, not to mention the occasional bat. Scary, huh?"
"What's even scarier is that…" she paused, showing a blank expression. "This place is my home…!"
Most of the group gasped around her. After all, how could a girl like her survive in the wilderness on her own for years upon end? It wasn't until Jona ended up bringing himself closer towards her, waiting for an answer.
"What? You gotta be serious!"
"I am", she nodded back with a frown. "The bats and spiders in there raised me to make me what I am today. I couldn't remember anything else until the meeting with Oracle and the vision the spirits brought upon me."
Jak thought about the scenario carefully. From what he knew so far, Hikaru was abandoned as a baby, and he also knew that they were long-lost siblings. He gave out a brief nod, and looked onto the darkness of the cave ahead.
"Well, might as well hold on tight as we head in here together", smiled Jak.
"No, Jak! It's too scary!"
Daxter's eyes started to shrink with panic, as he looked on at a few cockroaches crawling around the floor. He instantly took cover behind Jona, whom looked on at him and petted him lightly.
"It's ok, my ottsel friend. I've seen a lot of people who were afraid of these beasts, so I understand what you're going through. But if you stick with us, then you'll be safe."
Daxter's ears were brought up with surprise. "Really?"
Jona gave off a reassuring nod, before picking up the ottsel and taking him through towards the entrance. While that happened, Jak held hands with Hikaru, and looked on at the caverns for one last time.
"Now come on, let's go inside."
And so all four started to head deeper into the darkness. The only things that lit their way were the dark eco crystals, being barely enough to be able to feel the walls. And it wasn't long until a purple light was seen at the end of the tunnel.
It wasn't too long until the group made their way towards it, being lead into a bright white stone corridor of such, leading into a room made out of brimstone. All that Hikaru could do was look on at the scene with wonder.
"Wow, this place has changed a lot since I left it last week…!"
She took a closer step forward, looking on towards the room at the end of the corridor. But… as soon as she placed one foot into the room, the corridor started to crumble, causing all four of them to run towards her and look on at the corridor.
"What the-!" Jak cried out suddenly.
All of a sudden, a rock brought itself up from the ground, sealing the corridor completely, leaving them with no way out. That only left them to look on at the other side of the room, where a familiar Metal Head was seen awaiting them all. They gasped with fright at the sight of him.
"KOR!!!" they all exclaimed towards him.
"I never thought I'd be able to see you again."
"Hey, I thought we defeated you and got rid of your race!" Jak sighed over to him.
"Not as far as I can see. Killing me off last week only just stopped me from making more eggs – there are still more Metal Heads in the world than you can imagine."
All that Jak could do was look on at the others with a dumbfounded expression being brought upon his face. Soon after that, he took a step forward and continued to leer upon the monstrous figure.
"Who the heck helped you?" Jak asked him with anger.
"Meet Gulan, my apprentice."
Kor moved aside, making room for another figure to show up into view – this time he showed himself as the very monstrous figure that they chased out of the city. The group gasped on at the sight of him.
"Whoa, was he the figure that broke out of the egg?" Hikaru asked with a worried expression.
"That's right!" he spoke with a behemoth-like voice. "And thanks to your destructive energy, young girl, the Metal Heads were able to roam free again!"
Gulan leered down at her and gave out a monstrous growl upon her, leaving her to look on at the others with a shaky look upon them. She took a step back, wondering about his next few words upon them.
"But… how?" She said with shaking fists.
"As far as I have known, your parents abandoned you in the Spider Caves not for your appearances, but for your own personal safety. The purple skin and teeth came through nurture."
Hikaru looked on at the beast with a more worried expression than before. She looked on at Jak, and then she started to realize the full bodied truth to her. She thought about the precursor stone, being brought into their possession, and how it was used last week to release the precursor entity inside it.
"How can it be? The people were afraid of me," she frowned.
"I know all that there is to know about you and your race."
She gave in a light eye twitch at the sight of them, before she brought her head down, feeling that she's done something wrong with opening up the egg in the first place. While that occurred, Daxter stepped to the right and leered on at his opponents.
"Well, thanks for sharing the story with us, partner. But whatever happens next isn't your decision! Now, drop us the Precursor Stone!"
"Why should we?" Gulan growled back. "The Precursor that once slept inside it may have broken free, but there is still a bright energy inside there to power our army and help us swallow the Universe!"
Daxter looked on at the stone, which started to glow with a bright light inside it. While that happened, he gave off a light growl and brought himself into an angry gorilla pose, leering on at his opponents.
"We're not having that! Let's take them on!" Jak commanded the group.
"Right", winked Jona. "I'll take the Spirits with me to deal with Kor. The rest of you can deal with Gulan."
Hikaru gave off a devious smirk. "That's what I call a plan. Let's finish this!"
They all gave in a brief nod, accepting the idea as it is. Jak brought out his gun, and the spirits escaped from there and looked on at the scenario, before coming around Jona, ready to take on Kor.
While that happened, Jak, Daxter and Hikaru walked towards Gulam on their left. And it was there that doomsday was about to come upon them…
-end of part 9-